12-20-2003, 07:23 AM
Muslims and the Historic U-Turns
By Mohammad A Chaudhry
Pittsburg, CA
Nations make adjustments in their approach to the problems that confront them, and ultimately wiggle out of them and thrive. Rigid stands taken when flexibility and the use of discretion should be the choice, unfailingly destroy countries, no matter how just their cause be and how laudable their morale. Like it or not, we live in a self-centered and utilitarian world in which a timely change is the whole thing.
The Sikhs are brave people. In the 18th Century, they defeated the British in the Punjab in their first skirmish. But then in the next bout, the British by dint of their use of gunpowder and better military training and deployment succeeded in turning red the waters of the Bias River with the Sikh blood. The defeat as well as the humiliation was total. Otherwise known for their uncanny stubbornness, the Sikhs learnt early on that riding on the bare backs of horses and flourishing karpans in the air was no match to the military might of the British, and they made an unpleasant, but wise and timely adjustment. They vowed not to the fight the British, but be a part of them and fleece them. Their aim remained the same, only the tactics changed. History tells us that they stuck to the British like a tic or a leach and thrived in the subsequent years on their blood. The Sikhs were the first to be inducted in the British Army, became a very important component of it with the exclusive permission to wear their own head-gear and grow beards too. In the war of Independence of 1857, it were the Sikhs who settled their grievances against the Muslims by riding on the shoulders of the British.
Panday could have been the first foot soldier to fire a shot at the British to start the war of Independence of India in 1857, but his fellow- religion Hindus were not the last to see it end that way. It were the Muslims who bore the main brunt. The Hindus were quick to make the timely U-Turn after the failure of this Revolt. Muslims were the worst to suffer because they were made to believe by their Ulemas that a change in stand meant endangerment to Islam. The Hindus like the Sikhs adjusted themselves, by resolving not to oppose the British, but to go along with them and be their biggest suckers (in the literal sense). And they did so. Sunder Nath, otherwise known as Surrender Not, in India was the first Indian to pass the Indian Civil Service Examination. In subsequent years, the Hindus were the first to learn Modern Languages and sciences, especially English, were the first to occupy the menial as well as the highest offices. The Muslims stayed entangled in their elephant-big egos, remained entangled in the Deobandi and Bareli schools of thought, and basked nostalgically in the glory that was not there. For them making an adjustment in approach amounted to abandoning their religion, and Mullahs made sure that it did not happen even by accident. Study of English language and literature became a sinful act. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the 19th Century and Quaid-i-Azam during the struggle for Independence came to be dubbed as Kafirs. Their sin being that they were making efforts to awaken the Muslims to the ground realities that would tell even a blind man that the Muslims were out of step with the pace of time, and that the only way to get out of this decadence was to align oneself with the pace of the time.
In the recent past, the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in Asia suffered the worst defeats, and tasted the most demeaning defeats. We the Muslims cannot say that the Germans were not brave soldiers or that the Japanese did not have any sense of honor. For them to commit suicide when confronted with humiliation used to be an act of chivalry. Both the nations made U-Turns. The Germans and the Japanese, both rose from the debris and trash they were reduced to, and emerged as nations that are to be reckoned with. Knowledge and research, to which the Muslims said good-bye in the 12th century of Ibn Rushd, became the key words for them. The tactics to come out of the malaise were, to leave the past, and to look to the future, and to change in order to get the best out of the worst. They learnt to use the destroyerâs resources in order to reconstruct themselves. Today the 4,089 billion dollars GDP of Japan is a befitting reply to the United Statesâ$7,903 billions. Both countries forgot the bombs dropped on them. Today both stand strong and firm. Today, the Germans are in a position to take an independent stand on the issue of pre-emptive strikes at countries like Iraq by opposing America, and Japan is an economic power that America is proud to have as a friend. Both nations stand redeemed.
The Vietnamese children still play with the skulls of their elders who perished in the war, but are today Americaâs closest friends. They are right on target as they are busy in strengthening their nation by fostering good business relations with America. India offers another example. Leaping out of the lap of Russia, the Indians of yesterday have strategically perched themselves on the shoulders of America, and are its best partners. Within a few years, its foreign reserves have risen from 18 billion to more than 82 billion. Pakistanâs policy in Kashmir and the 9/11 incident became a blessing in disguise for India, and India did not lose a moment to grasp the opportunity. We are still busy in eulogizing the Talibaan and are fighting those who refuse to take them as role models of Islam. Some of their grand virtues being that they sat on the mat and ate with bare fingers, and that they established peace because they transformed public hanging into a sight-seeing event.
Is it in our psyche, culture or nature to shun compromises, and to keep abhorring adjustments when they become so inevitable? Certainly it is not in the religion that we follow. May be perhaps it is a part of our nature to break rather than to bend. We do not pay attention to the spirit of Hudaibiya as much as we do to becoming a Kharjite. If the spirit of tolerance, forgiveness and adjustment had stayed with us, today we would not be mourning the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali and of Hazrat Hussain.
Pakistan today is in a quagmire of political and sectarian turmoil. Religious people are exploiting the religion for their own designs. Abu Lahb opposed the Prophet, not because he did not like the message the Holy Prophet was preaching. He did so because as a banker and money lender, the new message of Islam was hitting at the very root of his well-being. Abu Jehl opposed the Holy Prophet, not because he did not see the truth in his message; he was constrained to do so because as a politician, it affected his chances of remaining the Vadera of the town. The politicians see no chances of attaining power as long as Musharraf is there; and the religious leaders see themselves being pushed again to their erstwhile Hujras as the resources that facilitated their movements in Pajeros, are now getting dried up. Islam as a religion is under no danger. It is and has been a religion of peace and common sense. It is the vested interests of pseudo leaders that are at stake.
The word, Jihad, translated by the religious leaders as Holy War, and as is understood by the West, and translated by their Media as Holy War, has never been used in such meanings since the 11th Century, till the later half of the 20th Century when it had to be polished and reused with American blessings in Afghanistan. The concept of a Holy War was coined by Europe during the Crusades when a justification had to be found in religion to war against Muslims. Muslims and a major majority of them are not warmongers. Muslimsâ problem in each Muslim country has been and still is the lack of sincere leadership. Selfishness, infinite greed, corruption, and the most callous desire to stay in power, by hook or by crook, is what is inhibiting them to see the urgency that is making a clarion call to move away from the path of the falling boulders. Discretion and common sense work better when suicidal valor appears to be failing.
Islam does not demand unreasoned belief, it invites intelligent faith, growing from observation, reflection and contemplation. The clerics want the Muslims to be blind followers. Musharrafâs arrival was wrong but his approach under the circumstances to get Pakistan out of the imminent turmoil is correct. The U-Turn he has made with regard to the Afghanistan By Mohammad A Chaudhry
Pittsburg, CA
Nations make adjustments in their approach to the problems that confront them, and ultimately wiggle out of them and thrive. Rigid stands taken when flexibility and the use of discretion should be the choice, unfailingly destroy countries, no matter how just their cause be and how laudable their morale. Like it or not, we live in a self-centered and utilitarian world in which a timely change is the whole thing.
The Sikhs are brave people. In the 18th Century, they defeated the British in the Punjab in their first skirmish. But then in the next bout, the British by dint of their use of gunpowder and better military training and deployment succeeded in turning red the waters of the Bias River with the Sikh blood. The defeat as well as the humiliation was total. Otherwise known for their uncanny stubbornness, the Sikhs learnt early on that riding on the bare backs of horses and flourishing karpans in the air was no match to the military might of the British, and they made an unpleasant, but wise and timely adjustment. They vowed not to the fight the British, but be a part of them and fleece them. Their aim remained the same, only the tactics changed. History tells us that they stuck to the British like a tic or a leach and thrived in the subsequent years on their blood. The Sikhs were the first to be inducted in the British Army, became a very important component of it with the exclusive permission to wear their own head-gear and grow beards too. In the war of Independence of 1857, it were the Sikhs who settled their grievances against the Muslims by riding on the shoulders of the British.
Panday could have been the first foot soldier to fire a shot at the British to start the war of Independence of India in 1857, but his fellow- religion Hindus were not the last to see it end that way. It were the Muslims who bore the main brunt. The Hindus were quick to make the timely U-Turn after the failure of this Revolt. Muslims were the worst to suffer because they were made to believe by their Ulemas that a change in stand meant endangerment to Islam. The Hindus like the Sikhs adjusted themselves, by resolving not to oppose the British, but to go along with them and be their biggest suckers (in the literal sense). And they did so. Sunder Nath, otherwise known as Surrender Not, in India was the first Indian to pass the Indian Civil Service Examination. In subsequent years, the Hindus were the first to learn Modern Languages and sciences, especially English, were the first to occupy the menial as well as the highest offices. The Muslims stayed entangled in their elephant-big egos, remained entangled in the Deobandi and Bareli schools of thought, and basked nostalgically in the glory that was not there. For them making an adjustment in approach amounted to abandoning their religion, and Mullahs made sure that it did not happen even by accident. Study of English language and literature became a sinful act. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the 19th Century and Quaid-i-Azam during the struggle for Independence came to be dubbed as Kafirs. Their sin being that they were making efforts to awaken the Muslims to the ground realities that would tell even a blind man that the Muslims were out of step with the pace of time, and that the only way to get out of this decadence was to align oneself with the pace of the time.
In the recent past, the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in Asia suffered the worst defeats, and tasted the most demeaning defeats. We the Muslims cannot say that the Germans were not brave soldiers or that the Japanese did not have any sense of honor. For them to commit suicide when confronted with humiliation used to be an act of chivalry. Both the nations made U-Turns. The Germans and the Japanese, both rose from the debris and trash they were reduced to, and emerged as nations that are to be reckoned with. Knowledge and research, to which the Muslims said good-bye in the 12th century of Ibn Rushd, became the key words for them. The tactics to come out of the malaise were, to leave the past, and to look to the future, and to change in order to get the best out of the worst. They learnt to use the destroyerâs resources in order to reconstruct themselves. Today the 4,089 billion dollars GDP of Japan is a befitting reply to the United Statesâ$7,903 billions. Both countries forgot the bombs dropped on them. Today both stand strong and firm. Today, the Germans are in a position to take an independent stand on the issue of pre-emptive strikes at countries like Iraq by opposing America, and Japan is an economic power that America is proud to have as a friend. Both nations stand redeemed.
The Vietnamese children still play with the skulls of their elders who perished in the war, but are today Americaâs closest friends. They are right on target as they are busy in strengthening their nation by fostering good business relations with America. India offers another example. Leaping out of the lap of Russia, the Indians of yesterday have strategically perched themselves on the shoulders of America, and are its best partners. Within a few years, its foreign reserves have risen from 18 billion to more than 82 billion. Pakistanâs policy in Kashmir and the 9/11 incident became a blessing in disguise for India, and India did not lose a moment to grasp the opportunity. We are still busy in eulogizing the Talibaan and are fighting those who refuse to take them as role models of Islam. Some of their grand virtues being that they sat on the mat and ate with bare fingers, and that they established peace because they transformed public hanging into a sight-seeing event.
Is it in our psyche, culture or nature to shun compromises, and to keep abhorring adjustments when they become so inevitable? Certainly it is not in the religion that we follow. May be perhaps it is a part of our nature to break rather than to bend. We do not pay attention to the spirit of Hudaibiya as much as we do to becoming a Kharjite. If the spirit of tolerance, forgiveness and adjustment had stayed with us, today we would not be mourning the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali and of Hazrat Hussain.
Pakistan today is in a quagmire of political and sectarian turmoil. Religious people are exploiting the religion for their own designs. Abu Lahb opposed the Prophet, not because he did not like the message the Holy Prophet was preaching. He did so because as a banker and money lender, the new message of Islam was hitting at the very root of his well-being. Abu Jehl opposed the Holy Prophet, not because he did not see the truth in his message; he was constrained to do so because as a politician, it affected his chances of remaining the Vadera of the town. The politicians see no chances of attaining power as long as Musharraf is there; and the religious leaders see themselves being pushed again to their erstwhile Hujras as the resources that facilitated their movements in Pajeros, are now getting dried up. Islam as a religion is under no danger. It is and has been a religion of peace and common sense. It is the vested interests of pseudo leaders that are at stake.
The word, Jihad, translated by the religious leaders as Holy War, and as is understood by the West, and translated by their Media as Holy War, has never been used in such meanings since the 11th Century, till the later half of the 20th Century when it had to be polished and reused with American blessings in Afghanistan. The concept of a Holy War was coined by Europe during the Crusades when a justification had to be found in religion to war against Muslims. Muslims and a major majority of them are not warmongers. Muslimsâ problem in each Muslim country has been and still is the lack of sincere leadership. Selfishness, infinite greed, corruption, and the most callous desire to stay in power, by hook or by crook, is what is inhibiting them to see the urgency that is making a clarion call to move away from the path of the falling boulders. Discretion and common sense work better when suicidal valor appears to be failing.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Islam does not demand unreasoned belief, it invites intelligent faith, growing from observation, reflection and contemplation. The clerics want the Muslims to be blind followers. Musharrafâs arrival was wrong but his approach under the circumstances to get Pakistan out of the imminent turmoil is correct. The U-Turn he has made with regard to the Afghanistan.</span>http://www.pakistanlink.com/Opinion/2003/Dec03/05/02.html
By Mohammad A Chaudhry
Pittsburg, CA
Nations make adjustments in their approach to the problems that confront them, and ultimately wiggle out of them and thrive. Rigid stands taken when flexibility and the use of discretion should be the choice, unfailingly destroy countries, no matter how just their cause be and how laudable their morale. Like it or not, we live in a self-centered and utilitarian world in which a timely change is the whole thing.
The Sikhs are brave people. In the 18th Century, they defeated the British in the Punjab in their first skirmish. But then in the next bout, the British by dint of their use of gunpowder and better military training and deployment succeeded in turning red the waters of the Bias River with the Sikh blood. The defeat as well as the humiliation was total. Otherwise known for their uncanny stubbornness, the Sikhs learnt early on that riding on the bare backs of horses and flourishing karpans in the air was no match to the military might of the British, and they made an unpleasant, but wise and timely adjustment. They vowed not to the fight the British, but be a part of them and fleece them. Their aim remained the same, only the tactics changed. History tells us that they stuck to the British like a tic or a leach and thrived in the subsequent years on their blood. The Sikhs were the first to be inducted in the British Army, became a very important component of it with the exclusive permission to wear their own head-gear and grow beards too. In the war of Independence of 1857, it were the Sikhs who settled their grievances against the Muslims by riding on the shoulders of the British.
Panday could have been the first foot soldier to fire a shot at the British to start the war of Independence of India in 1857, but his fellow- religion Hindus were not the last to see it end that way. It were the Muslims who bore the main brunt. The Hindus were quick to make the timely U-Turn after the failure of this Revolt. Muslims were the worst to suffer because they were made to believe by their Ulemas that a change in stand meant endangerment to Islam. The Hindus like the Sikhs adjusted themselves, by resolving not to oppose the British, but to go along with them and be their biggest suckers (in the literal sense). And they did so. Sunder Nath, otherwise known as Surrender Not, in India was the first Indian to pass the Indian Civil Service Examination. In subsequent years, the Hindus were the first to learn Modern Languages and sciences, especially English, were the first to occupy the menial as well as the highest offices. The Muslims stayed entangled in their elephant-big egos, remained entangled in the Deobandi and Bareli schools of thought, and basked nostalgically in the glory that was not there. For them making an adjustment in approach amounted to abandoning their religion, and Mullahs made sure that it did not happen even by accident. Study of English language and literature became a sinful act. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the 19th Century and Quaid-i-Azam during the struggle for Independence came to be dubbed as Kafirs. Their sin being that they were making efforts to awaken the Muslims to the ground realities that would tell even a blind man that the Muslims were out of step with the pace of time, and that the only way to get out of this decadence was to align oneself with the pace of the time.
In the recent past, the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in Asia suffered the worst defeats, and tasted the most demeaning defeats. We the Muslims cannot say that the Germans were not brave soldiers or that the Japanese did not have any sense of honor. For them to commit suicide when confronted with humiliation used to be an act of chivalry. Both the nations made U-Turns. The Germans and the Japanese, both rose from the debris and trash they were reduced to, and emerged as nations that are to be reckoned with. Knowledge and research, to which the Muslims said good-bye in the 12th century of Ibn Rushd, became the key words for them. The tactics to come out of the malaise were, to leave the past, and to look to the future, and to change in order to get the best out of the worst. They learnt to use the destroyerâs resources in order to reconstruct themselves. Today the 4,089 billion dollars GDP of Japan is a befitting reply to the United Statesâ$7,903 billions. Both countries forgot the bombs dropped on them. Today both stand strong and firm. Today, the Germans are in a position to take an independent stand on the issue of pre-emptive strikes at countries like Iraq by opposing America, and Japan is an economic power that America is proud to have as a friend. Both nations stand redeemed.
The Vietnamese children still play with the skulls of their elders who perished in the war, but are today Americaâs closest friends. They are right on target as they are busy in strengthening their nation by fostering good business relations with America. India offers another example. Leaping out of the lap of Russia, the Indians of yesterday have strategically perched themselves on the shoulders of America, and are its best partners. Within a few years, its foreign reserves have risen from 18 billion to more than 82 billion. Pakistanâs policy in Kashmir and the 9/11 incident became a blessing in disguise for India, and India did not lose a moment to grasp the opportunity. We are still busy in eulogizing the Talibaan and are fighting those who refuse to take them as role models of Islam. Some of their grand virtues being that they sat on the mat and ate with bare fingers, and that they established peace because they transformed public hanging into a sight-seeing event.
Is it in our psyche, culture or nature to shun compromises, and to keep abhorring adjustments when they become so inevitable? Certainly it is not in the religion that we follow. May be perhaps it is a part of our nature to break rather than to bend. We do not pay attention to the spirit of Hudaibiya as much as we do to becoming a Kharjite. If the spirit of tolerance, forgiveness and adjustment had stayed with us, today we would not be mourning the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali and of Hazrat Hussain.
Pakistan today is in a quagmire of political and sectarian turmoil. Religious people are exploiting the religion for their own designs. Abu Lahb opposed the Prophet, not because he did not like the message the Holy Prophet was preaching. He did so because as a banker and money lender, the new message of Islam was hitting at the very root of his well-being. Abu Jehl opposed the Holy Prophet, not because he did not see the truth in his message; he was constrained to do so because as a politician, it affected his chances of remaining the Vadera of the town. The politicians see no chances of attaining power as long as Musharraf is there; and the religious leaders see themselves being pushed again to their erstwhile Hujras as the resources that facilitated their movements in Pajeros, are now getting dried up. Islam as a religion is under no danger. It is and has been a religion of peace and common sense. It is the vested interests of pseudo leaders that are at stake.
The word, Jihad, translated by the religious leaders as Holy War, and as is understood by the West, and translated by their Media as Holy War, has never been used in such meanings since the 11th Century, till the later half of the 20th Century when it had to be polished and reused with American blessings in Afghanistan. The concept of a Holy War was coined by Europe during the Crusades when a justification had to be found in religion to war against Muslims. Muslims and a major majority of them are not warmongers. Muslimsâ problem in each Muslim country has been and still is the lack of sincere leadership. Selfishness, infinite greed, corruption, and the most callous desire to stay in power, by hook or by crook, is what is inhibiting them to see the urgency that is making a clarion call to move away from the path of the falling boulders. Discretion and common sense work better when suicidal valor appears to be failing.
Islam does not demand unreasoned belief, it invites intelligent faith, growing from observation, reflection and contemplation. The clerics want the Muslims to be blind followers. Musharrafâs arrival was wrong but his approach under the circumstances to get Pakistan out of the imminent turmoil is correct. The U-Turn he has made with regard to the Afghanistan By Mohammad A Chaudhry
Pittsburg, CA
Nations make adjustments in their approach to the problems that confront them, and ultimately wiggle out of them and thrive. Rigid stands taken when flexibility and the use of discretion should be the choice, unfailingly destroy countries, no matter how just their cause be and how laudable their morale. Like it or not, we live in a self-centered and utilitarian world in which a timely change is the whole thing.
The Sikhs are brave people. In the 18th Century, they defeated the British in the Punjab in their first skirmish. But then in the next bout, the British by dint of their use of gunpowder and better military training and deployment succeeded in turning red the waters of the Bias River with the Sikh blood. The defeat as well as the humiliation was total. Otherwise known for their uncanny stubbornness, the Sikhs learnt early on that riding on the bare backs of horses and flourishing karpans in the air was no match to the military might of the British, and they made an unpleasant, but wise and timely adjustment. They vowed not to the fight the British, but be a part of them and fleece them. Their aim remained the same, only the tactics changed. History tells us that they stuck to the British like a tic or a leach and thrived in the subsequent years on their blood. The Sikhs were the first to be inducted in the British Army, became a very important component of it with the exclusive permission to wear their own head-gear and grow beards too. In the war of Independence of 1857, it were the Sikhs who settled their grievances against the Muslims by riding on the shoulders of the British.
Panday could have been the first foot soldier to fire a shot at the British to start the war of Independence of India in 1857, but his fellow- religion Hindus were not the last to see it end that way. It were the Muslims who bore the main brunt. The Hindus were quick to make the timely U-Turn after the failure of this Revolt. Muslims were the worst to suffer because they were made to believe by their Ulemas that a change in stand meant endangerment to Islam. The Hindus like the Sikhs adjusted themselves, by resolving not to oppose the British, but to go along with them and be their biggest suckers (in the literal sense). And they did so. Sunder Nath, otherwise known as Surrender Not, in India was the first Indian to pass the Indian Civil Service Examination. In subsequent years, the Hindus were the first to learn Modern Languages and sciences, especially English, were the first to occupy the menial as well as the highest offices. The Muslims stayed entangled in their elephant-big egos, remained entangled in the Deobandi and Bareli schools of thought, and basked nostalgically in the glory that was not there. For them making an adjustment in approach amounted to abandoning their religion, and Mullahs made sure that it did not happen even by accident. Study of English language and literature became a sinful act. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the 19th Century and Quaid-i-Azam during the struggle for Independence came to be dubbed as Kafirs. Their sin being that they were making efforts to awaken the Muslims to the ground realities that would tell even a blind man that the Muslims were out of step with the pace of time, and that the only way to get out of this decadence was to align oneself with the pace of the time.
In the recent past, the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in Asia suffered the worst defeats, and tasted the most demeaning defeats. We the Muslims cannot say that the Germans were not brave soldiers or that the Japanese did not have any sense of honor. For them to commit suicide when confronted with humiliation used to be an act of chivalry. Both the nations made U-Turns. The Germans and the Japanese, both rose from the debris and trash they were reduced to, and emerged as nations that are to be reckoned with. Knowledge and research, to which the Muslims said good-bye in the 12th century of Ibn Rushd, became the key words for them. The tactics to come out of the malaise were, to leave the past, and to look to the future, and to change in order to get the best out of the worst. They learnt to use the destroyerâs resources in order to reconstruct themselves. Today the 4,089 billion dollars GDP of Japan is a befitting reply to the United Statesâ$7,903 billions. Both countries forgot the bombs dropped on them. Today both stand strong and firm. Today, the Germans are in a position to take an independent stand on the issue of pre-emptive strikes at countries like Iraq by opposing America, and Japan is an economic power that America is proud to have as a friend. Both nations stand redeemed.
The Vietnamese children still play with the skulls of their elders who perished in the war, but are today Americaâs closest friends. They are right on target as they are busy in strengthening their nation by fostering good business relations with America. India offers another example. Leaping out of the lap of Russia, the Indians of yesterday have strategically perched themselves on the shoulders of America, and are its best partners. Within a few years, its foreign reserves have risen from 18 billion to more than 82 billion. Pakistanâs policy in Kashmir and the 9/11 incident became a blessing in disguise for India, and India did not lose a moment to grasp the opportunity. We are still busy in eulogizing the Talibaan and are fighting those who refuse to take them as role models of Islam. Some of their grand virtues being that they sat on the mat and ate with bare fingers, and that they established peace because they transformed public hanging into a sight-seeing event.
Is it in our psyche, culture or nature to shun compromises, and to keep abhorring adjustments when they become so inevitable? Certainly it is not in the religion that we follow. May be perhaps it is a part of our nature to break rather than to bend. We do not pay attention to the spirit of Hudaibiya as much as we do to becoming a Kharjite. If the spirit of tolerance, forgiveness and adjustment had stayed with us, today we would not be mourning the martyrdom of Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali and of Hazrat Hussain.
Pakistan today is in a quagmire of political and sectarian turmoil. Religious people are exploiting the religion for their own designs. Abu Lahb opposed the Prophet, not because he did not like the message the Holy Prophet was preaching. He did so because as a banker and money lender, the new message of Islam was hitting at the very root of his well-being. Abu Jehl opposed the Holy Prophet, not because he did not see the truth in his message; he was constrained to do so because as a politician, it affected his chances of remaining the Vadera of the town. The politicians see no chances of attaining power as long as Musharraf is there; and the religious leaders see themselves being pushed again to their erstwhile Hujras as the resources that facilitated their movements in Pajeros, are now getting dried up. Islam as a religion is under no danger. It is and has been a religion of peace and common sense. It is the vested interests of pseudo leaders that are at stake.
The word, Jihad, translated by the religious leaders as Holy War, and as is understood by the West, and translated by their Media as Holy War, has never been used in such meanings since the 11th Century, till the later half of the 20th Century when it had to be polished and reused with American blessings in Afghanistan. The concept of a Holy War was coined by Europe during the Crusades when a justification had to be found in religion to war against Muslims. Muslims and a major majority of them are not warmongers. Muslimsâ problem in each Muslim country has been and still is the lack of sincere leadership. Selfishness, infinite greed, corruption, and the most callous desire to stay in power, by hook or by crook, is what is inhibiting them to see the urgency that is making a clarion call to move away from the path of the falling boulders. Discretion and common sense work better when suicidal valor appears to be failing.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Islam does not demand unreasoned belief, it invites intelligent faith, growing from observation, reflection and contemplation. The clerics want the Muslims to be blind followers. Musharrafâs arrival was wrong but his approach under the circumstances to get Pakistan out of the imminent turmoil is correct. The U-Turn he has made with regard to the Afghanistan.</span>http://www.pakistanlink.com/Opinion/2003/Dec03/05/02.html