ASK MAULANA

Your Questions Answered

You say that we should not refer to people of other faiths as ‘non-Muslims’. Can you please explain the negative implications of this?

When a person uses the word ‘non-Muslim’ for another person, he is entering the domain of God. For us everyone is human. Declaring someone as Muslim or non-Muslim is a matter of Divine verdict, and no one can take the seat of God Almighty. 

The negative implication of calling someone ‘non-Muslim’ is that it fosters the ‘we and they’ concept. This leads to the erosion of the feeling of universal brotherhood. Everyone is a human being like us. God has given the responsibility to all Muslims to convey His creation plan to mankind. In order to do this Muslims should have no hatred towards others and should always remain their well-wishers.

The evil that one can do—even for a person like Hitler—is limited, given that we live for a limited period of time. Is it likely that God would punish someone in Hell for an unlimited period of time—for eternity—for a limited evil he may have done while on earth?

Punishment in the Hereafter is a matter that belongs to a domain that lies beyond space and time. Man is, however, living within space and time, so at present man cannot comprehend this fact. 

To be in the present moment, to calm the mind, to prevent it from straying, and to increase its focus, some people suggest focusing on the breath—observing the incoming and the outgoing of the breath for some time every day. Do you think this is a useful method?

I do not believe in this technique. Breathing is a physical practice, while negativity is a mental phenomenon. A mental phenomenon can be handled or dealt with only through intellectual practice. Physical practice has got nothing to do with this problem. 

Some people also suggest a method of spending time observing one’s thoughts. One watches the thoughts, both ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ pass through one’s mind, without getting upset at the ‘distressing’ thoughts and attached to the ‘pleasurable’ thoughts. Would you recommend this as a means for introspection?

According to my experience there is only one solution to this problem. When you attribute your unwanted experience to some person, it produces negative thought. But if you attribute it to the law of nature, then you will develop no negative thought. We face different problems in the world of nature, for example, cold or hot weather, but we do not develop negative thought towards these phenomena. Similarly, if we attribute the problems we face in social life to the law of nature, we will be able to easily manage our negativity. 

I think one of the major reasons why many people of other faiths have prejudices against Islam is because of widespread negative behaviour of many Muslims. As you have also written, many Muslims have hate for people of other faiths. Also, many Muslims interpret Islam in such a negative way that people of other faiths are repelled by their understandings of religion. How far do you see Muslims as being responsible for driving others away from Islam?

To some extent, Muslims are responsible for the negative perception of Islam among others. But even then, others are responsible, because everyone knows that Muslims are not the source of Islam. The source of Islam is its text, so people should refer to the text to form an opinion about Islam. For example, there is corruption in Indian society, but no one attributes it to the Indian Constitution or religious scriptures. Rather, they point to the Indian community as being responsible for it. The same principle should be followed even in the case of Islam. 

If non-Muslims have negative views about Islam because of the way many Muslims interpret and claim to practice it, then do you think Muslims who believe and behave in this way really expect to be destined to heaven if they continue with their behaviour and practice and supremacist (mis-)interpretations of Islam?

Paradise is not the monopoly of any group. Muslims will be judged in the same manner in which others will be judged. There is no discrimination in divine law in this matter. This is very clear in the Quran. (4 : 123)