'Inter-Religious Dialogue Is A Binding Duty'

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, editor of the Urdu magazine Al-Risala and author of numerous books in Urduand English, is a leading Indian Muslim scholar. He is an outspoken advocate of inter-religious dialogue andcommunal harmony. He spoke to Yoginder Sikand on a wide range of issues, from communalism and religiousintolerance to an Islamic theology of inter-religious understanding.

YS: What do you see as the root cause of the unrest in many Muslim countries?

MWK: In order to understand what is happening in much of the Muslim world today, you must remember that at onetime the Muslims had a vast empire, stretching from Spain in the west to India and beyond in the east. Allthese territories than came under European colonial rule. The Muslim intellectuals of that time, however,failed to properly respond to the European challenge. 

They did not give their society the sort of leadershipthat was required. They saw European colonialism in terms of an anti-Muslim conspiracy, a replay of theCrusades. They bitterly criticised the Europeans as enemies of Islam. But that, I feel, was a completely wrongexplanation of the European success. Actually, it is one of the laws of history that at one time one power isdominant and then it fades away and then another power emerges. 

So, in India you first had the Rajas, then theMughals came and finally the British. Then India became independent, and even now you sometimes have theCongress and sometimes the BJP. So, as I see it, the Europeans were able to conquer the Muslim world notbecause of any anti-Islamic conspiracy but simply because of their technological superiority. 

I mean we knewof water only as water, or at the most we used it to propel water mills to grind flour, but the Europeans wentahead and used water to generate steam power. We fought with swords but they used guns, so naturally they werevictorious over us. 

Now, as I was saying, the Muslim intellectuals of the last hundred years, and even today,generally saw, and continue to see, European and now American superiority in terms of a so-called grandanti-Islamic conspiracy. So, you have these seemingly never-ending cycles of violence in much of the Muslimworld even today. 

This hatred of all others that is filled into the minds of ordinary Muslims is really veryscary. When I was a child I was taught to believe that the British were wholly evil and that nothing goodcould be attributed to them. It was only later that I discovered the many good things that they had done inIndia, such as building modern schools and the railways. 

I think if our intellectuals had told us that thedecline of Muslim power has nothing to do with any so-called anti-Islamic conspiracy but because of the West'stechnological superiority, we would not have had the sort militancy that we are witnessing today.

YS: So that trend of thinking is still very strong in much of the Muslim world, is it?

MWK: Indeed. If you look at the sort of so-called Islamic literature that has flooded the market you will see thatmost Muslim writers continue to propagate the so-called conspiracy theory, branding non-Muslims as evilenemies of Islam whose only mission in life is to destroy Islam and the Muslims. 

Just yesterday I got a letterfrom somebody in Kashmir, who wrote saying that till recently he had been only exposed to the writings ofmilitant so-called Islamists, because of which he had been led to believe that all Hindus, and all non-Muslimsin general, are the sworn enemies of the Muslims. 

And then he said he had come across some of my books, whichreally radically changed the way he saw the world. He said that he had had a complete change of heart and thatnow he realises that Hindus, too, are God's children who deserve to be loved.

YS: But, as Islam sees it, all non-Muslims are kafirs. Isn't that discriminatory?

MWK: Not at all. The word kafir literally means 'one who denies something'. If I tell you something and you don'tbelieve in it then as far as that thing is concerned you are a kafir. It's not a term of abuse, but astatement of fact. 

So, if you believe in the Hindu theory of reincarnation and I deny it, then I am a kafir or'denier' as far as that theory is concerned.

YS: Is there any scope for inter-religious dialogue between Muslims and others?

MWK: Inter-religious dialogue is an absolute imperative, and Islam insists upon it. After all, wherever progresshas occurred in history it has been because of interaction between different peoples. This must start rightfrom the school level. Some maulvis say that if children are taught about other religions they will turn awayfrom Islam. 

But is their faith in Islam so weak that if they hear the truth about other religions they willrenounce their own? Islam is not a glass vessel which can easily break into pieces. It's as strong as an ironvessel. We really must get to know the truth about each other's religions and clear up our mutualmisunderstandings, because most prejudice is based upon simple ignorance or misrepresentation. 

As far as Islamis concerned, inter-religious dialogue is a binding duty according to the Quran. In his last pilgrimage toMecca, the Prophet addressed 1,25,000 of his followers and told them to travel all over the world to spreadIslam. So, they went to various countries to preach Islam, but that was only one aspect of their work. Theyalso travelled in search of knowledge, interacting and openly discussing with people of other religions. 

So,for example, some of the early Muslims came to India. Here they studied Sanskrit and translated many Sanskrittexts into Arabic. Or, for that matter, when Spain was under Muslim control many Christians would come thereto study even the Bible from Muslim scholars.

YS: Do you feel that as part of the inter-religious dialogue project madrasa students, too, should beexposed to other religions?

MWK: Yes, of course. And there needs to be a major overhauling of the madrasa system. Modern disciplines need tobe introduced in the madrasas, but the problem is that we do not have the teachers to teach the new subjectsor even to teach the old subjects in a new way. 

Some maulvis attached to madrasas have attempted to startdialogue efforts. So you have Ali Miyan from the Nadwat ul-Ulama madrasa in Lucknow who regularly invitessecular Hindu intellectuals to seminars and conferences. But that's not really cutting much ice, because heinteracts with what I call the 'no-problem' Hindus, people who are already convinced of the need forHindu-Muslim dialogue and understanding. 

We should also try to reach out to 'problem' Hindus, like people inthe RSS. That's what I've been doing, for which many Muslims have bitterly opposed me. Actually, I have foundthat many RSS workers are anti-Muslim simply because of their ignorance or misunderstanding of Islam, and thatonce you begin to dialogue with them and explain to them what Islam is really all about, they begin to shedtheir prejudices. 

And then there is this large section of Muslims who prefer to send their children toMuslim-run secular schools, most of which are really sub-standard. Here again the notion that all non-Muslimsare anti-Muslim seems to be at work, leading to this terrible ghetto mentality. 

As a result, many Muslimchildren have no interaction with non-Muslim children of their own age, and that, in turn, leads to furtherignorance and misunderstanding about others. I strongly feel that this should be changed and that Muslimchildren should study alongside with others, because if you isolate yourself from the wider world around youyou will only stagnate further.

YS: Sufis, Muslim mystics, too, had a major role to play in promoting inter-religious harmony, didn'tthey?

MWK: Yes, indeed. Sufism or Islamic mysticism played a central role in promoting dialogue and harmony betweenMuslims and other peoples. In Sufi lodges or khanqahs in India only vegetarian food was served so that Hindusand Muslims and others could eat together, and this was a very radical thing at a time when untouchability wasso severely practised. But Sufism is today in a very sorry state of decline.