Project Reason

PEW tackles Muslim societies globally (Except Saudi Arabia and Iran - due to political tension)

2013-05-08T08:37:43-08:00

http://www.pewforum.org/Muslim/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-exec.aspx

One page overview above.

Other key findings include:

At least half of Muslims in most countries surveyed say they are concerned about religious extremist groups in their country, including two-thirds or more of Muslims in Egypt (67%), Tunisia (67%), Iraq (68%), Guinea Bissau (72%) and Indonesia (78%). On balance, more are worried about Islamic extremists than about Christian extremists.

Muslims around the world overwhelmingly view certain behaviors – including prostitution, homosexuality, suicide, abortion, euthanasia and consumption of alcohol – as immoral. But attitudes toward polygamy, divorce and birth control are more varied. For example, polygamy is seen as morally acceptable by just 4% of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Azerbaijan; about half of Muslims in the Palestinian territories (48%) and Malaysia (49%); and the vast majority of Muslims in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Senegal (86%) and Niger (87%).

In most countries where a question about so-called “honor” killings was asked, majorities of Muslims say such killings are never justified. Only in two countries – Afghanistan and Iraq – do majorities condone extra-judicial executions of women who allegedly have shamed their families by engaging in premarital sex or adultery.

Relatively few Muslims say that tensions between more religiously observant and less observant Muslims are a very big problem in their country. In most countries where the question was asked, Muslims also see little tension between members of Islam’s two major sects, Sunnis and Shias – though a third or more of Muslims in Pakistan (34%) and Lebanon (38%) consider Sunni-Shia conflict to be a very big problem.

Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely than Muslims surveyed in other regions to say they attend interfaith meetings and are knowledgeable about other faiths. But substantial percentages of Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa also perceive hostility between Muslims and Christians. In Guinea-Bissau, for example, 41% of Muslims say “most” or “many” Christians are hostile toward Muslims, and 49% say “most” or “many” Muslims are hostile toward Christians.

In half of the countries where the question was asked, majorities of Muslims want religious leaders to have at least “some influence” in political matters, and sizable minorities in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa think religious leaders should have a lot of political influence. For example, 37% of Muslims in Jordan, 41% in Malaysia and 53% in Afghanistan say religious leaders should play a “large” role in politics.

Support for making sharia the official law of the land tends to be higher in countries like Pakistan (84%) and Morocco (83%) where the constitution or basic laws favor Islam over other religions.

In many countries, Muslims who pray several times a day are more likely to support making sharia official law than are Muslims who pray less frequently. In Russia, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Tunisia, for example, Muslims who pray several times a day are at least 25 percentage points more supportive of enshrining sharia than are less observant Muslims. Generally, however, there is little difference in support for sharia by age, gender or education.

That’s the other side of this life

2013-04-27T21:44:16-08:00

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/04/23/3743221.htm

Halal

2013-04-13T14:41:28-08:00

“However, the cruel face of Islam is most brutally displayed in the several scenes, in which original shots of a halal butchering are revealed. This video documents the inhuman slaughter of cattle and sheep without anesthesia and provide conclusive evidence of a brutality which is simply inconceivable to all Australian people.”

Who says that violence is NOT islamic?

2012-02-25T20:19:49-08:00

I’ve heard more and more lately from both muslims and non-muslims that the violence we see in the Arabic & MiddleEastern world is actually cultural and not a product of the muslim faith. The murder of 4 female Afghanis in Canada recently and the guilty verdict against the father, mother, and brother of 3 girls and a first wife, is denounced in the strongest language but a point is always made that this sort of “honour killing” and the absolute control of women is not part of islam but rather that it is part of the cultural beliefs of these people.

However the recent reaction to the US Army’s burning of the quran (just like the madness over the cartoons of Mohammed) plainly and explicitly proves that violence is absolutely derived from the religion of Mohammed. How it is even possible to conclude that in islam women are not rated as second-class citizens (or as the essential property of men) is beyond reason. And much of this violence within the faith is based upon its inherent inhumanity against women, and from there it spreads out to other aspects of the islammic world view.

Now one more question on this topic: How is it possible that people (mostly men) can be so enraged and so violent in their reaction to the “desicration” of their holy book, the quran? Why would the mere existence of certain words incite such craziness and insanity as a reaction to their destruction? What’s in the power of those words that would make grown men turn into raging madmen? Could it be that in those words it breathes life to the subjugation of women and men know deep inside that the frailty of their supposed superiority rests on the overzealous protection of the words contained in the Quran? Is that what makes them rage and murder when someone burns their book?

The Cat’s out of His Bag

2013-04-06T14:34:19-08:00

Does Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) believe that women should sit in the back of the room? If so, does that include the “Hard Headed Women?”
Please advise.

When debating Muslim apologists, beware the ruse “it’s not in the quran, therefore it’s not Islam”. It’s subterfuge.

2013-01-15T21:10:32-08:00

The quran orders all people to obey Allah and His Messenger (5:92). Accordingly, there are two pillars on which ‘Islam’ stands: the quran, and what Muhammad ibn Abdullah (‘Prophet’ Muhammad) instructs. Islam’s most invidious aspects almost invariably derive from Muhammad’s commands, not the quran. This does not mean Muhammad’s instructions, codified in the hadith and applied by shariah (‘sunnah’, meaning tradition), are any less integral to the Islamic faith than the quran.

Muhammad’s instructions are indeed more important to Islam than the quran itself. You can easily practice Islam without a quran because Muhammad’s instructions (such as how to use a toilet, which foot to enter a room with, what to invoke when a dog barks, what to invoke when putting putting on your shirt) are detailed (totalitarian?) enough. But it is impossible to practice Islam with just a quran. This is because the quran is a frustratingly vague book of poetry.

Muslims respond that when the quran and sunnah conflict, the quran takes precedence, for only the quran is the direct word of god as is the ultimate source of authority. Wrong. The quran prescribes only two (contradictory) punishments for adultery: immurement, and lashing. Muhammad prescribes death. Death has always been the mandatory punishment under Islamic law. Believers lose no sleep over this contradiction, by parroting that the quran orders the following of Allah and his Messenger. Thus the a person who rejects the Messenger rejects Islam. The Jewish equivalent to this circumlocution of wonderful circularity is the written torah and the oral torah, codified in the talmud. The Christian equivalent exists in Catholicism and Orthodoxy, who define Christianity as following Jesus and the church.

No mainstream ‘quran alone’ sect that rejects or limits Muhammad’s instructions exists. The few followers there are are labelled misguided, heretics, and non-Muslim by most orthodox Muslims. Quran-alone Muslims reason that they are not bound by any of Muhammad’s putative instructions as these were codified only three centuries after his death, are contradictory, and are not specifically prescribed by the quran. But this freedom to jettison Muhammad results in some interesting results. Some quran-alone Muslims pray towards Jerusalem rather than Makkah (as the quran doesn’t bother specifying which mosque Muslims worldwide are to face in prayer); some pray only three times daily (quran never specifies how often to pray); and practice a multitude of further abberations from the mainstream Islam envisioned by Muhammad (and therefore by Allah).

Liberal Muslim apologists may state that quran-alone Muslims have the right to do so. But this means an abnegation of what Muhammad himself instructed: to kill heretics, and defend Islam from deviation and ‘mischief’.

Orthodox Muslims also refer to the ‘science of hadith’, whereby the less flattering accounts of Muhammad’s sunnah- such as his numerous suicide attempts- are labelled ‘weak’ and so in effect washed off the record, and the less embarrassing ones are labelled ‘strong’ or ‘good’. The fallacy of this ‘science’ is based on the reliability of the story teller’s personality(!) and how long the chain of narration is, and is not universal. It’s not the unbeliever’s fault that Islam is such a disordered collection of texts and writings based on a hopelessly flawed chain of narration, as that’s something for Muslims to sort out themselves (which is itself impossible; eg. Muslims still can’t agree if Muhammad was suicidal or not, which itself could result in death if stated in, say, Iran whose shiah faith has its own corpus of supplementary texts). But to deny that this corpus of confusion forms part of what ‘Islam’ is meant to be just because it’s not written in the quran is to deconstruct Islam to such a state that Islam no longer exists. And you still can’t even hide solely behind a quran, as the quran says to follow the Messenger, which is only possible through these supplementary instructions.

So when an apologist denies Islam’s more oppressive aspects beneath the pavis “it is not in the quran”, ask whether it is instructed by the Muhammad instead. It almost invariably is, and Muhammad’s non-quranic instructions in tandem with the quran are Islam itself.

No Historical Muhammad.

2013-02-28T05:36:02-08:00

I’d always been told that there was an historical Muhammad. Turns out it ain’t so.

http://www.sappho.dk/blog/335/The-historicity-of-Muhammad-Aisha-and-who-knows-who-else.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122669909279629451.html

Collapse of Sunni/Shia and rise of the Quranist Islam

2013-01-31T02:02:19-08:00

With the collapse of Ja’far Al Sadiq’s empire in Iran and Ibn Hanbal’s slow demise in Saudi Arabia, the tide is turning and the fictitous sects that emerged during the Abbasid Empire knows as the Sunni and Shia sects and others who follow man made revelations known as hadiths are slowly collapsing. Malik’s Empire in Sudan is collapsing and Abu Hanifa’s Empire in Pakistan is turning upside down. The so called Islamic states have proven to be ideologically obsolete and in the wrong side of history. The sects are on life support and the Koranist will take over. So who are the Koranist?

The Koranist believe only the Koran should speak for Islam.

WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QURANIC ISLAM AND TODAY’S MUSLIM PRACTICES?

In comparing the teachings of Islam as derived from Quran to the practices taught and enforced by the popular Sunni and Shia faiths (1.2 Bn followers), we find that the list of contradictions are quite extensive, with some of the highlights as follows:

In Islam, the requirement to be a Muslim is to simply accept and live according to the �Straight Path� (6:151-153), Vs. the Sunni or Shia 5-pillars which come from unauthorized books�

In Islam, abolishing Slavery is taught to be an act of righteousness (90:12-13), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings which encourages slavery under war�

In Islam, women are never forbidden from praying or fasting during Menstruation (2:222), nor is there a specific dress code (i.e. the Headscarf) imposed on them beyond modesty, Vs. the Sunni and Shia which teach the undermining of women and forcing them to cover their hair and avoid praying or fasting at certain times…

In Islam, a man or women may leave a Will, after settlement of debt (4:12), Vs. Sunnis who refuse to accept wills if there are any direct descendants…

In Islam, Monogamy is the basis for normal relationships, while polygamy is only allowed in cases involving marrying the mothers of orphans under the man�s guardianship (4:3), Vs. Sunnis where a man may be a polygamist simply if he can afford to, and Shia which allow sex for pleasure (Mut�a)...

In Islam, Divorce is enforceable only after a two-phase period, and it may be made nullified if the couple reconcile before the end of this period (65:1, 65:4), Vs. Sunni teachings that destroy families by allowing a divorce to occur on the spot with no waiting period and no nullification…

In Islam, Thieves do not have their hands cut-off, but are made to work until they return that which is stolen (12:76), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings which brutally amputate the hands causing disability…

In Islam, no one is allowed to be killed or Stoned for adultery (24:2), Vs. Sunni and Shia laws of stoning married adulterers to death…

In Islam, absolute Freedom of Faith is allowed (2:256, 10:99; 18:29; 88:21-22), Vs. Sunni and Shia requiring apostates to be killed and rejecting the practice of other faiths…

In Islam, people are acknowledged as being diverse and each is to be respected for his/her level of spiritual growth. A Submitter �Muslim� must work to attain the status of Faithful �Mumin� (49:14), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings that all followers of their religion must think, act, and even look the same (cult syndrome)...

In Islam, War can only be declared in cases of self-defence - no offensives (2:190), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings allowing raids and attacks on any people who are considered non-Muslim by their standards…

In Islam, Pilgrimage is a centre for gathering of nations and for all to witness the benefits of being together (22:27-2Vs. Sunni and Shia bringing in polytheistic rituals and superstition (touching of black stone, circling 7 times, etc..)...

In Islam, a Year is a luni-solar count made of 365-days (17:12, 9:36), with all the seasons fitting-in-place Vs. Sunnis teaching it to be a lunar one based on 354 days which creates confusion of seasons and time�

In Islam, males and females are not required to be Circumcised (32:7), Vs. Sunni and Shia teachings requiring all males to be circumcised and females in some cases…

In Islam, music, statues, gold and silk are all Lawful(7:32-33, 16:116), Vs. Sunni beliefs forbidding silk & gold for men, and forbidding music & statues for all…

In Islam, rule of Government is under the constitution of the Qur’an through consultation and free-speech (5:48, 42:3. Vs. Sunni teachings which allow the rise of dictators or monarchs, and Shia teachings which uphold self-appointed religious leaders based on genealogy.

Quran taking over. Haven’t you heard?

What the Salafi violence in Tunisia and Mali is telling us and why it’s important

2013-02-14T21:29:48-08:00

It is never fun when you are someone like me who is outside of the mainstream. It often feels like you are always kicked out of the party. Like prophet Jeremiah in the Bible who had to live outside the walls of Jerusalem after being shunned by his people and even his family. But one thing that an outsider has is the ability to detect the future and see where things are heading. Being outside the walls of the city we are able to see whats surrounding the city. Something that those inside can not do.
The Arab revolutions is truly a turning point. A turning point in the sense that for the first time the culture of the political authority that have ruled the Muslim world since the Caliph Ali’s death in the 7th century is being challenged. Young youths are calling for social justice, dignity and political freedom. This is unprecedent in Middle East history. For the first time the autocratic nature of governance is being challenged. Like the French revolution that paved the way for major political changes in Europe, the Tunisian revolution has paved the way for rapid and fast changing polical change in the Middle East. The speed of change of course is one major difference between the French and the Tunisian revolution. But there is another important distinction. The French revolution challenged both the political and the religious authorities of their day while the Tunisian and Arab revolutions limited itself to challenging the political authority. As in Egypt and elsewhere, the Tunisian masses convinced themelves that there is no contradiction between the calls for social justice, freedom and more transparency and Shariah law. In Egypt for instances the masses overwhelmingly supported article 2 of the constitution that stipulates that Shariah law is the main legislative authority of the state. Many Islamic groups and some of the clerics openly claimed that Shariah law is fully compatible with democracy and equality of all citizens under the law and freedom. Secularism? What secularism? There is no need for secularism. Islamic law is the best system and secularism is not needed. For many Muslims secularism is an admittance of defeat and that something is wrong with Islam. For most Muslims Shariah law is fully integrated with their understaning of Islam since it carries the Islam brand. For people like me outside the mainstream, I have to simply watch this deception and half truths. I have no piece of the microphone. The dictator does not want my kind of Islam around. But he is gone now, and my kind will soon be appearing at a tv station and radio and book store nearby you.
What it shows is that modernity is having an enormous impact with the Muslim masses and Muslims like everybody else are attracted to modernity and democracy. It has no become a universal philosophy. It has become impossible to reverse this and many Islamic groups and authorities have joined the bandwagon. The idea here is that there is no contradiction between Shariah Law and democracy. The liberal authorities often have to walk a tight rope between their fears of an Islamic state and appearing to be against Islam to the masses. Many Islamic groups like the Tunisian Nahda party and the Muslim brotherhood have joined the democracy party. There has been no real religious debate and no real religious revision. Just like that Islam and democracy became one.
There is a reason for all this. Not having a viable alternative, Muslims have no real choice but to accept the authority of Shariah law. Many do not know what it is but are leaving that responsibility to the clerics. The clerics though are hiding for the most part. A few have spoken out but most of them are hiding. A person like me keeps a close eye on the clerics since it is them who have the power of the fatwa and enjoy the highest religious authority with the Muslim masses. Unlike the Islamic parties who only care about coming to power, the clerics have to follow the juristic teachings of their sects.
It is my belief that the clerics see a worrying future. A future where the inevitable clash between democracy and Shariah law is going to have to happen. But they are keeping it to themselves.
This is why the rising violence now in Tunisia between the salafi groups and the intellectuals and Tunisian government is so important for someone like me. Because it exposes many aspect of the Islamic orthodoxies that the clerics have hidden from the masses. Unlike the Sufis who shun politics and avoid legalism in the public domian, the salafis very much are interested in the public domain. It is true that the salafi persuasion has some theological differences with the tradition Sunni orthodoxy, their legalism however is very much within the confinements of Sunni Islam.
The salafis after failing to gain votes in the election decided to take to the streets issuing death fatwas to some intellectuals, smashing magazine stalls and attacking cinemas. This is not new, it has happened in the past in many places. But whats new is unlike the past there is no polictical dictatorship to distract the masses. Everybody is slowly seeing that the only ones standing in the way of a free democratic society are the salafis. The salafis claim that Shariah law is the law of the land and it should be implimented. Unlike the others, they are very sincere with their dogma and believe democracy is kufr. They are labelled extremist and militants by the Arab media. In Tunisia they have now become a security concern. I think a similar situation could be happening in Libya.
Why this issue is so important to me is that sooner or later it forces the clerics to come out to the open. Muslims are told that these groups are extremist and do not reflect the true spirit of Islam. They will head towards the clerics to force them to comment on the issue and issue fatwas. In the past the clerics were seen as puppets of the dictators who issued fatwas they way the dictator wanted. Now they are exposed. They will be running out of excuses. Often there will be debates between the salafis and moderate clerics. The debate will end in a stalemate with neither side winning. Two interpretation of the same Islam. Both relying on the same sources but differ on how it should be applied and by whom. The history of Islam is all about the battle for authority. Something that the Roman Chruch never had to worry about since the Romans always had authority. The Meccan dynasties in islam like Ummayids and Abbasids and Fatimids were nobodies but carried the prophet’s geneology. There only rise to fame was they were his descendants. Authority for them was a constant struggle. The emergence of the sects was a way for them to establish that authority. It will get ugly.
What will Muslims discover then?
They will discover that there is nothing the salafis are doing that is against Shariah law. They will discover that there is nothing extreme about what the salafis are saying or doing. In fact the salafis will come out as being more honest and sincere. The Shariah law is compatible with democracy bubble will burst. The clerics can not override the authorities of many Sunni clerics who authroized such behaviors. After all the Sunni orthodoxies overwhelmingly gave authority to the ruler who is now gone. Any group or organization can claim to be the ruler and the emir. There is nothing in Sunni or Shia Islam called elections and political parties and constitution. There is nothing in those that contradict the Sunni or Shia Islam but there is no reason why a Sunni or Shia can not refuse such authority. The salafis can always claim democracy is kufr, and if the government does not want to apply apostasy law than they will take matters in their own hands. There is very little the clerics can do.
But shhhhh….. Don’t say that to anyone you see. These guys are extremist and are not following true Islam. What are you saying? Islam is peace and freedom and all that. But deep down Muslim are somewhat suspicious. Why are these groups flourishing as they are? Why are they unable to be stopped? They have now reached Mali and Nigeria demanding Shariah law and in Nigeria in fact they are blowing churches. The sufi cover has blown away. The prayer beads and zikr chants and shaking of the heads has gone, and a very different face is now appearing. No doubt the clerics are feeling the heat. Shariah law after all was never designed for a democracy. It emerged during the Abbasid empire to help create a theocracy for an absolute monarchy that can compete with the Byzantinians and unify the Muslim empire under one legal authority under the Sultan. It was designed to give religious legitimacy and authority to the rulers of the Muslim Empire.
Sooner or later Muslims will have to stop burrying their heads in the sand. They will discover that extremism is here to stay. They will discover that the extremist have their support in many aspects of Shariah law itself. Muslims will be the only people in the world unable to impliment a democracy. They will have three choices then. Either they accept the status quo, apostate or look for an alternative interpretation of Islam that they never knew existed.

So you do the math.
When there is a demand there will always be a supply.

Now I May Become a Muslim

2013-01-30T10:02:29-08:00

One of my clients is a Muslim. He’s not the Fundamentalist variety, but he is certainly devout and once I inadvertantly stepped on his prayer rug and I thought he was going to pass out. He also sacrificed a goat at the local mosque a few months ago. Anyway, I mentioned that I wasn’t a Christian, so he wants to teach me about Islam. I thought it might be interesting, although I told him that head scarves weren’t very flattering on me. No, I didn’t say that, but I thought it. So, he gave me an assignment, which is to read chapter 50 of the Quran. I want to skip ahead to the 72 virgins, but I can’t find it.

The things I do for a buck.

However, as I said, it may be interesting. I will keep you posted, Insha’Allah. I know you will all be riveted.