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Why Muslim Countries Are Quick at Condemning Defamation, but Often Ignore Rights Violations against Muslim Minorities
By Ahmet T. Kuru
Professor of Political Science
San Diego State University
CA

The Indian government finds itself in a diplomatic crisis following offensive remarks by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson,  Nupur Sharma , on national television about the Prophet Muhammad and his wife, Aisha. The BJP has suspended Sharma from the position, but that has not been enough to  quell the crisis . Over a dozen Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, have condemned the Indian government and asked for a public apology.

This is just another incident of  hate speech against Muslims , which has been rising in India since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. The government has been criticized for several  lynchings of Muslims by Hindu mobs with police indifference and judicial apathy  over the past years. In 2019, the BJP passed a new citizenship law  that discriminated against Muslims , and its  Islamophobic attitudes  recently encouraged  some schools and colleges  to impose a  headscarf ban on students .

These discriminatory policies have a global significance because India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Out of the estimated Indian population of 1.4 billion,  about 210 million – 15% – are Muslim .

As a Muslim, I am aware of the deep reverence for Prophet Muhammad, and I understand Muslim individuals’ resentment. The reaction of Muslim governments, however, reflect their political regimes. As my book “ Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment ” explains, most Muslim governments are authoritarian and  concentrate on condemning sacrilege against Islam  – more than advocating to protect the rights of Muslim minorities abroad.

Aisha: a powerful woman

The recent Indian case focused on Aisha’s age when she married the Prophet.  Aisha is one of the most important, vigorous and powerful  figures in Islamic history. The favorite wife of the Prophet, she was the daughter of the Prophet’s successor and closest friend, Abu Bakr. She became a leading narrator of hadith – the records of the Prophet’s words and actions – the teacher of many scholars and a military leader in a civil war.

According to a hadith record,  Aisha was 9 years old  when she got married. Some Muslims accept this record and see it normal for a pre-modern marriage, whereas other Muslims believe that Aisha was  either 18  or  19 years old  by referring to other records.

It is not possible to know the true facts of Aisha’s age. As Islamic scholar  Khaled Abou El Fadl  stresses, “ we do not know and will never know ” them. Sharma thus used a single narration, while ignoring alternative Muslim explanations, in her remarks.

Prioritizing blasphemy, not human rights

This is not the first time that Muslim governments have reacted to defamatory actions against the Prophet. The long list of incidents includes Iran’s Supreme Leader  Ruhollah Khomeini’s 1989 call on Muslims to kill novelist Salman Rushdie  and  the 2006 boycott of Danish products throughout the Middle East  in reaction to a dozen cartoons published in a newspaper.

An interesting pattern is visible in Muslim governments’ attitudes: They are very vocal when it comes to the cases of verbal or artistic attacks on Islamic values, whereas they are generally silent about human rights violations against Muslim individuals.

Muslim individuals in India have complained about the violations of their rights for almost a decade, but  Muslim governments did not show a noteworthy reaction to the BJP  until this defamation incident.

Another example is China, which has been  persecuting 12 million Uyghur Muslims  for many years.  No Muslim government showed any major reaction . Instead, these governments have focused on their material interests and  disregarded how the Chinese state treats its Muslim minority .

This double standard can be explained by the widespread authoritarianism in the Muslim world. Out of 50 Muslim countries,  only five are democratic . Most authoritarian governments in the Muslim world have blasphemy laws that  punish sacrilegious statements and suppress dissenting voices . That these governments should demand the punishment of blasphemy and defamation from India or other non-Muslim countries follows from these policies.

Another characteristic of authoritarian Muslim governments is their  own violations of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities . In Pakistan, these violations have targeted  the Ahmadiyya, Shia, Hindu and some other religious communities , while in Iran, ethnic minorities, including Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis and Kurds, faced  discrimination in education and employment . A rights-based discourse abroad, therefore, would contradict these governments’ policies at home.

Authoritarianism in the Muslim world has tragic consequences for Muslim minorities in India and elsewhere. Muslim governments’ short-term, emotional reactions to some defamation cases do not help improve the conditions of Muslim minorities, who actually need a more consistent and principled support.

(This article is republished from  The Conversation , a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts .Ahmet T. Kuru does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.)