Hanan's blog

Islam and Non-Violence...........................................................

Andrius kalikausas ( member of the Minciu Sodas Laboratory www.ms.lt and a former of the Minciu sodas Arabic Group - Which I'm a member in-), Thank you for your last comment on Rachil Corrie's story which I provided earlier in my blog.
You have also ignited an important topic of discussion which is the effectiveness of non-violence on nations revolutions and I specialy liked the links you provided about Islam being dissociated from violence and being - In its pure laws- a religion of peaceful and non-violent teachings.
The article of Wahidudden Khan in alresala.org was superior.I read it till the end and I'd like to qoute the most important passages that serve the subject.
Wahidudden stated the world look to violence and its vicious effect here:

"Violent activities breed hatred in society, while non-violent activities elicit love. Violence is the way of destruction while non-violence is the way of construction. In an atmosphere of violence, it is enmity which flourishes, while in an atmosphere of non-violence, it is friendship which flourishes. The method of violence gives way to negative values while the method of non-violence is marked by positive values. The method of violence embroils people in problems, while the method of non-violence leads people to the exploiting of opportunities. In short, violence is death, non-violence is life."

He stated that Quran teachings implied non-violent attitude:

"Islam is a religion which teaches non-violence. According to the Qur'an, God does not love fasad, violence. What is meant here by fasad is clearly expressed in verse 205 of the second Surah. Basically, fasad is that action which results in disruption of the social system, causing huge losses in terms of lives and property."
"we are told in the Qur'an that peace is one of God's names (59:23). Those who seek to please God are assured by verse 5 of the sixteenth surah that they will be guided by Him to "the paths of peace." Paradise, which is the final destination of the society of God's choice, is referred to in the Qur'an as "the home of peace" (89:30), etc."
"Patience implies a peaceful response or reaction, whereas impatience implies a violent response. The word Sabr exactly expresses the notion of non-violence as it is understood in modern times. That patient action is non-violent action has been clearly expressed in the Qur'an. According to one tradition, the Prophet of Islam observed: God grants to rifq (gentleness) what he does not grant to unf (violence). (Sunan, Abu Dawood, 4/255)"

He mentioned the advantages of non-violent over violent activism as follows:

"1.According to the Qur'an there are two faculties in every human being which are mutually antipathetic. One is the ego, and the other is the conscience called respectively nafs ammara and nafs lawwama. (The Qur'an, 12:53; 75:26) What the violent method invariably does is to awaken the ego which necessarily results in a breakdown of social equilibrium. On the other hand, non-violent activism awakens the conscience. From this results an awakening in people of introspection and self-appraisal. And according to the Qur'an, the miraculous outcome of this is that "he who is your enemy will become your dearest friend." (41:34)
2.A great advantage of the non-violent method is that, by following it, no part of one's time is wasted. The opportunities available in any given situation may then be exploited to the fullest extent—as happened after the no-war pact of Hudaybiya. This peace treaty enabled the energies of the believers to be utilized in peaceful constructive activities instead of being dissipated in a futile armed encounter. One great harm done by violent activism is the breaking of social traditions in the launching of militant movements. Conversely, the great benefit that accrues from non-violent activism is that it can be initiated and prolonged with no damage to tradition."

The command of war in Islam was under certain circumistances as the Quran says:

"It is a fact that certain verses in the Qur'an convey the command to do battle (qital) (22:39). What the special circumstances are which justify the issuance of and compliance with this command we learn from our study of the Qur'an.
The first point to be noted is that aggression or the launching of an offensive by the believers is not totally forbidden. It is permissible, but with certain provisos. We are clearly commanded in the Qur'an: Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you, but do not be aggressive. (2:190)
Only defensive war is permitted in Islam. Such a war is one in which aggression is committed by some other party so that the believers have to fight in self-defense. Initiating hostility is not permitted for Muslims. The Qur'an says: "They were the first to attack you." (9:13)
3. According to the Qur'an there was one form of war which was time- bound strictly in relation to its purpose. This was to put an end to fitna 'Fight against them until fitna is no more.' (2:193) In this verse fitna signifies that coercive system which had reached the extremes of religious persecution. In ancient times this coercive political system prevailed all over the world. This absolutism had closed all the doors of progress, both spiritual and material. At that time God commanded the believers to break this coercive system in order to usher in freedom, so that all doors of spiritual and material progress might be opened to man.
This mission was undertaken and brought to a successful conclusion at the internal level within Arabia during the life of the Prophet. Later, during the pious caliphate, the Sasanid and Byzantine empires were dismantled with special divine succor. Consequently, intellectual oppression at the international level was replaced by intellectual freedom."

For those who claim that Prophet Muhammed - Peace be Upon Him- was bloodthirsty spending his whole life in wars,please read this:

"The biographers of the Prophet of Islam have put the number of Ghazwa (battle) at more than 80. This gives the impression that the Prophet of Islam in his 23-year prophetic career waged about four battles in a year. But this impression is entirely baseless. The truth is that the Prophet of Islam in his entire prophetic life, engaged in war only on three occasions. All the other incidents described as Ghazwa were in actual fact examples of avoidance of war and not instances of involvement in battle.
For instance, in the books of seerah, the incident of Al-Ahzab is called a Ghazwa (battle), whereas the truth is that on this occasion the armed tribes of Arabia, twelve thousand in number, reached the borders of Medina with all intentions of waging war, but the Prophet and his companions dug a deep trench between them, thus successfully preventing a battle from taking place. The same is the case with all the other incidents called Ghazwa. The opponents of the Prophet repeatedly tried to get him embroiled in war, but on all such occasions, he managed to resort to some such strategy as averted the war, thus defusing the situation.
There were only three instances of Muslims really entering the field of battle—Badr, Uhud and Hunayn. But the events tell us that on all these occasions, war had become inevitable, so that the Prophet was compelled to encounter the aggressors in self-defense. Furthermore, these battles lasted only for half a day, each beginning from noon and ending with the setting of the sun. Thus it would be proper to say that the Prophet in his entire life span had actively engaged in war for a total of a day and a half. That is to say, the Prophet had observed the principle of non-violence throughout his 23-year prophetic career, except for one and a half days."
"The Islamic method, being based totally on the principle of non-violence, it is unlawful for believers to initiate hostilities. Except in cases where self-defense has become inevitable, the Qur'an in no circumstance gives permission for violence."
"The Prophet of Islam along with about two hundred of his companions left Mecca when the Meccan leaders had made it impossible for them to stay there. The Meccans had even decided to kill the Prophet. But the first speech the Prophet made on reaching Medina had no taste of bitterness, neither did it contain any mention of vengeance on or violence against the Quraysh."

He also made a very rational point here:
"Now the question arises as to whether an Islam which teaches non-violence can be of relevance in the present age, and assume a superior position once again in new situations.
The answer is entirely in the positive. The truth is that Islam's being a peaceful religion shows that it is an eternal religion. Had it been a religion of violence, it would not have been eternal. For in modern times, the way of violence has been totally rejected by contemporary thinking. Now only that system is worthy of consideration and acceptance the teachings of which are based on peace and non-violence.
Modern thinking, for example, has rejected communism. One of the major reasons was that communism had to be sustained by violence. And under no circumstances is violence acceptable to the modern mind. Nazism and Fascism too have been rejected on similar grounds. Modern man, therefore, disapproves of religious and non-religious extremism, because they lead man, willy nilly, to violence."

If we look deeply into Muslims recently we'll understand the reason behind the misery of their restless life:

"It is an incontrovertible fact that Muslims have not been able to join the mainstream in modern times. At all places and in every department they are leading their lives as if driven into a corner. This is undoubtedly an extremely critical problem, for it has relegated Muslims to second class positions all over the world.
To me, the greatest reason for this is the violent attitude of the Muslims. Today's Muslims are easily provoked and become violent at anything which is against their way of thinking, or even not to their liking. It is true that not all Muslims become involved in acts of violence. Yet all Muslims would be regarded involved in this matter. This is because that section, of Muslims—in fact, the majority—who are not personally involved, neither disown those members of their community who are engaged in violence, nor even condemn them. In such a case, according to the Islamic shariah itself if the involved Muslims are directly responsible, the uninvolved Muslims are also indirectly responsible."
"One great problem for Muslims is that peace does not necessarily guarantee them justice. This has caused Muslims to become violent and to neglect opportunities for dawah. In modern times Muslims want a peace which brings them justice. But according to the law of nature, this kind of peace can never be achieved, that is why Muslims the world over are in a state of physical and mental unrest. Distressed in their minds, they have become violent in their thinking and in their actions."

Obviously,the solution for Muslims to return to their glorious days relies in peaceful and non-violent interaction with others:
"The only way to alleviate the tragic plight of Muslims is to bring them back to non-violent Islam, by helping to understand that their violent version of Islam is not the true one."
"Peaceful interaction will give Muslims the kind of intellectual stimulation and variety of experience which they must have if they are to tread the path of progress."
"Interaction will also facilitate the task of dawah on a large scale. The natural result of this vast interaction of Muslims and non-Muslims will be that everywhere dialogue on Islam will be started, formally as well as informally. In modern times, because of the extremist and violent attitude of Muslims, serious dialogue between Islam and non-Islam has almost come to an end. Now when peaceful interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims takes place in a normal atmosphere, serious dialogue will ensue on its own. The beginning of serious dialogue between Islam and non-Islam is, without doubt, a very great success from the point of view of dawah."
"In modern times if Muslims abandon the path of violence and fully adopt the path of non-violence, this will be for Muslims like reviving the sunnah of Hudaybiya. And they will start receiving those great benefits which Islam and Muslims had gained after the event of Hudaybiya in the first phase."

In the end he provides a true story that justifies the subject:
"In October 1997, I met a 36-year old European, Leon Zippo Hayes, who was born in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand. After having studied Islam, he has changed his religion. His Islamic name is Khalilur Rahman. Passing through Muslim countries he is going to perform Hajj by land.
During the conversation he said that in modern times Muslims are engaged in bloody war at many places, at some places with others and at other places among themselves. This had led him (like many others) to conclude that perhaps Islam was a religion of violence. Later, he studied the Qur'an with the help of translations, and when he reached this verse in the Qur'an: 'Whoever killed a human being should be looked upon as though he had killed all mankind (5:32),' he said that he was so moved that he could not believe that it was in the Qur'an.This incident is broadly indicative of the thinking of non-Muslims on Islam. On seeing the actions of Muslims, people today find it hard to believe that Islam may be a religion of peace. But if Muslims stop engaging in violent activities and give people the opportunity to appreciate Islam in its original form, then certainly a great number of people would realise as they never had before that Islam was a peaceful religion and they would rush to it, saying that it was exactly the religion which their souls had been seeking all along."

For those who wants to see thefull article visit this link;
http://www.alrisala.org/Articles/papers/nonviolence.htm

posted by hanan @ 3:57 PM

In the memory of Rachel Corrie..............................

This story happened two years ago and very touchy....It made my eyes collect tears,

Peace activist Rachel Corrie, 23, is a student at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She died Sunday, March 16, 2003, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah while trying to stop an Israeli bulldozer from tearing down a Palestinian physician's home. She fell in front of the machine, which ran over her and then backed up, witnesses said. Israeli military spokesman Captain Jacob Dallal called her death an accident. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said the U.S. government had asked Israeli officials for a full investigation.

Pictures below are good evidence:

1. Protecting a water well in Rafah, Gaza, Rachel Corrie is on the far right.


2. Rachel Corrie, right, and other members of the 'International Solidarity Movement' hold up a banner reading 'Israeli army stop shooting children' in protest of Israeli military actions at the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza in this photo taken Friday March 14, 2003.


3. Rachel Corrie chats with a Palestinian friend, living in a dire situation in Rafah, Gaza.


4. Rachel Corrie stands in front of an Israeli army bulldozer wearing an orange jacket so that she can be easily identified and seen.


5. Rachel Corrie uses a loudspeaker as she stands between an Israeli bulldozer and a Palestinian physician's house in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.


6. The Israeli bulldozer ran over her and then backed up, crushing her chest and skull.


7. Friends try to aid Rachel Corrie after she was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer.


8. Palestinian doctors try to save the life of Rachel Corrie at the Najar hospital in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.


9. Alice, a friend of Rachel Corrie, holds her friend's passport as she break down upon hearing the news of Rachel's death at Najar hospital.


10. Two volunteers of the International Solidarity Campaign to Protect the Palestinian People comfort each other after the killing of U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie.


11. A Palestinian medical worker carries a mock coffin covered by a Palestinian flag for Rachel Corrie, during a memorial service in Gaza city.


12. Palestinian children carry a mock coffin covered by an American Flag commemorating Rachel Corrie.


13. Palestinians put flowers at a mock coffin of Rachel Corrie, a member of the 'International Solidarity Movement' during a memorial service at the Unknown Soldier square in Gaza city.


14. Palestinian children light candles for Rachel Corrie.


15. Olympia, Washington, residents stand in silent vigil around a mock casket at a candlelight vigil Sunday evening, March 16, 2003, for Rachel Corrie.


16. Students at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, gather around a shrine for Rachel Corrie. Friends and college faculty are mourning what they are calling the senseless murder of Corrie.


17. An unidentified man cries next to a shrine in honor of peace activist Rachel Corrie during a protest outside the Israeli consulate in downtown San Francisco on Monday, March 17, 2003.

posted by hanan @ 3:36 AM

Dialogue between Arabs and the West......................

Today,I've seen an interview with the Arab Palestinian writer Samar Dahmash Garrah who wrote a very successful book called " Arab voices speak to American hearts" which is being widely accessed by American citizens.


Her book has enlightened thousands of Americans with the truth about Islam being dissociated from Terrorisms and has answered most of their questions.

Samar believes that dialogue between Arabs and the west is being far too slow comparing with the geometrical increase in the clash between both cultures.In Her Site she says:

“I believe that communication between peoples breaks down barriers. I have seen this many times in the courses I teach and the diverse groups I speak to. We do not fear what is different—only what we do not understand. Human beings love variety. We are only bored by sameness.”

Why on earth wouldn't be there a majority of this kinda woman?

here is a caricature I got inspired and drew after the show:

posted by hanan @ 3:28 PM

Overwhelming Nature..............................

Last friday I've been to "Amood Elsawary" in Alexandria where I was surprised that the Nile has flown through,long long time ago.
Now,the shortest distance between Alexandria and the Nile river is about 100 km's !!
The nature there is overwheming.I'll let the pictures speak:
( sorry if the quality is poor as my digital camera needs to be fixed, so I had to take the pictures with my Nokia 6600 camera)











Notice that the vallies and tunnels are river made.

posted by hanan @ 10:16 AM

Elvish Language..............................................

I was overwhelmed from the the piece of writing of Tolken " Lord of The Rings" which was a more than 1000 pages legendary new form of life,earth and creatures.
Regardless the breathtaking movie based on his book, I was amazed to know that Tolken not only created a new world , he also created new languages.
One of these language - and the most interesting - is the Elvish language ( spoken by Elves of course ! ).
It is not formed of the formal English latters nor any latters of any languages.Its latters are all created from Tolken's imagination.See this Elvish word:




More details on Elvish lamguage and its branches according to the Elves ranks is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvish_language

For example the word pronounced "Galad" means "Light" ....yes, that's where the name Galadriel ( Co-Star kate Blanchitt in the movie) came from



Unique,hu !!

posted by hanan @ 9:31 AM

Copenhagen Conference.....................................

Copenhagen conference that was held in Denmark including Muslim Imams ( including Muslim preacher Mr.Amr Khaled) and well-educated moderate young Muslims with Danish youth and intellectuals was like a fresh air !!

Today I watched the interview with Amr Khaled on AlYoum Channel with Mr.Amr Adeeb and felt some kind of coooool relief.

The conference was held for a dialogue between the youth and intelectuals of the two cultures.the initiative is meant to highlight four main issues about the Prophet and the Islamic faith.
"They will explain four main things: Who our prophet is, what Islam is all about, freedom of expression in Muslim eyes and respect of the other's holy scriptures," Amr Khaled said.

I couldn't believe the amazing results !!

-Danish youth was understanding and confessed that their image about Islam and Muhammed has totally changed.

-Indeed,the Danish youth ( who were the leaders of powerful youth communities) said that they are ASHAMED of what the newspaper did and that they apologize ( I saw that myself).

-Newspapers in Denmark has praised the conference.Politican,a Danish newspaper,has published a big picture of Amr Khaled ( about 20x20 cm) stating what happened and....they Published a paragraph praising Prophet Muhammed !

-Danish youth cried when Muslim youth were leaving at the airport ( that was also in the reportage transmitted).

-Denmark will found a cultural Islamic center ( for the 1st time) that shows the real beautiful Islam.

-Danish and Muslim youth will co-operate to travel through the Muslim world for dialogue and valunteer work.

-A Danish young girl offered that she leads a campaign to do valunteer work for Palestinians.

Wow!!! This is-thanks to Amr Khaled- an amazing start....can't you see that?

if you want to see the reason stated by Mr/Am khaled behind this conference see:

http://www.amrkhaled.net/articles/articles1326.html

posted by hanan @ 4:11 PM

Lost Ijtihad !! ........................................................

One of my top dreams is world peace.
Laughing?!!
I'm serious...cultures clash is a nightmare !!
Here is a Muslim writer who cares about cultures harmony and has good Islamic spirit,however,she's attacked by Muslim extremists because of her independent free thinking.One more reason is that she is homosexual !!
Irshad Manji...A Canadian Muslim Journalist.She is a Muslim refusenik.



See this article of her ( extracted from her site: http://www.muslim-refusenik.com):

How you can support the liberal reformation of Islam through "Project Ijtihad"
What's Ijtihad?

Ijtihad (pronounced “ij-tee-had”) is Islam’s lost tradition of independent thinking. In the early centuries of Islam, thanks to the spirit of ijtihad, 135 schools of thought thrived. Inspired by ijtihad, Muslims gave the world inventions from the astrolabe to the university. So much of we consider "western" pop culture came from Muslims: the guitar, mocha coffee, even the ultra-Spanish expression "Ole!" (which has its root in the Arabic word for God, "Allah").
What happened to ijtihad?
Toward the end of the 11th century, the "gates of ijtihad" were closed for entirely political reasons. During this time, the Muslim empire from Iraq in the east to Spain in the west was going through a series of internal upheavals. Dissident denominations were popping up and declaring their own runaway governments, which posed a threat to the main Muslim leader -- the caliph. Based in Baghdad, the caliph cracked down and closed ranks. Remember those 135 schools of thought mentioned above? They were deliberately reduced to four, pretty conservative, schools of thought. This led to a rigid reading of the Koran as well as to a series of legal opinions -- fatwas -- that scholars could no longer overturn or even question, but could now only imitate. To this very day, imitation of medieval norms has trumped innovation in Islam. It’s time to revive ijtihad to update Islam for the 21st century. That’s why I’ve created Project Ijtihad.
What's Project Ijtihad?
Project Ijtihad is my foundation to spur a reform in Islam — a reform that enables the emerging generation of Muslims, especially young women, to challenge authoritarianism and restore Islam’s tradition of critical thinking.
The mission is to build a leadership network through which young, reform-minded Muslims can do three things:
· Meet face-to-face so that they see they're not alone;
· Develop the confidence to openly dissent with conformity in Islam; and
· Learn about the Golden Age of Islam, when Muslims, Jews, Christians and others worked together to preserve and expand knowledge -- something we’re rarely taught in our public schools or in our Islamic religious schools.
The center’s students will hail from around the world. In North America, many of our beneficiaries will come from first generation immigrant families. That way, the conversations they initiate at home and in their communities will reach real people rather than being confined to an elite. The point is to create a critical mass of critical thinkers so that young Muslims no longer fear speaking their minds.
How's the response so far?
Based on my extensive touring and interaction with young Muslims around the world, I can report good news: the idea of a campaign to revive ijtihad is generating huge excitement. Young Muslims and their friends are expressing gratitude, relief, even love for my willingness to help them confront the extremists. There’s no doubt that some young Muslims detest me and my message of ijtihad.
They tend to be the vocal and vitriolic ones. But everywhere I go, I’m quietly approached by Muslims, especially young women, who are desperate to know that it’s possible to dissent with mainstream orthodoxy while remaining faithful. The challenge now is to help transform that underground hunger for change into an above-the-ground phenomenon.
Who's financing this?
Project Ijithad has already captured the imagination of a multi-faith group of supporters led by Monica Graham of New York City. A champion for women’s equality within the Catholic Church, Monica is broadening her advocacy to include women and youth in the Muslim world. Monica and others are helping me raise money to establish the leadership center for young Muslims. But there are crucial steps to take along the way.
So what's next?
As we work towards launching the leadership center, we need to create educational materials in various formats. One of our immediate goals is to translate The Trouble with Islam Today into Farsi so that it can be distributed in Iran. We also need to produce audio versions of the book in various languages so that Muslims who live under severe state censorship, Muslims who are illiterate, or Muslims who can’t afford access to the internet can, nonetheless, hear the message. Initiatives like this will allow young Muslims worldwide to become aware of Project Ijtihad. That, in turn, will allow us to identify our future students at the leadership center.
You can send your questions or comments to mailto:pi@muslim-refusenik.com mailto:pi@muslim-refusenik.comTo contribute, please only use the online form above.
Salaam and thank you,
Irshad Manji, Chief Catalyst, Project Ijtihad

posted by hanan @ 7:44 PM

Why did Prophet Mohammed marry more than once?

During The last Controversy about the legality of the cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, Some non-Muslims asked me about Islam and Muhammed ( Peace be Upon Him) and I can sense a general hatred to both.

One of the questions I've been asked is why did Prophet Muhammed marry 12 wives? and how did he marry Aisha while she was only 9 years old?
And they call them " Perverted" actions.

Well, although I'm a Muslim , but I like to give answers based on resources.Here is a lecture of Mr.Amr Khaled ( one of the most popular and lovable Sheihks in the Islamic world-see the picture)




where he explained the answer.Let me post it in Arabic 1st then I'll put the translation:

posted by hanan @ 4:25 PM