Islam is a religion of Peace - Rakesh Bhatt

by Soter D'Souza

17th December 2015

Panjim - "Islam is a religion of Peace", says Rakesh Bhatt, a Hindu Brahmin from Garhwal in Uttaranchal who extensively studied the religion and engaged in dialogue with Muslims in Iran, Iraq, Syria while serving as a diplomat on the West-Asia desks in the Indian Mission. According to Bhatt, the mere reading of portions of the text and not the whole text in the Holy Koran, and not attempting to understand the core intent in the teachings of the texts is one of the reason for so much turbulence in the Muslim community. He also agreed with the common opinion that the unprecedented humiliation of the Muslim world by the Western World has helped a section of Muslims exploit the sentiments in the community to capture power by resorting to brutal violence.

The misinterpretation of the term 'Jihad' to mean a Holy War by the western world and the reckless labelling of non-believers as 'Kafir' (infidel) by Muslim fanatics is not the intent of the Koran. He explained that the term 'Jihad' was a call to the believers for acts of 'ultimate goodness' in relation to one's neighbour and the utterance of the word 'Kafir' from the lips of a follower of Islam is actually forbidden by Allah. According to Mr. Bhatt, conversions to Islam are forbidden by the Koran as it is only God who has the power to convert the heart. The Muslim is a mere messenger who has to disseminate God’s word and move on.

He further explained how the Koran forbids Muslims to indulge in violence and bloodshed. Violence may be resorted to only in extreme cases and that too while defending the rights of the meek and poor against a hostile aggressor. Some stories of the strategies adopted by Muslims to defend themselves by minimising the use of violence against invading forces was shared by M. Bhatt.

The issue of El-Baghdadi declaring himself Khalifa (Caliph) is also against the teachings in Islam, according to Mr. Bhatt. The caliphate has to be chosen by the believers and cannot be nominated or self-appointed and so far there have been only four caliphates. Declaring oneself a Khalifa is an unislamic act.

On being asked about the homogenisation in interpretations of the Koran being a possible solution to tackle varied interpretations by Islamic fundamentalists to suit their agendas, Mr. Bhatt was of the opinion that diversity in interpretation needs to be preserved, or else we could have a situation like El-Baghdadi imposing his interpretation as the authentic one and expecting Muslims to follow it. Mr. Bhatt again drew attention to the texts in the Koran which draws the analogy about the difference in the five fingers and the unique finger prints of every individual to show that God created diversity even though He could have created every creature alike. 

Further, Mr. Bhatt said that it was his personal opinion that tackling fanaticism in religion becomes difficult when the State and the Religion are one as in the case of many States in West Asia and neighbouring Pakistan. Therefore, the growing attempts to merge the State and Religion in India by citing the example of the Muslim world could prove detrimental and that is why there is opposition to such a trend.

The former journalist, Dr. Sudhirender Sharma who is accompanying Mr. Bhatt on this spiritual tour to engage with various religious groups concerned about the welfare of Islam also moderated the discussion and shared his observations from interactions held in Kerala, Karnataka and at Sawantwadi. The wearing of burkhas by Muslim women should not bother others but when it comes to suppression of the Muslim women the larger community should extend support to the Muslim community to resolve the issue.

Mr. Rakesh Bhatt and Dr. Sudhirender Sharma, who were in Goa at the invitation of Peaceful Society in Ponda on the last leg of their tour, were speaking at a program 'Islam Katha' organised by the Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) at the Caritas Holiday Home, St.Inez, Panjim. People of different faiths participated in this dialogue on Islam. Fr. Savio Fernandes, Executive Secretary of CSJP welcomed the speakers and thanked the participants for making time to come and understand Islam and express their concerns in these challenging times for the Muslim community. Earlier in the day the two speakers also addressed the students of Pilar and Rachol Seminaries.