Re: Stoning of Somali Woman

Firstly, I think it is terrible that a woman was stoned for this offense, when in my opinion worse things are being done. The difficulty in many faiths, as we have seen this semester, is interpretation. In this case someone of influence declared this offense to be worthy of death. My concern is the lack of accountability for such people. In any belief there will be people with a varying degree of interpretations, from liberal to conservative. What I still do not understand is how these ‘Muslim’ countries function, seemingly, without any accountability. This has been a long-standing issue for me and instances like this make me wonder what the umma is going to do about it. If actions such as these do not represent Islam then when are people going to start publically challenging those who would propose that it does?

RE: RE: Stoning of Somali Woman

I think the media plays a huge role in this. If we look at news over the past two decades, whenever the media can attach Islam to anything they blow it up into a huge seen. As we all know, the man involved in the Fort Hood shootings was Muslim. Since that shooting occured I have been inolved in many group conversations with Muslim in and out of the Masjid where this topic came up. Everytim it did come up the one thing we all talked about was how he did notthing in the name of Islam but jsut because he was Muslim it blew up in the faces of all the Muslims. Now lets say this man was Christian. This news would probably not been as big of a deal and there would be no religious association to it. Now we must realize in this day and time that the media, in my opinion, is evil. We must be careful of what we belive and don’t belive. We cannot always make a quick judgment based on something we hear on T.V. Its funny that the media could actually get away with saying that stoning is a form of the death penalty in Islam. The problem here is that people will belive it, EVEN the Muslims. Why? Because over the centuries its just been like that and so they assume thats how it should be dealt with in Islam. Most of the reformers that we have been readindg about are trying to overcome this media wall that has made the interpretation of Islam a hard task. Instead of looking at the Quran and sunnah as the primary text and sources of interpretation, people are basing their opinions on what they hear and read from the media. Establishing the Quran and Sunnah as the main sources needs to be established as one of the many tasks.

RE: Stoning of Somali Woman

I agree that this situation is quite disheartening but there should be no judgement put on Islam. People act out in the name of religion because they find it a way out or a way of justifying their actions. With that said, there is nothing in the Quran that allows this behavior. But just because extremists or fundamentalists say that it is the Quran that states this should be done  way doesn’t make it factual. These are people that seem to interpret the holy words in their own way and make up their own rules in their heads to make their behaviors acceptable. These are people that lack knowledge which is why they act of in ways and then place it on the Quran to justify their doings.  In my opinion it is simply ignorance and denial to take responsibility for their actions. And i can almost guarantee that if this was a man in place of this woman nothing would have happened to him.

Somali woman stoned to death

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8366197.stm

This is a BBC article about a woman who was divorced but had sex with an unmarried man and was consequently buried to the waste and stoned to death by a crowd of 200 people after local Somali authorities claimed that this is the procedure which the Qur’an says to follow. First off, I do not recall ever seeing anything about this in the Qur’an, nor to do recall reading anything which could possibly be interpreted as instructions to this end.

So this is the point this raises for me: I will go ahead and agree that there is a bias in the Western media and we are given stories and images often designed to convince us that Muslims are monsters and Islam is this horrible scary thing. But does that mean that things like the events of this article DON’T occur? I can’t bring myself to dismiss the content article as “Western media bias” and yes, it does negatively impact my view of Islamic governance. I am not implying that a positive and just Islamic state is impossible, but here is a real-life contemporary example of a government claiming to be of the Qur’an and having organized public stonings. Bias or not, this did really happen and really was said to be justified in the name of Islam.

Something fishy part 2

Another thing I wanted to add to my previous post is that–

in Islam the killing of innocents is a grave sin. In fact there is a hadith (saying of the Prophet) that states that the taking of a life of one man is as if one has murdered all of humanity. From a religious standpoint– revenge is not something Islam advocates. Yes, fighting in defense is justified– but not murder for the sake of historical grievances. So Bin Laden, with all of his elegant words on the imperialism of the west and its horrific treatment of Muslims– essentially misconstrues Islam with his violence enthused speeches. The killing of children can NEVER be justified–what can they have possibly done?

It seems as if Bin Laden suffuses his lectures with a balance of Hadith and Qur’anic ayas alongside historical grievances against colonizers and Western imperialism. So, while not really focusing on the heart of the Islamic reform of the individual– he uses the Qur’anic scripture as a vehicle to drive his mission of destroying America. Also, the statements he makes that never can a Muslim befriend or trust a Non-Muslim are wholly untrue. The Qur’an offers a great degree of respect for Jews and Christians– People of the Book.

Essentially– I noticed that Bin Laden uses the masses’ faith and cleverly applies it to his speeches on the horrors of American supremacy and hegemony. In doing so, he confuses people– and forces them to believe that true spiritual bliss can only be achieved by fighting out the ‘infidels’ a word he seems to have an affinity for. Once again, something seems fishy about a man so intelligent crafting together such a shrewd and evil argument– for something he must know is inconsistent with Islam and that does not help advance the spirituality of any Muslim.

 

Something seems fishy. Bin Laden book.

So I decided that I would read the Bin Laden book with the eyes of someone who knows nothing about Bin Laden.  Somewhat difficult given all the rhetoric and brouhaha surrounding the global super-villain.

Going through his statements and speeches, I can see how Bin Laden successfully appealed to so many of the poor and uneducated masses. Everything he says about Western imperialism is true– we are the superpower and we don’t apologize for anything. We’ve been massacring and killing innocents for centuries, but always so in line with our economic interests. And the instant someone opposing our interests rises up and defends himself– we are quick to condemn him and squash the opposition. We are a global bully- its recognized world-over, and only now beginning to slightly change under Obama’s administration.

Speaking to a disenfranchised, poor and illiterate audience, I can see how Bin Laden could inspire the youth to take up arms– or even at the very least, find his messages justified. By offering the downtrodden a scapegoat for all of their grievances, Bin Laden successfully polarized the poor and solidified an already lurking hatred toward the West.

HOWEVER– and I acknowledge now that I sometimes believe conspiracy theories– something seems very calculated about all of Osama’s speeches. He offers no goal or positive ends that can possibly justify his murderous means. No, he’s only hell-bent on revenge. ALl there is — is empty angry rhetoric. And while the claims he makes against the crimes of the West he offers are true — he doesn’t offer a viable solution — from his passages, it is clear that he is an intelligent man..so obviously he understands that by attacking America, America will strike back– harder. If he is (as he undoubtedly was), aware of this fact.. why would he push the poor to keep killing themselves for a cause that WILL NEVER SUCCEED?

BIn Laden, for all his eloquence and rhetoric, seems like a political puppet. He’s there to distract everyone it seems. There’s something even more evil lurking beneath the surface.. I suspect. Fight the aggressors, drive them out — he says…then what? Something just seems fishy. Maybe I shouldn’t post this..its pretty controversial.. thoughts?

Re: Enough Already

In reponse to your statement about those who commit violence in the name of religion, I believe it is necessary to divide such individuals into two groups. The first group, those who actually carry our the violence, most likely believe what they are doing is in the name of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, etc. Often times these individuals are from the lower classes, as they generally receive less education and are therefore more susceptible to manipulation. The second group includes leaders, planners, financiers, and other educated individuals. I would argue that this second group knows that what they are doing is in direct opposition to the principles of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, etc. However, by framing their actions within the context of religion these individuals can gain support for their “cause,” while hiding their true motives: politics. Unfortunately, religion has been used as a mask for political violence whenever politics alone has not garnered enough support.

Blind Religion

In light of last week’s reading of Tariq Ramadan, I thought I would share a few examples of individuals – one is muslim and the other christian – who believe science has no place in religion. What frightens me the most about such individuals is that they are willing to deny science even when it does not contradict religion. That a man would deny that the earth is round and a mother teach her son that you have to choose between science and religion is outright scary. Just because you believe in religion or science does not mean that you cannot also believe in the other.

My roommate showed me a youtube clip over the weekend of an Iraqi TV debate on whether or not the earth is flat. The clip begins with one man quoting the Qur’an as evidence that the earth is in fact flat – “The breadth of Paradise is as the breadth of the heavens and earth.” The same individual goes on to say how we still do not understand how the eye works and that the moon is half the size of the sun. However, what I found most disturbing is that this individual claims that there is no room for modern science saying, “This science is a heretic innovation that has no confirmation in the Koran.”

The other clip I linked is from the movie Jesus Camp, which unfortunately takes place only about 20-30 minutes from where I live. In this short clip we are given a glimpse into the anti-science rhetoric that is taught to kids within the evangelical church – “If you look at creationism, you realize it’s the only possible answer to all the questions” and “I think personally that Galileo made the right choice by giving up science for Christ.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wppjYDj9JUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z14iuazhuTQ&feature=related

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?

 

 

re: bin laden and peanut shells

When I eat peanuts with the shells, I typically suck on the shells before cracking them open because I like the salt. I hope the shells thrown at you had not been sucked on. That would make the story grosser.

 

Is it justified or unjustified? I don’t think it can be answered in such black and white terms. That one song by Buffalo Springfield says, “nobody’s right when everybody’s wrong” and I think this fits the situation quite well. I agree that America as an entity out there in the world is overwhelmingly arrogant and that our media facilitates ignorance and arrogance running rampant throughout the American public. However, it is also easy to observe this and move to the other extreme and get carried away condemning America and Americans in order to distance ourselves from this phenomenon. I do not doubt that there are things bin Laden says which are legitimate and deserve our consideration, but three students at my high school lost their mothers on the planes which crashed into those towers. I think that the events of 9/11 legitimately rendered it difficult for bin Laden’s message to be received by the average American.

 

I’m not sure if this example is inappropriately lighthearted, but I will make it anyway because perhaps it is easier to think about, or at least it is for me: I truly think that Micheal Moore is an unfortunate character. He says things that are so important to say, and tries to get out messages which are so essential for people to hear, but he is so obnoxious that no one who disagrees wants to listen. I tend to agree with his viewpoints and I can’t even stand him. So in the end, the ways in which he expresses himself totally hurt his cause because to the people on the right, Moore is just more evidence that people on the left aren’t worth their time.