A New Conflict of Interests Has Emerged In Post-NATO Afghanistan

Taliban Is Trying To Maintain a Secret Rapport with Al Qaida Main Points: 1. Taliban has ideological affinity with Al Qaida and the ISIS. 2. Taliban had given a safe sanctuary to Al Zawahiri. 3. Taliban leaders have always paid allegiance to Al Qaida. ----- New Age Islam Staff Writer 8 August 2022 File photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of al-Qaeda | Commons ---- Recent developments in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan indicate a new power play in Afghanistan. The US has claimed that it has annihilated Al Qaida's leader Aiman Al Zawahiri who had been hiding in Afghanistan. If it is true, then the US was true in saying that the Taliban had not honoured its promise that it would not allow any terrorist organisation to operate from its land. On the other hand the hostility between the Taliban and the ISIS has intensified and they have entered into a direct confrontation in recent months. The ISIS had attacked a Gurudwara in June though the attack was foiled by the Taliban security guards. A few days ago the Taliban destroyed a hide out of the ISIS causing collateral damage. The Taliban had attacked the ISIS fighters claiming the former was planning to carry out attacks on Shia processions during Ashura. However, the Taliban could not prevent them and the ISIS attacked an Ashura procession of Shias killing 8 people and injuring a dozen. Last week, before the conference in Tajikistan participated by the US, UK, China, Russia, Japan etc on Afghanistan, the Taliban had claimed that the security issues had been resolved and that the minorities were now safe in Afghanistan. They had therefore, appealed to the Sikh and Hindu communities to return to Afghanistan. They had made the claim only to assure the world community of the safety and security of minorities in Afghanistan to get humanitarian aid and loans from world bodies and to get its money that has been lying frozen in the US and European banks back to the country. But the ISIS attack on Shias on Ashura has left them black faced. Though the Taliban have tried to make Shias believe that they have changed their view about them, Shias do not believe them. During their earlier stint from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban had persecuted Shia Hazaras. In Pakistan, their ideological partners, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have persecuted them attacking their processions, schools, school vans carrying Shia children calling them snakelings and cemeteries. Attacks on Shia processions in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan has been a regular affair. Since Taliban have been educated in sectarian madrasas in Pakistan, Shias of Afghanistan do not believe Taliban's claim of change of mind towards them. They say Taliban's Takfiri ideology declares Shias Kafir worthy to be killed. They are pretending to have changed only to show to the world community that they honour international commitments and not to be isolated by the world community. They now realise that running violent campaigns from mountains and jungles is a different thing and being part of a government is an altogether different matter. A government in this modern world cannot be run in isolation but has to be accountable to the world community. The Taliban are caught in this dilemma which compels them to take up arms against their ideological partners ISIS but in vain. The presence of Al Qaida leader Al Zawahiri in Afghanistan is another proof that the Taliban cannot shed its ideology or dump their ideological friends. The hostility of Taliban towards the ISIS is for two reasons. One, as Taliban have backed TTP and have them shelter in Afghanistan, Pakistan is trying to use the ISIS to destabilise the Taliban and cause them embarrassment before the world community. Two, Pakistan have long used Taliban as a policy of strategic depth against the US and India. But as the Taliban have softened its stand towards India and refused to play to its tunes Pakistan is now trying to use the ISIS against Taliban. Otherwise, Taliban have not taken any stand against the ISIS before on the issue of its attack on Shias. Attacks on Shias in Pakistan may also become a political and diplomatic issue between Iran and Afghanistan as Iran won't tolerate persecution of Shias in Afghanistan. Iran is hosting 3 lakh Afghan refugees for decades. Therefore, Taliban have been caught between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea. Praveen Swami's article delves into Taliban's on and off relationship with Al Qaida and it's ramifications in the politics of the region. ----- Taliban Won’t Give Up Al-Qaeda, Not After US Killing Al-Zawahiri. Kabul’s A Safe Haven By Praveen Swami 7 August, 2022 The phone rang at the State Department soon after American cruise missiles slammed into jihadist training camps in southern Afghanistan: the cleric who ruled the Islamic Emirate was on the line from Kandahar. Mullah Muhammad Umar, a declassified document records, “had no specific message, but he did have some advice…To rebuild US popularity in the Islamic world and because of his current domestic political difficulties, Congress should force President [Bill] Clinton to resign.” Forty-eight hours earlier, on 20 August 1998, death squads despatched by the al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden had bombed United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 241 people. The seventy-odd cruise missiles used in the strikes, each costing upwards of $1 million, had killed just six jihadists, according to the memoirs of bin Laden’s bodyguard, Nasser al-Bahri. For the Islamic Emirate, the blood was a small change. The one-eyed cleric who led Afghanistan refused to hand over bin Laden, and never bothered calling again. Last month’s killing of bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in his safe-house in Kabul, illustrates a deeper truth: under the Taliban regime, the United Nations sanctions monitor warned earlier this summer, “al-Qaeda enjoys greater freedom in Afghanistan.” The group isn’t mounting external operations, like the Embassy bombings or 9/11. Instead, it is using its Taliban-provided safe haven to rebuild. For years, Western advocates of peace with the Taliban insisted the organisation was willing to sever its links to transnational terrorism, and reinvent itself as a force for peace: Islamic Emirate interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is believed to have provided al-Zawahiri with his home, even debuted as a New York Times columnist. Things haven’t gone that way, in part, because of deep ties between al-Qaeda and the so-called Haqqani Network, made up mainly of leaders from eastern Afghanistan’s Zadran clans. But the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban is deeper than one faction. The durability of the relationship raises important questions about the Taliban’s ideological goals—and if they will ever give up their pursuit of transnational jihad. Making of the Haqqanis From 1920 on, Afghanistan’s modernising King Amanullah Khan set in motion the forces that eventually forged the Taliban. The king ordered an end to the seclusion of women and founded co-educational schools. In an effort to build a united national army, he ended exemptions the south-eastern Pashtun tribes had enjoyed from military conscription. The king’s reforms enraged both tribal elites and the clerical class. Twice—in 1924 and in 1928—the Zadran, from which the Haqqanis drew, revolted against the king. Further, crises erupted in the south, historian Sana Haroon has recorded, as ethnic Pashtuns joined in cleric-led insurrections against British imperial power in North Waziristan. King Nadir Shah, Amanullah’s successor, had to roll back his efforts at reform and state-building. Khwaja Muhammad Khan, the founding patriarch of the Haqqani family, represented the pious trading class empowered by the failure of Afghan state-building. Khan used part of the small fortune he made from trading with British India to educate his four sons at the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania founded in 1947. The seminary, under the leadership of the Islamist politician Sami-ul-Haq, emerged as the intellectual heart of the Islamist movement in Pakistan. Its students—Fazl-ul-Rehman, Muhammad Yunus Khalis, and Mullah Umar himself—went to command powerful jihadist formations. The founder of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Uttar Pradesh-born Sana-ul-Haq, was also a student—and so, a generation before him, was Khwaja Muhammad Khan’s son, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Late in 1957, socialist Prime Minister Mohammad Daud Khan reignited the conflict with the south-eastern tribes over women’s education. Jalaluddin would rise to prominence as a key figure in the renewed jihad against the reform. The Inter-Services Intelligence directorate played a key role in bringing about Jalal Uddin’s rise. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, scholar C. Christine Fair has recorded, used Islamist groups to undermine the Daud regime. Frontier Corps’ Brigadier Naseerullah Babar, later defence minister of Pakistan, set up military facilities that trained an estimated 5,000 jihad volunteers to take on the Afghan State. Brotherhood of Global Jihad From 1979, when Soviet forces crossed the Amu Darya into Afghanistan, a small flow of Arab volunteers travelled to Pakistan—joining the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania graduates. The most influential of these would be Abdullah Azzam—who, as teacher at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, would help Hafiz Muhammad Saeed establish the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and mentored the young bin Laden. Fighting on the frontlines, Azzam became an icon for a generation of jihadists. Azzam’s 1987 book, Defence of the Muslim Lands, is considered among the seminal texts of the modern jihadist movement—in particular, its assertion that fighting was obligatory on individual Muslims, a proposition he made with the support of the chief cleric of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Baz. The idea, however, had already been promoted by the Dar-ul-Uloom jihadists for years. “If the Islamic world truly wants to support and help us,” Jalaluddin Haqqani said in 1980, “it should permit its young men to join our ranks. There is a tendency in most of the Islamic countries which wish to help us to present aid and food as a kind of jihad. Some even think that this is the best kind of jihad. This, however, does not absolve the Muslim of the duty to offer himself for the jihad.” Vahid Brown and Don Rassler have noted that this declaration “was made years before Abdullah Azzam would issue his ‘revolutionary’ Fatwa.” Five years before Azzam would establish the kernel of al-Qaeda, its to-be leaders were already training at Haqqani’s base at Zhawar. The Egyptian jihadists Mustafa Hamid arrived in 1979, soon to be followed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen’s Fazlur Rehman Khalil. Thousands more came from Europe, Central Asia and Kashmir. “Jihad continues to be a sacred duty until the infidels are defeated throughout the world,” Haqqani declared in 1991. “God will not bless us for our past jihad.” Abetted by Pakistan’s ISI, the United States Defence Intelligence Agency recorded, al-Qaeda would expand its presence after the Taliban took power in 1996. An Iron Alliance Even though the Haqqanis maintained an intimate relationship with al-Qaeda, the jihadist group also enjoyed close ties with the Kandahar-based leaders of the group. In 2015, for example, United States forces bombed the largest al-Qaeda camp ever detected, operating in the mountains near Kandahar. In July 2014, Mullah Umar accepted a formal pledge of allegiance from al-Zawahiri, affirming that al-Qaeda and its branches in all locales are soldiers in his army acting under his victorious banner. Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who succeeded Mullah Umar, publicly accepted a pledge of allegiance ffrom al-Qaeda—which the Taliban never repudiated, despite removing it from their website. “The Taliban’s policy is to avoid being seen with us or revealing any cooperation or agreement between us and them,” the Libyan jihadist Attiyat Abdel Rehman wrote in 2011. “That is for the purpose of averting international and regional pressure and out of consideration for regional dynamics. We defer to them in this regard.” Even though the eastern and southern factions of the Taliban are engaged in a sometimes-brutal struggle for influence for power—with Sirajuddin competing with Taliban emir Mullah Muhammad Haibatullah and Mullah Yakoob Omar—neither side has shown any willingness to compromise its relationship with al-Qaeda. From the outset, some pragmatists within the Taliban have been willing to sacrifice global Jihadism in the interests of international recognition and aid for state-building. They’ve had little influence over the organisation, though. For the Taliban, jihad isn’t a means—it is the end. ----- Praveen Swami is National Security Editor, ThePrint. He tweets @praveenswami. Views are personal. (Edited by Srinjoy Dey) Source: Taliban Won’t Give Up Al-Qaeda, Not After US Killing Al-Zawahiri. Kabul’s A Safe Haven URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/conflict-nato-afghanistan/d/127669 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Emphasis on the Teaching of Tolerance in Islam

Promotion of Tolerance In Islam Main Points: 1. The concept of tolerance in Islam is that people with different views have equal rights. 2. The Holy Qur'an teaches us moderation and balance in order to sustain global success, wealth, honour, and dignity, as this noble verse demonstrates. 3. From an Islamic perspective, tolerance serves as the foundation of society ----- By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam 8 August 2022 One of the characteristics that contribute significantly to the civilization and development of a multi-religious nation or multicultural country is tolerance. What Is Tolerance? Commonly used definitions of tolerance include bearing another person's comments with patience and respect while avoiding bias, obstinacy, malice, or jealousy. Tolerance is the antithesis of intolerance, that is, it is another name for patience and forbearance. The concept of tolerance in Islam is that people with different views have equal rights. This tolerance calls for refraining from criticising them in any way that would offend people who have opposing ideas, beliefs, or thinking while also taking into account their feelings. Coercion should never be used to persuade someone to abandon their religious convictions and practices or to stop them from engaging in such practices. Islam explicitly tells us to be tolerant. It is evident from a study of the Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's hadiths that Islam has established a number of justifications for the advancement of tolerance and humanity that seek to instil in people a sense of treating others with sincerity and striving for their welfare. The desire for tolerance transcends national boundaries and has universal applications. It is simple to foster harmonious international and interreligious ties if a nation fosters tolerance on a national level. Along with enhancing moral and human values, this procedure also helps to rebuild international trust and boosts the nation's economy. Social behaviour characterized by a spirit of tolerance, whether it be on a national, regional, or worldwide scale, does not foster hostility and resentment among people, but rather creates new opportunities for societal prosperity and a well-functioning political order. Thus, from an Islamic perspective, tolerance serves as the foundation of society, but its widespread application fosters an environment of attachment and love among people, which is currently the most pressing need and desire. Islam is a patient and tolerant religion. There is no place in it for compulsion of any kind. It is a deception and slander to assert that Islam has been imposed on the globe by the use of force and the sword. In the Quran, Allah Azzawajal declares: “There is no compulsion in the Religion” (2:256) The Holy Qur'an teaches us moderation and balance in order to sustain global success, wealth, honour, and dignity, as this noble verse demonstrates. Islam is, without a doubt, a religion of moderation and equilibrium where coercion has no place at all. The Holy Prophet's deeds are what constitutes the foundation of Islamic culture. For the Muslim Ummah, the Qur'an declared: “And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you.” (2:143) Tolerance, moderation and balance have been described in various places in the Holy Quran. The following are some verses in this regard: Peace and Harmony The Holy Qur'an always exhorts peace, harmony, tolerance, mutual love, forgiveness, patience and forgiveness. Allah says: “And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous (3:133) Who spend [in the cause of Allah] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good” (3:134) Instead Of Cruelty and Transgression, Moderation And Tolerance In Islam, it is stressed that vengeance should be exacted in accordance with what has been done, even though it is allowed to exact retribution for the brutality and abuse of the opponent. Overstepping the boundary is not permitted at all. Allah Almighty urged forgiving and reconciliation and said: “And the retribution for an evil act is an evil one like it, but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is [due] from Allah. Indeed, He does not like wrongdoers.” (42:40) Adopting A Positive Outlook In The Face Of Rudeness And Poor Behaviour The Islamic faith and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) forbid us from acting badly in retaliation for someone else's bad behaviour. Instead, every chance has been taken to teach tolerance and patience. This tactic turns the adversary into an ally. Allah says: “And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better, and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.” (41:34) Testimony Of The Qur'an On The Gentleness Of The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) While praising the gentleness of His Prophet, Allah says in the Holy Qur'an: “So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them on the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].” (3:159) These verses of the Quran make it very evident that Allah Azzawajal has commanded us to practise tolerance and forgiveness at all times. ---- Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-tolerance/emphasis-teaching-tolerance/d/127668 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

World Organ Donation Day: Let's Pledge To Donate Our Organs

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 8 August 2022 While making my will a few years ago, I instructed my lawyer-friend, Mr Aslam Khan, to make it clear in no uncertain terms that since I've no religion and I don't believe in any god whatsoever, my entire body following my death will be given away to the nearest medical college for research purpose and all my body parts, if intact, will be donated to those in need of them. I remember, when my Arabic Professor and mentor, Dr Zaifa Ashraf was dying, she requested the doctors at Marsden Cancer Hospital, London, to donate her whole body and added that no obsequies would be performed as she too had turned her back on all man-made faiths and gods. Her beautiful limpid eyes were donated to a 16-yr-old girl from Bradford (UK) who was blind from birth. Her other body parts saved a couple of patients. This is humanity, the crux of all religions. Here, I'm not condescending and looking down upon those departed people whose bodies-with intact organs-couldn't be utilized due to religious reasons. My point is: What's wrong if your organs help someone when you're no more? Don't you live posthumously through someone and perpetuate your memory in a noble manner? How delirious that girl from Bradford must have been after seeing the world for the first time with my professor's eyes? The very feeling is so heart-warming. Though today, we all hesitate to give away the bodies of our near and dear ones for medical purposes, the concept of organ donation is not something new or out of the box. It's known as Dadhichi Aadarsh (Dadhichi Ideal) in Hinduism. Dadhichi, also known as Dadhyancha or Dadhyanga, is a central character in Hinduism. Dadhichi is a Rishi who played a role in the conflict between the Devas and Asuras. Dadhichi is renowned for sacrificing his life so that Indra could wield the weapon "Vajra" made from Dadhichi's bones. The Devas were initially driven out from Svarga, or heaven, by the powerful Asura Vritra. Vritra was granted a boon to be unharmed by any forged weapons, including divine weaponry. The Devas required a powerful weapon to aid their fight. By making use of the Vajra, made from the sage Dadhichi's bones, Indra the ruler of the Devas, then defeated the Asura and reclaimed heaven. This whole story may be apocryphal, but it has a deeper value and meaning as it's a metaphor for saving the lives of others by donating one's own body. ------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Organ Donation Is Supreme Sharing ------------------------------------------------------------ There cannot be anything more altruistic than this. Even Al-Furqan, which doesn't speak of organ donation, does say in the Chapter 5/Verse 32 that “Whosoever saves the life of one person, it'd be as if he saved the life of all mankind." Muhammad also says that, “Whoever helps another will be granted help from Allah.” Organ donation is the continuation of the universal spirit of philanthropy. Death may be the end of your physical body, but your organs that you donated, ensure that you live forever in the memory of those who got a new lease of life. Let's pledge every day, not just on August 13 (World Organ Donation Day) that our organs will be utilized even when we're not around. By the way, my friend and lawyer, Mr Khan, has also made his will, stating clearly to donate his body organs. Others must follow suit. --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/world-organ-donate-/d/127666 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Transcending Theism and Atheism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 6 August 2022 It's Time for 'Evolved' Humans to Go Beyond the Idea of Theism and Atheism and Embrace A Non-Structural Belief Beyond Belief Known as Eptonica in Ancient Greek Philosophy ------ Aqeede ya ilhaad ki nahin fikra mujhe Guzarta Hai Naagavaar Ye Zikra Mujhe - 'Nashtar' Nishapuri (I don't care a fig for faith or unfaith/ The very subject bores me to death) I appreciate Mr Shahin's balanced reply to my opinion of god being fictional, not because he's the esteemed editor of this popular portal, but because he doesn't condemn those who don't believe in a supernatural entity or power like yours truly. First of all, it's easier for an agnostic or sceptic like him to believe in god than those who've no faith in god at all. That said, calling me an atheist will be an error of opinion and judgement. I too believe that the most idiotic philosophical debate is god's existence or non-existence. That's forever inconclusive because as we say in Sanskrit, Neti, Neti (nothing for sure). Theists and atheists will continue to spar over this issue till the cows come home. Yet, nothing definite will and can emerge from such futile debates, because both theism and atheism are doctrines and doctrines work on premises, which are called minor and major premises. Both have definite preconceptions which we call Flawed Perceptual Inferences (FPI). Atheism, like theism, is yet another belief system, which's no better or worse than theism. Whether a theist or an atheist, both have prejudices and an unyielding approach to Truth. But, there are humans who've gone beyond the idiocy of theism and atheism. They're apatheists, a beautiful term coined by Robert Nash, a Theology Professor at Mercer University, in 2001. But even before that, Ashvaghosh of Saaketa used its Sanskrit equivalent Iish-Paran(G)Mukh for Gautam Buddha in his epic poem Buddhacharita, composed in the early second century CE. We all need to develop Buddha's nous of apatheism; complete insouciance to god's existence or non-existence and total indifference to theological hair-splitting. Buddha never believed in the existence of a Supreme Being or some imaginary all-pervasive divine power. What he believed in the Divinity of humans and Sacredness of existence. There's a sutra in Pali: Nakham Benu Paritanam (What cannot be proven, should be ignored). A large section of Eastern consciousness still believes in this dictum. So, apart from Buddha, you've Mahavir, Confucius, Laotse, Charvakas, all apatheists. They never cared for god and the afterlife. Narasya Narayanam (Man is god) has been the leitmotif of oriental consciousness. But, Semitic belief system is at root, distinctly dichotomized into Humans and their Creator. That's ingrained into a Muslim, Christian or Jew's mental makeup. For all practical reasons and purposes, it's time for 'evolved' humans to go beyond the idea of theism and atheism and embrace a non-structural belief beyond belief known as Eptonica in ancient Greek philosophy. Mankind is not going to gain anything from the armchair debates and dialectics of, is there a god. Instead, we all must reach the collective level of An-al-Haq (Upanishadic Aham Brahmasmi/ I'm the Truth) and Tatvamasi (Literally meaning, Yes, you're/that's your pure essence; originally occurs in Chandogya Upanishad). Most of the readers across the globe have often mistaken me for an arrogant nonbeliever who loves to pontificate. I'm an apatheist for whom belief and unbelief both have lost their significance. To quote my favourite author and Nobel laureate Albert Camus, " I'm beyond all existential conundrums and esoteric enigmas. God is just a word for me. " --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/transcending-theism-atheism/d/127658 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Fraternity: A Wake-Up Call

By Maj Gen S G Vombatkere (Retd) August 05 2022 The Absence of Fraternity between Citizens Leads To Conflicts around Various Issues and Imperils the Unity and Integrity of the Nation ------- On Dec 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved an ‘Objectives Resolution’ during the Constituent Assembly that outlined the objectives of the Constitution that was to be drafted. These were discussed and later became the Preamble, assuring to the people the core democratic values of Justice, Liberty and Equality. Fraternity was added as a core value by Babasaheb Ambedkar on February 21, 1948. Ambedkar urged that the Constitution should strive towards the creation of unity among citizens by Justice, Liberty and Equality are for the State to protect for its citizens and for citizens to demand from the State, whereas Fraternity is a fundamental duty for citizens, and for the State to promote. This fundamental duty is described in Article 51A(e): “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India, transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women”. This precisely is about Fraternity. It is necessary to emphasise the obvious fact that people’s elected representatives are citizens. But they are a special category of citizens, because the people in their constituency have entrusted them with political power. Thus, every legislator takes oath of office to abide by the Constitution and has a special responsibility to do their duty according to Article 51A(e) -- to promote Fraternity, thereby assuring the dignity of the individual citizen and the unity and integrity of the nation. The preambular values are unexceptionable, regardless of religion, language, region, and gender. However, Justice, Liberty and Equality are chimeras unless Fraternity is actively practiced and encouraged. Fraternity strengthens social ties and gives to the individual a personal interest in the welfare of others. A person who lacks in social feeling or social sensitivity would value social or fraternal ties only amongst family, community, or religion. Such a person would think of welfare in limited terms, not extending to the whole nation, let alone all of humanity. Emotional ties assume primacy, and truth and justice become secondary considerations, he/she is unable to think beyond petty sentiments. He/she cannot understand that the concept of Fraternity concerns other humans within the society of which he/she is a part. Many politicians fall in this category. Indeed, Ambedkar wrote: “A person in whom social feeling is not developed cannot but bring himself to think of the rest of his fellow beings as rivals struggling with him for the means of happiness, whom he must endeavour to defeat in order that he may himself succeed”. Without Fraternity, a person cannot be expected to respect the rights, needs and aspirations of others outside his close circle, and will lightly give a go-by to Justice and Liberty concerning others. The absence of Fraternity between citizens leads to conflicts around various issues and imperils the unity and integrity of the nation. Arguably, the commonest cause of conflict in recent times is religion, based upon religious absolutism. Thus, adherents of religion-X are aggressively opposed to, are even rivals or enemies of “inferior” religion-Y, and these feelings are aggressively reciprocated by words and deeds. The adherents of every religion unquestioningly accept interpretation of their religion by their respective religious leaders who, more often than not, stoke ill-feeling between religions, precisely because these religious leaders are limited by their respective religious dogmas. They openly preach that other religions are inferior, and that adherents of other religions should be hated, overcome, defeated, even killed, in order to protect one’s own religion. It is worth quoting John Hicks, speaking at Theological Society in England (2001): “We should not see the other religions as rivals or enemies, or look down upon them as inferior, but simply as different human responses to the divine reality, formed in the past within different strands of human history and culture. We should seek a friendship with people of other faiths, which will do something to defuse the very dangerous religious absolutism that is being exploited in almost all the conflicts going on in the world today. To support religious absolutism is to be part of the problem which afflicts humanity. But we can be part of the solution by setting an example of transcending that absolutism”. Although the title of Hicks’ speech was, “Is Christianity the only true religion, or one among others?”, his introspective words concerning absolutism apply to every religion. When Hicks speaks of friendship, it is about Fraternity. In practice, religious absolutism is exploited by religious leaders playing politics for power over their laity, and politicians (mis)using religion for power over populations. Both are condemnable. The elected representatives of successive central and state legislatures have not only failed to perform their fundamental duty as citizens, but they have also violated their oath of office. Sadly, in the present times, far from doing their duty, many legislators in government and opposition, at the Centre and in the states, may be observed actively speaking, writing and acting to prevent Fraternity from “breaking out”. They are destroying our nation. Equally sadly, politicians are motivatedly leading people to imagine that their religion is threatened by another religion, and blatantly instigating them to mindless paroxysms of violence against “the other”. We may well be on the brink of social collapse. All are unmindful that internal weakness of a nation increases its vulnerability to external threat, even as external threats grow. Only the feted, charismatic, articulate, elected political leaders of all political hues, and the religious leaders of all religions, can turn the tide of religion-based hate and violence, by simply performing their Article 51A fundamental duties as citizens of our great nation, especially revive the Fraternity factor. Only then will the mindless, nation-destroying violence of words and deeds stop. Otherwise, India will be no better than its hapless, failed neighbours. The call going up is: “Nafrat Chhodo! Bharat Jodo! Bharat Jodo!” This is a wake-up call to all legislators in the states and the Centre to do their duty before it is too late. Source: Fraternity: A Wake-Up Call URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/fraternity-justice-liberty-equality/d/127661 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Engaging With The Qur’an - A Compendium Of Admonitions, Commandments, Prescriptions, Proscriptions, Injunctions, Edicts, And Sermons

By Moin Qazi, New Age Islam 6 August 2022 The Biggest Casualty Of The Suppression Of Islam’s Speculative Tradition Was The “Muslim Mind”, Which Shut Itself Off To “Ijtihad” (Independent Reasoning), Allowing ‘Over-Inclusive Scripturalism’ To Dominate The Islamic World, Turning Even Trivial Questions Into Scholastic Religious Debates. ----- The Qur’an, literally “the recitation”, also transliterated as Qur'an, Koran, or Al-Qur'an, is the Word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the medium of a human language. This is the book, about it there can be no doubt; it is a path for those who are aware of God”. The Qur’an is the central religious text or scripture of Islam. It stands as a moral compass and primary source of belief and practice for Muslims. It informs Muslim conduct, law, faith and practice across the whole spectrum of religious and temporal life. " No other sacred scripture has ever had a similarly immediate impact upon the lives of the people who first heard its message and, through them and the generations that followed them, on the entire course of civilization. The Qur’an provides a comprehensive answer to the question, "How shall I behave to achieve the good life in this world and happiness in the life to come?” The Qur’an was revealed by the angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad in the west Arabian towns Mecca and Medina beginning in 610 and ending with Muhammad's death in 632 CE. The word Qur’an is derived from the verb Qara’a- "to read", "to recite". The Qur’an was revealed by the angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad in the west Arabian towns Mecca and Medina beginning in 610 and ending with Muhammad's death in 632 CE. It is shorter than the Christian New Testament and is divided into 114 chapters (Sura, plural Suwar) and 6,616 verses (Aya, plural Ayat). The word Aya means "sign". As a literal transcript of God's speech, the Qur’an is regarded as sacred, pure, uncorrupted and infallible. It is the earthly reproduction of an uncreated and eternal heavenly original, according to the general view referred to in the Qur’an itself as "the well-preserved tablet" (al-law al-Mahfuz; Qur’an 85:22). The Qur’an was sent down in Arabic: “Indeed, we have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an that you might understand” (Q. 12:2). The special message of Islam is twofold. It first completes the message of the previous prophets— Muslims recognize the Judaic prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah who have also been adopted by Christianity—by putting an end to the dispute between the Nestorians and Jacobites about the nature of Christ: Muslims believe that Christ is of the Spirit of God, not God Himself, because God "begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him" (112:1-4). In other words, Christ, for Islam, is a prophet, not part of the Godhead. Then the Qur’an goes on to support the message of Christ, and to reproach those who denied it: "And verily We gave unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty) and We supported him with the Holy Spirit. Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you, a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?" (2:87). Islam is thus seen as a continuation of the true spirit of religion as revealed by God to the earlier prophets: "Say (O Mohammed), We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered" (3:84). The Qur’an is not arranged either chronologically or thematically—for the most part, the suras are arranged from beginning to end in descending order of length. The first surah, al-Fatiha, is the most recited chapter of the Qur’an as it is said multiple times in every ritual prayer. The Suras range in length from three to 286 verses. They also vary in style and content. Each surah is named after some conspicuous word in the text, such as “The Elephant”, “Light”, “Dawn”, “Thunder”, “The Cave”, “The Moon” or “Smoke”. The largest number of verses deal with God's majesty and power and with the various aspects of His creation. Most of the Qur’an's legal or quasi-legal pronouncements are concentrated in a few of the longest surahs. The subjects covered by Qur’anic law include dietary regulations (e.g., the prohibition of consuming pork or wine), matters of family law (e.g., inheritance rules), ritual law (e.g., the performance of ablution before prayer or the duty to fast during the month of Ramadan), commercial law (the prohibition of usury) and criminal law (e.g., the punishment for theft or manslaughter). There are didactic parables about former biblical and Arabian personages and communities. Adam, the first man, is expelled from Paradise for eating from the forbidden tree. Noah builds an ark to save a select few from a flood brought on by the wrath of God. Abraham prepares himself to sacrifice his son at God's bidding. Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and receives a revelation on Mount Sinai. Jesus‒born of the Virgin Mary and referred to as the Messiah‒works miracles, has disciples, and rises to heaven. In the same way that the universe has its fundamental laws and its finely regulated order, the Qur’an lays down laws, a moral code and a body of practice that Muslims must respect, whatever their epoch and their environment. The Qur’an speaks to the nature of reality and the cosmos and pronounces moral and spiritual principles for the individual and society. In its core message, it exhorts its adherents to stand by fairness and justice and replace vices like hatred, arrogance, greed, lust and anger with the virtues of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. The tragedy is that the Qur’an is still inaccessible to the majority of Muslims either on account of illiteracy or because they are resorting to self-exclusion, harbouring a notion that the Qur’an can be handled only by specialists. Most Muslims today know the message of the Qur’an from secondary sources, which may not be reliable. The Qur'an is an “open” book, a spiritual and moral resource that, properly understood, provides Muslims with useful guidance through the complex maze of modern life. The Qur’an came to speak to all of humanity. However, it came to speak not in a vacuum, but within a historical context. Hence, its immediate objective was the moral and religious situation of the Arabs of the Prophet’s time Through the science of Tafsir (exegesis), the Qur’an is kept alive as a force in the lives and cultures of Muslims everywhere. It remains relevant to every age through commentaries that are no longer limited to Arabic. However, the ecosystem of Islamic thought is no longer as vibrant as it was in its formative years. Unlike the great scholars of the past, who were polymaths and valued criticism, most of today’s traditional scholars lack the tools of contemporary critical scholarship. Much of the Qur’an is recounting stories of people and communities from the past who received revelations in the form of various scriptural texts. And, much of the Qur’an is also a relaying of past peoples who transgressed the boundaries set by God and who worshipped other than God—all as a way of warning and redirecting readers and believers to a life of what is good and right and to an absolute and pure monotheism in which nothing and no one is taken as a god besides God. To Muslims, the sacredness of the Qur’an is expressed even in their relationship to its physical presence. Islamic teaching spells out that Muslims must not touch the Qur'an without first undergoing a ritual hand-washing called ghusl, which makes them ritually pure. I still remember my childhood days when the Qur’an used to be wrapped in a specially stitched satin or velvet cover. We could not dare to have an access to the Qur’an; our Qur’anic recitation and learning came from the Qur’an primers. The Qur’an and the primers were placed on the head of a tall shelf to be absolutely out of reach of teenagers. The entire Qur’an was spread over thirty such primers called a Juz. If these primers, perchance, fell to the ground they had to be hastily priced up, kissed, and placed against our forehead to renew our commitment to their sanctity. A hard reprimand was a usual penalty. Our teacher used to tell us to give out a Kaffara (an equal amount of food grain as a charity) to atone for this sin. The Qur’an is eternal. It is timeless, its words unchanged since it was first revealed. The Qur’an itself says: “And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the words of Allah be exhausted (in the writing): for Allah is Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom”(Q31:27). We call it Holy Qur’an, Noble Qur’an, Glorious Qur’an, Al-Furqan, Al-Kitab, Al-Zikr, Al-Noor, Al-Huda. We studied the Qur’an with the aid of several classical and contemporary commentaries, under the guidance of a cleric. The Qur’an is a compendium of admonitions, commandments, prescriptions, proscriptions, injunctions, edicts, and sermons. If the Qur’an is the divine word of guidance, the Prophet’s life is a model that transmuted this message into a persona. He was the Qur’anic figurehead, an individual who expressed best, the ideals of the Islamic faith in human incarnation. He was sent with this Book to serve as an all-embracing code of ethics, morality, and religious duties that was to last unto eternity. Just as the Qur’an embraces every facet of human life, so the life of the Prophet penetrates with exceptional versatility the complete domain of human experience, both public and private. While there are several translations of the Qur’an in several languages they cannot substitute the original Arabic, where we can see the real import of the verses through their application to our changing context. While every language has words and concepts, which have no counterpart in others, oriental languages are suffused with words that are invested with meanings not recorded in dictionaries. I have always carried a conviction that English is not adequately equipped to convey the subtleties of an eastern language like Arabic whose individual words are laden with great luminosity. It is virtually impossible to find an accurate and succinct equivalent in English for Arabic words. Hence all translations of the Qur’an are at best functional translations. One of the most evident problems in the translation of any religious text is the differences between the culture of the original text and the new culture for which the text is being translated. In cases where there are doctrinal differences among groups within the faith, competing translations of ambiguous passages tend to be composed and promoted. It would not be out of place to remember the great intellectual, Martin Lings who provided a very distinct and unique perspective on the understanding of the message of the Qur’an. He feels that we have heard many times the words “development. (tatawwur)” and “progress (taqaddum)” and “renewal (tajdîd)” and “renaissance (nahdah)”, and perhaps it will not be a waste of time to pause and consider what they mean. “Development” means moving away from the principles; and although it is necessary to move a certain distance from the principles to make applications of them, it is of vital importance to remain near enough for contact with them to be fully effective. Development must, therefore, never go beyond a certain point. It implies that we should not fear increasing our distance from the principles to the point where development becomes degeneration: Guide us upon the way of transcendence. Yet the Prophet said, “The best of my people are my generation, then they that come after them, then they that come after those.” And we must conclude from the Qur’an that with the passage of the centuries a general hardening of hearts is inevitable. The hope of communities must lie, not in “progress” or “development,” but in “renewal,” that is restoration. In its traditional, apostolic sense, renewal is the opposite of development, for it means a restoration of something of the primordial vigour of Islam. Renewal is thus for Muslims, a movement of return, that is, a movement in a backward rather than a forward direction Renewal and reform are the essential components of the new learning methodology of the Qur’an. The most powerful movement in this direction is led by the Salafis. They signify a stripping away of accumulated misreadings and wrong or lapsed practices, as in the Protestant Reformation, and a return to the founding texts of the Koran and the Sunna—guidelines based on the recorded words and deeds of the Prophet. The Qur’an continuously invites its readers to ponder and reflect. Hence the recurring Qur’anic invitations and exhortations, “Do you reflect”, “Do you think?”, “Do you not take heed?” Although we can always hear the Qur’an speaking anew to a particular situation. The Qur’an has historically exhibited a unique potency for invigorating the spirits with optimism, rattling the conscience to wakefulness, and uprooting from people’s minds their most deeply entrenched false convictions. Is there nothing remarkable, the votaries would ponder about multiple notorious Arabs who were goaded by the motivation of assassinating him were disarmed by the recitation of the Qur’an and transformed from enemies to allies and from staunch disbelievers to the sincerest devotees? Ibn Taymīyah (d. 1328 AH) says, “Whoever listens carefully to the words of Allah, and the words of His Messenger with his mind and ponders over them with his heart, he will arrive through them at certain meanings, sweetness, guidance, remedy for the hearts, blessings, and benefits that he would never find in any other words, whether poetry or prose.” The biggest casualty of the suppression of Islam’s speculative tradition was the “Muslim mind”, which shut itself off to “ijtihad” (independent reasoning), allowing ‘over-inclusive scripturalism’ to dominate the Islamic world, turning even trivial questions into scholastic religious debates. To refresh our minds with Iqbal’s words we must forget that we can no longer afford to keep wallowing in our past glory and composing paeans and ballads in its praise. We have been doing it for centuries and the time has come when we must give proof of the deeds of these exemplary women by actually emulating them instead of turning them into revered respected icons of our great civilization. If the early Muslim women icons are to serve as prime examples of Islam’s Golden Age, Muslim women have to strive to live up to their ideals. The pride which permeates our current generation has had to be harnessed into equally spectacular achievements. If Muslim women could attain such great merit at a time when they what is it that impedes us from emulating those lives? How can people believe that a society which produced such great figures cannot offer models who are even a faint shadow of their predecessors? The tragedy is that we are only relying on achievements that may be historically authentic but creates doubts when they examine the lives and achievements of today’s women. If the past glory has any significant relevance for us it should spur us towards efforts to redeem the entire community before they fade from the documented history, which is already being biased at the hands of prejudiced historians. All scriptures are above all, a spiritual and moral resource that, if they are properly understood and internalized both in letter and spirit, the reader can negotiate the complexities of modern life. It is the nature of the human dialogue that finally culminates in the direction one is seeking for his salvation. The real wisdom that we can glean from our genuine moral books is the one that enhances our spirituality and helps us constantly think outside the box of our earthly concerns by keeping in mind the intersection of time and timelessness. ----- Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book, Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance sector for almost four decades. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/quran-admonitions-commandments-edicts-sermons/d/127653 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Don't Encumber Poor Kids With Kalma Or Gayatri Mantra

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 August 2022 Why Do Humans Pray? We Pray Because We're Genetically Programmed To Pray And We All Have A Misguided Belief That There's Someone Up There, Listening To Our Cheap Entreaties, Masqueraded As Prayers. ------- A school (Florets International School) in Kanpur, UP, is in the news for the recitation of Kalma by the students as part of its morning prayer culture for years. Whether it's Kalma, Gayatri Mantra, Hymns and Psalms from the Bible, Gurbani, passages and Gathas from Avesta and Zendavesta, among others, why envenoming the impressionable minds with religious studies and overtures? A school's cardinal objective is to impart egalitarian education, not this theological bunkum whichever religion it may belong to. Religious studies or theology is for those grown ups who consciously opt for it like yours truly without any allegiance to any man-made bogus faiths and their equally spurious gods and scriptures. When I was growing up, I was fortunate to have no religious atmosphere at home and school. My parents rejected god and religion and my school also exempted me from joining the useless prayer assembly every morning. I'm thankful to them for not bringing me up in a religious or spiritual ( just a euphemism for religiosity) way. This helped me form my independent thinking sans god or religion. Why can't the same be applied to Indian schools? When a few years ago, a 14-yr-old Tamil boy refused to pray at his school in Sri Lanka, the school management eventually dispensed with the whole shebang of morning prayers in the school.This is modern and revolutionary thinking. If a child can understand the futility of prayers, why can't the adults? The answer is: That 14-yr-old Sri Lankan Tamil boy was unencumbered by any religion and unnecessary fear of god, hell, heaven, devil, and all that jazz. So, he could protest and get the rules changed. But all adults are slavishly burdened with faith, god and their rigmarole. So, they cannot do away with these religious inanities and turbidities. Now the question is: Why do humans pray? We pray because we're genetically programmed to pray and we all have a misguided belief that there's someone up there, listening to our cheap entreaties, masqueraded as prayers. That's why, there's a very wise and attic joke: The trouble with being a god is that you've no one to pray to ( Terry Pratchett). We've found an object ( call it god or some supernatural power) to direct our entreaties to. Buddha and Mahavir ( the so-called 'founders' of Buddhism and Jainism, both faiths being predominantly atheistic) knew the unevolved humans' inherent need and weakness for prayers and groveling submission. So, Buddhism formulated chanting in Chaitya Griha ( from ' Chat' in Pali, refer to Dharmanand Koshambi's 'Dictionary of Classical Pali and Buddhist References,' published in 1949; this could also be the etymological root of the English word, 'Chatting') as a substitute for prayers. Now, chanting is praying in Buddhism and also in Jainism. Humans need to grow up and divest themselves of all sorts of submission to a fictitious god they've never seen and will never see. But, the million-dollar question is, will that be possible? --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/encumber-kalma-gayatri-mantra/d/127650 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Martyrdom of Imam Hussain, Patience and Perseverance

The Karbala Incident: The Finest Illustration of Patience and Endurance in the Human History Main Points: · Despite the fact that there have been several martyrdoms throughout the history of Islam, Imam Hussain's is unique from all others. · The Holy Quran has repeatedly urged us to ponder on events and seek guidance from them, yet the practices of Muslims today demonstrate the absence of thought and discretion in our culture. · The martyrdom of Imam Hussain in Karbala serves as a sobering reminder to people everywhere that people do not initiate conflicts on their own. · The Karbala incident is the finest illustration of selflessness, patience, and endurance ever seen in human history. ------ By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam 4 August 2022 The tenth day of Muharram (the first month of the Hijri calendar) is observed each year as a day of remembrance for the historical event of Hazrat Imam Hussain’s (RA) and his Ahle Bayt’s martyrdom. Instead of defining this magnificent event with the appropriate characteristics of Imam Hussain and putting them into practice in real life, people have confined it by developing a few unnecessary conventions and customs. The Holy Quran has repeatedly urged us to ponder on events and seek guidance from them, yet this circumstance demonstrates the absence of thought and discretion in our culture. The martyrdom incident of Imam Hussain teaches people not just the virtues of endurance, independence, selflessness, and sacrifice, but also the spirit of reasoning, just action, and preserving the truth and justice. Although there have been many martyrdoms in the history of Islam, Imam Hussain's incident on the land of Karbala is distinct from all other martyrdoms. There are many causes for this distinction. The fact that Imam Hussain was the Prophet's (pbuh) grandson and had the honour of growing up directly in his lap and riding on his blessed shoulders as a youngster is one important factor. The most essential lesson here is to never submit to oppressors or brutality, but this does not imply that one should needlessly endanger his life, be vulnerable to being killed or persecuted, or should not follow the path of safety. Islam has strong views against oppression and violence, dissension and corruption, as well as murder and terrorism. Islam means "peace and security," and has provided security to every living thing in the cosmos, including humans, birds, animals, and even ants. Islam has promoted environmental preservation and the preservation of greenery. A human is required by Islam to uphold the rights of other people. However, when cruelty becomes the social norm and the oppressors do not put an end to their cruelty and rebellion in any way, Islam encourages fighting and encourages people to speak out against such cruelty because if they don't, the truth will lose, and the falsehood will triumph. Studying the life of the Prophet helps us fully comprehend these ideas. The grandson of the Prophet (PBUH), Imam Hussain (RA) provided the best example by practising these ideas appropriately. Imam Hussain taught this lesson to the succeeding generations, advising them to maintain faith and resist oppression up until the Day of the Resurrection. The martyrdom of Imam Hussain in Karbala serves as a sobering reminder to people everywhere that people do not initiate conflicts on their own. When the incident of Imam Hussain is examined, it becomes clear that he tried his hardest to avoid war right up until the final second. He tried and kept attempting to guide the Yazidis in the right direction and toward justice. When the Yazidis refused to accept the guidance of Imam Hussain and insisted on trying to kill him, his family, and his noble companions, Imam Hussain started to fight back in defence. Due to the fact that a war is fought between two armies, it was not a war in reality. Instead of an army, Imam Hussain had a small number of family members, kids, respectable women, and noble companions. Only self-defence was used in this situation against attack. The fact that Imam Hussain and his companions made the best defensive efforts in the face of oppressors in the state of hunger and thirst is well-documented in the pages of history. The underprivileged and downtrodden from all over the world are taught to be patient, steadfast, and cling to the truth via this noble work of Imam Hussain. When thinkers today examine Imam Hussain's martyrdom, they also have access to the truth that the Karbala incident is the finest illustration of selflessness, patience, and endurance ever seen in human history. It is extremely simple to pen this tale of fortitude and patience on the pages of history, but it is probably not feasible for anyone to carry out such a significant revolution on earth. ------ Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/martyrdom-imam-hussain-patience-perseverance/d/127644 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

“Al-Qaida or ISIS Is an Inveterate Idea, Not Just a Terrorist Outfit”

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 4 August 2022 Mankind Shall Have To Tackle the Idea of Religious Intolerance, Exclusivity, Supremacy and Spiritual Ownership and Learn To Live Peacefully ----- Ayman Al-Zawahiri ------ The killing of al-Qaida fugitive Ayman Al-Zawahiri is a heartening news for the world but one must remember late American Islamic scholar at Princeton University, Professor Bernard Lewis' famous words following the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011: " The elimination of the leader of a violent group, outfit or cult is never the elimination of an IDEA which gives birth to scores of such barbaric, antisocial and anti-humanity outfits." Very true. Even after the elimination of Laden or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIS in 2019, the idea of worldwide terror and Pan-Islamisation still persists. Someone else will now take over after Al-Zawahiri and the macabre show of universal mayhem will continue to go on unabated. So, rejoicing in Ayman al-Zawahiri's killing is rather premature, nay abortive. It's time to get to the roots of international Islamic terrorism and root it out before it gets entrenched in the collective psyche of scores of Muslims who're more than willing to kow-tow to the idea of Islamic Jihad, which's the common objective of whether Al-Qaida, ISIS, Boko Haram, among others. Al-Zawahiri and Osama bin-Laden are also the symbols and metaphors for the 'educated' Muslims going awry in the name of Islam and its fictional Allah. Zawahiri belonged to a highly educated family in Egypt. His father was pharmacology professor and maternal grandfather was the President of Cairo University. Osama was a skilled engineer. But both chose the path of religious self-destruction and got killed unceremoniously. Instead of saving lives of patients, Dr Zawahiri opted to destroy lives. This is most ironical. The Egyptian mastermind of 9/11, Muhammad Musa, was a qualified pilot trained in the US. In my own life as a student of comparative religions, I've come across very 'educated' people talking, vomiting and discussing religious inanities and obscurities. This also engenders the most pertinent question as to whether education really transforms an individual. There're many Muslims in India, esp. in Kerala, who overtly or covertly evince their sympathy towards these savage and sanguinary outfits and join them to islamise the whole world and establish Nizam-e-Mustafa (the system of governance under Muhammad). This inveterate idea of Pan-Islamisation must be extirpated. Human civilization stands at the crossroads of uncertainty. All religions, esp. Islam, have suddenly become too vocal, volatile and violent. Mankind shall have to tackle the idea of religious intolerance, exclusivity, supremacy and spiritual ownership and learn to live peacefully. Muslims across the globe also need to introspect to find the answer/s as to why the whole world condemns it and why anyone who criticizes Islam, in good faith and intention, becomes an Islamophobic and in the case and context of yours truly, an Islamophobic atheist! --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/al-qaida-isis-idea-terrorist-outfit/d/127643 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

AMU Removes Maududi and Qutb: Is This How the Islamism is Supposed to be Defeated?

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 3 August 2022 Rather Than Excluding Them, the Need of the Hour Is To Openly Critique and Debate Them Main Points: 1. AMU removes the books of Maududi and Syed Qutb from it Masters Course 2. This was done after a group of academics complained to the prime minister 3. The right wing seems to playing according to the rulebook put in place by the left 4. The battle of ideas is never won by censuring; rather it is won through rational and informed debate ----- Abul A'la al-Maududi was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India ---- A group of academics recently wrote to the prime minister to remove two thinkers, Abu Ala Maududi and Syed Qutb from the Masters curriculum at the Islamic Studies Department of Aligarh Muslim University. It is not known whether the prime minister’s office took any notice of the said letter but the University has now complied and hurriedly removed the books written by these authors from the course content. One can certainly argue that this is policing of thought, which it certainly is; but the more important point to remember is that this is not the first time such censoring is happening and it is certainly not the last that we will hear. Serious questions need to asked, not only from this government, but also the past governments who gave rise to this cult to censorship. Since the time of Nehru, books have been banned in this country which led to a culture that it was okay for a government to decide in advance what constitutes indoctrination and what kind of literature has the potential to corrupt the minds of the people. It was only a matter of time that this censorship would be extended to universities, the hallowed space of critical thinking and freedom of speech. The political left, which controlled these universities for a long time had their own list of tabooed authors who were not fit to be taught. They included Hindu right-wing thinkers like Savarkar and Golwalkar who were kept out of the curriculum with ideological indignation. So were other alternate perspectives of Phule, Ambedkar and Muslim thinkers. The logic perhaps was the same: that these thinkers are corrupting influences on young minds or worse still, what if young students get converted to ‘their’ point of view? Or perhaps the idea was to hold aloft a particular narrative of Indian society. As a former student in one such university, I now realize the flawed thinking embedded in such a selection. Many like me passed out of the university structure to realize that we missed out on understanding the most important political strain in the country. Moreover, the policy has been one of object failure. Despite their banishment from the university spaces, they continued to enjoy immense popularity in social and national life; eventually overtaking even the university spaces. The Hindu right wing intellectuals in India, who became ascendant in the past decade, are making the same mistake. Removing the works of Maududi and Qutb must be seen in a long line of such demands made by them, at times in the name of hurt religious feelings or by citing threats to national integrity. Whether it is the removal of Allen Lane’s book on Shivaji or the Ramayan essay of Ramanujan which was removed by the University of Delhi, the underlying fear seems to be the same: that it will have negative influence on the minds of young Indians. Today, the right wing is an established stream within the overall Indian intellectual tradition. One would have expected that with the passing of time, they would become more surefooted within their domains rather than getting unnerved by certain authors. But what seems to be happening is that the right wing is essentially copying the formula developed by the left wing, which is to shut out anything which is not to their liking. Although the right wing often critiques the left, the AMU episode makes it doubly clear that they have nothing new to offer. It is a pity that although they are in power, they are still playing by the rulebook which was authored by the left. This makes one wonder if they have any long-term perspective to challenge the hegemonic imprint of left liberalism or they are just interested in political signaling by targeting Islamist thinkers. Sayyid 'Ibrāhīm Ḥusayn Quṭb, known popularly as Sayyid Qutb, was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamic scholar, theorist, revolutionary, poet, and a leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s ---- Maududi and Qutb and many others like them have a foundational bearing on what is known as Islamism today. It is their penchant to see the rule of Islam, enforced through a Sharia state that has wreaked havoc in much of the Muslim world today. Indian Maudidi, the poster boy of political Islam, who eventually migrated to Pakistan, could achieve very little in terms of putting his ideas into practice. Except of course putting the Ahmadiyya off limits from the Islamic community. Qutb though, had much more influence and his ideas germinated in the form of Muslim Brotherhood, which is at the root of political violence in many of the countries today. I have little regard for both the authors in terms of their ideas but it cannot be denied that their work is read by millions of Muslims today. Many Muslims form their idea of Muslim-ness through such authors. There is a battle of ideas going on within the Muslims society; the moderates battling for hegemonic control of the Islamic narrative from the extremists, many of whom happen to be the followers of Maududi and Qutb. It is not surprising therefore that some moderate Muslims have welcomed the expulsion of the books of these authors. Aligarh Muslim University ----- But is throwing their books from the curriculum an effective solution? In today’s world of internet, it is plainly foolish to do so. Anyone interested in reading their books can simply walk into a library or login to a digital library. What is needed is the very obverse. That the ideas of these Islamists must be critiqued and debated freely. And what better place to do so than a university? The way in which the AMU has capitulated to the demands tells us a lot about the intellectual quagmire that these universities have plunged. Ultimately, the cult of Islamism has to be fought in the minds of Muslims. How does one do that without first having the freedom to read and critique what is besetting that mind? ---- A regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher on Islam and Muslims in South Asia. URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/amu-maududi-qutb-islamism-/d/127635 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

The Meaning of Rahman and Rahim (The Most Merciful) In The Light Of the Quran and Sunnah

By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam 3 August 2022 Rahman and Rahim: Two Attributes of Allah's Mercy Main Points: 1. Rahman and Rahim are two attributes as well as names of Allah Almighty. 2. Rahman is more powerful and inclusive than Rahim and exclusively used for Allah Almighty whereas the word Rahim could be used for other than Allah. 3. Allah Almighty is the Most Merciful in this world, not just for the believers but also for the disbelievers, polytheists, and all living beings. 4. Mercy is an attribute of God, and so is wrath. To think that Allah created mankind so they could experience His wrath would be to underestimate Him. ------- Rahman and Rahim are two attributes as well as names of Allah Almighty. They are extreme adjectives derived from the same Arabic root "R-h-m". Extreme adjectives are used in the Arabic language to lay emphasis on the excess of an attribute. Both the words are translated as ‘The Most Merciful or The Most Gracious. It is plainly clear through the study of the Quran and Sunnah that Allah Almighty is the Most Merciful in this world, not just for the believers but also for the disbelievers, polytheists, and all living beings. If Allah's mercy and grace were not extended to all creatures, the moon, the sun, the stars, the earth and the sky, the water and the air and other great benefits of the world would have been denied to disbelievers, polytheists, misguided, oppressors, disobedient, and transgressors. This is something that common sense will never hesitate to admit based on its observations and experiences. All of these people, however, are also Allah's creation, and the fact that they are reaping the benefits of the world demonstrates that Allah's mercy is universal, i.e., that this divine mercy extends not just to believers but also to non-believers, polytheists, and disobedient and wrongdoing Muslims. Classical interpreters frequently asserted that Rahman is more powerful and inclusive than Rahim. The term Rahman, in contrast to the title Rahim, which is appropriately given to any creature, is said to belong alone to God, according to them. Allama Raghib Isfahani describes Rahmat as follows in his book al-Mufardat: “Rahman cannot be used to anyone other than Allah because it means "The One whose mercy surrounds all," and this meaning cannot be exemplified by anyone other than Allah. Rahim, on the other hand, can be applied to someone other than Allah, though it also means "The One who is the Most Merciful." Rahim is a term used in the Holy Qur'an to describe both Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace be upon him).” Allah Almighty says of himself, “indeed Allah is Most Compassionate (Rauf), Most Merciful (Rahim) upon mankind.” (22:65) Allah Almighty says of His beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): “Indeed there has come to you a Noble Messenger from among you – your falling into hardship aggrieves him, most concerned for your wellbeing, for the Muslims most compassionate (Rauf), most merciful (Rahim).” (9:128) Allah Almighty also says, “And We did not send you except as a mercy for the entire world.” (21:107) According to traditional scholars, the holy Prophet was sent as a mercy for everyone in the world, including believers and unbelievers, and he asked his Ummah to follow the path of Rahman and Rahim (Most Merciful). The holy prophet's general mercy benefits both believers and non-believers, but his particular mercy, such as faith and mystical knowledge, etc., exclusively benefits believers. Allah says, the prophet “is the kindest and merciful to the believers” (9:128). One saying is that Allah is Rahman in this world because He is Most Merciful to both believers and unbelievers in this world, while He is Rahim in the Hereafter because He would only be Merciful to believers in the hereafter and not to unbelievers. (Isfahani, Al-Mufardat p. 192-191, published by Al-Muktaba al-Murtazwiyya, Iran, 1342 AH) In the Holy Quran, Rahman and Rahim are mentioned numerous times. Rahman and Rahim are sometimes used to expressly refer to Allah as the Most Merciful for believers. Similarly, they are sometimes used in generic senses to imply that Allah Almighty's mercy extends to all of His servants, whether they are believers or non-believers. The Holy Qur'an has one hundred and fourteen Surahs, of which one hundred and thirteen are recited with Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahim (in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful). This means that all Surahs, except Surah Tauba, begin in the Name, Rahmani and Rahimi Attributes of Allah. Two of Allah's Attributes, Rahman and Rahim, are something that His slaves must recall frequently throughout their lives. The Holy Quran mentions Bismillahhir Rahman al-Raheem in Surah Naml, verse 30. It means that the servants must absolutely believe in these two characteristics of Allah Almighty. Even during great acts of worship, Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahman should be chanted in order to keep in mind Allah's mercy and grace. Bismillah or Basmalah is the short form of Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahim. The acronym "Basmalah" or "Bismillah" is commonly used when an Islamic writer, speaker, or preacher discusses or recalls the merits of reciting Bismillahir Rahman al-Rahim, but when it is practically recited in essence; the full Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahim is uttered. Therefore, I shall refer to the entire Bismillahir Rahman al-Rahim by the acronym "Basmalah." Islam encourages Muslims to recite Bismillahir (Bismi-Allah-ir) Rahman al-Rahim before undertaking any good deeds. Because Allah Almighty loves for His servants to repeatedly remember His name and His mercy, reciting Bismillah at the beginning of various actions is sometimes commendable (Mustahabb), sometimes recommended (Sunnah), and sometimes compulsory (Wajib). Some examples are given as follows: If one forgot to recite Bismillah at the beginning of the ritual, they should do so while performing the ablution (Wuzu). ). It is Mustahabb to recite this phrase in the middle of the ablution, although it is Sunnah to do it at the beginning. At the start of meals, it is Sunnah to recite this phrase. It is advised to recite Bismillah before the commencement of every good and significant endeavour as well as before commencing any book. It is mentioned in the Fiqh book “al-Quniyya” that reciting "Bismillah" in every rak'at is required, and that if someone forgets to do so during any one of the rak'ats of Salah (Namaz), it is necessary to do the prostration of forgetfulness (Sajda Sahw). However, the more accurate statement is that reciting Bismillah in every rak'at and at the start of ablution (wuzu) is Sunnah. In addition to the Holy Qur'an, there are many arguments in the hadiths that make it clear that the mercy of Allah is common to all servants, believers and unbelievers in the world. Allah says: “… and My Mercy embraces all things.” [7:156] According to a hadith, there was a woman among the prisoners who was searching (for her child). When she found her child she embraced him and put him to her breast [for milk]. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ‘Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this woman is to her child.’” (Sahih Bukhari, 5999, Sahih Muslim 2754) The aforementioned hadith mentions Allah's mercy for His servants (Ibad). Additionally, the term "Ibad" is all-encompassing and refers to both believers and non-believers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have said, “Allah has one hundred parts of mercy, of which He sends down one to be shared by the jinn, humans, animals, and insects. Through this mercy, these beings are able to show compassion and mercy to one another, as well as kindness to their offspring. And Allah has reserved a total of 99 portions of kindness for His servants on the Day of Resurrection.” (Muslim, al-Tawbah, 6908) In the Hereafter, Allah will be Rahman and Rahim just as He is in this world. However, since the Hereafter is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as a place where the unbelievers will be punished, this does not indicate that Allah would not be kind there; rather, His mercy will be kept in the Hereafter, particularly for the believers. The disbelievers and wrongdoers named in the Holy Qur'an will suffer punishment as a result of their own harshness and disbelief, as well as the fact that they consciously disregarded the truth after learning of it. It is not in conflict with Allah's Attribute of Mercy to punish disobedience. The examination of the verses in the Holy Qur'an makes it evident that this is completely in line with justice and fairness. Mercy is an attribute of God, and so is wrath. To think that Allah created mankind so they could experience His wrath would be to underestimate Him. A more accurate statement would be that God made them so that they could experience His mercy. This viewpoint is consistent with God's glory. The following Hadith-e-Qudsi passages underline this reality: Allah Almighty says, “My Mercy prevails over My Wrath”. (Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith: 3543/ Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 3194, 7422 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 2751. Graded as Sahih Hadith) ----- A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is a Classical Islamic scholar with a Sufi background and English-Arabic-Urdu Translator. …. Urdu Article: The meaning of Rahman and Rahim (The Most Merciful) in the light of The Quran and Sunnah قرآن و سنت کی روشنی میں رحمن اور رحیم کا معنی و مفہوم URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/rahman-rahim-merciful-quran-sunnah/d/127634 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

In The Context of Religion, Old Is Not Always Gold

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 2 August 2022 Muslims or Hindus or Christians of the Past Were No Better Than Today's Muslims, Hindus and Christians ------ “Waqt Ke Mutabiq Zindagi Basar Kar/ Daur-E-Guzhista Ko Paimana-E-Hayaat Na Samajh “(Live life according to the contemporary times/Don't view the past as the yardstick of life). This pertains to Arshad Alam's bold and brilliant piece, “How Relevant is the Prophetic Model Today?” As expected, a modern ' Imam Ghazali ' posted a meandering rejoinder extolling Muhammad and his 'immaculate' persona. Well, that's inconsequential. The point is, Arshad Alam's intrepid analysis is an open sesame to further discussions on not just Muslims' tendency to eulogise the past but also of all mortals who feel nostalgically good to bask in the romanticised glory of the days gone by. In Mahabharata, the grand patriarch Bhishma often says, “Puranmityev Na Saadhu Sarvam “(Old is NOT always gold and right). Past is good for reference, but not ideal for living in the present. Just like nostalgic Muslims, today's ' Sanatani ' Hindus are also constantly reminding their co-religionists of an imaginary Satyug when everything was quintessentially good and perfect. This is nothing but indolent lotus-eating. Muslims or Hindus or Christians of the past were no better than today's Muslims, Hindus and Christians. According to sociologists, there has been a more or less religious status quo right from the inception of every religion. In fact, we've become a trifle better than our religiously sanguinary ancestors. Today, no Adi Shankar can dare burn a Jain or Buddhist monk, no Christian can even think of burning a heretic at stake or no Muslim may openly go on beheading those not converting to Islam. The unnecessary glorification of the past, esp. religious past, is an impediment to moving ahead. Muslims must come out of the mental ghetto of yore when Khalil Khaan Fakhta Udaya Karte Thay. Don't forget that you're in different times and climes with different values and parameters of life. Way back in 1930, Dr Muhammad Iqbal exhorted Muslims to get rid of their grovelling Seerat un-Nabi Syndrome during his lectures in Madras (Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam). What he meant was, Renaissance of Islam and Muslims' disassociation with the past. Altaf Hussain Hali ' Panipati ' also said the same thing in his Musaddas-e-Hali. Past takes you back and is always regressive. Muslims' sickening veneration of Muhammad smacks of hero-worship and this relegates Islam to a cult. Calling him Mard-e-Kaamil or flawless will only evoke criticism. Be open to flaws and foibles of your religion and its revered characters and never forget the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, " So long as an individual is in a human body, whether he/she is an apostle or prophet, infallibility is impossible " (courtesy, an interview to The Indian Express during Dr King's visit to India in 1959). --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/hindus-muslims-christians-religion-gold/d/127633 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Film Songs That Inspired Indian Freedom Struggle

By Saquib Salim, New Age Islam 03-08-2022 In popular notion, the freedom struggle of India is often seen through the lenses of political agitations, armed revolutions, and public strikes. It is believed, by the common people, that the arts like music especially those featured in films had nothing to do with the freedom struggle. This popularly held opinion is nothing but a myth. Hindustan Meri Jaan; 75 Years of Independence Music, songs, and poems played an important role in encouraging our freedom fighters to take up arms against the foreign rule. There is ample evidence that during the 19th century Hindu and Muslim mendicants would roam around the cantonments singing poems in praise of national heroes who fought against the British. These songs, according to the English investigators, became an important factor in instigating Indian sepoys for mutinies in Vellore in 1806, Meerut, Ambala, and elsewhere in 1857. The singing of Vande Mataram and Kala Sha Kala at public meetings to form a public opinion against the foreign rule is well documented. The 1930s and 40s were the decades when the national struggle was in full swing. It was also the time when films and their music captured the public imagination more than anything else. The nationalist leadership understood that film music could carry the message of freedom to the last person. It is a pity that, for reasons unknown, the contribution of film music in our freedom struggle has not been talked about much. Poster of movie Bandhan ---- Mohammad Rafi, one of the most popular male singers to have ever sung in Indian films debuted with a patriotic song in a film, Pehle Aap, in 1944. The independence was still three years away, Azad Hind Fauj led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was still marching towards Delhi, Indian politicians were still imprisoned and divisive politicians like Jinnah were propagating two-nation theory when Rafi sang the song written by D. N. Madhok and composed by Naushad. The song goes like this: Hindustan Ke Hum Hain, Hindustan Humara Hindu Muslim Dono Ki Aankho Ka Taara (We belong to Hindustan, Hindustan belongs to us It is dear to both Hindus and Muslims) It does not need rocket science to understand that a theme of Hindu-Muslim unity was being taken to counter the propaganda of the Muslim League that Hindus and Muslims were separate nations. At another point, the song made an explicit mention of Indian soldiers, most probably, of Azad Hind Fauj. The lyrics go like: Lo Chale Sipahi Ban Ke Bharati Ban Ke Bharati Ab Aaye Saamne Himmat Kiski Himmat Kiski Har Maidaan Jita, Har Maidan Maara Hindu Muslim Ne Milke Jab Hai Lalkara (Look soldiers are marching as Indians Who will dare to stand in front now Won every battlefield and came out victorious When Hindus and Muslims fought as a united force) Poster of Film Koshish ---- The mention of soldiers fighting as an Indian force and calls of Hindu Muslim unity is undoubtedly pointing toward the message, mission, and army of Subhas Chandra Bose. At a time when newspapers could not print any nationalist news because of censorship and Azad Hind Fauj was completely silenced by the media, film songs tactfully delivered the required message to the Indian people. This was not the first time that during the Second World War a film song was written challenging the English authority. In 1942, when Subhas was trying to form an army in Germany and Sardar Ajit Singh and Iqbal Shedai had gathered one in Italy, Kavi Pradeep, came up with an immortal song Aaj Himalaya Ki Choti Se Phir Humne Lalkara Hai. This song was part of the movie Kismet and when the song was shown to the director and producer they were shown that such a nationalist song would never pass the strict censorship. Kavi Pradeep was a wordsmith par excellence and he strategically altered the penultimate sentence of the lyrics as “Tum Na Kisi Ke Aage Jhukna German Ho Ya Japani'' (Never bow down before anybody, be it German or Japanese) hence making the British officials believe that the song was actually against the Japanese aggression during the World War. The public knew the message of the song and it soon became a kind of anthem for the Indians against British rule. Kavi Pradeep had already made a mark for himself in 1940, with an immensely popular song Chal Chal Re Naujawan for the film Bandhan. The song was adopted by the nationalist leaders as a marching song and when a young Indira Gandhi formed a ‘children's corp’ during the freedom struggle this song was chosen as its marching song. Several leaders later noted that this song inspired them to join the national struggle. Hamjoli film poster ----- In the 1940s, several films were appealing to Indians to as not to get swayed by the divisive communal politics which later resulted in the partition of India. Koshish, a 1943 film directed by Rafiq Rizvi, had a song sung by GM Durrani, which appealed to Indians to stay united. The song goes: Hindustan Walo, Hindustan Walo Gita Ke Waraq Ulto, Vedon Ko Dekh Daalo Quran Se Mashwara Lo, Quran Padhne Walo O Indians, O Indians Turn the pages of Gita, read Vedas O readers of Quran, consult the Quran) The song ends with the appeal, Aapas Mai Ladne Walo, Girta Hai Ghar Sambhalo (You are fighting with each other, your house is falling apart, please try to hold it). The list, though, is much longer, I would like to conclude this with one of my favourites. The song, “Ye Desh Hamara Pyara, Hindustan Jaha Se Nyara” (This nation is beloved, India is the best in the world) written by Anjum Pilibhiti and composed by Hafiz Khan was sung by Noor Jehan, who later migrated to Pakistan, for a 1946 film, Humjoli. Why is it my favourite? Because, of all the songs it had the most explicit call for freedom from British rule. The song ends with, “Le Ke Rahenge Hum Azadi, Wo Din Aane Wala Hai, Jhanda Apna Sari Duniya Par Lehrane Wala Hai.” (We shall snatch the freedom, the day is arriving soon, our flag will hoist atop the whole world) Source: Film Songs That Inspired Indian Freedom Struggle URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/film-songs-indian-freedom/d/127632 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Now 'Har Har Shambhu' Is An Act Of Blasphemy For The Muslim Clerics!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 2 August 2022 The Erstwhile Composite Culture Of India Was Teeming With Such Heart-Warming And Soul-Gladdening Instances When Rafi Sang Bhajan, Sahir Or Shakeel Wrote It (Remember, Tora Man Darpan Kahalaye....Film: Kajal, Sahir) Or Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar Tero Naam Or Raskhan And Rasleen Writing Krishna Bhakti Kaavya, Amir Khusro Writing The Earliest Form Of Bhajan In Hindvi ( Old Form Of Hindi), Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi Beginning His Kalam With A Naat Or Kalidas Gupta ' Raza' Reciting In Praise Of Muhammad. ------ Poor Farmani Naaz's shrill and awfully sung 'Har Har Shambhu' is the latest act of sacrilege for the Deobandi clerics who are asking her to seek forgiveness from Allah for singing a Hindu Bhajan! Mark my words, these Deobandis and Barelvis will engulf Islam. Are these fanatics aware that the great Rafi sang a number of bhajans? Have they (clerics) ever listened to Rafi's “Moray Shyam, Tera Naam...?” " Teri Main Zaat Se Bhagwan Kahin, " Sukh Ke Sab Saathi, Dukh Mein Na Koi,” “Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj " or " Madhuban Mein Radhika Naache Re?” Shakeel Badayuni penned “Man Tadpat Hari Darshan", Naushad composed and Rafi sang this all-time great Bhajan. Shakeel wrote yet another top-notch Bhajan “Madhuban Mein Radhika," Naushad composed, Rafi sang and Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan) acted on it for 'Kohinoor' in 1959. The erstwhile composite culture of India was teeming with such heart-warming and soul-gladdening instances when Rafi sang Bhajan, Sahir or Shakeel wrote it (remember, Tora Man Darpan Kahalaye....Film: Kajal, Sahir) or Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar Tero Naam or Raskhan and Rasleen writing Krishna Bhakti Kaavya, Amir Khusro writing the earliest form of Bhajan in Hindvi ( old form of Hindi), Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi beginning his Kalam with a Naat or Kalidas Gupta ' Raza' reciting in praise of Muhammad. Hindus were writing and reciting Hamd-o-Sana and Muslims were rendering Bhajans. Where were these brainless clerics at that time? But you cannot blame only the clerics. Hindus have become equally intolerant. Booker Award winner Gitanjali Shree's 'Ret Samadhi' is now being scrutinized for its blasphemous contents, hurtful to the majority. Getting religiously hurt has become a national pastime for the followers of all faiths in India, esp. Muslims and Hindus. That in the 21st century, we're getting hurt by perceived insults to our deities, prophets, revered characters and scriptures is a sign of our unmitigated immaturity. Salman Rushdie summed it up succinctly, “Religion and god have become mankind's indispensable emotional baggage. So, anything you say about anyone's religion and god is seen through the prism of religious sentiments. When faith is governed by emotions, it tends to take umbrage at anything. You can never be sure, what repercussions you may have to face over your most innocuous depiction and description of a religious issue." Exactly the same thing is happening at the moment. Years ago, when I was smoking at a hotel lounge in Dacca (sorry, I prefer calling and writing Dacca over Dhaka), Bangladesh during Ramzan, one fanatic Muslim threw away my fag and abused me in Bangla for smoking during Ramzan, not bothering to know whether I was a Muslim or not. I condemned the zealotry of all Muslims. But a couple of years ago, when I was smoking nonchalantly near a Gurudwara at Nanded in Maharashtra, a group of young and English-speaking Sikh youths from Northern India curtly told me to go away and smoke as Sikhism prohibits tobacco intake in any form. You won't see a turban-wearing Sikh smoke. He'll be ostracized. This made me realize that the slow poison of religion spread everywhere and it spared none. Can't we all live as plain humans sans the labels and fear of god/Allah/Bhagwan? But for that, an evolutionary transformation is needed and hardly anyone of us is ready for a revolutionary evolution in thinking and outlook. Because, none of us is ready to leave and come out of the enslaved 'protection' of religion and god. Neurologists and evolutionary biologists like Richard Dawkins believe that humans will need nearly 50 thousand years to evolve and go beyond the fear of religion and god. Till then, love it or lump it. What cannot be cured, must be endured. < --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/har-har-shambhu-blasphemy-muslim-clerics/d/127623 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Dara Shikoh: The Mughal Prince Who Pioneered the Study of Comparative Religion

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 1 August 2022 He Translated Hindu Scriptures In Persian And Harmonised Islamic And Vedantic Mysticism Main Points: 1. He authored five books in Persian and translated Upanishads and Bhagvad Gita in Persian 2. He said Islamic Sufism and Vedanta were based on the same philosophy. 3. He studied Hindu scriptures thoroughly. 4. He introduced the Upanishadic thought in Persian. 5. He was killed on grounds of heresy by Aurangzeb. ---- Dara Shikoh ----- The Mughal dynasty contributed greatly to the arts, literature and culture of India. The Mughals were not only great rulers but also patrons of arts and culture. Since they had adopted India as their own country, they studied the religion and culture of India and tried to bring harmony in the Indian society by finding common grounds between the two major religions of India, Islam and Hinduism. Akbar attempted to bring harmony between the two communities by founding Deen-e-Ilahi. Though the experiment failed and the Muslims criticised him for over treading the path of religion, his aim was religious harmony. The Mughal prince who contributed greatly to the religious learning and mystic thought of India was Dara Shikoh, a great grandson of Akbar and Shah Jahan's eldest son, though he failed to ascend the throne due to the machinations of his ruthless and shrewd rival Aurangzeb. He was a Sufi minded man from his youth and formally became a disciple of the great Sufi of his time Mulla Shah Badakhshi who was the disciple of the renowned Sufi Mian Mir. Dara Shikoh met Mulla Badakhshi in Lahore in 1635 at the age of 20 during Shah Jahan's stay in Lahore. He was influenced by the mystic thoughts of Miyan Mir who was then alive. Dara Shikoh wanted to be his disciple but Mian Mir soon died. After his death Dara became a disciple of Mulla Shah Badakhshi who was associated with the Qadriya order of Sufism. After formally entering the Qadriya Sufi order, Dara Shikoh started studying Sufi literature extensively and deeply immersed himself in Sufi practices and thought. He studied the life and achievements of hundreds of Sufis. After he gained considerable knowledge of Sufism and Sufis of the world, he ventured out to write a detailed book on the Sufis and authored his first book on Sufism titled Safinatul Awlia in 1049 A.H. This book contains the life and works of 411 male and female Sufis. The preface of the Safinatul Awlia shows his deep theoretical knowledge of Sufism. He authored another book on the Sufis of Qadriya order titled Sakinatul Awlia in 1052. Thanks to his depth of knowledge on Islamic Sufism he became an authority on the subject and issued his own magazine on Sufism titled Risala-e-Haq Numa in 1056. In this magazine, Dara Shikoh discussed different mystical issues meant for the Sufi aspirants. Next he authored another book on Sufism titled TariqatuI Haqiqat. In 1062, he wrote a book titled Hasanatul Arifin in which he presented his arguments in favour of his mystical thoughts to the mainstream Ulema of the time who had accused him of heresy due to his out of box thoughts on Sufism. Since he extensively studied Sufi and mystic thought, in course of his study, he came across pundits and Sannyasis with whom he discussed mystic issues. This was the time he heard about Upanishads, Gita and other religious scriptures of Hinduism. He studied Upanishads and Gita with the help of Pandits. He also had discussions with the Pandits of Kabir Panth and this caused a major turn in Dara Shikoh's religious thought. Therefore, from 1062, he totally devoted himself to the study of Hindu religious mystic literature. Not only did he study the Upanishads and the Gita but also translated them into Persian with the help of the Pandits and Sannyasins of Benares. He was overwhelmed by the striking similarities between Islamic Sufism and the spiritualism of Vedanta. This similarity was surprising and an eye opener for him because he had been taught all these years that Hinduism was all about idol worship. After studying the Hindu scriptures, he authored a book titled Majmaul Bahrain in which he discussed the similarities between Hindu mystic thought and Islamic Sufism. In this book he discussed identical points in both Hinduism and Islam like Ruh and Atman, Qayamat and Mahapralay, internal and external attributes of God etc. In this book, Dara Shikoh presented a comparative study of Islam and Hinduism and tried to find the point of confluence of the 'two oceans of monotheism'. Mr Mahfuzul Haque, author of the English translation of Majmaul Bahrain, writes about the merit of the translation: "The chief merit of the translation lies in its simplicity, and it must always be considered as one of the best specimens of easy flowing style." About Dara Shikoh's journey from a Muslim Sufi to a scholar of Vedanta, Bikrama Jit Hasrat writes in his book, Dara Shikoh: Life and, Works: "He studied Sanskrit and got deeply interested in the Vedanta and Yoga philosophy, Hindu ritual and mythology and from the learned Pandits of Benares, he learnt the secrets of Indian thought and legend and initiated himself into the practices of the Yoga by constant association with yogis and Sannyasins. Nine years of constant restlessness in search for truth and knowledge were spent in studying what was best in Indian thought and gradually his religious outlook became more and more broadened; till at last in 1654 a new idea of universal brotherhood dawned upon his mind. During this year appeared the Majmaul Bahrain, or the Mingling of the Two Oceans, a work of remarkable merit and originality wherein is made the first attempt of its own kind to reconcile the doctrines of Brahma Vidya and the tenets of Quran. The Majmaul Bahrain, though a treatise of the technical terms of Indian Pantheism and Sufi phraseology, devoid of any deep insight or spirituality, is of extreme importance to a student of comparative religion in as much as therein Dara Shikoh has tried to bring out the points of similarity and identity between Hinduism and Islam and had endeavoured to show where these two oceans of mystic thought meet." Prior to Majmaul Bahrain, he had authored a book based on his conversation with a Kabir Panthi sadhu Baba Lal Das. In 1067 H, he translated the Upanishads with the help of Pandits of Upanishads in six months and named it Sirr-e-Akbar. Dara Shikoh found Upanishads an ocean of monotheism. He found Upanishads helpful in understanding many issues that he could not hitherto understand. The Upanishads provided him all the answers. He wrote: Any difficult problem or sublime idea that came to my mind and was not solved inspite of my best efforts, became clear and solved with the help of this ancient book which is undoubtedly the first heavenly book and the fountainhead of the ocean of monotheism and in accordance with or rather an elucidation of the Quran." The excerpt gives an idea how greatly Dara Shikoh was influenced by Upanishads. He considers it the first heavenly or revealed divine book and thinks that it was the Kitab-e-Maqnun mentioned in the Quran. Since Dara Shikoh was greatly influenced by Ibn Arabi's Wahdat ul Wujud and Upanishad's Advaitavad (Monism), Islamic mullah's of the time declared him a heretic who was popularising Hindu thoughts among Muslims. Dara Shikoh had presented his scholarly counter arguments to the charges in his book Hasanatul Arifeen. He had written in Safinatul Awlia that the the religion of Sufis should not be judged by their outer behaviour or from their mystic assertions. But the ambitious Aurangzeb who considered Dara Shikoh the biggest hindrance in the fulfilment of his dream of becoming the emperor, got fatwas of heresy issued against him and got him hanged on that ground. Dara Shikoh met the same fate as Hussain bin Mansur Hallaj for professing monistic ideas. Dara Shikoh has left a rich legacy of inter religious study and was the pioneer in the study of comparative religion. He was the first Indian to explore the similarities and common grounds between Islamic and Vedantic mystic thought. Today he is not present among us but his legacy continues to inspire millions of Indians to keep the light of interfaith harmony burning. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/dara-shikoh-mughal-comparative-religion/d/127620 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Shakeel Badayuni: A Lyricist Who Never Diluted His Poetry

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 1 August 2022 I'm not at all disdainful of the level of poetry in lyrics, esp. about the songs of Hindi film's golden era that ended with the demise of the great Rafi and redoubtable Sahir in 1980. But, there cannot be two views about the slightly compromised standard of poetry in film lyrics to cater to the hoi polloi. Yet, there have been great poet-lyricists like Majrooh, Shakeel, Kaifi, Sahir, Shailendra, Rajinder Krishna Duggal, among others. Comparisons are not just odious, they are often exasperating. But if you allow me to compare, I shall put Shakeel Badayuni on the highest pedestal among all his great coevals. You've every right to call it my act of partiality. Born on August 3, 1916, the AMU-educated Shakeel Badayuni carved a niche for himself at that time, when film music was at its sublime best. Predominantly an Urdu poet, Shakeel won many awards and accolades during his student days at AMU. Pakistani film critic Rahil Hasan wrote in 1972 that “Shakeel’s poetry, even during his younger days, didn't solely dwell upon Husn and Ishq, but other concerns of life also figured in his poetic works.” It was 28-yr-old Shakeel who wrote, " Jahaan-E-Rang-O-Boo Mein Kyon Talaash-E-Husn Ho Mujh Ko/Hazaron Jalwe Rakhshanda Hain Mere Dil Ke Parde Mein " (Why should I search for beauty in the mundane world?/ When thousands of pulchritude are effulgent in my heart) or " Apni Hasti Ka Bhi Insaan Ko Irfaan Na Hua/ Khaak Phir Khhak Thi, Auqaat Se Aage Na Gayee " (Man hasn't yet been able to realize his hidden potential/ After all, the dust cannot transcend its own humble limits). The profound philosophical depth of these two couplets cannot be denied. The same Shakeel wrote, " Mera Azm Itna Buland Hai Ke Paraye Sholon Ka Dar Nahin/ Mujhe Khauf Aatish-E-Gul Se Hai, Ye Kahin Chaman Ko Jala Na De " (I'm least bothered about the fireballs coming from outside as I'm firm on my principle/ I'm apprehensive of the fire of the flower that may incinerate the garden). When Shakeel began to write for films, he wrote some of the most memorable numbers that still enthrall the connoisseurs of film music. Can one ever forget all the songs of film Baiju Bawra (1952)? ‘Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj' or ' O Duniya Ke Rakhvale...' (both sung by the inimitable Rafi), ' Chaudhvin Ka Chaand Ho...’, ' Jaane-Bahaar Husn Tera Bemisaal Hai (Film: Pyaar kiya toh darna kya, 1963), ' Zara Sun Haseena-E-Naazneen..' (Film: Kaun apna, kaun paraya, 1963) or that absolute gem of a song: Zindagi Ke Safar Mein Akele Thay Hum (Film: Nartaki, 1963), all the numbers of the film 'Mere Mahboob' (1963), ' Zindagi Ke Mod Pe Jo Koi Raasta Mila Teri Gali Se Jaa Mila' (Film: Bedaagh, 1965, Music: Roshan, singer: Rafi), ' Dill Mein Ek Jaane-Tamanna Ne Jagah Paayee Hai...' (Film: Benazir, 1964, S D Burman)? “Dill Lagakar Hum Ye Samjhe." (Film: Zindagi aur Maut, 1965/ C Ramachandran).The list is simply endless. It's like, Kahan Se Chhedun Fasana Kahan Tamaam Karoon?- A classical dilemma of-Where to begin from and where to end at? Died at the age of 53 on April 20, 1970, Shakeel vindicated Daniel Dafoe's famous lines: The best of men cannot suspend their fate/ The good die early and the bad die late. It's worthwhile to mention that when Shakeel Badayuni was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he was put up in a sanatorium in Panchgani for treatment. Naushad knowing that his financial condition was not well, took 3 films to him, getting the lyrics written in the sanatorium, and got him a payment of nearly 10 times more than his normal fees. This is friendship. Shakeel will always be remembered for his soulful poetry and lyrics. Today is Rafi's 42nd death anniversary and on August 3 is the 106th birth anniversary of Shakeel Badayuni. Shakeel penned this exquisite number and Rafi sang it so soulfully. The film was ' Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya ' (1963). Shakeel already wrote this number with a few changes while studying at AMU. It was meant for an elegant girl whose name he never disclosed. Once a sadist friend of mine took me to a concert where one of the worst singers on the planet earth, Sonu Nigam, sang this song and pronounced MaZaal (actually, MaJaal: Meem, Jeem, Alif, Laam) instead of Majaal. I cursed my friend and Sonu Nigam and immediately left the auditorium lest I should die of further shock. I was about to die but somehow survived. That day I seriously decided to sue Sonu but then changed my mind. Those who don't know how to read and write Urdu, will always use Z for J and Qaaf for Kaaf. This gets my goat. Listen to this immortal number. The heroine was B Sarojadevi. Rekha's mother Pushpavalli also acted in this movie. Ravi Shankar Sharma composed the music. --- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/shakeel-badayuni-lyricist-poetry/d/127619 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism