I liked the most recent Write Hand column by Ajaz-ul-Haque (Dr. Zakir fights back, 13th of June, 2010). I admire this honesty. It was, indeed, a very courageous step – especially in a society like ours where people generally are reluctant to criticize any Muslim scholar assuming that if they hint at his blemishes, Allah will take them to task on the Day of Resurrection! In today’s world – where every kind of information is just a click away – a merely well-informed person is useless. A mere memorization of facts from all the scriptures down to the page-number and line-number - ends up making us ‘telephone directories’.  What is imperative is the right use of knowledge. It is truly said that: “We  never know a people or a city in its depth and its most hidden qualities through books, nor even most persistent poking about its nooks and crannies, but only through its best people. It is only through an intellectual friendship with the living that one gains insight into the true connection between folk and land; all observation from without can give no more than a spurious premature view”. It takes outsiders to show us the loveliest spots of our own city, and also the dirt and filth in it. No matter how much we study about the mountain we live on, we cannot get its true picture unless and until we dismount; and then behold it – red in tooth and claw - from the valley-floor; and then start climbing it again - more in love with it, more aware of its beauty, and conscious of its worth. Likewise, we have more to learn from our critics than our fans and supporters. Our friends often pretend to agree with us in order avoid an argument, and conceal our flaws for the sake of being inoffensive. They may say that they admire our work, adore our principles and love our deportment – maybe they mean it, but often they do not. Our critics, conversely, are an untapped gold-mine that we should learn to make the most of. In fact, a wise man welcomes conflicts using critics to enhance his reputation as a sure-footed combatant who can be relied upon in times of uncertainty. Therefore we must learn to allow dissent, and not only tolerate but encourage different opinions and viewpoints to be openly held and freely expressed. Otherwise how will we grow?
It’s ironic that our ‘modern’ society has acquired the habit of thinking that religion ought to provide us information! Questions like - ‘Does God exist?’; ‘How did the universe come into being?’; ‘How did life evolve?’ -  are in the air. This divergence is a recent trend. Initially religion was never supposed to answer the questions which could be answered by human reason. Religion’s chief task was simply to help us live peacefully, ingeniously and cheerfully with the realities and problems which we could neither explicate nor solve. Religion is, actually, a pragmatic discipline. It does not derive its insights from abstract guesswork, but from spiritual exercises and a devoted way of life. When the Prophet of Islam received his very first revelation, it was established that Allah was that same God - the God of Jews and Christians. In fact, one of the first things that Muhammad (pbuh) asked his followers to do was to pray facing Jerusalem – the city of Jews and Christians whose God they had now started worshiping. It’s important to note that the Jews and Christians were not invited to join the new faith unless they themselves wished to do so - for they had already received revelations of their own. The Quran enjoins its followers to treat the ‘ahl al-kitab’ – ‘people of an earlier revelation’ - with reverence and courteousness: “Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in the most kindly manner – unless it be such of them as are bent on evil-doing, and say - We believe in that which has been revealed to us from on High, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you - for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto him that we all surrender ourselves.” This policy commenced by Muhammad (pbuh) was continued after his demise, and until the mid-8th century CE conversion to Islam was neither endorsed nor promoted. The Quranic injunction that there can be no compulsion in the matter of faith (La-Ikrah Fiddin) – that faith grows from inside out, and it cannot be imposed on anyone; & the principle taught by the Prophet of Islam when he concluded a treaty of peace with the Quraish of Makkah, known as the Peace of Hudaibah - that Muslims should live in peace with the non-Muslims; should not be ignored by the Muslims. Allah told Prophet Moses that he had been sent to unite mankind & not to divide it; & that He had given each people their own faith in their own language, particularly to those of Sindh & Hind, & these should not be interfered with. But today, paradoxically, some Muslims belittle and vilify Judaism and Christianity, and some ‘extremists’ even go to the extent of saying that it is the sacred duty of Muslims to conquer the whole world, convert the entire mankind to Islam, and establish a pan-Islamic empire! In reality, all these are new notions, and they are not in line with the holy Islamic tradition.
What did prophets and saints fight? They fought the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few. When the most revered Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked his followers to give away a definite share of their income to the poor - ‘zakat’, he actually aspired to minimize the socio-economic disparity and cleanse the human hearts of greed and selfishness. Furthermore, there is evidence that Muhammad’s religion was initially known as ‘tazakah’ – a corrupt form of the word ‘zakat’. This emphasizes the importance of generosity, kindness, humility and simplicity. In due course, the same religion came to be called ‘Islam’ – meaning ‘surrender’; and thereby ‘Muslims’ are those who make existential surrender of their lives to their Lord. The act of prostrating in prayer several times a day had a profound meaning - it was designed to signify what ‘Islam’ basically required – the transcendence of the ego. Muslims are enjoined to decipher the signs or ‘ayat’ in the environ around them and contemplate upon the mysteries of creation so as to observe their Lord’s unstinted nature and cultivate similar generosity in themselves: “The earth He has spread for all living beings, with fruits hereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters of dates, and grain growing tall on its stalks and sweet-smelling plants”. It was nothing save their Lord’s mercy, bounteousness and kindness that created an epoch of synchronization and fecundity instead of mayhem and sterility on earth. If Muslims would have learnt to be like their Lord, then they would not only have made their lives certainly better on all fronts, but would also have accomplished moral and spiritual refinement instead of degradation and backwardness.
True, Islam is not a religion of non-violence - but the Quran allows only self-protective and defensive warfare. It puts warfare in a subordinate position. It condemns war as ‘an awesome evil’ and forbids the Muslims to instigate it. It instructs the Muslims to defend themselves when attacked, and fight unreservedly - but the very moment the enemy seeks peace, hostilities must cease, and reconciliation should be arrived at. Moreover, in Islam, war is only the last resort. Better is to negotiate with the enemy “in the most humanely manner”; and, best is to pardon and be forgiving “since God is with those who are patient in hard times”.  The word ‘jihad’ - which has now been perverted and contaminated – seldom meant a ‘holy war’ originally. Its real meaning was ‘struggle’. Once after returning from battle-field, Muhammad told his followers: “We are leaving the Lesser Jihad are returning to a Greater Jihad” – which means the struggle against our lower selves and darker sides.
Today we are living in an abysmal world where millions of people have already died in the battles and wars fought in the name of God. What a tragedy! - or, let me put mildly - what an anti-climax! The reform demands that we must learn to see things from other people’s standpoint instead of forcibly imposing our opinions upon them. We must learn to respect differences and tolerate dissensions so as to create a society that uses the best that everyone has to offer. For religion to help humanity to grow and develop, for religion to heal our wrecked, wounded world -....” - we need to rediscover the spirit of humility and compassion - which is the essence of all our religions.

(Aarzoo Khan is from the Department of History, University of Kashmir. Feedback at anthem110@gmail.com)

Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST