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.

Towards Human Understanding through Dialogue

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/08/towards-human-understanding-through.html

.
World Muslim Congress
Good for Muslims and good for the world

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. Mission statement

AA,

Dr. Manzoor Alam,

Alhamdu Lillah, the dust that has gathered on Islam seems to be blowing away one speckle at a time taking back to the Islam of Prophet Muhammad’s time, where several faiths co-existed, where he believed in “live and let live”, when he initiated and co-signed Madinah pact, offered Christians to worship in his mosque, walked up and kissed the Torah in a Jewish procession showing reverence for other faith, unprecedented inter-tribal marriages for people to learn to live with different sets of beliefs without the need to convert the other, giving amnesty to the bitter people who wanted to kill him when he took Mecca back, praying for those who threw rocks at him. The biggest lesson we have to constantly remember is Prophet’s own uncle and care giver, who did not convert.

Over the centuries, we had become reclusive insensitive societies as we deprived ourselves of co-existence and rigidly became monolithic Muslim societies. We did not believe in dialogue for a while as we did not have any one to dialogue with.

Thank God, we see the light at the end of the tunnel; HH Aga Khan has jump started the movement with his Pluralism Center, King Abdullah of Jordan’s has made good moves, Abdul Wahid of Indonesia has great number of supporters for the movement and now King Abdullah puts the capstone to it. We are floundering, but once we understand the reason for co-existence and how Islam is about peace and Justice, we will get a firm back bone and stand firm footed on the kind of society that existed during Prophet’s time, it is coming back again, the evidence is all over.

Although Amina Wadud, Asra Nomani, Tarek Fateh, Farzana Qazi, Irshad Manji and a few others appear to be falling off the stratosphere, without them, we would not have moved an inch off our butts. Instead of letting them dig in their heels, we need to welcome them as reformers and give them a listen and make them our partners in working towards demystifying the myths about Islam. Let’s not lose them to the Neocons.

The Moderate Majority of Muslims are not afraid of exploring the ideas, the conservatives are scared that by listening to these reformers somehow Islam will not be Islam any more. As moderates, most of us are, my guess is 98% of us are moderates, we need to assure them that it won’t, we have to firmly believe in the word of Allah, he will protect his system of goodness that he has created for mankind. Islam has survived and will continue to be a part of billions of people as other faiths of God are. Every one is created by God, and each one of us has to account for what we do, the noblest among humans are those who necessarily care about others. We have a treasure and we need not let it be divided, all denominations and the ones on the left, right and the middle have to work together for a common goal; to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation;

Dr. Alam,

I am pleased to enclose the response from Ambassador Ahsani copied to several movers and shakers of the Muslim community in the US.

You have two of them in your backyard – Dr. Abusaleh Shariff (http://salehshariff.blogspot.com/ ) one of the top 25 economists in India, and top ten demographers in the world. He is our common friend. Insha Allah he will present the paper that he and I would write on the subject “"Towards Human Understanding through Dialogue”.

Dr. Javed Jamil, is a prolific writer on Islam and economics.

I am sure you have Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer working on it as well.

I am also copying this note to Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq, who has written one of the best papers on Sharia Value that has moderated some of the Sharia Busters. http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/2008/03/sharia-value.html

You may want invite Dr. Eboo Patel, son of your soil (and mine too) who is making inroads into co-existence through service work. An young man who will have a major impact on removing the ill propagated perceptions about Islam. He will be a major player in the main stream community. http://ifyc.org/

Dr. Louay Safi is another great writer of our times on co-existence.

Insha Allah we have big plans in Dallas to build the Memnosyne Campus for Humanities, one of the six center is the Center for Interfaith inquiry and I am pleased to take the responsibility to over see the development of the Center as a co-chair. http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Shaping-the-tomorrow.asp

Unity Day USA is our initiative, a Muslim initiative to contribute towards the well being of our nation. Insha Allah, if I continue to work on it, it will become a national day, a Muslim effort on the national event. http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/UnitydayUSA-2008-PressRelease.asp

Aga Khan Network’s “Partnership Walk” is becoming a major national event in the United States and Canada, perhaps in other nations as well. This is dialogue in action. http://www.partnershipwalk.org/

I have copied them all and Insha Allah will also post the event at http://islamicconferences.blogspot.com/

We have to factor in the idea that we have to deal with all possible negatives, comments, cheers and jeers to develop a sustainable ongoing dialogue, if not it would be a farce thing to please ourselves.

Qur'aan :: As-Saff (The Row)
61:2 O YOU who have attained to faith! Why do you say one thing and do another?
61:3 Most loathsome is it in the sight of God that you say what you do not do!

Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
Memnosyne Center for Interfaith Inquiry
Foundation for Pluralism

Three-day international conference
Towards Human Understanding through Dialogue


Dear Dr Mohammed Manzoor Alam,
Assalamo Alaikum,

Through courtesy of Mike Ghouse, I thank you for contacting me. Mike Ghouse is doing wonderful work in reviving the agenda of World Muslim Congress, first established in1926 at Makkah. Held in 1931 at Jerusalem, under the Presidency of Hajj Amin Al_Hussaini, and with Allama Iqbal as Vice President, and Riad Solh of Lebanon, Mustafa Taba Tabai of Iran, Mohd Alouba Pasha of Egypt, it was in abeyance due to war.

Rejuvenated by Late Inamullah Khan in 1949 at Karachi in which I was present, it assembled a galaxy of leaders of Muslim world like Hajj Amin al-Hussein, Said Ramdan, of Egypt, Mahmud al-Sawwaf of Iraq, Mustafa Sabai of Syria.

As President of Institute of Medieval & Post Medieval Studies, Texas, we are at present working on Renaissance of Ummah/Humanity through Inter-civilization Dialogue.

May I request some Muslim leaders of societal standing as follows::

• Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi-Chairman,American Muslim Fiqh Council,California
• Dr. Ingrid Matson,President,Islamaic Society of North America
• Dr. Saiyyid Saeed, President Interfaith Outreach,WashingtonD.C.
• Dr. M.Fareed,Secretary General,ISNA
• Dr. Faisal Abdul Rauf,Presidnet,ASMA,New York
• Dr. Assad Basool,American-Arab College,Chicago
• Dr. Ghulam Haider Aaasi,Arab AmericanCollege,Chicago,
• Dr. Wasiullah Khan,President East -West University,Chicago
• Dr. Ibne Hassan,Prof.Harvard University
• Dr. Dr. Agha Saeed,Founder President,American Muslim Alliance,National:American MuslimTakd Force,for Civil Rights & Elections
• Dr.Zahir Ahmed,Space Scientist,Producer of Islamic Documentaries-God of 3 Religons,Islamic Spain,now working on a film on Allama Bukhari
• Dr.Dr.Nazeer Ahmad,Space Scientist,author of Islam in GlobalHistory,Member of Nixon Foundation
• Mr. Mike Wolfe ,President of Unity Productions,Documentar Film Producer of Films like Legacy of Prophet,Light of Two Cites,Prince of Slaves, author of book: One Thousand Years of Pilgrimage

.Kindly contact them on the addresses given in CC.
With kindest regards,
Ambassador of Pakistan (to15 countries) Syed A.Ahsani
Chair, American MuslimAlliance,
South West Coordinator,AmericanMuslim Task Force,Texas Chapter,
National & State Delelgate to Democratic Conventions since 1998

----- Original Message ----
From: Institute of Objective Studies
To: WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 1:57:53 AM
Subject: MuslimAgenda :: Three-day international confererence on "Towards Human Understanding through Dialogue" to be held from October24-26,2008 at New Delhi

August 23, 2008

To,

Mr.Mike Ghouse
World Muslim Congress
Foundation for Pluralism
Center for Interfaith Inquiry
Subject: Request to suggest name of organisations / individuals for the participation in the three-day international conference on "Towards Human Understanding through Dialogue" to be held from October 24-26, 2008 at New Delhi , India

Dear Sir,
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah!

Please find herewith a copy of the approach paper for a proposed three-day international conference on Towards Human Understanding Through Dialogue to be held from October 24-26, 2008 in New Delhi .

The paper spells out various dimensions of issues relating to creation of synergy to generate mutual understanding among nations, civilisations, faiths and cultures so that humanity may find solutions to the present crises and dispel the atmosphere of mistrust. The 21st century presents an alarming and gloomy scenario of dangers of insecurity, terrorism, violence, conflicts and confrontations. This calls for immediate attention of all concerned to find out ways and means to address relevant questions and seek right answers.

It is believed that dialogue among faiths, civilisations and cultures may prove to be an effective means to achieve the objectives at hand. Dialogue is human in its basics and has been used in most crucial situations in human history with valuable results and favourable impact on civilisations. Islam, among other faiths and ideologies, has shown great respect and confidence in adopting the process of dialogue in reaching peaceful resolution of problems.

The Institute of Objective Studies has resolved to popularise dialogue and its importance in modern times through seminars, symposia, books and media discourse.

It organised a three-day international conference on "Inter-Civilisational Dialogue in a Globalising World" on April 6-8, 2005 at New Delhi . It was followed by nearly a dozen regional conferences on various aspects of dialogue at different regional centres in India .

We intend to invite, the above international conference, the top brass of all concerning segments from all over the world. We are sure of getting an excellent response and participation from eminent personalities from different quarters.

We earnestly request you to kindly suggest some name of organisation/ individuals working in this field.

Your contribution will certainly go a long way in fetching desirable results.

Waiting for your response,

With kind regards,

Dr. Mohd. Manzoor Alam
Chairman, Institute of Objective Studies
New Delhi, India

Mecca and moderation

Mecca and moderation
By David Clingingsmith, Asim Ijaz Khwaja and Michael Kremer
International Herald Tribune

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

For many people in the West, Islam is increasingly associated with violence and terrorism. According to a 2007 survey conducted by the PEW Forum, 45 percent of Americans believe Islam is more likely to encourage violence than other religions, up from 36 percent in 2005. Close to a third of respondents use negative words like fanatic, radical and terror to describe their impressions of Islam.

Does increased religious orthodoxy promote violence and intolerance? Our research on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca suggests this association is wrong. The hajj is one of the most important institutions in Islam and a singular experience for many Muslims.

Our recent study of Pakistani pilgrims shows that while performing the hajj leads to greater religious orthodoxy, it also increases pilgrims' desire for peace and tolerance toward others (to read the study, go to http://ssrn.com/abstract=1124213). And this greater tolerance is not just toward fellow Muslims - it also extends to non-Muslims.

These findings echo the experience of Malcolm X, who drastically altered his views on race after performing the hajj. In a letter from the hajj, he wrote: "We were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white ... what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought patterns previously held."
The hajj is an inherently communal and international phenomenon, with over 2 million Muslims from all over the world gathering for several days in intense prayer and rituals. Pilgrims interact with fellow Muslims of different races and ethnicities in a religious context. At the hajj, men and women often pray alongside one another, an entirely new experience for many pilgrims.

Our study isolates the impact of performing the hajj using a method common in medicine. When doctors want to test a new drug, they give it to a randomly selected treatment group and compare their outcomes to a statistically similar control group. While social scientists rarely have the opportunity to use this method, we are able to do so by taking advantage of a randomized lottery for allocating hajj visas in Pakistan. We compare the attitudes of 800 successful lottery applicants, the "treatment" group, to an equal number of unsuccessful ones. The results are incredibly revealing.

Pilgrims are more observant of orthodox religious practice even five to eight months after returning from the hajj. They are 16 percent more likely to pray, 26 percent more likely to do so regularly in the mosque, and double their likelihood of non-obligatory fasting.

Interestingly, however, pilgrims are less likely to believe and participate in localized religious practices, such as using amulets.

What may be surprising to some is that the hajj makes pilgrims more tolerant of both fellow Muslims and non-Muslims. The experience of diversity on the hajj really does seem to matter: Hajjis have more positive views about people from other Muslim countries and are more likely to believe that different Pakistani ethnic and Islamic sectarian groups are equal and that they can live in harmony. Despite non-Muslims not being part of the hajj experience, these views also extend to adherents of other religions: Pilgrims are 22 percent more likely to declare that people of different religions are equal and 11 percent more likely to state that different religions can live in harmony by compromising over their disagreements.

Paralleling the findings on tolerance, hajjis report more positive views on women's abilities, greater concern for their quality of life, and are also more likely to favor educating girls and women participating in the workforce.

Hajjis are also less likely to support the use of violence and show no evidence of any increased hostility toward the West. They are more than twice as likely to declare that the goals of Osama bin Laden are incorrect, more likely to express a preference for peace between Pakistan and India, and more likely to declare that it is incorrect to physically punish someone if they have dishonored the family. Hajjis also become more sensitive to crimes against women.

While these results are specifically about the hajj, they have broader implications.
The impact of an event like the hajj demonstrates that even deep-rooted attitudes such as religious beliefs and views about other social groups can be changed. While all religions may have radical seminaries or extremist groups that promote an orthodoxy that goes hand in hand with hostility toward outsiders, our study shows this is not an inherent attribute of orthodoxy.

The promotion of tolerance doesn't therefore need to be defined in immediate opposition to religious orthodoxy. There may be ways, as demonstrated in the hajj, to leverage religious beliefs to foster compromise and mutual respect.

There is also a broader lesson about exposure to a diversity of peoples. Although lacking a common language, mixing with others across national, sect, and gender lines can help promote tolerance - both toward fellow participants but even more significantly, to those who are not part of the experience.

David Clingingsmith is an assistant professor of economics, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Asim Ijaz Khwaja is an associate professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Michael Kremer is a professor of developing societies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. They are the authors of "Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering."

Critiquing Islamism and Maududi

Article by Yogi Sikand follows my commentary;
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/05/critiquing-islamism-and-maududi.html

Yogi, Thanks for posting yet another piece that opens the windows to “exploring” the truth. Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility.

I am glad to see Muslims unhesitatingly critiquing the revered Muslims scholars of the past, we need to sort out the truth from the bunk and there is plenty of it, that is being unraveled now and Insha Allah, in the next decade we must be able to take out the additives by reverend Maududi, Qutub, Hilali and their likes who sought political gains through religion. Political Islam is a human endeavor to dominate, influence and control others, possibly out of fear of being run over or to cash in on the fear. It is the same story with Zionism, Hindutva and Neocons, agents of fear and war mongering.

Truthfully following the religion comes when we have the freedom to question what is given to us. When we lose that freedom, we fall into the trap of distancing ourselves from the truth. Prophet Muhammad did not assign any one to run the religion for Muslims; it was up to the individual to follow the guidelines enshrined in Qur’aan which is the only thing he left to the followers in his last speech. Respectfully the Shia version assigns an interpreter of religion and it was taken as a hereditary Imamat – it works for them and the other system works for the Sunni traditionalist. Prophet Muhammad completed the religion and no one needed to carry it forward, it was the finality of the message, there was no more delegation of religious authority.

Neither the Prophet assigned the governance of the state to any one that would have led to a monarchial form of governance. The consultative form was adopted for the political governance of the state and it was followed with the first four Leaders. Abdul Aziz Sachedina calls it the roots of democracy.

Religion is a private matter between an individual and God, as no one, not even the Prophet is responsible for one’s good and bad deeds, it is the individual responsibility, he or she alone faces the consequences on the day of Judgment, as such no state has the right to regulate one’s faith matters. As a civil society we honor the general guidelines and rules of the society, and can regulate those acts that affect others in terms of crime and punishment.

“Thus, he (Nadwi) accuses Maududi of wrongly equating the Islamic duty of 'establishing religion' with the setting up of an Islamic state with God as Sovereign and Law Maker. At Maududi's hands, he says, 'God', 'The Sustainer', 'Religion' and 'Worship' have all been reduced to political concepts.”

“Thus, he (Nadwi) argued, Maududi's insistence that to accept the commands of anyone other than God, including of an elected government, was tantamount to shirk, the crime of associating others with God, as this was allegedly akin to 'worship', was not in keeping with the teachings of Islam.”.

The above idea seem like etched in stone… it will take a lot of time and research to undo this set notions among a few Muslims, who are in-charge of running the affairs of Muslim communities, oddly the majority of Muslims will not subscribe to it in the privacy of their hearts and minds. Prophet lived in a pluralistic society, and he was sensitive to other humans that God wanted us to understand and live with, he took the initiative of Madinah pact and examples abound of his respect (not agree) for others. Where as some of the Islamic scholars did not live in such an environment and their views are certainly biased, although Maududi lived in such a society; India, perhaps he ignored Allah’s instructions given in Al-Hujurat, Surah 49:13.

“Further, Maulana Nadwi asserted that Maududi's argument that God had sent prophets to the world charged with the mission of establishing an 'Islamic state' was a misreading of the Islamic concept of prophethood.”

“In Maududi's understanding of Islam, he wrote, prayer and remembrance of God are seen as simply the means to an end, the establishment of an Islamic state, whereas, Maulana Nadwi argued, the converse is true.”.

If Maududi meant Islamic state to mean just governance, then it is fine, but if he meant suppression of those who differ and make them second class citizens, then it is dangerous and militaristic, and goes against the very grain of Islam – that is to create peaceful and just societies. We have to undo this thought.

“Maulana Nadwi's critique of radical Islamism points to the rich theological resources contained within traditional Islamic thought that can be used to fashion alternate understandings of the relationship between Islam and politics in a far more sensible way than most Islamists have articulated hitherto and which have caused untold havoc in the name of Islam.”

Yogi has concluded this very well with the above thought. Indeed that is the basis for Ijtihad. We should not settle for the opinions of scholars from yesteryears, and revisit them and re-affirm or re-evaluate in present context. Islam is for all times.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, India and civic issues. His comments, news analysis, opinions and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@aol.com
# # #

Maulana Nadwi has rightly criticized Maulana
Nadwi on Maududi: A Traditionalist Maulvi's Critique of Islamism

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net

The late Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (or Ali Miyan as he was also known) was one of the leading Indian ulema of modern times. A noted writer, he headed the famous Nadwat ul-Ulema madrasa in Lucknow from 1961 till his death in 1999. He was associated with several other Indian as well as international Islamic organisations, a mark of the high respect that he was accorded among Muslims all over the world.

Maulana Nadwi's wrote extensively on a vast range of subjects, including on Islam and politics. On this issue, his views underwent a gradual process of change and maturation, beginning with his early association with a leading Indian Islamist formation and later making a forceful critique of some crucial aspects of its understanding of Islam. His views in this regard point to the little-known yet rich internal debate among Indian Muslim scholars about the relationship between Islam and politics, particularly on the question of what Islamists describe as an 'Islamic state'.

In 1940, Maulana Nadwi came under the influence of Sayyid Maududi, the founder of the principal Indian Islamist outfit, the Jamaat-i Islami. Maududi, along with the Egyptian Syed Qutb, may be said to be among the pioneers of contemporary Islamism. Soon after joining the Jamaat, Maulana Nadwi was put in-charge of its activities in Lucknow. This relationship proved short-lived, however, and he left the Jamaat in 1943. He later wrote that he was disillusioned by the perception that many members of the Jamaat were going to what he called 'extremes' in adoring and glorifying Maududi as almost infallible, this bordering on personality worship'. At the same time, he felt that many Jamaat activists believed that they had nothing at all to learn from any other scholars of Islam. He was also concerned with what he saw as a lack of personal piety in Maududi and some leading Jamaat activists and with their criticism of other Muslim groups.

Maulana Nadwi's opposition to the Jamaat's understanding about Islam and politics, which it shared with most other Islamist formations, comes out clearly in his Urdu book Asr-i Hazir Mai Din Ki Tahfim-o-Tashrih ('Understanding and Explaining Religion in the Contemporary Age') which he penned in 1978, and which won him, so he says in his introduction to its second edition published in 1980, fierce condemnation from leading members of the Jamaat. Here, Maulana Nadwi takes Maududi to task for having allegedly misinterpreted central Islamic beliefs in order to suit his own
political agenda, presenting Islam, he says, as little more than a political programme. Thus, he accuses Maududi of wrongly equating the Islamic duty of 'establishing religion' with the setting up of an Islamic state with God as Sovereign and Law Maker. At Maududi's hands, he says, 'God', 'The Sustainer', 'Religion' and 'Worship' have all been reduced to political concepts. In this way, Maududi, Maulana Nadwi says, sought to incorrectly suggest that Islam is simply about
political power and that the relationship between God and human beings is only that between an All-Powerful King and His subjects. However, Maulana Nadwi says, this relationship is also one of 'love' and 'realisation of the Truth', which is far more comprehensive than what Maududi envisages.

Linked to Maulana Nadwi's critique of Maududi for having allegedly reduced Islam to a mere political project was his concern that not only was such an approach a distortion of the actual import of the Quran but also that it was impractical, if not dangerous, in the Indian context. Thus, he argued, Maududi's insistence that to accept the commands of anyone other than God, including of an elected government, was tantamount to shirk, the crime of associating others with God, as this was allegedly akin to 'worship', was not in keeping with the teachings of Islam. God, Maulana Nadwi wrote, had, in His
wisdom, left several areas of life free for people to decide how they could govern them, within the broad limits set by the
Islamic law or shariah, and guided by a concern for social welfare.

Further, Maulana Nadwi asserted that Maududi's argument that God had sent prophets to the world charged with the mission of establishing an 'Islamic state' was a misreading of the Islamic concept of prophethood. The principal work of the prophets, Maulana Nadwi argued, was to preach the worship of the one God and to exhort others to do good deeds. Not all prophets were rulers. In fact, only a few of them were granted that status. Maulana Nadwi faulted

Maududi for what he said was 'debasing' the 'lofty' Islamic understanding of worship to mean simply 'training' people as willing subjects of the Islamic state. In Maududi's understanding of Islam, he wrote, prayer and remembrance of God are seen as simply the means to an end, the establishment of an Islamic state, whereas, Maulana Nadwi argued, the converse is true. The goal of the Islamic state is to ensure worship of God, and not the other way round. If at all worship
can be said to be a means, he added, it is a means for securing the 'will of God' and 'closeness to Him'.

If the 'Islamic state' should then simply a means for the 'establishment of religion' and not the 'total religion' or the 'primary objective' of Islam, it opens up the possibility of pursuing the same goals through other means. Maulana Nadwi
refers to this when he says that the objective of the 'establishment of the faith' needs to be pursued along with 'wisdom of the faith', using constructive, as opposed to destructive, means. Eschewing 'total opposition', Muslims striving for the 'establishment of the faith' should, he wrote, unhesitatingly adopt peaceful means such as 'understanding and reform', 'consultation' and 'wisdom'. Critiquing the use of uncalled for violence by some groups calling themselves 'Islamic', Maulana Nadwi stressed the need for 'obedience', 'love' and 'faith' and struggle against the 'base self' (nafs). Muslims
should, he wrote, make use of all available legitimate spaces to pursue the cause of the 'establishment of religion', such as propagating their message through literature, public discussions, training volunteers, winning others over with the force of one's own personality and establishing contacts with governments.

Maulana Nadwi's critique of radical Islamism points to the rich theological resources contained within traditional Islamic thought that can be used to fashion alternate understandings of the relationship between Islam and politics in a far more sensible way than most Islamists have articulated hitherto and which have caused untold havoc in the name of Islam.

Book Info: Sayyed Abul Hasan 'Ali Nadwi, 'Asr-i Hazir Mai Din Ki
Tahfim-o-Tashrih, Dar-ul 'Arafat, Lucknow. 1980 edition.

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People's phobia of Muslims

I have read several articles by Matthi Kuruvila and we have published on this forum. It is good to see the main stream paper present a truthful view of Islam. Please send him a message and let him know that we appreciate it.

Mike Ghouse
# # #

Looking at people's phobia of Muslims
Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Religion Writer
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/26/MN5110C2DN.DTL

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Does the fact that Barack Hussein Obama's last name rhymes with that of the al Qaeda leader mean that he loves terrorists? Or how about that dangerous middle name? Should all women who wear head scarves be searched for weapons by airport security? Do we "know," as some allege, what terrorists look like?

The fear surrounding what makes a Muslim, from appearances to beliefs, has been defined in recent years as Islamophobia, an issue permeating politics, pop culture and even the price of gas. A group of professors and academics from around the nation are gathered this weekend at UC Berkeley to discuss what it means.

At what is believed to be the first academic conference focused on Islamophobia as a concept, the professors aim to study and understand how a religious identity of 1.2 billion people around the world has become fused with a monolithic set of beliefs and racial category. Under this dynamic, the beliefs of a Muslim engineer in Silicon Valley are rendered the same as those of a shopkeeper in Baghdad or a Hamas politician.

The "Muslim" racial category can be defined by a woman with a head scarf or a brown-skinned man with a beard. In reality, adherent Muslims include Chinese people, African Americans, whites and Latinos, as well as women who do not wear head scarves.

Just as black people, Jews and colonized groups have historically been defined as exceptionally dangerous "others," Muslims are today, conference participants said.

The professors hope to foster a new field of academic research. While Islam has been examined as a religion, and Muslim nations have been scrutinized in political science departments, it has not been placed within the context of ethnic studies. Those departments often focus on gender issues as well as specific ethnic groups, like African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos.

Contentious issues
Placing Islamophobia within the context of ethnic studies would allow researchers to look more broadly at the confluence of race, culture, ethnicity and religion that define the American Muslim experience today.

That's no trifling issue.

Islamophobia entails "some of the most contentious issues in the United States or worldwide," said Professor Evelyn Nakano Glenn, director of UC Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender, which sponsored the conference.

Friday's panels touched on issues ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. immigration to European anti-Semitism and the legacies of colonialism. For some, the importance of studying Islamophobia also was a matter of more intimate concern.

Glenn said that her own family paid the price for how its group was defined as "the other" in a past era of the United States and subjected to persecution. During World War II, she said roughly 30 family members were "incarcerated" in internment camps due to perceptions about Japanese American beliefs. Those camps also interned Italian Americans and German Americans.

"I have a personal interest in this particular topic," Glenn said.

UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian defined Islamophobia as "unfounded hostility toward Muslims and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims." As a result, Muslims are painted as monolithic, unable to adapt to modernity and dissimilar to other major faiths. Islamophobes present Muslims as inferior to the West, archaic, barbaric and irrational, Bazian said.

Organizers also hope that the creation of such a field would allow them to more systematically document the phenomenon, one that has gained momentum in the presidential race and the candidacy of Obama, a Christian.

Pundits and politicians have referred to the Illinois senator as "Osama," mockingly connecting him to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Others, like Rush Limbaugh, refer to him by his middle name. When Obama wore Somali garb on a visit to Kenya, the country of his ancestors, it was proof for others of purportedly insidious beliefs.

Yet, in the numerous paradoxes of race and religion, aspersions that "construct" Obama into a "Muslim" are often put forth by the same people who criticize Obama's house of worship, a Christian church.

"Whether Obama is a Muslim or not can increase or decrease his election chances, depending on who is asking and who is responding to it," said Bazian, a conference organizer. "This is part of public discourse."

Panelists at the conference traced the roots of Islamophobia well before Sept. 11, 2001: They include slavery, colonialism and the Spanish Inquisition against Jews and Muslims beginning in 1492.

Cultural phenomenon
Marquette University Professor Louise Cainkar presented a paper about hate crimes against those of Arab origin, a category that includes Christians but is often conflated with Muslims in post-Sept. 11 pop culture. In analyzing patterns in the Chicago area, she found that hate crimes were fewest in African American neighborhoods in the South Side, despite the high prevalence of Arab shopkeepers. But anti-Arab hate crimes were highest in "white flight" suburbs. A mosque in a southwestern suburb of Chicago came under a "three-day siege" by neighbors after the Sept. 11 attacks and had to be protected by more than 100 police officers in riot gear, Cainkar said.

Cainkar believes the results showed, in part, that Islamophobia is a cultural phenomenon. The black neighborhoods had a history of community organizing around concepts of race and did not buy into treating Arabs as "the other."

"Islamophobia can be defeated through work at the local level," she said.

Online resources
The conference on "Deconstructing Islamophobia" continues today and is open to the public. For more information, go to crg.berkeley.edu.

E-mail Matthai Kuruvila at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com.

Protection for reformist Muslims

Reformist Muslims need legal protection from blasphemy accusations http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/protection-for-reformist-muslims.html

Thanks to the University Campuses in the United States and Canada in general, and the Canadian Media in particular for taking the lead in giving space for opposing opinions. The resolution by Canada protecting religion from "defamation" is welcome news. The American Media has a lot more to learn, moving from propaganda to news coverage, and being honest in giving equal caliber an equal time. Sadly, American media is more of a business than a true media.

The concerns of Tarek Fatah and Farzana Hassan about blasphemy accusations are real, however, they will not materialize in the United States and Canada, it speaks well of our laws that protect our freedom.

Thank God, they are the same laws that prevent Pat Robertson, Tom Crendo and their ilk from becoming terrorists; either scheming to bomb or assassinate leaders of other nations.

Democratic form of Governance is preferred by Muslims indeed that is how the Muslim history took roots; the first four political leaders called Caliphs were elected through consensus after campaigning and challenging. The Prophet did not pass the political mantle to his legitimate heirs to prevent a monarchial or a hereditary form of governance. There was a clear separation of church and the state, as the faith was complete and no clergy was assigned to carry on the religious business, it was up to the individual to follow the only thing prophet left; The Qur’aan. Today, over 2/3rds of Muslims live in democracies, and the rest would opt for democracy, if they have their freedom.

Though the Propaganda would have you believe that Muslims want the Caliphate, but ask the Muslims or do an in-depth survey, you will be surprised that only a very small percentage of Muslims may want to live in strict religious system, perhaps the same percentage as the Neocons wanting a Christian form of Governance. However, if you probe further and give the option between a Just and a religious government, they will go for the Just governance, as that is what Islamic government means to the Muslims. I hope the University of Pittsburgh takes on this task.

The Muslims in the United States and Canada are like any other community living and breathing the freedom sustained in these two great nations. In the 1400 years of Muslim history, Muslims have never seriously and publicly challenged the Sharia Laws, the Hadiths (verbal traditions ascribed to the Prophet) any where in the world as they have done here in the North American continent. In the last five years that I have been managing a few forums, I have observed remarkable rational attitudes among Muslims who are not only from our continent but from all over the world. The dogma is constantly challenged and new consensus is silently emerging.

In a few years Muslim will take on the responsibility of peace makers. They will constantly seek to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; life and mater. Indeed, that is the purpose of religion, any religion.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, India and civic issues. He is the founder of the World Muslim Congress, a group committed to building bridges and nurturing a world of co-existence. He also heads the foundation for pluralism, an organization committed to studying religious pluralism and pluralistic governance. His personal website is http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and his writings are on the above websites as well as several of the ancillary Blogs listed on the sites.

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Reformist Muslims need legal protection from blasphemy accusations

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2008/04/reformist-muslims-need-legal-protection.php

Farzana Hassan [president, Muslim Canadian Congress] and Tarek Fatah [founder, Muslim Canadian Congress]: "How long will it take the leadership of North America's traditional Muslim leadership to embrace the First amendment of the United Sates constitution and the doctrine of the separation of religion and state? Will the concept of freedom of expression survive ever-new challenges from the defenders of medieval traditions that bar any discussion or critique of religion?

These are questions bubbling below the surface right now, but eventually are bound to erupt into the open. Moreover, when they do, chances of a rise in overt racist backlash against Muslims of all shades and opinions is a likely outcome. Certainly, the events of the past few months provide ample evidence for this trend, with two human rights complaints making newspaper headlines and leading to fierce debates about the limits of free speech and what might constitute hate literature.

The first involved a human rights complaint against Ezra Levant, the editor of the defunct [Canadian magazine the] Western Standard, while the second, more recent one, was filed against Macleans magazine, by four Osgoode law students on behalf of the Canadian Islamic Congress. Needless to say, these complaints are justifiably interpreted as assaults on freedom of speech and conscience by Canadians both Muslim and non-Muslim, leading many to question the mandate of these commissions as well as the validity or otherwise of these human rights complaints.

Historically, orthodoxy has demanded abject compliance to the closed belief systems it guards. Therefore, the freedom to question, challenge, and evaluate dogma remains an elusive ideal for those who practice it, often at great risk to their lives and persons. Though in the West, "heresy" came to be accepted as valid religious expression in the seventeen hundreds in keeping with the first amendment; Muslim societies continue to be dogged by obscurantism and a stubborn resistance to modernity. Many a time, such intransigence results in lawsuits, human rights complaints and conspiracy theories against individuals perceived as threats to the status quo.

As an example, the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) recently approved a resolution protecting religion from "defamation". Once again, the drivers of this move were Islamist organizations who refuse to tolerate the slightest dissent over religious matters. What these tyrants and monarchs from the Arab world fail to realize or choose to pretend otherwise is the fact that critics of Islamist ideologies are not opposing Islam as a religion, but the use of Islam as a political ideology that hides behind religion for protection, while seeking political ascendancy.

For Muslims who believe in challenging religious dogma, who actively pursue the goal of bringing about reform in Muslim societies and who advocate the separation of religion and state, this becomes a particularly threatening scenario as charges of blasphemy and apostasy often occasion calls for the execution of "apostates" and "heretics". A Turkish man recently convicted of "ridiculing god" faces the death penalty in a Saudi prison while secular and moderate Muslims living in the West are frequently the targets of death threats or bullying tactics to silence them one way or another.

The law in Canada and the United States must look into formulating legal measures that protect reformists within various faith traditions. In particular, given the serious consequences that secular and reformist Muslims face in their efforts to challenge orthodox positions, charges of apostasy and blasphemy leveled against them by fundamentalists should be criminalized as legal safeguards against such bullying and silencing tactics. The United States and Canada must look into introducing legislation that will protect such individuals from these accusations often laden with threats to their lives and security.

As long as Islamists around the world use Islam as a political ideology in the footsteps of such jihadi ideologues as Hassan Al-Banna, Syed Qutb, Abul Ala Maudoodi and Ayatollah Khomeini, their Muslim, and non-Muslim opponents will have the right to challenge this ideology with full vigour. Hiding behind the skirts of religion to avoid being critiqued, these fascist cults demonstrate not just cowardice, but a cunningness that is fooling large segments of the liberal-left intelligentsia in the West, which will be among the first to suffer if and when Islamists use liberal democracy to extinguish its light."

Opinions expressed in JURIST's Hotline are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, or the University of Pittsburgh.