From Peace Loving Moderate Muslims – Sri Lanka.

Secretary General, United Nations.
The Commissioner, UNHRC.
Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka.
Secretary, Ministry of Defense and Urban Development, Sri Lanka.
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka.
Secretary, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Sri Lanka.
Hon. Cabinet Ministers of Sri Lanka.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners in Sri Lanka.
Media Institutions of Sri Lanka.

Dear Sirs / Madams,

An Appeal to all Peace Loving Nations and People

to Save Sri Lankan Muslim Community from Islamic Extremism

We wish to draw your urgent attention to the extremist Islamic religious movement by the name of Thawheed Jamaat that is spreading its tentacles throughout Sri Lanka rapidly. This movement has fast become a cancer within the Muslim community in Sri Lanka, preaching and practicing religious intolerance, exerting pressure on other Islamic movements, making it compulsory to attend mosques, making it compulsory to learn the Arabic Language, making the implementation of Sharia law above the civil laws of Sri Lanka, forcing females to wear the burka, and the construction of many mosques and madrassas in many parts of the country are some of these activities. This movement which started in the Eastern Province has now spread to many different parts of Sri Lanka.

Wahabbism and the Thawheed Jamaat

The Thawheed Jamaat movement is based in the Wahabbi Sect of Islam. Wahabbism is the Islamic sect that was based on the preachings of Mohammed Bin Abdul Wahaab. He was born in 1703 in the Central Arabian city of Uyaina and was able to come in to a pact with the Al-Saud clan which ruled the area. He rose to prominence with the conquests made by the Al-Saud clan which came to control the Holy shrines of Mecca and Medina and later founded Saudi Arabia. The pact still persists and the ruling family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is behind the financing of the Wahabbi movements and is assisting the spread of this sect to other countries. Abdul Wahaabs teachings are contained in a book named the Book of Tawheed and is full of intolerant statements. This is one such statement. ”We must find out what true Islam is, it is above all a rejection of all gods except God, a refusal to allow others to share in that worship due to God alone.” Wahabbis do not tolerate fellow Sunnis and Shias, and preach the slaughtering of them. During the First World War, the Al-Saud clan helped the British to fight the Turks and were in turn helped by the British to establish themselves within a vast territory and establish Saudi Arabia. In this programme to expand and establish their kingdom, the Al-Saud clan was helped by the Wahabbi Ulemas who sanctioned and authorized all their schemes.

The second phase of the Wahabbi expansionism was the result of the Seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, on the first day of the Islamic epoch. This shaked the Al-Saud clan to the core as it was led by a former officer of their Republican Guard, who was a fellow Wahabbi and who openly preached that the ruling family has deviated from true Islam, that is from Wahabism. The Ulemas of the Wahabbi sect stood behind the ruling family and were in turn rewarded by the help provided to expand the Wahabbi sect throughout the world. The Saudis had enormous wealth from the petroleum industry and they used this generously to keep the Wahabbi Ulemas happy, rather than helping the poor Saudi Arabians to improve the lot. The first bodies   established to export Wahabism is known as the Muslim World League (MWL) and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). This was followed by the establishment of several institutes to teach their Wahabbi faith to foreign Islamic students and scholars. These institutes are the Islamic University of Medina and the King Faizal University of Riyard. The third step was to fund and assist various extremist Muslim groups in the world such as the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, Hamas in Palastine, Taliban in Afganistan, Al-Quida, Let in India, the JI in Malaysia, the Tamil Nadu Thawheed Jamaat in India and other countries including Sri Lanka.

The Thawheed Jamaat in Sri Lanka was established by the Tamil Nadu Thawheed Jamaat and is led by those who have studied in Saudi Arabia. In the 1980’s, the Madrasas in Sri Lanka were given the opportunity to send their best students to Saudi Arabia on scholarships. This opportunity was welcomed by many as it gave them the best opportunities for higher studies and the modern facilities and the excellent living conditions and financial support. The graduates from these bodies returned to Sri Lanka and started preaching the extremist brand of Wahabbism which was said as the pure form of Islam. These preachers called themselves   as Ulamas and not Moulavis as the Islamic preachers were called in Sri Lanka since ancient times. These preachers took over the existing mosques in the Eastern Province and thereafter started implementing the extremist form of Wahabism on the faithful. The first target was women, who were ordered to wear the burka, followed by the order for prayers and the strict enforcement of the Sharia laws. They went on doing these in the Eastern Province and no one took any notice of it. Then they established the   Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaat as a charitable and service organization. No one took much notice. Then the Ulema council was established and was later incorporated by an act of parliament (Act number 53 of 2000) on 15.08.2000. No one took any notice of it either and the bill was passed unanimously without even a debate. Now the Wahabbis have expanded throughout Sri Lanka with more than 3000 Madrasas or Islamic schools, 1300 mosques, more than 2000 Arabic schools (including international schools) and 05 Islamic Universities.

Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaat

The Thawheed Jamaat was started in the Tamil Nadu state in India in the early 1980’s by a group of Islamic graduates who studied in Saudi Arabia. It was named as Tamil Nadu Thawheed Jamaat. (TNTJ) They first operated small and secretly, offering social services to the poorer Muslim communities. They had money and provided much needed medical help and infrastructure facilities and became popular and powerful within a short period of time. Then came the expansion of the movement within the Tamil Nadu state and thereafter spread itself to the neighboring Karnataka State. Later on, the TNTJ initiated the establishment of the All India Thawheed Jamaat (AITJ), which quickly established itself among Muslim communities all over India. This organization established branches in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Brunei, Middle East, Great Britain, U.S.A., Australia and some other countries. The Tamil Nadu Thawheed Jamaat is allied to the Dravida Munnethra Kazagam (DMK) party of M.Karunanidhi. It is the same person who wants to establish a Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka and helped the LTTE till the end and is now trying to force the Indian government to take action against Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, about 99% of the Muslims are Sunnis while the remaining 1% are Shiaas. Of the Sunnis, the majority belongs to the Tableeq Jamaat which accounts for 73% of the total and is followed up by the Thawheed Jamaat with about 10%, Jamaath Islam with 8%, Sunthul Wal Jamaat with 6%, Jamaatul Muslimeen with 2% and Ahamadias with 1%.It is clear that the Thawheed Jamaat represent a small minority among the total Muslim population in Sri Lanka. It is seen that the Tableeq Jamaat that represents ¾ of the Sunni Muslim population in Sri Lanka is virtually unheard of within the other religious groups in this country and they are not linked with any controversies or disruptive activities. The other groups, comprising of 17% of the Muslim population of the country are also unheard of in the media or are not associated with any controversies. This shows that 90% of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka is not in any way linked to the controversial and divisive activities that are the cause of much unrest, disharmony and distrust in the country. It is tragic that the majority of the Muslims who are essentially peace loving are to pay for the actions of this minority.

The Thawheed Jamaat has directed their violence towards the other Sunni groups in the Eastern Province for a long time. It is tragic that these incidents have been covered up by interested parties and are not known to even a majority of the Muslim community. They are almost unheard by other religious groups. Lately, they have expanded their activities in other areas of the country and carry on a campaign against others, notably against the Tableek Jamaat that represent the majority.

After peace dawned on Sri Lanka 19-05-2009,

Some of these incidents are given below,

1.      Beruwala on 29.07.2009 – two persons Mohomed Sai Mohomed and Mohomed
Manzoor Thaheer were killed, 41 were injured. No legal action has been initiated as yet.

2.      Telambugolla in Gokarella on 02.11.2012 – 8 persons were injured.

3.      Horagolla in Nittambuwa on 11.01.2013 – attack on M.U.M. Sahajan and 8 families.

4.      Watadeniya in Kadugannawa on 29.03.2013 – attack on New Mosque – 6 were injured.

5.      Mahiyanganaya on 07.02.2014 – attack on a welfare center and a day care center.

6.      Madampe in Chilaw on 14.02.2014. – attack on house of Mohomed Ramesh – 7 were injured.

7.      Horagolla in Nittambuwa on 22.02.2014 – clash between Thawheed Jamaat and Tableeq Jamaat – 14 were injured.

8.      Madampe in Chilaw on 28.02.2014 – demonstration against extremists.

9.      Kuchchaweli, Trincomalee on 03-03-2014 – attack on prayer center, one severely injured.

10.  Madampe in Chilaw on 07-03-2014 – attack on house – 9 were injured.

From 2004 many such clashes were reported from Kalmunai, Addalachenei, Muthur and Kuchchaweli injuring dozens of people.

The Thawheed Jamaat is propagating their Wahabbi doctrine by resorting to violence against other Muslims. This has created a fear psychosis among the Muslims who belong to other groups. They have organized groups to enforce their way of faith among other Muslims. The forcing of the burka on female Muslim university students is one such move. The female students are harassed till they submit themselves to the will of the Thawheed Jamaat student bodies. Thawheed Jamaat organized Harthal, boycotts and protest campaigns against Deyata Kirula in 2013.

The most unfortunate aspect of the actions of the Thawheed Jamaat is the violence and disharmony they create among the Muslims and other religious groups. They have, of late, created inciting incidents against the Buddhist majority which is creating much misunderstanding between the Buddhists and Muslims. It should be noted that after 2009 not a single incident of killing anyone due to minor incident between misled Buddhists extremists and Muslims, although some sections tried to portray out blown religious disharmony in the country. The average Buddhists or members of other religions do not see that this problem is only a one created by a minority within the Muslim community. This has been responsible for the mistrust and they are more and more suspicious of the Muslims in general. This is because the Thawheed Jamaat never shows their face publicly in these activities but hide behind the banner of Islam. We fear that these activities of the Thawheed Jamaat, if left unchecked by the authorities, would create a situation in which the majority of the Muslims in Sri Lanka, already under threat and harassment from this extremist minority, may have to face the wrath of other religions.

Therefore, we urge the Sri Lankan government to ban the Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaat without delay. Also we plead with world bodies not to allow extremists groups with Sri Lankan Muslim community to destroy the hard earned peace in the country.

Thank you.

Peace Loving Moderate Muslims – Sri Lanka.