By Sultan Shahin, Founder-Editor, New Age Islam
31 October 2019
It is only natural for Muslims in India to be a
little anxious as the country awaits the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri
Masjid-Ram Janam Bhoomi dispute at Ayodhya to be delivered in a few days. A
variety of rumours are floating which do not bear repetition in any responsible
section of our media. But these are making many Muslims restive.
However, every challenge is
also an opportunity. The demolition of Babri masjid on 6 December 1992
presented Muslims with an opportunity. Now that the masjid was no more and
Muslims do not worship bricks and mortar or plots of land, they could have
forgiven the miscreants who demolished the mosque and moved on, gifting the land for building a temple. I
made this point in an article entitled “Opportunity for Muslims,” published by
The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, on 13 Jan 1995. This was reproduced on
NewAgeIslam.com on July 1, 2009.
Let me give you here some relevant excerpts from this article
written almost 25 years ago.
“… This brings me to my main plea—forgiveness. Forgiveness is the
essence of both the Muslim and Hindu spiritual traditions. It is the only way
out of the vicious and very debilitating grip of bad karma. It is our belief
that one has to always pay individual or collective karmic debts in this or any
subsequent incarnations or on the Day of Judgement. Both Hindu and Muslim
spiritual traditions consider God as the greatest teacher, this world a great
school, the events that involve us in this mayajaal (illusionary world)
as messages.
“What could this Great Teacher be teaching us in this section
of the school through the great Babri Masjid-Ram Janam-bhoomi drama? Perhaps
the all-important lesson of forgiveness. It may take us years, decades,
centuries or millennia to learn this lesson. But learn we will. There is no
escaping. God is a very determined teacher. We have the option to learn the
lesson now. Let us exercise it.”
Then I had gone on to conclude: “…. If this mutual forgiveness and
reconciliation does not take place — and if present Hindu and Muslim leaders
are considered representatives of their respective communities, it is not
likely to happen — ordinary people of both communities must make their presence
felt and come out openly for peace at all costs. If that too does not happen,
we Muslims should thank God for providing us with this unique opportunity to
exercise our option of forgiveness and making a gift of a piece of God’s land
on the specific condition that it be used for nothing but building a place of
worship, so that its sanctity is maintained.
I know this is not going to be easy. Forgiveness is never
easy, except for the spiritually evolved. But I don’t think we have any other
option. We have many things, important things to do. We cannot afford to remain
embroiled in inconsequential disputes. The renowned Islamic scholar, Maulana
Ali Mian Nadwi had reacted to the opening of Babri Masjid locks (for all Hindu
worshippers by Rajiv Gandhi government on 1 February 1986) the following day in these very sensible words: “Many mosques
are in the possession of other people.” And indeed, they are.
“There were many mosques in East Punjab of the pre-Partition
days? But very few are left as mosques today? A Punjabi Hindu friend of mine
complained of so many mosques having been converted into gurudwaras and
temples. His Muslim friend (not me, some great soul) reacted: “But they are
still places of worship. There is only one God, after all. No matter what you
believe in, you cannot but worship the same God.” Amen.”
However, guided by short-sighted, self-styled leaders as they are,
Muslims did not take that opportunity. Now another opportunity beckons. The
highest court in the land is about to give its final judgement. First of all,
Muslims should make it clear that they would abide by the judgement and accept
it willingly no matter what the verdict is. This is what out leaders have
already done. But this bears repetition, particularly in view of the divisive,
almost Rwandan nature of most of the
media, print, electronic and social that has taken control of nearly all means
of communication in north India. Unfortunately, some ignorant, greedy Mullahs
too participate in the cockfights at prime time that go in the name of
television debates, giving legitimacy to the palpable efforts to divide the
society. The very least Muslims could have done to combat this national
security threat was to socially boycott those treacherous Juhalawho are
respectfully called Ulama by our media. But this is a subject for another day.
The silver lining in these darkening clouds is that the secular, pluralistic
foundations of Indian society are too deep to be shaken by these charlatans who
are projected by the media as representatives of the Muslim community. The
credit for pluralism in our society, I must add, goes largely to the
broadmindedness of Hinduism that is willing to accommodate all religions.
Another
reason Muslims should reiterate their faith in the Supreme Court
now is that they have already committed once the cardinal mistake of
pressurising a government to overturn a Supreme Court judgement
delivered on 23
April 1985,based on the compassionate
nature of Islam as the judges understood our religion. The Supreme Court
invoked Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure, which applies to
everyone regardless of caste, creed, or religion to rule that a divorced
Muslim
lady with no means of sustenance, 70-year-old Shah Bano, be given maintenance money, similar to alimony.
Supreme Court concluded that "there is no conflict between the provisions
of section 125 and those of the Muslim Personal Law on the question of the
Muslim husband's obligation to provide maintenance for a divorced wife who is
unable to maintain herself."
Considering the Holy
Quran as the greatest authority on the subject, the
court held that there was no doubt that the Quran imposes an obligation on the
Muslim husband to make provision for or to provide maintenance to the divorced
wife. But the Muslim leadership, both Mullah and non-Mullah, refused to accept
it.
With this background, it is imperative that Muslims reiterate repeatedly
their faith in the Supreme Court and declare that they will accept the
judgement even if it goes against them, as this is the highest court in the
land.
This also accords well with
the exhortations in Quran and Hadith.
All schools of Islamic thought accept that Islam requires Muslims to be
loyal to their country’s institutions, regardless of the ruler’s faith. The
Holy Quran states, “O ye who believe, obey Allah and obey the Prophet and obey
those in authority from among you” (4:60). Prophet Muhammad declared, “Whoso obeys
the ruler obeys me, and whoso disobeys the ruler disobeys me” (Muslim); “Listen
to and obey your ruler, even if you [despise him]” (Bukhari).
Prophet Muhammad and his
few followers endured bitter persecution for about 12 years in Mecca. But they
did not defy the Meccan Establishment. They peacefully left Mecca, following
the Quranic ruling, “Create not disorder in the earth” (2:13). Indeed, Islam not only requires Muslims
to obey their government, but also to love their country. In a well-known
Hadith, Prophet Muhammad instructed, “Love of one’s country is a part of faith”
(Sakhavi; Safinat al-Bihar, vol. 8, pg. 525; Mizan al-Hikmah, Hadith # 21928).
Secondly, it is time Muslims use the next few days to
introspect and consider what they would do if the judgement comes in their
favour. It’s not just that they will find it impossible to build a mosque on
that plot of land in the present atmosphere of heightened tensions and shrill
Hindu demands and preparations to build a temple on that plot of land where the
masjid stood for nearly five centuries. The important question is: is it even
necessary for Muslims to do so. Babri mosque was a heritage building. Like the
Bamiyan Budhas in Afghanistan, it is now lost for ever. It simply cannot be
rebuilt. So common sense dictates that Muslims donate this piece of land for
the building of the temple that our Hindu brothers and sisters want so badly.
The argument that the faith in Lord Rama having been born exactly on that spot
is a manufactured faith does not hold water. It doesn’t matter how a faith has
taken hold. Now it is the Faith, and as Muslims themselves demand that their
Faith, even the irrational parts of it, is given due deference, they too should
respect the Faith of others regardless of its historical validity.URL: http://www.newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/sultan-shahin,-founder-editor,-new-age-islam/demolished-babri-masjid—proposed-ram-janambhoomi-mandir-dispute--another-opportunity-for-minority-muslims-to-earn-hindu-majority’s-goodwill/d/120132
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9:12 AM
Moderate Islamist here
