Jamiat Ulema Hind (JUH) leader Mufti Mohammad Ilyas' reported statement that Lord Shiva was the first prophet of Muslims has been slammed as baseless by Muslim religious leaders and scholars.
"The statement is baseless and smacks of a bigger conspiracy," member of All India Muslims Personal Law Board Khalid Rasheed Farangimahli said.
"None of the religious scriptures nor history proves that Lord Shiva was the first prophet of Muslims...Hindu religion does not even subscribe to the principle of the prophet," he said, adding it was an established fact that first prophpet of Muslims was prophet Adam and the last was prophet Mohammad.
"We respect the lords of all religions but since it has been proved that Prophet Adam was the first prophet therefore the statement of Mufti is unacceptable," he said.
The spokesman of All India Shia Personal Law Board Maulana Yasoob Abbas said the statement was aimed at seeking cheap publicity and was issued at the behest of divisive forces.
The noted Shia leader said it is time to take the progress of the country to another level and statements like these only harm atmosphere and development.
Meanwhile, AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Nizamuddin when asked to comment on the statement of the Mufti said he does not find it fit to speak on it.
Mufti had in a statement in Ayodhya said, "Shiva was Islam's first prophet. We Indian Muslims are followers of Islam. We believe in 'Allah', but we are traditionally 'Hindus'."
However, after the hue and cry over the statement, the JUH cancelled its unity conference, scheduled in Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh on February 27 fearing threat to peace.
"Religious leaders from Ayodhya and other places were scheduled to participate in the unity conference. But we are cancelling it after Ilyas's controversial statements that has posed a threat to unity and peace in the entire country," JUH district president and convernor of the conference Zubair Ahmad told reporters in Balrampur today.
Condemning Ilyas's statement, Ahmad said JUH is a world famous organisation and it has nothing to do with the statement. He also claimed that Ilyas was not its member.
