Islam beyond fundamentalism

Islam beyond fundamentalism

— Benazir Suraiya

“When India lost a cricket match to Pakistan, some idiots within the community would burn crackers and I ended up bearing taunts from people. That was painful. I am a diehard Indian and I can’t tell you how such slurs feel”, says Fahim, a moderate Muslim.The idea that militant Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution is finding greater acceptance over time. But there is a growing confusion over who really is a moderate Muslim. The ideological side of the war on terror is making some, but limited, progress. The term “moderate Muslim” is not only becoming important in the post September 11 discussion of Islam and the West, it is also becoming highly contested. Some use the term to indicate a Muslim who is either pro-western in his politics or is being self-critical in his discourse. In some intellectual debates, the term “moderate Muslim” is used pejoratively to refer to a Muslim who is more secular and less Islamic than the norm, which varies across communities. In America, a moderate Muslim is one who peddles a softer side of Islam, is willing to coexist peacefully with people of other faiths, and is comfortable with democracy and the separation of politics and religion.Moderate Muslims are different from militant Muslims in their methodological orientation and in the primordial normative preferences which shape their interpretatica of Islam. For moderate Muslims, Ijtihad is the preferred method of choice for social and political change and military Jihad is the last option. For militant Muslims, Jihad is the first option and Ijtihad is not an option at all. Moderate Muslim intellectuals see Ijtihad as the spirit of Islamic thought that is necessary for the vitality of Islamic ideas and civilisation. They aspire for a society – a city of virtue – that will treat all people with dignity and respect. Jihad literally means a holy war, fighting against the evil without the use of weapons, guiding a person to the real path. However, the meaning of jihad has changed with the attitudes of the people. The stereotypical West has labeled jihad as a new face of terror, of course the militant Muslims have spread terror in the name of jihad, which was originally a fight against the evil, but now a carrier of evil.Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, there is a growing general public interest in Islamist fundamentalism as a perceived breeding ground for contemporary international terrorism, and a growing confusion in explaining its ideas and categorising its various components. Fundamentalism is the spearhead of religion engaging a counter attack on the secularism which had reduced its power during recent decades. The concept of the world as a battlefield where the forces of good and evil are fighting against each other, of a perennial universal battle going on everywhere and at all times is a defining characteristics of the fundamentalist groups. Today, the relationship between Islam and the rest is getting worse. Muslim militants are sowing seeds of poison and hatred between Muslims and the rest of humanity by committing egregious acts of violence in the name of Islam.Moderate Muslims do exist. But, of course, they constitute a very small movement when compared to the Islamic onsalught. There are a slew of films that project the voice of moderate Muslims. The Pakistani film Khuda Kay Liye is a reflection of liberal Islam. As the director of the film, Shoaib Mansoor, quotes “The film was born out of anger I had nourished all my life regarding the blatant misinterpretation of Islam”, so has the film succeeded to some extent in countering the image that Islam is synonymous with fundamentalism and terrorism. Liberal Muslims are shunned by their own kind internally for being modern in outlook, while the world at large sees them as potential suspects of terrorism just for bearing a ‘Muslim name’. This paradox is resulting in great suffering for a forward looking Muslim. The film is a bold attempt by Mansoor to portray the turmoil in the minds of Muslims as to adjust to the times, while still holding on to their Muslim identity that has been under attack post 9/11. The film tries to show that Islam is a progressive religion and Muslims would like to be seen as proud members of this religion rather than fundamentalists. The overwhelming response to the film shows how wrong the impression of the world about Muslim is. “I do not hate USA just because some Americans have done injustice to me. In the same way, do not hate all Muslims just because some of them have harmed your country”, said a moderate Muslim to his American wife. This was one dialogue in the film that won tremendous applause.Hence, there is a world of Islam beyond fundamentalism. More importantly, one should not forget that we are human-beings first, religion comes later. And religion is only a faith, a belief in God. It should not be muddled up with terror and violence. After all, the terrorists spread terror for their personal prejudices but they pollute a religion by carrying out evil ‘in the name of God’. Source: assam tribune editorial