Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 56
Murder in the Name of Allah responsibility from which there is no escape? But what of the person who was born of Muslim parents and who has not embraced Islam?. He is a Muslim by birth. If, on reaching adulthood, he wants to reject the faith, you threaten him with execution and he remains Muslim; this would be unjust. And it also provides sustenance to the ever-growing number of born hypocrites in Muslim society. There are two answers to this question, one deals with the practical aspect, the other with the principle. In principle there can be no distinction between the born followers of a religion and that religion's converts. And no religion has ever made that distinction. Both converts and born followers are governed by the same laws. It is both impossible and a logical absurdity to treat the children of the followers of a religion as kufar or aliens till they are adults, then give them the choice of choosing or rejecting the religion (or citizenship, for that matter) of their birth. No society in the world could manage its affairs in this way. ²² 22. Even if we accept the Maududian law that Islam prescribes death for apostasy and that all Muslims except Jamaati Islami are kafir, we cannot treat non-Maududian Muslims as apostates - even according to the Maulana's own logic. They are ‘born kafir'. The Maulana wants to have his cake and eat it too! Muslims who disagree with the. Maududian concept of Islam are first described as both ‘born Muslims' and kafir, because they were brought up by their parents in a kafirana environment. Then they are called apostates because on reaching the age of consent they did not reject their parents' Islam in preference to Maududian Islam. A non-Muslim who joins Islam and then recants should be executed because he became Muslim knowing full well there was no escape. Similarly, a non-Maududian-born. Muslim should also be treated as an apostate because he did not accept Maulana Maududi's version of Islam on reaching adulthood. . This is the argument which clearly shows the Maulana's dictatorial,' manipulative and intolerant personality. No Muslim, convert or born, is out of his reach. The Quranic ordinance that 'there shall be no compulsion in religion' is explained away in the following words:. This means we do not compel anyone to embrace our religion. This is true. But we must warn anyone who wishes to recant that this door is impassable to free traffic. If you wish to come, do so with the firm decision that you cannot escape. . A leading scholar of the Ahl-i Quran, Ghulam Ahmad Parvez, referring to this Maududian commentary on the Quranic verse, said 'Maududi. Sahib's Islam is a mouse-trap: the mouse can get into it, but cannot escape. 56