a day of hatred and violence. Almost every leader is using the Friday
gathering for political ends.
This is a very dangerous sign. This is making use of the religion
of God for communal and political purposes. This is exactly what
happened in the case of the Jews during their phase of degeneration.
According to the Quran, this stand taken by the Jews incurred the
wrath of God. If Muslims adopt a similar stand, they will not be able
to save themselves from its bitter consequences. No exception is
made for any community in this matter.
I wasted the whole of my Life
Awell known Kashmiri scholar, who was also called the “Mufakkir”
(thinker) of Kashmir, was one of the leaders of the continuing
political militant movement launched in Kashmir two decades ago.
On December 13, 1990, at the age of 87, he was shot dead in Kashmir
by some Muslim youths.
In a meeting on November 28, 2011, a Kashmiri Muslim told me
that some time before his death he had given my book, ‘Al-Islam’ to
this leader. In a later meeting the leader admitted to him that he was
in total agreement with the content of the book. He further said
that after reading it, he realized that he had wasted his whole life.
With intense regret, he said, “I wish I had found this book earlier.”
These words of the slain leader might be taken as the last word of
a dying person. In the lifetime of the scholar, theKashmiris had taken
his advice in the political field. Now they should take his advice in
the matter of launching a different kind of Islamic movement. That
is, the people of Kashmir should abandon the way of violence and
opt for treading the path of peace. They should abandon political
activism and opt for engaging in peaceful
dawah
work. In the words
of a Persian poet, it is as if the soul of the slain leader is saying to the
Kashmiris:
Man na kardam, shuma hazar ba kunaid
(I could not refrain (from politics) you ought to refrain from
it).
The Gate of Paradise
Once the Emperor Jahangir (d. 1627) visited Kashmir. On seeing
the beautiful scenes of nature in the valley, he exclaimed:
16
The Dawn Over Kashmir
