This post is to make an attempt in decluttering myriad of speculations, ifs and buts and related theories of Muslim position in upcoming general election 2019.
A brief background of last election times [2014]: While discussing the issue of political future of India in 2014, i saw many people talking about change. The general population, fuelled with precisely crafted campaign, media debates, anti-corruption movement and all the climax chose unanimously Modi as India’s Prime Minister. Modi chose to be called himself as a chowkidar (plagiarised from Nehru’s dictionary). I was (and still am) very vocal of anti Modi stance. The reason of such a stance was very conspicuous notion of him being an opportunist. The incident of Gujarat Massacre and his diplomatic silence over the killings of more than 2000 people in three days was a living testimony of his hatred towards Muslims. Those days and before, i used to visit some of my friends home and i used to see weekly newsletters by prominent Hindu groups praising Modi in terms of his image of being anti Muslim. However, we must realise that this phenomenal upsurge in Modi’s rise was not in vacuum. There was this hatred in general masses for Muslims well before in some selected classes of political quarters. Modi just mobilised them all in one force and bulldozed political landscape with this formula. This is a brief introduction of what i feel happened in 2014. By the way i lost more than 50 friends from my facebook account, thanks to Sangh, RSS and of-course Mr. Modi.
What will happen in 2019 and what is the Muslim position?
It take some courage to go back and introspect on the ideology we believe in. For BJP, as stated in their website, it is very clear. There is no ambiguity beyond the shadow of any doubt that they want a constitutional change. They want to change India from a democratic republic to a “Hindu-Rashtra”. This will be followed by caste reinforcement, citizenship based on the Vedic classification of human beings in Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra of those people who reckon the Hindu Identity. Those who do not subscribe to this ideology are Malaicha (impure foreigners). There is a utopian dream of Golden Age restoration going to happen with this advancement. More like the way Trump is seen by Jewish zaonists in USA, is not so different Modi is to the Brahmin elites of India. They both are hand in hand with Israel’s Dajjalic system.
What is the opposing ideology? Well, if you see on ground, you will realise that there is none having a strong political presence than BJP. Communists, liberals or any other ideology in the end are part of the global new world order and will compormise at some point of time with the capitalist forces. In the end they all will fall to the same universal Dajjalic System.
Islam is very clear and each and every (major and minor) event is foretold to muslims in Quran and Ahadiths. If we look into Islamic eschatology, we know that before the end of times, world leadership is going to fall in the hand of “The Most Corrupt Leaders” humanity has ever seen. Subsequently the land will shrink to believing people and they will be termed as “Incompetent” or “Strangers”.
Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Islam began as a something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.”
This is not astonshing if the Saffron forces win again. As the leadership of a community is as good as people themselves. We do not expect any miracle to happen. The ideology will take form in legislations and people will chose what they are going to accept. This is a part of the test everyone has to pass in this world, and if someone has not been tried, well this is all part of Allah’s divine will and mercy.
Holy Quran, Al-Baqara (2:155)
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ
And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,
One of the important aspect worth mentioning here is that majority of Indians as a community have rejected monotheism. In the last few years the message of Islamic monotheism was presented by figures like Dr. Zakir Naik to almost entire population in big events. However, people see these figures as political conspirators and reject the message. Before a community is assigned a tyrrant leaders and is destroyed, it is observed that (in the history of past generations) Allah makes the message clearly presented first and if they reject as a whole then the punishment follows.
Holy Quran, Al-Baqara (2:213)
كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ النَّبِيِّينَ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنْذِرِينَ وَأَنْزَلَ مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ فِيمَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ ۚ وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ فِيهِ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوهُ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ فَهَدَى اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ بِإِذْنِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ
Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviation]; then Allah sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over the Scripture except those who were given it – after the clear proofs came to them – out of jealous animosity among themselves. And Allah guided those who believed to the truth concerning that over which they had differed, by His permission. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.
Also, the following passage is worth mentioning. Allah explains the duty of a Daee and divine will.
Quran 16:35-40
And those who associate others with Allah say, “If Allah had willed, we would not have worshipped anything other than Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything through other than Him.” Thus did those do before them. So is there upon the messengers except [the duty of] clear notification?
And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], “Worship Allah and avoid Taghut.” And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.
[Even] if you should strive for their guidance, [O Muhammad], indeed, Allah does not guide those He sends astray, and they will have no helpers.
And they swear by Allah their strongest oaths [that] Allah will not resurrect one who dies. But yes – [it is] a true promise [binding] upon Him, but most of the people do not know.
[It is] so He will make clear to them [the truth of] that wherein they differ and so those who have disbelieved may know that they were liars.
Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, “Be,” and it is.
The situation we are in is a result of many factors. Many ultra orientalists and people who favour post colonial secular constitutional drafts blame the community itself for all the shortcomings. However, this is not the case always. The issues which effect the community as a whole is not in individual capacity of a person. In these situations we need a leadership which can strike the chord and ripple changes throughout. Also, we see that there are many factors which are divinely inspired and humanity just fall to the destiny of what Allah has planned. In any case, whether we see Saffron getting red with more innocent blood or is getting delayed or in worst case backdropped by Congress, the question is what should muslims do? Do they remain stuck in status quo? There are following five options i can think of.
- Do not participate in the electoral process and leave the affair to Allah
- Align with any force acting against saffron ideology
- Align with good people irrespective of ideological affiliations
- Align with the forces with power and leave your ideology behind
- Form your own leadership
Before answering or debating the options above, we muslims must introspect what Muslims stand for? Muslims, believe in one God (Allah is one of the 99 names attributed to one God), final messanger Prophet Muhammad pbuh, destiny, hereafter and ultimate justice in Qiyamah. The sole purpose of human being’s existence (as per Islam) is to be grateful to God’s mercy, to worship Allah by following commandments and doing good as advised in Quran and practiced by Prophet pbuh. The role of muslims (those who submit their own will to the will of Allah) is to convey the message of Islam (Dawah). To convey the message a muslim has to practice Islam in conviction and beauty by him/herself first.
Allah Says:
You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah . If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient. – Quran 3:110.
So, if we look deeply here, we will realise that the test in this world for Muslims is “how much they believe, practice and convey”? If we look in the current situation, we will find that majority of Indian muslim population is far away from the real teachings of Islam and by definition they are not practicing what they are told to do so. The Islam we see in community is a culturally distilled ritual sets we adopt for our life situations like birth, marriage, death and many other events. The topic of Islam is more discussed in situations like politics than back in home while making a personal decision. This leaves us in a very vulnerable situation where on one hand we are blamed for being “something” which we are “actually” not. I have seen many people becoming atheist just to escape this vacuum. Here we see that being a muslim is to have more responsibility as muslims do not have an excuse that the message of truth didn’t reach them.
Allah says:
“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.” (Qur’an: al-Nahl: -16:125).
Also, Allah commands Muslims to convey the message and do not be like a manager over them.
Holy Quran, Al-An’aam (6:107-110)
وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكُوا ۗ وَمَا جَعَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا ۖ وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِوَكِيلٍ
But if Allah had willed, they would not have associated. And We have not appointed you over them as a guardian, nor are you a manager over them.
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ مَرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made pleasing to every community their deeds. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them about what they used to do.
وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ لَئِنْ جَاءَتْهُمْ آيَةٌ لَيُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهَا ۚ قُلْ إِنَّمَا الْآيَاتُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ۖ وَمَا يُشْعِرُكُمْ أَنَّهَا إِذَا جَاءَتْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
And they swear by Allah their strongest oaths that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it. Say, “The signs are only with Allah.” And what will make you perceive that even if a sign came, they would not believe.
وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time. And We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.
We know, and we believe that the situation in hand is all a test from Allah and every situation is a mercy from Almighty for us to look inside. The Muslim crisis in India and worldwide is a prophesiced phenomena and we can not alter what is being destined. But, we know from the book of Allah and sunnah of Prophet pbuh that how to deal with it. Now i will briefly explain the five options mentioned above.
Option 1: Do not participate in the electoral process and leave the affair to Allah: This is not a wise thing to do. In India, people have agreed to a constitution where everyone is free to believe, practice and preach the religion they choose. This agreement was made between many religions, caste, language, geography and accepted by our forefathers. So, we stick to it and will try to seek solutions to any problem within the democratic framework of constitution which effect us and community.
Option 2: Align with any force acting against saffron ideology. This may bring something, but is counterproductive in long run. We can not guarantee that the other ideologies are sound and will remain intact in future. There will always be a conflict of interest in situations where roads will cross.
Option 3: Align with good people irrespective of ideological affiliations. This option is obscure. A person with BJP is ought to echo party’s ideology. We can not expect a BJP member to speak against Manusmriti, cast system and Hindu Rashtra. He/She may be hypocritically plesant but will not work for any issue which is not in interest of party’s ideological benifit.
Option 4: Align with the forces with power and leave your ideology behind. You will leave Islam sooner or later. If you want to follow this path, you may get worldly goodies, fame but will fail in the divine test.
Option5: Form your own leadership. This is a sound position. I will explain now, why?
First of all, having a leadership of own do not make the community unconstitutional. There are many benefits to it and i will not go in every detail. If you look around, any institution or process or anything human or natural, if it survives, survive with a leadership. With a leadership, of course we will not change the course of destiny but will have at least a “say” in the system for all ill or injustice or the accusations. More from the points i discussed in earlier paragraphs on the populor ideology of Hindu Nation, muslims as a community will never have a constructive dialogue unless they have a leadership. But this is all an operational measure, or a tactical in some sense.
Holy Quran, Al-Maaida (5:48)
وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ عَمَّا جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ ۚ لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَٰكِنْ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَا آتَاكُمْ ۖ فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ ۚ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ
And We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
We know that the day of doom is approaching. Its signs are clear as day and night and the people who read Quran know what is happening around. In these situations the strategies we talk or the points we discuss is with the only intention that we Muslims live and die with the message of Islam. This is in no way to achieve a world dominance, or to alter the prophesied course (neither we intend nor we have any capability except what is bestowed as a mercy from Allah).
The evil forces may seem victorious on earth, with the heads high in arrogance but Allah says in Holy Quran about the ultimate fate.
Holy Quran 18:48-49
And they will be presented before your Lord in rows, [and He will say], “You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment.”
And the record [of deeds] will be placed [open], and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, “Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?” And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does injustice to no one.
And if you fulfill the role of a Daee, they discussion which is bound to happen between angels and the wrongdoers will be a sign for your place in paradise.
Quran [67:6-11]
And for those who disbelieved in their Lord is the punishment of Hell, and wretched is the destination.
When they are thrown into it, they hear from it a [dreadful] inhaling while it boils up.
It almost bursts with rage. Every time a company is thrown into it, its keepers ask them, “Did there not come to you a warner?”
They will say,” Yes, a warner had come to us, but we denied and said, ‘ Allah has not sent down anything. You are not but in great error.’ “
And they will say, “If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.”
And they will admit their sin, so [it is] alienation for the companions of the Blaze.
So, in summary, this election season is more to think how good Muslims we are than to think how to solve the community problem we have (though both are important). Goodness of community will follow what we practice. Specific to elections we must “find avenues to build a single leadership“. We have people on ground who are working on it. There are many “gray areas” and these “areas” are chicken and egg situations. In Muslim community itself, the goodness and integrity of a muslim’s practice depends on his or her understanding of Islam. This understanding can not be matured unless they try to read, understand and implement Islam. This calls for an educational awareness. It is not easy and will take ages if we set up the right leadership.
Allah knows best.