MISCONCEPTIONS IN ISLAM In every region of every continent, from the striking pyramids of Egypt to the industrial cities of America, to the snow-governed suburbs of Moscow, sonorous feisty voices of Muezzins and chanting of praises of Allah are often heard reverberating from Mosque minarets. The followers of Islam, estimated at over a billion, have unique characteristics that when combined make Islam more of a way of life than a social club propelled by artificial codes of imagination. Many non-Muslims at the mention of Islam think of Muslims bowing and prostrating towards Mecca. Others think of a bearded person wearing an overflowing garb who is backward, fanatic and narrow minded in out look in life. A plethora of vices ranging from terrorism, to polygamy and women surbodination are often so blindly linked to this peaceful religion that has answers to every ill of society. However, in an open letter addressed to Israel’s politically diverse parliament, Nasir Ahmed, a heroic resident of the trouble spot zone of West Bank wrote “ I’ve passed through the tunnel into the light… I’ve fought and struggled to reach the choice, and now it’s arrived, it daunts me. When I look behind, I see the chains discarded on the ground and an empty black void.” Though this moving description is a graphic experience of Nasir’s existence in the West Bank, its general meaning is in fact a symbolic representation of the state of Islam in our politically intricate global village. The Islamic ideology has all the elements and forces that make it comprehensive and practicable, moderate and flexible. Its divine origin reveals only the fundamental and inviolable principles. This flexibility in Islam is a matter of fact a necessity. But because of their universal outlook and cosmopolitan orientation, Muslims are often considered blind fanatics or narrow-minded conservative people. And it is incredible that such drastic and far-fetched incivilities come from sources presumably knowledgeable and is passed to a public entitled to know. Whether it is the neatly stacked files of West Minister or the computerised strong rooms of the C I A, names and locations of Islamic Organisations, countries and Muslim personalities are coded in secret files with footnotes describing the listed institutions as “Islamic Terrorists.” Why and how such a scathing judgement is arrived at is surely beyond the widest horizon of the imagination of any one who thoroughly comprehends the basic tenets of Islam. Indeed to juxtapose a peaceful religion with considerable strings of tolerance and concern for human life, to the posture of terrorism, is both an abysmal piece of hypocrisy and propaganda at work. This subject, simple as it may appear, is becoming an effective mechanism in fighting a religion that strongly condemns human vices, mostly entrenched clauses inserted in Western constitutions. Unfortunately, the apparent lack of inaction of the Muslim Ummah to respond to these deadly pints of propaganda creates distrust and lack of respect for Muslims. Travel to any country in Europe or America and call yourself a strict Muslim proud of your religion. A confetti of rolled eyes would be directed at you perhaps wondering if you are one of those terrorists connected with Hamas or the Islamic Salvation Front. Further carry a bulky bag in proper Muslim attire and the police would quickly search you. The million-dollar question now arises: why is Islam often connected with terrorism when it is indisputably the most peaceful and comprehensive religion on earth? The answer is a technical one in that it is a problem of deliberate misconception. Unless the West desists from substituting Arabs for Islam or vice versa, the problem would continue to linger at the detriment of genuinely practising Muslims. Acts of violence and terrorism perpetrated by Arabs or any Muslim cannot, should not and must not be patented on the parameters of Islam. The religion Islam meaning peace and complete submission to Allah, has standardised codes and pillars that denounce violence or destruction, more so the massacre of innocent people regardless of their race or religion. More often than not, a Muslim by name would out of stupidity and madness, throw a bomb in a public place killing hundreds and destroying millions of dollars worth of property. The West would jump in alacrity and label that renegade an Islamic Terrorist. A similar move of equal magnitude done by say a Protestant would engineer a different reaction. They would say he has a psychological problem after falling out with a girl friend. Psychiatrists would then be invited to examine him. Would he be called a terrorist? What an irony of fate! Although realistic in approach, Islam never tolerates aggression nor does it entertain aggressive wars. Muslims are strongly commanded by Allah not to begin hostilities, or embark on any act of violence. Indeed Dr. Mangum Ceesay, one of Gambia’s erudite scholars once said in his brainstorming weekly telecast on G R T S that “war is not an objective of Islam nor is it the normal cause of Muslims. It is only the last resort and is used under the most extraordinary circumstances when all other measures fail. Islam is the religion of peace: its meaning is peace; the daily greetings of Muslims are peace; paradise is the house of peace; the adjective “Muslim” means peaceful. Peace is the nature, the meaning, the emblem and the objective of Islam. If there is any religion or constitution to guarantee peaceful freedom of religion and forbid compulsion in religion it is surely Islam”. The Qur’an makes this assertion stronger in the verse: “let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah has grasped the trustworthiest handhold that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things.” Whether or not critics accept authentic views along these lines, the fact nakedly remains that Islam is the religion of peace in the fullest sense of the term; that unjust war was never among its teachings; that aggression was never in its tenets; that force was never employed to impose it on anyone; that the expansion of Islam was never due to compulsion or oppression. As the religion of Allah, it survived under the most difficult conditions and it will survive to be the safe bridge to spiritual development and eternal peace. HUMAN RIGHTS In late 1995, when I was preparing a research brief for my “A” level examination at the National library in Banjul, a brief-case trotting human rights activist was saying to a dozen of students that “Islam does not have a readily accessible source of reference for human rights”. Surprised by these unholy statements and shivered by anger and disappointment, a young Muslim with in the audience paced towards him and whispered in his ears; “LIAR and TRAITOR”. Apparently demoralised by lack of interest in his lecture, the human rights activist grabbed his briefcase and marched out in frustration like a disappointed politician. Indeed, to many human rights activists devoid of a proper Islamic perspective, Bills of Rights and Declarations are seen as exclusive domains of the United Nations. For them the context of human rights and its advocacy are bi-products of the numerous universal declaration of rights promulgated over the decades under the aegis of the UN. If a scathingly erroneous statement is to be nominated as fallacy of the century, this line of thinking ought to be considered without hesitation. Indisputably the Qur’an had already addressed in detail every issue of human rights centuries before it was brought up at any intellectual platform. But the enemies of Islam had always deliberately ignored this otherwise established phenomenon. In Islam the Qur’an is the greatest gift of God to humanity; a comprehensive document whose objective has been and shall always be to focus on God, open new horizons of thoughts for mankind, free the mind from doubts, liberate the soul from sin and emancipate the conscience from subjugation. It embraces all works of life and covers the principles of the entire field of human affairs from the most pointing personal matters to the intricate subjects of world politics. In short, it’s a true embodiment that comprehensively encompasses duties, responsibilities and obligations of human beings and other creatures. The glorious Qur’an is replete with verses that point out the full recognition of the individual and his sacred rights to life, property and honour. Paramount to these packages of rights is the Right to Life. In Islam, life is the existence of any creature whose life span is the sole prerogative of Allah. Therefore any encroachment on it devoid of a justifiable bearing tantamount to the violation of the spiritually coded laws of Sharia. This is why anybody who deliberately kills a person ought to be killed in the eyes of Islam. But herein lies the subtle irony often subject to a bout of logically unbalanced criticism and myopic analysis honeycombed with distortion. More often than not a man would cold-bloodedly slain a fellow being or even massacre dozens more out of a violent temper tantrum or psychological defaults. The same society that stood by as witness to these heinous crimes would in turn vociferously claim for the human rights of such a culprit against the victims of an unjust cause. But human rights for whom and for what? Clearly, the telescopic eyes of Islam are too graphic and too sharp to bear frivolous analysis bereft of good judgement, logic and reason. No matter what critics say, a person who deliberately kills deserves to be killed. But this does not make Islam violent in any way or unsympathetic in the main. As mentioned earlier, Islam is a peaceful, tolerant and considerate religion that freely extends its leverage of mercy and welfare from the symbolic objects of the skies to the tiniest creature on mother earth. Indeed a prophetic saying has it that a man was docked in hell for putting his cat under lock and key for three days without food. The domain of human rights in Islam is very lofty, sound and comprehensive. Among these substantial elements Dr. Abdallati buttressed, are “sincere love for one’s fellow human being, mercy for the young, respect for the elders, comfort and consolation for the distressed, visiting the sick, relieving the grieved, extending genuine feelings of brotherhood and solidarity, respect for the rights of other people and finally enhance mutual responsibility between the individual and society”. WOMEN IN ISLAM In a calm but suspicious September afternoon in 1945, an old man walking through the bloody streets of Berlin came to an abrupt halt at the sight of an artistic, but gruesome painting, poetically depicting war as a brutal enterprise. Looking further down, this old man saw a woman knelt before her two helpless kids weeping in despondency and disappointment. Although in a state of failing health, the old man however, offered to rescue this desperate woman from the brink of atrophy. The woman, nodding in symbolic frustration, pleaded to be left alone, as society stood by to bear witness against these innocent victims of an unjust cause. The rights of women in contemporary times were not earned through natural channels or divine teachings. Indeed history asserts that in predominantly non-Muslim societies, women had to undergo rigmarole of struggle in hard scrabble conditions for centuries offering painful and costly sacrifices to gain their natural rights. In the United Kingdom for instance, women actively participated in the 1800s protest marches sojourning with the Chartists Movement and the March of the Blanketeers, primarily venting out the suppression characteristic of the oppressive powers that were. During these periods countless of women died in horrendous circumstances; some hacked to death in pregnancy, others raped, while a large number “disappeared”, unseen for ever. In other parts of Europe, women started voting and owning property only years after World War 1. On the other hand, Islam had, right from the beginning, given women a comprehensive and inexhaustible package of rights and privileges which they never could enjoy under other religious or constitutional systems. The rights and responsibilities of women are equal to those of men but they are not fully identical with them. The Qur’an attests this to in this verse: “God has fashioned mankind according to the nature designed by Him; there is no altering the creation of Allah.”(30:31). The fact that Islam has given them equal rights, but not identical, significantly reveals that it holds them into due consideration, acknowledges them, and recognises their independent status. What Islam at all times emphasises is the notion of equal partnership. “O mankind! Verily we have created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other.” Indisputably, Islam has entrenched spiritually pedalled codes that glorify women, give them full security and protect them against disgraceful circumstances and undesirable channels of life. As a renowned scholar pointed out, “it is not the tone of Islam that brands women as the product of the devil or the seed of evil. No does the Qur’an place men as the dominant lords of women.” They have equal rights to enter into a contract, set up business enterprises, earn and possess independently. Their marital lives are elaborately defined and guarded by Islam. This is an important aspect of Islam that both the Qur’an and prophetic hadith address in detail. In his historic farewell sermon delivered on the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah, in the Uranah valley of mount Arafa, the holy prophet (S A W) said: “O people, you have rights over your wives and your wives have rights over you. Treat your wives with love and kindness. Verily you have taken them as the trust of God, and have made their persons lawful unto you by the words of God. Keep always faithful to the trust reposed in you, and avoid sin.” Abou Jeng ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------