In Search of the Moderate Muslim

Farzana,

What a hard hitting article! What angst! I dont agree with several things you have said, but I agree with most of the things you say - esp that Muslim liberalism cannot be held to ransom by the `donated` liberalism of others.

I find it hard to believe that Dr R Z said the things you say he did - it is a real eye-opener.

Asif #80:

``Farzana you misunderstood me I`m afraid! When I wrote they must not wait for the government to help them but help themselves I did not mean to imply that they should remove themselves from the political process. On the contrary, I believe that Muslims should work to become a powerful lobby within Indian politics (a la the Jews in the USA) and thus help the situation of Muslims and protect them. But to do this they need to be united and work together for the benefit of Muslims in India as a whole and forget about petty and/or regional/personal differences. Again, the Jews in the US are a good model. Like they control US policy so the Muslims can then get to control Indian government policy. The key to all this is economic clout within India which in turn depends on education and having a pan-Islamic identity whilst still being Indians. :-)``

I dont think it is that straightforward a comparison. The Jewish lobby `controls` not US domestic policy but US foreign policy, about which most Americans cared diddly squat, till 9/11. I think you are saying that a Muslim lobby in India should have a clout on its domestic policy - for which there are many contending lobbies / interests. Indian Muslims have impacted Indian foreign policy for long. Unless you attribute principles to our foreign policy, till recently, India supported the Arabs and Palestine over Israel mainly due to Indian Muslims.

As regards the creation of a Muslim lobby in India, I hope it will benefit India`s Muslims - better education, better representation in the police and government etc etc. The existing lobbies do not protect the interests of those they claim to - for example the farmers` lobby benefits the few large farmers and not the many small ones.

Carrying out Jihad in Pakistan

[Some of them lay down. Some begged for mercy. They didn`t listen



Ali Shah, survivor, Bahawalpur]

Question - How long will these killing be in Pakistani newspapers? Ten years, five years, five months, five days?

We will keep hearing from Pakistanis about Babri Masjid, murder of Australian missionary years ago.

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The reviews of Dost-Mittar, Shammi, Veeresh and Tahmed essentially encompasses Ms. Verzey`s this article. Once again, lot of frustrations, but no real solutions, lot of provocations without any considerations... typical of her. Her criticism of Shabana Azmi sounds as ``grapes are sour``. If only we/she had an iota of the qualities of Shabana has !!!

No comments Farzana this time from me since I am tired of your frustrations. In this world of frustrations, who wants to learn more? Take Veeresh`s advise, change your name to Saraswati Bidyabati Vasundhara Ramalingam Viswanadam or whatever and see the difference. It should not be difficult in the land of lawlessness. Just bribe the court and get a name change.

Ras # 10

``[[Dear CHOWK Editor. Please give Farzana Versey a ``Featured Writer`` slot here. She makes a whole lot of sense and then asks what this makes her?

Answer: Possibly a very fine human being ...]]``

Dear Farzana,

As always your articles, speak so much truth, they come straight from the heart,and excellent observation. I fulsomely second Ras that you really deserve to be called ``A FEATURED WRITER ``. I hope the Chowk staff will seriously consider this !

lots of love,

sa :)

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urstruly,

I have fallen into the ``bad muslim`` category.... ever since they partitioned the mosque to hide the scarf-wearing-muslimas-in-tight-jeans.

satyavadi #65,

these morons have nothing better to do than to throw Sarwari`s name around just for the hell of it to take pot shots at each other.

idiots kay ghar main shayad bahenain nahi hain.

re:farzana

I started reading with interest and thought you were asking right questions. Why should muslims have to prove anything as Indians and muslims are as heterogeneous in their thoughts, behaviour, political belives as any other religious group.

But as I read on I get the feeling that either you are totally confused or the whole article is an exercise to pour your heart out against one or two individuals.

Re: Farzana Versey #75

``...Your offer to help is greatly appreciated. Tell me where you are and if you want to walk with me...``

Please contact me at shammi@onebox.com

Farzana #75,

First of all please keep in mind that I would never ever call you a Pakistani. I would never ever question your motives. So, please stop looking for clue and hidden messages in my posts.

Now to your reply.

``About Azmi asking the Imam to be airdropped and my objection to it versus someone saying the same about Bal Thackeray, you must realise that this subject about liberalism is unique to Indian Muslims. Besides, where is the question of anyone asking Balasaheb to go anywhere – they are too afraid. Whereas no one is frightened of the Imam.``

Are you telling me that nobody has ever made any statements against Bal Thackeray? That I find hard to believe.

``First, I am not crying, so don’t feel so sorry for me. You want to know if you can, as a Hindu, wage jihad against Muslims, ask for Muslim obeisance… NO. Because the issues are not connected. I am specifically talking about Indian Muslims, right? So, they (a fringe group, which I have emphasized has no popular clout) have not asked for a jihad against Hindus; not now and not in 1993. And, on what grounds would you expect Muslim obeisance? ``

I never said jehad against Indian Muslims, did I? ANd there is no law calling for Muslim obeisance. Hindus can not demand it. And that is precisely my point. You can`t ask for rights that are exclusive to Muslims. Muslims should conform to the same laws that everybody else is.

``About assuming the worst about Hindus in India, I have used the term ‘Hindus’ and ‘fundamentalist Hindus’ once each in this article. And I do make a difference. And I would question the latter about the Babri Masjid; I do not catch hold of my neighbours to explain. Hindus have not been made to feel guilty about that act. Like you do not question people who believe in justice and freedom about the carpet-bombing of Afghanistan.``

I don`t believe what you are saying here. Babri Masjid was pulled down citing Hindu sentiment and you are telling me you won`t ask your Hindu friends whether that is really the sentiment or not? Maybe not you personally but others would.

``Which version of Islam? And if you do believe it is a unified whole, then please tell me, why are the liberals not questioned about it? Why are certain ‘characters’ baited and made into caricatures? And what are the standards to define liberalism within the confines of a religion? As far as I know, people from the Muslim League had condemned the attack in NY. ``

I don`t believe Islam as a whole is responsible. Even then I did ask the liberals (Tahmed, Zafar, Nasah etc. etc.) about the version of Islam that these terrorists follow? And it is only the liberals that I pose these questions to. Because it is important to know what they think of people who claim to follow their own religion and indulge in these heinous acts. It is important because it is in the hands of the liberal to rescue their religion from the hands of the terrorists.

I know already what people like Urstruly and Naqshbandi think like. There is no need to question them.

And who are these certain characters that are baited? Even Shahi Imam condemned the attacks on NY and everybody knew about it. The objection is his issuing a fatwa to wage Jehad against this war against Islam.

``This is the tragedy. I wish you would see through the double-speak of the ones who mouth the ‘right’ words and spare me instead :) ``

Who are these double-speaking people who say the right words?

And am I asking you whether you agree with Shahi Imam? My questions to you are confined entirely to this article. I am not asking for your opinion on WTC or the war against the Taliban.

For those that missed Salman Ahmad of Junoon, I believe that he is going to be on ``Politically
Incorrect`` (ABC) this week. Please check...

Here is the transcript from his CNN interview..


CNN SUNDAY MORNING
Interview With Salman Ahmad
Aired October 28, 2001 - 10:17 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Junoon (ph) , a leading pop band in Pakistan has been helping the United Nations raise money for the campaign against AIDS and HIV. Now the group is in New York to perform at a fund raiser for the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy. Joining us now is Salman Ahmad, Junoon`s bandleader. He is also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.

Good morning to you.

SALMAN AHMAD, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Hi, Martin how are you?

SAVIDGE: Fine, thanks. Tell us, for those who don`t know, a bit about the band. What type of music you play, and more importantly, how you got involved here?

AHMAD: Well, Junoon`s a South Asian rock band. We`ve got three main members: Myself, lead singer Ali, and an American friend of mine, Brian O`Connell, who I went to school with in New York in junior high and high school.

And we`ve been working out of Karachi, Pakistan and we -- since September 11, we have shared that sense of sharp disbelief of how the world has turned upside down, and what we`ve tried to do in our own humble capacity was to set up a peace concert in Islamabad on the October 9, which was a concert to raise funds for the victims here and the Afghan refugees coming into Pakistan.

And I chose October 9 because of John Lennon`s birthday, and it was wonderful to see, you know, a girls` college where we held the concert, where everybody was singing, ``Give peace a chance.`` And there were -- the people -- it wasn`t just Junoon, I got artists from music, television, film, sports stars, doctors, lawyers all on one stage to show the silent majority of Pakistan.

SAVIDGE: Well, you mentioned that this is all in your humble way. But there`s a great deal of significance of where you are from. The group also has a number of religions that are connected to it. What is the message that you are trying to get out there for people to understand?

AHMAD: Well, you know, the underlying ethos of Junoon`s music is Islamic Sufi poetry, and for those who don`t know, Jalaluddin Rumi is one of the best-known Islamic Sufi poets. And the Sufis sang about harmony, tolerance, peace, self-discovery, simplicity, and they were really, sort of, totally, the antithesis of the religious extremists that you see nowadays protesting on the streets.

SAVIDGE: So you`re sort of counter the message that we have seen played up in the media regarding those that are opposed to this action. You have a different message then.

AHMAD: Well, Martin, if you think about it, it`s not just our message, it`s the message of Pakistanis everywhere. It`s a country of 140 million people; 10-30-40,000 people constitute a real huge minority who you see on CNN in America and elsewhere, and unfortunately, the great silent majority, which has been suffering silently for 50 years, because they were -- can`t go out on the streets and face being shot by the religious extremists; they obviously aren`t supportive of these protests, because this terrorist attack is an un-Islamic act.

The hijacking that took place wasn`t just a hijacking of an airplane -- an entire religion was hijacked by the terrorists. In Islam, you can`t kill innocent civilians; it`s murder. In Islam, suicide is prohibited, and the prophet Mohammad said that the ink of a scholar is far more precious than the blood of a martyr. So this whole radical image of Islam which is being portrayed is, I think, a minority view and it doesn`t really have to do with Islam.

SAVIDGE: Salman Ahmad, that was very well put. Thank you very much. The name of the group is Junoon. We wish you very good success in all of your concerts. Music goes a long way to heal in many of the problems in the world today. Thank you.

AHMAD: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Farzana #75
``The ?they? is Muslim liberals and anyone in Indian society who baits Muslims about their true colours.``

You yourself are baiting Muslim liberals including Ms Azmi about their `true colours`. Whats the difference?

btw, which Muslim liberals do you mean apart from Ms Azmi and Mr Akhtar?


``If we want to declare a jihad, we can.``

Do you happen to mean `if we want to declare armed jihad on any entity that catches our khundak, we can`?

``Dr. Rafiq Zakaria. He had invited me for tea and talk. In the course of the conversation he told me how misguided I was about Islam and according to the shariat I could be sent straight to hell``

For what reason/action/stance did Dr Zakaria tell you you were misguided and could be sent to hell? What are we to understand from thsi anecdote, can you please clarify for better understanding?


``If we think our religion is the best, we have every right to believe so.`` ``If we think all religions are equal, we must lead our lives in keeping with this cliché.``

Again, I will appreciate a clarification/elaboration of this. I think almost by defination, each religion`s adherent thinks of his own religion as best. As long as he does so privately, or in his own group, and doesnot seek to impose his belief on unwilling others, multireligious societies can avoid conflict, IMO.

But I think its not uncommon to come across NR Muslims, not necessarily from India, who hold this general belief, mostly in a benign impersonal way, that all the world will eventually be converted to Islam including America, Europe and India. They seem to regard this as an inevitable consequence of the existence of Islam.

So my question is, what is your own opinion about this, esp with respect to Indians of nonMuslim faith? Is such a belief an inseparable part of every ``religious`` Muslim`s belief, do you think?

Do `fundamental rights to religious freedom` for Muslims in India need to allow public manifestations of this internal belief (in the eventual triumph of Islam), for Muslims to feel truly free to follow their religion?

If nonMuslim Indians donot accept in principle that all nonMuslims Indians are inevitably headed for Islam, is this a curtailment of Indian Muslims religious freedoms?

The same question holds good for Indian evangelical Christians, too.

Re: scout the prude

``these morons have nothing better to do than to throw Sarwari`s ``

genius, i didn`t mention her name anywhere. stop lying.

Farzana: Could you please clarify whether Rafiq Zakaria was classifying you as a sinner or whether he was observing that, under Sharia, you would be classified a sinner.

In the first case, that would be his own view - in the second case, it would be the reporting of another`s views since I doubt Rafiq Zakaria believes in Sharia himself.