MAULANA SYED JALALUDDIN OMARI, an eminent Islamic scholar of global repute, well-known orator and author of about 50 books, was recently re-elected Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Hind for the third consecutive term of four years. In an interview with SIKANDAR AZAM the Jamaat leader talked on the various issues confronting Muslims in India and some advancements the Jamaat made during the last two terms, and calls upon the media and the civil society to help change the disquieting situation prevailing in the country. Excerpts:
What was your first impression when the Markazi Majlis-e-Numaindagan (the Council of Representatives) declared you as Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Hind for the next 4-year term?
I felt – and I also expressed it right in the Council – that I don't have the kind of ability the Jamaat needs for the leadership. Some better person should have been elected. Praise be to God, there are persons in the Jamaat fold who can lead. But when they declared, I felt a fragile person like me has been burdened with a great responsibility although the decision was made through democratic means. However, as we respect the collective decision, I felt there is no other way than to bear this burden. I still think the Jamaat needed a better person than me to lead; and had they tried hard, they would have found such a person. However, pray to Allah that the confidence the Jamaat has pinned on me can come true.
You provided leadership for the last two consecutive terms. What do you think the Jamaat achieved during these eight years?
The first thing is that here achievement is not of one single person but of the entire Jamaat. Leadership only provides guidance and gives suggestions. If these suggestions are not carried forward and not acted upon, it is but natural that nothing can be achieved. But I think, during the last two terms, by the Grace of Allah, the Jamaat did better in the various fields. For instance, you can see the Jamaat has expanded its reach; thousands of persons have joined it as arkaan (members) and much more are our muttafiqeen and hamdardan; and the number of our workers who are not formal members are more than 50,000.
Another important thing is that the task of conveying Allah's Deen to His slaves (men and women) has been done extensively. There is a separate department at JIH headquarters for this purpose; it prepares literature as well as Dayees for this purpose. It assigns target to members to personally approach persons and convey to them the teachings of Islam. It is not only that they have met the target but went ahead. Secondly, there had been Dawah campaigns under the various themes like Islam Sab ke Liye (Islam for All), Muhammad Sab ke Liye (Muhammad for All), Islam Hee Rah-i-Nijat Hai (Islam the Only Means of Salvation) in different States of the country; in certain States such campaigns were launched two or three times. Thus the Dawah work got a boost during the last term. If such a campaign is launched, for instance, in Kerala, Andhra or Maharashtra, it is not only that a team of speakers from JIH headquarters goes there but the speakers from the respective zones commit their services during the campaign. Secondly, the literature distributed during such a campaign comes to millions of copies. Such campaigns on such a large scale were not launched earlier.
Similarly, the efforts made for the reformation of Muslims was well-planned and praise be to Allah those efforts have left good impact. But it cannot be said that the 20 crore Muslim population in the country has been reformed; however we have drawn the attention of the Muslims, whom we could approach, towards Islam and convinced them to make at least their homes Islamic.
If you exclude some States like Kerala, our print media was very weak; now not only it has improved but we have paid attention to electronic media as well. The Media House at Markaz is very up-to-date and it can be, and is also being, used for many purposes.
Also, our contacts with people outside the Jamaat fold, Muslims or Non-Muslims both, have increased tremendously. There is no institution or organisation of the Ummah which can neglect the Jamaat. These are some of the advancements we made during the last term, and we can say that the Jamaat has achieved the position where it is now a force to be reckoned with in the country.
You talked of Dawah in detail. But some people think that more efforts were made in areas other than Dawah, such as in National and Community Issues. What is your comment? Whether Dawah was given the prime most priority?
I think Dawah was given the prime most priority in every respect. But, if you look at the Policy & Programme, Jamaat has decided to work in different fields. It cannot remain aloof from national and community issues; there is a separate department for it. If it does so, it will go against the Policy. Somewhere there might have been given greater efforts in this field and you say that no attention was paid to Dawah work. But if you look at the situation in the whole country, I think the priorities of work mentioned in the Policy & Programme have been maintained. If you decide to do only Dawah work and nothing else, it is all likely that more Dawah work would be done. But it would be against the Policy, and is not the right approach as well. If you neglect the issues of people living in the country, there would be a problem of the safety and security of their lives and properties, honour and dignity. If something dished out by the government or the majority community comes to the fore, it is very necessary to react thereon; otherwise your very existence and religion would be at stake. This is why we have been active in the various fields for long. You cannot identify even a single Zone where only national and community issues are paid attention to and no Dawah work is done.
You mentioned Media House at Markaz. Do you have any plan to ask your different Zones to have such Media Houses?
Before the establishment of Media House at Markaz, our Tamil Nadu Zone had established a Media House. Andhra Zone is making efforts for it. And, you know, in Kerala they are running a Channel. We too want to launch a Channel; but we lack in resources – both financial and human.
About eight years ago efforts were taken to organise the Ladies Wing at the national level and some strong and weak Zones were identified. But it appears even after the passage of eight years, the weak Zones are still lagging and there is no improvement.
As for the Ladies Wing, no one can say that there is no improvement; they have made strides. You can see their ratio in our cadre. In the Council of Representatives there are 22 ladies out of total 144 members, formally elected ones. In some Zones their number is very large and in most of the Zones the Wing is active. However, your contention seems to be right that the Zones that had been weak have still not made any significant change despite our efforts; they need more planning and more concerted efforts.
During the last term Welfare Party of India was launched. The party complains that it is not getting full backing of the Jamaat. It has created a somewhat grotesque situation. Your comment on the Jamaat-WPI relationship?
The Jamaat did inspire people to form a party with participation of some Jamaat people as well as those from other sections and groups in the country, which can serve the purpose of an alternative political party. But right from the beginning it has been clear that WPI is not Jamaat's political party as it will have Muslims and Non-Muslims as well as those from weaker sections (as its members and functionaries). Such a party cannot be Jamaat's. It will be against the constitution (of the Jamaat). The constitution says that one can join the Jamaat only when he accepts the fundamental teachings of Islam; but here (in WPI) it is not required. So WPI is not part of the Jamaat.
The party accepts people from all sections and groups whose problems and concerns are common; for instance, the problem of safety and security of life and properties of people. This is an issue not only of Muslims but of all weaker sections. However, we support it. As for our Zones, in some Zones the Jamaat people fully support it while in some others they are not so enthusiastic about it. We tried that in every Zone there should be a coordination committee with Jamaat-men and part-men. However, in some Zones this coordination between the party functionaries and Jamaat's Zonal leadership has been weak.
Tarbiyah (Islamic training) of Jamaat arkaan is part of Jamaat's Programme. There is a separate department for it. But sometimes some disquieting developments related to arkaan are reported from some Zones. Do you think this department needs more attention?
Yes, it requires more concerted efforts. I agree. The Jamaat constitution prescribes certain conditions for membership and minimum standard for arkaan. And if a rukn fails to maintain this standard, the Jamaat contacts, provides ample time and convinces him/her to mend. If he/she mends, it is well and good; if not, action for expulsion is taken. It is necessary for maintaining the prescribed minimum standard in the rank and file of the Jamaat.
It is however not proper to say that it usually happens. But in such a wide network of the Jamaat, if few cases come to the fore, it is not unexpected; for when a person joins the Jamaat with certain standard, it cannot be said that he shall continue to maintain that standard till the end of his life. I agree that we should pay more attention towards Tarbiyah.
The Jamaat is completing about seven decades since its inception. But it has not emerged yet as a mass movement. What do you think are the reasons for it?
Mass movement means that people in general join it. The Jamaat has some obstacles in this way and it will take time. In our scheme of things it is an essential condition that there should be a standard of ethics. If you talk of mass movement, they do come together on some specific point but it is not necessary that they would follow strictly the moral values we vouchsafe. It is our earnest desire and we will try our level best to present the Jamaat as an alternative. But taking up issues to create a mass movement in a way that our very objective gets blurred is rather difficult. However, we will see to it that our message spreads more and more.
In a mass movement however you have to ignore many things except in a situation wherein all people agree to your fundamental teachings. Take, for example, the Quit India Movement. It spread all over the country – from north to south, and from east to west. If you see, in this movement there were the religious and the irreligious both; those who believed in God and those who didn't; there were also some with stained character and (due to which) in a normal situation you would not accept them but they were ruling the roost. The only objective was to oust the English; the objective was of course noble but all the persons gathered together to achieve this objective were not noble. So, to create a mass movement wherein only the people with good moral character come together is rather difficult. Therefore, I cannot say that in the next four years we will raise such a movement as can have only noble and upright persons and the issues too are noble, and the general mass also accepts it.
On the various issues we think that their solution lies only in Islam and we want to get them solved accordingly. People do want to get the issues solved but are not yet ready to believe that they can be solved by following Islamic principles. For example, take corruption. One who does not believe in God wants that corruption should end; we too want corruption to be wiped out. But the difference between the two is that we assert that corruption can be wiped out only by following the teachings of Islam; otherwise you launch a movement as Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal did and earlier all parties including Congress talk of corruption but people belonging to almost all parties are involved in corruption; Congress was wiped out due only to corruption. These are their experiments. We say that they should give Islam a try, for the kind of mindset Islam prepares leaves no room for corruption.
The current term has just begun. Can you say what new plans you are going to introduce in the programmes for this term?
The Markazi Majlis-e-Shoora will consider it. By the end of May we would be able to finalise programmes for this term. New plans, if any, will be considered only in Shoora. So you will have to wait for it.
At present our country is passing through a very delicate phase. What guidance the Jamaat will provide for the country in this situation?
Despite all its weaknesses, there was democracy and an open social milieu here. But since the BJP came to power at the Centre, it has been trying to annul that social milieu. In the BJP-ruled States it had been already there. Its agenda is that there should be a particular culture, a particular education in the country. As for religions, it thinks that religions here should be subservient to the majority religion. Attempts are being made to impose one culture, one civilization, or what you call Hindutva, on the country. We want to change this situation. We say that there are different cultures and civilizations in the country; all of them should be allowed to work accordingly and express what they think. We will raise a strong voice against the attempt to impose a particular culture and civilization on the country. We might launch a movement to ensure that every person enjoys the freedom with regard to religion and thought and action.
How do you look at the killing of under-trials in police custody?
It is against the Constitution of India and also against humanity. The whole world knows that Muslim youth are selectively arrested on baseless allegations or mere suspicion, put them behind bars for years together, and then, after the passage of say 10 or 14 years, are released by courts of law for want of sufficient evidence. Thus their lives and careers and homes are destroyed. This is a very horrible situation.
On the other hand, whatever happened in Telangana, feels the whole world, is a fake encounter. It is beyond comprehension how five handcuffed youth escorted by 20 police personnel can attempt to snatch arms from police. Even if they did so, they could have been controlled easily; what after all was the need to shoot them to death at point blank range. This is why there is demand at the international level to probe this encounter. And you might know that India tops in the incidents of custodial killings. It is for the Government to think what image of India is emerging; it is the clear message being felt in the world that it is targeting a particular community. The whole community feels that the right to live and work with dignity guaranteed by the Constitution is being snatched. This situation has to be changed.
In Independent India there had been a chain of communal riots, then dubbing Muslims as terrorists, and then arresting them on baseless charges, and now custodial killings of Muslim under-trials. Isn't it the same string?
Yes, it is the same chain of subjugating Muslims. Earlier police version was not relied upon in courts of law, nor was the statement of the accused recorded under police custody. But now it is being relied upon. This situation should be changed at all costs. People should think that they are doing no good to the country by keeping such a large community under fear and terror.
What about your academic activities during the last eight years when you were providing leadership for the Jamaat?
I think I could not maintain my academic activities as I used to do earlier. Nor was it possible with this engagement here. However, review of published works or collection of articles could be done. A collection of my articles of the various aspects of the Qur'ān entitled Tajalliyat-e-Qur'ān and recently a collection of my writings of Seerah entitled Awraaq-e-Seerat have been published. And along with this engagement here I could continue editing Urdu research quarterly Tahqeeqat-e-Islami in cooperation with Dr. Raziul Islam Nadvi.
Now what would be your message to the readers of Radiance Viewsweekly?
Certain sections that are in the saddles these days have nurtured misapprehensions of sorts about Islam and Muslims. In the presence of these misapprehensions it is less likely that they behave well with you. Some people might have sympathy with you but they too appear influenced by the collective milieu or are not in a position to do something.
The situation has come to such a pass that they are not ready to give you a house on rent. Leave Islam-loving persons aside, persons like Shabana Azmi, whose name only is Muslim-like, are not getting houses in Mumbai. The need is to change this collective milieu. Media can do it in an effective manner. The civil society can also do a lot. Jamaat will also make efforts in this regard.
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