Abdul Aziz (Pakistani cleric)

Abdul Aziz Ghazi
Personal details
Nationality	Pakistan
Residence(s)	Islamabad, Pakistan

Muhammad Abdul Aziz, is a Pakistani cleric, son of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and elder brother of Abdul Rashid Ghazi. He is descended from Sadwani clan of Mazari tribe in the town of Rojhan at the border of southern Punjab and Balochistan.[2] He is the Khateeb in the central mosque of Islamabad known as Lal Masjid.

On July 4, 2007, he was arrested by the Pakistani police in a burqa. Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Aziz's brother, claimed that the cleric went out of the mosque to meet an "important personality".

Background

Muhammad Abdul Aziz is son of Maulana Muhammad Abdullah, the first prayer leader of Lal-Masjid. He is recognized as a religious scholar by his contemporaries. Interestingly, the mainstream religious political parties are maintaining a distance from the action of Abdul Aziz and his followers due to the Jihadi style of Maulana and his association with the Talibani style.

Maulana Abdul Aziz served as officially designated prayer leader in government constructed and owned Lal-Masjid until 2005 when he was dismissed from service after he issued a "fatwa" (religious decree) against the army officers who were fighting against Pakistani rebels Taliban supporters in the tribal areas close to the Afghan border. In the fatwa he declared that none of the army officers who got killed in the fighting in tribal area was a martyr and religious sanctions were not available for their funeral.

"His fatwa irked the government and he was dismissed from service. But in fact, the government has not attempted to remove him from his post. A replacement cleric was appointed for Lal-Masjid, but female supporters refused to pray behind anyone other than Maulana Abdul Aziz. It is speculated that President Musharraf does not want to stir up popular unrest in an already tense national political atmosphere due to massive support for Aziz within Islamabad.

Pakistan's last military ruler, General Zia-ul-Haq, was said to be very close to Maulana Abdullah. Maulana Abdul Aziz came to Islamabad as a six-year-old boy from his home town in Balochistan, when his father was appointed Khatib (prayer leader) of Lal-Masjid in 1966. He grew up in the liberal atmosphere of Islamabad. After studying for few years in a public school, he was later sent to Karachi to study in the most renowned religious seminary.

He closely follows the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, and typically resists being photographed.

Since January 2007 , his activities became more political than religions. Constantly issuing Fatwa on various public affairs and creating Lal Masjid brigade from students of Jamia Hafsa.

The Lal Masjid brigade came to public notice when they kidnapped alleged prostitute from Islamabad residential area and then kidnapping police officers. The brigade increased their political activities and made blunder of kidnapping Chinese workers from very famous massage center. This particular event created international pressure on Pakistan, especially from the Chinese government.

Education

Abdul Aziz is a graduate of Jamia Binnoria, a Madrassah in Karachi, where he studied the customary Dars-e-Nizami, which is taught at the most elementary level of religious education in Pakistan.

Recent controversy

Tensions between the government and religious students led by Abdul Aziz have been ongoing for the last three months over the demolition of mosques. However, Islamabad was shaken out of its political stupor by the female students and teachers of the seminary in the last week of March. They announced the launch of a "moral drive" against all "immoral activities" in the federal capital. Coming on the heels of these actions by the female students was the announcement by the cleric Abdul Aziz for the establishment of a parallel Taliban style court system, which would punish perpetrators of moral crimes in the federal capital. He issued a one month ultimatum from his pulpit to the government to clean Islamabad of all "immoral activities."

He also warned the government in clear words that his students could resort to suicide attacks in the case of a violent police operation launched against the seminary. "If the government fails to eradicate all these moral evils from the society within the specified period of one month the students of the seminary would themselves take actions against all the people involved in such activities," said Maulana Abdul Aziz while addressing Friday Prayer congregation at Lal Masjid.

In his speech the cleric declared drugs, music, movies, and photographs of women as moral evils. His students subsequently resorted to various acts of vandalism, violence, kidnapping, and arson. They even ordered local barbers not to shave men to force them grow beards in accordance with the "teachings of Islam".

Final Showdown

On July 3, 2007, the stand off with the government ended in bloody gun battles in which 16 people were killed and scores wounded. An FIR was later registered against Ghazi brothers with charges ranging from kidnapping, and murder to treason, and terrorism.

To avoid collateral loss, on July 4, 2007 at 8.05 PM local time., the government offered amnesty to juvenile students if they surrendered. Hundreds of his student followers reportedly surrendered.

Many people believe the way he was arrested [trying to escape the complex disguised as a woman under a long burqa] does not fit a person who was preaching to others to sacrifice their lives for the cause. According to Shah Abdul Aziz "He was deceived. He was called by a senior official of an intelligence agency with whom he has been in touch for long. Since this man could not enter into the mosque to meet him [to save his cover and identity] he asked Maulana Aziz to come down to Aabpara police station [situated on a walking distance from the mosque] and asked him to wear a Burqa to avoid identification.

External links

• Lal Masjid
• [1] Newspaper report on Maulana Aziz's arrest.