OCTOBER 1

De-Islamizing Islam

When I visited Afghanistan during the last days of communist Russia’s political domination, I found Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, entirely intact, but today, under the so-called Islamic regime of the Taliban, the greater part of Kabul has been destroyed. And now the people of Afghanistan are faced with such great hardship as they have never before faced in their entire history.

The Taliban hold Russian communism to be “kufr” while regarding themselves to be the representatives of Islam. How strange it is that “kufr” inflicted only minimal harm upon Afghanistan, while “Islam” has almost totally ruined the country—to such an extent that people are compelled to flee from their own homeland. Sadly, all this is being done in the name of Islam. Judging from the result, one can say that this is nothing more or less than the de-islamization of Islam.

Added to the long horrible list of depredations carried out in the name of the Afghan version of Islam, there is the extremely sad event of the demolitions which began on March 1, 2001. Following the order of their religious chief, the Taliban began blasting the statues of Gautam Buddha with dynamite and attacking them with bulldozers. They said that they were doing this in accordance with the teachings of Islam, for Islam did not permit idolatry.

This is a totally non-Islamic act. It is true that Islam is against idolatry, but there is certainly a clear difference between weaning people away from idol-worship and the destruction of idols. There are verses in the Quran which state: “Do not worship idols.” But there is no verse in the Quran which says: “Destroy idols.” The way of Islam is to purify the heart of idolatry: it is not to destroy statues made of stone.

Let us look at the history of Afghanistan in this connection. According to early tradition, Islam entered Afghanistan during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Later, the Prophet’s close Companion, Khalid ibn Walid came here with other believers. At that time the majority of the population were Buddhist. Many of them converted to Islam. This process of the peaceful propagation of Islam continued and, by the end of the 10th century A.D., Islam had spread throughout Afghanistan.

It is worth noting here that the statues of Gautam Buddha had already been carved out of the mountainsides of Afghanistan 500 years before Islam’s entry into the country during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Just as these statues were safe prior to the advent of Islam, they continued to remain safe throughout the fourteen hundred years of the Islamic era. It is only in recent times, during Taliban rule, that these statues have been held to be un-Islamic and subjected to demolition.

Now the question arises as to whether the Taliban have a better knowledge of Islam than that of the Sahaba (the Prophet’s companions), the Tabiun (the Companion’s disciples) and other great Islamic scholars of the past.

The truth is that while the Taliban were ostensibly smashing idols, what in reality they are doing is demolishing Islam. Far from serving the interests of Islam, this initiative is doing it the greatest harm.

Islam believes in the principle of tolerance between different religions. This verse was revealed in the Quran during the Makkan period: “For you your religion, for me mine.” (109:6). If this Islamic principle were formulated, it could be worded like this: “Follow one and respect all.”

We find many practical examples of adherence to this principle in Islamic history. For instance, during the period of Umar Faruq, the Second Caliph of Islam, Palestine was conquered. At that time an agreement was reached between the Caliph and the Christian authorities. One of the clauses of this agreement, signed by the Caliph Umar, was that the Christian churches as well as the statues of Mary and Christ placed in the churches and the Cross would remain as they were. This illustrates a principle of religious tolerance which has been observed by Muslims throughout the history of Islam. We do find instances of certain Muslim kings having broken idols. But these instances are exceptions and not the rule. Furthermore, such acts on the part of rulers were governed by their political interests and not by the teachings of Islam.

The statues of Gautam Buddha carved in the mountains may have been objects of worship in the past, but today they enjoy the position of historical monuments. They no longer belong to a particular religious group: their status is that of symbols of a historical heritage common to all mankind. The principle of Islam, applicable to this state of affairs, is to remove the issue from the private or the national sphere to the universal sphere.

One of the teachings of Islam is that Muslims ought not to take any such action as is likely to be counterproductive. For instance, the Quran enjoins:

“Revile not those whom they invoke besides Allah,

Lest they may revile Allah

Spitefully without knowledge.”

This shows that even if Muslims believe some act to be right, they may refrain from indulging in it, if the result is not going to be in their favour.

Looked at in the light of this principle, the present move of the Taliban is wholly against the teachings of Islam. For if such historical places and relics, which have profound and time-honoured associations for the believers of other religions, are destroyed in a Muslim country, those whose feelings are hurt would, as a result, feel justified, in starting to destroy places which are historically important to Muslims in their own respective countries. Such a move on the part of Muslims cannot but result in irretrievable losses to the Muslims themselves.

As soon as the Afghan government set about the task of demolishing the ancient statues, the seriousness of the matter was highlighted by the media on a world-wide basis. This prompt publicizing of the event brought immediate condemnation for the Italian’s actions from all right-thinking people, both Muslim and non-Muslim.

Had the Afghan Taliban engaged in this destruction in the name of their nation or tribe, it might conceivably have seemed acceptable within a very limited ethnic sphere. But they did not. They did it in the name of Islam and its Shariah, with the result that their actions began, prima facie, to be attributed to Islam. People began to express their disgust and indignation with Islam. They said that if this is Islam, it is nothing less than sheer barbarism, resulting from a medieval mindset which is totally unacceptable to the civilized society of today. Of course, the Taliban are ostensibly demolishing objects of idolatry, but when seen in the light of the result, they must stand charged with demolishing Islam itself.

It is unfortunate that, in spite of local and international protests, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has decided to go ahead with the demolition of statues of historical and religious importance in the country. Historical monuments are the heritage of all mankind and do not belong to any government or area or people. Demolition of places of worship and statues of religious personalities is totally un-Islamic and unwarranted. Indeed, Islam orders us to respect the places of worship of other religions and certainly does not permit their destruction.