Usama Khalidi, Alexcandria, Va
Milli Gazette and its owner-editor, Zafrul-Islam Khan, are facing legal troubles partly as a consequence of a policy pursued by the All-India Majlis-e Mushawarat, of which he was the president for five years.
The Majlis is a fairly respresntative body of the Indian Muslims, with 50 or more board members and advisors. Its role in the last 50 years has been to issue appeals for fairness, engage in some riot-relief work, and keep the oppression of Muslims in the public eye. It made Muslim political identity the most important issue to fight and die for. Its components were the status of Urdu and the Muslim character of the Aligarh Muslim University.
It made no effort to lower the walls between religions, to heal Muslims’ self-alienation from the majority cutlure. Muslims have been in the political mainstream, it’s true. But they have made no effort to integrate themselves into the majority political culture on secular terms.
Among cultural factors alienating Hindus from Muslims and vice versa is the Muslims’ insistence on displaying and maintaining their cultural distinctions, hijab, sherwani, beards and a disdain of other people’s spiritual expressions.
The single greatest failure of the Majlis has been its refusal to uphold an Indian expression of Islam, the Islam of Nizamuddin of Delhi, Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer and Juaid Gesu Daraz of Gulberga. Instead, they stuck to the Deobandi thinking. It is true that Deoband fought for Indian Independence and opposed the creation of Pakistan. But it did not create a narrative that would socially integrate Muslims with the majority Hindus.
Abul Ala Maududi can be seen to represent the Deobandi point of view on the Muslim situation in the Indian Subcontinent. In this view, the Muslim situation can be seen as a fight-to-the-finish struggle between a lion and a crocodile. It’s zero-sum. A total victory and a total defeat. Nothing in between, no shade of grey. I heard this argument from my father, a professor of Muslim history at Hyderabad’s Osmania University. He was a Jamaat-e Islami sympathizer.
Those among Indian Muslims who found employment in the Arabian/Persian Gulf brought back to India (and Pakistan, Sudan and Egypt) an ideological interpretation of Islam, Sunnah and the Qur’an that emanated from the uncivilized power politics of the Saudi royal elites. Their political ideology, with Islam at its center, advances a puritanical version of Qur’an and its interpretation that is designed to perpetuate the Saudi political system. In other words, a rapacious Wahhabism that has no regard for life, human kindness, and the message of peace brought by the Prophet of Islam, Mushammed, pbuh. Saudi dominance in ideological matters is what the Saudis seek in return for the billions they spent on madrassahs in all the poverty-stricken Muslim lands, and some non-Muslim countries, including America.
I recall my debates with my late brother, Omar Khalidi, going back to the early 1980s. My stand was that Indian Muslims should practice secularism before demanding the fruits of secularism from the Indian polity. His response was: If Indian Muslims became secular, that would amount to a success of surgical operation, although the patient would be dead. “Patient died but the operation was successful.”
What this cheap shot really means is that if Muslims cannot survive as a cultural unit, then survival in any other form is not worth the effort. Better that they get killed. I do not share this cynicism.
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The views expressed in this article are the author’s in his private capacity and do not in any way represent Muslim Mirror’s editorial policy.
The writer seems to be ignorant about Mr Zafarul Islam Khan and Mushawart. He mixed up his profession with his community activities as present problem has nothing to do with his stint in Mushawarat whose term was well ended in December 2015. The author also doesn’t know the political situation of Indian Muslims as they are the only most secular political group in the country, even they reject “Muslim” based political outfits in elections. Bihar and Assam are latest example. He seems to live in fools’ paradise or deliberately distorting facts to appease his masters.
What a senseless article.
Rather than standing with solidarity, if we also start criticising this feeble voice for Muslims, then it is the obvious win for the government who wants to shut down any voice against it.
Think before writing such an article.
Compromising on the sunnah of the prophet is not an option. This article is ridiculous. There is no secularism in Islam only shari’a. Secularism is not the solution for this world only shari’a.
Its crisis of identity for Indian muslim, you want us merge with Rss.
Even must think before publishing such article.
Instead of giving moral and financial support a misguided person sitting in US is inflicting the whole community by writing such article ..hope Muslim Mirror will blacklist such a creep.
People like Osama Khalidi is a shame for the entire community.Mr Osama did you ever contribute anything during 17 years? I am sure NEVER..but you are the first person to demoralize Dr Zafrul Islam sb and defame a respected Muslim body like AIMMM.
People like Osama Khalidi is SHAME for the community who did nothing visible for the community and now only criticizing .SHUT UP YOUR MOUTH and tend to your own business.
I spotted some points in article:
1. No intellectual level.
2. Emotional explosion.
3. Frustration of not being heard.
4. Poor English.
5. No relevance of the content to the topic.
The author of the article may have no etiquette of writing an article.
I put the sole blame of this content being published on the editor and editorial team of Muslim Mirror. Shame.
Muslim should have right to moan. ZeeTV, TimesNow, IndiaTV, AajTak etc are preaching hate. We can’t even raise concerns. A section of media represent militant hindutva. Such articles by self assumed Muslim intellectuals aid and abet fanatic against Muslims. Muslim Moulvis opposed the creation of Pakistan on the basis of religion. That’s is the proof that Indian Muslims love thier motherland. We don’t need Usama Khalidi, Javed Akhtar or other opportunist to teach us secularism