Author: Balbir K Punj
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 30, 2006
Islam supercedes nationality," says media
mogul Rupert Murdoch. "You have to be careful about Muslims who have
a very strong, in many ways a fine but very strong religion, which supercedes
any sense of nationalism wherever they go," he told Channel Nine. Mr
Murdoch was present at a function in Sydney that described him as the most
influential Australian of all times.
It was indeed a bold remark from the media
baron, considering the fact that mainstream media is sickeningly "secular".
Is this an indicator of things to come? The Western media showed guts, even
if misplaced, by republishing the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in various
newspapers across Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. According to
confidential sources, Prophet Mohammed's cartoons were republished across
newspapers to preempt a reaction from the Islamic world.
The Western intelligentsia is increasingly
becoming aware of the danger that West (along with rest of the world) faces
from Islam. Niall Fergusson and Mark Steyn anticipate civil war (like French
riots last October) taking place in European cities as Muslim demography burgeons
and European population senesces. European demography will be ill-prepared
to meet an Islamic challenge in, say, 2020.
Mr Murdoch's comments found one instant critic.
Australian Federation of Islamic Council's president Rahim Ghauri said that
religion and nationality go hand in hand. "I am a Muslim, my religion
is there, and nobody is there to stop me from praying five times a day and
giving to charity," he said, adding, "At the same time I must be
faithful and loyal to my country." He doubted Mr Murdoch's knowledge
of Islam, except what he has got through his media's report. He has said that
there should be no place for fundamentalism.
Mr Murdoch is no doubt Right-winger although
he identifies himself as a libertarian. Once a supporter of Australian Labour
Party, he switched preference to right-centrist Liberal Party of Australia
in 1975. He was a friend of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. His papers
supported President George Bush both in the 2000 and 2004 US elections. He
is certainly no holy cow himself, and known for his partisan views in politics.
However, just as jihad is not merely an aberration
but has its roots in Islamic theology, Mr Murdoch's suspicion that "Islam
supercedes nationality" is not a new invention. People as diverse as
Viceroy of India Lord Mayo, poet Rabindranath Tagore, freedom activist Lala
Lajpat Rai, social reformer BR Ambedkar have often suspected the same. Pan-Islamist
poet Allama Iqbal wrote, "Chino Arab Hamara, Hindostan hamara, Muslim
hain hum, watan hain sara jahan hamara." These suspicions have a definite
historical background, which had subsided from public view in the latter part
of the 20th century when Islam had to scramble to fit itself in an altered
world order. With that world order waning, Islam is threatening to stage its
come back.
"Are the Indian Musalmans bound by their
religion to rebel against the Queen?" was a question that troubled Lord
Mayo, the Viceroy of India. The British had discovered that ring leaders of
the 1857 uprising were Muslims, and were still grappling with the Wahabi movement
(1820s-1870s) that sought to re-impose an Islamic state in India. Its result
was the book, The Indian Musalmans (1871) by William Hunter. In the subsequent
year, Lord Mayo was stabbed to death by one Sher Mohammed while he was inspecting
the Cellular Jail in the Andamans. Sher Ali, although his Wahabi affiliation
could never be proved, had exclaimed that he had killed Lord Mayo for the
sake of 'Muslims of India'.
Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928), the icon of nationalism
who believed in Hindu-Muslim unity, was greatly agonised after 1924 Kohat
riots (NWFP) where the small Hindu community was savaged. His sense of alarm
grew after a reading of the Islamic religious texts, from which the Arya Samaj
leader had steered cleared. In a letter to CR Das, Rai wrote, "There
is one point more which has been troubling me very much of late and one which
I want you to think carefully and that is the question of Hindu-Mohammedan
unity. I have devoted most of my time during the last six months to study
of Muslim history and Muslim law and I am inclined to think, it is neither
possible nor practicable. Assuming and admitting the sincerity of the Mohammedan
leaders in Non-cooperation movement, I think their religion provides an effective
bar to anything of the kind... I do honestly and sincerely believe in the
necessity of or desirability of Hindu-Muslim unity. I am also prepared to
trust the Muslim leaders, but what about the injunctions of the Quran and
Hadis? The leaders cannot override them." (Quoted in BR Ambedkar's Pakistan
or Partition of India)
An assertive Islam is about to reorganise
the world order as we know it. The Hamas, which one thought was Palestine-specific
network, released a video recently as tribute to one of its leaders, Yasser
Ghalban, who died in an internal battle between warring factions in Gaza.
"We will rule the nations, by Allah's will, the US will be conquered,
Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered..." pronounces
a reclining Ghalban in the video, promising to "crush the Jews and expel
them from our country Palestine". He further adds, "Just as the
Jews ran from Gaza, the Americans will run from Iraq and Afghanistan... and
the Indians will run from Kashmir."
Seen in this light, Mr Murdoch's assertion
seems logical. Fundamentalist Muslims want to overrun all nations; turn them
into Dar-ul-Islam. Veteran West Asia expert Bernard Lewis says of Islam: "It
is a political identity and allegiance, transcending all others. Always in
the ideal, and for a while even in reality, the world of Islam was one polity
ruled by one sovereign, the caliph..." (Islam and the West).
The Muslim militia that took control of Mogadishu
(Somalia) on June 6 last, have closed down the makeshift cinemas showing world
cup soccer, forcibly cut young men's hair if they were more than an inch long,
and banned the New Year celebration on penalty of death. Sheik Hassan Dahir
Aweys, the radical cleric named to lead Muslim militia, wants an Islamic state
ruled by Shariah.
Islam, it was felt after the abolition of
Caliphate in 1924, subsumed into nationalism and ideologies like Communism.
However, most Muslim countries remained impervious to democracy. Are we heading
towards 'Islam versus rest' scenario?
