Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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The Arabic term 'islam means "submission" and itself comes from the term
'aslama, which means "to surrender, resign oneself." In Islam, the
fundamental duty of each member is to submit to Allah (Arabic for "the God")
and whatever Allah wants of them. A person who follows Islam is called a
Muslim, and this means "one who surrenders to God."
The term Islam is related to the Syriac 'aslem which means "to make peace,
surrender" and that in turn appears to be derived from the Semtic stem of
*slem which means to be complete.
Islam is closely related to the Arabic word for peace, salaam. Muslims believe
that true peace can only be achieved through true obedience to the will of
Allah. Commitment to Islam is supposed to result in a constant struggle to
achieve peace, justice and equality.
First there is the Qu'ran ... from which comes Shariah - Islamic jurisprudence -
usually under the unquestionable guidance of Jamaatul ... Islam whereupon
the mufti's/mullah's sit on their thrones (they certainly act as if they are) as
they are a law unto themselves - beyond reproach ... not unlike the Vatican
and it's head.
True, the Sunni are those who fall under the Four Khalifa's - disciples of
Prophet Muhammad. it is enough to uphold the five pillars of islam, to ensure
one's entrance in Jannat ... heaven.
The tablighi's on the other hand, are those who claim to live by the sunnah
(examples) of Prophet Muhammad viz. Hadith. The Hadith ... a series of books
containing the teachings, sayings and examples of Muhammad 's life -
sunnah as exemplified[sic] by the tablighi's (those who practice Muhammad's
example - who in turn go out and invite adherents who are possibly slacking
in their religious duties - to return to performing the obligatory fives times a
day salah - (prayers) amongst other things)
What has been done by the Tabligh Jammat ala taliban viz. Taqlif Jjamaat
(burdening throng - my personal name for them) - is to take certain examples
from the hadith - interpret them and apply them as they see fit - not only to
themselves, but to all Muslims - especially the less than regular five times
salah adherers - especially those who seem to have totally forgone these
prayers. They hope that by accusing those failing in their duties - the instilled
guilt will shame them and provoke them to adhere more ardently.
As McCarthyism was to the usa, the KGB and other such strong-arm forces to
those over whom they wielded power and fear - so are the aforementioned -
tabligh/taliban to the Islamic world. It's all about subjugation - forcing
everyone to toe the line - or else ...
These are the thought police - spoken of in George Orwell's 1984 ...
So, what we usually have with taliban types - ummi - (illiterate) except for
being Hafiz'ul'Qu'ran (one who can recite the Qu'ran off by heart) is a lowly
educated clan of fanatics, who preach/admonish and intimidate an even more
ummi-like populace into abject fear ...
We all know Islam to be a paternalistic religion; what with men being one
level/step (or is it seven) above/ahead of their wives; but their wives
protectors none-the-less ...
Well, when Muhammad spoke of admonishing one's wife for such and such
grievances, he suggested thrashing the wife with twenty/fifty - one hundred
lashes as the infraction demanded. (it's in the Hadith ... )
But ... he went on to say that they should be beaten with the force, as if they
were being struck with a woman's light headscarf.
Now tell me . . . just where do the Taliban adhere to this continued piece of
advice ... tradition from Prophet Muhammad???
What this boils down to, is that they have taken out of the Hadith that which
suits them, and applied it as they - in their omniscience/omnipotence see fit.
Within Islam - from Islam, we have several movements., of which I' have
listed the more prominent ones:
a.
i) Sunni ... followers of Prophet Muhammad and the four khalifa's (disciples
of Muhammad)
b.
ii) Shi'ite ... followers of Hazrat Ali - Muhammad's grandson
c.
iii) Ba'hai ... yes an off-shoot from Islam (The Bap Ba'ha'ullah)
iv) Druze ... some of which are Muslim
d.
v) Sufi ... mystics who come out of all the aforementioned
e.
v) Ismaili/Khodja/Aga Khani etc.. - stemming from the Shia's
vi) Nation of Islam ... as founded by Elijah Muhammad - primarily within
the USA.
Together with Indonesia and Malaysia; the Middle East, Africa and USA, we
have roughly 70 different nationalities, cultures - traditions - especially in
Africa where we have some 150 plus languages with differing dialects and
customs. Even with the intended aim of proposing and sustaining Arabic as
the sole language of Islam, has somewhat fallen by the wayside, as the
aforementioned complexities of one language, far supercedes - outweighs
this ideal. Quite often, disparities between various Islamic groups are just as
likely to cause friction, as their supposed differences compared to and within
other religions of "the west".
(Just see how the Jan'jawi'id of Sudan (barbaric killers and terrorists) have
waged heinious crimes - bordering on genocide; attacking, slaughtering
elderly men, burning whole villages, raping women and children, forcing the
youth into slavery - all this against their "African" Muslim brethren. No
relationship between these barbaric terrorists and Islam is inferred)
When referring to the Arab world, most people automatically consider all
predominately Muslim countries to be included - whether they attempt to
isolate one particular region or not. Most people's knowledge of Islam does
not permit them to deal with the Arab/Muslim world in it's complexed,
separate or as the entirely different entities require.
Footnote:
The whole ridiculous "towel-head" stereotype is so far removed from reality,
as gross ignorance will have it. It can never be stressed strongly enough, that
not all turban wearers are necessarily connected to Islam, as many are Sikhs
or any of the other branches of Vedanta/Hinduism. Many nationalities further
east (totally unrelated to Islam or the Indo-Pak subcontinent) have turbans as
part of their natural attire.
Of all the political organisations and groups, many of the new-grown terms;
Fedda'yin, Hamas, Muja'haddin, Wa'habbi, Jihadist, Islamist, and other
splinter group labels have been erroneously applied to Muslims across the
board. These have very little - if anything to do with the true tenements of
Islam.
Both Christianity and Islam have their strong points - valuable to sincere
adherents. Both Islam and Christianity have their failings - equally
questionable and in some cases reprehensible to those who follow - are led as
gullible sheep - in blind faith.
Is it not true that all religions have the same basic ideal – to find oneness with
God – albeit by differing paths and methods. Instead of playing games of
“one-upmanship” - should we not be striving towards this spiritual ideal with
love and respect for our fellow travellers?
sharif shah-bilal
March 23, 2003