Understanding
Moderation and Extremism, Part-1
…
Shakeel Ashraf <sashraf1966@yahoo.com>
Moderation is to avoid
excessiveness or extremes and to remain within reasonable limits.
In recent past when the world witnessed the damages of extremism,
the tag of ‘moderate’ became the best seller among intellectuals.
As stated above moderates are the one who remain within reasonable
limits. What are the limits and who is the authority to draw them?
What happens when limits are violated?
First example of violation of limits:
The first violation of limits in human history can probably be
traced in the episode depicted in Quran. [And narrate to them with
truth the story of the two sons of Adam they made an offering. It
was accepted of one of them and not accepted of the other. He
threatened, ‘I will surely kill you.’ The other replied, ‘Allah
accepts only of the god-fearing. If you stretch your hand against
me to kill me, I shall not lift mine to kill you. I fear Allah
Lord of the worlds. Rather, I wish that you add on my sin to your
other sin and end up a companion of the Fire. And that is the
recompense of the transgressors.’ Thereupon his (evil) self drove
him to the murder of his brother. He murdered him and became of
the losers. That was why We prescribed this for the children of
Israel: "He who killed any person, unless it be a person guilty of
manslaughter, or of spreading chaos in the land, should be looked
upon as though he had slain all mankind, and he who saved one life
should be regarded as though he had saved the lives of all
mankind." But the majority of them went on committing excesses in
the land even after Our Messengers came to them one after the
other with clear directions. 5:27-32]
Let us rely on scholarly traditions to find out the reason of the
subject conflict. It is said that with every pregnancy Hawwa’ gave
birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Adam married off the girl of one
birth to the boy of another, and vice versa. Habil was to marry
Qabil’s sister and Qabil to the sister of Habil. But, because the
girl born along with Qabil was prettier, he refused to marry
Habil’s sister, rather wanted to marry the girl that was with him
in the womb. Adam told him that she, having been in the same womb
with him, was not lawful to him. But he insisted. The two decided
to present an offering each to Allah to check whose would be
accepted. Habil was a shepherd and he presented the best of sheep
he had. Qabil tended farms and presented the worst kind of
vegetables he could lay his hands on. The result did not matter to
him, because he was bent upon marrying his sister. The fire
descended and consumed the sheep but left the vegetables
untouched. Qabil ultimately murdered Habil by dropping a stone on
his head as he slept.
Cause of first conflict:
The lesson to learn here is that first conflict between the two
brothers that resulted in murder happened because one of them
didn’t want to obey the law given by their father who was a
messenger of Allah.
Extremism and moderation:
If I were asked to define the subject terminologies, I would say
that the violation of Allah’s law is extremism and moderation is
simply obedience to His laws.
Right way for mankind:
[Quran 5:12 …… But after this whoever from among you adopted the
way of disbelief, has indeed gone astray from the Right Way
(sawa-as-sabil).]
Quranic term ‘sawa-as-sabil’ translated as right way is the way of
life which enables a man to develop harmoniously all his powers,
faculties, and abilities: which satisfies all his cravings, urges
and feelings and the demands of his body and soul in a congenial
manner: which guides him rightly to keep balanced the multi fold
complex relations with other human beings: which leads him
individually and collectively to exploit and use equitably the
natural resources for his own good and that of humanity. In short,
it is that way of life which enables the individual and the
society to solve spiritual, moral, social, physical, economic,
political and international problems in a straight, smooth, even
and just manner. It is obvious that man with his limited powers
and intellect cannot by himself solve these problems, as he is
simply incapable of comprehending at one and the same time all the
aspects of human problems so as to weigh and estimate their
relative importance and judge between the different courses before
him. That is why, whenever he has tried to plan a way of life for
himself, he has utterly failed to do justice to his own self or
tiffs society, and made a mess of all his affairs and problems,
and created a state of chaos everywhere. This is because with his
narrow vision he becomes so absorbed in one basic need out of many
and one problem out of many that he loses sight of all others and
neglects them intentionally or un-intentionally. As a result of
this, life loses its balance and begins to rush towards one
extreme. When this state of affairs becomes unbearable, one of the
neglected needs or problems takes hold of man and life begins to
rush towards another extreme with the same destructive result. In
this way, life goes on running from one extreme to the other and
man never finds the balanced middle way which is "The Right Way",
because all the ways planned by him keep him running in wrong
directions from one extreme to the other.
As has been pointed out, man cannot plan that right way which may
lead him clear of the pitfalls of the myriad wrong and crooked
ways; so Allah has very graciously made arrangements for showing
the Right Way to mankind. He sent His Messengers with Guidance to
lead mankind to the Right Way to real success in this world and in
the Hereafter; and the one who loses this way will go wrong here
and act wrongly, and inevitably go to Hell in the next world, for
all the wrong ways lead to Hell.
In this connection it will be pertinent to point out the blunder
that has been committed by some so-called philosophers. When they
noticed that human life was continually running between two
extremes, they came to the wrong conclusion that the Dialectical
process was the natural way of the evolution of human progress.
According to them, internal contradictions are inherent in all
things and the struggle between these opposites and their
synthesis constitutes the contents of the process of development.
They apply the Dialectical methods to the study of social life and
come to the wrong conclusion that the same is the right way of
evolution. Accordingly they start with a thesis of an extreme
nature for the solution of a problem and go on rushing away from
the Right Way towards one extreme till they discover, to their
dismay, that in this process gross injustice has been done to some
other equally important problems. Then they turn back with the
antithesis of the first theory and presume that the synthesis of
the two will help evolve its right solution. Though it is true
that the struggle between the two opposite theories helps them
approach the Right Way, yet they cross it rapidly towards the
other extreme because they do not believe in Divine Guidance which
alone can make one firmly adhere to it. Then they do gross justice
to some other problems and the same process is repeated over and
over again. If such short sighted philosophers had not rejected
God and religion and trade an impartial study of the Qur'an, they
would have discovered to their joy that the Right Way is the
straight path, leading to the human evolution, and not the myriad
crooked and curved paths. Thus they would have saved mankind from
continually rushing aimlessly between extremes. (Source:
Tafheemulquran).
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Question
about Sacrifice of animals ...
... By Dr. Md. Asrarul Haque, Gurgaon
Explanation, that I forwarded: First of all using the word
“needlessly” is not correct. It is not that the animals are
sacrificed just for fun. The meat is consumed. So it cannot be
called needlessly? Everyday so many animals are slaughtered or
killed for use as food. Is there any difference between daily
slaughter/killing and slaughter on Idul Azha (Baqraeid in India)?
There is no difference. But there is a big difference in purpose.
On normal days the animals are slaughtered/killed for profit. On
Baqraeid there is no motive of profit. Only those who nurture the
animals get profit. Thousands of families survive on the income
they get by selling the animals and remember they get much higher
price during Baqraeid as compared to normal time.
In the market mutton is about Rs 250 to 300 per kg. Even if one
wants to buy 200 g, the cost will be Rs 50/60. A family which
earns Rs 100 a day cannot afford by any means. On the occasion of
Baqraeid they get the meat as charity and they enjoy the same for
at least three four days.
Now let us come to the purpose. There are several verses in the
Qur’an on this subject. I am quoting only one.
ﻦﻴِﻨِﺴْﺤُﻤْﻟاَ ﺮِّﺸَﺑَﻭِ ۗﻢُﻛاَﺪَﻫْ ﺎَﻣ ٰﻰَﻠَﻋ ﻪﱠﻠﻟاَ
اﻭُﺮِّﺒَﻜُﺘِﻟ ﻢُﻜَﻟْ ﺎَﻫَﺮﱠﺨَﺳ ﻚِﻟَٰﺬَﻛ ۚﻢُﻜﻨِﻣْ ٰﻯَﻮْﻘﱠﺘﻟا
ﻪُﻟﺎَﻨَﻳ ﻦِﻜٰـَﻟَﻭ ﺎَﻫُؤﺎَﻣِد ﺎَﻟَﻭ ﺎَﻬُﻣﻮُﺤُﻟ ﻪﱠﻠﻟاَ ﻝﺎَﻨَﻳ ﻦَﻟ
It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches God. It is your
piety that reaches Him. He has thus made them subject to you, that
ye may glorify God for His guidance to you. And proclaim the good
news to all who do right. Qur’an 22:37
Undoubtedly, Allah is interested in only testing the piety of
people. In another verse (22: 36), it is clear that the meat of
the sacrificed animal is not only for those who perform the
sacrifice. It is also for the poor. In fact the suggested and
preferred practice is that the meat be divided into three parts.
One part is kept for the consumption of the family, which performs
the sacrifice. One part is for relatives and friends, especially
those who are not in a position to do the sacrifice. The purpose
is that they too get opportunity to enjoy the delicacy. The third
part is strictly for poor but not for professional beggars. That
is how the poor get the meat at least on those days. In the second
and third parts i.e. for friends/relatives and for poor there is
no restriction that it can be given to only Muslims.
Now the question is why only on the occasion of Baqraeid there is
so much talk about the sacrifice and ‘animal welfare’. Reason is
our media. Also, some irresponsible Muslims contribute to that.
Everyday so many animals are killed/slaughtered. But media do not
pay any attention. On the occasion of Baqraeid they never miss the
opportunity just because it is fanciful and more so because it is
connected to Muslims. On Dussehra, Sarhul, Holi and so many other
occasions and also, in so many temples on normal days, large
numbers of animals are killed by non-Muslims. But there is no
news. Also, there are some ‘Muslims’ who are interested in showing
off their wealth. They purchase goats at exorbitant price and then
they stand with them, get photographed and give interviews for
newspapers and TV channels. It becomes fanciful news for the
media. In fact it is totally against the teachings of Islam. Islam
totally prohibits showing off in anything, including prayers.
ﻦﻳِﺪَﺘْﻌُﻤْﻟاَ ﺐِﺤُﻳﱡ ﺎَﻟ ﻪﱠﻧِإُ ۚﺔَﻴْﻔُﺧَﻭً ﺎًﻋﱡﺮَﻀَﺗ ﻢُﻜﱠﺑَﺭْ
اﻮُﻋْدا
Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loveth
not those who trespass beyond bounds . Qur’an 7:57.
Sacrifice on the occasion of Baqraeid is a kind of prayer. Hence,
it should not be made a matter of show. Also, in case of charity
it is best that it should not be made public, until there is some
special need. The suggested course is that if the right hand
gives, the left hand should not know. Obviously, people who
indulge in show of wealth are not performing their duty. They want
name and fame. As a result, the purpose is defeated.
(*The friend is a non-Muslim and she is Professor of History in
Chennai)
At times, non-Muslims pose a question related to Baqraeid
(Eid-ul-Azhaa). Why not give money to poor people in lieu of
sacrificing animals and giving meat? The answer is simple. First,
Allah has clearly ordered for sacrifice and there is a reason
behind the same. Moreover, if money is given, there will be
various problems. First, there will be difficulty in determining
the exact amount. Second, there is strong possibility of
mismanagement. All of us are aware of the mismanagement of funds
in drought relief, flood relief, tsunami/cyclone relief etc. If
money is given, there is no guarantee that the same will be used
for food.
I shall narrate one incidence from my own experience. About a year
back on one of the Fridays I found a person outside the mosque. He
was begging and for that he was using his child, about a year or
so old. The child had a large wound on his head and he had few
empty bottles and ointment tubes beside the child who was lying on
the ground. Obviously, people were giving him alms freely for
treatment of the child. He asked me as well and explained that he
was not having money for treatment of the child. I asked him to
accompany me. About 20 m from the mosque there is a medicine shop.
I took them there and asked
to open the bottles, tubes. My purpose was that the person should
not be in a position to resell the medicines. I told him to apply
the medicines regularly. I know that I could have got rid of the
person by giving him one or two rupee coin. But I knew that would
not help the child. For
about six months or so I did not find the person again in our
locality. Few months back I found him again with the same child.
It was a surprise that the wound was as before and he was begging
again by showing the wound to the people coming out of the mosque.
I found one
person taking out his wallet to give him money. I immediately
stopped him and narrated to him about the earlier incidence. I
suspect that the person did not apply the medicine. The wound on
the head of the child could bring sympathy and consequently worked
as a money spinner. Obviously, he was not interested in getting
the child cured. I am confident that the money that he
collected was used for everything else than treatment.
We are aware of the fact that people visit various Dargaahs to
feed the poor. There are specialized food outlets which ‘feed’ the
‘beggars’ and the beggars are
readily available there. ‘Devotees’ have to pay to the outlets and
instruct how many beggars are to be fed. Those outlets provide
tokens, which the devotees distribute and leave the place happy
that they arranged food for so many ‘poor persons’. But no sooner
the
devotees leave, the ‘beggars’ return the tokens to the outlets and
collect money.
No doubt they get the money after some cut. But they are happy as
they make quite substantial money every day. In Delhi, Nizamuddin
Dargaah is known for it. The beggars there are totally
professionals and permanent.
Further, most of them are drug/alcohol addict. Suppose if someone
provides food item/s which cannot be sold, they
will have to consume the same. In the process others in the family
will also get some share. But we want to trade on easiest path.
That is why this kind of practice is thriving. If we distribute
cash on Baqraeid, the money will be misused.
When meat is given, the same has to be consumed and more
importantly the entire family has the opportunity to enjoy the
meat.
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