Lord Shiva first messenger of Islam, Muslim cleric says

AYODHYA: A lesser known Muslim cleric and leader of Jamiat Ulema Hind, Mufti Mohammad Ilyas Qasmi, stirred up a controversy on Thursday when he referred to Lord Shiva as the first messenger of Islam. Qasmi, a senior leader of the Jamiat who has been propagating Hindu-Muslim unity in Ayodhya, said he backed the RSS view that "every Indian is a Hindu."

Qasmi elaborated that Muslims were also followers of Sanatan Dharma and "have no reservations in accepting that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were part of the series of a lakh and twenty four thousand prophets sent to Earth with a mission to establish humanity, true religion and God's rule in the world".

He said he thought there was nothing objectionable or wrong about referring to Indian Muslims as Hindus, since Muslims from India are called 'Hindi' in Arabian countries. "We Indian Muslims are followers of Islam. We believe in 'Allah', but we are, traditionally, 'Hindus'," he said.

Muslim leaders were quick to distance themselves from Qasmi's remarks. While Jamiat's president Maulana Arshad Madani was unavailable, its secretary, Hafiz Irfan, said: "What Qasmi has said are his personal views. There were, indeed, a series of one lakh twenty four thousand prophets sent by Allah to Earth. Lord Rama, Lord Krishna or Lord Shiva may be one of them, but none of this finds mention in the holy Quran. Only God is the creator, not his messengers."

Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali, head cleric of the Aishbagh Eidgah in Lucknow, said Islam showed respect to all religions and religious figures. However, it did not suggest anywhere that Lord Shiva was a Prophet, he added.

Qasmi had arrived in Ayodhya to invite the local Sadhus and Mahants to Jamiat's national seminar on Hindu-Muslim unity, which will be held in Balrampur on February 27.