Description
About the book :
The book consists of the Writ Petition that was placed before the court 85 ayats from the Quran which command Muslims to practise a particular behaviour pattern towards non-Muslims. It also has a commentary on the case and the judgement by the Late Sitaram Goel.
The point to be considered by the court was whether there was substance in the Petitioners’ plea that the behaviour pattern prescribed by the Quran was inimical to public peace, communal harmony, and religious beliefs of those who did not subscribe to Islam. The belief system which produces that behaviour pattern should have been evaluated only after evaluating the behaviour pattern in terms of natural justice and common sense.
Justice Basak, however, chose to proceed the other way around. He started by accepting the Muslim claim that the Quran was the word of God. That was his major premise. His minor premise was that if the ayats sounded obnoxious, they must have been torn out of their proper context and interpreted to mean what they did not really mean. The conclusion he drew became unavoidable. How could a belief system based on the word of God prescribe an ungodly behaviour pattern? So the Quran and the creed embodied in it, posed no threat to public peace or communal harmony or the religious beliefs of non-Muslims. Quod erat demonstrandum.
The Calcutta Quran Petition was written to promote a public discussion of Islam as a religion, particularly its claim that every bit of the Quran and the Hadis has a divine source. This claim is used at present to prevent a close examination of what the book contains and what message Islam has for mankind at large. While all other religions have been subjected to such an examination, Islam has so far managed to remain a closed book. Our plea has been that if such commandments as we find in the Quran emanate from what is proclaimed as a divine source, then the character of that source should also invite questions. Our rational faculties and moral sensibilities should not stop functioning the moment Allah’s name is mentioned. The character of Allah as revealed in the Quran also invites a close examination.
Saurav Lahoti – :
Truly an eye opening book and meticulously written and well researched. It is written the way it should have been. Clearly the author should be appreciated for the work he has put in compiling this book. This book provides more objectionable verses in Quran than was mentioned in the petition of Wasim Rizvi aka Jeetendra Narayan Tyagi. Sadly the worth of the author is being recognised only after he is no more amongst us.