The Stagnation of the Muslim World!!!

The impact of the modern West on Islamic countries has clearly demonstrated that the current religious concepts held by most Muslims all over the world, are inadequate to serve as an inspiration towards progressive effort and dynamic activity.  Islam has been reduced by its followers to a symbol of the past.  It is no more an ideal to be realized for the future. Only native conservatism keeps the Muslims of today attached to the rituals of Islam.  Isolated and torn away from the organic whole of its multi- facet teachings, and even this attachment is half-hearted and unenlightened by a conscious understanding of its real import and its quality as a dynamic social force.

In the wider field of social, political and economic life, Muslims have ceased to derive inspiration from Islamic ideals. From being a code of practical guidance in day-to-day existence of the community, Islam has become only a happy memory of the past, which provides an easy means of escape from the harsh realities of the present and the necessity of facing them squarely face on.   How can such a doctrine, which does not look forward, no vision of a new future and no clue to the next step in the march of history, survive the incessant changes in the external conditions of life?  A social creed to be capable of acting as a live force, must have a bearing on the present and the future, and yet all the religious creeds, Islam included, merely carry us back to the past without showing the way to what is yet to come.

This conservative attitude towards Islam is at the bottom of all the evils and misfortunes from which the Muslim world is suffering, and the Islamic countries will never get out of their present stagnation unless they decide to consciously and intelligently follow the social theory of Islam in all its organic wholeness, carrying out all its demands and fulfilling all its requirements. The only practical alternative for the Muslims is to cast away the few lifeless remnants of Islam that they cling to and arm themselves with a new socio-political understanding, capable of giving them an effective lead in the complexities of life. Thus for every Muslim who intelligently believes in the Message of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Islam is not only his past, but also his future.  Also apart from it, the Muslim can conceive of no future for the Muslim world. If Islam represents merely the past of a people and has no message for the present and the future; if it is incapable of furnishing guidance in the social, political and economic situation confronting Muslims today, there is no meaning in continuing our lukewarm adherence to its principles out of sheer conservatism and love of the past.

Half-hearted attachment to an ideology and the eclectic attitude of retaining some parts of it, which fit in with our easy-going habits and adding to it extraneous elements drawn from different social theories, can only produce a hybrid mixture lacking organic combination, and therefore, unable to impart vigour and life to any sort of corporate existence. The great trouble with Muslims is that they would mould Islam to suit their own convenience rather than allow their own lives to be shaped by it. WHAT SOCIAL THEORY CAN REFORM A PEOPLE ON THESE TERMS?

FW: A question on Salaat...

In Surah Ibrahim, verse 37, the duah of nabie Ibrahim is mentioned which he offered while stationing his son Ishmaeel in a valley:-

“Rabbana, inni askantu min thurriyyati biwadin ghayir zi zar’in ‘inda baytika al-Moharram, Rabbana li yuqimus Salaat”.

“O our Nourisher, I have stationed my offspring in a barren valley in the proximity of your respected house so that “they ESTABLISH AS-SALAAT”.

Now the point to consider here is whether nabie Ibrahim offered the great sacrifice of devoting his son Ishmaeel’s whole life for the sake of making namaaz all the time?

Therfore, if Nabie Ismaeel's sacrifice was in effect only for teaching how to make salaat, then the natural result thereof would have been that not only himself, but all his descendents, and that included nabie Muhammad (saw) too, would only continue offering and teaching people how to make salaat only.

The question then to ponder on is what was the entire struggle for that nabie Muhammad (saw) underwent in his life time, eventually succeeding in establishing a model community in Medina? Shouldn’t he just have continued guiding the people to offer the ritual of salaat if we interpret it this way?

And furthermore, under what orders did nabie Muhammad (saw) undergo all the rest of his struggle? 

 Isnt it possible that the struggle for establishment of Salaat  amounts to the struggle for  enforcement of the complete ideology – the goal for which prophets had  been chosen?  In fact after their training,  Allah revealed to them His commandments through the medium of ‘Wahi’and demanded their enforcement  of these commands.  

I believe that the noble Prophets conveyed those orders to the public and set out in their struggle to establish a state, just like the one  nabie Muhammad (saw) established and exemplified in Medina.  It  started from the dissemination of divine teachings up to the establishment of  a state where Muslims could live in peace.  And thus this all fell under the chapter of the ‘Duty of Salaat’, and wherein the economic aspect was usually the most crucial one.  

That’s why the Quran has related the episode in Chapter “Hood”, verse No.87, wherein the community of Prophet Shoaib asked him as to why ‘his Salaat’ forbade them from spending their earnings according to their own wishes. The people of Shoaib said : 

“Qalu ya Shoaib, a-salatuka ta’muruka an natruk ma ya’bud abaa’una aou an naf’al fi amwalina ma nasha’au”

“O Shoaib, does your Salat command that we give up that which our forefathers obeyed steadfastly, and that we may not spend from our belongings as we may wish?” 

Isn't this the concept of ‘Deen-ul-Qayyam’ (the firm/authentic ideology)?  

 

Translations of the Quran, Chapter 108:
AL-KAUTHER (ABUNDANCE, PLENTY, BOUNTY)

 

 

Bismi Allahi alrrahmani alrraheemi
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

108.001
Inna aAAtaynaka alkawthara
YUSUFALI: To thee have We granted the Fount (of Abundance).

108.002
Fasalli lirabbika wainhar
YUSUFALI: Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.

108.003
Inna shani-aka huwa al-abtaru
YUSUFALI: For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope).

This above is the traditional translation of surah Al Kauthar.

 

However, as far as this surah is concerned, if the muslims will only truly understand this surah, and then try to act this surah in letter and in spirit then according to this code of command of Rabb-ul-Alamien, the enemies will be destroid.  Thus no enemy will be able to stand against the Muslims.

 

But first and foremost we need to understand as to what happened with our understanding of Al-Quran.

 

Briefly when the Yahudo and Nasara and the Majosees were defeated by the Khulfa-u-Rashideen especially Umar ,these three enemies of Islam joined forces and tried to understand the reasons of their defeat.  They came to the conclusion that the great force behind the victory of the Muslims is only the commands upon which the Muslims act which is The Wahi-e Elahi, AL- QURAN.  Thus they, the enemy undertook to drive the Muslims away from this great Quran. And to achieve this they changed the meanings of the code of command of AL-QURAN, that is by changing the the terms (istlahat) used in Quran. 

 

The present translation of this surah Al Kauthar is one of the examples of this great conspiracy against the Quran.

 

Now, let us work towards gaining the true meaning of this surah. Firstly to understand the meaning of this surah one has to understand the three GREAT WORDS which ALLAH used in this surah:

 
1.    AL-KAUTHAR  
2,    FASALLI  
3,    WANHAR  

1.    AL-KAUTHAR:

 

You will find so many meanings of this great term in hadiths and they invariably contradict each other.  But the most popular meaning from the hadiths is that during qiyaamat, the prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H will be sitting at a well (kauthar) and he will give some water from this well to the people of jannat. Can we see how the Yahodees, Nasara and Majosees had distorted the meaning of this surah?

 

Now, coming back to the Quranic meaning of this term, we see that this word is from the root word kaaf thaa raa which means abundant, plenty, or something which is more than enough.So Al-kauthar is something that is more than enough. Now think about to it as to what did ALLAH give to prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H?  Allah gave the WAHI-E-ELAHI that is now safely ensconsed in Quran. 

 

Thus, if you study this surah deeply and ponder over these words which ALLAH has used in this verse you will find the true meaning of Al-kauthar within the same surah.  As long as you study the Quran you will find that ALLAH has never left His words unexplained.  Allah himself has given the principles to understand the Quran. One of the most important principle is Tasreefe ayat (6/65).  By Tasreefe ayat and according to the context ALLAH himself explains His words.  

2.    Fa-Salli

 

In the following word of this surah ALLAH has explained what is Al-kauthar is.  Allah used the word fasalli. This is derived from the root word suad-laam-wau which means to follow something or someone.   So in this verse ALLAH is giving the command to the prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. and the Muslimeen TO FOLLOW which Allah has given to Mohammad  (PBUH). 
 
Therefore Al Kauthar is THE COMMANDS and VALUES found in the Quran which are more than enough for humanity.  

3.    Wan har

 

The word Wan-har is from the root word noon-haa-raa which means that by understanding we should always act upon the commands of the Quran, regardless of whatsoever hurdles are in our way.

 

Therefore, we can now translate this surah as:

"No dout we have given you the commands and values which are more than enough, i.e. Al-Quran (AL-KOASER) so follow these in letter and spirit to establish raboobiat of your Rabb and stick to it, regardless of whatsoever obstacles are in your way, your enemy will be destroid."

 

Now dear reader compare this understanding with the traditional understanding.

Quoting Or Regurgitating????

During discussions with the scholars (‘Ulama) and students of ‘traditional’ institutions I have noticed that they only ‘regurgitate’ and do not actually quote from their texts. It does look like they quoted but in reality they just repeated age old texts. Thus what they are doing is regurgitating what they have memorized

It means that they have not allowed it to become a part of their persons. What they quoted hasn’t actually become nutritional for them. It has not served as an extremely necessary food for them and they have not internalized that information themselves. 

 

Imagine the number of times we hear these quotes but yet it does not change our lot as it should. How much we quote could be gauged from a single lecture. This can be discerned from only one Friday’s khutbah. In most of these situations what is missing is RELATING and APPLYING – in the real sense of the words. Sadly what is found is merely the reproducing of the verses of the Quran and endless quotes of Ahaadeeth.

 

Also, at times these quotes are used as a weapon to win an argument. This is why the aim, as I have  noticed, is to ‘defeat’ the ‘opponent’ in the arguments rather than winning the addressees (mukhaatabeen) over. This trait is essentially different from the methodology of the one who had “beautiful ideal character” (pbuh). I wonder that those who are expected the most to be open for learning are the most resistant to it. The ones who are supposed to be most humble are hardly ever found saying “I am sorry” or “I was wrong”.

 

One will quickly hear a Hadeeth quoted at the slightest pretext – to suit only a given situation.  Ignoring the Quran and the total teaching of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as well as his “beautiful pattern of conduct”. This is why I feel that our madrassah education system has badly failed. It has helped the students master the art of memorization but not the application of what has been taught.

 

In many a cases I have noticed that verses from Qur’an and Ahaadeeth are merely blurted out in the same manner as one vomits undigested food. The food that has been chewed very well becomes a part of the human body and is transformed into flesh and blood. It can never be vomited. The same applies to the spiritual food and nutrition which is what Quran is. Sadly for our ulama it has not become the part of the person. It is kept somewhere separately – like fodder and it is quickly thrown out of the mouth to win an argument.

 

Our focus on memorization and not on truly understanding the Quran has added to our indigestion. Our parents send their children for memorization of the Quran at a very early age basically for the parents' wellbeing in the Hereafter. Here these youngsters get used to the mind-set of memorizing rather than understanding the Quran which becomes set in their psyche for the rest of their lives– proving the adage, “catch them young”. They keep repeating what they have memorized without trying to understand it.

 

Because of a faulty instructional methodology and system (wherein the aptitude of students is not of much concern and wherein the teachers want their students to become like their teachers and not like those in the mirror) we frequently fall in the holes of our own making. We do not realize it. And it is even graver a situation. 

 

I urge the ulama to rethink these traditions. It is the change which we need. 

FW: The obstacles of human and divine understanding of existence: Rediscovering the Quran

A fellow Muslim told me about his 'rediscovering' of Islam, trying to re-understand it based on the original sources without the interference of orthodox ideas. And indeed this is what as Muslims must do. Because there is a difference between what the Quranic message and what we as Muslims understand as Islam.

The problem has arisen because we as Muslims do not read and study take the Quran on its own terms. In fact this also happened to the original Revelations before Islam where humans created dogma's, human perceptions of existence, that were enforced on theese scriptures. First the revelations were interpreted in ways to fit in with these later created dogma's, and later people even changed the texts of the revelations to fit their dogma's. Sometimes they only kept parts of the original revelations and mixed these with dogmatic texts of later times. In Islam this wasn't possible as the Quranic scripture was spread wordwide immediately and made altering not accepted. So many false reports (Hadith) on non-Quranic revelations and interpretations were created in the name of the Prophet to enforce these later dogma's of Muslims. As there were many competing dogma's, hundreds of thousands of competing and contradicting reports were circulating in the first centuries after the Prophet in his name or his first followers (Sahaba, Tabi'un etc.). These were later researched by Hadith scholars to filter the true from the false, but as these scholars also followed certain dogma's, they were not objective enough. This we can already see by the differences in Sunni and Shia Hadith collections. There are true historical reports of the Prophet and his first followers in these collections, but it will take centuries to truly filter these from the collections.

Thus nowadays it has become standard to follow a certain dogma and legitimize these with certain Hadith to enforce an understanding of the Quran that isn't necessarily coinciding with the meaning or intention of the original Quranic text. The text has become veiled by our own dogma's that we accept as true representations of existence and reality. But they only represent the limited human understanding of existence.

We need a return to the Quranic text, taking it on its own terms and understanding the contexts of the audiences it addresses. So we need to understand the socio-historical context of the Prophet, the first Muslims, and the other people who the Quran addresses. Then we can understand how the Divine Will expressed itself through the vehicle of human language, and how the Quran tries to convey universal values to mankind. The Quran guides mankind in the process of existence by making us becoming aware (taqwa) of our place in existence and how to approach it.

As long as we hold on to historical human created dogma's, we will misunderstand the view on existence the Quran tries to portray. Instead of talking to the Quran, making it say what we expect, we must learn to listen to it in an objective way. The Quran was sent by God to make us understand existence as it is created and sustained by its Creator. Instead we cling to human limited understandings of existence, and so we will keep struggling and failing.

The same rediscovering is made by Christians, Jews and people from other religions where they are exploring their scriptures to differentiate between the human dogma's of existence and the original message God gave them. Thus this is a shared 'rediscovering' between all faiths, which now shows that the clashes within mankind are between their own created dogma's, their own cultural expressions of existence, and not between the original divine messages that tried to mankind true insights on existence. We all have the same standard that will show us the true side of the religious scriptures, the workings of nature and our shared humaneness, these will make us rediscover the original Revelations on their own terms.

As Muslims, we are the most fortunate as we have an uncorrupted text, the Quran, and so our journey to this rediscovering is much shorter. But it seems we are the most stubborn of all people to realize this. The majority of Muslims believe in peace, human rights, the discovery of nature through science and the acceptance of all people whatever their faith, as our humaneness cannot accept otherwise. But we must realize that many of our dogma's and interpretations that we believe as Islamic are contradicting these values.

• The Quran says men and women are created equally (49:13, 4:1 etc.), but our laws and traditions based mostly on non-Quranic sources (Hadith reports, traditions of old Arab, Jewish, Christian cultures, opinions by old scholars etc.) contradict this completely. And where the Quranic text seems to contradict this value of equality, we misunderstand the context or intention of those specific revelations. The Quran wants to fight oppression (42:38-43) and so we must never use Islam to treat others with inequality, male or female.

 

• We believe in equality between all people, but our laws makes a seperation between Muslim and non-Muslim, while the Prophet was ordered by the Quran to treat everybody with complete equality (in verse 42:15 the Prophet addresses Jews and Christians with, 'umirtu li-Adila baynakum - I'm ordered to apply equality between you'), and the Quran says that one life is equal to the lives of all of humanity (5:32). 

 

• We believe in the complete Mercy of God, but we still believe only Muslims will be accepted into Paradise by God, while the Quran clearly says that everybody who believes in God, Hereafter and whose deeds create peace, reform and balance in society, will be accepted by Him (2:62, 5:69). Many Quran commentators say that verse 2:62 is abrogated by 3:85 which says that only Islam will be accepted as a religion, as verse 3:85 was revealed after verse 2:62 and thus cancells verse 2:62's inclusive message. But they forget that verse 5:69 was revealed after 3:85, and that it says the exact same thing as 2:62. Is verse 3:85 then abrograted by 5:69 or is it more logical to assume that Islam in the Quran is more universal then we understand it to be? The Quran even complains about this attitude of exclusively claiming heaven by the Jews and Christians at the time of the Prophet, proclaiming that it isn't your religion or the label of your faith that makes you be accepted by God but your pursuit of peace with existence and God (2:111-112). The Quran also clearly states that God's Mercy encompasses everything and He will judge first through Mercy (7:156, 6:12), and even says that there are multiple paths of God (29:69), so how can we claim to be on the only path to Heaven?

 

 

• Many of our books on Quranic exegesis (tafaseer) claim that the peaceful verses in the Quran that promote peacemaking and only defensive war, are abrogated by the 'swordverse' (9:5) which says we must fight non-Muslims. But the context of chapter 9 clearly say that fighting was allowed only because the treaties the Prohet made were violated by certain tribes. If we must fight all non-Muslims, why then are we ordered to protect even polytheists if they ask for protection in verse 9:6 that comes directly after the wrongly labelled 'sword verse'? Verses 9:12-13 clearly states that the Prophet was only allowed to fight because certain tribes broke their oaths, wanted to drive out the Muslims from their homes and because they STARTED the fight ('wa hum badaookum awwala marratin - And they started (to fight) you previously')! Thus the 'sword verse' is not about offensive war at all, but is clearly part of the same message the Quran has always given; for Muslims only defensive war is allowed and that they must always pursue peace and never hurt non-combatants (the verses always say that we must only fight the people who fight you, meaning combatants).

 

 

• Islamic law has used verse 9:29 to create a seperate taxation system for non-Muslims, and to force them to pay this discriminating tax (Jizyah) while the whole context of fighting in chapter 9 is clearly defensive, not offensive. Thus the jizyah of verse 9:29 was only demanded from non-Muslims who fought the Muslims themselves first. The word jizyah comes from the root jaza, meaning compensation, it thus doesn't represent 'tribute' or 'tax' but compensation payment for the war damage these non-Muslims had caused. Even in modern times countries must pay compensation for war damage, like Germany after WWI and WWII.

 

 

It is our duty to the Quran that we must rediscover it by taking it on its own terms, and to reject old dogma's and interpretations that malign and distort its true message and potential. Then we can truly see the true vision on existence the Quran tries to display and which we are discovering through the structure of nature and our shared humaneness.

FW: Thawaab In Thinking

I wonder if there is thawaab in thinking. If there is thawaab in reciting the verses which ask for thinking and reflection (tadabbur) then it is illogical that there is no thawaab in the act of thinking – which is the real purpose of those recited verses. Moreover, if THINKING is the most difficult job on earth then the rewards, too, should be accordingly. The Narrations indicate this. We, however, do not believe that it is the most difficult job on earth and the fact that we are still obligated to carry it out – as commanded in hundreds of verses in Qur’an.

 

Those who teach Qur’an or have studied it for long years, too, do not attach much significance with this ‘ibaadah. I got an opportunity to meet a prominent scholar (‘aalim) and his student recently. Discussed some matters of importance with them. Did not, however, find either of them quite keen for any serious discussion. They were not quite appreciative of ideas which are a by-product of serious thinking. (How else can we get ideas, I am not sure.)

 

Because of not considering thinking an act of ‘ibaadah we hardly talk about ‘ibaadat al-‘aql. And we never mention that its rewards are also increased manifold in a given month and at certain places. This is why when I called my cousin who was performing ‘Umrah and asked him if he was happy to see a huge number of Muslims there or was sad about this big number he said that he was utilizing every moment for ‘ibaadah and will talk about it only after returning home. He considered it irrelevant to give any thought to what I said. But he is not the only one. I also wondered if the thawaab of reflection (tadabbur), too, like any other acts of ‘ibaadah increases many more times in al-Masjid al-Haraam. If the thawaab of the recitation of those verses does then it should.

 

If the above assertion is true then it is surprising that we never find it elaborated and related from the pulpit – the medium of mass communication among Muslims. When, however, we start thinking then we will ask some basic questions. Then we will find a direction. Then our energies will be channelized. Then we will have a unified purpose. However, because of not performing this ‘act of worship’ for a long period of time we have started enjoying the “comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought”. Because it is “an unfamiliar territory”, we get lost in it. Additionally, we normally don’t do anything unless we are assured of thawaab. This, too, we are likely to get. Is there anything that hinders us from it now?

 

We need to perform this most difficult job more and more. In other words, we need to earn more and more thawaab of this type, too. Without earning this thawaab we will not be able to hold the Qur’an in the Right Hand and the most modern scientific and technological advancements in the Left. Also, we will not be able to regain any glorious status whatsoever.  

There is a video which propagates a negative image of Islam and among many I have been asked to write against it and dispel the misunderstanding about Islam. I would submit that a lot many misconceptions about Islam have already been dealt with – by many. Doing the same thing again and spending time on it is tahseel-e-haasil (obtaining the obtained). Darul Musannifeen Shibli Academy Azamgarh has brought about a volume on Maz’habi Rawaadaari aur Islam by Late Syed Sabahuddin ‘Abdur Rahman and Thomas Arnold’s Preaching of Islam takes care of some other objections. There could be many more good works known to many. It is not a secret.

 

While the above exercise was and is certainly important, I, however, get an impression that the things will be fine as soon as we are able to provide authentic answers to the objections raised. I am afraid, it will not be enough. Providing answers to the questions is a short-cut. Living according to the ideals of Islam – in ALL walks of life – is the longest way. In the ultimate analysis, however, this longest is the only short-cut.

 

It also makes me feel that we are still thinking that the problem lies somewhere else i.e. with others who have misunderstanding about Islam and which (of course) we should dispel. In this given situation of our own drift from the real spirit of Islam, it amounts to searching for the needle on the road under the broad day light while actually we have lost it somewhere in the dark corner of our house. It amounts to shifting the focus from ourselves to somewhere else – the most convenient thing to do on earth.

 

I recall a parallel here. A few months ago someone in my workplace suggested that we should start our daily meetings with the recitation of Soorah al-‘Asr and its translation. There are people of different faiths among our colleagues and they, too, have a right for their religious books. It is a fact that was conveniently overlooked. The friend who came up with this proposal I later asked him why he wanted to initiate such a tradition. He replied that our job was to give da‘wah and once we have recited and given the translation our job is over. I told him that our job is NOT over by the recitation alone. I explained to him that we should be living according to the spirit of that Soorah. We should be the topmost in the observation of timings and we should be the most patient ones besides searching after the truth to the maximum and advising each other for the same (which is the import of Soorah al-‘Asr). To the extent that ‘Mr Malhotra’ asks us why are the Muslims so much regular in their duties besides being very patient lovers of truth? Then we should intervene and explain that there is a Soorah in Qur’an which enjoins the above traits as a duty upon us and It has many other beautiful principles.

 

Acting, however, according to the beautiful injunctions of Soorah al-‘Asr in the ENTIRE life is difficult. It is a tedious job. And a ‘boring’ one. Reciting it once in a day as a ritual is quite easy and a short-cut. We take to this short-cut. The fact that we never reach to the destination (no Malhotras ever ask us about anything admirable in us) is not a matter of concern.

 

The answers will not make much difference. The answers haven’t made much difference. Leave alone any derived answers, all the volumes of Ahaadeeth and the entire Book is already available with us. What else do we need? We need to relate and apply – what we already believe in – in our lives. This will refute all allegations. This will counter all propaganda. But this is the longest way. Writing a volume or two and some articles with all the evidences from history is not that difficult a task.

 

We have to outlive our tendency of getting easily distracted from the core issues. Our emotional reactions to such situations is precisely our problem. It is this trait which is not allowing us to stay focused. It is not allowing us to take the analyses to logical conclusions. And we are reinforcing this psychology on a daily basis. We never think twice about many things. This is why more thinking is required.

We don’t need to help Islam and serve it as much as we should help and serve ourselves with the help of Islam – a collection of beautiful principles. The beautiful principles are never weak. The beautiful principles never beseech for help. They are never dependent on anyone. This truth we have to realize to the core. We also need to deeply realize the fact that we need to abolish our existing thought patterns.

 

There is a luxury in this demand of refuting the objections against Islam. The luxury is that the disease is in others who have misunderstanding about Islam. As for us, we are perfectly alright. We have no misunderstanding. Hence all our attention and energies should be diverted to the problems without as there are no problems within. It also implies that don’t disturb us. We are in deep sleep. Divert your energies somewhere else. It is an effort to dilute the focus and shift it somewhere.

 

As for history, we almost always learn the wrong lessons from it. We are supposed to learn history in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past and not get divided and divided – on petty issues. History in our case, however, does exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to. We are masters of the art of learning wrong lessons from the right stories. Qur’an mentions many historical events. In all historical events mentioned by Qur’an there is a moral that do not commit the same mistakes. Do not repeat the same follies. But we do exactly the contrary to what the Book wants from us.

 

If we had the full picture and had Something in our Right Hand we would not be reacting to any emotive situations to the extent that we get distracted from the real tasks of internal reforms. Having an empty Right Hand and bereft of any civilizational goal we run in all directions – completely disoriented. We have no qualms about wasting our (human) resources. The fact that we haven’t developed much of that – with the power of critical and scientific thinking – is yet another matter.

 

Please bear in mind that nobody can malign Islam. Nobody can distort it. No false propaganda can affect Islam adversely. We need to remove it from our minds. Let us not try to safeguard Islam and serve it. Let us not assume that we are the saviors of Islam. Not really. Just as nobody can hurt honesty. Nobody can malign integrity. No false propaganda can have any negative impact on truthfulness. Hence, let us not worry about Islam as much as we should worry about Muslims. Let us not be the victims of misplaced priorities which currently we are. 

 

There is no need, hence, to “now stand up to such false propaganda”. The need now is to stand up as witnesses against ourselves. The need now is to heal our own diseases – which we are avoiding on one pretext or the other. Therefore, “all righteous thinking, and highly educated members who would shun their dogmatism, prejudices and biases” should carry out serious soul searching turning the searchlight inward – in “an objective manner”.

 

The film is not spreading the “fanatic image of Islam”. The Muslims are. There is no need to “negate all that has been said in this film”. There is, however, the need to live according to the beautiful principles of Islam. A single person or a few more should not come up with anything “systematic and organized”. Every single Muslim should. There is no challenge for one or a few persons to “project a correct picture and image (of Islam) through concrete evidence”. There are challenges for everyone. Each individual has to fight his own battle. No delegation whatsoever will do. More than “show(ing) what is true and what is a lie” we should first know the same. All of us. Shunning our excessively communictarian outlook and imbibing an individualistic approach.

 

We tend to think – because of deep rooted conditioning effects – that “Islam ko khatrah hai”. It always reminds me of “the sky is falling”. The “threat to Islam” indicates a mistaken understanding of the Faith. Take care of yourself and Islam is well taken care of, if that is what you want. In fact, Islam can take care of you much better than you think you can take care of Islam. This is what will turn you into the leaders of the world and can bring about a healthy civilization. In which there is the betterment of humanity.

 

Let us give up our desire for short-cuts. Let us now come back to the core issues: Our VISION as a people. Doing away with the deep division between deen and dunyaa and deeni and dunyaawee ‘uloom. Let us come back to the real concept of knowledge. Let us come back to the objective of developing a systematic body of ideas and creatively reaching out to the unknown. Let us try our best to see the “whole picture” and “think differently” – about which we are silent. This is a must before anything else. Otherwise:

FW: Burning Qur'an & The Huge Gap

 

Muslims all over the world are very much concerned about the burning of Qur’an that is likely to take place on Saturday’s 9/11 anniversary. A question, however, springs to mind as to why does the West (here symbolized by the Florida evangelical church) want to burn the Qur’an? It occurs to me that the West is not angry with Qur’an. It is actually angry with the Muslims who are not playing their desired role. The Muslims who at the most are engaged in debates – the era of which is long past. The Muslims who are not contributing their maximum to the total fund of knowledge and human experiences. The Muslims who are not doing their best for the progress of humanity and the development of the world – as they had done during the ascendance of their civilization. The West is angry with the Muslims because they are not engaging it more in meaningful dialogue and at the informed and intellectually higher level. The West is not interested in polemics and this is precisely what we are interested in. Hence there is a huge communication gap between the Muslims and the West. Being the upholders of the Books the Muslims were expected to take the initiative. They were expected to reach out. Oblivious of this fact, they started considering the world as their adversary. They forgot that they were the salespersons and the rest of the humanity was (is) their customers.

 

How could the West be angry with Qur’an which gave the foundations on which the West built a remarkable civilization? How could the West be against Qur’an which promotes the spirit of inquiry and inquisitiveness? How could the West be against this Book which constantly asks to reason and rationality i.e. RESEARCH? There is probably a huge communication gap here. What the West is trying to say we are not able to grasp it. In all such reactions the West and the whole world makes a statement which almost always we fail to listen and comprehend. The crux of all the issues we almost always miss out upon. This is because of our deep-rooted psychology of learning wrong lessons from the right stories. The question arises how long will we continue reacting in this manner? How long will we be going against the Book precisely because of which we are so angry? How long will we be ‘burning’ it ourselves and will get angry when others will do the same?

 

Why are the Muslims angry? The Muslims are angry because they (think that they) have appropriated Qur’an. They think that it is their Book. It is a false notion. Just as nobody can say that honesty is his personal property now onwards and the sunshine is a commodity that he exclusively owns, in the same manner no one has monopolized the Book. We, however, consider the Book to be ours and carry out everything contrary to it. We think that we can do whatever we want to do as it is our Book. It reminds me of Khwajah Hafiz Shirazi:

 

chooN na deedand haqeeqat rah-e afsaanah zadand

(When we do not see the truth, we take to the path of falsehood.)

 

Muslims are angry because they have been in deep sleep for long (what else closing the door of Ijtihaad is?). They are now being rudely awakened by the world and are seeing that the rest of the people have gone much ahead. Reaching to the same heights requires painful and patient hard work. Out of frustration, however, we take to the short-cuts. We forget the fact that the longest is actually the shortest. This is why we almost always misinterpret every phenomenon. And every incident. The (maybe rumoured) burning of Qur’an reinforces the fact that there is huge gap between where we should have been (benefiting from the same Book) and where we actually are. Not understanding this issue there is a communication gap with the West.

 

Our writers and speakers have played havoc. They have done just the opposite of what they were supposed to. They have thought and reacted in the same manner as the uneducated, uninformed and less fortunate ones do –forgetting the fact that the society had invested in them hugely for some reason. Our writers and speakers have shown the incomplete and distorted picture. They have shown the partial ‘truth’. Despite the fact that there is nothing like ‘partial truth’. It is either truth or falsehood. The burning of Qur’an, however, can serve as a catalyst for a much desired and much needed change in discourse and a tradition of learning the right lessons from the right stories. We can turn this negative into positive with a different outlook. We can utilize this opportunity to communicate with the West about what the essence and cumulative spirit of Qur’an is instead of reinforcing what the West already perceives of Qur’an – by and because of our reactions to such situations.

 

If ultimately we cannot stop anyone from burning Qur’an, let us then – when they burn Qur’an – we burn our false egos, our vain desires, our preconceived notions, our prejudices, our sectarianism, our groupism, our exclusivity, our isolationism, our communication gap, our comfort of opinion over the discomfort of thought and our emotionalism (jaahiliyyah) over reason and rationality (Islam).

 

 

 

There is a discussion currently going on initiated by a request “Please respect our ‘Ulama”. We should respect all human beings – including the ‘traditionally’ and ‘modern’ educated. Having said that, please allow me to assert that respect is earned more than requested for. Do we ever need to start a campaign for increased awareness about the importance of sun, air, water and light etc? We don’t.

 

Not realizing the fact that we have to discover the laws of nature and use them for our benefit we start fighting with the same. Why don’t we argue that we should give respect to our ‘modern’ educated? Why don’t we campaign for giving respect to our scientists and engineers? There is something missing here. Our very assertion and request that we should respect our ‘Ulama shows an inherent weakness. Instead of trying our best to find out the reasons of this weakness and removing it we start a misplaced campaign. Again it reinforces the fact that we learn wrong lessons from the right stories. The law of nature is that we give respect to those who are not easily replaceable. In order to cross-check this law of nature we just need to look around ourselves.

 

There is a locality in Bombay of wealthy Muslims. They had an Imam who in one of the Friday sermons spoke quite openly about those who do not give Zakaah. He warned of its consequences. Before the time of Salaat al-‘Asr, the Imam was dismissed. After the dismissal he resolved to “expose” everybody. My question is why he did not expose those very people earlier? Anyhow, after his dismissal, many others made a beeline for the same position. What does it indicate? It indicates that our ‘Ulama of today are easily replaceable. If this is the case then we are fighting a losing battle. But we are used to fighting such battles. Because we don’t think twice about what we say, write and do.

 

On the other hand, I would like to understand how will the ‘Ulama be able to EARN genuine respect by continuing the deep divide between deen and dunyaa? By carrying on with the division between deeni and dunyaawee ‘uloom? How will they earn genuine respect by contributing to the marginalization of Indian Muslims? How will they earn the well deserved respect by not speaking a language which the masses understand?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without educating the masses that the latter do not need to depend upon them? How will they earn genuine respect without instilling in the minds of Muslims the real concept of knowledge? How will they earn genuine respect without communicating with the ‘modern’ educated and taking them along in all the worthwhile efforts and not considering them counterparts or ‘others’?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without thinking seriously how to teach Arabic to ALL the Muslim kids and not only to 3-4% of them? How will they earn genuine respect without giving a clear direction and a VISION to the Muslims that holding Qur’an in the Right Hand and most modern scientific and technological advancements in the Left Hand they need to and can become leaders of the world?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without issuing the fataawaa which are prospective in nature and NOT retrospective? How will they earn genuine respect without making us look forward and not backward? How will they or anyone else earn genuine respect by quoting more and relating less? And applying even further less? How will they earn genuine respect while being conditioned to a lot many factors and merely living in the past? How will they earn genuine respect while bringing to the market that currency which was current in some past century?

 

Let us start from the fact that respect is earned. It is not requested for. If we will believe in this law of nature we will do our best to make the situation better by making whatever adjustments required. If we are really interested in giving genuine respect to all our educated we need to create that educational environment wherein they actually earn it by contributing their maximum to the life – as a whole.

 

While we do not look favoraly at those who “pontificate” from the “luxury of their offices and apartments via the Internet”, we very piously want the same ‘Ulama – about whom we are campaigning for more respect – to continue living in the same condition as they are living in today. The fact that no amount of request is going to change the law of nature does not concern us.

 

The historical role which the ‘Ulama have played is duly recognized. Those among them who deserved the respect they got it. If they did not get it they did not worry about it either. During their time, too, the same laws of nature were in place. A parallel here is the role of not just the ‘Ulama but the entire Muslim Ummah in the past. That role itself becomes a sad commentary on their (our) current predicament. Invoking the role in the past is an argument that does not go in the favour of ‘Ulama now. Just as invoking the significant contribution of Muslims in the past does not go in their favour. It only reinforces the fact that we learn wrong lessons from the right stories.

 

The request for respect for ‘Ulama is symptomatic of our collective mind-set wherein we are asking (beseeching) for respect from all the nations of the world without realizing that we actually need to EARN it. When we don’t get it – as indicated by the increasingly stricter screening at airports – we get frustrated. Some of us take to the short-cuts ignoring another law of nature that the longest is the shortest. Our problems are compound. Not one. Not two. But many.

RESPECT: Earned Or Requested For?

 

There is a discussion currently going on initiated by a request “Please respect our ‘Ulama”. We should respect all human beings – including the ‘traditionally’ and ‘modern’ educated. Having said that, please allow me to assert that respect is earned more than requested for. Do we ever need to start a campaign for increased awareness about the importance of sun, air, water and light etc? We don’t.

 

Not realizing the fact that we have to discover the laws of nature and use them for our benefit we start fighting with the same. Why don’t we argue that we should give respect to our ‘modern’ educated? Why don’t we campaign for giving respect to our scientists and engineers? There is something missing here. Our very assertion and request that we should respect our ‘Ulama shows an inherent weakness. Instead of trying our best to find out the reasons of this weakness and removing it we start a misplaced campaign. Again it reinforces the fact that we learn wrong lessons from the right stories. The law of nature is that we give respect to those who are not easily replaceable. In order to cross-check this law of nature we just need to look around ourselves.

 

There is a locality in Bombay of wealthy Muslims. They had an Imam who in one of the Friday sermons spoke quite openly about those who do not give Zakaah. He warned of its consequences. Before the time of Salaat al-‘Asr, the Imam was dismissed. After the dismissal he resolved to “expose” everybody. My question is why he did not expose those very people earlier? Anyhow, after his dismissal, many others made a beeline for the same position. What does it indicate? It indicates that our ‘Ulama of today are easily replaceable. If this is the case then we are fighting a losing battle. But we are used to fighting such battles. Because we don’t think twice about what we say, write and do.

 

On the other hand, I would like to understand how will the ‘Ulama be able to EARN genuine respect by continuing the deep divide between deen and dunyaa? By carrying on with the division between deeni and dunyaawee ‘uloom? How will they earn genuine respect by contributing to the marginalization of Indian Muslims? How will they earn the well deserved respect by not speaking a language which the masses understand?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without educating the masses that the latter do not need to depend upon them? How will they earn genuine respect without instilling in the minds of Muslims the real concept of knowledge? How will they earn genuine respect without communicating with the ‘modern’ educated and taking them along in all the worthwhile efforts and not considering them counterparts or ‘others’?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without thinking seriously how to teach Arabic to ALL the Muslim kids and not only to 3-4% of them? How will they earn genuine respect without giving a clear direction and a VISION to the Muslims that holding Qur’an in the Right Hand and most modern scientific and technological advancements in the Left Hand they need to and can become leaders of the world?

 

How will they earn genuine respect without issuing the fataawaa which are prospective in nature and NOT retrospective? How will they earn genuine respect without making us look forward and not backward? How will they or anyone else earn genuine respect by quoting more and relating less? And applying even further less? How will they earn genuine respect while being conditioned to a lot many factors and merely living in the past? How will they earn genuine respect while bringing to the market that currency which was current in some past century?

 

Let us start from the fact that respect is earned. It is not requested for. If we will believe in this law of nature we will do our best to make the situation better by making whatever adjustments required. If we are really interested in giving genuine respect to all our educated we need to create that educational environment wherein they actually earn it by contributing their maximum to the life – as a whole.

 

While we do not look favoraly at those who “pontificate” from the “luxury of their offices and apartments via the Internet”, we very piously want the same ‘Ulama – about whom we are campaigning for more respect – to continue living in the same condition as they are living in today. The fact that no amount of request is going to change the law of nature does not concern us.

 

The historical role which the ‘Ulama have played is duly recognized. Those among them who deserved the respect they got it. If they did not get it they did not worry about it either. During their time, too, the same laws of nature were in place. A parallel here is the role of not just the ‘Ulama but the entire Muslim Ummah in the past. That role itself becomes a sad commentary on their (our) current predicament. Invoking the role in the past is an argument that does not go in the favour of ‘Ulama now. Just as invoking the significant contribution of Muslims in the past does not go in their favour. It only reinforces the fact that we learn wrong lessons from the right stories.

 

The request for respect for ‘Ulama is symptomatic of our collective mind-set wherein we are asking (beseeching) for respect from all the nations of the world without realizing that we actually need to EARN it. When we don’t get it – as indicated by the increasingly stricter screening at airports – we get frustrated. Some of us take to the short-cuts ignoring another law of nature that the longest is the shortest. Our problems are compound. Not one. Not two. But many.

Burning Qur'an & The Huge Gap

Burning Qur’an & The Huge Gap

 

Muslims all over the world are very much concerned about the burning of Qur’an that is likely to take place on Saturday’s 9/11 anniversary. A question, however, springs to mind as to why does the West (here symbolized by the Florida evangelical church) want to burn the Qur’an? It occurs to me that the West is not angry with Qur’an. It is actually angry with the Muslims who are not playing their desired role. The Muslims who at the most are engaged in debates – the era of which is long past. The Muslims who are not contributing their maximum to the total fund of knowledge and human experiences. The Muslims who are not doing their best for the progress of humanity and the development of the world – as they had done during the ascendance of their civilization. The West is angry with the Muslims because they are not engaging it more in meaningful dialogue and at the informed and intellectually higher level. The West is not interested in polemics and this is precisely what we are interested in. Hence there is a huge communication gap between the Muslims and the West. Being the upholders of the Books the Muslims were expected to take the initiative. They were expected to reach out. Oblivious of this fact, they started considering the world as their adversary. They forgot that they were the salespersons and the rest of the humanity was (is) their customers.

 

How could the West be angry with Qur’an which gave the foundations on which the West built a remarkable civilization? How could the West be against Qur’an which promotes the spirit of inquiry and inquisitiveness? How could the West be against this Book which constantly asks to reason and rationality i.e. RESEARCH? There is probably a huge communication gap here. What the West is trying to say we are not able to grasp it. In all such reactions the West and the whole world makes a statement which almost always we fail to listen and comprehend. The crux of all the issues we almost always miss out upon. This is because of our deep-rooted psychology of learning wrong lessons from the right stories. The question arises how long will we continue reacting in this manner? How long will we be going against the Book precisely because of which we are so angry? How long will we be ‘burning’ it ourselves and will get angry when others will do the same?

 

Why are the Muslims angry? The Muslims are angry because they (think that they) have appropriated Qur’an. They think that it is their Book. It is a false notion. Just as nobody can say that honesty is his personal property now onwards and the sunshine is a commodity that he exclusively owns, in the same manner no one has monopolized the Book. We, however, consider the Book to be ours and carry out everything contrary to it. We think that we can do whatever we want to do as it is our Book. It reminds me of Khwajah Hafiz Shirazi:

 

chooN na deedand haqeeqat rah-e afsaanah zadand

(When we do not see the truth, we take to the path of falsehood.)

 

Muslims are angry because they have been in deep sleep for long (what else closing the door of Ijtihaad is?). They are now being rudely awakened by the world and are seeing that the rest of the people have gone much ahead. Reaching to the same heights requires painful and patient hard work. Out of frustration, however, we take to the short-cuts. We forget the fact that the longest is actually the shortest. This is why we almost always misinterpret every phenomenon. And every incident. The (maybe rumoured) burning of Qur’an reinforces the fact that there is huge gap between where we should have been (benefiting from the same Book) and where we actually are. Not understanding this issue there is a communication gap with the West.

 

Our writers and speakers have played havoc. They have done just the opposite of what they were supposed to. They have thought and reacted in the same manner as the uneducated, uninformed and less fortunate ones do –forgetting the fact that the society had invested in them hugely for some reason. Our writers and speakers have shown the incomplete and distorted picture. They have shown the partial ‘truth’. Despite the fact that there is nothing like ‘partial truth’. It is either truth or falsehood. The burning of Qur’an, however, can serve as a catalyst for a much desired and much needed change in discourse and a tradition of learning the right lessons from the right stories. We can turn this negative into positive with a different outlook. We can utilize this opportunity to communicate with the West about what the essence and cumulative spirit of Qur’an is instead of reinforcing what the West already perceives of Qur’an – by and because of our reactions to such situations.

 

If ultimately we cannot stop anyone from burning Qur’an, let us then – when they burn Qur’an – we burn our false egos, our vain desires, our preconceived notions, our prejudices, our sectarianism, our groupism, our exclusivity, our isolationism, our communication gap, our comfort of opinion over the discomfort of thought and our emotionalism (jaahiliyyah) over reason and rationality (Islam).