Author: Ali Sina
Publication: www.faithfreedom.org
Date:
URL: http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina31119.htm
When the US Secretary of State Colin
Powel said that democracy must be established in Islamic countries, the
spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hamid Reza Asefi mocked him and
said "US officials' comments on Islam clearly prove they do know nothing
about Islam and Muslims.
If Asefi has said only one word
of truth in his entire life, this is it.
Today the question that everyone
asks is whether Islam can be reformed and whether it can accommodate the
democracy.
A friend of mine wrote: "Pentateuch
is very similar to the Quran: same intolerance, same draconian laws, etc.
yet the great part of the Jews finally rejected the literal interpretation
of their holy scriptures and proved they could evolve."
Also Christianity has allowed for
change, The Church of the 16th century was as repressive as the Talibans
and the Wahhabis. Yet Reformation took place, nonetheless. And even the
Catholic Church is finally opening up.
Can't then we extrapolate that the
same could happen to Islam?
The idea that since Christianity
and Judaism reformed then Islam can also be reformed is untenable. Islam
is not comparable to Christianity, Judaism or any other religion.
Christianity is essentially a religion
of the heart. It were statements such as "Give to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar" and "My kingdom is not of this world" that allowed the Christians
to keep their faith while permitting secular governments to evolve independent
of the Church. A Christian does not feel any contradiction or dichotomy
by living with secular laws and practicing his religious beliefs. One can
be a Christian in his heart and secular in politics. Therefore reform in
Christianity did not mean renouncing faith.
There are very few Jews who believe
that the Pentateuch is actually the word of God. In all the five books
attributed to Moses, he is referred to in third person. Then the Deuteronomy
ends by giving an obituary about Moses and how his tomb has been lost.
This allows the Jews to be open about the interpretation of the Bible as
it is clear, at least to the thinking majority of them, that the Bible
is not the textual word of God but written by humans, who were allegedly
inspired, yet fallible nonetheless.
Also living in Diaspora for 2000
years with no temporal authority has forced the Jews to learn how to adapt
their Jewish laws (Halakhah) to the exigencies of the non-Jewish world,
which allows them now to create a secular state in a country built through
religious imperatives.
However, reforming Islam is not
something that a Muslim would consider. Those who ask such question are
always the non-Muslims. For a Muslim this question is pointless. The thought
of reform would not even pass the mind of a Muslim. He would tell you that
the problem with Islamic world is in the inadequate interpretation of the
Sharia and not in the Sharia itself.
Quran is considered to be the verbatim
words of God. The verse "This day I have perfected your religion for you,
completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion"
5:3 reverberates in the ears of every Muslim. It leaves no room for interpretations
and reformations. How can anyone improve or change something that is perfect?
History shows that all attempts
to reform Islam have failed. The Sufis tried to interpret the Quran esoterically
and mystically. The Mu'tazelis went as far as to suggest that if there
is a contradiction between the revelation and reason the latter should
prevail. Some modern day Islamists such as Ali Shariati and Sorush have
tried to use Islam as a political tool to bring Islamic world out of the
dark ages and into the modern world. However all these attempts have failed
and Islam is now in it darkest phase of its existence. As a matter of fact
every time Islam is taken into equation, even nominally, for a social change
the result is catastrophic because the gravitational pull of the Quran
towards fundamentalism quashes every other consideration. Quran cannot
be interpreted and reformed. The will of God cannot be surpassed by the
will of people because of convenience and expediency. Any minor deviation
from the Quran is considered to be a direct challenge to its authority
and it invalidates the entire faith.
Islam is considered to be a "complete
way of life"
This concept is eloquently explained
in the Islamic site Islamonline.net
"Islam is not a religion in the
common, distorted meaning of the word, confining its scope only to the
private life of man. By saying that it is a complete way of life, we mean
that it caters for all the fields of human existence. In fact, Islam provides
guidance for all walks of life - individual and social, material and moral,
economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international.
The Qur'an enjoins Man to enter
the fold of Islam without any reservation and to follow God's guidance
in all fields of life."
In Islam politics and faith are
intertwined. The separation of the two would mean the end of faith. The
above site continues: .
"Religion asks us to separate things
of God from those of Caesar. Such a judicial separation between the two
means the degrading of both the secular and the sacred. That religion is
worth little, if the conscience of its followers is not disturbed when
war clouds are hanging over us all and industrial conflicts are threatening
social peace. Religion has weakened Man's social conscience and moral sensitivity,
by separating the things of God from those of Caesar."
As for Islam, it totally denounces
this concept of religion and clearly states that its objectives are purification
of the soul and the reform and reconstruction of the society. "
The Qur'an says in Surah 57, verse
25:
We verily sent Our messengers with
clear proofs and revealed with them the scripture and the balance [i.e.
the authority to establish justice], that mankind may observe justice and
the right measure.
Then in Surah 12, verse 40:
The command is for none but Allah;
He has commanded that you obey none but Him; that is the right path.
Also, in Surah 22, verse 41:
[Muslims are] those who if We give
them power in the land, establish [the system of] salat (prayers and worship)
and zakat (poor due) and enjoin virtue and forbid vice and evil."
"Thus, even a cursory study of the
teachings of Islam shows that it is an all-embracing way of life and does
not leave out any field of human existence to become a playground for satanic
forces."
That is true. A Muslim is supposed
to get religious instructions about everything. Even with which foot he
ought to enter the toilet, which direction to face, which foot to put his
weight on during defecation and how many rocks to use for cleaning purposes
are topics that the foqaha, "the doctors of the law" study for years to
master and then guide the ummah who in turn would not lift a finger without
consulting such doctors.
Addressing the problem of Sharia
for a Muslim is considered heresy. The so-called moderate Muslims do not
propose to scrap or change the Sharia. So, what a moderate Muslim would
say about the law of stoning? He would deny that this is an Islamic law
and he would challenge you to find such a thing in the Quran. He is right!
Stoning does not exist in the Quran. But it exists in the Sunnah and the
Sunnah (Muhammad's own examples) is the major source of the Sharia law.
In Islam if there is no specific
reference to a law, the Judaic law should apply. Stoning the adulterers
is a law prescribed in Deuteronomy 22:23, and the prophet practiced stoning
of adulterers as per various hadiths. (1, 2, 3)
As the Imam of IslamOnline.net rightly
states, Islam is not a religion at all. Islam is politics. Islam's only
objective is to reclaim the Earth for Allah and establish the rule of Sharia.
You take away that objective and Islam as a whole becomes meaningless.
It simply loses its raison d'être. While Christ wanted to conquer
the hearts of the people, Muhammad could care less about people's hearts.
He was interested in conquering cities and establishing the dominion of
Islam in the name of God.
The very word Islam means submission.
The first duty of a Muslim is to strive (make Jihad) and render the world
submissive to Allah and his messenger.
Ironically, the word peace in Islam
also derived from the same root SLM does not mean mutual and harmonious
coexistence of two equal and sovereign people. It means suppressing the
non-Muslims and making them submissive to the rule and dominance of Islam.
Islam does not recognize the legitimacy of any non-Islamic government especially
over the Muslims.
"Yea, to Allah belongs the dominion
of the heavens and the earth; 24.42 and, "If anyone desires a religion
other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him"
3:85. Muslims are pressed to "fight them [the infidels] on until there
is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in
Allah altogether and everywhere" 8:39,.
It must be noted that tumult and
oppression means resisting the advance of Islam. Justice and peace can
only prevail when Islam becomes dominant and other religions are subdued
and their followers are reduced to tributaries to the coffers of the Islamic
state. They must "pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued".9:29.
I strongly disagree with those who
compare Islam of today to the Christianity of the Middle Ages and claim
that since Christianity eventually was reformed, Islam can also be reformed.
The proponents of reform have a
very weak position to defend. Daniel Pipes is one such scholar who believes,
at least ostensibly, that Islam can be reformed. The weakness of his position
is picked up by his opponents who rightly say, "Dr. Pipes seems to contradict
himself. First he says that there is nothing in Islam that contradicts
democracy and then insists that Sharia is antidemocratic."
Muslims are supposed to give their
highest allegiance to Islam, not to their country and not even to their
family. The scope is not as much to convert the world into Islam but to
dominate the world and to establish the law of Sharia.
As a matter of fact when a Muslim
army invaded a country, they did not accept the conversion of the conquered
right away. This would have deprived them of the booty and to excise the
Jizyah tax, which was the main incentive of the Muslims to attack in the
first place. The conquered people were left to practice their religion
for centuries providing the wealth for the Islamic empire and finance the
Islamic army to continue with their conquests. As the following hadith
shows the Muslims would provide "protection" for the people of other religions,
i.e. would not kill them, under the condition that they pay the jizyah
which as Umar said was fixed by Allah as stipends for Muslims.
Sunnan Abu Dawud Book 19, Number
2955:
"According to the saying of the
Prophet (peace_be_upon_him): Allah has placed truth upon Umar's tongue
and heart. He fixed stipends for Muslims, and provided protection for the
people of other religions by levying jizyah (poll-tax) on them, deducting
no fifth from it, nor taking it as booty.
Therefore when Muslims say that
Islam is a tolerant religion, which allows the non-Muslims to keep their
faith and practice their religion, in a sense they are telling the truth.
However, that freedom has a catch and that is to accept the status of dhimitude,
become subservient to Muslims and pay the protection fee "with willing
submission."
According to Muslim scholars, the
verse 9:23 of the Quran that instructs the Muslims not to take the infidels
as their awlia (protectors, custodians, rulers) implies that Muslims should
not accept the rule and the governance of non-Muslims. Hence they are required
to overthrow the non-Islamic governments, whenever they are able to and
wherever they reside to establish Islamic governments. Until then that
country is considered to be Dar al Harb (House of war). When the governance
of the country is turned over to the Muslims, that country becomes Dar
al Islam (House of Islam) and Sharia becomes the law of the land. This
does not mean that everyone will be forced to convert to Islam. It means
that everyone becomes subject to Sharia and those who are not believers
will be classified as dhimmis, will have to pay Jizyah and support the
Ummah financially.
