Mar 29 2018
Among the Believers
The documentary, Among the Believers, provides an in depth and exclusive view of Abdul Aziz and his work to impose sharia law throughout Pakistan. The film follows Abdul Aziz on his path to promote extreme Islam views, as well as two children who have experienced the Red Mosque first hand. The Red Mosque is a school for students in which Islam extremists require their students to memorize the quran and fight for their extreme views in exchange for free housing, meals, and their “access into heaven.” Here, students spend the entirety of their days memorizing the verses of the quran, although they are not taught the actual meaning behind the words.
The first Red Mosque was built in 1965 and ran by Maulana Abdullah until his assassination in 1998. Soon thereafter, his son, Abdul Aziz, was left in charge of the mosque, turning it into a place of open opposition to the government and extreme islamic teachings. Although many people of the mosque claim it to be peaceful, Abdul Aziz and his followers are heavily tied to ISIS and the Taliban in Pakistan. The current state of Pakistan is filled with political unrest and civil war, due to islamic extremist such as Abdul Aziz and his followers, fighting for sharia law to be implemented as law throughout the country. In response, the Pakistani government retaliated by killing many relatives of Abdul and invading mosque’s that were built around the country for his teachings. However, as Aziz’s power began to decline, his followers and the student’s of the mosques began to retaliate and fight against the government’s attempts to shut down their schools. As consequence, ties between his students and other radical groups such as ISIS and the Taliban were strengthened.
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