ISLAM CHANGING

KHUDA KE LIYE—OPEN YOUR MINDS AND HEARTS TO MUSLIMS

‘Khuda ke liye’ is a remarkable film by any standards. I have not yet seen it but I have received reports about it.

It is the first Pakistani film to be shown in India, has won much admiration wherever it was screened and touches on a topic of immediate relevance to the world –9/11.

Last and not the least my idol Naseeruddin Shah plays a role in it. Shah says in his typical laconic manner that Bollywood makes trash films like BLACK and SAAWARIYA and has never even considered the idea of making a movie on 9/11 though every kid in India is aware of the terrorist incident that changed the world.

But there is another even more significant reason to open our hearts and minds to a development that portends much for the world.

The Saudi King met the Pope—the first time a member of the Saudi Royal family has met the Pontiff. The King has called for a dialogue between the three monotheistic religions as a step to promoting greater understanding.

Another unbelievable development took place recently.

Two Muslim writers from Saudi Arabia wrote an article calling for an end to referring to Christians and Jews as ‘ apostates’. .In response to this ‘ outrageous’ article Sheik Abdul-Rahman al-Barak, a senior cleric in the country and one of the custodians of the wahabi tradition considered an extreme form of Islam, issued a fatwa that the two writers should be put to death for their article. The two writers did not back down and even said that they would sue the Sheik. More than 100 human rights groups in Saudi supported the writers. Support for the writers came even from Egypt and Lebanon . They issued a statement that those in official and nonofficial positions should stand up to these ‘Clerics of darkness’. Surely this would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

When the King called for an interfaith dialogue he said that he had the support of the clergy.

I believe this a great beginning. I also would like to believe that at a later stage the other religions of the world like Hinduism ,Buiddhism etc would also be invited to such a dialogue. Personally I do not believe that these other religions are not monotheistic as is commonly understood. To address the adherents of these religions as KAAFIRS and therefore worthy of assaults is to my mind another of those beliefs that Islam will get rid off . I hope to write a blog on that some day soon.

At this point all I can say is that the Islamic world is changing and we need to reach out to these forces of change . Naseeruddun Shah remarked that the moderate Muslims who may constitute a majority are sandwiched between a minority of radicals who espouse a violent and grossly mistaken interpretation of Islam and the west that believes all Muslims to be terrorists.

I cannot but tell readers that when Muslims talk of the Sharia being the right inspiration for their people they have a totally different perception of Sharia . To the uninitiated sharia conjures up visions of petty thieves seeing their hands chopped, of pickpockets having their eyes gouged. My research into this subject tells me that Muslims long for a return to a sharia that will be modernized and will initiate the sort of checks and balances that the U. S constitution has. This they believe will bring an end to dictators ruling over much of the Islamic world even though the Koran espouses genuine democracy, and socio- economic justice for all. How mistaken we can be .

On second thoughts I feel it is best that Bollywood DOES NOT MAKE a film on 9/11. Imagine Osama bursting into a song ! Or Zawahiri asking his henchmen ‘Kitne admi thay?”

K.R.RAVI

USA