Analysing Islamophobia in historical perspective, PROFESSOR U. MUHAMMAD IQBAL concludes that Islamophobia will reach an end and Islam will come into its own.
They came to scoff but they remained to pray. Oliver Goldsmith
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” (St. Mathew 24:9)
“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (St. Mark 13:13)
A passage (St. Luke, 21:12-19) echoes graphically the predictions noted above.
“He who hates me hates my Father as well.” (St. John, 15:23) A more surprising statement is the following: “A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” (St. John, 16:2)
These predictions of Jesus Christ came true and the early converts to Christianity were subjected to ruthless persecution.
Even the Qur’ān has recorded an incident of anti-Christ hatred. “The people of the pit… with fire abounding in fuel… sat around it and were witnessing what they did to believers. Against these they had no grudge except that they believed in Allah, the Most Mighty, the Most Praiseworthy, to whom belong the dominions of the heavens and the earth. Allah witnesses everything.” (85:4-9)
Scholars say that the above verses refer to “Zu-Nawas, the last Himyarite King of Yemen, by religion a Jew, who persecuted the Christians of Najran and is said to have burnt them at stake.” (Allama Yousuf Ali, Commentary, p.1714)
However, Emperor Constantine became a Christian and Europe was made safe for Christianity.
What is significant to note is that the mindset that led to persecution and hatred of early Christians is akin to the mindset which is characterised by what is famously known as Islamophobia. The mindset transcends limitations of space and time. The Qur’ān refers to the uniformity of hostile response to the advent of every Prophet. “Thus has it been (in the past): never did a Messenger come to the nations that preceded them but they said, “(He is) a sorcerer or a madman.” Have they arrived at a common understanding concerning this? No, but they are a people given to transgression.” (51:52-53)
The earliest version of ‘Islamophobia’ may be the murder of Abel at the hands of Cain. The treatment meted out to Prophet Joseph by his half-brothers is another example. History has several examples. The Egyptian Pharaoh alleged that Moses and Aaron were out “to destroy the excellent way of life of the Egyptians.” (20:63) Now, Islam has been targeted. The atrocities committed at the camps of Sabira and Chatilla in Lebanon and at Srebrenica have been globally highlighted and the perpetrators might have thought that they were rendering a service to God. In these examples, morally superior people are cruelly targeted. It can but be the result of evil promptings from within.
The Qur’ān explains why Jesus and other Prophets were opposed. “Thus did We make for every Prophet enemies from among those immersed in evil. Your Lord suffices you as a Guide, and a Helper.” (25:31) The devil is immersed in evil, and he as an enemy, tempted Jesus! (St. Matthew, Chapter 4)
The Qur’ān explains too why the followers of a Prophet are made to live in fear, and with a sense of insecurity and subjected to discrimination and denial of citizenship rights. “Do you not see that We have sent devils to the unbelievers to incite them (to oppose the Truth)?” (19:83)
Islamophobia is characterised by a few features:
1. The Muslim believers are contemptuously dismissed as ‘Sufaha’, (2:13) social outcasts, without intellectual pretensions and with nothing to boast of as material possessions. They are the least inspiring specimens of humanity, not worthy of emulation.
2. Their allegiance to Islam is looked upon as fanaticism and fundamentalism and so it is urgent and imperative that Muslims should be persuaded to renounce Islam. (3:69,100) A world without Islam will be an unmixed blessing. At least, the practice of Islam should be subjected to severe restrictions.
3. Allah says, “It is you who love them, but they do not love you, even though you believe in the scriptures.” (3:119)
4. If misfortune befalls the Muslims, Islamophobes rejoice; and if some good fortune falls to the lot of Muslims, Islamophobes are grief-stricken. (3:120)
5. While greeting the Prophet, his enemies used to distort the Islamic form of greeting and turn the greeting of peace into a curse.
Within six centuries, the tide of hatred ebbed away and Jesus Christ became the most popular and highly rated iconic religious figure throughout the length and breadth of the world. Even those who do not profess his faith have nothing but supreme reverence and admiration for him. His followers now have sole domination of several continents and his missionaries are making amends where they are numerically disadvantaged. In global politics, his followers have unmatched monopoly.
When Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) commenced his mission with the claim that he was a Messenger of God in the tradition of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, he touched the real hornets’ nest. Violent opposition registered horrifying tales of death and savagery. His companions were forced to migrate to Ethiopia to avoid barbarous torture and finally, the Prophet had to migrate to Madina. The opponents did not spare him there and attacked him again and again. Ultimately, Truth triumphed and the Arabian peninsula was made safe for Islam.
Our beloved Prophet predicted that his followers would be hated and massacred across the globe. “Hazrat Thowban (May Allah be pleased with him) conveyed the Prophet’s prophecy. “People call each other to dine at a banquet table. Likewise, the hostile forces will ally with one another and pounce upon the Muslim community (to finish them once and for all).” One listener questioned, “Will it be on account of our small numbers?” He replied, “No. you will be a numerically large community but shorn of strength like the flotsam and jetsam that mingle with the foam. Enemies will look upon you as a miserable lot and ‘Wohn’ will overwhelm you.” One asked him to explain the meaning of the word. He replied that the word implies craze for the world and scare of death.” (Kalam-e-Nubuwwat, Vol. I p.324)
He predicted too that, once his followers draw their swords to settle internal conflicts, their swords would remain unsheathed to the end of days. (ibid. p. 321)
If these predictions are read in combination, the prospects of the survival of the community appear to be bleak. In spite of these clearly harmful signs, there are other predictions which assure us that it is darkest before dawn, and the Muslim community will miraculously and eventually manage to tide over the crisis and march into an era of sunshine and glory. “Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely bestow power on them in the land even as He bestowed power on those that preceded them and that He will firmly establish their religion which He has been pleased to choose for them, and He will replace with security the state of fear that they are in.” (24:55)
What shocks us is that even after one thousand and four hundred years, our beloved Prophet is a butt of ridicule. Animosity against him remains unabated. It manifests itself through virulence or through total indifference. Muslims believe in one God who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, who created things by a mere command, and who will fold this expanding universe as a scroll is folded. They believe in angels, in scriptures, and Prophets who were sent to different nations for guidance. Blasphemy against any Prophet is unthinkable for a Muslim.
Muslims sincerely believe that Jesus was the Promised Messiah and no other Messiah will come to the Jews and also believe that he was not crucified and will come again. The Qur’ān says, without belief in Jesus Christ as a Prophet of God, a Muslim cannot remain within the fold of Islam. Still Muslims are treated in a way which leaves much to be desired.
There is not much appreciation for Islam because it is a made-up religion in their eyes. Thomas Carlyle described Islam as “bastard Christianism”. The phrase is accurate enough to justify why there is Islamophobia. There are people who wonder why one should believe in a non-Jewish Prophet after believing in God-incarnate or the Son of God. Consequently, the process of caricaturing our beloved Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) has been a favourite pastime in the West.
Francis Bacon wrote that Prophet Muhammad ‘failed’ to perform a miracle of moving a mountain and he covered up his “failure” by saying, “if the mountain cannot come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the mountain.” This sentence has become popular and many quote it gleefully. But the story is a figment of imagination; it has no historical basis. It appears that there are two Muhammads. One is historical and Muslims believe in him. Another is imaginary and Islamophobes vent their spleen on him.
When scholars lead the campaign to malign Islam and the last Prophet of Islam, Islamophobia will flourish. So the Qur’ān advises Muslims, “Argue not with the people of the Book except in the fairest manner.” (29:46) “To everything there is a reason and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes, 3:1) “Everything is destined to reach an end.” (Qur’ān, 54:3) “Every piece of news has an appointed time (for revelation); you yourselves will soon know (the end)”. (6:67) Islamophobia will reach an end and Islam will come into its own.