I approached a mosque in east London recently to find some young men arguing. I thought I should find out what was happening. It turns out that a group of them were shouting and hurling abuse at the mosque for being 'stooges of the kuffar' (non-believers) and 'not doing their duty' to re-establish the Khilafah (Islamic State).

The Muslims doing the shouting were from a notorious extremist grouping (not mentioning any names) who declare themselves to be the 'only group on the true path'.

I thought I should try and calm the situation. I asked the ‘brothers’ to calm down a bit and lower the volume as they were disturbing the neighbours, we do not want get a bad name or our neighbours to complain about the mosque.

What did I get in return? Well, in the next five minutes I suffered a torrent of abuse. The young man, probably 21 or so years of age, declared me a "kafir" (non-believer), he said my "belief was wrong", I was misguided, he said if Tony Blair is my friend then I cannot be a Muslim because according to the Qur'an and he blurted out what was obviously part of a Qur'anic verse. He declared that it states in the Qur'an that 'the only friend for a Muslim is Allah and His Messenger'. I don't know how he came to the conclusion that I was a friend of Tony Blair?

Apparently, during a similar encounter a few days earlier at another local mosque with similar political affiliations as this one, he was physically attacked for being abusive, and during that episode someone remarked, "Tony Blair is cleverer than some Muslims". So he assumed that as I was defending the mosque I must believe the same and if that was the case, I, in his judgement was a friend of Blair (pretty clever, eh?).

His argument was that he was on 'the truth' and the rest of the Muslims were wrong and were not doing their job. He and his friends declared that it is a "duty on every Muslim to support Usama bin Ladin and his 'Jihad' against the West".

Of course, it was impossible to get a word in, as it is with all intolerant people. I should have known better to approach them in the first place. I always tell people, when they encounter such ignorant and arrogant people, they should say "salaam" (peace) and walk away; they will never achieve anything, as they will not get the chance to put forward a sensible, coherent argument. Empty vessels indeed make the most noise! Only an intelligent and educated person would allow someone else to either respond or make a point of their own. People who have nothing worthwhile, constructive or positive to offer can only win by shouting the loudest. That is a tactic widely used by intolerant people everywhere; it's nothing new in the Muslim community.

Such intolerance is not to be found in the life of the Prophet of Islam or any pious Muslim since the advent of Islam. Once it is reported in the Hadith (recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet) a man came into the mosque and urinated in the prayer hall. The companions of the Prophet were furious and wanted to strike him down. The Prophet stopped them and asked for a bucket of water to be poured over the impurity and advised the man not to do it again. Such is the teaching of the Prophet of Islam and many such examples are to be found if one studies the sources of Islam.

Seeking peaceful outcomes and tolerating others views is a deeply rooted and valued concept in Islam. It is now widely practised in the West in the guise of democracy and freedom of speech, and missing in Muslim societies where it originated.

When half the world was under Muslim rule, people of all faiths lived under the protection of the Muslims, free to practice their faith and observe their religious practises. Even in Jerusalem, Jews and Christians lived in peace and harmony with Muslims. If we care to look into history we will see examples of non-Muslims serving in the courts of Muslim rulers. But as with all fanatics, of any religion or none, education is the last thing on their minds. The educated ones never stand outside mosques and hurl abuse at the very people they are trying to win over to their cause.

Today, Muslims can't even tolerate other Muslims. Such narrow-minded attitudes are only characteristics of the ignorant. The Qur’an says that there is 'no compulsion in religion'. If that is the case how can these people ignore such simple principles and attempt to force their “twisted” understanding of Islam down people's throats.

If they can't even convince Muslims of the legitimacy of their argument, and believe me, these extremists only represent, if at all any, a tiny fraction of the Muslims in this country, how can they ever hope to influence a non-Muslim's perception and attitude to Islam?

Surely they must be aware of this? Are they not intelligent enough to know that the 'great British public' does not take too kindly to people who try and force things on them? If their aim is not the people of this country, then what are they doing here?

I believe all law-abiding and peaceful Muslims should do their duty and reject fanaticism, extremism and religious intolerance and not allow these few social rejects to hijack the religion of Islam and go on an egocentric rampage up and down this country, leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces. We should reject them and their ideas, because they are not ideas, which come from Islam.

Islam teaches tolerance and respect for all people, that is the way our pious predecessors took the message of Islam to all corners of the world. Knowledge and education of the history of Islam, the Qur'an and Sunnah as well as an understanding of the society we live in is essential for a true and proper understanding of how Islam can bring about a peaceful society.

Respect for the rule of law, safeguarding the honour, dignity and property of others, looking after the dispossessed, weak, poor and orphans and allowing people to develop and gradually accept good things is the true meaning and spirit of Islam.

We cannot let this message be overshadowed by half-baked, ridiculous and irresponsible interpretations and, I would say, abuse of the sacred texts. Muslims need to educate themselves and be good examples to society, develop a good character, be good citizens, be good Muslims and then you will see how Islam brings peace to our society!

Abu H Sufyan
Originally written and published on 26 November 2002

Comments (1)

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Add Comment