MISUNDERSTOOD WAY OF LIFE

Due to a series of errors mine included, the draft version of my column was printed this week, instead of the final. I am therefore publishing this version which is not from the newspaper itself on this blog, because this is what should have been printed.

By Rabia Ahmed                                                                Pakistan Today 16 August 2011

‘If stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out again?’

Well obviously because we’re not done being stupid yet, and there’s still Sarah Palin.

The full blown epileptic state of the world today makes cataclysmic events such as the breakup of the Soviet Union appear either like a very large twitch or a very small seizure. Wars and irresponsible borrowing produced the US economic crisis, a drop in its credit rating, and the bandying about of terms such as ‘deleveraging’ which has nothing to do with physics.  Another economic crisis in Europe and resultant spectres of default and austerity measures led to riots in Greece and in normally bucolic settings such as England, suddenly unsettlingly like Beirut.

Middle Eastern regimes collapsed, and erstwhile rulers hung on grimly as in Libya, fled the country as in Tunisia... or remained as in the case of Egypt, only to be brought to court in a cage.

Famine in Somalia, a breakdown of governance in Pakistan... is all this plain stupidity (to a great extent yes), or is the world failing to think laterally (and rationally) about alternatives to current systems?

The thought intrudes: has Islam a solution to offer? If so, which Islam are we talking about?

Many of today’s problems are exacerbated if not always caused by what is seen as Islam...the armed ‘Islamic militant’ Taliban variety that comes with suicide vests and ‘jihadist’ ideals.

Imam Yahya Hendi

Imam Yahya Hendi a Muslim Chaplin at Georgetown University, D.C and founder President of ‘Clergy Beyond Borders’ posted a comment on Facebook defining Jihad:

‘Jihad is not fighting in a combat zone that claims the lives of men and women. Instead, Jihad is to spiritually, mentally and physically say ‘no’ to all forms of evil including the evils of our souls. 
Jihad is to say ‘no’ to hate, violence, revenge, and war. Jihad is to tell the truth, keep the promise and speak for justice for ALL. Jihad is to look after our earth and protect our water resources. Jihad is to stand up for women’s rights and of the poor.’

Those educated objectively in the teachings of Islam are aware that this is so, but the emotional/misinformed majority still associates jihad with militancy.  If the world labours under a misconception about an important term such as this, what other misconceptions do we have out are there?

Islamic teachings cover the fields of banking, governance, charity, education, men, women, children, orphans, the old and sick, wars, social intercourse, marriage, and much more. The larger the ground covered the more scope for misunderstanding and probably the biggest misunderstanding of all for both Muslims and others, is that Islam is nothing but a rigid collection of trivia… the hijab, whether or not to shake hands with strange men, how to perform ablutions, etc.

While some important aspects of Islam such as its strict monotheism and its other four ‘pillars’ are inviolable,  there is no way that a way of life meant to be for all times can be so prescriptive. Islam, that huge revolutionary concept teaches a set of principles, based upon which actions may be (rationally) considered and based. It is only if this view is accepted that Islam can be applied successfully, and this is being realized, more so in the non ‘Muslim’ countries of the world. The following are only a few examples:

Prof Rodney Wilson

Professor Rodney Wilson is the Director of the Finance Programme at the University of Durham which offers postgraduate degrees in Islamic banking systems. He says that people in the west are increasingly skeptical about (traditional) banking services, and that Islamic retail financial institutions are now well established in many Western countries. For him ‘Islamic banking and finance is about the emergence of a distinctively Islamic form of capitalism that may co-exist and interact with Western, Chinese, Russian or any other capitalism. Such a development should be welcomed and facilitated, not be hindered or suppressed.’

The ADAMS mosque in Virginia offers more than ritual prayer. It offers (to both men and women) computer, language and literacy classes, and during off hours its prayer hall doubles as a basketball court.

All those years ago, tolerance of and coexistence with minorities were taught by Islam, and yet it is only now that members of the National Assembly of Pakistan expressed their approval of Jinnah’s dream of people being ‘free to go to their temples, mosques or any other place of worship.’

This column is not intended to be a theological rant, but to point out the rather foolish tendency of disregarding/discarding ideas without even bothering to look them up to gather sufficient information. 

With the world in the mess it is in today, it is worth keeping an open mind, although I still draw the line at Sarah Palin…I’ve looked her up.