The "good Muslim, bad Muslim" debate is back, not surprisingly, yet again with Naseeruddin Shah's recent viral video on the Taliban's re-emergence to power, and condemnation of a certain section of Indian Muslims who seem to be in a celebratory mood after the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan for the second time.
It is widely known that every culture has a tangible essence, and that does not exclude politics.
In America, the churning and 'othering' largely started in the post 9/11 world.
In India, the minorities have lived with this 'othering' since Independence and the Partition of 1947.
Back in college, a roommate of mine had asked me this question: Saira, when there's an India-Pakistan match, whom do you cheer for? Taking it as a deep affront, as if my father, who was then serving in the Indian Army and everything that my family or I could ever stand for, stood decimated, the shadow of being from the 'minority' community always hung on the head like the sword of Damocles.
The quest of belonging and being orphaned in your own country is a paradox every Muslim in the country is grappling with today, 75 years after Independence, the question of identity being the moot question.
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The innate desire to 'belong' is so deep-rooted that many a time, progressive and educated Muslims wear a veneer of being holier than the Pope and think that belittling their own community might earn them some brownie points with the Hindu-right.
They are everywhere -- some are TV anchors, some are spokespersons of a political party, some are prominent influencers. Their 'redeeming' comes from their bash a Muslim a day chore.
A liberal Muslim is not an isolated animal. Islam is far from being monolithic, though it's often presented and implied as homogenous. The Islamic faith today can be subjected to various interpretations by multiple believers who practise the faith according to multiple interpretations. Perhaps we can seek some uncomfortable truths by studying the divergence amongst variants of Islam, but labelling a religion as one that harbours or promotes extremism or intolerance is plain and simple libel and slander to achieve a political end.
One's equation with the maker is deeply personal. How many rozas one keeps is no one's business. It's between the individual and God.
Does that make one a lesser Muslim?
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Many can identify with a religion's culture but choose not to participate in its rituals at all.
Others can denounce the religion they were born in or choose to adopt a completely different faith.
I have always believed that true spirituality transcends ritual mores of a faith.
A Hindustani Muslim means imbibing the good of both Hinduism and Islam, and discarding all that one deems regressive and parochial.
Is one being selective and elitist here? Maybe, but then that's one of the reasons our forefathers chose to stay back in India -- to cherish these same values. If they fancied the 'shariat', they would have migrated to Pakistan or any other Islamic nation a long time ago.
I have often been asked this question-how Muslim am I? Oh! So you don't drink alcohol or eat pork? That means you are still not that 'liberal' as you claim to be. As if consuming alcohol and 'pork' are the only two denominators to progress and liberty.
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Contrary to what people believe, Islam is NOT a monolithic faith. Over 1,400 years in the various lands where Islam was practiced, these perspectives and practises differ because of the diversity within the Muslim community depending on the geography, ethnicity, culture and age.
The Muslim is a great many things depending on your perspective. Compassion and mercy-the core values of being a Muslim. A Muslim is anyone who calls himself/herself a Muslim that includes the secular liberal Muslims also.
One who can surrender to a force greater than himself/herself is the essence of Islam.
So, where do Muslims who bash radical forces from both sides of the fence go?
The moment a prominent Muslim takes a stand on the lynching of minorities in the country, the way Naseeruddin Shah did three years ago, the ramifications of his public stand and the troll army that was unleashed upon him is not stuff recommended for the faint-hearted.
Twitter can be a toxic place for 'cancel culture'. People wrote nasty things about him. Many trolls packed him off to Pakistan, one person even buying a one-way ticket to the neighbouring country.
Let's accept this. Muslims today are wary about expressing an opinion. Everyone today is technically a tweet away from detention.
What might offend whom, and the subsequent FIRs is anyway too much headache for an ordinary Muslim whose only priority and aspiration in life is to earn a decent livelihood, lead a normal middle-class life and get a good night's sleep.
But what happens if your own poster boy calls out people from his community? Do we have the maturity and the depth to fathom what he addressed or are we going to inflict the same cancel-culture that the Hindu right in India is engaging in?
Last night, I was on a prominent news channel debate in its prime-time. A prominent panellist who calls himself a scientist insisted: Arrey bhai, Naseer Bhai is not a good Muslim; that is why he is calling out the Taliban. To be a good Muslim, one needs to be 'Shariat Compliant', the way the Taliban is. The Taliban is only doing what the Shariat ordains you to do.
As if enjoying the conversation, the lady anchor prods the 'scientist' further, while trying her utmost to let me not complete my sentence as the scientist threw in the verse 4:34 from the Quran and asked whether I, as a progressive Muslim woman, was ok with it.
Quoting verses out of context in today's day and age will prove to be challenging, since many of the words have contested meanings.
There would eventually be a sharp divide between traditional interpretations of the verse and contemporary interpretations, but don't these conflicts remain in other religious faiths as well?
So, does Islam need a Martin Luther? It's proven since time immemorial that militant nationalism is a curse for any nation or society. One needs to blend in, syncretise, adopt the culture of the land one is born in. How long will it take to get us to practise the adage- ''permitteth every man to live according to his conscience."
Let's accept, it takes tremendous courage to take on both sides of the right-wing radical forces - the rewards - you get to please none, added perks include possible detention for speaking your mind, the slurs and threats on social media notwithstanding.
The ones celebrating and applauding Naseeruddin Shah's 'brave' stand against sections of the Muslim community celebrating the 'Taliban Win' in Afghanistan are ironically the same people who trolled him viciously when he addressed issues of lynchings three years ago.
Truth be told, he doesn't need to appease any section. He is known to be opinionated and in your face.
Whenever a prominent voice stands up for only one kind of extremism, its hypocrisy of the worst kind--either one calls out both or none at all.
Let's appreciate people for taking bold stands as we recall how stars like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and other prominent Muslim voices have been bullied into 'deafening silence'.
While there is always room for a larger debate and discussion on religion, it should not be at the cost of further vilification of minorities. Religion should, at best, remain a personal matter.
Saira Shah Halim is a rights activist and an educator.
(All views expressed are personal.)
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Where do liberal Muslims, who bash both sides of the fence, go? - India Today
