archive: Muslims vs Muslims (letter)
Muslims vs Muslims (letter)
Mehmood M. Abdi, Mumbai
The Despatch & Courier
July 12, 1999
Title: Muslims vs Muslims (letter)
Author: Mehmood M. Abdi, Mumbai
Publication: The Despatch & Courier
Date: July 12, 1999
The recent killing of a Muslim cleric in a scuffle after the afternoon
prayers in a mosque at Madanpura shows how the streak of intolerance
to dissenting views and lack of accommodation to differing sentiments
have permeated the intrasect structure of Muslim society and no longer
confined to the infamous intersect rivalry of Shias and Sunnis.
The ghastly incident is deplorable. More so, as the man was lynched
well within the premises of a mosque. The sanctity of the 'House of
God' has been violated by the Muslims themselves.
However, desecration of mosque by Muslims themselves is nothing new.
It has a history, starting with the killing of their Caliph Imam
Hazrat Ali while he was leading the pre-dawn prayers in Masjid-e-Kufa
(now in Iraq). Imam Ali was killed by none other than another
Muslim. Selective variation marks the tone and tenure of the
community's reaction to such desecrations.
Some years ago a fanatic Jew let lose a hail of gun fire upon a
congregation of Muslim worshippers praying inside the
Masjid-e-Rasul-Hussain at Al-Khalil (Hebron in Israel). The wanton
violence left a few dozens dead and many more injured. Rightfully,
the incident drew worldwide condemnation.
And in India all hell was let loose by the Indian Muslims, the
self-appointed shouting brigade of Islam. Protests and demonstrations
against Jews were so enormous that it took much longer to subside in
here than in the Arab world itself in whose close neighbourhood the
incident occurred. Contrary to this loud reaction, the killings of
namazis and burning of mosques by rival Muslim sects just across the
border, in Pakistan, meets a blind eye among the Indian Muslim
enthusiasts. Not a word is uttered, let alone a protest or
demonstration, against the desecration of mosques.
In Pakistan, offering public prayers is not possible without
paramilitary protection as the rival Muslim sects litter the mosques
with bodies of the killed worshippers. The hush-hush treatment by
Indian Muslims to such occurrences leaves one bewildered with the
pointer. Is the issue of desecration of the place of worship
subjectively evoked only in situations having involvement of
non-Muslims?
Violence is intrinsically bad in its every form and content and our
reaction to it should not be subjective to the face and entity of the
doer. That is why we the Muslims have to first unlearn our
prejudicial reservations to situations before we expect others to call
a spade a spade.
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