21. Muslim Solidarity

21. Muslim Solidarity

From what I have said above on Islam and patriotism it follows that our solidarity as a community rests on our hold on the religious principle. The moment this hold is loosened we are nowhere. Probably the fate of the Jews will befall us. And what can we do in order to tighten the hold? Who is the principal depositary of religion in a community? It is the woman. The Musalman woman ought to receive sound religious education, for she is virtually the maker of the community. I do not believe in an absolute system of education. Education, like other things, is determined by the needs of a community. For our purposes religious education is quite sufficient for the Muslim girl. All subjects which have a tendency to dewomanise and to de- Muslimise her must be carefully excluded from her education. But our educationists are still groping in the dark; they have not yet been able to prescribe a course of study for our girls. They are, perhaps, too much dazzled by the glamour of western ideals to realise the difference between Islamism which constructs nationality out of a purely abstract idea, i.e. religion, and “Westernism” the very life-blood of whose concept of nationality is a concrete thing, i.e. country.