By Aleem Faizee, Ummid.com
Widely acclaimed Mufti and renowned Scholar, Dr. Fazlur Rehman Madni is an authentic voice of over 20 million Ahl-e-Hadees Muslims who live in India. An important member of Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadees Hind, Dr. Fazlur Rehman Madni achieved the doctorate in Islamic studies from Jamia Islamiah Madinah Munawwera in Saudi Arabia before joining Jamia Mohmmadia Mansoora in Malegaon as Shaikh-ul-Jamia.
In an exclusive interview he speaks with Aleem Faizee for ummid.com after the brutal incident that rocked Mumbai November 26 onwards, Dr. Fazlur Rehman Madni while analyzing the recent terrorist activities and exploitation of religions on the basis of Islamic principles, vehemently denounced the terrorist activities and termed those indulging in violence as inhumane. Excerpts:
Looking at the continual violence and terrorist activities it seems not only India but the whole world is exposed to unprecedented danger. If we talk of the Muslims and of the Islamic principles, how do you see the violence especially what has recently happened in Mumbai?
As long as Islam is concerned it has nothing to do with violence or any kind of terrorist activities and it has been reiterated ample number of times. The Holy Quran clearly declares that killing an innocent person is equivalent to killing the whole humanity. Then how can anyone term Islam as the religion that promote or encourage violence or extremism?
Even if someone with Muslim identities indulges in any kind of violent activities that harm the innocents, their acts are against the principles of Islam there certainly no doubt in this. While committing the crimes they are not following Islam. Far from representing Islam, the moment they resort to violence that kills innocent lives they cease to be a Muslim.
The atrocities meted to the Muslims in India or elsewhere in the world are often mentioned by the terrorists to justify their brutal acts. Does Islam allow taking revenge by indiscriminately killing the innocent people or violent reaction to injustice?
I must clearly say that violent reaction has no place in Islam. Islamic principles on the basis of Quran clearly states that you cannot take revenge of something committed by son from his father and a son will not be responsible for a crime committed by his father. Likewise if people from a particular place have done something wrong to its natives, Islam does not allow taking revenge from the people at some other place. The best way for addressing the grievances is to get them punished by the court. On this basis the kind of violence we have recently seen in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country is totally un-Islamic. Islam has nothing to do with these kinds of brutal acts.
Don’t you think that at least at some places in Pakistan and somewhere else in the world, some people are indeed there who encourage youths for taking arms in the name of religion and Jihad? Is this the kind of Jihad that has been allowed in Islam?
Jihad is indeed a holy war in Islam. But the kind of activities we are witnessing nowadays is nothing to do with Jihad. The people who are resorting to the terrorist activities in the name of Jihad, I must say, have not understood the principles of Jihad.
Islam has no doubt permitted its followers for taking arms into their hands. However this permission is bound by stringent rules and strict guidelines. Apart from safeguarding various civil rights even in wartime Islam does not permit killing the women, children and those who are praying in Mandir or Church or at some other places of worship. Islam strictly guarantee their safety. When these are the guidelines in Islam, how can we call the killings of innocent citizen and people staying in hotels as Jihad? Never!
Whenever terrorist activities occur at any place in the world or in our country, these acts are associated with the whole Muslim community and used to malign Islam. How do you feel about this?
I feel that the intention of the people who associate Islam and the Muslim community with terrorist activities is iniquitous and ill-intended. Otherwise look at what happened when Hemant Karkare started exposing the terrorists behind Malegaon blasts. When some people started coining the terminology of ‘Hindu Terrorism’, the same lot of people who till recently were leaving no stone unturned in exploiting Islamic Terrorism, took a surprising turnaround and asserted that associating religion with terrorism is not justified and using the terms like Hindu Terrorism is wrong. They have realized this fact now. But we always believed that no religion preaches hatred and violence. And an act of terrorism can never be associated with a religion.
And if we talk of Islam, the name in itself has been derived from the Arabic word Silmun that means Peace. Prophet Mohammad when he was sent in this world was sent as Rehmah meaning blessing for the whole universe. The way in twenty three years of the prophethood, Prophet Mohammad converted the Arabs, who were as uncivilized and arrogant as their counterparts in other parts of the world, into most civilized and well-mannered people is still surprises the world.