Nabila Habib
The modern world and Islam, on the face of it, seem to be heading in different directions. However the situation for the second largest community in the world is not as bad as it appears. The truth is that Islam is normally misinterpreted, misunderstood and misrepresented.
Universality of Islam
The basics of all faiths are the same when they are considered in their practical aspects. All lead to the common goal of peaceful co-existence, and spiritual and physical well being of mankind. The rituals, worship-practices and prayers aim towards cleansing the mind and instilling a sense of peace, satisfaction and submission before an almighty power in the human psyche. The human consciousness is ever-inquisitive and full of quests to find that ultimate answer; this translates into Nirvana for some and eternal bliss or union with almighty for others.
Islam is woven around the common theme oneness of God, compassion, faith, peace and brotherhood.
These words naturally sound too idealistic and out of the world when viewed through the chipped, hard edged lenses of realism. The modern-world-Muslim society does not seem to be made up of these tenets. The departure from these idealistic terms and Islam as practiced arises because its followers represent the religion; but Muslims and Islam have become two non-complimentary entities.
The correct concept of a religion can be portrayed to the world at large only when the followers are following the tenets correctly, adapting the instructions to their present world practically, and thus bringing out the original picture of their faith as a result.
The one image the term ‘Muslim’ creates in the mind of people is that of a bearded man, head covered, and a loose dress fluttering as he heads to the mosque or the battleground! People have, ironically, more chances of getting confused between a Muslim and a terrorist than between a pheasant and a chicken!
Jehad & Kafirs
This is all the more saddening because the term Islam means ‘peace’. It aims at brotherhood rather than ‘war,’ Islam is so often coupled with. Besides, the brotherhood aimed at is universal, as opposed to the segregating idea of a brotherhood of just one community. The terms so passionately being bandied are being quoted out of context. A ‘Jehad’ is not a violent, gory war for the sake of religion, to convert people to Islam or to wipe out the ‘non-believers’. That would more nearly translate to ethnic cleansing! Jehad is more a peaceful struggle for justice and truth, coming nearer to ‘satyagraha’ than a ‘war’.
The second ‘war-cry’ of the modern ‘Jehadis’ is the violent expression against ‘kafirs’. A non-believer is not a kafir. A Person who refuses to accept the principles of divinity being exposed to him is one. And when Prophet Muhammad refused to brand any human as kafir, as it is solely a prerogative of God, then naturally no man can be so great a judge as to declare another a ‘kafir’!
Social laws open to change
After getting the lexicon straight, the Islamic rules for the individual and those for the society tend to get blurred. The individual belief systems apply to humanity as a whole barring age and era. The social laws, as opposed to the belief system mentioning unity of God, are not immutable. They are to be interpreted according to social context, which vary with time and location. When these two separate sets of laws are confused for each other, we get the ‘orthodox’ followers (who would not change even the shariat (social laws that are mutable)) or we get the other extremes, who are ready to change both the sets of laws for individual and the society to make way for ‘adaptation’.
Purdah for men
The common perception of a ‘restrictive’ dress code for women is pretty misleading. The ‘codes’ in actuality applies both to men and women. While women are advised about the limits that mark ‘decency’, men are advised about their limitations, too. The rules for men generally apply to giving space to the females, so that they may move about freely without getting undesired attention. The ‘purdah’ for men here lies in their ‘gaze’ that should keep a respectable detachment. The same difference that is between ‘staring’ and ‘looking’ can be applied for this advice. Besides, the specifications about the dress apply to men, too. The only difference being in the practical and obvious changes that should be brought when thinking of covering a female and a male body.
The other topic of the status and position given to women arises when the Muslim community is taken in account. A look at the typical Muslim woman, attired in some flowing garb that does not do much to reveal her physique, coupled often with the face also covered in a veil, and the liberals and feminists go ‘tch-tch!’ Again the obvious is not as simple as it looks. The coverings that envelope a woman have been ordered in the religion for certain rational reasons, and not to limit their personalities and restrict their movement.
Purdah system was introduced in Islam for women, as well as for men. Sounds new, but the basics of decent clothing are nearly the same for men and women. While women are advised to cover their body in a way that their ‘embellishments’ (which can also subjectively be interpreted as the body-features peculiar to females, or beauty ‘zeenat’) is hidden from public eye, there are specifications for men, too. Even before ‘purdah’ was introduced, the Arabs wore long gowns and headgears.
As per the cry of ‘being trapped in layers of fabric’ that inhibit a woman’s movement, women are asked to stay decently covered ‘in public eye’. That invariably means Islam expects women to step out of their hearths and be present and visible in the society. So much for the ‘place of women inside the walls of her house’! And, like any organization (be it uniform in schools or dress-code in office), society is an organized system that needs laws to function smoothly. The specifications of dressing are just one of those laws that oil the functioning of a peaceful society. It’s just that the specifications need to be interpreted according to their practicality in differently located societies.
Invitation for Conversion
Keeping in view the present Islam-phobia that has gripped the West post 9/11, questions are being raised whether Islam can really co-exist peacefully with the other faiths. Terrorism was not the tactic suggested for the spread of Islam in the holy book. It is ‘dawah’. One of the meanings of this word pregnant with many meanings, is ‘invitation’. Obviously we don’t go to invite someone armed to the teeth; we present our best and most hospitable face forward. The propagation of a religious faith is allowed in most democratic countries.
Islam is essentially democratic (one of the first cases of voting was done for the selection of Imams in the sixth century). So the clue was to win over the people of other faiths by the example of personal conduct, by invitation in putting the best face forward. Standing on the wrong side of a gun is not at all inviting, and not the way of Islam, or of any other religion for that matter. In this way, co-existence of Islam with other religions should be more pleasant than any, as the watchword for a Muslim’ conduct to a non believer is to ‘please’ and ‘impress’!
In Islam the laws for individual faith have always remained same, because they target the personal basics, which have remained the same, as Abraham Maslow, a renowned psychologist, has also stated. However, the changing social fabric across time undoubtedly needs rational interpretations of the basic laws of shariat, which are revised periodically to suit the society it represents.
These form the broader perspective surrounding Islam that have got twisted with time. Innumerable minor issues remain that make war of religions possible despite the concept of peace embedded in all religions, not excluding Islam. When an individual strives for peace within him, he makes the effort for peace in the world surrounding him. It is the ‘peace within’ that needs to be targeted for that clarification of images and solution of contradictions surrounding Islam; not the peace ‘without’ – as the popular ‘Jehadis’ have been doing!
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