All Prophets Spread the Message of Peace, Love and Justice

"It is those who believe
And mix not their beliefs
With wrong-that are
(Truly) in security, for they
Are on (right) guidance."

That was Our argument
Which We gave to Abraham
(To use) against his people:
We raise whom We will,
Degree after degree:
For thy Lord is full
Of wisdom and knowledge.

We gave him Isaac
And Jacob: all (three)
We guided:
And before him
We guided Noah,
And among his progeny,
David, Solomon, Job,
Joseph, Moses and Aaron:
Thus do we reward
Those who do good:

And Zakariya and John,
And Jesus and Elias:
All in the ranks
Of the Righteous:

And Ismail and Elisha,
And Jonas, and Lot:
And to all We gave
Favour above the nations:

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 6, Verses: 82 to 86)

‘Secularize God to end bigotry in India’ - By PEER MOHAMED

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu stood out in the recent elections to the Parliament. Along with states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, the electorate of Tamil Nadu rejected the idea of Hindu Right government led by Narendra Modi. A whopping 44 per cent of the electorate voted for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by Jayalalithaa, the popular chief minister of the state. Jayalalithaa fought the elections on the plank of development, social justice and secularism. Out of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in this state, the AIADMK won 37 seats. Tamil Nadu fares far better than the state of Gujarat (which was hitherto led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi) in Human Development Indices (HDI). Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and Development economist Jean Dreze have spoken/written about this. Good governance is not the single factor for the unique nature of mandate from this South Indian state which is the seventh most populous of all Indian states. What else could be the factor? The legacy of secularism in this state needs a deeper look, considering the failure of the Hindu Right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make inroads into Tamil Nadu despite cobbling up an alliance of seven parties in the build-up to the Parliament elections.

The literature and history of Tamil Nadu point to the secularization of God in public spaces since time immemorial. Secularization of God happens when God is freed from religions in public discourses. Public discourses are shaped predominantly in political, academic and media spheres. C.N.Annadurai, the first non-Congress chief minister of the state rode to power using the words of the saint-writer Thirumoolar. "We are all One; God is One" are the words of this scholar-saint Thirumoolar. These words were effectively used by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by Annadurai in public spaces to win over the support of the faithful cutting through the barriers of different religions. Since then, the ability of the people to combine syncretic tradition and the scholarship on commonality of different religions helped fight any kind of bigotry which was orchestrated with a view to divide the people. Stories of people finding common ground among their faiths abound in this land of Sangam literature (from 300 B.C to 300 A.D) which spoke of cosmopolitanism and inclusiveness over 2,000 years back. Subsequent to the Sangam literature, there was a tradition of Bhakti literature (from 6th Century A.D to 19th Century) in Tamil. Bhakti literature is large body of lyrical writings – in praise of Lord, The Almighty- by scholars of various faiths. The words of another saint-poet Thayumanavar compared all religions to rivers which confluence at the Sea that is God. Public discourses built on such a large body of literature singing the praise of God helped not just the DMK, but also its splinter group, the AIADMK led by the charismatic actor M.G.Ramachandran (popularly called MGR), Jayalalithaa’s mentor, since 1972. MGR, three-times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987, openly expressed his belief in God unlike other Dravidian party leaders who were secretive about visiting temples or other places of worship. The idea of God as a moral force or as one stressing among other things compassion for the fellow humans gained ground through several Tamil language feature films, which were used by the Dravidian parties as a major propaganda machine. The film Parasakthi (1952), one of the early popular Tamil films to be used as a propaganda material by the DMK, did not question the belief in God, instead it raised questions about misusing religion to deny equal opportunity for all the people. In public discourses, faith has always been a virtue and is scorned at only when it is found to be misused. When faith is used to discriminate against certain sections of people or to put down people of other faith, such practice is viewed as an act of wrongdoing. Jayalalithaa, general secretary of the AIADMK and the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, never hesitated to express her faith in God publicly. Be it her visit to Chamundeeswari temple in Mysore in the state of Karnataka or her visit to Srirangam Ranganathar temple in home state, they were all spectacle for the common person. Jayalalithaa’s pre-dawn visit to the Triplicane Parthasarathy temple in Chennai was a much-publicised media event. Jayalalithaa does not stop with temples; she celebrates Christmas with Bishops and the laity of all denominations every year; she hosts Iftaar parties for the Muslims during the holy month of Ramzan each passing year. The idea of “We are all One; God is One” resonates every time she or her political arch-rival and DMK chief M.Karunanidhi celebrates Christmas with the faithful.

The idea of secularizing God is nothing new as we have evidence of both literature and history vouching for this. Recently, Stephen Paul Patterson, a scholar from United States, studied the common elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. He found that Surrender, Forgiveness, Compassion, Justice, Unitive Seeing or Oneness of Being are the basis for all these faiths or ways of life. Interestingly, the United States has woven belief in God into its system. “In God We Trust” is all over the place. Twenty dollars, quarter dollar or five cents, these words of faith are inscribed everywhere. Indian secularism strived to do something similar; finding common ground of all existing faiths. However, the bigots across the country have resisted such efforts to unify people of all faiths historically. Dwelling further on the Indian context, in stark contrast to the state of affairs in Tamil Nadu is the northern state of Uttar Pradesh(U.P). The people of this largest state in the country (U.P) may have failed to build on the idea of freeing God from the clutches of religions. There is a rich Indian tradition of the works of weaver-poet Kabir, Basavanna and other saint-scholars who successfully liberated God from the confines of religions. It is important to secularize God (free God from religions) to achieve communal/social harmony in a multi-faith country like India. The rise of Narendra Modi to Prime Ministership of India coincided with killings of religious minorities, especially Muslims, in Uttar Pradesh and Assam as a result of hate-mongering by the Hindu Right Wing. To end bigotry in India is not an easy task at a time when it has found legitimacy through a democratically elected regime at the Centre. However, Politics is the Art of the Possible and a vibrant Opposition bloc of regional political parties and the Congress under Sonia Gandhi can help keep the idea of India alive, besides people’s movements for a plural India.

The Holy Quran's Condemnation of Female Infanticide

When news is brought
To one of them, (the birth
of) a girl child, his face
Darkens, and he is filled
With inward grief!

With shame does he hide
Himself from his people,
Because of the bad news
He has had!
Shall he retain it
On (sufferance and) Contempt,
Or bury it in the dust?
Ah! what an evil (choice)
They decide on?

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 16, Verses: 58,59)

Say: "Come, I will rehearse
What God hath (really)
Prohibited you from"; join not
Anything with Him:
Be good to your parents;
Kill not your children
On a plea of want; We
Provide sustenance for you
And for them; - come not
Nigh to indecent deeds,
Whether open or secret;
Take not life, which God
Hath made sacred, except
By way of justice and law:
Thus doth He command you,
That ye may learn wisdom.

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 6, Verse: 151)

Religious Pluralism in The Quran

It was We who revealed
The Torah (to Moses): therein
Was guidance and light.
By its standard have been judged
The Jews, by the Prophets
Who bowed (as in Islam)
To God's Will, by the Rabbis
And the Doctors of Law:
For to them was entrusted
The protection of God's Book,
And they were witnesses thereto:
Therefore fear not men,
But fear Me, and sell not
My signs for a miserable price,
If any do fail to judge
By what God
Hath revealed, they are
Unbelievers.

We ordained therein for them:
"Life for life, eye for eye,
Nose for nose, ear for ear,
Tooth for tooth, and wounds
Equal for equal." But if
Any one remits the retaliation
By way of charity, it is
An act of atonement for himself.
And if any fail to judge
By what God
Hath revealed, they are
Wrong-doers.

And in their footsteps
We sent Jesus the son
Of Mary, confirming
The Torah that had come
Before him: We sent him
The Gospel: therein
Was guidance and light.
And confirmation of the Torah
That had come before him:
A guidance and an admonition
To those who fear God.

Let the people of the Gospel
Judge by what God hath revealed
Therein. If any do fail
To judge by
What God hath revealed,
They are
Those who rebel.

To thee We sent the Scripture
In truth, confirming
The scripture that came
Before it, and guarding it
In safety: so judge
Between them by what
God hath revealed,
And follow not their vain
Desires, diverging
From the Truth that hath come
To thee. To each among you
Have We prescribed a Law
And an Open Way.
If God had so willed,
He would have made you
A single People, but (His
Plan is) to test you in what
He hath given you: so strive
As in a race in all virtues.
The goal of yo all is to God;
It is He that will show you
The truth of the matters
In which ye dispute;

(The Holy Quran, Chapter 5, Verses: 44 to 48)

Spread the Message

It is He Who brought you
Forth from the wombs
Of your mothers when
Ye knew nothing; and He
Gave you hearing and sight
And intelligence and affections:
That ye may give thanks
(To Him).

Do they not look at
The birds, held poised
In the midst of (the air
And) the sky? Nothing
Holds them up but (the power
Of) God. Verily in this
Are Signs for those who believe.

It is God who made your habitations
Homes of rest and quiet
For you; and made for you,
Out of the skins of animals,
(Tents for) dwellings, which
Ye find so light (and handy)
When ye travel and when
Ye stop (in your travels),
And out of their wool,
And their soft fibres
(Between wool and hair),
And their hair, rich stuff
And articles of convenience
(To serve you) for a time.

It is God Who made
Out of the things He created,
Some things to give you shade;
Of the hills He made some
For your shelter; He made you
Garments to protect you
From heat, and coats of mail
To protect you from
Your (mutual) violence.
Thus does He complete
His favours on you, that
Ye may surrrender to His Will
(In Islam).

But if they turn away,
Thy duty is only to preach
The Clear Message.

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 16, Verses: 78 to 82)

God is Great

The likeness of the life
Of the Present is
As the rain which We
Send down from the skies:
By its mingling arises
The produce of the earth-
Which provides food
For men and animals:
(It grows) till the earth
Is clad with its golden
Ornaments and is decked out
(In beauty): the people to whom
It belongs think they have
All powers of disposal over it:
There reaches Our command
By night or by day,
And We make it
Like a harvest clean-mown,
As if it had not flourished
Only the day before!
Thus do we explain
The Signs in detail
For those who reflect.

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 10, Verse: 24)

Strive and Struggle

GO YE FORTH, (WHETHER EQUIPPED)
LIGHTLY OR HEAVILY, AND STRIVE
AND STRUGGLE, WITH YOUR GOODS
AND YOUR PERSONS, IN THE CAUSE
OF GOD. THAT IS BEST
FOR YOU, IF YE (BUT KNEW).

(The Holy Quran, Chapter: 9, Verse: 41)