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Following are excerpts from an interview with Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi, the imam of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on July 15, 2011:
Interviewer: Don't you think that what you did [the 2007 standoff with the police] was a mistake, because many male and female students were killed here, and you paid a heavy price? Don't you think that all this was a mistake?
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: The answer to this is a long one, so forgive me if I speak at length. Pakistan was established so that Islam could be implemented there. Millions were martyred when Pakistan was founded. Back then, it was said that Islamic law would be the basis for the legal system in Pakistan, and that the Koran and the Sunna would be the basis for everything. However, to this day, this has not been implemented. This was the reason for many things that took place in Pakistan.
What happened at the Red Mosque in Islamabad, was due to Pervez Musharraf's decision to destroy many mosques. Some of the mosques were built a hundred years ago.
Interviewer: Some people level accusations against you because during the siege of the Red Mosque, you left the mosque. Some even say that you disguised yourself as a female student. How do you explain this?
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: This was a deception.
Interviewer: I understood you as saying that you had been deceived, and the army had asked you to leave…
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: It was my colleagues, not the army. There was no contact between me and the army, but some colleagues of mine…
Interviewer: There were some mediators among you?
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: Yes. Some people in the mosque [mediated]. [The army] asked us to come to them for consultations. They wanted this arrangement so that Abd Al-Rashid Ghazi and myself would not be martyred. Our martyrdom could have led to a great problem in the future.
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Interviewer: People said that you used weapons inside the mosque, and that you amassed large quantities of weapons, including heavy weapons, in preparation for a confrontation with the army. Why were there such large quantities of weapons in the mosque? The army showed these weapons to the public at Jamia Hafsa.
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: The weapons displayed by the Pakistani army were not for real. As you probably saw, all these weapons were brand new, and they placed phosphorus weapons and heavy weapons in every room. How come it remained there? If we really had a rocket launcher, for example – and you know that the tanks were close to Jamia Hafsa at that time – why didn't the students use those rocket launchers against the tanks?
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We do not have any special connection with Al-Qaeda, but they love Islam, and so do we. Today, anybody who loves Islam is said to belong to the Taliban or to Al-Qaeda. Both they and we want Islam, even though our paths may be different. But anybody who loves Islam wants Islamic law to be instated.
Interviewer: After the incident of the Red Mosque, the rate of suicide attacks in Pakistan grew. Do you support such attacks – especially since they take place on an almost daily basis?
Sheik Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi: The issue of suicide attacks has to do with religious jurisprudence, and it is not up to me to say whether it is forbidden or permitted. It is up to the Islamic scholars to issue rulings on this. In some cases, such attacks are permitted, and in others, they are forbidden. Therefore, I cannot say they are permitted or forbidden. Therefore, I cannot say they are permitted or forbidden.
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We do not regret what happened, Allah be praised. I believe that the sacrifice was a trivial one, whereas the benefits were very great. I am talking about how Pakistan has benefited from this: today the people want Islamic law to be instated, and the regime to be replaced. I see that many people now understand that the regime is the cause of Pakistan's problems. That is why many people say that we must change the regime.
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The benefits from what happened the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa… As the whole world can see, the benefits lie in Islamic law being instated, first of all in Pakistan, and then in the world, Allah willing.
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