ISLAM

New Q&A on Muhammad with Lesley Hazleton

Though the fastest growing religion in the world - Islam, it is deeply misunderstood by many, including some of its most ardent believers. In her new biography of Muhammad, The First Muslim, award-winning author and former foreign correspondent Lesley Hazleton portrays Islam’s founder as a rebel, a defender of women’s equality and above all, a human being. In this Zola Q&A, Hazleton discusses how Muhammad’s world forged his identity and what he might think of the Middle East today.

Q: What inspired you to take on Muhammad as a subject? There’s been so much written about him. Did you think there was still something missing?

A: Yes, Muhammad himself! You’re right, there’ve been millions of words written about him, but the more of them I plowed through (I read several biographies as background research for my previous book, After the Prophet) the less I had any real sense of the actual man. It was like looking through a telescope the wrong way round: he seemed to be reduced to a two-dimensional cipher by this mass of verbiage. Much of it was devotional, the rest of it kind of cautiously dutiful, and even soporific. How could anyone do that to such a remarkable life? I wanted the vitality of a real life lived. I wanted to see him whole, not as a symbol, but as a multi-dimensional human being.

Q: The book looks closely at the physical world he occupied, the nights on Mount Hira, watering goats in the desert, his feelings of confinement in Mecca as a boy. Did you visit all these places?

A: I would have, but non-Muslims aren’t allowed in either Mecca or Medina. And besides, there’s hardly anything left of what these cities once were; nearly everything’s been built up and covered over. But I had the advantage of a strong feel for the landscape and culture of the Middle East. I was based in Jerusalem for thirteen years, spent a year with Beduin in the Sinai desert, and have roamed freely around both Egypt and Jordan. And yes, I have spent nights alone on top of another sacred mountain not that far from Mecca: Mount Sinai.

Q: You take odds with the conservative Islamic view that Muhammad was destined to be the messenger of God. Do you have any concerns as to how conservative Muslims will react to this book?

A: True, I don’t see his life as a matter of foreordained destiny, but as an extraordinary human struggle for dignity and social justice. I think it’s clear from the tone of the book that it’s written with respect for its subject. I mean, isn’t that the point of good biography? Respect for the integrity of a full life lived? For the integrity of reality? Of course the way I see things conflicts in places with the conservative Muslim view, which is sometimes more devotional than historical. But I think we’ve agreed to respectfully disagree.

Q: What do you think are the most common misunderstandings about Muhammad that we have in the West?

A: There’s a ton of them, most of them politically manipulated, but let’s take just two. First, there’s the image of the lecherous polygamist. In fact his marriage to his first wife, Khadija, was a loving monogamous relationship that lasted twenty-four years until her death.

Even after he later married nine other women, nearly all of them diplomatic alliances such as any leader made at the time, he openly mourned Khadija until his own death. And it’s striking that while he had four daughters with her, he had no children with any of the late-life wives.

Second, there’s the image of the militant sword-wielding warrior. In fact, Muhammad only took up arms after years of downright Gandhian passive resistance to increasing verbal and physical assault, culminating in a concerted attempt to assassinate him. And when he finally did so, under political pressure, he made it clear that as the Quran says, “forgiveness and mercy are more pleasing in the eyes of God.” Combat was permitted, that is, but to be avoided if at all possible.

The book points out that Muhammad might never have gone on to found Islam if not for the support and understanding of his wife Khadija, and Muhammad himself rejected the tradition that daughters were less valuable than sons.

Yet women are often treated as far less than second-class citizens in many Islamic cultures. Why do these attitudes persist?

What happened to Islam after Muhammad’s death is what happened also with early Judaism and early Christianity.

All three began as protest movements for social justice, but then fell prey to the seemingly endless human ability to mess things up. That is, they became institutionalized. Their radical roots were covered over with conservative dogma, and an all-male hierarchy imposed their version of “the Truth” (always with a capital T), forcing their cultural prejudices on everyone else. This is now changing rapidly in both Judaism and Christianity, popes and chief rabbis notwithstanding, and I think it is beginning to change in Islam too, ayatollahs and grand muftis notwithstanding.

Q: What do you think Muhammad would make of the Middle East today?

A: Great question! Let’s start with Mecca itself. I don’t see how he’d be anything but totally dismayed. He’d be the first to point out that the Saudi regime is the modern equivalent of the wealthy elite who ran the city in his own time, profiting off piety and persecuting him for his message.

If Muhammad were alive today, he’d probably be the Saudi kingdom’s worst nightmare, much as the real Jesus would be the Vatican’s worst nightmare. But the Sauds don’t have the monopoly on the repressive use of conservative piety.

Islamist fundamentalists claiming to speak in Muhammad’s name are currently fighting for political control in much of the Middle East.

If he could speak for himself, then, here’s what I think he’d say: He’d condemn sectarianism. He’d condemn extremism.

He’d condemn suicide bombing and terrorism, and call them obscene. He’d say what the Quran says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” And he’d commit himself fully to the hard and thorny process of making peace.

Islam and Sharia-a rejoinder

A F Dawood

This is a rejoinder to Patali Champika Ranawake. Today the concept of Sharia, halal and haram are not properly understood by non-Muslims and hence I would expound the meaning of these Arabic terms. Total and unqualified submission to the will of Allah is the fundamental tenet of Islam.

Islam law is therefore the expression of Allah's command for Muslim society and constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon all Muslims by virtue of their religious belief. This is known as ‘Sharia law’ and constitutes a divinely ordained path of conduct that guides the Muslim toward a practical expression of his or her religious conviction in this world and the goal of divine favour in the other world (after death).

It is noteworthy to state here that the ‘Sharia law’ differs from the Western system of law in two principal respects. The first is that the scope of the ‘Sharia law’ is wider than the Western system because it regulate man's relationship not only with his neighbours and the state, which is the limit of most other legal systems, but also with Allah and his own conscience.

Ritual practices

Ritual practices such as daily prayers, alms giving, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca are an integral part of ‘Sharia Law'. The ‘Sharia’ strictly enforces the ethical standard of behaviour and conduct on all Muslims; elaborating this further, I would state that ‘Sharia’ not only emphasizes what man is entitled or bound to do in law but also what man taught, in conscience, not to do or certain from doing.

Accordingly, certain acts of man are classified as praise worthy (mandub) and certain acts as blame worthy (makrub). A Muslim who does a praise worthy act gets divine favour and omission of this act brings him divine disfavour, a Muslim who does not do a blameworthy act gets divine favour and commission of this act brings him divine disfavour.

But in neither case is there any legal sanction of punishment or reward, nullity or validity. The Sharia is not merely a system of law but a compressive code of behaviour that embraces both private and public activities.

The second major distinction between the Sharia and Western legal system is the result of Islamic concept of law as the expression of divine will. (Source: The New Encyclopedia, Britania, volume 22-15th edition).

Chaos and confusion

Sharia Law emanates from Quranic injunctions. The Quran that was revealed to prophet Mohamed (p b u h) a little more than 1400 years ago for a period of 23 years both in Mecca and Medina consist of 6666 verses. Some of these verses instruct what man should do and what he should not do what to eat and what not to eat; what is halal (permitted) and what is haram (forbidden).

These injunctions from the Quran is the basis of Sharia Law and this is not man made law. Writing in the Nation of February 3, Patali Champika Ranawake has expressed surprise over the dwindling non-Muslim population according to the 2012 Sri Lanka census report and states that the Buddhist clergy has drawn the attention of its laity over the population proliferation of others (meaning Muslims). The tenor of his article reeks with communal flavour and fans the flame of communal friction to create chaos and confusion in the country. The Muslims have nothing to do with the dwindling Buddhist population.

Why do many Buddhist couples stop with one or two children without producing five or six children as the Muslims do in their monogamous marriage.

A member of the Boda Bala Sena Organization (BBSO) has requested permission for the Sinhalese to practise polygamy (Sunday Times 3.2.2013). Buddhists should bear in mind that polygamy for Muslims is a divine injunction and not a man made law.

Halal (permitted) is a quranic injunction on all Muslims, and in what manner is Halal, a nuisance or hindrance to other communities, if Muslims practise the ideals of ‘Halal’ and preserve the rites of Islam? Patali Champika poses the question what would happen if Hindus and Buddhists insist on prohibiting preparation of meat in restaurants and the outcome of the situation, if Buddhists insist on providing only goods and services blessed with pirith chanting in the market. As vengeance against the Muslim community, they could resort to such meaningless tactics but I would like to remind that these requests as suggested by the writer are not religious injunctions and neither Buddhism nor Hinduism has preached the above ludicrous theme. Therefore, I deplore the levity and the absurdity of the writer's line of argument. ‘Halal’ is a divine injunction in the religion of Islam.

The President of the BBSO Venerable Kirama Wimalajothi Thera has cited the fact that a Sinhala person cannot buy a land from Eastern Province (Sunday Times 3.2.2013) but is this Buddhist monk aware that a Muslim cannot buy a house or get it on rent or even engage in business in Kelaniya, Kiribathgoda and Gampaha. This is an ‘open secret’ prevailing in the country for some years but the Muslims have not agitated against this injustice in order to maintain the unity and harmony with the majority community.

Halal certificate

Though they adopt an abhorrent attitude to the Muslims in respect of their religious practice, they should not forget the fact that the majority of Sri Lankans who are employed in Muslim countries in Middle East and boost our country's economy are non-Muslims.

The issuance of Halal certificate was started in around 2000-2001 when a private company requested for it to export the company's product; the Islamic Jamiyathulla Organization (IJUO) has asserted that there is no direct or indirect compulsion to obtain Halal certification and that the ICJU could stop the issuance of Halal certificate but Minister Basil Rajapaksa has advised the Organization to continue with the issuance of Halal certificate.

Halal certificate has enabled the non-Muslim entrepreneurs to penetrate 9.6 percent of Islamic population in Sri Lanka and 23 percent Islamic population globally and this is the view of the Islamic Jamiyathulla Ulma Organization (IJUO).

Compiled by Latheef Farook

The Weapon of a Believer

Abu Muhammed

As human beings, our life in this world is one characterized by fluctuating conditions that make us happy and those that are a means of causing us sadness. No one experiences perpetual bliss and neither is a problem never ending. Life by its very nature is a test.

Pleasant and favorable conditions demand us to be grateful and humble while adverse conditions demand of us to be patient and to seek Allah's help.

As believers we ought to believe that every condition is a manifestation of the Will of Allah. What has passed us was not meant to befall us and what has befallen us was not meant to pass us. Assistance comes with patience, relief after affliction and ease after difficulty (Hadith-Tirmidhi). Our faith and belief is tested when undergoing difficulties and afflictions. These difficulties may be physical, emotional, financial and/or psychological. This is borne out by the following verse of the Quran.

Adverse conditions may at times be upon an individual, a family, a community or as today in the world upon large sections of the Ummah as is the case in Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Burma and other parts of the world.

Resort to Dua

Should anyone who is facing some form of test be told to resort to Dua then this suggestion would probably be met with a gaze of disbelief as if to say, ‘And what can be achieved through Dua?’ Should this solution be offered as a panacea for the problems of the Ummah today we would be scoffed at and ridiculed as being totally non pragmatic and impractical – if not verbally then in thought.

However, in the Seerah there is an incident where the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came across a community of people going through a tribulation he said, ‘Why don't they supplicate (make Dua) to Allah for assistance?’ Can we say that the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was non pragmatic or impractical?

In fact every Muslim will readily admit that He (pbuh) was the most practical and pragmatic person. So how do we reconcile this with the type of thought processes that we employ today?

The reason for this disparity is because with us Dua (Supplication) has become a ritual, devoid of any life, and has become our final resort after all options and means have been exhausted - more like an act of desperation while what the Noble Messenger wished to highlight was that was to be the first recourse of a Believer before anything else and the last action after everything else and upheld in the intervening period while executing our plans and actions with great diligence! Dua has the unique ability to change destiny (Hadith-Tirmidhi).

The other reason was the absolute faith of the Noble Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) that Dua was indeed a means of direct communication with the Creator of the Universe by virtue of which His help and assistance could be harnessed and solicited. This is amply borne out in the lives of the Prophets (Upon them be peace) that are presented in the Quran who utilized this ‘weapon’ to solicit the help of the Creator of the Universe when all their efforts, in an increasingly hostile environment, for the reformation of their nations had not been heeded. A very poignant example of this is the incident of the Prophet Nuh (Upon him be peace). In the Quran Allah mentions the incident in the following words, ‘The people of Noah denied and they belied Our Servant and said, ‘He is a madman’ and threatened him.

He therefore supplicated (through Dua) to his Lord (saying), ‘I am overpowered! Assist me?’ We therefore opened the gates of heaven, with water flowing furiously. (And) We caused springs to gush out from the earth, so that the two waters met in a quantity that had been destined’ (Quran: Surah 54, Verse 9-12)

Battle of Badr

The above verses in the original Arabic language are very powerful and conjure up an image of vast volumes of waters gushing forth profusely from both the earth and the skies until the earth was water logged and all those that had belied and ridiculed the Messenger were drowned in the deluge. We can safely say that the Prophets (PBUH), in discharging their responsibility of calling towards the Creator, qualified for His assistance and the action that motioned this assistance that the forces of ‘nature’, which in fact make up the army of Allah, immediately conspired in favour of the Prophets (UTBP) was that of lifting their hands in Dua (Supplication).

At the time of the battle of Badr, with the future of Islam under threat, when a small ill equipped band of 313 faced an army of 1000 well equipped the Noble Messenger of Allah (PBUH) spent the entire night on the eve of the battle begging and supplicating unto Allah for His assistance and the next day Allah granted the greatest victory in the annals of Islamic history.

When Sultan Salahudin Ayyubi (May Allah’s mercy be upon him) received news of the Crusader’s ships setting sail with reinforcements he immediately retired to the Masjid and spent the entire night in prayer, beseeching and begging Allah’s assistance. When he eventually emerged after the Morning Prayer he met a sagacious and pious man and said to him, ‘Please make Dua, the enemy ships have left the shores carrying reinforcements’ This person responded saying, ‘Don’t fear O Salahudin! Verily the tears of the night have drowned the enemy ships’ .A short while later news was received that these ships had sunk. Such is the power of Dua which has been rightfully referred to by Scholars as the ‘weapon’ of a believer. In a hadith it is mentioned that ‘Dua is the essence of worship’ (Hadith-Musnad Ahmed & Tirmidhi)

In fact in another hadith it is mentioned that, ‘Dua IS worship’ (Hadith-Sunan Abu Dawood)

If one ponders and reflects on the above a hadith one will realize that they are very clear, definite and absolute statements. How is it that we give so little attention to that described as both the ‘essence’ of worship as well as worship itself?

To be continued

Why the Harun Yahya collection

The works of Harun Yahya deal with a wide range of subjects, especially political, faith and scientific matters. His books dealing with Islamic moral values have been prepared taking the verses of the Quran and the Sunnah of our Prophet (pbuh) as their basis.

All of Harun Yahya's books invite people to learn the verses of Allah and to live by the moral values of the Quran. All subjects concerning Allah's verses are explained in such a way as to leave no doubts or question marks in the reader's mind.

His political books offer the reader a new perspective. In these works, based on hundreds of original Turkish and foreign sources, political and sociological matters are analyzed. Scientific works, on the other hand, present proofs of the incomparable creation of Allah, the Lord of infinite might and power, in all parts of the universe. These works reveal various proofs of creation, both in the reader's own body and in the universe as a whole, and afford people the opportunity to think deeply about these.

Harun Yahya pays particular attention to the collapse of the theory of evolution. The reason for this is that the theory constitutes the foundation of all forms of anti-religious philosophy. Darwinism, which denies the truth of creation and therefore the existence of Allah, has caused a great many people to lose their faith or suffer serious doubts over the last 150 years.

Duty of faith

It is therefore a major duty of faith to demonstrate that the theory is a deception. It is essential that this service should be made available to all. Harun Yahya has written a great many works on the deceptive nature of Darwinism. There is also a separate section at the back of every book about this, which is intended to inform even those people who read only one book about the deceptive nature of evolution.

Harun Yahya's books explain how easy it is to live by the moral values of religion. Allah has created the religion to be easy for human beings. It is a grave error to complicate or portray living by religious moral values as difficult when it is in fact so simple. Allah has made the Qur'an accessible and readily understandable.

Islam offers a life which is very compatible with people's natural dispositions and which can be lived very easily. This is one of the most striking aspects of the Harun Yahya collection. When someone who is ignorant of the religion and lives far removed from it reads these books, he or she immediately realizes how easy it is to live by Islam. These books reveal how Islam is the most compatible lifestyle with human creation, and how living in accordance with the moral values of the Qur'an is the best life possible.

Anyone reading the books of Harun Yahya learns how to live by religious moral values every moment of his or her life. Even though they may have read widely on the subject of religion, many people have little idea about how to make it part of their daily lives. Yet Harun Yahya's books explain in detail how a Muslim should live, his or her daily life, thoughts, religious observations, perspective on life and events, and how he or she should react in the face of events. Readers of these books rid themselves of all forms of erroneous thought, superstition and incorrect ideas regarding religion, and learn true religious moral values. They understand how to live in conformity with those values 24 hours a day.

Sound foundations

Those of Harun Yahya's books aimed at children explain Allah's infinite might and power, and set out the proofs of creation, in very clear, simple and easy to understand language. Children's education is of the greatest importance. Children raised on sound foundations from their earliest years, which know the truth and learn the original sources of everything, are a great deal more aware in later years. That education must allow children to avoid being taken in by perverted philosophies and harmful ideologies, and not to fall into such traps. Otherwise, it is easy for young people raised on weak foundations, unaware of the purpose of life and of spiritual values, and spiritually weak, to fall into such errors. For example, the book Let's Learn Our Islam teaches children about Islam in the most accurate, clearest, easiest and understandable way. As in all of Harun Yahya's works, there is no room in his books for children for any superstitious belief, wrong ideas, twisted beliefs or fanaticism.

- The sincere, unadorned and flowing style employed in the books make them accessible to everyone, from 7 to 70. Thanks to this clear and effective style, these books can literally be read “at a single sitting.”

Note - Born in Ankara in 1956, Adnan Oktar writes his books under the pen name of Harun Yahya. He is a world-renowned man of ideas.