:salam2:
Ah yes, Allama Ihsan Ilahi Zaheer, he was really a lion. Although I would have wished some more human qualities from him..
It maybe, that his arabic speeches were different, which explains his heroic image among arabs but his punjabi speeches, in which he roars like a lion and sings like a rock star (no joke, traditional punjabi mullahs always deliver speeches in ragas), he gives an impression of an ill mannered man. The way he speaks against "other" muslims is so fierce, that it is hard to distinguish him from any other xyz takfiri mullah.
Ok, you may argue, the "other" muslims are ahl al bid'ah. So they must be dealt with the same contempt as the "respected" sheikh does. But, what about speaking openly against the rulers? Isn't it against the manhaj of the Salafis? (It isn't, that I agree with this theory, that's why I have knowingly used the word Salafi, instead of Salaf in my last sentence.) About that time, when Zia-ul-haq was bringing "shariat bill" and that shariat bill was "too hanafi" for Sheikh's taste, he made fierce public speeches against it. In one such speech, he even mocked about Zia-ul-Haq's mostache. In retrospect I wonder, if Zia-ul-Haq had done any "open Kufr".
In another speech, he asks the public "wahabio laro ge..?" (O Wahabis, will you fight (for this cause)? ) Maybe it was meant to be ironic.
The same is the case with Ibtisam Ilahi Zaheer. He is not liked by hard-line Salafis, because he openly speaks against the rulers and also takes part in the political demonstrations. I know him too less to like or dislike him but like I explained earlier, this is not a reason for me to dislike him.
wa ma alaina illa 'lbalagh al mubeen. wa Allahu A'lam.
