Enemies are distorting the Image of Islam
And we are maligning the Mullahs!
By Shah N. Khan
Quite a few people in the educated class refer to Mullas as
ignorant narrow minded and backward individual who have
divided the Ummah in over 72 sects. As a religious leader
they get respect only in mosque at the time of leading the
prayers. Generally most of Pesh Imams lead an austere life in
accomodations provided by the mosque which depends on charity.
The fact is that mastering the Tafsir, Ahadees and Fiqah
requires much higher IQ than that a lawyer or a doctor. It is
amazing that at tender age boys become Hafiz memorizing the
entire Quran.
The problem with most of the finest religious schools has been
that they were not teaching English and Science. Thus most of
them remain aloof of the main economic and social stream of
modern life. The other problem has been that mosques and
Madarssahs have been established in practically every mohalla
mostly on Government or even private land by encroachment
and mosques of irregular sizes are built. In various mosques
illegal power and water connections were obtained for
which no bill were/are paid.
Most of the Maulvis in these mush room type of schools happen
to be self appointed and semi-literate or even illiterate.
They have tarnished The image of our Ulema. But the facts are:
-
A qualified Pesh Imam well versed with Ahadees, Tafsir and
Fiqah has as good IQ as any other graduate. -
All of them are not fanatics like Mullah Omer.
-
Western Education does not make you perfect. Consider that it
could not remove fanaticism from the minds of Osama Bin Laden
Alzhawari though they were educated in the West. -
You are ignorant unless you have read and understood Holy
Quran. -
It is your religious duty to respect those who are pious
and lead you in prayer. They deserve your help and assistance in
adjusting with those aspects of modern living with which they
may not be familiar or that which do not come under the
purview of their expertise. -
After all “Education is a progressive discovery of our own
ignorance.” as stated by Will Durant -
Holy Prophet (SWS) and Hazrat Ali (RA) have laid great
emphsis on acquisition of knowledge. And we are advised to go
far away lands if necessary for acquisition of knowledge.
It is gratifying to note that religious education is being
reformed by equipping the Madarssah to generate that kind of
literacy that could enable our people to keep pace with the
fast developing world and to prepare young men to go in the
main economic stream of life by earning decent income by
constructive work. Not everybody can be accommodated to work
as Pesh Imam. Moreover most of Pesh Imams lead a very austere
life on charity. In most cases that makes the young man to
join Jehadi groups, as they can’t find any other work or means
for living!
It is a sad fact that in most of the madarssahs students learn
Holy Quran like a parrot without proper understanding as they
neither know Arabic nor any proper Tafsir is taught to them.
There is no proper syllabus. In most cases they interpret Holy
Quran literally isolating verses out of context and without
knowing the reason or background of revelations. Some of the
verses relating to Ghazwas or treatment to non-muslims are
often misinterpreted deliberately by those who want to exploit
young men for their selfish ends. Few students realize that
Islam as a religion has its roots in the teachings of Abraham,
Moses, Isa (Jesus) and other prophets of the God Almighty who
sent Mohammed as His last Prophet with complete guidance to
establish the moral, spiritual and material values and to
show the right path.
The concept of Jehad is still misunderstood not only in the West
but also by a few Muslims -specially those struggling for freedom
or who have been victim of human right abuses by their rulers.
Although suicide is prohibited, martyrdom in the course of Jihad
is matter of great honor to be rewarded by Allah by a special
place in paradise. Volunteering for suicide squads is not
unique to Arabs. In many other countries like Japan, Vietnam,
Cambodia etc such spirit is seen.
Few students in Madarssahs know that Jihad, in Islam, means the
spiritual struggle against evil. The struggle can be by the heart,
the tongue, the hand, and the sword. These refer to the inner,
spiritual war of the heart against vice, passion, and ignorance;
spreading the word of Islam with one’s tongue; choosing to do
good and avoiding evil with one’s hand. Jihad also means a full
fledged war as declared by the state to defend the sovereignty or
repulse threat to the state’s freedom, security or religion.
Our Ulema and all of us must realize that in this modern age
interdependence of the nations is growing as that helps in
establishing peace and flourishing trade and prosperity. Free
trade is recognized by the economists as a measure of alleviating
poverty by lowering production cost by producing only those goods
that they can produce with Maximum possible advantage and
exchange with the other countries.
Islamic world is very much dependent on the West not only for
Marketing their own raw material and products but also
acquisition of knowledge and expertise in technology, medicine
etc. The Western countries are inhabited predominantly by
Christians, but are secular states where people of different
faiths including Muslims live in harmony and peace and enjoy
freedom.
Zionists due to their clever maneuvering have been able to win
their hearts so much so that illegal occupation of Jerusalem
and other Arab lands are being supported by the West.
On the other hand the fanatics like Osama Bin Laden are creating
a bad impression about Islam. Quite a few people in the West
tend to believe that Muslims want to destroy their freedom and
culture and do not tolerate people of other faith. Web sites
have been launched to propagate that Islam is a religion of
violence and intolerance. There appear to be some secret agents
at work who pose as Muslims but distribute provocative material
to portray Islam as a religion of hate and violence. There are
of course some misguided soles who had distorted concept of
Jihad and against whom President Musharraf has taken action.
It is not the responsibility of Ulemas alone to recreate the
image of Islam as a religion of peace. Muslims in all walks of
life would have to contribute by their actions and deed but
pivotal role would have to be played by The Ministry of
Religious Affairs in coordinating efforts with OIC.
.::. ¢¼ ﷲ ﻼﺃ ﷲﺃ ﻶ ¢¼ .::.