Editorial

Actions speak louder than words. Demonstration of some commitment to values even while being conservative with language leaves a more lasting impact than loud rhetoric and little action. Islam gained credibility in the eyes of its early adherents not because of any high jargons, but the adorable personality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which insisted being seen in practice before he whispered an advice or instruction into the ears of his companion.

These days when you open your e-mailbox, the high-sounding morals from the innumerable cyber groups or daiees make almost an onslaught on the senses. But look at the Islamic world or Muslim societies, they seem to be a far cry from the high-pitched claims to moral superiority of the ummah. Never had the world seen so much of distance between precepts and practice. And few among us realise that a smaller model of an ideal Islamic society would rather contribute in greater measure to fairer understanding of Islam around the world than the wild cacophony of dawah by competing masaliks who camouflage their sectarian ideology behind the verbal mesmerism.

The world will certainly not be short of appreciation for interest-free banks if they are transparent in their dealing and deliver dividends to the investors with clean balance sheets. Similarly, there would be fewer refusals to adoption of Islamic education system, if the schools in the Islamic world turn out competent, rational-thinking, efficient, creative professionals who combine discipline and character with work ethics. All our avowed assertions to the superiority of status of women in Islam would carry more conviction, if the Muslim world is seen to be free from their honour-killings; poor women of South Asia are not seen vulnerable to poaching by lecherous men from across the Gulf and there is serious effort to remove disparity of literacy between males and females and give the daughters their share in property. Islam’s pro-progress image will get a boost only if the clergy is not seen to be turning its back on every new invention and technology and sheds its resistance to change in tune with times and society. Principle of shoora (consultation) will gain recognition as a valid political instrument only if there are a few Islamic countries willing to take cognizance of people’s will for governance and go about setting up a mechanism to gather this which is not as farcical as in Egypt or Pakistan or other Muslim countries.

Rituals and symbols are easy to practice, but values are difficult to be sustained for long. Rituals are more in the manner of style, but values supply the substance. Ritual may cast a momentary spell, but it is the enduring values that provide the stability to the society.

Prophet Ibrahim (may peace be upon him) did not think twice when it came to sacrificing his son. Maulana Qasim Nanotvi, the great founder of Darul Uloom Deoband, distributed his entire assets among his aunts and grand aunts when he realized that daughters were being deprived of their share in ancestral property for several generations. Emperor Jehangir had no qualms dragging Queen Noor Jahan to the court for being cruel to a commoner. In West Bengal, in 1723, Murshidkuli Khan executed his only son when he misbehaved with a woman. Murshidkuli preferred to deny the throne to the only male heir to the throne. Caliph Omar did not bar a woman from publicly questioning him on the size of his kurta, which the woman was sure, would not come off the piece of cloth given out of the war booty to each individual. The Holy Prophet (Pbuh) was magnanimous in returning to Osman bin Tualha the keys of Kaaba after the conquest of Makkah despite having been denied the entry by the man early during his Prophethood.

The Muslim world is not short of worshippers and daiees today. Mosques are spilling with namazis, azans blare out from more mosques around the world, the number of umrah performers on the Night of Power (Lailatul Qadar) at Makkah often surpasses the ones who perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Yet the world is far from recognising Muslim to be an ideal society. If indeed these could be the stuff of an ideal society, Muslim nations should be the showpiece. It is for us to introspect where all of us have erred.