By Nalin Verma
Ali Anwar's book, 'Masawat ki Jung' has sent a shiver down the spines of Muslim elites as it dwells at length on the plight of dalit Muslims derided and treated as pariahs by the upper caste brethren and ulemas. This goes against tenets of Islam which don't sanction inequality on the basis of caste and birth.
"Aagaya ain ladai mein waqte-namaz Qiblaru hoke zamin-bos hui qaum-e-hejaz Ek hi saf mein khade ho gaye Mahmood-o-Ayaz Na koi banda raha aur na koi banda-nawaz
(In the midst of raging battle if the time came to pray, Hejazis turned to Mecca, kissed the earth and ceased from the fray. Sultan and slave in single file stood side by side. Then no servant was nor master, nothing did them divide)"
This famous couplet of Alamma Iqbal highlights the virtue of an egalitarian society that Islam professes. The religion propounded by Prophet Mohammad does not sanction inequality on the basis of caste and birth. That's why the king and the slave stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer as Iqbal mentions in his verse.
But the book, "Masawat ki Jung (crusade for equality)" authored by Ali Anwar, journalist and activist, and published by the Vani Prakashan , New Delhi, vividly depicts the caste inequality and hatred in the Muslim society and the plight of the dalit Muslims. Former Prime Minister V. P. Singh recently released the book at the book fair in Patna.
http://newageislam.com/india--muslim-dalits-a-downtrodden-lot--/the-war-within-islam/d/1403
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