Comrade!

I am not surprised one bit that when you posed your very simple question about Islam and Slavery in public, some 'Muslims' would choose to respond to you in private; in fact those are our very un-Islamic ways. Openness and transprancy about important issues are applied only when we talk about Yaya Jammeh.

I believe if one is confident about what one has to clarify, they will make it available to all and sundry to read and make their own accessment.

Whenever an attempt is made to question some aspect of our religion you see defensiveness from some real stiff necked fools. Those times are past when people will just follow blindly whatever they are told. Like a herd of cows, when one says: 'moo' and moves in one direction, they rest will repeat: 'moo' and follow.

God has created Man in His own image and put in us a more developed brain than all other creatures so that we can put it to use in improving ourselves and our condition. He has also created goats and sheep and cows, etc. If however, some want to show God their gratitute by behaving like the lesser creatures, to me that is just a measure of how ungrateful they are.

The Lord made you into a human being with a highly developed brain in order to think and reason but you say no thanks, I don't need all those faculties, those of a goat are sufficient for me. Well...

Just last week I was watching Bob Gedolf's ongoing Africa series on the BBC and was quite surprised to learn about the condition of the Bella people who to this day believe that it was God who devined that they as a people are the slaves of the Tuareg and should remain so for all time and those people are quite convinced and comfortable with their condition.

When Gedolf tried to show him the un-Godliness of slavery, he was adamant that you cannot questioned what has been devined! The old man confessed he wanted to be free and wanted his children and grandchildren to be free but that such cannot be, that they shall remain slaves of the Tuareg for all time! And the Bella are Muslims.... Now would it hurt them to question...

Now, what is so wrong in questioning aspects of our religion when we know deep in our hearts that those aspects cannot be in the spirit in which God meant them. How can Islam be perfect when it does not condemn slavery outright?

We are not Arabs, we are African and the victims of slavery and since Islam tells us that God created all men equal, surely, it is a tribute to God if we use that highly developed organ to question the contradiction that slavery poses in Islam. In fact this exercise we are engaged in, to me is the highest form of prayer. No other form of prayer beats this as what we are doing is saying to God: 'We highly appreciate your love for us, the love that allowed you to put highly developed brains that enebles us to question right and wrong and to speak out against wrong! Thank you Allah!

Thanks for your openmindedness!

Regards,

Kabir.

Momodou S Sidibeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi All,

I have received a number of private mails related to this topic, but came to the conclusion that it would probably be best to deliberate publicly, a little bit more on the issue at hand in order to straigthen out a number of misconceptions inherent in those mails. Also, this will accord me the chance to clear the air about my raising the question in the first place.

Given the exchange that preceded my asking the question about the occurence of condemnation of slavery in the Holy Quran, it was probably a case of bad timing. One ought to have suspected that it could be perceived as offensive. My sincere apologies to all who felt that way.

I reasoned that injecting such a question into the tail end of an important but degenerating exchange would not only bring that to an end, but would also provide a radical twist to the overall issue of racism and Islam as we Africans understand it.

Those who responded to my question publicly or privately, with the exception of Kabir, all went on the defensive, placing the spotlight on other religions, making the case for slavery as a universal historical institution, or making comparative racial analogies.

But defending Islam in this way has the unfortunate consequence of making it suspect in the first place. Muslims ought to have the courage for unfettered, severe introspection, unpolluted by scriptures of other faiths. Islam has been perfected for us (remember?) and must therefore be able to stand on its feet. Besides, IT is the religion that most of us practice in Gambia. So, naturally it IS Islam we should explore, research, and question, and we should not worry about ANY attempt to question Islamic teachings because ALLAH placed it upon us to seek the TRUTH.

That is the reason why questions raised about our religion should not translate into automatic assaults at our faith. Fearing that questions raised by agnostics and even oursleves as believers may dent our faith in our religion is normal, but it is a fear we ought to overcome if we are to evolve into better muslims. We must open up our minds if we should expect ALLAH's radiance to guide us; we must ask questions - even uncomfortable questions to mere mortals like oursleves - if we should receive wisdom about our deen? And given that we are the worst off on earth, is it not we Africans who ought to have the most questions to ask of our creator?

In moments of despair and darkness, we should take inspiration from prophet Musa, who through negotiation or argument or prayer (call it what suits you) landed us with the five dailies instead of fifty, as Allah had initially proposed.
We will make improvements in our imperfections by being fearless at the world and the heavens, through asking questions, doing research and praying for guidance. Not by being afraid and putting up irrational defenses.

Sincerely,
Sidibeh

Comrade Kabir, many many thanks for the links.

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