The last few weeks have been filled with bad news. Bad news about the global economic downturn, the falling price of Oil, the gloomy scenario in Dubai's real estate market and more. As if all these werent enough, there was the terrorist attack in Mumbai; which killed more than 170 innocent people. And yet again, the same people turn out to be the culprits, Al-Qaeda, LeT, Deccan Mujahideen - what is in a name ? They are all the same - filth and degraded souls out to exact revenge against innocent people.
Caught amidst all this confusion is the average muslim. Muslims like me. We dont go around carrying guns and bombs. We dont intend to kill ANYONE, we have dreams; ambitions and aspirations like anyone else. Yet, when it comes down to being a suspect, we come first on the list. A comedian named Ahmed Ahmed ( who is wellknown for his show " Axis of Evil" which does packed shows in UAE and US put it well when he joked " My name appeared on one of FBI's list when travelling and they would not let me travel. Perhaps there is an ACTUAL terrorist out there whose name is Ahmed Ahmed and he is having the last laugh".
How muslims in India and the rest of the world deal with this will determine their future. Muslims in India today are a passive lot. Of the millions who live in the country, few are in positions of leadership. Fewer are in real positions of power; where they can change the course of their destiny. With others including the media, the judiciary, the executive branch of the government driving the agenda; how can this group of people hope to ever be in-charge ?
There seems to be hope amidst all the darkness that surrounds us. I was happy to learn that there is a group organising a " Jihad against terror" - a peaceful demonstration of thousands of muslims at the Victoria Terminus - the point where the shooting happened. This is scheduled for Dec 7, at 3 pm in Mumbai and simultaneously across 10 cities in India.
In this context, the Darul Uloom Deoband issued a fatwa against terrorism. The excerpts of which are given below :
"Islam is a religion of Peace and Harmony. In Islam, creating social discord or disorder, breach of peace, rioting, bloodshed, pillage or plunder and killing of innocent persons anywhere in the world are ALL considered most inhuman crimes.
There are several verses in the Quran that strictly prohibit the breach of peace. For example: “Do not spread discord on Earth…”
The Quran clearly states that the killing of (even) one innocent person is equivalent to massacre of all humankind because its like opening the floodgates that creates a situation beyond anyone’s control; while saving one life is equivalent to the rescue of all humankind".
This is just one of the steps that are being taken by many of the rational and well-informed muslims in India.
I believe there needs to be a aggressive campaign to de-toxify the image of muslims and Islam. One must start with the perception first. In today's day and age, perception is bigger than reality. The possibility of Pakistan engineering the whole episode ( as made clear by the US government's announcement yesterday) cannot be ruled out.
The ordinary muslims must come out openly and speak out. Speak out against these acts - and not only the massacre of muslims in Gujrat. These killings in Mumbai are as real as the ones in Gujrat. They are as real as the ones in Kashmir. Killing innocent people cannot justify the anger and hurt that the community feels.
I believe that the Darul Uloom should go a step further and make these terrorists outcasts. They must be treated as renegades who have given up religion. Since religion is the cause of all this conflict; deny them the privilige of belonging to Islam. The problem with Islam is also that the "entry barrier" is so low. The religion is open to anyone who believes in one god and the prophet Muhammad. May be we should make the rules of staying in the religion stronger. Make it harder for people to mis-use the privilige of belonging to this great religion which has given the world a lot. Perhaps its time our Mullahs start giving this a serious thought.
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3 comments:
S, I have a opinion here! And it came to me starkly the other day when you n me were discussing communities fairly calmly and harmoniously.
Ofcourse I agree to largely all you have written in your post tho in one place particulalry I detected a sense of persecution complex, but then again as a minority in a hindu nation I probably too would have felt the same if I were you ( and maybe my detection was wrong too - maybe there wasnt any !)
Having said the above- let me once again hark back to the conversation u n me had online- we spoke abt everything under the sun. and when it came to religion and god and such you became wildly frenetic. You almost sounded obsessive as if I was chasing you to the ground. Why does it have to be like this? I was very hassled then becos it was just a normal conversation 2 adults could have had fairly calmly but for the agitation you went thru. And never did I once speak about my religion my god etc etc
I point this out to you becos I think as a friend I can speak honestly with you and say to you dude you did over react. and maybe thr is room for improvement in all of us. If we get agitated as friends with each other ovr religion, surely you can realise how easy it is to get agitated as a nation and allow politicians to divide us and fracture us even further? We have a role to play as educated evolved people, we need to lead from the front, we need to behave harmoniously and not in the least bit as the afflicted party! we need to be the solution.
Hi Mee,
Thanx for writing, but i think you got my reaction wrong. I am a fairly secure person when it comes to my religion, which i believe is an extremely personal issue.
I tend to avoid discussing it unless there is a need, but i am sure in our world as it is today; a lot of issues get mixed up and there definitely is some persecution going on, on all sides. Though, i wouldnt like to play the victim in any way.
Sorry if my reaction that day offended you in anyway..but i guess you mis-read the context of what i said.
could be, may not be. but heck like we agree, thr is always room for improvement in both directions.
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