Shia-Sunni issue: Kashmir's Muttahida Majlis Ulema - MMU's Call for Unity and its Aftermath
By Mushtaq Ul Haq
Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
13 August
2024
The Personality of
Mu'awiya Is Divisive and Contested. For Majority of Sunnis, He Is a Sahabi
(Companion of Prophet) And Kaatib e Wahi (One Who Wrote Quran On the
Parchment), But for Shias, He Is the One Who Internally Destroyed the Real
Teachings of Islam While Hijacking Its Political System, That Ultimately Led to
The Massacre of Family of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) In Karbala
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Kashmir
always prided itself to be harmonious abode where communalism was never an
issue. Communal harmony prevailed even during the partition era that resulted
in the creation of Pakistan. This prevalence of Peace and Harmony in Kashmir
valley prompted Mahatma Gandhi, to declare that, “He saw a ray of hope in
Kashmir.” This harmony prevailed for few decades after the partition, but then
due to variegated reasons and advent of armed insurgency, the communal harmony
was shattered as the Hindu minority known as Pandits had to leave the Valley.
Earlier in history too there were some incidents related to communal strife as
well as Shia-Sunni clashes, but they were contained without large scale
violence and deaths.
Muharram
2024 in Kashmir Valley witnessed huge controversies among Shias and Sunnis,
while raking up the age-old issue of reasons for retrograde of Caliphate into
monarchy. The responsibility of this retrograde has to be fixed on a certain
personality. It is with the naming of the personality that the whole contention
starts. The personality of Mawiya is divisive and contested. For majority of
Sunnis, he is a Sahabi (companion of Prophet) and Kaatib e Wahi (one who wrote
Quran on the parchment), but for Shias, he is the one who internally destroyed
the real teachings of Islam while hijacking its political system, that
ultimately led to the massacre of family of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Karbala.
They openly declare him as a rebel, who led the anarchy which resulted in the
internecine war among Muslims which resulted in the killing of thousands of
Muslims. Shias are correct to uphold, so do many Sunnis that he was a rebel
against the legitimate Caliphate of Imam Ali (A.S). So, when the rebels against
the first three Caliphs were declared as apostates, how can he and his ilk be
upheld as Sahabis? Whatever be the case, Mu'awiya and Banu Ummayah have been
divisive forces in Islamic history.
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MMU passed
a resolution that aimed at bringing down the sectarian strife among Shias and
Sunnis. Once the resolution was passed there was a backlash from other
quislings against the stalwarts of their sects, who were part of the
resolution. However, it is an irony that the Sunni sectarian mullahs be it Abdul
Rashid Dawoodi of Barelwis, Muzaffar Qasmi of Deobandis, Mushtaq Veeri and
Majeed Dar of Jamiat e Ahli Hadees, none among them participated in the MMU
meeting. Instead, Ghulam Rasool Hami represented Barelwis, Rahmatullah Qasmi
Deobandis, and Abdul Latief Al Kindi, Jamiat e Ahli Hadith. They declared their
consensus to the unity resolution, but they could not silence the quislings who
were other than those who ranted against Shias. Maybe those who ranted were
reprimanded so they became silent, but then without any tussle and conflict how
can sectarian mullahs exist? Hence, they had to use the proxies and other
quislings to raise questions against this superficial unity. I have been
decrying time and again, that mere tokenism through statements is not going to
end sectarianism. We need to take practical steps to forge meaningful unity.
Quislings
like Bashir Salafi of Ahle Hadith group and Noaman Nowsheri of Deoband, both
spoke against the leading Ulema of their sects who participated in the MMU
meeting and gave consent to the resolution. Both of them alleged that it is the
Shias who provoke them with Bashir Salafi stating that Shias ridicule Hazrat
Aisha (RA) and Noaman observing that they criticize Mu'awiya. Hence, there can
be no unity with Shias. They demanded that the Ulema need to explain themselves
about the resolution and unity with Shias, because these are contentious and
divisive issues that need to be tackled first, only then the unity can be
forged.
However,
the fact of the matter is that the books of Hadith among both Sunnis and Shias
are different. They narrate each event differently that certainly gives rise to
variegated versions of history. These versions then are utilized and exploited
to fuel sectarianism. It happens both with Shias and Sunnis because they have
their own understanding and interpretation of events as well as personalities.
This has given rise to multitude of issues that are not getting resolved over
these centuries. These divisive interpretations of personalities and events has
led to violence, because each sect impresses its own interpretation as sacred.
This aura of sacred has further led to entanglement of interpretation, thereby
rendering any reconciliation as impossible.
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Shia-Sunni Discord During Muharram in Kashmir Valley
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In the
Kashmir case scenario, attempts were made to breach the divide and end any
potential violence, but then again, the divisive and ‘sacred’ interpretations
gave power to the quislings to sabotage the efforts of reconciliation. Witnessing
such tussle among the mullahs, many youths have become disillusioned with
Islam. What indeed is the way out of this morass? It is to grant the sacred
place to Quran only, as the contemporary progressive scholar Rashid Shaz calls
for, while criticizing both Shia and Sunni interpretation of Islam as concocted
and distorted, from the pristine reality of Quran and Islam. Unless, a
pluralistic interpretation of Islam is not propagated among the masses, that is
grounded in Quran, no triumph over sectarianism can be declared.
Sectarian
harmony was prevalent in Kashmir, but few mullahs for the hunger of fame and
stomach are fanning the sectarian flames, that certainly have the potential to
engulf whole Kashmir in its flames. These issues cannot be brushed aside, but
progressive scholars should have the cudgels to debate these issues with all
its pros and cons instead of escaping from them. The quislings and their rants
will die down if an alternative interpretation about the divisive issues is
made. These issues need to be debated and discussed for generating more light
than heat. When good number of intellectuals and progressive scholars will
discuss them only then the masses can become enlightened about them. There is
also a need to inculcate rationality and literacy among Muslim masses, about
these divisive issues and personalities because only then serious discussions
can be held without turning emotional about them. Emotions and how they are
regulated are not being taught to Muslims, instead mullahs do fan them to rake
up violence. The masses are mad enough to be overtaken by frenzy of emotions
and violence, because they have not been educated about Islam meaning Peace.
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M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in
Srinagar, Kashmir
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism