In A Belated But Welcome Step, India Bans Islamic State: But What About The Islamic State Within?

By New Age Islam Edit Desk

16 December 2014

India has finally banned the Islamic State in India as the terrorist organization was fast growing its tentacles among the youth of the country. New Age Islam had been demanding a ban on the organization because a large section of the Urdu media, a number of Urdu journalists and so-called intellectuals and Islamic individuals and organizations were glorifying the outfit and thus influencing the thought process of the gullible Muslim youth of India.

In May four youth of Kalyan in Maharashtra had gone to Iraq and joined the Islamic State. A few days ago he returned to India and confessed that he indeed had joined the Islamic State, was trained in Iraq for 15 days and was sent to fight in Syria and Iraq. He was injured in the battle and to save his life he fled to Turkey form where he was brought home. Before fleeing to Iraq, he had left a note to his parents and sister which gives us a peep into his ideas and thoughts:

“I used to cry when I found you submerged in sins, smoking cigarettes, taking interest from banks, watching TV, pornography, leading luxurious lives, mixing with opposite sex, not praying and not growing beards. These acts will lead you to the hell fire.”

The thoughts of Arif Majid makes it clear that he hated the society he lived in as a place full of sin and so he wanted to leave a country that was kufristan and become a citizen of the country that was fighting for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate where there will be no sins, people will grow beard, will not watch TV, will not mix with opposite sex, will not smoke cigarettes and will not take interest from banks.

There are certain religious organizations in the country, Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam of Indian Punjab being a glaring example - that continuously campaign that India is a Kufristan (land of infidels).  India is a secular and democratic country while Islam, in he view of these clerics, is against secularism and democracy. His letter says it all. He was radicalized by the regular intolerant teachings imparted to him on the thousands of Wahhabi websites run with Saudi money internet.

Another radicalized Muslim religious minded youth Mehdi Biswas is one more example of how the Indian Muslim youth have been made to believe that the Islamic State was a rightly guided Islamic organization and that helping its cause was the duty of a true Muslim. So while he was working with a good company on handsome salary, he was not satisfied. He wanted to be the part of jihad that was being fought by the Islamic State. Mehdi is a symbol of Modern Muslim youth who does not sport a beard or wears a skull cap though he is a Hafiz-e-Quran and would often give his parents lessons in the Quran while at home. But he could not distinguish good from evil and fell in the trap of the deceitful Islamic State.

Some of our ulema and sections of  Urdu media have been campaigning in favour of the Islamic State as an organization that symbolised fulfilment of aspirations of great personalities like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Abul Ala Maududi though in reality the Islamic State was anathema to Islam. In reality the Islamic State has violated all the basic tenets of Islam. It has killed thousands of member of a sect of Muslims, raped captured women, killed Yazidis, Christians and Kurds. It has demolished churches and imambargahs though the prophet (pbuh) has strictly prohibited the destruction or capture of churches and other places of religious worship. But our ulema presented arguments that in war such atrocities are natural for the achievement of a bigger and loftier goal.

It was the UK-based Channel 4 that helped Indian agencies to home in on Mehdi who had been running his twitter campaign in favour of the Islamic State from Bengaluru for the last few years. However, contrary to the fears of Indian Muslims that the cases will be blown out of proportion by the government that is supposed to be anti-Muslim and a media that is hostile to the Muslims, in both the cases of Arif Majid and Mehdi Biswas, the attitude of the Home Ministry was in sharp contrast to the previous so-called secular government. Rajnath Singh has proved to be a more mature Home Minister than his predecessor. He seems to be in the know of the details of the cases and has a rational and pragmatic approach to the developments.  Reacting to the case of Arif Majid, the Home Minister had said that the government did not intend to harass anyone.

The Home Ministry did not give any statement that would send a wave of panic among the Muslims as used to happen before. Rajnath’s statement was similar and devoid of any sensation when Mehdi was arrested. Instead of giving a hard and sensational statement on his arrest, he simply said that Mehdi was only a cheerleader and was not involved in the recruitment process of the Islamic State and that 60 per cent of his followers were non-Muslims, mostly from the UK.

This was a great relief to Muslims as it conveyed to them the message that the Home Minister will not use the two cases to implicate the entire Muslim community, branding them terrorists and arresting innocent youths. Nothing of that sort happened and going from the signals the home minister has given, it is clear that the community will not face unnecessary victimization on this issue.

The ban on Islamic State in India will definitely help curb the growing influence of the Islamic State in India and the wayward and deviant maulanas will think twice before issuing statements glorifying the Islamic State and even sending letters of greetings to Abu Bakr Baghdadi.

The ban will also curb the growing Shia-Sunni divide which had intensified in certain parts of the country as a section of the Sunni community was openly expressing its support to the Islamic State causing distress and provocation to the Shia community which Is justifiably opposed to the Islamic State.  Now open support to the terrorist outfit will not be professed and glorification of the outfit will be  serious offence.

URL: https://newageislam.com/war-terror/in-belated-welcome-step,-india/d/100519