Indian Ulema and Theologians of All Islamic Schools Must Curb Anti-Blasphemy Acts by Removing Their Roots from The Textbooks
By
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
24 August
2023
Sunni
Islam's top theological institution Jamia Al-Azhar in Egypt has issued a
much-needed Fatwa condemning the recent ghastly attack on the Christ Church in
Pakistan, categorically stating: "We demand legal action against all
extremists in the world". It should be a common knowledge now that on
August 16, a large number of extremists and zealot Islamists in Pakistan
attacked several churches and set them on fire because two Christians had
reportedly insulted the Holy Quran.
On August
17, Jamia Al-Azhar strongly condemned the attacks on several churches in East
Pakistan and outrightly rejected the religious legitimacy for such acts in its
statement. It reads: The Holy Quran, which is attacked by some extremists under
the protection of some governments, is the same book that commands that the
places of worship of Muslims and non-Muslims alike should be protected. And
there should be no abuse or violence in these places of worship. It added: The
attackers did to the churches exactly what those who desecrated the Holy Quran
did, because both are henious crimes that violate the sanctity of religions,
holy books and human and moral standards. Condemning these criminal and
barbaric actions, Al-Azhar stressed the need to prosecute all extremists in
different territories across the world who attack other religions and their
adherents in their nefarious anti-blasphemy acts, be it an attack on Holy
Quran, churches or any other religious places.
Al Azhar
concluded: "This religious and educational body emphasize all legal
procedures to protect the sanctity of religion and it demands that legal action
be taken to ensure that this type of act never happens again, and that these
actions are based on prejudice, hatred and dissent".
Church
attacks are not new in Pakistan. Neither are the anti-blasphemy acts and
attacks an isolated phenomenon. A pervasive, prejudiced and clearly selective
application of blasphemy laws gives rise to these incidents in Pakistan.
Discrimination based on religion and belief is the fate of religious minorities
and heterodox sects in the self-styled Islamic nation. Human rights bodies and
activists both domestically and internationally have highlighted the fact that
Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws are discriminatory and brazenly violative of the
human rights guaranteed by international treaties. However, the radical Islamist
organizations and individuals who believe the blasphemy laws are part of their
faith, vehemently disregard all the international treaties.
Since the
creation of Pakistan, minorities have been repressed, discriminated and
religiously persecuted by the state in the name of several Shariah laws. But
the blasphemy law has undoubtedly been the worst of all. It has affected all
minority communities in Pakistan to a greater or lesser extent, Hindus,
Christians, Ahmadiya community and Shia Hazaras. Since the 1990s, the minority
Christians, who make up just 1.6% of the population, have been systematically
targeted in numerous anti-blasphemy attacks. As the second largest minority,
Christians and their sacred places are most affected by the brutal blasphemy
laws juxtaposed with the Sunni theological underpinnings. Thus, the
Pakistan-centric radicalisation in the name of blasphemy is a lived experience
in the daily life of the religious minorities. A sword of blasphemy law is
always hanging on their heads, not just in the courts but also on streets and
public places.
But what is
more worrying is that the Pakistan-centric anti-blasphemy radicalism is no more
confined within the walls of the so-called 'Islamic' nation. It has rather
snowballed, catapulting itself to the democratic polity of India, exploiting
the internal security threats, various social and current communal challenges
as well as the community grievances, to further the nefarious ends. From
Kashmir to Kanyakumari, radical organizations tried to indoctrinate youths into
an anti-blasphemy extremist ideology to spread communal disharmony in the
country. Remember the Nupur Sharma episode! It was a trying time which candidly
exposed the extent of insanity behind the extremist anti-blasphemy theology
that was on the rampage not in Pakistan, but in India with the likes of TLP’s
radical Sunni-Barelvi Islamists having complete temerity to kill Kanhaiya Lal
Teli, an Udaipur tailor, for supporting Nupur Sharma's blasphemous statement.
Mohammad
Riyaz Ansari and Ghous Mohammad, the two terrorists who beheaded Kanhaiya Lal
clearly asserted their theological underpinnings before the gruesome slaughter.
They told us in a pre-recorded video that they were going to avenge the
denigration of the Prophet by killing one of the thousands of supporters of
Nupur Sharma, the original blasphemer. Now don't try to argue that the two
anti-blasphemy murderers were a miniscule minority within a subgroup of Sunni-Barelvis.
Let’s not forget that Mumtaz Qadri, the terrorist and assassin of Governor
Salman Taseer, was also seen as an individual and not a representative of the
faction he belonged to. Even the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan
mistook him and his ilk as a “small segment”. But we all know the truth and the
sorry state of affairs that the minorities and their places of worship face
there at the hands of anti-blasphemy radicals. The death penalty sentenced to
Qadri caused more uproar in Pakistan than what we saw with horror in the wake
of Asia Bibi’s acquittal by the Apex Court. The consequent protests by the
Sunni Islamist hardliners across the country were much less now than the
turmoil which was created to “exonerate” Qadri as "Ghazi" (man of
religious valour) and "Shaheed e Millat" (the one who was 'martyred'
for the sake of community).
Do we think
this correlation is just incidental? Being episodic in our condemnation of the
anti-blasphemy acts and attacks won't serve the purpose. If we really want to
seek the solution, we need to take this intricate issue with more caution, curiosity
and carefulness. Let's try to understand one thing, in an honest way:
Anti-blasphemy extremists are headed for a death row not just for themselves
but also for the whole community. In India, they are hellbent to hurt the
peaceful image of the whole Muslim community, which is otherwise seen as sane
and non-violent. Thus, if we don't stem the tide of theological underpinnings
for anti-blasphemy violence and its roots, they will henceforth be considered
as extremist as their Pakistani counterparts. Then, I regret, the difference
between Indian and Pakistani Muslim community will be erased. All the praise
and appreciation that Indian Muslims have drawn worldwide for their patience
and stoicism with which they have faced daily provocations for years, and have
thus protected their life and limb, will vanish.
This is the
grim situation which requires from us to make it patently clear that any
theological support for the anti-blasphemy acts is dangerous for us and our
survival and reputation as the moderate Muslim community. Therefore, ulema of
all hues and the theologians of both classical and modern Islamic studies must
call for repealing not just the draconian blasphemy laws from the Islamic
countries but also removing the anti-blasphemy content from the madrasas and
the Islamic textbooks. Therefore, Indian Muslims should demand and support the
enactment of a law against the anti-blasphemy acts. In fact, an Act by the
Parliament should be passed to prevent this mindless violence in India and thus
save the Indian Muslims from becoming as notorious as their Pakistani
counterparts for terrorism and violence. Punishments to the anti-blasphemy
supporters with a view to minimising their public support and influence, will
augur well as measures for mitigation.
But the
most gigantic and urgent task is for the Indian ulema. In Pakistan, Islamic
theological bodies extend the applicability of blasphemy laws to non-Muslims
living in Muslim countries. Not to speak of radical Barelvi organisation
‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’ (TLP) or the Deobandi 'Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan'
(TTP), even the well-known Barelvi and Deobandi theologians, Muftis and Qazis
(Islamic jurists) and more scandalously, even the so-called Sufi-Sunni clerics
are openly or tacitly supportive. They aver that it is incumbent upon an
Islamic government to execute all blasphemers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
On the pretext of protecting the Prophet's dignity called
Tahaffuz-e-Namus-e-Risalat, the Islamic postulate of Prophetology has always been
misused by the hardcore Islamists in Pakistan. But in reality, the holy Prophet
(pbuh), whose sanctity the extremists claim to defend never sentenced to death
the Meccan pagans, who cursed, ridiculed and plotted to kill him. Even when the
pagans desecrated the Prophet’s sanctity accusing him of ‘forging’ the Qur’an,
he acted upon the divine instruction indicating that only Allah can decide the
punishment for even as grievous a sin as ‘fabricating’ and ‘concocting’ the
Qur’an. Allah says in the Qur'an:
“Do they claim that the Messenger himself has
fabricated it? (If so), tell them: “If I have fabricated it, then you have no
power to protect me from Allah's chastisement. He knows well the idle talk in
which you indulge. He suffices as a witness between me and you. (46:8)
Deplorably
for the Indian Muslim community, our Ulema and Madrasas never quote the above
verse from the Qur'an in their Khutbas (sermons) and provocative public
speeches in which they embolden their audience to take revenge on the issue of
blasphemy. As the most responsible community leaders, their job was to dissuade
Muslims from this dastardly, inhuman, un-Islamic, anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim
act. But in place of the Qur'an, what they preach on the issues of blasphemy
are dangerous texts (Matan) and their commentaries (Sharah) which
they themselves have studied in their respective madrasas, either Barelvi,
Deobandi or Ahl-e-Hadith. Motivated by a distorted and twisted sectarian
Islamic theology, they call for beheading blasphemers, apostates, and even
Muslims who deviate even slightly from the views of the founder of their sect (Maslak).
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A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam
Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer. He has
graduated from a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India, and acquired Diploma
in Qur'anic sciences and a Certificate in Uloom ul Hadith from Al-Azhar
Institute of Islamic Studies. He has also participated in the 3-year “Madrasa
Discourses” program initiated by the University of Notre Dame, USA.
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