Do as you would be done by.
October 7, 2008
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Centuries ago, the Muslims - Arabs - who came to India, were welcomed because of their superior qualities. In his Discovery of India Jawahar Lal Nehru writes of the Arabs coming to India with their 'brilliant culture' (p.227).
Then India gained its independence in 1947. But at this point Muslims, lacking an effective leadership, became the victims of circumstance. Prior to 1947 they had enjoyed the status of a giver group. But after 1947 they were reduced to being a mere taker group. And this is the greatest tragedy for Muslims in modem India.
Before 1947, Muslims were honoured and respected. But subsequently they failed to gain the same status. The cause was not traceable to enemy plots and prejudice, but lay rather in the internal weakness, which had led them to divest themselves of their creativity in this modern age. They paid no heed to God's admonition that only those would find permanence, stability and firmness in this world who proved themselves useful to others. (Qur'an 13:17)
In the new India, there are more opportunities now than ever before for Muslims to play a creative role. They are required only to identify these opportunities and avail of them. Here are two examples to illustrate this point. The first is given by Swami Vivekananda, who rises head and shoulder above other Indian thinkers on the subject of India's post-independence reconstruction. Replying to a letter in 1898, he writes, 'For our own motherland a junction of two great systems, Hinduism and Islam, is the only hope. I see in my mind's eye the future perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedanta brain and Islam body' (p. 380).
This book takes a detailed look at Indian Muslims.
