Doing
Dawah or Driving them Crazy?
Nigar Ataulla
<nigarataulla@gmail.com>
I
wish born Muslims could be far more sensitive to new converts to the
faith. By imposing a ritualistic brand of Islam on them, they are not
doing dawah, but only driving them away from the religion.
Osama
has been
eliminated, one
terrorist less in this world. But can someone enlighten me on how does
one tackle people in the community who ‘terrorise’ new
converts to Islam with terrible consequences if they do not follow
their brand of Islam? So much so, that these converts flee from Islam
back to their old faith.
I write this with great pain as I heard the story of Vikram, just a few
days ago. Vikram, a freelance writer and musician, had been researching
Sufism and had acquired a wealth of knowledge about Islam. He did not
affiliate himself to any group, but books were his guides. Later, he
encountered a very well-known organization that claims itself to be
doing dawah work not just in India, but across the globe. He attended
Friday sermons in its mosques, and the content of these sermons was the
usual fiery, anti-Jew, anti- Christian, anti-all non-Muslims stuff,
ending with talks about who would be in heaven and who in hell!
Absolutely nothing on contemporary social issues or problems facing
people today. Vikram seemed hypnotized and mesmerized by these sermons
to which he was dragged along by his so-called “born” Muslims friends,
who unfortunately wore the “self-righteous” label on their fancy
scented kurtas.
Weeks and weeks of sermons and speeches later, Vikram recited the
Shahadahand came into the fold of Islam under the ‘guidance’ of these
kurta-clad self-righteous men.
So Vikram was now a Muslim and there was jubilation among his circle of
born Muslim friends. It would have been nicer if these friends had left
Vikram in solitude to reflect on his faith. They did not.
They became his self-appointed ‘groomers’ and imposed a long list of
do’s and don’ts which he was supposed to follow now that he was a
Muslim. He could not listen to music. He could not
wear shorts, even at home on Sundays. He had to discard the
tiny earrings he wore. He had to throw all the paintings and pictures
that adorned the walls in his home into the dust-bin. He could not read
books or literature of other religions any longer. He had to be careful
about interacting only with the “pure” Muslims.
Life went on for Vikram like this, till came a day when he realised how
fed up and sick and tired he was getting with all these impositions. “I
was never given the space, freedom and time to discover Islam after I
came into its fold at my own pace. These born Muslims put their rules
on me and I was following them for their pleasure. Their robotic and
ritualistic form of Islam drove me away from the faith and now I have
gone back to my old faith formally. I cannot be pleasing these Muslims
who never once told me that I had to please God and not them. Their
brand of Islam which they imposed on me made God into a fearful and
cruel creator who would throw people into hell for every minor error. I
felt burdened by this and have gone back to my old faith. When these
Muslim friends got to know about this, they said I would be thrown
intoJahannam (hell),” he said.
So that is how some Muslims do dawah and treat new converts? I call
this 'mental terrorism'! We have loads of these types floating in the
community who have made it their mission to spread the word of God by
reducing Islam to a ritualistic religion.
Going through my diary from the past, I can never forget a mail from a
young writer belonging to another orthodox organization who was excited
about Yvonne Ridley, who had then converted to Islam, visiting his
city. He wrote, "We are planning to ‘catch’ her for a talk at one of
our sessions, you know she is from the West and has embraced Islam and
she will surely draw crowds”. I wrote to him, "Respect Ridley--she is
not a rock-star to draw crowds for your session.”
I can never forget the elation when a Muslim friend of mine married a
new convert to Islam. Her relative told her, “You have taken yourself
and seven of your generations straight to heaven.” My friend
still lives in the illusion that she is a pied-piper and that soon she
and seven generations will take the escalator to heaven.
I wish ‘born’ Muslims could inculcate some sense of sensitivity towards
those who wish to come into Islam or have embraced the religion, by
giving them the freedom to reflect on the spirit, rather than the
rituals of Islam.
Their discovery of God and faith is a personal journey, and when we
throw our own impositions on them, it will only make their journey
rough and tough.
In search of our own heaven, we end up making their lives a hell!
|
Journey on a
full moon
Imteyaz Alam
<mimteyaz@rediffmail.com> in Delhi
It is a full moonlit night and
I am traveling by a train. Sampoorn Kranti express train is in its full
motion to reach its destination the next day. The train is running
through the Gangetic plain disturbing tranquility of this
area.
The silver sheet of moonlight spreading in the plain creates an
attractive scene. The ready crops, tall trees, and green grass in the
field present a picturesque scene. The moon now hides in the cloud and
darkness prevails all around. This temporary darkness reminds us a
short phase of gloom in our lives. The moon appears once again and
removes the darkness. There is always dawn (light) after dark night.
The train is
crossing an over-bridge now. The river beneath has plenty of water
which glistens on reflection of light. This east flowing river will
meet the Ganges and will lose its own identity. The Ganges which
originates from Gangotri in Uttrakhand will eventually fall in the Bay
of Bengal completing its journey. The supreme sacrifice of the
tributaries of the Ganges teaches us to lose our own individuality for
the sake of greater cause.
Now the train passes across a small town which is asleep. The minaret
of a mosque stands alone, high in the sky. The muezzin’s prayer call
will emanate from this minaret in the morning. Faithful will throng to
the mosque and will bow before almighty Allah before starting the day.
It is midnight and a group of cultivators is busy in thrashing wheat
crops. These are the laborious folks who brave weather and work at odd
hours to produce and feed billion people.
Here is a mango orchard. The trees have small tikolas (unripe, immature
mango) now. These will develop into delicious and world famous Dussehri
and LangRa aam. It is watering my mouth! And reminds me of
village and those childhood summers when we would pelt stone to mango
trees for sour tikolas.
There is a
single hut far away from the settlement. The yellow light coming out
indicates presence of electricity here in this lonely place. This
proves India’s power situation is improving. But, there is still huge
gap between requirement and production capacity. There is need of more
and more power plants as power is critical in the sustenance of
country’s economic growth.
The mandatory aviation lamp above a tall mobile tower emits red light
and appears as if one eyed giant is standing in the field and is
spewing fire. These tall mushrooming towers are yet another sign of
India’s progress, especially in the field of communication.
The moon has been hiding behind cloud for long now. There is darkness
all around. It may rain, it appears. Most of the passengers of the
bogey have slept. One fellow passenger above my berth asks me to switch
off light. I should not make his journey uncomfortable.
Here I switched
off the light.
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