Islam – Point of view from Germany

Dear Mr. Sehgal,
It is time to send you my best wishes for the New Year 2015. I wish good health to everyone, a lot of happiness, in spite of the difficult news from around the world, and good progress for Pakistan.

My heart has been very heavy recently, and I do hope that I am not going to bore you with the following ideas, which I have had on account of the latest news from around the world.

The news has been really very shocking recently. The attack which was carried through in Peshawar, with 148 innocent people killed, of which 133 were children and youngsters, is horrific. My condolences to all the relatives and friends of the victims. In Europe we were also devastated by these news and we share your sorrow.

A few days ago there was the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, with a dozen people killed. The shock is still being felt in each and everyone of us.

It seems we are now all fighting the same war. Pakistan is not only doing a service to America (or other countries), it is fighting its very own war and needs to address what has been going wrong, because it is beginning to suffer too much. The same applies to us.

Pakistan was known for its Sufi Islam, which is certainly peaceful and poetic. In 1992, I myself listened to a lecture at the university of Bonn held by Professor Annemarie Schimmel, a well-known expert on Islamic culture and literature. A road in Lahore has been named after her, and there is now a German cultural centre in this road. I was very impressed by this lady who loved this Islamic culture. Lots of men adored this elderly lady because she understood the beautiful nature of Islamic poetry so well. This deeply impressed me. Now things have changed so much and I do not believe that she would be very happy about these events. She died in February of 2003, before the war against Iraq.

In Germany we now have a movement, called PEGIDA, which means the ‘patriotic Europeans fighting against the Islamization of the occident’. Around 18.000 people demonstrated two weeks ago in Dresden, where there is only a small minority of Muslims. Thank goodness that the number of people meeting for counter-demonstrations is a lot larger, recently 35.000 were counted. When ‘Pegida’ demonstrated in Cologne, the lights shining on Cologne cathedral were turned off, in order not to give this movement much credit and attention.

Two former chancellors of Germany, Gerhard Schröder and Helmut Schmidt have spoken out against this movement. They said that we definitely need migrants in our country, we need to be open-minded and not racist. We have experienced the horrible NAZI regime and we want nothing like this again. The leaders and organizers of PEGIDA are known to have a criminal background, and many neo-Nazis are active here. But of course, not all 18.000 demonstrators are criminals or dangerous people. The followers of ‘Pegida’ are people who are worried about the news they hear (wars, massacres, beheadings, women abducted and forced into slavery, extortions etc) and they are worried that with the many refugees from Syria and Iraq – the number is around 200.000, which is the biggest number for any rich country, they will get even less support from communities. It must be mentioned that Germany has got a fairly good employment figure, but many have only part-time jobs. We call them ‘precarious’ jobs, and these people need financial support from the community to survive. We have several food banks. I myself have occasionally brought some food to a church close to where I live, where twice a week food supplements are being given to some of our citizens.

The news we read and hear about events in the Middle East are also worrying us greatly. There are religious wars going on in the Middle East between the Sunnis and Shiites, and these are basically power-political. In a German weekly newspaper, which I read recently, it was reported that under Saddam Hussein, where 20 % of the population were Sunnis, had ruled over the 65 % of Shiites in Iraq and that between 2 1/2 and 4 million Shiites were killed during his rule. There had been a massacre carried out against the Shiites after the war against Iraq’s invasion in Kuwait, when the US had intervened, and George Bush senior was heavily criticized at the time for not really having finished the job properly. This is one of the reasons why America waged war against Iraq and tilted the balance of power against the Sunnis and in favour of the Shiites. With their experience of massacres against them at the back of their minds, the Iraqi Shiites were not happy to include Sunnis in their government in Bagdad. But with around 500.000 suddenly unemployed Sunni officers and soldiers, a very dangerous situation came about. This was most probably the beginning of the formation of the Islamic State, IS.

In the past, Christian churches have brought about much evil. The Christian crusades were criminal acts. There have been inquisitions and the burning of witches. Only a few decades ago, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland still killed each other. I can only say that in Europe itself, we have experienced around 200 years of religious wars – 16^th and 17^th centuries. Catholics fought against Protestants, each backed by different countries. If states back religious groups it is not usually for theological reasons, but for very basic, materialistic and power political reasons. After too many wars, Renaissance-Humanism began to become more and more important. Finally, political leaders were fed up with having to wage wars on behalf of the churches, so they abolished the canon law (called ‘Kirchenrecht’ in German). This meant that the churches and religions were no longer the ultimate masters, but were subordniated to human law. This is secularism, which we cherish to this day. We do not believe that God dictated laws, but inspired many to give the right kind of leadership to the people, according to the conditions of their days and circumstances.

In Germany we have got Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Atheists, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Buddhists, Achmediyas, Kurds, Yazidis, Bahai, Sufis, Alevis, Buddhists, Hindus and many more. We want them all to be allowed to practice their religion. They are to be protected from disturbances by others. My freedom ends where the freedom of others begins. But likewise, their freedom ends, where mine begins. Nobody is forced to live here. If the religion of a particular citizen contradicts our basic laws, there will be conflict. They are free to migrate to a country with a law that suits them better, or they can make the effort of being elected to our parliament, where our laws are being debated openly and constructively and then changed and passed according to the existing majorities in the parliament. They are also free to collect signatures for a petition, expressing their wish to change certain rules in society.

Personally I do not allow myself to hurt somebody else’s feelings, whether religious or otherwise. I try to criticize very mildly and respectfully, because seen on psychological terms, the chances that others will change their behaviour is greater if you give these others the feeling, that to a great extent they are being understood and accepted, and that we basically wish them well. Only a few things should be – very gently – criticized – at a time. But in our country, everything can be treated satirically. The Christian religion, the Pope and even Jesus Christ have been made fun of in satirical magazines, sometimes even in an ugly manner. We disregard it and feel superior in our beliefs. The weapons we use are: ‘ignore’, ‘do not buy’, ‘know better yourself’! The Catholic church went to court more than a dozen times against Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The church did not succeed.

France’s history of bloody anticlerical struggle led to the separation of religion and state in 1905.

In our countries in Europe we cherish our freedom of expression. The only thing that is forbidden by law is the incitement to physical violence itself.

But the West must own up to its own mistakes if really good relations are supposed to come about with the Middle East and other countries. Exploitation of oil resources in Iran, Mossadegh having been toppled with the help of the US and GB. Last year I watched a lenthgy film about this on television, and I was so happy that these facts were articulated publicly. Very slowly now, relations between the West and Iran are on the mend it seems. I hope the very best for this, because it is a beautiful country with lovely people and a magnificent history.

Israel should not be allowed to expand its settlements on the West Bank. Even Germany, with its heavy guilt of the systematic murder of around six million Jews, should speak out louder – not against Israel – but against its politics of expanding its settlements on the West Bank, which is illegal according to international law. International law should be adhered to by everybody. War crimes committed both by the Palestinians as well as by Israel, should be examined. My impression is that Israel over-reacted. Why a country, which wishes to be accepted by its neighbours and live in peace in the region over-reacts to such a huge extent, I simply cannot understand. I would hope for the peace proposal by Prince Abdullah of many years ago, recognizing Israel within the borders of 1967, to be taken up again and re-negotiated. More and more countries and parliaments are expressing their wish to recognize the state of Palestine. It is HIGH time that this comes about. 800 Israeli intellectuals have also pronounced their backing of a Palestinian state. My advice to the Palestinians would be to remain peaceful, because this way, more and more countries around the world will back them and they will be far more successful this way.

Of course, some Muslims in our country and elsewhere derive their own feelings of dignity and pride through Islam. So they feel deeply hurt. I believe that many of the five million Muslims in France live in isolated districts, and do not really feel like being a part of the country they live in. Youth unemployment is high. I suggest we have free-of-charge youth centres and free-of-charge sports facilities, where youngsters and young adults can get plenty of attention and human warmth and can let off steam. This might prevent many criminal disasters, caused by an inferiority complex and frustration. The after-war generations all had enough work to do, building up the destroyed Europe. I found work immediately when I was young. But our next generations are having a harder time. I believe that if we do not want war and destruction and the subsequent re-building of a nation, – and we don’t of course – then we should also encourage family planning around the world, because the planet earth is not going to grow and get bigger. There are no more any continents or islands with no, or very few, inhabitants to occupy, as there was formerly. Resources will get scarcer and scarcer. So we must change our mind-set somewhat and become more modest, and direct our attention to the unemployed youth. Some of the extremely rich should go in for philanthropy. Warren Buffet is an admirable example. Capital should be divided more equally so that the differences in income are not all too great. This is of course an increasingly difficult task.

I recently read the news that Afghanistan and Pakistan are collaborating in their fight against the Taliban and that Pakistan is making progress in this respect. This deserves our full attention and support.

My favourite Hadith is the following one: “Nobody is a believer, if he does not wish his brother the same things that he wishes for himself”, according to al-Bukhari, Hadith no. 13.

This is so similar to what Jesus Christ has said. “Do unto others as you would be done by.”
Religion is for us Europeans not a code of law to be carried out, but it should improve the hearts and minds of people by inspiring them to a better conduct.

Cherishing the religion of our ancestors is very honourable. But what about human evolution? What about the discoveries made by mankind in physics, geography, astrophysics, mathematics and psychology? This should not be ignored. Human beings will not change totally in nature, but there has been progress and understanding of how we can make a living in a community without using physical violence. Two devastating world wars in Europe with millions of millions of people killed in Europe and around the world, have made this necessary for us.

One movement which gives me back some hope for our world is the open letter to al-Baghdadi, which has been signed by 125 Islamic scholars, – and even more recently. For me this is very encouraging and this is the right way to look into the future and to lead Muslim followers into the modern age. It must come from within and out of a genuine conviction, it must be done by the Islamic scholars and imams. Psychologists always recommend defining a ‘bottom law’ in relationships. These must be respected by all sides, the rulers, as well as the ruled. This seems to me to be expressed in the open letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi:

Executive Summary

1. It is forbidden in Islam to issue fatwas without all the necessary learning requirements. Even then fatwas must follow Islamic legal theory as defined in the Classical texts. It is also forbidden to cite a portion of a verse from the Qur’an or part of a verse to derive a ruling without looking at everything that the Qur’an and Hadith teach related to that matter. In other words, there are strict subjective and objective prerequisites for fatwas, and one cannot ‘cherry – pick’ Qur’anic verses for legal arguments without considering the entire Qur’an and Hadith.
2. It is forbidden in Islam to issue legal rulings about anything without mastery of the Arabic language.
3. It is forbidden in Islam to oversimplify Shari’ah matters and ignore established Islamic sciences.
4. It is permissible in Islam [for scholars] to differ on any matter, except those fundamentals of religion that all Muslims must know.
5. It is forbidden in Islam to ignore the reality of contemporary times when deriving legal rulings.
6. It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent.
7. It is forbidden in Islam to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats; hence it is forbidden to kill journalists and aid workers.
8. It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief.
9. It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat in any way Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’.
10. It is obligatory to consider Yazidis as People of the Scripture.
11. The re-introduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam. It was abolished by universal consensus.
12. It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert.
13. It is forbidden in Islam to deny women their rights.
14. It is forbidden in Islam to deny children their rights.
15. It is forbidden in Islam to enact legal punishments (hudud) without following the correct procedures that ensure justice and mercy.
16. It is forbidden in Islam to torture people.
17. It is forbidden in Islam to disfigure the dead.
18. It is forbidden in Islam to attribute evil acts to God.
19. It is forbidden in Islam to destroy the graves and shrines of Prophets and Companions.
20. Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray.
21. It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims.
22. Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam.
23. After the death of the Prophet, Islam does not require anyone to emigrate anywhere.

So, I hope I haven’t bored or annoyed you. I would be very happy to support a liberal, open-minded and peaceful Islam in Germany and Europe, but of course a radical Islam will spell trouble for us all, which I am sure nobody really wants. The causes of terrorism are elsewhere: poverty, lack of education and a lack of perspectives.

Once more: my best wishes to you for the New Year 2015. I wish good health to everyone, a lot of happiness – in spite of the difficult news from around the world – and good progress for Pakistan.