RSS-linked Muslim clerics pledge no cow slaughter on Eid

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) Dozens of Muslim clerics linked with the RSS on Tuesday pledged there will be no cow slaughter on Eid ul Azha -- a Muslim festival of offering animal sacrifice.

At an event organised by the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an RSS wing, the clerics also vowed to spread the message of no cow sacrifices on Eid throughout the country for communal harmony.

Maulana Wajahat Qasmi of the All India Mosques and Madrassa Coordination Committee said clerics should explain to their followers in their coming Friday sermons why cow slaughter was wrong despite not being prohibited in Islam.

"I can cite many decrees to support the anti-cow slaughter movement. Killing a cow disturbes communal harmony and Islam is a religion of peace and harmony. It doesn't encourage any practice that will harm peace," Qasmi said.

Maulana Kaukab Mujtaba, National Convener of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, said Muslims should speak against cow slaughter because "the practice hurts religious sentiments of Hindus".

"Your faith doesn't get strengthened by killing a cow. And by not killing a cow, you won't become a non-believer," Mujtaba said.

He said some Muslims had earned a bad name because some leaders were using them by inducing fear that their faith was in danger in India.

RSS leader Indresh Kumar, the patron of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch, said cow was a highly revered animal in Islam because the longest chapter in Quran, "al baqrah", was named after the "mother cow".

Kumar said the Prophet had advised against eating beef because it can cause diseases while milk and ghee provided "cure and treatment".

"Those who sacrifice the animal, slaughter it and eat it are eating poison, are eating diseases," he said.