Britain is still in a state of emergency over the threat of terrorist attacks 5 years after the tube bombings. There must be some credible threat to the nation to allow the constant scaremongering and draconian legislations which have been introduced. You could say Britain has set up a big brother state with more CCTV cameras then the rest of Europe put together and the Olympics a perfect excuse to continue the trend.
Muslim coincidentally seem to be the target of most the legislations and the paranoia built up by the scaremongering. Recent figures suggest 99 percent of terror attacks in Europe in the last 3 years have been carried out by non Muslims. This is with the background of Iraq, Afghanistan wars, the profiling of Muslims and the torture of Muslim prisoners.
The idea of 'Islamism' has been reduced to one bore out of anger resulting in the spontaneous murder of innocent victims. The political side of it has been ignored. An 'Islamist' movement starts from the grassroots levels and is instrumental at both social and political level. Examples of this include the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Jamaat-e-Islami, Hizb Ut Tahrir and to a greater or lesser extent, the Taliban.
In the UK the government has taken over and now basically controls the religion. Much is said of state and religion being completely separate in secular societies but much of British mosques, societies, education and literature available to Muslim youth is government approved and is mostly concentrated on theology, the one thing Muslims can discuss in mosques and at university in peace. As for any other topic of discussion or any other ideologies- they are suppressed and rejected by 'mainstream' Muslims. Leading to Muslims especially the youth even more disenchanted and ' radicalized '
Monday 29 March 2010
Thursday 25 March 2010
Voting
The general election is 6 weeks away and Westminster went into pantomime season overdrive this week with Sam Cam about to become fat Sam Cam, Conservatives comparing Mr Ashcroft with Charlie Whelan and Gordon Brown getting his revenge on the rebels.
This brings about the inevitable debate about voting in Islam and whether Muslims should vote or not. With the Muslim population around 2m in the UK their vote could prove to be crucial especially in places with high Muslim population. The Muslim vote might have helped George Galloway get a seat but doesn't explain why Jack Straw is still MP of Blackburn. The argument for voting is based around the idea that to change the system and to benefit Muslims, Muslims must be involved in the system and by voting for one ideology over another you could be voting for the lesser of 2 evils.
The first argument was demonstrated in the Dispatches programme showing the Tower Hamlets council and the influence Muslims were meant to have on non Muslim workers and on the borough. While i thought the programme was provocative and nonsensical it didn't really delve into the benefits of getting involved in the political systems for Muslims and just focused on the usual 'they didn't let me eat during Ramadhan or they took time off for Friday prayers'. The second argument only works when voting against the BNP, sure the Liberal Democrats are anti war but they have as much chance of calling off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as Obama has of stopping Israel from building new settlements and you're not just voting to stop the war but also for pro gay and pro abortion.
The argument against voting and the opinion i follow is derived from one of the fundamental beliefs in Islam- one that we testify to at least 5 times a day when we bear witness that their is no god but Allah. Sovereignty is Gods alone and to be involved in a process which puts man made laws above and before Gods law you are associating partners with the Almighty.
This brings about the inevitable debate about voting in Islam and whether Muslims should vote or not. With the Muslim population around 2m in the UK their vote could prove to be crucial especially in places with high Muslim population. The Muslim vote might have helped George Galloway get a seat but doesn't explain why Jack Straw is still MP of Blackburn. The argument for voting is based around the idea that to change the system and to benefit Muslims, Muslims must be involved in the system and by voting for one ideology over another you could be voting for the lesser of 2 evils.
The first argument was demonstrated in the Dispatches programme showing the Tower Hamlets council and the influence Muslims were meant to have on non Muslim workers and on the borough. While i thought the programme was provocative and nonsensical it didn't really delve into the benefits of getting involved in the political systems for Muslims and just focused on the usual 'they didn't let me eat during Ramadhan or they took time off for Friday prayers'. The second argument only works when voting against the BNP, sure the Liberal Democrats are anti war but they have as much chance of calling off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as Obama has of stopping Israel from building new settlements and you're not just voting to stop the war but also for pro gay and pro abortion.
The argument against voting and the opinion i follow is derived from one of the fundamental beliefs in Islam- one that we testify to at least 5 times a day when we bear witness that their is no god but Allah. Sovereignty is Gods alone and to be involved in a process which puts man made laws above and before Gods law you are associating partners with the Almighty.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Current issues
Israel- America and Britain have either woken up recently to the reality that Israel is a law onto itself and are no longer blinded by Jewish lobbyists in the government, media and in business or they have decided to put on a good show on for Muslims around the world. In pretty much the same fashion Obama was elected because he had a muslim middle name and he was great for personality politics and for endearing america again to a world who hated George Bush.
I fail to see how Britain was angry with Israel over the death of a Hamas member when they refuse to deal with the democratically elected party themselves.
The only solution would be to let the Jewish population move to Uganda as was the original plan before the holocaust left the Europeans feeling guilty and leave the Christian and Muslim residents to live in peace.
A more feasible option would be to let the growing number Jewish voices who are against the actions of Israel to have a bigger voice and make more films, write more articles condemning the actions of the Zionists who claim to act in the name of Judaism.
Mephedrone- banning plant food won't solve the problem. There's a million and 1 drugs out there to replace it. The real issue is that more and more people are looking for highs to escape reality. As depression becomes commercialised and more and more teenagers are convinced that they are not happy this is an inevitable consequence. Spirituality in religion has been replaced with spirituality from gaining wealth or for teenagers in getting high and getting laid.
I fail to see how Britain was angry with Israel over the death of a Hamas member when they refuse to deal with the democratically elected party themselves.
The only solution would be to let the Jewish population move to Uganda as was the original plan before the holocaust left the Europeans feeling guilty and leave the Christian and Muslim residents to live in peace.
A more feasible option would be to let the growing number Jewish voices who are against the actions of Israel to have a bigger voice and make more films, write more articles condemning the actions of the Zionists who claim to act in the name of Judaism.
Mephedrone- banning plant food won't solve the problem. There's a million and 1 drugs out there to replace it. The real issue is that more and more people are looking for highs to escape reality. As depression becomes commercialised and more and more teenagers are convinced that they are not happy this is an inevitable consequence. Spirituality in religion has been replaced with spirituality from gaining wealth or for teenagers in getting high and getting laid.
Asalamalikum wr wb
Islam cannot fulfill its role except by taking concrete form in a society, rather, in a nation; for man does not listen, especially in this age, to an abstract theory which is not seen materialized in a living society. From this point of view, we can say that the Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries, for this Muslim community does not denote the name of a land in which Islam resides, nor is it a people whose forefathers lived under the Islamic system at some earlier time. It is the name of a group of people whose manners, ideas and concepts, rules and regulations, values and criteria, are all derived from the Islamic source. The Muslim community with these characteristics vanished at the moment the laws of God became suspended on earth.
If Islam is again to play the role of the leader of man- kind, then it is necessary that the Muslim community be restored to its original form.
It is necessary to revive that Muslim community which is buried under the debris of the man-made traditions of several generations, and which is crushed under the weight of those false laws and customs which are not even remotely related to the Islamic teachings, and which, in spite of all this, calls itself the 'world of Islam.'
I am aware that between the attempt at 'revival' and the attainment of 'leadership' there is a great distance, as the Muslim community has long ago vanished from existence and from observation, and the leadership of mankind has long since passed to other ideologies and other nations, other concepts and other systems. This was the era during which Europe's genius created its marvellous works in science, culture, law and material production, due to which mankind has progressed to great heights of creativity and material comfort. It is not easy to find fault with the inventors of such marvellous things, especially since what we call the 'world of Islam' is completely devoid of all this beauty.
But in spite of all this, it is necessary to revive Islam. The distance between the revival of Islam and the attainment of world leadership may be vast, and there may be great difficulties on the way; but the first step must be taken for the revival of Islam.
If we are to perform our task with insight and wisdom, we must first know clearly the nature of those qualities on the basis of which the Muslim community can fulfill its obligation as the leader of the world. This is essential so that we may not commit any blunders at the very first stage of its reconstruction and revival.
The Muslim community today is neither capable of nor required to present before mankind great genius in material inventions, which will make the world bow its head before its supremacy and thus re-establish once more its world leadership. Europe's creative mind is far ahead in this area, and at least for a few centuries to come we cannot expect to compete with Europe and attain supremacy over it in these fields.
Hence we must have some other quality, that quality which modern civilization does not possess.
But this does not mean that we should neglect material progress. We should also give our full attention and effort in this direction, not because at this stage it is an essential requirement for attaining the leadership of mankind, but because it is an essential condition for our very existence; and Islam itself, which elevates man to the position of representative of God on earth, and which, under certain conditions, considers the responsibilities of this representative as the worship of God and the purpose of man's creation, makes material progress obligatory for us.
To attain the leadership of mankind, we must have something to offer besides material progress, and this other quality can only be a faith and a way of life which on the one hand conserves the benefits of modern science and technology, and on the other fulfills the basic human needs on the same level of excellence as technology has fulfilled them in the sphere of material comfort. And then this faith and way of life must take concrete form in a human society - in other words, In a Muslim society.
(syed qutb)
If Islam is again to play the role of the leader of man- kind, then it is necessary that the Muslim community be restored to its original form.
It is necessary to revive that Muslim community which is buried under the debris of the man-made traditions of several generations, and which is crushed under the weight of those false laws and customs which are not even remotely related to the Islamic teachings, and which, in spite of all this, calls itself the 'world of Islam.'
I am aware that between the attempt at 'revival' and the attainment of 'leadership' there is a great distance, as the Muslim community has long ago vanished from existence and from observation, and the leadership of mankind has long since passed to other ideologies and other nations, other concepts and other systems. This was the era during which Europe's genius created its marvellous works in science, culture, law and material production, due to which mankind has progressed to great heights of creativity and material comfort. It is not easy to find fault with the inventors of such marvellous things, especially since what we call the 'world of Islam' is completely devoid of all this beauty.
But in spite of all this, it is necessary to revive Islam. The distance between the revival of Islam and the attainment of world leadership may be vast, and there may be great difficulties on the way; but the first step must be taken for the revival of Islam.
If we are to perform our task with insight and wisdom, we must first know clearly the nature of those qualities on the basis of which the Muslim community can fulfill its obligation as the leader of the world. This is essential so that we may not commit any blunders at the very first stage of its reconstruction and revival.
The Muslim community today is neither capable of nor required to present before mankind great genius in material inventions, which will make the world bow its head before its supremacy and thus re-establish once more its world leadership. Europe's creative mind is far ahead in this area, and at least for a few centuries to come we cannot expect to compete with Europe and attain supremacy over it in these fields.
Hence we must have some other quality, that quality which modern civilization does not possess.
But this does not mean that we should neglect material progress. We should also give our full attention and effort in this direction, not because at this stage it is an essential requirement for attaining the leadership of mankind, but because it is an essential condition for our very existence; and Islam itself, which elevates man to the position of representative of God on earth, and which, under certain conditions, considers the responsibilities of this representative as the worship of God and the purpose of man's creation, makes material progress obligatory for us.
To attain the leadership of mankind, we must have something to offer besides material progress, and this other quality can only be a faith and a way of life which on the one hand conserves the benefits of modern science and technology, and on the other fulfills the basic human needs on the same level of excellence as technology has fulfilled them in the sphere of material comfort. And then this faith and way of life must take concrete form in a human society - in other words, In a Muslim society.
(syed qutb)
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