Importance of Understanding Context

Importance of Understanding Context In order to understand an issue properly, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of its context. The importance of context is such that if the context changes, the entire meaning of an issue can also change. To understand this issue, consider the following example. Commenting on my book Tazkeer-ul-Quran, a certain person wrote about me, saying, ‘Leaving aside the issue of differences with Maulana Wahiduddin’s ideology, which level of defeatism and cowardice a historian of the future will place on Maulana’s view that only if the Muslims of India live as no-problem people [without rights] will they obtain peace in the country, otherwise not, he alone knows.’ (Ulema-e Deoband ki Tafsiri Khidmat, p. 49). In this critical remark, the author does not quote anything from my writings. Instead, he has written some words on his own and they have been declared as my viewpoint. This method is completely non-intellectual and non-academic. In the above passage, what is claimed to be my viewpoint is not my viewpoint at all. My point is that in this country, the position of Muslims is that of dayees, those who communicate the message of God to others while the position of nonMuslims is that of madu, to whom the message has to be communicated. In other words, the relationship between Muslims and others is not a relationship between communal rivals, rather it is a relationship between those who invite people to God (dayee) and those people who are to be invited to God (madu).