Much-needed article that speaks truths that needed to be said; yaa rayt, if only our scholars could speak with such clarity & conviction instead of worrying about who is putting what organ in which orifice, or obsessing over the fact that someone, somewhere, is actually having fun.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... story.html
a dogmatic, context-less, rigid, uber-literalist(fabricated 'hadith' says runaway slave are hell-bound; u disagree? Gaal baa tahay!) understading and interpreation that has led to failure, disaster, bloodshed, and misery, and tragedy throughot the centuries starting within year's of Nabiga's death.Islamic orthodoxy, which controls mosques and institutions worldwide, is out of step with the world in which the majority of Muslims live. In few places is orthodox Islam independent of the state; it is often a political tool used by authoritarian regimes, which explains why the Muslim intelligentsia does not respect it. Its hallmark is archaism in theology and ethics, and its reach covers most of the global community of faith. Once a robust intellectual tradition, today Islamic orthodoxy is in serious need of a makeover. Mainstream theologians who cater to the majority of lay Muslims, both Sunni and Shiite, are unable to address such critical moral and theological challenges as evolution, gender and sexuality, or the role and meaning of sharia in a modern nation. That’s because theological education is steeped in ancient texts with little attention to reinterpretation.
The stark, abundantly-evident, grossly-clear, FAILURE, of Sunni Orthodoxy(not, as the writer mistakenly puts it "mainstream Islam". Islam has nothing to do with century-long codified racism & misogyny, & sectarian oppression). If clerics/scholars/shuyoukh in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th centuries had done their jobs properly, instead of, i don't know, sacab-tuming for whatever fucktard that seized power by the sword, the Muslim world would not be scraping the bottom of every measurable metric for development, progress, and yes, morality. Before we can move forward, before we can extricate ourselves out of this swampy morass, we have to come to terms and acknowledge this failure.Groups like the Islamic State propound antiquated teachings still held to be true by many orthodox authorities. These include enslaving prisoners of war and taking female prisoners as concubines. Because mainstream Islam has not truly defused these theological hand grenades by explaining how they apply to the modern world, groups like the Islamic State and disaffected followers like Rashid can view these dangerous teachings as Islam’s true ideals
Islam is a timeless, universal religion; a dynamic, ever-growing, ever-evolving faith that empowers its adherents to embrace change, progress, and development, not shy away from it. Unfortunately, however, human beings with caqli-dugaag who reject reason & logic in favor of dogma & tradition will be hard-pressed to accept a Reformation that sweeps away the nonsense of the past.My old friend’s new approach blends Salafism and millenarianism(za Mahdi will save us!!!), a lethal combination. Salafism rejects any interpretation of scriptural sources. In this sense, Salafism is to sharia as formaldehyde is to a dead body. It prevents decomposition but also creates the illusion that the body is alive. But a sharia that truly lives would help Muslims adapt to a changing world.
You know, when Shaykh Hyper recently stated that the whole concept of the Mahdi/Messiah was Shia fiction, and that the Return of Jesus is, likewise, israa'iiliyaat and has no basis in Islam, ....i didn't know what to think, because my understanding was that the Mahdi and 2nd coming of Nabi Iisa were ........but with hindsight, I can see how this messianic fatalistic mentality can lead people to stupidity, victim-mindset, conspiracy theory, and just plain caqli-dugaag'nimo, since everything can be excused away and justified with: za Mahdi will save us, with an Army of Trees(like LOTR) and za Jesus will come down and Muslims will be victorious again!!!!!!!!Meanwhile, Rashid explains his millenarianism in his last message, which contends that the conflict in Syria is the last heroic war — the final standoff between Islam and its adversaries. This philosophy draws on Muslim apocalyptic literature that says Jesus will return to Syria to combat the forces of evil just before the end of the world.
I still haven't completed my research on the whole Mahdi/Nabi Eesa saga, but if the evidence agrees with Shaykh Hyper's position, that it's all creative fiction, then I will abandon what I was taught since I was a kid and agree with Shaykh Hyper's position. For those of you with literalist caqli-dugaag, take some notes, the islamic mind always seeks truth in the form of reasoned-evidence.
100% co-sign, there has never been a greater need for a Reformation, a grand sweeping overhaul of all the religious, cultural, & societal pollution that has been passed down through the centuries, pollution that has been falsely attributed to our deen. This means we, Muslims of the 21st century, will have to go head-to-head with the Sunni Orthodoxy and all of it's fearsome weapons: a) damnation: Thou shalleth burn in Hellfire for eternity, O ye Innovator! b) ostracization: salaanta lagaama qaadayo and your marriage is null & void c)There are few alternatives to this pressing challenge in Islamic thought because many among the guardians of orthodoxy, the ulama, believe too in the sharia-in-formaldehyde approach. Ordinary clerics are reluctant to replace the medieval rulings on blasphemy, apostasy and captives with new interpretations of Islamic law based on current realities. So a credible and sophisticated narrative of Islam remains out of the reach of most Muslims. In my view, a doctrinal overhaul is the best long-term antidote to the radicalism and senseless interpretations that masquerade as Islam.
grand opening, grand closing. The failures of the Sunni Orthodoxy, in particular, literalist-dogma, is directly responsible not just for the modern-day horrors of extremism, but also the horrors that happened in centuries pastThe Islamic State outlook does not threaten only groups like the Yazidis, Jews, Christians and Shiites. It poses an even greater threat to Islam. As long as mainstream Muslim authorities keep Islamic learning in formaldehyde, they make it easier for many more like Rashid to head for the violent apocalyptic theaters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
I don’t doubt Rashid’s sincere intention to live a pious life any more than I did when we studied together. But he was able to embrace the Islamic State as its lodestar only because Islamic orthodoxy has not offered a humane alternative.
