When righteous indignation is not righteous at all

"Do they even know their faith or the Prophet they claim to defend?"  That is what comes to my mind when I see the rioters in the Middle East around the American embassies protesting a disgusting movie made to insult Islam and Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

There has not been a moment of boredom in the new Egypt and other Arab countries following the 'Arab spring'.  Let us pray things may eventually end up well, and there is still hope.

But the long history of oppression, ignorance and the lack of trust by the people in their own governments and in the world at large, are hugely compounded by extreme social and economic hardships. Anger at the world and at life takes unfortunately a hyper-religiosity path in a place where 'life on this earth' does not offer much for the youth to look forward to, and nothing to lose.

Criminals prey on this anger and hyper-religiosity, and the outcome is what we witness off and on: random violence against the innocent, and criminal acts that added up to the murder of our American ambassador, a fair, friendly and an upright human being by all of what I have read, the late ambassador John Christopher Stevens, and three of his aides in Benghazi, Libya.

I and every one I have been in touch with, here and in Egypt, have been very distressed and hurt by what happened.  But it is even more maddening that the 'righteous indignation' that those killers and rioters appear to express is not even acceptable by the same religion they claim to defend.

I am mad at the idiot rioters in Egypt, Libya and Yemen 'defending' Islam and the Prophet by means that neither God nor the Prophet would approve,  I did a quick search and compiled a short list of 'anti-anger', pro-tolerance and forgiveness sayings from the Quran and the Prophet's sayings.

For me, this is just another demonstration of the distance between the faith teachings, and Muslim's practices, a dichotomy that underlies most if not all of our problems in the Arab and Muslim world.

Here is what I found on very quick search.  There are many more Quranic verses that convey the same sentiment, but this was not meant to be a comprehensive collection – just a sampler.  These Quranic verses are encouraging patience, forgiveness and benignly ignoring the non-violent enemies and abusers:

(25:63)  وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا

For, [true] servants of the Most Gracious are [only] they who walk gently on earth, and who, whenever the foolish address them, reply with [words of] peace;

(7:199)  خذ العفو وأمر بالعرف وأعرض عن الجاهلين

MAKE due allowance for man's nature,  and enjoin the doing of what is right; and leave alone all those who choose to remain ignorant."

(23:96)  ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ السَّيِّئَةَ نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَصِفُونَ

[But whatever they may say or do,] repel the evil [which they commit] with something that is better: We are fully aware of what they attribute [to Us].

(41:34)  وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

But [since] good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou [evil) with something that is better - and lo! he between whom and thyself was enmity [may then become] as though he had [always] been close [unto thee], a true friend!

Prophetic narrations (sayings of prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) echo the same Quranic sentiments.  There has been enough incidents in his lifetime that makes it clear that he lived by his own teachings.  That is not surprising of course as the Quran was his moral fiber ("كان خُلُقُه القرآن"), as his wife Aisha was narrated to have said.

الغضب يفسد الإيمان كما يفسد الصبر العسل

Anger spoils Faith as bitter aloe spoils honey.

من كف غضبه ستر الله عورته

He who restrains his anger, gets God to cover for his sins

ليس الشديد بالصرعة ؛ إنما الشديد الذى يملك نفسه عند الغضب

The strong among you is not the one that wins the fight; it is the one that restrains himself when angry

إن الغضب جمرة توقد في القلب

Anger is red-hot piece of charcoal that burn your heart.

وإذا غضبت فاسكت

And if you feel angry, shut up

أشدكم من غلب نفسه عند الغضب وأحلمكم من عفا عند القدرة

The toughest among you is the one that conquers his own anger, and the wisest among you is the one that forgives when he is capable of punishing.

 After you read this, do those rioters seem to know the faith they seem willing to sacrifice life and limb to 'defend'?

Khaled

'Religious' road to hatred and How the Quran sees the 'other'

Edited portions of a speech I gave before a church in St. Louis, Missouri,  on the 10^th annual remembrance of September 11 Events

September-11 did not change the face of the world.  It just made it easier for a lot of ugly feelings and restrictive policies to come to the surface in an explicit and unashamed way, sadly with very little resistance from us – the people, wherever in the world we live - out of a combination of fear and ignorance.

For some,  perhaps many on ALL side, the hatred that has become easier to show was appealing, especially for those who see the world in only two tones: black and white; arch-enemies and dear friends, or simplistically; us and people who look like us on one side, and the 'different ones' on the other side.

That simple-minded world view is a trait of 'splitting personality'.  It is a personality defense mechanism that is sometimes more convenient than learning to understand the world the way it really is: a continuum of shades of gray that are in a never ending flux.

The Religious Road to Hatred

Religion was meant to be a message of thoughtfulness and peace, and a source of comfort from God.  But it turned out that enterprising humans found religion to be an effective tool in achieving their ungodly goals using unsuspecting masses of the faithful; sometimes as warriors in an army, perceived to be the army of God.  At other times, the clever entrepreneurs use religion to help get the faithful out of the way (i.e., not resisting an evil agenda) while that agenda of the clever ones is being completed.

The most effective religious tool used to achieve those goals is to teach us that our eternal salvation, as well as our worldly well-being, is mutually exclusive with that of our enemy.  Our enemy is defined as those that have a different set of values, or those who follow a different belief system.

Self-serving agenda of the entrepreneurs' could thus be presented as a mean to serve God, and that for God to like us, we need to oppose his enemies, Hate of fellow humans on the other side of the religious fence becomes something not to be ashamed of, but rather an act of devotion to God.

The simple religious idea of judging people by what they do (a widely held moral concept) is not strong enough to rally the troop, or to incite hate against others.  That simple idea had to morph into a simplistic but more captivating idea: judge the others by what they believe in and mostly by what you think they believe in.

Judging me by my deeds takes time and effort.  You will need to observe me, analyze how my circumstances influenced my behavior, and weigh my intentions. In other words you need to know about me before you make your judgment.  This is the kind of due process we extend even to a person caught while firing the gun at the heart of an unarmed person.

But judging me by my beliefs, or by what you think my faith teaches me, is a lot simpler, and a lot less work.

A case in point is that of an excited fellow American who once confidently put it on TV: I knew all that I needed to know about Islam at the moment when the plane hit the tower on September-11.

The 'Other' in the Quran

Burnt copy of the Quran

What God tells us in scripture is good not only because it is Divine but also because it will help us build a world for all God's creatures to live in balance and harmony without aggression or oppression.  At least, that is the dream.

And if believers can live the universal message of 'live, do good and let live', and if they do not let differences in terminology and rituals get in the way, then faith in God would be the most positive force in the history of mankind.

But such tolerant concept does not work well for some of us: especially those who think of faith as a tool to rally the faithful so the leaders can gain more power, more followers and even more territory.

Also, for some of the faithful unfortunately, such material success is a sign they need in order to know their faith is the correct faith.  Fancier and more crowded house of worship tells them that God likes them more, thus they must be on the right path.

So, and over the years, some so-called 'religious thought' leaders transformed God from the universal Deity for all those who believe in a wise benevolent Creator into a god that officially sponsors a specific group: frequently a ritual-based group, but in many instances the group's admission criteria are racial or ethnic.

To clarify where my faith, Islam, stands on this issue, today I will speak as a Muslim referencing simple face-value interpretation of some relevant Quranic verses about 'the other'.

If we all agree to race with each other towards doing good things and let God settle our difference later (i.e., in the life after), we will live a good life, enjoy each others' company and still maintain our independence as we practice our chosen religion - freely and peacefully.

That last sentiment is not only echoed in the Quran, but it is there stated almost verbatim:

Quran 5:48

• "… For each, God have appointed a divine law and a traced-out path. Had God willed He could have made you one community.  But He has made you as you are so that He may try you by that which He has given you. So vie one with another in good deeds. Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ."

In the context of God instructing Muslims not to show disrespect for other people's beliefs and deities, even if Muslims thought of them as idols, the Quran tells us that each of us is strongly attached to our chosen belief system.  We cannot help it – this is how He created us.

Quran 6:108:

• "Revile not those unto whom they pray beside God lest they wrongfully revile God through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have God made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do."

And regardless of what Muslims feel to be the right path to follow, their only duty is to deliver a message:

Quran 3:20

• "So if they dispute with you, say: ‘I have submitted My whole self to God and so have those who follow me.’ And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned: ‘Do you also submit yourselves to God?’ If they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, your duty is to convey the Message…"

Quran 5:99

• "The Apostle is bound to do no more than deliver the message [entrusted to him]: and God knows all that you do..."

Such understanding that truth is in the eye of the beholder, and that only God can hold us to account, leads to the concept of freedom of faith.

Speaking of those that reject Muhammad's message, God says: (Quran 50:45)

• "God knows best what they say; and you are not one to overawe them by force. So remind with the Qur'an whoso feels the awe of My Warning!"

And more bluntly, in Quran 2:256:

• "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks..."

Such freedom of faith could result in an amazing society to live in for the average individual; and for people of all faiths.

Most religions adopt some of that spirit of equality, and autonomy for followers of different creeds. The existence of such thoughts in most religions allows mystics from all religions to get along fine, while they still have strong association with their original religion in spirit and in rituals.  Mystics feel unity with one another across the religious lines without a need to denounce or reject their own distinct belief system.

Islam presents itself as a unique path, distinct from others.  But that uniqueness is in a beautifully simple and almost generic understanding of God and theology.  Let me explain that.

Today, Islam has become a word used exclusively as a 'proper noun' and, as such, it is translated phonetically as Islam.  But that has not always been the case.  In the Quran, the word 'Islam' is used exclusively in the way it linguistically means in Arabic: a concept of surrendering to the authority of God, and none other than God.

Frequently, the Quran refers to pre-Islamic biblical figures and believers as Muslims, and attributes to Prophet Abraham the initiation of the practice known to us as Islam.

• Quran 3: 67 "Abraham was not a Jew, nor yet a Christian; but he was an upright man who had surrendered (to God) [phonetically: a Muslim], and he was not of the idolaters."

Other prophets that followed Abraham, pbuh, and their followers, notably the Disciples of Jesus, pbuh, have been repeatedly described in the Quran as Muslims; or if translated properly: as people who surrendered their being unto God.

What distinguished those blessed people was not their following of a particular set of rituals but an understanding of the nature of the relationship between man and the Creator, and then they adopted a way of life based on that understanding.

Defining faith as a mental and a spiritual state, rather than a mere collection of rituals, makes God the only possible judge of righteousness.

Stated clearly in Quran 22:17

• "Those who believe in the Qur'an, those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians [i.e., Mandaeans], Christians, Magians [i.e., Zoroastrians], and Polytheists,--God will judge between them on the Day of Judgment: for God is witness of all things."

In a different verse, the Quran gets more explicit about Christians and Jews.

Quran 2:62

• "VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve."

From the sublime and down to reality.

It is likely that only a few of you have ever read these verses from the Quran.  Fewer will ever hear it discussed on TV or in a newspaper.  Many are more familiar with something along this line: "Find the infidels and slay them where ever you may come upon them".  I doubt that many of you who are familiar with that last statement have even tried to find if it is there.  And if it is, what does it really refer to?

I frequently ask my non-Muslim friends and audience how many of them have read their Holy Books from A to Z, and how many have made the intellectual effort to understand those books.  The numbers are abysmal.  But, if it is any comfort, on the Muslim side, the numbers are equally abysmal!

Compare anyone's knowledge of their Holy Book to their knowledge of baseball statistics or Super Bowl history and you will have something to laugh at, very bitterly.

Compare the time spent on fantasy sport leagues or reality TV with time spent on understanding one's faith.  That will not make you feel better either.

I sarcastically say that if one bet's their life and the eternal life-after on a book being correct, they better know what is in that book.

Similarly, if I decide to go to war with people I chose as my enemy because of who they are, I better know a good deal about them before I kill them, get killed fighting them, or worse yet, turn them into eternal enemy for me and my children for the wrong reasons - with no one to blame other than my intellectual laziness.

I hope you feel my distress when popular cultures here and 'over there', and despite talking a lot about God, use un-Godly set of rules

• It is us versus them; we are good, they are bad.
• God loves us, and our God will send them to hell.
• We never hurt them, yet they hate us because of who we are.  They will always hate us no matter what we do
  It is part of what they believe in.
• We are civilized, and they are savage.
• And, by the way, you are either completely with us or you are with the enemy.

Any light at the end of the Tunnel?

Some people are unlucky. They do not find comfort in black and white slogans like those I mentioned above and fill our airwaves and popular culture.  They are those with the irresistible urge to engage to world, and the urge to try to make the world a better place for us, for our children and for the other, no matter how we define that other.

Those unlucky ones have lived a stressful 10 year stretch of the 'post September-11 world'.  Do they see anything good coming out of what we witnessed on that day and over the last 10 years?

I know that, for 10 years, there has been more explicit hate of Islam and Muslims, but there has also been some genuine interest in understanding that culture.  Some people get it right and become agents of moderation.  Others do not get it right, and they carry on their path of hatred, racism and xenophobia like they did before September 11.

They are more vocal than before that day.  And they feel more empowered to express their hate very colorfully.  But I do not think they are more numerous than before.  Will the silent moderates become more vocal to balance that out?  I do not know, but I am more hopeful about one group: the youth.

The Quran talks about Fitra, or "the innate human sensor of the Truth".  In its simplest translation, it would be the innocent unpolluted conscience. As we get older, this Fitra is clouded by the material needs and ambitions of life.  And, gradually, conscience slides slowly from a humanity-leaning stance to a self-serving posture.

In the youth, healthy Fitra is coupled with the tendency to rebel against what their parents' generation assumes to be the undisputed truth.  That makes me trust that most of our youth, in the US, and the Arab and Muslim world, will move in the right direction.

Many of today's youth were children or teenagers when September-11 happened.  That is the most vulnerable age in a biased environment.  Yet, they are the ones that seem to be the most curious about the other; and the most comfortable in circles of diverse friends and loved ones.

With all the tools of unrestricted communication and access to knowledge, they will grow up less racist, less fanatic, and more open to the other than our generation.  They may even be more resistant to soul contamination when they are exposed to our so-called thought leaders in the media, in politics and even in religion.

Khaled

Breaking news: The Quran is not as evil as you think.

"I think I’m saying some important things here that need to be much more widely known, especially at this point in time."  This is what Lesley Hazleton said about her 9 minute video on Accidental Theologist web site that she contributes to.

For those who read the Quran in Arabic, the video's message comes as no surprise, but the beauty and eloquence in it make it a must watch even if you already know every word in the Quran.  It is a great resource to share with friends and family, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Lesley Hazleton is an American British writer, psychologist and reporter with a 13 year experience in Jerusalem (from 1966 to 1979).  She is admittedly an agnostic Jew with affinity to learn about religion, and dislike of organized religion.  She is currently working on a biography of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.  I will forward to reading than in 2012 when it is scheduled for release.

The video is not just extremely informative, but is very witty and humorous.  It is a packed and very enjoyable 9-minute experience.




I hope you enjoyed the video, and please share it widely.  It says "... that need to be much more widely known, especially at this point in time." as the speaker has said.

Khaled

Links:

• YouTube - TEDxRainier - Lesley Hazleton
• Lesley Hazleton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The Accidental Theologist
• On Reading the Qur’an: Hazleton

I first found about the video on Juan Cole's Informed Comment great website.  Juan Cole is a Political Science professor in the University of Michigan who is an expert on the Middle East and Iran.  His website is a great source of information and analysis of what is going on in the Middle East, and the US foreign policy there.

• Informed Comment

So, you are getting married. Congratulations, and get yourself a prenuptial.

While marriage has been talked about very positively in the Quran, divorce has not only been permitted, but its technical and legal aspects have been discussed in more details than marriage itself, and that makes sense: it is a conflict situation, and that deserved more elaboration. 

But divorce has been look down upon in most Muslim communities - though not by Islam as a religion - as an irresponsible act showing a weak character that prefers personal convenience over the hard work needed to establish a healthy family.

That negative attitude towards divorce unnecessarily deprived many Muslims of a legitimate, and frequently needed, social procedure. Divorce rates thus have been exceptionally low (as low as 2-3%) in the Muslim world for centuries, reflecting the social pressure against divorce rather than how happy marriages are.

But that low divorce rate is changing rapidly. American Muslim divorce rates are very close if not actually equal to divorce rates among non-Muslims. That increase by 10-15 fold in the span of one generation has its own problems.

Divorce was discussed and organized in the Quran 1500 years ago not as an evil thing, but rather as an occasional social necessity.  It was thus to be discussed and regulated. But the focus in the Quran was on:

a) preventing hasty and abusive actions the husband,
b) explicitly mandating mediation and counselling before divorce is finalized,
c) establishing the children's financial rights,
d) providing some security to women against instantaneous eviction from the family residence at a time when husbands were exclusively responsible for providing family residence,
e) the Quran also established the right of women to divorce themselves at will using a clear and simple procedure known as khol'a, a definite revolutionary social concept that most Muslims are not even aware of.

The Quran, however has not provided any rules for asset sharing, or guidelines for financial settlement between spouses.  The contemporary rules were that the wife, as much as the husband, was entitled to trade, to buy and sell, and to have full financial control over her own wealth, inheritance and business.  When divorced, each spouse kept their own property and assets. Also, issues like children custody, alimony, etc, were not discussed much and the prevalent common law was followed.  

Over 2-3 centuries after the Prophet's death more 'common law rules' (or 'عرف'  in Arabic), that did not contradict obvious Quranic principles, crept into Islamic law, which by that time became known as shari'a.  These new laws and rules reflected mostly the common law of those times as understood by different scholars, almost exclusively men.  Those also were the times women's rights took a significant step backward, from the earlier and enlightened phase of Islamic thought process at the time of the Prophet and early civic leaders after him.

At this point it is important to highlight that while common law has frequently been adopted by Islamic legal system, it should never be considered integral to the religion of Islam. Islamic religious rules (Quranic and 'mutawater' Prophetic teachings) are immutable, while common law accepted by different societies in different eras should be freely changed if the circumstance under which they were accepted change.

Over the last century, most of the Muslim countries amended their Family Law to include more rights for women that were not traditionally included in early jurisprudence, such as alimony and mother-favoring custody of children, in some cases granting near exclusive rights to the mothers.  In Egypt, for example, mothers have full custody over boys until age 16, and over the daughters until they reach the age of majority or get married.

These modern changes in family law illustrate that those laws are mostly of civic nature, not a religious one.  Despite these facts, many first generation American-Muslims think of those laws as 'Islamic laws'.  And that is where the problems is.

Having been involved at different levels in many divorce cases among friends over the last few years, I have made several observations.  The most alarming of which is that most of the individuals in those cases have no clue what is mentioned in the Quran about divorce.  That is a shameful thing truly as it all can be contained in 3-4 medium size pages. 

In many of those divorce cases, an argument was frequently made that ' … as Muslims, we are obliged to follow Islamic law when it comes to divorce'.  Advocates of that opinion usually refer - unknowingly - to the 'civic' law that ruled over them or over their parents when they lived in the old motherland.  Many of those laws were not mentioned in the Quran, and are not necessarily followed by any other Muslim country, since each country had it own set of unique family laws. Therefore, those old homeland rules are NOT Islamic.

Another common observation was that the apparently 'wise and pious' suggestion to follow Islamic law was usually made by the party that was most likely to lose financially if the 'American law' is applied.  In other words, advocating the so-called Islamic law for divorce was frequently a gimmick to keep as much money as possible in the hands of the wealthier spouse, be it the husband or the wife.

But considering the high cost of the legal system in the US, the demand (or suggestion) to follow Islamic law does seem to have merits, if it were not for ignorance and possibly the ill-intentions that were behind it.  

And to complicate matters more, there is usually some social pressure within the community to follow 'Islamic law' even though most people do not know what that precisely meant.  If one spouse preferred follow American divorce and family laws they were sometimes made to feel as if they were rejecting of Islam.

My advice for whoever asked for my opinion was always the same: "Get a good lawyer, never negotiated without your lawyer being informed of what you are doing, and avoid court if you can, but do not yield under the assumption that it is 'Haram' or 'Islamically unethical' to settle your divorce in court."

As more women and men of our Muslim-American community get divorced, we need better ways  to educate ourselves regarding the rules of divorce in Islam and the many aspects it does not handle.  We also need to know that marriage in Islam is a contract – a real contract, in which ANY condition can be stipulated.  The spectrum of those stipulations can surprise most of us: from granting women right to divorce on demand, to financial and custody stipulations and all the way to stipulating, that the family must have hired help, nannies, cooks, or in which city to live, etc.

I would like marriage within the Muslim community to take full advantage of the flexibility of Islamic marriage contract by discussing some issues that can save the families a lot of trouble in the future, when one out of every two or three marriages ends in divorce.  The most important item should be: which legal system the couple should follow if divorce process is initiated.  And if they choose 'Islamic law' they need to spell out what that means.  And if they have no clear idea what Islamic law of divorce means, then they should explicitly state the American legal system would be the reference, so it does not as a surprise to any spouse if that ends up being the case.

It is difficult for a couple busy planning their wedding party to consider prenuptial. And that is understandable.  But if our community is wise, it should try to minimize or avoid the acrimony that comes with hostile divorces, and avoid the drainage of resources wasted on lawyers that could otherwise go to secure better future for the divorcees and their children.

Our community is still young in this country.  Many individuals are in the middle of an identity transition, from a Syrian-Muslim, Pakistani-Muslim, Bosnian-Muslim or some other 'hyphenated Muslim' to American-Muslim.  Most of us have not put much thought into what these terms mean. 

That is where most of the friction comes from: unclear terms, and an identity-in-transition.

In my opinion, it could be a great service to our community if the marriage certificates issued by Islamic institutions in the US for American Muslim couples getting married is expanded from the simple contract it is now, to a more developed format that offers a collection of simple choices that may save many couples a lot of heartache and money in the future. That 'expanded' marriage contract could function as a 'default' prenuptial agreement that provides the couple with some idea how things could be handled when married life does hits some road bumps.

If you were to have a prenuptial agreement, as an American Muslim, what would you want to see in it?

Khaled

Muslims in hostile world - Part 2: How should Muslims handle it

[This is part 2 of a sermon I gave in September to a local mosque.  Part 1 was posted before on this blog]

A primer on anger management and conflict resolution, the Quranic way

The tough times we face should teach many other lessons as well.  Lessons that have always been spelled out in the Quran, but that many of us may have not felt the need to put them to good use frequently.

Hate against Muslims is abundant, vocal and malicious. It may even make life impossible in the US for some of us. Hate comes in many forms and for many reasons: sometimes just out of ignorance and fear, and that is something we can help resolve.  In other cases, it is out of greed, and out of envy: and that is not easy to resolve.

But either way, God has given us clear instructions and examples in the Quran on how to handle these situations. If we like to use modern day jargon, He offers us “a comprehensive anger management and conflict resolution program”.  And it is a pretty good one.

So, let us take a look at what God has for us on that topic.

When the words of God are insulted, what should we do?

“And, indeed, He has enjoined upon you in this divine writ that whenever you hear people deny the truth of God's messages and mock at them, you shall avoid their company until they begin to talk of other things.” (4:140)

وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ آيَاتِ اللّهِ يُكَفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلاَ تَقْعُدُواْ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوضُواْ فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ

 “Whenever you meet those that indulge in [blasphemous] talk about Our messages, turn your back upon them until they begin to talk of other things …”  (6:68)

وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ الَّذِينَ يَخُوضُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوضُواْ فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ

And what should we do next? Should we respond to an insult with an insult? Would the “eye-for-an-eye” approach be useful? Should we say something nasty about something dear to them, be it their beliefs, or what they may worship and associate in worship with God?

God does not seem to like that approach.  He instructs us succinctly (in 6:108) not to revile “those [beings] whom they invoke instead of God, lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance.”

وَلاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ فَيَسُبُّواْ اللّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

And even non-insulting arguments with those who hate us, insult God and insult us, has to be done in a special way: actually, in the most kind of ways.

And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner - unless it is the ones that are bent on evildoing - and say [to them]: "We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon you: for our God and your God is one and the same..." (29:46)

وَلَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَإِلَهُنَا وَإِلَهُكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

So, they insult us and yet we MUST respond by trying to show them what may make us and them feel closer rather than highlight what sets us apart from them.

But that gentle soul approach is not always guaranteed to work, and God was aware of that when he asked us to use it.  He even tells us why it does not work in some case:

كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

“…to EVERY nation”, God informs us, “We have made their own doings appear goodly indeed”. (6:108)

But that is not for us to resolve, as God proceeds in that verse (in 6:108) to tell us that “In time, unto their Sustainer they must return: and then He will make them [truly] understand all that they were doing.”

So, we were meant to be different from one another,

God tells us in 22:67, “UNTO every community have We appointed [different] ways of worship and belief, which they ought to observe.”

This is part of His plan for Mankind, not a design flaw.  And if we cannot convince the others to follow our way, we still need to learn to live and let live; to coexist in a diverse and often contentious world.

He informs us in 25:63 that the best of us are those that handle this diversity and contention without arrogance, or aggression

وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا

For, [true] servants of the Most Gracious are [only] they who walk gently on earth, and who, whenever the foolish address them, reply with [words of] peace;

Our job is not to force them to believe one way or the other, but in the words of the Quran, our job is

“… to convey this Qur'an [to the world].  Whoever, therefore, chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and if any wills to go astray, say [unto him]: "I am only a warner!"(27:92)

وَأَنْ أَتْلُوَ الْقُرْآنَ فَمَنِ اهْتَدَى فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ

So, we should not get broken-hearted when they opt not to do it our way.  They have turned away from better person than you or I will ever be: they turned away from our Prophet, pbuh. And God showed him how to handle that:

“…if they turn away, say: "God is enough for me! There is no deity save Him. In Him I have placed my trust...” (9:129)

فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُلْ حَسْبِيَ اللّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

But handling rejection and hatred is not easy.  Still, God has drawn a clear line, and expects us not to cross it ,: no excuses accepted, as detailed in this verse:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ لِلّهِ شُهَدَاء بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ اعْدِلُواْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

“O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in your devotion to God, bearing witness to the truth in all equity; and never let hatred of anyone lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious.” (5:8)

God also is the One that created us, and he knows we are tempted to ‘repay injustice with injustice’, so He makes us an offer that is hard to resist:

وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَى - فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَى

“But unto him who shall have stood in owe of his Sustainer's Presence, and held back his inner self from base desires”, (in our case: greed, anger, vengefulness amongst others), “… Paradise will truly be the final destination!” (79:40-41)

And we need more than just to avoid being unfair towards them.  God tells us to show them ultimate kindness, using the Arabic word ‘berr’, the extreme kindness we are supposed to treat our parent with.

لَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ

“As for the unbelievers that do not fight against you on account of [your] faith, and do not drive you away from your homelands, God does not forbid you to show them kindness and to behave towards them with full equity: for, verily, God loves those who act equitably.” (60:9)

And for the really evil ones: should we pay them in kind, or punish them if we can? Should we forgive?

Look at what God asks our Prophet to do, under a more adverse situation that ours:

وَلاَ تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىَ خَآئِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنْهُمُ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

“… and from all but a few of them you will always experience treachery. But pardon them, and forbear: verily, God loves the doers of good. (5:13)

In another verse, the divine wisdom teaches us that forgiveness is not a tactical ploy, but rather a strategy of a very high yield in the end:

وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ

“But [since] good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou [evil) with something that is better - and lo! he between whom and yourself was hostility [may then become] as though he had [always] been close [to you], a true friend!” (41:34)

Above all, we should always remember the verse 7:199 that has been described as the most comprehensive and most succinct of Islamic moral code- crafted in just seven short words in Arabic.

خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ

MAKE due allowance for man's nature, and enjoin the doing of what is widely known to be right; and leave alone all those who choose to remain ignorant."

I hope that I have managed to deliver few points about the Glorious Quran and its timeless teachings that can help us today as much as it helps the Prophet pbuh, and his companions over 1400 years ago.

Our primary goal as Muslims is to learn God’s words.  And who is better at teaching us those than God Himself in an easy to understand and clear Book that he promised to preserve from deviation, and corruption, and to make easy for us to learn.

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ

“Hence, indeed, We made this Qur'an easy to understand and easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?” (54:40)

This book is not only easy, but it also details the message of what he wants from us.

وَلَقَدْ جِئْنَاهُم بِكِتَابٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

“For, indeed, We did convey unto them a divine writ which We clearly, and wisely, spelled out - a guidance and a grace unto people who will believe." (7:52)

  All we need is to invest the time in reading and contemplating it, trusting that it is sufficient to guide us to the right path.

Referring to the Verses of the Quran, God says: 

“These are the signs of God which We recite unto thee (Muhammad) with truth. Then in what fact, after God and His signs, will they believe?” (45:6)

تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَ اللَّهِ وَآيَاتِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ

I would like to conclude on a joyous note. 

Look at us:  living in a non-Muslim country, a small minority, with little material power.  Yet we are entitled, by law, to be treatment as equals, and we do not have to accept anything less. A minority with little outreach and with difficulty engaging the public at large: yet, God avails to us people in the media and amongst the public, of different faiths, and sometime of no faith at all, that would take our cause to heart, and defend us as if we where their own people.

We should thank God for those blessings.  But, we should also promise ourselves, that whenever and wherever the tide turns in our favor, we should treat the others the best way they treated us and no less

In fact, if we heed God’s teachings, we should treat them better than they treated us:

“… when you are greeted with a greeting, answer with an even better greeting, or [at least] with the like thereof. Verily, God keeps count indeed of all things.” (4:86)

وَإِذَا حُيِّيْتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّواْ بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْهَا أَوْ رُدُّوهَا إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَسِيبًا

Let us not be of those defrauders that He threatened with woes on the Day of Judgment

وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِينَ - الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُواْ عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ -  وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَو وَّزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ - أَلَا يَظُنُّ أُولَئِكَ أَنَّهُم مَّبْعُوثُونَ

“WOE UNTO THOSE that deal in fraud-

Those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full

But when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due!

Do they not know that they will be raised from the dead, and that they will be called to account?” (83:1-4)

May God guide us all to the right path.

Khaled

Part 1 of this sermon:

•  Muslims in a Hostile World - Part 1: positive lessons from Islamophobia-filled season

Muslims in a Hostile World - Part 1: positive lessons from Islamophobia-filled season

[This is part 1 of a sermon (delivered on in September 2010), that I put together for a local mosque.  Part 2 will be posted soon and it is about what the Quran teaches us on anger management, and conflict resolution]

These are very turbulent times for American Muslims.  We are reminded daily how many fellow Americans hate us.  But we are also blessed to see many Americans that do not hate us, and moreover, they come to our rescue more efficiently and more visibly than we do ourselves.  We should be grateful to them and also to God for availing them to us in these tough times.  God has told us in His Book, about such people, non-Muslims, who are up-right people, that stand up for the truth as they see it, even if it means being against people closer to them than Muslim Americans are.

لَيْسُواْ سَوَاء مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَآئِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللّهِ آنَاء اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ

“They are not all alike:”.  God tells us (in Surat Al-Imran), “ among the People of the Book there are upright people, who recite God's messages by the night, and prostrate themselves [before Him].” They “… enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and compete with one another in doing good works: and these are among the righteous.” (3:113-114)

Those good people upheld an important moral commandment: bearing witness to the truth, no matter in whose favor it is, or against whom it is. God repeatedly taught us that in the Quran:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا

 O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk. ……Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice: for if you distort [the truth], behold, God is indeed aware of all that you do!  (4:135)

And while we should thank God for extending help to us through those people, we need to learn from that example. In many instances, unfortunately, we fail to fulfill that glorious commandment. We should pray that we, as a community, mature enough and consult our religious conscience more often when we feel the wrong doings and injustices committed by fellow Muslims against non-Muslims or against other Muslims wherever that may be: either here, in Europe or in places Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya or other unlucky places in the world wherever some so-called Muslims commit atrocities against other Muslims or against non-combatants of any kind.

وَإِذَا قُلْتُمْ فَاعْدِلُواْ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَى وَبِعَهْدِ اللّهِ أَوْفُواْ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ

“And when you voice an opinion,”, God tells us (in 6:152), “ be just, even though it be [against] near of kin. ... This has He enjoined upon you so that you always remember.

So, when you wake up on a Friday morning to find out that Friday worshipers in a Shi’a mosque have been slaughtered in our name, or that an Ahmadeya mosque in Pakistan or a church in Iraq, has been bombed, or that a school for children in Russia has been seized – all done in the name of freedom for Muslims - , please remember to bear witness to the truth only, the way God told us to.

Do not feel afraid or awkward criticizing and standing up against our own friends, next of kin or just wrong-doing Muslims anywhere in the world.  We owe it to God to bear witness to the truth in a way that pleases Him.

Khaled

Part 2: Why can't Muslim women marry non-Muslim men

This is a reply to a comment by Pamela Taylor on my previous posting.  She referred to her posting on the Washington Post On Faith, and to an interview with the Sudanese scholar, Al-Turabi.  

 It grew too long to be a comment, so I ‘promoted it’ to a post status!

Hi Pamela:

Thanks for the link to your article on the Washington Post On Faith blog.  I enjoyed reading it and I do encourage readers of this posting to read it as well.

I agree with most of the thoughts and sentiments you expressed (especially about the lack of association between what I call 'religious concordance' between spouses, and the likelihood of success of marriage.  I disagree with you on a couple of points though.

On principle, I believe in religious freedom, which as you well know, is a principle very strongly endorsed by the Quran.  So, as individuals, we have the right to do what we feel is appropriate for 'us', since we know truly what is in our hearts, which God knows as well. 

Others should not intervene by imposing religious opinions on us, although for all practical purposes, civil and criminal laws in any society have their own constraints that limit freedoms to what is deemed appropriate by the state. For example, a woman may practice polyandry in the USA, but the state would recognize only one marriage and holds her accountable if she officially marries a second husband while still officially married to the first one.  Polygamy, under-age marriage, incest marriage are similar examples in this aspect of social life. 

And to that extent, civil law may impose constraints on what is officially accepted; constraints that may or may not be derived from religious beliefs of the majority. I can accept that only as long as it is clear that the rules are CIVIC RULES and not considered religious rules (i.e., enshrined by God).

The complementary side of that is this: while an individual should be free to decide for themselves what they want to do; they need to be careful about adding their own preferences to the core religious rules.  By that I mean, trying to establish their practice as a “religiously-endorsed practice” for co-coreligionists.

The reason is that I believe a religion, any religion, has to have some minimal sacred core that is immutable. If people do not agree with the core principle, they should be free to start their own religion, but not confuse their own version of the religion with the original.  And other people can choose which one to follow.

For me, that core text is the Quran, and the small collection of Mutawatir Hadith that does not contradict the obvious of the Quran (i.e., Mutawatir  متواتر with non-problematic Matn, i.e., content متن ).  Establishing Aqueeda (i.e., religious creed  عقيدة) based on other texts is tantamount to accepting the authors of those texts as equivalent to God’s..

And the Verse of interest here (5:5) strongly sounds like it is a retraction of an earlier position, or an earlier practice by Muslims.  And if it seems straight forward enough to understand it that way in Arabic (which is my mother tongue), I have difficulty if anyone 'legislates' for an apposing position and then  MAKING THAT POSITION a core religious principle. 

They are certainly free to practice the way they want. And I will defend their right to do that, and not even judge them or judge their intentions.  But I would not think considering their personal view and preference as if it is integral to Islam as a religion is an appropriate thing.

Second, an edict that is genuinely ‘patriarchal’, as you alluded to in your article, should not be accepted as religion under the same logic I presented in the previous paragraph.  I want God to legislate religious rules, not the patriarchs, no matter how scholarly or well-intentioned they were.  But to judge a practice as patriarchal requires that one proves there is no explicit evidence for it in the Quran or Mutawatir Hadith.

And in the situation we are concerned with here, that is not the case, in my humble opinion and in my understanding of the Arabic text of Verse 5:5.

I also read the article you linked to by H  Al-Turabi.  I would like to bring to your attention that the initial segment about the article which talked about the situation of a recently converted woman who was still married to her non-Muslim husband.  That situation has been discussed initially in the first few decades of Islam and at least nine different opinions exited.  The most interesting is by no less of an authority than Ali ibn Abi Taleb, who thought that a convert woman DID NOT have to leave her non--Muslim husband to become a Muslim, and that their marriage was still valid (details can be found in Jurisprudence for Muslim Minorities, By Qaradawi, page 105 – and unfortunately the book is only in Arabic). Interestingly he mentioned Al-Turabi in the book, and supports his opinion on that issue (i.e., the validity and legitimacy of previous marriage of a new 'Muslim convert' woman to a non-Muslim husband).

However, Al-Turabi's opinion on the second situation - that is of an "already Muslim" woman marrying a non-Muslim man - does not reflect the way the Quranic verse 5:5 is worded (although I would be interested in reviewing his research work on the topic if you can provide me with links to the relevant material).

And as such, I would be not comfortable adopting such opinion, with all due respect to his scholarly credentials.

I guess that is what it boils down to: comfort level so we can face God knowing that we followed our hearts after sincere search of the truth.

Khaled