Showing posts with label I S L A M. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I S L A M. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2020

08 ANATOMY OF RIOT : Ambedkar on Islam: The story that must not be told

SOURCE:
https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/04/14/ambedkar-on-islam-the-story-that-must-not-be-told

                        

                     Ambedkar on Islam




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Tarek Fatah raises questions on Islamic imperialism in Special show Bada Sawal with Ajay Kumar


                                     [  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ZosccClqs ]


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'la ilaha illallah' Tera Mera Rishta Kya? 'la ilaha illallah' Pakistan ka matlab kya - Jihadi rants



      

Ambedkar on Islam:
"Hinduism is said to divide people and in contrast Islam is said to bind people together. This is only a half-truth. For Islam divides as inexorably as it binds. Islam is a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction. The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity. The second defect of Islam is that it is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government, because the allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs. To the Muslim ibi bene ibi patria [Where it is well with me, there is my country] is unthinkable. Wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin."

Ambedkar on Islam: The story that must not be told

Unlike those who appropriate him, the one thing Ambedkar was not, was an apologist.
Posted By Anand Ranganathan | Apr 14, 2017





From the Aryans to Aurangzeb, from St Xavier to Shivaji, our historians have chosen what to hide, what to invent, and what to disclose. The singular reason for this is the craving for patronage – of an ideology, a government, an ecosystem, or a clique. And once our historians are done with their contortions, we the readers sit back and enjoy the inevitable fallout – the outing of Hypocrisy.

The Left outs the hypocrisy of the Right and the Right outs the hypocrisy of the Left and great column-yards are churned out as a result of such skirmishes. But we forget – outing of hypocrisy is a virtue so long as it doesn’t turn one into a hypocrite. Well, it does; every single time. Villains are made into heroes and heroes into villains. We like it this way. Gandhi, Nehru, Savarkar, Patel – they are to be worshipped; they are to be made into Gods, into Atlases who carry the weight of our ideologies and our biases on the nape of their necks.

History as myth; myth as History. It conforms to what we really are – unsure of our present, fearful of our future. The Right wing doesn’t want to hear anything about Savarkar or Golwalkar that might put them in bad light; the Left-wing doesn’t want to hear anything about Nehru or Namboodiripad that might put them in bad light; and the Velcro Historians don’t want to write anything about anyone that might put them in solitary confinement, away from all light.

Fear and trembling, that is what this is, and the whole nation chugs along on this dead yet simmering coal. A journey to nowhere; slow, halting, tiring; until you realise what the grand plan always is – to appropriate. And of all the great men and women we have had the honour to call our own, no one has been more appropriated than Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.

Ambedkar. A hero for all, the Left and the Right – out of genuine admiration, out of genuine fear. This is to be expected, for here was a man like no other in modern world history, one who shone like a star with his intellect and understanding. The most un-Indian Indian. Wisdom so frightening and yet so rooted, that it appealed to all. Where he was allowed to, he never put a foot wrong. His writings have that rare quality of timelessness, and his quotes, if quoted anonymously, can be mistaken as comments on contemporary India. Ambedkar has aged well. In this, he stands alone, afar, above. But there is a side to Ambedkar that is not known, spoken, or written, out of fear by those who have appropriated him.

Ambedkar's criticism of Hinduism, as a religion, as a way of life – call it what you will, everyone is aware of. From his umpteen speeches and numerous scholarly works, we know Ambedkar as someone who fought and exposed the terrible ills of Hinduism, and we applaud him for it. That Ambedkar left Hinduism and converted to Buddhism is in itself a stinging appraisal of the former. Knowing him, nothing more needs to be said as a critique of Hinduism. Such is the trust one can put in the man.

What we don’t know, however, is what he thought of the other great religion of the world – Islam. Because this facet of Ambedkar has been hidden from our general discourse and textbooks, it may come as a surprise to most that Ambedkar thought frequently of Islam and spoke frequently on it. The cold and cruel India of the young Ambedkar, that shaped his views on Hinduism and Hindus – and of which this author has written previously – soon became the cold and cruel India of the old Ambedkar, allowing him, through a study of Islam and Muslims, to make sense of a nation hurtling towards a painful and bloody partition.

A distillate of Ambedkar's thoughts on Islam and Muslims can be found in Pakistan Or The Partition Of India, a collection of his writings and speeches, first published in 1940, with subsequent editions in 1945 and 1946. It is an astonishing book in its scope and acuity, and reading it one realises why no one talks of it, possessing as it does the potential to turn Ambedkar into an Islamophobic bigot for his worshippers on the Left.
Here, then, is Ambedkar on Islam:
"Hinduism is said to divide people and in contrast Islam is said to bind people together. This is only a half-truth. For Islam divides as inexorably as it binds. Islam is a close corporation and the distinction that it makes between Muslims and non-Muslims is a very real, very positive and very alienating distinction. The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity. The second defect of Islam is that it is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government, because the allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs. To the Muslim ibi bene ibi patria [Where it is well with me, there is my country] is unthinkable. Wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin."
This scathing indictment by Ambedkar of Islam never finds a mention in our history books. (Indeed, even in Ambedkar.org, a primary resource site for Ambedkar, the chapter that contains this explosive passage is hyperlinked and, unlike other preceding chapters, not easily visible as a continuation under the sub-heading Part IV. The idea is to skip it, not click it.
But then this is India – a Hero must not be perceived as a Villain even though the misperception is entirely of our making. Well, we know better; he didn’t mean to say those things about Islam; perhaps he was misguided; let us look at the context; damn, no, that's not of any help here; tell you what, let us gag him; for the greater good; for communal harmony; for the sake of IPC Section 295A and our peaceful future.
Selective reading of Ambedkar, by which it is meant reading only his damning (and entirely justified) criticism of Hinduism, has led to a prevalent view that only Hinduism is laden with cultural and religious ills. One can see this even today, when the Left and its ideologues point selectively to the social and religious evils pertaining to Hinduism. As a result, someone who isn’t well-versed with India may get the impression that it is only Hinduism and Hindus who are to blame for every ill and intolerance that plagues us. The reality, of course, is that social and religious intolerance runs in our veins, it always has and it always will, for none other than the holy scriptures of all religions have mainstreamed it. It is Ambedkar himself who, presciently and fiercely, points to this hypocrisy.
"The social evils which characterize the Hindu Society, have been well known. The publication of 'Mother India' by Miss Mayo gave these evils the widest publicity. But while 'Mother India' served the purpose of exposing the evils and calling their authors at the bar of the world to answer for their sins, it created the unfortunate impression throughout the world that while the Hindus were grovelling in the mud of these social evils and were conservative, the Muslims in India were free from them, and as compared to the Hindus, were a progressive people. That, such an impression should prevail, is surprising to those who know the Muslim Society in India at close quarters."
Ambedkar then proceeds to talk in scathing terms of child-marriage, intolerance, fanatical adherence to faith, the position of women, polygamy, and other such practices prevalent among believers of Islam. On the subject of caste, Ambedkar goes into great detail, and no punches are pulled.
"Take the caste system. Islam speaks of brotherhood. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. Regarding slavery nothing needs to be said. It stands abolished now by law. But while it existed much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries. But if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans has remained. There can thus be no manner of doubt that the Muslim Society in India is afflicted by the same social evils as afflict the Hindu Society. Indeed, the Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and something more. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah for Muslim women."
Those who rightly commend Ambedkar for leaving the fold of Hinduism, never ask why he converted to Buddhism and not Islam. It is because he viewed Islam as no better than Hinduism. And keeping the political and cultural aspects in mind, he had this to say:
"Conversion to Islam or Christianity will denationalise the Depressed Classes. If they go to Islam the number of Muslims will be doubled and the danger of Muslim domination also becomes real."
On Muslim politics, Ambedkar is caustic, even scornful.
"There is thus a stagnation not only in the social life but also in the political life of the Muslim community of India. The Muslims have no interest in politics as such. Their predominant interest is religion. This can be easily seen by the terms and conditions that a Muslim constituency makes for its support to a candidate fighting for a seat. The Muslim constituency does not care to examine the programme of the candidate. All that the constituency wants from the candidate is that he should agree to replace the old lamps of the masjid by supplying new ones at his cost, to provide a new carpet for the masjid because the old one is torn, or to repair the masjid because it has become dilapidated. In some places a Muslim constituency is quite satisfied if the candidate agrees to give a sumptuous feast and in other if he agrees to buy votes for so much a piece. With the Muslims, election is a mere matter of money and is very seldom a matter of social programme of general improvement. Muslim politics takes no note of purely secular categories of life, namely, the differences between rich and poor, capital and labour, landlord and tenant, priest and layman, reason and superstition. Muslim politics is essentially clerical and recognizes only one difference, namely, that existing between Hindus and Muslims. None of the secular categories of life have any place in the politics of the Muslim community and if they do find a place—and they must because they are irrepressible—they are subordinated to one and the only governing principle of the Muslim political universe, namely, religion."
The psychoanalysis of the Indian Muslim by Ambedkar is unquestionably deeply hurtful to those on the Left who have appropriated him. How they wish he had never written such things. They try their best to dismiss his writings on Islam and Muslims by taking refuge in the time-tested excuse of "context". That's right. Whenever text troubles you, rake up its context.
Except that in the case of Ambedkar, this excuse falls flat. Ambedkar's views on Islam – in a book with fourteen chapters that deal almost entirely with Muslims, the Muslim psyche, and the Muslim Condition – are stand-alone statements robustly supported with quotes and teachings of scholars, Muslim leaders, and academics. To him these are maxims. He isn’t writing fiction. The context is superfluous; in fact, it is non-existent. Read the following statements:
The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only.
There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those who are outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and enmity.
The second defect of Islam is that it is a system of social self-government and is incompatible with local self-government, because the allegiance of a Muslim does not rest on his domicile in the country which is his but on the faith to which he belongs.
Wherever there is the rule of Islam, there is his own country. In other words, Islam can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his motherland and regard a Hindu as his kith and kin.
If you are hunting for a context to the above statements, you have just outed yourself as a hopeless apologist. Well, you are not alone. Some of India’s most celebrated hagiographers, commentators, writers, and columnists, that include Ramachandra Guha and Arundhati Roy – both of whom have written copiously on Ambedkar, through stand-alone chapters or books (The Doctor and the SaintIndia after GandhiDemocrats and DissentersMakers of Modern India) – are conspicuously silent on Ambedkar’s views on Islam and the Muslim psyche. Clearly, this is a story the apologists do not want to tell.
The one thing Ambedkar was not, was an apologist. He spares no one, not even Mahatma Gandhi, who he blasts for giving into the selective bias, of the type one finds ubiquitous today.
"He [Gandhi] has never called the Muslims to account even when they have been guilty of gross crimes against Hindus."
Ambedkar then goes on to list a few Hindu leaders who were killed by Muslims, one among them being Rajpal, the publisher of Rangeela Rasool, the ‘Satanic Verses’ equivalent of pre-Independence India. We all know what happened to Rushdie. As for Rajpal, he met a fate worse than the celebrated Indian author. Rajpal was brutally stabbed in broad daylight. Again, not many know the assassination of Rajpal by Ilm-ud-din was celebrated by all prominent Muslims leaders of the day.
Ilm-ud-din was defended in the court by none other than Jinnah, and the man who rendered a eulogy at his funeral (that was attended by tens of thousands of mourners) was none other than the famous poet Allama Iqbal, who cried as the assassin's coffin was lowered: "We sat idle while this carpenter's son took the lead." Iqbal is revered in India; Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, recently conferred on him the title of Tarana-E-Hind. “Nation will never forget Iqbal,” she said.
Ambedkar writes: "Mr. Gandhi has been very punctilious in the matter of condemning any and every act of violence and has forced the Congress, much against its will to condemn it. But Mr Gandhi has never protested against such murders [of Hindus]. Not only have the Musalmans not condemned these outrages, but even Mr Gandhi has never called upon the leading Muslims to condemn them. He has kept silent over them. Such an attitude can be explained only on the ground that Mr Gandhi was anxious to preserve Hindu-Moslem unity and did not mind the murders of a few Hindus, if it could be achieved by sacrificing their lives...This attitude to excuse the Muslims any wrong, lest it should injure the cause of unity, is well illustrated by what Mr Gandhi had to say in the matter of the Mopla riots. The blood-curdling atrocities committed by the Moplas in Malabar against the Hindus were indescribable. All over Southern India, a wave of horrified feeling had spread among the Hindus of every shade of opinion, which was intensified when certain Khilafat leaders were so misguided as to pass resolutions of "congratulations to the Moplas on the brave fight they were conducting for the sake of religion". Any person could have said that this was too heavy a price for Hindu-Moslem unity. But Mr Gandhi was so much obsessed by the necessity of establishing Hindu-Moslem unity that he was prepared to make light of the doings of the Moplas and the Khilafats who were congratulating them. He spoke of the Moplas as the "brave God-fearing Moplas who were fighting for what they consider as religion and in a manner which they consider as religious ".
As usual, Mr Gandhi failed to produce any satisfactory response to Ambedkar's serious charge. Mahatmas never do. The conduct of Gandhi during the Mopla riots, and his views on them once the carnage had subsided, remain a blot on the Mahatma. Again, they never form part of our history books.
On the allegiance of a Muslim to his motherland [India], Ambedkar writes:
"Among the tenets one that calls for notice is the tenet of Islam which says that in a country which is not under Muslim rule, wherever there is a conflict between Muslim law and the law of the land, the former must prevail over the latter, and a Muslim will be justified in obeying the Muslim law and defying the law of the land."
Quoting the following: "The only allegiance a Musalman, whether civilian or soldier, whether living under a Muslim or under a non-Muslim administration, is commanded by the Koran to acknowledge is his allegiance to God, to his Prophet and to those in authority from among the Musalmans…" Ambedkar adds: "This must make anyone wishing for a stable government very apprehensive. But this is nothing to the Muslim tenets which prescribe when a country is a motherland to the Muslim and when it is not…According to Muslim Canon Law the world is divided into two camps, Dar-ul-lslam (abode of Islam), and Dar-ul-Harb (abode of war). A country is Dar-ul-lslam when it is ruled by Muslims. A country is Dar-ul-Harb when Muslims only reside in it but are not rulers of it. That being the Canon Law of the Muslims, India cannot be the common motherland of the Hindus and the Musalmans. It can be the land of the Musalmans—but it cannot be the land of the 'Hindus and the Musalmans living as equals.' Further, it can be the land of the Musalmans only when it is governed by the Muslims. The moment the land becomes subject to the authority of a non-Muslim power, it ceases to be the land of the Muslims. Instead of being Dar-ul-lslam it becomes Dar-ul-Harb.
"It must not be supposed that this view is only of academic interest. For it is capable of becoming an active force capable of influencing the conduct of the Muslims…It might also be mentioned that Hijrat [emigration] is not the only way of escape to Muslims who find themselves in a Dar-ul-Harb. There is another injunction of Muslim Canon Law called Jihad (crusade) by which it becomes "incumbent on a Muslim ruler to extend the rule of Islam until the whole world shall have been brought under its sway. The world, being divided into two camps, Dar-ul-lslam (abode of Islam), Dar-ul-Harb (abode of war), all countries come under one category or the other. Technically, it is the duty of the Muslim ruler, who is capable of doing so, to transform Dar-ul-Harb into Dar-ul-lslam." And just as there are instances of the Muslims in India resorting to Hijrat, there are instances showing that they have not hesitated to proclaim Jihad.” 
On a Muslim respecting authority of an elected government, Ambedkar writes:
"Willingness to render obedience to the authority of the government is as essential for the stability of government as the unity of political parties on the fundamentals of the state. It is impossible for any sane person to question the importance of obedience in the maintenance of the state. To believe in civil disobedience is to believe in anarchy…How far will Muslims obey the authority of a government manned and controlled by the Hindus? The answer to this question need not call for much inquiry."
This view isn't much different from the views of Jinnah and the Muslim League. Indeed, in the then prevailing climate, engineered or otherwise, these views could be seen as legitimate from the point of view of an anxious minority. However, the reason that Ambedkar gives for this predilection is not at all political but, rather startlingly, religious. He writes:
"To the Muslims a Hindu is a Kaffir. A Kaffir is not worthy of respect. He is low-born and without status. That is why a country which is ruled by a Kaffir is Dar-ul-Harb to a Musalman. Given this, no further evidence seems to be necessary to prove that the Muslims will not obey a Hindu government. The basic feelings of deference and sympathy, which predispose persons to obey the authority of government, do not simply exist. But if proof is wanted, there is no dearth of it. It is so abundant that the problem is what to tender and what to omit…In the midst of the Khilafat agitation, when the Hindus were doing so much to help the Musalmans, the Muslims did not forget that as compared with them the Hindus were a low and an inferior race.” 
Ambedkar isn’t done yet. On the lack of reforms in the Muslim community, he writes:
"What can that special reason be? It seems to me that the reason for the absence of the spirit of change in the Indian Musalman is to be sought in the peculiar position he occupies in India. He is placed in a social environment which is predominantly Hindu. That Hindu environment is always silently but surely encroaching upon him. He feels that it is de-musalmanazing him. As a protection against this gradual weaning away he is led to insist on preserving everything that is Islamic without caring to examine whether it is helpful or harmful to his society. Secondly, the Muslims in India are placed in a political environment which is also predominantly Hindu. He feels that he will be suppressed and that political suppression will make the Muslims a depressed class. It is this consciousness that he has to save himself from being submerged by the Hindus socially and-politically, which to my mind is the primary cause why the Indian Muslims as compared with their fellows outside are backward in the matter of social reform.
"Their energies are directed to maintaining a constant struggle against the Hindus for seats and posts in which there is no time, no thought and no room for questions relating to social reform. And if there is any, it is all overweighed and suppressed by the desire, generated by pressure of communal tension, to close the ranks and offer a united front to the menace of the Hindus and Hinduism by maintaining their socio-religious unity at any cost. The same is the explanation of the political stagnation in the Muslim community of India.
"Muslim politicians do not recognize secular categories of life as the basis of their politics because to them it means the weakening of the community in its fight against the Hindus. The poor Muslims will not join the poor Hindus to get justice from the rich. Muslim tenants will not join Hindu tenants to prevent the tyranny of the landlord. Muslim labourers will not join Hindu labourers in the fight of labour against capital. Why? The answer is simple. The poor Muslim sees that if he joins in the fight of the poor against the rich, he may be fighting against a rich Muslim. The Muslim tenant feels that if he joins in the campaign against the landlord, he may have to fight against a Muslim landlord. A Muslim labourer feels that if he joins in the onslaught of labour against capital, he will be injuring a Muslim mill-owner. He is conscious that any injury to a rich Muslim, to a Muslim landlord or to a Muslim mill-owner, is a disservice to the Muslim community, for it is thereby weakened in its struggle against the Hindu community."
Then, Ambedkar writes something that would surely confirm him as a certified Islamophobe and a bigot in the jaundiced eyes of those who have appropriated him.
"How Muslim politics has become perverted is shown by the attitude of the Muslim leaders to the political reforms in the Indian States. The Muslims and their leaders carried on a great agitation for the introduction of representative government in the Hindu State of Kashmir. The same Muslims and their leaders are deadly opposed to the introduction of representative governments in other Muslim States. The reason for this strange attitude is quite simple. In all matters, the determining question with the Muslims is how it will affect the Muslims vis-a-vis the Hindus. If representative government can help the Muslims, they will demand it, and fight for it. In the State of Kashmir the ruler is a Hindu, but the majority of the subjects are Muslims. The Muslims fought for representative government in Kashmir, because representative government in Kashmir meant the transfer of power from a Hindu king to the Muslim masses. In other Muslim States, the ruler is a Muslim but the majority of his subjects are Hindus. In such States representative government means the transfer of power from a Muslim ruler to the Hindu masses, and that is why the Muslims support the introduction of representative government in one case and oppose it in the other. The dominating consideration with the Muslims is not democracy. The dominating consideration is how democracy with majority rule will affect the Muslims in their struggle against the Hindus. Will it strengthen them or will it weaken them? If democracy weakens them, they will not have democracy. They will prefer the rotten state to continue in the Muslim States rather than weaken the Muslim ruler in his hold upon his Hindu subjects. The political and social stagnation in the Muslim community can be explained by one and only one reason. The Muslims think that the Hindus and Muslims must perpetually struggle; the Hindus to establish their dominance over the Muslims and the Muslims to establish their historical position as the ruling community—that in this struggle the strong will win, and to ensure strength they must suppress or put in cold storage everything which causes dissension in their ranks. If the Muslims in other countries have undertaken the task of reforming their society and the Muslims of India have refused to do so, it is because the former are free from communal and political clashes with rival communities, while the latter are not."
History for us is either to be hidden or invented. We tell and retell what we like of it, and of what we don’t, we scrunch it up and slip it under the mattress, and then perch ourselves cross-legged over it to retell a little more. We are born storytellers. A lap and a head is all we need. As for truth? Well, it is not there; it vanished from view; and so it never happened.
But it did happen. Ambedkar did say these things on Islam and Indian Muslims. In doing so, he gave a choice to us, for he knew us only too well. We could either discuss his views on Islam openly like we do his views on Hinduism, or we could scrunch them up like a plastic bag and slip it under our mattress. He did not live long enough to witness the option that we chose but being the seer that he was he had an inkling. As a preface to his book, he wrote:
"I am not sorry for this reception given to my book. That it is disowned by the Hindus and unowned by the Muslims is to me the best evidence that it has the vices of neither, and that from the point of view of independence of thought and fearless presentation of facts the book is not a party production. Some people are sore because what I have said has hurt them. I have not, I confess, allowed myself to be influenced by fears of wounding either individuals or classes, or shocking opinions however respectable they may be. I have often felt regret in pursuing this course, but remorse never.
“It might be said that in tendering advice to both sides, I have used terms more passionate than they need have been. If I have done so it is because I felt that the manner of the physician who tries to surprise the vital principle in each paralyzed organ in order to goad it to action was best suited to stir up the average Indian who is complacent if not somnolent, who is unsuspecting if not ill-informed, to realize what is happening. I hope my effort will have the desired effect."
What words. What beautiful, forceful, tender words. Here was Ambedkar, trying to goad us as a physician would paralysed organs. But he misjudged us. We remain fearful, indifferent, paralysed.
Nations that fear their past fear their future, and fearful nations worship, never follow its great men and women. Ambedkar is no exception.
The author can be contacted at anand.icgeb@gmail.com and on Twitter @ARangarajan1972












Wednesday, October 5, 2016

ISLAM : From Legitimacy To Social Change: Understanding The Appeal Of Salafism(r)

SOURCE:http://www.eurasiareview.com/28092016-from-legitimacy-to-social-change-understanding-the-appeal-of-salafism-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29





From Legitimacy To Social Change: Understanding The Appeal Of Salafism
                                     By
                                                                       






As a religious ideology, Salafism is gaining wide acceptance in the Muslim world while attracting increasing attention in the West today. Many Muslims embrace it as the authentic Islam.

What are the features that make Salafism so appealing to many Muslims?

                                                  By

                     Mohamed Bin Ali
                                   and
           Ahmad Saiful Rijal Bin Hassan*


The use of the term Salafism in the current discourse on Islam is largely ambiguous and often confusing. This ambiguity stems from the realisation that many Salafis themselves are not entirely clear as to what Salafism entails, assuming that it is simply to follow the Quran and the Sunnah (the Prophetic Traditions). This is a problematic definition since it implies that others do not.


Furthermore, due to the ambiguity of the term, Salafism in a broader sense, is claimed by all Muslims in that the universal Islamic ideal is to emulate the Prophet and the pioneering Muslim community. In this respect, the term Salafism connotes authenticity and legitimacy. Despite the amorphous nature of Salafism, there is growing interest among the Muslims today towards Salafism. Many are attracted to the ideals of Salafism. Why is this so? At the same time, there is a need to have a finer understanding of the term “Salafism” given that it has generally been used rather loosely to connote something controversial.

What is Salafism?

The term Salafism as used today refers to a religious inclination or tendency towards a set of ideas and identity. These ideas and identity are subscribed to by Muslims who advocate strict adherence to their understanding of Islamic practices as enjoined by Prophet Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, and subsequently practised by the early pious predecessors known as the salaf al-salih. Following the salaf is the reason for their self-designation as Salafis.


The ideas and tenets of Salafism are those that reflect moral, social and political interests and commitments of Salafis today and constitute their ideology of how the world and its system should work. This belief system is based on pure, undiluted teachings of the Quran, the Sunnah and practices of the early Muslim generations (the salaf).


Salafis advocate a return to Islamic sources by emulating and following the footsteps of early generation of Muslims. Many of them tend to disregard the ways of Muslims who came after the third generation of Islam as they see that Islam during this subsequent period has been tainted with innovations and many Islamic practices are seen as heretical. Some prefer to call them “neo-Salafis” to distinguish them from the salaf al-salih – the pioneering generations of Muslims.

Appeal of Salafism

Many Muslims especially the younger generation are attracted to Salafism due to its appealing ideas and tenets which could be summarised as follows:

Legitimacy and Authenticity:

Salafism’s basic proposition is that legitimacy, whether in the religious, social, or political realms, must be explicitly derived from the earliest Islamic precedents. As such, Salafis assert that Muslims must refer only to the original textual sources of the Quran, Sunnah of the Prophet and traditions of the authentic salaf on all issues. When a modern problem arises, it should be resolved through interpreting the original sources of Islam without being bound to the interpretive precedents of the earlier Muslim generation.

In their fervour to return to a “pure” interpretation of the religion, Salafis tend to reject ‘any kind of rationalist orientation in a wide variety of Islamic intellectual teachings’. This somewhat distinguishes the Salafis as those who generally disregard the Islamic intellectual heritage as an important reference in pursuing Islamic scholarship and guidance.

This includes a rejection of exercising “ijtihad”(Arabic: “effort”) which in Islamic law refers to the independent or original interpretation of problems not precisely covered by the Quran and Hadith (the Prophet’s Sayings), and ijma’(scholarly consensus). By rejecting ijtihad, Salafis believe they can circumvent the human dimension (original thinking, personal judgment and analytical reasoning) which may dilute the divine messages with possible human errors, biases and miscalculations. Hence, the appeal is one of purity of divine guidance.

Providing Solutions:

Salafis claim that Salafism offers solutions to dilemmas faced by Muslims today by providing a simplistic demarcation of the realm of belief and disbelief. They assert that by adhering strictly to the Quran and Sunnah, Muslims can lead a pure, Islamic way of life. Salafism offers Muslims simple answers and quick fixes to almost any issues at hand. For example, any issues pertaining to Islam that is not from the Sunnah is considered by them as haram or not permissible.


This dichotomous choice is simpler in nature and easier to apply in a globalised world where there are many grey areas affecting Muslims in matters of their faith and day-to-day living. Hence, Salafism offers an anchor for Muslims looking for a definite collective identity in a world that seems to relentlessly erode their identity. It offers signposts and guidelines for Muslims searching to practise Islam in a world seemingly at odds with Islamic principles.

Activism:

Salafism positions itself in the political, social and economic spheres as the main ideology – that a believer is not just bound to individual salvation but is also an active agent for social change. In other words, Salafism as an ideology does not confine itself to how an individual should practise Islam, but also to shape how the Islamic society should live according to the Salafis’ reading of religious texts.


This characteristic in particular attracts the idealistic Muslim youths, keen on social reform. For some Salafi movements, they are involved in social welfare activities aimed at changing the society using the ground-up approach. Other Salafis are active in political participation. They see the importance of applying the Salafi tenets to the political arena, which they believe will impact social justice and the right of God alone to legislate.


Again, in an environment that is seen to be increasingly hostile to Muslims and their practices, Salafism offers an active solution whereby their followers are able to do something to change their situations. Thus the appeal is one of productive activity to bring about change on various levels.

Salafism vis-à-vis the Modern World

Today, Muslims increasingly live as minority communities in many parts of the world and under secular or non-Islamic systems. They travel from one place to another and integrate with other communities. Though its appeal is multi-factorial, Salafism’s distinct and exclusive teachings pose a great challenge to the prospect of Muslim and non-Muslim relationship and interaction.


It can be also argued that accepting Salafism could have profound implications in the context of today’s socio-political reality. This is especially so where the world continues to witness a unidirectional move of Muslims from Muslim-majority countries to countries where Muslims form a minority. In these realities, practising Salafism would be inconvenient for the Muslims, to say the very least. At the very worst, it becomes the basis for violent Islamist movements such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS to incite hatred and legitimise violence against the disbelieving majority.


*Mohamed Bin Ali is Assistant Professor and Ahmad Saiful Rijal Bin Hassan is Senior Analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Both studied Islamic law at Al-Azhar University, Cairo and are counsellors with the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG).










Comments on

"From Legitimacy To Social Change: Understanding The Appeal Of Salafism – Analysis"
 
 
I am shocked and surprised,that two persons who both claim to be alumni of Al AZHAR ,writing this whole lot of “poppycock” on Salafism. There is nothing called Salafism and as made out in this article appears to be a Dirty word, connoting everything that is bad or evil. There is no Sect or Madhab from the beginning until now.

 Now let us examine the word, “Salaf”. What does it mean ,and when was this word first used by anyone..Well


 It was mentioned by the Prophet SALLALLAHU ALAIHI wa SALLAM during his last illness before he passed
away.


 It is reported in Saheeh Muslim No.2450,that during his last illness, he said to Farthima RADHIALLAHU Anha


“So fear Allah and have patience. And I am the best SALAF ( Predecessor) for you. Further more, the Scholars have used this word Salaf, many times, such that it would be too abundant, to number and take into account. Sufficient for us, is this one example,and it was that which, they have used in their battle against innovators. I for one would follow the Salaf of our UMMAH,the first and best three generations, and those after them who follow them until the last day.


 I follow and understand the Quran and SUNNAH as understood and interpreted by them.I claim to be on the
AQEEDAH and MANHAJ (Methodology ) of the Salaf. I do not label myself as a Salafi. It is for others to judge me ,from how I live and practice.


 When Muslims like the two of you give a twist, and make it look a bad word, and attribute it to all those who
are not on the way of the Salaf  and engaged in everything that Islam does not permit, what can we expect from our enemies.??? Allah knows best

  1. Well said Abu Sabri.
  2. If these people who dont know simple Arabic & dont understand the basics of Islam begin to write as Big journalists, this is what we see as a result.

  3. How can Salaf be a “Bad Word” when the one who used it first was our Noble prophet Sallallahu alayhi wassallam ???

  4. Looks like thse 2 authors havent done their homework properly in their study time. This piece of pathetic journalism reflects their ignoramus thoughts !

  5. Just because some so called Muslims claim to be salafis & spread violence on the earth Doesnt mean that SALAFI is wrong & the Salaf were wrong !?

  6. How can SALAF be wrong when ALLAH azza wa jall has praised them in His Noble Book & Our beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has certified them as best of people ?!

  7. This is simple MAD PHILOSOPHY what the author said :

  8. “This is especially so where the world continues to witness a unidirectional move of Muslims from Muslim-majority countries to countries where Muslims form a minority. In these realities, practising Salafism would be inconvenient for the Muslims, to say the very least.”

  9. The author wants to Legitimate a NEW VERSION of Islam from his own pocket that contradicts the OLD (salaf) way of True Islam as propagated by the Last Prophet sallalahu alayih wasallam.
















 

Monday, August 15, 2016

ISLAM : CALIPH - Caliph خَليفة

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                             Caliph خَليفة‎
(n) Arabic word for successor or deputy.


                     
           

 
For almost 13 centuries, from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 to the overthrow of the last Ottoman caliph in 1924, the Islamic world was ruled by a caliph.

Translated from the Arabic ‘Khalifa’, the word ‘caliph’ means successor or deputy.
The caliph was considered the successor to the Prophet Muhammad.

It is a term that has, at times, been abused.

In June 2014, an armed group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL or ISIS) declared the establishment of a caliphate and proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a caliph. This proclamation was rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.

ISIL had attempted to appropriate a title imbued with religious and political significance – and in doing so had cast a dark shadow over a rich history.

This is the story of the caliph, a title that originated 1,400 years ago and that spanned one of the greatest empires the world has ever known.

Watch part one of the three-part documentary series




                                                 WATCH PART TWO




                                              WATCH  PART THREE  




FURTHER PRODUCTION HAS BEEN STOPPED BY ALJAZEERA FOR THE REASONS BEST KNOWN TO THEM