KHUDA  KE  LIYE—OPEN YOUR MINDS AND HEARTS TO MUSLIMS

‘Khuda ke liye’  is  a remarkable film by any standards.  I have not yet seen it but I  have received reports about it.

It is the first Pakistani film to be shown in India, has won much admiration wherever it was screened and touches on a topic of immediate relevance to the world –9/11.

Last and not the least my idol Naseeruddin Shah  plays a role in it. Shah  says in his typical laconic manner that Bollywood makes trash films  like  BLACK  and SAAWARIYA and has never even considered the idea  of making a movie on 9/11  though  every kid in India is aware of the  terrorist incident that changed the  world.

But there is another even more significant   reason to open our hearts and minds to a development that portends much for the world.

The Saudi King met the Pope—the first time a member of the Saudi Royal family has  met the Pontiff. The King has called for a dialogue between the three monotheistic religions as a step to promoting  greater understanding.

Another unbelievable development took  place recently.

Two Muslim writers from Saudi Arabia wrote an article  calling for an  end to referring to Christians and Jews as ‘ apostates’. .In response to this ‘ outrageous’ article Sheik Abdul-Rahman al-Barak, a senior cleric in the country  and one of the custodians of the wahabi tradition considered an extreme form of Islam, issued a fatwa that the two writers should be put to death for their  article. The two writers did  not back down and even said that they would sue the Sheik. More  than  100 human rights groups   in Saudi supported the writers. Support for the writers came even from Egypt and Lebanon . They  issued a statement that those in  official and nonofficial positions  should stand up   to these ‘Clerics of darkness’. Surely this would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

When the King called for an interfaith dialogue he said that he had the support of the clergy.

I believe this a great beginning.  I also would like to believe that at a later stage the other religions of the world like Hinduism ,Buiddhism etc would also be invited to such a dialogue. Personally I do not believe that these other religions are not monotheistic as is commonly  understood. To address the adherents of these religions as KAAFIRS  and therefore worthy of assaults is to my mind another of those beliefs that Islam will get rid off .   I hope to write a blog on that some day soon.

At this  point all I can say is that the Islamic  world is changing and we need to reach out to these forces of change . Naseeruddun Shah remarked that the moderate Muslims who may constitute a majority are sandwiched between a minority of radicals  who espouse a violent and grossly mistaken interpretation of Islam and the west that believes  all Muslims to be terrorists.

I cannot but tell readers that when Muslims talk of the Sharia being the right inspiration for their people they have a totally different perception of Sharia . To the uninitiated sharia conjures  up  visions of  petty thieves seeing their hands chopped, of pickpockets having their eyes gouged.  My research  into  this subject  tells me that Muslims long for  a return to a sharia that will be modernized and will initiate the sort of  checks and balances that the U. S constitution has.  This they believe will bring  an end to dictators ruling over much of the Islamic world even though the Koran espouses genuine democracy,  and socio- economic justice for all. How mistaken  we can be .

On second thoughts I feel it is best that Bollywood  DOES NOT MAKE  a film on 9/11. Imagine Osama bursting into a song ! Or Zawahiri asking his henchmen  ‘Kitne admi  thay?”

K.R.RAVI

USA