The love of Islam

To much of the so-called civilised world, the second largest and the fastest growing religion in the world—Islam—unfortunately get...

To much of the so-called civilised world, the second largest and the fastest growing religion in the world—Islam—unfortunately gets bracketed with terror thanks to the Osama bin Ladens, Al-Zawahiris, Al-Zahars, Syed Nasarullahs. It is argued with some conviction that the growth of terror is directly proportional to the increasing presence of Islamic fundamentalists in certain regions of the world. The once venerable ‘madarsa’ is being increasingly referred to as the ‘jihad factory’. The very word ‘jihad’ conjures up in the West visions of a holy war.

Westerners are not the only people who misconstrue the idea of jihad. Muslim fundamentalists and militant Islamic movements have distorted its profound meaning of ‘an inner struggle to be a good and devout Muslim’. The greater jihad as enunciated and interpreted by the Prophet Mohammad is firstly inward seeking and primarily involves the effort of each Muslim to become a better human being.

However, it may be noted that Islam sanctions rebellion against an unjust ruler and this is the lesser jihad. Today’s Islamic Jihadi movements—from the Taliban in Afghanistan, to the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan, from the Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Hamas in Israel to the extremists in Indonesia and the Moros in Philippines, the IMU and HUT in Central Asia and, above all, the Al Qaeda worldwide—have conveniently ignored the greater jihad as advocated by the Prophet and managed to thrust the lesser jihad down the throats of many innocent Muslims as political and social gospel. Yet, nowhere in any Muslim writings, the killings of innocent non-Muslims, men, women, children or fellow Muslims sanctioned.

The sole superpower, the US, notwithstanding being the most threatened, must understand that nothing is more self-defeating for a ‘‘hyperpower’’ than the temptation of unilateralism. The UN has to take on the leadership of the global war on terror by evolving a multi-faceted and all-embracing grand strategy that synthesises the views of all its member countries besides synergising their resources.

The ultimate solution to Islamic terrorism lies within the faith of Islam itself. The Holy Quran places far more emphasis on love, mercy, equality, justice, peace and compassion than the few and much-quoted verses on the call for jihad against infidels. Muslim seats of learning like the Al Azhar in Cairo, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Aligarh Muslim University in India and other well-respected institutions of Muslim learning and madarsas all over the Muslim and Muslim countries must be encouraged by the world community and enlightened Muslim clerics to preach and impart the true interpretation of the word of the Prophet and not the perverse interpretations of the Terror Masters.

Indian Muslims practise a tolerant and pluralistic form of Islam and fully subscribe to India’s secular and democratic polity. There is no contradiction in being a devout Muslim and also being modern. Muslim countries like Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia are good examples of developing Islamic societies, with even a theocratic state like Iran opening up to modernity without renouncing Islamic values. However, many Muslim nations in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia do require potent doses of democracy and reforms and the global community has also to look in that direction. The world over, moderate Muslim regimes need all the encouragement, both political and economic, to get into the mainstream.

Another aspect that requires far more honing and cooperation is a much greater degree of willing information-sharing among governments. The global reach of terrorist infrastructure necessitates genuine cooperation, ingenuity and creative approaches in information-sharing among both non-Muslim and Muslim governments.

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There are many Arab and other Islamic countries who have effective intelligence at the grassroots level but do not share it with their Western counterparts, perceiving it to be anti-Islamic. If Sudan and Syria could share intelligence with the US after 9/11, cooperation in this vital field is possible.

The mention of the Islamic ‘um-mah’ creates some discomfort in non-Muslim minds. The Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) must assert itself not only as an Islamic entity but as a voice of sanity and reason the world over. The OIC must thus symbolise modern Islam. It is indeed paradoxical that a country like India, which is home to the second largest number of Muslims in the world, is not represented in this community of nations. Such dichotomies need to be addressed by the OIC.

Lt Gen Kamal Davar recently retired as the first chief of Defence Intelligence Agency. These are his personal views