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BABRI MASJID:

Can Muslims give away this  place?

12 February 2009 06:30:54 PM, Aleem Faizee

December 6, 1992 was the dreadful day not just for the Muslims world over but also for the country like India and the entire humanity. It was the day when a mosque was demolished and while it was being demolished, the state and the central government were a mere spectator. Not just spectator to the demolition of the mosque but they were spectator of the construction of a Mandir at the same place too. It was the day, it seems, when there were no law in the country. Everyone had forgotten his or her duties, moral as well as constitutional on that shameful day.

On one side was an existing government with its ministers seemingly enjoying the event and on the other side was the future ministers planning for the formation of a government on the debris of Babri Mosque. Whether these responsible personalities and the dignitaries, as they claim of themselves, had failed deliberately in fulfilling their constitutional and moral responsibilities, is not known thus far but one thing has become part of the history by now that, whatever was their plan, the later group successfully utilized the event reaching to their long awaited dream of forming the government and the former group had miserably failed in their plans.

With the anniversary of the great tragedy for secular India few days ahead, the suggestions are again being made to Indian Muslims to abandon this place. But people don’t understand that the question is not why Muslims cannot abandon this place. In fact the question is, are the Muslims authorized for taking any such decision about the mosque?

And the answer is, the Muslims are in fact not authorized to take any decision about the mosque at the first place and hence there is no question at all of asking them to abandon the place.

It is because a mosque is “Baitullah- the House of Allah, the Almighty”. Hence it directly becomes the property of the Almighty and it will remain so forever.

A Baitullah cannot be built at any illegal or disputed land but can only be built on legally purchased land. And a Muslim, religious or not, is well aware of this fact. Hence whenever a Muslim intends to build a mosque at any place then the first thing he or she does is to confirm that the place is legally purchased and is not disputed or illegally occupied land.

When the Prophet (PUH) arrived at Madinah, the first thing he did was, he built the mosque there. This is how it had been narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari-the book containing the sayings of the Prophet (PUH) as described by very authentic sources.

The Prophet came to Medina and ordered a mosque to be built and said, "O Bani Najjar! Suggest to me the price [of your land]." They said, "We do not want its price except from Allah" [i.e. they wished for a reward from Allah for giving up their land freely]. So, the Prophet ordered the graves of the pagans to be dug out and the land to be leveled, and the date-palm trees to be cut down. The cut date-palms were fixed in the direction of the Qibla of the mosque.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari; Narrated by Anas)

It was also reported that the proposed land was owned by two orphan children belonging to Bani Najjar and the prophet purchased the land from them by paying a handsome amount although they were not ready to take it.

It is not that a person builds a mosque as the sign of conquering any country or place, as people may think today of some Muslim rulers who ruled over Indian sub continent. But it is a matter of divine reward which is promised to those who build a mosque which encourages a person for building the mosque. It is also reported in Sahih Al-Bukhari:

“I heard 'Uthman bin 'Affan saying, when people argued too much about his intention to reconstruct the mosque of Allah's Apostle, "You have talked too much. I heard the Prophet saying, 'whoever built a mosque, [Bukair thought that 'Asim, another sub-narrator, added, "Intending Allah's Pleasure"], Allah would build for him a similar place in Paradise."

(Sahih Al-Bukhari; Narrated by Ubaidullah Al Khaulani)

Thus when it is a matter of divine reward, it has to be strictly followed by the rule clearly demonstrated and described by the Prophet (PUH). One therefore clearly observes that while we find many places of worship along side the roads and highways, be it a Mandir or Mazaar (Construction on graves for worship which is strictly denounced by the Almighty Allah and His Prophet (PUH)), we do not see the Mosque built on any such places.

Also, there is a long history of the Muslim rulers ruling over not only India but most part of the world for years. No one can prove a single incidence when any Muslim rulers had used any force for converting places of worships belonging to the other faiths into a Mosque.

One very clear incidence is of the caliph Omar, which demonstrates how careful the Muslim rulers in protecting the minorities under their regime were. When he took Jerusalem from the Byzantines, he insisted on entering the city with only a small number of his companions. Proclaiming to the inhabitants that their lives and property were safe, and that their places of worship would never be taken from them, he asked the Christian patriarch Sophronius to accompany him on a visit to all the holy places.

During the course of this visit, the Caliph wished to offer namaz, Patriarch invited him to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but he denied and preferred to pray outside its gates. Caliph Umar returned after offering namaz and said that he deliberately declined to offer namaz inside the church fearing later generations of Muslims might use his action as an excuse to turn it into a mosque. To make it clearer and firm for future generations, he wrote a proclamation stating that the place outside the church where he had just performed namaz could never be used as a mosque.

A mosque is Baitullah, the house of Allah, the Almighty, and the place for worshipping Him and if one does not take care of these rules into account while building the mosque then it cannot be Baitullah and one cannot pray there.

It is because of this that, lies and false propaganda apart, no one can show a single mosque anywhere in the world, built on any disputed or illegally captured land and “Babri Masjid” of course is not at all an exception.

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