Bin Laden Article

First, in response to peanut shells: I’m in the library researching bin Laden and I keep looking around to make sure no one can see my search info. I think we all have an extreme taboo association with his name. He’s like fricken Voldemort… or excuse me, “he who shall not be named.”

Anyway in my research I found this article that’s a review of bin Laden’s “Messages to the World.” In it it’s mentioned that he speaks about many similarities between the Muslim world and United States, comparing the Bush administration to corrupt Middle Eastern regimes. A lot of what bin Laden says seems like paranoid ranting, but he makes some valid points when he talks about the obviously tyrannical Patriot Act. The Act was supposed to fight terrorism but really it ended up just taking away basic rights while going on a terrorism “witch hunt.” Oh jeeze, did I just agree with a terrorist?

 

 

Book Recommenation

In light of reading Tariq Ramadan, I wanted to recommend a book that I have just read for another class that also deals with the interaction between modern and Islamic ideologies.

“Ali and Nino” by Kurban Said

Yes it’s a love story, but don’t let that turn you off ! It takes place in the Caucuses on the wake of WWI and is about the unconventional love between a Muslim boy Ali and and Christian girl Nino. The book heavily highlights the differences between east and west. For example Nino refuses to wear a head scarf and in does not understand why she is unable to accompany Ali in public in certain regions. Ali is a Shiite Muslim, and struggles with his attachment to Nino and his urge to defend his homeland. I really liked how Ali and Nino’s relationship blended both western and eastern ideologies to form a strong love.

Check it out.

Iqbal, Reformer or Radicalist?

I’m in a class entitled “Catholic and Islamic Perspectives on Democracy” and we are just starting to focus on Islamic ideal in respect to liberal democracy. In class, we talked about the difference ideologies of Muslim thinkers such as Muslim modernizers, radicalists, and reformers. One of the characteristics of being a Muslim with radical ideologies was the idea of forming an Islamic State, which is an idea that Iqbal propagated. The definition of a reformer, in this class, was a Muslim activist who thought that the ideas of democracy should be instated, but Islam should always be the main focus in the public sphere. In fact, Muslim reformers were over the idea of an Islamic State because with all different interpretations of Sharia, an Islamic State is not possible.

I just thought it was interesting that in our class we consider Iqbal a reformer, but in this class he would be considered a radical.

Addition to firebirds post

The most important idea that I pulled out from M. Sani Umar’s lecture is the distiction between Jihad and this new term “Jihadism.” Like firebird stated: Jihad has many definitions, for example struggle against  your soul, struggle against your enemies, etc. Umar says that Jihad is a matter of discourse and explanation. For example one question brought up in the discourse of Jihad is “who is applicable to participate in Jihad?” Jihadism however refers to immediate action. Some reformers of that era, Sayyid Qutb included, thought that Jihad should be directly acted upon instead of being discussed. That’s where the difference comes from because someone who participates in Jihadism doesn’t take the time to think about it, he just acts. However, the notion of Jihadism has become widely discredited today.

I hope this provided a little more insight into the lecture !

Islamic Revivalist movements in Africa

So today in my History of Islam class we were discussing the different definitions of Jihad, because when most people here Jihad today in the news they associate it with terrorist attacks and Muslim holy wars. I learned that lesser Jihad, the militant struggle, should be avoided if at all possible and only used as a defense mechanism. We then proceeded to talk about lesser Jihad in 18th and 19th century Africa. Most of these “Jihads” were characterized by the notion of Islamic reform. The only legitimate Jihad came as way to stop corrupt leaders from selling Muslims into slavery. This begs the question what situations can be considered Islamic revivalist movements, and which constitute legitimate Jihad? Any thoughts?

Iqbal

I was thinking about Iqbal’s attempt to explain religion using scientic, more specifically quantum physical, science and was wondering what everyone’s thought were on that? To me religion is based on faith which I would describe as believing in something wholehearted without having any basis for proof. Does Iqbal’s attempt to explain religion and God defeat the purpose of religion in general ?

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MOZAFFAR – Good questions. Anyone?  I would assert that Iqbal agrees with you to some degree.  He argues, for example that the proofs for God’s existence are refutable.  On the flipside, there is definitely a lot of use for the scientific method in diagnosing and curing spiritual ills.

And, on a side, note, science can be used to refute some traditions, not by saying “it cannot happen,” but by saying “factually, it did not happen.”

Concerned With Public Education

I was watching Jeopardy yesterday and the final question had to do with a country in Africa. As I searched the random knowledge bank in my head I realized I know little to nothing about African countries, let alone other places around the world. This brought me to think about my public school upbringing where we covered American history in depth and Western European history haphazardly. Even in my high school World Studies class we very briefly (maybe a class period at best) covered the Middle East. I always thought of Islam as this scary, foreign religion that should be feared because that’s how it was presented at school. Once I got to college i was shocked to discover how not only peaceful but similar Islam is to Christianity. I wonder why the Islamic religion and the Middle East is shown in such a bias light in high school. I think the public education system needs to reconcile this lack of information about not only the middle east but other places outside of the US and Europe.

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MOZAFFAR – Indeed.  On the second day of class, I gave the high speed history of the Muslim world, spanning dominant empires over the course of 1400 years.  How much did we cover in grade/high school?  About a page.  Part of the problem is that it was very taboo to speak about religion in public school.  Part of the problem is indeed that people are ignorant, and tend to fear or hate what they don’t know.

One the most influential Muslim revivalists of the past 200 years is from Africa, and I had trouble finding a good book we could study on him.