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Name
Omar
- United States
Profession
Marketing
Question
Assalamu 'Alaikum, there are imams who always mix political issue and Islam. They don't give the main point of Islam, like the important duties. Instead they give the frustration feeling towards wars and turning into extremist point. How do we solve those problems?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
First of all, Islam is a comprehensive way of life. It governs and guides every aspect of human life, so it would incorporate all dimensions of social life as well. Therefore, Islam would address the political dimensions. It is due to improper emphasis on particular aspects over other important ones that people tend to go into extremes. If Islam is taught and used not purely as a political tool but rather as a living guideline, I believe this problem would be solved. In this case abusing the frustration of people to create pathways for hatred and misusing the compassionate message of the Qur'an as a tool for hatred greatly affects the promotion of extremism.
Name
Kaleem
- United States
Profession
Question
Do you actually believe that "Hate" preaching Imams are the problems for youth? Being closely involved with muslim youth I truly believe that this propoganda on "Hate" preaching has been completely misdirected to the real issue, and that is the occupation as Prof. Robert Pape Univ. of Chicago puts forth. What do you think?
Answer
Every problem is multi-dimensional, and human beings too are multi-dimensional. Blaming one particular aspect, as problematic as it may seem, creates more problems than it solves. Youth have many problems just as they have many positive aspects. Hate is not a major common problem among youth, merely among some of the youth.
Regarding the question of "Hate" preaching, it does exist. When some preachers respond purely on emotional basis to the problems that the Ummah encounters, it gives an indication to people, including the youth, that Islam requires us to respond to the imbalance we see in the world with hate. We must, however, acknowledge that this is not as common as some of the media purports it to be. What I believe is more inflammatory is the bias of much of the media to report and comment on the reality of the injustices suffered by the oppressed including the Muslims.
Name
Salma
- Australia
Profession
Question
Why do you think many youth are attracted to violent interpretations of Islam?
Answer
It is erroneous to assume that many youth are attracted to violence. What needs to be understood about any text is that it depends on the pretext of the reader. If the text is taken out of context then the pretext (purpose/excuse) of the reader will determine what he/she thinks it means. It is, therefore, important to understand the text in its original context, having a pure pretext that will ensure the text is used in its proper context.
One who seeks war in any scripture will highlight that, while one who seeks peace will highlight that. Islam looks at the reality of human struggle and intends to manifest peace but on the condition of justice.
What attracts the youth to any particular interpretation depends on the capacity of the religious teachers to influence their thought in one way or another.
Name
Nafisa
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Has there always been so much hate preaching among imams, or is this a recent phenomenon?
Answer
I get the impression from the question that some people assume that hate preaching is a common phenomenon. I am not aware of it being as widespread.
There have always been people who preach love and people who preach hate. Whether this has increased cannot be accurately determined since we live in a global village and have more access to information than ever before. This may lead us to assume that because we are more aware of something happening somewhere that it may be happening everywhere.
Name
Marriam
- Egypt
Profession
Question
How do you suggest the youth can turn their thinking to the moderate path of Islam which is the true spirit of the deen? I mean what can family and friends and the community do to help?
Answer
Islam, by its very nature and definition, is the middle path; not the path of extremes. The best we can do is to imbibe in our youth the fundamentals of our faith in a direct, open and honest manner. The fundamentals of our faith being truth, justice and goodness. Islam must be manifested in how we interact with each other and how we respond to the world we live in. By being aware of our faith, our legacy and our global community and acknowledgement of all Muslims being part of the global family of humanity with all its promises and problems it is a catalyst for treading the middle path.
It is when the youth see Islam as a way of life and as a solution then their thinking will be less problematic.
Name
Farouq
-
Profession
Question
May be youth who follow the words of hate preachers want to see change occur and perhaps they see violent means a a quick fix - what are the alternatives for youth - i mean, what can they do to make social change in a positive way?
Answer
The best thing is to get the youth involved practically in assisting local communities and thus address the real issues surrounding them. Very often people tend to be more concerned about the suffering of people further away in the world then bothering about their neighbors.
Yes, we do live in a global village but it is focusing on both the local and the global that we realistically engage ourselves in solving real issues. So do the best you can with what you have from where you are.
Name
Abu Zakariyya
- United States
Profession
Software Engineer
Question
How do you differentiate or draw the line between hate-preaching imams and ones who emphasize sticking to Quran and Sunnah (w/o compromise to secular ideologies) at times when our youth are falling into complete blind and unconditional assimilation with the West, specifically pop culture and feminist movements? Please take the concept of "Al-walaa wal baraa" into consideration.
Answer
The Qur'an does not preach hate, and the message of Islam is one of truth and compassion. This does not imply that we compromise on any principles of our faith. That is why the greatest emphasis is on justice and goodness (Qur'an 16:90).
Addressing the issue of losing identity should not be made synonymous with hatred for other people. Each issue needs to be dealt with on its own merit and merely "loving the Muslim and hating the Kafir" is not what Islam subscribes as a solution to our problems. It is when we try to define the problems of the world as if it is a single problem that we mystify the solution.
Name
Shahzad Badar
- Pakistan
Profession
Question
The contemporary state of the ummah and many social circle that represent it struggle to express facts of hegemony that the Muslim ummah suffers and sadly experiences. These varying social circles vary from circle to circle in their intellectual understanding of the Creed and all that emanates from it. My question is: is this expression of identification of global injustice and hegemonic torment conducted by other global forces and their mentioning falls in the category of Hate preaching?
Answer
Hate is preached in different degrees in different circles. Hate is still hate and it can never be a positive expression.
However, speaking out against global injustice and the hegemonic forces of colonialism/imperialism is just that...condemnation of oppression. Condemnation of oppression and of oppressors is not hate speech; it is merely stating the fact.
Name
Mahmoud Abdelghani
-
Profession
Question
Do you believe that the Islamic Jurisprudence is in need of some kind of rejuvenation in terms of clearing the doubts caused by literal interpretations of some jurists which were proven later as preaching extremism? For example, if we read some jurists calling the verse of Jihad in the Qur'an as the "verse of Sword" and try to make it dominant and even abrogating to all other verses preaching peace, do you think we need to stop and say no to those jurists with my due respect to them, instead of leaving the orientlists use those statements as evidences against us?
Answer
Scholars throughout history interpret Islam in accordance with the social, political and economic milieu that they live in. It behoves any scholar to realize that previous scholars wrote to the best of their ability, according to their understanding, in response to the reality they encountered. We should build on the legacy that we have inherited and enhance the understanding of Islam for future generations by doing the best we can for our time.
Regarding the example of the verse of jihad, I do agree that calling it the "verse of the Sword" may have been acceptable and inoffensive at the time the scholar wrote his or her book. But the reality is, without being apologetic, there is no verse called "verse of the Sword" except that some scholar chose to call it that.
If refraining from using such terms helps to clarify the truth about Islam then why not.
Name
Mohammed
- United Kingdom
Profession
Student
Question
As-Salamu`alykum, some scholars are labelled hate preachers for speaking out about Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. Actually the most of the decent scholars talk about violence in this context but they are still cracked down upon. By talking about hate preachers and what not are we not aiding the oppression of the other scholars who speak the truth.
Answer
As mentioned earlier, speaking out against injustice, whoever may be the perpetrator, is a moral and religious duty. Speaking out factually and passionately about injustices in Palestine, Kashmir and other places is a duty of every person of conscience.
Speaking up for justice is one thing and preaching hatred of other is another. Let us not confuse the two.
Name
Harry Balz
- Costa Rica
Profession
Dental Archivist
Question
Are you optimistic or pessimistic about Islam's contributions to terrorism and world understanding?
Answer
The best thing we can hold for the future is hope and the best thing we can do for the future is to engage ourselves in such a way that our hopes become realities. I am optimistic about what positive people could do to improve the world.
As for Islam's contribution to the world, it is civilizational, moral and globally empowering. It is not Islam that contributes to terrorism, but rather the forces of injustice, oppression and greed that leads to terrorism.
Was-salaam
Imam Sa'dullah
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Answer
Finally, we would like to thank Imam Sadullah Khan for taking the time to answer the questions of Islamonline viewers today, and we also thank all those who participated in this dialogue. We apologize for not being able to accommodate all the questions within the time allocated to this session. If you feel your question is very important, feel free to contact us at EngLivedialogue@islamonline.net and we will try our best to answer your question. We request our readers to join us in upcoming sessions.
