Daily Times

In a society strangled by fear, the reasonable are mostly afraid. The situation in Pakistan is no different. People who have knowledge and who should essentially be not just unbiased but vocal in protecting the rights of the vulnerable remain mostly silent. If ever they speak they do so in meek voices and never themselves bring up a subject not liked by the crowd for fear of being labelled a liberal. With the radical succeeding in branding liberal a stigma, the mind that is liberated of bias and prejudice and is receptive to any positive change remains intimidated by fear and cannot contribute positively. It is, therefore, not very surprising that the position of a fundamentalist who has to be a liberal by essence has been wrongly assumed by the clerics led by their militant stalwarts whose actions are far removed from the fundamentals of the religion they profess.

A liberal is someone who while holding a view allows freedom of expression to others; is open to new ideas, champions the rights of women, labour and parallel faiths and is not bound by the dictates of society in matters that he considers to be wrongly dealt. Now compare the guidelines given hereafter that any fundamentalist will find in the Holy Book. The Quran says:

Let there be no compulsion in religion. (2:256)

To you be your way to me mine. (106: 9)

Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject. (18:29)

And if thy Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Wilt thou then force men till they are believers? (10:99)

Therefore, [O Prophet] give admonition, for you are one to admonish. You are not one to manage affairs. (88:21–22)

Those who believe, then disbelieve, then again believe, then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to the way. (4:137)

And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over women. (2:228)

O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the dowry you have given them — except when they have become guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary, live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you dislike something and Allah will bring about through it a great deal of good. (4:19)

From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large, a determinate share. (4:7)

Enter into Paradise, you and your wives, with delight. (43:70)

Similarly the sayings of the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) are also pearls of wisdom for the fundamentalist who is mindful of the message contained therein. This not being a treatise on religion just a few are quoted here:

“The word of wisdom is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it he has a better right to it.”

“Seek knowledge even if you have to go to China.”

“Fear Allah regarding women. Verily you have married them with the trust of Allah, and made their bodies lawful with the word of Allah. You have got (rights) over them, and they have got (rights) over you in respect of their food and clothing according to your means.”

The Prophet (PBUH) was asked, “What are the rights that a wife has over her husband?” The Prophet (PBUH) replied, “Feed her when you take your food, give her clothes to wear when you wear clothes, refrain from giving her a slap on the face or abusing her, and do not separate from your wife, except within the house.”

Generally, therefore, the real fundamentalist would know that there is neither any compulsion in religion nor does the religion bar anyone from accepting, rejecting or leaving it. Allah does not allow people to be forced to believe. He commands the Prophet (PBUH) to tell the disbeliever that that while their way is theirs the Prophet’s (PBUH) his own. The Prophet (PBUH) is to admonish and not to manage affairs (What is not allowed to the Prophet [PBUH] how can his believer assume?). There is thus complete freedom of expression.

While the radical might say that an apostate is to be punished with death, just ponder over verse (4:137) again. Had this been the punishment of apostasy, then how can a person who disbelieved Islam come back into the fold of Islam for the second time? In this verse it is mentioned more than once. Sill there is no worldly punishment for him. The only punishment being that Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to the way. The real fundamentalist will seek knowledge from all sources even foreign as he would be mindful of the fact the Hadith mentions China, which at that time was obviously not known for imparting any Islamic knowledge. For the real fundamentalist a woman is to have an independent status with all rewards open to her. She is to command the highest levels of life after death and even in this life she can take part in different fields and is to have the same consideration paid to her claims as that accorded to man. A real fundamentalist would know that as for parallel faiths, freedom of profession is granted. The churches, synagogues, monasteries are neither to be burnt nor destroyed. The Quran says that in monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques the name of Allah is much mentioned. The covenant of Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) is a wonderful document allowing complete freedom to Christians. The Treaty of Medina also granted freedom to the faiths being professed there. Allowing the Christians to pray inside his mosque by the Apostle of Allah clearly shows that commonalities are to be looked at in interfaith relations.

Is this not a Liberal’s dream agenda? Does not the liberal want all this but the mullah opposes? The fundamentalist, therefore, ought to be the true liberal and take pride in bring called one. It is his duty to also take away the position of the fundamentalist from the mullah as generally the latter’s views are radical, actions repressive and orientation backward and yet they are wrongly labelled as fundamentalists. While there can be a Taliban in a Givenchy suit there is a liberal in a true fundamentalist.

For fear of a radical backlash the people running the affairs of the state are reluctant to wage an all out war against local and foreign elements within its territory that burn schools, kill both the dissenting and the neutral, put fire to churches and deny the minorities their right to pray. The recent Badami Bagh incident involving Christian property is a result of this soft attitude towards radicals who are most certainly not fundamentalists. Those who have ruled the state over the last decades have for the sheer lack of wisdom been unable to make the common man realise that is the war in line with their faith? The guilt lies with successive timid governments including the one that has just completed its tenure. Will the future one hold any promise for Pakistan? That only the future will reveal.

The writer can be reached at thelogicalguy@yahoo.com