Opinion by Shazia Ilmi
Opinion Best of both sides | Shazia Ilmi writes: On Kashi and Mathura, Indian Muslims have the chance to script a change
Just as the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat discouraged Hindu groups from looking for Shivling under every mosque, similarly can the Muslim leadership not be sagacious enough to help heal civilisational wounds?
Just as the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat discouraged Hindu groups from looking for Shivling under every mosque, similarly can the Muslim leadership not be sagacious enough to help heal civilisational wounds? Surely not all wrongs can be righted, but some can. C R Sasikumar 
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As an Indian Muslim, I bear no personal affinity to emperor Babur and I trust all Muslims in this country feel the same. Masjid al Haram in Mecca, Medina and Al Aqsa in Jerusalem are the three holiest shrines for all Muslims. We have more than 6,00,000 active mosques in India to pray in. The lament for the loss of the Babri Masjid is but a political lament with no bearing on the Islamic faith. Ram Temple is to Hindus what St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, is for Roman Catholics, Mecca and Al Aqsa for Muslims and The Wailing Wall for the Jews. Surely there’s an equivalence in the assertion for the holy Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura temples in a nation of over a billion believers of Sanatan Dharma. Ram mandir in Ayodhya is to Hindus a vindication of their suppressed religious aspirations to manifest their group identity as the larger, fundamental constituent of India, that is Bharat.
This has to be remembered in the unique context of India, with almost the single-largest Muslim population in the world within a predominantly Hindu country. This offers an opportunity for Indian Muslims to proffer a way ahead in the tumult witnessed in many parts of the world in the name of religion.
For centuries, the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid dispute has inflamed our collective consciousness, simmering in a fiery cauldron of communally-charged misgivings and animosities which was ultimately doused by the Supreme Court verdict in 2019.
While political tempers rose to a frenzy after the Babri mosque demolition, the anguished psyche of Hindus harbouring historical memories of repression by Mughal invaders gave a huge stimulus to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The Muslim community, on the other hand, indoctrinated to look inwards, was ruthlessly used by smug “liberals” who had always exploited them for their stagnant voting patterns and cynical political views. The “faux secularist” fanned the flames of hostility, injecting into their psyche the opium of victimhood and religious emotionalism, with the Congress-sponsored All India Muslim Personal Law Board and so called liberal-secular voices, all mimicking the same old narrative of persecution before the community.
Today, the galvanisation of public opinion over Gyanvapi in Kashi and Mathura is underway. Can both sides afford another long-drawn legal battle and make it pivotal to their existence and sense of belonging? Will the Muslim community again be hurtling towards communal conflagration, misguided by the liberal intelligentsia?
Isn’t it time for a reset?
Just as the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat discouraged Hindu groups from looking for a Shivling under every mosque, similarly can the Muslim leadership not be sagacious enough to help heal civilisational wounds? Surely not all wrongs can be righted, but some can. Muslims should definitely not bear the brunt of the sins of their forefathers.
Instead of fulminating towards another bitter legal row and bearing misplaced fealty to foreign marauders, we, Indian Muslims of today, can rewrite our future in prosperity, for posterity. Will my community shatter the yoke of slavery to its political puppeteers, the liberals, who will drive it only up the beaten warpath, or will it break away from its inertia, from its indoctrinated rigidity, to follow false, clerical representations of true Quranic wisdom? Will it break free and derive the forward-looking essence of its religion directly, shaking the self-serving clergy off its bruised back?
It’s time to revisit the historic legacy of the Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah, signed in 628 AD, also known as the historic Sulh (truce), hailed by all believers of the Islamic faith wherein the new Prophet (PBUH) sought peace over war, between the Meccans (particularly the Prophet’s own Quraysh tribe who had rejected the new religion) and his followers from Medina. The Islamic Prophet (PBUH) embarked on a journey to Mecca to perform tawaf of the Kaaba, the holy circumambulation, with his followers from Medina. His tribesmen gathered for war, if need be, to deny him his wish. The holy Prophet (PBUH) refused to be provoked into recklessness, despite the sense of humiliation among his own followers intent on the pilgrimage. He camped at a lesser-known place called Hudaibiyah where he was met by his enemy’s emissary, and a historic armistice was signed between the two factions.
The conditions of the treaty recorded by the Prophet’s deputy and cousin Ali were belittling. The Prophet ( PBUH) had to turn back. However, he could return the next year for the pilgrimage, with strict stipulations. His followers would not be permitted to go back to Medina, whilst the Meccans would get legal passage to Medina and back. This concession offered by the Prophet ( PBUH) restored peace between Mecca and Medina, eased rancour between the warring sides and paved the way for a peaceful pilgrimage next year. This landmark treaty could be seen by some as a tactical means to consolidate political power. However, it offers several vital lessons to Muslims on peace, pragmatism and magnanimity.
This is certainly the time to revisit Sulh Al-Hudaybiyah, review our rigid stance on religious sites with sentimental value for our Hindu brethren, and eschew confrontation. A far-sighted, far-reaching consensus on the sites of Kashi and Mathura will foster a lasting era of national solidarity and inter-religious faith and peace.
The writer is national spokesperson, BJP. Views are personal
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