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G21 AFRICA - ORGANIZED RELIGION & TOLERANCE. World's Magazine regular contributor MORAA GITAA analyses a world crisis brought on by religion.
Mombasa, KENYA - "Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create" - The Late Pope John Paul II
Moraa Gitaa "Religion is the opium of the masses ... the religious world is but a reflex of the real world"' Karl Marx
In the wake of the global conflagration sparked by publication of 12 controversial cartoons offensive to Muslims in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten depicting Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist, I recently had a scintillating and intellectually inspiring debate on 'Faith' with a colleague who kept insisting that she has a problem accepting 'Organized Religion' and never associates herself with fixations or dogmas though her parents are Muslim and she was born and bred in the UK - she only believes that there exists a GOD.
Before the debate could turn to philosophy and parado xes therein, I begged off as I was already thinking on how I was going to pen this article, which took me back to my youth.
I first had to listen to Nation media Group CEO William Kiboro apologizing on live TV for fleetingly showing the cartoon caricatures on Nation TV - for our better understanding as to why the Muslim demos had been triggered worldwide - The station was only being 'sensitive' to our Muslim Sisters and Brothers.
The station's top brass were apologizing because their perceived 'sensitivity' had also triggered Muslim demos countrywide in Kenya. The SUPKEM (Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims,) who had demanded the apology, accepted the olive branch.
As angry protests by Muslims spread around the world over the publication of the offensive cartoons, one of which depicts the Prophet wearing a turban resembling a fizzing bomb and subsequently syndicated in other Western dailies - many non-Muslims struggled to understand why the drawings had caused so much offence.
We have to admit that the riots globally escalated 'ONLY' recently a month ago when European papers republished the cartoons which had 'FIRST' appeared almost unnoticed in Denmark in September last year.
The incident calls for a concerted effort at sensitivity from Editors globally and we will see less of Missions being set ablaze as was the case that met Danish Missions in Syria and Lebanon early last month amidst calls for death to the responsible Editors from rioters.
In retaliation to the publications, Iran's best selling newspaper the Hamshahri launched a competition to find the best Holocaust cartoon. They said it was designed to 'test the boundaries of free speech' as the reason put forward by European newspapers for the publishing of the [controversial anti-Islamic] cartoons. Such developments have made moderate Muslims to claim that the issue was being blown out of proportion and is an attempt by radicals to hijack the incident.
I went to school with Muslims for 15 years in Mombasa - studied side by side in harmony and debated on tolerance of divergent views propagated by our diverse faiths.
Why, according to Muslim customs can't the Prophet's image be depicted many non-Muslims have been wondering? The London-published Guardian and Observer recently shed some insight on the subject.
Prophet Muhammad's life and thoughts as revealed through the Hadith is central to Islam and a model for contemporary Muslims to emulate.
We are educated that the Prophet even had a dark mole the size of a pigeon egg between his shoulder blades symbolizing the seal of prophecy. Nevertheless, it is also immortalized in the Holy Qu'ran that he didn't advocate for violence.
According to diehard Muslim fundamentalists, to picture the Prophet or to have graven images is akin to blasphemy. There is no explicit ban in the Qu'ran, but according to Islamic custom, to picture him would be to annex Allah's power and to attempt to be like the Sublime.
End of ad hoc attempts by the Guardian and Observer and back to my childhood.
I am a Christian, but throughout my youth I went to a predominantly Muslim school from Kindergarten through Elementary and High School, even our neighbors were Muslim.
Most of my friends were Muslims. They taught me that Allah is All-hearing and ever merciful. I could say it off-head. Allah the Beneficent, the most merciful ...
They told me that Allah Akbar - God is great, but I knew that from Sunday school, that our Bible God Jehovah or Yaweh is indeed great. To me God was God.
They taught me that ever since the battle of Uhud He has protected us and He revealed it to His Prophet Muhammad in the fourth Surah Al- Nisa.
In the 70s, despite chilling tales of honor killings from the Mid-East, my Muslim friends went to madrassa. The first things they learnt they also taught me in car pools and sleep-overs. They told me of the Sa baan Min al-Mathani, the seven of the oft-repeated verses as written in the first Surah Al-Fatihah. Many a years I 'helped' them fast during the holy month of Ramadhan!
They also taught me that nowhere in the whole Qu'ran do the 5 pillars that is Shahadah, Salah, Zakat, Saum and Hajj record that innocent civilians should suffer in wars not of their making.
Surah Al-Ma-idah 33 tells us; "Who so judges not by what Allah hath revealed such are wrong doers."
Islam means "Submission" in Arabic. A Muslim is one who submits to the will of Allah.
In my 15 years in school I learnt that the above 5 pillars bind the Muslim community ie:
1. Shahadah: The affirmation that there is only one God and Muhammad is his Prophet.
2. Salah: The 5 daily ritual prayers.
3. Zakat: The giving of alms through a poor tax.
4. Saum: The dawn to dusk fast during the Holy month of Ramadhan.
5. Hajj: The pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Muslim should undertake at least once in their lifetime.Even as we shared our faiths with my friends and neighbors we came to a consensus that Islam, like Christianity, venerates the Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
Angel Gabriel also appeared to Prophet Muhammad as he did in the Bible.
The Qu'ran also tells the story of Mary's Virgin Birth as in the Bible.
Against the above 5 pillars we used to compare them to the 10 commandments Moses received on Mount Sinai in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20 and the Beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 - and our discussions never did even once end in acrimony, but respect for each others faith and beliefs.
Which currently and in this generation brings us to the questions:
i. What is Jihad?
Prophet Muhammad urged his followers to 'Struggle in the path of God' (Jihad) - which they took as an order to expand the borders of Islam in a Holy War, but after the Muslim Empire was established, the Doctrine of Jihad acquired a more Spiritual meaning.
It became an internal moral struggle against temptation.
Good works like cleaning the Mosque, helping the poor or dressing more modestly are all forms of Jihad. Recently, however, extremist Muslim groups have sought to return to a more violent definition.
ii. Is Islam an aggressive religion?
The answer is an emphatic 'NO'
The Qu'ran teaches tolerance towards other faiths and religions especially Jews and Christians. "The true Muslim," Prophet Muhammad said "is the one who hurts no one by word or deed." Never once did he condone or advocate for violence.
War is permitted only in self-defense and combatants are instructed to fight face to face without harming civilians
iii. Why does Islam have such a reputation for intolerance?
The Qu'ran, unlike the Bible is meant to be the literal word of God, which means that any attempt to re-interpret it is bound to be highly controversial.
A few Scholars have tried to re-interpret the Qu'ran in a more contemporary light, but the rise of the Wahabi Puritanism (read - a variant of the Taliban practice) has made this almost impossible.
Towards the end of the 19th Century, the behavioral rules laid down in the Qu'ran had been codified in legal manuals which most of us know as Shariah laws - such as inferior status accorded women or harsh punishment to criminals which is increasingly becoming unacceptable in the modern world.
And therein lies the thread of most of the intercinine wrangles!!
Most recently, one of my neighbors has changed the name of his shop from the one we are used to, and baptized it 'Al Jazera' (The Dubai TV station)
Cause for another debate? Food for thought I should think!
Already concern is being raised over fanaticism and advocacy for hatred for other religions inserted subtletly in some Mid-East Elementary school curriculums.
Yet to a majority of the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, Westerners are Infidels who repeatedly put Muslims to the test on their readiness to defend Islam and its values even to the death.
Maybe they have just cause to feel so.
Nevertheless, globally, tolerance for diverse faiths of Organized Religions has come a long way since the Hizbollah, Intifadha, insurgents, Salman Rushdie's groundbreaking novel 'Satanic Verses' and the Fatwa declared on him then.
"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion.
I have shuddered at it. I shudder no more.
I could be martyred for my religion. Love is my religion and I could die for that.
I could die for you." - John Keats
© 2006, GENERATOR 21.
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