Monday, June 24, 2019

What Does Taqwa Mean?



By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam

18 June 2019

Strangely, I find Islamic scholars struggling to give the meaning of Taqwa although; the Quran gives the meaning directly as follows:

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

(2:2) This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to the Muttaqin.

The above verses says that the Quran is a Book of certain guidance for the Muttaqin and the verse below says that whoever listens to the Word or command of Allah, and then follows the command in the best possible manner, are the ones whom Allah has guided, or in other words these people are the Muttaqin.

الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ ۚ أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ ۖ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمْ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

(39:18) Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best thereof: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding.

Taqwa is therefore to follow the commands of Allah in the best possible manner. The Quran also makes clear how to obey the important commands of Allah in the best possible manner.


Taqwa in Salat

For example, if it is Salat, then, it is performed facing Kabaa (2:149 and 150), celebrating “Allah´s praises in the manner Allah has taught you, which ye knew not before” (2:239). The obligatory Salat must be performed in Jamaat or congregation “bow down with those who bow down in worship” (2:43, 3:43).  Obligatory prayers are to be performed at stated time (4:103). Wudhu or Tayammum need to be performed before Salat in the manner described in verse 5:6 or in 4:43 respectively.  Most importantly, one must stand before Allah in a devout (frame of mind) while performing Salat (2:238) and never miss performing an obligatory Salat even when traveling or even while fighting in a war (4:101 to 103) and 2:239.

Taqwa in Zakat

Give zakat freely what is in excess of one’s needs to the needy (2:215), without miserliness or niggardliness (4:37), with a kind word and without injury or insult, and without making it a show to be seen of men, seeking nothing but the countenance of Allah (2:262 to 264).

Taqwa in the Treatment of One’s Parents

Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. (Quran 17:23) And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: "My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." (Quran 17:24)

The commandments for the Islamic way of life describe vividly the best way to follow the commands. The command describes the body language that is appropriate (lower the wings of humility) – once such a posture is assumed, can a person misbehave? The command says that even the expression of impatience such as saying uff (just a sound emitted which means the equivalent of “Oh No!”)is to be avoided at the mistakes the elderly often make. It says that only words of honour are to be used with parents such as “beloved father/mother”. And how beautiful is the prayer that is taught! "My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood". The prayer reminds us of how our parents cherished us in our childhood which primes us or puts us in the frame of mind to behave towards them in the same kindly manner overlooking their infirmities, follies, forgetfulness, repetitiveness, sensitivity and many other afflictions of old age that require our constant attention, love, care and patience.

Following a command but without Taqwa

(2:27) Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to Allah): It was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: "Be sure I will slay thee." "Surely," said the former, "Allah doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are Muttaqin.
Here it means those who sacrifice willingly and in the best possible manner and not in the manner described below:
(2:67) And remember Moses said to his people: "Allah commands that ye sacrifice a heifer." They said: "Makest thou a laughing-stock of us?" He said: "Allah save me from being an ignorant (fool)!"
(68) They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what (heifer) it is!" He said; "He says: The heifer should be neither too old nor too young, but of middling age. Now do what ye are commanded!"
(69) They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us Her colour." He said: "He says: A fawn-coloured heifer, pure and rich in tone, the admiration of beholders!"
(70) They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us what she is: To us are all heifers alike: We wish indeed for guidance, if Allah wills."
(71) He said: "He says: A heifer not trained to till the soil or water the fields; sound and without blemish." They said: "Now hast thou brought the truth." Then they offered her in sacrifice, but not with good-will.
The number of questions asked itself is an indicator of unwillingness to obey the command under the pretext of lack of clarity. Notice that with each question, their task becomes more difficult. If they had Taqwa, or desire to obey the command of Allah, they would have sacrificed willingly without asking any question, and could have sacrificed any heifer and not one answering to the exacting specifications.
The Meaning of Taqwa As the Quran Teaches Us
Let us go back to the verse:
(2:2) This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to the Muttaqin.

From the discussion above, we know that Muttaqin in this verse means that the Quran is a guidance without doubt, to those who read/listen to the Quran in the best possible manner. What is reading/listening in the best possible manner? It is reading/listening paying full attention to every word and its meaning. Even if an enemy of Islam does that, the Quran becomes a guidance to such a person. For example, Hazrat Umar was one such enemy of Islam for whom listening to a few Ayats of the Quran became guidance to accept Islam.
The Story of Umar’s Conversion
Hazrat Umar (RA) before his acceptance of Islam was a cruel and prominent persecutor of Muslims and a bitter enemy of Islam and Muhammad (pbuh). When the faith kept growing despite the persecution, the leaders among the persecutors decided to assassinate Muhammad. Umar volunteered to do the job.
The story of Umar’s conversion is recounted in Ibn Ishaq's Sīrah. On his way to murder Muhammad, Umar met his friend Nua'im bin Abdullah who had secretly converted to Islam. When Umar informed him that he had set out to kill Muhammad, Nua'im said, “why don't you return to your own house and at least set it straight?"
Nuaimal Hakim told him to inquire about his own house where his sister and her husband had converted to Islam without Umar’s knowledge. Upon arriving at her house, Umar found his sister and brother-in-law Saeed bin Zaid (Umar's cousin) reciting the verses of the Quran from sura Ta-Ha. He pounced on his brother-in-law and began beating him. When his sister came to rescue her husband, he also hit her. They kept on saying "you may kill us but we will not give up Islam". Upon hearing these words, Umar slapped his sister so hard that she fell to the ground bleeding from her mouth. When he saw what he did to his sister, he calmed down and asked his sister to give him what she was reciting. His sister refused saying "You are unclean, and no unclean person can touch the Scripture." He insisted, but his sister refused and asked him to first purify himself by bathing. Umar did so and then began to read the verses that were: Verily, I am Allah: there is no God but Me; so serve Me (only), and establish regular prayer for My remembrance (Quran 20:14). He wept and declared, "Surely this is the word of Allah.” He then went to Muhammad (pbuh) and accepted Islam.
 How did the reading of a few verses from the Quran become a source of guidance for the violent Umar who was till recently a bitter opponent of the Prophet and Islam? Did he read the verses with the fear of Allah in his heart? No, he simply read it out of bewildered curiosity and the need to know what had transformed his sister. He wanted to better understand so that he could better oppose it. He did not read with the intention of becoming a Muslim. He was however in a heedful state as he very much wanted to understand its appeal to the people who would not give it up even when persecuted. When he read the verses, he was not in a state of fear or awe. After the reading and the reading turning into guidance, he was filled with awe and subsequently fear of Allah when he reflected on his past and the dark deeds he had done in his ignorance of the Deen of Allah.
 The Quran is a guidance to every heedful reader/listener who pays careful attention to its meaning. Who can deny it? It is not a source of guidance for the heedless. Who can deny this? One may read the Quran a thousand times in a heedless state. It will not benefit the reader. A person may like a single verse so much, that he may spend all night reading the verse again and again in a heedful state filled with awe, wonder, humility and gratitude. Such a reading will transform the reader.
The Prophet (pbuh) spent all night reading:
 إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ 
 (5:118) "If Thou dost punish them (the Christians who venerated Jesus as son of God and Mary as Mother of god), they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in power, the Wise."
The verse contains the intercession of Jesus (pbuh) for his Ummat. In the verses that follow, Allah does not reject the intercession. How subtly Allah informs us that even such Christians, who worshiped Jesus and Mary, can also hope for His forgiveness! The Prophet wept all night reading this verse again and again because this single verse reflects several of Allah's attributes such as Al Lateef, Al Rahim, Al Rehman, Al Rauf, Al Karim, Al Ghaffar, Al Qaabidh, Al Halim, Al Hakam, Al Ad'l, Al Ali, Al Kabir, Al Qadeer, Al Muqtadir, Al Hasib, Al Jalil, Al Mujib, Al Hakim, Al Wadud, Al Majeed, Ash Shaheed, Al Wakil, Al Wali, Al Muhsi and Al Hamidu. This is the most beautiful verse of the Quran. However, this verse is beyond the understanding of our Ulema, who consider the Christians as Kafir destined for Hell. They are heedless of the Quran and heedful of the secondary sources which clouds their minds preventing them from understanding.
To obey a command of Allah in the best possible manner, what is required is to pay heed/attention to every requirement and detail. For example, while offering Salat, paying attention to every detail and requirement described before.
The word heedfulness contains all the other meanings given to the word Taqwa and its derivatives besides also meaning ‘in the best possible manner’ or ‘most sincerely’. One can be heedful from:

1. Sheer curiosity to acquire correct knowledge as Hazrat Umar did when he first listened to a recitation of the Quran.
2. Fear of Allah
3. Reverence of Allah
4. The desire to please Allah
5. Love of Allah
6. The desire to see the countenance of Allah in the Hereafter
7.  The desire to excel
8. The urge to gain piety
9. The urge to gain righteousness
10 To gain nearness to Allah
11 To gain the Inam of Allah.

The methodology that I have followed to derive the meaning of Taqwa was to let the Quran teach me its meaning. This is the methodology that I follow for all my articles. To the best of my knowledge and belief, no other person has derived the same meaning of Taqwa, because no one else follows the same methodology with the same Taqwa or intensity. They follow it loosely, or without adequate Taqwa, which is why their meanings do not fit well the usage of the word in the Quran. For example, this is how Yusuf Ali and many others translate verse 2:2

(2:2) This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah;

To fear Allah, one must believe in Allah and know His attributes which means that one must already be on true guidance. The verse then becomes a tautology –The Quran is a guidance without doubt to those who are on true guidance! This is clearly nonsensical. The word and its derivatives have been used 239 times in the Quran and a mistranslation plays havoc with the correct understanding of the Quran. While piety or righteousness are not incorrect translations of Taqwa in other verses, these words are less meaningful and effective than heedfulness. We can understand the requirement to be painstakingly heedful of every detail, but what does it mean to be pious or righteous?

Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He is a frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com


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Dialogue with Hindutva Parivar is a Must but Those Initiating it Are the Ones Responsible for Muslim Misery in India



By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
19 June 2019
First things first. There is no denying the fact that what prime-minister Modi said about Muslims post his humungous victory must be lauded. It needs a special foresight and certain humbleness, even if projected, to utter such words in the backdrop of an election which saw systematic anti-Muslim rhetoric by the ruling party. The leader had two distinct choices: the first one was to continue the diatribe against Muslims; the second was to realise that now that elections are over, it is time to tone down the rhetoric. If the prime minister has exercised the second, he should be congratulated by one and all especially by Muslims who are reeling under a sense of fear and despair.
It was a therefore a good gesture on part of some Muslims individuals and organizations to write an open letter to the prime minister thanking him for his speech. However, they have been heavily criticised for doing so by some members of the Muslim community itself. These critics argue that the letter was silent on periodic and systematic lynching of Muslims which has been going on since the BJP came to power. While certainly this assertion is true but it must be understood that things could have been much worse especially after the elections. Whatever small gesture Modi has made to bring political temperatures down must be welcome.
They also point out that the letter fails to understand the true reason why Modi decided to say what he said. They argue that it was nothing but an attempt to salvage his image in the western press, especially after TIME called him the ‘Divider in Chief’. There was negative coverage within the pages of New York Times and Washington Post too. The problem with these critics is that they hardly understand how right wing Hindu politics operates. Modi’s supporter must be thanking AtishTaseer for his TIME magazine piece as it came just before the elections. The Hindu right went to town that a ‘Muslim’, that too a Pakistani was trying to malign the image of Modi. Much like the infantile left in JNU gave an all India nationalist image to BJP, similarly the TIME magazine played into the hands of right wing by publishing the piece at a very inopportune time.
But it is also important to understand who these Muslim critics are? One of them is so called civil society activist who has been eating out of the hands of the congress party for long. Her focus on Gujarat to demonise Narendra Modi had the obverse impact of making him into a national hero. People like her, who forget the various anti-Muslim pogroms which took place during the congress regime, are primarily responsible for bringing a bad name to civil society activists. The less that is said about her liaisons with the congress the better it will be. Then there are other characters who are equally close to the congress party and therefore equally partisan.
Another character is from the SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India), an Islamist political formation from South India which masquerades as a party believing in the Indian constitution, whereas all that they dream of is to bring Sharia in India. According to this convoluted logic which only Indian Islamists are capable of, it is praiseworthy if Muslims struggle for Sharia but it is reprehensible if Hindus want a Hindu Rashtra. The fundamental problem with these group of critics is that they are compromised in more than one way: some because they are doing congress’ bidding; others because they are hypocritical.
But it is not just them who need to be called out. What about the letter writers? Who are these characters? And what has been their contribution to the Muslim cause? Again, most of them are a bunch of self-seekers who have brought long term harm to the Muslim community. Mahmood Madani and many of his Deobandi followers are hardly religious leaders in the conventional sense of the term. He is more of a political entity hopping from one party to another in search of a Rajya Sabha ticket.
Another nincompoop in the list of signatories is Kamal Farouqui, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission. And of course the present chairman of DMC Zafarul Islam Khan. One must ask certain questions to these so called Muslim leaders. It is rather rich of them to demand and expect from the present government to do something with regard to the educational and economic development of Indian Muslims. What have they done to ameliorate the condition of Muslims or even to create a condition amenable to it? Absolutely nothing.
 In fact, they have worked overtime to keep the Muslim community backward. This is the same group which blocked the madrasa modernization program during the UPA regime, arguing that any change in the existing madrasa curriculum will be undue interference in the internal affairs of the Muslim community.
 In the name of safeguarding this internal affair, they have blocked any reform within the community. They are the same set of forces who campaigned against the Supreme Court judgment on Shah Bano which is directly responsible for the Hindu consolidation that we see today. They are the same people who brought shame to Islam through their ridiculous affidavit in the Supreme Court on the question of triple Talaq. They are the ones who campaigned for the Samajwadi Party despite the Muzaffarnagar anti-Muslim riots.
One is left wondering what right they have to pen a letter on behalf of the Muslim community. Certainly, for anyone interested in changing the Muslim condition, this group of people are the worst enemies of Muslims.
There is certainly a need to bridge the chasm which has been created between the Muslim community and the ruling dispensation. Owing to a number of factors, Muslims have thought that the BJP is their enemy number one. This perception needs to change for the very simple and pragmatic reason that no minority can prosper without cooperating closely with the state. But for this there has to be genuine rethinking amongst the Muslims on a number of issues. The problem is that those who are articulating this desire of closeness are the ones whose actions have brought Muslims to the slough of despondency. Muslims need to dialogue with the new ideological common-sense that is governing the country but this dialogue cannot start with a bunch of Muslim steeped in medievalism.
Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
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Monday, June 10, 2019

Ghazwa-tul-Badr—the 17th Ramazan: Does It Have Any Contemporary Relevance As Urdu Press Claims Every Year?






New Age Islam Special Correspondent
23 May 2019
Classical Islamic historiographers like Ibn Hisaham and Ibn Ishaq report that the Ghazwa-tul-Badr was the first Islamic military expedition which took place on the 17th Ramzan in 624. After eight years, Muslims achieved the victory in the holist city of Mecca during Ramazan.









On Ghazwatul Badr, social media campaigns, mostly in Urdu, are underfoot to promote a willful misinterpretation of the Islamic event in the Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups.
But this occasion is marked with a wilful misinterpretation of Islamic history which seeks to launch jihadist attacks during Ramazan in many parts of the world, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir. Today, on the 17th day of Ramazan the first Islamic battle— Ghazwa-tul-Badr also known as Jang-e-Badr in the Indian subcontinent—was orchestrated with the win of the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions against the pagans of Makkah. But surprisingly, it is treated by the extremist and separatist groups in J&K as a call to arms and not mercy as was ultimately intended in the event.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani, while felicitating Kashmiri Muslims on the holy occasion of Ramazan, said that the month is not only an exercise for fasting and worship(Ibadat) but also for an overall social wellbeing of society. He further said: “If fasting, Taraawih, charity, Qur’an recitation and other extra [Nafil] Ibadat fails in Ramazan, to hammer our conscious to the realization of Haq (truth) and Batil (falsehood), then this holy month can give us nothing except fifteen hours long pause of hunger. It will fail to enlighten our dark days”.
Worryingly enough, the twisted sermons on the sacredness of Ramazan with a militarized underpinning are conducive to confrontational attitudes, supplemented by the religious ignorance of the separatist Kashmiri leaders of the older generation. They have put such a poisonous seed in the minds of the youth that they continue to live in an adversarial relationship with their own nation and the people. Even the rich syncretic religious traditions of peaceful coexistence in the Kashmir Valley are on the rampage, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Salafist and Jamat-e-Islami networks.
Falsely contrasting the situation of Muslims in India with the oppression meted out to the holy Prophet and his companions in Makkah, Geelani says:
“Pathetic and miserable condition of Muslim Ummah is not only painful but thought provoking as well. Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is also in the ruins and presents a devastated look, disturbing and panicking our new generation. We as a nation are drifting away from our source of Hidayah, which has deprived us from the sense of differentiating between Haq and Batil (right and wrong).
First, the clarification must be made about the oppressive pagans or the Quraish tribe in Makkah. They historically wronged and harshly tortured the Prophet (pbuh) along with his followers, denying them the basic human rights of freedom of life and faith and inflicted great injustice upon them. But the believers in the Prophet (pbuh) persisted and won against all odds. This is where the significance of the 17th day of Ramzan lies, as it also marks the historic and epoch-making conquest of Makkah known as “Fath-e-Makkah” in the Islamic history. This is one of the most sacred days and events of the entire Islamic calendar like the Shab-e-Qadr (Night of Power).
But the twisted interpretation of this historic event was not so popular among Indian Muslims unless it was promulgated in a wave of Islamic messages spread across social media. They began to preach an ‘emulation ‘of the historic victory that the Prophet’s companions achieved in the battle of Badr and thus, they popularized the term ‘Youm-e-Badr’ (the day of Badr) in Jammu & Kashmir.
The event of Badr is actually misconstrued and twisted by the self-styled Islamic ideologues like Geelani with an aim to provoke Muslims to act in vengeance against their supposed enemies. The mainstream Muslims particularly those in Jammu and Kashmir have to remind themselves of the true Islamic ideal of Marhama (mercy) in place of Malhama (retaliation or war). They must recall that having achieved a crowning victory over the oppressive Quraish, a few Companions, overjoyed with the victory, loudly said: “Al-Yum YumulMalhama” (Today is the day of retaliation). But this proclamation was strongly rejected by the Prophet of mercy. He rather said: “La al-YaumYaumulMarhamah” (No, today is the day of compassion).
But tragically, some warmongers in Jammu & Kashmir choose to celebrate the Badr day as an occasion of peddling terror. They particularly engage in south Kashmir to celebrate the ‘anniversary of Ghazwa-e-Badr’ with ghastly terror attacks, as Shakeel Shamsi, a veteran Urdu journalist noted in an editorial in the daily Inquilab. But on the other hand, some semi-literate and gullible Urdu editors like Roznama Sahafat regularly carry sycophantic articles on the ‘contemporary relevance ‘of the Ghazwa-e-Badr. Shockingly, in many Pakistani Urdu newspapers such as Nawa-e-Waqt of Lahore and websites like Daily Urdu Point and the official website of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the theological justifications for striking terror on the occasion of Ghazwa-e-Badr are routinely put up.
In Kashmir, this peculiar form of jihadist atrocity is not an isolated phenomenon. Historically, the valley witnessed vicious attacks around Ramzan in the 90s as well as in the early 2000s. Former BBC correspondent, Yusuf Jameel, who covered Kashmir’s armed militancy in the nineties, recounted how they stood out as the “bloodiest” in terms of the militant attacks in Kashmir. “The scale of attacks back in the ’90s was much greater. There were a number of incidents during the nineties on a given day. The scale was much larger than this”, he said.
Scores of innocent people bear the brunt of these terror attacks and many government troops and cops are shot dead. This is how the Ghazwa-e-Badr anniversary is marked every year with obnoxious actions and extremist designs not only in Jammu & Kashmir but also in other parts of the world. In fact, the ISIS also celebrated the event of Ghazwa-tul-Badr on every 17th day of Ramzan in its previously occupied territories in Raqqa and Mosul. According to Kurdish news source Rudaw, the ISIS celebrated the 17th Ramzan, while at the same time it discredited other Islamic festivals including the two biggest Islamic occasions—Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. ISIS clerics asked the residents of their occupied lands to shun the Eid celebration as it never existed during the Prophetic era.
According to the leading radical Islamist, Abu Mus’ab Zarqawi, the military expeditions of the Islamist fighters on the day of Ghazwa-tul-Badr or 17th Ramzan is attributed with divine intervention. An ISIS spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani urged his worldwide sympathisers and loyalists to systematically launch attacks during the holy month of Ramzan. He reportedly said: "Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Be prepared to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers ...”
Further to the point, the ISIS jihadists chose this auspicious month to further their nefarious designs in Orlando (Florida), Istanbul (Turkey) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). From Florida, Istanbul, Dhaka, London, Baghdad, Java, Indonesia, to Manchester and Tehran, most ISIS terror attacks were orchestrated very particularly during the final days of Ramazan.
As we are winding down to the end of Ramazan, a note of caution is seriously required, particularly in the context of Jammu & Kashmir. As the jihadists try to mark it as ‘a month of calamity’, the mainstream Muslims must not forget: When the Sahaba said: “Al-YumuYumulMalhama” (today is the day of retaliation), the Prophet (pbuh) strongly rebutted: “La, Al-YaumuYaumulMarhama” (No, today is the day of mercy).
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The Zakir Musa Phenomenon: The idea of Ghazwatul Hind and Jihad that he propagated will continue to attract numerous Kashmiri youth



By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
27 May 2019
Om 23rd May, 2019 when whole India was celebrating the historic win of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in general elections, a small decisive battle was being fought in a village of Tral. The face of new age Islamist militancy was holed up in a house with an encounter going on since last ten hours. It ultimately led to the killing of twenty five year old Zakir Rashid Bhat popularly known as Zakir Musa, chief of Ansar Ghazwatul Ul Hind (AGH), an affiliate of Al Qaeda. He has been active since 2013 as an insurgent and his violent activism has many lessons for people to take a cue about the ideological shifts of insurgency.
Zakir Musa was born in the violent prone South Kashmir’s Tral area of district Pulwama in 1994. Like many Kashmiri teenagers he was driven to the quagmire of conflict as police booked him for charges of stone pelting, an allegation denied by his family. So in the aftermath of 2010 agitation, he had to appear regularly before the court of law along with his father. The humiliation that he suffered at the hands of police and judiciary gave birth to a rage that ultimately made him embrace the gun. The story of most insurgents is similar with causes of police harassment, torture and humiliation ultimately leading to violent activism where gun becomes the only way to salvation.
In 2013 Zakir joined Hizbul Mujahideen (H.M) and grew quite close to its charismatic commander Burhan Wani whose death in 2016 lead to a massive peoples agitation resulting in more than one hundred deaths and thousands of injuries. After the agitation was over, Zakir appeared to be a changed man. He switched sides and rebelled against his parental organization (H.M) as he came out with a strong statement against Hurriyat Conference (H.C) in May 2017, “Our struggle is for implementation of Shariah. It is an Islamic struggle. I am warning them (H.C) not to play their politics. If they again try to become thorns in our path, the first thing we will do is behead you and hang you in Lal Chowk. We will leave the infidels and kill you first”.
H.M distanced itself from this statement and declared Zakir who now was known as Zakir Musa as an agent of India. Few claim that he modified his statement against H.C leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, but held it valid for Mirwaiz and chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik. H.C though had been sidelined by then as it was now Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) that was calling shots and Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik were a part of it. H.C is a loose amalgam of religio-political parties that is a stakeholder in Kashmir dispute. The groups within Hurriyat are not bound by any ideological conviction but just they are linked through the common thread of demand for implementation of Right to Self Determination. The criticism of Hurriyat that too from a militant commander was something that created ripples across the quarters because H.C and its leaders enjoy the status of Holy cow. This statement also reignited the debate about the religious connotations of the Kashmir issue. In early 1990s the secular JKLF was decimated, disarmed and criticized as being unIslamic. The murder of its cadres was justified by Islamist ideologues of Jamaat e Islami (JeI) who declared them as infidels as they upheld the postulates of secularism and democracy. With time these ideological allegations and deviations were brushed under the carpet, but Zakir Musa again made them the centre of debate.
If Kashmiri insurgency was part of the global Jihad as Pakistan and JeI has professed it to be then it was obligatory for Muslims to participate in it and not let it to be hijacked by any group other than those fighting on the ground. With time Islamist ideologues like Geelani who had declared Kashmir issue as being religious in nature could not remain faithful to his original creed and with time did compromise with its ideological leanings. Now JKLF was not decried as being anti Islam and Pakistan but accommodated. So was the case with JeI that never officially supported Jihad but its official discourse was hijacked for sometime by ideologues like Geelani and militant commanders like Master Ahsan Dar who declared H.M as armed wing of JeI. Now Zakir Musa was trying to bring insurgency on its original path of Jihad, but H.M that believes originally in Jihad as a discourse but practically does everything opposite on ground was baffled by his brutally honest questions. It never had the grit to condemn Pakistan. Musa over the next few months would declare Pakistan too as serving the cause of infidels and no better than India. Zakir became a threat for Pakistan because he was condemning their hypocrisy. Some top militant commanders of Lashkar e Toiba (LeT) like Abu Dujana and Arif Lelhari also left LeT to join Musa and were killed on August 1, 2017. In an audio recording between Abu Dujana and Zakir Musa, Dujana appears to condemn Pakistan and alleges them of helping Indian forces to eliminate militants.
Soon after Musa left H.M the official propagating channel of Al Qaeda, Global Islamic Media Front declared that they have an affiliate group namely AGH in Kashmir headed by Zakir Musa. A number of youth got inspired by Musa and his name became a common slogan chanted on every occasion in most gatherings of Kashmir. Like his predecessor, Burhan Wani, Musa too made vigorous use of social media to reach out to people. AGH also established media wing named as Al Hurr. AGH is similar to Jamaat e Ansar e Shariah, the Pakistan affiliate of Al Qaeda. Through his audio and video messages Musa urged people to heed the call of Jihad, help militants escape during encounters, destroy CCTVs that help in identifying militants and decried the mob lynchings in India. During 2018 Musa remained mostly silent and it was rumored and alleged that he was working at the behest of Indian agencies, defaming the militancy by getting it affiliated with terrorist organizations and also criticizing Pakistan. All these issues were supposed to help Indian state build up its propaganda against insurgency being synonymous with terrorism. Some even termed AGH as affiliate of ISIS, a charge that Musa refuted strongly. Instead keeping in view the Sufi orientation of Kashmir milieu he invoked Syed Ali Hamdani, a Kashmiri Sufi known as Shah e Hamadan and urged people to follow his footsteps. Musa could very well gauge the difference between ISIS and Al Qaeda. Kashmir being deeply influenced by Sufism and revere shrines of saints and ISIS that is akin to destroying the same could never find a fertile ground in Kashmir, Further the level of violence that ISIS indulges in, is abhorrent to a Kashmiri who can never accept mass beheadings and murder in ISIS style. Musa was cautious and understood the local sensibilities, so he declared no affiliation with ISIS. Unlike ISIS, Al Qaeda was not expansionist in nature and fought occupations while confining their roles to the territorial grounds though they both are pan Islamist in nature, striving to establish caliphate but their concepts and notions about this institution are different. Al Qaeda did not have access to help Musa or his cadres on ground but they just helped his message to reach out to other bigger forums. Musa even at the height of his fame could not boast more than a dozen men in AGH. But despite that his appeal made him relevant.
In late 2018 there were rumours that he was seen in Punjab as he used to study in Chandigarh college wherefrom he dropped out from a course of civil engineering. So he was trying to expand his network in India too. Another important development in December 2018 was that H.M chief Riyaz Naikoo supported Musa and came down heavily on those who were condemning Musa  for sabotaging insurgency. Naikoo called all those defaming Musa as Indian agents. It meant that H.M now was granting credence to Musa and the tables were turning against Pakistan.
In his latest fifteen minute audio clip Musa reiterates that if people will give up Jihad they have to meet the similar fate as that of nation of Prophet Lot (pbuh) who were doomed. Continuing his tirade against Pakistan Musa described its army and government as the biggest enemy of militants in Kashmir while urging Jihadis in Pakistan to join him for the struggle of establishing a global caliphate. While drawing out analogy from Balakot air strikes, he questioned Pakistan for going out with an all out war with India for their survival, but lamented that atrocities against Kashmiris never urged Pakistan to initiate a war against India. Musa also cautioned people that Indo-Pak with the help of USA is trying to end Jihad in Kashmir. He further described elections as a polytheistic exercise and impressed on people to stay away from them. His surmises seem correct too as Pakistan is shutting down its militant camps and recruitment.
The killing of Musa is being likely celebrated as a big success both by India and Pakistan. The Hurriyat and JRL also did not mention Musa in their press releases. Neither did they pay tributes to him, except Geelani, as they were against their brand of politics. Musa is dead, with little success achieved by him or his cadres militarily on ground but the idea of Ghazwatul Hind and Jihad that he propagated will continue to attract numerous youth for some time to come. Musa was a manifestation of the same ideological phenomenon that was witnessed during early 1990s, that led to internecine battles among H.M and JKLF consuming thousands of lives. The rise of Musa saw the resurgence of this debate again that those insurgents fighting in Kashmir are laying down their lives for Islam and Jihad not politics of Kashmir. H.M cadres also believe ideologically in the same but practical compulsions from Pakistan make them opt for hypocrisy. Musa was brave enough to question Pakistan, its state and exploitative use of religion that renders youth cannon fodder to its proxy war. Musa’s death will rekindle the debate again about the religious status and ideological moorings of Kashmir issue. It has the potential to expose all those vested interests that use youth to achieve their political goals.
The United Jihad Council (UJC) though described Musa as a great Mujahid but it was half hearted gesture. UJC intends to erase Musa’s memory from the collective conscience of people. Musa may not have killed anyone like Burhan, but unlike Burhan he had both charisma as well as was an ideologue of global call for establishing caliphate. Time will decide how much his death will have impact on ground, how many youth will follow his footsteps again and how many will have the courage to question Pakistan. But at this juncture AGH seems to be dismantled, dismembered and decimated with the death of its founder and chief ideologue Zakir Musa.
M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir
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Amidst a Majoritarian Turn, Indian Muslims Need to Rethink Their Political Strategy




By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
30 May 2019
The verdict is unanimous; India has elected BJP with a resounding verdict which has broken the barriers of caste and in many instances, even region. It is as if there seems to be a deep crisis within the Indian psyche to which the electorates have responded, reposing their faith once again in Narendra Modi.
Those arraigned against the BJP fundamentally misread this national mood which earned for a leader who was understood as decisive, bold and best suited for national development.
It is however, important to underline that Muslims voted overwhelmingly against the BJP, for reasons which are historical as well as constructed by the opposition. It is also important to underline that the opposition was very careful this time not to talk about Muslim issues but despite this, Muslims voted overwhelmingly in their favour. It was as if the opposition was constantly making efforts to distance itself from the Muslims, but the Muslims themselves were hell bent on voting for them.
How have things come to such a pass that the single largest party in the country, the BJP, has no need for Muslim votes, and the opposition parties have taken the Muslim votes for granted? Moreover, amidst the resounding victory of the BJP, which has a distinctly pro-Hindu plank, how should the Muslim community respond to such a political situation?
Amidst the all-round dejection within Muslim community regarding the verdict, it is important to remind ourselves that this is not about us alone. It is not because of Muslims that the BJP has won. The party has won because there is a fundamental shift within the consciousness of the Hindu population.
Thus, if there is anyone who needs to think about the nature of this ‘new politics’ it is the majority community. After all, it is the majority who makes the nation state; minorities have always played a peripheral role. In India too, Muslims have been peripheral to the national imagination and they will continue to be so now also.
However, now, more than ever, Muslims need to do some deep thinking as to how things have come to such a sorry pass that even their votes have stopped mattering. Despair and self-loathing are not the solution. Perhaps this is the right time to script a different political strategy by the community.
The received wisdom within the community has been to vote for political parties who promise to look after the Muslim interest. Within the last seventy odd years, these Muslims interests have been narrowly defined as protection of their symbolic assets like mosques, language and the personal law. Again, it were the so called secular parties who were the perceived champions of protecting minority rights. However, let us not forget that these so-called secular parties also have their hands dripping with Muslim blood. Whether it was Maliana, Bhagalpur, Meerut or Moradabad or Nellie, the secularism of the Congress never became a hindrance when Muslims were to be killed, often with the full complicity of state agencies. In recent memory, the Muzaffarnagar anti-Muslim pogroms could not have taken place without the active connivance of the ruling Samajwadi Party, again a so-called secular party and for whom Muslims have voted overwhelmingly in this election in Uttar Pradesh. It is equally true that the BJP did similar things to Muslims in Gujarat and other places.
But the important question to ask is that if the community can forgive the Congress and the SP, then why is it reluctant to forgive the BJP for a similar offence? Part of the reason has been the actions of the BJP itself, but it is equally true that this perception of Muslim antipathy towards the BJP has been created and fostered by the so the called liberal and left parties for their own political benefit.
Despite supporting these so-called secular parties, Muslims have not benefited in any substantial manner over the years. They remain one of the most backward communities in terms of education and employment. For long, these secular parties have only treated Muslims as a vote bank. One would have expected that in lieu of their support, the least that these parties could have done was to ensure that Muslims do not get killed in communal riots directed against them. Even this did not happen in many places; worse at times, these parties themselves have been directly or indirectly involved in the killing of Muslims to instil fear in them and get their votes. Today, after becoming politically irrelevant, Muslims feel that they have been cheated by these parties. Those who vouched for secularism such as the communists in Bengal have seen their cadres wholesale shifting towards the BJP. Muslims have been left in the lurch and now face an uncertain political future. They were marginalised economically and educationally, now they don’t even matter in matters of forming any government.
However, Muslims need to think that even when their votes used to matter, the community did not get anything in return. Some families might have benefited from such political alliances, but the community as a whole continued to be deprived. This was because Muslims never bargained with these parties for their own development. Muslims never demanded either education or employment. For them it was sufficient that their votes were enough to defeat the so-called communal forces. Muslims unwittingly became an ideological force in this secular versus communal struggle.
Muslims now need to realise that this secular versus communal divide was essentially different articulations within a majoritarian discourse. Muslims should never have become party to this ideological battle rather they should have looked after their own interests primarily. Now perhaps is the time when they should realise that from being an ideological force, they should become an interest group. As an interest group, they should be able to bargain with all political parties and should ideally go with that political formation which gives them the most favourable material returns. No political party should be untouchable for them. However, this kind of shift will not make a fundamental difference to the extant Muslim politics. In this case also, Muslims will be transferring their votes to some political party but once that party comes in power, there will be no guarantee that they will listen to Muslim voices or that they will fulfil the demands put to them by the Muslim community.
The other alternative, which will take much more time but will perhaps give better returns in the long run is that Muslims should think in terms of forming their own political parties. However, they should desist from forming an all India Muslim party as that will lead to further Hindu consolidation, not to mention the additional charge of trying to revive a separatist sentiment which the Muslim League did years ago. Muslims must form their own political parties at the regional level. Such regional formations should be steeped into the cultural traditions of the region. The going will be tough initially as Muslims are still loyal to various so-called secular formations.
Like most subaltern groups, Muslims also possess a dominated consciousness and it require years of hard work to convert them into a mode of dominant consciousness. Eventually, they will realise that only a share in power can save them from political oblivion. These regional Muslim parties must be open to all kind of political alliances, including the BJP. The only thing that should matter is who is giving them a better deal.
If such Muslim political formations succeed in capturing the imagination of people, Muslims will see rapid socio-economic development in states like Assam and West Bengal where their votes will matter to every political party aiming to form the government. However, even in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where Muslims are relatively less in numbers, this strategy will have a positive impact. After all, Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh are only seven percent, but they have the ambition of become chief ministers. If Muslims, who are much more than the Yadavs, have ambitions to share power, who is going to stop them? It is only through a sharing of power structures that Muslim lives will be secure. If a government is dependent on the support of a Muslim party, then it will be extremely difficult for the government to target Muslims.
We all know that the police play partisan at the behest of the government. If a Muslim political party is part of the government, the police will not be able to play partisan. It is only when the lives of ordinary Muslims are secure can they think in terms of education and employment. It is high time that the community starts a debate on the possibility and consequences of having their own political parties.
Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
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With Growing Threat of ISIS to India, What Can We Muslims Do To Protect Our Youth from ISIS Radicalisation and Thus Strengthen National Security?




By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam
30 May 2019
With the rise of merciless terrorist groups—ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, a call was given to mainstream Muslims worldwide, either to join their ranks or get ready to be killed as “apostates”. In the wake of these terror groups using ostensible Muslim appearances, titles, slogans and cunning tricks employed to hijack and have a monopoly on Islam, some naive and gullible Muslims got trapped in their web of terror games and reached the height of crimes wherefrom there was none to bring them back to the world of peace.
Out of 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, though only an estimated one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand individuals rushed to join ISIS, it is still a matter of great concern. The very small number of 30,000 from 86 non-Arab countries joining ISIS in one year was enough to incite non-Muslims to blame Islam for what the entire Muslim community abhors as acts of terrorism. In other words, the very few individuals were enough to earn a bad reputation for Islam and the mainstream Muslims who did not wish to join the ‘Islamist’ terror groups.
Moreover, the mainstream Muslims remained loyal to the law and order of their own countries, despite facing cases of accusations that they would not expect from a section of their fellow citizens or from a group of what can be called national brotherhood or pluralist country.
The biggest factor that did not allow Muslims to join the ‘Islamist’ terror groups lies in their belief that the acts of these terror groups are antithetical to Islam. Numerous Fatwas, from religious guides of almost all sects of Muslims, have been issued worldwide to condemn ‘Islamist’ terror groups and term their acts anti-Islamic. This is good and has been influential for mainstream Muslims but not better in bringing full results, as there are still a section of hidden sympathizers and die-hard supporters of ‘Islamist’ terror groups, who might blow themselves up anytime, anywhere.
We should not forget that the terror group ISIS and its likes are themselves the enemies of Islam and religious persecutors but they utilize not only ‘Islamist’ narratives but also narratives of persecutions and oppressions to win the support and sympathy of Muslims.
Mainstream Muslims will never fall prey to any such narratives of ISIS but we should still be concerned about the terror sympathizers in our midst. For them, such narratives have worked well playing a successful role in disrupting the peace and security of a country. Take for instance, the destruction of countries like Syria and Iraq. Such countries will have to wait perhaps for the next two generations to restore peace, security and economic stability in their land.   
We should not deny any possible threat posed by ISIS to India. Initially India was not a primary focus for terror groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS as their Wahhabi ideologues regard majority of Indian Muslims such as Sufis/Barelvis as “heretics” and “Mushrik” (polytheist or idolator). However, with the rise of Wahhabism and the reason being that more than 350 million Indians are connected to the internet, it is likely that ISIS succeeds in luring some individuals through their online propaganda and using deepening communal fault-lines within India.  
Two things are indispensable at this tumultuous time and should continue till the time of complete elimination of terrorism and until the security is fully established. One points to the responsibility of religious guides and the second lies on the shoulders of national security leaders.
Religious guides of India should repeatedly declare that the rulings of war-related Quranic verses and Ahadith are contextual and can’t be applied today. For instance, the Quranic verse “kill the Mushrikin wherever you find them” (9:5)should be rightly interpreted in the same way as a renowned classical scholar Abu Bakr al-Jassas (d.370H) wrote while interpreting the same verse, "صارقوله تعالى: {فَاقْتُلُواالمُشْرِكِين َحَيْث ُوَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ} خاصّاً في مشركي العرب دون غيرهم" Translation: “The verse (Kill the Mushrikin wherever you find them) was particular to the Mushrikin of Arab and does not apply to anyone else” (Ahkam al-Quran lilJassas, V. 5, p. 270, Arabic edition- English translation mine). Read my article “Did War-related Madani Verses Abrogate Makki Verses in the Sense of Not Allowing Peaceful Coexistence between Muslims and Non-Muslims?” to get some details concerning the same verse.
Like the war-related Quranic verses, the Ahadith such as the one discussed in my article “The Misunderstood Hadith - 'I Have Been Commanded To Fight the People Until They Say There Is No God but Allah’ - misused by terrorist ideologues and Islamophobes” should be interpreted more loudly and clearly in harmony with the narratives of Islam which strongly encourage peace and harmony with the people, nations, countries and groups which do not harm you.
The religious guides should read out the warnings given in the Quran and Sunnah with regard to violation of human rights of non-Muslims, such as the warnings mentioned inthe following Quranic verses and Sunnah to adherents of Islam.
A Quranic verse says, “Whoever killed a person (unjustly), except as a punishment for murder or for (spreading) disorder in the land, it would be as if he killed all the people (of society); and whoever (saved him from unjust murder and) made him survive, it would be as if he saved the lives of all the people (of society, i.e., he rescued the collective system of human life). And indeed, Our Messengers came to them with evident signs. Yet, even after that, the majority from amongst these people are certainly those who commit excesses in the land” (5:32)
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (60:8)
“Beware, if anyone persecutes any peaceful non-Muslim citizen [Mu’ahid], or diminishes his right, or forces him to work beyond his capacity, or takes from him anything without his consent, I shall plead for him on the Day of Judgment.” (Please see Sunan Abi Dawud – Book 20, Hadith 125- Arabic reference).
Even during the state of war these injunctions were given, “Do not kill any child, any woman, or any elder or sick person.” (Sunan Abu Dawud), “Do not practice treachery or mutilation. (Muwatta Malik), “Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” (Sahih Bukhari; Sunan Abu Dawud), “Do not kill the monks in monasteries, and do not kill those sitting in places of worship. (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal).
These injunctions should be propagated repeatedly to clarify in the minds of Muslims that the objective of Islamic fighting in the Prophet’s time was to prevent religious persecution and promote religious freedom and security for all religious communities whereas the modern “Islamist” terror groups are the strict violators of such injunctions; they persecute religious communities themselves and are thus among the Zalimoon upon whom is “the curse of Allah and the angels and of men, all together.”Surah Ale Imran (3): verses 86, 87)
The Quran tells us: “And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? These shall be brought before their Lord, and the witnesses shall say: These are they who lied against their Lord. Now surely the curse of Allah is on the Zalimoon (the unjust and oppressors).” (Q: 11:18). This surely applies to ISIS ideologues, the Zalimoon who have virtually invented a new religion in the name of Islam, whose basic purpose is to defame Islam.
These are just few examples among many by which the religious guides can and should increase their influence in a wider public space. More significantly they should keep an eye on the “Islamist” narratives made by ISIS and refute them point by point. Furthermore, Islamic teachings of peace and pluralism, the likes of which were quoted above, are the proper demand and appropriate requirement of our age. Thus, the religious guides should make these teachings acceptable even to hidden sympathizers of ‘Islamist’ terror groups, apart from being influential simply for mainstream Muslims.
As for the national security and powerful leaders of the country, they have been doing well and should continuously adopt so many more good causes to strictly uphold all-round law and order in order to practically ensure peace, justice, religious freedom, equally for all citizens—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, or to say, for majorities and minorities. They should make all possible efforts to prevent cases of persecutions such as lynching, be it of any Muslims or non-Muslims. As a part of Indian nationality, this is how we should do for the good of our nation and our country.
A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is an Alim and Fazil (Classical Islamic scholar), with a Sufi-Sunni background and English-Arabic-Urdu Translator. He has also done B.A (Hons.) in Arabic, M.A. in Arabic and M.A in English from JMI, New Delhi. He is Interested in Islamic Sciences; Theology, Jurisprudence, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic mysticism (Tasawwuf).
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Madrasas in Muslim Bangladesh Introduce Sex Education As Other Countries of Asia Still Shy Away From the Subject




By S. Arshad, New Age Islam
01 June 2019
During the last ten years or so, the issue of introducing sex education inschools has been largely debated and a consensus has yet not been reached on the issue. In 2007, the Indian government had launched sex education in schools but was opposed by a large section of the intellectuals and religious organisations. Even some political leaders had opposed it.
Sex education was taken off from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The arguments presented in favour of sex education were that it will create awareness about sexual abuse of children and they will be aware of various problems relating to puberty and diseases like HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD).  It will also help the adolescents remove their misconceptions about the biological changes during puberty and will help them cope with the psychological problems faced by them. But those against it argued that sex education will expose them to sexual activity and will promote promiscuity among them destroying cultural and religious values of the country.
Pakistan also lags behind in introducing sex education. In 2018, after a couple of high-profile sex abuse cases, the Pakistan government decided to introduce sex education in schools and prepared a draft booklet that would be included in the school curriculum. But the plan is still to be realised.
But Bangladesh, a conservative Muslim country has taken lead in this direction. Sex education has been introduced in 350 schools in four districts. The introduction of sex education in schools is a part of a project called Generation Breakthrough. The sex education classes are called GEMS (Gender Equity Movement in Schools). Students of class Vi to X have been receiving sex education since 2014. The project was launched in 2014 for five years with the financial assistance from international donor agencies. The Project Director of Generation Breakthrough is Md Jahangir Hussain. He is very optimistic about the success of the project as he says that guardians and teachers have accepted the project very positively. However, he said that the projected faced resistance from teachers, guardians and some organisation of Dhaka, But the schools in rural and semi urban areas showed greater openness in accepting the project. Currently, the Fazilatunnisa Government High School in Dhaka is running GEMS classes successfully.  Both the boys and girls receive sex education together and discuss subjects like condom, menstruation, sexual hygiene, nightfall and reproductive organs etc through card and board game, computer illustrations and books.
The most striking fact of this development is that 5o madrasas have also joined this movement and introduced sex education in their curriculum. Md. Jahangir Hussain says that in fact, madrasas showed they were on the greener side on the topic and they showed a greater maturity. This may not be surprising due to the fact that the Quran and Hadith discuss sexual issues and so sex is not a taboo in Islam though the religious community has made Muslims to believe that it is. The Quran and Hadiths deal with sexual issues and the students and teachers of madrasas are aware of the injunctions of the Quran and Hadith on the subject. That’s why madrasas did not resist the project. In fact, the religious atmosphere of madrasas will be better for sex education as the students and teachers will not cross the line while discussing the subject.
The first phase of the project was for five years which has successfully ended in 2018. Jahangir Hussain says that the second phase will start soon and another 200 schools will be brought under the project. He also said that the sex education is imparted keeping in view the cultural values of the Muslim community. That’s why the guardians have showed acceptance.
S. Arshad is a regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com
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Some Questions to Muslims Who Believe Islam Promotes Pluralism




By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
03 June 2019
India is a multi-religious and multi-cultural society. It is one of the greatest strengths of the country, that despite attempts to homogenise its religio-cultural standards, the country still remains diverse and plural. Attempts to homogenise have come from both sides: from the side of secularists who have historically tried to promote a single ‘rational and scientific’ standard by belittling the diverse religious traditions of the country; and from right wing religious organizations who have sought to argue that their reading of a particular religious tradition should be the only standard. India is a shining example that all such attempts have failed and the country continues to be plural.
This is the reason perhaps why followers of different religions in India have started arguing that their religions promote pluralism and diversity. Muslims are no exception to this rule. In almost all formal gatherings, Muslims point out that Islam promotes diversity and pluralism. However, when one starts interrogating such assertions, these Muslims either parry the question or start calling you an Islamophobe. Such a response only tells us that deep down, Muslims have clearly not done enough hard thinking on this issue and their articulation that Islam promotes pluralism is just a performance which they are enacting in front of a sympathetic audience. This not only does disservice to the cause of inter-religious harmony but also to Muslims themselves since they do not have the intellectual capacity to confront their own religious past.
Most Muslims, even the educated ones, paint a very dark picture of pre-Islamic era. Muslims unthinkingly argue that it was a period of Jahiliyya or ignorance, that the condition of women was miserable and that there was no law or regulation which governed that society. You just ask them how they know so much about the pre-Islamic period when there is a near absence of written historical records. More importantly, Islamic literature also tells us that the whole notion of Jahiliyya is a construct of latter day Muslim scholars, anxious at making a distinction with their own past.
Like many parts of the world, Arabia was largely an oral culture. Written texts were a rarity and thus what we know about the period comes largely through the works of Islamic writers. It must be remembered that Islam emerged victorious in this battle between ‘truth’ and ‘ignorance’ and victors all over the world have tended to write histories which have been disparaging about the vanquished. Also, we must remember that according to the tenets of modern historiography, volumes of Hadees literature, which tell us about this supposed pre-Islamic period, cannot even be considered as historical texts. But most Muslims rely on these obscure texts for their arguments and find no problem in citing these antediluvian texts. At the same time, they will argue with all passion that texts of other religious traditions cannot be relied upon because they are not grounded in history. It beats common sense how Muslims can belittle other religious and cultural traditions and yet vouch for the pluralistic ethos of Islam.
If pre-Islamic Arabia was such a regressive place, then how did it throw such valiant women of strong character like Khadija, who was the first to realise the prophetic mission of Muhammad? If women had such a low status in society, how did she become a first rate entrepreneur before Islam came to the picture? If there was nothing to be appreciated in that society, how it produced first rate poets and satirists remains an intriguing question. If there were no rules in that society, then how did the rule of not shedding blood at the Ka’aba got enforced?
The problem is that Muslims do not question the received wisdom which has come down to them through generations of religious scholars, all of whom have been united in their a historical opinion that pre-Islamic Arabia was a place of Jahiliyya when there is ample evidence that this might not be the case.
A genuine dialogue and search for pluralism within one’s own religious tradition cannot begin without a ceaseless search for the truth in the light of available evidence. Relying on texts of dubious historical authenticity is certainly not the right way to go about it. For example, the same texts also inform us that the Prophet ordered the execution of the poetess Asma bint Marwan, who used to compose poetry against Islam and the Prophet. Now, if we are arguing that Islam stands for pluralism, then we need to be able to answer such tough questions as why the Prophet was not tolerant enough to withstand criticism from a woman or why he couldn’t accept another point of view. And certainly there cannot be any idea of pluralism without the practice of tolerance.
There are other questions which Muslims advocating Islam’s supposed pluralistic ethos need to confront. They rightly point out that the covenant of Medina is a pluralist document, which talks of amicable living together between the Jews and Muslims. The problem is that such a covenant can be read as an agreement between two Semitic traditions, both claiming to worship the same God. But can this also be extended to polytheistic traditions? This question is certainly important in the Indian context where a large majority of population is certainly polytheistic. How does Islam in India want to deal with them if it wants to showcase itself as a religion devoted to pluralism? Muslims have unthinkingly advocated that the covenant of Medina serves as a guide for plural living together, even with the Hindus.
However, it is an open question as to how this can be extended to Hindus if Islamic ideas and practices have been antithetical to idol worship and polytheism? Islamic monotheism stands opposed to polytheism and no hermeneutic jugglery can resolve this problem. Islam fought against polytheism practiced in Arabia and wiped it out very rapidly. The very reasonable conclusion that one derives from Islamic history is that monotheism is far superior to polytheism. After all, how do the Muslim advocates of pluralism account for the fact that the Prophet himself removed idols from the Ka’aba signalling the final triumph of Islam over polytheism? How can someone, who was intrinsically antithetical to non-monotheistic ways of relating to God, be considered as an ambassador of religious pluralism as claimed by some well-meaning Muslims?
The whole point of arguing all this is not to belittle any religious tradition. But just to open up a debate amongst those Muslims who sincerely believe in a reading of Islam which is pluralist and tolerant.
Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
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Shah Waliullah Renewed Islam in Eighteenth Century India with Ideas That Were Progressive and Even Revolutionary For His Time




By S. Arshad, New Age Islam
08 June 2019
Shah Waliullah was one of the most important Islamic personalities in the 18th century India. He lived during the Mughal era and witnessed the rule of ten Mughal rulers from Aurangzeb to Shah Alam Sani.
During his time India was going through economic, social and moral crises. The Mughal court, particularly during the rule of Mughal Shah Rangila, had become a centre of song and dance. The Muslim community was largely illiterate and unaware of their religious legacy. Many un-Islamic practices had crept into it. Since the system of religious education was not organised, Muslims were largely unaware of the teachings of Quran and Hadith.
Shah Waliullah was born and brought up in a religious household. His father Abdur Rahim was a religious scholar and one of the editors of Fatawa-e- Alamgiri compiled during Aurangzeb's rule. He also ran a Madrasa in his house. He received his primary education from his father and a religious scholar called Haji Sialkoti. After that he went to Hijaz (now Saudi Arabia) for pilgrimage. During his stay after pilgrimage, he learnt Deen from Abu Tahir Mohammad bin Ibrahim Madani of Madina and Mufti of Makkah Tajuddin Hanafi. He also learnt Quran and Hadith from Shaikh Wafdullah. He received a certificate in Mawatta Imam Malik.
Coming back to India, he resolved to spread the knowledge of Quran and Hadith among general Muslims. During his period and before him the Quran was only received and learnt by heart. The knowledge of Hadith was also minimal. The translation of Quran in Urdu or Persian was not available. In fact, reading the translation of Quran was considered a sin. Therefore, the Quran was either kept in houses for recitation on special events or used to draw fal.
Shah Waliullah started teaching in his father’s Madrasa Rahimiya. Soon the reputation of the style oh his teaching spread far and students from far off places started coming to his Madrasa. This rendered the place insufficient. When the Mughal king, Mohammad Shah heard about the Madrasa, he donated a Haweli for it and the Madrasah shifted in the grand building. The Madrasa became a big centre of Islamic learning.
Shah Waliullah wanted to teach students Quran with its meaning. So he Translated Quran into Persian, the language of the masses. He taught students Quran with Persian translation and then Tafseer-e-Jalalayn. Hadith, history and Fiqh was also taught here. But the conservative religious circle of his time vehemently opposed the idea of teaching the translation of the Quran. According to the ulema of the time, reading or teaching translation of the Quran was a sin, a Bid'at (innovation in religion). They accused Shah Waliullah of misleading Muslim youth and declared him Wajib ul Qatl (deserving death). After that one day when he was coming out of Masjid Fatehpuri, some goons led by a mullah tried to assault him but he managed to wriggle out of the place unscathed.
Inspired by him, his sons Shah Rafiuddin and Shah Abdul Qadir later translated the Quran in Urdu. Thus, Shah Waliullah opened the door to translation and exegesis of Quran in Indian languages and started the tradition of intellectual research work on the Quran.
Shah Waliullah did not subscribe to the idea of four imams and four sects. His opinion was that all the religious issues of the Muslims should be resolved in the light of Quran and Hadith. The opinions of the four imams should be consulted only for reference and corroboration. Therefore, while resolving an issue, he would sometimes accept the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa and on other occasions he would agree with the opinion of other imams. He opposed the division of the Ummah in four sects. He would say that the Muslims should not obey those dry headed ulema who stick to one imam and abandon Sunnah. This led ulema to brand him Ghairm U Qallad.
Shah Waliullah tried to remove the difference between the Hanafi, Ahle Hadith and other sects by writing well researched articles pointing out the flaws in their ideology in the light of Quran and Sunnah.
Another important contribution of Shah Waliullah to the Islamic thought is that he declared Sufism to be the soul of Islam. According to him, Deen had two aspects: outer and inner. The outer aspect represented dogma and religious practices and the inner aspect was Sufism. He divides Islamic mysticism into four periods. The first period was the era of the holy prophet pbuh and his companions. The second period is marked by the period of Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi. He gave a distinct form to Sufism by laying down its principles. The third period begins with Abu Sayid bin Abil Khair and Kharqani. In this period, Sufism became an altogether different way of devotion and submission to God. Trance, meditation and other spiritual exercises were resorted to as a means to achieve spiritual realisation of the Supreme Reality from which the universe has emanated. But till this period Sufis were not aware of the terms like Wahdat ul Wujud and Wahdatush Shuhud. Their devotion was based on love of God not on fear of God.
The fourth period of Sufism started with Ibn-e-Arabi or sometime before him. His philosophical treatise called Fusu sul Hikam gave birth to the philosophy of Wahdat ul Wujud in Islam. After that Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi presented the philosophy of Wahdatush Shuhud. Sufis in this period discussed these two terms and tried to understand the concept of the unity of existence.
Therefore Shah Waliullah believed that Sufism was the inner stream of Islam and the holy prophet pbuh and his companions were Sufis of the first order.
And last but not the least, Shah Waliullah believed that the period in which he lived was not an appropriate time for jihad with sword. He was not in favour of jihad with sword. He believed that it was more necessary to wage jihad against oneself first. He also believed that the Ummah should be first taught their Deen and be made aware of their duties as Muslims.
Therefore, we can say that Shah Waliullah renewed the Deenof Islam in India with ideas that can be considered progressive and even revolutionary for his time. He made remarkable contributions to the spread of Quranic wisdom, moving it from mere rote learning to learning with understanding.

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Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Digitalising Islam and Virtual Ummah: Globalising Local Discourses?




By Irshad Ahmed Bhat and Zahid Sultan Magray, New Age Islam
28 May 2019
What about internet? It is perhaps here on internet that some of the most interesting things are happening. It should be noted that global technology of western origin is turning into a vital tool for the conduct and propagation of new hybridised practices. These practices are formed by inserting the normative discourse of Islam into western discourse of information technology and are classical example of “Globalising the local”. What are the implications of the media revolution for those communities which inhabit global space, then? While as Anderson once argued to the pioneering efforts of New World ' Creoles' in the formation of imagined communities, he now talks of the new ' creoles' of the information superhighway. But, we should refrain from jumping into the conclusion that internet is suddenly going to transform Muslim understandings of political community radically. Anderson further pointed out that transnational theories, fixated on media and forms of alienated consciousness distinctive of late modernity, tend to overlook the social organisation into which new media are brought in a rush to the new in expression. Impressed by what simmel much earlier called ' cosmopolitanism’, we overlook measures of social organisation in pursuit of media effects.
To comprehend the processes by which community is created, we need also to understand the circumstances under which Muslim identities’ become diasporic. , How other aspects of identity influence the terms of religious discourse on internet? Such issues are often battled out on internet using methods of reasoning and Debate then in the traditional idioms of religious discourse.  Internet impacted the centre/ periphery relations in the Muslim world; country such as Malaysia considered to be on religious & geographical margins in terms of influence, has invested heavily in information & network technologies then the venerable institutions of Cairo, Medina or Mashhad have . Even the ayatollahs of Iran have jumped on the information bandwagon.  For overwhelming majority of Muslims in West, internet is mainly a forum for the conduct of politics within Islam which is gaining ground in non western Muslim societies too. In the absence of sanctioned information from recognised institutions, Muslims are increasingly taking religion into their own hands, and internet provides them useful medium for disturbing information about Islam and about behaviour required of a good Muslim.
Internet has also served to reinforce and rectify the impact of print capitalism on traditional structures and forms of authority. Instead of having to go down to the mosque to elicit  advice from local imam or mullah, Muslims can now receive ' authoritative ' religious pronouncements via the various email Fatwas services . But due to  the largely anonymous nature of the internet , one can also never be sure whether the authoritative advice received via these services is coming from a classically trained religious scholar or hydraulic engineer moonlighting as an amateur Aalim. This new media has opened up new spaces for religious contestation where traditional sources of authority could be challenged by a wider public. The fragmentation of traditional sources of authority is a key theme with regard to the nexus of Islam and Globalization. But on the other hand, internet created availability of Qur’an, several collections of prophetical sayings, Tafsirs, and other jurisprudential works, created a sort of new constituency for religious texts. This sort of Ijtihad toolkit in the words Zaiuddin Sardar in his book ,”Media, culture and society”  observed, Would amount to a virtual Aalim and would pose a further challenge to traditional religious scholarship authority. Internet and communication networks have also improved the capabilities of Global terror outfits like Al Qaeda, ISISI and similar others to plan and conduct operations with far more devastations. It particularly improved their capability in Areas of proselyting, coordination, security, mobility and lethality; propagate their version of theological arguments to legitimise Global jihad Ideologies. Internet in Muslim world is serving as a double aged sword.
 However, the issue of internet in Persian Gulf and other gulf countries, the distinction has to be made between the availability of internet access and their domain of usages. With strict censorship, ban in political activism, unquestioning obedience to political and religious authorities, a medium which by its very nature is heavily resistant to any attempt to control, closed society, censorship or regulation makes the issue a quandary. It must be noted that access to information technology requires resources and permission to political liberty to explore such networks.
It has become apparent that the encounter between Islam and the globalised technologies of communication is as multifaceted as the religion itself. Globalization which is seen as a source of homogeneity also be understood as a culturally heterogeneous force as well. What we need to understood is the extent  to which the Globalization of information and communication networks can provide a new framework within which Muslims can re-imagine the Ummah.
Firstly, it is worth mentioning to recognise we are dealing with Virtual community; is a context in which indirect and distanciated relationships are sustained through computer – mediated communication. To invoke Gibson’s metaphor, participants in this kind of community are ' wrapped in media’; such that one's corporeal existence becomes insignificantly de- emphasized. Community here is a product of communication then the one in which one is born (ethnicity or nationality). It fosters social networks through which distanciated Muslims can organise and communicate. Communication networks provide spaces for critical dialogue , Debate about Islam and encounters with the Muslim order; Allowing Muslim movements to locate and share resources and more particularly , opening forums in which Muslims can find solidarity, and support to the cause of Ummah.
But the question is to what extent would original sense of Ummah as a new social paradigm be recreated; that is a form of community where factional identity barrier are subservient to a religious whole.  What about politics within such medium? And who can administrator this virtual Ummah?  How will traditional centres are going to reproduce themselves in cyberspace? These are some key paradoxical questions will lay at the heart of Globalization and Islam paradigm.
Zahid Sultan and Irshad Ahmad Bhat are Research scholars of political science
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