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Deeper Into Islam

Introduction

A respected commentator said in 2002, anyone who would understand the real views of leading Muslims must delve deeper than the surface of their public statements. He noted a common pattern, that such leaders ‘speak moderately to the general public and radically to Muslim-only audiences’. There is a deeper Islam and there are gentler Muslims. Is the following (made to a mosque audience in 1996) the only ‘deeper Islam’: ‘We must never forget that as Muslims, we are obligated to desire, and when possible to participate in, the overthrow of any non-Islamic government - anywhere in the world - in order to replace it by an Islamic one’? What of the ‘gentle Muslim’ who said this? He was in fact the first Muslim to be honoured, allowed to give the opening daily prayer, in the US House of Representatives. He asked God to guide the nation’s leaders and grant them righteousness and wisdom. A year later, to a Muslim audience, he is reported as allegedly saying that if Muslims were cleverer politically they could take over the United States and replace the constitutional government with a caliphate. Beyond all this, what can be found by looking ‘deeper into Islam’? Here are brief quotes, many abridged or précised, some religious, some political, some mystical, a ‘taste’ of deeper Islam.

  The Qur'an teaches spiritual knowledge of what is ordinarily hidden from men's sight, and such knowledge can only come from God to whom alone is known the Mystery of the whole Creation.
  Many Muslims believe that killing in the name of the Prophet (bhuh) is an abomination. It is difficult to draw the line between theology that leads to political extremism and political extremism that assumes the guise of doctrine.
  The true accusation we Muslims must worry about is that we have not delivered the message of Allah to His creation in the correct way. They are saying to us Muslims, in your possession is a precious jewel, something amazing, why have you not delivered it to us? The Ummah must be characterised by balance. This is our role, today, our mission.
‘SHARI’AH: PARADIGM OF HUMAN DIGNITY’  
‘Not only worship, but the whole of Shari’ah of Islam came to promote the dignity and honour of human beings – all human beings, of all races, colours and gender. Islam urges us to be clean and pure. We consider the laws of food we eat, the rules of dress, prohibition on alcohol, against adultery and fornication. Our moral codes forbid lies, cheating, deceiving, breaking promises, fighting and quarrelling. Destroying or decreasing human dignity is forbidden. Sins bring disgrace in this world and Allah’s punishment hereafter unless there is repentance. We observe honour and dignity in family relations. We respect the poor – we ‘do not shout at those who ask for help’. Orphans are helped. We honour guests. All human beings should be treated with justice, no racism, prejudices, calling of names. In economics, Islam teachers fair dealing, equity and justice, no stealing, gambling, taking usury.’  
(précis from Friday Kutbah given by Dr Muzammi Siddiqi, St Louis, September 1998)  
  Muslim Shari’ah law is based on human interpretations of divine injunctions. There is an endeavour to understand Divine will, the ‘human approach’. Thus there are several (many) interpretations of Quaranic verses. Different Schools of Shariah law came into existence. Thus there is always scope (hope) for new and creative interpretations in keeping with changed circumstances.
  Sufism is Islamic mysticism, and is an aspect or dimension of Islam, and its being can be found in the being of Sunni, Shia and other Islamic groups.
  Islamic law, to protect the five ‘indispensables’ in Islam (life, intellect, offspring, religion/reputation and property), enforces two approaches: cultivating consciousness in the human soul, awakening the finer human awareness through moral education; and secondly by inflicting deterrent punishment.
DEFENDING THE BURKA’S VALUES  
The burka and the bikini represent two extremes. One woman is totally hidden, the other is rather totally exposed. They say a great deal about the so-called clash of civilisations. The role of woman is at the heart of any culture. I love feminine beauty too much to advocate the burka (as apparel in the West). But I defend some of the values it represents. It represents a woman’s consecration to her husband and family, modesty and dignity. The feminine personality is founded on emotional relationship, mother and baby, based on nurturing and self-sacrifice. Parenthood is the pinnacle of human development. We graduate from self-indulgence and become God’s surrogates, creating and nurturing new life. Two extremes, and the answer lies somewhere in the middle.  
(précis from an article 2002 by Henry Makow, Ph.D, The debauchery of American womanhood: Bikini vs. Burka)  
  Young Muslims are 3.5 per cent of Americans. We do not understand them at all. Part of the American Dream was becoming like your neighbour. But Muslims have a code of law they respect for every dimension of their world including consumerism and media consumption.
  There is a collapse of hierarchical notions of religious authority based on claims to the mastery of fixed bodies of religious texts. No one group or type of leader in Muslim societies today possesses a monopoly over the sacred.
  “The Shura system” is superior to the Western democratic systems, believe Islamist ‘puritans’ (not to be confused with conservatives). The Qur’anic concept means governance by consultation. They the (Islamist) ‘puritans’ mean government by a just benevolent and pious despot who governs by regularly referring to standing consultative body and who applies Islamic law (fully). They would give the ‘modern’ Islamic state powers that are unprecedented in Islamic history.
MUSLIM WOMEN, SUCCESSFUL SCHOLARS  
Regarding women, Islamic scholars are faced with a plethora of source material that has only begun to be studied. In reading the biographies of thousands of Muslim women scholars, one is amazed at the evidence that contradicts the view of Muslim women as marginal, secluded, and restricted. The fact is now well documented that the proportion of female lecturers in many classical Islamic colleges was higher than in modern Western universities. Muslim women have for long periods of Islam’s history left their homes to become scholars. A hundred years ago the orientalist Ignaz Goldziher showed that perhaps fifteen percent of medieval Hadith scholars were women, teaching in the mosques and universally admired for their integrity.  
(précis, article by Abdal Hakim Murad, 1999)  
  Sufism attracts the ample majority of today’s converts. Without a military conquest by the sword, this has basically been the endorsed ideology of the amicable expansions of Islam. But in truth Sufism is not Islam but a deviation from it, a rigid theology accommodated into compromising spiritual mysticism.
  Religious choice is ultimately a personal matter, and they (devout Muslims) must recognize that apostasy, even from one’s children, must be accepted with resignation - if without joy - and without thoughts of (violent) retribution.
  Moderate Muslim scholars and legalists propose that debates over ‘necessities’ and ‘needs’ ought to be translated into modern rights safeguarding the interest of individuals, a coherent set of human rights emerging as natural extensions of Islamic heritage. The values encompass dignity, liberty, the five protected interests (life, intellect, lineage, religion/reputation and property), and discourse against subjugation and oppression. This would bolster the principal of democracy in Islam. The Qur’an clearly commands Muslims to conduct all their affairs through consultation (shura).
  Many Muslim leaders simply do not have the intellectual grasp of the modern world. Not understanding ideologies of modernism, they can hardly provide leadership to overcome them. Ignorance of non-ideological trends prevailing into this new Western millennium also prevails.
AGAINST GOD AND MORAL FABRIC  
On the sometimes severity of Islamic punishments, they are justified in general terms “because they punish crimes that are against God and a threat to the moral fabric of the Muslim community”; there is “strict regulations regarding evidence and false accusations are seriously punished”. But “Muslim reformers have argued that these punishments were appropriate originally (historically) but are inappropriate today” and that “the underlying religious principles and values need to find new expression in societies which are modernising.” Other points being made are that “societies have since (Mohammad era) progressed and become more ordered and peaceful”; that (to help keep the new sedentary society on a firm footing) “the punishments laid down 14 centuries ago had to be severe enough to be a deterrent”; and that there is movement among modern liberal Muslims to “re-interpret Islamic response to verses about ancient punishments.”  
(précis of texts in Wikipedia ‘Hudud’ and other sources 2007)  
  Buddhism and Christianity remain faiths focussed on the individual and his/her ‘ultimate fate’. Islam remains partly oriented on society and its use of clerical jurists (sunnah, hadith and so on). The modern world (USA, Britain, Europe, Russia etc, science/technology, the emerging, successful, secular Third world) presents challenges to Muslim societies which they are having considerable difficulties countering.
  The greatest threat (to Muslim dogmatism) is doubt, because thinking leads to kufr (disbelief). You think too much, a classmate told me. Yet free thinking and open-mindedness brought me to convert in the first place.
  Everyday we Muslims witness our weakness among the nations. Clothing, food, utensils, we are dependent on other nations. How many Muslim youth in Britain are living on benefits whilst they are young men capable of gaining a livelihood by halal (lawful, praiseworthy) means? How many of us lie to gain more benefit? We all have excuses. Are we allowed to lie? Allah says those who say lies are those who do not believe.
HISTORY IMPORTANT TO TODAY  
The shrine of Imam Hussain is at Karbala 100 km south of Baghdad. Grandson of Muhammad (pbuh), Hussain and his family were massacred nearly 1,400 years ago. For Shia Muslims, the battle was a fight between righteousness and evil. This history at Karbala is important to the policies of modern Iraq and the future of the Middle East.  
(UK national newspaper review, Feb 2007)  
  Most Muslim imams (examined in one UK survey) trained abroad were considered “ill-prepared to cope with the demands made upon them” in the UK by members of their mosque, its community, by local government and by other civic groups. Mosque “elders” recruit through kinship networks in their home countries, which often means the villages that they came from originally.
  In Europe, theological faculties educated Christian clergy and church authorities and governments make funds available. Muslim imams have none of these facilities. Public funding is considered essential. Integration is wanted. But dependency on Islamic countries should be ended. The argument that Muslims have special needs is not easily accepted in host countries.
  Devout and lawful Muslims – as in any religion – can be killjoys of the first order. The Muslim list of ‘forbidden activities’ are horrendous, from acting and writing novels, to singing and dancing, to composing music, from presenting a loved one with flowers to keeping dogs. The full list is unbelievable. These regulating rules are of course not even somewhat followed. That angers extremists who demand, so as to improve, strict obedience.
DARKNESS OF BELIEF SYSTEMS  
Sufism (in Islam) teaches that it is possible for us to see beyond the veils of darkness which encompass our Belief Systems. Sufi training helps devotees begin to “see things as they truly are”; “worship God as though he can been seen”; and that “one is in the world but not of the world.” Tried and tested methods (of teaching) help enable enlightenment to be accessible to people living ordinary lives in this modern world.  
(website, School of Sufi Teaching, Sufi Order UK)  
  Islamic theology confronts us with the spectacular absence of a gendered Godhead. In the Quran, we find an image of Godhead apophatically stripped of metaphor. God is simply Allah, the God; never Father.
  The law is the least understood aspect of the Islamic faith, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. In the West some think a Muslim believing in Shari’a law is by definition a fanatic or fundamentalist. The moment Islamic law is mentioned, people think of horrendous abuses by Taliban in Afghanistan, the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia or the ‘puritans’ in Sudan. This is like accusing every Jew believing in Rabbinic or Talmudic law of being a fanatic as well.
  Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable (H L Mencken)
OPPOSITE TO BRITISH VALUES  
“(In a London Muslim School) I tried to teach my pupils the British values of tolerance, respect and peace, and I felt that what was in these Saudi textbooks suggested the complete opposite of that. I do not think I have seen a clearer example of racism in my life. It seemed especially shocking that such hate-filled messages were being taught with impunity, in the heart of ‘multi-cultural’ Britain. My wife, a Malaysian Muslim, and I agree the content of the textbooks are incompatible with true Islam.”  
(British Muslim-convert teacher, article in UK national Sunday newspaper, February 2007)  
  The Prophet said women dominate men of intellect and possessors of hearts but ignorant men dominate women. Such men are shackled by an animal ferocity, they have no kindness, gentleness or love, since animality dominates their nature. Love and kindness are human attributes, anger and sensuality belong to the animals.(Jalal al-Din Rumi)
  Mohammed did not choose to be a prophet. He was chosen by Allah. He did not himself compose the 'revelations' that were spoken from his mouth; they were delivered to him by an angel who brought them from the 'Mother of the Book' which exists in heaven.
  Hadith, for Islam’s first hundred years, originally were the oral traditions reported on the actions and customs of Muhammad (pbuh), and regarded as important tools for determining the Sunnah or Muslim way of life, by all traditional Islam schools of jurisprudence.
DEATH IS A DIS-HONOUR ?  
One aspect of the dignity and honour of human beings in Islam is that it tells them that they will have life after death. Death is a negation and it is a dis-honour. But Islam tells us that when we live in faith and righteousness, we shall be honoured with an eternal life, with our meeting with Allah. We shall see Him and be very close to Him.  
(Dr Muzammil Siddiqui, September 4, 1998)  
  Hadith are considered essential supplements to and clarifications of the Qur’an, Islam's holy book. In Islamic jurisprudence, the Qur'an contains many rules for the behavior expected of Muslims, the Hadith arising through the work of scholars.
  Allah created everything perfect, especially the Qur’an. Yet throughout Muhammad’s (pbuh) prophetic career, Allah would abrogate verses ‘ to substitute one revelation for another’ as if the ‘Truth’ needed correction.
  Sufism (arising in and after the Prophet Mohammad pbuh) was surely influenced by predecessor activities within Jewish and Christian mysticism; Plotinus’s Infinity; and the Hindu/Sanskrit Upanishads.
LAW AND HEART RECONCILED  
There are three kinds of Sufism, which is mystical Islam. Orthodox or sober Sufism in which mystical practices do not contradict Shari’a, and reconcile the Law with devotions of the heart; antinomian Sufism, in which the adept is concerned with following God without ostentation or self-righteousness; and intoxicated Sufism, in which the adept is intoxicated, filled up with God and there is no distinction between mySelf and God.  
(website on Sufism, Internet 2006)  
  The Qur’an commanded worship in ‘neither a loud nor a low voice’. Yet Sunnah (reflecting the way of life of the Prophet, pbuh) instructed a Muslim to shout out the adham call to prayer at pedestrians from the top of buildings.
  With the Qur’an lacking proper substance to be a constitution for a civilisation, man-made Hadith (the Prophet’s deeds, sayings, approvals, pbuh) were introduced to help (understanding of) divine revelation. This combination provided substance to implement Shari’ah (Islamic law) but also brought more discrepancies into the Religion.
  Sufism is dedication in worship for Allah Most High, disregard for the finery and ornaments of the world, abstinence from the pleasure, wealth and prestige sought by most, and retiring from others to worship alone.
ONE TRUTH, DIVINELY REVEALED  
Unlike the names used for other religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, the name for the religion of Islam was “both revealed by God and carries a deep spiritual meaning—only by submitting one's will to Almighty God can one obtain true peace both in this life and in the life hereafter.” Islam is not “a new religion” but is the same divinely revealed Ultimate Truth that God revealed to all prophets, including Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus”.  
(website, Introducing Islam, 1999)  
  Reason can exist (in Islam) so long as its conclusions conflict not with the institutionalised logic, frozen in seventh-century Islamic orthodoxy. No Muslim could rationally reform a religion that had been ‘perfected’ by an omniscient and omnipotent God. I realised it could not be reformed.
  The Muslim Hadith is to the Koran what an engine is to the body of a car. Without the Hadith the Koran simply would not drive by itself.
  Without the advent of the Internet, regarding Islam, we could not have even what we have, what we know, today. You can see so many websites that are now telling the truth about the ‘real Islam’. Even a few years ago these (disclosures) were unthinkable for the Muslim mind. The Internet has changed everything.
MALE, FEMALE, ‘OTHER’ GENDERS  
(In Afghanistan) there are three genders – male, female and the other (female Aid Workers and female journalists like myself). I was an oddity – an Afghan-born woman living on her own with (Muslim) men who were not her husband or father. That Society breeds tough women, but it will take two generations (to make a difference).  
(précis, report, Sunday national newspaper, UK, March 2007)  
  Many of the beliefs expressed by these predominantly Wahhabi Muslims are quite simply deeply racist and supremacist.
  Do not tar all Muslims with the same brush. Sunni and Shia are as different as chalk and cheese. Though Saddam was Sunni, (most) Sunnis will not integrate, their beliefs forbid it, they believe all countries should be Islamic.
  An extreme version of the Islamic religion emerged out of the post-colonial ferment and rise of Arab nationalism in late 19th, early 20th centuries. It gave rise to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928, which later fused with the puritanical Wahhabi doctrine, which was/is the orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia.
GOD, LIFE, HUMANITY, UNITY  
The foundation of the Islamic faith is belief in the Unity of God. This means to believe that there is only one Creator and Sustainer of everything in the Universe. God is Compassionate, Loving and Merciful. Nothing is divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Him. The belief in the Unity of God is not merely a metaphysical concept. It is a dynamic belief that affects one’s view of humanity, society and all aspects of life. A logical corollary, to the Islamic belief in the Oneness of God, is its belief in the oneness of Man and Humanity.  
(website, on Unity, 2003)  
  About 70 per cent of all British Muslims are under the age of 25. A questions, asked of a gathering of them, on a Course in 2006 was: should Islam condone practices such as genetic engineering, egg transplantation, etc, as examples of scientific progress for the benefit of humanity, or should such practices be condemned as giving scientists the opportunity to ‘play God’?
  In Islam’s golden period, science/matter and the spirit came together. Spinoza understood the necessity. He was quoted as saying: "Religion without science is lame; Science without religion is blind."
  Shari’ah law is the sum total of technical, methodologies, legal, precedents, decisions (in Islam). Secondly it is a powerful symbol of Islam identity. To the trained jurist it is complex and technical. To the average Muslim it is Islamic authenticity and legitimacy.
  In the religious words and labels by which Islam defines itself, the terms ‘democracy’ and ‘liberty’ and ‘human rights’ do not exist as such. All of these concepts do exist, however, under the umbrella of the powerful word ‘Justice’" -- al Adl in Arabic and in the Qur’an.
‘HUMAN PROGRESS ADVANCED 500 YEARS’  
In the 13th century, the Muslim world once possessed in its hands the keys to the future prosperity that technology could deliver. And with the invention of double entry bookkeeping, it possessed the blueprint of the plans for the modern corporation. Because of Islam, because of the Qur’an, these keys were thrown away. Eventually, after several hundred years, Europe was able to absorb this knowledge and overthrow the dark constraint of its own religion to unlock the mysteries of science and discover the path to prosperity. If the Muslim world had been able to continue on this path itself, the cause of human progress would have been advanced by about five hundred years.  
(précis, from website, John L Perkins 2003)  
  Despotic governments in the Muslim world, which are systematic abusers of human rights, tend to either target and persecute all dissenters, or target Islamic puritanical movements. Category one (to name a few) includes Saudi Arabia, Saddam’s Iraq, Syria, Libya, Indonesia and Sudan. Category two (to name some) includes Egypt, Pakistan, Kuwait, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
  On self-criticism, do you accept the legitimacy of scholarship enquiries into the origins of Islam? ( Muslim scholar answer) Scholarly enquiry I welcome, however I am wary of prejudice masquerading as impartial enquiry.
  It is unfashionable to say some cultures are more backward than others but that does not make it less true. The lifestyle of millions of (Muslim)Afghans today is indistinguishable from, or worse than, the way they (their ancestors) lived centuries ago.
VIOLENCE, RELIGION, SPIRITUAL, MYSTICS  
The Islamic faith is ‘the most violent’ of the world’s universal religions’ – Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism. Buddha, a prince, died a mystic of no wealth (if you ignore spirituality). Jesus, a carpenter who preached toleration and peace and mystic-spirituality, died violently (violence via the subsequent ‘Christian centuries’ is undeniable). Israel today defends itself (others would say other). Mohammad (pbuh) before his mystical experiences was a trader, a warlord (as we see it today) whose followers went out to bring ‘fire and sword’ to all who denied God’s message. A Christian or Buddhist taking up arms today for religious reasons does so contrary to the teachings. This cannot be said clearly, unarguably of (those claiming to be) Muslims. It is conceded hundreds of million of ordinary, peaceful Muslims would not easily use violence or weapons.  
(excerpt, website article on Islamic fundamentalism, 2006)  
  The Koran shows every sign of being thrown together by human beings, as do all the other holy books. Again, like all other holy books, the Koran is replete with incoherence and contradiction. Again, there is continual incitement to violence and intolerance, consistent with the Bible and the Torah.
  Shariah is understood widely as ‘Islamic law’ but it is not really ‘law’ but a gathering of principles, values and regulations from which legislation arises and law is drawn.
  Many Muslim communities look backwards lamenting the loss of a golden age and too little time working to construct a new better future. They sacrifice their own future for the sake of dreams about the past.
GHETTOES ARE VOLUNTARY CREATIONS  
Islamic ‘ghettoisation’ has been most visible in eight major UK cities (towards 2007 - but not just across Britain, across Europe and several USA cities too). The population of these mostly inner cities communities has risen fast. In the decade or two to 2005, by one third. These ‘ghettoes’ are a voluntary creation, unforced development, by a mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants. The problem, surely, breeds extremism, from willing recruits who are socially excluded and then marginalized in society?  
(précis, article, Radio Free Europe website, 2005)  
  Islamism and political Islam are vague and broad enough to cover any form of Islam that a particular commentator might wish to disparage. When used by the West, critically, are they arrogant words? Islamists are Muslims who believe that Islamic law and theology should serve as an authoritative frame of reference in any social or political condition. Are they being arrogant?
  There are clear differences and distinctions between Muslim ‘conservatives’ and (Islamist) ‘puritans’. Conservatives do believe that an Islamic state must apply God’s law, but not that rebellion against governments that fail to apply the Divine law as justified. In general they reject the use of violence to achieve their aims, whereas the ‘puritans’ embrace the ideology of violence.
  The aims of Shariah are said to be establishment of justice in society, and the creation of a morally responsible society. Justice encompasses social, economic and political life, and compassion is the basis of relations between human beings, and should also be so between government and public.
DISCUSSION, ARGUMENT, DEBATE  
Stretching over centuries, the hallmark of the (past) Muslim civilization, there were intense debates and fierce arguments. A variety of intellectual groups, with remarkably diverse positions, mushroomed everywhere. There were colourful names, like People of the Tent (stoics), Brethren of Purity (neo-Platonists), People of Subjective Vision (the mystics), and People of the Straight Way Community (theological rationalists). No engagement was fiercer than that between Muslim theologians and the philosophers.  
(excerpt, book, introduction to Islam, 2004)  

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