Why
Muslims lag behind
Khushwant Singh
At the recent Book Fair in
Delhi there was a stall selling Islamic literature. Friends who went round the
stalls told me that among the hottest sellers was “Answer to Non-Muslim Common
Questions About Islam” by Dr. Zakir
Naik (Madhur Sandesh Sangam).
The learned doctor, who has a
phenomenal memory when it comes to quoting chapters, verses and lines of the
scriptures, has chosen 20 questions, most often asked by non-believers: they
include polygamy, burqa, drinking, eating
pig meat, afterlife, and kafirs.
I have heard Zakir Naik
hold forth on these and other subjects several times on television before large
receptive audiences, who hear him spellbound. I disagree with almost everything
he has to say about misconceptions about Islam. Though by definition a kafir (I don’t
believe in God, satan,
angels, devils, heaven or hell), I feel hurt and angry because I am emotionally
and rationally bothered by the sorry plight of Muslims today. I find Naik’s pronouncements somewhat juvenile.
They seldom rise above the
level of undergraduate college debates, where contestants vie with each other
to score brownie points. I will deal with only four of the twenty topics he
deals with — two of minor and two of major importance. Why is eating pig meat
forbidden in Islam? Dr. Naik tells us that the
"pig is one of the filthiest animals on earth."
Agreed, it eats garbage,
including human and animal excreta. He further adds, “The pig is the most
shameless animal on the face of the earth. It is the only animal that invites
its friends to have sex with its mate." I admit I was not aware of this
swinish aberration. He goes on to list 70 different types of diseases caused by
eating pig meat. He does not tell us why the vast majority of non-Muslims,
non-vegetarians of the world, relish pig meat in different forms: ham, bacon,
pork, sausages, salami, etc.
Many Pacific island economies
depend on breeding pigs. I for one have not heard of great epidemics caused by
consumption of pig meat. Why is alcohol forbidden to Muslims? Actually, what is
forbidden by the Quran is drunkenness, not drinking. However, Dr. Naik construes it to be a sin. He says, “Alcohol has been
the scourge of human society since time immemorial. It costs enormous human
lives and terrible misery to millions throughout the world."
He lists 19 diseases,
including eczema, caused by the intake of liquor. One does not have to quote
the scriptures to prove that excessive drinking ruins one’s health,
impoverishes families, and leads to bad behaviour and
crime. It is plain common sense. People all over the world overdo it and
suffer. Those who drink within limits enjoy it. I have been drinking for 70
years. I have not been drunk even once in my life, never fallen ill nor
offended anyone.
I am 94 and still drink every day.
My role model is Asadullah Khan Ghalib.
He drank every evening and alone. I look forward to my sundowners. For me and
for millions of others, drinking has nothing to do with religion. Let us see
what Dr. Naik has to say about two more serious
subjects: polygamy and hijab (veil).
“The Quran is the only
religious book on the face of this earth that contains the phrase "marry
only one," he asserts, and explains the verse on the subject "marry
women of your choice, two, three or four; but only fear that ye shall not be
able to do justice (with them), then only one". And since "ye are
never able to be fair and just as between women. Therefore, the verdict is in favour of one wife at a time. "Hindus are more
polygamous than Muslims," writes Dr. Naik.
There are more women than men
in the world; so what are women who can’t find unmarried men to do except
become co-wives of married men? Or become “public property?” So goes the
learned doctor’s argument.
He does not deign to deal with
the situation as it exists today. Every religion other than Islam:
Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism now
forbids men from having more than one wife at a time.
Muslims are the sole exception
though and only a miniscule minority, mainly Arabs, have multiple wives. Apply
for a visa to some country like Indonesia and Malaysia and you will have to
fill a column naming up to four wives accompanying you. The answer to the
problem of women outnumbering men is not polygamy, it is the freedom to engage
in extramarital relations or have them staying single. It is better than having
a harem.
Dr. Naik
is in favour of women wearing burqas from head to foot, girls not going to mixed schools or
colleges, nor going into professional institutions in which they have to expose
their faces, etc. This amounts to denying them equal rights with men. In my
view, shared by all my Muslim friends, burqa
is the single most reprehensible cause for keeping Muslims backward (it is
synonymous to jehalat
— ignorance and backwardness). The sooner it is abolished, the better. He
castigates the western society in no uncertain terms: “Western talk of women’s liberalisation is nothing but a disguised form of
exploitation of her body, degradation of her soul, and deprivation of her honour.
“Western society claims to
have uplifted women. On the contrary, it has actually degraded them to the
status of concubines, mistresses, and society butterflies who are mere tools in
the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketers….” All I can say in reply is
“Dr. Naik, you know next to nothing about the Western
society and are talking through your skull cap. People like you are making the
Muslims lag behind other communities.”
Webmaster's note: This article was first published in the Hindustan Times on November 3, 2007.
We
are NOT apologists and agree with and accept valid criticisms of Muslim
preachers. The prohibition against swine has more to do with scriptural symbolism than with health.
Islam is, for us, one of many paths, since God says in the Qur’an that messengers have been sent to different
nations, and each has its own path. Our view is that theological differences
are often based upon fallible deductions, and doctrine often has more to do
with culture and place since there can be no single universal application of
any enjoined / proscribed concept, even among members of the same faith. This
is why God also says that "He does not enjoin upon any being that which is
beyond his / her ability." We are not advocating that Muslims should start eating pork and
drinking alcohol. We do agree with Khushwant Singh that Dr. Naik’s logic and pronouncements are juvenile,
including his bigoted views of women.
Posted
July 3, 2015