Islamophobia?Are We Playing In The Hands Of The Morons?

It seems like as rapidly as human beings are progressing upwards on the ladder of evolution,they also tend to more and more categorize things.It started with religion perhaps but then came at a point sexualities (if I am missing any intermediate stages,excuse me,but religion and sex are the two most important categories before me) and now the people who tend to be critical of religions and religious institutions.
This case seems to be especially true for Islam.To make it officially wrong to be critical of Islam a new term 'Islamophobia' has been introduced to the list of already overwhelming amount of labels.Wait!apart from the old term anti-semitic and the new one Islamphobe,a much wierder and newer one is also available.Christianophobe.I just happened to have come across it on wikipedia which reads:
'Christophobia or Christianophobia are also according to Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) names for "every form of discrimination and intolerance against Christians"'.
I simply donot understand and/or approve of the term Islamophobia.What does Islamophobia mean? Going by the term,does it mean being hateful/phobia of Islam? Or does it mean being hateful/phobia of Muslims?If it means the hatred/phobia of Muslims,then it makes sense and I support it since not supporting it would lead to discrimination of Muslim peoples at the hands of xenophobic idiots such Geert Wilders and the Right-Wing asses of the West.But then it should be termed Muslimophobia.Islamophobia sounds like the first definition I so approve of,simply because criticism of religion is necessary,in whatever form.
The ever incredulous,lousy and showmaker UN has given in to the demands of Islamists.Since 1999 Muslim nations and their allies have tried to get UN to adopt suppression of the 'defamation of religion'.Well,now the UN has given in.
But the concerns are that this suppression of defamation of religion,which makes it simply wrong for being critical of religion,would further stagnate the already lagging behind Muslim world as this could be used to curb free expression.I know this too well because in my country,Pakistan,we are constantly told that we are living in an Islamic Democracy(again! I refuse to believe it.The only true democracy is Secular Democracy as a genuine modern democracy paves the way for secularization of society by process.There is no Hindu democracy,no Christian democracy and even the Israel is Secular state!Therefore there just cannot be an 'Islamic Democracy').This Islamic democracy is in actuality a pseudo-democracy.A democracy based on Shari'ah as well as the old British laws we were left with during partition,with little amendments.This Islamic democracy has contsantly given in to the Ulema and the Conservatives.The Left Wing has been too weak.The results are for all to see.
This dear Islamic democracy of my country grants me the luxury of free expression and free speech.But to what extent? The same constitution also unclearly states that defaming the Prophet of Islam and Islam is an offence which can be punished by death.
'Pakistan's Penal Code allows for the death penalty for directly or indirectly defiling "the sacred name of the holy Prophet Mohammed." It also stipulates a 10-year sentence for insulting the religion of any class of citizens, and provides for a sentence of life imprisonment for "whoever willfully defiles, damages, or desecrates a copy of the holy Koran."'.
So my question is:What's the point of free speech then? Islam for Muslims is a complete code of life.But this code of life has to be criticized because the Shari'ah contains misogyny,homophobia,allowance of treating the non-Muslims as Dhimmis (second class citizens) along with other inhumanities.Thankfully,Pakistan is NOT Afghanistan.Sometimes Shari'ah has been criticized on air on television channels and Nadeem F. Paracha can still make jokes about being 'too' religious or fanatic.But that is that.You openly criticize Islam as a political ideology or state what Fauzia Wahab stated,then Mother Mary,you are deep deep trouble! In short you have the free expression.But its quite meaningless except for political criticism.Then what is the use of free speech and expression if you are going to talk the talk of the town?
The prestigious newpapers such as Dawn have still got some secularism alive because of their staunch leftist inclinations.The exact opposite is seen in the Urdu newpapers.But even in the 'Liberal Secular' press you have to submit the article and the editor must be cautious that you must not be too direct or offensive.
Critical analysis of Islam as a religion as well as political ideology is necessary.This does NOT mean ridiculing Islam,making jokes about it and thinking of Muslims as not being equal partners in discussion out of fear that the only way they know how to respond to criticism is through voilence.Somehow amazingly I have met a Muslim who believes that striking the terror in the heart of Non-Muslims is something to be proud of.Its guarantees that you are subjugating Non-Muslims evils and serving Islam.But for heaven's sake! It is only leading more and more hatred towards Muslims.They are seen as voilent people and the whole countiries' natioanlity is labelled terrorist in the eyes of common man.
Since Islam occupies each and every dimension of a common Muslim person's life (it doesnot matter if in the end they are hypocritical enought to believe some ideology which is obssessed with virginity and practice sex) the critical analysis of Islam is inevitable.
By introducing the ambigous terms such as Islamophobe and introducing suppression of Defamation of Religion, the West,which has a long history of intellectual renaissance,bloody war with Church and free intellectuals such as Bertrand Russel to look upto and even backto for lessons in history,has itself defeated the ideals it stood for.The ideals on which the modern Secular West was founded and the contitutions constructed.This might seem exaggeration to some as for them it might be a small step.But it by no means is an insignificant one.This is a time of worry for any self-respecting intellectual human,whether religious or non-religious.
Rather than these pathetic steps to overcome the short-sighted conflicts,the West and the UN especially should further the cause of Islamic reformists and the Western freedom be made available to the Voltaires,Sartres,Simone de Beauvoirs and Russels be fully supported as well as the Secular Muslims who are on their way for the Islamic Reformation.The Muslim world must be reiterated repeatedly,until they learn to listem,that closing ones eye at the time of trouble doesnot delay or vanguish the time of trouble.They must learn from the hard times and use these lessons effectively,just as Jews did.In all honesty,instead of hating Jews for what not including being dominant from politics to hollywood (Its their fault that they are on top poisitions in major world playing corporations today? What? They should wait for till Muslims take up all the positions first?) Muslims have alot to learn from the Jewish history.But nobody is saying to praise or even overlook the atorcities of Irsael on Palestinians.These acts must be condemned at all levels by all people.
Returning to my point,a revolution (somehow I have grown tired of reform.Reform is short-term solution I believe.Revolution a long term.I prefer the radical sound of Revolution,albeit a peaceful one.) in Muslim world from thoughts and conscience to media and the industries et al, on all levels is complusory for the well being of this 'world', apart from the Muslims themselves.There is a need for a Life of Brian' version in the Muslim world.There is a need for more Salman Rushdies.There is a need for more Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji and Tariq Alis as well (even if I dont agree with Tariq on his critique of Ayaan Hirsi Ali).Because only through blasphemy can there be innovation.Remeber! Once it was blasphemous to assume the earth is not flat but round or spherical.Today its taught even in the religious schools.Evolution was a blasphemy too but then today we have reaped much on following the lead of Darwin (who to this day is ridiculed by the conservatives).But when UN and the Non-Muslim world makes sch idiotc moves just to please the Mullahs and the fundamentalists,it takes away that opportunity,that chance for that revolution to come about.In my view,and I belive in any sane man's view, the supporters of Islamophobia and UN suppression of Defamation of Religion are accomplice in such a heinous crime against free thought and human liberties,perpetrated by the Islamic world.While the sanctity of Muslim human lives should be protected and that it be made clear that they are given their inalienable fundamental human rights,it should also be set out clearly that debating and even ridiculing the ideas (even religious ones) are not to be termed'-phobic'. If Communists cant say that ridiculing and criticizing their ideology is under the banner of 'Communophobia',why should the special previlege be given to Muslim community when we know it would further lead to playing in the hands of fundamentalists and intellectual backwardness,which would result in further economic downfalls and depressions in the Muslim world thus making it even harder to live in world for all of us.Just because Multi-Culturalist have started to play in the hands of fundamentalists.Discrimination against Muslim populace (or any other for that matter) must be condemned at all costs.But that doesnot mean using the term 'Islamophobia' to silence valid and constructive criticism of traditions followed widely or in parts of the Muslim world such as obssession with virginity,sex and sexuality,or resistance to Islamic Reformation,female genital mutilation,male circumcision, et al.
Some people believe that Islamophobia would be effectively used against Muslims as a population by the Right Wing Western Idiots.Thats true.And so was the AIDS used against LGBT community.Thats the part and parcel of being a minority.Using Christianophobia in Muslim world happens too.In fact to eradicate the Islamophobia I believe that the first responsibility lies with the Muslim Ummah itself to prove the hatred against Muslims wrong.That you can be an Arab and be a good human being.

boom Book,

Allah’s Pink Sons; Persecution of Homosexuals in Islamic Countr‏ies

The Below article is a translation of the German article in Der Spiegel's this week issue.Thanks to Mr.Faris Malik,of Queer Jihad for sending me the translated document.


Here is the Article:


In most Islamic countries, homosexuals are despised, persecuted and sometimes even killed. Repressive regimes foment hatred against "effeminized men."



Bearded men kidnapped him in the middle of Baghdad, threw him into a dark hole, bound him with a chain, urinated on him and beat him with an iron pipe. But the worst moment of all for Hisham, 40, came on the fourth day when his abductors called his family. He became scared they would tell his mother that he was homosexual and that this was the reason they had abducted him. Then he would never see his family again. The shame would be unbearable for them.



"Do what you want with me, but don't tell them!" he cried.



Rather than humiliate him in front of his family, the abductors demanded 50,000 dollars in ransom, a huge sum for an ordinary Iraqi family. The parents had to borrow money and sell all of their son's possessions. A short time later, the abductors threw Hisham out of a car in northern Baghdad. They did not shoot him, they let him walk, but they yelled after him: "This is your last chance. If we see you again, we'll kill you."



That was four months ago, and Hisham has gone to Lebanon. Helies to his family, telling them he was fleeing violence and terror, and had found a job in Beirut. He kept it to himself that, as a gay man, he could not remain in Iraq because of the death squads that are hunting down "effeminized" men.

At the beginning of the year in Baghdad, there began a new series of murders of men suspected of homosexuality. They are often raped,their genitals cut off, their anuses glued shut. Their corpses end up in trash dumpsters or on the street. There is a "systematic campaign" with hundreds ofmurder victims, according to Human Rights Watch, which has documented this string of violence.



The trigger for the murders, rapes and kidnappings isconsidered to be the video of a party in Baghdad in the summer of 2008, at which men danced with one another. It was viewed thousands of times on handheld devices and the Internet. Islamist preachers then began agitating against the spreading danger of a "third sex," brought into the country by American soldiers. Especially followers of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr have since then felt called to restore "religious morality." Their black-clad militiamen patrol their bastion, the Sadr City district of Baghdad, and lie inwait for everyone whose "unmasculine behavior" catches their attention. Longhair, tight t-shirts and pants, or a strutting walk often enough bring a death sentence.



Other groups, too, not only the Mahdi Army, are said to be involved in the murders of gays: for instance, Sunni militia who are close to Al-Qaida, but also Iraqi security forces.



The lives of homosexuals are particularly endangered in Iraq at the moment, but they are ostracized virtually throughout the Islamic world.More than 100,000 women and men are discriminated against or threatened,according to gay groups. Thousands commit suicide, end up in prison, or have fled.

More than 30 Islamic countries prohibit homosexuality bylaw. The punishments range from flogging to life in prison. In Mauretania, Bangladesh, Yemen, in parts of Nigeria and Sudan, in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran, gays even face the death penalty.

But even in countries where homosexuality is not prohibited by law, gays are persecuted, arrested, and sometimes murdered. Egypt is particularly harsh, although the country was long known for its open gay scene. Homosexuals are pursued by a morals police force that taps phones and recruits informants. Then they are charged with "debauchery."



In Malaysia, homosexuality is even used as a political weapon: In the year 2000, the well-known politician Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison for "unnatural sexual intercourse" with his chauffeur and a speechwriter, but then was exonerated on appeal in 2004. In the summer of2008, the macabre drama was repeated. The charge was "homosexual sexual intercourse," and the trial still continues.

Anwar was once the protégé of Mahathir Mohamad. He was supposed to succeed him as prime minister, until Mahathir sacked him in 1998. Ten years later, Anwar won back his seat in Parliament – but that is as far as his comeback has made it so far.



Even in cosmopolitan Lebanon, homosexuals are threatened with one year in jail. Still, Beirut is the home of the only gay and lesbian organization in the Arab world, called "Helem" (meaning "dream"). At an office in the middle of the city, posters about AIDS education and tips against homophobia are on the walls. Helem is no more than tolerated, as the Interior Ministry has yet to issue an official permit to the organization. "And it is hardly conceivable that we will ever get it," says executive director Georges Azzi.



In Istanbul, there is a free homosexual scene and a Christopher Street Day festival, and even devoutly religious fans rave for transsexual pop diva Bülent Ersoy or gay singer Zeki Müren. But away from the catwalk or the stage, it is considered a disgrace, a disease, to be a "götveren" (meaning"faggot"). In the army, homosexuality is grounds for discharge. To unmask fakers, military doctors require photos or videos as evidence, showing the recruit having sex with a man – in the "passive" role, of course, because being active passes as masculine enough in Turkey.



It looks as though a wave of homophobia has gripped the Islamic world, which was once known for its openness. Homoerotic literature was widespread here, sex roles were less narrowly defined, and, like the ancient Greeks, men let themselves be entertained by dancing youths.



But now the Islamists have assumed cultural hegemony. They include men like popular Egyptian television preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who demonizes gays as perverse. Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani published a fatwa four years ago, in which he called for the most brutal possible murder of gays. These opinion leaders justify their aversion with the history of Lot in the Qur'an: "You approach men in lust instead of women. You are immoderate people." For these sins, the people of Lot are destroyed along with their cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In addition, there are a few statements of Muhammad, in which he condemns the "act of the people of Lot," once even calling for the death penalty.



However, the Lot story and other Qur'anic verses were not clearly applied to homosexual sex until the 20th century, says New York professor Everett Rowson. He says this redefinition originated in the West, of all places – due to the prudery of European colonial masters, who spread their sexual morality in the newly conquered world.



In fact, half the prohibitions of homosexuality that still exist worldwide go back to a single law promulgated by the British in India in1860. "Many attitudes toward sexual morality, that are said to be identical with Islam, owe more to Queen Victoria than to the Qur'an," Rowson declares.

Modern persecution of gays was brought on, above all, by the politicization of Islam, because since then sexual morality has been no longer private, but rather is regulated and instrumentalized by the state.



"The most repressive are secular regimes like Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, which are under pressure from Islamists and therefore try to outdo them when it comes to morality," says Scott Long of Human Rights Watch. "In addition, the persecution of homosexuals shows that a regime has control over the private lives of citizens – that is a sign of power and authority." Thus for the last few years there has been a deliberately fomented "moral panic" in many countries.



For instance, in Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution,homosexuals have been persecuted, sometimes more, sometimes less – and rather more since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office, who never tires of stressing that there are no homosexuals in his country at all.



Even the suspicion of "unnatural" acts is enough to earn a whipping. Anyone who is caught multiple times faces the death penalty. So far148 gays have been executed according to official figures, but presumably the number is far higher. The most recent case to draw attention was that of 21-year-old Makwan Moloudzadeh, who was hanged in December 2007. He is alleged to have raped three boys years before. Homosexuals are almost always charged with other crimes in addition,like rape, fraud, or theft, in order to justify the execution.

Thousands of gays and lesbians have fled Iran for this reason, and for most the first stop is Turkey. "There was no alternative for me but to flee," says Ali, a 32-year-old doctor. "If I had stayed, they would have killed me."



Ali had been careful. He only rarely went to parties, used several different Internet cafés for chatting, and he did not even tell his family his secret. That went well, until his boyfriend's father caught the two of them kissing. Two days later, Ali lost his job at the hospital, then he washit by a car, apparently not by accident, and a short time later he received a call: "We want to see you hang."



What he had not known before was that his boyfriend's father was a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Guard.

Ali withdrew his savings from his account and took a train to Turkey, where he applied for asylum. Since then, he has been living in a tiny apartment in Kayseri in Central Anatolia – one of 35 gay Iranian exiles living in this city.

Arsham Parsi, 29, fled too from Shiraz four years ago. This graceful man with downy cheeks and glasses is one of Iran's "most wanted" men,because he founded the country's first gay network in 2001. They only communicated by e-mail, few people knew his real name, yet he was still found out. Parsi managed to escape the morals police at the last second. He received a visa for Canada, where he founded the "Iranian Queer Organization," which now has 6000 members in Iran. They include many transsexuals – or people who consider themselves such. After all, Parsi estimates: "Nearly half of all sex changes are undergone by gays."



Gay persecution has led to a boom in sex changes, so that more operations are performed in the Islamic Republic of Iran, of all places,than anywhere else in the world except Thailand. They were permitted in 1983 by Ayatollah Khomeini himself, who defined transsexuality as a disease that could be cured with an operation. Since then, thousands have sought the treatment,with a portion of the costs borne by the state.



"Relatives and doctors push gays to undergo operations to normalize their improper sexual orientation," says Parsi. This is also how a high-ranking Shiite religious scholar was able to finance a female body for his secretary and then marry him afterwards.



The ultra-conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country where Shari'ah law is applied exclusively – homosexuals are whipped or executed. "Nonetheless, gays are much freer here than in Iran," says Afdhere Jama, who traveled through the Islamic world for seven years researching his book "Illegal Citizens."



The Kingdom leaves gays an astonishing amount of freedom in everyday life. Newspapers report on lesbian sex in school bathrooms. Certain shopping centers, restaurants and bars in Jeddah and Riyadh are considered gay meeting places, which is an open secret.



"There are many Saudi Arabs who take boys as love objects,because they are single or because their wives happen to be pregnant," says Jama. Homosexual sex is often the only option to have sex at all – extramarital affairs with women are virtually impossible. "Here in the West, a man would be considered gay in that case, but in countries like Saudi Arabia, it is harder to make that classification," says Jama. Most Muslims hardly know what to make of the Western conception of a "gay identity" – there is no gay lifestyle or movement here.



Daayiee Abdullah, 55, is an imam, he wears a prayer cap and a beard – and he is gay. That makes him one of only two imams in the world who openly declare their homosexuality. He voluntarily chose Islam, having grown up a Baptist in Detroit. During his studies in Beijing, he came to know Chinese Muslims and converted to Islam. "They told me it was no problem to be gay and a good Muslim."

The imam – and not only he – interprets the history of Lot differently: The people whom God condemned were not homosexuals, but rapists and robbers. It is not homosexuality, but rape, that the Qur'an detests. "The rejection of gays is based on culture and politics," he says. "Just like honor killings and arranged marriages – those things are not in the Qur'an, either."

Abdullah lives in the US capital of Washington, and says prayer at funerals of homosexuals, especially when they died of AIDS, since no other imam is willing to do it. He performs same-sex marriages and has counseled pious gays for eleven years through his "Muslim Gay Men" Internet forum.

He receives death threats over and over, but at this point he laughs about it, saying: "How can two loving gays shake the foundations of God?"

Juliane Von Mittlestaedt/Daniel Steinvorth

A Must Read Letter To Muslims

Respected Muslim Brothers and Sisters,
Whenever someone has criticized Islam,whether it was Salman Rushdie or Taslima Nasreen or someone else,I have heard a cry of anger from you all.Islam is your religion and you have a right to protect it,and speak in defence of it.Note my words! ‘Speak in defence of it(Islam)’ . I didnt say ‘Act voilently in defence of it’.There is a difference.
This world is moving fast like it always has been and societies and their norms change every then and now,especially now,under globalization.Knowing all this how can you murder non-Muslims who are peacefuly preaching their religion?Maybe you dont but the fellows who do so are from the same flock as you.I have heard you all say that they are not Muslims and that Islam stands for peace.But show the world that Islam means what you say and just dont speak about it.
Whenever a person/organization critiques Islam you all unite together and try to undermine that person’s opinions,even though under the UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights) as well as the rights given in Quran(
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”
Quran 4, 135: “Believers, conduct yourselves with justice and bear true witness before God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your family.” And if that’s not enough for you, try Quran 13, 11: “God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” Both passages are calls to heed our individual consciences, no matter who’s offended.).
But you seem to fade away from the scene when a girl in Qatif is unjustly sentenced to 80 lashes and when a Canadian Muslim girl is killed by her bestial Pakistani Muslim father for not covering her head.
When a Danish newspaper published the Prophet’s caricatures,you came out aggressively and demanded apologies but didn’t give the same response when Mukhataran Mai bluntly told the tragic story of her rape.
You take immense pride in your intellectuals such as Dr.Zakir Naik and Ahmed Deedat’s success over intellectuals of other faiths,but are hesitant to hear criticism on your own religion.Then how can you say who’s wrong and who’s right?How can you say that Zakir Naik did justice,if you don’t let Irshad Manji speak?
After all this how can you expect a westerner to know the peaceful picture of Islam?How can you expect a person to let Muslims live happily when he see that his daughter has a Muslim boyfriend/fiancé/husband,who is intolerant to the Western values,and that his daughter might be influenced badly by her boyfriend/fiancée’s Muslim environment,and may leave the very values that have given them liberty and joy? Wouldn’t he see Muslims and Islam,in particular,as an intolerant breed/religion?And if he does, wouldn’t he,if he is a patriot, try to get rid of such intolerant and barbaric people?What would you do if you has a son’s girlfriend who was against your Islamic values and may even threaten to turn your son away from Islam?You may shake your head sideways and say ‘Nah! Islam is the right path.If my son’s girlfriend is turning away from her religion and accepting Islam,its better for her.On the other hand if my son is leaving Islam,then he is going astray.Two different situations,you know’.
Right!But would you accept this explanation if the a Christian father of you son’s girlfriend gave you that explanation.Just replace the words ‘Christianity’ with Islam.No! You wouldn’t.Then how do you expect that loving and caring father to?
What if that girl is externally accepting Islam but internally against it,basing her arguments on biased opinions?Is it not better than she be given full-fledge freedom to raise questions and speak her mind.And then if she is wrong she can be corrected.
Similiarly we should give freedom to others so that they can raise questions on Muslim community,religion,and traditions and then they can be corrected and if Muslims are wrong they can accept it or try to incorporate those ideas peacefully.
By issuing death threats on Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rushdie,my Muslim brothers and sisters,you did nothing but gave fuel to fire and gave,indirectly,voice to their opinions.You may say I am mad,but think rationally.When you issued fatwas you brought them on international scene and made people curious which resulted in increase in their popularity and book-sales.
Wouldn’t it be better if you would have called Taslima Nasreen and Salman Rushdie for a debate and see for your own way who’s right and who’s wrong?And if you were right you would have clarified their misconception and shown the world that Islam is not what they picture it be.
Where is the time when Abu Ali Sina would refuse to accept immortality and still be revered as the Muslim philosopher?Sufism is often associated with Islam(although Sufism has emerged from Islam,it’s not necessary that Sufis be Muslims) . But do you know that Sufis have throughout have been in conflict with Ulema(Muslim clerics).
My Muslim friends tell me the names of these famous Muslim philosophers and that famous Muslim scientists,and I ask ‘So what?That time has gone.What is the Muslim world doing right now?Where is the love and peace that Islam preaches?Where are the Abu Ali Sina,Sheikh Saadi,Jalaluddin Rumi,Omar Khayyam of this globalized century?Sould we go on living in past and forget the Talibans?If you all say that Islam is peaceful,all loving and humanitarian then where are the Muslim peace activists and humanitarians and if they exist then why is their voice not heard but that of Al Qaeeda?’
My fellows,I ask you the same questions.
I was so happy to hear Pakistan People Party’s member Babar Awan’s decision to create a rebuttal video to ‘Fitna’ the anti-Islamic video issued by Geert Wilders.Why cant all the Muslims take that approach?
I know you may say ‘He’s Agnostic.Why should we listen to him.He is going to guide us wrong’.
But you should listen to me and people who are trying to reform Muslim(Not Islam)thinking.
You should listen because:
*We don’t want more bloodshed in this world.And as,I hope,you don’t want it too,we have the same vision.Why not work together,putting aside our differences?
*6 million Muslims leave Islam everyday in Africa because they see these Islamic militants gunning down innocent people and inhumane laws forced onto them under the umbrella of Political Islam. Don’t you want to stop them? Don’t you want to show them your version of peaceful Islam?Then you should show them that Islam and basic Human rights are reconcilable.Until then let go of that dream that Islam will dominate the world.
Thanks

Meena

Presently I am reading 'Meena:Heroine of Afghanistan' by Melody Ermachild Chavis,a biographical account of young founder of Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan'(RAWA).
For one thing,Melody's acknowledgement of Meena as 'Heroine of Afghanistan' is precise.I still cant believe that any woman,born in a middle class family,,can not only think about Women's Rights,Freedom,Democracy,Secular government,but also work for it.Her's is a story which thrashes the hopes of fundamentalists and male chauvinists that women can never equal men.
In Fact,Meena is as great as any male leader,if not better.I urge people to read this book by Melody Chavis for I agree with what Alice Walker says about this novel:'Her's is a story that the world must learn by heart'.
Meena has showed Osama bin Laden what an arse he is.But not only her,but every member and supporter of RAWA,from start of the organization,should be applauded.
For more information on Meena please visit rawa.org and try to help Afghan women.

Click to join queerjihad

They Won't Let You Speak!

Being Muslim and diverging from the point of view held by majority of ‘Ummah’(Muslim community),means you are an apostate,atheist,infidel,detestable etc.If you are a Muslim you have to do what other Muslims tell you and don’t question their authority and their stance towards their religion and the mundane world.
Do I sound crazy?Well not till you live in a Muslim utopia and see it for your ownself.
I am a secular humanist and an Ex-Muslim.But even when I was A Muslim, I was a real secular Muslims’ voice.
I was a person who spoke against religious extremism,Ulema,those Muslims who called themselves ‘moderate’ but were still extremist,and probably even the literal reading of Quran.
I was the one who spoke in favour of secularizing Pakistan,of Secular Laws,reconciliation of Islam with modernity,of reading Quran in a symbolic manner,of gay rights,of Muslim women’s problems and what not.I even had the audacity to write an article in which I wrote as to where I think Pakistan would be in ten years.And guess what I wrote about?Legalization of Gay rights and secularization of Pakistan.Obviously I had to leave the school. Basically I was not expelled but you can say kicked out of the school.
The point here is not to narrate my story and present myself as the next Guru, but to show the real face of Islamic socities.I am not writing against Islam,but Islamic communities, who fail to recognize that if the Christian and Jewish world can reconcile modernity and their relgion,so can Islam, especially when Islam provides tools such as Ijtihad and maslaha.
When I left Islam and a few people came to know about it,one of them was my former teacher.What I remember most about her was that she had this urge,or so I felt, to turn this world Muslim and us into ‘Jihadis’.
You know what she said? She told my former classmate to let me know that I should contact her and she would turn be back to Islam by beating me on my nude body.
Of course the poor teacher knew she couldn’t do anything,so the only thing she thought was to make fun of me.
What did some of my former Classmates say?
That I wasn’t a Muslim anyway(who is to to judge that?),that I was an Atheist even when I was acting a Muslim, changing your religion isn’t fun…what the hell does he think he is, to the remarks that I was doing this to get attention from the people,trying to be different and stylish.
This is the usual response I get from the Muslim community and I am sure I would get it from any religious one.
But the problem here is a little more than in West.Here you can’t speak your mind.That wouldn’t be less than issuing a fatwa against yourself.
Pakistanis are liberal,but only in major cities such as Karachi,Lahore and Islamabad.
When you go to the smaller towns and cities and proclaim yourself non-religious or apostate of Islam there can be either a fatwa against you or a common disgust by the community.
The problem doesn’t end here.Even if you are a Muslim and hold Secular and modern views, you can be discriminated on the grounds of being ‘Baghairat’ (shamless) or an apostate altogether.
Irshad Manji and Nasr Abu Zaid are the two of the many names that come into my mind when I speak about such a Muslim stance towards the Islamic reformation.Irshad has been called an apostate in the mask of a believer,a MOSSAD agent,atheist and what not by the Muslims who have never read the Quran with translation themselves,and Nasr Abu Zaid has been be proclaimed apostate first by his colleague and then by the Egyptian legal system.Their only problem is that they had the courage to stand up against the religious establishment in the Muslim world and demand a reformation of Islamic thinking and societies if they are to survive in the modern world.
It’s not the case with modern and Secular Muslims only.The cursory reading of Sufic history shows that Ulema and the Sufis had almost always been head to head against eachother.
Muslim intellectuals such as Abu Ali Sina,about whom many Muslims may boast about, were persecuted or shunned by not only the Muslim clerics and Ulema but also the Muslim ‘ummah’.
Muslims often quote the saying of Muhammad when referring to the education,regarless of sexes,as a duty.
The saying goes like ‘ Travel even to China,to gain knowledge’.
This hadith is quite popular amongst the Muslims.
But what the Muslims have failed to understand is that knowledge keeps on changing since it’s not divine.And it’s application is what is it’s life.
Your knowledge is futile ,if not put to use.
I have no right to declare that I have any useful knowledge until and unless I don’t apply it to the mundane or spiritual world and prove it to be one which aims at the ‘common good’ of the society.The Muslims have also failed to understand that in order to verify the validity of the knowledge that each of us have, we have to allow freedom of thought,belief, expression as well as the need for debates and protecting the intellectual minds(even Salman Rushdie).That is one of the reasons why Muslim world,not only intellectually but also in respect to conforming itself to the modern times,is lagging behind whereas the Christian, Jews and other infidels are taking over the ALLAH’S LAND.
The time is ‘now’! There is not doubt that Muslims are earning themselves hatred,digust,discrimination and glares just because they refuse to reconcile Islam and Human Rights,endorsed by the UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
If they go on to show this kind of attitude towards the non-Muslims world, I can clearly see the humiliation they will go through.
Muslim world has to let others speak up and even let them critique Islam,for if it is divine why fear it being scrutinized by non-Muslims, and apostates?
They(the Muslim fundamentalists and extremists) won’t let you speak.But you have to, and we all know that.They will give you the hardest time possible.
I know that if these extremists ever come to know my real name,they would lose no time in murdering me.
One day will come when I will comeout to the world as I am and speak for what I write in this blog,and these Mullahs and so called Muslims,but nevertheless the fundamentalists at heart, will try every then and now to make my liing life a hell and possibly even persecute me.
But I guess, if one death (that of mine) liberates the souls of even two people, and give them inspiration, it’s worth dying.Or as someone said:
‘It’s better to be killed than frightened to death’.


Being Muslim and diverging from the point of view held by majority of ‘Ummah’(Muslim community),means you are an apostate,atheist,infidel,detestable etc.If you are a Muslim you have to do what other Muslims tell you and don’t question their authority and their stance towards their religion and the mundane world.
Do I sound crazy?Well not till you live in a Muslim utopia and see it for your ownself.
I am a secular humanist and an Ex-Muslim.But even when I was A Muslim, I was a real secular Muslims’ voice.
I was a person who spoke against religious extremism,Ulema,those Muslims who called themselves ‘moderate’ but were still extremist,and probably even the literal reading of Quran.
I was the one who spoke in favour of secularizing Pakistan,of Secular Laws,reconciliation of Islam with modernity,of reading Quran in a symbolic manner,of gay rights,of Muslim women’s problems and what not.I even had the audacity to write an article in which I wrote as to where I think Pakistan would be in ten years.And guess what I wrote about?Legalization of Gay rights and secularization of Pakistan.Obviously I had to leave the school. Basically I was not expelled but you can say kicked out of the school.
The point here is not to narrate my story and present myself as the next Guru, but to show the real face of Islamic socities.I am not writing against Islam,but Islamic communities, who fail to recognize that if the Christian and Jewish world can reconcile modernity and their relgion,so can Islam, especially when Islam provides tools such as Ijtihad and maslaha.
When I left Islam and a few people came to know about it,one of them was my former teacher.What I remember most about her was that she had this urge,or so I felt, to turn this world Muslim and us into ‘Jihadis’.
You know what she said? She told my former classmate to let me know that I should contact her and she would turn be back to Islam by beating me on my nude body.
Of course the poor teacher knew she couldn’t do anything,so the only thing she thought was to make fun of me.
What did some of my former Classmates say?
That I wasn’t a Muslim anyway(who is to to judge that?),that I was an Atheist even when I was acting a Muslim, changing your religion isn’t fun…what the hell does he think he is, to the remarks that I was doing this to get attention from the people,trying to be different and stylish.
This is the usual response I get from the Muslim community and I am sure I would get it from any religious one.
But the problem here is a little more than in West.Here you can’t speak your mind.That wouldn’t be less than issuing a fatwa against yourself.
Pakistanis are liberal,but only in major cities such as Karachi,Lahore and Islamabad.
When you go to the smaller towns and cities and proclaim yourself non-religious or apostate of Islam there can be either a fatwa against you or a common disgust by the community.
The problem doesn’t end here.Even if you are a Muslim and hold Secular and modern views, you can be discriminated on the grounds of being ‘Baghairat’ (shamless) or an apostate altogether.
Irshad Manji and Nasr Abu Zaid are the two of the many names that come into my mind when I speak about such a Muslim stance towards the Islamic reformation.Irshad has been called an apostate in the mask of a believer,a MOSSAD agent,atheist and what not by the Muslims who have never read the Quran with translation themselves,and Nasr Abu Zaid has been be proclaimed apostate first by his colleague and then by the Egyptian legal system.Their only problem is that they had the courage to stand up against the religious establishment in the Muslim world and demand a reformation of Islamic thinking and societies if they are to survive in the modern world.
It’s not the case with modern and Secular Muslims only.The cursory reading of Sufic history shows that Ulema and the Sufis had almost always been head to head against eachother.
Muslim intellectuals such as Abu Ali Sina,about whom many Muslims may boast about, were persecuted or shunned by not only the Muslim clerics and Ulema but also the Muslim ‘ummah’.
Muslims often quote the saying of Muhammad when referring to the education,regarless of sexes,as a duty.
The saying goes like ‘ Travel even to China,to gain knowledge’.
This hadith is quite popular amongst the Muslims.
But what the Muslims have failed to understand is that knowledge keeps on changing since it’s not divine.And it’s application is what is it’s life.
Your knowledge is futile ,if not put to use.
I have no right to declare that I have any useful knowledge until and unless I don’t apply it to the mundane or spiritual world and prove it to be one which aims at the ‘common good’ of the society.The Muslims have also failed to understand that in order to verify the validity of the knowledge that each of us have, we have to allow freedom of thought,belief, expression as well as the need for debates and protecting the intellectual minds(even Salman Rushdie).That is one of the reasons why Muslim world,not only intellectually but also in respect to conforming itself to the modern times,is lagging behind whereas the Christian, Jews and other infidels are taking over the ALLAH’S LAND.
The time is ‘now’! There is not doubt that Muslims are earning themselves hatred,digust,discrimination and glares just because they refuse to reconcile Islam and Human Rights,endorsed by the UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
If they go on to show this kind of attitude towards the non-Muslims world, I can clearly see the humiliation they will go through.
Muslim world has to let others speak up and even let them critique Islam,for if it is divine why fear it being scrutinized by non-Muslims, and apostates?
They(the Muslim fundamentalists and extremists) won’t let you speak.But you have to, and we all know that.They will give you the hardest time possible.
I know that if these extremists ever come to know my real name,they would lose no time in murdering me.
One day will come when I will comeout to the world as I am and speak for what I write in this blog,and these Mullahs and so called Muslims,but nevertheless the fundamentalists at heart, will try every then and now to make my liing life a hell and possibly even persecute me.
But I guess, if one death (that of mine) liberates the souls of even two people, and give them inspiration, it’s worth dying.Or as someone said:
‘It’s better to be killed than frightened to death’.
Thanks

They Won't Let You Speak!

Being Muslim and diverging from the point of view held by majority of ‘Ummah’(Muslim community),means you are an apostate,atheist,infidel,detestable etc.If you are a Muslim you have to do what other Muslims tell you and don’t question their authority and their stance towards their religion and the mundane world.
Do I sound crazy?Well not till you live in a Muslim utopia and see it for your ownself.
I am a secular humanist and an Ex-Muslim.But even when I was A Muslim, I was a real secular Muslims’ voice.
I was a person who spoke against religious extremism,Ulema,those Muslims who called themselves ‘moderate’ but were still extremist,and probably even the literal reading of Quran.
I was the one who spoke in favour of secularizing Pakistan,of Secular Laws,reconciliation of Islam with modernity,of reading Quran in a symbolic manner,of gay rights,of Muslim women’s problems and what not.I even had the audacity to write an article in which I wrote as to where I think Pakistan would be in ten years.And guess what I wrote about?Legalization of Gay rights and secularization of Pakistan.Obviously I had to leave the school. Basically I was not expelled but you can say kicked out of the school.
The point here is not to narrate my story and present myself as the next Guru, but to show the real face of Islamic socities.I am not writing against Islam,but Islamic communities, who fail to recognize that if the Christian and Jewish world can reconcile modernity and their relgion,so can Islam, especially when Islam provides tools such as Ijtihad and maslaha.
When I left Islam and a few people came to know about it,one of them was my former teacher.What I remember most about her was that she had this urge,or so I felt, to turn this world Muslim and us into ‘Jihadis’.
You know what she said? She told my former classmate to let me know that I should contact her and she would turn be back to Islam by beating me on my nude body.
Of course the poor teacher knew she couldn’t do anything,so the only thing she thought was to make fun of me.
What did some of my former Classmates say?
That I wasn’t a Muslim anyway(who is to to judge that?),that I was an Atheist even when I was acting a Muslim, changing your religion isn’t fun…what the hell does he think he is, to the remarks that I was doing this to get attention from the people,trying to be different and stylish.
This is the usual response I get from the Muslim community and I am sure I would get it from any religious one.
But the problem here is a little more than in West.Here you can’t speak your mind.That wouldn’t be less than issuing a fatwa against yourself.
Pakistanis are liberal,but only in major cities such as Karachi,Lahore and Islamabad.
When you go to the smaller towns and cities and proclaim yourself non-religious or apostate of Islam there can be either a fatwa against you or a common disgust by the community.
The problem doesn’t end here.Even if you are a Muslim and hold Secular and modern views, you can be discriminated on the grounds of being ‘Baghairat’ (shamless) or an apostate altogether.
Irshad Manji and Nasr Abu Zaid are the two of the many names that come into my mind when I speak about such a Muslim stance towards the Islamic reformation.Irshad has been called an apostate in the mask of a believer,a MOSSAD agent,atheist and what not by the Muslims who have never read the Quran with translation themselves,and Nasr Abu Zaid has been be proclaimed apostate first by his colleague and then by the Egyptian legal system.Their only problem is that they had the courage to stand up against the religious establishment in the Muslim world and demand a reformation of Islamic thinking and societies if they are to survive in the modern world.
It’s not the case with modern and Secular Muslims only.The cursory reading of Sufic history shows that Ulema and the Sufis had almost always been head to head against eachother.
Muslim intellectuals such as Abu Ali Sina,about whom many Muslims may boast about, were persecuted or shunned by not only the Muslim clerics and Ulema but also the Muslim ‘ummah’.
Muslims often quote the saying of Muhammad when referring to the education,regarless of sexes,as a duty.
The saying goes like ‘ Travel even to China,to gain knowledge’.
This hadith is quite popular amongst the Muslims.
But what the Muslims have failed to understand is that knowledge keeps on changing since it’s not divine.And it’s application is what is it’s life.
Your knowledge is futile ,if not put to use.
I have no right to declare that I have any useful knowledge until and unless I don’t apply it to the mundane or spiritual world and prove it to be one which aims at the ‘common good’ of the society.The Muslims have also failed to understand that in order to verify the validity of the knowledge that each of us have, we have to allow freedom of thought,belief, expression as well as the need for debates and protecting the intellectual minds(even Salman Rushdie).That is one of the reasons why Muslim world,not only intellectually but also in respect to conforming itself to the modern times,is lagging behind whereas the Christian, Jews and other infidels are taking over the ALLAH’S LAND.
The time is ‘now’! There is not doubt that Muslims are earning themselves hatred,digust,discrimination and glares just because they refuse to reconcile Islam and Human Rights,endorsed by the UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
If they go on to show this kind of attitude towards the non-Muslims world, I can clearly see the humiliation they will go through.
Muslim world has to let others speak up and even let them critique Islam,for if it is divine why fear it being scrutinized by non-Muslims, and apostates?
They(the Muslim fundamentalists and extremists) won’t let you speak.But you have to, and we all know that.They will give you the hardest time possible.
I know that if these extremists ever come to know my real name,they would lose no time in murdering me.
One day will come when I will comeout to the world as I am and speak for what I write in this blog,and these Mullahs and so called Muslims,but nevertheless the fundamentalists at heart, will try every then and now to make my liing life a hell and possibly even persecute me.
But I guess, if one death (that of mine) liberates the souls of even two people, and give them inspiration, it’s worth dying.Or as someone said:
‘It’s better to be killed than frightened to death’.

We Dont Want Your Opinions,Sir!

I, on orkut.com ,run an LGBT community.Seeing this a woman scraped me and told me how people like me spread chaos and perplexity as well as how Allah has created ‘faithful’ believers to wipe out people like ‘me’.
I was amused by her tone of speaking.It seemed like she knew all about Allah and His intention,and not vice-versa, as Islam preaches.
She then went on to guide me about Quran,and enlightened me with her wisdom that reading Quran even with Arabic wouldn’t matter,since thick heads like me don’t seem to catch the very essence of Islam.How did she know what was the real essence of Quran?I enquired if she had read Quran in Arabic and if she knew Arabic,since she was ranting so much about Quran being read according to her wish.
You know what she replied?
That she was wasting her time by debating with me, and she didn’t reply the above queries anyway.Because she hadn’t read Quran in Arabic!I had prepared myself to explain to her the modern relation between Islam and the Islam using Mursala-al-Maslaha as well as Ijtihad.
However she didn’t even know the basics of what Islam is and not even of debating,yet she went on to preach her ‘true’(read:Radical/Extremist)version of Islam.
These kind of responses shouldn’t shock you if you are working to reform Islamic world or introduce the reconciliation between Islam and LGBT rights.In fact you shouldn’t even be shocked if you receive death-threads for doing so,since when majority of Muslims see that they have no way to force their extreme views onto others,or that they cant legally fight you under the banner of freedom of expression,they tend to send you death-threads ,declare you an apostate/anti-Islamic Western mind/MOSSAD agent, and/or issue a fatwa against you.
This is not to say that Islam is the trouble but lack of Quranic understanding,freedom of expression,tolerance for pluralism of the same opinion,and a lot of illiteracy.
The reason that Islamic world,once,used to be the pride of this planet and that of the most successful people the Muslims were,was because of an immense amount of freedom of expression enjoyed by the Muslim world.Now the failure of it is the result of going totally opposite to it.This is now the reason of why the Western world is dominating the Muslim one.Yet Muslims hesitate to face the truth.
Muslims,whether because of illiteracy or an inferiority complex due to the failures that they have guaranteed themselves,have become paranoid enough to believe that Western world wants to eradicate Islam from the face of the earth since Islam is the only true religion and the right path which non-Mulims cant digest.
This might sound horrific or laughable but this is the truth,to a large degree,if not a whole one.
In my school’s morning assembly a child quite easily proclaimed 9/11 attack on World Trade Centre as an anti-Islamic Jewish conspiracy against Muslims.For what?
Are Jews that out of work that they need to even think such foolish stuff?In fact the foolishness of the Muslim world seems to be ever more accentuated by such irrational and baseless assumptions,which show their arrogance.Yes!arrogance.There was a time when Jews considered themselves the superior race and the chosen ones.This job be now taken by the Muslims.
What offended me even more about that morning assembly was the fact that neither principal nor any other authority came up to clarify such stupid belief,maybe because they themselves believed it.What do we expect such anti-western and anti-modernist people,who hold personal grudges against people of other faith on inane grounds,to do when they reach a western country?Will it be easy for them to socialize and mix with pluralistic society of West?I don’t think so.
Then I had a former member of my LGBT community whom I had to ban because of him ridiculing me for my personal beliefs.You cant imagine what extent he went to just to accuse me of leaving Islam because I couldn’t reconcile my faith with sexuality.And after I banned him you know what he took an excuse as to ridicule and humiliate me in his own community?My Atheism.
Atheists are hated by,I think,almost every society,but Muslim one seems to be the leader of them all,despite the fact that it has produced Sufis such as Jalaluddin Rumi who used to drink,which is against Islam,and philosphers such as Abu Ali Sina, who didn’t believe in immortality.
There has always been a war between Sufis/philosophers/Muslim free thinkers and the Ulema.However they all lived in one society and were protected.Is that the case today?Its all in front of you.
Muslims ,to enumerate the blessings Islam has brought with itself to world, recount the names of Sufis and Philosophers that Muslim civilizations have provided this world with.
First of all,majority,if not all, of these Sufis and Philosophers were either Agnostics or Secular Muslims.They might even be Atheists hiding under the pretension of being a Muslim.I mean if Atheists are hated so much right now,so just imagine 3 centuries-5 centuries back.
Secondly if Muslim world has given so much to this world in past,we are all thankful to them.But then what?Wat are we supposed to do?Not critique indoctrination of children,spreading paranoia among young minds against non-Muslims,terror that the word ‘Taliban’ and name ‘Osama bin Laden’ has spread?
If Muslim world is boasting so much about its past then it must also remember that they need to be even better off then what their ancestor were and to set the bars even higher.However the things are going other way round.
Muslims must ensure freedom of expression,thought,press in their society which has always been present in Islam.They must focus on what they have called the message of Islam:Love/Peace.Otherwise what use is a message of if it is unheard and not practiced?
And last but not the least they must ensure a pluralistic society and help eradicate irrational beliefs and prejudice against other gender(and intersex),sexualities,religions,sects etc.
A good human being is the one who has respect for others opinions all the while he might not agree with them at all.
He is the one who listens and then judges using the faculty of reasoning and accepts the new changes which fit into his reasoning.He is the one who allows debate rather than massacres.
And a good Muslim is a good human being,right?
Thanks.

Inter-Faith Marriage and Islam

For majority of Muslims, an inter-faith marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man is a crime and something which not only should be looked down upon but also spoken aggressively against.
I am not an Islamic scholar.But the problem of the Islamic world lays in the very fact that the ordinary Muslims left such important issues in the hands of Mullahs and Maulvis.
Therefore now it is not only the responsibility of Muslims but also non-Muslims to try to reform Muslim thinking(not Islam!).
However there have been some Muslims such as ,Irshad Manji ,Imam Khaleel and our other brothers and sisters at http://www.forpeoplewhothink.org.(and/
(And I advise that you should also read their articles as they are an eye-opener to the majority of conservative Muslims).
Now let’s come to the topic of Inter-Faith Marriage and why so many Muslims,almost all of them, believe that a Muslim woman can’t marry a non-Muslim man.
The first verse that is provided against it is The Glorious Quran: Chapter 5,verse number 5(5:5).
According to this verse:
‘This day, all innately good things are lawful for you… Lawful to you are the
chaste women from among those who have been given the Book before you…’
The traditionalists insist that since marriage of non-Muslim women to men is mentioned but not the marriage of non-Muslim men to Muslim women it is clear that women can’t do so.
This however may not be the case. As Imam Khaleel points out that Quran wa addressed to a certain society of Arabia which is extremely different than the world that we are living in,therefore it was addressed to men only.
The reason being that at that men were very powerful,but not women.This is also pointed out by the favourite author of many Muslims,Karen Armstrong in her book ‘A History Of God’.
We know that from the life story of Holy Prophet.After all how many women have been mentioned in the Prophet’s time with the power and prestige that Hinda and Khadija® Possessed?
These were two of the few elite women in the Meccan society who enjoyed somewhat better status in society than the ordinary women.
Because the men had power over women at that time,just like today you can see the suppression of Muslim women by their Muslim husbands,it was addressed to them.
If women would have had power over men there is no doubt that Allah would have talked through this verse to women.
Also there are hadith in which it has been mentioned that Allah dislikes those women(doesn’t mean He sends wrath on them,there is a difference), who make tattoos and who get tattoos done on their bodies as well as those who intentionally create an artificial gap between their teeth to look beautiful.
Does this mean that Allah has no problem with men getting tattoos done and the gap being created between their teeth?
I have read a lot of hadith regarding the disliking of Allah when it comes to tattooing but never ever read about men being cursed for doing so.
If you find any such verse or hadith then please do inform me,maybe I am wrong.Afterall I am a human being too.
Now let’s come to chapter 60,verse 10 of the Holy Quran which states:
“O ye who believe! When believing women come unto you as fugitives, examine them. Allah is Best Aware of their faith. Then, if ye know them for true believers, send them not back unto the disbelievers. They are not lawful for them (the disbelievers), nor are they (the disbelievers) lawful for them…”

If we examine the verse the word ‘fugitive’ means a ‘refugee’.(The word Muhajir can also be translated as someone who simply wants to emigrate.However this meaning would,atleast according to me,seem to be absurd.I’ll come back to this later).
Now why did Allah not want these women fugitives, who came to the Holy Prophet for embracing Islam, to go back to their Kafir husbands?
We find the answer in Yusuf Ali’s note to 5:5(note number 700) which states:
‘….Because her Muslim status would be affected :The wife ordinarily takes the nationality and status given by her husband’s law’.
At that time the Kafir were at war with the Muslims,and this we know very well.
The Kafir of that time would of course try to intimidate his wife because of her Muslim belief and because he was at war with the Muslims it makes sense that Muslim party would have to keep the women ,whoever embraced Islam,under their protection and away from such a husband as he would damage her religious beliefs by ridiculing her belief system and making fun of her beloved Prophet Muhammad which, to her,would be transgressing beyond the limits.
As explained that earlier in the period of ‘Jahilliyah’ the men dominated the society(just like they now do in the so called ‘Islamic’ utopias.).And the Kafir were against the religion of Islam and were not ready to even respect Prophet Muhammad,as they saw Islam a danger to not only their traditions but also economy.
Some of the Pagans and other non-Muslims might have.Their is no doubtfor to assume that the ‘whole’ society,each and every person,was against the Prophet is nonsensical.
Because Quran is addressed to the whole of Arab,atleast(whether it was for the whole of mankind or not is a debate,for some modernists think that Quran was for the Arabs as is evident from the fact that it was written in Arabic and was addressing the problems of the Arabian Jahilliyah and not any other land,although Prophet did recognize empires such as China and Persia.) and is not a book of ‘each-and-every-minute-details’(Quran already is so thick.Just imagine if it were to relate to every little detail of the society) it looked at how the majority of Kafir treated their Muslim wives and then provided this verse.
Now the problem is that today,due to Secular values and Secular education,majority of people respect eachother regardless of their faith,race,colour and even sometimes sexuality.
In these circumstances I,personally,can’t see any reason as to why this verse would be valid.This is not to say that Quran is 1400 years old and must be renounced.But that it was for that time and if the reasons stated above,for the verse’s appearance are resolved then this verse’s meaning doesn’t stand any longer.This does not mean that the verse should be discarded all together.
Take an example.
According to Quran four marriages are allowed to a man.And being a Muslim you would be aware that Allah commands a person to be truly fair and just to all his four wives.(4:3).
However Quran also states:
‘Try as you may, you can not treat all your wives impartially’(4:129)
Does this mean Quran is contradicting itself?No.
Allah allowed the four marriages to a Muslim man because in pre-Islamic Arabia a man mistreated orphans,denying them their rights.They took the orphans’ inheritances and made them virtual slaves in their household.
So Allah sanctioned a Muslim man up to Four marriages so that he could at least be just to the poor orphans.But at the same time Allah told them a harsh truth that they,even if they wanted,couldn’t be impartial to their wives.Thus Allah created the most difficult situation for a man to marry four times.
Now come to the modern world.Can any sane Muslim ever think that a man,with all this stressed out and expensive living,where it is difficult to manage a family even from one wife, would be able to be impartial to all his four wives?
I seriously cant think of any man for a woman doesn’t need only money,but a man’s emotions and love too.
Therefore for almost all the Muslims this verse is no longer valid.The point is also that Quran should be read symbolically and in historical context rather than lierally(this is the mistake the Quraish did,for they were not always Pagan but Hanifs and after they followed their logic and took Allah’s attributes literally ,they ended up personifying Him).
In the same case the issue of inter-faith marriage should also be dealt with keeping in view the requirements of both Quran and the modern world.
Now the inter-faith marriage should be allowed between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man if they agree to a ‘pre-nuptial’ agreement that they would:
*Not bring their religion into the everyday life and ridicule it to hurt the feelings of each other.
*Let their children have the education of both the religions(if Islam is divine,why fear it?They’ll naturally accept Islam then) and when they are of mature age the parents let them decide for themselves which path they want to choose.
*Neither spouse would be forcibly converted to the religion of the other one.
*There would be respect for each spouse’s religion and none of the religious offense(there a difference between offensive criticism of religion and the critical one) would be tolerated.
The conditions can be added on, in order to secure the marriage.
Thanks

The Need For Islamic Reformation

Muslims world is intellectually stagnant, and living in a Muslim utopia, Pakistan, I have no doubts about that. The moment you speak in favour of secularism, in the eyes of others you are an apostate, no matter what, or even if they do admit you as being a Muslim, then to them you are not a ‘true’ Muslim.But amidst all this there are people who understand the need ,in a Muslim society, for pluralism, democracy ,intellectual liberty and some even strongly believe in the separation of mosque and state.But to the majority of Muslims such ideas are un-Islamic and unacceptable.The reason for this is the closure of gates of ‘Ijtihad’(Islamic free reasoning).Personally I have no doubts that using the Ijtihad it would be or it should be difficult for the Muslims to accept secular ideals.But thanks to our Sunni Muslim brothers,who have let go of this great Islamic idea.If Muslims have to move forward and be hand in hand with the rest of world,they must realize that they have to allow freedom of expression,thought,press and worship.Only then can they call themselves ‘free’, otherwise there states are nothing but lands of intolerance,extremism,anti-mundane world and ‘Talibanized’.Also we must support Islamic reformers such as Irshad Manji who have tried to recociliate human rights and Islam,because they are the only rays of hope in the land of backwardness.Muslims are intellectually backward and for Muslims it’s hard to admit. Nevertheless this fact wouldn’t change,and instead of trying to turn the rest of world into a Shari’ah state they must try their level best to reform the traditional thinking about Islam and reinterpret Quran in the light of science and human rights.I was reading that in Spain they publish twice as much books as the Muslim world has published in over a thousand years. Do we need more proves?Change would vanquish the decades of brain washing that million and millions of Muslims have gone through since the time they first learned to speak.But it has to start from somewhere. Therefore its important that ‘we’ must start it NOW,before its too late.For those secularists who dream of seeing Islamic world as a reformed and secular one my advise is that,as aforementioned, they must support Muslim reformers such as Irshad Manji and our Muslim brothers and sisters at www.forpeoplewhothink.com .
Thanks

Support Muhammad Sven Kalisch

Whenever I read about the doubts on the historical proves for Jesus Christ’s existence,I wondered if we can ever doubt on the existence of another of one of World’s greatest religions:Prophet Muhammad.
Professor Kalisch,a Muslim convert at the age of 15 and now a scholar,has given voice to my thoughts.He is presently writing a book to give arguements in favour of his opinion that Muhammad most likely would have never existed!
This obviously came as a shock to the intellectually stagnant Muslim world who couldnt digest Islamic criticism,specially when it came from a Muslim.And so Muhammad Sven Kalisch’s live is now in danger just because he gave voice to his opinions,or maybe opinions of million of other people.
Even if we assume that he is wrong,there is no reason why he should be killed or his book be banned in the Muslim nations,rather than trying to prove him wrong rationally.He has his human right to speak his mind,whether one likes it or not.