Prominent religious scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani on Monday expressed shock at the intense war of words "devoid of any restraint" between the mainstream political parties, saying "it is frightening to imagine the extent to which Islamic rules and values are being violated in political disputes."

       The remarks from the noted scholar come in the wake of mud-slinging between the opposition — primarily the PPP and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which is an alliance of other opposition parties — and the ruling PTI after the former submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

       Since then, the two sides have been trading barbs in their respective public meetings, with one widely-discussed instance of the prime minister calling PDM chief and JUI-F head Maulana Fazlur Rehman as "diesel" and the leading opposition trio — Asif Ali Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif and Maulana Fazl — as "the three stooges".

       Without naming anyone, Mufti Usmani, quoted a reference from a verse of the Holy Quran's Surah Hujurat, saying "do not make fun of one another, do not indulge in back-biting ... and do not call anyone with twisted names."

       He said differences could be ideological or political, but they should not be taken to a point where expletives are hurled at each other or violence is resorted to.

       He said criticism was based on arguments and not on foul language.

       "Please think about where we are going," the Mufti said.