In Viral Video, Bangladeshi Preacher Challenges Interim Government's Protection Of Hindu Temples: 'Did I Become A Believer Only To Guard Temples?'

In September 2024, a video that went viral on social media showed Bangladeshi Muslim preacher Rafiqul Islam Madani, popularly known as "the child preacher" because of his diminutive stature, asking his followers why Muslims should protect Hindu temples in Bangladesh.[1]

His statement follows the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government of Bangladesh in August 2024 in a popular uprising led by students, which also unleashed the rightwing Islamist forces in the country and caused concern that the new interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus might not be able to control them.[2]

Rafiqul Islam Madani (image courtesy: X)

During the student protests, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and other mainstream religious organizations, sensing the opportunity to come forward after years of suppression by the secular Hasina government, asked their followers to protect the religious minorities and their places of worship – a recommendation with which Islamist clerics such as Rafiqul Islam Madani disagreed.[3] Later, the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, who holds the post of chief advisor,  equivalent to prime minister, also reiterated the need to protect Hindu temples.

Rafiqul Islam Madani, born in 1995 in the village of Ledirkanda, studied at a primary school before entering Jamia Hussainia Malni Madrassa, an Islamic seminary where he studied for three years and went on for higher studies at another seminary, Jamia Madani Madrassa in the capital Dhaka, obtaining a Dawra-e-Hadith degree, equivalent to a master's degree, in 2019.[4]

Madani, the youngest among eight siblings, became popular for delivering fiery speeches and was arrested in 2021 for anti-government speech.[5] According to a report in Dhaka Tribune, he now operates two madrasas in Netrokona and Gazipur. Abdur Rahim, a close family friend, said in 2021: "It is true that he is not very tall, but he holds a big influence when it comes to waz mahfils (gatherings where sermons are given)... There was a time when he was not that popular. He has become a familiar face among waz mahfil lovers with the internet and smartphones becoming more and more accessible."[6]

Rafiqul Islam Madani was arrested in 2021 for anti-government speech (image:BDNews24.com)

Following is the text of his speech that went viral, as shared on X:[7]

"Did I Become A Believer Only To Guard Temples?"

"Did I become a believer only to guard temples? Don't you have an iota of shame in your body? I am a Muslim. I am faithful to Allah. Abraham's ideal was the ideal of breaking idols. And today they say our madrassa students will guard temples. Guard mosques, not temples.

"You were given responsibility, made an advisor [Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus], and you worry so much about temples. Where Hindu youths themselves are saying they don't want to worship if temples need guards...

"We say we don't ask to break temples nor guard them. They will guard their own idols. Do Hindus guard our mosques?...

"Dear brothers, what is going on in the name of wisdom? It is very unfortunate that there is no self-respect for faith. Do you even understand maslaha [expedience and wisdom]...?[8]

"Muftis have said: 'If any country has shari'a law, non-Muslims pay jizya [tax on non-Muslims].' This is not tax which Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, all pay. Tax and jizya are not the same. Jizya is paid by non-Muslims in humiliation, signifying their refusal to convert to Islam, with a bowed head as a mark of submission.

"Do Muslims pay jizya? Do momins [believers] pay jizya? If not, then are tax and jizya the same? Muslims and non-Muslims all pay a tax; Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, all pay. Today you lecture them [madrassa students] to guard temples, and [Hindus] are conspiring to secede our country? You [Interim Government of Muhammad Yunus] talk about guarding temples, and we are. However, they are conspiring against the country, right?"