“Fatah Ka Fatwa” first aired on January 7, 2017 was an immediate hit and received viewers’ applause but very soon it became an eyesore for the clerics
Dr Pramod Pathak
For the month of January 2017, Zee News has been broadcasting a show “Fatah ka Fatwa” hosted by writer, progressive thinker and journalist Tarek Fatah. His parents originally from Rajasthan, were settled in Lahore, Pakistan. He was born in Karachi. He went to jail at the age of 12 during agitation for Baluchis demanding justice. He was eyewitness to the massacre of 400 Shia Muslims while in Saudi Arabia. Now settled in Canada, Tarek takes pride in being a Hindustani and his Hindu ancestry. Tarek is very vocal about the social
problems plaguing the Muslim society all over the world. In Bharat he is critical of the Mullahdom and often urges to distinguish between the Islam of Allah and Islam of Mullah. He is an eyesore and thorn in the neck of the Mullahdom not only in Bharat but all over the Muslim society.
Early Ban on the Show
Zee News took a bold step to let Tarek host the show on a prime time of 8 pm on both Saturdays and Sundays. Usually the participating members are mullahs and muftis well versed in the Islamic texts, Islamic
scholars, both men and women drawn from various walks of life. Tarek took very sensitive topics of antecedents of Muslims in Bharat, triple talaq, defining a kafir and promotion of movement of “Ghazwa-e-Hind” among the Muslim community in Bharat. During these debates
tempers were running high as expected with almost no holds barred on the way of expression. He also used to interact with the phone callers, listening to their views and then appropriately replying them. It looked as if Tarek being anti-Islam, a lady asked him whether he had at least one good thing to say about Islam. And Tarek replied, Koran states that one should be prepared to say truth even in face of losing everything. This he reiterated again on February 4 show to justify his position.
As the presentation went to the third week, it was soon expected that the muftis would go for issuing a fatwa against him or approach the court for stopping the show. And it happened. The opposing muftis and ulamas have gone to the Supreme Court to put a ban on broadcasting the show as was discussed during the show held on February 4, 2017.
Reasoning in vain with mullahs
Tarek’s expressions are very sharp and scathing; therefore not at all palatable for the diehard Mullahdome. As a mufti reported, from the very beginning, he was flooded with thousands of phone calls condemning the programme. The participating muftis and ulamas often opposed him and castigated him for being a renegade. They also chided the lady participants for not being properly attired, expecting them to appear behind the veil. On these remarks they drew ire and sharp reactions from these ladies many times. Tarek on the contrary attempted to reason out with them the rituals and customs that were
anti-humanitarian and discriminatory. He often condemned the anti-women attitude shown by participating mullahs and muftis, who were religious heads of recognised institutions. This was case when these religious experts were advocating for triple talaq in single instance. He often appealed to the sensitivities of these diehard clerics. The Muslim ladies were in dire straits and under pressure to be always utterly submissive to the misogynist
menfolk, as long as the instant triple talaq is considered valid by the Mullahdom. It all went in vain. It was also worth observing that these diehard mullahs did not consider the invaders like Mohammad Bin Qasim, Muhammad Gazni as invaders. As narrated in earlier article, MUSLIMS IN INDIA: ALIENATION FROM WITHIN, Organiser January 15, 2017 arabisation of these muftis and mullahs was clearly evident. A mufti even challenged the very title of the program, asking Tarek his authority to issue fatwa, the religious dictate. He called it fitna-strife when rebellion threatened the early Islam. It appeared to be beyond his
comprehension that word “fatwa” in title of the programme had nothing to do with religious fatwas. An ulama in one program angrily demanded that Tarek be banned from entering Bharat. To this, Tarek retorted saying, as a Hindustani, unlike Arab and Mongol invader this is his land for the last 5,000 years, and none can bar him from entering his land. It immediately was apparent that muftis and mullahs were not considering themselves originally belonging to Bharat. That also reflected the arabisation. At last the moment came; during heated arguments a mufti listing the faults committed by Tarek, pronounced him to be a kafir. Tarek retorted, if he is to be branded by muftis and mullahs as kafir for stating truth, he is a kafir. But then; there is a lurking danger for Tarek. If a home-grown jihadi infected with acute kafirophobia systematically cultivated, takes this pronouncement of kafir seriously, he will find it fit to attack Tarek in accordance with the Holy Quran injunction for kafirs rejecting faith: “But if they turn
renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks” (HQ 4.89, as translation by A. Yusuf Ali) in hope to achieve instant entry in to Jannat—the heaven and be with the eternal virginhouries. The fact according to the holy text is that the decision of the entry into jannat or jahannam—the hell will be pending tillqiyamat—the day of resurrection, ages ahead. Earlier I have personally heard Tarek saying that he is neither bothered nor cares for the attack on his persona at the age of 67. But the whole episode reminded me of the impression the general public – awaam (public) in Pakistan has about the mullahdome as recorded by Naveeda Khan in her
celebrated book: “Muslim Becoming” (Duke Uni. Press, 2012). About a mullah a common man perceives, “If he looks in a certain way, then the people fear he is going to act in a certain way.” “What way is that?” I interjected. “It is hard to say in short hand. You can only know by watching him. He is most likely going to be bad tempered religious person (bad-mizajidinibanda).” (pg 147). Castigation of Tarek not stopped at him but his daughter too was dragged for her marriage. The lady participant vociferously protested, notwithstanding the defiance mufti expressed. As it appears, we too have our bad-mizajidinibande.
(The writer is a Senior Columnist and Scholar of Comparative Religions)
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