The Call to Truth
Bearing witness to God’s oneness is the key which unlocks the door to Islam. When a person discovers the truth of Islam, and when this feeling is awakened within him that on the Day of Resurrection he will appear before God as a Muslim, he utters these words: ‘I bear witness that there is no god but the One God, I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s servant and His messenger.’
There are two aspects to these words: Shahadah and applied shahadah. The primary meaning of Shahadah is that which relates to the self. The individual declares that the Creator and Lord of this universe is only one God, and he becomes a witness to this higher reality. Applied Shahadah is another aspect of this reality. That is, making people aware of this reality by making an effort to convey to people the truth which he has discovered. It is this task which is called dawah, that is, calling people to God. When dawah work is performed in the ultimate sense, the other name for this is ‘shahadah’ or ‘witnesses.
Calling people to God is not something separate from faith (imaan). When a person truly finds faith, he naturally desires that the truth he has discovered should come to the knowledge of others, and the purpose of life that he has discovered should become a discovery for others too, and the door to the blessing of this world and the Hereafter that has been opened to him, should also be opened to others. The truth is that if shahadah is a matter of personal discovery, then applied shahadah is a matter of including others in this discovery.
The Prophet of Islam gave a historic address, making his companions witness on the occasion of Hajjat ul-Wida on the plains of Arafat. The Prophet’s address was directly meant for his companions and indirectly for the entire Muslim ummah. The Prophet said in this address: “God has sent me as a blessing for the whole world, so convey my message of blessing on my behalf to all human beings.”
These words of the Prophet of Islam have continued to reverberate throughout world history, reaching all Muslims across the centuries. Similarly, it addresses the people of Kashmir: “O Muslims of Kashmir, fulfill my mission and be my supporters in conveying my message to all human beings.” Will the Muslims of Kashmir give a response to the call of the Prophet of Islam?
Shah Hamadan Mission
In the State of Jammu and Kashmir, Mir Syed Shahabuddin Ali Hamadani (d.1384) holds the position of the spiritual founder of Kashmir. The Muslims of Kashmir generally call him Amir Kabir. He came to Kashmir from Iran in 1379. The present religious ideology of Kashmir is largely the result of his dawah efforts, for the people of Kashmir followed his mission to the fullest extent. But, in 1947, in the wake of the revolution on the subcontinent, a reactionary political movement was launched in Kashmir. Subsequent events have shown that this political movement only proved destructive for the Kashmiris. However, there is one positive aspect to this and that is, that the negative outcome of aggressive politics has proved to be a form of shock treatment for the Kashmiris. Now the Kashmiri Muslims are thinking of returning to their past, by opting for the target of peaceful dawah like that carried out by Shah Hamdan. This new thinking may be seen as a revival of the mission of Shah Hamadan.
Mir Sayyed Ali Hamadani, born in Iran, was a contemporary of the Iranian emperor Taimur Lang(d.1405 AD) . For some reason, Shah Taimur became angry with him and ordered him to leave Iran. Now Amir Kabir, having a number of followers, could have launched a movement in opposition to the king but he totally shunned any kind of political confrontation. Instead of this, he left Hamadan, his home town, with 40 of his companions and travelled to Kashmir via Afghanistan, reaching there in 1379.
The programme of Amir Kabir was neither made in reaction to Shah Taimur’s orders, nor did it come under the influence of the immediate circumstances of the Kashmiri Muslims. At that time Kashmir was ruled by a Muslim King, Sultan Qutbuddin. His rule was flawed by many ideological and practical evils, which Amir Kabir sought to rectify by writing spiritual letters to him to draw his attention to the factors in the situation prevailing there, which went against the spirit of Islam. He did not launch any movement to oust the ruler from power and replace him with a just ruler. Amir Kabir instead rose above all negative factors and formulated a programme based on his own positive thinking. This was a totally silent and practical venture, to further which Amir Kabir and his companions spread throughout different parts of the State and began peacefully conveying the message of Islam among the inhabitants. For this they learnt the Kashmiri language and, adjusting to the prevailing circumstances, they took pains to find a place in this alien land. In this way, leading a life of patience and forbearance, they continued their peaceful dawah mission.
Discussing this with an educated Kashmiri Muslim, I told him that the right path for the Kashmiris to follow was to recall the peaceful dawah mission of Shah Hamadan in Kashmir. If Shah Hamadan achieved extraordinary success in Kashmir, it was because dawah was his sole mission. Many kinds of problems existed in the times of Shah Hamadan, both political and non-political. But, ignoring all these problems, he made dawah ilallah (calling people to God) his sole target. Consequently, he achieved tremendous success in Kashmir.
This Kashmiri I was in conversation with, said that a large number of non-Muslims formerly lived in Kashmir, whereas today only Muslims lived there. Then to whom should they direct their dawah efforts? I said that Kashmir afforded opportunities for international dawah work. A case in point was the Indian army which was there in Kashmir in full force. All of its members were in the position of being madu. Besides, as is well known, Kashmir is a tourist spot, and therefore receives tourists from all over the world. Furthermore, a number of Hindu Pundits are still living there. Then a large number of pilgrims visit its ancient mandirs (shrines) the whole year round. All these people are madu for us. If dawah consciousness is awakened within one, one will find that there are madu all over Kashmir in large numbers.
Similarly, there is another field of dawah work in Kashmir-- that of Muslims who are suffering from intellectual discontent regarding Islam, due to their exposure to modern thought. These people also have the status of madu for you. For non- Muslims, Islam has to be made a matter of discovery, while for Muslims Islam has to be made a matter of re-discovery.
It is a fact that the Muslims of Kashmir are twice blessed. Firstly, Kashmir is called Jannat Nazir (similar to Paradise), which means that God has given the Kashmiris the paradise of this world. Secondly, God has sent to Kashmir madus from all over the world in order that the Kashmiris may secure the paradise of the next world by performing dawah work. The present world is the world of the printing press. This, in present times has rendered dawah work extremely simple. The translation of the Quran, and other books on Islam are all available in print. You can keep these books with you and give them to people on all occasions. Similarly, use all opportunities for the peaceful propagation of Islam, especially, by distributing the translation of the Quran, so that you may receive the reward for your dawah work from God. Shah Hamadan achieved success in Kashmir through dawah. Now, once again, you can achieve success in dawah work in Kashmir.
Not a Case of Non-fulfillment of a Promise
After the death of the Prophet of Islam in Madinah differences arose between the Emigrants (from Makkah) and the Ansar (the people of Madinah) on the issue of Khilafat. The stand of the Ansar was: one leader from amongst the emigrants and one from amongst the Ansar. Finally Umar’s suggestion was accepted. It was to the effect that they (the emigrants) would be holding the political office while the Ansar would be the advisors. But later on it was not possible to put this promise into practice. Umar Faruq in his later years once observed: we had promised the Ansar that in the matters of Khilafat we would make the Ansar our advisors, but we failed to do so. (Musnad Al-Bazzar, Hadith No. 291)
It was not a case of breaking a promise; it was rather a matter relating to collective wisdom. It is desirable in Islam that a promise should be fulfilled, but this command relates to individual cases. In individual matters one individual has the power to fulfill his promise without any obstacle, therefore it is incumbent upon an individual to fulfill his promise at all costs. He should never go back on his words on any pretext. But the case of social matters is different from this. A promise related to political and social life is not a promise in the general sense. Since, in reality, social matters are not in a uniform state, different kinds of demands come to bear upon the making of the relevant decisions. As such, promises of this kind can never be absolute in nature. They change with each new situation. It is, therefore, essential for both the parties to understand the demands of the situation. Instead of insisting on the initial wording of the promise, they should be willing to cooperate in terms of the changed situation. Social matters are always governed by practical wisdom rather than ideal wisdom. This is the demand of Islam as well as the demand of reason.
From Collision Course to Acceptance
Two recent news items have been reported in the media, one titled: “Pakistan may junk Kashmir issue temporarily”, indicates that Pakistani leadership has temporarily put the Kashmir agenda on hold (Times of India, 27 Feb, 2012).
The other news item relates to the secret high security around the house of Osama bin Ladin in Abbottabad (Pakistan). On May 3, 2011 America had Osama bin Ladin killed in a targeted attack. Now, according to the news published in the Times of India, dated February 27, 2012 (p. 18) the Pakistani government itself had the residential complex of Osama bin Ladin demolished on 25 Feb 2012. The remains of this demolished house were taken to some distant place.
Both the news items show that the violent movement started in Kashmir in the name of Jihad has reached its natural end. In news item, the words ‘for the time being’ are purely diplomatic. In the true sense, they only mean that Pakistan has permanently abandoned this futile issue. It has finally decided that even the signs of violent struggle have to be obliterated from Pakistan. A case in point is the demolition of the residence of Osama bin Ladin in Pakistan.
The so-called Kashmir war was not the voice of the Kashmiri people: it was a war which was totally exported from Pakistan. Now Pakistan, under the compulsion of the situation, states that it has ceased its Kashmir agenda. In such a situation, there is neither any justification for nor any possibility of continuing the so-called Kashmir war. Now the Kashmiris do not have a number of options before them. Now there is only one course for them to follow and that is to put an end to the use of weapons and the continuance of militant politics and to build their future through a peaceful struggle.
It has been conceded that the war of Kashmir waged by Pakistan has been entirely counterproductive. In this war Pakistan has lost much but has failed to achieve its goal. For Pakistan to disengage from the destructive war, a decision based on realism shall have to be taken. What Pakistan most urgently needs is a change in thinking; that is, to abandon negative thinking and opt for positive thinking. As such it is a must for Pakistan to openly declare that waging war on the Kashmir front was a fatal misadventure. Without openly admitting this, Pakistan is not going to benefit in any real sense. Admission of one’s mistake would start off positive thinking in Pakistan. The people of Pakistan had become the victims of unrealistic thinking due to their negative psychology. A declaration of this kind would give them a new lead. They would start experiencing the benefits of positive thinking. Their national policy, which has so far been based on unrealistic thinking, would then be based on realistic thinking. If this could happen, it would without doubt be a revolutionary event for Pakistan as well as for its allies.
