Author: Interview with Dr.Koenraad
Elst by Sundeep Dougal
Publication: Bhartiya Pragna
Date: February 2002
Introduction: Democracy is not given
in Qaran and Hadith. Even where parliaments are set up, they are allowed
only to take decisions within the boundaries laid down by the scripture.
Q. Why do you think Islam has turned
increasingly militant?
A. I think Islam has been militant
from the beginning. Later on, its degree of militancy fluctuated due to
a number of factors, one of them being the power equation with its rivals.
Today, Islam lives in the shadow of Western (and locally in South Asia,
Hindu) economic and cultural supremacy, which gives it an incentive for
militancy to transform its dissatisfaction into action. So we are seeing
a peak in Islamic militancy.
Q. There is a view that many of
the militant groups are a reaction to the decay in their own societies
and that this is because Muslims have turned away from their religion.
A. I disagree. There has been plenty
of decadence in many periods and areas of Muslim history, some of them
provoking militant "purification" within the community, others coinciding
with aggression against non-Muslims, and others not accompanied by a vigorous
Islamic action in any sense. Also, what Islamic militants call "decadence",
and to which they would react e.g. by killing "apostates", may be something
entirely different from what outsiders would call decadence, e.g. peaceful
coexistence with non-Muslims can already qualify as treason to Islam: witness
the murder of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat for making peace with Israel.
Q. Why is the Quran invoked by the
militants for their violent brand of politics?
A. Because the Quran does contain
ample injunctions to hostility and war against the unbelievers.
Q. Can the violence also be attributed
to suppression of dissent in large parts of the Muslim World?
A. Suppression of dissent is tradition
instituted by the Prophet himself, who had a number of his critics murdered
or executed.
It is true that this suppression
of dissent often remained in force when Muslim regimes turned secular and
then turned against the Islamists themselves: witness Syria's president
Assad Sr.' bloody opperssion of Islamic militancy, or Turkey's outlawing
the Islamist party.
Q. Why is the Muslim ire directed
particularly against the US? Is it because the US has propped up authoritarian
regimes in the Muslim world to secure its business interests?
A. That is part of the reason.
There is just no end to the brutality and stupidity of American foreign
policy. But note that NATO's bombing of Serbia has not led to any similar
revenge operation by Serbs, only Islam was willing as well as able to do
it.
Q. To what extent has the Palestine
question added to the anti-US sentiment?
A. We cannot blame the US for failing
to impose the perfect solution on the Middle East, for unfortunately, there
is no solution which will be just and satisfying to every one concerned.
But it is obvious that American one-sided support to Israel is perhaps
the biggest source of Muslim anger.
Q. There is a popular perception
that Islam is resistant to change? Do you agree and why?
A. By definition, Islam wants to
perpetuate the policies and beliefs followed by the Prophet and his companions.
To be sure, all religions have deep respect for their founder and their
ancestral traditions, they all resist change to some extent. But I must
add that Christianity has come a long way e.g. in shedding its anti-Semitism,
and the Hinduism has made great strides in diminishing gender and caste
inequality. Islam is more resistant to change because it is so closely
linked to the literal Quran and Hadith, like a self-described "seamless
garment": change one rule and the whole fabric of Islam will unravel.
Q. Does this resistance to change
stem from the immutability of Quran, as well as because Islam makes no
distinction between personal and public domain?
A. Well, Christianity and Hinduism
are more broadbased, having a very composite body of scriptures. This allows
reformers to play off one chapter against another, to trump traditionalist
injunctions with more progressive ones without explicitly going against
scriptures. Islam is also a political religion to a far greater extent,
explicitly aiming at the creation of an Islamic state which should ultimately
encompass the whole world.
Q. What do you think are the reasons
why democracy is absent in large parts of Muslim society? Why have most
Muslim states been unable to separate the church from the State?
A. Democracy is not given in Quran
and Hadith. Even where parliaments are set up, they are allowed only to
take decisions within the boundaries laid down by the scripture. Islam
is intrinsically theocratic.
Q. Why is the condition of women
in Muslim societies subservient to men? Considering Quranic injunctions-and
their very narrow interpretations-about polygamy, divorce, dress code,
etc., what are the ways out for women?
A. The royal way out is collective
apostasy from Islam. Meanwhile, in practical terms, efforts to emancipate
women all the while paying lip service to Islam should be encouraged. We
cannot expect women to wait-untill the final religious revolution flushes
out Islam itself from people's minds. So, in the meantime, I don't mind
if they try to get their way by means of white lies such as: "if read properly,
the Quran is against polygamy". But ultimately, there is no reason why
people should go on believing in the prophetic claims of Mohammed. To be
sure, I am convinced that religion will remain relevant. But it cannot
remain a dogmatic religion based on irrational beliefs. It is time for
a religiosity that is in tune with science and mental freedom. That will
take care of current problems of obscurantist laws and violent fanaticism.
(Dr. Koenraad Elst, 42, is a Belgian
Indologist. His latest contributions to the communalism debate are The
Saffron Swastika (Voice of India, 2001) and Decolonizing the Hindu Mind,
Rupa, 2001).
