" 'Un-Islam' in the Name of Islam"
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (Translated by Yoginder Sikand)*
Some time ago I met a Muslim who lives in America . In the course of our conversation he mentioned that today the image of Islam has become so negative in America that he is reluctant to admit that he is a Muslim. 'If anyone asks me my religion, I say that my religion is humanism. If I tell them that that I am a Muslim, they will at once brand me as a terrorist', he bemoaned.
This man accused the media for creating and presenting this negative image of Islam. I replied to him, saying, 'No. This image of Islam has been created by Muslims themselves. In various places Muslims have launched violent movements ostensibly in the name of Islam, and this the media reports about. Because Muslims carry on these violent movements in the name of Islam, the media also attributes them and their violence to Islam itself.' 'If Muslims themselves are engaged in such movements in the name of Islam, how can the media attribute these movements to anything else?', I asked him.
The man responded by saying that only relatively few Muslims—and certainly not all Muslims—were engaged in such violent or terrorist movements. Hence, he protested, it was wrong to create a negative image of Islam based on the actions of these few. My answer to him was, 'Yes, it is true that relatively few Muslims are involved in such movements, but it is also true that the vast majority of other Muslims do not openly condemn such movements. They observe a strange silence on them. Hence, and in accordance with the very principles of Islam, it would not be wrong to say that even if only a few people are directly responsible for spearheading these violent and hate-driven movements in the name of Islam, the vast majority of other Muslims are also indirectly responsible for this, too.'
This position of the Muslims is extremely worrisome. In the name of establishing 'Islamic Government' and 'The Prophetic System' and in the name of jihad such misdeeds are being committed that are completely opposed to Islam. Far from attracting people to the religion of God, these deeds only further repel people from it. Those who commit such acts claim that they are engaged in setting up an Islamic or Prophetic 'System', but this is completely false. Rather, these are simply a ruse to gain political power and leadership in the name of Islam. Such movements have absolutely no sanction in Islam. The aim of genuine Islamic mission is to Islamise individuals, not the government or state. Accordingly, for centuries the Sufis focused on the Islamisation of individuals. This work used peaceful methods and never became a source of conflict or violence. The Sufis promoted peace and humanity while the so-called 'revolutionary Islamic' movements are producing wholly the opposite results.
Thus, one can safely say that the self-styled Muslim leaders of today, who have spawned violent movements aimed at grabbing political power, are themselves responsible for creating the image of Islam as inseparable from hatred and violence. Through their actions they have made Islam appear as a religion of hatred and violence, while, in actual fact, the Islam sent by God is a religion of peace and welfare for all. A true Muslim is one who is concerned about the welfare of all of humankind, not someone who is at war with humanity.
Islamic Jihad
There are certain strict conditions for a genuine Islamic jihad in the path of God. A movement that does not observe these conditions cannot be said to be an Islamic jihad. A jihad is only one which is done in the path of God. War or conflict for the sake of power or wealth or for any other such worldly purpose cannot be considered a jihad even if those who are engaged in it claim it to be so. Rather, it is fasad, a source of great strife, and is sternly condemned in Islam. Further, according to the Islamic shariah, only an established government has the prerogative of declaring war or physical jihad. An individual or a group of individuals does not have this authority. No matter what complaints an individual or a group may have, they have to use only peaceful means. It is forbidden for them to resort to war or violence under any conditions.
Jihad, in the form of qital or physical struggle against enemies, is a wholly defensive act. Offensive qital is clearly forbidden in Islam. Furthermore, if one comes under attack from another community, fighting must be sought to be avoided as far as possible. Defensive war can only be engaged in when all efforts to avoid fighting have proved unsuccessful. The opponents of the Prophet sought to engage him in war and conflict more than eighty times, but he was able to avoid fighting, except on three occasions—the battles of Badr, Uhud and Hunain—when war became unavoidable.
Taking Hostages
These days, some Muslims are resorting to violent tactics against their supposed enemies, such as hijacking and taking hostages. All such tactics are completely forbidden in Islam. Those who engage in such acts are undoubtedly bereft of the fear of God. Such terrible attacks entail making innocent people targets or victims. Such cowardly deeds are wholly against humanity as well as against the religion of God. An instance from the life of the Prophet clearly illustrates this. Opponents of the Prophet in Mecca once captured some Muslims and kept them as prisoners. At this time the Prophet had entered into a treaty with the Meccans at Hudaibiya, but he did not ask them to release his followers whom they had captured. On the contrary, the Prophet agreed that if any Meccans were captured by the Muslims, they would be released and sent back to Mecca . This suggests that if the opposing party captures some among one's people, still it is not permissible for us to take their people as hostage.
The Real Culprits
Who, then, are really responsible for creating a storm of hatred and violence in the name of Islam today? It is not those Muslim youths who are engaged in these movements. Rather, the real culprits are the so-called 'Islamic ideologues' who have misled these youths in the name of 'Islamic Revolution' which has produced such disastrous consequences. Islam's method is one of inviting others to the faith (dawat), while the other, opposing method is that of politics (siyasat). Dawat is based on peace. In contrast, politics is based on conflict and confrontation. Today's self-styled 'Islamist' ideologues have given a political interpretation of Islam, because of which Islamic movements have become political movements. Consequently, they have caused all those blameworthy things that are associated with politics and political movements to come to be associated with the image of Islam.
Dawat regards the contending party as a possible friend. In politics it is completely the opposite: politicians regard their contenders as opponents and enemies. This is why dawat produces a culture of benevolence, and politics only a culture of hate. In a society characterized by a culture of benevolence good things will be promoted, and in a society characterized by the culture of hate all manners of violence and strife prosper. Nothing good can ever go along with hatred.
The Real Work To Be Done
In reality, the present-day violent Muslim political movements are not just un-Islamic, but they are also completely useless. Recent history provides ample examples to exemplify this. In the first half of the twentieth century, most Muslim countries were directly or indirectly under the control of Western colonial powers. Today, all these countries are politically independent, and they number more than sixty. Yet, Muslims lack any weight on the global political scene. This is because in the past political power counted for everything, but today it has only a secondary status. Today, education, knowledge, science, technology and economics are more important. Merely being political independent does not suffice today.
Because Muslim countries are today much behind others in these non-political spheres, they have little influence at the global level. Most of their people are still illiterate. In the fields of science and technology they are still heavily dependent on the West. Most of them are economically backward. Hence, despite being nominally politically independent, they considerably lag behind others, and are dependent on them, in most modern spheres.
Some Muslim countries claim to have undergone an 'Islamic revolution'—for instance, Egypt , Pakistan , Iran , Algeria , Sudan , Afghanistan , etc.. However, in actual fact, these self-proclaimed 'Islamic' states suffer the same sort of serious problems as those Muslim states that claim to be 'secular'. This is because they are as backward as the latter in the intellectual and economic fields. This is why Muslims should now focus on and advance in these non-political fields. Work in these fields has nothing to do with politics and political power. Such work can only be undertaken in an atmosphere of peace. For this there can be no room for hatred or violence. This is the field of constructive work, and can have nothing to do with destructive activities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- * This is a translation and slightly abridged version of the chapter titled 'Islam Ke Nam Par Ghayr Islam', taken from Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's Urdu book Aman-e Alam ('Global Peace) [Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2005, pp. 103-108].
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