Ideological Fanaticism
Al-Risala (English), March 1989, p. 9
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Ideological Fanaticism
1989 3 March 9-10 Ideological Fanaticism (774) This world is a world of trial, the most subtle objective of which is to discover whether we are fully aware that conviction may rest on false premises, and whether we understand the need to make constant reappraisals of what normally passes for conviction. Are we ready, in other words, to strike down ill-founded fanaticism in our pursuit of the truth?
According to a Hindustan Times news item of May 18, ‘Stalin Uprooted 15 Million People,’ a documentary is officially being televised in the Soviet Union, which shows the atrocities committed by the former socialist ruler, Joseph Stalin, as they actually happened. While he was in power, from 1924 to 1953, Stalin had large numbers of his countrymen brutally massacred, not sparing even socialist leaders, such as Nikolai Bukharin, who was killed in 1938. Today, forty years later, his wife is mounting public platforms to tell people how her husband was killed, although he was an innocent man. Stalin had had Bukharin killed as if he were a felon, if the truth could be told, it was Stalin himself who was the hardened wrong-doer. Bukharin’s wife speaks of Stalin with perfect candour when she says, “1 consider him a criminal.”
The documentary shows scenes of wholesale destruction of rural life with the beginning of collectivization. More than 3 million peasant households – which means 15 million people – were uprooted by the dictator. It was this, says a noted commentator, that transformed the Soviet Union from an exporter of grains into an importer.
In the days when Stalin was carrying these cruel plans into effect, the USSR not only had enough foodgrains for its own consumption, but was also in a position to export surpluses. In contrast, Saudi Arabia was at that time a desert country which needed to import all its foodgrains. Today, the situation is quite the reverse, the USSR having become the importer of foodgrains, while Saudi Arabia now has Surplus stocks. In 1988, Saudi Arabia grew more than 2 million tons of foodgrains, of which 50,000 tons of wheat were sold to the USSR.
We are compelled to ask how Stalin came to commit an act which was not only the worst kind of blunder from the economic point of view, but also a crime of the greatest magnitude from the social point of view. The reason, in short, was ideological fanaticism. History abounds in instances of powerful individuals imposing their ideas on large numbers of people by force, only for it to be discovered after bitter experience that what had appeared to be a great truth was nothing other than the distortions of ideological fanaticism. It is not unusual for blind zeal – as opposed to the genuine quest for truth – to create conditions of widespread suffering and sacrifice.
This world is a world of trial, the most subtle objective of which is to discover whether we are fully aware that conviction may rest on false premises, and whether we understand the need to make constant reappraisals of what normally passes for conviction. Are we ready, in other words, to strike down ill-founded fanaticism in our pursuit of the truth?
Prosperity is a more Severe Test
The Prophet once said: “I fear more for you the test of prosperity than the test of adversity, for when you were afflicted by adversity, you were patient; but if the world becomes green and pleasant, you will fall a prey to temptation.” The following words were also spoken by the Prophet: You will be given so much worldly abundance that this is what will make you go astray after me.”
More Engrossed In the Qur’an than Anything Else
Whenever Umer sent officials on their duties, he would make them promise that they would not ride on horseback, would not eat white bread, would not wear fine clothes, and would not close their door to the needy. If they disputed any of these points, they were liable to be punished. When he had taken this promise, he would dispatch them. He would say to any official he was relieving of his duties: “I did not authorize you to take Muslims’ blood; nor did I give you license to persecute them, attack their honour and appropriate their property. I appointed you to establish prayer and distribute wealth and revenues among them. You were sent to do justice.” Umer also used to tell his officials to remain engrossed in the Quran as much as possible, and be sparing in relating traditions of the Prophet (in case a statement should be attributed to the Prophet which he had not made). “And I am with you,” he would assure them.
