Islam, Hinduism And Jihad
By Taberez Ahmed Neyazi
24 March, 2004
Countercurrents.orgThere is now a growing propensity among a section of society to dumb together any political resistance offered by Muslims in any part of the world as global Islamic terrorism. It is unfair to punish the whole community for the action of a few fanatics. Infact there are extremists in each and every religion, but nobody consider these religions as inherently violent.
Reducing Jihad as the exclusive domain of Islam and regarding other religions as epitome of peace and bother hood can be easily questioned. The two great sacred classics of the Hindus are stories of war providing its philosophical and ethical justification yet their self image is that of pacifist people. It must be noted here that every scripture has two sides, one temporary and perishable, belonging to the ideas of the people of the period and country in which it is produced, and other eternal and imperishable, and applicable to all ages and countries. The intellectual expression and the psychological idiom are the products of time while the permanent truths are capable of being lived and seen by a higher than intellectual vision at all times. In short every scripture possesses both universal and particular values. Misunderstanding results when one attaches importance to particularity by glossing over universal messages. While all the known religions of the world call for love, peace, tolerance, freedom of belief and mutual understanding, many of the terrorists' acts are committed in this world by people who consider themselves religious.
Every religion ordains its people to fight against injustice, oppression and tyranny and this is what Islam asks its followers to do and Krishna insisted Arjuna to do when he asked him to fight against his brothers Kauravas who were out of the right path.
Will it be appropriate to dismiss Hinduism as Jihadi because of the acts of some handful of fundamentalist Hindu who demolished Babri mosque or participated actively in the Gujarat riot against a particular community? Or will it be justified to regard Islam as Jihadi on the basis of the behaviour of some fanatics Muslims like Taliban or Mujahidin in Kashmir, who claims to be defender of Islam?
As Vishwa Hindu Parishad can not be held to represent true Hinduism, similarly the religion of Islam should not be confused by what Taliban has done. They actually, by the definition of the Quran, are not Muslims or at least as much Muslims as the Kar Sevak who demolished Babri Mosque are good Hindus. Islam does not preach to waste wealth and energy in unproductive activities like destroying Buddhist statue by spending huge sum of money, where people are dying of hunger and devoid of basic amenities. The way it would be unfair to judge the merit of Hindu faith and philosophy by looking at the activities of Vishu Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and RSS and the barbarism perpetuated in Gujarat against the minority, similarly it would be wrong to view Islam on the basis of atrocities committed by Taliban and likes. The cultivation of such a distorted vision of Islam which bears little relation to the truth but which shows no sign of abating, even in the more tolerant climate of today’s world, has led to dangerous confusion at policy level. The distortions cultivated by some section of the people do not reflect the fact that Islam has for centuries a better record of tolerance. Thus, there is an urgent need for critical skepticism, keen self-examination, and usually careful distinction between Islamic fundamentalist arguments about what Islam really is and all Muslims, and between states sheltering Mujahidin and ordinary citizens who suffer in reprisals.
Essence of every religion is universal brotherhood and peace. Problem arises when we forget the essence and indulge in looking for trivial matters throwing mud upon eachother which does not have any end. There exists certain commonality between every religion which needs to be explored and promoted, that will go a long way in bridging the cleavages among the people of different faiths. It is high time to shed all our prejudice and learn to live together.
Taberez Ahmed Neyazi is Research Scholar at Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.