What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
On October 6, Hamas launched an unprecedented and unexpected assault on Israel, launching rockets, demolishing border fences, and killing hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians. In response, the Israeli military pounded Hamas facilities in Gaza with airstrikes. This escalation has led to casualties and extensive damage to vital infrastructure on both sides. Tragically, the death toll continues to rise, the highest number in one day since the end of WWII. Consequently, Israel declared it as a “war” with Hamas and pledged a response that would change “how West Asia has looked”.
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Internationally, there have been calls from the global community for restraint and a strong emphasis on the protection of civilian lives. Further attacks from Lebanon by Hezbollah on northern Israeli regions have further complicated an already tense situation. The situation remains fluid. The responses of the Indian public and the government have been of unconditional solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people, and condemnation of the terror acts, gruesome videos of which went viral on the two days of the weekend.
Naturally, the Indian Muslim community’s response has been varied –from disbelief and shock initially to immediate condemnation of the unprecedented Hamas attacks. And the usual marches, rallies, and expressions of support for the Palestinian people were seen all over social media and inside Aligarh Muslim University – the birthplace of the idea of Pakistan. The Indian government’s position has always been of non-alignment and solidarity with the Palestinians, with a frosty relation with the government of Israel, which thawed post-2014 after the BJP-led government improved relations diplomatically, economically, and culturally.
This is similar to the thawing of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia recently, which many analysts say is the cause and reason for this desperate military adventure of the terror group Hamas; to derail the normalisation of ties with the Gulf countries and recognition of the State of Israel. So, as the extent of the savagery started becoming known as the anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the Jewish Sabbath unfolded, it was horrific to see Hamas supporters in various global cities openly express their hatred through anti-Semitic behaviour. Though this time the number of rational, nationalistic, progressive, secular and liberal Muslims unequivocally condemning the actions of Hamas, barging into homes, kidnapping women and children and unarmed men, execution style killings of IDF soldiers, sexual assault and parading of the victims as trophies in the streets of Gaza, were more than the last time when the Charlie Hebdo massacre occurred.
Yet, no rallies are seen of Muslims coming out and saying Hamas terrorists do not get to commit atrocities in the name of God/Allah or the Prophet. Few recognise the risks and dangers of speaking up against a dominant narrative of the Muslim ummah which inevitably sides with Muslims across borders irrespective of ethics or morality. The ‘silent majority’, which has no agency and had no voice or presence until 2014, is still invisible, or deliberately not heard. Mainstream media has scores of videos circulating of Muslim men at ‘sar tan se juda’ rallies advocating for beheading anyone who insults the Prophet of Islam. But mainstream journalism does not cover the ‘omerta’ of silence – a mafiosi kind of unwritten code that exists within the Muslim community.
READ MORE: Israel-Palestine war: Chronicle of a mayhem foretold
The expectation is, and rightly so, that if Islam is a religion of peace and the Prophet the perfect example of a pious leader and human, then any brutality or savagery shouldn’t be done under his name of God and ought to be condemned with the same ferocity.
Why this isn’t happening needs to be understood. There is a severe crisis in Islam, since the death of the Prophet in 632 AD, with the schism of Shia-Sunni. Somehow, as the new fledgling community grew into a civilisation, during the Rashidun and the Umayyad Caliphates, the Islamic Civilisation rose to its pinnacle with the Abbasids and produced a “Golden Age”.
Reams have been written about this ‘Age of Translation’ and how Muslim polymaths, scientists, astronomers, mathematicians, philosophers developed Islamic Science through preservation of the ancient knowledge from Hellenistic Greek, Sanskrit, Chinese and Persian texts while developing their own theories too. Generally, a tolerant period of dissenting views, heretics and critics of Islam, the Prophet, it also was responsible for codifying the Hadiths (Traditions), bulk of which derive the Islamic law and jurisprudence (Sharia) today; a good two centuries after the Prophet’s last sermon. But the ‘Golden Age’ was also responsible for the Islamic Inquisition ‘minha’ (as brutal and bloody as the Spanish Inquisition), giving the orthodoxy their first martyr in Imam Hanbal (Asharite, literal texts) and forever closing the Muslim mind.
The closing of the Muslim mind took a good many centuries but by the 12th century, another Muslim polymath and intellectual, Al-Ghazali had dealt a death blow to philosophers and philosophy (falsafa) deeming it blasphemous and defeated the last man standing up for reason and rationality (Mutazalite) – Ibn Rushd. Since then, the Islamic world has been on the decline while the Western world discovered the knowledge gathered and documented in the Golden Age and were gifted with the renaissance, scientific innovation, and the enlightenment.
This “intellectual suicide” erased any space for free expression, freedom to dissent or critical thinking. It is this lack of freethinking space which gets punctuated every now and then by the hacking of bloggers, jailing of dissidents, stabbing of heretics, murder of cartoonists and film makers and the immediate censure or ostracism of outspoken opinionated individuals in the tribe of the ‘ummah’.
Reformers are trying their best to bring back the culture of critical thinking and scientific temperament in Islam. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani nuclear physicist, and writer known for his outspoken views on religion and society, was invited to speak at British mosques this October. There were initially welcome reactions from the Muslim community, but one of the organisers, a resident of London, and a dear friend, got death threats and must be careful now. While some Muslims welcome his presence and appreciate his advocacy for science and critical thinking in Muslim-majority countries, others criticize him for being too critical of Islam.
In a world where the forces of extremism, dogma, and intolerance often overshadow the voices of reason, reform, and enlightenment, it is imperative that we acknowledge the challenges faced by those who strive to rekindle the flame of critical thinking and scientific inquiry within the Muslim community. It is important to acknowledge the risks and hazards of speaking out, against a dominant mob that will use violence to shut up anyone protesting the same violence the mob is supporting. Only tough state laws and their strict implementation of penalising anyone supporting terror can break through the chokehold of the gatekeepers of Islam on the rational Muslims and give them the window to work for a progressive humanistic and critical thinking culture.
The closing of the Muslim mind must be reversed for the sake of progress, enlightenment, and harmony in an increasingly interconnected world. It is our collective responsibility to support and encourage those who are willing to speak out, to challenge the status quo, and to help pave the way towards a more intellectually vibrant and tolerant future for the Muslims.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are the author’s own.
