Shahid Manj and his friend Rashid Dogar died during an incident that took place in Jaranwala Tehsil of Faisalabad district of the Punjab province, where a religious dispute between Barelvi and Salafi groups started four years ago over the construction of Abu Ayyub Ansari Mosque which belongs to the Salafi group.

According to Markaz Tawheed Bungla-Manthar, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, during the sermon, the Salafi Imam was talking about the conditions of the acceptance of sacrifice. He said, “God won’t accept sacrifice from those who attribute partners to Him”.

The Barelvi Imam took it offensive, though the sermon was in general terms as per the Quranic injunctions and the monotheistic Islamic faith.

The counter-Imam switched on the loud-speakers, and announced that Salafis are ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool’ which means ‘blasphemers of the Prophet’, and it’s permissible in Islam to kill them.

The Barelvi extremists barged into the Abu Ayyub mosque and dragged the Imam by collar out of the mosque. They started abusing and slapping him publicly.

Upon seeing this, Manj and Dogar intervened to stop the attackers. Meanwhile one of the killers took out his firearm, and fired the first shot in Manj’s eye, then on the face, and then on the rest of the body. Next, he fired at Dogar. Both of them died on the spot.

Markaz Tawheed rules out the case of personal obstinacy in the incident. While it says, it’s the case of sectarian prejudice, which is now being investigated by the authorities.