Nikhat Fatima Siyasat.net
Wali Rahmani, the well-known social activist and orator has decided to quit social media after facing a lot of trolling on face book for quoting about an incident from the life of the prophet in a recent interview he did with another famous you tuber Dhruv Rathee.
In the interview with Dhruv Rathee while talking about the recent violence in Bangalore over the post insulting the holy prophet of Islam, Wali Rahmani narrated an incident of an old lady who used to throw garbage on the prophet whenever he passed by her house. But one day when she did not do that, the prophet was surprised and visited her to discover she was sick. The old lady was astounded by this kind behavior that she realized her mistake and turned a new leaf accepting Islam.
This incident has been often narrated by the elders in the house, by many preachers during their discourse so much that every Muslim grew up listening to this story.
However there are no records of this incident happening in the life of the prophet hence many now believe it is a made up story and call it false hadith.
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When Wali Rahmani quoted this incident Muslims who saw his interview flared up that thinking that he is supporting the person who insulted the prophet and asking Muslims to be tolerant. Also that he narrated a false hadith which they claim is fabricated.
And thus began the cascade of trolls in the choicest of abuses, calling him a traitor, a BJP agent, a Sanghi, a Sarkari Musalman, a Dalal. The trolls did not stop there they abused him using cuss words, threatened to throw garbage on him, his parents and sister.
Surprisingly all these trolls are Muslims which has hurt Wali Rahmani the most. “ I had started activism from the age of 18 when I was yet to pass out of school, for the last three years I have been raising my voice for the rights of my Muslim brothers on countless issues, be it lynching, hate speeches by BJP members, Triple Talaq, Babri Masjid, NRC, CAA, Delhi violence, Jamia violence, defending the rights of Kashmiris, Tablighi Jamaatis, exposing fake news, etc. After 3 years of selfless work at the risk of my own safety, today I have been isolated by own Muslim brothers and am being tagged as ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool’” he stated sadly in his post on Face book a few hours before.
Wali Rahmani, a law student, is not just any other social media user, he is an icon with a massive following, much loved and adulated.
Many see him as the much needed future leader of the Muslim community because of his bold, daring and honest videos, posts, debates on TV about politics and relevant matters concerning the Muslim community. He is also involved in philanthropic activities endearing him to the masses especially the youth.
But now after being trolled mercilessly by the same people who followed him on social media has made him bitter to the extent that he almost decided to quit social media altogether and posted a message on face book as his last message clarifying the context of narrating the story of tolerance.
He has stated that his interview has been misinterpreted and misrepresented. The tolerance was in the context of the violence caused, arson and destruction of the MLA’s house and the police stations. “ I was in no way speaking of tolerance towards the blasphemous and sacrilegious post against our beloved prophet Muhammed PBUH” he affirmed.
In a democratic country we should not be taking law in our hands but demand strictest punishment to the person guilty of the post.
He also said that the story of the old lady is one that almost every Muslim has heard and that has been attributed to the prophet. That it was a fabricated incident came to his knowledge only recently. He admits that it was a mistake and not done deliberately as some trolls claim.
“This incident used to be a lesson in the Urdu text books and is also mentioned in some books that have stories of exemplary behavior of the Prophet Muhammed PBUH. This incident is often narrated by Islamic scholars as well. I read it in a book written by one of the great Muslim scholars. Maybe it was the wrong time to quote this story as Muslims are angry and hurt about the post”, said Lateef Mohammed Khan, a well-known civil rights activist heading Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee.
“Has it been proven that this incident is fabricated? It is being narrated not from today but from several years over generations and across the world” said another activist to Siyasat.net
Wali Rahmani has also mentioned that the troll army has dug up a picture that was 3 year old where he is seen holding a BJP flag and made cruel memes out of it. He clarified that he had posed with the flag with a sarcastic message.
Another old tweet has been dug out wherin Wali has requested the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee to take action against those who ostentatiously display the animals sacrificed as this would hurt the sentiments of other religion.
This tweet has been twisted and the trolls say that Wali has asked the CM to take action against the beef eaters and to ban sale of cow meat.
Disheartened by these trolling, he says, “though I have become thick skinned towards the abuses hurled at me because of my work but not enough to work in an unaffected manner, when it comes to my own Muslim brothers.”
His decision to quit social media has upset a lot of people who support and admire him.
“It was disturbing to see Wali Rehmani being trolled and compared to dubious fictitious characters of serials. The hadith is so widely used among Muslims to give an example of forbearance that a human being must exercise in the face of severe insults that it seems but natural that it came to his mind. The young man should simply ignore these critics who appear to be jealous of his popularity. He is on the right path and we all need to support and encourage him” said Sharifa Siddiqui, a counselor and Civil rights activist based in Hyderabad.
“Quitting Social Media is not a wise decision; trolls are always trolling people like Ravish Kumar, Rana Ayyub and so many others. Yes it hurts and weakens our spirit. And this is what the trolls want. If we quit we are helping them to exploit someone else. So I suggest Wali Rahmani to be firm and move forward both on the Social Media and as well as on the ground,” Said Khaleeda Parveen, a prominent activist known for her activism and charitable works who is the chairperson of Amoomat Society in Hyderabad.
Wali Rahmani has more than 33000 followers on twitter, 4,33,000 subscribers on You tube and another tens of thousands on Face Book. “Digging up old tweets and posts and using it against Wali Rahmani sounds like people are deliberately planning up against him and it is not impulsive” is the opinion of one of Wali Rahmani’s supporters.
“It is sad that Muslims are attacking their own instead of supporting and lifting each other during these times when the community is being targeted at every little issue” said Ahmed an admirer of Wali Rahmani.
(www.siyasat.net is Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India based website)
