Lesson One for the modern Muslim: remember, this is not the 8th century

[Alle-ubaahne]

Soo dhawoow A Simple Muslim,

 

Waxna ha is martiyeen, Soon wanaagsan. Haka baqin, ra'yigaaga dhiibo, waxaana intaas kuugu daraayaa in dadkaan aad u jeedid ay kurtigood meelahaan English ku barteen. Marka duqa inta aad hadda soo tuuratayna waaba ka cabsaday, ee ii sheeg kaligey ninyahow, Professor yaa ka tahay, koley waa suuragal inaa dhaqtar tahee!

 

English-kaaga Cilmi Badanaa...

[Simple_Muslim]

Asalaamu calaykum Walaalayaal!

Alle-ubaahane, mahadsanid walaal. Saa i mooday maahee waa sikale ina adeer. Professor iyo wax udhawba ma'ihi, markaan jilciya iraahday ingiriiska dhab ayay iga ahayd. Maalin wanaagsan, dhamaan.

[Sniper]

Islam needs nothing reform or re-introduction, Islam is all time perfect time, it is only now that muslims are preaching the faith better than ever, it is now that muslims can be clear in their ideas much better than ever, we dont need to change anything. We just need to maintain the path, and stay strong.

Bush's speach recently outlined 9and tried to re-define what some muslims belive. The only thing pple need to know is that there no rewards or punishmnets, except reactions and consequences. simple and easy.

Weak so called Muslims like Rshdie are the confused ones. The terrorist had made a decision to serve his philosophies and he is acting upon it, he is 100% muslim. others made a decision to to live peacefully with other faiths they're 100% muslims. only the confused is busy trying which side to join. Lets now worry what is not up to us, this is God's will and it will take place how he wants, no wonder it is the way history is shaped. Lets enjoy our faith and its resources that many so called faiths only dream of and lets be proud, becouse we're the only pple who are one and yet many.

[Johnny B]

Originally posted by Sniper:

The terrorist had made a decision to serve his philosophies and he is acting upon it, he is 100% muslim. others made a decision to to live peacefully with other faiths they're 100% muslims. only the confused is busy trying which side to join. Lets now worry what is not up to us, this is God's will and it will take place how he wants,

If the 'terrorist' is 100% muslim and the 'liberal' who lives peacefully with other faiths is too 100% muslim then both the 'Liberal' and the 'Terrorist' are equally either Terrorists are Liberals , unless the math i swrong.

 

If it is God´s will and will take place how he wants, then who of the Liberal or Terrorist he uses to do the job is meaningless as it is God´d will.

 

And you claim islam doesn´t need reintroduction?

 

There seems to be nothing like hating it in the name of alah.

Good luck !!

[Proud_Muslimah2]

Assalamu Alaikum,

 

LOL....this is really funny! The poster...as a Muslim I seriously don't understand how you can actually agree with this person, I mean just look at how he puts it, that Muslims must "emerge from the intellectual ghetto of literalism" this simply means taking reality not for what it is...but rather from an angle of capitalism...where truth is relative and not absolute. If not they will surely arrive at Allah (SWT). Then “rejection of conservative dogmatism†where dogmatism means taking a mullahs word without questioning facts and evidence i.e. blind following. Which is absolutely nonsense to the core, for that’s why we have classifications in hadith according to strength and ijtihad as a method to solving problems, past and present, Above all Islam is applicable through out time, and that’s were the challenge lays… and for equality for men and women, yes we are equal in the SIGHT of Allah (SWT) i.e. when it comes to ibadat, but different when it comes to the role of a man and a women. A great scholor of AlAzhar Shiekh Gamal Qutub once said something which makes perfect sense and at the same time is quite amusing he said " Men and women will be equal when men start giving birth"!

 

May Allah (SWT) guide us all to the straight path (Ameen)

 

Salam

[Khayr]

Originally posted by *Proud_Muslimah*:

Assalamu Alaikum,

 

LOL....this is really funny! The poster...as a Muslim I seriously don't understand how you can actually

agree with this person, I mean just look at how he puts it, that Muslims must "emerge from the intellectual ghetto of literalism" this simply means taking reality not for what it is...but rather from an angle of capitalism...where truth is relative and not absolute. If not they will surely arrive at Allah (SWT). Then “rejection of conservative dogmatism†where dogmatism means taking a mullahs word without questioning facts and evidence i.e. blind following. Which is absolutely nonsense to the core, for that’s why we have classifications in hadith according to strength and ijtihad as a method to solving problems, past and present, Above all Islam is applicable through out time, and that’s were the challenge lays… and for equality for men and women, yes we are equal in the SIGHT of Allah (SWT) i.e. when it comes to ibadat, but different when it comes to the role of a man and a women. A great scholor of AlAzhar Shiekh Gamal Qutub once said something which makes perfect sense and at the same time is quite amusing he said " Men and women will be equal when men start giving birth"!

 

May Allah (SWT) guide us all to the straight path (Ameen)

 

Salam

Inal hamdu lillah

[Alle-ubaahne]

Who are the "moderate Muslims"?

The term moderate Muslims is not only becoming important in the post September 11 discussion of Islam and the West, it is also becoming highly contested. What do we really mean when we brand someone as a moderate Muslim? Indeed the more interesting question is what does the word mean to Westerns, looking-in to Islam, and to Muslims, looking out from within Islam?

 

By Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.

 

As one who identifies himself strongly with the idea of a liberal Islam and also advocates moderation in the manifestation and __expression of Islamic politics, I believe it is important that we flush out this “political identityâ€. In an era when who we are determines what we do politically, it is imperative that we clarify the “we†in politics.

 

 

 

American media uses the term moderate Muslim to indicate a Muslim who is either pro-western in her politics or is being self-critical in her discourse. Therefore both President Karzai of Afghanistan and Professor Kahlid Abul Fadl of UCLA wear the cap with felicity, the former for his politics the latter for his ideas.

 

 

 

Muslims in general do not like using the term, understanding it to indicate an individual who has politically sold out to the “other†side. In some internal intellectual debates, the term moderate Muslim is used pejoratively to indicate a Muslim who is more secular and less Islamic than the norm, which varies across communities. In America, a moderate Muslim is one who peddles a softer form of Islam – the Islam of John Esposito and Karen Arm Strong – is willing to co-exist peacefully with peoples of other faiths and is comfortable with democracy and the separation of politics and religion.

 

 

 

Both, Western media and Muslims, do a disservice by branding some Muslims as moderate on the basis of their politics. These people should general be understood as opportunists and self-serving. Most of the moderate regimes in the Muslim World are neither democratic nor manifest the softer side of Islam. That leaves intellectual positions as the criteria for determining who is a moderate Muslim, and especially in comparison to whom, since moderate is a relative term.

 

 

 

Both Muslims and the media are generally on the mark when they identify moderate Muslims as reflective, self-critical, pro-democracy and human-rights and closet secularists. But who are they different from and how?

 

 

 

I believe that moderate Muslims are different from militant Muslims even though both of them advocate the establishment of societies whose organizing principle is Islam. The difference between moderate and militant Muslims is in their methodological orientation and in the primordial normative preferences which shape their interpretation of Islam.

 

 

 

For moderate Muslims Ijtihad is the preferred method of choice for social and political change and military Jihad the last option. For militant Muslims, military Jihad is the first option and Ijtihad is not an option at all.

 

 

 

Ijtihad narrowly understood is a juristic tool that allows independent reasoning to articulate Islamic law on issues where textual sources are silent. The unstated assumption being when texts have spoken reason must be silent. But increasingly moderate Muslim intellectuals see Ijtihad as the spirit of Islamic thought that is necessary for the vitality of Islamic ideas and Islamic civilization. Without Ijtihad, Islamic thought and Islamic civilization fall into decay.

 

 

 

For moderate Muslims, Ijtihad is a way of life, which simultaneously allows Islam to reign supreme in the heart and the mind to experience unfettered freedom of thought. A moderate Muslim is therefore one who cherishes freedom of thought while recognizing the existential necessity of faith. She aspires for change, but through the power of mind and not through planting mines.

 

 

 

Moderate Muslims aspire for a society – a city of virtue -- that will treat all people with dignity and respect. There will be no room for political or normative intimidation. Individuals will aspire to live an ethical life because they recognize its desirability. Communities will compete in doing good and politics will seek to encourage good and forbid evil. They believe that the internalization of the message of Islam can bring about the social transformation necessary for the establishment of the virtuous city. The only arena in which Moderate Muslims permit excess is in idealism.

 

 

 

Today, the relationship between Islam and the rest is getting increasingly worse. Muslim militants are sowing seeds of poison and hatred between Muslims and the rest of humanity by committing egregious acts of violence in the name of Islam. In this precarious environment, it is important that everyone finds and nurtures the many wonderful examples of moderate Muslims one can still find.

 

 

 

Chandra Muzaffar in Malaysia, Tarik Ramadan in Europe, Maulana Waheeduddin Khan and Asghar Ali Engineer in India, Khalid Abul Fadl and Louay Safi in the US, Karim Soroush and Muhammad Khatami in Iran and many many more who are committed to their Jihad (struggle) to revive the spirit of Ijtihad. Fortunately the tradition is alive globally; it needs the support and the attention of all who aspire for peace and understanding.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.

Director of International Studies, Adrian College, MI

Association of Muslim Social Scientists

Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy.

[Alle-ubaahne]

^^Are these the moderates we're talking or what?

[Proud_Muslimah2]

Assalamu Alaikum,

 

Tarik Ramadan.....struggling to revive the TRUE spirit of Ijtihad? Yeah right..please. Is he not the one who is trying to suspend the punishment for the married adulteres which is death (even though it's a law SET by Allah (SWT)? And who is also asking Muslims to adopt "western" cultures that do not contradict our Islamic teachings...hmmm, I wonder...if I were to ask him to tell me one, just ONE "western" culture that does NOT contradict our Islamic teachings, would he be able to do so....? I doubt it!

 

I would rather have the "militant" Muslims as role models than having him as someone to look up to :rolleyes:

 

There are few things in this article that needs correcting...I will Insh'Allah post it next time but as for now, I'm off to pray

[Paragon]

revive it

[Reality Check]

Originally posted by Sniper:

Islam needs nothing reform or re-introduction, Islam is all time perfect time, it is only now that muslims are preaching the faith better than ever, it is now that muslims can be clear in their ideas much better than ever, we dont need to change anything. We just need to maintain the path, and stay strong.

The true system of Islam is perfect. That goes without saying. But who is on the right path. The muslims are a community that has adopted labels. moderates, conservatives, sunni, shia, salafi, wahabi, sufi, etc etc. Each interpret the texts in a light more favorable to their idealogies, politics or way of life---while ignoring other parts of the text that contradict their interpretations. Exactly which path should we maintain and stay true to?

 

That is the real question.

[Captain Xalane]

Originally posted by Reality Check:

Exactly which path should we maintain and stay true to?

The path laid down by Allah (the path of the Koran) and the path of the Prophet of Allah p.b.u.h(the Hadith).The rest,discard them for we are told that some seventy something groups will emerge and only one group will go To jannah.I believe thats the Group that only sticks to the Koran and then the Sunnah of the Prophet p.b.u.h.In Islam,two kinds of pple exist,thats the practising muslim and the un practising muslim.Moderate muslims do not exist.There is nothing to be moderate about,u either practice ur religion or not.

[Ms DD]

"Activism will only succeed when it remembers that

a misplaced rigorism is less dangerous than an improper liberalism."

 

 

---Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad.

[Khayr]

Originally posted by Cambarro:

"Activism will only succeed when it remembers that

a misplaced rigorism is less dangerous than an improper liberalism."

 

 

---Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad.

Cambaroo, I don't catch the naunces of the quote's content. What do you take from it?

From what I can deduct, it encourages action and that the aim here is on the Intention (pertaining to misplace rigorism). Where as the latter, the intention is often skewed and tainted and God is altogether out of the picture.

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by Cambarro:

"Activism will only succeed when it remembers that

a misplaced rigorism is less dangerous than an improper liberalism."

 

 

---Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad.

If I understood this in the context of this debate then I beg your pardon when I say NONESENSE, sister.

 

These speeches, comments and throwaway words are great but they do not at all tell us anything.

 

There is such a thing as a middle ground. There is such a thing as balance and proportion. One can’t praise excessive rigour and condemn extreme liberality. They’re both harmful and are two sides to the same coin.

 

There are problems and faults in the Muslim world today. One cannot deny them or try to brush them aside. The popular cry, when dealing with this fault, has been the call to return to the faith! Yet, this has not been a new idea or proposal. We’ve been calling people to return to the faith since the day the faith was revealed! On it’s own it becomes pointless, empty and meaningless. How that return to the faith going to be achieved is more important than simple chants and labels.

 

On the issue of total rigour versus complete liberality, let me remind you of a saying the first Umayyad Khalifa (Mu'awiya) made famous. When he was asked how, as a ruler, do you keep your people happy? He replied with his famous ‘dividing hair’ strategy. He said (and I translate and paraphrase here) “I act as if there is a single hair that links me to the people: when they pull, I loosen my grip and when they loosen I pull. Always making sure that the hair never splits”.