Through his book “Rethinking Issues in Islam” (first edition, 1998, Orient Longman), Asghar Ali Engineer provides a great insight into the religion which has been into controversies and has been used as a means for much unrest throughout the world.
After having read the book, which addresses host of issues and provides a comforting and learned rethinking, I choose to write and reflect on two questions that haunt me:
1. Islam and violence.
2. Islam’s perception of other faiths and religions.
Writings in Italics are quotes from Quran.
Islam as it is
The word ‘Islam’ means surrender to the will of God.
Some of the basic visions of Islam are:
1. Creation of a just and egalitarian society.
2. There shouldn’t be any hierarchy of status
3. There shouldn’t be any accumulation of wealth in a few hands.
Islam and Violence
Some quotes from the Quran:
“And what reason have you not to fight in the way of Allah, and of the weak among the men and the women and children, who say our Lord, take us out of this town, whose people are oppressors, and grant us from Thee a friend, and grant us from Thee a helper” (4:75)
“Those who believe, fight in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the way of the devil (taghut)”
“Fight those who believe not in Allah, nor in the last day, nor forbid that which Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the Religion of Truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of their defeat”
“And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out and persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, so if they fight you (in it), slay them. Such is the recompense of disbelievers” (2:191)
“And if they break their oaths, alter their agreement, and revile your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief – surely their oaths are unreliable – so that they may desist. (9:12)
“And if Allah didn’t replace some people by others, cloisters, and churches, and synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is much remembered, would have been pulled down…” (22:40)
“So when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters, wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every ambush. But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-tax, leave their way free. Surely Allah is forgiving, Merciful” (9:5)
“We never punish, until we have sent a messenger”. (17:15)
Now, on the first glance it seems that Quran asks the believers to fight and slaughter the non-believers, unless they accept their defeat, pray to the God and pay the tax. But the author makes these convincing points:
· The Quran sanctions war if the weak are being persecuted and there is no other way left to rescue them.
· Islam doesn’t permit Muslims to take up sword against the unarmed. It permits one to fight only against aggressors.
· Fighting is permitted only in retaliation.
Still, I wonder how religion comes in the disguise of war-time-motivation. Also, I wonder: on the same justifications, the USA invaded Afghanistan and Iraq! That weak were being persecuted and there was no other way left to rescue them unless someone attacked and ruined the tyranny of the Taliban and Saddam! So what the US did was also a jihad? I wonder…
Things come in perspective when the author explains:
“When it comes to context we must take into account the socio-political and socio-economic conditions of the society in which a particular religion originates.”
“Islam when it originated was also a revolt against the status quo. The main opposition to the Islamic movement came from the riches of Mecca. There is no concept of property in a tribal society. But the rich of Mecca neglected all the tribal norms an busied themselves in accumulating personal riches though international commerce. This created a social malaise in Meccan society.”
“If one studies the history of Arab tribes before Islam and the fierce fighting they indulged in, one would be convinced that the philosophy of passive resistance would not have worked in that environment. A concept emerges in a particular context and works only in that context. Non-violence could not have worked in the conditions prevailing in Arabia then. Moreover, in the verse quoted above, the idea is not to kill unbelievers if they do not accept Islam but to bring them under control by making them accept defeat and pay jazya.”
I wonder how much history is in Islam and how much Islam is in history. And how much the followers are still into the history.
There are two things: when the peace returns and the war-kind of things in the religious texts becomes invalid, either people can change ways and adopt a modern outlook at things and decide not to live in the violent past. Or, they can still recreate the past by unknowingly making way towards them. So terrorists will strike peaceful people and nations and there would be religious disharmony and hatred everywhere – and in such a turbulent condition – it will seem as if all the history that is in Islam is still valid!
Mr. Z has grown up in a family where parents always fought. There was hatred, victimization, fighting and violence. He marries a lovely girl who is in peace with the world. Now, he has to change his outlook! But, he chooses to recreate an environment which makes him comfortable somewhere. He does things that invite confrontation, and the same old environment of hatred and violence starts prevailing in his life again! I think this is the way some part of Islam finds relevance in today’s world…
And the question is: Why should the world suffer if you had a violent past?
Islam’s view of other religions
Some quotes from Quran:
“Surely those who disbelieve, and those who are Jews and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, and who does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, not they grieve” (2:62)
“O humankind! We have created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) most righteous of you.” (49:13).
“For every (religious) community, there is a direction of its own for worshiping Him. Vie, therefore, with one another in doing good works.” (2:148)
“Unto everyone of you have We appointed a (different) law and way of life. And if God is so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but (He willed it otherwise) in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie then, with one another in doing good work.” (5:48)
“And abuse not those whom the (i.e. non-believers) call upon besides Allah, lest, exceeding the limits, they abuse Allah through ignorance.” (6:109)
“Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner” (16:125)
“to every people have We made their deeds fair seeming; then to their Lord is their return; so he will inform them of what they did.” (6:109)
It is clear that Quran clearly accepts that there would be people from diverse faiths. It says that all are sons of one God. Even if they practice some other faith, they are also the One God’s creations and hence there shouldn’t be any conflict! It says that the one God meant to create the different faiths also. And it asks people to compete with the people of other faith in doing good work! If only we all practitioners truly understood this much before…
But still, it seems the practitioners are confused about others’ religions. The author himself is an authority and wise enough to be called an intellectual. But see this paragraph from his pen:
There can be prophets other than those mentioned in the Quran. In fact the Quran maintains that for every nation there is a had, i.e. a guide from God. It is for this reason that some sufi saints in India believed that God must have sent prophets to a big country like India and that Rama and Krishna, so highly revered by the people of India, might have been the prophets of God.
I still wonder why Islam thinks so much about others’ religions. This supremacy feeling that I am the wisest and hence I should make the poor people see the light, hear the message and surrender to the will of the God is the cause of much war and hatred that has spread in the world in the name of religion. Why this feeling of “I am saving this world” and showing them the right path?
If I have a pot which is always filled with rice, I can do three things: I can feed those who are poor and starving, I can set up a packaging plant and sell that rice to all, I can ask others to stop eating wheat and any other food and teach them that only rice is the right kind of food.
Why do “I” come into picture? The truth that I know has come to me through this universe! Why have “I” become more important than this universe?
The Art of writing
One observation on the author’s style of writing: He has an excellent way of handling controversial matters and persuading others. We all know that stereotyping is bad, and many of our conventional judgements about things in this world are not always right. But, they are not always wrong too! The author wants us to see what he shows and here is how he goes about it. He first frankly tells us in our face, what the readers think about Islam and Muslims. Then, he brands their perceptions as ‘stereotyping’. This makes the reader conscious and makes him less rigid in his thinking. Then, the author explains how that particular stereotyping happened, giving the historical and societal developments. Of course his arguments are not exhaustive but are a means to show the reader what the author wants him to see. In third step, the author quotes some parts of the Quran which is in reverse to what the reader used to think. Again, there might be some other quotes which can reinstate the reader’s notions, but he won’t quote those now. By this time, the reader would be to some extent impressed by the author’s logic and wisdom, would be feeling to some extent foolish because he was indulging in stereotyping before, and now after he sees the quotes from Quran which show him the other view, there is a high chance that the reader would finally agree with the author and convert his opinion. Nothing wrong in this as such, but I just observed the way author handled very controversial topics and tried to convince the readers to some things they never thought they would agree with.
For example, it is often believed that Islam doesn’t allow freedom of thoughts. In order to prove that Quran allows that, the author quotes, “When it is said to them: ‘Follow what God has revealed’, they say: ‘Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance?” (2:170)
And the author comments, “Thus the Quran wants people to reject traditions if they are not based on ‘guidance and wisdom’. Faith of course is central to Islam as it is to any religion. But the Quran doesn’t insist on blind faith.”
Now, it is highly visible that when it is said to them ‘follow what God has revealed’ and they want to do the way they have been doing since generations, it is not talking about Muslims but about those who don’t believe in Quran! It is talking about the non-believers who resisted agreeing with Islam. Hence, Quran wanted the non-believers to have freedom of thoughts… And the author presents this quote in order to prove that Islam allows freedom of thoughts to its practitioners and is not based on blind faith! Art of writing…
I think
I think the religions which are based on one single book and came to this world through one single person will always face the threat of being misinterpreted. The same words have more than a single meaning. To make the whole world see the real meaning of the words is a task that is much more difficult than a salvation!
Much more distress has been brought into this world by religions, than by the miseries they were meant to cure. Islam is also one religion which teaches peace and harmony, but in my opinion, it has to come out of its past. There is always a choice.
Note: The views expressed are personal reflections and are prone to be inaccurate based on the limited understanding and comprehension.
After having read the book, which addresses host of issues and provides a comforting and learned rethinking, I choose to write and reflect on two questions that haunt me:
1. Islam and violence.
2. Islam’s perception of other faiths and religions.
Writings in Italics are quotes from Quran.
Islam as it is
The word ‘Islam’ means surrender to the will of God.
Some of the basic visions of Islam are:
1. Creation of a just and egalitarian society.
2. There shouldn’t be any hierarchy of status
3. There shouldn’t be any accumulation of wealth in a few hands.
Islam and Violence
Some quotes from the Quran:
“And what reason have you not to fight in the way of Allah, and of the weak among the men and the women and children, who say our Lord, take us out of this town, whose people are oppressors, and grant us from Thee a friend, and grant us from Thee a helper” (4:75)
“Those who believe, fight in the way of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the way of the devil (taghut)”
“Fight those who believe not in Allah, nor in the last day, nor forbid that which Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the Religion of Truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of their defeat”
“And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out and persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, so if they fight you (in it), slay them. Such is the recompense of disbelievers” (2:191)
“And if they break their oaths, alter their agreement, and revile your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief – surely their oaths are unreliable – so that they may desist. (9:12)
“And if Allah didn’t replace some people by others, cloisters, and churches, and synagogues, and mosques in which Allah’s name is much remembered, would have been pulled down…” (22:40)
“So when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters, wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every ambush. But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-tax, leave their way free. Surely Allah is forgiving, Merciful” (9:5)
“We never punish, until we have sent a messenger”. (17:15)
Now, on the first glance it seems that Quran asks the believers to fight and slaughter the non-believers, unless they accept their defeat, pray to the God and pay the tax. But the author makes these convincing points:
· The Quran sanctions war if the weak are being persecuted and there is no other way left to rescue them.
· Islam doesn’t permit Muslims to take up sword against the unarmed. It permits one to fight only against aggressors.
· Fighting is permitted only in retaliation.
Still, I wonder how religion comes in the disguise of war-time-motivation. Also, I wonder: on the same justifications, the USA invaded Afghanistan and Iraq! That weak were being persecuted and there was no other way left to rescue them unless someone attacked and ruined the tyranny of the Taliban and Saddam! So what the US did was also a jihad? I wonder…
Things come in perspective when the author explains:
“When it comes to context we must take into account the socio-political and socio-economic conditions of the society in which a particular religion originates.”
“Islam when it originated was also a revolt against the status quo. The main opposition to the Islamic movement came from the riches of Mecca. There is no concept of property in a tribal society. But the rich of Mecca neglected all the tribal norms an busied themselves in accumulating personal riches though international commerce. This created a social malaise in Meccan society.”
“If one studies the history of Arab tribes before Islam and the fierce fighting they indulged in, one would be convinced that the philosophy of passive resistance would not have worked in that environment. A concept emerges in a particular context and works only in that context. Non-violence could not have worked in the conditions prevailing in Arabia then. Moreover, in the verse quoted above, the idea is not to kill unbelievers if they do not accept Islam but to bring them under control by making them accept defeat and pay jazya.”
I wonder how much history is in Islam and how much Islam is in history. And how much the followers are still into the history.
There are two things: when the peace returns and the war-kind of things in the religious texts becomes invalid, either people can change ways and adopt a modern outlook at things and decide not to live in the violent past. Or, they can still recreate the past by unknowingly making way towards them. So terrorists will strike peaceful people and nations and there would be religious disharmony and hatred everywhere – and in such a turbulent condition – it will seem as if all the history that is in Islam is still valid!
Mr. Z has grown up in a family where parents always fought. There was hatred, victimization, fighting and violence. He marries a lovely girl who is in peace with the world. Now, he has to change his outlook! But, he chooses to recreate an environment which makes him comfortable somewhere. He does things that invite confrontation, and the same old environment of hatred and violence starts prevailing in his life again! I think this is the way some part of Islam finds relevance in today’s world…
And the question is: Why should the world suffer if you had a violent past?
Islam’s view of other religions
Some quotes from Quran:
“Surely those who disbelieve, and those who are Jews and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, and who does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, not they grieve” (2:62)
“O humankind! We have created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) most righteous of you.” (49:13).
“For every (religious) community, there is a direction of its own for worshiping Him. Vie, therefore, with one another in doing good works.” (2:148)
“Unto everyone of you have We appointed a (different) law and way of life. And if God is so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but (He willed it otherwise) in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie then, with one another in doing good work.” (5:48)
“And abuse not those whom the (i.e. non-believers) call upon besides Allah, lest, exceeding the limits, they abuse Allah through ignorance.” (6:109)
“Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner” (16:125)
“to every people have We made their deeds fair seeming; then to their Lord is their return; so he will inform them of what they did.” (6:109)
It is clear that Quran clearly accepts that there would be people from diverse faiths. It says that all are sons of one God. Even if they practice some other faith, they are also the One God’s creations and hence there shouldn’t be any conflict! It says that the one God meant to create the different faiths also. And it asks people to compete with the people of other faith in doing good work! If only we all practitioners truly understood this much before…
But still, it seems the practitioners are confused about others’ religions. The author himself is an authority and wise enough to be called an intellectual. But see this paragraph from his pen:
There can be prophets other than those mentioned in the Quran. In fact the Quran maintains that for every nation there is a had, i.e. a guide from God. It is for this reason that some sufi saints in India believed that God must have sent prophets to a big country like India and that Rama and Krishna, so highly revered by the people of India, might have been the prophets of God.
I still wonder why Islam thinks so much about others’ religions. This supremacy feeling that I am the wisest and hence I should make the poor people see the light, hear the message and surrender to the will of the God is the cause of much war and hatred that has spread in the world in the name of religion. Why this feeling of “I am saving this world” and showing them the right path?
If I have a pot which is always filled with rice, I can do three things: I can feed those who are poor and starving, I can set up a packaging plant and sell that rice to all, I can ask others to stop eating wheat and any other food and teach them that only rice is the right kind of food.
Why do “I” come into picture? The truth that I know has come to me through this universe! Why have “I” become more important than this universe?
The Art of writing
One observation on the author’s style of writing: He has an excellent way of handling controversial matters and persuading others. We all know that stereotyping is bad, and many of our conventional judgements about things in this world are not always right. But, they are not always wrong too! The author wants us to see what he shows and here is how he goes about it. He first frankly tells us in our face, what the readers think about Islam and Muslims. Then, he brands their perceptions as ‘stereotyping’. This makes the reader conscious and makes him less rigid in his thinking. Then, the author explains how that particular stereotyping happened, giving the historical and societal developments. Of course his arguments are not exhaustive but are a means to show the reader what the author wants him to see. In third step, the author quotes some parts of the Quran which is in reverse to what the reader used to think. Again, there might be some other quotes which can reinstate the reader’s notions, but he won’t quote those now. By this time, the reader would be to some extent impressed by the author’s logic and wisdom, would be feeling to some extent foolish because he was indulging in stereotyping before, and now after he sees the quotes from Quran which show him the other view, there is a high chance that the reader would finally agree with the author and convert his opinion. Nothing wrong in this as such, but I just observed the way author handled very controversial topics and tried to convince the readers to some things they never thought they would agree with.
For example, it is often believed that Islam doesn’t allow freedom of thoughts. In order to prove that Quran allows that, the author quotes, “When it is said to them: ‘Follow what God has revealed’, they say: ‘Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers.’ What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance?” (2:170)
And the author comments, “Thus the Quran wants people to reject traditions if they are not based on ‘guidance and wisdom’. Faith of course is central to Islam as it is to any religion. But the Quran doesn’t insist on blind faith.”
Now, it is highly visible that when it is said to them ‘follow what God has revealed’ and they want to do the way they have been doing since generations, it is not talking about Muslims but about those who don’t believe in Quran! It is talking about the non-believers who resisted agreeing with Islam. Hence, Quran wanted the non-believers to have freedom of thoughts… And the author presents this quote in order to prove that Islam allows freedom of thoughts to its practitioners and is not based on blind faith! Art of writing…
I think
I think the religions which are based on one single book and came to this world through one single person will always face the threat of being misinterpreted. The same words have more than a single meaning. To make the whole world see the real meaning of the words is a task that is much more difficult than a salvation!
Much more distress has been brought into this world by religions, than by the miseries they were meant to cure. Islam is also one religion which teaches peace and harmony, but in my opinion, it has to come out of its past. There is always a choice.
Note: The views expressed are personal reflections and are prone to be inaccurate based on the limited understanding and comprehension.
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