IMPORTANCE OF
UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT
A shift in context changes the entire meaning of an issue. In order to understand an issue properly, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of its context.
In order to understand an issue properly, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of its context. The importance of context is such that if the context changes, the entire meaning of an issue can also change. To understand this issue, consider the following example. Commenting on my book Tazkeer ul-Quran, a certain person wrote about me, saying, ‘Leaving aside the issue of differences with Maulana Wahiduddin’s ideology, which level of defeatism and cowardice a historian of the future will place on Maulana’s view that only if the Muslims of India live as no-problem people [without rights] will they obtain peace in the country, otherwise not, he alone knows.’ (Ulema-e Deoband ki Tafsiri Khidmat, p. 49).
In this critical remark, the author does not quote anything from my writings. Instead, he has written some words on his own and they have been declared as my viewpoint. This method is completely non-intellectual and non-academic. In the above passage, what is claimed to be my viewpoint is not my viewpoint at all. My point is that in this country, the position of Muslims is that of dayees, those who communicate the message of God to others while the position of non-Muslims is that of madu, to whom the message has to be communicated. In other words, the relationship between Muslims and others is not a relationship between communal rivals, rather it is a relationship between those who invite people to God (dayee) and those people who are to be invited to God (madu).
If the relationship between two social groups is that of rivals and adversaries, then their relations will be established accordingly. In such a situation, one group might justifiably launch an agitation, for the law of the land permits them to peacefully launch such protests against the governments or other groups. An example of this might be a movement of workers against capitalists for demanding certain rights.
What is right and what is wrong in this matter can be determined by the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Therefore, when we look at this matter in the light of Islamic teachings in this regard, we find that the status of Muslims is that of dayees and those of non-Muslims is that of madu. This relationship between dayee and madu is a very delicate one. This means that the status of the dayee group is that of givers and that of madu is that of takers. It is the demand of this relationship between dayee and madu that Muslims have to sedulously refrain from indulging in the politics of protest and demand. Such activities will harm the process of normalization of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. This delicate relationship requires that the members of the dayee group must solve their own problems through their own positive efforts.
From this clarification, one can gauge that what I had said about inviting people to God has been taken out of context by the writer, and referring to it, he sought to link it to another, unrelated context. In this way, the actual objective of my argument has been made to appear to be completely different.
