Mohammad Ayaz Niazi, who was killed on Tuesday night by a bomb blast at Wazir Akhbar Khan mosque, was laid to rest in Kabul amid strong anger and a public outcry over the fragile security situation in the country.
Critics and citizens in Afghanistan have voiced strong criticism about the security strategy of the Afghan security institutions in the two days since a bomb exploded inside Wazir Akbar Khan mosque, which is located in a highly fortified area of Kabul.
At least two people were killed, including the mosque's imam Mohammad Ayaz Niazi, and eight others were wounded.
Afghan religious dignitaries and members of the public at the funeral ceremony for Niazi again called on the Afghan government and security institutions to arrest the perpetrators who planned the murder and serve them justice.
Some clerics meanwhile warned to cut off their ties with the government if the plotters of the attack on Niazi weren’t taken into account.
Residents in Kabul announced Niazi’s murder as major loss for the country.
“The honorable Dr. (Dr. Mohammad Ayaz Niazi) never took a position against anyone, he was just against those elements who conduct those acts which are against the teaching of Islam,” said Abdul Qader Qanet, the head of the Kabul Ulema Council.
“This is an unforgiveable crime, for me, as a student of Niazi, I will not allow this crime to go without being answered for, and I will defend his legacy till the last drop of blood,” said Yasin Farooqi, a member of the Kabul Ulema Council.
Niazi was among the scholars who were against suicide bombing.
“The government has a responsibility and it should respond, as the Ulema knows, the government knows those who are behind such murders,” said Mawlavi Habiburrahman, a cleric.
“We will follow this case in coordination with his family,” said Abdul Hakim Munib, a cleric.
Mohammad Ayaz Niazi was born in 1964 in Yemgan district of northeastern Badakhshan province.
He graduated from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and specialized in the study of Islamic economy. He also earned a doctorate in international relations in Islamic jurisprudence.
After he returned from Egypt, he started as a professor at Kabul University and also was an imam at Wazir Akbar Khan mosque.