5 November 2001, 12:51am IST
Firoz Bakht Ahmed.
To umpteen non-muslim friends of mine, islam is an intolerant and aggressively proselytising religion whose followers enforce conversion under the threat of death, destroy shrines and idols of other religions and indulge in terrorism in the name of religion. this is because religions are often judged by what their most debased, fanatical and intolerant followers do. this holds true in the case of islam. whenever there’s a tragedy of the kind like the afghan war, the babri masjid imbroglio, the triple talaq or the cases of fatwas against author salman rushdie’s satanic verses or taslima nasreen’s lajja , a quarrel over islam begins and it appears that there are many islams and as many forms of jehad. there is the islam that osama bin laden follows. then there is the islam adhered to by the muslim intellectuals or moderate clerics like mufti mukarram, the imam of the ‘shahi’ masjid fatehpuri. yet another form is propagated by politicians. the question is what exactly is real islam? whatever the answer to that may be, islam is certainly not what the osama bin ladens practise or what the so-called kashmiri jehadis espouse. some might even ask whether islam is a conglomeration of all these forms? certainly not. islam propagates peace. it means submission before the almighty. it is not submission to terrorism. besides, terrorists are neither muslims nor christians; neither hindus nor sikhs. the religion of terror is quite unlike the traditional religions. it’s altogether a different concept. terrorism is the murder of the innocent as happened in the case of mass murder at the world trade center. it is the violence american forces are perpetrating on innocent afghan civilians. there can be no excuse for such acts whichever quarter they may come from. besides, terrorism is not the pursuit of legitimate complaints by illegitimate means. all acts of terror are anti-islam and anti-jehad. the terrorist will claim one or another religious or social grievances as a cover for his insidious and ulterior motives. all killers do so ‘‘for building a better world’’. it is mentioned in the holy qur’an that the needy, the handicapped, the orphans and the hapless be helped. it has never said that a follower of islam should be not helped or sympathised with. in fact, it is bigotry and hatred that results in enmity. a man blinded by nationalistic bigotry can never be tolerant and sympathetic towards other religions and nations. islam is opposed to this. it considers all creatures of god as one family. prophet mohammed once told hazrat mohammed abdullah bin masood that all creatures constitute the family of god and man is god’s most beloved. it finally implies that he who serves god’s creation, is nearest to him. when we speak of human rights, peace and service to mankind in islam, we really mean that these rights have been granted to us by god and not by any king or any legislative assembly. therefore, no one has the right to abrogate or withdraw them. they are not like basic human rights that are written on paper and denied in actual life. they are concrete sets of laws for peace and mutual co-existence. they are not like the shariah courts. true, islam symbolises the security of life and property, protection of honour and the right to protest against tyranny towards men, women and children. for the eternal goal, the path is that our faith must be true and sincere. we must be prepared to show it in deeds of charity to our fellow beings no matter what faith they follow. we must be good, law-abiding citizens supporting social causes and organisations. our own individual soul must be firm and unshaken in all circumstances. this is the standard by which a particular mode of conduct is judged as good or bad. this standard of judgment provides the nucleus around which the entire moral conduct should revolve. thus by setting god’s pleasure as the objective of man’s life, islam has furnished the highest possible standard of morality. and god is most pleased when he sees that humanity is involved in mutual co-operation and harmonious co-existence. this is bound to provide limitless avenues for the moral evolution of our race. it ensures that the affairs of life, instead of being dominated by selfish desires and petty interests, must be regulated by norms of compatibility.
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