Understanding Islam through Hadis

Infobox Book
name = Understanding Islam through Hadis
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author = Ram Swarup
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country = India
language = English
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release_date = 1982
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isbn = ISBN 0-682-49948-X
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"Understanding Islam through Hadis" is a book by Ram Swarup, first published in 1982 in the USA. It was eventually banned in India.

The book is a study, based on the English translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, [ [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/ Online version of Siddiqi's translation at the USC-MSA site] ] of the Sahih Muslim, the second most important collection of Hadiths. Ram Swarup claims in the foreword that "we have quoted extensively and faithfully from it."

The ban

In 1983, a reprint of the book by Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swarup's long-time friend and collaborator, sold out quickly. In 1987 Goel printed another edition of the book, and tried to publish a Hindi translation which he had commissioned. The details are not known with certainty but, apparently on the basis of a complaint lodged with the police, all copies of the Hindi translation were seized from the printer's shop and Goel was arrested. He recounted the situation:

:Soon after we reached the Police Station, he shouted at me, "tû kaun hai? yeh kyâ kiyâ? bahut baDi riot hote hote ruki hai (who are you? what have you done? A big riot almost broke out)." I told him that I was nobody, and did not understand the accusation. He barked, "musalmân ubal rahen haiN. unke gharoN kî chhatoN par behisâb îNt patthar rakkhâ hai, gharoN ke bhîtar golâ bârûd: wê jab châheN shahar meN âg lagâ sakte haiN (Muslims are excited. They have heaps of bricks and stones piled up on the roofs of their houses, and firearms within. They can set the city on fire whenever they want)." I asked him why the police had allowed them to collect and keep the arsenal. He snarled, "yeh bât to apne netâoN se pûcho, meN to ek garîb policeman huN, bacchon kâ pet pal rahâ huN (put this question to your leaders, I am only a poor policeman trying to feed my family)." I kept quiet. [Freedom of expression - Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) ISBN 81-85990-55-7]

Goel was bailed out after 18 hours in police custody, but the impounded copies of the Hindi translation were never returned to him. Later, public furore ensued after a claim in the Jamaat-e-Islami weekly "Radiance" that the book was offensive to Muslims. Finally, in 1990 the Hindi translation of the book was officially banned. In March 1991 the English original was also banned. The criminal case against Goel for printing the book was dismissed after some years on 5 May 1997, but the book still remained banned. [Freedom of expression - Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) ISBN 81-85990-55-7]

References

Further reading

* Freedom of expression - Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998, edited by Sita Ram Goel) ISBN 81-85990-55-7

External links

* [http://voi.org/books/uith/ Understanding Islam through Hadis (online full text)]
* [http://www.voiceofdharma.org/books/foe/ch10.html Formenting Reaction] By Arun Shourie
* [http://www.voiceofdharma.org/books/foe/ch07.html Statement of Intellectuals and Writers in Protest against the arrest of Sita Ram Goel]
* [http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/UnderstandHadit.htm Book review]