With united namaz, Lucknow's Shias & Sunnis seek a new era
Siddhartha Mathur, Ali Rizvi & Jayanta Deka T
Lucknow:
TNN
Just as planned, the 168-year-old Sibtainabad Imambara here played host to an unprecedented joint Shia-Sunni namaz on Eid-ul-Adha on Friday to send out a message of sectarian unity .
The prayers at the Shia monument were held as part of a citizen-driven initiative, `Shoulder to Shoulder'. According to mutual agreement, a Sunni imam, Maulana Shehzad, led the namaz and devotees followed as per their individual manner. Shia and Sunni prayers on Eid are usually held separately in Lucknow.
“They're those in pursuit of `satya' (truth) and those who cherish `satta' (power), and true religion lies in upholding truth,“ said Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, who participated in the namaz. Sadiq said the highest cleric of his sect had ad vised him to refer to Sunnis as one's `jaan' (life) and `rooh' (soul) instead of brothers and only then would their differences melt. “It's a welcome move that both sects are standing together to pray and this should be sustained and nurtured,“ he said.
The event was a special occasion for Rehan Ahmad Khan, an IIT-Kharagpur engineer who works in Dubai and had come home for Eid.“What better homecoming could have been there for me than this?“ he said. His father and son also took part in the prayers. “I pledge myself to the cause of unity ,“ said the father, Zahoor.
Endorsement for the joint namaz had already been obtained from top religious authorities, including Maulana Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Sistani of Iran. Moreover, clerics from both sects in the city had welcomed the initiative.
