Islam has a progressive tradition too

[StarGazer]

*I found this article interesting to read. Enjoy*

 

Most western views of Muslims are founded on ignorance

 

Hamza Yusuf

Wednesday June 19, 2002

The Guardian

 

When a Welsh resistance leader was captured and brought before the emperor in

Rome, he said: "Because you desire to conquer the world, it does not

necessarily follow that the world desires to be conquered by you." Today one

could offer an echo of this sentiment to western liberals: "Because you wish

your values to prevail throughout the world, it does not always follow that

the world wishes to adopt them." The imperial voice is based on ignorance of

the rich traditions of other civilisations, and on an undue optimism about

what the west is doing to the world politically, economically and

environmentally.

The entrenched beliefs many westerners profess about Islam often reveal more

about the west than they do about Islam or Muslims. The Ottomans were

history's longest-lasting major dynasty; their durability must have had some

relation to their ability to rule a multi-faith empire at a time when Europe

was busily hanging, drawing and quartering different varieties of Christian

believer.

 

Today Islam is said to be less, not more, tolerant than the west, and we need

to ask which, precisely, are the "western" values with which Islam is so

incompatible? Some believe Islam's attitude towards women is the source of the

Muslim "problem". Westerners need to look to their own attitudes here and

recognise that only very recently have patriarchal structures begun to erode

in the west.

 

The Islamic tradition does show some areas of apparent incompatibility with

the goals of women in the west, and Muslims have a long way to go in their

attitudes towards women. But blaming the religion is again to express an

ignorance both of the religion and of the historical struggle for equality of

women in Muslim societies.

 

A careful reading of modern female theologians of Islam would cause western

women to be impressed by legal injunctions more than 1,000 years old that, for

instance, grant women legal rights to domestic help at the expense of their

husbands. Three of the four Sunni schools consider domestic chores outside the

scope of a woman's legal responsibilities toward her husband. Contrast that

with US polls showing that working women still do 80% of domestic chores.

 

Westerners, in their advocacy of global conformism, often speak of "progress"

and the rejection of the not-too-distant feudal past, and are less likely to

reveal their unease about corporate hegemony and the real human implications

of globalisation.

 

Neither are the missionaries of western values willing to consider why Europe,

the heart of the west, should have generated two world wars which killed more

civilians than all the wars of the previous 20 centuries. As Muslims point

out, we are asked to call them "world wars" despite their reality as western

wars, which targeted civilians with weapons of mass destruction at a time when

Islam was largely at peace.

 

We Muslims are unpersuaded by many triumphalist claims made for the west, but

are happy with its core values. As a westerner, the child of civil rights and

anti-war activists, I embraced Islam not in abandonment of my core values,

drawn almost entirely from the progressive tradition, but as an affirmation of

them. I have since studied Islamic law for 10 years with traditionally trained

scholars, and while some particulars in medieval legal texts have troubled me,

never have the universals come into conflict with anything my progressive

Californian mother taught me. Instead, I have marvelled at how most of what

western society claims as its own highest ideals are deeply rooted in Islamic

tradition.

 

The chauvinism apparent among some westerners is typically triggered by

Islamic extremism. Few take the trouble to notice that mainstream Islam

dislikes the extremists as much as the west does. What I fear is that an

excuse has been provided to supply some westerners with a replacement for

their older habit of anti-semitism. The shift is not such a difficult one.

Arabs, after all, are semites, and the Arabian prophet's teaching is closer in

its theology and law to Judaism than it is to Christianity. We Muslims in the

west, like Jews before us, grapple with the same issues that Jews of the past

did: integration or isolation, tradition or reform, intermarriage or

intra-marriage.

 

Muslims who yearn for an ideal Islamic state are in some ways reflecting the

old aspirations of the Diaspora Jews for a homeland where they would be free

to be different. Muslims, like Jews, often dress differently; we cannot eat

some of the food of the host countries. Like the Jews of the past, we are now

seen as parasites on the social body, burdened with a uniform and unreformable

law, contributing little, scheming in ghettoes, and obscurely indifferent to

personal hygiene.

 

Cartoons of Arabs seem little different to the caricatures of Jews in German

newspapers of the Nazi period. In the 1930s, such images ensured that few

found the courage to speak out about the possible consequences of such a

demonisation, just as few today are really thinking about the anti-Muslim

rhetoric of the extreme-right parties across Europe. Muslims in general, and

Arabs especially, have become the new "other".

 

When I met President Bush last year, I gave him two books. One was The

Essential Koran, translated by Thomas Cleary. The second was another

translation by Cleary, Thunder in the Sky: Secrets of the Acquisition and Use

of Power. Written by an ancient Chinese sage, it reflects the universal values

of another great people.

 

I did this because, as an American, rooted in the best of western tradition,

and a Muslim convert who finds much of profundity in Chinese philosophy, I

believe the "Huntington thesis" that these three great civilisations must

inevitably clash is a lie. Each civilisation speaks with many voices; the best

of them find much in common. Not only can our civilisations co-exist in our

respective parts of the world, they can co-exist in the individual heart, as

they do in mine. We can enrich each other if we choose to embrace our

essential humanity; we can destroy the world if we choose to stress our

differences.

 

· Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson is the director of the US-based Zaytouna Institute

 

comment@guardian.co.uk

[Armstrong]

Salamu Alaikum,

 

I heard Hamza Yusuf said those sept 11 firemen were matryrs ? can anyone verify this claim ?

If so, it is wrong, kuufar are not martyrs cause they are unbelievers. It is only the Muslims who can be Matryrs (Shaheed).

 

PEACE

[StarGazer]

Salaams,

Brother, Hamza Yusuf is one of the sheikhs that I respect the most. He's a very knowlegable and eloquent speaker. I don't know whether this claim is true or not. Most speeches are recorded nowadays, so am sure it wouldn't be a problem obtaining it. Since you heard this, chances are some1 probably took it out of context what he was really trying to say.

[Armstrong]

Wa Alaikum Salaam,

 

I saw him on TV sitting down with Bush, the biggest kaafir on earth in the whitehouse. From that day, I stopped listening to his tapes. Correct me if I am wrong but in his tapes he encourages us Muslims to keep up the struggle to establish the Islamic State but when those images of him and allegation sorounding him about the firemen being so called matryrs discouraged me from reading his work.

 

Don't think I am having ago at the Sheikh here but this is whyI truly feel.

 

W/Salaam Sister Tamina

 

Satan is an open enemy to mankind

[StarGazer]

Assalamu alaikum,

Wow, don't you think that was a bit quick to discredit a sheikh because you saw him on T.V. with Bush? I didn't think there was anything wrong, he was infact the voice for the muslims in America. It was a time when innocent muslims here were being targeted for hate crimes. He refused to shake the 1st ladies hand on national T.V.!!! Well anyway, I am on this list-serve that have direct links to Sheikh Hamza so I'll inquire about your question.

~Fii amani laah~

[Bachelor]

Dear Mujahid!

I have known Iman Hamza ever since i came to california and personaly and he used to be our town Iman for a quite sometimes before he moved out of the city to a suburb. He is one of well known, respected islamic intelectual both among muslims and non-muslims. Having said that I HAVNT HEARD THE WORD THAT SAID "MATRAYR" SO I HAVE NO ISSUE NIETHER TO DEFEND HIM NOR TO PROOF YOU WORNG. HOWEVER WHAT IS WRONG WITH SITTING WITH KAFIRS? THE PROHPHIT HAS DONE IT THE GREAT COMPANIEN ALL HAS DONE THE SAME THING. WE ALL KNOW WHO BUSH IS BUT HE (IMAM HAMZA) REPERSENTS 6 MILLION INNOCENT AMERICAN MUSLIMS. AND BY ALL MEANS I DONT SEE ANYTHING WRONG BY SITTING NEXT TO BUSY. YOU HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO NOT LISTEN TO OR READ HIS BOOK WHEREAS JUDGING JUST BECAUSE HE SIT NEXT TO SOMEONE IS REALLY NOT ONLY UNWISE BUT ITS SAD.

[Armstrong]

Salamu Alaikum Brother Bachelor,

 

Your comments are really nice but you should target it to someone else not me please.

 

If you read my comments carefully I said the allegations that Imam Yusuf said and me viewing him on TV with Bush was for myself rather disappointed.

 

Look again at my posts you will not for a minute see me saying anything personal about the noble Imam Yusuf in fact I think he is great and has incredible Islamic knowledge.

 

I am not one that says anything bad about any Islamic Sheikhs in fact I view all sheikhs as examples for me to emulate.

 

W/Salaam Bachelor

[StarGazer]

Salaams

 

Mujahid, my brotha, as I promised I did post the question you've inquired about. So far here's what one brother replied:

"It was actually during an interview with one of the major stations after 9/11. He said that if there were any real martyrs, it would have to be the firefighters who were risking their lives and going into the towers to save other people. It should not be taken literally" I hope that helps.

 

I'll try to find the actual interviw if you want

 

P.S. read my other post on Hamza Yusuf.

[StarGazer]

Here's that transcript! Plus, a comment by a brother.

 

**************************************************

As Salaamu Alaikum,

Shaykh Hamza, may Allah preserve him, unfortunately has been answering

more questions lately about "what he said" post 9-11 then fiqhi and

halal/haram questions. Sadly, many Muslims have forgotten about our

tradition's emphasis on isnad and sound transmissions, and thus there is a

lot of exaggerations and distortions about "what he said" floating around.

Those who are really concerned about these things, instead of spreading

groundless hearsay, should have a good opinion and seek out his

clarifications.

He addresses these questions perfectly and unflinchingly in any speaking

event where they come up. The video "Beware of Extremism," the tape

"Clarity Amidst Confusion," and the tape "America's Tragedy," all available

from Alhambra Productions, are absolutely brilliant talks which include Q&A

sessions where he thoroughly addresses these questions. In "Clarity Amidst

Confusion" he points out that he said "IF there were any martyrs..." and he

also points out that several of the firefighters who died were Muslims.

A transcription of the Sept. 30th "America's Tragedy" talk is available on

the Zaytuna website at http://www.zaytuna.org/tragedy/tragedy1.html

 

The question regarding the firefighters is addressed in the Q&A session.

I've included it below.

Finally in "Clarity Amidst Confusion" he remarked that if you want to

spend all your time sitting around picking apart every word he said in these

interviews to criticize him then "Have a nice life."

May Allah preserve and increase him and may we all benefit from his

priceless knowledge and insight.

Salaams,

Zakariyya

====================

 

http://www.zaytuna.org/tragedy/tragedy-qa5.html

 

 

Q: Would the firefighters in New York be considered shahid by Islamic

shari'a?

 

Shaykh Hamza: I think that is for Allah to judge. I believe people are taken

to account based on what they know. According to Imam Al-Ghazali, and Shaykh

Murabit al-Hajj told me this as well, if people have not heard the message

of Islam, they are not taken to account for Islam. I think that people who

do good deeds, according to our beliefs, are rewarded for the good that they

do. Even Abu-Lahab is given water in the hellfire for freeing a slave the

day that the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam was born, and that is in a

sound hadith. If Abu Lahab, the worst enemy of the Prophet sallallahu

'alayhi wa sallam is rewarded for the good he did in this world, our Lord is

a Just Lord, and He rewards good. So, what I did say is that if there were

martyrs in this situation, then certainly they would be those people, but I

cannot say who is a martyr and who is not. Even if a Muslim dies fi

sabilillah, you hope that he is a martyr, but you cannot say with any

certainty because it is for Allah to decide if it was sincerely for the sake

of Allah, but they were heroic people; they were good people. The man I sat

next to that night in Washington was one of the heroes of that day, and I

told him it is an honor sitting next to you. He was an Irish fireman from

New York, and he said in response, "Don't say that. I shouldn't even be

here; I was just doing my job." That is literally what he said to me in

total sincerity. Then I said to him, "You guys did a great job," and he

said, "No, we didn't." He said, "We should have gotten a lot more people out

of there," and he said the city has a lot to answer for because that was a

very poorly executed operation. He said a lot more people should be alive.

[Armstrong]

Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem

 

Alhamdulillaahi rabil-'aalameen, was-salaatu was-salaamu 'ala nabeeyinaa muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa ashaabihi wa man tabi'ahum bi ihsaanin ila yawmid-deen, amma b'ad:

 

Salamu Alaikum Tamina,

 

Walaal thanks a lot This article is great it has cleared a lot of confusion in my head :confused: Baraka Allahu Fiih

 

W/Salaam,

 

Mujahid over and out !