Dr Javed Jamil,
The Forces of Falsehood keep questioning Islam and Muslims, and poor Muslims, naive as they are and not understanding the strategies of the global and national forces of hegemony, just keep answering their questions. There are innumerable questions and counter questions that need to be thrown at those forces but Muslim intellectuals are total failures in that fight. Though it is true that in absence of a Muslim or a neutral media, this is not an easy task to engage in, still, they do not do even the minimums they can. The truth is that they are not equipped with the science and art of that strategy.
This is why in my just published book, "Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination and Roadmap", I have listed "Ideological Empowerment" as the first of the four necessary dimensions of "Empowerment", social, economic and political being the cither three. This does not apply to Indian Muslims alone; this is equally important for the rest of the Muslim World.
Ideological Empowerment is the key to confidence, proper planning and ultimate success. It involves proper knowledge and understanding of Islam, its application in all the spheres of life, individual, family, social and systematic, proper understanding of the major ideologies governing the world and their impact, an insight into the global and national policies and the ability to counter the propaganda unleashed by vested interests against Islam and Muslims.
Islamic/Muslim scholars tend not to be aggressive in their approach, and often exhibit sectarian bias. Instead of focusing on the faults and discrepancies of the new dispensations that are numerous, they continue to dissipate their energies in erecting defences around their faith. By the time, they defeat the mischievous propaganda unleashed against one principle or practice, the opponents, supported by the economic fundamentalists, open another front. The ideological war goes on unabated; but, this is still being fought in the domains of Islam. Islamic scholars have forgotten that, for ultimate triumph, the battle-line is to be pushed into the domain of the enemies.
They have to question the World, especially the West:
-- Why is there no focus on the rising crime rates in the world especially in Western countries despite their huge law enforcing machinery and generally good economic conditions? Does it not point to the inefficiency of their law system and the prevalence of social conditions leading to crimes?
-- Why is there focus only on certain kinds of violence and not on others, which are much more lethal in effect?
-- Why focus only on violence caused by honour killing and not on violence caused by sexual partners, despite huge difference between the two?
-- When talking of women, why focus on polygamy and not on promiscuity which causes huge medical and social problems? Why no big plans to uproot prostitution which has engulfed more than 100 million women by forcing or luring them?
-- How can commercialisation and globalization of practices that kill millions be allowed?
-- In a world where human rights is such a big issue, how come induced abortions leading to more than 50 million loss of human embryos does not become a major cause of concern?
-- How come suicides taking hundreds of thousands of lives do not attract the attention of the protectors of life?
-- How come, the powerful nations of the world keep invading countries and sponsoring civil wars leading to millions of deaths and not attracting any punishment?
-- Why is there no debate on Western role in the genesis of Terrorism and the focus remains on Islam's or Muslims' role? Terrorism is an illegitimate response to illegitimate wars and the machinations of West in the Muslim World. For one illegitimate response to end, the other illegitimate is to be put to an end. This is true for India as well where much larger terrorism caused by Rightist and Leftist Hindus is ignored and Muslim Terrorism is discussed day and night?
-- Why is there always a debate on Jihad in Islam and not on military ideologies and methods of Western countries? The military ideologies of other religions too including Christianity and Hinduism advocate much greater militarization than Islam.
-- If democracy is important, how come this is not applicable to United Nations where 5 Big Powers have the right to veto any resolution even if it has the support of an overwhelming majority of nations?
Muslims have continuously been at the receiving end. When terrorism attacks occur anywhere in the world, including on Indian soil, Muslims are declared culprits till proved otherwise. The programmes are presented in a way as if Islam promotes violence and Muslims, especially Ulama, have no option but to "reform" Islam for the cause of peace. It is conveniently forgotten that the other communities throughout the world have much bigger share in all kinds of violence than Muslims. The violence heaped against Muslims such as the one unleashed by Western forces in Muslim countries killing millions of innocent Muslims is ignored, and the "terrorist" activities, which to them almost always means violence caused by "Muslims", are highlighted beyond their impact.
The media regularly ignores major social issues of the world or the country and keeps on attacking Muslims on much smaller issues. The time has come when Muslims need to question the world or a country like India on the larger issues:
We have to ask global/Indian opinion makers why there is a continuous debate on the "plight" of Muslim women on the issues of polygamy and Triple Divorce when the issues are statistically of hardly any significance and no debate on the issues of prostitution and promiscuity which are destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of women. There are hundreds of millions of prostitutes worldwide and more than ten million in India who have been either forced or lured into prostitution. Whether by choice or by force, these women are the ultimate sufferers with threats of diseases like AIDS, repeated pregnancies and abortions and absence of a good family life. The truth is that nothing can be a bigger crime against womanhood than their sexual services being commercialised for the sake of lascivious men. While polygamy is questioned, promiscuity is never an issue. This is despite the fact that while polygamy is a self-limiting aberration, promiscuity is an all-enveloping monster posing huge threats to life and family and social peace. Just a few thousands of honour killings are highlighted; the killings of hundreds of thousands of women by their partners are hardly ever an issue. And while honour killing is a big human rights issue, human rights activists prefer to either remain tight-lipped or go on the other side on the issue of the death of more than 50 million human embryos by way of induced abortion just because it suits corporate-sponsored feminism.
Never in the history have women been subjected to such security risks as have been in the so-called modern world. Apart from being exploited in the name of freedom through promiscuity, prostitution, pornography and abortions, they are raped with 20 to 50 percent of all women having been raped in most of the Western countries. More than 250000 women are reportedly raped every year, and yet there are hardly any debates on the issue. And when sometimes debates occur, as happened in India in last couple of years, the real factors and solutions are deliberately ignored or suppressed. The debates will never allow anyone to question the provocation in the form of nude images, provoking dresses and mixing of men and women in solitude or provocative gatherings, and will always blame men for violence against men. The system commercialised to the hilt by merchants including merchants of sex will never be put under scanner. They have the right to provoke men but men do not have the right to be provoked beyond what the Industries want. Men should either control their hormones or should better make use of them in places created by the market.
The media will likewise never discuss the frenzy alcohol and gambling cause except when forced by political circumstances. And of course the problems related to economic disparity and the role of corporates in accentuating and perpetuating this disparity will never ever be discussed. Instead "reforms" will be promoted, which almost always mean such changes in economic policies as help the market forces, mostly if not always, at the cost of the masses.
Most of these are the results of the concepts of "freedom" promoted by West and political ideologies aimed at hegemonization of the world by West, which they have pursued throughout the modern history. Here are a few examples that sum up the radicalization in social, ideological, political and economic arena:
1-- The United Nations is not an organization where all countries have equal status. Five big powers hold the veto power, and nothing can happen in the world without their approval;
2-- While these 5 and a few more can amass nuclear arsenals, others are bound by Non-Proliferation treaty. Anyone trying to acquire nuclear technology, especially if it is not a Western ally, will have to face toughest sanctions and threats of war;
3-- The Big Powers can always invade other countries on one pretext or the other; but they cannot be made accountable for their actions;
4-- Western ideological positions are allowing, in fact promoting, massive commercialisation of human susceptibilities at colossal cost of human lives and health problems.
5-- Their concept of "Freedom of Choice" only means "Freedoms" that suit their economic designs. They can impose bans, restrictions and sanctions on anyone or any practice, which does not suit them. So, promiscuity is permitted (with men and women having an option of having as many partners as they like) but polygamy is banned. Marriage before a specified age is punishable under law, but young boys and girls are always free to have sex despite the fact that such relationships lead to huge numbers of foeticide and mortality and morbidity due to sex related diseases. Abortions are permitted but there have been severe restrictions in most countries on multiple children.
6-- When they speak against religious morality, they use "Freedom of expression" as the cover to do it, but when somebody speaks against dangerous practices, he is hounded as an enemy of freedom.
7-- When some rapists or murderers are given death sentences, the Human Rights Activists call for an end to death sentence on the ground of "Right to life" but they forget the same right when it comes to abortions by choice, as if the aborted foetuses are not humans. Human rights activists also never call for laws that can minimize murderous assaults. "Human Rights" in modern world have been reduced to saving criminals from gallows, protecting homosexuality as right (a right which reduces life expectancy of the population by a substantial margin) and protecting the rights of women to kill their foetuses. Obviously, "Human Rights" is a concept designed under the patronage of market forces.
8-- The champions of "Women's Rights" forget that there cannot be a bigger blot on the face of mankind than that the women sell their sexual services, through compulsion or choice, endangering the lives of prostitutes themselves, their clients as well as all those who come into contact with their clients. In the name of "Equality of Women", men have transferred a lot of their burden to women, while women continue to suffer on account of the new sex and sexuality. It is they who have to take precautions against pregnancy, it is they who become pregnant even when they do not want, it is they who have to abort killing their own children, it is they who have to look after their children if they decide to take birth and in large number of cases, they have to share the burden alone.
Muslims must make sure that they are not apologetic or defensive in their discussions on the question of terrorism or riots in India. They must make sure that not only the dimensions and implications of terrorism are analysed but the genesis of terrorism is also debated in its all minute details. Without discussing the genesis, solution cannot be found out. Muslims must take the stance that all forms of violence are equally condemnable and the solution to the violence lies in punishing the culprits plus root out the cause of the violence.
The Muslim organisations and NGOs of Muslims all over the world must form an umbrella organisation and engage in a global campaign against violence, vices, hegemony and economic disparity. They must announce and organise special annual days like anti-prostitution day, anti-alcohol day, anti-gambling day, anti-crime day, anti-rape day, anti-disparity day, family peace day, moral values day, etc, and on each of these days must organise seminars, workshops and protests within the laws of the lands.
By just continuing to defend their positions, Muslims cannot hope to challenge the current international ideologies. Counter-attack, ideological onslaught and social movements through peaceful means are the need of the time. Muslims must realise that the challenge to the Truth of Islam does not come from other religions but the global forces of economics and politics, and they must make every possible effort to take all other religions in their fight for Comprehensive Peace in the world.
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Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, "Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map". He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com .
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