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Arshad Madani, Mahmood Madani “unity” remarks stir controversy and here’s why

IndiaArshad Madani, Mahmood Madani "unity" remarks stir controversy and here's why

Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani’s remarks in the annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hindin attempts to“bring unity” stirred controversy and here’s why

The plenary session of the event took place on Sunday, February 12, 2023. According to a release issued by Jamiat on Saturday, the prominent Muslim organization also passed a 17-point resolution.

Mahmood Madani’s Remarks

On February 11, 2023, Saturday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) president Maulana Mahmood Madani claimed that India is the “birthplace of Islam” and asserted that the country belongs to him as much as it does to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Mahmood Madani said it is wrong to suggest that Islam came from outside while claiming that the “first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here”.

The Jamiat chief appealed to the RSS to urge its affiliates to shun “hate and enmity” and jointly work for making the country the most developed in the world. He also urged both Hindus and Muslims of the country to defy extremism and live with each other in peace.

Mahmood Madani’s remarks came during his two speeches – one Friday evening and the other Saturday afternoon – during the annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction).

“The distinction of this land is that the first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here. This land is the birthplace of Islam and the first homeland of Muslims. Therefore, to say that Islam is a religion that came from outside is completely wrong and historically baseless,” he said on Friday.

“This is our country. As much as this country belongs to Narendra Modi and Mohan Bhagwat, it belongs to Mahmood. Neither Mahmood is one inch ahead of them nor are they one inch ahead of Mahmood,” he said.

Arshad Madani’s Remarks

Muslim body chief’s ‘Om and Allah’ remark sparks a row; angry religious leaders leave the stage in fury on Sunday as Arshad Madani speaks during the ongoing annual

Later, during the general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Ramlila ground in Delhi another arousing statement was made.

He said, “I asked dharma guru when there was no one, neither Shri Ram, nor Brahma, then whom did they worship to? Some people told me that they used to worship Om. Then I told them that this means that there is only one Om or Allah, and both are the same, and it is the only thing Manu used to worship. There was no Shiv, no Brahma, but only one Om and Allah that was worshipped Om is called Allah by us, Ishwar by you (Hindus), Khuda by Farsi-speaking people (Persian) and God by English-speaking people.”Arshad Madani was reportedly speaking during the ongoing annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Ramlila ground in Delhi.

Arshad Madani also said, “Hindus and Muslims have been living in the country like brothers for around 1400 years, and we have never forcedly converted anyone into Islam.”It is only under the BJP government that we heard that 20 crore Muslims should be sent home. By sending them home, they meant converting them to Hindus. These people don’t know anything about India’s history,” he added.

After the address of Arshad Madani, Jain Muni Acharya Lokesh Muni, who was present on the stage, expressed his displeasure over the statement and said, “We only agree with living in harmony, but all the story regarding, Om, Allah, and Manu is all rubbish. He (Madani) completely spoiled the atmosphere of the session.”The stories he said, I can narrate even bigger stories than that. I would even request him (Madani) to come for a discussion with me, or even I can come to meet him in Saharanpur,” ANI quoted Jain as saying.

He added that it should be remembered that the first Jain Tirthankar was Rishabh, and his sons were Bharata and Bahubali, on whose name this country ‘Bharat’ was named. “You can’t erase this. We don’t agree with those statements,” a seemingly angry Jain said.

Jain and several other religious leaders then walked off the stage.

Here Are The Reasons Why Mahmood Madani And  Arshad Madani’s Remarks Sparked Controversies

An attempt of diplomacy that hit all the wrong chords

While both leaders appeared to be placating the Hindus during this event through diplomatic statements, no one was happy about it and the reasons for this were many but the foremost was the very topic itself was sensitive, religion, with its core principles discussed in the present atmosphere of religious unrest and disturbance.

These were unnecessary statements of laws already firmly established in the Indian constitution

When all Indians no matter which religion or caste they belong to are all ethnic Indians over generations, there is absolutely no reason to bring up the topic of who belongs to India or who does not.  The very assertion of these words fires from a line of defense and why should anyone in India be defensive to assert they are Indians?  The question should not even arise.

On Saturday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) president Maulana Mahmood Madani claimed that India is the “birthplace of Islam” and asserted that the country belongs to him as much as it does to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Mahmood Madani said it is wrong to suggest that Islam came from outside while claiming that the “first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here”.

The Jamiat chief appealed to the RSS to urge its affiliates to shun “hate and enmity” and jointly work for making the country the most developed in the world. He also urged both Hindus and Muslims of the country to defy extremism and live with each other in peace.

In a public alliance peaceful meeting, religious academic arguments should not ever be brought up

Arshad Madani’s remarks about ‘Om and Allah’ remark being one was uncalled for.   No one was meeting for a religious political debate of proving points of their religion and the occasion on a public platform should not have permitted any comments that would spark controversies.  As Indians have seen in the past, TV debates have created rows over the country.

Unnecessary academic religious arguments should never be in the public purview.  Arshad Madani’s speech should have focused on unity in diversity, and learning to live together in harmony.

These comments excluded communism, atheism, Jainism, and Buddhism from the periphery of India, which was unfair

Jainism and Buddhism are excluded…by saying Oom and Allah same  “I asked dharma guru when there was no one, neither Shri Ram nor Brahma, then whom did they worship to? Some people told me that they used to worship Om. Then I told them that this means that there is only one Om or Allah, and both are the same, and it is the only thing Manu used to worship. There was no Shiv, no Brahma, but only one Om and Allah that was worshipped Om is called Allah by us, Ishwar by you (Hindus), Khuda by Farsi-speaking people (Persian) and God by English-speaking people.”Arshad Madani was reportedly speaking during the ongoing annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Ramlila ground in Delhi.

As mentioned earlier, Jain Muni Acharya Lokesh Muni, who was present on the stage was upset and said “We only agree with living in harmony, but all the story regarding, Om, Allah, and Manu is all rubbish. He (Madani) completely spoiled the atmosphere of the session.”The stories he said, I can narrate even bigger stories than that. I would even request him (Madani) to come for a discussion with me, or even I can come to meet him in Saharanpur,” ANI quoted Jain as saying.

He added that it should be remembered that the first Jain Tirthankar was Rishabh, and his sons were Bharata and Bahubali, on whose name this country ‘Bharat’ was named. “You can’t erase this. We don’t agree with those statements,” the Jain leader said.

Jain and several other religious leaders then walked off the stage.

India is a Multi-Source Civilization

Based on studies, “India is a multi-source civilization, not a single-source one, drawing our cultural impulses, traditions, and practices from a variety of heredities and migration histories. We are all Indians. We are all migrants who came from somewhere and we are all mixed.”

The Indo-Aryan (North Indians) migrations started in approximately 2000 BCE, presumably coming from the regions of Iran known as the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley.

Therefore, to try to argue that Muslims belong to India as equally as the prime minister of India is like everyone in India suddenly trying to prove they are original Indians which should never be the case.  Migrations to India came over the centuries from both the North, South, East, and West, mostly from Central Asia and Africa.  Today, no Indian should be even getting into an argument that they have to prove their origins.  We are all Indians, mixed in ethnicities, with a multi-source civilization and our diversities should be accepted as the oneness of India.

 Mahmood Madani said it is wrong to suggest that Islam came from outside while claiming that the “first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here”.  Factually, Mahmood Madani was incorrect to say that the first Prophet of Islam Adam descended from India.  According to the Holy Books such as the Bible and Quran, a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.  The name of the first is the Pishon, the second river was the Gihon, the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria and the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Tigris River flows from southern Turkey through Iraq into the Persian Gulf and could be closer to Mesopotamia which is the present-day historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia occupies modern Iraq. In the broader sense, the historical region included present-day Iraq and parts of present-day Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.

Some have suspicions that the BJP organized this event to capture the big headlines when the “Adani scam” is going on.

 The timing of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Ramlila ground in Delhi was perceived to be a devious plan by the BJP due to the “Adani scam” which is gripping the headlines.  As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties are heavily linked with Adani, getting all the major deals from the government of India since 2014 over the past five years, the Adani Group, a massive conglomerate of companies, rose in value by 2,500%, with a private sector monopoly on everything from electricity to coal, and Adani’s net worth touched $127bn. . The industrialist’s personal wealth went from $2.8bn in 2014 to $127bn by the end of 2022.

After Modi won the 2014 general election, he flew back to Delhi on Adani’s plane, captured in a now iconic photo of him in front of the Adani logo. Adani also became a regular companion on Modi’s international trips, sometimes officially as part of a business delegation but other times unofficially, and, according to a 2015 report, was present during Modi’s visits to the United States, Australia, Brazil, Japan, France, and Canada.

Thus, suspicion is raised in minds of the people that the annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was arranged as a distraction with triggering comments which would take off the attention from Gautam Adani’s huge scam.

Conclusion

Thus, the focus of the meeting should have been peace, harmony, and unity in diversity urging and encouraging all Indians to accept our differences in diversity in cordial harmony, not trying to make “all religions the same”  Unfortunately, the two leaders digressed along another pathway.

By Dr. Jalis Nasiri

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