Islamophobia Should Be Fought Along With Muslim Intolerance
Recent Incidents
of Violence against Religious Minorities Reflect Growing Intolerance among Muslims
Main
Points:
1. UN
recognises Islamophobia but Muslims should also recognise religious intolerance
among them.
2. ISKCON
temple was vandalised in Bangladesh.
3. Shia mosque
was attacked in Pakistan.
4. A Christian
Church father was killed in Pakistan.
-----
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
22 March
2022
File Photo
-----
On the 15th
of March 2022, the United Nations declared 15 March as the International Day to
combat Islamophobia. Though, some western and Asian countries expressed some
reservations but they agreed that Islamophobia was a reality and that it should
be combated. Muslim media went agog over the news because the UN's adoption of
the day had in their view put a seal on their innocence. They were relieved at
the thought that now they would not be harassed or discriminated against on the
basis of their religion and they will not be stereotyped.
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Also
Read: Why UN’s Islamophobia Resolution Troubles Moderate
Muslims
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But ten
days before the UN resolution on the International Day to Combat Islamophobia,
a terrorist attack was carried out in a Shia mosque during the Friday prayer in
Peshawar in which 62 people were killed and about a hundred others were
injured. One month before, in February a Christian Church father was killed by
Islamists in Pakistan.
Three days
after the UN resolution on Islamophobia, on 18 March, an ISKCON temple in
Bangladesh, was attacked by more than 200 people led by one Haji Safiullah and
one Ishraf Sufi.
These three
incidents of attacks on Hindu, Shia and Christian minorities in Muslim majority
Pakistan and Bangladesh reflect growing religious intolerance among the
Muslims. Ironically, In Bangladesh, the persons leading the Fasadi
(rioting) mob were a 'Haji' and a 'Sufi'. They are not aware that the ISKCON
religious movement is based on the religious philosophy of religious tolerance
preached by Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who respected Islam and Christianity
and had practised Islam for three days and had even wanted to consume beef but
one of his disciples somehow managed to prevent him from doing so.
(File Photo)
-----
The
terrorist attack on the Shia mosque in Peshawar was not a small incident. It
was carried out in a mosque and claimed the lives of more than 60 innocent
Muslims. Still the government of Pakistan, showing its insensitivity, took it
as a usual incident. Some formal statements were made about zero tolerance of
such incidents and then the Muslim forgot it as usual. No word of condemnation
came from Al Azhar or any other prominent religious organisation or Mufti and
no talks of collective steps to prevent such heinous attacks by Muslim
scholars, Muslim organisations and Muslim governments were held.
It is not
that these three grave sins against the innocent minorities that were committed
in close succession were rare and exceptional. In Bangladesh and Pakistan,
attacks on religious and sectarian minorities are reported regularly and
thousands of such incidents have been reported during the last ten years. In
2013, there were large scale communal riots against the minorities in
Bangladesh; there was a large scale communal riots against the Ahmadiya sect
during the 50s in Pakistan. Hundreds of attacks on processions, school vans and
mosques of Shias and residential and business complexes in Shia majority
regions of Pakistan have been carried out by TTP and other militant Islamic
outfits enjoying impunity. Despite all this, no consensus has emerged among the
Muslim intelligentsia and religious leadership of Pakistan or of the Indian
sub-continent on the need to form a collective mechanism to fight this menace.
The
religious leadership of the Indian sub-continent occasionally makes formal
statements like 'Islam is a religion of peace’, or that 'Islam does not preach
violence' or that ' Islam does not support terrorism' but never specifically
names the outfits they consider terrorists. On the contrary, the Ulema
belonging to Islamic organisations overtly or covertly praise or support the
militant organisations. When these Ulema support, for example' Taliban, then
naturally their millions of students and fans and followers develop a soft
corner for them. Similarly, In Pakistan, when the government ministers and
religious leaders and muftis participate in meetings or rallies organised by
the TTP or Sipah-e-Sahaba which are militant organisations hostile to the
minorities, particularly Shias, millions of Muslims are influenced by their
sectarian and communal ideology. This results in violence against these
minorities.
It is a
fact, that every incident of violence and bloodshed against non-Muslims on the
basis of Islamic interpretations of Qur'an and Sunnah promotes Islamophobia.
When people known as Haji and Sufi take part in violence against non-Muslims,
it creates stereotypes against the beard, or scarf or even the Sufi dress.
Therefore,
if Muslims want to fight Islamophobia, they should first form a collective
mechanism to fight religious intolerance among them. The UN is a very effective
platform for such an initiative. Pakistan should take the initiative to fight
religious intolerance as it did to fight Islamophobia. It should introduce a
resolution to combat religious intolerance in Muslim countries and the Muslim
countries should envisage collective steps to remove ideology of hate and
violence emanating from their secondary religious literature produced by
extremist religious scholars. If it is not done, the fight against Islamophobia
will merely remain limited to a resolution made on paper.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/muslims-islamophobia/islamophobia-muslim-intolerance/d/126628
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