Why Muslims should use SC pause to seek a better Waqf law — not kill it

medium120486050Will April 17, 2025 go down as the day when the government lost the battle over the controversial new Waqf law after the Supreme Court put a week-long pause on the implementation of some of its most contentious provisions?And while doing so, it pointedly observed that “we do not stay a legislation normally at this stage of the challenge unless in exceptional circumstances”.The petitioners are cock-a-hoop, calling it a “slap” on the face of the government. And emboldened by what they see as a victory, they have threatened to intensify their agitation until the law is withdrawn or declared ultra vires of the Constitution by the court.“Our protest and our legal battle will continue because unless and until we are successful in calling this law unconstitutional, the government will be looting the properties and Muslims will be the sufferers over here,” said Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).Over the weekend, the AIMIM and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board announced a series of protests, including a blackout (“Batti Gul”) this week when lights will be turned off in households.The move is supported by the Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, YSR Congress Party and the DMK. A public meeting in Hyderabad was reportedly attended by “thousands of people”.There’s no doubt that the court’s unexpectedly strong intervention is a setback for the government — but only a temporary one and the celebrations in the Opposition camp are slightly premature.It’s significant that the court expressed broad satisfaction with the overall framework of the law, restricting its concerns only to a few of its provisions.These include appointments to the Waqf Council or Waqf Board; and proposed changes to the “waqf by user” — relating to land used by the Waqf for a long time which until now was considered Waqf property even if it was not registered.These will be on hold until May 5 — the deadline set for the government to file a response to the petitions challenging the law’s constitutional validity. The petitioners are then to be given five days to file a rejoinder, according to media reports.So, from the looks of it, it’s going to be a long-drawn-out affair amid the petitioners’ threat to exhaust all legal avenues until they get “justice”.“We will not bow our heads,” said an AIMIM spokesman. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/KZlcxOo_T_s?si=-h028kOm84eBafxOIronically, a ruling that should have helped lower the political temperature has become the subject of a fresh controversy amid conflicting interpretations by rival sides with both claiming victory.The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while privately furious over the SC ruling, is putting up a brave face in public, calling the pause simply a part of normal legal “process” which is unlikely to have a decisive impact on the final outcome of the case.Of course, nobody knows how things will finally turn out, but the petitioners and their supporters need to temper their expectations to avoid disappointment later.For, the truth — shorn off all the noise — is that there is an urgent need for changing the way the Waqf’s affairs are being run at the moment — hobbled by corruption, inefficiency and lack of accountability.The issue, as I have written here before, is no longer whether “to reform or not to reform” but how to go about the reforms without diluting its essential Islamic character.Meanwhile, there’s no excuse for the misguided protests even as the Supreme Court is seized of the issue and, indeed, appears sensitive to the petitioners’ concerns.There cannot be enough condemnation of the violent events in and around Murshidabad where innocent Hindu families were brutally attacked (two persons were killed) and forced to flee their homes.In one foolish fell swoop, the Muslim community not only lost its high moral ground but ended up playing squarely into its detractors’ hands.The West Bengal government’s shambolic handling of the protests and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s bid to cover it up was further compounded by secular parties’ reluctance to call out Muslim vigilantes.It was seized by the BJP to accuse them and Banerjee of playing “vote bank” politics as the area has a significant Muslim population.But, above all, what happened in Murshidabad was a demonstration of the Muslim leadership’s notorious flat-footedness. It has form on messing up things and has been one of the biggest impediments to the community’s progress.But it is able to get away with it by playing on Muslim fears of the BJP which when it comes to Muslim issues cannot resist using a sledgehammer even when a bit of persuasion and cajoling can go far in winning their support. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/KdY2OyPzT4I?si=jB8vxR8d6FGogFpTAs Najeeb Jung, former Delhi lieutenant governor and a leading liberal Muslim voice who was among a group of Muslim intellectuals involved in a short-lived peace dialogue with the RSS, wrote: “Hindutva has weaponised majoritarianism, fusing nationalism with thinly veiled Islamophobia… often portraying Muslims as the internal enemy... This leaves India’s Muslims anxious and unsure of their place in the nation’s future.”All true — not to mention decades of anti-Muslim bias that happened on the Congress's watch.But a bit of self-introspection by Muslims will not hurt.And the first thing they must do is to stop listening to the self-appointed keepers of the faith, and start to judge issues on their merit without being swayed by emotions — and keeping in mind the demands of a multi-religious and multi-cultural society.Islam lays a lot of stress on munazara (debate) and independent thinking, which has been lost in translation by the mullahs.In the spirit of munazara, every Muslim should judge the Waqf issue independently on the basis of their personal experience of dealing with Waqf authorities instead of parroting what Owaisi & Co are telling them.Forget allegations of sleaze, cronyism and unaccountability, all they need to ask themselves is one simple question: As users of its basic services like masjids, dargahs, schools and qabristans, are they satisfied with their functioning? In other words, is the current system working for them?Unless, of course, the entire community decides to close ranks, they are likely to find themselves answering “no” — and seeking change.Where they may have reservations is whether the proposed changes are reasonable and not an attempt to undermine the Waqf's autonomy and impose government control.The way forward, therefore, is to try and utilise the SC pause to narrow down the areas of disagreement in a spirit of give and take.Throwing the baby out with the bathwater as Muslim leaders and their political allies are seeking to do is not the answer.Read more from the author here.