Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims

Assault on Taslima Nasrin ― A Litmus Test of Secularism and Democracy

Having observed Mukto-Mona’s statement and concern about the physical attack on feminist author and secular writer Taslima Nasrin in Hyderabad , India , a friend asked me, ‘So many pressing issues are out there. Why are you so much worried about attack on a ‘controversial woman?’ I believe my friend is not alone in indulging in such thought; there are many educated, “modern” Muslims who think as my friend does. I consider their question a legitimate one, that also warrants a legitimate explanation. In short, that’s the reason why I am writing this article.

First, let’s not forget, the persons who led the attack on Taslima Nasrin in India are not any ordinary citizen. They are educated Muslims and elected Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA); and not one but three of them. Hence we cannot dismiss this incident simply as an act of ignorant, uneducated Muslims, or some members of al-Qaeda (BTW, whenever they carried on an attack, al-Qaeda never denied the responsibility, but in this case, attackers didn’t claim any involvement with al-Qaeda). The perpetrators have done it with a cool mind. They uttered furiously but clearly, ”We are Muslims first, only then Indians. We shall not tolerate any insult to Islam.” According to news following attack, the three MLAs and their political organization Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) further issued the threat that if Taslima were to visit Andhra Pradesh (AP) again in future, her life would not be spared as it has been this time. In the meantime, Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati, the Shahi Imam of the Tipu Sultan Mosque in Kolkata demanded that Taslima be expelled from India or she would be killed. He offered his own Rs 100,000 reward for this in addition to that offered earlier by other undamentalist groups and launched his own slogan, “Taslima hatao, desh bachao.” (Drive Taslima out to save the nation.)

Needless to say, Taslima Nasrin herself is quite accustomed to this kind of threat and not the one who would stop speaking up for what she believes is true and just. Long live Taslima! But what did we observe in world’s largest democracy, so called "secular India" ? The government of India under Congress and its allies including communist CPM performed their duties mainly in verbal condemnation of the act but nothing beyond that. A few activists of MIM were arrested only to be released the next day because MIM is an ally of the ruling Congress party in AP. Prior to the attack, the government has denied Taslima Nasrin’s longtime request for Indian citizenship as she’s been living in exile for many years due to the fatwa and troubles created by the radical Muslim Mullahs in her homeland Bangladesh.

If we analyze the utterances of the three Muslim MLAs who attacked Taslima, we may get a better picture not only about the mindset of probably a large number of Indian Muslims, but also beyond. The MLAs’ admission that they are Muslims first and only then Indians would only facilitate the effort of some sects of Hindu fundamentalists who are desperate to see India merely as a Hindu state. After all, Muslims of India themselves don’t consider India as their homeland, the Hindu fundamentalists might think. I know many Muslims would argue and say, those three MLAs are just isolated examples and don’t represent all Indian Muslims. My answer in that case would be: true that not all Indian Muslims consider their “Indian” identity secondary, yet unfortunately a vast number of them do. If not, how many "moderate" Muslim organizations have condemned attack on Taslima Nasrin? Sadly, only a few. So one is forced to think, the vast majority of Indian Muslims are either not courageous at all, or they are simply sympathetic to those radical MLAs and their extreme views of Islam. Besides, if personal experience was to be taken into account, then what I have observed during my five years stay (1993-1998) in India as a student confirms the latter. During my post-graduate years in South India , I was staying in a Muslim community hostel, detached from university premise. The hostel had Muslim students from all over India , some studying medicine, some engineering and other subjects. Two things that came out of my observations of and conversations with many Indian Muslim students are worth mentioning. Many of them (much like our own Bangalee war collaborators or “rajakars”) sided with Pakistan when we talked of 1971 war that led to the birth of Bangladesh . Secondly, whenever there was an India vs. Pakistan cricket, substantial number of Indian Muslims would rejoice with Pakistan’s victory. One possible explanation was the hostel had a good number of Muslim students from Kashmir who are inclined to see Kashmir emerge as an independent state. Yet I found it simply weird and asked a few close friends who were Muslim themselves and had somewhat liberal views. “Yes, it’s a shame and disgrace that my fellow Indian Muslims don’t consider India as their motherland,” answered one such friend named Suhel who was from Hyderabad (what an irony!) studying medicine.

2. One of the common aftermaths of 9/11 was West’s renewed interest in Muslims and Islam. Many otherwise reluctant Westerners started showing a keen interest in reading the Koran, Hadeeth and other books on Islam. One of the most common topics in any political discussion was Jihad. Hundreds of books, leaflets, flyers written by so called “good Muslims” addressed the issue of Jihad and most of them tried to convince- Jihad is not what Usama bin Laden or al Qaeda tells us. Jihad, instead, is a moral issue: the resolve and fight against the evils inside one’s own self. Many naïve readers (Westerners as well as “modern Muslims”) bought the theory that 9/11 and likewise events were not permitted in Islam and those who did and are doing this are “bad Muslims.” This situation is beautifully explained in following excerpt from “How to debate with a Muslim” written by Ibn Warraq.

Muslim scholars themselves referred to sura VIII.67, VIII.39, and Sura II.216 to justify Holy War. Again the context makes it clear that it is the battle field that is being referred to, and not some absurd moral struggle; these early Muslims were warriors after booty, land and women not some existential heroes from the pages of Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre. Let us take another example: Sura IX. Here I have tried to use where possible translations by Muslims or Arabophone scholars, to avoid the accusation of using infidel translations. However, many Muslim translators have a tendency to soften down the harshness of the original Arabic, particularly in translating the Arabic word jahada, e.g. Sura IX verse 73. Maulana Muhammad Ali, of the Ahmadiyyah sect, translates this passage as: “O Prophet, strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be firm against them. And their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.” In a footnote of an apologetic nature, Muhammad Ali rules out the meaning “fighting” for jahada. However, the Iraqi non-Muslim scholar Dawood in his Penguin translation renders this passage as: “Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate.

Action speaks louder than the words. So far we were fooled to believe- Jihad is some abstract moral struggle, not any violence and Islam is all about tolerance and peace. The recent attack on Taslima Nasrin by persons of such responsible positions as MLAs and the subsequent silent role of “moderate Muslims” only confirms that notion. Thus the assault on Taslima Nasrin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali or Salman Rushdie is not a trivial issue and there is nothing personal about it. It’s, rather, the litmus test whether we wish to see values such as liberty, freedom, secularism and rationalism to flourish or perish. If we don't make our choice now, I am afraid someday we'll not have any choice at all.


The author can be contacted at worldcitizen73@yahoo.com. More articles by this author here.


Comments


Name: vbv
Date: Monday August 20, 2007
Time: 04:14:46 -0700

Comment

You are right to be sarcastic about 'secular India'.India is indeed secular and so are most Indians. In a democracy uniform views are not the norms, disparate views must be the norm. Otherwise,healthy discussion will not be be possible amongst people and diversity is a healthy sign. However, I am in total agreement with you that extreme views should not be imposed on anyone/any particular community.Anything detrimental to the well-being of the society at large should be deprcated and put down firmly.The case of the attackers of Ms.Taslima Nasrin is one such case deserving universal condemnation and the perpetrators of this crime should not go unpunished.The fault lies not in our democracy but jellybacked yellow politicians ,who would not dare take any action keeping their future election prospects in mind.It goes to show that barbarians should should be dealt with firmly or else they will grow bolder to foist their rotten,immoral and barbaric islamic theology on the common ,innocent masses. Those MLAs are a blot on our society and they get elected from the muslim ghettoes and you can hardly expect anything better from them.Muslim ghettoes are maintained by them in a state of backwardness , illiteracy and islamic bigotry so that these MLAs can continue to get elected , stay in power and enjoy the pelf & priveleges without discharging any of the responsibilities as elected respresentatives of a legislature.Islam is a militant creed and the ghetto mentality is in-built in the creed, so there is no such thing as moderate muslims.You only have practicing muslims ,either overtly or covertly(who show their deafening silence at such events as 'Taslima Nasrin',but quietly acquiesce) and non-practicing muslims who only have arabic names and are actually secular ,not supporting the extremists idealogy and actions.Islam,therefore, is a backward , intolerant and highly bigoted creed and does not merit calling itself a religion by any standard. The Koran is worse than a mafia manual.It is crass, crude, cruel ,merciless,bigoted,barbaric,and the worse thing that can happen to humanity.It must be put down and obliterated from the civilised world.Its survival and growth only portends unimaginable misery and suffering to all humanity and a sure oneway ticket to 'dark age'.Liberty and free speech will be history/Legend ;economic,social,scientific and technological development will be a thing of past.I am not exaggerating,see what Taliban has done to Afghanistan and see the state of civil liberties in countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran, or the current turmoil in Iraq(caused by the greed for oil by USA).


Name: UsKanna
Date: Monday August 20, 2007
Time: 13:25:39 -0700

Comment

ISLAM is EVIL. Period.


Name: Ananda
Date: Monday August 20, 2007
Time: 22:40:36 -0700

Comment

Jahed Ahmed makes the point that majority of Muslims living in India do not consider India to be their homeland. From the actions of Muslims worldwide, one can ask "do Muslims living in UK, Germany, Holland, Denmark, France, Thailand, Italy, Philippine, USA - consider these countries to be their homelands?" We of course know the answer, it is "NO". Unlike these countries, secular India allows Sharia laws to be practiced by Muslims living in India, so it really not secular for this group. Jahed Ahmed, a Bangladeshi, fails to mention that in 1971 secular Bangladesh had about a 39% Hindu population, it is about 8% now. So the rule of thumb regarding which countries Muslims consider their homeland, it is where they are the majority, and they can oppress Hindus & other religious minorities to their hearts content. Thats what Islam is all about. And what was he doing in India any way?


Name: Go Islam
Date: Tuesday August 21, 2007
Time: 02:49:32 -0700

Comment

Too bad they did not shoot the bitch


Name: Ananda
Date: Tuesday August 21, 2007
Time: 14:15:02 -0700

Comment

Go Islam: "In the beginning allah made muhammad". Time has come to cage the followers of muhammad "in Islamic heaven", give them the 72 virgins, and charge a $10 entrance fee to watch them. And remember, for 1 Islamic nuclear bomb there are 1000 non-Islamic.


Name:
Date: Tuesday August 21, 2007
Time: 16:27:56 -0700

Comment

Author, Taslima Nasrin, says that Islam doesn't respect women... so,these Islamic fundamentalists tried to beat some sense into her. But is her opinion wrong ? Hell No.


Name: re: Go Islam
Date: Tuesday August 21, 2007
Time: 18:44:14 -0700

Comment

"Too bad they did not shoot the bitch" A true believer has spoken. I guess since Allah is merciful, Muslims don't have to be.


Name: Marie
Date: Wednesday August 29, 2007
Time: 12:30:54 -0700

Comment

Go Islam, what you said is a double standard, which shows your ignorance.


 
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