Prafull Goradia

The Hadith records that the Prophet exhorted his followers to shun celibacy and marry in order to produce as much progeny as possible

There were two reports last weekend in national dailies relating to the much-debated issue of religious conversion. The first one is a statement by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale. He said that people changing their faith must disclose their conversion. The second report is about a woman, Nisha, who married a man who had not disclosed that he was a Muslim and married Nisha claiming to be a Hindu. She discovered his real identity well after their marriage. For some years, the husband has reportedly been pressuring her to convert and she was resisting. When the husband couldn't succeed, he along with his friends killed her.

Such confrontations of interfaith marriages are being frequently reported. The phenomenon needs to be examined. One may refer to the Hadith where it is recorded that Prophet Muhammad exhorted his followers to shun celibacy and marry in order to produce as much progeny as possible. Marriage is enjoined upon every Muslim and celibacy has been frequently condemned by the Prophet. It is related to the stipulations in the Sunnah or Islamic traditions that Muhammad said, “When the servant of God marries, he perfects half his religion.” On one occasion, the Prophet asked a man if he was married and being answered in the negative, asked him whether he was sound and healthy. Upon the man replying that he was, Muhammad replied, “Then thou art one of the brothers of the Devil” (Mishkat-ul-Masabih, Book XII). One of the Prophet's companions, Usman Ibn Magun, wished to lead a life of celibacy but the Prophet forbade him.

Islam lays great stress on the numbers of its people. The same Mishkat-ul-Masabih quotes the prophet: “Marry women who will love their husband and be very prolific, for I wish you to be more numerous than any other people.” Muslims are permitted to marry four free women and to have as many slaves for concubines, as they may have acquired (The Qur'an; Surah IV 3). Mohammedan law fixes no particular age when discretion should be presumed (Dictionary of Islam by Thomas Patrick Hughes; published by Rupa & Co. Delhi).

Although the Quranic principle that there is “no compulsion in religion” (Qur'an Surah-II, Verse 256) is often quoted by those of the faith or those sympathetic to it to prove that the religion does not practice forced conversion, there can be no denying the historical fact that episodes of forced conversions have occurred in the history of Islam over the centuries. Pakistan, which was founded as a separate Muslim homeland and is a declared Islamic State, is particularly notorious for the abduction and forced conversion of Hindu, Sikh and Christian girls. This continues even today, in the supposedly modern 21st century.

The fountain of inspiration for the common Muslim, who indulges in such mischief as mentioned above, or “love jihad” for that matter, is his scriptures. This is the argument Mahatma Gandhi had used. When asked to comment on the Moplah riots of Kerala in 1921, he had said, “The Moplahs were following their religion. To that extent, they were not committing a crime.” In 1927, Abdul Rashid murdered Swami Shradhanand in the latter's sickbed. Gandhi called the murderer “my brother”. I suppose he was implying that both he and Abdul Rashid were religious individuals.

An Urdu teacher was associated with me for eight years. One afternoon, in a pensive mood, he said to me that he was a “failed man”. My surprised reaction was that he was a good and honest man. Why should he say so? He clarified that he was not a badshah (emperor) nor could become a rich man so that he could give employment to people. He was also no military commander who upon winning any battle, could convert people to the faith of Allah. He had not been able to marry owing to business failures, which could have enabled him to bring forth followers for his faith.

All these examples prove the innocence of people who marry wrongly because of deception. Even those who do so openly by declaring their religion are not necessarily immoral, but slaves of their faith. The reason why they want their wives who come from non-Muslim communities to be converted to their faith by the recital of the

kalima (Muslim prayer of declaration of faith, enjoined as mandatory for every believer), is to make sure their children grow up as Muslims and not half-caste. The fact that a greater number of such unfortunate girls are Hindu is because there are more Hindus. Hindus go to schools and colleges in greater numbers than Muslims. Due to this easier contact, love jihad is easy.

Propaganda, rather than policing, is the suggested first step. The clergy should be contacted and told about the damaging communal consequences of the happenings, with also a request to pass on this message to as many young men as possible. Publicity through television and newspapers by the leaders of the community would be desirable. It is already becoming late and it would be traumatic for good young men and women to suffer damage or harm in any way.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an author and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. The views expressed are personal.)