'Obfuscations' AND 'Denials' don't help!!

01/10/2008 13:08:34 H.Balakrishnan LETTER TO INDIAN EXPRESS DEAR SIR, Reference the 'exercise in obfuscation' - " Quranic Verses quoted out of context " - (TNIE-30 SEP). Faizur Rahman waxes eloquent on the term ' Kafir ' to mean ' anything and everything ', EXCEPT WHAT IT ACTUALLY CONOTATES IN ISLAMIC PRACTICE!!! What the writer means may be ' literally ' correct, but as defined by Islamic scholars : " Kufr is basically disbelief in any of the Articles of Faith in Islam." (Sahih Al- Bukhari, vol. 1, Muhsin Khan, Kitab Bhavan, 1984, pp. li). According to the Koran " He that chooses a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost." (The Koran, Dawood, Penguin Classics, 1990, 3:85) Therefore, even though the Christians and the Jews believe in the “existence and unity of God,” they have been called " infidels ". However, they are placed in a slightly elevated pedestal than the polytheist - Hindu - and are termed as the ' Peoples of the Book '.The Hindu is a Kafir. No more. No less. Kafirs – those who deny or not believe in Allah’s Revelations -- have only one place in the Koran – Hell : “ Those that deny Our revelations We will burn in fire. No sooner will their skins be consumed then We shall give them other skins so that they may truly taste the scourge.” (Ibid., 4:56). “As for the unbelievers, the fire of Hell awaits them. Death shall not deliver them, .…..” (Ibid. 35:36) The Hindus are guilty of being not only " kufr " but also " shirk " -- " worship of others along with God. " Shirk " also implies " attributing divine attributes to any other besides Allah." And to top it they are also guilty of idolatry -- an act which in the eyes of Islam is " worse than carnage " (The Koran, Dawood, Penguin Classics, 1990, 2:217) and “God will not forgive idolatry.” (Ibid., 4:116) It is hard to believe, that as knowledgeable a person as Faizur Rehman is not aware of the huge controversy, about a decade ago, that raged when Abid Reza Bedar, Director of Khuda Baksh Library in Patna questioned the use of the word kafir for the Hindus. (Ref: " Indian Controversies ", Arun Shourie, 1993, pp. 387 – 397) Qazi Mughis-ud-din of Bayana, while justifying Ala-ud-din Khalji's rigorous policy towards the Hindus, pointed out that, " if the revenue collector spits into a Hindu's mouth, the Hindu must open it to receive it without hesitation." Ala-ud-din assured the Qazi that he had given orders that the Hindu shall not be allowed to possess more than what is required for a bare subsistence. (History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. 6, 1990, pp. 25) " A non - Muslim therefore cannot be a citizen of the State [ Dar-ul-Islam]; he is a member of the depressed class; his status is a modified form of slavery. He lives under a contract (zimma, of 'dhimma') with the State; for the life and property grudgingly spared to him by the commander of the FAITHFUL he must undergo political and social disabilities, and pay a commutation money. In short, his continued existence in the State after the conquest of his country by the Muslims is conditional upon his person and property made subservient to the cause of Islam." (REF: " The Legacy Of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims " - pp-34). So much for Faizur Rehman's obfuscation!! Onto to Deoband!! Of course, Deoband cannot and WILL NOT RESPOND! Here's Why!! In a recent Article in the media, Arif Mohammed Khan, wrote: " I was keen to know how it [Deoband] could reconcile this syllabus with the unambiguous teachings of Quran on the subject as reflected in its declaration against terrorism. I am yet to receive a reply." Again ," On the other hand, look at what the Deoband syllabus says: The destruction of the sword is incurred by infidels, although they be not the first aggressors, as appears from various passages in the sacred writings which are generally received to this effect.” Further, " Its syllabus states :When the Muslims enter the enemy’s country and besiege the cities or strongholds of the infidels, it is necessary to invite them to embrace the faith, because Ibn Abbas relates of the Prophet that he never destroyed any without previously inviting them to embrace the faith. If, therefore, they embrace the faith, it is unnecessary to war with them, because that which was the design of the war is then obtained without war. The Prophet, moreover, has said we are directed to make war upon men only until such time as they shall confess, “There is no God but one God.” And, here comes the crunch!! Arif Mohammed wrote: " This syllabus is not confined to Deoband, the seminary that was established in 1866, but is prescribed in more than 5,000 of its affiliates across the country and thousands of madrassas in Pakistan run by former students of the Deoband. It is curious that for admission into these madrassas no formal application is needed; instead the madrassas send their recruitment teams to very poor and backward areas emphasising that the education, food, lodging and clothing provided in madrassas are all free. The Muslims who can afford to spend money on education very rarely send their children to madrassas; this makes it impossible for them to know about the teaching and training provided there, leading to the existing disconnect between common Muslims and the madrassas.Sohail Abbas, a leading Pakistani psychologist, in his recently published study based on personal interviews of 517 mujahideen arrested in Afghanistan and later lodged in two Pakistani jails, asserts that “the figures on rural/urban jihadis become even more interesting as all the jihadis, barring just a few, belonged to the Deobandi school of thought”. Dr.Walid Phares, a former 'Jihadi ' , commenting on the Deobandi Fatwa on ' Terrorism ' wrote: " Hence, the Deobandi fatwa should have instead asked clearly the Jihadists not to use these citations or else they would be considered as sinners themselves. But instead of using their religious prominence to remove the theological weapon from the hands of the Jihadists, the Deobandi clerics are attempting to shield the Jihadists from the actions of Governments by denying that these extremists are indeed using -- and abusing -- religion. A thorough analysis of the text used shows that the main intention of that declaration is to defend the Islamists from being contained by both Muslim and non-Muslim Governments around the world. In other words by denying that Jihadism is the root cause of many acts of Terror in Europe, the US, Africa, the Greater Middle East and Asia, the Deobandi fatwa in fact is shielding the Jihadists from the accusation of Terrorism, thus protecting them. " HOW CAN THE DEOBAND THEN CONDEMN THE I.M.? They are, after all, quoting the ' Median Quaran '. And isn't the Quran the word of God? The 'Only True God'? How can that be false? And Faizur Rehamnan gives the game away in his last quotation!! One God - One True God and the Last Prophet and - judgement Day. What if someone doesn't believe in that? Swapan Dasgupta wrote recently in the media: " If Muslim community leaders are serious about their proclamation that Islam is a religion of peace, they will have to walk the talk. India still awaits the unambiguous theological denunciations of not merely terrorism but specific terrorist groups like SIMI, HUJI, JEM and IM and specific terrorists such as the convicted Varanasi bomber and the man on death row who conspired to attack the Indian Parliament. Anything else is tantamount to short-changing India. " It will help the cause of India if the Faizur Rehamns desisted from ' obfuscations ' and the Javed Anands stopped being ' in a perpetual state of denial '. VANDE MATARAM

K.Venugopal 01/10/2008 23:28:02 Allah's claim absurd. There is an error in the Quran where Allah claims He created life. To create something is to bring into being something that did not exist before. Therefore it would mean that a dead Allah created life, because there was no life till Allah created it. It also means that Allah created Himself! Both possibilities are absurd.