than his own religion Islam. This is simply not true.

. The relevant clause is Article 22 (1), which is discussed later. The response o the school administration to the misguided messianic !eal o the T" anchor and the #un$a% government was& '(ur institution %elieves in inculcating values such as tolerance and empathy in all our students. )*omparative religion+ is essentially a )history o religion.+ It is not comparing religions, we aim to educate a%out Islam, *hristianity...-oing so, we %elieve, will enlighten our students a%out the importance o peace ul coe.istence. This is in accord with the re/uent re erences in the 0uran to the histories o several 1e%raic and pre21e%raic prophets mentioned in the 3i%le. A te.tual study o the 0uran shows that it constantly urges %elievers to learn rom history and, in particular, rom the e.periences o the earlier prophets. 3ut the 1oly 3oo4 does not go into details a%out the lives o these men o 5od. 6arrative is not its purpose, and, in the words o a respected scholar, whenever it 're ers to past events whether recorded in the 3i%le or alive in Ara%ian tradition it does so e.clusively with a view to %ringing out elements that are relevant to the ethical teachings it propounds. As a conse/uence, many o the most outstanding 0uran commentators, %oth classical as well as modern, have relied on 3i%lical accounts and Talmudic te.ts or the ela%oration o some o the 0uranic passages, particularly those pertaining to the earlier prophets. 7or instance the 0uran says the coming o #rophet 8uhammad (p%uh) was oretold in the earlier scriptures and this is con irmed in the 3i%lical passage& 'The 9ord thy 5od will raise up unto thee a prophet rom the midst o thee, o thy %rethren, li4e unto me, unto him ye shall hear4en (-euteronomy .viii, 1:), and, %y the *reator 1imsel , 'I will raise them up a prophet rom among thy %rethren, li4e unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth (-euteronomy .viii, 1;). All Islamic scholars are convinced that the )%rethren+ o the children o Israel (<aco%) were the Ara%s, and particularly the )mustari%ah+ or Ara%ianised group among them which traces its descent to Ishmael and A%raham. It is to this group that the tri%e o the last o the prophets, the 0uraysh, %elonged and all commentators concur that the 3i%lical passage oretells his advent. Another e.ample is that the 0uran a irms that some o the earlier prophets were slain %ut does not name them (2&=1, ;>, ?1, @& 112, 1;1, 1;@, A&1::). This pro%lem is again partially addressed %y the 3i%le. The story o the %eheading o <ohn the 3aptist is given in the 6ew Testament, and, in more general terms, %y <esus& '( <erusalem, <erusalem, thou that 4illest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent to thee (8atthew ..viii, @>). The murder o Bachariah is re erred to in 8atthew ..viii, @A2@: and 9u4e .i, :1, whereas, the slaying o prophets is mentioned in I Thessalonians ii, 1:. 3eyond the earlier scriptures, the scholars o Islam have even delved into the indings o historians, and a case in point is the account o the #rophet Calih, the second Ara%ian

prophet a ter 1ud, who %elonged to the 6a%ataen tri%e o Thamud. 7rom theDncyclopaedia o Islam I", >@=, or instance, one learns that the >1: 3* inscription o Cargon spea4s a%out the Thamud as a tri%e o eastern and central Ara%ia who were overwhelmed %y the Assyrians. The tri%e is also mentioned as Thamudaei and Thamudenes in the wor4s o the stoic philosopher Aristo (2:E 3*), the Foman philosopher #liny (A- 2@2>?) and the 5reco2Foman writer #tolemy (A- ?E21=;). Islam has never claimed to %e a new religion. (ne o the unctions o the 0uran is to con irm the truth o 'whatever still remains o the earlier scriptures and to correct the distortions that had come into their te.ts. It accepts all the prophets o previous ages and says clearly& 'And, indeed, (( 8uhammad,) Ge have sent orth apostles %e ore thy time, some o them we have mentioned to thee, and some we have not mentioned to thee... (AE&>;, A&1=A). 7urthermore, 8uslims are told& '3ut as or those who %elieve in 5od and 1is apostles and ma4e no distinction %etween any o them unto them, in time, will 1e grant their rewards (in ull)... (A&1:2, 2&2;:). Gith this emphasis on the acceptance o all the prophets ever sent to man4ind, and not merely the 2: named in the 0uran, it %ecomes o%vious that a study o other aiths does not undermine %ut rein orces and e.plains the undamental teachings o Islam. The controversy spar4ed %y the over!ealous television anchor %rings the rot that is progressively contaminating #a4istani society into the open. This is again evident rom the #un$a% government+s decision to also con iscate the %iology te.t%oo4 %ecause it contained material that 'could provo4e se.ual desire. Githout %atting an eyelid the provincial education minister announced& 'Ge will not allow anyone to teach our children with material which is against our social values and religious %elie s. These unde ined )religious %elie s+ are completely at variance with what a respected modern scholar descri%es as 'the many re erences in the 0uran to the positive, 5od2 ordained nature o se.uality. The outrageous reaction to the %iology te.t%oo4 is summed up in the words o (scar Gilde& 'Those who ind ugly meanings in %eauti ul things are corrupt without %eing charming. This is a ault. Those who ind %eauti ul meanings in %eauti ul things are the cultivated. 7or these there is hope. The allegation that the school no longer teaches Islamiat is downright dishonest. According to a 9ahore2%ased educationist 'Islamic and #a4istan studies are mandatory courses or a local and overseas e.amination and, as such, cannot %e dropped. 3ut there is a pro%lem inso ar as non28uslim children are o%liged to learn Islamic principles in pu%lic schools. The te.t%oo4s currently %eing used in all the our provinces violate Article 22(1) o the constitution which clearly states& '6o person attending any educational institution shall %e re/uired to receive religious instruction, or ta4e part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, i such instruction, ceremony or

worship relates to a religion other than his own. In the central Indian state o 8adhya #radesh, the ruling 1indu right2wing 3haratiya <anata #arty was recently constrained, %ecause o stern criticism %y 8uslim organisations, to rescind its order aimed at introducing te.ts rom the 3hagavad 5ita into school curriculums. 3ut here non28uslim children are orced to learn a%out Islamic tenets even in su%$ects as diverse as general 4nowledge, Hrdu, social studies and Dnglish despite the provisions o the constitution. 7or them there is no hope so long as pu%lic opinion is swayed %y the electronic media, which is o%sessed with ratings. The immediate casualty is investigative reporting, $ournalistic integrity and pro essionalism. The writer is the pu%lisher o *riterion 0uarterly. Dmail& i timurshedIgmail.com