Leaders, Politicians, Citizens by Rasheed Kidwai

Author:Rasheed Kidwai
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: Hachette India
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

MAULANA HUSSAIN AHMAD MADANI

(1878–1957)

AT A TIME WHEN ISIS (ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA) FIGHTERS AND leaders are spreading beyond Iraq and Syria to other regions of the world, India, which hosts the second largest Muslim population in the world, has had negligible exposure to the dreaded and radical proto-state. The Observer Research Foundation’s IS tracker project, which tracks and studies the activities committed in the name of ISIS by Indian actors, indicates that presence in the country is low-key, even though a small section of India’s Muslims – who are either misguided or brainwashed – has the potential to subscribe to extremist and violent ideologies in the guise of faith. In contrast, there are many more recruits from other countries among ISIS ranks. As per US intelligence and CIA reports of 2018, there were over 30,000 foreigners in ISIS, including 3,400 from western European countries. From Germany alone, there are over 950 people who reportedly joined the ISIS.

Away from the glare of mainstream media, a protracted ideological battle is being fought almost on a daily basis between radical, fundamentalist organizations like the Popular Front of India (PFI) which, in the name of human rights, indulges in many anti-social and anti-national activities. On the other hand, the PFI’s jaundiced views and its violent activities are being bitterly opposed by Muslim organizations like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind which stand for composite culture and pluralism.

The strong ideological and theoretical foundations of organizations like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, firmly rooted in Islam, are acting as a bulwark against the fissiparous tendencies of other groups. In 2019, the Jamiat completed hundred years in public life, batting for composite nationalism and the rejection of the two-nation theory. It had opposed the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan and since 2001, is effectively using the renowned Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband, to issue comprehensive fatwas declaring terrorism as un-Islamic.

Several research scholars and academicians have recorded the Jamiat’s contribution in propagating moderate Islam in India. Call it an irony of fate, but some elements and individuals view the Deoband school of thought as some kind of ideological fountainhead of extremism.

The Jamiat owes its staunch nationalistic flavour to its mentor Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani, a great son of India. A scholar of repute who participated in the country’s freedom struggle, he was jailed for eight years at home and abroad. Maulana Madani was given the title of Shaikh ul Arab wal Ajam (The sheikh of Arabs and Non-Arabs). One of his famous remarks in pre-Independence India was, ‘All should endeavour jointly for such a democratic government in which Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis are included. Such a freedom is in accordance with Islam.’304

Madani passionately advocated the idea of composite nationalism and the joint struggle of all religious communities against the British. He justified inter-communal unity and cooperation on the basis of the Quran and the hadiths (sayings of Prophet Mohammad). At a time when ideas of religion-based nationalism were being advocated by the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League, Madani

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