Thursday Apr 25, 2024
Thursday Apr 25, 2024
Thursday, 25 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Muslims in Sri Lanka have fallen from their hitherto-established social standing with others, especially the Sinhalese. This fall had been happening for some time, at an incremental pace, after the end of the three-decade-old war with the Tamil Tigers and has come to its worst-case scenario now after the Easter Sunday tragedy that happened on 21 April. It is very unfortunate indeed, but the reality has to be accepted by the Muslim community.
Why did this fall happen? This is the big question and the probable answers could, if properly put forward, bring shame to all the parties directly and indirectly responsible for the fall. No entity would wish to be in the fallen state forever and thus will seek legitimate ways and means of rising-up to attain its glorious past – God willing (Insha Allah) – that will be the new chapter of the presently-beleaguered Muslims in Sri Lanka provided they adhere truly to the tenets of Islam and move forward to regain their past in better ways than what they had been misperceived by others in their social/societal interactions.
Antagonism based on power leverage
The anti-Muslim scenario espoused by a few racist-minded Sinhala Buddhists was not a direct attack on Islam, at least at the beginning, though some of their hate speeches and insults got directed at the Qur’an and the Divinity of Allah (swt) at a later stage. The antagonism is based on the power leverage that the Muslim community holds in terms of balance of power in the governance of Sri Lanka, the entrepreneurial competences of the Muslims in their business activities, the economic power they yield in buying lands/properties and finally with the often-cited large families, the last (large families) have already got minimised based on modern-day work and educational commitments as in line with the other communities.
All of these though could be slightly true but on the whole they are wishful thinking by virtue of the fact that all other communities, especially the Sinhalese, presently are as good as the Muslims or even better in the four areas identified above. The point to note is that other communities’ involvement or rather commitment within each of the above-mentioned areas, leaving the family size aside, are more or less not visible in a show-off mode whereas the ‘involvement’ of Muslims in these areas is very conspicuous.
Thus the Muslim community themselves have given the wrong signal to others as a powerful entity yet being a minority. That was the basis of a type of latent jealousy that sprung within the hearts and minds of others which has as of today blown into racial hatred towards Muslims by a small group of politically manipulated and hate-mongering Sinhalese Buddhists who by their behaviour have abandoned Buddhist teachings/Buddhism.
Change in traditional pluralistic society
The traditional Sri Lankan pluralistic society of the distant past was benign and thus each community lived peacefully minding their own vocations, social and religious obligations without any animosity generally towards any others except on and off skirmishes by religious fanatics which emerged and subsided within the location of conflicts itself. The lifestyles of each community was based on their religious/cultural orientations without impinging any harm on any others. This was the society in which honour and respect for others took primacy and money per se had a low influencing effect. The relationship between the Sinhalese and the Muslims was positively strong, which helped the two communities towards mutual goodwill and peaceful coexistence. There happened in many instances where the Sinhalese would trust the Muslims more than their own race and vice versa.
Slowly the said traditional Sri Lankan society was changing in terms of values, norms and commitments, which had to be expected as a natural phenomenon anyway, in its outlook towards upward social mobility which got accelerated through the emerging economic order of open economy and further strengthened by the concept and reality of globalisation.
The Sri Lankans in every community changed accordingly and thus emerged the materialistic paradigm that had completely erased all the good things that were cherished in the past. Society as a whole has fallen to the low level of doing anything for money – money is the commanding criterion of the present day lifestyles. Money – the filthy lucre – has become indispensable not just for survival but also to indulge in activities detrimental and dangerous to humanity and society, which the present-day Sri Lankans including the Muslims cherish for the sake of worldly gains.
Being viewed as a threat
In the past Muslims were not reckoned as a threat by the Sinhalese since the majority of Muslims were involved in small-scale businesses or shop-keeping and were not competing for Government jobs as they were on the one hand not educationally qualified for such jobs and on the other the Muslims were interested in self-employment for varied and valid reasons. The jobs in the Government and corporate sectors were initially dominated by Ceylon Tamils who got gradually replaced by Sinhalese from the year 1956 due to dedicated national policy initiatives to help the Sinhalese.
The Tamils with their educational qualifications and having relatives and friends abroad had sponsors overseas and thus got effectively employed abroad. The Muslims on the other hand did not have such opportunities and thus got involved in developing/expanding their businesses (mostly shop-keeping/retailing) and eventually their business premises in the bazaar areas in urban and rural centres became well-built and modernised as of today.
These buildings along with their luxurious furniture and fittings with their visible earning potential gave rise to resentment and envy not only among the Sinhalese and others but also within the downtrodden Muslims too. This was the beginning of the enmity the Sinhalese developed towards the Muslims based on their assertion that 10% Muslim population are financially enriching themselves by earning from 90% others.
Though this may appear correct in a simple and unsophisticated thinking, there is a fallacy in this. No marketing professional would advocate such a philosophy which will be counter-productive to consumer behaviour. Customers buy their requirements to satisfy their needs based on quality, value for money spent and definitely not on ethic or race criteria of the sellers. Thus those who instruct the Sinhalese not to buy goods from Muslim shops are doing a disservice to the psyche of the Sinhalese which eventually will lead the Sinhalese to lose rationality. Such a boycott cannot be sustained in the long run.
The economy of Sri Lanka at the macro-level did fall heavily immediately after the Easter tragedy in April 2019. The violence against the Muslims on 13 and 14 May in the North Western Province by the Sinhala Buddhists having a hidden political agenda, and the subsequent bashing of Muslims through hate-speeches, advocating to boycott Muslim businesses and cherry-picking of unrelated instances to the Easter massacre to corner the Muslim community as a whole, have by now brought down the micro-economy as well to its lowest level. Though all communities are affected in one way or other in this economic downturn, it is the Muslim community that has got affected heavily.
Had everyone, especially the Sinhalese Buddhists, focussed their attention on redeeming Sri Lanka from the after effects of the Easter massacre, we would have by now risen up to build (or re-build) the economy to a favourable state without getting involved in anti-Muslim violence. Unfortunately, the Easter tragedy happened at a time where party politics including personal politics were cunningly preparing themselves for the forthcoming Presidential Election in December.
They made use of the Easter mayhem to boost their Sinhalese Buddhist votes by inflicting violence on the Muslims in all forms through physical destructions of Muslim properties, creating varied myths about Muslims and speaking of Islam in disparaging/derogatory manner without realising that they are in effect insulting a part of Sri Lanka citizenry – what a shame on the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka that is supposed to uphold the Buddhist doctrine/principles.
Being ‘attacked’ or vilified on two fronts
Today the Muslim community is being ‘attacked’ or vilified on two fronts viz. boycotting of the Muslim businesses and the overt exclusiveness shown by certain sections of the Sinhalese populace in their interactions with the Muslims – the latter aspect could be overcome to a large extent by the Muslims by being indifferent to the social exclusiveness shown by the Sinhalese and thereby moving as usual with them and thus – Insha Allah – rejuvenating the Sinhala-Muslim relationship bond as it had been existing before – a difficult task but could be achieved with genuine efforts.
Generally, in normal situations the Sinhalese are a very considerate and helpful people and would lend themselves to justice and fair-play unless they have been brainwashed to be otherwise as in the present context which episode will definitely fade away with time. Let the Muslims stretch their hands of friendship to all the Sinhalese in spite of the fact a small group of the latter have unconsciously become belligerent towards Muslims due to misrepresentation of their (Muslims’) behavioural pattern and indoctrinating hatred in the Sinhalese masses by the Sinhala Buddhist racists. This process is more dangerous to the Sinhalese in the long run as the hatred ‘injected’ into the psyche of the Sinhala masses against the Muslims could turn around themselves when divergent societal and/or political issues emerge in the future.
The issue of boycotting Muslim businesses is barbaric by all standards and could not have emerged except from warped minds. When the entire Muslims in Sri Lanka had no share in the Easter tragedy and have condemned the perpetrators of the Easter tragedy as not within the fold of Islam, what logic is there to assign the tragedy on the Muslim community?
All kinds of cognitive aberration have penetrated the thinking process of the racists. The first is the statement that the 10% Muslims are having their earnings from the 90% others. What about the Tamil (13%) businesses? Are they not earning from Sinhalese and Muslims? What about the Sinhalese (70%) businesses? Are they not earning from Tamils and Muslims? This kind of racist statement is only good at destroying the hitherto existing harmonious social fabric binding all the communities in Sri Lanka.
The second statement is that the Muslim businesses financially support terrorist organisations. An untruth of the highest magnitude. Imaginations are always harmful and detrimental not only to the entities accused of but also to the accusers themselves.
Another statement that Muslim eating places (hotels) serve food that impacts on the fertility of the Sinhalese customers, preventing them from conceiving thereafter. What a foolish statement! This foolish story is not new anyway – it had been existing for a long time and though there were no takers for this fanciful hypothesis, yet there were some gullible to the story.
Apart from such statements already made, new versions are poured forth, the latest being attributed to Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter who has said that some of the devotees coming to his temple have said that the Muslims should be stoned to death which he condones though he did not make that statement himself – what a pathetic situation to which Buddhism has been pushed into in Sri Lanka.
The remedy
The remedy for the Muslims is to ascertain where they are at this point of time. Each Muslim family (or even any individual Muslim) will know their respective financial position. This is the time for the Muslims to help the deserving Muslims in whatever ways possible. The rich Muslims while experiencing their own financial difficulties due to the prevailing anti-Muslim rhetoric must definitely come forward to render assistance to the presently affected Muslims who were otherwise financially stable before the anti-Muslim crisis.
This help will go as Sadaqa (charity) for which Allah (swt) will reward the giver immensely in this world and the Hereafter. This should be considered as a time given by Allah (swt) for charity and could be a trial by Him to strengthen the Imaan (faith) of all Muslims. Qur’an: Ch2, V153, ‘O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient’. Also Ch2. V 155,‘And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient’. Therefore, those who are affected – indeed the entire Muslim community is affected – should not lose hope in Allah (swt). Allah (swt) will show you a way out from today’s difficult situation – ask Dua (supplicate)continuously for redress. Qur’an: Ch 09 V 40, ‘La Tahzan, Inn Allaha Ma’ana! – Don’t Be Sad; Indeed, Allah is with us’. This is what our beloved prophet (pbuh) said to Abu Bakr (ra) when they were hiding in the cave in Mount Thawr.
Let us remember and put into practice that there is no help except from Allah (swt) to rise up from the present difficult situation. In order to derive the blessings and help of Allah (swt), we Muslims must hold fast to Taqwa (righteousness) –Qur’an: Ch 78 V 31, ‘Innalil Muthaqeena Mafaza’ – ‘Indeed the Righteous are the Successful’.
The Muslims are in a very bad and dangerous situation today. Before we go further in this write-up, let us pose a relevant question: Have the Muslims by their behaviour contrary to Islam earned the calamity they are facing now? Let the Muslims reflect on their lifestyles and behaviour and answer this question and seek redress thereafter. After answering the above question and genuinely determined to reform and get back into the path of Islam, we have to ask Dua (supplicate) and at the same time take appropriate actions individually and collectively to rise up from the present situation. This could be achieved if and only if we self-reflect ourselves and realise the many deviations and sins we have been committing in our dealings with others and in our duty to Allah (swt).
Unless the Muslims realise their faults and genuinely rectify the damages that they have inflicted on others by way of compensating the affected persons, say, in their inheritance matters, money transactions, land disputes, business dealings, cheatings, etc. such Muslims will not be able to get the blessings and help from Allah (swt). Qur’an: Ch 13, V 11, ‘Indeed, Allah (swt) will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves’. This Qur’anic verse must be understood in its proper perspective as it is used by some Muslims to mislead others in situations where the application of this verse is incorrect or irrelevant. What Qur’an, Ch 13, V 11, says is that unless the people change their un-Islamic lifestyles and the sins they are committing, Allah (swt) will not change them to be better Muslims.
Reformation of Muslims
The reformation of Muslims to be in the true path of Islam is the essential criterion to get relief from the present calamity – that is the intra- religious aspect. Along with the religious aspect we have to find solutions through political, societal and other faith-based interventions. Muslims have not started any of these though speeches, media appearances, articles, write-ups abound and none of these have brought in the expected relief to the Muslims. The Muslim politicians, as all other politicians, have used their parliamentary and/or ministerial positions to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary Muslim population – which is in effect Haram earnings and Haram wealth. They help their henchmen only and they are, as any other corrupt politician, equally corrupt to the core.
Wrongdoings of some of the Muslim ministers unacceptable to Islamic principles and cannot be acceptable by the society at large are also one of the causes of anti-Muslim agitations that prompted up and still prevailing without any solution in sight. Knowing very well the Government is not exerting itself to curtail the anti-Muslim surge by small groups of Sinhala Buddhist racists, the Muslim parliamentarians and ministers should have taken up the issue by themselves to force the Government to act legitimately to stop forthwith the spread of anti-Muslim hatred that was not only destroying the Muslim properties and their way of life but also the established social fabric of the Sri Lankan nation. Are these Muslim parliamentarians and minsters powerless? Then it is time that the Muslims reject them in any future elections and seek alternative persons (may be honest members of other faiths) to represent them.
The Muslim clerics, Muslim intellectuals/professionals, Muslim community leaders are all equally guilty too in being silent on this anti-Muslim issues. Why do not these Muslims speak out to counter hate speeches? Is it fear? Is that they do not wish to get into trouble? Are they incapable to challenge the racists? In such cases such personalities cannot be taken as true Muslims.
A Muslim not only lives for himself but also for the sake of the Muslim Ummah. Anti-Muslim speeches and Muslim bashing have become the survival strategy of some of the Buddhist monks and it is the Islamic duty of Muslims to check this trend in peaceful ways so that Sri Lanka would emerge again as a peaceful nation Insha Allah – Ameen. We need a paradigm shift: From ‘hatred and racism’ to ‘love and human values’.
(The writer is a Freelance Consultant in Management Studies and can be reached via email [email protected].)
