Judgement is made about Mr. R. Das's article, "I leave it
for you to Judge" (India Post, September 25th, 1998) and Islam Wins. Here is
why. Mr. Das tries his best to defile the truth of Islam with his referenceless remarks:
"But we all know both from history and Mohammed's own traditions recorded in Hadis
as the real status of Non-Muslims as well as human rights under Islam". No we don't
know of such a thing and we believe neither do you, or else you would have spit out the
reference, like ones I provided in my article "There is no
Compulsion in Islam".
His sophomoric logic continues when he equates the actions of some Muslims and labelling
them as the teachings of Islam. This error or false association is the best he can do in
his desperation. Does he also want me to associate the killing of Dalits by the Upper
Class Bhramins, the rampant poverty in Hindu India, the destruction by Hindus of the
places of worship of other religions and the human rights violations of the Hindu
Government, to the religion of Hinduism. See how fast you get trapped in your own bait.
When he says, "There is a law in the Shariat that it takes three Moslems to
accuse any non-Moslem of Blasphemy...". How come Das's pen or printer suddenly
becomes dry when it comes to quoting the reference from the Qur'an or the Sunnah of such a
law.
He goes on to relate the incident of the bloodless conquest of Makkah with his untenable
information, "...those who adored them (the idols) were condemned as kafirs and
idolaters – the non-Moslems, Dhimmis'. Mr. Das's deficiency in history can
be readily detected by my Sunday School students. No, Mr. Das, the Makkan inhabitants were
not condemned as kafirs but hugged as brothers and sisters in Islam and here is
why:
"On the 11th day of the month of Ramadzan, he (Muhammed – peace be upon him) repaired to Mount as-Safa, where all the people of Makkah had been assembled in order to take the oath of allegiance to him. Umar, acting as his deputy, administered the oath, whereby the people bound THEMSELVES to obey Muhammad, to abstain from theft, adultery, infanticide, lying , and backbiting". (Thomas Patrick Hughes, B.D., M.R.A.S, The Dictionary of Islam, (Kazi Publications, INC, 1994), p. 381).
Thus the whole of Arabia, without the force of the sword, shed
their barbaric nature and adopted the beautiful garments of Islam. Thomas Carlyle in his Heroes
and Hero Worship fully recognises this greatness of Islam and its Prophet: "How
one man single handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most
powerful and CIVILISED nation in less than two decades".
Mr. Das gets deviated from his topic and tries to throw mud using the topic of slavery.
Here again he fails to render legible evidence. His first evidence comes from a certain
book Raujat-us-Safa by Mirkhond, written in the fifteenth century. I hope Mr. Das
realises that he is referring to a book written more than seven centuries after the
supposed event took place. Is this the best you could do, Mr. Das? His second evidence
shows his ignorance on the Hadith literature. Hadith were collected and
arranged by various compilers. Thus a reference to any Ahadith includes the
Narrator, the collector (and his book) and then comes the Hadith number. Just by
mentioning 'Hadis 4360' accounts to nothing more than showing ones benightedness.
Since the topic of slavery is brought up, this is what Qur'an, the primary source of
Islam, has to says:
"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and gives his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observes proper worship and pays the poor due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God fearing." (Qur'an, 2:177)
Such is the position of Islam and the Qur'an. Thus the evidence is evaluated, judgement is made, votes are in, and the winner is ISLAM!
Sabeel Ahmed
September 1998.
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[Currently, he is the co-chairman of the Da'wa Committee and Board of Director at the
Muslim Community Center, Illinois. A student of Ahmed Deedat and now works for the
1-800-662-islam hotline of ICNA. His main interest is in comparative religion.]
