The Intolerance and bigotry of Wahabis

I am giving some examples of the intolerance and bigotry of the Wahabis :

1. A Muslim friend of mine went to do Haj in Mecca. There he wanted to kiss the grave of the Prophet, but the Saudi police prevented him from doing so, saying this would be worship of a grave, when Islam permits worship of only Allah.

My friend explained that by kissing the grave he would only be showing his respect for the Prophet, not worshipping the grave, but the police did not listen to him.

The Saudis also do not permit building of dargahs, which are shrines built on graves of sufi saints, saying this would be butparasti or worship of graves. In fact when people visit dargahs they only show their respect to sufi saints who preached love, compassion and brotherhood, and not that they worship these graves.

2. When I was a Judge in Allahabad High Court a case came before me filed by Deobandis saying that they will not permit taking out of a procession in Sahranpur by Muslims on the occasion of Eid Milad un Nabi, or Bara Wafat, which is the birthday of the Prophet, since this would be worshipping the Prophet, while Islam says that only Allah should be worshipped. I told the petitioners that this was a free, secular country, and if they did not like such processions they need not take part in them, or even look towards them, but how can they be prohibited ? I dismissed the petition.

3. When I was a Judge in the Supreme Court, a case came before me in which the petitioners, who appeared to be Wahabis, said that an order be passed that no one should be allowed to say ' Ya Ali ' or ' Ya Gharib Nawaz '. I again dismissed this petition too, saying that this was a free, secular country, and so how could I prohibit saaying this ? The petitioners were free not to say it, but others were free to say it

I just cannot understand the attitude of Wahabis. If someone goes to a dargah, is he cutting off anyone's head, or chopping off anyone's limbs ? Hindus believe in several gods and goddesses, while Islam says there is only one god, Allah. But by saying there are many gods, are Hindus cutting off anyone's head, or chopping off anyone's limbs ?

Sunnis believe that after the Prophet's death there were 4 Khalifas, but Shias regard the first 3 as usurpers. Are Shias cutting off the heads of Sunnis or chopping off their limbs by believing this ?

Ahmediyas believe that in the 19th century there was another Prophet or Nabi called Ghulam Ahmed, though orthodox Muslims believe Mohammed was the last Prophet. Are Ahmediyas cutting off the heads of orthodox Muslims or chopping off their limbs by believing what they do ? At most orthodox Muslims may say that Ahmedis are non Muslims ( just as Ahmedis may say the same about orthodox Mulims ), but where is the justification of killing Ahmedis, burning their houses and mosques and beating up their children as is frequently done in Pakistan ? This is nothing but goondagardi.

This is a free, democraatic and secular country. Let anyone believe what he wants, and pray in whichever way he wishes.

This is a country of great diversity, and so there must be tolerance if the country is to hold together and progress. There is no place for Wahabis here. All religious extremists and bigots should be suppressed with an iron hand

Muslims should reflect

This is a message I got on facebook ( I have deleted the name of the sender ) :

Hi sir....Asslam o alaikum

Aap kaafi dooor ras insaan hai aur education & history par apko command hasil hai.  Mai  apse ek request karta hun.  Plz aap ek baar Islaam ko achhe se study krye or hmare Nabi Mohammad Sab ke baare mein padhye or Quraan ko padhye ek baar zrur sir. Uske baad aap khud faisla karye ke Islaam kaisa mazhab hai or wo kya chahta hai.

This is my reply:

I am 69 years old, and have been reading and discussing all my life since I was very young. I have studied Islam well.

 Islam was a great religion which spread from Spain to Indonesia because of its great message of equality. It was a great leveller, treating all men as equals. The oppressed people, who were often inhumanly treated ( e.g. the 'low' castes in India ) accepted Islam as it gave them social emancipation ( the same reason why Buddhism and Christianity spread ).

The early Muslims emphasized on science and education. The Prophet is said to have said that for knowledge ( ilm ) one should even go upto China . Arabs were great scientists, and regarded Hindus as their gurus in science and mathematics. They learnt the decimal system, etc from the Hindus, and passed this knowledge on to Europeans.

 However, of late the Wahabi type bigoted idiots have disgraced and painted a wrong picture of Islam, because of which many people in the world today identify Islam with terrorism.

 Islam was a great liberating religion. but many fundamentalist and stupid fools have sought to make it it an enslaving religion. For example, these bigoted idiots support burqa or hijab which puts women in a cage. In my opinion burqa or hijab is against the spirit of Islam, which was a great liberator. So it is anti-Islam. But these stupid fools will not agree to something so obvious. They say that it should be left to the choice of the woman to wear burqa or not.

 The truth is that many women wear burqa or hijab because of the force of social pressure or custom, which can be as powerful as physical force.

 Some idiots say that a woman without a burqa or hijab is naked or like a woman in a bikini. This is a stupid argument, and only idiots can make it. Is a woman wearing a sari or salwar kameez or shirt pant naked or in a bikini ?

Oral talaq, which is only permissible to men, discriminates against Muslim women by keeping a damocles sword hanging over their heads. It is one of the main causes of keeping Muslims backward. By treating women as inferior, it plucks out one of the two eyes of Muslim society. Abolition of oral talaq is absolutely necessary for emancipation of Muslim women, and since women comprise half of society, it is absolutely necessary for emanc ipation of Muslims ( see my article ' Womens Emancipation ' on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in )

 The Talibanis want that girls should not be sent to school. But the Prophet had emphasized on education. So are Talibanis not anti-Islamic ? Some bigoted fools in Pakistan are against vaccinating  children for polio etc. Are they not idiots ?

 It is time Muslims declare these idiots anti-Islam.

Some people make pictures or cartoons insulting to Islam. It is best for Muslims to ignore this, instead of shooting such people, as was done to Charlie Hebro, which only gives Muslims a bad name.