Thread: Need to follow true Islam

Need to follow true Islam


By S.G. Jilanee

“IF you have any tears, prepare to shed them, now,” said Mark Antony to the Romans over the corpse of Julius Caesar. The predicament Muslims today are facing at the demise of their self-esteem is far more poignant. The faith that, with its magic had, once upon a time, tamed wild and rough people into polite, soft-speaking humans; welded warring tribes into a selfless fraternity; turned slaves into masters and desert nomads into rulers, seems to have lost not only its fire but even its warmth.

Allah had hailed Muslims as “the best community” (3:110). They should have, therefore, been the ones to hold their heads high and put their chests out not just as the recipients of His final Message, but especially because that Message is preserved intact, in its original purity. The Prophet (PBUH) was a historical person. Each and every event of his life has been faithfully chronicled by unimpeachable sources. Every word of the Divine Revelation was both memorised by more persons than one and promptly written down. Their Book is the Mother of all Books — ummul kitab.

Islam is not peace only in name. It bends farther backwards than any other religion in pursuing peace and avoiding conflict. No other religion declares that taking an innocent life is like killing the entire humanity and vice versa (5:32). None offers anything comparable to the Peace of Hudaibiya or the Covenant of Medina. None can produce an injunction like “stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourself, or your parents, or your kin ..” (4:133).

Talk of meekness? Which religion tempers its sanction for retaliation with strict prohibition against any excess? Which commands its followers to revere all prophets from Adam (A.S.) to Muhammad (S.A.W.) as Messengers of Allah, “making no distinction between one and another” (2:285). Which lays down, “Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite, revile Allah in their ignorance. (6:108)?

It is therefore a miracle to find some reputed scholars from the “other” camp, coming to Islam’s defence with a vigour that many Muslims should envy. One such is Richard Bonny, an eminent Christian scholar, who, after an exhaustive study of the subject of jihad, highlights its noble spirit by contrasting it particularly with the outright massacre permitted in the Jewish herem.

Robert Winston, a practising, hard core Jew and a renowned scientist, is another. As if improving upon Bonney he says, “jihad is certainly not ‘holy war’ to convert non-believers. This is a stereotype which was promulgated by Christian crusaders... while Muslims encourage conversion it is never regarded as acceptable to force a person to accept Muhammad’s message”

To emphasise that Islam requires believers to be patient with non-believers rather than put them to the sword as many non-Muslim writers allege, Winston quotes 73:10: “Bear with patience what they say, and when they leave give a courteous farewell,” and 86:17: “Deal gently with un-believers; give them enough time [to change their minds]” This is refreshing departure from “There is no compulsion in religion (2:256)” that Muslims invariably quote.

“Islam is no more a warlike faith”, says Winston. “Although the word Islam means ‘surrender,’ it actually has the same root as shalom in Hebrew, meaning ‘peace.’” Discussing the basic features of (armed) jihad he concludes, “Consequently, it is a profound misrepresentation to believe that jihad covers wars of aggression, border disputes, the intention to colonise, or acts of terrorism or indiscriminate bombing.”

Sharia is another bee in the non-Muslims’ bonnet. And Muslims seem unable to face up to the charges levelled particularly against some of the penalties under sharia. Here, too, Robert Winston offers a robust defence for the punishments for theft and adultery and the requirement that the sentences be carried out in public.

On the amputation issue he quotes the New Testament (Mark 9:43) where Jesus says, ‘If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter life maimed, than with two hands go to hell ..’

Similarly he points out that the preconditions prescribed to prove the crime of adultery make it practically impossible to execute the punishment. And, finally, explaining the requirement that a legal sentence of punishment be carried out publicly, he says, “This is not done to please a bloodthirsty or sadistic people but to ensure that justice is seen to be done and that punishment does not exceed what has been prescribed.”

The Jews too have their universities and educational institutions for orthodox teaching. The Hasidic Jews wear a particular kind of dress that seems outlandish to the modern eye. Yet they are not denounced as obscurantist or backward. When a ranking rabbi declines to shake the hand of Mrs. Laura Bush there are no frowns.

What then is the secret of the Judeo-Christians’ self-confidence and the Muslims’ self-consciousness? Why do Muslims wear a crestfallen, guilty look? Writers invariably attribute their decadence to their loss of interest in the pursuit of inquiry and in learning other disciplines. The madressah exemplifies it best. It was a noble institution from which the West adopted the practice of graduation ceremonies with the tassels and the robes. Today it produces batches of zombies, to be hired only to lead prayers, salmons marriages or perform the last rites for the dead.

But lack of knowledge in other disciplines is not the only factor. Another equally critical shortcoming is the lack of knowledge about other religions. To fight your enemy you must know what weapons he uses. The graduates of the theological universities of the Jews and Christians are not only abreast of the latest in other disciplines; they also delve into the Quran and hadith even if to twist their meaning.

It should be clearly understood that Islam and Quran do not depend for their protection and glory on anyone. Allah has declared: “Without a question We have sent down the Message and We will assuredly guard it.” (Hijr: 9). If, therefore, Muslims opt to deviate from the straight path, they would not at all harm Him or Islam but invite doom for themselves. The truth of this statement is evident from the situation Muslims are facing today. The only way for us to avoid being kicked about is to resuscitate our self-esteem by investigating where we went wrong and rediscovering the magic that had shot Muslims to the highest pinnacles of fame in the past.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/05/05/op.htm

Can someone explain this with the reality we see on ground?