Religious scholars praise Saudi Arabia for facilitating Hajj pilgrims from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A large number of religious clerics in Pakistan on Sunday praised Saudi Arabia for including their country in the Road to Makkah program, pointing out that the Kingdom’s decision had made the spiritual journey of Pakistani Hajj pilgrims more convenient than ever before.
They also noted that Saudi Arabia had done its best to dissociate Hajj and Umrah from worldly or political considerations, criticizing those “elements” who wanted to keep Muslims from performing pilgrimage while describing them as “enemies of Muslim unity.”
Organized by the Pakistan Ulema Council, the conference brought together more than 1500 clerics from various religious organizations and schools of thought and was presided over by Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Ashrafi.
According to a media handout circulated by the council, the participants agreed that Pakistanis stood united with their security forces who were trying to purge the country of extremists and terrorists. The conference participants also announced to hoist Pakistan’s national flag on mosques and religious seminaries across the country on its independence day next month.
Among other issues, the clerics agreed that religious and violent extremism was against the teachings of Islam. They also noted that no Islamic sect and Muslim individual should be declared non-Muslim or subjected to violent treatment on account of their faith.
The conference also asked the government to prevent the spread of hate literature. Apart from that, it claimed it was the duty of responsible Muslim citizens to ensure the protection of the worship places of non-Muslims living in Pakistan.