Two days after Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (51) was shot dead amid gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank, an Islamic scholar has courted controversy for asking Muslims to not pray for her.
In a tweet on Friday (May 13), the founder of ‘Your Madrasah‘ Kamran wrote, “I see many Muslims are making dua for Shireen Abu Akleh, the journalist who was unjustly killed in Palestine. She was a Christian.”
“Just a reminder there is no difference of opinion among the scholars that one cannot pray for forgiveness & mercy for non Muslims after their death,” he had emphasised.
The Islamic scholar went on to quote the Quran, Islamic holy book, and claimed that those Muslims who seek repentance for an infidel (Mushrikoon) are doomed for hell-fire.
“It is not (proper) for the Prophet & those who believe to ask Allaah’s forgiveness for the Mushrikoon, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire.”[9:113]” he further added.
Kamran concluded, “Raise awareness & stand for injustice? Yes. Make dua for her? No.”
Following his tweet, his co-religionists also began discussing the faith of the deceased Al Jazeera journalist.
“How can someone have the audacity to make du’ā for a dead kafir when the Prophet ﷺ didn’t have the right to ask forgiveness for his mother? Who’s more important for you? his mother or a Christian journalist who works for Jazeera? Obviously his mother,” asked one Islamist.
Another Twitter user wondered whether Shireen Abu Akleh was indeed a ‘Kafirah’. The term is widely used by Islamists across the globe to profile, discriminate and persecute non-Muslims.
Other Islamists indulged in rhetorics to ascertain that the Al Jazeera journalist was a non-Muslim and thus not worthy of prayers.
The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh
On May 11 this year, a senior journalist at Al Jazeera, Shireen Abu Akleh, was shot dead amid gunfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank. . She was reporting from the city of Jenin, which had seen intensified army raids in recent weeks.
The Al Jazeera Media Network condemned the incident and said in a statement that the killing of the journalist was a violation of the international laws and norms.
Calling Abu Akleh’s death a heinous crime, the Qatar-based news organisation said, “We hold the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of the late colleague Shireen”.
The statement also called on the international community to hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for their ‘intentional targeting and killing’ of Abu Akleh. Earlier, The New York Times had to change its ‘factually correct headline’ following outrage by Palestinians.
