Gya: Pakistani maulana's the top dog

Guyana-based, Pakistani Muslim scholar, Maulana Hafiz Noorul Hadi Haleem has been appointed as the interim Shaikh-ul-Islam (Spiritual Head) of Trinidad & Tobago with effect from May 1.

Public Relations Officer Raymond Azeeze of the Anna Catherina Islamic Complex related this via a press release from the complex on Tuesday.

The release stated that the appointment was made at a General Council Meeting of the Anjuman Sunnatul Jamaat Association Inc. (ASJA), the country's representative Muslim organisation in late April. Maulana Hadi succeeds a Guyanese Maulana Siqqique Nasir who resigned recently from the ASJA.

Maulana Noorul Hadi was appointed as a result of a co-operation agreement between Muslim leaders of Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and the US when they met in Guyana last month.

Given the Wahhabist nature of Pakistan's Islamic community and the extent of influence of Wahhabism in American Islamic circles, this cooperation may not necessarily be good news for the Caribbean.