Tags:
Journalism of Courage
To the much-needed chintan manthan on the role and responsibilities of intellectuals initiated by The Indian Express, Sudheendra Kulkarni has made an important contribution by asking, ‘Who’s responsible for the stereotypes of Islam?’ (The Sunday Express, April 1). That he himself is a sophisticated version of Hindutva’s double-speak must not blind us to the merit of his poser.
It is tempting to laugh at this, but Naik must be taken seriously because he is by no means the sole proponent of the ‘one set of laws for countries where Muslims rule (‘Islamic states’) and another where Muslims are in a minority’ doctrine that lies at the root of Muslim duplicity on a range of issues.
Naik is only part of the Muslim malaise, simplistically termed ‘Islamic fundamentalism’, that more or less circumscribes the worldview of an entire gamut of mainstream Muslim organisations: Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt), Jemaah Islamiyah (Indonesia), Jamaat-e-Islami (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and separate Kashmiri), Taliban in Afghanistan, Hizb ut Tahrir in UK and in Central Asia, Wahhabism exported by Saudi Arabia on the back of petro-dollars, the Ahl-e-Hadith…
Do double-standards and intolerance lie at the very heart of Islam? Not true. Between 800 AD and 1600 AD, while Europe was in the Dark Age, it was renaissance time in the Islamic world. But for nearly a century now, a handful of Muslim intellectuals, academics and clerics have been pointing out that the root cause behind the subsequent sorry state of Muslim society can be summed up in three simple words: Reason in exile.
But the voice of reason remained a cry in the wilderness. Then came 9/11. But the agonising introspection that followed has led many to the shocking realisation that Islam was hijacked not on 9/11 but centuries earlier. And the hijackers are none other than the self-designated custodians of Islam: The ulema.
“It is now obvious that Islam itself has to be rethought, idea by idea”, argues the London-based Ziauddin Sardar, author of several books on Islam. Rethinking Islam, the long overdue attempt to reclaim the progressive tradition within lived Islam, is a slow process. But if you know where to look, the signs are evident.
Take Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah, a respected theologian from Mauritania, “a scholar among Muslim scholars.” He is telling Muslims that the theological hangover from Islam’s imperial past, the black-and-white division of the world into the Abode of Islam (Dar al-Islam) or the Abode of War (Dar al-Harb) will no longer do. Muslims, he suggests must resurrect the almost forgotten intermediate notion, the Abode of Truce (Dar al-Sulh) or Abode of Treaty (Dar al Ahd), a concept which enables today’s Muslims to live as peace-loving, law-abiding citizens in non-Muslim societies where Muslims are free to practice and preach their faith.
The dream world of any Islamist today can be summed up in a sentence: ‘An Islamic state run along the principles of divine Shariah laws’. The fantasy, argues Ziauddin Sardar, rests on those very metaphysical catastrophes that are the root cause of Muslim paralysis: The elevation of the Shari’ah to the level of the Divine (not true, only the Quran can be divine for Muslims), the consequent removal of agency from the believers (ours is but to blindly follow what was decided a thousand years ago), and the equation of Islam with the state (an ‘Islamic state’ is nothing but a theological garb for authoritarianism).
Then there is the growing tribe of erudite Muslim women theologians. Riffat Hassan and Amina Wadud are two examples, who may be described as “feminist Muslims” are now challenging the patriarchal hijack of egalitarian Islam soon after the Prophet was no more.
Meanwhile, American Islamic scholar Abdullah Naim is polishing up an “Islamic argument” in favour of a non-theocratic, secular state in Muslim societies. And Anwar Ibrahim, former prime minister of Malaysia, is suggesting a fundamental redefinition of the notion of ummah. Ummah to him can only mean a global community of oppressed people everywhere, Muslims included.
Signs of Islam’s return to reason are now clearly visible. It’s an exciting time for Muslim intellectuals. But sadly, India, home to nearly one out of every six Muslims in the world, has yet to get a whiff of the new breeze that’s blowing through much of the Islamic world.
The writer is co-editor, ‘Communalism Combat’ and General Secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy
