ASJA calls for ceasefire amid Middle East hostilities

The An­ju­man Sun­nat-ul-Ja­maat As­so­ci­a­tion (AS­JA) has is­sued a pub­lic state­ment ex­press­ing con­cern over the es­ca­la­tion of hos­til­i­ties in the Mid­dle East and is call­ing for an im­me­di­ate cease­fire and a re­turn to diplo­mat­ic di­a­logue.

In the state­ment, AS­JA said re­cent mil­i­tary ac­tions and re­tal­ia­to­ry strikes have in­creased ten­sions across the re­gion and re­sult­ed in con­se­quences for civil­ians. The or­gan­i­sa­tion cit­ed re­ports of bom­bard­ment af­fect­ing cities, schools, hos­pi­tals and hu­man­i­tar­i­an fa­cil­i­ties and said the sit­u­a­tion re­quires at­ten­tion from the in­ter­na­tion­al com­mu­ni­ty.

AS­JA stat­ed that the pro­tec­tion of civil­ian life is a prin­ci­ple recog­nised in in­ter­na­tion­al hu­man­i­tar­i­an law and in the teach­ings of Is­lam. The as­so­ci­a­tion said the sanc­ti­ty of hu­man life must not be dis­re­gard­ed and that the tar­get­ing of civil­ians, in­clud­ing chil­dren, ed­u­ca­tion­al in­sti­tu­tions and med­ical fa­cil­i­ties, is a vi­o­la­tion of moral and le­gal oblig­a­tions.

The or­gan­i­sa­tion said mil­i­tary ag­gres­sion can­not be jus­ti­fied and that the use of force lead­ing to de­struc­tion and suf­fer­ing in­creas­es in­sta­bil­i­ty. It al­so warned that re­tal­ia­to­ry strikes across the re­gion risk draw­ing more na­tions in­to con­flict and bring­ing hard­ship to civil­ians.

Ad­dress­ing the Mus­lim com­mu­ni­ty, AS­JA said that while the­o­log­i­cal views may dif­fer re­gard­ing po­lit­i­cal sys­tems and gov­ern­ments, Is­lam teach­es that ex­ter­nal ag­gres­sion against a Mus­lim land and the suf­fer­ing of its peo­ple can­not be ig­nored. The as­so­ci­a­tion said pop­u­la­tions should not be­come vic­tims of geopo­lit­i­cal strug­gles and that wars which dis­place peo­ple and dam­age so­ci­eties in­crease in­sta­bil­i­ty.

The state­ment not­ed that events un­fold with­in the de­cree of Al­lah but said this does not re­move the re­spon­si­bil­i­ty to stand for jus­tice, truth and the pro­tec­tion of hu­man life. AS­JA said the present cir­cum­stances re­quire re­straint and a com­mit­ment to peace.

The or­gan­i­sa­tion called on all par­ties in­volved in the con­flict to cease hos­til­i­ties and re­turn to diplo­mat­ic en­gage­ment. It said any path for­ward must pri­ori­tise the pro­tec­tion of civil­ians, the restora­tion of sta­bil­i­ty and the peace­ful res­o­lu­tion of dis­putes in ac­cor­dance with in­ter­na­tion­al law.

AS­JA al­so urged mem­bers of the Mus­lim com­mu­ni­ty to turn to re­pen­tance, prayer and sup­pli­ca­tion dur­ing the pe­ri­od of con­flict. It called for uni­ty, pa­tience and ad­her­ence to the guid­ance of the Qur’an and the Sun­nah.

Quot­ing the Prophet Muham­mad, the state­ment said, “A Mus­lim is the broth­er of an­oth­er Mus­lim. He does not op­press him nor hand him over to an op­pres­sor.”

AS­JA said the teach­ing calls on peo­ple to up­hold jus­tice, de­fend the dig­ni­ty of hu­man life and work to­ward peace. The as­so­ci­a­tion con­clud­ed by pray­ing for the pro­tec­tion of civil­ians, re­lief for those af­fect­ed by the con­flict and the restora­tion of peace and sta­bil­i­ty across the re­gion.