Lack of political will, weak
intelligence, inadequate laws, poor enforcements and political mud
slinging, result again and again in tragedies of the kind at now
Hyderabad and at umpteen places elsewhere.
A blast is there. Umpteen lives lost, the home minister visits the
area to make some stereotypes statements, some amount for
compensation is declared, the police claims to have caught the
mastermind and everything peacefully settles down - till the next
bombing and loss of human lives, yet again and again..
When a terrorist is to be hanged, umpteen human amnesty appeals
and our own tedious judicious system comes into the way of doing
away with the murderers of humanity. At the same time, as Arun
Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi grandson, says that it's no use hanging
terrorists: when we hang one, hundred will be born.
Today, Islam is under the scanner owing to so many voices saying
that the religion advocates violence. Not all of them can be wrong
as people judge by what they see and today these terrorists speak
and act violently in the name of Islam. At the same time, the
government mustn't jump to the conclusion that it must be a "group
of Muslims", only like Indian Mujahideen, that must have blasted
that bomb. That hurts law-abiding Muslims, and they comprise the
majority in a population of 165 million in India.
The community remains under the clouds of suspicion, for no fault
of a great majority of its members. As a human being and an Indian
Muslim, I literally wept over the needless deaths of those who
died or were maimed while shopping or eating.
Muslims must come out openly against terrorist outfits like Hu-JI
(Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam), Lashkar-e-Taiba, Al-Qaeda,
Harkat-ul-Ansar, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen,
Sipah-e-Sahaba, Indian Mujahideen and others, all committed to
desecrate peaceful coexistence and harmony. The jehadis have been
slaughtering innocent lives at railway stations, bus stops,
trains, airplanes, temples and markets.
For a Muslim, actions are measured against the Quran and the
Sunnah (practical examples) of the Prophet Muhammad's life. The
Quran states that every human life is a sanctified life; to save a
life of a person is equivalent to saving the life of mankind.
Even in a state of war, there are fundamental principles laid down
by the Prophet, e.g. innocent lives (men, women and children) even
in the enemy camp must be protected; the right to freedom of
religion of people of other faiths must be ensured; plants must
not be destroyed; no acts of aggression are allowed, and, most
important of all, every attempt must be made to enter into a
truce.
We are off course living in a situation where an act of aggression
by a few misguided Muslims is labelled as an act sanctioned by
Islam. This is a hostile portrayal of Islam.
Similarly, Muslims condemning all Americans or Europeans are
equally guilty of stirring up hostility. There is no doubt there
are agendas to smear the image of Islam, as is gains support in
the world as an alternative to all other systems of government. A
few misguided Muslims, indulging in extremism and acts of terror,
are only helping the smear campaigns.
The ideologically networked jehadis kill without mercy, specialize
in suicide attacks and when cornered fight to the finish. They
derive their strength from Al- Qaeda. These radical jehadis are
part of an intricate web of nationalist insurgent groups that act
autonomously and are difficult to track down.
Many of the terrorists acting in the name of Islam cite Kashmir,
Palestine, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan to justify the killing
of innocent lives. They have lost their moral compass. For them,
anyone who does not agree with their point of view is an infidel
and should be eliminated.
They are able to misinterpret verses from the Quran to justify
their heinous designs. Muslims must separate themselves from
'Muslim terrorism'.
The word jehad comes from its Arabic root jahada meaning 'to
struggle'. The word jehad has been so badly misused both by some
wayward Muslim terrorists and Islam-baiters that it has completely
lost its meaning. Jehad is essentially a struggle against evil,
both within and beyond us. Jehad-e-Akbar (The Greater Jehad) is a
complete surrender to the will of Allah. It calls for a total
subjugation of ego and anger.
The SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India), Shahi Imam Bukhari,
fanatics in Coimbatore and Maharashtra, the calls for jehad and
the distribution of inflammatory posters have enraged middle class
Hindus. Minor issues like a few Muslim leaders opposing the
singing of the Vande Mataram, the national song, add fuel to the
fire, increasing animosity between the two communities over the
years.
Those who kill innocents have nothing to do with Islam. Sura Al-Baqr
(Verse: 114) in the Quran states that Allah dislikes those who
indulge in arson, loot and killings. Sura Al-Kafirun (Chapter: 30)
mentions: Lakum dinokum waley yadeen (You follow your religion;
let them follow theirs).
Islam rejects violence in all its forms, but the jehadis take the
terror path without bothering about the impact it can have on a
common Muslim by making him the usual suspect. They don't read
those verses that declare that taking the life of even one
innocent individual means killing the whole humanity. They twist
and bend them to act self-deceivingly as human bombs. Islam has no
room for suicide.
There are many verses in the Quran that are contextual, in the
sense that they are the verses used during a war and are not of a
general nature. Take for example the verse, 'Slay the pagans
wherever you find them, seize them, beleaguer them, lie in wait
for them with every stratagem' (Chapter: 9, Verse: 5).
No doubt these verses call upon the believers to fight with
determination against perpetrators and all odds, and these are not
necessarily against non-Muslims. If taken out of context, they
might appear to advocate violence; misguided Muslims are doing
exactly that.
According to the Khwaja Iftekhar Ahmed, an Islamic scholar and
president Inter Faith harmony Foundation of India, what is so
abominable is that the extremists select these (some 20) verses
only to express "righteousness" to act "righteously".
To a common Muslim, it is abhorrent to attach such acts to the
teachings of Prophet Mohammed, who is known to be merciful not
only to Muslims but the whole humanity. The so-called jehadis have
no right to misinterpret the verses to suit their dastardly
machinations.
At the same time I also appeal to all my Vedic brethren that they
too should not suspect any and every Muslim as the terrorist might
be bearing any religion's name; in fact, he has no religion.
Today, the entire Muslim community is bearing the brunt of a
fringed few.
I am also warning my co-religionists that it is time they take to
streets to condemn those who, in Islam's name, are making life a
hell for them. Otherwise this calm and cool Hindu community can
take to that unfortunate backlash that happened in Delhi in 1984
and Gujarat in 2002.
Muslims are at a crucial point. The need of the hour in cities
like Jaipur, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai is that the
moment the community observes any suspicious people living in
their neighbourhood, they must, without delay, inform the police.
These jehadis prefer the Muslim ghettos as nobody is bothered as
to what activities are going on. Besides, in Muslim mohallas,
these jehadis offer a handsome rent and the landlord falls for the
bate realizing the truth only when anti-terrorist squads surround
his house.
A liberal Muslim must check a communalist Muslim and a communal
Hindu be checked by a liberal Hindu. Muslim voices of sanity
aren't loudly heard. We have to agree in principle that killing of
innocents cannot be justified, irrespective of race, religion,
place or ethnicity. There is no room for 'ifs' and 'buts' for
terror acts.
Firoz Bakht Ahmed is a teacher and commentator on
social, educational and religious issues and a grandnephew of
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The views expressed are personal. He can
be contacted at firozbakhtahmed08@gmail.com
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