CHAPTER 4

ISLAM AND THE QURAN

How can busy people find time for dawah work (the task of conveying God’s message to others)?

Today, we are living in the age of social and print media. I had found an answer to this question way back, even before I had shifted to Delhi. I had once gone to South India in a train. When I alighted, a Christian father and I started walking together towards our nearby destination. I was carrying a suitcase with me. The father told me that he had to go in the same direction. At a crossroad, when I turned to go in a different direction, he opened his suitcase and gave me a small leaflet which was very well printed and had been published in Ohio. At that time, I had discovered that doing dawah work is very easy in today’s world – all you have to do is carry literature with you and give it to people around.

Why did Muslims not win in the Battle of Uhud?

You will certainly have to pay the price of your mistakes, even if you are a prophet. Muslims had made a mistake during the Battle of Uhud.

‘Uhud’ is the name of a mountain in Arabia and the battle was fought in the shadow of this mountain in the year 624 AD. The commander had instructed the archers positioned at the top of the mountain to not leave their places at any cost, as that would cause the enemy to attack from the rear. During the course of battle, the archers positioned at the top of the mountain felt that the Muslim side had won and so they left their positions early in spite of being instructed to not do so. This gave the opponents an opportunity to come from the rear and attack the Muslims. So, when the Muslim archers left their spot, the armies of the opposite side attacked from behind and decimated the Muslim forces. The Muslim defeat was bound to happen, as it was the consequence of a mistake made by few Muslims themselves. The occurrence of loss or defeat is a way of instilling the sense of responsibility in a person, so that he can assume full ownership for his actions.

What is the circumstance of this phrase Lakum deenukum waliya deen?

The verse referred to in the question is from Chapter 109 and is as follows:

You have your religion and I have mine. (Quran 109:6)

This verse was revealed towards the end of the Makkan phase of Islam, which lasted for 13 years. Several Islamic scholars believe that this verse served as a last admonition to the Prophet’s opponents (the Quraysh tribe). It means that the verse came down at a point when the Prophet had fulfilled his responsibility of dawah (conveying the message of God) with respect to the Quraysh.

It is commonly held by scholars that if a community persists in its denial of the messenger, it shall suffer consequences. However, in my opinion, this verse of the Quran was in the language of ‘divine hammering.’ Its purpose is to invoke in the reader a sense of seriousness towards the message and to make him ponder over its meaning. As we learn from the history of Islam, the Makkans who had become dire opponents of the Prophet (and also the immediate reference of this verse) eventually embraced Islam.

I derive an extended meaning from the words of the above verse, which pertains to peaceful co-existence. The verse means that a believer must follow one and respect all religions.

What is ijtihad in today’s world?

Ijtihad is a principle to be followed in every age. It was used even at the time of the Prophet. Ijtihad means to reapply the teachings of Islam to a new situation. We have an example of this during the life of the Prophet.

Once, the Prophet sent a group of his Companions to the tribe of Banu Qurayzah. Before sending them off, he advised them:

Do not offer the Asr prayer until you have reached Banu Qurayzah. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 946)

Asr is the afternoon daily prayer, the time for which ends at the beginning of sunset. The group of Companions had not yet reached Banu Qurayzah when the sun began to set. Some of the Companions said that they should offer prayer as the time for Asr would end by the time they reached Banu Qurayzah. Certain other Companions said that they would strictly follow the Prophet’s advice and would not pray until they reached the camp of Banu Qurayzah. The former group of Companions explained to the latter that the Prophet’s words should not be taken literally, as he had actually wanted them to walk fast so that they reached their destination before the time of the Asr prayer came to an end. The Prophet did not mean that they should offer the Asr prayer only after having reached the destination, come what may. So, the Companions eventually offered prayer before reaching the Banu Qurayzah, which was contrary to the literal advice of the Prophet. Thus, on this occasion they re-interpreted the words of the Prophet. This incident is an example of doing ijtihad or reapplying a teaching of Islam in a changed situation.

In today’s age also, ijtihad is a necessity. For example, the Quran says:

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot, and on every kind of lean camel, by every distant track. (Quran 22:27)

This verse calls on all Muslims to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah on camelback. In today’s times, this command cannot be followed literally, and is taken to mean: ‘Use the available means of transportation for the pilgrimage.’

In life, situations and circumstances always change and thus there is a need to re-study and re-apply the original teachings of Islam.

What is the duty of Muslims towards Al-Aqsa Mosque?

According to Islam, there is no duty that Muslims have towards the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Mosque which can be seen in Jerusalem today with the name of ‘Al-Aqsa’ was actually built many years after the death of Prophet Muhammad by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and later finished and expanded by his son al-Walid in 705 AD. It was originally erected as a small prayer house by the second caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab.

The name ‘Masjid al-Aqsa’ was given to the newly-built monument by Muslims because of the reference found in the following verse of the Quran:

Holy is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-masjid al-aqsa. (Quran 17:1)

The misconception many have today is that they think that the present-day Masjid Al-Aqsa is the same ‘masjid al-aqsa’ mentioned in the Quran. In reality, Masjid al-Aqsa did not have any physical existence at the time of the Prophet. In the verse quoted above, ‘Masjid al-Haram’ is a proper noun and refers to the Kabah in Makkah, while ‘masjid al-aqsa’ is only used as an adverb. The literal meaning of the term ‘masjid al-aqsa’ in this verse is ‘a far-off masjid’ (‘far’, because it was far from Makkah – the place from where the Prophet started his night journey). This far-off masjid was the sight at Jerusalem where the Prophet was taken during his night journey and is said to have prayed. So, the place where he prayed was just a space and had no physical building in the form of a mosque. This is why the term ‘masjid al-aqsa’ in the above verse is not a proper noun, referring to a physical mosque which existed when the Prophet went there, rather, it means a far-off place (which was Jerusalem) where the Prophet prayed.

It was only later on, after the death of the Prophet, that Muslims constructed a physical mosque at this sight in Jerusalem where the Prophet had prayed during his night journey. After construction, Muslims gave it the name ‘Masjid Al-Aqsa’. Thus, the accurate translation of the verse would be:

Holy is He who took His servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to a far-off masjid.

The above verse just refers to a far-off place where the Prophet prayed during his night journey, it does not refer to the particular physical structure of the mosque that presently exists in Jerusalem. God has bestowed no duty to Muslims towards the present Masjid Al-Aqsa.

Does spirituality exist in Islam?

Yes. Our world is a dual world – a world of ‘material things’, and a world of ‘inner meanings’. When one raises oneself to a level where material things become secondary and inner meanings become of prime importance, then one is a spiritual person. There are two major schools of spiritual discipline: one based on meditation and the other on contemplation. The former relates to the heart and the latter relates to the mind.

Meditation-based spirituality

Spirituality of the heart is generally taken to mean the opposite of worldliness. It advocates only one way to preserve one’s spirituality, and that is to retire to a desolate place, leaving behind one’s homes and worldly life, where there is nothing to divert one’s attention. Here one is required to completely focus on meditation. It is this viewpoint, which is presented in the well-known book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

‘Heart-based spirituality’ takes one to a level, which is, in fact, one of ecstasy. Particular practices and chants produce an ecstatic feeling within the practitioner. There are many methods of meditation in the spiritual discipline, which have been prevalent in one form or the other since ancient times. Whenever a person raises himself above worldly matters and devotes his life to becoming one with the non- material world through meditation, he experiences a very different kind of feeling. When he enters this state of ecstasy, he experiences an unknown pleasure. On the basis of this experience, people associate ecstasy with spirituality. However, ecstasy is nothing but a reduced form of spirituality. Personally, I subscribe to the school of contemplation, rather than meditation.

Contemplation-based spirituality

A human being is an intellectual being. He is endowed with a mind, which is his greatest faculty. Real spirituality or contemplative spirituality is that which has the power to address our minds. Any kind of spirituality attained at a level lesser than that of our minds is not true spirituality.

According to me, true spirituality is based on contemplation or reflection or pondering, which has to do with intellectual activity. Such spirituality is produced when one gives serious thought to such questions pertaining to life, for example: Who am I? What is the purpose of my life? What is this world around me? What is the creation plan of the Creator? Is my life governed by destiny or free will? What is my purpose in life? A seeker is able to find true spirituality by finding rational answers to such questions, whereby he receives spirituality at the mind or thinking level.

Indeed, the journey of spirituality begins with the urge to search for the truth. When a seeker discovers the truth and learns the creation plan of the Creator, his life enters a new phase, i.e. that of building of the human personality according to spiritual principles. This journey is entirely intellectual in nature. Its quest is two-fold, one is to solve the riddle of why, all men and women undergo negative experiences in this world and the other is to offer positive solutions. It addresses the paradox of human beings having been given the freedom to make their own moral choices, and their frequent misuse of this freedom - a course of action which causes them to repeatedly face situations in which people do each other harm; losses are incurred because of others’ injustice; severe provocations are suffered because of untoward experiences. At such times spirituality teaches us to convert negativity into positivity through the art of conversion. This is the ideology of spirituality as presented in Islam.

When a scientist discovers the scientific world, he doesn’t leave the material world, but rather stays here, studies and makes discoveries in this very world. Spirituality is also a science. Consequently, in spiritual science the same method is valid, i.e. undergoing spiritual experiences while remaining in the material world. Spirituality, in fact, is a process of converting our everyday material events into spiritual experiences. While living his social life, man is affected by events, which trigger negative thoughts such as malice, lust, anger, arrogance, greed, etc. But when man raises himself above his immediate surroundings, i.e. from the material level to a higher level of thinking, he experiences real spirituality. At this elevated level, man is able to eradicate his negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. In this state, he learns to convert non- spiritual matters into spiritual matters.

This is the principle on which the entire material world is based. It may be called the principle or art of conversion. For instance, let us take the case of water. Two gases separately are not water, but, when they combine and convert into another form, they take the form of water. The same is true of the tree. A tree is, in fact, the result of the conversion of non-botanical matter.

All these processes use the principle of conversion. In the same way contemplative spirituality through the principle of conversion makes man spiritual. True spirituality, an intellectual activity, is a science of inner development and material things indirectly contribute towards that development. In fact, material life is made more meaningful by the pro-active role played by spirituality in intellectual refinement and the consequent progress of humanity. Spirituality does not, as some may imagine, arrest the thinking process, but rather enhances intellectual activity in the complete sense of the word.

What are the five daily prayers in Islam?

Prayer is form of worship of God. Prayer has been enjoined on believers five times a day at appointed hours:

Believers are under the obligation to say their prayers at the appointed hours. (Quran 4:103)

These prayers are performed either individually at home or in congregation in mosques. A believer begins his prayer by uttering the words “God is Great”. These words acknowledge that all greatness belongs to God and that the worshipper will lead a life of modesty and humility. Each prayer is segmented into several rak’ah, or units. In each rak’ah a person stands, bows and prostrates, reciting verses from the Quran and other prayers. These are the five obligatory prayers:

1. Early morning prayer (Fajr): two rak’ahs between dawn and sunrise
2. Noon prayer (Zuhr): four rak’ahs, between noon and mid- afternoon
3. Afternoon prayer (Asr): four rak’ahs. The time for prayer starts when the length of any object’s shadow reaches a factor (usually 1 or 2) of the length of the object itself plus the length of that object’s shadow at noon. The time for the prayer ends at sunset.
4. Sunset prayer (Maghrib): three rak’ahs between sunset and early evening
5. Evening prayer (Ishaa): four rak’ah from the disappearance of twilight until dawn

During the prayer, a believer refreshes his memory about God’s commandments regarding himself. Then he kneels and prostrates himself before God, in physical expression of the idea that the only course that befits him is to lead his life according to the creation plan of God. The prayer is concluded by turning the face first to the right side, then to the left, and uttering the words Assalamu- alaykum, which means, ‘May the peace and blessings of God be upon you!’ This is a demonstration that spiritually conditioned by prayer, the worshipper is now entering into the world with no other thoughts and feelings in his mind but those of mercy towards others and peace for all mankind.

Prayer strengthens a believer’s resolve to remain a peaceful member of the society, and to harbour no ill-feelings towards anyone. Prayer in one respect is to surrender before God, attributing all kinds of greatness to Him alone. In yet another respect, prayer prepares the individual to lead a worthy life among fellow human-beings, adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and good-will in all his dealings. In short, prayer perfects a person’s relation with God as well as with other human beings. According to a verse, a believer is enjoined thus:  

Prostrate yourself and come closer to God. (Quran 96:19)

The cadence of praying five times formally was prescribed so that congregational prayers could be undertaken. A believer otherwise must engage in prayer in an informal way throughout the day, whereby he remembers the blessings of God and shows gratefulness to his Creator. This has been alluded to in the Quran in the following words:

When you have finished the prayer, remember God while standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. When you feel secure, say your prayers in the prescribed form. (Quran 4:103)

In Islam, how can a woman divorce a man?

Islamic law on marriage and divorce provides for almost all eventualities including a woman’s right to divorce her husband. Islam has two provisions through which a woman may give divorce, however, we must first understand that marriage is the rule of life and divorce is only an exception. But the latter must also be accepted as a reality. Separation is strongly advised against in case of minor provocations. It is meant only as a last resort, when it has become truly unavoidable.

The first method of divorce for a woman is to present her case before a religious scholar, or a body of religious scholars. They give consideration to her circumstances in the light of the Quran and the Hadith, and on reasonable grounds for separation, they decide in her favour. This is termed as khula.

The second method is called talaq-e-tafweez (or delegated divorce) in which a husband may delegate to the wife the authority to pronounce talaq or divorce. It works when a prenuptial clause is inserted in the marriage document. The woman can tell her husband any time in her life that she wants to divorce him for certain reasons. The husband is bound to agree if she seeks separation. The parents of the woman can secure this right for their daughter at the time of her marriage. But the elders of both families are expected to advise and oversee that the rights of neither party are being misused.

What is your interpretation of hijab or the veil mentioned in the Quran?

Burqa, or purdah is generally looked upon as an integral part of Islam, but this is not so. In reality, the burqa is a part of Muslim culture and not a part of Islamic teaching. There is a great difference between Muslims and Islam. If it is claimed that the burqa is a part of Muslim culture, then I would say yes to that, but if it is claimed that the wearing of it is a part of Quranic teaching, then I would say no. The source of Islam is the Quran and not Muslim culture. Muslim culture is a social phenomenon, while the Quran is the Book of God as revealed to the Prophet of Islam.

According to linguistic history, the word burqa was in use in Arabia before the advent of Islam in the first quarter of the seventh century. At that time the word burqa meant a piece of clothing that was used as a protection, especially in winters. The well-known Arabic dictionary Lisan al-Arab gives us two examples of its use during the pre-Islamic period: the first, as a cover for animals during the winter season and the second, as a covering or chaadar, like a shawl, for village women. Although the word burqa existed in the Arabic vocabulary at that time, the Quran did not use this word for women’s purdah.

History shows that the present veil or burqa first came into vogue in Persia. When Islam entered Persia, a complete civilization was already in existence there. Many things were introduced into Muslim culture from the Persian culture. As per the pre-Islamic Persian culture, even the Iranian kings used to keep their women separately and would make them wear a veil. Under the influence of Iranian culture burqa was adopted by Muslims. Gradually, it became a part of Muslim culture.

At present Muslims use the term hijab as equivalent to burqa, but the word hijab is likewise not used in the Quran in this sense. Hijab literally means curtain. Hijab is used in the Quran seven times, but not in the sense that is prevalent among the Muslims today, rather it is used in its literal sense of ‘curtain’.

Regarding women’s purdah, two words have been used in the Quran: jilbab (33:59) and khimar (24:31). But again, these words are not used in their present connotation. It is a fact that both words have a similar meaning, that is, chaadar or duppatta, that is, something which covers the body of a woman and not her face. So, it is very clear that the present burqa or hijab are not Quranic terms; both are part of Muslim culture and not part of Quranic commandments. The concept of hijab as understood in the popular sense today has emerged from Fiqh.

In reality, Islam talks about adopting simplicity and modesty.

In terms of outfit, the Shariah prescribes women to cover their body with clothing which is not tight fitting and not meant to attract others. (Quran 24:31, Tafsir Usmani)

It is noteworthy that the well-known Arab scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, clearly endorses the above- mentioned position of the Shariah in his book on this subject, Jilbab al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah fil Kitab was-Sunnah (The Veil of a Muslim Woman in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah). He goes on to say that it is clear from the Quran, the Hadith and the practice of the Companions and the Tabiun (Companions of the Prophet’s Companions) that whenever a woman steps out of her home she should cover herself completely so as not to show any part of her body except the face and the hands.

During the Prophet’s time, Muslim women were active in different fields, such as agriculture, horticulture and social work. Islamic literature mentions some pious women who have played a highly creative role in their society, like Hajira, the wife of the Prophet Abraham; Maryam, the mother of Jesus; Khadija, the wife of the Prophet of Islam and Aishah, the wife of the Prophet of Islam. According to books of Hadith, Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter, used to take part in campaigns, undertake the work of providing first-aid and giving the injured water to drink and food to eat. These women, accepted as models in the society of believers, are good examples for the women of today. There are many such incidents which show that Islam accords equal freedom to a woman and a man. The Prophet of Islam said:

Men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. (Sunan Abi Dawud, hadith no. 236)

This is the best expression of gender equality.

Is it true that the Quran teaches killing of all non-believers?

Referring to certain verses of the Quran, there are some who attempt to give the impression that Islam is a religion of war and violence. This is totally untrue. Such verses relate to a specific situation and are meant in a restricted sense; they are not of general applicability. Observe the following verse:

And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression – for surely God does not love aggressors. Slay them wherever you find them [those who fight against you]. (Quran 2:190-91)

Fight them until there is no more fitna [religious persecution] and religion belongs to God alone. If the desist, then let there be no hostility, except towards aggressors. (Quran 2:193)

The above verses do not convey the general command of Islam. The truth of the matter is that the Quran was not revealed in the complete form in which it exists today. It was revealed from time to time, according to the circumstances, over a period of 23 years. If this is divided into years of war and peace, the period of peace amounts to 20 years, while that of war amounts only to 3 years. The revelations during these 20 peaceful years consisted of the peaceful teachings of Islam as are conveyed in the verses regarding the realization of God, worship, morality, piety, justice, etc.

This division of commands into different categories is a natural one and is found in all religious books. For instance, the Gita, the holy book of the Hindus, pertains to wisdom and moral values. Yet along with there is also an exhortation by Krishna to Arjuna, encouraging him to fight (Bhagavad Gita 3:30). This does not mean that believers in the Gita should wage war all the time. Mahatma Gandhi, after all, derived his philosophy of non-violence from the same Gita. The exhortation to wage war in the Gita applies only to exceptional cases where circumstances leave no choice. But for general day-to-day existence it gives the same peaceful commands as derived from it by Mahatma Gandhi.

Similarly, Jesus Christ said:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)

It would not be right to conclude that the religion preached by Christ was one of war and violence, for such utterances relate purely to particular occasions. So far as general life is concerned, Christ taught peaceful values, such as the building up of a good character, loving each other, helping the poor and needy, etc. The same is true of the Quran. When the Prophet of Islam emigrated from Makkah to Madinah, the idolatrous tribes became aggressive towards him. But the Prophet always averted their attacks by the exercise of patience and the strategy of avoidance. However, on certain occasions no other options existed, save that of retaliation. Therefore, he had to engage in defensive battle on certain occasions. It was these circumstances which occasioned the revelations relating to war. These commands, being specific to certain circumstances, had no general application. They were not meant to be valid for all time to come. That is why the permanent status of the Prophet has been termed:

‘a mercy to all mankind’. (Quran 21:107)

In principle, the Quran teaches peace and complete freedom of thought and religion, and does not, to any extent, advocate for the unjust killing of non-believers.

Why do most Muslims have a tendency to try to convert people to their religion?

Islam does not subscribe to the concept of conversion. It believes that religion is a matter of individual choice. The search for the truth should be every person’s individual effort and the decisions one then takes in the matter of religion is completely personal.

The concept of religious conversion is alien to the Quran. It has no basis in the Quran. The Quran speaks of marefat, which means God-realization or the discovery of God. So, the truth is your own discovery, your own realization. It is a personal choice. If you want to know what the purpose of life is, what life and death are about, and so on, you have to study, reflect and discuss with learned people. And after that, you may reach some conclusion. And that is your religion. So, your religion is your own discovery.

In religious ‘conversion’, there are two parties: the converter and the converted. But this is not the concept in Islam. In Islam, there is only one party—and that is you. If you want to find the truth, you have to reflect and study on your own. And when you discover something as the truth, you opt for it.

How are the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Abraham related?

The Prophet Abraham was born in Ur (Iraq). His sons, the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) and Prophet Ishaq (Isaac) were ancestors to two streams of prophets. The Prophet Isaac was the forefather of the line of prophets starting from the Prophet Jacob until the Prophet Jesus. The Prophet Muhammad belonged to the tribe of Quraysh, which traced its origin to the Prophet Ishmael.

The period between the era of the Prophet Abraham and that of the Prophet Muhammad is over two thousand years. But all the prophets from Ishmael and Isaac to Muhammad (including Jesus and Moses) share a common lineage going back to the Prophet Abraham. This is why Judaism, Christianity and Islam are called Abrahamic religions.

What was the character of the Prophet Muhammad really like?

The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, was born in Arabia on 22 April 570 AD, and died on 8 June 632 AD. He grew up orphaned and his childhood gave indications of the sublime and dynamic personality that was to emerge. As he grew up, the nobility of his personality, soft-spoken and genial disposition made him a benevolent member of the society. A balanced personality—tolerant, truthful, perspicacious and magnanimous—he presented the highest example of human nobility. According to Daud ibn Husayn, he became known as the most chivalrous among his people, tolerant and forbearing, truthful and trustworthy, always an epitome of good behaviour. He would stay aloof from all quarrels and quibbles and never indulged in foul utterances, abuse or invective. People even left their valuables in his custody, for they knew that he would never betray them. His unimpeachable trustworthiness won for him the title of al-Amin, an unfailing trustee, and of al-Sadiq, the truthful.

As a Prophet, he was an embodiment of virtues a true believer must imbibe and uphold. A prophet is a well-wisher for mankind and the entire life of the Prophet Muhammad is a testament to this fact. He never discriminated between people on the basis of their colour, creed or social status; in the heydays of slavery, he advocated freedom of slaves; in an environment full of resentment and staunch opposition, he always adopted a forgiving approach, never avenging any wrong done to him.

His experience at Taif is an example. The leaders of the Thaqif tribe in Taif refused to extend their support to his mission and let loose street urchins after the Prophet who continued pelting stones at him until the cover of night made him invisible. Despite being humiliated, injured and wearied, the Prophet did not resort to cursing the people of the Thaqif tribe, rather books of tradition tell us that

He prayed for their guidance. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3231)

His wife Ayisha said about the Prophet Muhammad, “He would not follow an evil with an evil, rather he would pardon and forgive.” (Musnad Ahmad (vol. 6, p. 174)

He once was asked by the people to curse an aggressor and he replied:

I have not been sent as the invoker of curse, but I have been sent as mercy. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2599)

The Prophet Muhammad taught the believers to become conscientious members of society. He advised that, ‘A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand people are safe.’ (Sunan al-Nasai, hadith no. 4998)

He propagated caring and supporting the sick, feeding the hungry and being kind, living as no-problem persons for neighbours, refraining from using offensive names and caring for animals. He encouraged responsible living and judicious utilization of natural resources, such as water, even if has limitless access to them. Once the Prophet passed by a Companion when he was performing ablutions and said to him:

‘What is this extravagance?’ The Companion asked, ‘Can there be extravagance in ablutions?’ The Prophet replied, ‘Yes, even if you are on the bank of a flowing river!’ (Sunan ibn Majah, hadith no. 460)

The Prophet Muhammad exemplified peace and tolerance throughout his life. Once, on being asked for a master advice, he replied: ‘Don’t be angry.’ He said that the strongest among us is the one who can control his anger. He propagated the pursuit of the easier choice of peace and tolerance as against being intolerant or violent.

During the course of his lifetime, there were certain defensive skirmishes that took place. Even during these, Prophet Muhammad strictly prohibited the ill treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war. For example, the Prophet did not approve of any ill treatment of prisoners of war that were taken after the Battle of Badr:

He instructed Muslims to share equal food with the prisoners. (Majma ul Zawaid, hadith no. 10007)

He declared that any prisoner who could teach ten children of Madinah to read and write would be set free. (Musnad Ahmad, hadith no. 2216)

It is also worth noting that in future battles, no prisoners of war were taken in by the Muslims.

The Prophet Muhammad taught believers to be virtuous and compassionate towards fellow human beings. He preached selfless service and development of piety and modesty amongst individuals. He believed that a Muslim is soft, simple and lenient. He cautioned Muslims from falling into extremism:

Those who go to extremes are doomed. (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2670)

Who is a kafir?

The word kafir has never been used in the Quran to mean either a non-Muslim or an infidel. In fact, this term was applied solely to contemporaries of the Prophet. Kafir (pl. kuffar) was used to refer to those people who had completely understood the true message of Islam and refused to believe in it due to stubbornness. The Prophet peacefully conveyed to them the divine message over a long period of time, but they refused to follow the truth of his words. God, therefore, declared those people, the contemporaries of the Prophet as kuffar that is, the deniers. The use of the word kafir for anyone other than the contemporaries of the Prophet is not permissible.

The most important point to be grasped on this subject is that the word kafir denotes an individual rather than a certain race or community. It is in no way a group appellation. However, the generally held view is that one who is not a Muslim is kafir. This is an entirely baseless supposition. The word kafir is not synonymous with non-Muslim or a non-Muslim community.

Being a kafir is a matter of the heart, which God alone knows and therefore no person has any right to accuse a fellow human as being kafir. Kafir was a term of reference, restricted in place and time, and which is no longer relevant today. Now all are equally human beings and they have to be dealt with as human beings.

There is a relevant story in the life of the Prophet of Islam that aptly illustrates this principle. The Prophet of Islam migrated from Makkah to Madinah in 622 AD at which time there were some Jewish tribes living in Madinah. One day it happened that the Prophet of Islam, seated at that time, saw a funeral procession passing through a street in Madinah. On seeing the funeral, he stood up in deference.

One of his Companions said, ‘O Prophet! That was the funeral of a Jew, not a Muslim.’ The Prophet replied: ‘Was he not a human being?’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 1312, 1313)

The Prophet could discover a commonality between himself and a Jew, because both were human beings and creations of God.

Present-day Muslims often callously use the term kafir. They must bear in mind the following hadith of the Prophet of Islam where he condemned mindless usage of this term and said:

If one accuses another of being a kafir and the accused is not one, then the word will return to the accuser. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 6045)

Muslims must therefore absolutely refrain from alleging anyone as being a kafir or a denier.

Does Islam have a concept similar to karma?

No, Islam does not believe in the concept of karma. The concept of karma rests on the notion of the perpetual re-birth of a person until the soul is cleansed, after which it finally joins the divine. According to this concept, it is the outcome of the karma of a person that determines his next form in his re-birth and this cycle continues.

According to Islam, a person’s life is eternal, a fraction of which he spends on the planet earth. The time he spends on earth is a test. How he has performed in this test will be evaluated after his death on the Judgment Day. The Quran says:

On that Day people will come forward in separate groups to be shown their deeds: whoever has done the smallest particle of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest particle of evil will see it. (Quran 99:6-8)

Is it my right as a Muslim man to force my wife to wear a hijab?

No, the husband cannot impose hijab on his wife. In fact, a husband must not impose anything on his wife. Islam accords equal status to women as that to men. The Quran says:

You are members, one of another. (Quran 3:195)

This means that there is no difference between the two as regards status, rights and blessings both in this world and in the Hereafter.

In case a man requires something out-of-ordinary from his wife, a special provision has to be agreed upon between the two – husband and wife. It should be done at the time of or before marriage itself and with mutual consent. This special provision works both ways and the wife can ask for something out-of-ordinary from her husband as well.

What are your views on India’s Supreme Court ruling of Triple Talaq?

As an Islamic scholar, I would say that the Supreme Court’s judgment delivered on August 22 – striking down instant triple talaq as being unconstitutional – is totally right. Triple talaq is not a principle of Islam, but is rather a ruling of certain Muslim jurists, adopted in the later period of Islam. In this matter, Muslim jurists need to correct themselves instead of wrongly justifying triple talaq.

In Islam, talaq is seen as an undesirable practice. But in rare cases, a couple may feel that their marriage is not working, and in this situation, divorce is allowed. However, there is a prescribed method laid down by the Quran (2:229). That is, a divorce is finalized over a period of three months. In the first month, the husband tells his wife that he has given her one talaq. Both then wait for a month during which they could reconcile. After the first month, he may either take back the talaq or pronounce it a second time. Both wait for another month, at the end of which, if he pronounces a third talaq, the divorce becomes final.

This pattern was adhered to during the time of the Prophet and the first caliph Abu Bakr. There were rare cases, when a man would come to the Prophet or Abu Bakr, saying that he had divorced his wife by saying talaq three times in one go. Then the Prophet and Abu Bakr would consider this an instance of talaq being said in anger and so would not finalize the divorce. Rather, they would tell him that his uttering ‘talaq’ three times in one instance would be regarded as only one pronouncement of talaq.

During the time of the second caliph Umar, the number of people who began to pronounce talaq in one sitting increased. Umar, in a few cases, ruled the saying of talaq three times in one go as final and annulled the marriage. But he would also flog such men as deterrent punishment. This helped in curbing instances of saying talaq in one go. Certainly, Umar’s practice was not a Sharia law. His step was rather an example of hukm al-hakim, or an executive order. His annulment of marriage in cases where men said talaq three times in one go was an exercise of the discretionary power of a ruler. Such executive orders are applicable to particular cases and do not have the status of Sharia law.

In the British period, men again began to divorce their wives in one sitting. Now Muslim jurists belonging to the Hanafi school of law revived Umar’s order and made instant triple talaq valid. The Hanafi jurists cited Umar’s precedent, but this reference was unwarranted, because Umar had done so by way of an executive order while, in the later period, Hanafi jurists did so by issuing a fatwa. Moreover, Umar would also flog men as deterrent punishment, while Hanafi jurists were not in a position to flog anyone.

In such a scenario, my advice to Hanafi Muslims is to take the Supreme Court’s verdict as a reminder and review their practice. They should consider uttering talaq thrice in one go as a case of a decision having been taken in anger and consider it only one as talaq – as had been done during the time of the Prophet.

Why is there difference among scholars when it comes to the commentary (tafsir) or interpretation of the Quran?

Tafsir involves application of the Quran. When you do commentary of a verse in an applied way, there will naturally be differences in interpretation. For example, the Quran says, ‘Do not worship idols’. (31:13) About this, one commentator would say it means one should not worship stone idols, while another would say it also means that one should not give excessive importance to human beings, as that would mean making them one’s idols (object of veneration) instead of God. So, wherever there is an issue of application of the verses of the Quran, there will be differences.

Consider another example. The Quran says at one place:

Fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you. (Quran 2:190)

A certain commentator would say this verse means that fighting is an eternal teaching of the Quran. However, another would say this is a temporary injunction and the verse relates to a period when there were no world bodies such as the United Nations, no pacts between countries and no universal norms governing relations between nations. But now since we have all of these, there is no need for going to war. The only option before people and nations today is that of peaceful negotiation. So, two different commentators would give different interpretations of this verse.

Even in the Gita there are differences in commentary. For example, Mahatma Gandhi has said that war mentioned in the Gita is meant in the spiritual sense, that is one should engage in ‘spiritual war’, while there are some other scholars who say that war in the Gita is real physical war on the battlefield. So, there will always be such differences. This is the case even when it comes to the interpretation of the Constitution of India.

One has to study oneself to know which interpretation is correct. There will never be compulsion in this matter – that is, never will it become absolutely clear as to which interpretation is right and which is wrong. One will have to do deep study to understand this. Only in physical sciences are there no such differences, but there will be differences in social sciences or humanities. In physical sciences, mathematics provides certainty. But in the field of humanities, there would always be subjectivity.

What is the Islamic way – debate or peaceful dialogue?

The way of Islam is peaceful dawah or dialogue, not debate. A believer should never engage in a debate. Islam does not make you a debater, but rather a dayee, that is one who peacefully conveys the message of Islam to others.

Can women travel without mahram?

According to popular fiqh, Muslim women cannot travel without mahram. But in today’s age, travel has become so convenient, safe and secure that I think it is lawful for women to travel without mahram. The Prophet once said in this regard:

If you should live for a long time, you will certainly see that a lady in a Howdah travelling from Al-Hira will (safely reach Makkah and) perform the Tawaf of the Kabah, fearing none but Allah. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3595)

It means that at the time of peace and convenience, the condition of mahram is optional. Islam however, does not permit the free mixing of men and women. For instance, in the view of Islam, it is not suitable for a man to share a room with a woman if they both are unrelated. Islam asks its followers to maintain a distance of respect, dignity and modesty with each other. This is a safeguard for the personal and private spaces of both genders.

Who is a pure Muslim?

There is no such term as ‘pure Muslim’. A true believer is one whose heart is pure, and only God knows the state of one’s heart. We, humans, do not know what a person is in his heart and so we cannot determine a person’s purity. This matter is solely between God and man.

How was the Prophet Muhammad able to influence so many people to accept Islam? What did he want to achieve by promoting it?

The Prophet Muhammad had sent his messengers to heads of tribes, states and kingdoms inviting them to the message of Islam. The heads of states in return sent their delegations and scholars to the Prophet to confirm if his claim of being a prophet sent by God was correct. The delegations used to ask him questions which would seek to confirm the veracity of Islam. For this reason, several verses in the Quran regarding Jesus and Moses were revealed during this time. It was these peaceful and intellectual means that led to the spread of the message of Islam.

This was a phenomenon of that age. It was an age where if a king or tribal chief adopted a religion, it was cascaded to the entire population in that area. If the head of the tribe accepted Muhammad as a prophet, then everyone in his tribe would embrace Islam as per tradition. Just as, when Constantinople had adopted Christianity, it had led to a mass conversion of all his subjects to Christianity.

In the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the primitive society was a tribal society and the chief of the community was the head for the whole of the community. But this age has now come to an end and this phenomenon shall not repeat itself.

It is common that every truthful person, who has attained realization, wants to spread the truth to others. The truth is a motivating spirit and anyone who believes in it shall leave no stone unturned to convey it to people around him. For example, Swami Vivekananda reached the US without any wherewithal and despite great difficulty only so as to transmit the message he believed in.

Can I read the English translation of the Quran without wudu (ablutions)? Can I gift a non-Muslim friend the English translation of the Quran knowing the fact that he’s going to read it without wudu?

Yes, absolutely! The misconception of not reciting the Quran without performing ablutions comes from a misunderstood hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab.

According to a tradition in Musnad al Bazzar (hadith no. 279), when Umar heard the recitation of the Quran from his sister’s house, he went inside and asked for the pages from which the Quran was being read. At this, his sister asked Umar to first perform wudu (ablutions) before he could read the Quran. This was a psychological gesture from a sister who requested his brother to clean himself before he read the Book of God.

The fact that one does not need to perform ablutions is affirmed by another incident of Umar ibn al-Khattab. During the days when Umar was caliph, he was once sitting with some persons and discussing a verse from the Quran. During discussion, Caliph Umar stood up and took out a copy of the Quran from a shelf and starting reading the verse being discussed. One of the onlookers asked if Caliph Umar had performed ablutions before reading the Quran. Caliph Umar became furious at this and he strongly condemned it by saying:

Did Musaylama (the false prophet) give you a fatwa in this regard? (Musanaf Abdul Razzaq, hadith no. 1318)

In other words, he meant: ‘Which hypocrite told you of this wrong practice?’ When Umar’s sister had asked him to clean himself, she said it out of the leverage she had over her brother. We may not have the same leverage over others in our life. Cleanliness is a form of respect a reader gives to God’s word, however, imposing this practice keeps people away from comfortably reading or gifting the Quran and above all prevents people from knowing the message of God.

In Islam, can we see Allah if we go to heaven?

Yes. According to a hadith, the Companions once asked the Prophet if we would see God in Paradise. The hadith is as follows:

During the lifetime of the Prophet some people asked, ‘O God’s Messenger! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes. Do you have any difficulty in seeing the sun at midday when it is bright and there is no cloud in the sky?’ They replied, ‘No.’ He then said, ‘Do you have any difficulty in seeing the moon on a full moon night when it is bright and there is no cloud in the sky?” They again replied, ‘No.’ The Prophet said, ‘(Similarly), you will have no difficulty in seeing God on the Day of Resurrection, just as you have no difficulty in seeing either the sun or the moon.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 4581)

Does the Quran permit slavery?

Islam does not promote slavery. According to Islamic teachings, all human beings are alike. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, in the first half of the seventh century, industrial revolution had not taken place and thus slavery was a means for the poor to live in shelter and have regular meals for themselves. It was a social phenomenon and not something introduced by Islam.

It was due to the age factor that slavery was not radically abolished, as this would have made people devoid of their means of livelihood. The Prophet had taken several steps to abolish slavery. Islam discourages the taking of a free person into slavery. There are several hadith in this regard, such as:

The Prophet said, ‘God said, “I will be an opponent to three types of people on the Day of Resurrection. One of them is the one who sells a free person and eats his price.”’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 2270)

The Prophet said: ‘There are three types of people whose prayer is not accepted by God. One of them is a man who takes into slavery a free person.’ (Sunan ibn Majah, hadith no. 970)

There was great wisdom in not instantaneously abolishing slavery. Islam made the removal of slavery from society a gradual process, so that on the one hand, the society could be made free of this practice and on the other hand, in the process, the poor and would not suffer.

Let me cite an example to put this into perspective. I once met an activist in Delhi who told me how he had freed some youth and allowed them to be set free. He was accompanied by one such youth who later told me that while they had become free, there was nothing for them to earn their livelihood from. It was this social atmosphere that made slavery thrive.

When the world changed, people got employment and there was no reason for slavery to continue.

The Quran and Islam have always advocated for the freeing of slaves. This is evident from the verses below:

What will explain to you what the ascent is? It is the freeing of a slave; or the feeding in times of famine of an orphaned relative or some needy person in distress, and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion. (Quran 90:12-17)

Quran has stated the freeing of slaves as one of the definitions of charity:

Alms are only for: the poor and the destitute, for those who collect zakat, for conciliating people’s hearts, for freeing slaves, for those in debt, for spending for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. It is a legal obligation enjoined by God. God is all-knowing and wise. (Quran 9:60)

What is a fatwa?

Fatwa literally means an ‘opinion’ and it is not legally binding. A fatwa is applicable only to the person who has asked for it, and it is he or she who can decide whether or not to accept it.

If a believer wants to know about his personal behaviour, for example, if he wants to know about his way of worship or whether his personal choices are in accordance with Islam, then he may visit an Islamic scholar and put these personal questions to him. And, that scholar may give him his opinion according to his knowledge of Islam. That is a fatwa. That is all there is to it.

Fatwa is non-binding and can only be solicited for one’s personal matters. For instance, a person cannot solicit a fatwa on the outfit worn by another person such as Sania Mirza. Fatwa cannot be solicited for another person. Doing this is unacceptable and forbidden in Islam.

The Sharia distinguishes between fatwa and qaza. The former refers to the opinion given by a mufti when someone consults him on a personal matter. Qaza, on the other hand, refers to a judicial verdict. No mufti is allowed to issue a qaza, which is the prerogative of only a state-authorized court and is binding on everyone. Qaza is given on an issue which is in the domain of a judge. In such matters a mufti is not supposed to issue fatwas on his own. In this case, either the government appoints a judge or someone gets a special sanction for issuing binding awards on the parties involved. In modern English language, qaza is equivalent to legislation.

What is the value of a mother in Islam?

A mother solely bears the burden of her child for at least two years, hence there is a special regard given to a mother. She is the most respectable family member. According to a tradition:

Abu Hurayra reported that a person came to God’s Messenger and said: ‘Who among the people is most deserving of a fine treatment from my hand?’ The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother.’ He again said: ‘Then who (is the next one)?’ He said: ‘Again, it is your mother (who deserves the best treatment from you).’ He said: ‘Then who (is the next one)?’ He (the Prophet) said: ‘Again, it is your mother.’ He (again) said: ‘Then who?” Thereupon the Prophet said: ‘Then it is your father.’ (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2548)

According to another tradition:

Abdullah ibn Amr said, ‘A man came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, wanting to do jihad. The Prophet asked, ‘Are your parents alive? ‘Yes,’ he replied. The Prophet then said, ‘Then exert yourself on their behalf.’ Then your jihad would be with them’ (i.e., in looking after them and being at their service). (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3004)

The Quran instructs us to be kind to our parents and pray for them and this is looked at as among the best of deeds:

We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: his mother bore him, in pain and in pain she gave birth to him, and his bearing and weaning takes thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full maturity and attains forty years, he says, ‘O my Lord! Help me to be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and to do good deeds that will please You. Grant me righteousness in my offspring. Truly, I have turned to You and, truly, I submit to You.’ We accept from such people the best of what they do and We overlook their bad deeds. They will be among the people of Paradise—this is a true promise that has been given to them. (Quran 46:15-16)

The Quran also talks about how we should treat our parents:

Your Lord has commanded that you should worship none but Him and show kindness to your parents. If either or both of them attain old age with you, say no word of contempt to them and do not rebuke them, but always speak gently to them and treat them with humility and tenderness and say, ‘Lord, be merciful to them both, as they raised me up when I was little.’ (Quran 17:23-24)

What is Islamic Shariah and who decides it?

Shir‘a or Shariah literally means ‘method’. It is not equivalent to law or political injunction. Even when there is only one believer, he needs to follow the Shariah in his private life, way of worship, ethical behaviour and personal dealings with other fellowmen. This is Shariah and in this sense, the word ‘Shariah’ has no political connotation at all.

The Shariah in its present form was an innovation of the later- day Muslims; it was not revealed in the Quran. Let me share an example. The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan adopted the Objectives Resolution soon after Pakistan became an independent nation. The resolution proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modelled entirely on a European pattern, but on the ideology of Islam. The resolution, in its entirety, has been made part of the Constitution of Pakistan under Article 2(A), which meant that the legislation of Pakistan would be in the light of the Quran and Sunnah. The added injunction introduced in the Constitution of Pakistan was that anyone who goes astray from Islam should be killed. This was a clear innovation in religion and was not mentioned in the Quran. The Quran states about those who would turn away from the revealed religion:

Whoever of you turns back from his faith and dies as a denier of the truth will have his deeds come to nothing in this world and in the Hereafter, and he will be an inhabitant of the Fire, to abide therein forever. (Quran 22:27)

Here, it is clear that the act of going astray from Islam is a matter that lies between man and God, and God alone shall deal with such a person. A person who commits a sin has his entire life to repent for his actions. So, anyone who takes such a person’s life on account of apostasy or blasphemy commits a heinous sin, as by killing the person they also take away his opportunity for doing repentance.

It is important to understand that the Shariah is a self-managed system and an optional framework. It is to support the organized working in a Muslim society and is not to be enforced upon. This is because in Islam, an action becomes rewardable when it is done without any compulsion and under self-decision. That which is done out of compulsion or is done under an imposition from an authority is not worthy of being rewarded.

It is the role of the ulema is to clarify this and interpret the Shariah in the modern idiom. For instance, there is a verse in the Quran:

Call mankind to the Pilgrimage. They will come to you, on foot and on every kind of lean camel. (Quran 27:22)

There is consensus among ulema that the reference in the above verse is to a mode of transportation (camel) that was used in earlier times. This mode of transportation is now no longer in use, so whatever is prevalent (cars, buses, airplanes, etc.) will be used to go for the pilgrimage. This example signifies the only role the ulema have to play is in clarifying the Quranic verses and making them understandable in today’s age. The ulema do not have the responsibility to provide a political framework based on the Shariah.

What are the Islamic directives for clothing?

Islam has only one direction with regards to clothing: it prohibits nudity. An outfit which does not promote nudity is allowed. A revealing or transparent dress must be avoided. Hijab, in the sense of burqah or veil, is not prescribed in Islam; burqah is in fact a cultural phenomenon seen in Muslim society. Islam supports a simple sense of dressing. According to a verse in the Quran:

Do not flaunt your charms as they used to flaunt them in the old days of pagan ignorance. (Quran 33:33)

A kind of dressing which represents pride is also not preferred in Islam. Islam aims to make its followers modest and humble, and not to have pride in their hearts. Clothing which flaunts the social status of a person is not an Islamic type of clothing.

When the Prophet Muhammad died he left behind nine widows. Who then ordered Muslims to marry just four wives?

One of the commandments given in the Quran as a matter of social organization concerns polygamy, that is, permission for a man to marry up to four women:

If you fear that you cannot treat orphans with fairness, then you may marry such women (widowed) as seem good to you: two, three or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot do justice, marry one only. (Quran 4:3)

The background and wording of this verse appear to express a commandment that should be only temporary in effect. That is to say, it applied only to a particular state of emergency when, for example, due to a loss of men in battle, the number of women exceeded the number of available men.

All the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, except Hazrat Ayesha, were divorcees or widows. The Arab custom at that time was such that marrying in a certain tribe ensured the tribe’s allegiance to the son-in-law. In case of the Prophet therefore, these marriages were a form of war management which eventually culminated in a bloodless revolution. It was a measure taken in order to manage the potential tribal conflicts that could have emerged in the hostile environment of Arabia of that time.

What is bid‘ah in Islam? What sort of bid‘ah can be accepted?

Bid‘ah refers to innovation in religion. According to a hadith, every innovation in the religion of Islam must be rejected:

Aisha has reported that God’s Messenger said: ‘He who innovates things in our affairs something, which does not belong to it, then it will be rejected.’ (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 1718)

No one has the authority to change the religion of God. Cultural aspects are subject to change, but this is not the case with religious matters. Bid‘ah is to introduce in Islam a religious practice which was originally not a part of Islam.

Can a Muslim sell alcohol and other haram products?

There are two aspects to this situation. Firstly, if you are a businessman and are making these items available for sale, then you are doing so voluntarily to augment your profits. Such an approach is not advisable. Secondly, if you are a part of an organization (hospitality or aviation) where you are required to serve such items, and there is no choice, then as a worker you should follow the norm until you get a chance to change your situation.

Is it mandatory to say sallallah alayhi wasallam (may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) after the Prophet’s name?

It is not mandatory, as your love and respect for the Prophet lies in your heart. Let me explain this through an incident which had taken place in Madinah after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad. When Abu Bakr (Prophet’s closest companion and the first caliph of Islam) arrived in Madinah and saw the inconsolable state of the other Companions, he said the following:

No doubt! Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped God, then God is alive and shall never die. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3667)

Abu Bakr did not use any suffix with the name of the Prophet because the respect one has in one’s heart cannot be measured by the use of prefixes or suffixes. It is important to distinguish between true respect and paying lip service. Respect comes from within and does not have to become a matter of ritualistic lip service.

Can one practice polygamy in today’s age?

Monogamy is the rule in Islam and polygamy only an exception. In terms of birth rate, the number of men and women in a given society is approximately equal. But often, for a variety of reasons, especially during war, the number of men in society decreases, leaving an excess of women. Now the question arises as to what the solution to this problem should be. In view of the inevitability of this imbalance, how is a healthy relationship between the two to be established? The choice for us, therefore, is not between monogamy and polygamy, but rather, between lawful polygamy or illicit polygamy. Secondly, Islam permits polygamy on the precondition that a man be able to justly treat all the women he marries.

Which reforms are most required among the Indian Muslim community?

I have studied this issue in detail and have written about it extensively. There are two reasons for the overall backwardness of the Indian Muslims: their backwardness in education and the prevalence of the mindset of loss. By education, here, I mean secular education. There are madrasas (Islamic seminaries) in every Muslim locality, but madrasas only educate you about religion, about how to pray and so on. But to understand how to live in this world, how to live in society, requires more than madrasa education. It requires secular education, in the true sense of the word, such as what prevails in countries like Japan and Germany. This does not mean that the Indian Muslim community needs to completely give up on religious education, but that it needs to go ahead in secular education. Future religious scholars and leaders of the Indian Muslim community need to be well updated with the developing world and receive secular education today so that they can help extricate the Indian Muslim community from their current state of backwardness.

There is no discrimination against the Muslim community in today’s society. The fact is that Muslims are backward in secular education, because of which they have become incompetent to thrive in the modern world. And therefore, they are unable to avail opportunities. Almost all the jobs and other opportunities are for those who are trained in modern disciplines, and especially for those who have professional education. Some Muslims have now started entering the field of secular education. They began setting up modern schools and have even started to update the traditional madrasa curriculum. This is the correct approach, but one should make sure that these schools are not ghettoized to just one community but have admissions open to all. History is replete with examples of communities that supported and invested in education to progress and meet the modern standards of development.

Secondly, the mindset of loss is a major roadblock to the progressive Muslim mind. The granting of the minority reservation was a great disservice to the community because it fostered in them a perennial sense of loss or deprivation. Once the term ‘minority’ is labelled over a community, a natural sense of loss gets inculcated in their minds. It makes them feel that they have lost out on something important for their progress. This, along with lack of interaction with the outside world and the receiving of selective information over the news toxically combines into a feeling of being unwelcomed in their own domicile country. No community could progress with such a mindset. They need to realize that there is an equal opportunity for everyone in this country – from primary education to jobs – it needs to be availed through hard work.

Does Islam prohibit art and music?

Art and music are your personal choices. Islam does not interfere with this, as it is not in the domain of faith. Islam neither prescribes these as lawful nor unlawful.

If someone committed shirk, is it punishable and do we have the right to implement this punishment. Is this what Allah desires from us?

This is entirely wrong. Nowhere in the Quran is it written in the Quran that one who does shirk (associate partners with God) should be killed or punished. This is highly baseless. This is a deviation from the freedom that human beings have been given by God in this world. Crime is the name of a social harm – like committing murder in society. Such a crime deserves punishment, but holding a certain belief or idea is not something that invites punishment. The Quran teaches:

So exhort them: your task is only to exhort, you are not their keeper. (Quran 88:21-22)

No person is accountable to another person, he is accountable only to God. Implementing punishment in matters of thought or belief is to position oneself on the throne of the Creator.

Why is the spirit of Islam being lost in Muslims?

The degeneration that we see in present Muslims had been predicted by the Prophet. According to a hadith:

A time will come when nothing except the name of Islam will remain [among Muslims] and nothing except the words of the Quran will remain [among Muslims]. (Shuab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, hadith no. 1763)

This is not surprising because every community undergoes degeneration and Muslims are no exception to this principle. This degeneration does not set in in the first generation, but in the generations that follow. This is why reformers are required to suggest what work needs to be done to revive degenerated people. To regain the spirit of Islam, we need to identify the right reformers from the wrong ones.

What is the full scope of religious freedom in Islam?

Islam has total freedom. Only one thing is taboo in Islam, that is, violence. Once the Prophet was sitting in the mosque and an Arab who had not accepted Islam came to him. He said to the Prophet:

You are a condemned person. I deny you. (Musnad Abu Yala, hadith no. 53)

The Prophet simply smiled at these words. Why did he do so? Because the Prophet knew that this man has the freedom to say whatever he chooses. He was not hitting the Prophet with stones, but only expressing his ideas. If a person is peaceful, he has the right to say anything. If he does violence, then that will be considered a criminal act. Peaceful expression of thought is totally allowed in Islam. In Islam, whenever there is a negative statement, it must be made a point of discussion. Muslims often get irate on the concept of freedom of expression. But freedom is a bilateral concept, it is not unilateral—the other party enjoys as much freedom as we do. This is a very conducive concept of freedom as it allows for as much right to freedom to us as it does to the other party.

What is the mission of Islam?

The Islamic mission is tazkiya (purification) of an individual. The target is that every person should discover God, develop spiritually and be devoid of malice in his heart.

What is the best way of doing dawah work (conveying God’s word to people)?

The best way is to become a well-wisher for mankind. This should be the motto of a dayee, or a person who engages in dawah. He should be positive to the last extent, not get offended and be empty of negative thoughts for others.

I once met an ultra modern person who had studied philosophy and history. He said during conversation, “If Muhammad is removed from history, what shall be lost from history?” Apparently, it was a provocative statement but I did not get provoked. I kept thinking and increased my study. After this study, I published the book, Islam: The Creator of Modern Age. The book was a result of the thinking that developed in me due to the comment made by the above person. Dawah work should be done purely on the basis of the Quran and Hadith and not on the basis of communal or national sentiment.

How can people start to learn about Islam?

Islam is that which you have discovered on your own. Islam is the name of marefat or self-discovery of truth. One must discover the creation plan of God and the laws of nature. If one only follows Islam because others have told him to do so and has not questioned or discovered it himself, then his conviction would not be of the highest quality.

Please explain this Quranic verse: ‘Indeed, man shall be a witness against himself.’ (75:14)

This verse means that every human being has a conscience or an inner voice. A person desires that his conscience should justify his actions, but one’s conscience will never do such a thing. In this sense, it would be a witness against one’s deeds.

The whole life of the Prophet of Islam was based on dawah mission, but the entire Muslim world is not aware of this. What led to the shift of emphasis?

I often experienced this when I spoke to several educated Muslims and asked them why do they not do dawah work? They said that dawah work was only the Prophet’s work, while their own work was to pray, fast and establish seminaries. This is wrong thinking. The Prophet had to spread his message to his contemporaries, but what will have to be done with the generations that follow? The importance of doing dawah work was almost deleted from recent Muslim history. Some focused on the revival of the Muslim community, while others on different aspects of religion. However, nobody worked for revival of dawah work.

This should raise our sense of responsibility. We should understand that we must now rigorously work for dawah, which the Muslim community has least focused on.

Often people return the Quran presented to them saying it may be a book of magic. What should be done in such a case?

People in this world have spirit of enquiry. It should be left to the choice of the receiver to read the book you present to him. You can at best tell them that they if they want they could read and that the book is not being enforced upon them. Misunderstandings should be made a point of discussion and not of offensive feeling.

How can we revive Islamic spirit among Muslims?

Muslims should be able to revive the Islamic spirit by reading the Quran in a language they would understand. I was once travelling with a Muslim who used to carry a pocket Arabic Quran and used to keep reading it as and when he got time. He told me that he had been doing this for fourteen years. I asked him what he thought was the gist of the Quran. He said that he read the Quran for receiving reward and not to derive meaning by studying it. This is generally the case of those who read or recite the Quran. To tell Muslims that they must read the Quran so that they understand its meaning would inculcate the spirit of Islam in them.

How to keep our belief alive at all times?

The concept of iman, or faith, that people generally have is wrong. They think that the mere recitation of the kalimah (Islamic creed) gives a person iman. This is a wrong concept. Iman is another name for discovery of the truth. When you observe and study the universe, reflect on the creation and ponder over the phenomena of nature, you are led to the discovery of the Creator. This realization is really faith. This is such a significant event that it transforms your entire personality. Imagine if you are able to observe the solar system from space! This would be a very compelling scene – so many planets are orbiting around the sun – in the middle there is the tiny earth where we have our tiny houses. This will be a mind- boggling thought! Iman, or faith, is another name of discovery of the Creator and His creations. When this happens, the personality of such a person will be completely transformed. His belief will remain alive at all times as he has discovered it himself.

Dissent quickly leads to violence and terrorism. Is dissent advantageous in religion?

The biggest shortcoming of present Muslims is that they have lost tolerance. They do not know how to engage in a peaceful discussion on any issue. Muslims only know how to debate, if any issue emerges. Issues of difference should make way for peaceful discussion.

How should we strive to understand the undeclared meaning of the verses of the Quran?

The Quran has its own style. The Quran is not narration of history nor is it a novel. The truth is that the Quran is a book of wisdom. In the language of wisdom, some things are between the lines or undeclared. Thus you have to reflect to understand the message that lies between the lines. For example, at the time of the Battle of Uhud, seventy Companions of the Prophet were killed. The verses that were revealed afterwards, did not tell Muslims that the opponents were their enemies and that they should invoke curse on them. Instead the verse that was revealed on this occasion said:

He [God] paid you back with one sorrow after another, so that you might not grieve for what you lost. (Quran 3:153)

The wisdom behind this verse of the Quran is that after every loss, we need to adopt the attitude of re-planning instead of becoming hopeless or engaging in complaints against others.

What does Islam say about domestic violence?

According to Islam, domestic violence is a crime.

People go to perform Hajj multiple times because they can afford it. Does it mean that they will get more reward?

Performing Hajj multiple times only because you can afford it is not the right attitude. If you are a person of means, you should divert the money towards other work such as dawah. The Prophet performed only one Hajj in his lifetime.

Is conversion the purpose of Islam?

Conversion is not at all a goal of Islam; there is no point of converting others. According to Islam, religion is a matter of self- discovery. Conversion has no value.

Can prayer be offered in languages other than Arabic?

All ulema have said that salah (prayer) should be performed in Arabic. However, some scholars (such as Abu Hanifa) have given this exception for those who are yet to learn the language. So on a temporary basis they can perform salah in their own language until they learn Arabic, after which they are required to pray in Arabic. This is the practice followed in all other religions as well, that is, worship is generally performed in religious language.

How can we understand the deeper meaning of the Quran?

According to the Quran, the deeper meaning of the Quran can be understood through contemplation (tadabbur) and such reading should be done with an open mind, not with a conditioned mind. Only if a person reflects objectively, he would be able to reach the deeper meaning of the verses of the Quran.

What do you have to say about those who believe that offering prayer makes people virtuous and will take them to Paradise?

Worship has a certain form and a spirit. If you carry out the form alone, then that will not be of any value. The real value is of the spirit of worship. Once a person performed salah (prayer) in the mosque. When on completion he came to the Prophet, he said to him:

Go and read namaz again. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 757)

The reason was that the Prophet had observed that the person had prayed without any spirit and had simply repeated the form of prayer. Today the crowds we see in mosques is a fulfilment of a prediction made by the Prophet:

A time will come when mosques will be full of people, but empty of guidance. (Shuab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, hadith no. 1763)

I have suffered a huge loss in my business. I feel weighed down by my condition and pray to God. Please let me know how can I find a solution in my faith.

Islamic way of finding a way out is to do introspection. I have guessed that your circumstances may have been good earlier, which made you an easy-goer, making you lose your seriousness and sincerity. This may have caused you to start wasting money. So you did not make better use of the time when you were prosperous. Now you need to re-plan and resolve not to repeat your mistake. You should take every penny you receive with gratitude and spend it with a lot of planning. No mysterious chanting of religious words would solve your problem. All you need to do is to admit your previous mistakes, accept your losing of opportunity and re-plan to make a new beginning.

I work as a mechanic and my duty time is such that I end up missing my Asr prayer. What should I do?

I will tell you a saying of Imam Abu Hanifa which gives a very appropriate answer to this question. He was once asked, ‘If I am hungry and food has been served before me, but it is also the time to pray, then what should I do?’ He replied:

I will prefer being concerned about my prayers while eating than being concerned of food while praying. (Al- Arf al-Shazi, Anwar Shah Kashmiri, vol. 1, p. 344, hadith no. 353)

Similarly, if you are doing office work, it is better to remember and worry about your prayers during your work instead of worrying about your work while you are praying.

Is there any reward for the mere recitation of the Quran?

The giving of reward is entirely upon God, but mere recitation of the Quran is not the right way to seek reward. No Companion of the Prophet believed in this concept. You must either understand Arabic or read along with the translation so that you can understand the Quran, follow its teachings and become deserving of rewards.

With so many different sects in Islam today, could there be a convergence point?

This is the approach that the Companions adopted. When there is no difference amongst you and others, you must work together. If you realize that a difference has come about between you and others, then deal with it through peaceful discussion. When there is a difference, it calls for discussion. This would help in preserving unity.

Did the Prophet Muhammad fight only in self-defense? What led to the Battle of Khandaq (the Battle of the Trench)?

All skirmishes that we see in the life of the Prophet were in self-defense. None was done as offensive action directed against others.

The Battle of the Trench happened in 627 AD. When the Prophet came to know that people were coming from Makkah to attack the Muslims of Madinah, he gathered all of his Companions and asked them how to deal with the situation in a non-confrontational manner. One of them, Salman Farsi who was from Persia, said that in Iran whenever kings have to avoid a battle, they dig a trench around their area. The Prophet liked this idea and all of the Muslims together dug a trench around Madinah. Madinah was covered from three sides: on one side there were dense date palm trees and on two sides there were mountains. So only one side of the city was exposed to entry, while three sides of the city had natural obstructions. On the exposed side, the Muslims dug a trench so that the army of the opponents could not reach Madinah. When the leader of Quraysh saw the trench, he exclaimed:

By God, this is a strategy which the Arabs know not of! (Sirah ibn Kathir, vol. 3, p. 202)

The digging of the trench was a matter of strategy. A few skirmishes did take place at the time of the Battle of Khandaq when some people from the other side tried to get over the trench, but these were only one-to-one engagements.

Should certain verses in the Quran be updated?

If the text of a book is compromised fully or partially, then the veracity of the book becomes doubtful. This was conveyed by the advocate Nani Palkhivala in the context of the Indian Constitution. He said that the Constitution had been lengthened unnecessarily by hundreds of amendments, the result of which was that in the present day no longer any sanctity is attached to the Constitution of India. In my younger days, people were very fearful of lawlessness. First of all, it was Gandhi who broke the law by Namak Satyagraha. He forgot that he was not breaking the law of salt, but the sanctity of law itself. For this reason, in Britain there is no written constitution rather laws are made only based on tradition. Similarly in the US extremely few amendments are made. The reason for this is that both the British and the American know that the Constitution signifies a sanctified code of law. If you separate sanctity from law, law is reduced to being nothing.

In India, each time there is a new government, a new bill that is passed. Palkhivala had written that the British had ruled India for two hundred years and made only 500 acts, while our governments in fifty years after Independence had made 5,000 bills! Hence no one knows how many acts and bills there are.

The Quran was given the status of a religious sanctity and its text was preserved for all eternity; had this not been the case, people would have changed the very text of the Quran.

If certain situations arise then an ‘executive order’ can be issued by the head of state and whatever changes are required should be implemented as executive order of the ruler, while the text of the Quran should not be altered.

For instance, Umar ibn al-Khattab during his time as caliph had issued an executive order of validating the utterance triple talaq in one go, thus finalizing the divorce of a man who pronounces the word ‘talaq’ to his wife thrice in one sitting. This was a temporary ruling and did not have permanent applicability. If people knew that Umar was a caliph with the power of giving out an executive order, they would have taken his ruling in the matter of divorce as applicable only to his time. But our ulema made Umar’s executive order as a part of the Shariah. This was a mistake, as Umar’s directive was different from the method of divorce prescribed in the Quran. The Quran asks a man to divorce his wife by pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ on three separate occasions over a period of three months and not instantly in one go.

The law as has been laid down in the Quran must not be changed, although there should always remain scope for interpretation. Interpretation of law does not create problem, but if you change the text, then that would be tantamount to creating problems.

Sanctity of law is more important than the law itself. This why the entire British legal system is based on tradition, there being no written Constitution. The reason is that they are aware that sanctity is very important. If sanctity is compromised, respect for law will also be gone.

Belief in angels is a part of the Islamic religion. Man can discover God by observing creations, but how can he discover angels?

The quantum theory made inferential argument as valid as direct argument. For example, subatomic particles are not visible and can be known only through their effects. Their effects lead scientists to conclude that subatomic particles do exist. The same argument is applicable to religious matters. That is, although we do not see angels directly, we can believe in them indirectly by their effects. How do things around us function? How does photosynthesis take place in the leaves? How does cow take in grass and make milk? How does the salty water of seas get converted into fresh water in the rain? How is everything in nature so systematic? These effects would lead to an inference that there is someone who is controlling all these natural processes. God has His angles positioned to take care of these processes. One may say that these processes are ‘automatic processes’ or ‘self-occurring processes’, but I would say these are just another name of ‘angelic processes’. Someone may use the word ‘automatic’, I use the word ‘angelic’. Thus, the concept remains the same.

What is charity and what is the Islamic concept of charity?

Charity in Islam (zakat) is the giving of alms out of one’s own private means at a minimum fixed rate. This money is given in the name of God and is to be spent on worthy causes and on meeting the needs of the poor and the helpless. Charity is a reminder to a person that everything he possesses belongs to God.

A person himself plays only a very small part in obtaining whatever he owns in this world. Were he not to have the benefit of God’s endless bounty, he would neither be able to grow grain, raise cattle, set up industries nor accomplish any other work of a useful nature. The system of life created for him by God, meeting as it does all of his requirements from those of his inner being to those of external environment, is one of greatest perfection. Were God to withdraw even a single one of His blessings, all of man’s schemes would lie in ruins and all his efforts would be in vain. All productivity would come to a grinding halt and life itself would come to a standstill. Charity is a way of acknowledging this fact of life. Islam desires that private wealth should be considered as belonging to God.

In so doing, no one should consider that he is conferring a great favour upon those less well-endowed than himself and should in no way be condescending to the recipients of his charity. When a man gives alms to others, he should do so in the knowledge that they have a rightful share in his wealth, for this is as God has ordained. He is doing no more than give others their due.

Everyone is required to recognize the rights of others, just as everyone is expected to sympathize with those afflicted by adversity. This feeling should be so well developed that one has no hesitancy about sharing one’s possessions with others, or coming to their assistance, even when it is clear that nothing can be expected in return. Even where there are no ties of friendship, one should wish others well and guard their honour as if it were one’s own. According to a hadith:

Charity (zakat) should be collected from their rich and distributed among their poor. (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 1395 and Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 19)

One unfortunate aspect of human relationships is that people tend to give to others only when they hope to gain something in return. Money, they feel, should be returned with interest. When such an understanding becomes a factor in our social organization, exploitation becomes rampant; everyone is ready to plunder everyone else. This results in society falling a prey to oppression and disorder.

Society should be so ordered that the ‘haves’ are able to assist the ‘have-nots’. Believers have the assurance of God that if they give to others, whatever they give will be returned to them many times over in the next world; their trust in God’s promise is complete. In a society ordered in this way, feelings of antagonism and indifference are not allowed to develop: people are not bent on exploiting one another. There is never an atmosphere of mutual resentment and dissatisfaction, for everyone lives in peace with his neighbour. Such a society, in short, is a haven of contentment and well-being.

Did the Prophet Muhammad live a simple and humble life, or did he have limited means and live a poor man’s life? For short, what was his wealth status?

The word used in the Quran for money is qiyam, which literally means a place to settle down. God has made wealth a means of qiyam for people, that is, it works to provide a base to people for their livelihood. We need money as a base for what we do in this world; we do not require money for luxury. Here, ‘base’ means that money forms a kind of material support for the purpose we have to achieve in life. For example, installation of an elevator in a house could be done as a display of wealth, or it could be done to facilitate movement of the elderly and those who may not be able to use the staircase. The former approach would be against the teaching of Islam. But the latter approach, which is to facilitate movement, shall be looked upon favourably. Everyone is allowed to earn money to acquire a base for the work they have to do in life. The quantum of wealth earned by an individual is not the concern of Islam; the individual must simply earn his livelihood honestly and spend it on utility rather than on vanities.

Once Umar ibn al-Khattab came to the Prophet’s house and saw the latter lying down on a mat. The Prophet’s body had marks from the substance the mat was made of. This made Umar weep, as he realized that the Prophet, being a messenger of God, was living in difficulty while his contemporary kings were leading luxurious lives. The Prophet explained to Umar that we must be satisfied with what fulfils our need. Kings and emperors are concerned about living in luxury, but for the Prophet whatever fulfilled his need was enough. In today’s age, several things have become our need, such as a phone for communication and other gadgets to get our work done. All these are classified as needs and Islam does not prohibit acquiring them.

Also, the definition of ‘need’ may vary. Something that may be the need of one may not be the need of another. So, there could never be a universal yardstick defining ‘need’; a conscientious individual is the best judge of his needs and well understands when it becomes greed.

Does Islam support the concept of organ donation after death?

Yes, undoubtedly Islam supports donation of organs after death. This is because there is a concept in Islam, called sadqah-e-jariyah, which means continued charity or on-going charity – this is charity which comes to benefit people even after the person who made the donation has passed away. Other examples of this form of charity may be to open a school which continues to benefit people after one’s death, or planting of a tree, the shade of which may be used by travellers in future.

Moreover, the fact that our body accepts organs from another’s body is because our body has been naturally made in this way. That is, it is a natural law. If organ donation was unnatural then it would not have been possible for us to donate in the first place. If God has made our body in this way – that is, it can accept organs from others, then it means that it is part of God’s will that one person should donate to another. Hence, there is no question of lawful or unlawful when it comes to the act of organ donation. God has Himself kept the possibility in human body to accept organs from others. Therefore, those who have discovered the principle of organ donation have done an Islamic act indeed. When you add fertilizers to soil, it accepts it. This means that soil already had acceptability for fertilizers; this acceptability was not created in it by anyone external to it. It is a natural law. Similarly, the acceptability of others’ organs by a particular person shows that receiving of donated organs is normal. Organ donation is thus availing of a natural opportunity and highly rewarding.

What is the concept of Judgement Day according to Islam?

According to Islam, God created man as an eternal being, but divided his lifespan into two: the worldly life and the post-death life. While the pre-death period is temporary, the post-death one is eternal. To illustrate this, let us compare human life with an iceberg. The iceberg is a huge mass of ice floating in the ocean, but only about 10 per cent of it is above the surface of water, and the rest of it is under water.

God has created a world called Paradise—an ideal world, a perfect world. According to the Quran, it is a place where man will find fulfilment of all his desires:

Therein, you shall have all that your soul desires. (Quran 41:31)

[Paradise] is a place where people shall not fear, nor shall they grieve. (Quran 2:112)

Our life on earth is just a preparation for the eternal afterlife. In this world, there are different kinds of situations and challenges. Man is here to face those challenges and prepare himself to be a deserving candidate for Paradise. In this sense, our life on earth is a world of opportunities. Those who avail of these opportunities and prepare themselves accordingly, will be chosen and will be settled in Paradise after death.

In this life, there are all kinds of problematic and unwanted situations. But they have a purpose. They constitute a training ground that gives us a chance to cope with adversity, thus preparing us for eternal entry into Paradise. The Quran introduces Paradise thus:

God calls man to the home of peace. (Quran 10:25)

According to Islam, the present world is a place of work, while the world Hereafter is a place of reward. When one dies, life does not come to an end. One simply enters the second phase of life, that is, the world Hereafter. It is only in the present world that one can prove that one is deserving of Paradise in the world Hereafter. This opportunity ends at the time of death; after death, there is no opportunity to prepare oneself. Success and failure are both determined by one’s deeds in this world, in the pre-death period.

The basic theme of the Quran is to make the reader aware of the creation plan of God, according to which the present world has been created for a limited period of time. When this time is over and this world shall be brought to an end, the Day of Judgement shall take place. According to Islamic belief, it would be a Day of Justice where the deeds of every individual – good or bad – shall be laid bare and according to the deeds in the pre-death period, their final destination shall be decreed.

Entry into Paradise is not based on any kind of recommendation, and it is not anyone’s birthright. It depends totally on one’s deeds and how one uses one’s God-given freedom. The Quran is very clear on this point:

Man shall have only that for which he strives. (Quran 53:39)

If a person has true faith in God, then such a faith makes him modest. His speech and his conduct reflect his living faith in God. He thinks of God constantly watching over him. Some commentators on the Quran have defined a true believer as one who believes in the unseen in the manner in which he believes what is seen. A believer lives in this world in the same state that will overcome people when they will directly see God on the Day of Judgement. A believer surrenders to God in the present world itself.

Muslims break idols and cite what had happened during the days of the Prophet – is this justified?

No, this is not at all justified. The demolishing of Bamyan statues and the propaganda to demolish the Pyramids are all examples of extremism. According to Islam, there is no one except God that you should worship but if someone else worships others, you cannot go about killing them or harming their deities. Haram (the Kabah, and Makkah and Madinah in the extended sense) is an exception and is a preserved sanctuary where any encroachment is prohibited. Thus no idols are kept in this area. But what is applicable to this area is not a general rule that can be applied elsewhere – the idols in the rest of the world do not have to be broken down. Mahmud Ghazanvi broke down the idols of the Somnath Temple, which according to me was an un-Islamic act.

At the time of the caliph Umar, Muslim rule extended to Palestine and a written treaty was signed between Umar and the rulers of Palestine. One of the clauses of the treaty read:

Christian churches will not be broken down. (Tarikh al- Tabari, vol. 3, p. 609)

This injunction is permanent and applies to all religions.

Is it Satan or us who are responsible for our sins?

According to religious belief in Islam, Satan has a role to play. A person’s mind has ego and desires. Each desire is an entry point for Satan wherefrom it enters. When Satan enters one’s mind, the Quran says:

When any evil suggestion from Satan touches those who fear God, they are instantly alerted and become watchful. (Quran 7:201)

The final decision rests with man and man alone is accountable for his actions. Satan cannot make a person commit sins. He can only act as a catalyst.