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Truth is mostly simple.
Because everybody needs it.
Lord Most High summarised that in Surah Asr.
You believe in Allah, do good deeds, align with truth and be patient when you face trouble because of these actions.
Then there are crafty people.
They try to complicate the reality and hence the truth.
Like bomb blasts in Shia and Sunni areas. The moment the west entered Iraq and Afghanistan that is what started happening.
Some one complicated the reality and truth.
Shia and Sunni had the differences but it was not bomb blasts or targetted killings of Scholars.
So what was the simplicity behind this complex reality?
Well if Shias and Sunnis were fighting then they will not be free to unite with each other and turn against the intruder called west.
And the west did what they wanted.
They used their snipers to decimate all able bodies Muslims in those lands.
In summary there are people around us who want control of not only natural resources but also the people.
And they will do nasty things to achieve their goals.
There are greedy, crafty, selfish and unscruplous people around us.
They want worldly things that might rightfully be ours.
And they will go and they do go to any extent to achieve their ends.
Is that so difficult to understand?
The west would like their values followed.
Is that so difficult to understand.
They will not say that they want to gawk at our women.
That will be too obvious.
They will talk about women's liberation. Freedom. Liberty. Education. Gender equality.
And by the time you analyse the perfidy behind these constructs you are already drowning in technical details.
And at the end of the discussion they will declare you anti-women, misogynist.
And you'll have the distinct feeling that he is the one who won the argument.
That is what he wanted and that is what he was for.
But shouldn't the truth prevail. shouldn't Islam prevail if Islam is the truth.
Well there is another part of truth that has been prevailing.
Science and technology.
Believe me we are very good at reciting Kalima. They have no match with us there.
Science, technology, media, military are the clues to our trouble.
I live in Aligarh, a town that arguably should be taken to be synonymous of revival of Ummah.
But is Ummah in a state of revival?
This is one of the most tricky questions before Muslim Ummah.
Let alone reviving the global Ummah we have not been able to revive even our own fortunes in India.
What are the reasons behind that?
For if we can pin point the factors behind the lack of revival then may be we can do something by way of solution.
In case of Aligarh the factor responsible for the lack of revival can be identified without fear of contradiction.
It is the partition of India.
There were some Muslims in India who took over Aligarh's intellectual strength and succeeded in partitioning the subcontinent of India.
More precisely they were successful in dividing Muslims of India into three nearly eaqual chunks reducing their strength to one third each.
And then the Muslims of India are left to pay the price.
This should not be taken as a narrative against the Muslims of Pakistan or Bangladesh but merely as a statement of the problems of Muslims of India.
So coming back to the problems of Muslims of India we see that the Muslim hating elements in the majority community of India have been making inreasing forays into Indian politics and today they have complete power over the country and Muslims at the nadir of their existence.
In this situation Muslims need inordinate amount of courage to assert their natural rights.
So far we do not see clear signs of revival of Ummah in India.
Where will the requisite courage come from?
Just because some Muslims of undivided India took their share and separated does not mean that the Muslims of divided India have lost their rights.
I live in the midst of them and though there is significant awareness about problems of Muslims but the sheer grit and courage to stand up as a Ummah is still missing.
There are minimal sparks of hope here and there but the strength of a twenty crore group is no where to be seen.
And they continue to be the easy target for Muslim haters.
We know the diagnosis from Rasoolallah (SAW) about this situation.
It would be either love of this world or fear of death or both.
In my view it is more significantly latter.
Interesting question Khan Sahab.
And it confounds me.
But why are we surprised if Europe gives special treatment to the chosen people.
Indeed if there is a Brahmin team from India, in any capacity - official or unofficial, thenn too Europe may not take much time to incorporate in some very honourable manner.
Same goes about Shias.
I suppose this is the point where we can conclude that our star performers like A.H.Murad, Hamza Yusuf, Yasir Qadhi, Suhaib Webb and the like should be doing some executive diplomatic talk. Rather than running a campaign designed by the intellignce agencies.
The burden of the present thread is how to be a Muslim in present times.
I do not have the ready made solution.
I have only worries.
And in that sector things are going from bad to worse.
And, it may sound contradictory but it is not, in some way things are also turning around.
I have already mentioned the turning around clues.
(1) A US diplomat saying that Taliban are not terrorists but armed militants.
(2) Barack H. Obama saying that th US is not at war with Islam.
(3) He also accepting that US policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible for the current situation.
Muslims got to make optimum use of the changing attitude of US.
And the main theme to keep always in mind is how to be a Muslim in present times.
To others the question can be put in the following manner: We want to implement Islam in our lives, is that too much to ask?
This includes protection of our social, cultural, economic, territorial, business, financial and political space.
We have our own values and would like to live by them.
We do not want others' values imposed on us.
Last month, by contrast, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi acknowledged that there was an ideology problem in Islam and said, “We need to revolutionize our religion.”
When I heard Sissi’s words, I thought: Finally.
Beyond these statements, though, we need a new interpretation of Islamic law in order to change the culture. This would require rejecting the eight schools of religious thought that dominate the Sunni and Shiite Muslim world. I propose naming a new one after ijtihad, the concept of critical thinking, and elevating self-examination over toxic shame-based discourse, laws and rules. Such a project could take the power out of the hands of the status quo clerics, politicians and experts and replace it with a progressive interpretation of faith motivated not by defending honor but acting honorably.
Asra Nomani claims to be from the lineage of great Muslim scholar Allama Shibli Nomani whose books not only demolished the orientalists much before Edward Said's Orientalism but also revitalised the Muslim thought. People from his family have vehmently denied her claims. She is an unwed mother and used that disgrace as a passport to name and fame and indeed got her Haj visa on that. I suppose every Muslim should look western in the eye and tell them that we are not amused by the fact that they romanticize anyone who goes astray from Islam.
West is bothered why young boys and girls are heading towards Iraq leaving all the goodies of western life behind them.
But they are not creating an environment where Muslims can tell them the truth. And the truth is that Islamic values are way different from western values. And after a point the goodies of western life do not hold the charm that the west thinks. They got to accept the truth. It is the west that has to make major readjustment with the rest. In any case they are no more in a position to dictate their terms and conditions to Islam and Muslims.
So dear west stop romaticising Asra Nomani, Salman Rushdie, Wafa Sultan, Mariam Namazi and the works. They hold no charm for Muslims and the are plain offensive. And if you decide to romanticise them then please do so privately. We do not fancy these trophies and have no use for them. We understand that you want amicable relationship with Islam and Muslims. Seeing the debris that you have created over the centuries it will take some time. Like it or not. Most of the responsibility for the trouble between you and Islam and Muslims lies squarely upon your shoulders. Be brave and bear it. As such life is not easy for us. And it is mostly because of you.
You certainly would like our help in dealing with the situation that you are facing. We'll get to that after we have put our house in order that is in shambles because of you. You never tried to understand us and only tried to impose first your power and now your values on us. Even blinds can see that some Muslims are rather angry with you. You would like us to passify them. Well at the moment it is difficult for us to help. Because of two reasons. Firstly we do not have our house in order and two the injustice meted out to Islam and Muslims on your part is mammoth. It is very difficult for us to put our house in order and without that it is unlikely that we'll have much heart to solve your problems.
(1) First we heard a US diplomat saying that Taliban is not a terrorist but militant group.
(2) Then we heard Obama saying that US is not at war with Islam.
(3) Third we heard him telling that the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is of their, that is US, making.
All of these should be taken as a policy readjustment on part of US.
Combined with the observation that Zionist spell over US is slowly melting away we Muslims must wake up to this new reality.
That people like Asra Nomani can still implant a nasty piece in the mainstream US press is due to sheer inertia.
Things take time to change one way or other.
US inherited anti-Muslim and anti-Islam attitudes from Europe .
After all US is their inheritor.
It also inherited the colonial as well as crusading mindset - if not the ideology.
So apart from doing Dawah about how wonderful our religion is, and wonderful it is, we ust also tell the US intelligentsia that they have the golden opportunity to disengage from the crusading mindset that they have inherited from their own colonial past.
The Asras and Rushdies will simply become irrelevant the way Ayan Hirsi Ali has become irrelevant right in front of our eyes.
After that it will not be relevant whether the US shelters a million Asras for they will not be the flag bearers of what US stands for.
Today they are.
They got to be knocked off the pedestal.
Our brothers and sisters in the west got to engage the US intelligentsia to take note of the vital reality that the US is head long fighting the values that are the core of Islam because of its inherited mindset.
That does not have to be the case.
Here I am having a go on her.
Old timers from SF might remember Dr Abu Tamim Sahab (RA).
I feel that technique has run its full course and we can adopt a different approach and attitude today.
Nevertheless I intend to finish above linked piece.
What US concessation is Helene Cooper talking about in this April 3, 2015 piece in the New York Times?
If we remove the verbiage then it simply means that the US and Iran are fighting side by side.
This has very significant implications for Muslims the world over.
Long ago it should have become clear to anyone paying attention that those who expected that US will in any way help in solving Muslim problems was utterly foolish.
US in particular and the west in general always had their interests and UN and the Security Council were merely the instruments to their ends.
And why should anyone expect otherwise?
Particularly when US explicitly started talking about US interests.
Bashar-a-Asad has been committing untold atrocities upon Muslims for so long.
He was not delt with effectively.
Saddam Hussain was captured and was handed over to Shias - his arch-enemies.
And for some time there is this US feeling and in all probability action upon cooperating with Bashar-al-Asad.
This renewed cooperation with Iran will have direct implications in Yemen.
With Iran in Iraq but against Iran in Yemen does not sound like a feasible paradigm.
A Barelwi friend got irritated with this sinner because he was irritated with Ali Miyan (RA).
"Till today I do not know what is Ali Miyan's stand on Babri Masjid", he complained.
And I have sympathies with this Barelwi friend.
Our scholars sometimes do not take clear stand on crucial issues.
We can understand that also.
Taking clear stand usually means some concrete events will happen on ground level.
Hence our scholars avoid taking clear stands.
This might be taken as real politik asnd skeptic will call it escapism or not rising upto the occasion.
May I apologize to my younger brothers and sisters for similar kind of mistakes?
Yes I have been doing the same.
When there is a possibility of serious real life implications I do not go all the way upto drawing a conclusion but simply state the state of affirs as they stand.
Indeed it is cowardice. So I do owe an apology and I do tender my most profound apologies.
We are indeed living in those times when having faith is like holding a burning piece of coal in your palm.
But this clarifies one thing. Burning piece of coal in your palm is a simile and a metaphor for difficult external reality.
We face that reality today.
We live in those times where even statement of reality is a risky enterprize.
In these times even small acts of obedience to Allah (SWT) carry great rewards.
In such times Allah (SWT) is pleased with small amounts of acts of worship.
The 5,000-word biography clarifies disputed facts about his birth and upbringing
Above is my pet peeve.
Who is worried about his upbringing? Not me.
If he leads the believers in a competent manner then that is it.
This is a two fold irritation.
People harp on ancestral qualification, genealogy, Shajara.
And they pay no attention to competence.
By now we have live a few centuries under western influence and yet we have not learned some of the lessons that even they knew better than us.
The hereditory tag as a qualification, for example.
If you are great because of you DNA then why did you allow Islam and Muslims to lapse into the hands of Islam haters?
I have the same complain even with Ali Miyan (RA).
He dwelt too much on those aspects.
Dearest maripat saab I have to say these posts of yours are very deep. I would however wish to slightly disagree with you. Although I agree some people go over the top in terms of lineage etc we must not forget that the vast majority of our reformers came from illustrious backgrounds. They were the products of a pious upbringing, noble in lineage far from zina etc. This was true of the prophets and is true of most inheritors of the prophets. At the same time I would agree that the opposite can happen. hazrat ahmed ali lahori rh was of sikh lineage and great saint maruf karkhi rh was born in a christian household etc. I would excuse ali miyan rh for this as his study of history would not allow him to ignore such realities. Please forgive me for interjecting but overall I do agree with your sentiments especially about the sajda nasheens of the various dargas in India who live off the legacy of their forefathers.
I have no idea on hazrat lahori's families conversion. All I am aware is that hazrat lahori was from a sikh background. He was mostly looked after by hazrat ubaidullah sindhi rh. He initially lived a very difficult life especially childhood. I guess the tough climate made him who he was.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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