Faith and fanaticism

Faith and fanaticism

1997 5-6 May-June 31-32 Faith and fanaticism (612) THE worst enemy of every religion is the fanatic who professes to follow it and tries to impose views of his faith on others. All religions have had, and have today bigots who give founders of their religion and their teachings a bad name. People do not judge religion by what their prophets were like or what they preached but by the way their followers put them in practice. Christians had their inquisitors who burnt innocent men and women at the stake as heretics. Muslims have their Islamic fraternities whose leaders pronounce fatwahs condemning people to death, ordering women to shroud themselves in veils and imposing draconian rules of behaviour on the community. Sikhs had their Bhindranwale who forbade men to dye or roll up their beards, women to wear saris or jeans, put bindis on their foreheads and said nasty things about dhotian-topian waaley – those who wear dhotis and caps i.e. Hindus. At one time the presence of a Sikh in a bus or a rail compartment inspired confidence among the passengers; today, thanks to Bhindranwale’s legacy, the presence of a Sikh creates nervousness among non-Sikhs. Not to be outdone Hindus produced their own fanatics who condemn Christianity and Islam as alien religions and while mouthing platitudes about being the most tolerant religion on earth, hound Christian missionaries and target Muslim places of worship for destruction. In the name of Shri Ram, they demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Of all the world’s religions the most misunderstood and maligned is Islam. Since it challenged Christian hegemony over other religions. Christians were disposed to find fault with everything it stood for. Resurgent Muslim fundamentalism gave them all ammunition they needed to castigate it. Retrograde laws imposing purdah on women, interpreting the Shariah to behead murderers, maim and stone to death women caught in adultery. Today Islam is judged not by the teachings of the Qur’ an or the sayings of Prophet Muhammad but by the doings of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Muslim fundamentalists in other countries.

At the same time there are good people and good scholars in all religious communities who wage a losing battle to inform people of the true nature of their faiths. In India, the outstanding example of one who is doing his best to restore the prestige of Islam is Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, editor of Al-Risala published by Islamic Centre in New Delhi. He is assisted by his son Saniyasnain Khan. They have recently produced five beautiful small books on different aspects of their faith. These are – The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Pickthall, The Wonderful Universe of Allah: Inspiring Thoughts from the Qur’an on Nature compiled by Saniyasnain Khan, A Treasury of the Qur’an compiled by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and The Sayings of Muhammad compiled by Sir Abdullah Suhrawardy with a foreword by Mahatma Gandhi. They are compact little publications all available from the Islamic Centre, 1, Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-13.

These books are easy to read and will go a long way in dispelling anti-Muslim prejudices created in the minds of non-Muslims by the doings of Muslim fanatics. Unfortunately, whatever Maulana Wahiduddin or his son tell us about true Islam, Muslims will continue to be judged by the acts of groups like the Taliban and Mujahideens who wage unending wars against the non-Muslims – the same as Hinduism will be judged by the utterances of women like Uma Bharati and Sadhvi Rithambara and the doings of Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks, Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s and Bajrang Dal’s followers. It is a great pity that fanaticism always wins the battle against true faith.

(KHUSHW ANT SINGH)

(Courtesy: The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, May 24, 1997)