Very soon the world will be split between those who live by Islam and those who don’t

Euphemisms in troubled times Pritish Nandy THE TIMES OF INDIA 1 Aug, 2006

We live in a world of curious euphemisms. There are things we want to say at times but cannot. So we say them in different ways. For instance, whenever we say Pakistan, what we really mean is Muslim. When we say Pakistan is behind something, what we actually mean is: These Muslims are behind it. But since it’s still politically incorrect to blame an entire community, and a minority one at that, we blame it on Pakistan. Pakistan , to the average Indian, incorrectly I dare say, represents all that is wrong with Islam. Every time we blame Pakistan, we are actually blaming Muslims. For we, or at least a very large section among us, are veering around to the belief that a secular India is not a place for Muslims- for Muslims owe allegiance, first and foremost to Islam, not to any nation.

While this may not be entirely true, as I know many Muslims who swear by India and secularism just as I know many Arabs who swear by Palestine, not Islam, the truth is also that, worldwide, Muslims appear to be firming up in their belief that their faith is more important than their nationality. That Allah is more important than India or UK or Saudi Arabia. We read about this daily. We watch it on TV. As a result, even the most secular among us recognise that a new brotherhood of Islam is growing so rapidly-cutting across nations, cultures, financial communities-that very soon the world will be split between those who live by Islam and those who don’t.

Just as, barely three decades ago, the world was split between those who believed in Communism and those who did not. Funnily, there was a time when Muslims hated the Communists most-for being Godless. Today, they occupy the very space that Communism has vacated. With just one crucial difference: Allah is at the centre of their universe.

Another euphemism we live with is terrorism. What we call terrorism today is actually any bloody and ghastly crime that cannot be explained. A terrorist is a person who kills others, in a flamboyant, random manner, for reasons that cannot be explained away by emotions like greed, lust, anger. The terrorist does not kill to inherit property-he inherits the Kingdom of God.