Fundamentalist Islam vs. Liberal Islam in Indian Context
By
Grace Mubashir, New Age Islam
3 April
20242024
Muslims In
India Are Tied To Nationalism And Ideas Like Democracy And Secularism By
Liberal Interpretations Of Faith, Not Fundamental Interpretations.
Main
Points:
1. Liberals
have done a lot to bring Islam up to date and soften its strict beliefs.
2. People who
hold liberal views usually say that they are flexible and don't have any strict
theoretical requirements. They also say that they value social life and how it
works more than ideas.
3. Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad read the Qur'an in a way that was different from the basic
interpretations made by people like Maulana Maududi, who didn't believe in
democracy or religious neutrality.
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Literal
Islam is not a brand-new word or idea. It has been there for hundreds of years.
In fact, liberalism is the view and point of view that most Muslims have held
throughout the history of Islam.
In the name
of Islam, there is a liberal interpretation stream. At the same time, social
reformers come on the scene and try to bring even the most fundamental parts of
the religion up to date through readings and by leading them forward in new
social conditions. In some ways, it's a vague idea. This style of thought has
moved forward on its own and is now part of the mainstream.
This trend
has led to the idea that the religion needs to be brought up to date. Different
people may have different ideas about how to do this. It will change over time
based on time, society, and faith beliefs. They have done a lot for both the
Muslim group and the rest of the public. They have tried to integrate the
Muslim community into society while also giving the Muslim community access to society's
benefits and comforts.
People who
hold liberal views usually don't stick to any particular theories and put more
weight on social life and how it works than ideas themselves. Liberals can be
found in almost every religion in the world. The main ideas behind liberal
thinking are modern ideals of life, progressivism, reason, and scientific
awareness. It is because liberal ideas have been brought into religious
organizations that the narrow interiors of religion are becoming more open to
everyone and religious views are becoming less rigid and practical. When it
comes to Islam, liberals have done a lot to make it more modern and less strict
in its beliefs.
Most of the
writings that talk about religious doctrines and rules were made in a time when
people were very aware of how society worked. These kinds of writings have a
lot of power over Muslim religious life. By rejecting them, you can't bring
modernity to Muslim culture or change the way they live together. All of the
Muslim reformers and thinkers who have come out of the society have seen this
as true. Liberal theorists in religion have always reinterpreted old ideas and
doctrines in a way that makes sense in today's world and uses them to support
modern values and ways of thought.
Ideas like
democracy and equality did not come about when Islam came into the world. These
ideas are not exactly the same as the policies and beliefs that are made public
by religion.
Even now,
these ideas don't get much attention from extremist religious groups. The main
reason for this is that basic religious views still can't fully accept
democracy and secularism. People who didn't believe in liberalism were sure
that God had already made all the rules and laws that people needed to live and
given them to them. They thought that following these rules was enough to live.
These thinkers also used a literal reading of the Bible as proof. This view is
at odds with the idea of democracy. In a democracy, faith, religion, and God
don't matter.
Even the
most basic ideas of democracy say that rules, laws, and ways of doing things
should be changed to fit the changing social awareness of people. It doesn't
matter what God says or where people of faith stand on democracy. Today, even
religious people are okay with democracies, where people get together and make the
rules, ideas, and beliefs they want based on their social awareness. They say
that they are Democrats. We look into how this was done. Being religious and
against debt did not give them any theological problems because they were able
to look at the issue from a liberal point of view.
Most
religions' core views, including Islam's, are at odds with nonreligious ideas.
When people follow fundamentalist views, they think that their religion and
beliefs are better than all others.
This change
can be seen in the way religious groups have become active in democratic
societies. There are still religious groups living outside of it that don't
accept the idea of democracy. For them, the way people join together to find
the good and bad they want is an attack on religion. We can understand this
difference if we ask a religious expert in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or a similar
place how religion fits in with the idea of democracy, where the people make
their own laws and systems of government and only follow them. There is only
one answer left, which is "heresy."
If you ask
the same question to a Muslim group or professor who works in a democracy, they
will politely say that religion is the source of democracy and that you can be
a democrat and a religious person at the same time. They can give two different
answers on the same subject, even though they both come from the same religious
background. This is because modernity has made religious people more
open-minded.
Some people
say that secularism in the West and secularism in India are not the same thing,
but their basic ideas and ideals are. Secularism is the idea that faith
shouldn't play a big role in people's personal or public lives. Secularism is
based on the idea that no faith or set of beliefs is better than any other.
Because of this, neither the country nor the government should speak for
anything. We believe and have this view. People who believe their faith is
better and unique than all others cannot truly believe and follow this belief
and doctrine, which supports the country's secular stance.
Most
religions' core views, including Islam's, are at odds with nonreligious ideas.
When people follow fundamentalist views, they think that their religion and
beliefs are better than all others. Most Muslims in India, on the other hand,
are secularists but still believe in Islam. In light of modern times and
circumstances, this change shows how well liberal ideas have worked at giving
old and closed religion texts new meanings. These meanings might not make sense
to Islamic fundamentalist groups that are not part of secular cultures. All of
them look at different methods, like adding more evidence to religious ideas or
being against religion.
Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad was a strong supporter of democracy and freedom of religion. He
took a liberal view of religion while staying in the Christian mainstream. When
he read the Qur'an, he didn't agree with the basic readings that people like
Maulana Maududi had made, which were against democracy and religious tolerance.
Many
examples can be found in India. Muslims in India are linked to nationalism,
freedom, and secularism because they follow liberal religious views. And not by
using strong opinions. At this point in time, most of these explanations don't
make sense. People don't follow old religious teachings or readings of the
scriptures. If anything, the religious currents are what is going on to go
along with modern knowledge and awareness. All the new ideas that people have
come up with are slowly being taken up by religious currents. Reforms in
religion have always been built on liberal ideas that are in line with modern
values, progressivism, reason, and scientific awareness. It will keep doing
that.
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A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Mubashir
V.P is a PhD scholar in Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia and freelance
journalist.
URL: https://newageislam.com/debating-islam/fundamentalist-liberal-indian-context/d/132070