The dilemna of Islam in the current century.

A look at trends within the Islamic traditions within today's backdraft.

Fourteen centuries after the Prophethood of the last Messenger Muhammad (salawatullahi
Alayhi! and after the formal closing of the gates of i"tihad of the four madhahibs within the
#unni Tradition! the e$olution of Islamic Philosophical Thought! plus %olonialist and Post&
colonialist thought! the e$olution of shiite philosophical and intellectual trends and the
e$olution of an islamic mo$ement that culminated into the #alafi Ideology (A'uidatul #alaf as&
#alih has made many inroads and debates within the islamic community. (hat Islam are we
all aiming to achie$e)
This is a $ery much debatable issue! with each camp springing to memory ayahs and hadiths
to determine his theological legitimacy! and to claim that the other group is either de$iant
(rawafid!idolater (mushrik or unbelie$er (mushrik.
This has been the cause of more than simply bloodshed and discord! and that this has been
used against us in the colonial era to partition the *mmah as we see it.
%urrently we already are seeing the fruits of this dilemna. The damnation of other people
who e$en belie$e in the same things we belie$e! only differring in details of practice and
"uridical rendering. +ut where do we all agree)
All agree within the Ahlu #unna wal ,ama'ah tradition! that the tari'ahs! the sufi orders are
part of the grand theological legacy left by our belo$ed Prophet Muhammad (salawatullahi
alayhi. The Ma"or #hiite Traditions acknowledge #ufism to a certain e-tent. %alling it the
interior manifestation of Islam.A new theological countermo$ement coming from #audi and
initiated by Muhammad Ibn Abdul (ahab currently known as #alafism and wahabbism by
their detractors! argue it is one of the different manifestations of .ufr.
/ne would then argue! in a Philippine %onte-t! if #ufism is indeed a manifestation of Islam!
By Prof Yusuf Morales
why is it not being widely known or why is there information or publicity against it) Perhaps
understanding the underlying historical conte-t would allow us to understand why we do not
hear it.
The Philippines actually became Muslim by 0Islam by Pressence1. Islam was a way of life for
the #harifite (Tassawuff groups and .iysaniyyah (#hia groups that e$entually got
intermarried with the local ra"ahships. This in itself e$entually became the manifestation of
homegrown Islam.
Antropologically speaking Islam is able to embed itself both in the consciousness of the
people once it applies a process of indigeni2ation! in which local non&Muslim attitudes!
mindssts and mindframes are 0Islami2ed1! in short... added an Islamic underpinning to it. This
character has been manifested to both the marriage practices of 0.awin1 and A'ui'ah
practice of 0Paggunting1! where an indigenous element is present. This indigeni2ation is not
only present in the Philippines but in other parts of #outh 3ast Asia as well as other parts of
the Muslim world.
A new manifestation of Islam! dubbed by others as an e-treme and per$erse ideology in the
minds of fanatics specifically! (ahhabi4#alafi ideology (although a minority fundamentalist
religious cult fueled by petrodollars. 5et underlying! enabling and e-acerbating this threat of
religious e-tremism is a global crisis of misunderstanding.
All too many Muslims fail to grasp Islam! which teaches one to be lenient towards others and
to understand their $alue systems! knowing that these are tolerated by Islam as a religion.
The essence of Islam is encapsulated in the words of the 6uran! 7For you! your religion8 for
me! my religion.7 That is the essence of tolerance. 9eligious fanatics&&either purposely or out
of ignorance&&per$ert Islam into a dogma of intolerance! hatred and bloodshed. They "ustify
their brutality with slogans such as 7Islam is abo$e e$erything else.7 They seek to intimidate
and subdue anyone who does not share their e-tremist $iews! regardless of nationality or
religion. (hile a few are 'uick to shed blood themsel$es! countless millions of others
sympathi2e with their $iolent actions! or "oin in the complicity of silence.
This crisis of misunderstanding&&of Islam by Muslims themsel$es&&is compounded by the
failure of go$ernments! people of other faiths! and the ma"ority of well&intentioned Muslims to
resist! isolate and discredit this dangerous ideology. The crisis thus afflicts Muslims and non&
Muslims alike! with tragic conse'uences. Failure to understand the true nature of Islam
permits the continued radicali2ation of Muslims world&wide! while blinding the rest of
humanity to a solution which hides in plain sight
:
.

(hy is this ideology so influential) /ther than the financing that proseleti2ers of this creed!
according to #ami %ato$ic! one of the Teachers at Al&Madina Institute! 0#alafi ;octrine is so
empowering. 5ou "ust let them memori2e a few $erses and read a few books! they are told to
go forward and teach. Imagine the impact.1 Although Traditional Islam hasnt made a direct
head&on response to this! there were actions to to mitigate the effects! but since #alafi
doctrine has a clearcut definition of them and us! and the definiti$e delineation that if youre
not with us or dont do what we do youre considered non&Muslim! such a consciousness is
seen dangerous. %onsidering the bloodshed that began with abdulwahab when he teamed up
with the #aud <ouse and started remo$ing traditionalists from <i"a2 and embedding his
$ersion of Islam despite opposition from members of his own family who were acknowledged
scholars of Ahlu #unnah wa ,ama'ah.
#o! one of the dangers with con$ersion is con$ersion is an e-tremely powerful e-perience.
And =andhi once noted about Mohammed (inaudible! an 3nglishman who became Muslim!
he said he was that rare breed of man who was capable of adopting a new religion without
becoming a fanatic. #o unfortunately it>s 'uite common for people who ha$e strong
con$ersion e-periences to enter with a lot of 2eal. And because of that! they>re susceptible at
that period in their life to whate$er ideas they happen to be e-posed to at the time! belie$ing
them to be the sound ideas or principles of this new adopted religion
?
.
1 Wahid, Abdurahman;Right Islam vs. Wrong Islam , Muslims and non-Muslims must unite to
defeat the Wahhabi ideology.Friday, December 30, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST
http://.libforall.org/nes-W!"-right-islam-#s.-rong-islam.html
2 Yusuf, Sheik Hamza, Interviewed Transcript; "Religin and !reign "lic# $nference
$all with Hamza Yusuf %Islamic &ducatin in 'merica% "Septem(er )), 2**+%$uncil n
And the other $ery serious concern is in the prison population! because many of the people
that adopt Islam within the prisons are coming from dysfunctional homes and already had
criminal tendencies! and if they come into Islam and are e-posed to an e-treme form of
Islam! which is $ery! $ery possible! @the =erman con$ert to IslamA being a good e-ample of
that! then I think it>s potentially e-tremely dangerous. #o if we don>t ha$e really well trained
scholars in the *nited #tates that can argue a sound orthodo- and moderate Islam that
preaches coe-istence and also is able to be adapti$e to the needs of modern society. I think
that if we don>t do that! it>s going to really be a ma"or problem! I think! for a burgeoning
population in the (est. #o I>ll lea$e it at that.
B
(e need to recogni2e the fact that Imams now must be more fluent with the discourse in
the (est and of moderni2ation! with the $ery specific conditions that Muslims find themsel$es
Today whether in the secular (est or somewhere in a third world country. +ecause we are in
need of e-ceptional scholars other than ha$ing e-periences and backgrounds of both the 3ast
and the (est but also of recogni2ing that we do ha$e uni'ue conditions.
In the Philippines there is a crisis of Islamic scholarship. Although generally Islam is not huge
monolithic monotonic ideological structure but a collage of interwo$en cultural traditions
interwo$en with Islam as it is seen in the localities. Although indigeni2ation of Islam has
occurred due to the more than four centuries here! there appears to be a strong undercurrent
towards forcing the adoption of an alien face of Islam that has made a rather significant
imprint by a $ocal minority.
Among the influ- of scholars that ha$e arri$ed here! there are those who come from India
who graduate in what are called ;arul *loom that are based on the Indian model from
;eoband that do pro$ide a certain le$el of scholarship. +ut the scholarship tends to be $ery
pro$incial and limited in its scope! and certainly is unable in many ways to address a lot of
!reign Relatins%
http,--www%cfr%rg-pu(licatin-).2/0-religin1and1freign1plic#1cnference1call1with
1hamza1#usuf%html2(readcrum(342!(is42!(i45!id45627428page4562
$ %bid..
the $ery sophisticated problems that our community is facing as a minority community and a
religious community. There are those that come from the local madrassahs that pro$ide a
semblance of theological education but highly influenced by who is financing the madrassah.
(e also ha$e graduates from Cibya! #yria! Iran! Pakistan and #audi Arabia who by $arying
degrees differ not only in the methods of academic discipline! but also try to imprint a $ersion
of Islam that is synonymous with where they were trained. (hat we are unaware that these
*lama has become political $ehicles for Middle 3astern politics or something like that! which it
often has been made into! unfortunately! because of theological graduates bringing Middle
3astern baggage and other baggage.

Traditionally *lama in the Philippines come from Malysia and Indonesia from Pesantren and
Traditional Madrrasah institutions that ha$e the same le$el of indigeni2ation as the Filipino
Muslims. It was in the :DEF's when the process of de&indigeni2ation occurred as a result of
the Muslim Filipinos sending their children abroad for higher theological studies as well as
those who come from the Middle 3ast after finishing o$erseas work contracts carrying with
them Arab Islam.
As a result you see a collage of Islam in the Philippines! each particular mould seeking to
imprint its own image.

+ibliography
(ahid! Abdurahman8Right Islam vs. Wrong Islam ! 0Muslims and non&Muslims
must unite to defeat the (ahhabi ideology.1Friday! ;ecember BF! ?FFG :?HF: a.m. 3#T
httpH44www.libforall.org4news&(#,&right&islam&$s.&wrong&islam.html
<AMI;!TA(FI. ! T<3 ,39*#AC3M P/#T ! 0The de$elopment of a "ihadist's mind !1,an.
:I!?FFJ
httpH44www."post.com4ser$let4#atellite)cidK:?FFLIGDF:D?BMpagenameK,Post N?F,PA
rticleN?FPrinter
Alrabaa! #ami! <ypocrite Muslims in .uwait .httpH44www.amislam.com4hypocrisy.htm
+renda #haffer! <ar$ard *ni$ersity!1It's not about ancient hatreds! it's about current
policiesH Islam and stability in the %aucasus1.
httpH44poli.$ub.ac.be4publi4crs4eng4OolG4shaffer.htm
5usuf! #heik <am2a! Inter$iewed Transcript8 79eligion and Foreign Policy %onference
%all with <am2a 5usuf .Islamic 3ducation in America. 7#eptember ::! ?FFI.%ouncil on
Foreign 9elations.
httpH44www.cfr.org4publication4:L?JD4religionPandPforeignPpolicyPconferencePcallPwit
hPham2aPyusuf.html)breadcrumbKN?FbiosN?FbioNBFidNB;?GN?EpageNB;?