Memri publiserte 12. november et svært interessant intervju med sønnen til Maulana Maududi, mannen som grunnla den største religiøse massebevegelsen i Sør Asia, Jamaat-e-Islami.
Maududi er en av grunnleggerne av dagens jihadist-ideologi og en av de mest leste forfatterne i den muslimske verden. I 1926 slo han fast:
«I virkeligheten er islam en revolusjonær ideologi og et program som prøver å endre samfunnsordenen i hele verden og bygge den opp igjen i samsvar med sine egne teser og idealer.»
Den store norske moskeen i Tøyenbekken i Oslo, Islamic Cultural Centre, bruker en koranoversettelse basert på Maududis ideologi, som vi nylig skrev om i kronikk hos aftenposten.no og en religionsforsker som Anne Sofie Roald uttalte seg skeptisk i forbindelse med lanseringen av koranoversettelsen: Hun setter ikke pris på at moskeen ønsker å spre denne ideologien.
Også Maududis sønn, Syed Haider Farooq Maududi, advarer i dette intervjuet mot, og tar sterk avstand fra, farens ideologiske teser som har lagt grunnlag for å blande politikk og religion. Han mener at en stat som er demokratisk ikke kan være basert på religion. Et demokrati er i sin kjerne sekulært.
Han sier blant annet:
«Whenever religion was interpreted in a political way, it killed humans and it ruined humanity. Religion helps a person to become better. Every religion -Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam – they taught individuals to be a better person. Religion also taught us to understand that all of our forefather is one and we should not hate one another. The holy Koran does not talk about politics, it rather talks for the person so that one can become better. Political interpretation of religion always brings destruction in the society.»
«Nowhere in the holy Koran does it talk about administrating others. The holy Koran talks about individuals. It is about a person, not about administration or a system.»
Question: «Do you think a party such as Jamaat-e-Islami has contributed to the rise of radicalism and Islamic militancy in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh?»
Syed Haider Farooq Maududi: «Ultimately, all of their work leads to one thing. They successfully make Islam controversial. None has the right to judge who is more Islamic and who is less. Their work even led to a situation in Pakistan, particularly a movement against Bhutto Saheb, where we heard a slogan ‘Islam Murdabad’ (die Islam). Such a situation was the result of these religiominded-based politics. Only because Islam is used in politics, we have to hear the ‘Islam Murdabad’ slogan.»
Question: «Then what do you think of the Islamic State and Secular state?»
Syed Haider Farooq Maududi: «If a state has a religion such as Islam and it says the formation of the state like Pakistan was done based on Islam, then the Taliban have every single right to take over. A state should not have any religion. Religion is for the people, not the other way around. Religion makes one better. The state is a roof under which every kind of people having different religions can stay.
«A state… [having] a religion is indeed very alarming. If a country wants to practice democracy then it cannot have a religion. Democracy is always secular. Without being secular you cannot claim you are practicing democracy. ‘One man, one word’ means everybody is equal; it means despite religious affiliation, all are equal. Who is Muslim, who is not, that is not a question anymore. If a state holds any religion, then it is practicing something else, not democracy.»
Question: «But there are arguments from Islamic political parties that Islam is all about politics.»
Syed Haider Farooq Maududi: «(In a satire way) If Islam is all about politics then those who are not voting for them [i.e. the religious parties] are Kafir (people who do not believe in Allah)!»
Dette er sterke ord fra sønnen til en av de viktigste ideologene bak islamismen. Den samme ideologien som rekrutterer til politisk jihad verden over – også i Norge.