VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Mehrun Yusuf Behavioral Care

Volume 18, March 9, 2008

St. Louis, Missouri

Editor: Hajji Mohamed Ziauddin

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT AND MOST MERCIFUL

DRAWING A FINE LINE BETWEEN TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE

A Muslim sister who was very close to her father (who was an auto mechanic) and grew up observing him at work at his mechanic shop learnt few skills of a mechanic and was able to fix the brake pads of a car, do oil change and minor car tune up work. Now is it fair to say that she represents a new breed of progressive Muslim females in America, who broke the “traditional stereotypes” or not?

Does the answer to above question also apply to the article by Robert Pigott (Religious Affairs Correspondent, BBC News) “US Muslim Women Seek Active Faith Role” (02/27/08) when he made a deliberate choice to pick one particular family (described below) to prove his point that “they and their progressive Islam, are as perfectly adapted to life in modern America as their Christian neighbours”.

Is Robert Pigott’s deliberate selection of below family the norm of most Muslim families in the US or is it an aberration or statistically a extremely rare exception?

Highlights of below article: The husband has essentially been a “house husband”, one must be careful not to use derogatory terms thereby inadvertently bringing “emotion” in front of “reason”. The son even though a Doctor DOES HAVE A PROBLEM with following the historical roles of gender & tradition of a “normal couple” (regardless of religion, race or culture globally) but has NO PROBLEM following the tradition of his father and cooks at home, since the son’s wife “also” works.

Make no mistake, in general we have no problem with the gender of the spouse that cooks; we believe it should be left up to the couple to decide what works out best with them in their unique situation, preferences and circumstances. As long as their outcome continues to provide peace and harmony in their marital relationship, WE ARE ALL FOR IT.

Are progressive Muslims making gross violations of Islamic Code by perverting the gems of Islam to essentially convert the "haraam" into "halaal" OR the "not Islamically acceptable act " into "acceptable act" ? Should above be a concern for the Ummah ? In Robert's article has there really been any such violations or not? Should a Muslim be respected more if he or she directly acknowledges: “Sorry, I cannot confirm to this particular Islamic Code” rather than a Muslim who to erases his or her inner religious guilt by perverting the Islamic Code to “normalize” it by saying it is "Okay" and to top it, falsely representing ISLAM in the eyes of the media ?

In the same way that the media was biased by associating terrorism with Islam now is there an element of bias by the media which is TOTALLY IGNORING the lifestyle (through a bird’s eye-view) of the majority of the Muslims or Muslim families and focusing on an aberration to represent ISLAM ? Did the media deliberately and selectively pick an aberration that statistically constitutes probably less than one percent of the American Ummah and label it under the rubric of Muslims or may I say “Progressive Muslims”?

Does it reflect the norm as suggested in Robert’s article, that a Muslim female feels it perfectly normal and okay to wear shorts to play soccer? Further they (the family in above article) don’t feel it is important to pray at set times five times a day, rather it is “connection with God what counts”. "We're just adapting to the surroundings. As long as you have the basic principles, and you abide by them and remember Allah every day."

Does such individual personal interpretations of Islamic lifestyle "essentially for one's own convenience" really reflect the Islamic lifestyle of an average Muslim in the US" ?

Each individual is free to have their personal perspective of Islam and apply it to their individual life. BUT SHOULD THEY BE ALLOWED TO MISREPRESENT ISLAM BY SAYING IT IS OKAY IN ISLAM WITHOUT BACKING THEIR STATEMENTS DRAWING UPON FROM THE GEMS OF HOLY QURAN AND HADITH”? Is this point being missed by the mainstream media when they report on Islam ? Are does the media have a hidden agenda to highlight the aberration and further divide the ALREADY DIVIDED MUSLIMS ?

Does such deviation from mainstream Islam a form of misguidance for the Ummah specially the Muslim youth and children in the western societies who are extremely vulnerable and already struggling to fight a battle between emulating Islamic values taught at home and local Masjids Versus unIslamic values learnt from the public school systems, peer groups et.c ?

Allah out of his Mercy for mankind gave us the Holy Quran and the Hadith as a source of proper guidance. On one extreme, we have hard core terrorists who have misinterpreted Islam causing mayhem and destruction worldwide. The new question is whether the “progressive” Muslims are misinterpreting Islam to suit their convenient lifestyle in the name of “adapting to the surroundings” ?

It may look innocent in the initial stages, “this is okay” and “that is okay”, it is the "spirit of Islam" that counts. Are the "Progressive Muslims" "generalist oriented" and are the "mainstream Muslims" "detailed oriented" ? Eventually as the Christians branched out into several subdivisions from one single core group, would the trend follow with the subgroup of “progressive Muslims” ? In the long run, would one of such “progressive Muslim” group say, "being gay or lesbian is okay" and as we see in some Churches today with gay pastors performing gay marriages, would they end up having their own gay Imams & Lesbian Female Muslim Imams doing nikahs on gay and lesbian couples all with the blessings of the PROGRESSIVE WEST and in the sweet pretext of “adapting to the surroundings” ? These are unanswered questions.

The mainstream Ummah should be thankful that such progressive Muslims are at least not the likes of Salman Rushie or Wafaa Sultan or Nonie Darwish or the sick comedian who drew the cartoons of Prophet. We are no one to judge and Allah knows best. May Allah guide them on the right track? At the end of the day in terms of varying perspectives, let’s not forget the famous Quranic verse: “There is no compulsion in Religion”.

Below is a part of Robert Pigott’s article:

“See the Akhtar family at a weekend lunch, and the renewal of Islam in America seems inevitable and irresistible. Shahid and Mino Akhtar were born in Pakistan and, like their son and three daughters; they are devout Muslims who attend the mosque regularly. Meeting them at their house in a quiet tree-lined street in Emerson, New Jersey, it soon seems clear that they, and their progressive Islam, are as perfectly adapted to life in modern America as their Christian neighbours. Shahid is a hands-on dad. While his wife pursued a career as a lawyer he took charge of raising the children. His son Reza, a hospital doctor, is following his example by being the one who cooks dinner and does the dishes as his wife, Amna, also works.

The Aktar daughters are pursuing careers as a lawyer, businesswoman and dentist. Their emancipation has not diluted their sense of being Muslim, but it has changed it.

Sheema wears shorts to play soccer, but sees no conflict with the duty to behave modestly. They feel bound by the duty to pray, for example, but not at five set times each day.

Mino Akhtar says connection with God is what counts. "In terms of the daily practices, when I travel on business I don't get to pray five times a day," she says. "It's my connection with the creator that's more important than how I do it."

"Absolutely," says her daughter Sheema. "We're just adapting to the surroundings. As long as you have the basic principles, and you abide by them and remember Allah every day."

…… Traditionalist critics say those who seek revolutionary change in Islam are diluting its teaching. They say that adapting the religion to contemporary mores progressively undermines its ability to give moral guidance to society.

But the Akhtar family insists that their modern lifestyle in secular America does not stop them practicing what they call "the beautiful values of Islam".

Mona Akhtar, a lawyer, bubbles rose-flavored smoke through an after-lunch shisha, and contemplates her emancipated sisters.

"We're living examples of the importance of women taking a more active role in Islam," she says. "We're following the spirit of the Koran."

CLOSING NOTE:

As it is stated that charity begins from home, in the same way the Ummah's tolerance must begin from its own Muslims towards other Muslims. Although there may be many points of differences, we need to have a comfortable platform to air our differences and continually demonstrate what TOLERANCE stands for.

We need to avoid making stereotypes or labels to portray a "progressive Muslim" VS "mainstream Muslim". True tolerance is demonstrated when Muslims of different shades of not only color, race, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, gender (includes transgendered & hermaphrodite) but also Muslims with different degrees of practicing Islam continue to respect each other under the global umbrella of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.

On the same note, just because a Muslim woman does not wear hijab, although it may evoke a immediate negative response from some traditionalist Muslims, it is also an exercise in TOLERANCE. Instead of giving labels or reaching quick negative conclusions one must reinforce to self that she still remains our sister. Most Muslims may not be aware of the degree of intense resentment that a Muslima with niqab (only eyes are visible from the face) evokes especially in western societies. It is a free country and a free world, each individual generally has a right to translate their beliefs into actions as long it does not violate local & national laws, so why should a Muslima with niqab be exempted from exercising her God given right to dress the way she likes. Here again, the Muslims in general and the progressive Muslims in particular need to exercise the true spirit of TOLERANCE and respect her for her preferences.

Is it true that many Muslims get MORE upset seeing a Muslima with niqab than a Kaafira with a miniskirt ? (1) If yes, isn't this a paradox ? (2) If yes, is it because somehow the Kaafira should be exempted from negativity because she is not a Muslima ? How often have you heard that a Muslima with niqaab "is bringing the image of our Islam down" ? Is it a misleading statement? THIS CALLS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION POSSIBLY IN A DIFFERENT ISSUE. It is really sad and unfortunate that many Muslims are hard on women with niqab and could this be an issue of INTOLERANCE ?

On the other hand, ask a Muslima who wears niqab of what she feels of a Muslima who does NOT wear a hijab nor niqab, you may soon realize that she herself needs to exercise more TOLERANCE. This is just one single example. There are many more to demonstrate that we as Muslims need to be more tolerant of each other.

In conclusion, we strongly believe in SELF-DETERMINATION of an individual and we at MEHRUN YUSUF BEHAVIORAL CARE atleast have the minimum courtesy to respect all sisters (with hijab, without hijab, with niqab) as our loving sisters of ISLAM. Let us hope that all Brothers and Sisters of Islam focus on looking towards the illuminated gems of ISLAM - "HOLY QURAN AND HADITH" for guidance and involve in self-introspection and further improvement of their individual selves. MAY ALLAH GUIDE ONE AND ALL. The End.

As usual, feel free to e-mail your valuable comments to info@mehrunyusuficds.com.