Moderate Muslims must come forward to check fanaticism
Middya was appointed a guest lecturer at the university in March this year. However, she got the union feeler in the second week of April asking her not to attend college if she did not agree to come in a Burqa.
IT IS a sad commentary on the state of affairs of Indian Muslims. For the past three months, 24-year-old Sirin Middya has not been able to hold her classes in West Bengal’s first Muslim university. Siamat Ali, secretary of West Bengal Madrasah Students’ Union, says he doesn’t understand Middya’s problem. “There are eight women teachers at the university. It was decided through consultation that the women will observe purdah, and most teachers agreed. Only this lady has a problem,” Ali said, adding that they were ready to welcome Middya back as long as she adhered to the “decent” dress code.
The university authorities are playing safe. “This is a stray incident... we tried to nip the problem in the bud. There is no dress code in our university. Since there was a problem, we asked the teacher to report to the Salt Lake campus,” said Vice-Chancellor Syed Shamshul Alam. On the ground the situation is different. Middya can't teach without Burqa.
The actual problem lies somewhere else. As the slew of Petro-Dollars earned by youth in Middle East arrive in India in different forms, the money resources penetrate in layers; new madarsas, mosques and other religious institutions are built; old institutions are reshaped and re-oriented through under-hand methods; the scholars are molded, brainwashed and created who directly and indirectly preach and practice the Wahabbi Dectrines. It is the same philosophy which created the Frankenstein of Taliban, Lashkar, Sipa-e-Sahabah and likes. Muslims of India are slowly radicalized for a new Islam where they are dreaming to bring back Khilafat. These fanatics are leaving no stone unturned to destroy the tolerant and accommodative spirit of Islam that can be witnessed at any Sufi Shrine even today. Through Tableeghi Jamat and other tentacles they have changed the academic life of AMU and JMI. Today these institutions are becoming the hub of Wahabi fanaticism where it is impossible to tke any fresh breath of religious tolerance and independent thinking. Government is watching helplessly as it knows that these fanatics are having larger controls over Muslim Society than Moderates. Government need their votes other wise likes of Mulayam Singh will entice them away. As moderates either sit on the fence or are weak, I don’t see much light at the end of the tunnel. However, as we were discussing about BURQA, let us see what Holy Quran says.
According to Holy Quran
"O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of Allah’s signs, that they may take heed." [7:26]"O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (jalabib) close round them (when they go abroad)..." (33:59)"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms..."(24:31) "
Let us understand that in Arabic "veil" is “hijab“ which lexically means "cover".
History witnessed when women in Arabia even during the time of Prophet (PBUH) his companions had accompanied the Islamic Armies in the battle fields. Hijab or Cover never meant the suffocating BURQA that is practiced in Arabia and imported from there to other parts of the planet. These nomad Arabs were always suspicious and over-protective of their fair-sex. Even today, an Arab would not hesitate to shake hands and enjoy the company of women if they do not belong to their house-hold. Heaven would fall if you talk about them aboout their females. However, don’t be surprised if you find the same head-to-toe Burqa Covered lady discarding the cloak and make the latest fashion statement as soon as the plane takes its wings from the Riyad or Jeddah Airport.The suffocating Burqa philosophy is created by later day scholars like Ibn Rushd in Bidaya al-Mujtahid. He said that this verse has been adduced as proof that no part of a woman's body should be evident to those who are not among the prohibited degrees of relationship (mahram) or her husband. Al-Qurtubi in his commentary on the verse said that the jilbab is the cloak that conceals all of the body including the head.
If you corner a fanatical Muslim about these interpretation he would take the refuge in most controversial, concocted unreliable traditions : Sunna and Hadiths. Anything they agree with is reliable and they don't agree is unreliable
The Holy Quran says "There is no compulsion in religion." It means that people should not be compelled to change their ideology. Elsewhere it states, "To you, your religion; to me mine."
Respect for religious values and justice is at the Quran's core. Unfortunately, the Wahabbi Talebani extremist elements take sacred scriptures out of context. They act as individuals, and when they can't come together as part of a political structure or consultative process, you find these dissident factions creating their own rules, contrary to the spirit of the Koran.Burqa in its suffocating form is an Arab Pagan tradition and not a part of Islam.
The university authorities are playing safe. “This is a stray incident... we tried to nip the problem in the bud. There is no dress code in our university. Since there was a problem, we asked the teacher to report to the Salt Lake campus,” said Vice-Chancellor Syed Shamshul Alam. On the ground the situation is different. Middya can't teach without Burqa.
The actual problem lies somewhere else. As the slew of Petro-Dollars earned by youth in Middle East arrive in India in different forms, the money resources penetrate in layers; new madarsas, mosques and other religious institutions are built; old institutions are reshaped and re-oriented through under-hand methods; the scholars are molded, brainwashed and created who directly and indirectly preach and practice the Wahabbi Dectrines. It is the same philosophy which created the Frankenstein of Taliban, Lashkar, Sipa-e-Sahabah and likes. Muslims of India are slowly radicalized for a new Islam where they are dreaming to bring back Khilafat. These fanatics are leaving no stone unturned to destroy the tolerant and accommodative spirit of Islam that can be witnessed at any Sufi Shrine even today. Through Tableeghi Jamat and other tentacles they have changed the academic life of AMU and JMI. Today these institutions are becoming the hub of Wahabi fanaticism where it is impossible to tke any fresh breath of religious tolerance and independent thinking. Government is watching helplessly as it knows that these fanatics are having larger controls over Muslim Society than Moderates. Government need their votes other wise likes of Mulayam Singh will entice them away. As moderates either sit on the fence or are weak, I don’t see much light at the end of the tunnel. However, as we were discussing about BURQA, let us see what Holy Quran says.
According to Holy Quran
"O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of Allah’s signs, that they may take heed." [7:26]"O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (jalabib) close round them (when they go abroad)..." (33:59)"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms..."(24:31) "
Let us understand that in Arabic "veil" is “hijab“ which lexically means "cover".
History witnessed when women in Arabia even during the time of Prophet (PBUH) his companions had accompanied the Islamic Armies in the battle fields. Hijab or Cover never meant the suffocating BURQA that is practiced in Arabia and imported from there to other parts of the planet. These nomad Arabs were always suspicious and over-protective of their fair-sex. Even today, an Arab would not hesitate to shake hands and enjoy the company of women if they do not belong to their house-hold. Heaven would fall if you talk about them aboout their females. However, don’t be surprised if you find the same head-to-toe Burqa Covered lady discarding the cloak and make the latest fashion statement as soon as the plane takes its wings from the Riyad or Jeddah Airport.The suffocating Burqa philosophy is created by later day scholars like Ibn Rushd in Bidaya al-Mujtahid. He said that this verse has been adduced as proof that no part of a woman's body should be evident to those who are not among the prohibited degrees of relationship (mahram) or her husband. Al-Qurtubi in his commentary on the verse said that the jilbab is the cloak that conceals all of the body including the head.
If you corner a fanatical Muslim about these interpretation he would take the refuge in most controversial, concocted unreliable traditions : Sunna and Hadiths. Anything they agree with is reliable and they don't agree is unreliable
The Holy Quran says "There is no compulsion in religion." It means that people should not be compelled to change their ideology. Elsewhere it states, "To you, your religion; to me mine."
Respect for religious values and justice is at the Quran's core. Unfortunately, the Wahabbi Talebani extremist elements take sacred scriptures out of context. They act as individuals, and when they can't come together as part of a political structure or consultative process, you find these dissident factions creating their own rules, contrary to the spirit of the Koran.Burqa in its suffocating form is an Arab Pagan tradition and not a part of Islam.
.Abaya is a form of hijab that has been designed to cover the parts of the body that are not permissible to be seen and is loose so as to not show the shape of one's body.
Nowadays, it doesnt matter whether the abaya is worn or not as it is altered to fit, thus, contradicting the actual purpose for which the abaya was designed in the first place. If you dont understand the purpose, for which you are striving, what is the use for even trying,you will never achieve your purpose.
It is very harsh to place such comments, so i request that personal comments be kept to oneself.
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