Muslims must undertake jihad and return to straight path

THE two Saudi girls honour-killed by her family by being drowned in a New York river, the Pakistani mobs and their priesthood calling for the death of Christian Asia Bibi for blasphemy, the brutal assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi government for speaking out, and the murder of seven Coptic Christians in Egypt by extremists is a true barometer of the state of the Muslim world.

For us to ask and fight for the freedom of the Palestinians, Kashmiris, Chinese Uyghurs, Rohingya, etc, and then oppress our own people, starve them, honour kill them, torture them, bomb them, cut them into pieces, calling for the deaths of apostates and blasphemers, jail them for speaking out, etc, is a contradiction.

Even if the Palestinians are freed today, Hamas and the PLO will fight to the death to impose another dictatorship.

The Palestinians will just be exchanging one tyrant for another. Until we Muslims adopt democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of religion, the call for a jihad to free the Palestinians, Kashmiris, Chinese Uyghurs and Rohingya is premature.

First undertake the greater jihad of reforming our own false and other pagan beliefs and go back to the straight path (life is a test, democracy, majority rule and rule of law) implicit and explicit in the Qur’an. Establish our God-given rights and free our own people imprisoned in 40-odd Muslim monarchies, dictatorships, pseudo democracies and failed states.

By the way, I will be locked up and tortured in most Muslim countries for just writing the above.

And why is Islam important for South Africa and the world? Because Islam has the largest number of followers in Africa and will have the largest number in the world around 2070 (PEW Research Group).

NAUSHAD OMAR

Athlone