By Dr. MK Sherwani,
I fail to understand whether I must call the reactions of some Muslim intellectuals to the Indian Supreme Court’s observations about ‘beard’, a malignant sign of the community’s total defeatism, frustration, desperation or even a willful demonstration of traditional foolishness.
Today I was stunned when a few semi-illiterate people telephoned me to inquire whether a restriction has been imposed on beard and burqa, and quoted a maulana as having informed them. I apprehend that on the eve of Parliamentary elections, a wave may be created, as was in the Shah Bano case, when the common Muslim masses knew nothing except that ‘no Muslim can now observe ‘shariyat’, and that ‘Islam is in danger’.
The matter was quite simple. A student, named Mohammad Salim of Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School – a government-recognized minority institution in Madhya Pradesh wanted to sport beard which was against its regulations. If Salim’s muslimhood was not complete without beard, he had the option of changing the institution instead of wasting his time on litigation, right from the High Court to the Supreme Court.
To quote my own instance, my two daughters passed their High School from Al-Huda Model School, Lucknow – a Muslim institution with Muslim dress code. As I was averse to them wearing skirts, I admitted them only in the institutions which had the option of ‘shalvar’ ‘jumpar’. I have seen that many Muslim convent schools in which wearing head scarf is mandatory for girls; they admit even the non-Muslim girl students on the undertaking of observing this condition.
As regards Mr. Justice Markandy Katju’s observation that ‘Talibanisation of the country cannot be allowed’, let me have the audacity to say that he is amongst those judges who speak too much in the court , and, therefore, a few words might have slipped out inadvertently. It is reflecting the total lack of sagacity to impute wrong motives to him. Where these so-called leaders of the community are leading it to by such negative and obscurantist outbursts is difficult to predict.
Had the Shah Bano verdict followed by a Muslim mass agitation for the amendment of Zamindari Abolition Acts so as to give the share of women according to Shariat , it might have sent a positive signal. But the situation was otherwise and the movement was spearheaded in a wrong direction. The husband says that after ‘iddat’ he is not liable to the maintenance of divorced wife according to ‘shariyat’, while her brothers do not give her share in the ancestral agriculture property, as it is not allowed in the Zamindari Abolition Acts of the country. As such, ‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act was in fact the destruction of ‘ Muslim women’, and a glaring fraud on ‘shariat’ played by the ‘mullaiyat’. Similarly, instead of tracing the essence of ‘ Islam’ in a foolish student’s attempt to sport beard and making all this humbug, if a vehement movement is launched in India for the enforcement of ‘Islamic Criminal Law’ for Muslims, I will be the first person to support it whole-heartedly. Let the community and its intellectuals come forward with a strong demand that if a Muslim commits theft, his hands must be chopped off, if he is guilty of murder, he must be beheaded in full public view, if he is found guilty of fornication, adultery or rape, he must be stoned to death, and so on. I am sure the entire country will support such a demand.
A wrong analogy has been drawn in this case between the Muslim’s beard and Sikh’s turban and beard. A Sikh means ‘turban and beard’ while a Muslim does not mean beard. Even at the nursery level a Sikh student wears turban, and he has not to seek permission for that. Besides, those who make this comparison on the basis of equal religious freedom under the Constitution, must not be oblivious to the fact that not even a single Sikh will be found on the streets begging, and not even a single Sikh couple’s matrimonial disputes come before the Family Courts and women Police Stations, whereas Muslims constitute the vast majority in both categories. I have not seen even a single Sikh woman wearing ‘sari’ or moving bare head. Before making such misplaced comparisons, we must try to emulate good things of others.
As the Parliamentary elections are approaching, ‘Muslim beard’ is becoming a most precious item for the politicians because ‘in every gadee, there must be dadee’ (in every vehicle, there must be a beard).Everyday the newspapers and electronic channels are full of photos, showing these despicable bearded maulvis and non-maulvis, falling on the feet of political masters, bargaining for petty sums. The head of every Muslim, having the slightest sense of religious ego and dignity hangs in shame over these bearded Muslims, and those who have made the beard of a student a symbol of Islamic survival, do not speak against elements – maulvis or non-maulvis. Can anyone point out a Sikh, exposing his turban, beard and community to such a ridicule, ignominy and derision? It is time for the Muslim community to understand Quran in a holistic manner, seek riddance from the dark mullaiyat , move ahead with determination as an enlightened living race of 21st century, and fight for their legitimate rights. If beard is a symbol of ‘Muslim hood’, its piety cannot be preserved by an abject community as is visible before our eyes.
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A lawyer, Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani is the Chairman of All India Muslim Forum, a political party.