The Poverty of Islamic Scholarship in India: Sectarian Differences Can Only Be Bridged With Revolutionary Reform in Islamic Theology
By
Mohammad Ali, New Age Islam
September
15, 2021
Ulama And Other Muslim Leaders Have Made Numerous Efforts
Of Unity Ignoring The Fact That The Sectarian Differences Among The Muslims In India
Are Based On Theological, Not Political Differences
Main
Points:
1. This essay
criticizes the ‘Ulema’s approach to deal with the sectarian and political
problems of Indian Muslims.
2. It
highlights that the sectarian differences of Muslims are theological, not
political.
3. And that ‘ulema
should creatively engage with their tradition to deal with the theological
problems, and interpret their tradition to make it adjustable to the current
realities.
-----
Last month,
on August 8, 2021, a section of elite leadership of Indian Muslims organized a
closed-door meeting of ‘ulema and Muslim intellectuals in Hotel River View,
Okhla, Delhi, to discuss a roadmap for uniting the different factions of Indian
Muslims against the political uncertainties that they are facing in India. Since
the meeting was exclusive, uninvited persons were not welcomed there. As
anticipated, it raised concerns among certain people on the social media
platforms. This meeting was followed by another meeting the very next day.
Unlike the first meeting, it did not seem planned. It was convened and presided
by Sajjad Nomani, a well-known ‘Alim and preacher, who was also among
the organizers of the previous meeting.
By a happy
coincidence, I was visiting a friend where the meeting was convened, so I got
an opportunity to sneak into the meeting hall to have a look at whatever was
going on. I asked around and learned that the meeting was planned that very
morning and that people were invited by phone call. The friends I was visiting
were also invited to the meeting. However, they told me that they did not have
any idea what this meeting was about. Ubaidullah Khan Azmi, a renowned Barelvi
scholar, and politician, who was sitting beside Nomani, commenced the meeting
with a passionate speech highlighting the significance of being united against
the current political challenges. At the end of his speech, he told the
audience that the purpose of this gathering was to seek advice and
recommendations from the people in attendance for resolving the sectarian and
political problems of Indian Muslims. Soon, people started giving their best
suggestions one by one, occasionally interrupted by comments from Nomani and
Azmi.
The purpose
of narrating this event is to share my disappointment with the readers. Any
sensible person would realize that it was a total waste of resources. As I said
earlier, the meeting seemed unplanned, and even though the issues, i.e.,
sectarian, and political problems of Muslims, were important and required
serious conversation, the convenors, Nomani, and Azmi, did not give it enough
thought to do it justice. Azmi asked the participants to offer their advice
regarding the sectarian and political problems within five minutes, which is
absurd. Because there is a difference between a well-articulated and researched
response and a quick and unprepared response, the fact that Nomani ignored. The
participants were undoubtedly not prepared to respond to such questions
properly. Therefore, the suggestions that came from the people sitting around
the long table were superficial, generalized, and monotonous, and unable to
generate a serious conversation. And above all, there was no recording of their
oral statements and suggestions.
The
recording of the conversation was not only necessary for transparency, but also
for including other people in the discussion. Furthermore, their approach to
deal with sectarian and political issues was misconceived. In the last few
years, ‘ulema have been calling for a unity of the different sects of Muslims
in India. This call, no doubt, is made due to the pressure of the current
political climate. ‘Ulama and other Muslim leaders have made numerous efforts
in this regard while ignoring the fact that the sectarian differences among the
Muslims in India are based on theological, not political differences.
And such theological differences can be
ameliorated or, at least, reduced only by establishing a theological dialogue.
For example, in universities like Jamia Millia Islamia or Aligarh Muslim
University, a Barelvi and a Deobandi can become close friends, yet when the
time of prayer comes the Barelvi cannot pray behind his Deobandi friend. This
is because Barelvi theology does not consider a Deobandi a Muslim, so dealing
with a Deobandi for a Barelvi is like dealing with any other non-Muslim.
Similarly,
a Deobandi regards a Barelvi as a Bid’ati that is, an innovator in
religion, and therefore, misguided in his/her religion. This is also the case
among other sects of Muslims in India. So, even if they get united out of their
fear of the current political scenario, this unity cannot survive much longer.
Since Muslims from different sectarian affiliations have not dealt with a more
fundamental issue: their inability to consider each other Muslims, it is hard
to believe that they will be coming together against the Majoritarian
politics. The real task for ‘ulema is to
counter such divisive theology, which they have been ignoring for almost a
century. If ‘ulema succeed in countering the theology that has been keeping the
Indian Muslims apart, they could achieve the goal of unifying the Indian
Muslims in a real sense.
The second issue that these ‘ulema were
gathered to discuss was the political issues of Indian Muslims. There is no
doubt that ‘ulema still exert a great influence on the Indian Muslims. However,
this does not mean that their influence is ubiquitous in every sphere of life.
In matters related to politics, people generally tend to follow politicians. A
politician and an ‘Alim, both are leaders in their society. However, the tasks
that they are supposed to do are different. And this is because of their
expertise and profession. ‘Ulamā, such as Nomani, or those who are associated
with a Khanqah, masjid, and madrasa, are not qualified to lead Muslims in
political matters. Because neither are they expert in politics nor this is the
domain of their scholarship. They can assist honest Muslim/non-Muslim
politicians by amplifying their voices or they can demand redressal from the
government of the problems of the Indian people. I am not saying that ‘ulema
should not pay attention to the current political matters. Indeed, they should,
so that as the leaders of Muslim society politicians can become aware of their
problems and try to find a way to resolve them. In the meeting I am talking
about, ‘ulema were assuming the leadership, while the right way for ‘ulema to
discuss or deal with political issues of Muslims is to walk under the
leadership of the qualified people.
‘Ulema’s indifference to the responsibilities
that they bear towards society is an indication of the crisis of their
scholarship, the very thing that furnishes them with such a prestigious
position. ‘Ulema’s responsibility is to interpret Islam to the masses.
Interpretation/reinterpretation of any text is required when there occurs any
type of difficulty in accessing the text.
This
difficulty arises due to the changes that takes place in time, environment, and
perception. Until the task of interpretation is not carried out properly, the
followers of the text are stuck in a state of uncertainty. Neither are they
able to adapt to the present nor can they understand their relationship with
their past. ‘Ulama had effectively been performing their job of interpreting
religious texts according to the changing circumstances for centuries. Even in
early twentieth-century India, we find scholars like Abul Kalam Azad, Hussain
Ahmed Madani, and Ubaidullah Sindhi, who creatively engaged the Islamic
tradition within the contemporary political realities and modernism. However,
that tradition has been broken after the partition. And today, ‘ulema need to
revive that tradition of robust and timely scholarship.
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