Muslim friends, speak up, now

Interacting and discussing, local, national and international affairs with Muslim friends (yes, most Indians still have Muslim friends and acquaintances) have become increasingly difficult since the 9/11 attack, but it has almost become impossible in the recent years owing to just one thing – one-sided blasphemy becoming a two-way street and the right to take law and order into one’s hands.

This phenomenon was not common before the strike on USA by Osama Bin Laden, who legitimated killing of innocents in the name of religion. I have seen many non-Muslims too supporting Osama and be in awe of him, just because USA was the unanimous global leader then.

Speaking against a god or religion, either seriously or as jokes, was never taken beyond a point prior to 9/11. Blasphemy was word few even knew about, and attacking the person was unimaginable. However, things started sliding in a fashion never seen before, giving rise to Islamophobia across the world.

This is likely because with more communication across the world, more movement of people and the rise of social media (where everyone gets a platform to be a leader), religion and intolerance has been exposed like never before. So is the liberty to post and counter-post anything – social media is a parallel world with no law and order, nor any accountability.

The case in point about the rising Islamophobia and Islamic intolerance is the law of blasphemy among the terror-based closed countries that are almost fully Islamic and have no exposure to the terms of liberty and freedom. For them, anyone who believes in any god other than Allah is unworthy of a life, and anyone who speaks about Allah and Mohammed Abdullah, the messenger of Allah, has to be killed. When this is countered or not possible, they claim Islam is in danger – fueling the anger further and making the failed and desperate believe they have a cause to die for, across the world. If this is reiterated in madarssas and masjids – both closed for non-Muslims – every day, as many claim, unrest today and in future is inevitable, which will harm the Muslims more than others.

At the heart is the Quran, the holy book of Muslims, that has existed for around 1,200 years now – not before that nor after 9/11. The Quran states, as interpreted by most non-Muslims, that there is only one God (other believers are Kafirs that are to be treated as inferior no matter how they treat you) and that any kind of blasphemy must result in beheading.

In fact, the punishment for Muslims who choose to leave Islam or turn to atheism is much worse – to be burned to death, stoned or thrown from a building – as was in the case of the young student in Afghanistan who was killed a few years ago (please don’t search for this in Google; heaps of similar incidents have buried it).

Then there is the justification for taharrush (abusing Kafir women in public) and taqiyya (using deceit if the enemy/Kafir is powerful) – which have pushed up Islamophobia even further, especially because Muslims have so far never countered these openly, or in person. These are just few questions out of the hundreds that trouble the non-Muslims, especially those that have Muslim friends and acquaintances like most in India do.

What do we talk with them today? Do we avoid talking about Kanhaialal of Udaipur just because they can’t face the truth, just because of their inability to ciritise the bad things in Quran or its misinterpretation? Just because they are afraid they might be killed too? Do we talk about cricket? About films? Or do we (and they) just keep quiet and allow the chasm to widen further — in a beautiful country like India?

What do I talk about when I meet my childhood Muslim friend today? What do I do when my Muslim student stops calling me after seeing my retweets and social media posts about the gruesome murder of Kanhaialal using taqiyya? What about by juniors in office who I have treated like my younger brother?

It is too late and we all need to wake up and discuss the important things first. Politicians, as usual, have allowed the fire to burn for centuries across the world – it was mainly politics that killed the Afghan student too. But we the people have never been a puppet in the hands of politicians beyond a point – again, across the world.

What has changed in the recent years or decades? Has someone rewritten the Quran or is the new interpretation more appealing? These are the questions that Muslim friends must first find answers too before blaming others or the system. Muslims need to clarify in open some basic questions:

1. Whether people from other religions deserve equal respect and love?
2. Will someone practicing any other religion (Kafir) be treated as a human being?
3. Whether taharrush and taqiyya have any place in today’s world?
4. What exactly is blasphemy? And whether it is applicable to Muslims attacking other religions?
5. Is following the law and order of the land important?
6. How long will madarssas and masjids be closed to non-Muslims and why?

More than ever, we need Muslims that believe in law and order and are rational minded to speak up against the mentally sick who get an obnoxious sense of gratification by killing fellowmen in the name of religion.

This must be culled before it spreads to other religions – because sick people are everywhere and in every religion, and because the right-minded have improved our world through democracy and the justice system for centuries. And most importantly, because we cannot live with any kind of phobia forever.

Send your comments to feedback@mddtimes.com

MDDTimes Staff Writer

See author's posts