A look at the Bohra Reform Movement's Leader

[Ijtehadi]

Dear Readers, Brothers & Sisters of the Forum:

Please read the following segment about your Reform Movement's Leader - Mr. Asghar Ali Engineer. Please note that the views expressed in the appended article are not mine.

QUOTE:
Misguided scholarship By Ghulam Muhammed
Tuesday, October 07, 2008

It is unclear who is primarily responsible for publishing the article: Making a mockery of Jihad by Asghar Ali Engineer in today’s Times of India; the TOI or the writer. But the timing of the publication of the article, when the whole of India is rocked by bombings and riots, cannot be missed as focusing the sin of violence on Muslims, in the pat theory that Islam and Jihad for Muslim go together. Why Asghar Ali Engineer should be targeting some imaginary misguided ‘Muslims’ for their misconception of Jihad, when there is no definite proof that Muslims enmass or in groups are behind the recent season of violence, that always traditionally precedes the season of ‘democratic’ elections in India.

Asghar Ali Engineer is led by the nose by his funders, throughout his career, to play the role of a paid piper; just as all think tank scholars invariably do.

However, at least, in such times of acute communal polarisation being on its most sensitive conflagration point, he could have better judgment than to send out his academic discussion on Jihad, to the TOI to bolster the media’s propaganda that all the violence in India is perpetrated by Muslims, as neatly supposed to be confirmed by ‘their’ favourite ‘Islamic Scholar’, Asghar Ali Engineer- taking such a robust stand in print now at this very juncture.

Without batting an eye, and with enormous volume of facts and analyses so readily available, Asghar Ali Engineer, glibly accepts that 9/11 was the work of Muslim or Islamic ‘terrorists’ or Al Qaeda and weaves an advice around that ‘crime of the millennium’.

He has no need to be skeptical about 9/11, as the Western propagandists have done a successful job of indoctrinating the gullible world.

Asghar Ali’s scholarship sticks to religious books with his own amalgam of logic from ‘Reform Bohra’ ijtehad and liberal Marxist clichés and to the guidelines that the propagandists want him to follow.

He has no independent intelligence to think as he has mortgaged his own thinking and judgment to the highest bidder that comes around at any given time.

He had been covering and writing on communal riots, but could never either figure out or could gather the courage to name Indian National Congress, as the chief organizers of so many riots, with the active help from RSS cadre. In a recent TV panel discussion, Congressman Salman Khursheed ended up responding to BJP’s Chari, that it was RSS cadre that helped Congress.

It is left to a foreigner, Professor Paul Brass, to expose the criminality of the political establishment, who used the massacre of Muslims, to achieve their twin game points; at the one end to convince their Hindu vote bank that they and their police are and will remain on their side; while on the other hand, demoralize the Muslim vote bank to the extant that they will be forced to seek security from their known tormentors.

Being in media, Asghar Ali Engineer was used to paper over their criminal conspiracies, by never ever hinting at the time that riots took place, to implicate the state agencies run by the Indian National Congress, while that has been the patent scenario all along.

He writes in the article: “One hopes that the misguided Muslim youth resorting to violent actions will realise the futility of terror attacks and renounce such sinful and criminal acts…”. This on the day, Times of India on its front pages reports about a police press conference, where Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor and Crime Branch Chief, Rakesh Maria, had come out with long list of names of Muslim accused of being the media wing of the supposedly Muslim terrorist organisation, “Indian Mujahideen”. Thus Times of India has taken full side with the police version, even though that has to be proved in court, if and if not all these arrests had be on fictitious grounds.

So it appears to be a grand conspiracy, for political mobilization to fight the coming elections, by demonising Muslims and unfortunately, the so-called Leftists with Muslim names, have no qualms in enrolling themselves in the noble cause.

UNQUOTE

[feelgud]

here is the full article published in TOI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Edit ... 567513.cms

what is wrong in this article ghulam mohammad.will you please quote those sentences which give you the idea about the 'mockery'

[Humsafar]

Ijtehadi,

It is never a good idea to cut and paste a comment out of the blue without setting the context. First, who is Ghulam Mohammed and where was this article published? Second, which article of Asghar Ali Engineer is he referring to? Third, Asghar Ali's comments about Muslim youth and Jihad have nothing to do with the reform movement. He is a reform leader but he is also an Islamic scholar and individual who is entitled to his opinion and has the right express them in a free society.

And Ghulam Mohammed has the right to criticise them if criticism remains at the level of ideas and opinion. But what Ghulam Mohammed is doing is indulging in ad hominem, making personal attacks and accusing him of being a paid agent without offering any evidence to support it. By the way, orthodox Muslim ulemas and scholars have never taken kindly to Asghar Ali's ideas, and have never been able to engage him at the intellectual level. They have found it easier to attack him as a Pied Piper, Marxist etc. to discredit him. Is it any wonder that the same ulema see no problem in supporting and/or turning a blind eye to the Sayedna and his priestly class which exemplifies the worst travesty of Islam?

[Muslim First]

http://ghulammuhammed.wordpress.com/200 ... -muhammed/

[Humsafar]

Thanks feelgud for posting the link to Asghar Ali's article. After reading the article, and then re-reading Ghulam Mohammed's comments one feels that the gentleman is protesting too much. All Asghar Ali is doing is explaining the concept of jihad in the Quranic context - and this is not new, he has done so in so many fora and books and articles - and pointing out how it is being misused and misconstrued by Muslim radicals. Nowhere he implies that "Muslims enmass or in groups are behind the recent season of violence". On the contrary, instead of joining the media bandwagon of Islam bashing, this articles explodes the myth that Islam is a violent religion. It distances Islam and ordinary Muslims from the radicals who take innocent lives in its name. Radical islamicists the world over, including India, are using jihad to justify their violent acts. And it is a duty of all Muslims to condemn it, that is if they really care about Islam and not some other political agenda. Perhaps GM maybe too chauvinistic to criticise his own misguided people but that is his problem.

As for the rest of his comments about 9/11 and riots and such, he is truly tilting at windmills.

[Ijtehadi]

Dear Readers & Responders to my post:

Thanks for posting the link of Ghulam Muhammed. By the way, there are also some very good articles on his website, one should check it out. As regards his comments on Mr. Engineer's article, all he is trying to point at is that, even without a full official investigation, Mr. Engineer has conveniently accepted the media accuasation of the Muslim Youth, even before they have been proven guilty in a court of law. Rather than just giving the historic and Quranic expalanation of Jihad, Mr. Engineer should have instead thrown more investigative light on the actual perpetraters, of these cowardly acts of terrorism.

But, as Mr. Engineer, a scholar no doubt, is a "reformist" by mentality has given his opinion from that perspective.

[Humsafar]

Ijtihadi,

I've a suspicion that you are Ghulam Mohammed posing as Ijtihadi. Why? Here's the give away:

Thanks for posting the link of Ghulam Muhammed. By the way, there are also some very good articles on his website, one should check it out.

If you did not already know the link to his blog, how did you get hold of his comment and posted them here? Unless his comments are also published elsewhere on the Web. In that case, what is your source? Then, you nonchalantly throw in a request to explore other "good articles" on his website. It's odd for someone to recommend articles on someone else's site unless it is their own.

Nevertheless, returning your rejoinder:

As regards his comments on Mr. Engineer's article, all he is trying to point at is that, even without a full official investigation, Mr. Engineer has conveniently accepted the media accuasation of the Muslim Youth, even before they have been proven guilty in a court of law.

No, this is not "all he is trying to point" out. He is doing more than that. He is making personal attacks against Asghar Ali, questioning his integrity and discrediting his reputation and scholarship. As for "conveniently accepted the media accuasation of the Muslim Youth", Asghar Ali is nowhere referring to the accused Muslim youth. This is not the first incident linking Muslim youth to violence. The Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is notorious for its toxic propaganda and organised violence. I've had a brush with them when I was callow and reckless, and I can vouch that they are more than misguided. So, Asghar Ali is referring to misguided Muslim youth in general and not in particular to the ones accused. In fact, his article does not even directly refer to the incident. His articles begin with this sentence: "The terror attacks in India as well as abroad have created an impression that jihad is central to Quranic teaching."

Rather than just giving the historic and Quranic expalanation of Jihad, Mr. Engineer should have instead thrown more investigative light on the actual perpetraters, of these cowardly acts of terrorism.

Asghar Ali is a scholar not an investigative reporter that you should expect him to throw "investigative light" on the incident. And if the whole episode is under investigation how do you expect him to know who the "actual perpetrators" are. But, by the way you say it, it seems you know who they are. In that case you are tacitly accepting and doing what you so vociferously accuse Asghar Ali of.

But, as Mr. Engineer, a scholar no doubt, is a "reformist" by mentality has given his opinion from that perspective.

I'm not really sure what you are trying to say here, but would really like to know what are you trying to say by those cynical quotes around the word "reformist".

[Smart]

@ijtehadi
You are using the well known tactic of all propagandists, "Suppreso Veri, suggestio falsi". Suppressing the truth to create false suggestions. Your first and second post are of the nudge, nudge, wink, wink type. Looking for conspiracies everywhere. You mean to say that all non muslims in India are biased? All institutions in India are hand in glove with the hindutva extremists?

Please remember that it is people like Teesta Setalvad and her ilk who fought for the muslims till the last. Can you name one muslim with her tenacity?

Don't try to paint progressives as fifth columnists, hand in glove with the hindutvavadis. Actually if you have read this forum carefully, the Syedna has paid large sums to these terrorists. His picture has been published on this very forum.

As compared to what you allege as Mr. Asgarali Engineer's midemeanours, the actions of the Syedna are orders of magnitude greater in significance. It would not be wrong to say that he is financing the murderers of his own followers.

Well what do you have to say for this?