That statement cast light on the blurry tunnel vision of Indian Muslims and their aversion to prudent advice. Maulana Azad obviously had a sense of foreboding about the community even in those days, before Partition. Many decades later, Muslim communities are still in rudderless boats, sans a proper leadership or awareness, with no real hopes of surmounting their problems.

The so called “Indian” Mujahideen have accepted the responsibility for the recent heinous acts. But to what defensible extent are they truly Indian, or even truly mujahideen? A single phrase from the Hadith would suffice to explain the actual philosophy of Islam: Hubul Watan, Minal Imaan. It means “Love for your country is part of your imaan”. To add to that, there is the concept of ibadaat, which means “servitude” towards that which is not confined to specific times of prayer or ritual, but which spreads over a lifetime and is constant, so that it encompasses each and every action of one’s life and good deeds in the world created by the Almighty.

Muslims need to question themselves about their present plight all the more now. Why is this happening to us? A big reason is that we lack true education. We recite the Quran but never try to understand it in the true sense — even if that is attempted, the Maulvis often teach a travesty of it. The words kaffir and jihad have been completely misconstrued. Even if we want to understand our religion, we need a rational and scientific approach. Transformation and change are the inescapable demands of the present. We need to abandon obscurantism , and at least apply common sense — and understand that a person without academic qualities cannot be expected to explain scriptural verses in their true sense.

... contd.