*Man With a **Mission***
* http://islamicvoice.com/July2007/Interview/index.php?PHPSESSID=bb94ed46886b5952a3e93614b76c8660 * Dr. Javed Jamil is a distinguished scholar whose recent works have ensured him a place in the foremost ranks of Islamic thinkers. A clinician by profession, he has made his mark in such diverse areas such as literature, natural and medical sciences, theology and social work. He has published more than a dozen works, which have won universal accolade from theologians, political and social activists and intellectuals. Dr. Javed Jamil is the founder Director of PEACE - an organization committed to universal peace and brotherhood, Executive Chairman of International Centre for Applied Islamics and Executive Director of ARSH - Mahavir Hospital, Saharanpur. Still in his early forties, Dr. Jamil has already made a mark for his creative and investigative works. Interview with Dr Javed Jamil, Executive Chairman, International Centre for Applied Islamics, Saharanpur, India Dr. Javed Jamil's outstanding works in recent years like "The Essence of the Divine Verses", "The Killer Sex", "Rediscovering the Universe" and "Islam means Peace" along with his previous works like "In Search of a Comprehensive Solution for AIDS" and "The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism" are enough to make him one of the most thought provoking thinkers of the present time. His latest series of articles, "Quran's Scientific and Social Theories" is already attracting the attention in a big way. His approach is novel, aggressive and uncompromising on the ideological issues facing the world. Syed Adil interviewed Dr. Jamil during his visit to Bangalore. The interview as under: *Did you visit **Bangalore** only for delivering some talks or you had some other agenda.* It is true that I was invited to Bangalore to deliver some lectures. But this was not the only aim. I always thought Bangalore was the right city and had the right kind of Muslim intellectuals with whom I can work for my mission of initiating a big movement against what I call Economic Fundamentalism, particularly the commercialisation of evils that has led to chaos at every level. *How far did you succeed in your plan?* For all intents and purposes, Alhamdulillah, my tour has proved extremely successful. It has proved to be an eye opener for the right minded people of Bangalore especially the educated Muslims. I have been able to sensitise people about the threats posed by economic fundamentalism and the need to counter this without delay. At most of the places, the audience was highly receptive to my ideas. We held a brainstorming session in the end that debated a detailed Plan of Action, which will soon be launched. Insha Allah. *Your theory of Economic Fundamentalism almost runs through your entire range of works. How did you develop this theory?* It was for the first time during the writing of "In Search of a Comprehensive solution for AIDS" that I used the phrase "Economic Fundamentalism", which meant the dominance of economics in the affairs of the world including health programmes. The book was published in 1997, and was appreciated by several internationally renowned epidemiologists like Prof. Lalit Nath, Former Director of India's premier medical institution, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who described it as the most potent weapon to fight AIDS. Since then I have been attacking this ideology and endeavouring to present Islam as an alternative system, which alone can lead the fight against the economic fundamentalism that began in the West but soon became global with Westernism still holding its reins. *Your approach towards Islam has been novel and refreshing. How do you define your approach?* *I look at Islam in its entirety, not only as the guideline for the individual but also a guide for family and social institutions. I present Islam as a system not just for Muslims, Muslim societies and Muslim countries but also for the whole world. I have concentrated on studying the world movements, programmes and policies, analysing them in the light of Islam and presenting credible and effective Islamic alternatives. My emphasis is on the application of Islamic principles to the current situations at every conceivable level. I am trying to develop it into a full-fledged discipline of Islamic studies, which I call Applied Islamics. * *It is amazing to see that the medical doctors are playing an extremely important role in Islamic movements. First, it was Dr. Asrar Ahmad. Recently, Dr. Zakir Naik has gained extreme popularity and now you are fast emerging as a name to reckon with. What do you think are the features that distinguish your work from those of the other two doctors?* It is Allah's grace that He is taking work from a number of medical doctors. Dr Asrar Ahmad and Dr. Zakir Naik have become celebrities. They have devoted their whole lives to Deen. I have not abandoned my profession yet, and due to less exposure in the world media, my work has not yet reached the masses as theirs. Dr. Asrar Ahmad has been a great Islamic thinker and philosopher. But his philosophy has Islamic politics as the overpowering component. Dr. Zakir Naik is not a thinker in Dr Asrar Ahmad's mould. He is more an expert on comparative religion. His presentations give an impression that the main challenge for Islam is from Hinduism and Christianity. In contrast, I do feel that the religions of Christianity and Hinduism have hardly any match for Islam, and the main challenge for Islam comes from the modern systems like Globalism with predominant Westernism. I prefer to analyse modernity and modern sciences in the light of Islam. Instead of trying to argue that the Islamic system is consistent with the modern developments, I prefer to challenge various aspects of modernity and present Islam as the best alternative. Despite these differences in our approach, I have great regard for Dr. Naik because he has generated huge interest for Islam in the educated youth. This is no small contribution. *How do you visualise the role of traditional Islamic scholars, Ulema in the current world?* *People with newer inclinations are quick to blame the Ulema for all the ills plaguing the Muslim society. This is an oversimplification of facts. Ulema have played the all-important role of preserving Islamic literature and inculcating the Spirit of Taqwa and love for God among the masses. For the problems of the world Muslims, not only Ulema but the educated Muslims are also responsible, as they are either totally unaware of Islam or are unduly critical of Ulema. The ulema have to be taken along if the world has to change. It is only through consultation among the Islamically inclined experts in different fields and the Ulema that any successful resurgence of Islam as a system can be brought about. Ulema on their part must have an eye on what is boiling in the world; unless they have a first hand knowledge of the evils plaguing the world at various levels, they would not be able to present ideal Islamic solutions.* *What are your future plans? And I must now ask you to spell out the Action Plan that you have developed in your **Bangalore** visit.* *Future is in the hands of Allah. We can only hope to do what we want. I am working on a few books. First is "Quran's Scientific & Social Theories". Another is "Introducing Therapeutic Sociology". The third is "From Economic Fundamentalism, over to Peace Economics". Apart from these, I want to establish International Centre for Applied Islamics as a big centre that will conduct researches at a very large scale. And as soon as possible, I want to start a mass movement against Economic fundamentalism, beginning with a movement for Fundamental Prohibitions. I want to use this as a campaign against commercialisation of sex, alcohol and gambling, which in my view are the three biggest tormentors of the mankind. The Action Plan we developed in **Bangalore** is primarily aimed at mobilising a big mass movement to impose "Fundamental Prohibitions". We have chosen 7 major prohibitions: 1. Alcohol, drugs and smoking; 2. Gambling and betting; 3. Promiscuity, pornography and prostitution; 4' Abortion; 5. Crimes including rapes and murders; 6. Economic exploitation of all kinds; and 7. Political fundamentalism.* *What is your message to the Muslim Ummah?* My message is very simple. Unite. But unite not to dominate the world but to unite the whole mankind against the evils and the forces of evils. The motive behind unification must not be dominance of Muslims but the dominance of Islamic objective of clean, healthy and peaceful world. *Do you believe political movement is necessary for all this?* I think that political movement is necessary but this political movement must first spell out its objectives in detail. It should not be just a political movement aimed at gaining power. Instead it must start as a movement for social transformation in the light of Islamic principles. Muslims must campaign against the evils and economic exploitation at the war footing. Mere campaign for political power is of no use if the objectives are not crystal clear in the minds of the masses. Political power should not be the end but one of the means to achieve Islam's objective of Grand Peace. In countries having mixed population, this campaign should be run in a way that it enlists the support of all communities, without of course violating the basic guidelines of Islam.
