Strangeness and the Strangers; random thoughts

[Che -Guevara]

^Is this goadlike moment or momentary voyeurism into Xiin's inner mind.

[xiinfaniin]

^^Waxaa tiriba lagu yiri cheyow.

[Che -Guevara]

^LoooooooooL..I find your 'rumblings' about these societies bit sordid. I'm surprised so many agreed. Now that's cause for concern.

[xiinfaniin]

^^Now you describe what goes in my min as a sordid.

 

That's bit damp compared to your previous choice word , voyeurism.

[Emperor]

Originally posted by Xiin:

^ LX, i think it's more than that. perhaps it has something to do with what we focus on or those in the dacwah majaal focus on. The focus has been on the theological stuff and not on the basic mucaamaalaat and akhlaaqiyaas, i think.

You are right on the money, it is misplaced priorities but not only that, the culture of self interest or selfish life style of the Somalis and other Muslim countries contributes to it a great deal.

[Caano Geel]

^Cara, don't forget the duck-tape, and as infinitely useful as burnt toast and lumpy dental floss are, surely they make better compost than conductors

 

xiin's point still holds tough it implicitly involves two different and related issues - the personal and the social. I think it would be very difficult to argue that the rulers of a society are unaware of the responsibility attached to their rule - regardless of popular norms

 

this leads me to [a preaching] anecdote a friend told me about the difficulty of political accountability in kenya. In effect the decent people don't get democratic positions easily because people arn't inspired by their lead. Instead the flash thief that is known to spend the development money on wives and bmw's is the local hero. and this is not limited to kenya, millionaire evangelist preachers on US cable tv are driven by the same intensives. showing god has blesses with the pulpit contribution paid for beemers attracts more pulpit contributions.

 

we could forever argue about time and this is the most common reason put forward by corrupt system, in the favourite "we are still new to [name cause here]", but if i understand it properly the kind of core issues mentioned are not those that require phasing in. On the contrary every one knows what is intrinsically fair/right. Going against it creates a positive feedback loop, since if each person knows every one else cheating the system, they have no personal incentive to abide by it.

 

-almost enough with my preaching

[Che -Guevara]

Xiin-I wouldn't know what goes in your mind and it wasn't was meant to be taken literaly but you sounded like depicting these people's everyday purpose as ignoble. Atleast that's how it came across to me. How you surmise these 'rumblings' in your mind is diffirent story. Could this have less to do with Islam or moral degradation and more to do with your need for 'mechanized' convenience hence you rather have cashier with fake smile and empty gestures.

[N.O.R.F]

Edit

 

Xiin,

 

I hear what you're saying. However, alot of the time, the khutba on a friday is indeed about behavioural issues, neighbours and how they should be treated etc. For the gulf region I think the element of class comes into it. The lower the perceived class of a person the ruder the 'maro weyn'e'.

 

Khaliigi

Arab other

Indian/Pak/subcontinent/African

 

Che, we're yet to here your take on this yet you're busy making comments about irrelevent issues.

[xiinfaniin]

edit: North, customizing fridays khudbah to address these issues is what i exactly had in mind for awarness is needed. Just like the culumaa preached the jalbaab, and the wrongness of qubuuri stuff, culumaa should equally feel the responsibility for these basic mucamalaam...and that assumes culummaa themselves have a thinking that's a notch higher then the rest of people...

 

@che

Now you are talking yaa che.

 

Check this: adaabu khilaaf requires from you to disagree in civil usluub.

 

i have a simple q for you che; why, do you reckon, qashins are not picked up in Boosaaso streets in a regular basis? is that because folks in there are not fond of faking a nadaafad? chew on that one please...caawa iyada ku qayil.

[N.O.R.F]

^^So Che proved your point?

[xiinfaniin]

^^Yes he did indeed .

[Thierry.]

It is really simple Xiin people have forgotten the single most important weapon at their disposal the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw). Why else would someone leave their household without smelling good and why else would someone get offended by good nasiixah.

I was listening to one of Sheikh Awlakis lectures last year when he made a very important statement, he said leaders are a reflection of the people, if the people are good then the leaders will be good and if they are bad the leaders will be bad. He went on further to say that we could not expect Cumar ibn Cabdul Aziiz to rule us let alone the Kulafah wa Rashidun, in the same way we could not envisage the first pious generations of the Ummah ruled by the likes of Husni Mubarak.

 

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to work in a company where a lot of Somalis worked. For me it was a great anthropological experience. Although I met many good brothers and sisters with regards to Islamic etiquettes I was saddened to see the majority were black sheep. One minute they were arguing, cursing (old men in the foulest way) and throwing rubbish on the floor while at the same time complaining how bad Abdullahi Yusuf, Musse Suudi and Qanyare are.

We have example of how nations and continents reverted to Islam because of the etiquettes of Muslim merchants and in this organisation other workers frowned in disgust at the barbarism taking place.

 

However I must state that the brothers and sisters who listen to Sh Cumar Faruuq, Sh Mustafah and Sh Maxamed Rashaad were top notch in their manner and actions.

 

In short stay with that which makes you great (the Sunnah of the Messenger saw)

[Jamster]

Al Jidaawe

 

Where does the Somalis fit in this

 

Khaliigi

Arab other - HERE or

Indian/Pak/subcontinent/African- HERE

[Che -Guevara]

The Islamic civilization had reached its peak in the 10th century, and by 1100, the number of Muslims rose to 5.6 million. 18 There existed in Cordoba alone, 200,000 houses, 600 mosques, 900 public baths, 10,000 lamps, 50 hospitals, lighted and paved streets. Muslims introduced public baths because of their need to to wash in preparation for prayer 5x a day. Libraries and research institutions grew rapidly in Muslim Spain, while the rest of Europe remained illiterate.

 

In Muslim Spain, knowledge from Greece and Rome was preserved. Arab scholars produced encyclopedias on medicine and astronomy in 11th century, also including astrology, psychology, zoology, biology, botany, chemistry, physics, mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc., which Christian scholars acquired and translated. Toledo thrived essentially because of its Muslim rule, and became the "cradle of learning," and the chief point of interaction between the Muslims, Christians and Jews. Western scholars traveled to Spain and Sicily to learn Arabic and to make transcripts of texts in Latin. Muslims produced cotton, paper, salt, silk, satin, pepper, stamps, clocks, soaps, rulers, maps, globes, furs, velvets, described over 200 surgical instruments, and named over 200 stars with Arabic names.

Hence, it was this Islamic civilization in Spain that was the main threshold behind the European Renaissance.

During the time the Muslims set foot in Spain in 711 until 1084 (a year before Toledo was taken) Muslim Spain had become an area unique to the entire world.

web page

Xiin..Your question reminded the above piece by a sister. Andalusia was the embodiment of all that was good with the Islamic civilization.The sister painted beautiful picture of life in Andalusia.Try to contrast Islamic Cordoba, Seville and Toledo with other European cities in the dark ages. I'm sure you know the stark difference between Andalusia and rest of Europe which was then run by one universal institution the Roman Catholic church to which all were devoted.

 

The poor peasants of dark ages who slept not from their domestic animals and city dwellers whose excrement would go by their houses were all deeply religious people yet they were poor, filthy and ignorant.The European monks and scholars who sought knowledge and enlightenment from Andalusia were amazed how knowledgeable Muslims were, how clean the people and cities were and how tolerant Islamic government were to the non-Muslims. They couldn't believe the robust economy, the free exchange of ideas, and managerial/administrative skills of those running this land. And when these monks and scholars were alone with their thoughts in the moment of introspection, they understood that they must learn all they can from this civilization and learn they did eventually conquering the very civilization that they so amazed with.

 

Not to make it long but the point here is they didn't look down on those poor peasants and call their existence an ignoble one by insinuating that these peasants were filthy coz they didn't follow the words of Jesus Christ. Instead, these monks/scholars used what they learned to advance their civilization.

 

You went back, saw a pile of trash and thought..Geeze these people must have abandoned the words of Allah and the Sunnah of Our Prophet (PBUH). The usual suspects came in and joined the chorus. Not once it did occur to you find practical solution for this problem. Instead you climbed high on pedestal looking down on everybody all the while you could have simply engaged with few of the merchants in town and suggest to them to start a waste disposal company-just one truck with two or three trash collectors would have done the job. It is an investment that would have solved a public health issue and created jobs.

 

Every other or so day, trucks come to your and every Faarax in here's neighborhood to collect trash. It's beyond me that you wouldn't share things you know with your fellow Muslim. I guess it's easier to criticize them than it's to actually teach them something.

 

That said, I'm gonna end my rant with another little fact. The predecessors of the Roman Church were the mighty Rome itself and the Greeks-two civilizations that Andalusian Muslims and others look to for knowledge.They studied and translated many works of Greek and Roman scholars that Andalusia was teaching to the inheritors of these civilization the very thing they should have known. The point here is civilizations evolve and devolve!!!. It's natural cycle and I'm sure you could figure where the Islamic civilization is evolving or devolving now.

 

 

One last thing I was reading this story while back web page In country, where Islamic brotherhood lurks everyone corner, I wonder if you could go and preach about conducting themselves Islamically?

 

P.S. I very much liked Cara explanation better even though she didn't offer any solutions either but atleast she didn't pass down judgment and question people's deep held faith.

[Buuxo]

Originally posted by Nephthys:

Waxad arkaysa dad waawayn rag iyo dumar, oo markay kuu yimaadaan kursida salootada leather-ka ah kaa fagayo. Furo ama farageeto bay ku qodayaan. Walle waa cajiib.

 

Bisinka Nephyst taana ma ila aragtey, sometimes farahood bey ku xogaan. Markaan uqaandan weyne baan ku'iri martidi bal jooji, kuma lahoo 'farteey ku fiicantahay' :mad: now our $3000 leather couch waa kakac.

 

 

This topic reminded me of a conversation i had with my aunty ,she said hadey somalia nabad noqoto so wali daqan-xumadii ugu matageyno such as nobody lining up /pushing in the line in banks etc since qofkii soo galaba expects to be served first ,qashinka dariska hortiisa lagu daadinayo.And I thought if this is how the reer magaalo use to behave ,i can't imagine the reer tuuloyin.

 

Xiin ,what's the lecture called the one by sh C/rahman?