HAS THE AGE OF OPPRESSION RETURNED?

“But hasn’t God said: “Fight them until there is no more oppression?” they protested. “We did just that,” Ibn Umar told them. “In the Prophet’s day we fought until there was no more oppression, and God’s religion reigned supreme. Now you want me to fight so that there should be oppression and the religion of others’ besides God should reign supreme.” Another tradition goes into ibn Umar’s reply in greater detail. The two men pointed out that Ibn Umar went on a pilgrimage to Makkah every other year, but did not join in jihad, although he knew the importance that had been attached to it in the Quran. Ibn Umar told them that Islam was based on five things: belief in God and His Prophet; prayer five times a day; fasting during the month of Ramazan; paying the poor-due and going on pilgrimage to Makkah. Then the two men mentioned the verse of the Quran in which Muslims are told to fight until there is no more oppression, and God’s religion reigns supreme. “That’s what we did in the Prophet’s day,” Abdullah ibn Umar replied. “At that time Islam was in the minority, and Muslims used to be persecuted—even killed—for their faith. As Islam grew in strength this persecution came to an end.” The above stance of Abdullah ibn Umar is clear proof that religious persecution had ended at that time itself and people were free to practice their own religious beliefs. Since then, humanity has progressed in leaps and bounds to the present age of openness and intellectual exchange in every field. The present attitude of some Muslims who are engaged in violence with the assumption that Muslims are being oppressed and besieged by others and that Islam is under threat is baseless. The threat to Islam is from the violent behaviour of the Muslims themselves and not from anyone else. o The assumption that Muslims are being oppressed and besieged by others and that Islam is under threat is baseless.