can I not descend seems to have become the motto of several media people in Pakistan.

A recent example is the venomous attack by an anchor on a prestigious private school of Lahore for attempting to teach comparative religion and over the teaching of biology. In a frenzy of contrived rage, he claimed that the envisaged study of other faiths as a ell!thought!through scheme to undermine Islam hereas the biology textbook, ith its diagrams of the human reproductive system, ould surely pervert young and impressionable minds. "he diatribe as rounded off ith the outright lie that the school no longer taught Islamiat. In a civilised country, the "# channel and its anchor ould have been dragged over the coals and sued for defamation. $ut here in Pakistan things ork differently. "he Pun%ab government impounded the books on comparative religion and its education minister announced ith the self!assurance of a person mesmerised by the glitter of high office& '(o one ould be allo ed to change the basic ideology of the education system of Pakistan and stern action ould be initiated against people behind such a conspiracy.) "he minister could do ith a crash course on the basic la of the land. *e claimed unabashedly& 'Article +, of the constitution of Pakistan is -uite clear about the provision that no Pakistani citizen should be taught a religion other than his o n religion . Islam.) "his is simply not true. "he relevant clause is Article ++ /01, hich is discussed later. "he response of the school administration to the misguided messianic zeal of the "# anchor and the Pun%ab government as& '2ur institution believes in inculcating values such as tolerance and empathy in all our students. 34omparative religion is essentially a 3history of religion. It is not comparing religions5 e aim to educate about Islam, 4hristianity...6oing so, e believe, ill enlighten our students about the importance of peaceful coexistence.) "his is in accord ith the fre-uent references in the 7uran to the histories of several *ebraic and pre!*ebraic prophets mentioned in the $ible. A textual study of the 7uran sho s that it constantly urges believers to learn from history and, in particular, from the experiences of the earlier prophets. $ut the *oly $ook does not go into details about the lives of these men of 8od. (arrative is not its purpose, and, in the ords of a respected scholar, henever it 'refers to past events . hether recorded in the $ible or alive in Arabian tradition . it does so exclusively ith a vie to bringing out elements that are relevant to the ethical teachings it propounds.) As a conse-uence, many of the most outstanding 7uran commentators, both classical as ell as modern, have relied on $iblical accounts and "almudic texts for the elaboration of some of the 7uranic passages, particularly those pertaining to the earlier prophets. 9or instance the 7uran says the coming of Prophet :uhammad /pbuh1 as foretold in the earlier scriptures and this is confirmed in the $iblical passage& '"he Lord thy 8od ill raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me5 unto him ye shall hearken) /6euteronomy xviii, 0,1, and, by the 4reator *imself, 'I ill raise

them up a prophet from among thy brethren, like unto thee, and ill put my ords in his mouth) /6euteronomy xviii, 0;1. All Islamic scholars are convinced that the 3brethren of the children of Israel /<acob1 ere the Arabs, and particularly the 3mustaribah or Arabianised group among them hich traces its descent to Ishmael and Abraham. It is to this group that the tribe of the last of the prophets, the 7uraysh, belonged and all commentators concur that the $iblical passage foretells his advent. Another example is that the 7uran affirms that some of the earlier prophets ere slain but does not name them /+&=0, ;>, ?05 @& 00+, 0;0, 0;@5 A&0,,1. "his problem is again partially addressed by the $ible. "he story of the beheading of <ohn the $aptist is given in the (e "estament, and, in more general terms, by <esus& '2 <erusalem, <erusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them hich are sent to thee) /:atthe xxviii, @>1. "he murder of Bachariah is referred to in :atthe xxviii, @A!@, and Luke xi, ,0, hereas, the slaying of prophets is mentioned in I "hessalonians ii, 0,. $eyond the earlier scriptures, the scholars of Islam have even delved into the findings of historians, and a case in point is the account of the Prophet Calih, the second Arabian prophet after *ud, ho belonged to the (abataen tribe of "hamud. 9rom theDncyclopaedia of Islam I#, >@=, for instance, one learns that the >0, $4 inscription of Cargon speaks about the "hamud as a tribe of eastern and central Arabia ho ere over helmed by the Assyrians. "he tribe is also mentioned as "hamudaei and "hamudenes in the orks of the stoic philosopher Aristo /+,E $41, the Foman philosopher Pliny /A6 +@!>?1 and the 8reco!Foman riter Ptolemy /A6 ?E!0=;1. Islam has never claimed to be a ne religion. 2ne of the functions of the 7uran is to confirm the truth of ' hatever still remains) of the earlier scriptures and to correct the distortions that had come into their texts. It accepts all the prophets of previous ages and says clearly& 'And, indeed, /2 :uhammad,1 Ge have sent forth apostles before thy time5 some of them e have mentioned to thee, and some e have not mentioned to thee...) /AE&>;5 A&0=A1. 9urthermore, :uslims are told& '$ut as for those ho believe in 8od and *is apostles and make no distinction bet een any of them . unto them, in time, ill *e grant their re ards /in full1...) /A&0,+5 +&+;,1. Gith this emphasis on the acceptance of all the prophets ever sent to mankind, and not merely the +, named in the 7uran, it becomes obvious that a study of other faiths does not undermine but reinforces and explains the fundamental teachings of Islam. "he controversy sparked by the overzealous television anchor brings the rot that is progressively contaminating Pakistani society into the open. "his is again evident from the Pun%ab governments decision to also confiscate the biology textbook because it contained material that 'could provoke sexual desire.) Githout batting an eyelid the provincial education minister announced& 'Ge ill not

allo anyone to teach our children ith material hich is against our social values and religious beliefs.) "hese undefined 3religious beliefs are completely at variance ith hat a respected modern scholar describes as 'the many references in the 7uran to the positive, 8od! ordained nature of sexuality.) "he outrageous reaction to the biology textbook is summed up in the ords of 2scar Gilde& '"hose ho find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt ithout being charming. "his is a fault. "hose ho find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. 9or these there is hope.) "he allegation that the school no longer teaches Islamiat is do nright dishonest. According to a Lahore!based educationist 'Islamic and Pakistan studies are mandatory courses for a local and overseas examination) and, as such, cannot be dropped. $ut there is a problem insofar as non!:uslim children are obliged to learn Islamic principles in public schools. "he textbooks currently being used in all the four provinces violate Article ++/01 of the constitution hich clearly states& '(o person attending any educational institution shall be re-uired to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious orship, if such instruction, ceremony or orship relates to a religion other than his o n.) In the central Indian state of :adhya Pradesh, the ruling *indu right! ing $haratiya <anata Party as recently constrained, because of stern criticism by :uslim organisations, to rescind its order aimed at introducing texts from the $hagavad 8ita into school curriculums. $ut here non!:uslim children are forced to learn about Islamic tenets even in sub%ects as diverse as general kno ledge, Hrdu, social studies and Dnglish despite the provisions of the constitution. 9or them there is no hope so long as public opinion is s ayed by the electronic media, hich is obsessed ith ratings. "he immediate casualty is investigative reporting, %ournalistic integrity and professionalism. "he riter is the publisher of 4riterion 7uarterly. Dmail& iftimurshedIgmail.com