Islamic Ideology
Noted for his intellectual
depth and spiritual orientation, Hassan al-Basri promoted a version of Islam
that pressed for the need to rid society of all the social ills through personal
spiritual endeavour....
In other words, under Sharia law, husbands can unilaterally terminate
the marital bond without establishing any fault on the part of their wives –
and even in their absence. Women do not have the same power....
“The extremists’ claims cannot therefore be rejected without first
critiquing and revising the heritage associated with the conquests and
debunking the fallacies surrounding them that have been used against
humanity.”...
The people of Prophet Shu’aib fell into ruins because of a doing called Tatfeef.
Islam is a religion of justice. One of the greatest aspects of our religion is
the list of Maqāsid, or grand objectives, that Islam seeks to establish....
Ibn-e-Hazm maintained that legal conformism arrested the growth of
Islamic sciences. In his book multi-voluminous work Al-Muhalla, Ibn-e-Hazm
systematically dismantled the traditional architecture of Islamic sciences.
Islam, in his ideation, had its own philosophical spirit for the emancipation
of human beings…
The Salafi tradition maintains that Islam is to be understood through
the collective conduct of the early Islamic community, for it remained under
the religious tutelage of the Prophet. Islam, according to them, is expressed
in its original form through the moral behavior of early Islamic community….
The Quran puts emphases on being true witness, even if it goes against
ones own kith and kin. So conversely it is a crime to give false witness, hence
punishable by any State worth its salt, as natural justice. The scripture also
rates as serious crime to drive out innocent people, out of their land
and make them homeless. Asia Bibi is an innocent person as proved by Pakistan's
highest Law court, and a proud citizen of the country, even after so much
suffering, and yet she was driven out under threat for her life:
"Pakistan Is My Country. I Love My Country But I
Am In Exile Forever," she said in an interview....
The violence, sectarianism and terrorism in the name of religion can
only be fought once religious texts and different schools of thought are
engaged critically and reinterpreted in the changed circumstances. Sufism
offers a range of discourses that can help in reining the vices like terrorism
and violence....
Muslim
scholars after their encounter with the Hellenic philosophical literature,
Judeo-Christian religious corpus, and the Iranian gnostic illumination felt the
urge to explain their religious rituals, norms, and doctrines in a scholarly
language in line with the contemporary systems of epistemology....
Generosity is a virtuous trait that every Muslim should strive to
attain. As for the believer who closely adheres to the teachings of Islam,
kindness and giving from what he has become part of his good character....
To clarify words, sentences or verses from the Qur’an that are not
easily understood by most people. Some verses may be comprehensive or general
in their meaning, and the Sunnah clarifies and defines them through the
Prophet’s sayings, actions and confirmations....
Progressive Muslims represent the voices of the voiceless, empower the
powerless and restore the dignity of the Mustad’afin (the downtrodden who are oppressed
by tyrannical leadership). They are definitely not deviant....
The Qur'an has taught us several ways to prevent terrorism and
injustice. Three of these are of the utmost importance: (1) abstaining from the
Fasad Fil Al-Ard’ (mischief or moral corruption against God and
disturbance of the public peace in the land) (2) avoiding irrelevant issues and
interference into the affairs of others, and (3) establishing justice and
peace....
According to Islam, the other prophets who preceded Muhammad were all
true prophets, and Islam is nothing but a confirmation of the true faith taught
by previous religions and teachers. Religion is certainly a vital force in
every society and Muhammad made Islam a permanent force of vitality by giving
it a natural and rational basis….
Ijma and Qiyas (analogy) and the contemporary ethical principles are
emphasized in Islamic Shariah, should be observed when providing reproductive
and sexual health services for Muslim families or communities. The Family is
the basic unit in Islam. Safe motherhood, family planning, and quality
reproductive and sexual health information and services and assisted reproductive
technology are all encouraged within the frame of marriage. ...
This crisis is occasioned by outdated dogmas and dispositions that
Muslims have refused to abandon or discard. These are traditions that are
incompatible with the canons of human rights and tolerant pluralism....
Based on the incidents faced by Muslims over 23 years during the time of
revelation and the stories of former nations, the Qur’an provides guidelines in
the form of commandments, prohibitions, and good advice, which are
simultaneously incident-specific and universally relevant, dynamically forced
and firmly static....
Contrary
to popular opinion, the Qur’an does not endorse a worldly punishment for the
sin of blasphemy, at least not one to be meted out by humans. In fact, quite
the opposite: the Qur’an tells believers that the proper response to
blasphemous and irreverent talk is to ignore such ignorant people.....
Rusul woke to find herself alone. Her new husband had gone. The marriage had lasted just three hours. It wasn't the teenager's first marriage. It wasn't even her second, third or fourth. In fact she's been married too many times for her to count....
Sultan Shahin, Founding Editor, New Age Islam
Sultan Shahin, Founding Editor, New Age Islam
So it is good that Sufi ulema, under attack from Wahhabi militants, are coming out to denounce the Salafi understanding of Islam. But is this enough? Do they not need to ask why it’s Salafis who are winning this ideological war? Have Sufi ulema been able to bring back to the Sufi fold even a single Islamist terrorist? After all, all the terrorists of today, at least from the South Asian and African Sahel region were part of a Sufism-oriented Islam until recently. Wahhabism existed mainly in the Arab regions. There were very few Salafis anywhere else. Easy availability of petrodollars for the propagation of Salafism has certainly played an important role. But can money alone bring about this kind of transformation? Why is the Sufi counter-narrative not effective enough to make a difference?
Writing in this space, almost exactly a year ago, I had made an earnest appeal to the Sufi Ulema and Mashaikh gathering in Delhi for an international conference. I had asked them to go beyond the usual shibboleths and utilse this great opportunity to consider this most urgent question: why is the Sufi focus on positives of Islam not working? The more Sufis and other moderate Muslims denounce terrorism, the more followers this Satanic ideology finds. I had pointed out the basic reason behind this conundrum: the radical theology of violence and exclusion and the current theology of consensus of all ulema, including Sufi ulema, are by and large one and the same. Any differences are cosmetic...
This is, however, to mischaracterise the arguments of the majority of
mainstream scholars in Islamic history down to the present who, following
explicit Qur’anic and Prophetic teachings, opposed supporting tyrannical
rulers. None of these scholars ever advocated the removal of government altogether.
They only opposed tyranny....
Who are the Mushrikun mentioned in the Quran? What are their
major characteristics? How does the Quran refute them? Do these Mushrikun
differ from the Mushrikun living in the 21st century? Such are the
questions to deal with which, we have gone through the Quran, its popular classical
commentaries (Tafasir) and descriptions of scholars....
Reports in the Saudi press have spoken of growing concerns over the
number of children fathered by Saudi males in their trips abroad, and abandoned
for all practical purposes. ...
Blasphemy laws continue to be on the statute books, for instance, in Pakistan. Salman Taseer, the liberal Governor of Punjab was murdered merely because he showed compassion for a Christian lady wrongly accused of blasphemy and asked for the repeal of the blasphemy law. On the basis of this law, religious minorities can be arbitrarily accused of blasphemy and killed, either by a lynch mob or by the judiciary. No evidence is required, as that would allegedly amount to accusers being asked to blaspheme the Prophet again. Similarly, attacks on minority Hindu, Christian, Shias and Ahmadis continue under different legislations. Pakistani laws prohibit the Ahmadis from identifying themselves as Muslims.
It’s time the Council found some way to see that the countries that agree to its covenants also practice it.
Such anti-minority legislations not only violate the UN Resolution, but also Islam’s primary scripture. The Holy Quran does not prescribe any punishment for blasphemy. Nor does it permit any one to declare others kafir. It clearly says: La Ikraha fid Deen, (There can be no compulsion in religion). (Chapter 2: verse 256).
If not the UN Charter, Muslim countries should at least follow their own primary scripture, the Holy Quran.....