At present our beloved country is going through an identity crisis: a crisis so serious it has undoubtedly torn it apart. One group of politicians is forcing us to answer: Are you a Muslim or an atheist? Another group is asking whether we are in favour of independence or not. Both of them have their own criteria and if you meet those you might be branded as either an atheist or a traitor.
Unfortunately, the minority section of Bangladesh is paying the price of this division with their life, property and dignity. Some perpetrators are taking advantage of this situation and have targeted them as an easy prey.
Houses have been looted, women are raped, and temples have been vandalised in different parts of the country just because of their religious identity. This obviously has tainted the image of Islam. Islam, the religion of peace, is now identified as a religion of terror and hatred.
Regrettably, the minority sections are now seeing the Muslim community with scrutiny. In their eyes every Muslim faces a common question: are you part of that group who burned our temples or looted our houses? In most cases the answer is “no.”
However this answer is not good enough to remove their doubts. This distrust is immensely painful for those Muslims who truly follow the religion of peace. Now the overwhelming burden is on our shoulder to clear the name of Islam and also paint the true picture of the religion so that no one can misguide the common Muslims.
A flurry of unfortunate incidents followed that involved mass scale persecution of the Hindu and Buddhist community and the misrepresentation of the religious teachings. It is high time to initiate intellectual discourse aimed at identifying the factors, which led to this tragedy. It is true that the situation has become so critical it would take a long time to identify.
However, no stone should be left unturned to place our nation on the right track. The principal purpose behind this should be to fashion a unified and comprehensive strategy to educate masses about the real teachings of Islam and prevent any similar untoward incident in future.
Definition of minority
The term minority is not acceptable to Islamic jurisprudence because the Muslim jurists never used this term or the concept. The term came into use with the advent of nationalism in which the people were classified on the basis of ethnicity, namely language, race and culture.
Hence, the smaller groups were given the status of minority. Even religion was included in this classification. Islamic jurisprudence had a different criterion. In Islamic history and jurisprudence the term “Dhimmah” has been used instead. It is important to note that the term Dhimmah is not used in a negative sense. The word is used as a synonym of Jawar (neighbour). Jawar refers to the pre-Islamic Arab institution of tribal alliance in war and peace.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (pbuh), transformed this pre-Islamic tribal institution into a religious obligation by calling it “dhimmat Allah,” or God’s pledge. According to Article 15 (Pact of Medina) the dhimmat Allah is one for all and all the Muslims are each other’s allies.
In the past Muslims took pride, and rightly so, in their treatment of non-Muslims in their societies better than their contemporaries. In fact, Muslims took the rights of their non-Muslim subjects quite seriously when the idea of this right was not conceivable.
It is agreed that Muslims must protect the non-Muslims living in an Islamic state from any oppression and must protect their lives. They are bound to do so for all who live in the Islamic state. Some Muslim scholars said that the sin of oppressing a non-Muslim is even worse than oppressing a Muslim.
General rights of non-Muslims
Our noble Prophet (pbuh) was reported to have said: “He who unfairly treats a non-Muslim who keeps a peace treaty with Muslims, or undermines his rights, or burdens him beyond his capacity, or takes something from him without his consent, then I am his opponent on the Day of Judgment” (Abu Dawud and Al-Bayhaqi).
Muslim citizens are duty bound to spare their hands and tongues from hurting the non-Muslim citizens, they must not keep any enmity or hatred against them. Our noble Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whosoever persecuted a Dhimmi or took work from him beyond his capacity, or took something from him with evil intentions. I shall be a complainant against him on the Day of Resurrection.” (Abu Dawud and Al-Bayhaqi).
Islam orders Muslims to deal kindly and justly towards all non-Muslims as long as they do not oppose or oppress Muslims or place obstacles in the way of spreading Islam. Religious differences are matters left for God to decide, we are NOT allowed to judge each other. We are responsible for neither punishing nor rewarding any one for his faith. The Holy Quran says:
“And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers.” (Yunus:99)
God has ordained justice and the best of morals. Oppression is refused in Islam against all beings and Allah threatened all oppressors. The Holy Quran says: “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is well acquainted with what you do.” (Al-Maidah:8)
Our noble Prophet (pbuh)said: “Beware the supplication of the oppressed, for indeed there is no barrier between it and Allah.” (Al-Bukhari)
Actually the general rule that Muslims should follow when dealing with non-Muslims is based on the verse: “Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity. It is only as regards those who fought against you on account of religion, and have driven you out of your homes, and helped to drive you out, that Allah forbids you to befriend them. And whosoever will befriend them, then such are the Zalimun [wrong-doers those who disobey Allah] (Surah60:8-9).”
In order to achieve peace among different communities, Islam perched against the abusing of even idols and other objects of worship. The Holy Quran says: “Do not abuse those whom they worship besides Allah (6:109).” To ensure peace even laughing is prohibited. The Holy Quran says: “Let not one people laugh at another perchance they may be better than they (49:11).”
Right of protection of lives
Muslim scholars agreed that the lives, wealth and honour of the non-Muslims living in an Islamic state are to be protected. Violating their blood is considered one of the gravest of sins. This is due to the hadith by the Prophet (pbuh): “He who kills a non-Muslim who keeps a peace treaty with the Muslims will not smell the scent of Heaven, though its scent can be traced to as far as a march of 40 years (Imam Ahmad and Al-Bukhari in Al-Jizyah, among others).”
He, peace and blessings be upon him, is also reported to have said: “He who harms a non-Muslim who keeps a peace treaty with Muslims has harmed me, and he who harms me has harmed Allah (At-Tabarani in Al-Awsat with a good chain of transmission).”
Right of protection of property
The Islamic state has to protect the non-Muslim’s property. This principle has been unanimously agreed upon among all Muslim scholars throughout history. Thus, a person who steals from a non-Muslim will have his hand cut off and he who takes their property by violence is punished and obliged to return it to its owner. If a Muslim borrows money from a non-Muslim, he is obliged to repay him.
There is no difference between Muslim and non-Muslim citizen in respect of the civil or criminal law. However, the Islamic state will not interfere with the personal rights of non-Muslims. If any Muslim tries to curtail the rights of non-Muslims, the Prophet (pbuh) says that he would be a complainant against such a Muslim on the Day of Judgment. Non-Muslims will enjoy all their rights of ownership, sale, transfer, grant and mortgage of their property like any Muslim, and no individual or state will interfere with it.
Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliph, once said about the rights of non-Muslims to their property: “They have accepted the position of Dhimmah on the explicit understanding that their properties and their lives will remain sacred like those of ours (i.e. The Muslims).”
The non-Muslims have a right to have their wealth protected from theft and destruction by the Islamic authority and the Muslims in general. It is reported by Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (pbuh) said “A thief is not a believer at the time of his stealing” (Bukhari, Muslim) and “It is prohibited for the Muslim to take (so much as) a stick without the consent of its owner” (Ibn Hibbaan).
Islam defines the properties of non-Muslims according to their religion. For example, liquor and pork although they cannot be considered as money or asset to Muslims, if a Muslim squanders or spoils such property of another Muslim, he could not be called upon for compensation. However, if a Muslim spoils such assets belonging to a non-Muslim, he would be responsible for compensation, according to Imam Abu Hanifah.
Right of protection of honour
The honour of a non-Muslim is sacred in Islam, just like that of Muslims. Defamation is prohibited, whether for a Muslim or a non-Muslim.
The Hanafi School states: “It is incumbent upon Muslims to abstain from harming non-Muslims. It is forbidden to slander them, just as it is forbidden to slander Muslims.”
The famous scholar Ibn Abdin states: “By virtue of the pact of Dhimmah, they have the same rights which we have. The slander of Muslims is prohibited, as is the slander of non-Muslims. It is even said that the sin of annoying a non-Muslim is greater (see Ad-Durr Al-Mukhtar, vol. III).”
Imam Al-Qarafi Al-Maliki once said on this note: “He who transgresses against them (Dhimmah) – even with a mere word of injustice or backtalk – has jeopardised the covenant with Allah and His Prophet (pbuh)and the covenant of the religion of Islam (Al-Furuq Part 3, p 14).”
Islam ordains people to worship Allah Almighty but it does not coerce followers of other religions to accept Islam and change their creed. Invitation to truth and use of coercion are mutually exclusive realities.
The Holy Quran has communicated the Islamic message of truth in these words: “[O Glorious Messenger!] Invite towards the path of your Lord with strategic wisdom and refined exhortation and [also] argue with them in a most decent manner. Surely your Lord knows him well who strayed away from His path and He also knows well the rightly guided (16:125).”
It is evident that there is nothing in the Quran or the Sunnah that can be said to provoke Muslims to kill non-Muslims on whatever charges, but violence against non-Muslims has become a part of life here. It must be borne in mind that the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) was sent down as a “Mercy to all creation” and as his follower we should behave accordingly.
The Quran and the Sunnah make the Muslim majority the custodians of the minorities’ right to a life of dignity and equal opportunity. We should also remember that our independence has come into existence not only through the blood of Muslims but also through the sacrifice of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other ethnic minorities.
They do have the same rights as we do in this country. Violence against them in the name of religion or any other excuse is not tolerable at all.
The people who are doing this for serving Islam should understand they are actually fighting against Allah and the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as he clearly states: “Whoever harms a non-Muslim (Dhimmi) will not enter Paradise.” Instead of helping their religion they are sending wrong messages to the world about Islam. However, we should also be aware of the fact that sometimes a third party is taking an advantage of the situation by attacking the minority groups and loading on the opposition to satisfy their own evil political purposes.
We, Muslims and non-Muslims, have to stand against those perpetrators as a nation. We must not forget that every religious group, while perhaps a majority somewhere, is also inevitably a minority somewhere else. Therefore, religious organisations should show tolerance towards members of other religious denominations.
