ASK MAULANA
Your Questions Answered
Why should I respect Islam and its adherents? Suicide bombers, cruelty
towards ‘sinners’, patronising towards women, conservative medieval
social norms, sanctimonious people who look down upon others who
drink and smoke…
You are under no compulsion to respect Islam and its adherents.
However, you must certainly analyze what you hold in contempt.
The very word ‘Islam’ (from the Arabic silm) connotes peace. According
to a teaching of the Prophet, “Peace is Islam.” (Al-Bukhari, the most
authentic book after the Quran) This means that peace is one of the
prerequisites of Islam. The Prophet once stated: “A Muslim is one from
whose tongue and hands people are safe.” One of the attributes of God
described in the Quran is ‘As-Salam’, which means peace and security.
As per Sahih Muslim, the second most authentic book of Hadith, a
teaching is recounted as follows. It is narrated on the authority of Abu
Huraira that the Messenger of Allah observed:
"He who killed himself with steel (weapon) would be the eternal
denizen of the fire of Hell and he would have that weapon in his
hand and would be thrusting that in his stomach for ever and
ever, he who drank poison and killed himself would sip that in
the fire of Hell where he is doomed for ever and ever; and he
who killed himself by falling from (the top of) a mountain would
constantly fall in the fire of Hell and would live there for ever
and ever." (Sahih Muslim).
In addition, the Quran makes a very clear statement: “Whoever killed
a human being, except as a punishment for murder or for spreading
corruption in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all mankind.”
(
It is true that some Muslims are engaged in violence in the name of
Islam, but these violent activities are quite against Islamic teachings.
Islam in its very essence connotes peace and there is no association of
a peaceful religion with terrorist movements at all. You have to judge
Muslims in the light of Islamic teachings, and not vice versa.
How can we eliminate all terrorists from the world? Can there be
everlasting peace?
Terrorism is a phenomenon that results on account of misuse of
freedom by human beings. God bestowed freedom upon mankind in
order to put us to the test in this world. It is the misuse of this Godgiven
freedom which creates all kinds of problems in society.
As we cannot abolish this freedom, we cannot establish an ideal system.
It is this fact due to which establishing a perfect society or system is
simply not possible.
Which extremely unfair society became fair without violent processes?
The term ‘fair’ has to be understood in a pragmatic sense and not
in the ideal sense. This is because in this world, everyone has been
granted complete freedom to make their own moral choices. It is this
freedom that divides people into two categories—those who misuse
their freedom and the others who make proper use of it.
In view of human freedom, I would like to present a pragmatic example
of such a society which was fair—this was the society that Prophet
Muhammad established and which lasted for a limited period of time—
for about
with the Quraysh tribe. A few violent clashes were merely defensive
and did not last more than a couple of hours. Later on, after the death
of the Prophet, this society was also marred by violence which was
the result of misuse of freedom by some people called Khawarij or
the uncivilized desert dwellers, who became the chief reason for the
strife and violence in the society of that time. But despite their sharp
differences, the opposing parties used to come together for performing
the religious rites of the deceased. I do not know of any other such
example.
Why is there Islamophobia, but no Hinduphobia or Buddhistphobia?
There’s no such thing as ‘Islamophobia’. This is a concept which only
some Muslims have themselves innovated. There would have been
Islamophobia if this term had been coined by the West describing their
own attitude towards Islam. On the other hand, this term has been
attributed to the West by the Muslim community. Thus Islamophobia is
an allegation, and not a real phenomenon.
It is a common perception that Muslims become emotional very easily
when it comes to controversial issues. This is why people have come
to fear Muslims, while Hindu and Buddhist communities are tolerant in
comparison. It is because of people’s perception of Muslims as being
intolerant that there is fear of Muslims, but not of people of other
faiths.
If the Muslim community embraces peace, cultivates tolerance and
avoids being over-sensitive on trivial issues then the so-called
‘Islamophobic’ perception shall also disappear.
What is wrong with Islam in the 21st century?
In my opinion there is only one problem facing present-day Muslims–
that is, their self-styled concept of jihad. All other issues of intolerance
and extremism have branched out from their misconceptions about
jihad. The most essential point for Muslims today is to know the
importance of peace and to know that jihad is not needed in today’s
age. The command for jihad, in terms of qital (war), is suspended.
If in present times, we can achieve everything we want by peaceful
methods, then why engage in qital or fighting? This is the basic problem
that needs to be addressed. Trying to establish Islamic Shariah by force
or through coercion is also an offshoot of this wrong concept of jihad.
Muslims must throw away their arms in the oceans and work peacefully
for constructive goals.
Whenever Muslim countries are in crisis, why does Islamic
fundamentalism flourish there immediately?
Crisis in Muslim countries leads to flourishing of Islamic fundamentalism.
This is because since the time the Palestinian issue gained prominence,
Ikhwanul Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) has gained stronghold in
Arab countries. The Muslim Brotherhood were initially against the
West but later they also turned against their own Arab rulers and tried
to dethrone them because they thought that these rulers were agents
of the West. In order to destabilize the Arab rule, Muslim Brotherhood
began confronting and clashing with the rulers. As a result, the Arab
rulers became very sensitive towards Islamic movements, as they
considered them to be a form of extremism or fundamentalism whose
aim was to revolt and de-stabilize the existing rule.
Is the concept of ‘religion’ to be blamed for the chaos in the world, or
is it humans who are responsible?
The source of chaos in the world is not religion. Its source is the misuse
of freedom by human beings. God bestowed freedom upon mankind
in order to put us to the test in this world. It is the misuse of this Godgiven
freedom which creates all kinds of problems in society. Evil is not
a part of creation. It is a result of misuse of freedom by man.
