Pluralism is not Khichdi

AA,

Khalid, thanks for your notes, I am pleased to learn and exchange the following information; Pluralism is not Khichdi (Khichdi is like stew, melting pot or gumbo)

“Does pluralism means accepting and validating that every path of worship is acceptable to God?”

The commonly accepted idea is that each path is valid to the believer. If my belief works for me, others’ belief must work for them.

Nafis Bhai, intellectual honesty requires us to acknowledge the source of key phrases, the phrase “otherness of other” was borrowed from Rabbi Gordis on a treatise on how to conduct a dialogue put together by Yogi Sikand.

Khalid, what you and I have is faith, Alhamdu Lillah a very strong one in God and the Prophet. The Hindus, Christians, Jews… and others have equally strong faith in their system.

I believe Saleem Bhai had alluded to that earlier on in his comments that neither we nor they have any facts to back up, it is the belief. Are we willing to accept this? If we say others are wrong, are we acknowledging their right to tell us the same? Do they not have that right?

There is no confusion here.

Islam is about peace and peace is a result of conflictlessness, based and Justice. Arrogance is the mother of all evil and that is one of the reasons Islam’s wisdom incorporates the system of Salat, Fasting, Zakat and Hajj to bring humility to one and place every one par. (Someone had commented earlier that I do not write details – if some one wants, I can elaborate on it). Indeed, every faith has an element to bring humility to one; the main one being Prayer.

Yes, Pluralism means respecting the otherness of other, without having to believe in it or follow it.

About ~1.5 billion of the 6.5 billion believe in Islam, some 2 Billion believe in Christ as God or God’s son or part of the trinity and nearly a Billion Hindus believe in Oneness of God manifested in Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. Neither the greater number makes it right nor do any other criteria make it right. It is simply the belief. As I have mentioned earlier – if your missing son is raised by a Jew, Christian or a Hindu as a staunch one… what has changed in the equation when he grows up and argues with staunchly raised Muslim kid by you? Not the fact, but belief; the only differentiator.

“Does pluralism means reconciling to the idea that those who pray to material idols or icons are not indulging in Shirk but are actually invoking attributes of God?”

Khalid, shirk applies to Muslims alone. Those who believe in one God, and then add a co-God, a deputy or an associate, then that Muslim will be committing Shirk. I seriously doubt if there are (m)any Muslims out there who commit Shirk – even those who justify the waseela at a Wali Allah’s Mazar may not be indulging in Shirk – they know it is God who gives.

For a common Hindu, it is not shirk, that is his way of life. He believes in different manifestations of the same God. I have not researched if Prophet (pbuh) had banned Pork eating for every one Muslim or otherwise in Madinah during his time, however I do know that he was fine with others praying God as they knew, he even asked them to pray it in Masjid-e-Nabwi.

Accepting the otherness of other is Pluralism. To you is your Deen as my Deen is to me. It is a very powerful statement and sadly a few Muslims want to reduce it a singular application. It is for all times and all situations. Qur’aan is not confusing, it is straight forward book of guidance.

“Does pluralism forbid us to take a stand that our religion is the right path and that we ought to convince others to also join us otherwise it will lead them into a big loss in the Hereafter?”

Pluralism is not a religion, not a system, not a dogma and not a commandment. It is simply an attitude. As such it cannot forbid any one to do anything or nothing. It is all about Free will as Qur’aan has so vividly said – There is no compulsion in the matters of faith. God and the prophet (pbuh) want us to understand the wisdom of free will. Not a soul can be made to do believe things against his will.

Instead of inviting people to be good beings, politically oriented Muslims and Christians gloat in having bigger numbers; it is a political thing and not a spiritual one. God has assured in Qur’aan, whether you are a Jew, Christian or otherwise, only he decides who will or who will not earn his grace. Good deeds is the key, and you cannot do good deeds to yourselves, it is what you do with others, and how your treat others. The Prophet (pbuh) says treat the other as though he is your brother. Our fasting and prayers are acts of selfishness, to help us bring peace. What we do to others is good deeds.

Arrogance is not Islam, being powerful is not Islam, having humility and treating other humans with dignity is Islam. Mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill is Islam. Isn’t it also called a religion of peace?

Khalid I am with you on this “It should be noted that countless Ulema, among whom we can count the likes of Maulana Azad, Maulana Madani etc were proponents of pluralism and showed leadership in creating a pluralistic framework for India's freedom struggle. They, however, did not sacrifice their Aqeeda or any aspect of Islam and held firm to the idea of Tawheed as not only superior but rather the only right path for salvation, all the while having excellent relations with the leaders of other religions.”

Khalid, Maulana Azad is one of my mentors and a while back we crated a yahoogroups and many of us posted some beautiful sayings of the Maulana. Yes, I read him and learn a lot from his. All my learning has come from reading, learning and thinking about these great souls. I thank them for the knowledge. "The people who continue to impart wisdom to me are; Dale Carnegie, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Karen Armstrong, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, H.H. Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., H.H. Aga Khan, Reverend Moon, Allama Iqbal and Rabbi Gordis. Let me clarify this, the simple reason for these particular names is my exposure to their work. I am open to learning from every possible source."

Khalid, you are judgmental and it is your prerogative. “Rather than vouching for Mike's inferiority complex ridden conception of pluralism.”. If you want to add and enhance knowledge I welcome it but if your inclination is to ridicule, that is your choice.

I aspire to follow as many models of peace of Prophet (pbuh) as I am capable of, one of them was keep on doing as many right things as you can and pray for those who pelt stones at you. I rather spend my time in exchanging knowledge and answering questions that I am capable of rather than responding to quote in above paragraph, I’d leave it to you. I understand no one criticizes a dead man. Thank God I am alive at this moment and Insha Allah till the time you read.

Mike Ghouse

To be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker, one who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; that is indeed the purpose of religion, any religion.

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In xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @yahoogroups.com, Khalid Azam wrote:

No one is opposing pluralism. The discussion and contention is on the definition of pluralism? Are we allowed to define what pluralism means or is it already a foregone conclusion as defined by Mike Ghouse? Does pluralism mean a syncretic tradition where beliefs of all religions need to be selectively borrowed or reconciled to create a tasty Khichdi or Haleem? Does pluralism means accepting and validating that every path of worship is acceptable to God? Does pluralism means reconciling to the idea that those who pray to material idols or icons are not indulging in Shirk but are actually invoking attributes of God? Does pluralism forbid us to take a stand that our religion is the right path and that we ought to convince others to also join us otherwise it will lead them into a big loss in the Hereafter?

I don't believe anyone is questioning whether people should have the rights and religious freedoms to practice their own religion in a society of diverse religious tradition. The question is whether we are required to sacrifice our Aqeeda and say that all traditions are right and lead to salvation OR whether we can still claim in a pluralistic setting that our religion is the right path and therefore have the freedom to spread it?

The Quran is full of arguments and dialogues about the evils of Shirk and idol worhsip and Prophets of Allah have made these arguments regardless of whether they lived in a majority of believers or were a minuscule minority living among hostile disbelievers. The primary mission of all the Prophets has been the propagation of Tawheed or Oneness of God. This necessarily involves comparing and distinguishing Tawheed from Shirk and polytheism. Can this mission of the Prophets be accommodated in a pluralistic setting? Certainly not according to the "pluralistic" ideas of Mike Ghouse who wants to make any such comparison and propagation taboo and a no-no according to his idea of pluralism.

It should be noted that countless Ulema, among whom we can count the likes of Maulana Azad, Maulana Madani etc were proponents of pluralism and showed leadership in creating a pluralistic framework for India's freedom struggle. They, however, did not sacrifice their Aqeeda or any aspect of Islam and held firm to the idea of Tawheed as not only superior but rather the only right path for salvation, all the while having excellent relations with the leaders of other religions.

Rather than vouching for Mike's inferiority complex ridden conception of pluralism, we are all better served by acquainting ourselves with the biographies of these great Muslim scholars and standing behind their beliefs on pluralism. As a matter of fact, Mike would also benefit from reading their biographies.

Khalid


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Dear all
In my humble opinion Muslims living in a pluralistic coutry like USA and India and opposing pluralism tend to get into isolationism. That does more harm to them than good. Muslims should do their best to make peace with all its peace loving non- Muslim citizens and respect "otherness of others" ( the phrase righly put forward by bro Mike) as the religion of Islam tecahes peace.

But of course that is not at the cost of Islam itself. There is no reason why one should sacrifice Islamic legacy to please non-believers. Why should we try to change perception of Islam at the cost of Islam? as righly echoed by bro Abdussalam :

Can we all agree and converge on the foregoing to conclude our debate.??

Regards
Nafisul Hasan

Dallas Muslim Priorities?

What is important to us?

It is different for each one of us, at each different period. Prior to 9/11, we did not have to fight for erosion of our rights, now we don’t have to worry about them with Obama in place.

However, we have to repair a lot of damage done in the last eight years including but not limited to;

i) correcting how Muslims are perceived from the acts of extremists and propaganda of Neocons (Neocons are extremists in every faith; Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam...... etc)

ii) how we may have to cope should extremists from Republicans make a come back, the extremist among the republicans don't believe in peace, they believe in annihilation of any one who differs with them.

iii) how to regain what we had before 9/11. Terrorism is a new phenomenon in the last 40 years slapped on to Muslims as a whole insted of the extremists who did it.

I hope these would be our priorities – to re-establish respect, become known as participating and contributing members of the nation.

We have to retire and our grand kids have to live here, it will be a great thing if we can see the goodness of money working while we are still alive. But we should consider making a difference before nature gets us out.

Here are three events that can satisfy your desire to do good, it is laid out for you, just attend and support it.

Creating a department for Muslim Studies at UNT

Every Muslim ought to be proud of this significant development of Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Institute. Here is an opportunity to correct information about Islam and Muslims to the world.

I hope you feel the responsibility to support this initiative. Parties continue, friendships continue and this must take off the ground as well and you must seriously consider attending this event. We should attend and support this event without being asked.
Details: http://dallasmuslimcenter.blogspot.com/2009/04/05-02-09-texas-muslim-womens-dinner.html

You are different, so what? What are Muslims doing about it?

The Healing Project. Sister Reem Alghonim and Mike Ghouse are participating in this program to create awareness of bias against Muslims, Jews, Hispanic and African Americans. A note from Reem;
Asalaamu alaikum, A moving tribute - as well as an extremely worthwhile project promoting mutual tolerance and respect -is being presented this Sunday and Monday. The Turtle Creek Choir will perform magnificent pieces from different religious and cultural traditions. Representatives of diverse groups will share personal stories of hardships and triumphs. They are performing an Islamic song entitled Zikr - incredibly, these 200+ men will be singing Hasbiya Llahu Laa Ilaaha Illa Llah on stage at the Meyerson Symphony! Details are below. They are honoring us, and it would be gratifying to see strong Muslim attendance to honor them and show all types of people that Islam respects them, no matter their faith or background. I have a small part in it and would also appreciate your support and presence.

Please spread the word. With gratitude,
Details: http://dallasmuslimcenter.blogspot.com/2009/04/05-03-09-healing-project.html
Every one wishes a different Pakistan ; some one is actually doing it.

Every one wishes a different Pakistan ;
some one is actually doing it.

When Neil Armstrong stepped on moon on July 21, 1969 he made that famous statement. “That’s one small step for a man; a giant step for the mankind” Likewise, Shehzad Roy, renowned Pakistani pop singer and philanthropist has taken the initiative to facilitate a change in Pakistan through education for every Pakistani child. “That’s one small step for a child; a giant leap for Pakistan "

Shehzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust has started an innovative program to eliminate child labor in Pakistan . The “I am paid to learn” program takes working children off the streets and pays them to go to school.

Details: http://dallasmuslimcenter.blogspot.com/2009/04/05-09-09-shehzad-roy-for-pakistan.html

The Pakistani Americans have a lot of good things going for them, whilst there in despair, as you wished correctly, if some one had created solid educational institutions in Pakistan twenty years ago, Pakistan would not be facing some of turmoil it is going through.

You do have an opportunity to be Thank God, that you will be the proud Pakistani to bring about a change a generation from now. Your job of wishing is made easy for you. Please attend the Program, buy your table or the ticket, be a sponsor.

The Good news: On Another note, the Pakistani Americans can take pride in establishing a Pakistan Chair at the University of Texas at Austin . “The preliminary fund goal of $536,000 needed to create the chair at the UTAustin has been achieved. We were able to generate the funds to meet the Foundation Challenge. Thanks To All - Jalil Khan”

Mike Ghouse is a Dallas based Writer, Blogger, Speaker, Thinker and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television networks offering pluralistic perspectives on issues of the day. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on 3 Web sites and 15 Blogs listed at his personal website. The Ghouse Journal in e-format reaches over 24,000 friends and 30,000 in different groups.

The Prophet may ask, What Muslim?

The Prophet may ask, What Muslim?
Yes, What Muslim? Say that again!

Unity Day 2005 - Muslims from every tradition came together on this day and the duwa (prayer-blessing) was led by the Sunni Imam, followed by Shia and Bohra Imams in the subsequent years, Insha Allah we will get every spiritual leader from within our traditions to lead each coming year.

Unity day is a mainstream event, where people from every faith and denominations come togther as one cohesive group. We had 12 such groups at the event: Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Native Indians, Shinto, Sikh, Wicca and Zoroastrians. The American National Anthem was led by Hijabi to non-Hijabi women. We are who we are and in that spirit we need to be together for the good of humanity.

Unity Day USA is an initiative of the World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism, we will be celebrating that day for the 5th year on Sunday, September 6, 2009 - it is changing the paradigm of 9/11 into a positive one; where every American comes together to rededicate his/her pledge for one nation under God with liberty and Justice for all.

We the Muslims have been talking about developing unity amongst us; well it is time we take that step now. Each one of us, Insha Allah can make the effort to bring at least 5 representatives from each one of the following traditions; Ahmadi, Bohra, Ismaili, Nation of Islam, Shia, Sufi, Sunni, Wahhabi and every one that we will learn about as we move forward. If you jumped at the inclusion of any one of the names in the preceding sentence, we need to talk. We want you to share your views, not the recycled ones, but fresh ones that forges unity among us.

The gathering will test our ‘talk’ of unity with our ‘reactions’ to it, when it really has a chance of happening. It will also test our abilities to accept the otherness of the others who differ from us.

Why do we need to be together?

Each one of us can bring different ideas to the table, the core idea is to find solutions to our own issues, do we have the room within our thought process to accept the diversity from within? If we are not tolerant of each other, then how can we expect others to be tolerant?

Together can we do things that are good for Muslims and good for the world and stem the growth of reciprocity. The problems some Muslims may have encountered and some the future generations may encounter can be looked at, to find solutions by pooling the resources.

Every thing in life begins with you and me, and each one of us reading this material ought to feel the responsibility to do his or her share towards good making.

Let’s start small; we can take this initiative in each town we live. Let’s make an effort and give room to the distrust that has been ingrained in us against each other- i.e., if a few don’t want to attend, let’s not blame them, instead pray that our intentions are pure and hope they would join us in the next meeting. If they can see the purity of our thoughts, I am certain they will join.

We should come together to consciously create a better world, what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world and vice-versa to sustain that goodness. After all, our faith is named Peace and we have to act it.

For the Dallas gathering, I would like to dedicate this event to Larry Basheer, Imam Shakoor, Maryam Ruhullah, Marzuk and Alexis Jaami, Imam Zia Shaikh, Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci and Rizwan Sheikh who are relentlessy working on promoting goodwill and understanding between various communities.

MUSLIMS TOGETHER

We need to start planning to meet as soon as we can, and plan on having the "Muslims together" gathering to be held on first Sunday of Ramadan and conclude it over Iftaar. You can imagine the good things we can do. Let’s start with a group of about 30 people in each community and build from there.

The group's formation is not about the historical or theological aspects of religion, it would simply be about the civic aspect, the rights and duties of individuals to each other for our own good and the good of others around us. We have to sow the seeds that benefit the future generation and perhaps our own when we retire. Together we can create a lot of good.

Muslims together is to be made up of any Muslim, scholar or not, but certainly from every tradition to come together to explore the goodness we can generate for the benefit of Muslims and others. This is not an organization to compete with any one, it is simply to encourage unity among us. The separateness that our smallness has created needs to come to an end. Think about it, do others have to be wrong for us to be right?

I will ask the Muslim Council of Mosques in Dallas to take this project, I hope they can make that time. Otherwise, any one of you can come forward and take this initiative forward. It is not any one's responsibility, it is yours and mine, if we feel it. Praise the Lord, Alhamdu Lillah.

Let me share another perspective on the subject;

First, the humor;

A lady in her sixties dies in a car accident and was pleading with God, as to why he did not give her life to serve him more and serve his creation. After the amount of begging she did, God wanted to give her a break and said “Ok, you have a good record of serving my creation and I will grant you another 20 years of life”.

The lady was all happy and upon reappearing on the earth, she dashes to the best cosmetic surgeon in the town and asks him to make her look like a beautiful young maiden of 45. So the surgeon does the work, she looks in the mirror, fully satisfied and thrilled how beautiful she was, out she walks.

As she stepped out on the street to cross over to the parking lot, she got hit by another car, and went back in God’s presence; she calls him all the names for not keeping his word. She questions the almighty, why did he promise 20 more years and killed her the moment she was ready to live for another 20 years. She was proud that she looked like a gorgeous young maiden.

God looks at her with sympathy and speaks; do you know what?
She retorts back, what?

God says: I did not recognize you.

Applying that idea to Muslims.

When we gather around on the Day of Judgment and God calls out: Next? And you walk up to him and say ‘Sunni Muslim!’, ‘Shia Muslim!’ or ‘Ahmadi Muslim!’ Prophet Muhammad may perhaps be surprised and ask, What Muslim? What did you say?

Reciting 51 times!

Folks it is time to shed the arrogance of being right. Several times a day, we recite ‘Malik-i-Yomiddin’. i.e., God alone is the judge of humans and he alone is the master of the day of the judgment. If we get our religion right, we would refrain from judging any one. Meaning, we don’t want to become God and start judging others. God knew, some of us are thick headed, and that is why he made 17 units of prayers ‘fard’ or ‘obligatory’, and with Sunna and Nafeel, we utter ‘Malik-i-yomiddin approximately 51 times a day. We also utter Bismillah at least twice as many times if not more. Do we not get that into our system?

One Mufti from Mecca declared that the Shias are not Muslims, and likewise a Shia scholar matched with the Mufti to declare Sunnis are not following Islam. And some of us declare that Ahmadi Muslims are no Muslims, we even make their lives difficult. The relationship between you and God is to bring humility and balance to ourselves and what surrounds us.

Hear what Larry Basheer, An African American community leader has to say “ACCEPTANCE: When we have tried to reach-out to the immigrants communities with open hands and arms more often than not the hand of the Immigrant hand would close, and I have been told "To My Face" that I am Not A Real Muslims" this is madness............. However `If we are not correct or are not (Real Muslims) and are trying to be Muslims then it seems to me that it should be the duty and responsibility of the Immigrant to dialogue (since he is a Real Muslim and Know) and correct our way, however such dialogue require listening on the part of the immigrant as well, which I have not seen any evidence of a willingness to do so........”

Evil exists because Good men do nothing about it.

It hurts me to read the comments from Larry Basheer; I have heard similar comments from Sri Lankan, Filipino, Bangladeshi and Muslims from around. Who the hell are we to say to others, that they are less Muslim than us? Who grades us? What kind of Arrogance is that? We have to shed this. Shame on any Muslim who thinks other Muslims are less than him or her. In Allah’s presence, we are all equal except when we are drenched in Taqwa; Piety – those who are; never think they are superior to others any way. Did we not get the message of the Prophet that no one is superior to the other…. except in piety. There is a whole verse about it, do we get that? Let's not encourage any one to say those words, stop them in their tracts and let them not perpetuate it.

If you disagree with me, please say it so rather than asking me if my father knew Arabic or if I have a degree in Islam or if I went to an Islamic seminary or if I am a converted Muslim or how many chapters I can recite or even ask my tradition I belong to. First of all, No one has that right to question me or any Muslim about it, that is a dumb trick to judge, and claim superiority over the other.

Neither Muhammad (pbuh) nor any one of his associates had a degree, let alone schooling. This may be one of the reasons in God’s infinite wisdom that the Prophet was an Ummi; non-literate to prevent us from being arrogant and judgmental about others based on every factor including education.

God has blessed the Muslim community in Dallas; by and large we have made attempts to get together. The first such attempt was made on Unity Day USA in 2005. Three pictures are posted above representing every tradition.

This invite is going out to Muslims of every traditions that I know of in Dallas and randomly across the United States.

Iftaar with democracts

An Iftar with Democrats

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Please mark your calendar! join Texas Muslim Democratic Caucus at our annual Event "An iftar with Democrats" on September 25th, 2008. This forum has traditionally served as an opportunity for Muslim community to meet with the Democratic leadership of this area to interact and exchange views.Texas Muslim Democratic Caucus (TMDC) is an accredited Caucus within the Texas Democratic Party. We seek to increase cooperation and coalition building with other Democrats and the Muslim community.Stakes are very high for our country and for us this year, forces of intolerance are busy taking the country to further extremism this election year. 2008 will be a defining election for us and for our coming generations, issues of war and peace will be settled this year. Neo-Cons are back in their game, who knows how many more thousands or millions of innocent lives they plan to play with. Big corporations war profiteers and their lobbyists are not content with the plunders of our economy since last eight years, they are still conspiring to add more billions. We still see our brothers and sisters harassed and intimidated at airports, schools and by law enforcement agencies.

However, this can be changed with your participation in political process. So let's organize, lets discuss how we can help our Democratic candidates to bring peace to this country and the world. Lets put the country back on track of prosperity, justice and common sense. Like our presidential candidate Barak Obama said in an interview "We need to change the mindset of war". So come join us at the iftar dinner and explore how we can support our democrats win election this November

The iftar dinner in 2006 and 2007 went really successful with the Muslim community as it built the enthusiasm in voters. A number of 2006 statewide and local candidates, party officials and friends came to acknowledge and encourage Muslims participation in Texas electoral process. Our efforts, undoubtedly, contributed to the Democratic victory in all Dallas county races in 2006.Muslims participation in electoral process is producing favorable results for Democratic Party in North Texas . We are witnessing an upsurge of Muslim political power throughout the state of Texas . TMDC goal for 2008 includes, statewide voter registration campaign, precinct chairs appointments, and maximum numbers of district, state and national convention delegates, and elections to state executive committees.

We are encouraging Democratic candidates for various offices to bring their campaign materials for distribution among attendees.

When?: Thursday September 25, 2008 @ 6:30 p.m.Where?: Bar B Que Tonite, 2540 Old Denton Rd. #173 . Carrollton Texas 75006(Phone: 972 466 0786)Thank You
Please RSVP:

Syed Hassan,
President ElectTexas Muslim Democratic Caucus
RSVP: Syed Hassan 682 429 9954
Aftab Siddiqui 817 706 7495
Inayat Lalani 817 504 0636