Unequal West versus Unequal Islam? – Common Prophets of the Jews, Christians & Muslims and Hindus

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” for France, exploitation for others.

The West and Islam are at loggerheads with each other. This is unfortunate because both are fundamentally egalitarian ideologies. The French Revolution of 1789 was anchored on the slogan “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.”

French people enslaved large part of North Africa while claiming liberty for their own people.

French Colonies | North Africa| French Revolution| Abraham Lincoln | Slavery

Yet, the French people enslaved large part of North Africa in the nineteenth century–after the French Revolution– and perpetrated a number atrocities on those people. They applied “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” to themselves and not to the African people.

Lincoln aboished slavery but the same United States promotes profiteering by its Multinational Corporations.

Similarly, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the United States. Yet, the United States today has been aggressively promoting the interest of its Multinational Corporations leading to wealth for the West and poverty for the East. It has introduced the Patents Acts in the World Trade Organization. Previously India was free to copy a make a product invented by a Multinational Corporation as long as the Indian copier did not use the same process to make the product as used by the inventor. An Indian pharma company, for example, could make the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19 as long as it used a different process than used by Pfizer to make the vaccine. It is reported that the cost of production of Windows Software by Microsoft is only one US Dollar whereas Microsoft is selling it at about ten dollars per piece. Indian software companies cannot copy the Windows Software due the Patents Act. This kind of profiteering is leading to poverty of the developing countries and richness of the Western countries.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights restricts economic freedom within countries to allow for global inequalities.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights| United Nations |Article 31| Article 21| Humanity

We find the same anomaly in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 at the behest of the developed countries. Article 13 (1) says “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.” Question is this: Why should the freedom of movement be restricted within “each state” when the rights enshrined in the Declaration are “universal?” Why the Declaration does not implement “Equality” and “Fraternity” between all humanity? Similarly, Article 21 (2) says “Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.” Question is this: Why access to services only in “his country” if we are a common humanity? Why should public services of humanity not be shared across all peoples? In this way, the West has established democracy and equality within in its own countries but espoused inequality and exploitation vis-à-vis the developing countries.

Gone are the days when Roosevelt wanted England to free her colonies as a quid pro quo for US support in WWII.

President Roosevelt | Winston Churchill | Second World War |England

Indeed, there are exceptions to this rule. Winston Churchill had gone to the United State to meet President Roosevelt during the Second World War seeking American assistance. Roosevelt had put the condition that England would have to give freedom to her colonies as a quid pro quo for American support. That was a great contribution of United States to the welfare of the people of world. The United States had also granted food aid under PL-480 law when India was facing a severe drought in the sixties. However, these exceptions do not obviate the larger exploitative tendency of the West.

The situation gets flipped in Islam. Equality between countries is accepted. Ayat 17:60 of the Quran says,

“And [remember, O Muhammad], when we told you, Indeed, your Lord has encompassed the people.”

This Ayat applies to whole humanity. There is no division between the people that have been “encompassed.” The Lord encompasses the Arabic, American, European, Pagan, Atheists, and all other peoples. The basic tenor of the Quran is global. The Quran bring Allah’s message to the whole humanity; not to a section of it. In my reading, Allah does not even tolerate any distinction even between believers and non-believers in the Prophet. A person may believe in Allah and in another Prophet, not Prophet Mohammad. The Quran accepts the Jews and Christians as people of the book even though they do not honour Prophet Mohammad. Unfortunately, Islam has transformed itself into an exploitative society despite this universalism.

Caliph Othman built palaces and gave away slave contrary to the teachings of the Prophet.

Furthermore, Prophet Muhammad lived a very simple life. The first two Imams–Abu Bakr and Oman—also lived simple lives. However, the third Imam Othman transformed the situation entirely. Leslie Hazelton author of “After the Prophet” says that Othman “built palaces in Medina with enclosed gardens, marble columns, and imported food and chefs. He began to give away vast private state to his relatives some with thousands of horses and as many slaves.” In this way, the egalitarian ideology of the Quran was transformed into a deep social inequality within the Islamic countries and this continues to this day.

Contemporary Islam endorses palaces of Saudi Arabia—contrary to the egalitarian ideology of the Quran.

The palaces of Saudi Arabia smack of unparalleled luxury while even Muslim people of Nigeria are starving.

Two million bonded labourers live in Islamic Pakistan—contrary to the egalitarianism of the Quran.

Pakistan| Islamic country| Bonded Labour| Economic wars

In Pakistan two million people are living today as bonded labour—this within an Islamic country. Number of reports tells of “slave wives” being “wed” by Saudi Royals. So, Islam with an egalitarian ideology has been transformed into an internally unequal and exploitative society. It must be noted and honoured though that Islam has not made military war against other countries like France or economic wars against other countries like the United States has done.

Here again we have exceptions to the rule. Iraq made war against Kuwait. The Rohingyas are considered to have made war against the State of Myanmar. A number of Islamic organizations are openly advocating Jehad against other countries. A difference from France and United States, however, is that these wars are being made for religious objectives, not for economic exploitation.

We have in front of us a strange spectacle. Two ideologies that are both egalitarian as well as Universal, have both espoused inequality in different ways. West has tried to secure equality within the country but exploited other people. Islam, on the other hand, has tried to secure equality between countries but exploited its own peoples. The way forward is for both the West and Islam to reform themselves. Only then we will have peace and welfare as declared by the French Revolution and the Quran.

As an endnote, we in India must remind ourselves that we basically suffer from the same ills as Islam. The Caste System still prevails in large parts of the country although we have expunged it from our Constitution. Economic inequality between the rich and the poor has been increasing at a regular pace since the Independence. It has increased exponentially under the present NDA Government that is ideologically driven by the Hindu texts. Thus, like Islam, Hindus must also reform themselves to espouse internal equality.

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