Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 236
236 islam’s response to contemporary issues asserted that the first loyalty would be to the French people and the government of France and no Vatican Pope would be permitted to govern the affairs of Roman Catholics in France nor would Roman Catholicism be permitted to interfere in the affairs of the state. In recent history, my own community, the Ahmadi Muslims, in Pakistan faced serious problems on similar grounds. As the influence of medievalist clergy began to rise under the patronage of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the longest ruling military dictator of Pakistan, Ahmadis became increasingly popular victims of this age-old accusation of divided loyalties. The Government of Pakistan under General Zia even proceeded to issue a sort of White Paper against Ahmadis proclaiming that Ahmadis were neither loyal to Islam nor to the state of Pakistan. It was the same spirit of madness possessing new subjects. The wine remains the same though the goblets have changed. More recently, during the notorious Salman Rushdie affair, Muslims in Britain and many parts of Europe faced a similar problem of being accused of possessing divided loyalties. Although its intensity did not reach a fever pitch, yet the potent damage it poses to inter- community relations should not be under-estimated. Should Religion Have Exclusive Legislative Authority? It is a universal phenomenon, therefore, which has never been seriously investigated. Neither politicians nor religious leaders have ever resolved the thin blue dividing line between religion and the state.