Monday, October 12, 2015

Dadri Incident and the Indian Muslim


The Dadri incident where a family was thrashed and one of their members killed has aroused lot of emotions and thinking in the Muslims, much like the Babri Incident had over 2 decades ago.

Akhlaq Saifi, the deceased and his family lived with over a dozen families in a Hindu majority village of over 6000 people and for decades had lived in peace and harmony until the Eid ul Adha of 2015 when he was killed by a mob of his neighbors and village men, for the crime of having consumed meat in dinner.

Akhlaq’s family was an educated one with his son serving the Indian Air Force, a prestigious position for  a Muslim, but none of that eased Akhlaq’s suffering.

The killers were a mob of over 200 people from his own village and they had been raged because they were informed that Akhlaq had sacrificed a cow, which is considered holy according to modern Hindus. Even though Akhlaq didn’t sacrifice a cow, the mob had decidedly taken the law in its own hands and had served justice to the man using a sewing machine from his own house smashing his brain out. As if this was not enough, his son met the same treatment but Allah (swt) had written life for him and he is currently in a hospital recuperating.

Indian Islam under threat


For many Muslims in India who claim to profess the Indian Version of Islam, which is akin to the American Islam and The British Islam, a more secularized and modified version of Islam, where living in harmony with the hindus has been the pivot of their religious life, this incident has been no less than disastrous to beliefs they had held ideal for so long. They had for years partaken in hindu festivals and had invited hindu friends to their homes, had been colleagues at work and had helped each other at times of hardship. And they had taken to sharing so many values even if it contradicted Islam.

This Indian Islam in formulation which so many academics and scholars have professed & promoted, has taken a huge blow and has put many of the proponents of the secularized Indian Islam on a backfoot, because clearly the concept of ‘Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai hai bhai bhai - Hindi , Muslim, Sikh and Christians’, are all brothers’ has failed for an umpteenth time and any of their overzealous attempts beyond this would make them look like fools who are just ignoring the elephant in the room.

The truth is that the idea of Islam itself is a clear defiance to all other dogmas and beliefs held by people, where Muslims are expected to bow to Allah and submit themselves to his will, completely in contrast with so many other religions globally. And moreover, Islam unlike others is not a religion limited to certain rituals and prayers, rather, has an ever encompassing nature with viewpoints and solutions to almost all challenges man faces in his daily life, be it economics, society, men and women relationships, foreign policy and state affairs. And for over 1300 years of Islamic rule which spread from the Middle East till Europe in the West and Indonesia in the east, Muslims showed how they could run vast states through Islam.

Why suddenly a problem with Islam


The problem with Islam and Muslims is not new. It has existed ever since Islam was revealed to the Prophet Mohammad. For 13 years, the prophets kinsmen did all they could to stop the prophet from calling to Islam. They realized that Islam would simply stop them from doing all the evil they had been doing until now, the cheating in business, the adultery and fornication, the oppression and torture of the helpless, the abuse of the weak and helpless, in other words they would loose all their freedom, rather they would have to go back to the Prophet (saw) for all guidance in this life, a luxury they deemed to be privileged to have and too arrogant to leave.

So they arrogantly continued to pray to the idols of Hubbal, Laat and Manaat and created propaganda and critique against the prophet and when they realized that they couldn’t stop the people from accepting Islam, they even attempted to Kill the prophet even though he was their relative.

Ever since then the Problem with Islam has remained and Shaytan and his cohorts has made all attempts in guide and in open to attack Islam and Muslims.

وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلَا النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ
Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you till you follow their religion. [TMQ Baqara:120]

So the disbelievers under the leadership of Shaytan make all attempts to take them away from Islam.

قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (16) ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَنْ شَمَائِلِهِمْ وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ (17)

(Iblîs) said: "Because You have sent me astray, surely I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your Straight Path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You)." [TMQ Araf:16-17]

Allah explains that the Shaytans undivided goal which he never flinches from even for a moment is to deviate the Muslims and ensure they move away from Islam. And in his war against Islam and Muslims, he uses all those who have been on his side.

So even the meekest of his followers becomes the staunchest of his fighters.

And it should be vividly clear for the Muslims,

لَتَجِدَنَّ أَشَدَّ النَّاسِ عَدَاوَةً لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا
Verily, you will find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers (Muslims) the Jews and those who are Al-Mushrikûn [TMQ Maida: 82]

So how could they even for a moment think, that the Jews or the Idol Worshippers, could be their brothers!

For the proactive thinking Muslim, the Dadri lynching (read:Babri2) should be a turning point in how he understands and follows Islam.

He won’t make a knee Jerk reaction and reserve things to their fate and accept what is happening , for he knows,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ
Verily! Allâh will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their state themselves [TMQ Raad:11]

He knows that the Shaytan has decided to make an aggressive charge on him, so he will not sit back and watch. He will study islam and take the Islamic aqeedah and all the shariah laws emanating from it as the basis on which tackles all issues of his life.

He will understand that the blood of a Muslim is not cheap, rather is considered more important than the Kaba,

“The blood of a Muslim is worth more to Allah than the Kaa’ba and all of its surrounding.” [Muslim]

Ayah 73 in Anfal, sums it up all in a very straight forward way,

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ

And those who disbelieve are allies of one another, (and) if you (Muslims of the whole world collectively) do not do so [i.e. become allies, as one united block under one Khalifah (a chief Muslim ruler for the whole Muslim world) to make victorious Allâh’s religion of Islâmic Monotheism], there will be Fitnah (wars, battles, polytheism) and oppression on the earth, and a great mischief and corruption (appearance of polytheism) [TMQ Anfal:73]


He will also know that what happened in Dadri is an extension of what has been happening to Muslims globally and in India for decades, a war against Islam & Muslims where all the worlds’ forces are pitched against the Muslims. He knows for him there is only one way, to unify all his brethren under the leadership of a selfless leader, A Khilafah Rashida (righteous Khilafah) who works to please Allah and protect the Muslims and fight Shaytaan and his cohorts. 

Abu Khaled Al Hejazi

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