Making a mockery of Islam
Upholding the Mockery
The real Islamic stand on the issue!
If you thought that you have heard the worst from our self-assigned and unrepresentative clergy, then read the latest tragedy that happened to a Muslim women when she was raped by her own father in law and various rulings by Muslim clergy that followed. It would seem to an outsider that Muslim world is living in the laws comissioned and promulgated in some jungles of Mozambique. Even they might be better!
With fatwas like those depicted in the first two links...there is no need of any biased media to malign the image of already sullied and barbaric Shariah and Islamic laws. The fatwas started by a cleric ordering the women to marry her father in law (the rapist) and divorce her husband. Thankfully, that fatwa was done away with only to be followed with the one that requires her husband to divorce her and leave her on the streets with her five kids to fend for themselves. The latest one is supported by two Islamic bodies of India, AIMPLB and Dar Ul Uloom.
Regarding the edicts issued or supported by AIMPLB, the All India Muslim personal law board, I have known earlier misadventures by this body of India. Totally unrepresentative. God only knows, who gives them the right to decide and why are they glorified as official voice of a 150 million East Indian Muslims?
Their latest standing is that Imrana (the rape victim) is no more 'pure' for continuing conjugal rights with her husband and thus the marriage stands nullified.
What are the issues here? Let's see..
Quran states that: "And marry not women whom your fathers married, except what has already passed;(in the days of pre-islamic igonorance) indeed it was shameful and most hateful, and an evil way...// (forbidden to you are)- the wives of your sons who (spring) from your own loins, and two sisters in wedlock at the same time, except for what has already passed (in pre-islamic days); verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (An-Nisa)"
Indian Dar ul uloom jurists argue here that because father in law has raped the wife of his son, hence according to Quran, she is now prohibited for the son. But Hey guys!!...since when a rape case came to be judged by this verse of the Quran?? This verse was about prohibited and legal spouses for marriage, never the rape. Or is there any other verse that I do not know of. I am certain that it's the only one that relates to marriage.
Thankfully, the rapist of a Father in law is now behind bars and under sharia..(if implemented) he should be given capital punishment in public so that anyone else desist doing so in the future.
Now, let's presume that the Daughter in law gets pregnant post rape. The child would then effectively be the brother of her husband. Does Islam allow abortion in such cases? Some argue that even if the conception is the result of extra-marital union or forced rape, abortion is not allowed, because the (innocent) baby to be, has the right to life, that can not be denied. The biological parents - both or either one - or else the society/state is responsible to take care of such "un-wanted" or illegal births.
So, what's the Islamic ruling on the issue of children borne out of wedlock/adultery etc?? No child carries the sin of his mother...or biological father, so I think, it would be haraam to abort/kill that child. Here lies the problem. Should the child be sent to the care of an orphanage? Can Imrana and her present husband rear the child as their own? That sounds pretty impossible! Tough questions here! But Islamonline says: the child borne out of rape or forced incest can be aborted without putting any of the blame on the mother.
I agree!! The mother of such a child, if seen through the full term, might not be ever able to go give due love, care and affection towards such a child borne out of violent conception.
All knowledgeable jurists opine that young Muslim men should hasten to marry women who have been raped or tormented off their dignity. Imrana has been tormented. who can better reduce or alleviate her sufferings than her husband? She should be allowed to be with her husband so as to reduce her suffering and console her, to compensate her for the loss of the most precious thing she possessed, her dignity.
Muslim public opinion in India too (if the reports are to be believed), is questioning the right of the religious seminary to adjudicate on a purely criminal offence. Deoband should have kept quiet on this issue as India is not an Islamic country. In fact, they have no right to issue a fatwa on a criminal offence and neither does a the AIMPLB. What is the logic behind giving a decision in which one party (Imrana) is penalised when none of the two self proclaimed Muslim mouthpieces have the power to punish the culprit?
The best part of it all, no one seems to be listening to another equally (if not more) (un)representative body and that is of the 'All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board' (AIMWPLB). Thankfully, they now plan to mobilise public opinion by enlisting the support of the ulemas for getting the decision reversed saying it had not been issued in the light of the Koran. ‘‘The decision has not been taken in the light of Koran; it has been doctored by some fundamentalists who were bent on implementing their agenda,’’ said Shaista Amber, president of the Board.
Why are we not seeing press releases or media interviews from the representatives of AIMWPLB as much as the AIMPLB is in the news? Who gave more legitimacy to the latter than the former?
Most important of all..it's not so much about Imrana or the issue at hand. Time and again unwanted controversies have been created and flagged. This time too it appears designed to get the Shariat laws changed. The dumb and illiterate Muslim representatives, unknowingly but reprehensibly have fallen prey to these designs almost everytime the need arose for them to show an iota of wisdom and vision.
If muslim personal laws are done away with, in India, then so be it. We have proved ourselves incapable of doing justice to their sanctity time and again. We better let go off something which we cannot maintain with due deligence. It's going to be better for the cause of Islam.
Let the law of the land give it's judgement.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
No Indian Muslim in Al Qaeda!
In London, while declaring India's democracy to be a model for Islamic countries, External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh revealed (what's known to many since long,) that the biggest measure of its success was that no Indian was a member of terrorist group Al Qaeda.
No Indian in Al Qaeda: Natwar Singh
"Yet, not a single Indian out of our 150 million Muslims has joined the Al Qaeda. This is a fact that is not often recognised," Singh said during his keynote address to a two-day conference on "India - the next decade".
"The existing world needs to take into cognisance the aspirations and hopes of the Islamic world," he said.
"India is a good example of how this can be done through democratic and consensual means, thereby strengthening the forces of coherence and integration within societies."
Singh's speech signalled the renewal of an outward-looking foreign policy for India - one that embraced what he called the "new realities" such as economic globalisation, Islamic aspirations, global poverty, challenge of terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.
"It seems to me, from what respectable forecasting institutions have projected, that India - together with China - is more the flavour of the century than the decade," he said.
"In the next decade we could see India position itself for greater accomplishments as the century progresses. There are no precedents for managing a democracy of 1.2 billion people," said Singh as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who shared the stage with him, nodded vigorously.
Some wise and true words there, but there could be more to Jack Straw noddings than meets the eye. If our BPO processes continue to sell secure information for a dime a dozen, we mighty loose it all in IT lead.
Well...that's a different topic though, just came to mind when the IANA reporter observed 'vigorous noddings' of Jack Straw.
Elsewhere, I read that according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report 65 per cent of the companies involved in BPO processes do not have comprehensive information security measures. Thankfully, Wipro and Godrej have tripled their information technology budgets in the last one year to implement a comprehensive security.
It's time for a CEO or CTO of a BPO to take a comprehensive check. With the chorus against outsourcing to India getting louder by the day in the West, that's one thing BPOs can ill afford to ignore.
My Random thoughts there...doesn't have to do with the original subject of the thread, I know. But can't help it...an IT guy would remain an IT guy first!! I guess!! :)
No Indian in Al Qaeda: Natwar Singh
"Yet, not a single Indian out of our 150 million Muslims has joined the Al Qaeda. This is a fact that is not often recognised," Singh said during his keynote address to a two-day conference on "India - the next decade".
"The existing world needs to take into cognisance the aspirations and hopes of the Islamic world," he said.
"India is a good example of how this can be done through democratic and consensual means, thereby strengthening the forces of coherence and integration within societies."
Singh's speech signalled the renewal of an outward-looking foreign policy for India - one that embraced what he called the "new realities" such as economic globalisation, Islamic aspirations, global poverty, challenge of terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.
"It seems to me, from what respectable forecasting institutions have projected, that India - together with China - is more the flavour of the century than the decade," he said.
"In the next decade we could see India position itself for greater accomplishments as the century progresses. There are no precedents for managing a democracy of 1.2 billion people," said Singh as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who shared the stage with him, nodded vigorously.
Some wise and true words there, but there could be more to Jack Straw noddings than meets the eye. If our BPO processes continue to sell secure information for a dime a dozen, we mighty loose it all in IT lead.
Well...that's a different topic though, just came to mind when the IANA reporter observed 'vigorous noddings' of Jack Straw.
Elsewhere, I read that according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report 65 per cent of the companies involved in BPO processes do not have comprehensive information security measures. Thankfully, Wipro and Godrej have tripled their information technology budgets in the last one year to implement a comprehensive security.
It's time for a CEO or CTO of a BPO to take a comprehensive check. With the chorus against outsourcing to India getting louder by the day in the West, that's one thing BPOs can ill afford to ignore.
My Random thoughts there...doesn't have to do with the original subject of the thread, I know. But can't help it...an IT guy would remain an IT guy first!! I guess!! :)
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Of Tamerlanes and Auragzebs
How many times does one come across perceptions that it's only Muslims who are and were always being cruel, wicked and capable of barbarism while it's only non-Muslims while all great men of history have been non-Muslims. That's not quite what true history is about. For an example, The hero of the movie, 'Kingdom of heavens' Saladin was a man ahead of his time and a benevolent man in an era when true nobility was rare. Yes, there were other conflicts, men such as Tamerlane butchered almost the entire population of Delhi, while Mohammed Khilji burnt down the great ancient Buddhist University in Nalanda and everyone inside it. Tamerlane butchered his own religious community. Chroniclers write that: "Timur surpassed all others in the matter of ‘…the murder of peaceful non-combatant Muslims and in a much smaller degree, non-combatant non-Muslims who were beheaded or put to death on his orders in the most original ways.’ And he fancied himself the saviour of Islam. Many believe that he killed only 'kaafirs'.
The true fact of history is that the past cannot just be judged by looking at a few men who are convenient from one’s point of view, but by viewing the total picture. True, some muslim rulers had been dreadful in their way of warfare and when met with resistance to their rule and authority, but to say that all Muslims are cruel and and hence all the Islamic nations should pre-empted and Muslims oppressed is just ridiculous. Each era has its own victors and the vanquished, just as each era has its own oppressors and the oppressed. Look how Americans deal with those who resist their occupation and how Israelis deal with those who defy. Why shouldn't Aurangzeb deal the way he dealt with Shivaji who defied his sovereignity? If we change the name of shivaji in history to someone named "Shuja", I would expect Aurangzeb do deal with him the same way.
Most important of all, I seldom find any Muslim blaming all the non-Muslims for being barbaric.
Unlike many non-Muslims, we don’t go and stigmatise entire communities as barbarians for the sins of a few. Nowhere would the writer find us calling ‘Christian terrorist’, ‘Jew terrorist’, or ‘Hindu terrorist’ for the barbaric acts of a few from their communities, but everywhere we can find prejudiced people like the writer blaming the entire religion for terrorism (just because some people from that religion are supposed terrorists).
The fact of the matter is that all Muslims were/are not like Tamerlane or Mehmood Khilji the way all non-Muslims are/were not barbarians. If you view the total picture of history without any prejudice, you could find the contribution of Islam larger then any other civilisation. When the whole medieval Europe was fluctuating in the realm of the Dark Age, Muslims enlightened them and sowed the seeds of the Renaissance. Our contribution to the betterment of humanity has been written in golden letters in the annals of human history.
True, each era had its own oppressors and the oppressed, and it’s also true that, each era witnessed the oppressed rising against the oppressors and fighting the battle of freedom. The entire perception of the writer looks like he is another victim of the biased western media, and his clotted mind is shrouded with the doctrines of anti-Islamic propaganda. If Muslims defending their religion looks like vitriol to the writer, I would like to know why the writer consumes the vitriol like honey, and returns again and again to bite and howl at the Muslims, given any opportunity.
The true fact of history is that the past cannot just be judged by looking at a few men who are convenient from one’s point of view, but by viewing the total picture. True, some muslim rulers had been dreadful in their way of warfare and when met with resistance to their rule and authority, but to say that all Muslims are cruel and and hence all the Islamic nations should pre-empted and Muslims oppressed is just ridiculous. Each era has its own victors and the vanquished, just as each era has its own oppressors and the oppressed. Look how Americans deal with those who resist their occupation and how Israelis deal with those who defy. Why shouldn't Aurangzeb deal the way he dealt with Shivaji who defied his sovereignity? If we change the name of shivaji in history to someone named "Shuja", I would expect Aurangzeb do deal with him the same way.
Most important of all, I seldom find any Muslim blaming all the non-Muslims for being barbaric.
Unlike many non-Muslims, we don’t go and stigmatise entire communities as barbarians for the sins of a few. Nowhere would the writer find us calling ‘Christian terrorist’, ‘Jew terrorist’, or ‘Hindu terrorist’ for the barbaric acts of a few from their communities, but everywhere we can find prejudiced people like the writer blaming the entire religion for terrorism (just because some people from that religion are supposed terrorists).
The fact of the matter is that all Muslims were/are not like Tamerlane or Mehmood Khilji the way all non-Muslims are/were not barbarians. If you view the total picture of history without any prejudice, you could find the contribution of Islam larger then any other civilisation. When the whole medieval Europe was fluctuating in the realm of the Dark Age, Muslims enlightened them and sowed the seeds of the Renaissance. Our contribution to the betterment of humanity has been written in golden letters in the annals of human history.
True, each era had its own oppressors and the oppressed, and it’s also true that, each era witnessed the oppressed rising against the oppressors and fighting the battle of freedom. The entire perception of the writer looks like he is another victim of the biased western media, and his clotted mind is shrouded with the doctrines of anti-Islamic propaganda. If Muslims defending their religion looks like vitriol to the writer, I would like to know why the writer consumes the vitriol like honey, and returns again and again to bite and howl at the Muslims, given any opportunity.
What has Arabs World given us?
An interesting new times passed by the covers of Arab press, titled:Writer urges Riyadh to review Arab ties. The writer seems to have urged his country's policy makers to give a second thought to its relations with other Arab countries, saying that he prefers boosting of ties with the United States, instead of Arab nations. In this article he wrote under the title ‘What did we benefit from Arab nationalism’ and published on Sunday by the Arabic daily Al Jazira, Mohammed Al Sheikh said: “We Saudis need to re-arrange our priorities, to read very well and with utmost objectivity our modern history and to derive lessons from it in our efforts to strengthen our new culture which should not be based on postulates without being subjected first to deliberations, scrutiny and constructive criticism as we used to do in the past.” He said that “our ideology must be based on nationalism and patriotism, must be an ideology which always takes into serious consideration the nation’s interest by placing national interest at the helm of other areas of priority.”
Perhaps, a more important and pertinent question would have been ‘What did the Arab/Muslim world benefit from Saudi Arabia?’ Or for that matter, what contribution has Saudi Arabia made to the betterment and development of human beings anywhere in the world. Yes! No doubt, millions of Saudi Riyals flow back into Indian coffers by the labour expat community who send foreign remittances back home but that's not what really matters on the world scene?
Indeed, the Arab world needs to rearrange its priorities, starting with the formation of a credible and visionary leadership capable of developing long-term strategies not based on nationalism and patriotism, but internationalism and globalism.
I don’t know what America has given to Saudi Arabia, perhaps the Saudi Writer can enlighten us, but I know that being the custodians of the holiest Muslim sites and an economic powerhouse, Saudi Arabia has a responsibility to lead the Muslim world, and by investing in the Arab world can help them develop economically.
Fund hospitals, technology schools and institutions, rush towards providing aid to wherever required irrespective of religious affiliations and see your goodwill soar amongst the nations.
Till then, no matter which way you look for friendship, it would be a friendship of convenience where there will be no respect for Arabs but they would be only considered, American stooges!
Perhaps, a more important and pertinent question would have been ‘What did the Arab/Muslim world benefit from Saudi Arabia?’ Or for that matter, what contribution has Saudi Arabia made to the betterment and development of human beings anywhere in the world. Yes! No doubt, millions of Saudi Riyals flow back into Indian coffers by the labour expat community who send foreign remittances back home but that's not what really matters on the world scene?
Indeed, the Arab world needs to rearrange its priorities, starting with the formation of a credible and visionary leadership capable of developing long-term strategies not based on nationalism and patriotism, but internationalism and globalism.
I don’t know what America has given to Saudi Arabia, perhaps the Saudi Writer can enlighten us, but I know that being the custodians of the holiest Muslim sites and an economic powerhouse, Saudi Arabia has a responsibility to lead the Muslim world, and by investing in the Arab world can help them develop economically.
Fund hospitals, technology schools and institutions, rush towards providing aid to wherever required irrespective of religious affiliations and see your goodwill soar amongst the nations.
Till then, no matter which way you look for friendship, it would be a friendship of convenience where there will be no respect for Arabs but they would be only considered, American stooges!
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Three interesting new items!
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=47584
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=47507
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13874541
I'll Blog on these..Later but you're welcome to comment! :)
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=47507
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=13874541
I'll Blog on these..Later but you're welcome to comment! :)
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The vices of Patriotism and Communalism
Sometimes I read/hear some people advocating mass cleansing operations on this earth to get done away with a particular breed/denomination of people in a society. Something of the types Hiter/Stalin advocated. Something of the types Narendra Modi and his compatriots are very proud of and willing to go about it again if they get another excuse to do so.
Some posted this in his weblog and I relate it here: "We all probably know that it's not the Satan who does bad..nor is it the God or Allah or Rama who does good. Man has been created and given powers and thus be held responsible for the good and bad he does, and it does not matter whether he does whatever he does under the banner of Allah or Ram or Jesus. Because, under whatever name he may commit good or bad deeds, they are going to remain his deeds. When did we hear the last time a judge ruled, acquiting a murderer for the murderer proved that he got the commands for his misdoings from some supernatural powers?
But yes, these deeds do affect other people's psyche. It is like a disease.
Personally, I feel that emotions like patriotism and communalism are the root causes of all problems of this world. Why is our country better than the other. Why should our citizens be more worthwhile and important than the other? Why is our land , Bharat Mata , whose honour we have to uphold? Doesn't it all become so meaningless when we see some of these 'putras' of bharatmata begging to be adopted by 'US Mata' or 'UK Mata'?
But for those, who are deep in hatred for any other community member, be it Muslims or Hindus, and advocate mass genocide or cleansing of them, say whatever you are saying just because it helps your ego or because it gives you a reason to live life. Sometimes, even hatred for someone becomes a reason for survival albeit perverted.
Most communal people are egoists, believe me, because they are not fighting for Hindus or Muslims or Christians, but they are fighting for their own religion..yes..Many Hindutvavaadis are worried about Hinduism because it is THEIR religion, and not because it is Hinduism. Similarly, Osama is fighting for his version of religion and not ISLAM. It is because these people are born into this religion that they have become obsessed with it.. this is a clear cut example of a person feeding his or own ego..it is like fighting for your toy, or your car, or your suit..
Please think twice before talking about a living being's life or death. When you say that the people killed in the Haj stampede were killed by the wrath of Satan, well, it does not matter. But what matters for sure is that those were human beings.
We are all someone's son, daughter, husbands or fathers. If either one of us dies, than think about the reciprocal effects on your life. Now think about catastrophes like homicides, which, under the name of Allah, the extremist terrorist groups are committing. Suddenly, death's definition from emotional loss is converted into loss of numbers..a mere number..15 people killed..39 killed..59 killed..
well, same is for the ones killed daily by Israelis in Palestines or US forces in Iraq.
Media portrays that there are more Muslim terrorists in the world than there are Christian or Hindu or Jewish terrorists but scrutiny of statistics and incidents might reveal otherwise. But let's even agree that there are indeed more Muslim fundamentalists, then killing all Muslims or considering their death as the wrath of Satan or the revenge of Ram is a disgusting thought..those people going to Haj are just like people going to Amarnath..no one is going there to pray for Osama bin Laden..and if some people are, they are just as misguided in life, like hindutvavaadis or American/Israeli Right wingers.
India already has a lot of problems to deal with. The answers are not simple. Not everything can be solved by 0 (shoot) 1 (live), lest Americans and Israelis wouldn't be dying the way they are in their quests for forced occupations. I do not have the solution to problems like fundamentalism or proxy wars..or even riots..but yes, I do believe that human lives are not numbers. Coz if they are, then probably your wife or son or sister are also numbers..think about it, will you please?"
Some posted this in his weblog and I relate it here: "We all probably know that it's not the Satan who does bad..nor is it the God or Allah or Rama who does good. Man has been created and given powers and thus be held responsible for the good and bad he does, and it does not matter whether he does whatever he does under the banner of Allah or Ram or Jesus. Because, under whatever name he may commit good or bad deeds, they are going to remain his deeds. When did we hear the last time a judge ruled, acquiting a murderer for the murderer proved that he got the commands for his misdoings from some supernatural powers?
But yes, these deeds do affect other people's psyche. It is like a disease.
Personally, I feel that emotions like patriotism and communalism are the root causes of all problems of this world. Why is our country better than the other. Why should our citizens be more worthwhile and important than the other? Why is our land , Bharat Mata , whose honour we have to uphold? Doesn't it all become so meaningless when we see some of these 'putras' of bharatmata begging to be adopted by 'US Mata' or 'UK Mata'?
But for those, who are deep in hatred for any other community member, be it Muslims or Hindus, and advocate mass genocide or cleansing of them, say whatever you are saying just because it helps your ego or because it gives you a reason to live life. Sometimes, even hatred for someone becomes a reason for survival albeit perverted.
Most communal people are egoists, believe me, because they are not fighting for Hindus or Muslims or Christians, but they are fighting for their own religion..yes..Many Hindutvavaadis are worried about Hinduism because it is THEIR religion, and not because it is Hinduism. Similarly, Osama is fighting for his version of religion and not ISLAM. It is because these people are born into this religion that they have become obsessed with it.. this is a clear cut example of a person feeding his or own ego..it is like fighting for your toy, or your car, or your suit..
Please think twice before talking about a living being's life or death. When you say that the people killed in the Haj stampede were killed by the wrath of Satan, well, it does not matter. But what matters for sure is that those were human beings.
We are all someone's son, daughter, husbands or fathers. If either one of us dies, than think about the reciprocal effects on your life. Now think about catastrophes like homicides, which, under the name of Allah, the extremist terrorist groups are committing. Suddenly, death's definition from emotional loss is converted into loss of numbers..a mere number..15 people killed..39 killed..59 killed..
well, same is for the ones killed daily by Israelis in Palestines or US forces in Iraq.
Media portrays that there are more Muslim terrorists in the world than there are Christian or Hindu or Jewish terrorists but scrutiny of statistics and incidents might reveal otherwise. But let's even agree that there are indeed more Muslim fundamentalists, then killing all Muslims or considering their death as the wrath of Satan or the revenge of Ram is a disgusting thought..those people going to Haj are just like people going to Amarnath..no one is going there to pray for Osama bin Laden..and if some people are, they are just as misguided in life, like hindutvavaadis or American/Israeli Right wingers.
India already has a lot of problems to deal with. The answers are not simple. Not everything can be solved by 0 (shoot) 1 (live), lest Americans and Israelis wouldn't be dying the way they are in their quests for forced occupations. I do not have the solution to problems like fundamentalism or proxy wars..or even riots..but yes, I do believe that human lives are not numbers. Coz if they are, then probably your wife or son or sister are also numbers..think about it, will you please?"
