Rethinking Islam with Sultan Shahin

Urdu Section

15 Jun 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

	The Demand for Ban on Bible in Pakistan
	[New Age Islam is posting an English translation of an article (along with the original) by a Pakistan aalim Maulana Mohammad Azhar who opposes the ban on Bible demanded by other Mullas. He says there is no such precedent in Islamic history and so it is needless despite the provocations in the Bible. Such a demand was not made even in the times of the Prophet or his companions or their descendents, he points out. He is also afraid of the reaction of the world Christian community that may lead to banning of the publication of the holy Quran in those countries which will hamper the work of Dawah. – Editor] Christians’ and Jews’ centuries-old hostility for Islam is well known. According to Quran, the present age is the age “when they have a great deal of hatred and jealousy in their heart and will always speak against Islam”. This animosity has come in front of us in the form of blasphemy against Allah and Prophet (PBUH). In comparison to them Muslims take blasphemy against Jesus Christ and Moses as a ‘Kufr’ (disbelief in Islam). This way the Muslims take the denigration of prophets in the Bible as blasphemy. They know the Bible contains deviations; even then they respect it and do not bear its denigration. -- Maulana Mohammad Azhar (Translated from Urdu by Arman Neyazi, NewAgeIslam.com)

The Demand for Ban on Bible in Pakistan

By Maulana Mohammad Azhar Translated from Urdu by Arman Neyazi, NewAgeIslam.com ------------------- [New Age Islam is posting an English translation of an article (along with the original) by a Pakistan aalim Maulana Mohammad Azhar who opposes the ban on Bible demanded by other Mullas. He says there is no such precedent in Islamic history and so it is needless despite the provocations in the Bible. Such a demand was not made even in the times of the Prophet or his companions or their descendents, he points out. He is also afraid of the reaction of the world Christian community that may lead to banning of the publication of the holy Quran in those countries which will hamper the work of Dawah. – Editor] ------------------ Maulana Abdur Rauf Farooqui, Central Secretary General, Jamiat Ulema e Islam (S) has demanded that Chief Justice of Pakistan to take note, under Section 295 C, and ban the Bible considering it part of blasphemous literature as it contains the most blasphemous and denigrating essays for the revered prophets of Islam (AS), according to the Daily Islam. Maulana Abdur Rab Amjad, Allama Zaheeruddin Babar, Maulana Mujeebur Rahman Inquilabi, Maulana Asad Farooqui, former Priest Shafquat, Maulana Azeem Hussain, Maulana Mahmood ur Rashid Hadouti and Maulana Mohammad Aasim Makhdoom were present in the press conference (“Islam” 31st May 2011). The Islamic scholars further said that they have formed a panel of advocates to prepare a writ petition which will be lodged in Supreme Court if the Chief Justice did not take notice of it himself and the Christian Church will be provided an opportunity to defend. As far as blasphemous articles in the Bible are concerned, no doubt, these are so disrespectful that even copying them seems blasphemous. The moral deprivation which one would not ascribe even to an ordinary person has been used to describe, without any semblance of hesitation, for the exalted prophets of the Almighty Allah. This is the proof of the present Bible being distorted. Just see one reference, Hazrat Yaqu’ub (AS) is told: Genesis 32:-28 New King James Version (NKJV) “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;[a] for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Can anyone struggle with God and prevail! And this is written about a prophet. This is a clear proof of these lines having been written by a man and inserted into the Bible. There is no doubt that such denigrating sentences are very painful to go through; but demanding a ban on the Bible for this and going in a court of law requires a lot of rethinking as far as I am concerned. Christians’ and Jews’ centuries-old hostility for Islam is well known. According to Quran, the present age is the age “when they have a great deal of hatred and jealousy in their heart and will always speak against Islam”. This animosity has come in front of us in the form of blasphemy against Allah and Prophet (PBUH). In comparison to them Muslims take blasphemy against Jesus Christ and Moses as a ‘Kufr’ (disbelief in Islam). This way the Muslims take the denigration of prophets in the Bible as blasphemy. They know the Bible contains deviations; even then they respect it and do not bear its denigration. These books were there even during the age of the companions of the Prophet and their second and third generations but there is no proof, as per my knowledge, of any ban on them in the history of Islam. These books have not been banned by any Muslim Quazi (Judge). Jews and Christians lived in Islamic rule as a minority for centuries. They have had total religious freedom. Their churches and religious places remained protected. If these books were not banned or burnt in the times of the companions of the Prophet, why should a band be imposed now, where is the need for doing this? As per Shari’ah, before taking any step for the elimination of an evil, it is necessary to be sure that the evil will be eliminated forever. If it is in the context of elimination of the evil, the step must be taken; otherwise steps should be taken to create a better atmosphere. It is against the Shari’ah that a new evil is born in the course of the elimination an evil. Now the question is as to how much is it expected that the Chief Justice of Pakistan will take suo motto action and, putting Bible in the list of blasphemous literature, will ban it? As far as I am concerned there is no such possibility at all. Another course of action is that a writ petition is filed in the Supreme Court. Will the Supreme Court ban the Bible on a writ petition? If we get very optimistic, we can be 10% sure of the book being banned. And then it is also very important to see as to what will be the reaction of the countries of non-believers. Will the Jews and Christians not talk of banning the Quran, Ma’az Allah? An accursed Christian priest has already given inflammatory speeches and demanded filing a case against the Quran. If the Muslims will ban the Bible, Christian priests will be easily able to convince the Christians to ban the Holy Quran. One must also take into consideration the fact that whenever a Jew or a Christian has done a comparative study of Quran and Bible, he or she has embraced Islam. We have the examples of Muhammad Asad (formerly an Austrian Jew Leopold Weiss), Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall (born in England as Marmaduke William Pickthall), and a member of British royal family William Henry Quilliam (who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam) who embraced Islam after making a comparative study of the Quran. We have to take into consideration whether it will be a loss for us or not from a religious point of view if in response to any of our steps like banning Bible; publishing of Quran is also stopped in the land of kufr (unbelief). Our great scholars of Islam have always competed with Christianity as a scholar with answers to every question of Christian scholars. Reasoning and providing evidence are the only ways one can defeat them with. One should neither denigrate any religious book by banning it nor can any one be forced to embrace a religion. The Ulema-e-Karam (revered Islamic religious scholars) who have decided to file a writ petition in the Supreme court are far superior in knowledge and status than students like me. But the fact remains that there are many more Ulema e Keram in Pakistan with even greater knowledge and even higher status than the ones whose names have been published in regard to filing a writ petition for banning the Bible. Have these revered Ulema been consulted on such an important issue? If they are also in favour of banning the Bible, why only the names of Ulema of second and third level have been brought in the open? The objective of these questions from a minor student like me is to ask if we are prepared to face the strong reaction from the Christians in response to the banning of the Bible and to make sure whether this step is according to Shari’ah law or not. URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=4835