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There lives in Dhaka one of the elusive souls for whom most of the world, or at least most Western politicians, have been searching: a true Islam-loving moderate Muslim who believes in brotherhood among all religions and respect for all nations by all nations. Unfortunately, it is possible that this priceless and endangered species may soon become extinct.
At least since September 11, 2001, world and communal leaders have been touting the virtues of the "moderate Muslims." The express or implicit message is always that Islam has been hijacked by aberrant radicals but if we look to, nurture and promote the moderate Muslims, all will be well with the world.
I've found a moderate Muslim, one who loves his religion and sincerely believes and steadfastly writes about his dreams for respect and understanding amongst all the great religions of the world. His name is Sallah Udin Shoaib Choudhury. He may well be executed for those beliefs soon.
This Bangladeshi Muslim journalist dares to defy the party line of hatred towards Israel and contempt for all religions other than Islam. Not only does he write about the need for communication and understanding among Muslims, Christians and Jews in his newspaper The Weekly Blitz, but he dared to accept an invitation to attend and speak at a writers' conference in Israel. The topic of the conference was "Education Towards a Culture of Peace." On November 29, 2003, as he was about to board the plane in Dhaka on his way to that conference, Shoaib was dragged from the tarmac and arrested. His crime? He violated Bangladesh's Passport Act which forbids citizens from visiting countries such as Israel, with which it has no diplomatic relations. That law typically carries a fine of $8. What he found out the next day, however, when the magistrate announced it in court, was that he was accused of being a "spy for Israel."
His captors wanted him to confess to being a Zionist spy. He refused.
After his arrest Shoaib was taken to a Dhaka prison. While there, Shoaib had both of his legs broken with hockey sticks, he was interrogated incessantly and he was incarcerated in solitary confinement in a section of the prison otherwise populated with the criminally insane. He still vividly recalls hearing the screams of those prisoners which sometimes went on for hours. While Shoaib rotted in prison he was refused treatment for his glaucoma, as a result of which his vision remains impaired. His wardens even refused to allow him to go to his own mother's funeral.
His captors wanted him to confess to being a Zionist spy. He refused. His body was broken but, in his own words, his "spirit was not."
After 17 months Shoaib was finally released on bail. A frontline warrior in this victory was Dr. Richard Benkin. Benkin met Shoaib on the internet through their shared dreams for interfaith understanding. From the moment they connected, Benkin has ceaselessly fought for justice for Shoaib -- he has traveled to Bangladesh to be there during fruitless hearings, he has hounded the media and the US government to protect this righteous journalist from further imprisonment, torture, and perhaps death. Benkin frequently says of his dear friend, "If Shoaib Choudhury was in Europe during the Shoah, he would have refused to drive the trains!"
Benkin enlisted Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Il.) who has tirelessly and sincerely endeavored to bring Shoaib's case to light, and to shelter him with everything in the US arsenal of diplomacy.
Despite those efforts, on September 18, 2006, the Bangladesh government ordered Shoaib to stand trial for sedition. The charges, as read to Shoaib by Judge Md. Momin Ullah on November 13, 2006, informed him that he "made offensive comments on [the] Muslim world, Islam and Muslims in Bangladesh and commented about the existence of al Qaeda and other Islamist militant groups, by which you have tarnished the image of Bangladesh in the outside world." Such sedition is punishable by death.
Finally, after years of delay coupled with repeated government-backed episodes of intimidation, brutal attacks and the repeated ransacking of his newspaper's offices, the case against Shoaib Choudhury began on August 6, 2008.
Frankly, Shoaib's story sounded to me like an apocryphal tale: one told to demonstrate a point, not one describing a real human being. Could there really be someone who matches the icon of "moderate Muslim" all politicians and most human beings have spoken about, yet had heretofore evaded discovery?
As I discovered over time, through correspondence and long personal conversations, Shoaib is the real thing. In a world encased in murderous rage generated in the name of Islam, his is a clear soul animated by the love that comes from his understanding of his religion. And that love pierces the wariness and even hatred against Islam that so many other practitioners of his religion have created.
I watched as this man, a bizarrely buoyant individual with short dark hair and large dark-tinted glasses, spoke to a living room full of Philadelphians, answering questions, even mean-spirited ones, with complete candor and equanimity. I sat at a table with him in my own backyard as he continued talking amiably about his life and dreams. And my eyes crinkled when he spontaneously burst into a syncopated song along with table-thumping and hand movements. My 12-year-old daughter was enchanted and recorded the performance on her camera.
But for a glimpse into the rarified soul of Shoaib Choudhury, hear what I heard when he answered two very obvious questions he fields wherever he goes.
The first question is -- why he doesn't seek political asylum and get out of Bangladesh as soon as possible? His answer -- I heard it with my own ears -- is that if he were to leave, what kind of message would that send to his many silent supporters who want him to succeed, who want greater freedom and broader understanding, but who fear speaking out themselves. He says he won't abandon those people and leave them without any hope.
"Everyone is going to die. The only issue is what you do while you are alive."
The second question I not only heard with my own ears, but felt right through my heart. When asked whether he was afraid that he was going to get killed, he said: "Look, everyone is going to die. The only issue is what you do while you are alive." And what he is doing is trumpeting his message, educating toward a world culture of peace. Imagine a world in which people like this were lionized instead of victimized, if they became world-renowned and lauded instead of being threatened and hounded.
Whether Shoaib Choudhury will be given a forum in which to speak and educate all citizens of his sublime worldview remains a question. The Islamic fundamentalists who, in Shoaib's conception of the universe pervert their religion and use it as a tool to oppress and even murder all those who disagree with their worldview, have imprisoned him, tortured him, threatened his children and threaten to kill him. If they remain steadfast in their position, Shoiab will be silenced forever.
(35) Melanie , September 13, 2008
Shoaib, you are a hero!
I admire people who give up their personal interests to make this world a better place. Thank you Shoaib, for being a strong example. I will pray for you!
(34) Anonymous , September 3, 2008
To Mr. Arif
We all appreciate your time to explain to the World what Islam is about. And we understand that have to be frustrating for many of you when a big group preaches something so different to the World. We just want to tell you the opinion that so many people around the World have on Islam is just made from what many muslims teach to all of us. We see, perceive and know through the news and real facts something so different from your words. Even from the so many muslims that have to hide and are afraid of living just because other muslims would condemn them to death just for even reading an article in the internet (Like the case of a 23 year old man condemned to death in Afghanistan for this matter) You keep on showing us the good of Islam on paper, but it's not the same what most people from Islam practice. Socialism and Communism also sound good on paper, but were theories that human kind would never be able to implement succesfully. And according to you, until now, Islam couldn't have been implemented and practiced by humans in the same way that it was meant to be. In short, muslims have the key to change the opinion and perception the World has on Islam, if they would preach all these good things with actions instead of words and not doing the opposite. Just then.
(33) Tasleem Arif , September 2, 2008
Do not allow prejudice and ignorance form your thought about Islam.
The Non-Moslem attitude and opinion about Islam is undoubtedly influenced and formed by the political and social contetions in which they are involved with the Moslems. All assumptions made and ascribed by the Non-Moslems to denigrate Islam will find no authority or support except in their own prejudice and ignorance. The world requires to reform its opinion about Islam which can be achieved by an objective and sincere effort at the study of this divine faith which aims to reform mankind at the individual and societal levels and to reconstruct a fair, just, peaceful and egalitarian social and political and economic order in the world. Islam aims to cultivate a spiritual being in Man which consists in conforming Man intellectually to the Creation plan Of God. Many objections and negative opinions expressed against Islam in the column of comments are unfounded and only indicate the perils of prejudice and ignorance. e.g., prejudice and ignorance has attempted to draw an equivalence between Islam and terrorism, or that Islam has relegated woman to a position inferior to that of man, or that Islam preaches intolerance and violence. An objective and sincere study of Islam would inevitably dispel these equivalences, or other misconceptions about Islam and educate humankind that Islam is a blessing for the whole Humanity and that it solicits humankind to partake of the blessings of this divine faith both here and in the Hereafter. Should any objective and sincere student of this divine faith require my labors in reforming his opinions about Islam, I will feel most fortunate to attend to him. Rest the political and social contentions between the Moslems and Non-Moslems cannot be evaded or avoided unless the world learns how to solve them based on justice, and fairness. And such contentious intercourse is not confined to Moslems and Non-Moslems alone. Even Non-Moslems differ amongst themselves concerning political and social issues and sometimes such differences assume a violent character. The world has witnessed the violent character of relations between the Jews and Christians, between the Hindus and Christians, between the Buddhists and Christians.
(32) Shlomo Rosenoer , August 31, 2008
Where is fairness?
And all those stupid human rigths fighters are silent!
(31) Gary Katz , August 22, 2008
Response to Tasleem
Tasleem, I appreciate your input, but I must ask, if Islam promotes freedom of religion, why are Muslims who convert to another religion put under a death threat? All religions have at least some blood on their hands, but Islam is the current flag bearer, by quite a wide margin. So there is either something fundamentally flawed about the religion, or millions (perhaps hundreds of millions) of its adherents have strayed so far from its teachings that the religion may not be salvageable as a whole. Considering that there was a time in history when Muslims treated Jews pretty decently, this is truly a shame.