Clarity....

I was browsing the Times Online website and came across an article entitled "Cant Muslim men control their urges?". In it the author, Mary Ann Seighart, discusses her understand of why hijab was prescribed and the nature of Muslim Men. While she makes some fair points regarding the erroneous statements of the Australian Mufti, she makes some incorrect statements about the details of the hijab.

The first mistake is in her statement that "The Koran is little help. The verse cited in support of women wearing headscarves or veils is hardly specific". A detailed discussion of the scholarly position on hijab can be found here. In summary the mistake that the author makes is a common one - the assumption that the Quran is the only source of Islamic law. A key principle of understanding the Quran is through the actions of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him)- His role is to enumerate upon the meanings of the practical verses.

A clear cut example of this is the daily prayer. The details of how the daily prayer is performed is not mentioned in the Quran - interestingly an account of how to perform the ablution in preparation for the prayer is outlined. Descriptions of how to perform the prayer are recorded in collections of hadith which detail what the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) said, did or approved. A detailed introduction to understanding the example or the sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) can be found here.

It would appear as though the respected author simply opened the Quran and read the verse without researching the subject throughly - a practice that unfortunately is very common amongst Muslims as well as non-Muslims. However, one would expect better from a journalist trained in the art of research.

Mary Ann says "It is the asymmetry that I object to in Muslim thought, the fact that men can wear what they like while women cannot".The reason for this "asymmetry" is that Muslim men are not commanded to wear the hijaab. Looking at the wording of the verse:

Say to believing women, that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them drape their headcoverings over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment . . .” (Qur’an 24:31)

We read that The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) is commanded to advise the believing women. Looking at it from another angle, one could say that they are being told to ignore non-believing women or men or even believing men or women if they propose a practice contrary to the verses. In effect, anyone who instructs Muslim women not to observe the hijab is in fact telling them to disobey Allah.

Blaming men for the command of Allah is disingenuous because Muslim men cannot remove its obligation. Are there any obligations that men have that women dont? Yes - an example of which is the wedding dowry. Muslim Men are obligated by Quranic injunction to give their wives a dowry of her choosing. We could perhaps negotiate a little (no harm in trying!!) but we would not be able to ignore it. No scholar (man or woman!) would be able to remove that obligation from Men - irrespective of how many Men remonstrate that times have changed!

So what can be said about a Muslim woman who does not cover up? They are failing in one particular obligation. Can a Woman be considered a good Muslim if she does not wear the hijab? The answer is yes - and there are many Muslim women who performing such good work for their communities and the society we live in. However, practising other duties will not discharge her responsibilty for observing hijab - no more then giving charity would dischage the responsibility of paying tax.

So "Why cant Muslim men control their urges?" Well actually we can and we do. Both Muslim men and women are told that they must lower their gaze. For men, this would include not passing their eyes over "harmless" soft or hardcore pornography. In fact it would be considered sinful for a Muslim man to even look at a lingerie catalogue to buy his wife something for the weekend. You will find that a large number of practising Muslims get married relatively young because pre-marital relations are not allowed within Islam. What greater example of controlling our urges is there then that of taking on responsibilties in order to be allowed to fulfil natural desires?

One final thought, the Muslim men who committed the heinous crime of gang rape cannot be excused because the woman was dressed "provocatively" (ie not wearing hijab). No Islamic court would accept such a defence. Rape is a horrendous crime and those who get away with in this life will not be able to escape justice in the next.

Motivation...

"People say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing- that's why we recommend it daily" -Zig Ziglar

Recently, I was asked to deliver a small pep talk to a group of young people after work. I wasn’t sure what to talk about. I left the office got on the tube and still had no idea. Came out of the station and got on the bus and then it hit me - talk about motivation!! Thought about the angles I could cover and worked out how I could get them involved.

I don’t like lecturing to young people as in my experience they really don’t like that approach. It bores them, makes them feel detached from the occasion. The solution? Ask them questions. Lots of questions. Provocative. Mundane. Difficult. Easy. They will jump in to discuss. If the audience talks to you more then you talk to them (or to each other!) then you are onto good thing in my opinion.

"So what motivates you?” I asked and their response? "Money". "Money". "My Mum" [with her frying pan :)]. "My Dad" - the fact that he worked so had so that I could have these opportunities. My peer group - if they can do it so can I! We got a bit more technical - classifying motivation as internal or external and proceeded to discuss positive motivation (there’s a reward if you do something) and negative motivation (there’s a punishment if you don’t!)... a thoroughly enjoyable evening which I was honored to host.

Some of my favorite motivational/inspirational quotes:

Constant dripping hollows out a stone

It is better to light on candle them to curse the darkness

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

More books!

Have been rather busy with studies which is the reason why I have not been able to add posts for a while - hey people have go to prioritise you know! Anyway some more interesting books to add to my list...

The Evolution of new markets - a facisnating discussion on how new technology develops from intial ideas into market leading products. A must for anyone working in IT or seeking to investing in new products!

The Millionaire Next Door - Take this formula: Age * Income / 10. Where the income includes all types - wage, stocks and shares etc. The figure you are left with should indicate your net worth. If like me you are no way near that much you need to start panicing :)

The rules of Management - Motivated by his excellent rules of work, I picked this one up for 20 pence. Interesting point? If a team messes up its your fault, if they do well they get the credit. Get used to it!

New...!

It was a manic end of year for me, which explains why there have been no posts in the past month. I delivered two lectures at a local university (The YMCA George Williams College) discussing "Islam and Youth Work". I must reiterate my thanks to Simon Frost for inviting me - I will add more details on these lectures later.

I spent some time review my progress during 2006 - Praise be to God, it was a good year. God willing, I can at least emulate the same success this year! I don't really do new years resolutions - why wait till the new year when a new moment is just a second away?! Nevertheless, to capitalise on the self-improvement fervor that this period brings, here is my list of recommended books that you should read.

• The Speed Reading Book - My take on speeding reading is this - if you can read a word without repeating letters in your head, you can do the same with words in sentences. A must read to get you into the habit of securing new and priceless ideas.
  
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad - I read this at the end of 2005 and wished that I had read it just after I had left university - in 2000. Key thought - "Buy assets (things which make you money) not liabilities (things which cost you money)" - in short don't by a new car, by an asset (investment?!) that will pay for the car.
  
• Getting Things Done - one of the most influential books that I have read. I read it and then created a revolutionary new system that has helped to really organise myself. Key point - anything that will take less then 2 mins (10 mins in my thinking) to do - just do it! The time taken to manage a delayed action would end up being greater then the time taken to do it.
  
• First, Break All The Rules - "strengthen your strengths and not your weaknesses". What do you do about weaknesses - find ways to compensate for them :)
  

For those of us who are more Islamically inclined (interest or practice!), the following books are a must:

• Muhammad, Messenger of Allah: Ash-Shifa of Qadi'Iyad - its not a biography of the Prophet (SAW) but a discussion about His personality, His miracles and a myriad of other things that teach us why He is the beloved of Allah. I have read both The Sealed Nectar and Muhammad (SAW) by Martin Lings but they do not compare.
  
• The Authority and Importance of the Sunnah - Thanks to Jack Straw, 2006 witnessed a debate about the hijab (head cover) and niqab (face cover) taking place in the national media. In all the articles I read, the only source mentioned for Islamic rulings was the Quran and no reference was made to the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). This book details how the Quran itself indicates that His teachings are indispensable.
  
• The Purification of the Soul and Purification of the heart - both very insightful and beneficial discussions on Islamic spirituality. The latter book is written from a western perspective and I would say was an essential read for both Muslims and Non-Muslims looking to improve their characters.

I pray that Allah grants us all success in this world and the hereafter. Ameen!

Contrasting difference

The difference in the way that the media presents stories is illustrated by the following two articles.

BBC News - End of one law for all?

Telegraph - Sharia law is spreading as authority wanes

The BBC article outlines the presence of parallel courts within the UK - referring to Sharia courts, the Jewish Beth Din and the Somalian Gar. The Telegraph article only discusses the Islamic courts - giving the impression that no other minority community has such a process and in my opionion, adds to another branch to the fire of anti-Muslim sentiments.

Patience

A day does not pass without a new claim,
That somewhere a Muslim is learning to maim.
"Islamic" terrorists who want to attack our way,
For them terror and bloodshed is their play.

For the one who strives in a pious way,
It evident that peaceful times are far away.
Everyday brings a new test and taste of pain,
Only those withstand are set to gain.

Such trials are a test from our bounteous Lord,
To indicate how much faith we do hoard.
They will distinguish the faithful from all those who claim,
Undoubtedly exposing those who are Muslim by name.

Firmness and patience is now what is required,
Despair and hopelessness must be retired.
For through such trials of uncertainty and wane,
The Ummah of Muhammad (SAW) will rise again.

The right to criticise

The discussions regarding freedom of speech have produced some heated exchanges. When Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) was depicted as a terrorist, those who love Him did nothing to repel that claim and only added credence to the other claim that "Muslims are against freedom of speech". It seems mischevious to insinuate that when absolute freedom of speech does not exist in any society in the world - In the UK provisions within the legal system ensure that people are protected against hate-speech. The reason why Muslims were "up-in-arms" is because of the feeling of demonisation at a time when the current climate is not very welcoming.

The term freedom of speech could be interchanged with the term "the right to criticise". Browsing through the BBC Have your say forums one can find a few frustrated posts where people feel that they cannot criticise Islam without being labelled racist or Islamophobic. Muslims should realise that it is only natural for a people who are not aware of the teachings of Islam to want to, at times vehemently, disagree with some of its practices.

Muslims cannot supress this right, however to foster a better dialogue both sides need to adopt a more civil approach in their exchanges. Consider the difference between "Muslims are misogynistic and barbaric because they treat men and women differently and advocate capital punishment" in comparison to "Some Muslim laws treat men and women differently and advocate capital punishment for some crimes". Or the difference between "Women who don't cover up are sluts and whores" and "Women who don't cover up are not observing the Islamic ettiqutes regarding clothing". The terms "misogynistic" and "barbaric", "sluts and whores" are emotive and are used by some to bypass intelligent discussion and engage negative emotions. As a means of discussing differences, engaging negative emotions is not helpful in promoting toleration and peaceful co-existence.

Muslims need to return to the Quranic teachings in to order to learn how to respond to challenges. Instead of hurling expletives and threatening people with with violence we should follow the example of Ibrahim (Peace be upon Him). The Quran describes an incident between between Prophet Ibrahim and Nimrod, a king in Palestine: "[Ibrahim] said, 'My Lord is the One Who gives life and death'. He said, 'I give life and death. Ibrahim said, 'Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.' Thus, the disbeliever was confounded..." (Al-Baqarah, 2:258).

Ibrahim (Peace be upon Him) could have easily mocked the King when he claimed He was the giver of life and death given the absurdity of the claim. Instead He responded by identifying an argument that illustrated the weakness of the Kings claim to God-like powers. In 16:125 Allah says - "Invite to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better... ". Walking around advocating murder and burning embassies in response to inflammatory statements is neither clever nor wise.

Reason and Wisdom

"Why do you not eat pork?" or "why do you not drink small amounts of alcohol?" or "why do women have to cover?" are questions that I have been asked a number of times. I used to answer because "pigs are dirty" or because "alcohol is bad for you and society" or "because the veil promotes modesty".

These of course would be countered by responses such as "whats wrong with one drink? Science shows that its good for your digestive system or what if a pig were not raised on filth?" (We dont have enough space to discuss the numerous responses relating to hijaab!).

After a detailed discussion with my Islamic studies teacher, I realised that I was confusing the reason with the wisdom. The reason why Muslims do not eat pork or drink alcohol is because Allah has commanded us not to. The verse that states it is "Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked a name other than that of Allah." (Al-Quran, chapter 5, verse 3). Note that the wisdom for its prohibition is not included in the same verse. There are verses which mention the wisdom behind the prohibition for something but the reason would still be because Allah says so.

It may appear irrational to follow a law that one does not understand. On the surface this argument seems to be a fair one. In the Quran Allah refers to Himself with different names - two of them include The All-Knowing and The Wise. Given that these names indicate a divine knowledge and wisdom beyond our limited capabilities, to Muslims its makes greater rational sense to accept the command and decision of the one who created us and knows better.

Submitting to a principle is an important part of everyday life - in the UK we accept that our Government is chosen by a majority vote. We may dislike it but we are bound to accept the outcome that is asserted at the ballot box. In the same manner as Muslims we are required by Islam (which incidently means submission to the will of God) to accept all the proven practices from the Quran and the example of Muhammad (peace be upon Him).

At times adhereing to an Islamic principle can lead to loss of worldly gain but that is part of the test - whether we choose to obey Allah or to obey others besides Him. Allowances can be made in extremely difficult situations but this would be through consultation with Scholars and not on a ones own whims and desires. Unfortunately due to ignorance or perhaps other unclear motives, some Muslims pick and choose which of the laws of Islam they wish to follow. They would do well to remember that Allah is one who will judge not the one who is judged.