It is interesting how his stamentents are being mis-represented by right wingers on both sides of the religious divide
Although Jethmalani has done some research, it is half of the effort but before I discuss his statement, let me clarify that houirs that will be given in paradise will MARRIED and not traded so Brothel is hardly a right description and completely wrong understanding. Beside you don't have to be a martyr, you will be given houris for doing good deeds anyways. And if YOU don't want them, then Allah will not force them on you. Paradise is a fulfillment of your desires which you kept in check on Earth to follow a righteous life. You didn't cheat with your neighbors or friends wife. Nor did you have sex outside marriage.
And if you don't desire new wives and want only your earthly wife (who will be much more beautiful than any of the heavenly wives), then you will have full right to choose that.
Moreover, the current situation were we have so called jihadis wrecking havoc in the name of Islam use the Syed Qutb, Al-Banna, Maududi and to a greater extent Abdulla Azzam's fringe interpretations. What he has mentioned belongs to their school of thought not the wahabbis. Although wahabbi school of thought itself needs some corrective measures, its not the root ideology of terrorism in the name of Islam
Let me give an example. The AQ worldview is that everything that is happening is a conspiracy against muslims. Every issue is given a communal color. Even muslim leaders are treated as traitors for not being "true" muslims. A pan-muslim sense of injustice being committed is developed through exaggerated reports which may have some truth in them. And the only way to salvage this is wrongly attributed to establishing their country's government and establish a true "Islamic" state that will "protect" the muslims.
Compare this with Abhinav Bharat (a banned hindu extremist group that was involved in terrorist attacks). India as a country has failed the Hindus, Hindus leaders who don't conform to their world view are called traitors and are not considerd to be "true" Hindus although they may be devout. A pan-hindu sense of injustice committed against Hindus around the world is developed sometimes with true reports. Abhinav Bharat members would then be told to get ready for a Dharm Yudh to protect the Hindus and were involved in destablising the govt.t so that a "Hindu Rashtra" could be established which would theoretically solve all their problems.
Another example is the ethnic-religious nationalism of the Nazis. This was a combination of the white race as well as Christian religion dominance. Mein Kamf details how Hitler felt of the Jewish betrayal and how world powers are conspiring against the Germans and Christians. He used verses from the Bible to legitimise violence against jews saying that they were responsible for crucifying Jesus Christ. And only a return to a fascist and ethno religious nationalist govt. could save Germany. This new governmetn called the "Third Reich" was to be a sucessor of the fabled Holy Roman Empire and was to usher in a new era of 1000 years of peace and prosperity.
In a way this is the extreme case of what can happen. Jews were exterminated in the millions while Germany itself did become an economic power house but swiftly engaged in militaristic adventures and destroyed itself.
These are some examples but the broad social aspects of the revolutionary ideas come from the same time period the 1920s-1950s when fascist and communist revolutions were quite prevalent. Each religious / ethnic groups uses the same contours and co-opts it into their own world view based on their religious scriptures which are usually a perversion of the original religious traditions.
Although Jethmalani has done some research, it is half of the effort but before I discuss his statement, let me clarify that houirs that will be given in paradise will MARRIED and not traded so Brothel is hardly a right description and completely wrong understanding. Beside you don't have to be a martyr, you will be given houris for doing good deeds anyways. And if YOU don't want them, then Allah will not force them on you. Paradise is a fulfillment of your desires which you kept in check on Earth to follow a righteous life. You didn't cheat with your neighbors or friends wife. Nor did you have sex outside marriage.
And if you don't desire new wives and want only your earthly wife (who will be much more beautiful than any of the heavenly wives), then you will have full right to choose that.
Moreover, the current situation were we have so called jihadis wrecking havoc in the name of Islam use the Syed Qutb, Al-Banna, Maududi and to a greater extent Abdulla Azzam's fringe interpretations. What he has mentioned belongs to their school of thought not the wahabbis. Although wahabbi school of thought itself needs some corrective measures, its not the root ideology of terrorism in the name of Islam
The wrong pseudo-jehadi doctrine is not propagated by wahabbis, but by Qutubists. This is a deviant fringe ideology which was fueled in the 70s-80s as a counter to Communism across the Arab world. Even Europeans and the Americans provided financial and military and subeversion training to these groups. This is why they have become so visible today.Addressing the seminar, Jethmalani wondered if the jehadi doctrine, propagating the belief allegedly held by Islam's Wahab sect that Muslims attaining martyrdom while fighting non-Muslims "get a place in heaven and the company of the opposite sex there", does not amount to saying that "god is a brothel keeper".
This is more or less accurate, the Quran is the primary source and no where does it preach violence to civilians muslim or non-muslim. The Wahabbi school of thought does have some wrong teachings and intolerant to some practices among muslims, but no where do they preach violence against civilians or terrorism. The anti-modernist attitude may be a fertile ground for recruitment for misguided youth just like poverty, lack of education e.t.c. are, but they are not the root ideology or cause.
"I am a student of all religions, including Islam, and I have read the Koran several times. I find that the Prophet is a man of peace," said Jethmalani, adding that it nowhere preaches hate and violence.
"But the decline of Islam started in the 17th century when a person named Wahab propagated hate and violence against all non-Muslims by mis-interpreting one shora (verse) of the Koran," said Jethmalani.
"I have read that shora thousands of times, but I have not found anything wrong in it. But, according to Wahab, all other people, including Christians, Jews and Hindus, and even Shias, have forfeited their rights to live," said Jethmalani.
Ofcourse, religion or ethnic based nationlism and extremism is the problem. And the same main contours will be found across religious extremists.It was unfortunate that the entire Islam as a religion was being blamed for terrorism, Jethmalani said, adding that "there are also Hindu terrorists and Buddhist terrorists".
Let me give an example. The AQ worldview is that everything that is happening is a conspiracy against muslims. Every issue is given a communal color. Even muslim leaders are treated as traitors for not being "true" muslims. A pan-muslim sense of injustice being committed is developed through exaggerated reports which may have some truth in them. And the only way to salvage this is wrongly attributed to establishing their country's government and establish a true "Islamic" state that will "protect" the muslims.
Compare this with Abhinav Bharat (a banned hindu extremist group that was involved in terrorist attacks). India as a country has failed the Hindus, Hindus leaders who don't conform to their world view are called traitors and are not considerd to be "true" Hindus although they may be devout. A pan-hindu sense of injustice committed against Hindus around the world is developed sometimes with true reports. Abhinav Bharat members would then be told to get ready for a Dharm Yudh to protect the Hindus and were involved in destablising the govt.t so that a "Hindu Rashtra" could be established which would theoretically solve all their problems.
Another example is the ethnic-religious nationalism of the Nazis. This was a combination of the white race as well as Christian religion dominance. Mein Kamf details how Hitler felt of the Jewish betrayal and how world powers are conspiring against the Germans and Christians. He used verses from the Bible to legitimise violence against jews saying that they were responsible for crucifying Jesus Christ. And only a return to a fascist and ethno religious nationalist govt. could save Germany. This new governmetn called the "Third Reich" was to be a sucessor of the fabled Holy Roman Empire and was to usher in a new era of 1000 years of peace and prosperity.
In a way this is the extreme case of what can happen. Jews were exterminated in the millions while Germany itself did become an economic power house but swiftly engaged in militaristic adventures and destroyed itself.
These are some examples but the broad social aspects of the revolutionary ideas come from the same time period the 1920s-1950s when fascist and communist revolutions were quite prevalent. Each religious / ethnic groups uses the same contours and co-opts it into their own world view based on their religious scriptures which are usually a perversion of the original religious traditions.
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