Destruction Of Temples Is Forbidden In Islam: Sheikh Hasina Must Focus On Punishing The Islamist Criminals And Protecting Hindu Minorities. Indian Muslims Are Not Her Concern.
Muslims
Must Raise Our Voices Against Bangladeshi Criminals And Stop Them From
Justifying Their Actions By Citing Violent Occurrences Against Muslims In India
Main
Points
1. Sheikh
Hasian said that the offenders would be severely punished and that the
country's Hindu community would be protected.
2. She also
asked India to take strong measures against criminals.
3. Persecution
of Hindus in Bangladesh cannot be justified by comparisons to Muslim
persecution in India.
4. Islam
forbids the destruction of sites of worship, churches or temples.
......
New
Age Islam Staff Writer
23 October
2021
According
to a BBC Urdu report, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said two days after the
attack on a Hindu community temple during Durga Puja in Bangladesh that the
offenders would be severely punished and that the country's Hindu community
would be protected. The government of Sheikh Hasina is constantly talking about
the safety of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, but the way the Prime Minister
tied Hindu security to the Indian leadership on Wednesday was unprecedented.
Sheikh Hasina has also asked India to take strong measures against criminals.
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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
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Sheikh
Hasina should rethink her words, in my opinion. She must focus on punishing the
criminals while ignoring the concerns of Indian Muslims. Persecution of Hindus
in Bangladesh cannot be justified by comparisons to Muslim persecution in
India. Only the guilty will be punished, according to Islam, and it is not
allowed to oppress anyone unjustly. Bangladesh is a country where Hindus are a
minority and have some sites of worship that the Bangladeshi government is
responsible for protecting. In this essay, we will express Islam's perspective
on the preservation of non-Muslim sites of worship in the hopes that the
extremists who attacked the temples will remember Islam's forgotten message and
refrain from further nefarious acts.
Islam
forbids the destruction of sites of worship. It guarantees the security of
non-Muslims’ churches, temples, and other places of worship both within and
beyond Islamic territory. Through his directives, contracts, agreements, and
accords, the beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) conferred a constitutional
status to this protection. The Prophet's provision of religious rights and
freedoms to the people of Najran is remarkable and compelling evidence in this
regard.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to
have said,
“Indeed,
Najran and her allies are under the protection of God and the Messenger of God
is ensuring them. They must be safeguarded in terms of their riches, lives,
lands, and religion. This covers their priests and monks, as well as those who
are present and those who are absent, as well as their delegations and the
likes. They will not be forced to change their (religion), nor will any of
their rights be relinquished. There will be no fear or danger among them, and
no monk, priest, or attendant will lose what he has, whether it is bountiful or
poor.” (This Hadith was cited by Imam Abu Yusuf Hanafi in al-Kharaj, 78)
Non-Muslims
had the same rights as Muslims during Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq’s caliphate.
Hazrat Abu Bakr would tell the leader of any army before they embarked on a
military campaign, “Do not sow corruption in the earth and do not disobey
commands...Date palm trees should not be drowned or burned. No animal should be
killed. A fruit-bearing tree should not be cut down. A church should not be
demolished. Do not harm children, the elderly, or women. You'll soon come
across persons who have sequestered themselves in cloisters; leave them to
participate in whatever it is for which they have sequestered themselves.” (Narrated
by Imam Bayhaqi in Sunan Al-Kubra, Imam Malik in Muwatta etc)
Hazrat Abu
Bakr told Yazid b. Abi Sufyan when he was sent to Syria, “Do not ruin any house
of worship and don't kill an elderly, frail man, an infant, a youngster, or a
lady” (From Sunan Kubra, narrated by Imam Bayhaqi)
Hazrat Umar
bin Abd al-Aziz used to advise his officials, according to a hadith recorded by
Imam Shaybani, by saying,
“Do not
demolish any church, cloister or Zoroastrian temple” (Kitab al-Hujja ala Ahl
al-Madina and Imam Shafi’I in Kitab al-Umm 7:320)
Classical
jurists and Mufasserin cite Quranic verse 22:40 to support the concept that
Muslims are prohibited from destroying the sites of worship of non-Muslims with
whom they have signed treaties both within and outside Islamic territory.
Allah
Almighty says in the verse,
“[They are] those who have been evicted from
their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is
Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of
others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and
mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely
support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.” (22:40)
“The houses
of worship for non-Muslim citizens must be defended by the believers,” Hazrat
Hasan Al-Basri says in the commentary to this Ayat. (Ahkam Al-Quran by Imam
Al-Jassas 5/83)
Ibn Khuwaiz
said: “This Quranic verse contains the prohibition of demolishing the churches
of non-Muslim citizens, their temples, and their places of worship,” Imam
Qurtubi wrote in his Tafsir-e-Qurtubi under verse 22:40.
Imam Tabari
records the following covenant of Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph
of Islam, which guaranteed the safety of Christians in Jerusalem, their lives,
their property, and their places of worship:
“In the
name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, This is what is granted of
security by the servant of Allah, Umar, the commander of the faithful, to the
people of Jerusalem. He grants them safety for their lives, their property,
their churches, and their crucifixes, for their ill, their healthy, and their
entire community. Their churches will not be occupied, demolished, or reduced
in number. Their churches and crucifixes will not be desecrated and neither
anything else of their property. They will not be coerced to abandon their
religion and none of them will be harmed” (Tareekh At-Tabari 2/449)
According
to a popularly cited incident, an Umayyad ruler named Walid b. Abd al-Malik
took a plot of land belonging to the Church of Damascus and turned it into a
mosque. When Hazrat Umar b. Abd al-Aziz learned of this, he ordered that part
of the mosque be demolished and the land returned to the Christians. The
following is an excerpt from one of the relevant reports:
Translation:
“When Hazrat Umar b. Abd al-Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him) became the
Caliph, the Christians complained to him about Walid’s seizure of the property
of a church. Hazrat Umar dictated orders to his governor there, commanding him
to return to the Christians the portion that was added to the mosque” (See
Futhul Buldan p.150)
The
aforementioned pieces of evidence are noteworthy and reinforce the idea that
Islam forbids the destruction of non-Muslim sites of worship both within and
outside Islamic territory, and during peace and conflict.
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Also Read: Targeting Hindus in
Bangladesh Must Stop
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The
extremist Muslim individuals that attacked the temple of Bangladesh should take
this essay's message and reflect on their mistakes. They have done a grave
wrong, and the Bangladeshi government must punish them according to the law.
The Prime
Minister of Bangladesh should rethink her words and teach her offenders the
following Quranic verse:
“...And
do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid
al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but
do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe
in penalty” (5:2).
For Indian
Muslims, Indian law still applies, and we have a majority of Muslims and
non-Muslims who stand together to speak out against injustice. As a result, we
Muslims must raise our voices against Bangladeshi criminals and stop them from
justifying their actions by citing occurrences against Muslims in India.
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