Saquib Salim
On June 28, in one of the most barbaric acts, a man in Udaipur was killed by two fanatics in the name of Islam. They killed the man accusing him of blasphemy and later in a video message, hailed themselves as defenders of Islam. Followers of Islam, in India and elsewhere, immediately denounced the act. On behalf of Awaz-the Voice, I have contacted many educated Muslims from different walks of life and asked for their reactions. Everyone seems to be disturbed at this very wrong interpretation of Islam and Prophet Muhammad’s teachings.
Eminent Scientist Padma Shri Prof. Syed Ehtesham Hasnain said, “this act is completely against Islam. It should be condemned in no uncertain terms.”
Sahitya Akademi Award winner author, Rahman Abbas feels that extremist interpretation of Islam needs to be rejected. He said, “ the Udaipur incident of murder is inhuman and barbaric. This is in a way a victory of hate over love, brotherhood, and togetherness. At the same time it is a victory of the narrative of radical Islamists who believe and propagate that whoever commits blasphemy or disrespects the Prophet has no right to live; should be condemned and killed without any judicial trial. This narrative is a result of a narrow interpretation of Islam. This needs to be condemned first without any ifs and buts. No civilised society can progress with this extremist narrative.”
Dr. Adil Hossain, an anthropologist who has worked on marginalisation of Muslims and communal violence in India, thinks, “language of death for blasphemy is not the language of resistance. That's almost terrorism.”
Noorus Saboor Rahmani, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department, U.P, said “innocent killing is not justified either in any religion or in any society under any circumstances. No excuse could be forwarded in support of this incident by any civilised human.”
English writer, Annie Zaidi was at a loss of words and denied commenting more than, “it is horrific”.
Advertising Guru, Syed Amjad Ali of Communication Catalyst, said, “The Udaipur incident is highly disturbing. And those people should be given the rarest of rare punishment. No religion permits this barbaric act, and in a democratic setup like ours, it has no place. How can they imagine something like this, it defeats your mind. There should be zero tolerance for such horrible acts and therefore courts should set an example. Period. No ifs and buts.”
“The incident is unfortunate and is an act of terror, it has been widely condemned by Muslims..no matter what the provocation is, such barbaric acts have no place in a civilized society, perpetrators of such heinous crimes need to be brought to justice”, said Kolkata based social and political activist, Saira Shah Halim.
Hina Fatima Khan, an Aligarh-based writer and journalist believe, “the beheading of a man in Udaipur can be termed as a classic example of Talibanic bigotry.” She further said, “religious views, expression, and beliefs are a part of one's identity and the Constitution guarantees us these rights as citizens. But that doesn't and must not even translate to taking the law into one's hands. This incident doesn't endorse anything, forget Islam. It's reprehensible and the perpetrators should be punished. At the same time, we need to reiterate the importance of respecting each others' religious beliefs and practices. What I believe is that politics and religion should be kept apart.”
Arsh Iqbal, a Delhi-based journalist said, “I strongly condemn the brutal murder in Udaipur of tailor Kanhaiya Lal, a father of two sons, by two people Gos Mohammad and Riyaz because violence in any form by anybody of any religion is not good and shameful act against humanity. The attackers should be punished as per law.”
Amana Begam, a research associate in CFPS, said, “As a Muslim, I am ashamed that a radicalized man killed an innocent man to defend Islam. This is against humanity, Islamic teaching, and the intellectual and political class of Muslims must address the issue.”
Prof. Nazura Usmani (Zoology) from AMU denounced the killing by saying, “we cannot tolerate any derogatory language for our beloved prophet, but on the other hand we would prefer to follow his footsteps when he was targeted in his time.” She further quoted the Quran to support her view, “ Islam does not permit killing at all, debates can be held discussion can be made but whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind ... (5:32) … Islam does not permit killing at all, debates can be held discussion can be made but whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind ... (5:32)... Co-operate with one another for virtue and heedfulness and do not cooperate for vice and aggression (5:2)”
Dr. Mahino Fatima, a Delhi-based neurobiologist, believes, “these narrow extremist interpretation of Islam is the real enemy of the religion. Bigotry and unprovoked violence have no place in Islam. The Prophet believed in winning people through dialogue instead of killing them. We must popularise teachings of the Prophet and save our religion from extremist bigots.”
Muslims from all walks of life expressed their opinion that such unlawful violence has no place in their religion and their Prophet was sent upon the earth as a messenger of peace. We must preach peace and not hate.
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