better light a candle than curse darkness
Number 9, September 2008
Publisher: biharanjuman.org
Chief Editor:
Manzurul Haque, Patna
Editor:
Md. Shamim Ahmad, Mumbai
Assistant Editor :
Vacant
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Seraj Akram, Riyadh
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Contradictions Galore
by Dr. Asrarul Haque
Recently a graphic representation of some glaring contradictions of the ‘civilized world’ was circulated on the Net. Such as, if a Jew or a Sikh sports beard, no one objects, but a bearded Muslim is instantly identified as a fundamentalist or even a terrorist. If a nun covers herself from head to toe, she is revered as a true devotee. But the same veil used by a Muslim woman symbolizes the backwardness and the oppressiveness of the Muslim society. When a Western women stays home to look after her house-hold and kids she is eulogized for sacrificing her freedom. A Muslim woman doing the same thing requires to be ‘liberated’ in some ways. Today, a girl can go to a university wearing whatever she likes, or may be next to nothing, but no one objects. When a Muslim girl student wears a Hijab, she is prevented from attending her college or school.
And yet, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world! Students of history should not be surprised at this phenomenon. Persecution of humans has always attracted the better part of humanity. Christianity as a representative of the Western Imperialism, spends the largest resources in cash and kind to propagate itself into the remote and backward regions of the world, but ironically it is Islam that is spreading fast, even in the USA and Europe, where Muslim organizations have practically no base and where Muslims in general are in minority and are weak having no influence whatsoever. What may surprise many theorists is that women of the West are embracing Islam in large numbers.
Obviously, many people are frightened of this development. Politicians are frightened because they know that women can play crucial role in changing the society. As mothers they can change the thinking of the entire families. Business tycoons are afraid because they know that growing influence of Islam can adversely affect their business and profits.
Islam prescribes ideal dress codes for males and females. It prohibits its followers to dress in ways which are meant to attract and arouse the opposite sex or to show off affluence. Today, the entire fashion industry revolves around these concepts. The business of alcohol is the most lucrative one but alcohol consumption is forbidden in Islam for its ill-effects on human health and family life. The use of narcotics in any society can perhaps be only countered by the conscious and progressive application of the tenets of Islam. Islam does not permit extravagance.
Quran says: Eat and drink, but waste not by indulging in excesses. Surely, Allah does not approve of the intemperate. (Part 7, Paragraph 31). Naturally, if Islam spreads, consumerism will have to retreat. It would mean less business and less profit for the West. Islam does not encourage rich to become richer and poor to become poorer. Therefore there is the system of ‘Zakaat’ in Islam so that the wealth does not get cornered by few. Islam does not permit racial superiority or class/ caste hierarchy in human interactions. Live examples can be seen in the mosques or during Hajj pilgrimage. 
....more in page-3