Recently, Imam-e-Kaaba Sheikh Khalid al-Ghamidi visited Pakistan and led Salat-e-Juma in different cities. Imam-e-Kaaba commenced the Nizam-e-Salat while leading the Friday prayer in Faisal Mosque Islamabad. Call to prayer (Azaan) and holding prayer congregation at all Mosques of capital city Islamabad would be the same irrespective of the sect is the soul of Nizam-e-Salat. The committee which made the decision included two clerics from each major sect in the capital; Shia, Barelvi, Deobandi and Ahle Hadith that concluded to implement uniform timings of prayer in Islamabad and nearby areas from 1st May, whereas the procedure will also be put into practice in whole country henceforth. It was decided by the mutual consultation of different religious scholars and ministry of religious affairs headed by Federal Minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf. Major problem in setting prayer timings was at Maghrib and the issue was resolved harmoniously by committee members.
Though the system of Nizam-e-Salat has been widely accepted but its success is still questioned.
Mix responses are given on this issue some believes that it is the pivotal step for creating unity among the Muslims while others are criticizing that it is difficult to mould religious beliefs of the people with any sort of limitation. But both clerics agreed that it is an admirable step to bring harmony among different sects. In Surah AL-Hajj, it is said that “Allah chose your name Muslim”, in the light of this verse, it is clear that the point of unity is being called a Muslim and Islam encourages efforts to bring harmony among Muslims. Even though, religion is flexible and strives for creation of unity. Moreover, Islam calls for adopting every possible way to create unity and bring harmony among the Muslims.
Maldives is practicing uniformed system of Salat and even timing of Khutba and Mosques are constructed with specified distance. Moreover, Saudia Arabia and Iran are other examples where Nizam-e-Salat is successfully regulating. But both countries have majority of people belonging to same sect as Ahle Hadith sect is dominant in Saudia Arabia and Ahle Tashih in Iran. But what can be done in the country like Pakistan where dozens of sects exist? What can be happened in that country where every Mosque is presenting a different religious ideology?
In such circumstances, collective efforts of both Government and religious scholars can be most suitable for eliminating sectarianism from the Pakistani society. Uniformity in the timings of Salat and Khutba, establishment of mosques with equal distance, all of these step can be proactive initiatives to eradicate sectarianism from Pakistan.
However, Government has taken a step to banned loudspeakers for Khutba and speeches in Mosques so that any effort to instigate people against specific sect can be avoided. Besides, if government took a step for limitising the topics and Khutba it could be better than to curb loudspeakers.
Now the question is that can Nizam-e-salat be implemented in all over the country? It is difficult enough to call out the Azaan simultaneously. Because the geographical boundary is long away and the time vary from city to city. However, at division level a religious committee can be established which manage the time with collaboration of different clerics. On the part of government, it is responsibility of the government to develop laws, implement the legislation and monitor it while scholars should take the responsibility to create possible and suitable ways for integrating timing of Salat. It is a major step in promoting harmony among different sects. The timing of Salat can be decided according to seasonal changes and the Azaan calendar should be distributed to all Mosques. We are optimistic that practitioners will adopt unified prayer timings with the spirit of harmony. But another step must be taken that anyone can say prayers at any Mosque irrespective of sect. If it is implemented successfully, this step will pave the way for positive change in the society. It would be marked as a turning point or a movement towards normality, tolerance, unity and creation of harmony among Muslims.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Lahore Times.