Speakers at the book review of noted historian Ayesha Jalal's book, "Partisans of Allah, Jihad in South Asia," said on Wednesday that Jihad could only be announced by the state and no individual, party or group has the right to "Jihad." They said that nowadays, it was used for political reasons and misinterpreted.
They said that Islam was the religion of peace and its message was not confined to only Muslims, but for all the humanity. The book discusses the "Jihad" in South Asia and seeks to retrieve the ethnical meanings of this core Islamic principle in South Asian history. The book review was organised by South Asia Free Media Association(Safma).
Speaking on the occasion Director of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) I.A Rehman said that effort of Ayesha Jalal was intelligent, erudite and timely.
"This is an important and compelling historical narrative that spans the depth and breadth of the history of Islam in South Asia. By far, the best intellectual history of "Jihad," this work will greatly enrich the study of Islam, South Asia and Islamic activism," he said.
He said that the book was quite "delicate" and "explosive," and added that "Jihad" was the highest service to God and required the greatest sacrifice.
"Pursuit for the ethical ideals is the biggest "Jihad," he said. Rehman said that a historian helped to know what was happening and the writer had done it well by explaining the theory of "Jihad." He said: "It is thought that if you have banner of "Jihad" all the things are forgiven".
He said that the tradition of intra-religious debate was abolished after the partition, and added that "Jihad" was not being practised here for the cause of Allah, but for political powers and to subjugate the people.
Speaking on the occasion noted journalist and political analyst Khaled Ahmed said that one had to find patterns in history to extract some lesson from it and this was hinted at in Ayesha's book. He said that Ayesha was one of those few narratives, who had clashed with the official narrative. He said that she had gone back to the history and examined the "Jihad."
"While going through the book, one feels that the book is written by a person, who is not prejudiced and trying to extract messages from the history if there are any," Ahemd said.
He added that author's fidelity and respect for her sources was remarkable.
Ayesha Jalal said that she believed that the history was a dialogue between present and the past, and added that she had tried to find religion as "Eman" (faith).
She said that predominant factor to spread Islam in South Asia was not the sword, but Sufis. She said that fighting for some territory of political interests could not be called "Jihad." Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani-American historian, who has several books to her credit. She is a professor of history at Tufts University and a MacArthur Fellow. SAFMA General Secretary Imtiaz Alam and senior journalist Rashed Rehman also spoke on the occasion.
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