Remembering an ‘Islamophobe’: Sir V S Naipaul
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
16 August
2022
Muslims Need To Change Themselves To Fit Into
The Universality Of Humaneness
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It's rather
an uncanny coincidence that in these times when Islam is again in limelight for
all the wrong reasons, V S Naipaul's 90th birthday falls on August 17 and his
fourth death anniversary was commemorated on August 11.
The Nobel
laureate Naipaul was an avowed Islam-basher, though his second spouse Nadira
was a Muslim from Bahawalpur, Pakistan. His two books ' Among the believers:
An Islamic Journey ' and ' Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the
Converted Peoples, ' somewhat prove that he had a sort of condescending
attitude, if not outright hatred or disguised dislike, towards Muslims,
especially, the converted ones. Naipaul reminds us that "everyone not an
Arab who is Muslim is a convert." Converted Muslims "develop
fantasies about who and what they are; and in the Islam of converted countries
there is an element of neurosis and nihilism.”
Naipaul
vivisected the ultra-religiosity and religious fanaticism among the converts,
who he believed to be suffering from Limbo Syndrome (Na Idhar Ke, Na Udhar
Ke; Adhar Mein in Hindi) and Acute Identity Crisis. He believed that this
Crisis of Unbelonging made the converted Muslims so rabid and retaliatory when
it comes to defending their 'new' faith (read Islam).
Though what
all he observed about Islam and Muslims is not correct and there's a fallacy of
generalisation in many of his opinionated observations, there's no denying the
fact that the neo-converts (to Islam) have extreme stubbornness and neurotic
religiosity.
I've also
observed the same, having travelled across the globe and interacted with
Muslims of all hues. I've found the 'original' Arab Muslims, though not all, to
be pretty cool about their religion. I could easily discuss the bogus and
interpolated verses in the Quran with them and they accepted without beating or
beheading me.
Many
scholarly Arabs having studied at the premier western universities, have begun
to question the fundamental tenets of Islam and even the somewhat shady private
life of Muhammad. But it's unthinkable among the Muslims of the sub-continent
and those who embraced Islam many centuries after its inception in Arab
Peninsula more than 1400 years ago.
All these
obstinate Muslims need to change themselves to fit into the universality of
humaneness.
V S Naipaul
once told a learned Indian Muslim writer that he had no problem with Allah or
Quran. He just had a problem with the rigidity of Islamic belief system that
didn't care for the universal democratic and human values and peaceful
co-existence. Had he been alive today and seeing what befell his fellow writer,
he would have been more assertive in reiterating the same.
It's,
therefore, time for all Muslims to look within and realize as to why the world
suffers from Islamophobia. I'm using this irritating term just to 'please', nay
pique, Muslims who're too fond of using it for those who question Islam and its
ways. Please don't sever their heads or amputate their limbs.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages
including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/muslims-islamophobia/islamophobe-sir-naipaul/d/127722
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