Dear Friends: 

I see that the discussion forum is slowly warming up. Thanks for Ms. Subuhi’s letters  reminding the writers to criticize and analyze the ideas and not the individuals or the people as a whole. Thanks for your posts, Ms. Subuhi. 

On this forum, most of the writers usually oppose religious discussions, but I cannot help noticing that the current topic keeps drifting towards religion. In my opinion, there are dozens of factors which contribute to the political culture of a society, the religion is simply one of them and yet the religion is being discussed (and attacked) as if this is the predominant factor.  

Mr. Mughal’s post #56 is a prime example of Islam bashing on the basis of his miss concepts about a religion (any religion) largely due to its misuse by the elite’s own power struggle and political needs. In this post Mr. Mughal has cited examples of persecution on the basis of religion. Mr. Mughal’s citations are correct, but I strongly disagree with the conclusions that he has drawn from them.   

The Ahmadi problem in Pakistan did not take place because of Islam or its proper (or lack of) understanding in the country, but its origin was a political struggle (by Z. Bhutto). Now, over the years the illiterate masses have forgotten the real story and have begun to assume that Ahmadi people’s persecution is their religious duty. Also, being exploited by many Mullahs. 

Mr. Mughal has also cited the case of Saudi Arabia; in fact, more or less same can be said about all other oil rich kingdoms. These kings and Sultans were installed by the West after the fall of Ottoman Empire as a consequence of WWI, as Germany and its ally Ottoman Empire lost the war. Ever since than, the kings and the Sultans of these kingdoms have enjoyed the power, the importance and the life style that the flowing black gold brings to them, they do not want to let the power go or share it with any one. In an effort to maintain the status quo of their social prestige, Islam comes handy. It is misused with the help of Hadiths. The public thought process is changed and controlled to dupe them thinking that the kings and the Sultans are the next best thing they have after God. [It appears that most Hadiths, came into being to allow the rulers of the old times to exploit their people and men, found ways to exploit the women – but it must not be confused with the true Islamic teachings that we have from Quran]. 

If it was not Islam, another religion or some other (political, social or economic) excuse would have served the purpose to manipulate and exploit the masses for (the elite’s) personal political goals. 

History shows us that the Christians have been persecuting the Jews for centuries, there was no Islam involved. It was Christianity vs. Judaism or perhaps social or local political reasons to make the Jews a scapegoat. Hitler was not a practicing Christian, in fact he could not care less for any religion, he targeted the Jews, partly because it suited his political goals and partly because of some personal vendetta he may have had against a few Jewish individuals.  

After the discovery of the new world, North America, slavery was one big source of income apart from the use of slaves to grow the produce by, the British, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese, later by the Americans (after severing the political link with Britain). This is an example of persecution of Blacks for purely economic reasons – no religion was involved – done by those who called themselves Christians, and yet the Christianity does not allow the barbarism displayed by so many nations for so many centuries. In the southern US states, the Blacks could not ride in the front section of a bus until as recently as 1960s. Although, the slavery was abolished 150 years ago, but its deep seated effects can still be seen, even today. There is no Islam involved, nor any other religion. The skin color has been the main factor.  

Starting from about 17^th century, when the very first Jews came to the West Indies with Dutch West Indies Trading Company, they were not allowed to practice their faith openly, they had to do that secretly at home. It is estimated that 30,000 Jews were killed, lynched or burned at stake during the 17^th -19^th centuries because of their religion. I am sure if Jesus was around, he would not have approved of this practice. This was not a practice of Christianity any more than the practice of Islam today in some Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan etc.  

Clearly, Talking about the lack of democracy (to be more accurate – a republic) has many reasons, in fact I have (elsewhere) stated a dozen conditions that influence the establishment of a republic. The religion plays almost no part – except when misused by the elites to their own advantage. The people in power can misused any thing they like and they often do. 

Mr. Karmally, in his post #48 is asking: Why do we  need democracy? The answer is simple; we need a method of governance other then, an autocratic rule of an individual or a family. A system that allows the citizens to elect, select, change or remove the government from the office. A system that provides, at a minimum, basic human rights and freedoms, equality and justice. You do not have to use the word democracy, you can come up with a new term as long as it fulfills the basic human needs. The Quran speaks about the basic human rights and the need for a just society, but Quran has not spelled it out as to how to achieve this. This is not a weakness of the Book but part of a good design. By doing so, its author has challenged us to do the right thing for right reasons according to the environment. It has put great responsibility on the shoulders of those who have the power and means to create a just society, hence a test for them. At the same time it has a challenge for the rest of us to struggle and create conditions to help give rise to a just society for all, irrespective of  color creed or faith – all this has to be accomplished by acting within the limits of behaviors and obligations set forth in the Book. As you can see, we have a job to do and we can do it in so many ways according to the prevailing socio-economic, cultural and geographical conditions and constraints. This is what I understand from Quran, if Mr. Karmally’s understanding is different from it, I would ask him to share it with us. 

While on the subject of democracy or lack of it in the Muslim world, I cannot help wondering about post #50 by Mr. Kazmi. This post is more like a short essay on “The Fall and Rise of the Jewish People”. The Muslims already had their Rise and Fall, several centuries ago, they should be working on and looking forward to another Rise. 

Would Mr. Kazmi be so kind to tell us how this essay contributes to the current topic of discussion? 

Regards,

Javed I. Chaudry

May 2, 2006