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Your Questions Answered
Q&A With Maulana Wahiduddin Khan on AntiMuslim
Sentiments.
In recent years, there’s been an escalation of
anti-Muslim sentiments in many countries.
In parts of the West, for instance, there have
been cases of Muslims being turned away from
restaurants, of Muslims being physically and
verbally abused, and of being asked to get off a
plane because someone else wrongly suspected
and accused them of being terrorists, of Muslim women being
dismissed from workplaces because they insist on wearing the hijab,
of local non-Muslims protesting against plans for building mosques,
and so on. The latest such development is in France, with the ban on
what are called burkinis in many French cities.
What do you think are the reasons for these growing anti-Muslim
sentiments?
The answer to this question can be found by studying a
verse in the Quran. “And beware of an affliction that will not
smite exclusively those among you who have done wrong.”
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If we study this Quranic verse and objectively apply it to the present
situation of Muslims, we realize that what is happening in the world
today is not due to “anti-Muslim sentiment”. Rather it is a reaction to
Muslims’ own negative activities.
Muslims say that instances of terrorism are perpetrated only by
some Muslims, and not the whole Muslim community. This claim of
Muslims could be right, but another serious aspect of this matter is
that Muslims to this day have not unequivocally disowned Muslim
terrorism. I don’t know of a single person in the entire Muslim world
who openly condemns Muslims’ negative activities. If any person does
speak on this topic, he would speak with twists. For example, some
would say, ‘It is true that Muslims are involved in terrorist activities,
but this action of theirs is a reaction: they are reacting to others’
discriminatory behaviour towards them.’ This kind of condemnation is
certainly not condemnation. It is akin to indirectly justifying the violent
actions of Muslims. Objective analysis tells us that such instances that
you cite are certainly not discrimination. They are a result of Muslims’ own doubtful behaviour. Muslims are themselves responsible for this
discrimination. According to a Hadith, the Prophet said: “Save yourself
from being regarded as objectionable.” Because Muslims do not
outrightly disown the actions of those Muslims who are engaged in
wrong actions, others in the community will also face ‘discrimination’.
If Muslims were to clearly condemn the actions of those who are doing
wrong, then only those specific persons who are guilty of the wrong
would face the above kind of response, which is termed ‘discrimination’
or ‘anti-Muslim sentiment’.
Some Muslims may respond to displays of anti-Muslim sentiment
by protesting against them and denouncing what they say is
discrimination against them. They might, for instance, campaign for
a boycott of a restaurant where Muslims have been turned out from.
Or, they may demand that an airline company whose employees had
made a Muslim passenger disembark from a plane, wrongly suspecting
him to be a terrorist, should issue an apology. Or, they may insist that
countries pass stricter laws to counter anti-Muslim discrimination.
What do you think of this approach to countering or overcoming antiMuslim
sentiments?
These cases are due to the law of nature. The solution to them is not
that countries pass anti-Muslim discrimination laws. There are only two
options before Muslims. First, they should declare that they are not
a single community. The case of every individual Muslim is separate
and distinct. Thus, if anything happens with a Muslim, Muslims as a
whole should not make it their own case but should look at it only as
the case of a particular person. However, if Muslims cannot take this
option and do consider themselves as a single community or ummah,
they should condemn, in clear terms, those among them who engage
in negative activities. If they do not condemn these persons, then the
rest of the world would surely infer from the wrong actions of these
particular Muslims that the entire Muslim community is responsible,
because Muslims themselves say that all Muslims are members of a
single ummah or community.
Such instances of discrimination as you have cited in your question
happen on a regular basis with secular persons, but the rest of the
secular world does not look at it as a matter of the “secular community”.
In the secular world, each person is looked upon as distinct. There is no
“secular ummah”. So, when such cases happen with secular persons, the
sentiments of secular people do not get hurt, because secular people
do not regard themselves as a single community. They regard this as a
problem pertaining to those specific individuals. But when such cases happen with Muslims, the sentiments of the entire Muslim community
get hurt. What happens with one Muslim affects the whole of the
Muslim community. This is why when one Muslim performs a wrong
action, the world begins to doubt other Muslims too. In order to avoid
this, either Muslims should very strongly condemn those individual
Muslims among them who are doing wrong, or, if not this, they should
abandon the concept of the ummah: that is, every Muslim’s case is his
own and what he does has nothing to do with other Muslims.
How effective do you think this approach that many Muslims
advocate—of protesting against what is termed ‘Islamophobia’—
might be in changing the hearts and minds of people who may have
negative views of Muslims?
This approach of Muslims cannot change others’ views about Muslims.
The only way to change this situation is that Muslims should reform
themselves. Demanding others to change cannot at all be of any use
in this regard.
If you don’t think this approach is effective in this regard, what
alternate approach do you think Muslims should adopt to help others
change their opinions about Muslims and Islam?
The starting-point in this matter is that all those who are representatives
of Muslims should openly disown Muslims’ terrorist activities. They
should prevent Muslims from engaging in terrorism, and if this is not
possible for them, then they should clearly condemn these actions by
Muslims.
Complaining against and denouncing anti-Muslim sentiments
represents one approach that seeks to improve relations between
Muslims and others. It is a negative approach, in that it is against
something. But there is a very different approach to the issue—a
positive approach based on seeking to improve others’ perceptions of
Muslims and Islam by doing good to others, serving them and being
kind and helpful to them, even in the face of discrimination from
them. This is a constructive approach, in contrast to the first one. It
is about doing something positive, instead of denouncing something
negative.
Which of these two approaches would you suggest Muslims should
adopt and why?
The only way to change the perception of people about Islam and
Muslims is for the representatives of Muslims to condemn the wrong
actions of Muslims. For example, all ulema should collectively issue a
fatwa unconditionally denouncing the negative activities of Muslims.
