Puppets Of Faith Theory Of Communal Strife (A critical appraisal of Islamic faith, Indian polity ‘n more)

by BS Murthy

  Maybe, at the influx of Khomeini's boy-martyrs into the Islamic 'Hereafter', it was the pity even Muhammad might have felt for the Iranian youth at that time, which could have prompted him, as depicted in a Danish Cartoon, to pronounce "Stop stop we ran out of virgins.”

  But instead of divining the irony of the Islamic martyrdom that the cartoon highlighted, the umma the world over reacted in a way that validates the Persian adage:

  Ba Khuda diwdna basho, / Were it about 'the God', rant asthou want,

  Ba M uhammad hoshiar. / Weigh thy words if it comes to M uhammad.

  And it is this insane obeisance of the cult to Muhammad that enables its ulema to turn Islam into an offensive weapon to defend its Messenger's manner and protect his honor against any perceived slight, maybe inadvertent though unintended. But then, the Ayatollah only followed the example set by his God's Messenger, though as an exception, as the following episode on the eve of the battle of Bard illustrates, into a rule.

  "At the first half, which was still in the oasis, the Prophet's cousin Sad of Zahra noticed his fifteen-year-old brother 'Unary looking troubled and furtive and he asked him what was the matter." I am afraid," said 'Unary, that the Messenger of God will see me and say I am too young and send me back. And I long to go forth. It might be that God would grant me martyrdom." As he feared, the Prophet noticed him when he lined up the troops and said he was too young and told him to go home. But 'Unary wept and the Prophet let him stay and take part in the expedition. "He was so young." said Sad, "that I had to fasten the straps of his sword-belt for him."

  While those Musalmans nourished on the diet of Meccan ayats could be averse to the suicide missions for they were brought up to believe that it was a sin in Islam, nonetheless their prejudice could come in handy to rouse them to jihad in the cause of Islam with Paradise as the destination. After all, whatever 'the others' might say about his conduct, Ayatollah Khomeini had his hadith right, didn't he? Whatever, it would be interesting to see as to why Allah Ta-'ala seems to have deserted His faithful, in spite of their undiluted faith in Him.

  "And this is a blessed Scripture, which we have revealed, confirming that which (was revealed) before it, that thou mayst warn the M other of Villages and those around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe herein, and they are careful of their worship.”

  "And if thy Lord had willed, He verily would have made mankind one nation, yet they cease not differing."

  Thus, while Quran willed that Allah's Message should be spread in Mecca and its environs, the disciples of Muhammad, against his Will had plundered the lands and ravaged the world in the name of Islam, besides imposing their manners on the converted peoples. But then, why blame them as Allah himself modified his covenant, many a time, and thus, there is no way for the umma to know in which order he changed his mood as his ayats weren't arranged in chronological order in the Quran. Whatever, in the current glut the Musalmans are in everywhere, they are prone to reminisce about the past glories of the Islamic architecture and science.

  Then, if by 'Islamic', they mean Arabic, we may note that the umma of Arabia, by and large, including M uhammad, were illiterate and mostly lived in tents for the best part. And the mosque-cum-private quarters that Muhammad built for him and his wives in Medina was not an architectural wonder by any stretch of imagination. Indeed, the socalled Islamic achievements were the contributions of the conquered peoples of those nations with advanced cultures such as Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt that Islam had appropriated for itself. It is another matter that with their socio-religious intolerance, the M uhammadans, in time, had reduced all of them into mediocrity by destroying the indigenous cultures, including, as observed by V. S. Naipaul, the Southeast Asian nations.

  Well amidst all this Islamic chaos, the Indian M usalmans have reason to thank their forefathers for their foresight or lethargy, and / or both, in not moving over to Pakistan. But, how to convince the umma that the only way to save Islam for the coming generations is for the current believers to be less believing! It would help the umma to

  ponder over Sigmund Freud's observation that 'when a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live normal and wholesome life'.

  As the Islamic straight path, arguably the crookedest one ever on earth, which Muhammad made his gullible believers into believing was drawn for them by Allah Ta'ala the All Knowing, is in reality leading the umma to the precipice, it may be an idea for the Musalmans to take the Freudian Road of Wholesome Life. Surely, the religious environment in the Islamic countries 'won't let man live for himself but for his God', but who is stopping the faithful in the secular nations from embarking upon such a course. It goes without saying that owing to the long-term implications for the umma, the rightthinking Musalmans, though few and far between, might apply themselves to the task of eliminating the jihadi mind-set amongst their young men and women, which requires the cleaning up of the masj id-mad rasa mess before it is too late for their faith.

  But the falsity of the 'intellectual' Musalmans lies in berating the poor moulvis 'n mullahs, so as to make them the fall guys of Islam without uttering a word against their Messenger or point out an incongruity or two in the Quran itself, the real sources of umma's plight, though there are enough and more of them live in free-thinking societies of secular nations. It's thus, even if a handful of Indian Musalmans can show the Quranic aberrations to their fellow folks that could be the new Islamic dawn; but can they be able to do that! And it pays them to realize that it was the reforms from within the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu folds that progressively enabled the followers therein to give up the untenable precepts and practices of their scriptures, or their cultures as the case may be, so as to synch their lives with life 'here' to try to achieve its possibilities.

  Chapter 30 The Rift Within

  Based on the finding of its opinion poll, The India Today (August 26, 2002) had averred that - "In the past six months communalism and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism have grabbed the national headlines. On these issues there is a definite Hindu-Muslim rift. Take the on-again-off-again Ayodhya dispute. On this issue, there seems to be a hardening of stand in favour of building a Ram temple immediately - 43 per cent were in favour six months ago, today it is 47 per cent. Even among Congress voters, 43 per cent want the temple now. Predictably, this is not a solution favoured by Muslims. Equally, support for the temple isn't as enthusiastic in the South and East as in the North and West.

  Likewise, while 70 per cent of Hindus regard Pakistan as an enemy - a rare expression of national unity - only 37 per cent of M uslims do so. Indeed, 49 per cent of M uslims have a rather charitable view of Pakistan as an estranged brother, a friend and a future ally. What complicates matters is that among Muslims who are aware, Mohammed Ali Jinnah is regarded as a hero, along with Mahmud of Ghazni and Aurangzeb. The weight of Hindu opinion treats these historical figures as villains.

  These are worrying signs and pointers to the emotional gulf between the majority community and the most significant minority. Nor is this rift a persisting relic. The poll indicates that it is the youth (18 to 24-year-olds) that is more aware and belligerent than their elders. This raw, untapped energy is yet to find focus. A positive outlet may take India to new heights; in the wrong hands, it could plunge the country in civil strife. A divided India can swing either way.”

  But, this schism, the product of the M uslim religious expansionist credo that the All Knowing, the All Wise, Allah wished to avert by ordaining in the Quran thus:

  "And we never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make (the message) clear for them. The Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will. He is the Mighty, the Wise." (4.9)

  But the will of Allah was ignored by his faithful and forced his message in Arabic on the peoples of other tongues, thereby creating the conflict of interest that 'the God' had foreseen, and seemingly wanted to avoid. So, the penchant of the Indian M usalmans to glorify those as heroes of Islam, who had
been inimical to the Hindus or had undermined the Hindustan, is un-lslamic for it was not the will of Allah but the making of those disregarding 'believers'. So, during the 'unauthorized' M uhammadan expansion down the Quranic journey, the Islamic straight, but narrow, path began to lead the umma onto the narrower bylanes of bigotry. Hence, it's for the Indian M usalmans of the day to ponder over this ayat that made their alien God's' intent clear, and try to pave the 'right path' in the Indian setting, albeit with the Islamic tar.

  Whatever, when the U.S tasted the madness that is the Islamic fundamentalism on 9/11/2001, one Western social scientist wondered what it might take the Jews and the Hindus to live in the M uslim surroundings! Why it is for the Indian M usalmans to think whether that image is fine with them; they might as well ask themselves the valid question - instead of leading a harmonious life in the Indian society, how come they provoke the disinterested, if not docile, Hindu majority into a retaliatory mode?

  Well, the M usalmans, obsessed as they are with growing beards and wearing skullcaps so as to accentuate their Islamic identity that is besides wrapping up their female 'objects' in unwieldy burkas from public 'male' view, don't seem to care two hoots for what the 'others' think about their separatist as well as obscurantist mindset. But they might realize that their emotional attachment to everything M uhammadan makes them fish in the Islamic waters that wouldn't survive on the lands of reality. Why, their inability to vibe with the cultures in which they live as minorities makes them blind to the beatitude of life out there right 'here', and if only they could see beyond their Quranic noses, they would realize that Islam is the only religion where the agenda of the founder and the aspirations of his followers were mutually exclusive.

  Though the M uslims take pride in M uhammad, what they fail to see is that he was not all that great as he was made out to be, and contrary to the myths in the umma, he was as fallible as any other man. But the Islamic hitch is that the Musalmans get conditioned to see his frailties as the ideals and he the ideal man worthy of emulation. Thus it can be said that M usalman is a product of a faulty prototype, and it is there for all to see save the consumers in the umma!

  In this regard it pays the Indian umma to analyze the phenomenon of Sathya Sai Baba, whom millions of his devotees, the world over, revere as an avatar of God, and experience his'presence' wherever they are; a la affair M usalmans! Lo, that too without a scripture of his own, the swords of his faithful and the lure of the 'spoils of war' to spread his creed, the Baba attracts peoples of all faiths in today's world, with the expectable exception of the M usalmans! Moreover, without any promise of an exclusive 'thereafter' to his devotees, he inspires them to indulge in self-less service 'here' to the humanity at large. Of course, like M uhammad, he too was reviled and faced calumnies, in spite of it all, and thus, it's for the Musalmans to review their Messenger's questionable achievements in the light of Baba's monumental contributions.

  Yet another M uslim fallacy is that none but them feel the like faith in 'the God', and it is for them to realise that as an overindulgent sweet tooth could be nauseating, so also their Quranic overdose would be debilitating. And making it a triple jeopardy for the umma is its penchant to gloat over the prowess of the Islamic warriors of yore, who subdued much of the old world, coupled with their delusory wait in these adverse times

  for the advent of their Savior-in-Chief, who would paint the globe with the Islamic green! No wonder that the desperate Musalmans mistake a desperado Osama bin Laden or a demented Baghdadi as the upholders of Islam and the suicide vests of the deluded fidayen as the Coats of M uslim M ail.

  Maybe a slight brushing up of the world history by the Musalmans, not just the Islamic victories of yore, unceasingly parroted in the M uslim mohallas - their cocoons of bitterness in the wilderness of dogma - might enable them to see the falsity of it all, which they insensibly made their article of faith. Better they come to know that the Christians of Abyssinia sheltered the early M uhammadans troubled by the Quraysh and the Hindu's too didn't chase away the Musalmans when they came to Malabar for trade.

  When it comes to their misplaced notions about Hinduism, who were to tell them that the idols M uhammad was hell-bent upon breaking were those supposedly polluting the Kabah, and not the deities that inspire millions of devout Hindus in Bharat Varsha? Even after living for a thousand years in Hindustan, if the Indian Musalmans were to believe, as M ahmud Ghazni did, that the Hindus are idolaters, it speaks for their lack of awareness about the culture of their own forbears, well their pre-conversion ones. Oh, how these bigots ever shy away from accepting a Hindu prasodam from an acquaintance, so as not to pollute their Islamic palates being dreadful of deviating from the Quranic credo that is:

  "0 ye who believe! Take not for intimates others than your folk, who would spare no pains to ruin you: they love to hamper you. Hatred is revealed by (the utterance of) their mouths, but which their breasts hide is greater. We have made plain for you the revelations if ye will understand.”

  "Wed not idolatresses till they believe; for lo! a believing bondwoman is better than an idolatress though she please you; and give not your daughters in marriage to idolaters till they believe, for lo! a believing slave is better than an idolater though he please you. These invite unto the Fire, and Allah inviteth unto the Garden and unto forgiveness by His grace, and expoundeth thus His revelations to mankind that haply they may remember.”

  The Indian Musalmans might realize that these and many such Quranic injunctions exhorting them not to mix with the Jews, the Christians and the idolaters (poor guys who are denied even a capital 'I' in Islam) are but contextual for they were meant to address M uhammad's compulsion to keep his meager flock together against their being poached by 'the others' in the formative years of his cult! Now that the faith got more than cemented in the minds of the M usalmans for so long now, and the umma too grew into the billion-believer size, would these Quranic exhortations still be valid? Certainly not for any but for the bookish bigots of the Xians included.

  It is as well the Indian M usalmans realize that Islam is more than safe in Hindustan, in spite of its Quranic partition, and thus they might as well venture out of their 'mohallas of faith' into the nationalistic mainstream, as Hindus have no agenda for reconverting them into Hinduism. Maybe, it's the problem of the political heads of India's volatile democracy to herd their flocks into posh retreats, away from their poaching political opponents, and not of the mullahs of the numerous umma to keep the Indian Musalmans in the dark Quranic alleys.

  That apart, when his believers were far and few between, it was imperative for Muhammad's Islamic cause not to lose its 'productive' fair sex to the cupids of 'the other' faiths. But would it be valid still, when Islam is the fastest growing religion 'here'; moreover, it is not as if the Hindu men are itching to seduce M uslim women into Hindu motherhood. So, when an odd Hindu fancies a M uslim female, what for the M usalmans

  still treat it as a case of 'Islam in danger', and attack the hapless couple! Well, if the Quran erects Islamic barriers for interfaith love matches, the Hindu prejudice places hurdles to inter-caste marriages, and it is high time too that the caste panchdyats that kill the transgressing lovers are wound up with Godspeed, once and for all.

  The way the M usalmans of the day feel about them is the replica of what Alberuni noted of the Hindus of yore gloating about them; they feel Islam is the most glorious faith, their conquests are the greatest ever, their culture is the best on earth, their architecture is the marvel of the world, so on and so forth. Maybe it is time that the M usalmans have a balanced view of their victories and defeats over the centuries, but in their desperation for the advent of a Saladin to subdue the hated infidels, they have reduced themselves into gloating over the Osamas, the Nasrallahs, and the Baghdadis as the modern-day Omars. Oh, what a fall! Though their methods are reminiscent of Muhammad's realpolitik of 'ends justifying the means', it pays for the Musalmans to know that he was a pragmatist with a singular mission, while t
heir new heroes are but bigots chasing un-achievable goals. After all, one must be a moron to aim at making the world a dar al-lslam now or ever, which Omar and Saladin, not to speak of M uhammad himself, failed to do so! Well, umma may yet aver that but for Maria's charming distraction; Muhammad surely would have conquered the whole world on his own steam.

  But the moot point is that the M usalmans even in these modern times tend to be out of sync with the changed realities of the life 'here', and that begs for answers. True, that quran, hadith 'n sunna inculcate a sense of alienation in the faithful towards the kafirs but then how many Indian M usalmans would have read their translations even in Urdu, their very own tongue, leave alone the Arabic originals; hardly any. However, umma's kids, mostly from its deprived quarters, would be made to imbibe its separatist credo in innumerable madrasas, and, in turn, they as grownups spread those biases from the masjids, madrasas 'n mohallas that insensibly becomes the creed of the M usalmans.

  If anything, the history of the Muslim marauds of Hindustan, pictured as Islamic conquests and the perceived glories of Mogul Empire, with exaggerated spread over it that gets the word of mouth in the mohallas. Besides accentuating the Islamic sense of separateness, all this inevitably inculcates a false sense of pride in the umma about the divinity of its faith and the valour of the faithful. Not only that, this vainglory manifests itself, like in the false bravado of the Pakistan Army - one M uslim is equal to ten Hindu soldiers - nevermind it was mauled every time it ventured to take on the Indian Armed Forces. As if on cue, the hotheaded among India's M usalmans, like Akbaruddin Owaisi, the youger brother Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim foulmouth politician from Hyderabad, boast likewise - "25 crore Muslims would need just 15 minutes without the police to show 100 crore Hindus who is more powerful”.