The Quran is the constitution for Muslims for all times. History is witness to the fact that Muslims ruled the world when they comprehended this constitution and implemented its injunctions in their lives. Their woes began when they stopped contemplating its message. Now the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that they have become a soft target of every Tom, Dicken, and Harry.
Prior to Islam people were divided into race, tribes, cultural and linguistic groups. They were always against one another. Islam brought close affinity between these diverse groups of racially, culturally, and linguistically different people and made them one “Ummah” or people.
The holy Quran says: “And hold fast to the Rope of Allah (the Holy Quran) as a group and divide not into sects, And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And [how, when] you were on the brink of a fiery abyss. He saved you from it. In this way, Allah makes clear His messages unto you, so that you might find guidance.” Quran (3:103)
A short analysis of this heavenly injunction will show us the real cause of our woes and troubles.
In this injunction, the Almighty is clearly exhorting the believers to remain united and not create divisions among their ranks in the name of sects. But unfortunately, in spite of being the second-largest religious minority of 200 to 250 million in the country, Muslims are prone to attacks from every quarter.
The main reason is that instead of being united as an “Ummah” in submission to the Almighty’s ordain, Muslims in India are divided into innumerable sects like Shia, Sunni, Barelvi, Deobandi, Ahle hadees, Itna Ashri, Khoja Bohra, and many others – all of them at loggerheads with the others. We became on the brink of a fiery abyss of divisions in our ranks. The Almighty would not deliver us from this abyss unless we follow His command to be united. The initiative for the change has to come from Muslims themselves: “Verily, Allah will not change the condition of a people unless they bring about a change in themselves” Quran (13:11)
The Muslims’ situation in India is more akin to people aboard a gigantic ship with dozens of sectarian decks. The destiny of all on board the ship is closely linked to the destiny of the ship. If it traverses the treacherous waters of communalism safely, all will be delivered but if it sinks, all would perish.
A child of a primary level in the West or USA would be shocked to know that lakhs of Muslims in India memorize the whole Holy Quran by heart without comprehending its injunctions. Similarly, millions of them recite verses from this Book day in and day out in their daily prayers without deliberating its meaning.
The Quran has a message for the whole of mankind that needs to be comprehended to act upon its injunctions to better life in this world and the Hereafter. It guides the believers in every realm of life successfully.
Anyone who purchases any gadget will scurry to read its manual to know how to operate it correctly and optimally. The Holy Quran is a life manual sent by the Almighty for mankind to know how to live life with exemplary conduct in the light of its guidance and instructions.
But unfortunately here the people keep reading it in a language without learning it and without caring to understand its meaning.
Regretfully, the sectarian religious leaders are the main cause of Muslims’ miseries and backwardness in India. Oblivious of the current political, social and economic situation of the country, these leaders always try to pit their followers against the followers of other sects. This sectarian infighting has damaged Muslim unity and render it vulnerable to attacks from the Saffron communalists.
Unless we end the sectarian divisions among our rank and file there is no likelihood of our survival leave alone prosperity and progress in India as a religious group and we are likely to remain a punching bag of others.
Our country’s constitution
The founders of modern India opted for a democratic and secular constitution for our country which is diverse and huge as a continent. They were wise and farsighted. There are hundreds of languages spoken by its people. There is huge cultural diversity. North Indians are distinct in their way of life from the South Indians and so is the case with the people of East and West. The country has no single language to qualify as an official language. Though Hindi is widely understood, people are not ready to accept it as an official language of the country. Apart from the cultural and linguistic diversity, there are religious diversity of the people: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, and others. So a secular and democratic constitution was the best option.
The secular Indian Constitution has provided several guarantees to the citizens to protect their fundamental rights, but unfortunately, most people are not aware of their rights. They have many rights to protect their life, assets, and live dignified life. Some rights are provided in the different provisions of the Indian Constitution and subsequent laws.
Every citizen must know the rights given to him/her by the Indian Constitution. Article 29 guarantees certain rights to minorities. It protects the interests of the minorities by making a provision that any citizen/section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same. Article 29 mandates that no discrimination would be done on the ground of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
Similarly, Article 30 of the Indian constitution consists of provisions that safeguard various rights of the minority community in the country keeping in mind the principle of equality as well.
Muslims as a minority community in India must exercise their constitutional rights like Hindus, Sikh, Christian and Dalits do.
Let’s take the example of Dalits, once an oppressed section of the Hindu society, nobody can mess up with them now. If any leader, no matter how big or small he might be, uses any inappropriate language they file dozens of cases across the country against that person to prosecute him in a court of law. It is simply because the Indian Constitution gave them the right to protection, equality and dignity.
What prevents the Muslims from following in the footsteps of Dalits in filing dozens of cases across the country against the hate mongers. If we use our constitutional right as an aggrieved party to file criminal cases and prosecute these hate peddlers in the courts of law then soon they would get the message and would not dare to mess up with us.
Thankfully in addition to the Constitution of the country, the Judiciary is mostly fair and unbiased and there is no hindrance in filing criminal suits in courts. In short, we are entitled to take legal recourse. Muslim groups can file their cases for justice from lower courts to the Supreme Court in order to get convictions of the communal culprits.
While the Muslims across the country are setting up educational institutions to be equivalent to other religious communities, why can’t they set up legal redressal cells across the country to protect the community’s constitutional right to peaceful and dignified living and to prosecute the provocateurs indulging in communal hatred and lynchings and to seek heavy compensations from the states resorting to bulldozing of innocents homes to inflict collective punishment?
It is high time for all Muslims irrespective of their denominations – Shia, Sunni, Barelvis, Deobandis, Ahle-Hadees, Khojas and Bohras – to join a single platform to meet and set up legal redressal cells across the country with senior lawyers, paralegal staff and civil right activists.
Now it is time for the Indian Muslims to unite, shake off their apathy and exercise their constitutional rights to prosecute the propagators of hate in the courts of law.
The author can be reached at mdhusah@gmail.com
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