Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 40
40 have religious discussions with Jews and Christians. When the Caliph Umar came to Muhammad carrying a Jewish or Christian book, the latter was angry. ’ (p. 43). Sir Hamilton Gibb oversteps the mark even further in his book Modern Trends in Islam (University of Chicago Press, 1947; p. 125), when he says that the presentation of Islamic history by the Ulema came to be ‘invested with religious sanctions, so that to question it came to be regarded as heresy. ’ What a distorted and false picture of Islam they have painted. It was Muhammad(sa) himself who showed the greatest practical ex- ample of tolerance and respect to people not only of other faiths but also to pagans as well. Not only did he emphasise the desirability of tolerance in religious matters but also he set a very high standard himself. By way of example, it is narrated that : ‘A deputation from a Christian tribe of Najran visited him in Medina to exchange views on religious matters. It included several Church dignitaries. The conversation was held in the mosque and extended over several hours. At one stage the leader of the deputation asked permission to depart from the mosque and to hold their religious service at some convenient spot. The Holy Prophet (sa) said that there was no need for them to go out of the mosque, which was itself consecrated to the worship of God, and that they could hold their service in it. ’ (Zurqani) Surely in this incident, which is only one of many that occurred in the life of the Holy Prophet(sa), we can see displayed the height of respect and tolerance never before or since manifested by any other faith or prophet. It is sheer jealousy of the universality of Islam and its self-efficiency that haunts and hurts the Christians and their true fear is also expressed by Watt who says : ‘This lack of interest in everything other than Islam and the Islamic world is not surprising when one remembers the picture of world-history developed by Muslim scholars out of Qur’anic perceptions. Since Muhammad was the final Prophet