Losing Our Identity

In his book, ‘Islamic Medince’, Dr Shahid Athar has quoted a reputable rabbi, Jacob Minkin, who in 1968, wrote in praise of Maimonides (Jewish philosopher and physician) and as a tribute to the Islamic era of Spain, “It was Mohammedan (Muslim) Spain, the only land the Jews knew in nearly a thousand years of their dispersion, which made the genius of Moses Maimonides possible”

The words were startling enough to raise my eye-brows. I could not believe what I was reading. As a Pakistani Muslim, I am used to the stereotypical rhetoric; Muslims are usually regarded as intolerant, narrow-minded and thanks to Islamophobia, ‘terrorists’. Therefore, to read something so positive was surprising.

But I did wonder at my surprise as well. For it showed that I had let these misconceptions seep into my mind. I know that my religion advocates peace and tolerance. I know, also, that in a long-gone period of history, the Islamic Empire was the greatest the world had ever seen. According to historian Bethany Hughes, ‘Muslims created a society so rich and so powerful; it was the envy of the whole world’. It was a place where Muslims lived in harmony with Jews and Christians as well. The economy was rich. The social order was impeccable; the status given to women, for example, is an aspect that has always fascinated scholars making them consider Islamic Spain ‘a place apart’. The women were given due freedom and were active participants in political and cultural affairs.

This was not just limited to Spain only; According to author Hugh Kennedy, when Muhammad bin Qasim invaded into Northwestern India in 711, his small army was able to control a vast area because of the religious freedom guaranteed to all non-Muslims, including Buddhists and Hindus. His army was so respected that many cities greeted the Muslim army with music and dancing in honor of the religious freedom granted to them.

Nothing remains today of that golden period, however. The idea seems utopian. We can only say with shame that ours is a peaceful religion when headlines of violence are splattered on our newspapers daily. We can only take for granted that education is incumbent on both men and women, that both are to seek it from near and far, when we hear of schools being bombed and girls being denied education. It is only our tongue that utters the words ‘tolerance’, an aspect that seems to have become vague as we continue to discriminate against minorities.

In our current state of frustration, we sometimes tend to look towards secularism. While that seems to be a reasonable option, our very reason to seek secularism is flawed. We assume that religion is the problem as it lays too many restrictions about living our life.

But how can it be the problem when we hardly follow it in the first place? This ‘Islamic republic’ exists on paper only. Ironically, the West, is more religious than us! Compare the state of their cities to ours. If cleanliness is supposed to be one half of faith, they follow it so much better than we do. If good manners be what people are supposed to observe towards one another, then their mannerism is so much better than ours. And these are just the minor aspects. How can this be an Islamic country when so much corruption, greed and hypocrisy is practiced? The first word of the Quran that was revealed to the Prophet was ‘Read!’ and our literacy rate shows how we cannot even follow this. Moreover, which religion allows rape and eve-teasing of women? Which religion is a proponent of persecuting minorities or intolerant behavior?

Our apathy towards religion is clearly demonstrated by our willingness to follow nearly every other ideology, secularism being one of them. If we could individually study what our religion truly says, we will find that it contains a set of solutions that made possible the golden empire that once existed. If we can try and embrace this part of our identity, we may realize that peace, tolerance and co-existence is possible under religion.  We continue to condemn extremists and fundamentalists not realizing that our apathy is extreme in itself.

And speaking of extremism, proper knowledge of Islam can even help eliminate radicalization. The Solas Foundation in Scotland, founded by renowned research scholar Dr Azeem Ibrahim, aims to do just that by promoting authentic Islamic teachings about controversial issues and commonly held misconceptions.

Ultimately, if we are to look at our own state today, we would realize that we exist on the same threshold that Muslims once did when their empire was about to decline. With a fall in their spirituality, there were inner rivalries, greed and corruption especially by the elite, a growing lack of tolerance and consequently increasing sectarianism.

In-fact, legend has it that when the Spanish reconquered Granada in (the heart of the Islamic Empire) in 1492, the city's last Arabic ruler, Mohammad Abdullah XII, wept in front of his mother. She merely admonished him saying, "Do not weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man." 

It seems pathetic; a once powerful king weeping in front of his frail mother. But don’t be too hasty to judge him, for we are weeping too. We are weeping for an identity we are about to lose, an identity we seem to be in perpetual conflict with, failing always to seek to understand it. An identity, that once lost, may be so forever.