Food For Thought

Facing reality.......

A coup d’état is usually brought about by people who are convinced that they cannot acquire power through democratic means and / or those whose vital interests are mightily threatened without power .

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Being a Muslim

Islam, like most other religions, or all other religions is a set of beliefs that one has about one’s existence, the existence of the universe, of God or a Supreme Being, of the Hereafter, which in turn impacts on how one conducts one’s life. Belief is a deeply personal thing, and religious belief is a commitment one makes to oneself, out of one’s own volition. No matter what is said and done, ultimately, religion for each person has a profoundly different meaning as it relates to the psyche of each individual which is shaped by one’s own circumstances, past and present. For some, religion is vastly exhilarating and enabling, while for some others it becomes limiting and crippling.

I would like to share some of my thoughts on religion as it relates to me. This Post, by the nature of its very contents, is extremely personal, and it may run against the grain of others. I feel compelled to write this as I am increasingly disturbed about the trend that religious discourse is taking in our society. All I ask of readers is to be tolerant of views expressed here.

First and foremost, I claim no expertise in Islamic Jurisprudence or Shariah. I have never studied the subjects at University and have no formal training in the area. However, I am a deeply religious Muslim, and I have made attempts at reading and understanding the Quran, Hadhith and academic writings of scholars on various subjects relating to Islam. I have also engaged in countless discussions and debates with scholars over the past 15 years or so. All this in a quest to quench my thirst for knowledge in the subject and to become a “better Muslim”.

Amongst the many and varied opinions and views expressed about the teachings of Islam and Islamic Jurisprudence are the four main sects or mazhabs, and the views of those scholars who do not particularly subscribe to any mazhab, but claim to get inspiration directly from Quran and Sunnah. From the knowledge that I have gathered from the teachings of all of these, I have come to one conclusion : that there is a wide spectrum of beliefs among scholars ranging from ultra-conservative, literal interpretations to highly progressive and liberal interpretations of Islamic doctrine. I tend to lean towards the progressive end of the spectrum, which stems from my belief that Allah meant us to live our life to the full and that times change and divergent and progressive thinking should not be constricted in the name of religion. This is not say that I deny un-crossable boundaries in Islam. Nevertheless, I believe that Islam is an enabling religion, and there is plenty of space within the boundaries, and that the societies of Arabia some 15 centuries ago should not define and limit the possibilities of the 21st Century.

What disturbs me most is the increasing push among some scholars to impose a narrow interpretation of religion to usurp the liberties of people, particularly those of women. I keep pondering on the teachings of Quran and the Prophet (saw) as I know it, which I am certain promotes those liberties, and establishes the equality of sexes beyond doubt. That some schools of thought should seek to become the dominant worldview, and thus promote intolerance disturbs me. It appears to me, that there is a strong push for thought control, and hence behaviour control, in the name of religion, on the part of some scholars. That such scholars are rejecting scientific thought out of hand, and believe that knowledge of the Shariah alone gives one the right to dictate over all other knowledge is alarming.

One is reminded of how, in the Middle Ages, Priests in Christianity gradually gained control over the masses through claims of being intermediaries of God. The epistemological significance is enormous : the only source of knowledge is through the Sharia. Is an Islamic Inquisition in the making?

As a Muslim, I believe that ultimately, I am accountable to Allah, and Allah alone, for my actions. If other Muslim brothers and sisters believe I am straying, they may, and they should, remind me. But ultimately, it is for me to listen, evaluate and act. Religion, by its nature, is one dimension of human sociology, and by extension human psychology. Just as we, students of sociology, philosophy and psychology should attempt to understand Religious Scholars, it might do well for Religious scholars to make an attempt at familiarizing themselves with Sociology, Psychology and Philosophy. Thereby we may create a common ground for mutual exchange of ideas.

If I, as a Muslim ignorant of Arabic, have to let go of my faculties and submit myself to interpretations made by people with knowledge of Arabic, can I, or will I be held accountable for my actions on Judgement Day, or will I be absolved and they be held accountable should I err by following them?

To be a Muslim, for me, is to completely submit myself to Allah, and Allah alone. Therefore as a believing Muslim, it is my duty to think about what is right and what is wrong, and decide for myself.

If I have offended anyone by these thoughts, I apologise profusely. It was not meant to do so. Just expressing a point of view.

May Allah bless us all, and guide us in our quest for his Rah’mah.

19 comments:

  1. http://www.youtube.com/
    watch?v=gldlyTjXk9A

    *jarring chord*
    NOBODY EXPECTS THE ISLAMIC INQUISITION!

    "Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, a fanatical need for control, and nice pink uniforms!"

    ---

    You've made me think, though. Those people are the medieval version of the Catholic Church (in the heady days when they all yelled that the earth was flat.) - and history repeats itself. We could be going for an Islamic Dark age or something.

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  2. I read you blog occasionally but I find the posts a bit too long. I think you could sell the arguments better by reducing it to 2 paras. Now a days people don't have time to read lengthy stuff and besides the web is there to do more in-depth research. As a politician I assume that you are only trying to sell is your argument vis a vis educating readers.

    On the subject of the blog, Islam, I think Maldives needs to make a decision here on the extent of religion in the affairs of the state. Sooner or later it would come.

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  3. Couldn’t have been said any better, Ibra. I know writing a comment that has anything to do with Islam could be akin to a walk through burning coal. This has become so because some people believe that they have a monopoly on religion. And this perceived monopoly leads to intolerance. And intolerance, as you say is a very disturbing development regarding the religious discourse - not only in the Maldives but in the entire Islamic Ummah. The most disturbing outcome of this is that intolerance leads to increased polarization which in turn only spawns more intolerance and hatred, thus resulting in a never-ending vicious cycle.

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  4. A good read. Intolerance to opposing views is a cancer in our society especially among the religious youths.

    I do agree to a lot of what you said - but here is something to ponder upon. If you are sick, do you see a doctor and follow his guidance in taking medication - even if you really don't know details of chemicals in the medicine? The same way, they say, let the scholars interpret hadith and Quran as they are the expert in the field.

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  5. You have laid here a serious matter, which i feel should be discussed on a national level where scholars and other intellects in the society should be involved. Islam is being taken very hard line by the religious young and if the matter is not brought up and dealt i feel there will be clashes very soon. Islamic Affairs ministry needs to listen to the public before making announcements. Its true that Islamic law should be applied, but before they make policies they should look at where the public stands at the moment. They should not undermine knowledge, logic and reasoning while preaching and making statements. And at the same time it also a responsibility of various intellects in our community, such as you, to help Islamic Affairs before they make grave blunders that can divide the country.

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  6. Ibra .Do you doubt that Islam not ban discos where men and women dance together? If we allow discos would it be better for youth?I am sure all Islamic Scholars unanimously agree discos not allowed in Islam and women should wear hijab .There are contradiction cases among Islamic scholars. eg beard,veil(full body),insurance ,bank intrest. ali

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  7. I found your call for religious scholars to familiarize themselves with sociology, psychology and philosophy bold and brave. Islam is probably at its worse in its history with religious ‘scholars’ unable to take criticism that contradicts any of its belief system. Pushing all our resources to combat the seemingly international onslaught against Islam through blocking Christian websites and prohibiting people from enjoying a ‘Disco’ is not a good sign for our country. Next thing we know, the freedom of expression that was achieved in the last few years will be curtailed on the pretext of maintaining our religious “homogeneity and harmony”.

    I strongly disagree when you state that Islam “establishes the equality of sexes beyond doubt”. There is definitely doubt about this in the Koran. Why would the Koran say: “As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies,” (Surah 24:6), when ‘ziney’ has to be proven by eight men? Some may say that it is a problem with translation from Arabic or that we should not linger on symbolic meanings which apply to Arabic culture 15 hundred years ago. And some more would be alarmed and say that I have taken it out of context or that the translation that I have is some non-believers’ translation. Koran and Shariah have not been adulterated by the Taliban or Wahabi’s. Scriptures like these are prone to corruption and doubt. A fundamentalist interpretation is just as good as the next man’s who calls himself a Muslim, wants four wives and wants to make sure there aren’t four men (or ‘equally’ eight women) to prove his ‘ziney’ lifestyle. If we are talking about an egalitarian society, these ‘extremists’ too have a right to their interpretation. This is inherent problem with all religions and not just Islam, but Islamic ‘scholars’ have not found a way to reconcile these doubts and contradictions in a clever ways as mainstream Jews or Christians do.

    Religion or no religion is a personal matter as you rightly say. But right now in Maldivian politics it seems like with more freedom, religious ‘harmony’ is bound to be lost. For instance, if you decide to post this comment it makes your blog a target for censorship because you might seem to be promoting debate that are against ‘the tenants of Islam’.

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  8. First of all we need to draw a fine line where religious issues influences the way of life of an individual and where it creates havoc in the society as a whole. We need to make these two distinctively identifiable.

    An authority to deligate islamic values , as they say, should be questioned at a state level.

    We should ask the question of where does individual liberties and freedom are influenced by such. Individual and societal values may differ. Is it really that necessary to propagate a way of life and try instilling these on individuals.? Will it work?

    Good to see that our politicians are finally revoking this talk of religion. Someone need to talk up b4 its too late.

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  9. Well I think scholars also are a valuable resource that we should not ignore when learning about Islam. And nowadays you can actually track back everything they say and verify it yourself. We have translations of almost everything, so you do not have to be an Arabic linguist to learn about the religion.

    But I would think it would be foolish to ignore the scholars and do the whole 6 year degree ourselves in learning religion.

    I Agree there are some people who just rely on whatever the scholars says without asking or looking into the source. If you are doing that make sure you absolutely trust the scholar.

    But if you are able to, I urge you to learn and read yourself, consult with the learnt, and research it yourself.

    May Allah (swt) guide us to the straight path.

    Z

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  10. mustharshid:
    i wonuldnt go to a doctor i know nothing about & i wouldnt take medicine without a little knowledge about it (like the success rate)
    & it wouldnt hurt to look for several options before choosing

    its one the if its a personal choice it another to command a society to blindly follow

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  11. As-salaamu 'alaikum.
    Ibra, hope you are well.
    Please mind to read this-->http://www.sacredfreedom.com/download.html
    Thank you.

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  12. @Nishwan :
    Thank you for the reference. I have managed to skim through some parts of it. It is an interesting viewpoint, but I find some arguments too simplistic and a bit too dogmatic.

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  13. well said Ibra. This is a good post. Islam just like other religions is losing touch with the wider community because of the sheer ignorance of the so called superiors. Mostly these days Islam is being used as a political tool and this is apparent in the Maldives too.

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  14. Nice that you have at least "skim"med "through some parts of it".
    Well hope you read this one:http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/free-download.htm

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  15. hi, ibraa how are you? hope you are doing great. i am someone who looks forward to hear you talk whenever there is majlis miadhu. and i happen to agree with most of your views. but i think there are times when people take advantage of your patience and timid nature. if this is untrue then i hope that you will forgive me for my error. most of the young generation feels that religion is an obstacle in their way to freedom. but i dont think thats the case. even during the last presidential elections nobody used religion. all the musicians got together and sang songs like wathan edhey gothah. nobody was running around quoting from koran. so my point is that nobody has to degrade any religion to attain freedom. it will only irritate sensible people and the ones who are degrading them will end up looking like fools. look at freedom fighters like Gandhi or nelson Mandela, they didn't make fun of something that is so sacred to some people. the atheists who anonymously attack Islam is just wasting their time coz, if religion is so weak then their thoughts wont be centered around this one topic. you wrote this tiny topic about your religious beliefs and these weak atheists got so upset and the reason is that their atheistic ageedhaa is very weak. tc bye this is an atheist who is very much ashamed because of other weak atheists.

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  16. I am surprised that a man I thought to be educated and a thinker writing such nonsense on Islam. My advice to Ibra is to read the translation of Koran (if he does not know Arabic language) and the Islamic history written by Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq and Thabari. These were the first three who had written history of Islam and its prophet. Their Sira are supposed to be the most reliable and authentic. Ibra also should study the Hadiths of Bukhaari and Muslim....of course with an open mind.

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  17. @Anonymous (Jan 8, 12:24 AM) :

    I have read the translation of the Quran, cover to end, more than once.

    I have also read all 11 volumes of Muslim and at least 8 volumes of Bukhari. I am reaing the rest of the volumes, one by one.

    Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq and Thabari I find mostly write narratives, and their judgements of historical events are necessarily influenced by their times and culture, and their exposure.

    I find that the history of Islam, or Christianity or Judaism or Budhhism or Hinduism does not make sense to me unless put in the context of sociological settings of the times and a comparative analysis and re-interpretation in conjunction with changing sociology is what I am looking for.

    For example, one huge sociological impact of Islam during the Prophet's time was that it united a nomadic and warring Arabia into the Ummah. A great achievement, almost an impossible task. Comparatively, is Islam uniting or dividing now? If it is dividing, why is it so?

    I assure you, I read everything with an open mind.

    Anyway, as I said in my Post, these are my personal thoughts. You are most welcome to argue why those thoughts are "nonsense" (other than I may not necessarily agree on all things and views posited by the authors of your choice)

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  18. hi ibraa, i am an introvert by nature, but since your post is related to religion, i would like to express some of my concerns regarding this matter. our minds give us the freedom to think as we want to about religion or about anything else for that matter. the world consists of many diversities. the diversities have divided the world into so many pieces, call it continents, nations, united nations or religions if you want. but still we are constantly trying to find unity in this diversity. sometimes by our own freewill and at other times we don't have any other choice, but to live in harmony we accept these diversities. due to technology and media this world appears to be somewhat smaller and it effects us as if we are pieces of dominoes, when one piece falls the rest follows it.
    i would like to express my concern and discomfort that i have experienced after watching some shows on tvm. i belong to the capital city, i am from henveiru to be more precise, and you sir represent us in the majlis[male' atoll member] if i am not mistaken. in a quiz show, on two occasions i saw the presenter degrading and disrespecting a country , its citizens and their religion. here is the question that was shown last week on tvm.
    presenter: honihiru dhuvahu masaikaiy nukuraan allah vahee kureivumun ves yahoodheen therein kiyaman nuvi meehun allah badhalukureiy vee kon baavatheiyge janavaara kahtha?
    participant: raamaa makunutha kakah.
    presenter: varah rangalhu , eii israel meehun, varah molhu ingeytho
    participant: hahaha [giggles like there is no tomorrow]
    presenter: hahaha
    i was hurt and very angry, is this dheenee naseyhaiy? is this how we create awareness? what will happen to the children who watches these shows? wont they be brain washed and filled with hatred like the one who was captured by the Indian army, you know the guy who attacked innocent Indians last November. i hope you will do something to prohibit the government from airing such shows on national tv. otherwise they should host such shows in English so that we will know what the rest of the world feels about this type of question and answer games which is meant to enlighten Muslims.

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  19. In religion we find a vibrant underlying system, called fandita, co-existing with the formal politically-linked theological Islamic system which provides the rationale for behavioral and political control. The word fandita comes from the Indic word pandit, and refers to special powers possessed by certain men and women. This belief system encompasses ideas about spirits, ghosts, winds, and lights on the sea, and it allows people to control their health, their enemies, their boats, their fishing catch, and their destiny. The rituals contain a lot of what in India might be called puja and mantravadi (reciting of mantras), besides South Indian ideas about health and healing. This is marvellously islamicized by the institutionalized belief in jinns. The fandita experts engrave charms to be tied around the neck as is done in South India and Sri Lanka, and this is islamicized because they scratch on them marks resembling Arabic script. It is said that the Maldives was converted to Islam because a visiting saint in the 12th century showed the king that his faith had the power to control the most terrible ocean jinn then afflicting the people. The king ordered his subjects to be converted, and the saint rewarded him with the title sultan. But in fact, conversion to Islam was probably motivated more by the strength of Islamic trade and civilization which dominated the Indian Ocean at that time

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