In Search of the Moderate Muslim

An enjoyable read. Farzana, despite your (rightful) claim that Muslims in India have to prove nothing as they are as Indian as the next person, it would seem that a large proportion of the population do not see it like that. For them, Muslims will always be ``the other`` unless you become totally secularised or lose your Islamic identity. If that was not the case, this article and others like it would not be necessary.

Which is why, I repeat, Muslims of India have to help * *themselves * * and not look for the government to help them out (whichever party is in power.) The key to this is education--both religious and secular. Also Muslims have to do well in state schools as well and more of them have to go on to become scientists and doctors and engineers and IT specialists and social scientists and writers and artists... And to do that you will need to develop your own private schools like the Zaytuna Institute in the USA and also help build and fund the Traditional Islamic Universities you already have like in Mubarakpur (Jamia Ashrafiyya) or in Bareilly or in Delhi etc.

BTW, I don`t know much about Imam Bukhari of the Shahi Masjid in Delhi. Is he a Sunni, Deobandi, Wahabi, Shia, Naichari...? What do the Muslims of India generally think of him?

For example, until his death in the early 1990s or late 80s Hazrat Mufti e Azam e Hind Mawlana Mustafa Raza Khan Barelvi (rahmatullah alayhi) was the most respected religious authority (amongsy Sunni Muslims) in India. His funeral was attended by dignitaries from all over the Muslim world and politicians from all over India too; Zia ul Haq himself attended the funeral of this great scholar and Sufi.

Even now during elections main parties try to get the vote or support of the ulama and mashaikh of Bareilly since they are recognised by the Sunnis as their top representatives in India and a few years ago a stamp was also issued in India with the Dargah of Ala Hazrat on it; does Imam Bukhari hold a similar position or is he a ``government scholar``, i.e. the state sanctioned ``face`` of Islam? I ask because I know quite a few religious, practising, Sunni Muslims from India and they never even mention this Imam Bukhari of being of any religious importance!

Until I know more about this man Imam Bukhari I am non-commital about him but I do not see why it was so offensive if he called a spade a spade. After all, Shabana Azmi is hardly a model of a virteous woman! If she had so much hayaa she wouldn`t bare her body in films such as Fire. I am not condemning her--if she wants to act in such films it is her prerogative but then don`t expect to be treated like a pakeezah aur parhezgaar Muslim woman. You cannot have your cake and eat it too!

May Allah help our Muslim brethren in India (and in Pakistan!). When I hear of an Indian Muslim --any Muslim--doing well in any field or endeavour I get happy.

Again, we Muslims better wake up and realise that until we help ourselves no one else is going to help us. And we can do that best by returning to our beautiful, moderate, orthodox Islam and by being concerned about the welfare of our fellow brethren and sisters wherever in the world they are. We have to put Islam first, above even our nationalities. Otherwise, if we remain divided mentally by this nationalism the time is not far when, Allah forbid!, what happened to the Muslims of Bosnia and Kosovo will happen in the Subcontinent too. This doesn`t mean going not being proud Indians or Pakistanis etc. but it means not noticing the others ``Pakistani-ness`` or ``Indian-ness`` and seeing only the brotherhood of Islam. And, insha Allah, we can eventually show the other people of the Subcontinent how it is possible to love each other despite being India and/or Pakistani because this unique concept of the brotherhood of the Ummah is unique to Ialam (with the possible exception of Judaism too--indeed we can learn a great deal from the Jews and how they help each others causes all over the world).

To end with that great Indian Muslim poet Iqbal`s words:

Ki Muhammad se wafaa tu ne to Hum tere hain

Yeh jahaan cheez hai kya, Lawh o Qalam tere hain!

(sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam).

* * *

YoonH tau Sayyid bhi ho, Mirza bhi ho, Afghan bhi ho

Tum sabhi kuchh ho, batao kya Musulmaan bhi ho?

....... first of all, a moderate muslim is an oxymoron - as is a moderate christian or moderate jew ....... it is silly to think that someone who believes in angles and hobgoblins can be a moderate ....... for now we will let it go at that ........

....... but to prove my point that george carlin is a true prophet, this is what he said years ago before terrorism was a fad :

.....`` You have to be realistic about terrorism. Ya gotta be a realist: Certain groups of people--Muslim fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists, and just plain guys from Montana--are going to continue to make life in this country very interesting for a long, long time. That`s the reality. Angry men in combat fatigues talking to God on a two-way radio and muttering incoherent slogans about freedom are eventually going to provide us with a great deal of entertainment.

Especially after your stupid fuckin` economy collapses all around you, and the terrorists come out of the woodwork. And you`ll have anthrax in the water supply and sarin gas in the air conditioners; there`ll be chemical and biological suitcase bombs in every city, and I say, ``Relax, enjoy it! Enjoy the show! Take a fuckin` chance. Put a little fun in your life.`` To me, terrorism is exciting. I think the very idea that someone might set off a bomb in Macy`s and kill several hundred people is exciting and stimulating, and I see it as a form of entertainment! ``

........ check out his revelations on airport security and then tell me is not in the same league as moses and the guy who lived in a fish .........

Dear Farzana:

You appear to be a sensitive, intelligent person. But, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF YOUR ARTICLE? You appear to be against a lot things (Imam Bukhari, Shabana, etc.), but WHAT ARE YOU FOR? BTW, your accusation that Shabana is an MP merely because she is Muslim is uncalled for and was in bad taste. You conveniently forgot that she is a great actress (not the run-of-the mill starlet wannabe), makes more films than virtually anyone else on socially relevant issues (rather than the usual song `n` dance trite), and is a hard-working social activist for the most vulnerable in society (e.g. homeless -- how many Bombay stars can point to doing anything for the dispossesed?). Do you have any one of those qualifications?

As regards your `If we want to...` tirade, I am with you, and will support you in anything that you `want to` do (as long as it is legal), but perhaps some emphasis on giving (and not just wanting/asking) would have been in order.

Farzana Varsey Bibi ,

Couldn`t have said it better myself ,You Rock !

Very logical,one of your best i have ever read ,including all Rediff & other placeses.

I only ask ,why not ask Shushmita Sen about Ayodhya issue or continue asking Kajol,Sri Devi,Hema malini ,Karishma,...till we find one who says ``whatever has been ,let by gones be bygones ,we should not Impose on exisisting structure spl. if it is aniother religions symbol``.Would that be enough of a mandate from a hindu woman to get apology from RSS,& uncovicted perpetretor of Rath Yatra Advani ?????

BTW ,what happened to conviction of Bal Thackerey in Mumbai riots case .I dont keep up with silly indian news papers .And while on it Also Advani`s conviction in Demolition of Mosque in dec1992 ???

Sexy Saniyasin -Haine .Starvation(sanyasin-deprived of all) renders everybody HUNGRY !

Pakistan and India fall into the category of `Passive persecution` according to

http://www.worldevangelical.org/rlc_genevareport01.html#passive persecution

Two other nations in this category are: Egypt and Sri Lanka.

Shame on all of us.

EST Reply #: 7

tahmed321

Ms. Versey: The point of your article being........ (please fill in the blanks, thank you).

TAhmed,

If you havent read the article ,there is no shame in keeping quiet.Or are you afraid of being taken as non serious thinker ,scholar,& writer par excellence ,or the somewhat aura you pretend.

If like a stubborn student must you pretend ,Which portion of language or content could you not comprehend?

What is a moderate Muslim?

Is he a human who is guided by `live and let live` principle?

Does he believe that religion is a private personal affair?

Does he believe that non-Muslims may not wind up in some nasty place after they die?

Does he tolerate criticism of the Holy Koran and other Islamic religious texts?

Does he question relevance of some of the ideas in 1400-year old document written mostly for illiterate Arabs?

Why no one talks about moderate Hindus, Jews or Christians?

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Humanity has waged the vendetta of `my religion is better than yours` for ages, without any resolution. May be there is no resolution. The claim is purely subjective. Why can`t we agree on `my religion is good for me` and `yours is okay for you`? and try to live our life peacefully and harmoniously. This approach can not work overnight; it`ll take time, at least for us who have not tried it before. But it`s worth a try. As a matter of fact, this is not a new approach at all; it`s what is popularly called secularism. It works in America so probably it can work in other countries also. Instead of worrying about what a moderate Muslim is? or what it ought to be? or how moderate is really `moderate`, why can`t we push this postulation aside and stop discussing religion? Religion ought to be a personal issue and not an issue for public debate.

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A great Pakistani and a great Hindu Sobho Gianchandani

http://www.thefridaytimes.com/news21.htm

famous quote:

`My grave will not be in India, it will be nearer to Jinnah`s mausoleum.`

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Aside from the subcontinent`s most tedious desi whiner, just a quanta of the Big Cosmic Rhoti.

Those not-so-secret secret feelings of inferiority? Trust them. They`re true. Don`t struggle. Just drift. Give yourself to them. They`re your friend. Follow the voices in your head(s). Listen to them. You`re a fluke of the universe as you`ve suspected. That`s it... now rest. Rest a long, long, long time...

Ras , thanks for the link to the Slate article. Excellent reading. Have you read Karen Armstrong`s ``The Battle for God``? That book explores this same concept as well. By the way, are you the same Ras Siddiqui who used to write for the Pakistan Progressive?

In 1790, the then-president of the republic that was attacked on 9/11, wrote :

``The citizens of the United States of America ... all possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.``

Bernard Lewis comments on this as follows :

In these words, the first president of the United States expressed with striking clarity the real difference between tolerance and coexistence. Tolerance means that a dominant group, whether defined by faith or race or other criteria, allows to members of other groups some -- but rarely if ever all -- of the rights and privileges enjoyed by its own members. Coexistence means equality between the different groups composing a political society as an inherent natural right to all of them -- to grant it is no merit, to withhold it or limit it is an offense.

---

I see Ms. Versey`s article demanding coexistence and not simply tolerance. ( The existing tolerance has a nasty condescension to it as well.)

I believe the Indian ideal as embodied in the Indian Constitution is that expressed by George Washington, and insofar as Ms. Versey is demanding coexistence on those terms, I am all for it.

-Arun Gupta