Secularism for Somalia Forever - Hiiraan Online

[Prometheus]

by Muuse Yuusuf

Sunday, August 08, 2010

 

 

The saga of the 43-year-old Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was facing punishment by stoning to death for adultery, continues. After sustained international pressure, the Iranian authorities have backed down and the woman will not be executed by stoning to death. However, she still faces death by hanging for allegedly killing her husband. She denies that and says another man has killed him. Nevertheless, the man, who was imprisoned, will not face execution because the deceased’s son has pardoned him. Mohammad Mostafaei, the woman’s lawyer who brought her case to the attention of the international community has fled Iran, seeking asylum in Norway after the Iranian authorities questioned him and his family arrested.

 

Let me leave that sad story aside and return to the subject matter of my article.

 

It is understandable when a man who lives in an Islamic or Christian fundamentalist state and has never experienced advantages or disadvantages of living in a secular country disapproves secularism. This is because one would excuse him for his ignorance and for believing that his way of life is the best. And so be it. However, It is entirely the opposite when Somalis in secular countries, such as Holland, the US or India, who having been reaping the many benefits of secularism, including protection of religious rights, to criticise secularism per se. Would not that sound hypocritical?

 

For the sceptics, here are some indisputable empirical evidences that prove the relevance and the predominant position of secularism in today’s modern world. The vast majority of the 192 UN member states (probably over 90%) are secular minded states, adopting a range of practices and are in different stages of implementing secularism.[1] It is equally true that the 57 Muslim countries have accepted the concept, including Turkey, which has always been a bridge between the west and east and is now striving to join the European Union. The exception is a few countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and now southern Somalia where “Islamists” are attempting to erect a fundamentalist Islamic state similar to that of Saudi Arabia. Like it or loath it, it is because of secularism that interfaith dialogue and peaceful co-exist among nations have been possible, anyway most of the time. Imagine what the situation of other faiths would be if say the ultra right wing of American Christians, Muslims or other religions were to descend on the throne of power in the White House? There would probably be religious tyranny and religious wars.

 

If the above empirical evidences do not make you appreciate secularism and you remain sceptic, below are some thought provoking scenarios that you might like to ponder on.

 

Nurturing young minds vs. oppressing them? In fundamentalist states, whether Christian, Islamic or Judaism, it is very likely that authorities would base their academic curriculum on the concept of creationism[2] (simply put it: God created the world). It is very unlikely that they would entertain other theories, such the big bang[3] or the evolution,[4] theories that provide alternative explanations of our universe’s origins. However, in a secular country, like Somalia before the civil war where the theory of big bang was taught in schools, it would be possible to teach all these theories in the classroom on equal basis, hence helping enquiring minds acquire a balanced and well-researched education. So in order to nurture young minds and to give them a balanced understanding of these big philosophical questions, which one would you recommend knowing that students are tomorrow’s leaders and scientists. The choice is yours.

 

Interfaith tolerance and harmony vs. religious bigotry? You are in India, the biggest democracy in the world, and as you probably know, it is a country with a population of 1,178,900,000 and with many different ethnic and religious groups. Most faiths, including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Christianity, are all practised in that multicultural country. Empirical evidences indicate that most adherents to these faiths staunchly believe that their religion is the truth and the only truth. They also believe that other creeds are fictitious belief systems, which should be wiped out of the face of the earth, or at least converted! Also, empirical evidences indicate that inter communal and religious violence have been an issue since independence, but it is probably a mixture of the state of secularism and democracy that has been helping these diverse communities, though not perfect, to co-exist and live in harmony and peace, and of course to practise their faith as much as they like. So apart from secularism, what other systems would or could you suggest in view of helping that country hold together as one independent nation?

 

Marriage counsellor vs. stoning to death? After a stormy row with you wife, you ended up having extra marital affairs in one of Amsterdam’s red districts after a lapse of judgment. As a good and faithful Muslim and as your conscience had been troubling you for while, you admitted this to your wife who then reported your imprudent action to the local police station. The officer advised your wife to discuss it with between you partner, and to seek a marriage counselling or legal advice, if both of you agree on that. An amicable divorce had resolved the conflict. Now, let us assume a magic wand had flown your family over the oceans and you found yourself in a fundamentalist state, say Saudi Arabia, for the sake of argument. You committed fornication. As a good and faithful Muslim and as your conscience had been troubling you, would you have reported your action to your local police station knowing that adultery is punishable by stoning people to death? On the other hand, imagine if you were caught in the act red handed. The choice is yours.

 

Spirituality vs. religious dogma/violence? Although one can be religious and practise their faith in midst of secular and a capitalist society, if your argument against secularism is because it is devoid of spirituality and you think religion can fill in the gap. Then your challenge is to stay in southern Somalia, where people are being made to hate their religion, because of the current implementation of the Wahabia doctrine with its distorted legalistic interpretation of the Islamic faith, which has rendered Islam devoid of spirituality and mysticism. Sadly, people in southern Somalia are being forced to abandon their way of seeking salvation, divine light, and spiritual guidance through the Sufism[5] traditions in which Sufis masters have been brilliant healing the sick, the deprived and the poor through their excellent mystical wisdoms and practices.

 

Finally, do you know that under Articles 426 and 480 of the 1962 Somali Penal Code,[6] which Somaliland and Puntland have adopted, adultery and theft are punishable with imprisonment of up to two and three years respectively? These were part of our ancestors’ past legal practices, including customary laws and Islamic Sharia, which they used in order to resolve their human problems and they were all Muslims. Were they not? The Penal Code was passed by an elected sovereign Somali parliament.

 

So as I have been arguing in previous articles, please let us keep Somalia a secular state forever. Indeed, S stands for Somalia and Secularism and the two are inseparable twins conjoined by their umbilical cords!

 

Hiiraan Online

[Khayr]

Somalis in secular countries, such as Holland, the US or India, who having been reaping the many benefits of secularism, including protection of religious rights, to criticise secularism per se. Would not that sound hypocritical?

This is the argument from the point of few of arrogance. Somalis in the diaspora have for the large part - remained shut out from the wealth and good life that "secularism" has promised them. Instead, they have been told that they can only apply for min'm level jobs and that all there kids can graduate from university but will be cabbie's and office cleaners. So long as they still hold allegiance to Islam. That is the caveat. If Somalis let go of their muslim names and religion, then they are welcome. Deeqa with the hijab ain't getting that job but once she throws it off, the opportunities then broaden up for her....

 

There are more wholes in this writers arguments then in swiss cheese.

[NGONGE]

Prom,

Shame on you putting your name to such a shabby piece of writing. Shame on Hiiran online.

[Prometheus]

^ I was tempted to offer the inept editors of Hiiraan Online (and Garowe Online) my services. I would blue-pencil this poorly-articulated piece probono. Mind you, regardless of the shabby style and shoddy substance, the author's basic contention that secularism is preferable to theocracy is unassailable.

[rudy-Diiriye]

gaal ismood! somalidi iminka cajiib eeye noqdeen. every flight 13 who had couple of hamburgers all of sudden thinks that hes hip and starts yapping about white mans trash. cajiib.

[Prometheus]

^ You used to question whether the wearing of hijab is compulsory in Islam. I'm not persuaded that your opinion (or doubt) about the hijab makes you "gaal ismood", or a thoughtless person under the thrall of the white man. No doubt some Nomads questioned your faith - publically or privately - when you expressed your uncertainty about their cherished cloth. In any event, instead of hurling invectives at persons who prefer their religion to be seperate from their government, you ought to tolerate their opinion the same way your views on hijab ought to be tolerated.

[SeeKer]

the author's basic contention that secularism is preferable to theocracy is unassailable.

........I take it this means you are in agreement with him

 

What is it exactly about a theocracy, or secularism for that matter, that disallows the fusion of these two dogmas?

[xiinfaniin]

Had Muse Yusuf sufficed his love songs on secularism, and forgone the incoherent critique on shariah, his piece however poorly written would have been bearable. To be sure, his ramble does not warrant a response, but few things must be noted:

 

Islam has proved to be very resilient religion; its values withstood close to two hundred years of prosecution and suppression, and in 2010 at the height of its detractors' power, it thrives in places that were seemed far and foreign to it a century ago. An Egyptian friend of mine was telling me his observation in his last visit to Egypt, Chinese Muslims are everywhere he said, enrolling religious studies in Egypt’s prestigious schools. In Europe those who went a far to colonize other continents are today fearful of the silent conquest of Islamic values, not with armies, but with ideas reflected in how average Muslim person conducts him/herself. And in New York, the symbol of secularism and free market power, American politicians are rattled with the potential construction of a simple mosque. All of this suggests one thing and one thing only: Islam has a powerful message, a message that its enemies struggled to contain for the last few centuries. It’s indeed a beautiful message of peace and spiritual harmony. Why else would a powerful country like America almost reach a consensus to ditch its bedrock ideals of religious freedom and personal liberty to halt the reach of Islam’s message, if not the real truth that lies within this faith…and the fact that it is the one that breaches the real gospel of truth as it were. Ramadan coincided with this silly political season, and it is absurd how ridiculously low the story of New York mosque got…

 

Now back to the topic poor Muse wanted to tackle but miserably fell short: The role (or lack thereof) of shariah islamiyah in Somalia’s government. What Muse is suggesting albeit incoherently is to remove Islamic values from any Somali government. And that is something that is no wise possible. Muse is fighting in a hill not worth dying on. It's a fight he and his likes will lose primarily because Somalis are Muslims, and Muslims in general never had the European experience that resulted in the separation between church and state. Muse needs to read the historical background of that experience, and I am sure when he reads the historicity of it he will then appreciate the reasons that fathered that concept in the European context. If he is a man of reason, he will then realize the absurdity of selecting a form of government solely on the basis of others experience, and not based on one’s own conditions and stipulations. Subsequently, poor Muse will have to eat his words back and examine the weak methodology of citing isolated cases to indict a tested and tried system of governance, Islamic Government.

 

Having said that, extremist groups, I mean those who took on them selves to defend Islam as they see fit and in the process destroyed the basic tenets of Islam out of anger, have indeed damaged the brand of shariah islamiyah. It’s there fore quite lamentable that one of the casualties of alshabaab’s rise to prominence in Somalia’s political affairs could well be the name of shariah islaamiyah. For those who argued that Somalia will be better of if shariah islaamiyah is implemented may now be having second thoughts as they are confronted with the crudeness of alshabaab’s makeshift courts. And one could understand the doubt. The doubt, I believe, could easily be dispelled if the sahwah in Somalia reexamines its message and recalibrates it. It’s no longer enough to put emphasis on the benefits of shariah of islamiyah and the stability its implementation would entail. For what has thus far transpired in the name of shariah islamiyah in Somalia does not promise a long-term stability, and the benefits it yielded are dismally inadequate! Instead, the sahwah must emphasize on how shariah islamiyah should be implemented, stress on the practical requirements of xuduud, consensus needed and the legitimacy necessary in imposing it on large constituents. This concept goes beyond mere slogans. And it does not bode well for shariah islamiyah when bandits with political grievances murder innocent people in its name. Therefore, a great push must be made toward educating the masses about the basic requirements of shaiah implementation. The how is equally important, and without it a critical understanding would be absent in the concept of shariah islamiyah.

 

 

ps. Ramadan Kariim

[Polanyi]

Originally posted by rudy-Diiriye:

gaal ismood! somalidi iminka cajiib eeye noqdeen. every flight 13 who had couple of hamburgers all of sudden thinks that hes hip and starts yapping about white mans trash. cajiib.

word up.

[Chocolate and Honey]

The only person who said anything worhty responding to is Xiin. The author needs to examine his sources and read the history of securalism before he babbles on. Opening with the Iranian lady's plight would have been a nice if he was writing a novel. But when approaching heavy-handed issue such as this, one needs to be armed with knowledge and studies rather than a heart wrenching tale of a woman.

[Voltaire]

Originally posted by chocolate & honey:

The only person who said anything worhty responding to is Xiin. The author needs to examine his sources and read the history of securalism before he babbles on. Opening with the Iranian lady's plight would have been a nice if he was writing a novel. But when approaching heavy-handed issue such as this, one needs to be armed with knowledge and studies rather than a heart wrenching tale of a woman.

You accused the author of employing 'a heart wrenching tale of a woman' and then agreed

with a post that started with 'a friend of mine told me' and proceeded to employ the tale of

Mosque construction that happens to have never been disallowed? How fair and convenient!

[Rain]

gaal ismood foqal gaal ismood!

[Chocolate and Honey]

You accused the author of employing 'a heart wrenching tale of a woman' and then agreed

with a post that started with 'a friend of mine told me' and proceeded to employ the tale of

Mosque construction that happens to have never been disallowed? How fair and convenient!

WTH are you on :confused: :confused: Are you sure you got the right person?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Hadduu ereyga 'secular' wax u dhigmo Afsoomaali ku jiro, waaka yeeli lahaa wuxuu soo shar sharxay.

 

Hadduu ku jirin ama uunan jirin, well, leerta nasii dheh.

 

There is a reason why 'securalism' has no equivalent word in Afsoomaaliga ama wax lagu micneeyo that I know of.

[Voltaire]

Originally posted by chocolate & honey:

WTH are you on :confused: :confused: Are you sure you got the right person?

You should know 'WTH' I'm on, unless you either didn't read the post which you have labelled

as 'worthy', or else have such a short memory that you have forgotten all about it so soon.