A disconcerting trend emerging has been noticed in conservative religious groups across India as they give a call against the celebration of New Year and Christmas, citing cultural heritage and religious traditions. This phenomenon is particularly evident in India, where the fear of Hindutva propaganda influencing Indian-origin communities abroad has sparked concerns. Instances of Hinduphobia and attacks on Hindu temples and Sikh Gurdwaras are on the rise in several countries, suggesting a potential “action-reaction” dynamic at play. This has also been seen by Muslim religious figures who have given similar calls to their followers to not partake in these celebrations given that they may have ‘pagan’ and ‘western’ origins.

Thus, the changing landscape of India and the world, with a shifting political and cultural climate, has given rise to a peculiar form of intolerance. Communities that once happily celebrated events like New Years and Christmases together are now witnessing a surge in misinformation campaigns against these very celebrations, as seen in a tweet from the Jaipur Dialogues. Furthermore, they are deterred from participating in these festivals which may include people from all religious groups and thus may be a site for potential cross-community interaction.

However, these moves by conservative and right-wing groups are not new. For instance, another notable example of this trend is the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Trust of the Andhra Pradesh Endowments department in 2017 issued a notice advising temple authorities to refrain from New Year celebrations, welcome banners, and floral decorations on January 1. The department justified its stance by claiming that celebrating the Western New Year is not in accordance with Hindu traditions, thereby urging temples to focus on festivities during Ugadi, the Telugu New Year.

Similarly, in Aligarh in 2017, schools were warned against celebrating Christmas, with concerns raised by the Hindu Jagran Manch, a right-wing Hindutva group affiliated with Yogi Adityanath’s Hindu Yuva Vahini. The group suggested that Christmas celebrations might lead to ‘forced conversion’ of Hindu students, showcasing a fear-driven narrative against religious minorities. The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, another conservative group, had appealed to Hindus nationwide to celebrate the New Year only on Chaitra Shuddha Pratipada (Gudhipadwa), rejecting the celebration on January 1 due to its perceived lack of historical, natural, and spiritual significance. Further, in December 2023, a school in Madhya Pradesh specified that students need written permission from their parents before they could participate in Christmas Day celebrations in school.

In late November 2023, the Janajati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Manch (JSM) had plans to organise a rally on December 25 in Agartala, the capital of Tripura in northeast India, as reported by UCA News.

Functioning as an affiliate of the pro-Hindutva and supremacist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the JSM advocates for the exclusion of Christianity and Islam, which it deems as “foreign-origin religions.” The organisation argues that indigenous tribal individuals who have converted to these faiths should be omitted from the official Scheduled Tribes list. This exclusion would result in the denial of educational and employment quotas, along with other welfare benefits, as part of India’s affirmative action programs.

In 2022, notorious for reportedly engaging in hate speech against religious minorities in India, Suresh Chavhanke stated that Christmas is an “imposition of the 2 % over the 98%.” The Sudarshan News Editor-in-Chief was speaking at an event held by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in Jalgaon, Maharashtra on December 25. Furthermore, expressing anxiety about the prospect of “mass Hindu conversions,” he stated, Christianity has ruined “our intellect,” and further stated that, “The Hindus are so gullible that they are putting up Christmas trees in hotels, malls, airports. Is there any relation of Christmas trees and India? (Crowd echoes a ‘No’) But we were made into fools. From December 25 to January 5, we will not see anything else. Our children will grow up looking at Christmas tree and they will think is ours and that is why Sudarshan (his news channel) since the past 10-12 years has started worshipping the tulsi plant instead of worshipping the Christmas tree.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by Hindutva outfits over the celebration of Eid, as elaborated in a detailed piece by Sabrang India, which detailed the “anxiety ‘ Hindutva has with regards to celebration of Eid. The article details several instances where people celebrating Eid were disrupted, including one celebration in a school which was disrupted by Hindutva supporters. The article also notes that the police was seen chatting in an amicable manner at the scene of crime in the school with the attackers from the Hindutva outfits had disrupted the programme.

Other religious groups such as Muslims too have raised concerns about celebrating festivals that are not from their own religion. For instance, in December 2023, a Sunni cleric named Sadiq Ali from Kerala wrote a Facebook post decrying the celebration of Christmas by Muslims. This post came after members of the IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) engaged in Christmas celebrations. He further sought to cement his claims and argued, “It is wrong to take part in certain celebrations. Participating in certain other festivals would lead you out of Islam. This is clearly stated in the books on Islamic jurisprudence.” However, he further added, “Islam teaches us to be tolerant and to establish good relationships with people of other faiths. Islam teaches that if a goat is slaughtered in your house, the first share should be given to the neighbouring Jew.” Furthermore, these incidents raise questions about the broader implications for communal harmony and diversity by arbiters and advocates of religious conservatism.

This growing intolerance is not limited to India alone. Similar instances of conservative religious groups opposing New Year and Christmas celebrations can be found globally. In Saudi Arabia, religious kingdoms have successfully employed such tactics to maintain control and foster religious homogeneity. The underlying narrative appears to be one of religious fanaticism seeking reasons to polarise citizens, with calls for boycotting Christmas or condemning New Year seen as forms of hatred towards minority communities, especially Christians. Such incidents reflect a worrying trend where personal choices to celebrate certain occasions are not only discouraged but actively degraded.

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What is the truth behind the ‘Chota Pakistan’ video?

The post Growing intolerance across religion: Conservatives, Hindutva and some Islamic groups oppose New Year and Christmas celebrations appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As provided by the first information report (FIR) lodged at Kotwali police station by one of the two women on Saturday evening, she had gone to Bhagat Singh Market along with a friend and a colleague to buy a birthday gift for another friend. “When we were inside a shop at the market, I called our friend by his name…for some suggestion, but the shop owners and those present there at the time raised an objection. They alleged that (he) influenced two hijab-clad women and started beating him. Soon, nearby shop owners also joined them and they removed our hijab and molested us. We somehow managed to free ourselves and filed the complaint at Kotwali police station the next day,” said one of the women whose statement was recorded by the police.

After the matter came to light, states Indian Express, Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan put personnel from four police stations and a team each from the Special Operations Group (SOG), surveillance and crime branch to investigate the case. In an unusually proactive stance, the Uttar Pradesh home department has also sought details of the incident.

“Based on the available CCTV footage, we identified 15 persons involved in the incident and arrested three, while special teams are conducting raids to nab the others. We will take strict action against those involved,” said the SSP.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Kotwali) Amit Kumar Rai identified the arrested as Tanveer, Shan Mohammed and Uvesh alias Bhura. “We are hopeful that others will be arrested soon. A report under IPC sections 352 (assault),354 (assault or use of criminal force to any woman to outrage her modesty), 504 (insulting intentionally to provoke), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt and 295A (deliberate, malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) has been lodged in this connection,” DSP Rai added.

On May 15, Monday, activists of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) reportedly held a demonstration at Kotwali police station and demanded that all the accused be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) as they tried to disrupt the communal harmony in the town.

BJYM executive committee member Ankit Chaudhary, who led the demonstration, also met the SSP along with other leaders. “We will not let the offenders escape the law of the land. They deliberately…tried to create communal trouble in Meerut,” Chaudhary said.

Related:

Muslim women heckled, abused for being seen with Hindu men

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Two videos surfaced on April 27; the one from Aurangabad was disturbing to watch as young boys were seen pulling and grabbing a girl wearing a scarf. They snatched her phone and were saying that they will call her parents, while also abusing her. She was dragged away from the place and was screaming. She was allegedly being manhandled for strolling around Bibi Ka Maqbara with her non-Muslim male friends. 3 men have been detained by Aurangabad Police and Begampura police was to register the complaint since she and her parents refused to file a complaint on their own accord.

Miscreants targetted a #girl in veil for strolling around #BibiKaMaqbara with her male friends in #Aurangabad

Such behaviour is highly condemnable, does not have any place in civil society.

Girl, her parents refused to lodge complaint,@CSNCityPolice suo moto registered #FIR pic.twitter.com/deQzth6EO3

— Mohammed Akhef TOI (@MohammedAkhef) April 27, 2023

Another video was of a burqa-clad woman sitting in a rickshaw being harassed by some men, allegedly since she was seen with a non-Muslim man. She was being heckled and abused for roaming around with a man and for wearing lipstick as well. The men were heard saying, “we have caught you red handed and your boyfriend as well.” In the video at least, the woman appeared fearless and was arguing with her harassers. It is being alleged that it was men from her own community heckling and troubling her.

Another case of a girl in hijab is getting harassed by her own community men for allegedly roaming with Hindu boy.

Jigar colony Moradabad, UP

Please arrest these goons & put them behind bars @Uppolice & @moradabadpolice . pic.twitter.com/AA4qHlvSfq

— BALA (@erbmjha) April 27, 2023

In Meerut, a Hindu boy was beaten up on the day of Eid after being seen with a Muslim girl. In a video of the incident, the girl was questioned about her religion and confirmed that she, along with another female friend, was Muslim. The man verbally abused them, accusing them of tarnishing the name of Muslims and using vulgar language. Someone in the crowd then suggested that they be beaten. The Hindu boy attempted to explain to the mob that they were just sitting together, but was then asked about the nature of their relationship. The crowd proceeded to physically assault him.

This Incident allegedly to be happened on the Evening of EID! Hindu boy got beaten up by the mob for sitting with the Muslim girl.

Gandhi Bagh, Meerut@Uppolice @meerutpolice

कृपया इसका संज्ञान लें pic.twitter.com/eN0XPktAoy

— BALA (@erbmjha) April 27, 2023

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UP: Five days after attack on father of Dalit gang rape survivor, two infants and survivor set on fire at home by gang-rape suspects

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Taliban insurgents turn themselves in to Afghan National Security Forces, 2010. Image: ResoluteSupportMedia (CC BY 2.0). Behind the scenes, a remarkable new alliance is being sought in Afghanistan. At ground level the country’s long war is as disparate and complex as ever, but this emerging realignment may well give it a different flavour. 

On the surface, these five events seem to have little enough in common:

* The Trump administration is encouraging United States and Afghan troops to concentrate on safeguarding the main towns and cities, even if that means that the Taliban seize more of the rural areas where three-quarters of Afghans live 
* A US government agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, reports that the Taliban currently controls 59 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, and actively contests a further 119. Many of the latter could well fall under its authority
* A three-day ceasefire organised by the Afghan government under the country’s president, Ashraf Ghani, produced some positive results. Several local Taliban leaders reportedly met local officials. At the same time, a preliminary meeting was held in Qatar between Taliban officials and Alice Wells, the US’s most senior diplomat for south Asia
* US and Afghan government forces continued to take the fight to the Taliban in some areas  (see Gabriel Dominguez, “Afghan and allied forces up pressure on militant groups”, Jane’s Defence Weekly, 1 August 2018). This comes in the wake of Trump’s reluctant commitment of 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan, after a period when the trend was the other way
* Islamic State in Khorasan province (ISK, or ISKP) – as the local affiliate of ISIS is now commonly termed – is growing ever more bold in Afghanistan. A suicide-bombing in Kabul, claimed by ISK, killed twelve people and narrowly missed the vice-president, while the group has mounted numerous other attacks. These incidents fuel a wider perception that the US will come to focus more on the overall ISIS threat than the particular Taliban one. 
Afghanistan’s current war is approaching its eighteenth year. If these recent events are seen in the context of that whole period, then Washington’s emerging focus may become clearer.

The road from 9/11
The Taliban do now hold sway over large swathes of rural Afghanistan, but ISK too is gaining traction. It’s little wonder that the US, in light of its fresh experience in Iraq and Syria, views this ISIS affiliate as the major threat. The logic of that judgment leads to Washington’s support for Ashraf Ghani’s attempts to negotiate with the Taliban. If the US does now see the Taliban in a new light, it’s hard to overstate what a stunning reversal that represents. A brief digest of US involvement in Afghanistan in the post-9/11 years illustrates the point.

By November 2001, only ten weeks after the attacks on New York and Washington, the situation in Afghanistan had been transformed by the termination of the Taliban regime and the dispersal of al-Qaida. But this was not military victory or defeat in a conventional sense. Rather, the Taliban forces and their al-Qaida guerrilla comrades had merely ceased fighting, and chosen to redeploy into Afghan towns and villages or across the border into Pakistan – with many of their arms intact.

By January 2002, the George W Bush administration had effectively handed over post-war Afghanistan to the Europeans, while it moved on to confront the newly designated “axis of evil” of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea – with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq first in line.

At that time, some experienced United Nations officials and knowledgeable Afghans strongly recommended the immediate injection of a stabilisation force to fill the security vacuum: 30,000-plus troops was a figure often quoted. In its absence, went the argument, growing disorder would lead to ever greater ungoverned spaces, perfect conditions for diverse militias to put down roots and ensure a much longer war..

But neither the Europeans nor the Americans would provide this much needed support. Instead, a Nato-backed International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was set up – only 5,000-strong at the start – which could do little more than provide security in Kabul and a few other Afghan urban centres. Most regions and districts in the country were not part of a coherent plan to deliver security, a neglect which helped facilitate the return of the Taliban. Within three years, ISAF was facing rapid, fluid and costly guerrilla combat for which it was unprepared.

From 2006, the number of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan was increasing steadily; it reached around 100,000 by the time of the 2008 presidential election in the United States which brought Barack Obama to power. Yet the Taliban remained entrenched and effective, inflicting losses on twenty-nine of the national contingents operating under the coalition banner. The even more damaging conflict in Iraq led Obama to focus his campaign on the theme of withdrawing US forces from that country, but after much internal debate, and mindful of the Afghan connection to 9/11, he vowed to see the mission in Afghanistan through to the end.

If that ultimate aim was ambiguous, so was the hybrid approach Obama eventually pursued. This borrowed from John McCain, his opponent in the presidential race, the idea of a 30,000-troop “surge”, but instead of this being seen as part of a strategy to defeat the Taliban (as McCain consistently wanted), Obama’s aim was to weaken the Taliban and bolster the rule of the Kabul government to the extent that US troops could be safely withdrawn.

That plan faced constant setbacks on the ground, but despite the lack of progress the US forces were (as in Iraq) slowly extracted under Obama’s administration. Its hope was that the Afghan national army (ANA) – which the US had poured great resources into building, training, and equipping – would hold on. But the military initiative remained with the Taliban, and as Obama departed the scene and Trump arrived the calculation in Washington shifted once more: opting for that modest increase in American troop numbers but also towards slow acceptance of the need to negotiate with the Taliban.

The morphing war
The US’s hope now is that a deal can be done that achieves two valued outcomes: the negotiated entry of the Taliban into parts of Afghanistan’s governance, alongside the conversion of the post-deal Taliban into a body able and willing to assist in the control – and quite possibly the eventual defeat – of ISK.

This would still require a remarkable turnaround. But stepping back from Afghanistan to view the wider picture, the notion makes strategic sense. For a new manifestation of ISIS is taking shape after its setbacks in Iraq and Syria. The group is on the way to mounting a guerrilla-style insurgency in these two countries; is expanding into north Africa and the Sahel; is making connections with Islamist paramilitaries in the southern Philippines and Indonesia; and not least, has a growing impact in Afghanistan itself in the shape of ISK.

Thus western states, despite what they might say in public, are ready to accept that the way to prevent an uncontainable Afghan insurgency is to form a necessary – if strictly unofficial – alliance with the Taliban. The major transnational threat of the US and its allies is the emerging ISIS, and Taliban involvement is considered essential if ISK is to be stopped (see Antonio Giustozzi, The Islamic State in Khorasan Afghanistan, Pakistan and the New Central Asian Jihad [C Hurst, 2018]).

The seventeen-year “war on terror” has made for strange alliances. Just as Iranian militias became quietly linked to the US-led campaign against ISIS in Iraq, so the US-led anti-ISIS alliance in Afghanistan is set informally to embrace the Taliban. This may cause discomfort in polite western circles, but its political reality is as stark as can be.

Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy’s international security adviser, and has been writing a weekly column on global security since 28 September 2001; he also writes a monthly briefing for the Oxford Research Group. His latest book is Irregular War: ISIS and the New Threat from the Margins (IB Tauris, 2016), which follows Why We’re Losing the War on Terror (Polity, 2007), and Losing Control: Global Security in the 21st Century (Pluto Press, 3rd edition, 2010). He is on Twitter at: @ProfPRogers

Courtesy: https://www.opendemocracy.ne

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It’s true that the size of the liberal segment in Islamic societies is generally quite small, but it’s not that the radical militant sections are any larger.

The vast majority of Muslims are moderate. They are neither liberal in the classic sense nor are they ready to do anything dramatic and harmful for the sake of orthodox interpretation of religious verses.

However, they are somewhat religious and loyal to the religious identity — many of them even consider this identity as their primary identity. On the whole, this segment of Muslims is, more or less, average people going on about the normal course of life; although they have their idiosyncrasies and limitations.

The phenomenon of global Islamic terrorism has brought about substantial tension in the lives of these people. Some pockets of societies in the Middle East and Afghanistan-Pakistan region are more inclined to orthodox beliefs, yet most of the non-Arab Muslims residing in the West or Muslim minorities in the East tend to maintain a healthy balance between religiosity and secular life.

Not a threat 
Like ordinary non-Muslims, they are also interested in their material well being eg financial solvency, education, health care, employment, career, family, etc. But the phenomenon of Islamic terrorism has affected their lives to a substantial degree.

The primary challenge for moderate Muslims and moderate Muslim communities across the globe is how to position themselves, collectively, amidst the complexity of the current political climate — in the era of sensationalising bad news.

The moderates also have a problematic world view. Obviously, they can’t think as rationally as the liberals. They undergo a strong socio-cultural indoctrination and believe in some dogma from which it’s difficult for them to become separate, despite their lesser inclination to violence.

Even in a moderate Muslim’s mind, there are some irrational doubts and suspicion about non-Muslim people and countries — but that does not equate to violence nor extremism. Violent Islamic extremists are a recent and distinct league. Some moderates do tend to sympathise with the radicals, mostly due to their lack of knowledge or comprehension which is actually often against their intent.

Yet, these people are a tiny minority among the moderates and these exceptions can’t be used as general examples.
 

Average Muslims need to have a better collective philosophy of life and a realistic world view. There is no alternative

There is a historical context of the evolution of the moderate Muslim nations. Around the middle of the last century, it was possible to somehow cobble up the post-colonial modern or quasi modern states with tacit cooperation from this segment.

In them, both Ummah and the national identity co-existed. Muslims of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and even some semi modernist Arab republics of yesteryears like Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq fall in this category by and large.

What went wrong?
Despite a few conflicts and wars, there was substantial hope in the Islamic world and in the global Muslim diaspora. The Muslim countries and societies were flourishing economically, educationally, and culturally — but not democratically.

Disunity among the Arabs and their lack of social progress were critical deficiencies that kept the Islamic world leaderless, disunited, and as an underachiever. An unchecked undercurrent of terrorism gradually developed out of frustration and, partly, due to the Western interventions in Middle East and Af-Pak region. Terrorism grew initially in the lawless pockets of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As the Islamic terror struck the West, Western interventions intensified, resulting in more destruction, frustration, and more terror which spread to the West as well as other Muslim countries.

Further frustration caused the Arab Spring, which ended in murderous and utterly destructive sectarian infighting. Terrorism in the Muslim countries and elsewhere, especially in the West, continued. It was deadly and unreservedly destructive — and some countries like Syria and Iraq were almost reduced to ruins. Human suffering was and still is immense especially in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and parts of Nigeria and Afghanistan.

With the spread of Islamic terror, Islamophobia spread across many Western and other countries like India, Myanmar, etc. Right wing forces of these countries started persecuting minority Muslims including the moderates.

Suddenly, the otherwise harmless moderates started feeling a sense of insecurity and disenfranchisement. In many cases, discrimination and abuse towards moderate Muslims became counterproductive and made terrorists out of some moderates. Internationally, a great sense of insecurity, helplessness, and uncertainty engulfed the moderate and stable Muslim nations.

The Rohingya crisis is a case in point.
With Islamophobic Donald Trump at the helm of the US, the sense of insecurity among the Muslims has increased and reliability on the West plummeted. In the Middle East, there is hardly any interest to stop disastrous civil wars. Geo-politics is rather aggravating the situation at the cost of hundreds of thousands of human lives and extensive collateral damages.

The media, especially in some Western and non-Western non-Muslim countries like India and Myanmar, were largely irresponsible. The Right-wing anti-Muslim forces, in their own spaces, through biased and exaggerated reports, created an atmosphere of high Islamophobia. Moderate patriotic Muslims in Muslim minority nations like India are portrayed as unpatriotic; and normalcy in ordinary Muslims’ lives has been greatly hampered.

Looking forward
Now, it’s imperative for the vast majority of moderate Muslims in Islamic communities across the globe to create a clear distance from the radical Islamists and put up social resistance against the latter.

There is a need for educating ordinary Muslims as to how multicultural and multi-faith societies function or ideally ought to function and what is to be expected individually and collectively as a community from the state and international communities.

Average Muslims need to have a better collective philosophy of life and a realistic world view.

There is no alternative if the Muslims want to lead normal lives, for there are unpleasant consequences otherwise.

Violence causes chaos and mayhem, and in the end the whole thing is a zero sum game where everyone loses.

Collective reflection on what happened or what is happening and why, and introspection followed by corrective measures are a must.

Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury is a freelance commentator on politics, society and international relations. He currently works at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).

This article was first published on Dhaka Tribune
 

The post Will the moderate Muslims please speak up? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Interior of the Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran. Credit: By Phillip Maiwald (Nikopol) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

I say ‘Allahu akbar’ dozens of times a day. I say it during prayer. I say it as an expression of reaffirmation and gratitude to God.

I said it when my daughter was born, and there will be someone to say it over me when I am buried.

I say it when I witness beauty.

‘Allahu akbar.’

In 1985, Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl, in defending the building of a Mormon temple by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Stockholm, enunciated “Three Rules of Religious Understanding:”

“When trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.”

“Don’t compare your best to their worst,” and:

“Leave room for holy envy.”

Stendahl challenges us to be open to recognizing elements in other religions—even those that may appear foreign or threatening—and to consider how we might wish to support, embrace, emulate or further explore those elements that might help us to deepen our understanding of our own religious traditions and more deeply connect to others: to embrace ‘holy envy.’

Abdullah, a Saudi friend of mine whose family tree traces back to the time of Prophet Mohammad in Mecca, travels to Cairo with his family every Christmas.

He, with children and grandchildren—perhaps even now with great grandchildren—window shop, go to Christmas parties, sing Christmas carols and together celebrate the birth of Jesus, considered by Muslims to be the most revered prophet after Prophet Muhammad.

On Christmas Eve they attend Midnight Mass at the Anglican Church in Zamalek. Abdullah doesn’t take the Eucharist but he loves Jesus—and Christmas pudding (Egyptian friends make him an alcohol-free version).

Before New Year’s Day they return to Saudi Arabia, renewed by their encounter with Christian tradition and re-committed to an ecumenical understanding that the descendants of Abraham share much more through faith than they disagree about politically.

Like Stendahl, Abdullah and I believe that being open to holy envy helps us to connect to others, to ease tensions and build bridges.

I was recently reminded of Stendahl and Abdullah as I listened to the discussion that followed the terrorist attack in New York on October 31 2017 when eight people were killed and 12 injured by a truck driven by Uzbek native Sayfullo Saipov. As the truck plowed into a bicycle path in lower Manhattan, it’s reported that Saipov cried out ‘Allahu Akbar.’

‘Allahu akbar.’

We know, from documents released by the FBI after 9/11, that a letter written by the hijacker Mohamed Atta urged attackers to shout ‘Allahu akbar’ because “this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.” 

We know, from Fort Hood, from New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Mogadishu, Istanbul, Baghdad and Beirut, that terrorists continue to shout ‘Allahu akbar’ even when most of their victims are believers.

To terrorists the non-believers are those who don’t hate as they do—Muslim and non-Muslim.

On the other hand, at the funeral service for Muhammad Ali there were four recitations of ‘Allahu akbar’ along with prayers, readings and blessing in-between.

‘Allahu akbar.’

I believe that ‘Allahu akbar’ will strike fear only if we allow, through ignorance and prejudice, terrorists to define how we approach God. 

To Muslims ‘Allahu akbar’ means ‘the greatest,’ although linguistically, it translates as ‘greater.’

To Muslims it means nothing is greater than God. 

‘Allahu akbar’ isn’t in the Qur’an, but it’s part of daily prayer and worship, embedded in our consciousness. As a term of gratitude to God it’s even used by some Arabic-speaking Christians.

Today, Muslims who pray ‘Allahu akbar’ are caught between terrorists who try to inspire fear and Islamophobes who try to instill ignorance and fear of The Other.

In the US, we are learning not to define all Christians by the practice of the Westboro Baptist Church (“God hates fags”), or the far-right anti-Muslim Judge Roy Moore, or by those who want to ban Harry Potter, Halloween and dancing.

We’ve learned that Christianity is not monolithic.

Today, we must also learn that Islam is not monolithic, and that all Muslims are not defined by Sayfullo Saipov and Mohamed Atta.

We must embrace more holy envy and less unholy ignorance.

A friend of mine, an Episcopal priest who has traveled in the Middle East, has holy envy over the Muslim tradition of saying ‘insha’Allah.’

“I often wish we had something like that in our tradition” she once told me, “the constant reminder—‘insha’ Allah’—that only God knows the future.”

‘Insha’Allah’—if God wills it—is to recognize God’s omnipotence, God’s Grace, presence and authority in our lives.

Can I borrow your snow-blower tomorrow? ‘Insha’Allah.’

Can we have dinner tonight? ‘Insha’Allah.’

Can you meet me tomorrow? ‘Insha’Allah.’

I love Thanksgiving. I like Christmas trees. I love menorahs and the story they tell. I love the call of the shofar, the peeling of church bells and the sound of muezzins calling the faithful to prayer. We need to witness, and we need our children to witness, each others’ religions, traditions, symbols and practices.

We need more holy envy—‘insha’Allah.’

We need to see the world, not as something to be partitioned and feared but as a source of engagement and richness that nourishes all of humanity.

Our challenge today is to refuse to allow terrorists and bigots to hijack, weaponize and appropriate language in order to sow fear, ignorance and division. I believe that our public squares are richer and our nations healthier when we struggle to preserve and enhance the pluralistic experience that defines our societies at their best.

This isn’t just an Abrahamic calling: whether secular, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Quaker—whatever faith tradition we may or may not embrace—I believe that we are all called, by our Constitutions as well as our Prophets, to serve the forgotten and the dispossessed, and to honor conscience and each other’s dignity and humanity.

‘Allahu Akbar.’

Robert Azzi lives in Exeter New Hampshire. An Arab American Muslim, he writes on Islam, identity and conflict. Information on “Ask a Muslim Anything” and an archive of his writing can be found at theotherazzi.wordpress.com. For an interview with Robert on NPR click here.

Courtesy: Open Democracy
 

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Islam is Scriptures based religion and yet, it is the theology that determines the beliefs and practices of its followers. When the theology and the practice go awry, then the solution may be found by going back to the Scriptures.

The relationship of a community with the rest of the world is influenced by the concept of the “other” and the attitude to the other. In Islamic theology, the other is the non-Muslim, and Kafir, an odious word, has acquired the meaning of non-Muslim, which this paper, seeks to establish with evidence from the Quran, as demonstrably incorrect. Kafir does not even mean disbeliever, let alone non-Muslim. 

The leading lights of all sects of Islam also mistranslate and or misinterpret the verses of the Quran on fighting, and make it appear incorrectly, that the Prophet of Islam was waging battles against the disbelievers to end disbelief, when the Quran makes it clear, that the permission for fighting is only to end persecution or oppression. This paper also establishes that the Quran affirms that the freedom of conscience in Islam is absolute and without any restraints. “Let there be no compulsion in religion” and “To the peaceful disbeliever be his way and to me mine” are fundamental principles. These principles were never compromised by the Prophet in his battles against the religious persecutors.

The Twin Problems of Growing Extremism and Islamophobia
The false ideology of the traditionalists and the extremists
 
1.       Kafir means non-Muslim/disbeliever
2.      The Prophet was fighting battles against the disbelievers to end disbelief. It is our duty therefore to wage holy war until there is no more disbelief
 
Kafir is an odious word and means a conceited person whose haughtiness makes him an ingrate rebel against God, a rebel against his benefactors, one who is steeped in self-glory, and self-gratification. These personal failings are reflected in his behavior that makes him deny: the Hereafter, the prophets, scriptures and the Signs of God. It makes him an enemy of: the prophets, the good people and of God. A Kafir fights for evil causes, spreads mischief and disorder and is a high handed oppressor. The Kafir is in war with the good people and the good people are in war with the Kafir. The Prophet was therefore fighting the Kafir who were the religious persecutors to end religious persecution.  He was not fighting the disbelievers to end disbelief.
 
The Quran does not describe the disbelievers as Kafir in any verse of the Quran nor did the early Muslims have such an understanding which is why the Muslims were tolerant of other religious faiths. The false notion of “Kafir means the disbelievers”, developed only later in Islamic theology but lay dormant for much of the history of Islam which is why it did not become problematic earlier. It is in the post-colonial period and most recently on account of political developments that required a military response that the false ideas which lay dormant are surfacing and providing ideological support to the extremists and for raising armies of civilians to fight in several theaters of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. The truth is that religious persecutors from among the disbelievers were the Kafir, and the war was against them only and not against the peaceful people who were never considered Kafir although they were disbelievers. Quran uses the word “la Yuminun” for the disbelievers and never Kafir.
 
The corresponding ideology of the Islamophobes and of those from among the extreme right and the neoconservatives:
 
1.        Terrorist means Muslim
2.       Since the terrorists are out to get us, we should get them before they get us.
 
The ideology of the traditionalists/extremists among the Muslims   and that of the Islamophobes are logically equivalent and equally false. Neither are all non-Muslims Kafir nor are all Muslims terrorists. Neither was there ever a war by Muslims against all disbelievers/non-Muslims nor are all non-Muslims at war with all Muslims.
 
It can be seen that the two ideologies based on falsehood provide justification to each other, and unless refuted and defeated, can get out of hand and result in extreme strife and distrust, and over a period isolate the Muslims and pitch them against the rest of the world. Islamophobia turns out to be not irrational phobia but rational fear considering the ideology of the extremists/traditionalists which remained suppressed for centuries, but in the current political climate is gaining strength.
 
The true Islamic ideology that we must proclaim to defeat the ideology of the extremists:
 
1.       Kafir does not mean disbeliever although there are some who are Kafir among the disbelievers.
2.      The Prophet was fighting battles against the religious persecutors and their allies and helpers to end religious persecution and establish the Deen of Allah in which there is no oppression but there is justice for all. The Prophet was not fighting against the disbelievers for their disbelief.
 
There is a correspondence in the stand of the liberal and peaceful Non-Muslims, who proclaim the following:
 
1. Terrorist does not mean Muslim although there are some who are terrorists among the Muslims.
2. We are fighting against terror to end terrorism and not against the Muslims to end Islam.
 
While there are numerous peaceful liberals among the non-Muslims who support the Muslims in their fight against Islamophobia, there are very few Muslims who are even aware of the authentic and true Islamic ideology, let alone proclaim the same boldly and fight extremism and the false ideology of the traditionalists. This paper seeks to fill the knowledge void with the authentic and clear meaning from the scriptures on the subject.

The rest of the paper covered what has been covered by me in several articles on this forum. The links to those articles are provided below:

What Is Kufr And Who Is A Kafir In The Quran? (Full and Revised Text of the New Age Islam Series on the Subject)
The Story of the Prophetic Mission of Muhammad (Pbuh) In the Qu’ran (Part 4): The Medinian Period
The Story of the Prophetic Mission of Muhammad (pbuh) in the Qu’ran (Concluding Part) Summary
The Much discussed and debated Medinian Verses Relating to Fighting

The paper ended with the following conclusion:

To Summarize:
The Quran, even among its very last revealed verses, makes a distinction between those who are Kafir among the Mushrikin and those who are not, although all the Mushrikin are considered disbelievers. Not all the Mushrikin are kafir and some among the Muslims and the People of the Book are also kafir. Logically therefore, all that we can say is that Kafir does not mean disbeliever, although there are some who are Kafir among the disbelievers.

Fighting is permitted against the oppressors to protect the weak and the oppressed and not for any other cause. The faith of the Oppressor and the Oppressed is immaterial. Those who fight to protect the weak and the oppressed, fight in the cause of Allah and are the Mominin. The oppressors are Kafir. The faith professed by those who fight in the cause of Allah, the Oppressor and the Oppressed are immaterial.

In Islam, the other is the Kafir, but they are not the non-Muslims but the unjust and the oppressors who could be professing any faith including Islam. The cause of Allah, identified from the Quran, is to end all injustice and oppression, and all those who stand up for justice and fight against oppression are from “the community of God” and the Muslims must form an “Ummat-e-Wahida” or a united front with all such people to end injustice and oppression in the world.

The God of Islam is the God of all the people and is not the parochial God of only the Muslims in our theology for Allah says:
“Nay,-whoever submits His whole self to Allah (by whatever name) and is a doer of good,- He will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve” (2:112).

The Muslim of the Quran, is therefore simply anyone who submits to God (by whatever name), and is a doer of good deeds. There are therefore only two kinds of people – those who stand for justice and against oppression are the friends and helpers of God and the oppressors are the enemies of humanity and of God.

The finding of this paper needs to be leveraged to transform young minds to think in terms of objective attributes of people, rather than in terms of the narrow stereo types based on a person’s religious identity. Since our theology says otherwise, we need to work to change it according to the clear message of the Quran brought out in this paper to remove the ideological basis for extremism among the Muslims and to promote greater co-operation with all good people of other faiths.

The objective of a University is to provide thought leadership to the world to address the problems that beset humanity. This paper may have succeeded in finding a solution to the current malaise of growing radicalism among the young of one community. Radicalization infects all people to a greater or lesser degree and tackling it in one community reduces its appeal in other communities as well.
 
We need to follow-up on our finding by organizing focused talks on the subject to take the message to a wider audience within the University to start with, and then based on our experience, to the whole world.

Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He is a frequent contributor to http://www.NewAgeIslam.com

This article was first published on New Age Islam
 

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Imam Mehedi Hasan, a BBA graduate from Darul Ihsan University, was very passionate about modelling and becoming a catwalk model, and he did somewhat achieve that dream for a while.

But something in him had changed right before he reportedly joined a new faction of the banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (New JMB) two years ago, a shadowy matter on which even his family has failed to shed much light.

“When he started modelling during his studies, our family had discouraged it. He destroyed his modelling portfolio and all photos after quitting that profession and becoming religious,” the former ramp model’s elder brother, Waliur Alam, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Mehedi from a house in Dhaka’s South Banasree in the early hours of Thursday over his alleged connection to New JMB.

Two laptops, a mobile phone, a passport, and various militancy related pamphlets were also seized.

RAB claims that New JMB’s Sarwar-Tamim faction has two operating squads: Badr Brigade; and ad-Dar-e-Kutni Brigade, of which Mehedi is a commander.

Mehedi’s family, however, have claimed the the 29-year-old IT expert – who also goes by the name Abu Jibril – went missing on May 4. They filed a general diary (GD) at Khilgaon police station over his disappearance.

On Thursday, a Dhaka court remanded Mehedi into RAB custody for four days for interrogation. At an earlier press briefing, RAB-3 Commanding Officer Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud said Mehedi had modelled for several years before joining New JMB in 2015.

“Mehedi had been trying his luck in different types of small businesses after quitting the catwalk but at some point, he got involved with the militants,” said Lt Col Tuhin.

“He hasn’t started spilling all the New JMB secrets yet, but he has admitted during preliminary questioning that he has been involved with the New JMB’s Sarwar-Tamim group since 2015.”

According to RAB, Mehedi used to maintain direct communication with the militant group’s chief and key financier, Sarwar Jahan, who also went by the names Abdur Rahman and Abdullah Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif.

Sarwar died after jumping from a five-storey building in Ashulia during a raid on October 8, 2016.

Lt Col Tuhin told reporters that they have also found proof of Mehedi’s communication with some of the militants who killed 22 people at Gulshan’s Holy Artisan Bakery on July 1 last year, and also with some of the nine who were killed during a special drive of security forces at a hideout at Kallyanpur.

“Mehedi was in charge of financing, recruiting, organising migrations and accepting the swearing in of new recruits even before the Gulshan attack,” said the RAB commander.

“We know that he has also been collecting firearms and supplying them to the militants using different ways. But he is yet to confess.”

Lt Col Tuhin told Thursday’s press briefing that the nationwide hunt for militants following the attack on July 1, 2016, had greatly weakened Badr Brigade. Kutni Brigade tried to make up for the losses by bolstering their ranks with new recruits.

According to the RAB chief, Mehedi is fluent in written and spoken English. “He also knows how to motivate new recruits. He would record the swearing in of new recruits and send the videos to their media channels for promotion and to interested parties to appeal for donations,” he said.

Mehedi is also reported to have organised the internal marriages within the militant group, and is also accused in a number of cases filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, said Lt Col Tuhin.

Meanwhile, Waliur told the Dhaka Tribune that Mehedi had left their Mohakhali home on the evening of May 4 and had been traceless since.

“We had contacted police first and filed the GD. Then we went to RAB but they didn’t find him or anything about his whereabouts. Now they’ve arrested him out of nowhere,” he said.

When asked about Mehedi’s alleged militant activities, Waliur claimed that they did not know anything about that. He added that Mehedi is married and his wife is pregnant with their child.

This article was first published on Dhaka Tribune
 

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The trolling began after a Facebook page Mangalore Muslims posted the photo of 22-year-old Suhana Sayeed along with a long message in Kannada language. The page has more than 46,000 followers.

“You have not achieved any great feat…Your parents will not go to heaven as you have exposed yourself to other men. Stop wearing the hijab, you don’t know how to respect it,” the Facebook post said.

According to NDTV, Sayeed, who was wearing a colourful hijab, sang for 100 seconds as the reality show judges remained in their seats blindfolded.

Soon after Sayeed completed her performance, one judge said, “Your voice is really good.”

Aside from winning plenty of plaudits from the audience, Sayeed was also admired by judges for being a symbol of unity in India.

One judge said, “By singing a Hindu devotional song you’ve become the symbol of unity. Music is a medium which unites people, differences disappear.”

Sayeed has received a lot of support on Facebook.

Moin Shaeb wrote, “In Kerala Hindu girls singing Muslims’ Holy Malayalam songs and some of singers using Quran words in in the stage programme. If you want to see go to Malyalam T V channels. And watch the programme. There is no partiality in between them. Then why we are fighting each other. ISLAM is teaching respect all Religion and human being. (sic)”

Nasreen Jodha commented, “Masha Allha, Hr kamyabi pe apka nam hoga, Apke hr kdam pe duniya ka salam hoga, Mushkilo ka samna our iss koum ke bure nazaronse himat se karna, Dua hai ek din waqt bhi apka gulam hogi….. Allha tuje shukar rakhe…. kuda afis….Good Luck to u Suhana Syed Hassan. (sic)”

Raghu Kundar’s comment said, ” Brothers , if you have problems with she is competeting on SARIGAMAPA. Sania Mirja should start playing Tennis with Burkha (sic)”
 

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Hundreds of supporters of hardliner Hefazat-e-Islam staged protests on Friday in Dhaka, Chittagong and Narayanganj, calling for the statue of a Greek goddess installed at the Supreme Court to be destroyed or removed.

This is a part of their ongoing protest demanding the removal of the Lady Justice statue from the Supreme Court premises.

Earlier on February 14, they had submitted memorandums to the prime minister and the chief justice. They stated the “idol” was anti-Islamic and threatened to stage demonstrations and bring out processions if their demand went unheeded.
 

Hefazat-e-Islam activists in a mass procession in Narayanganj city demanding the removal of the Greek statue from the Supreme Court premises on February 24, 2017 Photo: Dhaka Tribune

Court officials, however, defended the statue as “a symbol of justice.” The image of Greek goddess Themis, depicted with her eyes shielded and holding the scales of justice, represents fairness, law and custom across the world.

The Dhaka procession began from Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.

Hundreds of Hefazat supporters chanted slogans and wielded placards with phrases such as “Demolish the statue on the court premises and replace it with the Qur’an,” states a report from AFP.

“If you do not remove this idol, we will be forced to march to the Supreme Court and remove it ourselves.”

Hefazat’s Central Committee Joint Secretary General Junaid Al Habib said the “idol” had to be removed by any means.

In a country with a 92% Muslim population, people would not tolerate any “idol” in the country’s apex court premises, Habib added.

Conservative Bangladesh has seen increasing tension between hardliners and secularists in recent years: A spate of killings of atheist bloggers, religious minorities and foreigners combined with a series of changes in school textbooks, which are overwhelmingly secular, to reflect Muslim traditions.

According to sources, several leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a BNP ally which has been absent from recent street demonstrations, and members of its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir are supportive of the recent radical Islamist moves to remove the Supreme Court statue of Lady Justice, avenge the persecution of Rohingya Muslims and make changes in school textbooks.

“The demands brought up by the Islamist parties are irrational and baseless. There is no reason to think that the sculpture will be removed just because someone demanded that it be so”: Attorney General Mahbubey Alam

Sources also said all paper materials and information for these movements are supplied by Jamaat-Shibir to the other parties, including Hefazat.

Security has been increased in the area around Baitul Mukarram, according to local police official Rafiqul Islam.

He added that at least 1,000 people had joined the rally there and a similar rally had also been held at Chittagong.

‘You too will burn’

Chittagong unit of Hefazat organised their rally at the Anderkillah Shahi Mosque premises.

Hefazat Joint Secretary General Mainuddin Ruhi threatened: “Remove the Greek idol at once from the Supreme Court premises. Please douse the smouldering fire in the hearts of the Muslims. Otherwise, the fire will soon catch you.

“Hefazat believes in systemic movement. We will be compelled to hold another rally at Shapla Chattar if our demand is unheeded.”

Azizul Haque Islamabadi, Hefazat’s organising secretary, said the premier was unaware that the “idol” had been installed on the Supreme Court premises.

“The idol was installed on the advice of a handful of atheists only to put the government in an awkward position,” he said.

He also reminded his audience of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pledge that the country would run as per the Medina Charter and that installing an “idol” was a direct contradiction of the Medina Charter.

When contacted, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Nayeb-e-Amir Nur Hossain Kashemi told the Dhaka Tribune that they would launch a tougher movement against the government if their demand was not met.

Narayanganj Hefazat to take action

The Narayanganj unit of Hefazat also held a mass rally in front of the city’s DIT Jame Mosque after Jumma prayers on Friday.

At their programme, they threatened that if their demands went unmet, they would rally their forces and go destroy the Lady Justice statue.

Hefazat’s Narayanganj district unit President Mawlana Abdul Awwal said: “You can establish however many idols at the different temples in Bangladesh, but we will not tolerate the presence of an idol in front of the highest court in the country.”

“The protest to remove this idol from the Supreme Court begins here. It begins today, from Narayanganj,” he exclaimed, adding: “If you do not remove this idol, we will be forced to march to the Supreme Court and remove it ourselves.”

Mawlana Abdul Quadir, secretary of Narayanganj unit of Hefazat, spoke at the rally along with Hefazat leaders Ferdausur Rahman, Mufti Harunur Rashid, Ismail Siraji and Anis Ansari.

On Friday, Islami Andolan Bangladesh Chief Rezaul Karim told the Dhaka Tribune that if the sculpture was not removed, the public would “create a river of blood” in protest.

Also Read- AQIS supports Hefazat on SC statue removal

No justice for Lady Justice

Hefazat is hardly the only group to oppose the statue of Lady Justice on the Supreme Court premises.

Other Islamist parties and groups opposing the installation of the statue are Awami Olama League, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, Islami Andolon Bangladesh and Jamaat-Shibir.

Last year, divided Dhaka Hefazat Committee Convener Nur Hossain Kashemi, Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) leader Abul Hasnat Amini and IOJ Secretary General and Hefazat Central Joint Secretary General Mufti Faizullah met and began working together to unite all Islamist groups.

Recently, Ansar al-Islam, the Bangladesh affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), has also extended support for the ongoing movement of radical Islamists who demand that the “idol” of Lady Justice be removed from the Supreme Court premises.

Yet even with a similar agenda, not all of these radical Islamist groups can see eye to eye.

An al-Qaeda member, Mohammad bin Maslama, accused Hefazat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari of double standards, saying: “You are playing with Islam. Islam is not so insignificant that you will need to submit a memorandum or application to the kufr [government].

“You have cheated the people by signing the fatwa against the mujahids of Islam. You are trying to please the government and Islam at the same time.”

The senior member, however, said they would continue to support Hefazat, disregarding differences, as long as the radical platform was working to continue the spread of Islam.

The flip side reactions

Earlier, civil society members, lawyers and government officials dismissed the demands for the removal of a sculpture installed on the Supreme Court premises, calling it “irrational” and “baseless.”

“The demands brought up by the Islamist parties are irrational and baseless. There is no reason to think that the sculpture will be removed just because someone demanded that it be so,” Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the Dhaka Tribune.

Former law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that the sculpture was nothing but the symbol of unbiased conscience of justice, honoured by the countries all over the world, including Islamic countries like Iran.

Khushi Kabir, head of rights organisation Nijera Kori, told the Dhaka Tribune: “There are many sculptures in our country which carry the significance of our identity, history and tradition. They have no authority to demand the destruction of these historical and aesthetic sculptures.”

She feared that if this demand was fulfilled, these groups would raise questions about other sculptures such as Oporajeyo Bangla, Raju Bhashkorjo, or Amar Ekushey.

“The demolition of the Lalon sculpture from in front of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport [in 2008] encouraged the religious zealots to make such demands,” she added.

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee demanded action against the people who threatened the highest court and judiciary system and stated in a statement: “Calling this sculpture an idol is politically motivated.”

The Islamist groups’ demands came at a time when the apex court issued two major verdicts – a banning of the use of scales as an electoral symbol and the erasing of the names of 20 convicted war criminals and anti-liberation people from roads and educational institutions across the country.

Republished with permission from Dhaka Tribune.
 

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