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| Ahmadi Muslims are at the forefront of the fight against radicalization. Image Courtesy The Guardian Website |
In his article
in the Times entitled ‘Stand up for the right to criticize Islam’ Matt Ridley
writes that there is a spectrum of religious beliefs, from spiritual to the
violent extreme. Ridley, himself a
humanist, is skeptical even of the power of a moderate form of religion to
bring about social justice and peace.
Ridley takes issue with PM May’s statement that terrorist
acts are a ‘perversion of the great faith of Islam’. He thinks that Khalid
Masood was follower of a version of Islam (not a perversion) and we must accept
that as a fact. The religion of Islam must be criticized for its faults.
He then cites the oppression of women, homosexuals and
suppression of science by religions (primarily Islam) to prove that religion
has nothing good to offer to the society, and such practises do not deserve any
respect.
I agree wholeheartedly. Well said Mr. Ridley! If this is Islam, then I, a practicing Muslim
myself will stand with you and criticize it.
But the question is; to whom should we address this
criticism? God? Prophet Muhammad? Saudi
Royals? Irani Ayatollahs? Your neighbour who happens to be a Muslim?
I personally would address it to the clerics who have for
generations misrepresented the scriptures, providing various violent political
movements with religious sanctions to commit atrocities. As I am a Muslim who
reads and understands the Quran, I will also take a position based on
knowledge, not prejudice. I know for a
fact that this violent interpretation represents a fictitious faith born out of
malice, human misery and selfish desires of the clergy. It is not Islam.
Mr. Ridley himself agrees.
He says, ‘The one thing they (terrorists) have in common is that they
had been radicalized by religious preachers claiming to interpret the Koran.’
As my criticism has a clear target, Ridley like many others
has erred in finding the right language, tone or even logic to address the
issue of Islamist violent extremism. In
many cases, there is a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the facts in favour of a
deeply cynical and malevolent narrative against Islam.
This is largely due to their lack of knowledge about Islam
and partly due to the traditional European indoctrination against Islam. Islam
has always been a ‘pretend’ religion which had nothing new to offer to the
world as Pope
Benedict let slip a few years ago. All the classical European historic
texts take the standard stance that Prophet Muhammad was an impostor, and
Muslims were a conquering force which threatened Europe for centuries. That
reptilian fear reflex has been embedded so deep in the European psyche that
even the atheist scholars of today can’t help this knee jerk reaction.
Take for example Mr. Ridley mentioning over 400 acid attacks
in Britain. He thinks that it has something to do with sharia-enabled men
disfiguring women all across the country.
The
fact is that this heinous practice was a British invention, exported to
other parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent. Most victims come from Colombia and India.
But unfortunately, people have associated it with Islam. Was this an easy
mistake to make? Perhaps you will think twice before calling FGM an Islamic
practice. Or perhaps not!
It is more convenient
to support bigotry with fake facts these days. What about those 400 or so acid
attack victims you may ask? These were mostly gang related incidents and
majority of them were men. Acid attacks and FGM, just like terrorism, have
nothing to do with Islam. It is all about politics, sexual and territorial, as
well as that of identity.
When it comes to people seeking the license to mock
religions and their founders, Islam becomes the obvious focus of
attention. People are being killed
around the Islamic world for criticizing Islam. This is also another gross
perversion of Islamic teachings. It is the clerics who perpetuate these ideas,
and there is no evidence, none whatsoever in the Quran to support such barbaric
acts. I, like millions of my Ahmadiyya
Muslim brothers and sisters around the world,
criticize these clerics and their followers with proofs, arguments and with
grace. For us, Islam is free from all
blame just as the God that we worship and the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) that
we love and follow.
My sincere advice to Mr. Ridley and his fellow commentators
is to join us in our 125 year old campaign to reform Muslims by understanding
Islam and initiating a dialogue with those we disagree. Ridicule, fake facts
and divisive Islamophobic propaganda is not the solution.
