Even as minority, Muslims must learn the art of challenging By Dr. Javed Jamil

1. If the writer treats Muslims as a  minority in Indian context, we cannot ignore another minority, the Brahmins who are merely 3% of the total Indian population, while Muslims tag at 13 to 15%. If 3% Brahmin can corral a majority of upto 85% for so long and now that their majority is dispersing, Muslim 'minority' could and should lead and for that it has to imbibe the national and international perspective/outlook and not remain tied to its own community's immediate agenda.

2. In practical terms, even in democracy, it is the minority that rules.

3. Islamic traditions always believe in small and insignificant over-riding, big and powerful.

Considering all these factors, Dr. Javed Jamil's focus on art of challenge is most welcome and deserves widest possible exposure.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>
-----------

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: javed jamil <doctorforu123@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 9, 2012 at 8:50 AM
Subject: Even as minority, Muslims must learn the art of challenging
To:

Even as minority, Muslims must learn the art of challenging   Dr Javed Jamil   Normally the questions that are raised about minorities are regarding their rights particularly their religious, socioeconomic, cultural and personal rights. Here I will specifically talk about Muslims as minorities and their ability to influence the global scenario as a whole and the direction of the national policies in the countries where they are in minority.   Muslims are no ordinary minority wherever they happen to be in minority. They have a strong belief system, which calls for a specific legal, social and economic system. The pivot on which Islamic system revolves is different from the pivot on which the so-called New World Order revolves. The Islamic system revolves around the long term safety and security of the mankind as a whole; New World Order revolves around economic fundamentalism and the interests of the dominant economic forces.  The question arises: Should Muslims limit their aims to merely find a respectable place in society where they can enjoy some basic rights; or should they endeavour to change the direction of the system around them? Obviously if they are Muslims with convictions and their aim is to liberate the mankind from the clutches of some self-seeking forces, they cannot simply remain spectators of a drama unfolding at the behest of the forces of globalisation. They cannot simply sit idle watching their fellow human beings being consumed by the dangerous susceptibilities that the economic forces have learned to commercialise for the purpose of maintaining their hegemony. They must try to influence the direction of the system, and this poses a great challenge. There are several factors that need to be considered if this challenge has to be accepted.   Globally speaking, Muslims cannot be clubbed as a simple minority. They are the second largest majority in terms of the global population as well as in terms of the countries with Muslim majority and significant minority populations. It can be argued that in truth they are the biggest majority because more than half of the so-called Christian population is in fact either that of atheists or that of non-believing Christians. In contrast more than 95 per cent of the world’s Muslims are believing, if not practicing, Muslims. It can be safely assumed that the percentage of believing Muslims is higher than the believing Christians.   Despite their large numbers, Muslims seem to be currently not in any position to challenge the Western hegemony. This inability is not on account of their lack of resources but despite them. In my long 37-episode series, entitled, “Despite Shortcomings, Muslims are Most Civilised in the World”, which attracted intense debate on a large number of internet forums recently, I have given reasons why Muslims can claim to be more civilized than the West. West can certainly claim that it is the most developed part of the world in terms of scientific and technological advancement, infrastructure within their countries and prosperity and power.   Had these attainments resulted in freedom from violence, within and abroad, righteousness among people with clear distinction between beneficial and harmful practices and attitudes, respect and loyalty to relationships, value of human life and sympathetic behaviour towards smaller nations, West could definitely have laid its claim to civilisation. But ah! Its economic, political and military power was not only achieved through both genuine and wrongful ways, it has also misused them with colossal destruction of human lives and peaceful living. The bright stars of the horizon of Westernism have all degenerated into black holes – Democracy into Corporatocracy, Secularism into negation of religious conscience, freedom into license to commit evils and human rights into the defence of criminals and perverts.  Despite its prosperity and power, West has been responsible for   most of the wars in last century, most of deaths in those wars, consuming more than 160 million lives most invasions; including colonisations at a massive scale; most attacks on countries including attacks on civilians; the only nuclear attacks made on the surface of the earth; destruction of aborigines in big numbers; most deaths in Muslim countries including more than 1million in the last decade; deaths of at least 200 million foetuses in last 10 years; huge number of murders and rapes (one fourth to one half of women having experienced rapes) within their countries; huge alcohol and gambling related deaths; rising number of deaths related to AIDS; several million suicides (highest in the world); Western system has also led to behaviours leading to total disintegration of family system with up to 50 pc of abortion rates; up to 50 pc children born out of wedlock; at least 30 pc children living in single parent homes; ever increasing number of gay couples; Western system has also been responsible for huge increase in business related to sex, alcohol, gambling and organised violence; with huge effects on health, family and society; maximum damage to environment, causing massive damage; maximum economic disparity within the countries and among the countries; monopolisation of world resources; and stockpiling of weapons of massive destruction.   Can anybody deny these facts? How can then West make even a small claim to civilisation?     Why can Muslim World claim to be civilised? I have prepared a big table based on various international statistics collected from well recognised sources:   Grand Table of Civilisation   Criteria                                    Western World          Muslim World   1.   Security   Murder Rate                                      Extremely High                    Extremely Low Rapes                                                 Extremely High                    Extremely Low Incarceration Rate                            Extremely High                     Extremely Low Killings in Wars                                 Extremely High                     Extremely Low Terrorism/counter-terrorism          Hardly 4000                            More than 1 million   2. Family   Children born out of wedlock         Extremely High (30-53%)     Rare Abortions (Induced)                         Extremely High (25-50%)     Extremely Low Divorce Rate                                    Extremely High (25-50%)     Low (1-12%) Children with Single Parents          Extremely High                      Low Institutionalized Homosexuality     Growing in popularity          Unknown Socially & Legally sanctioned          Not sanctioned Promiscuity                                        Extremely high                      Extremely low     3. Social peace   Sexual abuse of children                High                                        Much Lower Commercial Sexual abuse               High                                        Negligible Prostitution & Pornography             Socially & Legally sanctioned                                                                      Not sanctioned (Much lower in terms of prostitutes, customers, revenue in Muslim countries than others) Alcohol consumption and effects   Extremely high                      Low Gambling revenues and effects     High                                        Low Life Expectancy at birth                   High                                        Almost as High                                                                                                                                                                        In most countries   4. Human Development   Life Expectancy at conception       Much Lower                          Much higher Literacy Rate                                     High                                        High except in few Higher Education                             Excellent                                Catching fast Moral/Religious Education              Not very good                       Very good Per capita income                 high to moderate                  high to moderate in most,                                                                                                 Low in a few Growth Rate                            low in most                              high to moderate in most Income disparity                      Mostly on higher side              mostly low, high in some   5. Personal   Suicides                                High                                       Extremely low Religiosity                            Good in US, low in Europe          High except in                                                                                                 Some countries     Note: All these tables have been constructed on the basis of statistics given along with their sources in previous chapters.   Table of Comparison of Criteria of Civilization between Representative Muslim and Western Countries   Below I am comparing the situation of 5 typical Western countries – US, UK, France, Germany and Australia with 5 typical Muslim countries – Qatar, Saudi Arab, Kuwait, Indonesia and Turkey.     Criteria                                               Western World                                      Muslim World                                                             US        UK        Aus      Fr         Ger      Qat       SA        Kuw     IND       Tur 1.       Security   Murder Rate (per 1000)                                  .04        .01        .01        .01        .01        No one in top 50,           Rapes  (per 1000)                     .30        .14        .77        .14        .09        .01        003       NL        005       .01        Incarceration Rate (per 100K)                               730       NL        NL        95         85         Not in top 50,                           80 Killings in Wars                       Majority of 160 million killed in 29th C  A Minuscule minority   Terrorism/counter-                   More than 1 m by them combined       None (5000 alleged against terrorists) terrorism            2. Family   Children born out                    of wedlock       %                      40         44         34         45         45         Almost unthinkable in most Abortions %                              35.2      41.8      54.3      58.4      28.9      Less than 15 pc in most Divorce Rate                            54.8      42.6      24         38.3      39.4      7.6        less than 10 in most     6.0 Lone parent families %           9          10         8          7          5          Less than 1 in all countries Institutionalized Homosexuality                         All listed in top 15                                Only Turkey listed in top 15 Teenage birth rate                   52.1      30.8      18.4      9.3        13.1      Unthinkable in most except Indonesia                                                   3. Social peace   Sexual abuse of children        Much bigger    problem                       Relatively smaller                    Commercial Sexual abuse      Much bigger    problem                       Relatively smaller        Prostitution & Pornography                 Much bigger    problem           Relatively smaller        Alcohol consumption  litres per capita             8.3        11.2      9.8        14.8      10.2      NR        NR        NR        NR        1.5 Gambling (Loss per adult in dollars)                       380       375       1300     High (ENK)       NR        NR        NR        NR        NR*   * In Turkey, gambling is relatively high among Muslim countries but is not anywhere in the list of the world giants                           4. Human Development   Life Expectancy at birth           78.2      79.4      81.2      80.7      79.4      75.6      72.8      77.6      70.7      71.8 Life Expectancy at conception 50.9     47.7      47.0      39.9      62.2      65.0      58.2      62.0      50.9      57.4 Literacy Rate   %                      99         99         99         99.0 99.0           93.1      85.0      94.5      92         88.7 Moral/Religious Education       Much less religious institutions            Much more number of religious/moral inst Per capita income 1000 $        47         36         55         41         40         76         16         36         9          10 Growth Rate                            2.8        1.3        2.7        1.4        3.5        16.2      3.7        1.9        6.1        8.2                           5. Personal   Suicides (per 100000)   15.3      11.4      15.9      28.5      15.8      Extremely low in all of them               Religiosity (% of religion-loving)                65         26.5      32         29.5      40.5      94.5      94.5      92.5      99         89.5   (Note: These results are based on the data provided by various authentic international sources. The source is mentioned with each position taken in my coming book, which can also be googled in more than 40 instalments available on several international websites under the caption, “Despite Shortcomings, Muslims most civilised”, which was widely debated a few months back as series on several internet forums. At the end of this paper, I have mentioned the various sources and links related to the statistics used to arrive at the verdict given in the above tables.)   The study is not only about comparing Muslims with the West but also Muslim countries among themselves. The interesting difference between the Western and Muslim worlds is that while in the former, prosperity has inverse relationship with crimes, wars, family stability and peace, in case of Muslim countries the relationship is direct. The more prosperous a Western country the more chaotic and violent it is; the more prosperous a Muslim country is the more peaceful, crime free and non-violent it is  It can be seen that the countries with highest per capita income have also good life expectancy and good literacy rates. At the same time these countries are largely free of violence of all kinds, the level of social evils is markedly less, suicide rates are almost negligible showing the mental health of the people and the family system is extremely strong.  See the top ranking 7 Muslim countries:   They are not known to have attacked any other country or invaded any land; The level of violence in these countries has been extremely low with lowest rates of murders, rapes and abortions in the world; There has been no civil war in these countries in the recent past, no riots with any notable loss of civilian lives; They have not been threatening any nations; Family system has been extraordinarily strong with problems like children born out of marriage nonexistent, relatively much lower divorce rates; The common people are not indulging in vices like alcohol, gambling, which are creating markedly less social problems than in West; (if as alleged the elites do indulge in certain vices they do not let it affect the public; and the record of the rulers of Arab countries is certainly much better in personal lives than Sarkozies, Clintons and Berlucossinis.  ) They are enjoying almost as good comforts of life as Western people. Despite Western style democracies not being there in some countries, people in general are happy. Life Expectancy at birth and literacy rates are almost comparable with the best and life expectancy at conception is far better than that in West.   Why should then these countries not be called the Most Civilised Nations of the World? This is despite the fact that some of them are not democracies, which proves that democracies in themselves are no guarantee to better conditions. The Western model of Democracy has proved to be an abysmal failure becoming in effect Corportocracy which works mostly at the cost of the people. The political leaders in Democracies – from West to India, have proved no less corrupt and inefficient than “monarchies”. This should not be construed as a support to monarchy on my part but as rejection of Western Model of Democracy and the need of an alternative Islamic Model.   Despite this however, the New World Order is largely based on concepts that are in many ways different from what Islam envisages. This Order is based on Supremacy of economics over every other thing, the ideology of what I call “Economic Fundamentalism,” Commercialisation at massive scale of human susceptibilities including all forms of addictions, sex and gambling; A legal system that has proved to be an abysmal failure in all forms of crime; A social system that has brought chaos in personal and family lives; A political system that has failed to bring the best people to the top, and has proved to be corporatocracy in the garb of democracy; A scientific and educational system that caters to the demands of the corporate and by design supports such philosophies in the field of physics and biology that negate the need and role of God and religion; A moral system that has replaced healthy morality with commercial morality and Hegemony of certain nations.   The biggest challenge for Muslims as minority is to change this global scenario.  This is true for the Muslim world as a whole, as well as Muslim minorities in countries, which are largely following the path of New World Order.  But the challenge cannot effectively emerge unless they develop institutions which can turn their ideological positions into alternative programmes, policies, indices, parameters, models and paradigms. Almost all the current concepts need to be challenged. I have been doing this in my own humble and low profile way for several years. But this now needs to be done at the international level through institutions that have the intellectual and financial firepower to turn this into a formidable challenge to the Westernism.  I will enumerate a few here: The concept of “Freedom of Choice” has to be changed to “Freedom of Good Choices, with ban on “Dangerous Choices” that are not suitable for healthy and civilised living; The concept of “Human Rights” has to be changed to “Human Security”. “Human Rights” these days have been relegated to defending the right of murderers to live, rights of women to kill the children in their wombs, the right of women to turn prostitutes and rights of men and women to indulge in homosexuality, which all are huge threats to lives of human beings; “Democracy” has to be changed to “ethicomeritodemocracy”, where morality is not compromised, the true servants of humanity are pushed to powers and the people have the ability to choose from the best options; “Life Expectancy at birth” has to be replaced by “Life Expectancy at Conception”, which is medically more comprehensive way of determining life expectancy and would help in an effective way the fight against abortions; Human Development Indices criteria have also to be changed to make way for better criteria that do not try to bury under carpet the negative impact of New World Order; A Dynamic Model of Health has to be presented, which is in a position to stop any such practices that are threatening to health and peace; Scientific theories like Creation of Universe and Evolution too need to be challenged; and the role of the economic forces in highlighting certain theories has to be exposed.   Muslims may be in minority but this should not be a big impediment in an ideological onslaught against the false ideologies. This onslaught requires determination and efforts at big scales.  Once they start working for an ideological alternative and use scientific techniques and social mobilisation for this, they would soon find that those understanding their viewpoint are no more in minority. I have always maintained that Muslims must take all religions along in this fight. Unfortunately “Interfaith” in recent years has become an exercise to undermine the influence of religion in society. Interfaith seems to have been hijacked by the forces that want the followers of various religions to dilute their positions on various moral issues. I strongly believe that religions should unite against “Economic Fundamentalism” and must form an alliance against commercialisation of human susceptibilities, Economic Disparity and hegemony of certain nations in the world. This is a challenge that Muslim minorities all over the world must accept. If they are able to do it on ideological and not on communal foundations, taking all the right minded people of all religions along them, we will surely see the emergence of a new world order: a world order that will bring peace and security along with prosperity.   Muslim Indians are in a unique position. Legally they are entitled to enjoy “Minority Rights”, ethnically they are the second largest majority and socially they are part of the majority, which is socioeconomically deprived in one way or the other. Fortunately, Muslims in India are living in an entirely different kind of conditions than the Muslim minorities living in West. Muslims living in West have to live along with the people a large percentage of whom does not believe in religion and inside a system that is largely antagonistic to religion. Muslim Indians are part of a nation the overwhelming majority of which has strong faith n God and religion and in a system that respects religion. Muslim Indians are therefore in a better position to challenge the atheistic secularism promoted by the forces of globalisation. They have better chances of developing an all-religion alliance against social evils, economic disparity and moral depravity. A nationwide campaign against Dirty Economics and call for introduction of “Fundamental Prohibitions” in the Constitution along with Fundamental Rights and Duties can go a long way in changing the national scenario, which will then have a huge impact on the global scenario.   Challenging an established system is an art in itself. A minority can challenge it only when it realises that an established system too is more often than not controlled by forces that form minuscule minority. They control the system at the cost of the majority. Muslims must learn to convert the minority into majority by creating awareness in the masses irrespective of their religious or ideological connections how certain forces are causing havoc with their lives. With a sustained ideological and social campaign, they will soon realise that they are no more in minority.   Let’s hope the minority in India will show way to the majority!     References   Murder statistics (Source: Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention) Incarceration Wikipedia   Wars and civil wars website copyrighted by Pierie Scruff terrir statistics http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0884893.html Rapes Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 - 2000 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention) Children born out of wedlock The U.S. National Vital Statistics Report for April 2010, produced by the Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics (EWTN News, www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=358) Daily Mail 28 June 2002] http://www.cafemom.com/group/416/forums/read/12943401/Stupid_excuses_for_having_kids_out_of_wedlock Abortions tatistics and Computer Resources Br, Div of Reproductive Health, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC) UNICEF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy Child Neglect due to Divorce Maggie Gallahanger report on “Marriage and Children’s Health and Longevity” Divorce Rate The Dreaded D-Word, D-Word Statistics, Divorce Around the World divorcereform.org2004 http://family.jrank.org/pages/1574/Single-Parent-Families-Demographic-Trends.html OECD Child Abuse World Report on Violence against Children 200 Dept. of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment, 1995 Dr. William C. Holmes of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine ·      Forward, 1993 Mental Health journal CNN.com, 17.12,01 Dept. of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment, 1995 Violence and the Family. Report of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, 1996 United States. Department of Justice, 1991 National Resource Centre on Child Browne & Finkelhor, 1986 Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., et al, Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University USA Today,9.9.2001 Third World Women’s Health World Health Organisation Statistical Information System Homosexuality Constanineau, 2007 Boyd, 2008, p. 224 [Haans Ebensten]] (Puar, 2002) 2000 U.S. Census Bureau http://www.believershomepage.com/homosexual_stats.htm http://lifewise.canoe.ca/SexRomance/Lovewise/2009/06/30/9982306.html” 2006 by the Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation Prostitution and Pornography http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/fempsy2.html Jonathan Nambu, 'Samaritana Bulletin' 1996 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_and_the_law National Task Force on Prostitution Hanna, 2005; Schlosser, 1997 Farley, M. and V. Kelly. 2000. “Prostitution: A Critical Review of the Medical and Social Sciences Literature.” Women and Criminal Justice Holsopple, K. 1999. “Stipclubs According to Strippers: Exposing Workplace Sexual Violence.” Pp. 252-276 in Making the Harm Visible: Global Sexual Exploitation of Women and Girls, Speaking Out and Providing Services, edited by D. and C. Roche Hughes. Kingston: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. Raphael, J. and D. Shapiro. 2004. “Violence in Indoor and Outdoor Prostitution Venues.” Violence Against Women 10:126-139. 11:29-63. http://beautyfromashes.org/ (http://crossculturalconnections.org/documents/sex_stats.pdf   Promiscuity Blaine Powel, Family Therapist, Walmsley and Associates, 1512 Queensway, Prince George, BC http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_tee_bir_rat-people-teenage-birth-rat Alcohol U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1990 NIDA Report, the Scientific American and Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario.) Also see Alcohol Consumption and Mortality, Alcohol poisoning deaths, CDC report OECD Health Data 2005   Gambling (Ladouceur et al. (1994) http://www.casinocity.com/casinos/ http://www.infographicsinsights.com/2011/05/top-10-gambling-nations.html Life Expectancy Sadock, M.D. - 2007 - Medical - 1472 (http://books.google.com/books?id=u-ohbTtxCeYC&pg=PA391&lpg=PA391&dq=life+expectancy+alcohol+related&source=web&ots=9fsxulf8wU&sig=msFSKjDKQSTHxE_0BS_2GBcSMUw). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy “Alcohol-related mortality by age and sex and its impact on life expectancy” Pia Makela, Researcher, M.Sc., Population Research Unit Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland((“Source: http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/8/1/43) JM Shultz, PhD, Dept of Epidemiology and Public Health, Univ of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. DP Rice, Dept of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Univ of California, San Francisco, California. DL Parker, MD, Park Nicollet Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00001576.htm)” (Roman, 1998) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3919/is_200704/ai_n19433284 Hogg RS, Strathdee SA, Craib KJ, O'Shaughnessy MV, Montaner JS, Schechter MT. 1997. Modelling the impact of HIV disease on mortality in gay and bisexual men. Int. J. Epidemiol. 26:657-661. Cameron P, Cameron K, Playfair WL. 1998. Does homosexual activity shorten life? Psychol. Rep. 83:847-66. Cameron P. 2002. Homosexual partnerships and homosexual longevity: a replication. Psychol. Rep. 91:671-678. Cameron, C. and K. Cameron. 2007. Federal Distortion Of Homosexual Footprint (Ignoring Early Gay Death?) Family Research Institute. Doll, R., R. Peto, J. Boreham, and I. Sutherland. 2004. Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors. British Med. J. 328:1519. http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/240604smoke.html   Literacy Rate United Nations Development Programme Report 2009 Wikipedia - UNESCO http://www.aneki.com/universities.html UNESCO (2007) http://www.top10stop.com/lifestyle/countries-with-most-number-of-university-students-top-10-list Science growth ScienceMetrix (http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf) Per Capita Income by Country World Bank (2009)[2] CIA World Factbook (2000-2010)[3] Countries with greatest inequality World Development Index 2002, The World Bank. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908770.html#ixzz1Psga7n1F Growing Economies International Monetary Fund: http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-fastest-growing-economies-map.html http://www.businessinsider.com/fastest-growing-economies-2011-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/slowest-growing-countries-2011-2?op=1 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/INDONESIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22938727~menuPK:224605~pagePK:2865066~piPK:2865079~theSitePK:226309,00.htm Suicide GECD Society at a Glance 2001, Statistical Annex Table D3 WHO: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide_rates/en/ Religion vis-à-vis Mental Peace Pew Research Center (2002) Dr Javed Jamil is Executive Chairman, International Centre for Applied Islamics, Chief Editor, “Islam, Muslims & the World” and Director PEACE. He is also author of more than a dozen books including “Islam means Peace”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Rediscovering the Universe”, “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism” and “Islamic Model for Control of AIDS”. Also has more than 200 articles and papers to his credit. His soon-to-be-published works include “Scientific & Social Principles based on Qur’an” and “Westernism: the Ideology of Hegemony”. He can be reached at doctorforu123@yahoo.com. Phones: 91- 8130340339

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Rejoinder to Javed Anand’s Review of the book: Heavan on Earth: A journey through Sharia Law by Sadakat Kadri,  published in The Indian Express issue of April 7, 2012:

The question –‘ whose Sharia is it?’ posed by the title of the Book  Review, is itself a mischievous construction, as nobody can exclusively claim to own Sharia. If the insinuation is towards Muftis who lay down their individual fatwas; they always give references to Quran, Sunnah, Qiyas and Ijma, the very foundation on which Prophet has approved any Islamic formulation could be and should be judged. Besides, a fatwa is merely an opinion. The Muslims have every right to either abide by it or reject it, as per their own personal judgment. The problem with modern day secularists of the mongrel streams of reasoning is that they and their ‘so-called reformist ideas are relegated to the fringe of fringe of the Muslim Ummah all over the world, while mainstream Ulama get almost slavish following from the masses over their sharia formulations. It is this frustration, that the modernists or so-called moderates, proposing reforms or a 'Sharia' of their own, while ironically remaining at times outside the very pale of Islam, that eggs them on to whitewash themselves in front of their western masters who fund them for their labors demonizing Islam.

In this book review, Javed Anand has more or less gone with the idea that while the drastic penal laws historically remained 'symbolic' and even Prophet himself is known to be most reluctant to enforce them and that too on persistent admission of guilt and demand for punishment; the reformist want all such panel laws to be scrapped out of Quran and Sunnah. If for more than 14 centuries the status quo has not changed Ummah’s belief in the Sharia of the salaf, why this call for change for the change. Why this agenda of demonizing Islam over matters, that has no threat to those outside Islam, if any. The usual suspects who have been relentless foes of Islam include all those ideological or religious groups that have designs to rule the world exclusively --- without any challenge from any source whosoever. The Zionists, the crusaders and lately the Marxists, with their own dreams of World Order, find Islam a most formidable foe in their designs to rule the world. It is therefore their centuries’ long effort to challenge Islam has continued relentlessly, both academically as well as physically. Even if they had succeeded subduing Muslim world in the physical sense, they were always wary of the hidden spark in the inner most hearts of the believer, and wanted Muslims to be robbed on all its relations with Islam. It is not necessary to recount at how many levels they carry on with their anti-Islamic phobia. The world is already aware of their abject failure to scratch Islamic belief from the heart of the believers. On the contrary, the more the foes of Islam and Muslims internationalize their propaganda against Islam, their own populace, who had till now ignored Islam due to information overload, were suddenly felt the need to study Islam on their own. The astounding result is a flowering of Islam in the very midst of all non-Islamic societies in the West.  

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

 ----------------

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/whose-shariah-is-it/933553/0#postCom

Whose Shariah is it?

Javed Anand : Sat Apr 07 2012, 00:22 hrs

Book: Heaven on Earth: A journey through Shari’a law Edited by: Sadakat Kadri
Publisher: The Bodley Head, London
Pages: 316 Price: £ 12.99


In the beginning, and for long thereafter, the pious men of Islam knew better than to play god. Obey me in matters of religion, but in worldly affairs remember that I am just like one of you, said Prophet Mohammed. In his acceptance speech immediately after being chosen the first Caliph of Islam, Abu Bakr told fellow Muslims: support me as long as I follow the teachings of Islam, oppose me if you find me going astray. The short-tempered second Caliph Umar seemed to believe that the egalitarian teachings of Islam should not be taken too far when it came to gender relations. Yet he had no qualms bowing to an old woman who challenged him in public. “When Allah and his Prophet have prescribed no limit, who are you, Umar, to place a ceiling on the amount of mehr a man must pay to his bride on marriage?” she demanded. “You are right and I am wrong”, the caliph meekly conceded, adding, “it seems everyone remembers Islam’s teachings better than me”.
This is common knowledge among Muslims. In his book, Heaven on Earth: A journey through Shari’a law, India-born Sadakat Kadri brings a fresh perspective. Example: “At the time of the Abbasid caliphate’s foundation, traditions of judicial restraint were so ingrained that scholars would weep in court rather than judge in the name of god”.

The concern was this: How do mere mortals act on god’s behalf? 

That’s simple; any Molvi Saheb will tell you today: follow the Shariah for that’s god-given law. But in his engaging and entertaining book where Kadri journeys between the classical texts of Islamic history and jurisprudence, engages with current-day custodians of the faith and chronicles the prevalent practice among the ummah today — in India, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and elsewhere — you realise it’s not all that simple.

The Quranic verses come in on the top of the Shariah corpus. The problem however is that the Quran is anything but a criminal procedure code. Allah commands the believer to do good, refrain from and prevent evil. But as Kadri notes, Allah has reserved to Himself the right to punish all sinners and reward do-gooders in the Hereafter, except for a handful of Haddood laws for “crimes against god”. These are theft (amputation); fornication or false accusation of the same (80 lashes); retaliatory justice (eye for an eye...); “waging war against god and his Apostle” or “spreading of disorder in the land” (exile, double amputation, crucifixion and decapitation). Besides these five, Kadri rightly highlights that though there is no reference to them in the Quran, two more offences appear in the Haddood list: intoxication (40-80 lashes) and adultery (stoning to death). Add to these seven the issue of jihad, apostasy and blasphemy and we have a near-complete picture of the minds of today’s Islamists who fantasise about the return of caliphate and Shariah laws. Since these together also constitute what many consider to be “the problem with Islam” much of Kadri’s book focuses on them.

Isn’t the idea of crucifixion or stoning to death obnoxious to modern sensibility? Yes, admits Kadri while also making two points. First, 14 centuries ago such punishments were the norm. Second, the first four “Rightly Guided” Caliphs and classical jurists over centuries of Muslim rule were aware that for Allah “The Most Compassionate and The Most Merciful and his Prophet” — repentance took precedence over punishment.

A man once confessed the crime of fornication to the Prophet and asked to be punished as prescribed in Islam. The Prophet ignored him until he reiterated his crime four times. Only then was the punishment ordered but no one asked questions about the partner’s identity. Caliph Umar once acquitted an expectant mother of the charge of adultery when he told him that she was a “heavy sleeper” who had undergone intercourse without realising it. In the six centuries of the Ottoman Empire there is only one recorded instance of a stoning to death. Citing these instances, Kadri quotes figures to show that even today in most Muslim countries that claim to live by the Shariah, the Huddood laws are mostly of “symbolic value”.

Shouldn’t these penal laws that belong to another era be scrapped altogether? Kadri clearly doesn’t want to go there. He is however, unsparing in his criticism of current-day Muslim hardliners who are all too eager to play god. Arguing forcefully that for well over a millennia Muslims evolved legal systems (Shariah) that were consistently and significantly more tolerant and less violent than their European counterparts, he laments that in the last 40 years the freelance jihadis have managed “to associate the Shariah in many people’s minds with some of the deadliest legal systems on the planet”.

On a more hopeful note, Kadri points out that throughout Islam’s history, the overwhelming majority of Muslims have shunned the extremists. In our own technological era, he suggests, many Muslims are discovering Islam for themselves, through the online world, to discover what is right and wrong.

 

India's Media wants its own pound of flesh While the air in India is thick with demands of resignations of either Army Chief or Defense Minister or the Prime Minister in the continuing saga of face-off between Army, political class and bureaucracy, today it was the turn of Media, when a resignation could be demanded of Shekhar Gupta, Chief Editor and lead writer of the front page conspiracy theory published in the print edition of The Indian Express which will further muddy the entire farce. It is my personal feeling that over the recent days, India's media is being very negatively influenced by the US and Israeli stand on India's internal as well as external affairs. The recent BRICS meeting is a case in point when both Indian Express and Times of India, editorially injected reservations in the basics of a new developing countries independent initiative to form nucleus of an alternative world economic system --- reservations that parroted the Western line of alarm at the new development. The Indian Express article will not go without leaving some residue of doubts and conjectures as to what had been the real or imagined cause of such drastic measures and if India's friends or foes or foes posing as friends may not be tempted to nurse the fault-lines to their own wider perfidious advantage. Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai <ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com> ------------ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-january-night-raisina-hill-was-spooked-two-key-army-units-moved-towards-delhi-without-notifying-govt/932328/0 The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying govt New Delhi, Wed Apr 04 2012, 02:39 hrs By Shekhar Gupta with Ritu Sarin and Pranab Dhal Samanta This is a story you would tell with extreme care and caution. But it so starkly characterises the current state of top-level politico-military relations that it is a folly to keep it under wraps, as the entire establishment has tried to do for a full 11 weeks now. It has also taken this team of The Indian Express reporters that long to establish the story and the dramatic developments during, say, about 18 very difficult hours on January 16-17 earlier this year. While many, including the spokesmen for the defence establishment, say it was much ado about nothing (see box), it is a story of a most unusual night when Raisina Hill was spooked as never before in peace time. Essentially, late on the night of January 16 (the day Army Chief General V K Singh approached the Supreme Court on his date of birth issue), central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected (and non-notified) movement by a key military unit, from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) as a part of the 33rd Armoured Division (which is a part of 1 Corps, a strike formation based in Mathura and commanded by Lt Gen. A K Singh) in the direction of the capital, 150 km away. Any suspicion was still considered much too implausible, but lookouts were alerted as a routine step. This was part of a protocol put in place in June 1984 when some mutineers from Sikh units had moved towards the capital in the wake of Operation Bluestar. The lookouts confirmed the movement of what looked like a sizeable unit. It was soon identified as an entire unit of Mechanised Infantry, with its Russian-made Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), carried on 48 tank transporters. The movement was towards the capital, which was odd. No such thing had been notified. The Army Day celebrations had ended just the previous day (January 15). It was still a cause for curiosity and some confusion — more than much concern — because, over the decades, New Delhi has come to be totally relaxed and trustful of the apolitical and professionally correct nature of its military leadership. The situation changed rapidly, though. Reports came in of yet another military movement “towards” Delhi. This unit was identified as a large element of the airborne 50 Para Brigade based at Agra. The lookouts were activated south of Delhi as well and the column was identified. By this time, both columns were being tracked and “watched”. A bemused establishment raised an alert of sorts. The Defence Minister was informed. Immediately, the Centre put in motion an old contingency plan to delay just such a move. It issued a terror alert with instructions to police to carefully check all vehicles on the highways leading to Delhi. The objective was to slow down traffic. The Prime Minister was informed at the crack of dawn on January 17. Quiet checks carried out on the location and status of key formations and their commanders, particularly in the northwestern region, revealed nothing abnormal at all. Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma was asked to cut short his visit to Malaysia. He returned. After the briefing, he opened his office late at night and asked Lt Gen. A K Choudhary, Director General Military Operations, to see him and explain what was going on. Gen. Choudhary, it seems, knew about the move of the Paras (the Para Brigade is controlled directly by the DGMO) and said it was a routine exercise. He was asked to return with full facts about the mechanised unit. This he did soon enough. The explanation was still the same: the Army was carrying out exercises to check its ability to make quick deployments of key units during fog. He was told to send the units back immediately. Both formations were halted, and sent back within hours. The mechanised unit, sources said, had parked itself at an industrial park near Bahadurgarh abutting West Delhi’s Najafgarh. The Paras were staying put in the barracks of an artillery regiment — 79 Medium —not far from Palam. The Army's explanation that it was all a simple fog-time exercise was then viewed with scepticism at the highest level. The question: Why was the well-set protocol, that any military movement, at any time, in the NCR (National Capital Region) has to be pre-notified to MoD (Ministry of Defence) not followed? The Army’s justification for the specific movements did sound plausible though. The mechanised units, they said, were checking out their ability to move and deploy rapidly in fog, should a contingency arrive. It could not have driven westwards (towards Ferozepur or Fazilka) as that would have alarmed Pakistan since the move had not been notified to them. There was a more elaborate explanation for the paratroopers’ movement. The mandated time for the Agra-based Paras to get airborne in an emergency is just two hours. It was simpler when they were transported by aircraft based “in situ”, at the same military complex in Agra. The new designated transport for them is the faster, bigger and brand new C-130J Hercules. The IAF has based the C-130s at Hindon, across the Yamuna, east of Delhi. Since fog lifts in Agra much later (11.30 am) than at Hindon (8.30 am) in January, the Army was checking out the possibility of transporting the paratroopers to Hindon by road to “marry” them with the C-130s, rather than wait for the planes to land at Agra, and thereby save time. In the process, the Army said, they discovered many glitches. These are now being ironed out. For example, it was found that the shoulder-fired missiles, standard equipment with Para units, were stored not in Agra, as decided several years earlier, but at Bharatpur as was the case originally. So the columns were delayed by that detour and the stop at Bharatpur to pick up their missiles, and thereby also forced to take a longer route to Delhi. The good lesson learnt: all of the Paras’ equipment must now be based where their home is, at Agra. But this was questioned too. Did the mechanised units have to come as far as the outskirts of Delhi to check out their readiness? And Hindon is a long distance from Palam/Gurgaon. Even on a reasonable day, an Army convoy might take longer moving from here to Hindon given the snarls on Outer Ring Road and NH-24, than if only it had crossed the Yamuna at Agra itself and driven through Uttar Pradesh, parallel to GT Road. Why was the IAF not informed of this exercise? Again, the Army’s explanation is they did not want to hold an elaborate exercise involving the IAF etc, or cause alarm. The government also noted the fact that the C-130s were not even in Hindon then. They were in Jaisalmer, rehearsing at their staging base for the Republic Day flypast. Yet another reason some in the government were curious was that between Army Day (January 15), and Republic Day (January 26), when so many Army units are involved in parades, such exercises are rare, particularly around the capital. The Indian Express has had detailed conversations with key people and sources at the very top of the political, civil and military leadership. There is unanimity over General V K Singh’s impeccable reputation as a sound, professional soldier, earned over nearly 42 years of distinguished service to the Army. Nobody is using the “C” word to imply anything other than “curious”. All else is considered an impossibility. But so strained has the political-military relationship been these weeks, that nothing is easily dismissed as a routine misdemeanour. The timing — the Chief’s petition on his date of birth was filed on the morning of January 16 — did not help. Sources speak of confusion and unease in the government. To be fair, the MoD’s considered view now seems to be that it was a false alarm, caused by some non-adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) by the Army and an alarmist civil/political reaction on a particularly distrustful day. We learn, however, as a consequence, that certain “important correctives” have been put in place. Incidentally, the Home Ministry has turned down the Army Headquarters’ recommendation (subsequent to the events of January 16/17) to appoint Lt Gen. Choudhary as D-G Assam Rifles, the paramilitary force it controls. These are the bare facts of an unusual set of events. It is too early to answer all the ‘hows, whys and the what-nexts’ of this. Or to say whether it was an avoidable case of neurosis the Indian establishment is — mercifully — not familiar with. These facts may indeed be officially denied for now. But these will be debated for a long time, forcing the UPA to introspect on its mismanagement of the delicate civil-military relationship, bruised as it is now by charges of corruption, bribes and bribe offers and indiscipline. These will also have a bearing on the future course of higher defence organisation and control in India. (Ajmer Singh contributed to this report) What Happened * On Jan 16, an entire unit of mechanised infantry based in Hisar with its fighting vehicles began moving towards Delhi. It parked near Najafgarh * Sizeable section of the Agra-based 50 Para Brigade also moved to near Palam * Both were stopped and ordered to be moved back What Army says * These were exercises to check effectiveness in fog * Troops moved towards Delhi, not outward, westward since Pakistan hadn’t been notified * The Paras were being moved to check out possibility of their “marrying” with the C-130s in Hindon Unanswered questions * Why wasn’t Ministry of Defence notified? * Did the units have to come so far towards Delhi? * Why was the IAF not informed? Baseless reports, says Ministry of Defence Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar: “Such reports are completely baseless and we categorically deny the same.” Army does not deny movement: Routine training Maj Gen S L Narasimhan, Additional Director General, Public Information, did not deny the movements, but said these were routine. “These were routine training at the formation-level to check the effectiveness of mobilisation as per Standard Operating Procedure of local formations. Almost all units of the Army carry out a number of such training at different times of the year.” * Asked if mobilisation from the two cantonments were authorised, Narasimhan said: “Such routine training does not need authorisation.” * Why were the troops suddenly called back? “Once the effectiveness of the mobilisation was checked, the troops were called back as per Standard Operating Procedure.” * When was the last time that troops were moved on this scale? “Even formation-level (higher than this scale) mobilisation practices are carried out routinely.” * Asked if the Ministry of Defence sought written reports from the commanders, Narasimhan said: “No such explanation has been asked by the MoD.” Reader's Comments(63) | Post a comment   Ego hurt can lead to any eventuality, should not be underestimated Reply | Forward Franky Fernandes | 04-Apr-2012 Indian express has brought a very good report. There was something going and look at the time when this movement, without any information. The Chief Army General was fighting a court case, he had lost and he lost everything what he had gained for the last 42 years of his service in Defence. A big ego had got hurt here and even if he was cool at this but there were other egos behind who had pushed the chief to file the court case in the supreme, so their ego had got hurt too and this might have led to some of the general key army personnel took a decision to take charge. So thank you Indian express, the Government should alert and the intelligence should keep a watch on internal as well as external things for the country. Once an ego is hurt, the person feels humuliated and can take any drastic action without thinking of repercussions of the same.   Zero Story Reply | Forward Sanjay | 04-Apr-2012 Just as you add a "Garam Masala" to any curry with an aim to make it "hot and spicy", in the same way, you take an ordinary/non-interesting story and add "Shekhar Gupta" to it and it becomes, whatever you may call - "hot" or spicy" or "sensational", never mind if it goes to dogs. That is what is the result. Mind you the man has a penchant for drama and adds loads to whatever he sets sights upon - be it the television show or whatever. Poor other reporters - Ritu and the Pranab Samanta, they could have got a better deal. There is no story here and is a waste of time. The other day, I in Mumbai witnessed a traffic halt because of some Army units approaching my city from Pune. Now I forgot to inform Shekhar Gupta. I bet this will re-appear 11 weeks later, precisely.   Jai Jawan Reply | Forward Observer | 04-Apr-2012 Mr Shekar Gupta , Please dont include such article .. Its really a shame !! . International media is looking at us ... Indain army has always made us proud , dont demoralize them . Because of such things our neighbours will try to take advantage. Think ten times before putting such scarp...   Just a scoop Reply | Forward KS Raghunathan | 04-Apr-2012 This news item seems like a mere scoop to sensationalize, and just an attempt win back some of the lost readership. Though I still read the "Indian Express" everyday, it is no longer anywhere near what it was (for fearless reporting, criticism of government policies and caricatures), when Mr Frank Moraes was at the helm of affairs.     ""Confused Reporting Reply | Forward Ajith Kumar | 04-Apr-2012 Ä person like Mr.Shekhar Gupta who move with ALL Top Level Govt.and Political personalities AND respected by the Media Community was expected to be little more patient- till he gets "more"details which is definite to happen because there are eager persons in every department to feed the media with their Ïnside Knowledge".Nothing could be more fivolous and stupid to expect any one "achieve"anything with the back up reported in a country like India.Only Mrs.Gandhi feeling some insubordiantion could ask a famous son of India whether he was trying to stage something. May God Help Us.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main52.asp?filename=Ws300312Opinion.asp

Ten Years On, Still The “Internal Outsider” A decade later, the leading light who presided over the pogrom against a community is still the arbiter of Gujarat’s destiny, says Abdul Khaliq Photo: Shailendra Pandey Writing in late 2002, a well-known political commentator observed that Narendra Modi’s star which “shone illogically” for a while would soon fade away. He went on to assert that “the larger Hinduism, lost temporarily in the darkness and din of Gujarat, will have reasserted itself”. There were others like him who believed that with the cessation of violence, fear would subside and once again our multiculturalism and pluralism would come to the fore. They had faith that revulsion at the horrendous, fiendish deeds committed in Gujarat in 2002 would get transfigured into a determination never to allow such unmitigated evil to surface again. They willed themselves to hope that the forces of communalism would be obliterated in Gandhiji’s Gujarat. ALSO READ The resistance Here’s the smoking gun. So how come the SIT is looking the other way? Gujarat 2002: The Truth It hasn’t quite panned out that way. Ten years on, the leading light who presided over the pogrom against a community is still the arbiter of Gujarat’s destiny. On the tenth anniversary of the Godhra train carnage and subsequent holocaust, Narendra Modi, belligerent as ever, lashed out at the “Gujarat bashers” who, in his warped perception, were leaving no stone unturned to disrupt the peace, communal harmony and brotherhood being witnessed in the State. Unconcerned with the truth, he berated them for “trying to poison society and inject disharmony between communities.” He rounded off his diatribe with the most blatant lie: “The State has laid a stronger foundation for unity and brotherhood that has helped it gain inherent strength to reach new heights of development and progress”. Paradoxically, those whom Modi described as “Gujarat bashers” are actually the very people who have been working against all odds for justice for the victims, for recognising minorities as equal citizens. Their only crime is that they refuse to allow Modi and his ilk to forget the dark underbelly of unpunished crimes, of injustice, of discrimination. Modi and his loyalists are against anybody defending the human rights of a troubled, besieged community. Apologists for the events of 2002 refer to what happened in Gujarat as a communal riot. A riot would essentially imply that members of both communities actively participated in the mayhem that followed the Godhra train burning. But what actually happened was a fascist pogrom, a genocide involving a predator and a victim. It is bone- chilling to think that lakhs of people were abettors of cold-blooded murder and destruction of property. There is now no violence but the overpowering atmosphere of distrust, of hate, of prejudice hangs like a black cloud over Gujarat. The world has witnessed varying responses to mass murder and genocide. The Nuremberg trials (1945-49) investigated and punished crimes against the military, political and economic leadership of Nazi Germany and delivered the most severe penalties against those responsible for genocide and war. In stark contrast, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1995-96) in South Africa was a restorative justice body that emphasised on reconciliation, and granted amnesty to many of the perpetrators of the horrors of apartheid. However, the underlying philosophy for setting up these bodies was essentially the same—to acknowledge that what happened was horrendous and that such horrors should never be repeated. In the words of Desmond Tutu, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “We needed to look the beast in the eye, so that the past wouldn’t hold us hostage anymore.” Germany and South Africa have moved on, the dreadful period now a chapter in the history books. Gujarat continues to live in a chamber of horrors, unable to exorcise the ghosts of 2002. This is because there has been neither retributive justice nor any form of reconciliation. Gujarat is unique in that the ruling establishment has, for the last 10 years, obstructed justice at every turn. To begin with, in hundreds of cases, the Gujarat Police, by refusing to file FIRs, prevented the cases from reaching the judiciary. Due to brazen subversion of the criminal justice system by the police and State appointed public prosecutors, the Supreme Court had to step in and order the transfer of certain cases outside the State and the reopening of more than 2000 cases. But despite the Apex Court’s noble efforts, justice continues to evade the victims of 2002. The delivery of justice has been painfully slow, with only a few convictions in the last 10 years. Most galling is the fact that the perpetrators of the most bestial and sadistic deeds remain free. The names that readily come to mind are Babu Bajrangi who claims to have split open a pregnant woman and destroyed the foetus; Dhimanth Bhatt, the Chief Auditor of MS University, Baroda; Ashok Mocha who lead a mob that set fire to the houses of 40 Muslim families in Shahpur area. The ubiquitous TV cameras captured hundreds like them who had participated in the mayhem but they roam free, like ordinary men in the street. One is reminded of Hannah Arendt’s description of Adolf Eichmann’s deportment and demeanour during his trial, which she termed “the banality of evil.” Gujarat today has more than its fair share of human beings who fit this description. Let alone the colossal failure of the justice delivery system on account of which the guilty have not been punished, there is also no attempt at reconciliation between the two communities. Prior to 2002, the discrimination and hatred towards the Muslims was covert. There was the pretence of civility, the veneer of civilised interaction. Even that’s gone and the gloves are now off. The hate and the discrimination are now in-your-face. Today, the Muslims of Gujarat are socially, politically and economically marginalised. A fascist middle class is leading the assault with their insidious, toxic right-wing thinking. Every institution of governance has been infiltrated by the adherents of the Hindu rashtra concept. Even sections of Dalits and adivasis have joined hands with their one-time oppressors in this first experiment in the laboratory of Hindu Rashtra. More than ever before, the Muslim in Gujarat is viewed as “the other.” Clarence Darrow, the humanist who fought relentlessly for the rights of blacks in America, had famously observed that no matter what laws we pass, unless people are kind and decent and human to one another, there can be no peaceful co-existence or liberty. In the ultimate analysis, “peace and freedom come from human beings rather than from laws and institutions.” Sadly, Gujarat today has little of brotherhood or the “Indian spirit”. Marginalising the Muslim and creating a permanent rift between communities is barely disguised State policy in Gujarat. The State Government has enacted a law preventing distress sale of property in areas dominated by another community, clearly with the intention of isolating and segregating Muslims in ghettos. The State Government has refused to implement the Central scheme of scholarships for Muslims on grounds that it did not subscribe to special privileges for religious minorities. Muslims are under-represented in every sector, more disadvantaged than the Dalits. There are fewer number of mixed schools than in 2002. Juhapara, which is the largest Muslim ghetto in Ahmedabad, is not provided with the civic amenities available in other colonies. The State has refused to rebuild around 400 dargahs and mosques that were destroyed in 2002. Compensation paid to those who lost everything in that period of madness is a mere pittance. Modi knows that keeping alive his image as a Muslim baiter enhances his popularity in a deeply polarised society. The problems of Muslims have to be seen through this prism of alienation. Gujarat today is seen as the powerhouse of economic development, a model for others to follow. The Vikas Purush is the darling of the corporate world which is ever willing to barter its soul for filthy lucre. What is little known but a strong reason for the adulation is the punitive anti-labour laws in place which sanction the hiring and firing of employees at will. It is also a fact that government land is being leased to corporates for a song. Of course, there is no denying that there is tremendous economic development so who cares that it is not equitable and inclusive. The tweets of the CEO of Gujarat are an exercise in unabashed self-adulation. Sample this: “The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves.” He is now clearly eyeing the top post in the land, hence the change in tactics. The Sadbhawana yatras, the talk of peaceful co-existence and brotherhood are aimed at camouflaging his real persona of a ruthless, Right-wing pracharak. He knows that the policy of polarisation of communities which is so successful in Gujarat will not work on the national stage. Had the Mahatma been alive today, he might have gently reminded Modi that fraternity and brotherhood, like non-violence, “is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart and it must be an inseparable part of our being.” Disinformation, half-truths and double speak dominate the public space in Gujarat today. There is also black comedy on display. DG Vanzara, the police officer who is in Sabarmati jail in connection with fake encounter killings, who was the hatchet man of the powers that be and lined his pockets as recompense, has not only recently completed his PG diploma in “Value Education and Spirituality,” but has also written two books on spiritualism and humanity, which have become best sellers. In Modi’s Gujarat, you don’t have to practice what you preach! Many have wondered whether a change in political dispensation in Gujarat will bring back tolerance, peaceful co-existence and pluralism. The sad fact is that the alternative—the Congress followers of secularism i.e. quite simply a cloak of convenience. Time and again, it has been guilty of playing footsie with “soft Hindutva.” Moreover, under UPA-II, the intelligence agencies continued to unjustly identify a community with terrorism, leading to untold harassment and illegal arrests. The Bharatiya Janata Party cannot be trusted but the Congress is no better. Gujarat badly needs another Mahatma. The author, a former civil servant, is Secretary General of the Lok Janshakti Party. He can be contacted at akhaliq2007@gmail.com

ISLAMIC BOOK CONTROVERSY IN TORONTO By Sheharyar Shaikh

ISLAMIC BOOK CONTROVERSY IN TORONTO

By Sheharyar Shaikh

A non-Muslim acquaintance recently sent me a photograph of her friend who was holding the Toronto Sun newspaper in his hand with the recent headline: “Is beating women allowed?” (or something to that effect) in reference to a marriage guidebook penned by the late Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, an Indian scholar of Islam.  The book is available in Canada much to the horror of the Canadian public. I have not yet read the 160-page book “A Gift for the Muslim Couple” by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi and I doubt that the editorial and reporting team at Sun Media has either.  Regardless, the Sun Media is generating much fear and paranoia for what seems to be cheap publicity points. Sensationalist articles and television shows targeting the Muslim community are mainstream in the U.K. and U.S. Unhindered, this wave seems to be rising now in Canada.

Tarek Fatah of course wants the bookstore owner charged under the law. This is not unexpected of Fatah who has made a lifelong career out of stabbing his own community. Strangely he becomes bitterly resentful (as he did on March 1, 2012, at University of Toronto when he isn’t awarded the honor he feels he deserves from his “racist” circus masters in return for vilifying Muslims. What does he think? Fatah, you are nothing more than a cheap condom for the Michael Corens, Jonathan Kays, Ezra Levants and others out there to screw over this community and then flushing it down the toilet. If they begrudgingly bear you on the same panel as themselves, its not for your rugged good looks, but the damage they can inflict on the Muslims using your small brain and a big mouth.  Alas, Fatah’s daughter Natasha showed way better understanding than him of the way the game works when she remarked: “...when people you thought were good and decent, reveal their racism, and you find out your offence isn’t worth their time because you’re just another Paki.”

I do however blame the self-appointed Muslim community leadership, which began either mindlessly condemning Thanvi’s book in unison or has remained pathetically silent about the issue. Where is the Imam Council? Where is Ali Hindy? Where are the champions of faith who are foremost in their dawah efforts? Their silence is deafening.

I for one believe that the criticism of the Muslim community based on this book is unfair for the following reasons:

A Guide for the Muslim Couple was written in the 19th century.  Its author, A. A. Thanvi, was born in 1863 and died in 1943.  It is unfair to use this book to assert the Muslim male’s alleged contempt for women.  It is from before the time women could vote, work freely, get into professional colleges, own full property rights and be legally protected against spousal violence in the west.  If invoking this 19th century book is allowed to thrash Canadian Muslims today, then critics should be allowed to cite works from that same era to make the case for Western males’ contempt for women as well.  And if the mere presence of this book in the 21st century counted a crime, what then should we say to the world that sees the Western woman objectified, sexualized, and humiliated in bondage and sadomasochistic videos, criminally accessible to 5-year olds on the net, in the name of entertainment by the 20 billion-dollar porn industry here at home?  What about the continuing violence committed against women in society at present? In none of the stinging reviews was there as much as a peep about violence perpetrated against women committed overwhelmingly by non-Muslim (white) males. Was protecting Muslim women the Toronto Sun’s real agenda or was it to brushstroke the Canadian Muslim community in a negative light?

For example, NOW (National Organization of Women) tells us that on an average of 3 women are killed in the US every day, one-third of whom are killed by intimate partners. NCIPC cites that 4.8 million American women suffer bodily attacks and rapes from their partners every year – that’s 600 women per day. The Justice Dept informs us that one in five American college women will be raped at some point during their college years. College is preparation for the real world I suppose.
Is Canada much different? Afraid not. Women continue to outnumber men nine to one as victims of assault by a partner and are 3 times as likely to be killed by their partners as are men. According to the Canadian report Assessing Violence Against Women 74% of female killings occur at the hands of ex-husbands. Remember all this goes beyond fixing employment and income disparity and maternity leave disputes; it’s about letting women live in our society.

Under the current situation, it appears amazingly hypocritical to accuse the Muslim community of a “particularly sinister” kind of misogyny using a little known couple’s guide, all the while ignoring an ocean of a problem around us. It reeks of anti-Muslimism, nothing else.

And just when we may hold Eric Brazau, the shady man who broke the story in the Toronto Sun about Thanvi’s book, as some bleeding-heart friend of Muslim women, an impression he never fails to make as a “gentlemanly” guest on radio shows, be aware that this seven-time convicted violent offender has been criminally charged in the past for reportedly riding his bike in public alongside a hijabi lady and continually harassing her by calling her a terrorist and telling her to go back to Afghanistan. Toronto Sun itself broke the story in the past when it was newsworthy, but deliberately made no mention of it this time. Yesterday’s scum becomes today’s crusader for Muslim women rights. Incredible.

To make things clear on our end: Islam, like all pre-modern religions, does not, I repeat, does not stand for equality of spouses in a conjugal relationship. Man has a role in the family as a protector, provider and a moral leader, which is distinctly different from the one God awards to the woman. This is the truth. To the Muslim leadership that denies it, I say, shame on you for telling people lies! You know well that men have a responsibility to be the captain of the ship, to be the moral guardians first and foremost who will be held responsible before God for the moral direction of the family institution in society – which today is in shambles. Although Islam is certainly not “oppressive” to women, it does require wives first and foremost with guarding the household in their husbands’ absence. Chauvinistic? Unfair? Exploitative? Perhaps. But this is what we are commanded, and if we turn back we hurt none but ourselves.

Moreover, if Thanvi’s theological book hurts public sensibilities so much, then let the detractors be brave and shout words of protest against all theological works – without singling out Islam or Muslim men. Would the “ethically-appalled” Eric Brazau, who broke the story of Thanvi’s book to Toronto Sun, saying: “I thought that it is incredible that this kind of thing can be found in Canada”, make similar raids into Jewish and Christian bookstores with a similar agenda? I don’t think so. Think about this: I have five copies of the same one book that gives women a status way lower than this Muslim book ever could; it’s called the Bible.  And guess what?  It’s way more popular in the homes and bookstores.

According to the Bible woman is the source of all sin, the cause of global death (Ecc. 25:13), the source of all wickedness (Ecc. 42:13), can be shameless like a dog (Ecc. 26:25), is of a sinister nature (Ecc. 7:26) is a recipient of special punishment from God (Gen. 2:15), brings shame when she opens her mouth in church (1 Cor. 14:35), becomes unclean to touch during periods/childbirth (Lev. 15:19), must be ruled by man (3:16) (1 Corinth 11:3), must submit to husbands in everything  (Ephesians 5:22-24), must learn to shut her mouth and be fully obedient (1 Tim 2:11) should wear a sign on her head of her husband’s authority at all times  (1 Corinthians 11:7-9) etc. This of course does not include centuries of Bible-inspired literature along the same vein that is still freely published and adorns the shelves of any corner bookshop. I would not burn the bibles in a pyre in protest because not only is it unIslamic but it would be provocative to those who deeply regard it as God’s word. However would a “selfless champion of women” like Brazau or the local useful idiot Tarek Fatah take on the Holy Bible for its misogynistic content, its influence and consequently demand its ban as they’d like for Thanvi’s book? We have to wonder.

Would they take on the Hindu scripture Manusmriti, a distilled version of the Hindu Vedas out of the mouth of Lord Brahma, which orders wives to worship their husbands like gods? Or that a woman unaccepting of a man’s sexual advances may be raped? (Brihadaranyaka 6.4.6 and 6.4.7) or the Rig Veda which calls women lacking intellect and enjoining widow-burning in words:  “Let these wives first step into the pyre, tearless without any affliction and well adorned.” (Rig Veda X.18.7)  – all as being indirectly responsible for 16 ‘dowry murders’ and unknown number of female infanticides occurring in India ever day? 50 million women in India are mysteriously missing according to one UN report.

Similarly, when orthodox Jewish men in western countries get up in the morning and thank God every day for not making them a woman but a man (in a prayer called Amidah), or bar women from becoming rabbis, teaching the Torah or praying in a synagogue here in the West would these pro-feminist activists take to the streets in protest against that? If the situation called for it I know I would hold discussions with religious elders of all faiths to try to come to a common understanding. This is a positive approach. Dialogue, not incitement.

Lastly, for any criticism to be valid, it must be fair and balanced.  The Toronto Sun review focuses only on the things in the book unacceptable in western culture for the purposes of cheap sensationalism. Study proper book reviews in academic journals and you will note that they do not try to deceive the reader by showing only one side, but give a balanced perspective of what the author is trying to say.  For example, in the Toronto Sun’s report, it states: “In the book’s opening pages, it is written that `it might be necessary to restrain her with strength or even to threaten her.’”  There must be a context to this which the critic conveniently ignores.  Any man would restrain a woman "with strength" and words if the situation called for it and would expect the same from her.

As far as the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is concerned, he gave the Muslims the best advice when he said: The best of you are those who are the best in conduct toward their wives. His wife Ayesha testifies that the Prophet was never seen to hit a servant, woman or an animal.  His example is what we Muslims are to emulate at all times.

We Muslims are also enjoined to lend an ear to criticism. Some criticism however is simply unfair and amounts to propaganda and hate-incitement against one target community by giving the audience an incomplete or a distorted picture. The Toronto Sun review article on Thanvi's work A Guide for Muslim Couple is guilty of casting suspicion of misogyny and wife abuse singly on the Canadian Muslim community with no mention or regard for the era of the book’s authorship, misogynistic works of other faiths, presenting a distorted, one-sided impression of the book, and failing to mention female abuse as a serious issue confronting society at all levels.  This is an example of journalism run by a vile agenda against the Muslim Community.

Sheharyar Shaikh is the former President of North American Muslim Foundation.  He is specializing in contemporary Islamic thought and modernity

www.namf.ca

North American Muslim Foundation was established in 1975 as Federally Registered charitable foundation dedicated to helping the community for a better tomorrow.

Click here to Reply or Forward

1 delete