What is Stopping Indian Muslims from Condemning the Taliban?
By
Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
21 August
2021
There
Are Two Discernible Responses Of Indian Muslims To The Return Of The Taliban In
Afghanistan., The First Is One Of Exultation And The Other Has Been that of
Caution In Welcoming The Taliban
Main
Points:
• Muslims
have either welcomed the Taliban or have demanded that rights of women and
minorities be protected.
• Despite
its history, there is no outright condemnation of the Taliban by Indian
Muslims. As one of the largest minorities living in a democracy, this was
expected of them.
• The
only plausible reason of this reluctance is that they share some of the core
beliefs which the Taliban have about Islam.
-----
There are
two discernible responses of Indian Muslims to the return of the Taliban in
Afghanistan. The first is one of exultation. Muslims here seem to be
celebrating the ‘defeat’ of the United States and earlier the Soviet Union,
little realizing that in this case it was the US which decided to vacate the
space because of its own strategic calculation. This group is largely comprised
of overt Islamists but also traditionalists who see the Taliban as legitimate
rulers of Afghans. They have compared the march of the Taliban to Islam’s
victory over Mecca. Scholars like Sajjad Nomani, associated with the AIMPLB,
have recalled how despite being wanting in arms and money, the Taliban
eventually emerged victorious. This can only mean that it was God that was
helping the Taliban and that their return is simply because God had ordained it
so. Islam and Taliban therefore become categories which can be used
inter-changeably.
The other
group of Muslims have been cautious in outrightly welcoming the Taliban,
concerned as they are about the future of women and other minorities in that
country. Going by the past record of the Taliban, these Muslims hope that this
time around, education of women and children would not be disrupted. These
pious expectations come with the proclamation that Islam promotes gender
equality and asks its followers to pursue education. They argue that any
deviation from these would also mean that the Taliban and not following the
path laid down by Islam.
In an
earlier article, I wrote that the Taliban cannot be expected to compromise with
its core philosophy and that gender inequality in Islam seems to be one of
them. The Taliban have been making all the right noises about Muslim women but
it is too early to say if they have really transformed or whether these
statements are just for the camera.
Going by
its past record, the return of the Taliban should have been condemned by
Muslims. Rather what we see is that they are been given a long rope. Not just
the traditionalists and the Islamists, but also the so-called mainstream
moderate Muslims seem to be having no inkling as to how it is going to affect
them. Already, Uttar Pradesh has announced the setting up of ATS
(Anti-Terrorism Squad) training centre in Deoband, thus linking the city and
the madrasa with the rise of Taliban. Since elections are near, the
government’s effort at polarizing communities has already started and they are
using the Taliban episode to drill insecurity in the minds of Hindus. Under
these circumstances, it would have been prudent on the part of Muslims to issue
a statement outrightly condemning the return of the Taliban. They could have
stated unambiguously that the rights of minorities, women and children must be
protected by the Taliban. As perhaps the only Muslim minority living in a
democracy, this was the least which was expected of them. But nothing of the
kind has happened which has given the impression that by and large Indian
Muslims are happy with the return of the Taliban.
Or is it
that their silence is due to the fact that they share with the Taliban some of
their assumptions about Islam? Let us consider for example Muslim view on
education. In the Indian context, from the Deobandis to the Barelwis and the
Ahle Hadis, all agree that true education (ilm) is to be found in the Quran and
Hadith alone. The founders of Deoband rejected all that modern education had to
offer, accusing it of promoting irreligiosity. The only merit in studying
modern sciences, they argued, was when it was done with the express intention
of refuting it. Modern education for them for them was just a tool, a skill
through which one could earn their daily bread and nothing more. This
instrumental use of education is the prime reason why Muslims have not been
able to develop a scientific approach till this day. Even a movement like the
Jamat e Islami combines modern and religious education and conveniently skips
those portions which might be in contradiction with each other. The Taliban are
largely the product of Deobandi madrasas and have imbibed similar teachings.
How is it any different from what most Muslims believe in?
Then
consider their views on gender. It is not as if what the Taliban are saying is
anathema to most Muslims. The Deoband controlled personal law board is infamous
for their regressive views on women. It supported instant triple talaq and
other misogynistic practices and has blocked any reform within the religious
laws as demanded by Muslim women from time to time. It justifies all this in
the name of following the sharia. The problem is not just confined to the
Deobandis alone. The sharia and its establishment is advocated by all Muslim
groups whether they are moderates or extremists. How else do we understand the
Indian Muslim desire to live under sharia, which came out in the recent PEW
survey?
Similar
views have been echoed by the Taliban wherein it expressly states that women
and men will be governed on the principles of the sharia. That the sharia is
inherently discriminatory towards women cannot be overemphasized. Women are
considered as inferior and according to the Quran they have been placed in the
guardianship of men.
It is
perhaps such ideological congruences between the Taliban and majority of
Muslims (be they traditionalists or Islamists) which is the reason why the
latter are reluctant to take any position. To question the Taliban is to
question some of the fundamental postulates of Islam which most Muslims are
clearly unwilling to do.
----
Arshad
Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/indian-muslims-taliban/d/125255
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