in New Delhi and the following conversation was published in The New York Times, 27 January 2012. What is your reaction to the protests against Salman Rushdie’s participation in the Jaipur Literature Festival

who are not representative of the Muslim community. The protesters were completely wrong in doing what they did. Salman Rushdie has every right to come to this country. I heard his interview after the

will cease to exist. According to Islam, you have to counter a book with a book; statement with statement. Countering a statement with violence is not right. It is un-Islamic. Protest and argument are two

perpetrated acts of violence in France and Denmark. As usual, these acts were performed in the name of Islam. After these incidents the US administration organized a three-day conference in Washington during

occasion President Barack Obama said that Islam as a religion was not responsible for the recent violence. It was rather an external ideology—not based on Islamic teachings—that was behind these acts. Those

political interpretation of Islam has become an ideology that promotes violence.   What is this ideology? President Obama did not mention this. It is the political interpretation of Islam, devised in the twentieth

PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAMWhat Needs To Be Done ONE of the greatest causes of anti-Islamic sentiment among many non-Muslims is the way many Muslims themselves understand, interpret and express Islam—for instance

be clearly understood, are part of Muslim culture, not part of Islam. Muslims must abandon them and follow the true teachings of Islam. Islam cultivates equality and not supremacism; it is a spirit-based

and Islam exhorts its followers to adopt the peaceful method, as against the violent method. Related to this above-mentioned issue, some Muslims claim that some non-Muslims are biased against Islam because

BOOK REVIEWName of the Book: Non-Violence and Peace-Building in Islam Author: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Published by: Goodword Books, New Delhi (India) (www.goodwordbooks.com) Year: 2017 Pages: 127 ISBN:

barbarity somewhere in the world being committed in the name of Islam. Today, there is an urgent need for popularizing an alternate understanding of Islam, one rooted in a commitment to peace, nonviolence and intercommunity

alone, crucially depends on this. Promoting that understanding of Islam has been one of the major concerns of New Delhi-based Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan over a great part of his life. In this

presence, so much that he could hardly be heard, and the Prophet would often have to ask him to repeat what he had said. This is the way of the faithful. A believer may unknowingly raise his voice above that

must lower one’s voice like the early Islamic believers. What is the attitude which can inculcate such behaviour in the present day Muslims? It is to do with making Islam an integral part of one’s life as

any difference between the two. The relationship between Islam and a Muslim should be like that of dye and water, not of the stone and water. Islam should not just be an accessory to a Muslim’s life: it

real teachings of Islam were followed, no disagreement would escalate to the point of violence. There is a relevant saying of the Prophet— “God grants to non-violence what he does not grant to violence

peaceful methods are far more useful and result-oriented Muslims must be judged in the light of Islam, not Islam in the light of Muslim actions. in the achievement of any goal. Violent methods can only bring

here, to add that ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ are not terms that are interchangeable. Islam is the name of an ideology, while Muslims are the group of people who profess to have adopted Islam as their religion

MAULANAMaulana Wahiduddin Khan in a Discussion with an Academic From Sweden You say that the essence of Islam is peace. But how is it that there are hardly any democracies among the numerous Muslim countries

practice; between Islam and Muslims’ attitudes and behaviour. Muslim countries are not truly Islamic. The sources of Islam are only two—the Quran and the practice or Sunnah of the Prophet of Islam. You need to

to evaluate Muslims on the criterion of the Quran and Sunnah. Islam acknowledges democracy and was the first to introduce democratic ideology. The Quran talks of a system based on mutual consultation,

cause of various forms of social conflict. When these conflicts assume a violent form, they become what is called ‘war’. Because of this mind-set of man, war has been a basic aspect of human history down

from this angle, history reveals itself to have passed through three periods of war. The first is what can be called ‘Political War’; the second, ‘Class War’; and the third, ‘Ideological War’. The long

ideologues who invented a political interpretation of Islam, which was geared to fuelling ideological wars. This political interpretation of Islam gained widespread acceptance among Muslims across the

people believe that Islam advocates for a religious state. But, this is not true. The Islamic concept of state is almost the same as what is termed the democratic state today. The Islamic concept of state

state. It means that as far as social affairs are concerned, there are no dogmatic principles in Islam. Social affairs will be decided through consensus of opinion. The well-known principle, 'Government

says: Establish the rule of Islam. Also, in the history of Islam, there has been no particular political system. For example, the four Caliphs of the early period of Islam were elected through four different

Questions Answered Why is Islamophobia spreading outrageously in the whole world? The term ‘Islamophobia’ has come to denote prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam or Muslims. In my

real fact is contrary to what Muslims think. For example, if the bereaved family members of the victims of the recent killings in Manchester hold complaints about Muslims or Islam, it is but natural. It

It is not due to Islamophobia; their complaint is in fact a reason-based complaint whereas phobia is an irrational aversion and it develops without a reason. Therefore it is correct to say that there is