A sane voice from Ajmer

The Sajjada-Nashin (religious head) of Dargah Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan has expressed serious resentment towards the film-makers, directors and actors, who visit the shrine just for the success of their films, seek blessings and express their devotion to the Khawaja. In a formal statement on Sunday, July 22, he said that dance and films are taboo in Islam and cinema in general today is promoting obscenity, which is a major reason behind the rapid degradation of moral values in the society. Thus visits by film stars to the shrine are highly objectionable and highly intolerable. The Sajjada-Nashin expressed surprise on the quietude the Ulama and Muslim scholars have been maintaining on the issue, and appealed to them to take notice of this evil like other evils and issue orders as per Islamic Shari’ah. The Dewan of Dargah also said that he had apprised the Ulama of his views before releasing his statement, and that they had agreed to his views (The Indian Express, with reference to PTI, July 23). Some other newspapers also published this statement.

Representation of rightly-guided Muslims It can be said with certainty that this is a sane and extraordinary statement that represents the feelings of all rightly-guided Muslims. The fact remains that people have made khanquahs and dargahs of Muslim saints, like the shrines of other religions, the source of fulfilment of their due and undue wishes. Besides simpleton Muslims, a very large number of Non-Muslims visit these dargahs to get their wishes fulfilled. Along with the proper wishes including those for children, cure for illnesses, success in genuine legal cases and protection from enemies, there are also undue and unlawful wishes for wealth, fame, success in election, progress in illegal business, and success of films. Khadims do receive plenty of wealth in the form of offerings at dargahs from these people. This is why the managers of dargahs bear this wrong with silence, rather most often encourage it. Perhaps this is the first time that the Sajjada-Nashin of the country’s most famous Dargah has raised his voice against a dangerous trend. He wants, and rightly so, that the Ulama and Muslim intellectuals come forward to right this wrong.

Knowledgeable persons knowThose having a close eye on the ups and downs in the history of Islam are aware of the fact that when, the Rightly-Guided Caliphate followed the era of monarchy, the powers-that-be started paying less attention to the Islamic Dawah. Thinkers and knowledgeable persons started undertaking this obligation on their own. And a time came when Dawah and propagation centred entirely around the Islamic saints and their khanquahs. These khanquahs used to be open to all human beings. Non-Muslims as well as Muslims used to be benefited with them. The teachings of these saints were purely Islamic, and there was not even a bit of anything alien. These teachings influenced Non-Muslims also, and they came to the fold of Islam in large numbers. In India, the lives of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin and other saints and sages tell us that none of their teachings and deeds stood against Shari’ah. But, with the anti-Islam activities of later people, the image of khanquahs started being affected and the situation came to such a sorry pass as Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan has pointed out. But the Sajjada-Nashins of khanquahs and dargahs should also see how much is the part of their negligence in causing this situation, and when and where the rot started.

28/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

A bizarre cause of murder

Recently a piece of news of bizarre nature has come from Thane in Maharashtra. A 42-year-old college professor killed his 32-year-old wife with a sharp-edged weapon in a fit of rage. His wife too was a professor. The professor also killed his 9-year-old daughter in the same manner. Then he tried to commit suicide. Before the attack he pushed out his 15-year-old son from the room, according to the police, fearing the latter would resist the attack. It is said that there was no smooth sailing between the husband and wife. They often picked quarrels. The night of July 2 also witnessed a quarrel (between the two). – Spousal quarrel is common in the Indian society. Such incidents make headlines in newspapers but most of these incidents take place in the lower section of society. A man is a drunkard, commits evil deeds; when the woman objects to it, it is not quite unusual for the drunkard husband to do so. Or, there is poverty and the man is lazy and unemployed. Sometimes either husband’s or wife’s too much leaning towards his/her parents or relations also gives way to this crime. At times dowry or property disputes also cause the same situation. But the Thane incident does not fall in any one of these categories. Here is a bizarre cause of its own nature though not unique.

Cheap purpose of receiving education

According to the police investigation, this professor named Sanjay Umbarkar is a professor of Arts while his wife Swati was a professor of Science in a college. Umbarkar was jealous of his wife and was suffering from some inferiority complex. For, in comparison to him, his wife had a bright career, and in this sense she was ahead of him. The cause of the professor’s rage and act of murder was this (The Hindu, July 4). It is obvious that such an incident is a subject of social scientists and experts in human psychology. Hundreds of books in the various languages are available on this subject; lectures and seminars (on the subject) are also arranged. Babas and gurus also appear on TV channels, sermonising on the subject. But their impact is not seen in the society in proportion to the frequency of such programmes. – And the major cause of their not leaving any impact on society is man’s materialistic attitude towards life. If the cause of the Thane incident is the same as has been reported in the newspapers, it unfolds many aspects into light. Cheap purpose of receiving education: the majority of people today get education merely to lead a pleasant life, but this education does not create high moral values in them and cannot stop them from committing crimes.

Let social scientists take notice of it

It is crystal clear that the professor of Thane was an educated person. But his being educated could not stop him from killing his wife and innocent daughter on a trivial matter. If the woman was suffering from some superiority complex, used to influence her husband with her science education and heftier salary, and taunt him, it is a rather more serious issue, which the experts should take notice of. Moral education is present in some way or the other right from primary class to higher classes in colleges even today; but this education is ineffective. Total focus is on career-making and thus on making life materially pleasant. Though this purpose of life has been in vogue since independence, the materialistic economic system has increased it. No one is free from it. This mentality is found in (the followers of) every religion and every social unit. Even the individuals and families of the community that has been blessed with high moral status in the various societies are not exempted. – This scenario can be changed by inculcating the fear of Allah in human beings and creating real mutual love among families, and only responsible Muslim organisations can do this work. They should widen the area of their social reform work.

24/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

Why did the democratic world remain unconcerned?

All the informed persons might have felt that the western world had no particular interest in the recent general elections in Egypt. And this is a matter of surprise, for the western countries, and their leader America in particular, want to see popular democracy thriving in the world. They want to establish democracy where it is nonexistent. In this view America and all its democratic allies should have welcomed the establishment of democracy in Egypt but the world witnessed they didn’t. These democratic countries remained either unconcerned with the situations developing over there after the dethroning of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt or active in putting obstacles in the rise of democracy and keeping the army remainders of Mubarak regime there. This was nothing new or unexpected. America wants democracy in the entire world except in Muslim countries; for it knows quite well that allowing democracy in Muslim countries means coming of Islamic forces in power. It tolerates democracy in Muslim countries only in the condition that its like-minded persons come in power there, for example Pakistan and Bangladesh. It wanted the same in Egypt too; it tried hard for it, weaved the web of conspiracies, exploited international media, but its success remained elusive.

The history of opposite forcesAlgeria was freed from the clutches of France 50 years ago; Islamic parties were about to be declared winner in democratic elections; the western forces did tolerate communism but did not let the Islamic forces rise even with democratic means. When the Bosnian leader Alija Ali Izetbegovic announced that the governance based on Islamic principles will be established there, the entire west felt jolted. The mere statement of Sudanese ruler Omar al-Bashir that while South Sudan has separated he would implement Shari’ah laws in the Sudan, worried the anti-Islam forces. In the Sudan, there is army rule; so the west has a lot to speak against it; but the case in Egypt is entirely different. Islam-loving forces have come in power with purely western democratic ways, but the anti-Islam forces in the west and their eastern comrades are passing sleepless nights, thinking what would happen now and how to stop Ikhwan al-Muslimoon from getting strengthened over there. – The fact remains that the future of anti-Islam forces in Egypt is at stake. – They consider it an important stage in the war of civilizations, according to the theory of Huntington. To them the real thing here is culture rather culture is everything, religion is something secondary.

It is a question of life and death there
And it can be said that to the westerners it is a clash of two systems of life. But, if seen in the context of Egypt, there is a basic difference. On the one hand, there is the Islamic Movement, nothing of which is at stake. It has nothing to lose. So, God forbid, if some unpleasant situation takes place, the most it will happen is that the progress will come to a halt. But, if the experiment succeeds, it would be a question of life and death for the western forces. Well-meaning but simpleton persons ask as to why America does not want to see the rule of Islam-loving persons in any Muslim country so much so that it does not want to see them in power even by means of western democratic methods. The answer is that America and all anti-Islam forces are well aware, in certain cases more than Muslims, of the moral force of Islam, its strength of faith and propriety of its way of life.  So they are afraid that if it (Islamic way of governance) is allowed to flourish, it would be impossible to halt its spread; so nip it in the bud. – But it is obvious how long it will continue. If anti-Islam forces have their plans, Allah too has His Plan as He is khairul makireen (the best of planners).

22/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

Two astonishing news items from London

There are two astonishing news items from London; they are related to two astounding discoveries. First news is related to the discovery of a particle or atom; it has come from Geneva besides London and has found place in detail in the newspapers of 3^rd and 4^th July. According to it, British scientists have discovered a particle that proves the existence of God. It has been named “God-particle”. The other news that came on 5^th July and was published in newspapers on 6^th July says that the British government has imposed ban on “Indian Mujahideen”. It is obvious that before imposing the ban they must have discovered it like “God-particle”. Without proving its existence, how could they have banned it? It is rather difficult for us to understand the discovery of “God-particle” as it is related to physics and atomic science. However, the discovery of “Indian Mujahideen” is indeed a subject of interest for us because despite our best efforts we could not find any trace of this group in our country notwithstanding the efforts of Indian police and media to convince us about the presence of this group for the last four years.
 
Why it was created
Indian police created “Indian Mujahideen” in September 2008 when devastating blasts had shaken many cities and the Batla House “encounter” had also taken place. The police felt the need of this name perhaps because people were fed up to hear the names of “Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, SIMI” and “HuJI”. Thus, like many other groups, this group too was imaginary. But the police and media were parroting this name with so much reverberation and seriousness that it was thought for a while that this group might be present. Therefore Muslim organisations and human rights groups started searching for Indian Mujahideen on their own. They asked the police and media reporters repeatedly to provide evidence of this group but they did not budge. – We the Indian Muslims are searching for “Indian Mujahideen” because, if found, we would ask them what enmity they have with Islam and Muslim Ummah that they are defaming Islam and worrying the Ummah with their activities. Not to say of their activities benefiting Islam and Muslim Ummah in any way, rather they are harming them. The enemies of Islam and Muslims are benefiting with this name.

The objective of Britain’s ban

The news from London initially gave a bit of satisfaction that “Indian Mujahideen” was discovered at last. But on going into its details it could be known that Britain has no direct threat from this group; nor has any act of violence been attributed to it. The British government has taken this move on the basis of reports of acts of violence taking place in India. All these reports were provided for them by the Indian agencies. – And thus the existence of Indian Mujahideen could not be proved this time too. – The method of proving the existence of “Indian Mujahideen” here in our country is that the police arrest a person and make an announcement that he is related to “Indian Mujahideen” or else seizes some “documents” in a raid and announces that the house raided was an office of “Indian Mujahideen”. Simpleton public simply believes and the media sensationalises its reports to further strengthen people’s belief. Thus, along with the creation of this group the police recruits its members as well. – However Britain’s ban on an imaginary group might have its own objective. And this is Home Office Minister James Brokenshire’s statement that “this group wants to establish Islamic state in India with the use of violence”. It is as if the objective of this discovery is to frighten the world with an Islamic state.

13/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

The witness of an insider

“It appears that when it comes to reporting or writing on jihadi terror, anything goes - bogus insights, half-truths or red herrings supplied by anonymous sources and, significantly, content that can only be called Islamo-babble. Some of the reports that followed the arrest of Abu Jundal last week fell under one or all of these categories. Take for instance a masterpiece carried in a national daily which claimed to have decoded 'the method behind the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's madness'. This terror code is - hold your breath - that a majority of LeT men took the pseudonym 'Abu': Abu Jundal, Abu Hamza, Abu Mujahid etc…. This analysis of terrorism has its roots in the American efforts to understand it in the aftermath of 9/ 11. 'Experts' threw around words like Ummah and Kafir, as if men donning beards and skull caps have an urge to blow themselves up at their very mention….”

On the voice of conscienceThese feelings are not of some media-affected Muslim but of a reporter and analyst who is from among those reporters and commentators and work with them. This reporter is Aditya Menon, who works for English daily Mail Today, and is well aware of the machinations of media. In his brief analysis (July 2), as newspaper readers might have felt, he has painted a picture of the ground reality, which only informed Muslims see and feel and also get irritated at this waywardness of media; and, when feel an urge to write, they present their feelings at the most in the columns of Urdu newspapers. But after the outburst on the subject by Press Council chairman Justice Markandey Katju this is the first time that an English daily reporter has commented on the behaviour of his own flock in an undaunted manner. This can be termed as the voice of conscience besides the witness of an insider. After an act of violence takes place, the media first immediately names some Muslim individual or so-called organisation, then tries to weave the thread and thus build a mountain of lies which can be seen only in the TV serials based on Hindu mythology.

Who are these “unknown” sources?The truthfulness of Aditya Menon gives a sense of satisfaction that there are some men of conscience in English journalism. However, Aditya and other journalists like him should know that nothing like “jihadi terrorism” or “Islamic terror” exists at all. These terminologies are the concoctions of those who get these fake reports prepared. It is they who get the acts of violence perpetrated to defame Islam and Muslims. Further, the thread of this campaign, as Aditya writes himself, is rooted in the American campaign viz. whatever is happening in India is part of the American campaign…. And Aditya knows better than us who these unknown sources are. They are the agents of police and secret agencies. Therefore not only journalists but also these agencies are unjust and untrustworthy. Rather basically these agencies and the government minds that devise policies for them are behind this campaign. If Aditya Menon and some other journalists like him work on this line, many eye-opening realities will unfold to them, and the real purpose of this international campaign will come to light. When Aditya can reveal untrustworthy journalists, it would not be improper to expect of him to do this work.

10/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

Revelations of the Former President

Nowadays there is much ado in media and political circles about former President Dr. Abdul Kalam’s autobiography, “Turning Points”, in which, besides making many revelations of political implication, he has also revealed that after the 2002 riots in Gujarat he wanted to pay a visit to the state but the then Atal Behari Vajpayee administration was not in favour of it. And when in 2004 he made up his mind on his own to visit the state and informed the Prime Minister to this effect, the latter advised him to keep off it for the time being. The Prime Minister asked the President, “Do you consider going to Gujarat at this time essential?” Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that despite this apathy of the Prime Minister he made up his mind to visit Gujarat but he had to face many questions from political and bureaucratic circles besides the Prime Minister’s Office. However, Dr. Kalam did visit Gujarat, which according to him was his bounden duty. – People have been commenting from many angles on this revelation of the former President. Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said, “It makes one wonder if there was any seriousness about the rajdharma statement...was it only for public consumption?” (The Times of India, July 1) Vajpayee made this rajdharma statement at a public meeting in Ahmedabad on 4^th April, 2022.

What really happened

It so happened that at that time Mr. Vajpayee had just views on the Gujarat incident. Having heard the news of burning of a train bogey at Godhra on 27^th February 2002, he made a very harsh statement against the movement of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and appealed to the Parishad to stop the temple movement forthwith. This statement of the Prime Minister was heard in the 4 p.m. bulletin of All India Radio on 27^th February 2002 but it was never heard again. – The government of Gujarat and BJP circles severely reacted against his rajdharma statement. Therefore, addressing a meeting of a forum of the party at Goa only a week later, he made a provocative speech against Muslims, which pleased the supporters of Gujarat riots. – In fact Mr. Vajpayee is a free-thinking person; he did want to make his party liberal in certain issues; during his regime he did try to better the relations with Pakistan. But he had never been in a position to exert influence on the party. A weak aspect of his political career has been that he did not get rid of the party even after having failed in running it on his line; rather just to remain in the saddle he kept on following the line set by the hardcore leaders of the BJP.

 One more surprising issue

One more surprising issue was there related to Gujarat. Lal Krishna Advani was Home Minister, and also an M.P. from Gandhinagar. He should have rushed to Gujarat after having heard the news of train burning but he did not budge. He sent Defence Minister George Fernandes, who was a BJP agent in Janta Dal (U). Even after that, whenever the issue of Home Minister’s visit to the state was raised, Mr. Advani sent Fernandes. He never visited Gujarat for this purpose. Prime Minister Vajpayee also failed in sending him. Certain commentators rightly drew a conclusion from this that the massacre in Gujarat was planned, and the burning of the train was also part of a conspiracy. – And on Advani’s not going to Gujarat I am reminded of PAC making unprecedented firing on the Muslims at Moradabad Eidgah during the very process of Eid prayers on a petty issue 30 years ago, many lost their lives; thereafter the mischief-mongers started doing their work. It was a very horrible one-sided riot. Indira Gandhi was at the helm of affairs at the Centre. Muslims wanted her to visit Moradabad; it was also the wish of Chief Minister V.P. Singh; but she kept on rejecting the idea. She went there after a pretty long time and after much ado. And thus it is clear that an official tour of a riot-hit place is out and out political.

07/ 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

Egypt’s “First Lady”

According to the present fashion of world politics, new President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi’s wife Um Ahmed will be called First Lady of Egypt. She is a simple, veil-clad lady, not highly educated; and no question of her having been in agreement of the etiquette of western politics. She also does not like to be called First Lady. Therefore, international media is very much curious. The curiosity of media lies in what would be the behaviour of Um Ahmed on the occasions demanding protocol. How would she welcome foreign heads of state in her country, whether she would shake hands with them as per the western tradition or would be content with her husband’s shaking hands with them, whether or not she would participate in photo sessions with them, and whether or not she would accompany President Morsi on foreign tours? If yes, whether her behaviour would be according to Islamic traditions or give precedence to western traditions. The media has been expressing these apprehensions right from the day when the president-ship of Morsi was confirmed. In this regard, Indian Express (June 29) has published a report with reference to New York Times. The headline is “Egypt’s new first lady symbol of democracy or a step backward?”

This concern is not sudden

 And this concern of international media is not sudden. The west has been expressing apprehensions of sorts since Islamic parties in Egypt won parliamentary elections. “Now Egypt would return to economic and cultural backwardness… The period of Middle Ages will come back… Islamic government will make anti-development decisions…., etc. etc.” One of these apprehensions was that the First Lady of Egypt would remain in veil and would not care for government and international protocol. – One example was already there before the media. – When Abdullah Gul was elected President of Turkey, his army generals put a condition for his swearing-in ceremony that his wife should participate therein without any scarf. Now Abdullah Gul and his wife had to choose between the two –participation in the swearing-in ceremony bare-headed or non-participation. Both preferred the latter option. International media made harsh comments on it. Now in the context of Egypt, commentators are thinking of the same scenario.

There must be a debate on it

But international commentators should see this issue with the angle that this is an issue of two cultures – Islamic and western. When they concede that Islamic traditions are entirely different from western culture, they should respect Islamic traditions in a Muslim country when they come in a democratic manner. Then there should also be a debate on which traditions are in accordance with high moral values and human nature, which culture having bared and disgraced woman has made her an object of mere entertainment and business advertisements and which is protector of her honour and grace. There should and must be a debate on how bringing women out of purdah has caused a havoc in human society as well as in the world of womenfolk while purdah has given her peace and protection. When practising Muslims talk of purdah and hijab, they have strong historical and moral arguments for it while the westerners have no arguments save and except playing with the sentiments of women – The followers of Sikhism and other regional units in India where the tradition of purdah or at least covering the head is present, must participate in this debate.

04// 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf

What this prisoner is saying?

“There are two types of laws in this country. One is for Hindus and the other is for Muslims. The policeman is first a Hindu and then a policeman. The judge is first a Hindu and then a judge and the lawyer is first a Hindu then a lawyer. People who work against the State, indulge in rioting, kill thousands of innocent people, and harass women and children and roam free in this country. They are not punished. I am suffering only because I am a Muslim.” This is the feeling of one of the three thousand Muslim prisoners who are languishing in the various jails in Maharashtra under different allegations for different periods of time. This complain of Muslims is common that the percentage of Muslim prisoners in jails of Maharashtra is much more (about three times more) than their total population in the state, and a large number of them are the victims of mere police bias. Only 30 per cent of these prisoners are convicted and the rest 70 per cent of them are under-trials, most of whom have no one to care for them.

The Report in Brief

To address these complaints, Maharashtra State Minorities Commission got a study done by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and other institutions. The institutions, having interviewed in detail 339 of 3,000 Muslim prisoners in 15 jails of the state, compiled the report, which in short establishes the fact that excesses are indeed being done to Muslims in the state and police personnel are on the forefront in this regard; they do indiscriminate arrests of Muslims, ask them to grease their palms, and throw behind the bars those who are unable to pay. – (The Hindu, June 25) The stories are very painful though not new. The man whose feeling has been reproduced above is an agent in textile export. This man named Murtaza has been arrested under the Official Secrets Act on charges of spying. He has been languishing in jail without any evidence, without his presentation in court and without legal assistance. While the entire TISS report, which can be had from Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, is worth reading and preparing an action plan on its basis, the words of Murtaza are worth contemplating hundred times as they present the pain and suffering of the entire community.

The circle of this mentality is wide

There may be exceptions. No one can deny that there have always been and are even today a considerable number of police officers who are responsible and dutiful. Vibhuti Narain Rai of Uttar Pradesh and Hemant Karkare of Maharashtra were associated with this service. Such outstanding police officers are in thousands but the cumulative character of Indian police force is the same as Murtaza has been experiencing. And this mentality is not confined only to police personnel, lawyers and judges. It is present in almost every field of the collective life of the country; 64 years of independent India stand witness to it. Now the question is why this mentality was created; the answer is that it was created in a well-planned and organised manner. The circle of such efforts has reached from school textbooks to literature and films. Two full generations after independence have grown up in this environment and are at the climax of their performance today. The Muslim leadership demanding reservation and empowerment stands oblivious of this reality. Let this leadership do its work but the new educated generation that is aware of social science, information technology and other modern branches of knowledge must make an arrangement of the study and analysis of this situation so that an action plan may be prepared on its basis.

01// 07/12 khabar-O-Nazar by Parwaaz Rahmani, sehrozaDAWAT, translated by: Abu Yusuf