Thursday, April 30, 2020

Muslims Should Abandon ‘The Voice of Satan’ For Azan and Other Religious Purposes



By S. Arshad, New Age Islam

30 April 2020

The controversy over the use of loudspeakers with the onset of the month of Ramadhan has caused anxiety among the Muslims of India. It began one day before the month of Ramadhan with video of two men in uniform reportedly from Kirari area in New Delhi telling a maulvi not to call the azan during the Ramadhan as it was the order of the LG of Delhi. Later higher officials of Delhi police denied any such order. But the next day. the district officials of Farrukhabad, UP reportedly banned azan in mosques. Then reports of ban on azan came from Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, and Qannauj in UP and Sonepat and Faridabad in Haryana. Afzal Ansari, the BSP MP of UP has even moved the court challenging the ban. In Itawah, UP the ban was revoked the next day with the condition that the volume of the loudspeakers should be kept low and that the message of social distancing will also be given on the loudspeakers. Generally, in all the places, the problem was not azan but azan on the loudspeakers. This hints at the real problem and this problem should be sorted out by the Muslim community.

No one can deny that the use of loudspeakers in the month of Ramadhan becomes rampant. Apart from usual azan on the mike, the loudspeakers are used also for collecting donations for mosques and madrasas. People appeal for donations for madrasas on autorickshaws or other small vehicles on the loudspeakers from morning till evening in the Muslim majority areas causing nuisance to not only to non-Muslims of the area but also to the general Muslims who want peace for prayers, Quran recitations or for their ailing family members. No one can object to the high volume of the loudspeakers because it will be considered anti-Muslim objecting to a noble cause in the month of Ramadhan.

In mosques now it has become imperative to use the loudspeakers for calling the azan. In most of the mosques, two or three big mikes are tied to the minar facing different directions so that the Muslims of the entire town could hear the azan oblivious of the fact that this high volume of azan disturbs the sleep or the peace of mind of non-Muslims who have nothing to do with Azan. They cannot object to this because if they do they will be branded communal or a person with an RSS-affiliation. This has continued for decades but Muslims did not pay heed to their feelings and inconveniences. During the month of Ramadhan, the loudspeakers are also used for announcing the time for Sehri and Iftar. During the Sehri, the muezzin makes the announcement every 15 minutes giving the countdown to Sehri causing nuisance to the non-Muslims in the area. In some places Naat (poems in praise of Prophet Muhammad pbuh) is also recited between the announcements not allowing the Muslims of the area the tranquillity and peace needed for prayers, namaz or recitation of the Quran. These issues have never been discussed by the Muslims from an introspective point of view and from the point of view of the non-Muslims though the Quran asks Muslims to care for the comfort of the neighbours, both Muslims and non-Muslims. The hadith is also tough on giving trouble to the neighbour.

 If a Muslim scholar or activist raises this issue, he is branded an atheist or an enemy of Muslims. But this rigidity in the attitude of Muslims is now causing bigger problems to Muslims in a multicultural society.

But the scenario has changed in the last few years. It cannot be totally blamed on growing Islamophobia and communalism. Non-Muslims have become vocal about the inconvenience azan on the loudspeakers causes to them. Therefore, Muslims should also change their attitude towards the use of loudspeakers. Our ulema had once said that the loudspeaker is the voice of Satan but now the loudspeakers have become a quintessential part of Islamic activities that we are not ready to sacrifice this non-essential tool for the sake of the non-Muslim neighbours. In most cases, the objection was raised on the loudspeakers not on the Azan.

Ramadhan requires Muslims to be introspective: they should stress more on inner purification than on outer show of piety and reverence. Let Muslims minimize the use of loudspeakers, rather ban the use of loudspeakers for religious purposes. Loudspeakers are also used to spread sectarian hatred among Muslims.  In this age of scientific and technological progress, loudspeakers are not even necessary for the few who care for five-time prayers. They keep themselves aware of the times of namaz. The mobile phone is a multipurpose tool which can also be used for keeping a tab on the times of Namaz, Sehri and Iftar. Why should especial arrangements be made for those who do not offer five-time prayers through the whole year and become overzealous during the month of Ramadhan? These people think that they can commit all kinds of sins and crimes and spread mischief on earth during the whole year but all their sins will be washed away if they fast for one month and offer five-time prayers and Tarawih only in the month of Ramadhan. The pious and true Muslims are taking all the trouble for these ‘one-month migratory birds’ among Muslims who will fill the mosques and create all the fuss during the holy month and then disappear.

S. Arshad is a regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Arab Solidarity is Welcome, But Indian Muslims Must Remain the Vanguard



By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam

29 April 2020

There seems to be a new wave of empathy amongst Arab Muslims towards Indian Muslims. Intellectuals, primarily in the various emirates have woken up to the acute discrimination faced by Indian Muslims. As if not to be left behind, some members of royal families have condemned the current wave of Muslim phobia orchestrated by the Hindu right wing. Some Arab lawyers have said that Muslim persecution in India is a fit case to be presented before the International Court of Justice and that they are collating evidence to do so. At least one Arab country, Kuwait, has already taken public position against India’s treatment of its Muslim minority. Earlier the OIC had passed a resolution to same effect. To be sure, most Arab countries have not taken any official position on the issue, neither have they lodged any displeasure with the various Indian consulates. However, the very fact that India had to publicly assure the world of its ‘hallowed’ secularism and ‘equal protection of all its citizens’, is sign enough that such sentiments amongst Arab Muslims have made the present government concerned. 

After all, the government cannot be oblivious of the fact that tens of thousands of Indians, mostly Hindus work in the Gulf. It is also a fact that as compared to Muslims, Hindus in these countries occupy higher strata of occupational structure. If there is any negative feeling about Hindus, then their position will be become insecure and as a result the remittances to India will suffer a major blow. The Arabs have no love for democracy or freedom of speech. Citizens and especially non-citizens living in these parts know fully well the implications of angering their Arab masters. And yet, over the years, we have seen a certain section of right-wing Hindus getting emboldened and brazenly posting stuff on social media considered offensive and derogatory to Islam. In the last six years, this government has worked hard on fostering a strategic partnership between India and the gulf. It seems that for some supporters of this government, this has translated into a triumphalist war cry against an imagined enemy. In the process, they have frittered away years of hard work which Indians of all faiths have put together to earn goodwill amongst the Arabs.

It is too early to say what caused this sudden feeling of solidarity amongst the Arabs. After all, the Arabs have hardly bothered about Muslims in other parts of the world, including the Palestinians, Rohingyas and the Uighurs, who have been facing persecution since decades. Barring the ritual condemnation through OIC, respective Arab governments have largely treated such problems as internal to respective countries. The Arab racial superiority has been satisfied by giving alms rather than taking active position against Muslim persecution. Perhaps for the first time in the Arab world, a civic engagement has emerged regarding the treatment of Indian Muslims.

Prejudice against Muslims in India is not new. They have been routinely killed through organized violence and even by institutions of the state, notably the police. However, these pogroms were followed by periods of relative calm, wherein Muslims were ‘allowed’ to get back to their business of life. What Muslims are witnessing now is something entirely different. In the last five years, attacks on Muslims have become relentless. This attack is not just physical but also psychological with the express intention of making Muslims insecure in their own surroundings. Muslims have been lynched, they have been made insecure regarding their citizenship status, they have also been accused of spreading the pandemic, and their businesses closed or boycotted. When the whole world is concentrating their energies on fighting the ongoing pandemic, Indian police are busy arresting Muslim students on flimsy grounds. And all this has been happening without any respite. Earlier, the world took notice of Muslim killings but was also appreciative of India’s management of diversity during the relatively peaceful interlude. In the recent years, the world has kept seeing images of India’s Muslim persecution and has also noticed the silence and abetment of its government. Social media has flattened boundaries. Painful images of Indian Muslims have singed the world, the Arab world being no exception.

Social opinion and its public expression is largely controlled in the Arab world. That’s why the media is closely monitored. It is next to impossible to criticise the ruling establishment. It is difficult even to criticise friendly countries. Arab media watchers, however, have observed that over some years, there have been a flurry of negative reportage on India, especially with regard to its treatment of Muslims. The very fact that such reports were allowed to appear can only mean that there exists a torrent of adverse domestic opinion on the issue. Those who think monarchies do not care about public opinion are wrong. Precisely because they are not democracies, they are more sensitive towards public opinions. The very fact that such opinions were allowed to be published can only mean that the monarchies are aware of their subjects’ anger against India. They must also be realising that people’s anger against India is also simultaneously directed against their own monarchies for being too close to the Indian government. 

The Arabs should not judge all Hindus through the actions of some bigoted ones. Therefore their criticism of right wingers should not extend to a general condemnation of all Hindus or of Hinduism as a faith system. This has been a worrying undertone as some Arabs have made veiled threats to expel Hindus from their countries. They must remember that most of these Hindus have been law abiding migrants and their hard work has contributed immensely in changing the fortunes of Arabs. To blame all Hindus for the fault of a few will be a travesty of justice.

It also needs to be underlined that not all criticism of Islamic practice should be treated as Islamophobia. The allegation against the noted singer, Sonu Nigam, is a case in point. An old tweet of his has resurfaced wherein he had expressed annoyance at being forced to get up early in the morning due to azan from a loudspeaker. His views on azan may not be palatable to many but certainly it cannot be equated with rabid Islamophobic opinions that are calling for the wholesale expulsion of Muslims from India. Indeed, there are many Muslims who have similarly called for ending loudspeaker azan due to various reasons. Muslims are in a precarious situation today and therefore it is all the more important that they pick their fights sagaciously.

Indian Muslims have charted out their own political course after independence. Despite the odds, they have always been faithful to the constitution and firm believers in India’s democracy. They have never looked for any kind of foreign help. Today, the situation has become so helpless that Muslims are both relived and jubilant at the support they are receiving from Arab Muslims. Within Muslims there is a section which now wants to relook at our earlier principle to remain autonomous from the larger Muslim world. They are calling this as a grand conspiracy against Indian Muslims to keep them away from the ummah. These Muslims must realise that while the support of Arab Muslims may be important at this juncture, ultimately this fight against bigotry has to be led by Indian Muslims themselves.
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Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com



Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Fasting and Quran: Guidance Given in The Quran Is the Best Blessing to Mankind from God



By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for New Age Islam

28 April 2020

The Quran makes special mention of its revelation in the month of Ramadan, while making it obligatory upon the followers. This indicates that there is a close link between Ramadan and the Quran. In the words of the Quran:

In the month of Ramadan, the Quran was revealed, a book of guidance with proofs of guidance distinguishing right from wrong. Therefore, whoever of you is present in that month let him fast. But he who is ill or on a journey shall fast a similar number of days later on. (2:185)

The revelation of the Quran started in 610 A.H., in the month of Ramadan according to the lunar calendar. The first revelation was made to Prophet Muhammad when he was in the cave of Hira, and it continued for the next 23 years, finally reaching completion in Madinah.

The guidance given in the Quran is the best blessing to mankind from God, because it shows man the path to ultimate success. It tells man how to conduct himself so that in his eternal life he can gain entry into paradise. Paradise is the goal of man. Fasting is the path to it.
The month of Ramadan is the annual reminder of this blessing. The celebration of the revelation of the Quran is not observed in the usual way but by abstinence and being thankful to the Almighty. Fasting in this month is the acknowledgment of the divine blessings. It is like saying, ‘O Lord I have heard and I accept it.’

Also this is a month during which the Quran should be read and understood. The Quran is specially recited in this month. In the night the Qur’an is also recited during Tarawih. This month has been made special so that the blessings of God may be counted even more.

When the Quran is read during the month of its revelation, it reminds us of the time when the divine light from heaven fell upon the earth. Man remembers this and cries out, ‘O Lord, fill my heart with your divine light!’ He cries out, ‘Make me among those who are near you!’ When he reads about Hell and Paradise, his inner self cries out, ‘O Lord, save me from Hell, and let me enter Paradise.’

In this way the Quran becomes a guiding force in man’s life. He earns his livelihood according to its dictates. He bathes in the ocean of its life to cleanse his soul.

The Quran is a reward to His servants from God. And fasting is acknowledgment of the reward. Through fasting man makes himself worthy of being thankful to God. He obeys the command of God and thus revels in the supremacy of God. Having gone through a month’s fasting, he creates an ability in himself to lead a life of piety as ordained in the Quran.

Fasting is a special deed. It makes a man kind-hearted, and enables him to awaken his finer feelings. He is then able to feel and experience what God desires of a man in this world.

Fasting, a form of training to create the capacity in a man to become the most devoted worshipper, makes him most grateful to God and creates a fear of Him which makes him shiver. The very hardship of fasting carries a man from the material world to the plain of spirituality.



Monday, April 27, 2020

The Psychology of the COVID-19 Coup: The Elite, Their Victims and Those Who Resist



By Robert J. Burrowes, New Age Islam

27 April 2020


As the elite coup against humanity continues to gather pace – see ‘The Elite’s COVID-19 Coup Against a Terrified Humanity: Resisting Powerfully’ – it is invaluable to observe the way in which the dysfunctional and violent psychology of the global elite, including those of its members who have a significant public profile such as Bill Gates, is revealed more starkly.


At the same time, it is interesting to observe the vast number of fearfully submissive people who are willing to accept, or even ask for, greater constraints on our rights, freedom and economic security, ostensibly to ‘protect’ them from a virus. Sadly, too, the fear of these people plays a critical collaborative role in both advancing the elite coup and condemning millions of others to death as the economic consequences of the destruction of the global economy inflicts its devastating impacts on those least able to cope with it.


Clearly complicated by a number of factors, including the locust plagues that have been devastating several countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia during early 2020 – see ‘360 Billion Locusts And Growing – A Plague Of “Biblical Proportions” Is Destroying Crops Across The Middle East And Africa’ – but now particularly because of official responses to COVID-19, as World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, has recently warned:


If we don’t prepare and act now to secure access, to avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade, we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months... our analysis shows that 300,000 people could starve to death every single day over a three-month period. See ‘WFP chief warns of “hunger pandemic” as Global Food Crises Report launched’.


That is 27,000,000 people, if arithmetic is not your strong point, that will die of starvation, not COVID-19. And this figure, of course, is quite separate from the phenomenal hardship that millions are already experiencing as a result of the economic dislocation which has created s staggering number of newly unemployed people around the world.


In this article I will do three things. I will briefly explain the dysfunctional psychology of the global elite, using Bill Gates as an example, which explains why they seek vastly greater control over our lives at staggering expense to our rights, freedom and economic security. I will briefly explain why so many people are fearfully submissive victims of this coup, unable to perceive the deeper strands of what is taking place. And I will briefly reiterate what those people in a third category, ranging from those skeptical of the fear-mongering in relation to COVID-19 to those already resisting the lockdowns, curfews, martial law and other serious impositions on our lives, can do to ensure that their resistance has strategic impact.


The Violently Dysfunctional Psychology of the Global Elite


While the world is in turmoil, partly in response to the fear-mongering by WHO, governments, the medical industry and the corporate media that has profoundly inflated people’s fear of COVID-19 but also because of the adverse cascading impacts of the long list of ill-advised decisions, particularly those that impact national economies made to supposedly deal with COVID-19, the primary concern of Bill Gates is that we all submit to vaccination and acquire a ‘digital certificate’ to prove that we have done so. For explanations of Gates’ unsavory motives in promoting and conducting extensive vaccination, see ‘Gates’ Globalist Vaccine Agenda: A Win-Win for Pharma and Mandatory Vaccination’ and ‘Bill Gates and the Depopulation Agenda. Robert F. Kennedy Junior Calls for an Investigation’.


While this has led to substantial resistance on social media, including that Gates be arrested for crimes against humanity – see ‘“Arrest Bill Gates” – Says every Instagrammer on Gates Account’ – it is, in fact, only the most public initiative by a member of the global elite even though it constitutes a key element of how the global elite intends to capture complete control of our lives to create what Whitney Webb describes as a ‘techno tyranny’.


Citing a range of evidence obtained from official but largely ignored organizations, decisions and documents in recent years, Webb thoughtfully describes a frightening view of the techno tyranny that is almost upon us and for which the latest moves are being rapidly implemented under the guise of combating COVID-19. Involving an unsavory alliance of the ‘intelligence’ community, the Pentagon and Silicon Valley, COVID-19 is being used as cover to remove economic and social ‘obstacles’ (including so-called ‘legacy systems’ with which we are all familiar) to implementing the so-called fourth industrial revolution – ‘a revolution characterized by discontinuous technological development in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, fifth-generation telecommunications networking (5G), nanotechnology and biotechnology, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and quantum computing’ – to achieve everything from a cashless society and AI-driven technologies (particularly for mass surveillance and law enforcement) to driverless cars and ‘telemedicine’.


For a sample of the documentation, see ‘Competing With China on Technology and Innovation’, the US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, the ‘Chinese Tech Landscape Overview’, US Attorney General William Barr’s ‘Implementation of National Disruption and Early Engagement Programs to Counter the Threat of Mass Shootings’, the ‘American Artificial Intelligence Initiative: Year One Annual Report’ of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the recent advice by the White House that ‘President Donald J. Trump Announces Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups’. Whitney Webb has written two recent articles – ‘Meet The Companies Poised To Build The Kushner-Backed “Coronavirus Surveillance System”’ and ‘Techno-Tyranny: How The US National Security State Is Using Coronavirus To Fulfill An Orwellian Vision’ – and been interviewed – see ‘Security State using coronavirus to implement Orwellian nightmare’ – that thoughtfully describe what is taking place.


In short, it will leave those of us who are still alive and who haven’t been replaced by robots as little more than digital entities, devoid of rights and freedoms, who are monitored and controlled to serve elite ends. You might still be able to choose what you buy, provided you do it online.


But while you can consider this evidence at your leisure, my own concern in this article is to explain why members of the global elite are so willing to inflict their violence on us, and to exploit us so mercilessly, without even caring. Why does their vision for the world and their effort to create it resemble the works of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, rather than something that many more of us would consider desirable? Is profit really all that matters? What about people?


In short, the explanation for their behavior is that they are completely insane. But like some other versions of insanity that are also defined as ‘normal’ – essentially because they are so widespread (like over-consumption in industrialized countries) that few think to question whether or not the behavior is actually functional – it is fairly straightforward to explain both the origin and outcomes of their insanity.


At birth, every human child has enormous unique potential. However, to fully realize that potential, the child must be nurtured physically, emotionally, intellectually and in other ways so that their unique potential unfolds. This includes caring for them in their unique physical environment while allowing their natural inclination to learn, an evolutionary gift, to guide the manner and nature of their inquiry.


Unfortunately, however, adult humans do not appreciate and value the innate learning capacities of their children so we ‘teach’ them, in the ways of our choosing (particularly by funneling them all through the one-size-fits-all institution we call ‘school’), what we want them to know instead. Because the child naturally resists this, the child is subjected to an extraordinary range of ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ violence to force them to conform to societal norms.


Then, using what I have labeled ‘utterly invisible violence’, we ensure that the feelings of fear, sadness, anger and pain (among many others) that this causes are suppressed so that we do not have to deal with the emotional and behavioral consequences of the violence we inflict on the child. This leaves the child with an unconscious legacy of fear, self-hatred and powerlessness that will manifest, depending on the context, throughout the child’s life. For a thorough explanation of this, see ‘Why Violence?’ and ‘Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice’.


One outcome of being terrorized into submissive obedience throughout childhood is that the human ‘individual’ enters adulthood with no sense of their unique identity but fully comfortable with the social constructed delusional identity they gradually took on during childhood. Having been terrorized into obedient submission to parents, teachers and religious figures, virtually all people readily take on the role of submissive worker/soldier and citizen fulfilling some fairly meaningless role in a society largely devoid of meaning. Understanding no other way and in a last resort to feel some sense of control over their life, they also then terrorize their own children into being submissively obedient.


And people like Bill Gates are not all that different except that the opportunities provided by their wealth and the privilege that goes with it, enable them to inflict their dysfunctional and violent behaviors on a vastly greater number of people in a fruitless endeavor to feel ‘in control’. And they can do so without attracting the sanctions, legal and otherwise, that might constrain the behaviors of the rest of us.


So, as documented in the articles about Bill Gates cited above, his vaccination programs have wreaked havoc on adults and children throughout the global south, killing or incapacitating substantial numbers of people. This is unsurprising given the historical role of vaccination in precipitating a great many disorders and deaths, by introducing into the body contaminants such as aluminium and glyphosate. See Sayer Ji’s 326 page bibliography with a vast number of references to the literature explaining the exceptional range of shocking dangers from vaccination – see ‘Vaccination’ – or, if you wish to just read straightforward accounts of the history of vaccine damage and the ongoing dangers, see these articles by Gary G. Kohls MD: ‘A Comprehensive List of Vaccine-Associated Toxic Reactions’ and ‘Identifying the Vaccinology-Illiterate among Us’.


But does Bill Gates care about the staggering harm these vaccinations are causing? Does he care that future vaccinations are intended to be used to grotesquely infringe our rights and freedoms with the insertion of biometric data? See ‘COVID-19: Perfect Cover for Mandatory Biometric ID’. What of his love? Compassion? Empathy? Sympathy? Does he have a conscience to call him to account, even if no legal system does? Does he respect people? Does he believe everyone should be given an individual and informed choice about whether or not they are vaccinated?


Tragically, Bill Gates is so psychologically damaged that he is simply devoid of qualities such as these. They were never given the chance to develop by parents who showed him the same lack of love, sympathy, care, respect and consideration. Moreover, because of his fear of being out of control, as he was when endlessly suffering the incredible violence of his parents throughout childhood, he now endlessly seeks control in the highly dysfunctional ways that his unconscious fear projects. That is, by seeking to control us all.


If you want to read more about the psychological dysfunctionality of Bill Gates and other members of the global elite, as well as their agents, and how this always manifests to our detriment, you can do so in articles such as ‘The Global Elite is Insane Revisited’‘Love Denied: The Psychology of Materialism, Violence and War’ and ‘Understanding Self-Hatred in World Affairs’.


Sadly, however, it is not just members of the global elite who are psychologically dysfunctional. There is a substantial portion of the human population who have suffered a similar fate, even if it manifests very differently. However, while this dysfunctionality might manifest in an extraordinarily wide variety of ways, it almost invariably includes fearful submission to those considered to be ‘in authority’.


The Dysfunctional Psychology of Victims


Because each human being is unique, the individual is born with a powerful evolutionary gift: Self-will. This means that the individual has an incredible range of tools, including the capacity to apply sensory perception (sight, sound, touch…) to observe what is happening, the emotional capacity to feel what this means (is it satisfying, enjoyable, frightening, infuriating…), to think for themself about the significance of it, to compare and contrast it with relevant memories, to gauge it against one’s conscience and so on until an integrated sense of how to behave in response is formulated and then acted on.


If a person is doing this then we might describe them as ‘Self-aware’. And they are, truly, an individual.


However, because of the experience of childhood terrorization, briefly touched on above, most children are compelled to surrender the essence of these various capacities, and hence their Self-will, by a very young age. In these circumstances, the child becomes a fairly malleable instrument, easily transformed into a victim who is now devoid of the capacity to look deep within themselves to make sound judgments about what is taking place and to behave powerfully in response.


Instead, they simply obey the will of another: parent, teacher, religious figure, employer, political leader…. and act more out of habit than consideration. Given the endless violence (usually labeled ‘punishment’) that is inflicted to ensure that children are obedient to others, rather than allowed to follow their own self-will, it takes an extraordinary child to survive with even a semblance of the potential with which they were born.  As a result, most human behavior lacks consideration, conviction, courage and strategy, and is simply driven compulsively by the predominant fear in each context.




A primary outcome of this childhood terrorization experience in materialist cultures is that the child learns to suppress their awareness of how they feel by using food and material items to distract themself. By doing this, the child rapidly loses their emerging self-awareness and learns to consume as the substitute for this awareness. Clearly, this has catastrophic consequences for the child, their society and for nature (although it is immensely profitable for elites and their agents whose Self-awareness is non-existent). For a fuller explanation, see ‘Love Denied: The Psychology of Materialism, Violence and War’.


In essence, a victim is utterly terrified and powerless. These feelings are unconscious to the victim, which is why they are incapable of intelligently seeking out and personally assessing evidence (such as that in relation to COVID-19 and how it is being used) and they simply submit without protest once told to obey.


An equally important outcome for the victim, is that they have little, if any, capacity to see beyond themselves or their immediate concerns (which might include an activist preoccupation). They are incapable of perceiving and considering the wider ramifications of what is taking place – the ‘big picture’ – such as for those millions of starving people referred to by WFP Executive Director David Beasley above. Any sense of a ‘wider self’, of human solidarity beyond the most superficial kind, is incomprehensible to them.


Making sure our Resistance to this Coup has Strategic Impact


So, this is why a third group in relation to this elite coup is so important: Those individuals who are already resisting the coup or those who will soon choose to do so. Clearly, these people have sufficient sense of Self, the intelligence and emotional capacity (including courage) to consider the evidence in relation to COVID-19 and what lies beneath it, and to draw conclusions at variance with those presented by the elite through its international organizations (such as the World Health Organization), governments and corporate media.


And it is to these people that this final section is particularly addressed.


I have previously explained a nonviolent strategy to resist this elite coup against humanity. See ‘The Elite’s COVID-19 Coup Against a Terrified Humanity: Resisting Powerfully’.


This included identifying its political purpose – obviously ‘To defend humanity against a political/military coup conducted by the global elite’ – and setting out a basic list of 26 strategic goals for achieving this purpose. You can read the ‘Strategic goals for defeating a political/military coup conducted by the global elite against humanity’ by scrolling down the page at ‘Strategic Aims’.


Remaining pages on the website fully explain the twelve components of the strategy, as illustrated by the Nonviolent Strategy Wheel, as well as articles and videos explaining all of the vital points of strategy and tactics, such as those to help you understand ‘Nonviolent Action: Why and How it Works’ and how to prepare, frame and conduct any nonviolent action to minimize the risk of violent repression. See ‘Nonviolent Action: Minimizing the Risk of Violent Repression’.


While many of the tactics identified are designed to make it very easy for individuals to be involved, an increasing number of people are already participating in nonviolent actions based on public gatherings to ‘End the Lockdown’ using social media messaging with that or similar labels. See, for example, ‘Protesting the Lockdowns is Getting Going – #endthelockdown’.


Therefore, as more people become aware of the coup and the energy to resist it continues to gather pace, it will be worthwhile to choose a locally significant date on which as many people who are willing to do so act to ‘End the Lockdown’ in your country. Using a locally relevant focus, or perhaps several, for which many people would traditionally be together – a cultural or sporting event, a community activity such as working to establish a community garden to increase local self-reliance, a birthday celebration and/or a return to work – we can mobilize people to collectively resist the coup that is taking place.


Because the actions taken can be dispersed with large numbers of people responding in a vast number of locations, it will be impossible for police and military forces to inflict violent repression against everyone, particularly if local organizers have implemented the points in ‘Nonviolent Action: Minimizing the Risk of Violent Repression’.


Equally importantly to any of the points above, particularly given the pressing threat of human extinction – see ‘Human Extinction Now Imminent and Inevitable? A Report on the State of Planet Earth’ – but also because becoming more self-reliant is vital to our ongoing capacity to resist elite encroachments on our rights, freedom and economic security, consider joining those participating in ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth’. This project also explains how to take full advantage of non-monetary forms of community where goods and services are exchanged directly, without money as a medium of exchange. Money only has value in certain types of economy and these types of economy must be superseded if humans are to survive.


Moreover, given the enormous pressure on children at the moment, as their lives are upended, it would be useful to spend time listening to them. Of course, if you know an adult who is having trouble coping, it will help them enormously as well if you listen while giving them the opportunity to talk about, and focus on feeling, their own emotional reactions to what is taking place. See ‘Nisteling: The Art of Deep Listening’. If you do not have anyone who can listen to you, try ‘Putting Feelings First’.


In addition, because the foundation of this entire elite-controlled world, and the coup it is now implementing, is the submissively obedient individual, the world can only be rebuilt as we might like it if we stop terrorizing children into being submissive. So I would start by parenting and educating children so that they become powerful. See ‘My Promise to Children’ and ‘Do We Want School or Education?’


Finally, as touched on above, apart from the ongoing elite coup the Earth is under siege from our assaults on a vast range of fronts. See ‘Human Extinction Now Imminent and Inevitable? A Report on the State of Planet Earth’. So if we are serious about tackling this crisis too, we must be willing to consider committing to:


The Earth Pledge


Out of love for the Earth and all of its creatures, and my respect for their needs, from this day onwards I pledge that:


1. I will listen deeply to children (see explanation above)
2. I will not travel by plane
3. I will not travel by car
4. I will not eat meat and fish
5. I will only eat organically/biodynamically grown food
6. I will minimize the amount of fresh water I use, including by minimizing my ownership and use of electronic devices
7. I will not buy rainforest timber
8. I will not buy or use single-use plastic, such as bags, bottles, containers, cups and straws
9. I will not use banks, superannuation (pension) funds or insurance companies that provide any service to corporations involved in fossil fuels, nuclear power and/or weapons
10. I will not accept employment from, or invest in, any organization that supports or participates in the exploitation of fellow human beings or profits from killing and/or destruction of the biosphere
11. I will not get news from the corporate media (mainstream newspapers, television, radio, Google, Facebook, Twitter…)
12. I will make the effort to learn a skill, such as food gardening or sewing, that makes me more self-reliant
13. I will gently encourage my family and friends to consider signing this pledge.


Conclusion


Given that any serious investigation of the circumstances underlying the so-called COVID-19 ‘pandemic’ reveals that the entire global episode has been contrived to further an unsavory elite end, at staggering cost to humans everywhere, it is imperative that those who are capable of perceiving this reality also take action to bring this ongoing coup to an early end.


The longer it takes to muster a full response to defeat this coup, the more damage – to our rights, freedoms, economic security, opportunities, democratic governance, the global economy and the environment – will have been inflicted, making the struggle to restore them vastly more difficult.


More importantly, if human solidarity means anything to you, the lives of millions of people (in the global south) are at stake and the economic security (through lost employment) of millions more.


And these lives, if lost or marginalized, while suiting some elite depopulation agenda, will be a stark but ugly reminder that COVID-19 was never about a virus but about our fear.


Robert J. Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of ‘Why Violence?’ His email address is flametree@riseup.net and his website is here.


Divorce Is the Most Contested and Misunderstood Concept in Islam

By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam

27 April 2020


Till Talaq Do Us Part: Understanding Talaq, Triple Talaq and Khula
Author: Ziya Us Salam
Publisher: Penguin Books, India
Year of Publication: 2018
Pages: 218   Price: 399
ISBN 9780143442509

Divorce (Talaq) is the most contested and misunderstood concept in Islam. When it is misconstrued ideologically and theologically, its implementation is bound to be full of flaws and shortcomings. In the South Asian context, Talaq has been most abused by muslim men particularly a form of it known as Triple Talaq has been a matter of contention among Indian Muslims. Other South Asian countries that follow the Hanafi juristic school of thought like Pakistan has already done away with the abusive practice of triple talaq. Only the Hanafi Indian ulama belonging to both strands of Deobandi and Barelvi sects were dead against the reformation of the Triple Talaq. A lot of misinformation, myths and hoax claims were constructed around the practice of divorce in Islam, thanks to timely book by a versatile journalist and writer Ziya Us Salam, a lot of these doubts have been cleared.

The book is an attempt to understand the concept of divorce in Islam particularly in the Indian context. A huge ruckus was created earlier due to the Shah Bano controversy by Indian Ulama that pertained to providing maintenance to a divorced lady by the Supreme Court. Indian ulema under umbrella organization of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) started a whole movement to get that order nullified and were successful in it. This opened a new chapter of communal politics in India and added to xeno and Islamophobia in India. Ziya through this book attempts to overcome this Islamophobia that has been constructed due to the misunderstanding of concept of Talaq both by Ulema and common people.

In his Foreword to the book, Faizan Mustafa Vice Chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad observes, “The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, was passed at the instance of the Hanafi ulema who adopted the Maliki law. Why they refused to adopt the more rational position of other schools or follow the liberal opinion of their own jurists on the issue of triple divorce is not clear. Their failure has contributed to the current crisis.”

Now when the practice of Triple Talaq has been rendered illegal by the Supreme Court verdict, Faizan intends, “At least after the Supreme Court’s judgment, the Indian Ulema should consider adopting this alternative view and clearly declare that three divorces in one go would be counted as one pronouncement.” (P-xi). Further offering suggestions, he writes, “In my opinion, the government should make a nikahnama compulsory, which explicitly states that were a marriage to end, instant triple divorce will not be considered an option.” (P-xii)

Despite the verdict, Ziya very well observes about the noncompliance as legal orders certainly are not bound to be followed and no social reform can be expected from such verdicts, “The Supreme Court judges pronounced their decision in New Delhi, but in the small towns and villages of India, social norms are often paramount, and all law subservient to them. That explains why both dowry and the caste system continue to prevail despite strictures against both.” (P-xxi).

Divorce in Islam is permitted but despised by Allah and is to be invoked as the last resort. Quran lays down various steps before the option Talaq is chosen. The appointment of arbitrators is an important step in this process that can lead to reconciliation among the estranged spouses. It is pertinent to mention here that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) never divorced any of his wives. Ziya very well deliberates about the concept of Halala, its Quranic injunctions and how it is grossly abused due to the flawed method of Triple Talaq. Ziya further distinguishes between different types of Talaq that include Hassan and Ahsan forms of it.

The evolution of Triple Talaq has been described evolving after the conquest of new lands, thus being circumstantial, contextual and time bound practice (P-30) that has now become permanent in some societies. But Triple Talaq in those contexts too was followed by public flogging of the husband, something that is kept oblivious by Maulanas today. “Any pronouncement of instant talaq was followed by the public flogging of the husband. It is this condition which modern day maulanas have conveniently ignored, even as they declare triple talaq a valid way of divorcing one’s wife.” (P-30).  Many Imams who stood against the practice of Triple Talaq and Halala were ostracized by the Muslim community but still they did not give up their just stance.

Halala is the most brutal and abusive practice and process that women have to go through just because of the foul temperament of their husband who utters the ill fated words of Talaq three times in one go. This practice also enumerates the ignorance of clerics and ulema about the real instructions and spirit of Islam. Ziya also engages with the question of Polygamy and equality among wives that is to be ensured. AlsoKhula, wives’ right to divorce is discussed that is a bit different than men. Also women have been granted various rights to annul marriage like LiaanKhayar ul Bulug and Talaq e Tafweez but they are not aware about it, so they rarely exercise them. The Shia Muslims adopt different strategy towards Talaq unlike their Sunni counterparts as arbitrators and clergy is involved in the process.

Ziya then writes about the Divorce practices during Mughal era and he finds them quite progressive in various aspects as Triple Talaq was absent during that time. Also he criticizes the AIMPLB for failing to draft even a model nikahnama for Muslims, though now they have come out with the instruction of socially boycotting the person who practises the triple talaq. The problem is that maulanas and ulema are not aware of the real teachings and spirit of Quran, so they end up messing up the issues and problems facing Muslims. The book also provides a brief profile of the people involved in making the ban on triple talaq a success. If the ulema will not indulge in Ijtihaad and come out with practical solutions to problems that Muslims are facing, the progressive sections among Muslims will have to take a recourse to judiciary, fight legal battles and ulama have to budge. So this verdict should be an eye opener for Muslim ulama to discard all those un-Islamic practices that have been contextual and justified by misinterpretation of Quran.

Ziya needs to be complimented for his work and as Faizan Mustafa very well observes that, “The book will be of great use for those who want to get a quick grasp over the subject. All those who want to speak, write about or understand the controversial subject of triple divorce will find this book not only handy and readable but also immensely useful.” (P-xiii)

An occasional columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, M.H.A.Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir