Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Masses honour slain Sabri

SUNNI AND SHI’ITE MOURNERS UNITED AT FUNERAL OF SUFI MUSICIAN

THOUSANDS of Pakistanis last Thursday (23) thronged the streets of Karachi to attend the funeral of one of the country’s


best-knownSufi musicians, who was gunned down a day earlier in what police called an “act of terror”.

The funeral prayers for Amjad Sabri, which were held on the city’s major

Ibn-e-Sinathorough- fare, brought together large numbers of both Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, with many praising his devotional music, humble lifestyle and charity work.

He was shot dead by two gun- men riding a motorcycle last Wednesday (22) as he drove his car to a TV studio where he was due to perform for a Ramadan show. Another male relative, Saleem Sabri, was critically injured in the attack.

Senior police official Muqaddas Haider called the killing an “act of terror” without naming possible suspects.

Sabri, the son of another legendary Qawwali singer, Ghulam Farid Sabri, who died in 1994, was a fixture on national television and regularly performed on a morning show during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

In May 2014 he was asked by a court to respond to blasphemy charges following the broadcast of a controversial

song-and-dance routine that was set to a Qawwali piece about the wed- ding of the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter to his cousin.

Dozens of police and para- military Rangers on Thursday guarded the funeral procession winding its way down the road, as a sea of mourners, some wearing black armbands, others in coloured turbans that signified their sects, surrounded the ambulance carrying Sabri’s body to its resting place.

Many crowded to touch the ambulance, a gesture of rever- ence for the deceased.

Shops and businesses in the Liaquatabad and Nazimbad areas shut down for the day.

One mourner, Shaheen Iqbal, said she had asked Sabri for help just days earlier. “He gave me rations for Ramadan and some money. He also promised to help me get a small apartment,” she said, tearfully.

Mohammad Farooq Khan, a

36-year-oldwho contracted polio as a child, said he had walked 12km from the city’s north on his crutches to attend the sing- er’s last rites.

Some observers have said that Sabri may have been assassinated because he was a high- profile Sufi, a mystic Islamic order that believes in living saints, worships through music and is viewed as heretical by some hardline groups, including the Taliban.

A man claiming to belong to a

littleknownfaction of the Pakistani Taliban said his group took responsibility for the attack in a phone call last Wednesday (22), though it was not possible to verify the claim and a senior official said police were still investigating. (AFP)

More For You

british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools
Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in 'Adolescence'
Netflix

Netflix drama Adolescence to be screened in UK schools

THE NETFLIX drama Adolescence will be shown in UK secondary schools as part of efforts to address harmful online influences on young boys, officials announced on Monday.

The show has sparked debate over the impact of toxic and misogynistic content on the internet. Prime minister Keir Starmer met the show's creators, charities, and young people at Downing Street, calling the initiative an important step in starting discussions about the content teenagers are exposed to online.

Keep ReadingShow less