THE PROBLEM OF INTEGRATION THAT MUSLIMS FACE

THE PROBLEM OF INTEGRATION THAT MUSLIMS FACE

The problem with Muslims is that under divine dictate they are bound to look upon non-Muslims as inferior infidels who it is their divine duty to convert or subjugate as dhimmis. Conversion is at the heart of Islam as also Christianity and Muslims are continuously fed this culture of superiority of their Deen over all else for which by scriptural injunction they must invite non-Muslims to their fold which is termed the Dawāh. This attitude makes them unfriendly to non-Muslims in the ultimate sense, creating fissures in society wherever they form a significant section. 

In India we have suffered at the hands of this proselytising faith for over thirteen centuries culminating in Partition. Even today this medieval attitude of domination fills the hearts and minds of millions of Muslims because of their theological training in madrassas which effectively has kept them backward in terms of modern education and thinking. 

A single person's dictates dating back fourteen centuries has held them captive and their creative imagination in the sciences and rational thinking in general barring a couple of hundred years of Islamic scientific revolution induced by Hindu and Greek learning has largely been stifled for which Islamic nations have fallen behind in the march towards modernity. 

The theological concepts of Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam must be forsaken in practice if Muslims worldwide must integrate as harmonious members of human society not given to extremist outlook and action. India will also benefit from such an attitude as well as over two hundred millions of Indian Muslims will then contribute far more to the nation through their uplifted academic standards, sadly compromised now for millions by undue theological captivity in madrassas. 

Politicians in the name of secular liberalism craftily play the divisive card with the Muslim population to bolster their vote banks and, so, conspire to keep them perpetually backward vis-a-vis the rest of the polity. Muslim clerics and leaders in alliance play a like game and hold the Muslim polity down in the name of protecting their religious and cultural identity. 

It is a complex situation that needs  careful study and considerate redress. So much for now. More later.

Written by Sugata Bose