Muslims should participate “wholeheartedly” in the electoral process and support the best candidates, noted Islamic scholar and Chief Rector of the (Nadwatul Ulama) Darul Uloom Theological School, Lucknow, Maulana Rabey Hasan Nadwi, said on March 9. “All that I can say is that Muslims should participate wholeheartedly in the electoral process. They should support the best candidates and hope for the best. They will suffer if they remain aloof from the political system,” Nadwi told PTI in an interview in Aligarh.
Urging Muslims to introspect and fathom the “deeper malaise which is troubling the community,” Maulana said that he did not wish to stir any political controversy on the issue of the Muzaffarnagar riots because he was an apolitical person. “But I feel that the time has come for Muslims to realise that at its roots Islam is a very humane religion and Muslims should search their hearts as to why they have suffered,” he said. Maulana, who also heads the AIMPLB, said the community members should now reach out to others and win over their hearts through message of ‘human brotherhood’ (paigham-e-Insaniyat).