Comments on: Why Indian Muslims are away from terrorism?

By: Sahil Khan

Sahil Khan — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:30:28 +0000

Sharique, A very good article. Will like to see more such articles that have shaped the thought process of Indian Muslims. We as Indian Muslims are so diverse with so wide thought process. Also saifali i dont believe keeping a beard and hijab is a means to fight for your identity and survival. I don’t think that all Muslims in Arabia or afghanistan are fighting for revenge only. Many of them have taken to terrorism consciously otherwise all battles fought in name of terrorism become relatively very simplified that it is about revenge.

By: Understand Islam and Muslims at IndianMuslims.in

Understand Islam and Muslims at IndianMuslims.in — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:16:55 +0000

[...] after every bomb blasts and every day the bitterness against Islam keeps growing. IM blog had argued before why Indian Muslims are in general away from the winds of extremism but the recent involvement [...]

By: SH

SH — Tue, 22 May 2007 22:15:36 +0000

Interesting

By: mahi

mahi — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:24:02 +0000

Sharique – “Perhaps the single most important reason being political and economic subjugation of the Arabs and the subsequent threat to Islam.”

That again is a weak linkage. In today’s age, Western nations dont generally give a damn about the religious hegemony. They are mostly only interested in economic hegemony. In that environment, one can’t help but think that there is hyper sensitivity in suggesting a ‘threat to Islam’ (again, what exactly is that anyway? Can someone wipe out Islam from your heart that easily?) based upon economic/semi-political subjugation.

By: Sharique

Sharique — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:12:24 +0000

mahi and Saif,
I understand that poverty cannot be the only cause of terrorism but I believe that it forms a major reason. For the newly recruits of Al-Quaida or LeT, its not terrorism but its fight for justice and a way to earn their livelihood. Why else would an uneducated man take up arms? Just to kill people and take out his frustration at being poor? It has religious reasons as well which I believe are more important than poverty and this also explains the case of Atta and bin laden. Perhaps the single most important reason being political and economic subjugation of the Arabs and the subsequent threat to Islam.

PS Saif- I am no erudite or an authority over these matters. I am just like everyone else, educated so have to have an opinion

By: saifaliahmad

saifaliahmad — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:38:14 +0000

salam sharique,
you are a learned man and have put much efforts to force an ignorant like me to debate. still i believe poverty does not harbour terrorism. if it was dynasties in past would never have been built.
look at todays youth and compare him to someone from 70s, todays muslim in general indian or arab, knows more about islam, probably prays and follows the basic. women, educated and independent choose by choice to wear hijab. young men sporting beards. its not that all of a sudden we have this love for islam. infact its the fight for our identity. the deterioation of indian muslim has come cause of our stubborn n unflexible nature, we gave islam to maulana and women. Though the majority of fine educated muslims migrated to pakistan, the one who chose to stay, instead of carving a new destiny, gave their destinies up. lack of education, resulted in deterioation in the system as whole. then came ignorance to religion, grave worshipping, and unheard new sects. the revival has started but its a long wait, not for once lost glory but stability.

By: mahi

mahi — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:01:48 +0000

Sharique,

Unemployment and poverty leave room for fanatical notions. They tend to correlate closely with lack of modern education, which CAN (its not a guarantee as Atta shows) act as a barrier against narrow thinking and fanatic zeal. But the relationship between sociao-economic conditions and resorting to terrorism is not causal. An important distinction I believe, esp when you consider implications for policy-making, response-to-terrorism, etc.
The most renowned examples would of course be OBL and M.Atta. Neither was poor or unemployed.

I was just wondering, and to add some fuel to the debate, if creation of Palestine – according to Saif above – can add new pain to Arabs, would Indians be justified in feeling such enormous hatred towards Pakistan/B’desh as Arabs in general tend to feel about Isreal?

I know there will be many people who will unearth ‘historical facts’ to show that the two are not similar cases. We can possibly spend the rest of our lives poring over such facts and analysing them. Instead, we have to be moderate rather than just blindly hate people or countries, like seems to be Isreal’s lot. (FYI, I have my own gripes with Isreal, but mostly they are event/policy based, not visceral).

By: Sharique

Sharique — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:49:17 +0000

Wassalam Saif,
But this poverty can also lead to terrorism, isn’t it? Are those fanatics in Pakistan, who indulge in terrorist activities, rich? Unemployment and subsequent frustration leads people to such activities.

I agree with you on the situation of Muslims worldwide has lot to do with this growing resentment.

By: saifaliahmad

saifaliahmad — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:08:33 +0000

salam sharique, the indian muslim is so deeply engrossed in its own complications of daily life, that forget the terrorism, there is hardly anytime to follow the basics of religion. Islam in no form or way justifies killing, even non muslims. Only in retaliation, when it becomes obligatory to save oneself, family and property.As applicable to any other religion.
Life would be much more easier for all of us, if we just stick to the basics of what Rasool taught. In the passage of time new sects came up, as u remember even from hadrat Ali’s time ” the kharjites”, who eventually believed that both Hadrat Ali and Mouwaya, have gone out the fold of islam hence be killed or executed. Later Hadrat Ali was assasinated so was Hadrat Omar and Hadrat Osman. Later the group known as assasians were very active.

Killings got nothing to do with the ideology of islam, but people or factions or individuals always came up with new ideas or insights confusing them with path of virtue. In the passage of time historically speaking we have seen various sects. Wahabi came at the time when islam in “hijaz” now arabia was deterioating, people were back to grave worshipping, he tried revival.

today the world has changed and so is the muslims perception about himself and religeon. in last 60 yrs israel was created, adding new pain to the already suffering arabs, from ottomans n later european occupation, the land most sacred after mecca, medina was suddennly in jewish occupation, and then started the fresh killing of arabs, mostly muslims. what killings we see all over is not only religeous but vengance of an individual who lost all family or a brother or a friend. iraq, bosnia, chechnia are just few names.
we in india are too far from this confusion and misery.

By: mahi

mahi — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:44:56 +0000

Hi Jaleel – thanks for your excellent post. It is indeed a complex topic, but you’ve done well in highlighting some very good points.

I had never thought of the ‘Islam under attack from West’ angle. Makes sense to me.

About the Sufis — going a step further back, I ask myself why the sufis were popular in India or gain their biggest foothold here or why their message got accepted cutting across religious lines? I think its simply because to our ancestors (as to us now) devotion and love for God as a means of relating to God was quite natural. Its part and parcel of the spiritual clime of India. So regardless of faith, people will respond to this. It is indeed one of my disappointments that Sufism has increasingly been marginalised within Islam. Not sure about the situation in India, but it appears its a fringe player in most Islamic countries. I dont know for sure, but thats what I read.

I’ll end with a note of concern and sadness based on what you say about the increasing anger amongst Muslim youth. This is not at all good. Where does an antidote to this lie, u think? In increased access to education; maybe filtering down of job opportunity with economic growth; better relations with Pakistan; institutional measures enacted as law by our governments to better the lot of Muslims (whether or not the implementation is actually good enough);Muslim community organisations working overtime to eliminate the alienation/anger;…a combination of all these maybe?