Compiled by Dr.Ajmal
About the Conference
A four-day international “Sufi” conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 17 March. Thousands of delegates from various parts of India and about a hundred foreign guests are attending this event which is being organised by a fairly new organisation called “All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board,” headed by Hazrat Syed Muhammad Ashraf Ashrafi, who belongs to the Barelwi Muslim sub-sect .
In a joint press statement by a number of important leaders of the Indian Muslim community on 11 February, they said that the elements(Hindutva forces)who earlier served their political aims by pitting Muslims and Hindus in violence against one another in the past, have now hatched a conspiracy to push Muslims of various sects to fight each other, moving from Hindu-Muslim to Muslim-Muslim strife.
The leaders alleged that the Indian government is providing funds “freely” for this purpose. They said that the organisers are trying to spread sectarian chaos in the name of Sufism, and are falsely accusing some Muslim groups of being supporters of terrorism, while the fact is that every Muslim group and organisation in India has condemned terrorism and issued umpteen statements and fatwas to this effect.
On 7 March the organisers of the Sufi event accepted that the government is helping them. They justified it saying that such a big event cannot be organised without government help
Hijacking Islam the Sufi – Western Way
There is no doubt that there is a lot of confusion and fitnah in the Muslim ummah these days. Good and truth has been made to appear as evil and falsehood and vice versa. New and old Muslims alike are being affected by this fitnah.
It is important to point out that supporting Sufi Islam and pitting Muslims against each other has been a well-planned out strategy – advised by RAND Corp to the USA Govt. RAND Corp is one of the most powerful global policy think tank, with revenues exceeding 300million USD.
Here is a very interesting quote from the publication called – “Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies” which helps to clear up the misunderstandings and expose the falsehood.It gives details of how these “Organisations&Governments” have concocted to hijack Islam and present a modified “Moderate” Islam suitable to their needs using the hypocrites, puppet scholars and the Sufi’s and misguide the Muslim youth with it.
RAND advises the US to discredit, demonize, slander, and concoct false charges or evidences against the sincere followers of Islam by any means necessary, especially by using the western controlled media in the US, which often leads to unjust harassment and imprisonment. It advises to propagate Sufi-ism among the Muslim Masses.This is done in order to turn the masses of the Muslims in general and women in particular, against following true Islam and to cause them to despise and disassociate from the adherent followers of Islam.
A PLAIN READING OF WHAT THEY ADVISE IS ENOUGH FOR ANY ONE TO KNOW THE TRUTH
Below is the part-Verbatim text from the SUMMARY& APPENDIX C sections of RAND published guide book – Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies
The Islamic world has been marked by along period of backwardness and comparative powerlessness; many differentsolutions, such as nationalism, pan-Arabism, Arab socialism, and Islamic revolution, have been attempted without success, and this has led to frustration andanger. At the same time, the Islamic world has fallen out of step with contemporary global culture, an uncomfortable situation for both sides.
Muslims disagree on what to do about this, and they disagree on what their society ultimately should look like. We can distinguish four essential positions:
• Fundamentalists reject democratic values and contemporary Western culture. They want an authoritarian, puritanical state that will implement their extreme view of Islamic law and morality. They are willing to use innovation and modern technology to achieve that goal.
• Traditionalists want a conservative society. They are suspicious of modernity, innovation, and change.
• Modernists want the Islamic world to become part of global modernity. They want to modernize and reform Islam to bring it into line with the age.
• Secularists want the Islamic world to accept a division of church and state in the manner of Western industrial democracies, with religion relegated to the private sphere.
The fundamentalists are hostile to the West and to the United States in particular and are intent, to varying degrees, on damaging and destroying democratic modernity. Supporting them is not an option, except for transitory tactical considerations. The traditionalistsgenerally hold more moderate views, but there are significant differences between different groups of traditionalists.
Some are close to the fundamentalists. None wholeheartedly embraces modern democracy and the culture and values of modernity and, at best, can only make an uneasy peace with them.
The modernists and secularists are closest to the West in terms of values and policies. However, they are generally in a weaker position than the other groups, lacking powerful backing, financial resources, an effective infrastructure, and a public platform. Thesecularists, besides sometimes being unacceptable as allies on the basis of their broader ideological affiliation, also have trouble addressing the traditional sector of an Islamic audience.
Traditional orthodox Islam contains democratic elements that can be used tocounter the repressive, authoritarian Islam of the fundamentalists, but it is notsuited to be the primary vehicle of democratic Islam. That role falls to theIslamic modernists, whose effectiveness, however, has been limited by a number of constraints, which this report will explore.
Dr.Israr Ahmed had also in more than one occasion discussed about this notion in his lectures –
Build Up a Modernist Leadership – Create role models and leaders.
Modernists who risk persecution should be built up as courageous civil rights leaders, which indeed they are. There are precedents showing that this can work.
Include modern, mainstream Muslims in political “outreach” events, to reflect demographic reality. Avoid artificially “over-Islamizing the Muslims”; instead, accustom them to the idea that Islam can be just one part of their identity.
Support civil society in the Islamic world.
This is particularly important in situations of crisis, refugee situations, and postconflict situations, in which a democratic leadership can emerge and gain practical experience through local NGOs and other civic associations. On the rural and neighborhood levels, as well, civic associations are an infrastructure that can lead to political education and a moderate, modernist leadership.
Develop Western Islam: German Islam, U.S. Islam, etc.
This requires gaining a better understanding of the composition, as well as the evolving practice and thought, in these communities. Assist in eliciting, expressing, and “codifying” their views.
Go on the Offensive against Fundamentalists
Delegitimize individuals and positions associated with extremist Islam. Make public the immoral and hypocritical deeds and statements of self-styled fundamentalist authorities.
Encourage Arab journalists in popular media to do investigative reporting on the lives and personal habits and corruption of fundamentalist leaders. Publicize incidents that highlight their brutalityand their hypocrisy.
Assertively Promote the Values of Western Democratic Modernity
Create and propagate a model for prosperous, moderate Islam by identifying and actively aiding countries or regions or groups with the appropriate views.Publicize their successes.
Criticize the flaws of traditionalism.
Show the causal relationship between traditionalism and underdevelopment, as well as the causal relationship between modernity, democracy, progress, and prosperity. Do fundamentalism and traditionalism offer Islamic society a healthy, prosperous future? Are they successfully meeting the challenges of the day? Do they compare well with other social orders?
Build up the stature of Sufism.
Encourage countries with strong Sufi traditions to focus on that part of their history and to include it in their school curriculum. Pay more attention to Sufi Islam.
Focus on Education and Youth
Committed adult adherents of radical Islamic movements are unlikely to be easily influenced into changing their views. The next generation, however, can conceivably be influenced if the message of democratic Islam can be inserted into school curricula and public media in the pertinent countries.
Amixed approach composed of the following elements is likely to be the most effective.
Support the modernists and mainstream secularists first, by
publishing and distribute their works
encouraging them to write for mass audiences and youth
introducing their views into the curriculum of Islamic education
giving them a public platform
making their opinions and judgments on fundamental questions of religious interpretation available to a mass audience, in competition with those of the fundamentalists and traditionalists, who already have Web sites, publishing houses, schools, institutes, and many other vehicles for disseminating their views
positioning modernism as a “counterculture” option for disaffected Islamic youth
facilitating and encouraging awareness of pre- and non-Islamic history and culture, in the media and in the curricula of relevant countries
encouraging and supporting secular civic and cultural institutions and programs.
Support the traditionalists against the fundamentalists, by
publicizing traditionalist criticism of fundamentalist violence and extremism and encouraging disagreements between traditionalists and fundamentalists
preventing alliances between traditionalists and fundamentalists
encouraging cooperation between modernists and traditionalists who are closer to that end of the spectrum, increase the presence and profile of modernists in traditionalist institutions
discriminating between different sectors of traditionalism
encouraging those with a greater affinity to modernism—such as the Hanafi law school as opposed to others to issue religious opinions that, by becoming popularized, can weaken the authority of backward Wahhabi religious rulings
encouraging the popularity and acceptance of Sufism.
Confront and oppose the fundamentalists, by
challenging and exposing the inaccuracies in their views on questions of Islamic interpretation
exposing their relationships with illegal groups and activities
publicizing the consequences of their violent acts
demonstrating their inability to rule to the benefit and positive development of their communities
targeting these messages especially to young people, to pious traditionalist populations, to Muslim minorities in the West, and to women
avoiding showing respect or admiration for the violent feats of fundamentalist extremists and terrorists, instead casting them as disturbed and cowardly rather than evil heroes
encouraging journalists to investigate issues of corruption, hypocrisy, and immorality in fundamentalist and terrorist circles.
Selectively support secularists, by
encouraging recognition of fundamentalism as a shared enemy, discouraging secularist alliances with anti-U.S. forces on such grounds as nationalism and leftist ideology
supporting the idea that religion and the state can be separate in Islam, too, and that this does not endanger the faith.
END OF TEXT FROM THE BOOK
Its for all Muslims to investigate, decide and follow which version of Islam, he/she wants to follow – state sponsored and state modified versions, like Western “Modernist” Islam, Indian “Sufi” Islam, Saudi “Madkhali” Islam, and so on..orIslam as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and as was followed by the Sahabah (ra).
(Passionate about Islam, politics and issues connected to the welfare of Muslims, DrAjmal is a Medical Practitioner and after obtaining Diploma in Islamic Banking and Finance, he started the firm WealthCity, which advices on Islamic Investments for Indian Muslims. He opines through his fb page https://www.facebook.com/Dr.Md.Ajmal.)