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.” (5: 32)

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  25 years. It was established after a long peaceful struggle 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.