Saturday, December 31, 2022

Sufi-Master Sheikh Eşref Efendi's Visit to Krishnamurti Foundation during his "Peace Tour to India" is Remarkable!

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 31 December 2022 Sheikh Eşref Efendi, the founder of World Peace Institute of Sufism based in Berlin, Germany and Ambassador of the High Sufi Council of Jerusalem Holy Land, is currently on what he calls the 'Sufi Peace Way to India'. This month-long visit of a global Sufi Master who is also a recipient of several Peace Awards from the EU and is the founder and head of Sufi Centre Rabbaniya, Germany, has been sending out a strong message of peace and dialogue to several states in India. The Sufi Master landed in India on 17th of December, 2022 and since then he has been indefatigably travelling across the country to substantiate the two points precisely: 'peace within and peace outside'. Notably, he has also been actively engaged in the dialogue in various interfaith and intercultural events held recently in Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer Sharif (Rajasthan), Hyderabad, Odisha and West Bengal. Significantly, in Uttar Pradesh which is the heartland of Hindus and Muslims living together in several pockets, the Sufi-Master chose to visit the holy land of the River Ganges, historically known as Kashi-Banaras-Varanasi in different periods. On 28th of December, Sheikh Eşref Efendi arrived at the Krishnamurti Foundation, an acclaimed educational, cultural and spiritual institution of international repute in Raj Ghat of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which was established by an Indian Mystic and Master of Realities, J Krishnamurti, popularly known as JK in the West, especially in the European Countries and the UK, and more particularly in Germany and Switzerland. Accompanied by an Urdu scholar and senior journalist, Dr. Afzal Hussain Misbahi (Assistant Professor & Section Incharge of Urdu Section, MMV, Banaras Hindu University), the Sufi delegation of Sheikh Effendi was accorded a warm welcome at the Krishnamurti Foundation in Varanasi. On this occasion, Mr. Kumar Radhakrishnan, the principal of the Krishnamurti School and his colleagues and associates welcomed the seven-member Sufi delegation with great cordiality and hospitality. The delegation included the Mufti of Darus Salam, Tanzania Sheikh Al-Ahaad Musa Salim who is also the President of the Inter-Faith Council of Tanzania. As part of their planned visit, the Sufi entourage found a willing host in Krishnamurti Foundation India (KFI). Before we proceed ahead, it is important to know the background of KFI, which has been present in the sacred city of Varanasi for over 90 years. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) whose life and teachings spanned the greater part of the 20th Century, is regarded by many as one who has had the most profound impact on human consciousness in modern times. He was a Sage with a unique way of communicating, which essentially unravels the human problems for one to see clearly and overcome. In the words of Publishers Weekly: Few modern thinkers have integrated psychology, philosophy, and religion so seamlessly as Krishnamurti. Breaking away from organized religions, he spelt out his mission: 'to set man absolutely and unconditionally free'. He travelled around the world giving talks, writing, holding discussions. He talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday life; the problems of living in modern society, the individual’s search for security, and the need for human beings to free themselves from their inner burdens of violence, fear and sorrow. At the age of 14, he was adopted by Annie Besant, the President of the Theosophical Society, and was brought up and groomed to be the World Teacher. Now the Krishnamurti Foundation in Varanasi, runs a fine CBSE boarding school called Rajghat Besant School guided by the philosophy of J Krishnamurti. The intent of the school is to develop an environment free of fear and comparison that will allow the natural blossoming of children under the watchful eyes of caring teachers. As succinctly put up by my friend and thinker, Mr. Vishwanath Alluri, Director of the KFI, Krishnamurti was simply an educator of life and a master of reality whose remarkable philosophy of education and peace continues to add more significance to our spiritual life and thoughts. In his dialogue at the KFI, Sufi-Master Sheikh Esref invoked the divine intent of creation and the special place human beings occupy in the spiritual scheme of things. He reflected upon humans being created in the image of God, endowed with free will and allowed to choose between good and bad. He prevailed on the listeners to not hurt others either physically or psychologically and to keep away from things that corrupt human beings. To a listener’s query if belief in almighty is necessary to love another human being, the Sheikh alluded to the interconnectedness of everything including the cosmic powers and that one cannot be seen in isolation of the other. The mission of the Sufis, he said, should be to bring people of all faith traditions together through their travel and sermon should be seen juxtaposed to the efforts of the school to educate young children in the spirit of goodness. Education must endow a child with an ability to view the world with her or his own eyes yet not prejudiced by others’ or ones own experiences. To relate without a preconceived notion based on another’s identity is manifestation of pure love. In that, the work of the Sufis and the school must be seen as complementary to each other. In his conclusion, Sheikh Efendi said that the relationship of man with the Creator and all His Creations is deeply connected and interrelated. If a person is engaged in good deeds, there will be naturally abundance of peace and prosperity, but if a person is indulged in wrongdoings, heavenly calamities will fall on him. He emphasized that the difference between man and a beast is that man is rational. So, he has to work with reason. If a person does not work with reason and does not control the 'self', then he turns into a beast. Remarkably, Sheikh Eşref Efendi is also popularly known for his Zhikr sessions and spiritual talks on the serious topics of eschatology, Ilm Akhir Az-Zamaan (knowledge of end times) which relate to the Armageddon as mentioned in the primary Islamic sources. One could be forgiven for feeling that the end of the world is nearer than ever. With talks of a nuclear Armageddon rearing its head every now and then, one cannot but help feel this way. No doubt, some observers like Steven Pinker, Harvard Professor of Psychology point to the 21st Century being among the most peaceful in a long time statistically. But anecdotally, an average person confronts fault lines on the basis of religion, ideology, politics, caste, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and many others in reaction to which he must choose one way or the other. He is torn between his loyalties yet must choose. What could he do? It is in times like these that sane and soothing voices are needed to help us hear our inner voice. One such voice that has been preaching inter-religious harmony is the Sufiland of Sheikh Esref Effendi situated on the boarders between Germany and Switzerland. Inspired by oneness of God and unity of mankind, the Sufiland is a harbinger of universal love and respect for all faith traditions, as instructed in the Qur'an. To sum up, bringing the Sufi delegation to Rajghat School of Krishnamurti Foundation would go down well in its history as J Krishnamurti himself was an ardent advocate of dialogue. But his idea of dialogue was not conventional and it needs to be heeded today. He says on Dialogue in 9th Chapter of his book ‘In the problem is the solution’: "In investigating these questions we are going to have a dialogue, A dialogue is a conversation between two people. You ask a question, the speaker answers it, then you respond to that answer, and when you respond to that answer, the speaker answers to your response. In this process of questioning and answering, the very answer is being questioned. This keeps going till both the questioner and the speaker disappear altogether and only the question remains. It is very important that the question remains suspended as it were, and as the question remains, it gains vitality, energy. What is important is that you must ask questions, if you are at all serious. The answer may be correct or incorrect, but you must respond to that answer, and when you respond, the speaker questions what you have responded to. We generally want the answer to be comfortable, suitable, convenient; but in questioning and answering, all that disappears. We try to find out what is true, what is factual, what the correct answer, the correct response is. To find that out, you and I must totally disappear and only the question must remain. You get it?" URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/sufi-sheikh-esref-krishnamurti-peace-india/d/128761 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Orthodox Islam Has An Aversion To Sufism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 31 December 2022 One 'ocean of knowledge' is of the view that Sufis exaggerate. Therefore, their path is not right. Only the path propounded and propagated by him will lead all Muslims to Allah. Obviously, these are tall claims. Muslims, esp. Sunnis, still suffer from Hallaj Syndrome, named after Mansur-al- Hallaj, who was excoriated for his ecstatic proclamation of An-al-Haq ('m the truth). This gentleman is unaware that the real Sufism is unstructured. Annihilation in Allah is not through any fixed process and procedure but through love and devotion. Shams-e-Tabriz writes, " I've gone beyond Namaz, Roza and rosary. All these are secondary. I'm merged into Him. " To a conventional Muslim who has been rubbing his Peshani (forehead) by offering regular dose of Namaz, this is blasphemous. But to a Sufi, this is bhakti or devotion. Let them be wrong. Sublime Sufis like Rumi, Sanai, Attar, Khaqani among others stopped caring for Allah's much bandied about wrath for being 'wayward' (Qahez in Persian) and irregular (Lawaaz in Farsi) in their approach to Allah. But theirs was the way, may not be cent percent right, that dispensed with the ritualistic Islam and the orthodoxy of it. Moreover, Sufis preached and proclaimed Universal love ( comparable to Agape of Christianity) and didn't limit themselves to Islamic Allah. " Mainstream Islam, esp the Islam of neo-Muslims, has a perpetual issue with the Sufism because the former will never understand that the Islam of Sufis is so diametrically and definitely different from its brand of unchangeably hardcore Islam, " opined Professor Hamilton Gibb, a scholar of Islamic and Arab Studies. Sunnis, therefore, have no right to brand Sufis as heretics or even exaggerators. Do true Sufis cast aspersions on Sunni or any other way or denomination of Islam? Let them ( Sufi) get burnt in eternal hellfire. That's their spiritual lookout. Stop being pejorative. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/orthodox-aversion-sufism/d/128760 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

The Never-Ending Series of Problems for Muslims: A Matter of Concern

By Dr Yusuf Rampuri 31 December 2022 Translated into English by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam Reasons Why Muslims Are Openly Condemned And Characterised As Immoral And Barbaric Main Points 1. Muslims currently have a miserable social life. Some pervasive evils in their society are what are causing their decline. 2. The division and chaos among Muslims have shattered the cohesiveness of the whole Muslim world. 3. Sincere worship is no longer practised in the Muslim community. 4. Morals are rapidly declining, while bad temper, poor behaviour, and bad temper are all on the rise. 5. Why is Muslim society being openly condemned and characterised as extremely immoral and barbaric? 6. Everyone in the Muslim community must be exhorted to lead a simple life in order to promote equality, balance, and peace among the people ------ When we examine the roles played by Muslims in a variety of sectors of life and hear and read reports of their failures and tragedies, the only question that arises in our minds is: What is the sphere in which Muslims have not failed? Where should they concentrate their efforts to succeed, where should they show steadfastness, and where should they grow in these circumstances? It is claimed that problems appear continuously and from all sides, making it difficult to find a solution. But the opposite is also true: there must be a solution to the maze of problems, and when it is attained, the maze will untangle itself. If the Muslims are to put an end to the never-ending cycle of problems and repel the relentless attacks of trouble and failure, they must now discover a clue that will make everything clear and leave no room for doubt. In general, though, the discovery and recovery of any aspect of human existence has its place and can pave the way for success in a variety of other fields. For complete success, all sectors of life require effort and hard work. From this vantage point, we can see that sociology is one of the many disciplines and parts of human existence whose success may be used to forecast the success of other facets of human existence. It is indisputable that Muslims currently have a miserable social life. Some pervasive evils in their society are what are causing their decline. When it comes to this, the division and chaos among Muslims have shattered the cohesiveness of the whole Muslim world. There are groups among Muslims at every level, regardless of what the issue is—educational, political, economic, religious, family-related, or rooted in a particular region. The issue is how to create the way for the success of the Muslims when there are such divisions in Muslim society. The simplicity of social life paints a lovely picture, yet even at this level, the picture of Muslim civilization is fading in colour. People feel it is important to display their cherished job or their reputation, which is the scenario of artificiality and fabrication. Showing off can be found everywhere, from eating and drinking to large gatherings and celebrations. Various fashions are being embraced in terms of attire. Muslim men and women dress strangely and shriveledly in an effort to be attractive. They do not understand the extent to which Islam's directive to conceal certain organs has been carried out. Furthermore, sincere worship is no longer practised in the Muslim community. Looking closely at Muslim society now, one cannot conclude that simplicity is still present. Morals are rapidly declining, while bad temper, poor behaviour, and bad temper are all on the rise. This is the reason why Muslim society is being openly condemned and characterised as extremely immoral and barbaric. Even though these facets of social life are highly significant, there is a lack of education, training, seriousness, and discipline in the Muslim community. A significant issue among Muslims is their low level of education, because in any community, the ideal of seriousness and modesty cannot be realised without education. In terms of cleanliness, Muslims are well known for having a poor sense of hygiene. Their communities are squalor-filled and their drains and roads are not clean. Additionally, there is no decorum in the homes. That is accurate, right? Although there is no such thing as impurity or filth in Islam, denying this is equivalent to denying the fact that the majority of Muslim villages and localities are dirty. In contrast to this situation, we learn from reading about Islam that "purity" is referred to as "half faith." Everyone in the Muslim community must be exhorted to lead a simple life in order to promote equality, balance, and peace among the people as well as safeguard society from the detrimental consequences of extravagance and outward display. For instance, a marriage should be consummated swiftly and easily to avoid costing the parents money. However, unnecessary ceremonies are adopted in Muslim society on the occasion of marriage while the Islamic commandments are utterly disregarded. As part of the dowry, women are also given dozens of pricey outfits, jewellery made of gold and silver costing millions of rupees, and other luxury items. The food feast for neighbours and others, as well as the wedding procession (Baraat) including hundreds of people, are lavishly arranged. The parents of daughters are so compelled to spend thousands or millions of rupees on the marriage of their daughters. Additionally, a lot of unsettling and bizarre things and situations occur in conjunction with marriage. Islam made marriage simpler, but Muslim culture has made it more challenging and expensive. A poor and backward person is finding it increasingly difficult to arrange a marriage for their children. In addition, contemporary Muslim society does not meet the needs of human values or nature. Things like lying, breaking promises, being dishonest, and committing fraud are becoming more and more common in Muslim society. People freely tell lies without consequence, breach their commitments without worrying about repercussions, and cheat without it being seen as a sin. Even when beatings and killings occur for the most trivial of causes, they are not socially punished. Muslims are now more than ever experiencing inferiority complexes and complaints, which is a grave issue in Muslim society. Muslims of today can be seen complaining against others, but they do not believe that their issue is the result of their own mistakes. As a result, they look to others for righteousness and reformation rather than identifying and correcting their own inadequacies. It goes without saying that someone or a community cannot be changed by someone else if he himself is not prepared to address his own flaws and improve his own condition of affairs. Similar to this, it takes hard work and self-sacrifice to achieve success and growth. Given the circumstances, Muslims must pay attention to all facets of social life and make reformations where they are necessary. They will achieve success in other areas of life in addition to the social sector by doing this, and they will progress in that direction. ----- Urdu Article: The Never-Ending Series of Problems: A Matter of Concern مسائل کے لامتناہی سلسلے : لمحۂ فکریہ URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/islamic-muslims-concern/d/128759 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Sufi-Master Sheikh Eşref Efendi's Visit to Krishnamurti Foundation during his "Peace Tour to India" is Remarkable!

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 31 December 2022 Sheikh Eşref Efendi, the founder of World Peace Institute of Sufism based in Berlin, Germany and Ambassador of the High Sufi Council of Jerusalem Holy Land, is currently on what he calls the 'Sufi Peace Way to India'. This month-long visit of a global Sufi Master who is also a recipient of several Peace Awards from the EU and is the founder and head of Sufi Centre Rabbaniya, Germany, has been sending out a strong message of peace and dialogue to several states in India. The Sufi Master landed in India on 17th of December, 2022 and since then he has been indefatigably travelling across the country to substantiate the two points precisely: 'peace within and peace outside'. Notably, he has also been actively engaged in the dialogue in various interfaith and intercultural events held recently in Delhi, Jaipur, Ajmer Sharif (Rajasthan), Hyderabad, Odisha and West Bengal. Significantly, in Uttar Pradesh which is the heartland of Hindus and Muslims living together in several pockets, the Sufi-Master chose to visit the holy land of the River Ganges, historically known as Kashi-Banaras-Varanasi in different periods. On 28th of December, Sheikh Eşref Efendi arrived at the Krishnamurti Foundation, an acclaimed educational, cultural and spiritual institution of international repute in Raj Ghat of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, which was established by an Indian Mystic and Master of Realities, J Krishnamurti, popularly known as JK in the West, especially in the European Countries and the UK, and more particularly in Germany and Switzerland. Accompanied by an Urdu scholar and senior journalist, Dr. Afzal Hussain Misbahi (Assistant Professor & Section Incharge of Urdu Section, MMV, Banaras Hindu University), the Sufi delegation of Sheikh Effendi was accorded a warm welcome at the Krishnamurti Foundation in Varanasi. On this occasion, Mr. Kumar Radhakrishnan, the principal of the Krishnamurti School and his colleagues and associates welcomed the seven-member Sufi delegation with great cordiality and hospitality. The delegation included the Mufti of Darus Salam, Tanzania Sheikh Al-Ahaad Musa Salim who is also the President of the Inter-Faith Council of Tanzania. As part of their planned visit, the Sufi entourage found a willing host in Krishnamurti Foundation India (KFI). Before we proceed ahead, it is important to know the background of KFI, which has been present in the sacred city of Varanasi for over 90 years. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) whose life and teachings spanned the greater part of the 20th Century, is regarded by many as one who has had the most profound impact on human consciousness in modern times. He was a Sage with a unique way of communicating, which essentially unravels the human problems for one to see clearly and overcome. In the words of Publishers Weekly: Few modern thinkers have integrated psychology, philosophy, and religion so seamlessly as Krishnamurti. Breaking away from organized religions, he spelt out his mission: 'to set man absolutely and unconditionally free'. He travelled around the world giving talks, writing, holding discussions. He talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday life; the problems of living in modern society, the individual’s search for security, and the need for human beings to free themselves from their inner burdens of violence, fear and sorrow. At the age of 14, he was adopted by Annie Besant, the President of the Theosophical Society, and was brought up and groomed to be the World Teacher. Now the Krishnamurti Foundation in Varanasi, runs a fine CBSE boarding school called Rajghat Besant School guided by the philosophy of J Krishnamurti. The intent of the school is to develop an environment free of fear and comparison that will allow the natural blossoming of children under the watchful eyes of caring teachers. As succinctly put up by my friend and thinker, Mr. Vishwanath Alluri, Director of the KFI, Krishnamurti was simply an educator of life and a master of reality whose remarkable philosophy of education and peace continues to add more significance to our spiritual life and thoughts. In his dialogue at the KFI, Sufi-Master Sheikh Esref invoked the divine intent of creation and the special place human beings occupy in the spiritual scheme of things. He reflected upon humans being created in the image of God, endowed with free will and allowed to choose between good and bad. He prevailed on the listeners to not hurt others either physically or psychologically and to keep away from things that corrupt human beings. To a listener’s query if belief in almighty is necessary to love another human being, the Sheikh alluded to the interconnectedness of everything including the cosmic powers and that one cannot be seen in isolation of the other. The mission of the Sufis, he said, should be to bring people of all faith traditions together through their travel and sermon should be seen juxtaposed to the efforts of the school to educate young children in the spirit of goodness. Education must endow a child with an ability to view the world with her or his own eyes yet not prejudiced by others’ or ones own experiences. To relate without a preconceived notion based on another’s identity is manifestation of pure love. In that, the work of the Sufis and the school must be seen as complementary to each other. In his conclusion, Sheikh Efendi said that the relationship of man with the Creator and all His Creations is deeply connected and interrelated. If a person is engaged in good deeds, there will be naturally abundance of peace and prosperity, but if a person is indulged in wrongdoings, heavenly calamities will fall on him. He emphasized that the difference between man and a beast is that man is rational. So, he has to work with reason. If a person does not work with reason and does not control the 'self', then he turns into a beast. Remarkably, Sheikh Eşref Efendi is also popularly known for his Zhikr sessions and spiritual talks on the serious topics of eschatology, Ilm Akhir Az-Zamaan (knowledge of end times) which relate to the Armageddon as mentioned in the primary Islamic sources. One could be forgiven for feeling that the end of the world is nearer than ever. With talks of a nuclear Armageddon rearing its head every now and then, one cannot but help feel this way. No doubt, some observers like Steven Pinker, Harvard Professor of Psychology point to the 21st Century being among the most peaceful in a long time statistically. But anecdotally, an average person confronts fault lines on the basis of religion, ideology, politics, caste, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and many others in reaction to which he must choose one way or the other. He is torn between his loyalties yet must choose. What could he do? It is in times like these that sane and soothing voices are needed to help us hear our inner voice. One such voice that has been preaching inter-religious harmony is the Sufiland of Sheikh Esref Effendi situated on the boarders between Germany and Switzerland. Inspired by oneness of God and unity of mankind, the Sufiland is a harbinger of universal love and respect for all faith traditions, as instructed in the Qur'an. To sum up, bringing the Sufi delegation to Rajghat School of Krishnamurti Foundation would go down well in its history as J Krishnamurti himself was an ardent advocate of dialogue. But his idea of dialogue was not conventional and it needs to be heeded today. He says on Dialogue in 9th Chapter of his book ‘In the problem is the solution’: "In investigating these questions we are going to have a dialogue, A dialogue is a conversation between two people. You ask a question, the speaker answers it, then you respond to that answer, and when you respond to that answer, the speaker answers to your response. In this process of questioning and answering, the very answer is being questioned. This keeps going till both the questioner and the speaker disappear altogether and only the question remains. It is very important that the question remains suspended as it were, and as the question remains, it gains vitality, energy. What is important is that you must ask questions, if you are at all serious. The answer may be correct or incorrect, but you must respond to that answer, and when you respond, the speaker questions what you have responded to. We generally want the answer to be comfortable, suitable, convenient; but in questioning and answering, all that disappears. We try to find out what is true, what is factual, what the correct answer, the correct response is. To find that out, you and I must totally disappear and only the question must remain. You get it?" URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/sufi-sheikh-esref-krishnamurti-peace-india/d/128761 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Taliban Vs. Islam: Preventing Women From Education Is A Sin In Islam

Education Is Equally Obligatory On Both Men And Women. Main Points: 1. The education of a man is the education of an individual, while the education of a woman is the education of a family. 2. Since women make up half of every country's population, denying them access to education will prohibit that country from ever progressing. 3. The Holy Quran exhorts Muslim men and women to learn many types of sciences. ---- By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam 31 December 2022 Islam places a high value on education. In Islam, "Education is equally obligatory on both men and women". It is not mentioned in the hadith that it is required for boys but not for girls. The idea that girls shouldn't have access to higher education while boys should wasn't mentioned either. In terms of both needs and rewards, women's education is more important than men's. History demonstrates that every successful man owes his excellent training to his mother, and his wife also contributes to his success. A wise person rightly said that the mother's lap is the child's first school. What a child learns from this school has a profound effect on his future life. It is very important for the mother to be educated for the best training of the child. In the opinion of thinkers: "The education of a man is the education of an individual, while the education of a woman is the education of a family.” Not only Muslim women but also many companions of the Prophet benefitted from the knowledge and wisdom of Hazrat Ayesha. The Muslim men flocked to Hazrat Ayesha behind the veil to learn from her about religious matters. All issues involving women would have remained unaddressed if Hazrat Aisha hadn't finished her academic duties. Hazrat Khadija was a significant trader in Arabia. In order to monitor the "Madinah Market" during his time, the Prophet (PBUH) appointed a woman to a high position. Those who deprive women of education are not only against women but also against Islam, Shariat, justice and humanity. (may Allah be pleased with the Mothers of Believers) Recent press reports state that the Taliban prevents women from education. Admission to universities and schools is prohibited for girls in Afghanistan. The Ulama and scholars of India, Pakistan, and other countries must educate the Taliban administration on the importance of education for women in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah. The Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's hadiths frequently and succinctly emphasise the value of knowledge. Muslims of both genders have been told to educate themselves. One illustration of this is the abundance of blessings bestowed upon humanity by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which sparked a revolution in women's position, dignity, and rights. The rights of men and women have been treated equally in all sectors of life, and both are obliged to be educated in the light of knowledge. Here are several hadiths that discuss the importance of knowledge. It is an obligation for every Muslim, male and female, to educate themselves. (Ibn Majah) "Whoever goes out in search of knowledge is in the way of Allah, until he returns." (Tirmidhi) On the authority of Hazrat Ibn Abbas, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “An hour of reading or teaching the knowledge of religion is better than a whole night of worship.” (Mishkaat) Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge." [Muslim/Riyadus Saalihin, 1381] Hazrat Abu Darda reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, the angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge. The inhabitants of the heavens and earth, even the fish in the depths of the water, seek forgiveness for the scholar. The virtue of the scholar over the worshiper is like the superiority of the moon over the stars. The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets. They do not leave behind gold or silver coins, but rather they leave behind knowledge. Whoever has taken hold of it has been given an abundant share.” (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3641, Grade: Sahih) Both Muslim men and Muslim women must now complete their education. It's important to remember that even the Prophet (peace be upon him) emphasised the need of educating slave females, describing it as a noble deed that would bring rewards. Thus, the Prophet commanded the Muslim Ummah to teach their daughters manners and how to live a good, holy life. Masjid Nabwi had the honour of being a significant Islamic teaching centre where the Holy Prophet taught the Companions for years, laying the groundwork for the Islamic educational system in the process. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught Muslim women as well, and when they felt hesitant to ask any questions about specific feminine issues, they turned to Hazrat Ayesha and other Mothers of Believers. Women back then used to be conscious of the distinctive religious personal issues in this way. We must be aware that the Ansar women were passionate about learning. The women of the Ansar were good women, and their modesty did not prevent them from knowing the religion, according to a hadith in which Hazrat Ayesha says so. Another hadith mentions women's yearning for education. According to Hazrat Abu Saeed Al-Khudri, the women pleaded with the Prophet (peace be upon him) to "please set apart a day for us" since "men dominate over us in reaching the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." He then made a promise to them that he would manage a day for them, counsel them, and issue them with religious directives. (Bukhari) Hazrat Fatima, the Holy Prophet's beloved daughter, and his other daughters and women led the way in the pursuit of knowledge, setting a good example for Muslim women. When there was a candle of knowledge and light in the Islamic world, the Muslim girls were able to learn a lot in its light. This is unbelievable that the sciences and arts have advanced and expanded without the participation of women. A nation, a country, and a civilization cannot climb the ladder of prosperity and happiness without women. Historically speaking, many Muslim women have shown remarkable academic interests and ambitions. The majority of scholars and judges were female, and many of these women's moms and sisters assisted their sons and brothers in negotiating the treacherous paths of knowledge. A few relevant examples are enough to understand the importance of knowledge for women. A renowned scholar like Imam Jawzi would not have existed if his paternal aunt had not educated him. Where would we find such a high-level preacher and scholar if the mother of Imam Rabia al-Rai (the teacher of Imam Malik and Khawaja Hasan Basri) had not given special attention to his education and training? Similarly, if Imam Bukhari's mother and sisters had not supported him, how would we have obtained Sahih Bukhari, the hadith collection compiled by Imam Bukhari? The Taliban must understand that advances in science and technology have ushered in a new era. A global community has been created by the coming together of all nations. The only nation or country that can reign in the future is one that is at the forefront of knowledge and technology. Since women make up half of every country's population, denying them access to education will prohibit that country from ever progressing. As a result, in addition to receiving religious knowledge, women also require modern knowledge and exposure to global challenges. The world of today is undergoing rapid change. Therefore, only a woman with solid knowledge will be able to adjust to this new environment. A woman with a good education can easily impart her knowledge to her offspring. A woman with more education can contribute more to the development of the nation. A lady will be aware of her societal and familial responsibilities after receiving education. Women are occasionally needed as doctors, engineers, and pilots, as well as to fulfil the roles of mother, sister, daughter, and wife; in all of these roles, a woman must be well-educated. The Holy Quran exhorts Muslim men and women to learn many types of sciences. For example: Biology: “Then do they not look at the camels - how they are created?” (Quran 88:17) Astronomy: “And at the sky - how it is raised?” (Quran 88:18) Geology: “And at the mountains - how they are erected?” (Quran 88:19) An instruction to learn and understand the origins of creation is found in another verse. “Say to them: "Travel through the earth and see how Allah originates the creation” (Quran 29:20) So the Taliban must know that Islam does not prevent Muslim men or Muslim women from acquiring modern sciences. But in fact, Islamic teachings were the reason for the educational and scientific development in the Arab world during the middle ages which introduced different types of sciences to the world. Those who prevent men or women from acquiring knowledge and science are in fact preventing them from acting upon the above verses of the Quran; which is a sin in Islam. ----- Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/taliban-preventing-women-education-sin-/d/128758 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

The Quran Does Not Differentiate Knowledge as Worldly and Religious

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 31 December 2022 Knowledge Leads Man To Salvation Main Points: 1. The Quran asks man to ponder on scientific facts. 2. God gave prophet Noah a.s. the knowledge of building a huge ship. 3. The Quran asks man to ponder over the phases of foetus in the womb. 4. The Quran asks man on history of mankind. 5. The Quran also gives knowledge on religious issues. ----- Islam has always stressed on the importance of education and knowledge. The very first verse revealed to the prophet pbuh stressed on reading as a means of acquiring knowledge. Knowledge leads one towards realisation of truth and ignorance keeps one wandering in darkness. The Quran time and again asks man to acquire knowledge and should travel for that purpose if it is necessary. While stressing the need to acquire knowledge, it does not categorised knowledge as religious and worldly. Knowledge cannot be religious or non-religious. God has created the universe and everything between the earth and sky. So exploring the truth of the creation is appreciating the wisdom and artistry of the Creator. That is why the Quran does not divide knowledge between worldly and religious. This was the understanding of the scholars of the early periods of Islam that led them to seek knowledge of sciences. They studied biology, astronomy, medicine, surgery, physics, chemistry etc. along with the Quran, hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, mathematics, algebra etc. However, due to the narrow interpretations and explanations of the Quran in later periods by the Islamic scholars, the Quran was presented as a religious scripture that only spoke of moral and religious issues. They ignored the verses on scientific facts. Later age madrasas excluded sciences and taught only religious subjects. This was also in reaction to the rise of Christians who promoted science and technology. Since Islam and Christianity were two major religions of the world in the medieval era, Muslims considered science and technology as a tool of Christianity and abandoned it as an antithesis to Islam. In the later periods, when the British expanded their empire in the East and opened schools that included sciences, the schools were seen as the centres of worldly knowledge leading people to the hell. Therefore, madrasas were opened in Muslim countries to spread the 'true knowledge' of Islam. In addition, to prevent Muslims from the ill effects of science. One major flaw of the religious education system of Muslims was that the Quran, the basic source of knowledge, was excluded from the curriculum of madrasas. The Quran was only memorised. It was not taught in detail with meanings and interpretations. All the other subjects like Islamic jurisprudence; Arabic, Hadith, Islamic history etc. were taught. In later periods, sectarian ideology was also included in the curriculum. Therefore, madrasas became affiliated to one or the other sect. Since Muslims were not aware of the contents of the Quran, they were not aware of the scientific approach of the Quran. The students of Islam did not know that the Quran also discusses scientific facts in many verses and encourages Muslims to do scientific topics. Here are some of the verses that discuss scientific facts. "And We certainly gave David from Us bounty. (We said) O mountains, repeat (Our) praises for him, and the birds (as Astik well). And We made pliable for Him iron, (commanding him), "Make full coats mail and calculate (precisely)the links and work righteousness."(Saba:10) God gave prophet David a.s. the knowledge of making weapons from iron. And this fact was mentioned in the Quran. If the scientific knowledge was of no value to God, He would not have mentioned it in the Quran." God gave prophet Noah the knowledge of building a huge ship. The Quran says: "And We inspired him, "Construct the ship under Our observation and Our inspiration."(Al Muminun:27) Prophet Noah a.s. was given the knowledge of making a gigantic ship that was a marvel of technology. God could have given the knowledge of making the ship to any engineer of that time and prophet Noah could have used it. But that the prophet was given the knowledge of science and technology of making a ship reiterates the fact that a Muslim should also acquire the knowledge of science and technology apart from fulfilling his religious obligations. There are other prophets whom God gave wisdom and knowledge. For example, God gave prophet Khizir a particular knowledge. "And they found a servant from Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a (certain) knowledge." ( Al Kahf:65) The Quran narrates the incident of the visit of the Queen of Saba to the palace of King Sulaiman a.s. who was also a prophet. The queen entered the palace and perceived water on the floor. She pulled up her clothes and exposed her legs. The courtiers were bemused and told that there was no water on the floor but the glass floor created the illusion of water. Such a phenomenon could be found in the modern age but King Suleman a.s. employed scientists and engineers of his kingdom to build the palace. He must have promoted science and technology in his kingdom. God also mentions the phases in the evolution of foetus in the womb till its birth. It also mentions other scientific facts in the Quran and asks Muslims to reflect and ponder over them. In the Quran two words, Ilm (knowledge) and Hikmah (wisdom) are used frequently meaning religious sciences, occult sciences, science and technology, knowledge of archaeology, astronomy etc. God is called Omniscient, the seat of all knowledge and wisdom, arts and sciences. The two words --- Aleem and Hakeem --- denote God 's monopoly over all knowledge. God bestows a part of knowledge to a man according to his spiritual or intellectual capabilities and passion for knowledge. God says in the Quran that He gives knowledge to any one who does research or ponders deeply over His creations irrespective of religion. God blesses with knowledge and wisdom who does research on His creations. That is why there are many non-Muslim scientists who have made important discoveries and inventions. Muslims have ignored research and observation and have concentrated only on religious issues. Therefore, scientific knowledge has not been bestowed on them by God. Therefore, it can be concluded that knowledge is knowledge. It is not religious or scientific. Muslims have categorised knowledge as religious and scientific. They have declared scientific knowledge as un-Islamic and therefore have barred sciences frim their madrasa curriculum. This is the reason behind their educational, scientific and industrial backwardness. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/quran-knowledge-worldly-religious/d/128757 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Friday, December 30, 2022

Why Should God Be Concerned Whether You Worship Him Or Someone Else?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 30 December 2022 I generally refrain from stretching a subject or issue a trifle too long but I thought of letting NAI's Mr S Arshad know that I didn't write my Shirk piece from the perspective of a polytheist. That's a pigeonholing on the part of the writer and an attempt to limit someone for whom religions, scriptures, gods and tenets have no significance. I'm neither a monotheist nor a polytheist. And I'm also neither a theist or atheist. I've gone beyond your worldly limits. I call myself an apatheist for the want of a better word at the moment. Now let me ask Mr Arshad, how can Shirk be an act of ingratitude? St Augustine said that the god is free of human attributes. Gratitude and ingratitude are human traits. Upanishad, esp. Chandogya Upanishad, calls god, Parasamvedanam Iti Aparibhootam (अपरिभूतम). In other words, He (resorting to god's gender according to you; I use IT) is beyond all quotidian concerns. That's why, He's Neti, Neti (नेति- नेति, beyond human perceptions) in Upanishads. So, why should he be concerned whether you worship him or someone else? If he's so rabidly jealous, he cannot be the god of Universe. Didn't Tagore say, " I'm able to love my god because he gives me freedom to deny him?" The problem with humans is that they created and concocted god and imbued it with either human qualities or extremely intangible attributes. There's no cerebral middle path. Humans tend to oscillate between extremes and that's why Buddhist genius Nagarjun chose a Middle Path or Madhyam Marg. That way, you can be able to relate to god and experience the Truth, however nebulous that may be. Thus far, you all have read your respective scriptures and understood your god's nature. I'm afraid, it's still beyond your comprehension. Stop seeing god through your limited prism of understanding. Lastly, like a ' true Muslim ' ( is it a sarcasm?), let me quote an Urdu couplet written by Ravish Siddiqui, "Kar Vusa'at Paida Apni Soch Mein/ Tu Dekhta Aaya Hai Khuda Ko Apni Nazar Se " (Broaden your vision/ So far, you've been seeing and conceiving him with your own limited understanding). I rest my case here. It ain't a rejoinder. I don't resort to arguing in a circle. Lastly, despite caring for nothing, I shall request to spell my surname as Paul, not pal. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/god-worship-shirk/d/128753 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Iman and Yaqin: Faith In The Unseen And Certainty

By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam 30 December 2022 Iman is belief or faith in the Unseen or in Al-Ghayab. The authenticity of the source of knowledge of the Unseen is testable but not the authenticity of the contents of Al-Ghayab itself. We believe in the Unseen because the source of knowledge of the Unseen is the Quran which satisfies all the attributes expected of the word of an all-knowing God. For the comprehensive meaning of faith, please read: The Quranic Truths of Qayamat and Resurrection Yaqin is a certainty. Can we have certainty of the Unseen? This is not possible by the very definition of the Unseen. We can therefore do acts to strengthen our Iman but no matter how very much strong our Iman may become, it cannot become Yaqin or certain knowledge. So what do the terms Ilm al-Yaqin (certain knowledge), Ayn al-Yaqin (knowledge based on seeing or empirical knowledge) and Haqq al-Yaqin (absolute truth or objective truth) found in the Quran mean? These are commonly thought to be the three degrees of certainty that a human is capable of and a devotee progresses from the first degree to the next till he attains Haqq al-Yaqin about the Unseen. This is humbug. As far as the Unseen is concerned, only Iman or faith is possible and nothing more. Indeed, the Quran speaks only of our Iman and not of Yaqin as far as the Unseen is concerned. We believe in the Hereafter We believe in the Resurrection We believe the sinners will be punished by Hellfire and the Righteous rewarded with Heaven. We can have Ilm al-Yaqin, Ayn al-Yaqin and/or Haqq al-Yaqin about our observable Universe but not about the Unseen or Al-Ghayab. The Three Terms In The Quran Let us see how and in what sense the Quran uses these terms and whether these have anything to do with our knowledge with certainty or with our yaqin. Haqq al-Yaqin appears twice in the Quran (56:92) And if he be of those who treat (Truth) as Falsehood, who go wrong, (93) For him is Entertainment with Boiling Water. (94) And burning in Hell-Fire. إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ (95) Verily, this is the Very Truth and Certainly. (96) So celebrate with praises the name of thy Lord, the Supreme. Here, it is Allah who is affirming that the burning in Hellfire of the sinners is the objective/absolute truth (Haqq al-Yaqin). We can only have faith or Iman that this is indeed Haq al-Yaqin but not have Yaqin itself. (69:38) So I do call to witness what ye see, (39) And what ye see not, (40) That this is verily the word of an honoured messenger; (41) It is not the word of a poet: little it is ye believe! (42) Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is ye receive. (43) (This is) a Message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds. (44) And if the messenger were to invent any sayings in Our name, (45) We should certainly seize him by his right hand, (46) And We should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart: (47) Nor could any of you withhold him (from Our wrath). (48) But verily this is a Message for the Allah-fearing. (49) And We certainly know that there are amongst you those that reject (it). (50) But truly (Revelation) is a cause of sorrow for the Unbelievers. وَإِنَّهُ لَحَقُّ الْيَقِينِ (51) But verily it is Truth of assured certainty. (52) So glorify the name of thy Lord Most High. Once again, it is Allah affirming that the Quran is a book of the Haqq al-Yaqin or absolute truths and we can only have faith or Iman that it is indeed so but not Yaqin or certainty. Ilm al-Yaqin and Ayn al-Yaqin appear only once in the Quran in Surah 102 (102:1) The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things), (2) Until ye visit the graves. (3) But nay, ye soon shall know (the reality). (4) Again, ye soon shall know! كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ (5) Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!) (6) Ye shall certainly see Hell-Fire! ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ (7) Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight! (8) Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!). Hell-Fire will become Ayn al-Yaqin only in the Hereafter when the sinners see Hell-Fire. Until then, we can only have faith or Iman in it but not Yaqin. Ilm al-Yaqin (certain knowledge), Ayn al-Yaqin (certainty based on seeing or based on empirical knowledge) and Haqq al-Yaqin (certainty about absolute truth or objective truth) are only possible for what we can see, observe and experience or of the reality of this world and not of the Unknown. We can have these certainties about things that are mentioned in the Quran of this world. For example, we now have Ilm al-Yaqin (certain knowledge) about the possibility of our resurrection based on information alone without our body and without the soul (which incidentally does not exist) and the high likelihood of an end of our Universe and creation of a new Universe which Allah says is a promise binding on Him. These are discussed in the article cited above. The Quranic fact that we do not have a soul is discussed in the article: The Seemingly Unanswerable Question That Religion Raised Difference Between A Believer And A Disbeliever A believer believes that everything asserted by the Quran is Haqq al-Yaqin or absolute truths while a disbeliever believes that in so far as it relates to the Unseen, they are “bunkum theories”, but neither can have Yaqin or certainty about their respective beliefs as they relate to the Unseen. The question of whether the Quran measures upto the standards expected from the word of the all-knowing God is however testable and if it satisfies the infallibility test, then a believer is rational in his beliefs and a disbeliever is most likely a rejecter because he inclines to the earth and is averse to the demands made by the Book for living a moral life. ----- A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/iman-yaqin-faith-unseen-certainty/d/128749 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Unless A Modern Scientific Exegesis Of The Quran Is Written, The Taliban Will Not Change Their Attitude Towards Education And Women

Before The Ascent Of the Taliban, 40 Percent Of Doctors In Afghanistan Were Women Main Points: 1. 70 percent of school teachers were women. 2. 60 percent of university professors were women. 3. 25 percent of the members of parliament were women. 4. 6.2 percent of ministers were women. ---- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 29 December 2022 UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya Women’s rights advocates engage in awareness-raising activities in Herat, Afghanistan. (file) ----- In his article, Mr. Faizan Mustafa takes a comparative look at the educational and political state of women in Afghanistan before and after the ascent of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He writes that during the US occupation, women were given the freedom to receive education and impart education. They also had political rights and were allowed to work in the media, medical field, educational institutions, and as entrepreneurs. But after the Taliban came to power, it banned women's education. It first banned secondary education, and then university education for women. This was totally against the teachings of the Quran and Hadiths. The Quran stresses receiving education and mentions the virtues of knowledge and learning. There are a number of the sayings of the holy prophet pbuh in which knowledge has been glorified and receiving it has been encouraging. In the Quran, knowledge has been described as a blessing and a virtue of God's chosen people. During the prophet's time, Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. had acquired the knowledge of jurisprudence and after the demise of the prophet pbuh she was consulted by the Muslims on important issues. In later periods, many Muslim women in Arab and Africa contributed immensely to the promotion of learning among men and women. They established schools and universities. Many women became rulers and in the modern age, many women politicians are active in politics, arts, and philanthropic activities. In Afghanistan, King Amanullah's wife Suraiya was a strong advocate of women's education. She opened many schools for girls. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, women have been prime ministers and ministers, scientists, teachers, professors, athletes, singers, and pilots. They have been given total freedom to develop their intellectual faculties and contribute to the development of their community and nation. Allowing women to work and serve the society and community is not only a privilege given to them but a right guaranteed to them by the Quran and hadith. Society needs them because it is constituted of both men and women. Women are needed in nearly all walks of life because mrn' s prejudice and chauvinistic tendencies most of the time do injustice to women. Women need the support of women in many cases. In modern society, the importance of the participation of women has been recognised by governments. Representation of women is ensured in the legislature so that women 's issues can be properly highlighted and attended to. In the medical field, the presence of women is all the more necessary. But by barring women from studying medicine, the Taliban have left women patients at the mercy of male doctors though they advocate gender segregation. Here they violate their policy. In the future, they will have to hire lady doctors and medical professionals from Europe or other countries. But the fact is that giving examples from the Quran and Hadiths may not be convincing to the Taliban. The Quran and hadiths stress knowledge but during the prophet's time or during the time of the caliphate, knowledge meant Islamic knowledge or jurisprudence. The Taliban may have their definition of knowledge. By knowledge, they mean the knowledge of the Quran, hadith, and Islamic jurisprudence. They may allow girls to study in madrasas to receive basic knowledge of the Quran, hadith, and Islamic jurisprudence. The Quran time again asks Muslims to ponder and reflect on the creations of God. It asks Muslims to ponder over the anatomy of camels and their bodies. It asks Muslims to reflect on the universe and space, on the oceans, on the bees, and on the animals and vegetation. It asks Muslims to ponder on different kinds of rocks. It tells Muslims that they can go out of the spheres of the earth with the help of a “sultan"(a special scientific and technological device). (La Tanfudhuna Illa Bisultan). It gives an account of the different phases of the evolution of the foetus in the womb till its birth as a child. Then the Quran hints at archaeology, tourism, and philanthropic activities (welfare of orphans, feeding the poor, and reform movements). Therefore, the Quran stresses scientific knowledge and learning. But the Taliban don't believe the scientific and technological knowledge as part of Deen because our exegetes have not explained and interpreted those verses from the scientific point of view and have not issued fatwas mandating the science and technology. Our Ulema has always categorised knowledge as Uloom-E-Diniya and Uloom-E- Mufidah and excluded science and technology from the syllabus of madrasas. Therefore, giving examples from the lives of the wives of the prophet pbuh or citing hadiths on the importance of knowledge will not convince the Taliban because they interpret or understand knowledge from a purely religious point of view. Unless a modern scientific exegesis of the Quran is not written, the Taliban and the like will not change their attitude toward education and women. ------ In Banning Women From Universities, The Taliban Is Being Un-Islamic By Faizan Mustafa December 28, 2022 By the 1990s, 40 per cent of doctors in Afghanistan were women. Women also constituted 70 per cent of school teachers, 60 per cent of university professors and almost half of university students. All this has now changed for the worse. Women literacy today is at a meagre 14 per cent. The Taliban has proved us right by continuing with the highly regressive policies of the past regime (1996-2001). Their Jim Crow-like decrees have not come as a surprise. Our worst fears regarding the US’s sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan have come true. Their promises during the Doha deal of respecting human rights in general and women rights in particular have proved to be just empty words. The pretence is gone and the reality as anticipated by the Taliban’s critics is now setting in. Afghan women participate in a protest against the university education ban for women, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP) ----- The western world led by the United States too has to be blamed for first handing over to the Taliban highly sophisticated weapons to fight the Russians. After staying in Afghanistan for almost two decades, the United States meekly handed over power to the Taliban leaving Afghan women high and dry. Women who occupied one-fourth of parliamentary seats and 6.5 per cent of ministerial positions in 2021 have been completely excluded from the interim government of Taliban. Women, once again, cannot go out and work in most sectors. They are forced to cover their faces and must be accompanied by a male guardian. In November, Afghan women were denied access to public parks. The Afghan women are the worst victims of the Taliban regime. The recent dictates from the totalitarian and arbitrary Taliban regime must have shocked the conscience of the world. Last week, the Taliban cabinet took the indefensible and discriminatory decision of banning women from universities. For a pleasant change, not only the western world but even Islamic countries reacted sharply to it. The United States’ spokesperson explicitly said that such decisions will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them much-needed legitimacy in the comity of nations. Even the closure of secondary schools in March had a significant impact on American engagement with the Taliban. Since the Taliban have no respect for the modern human rights covenants, they must be challenged on the basis of Islamic theology itself. The period prior to the advent of Islam in Arab history is called the period of ignorance. The Arabic word for knowledge is ilm which means knowledge. This root word has been used in the Quran 854 times — 397 times as a noun, 425 times as a verb and remaining times as an adjective. The first words of divine revelation in the Quran asked the Prophet to read: “Read in the name of your Lord who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the most generous. Who has taught (writing) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5). For Muslims, Islam was truly a knowledge revolution. The Prophet himself had reportedly said that “seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim male and female” (Al-Tirmidhi). The Prophet had also said that “the excellence of a scholar over another (ordinary) worshipper is like the excellence of the full moon over the rest of the heavenly bodies” (Abu Dawood). He in fact described himself as the city of knowledge and Ali (his son-in-law) as the door of this city. As per Islamic beliefs, even Adam’s superiority over other angels, including Satan (the Devil) was determined by conducting a test of knowledge. He also said that “whoever takes a path in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to walk on one of the paths of paradise. Indeed, the angels will lower their wings in great pleasure with the one who seeks knowledge.” He also said that “whoever goes out seeking knowledge, then he is in Allah’s cause until he returns” (Tirmidhi) The Taliban should at least pay heed to Quranic injunctions. The Quran itself is explicit in asking humanity to explore the signs of God. The Quran says that “God will raise up, by many degrees, those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. He is fully aware of what you do” (Quran 58:11). Knowledge involves reflection. God says in the Quran that “He has subjected all that is in the heavens and the earth for your benefit, as a gift from Him. There truly are signs in this for those who reflect” (Quran 45:13). The Quran also tells us what to ask God — “And say: My Lord, increase my knowledge” (Quran 20:114). The Taliban, therefore, have scant regard for the Quran. Their decrees cannot and should not be allowed to have greater weight than the divine commandments by which they swear to justify their arbitrary decisions. There is not a single verse in the Quran or the Hadith that prohibits women from acquiring knowledge. The Taliban seem to be ignorant of even the history of Islamic civilisation. The Prophet’s own wife Ayesha was a great scholar and people used to consult her on theological matters. She was the most prominent and leading narrator of Hadith. In fact, it is impossible to talk of Islam without referring to her. Nafisa, a close relative of Ali, too used to be consulted by the people and even scholars including Imam Shafii. Other prominent women scholars were Shahda, Hujaimah, Asma, Masuda and Shanoun. The Taliban leadership may not know, but one of the world’s earliest modern universities was founded by an Arab woman: The University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco was founded in 859 by Fatima Bint Muhammad al-Fihri. Her family was originally from the city of Kairouan in Tunisia. Princess Fatima Bint Khedive had immensely contributed to the establishment of Cairo University. Similarly, in the 12th century, another prominent woman, Sitt al-Sham Zumurrud Khatun, sister of Saladin, established schools in Damascus. In the thirteenth century, Razia Sultan even ruled over Delhi when Turkan- i-Chahalgani (Council of Forty Nobles) was extremely powerful. She also built several schools. The first Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in 1920 was Mumtaz Jahan Begum of Bhopal. Even in Saudi Arabia, Turkish born Queen Iffat al Thunayan, wife of King Faisal, was responsible for the establishment of Dar al Hanan schools for girls in 1955. In neighbouring Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister and another Muslim country Bangladesh has been ruled by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina for the most part of its 50 year history. Even in Afghanistan in 1880, Malalai had demonstrated her courage and bravery in the battle of Maiwand. In 2005, Habiba Sarabi was appointed as governor, and a few years later, Azra Jafari became the first female mayor. Thus, what the Taliban are doing to women is absolutely un-Islamic. Their version of Islam had not only closed the doors of universities for the women but even the mosques. Their Islam is different from the Islam that was brought by the Prophet. The Taliban is undoing the Islamic revolution of enlightenment and pushing Afghanistan back into a period of ignorance. But they must remember this blatant discrimination cannot last forever. They should take lessons from the recent protests by Iranian women. The international community must also understand that mere non-recognition of the Taliban regime would not help the Afghan women’s cause. The United States’ mere condemnations of such decisions would do no good to Afghan women. In 2019, India had enacted CAA to help the persecuted religious minorities of Afghanistan. As moral leaders of the world do we not owe anything to the women of Afghanistan? Let India under the Prime Minister’s presidency of G20 use his international stature and influence to force the Taliban to honour the Doha commitments. Let India become the most vocal advocate of women empowerment in the world. ---- Faizan Mustafais an expert of constitutional law. The views are personal Source: In Banning Women From Universities, The Taliban Is Being Un-Islamic URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/modern-scientific-exegesis-quran-taliban/d/128748 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Unless A Modern Scientific Exegesis Of The Quran Is Written, The Taliban Will Not Change Their Attitude Towards Education And Women

Before The Ascent Of the Taliban, 40 Percent Of Doctors In Afghanistan Were Women Main Points: 1. 70 percent of school teachers were women. 2. 60 percent of university professors were women. 3. 25 percent of the members of parliament were women. 4. 6.2 percent of ministers were women. ---- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 29 December 2022 UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya Women’s rights advocates engage in awareness-raising activities in Herat, Afghanistan. (file) ----- In his article, Mr. Faizan Mustafa takes a comparative look at the educational and political state of women in Afghanistan before and after the ascent of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He writes that during the US occupation, women were given the freedom to receive education and impart education. They also had political rights and were allowed to work in the media, medical field, educational institutions, and as entrepreneurs. But after the Taliban came to power, it banned women's education. It first banned secondary education, and then university education for women. This was totally against the teachings of the Quran and Hadiths. The Quran stresses receiving education and mentions the virtues of knowledge and learning. There are a number of the sayings of the holy prophet pbuh in which knowledge has been glorified and receiving it has been encouraging. In the Quran, knowledge has been described as a blessing and a virtue of God's chosen people. During the prophet's time, Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. had acquired the knowledge of jurisprudence and after the demise of the prophet pbuh she was consulted by the Muslims on important issues. In later periods, many Muslim women in Arab and Africa contributed immensely to the promotion of learning among men and women. They established schools and universities. Many women became rulers and in the modern age, many women politicians are active in politics, arts, and philanthropic activities. In Afghanistan, King Amanullah's wife Suraiya was a strong advocate of women's education. She opened many schools for girls. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, women have been prime ministers and ministers, scientists, teachers, professors, athletes, singers, and pilots. They have been given total freedom to develop their intellectual faculties and contribute to the development of their community and nation. Allowing women to work and serve the society and community is not only a privilege given to them but a right guaranteed to them by the Quran and hadith. Society needs them because it is constituted of both men and women. Women are needed in nearly all walks of life because mrn' s prejudice and chauvinistic tendencies most of the time do injustice to women. Women need the support of women in many cases. In modern society, the importance of the participation of women has been recognised by governments. Representation of women is ensured in the legislature so that women 's issues can be properly highlighted and attended to. In the medical field, the presence of women is all the more necessary. But by barring women from studying medicine, the Taliban have left women patients at the mercy of male doctors though they advocate gender segregation. Here they violate their policy. In the future, they will have to hire lady doctors and medical professionals from Europe or other countries. But the fact is that giving examples from the Quran and Hadiths may not be convincing to the Taliban. The Quran and hadiths stress knowledge but during the prophet's time or during the time of the caliphate, knowledge meant Islamic knowledge or jurisprudence. The Taliban may have their definition of knowledge. By knowledge, they mean the knowledge of the Quran, hadith, and Islamic jurisprudence. They may allow girls to study in madrasas to receive basic knowledge of the Quran, hadith, and Islamic jurisprudence. The Quran time again asks Muslims to ponder and reflect on the creations of God. It asks Muslims to ponder over the anatomy of camels and their bodies. It asks Muslims to reflect on the universe and space, on the oceans, on the bees, and on the animals and vegetation. It asks Muslims to ponder on different kinds of rocks. It tells Muslims that they can go out of the spheres of the earth with the help of a “sultan"(a special scientific and technological device). (La Tanfudhuna Illa Bisultan). It gives an account of the different phases of the evolution of the foetus in the womb till its birth as a child. Then the Quran hints at archaeology, tourism, and philanthropic activities (welfare of orphans, feeding the poor, and reform movements). Therefore, the Quran stresses scientific knowledge and learning. But the Taliban don't believe the scientific and technological knowledge as part of Deen because our exegetes have not explained and interpreted those verses from the scientific point of view and have not issued fatwas mandating the science and technology. Our Ulema has always categorised knowledge as Uloom-E-Diniya and Uloom-E- Mufidah and excluded science and technology from the syllabus of madrasas. Therefore, giving examples from the lives of the wives of the prophet pbuh or citing hadiths on the importance of knowledge will not convince the Taliban because they interpret or understand knowledge from a purely religious point of view. Unless a modern scientific exegesis of the Quran is not written, the Taliban and the like will not change their attitude toward education and women. ------ In Banning Women From Universities, The Taliban Is Being Un-Islamic By Faizan Mustafa December 28, 2022 By the 1990s, 40 per cent of doctors in Afghanistan were women. Women also constituted 70 per cent of school teachers, 60 per cent of university professors and almost half of university students. All this has now changed for the worse. Women literacy today is at a meagre 14 per cent. The Taliban has proved us right by continuing with the highly regressive policies of the past regime (1996-2001). Their Jim Crow-like decrees have not come as a surprise. Our worst fears regarding the US’s sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan have come true. Their promises during the Doha deal of respecting human rights in general and women rights in particular have proved to be just empty words. The pretence is gone and the reality as anticipated by the Taliban’s critics is now setting in. Afghan women participate in a protest against the university education ban for women, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP) ----- The western world led by the United States too has to be blamed for first handing over to the Taliban highly sophisticated weapons to fight the Russians. After staying in Afghanistan for almost two decades, the United States meekly handed over power to the Taliban leaving Afghan women high and dry. Women who occupied one-fourth of parliamentary seats and 6.5 per cent of ministerial positions in 2021 have been completely excluded from the interim government of Taliban. Women, once again, cannot go out and work in most sectors. They are forced to cover their faces and must be accompanied by a male guardian. In November, Afghan women were denied access to public parks. The Afghan women are the worst victims of the Taliban regime. The recent dictates from the totalitarian and arbitrary Taliban regime must have shocked the conscience of the world. Last week, the Taliban cabinet took the indefensible and discriminatory decision of banning women from universities. For a pleasant change, not only the western world but even Islamic countries reacted sharply to it. The United States’ spokesperson explicitly said that such decisions will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them much-needed legitimacy in the comity of nations. Even the closure of secondary schools in March had a significant impact on American engagement with the Taliban. Since the Taliban have no respect for the modern human rights covenants, they must be challenged on the basis of Islamic theology itself. The period prior to the advent of Islam in Arab history is called the period of ignorance. The Arabic word for knowledge is ilm which means knowledge. This root word has been used in the Quran 854 times — 397 times as a noun, 425 times as a verb and remaining times as an adjective. The first words of divine revelation in the Quran asked the Prophet to read: “Read in the name of your Lord who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the most generous. Who has taught (writing) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5). For Muslims, Islam was truly a knowledge revolution. The Prophet himself had reportedly said that “seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim male and female” (Al-Tirmidhi). The Prophet had also said that “the excellence of a scholar over another (ordinary) worshipper is like the excellence of the full moon over the rest of the heavenly bodies” (Abu Dawood). He in fact described himself as the city of knowledge and Ali (his son-in-law) as the door of this city. As per Islamic beliefs, even Adam’s superiority over other angels, including Satan (the Devil) was determined by conducting a test of knowledge. He also said that “whoever takes a path in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to walk on one of the paths of paradise. Indeed, the angels will lower their wings in great pleasure with the one who seeks knowledge.” He also said that “whoever goes out seeking knowledge, then he is in Allah’s cause until he returns” (Tirmidhi) The Taliban should at least pay heed to Quranic injunctions. The Quran itself is explicit in asking humanity to explore the signs of God. The Quran says that “God will raise up, by many degrees, those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. He is fully aware of what you do” (Quran 58:11). Knowledge involves reflection. God says in the Quran that “He has subjected all that is in the heavens and the earth for your benefit, as a gift from Him. There truly are signs in this for those who reflect” (Quran 45:13). The Quran also tells us what to ask God — “And say: My Lord, increase my knowledge” (Quran 20:114). The Taliban, therefore, have scant regard for the Quran. Their decrees cannot and should not be allowed to have greater weight than the divine commandments by which they swear to justify their arbitrary decisions. There is not a single verse in the Quran or the Hadith that prohibits women from acquiring knowledge. The Taliban seem to be ignorant of even the history of Islamic civilisation. The Prophet’s own wife Ayesha was a great scholar and people used to consult her on theological matters. She was the most prominent and leading narrator of Hadith. In fact, it is impossible to talk of Islam without referring to her. Nafisa, a close relative of Ali, too used to be consulted by the people and even scholars including Imam Shafii. Other prominent women scholars were Shahda, Hujaimah, Asma, Masuda and Shanoun. The Taliban leadership may not know, but one of the world’s earliest modern universities was founded by an Arab woman: The University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco was founded in 859 by Fatima Bint Muhammad al-Fihri. Her family was originally from the city of Kairouan in Tunisia. Princess Fatima Bint Khedive had immensely contributed to the establishment of Cairo University. Similarly, in the 12th century, another prominent woman, Sitt al-Sham Zumurrud Khatun, sister of Saladin, established schools in Damascus. In the thirteenth century, Razia Sultan even ruled over Delhi when Turkan- i-Chahalgani (Council of Forty Nobles) was extremely powerful. She also built several schools. The first Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in 1920 was Mumtaz Jahan Begum of Bhopal. Even in Saudi Arabia, Turkish born Queen Iffat al Thunayan, wife of King Faisal, was responsible for the establishment of Dar al Hanan schools for girls in 1955. In neighbouring Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister and another Muslim country Bangladesh has been ruled by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina for the most part of its 50 year history. Even in Afghanistan in 1880, Malalai had demonstrated her courage and bravery in the battle of Maiwand. In 2005, Habiba Sarabi was appointed as governor, and a few years later, Azra Jafari became the first female mayor. Thus, what the Taliban are doing to women is absolutely un-Islamic. Their version of Islam had not only closed the doors of universities for the women but even the mosques. Their Islam is different from the Islam that was brought by the Prophet. The Taliban is undoing the Islamic revolution of enlightenment and pushing Afghanistan back into a period of ignorance. But they must remember this blatant discrimination cannot last forever. They should take lessons from the recent protests by Iranian women. The international community must also understand that mere non-recognition of the Taliban regime would not help the Afghan women’s cause. The United States’ mere condemnations of such decisions would do no good to Afghan women. In 2019, India had enacted CAA to help the persecuted religious minorities of Afghanistan. As moral leaders of the world do we not owe anything to the women of Afghanistan? Let India under the Prime Minister’s presidency of G20 use his international stature and influence to force the Taliban to honour the Doha commitments. Let India become the most vocal advocate of women empowerment in the world. ---- Faizan Mustafais an expert of constitutional law. The views are personal Source: In Banning Women From Universities, The Taliban Is Being Un-Islamic URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/modern-scientific-exegesis-quran-taliban/d/128748 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan's Heightened Activities in Pakistan Pose Security Threat to The Entire Region

Pakistan's Euphoria Over Taliban Victory Was Misplaced Main Points: 1. TTP has carried out 141 attacks in 3 months. 2. 95 per cent of attacks were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ruled by Imran Khan's PTI. 3. TTP have broken the ceasefire agreement. 4. Afghan Taliban had mediated in the peace agreement. ------ By New Age Islam Staff Writer 29 December 2022 When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan for the second time last August, Pakistan burst into jubilation. It was only Pakistan that celebrated Taliban's comeback. Even the Afghan people were apprehensive about them and millions of Afghans scrambled to board aeroplanes to get out of the country. Prior to that Pakistan had freed some prominent Taliban leaders lodged in Pakistan jails in order to facilitate their participation in Doha talks held between the US and the Taliban. Soon after Taliban came to power, Pakistan's euphoria and jubilation died down because it was based on faulty perceptions. Pakistan had thought that Taliban will be its ally against India and against TTP and once Taliban comes to power in Afghanistan, the TTP will lose its relevance and strength. But it proved be wrong. On the contrary, the Afghan Taliban has used TTP to its advantage against Pakistan. Taliban released 4000 TTP fighters lodged in Afghanistan and then mediated a peace agreement between the Pakistan government led by Imran Khan and TTP in November last year. A ceasefire came into effect for one month, which would be extended by mutual consent. According to this agreement, thousands of TTP fighters returned to Pakistan under the pretext of reuniting with their family. But they returned with their arms in violation of the ceasefire agreement. Secondly, the US army had abandoned their weapons, tanks and armoury while leaving Afghanistan. A sizeable chunk of their weapons has been seized by the TTP. This has strengthened them. The US had adopted the same tactic for strengthening ISIS in Mosul. The Iraqi forces had left their tanks and weapons in Mosul while fleeing from there. A strong TTP will give leverage to the US policy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan. The TTP demands that Shariah Law should be imposed in the tribal belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Swat. Taking advantage of the ceasefire, the TTP fighters have set up bases in the tribal areas and have been conducting terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other towns and cities of Pakistan. In the last one year, they have carried out 1000 attacks out of which 95 per cent attacks were made in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 141 attacks have been made only in the last 3 months. This speaks of the intensity of the terrorist activities of the TTP. On December 21. TTP had taken a JCO and some soldiers hostage in Bannu. The army launched an operation and freed its soldiers. 25 militants were killed while seven of them surrendered. In December 23, the TTP carried out multiple attacks in Islamabad in which one suicide bomber and his woman associate were killed. Political analysts feel that the attacks in Islamabad hint that the attacks will not remain confined to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Until now, Islamabad was considered comparatively safe and the last terrorist attack here was carried out in 2014. The Pakistani government belatedly realised that the TTP agreed to the ceasefire only to regroup. A journalist wrote that the TTP has launched a drive to enrol suicide bombers to carry out deadlier attacks in Pakistan. They had carried out a terrorist attack in an army school in 2014 in which about 150 people including children had been killed. Pakistan has come to this passé because its approach to terrorism and extremism is problematic. Imran Khan compromised with extremist organisations. His government had talks with another extremist organisation Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan and accepted its demand for recognition as a political party. For a while, the Pakistan government and Pakistan's political analysts had the wrong perception that the TTP was a product of Indian RAW and Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai governments. They have now woken up to the realisation that TTP is the ideological brother of Afghan Taliban. They have started pushing their agenda of establishing a 'caliphate' in Pakistan. The TTP has been emboldened by the success of the Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan and has unleashed an offensive against the democratic government of Pakistan. There are reports of smaller tribal organisations and Baloch nationalist organisations joining TTP in their fight against Pakistan's government. This is the result of Pakistan's trust on Afghan Taliban for the solution to its security problems. Kamran Yousuf writes about Pakistan's dilemma in his column in Express Tribune: "Pakistan was confident that the Afghan Taliban would take care of their security concerns. It was because of this reason that Pakistan accepted the Afghan Taliban's offer of seeking talks with the TTP and its affiliates. The process led to a ceasefire and raised hopes for a possible peace deal. As part of the confidence-building measures, Pakistani authorities allowed a number of TTP members to return to their homes on the pretext of reunification with their families. The understanding was that those fighters would come back unarmed. The evidence, however, suggests that they returned with arms." The situation has come to such a passé that a military offensive against the TTP seems to be in the offing. This will push Pakistan in another internal crisis because of the short-sighted policies of the governments in Pakistan which compromise with extremist organisations in order to buy time and leave the problem for the next government. Any offensive by the army against the TTP will only cause a backlash like the army school attack by the Pakistani Taliban. Ayesha Siddiqua, Pakistan's security analysts rightly told the BBC that the Pakistan government's policy towards terrorism is flawed. Pakistani columnist Umair Jamal also holds Pakistan's political leadership responsible for the mess Pakistan is in. He writes in the Diplomat: "The situation only points toward rising instability along Pakistan’s Afghan border in the coming weeks and months. The last thing Islamabad would want to do is to rely on the Taliban to find a solution to its security woes. If anything, this is the best time for Pakistan to force the Taliban to hand over TTP militants and close their sanctuaries in Afghanistan." URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/tehreek-taliban-pakistan-security-threat/d/128743 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

The Term 'Extremism': Unwarranted In Every Case Be It Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism Or Any Other Religious Group

By Saquib Salim, New Age Islam 29 December 2022 Locating The Source Of Terrorism In Religious Extremism Functions To Deny And Obscure Its Political Origins And The Possibility That It Is A Response To Specific Western Policies. ----- Hindu monks (Representative image) ---- Rana Ayyub in one of her tweets in 2016 wrote, “ISIS is attacking Islam and Muslims the world over and the irony is the world calls it Islamic terror. What a SHAME !” Ayyub is not the lone voice. Several academicians, journalists, scholars, and politicians have pointed out the contradictions in using the terms “Islamic Terrorism” or “Islamic Extremism”. Professor Richard Jackson of the University of Otago argues, “Arguably the most important challenge to the overall discourse pertains to the notion of ‘religious terrorism’ as an analytical category and the narratives of the religious foundations of ‘Islamic terrorism’ in particular. In the first instance, as Fred Halliday notes, ‘it is nonsense to seek the causes, as distinct from legitimation, of violence in the texts or traditions of any religion’, because all religions have texts or traditions that allow a violent (or a pacifist) reading….. Similarly, it is a logical fallacy to assume that some shared characteristic among terrorists – including a common religion – is necessarily linked to their terrorist actions: the fact that the majority of terrorists are men, for example, does not mean that being male predisposes one to terrorism.” Contrary to the saying, practice what you preach, recently we are witnessing a rise in the usage of the term “Hindu Extremists” for a certain group of people violently attacking people in India, by the same set of people who argue against the very legitimacy of “Islamic Terrorism” as a category. Rana Ayyub in a tweet, on 17 December, wrote, “As the rule of law collapses in India, the whims of Hindu extremists become de facto State policy.” This is not the only instance of Rana using the term. Apart from her, the Twitter handles of Indian American Muslim Council and Hindutva Watch are also using the term freely.< < Last few years have seen a trend of equating violence by a few small groups as representatives of Hindus by Western media. While previously they would name a group indulging in violent activity as hardliner, now a whole community is being targeted. In 2017, CNN did a story on Karni Sena’s threat to Deepika Padukone amidst row around Padmavat, Release of Bollywood epic postponed amid death threats sent to female lead, without using the term. Move to 2022, CNN is using the term in headlines like, India’s Hindu extremists are calling for genocide against Muslims. Why is little being done to stop them? As an Indian Muslim, who has lived through 9/11 and 26/11, I understand the psychological trauma through which a community is made to go through when a ‘terror’ activity is equated with their religious belief. This categorisation of accusing a whole religious group results in varied responses from people. Some go into apologetic mode working overtime in condemning terrorists as if they themselves are responisble for the inhuman acts. A few others, sometimes a large number, see these labels as a direct attack on their religious identity and thus start supporting the perpetrators of violence. While several foreign media outlets are using this term lately, I see an attempt of cornering a whole religious group like Muslims. The fact that we call preprators of genocide of Jews, Nazi and not Christian or German, or media is sensitive enough to not to blame Jews for killing Palestinians but the term used is Zionist, is enough a reflection that how western media understands the difference between accusing a party, or ideology, and a whole religious community. Nobody is denying that violent groups, or individuals, carry out attacks in India, like any other society. Journalists can name the group or people but alleging a whole religious community is criminal. It is criminal in case of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism or any other religious group. Rather than solving any problem it will create further cleavages in the society. “Discourse and the ‘knowledge’ it produces is never neutral or objective; it always works for someone and for something; it is an exercise in social and political power…... Perhaps most importantly, locating the source of terrorism in religious extremism functions to deny and obscure its political origins and the possibility that it is a response to specific Western policies. That is, assigning non-rational, cosmic aims to violent groups, the discourse works to de-politicise, de-contextualise and dehistoricise the grievances and political struggles of a great many groups and sometimes, entire societies, thereby de-linking the motives of the terrorists from the policies of Western states or their allies.” Source: ‘Hindu Extremism’: The Term Needs To Be Denounced By Indian Muslims URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/extremism-islam-hinduism-christianity-/d/128742 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

'Years Are Silly Segments Of Time': Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 29 December 2022 Guzarte Waqt Ka Ehsaas Hai Par Dil Nahin Udaas Hai Kyon Ke Ilm Hai 'Adam' Safar-E-Farda Ke Liye Aas Hai -Abdul Hameed ' Adam ' ' A New Year is a mere change of date/s on the calendars. What's most important is a change, nay transformation, in one's outlook. So, change from within.' -Joseph Conrad Every New Year must witness a better you. -A Turkish adage " Why should one change with the New Year? A change can be brought about every day, nay minute." Anon " Time slips away imperceptibly just like sands from the fist. " An Eastern proverb (I know that the time is gliding by/ Yet, I'm not sad/ Because I know 'Adam'/ I've hope for tomorrow's journey). " Years are silly segments of time. " William Faulkner (I know that the time is gliding by/ Yet, I'm not sad/ Because I know 'Adam'/ I've hope for tomorrow's journey). The concluding line of Abdul Hameed Adam's quatrain sums it up: Hope for a tomorrow that's on the anvil. The year is all set to bid adieu and a new year is on the threshold. This is the time, when all humans have a set of mixed and rather contradictory feelings: Hopeful joy to welcome the new (year) and a tinge of sadness for the year that'll soon be a part of the past. Psychologists opine that we feel a tad sad when the year is ending because all of us establish some kind of a familiar rapport with the year. So, when the new is on the horizon, we have joy and at the same time, a touch of apprehension as to how'll be the next year. Remember the Ottoman Turkish saying, ' Tera Men Ole Sobe Bena ' (tomorrow is always better than today and yesterday). It sure is. We tend to get used to the rut and routine and begin to love that as the sole option available to us. A sort of mental complacency sets in and we don't want to alter that. The human mind doesn't like to break a set pattern. But until that set and fixed pattern is broken, how can something new and even more exciting be welcomed? Just the way, a piece of land is ploughed before sowing, by the time we reach the fag-end of a year, the soil of our existence is ready for new experiences and beginnings that a new year brings about. Life is all about accepting and adjusting with new experiences. Remember, what we call new is just a part of time's cyclical evolution. Today's new is tomorrow's past. Walt Whitman aptly said, " New is often a drop of dew " because time past, time present and time future constitute the seamless expanse of time. While ushering us in the realm of a new (year), time breaks our pattern/s with the past and teaches us new patters to adjust with yet-to-come tomorrow. The Persian word ' Naqish' explains this. It means, sending salutations to a new phase. That's why, mystics dance and sing when a fellow mystic shuffles off this mortal coil. Death is no end but a conduit to paving the way for a new life, new phase and new entity. At this juncture, I'd like to refrain from using the word death and have used it only as a metaphor for something exciting and new. 2022 will soon merge into the ocean of time and a new year will be on us. That too will be consigned to the bin of the past by this time around in 2023 because every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. This reminds me of a Zen adage, " Who says time goes? Time stays, we go." We're always on the go. Let's make the best of the ongoing time for a better and finer tomorrow and concur with Mirza Ghalib, 'Ishrat-e-Qatrah Hai Dariya Mein Fana Ho Jaana / Dard Ka Had Se Guzarna Hai Dawa Ho Jaana' --- ‘The significance of a drop of water is to get merged into the river / When pain becomes unbearable, it turns into remedy’. We often perceive (painful) things through a tunnel vision. We don't let other options and opportunities emerge out of them. May we all find new ways and avenues in 2023. Happy New Year to all and sundry. Remember, time and tide wait for none. ---- Note: A shorter version of this article was first published in The Times of India A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/change-cards-beginning-other-end/d/128744 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Shirk Is An Expression Of Ingratitude To The Benevolence Of God

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 28 December 2022 A Rejoinder To Mr Sumit Pal's Article On Shirk Main Points: 1. Allah was not the deity of Quraish. 2. The Quran pointed out the impurities inserted in Christianity and Judaism. 3. The Quran, not Prophet Muhammad pbuh, made shirk an unpardonable sin. 4. All religions originated in a tribal society. ---- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Sumit Pal Quotes Professor Reynold A Nicholson: "Tribalism Is The Essence Of Islam". In Fact It Is The Other Way Round. Islam Originated In The Tribal Society Only To Retrieve The Arabs From Their Tribal Mentality And Bring Them In Harmony With The Modern Civilised Society. It Scientific Research And Started The Process Of Social Rehabilitation Of Slaves And Abolished Sex Slavery, A Tradition Of Tribal Society Since The Time Of Judaism. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Sumit Paul's article on shirk discusses the topic from the point of view of a polytheist and so the concept of shirk as presented by the Quran seems to be an 'idiotic idea' to him as would seem to most of the polytheists. Islam, as well as Judaism and Christianity, profess the belief in one God (Brahman of the Upanishads, Sarvabhutantaratma) and shirk is the antithesis to not only to Islam but also to Judaism and Christianity. All the prophets, including Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Jesus, Moses, Manu ( Maha Nuh) Atharva, Angeera, Angeeras and Satyavah preached the belief of one God. It is human nature that after a few centuries followers of every religion invent develop new ideas and insert new beliefs and practices and impurities corrupt the original faith. This happened to Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Vedic dharma. In Buddhism, 18 sects emerged after only two centuries of the Parinirvan of Gautama Buddha. Even the difference in opinion on the preparation of robes and the way of wearing them became the cause of the birth of new sects. Gautama Buddha did not believe in a personal God but in later periods, Vajrayana, an offshoot of Buddhism, believed in deities and gods. So if a reformer of Buddhism emerges and insists on reverting to the original beliefs of Buddhism as preached by Buddha would be termed rigidity of belief by Mr Sumit Pal, though in reality, it be an attempt to remove the ideological impurities that have sneaked into the belief system. The concept of Trinity was an innovation which even a large section of Christians did not and still don’t believe but at one period of time, the kings patronised Trinity and the Christians who did not believe in it were slaughtered. The Jews and Christians abandoned some of the practises that were originally enjoined on them or made changes according to their convenience. This is why sects have emerged among the Jews and Christians. The Quran only pointed out to the impurities in belief that entered in later periods. Mr Pal writes: "All the Semitic faiths have this putrid blige called shirk as Judaism and Christianity also don't allow their followers to worship any other god. Islam being the last one among the three Semitic faiths, borrowed religious concepts and tenets from its predecessors and instead of changing or improving on them (Christianity and Judaism), it has worsened the things by putting an extra ounce of adamancy and interpolations." How should Islam have improved on Christianity or Judaism? By accepting the worship of Jesus as the son of God? Islam tried to improve on them by reasserting the beliefs professed by Prophet Abraham, Prophet Jacob and Prophet Moses a.h. Another excerpt from his article: "Here it must be mentioned, rather praised, that Muhammad was a fine and astute leader of men and he integrated and coalesced forever embattled tribes into a coherent unit. He successfully established the superiority of his Quraish tribe and its deity Allah. Muhammad made it mandatory to follow ONLY Allah of the Quraish tribe." Allah was not the deity of Quraish. The Quraish inherited the faith of Abraham a.s. and believed in Allah but at the same time they worshipped many deities like Lat, Manat, Hubal and Uzza. There were 360 deities installed in the Kaaba. The Quran on a number of occasions mentions the belief of the Quraish. It says that they believed that the universe has been created by Allah but also believed in the powers of deities as their intercessors. That is why, the Quran time and again warns the polytheists that no intercessor will save them from the wrath of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Abdallah (slave of Allah,, Abdul Muttalib (slave of Muttalib), Abd Monaf (Slave of Monaf) are some of the names of the people of Makkah before the advent of Islam. Since the Quraish believed in Allah and set up partners with Him, they were called Mushrikeen (polytheists). It was the Quraish who were Mohammad's arch enemy because he opposed their practise of worshipping deities along with Allah. Mr Pal further writes: "Mixing tribal ethos with nascent faith ( read Islam) , Muhammad ossified the concept of shirk and made it an unpardonable sin for the Muslims." Prophet Muhammad pbuh only preached what he was revealed him in the form of God. The Quran declared shirk an unpardonable sin and prophet Mohammad pbuh only conveyed the message to the Quraish and also practiced it. There are hundreds of verses in the Quran which warn the People of the Book against shirk either in the form of Trinity or in the form of the worship of deities or in the form of having belief in the powers of Auliya". If I quote all the verses on shirk, it will require another dozens of pages. Mr Sumit Pal quotes Professor Reynold A Nicholson: "Tribalism is the essence of Islam". In fact it is the other way round. Islam originated in the tribal society only to retrieve the Arabs from their tribal mentality and bring them in harmony with the modern civilised society. It scientific research and started the process of social rehabilitation of slaves and abolished sex slavery, a tradition of tribal society since the time of Judaism. In the end, Mr Sumit Pal makes an interesting point: "The point is, one must have an unflinching faith in Allah and nothing else is an idiotic idea. Doobte Ko Tinke Ka Sahara. When one's vulnerable one resorts to a number of alternatives." Perhaps the following verse of the Quran criticises this attitude of people: "And there are some who worship Allah on the verge of faith: if they are blessed with something good, they are content with it, but if they are afflicted with a trial, they relapse into disbelief, losing this, world and the Hereafter. That is truly the clearest loss. They call besides Allah what can neither harm nor benefit them. That is truly the farthest one can stray."(Al Hajj:11-12) According to the Quran, shirk is an expression of man's ingratitude to the benevolence of God. Not only Islam, every religion preaches unflinching faith in its god or deity. Being on the verge of faith is considered akin to disbelief. One is free to try all alternatives within one's belief system in times of trial and afflictions but losing faith in one's god in bad times and worshipping it in times of happiness and prosperity is not appreciated in any religion. To sum up Mr Pal's article has not been written with the seriousness the topic deserved. However, he adopted the style of a true Muslim while winding up the article. He, like a true Muslim, concluded a serious article with a Urdu couplet. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/shirk-expression-ingratitude-benevolence-god/d/128733 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism