Mahatma Gandhi – the Warrior of Non-Violence Appreciated Inclusiveness and Simplicity of Lifestyle Embedded In Islam and Prophet's Conduct
By
Arman Neyazi, New Age Islam
2 October
2021
Father
of Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Was Embedded In the Universal Teachings
of Peace, Love, Compassion and Inclusiveness All That Are the Traits of Islamic
Ideology
Main
Points:
1. Tributes to
Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 152nd birth anniversary.
2. Humankind
has found peace and tranquillity in the verses of the Holy Quran and Prophetic
traditions.
3. Gandhi Ji’s
ideology of peace and inclusiveness was in accordance with the Islamic ideology
of a compassionate and merciful pluralistic society.
------
इश्वर अल्लाह तेरे
नाम
सब को सन्मति दे
भगवान
सारा जग तेरी संतान
Ishwar Allah, they are Your names
Bestow wisdom on all, Lord!
The entire universe is Your child
(Favourite Bhajan of Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi)
Gandhi in London as a law student
----
There are
innumerable men of letters, religious and social scholars, scientists and
philosophers that have on one time or the other been under the influence of
Islamic traits of positivities and immortal knowledge of science and astronomy,
environment and weather that runs the world. All have accepted the wisdom of
Islam and preached it.
They have
found peace and tranquillity in the verses of the Holy Quran and Prophetic
traditions. Men of letter always had some positive and passionate statement to
make about Islam. So did Bapu, the father of our nation, India. Mahatma Gandhi found solace in the Islamic
essence and ethics of Prophet Muhammad Pbuh. While speaking at a function
organised by Anjuman-e-Fidaye Islam on June 23, 1934, he said:
“The
Prophet was a Fakir. He renounced everything. He could have commanded wealth if
he had so desired" (Source: The Times of India)
Mahatma
Gandhi led many a struggle and protest the land of South Africa and India. He
never left the philosophy of non-violence even during the time of atrocities he
was sentenced to.
The Father
of India, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was embedded in the universal teachings of
peace, love, compassion and inclusiveness all that are the traits of Islamic
ideology. He was impressed with the lifestyle of Prophet Muhammad Pbuh and
perhaps because of this he too lived a very simple life. He could have afforded
a luxurious life as others of his time did but he accorded himself a life of
penury. It was his simplicity that he had no wealth of any kind in his house.
Bapu was a symbol of compassion when he gave his only Chaadar to a woman
who needed it. He saw a half-dressed woman on the bank of river Koelwar, in
Arrah, Bihar and without uttering a word donated his Chaadar, his only dress,
other than his Dhoti, loincloth. After this incident, he never wrapped his
upper limb in any kind of piece of cloth. He remained a Dhoti draped warrior of
peace, irrespective of shivering cold or simmering heat. Churchill called him,
' half-naked Fakir’ but had to bow in front of his ideology of non-violence. It
was this half-naked Fakir that brought the most powerful nation of the world on
its knees. Under the rule of the United Kingdom, the sun never set, it is said.
Gandhi leaves a meeting in London in 1931. (Douglas Miller / Getty)
------
Because
Bapu was a true follower of love compassion and inclusiveness, he found the
Islamic essence and divine attributes of Prophet Muhammad Pbuh to his liking.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi said:
Do people
become enemies because they change their religion? Is the God of the Mohammadan
different from the God of the Hindu? Religions are different roads converging
to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads so long as
we reach the same goal? Wherein is the cause for quarrelling? (Hind Swaraj,
1938, p. 46)
Those who
do not wish to misunderstand things may read up the Koran, and they will find
therein hundreds of passages acceptable to the Hindus, and the Bhagavad-Gita
contains passages to which not a Mohammadan can take exception. (Hind Swaraj,
1938, p. 48)
Gandhi Ji’s
ideology of peace and Inclusiveness was in accordance with the Islamic ideology
of a compassionate and merciful pluralistic society.
Islamic virtues
of peace and kindness are not specific for the believers of Allah and His
apostles but the entire humankind.
Allah the
Exalted says in the Holy Quran, ‘And we have not sent you (O Muhammad),
except as a mercy the worlds. (Al-Ambiya: 107)'. ‘The worlds' means the universe and
everything that are there in it. Mahatma
Gandhi’s philosophy of Ahimsa and Satyagrah (non-violence and peaceful
struggle) carries all the positivities of Abrahamic religions. Therefore, it
can be said that Bapu was a man of peaceful stature and non-violent nature from
the very beginning. Consider what Bapu said about Islam and its divine
attributes:
The very
word Islam means peace, which is nonviolence. - Mahatma Gandhi
Surely
Islam has nothing to fear from criticism even if it is unreasonable. - Mahatma
Gandhi
The Allah
of Islam is the same as the God of Christians and the Ishwar of Hindus. - Mahatma
Gandhi
If Hinduism
teaches hatred of Islam or of non-Hindus, it is doomed to destruction. - Mahatma
Gandhi
Islam
stands for the unity and brotherhood of mankind, and not for disrupting the
oneness of the human family. - Mahatma Gandhi
I do regard
Islam to be a religion of peace in the same sense as Christianity, Buddhism and
Hinduism are. - Mahatma Gandhi
(Courtesy AZ Quotes)
“Yes I am,
I am also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and a Jew.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Quranic
Verses Denouncing Violence and Advocating Peace
If the enemy is inclined towards peace, make
peace with them. (Al-Anfal: 61)- — Dr Mustafa Khattab
...and do not let the hatred of a people
prevent you from being just. Be just... (Al-Ma’idah: 8) - Saheeh International
By which Allah guides those who pursue His
pleasure to the ways of peace (Al-Ma’idah: 16) - Sahih International
But God invites [everyone] to the Home of
Peace, (Yunus -25) — Abdul Haleem
The good deed and the evil deed are not alike.
Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and
thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend. (Al-Fussilat: 34) — Pickthall
Prophetic
Traditions on Non-Violence
God grants
to Rifq (gentleness) what He does not grant to Anf (violence). - (Abu Dawud,
4/255)
"The
protection granted by Muslims is one and must be respected by the humblest of
them. And he who broke the covenant made by a Muslim, there is a curse of
Allah, of His angels, and the whole people upon him, and neither an obligatory
act nor a supererogatory act would be accepted from him as recompense on the
Day of Resurrection." Sahih Muslim, Book 7, Hadith 3167
"Whoever
killed a Mu'ahid (a person who is granted the pledge of protection by the
Muslims) shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise though its fragrance can be
smelt at a distance of forty years (of travelling).” Sahih Bukhari Vol. 9, Book
83, Hadith 49
Mahatma Gandhi
had a thorough study of both the Holy Quran and the life history of Prophet
Muhammad (SAW). Consider his thought on the Prophet of Islam given below:
From my reading, I received the impression that
the Prophet Muhammad was a seeker of truth. He was God-fearing. In this I know
I am not telling you anything new. I am only describing to you how I was
impressed by his life. (At a function organised by Anjuman-e-Fidaye Islam on
June 23, 1934) Source: Times of India.
These and not the sword carried everything
before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the second volume (of
the Prophet’s biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of that
great life. Young India, 1921
Being a
follower of Bapu’s ideology of peace and tranquillity we, Indians owe it to us
to develop a nation that is known as a nation of peace and compassion in the
entire world. Human beings have always achieved the unachievable, therefore,
setting this goal and achieving it will not be a herculean task for the citizens
of a nation that boasts of Ram, Krishna, Sikh Gurus, Jain Tirthankars, Sufis
Saints, Rishis and Munis. We, Indians are proud citizens of a country that
accepted all the religions and faith that made it its abode. Transforming India
into a nation of peace and non-violence will be a simple tribute to the ‘Father
of the Nation' the great soul, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on his birth
anniversary.
“I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its
spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of brotherhood and
devotion.” ― Yann Martel, Life of Pi
And
Allah Knows the Best.
---
Arman
Neyazi is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.