4.3 stars

The author’s name first popped up on my newsfeed when someone reviewed his The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity. I was searching for that book when this one caught my attention. I decided to read it first as it has less than 70 pages and seemed like a commentary on something I see on social media in abundance.

Guess what? I was right. In simple words, the book has nothing to do with Islam per se. It’s about the non-Muslims who are ever-eager to see only good in the religion. Now, is there really a religion that has nothing bad or doesn’t need to be changed ever? No, right?

But the rule doesn’t apply to this one religion. Strange, but then again, it’s not.

The author describes incidents and reactions from the UK and US. I had no difficulty in equating them to India. The same happens here. And thanks to the wonderful feature called Screenshot, it is even easier to expose how the same person reacts when a situation involves Islam and doesn’t involve it. The sad state of affairs in India is that we have to deal with double such hypocrisy. One cannot talk about the missionaries and mass conversions either. Sigh!

No one wants to step on others’ toes except their own. In fact, they wouldn’t hesitate to whack their feet to please the other. Is the favor returned? No points for guessing. We know the answer.
A feminist finds only one religion’s customs suffocating. How dare someone tell a woman to cover her head! Do we see the same outrage from her when it comes to the white and black habits or the headscarf?

Of course not. It’s a part of their culture. How can she question it? It doesn’t matter that the women from those religions are fighting to change things. It doesn’t matter that some of them don’t want to wear a headscarf. It doesn’t matter that women have been killed for protesting. It doesn’t matter that blind support causes more difficulties to the modern women who have to live within the confines of that religion.

It’s easy to snip off a saree to prove oneself a rebel. Why does the scissor lose its sharpness when it comes to a headscarf or a habit?

If fasting for one day is outrageous and regressive, how can fasting for an entire month be spiritual? People are entitled to their beliefs, aren’t they? Respect one, respect all. How can an atheist believe in a certain God but not others?

There are too many questions with little or no answers because appeasement is greater than truth. Secularism is one word that’s used just about everywhere. What does it mean? It means all religions are equal. You respect the sacred thread just as you respect the cross and the skull cap.

The author talks about the unevenness in the so-called secular and liberal outlook that doesn’t seem to be capable of treating all religions on the same level. I don’t want you to praise my culture all the time. But no one gave you the right to insult either.

And why should the so-called majority accept every senseless and baseless abuse hurled at their religion to elevate another? Is that how you promote something? By insulting and demeaning one religion to highlight and boost another? Aren’t there any merits in that culture that you need to abuse another?

Is it any wonder that some of us are forced to defend our culture? Strange that we don’t even have the right to do so, and a label of Islamophobia is stuck on us before we can say …I. That just makes the philiacs Hinduphobic, and rightly so.

If others have a phobia for having a spine strong enough to say that they will not appease one religion, why is it that those who shut these voices are not phobic of the others? What’s wrong with calling a spade a spade when it comes to Islam? If you can do it with Hinduism (or Christianity in the book’s case), what's stopping you then?

The book deals with various personalities from the so-called popular section of society- the celebrities and the intellectuals. It’s the same pattern throughout that has spread far beyond the UK and the US.

My review isn’t based on the book as much as it’s based on what I see every day on social media. That alone shows this is a global phenomenon.

Back to the book, the writing could have a bit crisper, but it's non-fiction, and the topic doesn’t offer much scope of the said humor mentioned in the blurb. I wasn’t looking for a witty or a humorous touch but found faint traces of both. This book is more of an observation (with a little rant) and hits the nail on the head in most instances.

The philiacs wouldn’t like it. But if they do find some merit in the words, it’s a welcome sign that they are willing to think and reconsider their ideas of equality. Why are the rest of us forced to bow down?
How can we expect equality when one culture seems to be the best, no questions asked?