September 5, 2004

‘If the state gets involved in promoting this or that kind of Islam, as it did when it played footsie with the extremists in the ’80s, it’ll make a mess of it,” opines Mushahid Hussain

PML Secretary-General Senator Mushahid Hussain believes President Pervaiz Musharraf’s concept of “enlightened moderation” is not alien to Islam or to the indigenous traditions of Sufism in the subcontinent. The essence of Islam, he says, is against extremism. But the fight against repression, like in Iraq or Kashmir, has to be seen in the context of politics and not as something that’s linked to Islam. He says President Musharraf is not alone in promoting enlightened moderation. Other leaders in the Muslim world, like Turkish Prime Minister Tayyab Erdogan, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah or Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawai, are also rediscovering the liberal and tolerant interpretations of Islam.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn Magazine, Mushahid Hussain discussed the issue in detail. Following are the excerpts.

Q. How would you define President Musharraf’s concept of enlightened moderation?

A. Enlightened moderation is basically a reversion to essential values that spring from our great faith of peace and tolerance. Islam advocates the middle path and is a religion that promotes moderation, rejecting extremism. The emphasis on education and enlightenment is central to our faith. The Holy Quran’s first injunction, Iqra — read — and the Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) guidance on “seek knowledge, even if you have to go to China” is testimony to this fact. After all, China was not a Muslim land. Here the focus is on learning so that the Muslims can turn into better human beings and co-exist with people of other faiths. And please do read Sura Kafirun where the Divine injunction even allows for co-existence with Kafirs. This is the extent of Islam’s tolerance. Yet, our great faith has been distorted by wrong practices, policies and projection in the media. Our own practices may not be exemplary, but our friends in the West who are trying to refashion, remodel and reshape our region through use of force are not doing any good either.

Let us be candid: after 9/11, there have been wilful attempts to distort Islam and there is a feeling of victimization among the Muslims, who feel they are being singled out for attack and slander. What should be our strategy under these circumstances? Should we sit with folded hands or come out in a proactive manner to promote the real image of Islam, the essence of our faith, which makes it the fastest growing religion in the most developed society (the United States) as well as in the least developed society (Africa) of the world?

Enlightened moderation has a two-pronged focus: telling the Muslims to revert to the essence of their faith — combining moderation with enlightenment — and telling the West to stop the injustices committed against the Muslims by trying to stamp out the roots and causes of terrorism that, in turn, spawn extremism. If there is state terror, as exercised by India or Israel, there is bound to be a reaction that soon develops into resistance, as is happening in Kashmir and Palestine. Or the failure of America’s ‘might is right’ approach towards Iraq.

President Musharraf is not alone in promoting enlightened moderation. Other leaders in the Muslim world are following suit. Look at Turkish Prime Minister Tayyab Erdogan, who is joining Europe while retaining his country’s strong Islamic identity. Take the example of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah, who has created more space for civil society by moderating that country’s extremist clerics who may have enjoyed state patronage in the past. Or, for that matter, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawai, who defeated the Islamic party (PAS) in a fair election through his moderate and inclusive policies of carrying along the Hindus and Chinese with his party so that political and religious pluralism coexist within a Muslim majority Malaysia.

The time has come for Muslim leaders to speak the truth and shun hypocrisy, something the Quaid-i-Azam did with courage, consistency and commitment, and struggled for a homeland for the Muslims against virtually impossible odds through his leadership.

Q. Is the concept of enlightened moderation akin to the indigenous traditions of Sufism?

A. Absolutely. Sufism rejects form and focuses on substance, linking practice of the rituals with the realities of everyday life. And above all, it rejects Munafaqat, which has witnessed a cancerous growth in Muslim societies with official patronage. In the process, Haqooqul Abad have suffered and people’s problems often fall prey to the hypocritical politics of piety. How come South Asia today is home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the world? Islam spread in South Asia not through the sword, but through Sufis, saints and scholars who converted the non-Muslims into Muslims by preaching moderation and enlightenment. After all, despite 1,000 years of Muslim rule, the majority in the subcontinent is still non-Muslim — there were no forcible conversions. People converted voluntarily after they were convinced that Islam taught egalitarian and enlightened values through moderation that seeks co-existence with the ‘other’.

Q. Can Sufism inculcate religious and social tolerance in the masses?

A. Historically, Pakistan has been a tolerant society, save for the aberrations of 1947 and 1971. Much of the violence that we saw in the 1990s with targeted killings by organized, armed groups was a blowback from geopolitics of the 1980s. I’m referring to the West-funded Afghan Jihad (the CIA gave $2.1 billion during 1979-1989, training 200,000 Afghan Mujahideen and over 20,000 Arab volunteers including Osama bin Laden) and the Iran-Iraq war, plus the Iran-Saudi schism, which is thankfully over. We have had no bloody sectarian riots, except for pre-meditated, targeted assassinations organized by sectarian outfits. However, they failed in their designs to foment sectarian riots. Unfortunately, the state either winked at or looked the other way during most of this period and the result was the growth of this Frankenstein monster of terror and extremism that is today the single most important security threat to Pakistan and its people.

President Musharraf is now trying seriously and sincerely to reverse these wrongs, and that is the challenge before us all, to support him in these endeavours so that a more progressive, moderate and enlightened Pakistan emerges. This is a challenge for other Muslim societies as well. However, matters are not helped when Christian, Jewish or Hindu extremists receive state patronage in their respective societies and engage in systematic Muslim-bashing.

Q. Can Sufism be used to curb religious extremism and terrorism?

A. It’s not a question of ‘using’ one thing to counter the other. In the past, the state used Islam for political ends — and this cynical exploitation of religion had disastrous consequences for our society. Instead of trying to use Sufism, let the people be what they are. By and large, our people are good and moderate Muslims, and good human beings. Let them be this way. Their natural instincts reject extremism. In fact, there is a popular revulsion to extremism. Remember, President Musharraf’s famous speech of Aug 14, 2001 — when he banned sectarian outfits — and the one on Jan 12, 2002? There was such a huge applause and appreciation because he had struck a chord with every Pakistani, and everyone feels that’s the right approach. There was a resonance all over. That’s what Pakistan and Pakistanis are all about.

Q. Should the state promote popular Islam to counter militant Islam?

A. There are two good things about our state apparatus: it is basically incompetent, which means fascism can never be exercised here by any regime; and there is openness, which means nothing remains secret, everything comes out in the open, even conspiracies are made public, hence, for instance, everybody knows when a government is going. So the state should stay away from this business of promoting this or that kind of Islam. If it gets too involved, it’ll make a mess of it, as it did when it played footsie with the extremists during the 1980s and 1990s.

What you call ‘popular Islam’ has deep roots in our landscape, which is dotted with the shrines of Sufis, saints, and scholars, who are respected and revered. And many of them, despite being Muslims, have a following in other faiths as well. Take the example of Hazrat Mian Mir, who is respected by the Sikhs since he laid the foundation of the Golden Temple, the Vatican of Sikhism, or Baba Bulleh Shah, for that matter, or Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, whom even Hindus revere. Or consider the Sufis of Sindh — Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar — whose shrines have large annual gatherings, which are actually religious and cultural events with a mass appeal. Don’t you remember that famous joke of a Lahori boy, who was working in Makkah, and wrote to his mother in Lahore to go to Data Sahib and ‘pray for the solution to his problems’? He’s in the holy city but he also seeks solace from one of our great Sufi saints.

Q. Is the Sufi tradition consistent with universal values of tolerance, charity and co-existence?

A. These are the real Islamic values, which incidentally our people cherish and uphold. That ‘soft’ face of the real Pakistan is seldom projected, and frankly, it’s one of the state’s biggest failures, because we have failed to apply our minds to evolve a comprehensive strategy on this count. Let’s look at track records, the facts on the ground. As far as charity goes, Pakistanis are among the biggest donors. Over Rs70 billion are spent in annual voluntary contributions to charitable and humanitarian causes.

Witness the celebratory enthusiasm and zeal, all voluntary, on the Independence Day. Our people are fun-loving, of course, within the parameters of decency and family values; but they dislike kill-joys.

Was there any reaction in Pakistan to the carnage of Muslims in Indian Gujarat two years ago? No, because left to themselves, Pakistanis are tolerant, large-hearted and are not bigoted.

Also look at the reception to the Indian cricket team at three different locations — Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar — everywhere there was a warm, welcoming, receptive, hospitable mood. That’s the real Pakistani for you, large-hearted and politically aware, who makes a distinction between politics and human values of tolerance, co-existence and pluralism.

It must be noted too that the Quaid-i-Azam took his sister, Madar-i-Millat, everywhere with him and mobilized and motivated both Muslim men and women, fighting successfully a troika of the British imperialists, the Hindu Congress and the nationalist Musalmans.

In Pakistan, the gender of women politicians is not an issue unlike the West. Look at the Madar-i-Millat’s election campaign of 1965, which even Maulana Maudoodi supported, or Benazir Bhutto’s election in 1988, which even the JUI of Maulana Fazalur Rahman endorsed. Left to themselves, the people of Pakistan are smarter than their leaders and are capable of rising above ethnic, linguistic or sectarian differences, as they have always done. Enlightened moderation presents a way out of our present predicament to meet the challenges that we as Pakistanis and as Muslims face.

Unfortunately, due to the passivity and fear among Muslim rulers since 9/11, we are allowing the West to define what Islam is or who Muslims are. Enlightened moderation rejects that capitulationist path and seeks an assertive vision for Muslims that is based on the vital points of their faith.

If you want to understand why Islam was a beacon of modernity, moderation and enlightenment when Europe was going through the Dark Ages, go to Granada and Cordoba in Spain. Muslim rulers had Catholics and Jews among their advisers and there was complete freedom of religion, with all the three great faiths — the Ahle kitab — Islam, Judaism and Christianity, co-existing in harmony. That was the pinnacle of Islam’s glory in the heart of the West and we should know the reasons why Islam and Muslims dominated. Enlightenment and moderation were the key to the progress of the Muslims.

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