Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 121
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 121 during the course of a campaign blatantly boasted that ‘if we return to Medina, the one most honoured (i. e. himself) will surely drive out therefrom the meanest (i. e. referring to the Holy Prophet(sa)) ‘ ( Chapter 63, Verse 9 ). The faithful Companions of the Prophet(sa) were outraged, none moreso than Abdullah’s own son who was a sincere Muslim. With sword drawn, he implored the Prophet(sa) to grant him per- mission to slay his own father! Many other Muslims also came to the Holy Prophet(sa), but each and every time he refused and em- phatically declared that absolutely no action would be taken against Abdullah for his blatant blasphemy. This incident, however, does not end here. Many years later, when Abdullah eventually died, the Holy Prophet(sa) himself stood up to conduct his burial proceedings. The Holy Prophet(sa) was well known to be full of compassion, and the milk of human kind- ness, yet this action of his surprised even some of his most faithful companions. This is the real Islam as taught in the Holy Qur’an and put into exemplary practice by Prophet Muhammad(sa), whose noble example all Muslims are bidden to follow. A religion should not be judged by the actions and notions of a handful of present-day extremist followers, but rather it should be judged from the more authentic and reliable sources on which the religion is based. Would it be right, for instance, to judge Christianity from the modern-day Catholic-Protestant conflict of Northern Ireland, a war that was be- ing waged in the very name of Christianity ? Or from the ‘Christian’ atrocities of the Middle Ages such as the Spanish Inquisition where tortures like the ‘rack’, and an ingeniously horrific device known as the ‘Iron Maiden’ were used to extract the ‘truth’. Was this the Christianity practiced and professed by Jesus who was himself the object of severe and untold persecution ? Common-sense, sound intellect and a large dose of tolerance still go a long way to creating amity among different faiths, nations and communities. But the Western media took the Rushdie Affair and