Whose
Islam?
The
‘Islam’ of Bush + Musharraf Or The Islam of the Holy Prophet!
original urdu article at http://www.tarjumanulquran.org/2005/march/6/1.htm
The Muslim Ummah is beset today with so many internal and external problems and
challenges from all over. Its heart has been torn almost into smithereens by the
deadly darts of the strangers as well as of its own near and dear ones. There
are, however, three most serious challenges of basic nature that need to be
taken into cognizance and a suitable approach and strategy be devised and
pursued to squarely face them. The Ummah’s survival, strength and progress
would very much depend on this response. The threat is to the Muslims, not Islam
as such, whose safety and survival, the Lord, Who revealed this eternal message
of human emancipation has Himself guaranteed. If a nation fails to do its job in
this regard, He is All-Powerful to raise another in its place for shouldering
the responsibility of this trust, as He has done in the past and to which Allama
Iqbal has so brilliantly eluded to in a famous couplet:
Don’t
you reflect on the episode of the Tartars,
Whose marauding hoards tore Muslim lands into tatters?
(Yet, the conquerors were conquered by the very faith they fought to destroy)
Ka’bah got new sentinels from the Home of Idols!
Iqbal
has also made a very succinct observation when he said that the lesson he has
learnt from the Islamic history can be summed up by saying that it is Islam that
has saved the Muslims not the other way round.
The
real issue, therefore, is not that of Islam’s survival — it is the issue of
our own survival and success as a nation and an international community. It is
the responsibility of all the right- thinking Muslims and those with the vision
to correctly realize and assess the enormity of the challenges and threats
facing our national and social existence and make the best end endeavors we can
to reawaken, reorganize and mobilize the Muslim Ummah so that it may valiantly
brave the politico-ideological Tsunamis challenging its survival.
Internal
Scene:
The
prime challenge to our national existence is due to our own internal situation,
affecting all aspects of life, from our individual self to the social
environment and politico-economic order. The Muslim individuals as well as the
society today are miles apart from even the minimum level of Islamic standards,
our tall claims notwithstanding. The image we are offering of Islam to the world
is definitely not the image of the Religion of Truth. We do have good examples
among us and perhaps it is due to these that we have been granted the
opportunity to survive. It is, however, a fact that in spite of all our Prayers,
Fasts, Zakat, Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, our individual and collective life, by
and large, remains enchained by the shackles of ignorance, indifference,
hypocrisy, selfishness, injustice, self-worship and materialistic pursuits. Most
of us are content with personal piety, whose influence does not fashion public
conduct. Consequently, our perception about the religion itself has become
blurred and confused. We feel no prick of our conscience over the life’s
paradoxes and contradictions. Islam itself is the most oppressed entity in a
country that was created in its name with the blood-sacrifice of millions of
men, women and children. The Islamic injunctions are being openly flouted. The
Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is not just being ignored, but flagrantly
defied, and we remain unmoved.
The situation is such that neither our life, honor and property are safe today,
nor even our faith. Those who are supposed to enforce the law are out to openly
violate it. Crimes are rampant and there is nobody to come to the help of the
oppressed. The poor is getting poorer and the moral degradation has reached to a
level that the criminals have the liberty to masquerade around unchecked.
Suicides had never been a known phenomenon in the Muslim society, are now rising
on an alarming scale, while the affluent classes in authority and power are
callously enjoying their recluse. The individual corruption has risen to the
scale of social corruption. Those at the helm of affairs are lost in their own
world of make-believe. They are not just indifferent towards poverty, squalor
and corruption all around them, but are also serving as patrons of all the forms
of villainy and unscrupulousness. Its latest and most shameless demonstration
was seen on the eve of the recent Basant fanfare in Lahore. In the backdrop of
the Tsunami playing havoc in South-East Asia and rains and snowfall causing
terrible damage to life and property in our own country, and the 5th of February
being nationally observed as the day of solidarity with the oppressed people of
Kashmir, it was considered necessary, with the active assistance of the
multinational companies and the world media, to celebrate the Basant bonanza the
same day, resulting in death of over forty persons, serious injuries to over two
hundred, at a cost of over two thousand million rupees in one single day. And
this was done under the active support and patronage of the highest in the land,
in spite of the fact that the festival, as also the way it is being observed, is
of Hindu origin, having nothing in common with the Islamic way of life, which
stands for decency, modesty and spiritual rejuvenation.
The most serious aspect of this all-pervasive degradation is that our social
norms and values are being deliberately tampered with. That which is ugly is
being presented as the beautiful, the obnoxious as the most attractive and the
deadly as the most delightful. Our national objectives, principles, values and
traditions are being sacrificed at the alter of the so-called
‘enlightenment’ and ‘moderation’. This social degradation has become our
enemy number one. Unless a brake is applied to the headlong dash to this perfidy
and efforts are made to safeguard our moral and ethical values and
socio-cultural norms, nothing would save us from disaster, the divine law of the
rise and fall of nations and the Sunnatu-Allah, the time tested Tradition of
Allah Subhanahu wa Taala.
The
Role of Leadership and The Ruling Elite:
Our
leadership and the ruling elite are the greatest hurdle in the way of any
improvement and reform of the current malaise. This is true about Pakistan in
particular and the Muslim Ummah in general. Though the individual members of the
Muslim society are accountable as well for this state of affairs, the onus,
however, falls ultimately on the shoulders of those ruling the roost. Those at
the helm of affairs have failed at all levels to play their due role in this
regard. The government and the country’s elite remain the fount-head of
corruption and malaise in the society. It is they who are guilty of violating
the constitution, subverting all norms, rules and regulations, and disregarding
social and moral values and traditions. The conglomerate of Pakistan’s
military top brass, moneyed classes, bureaucracy and the so-called liberal and
secular political forces top the list of those who are playing havoc with our
polity, unity and national existence. It is this class that occupies all the
positions of power and authority, which it is using in its narrow personal
interests and taking the community towards social and moral corruption,
confrontation, injustice and chaos.
While all previous leaderships, mostly secular, share the responsibility for
this state of affairs, presently it is Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his associates
who are playing a key role in making this national catastrophe. During the five
and a half years of his rule, the social rot, misuse of power and corruption has
surpassed all earlier limits. Ideological confusion, moral anarchy, social
injustice, economic oppression and exploitation, political nepotism, selfishness
and unscrupulousness have gone to a level where dozens of poor daughters of the
community are subjected to rape and even gang-rape and the rulers stand by the
side of the powerful culprits. A senior Grade-22 Registrar of the Supreme Court
commits serious financial corruption and is not subjected to any punishment,
except simple retirement. The Federal Cabinet includes Ministers, who are wanted
by the NAB, some even under trial in the superior courts. The Chief Minister of
a province expels one of his senior Ministers on the charges of corruption and
the dismissed Minister in turn accuses the Chief Minister himself of corruption,
while the ruling Party’s leadership counsels both to keep quiet and maintain
‘cease fire’. On top of it all, a retired Major heading a senior position in
the NAB itself is caught red-handed and that too while trying to cover up the
corruption charges worth billions of rupees of two other retired military
officers. Hardly any day passes when there is no case involving a police officer
or a government official trying to abuse the law and misappropriate national
resources. Unfortunately, nothing eventually happens to anyone of them and they
go scot-free. The national army is being used against its own citizens and the
distance between the armed forces and the masses is gradually increasing. There
is an alarming rise in poverty, inflation and unemployment, but the ruling class
is busy increasing its perks and privileges. In the name of national
(better-to-say personal) security, fleets of bulletproof Mercedes cars and Land
Cruisers are being imported at an enormous cost of billions of rupees, while the
corrupt practice of performing Umrah on the national expense is being followed
‘religiously’.
The
Myth of Economic Stability:
Those
who are never tired of announcing the good news about the rise in Pakistan’s
exchange reserves do not apparently feel the pinch of their own conscience
towards the common man’s plight. Our common man is deprived of even the basic
necessities of life. He is caught in the whirlpool of corruption, dishonesty and
indifference that has poisoned all the walks of our national existence. On the
one hand, there are tall claims about having broken the begging bowl and on the
other the poor nation is being burdened on a large scale by the fresh load of
foreign debts. During the last five years alone the new loans obtained by
Musharraf Government are around six billion dollars. The State Bank of
Pakistan’s latest report plainly states that the country’s foreign debts
have crossed the thirty-six billion dollar mark. The World Economic Forum of
Davos (Switzerland), at whose annual sessions Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime
Minister Shaukat Aziz blew the trumpet of Pakistan’s economic exploits, in its
latest reports, “The Global Competitiveness Report: 2004-05” has drawn a
rather dismal picture of Pakistan’s economy. The Forum has been publishing its
Global Reports since last five-six years classifying the countries of the world
under the following three categories: ‘Growth Competitiveness Index,
‘Technology Index’ and ‘Public Institutions Index’. Its latest Report,
in the compilation of which over one hundred research institutions took part and
which is based on 160 indicators places Pakistan at No.91 among 104 countries.
This means that in spite of all our tall claims, we are at the bottom line of
the countries in the competitiveness struggle, ahead just of 14 nations. India
occupies the 55th position in this Index, while 11 Muslim countries are ahead of
us and only two figures behind Pakistan. In South Asia, Pakistan lags behind
India and Sri Lanka. More shameful is the fact that according to the 2003 Report
Pakistan was at 73rd position among 101 nations and now in the present Report it
has gone down much below. This shows how far the Government is justified in
making fantastic claims, which the bare facts do not substantiate.
Like our ‘progress’ index, our performance on the anti-corruption front is
equally dismal. According to the Corruption Index of the universally acclaimed
‘Transparency International’, Pakistan was placed at No. 92 in a list of 133
countries of the world during 2003. ! It had received 2.5 out of 10 marks. This
‘envious’ position has gone down further during 2004 and the country today
stands at No.129 of 145 countries, securing 2.1 out of 10. This is the picture
of our performance that Gen. Musharraf is trying to camouflage by describing it
as ‘corruption of tactical nature’, while claiming to have eliminated the
‘high level corruption of strategic significance’.
As we analyze the factors and causes of the Muslim world’s current malaise, it
becomes crystal clear that the real responsibility for this state of affairs
lies with the national leaderships both in Pakistan and the world of Islam. They
are the root cause. These leaderships place themselves before their nations and
pursue their personal interests. They always keep their personal whims over and
above the law, the national constitution, the rules and regulations and all
ethical and moral values. This leadership is neither from the people, nor is
accountable before them. On the contrary, their interests are in fact at
variance with those of their peoples. The current ruling coterie in Pakistan is
actually a political conglomerate of the military leadership, civil bureaucracy,
economic elites and the political groups whose sole concern is to cling to power
at all cost. The second biggest challenge to our national existence is this very
leadership.
The
US and Its World Politics:
The
third major challenge facing Pakistan and the Muslim Ummah is the present US
leadership and its role in world politics. Islam, the Muslim world and Pakistan
are the principal targets of its aggressive designs. During the first four years
of his tenure as the US President, George W. Bush succeeded in devising a
strategy and detailed war plans for consolidating the US domination and
rendering ineffective every possible power that could challenge the American
supremacy, or its surrogate in the Middle East: Israel. Now, at the outset of
his second term, he has presented his grandiose plan, after lot of fine-tuning,
in his very first ‘State of the Nation’ address to the US Congress. During
his twenty-minute inauguration speech he used the words ‘liberty’ and
‘freedom’ forty two times and reaffirmed his resolve to impose his concept
of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ all over the world. In his address,
President Bush described ‘freedom’ as ‘a fire in the mind of man’ and
added: “His mission was to bring the war of freedom to the darkest corners of
the world”. This is actually not a movement for freedom but a bloody game to
push the world in the name of freedom to the raging fire of war.
Tristram
Hunt in his recent article in the Guardian of London has quoted the following
remarks of a Senior Bush Advisor, reported by the US journalist Ron Suskind:
“ We are an empire now and when we act we create our own reality. As you are
studying that reality we will act again, creating other new realities. We are
history’s actors….. And you, all of you, will be left to just study what we
do.”
(The Guardian of London, reproduced in the Nation, Lahore, February 18, 2005).
The
arrogance and audacity, now the hallmark of the US foreign policy posture, have
removed the mask from the real face of the neo-colonial order being imposed on
the Muslim World in the name of freedom and democracy. Colin Powell had
demonstrated the same arrogance much before 9/11, when he rebuffed the then
Ambassador of Pakistan to US Sayyida Abida Hussain, as she tried to defend
Pakistan’s right to nuclear deterrence. To her remarks that Pakistan had just
one or two ‘footballs’, while America had thousands of bombs in its arsenal,
the then Chief of US Central Command, Gen. Colin Powell had curtly replied “
Madame! We are America”.
It
is a fact that the ‘Champion of Liberty’ America is out to give command,
which our rulers are there to merely re-echo. The sermons being dished out to us
about ‘Enlightened Moderation’ are nothing but an attempt to make our
contours more appealing to the US in pursuance of the dictates of its new world
order. From the US Vice President Dick Cheney, the new Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice and the 9/11 Commission’s Report, to the reports of a dozen US
think-tanks, the CIA think-tank ‘National Intelligence Council’ and the US
Congress Research Service, have declared in unison that America would have to
brain-wash the Muslims, and fight what they regard as Islamic extremism,
fundamentalism and the Islamic infrastructure that produces the spirit of Jihad
in the Muslim world, something the US regards as its biggest threat. They have
gone to the extent of pronouncing that the real threat to US and its new world
order was not from terrorism, nor even from the Islamic terrorism, which they
view as mere symptoms. To them, the real source of this threat is Islam itself
and its concept of Jihad that gives rise to what they describe as ‘Political
Islam’. The Political Islam, they believe, targets Secularism and aims at
rebuilding the state and its social order according to Islam as a way of life.
The
essence of all that has come from the US policy-makers and institutions by way
of reviews and analysis is that the hatred found in the Muslim world against
America originates from Islam and its revolutionary approach to life that
rejects the duality of the state and religion and aims at establishing the state
and society on moral and spiritual values of Islam, ensuring their unity and
harmony. President Bush had astounded the Muslim world when he spoke of
‘Crusade’ immediately after the 9/11 tragedy. To make amends, he went then
to Washington’s Islamic Center, where he advanced the idea of ‘Moderate
Islam’. All important reports that have since been emanating from the US
intellectuals and institutions have made it a point to drive a wedge between the
‘moderate’ and ‘extremist’ Islam. Efforts are also being made discretely
to promote secularism in the Muslim world. The 9/11 Commission was a
high-powered US body. It declared President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s notion of
“Enlightened Moderation” as the most important concept in the US interest.
At page 369 of the Commission’s Report, it recommended the following, which
has been described as the US state policy by the Fact Sheet issued from the
White House on July 30, 2004:
“If in his war of survival for himself and for Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
remains firm on his policy of enlightened moderation, America would have to be
then ready for difficult decisions. It would have to establish long-term
relationship in the context of its strategy for Pakistan’s future. In addition
to continuing its current assistance, the U.S. would have to increase its
support to Pakistan in its war against extremism. This support should be in a
comprehensive form, taking into its ambit the areas from the military assistance
to the provision of resources for a better education. And this cooperation
should continue till such time the Pakistani leadership remains committed to
difficult decisions”.
(USIS journal ‘Khabar-o-Nazar’, August 2004, Vol: II).
The 9/11 Commission Report has the following recommendation for the “The US
and Our Muslim Friends” in the Islamic world:
“The US and its friends enjoy a significant position and we can give them a
perception that can improve the future of the younger generation. If we pay
attention to the views of the leaders of public opinion in the Arab and the
Muslim world, a consensus, based on moderation, can be arrived at.”
(9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 12, Page 276).
On
September 2004, President Bush in his address at the UN General Assembly, said:
“Since
the last few decades, the world has been witnessing an expansion in the sphere
of liberty, peace, security and progress. We have got the historic opportunity
now to further expand this sphere so that the menace of fundamentalism and
terrorism can be countered justly and with dignity and honor”.
He
added:
“
We will have to help the reformists in the Middle East, as they are striving to
build a liberal and peaceful democratic civil society.”
(USIS journal ‘Khabar-o-Nazar’, October 2004, Vol.I).
On
June 22, 2004, the US Deputy Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs,
Christina Rocca, in her statement before the Foreign Relations Committee of the
House of Representatives, said:
“Assistance
should continue to Pakistan for making it a modern and moderate Islamic
Republic. … The objective of all our policies and programs for Pakistan is
that it should be helped to emerge as a moderate and progressive country. We are
supporting the country through our programs of cooperation in the field of
security, promotion of democracy, progress and prosperity. These are the
programs, which help in countering extremism and instability. … We are lending
considerable support to Pakistan Government’s efforts for educational reforms.
It includes reforms in Madaris. … Our programs would also help in reforming
the political parties. We are paying special attention to the teachers and the
leaders of the civil society, the media, the youth and the Pakistani middle
class, who are likely to pose threat to the democratic values”.
(USIS journal ‘Khabar-o-Nazar’, July 2004, Vol:1).
Islam:
The Main Target:
The
sermon that is being given to the Pakistani nation since last two years on
“Enlightened Moderation” has thus its origin in the reviews and reform
prescriptions of President Bush, his Administration and the US think-tanks. Its
sole target is Islam’s philosophy of life, its dictum of the unity of state
and religion, the concept of Jihad, the Muslim’s duty of enjoining the good
and forbidding the evil and the Islamic social order. Prof. Dr. M. Shahid Alam
of the North Eastern University of America in his book, appearing this month,
“Is There an Islamic Problem?”, has very candidly and courageously exposed
the US designs with full documentation. In his recent article Dr. Alam explains
the real objectives before the US leadership as follows:
“The
American and Israeli designs on the Islamic world — so it appears to a growing
number of Muslims — are even greater than they were before 9/11 when they
preferred to dominate the Islamic world through surrogates. Their new designs go
further; they are now demanding that the Islamic world — and Islam itself —
reform itself on American terms”.
(‘America’s New Civilizing Mission’, The Dawn, Feb.12/5).
That
Islam is the real target can very well be reaffirmed by the fact that the US is
keen not just for a change in Deeni Madaris curricula, it is demanding also to
secularize the country’s entire educational system. The so called education
reforms were initiated by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2002. The process was
accordingly set in motion to change the country’s academic curricula. The
registration of Deeni Madaris and the Agha Khan University Examination Board
Ordinance – 2002, are thus part of the same US game plan. The US government
documents, recently de-classified and made public under the Freedom of
Information Act, include a Policy Paper of 2002, “Strategy for Eliminating the
Threat from Jehadist Networks of Al-Qaida: Status and Prospects”. The Paper
claims that the policy the US Administration is pursuing in Pakistan is in
furtherance of the same strategy, which seeks “to build up a secular
educational system that ends rural Pakistan’s exclusive reliance on the
fundamentalist madrasas”.
Educational
‘Reforms’:
The
US Administration is extending support to Pakistan for this purpose under eight
different heads, which include change of curricula, teachers’ training,
transfer of teachers and students, stipends and scholarships. In spite of the
full cooperation from Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the Ministers of Education at
the center and in the Provinces, the USA is not ready to completely rely on
them. The US Congress has now, therefore, formally introduced a Bill (HR 4818),
according to which the 100 million dollars aid being extended by the USA for
‘reforms’ in education sector, would be subject to use by Pakistan for the
implementation of the educational reforms of January 2002. Within 90 days
following the Congress approval of the Bill, the Secretary of the State will
have to inform the House of Representatives that the US assistance has been used
actually for the purpose for which it was sanctioned. Those ‘Reforms’ have
been defined in the Bill as follows:
“The
term ‘education’ reform includes efforts to expand and improve secular
education system in Pakistan and to develop and utilize a moderate curriculum
for private religious schools in Pakistan”. (The News, Oct. 16, 2004).
The
former US Ambassador to Pakistan Ms. Nancy Powell had played a key role in this
regard. On 13 August 2003, the US AID entered into an agreement for the
implementation of the Agha Khan University Examination Board Ordinance.
According to press reports, 44 million dollars were promised in aid for the
purpose. It may be of interest to add that the agreement was signed by the US
Ambassador Ms. Nancy Powell and the Agha Khan University representative Shams
Lakha, but the chief witness of the occasion was Pakistan’s Minister for
Education then, Mohtarama Zubaida Jalal. It was then reaffirmed by the US
Ambassador that the aid would continue for the Agha Khan Board till such time it
stands on its feet. It may further be of interest to recall that immediately
following the occupation of Iraq, the US had introduced on April 10, 2004, its
pre-arranged text books in the Iraqi Schools. These books were prepared in June
2002, a year before the US aggression on Iraq.
President
Bush in his television interview stated in unequivocal terms that a change is
being introduced on his advice in the Pakistani curricula with the US
assistance. This writer raised a Point of Order in this regard in the Senate of
Pakistan, in response to which the Education Minister had stated that it was
“mere propaganda and nobody can dictate us”. The fact is, however, as
evident as the broad-day light that every step being taken by the present
government, whether in the name of ‘Enlightened Moderation’, ‘War on
Terror’, ‘Opposition to Fundamentalism’, or ‘Campaign against
Extremism’, is being done at the US’ behest. This is exactly the pattern
followed in the historic ‘U’-turn on the Afghan Policy just on a single
telephone call of September 13 from Colin Powell. That is how the country’s
military leadership has all along done willingly and meekly on the dictates of
the US military leadership.
It
is unfortunate that each and every front from where Gen. Pervez Musharraf has
retreated in the wake of 9/11 has been of immense importance to the country and
the nation. He has thus been guilty of apathy or rather betrayal of Afghanistan,
distancing from the world of Islam, doggedly serving as a tool in the hands of
the US Imperialism and providing his own shoulders for its war machine, abject
surrender of Pakistan’s principled stand on Kashmir, betrayal of the Kashmiri
Jihad on the Indo-US pressure, surrender on the nuclear front, the ignominious
action denigrating the national hero and benefactor Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and
the blind pursuit of the US policies on education, media and even the training
of our Parliamentarians. All of these are the most important fields, vital for
the defense of Pakistan’s political, economic, strategic and cultural
frontiers. The credit for this most ugly ‘U’-turn in our policy posture goes
to the carrot and stick approach of the former US Secretary of State Colin
Powell and his now successor Condoleeza Rice.
Misplaced
Criticism of Islam:
The
most serious about-face did by Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been the one over Islam
and Pakistan’s ideology. He is using the deceptive term of ‘Enlightened
Moderation’ for this pitiable posture. But the language used to define this
term, its concept, aims and objectives, is the same as the one used by George
Bush and the Members of his Administration. Sometimes, the General is
apprehensive of ‘extremism’ and ‘fundamentalism’, at times he is hard
against terrorism, and sometimes he is all for modernism, modernity and
moderation. In his play of words, he often uses the strongest metaphors in his
diction against the ‘Mulla’ and expresses his resentment against beard and
the symbol of Islamic modesty for women, the ‘Hijab’. He gathers his spirit
then to advocate ‘Secularism’ for Pakistan, which, he believes, has nothing
contradictory to Islam and attributes this notion to the Mulla’s conspiracy,
from which he would like Islam to be liberated. He is not only active himself on
this borrowed agenda but would like the entire OIC to tow the same line. It
would be pertinent, therefore to have a deeper look into the General’s
pronouncements in order to have a clearer image of his version of the
‘Mulla’s Islam’ and the ‘Islam’ of Bush and Musharraf.
On
24 September 2003, in his address to the UN General Assembly, General Musharraf
said:
“Our
faith is dynamic, promoting constant renewal and adaptation, through the process
of Ijtihad (or interpretation through consultation). Islam’s vision is not
trapped in any one period of history; it is modern and futuristic: Islam must
not be confused with the narrow vision of a few extremists”.
The
General ought to ponder over what he has said knowingly or unknowingly (most
likely unknowingly) in this statement, as it is tantamount to striking at the
very root and source of the teachings of Islam. The golden era of the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) and the Khulafa Al-Rashideen remains the best example, the
criterion, the canon and the role model for the Muslim Ummah. By saying,
“trapped in any one period of history”, he has made a sweeping remark
against this period as well. Islam is undoubtedly modern and also futuristic,
but the era of the Holy Prophet and his Glorious Caliphs is for the Muslims, the
world over, according to the very dictates of their Faith, the original source
of reference. The Tradition of the Holy Prophet and that of the Four Caliphs
remain Islam’s foremost, irreversible and permanent source that cannot be set
aside on any pretext.
General
Musharraf’s address of January 2004, “OIC – Challenges and Response”,
was couched in the diction being doggedly used by George Bush and the critics of
Islam in the Western media: linking Islam to Fundamentalism, Fundamentalism to
Extremism and Extremism to Terrorism.
Instead
of taking each of these one by one and scientifically analyzing its pros and
cons, he rejects all of them in one breath and toeing the line followed by Bush
and Condoleeza Rice tries to promote his own version of Islam in the garb of
“Enlightened Moderation”.
The
Sermon of Modernism- Secularism:
In
his attempt to make the Western agenda of secularizing Islam plausible for the
people of Pakistan, the General proceeds to declare that there was no
contradiction between Islam and Secularism. He says:
“
What we need is a renaissance … We have to adopt the path of moderation, a
conciliatory approach, a pacific approach, in order to cleanse ourselves of the
charge that Islam is a religion of militancy and is averse to modernization,
democracy and secularism”.
He
leaves no room for his well wishers to interpret his reference to secularism as
intended just to satisfy the Western critics. To the West, the word
‘Renaissance’ has a definite connotation of a politico-cultural revolution
that seeks to find out, in place of Revelation and the religious values,
alternate moorings for the society’s growth on the basis of rationalism and
physical sciences and a rebellion against God, Religion, and Tradition. In a
signed article in his name published in the Washington Post (which the Pakistani
newspapers reproduced faithfully), the General says:
“
I say to my brother Muslims: The time for renaissance has come. The way forward
is through enlightenment. We must concentrate on human resource, education,
health care, and social justice. If this is our direction, it cannot be achieved
through! confrontation. We must adopt a part of moderation and conciliatory
approach to fight the common belief that Islam is a religion of militancy in
conflict with modernization, democracy and secularism.” (Washington Post, June
1, 2004).
Continuing
in the same vein, he took upon himself to explain the West’s position vis-à-vis
Islam in his address at the World Economic Forum Seminar of Davos (23 January,
2005):
“What
is the West’s perception of Muslims and Islam? First of all, the perception
that Islam is a religion of extremism, terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism.
Secondly, that Islam is in conflict with democracy, modernism and secularism.
And thirdly, that Muslims refuse to assimilate with the global family”.
He
then proceeded to dispel the notion that Islam was opposed to democracy,
secularism and modernism. As far democracy, he was more or less correct —
though he obviously missed to look at his own paradoxical position of having put
on the Presidential cloak as well as the Army Chief’s uniform at the same
time, which went against all the canons of democracy. Regarding modernism and
secularism, he dilated thus:
“When
we are talking of modernism, Islam believes in continuous process of reviewing
thought, in accordance with time and environment. Therefore, Islam is modern; it
remains current, it can never be anchored in the past. And thirdly, as far as
secularism is concerned Islam believes in equal rights of minorities. So without
going into details, when a country like Pakistan is known as Islamic Republic of
Pakistan it inherently implies that we ought to be democratic, we are to be
secular and we are to be modern in concept”.
What
one can say about these ‘pearls of wisdom’? The way the General has defined
modernism and secularism is nothing but paradoxical. In his paranoia, he thinks
Muslims as being misfit into the global family, and tries to raise his sword
against those whom he views as bigoted Muslims. He says that there are some
misguided people who cannot go hand in hand with him; they acquire neither
modern education, nor learn English language or enjoy music —— “These are
a handful of people. Don’t bother about them”, he tells his patrons in the
West.
The
Truth about Secularism:
Who
can bring home this fact to General Pervaiz Musharraf that just as
‘Renaissance’ has a special historic perspective for Europe,
‘Enlightenment’ too is a well-known term in its civilizational and
ideological history! According to the West, ‘Enlightenment’ aims at finding
out solutions to all their issues on rational grounds and not in the light of
the Revealed Text! To them, the Day of Reckoning and the spiritual side of life
have no relevance and the arena of all their activities is entirely this
material world. ‘Secularism’ is the third essential part of the trinity, of
which ‘Renaissance’ and ‘Enlightenment’ are the other two. Secularism,
in its very concept, is opposed to the philosophy of life that calls for
reorganizing the affairs of this world on the basis of the knowledge and values
acquired through the Religion of Truth and the Revelation. To claim that
Secularism stands for religious tolerance and better treatment of the minorities
is something that betrays ignorance about the political science and world
history.
“An
Encyclopedia of Religions”, compiled by Vergilius Ferm and printed by The
Philosophical Library of New York, defines ‘Enlightenment’ as follows:
“The
Enlightenment: The name of the movement which characterizes the general
atmosphere of the 18th century. Its origin is to be sought in the mental climate
of age and spiritual emancipation of man in Renaissance era, which, with its
materialistic and individualistic tendencies evoke in the minds of people a
proud consciousness of the autonomy of reason. As a historic phenomenon, the
Enlightenment movement represents the effort of applying the role of reason to
actual life”.
Regarding
‘Renaissance’, the same Encyclopedia of Religions has the following to say:
“ A venue of intellectual and aesthetic awakening and of secular culture which
may be thought of as originating in Italy in the 14th century. …. Whether for
better or for worse, the Renaissance certainly had the character of a
revolution. Its key note was a secular humanism implying recognition of human
and mundane values as having validity unconditioned by theological condition or
ecclesiastical approval.” (P. 655-656).
This
Encyclopedia explains the meaning of ‘Secularism’ as follows:
“Secularism:
Specifically a variety of utilitarian social ethic (named and formulated by
G.J.Holyoak , 1817-1906), which seeks human improvement without reference to
religion and exclusively by means of human reason, science and social
organization.” (P.700).
As ‘Secularism’ has the pivotal position in all these terminologies, it may
be of interest to quote some more references here in order to determine its real
import.
Victor Lidz, a Professor of Haverford College of Pennsylvania (USA), in his
article in The Social Sciences Encyclopedia, says:
“Secularization refers to a displacement of religious beliefs, rituals and
sense of community from the moral life of society. Everyday experience in
‘secularized’ society tends to be carried on without routine invocation of
the sacred. …. It was however, the philosophy of Enlightenment that provided
the pivotal impetus towards thought giving secularization. They propose that
society should be founded on moral principles devised by rational enquiries into
the universal nature of human social life”.
Charles
D. Smith in his article on ‘Secularism’ in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern
Islamic World (Vol IV), explains the meaning of ‘Secularism’ thus:
“The
term secularism signifies that which is not religious. It is rooted in the Latin
word saeculum, which initially meant ‘age’ or ‘generation’ in the sense
of temporal time. It later became associated with matters of this world, as
distinct from those of the spirit directed towards attainment of paradise. …
Secularism or secularization process derives from the European historical
experience. It meant a gradual separation of almost all aspects of life and
thought from religious association and ecclesiastical direction.” (P.20)
Islam
Versus Secularism:
It
is evident from the above explanatory notes and historical evidences that Islam
and Secularism are diametrically opposed to each other. We would like to make it
clear that as for the mundane world and issues like human rights, freedom,
justice, education, health care, economic progress and the social well-being,
these are not only the most desirable aspects according to Islam, but are also
an integral part of! the Islamic social order. Similarly, tolerance for the
opposition, go od will for the peoples of other faiths, complete safeguard to
the rights of the minorities and co-existence with the different cultures and
schools of thought, are the essential features of the Islamic polity. The
difference between Islam and Secularism is, however, of a fundamental and
substantive nature. Islam subordinates everything to the supreme authority of
the Divine Revelation, while giving reason its due place. It links the
attainment of good in this world with the attainment of good in the Hereafter.
There is no place in Islam for living in isolation from the society like a
hermit. It wants to reshape and reorganize the entire human life in the light of
the revealed guidance on the foundations of truth and justice. Islam thus
rejects the philosophy of life that is concerned with the material well-being of
this world only and draws its sustenance from reason alone; Islam substitutes
this with an all-embracing vision that seeks to rebuild the mundane world and
seeks its progress in such a way as to ensure the human being’s ultimate
success in the life Hereafter. The injunctions from Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and
His Holy Prophet (PBUH) serve as the beacon to guide the humanity towards its
ultimate goal of success in both the worlds. This is a vision that is totally at
variance with the concept of secularism and, there is no room, therefore, for a
patch-work with Islam of the secular ideology which was the product of
‘Renaissance’ and ‘Enlightenment’ in the West and which led to so many
conflicts, exploitations, social upheavals and intellectual anarchy in the
world.
The
Islam of the Holy Prophet:
Islam
does not believe in the compartmentalization of life into the spiritual and the
temporal. It demands the Believers to enter into the fold of Islam as a unified
whole:
“O
ye who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly; and follow not the footsteps of
the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.”
(S.II! Al-Baqarah, 208).
According
to Islam, to look exclusively for the worldly gains and to seek the bliss of
both the Worlds are two distinct philosophies of life, having different
objectives, temperaments and consequences. Secularism aims exclusively at the
worldly gains, while Islam stands for success in this world and salvation in the
Hereafter. The Holy Qur’an has succinctly explained the difference between
these two distinct philosophies of life as follows:
“There
are men who say: ‘Our Lord! Give us (Thy bounties) in this world!’ But they
will have no portion in the Hereafter. And there are men who say: ‘Our Lord!
Give us good in this World and good in the Hereafter; and defend us from the
torment of the Fire!’ To these will be allotted what they have earned; And God
is quick in account.”
(S.II:
Al-Baqarah, 200-202).
Islam
in fact means the Way of Life that seeks to bring the human life as a whole
under the orbit of total submission to Allah. This is the course He has been
pleased to approve for mankind! :
“The
Religion before God is Islam (submission to His Will)”.
(S.III: Al-i-Imran, 19).
And
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to God), never will
it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who
have lost (all spiritual good).”
(S.III: Al-i-Imran, 85).
According
to Islam, the Sole Arbiter and Legislator for all the matters concerning human
life are Allah Subhanahu wa Taala and His Holy Prophet (PBUH). They are the
ultimate Criterion and the Judge to decide in anything concerning the Muslim
society, it may relate to the religious tenets, the social interaction, the
family relationships, the economic issues, the politics, the judiciary, the
domestic matters, or the international relations. God and His Apostle alone have
the authority to decide in matters concerning the Halal and Haram (the
Permissible and the Forbidden) in all spheres of human life. Iman, or Faith
means to surrender and give back this option about ‘do’s’ and
‘don’ts’ to the Lord. He who does not comprehend this point, has no real
understanding of Islam.
The
Holy Prophet (PBUH) has said: “A Believer is he, who subordinates his personal
whims and desires to the Guidance revealed unto me.”
When
one does that, his life mirrors the following verse of the Holy Quran:
“Say:
‘ Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death are (all)
for God, the Cherisher of the Worlds:
No partner hath He: This am I commanded, and I am the first of those who bow to
His Will’.”
(S.VI: Al-Anam,163-164).
The
purpose of this Religion, is on the one hand, to worship the Lord and seek His
Pleasure in respect of everything and on the other to establish the order of
justice and equity among the people and enrich the human life with goodness and
virtue as desired by Him:
“
We sent aforetime Our apostles with Clear Signs and sent down with them The Book
and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice”! .
(S.LVII: Al-Hadid, 25).
The
qualities of Iman (Faith) and Taqwa (Love and Fear of God) are responsible not
only for the spiritual growth and proximity with the Lord, but also for the
wellbeing of this material world. Allah Subhanahu wa Taala says:
“If the people of the towns had but believed and feared God, We should indeed
have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth”.
(S.VII: Al-A’raf, 96).
Islam
harnesses the world and its entire potentials for the benefit of the mankind.
This is what is meant by the ‘Vicegerancy of man’. The Holy Prophet (PBUH),
says that a Muslim is like the horse tied to the peg with a rope, with the
result that the parameters of his freedom are determined by the length of the
rope with which he has been tied. This means that human beings are definitely
free but their freedom is subject to the bounds determined for him by Allah
Subhanahu wa Taala and His Holy Prophet (PBUH). This is the difference between
the Believer and the Unbeliever. Islam is neither the religion of the Mullah;
nor can it be subordinated to the wishes of any Bush or Mush. It is the Eternal
and Universal Guidance, revealed by the Lord through His Apostle for the
humankind, and only that is authentic which has the sanction from the Lord and
His Holy Prophet (PBUH). This is the definition given by the Holy Qur’an of
those who believe and are worthy of Allah’s blessings. The Holy Book says:
“Those
who follow the Apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in
their own (Scriptures) , — in the Law and the Gospel; — For He commands them
what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is
good (and pure) and prohibits them from what is bad (and impure); he releases
them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them. So it is
those who believe in him, honor him, help him, and follow the Light, which is
sent down with him, — it is they who will prosper.
Say:
‘O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Apostle of God! , to whom belongs the
dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that
gives both life and death. So believe in God and His Apostle, the unlettered
Prophet, who believeth in God and his words; follow him that (so) ye may be
guided’.”
While
following this path, the man willingly surrenders the freedom of all his options
to the Will and Command of God and that is what Islam means:
“But
no, by thy Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make thee judge in
all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against thy
decisions, but accept them (obediently) with the fullest conviction.”
(S. IV: Al-Nisaa, 65).
It
is in the very essence of Islam and inherent in the character of a person as a
Muslim to totally and unconditionally surrender and accept whatever he has been
enjoined to do and stop from whatever he has been forbidden. And that is the
real manifestation of Taqwa:
“So
take what the Apostle assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he with
holds from you. And Fear God; for God is strict in punishment.”
(S. LIX: Al-Hashr, 7).
Islam:
Pakistan’s Future:
This
is the straight path of Allah that Islam guides us to follow. Those who follow
this path willingly and wholeheartedly are the true Believers. Islam is just
Islam. It has no particular version, neither that of the Mullah, nor that of
Musharraf or Bush. It cannot be tailored to fit in the whims of a whimsical, or
the trend of a tyrant. It is the path to which the humanity has been guided by
the Prophet of Islam Sayyidna Muhammad (PBUH) and has to be followed in letters
and spirit till eternity. It is a universal and everlasting truth that accepts
no adulteration or arbitrary admixture. A Muslim is he who is firm in his words
and deeds according to the demands of the Qur’an and the Sunnah and deviates
not an inch from the right track, whether somebody calls him an extremist, or a
fundamentalist. The Muslims are ‘Ummat-e-Wasat’, or a ‘Nation Justly
Balanced’ and Islam is the path of Justice and Moderation. But this is the
moderation that has been pre-determined and well-defined by Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta’ala and the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Any attempt to mutilate its teachings by
any Tom, Dick, or Harry of this world is not ‘Moderation’— It is
Distortion and Deviation.
In
the backdrop of these established principles and historically determined facts,
it is unfortunate to see how audaciously General Pervez Musharraf refers to the
divine injunctions and the Islamic principles while propagating in favor of his
borrowed philosophy of ‘Enlightened Moderation’: “He said that ‘Pakistan
was a country of moderates, including Muslims and others. …. We don’t need
extremist Mullas: Neither does Islam. The government would not allow anyone to
impose self styled Islamic values such as wearing veils, or beards, but nobody
would be restrained from veils and beard either’. President Musharraf vowed
that extremism would not be tolerated in Pakistan at all costs.” (Daily Times,
December 18, 2004).
In
the garb of their verbiage against Mullas, those who try to belittle the Islamic
teachings and symbols perhaps believe that their venomous outbursts would be
taken as ‘enlightened moderation’. If someone thinks that under the smoke
screen of the dust raised against extremism he can make such outbursts against
the well-established social norms, moral values and religious injunctions
publicly acceptable, he should be well advised to recall what the Former US
Senator Barry Goldwater had said:
“
I would remind you that extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice, and let
me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
To
conclude, we may add that Islam is just one and only one, the Islam of Sayyidna
Muhammad (PBUH). The Muslim community of Pakistan, as also the entire Muslim
Ummah, regards this Islam as the Religion of Truth. It would never permit
anybody — Mullah, Musharraf or Bush— to distort the glorious image of Islam
to suit his own whims. All such attempts made in the past remained utter failure
and any such attempt today, or in future, is also destined to fall flat. This is
what has been promised by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, for it is He Who has sent
down His glorious message for the guidance of His subjects and it is He Who has
taken upon Himself to safeguard it till eternity:
“We
have, without doubt sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from
corruption).”
(S. XV: Al-Hijr, 9).
“Their
intention is to extinguish God’s Light (by blowing) with their mouths: But God
will complete (the revelation of) His Light, even though the Unbelievers may
detest (it).”
(S. LXI: Al-Saff, 8).
-------------------------------
Jawed Anwar
Editor in Chief
Muslims Weekly