Dagestani mawlid to serve as Muslims’ response to wave of islamophobia

Makhachkala, January 22, 2015. A republic-wide mawlid is scheduled for January 23, Dagestani Head Ramazan Abdulatipov posted in his Instagram page. This religious event will be a response to the wave of islamophobia incited by what is now surrounding the French Charlie Hebdo magazine.

"Dear brothers and sisters! The situation around the French Charlie Hebdo magazine whose journalists had been repeatedly provoking anti-Islamic sentiments all across Europe by posting caricatures on the God’s Messenger have eventually led to extremism and terrorism," the statement runs.

Dagestani Head says that despite a just condemnation of terrorism, political leaders and public in Western countries keep offending religious feelings of Muslims. Western media’s constant appeals to publish cartoons on Prophet Muhammad in newspapers and magazines can cause mass sectarian conflicts and destabilization of the socio-political situation in the world.

In this regard, Abdulatipov encourages Muslims of Dagestan to visit a republic-wide mawlid being "an adequate response to destructive forces’ provocative attempts to denigrate Islam and its holy values."

"Nobody has been given the right to insult the glorious name of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him! We stand in solidarity with Muslims in Russia, and for the sake of a greater unity of the Muslim Ummah, the republic's leadership in consultation with Chairman of Dagestan Muslims’ Spiritual Board Mufti Sheikh Akhmad Hajji Abdulaev proposes holding a republic-wide mawlid on January 23, 2015," Abdulatipov writes.