The philosophical and humanitarian implications of Kufr
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Arnold Mol
Thus a Kafir is a person who denies morality, peace and justice and wants to hide these concepts and destroy life without any guilt.
Defined by whom?
Islam?
Therefore you mean to say that Kafir is a person who denies morality as Islam teaches us, peace as Islam teaches us and justice as Islam teaches us.
am i correct? if yes then I am confused.
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Peace Wakas,
The exact requirments of Momin is one that I am still putting together, but when looking at the overall meaning of Amina, it is clear it is mainly focussed on the humanetarian action of maintaining peace. A Momin has trust in the Wahy and in the concept of purpose in the universe. But anyone agreeing and who will follow the justice and peace rules given in the Qur'an is not directly a Kafir in my eyes if that person does not not believe or have understood in the concept of a First Cause or how Allah must be viewed.
In traditional theology, the terms Amina and Kafara are used to denote belief and unbelief in the religious sense, while I tend to think it refers more to peacekeepers and disturbers of peace.
Many details I am still working out.
In my previous article I had quoted many verses to define Amina, as Kafara is the opposite, to me it was obvious an example wasn't directly necessary as the method was already given. But I will add verses to give examples.
Peace Raj-ah,
Although the details of morality, peace and justice are defined in the Qur'an, the basics are found within mankind itself (3030). A Kafir already denies these basics, and thus of course also the details as found in Revelation.
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peace,
when looking at the overall meaning of Amina, it is clear it is mainly focussed on the humanetarian action of maintaining peace.
Of course in AQ actions speak louder than words.
Many details I am still working out.
Let us know your findings in due course.
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Peace Raj-ah,
Although the details of morality, peace and justice are defined in the Qur'an, the basics are found within mankind itself (3030). A Kafir already denies these basics, and thus of course also the details as found in Revelation.
Peace on you too Arnold Mol
I still did not got it, sorry.
the verse you mentioned says
Therefore, you shall devote yourself to the religion of nature, Hanifa. Such is the natural instinct placed into the people by GOD. Such creation of GOD will never change. This is the perfect religion, but most people do not know.
We do not know what is the religon of nature?
According to Ayat it is the Natrual instinct placed in to the people.....
That was my question, are the basics you are talking about the same within two different religons or groups or we have to follow what Quran tells us in this regard?
I mean to say for example is the Peace process similar for a Muslim and a Jainmath follower.
A person born in strict Buddhist family may not want even to hurt an animal, but a natrual instinct of a muslim makes him joy ful over slaughtering of a Goat or sheep during Eid.
Some Christians consider marrying their first cousins as sin, but natrual instinct of Muslims allows it.
These are just few examples due to shortage of time.
If you can i want a detailed answer.
Wakas has asked an excellent question.
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Peace on you too Arnold Mol
I still did not got it, sorry.
the verse you mentioned says
Therefore, you shall devote yourself to the religion of nature, Hanifa. Such is the natural instinct placed into the people by GOD. Such creation of GOD will never change. This is the perfect religion, but most people do not know.
We do not know what is the religon of nature?
According to Ayat it is the Natrual instinct placed in to the people.....
That was my question, are the basics you are talking about the same within two different religons or groups or we have to follow what Quran tells us in this regard?
I mean to say for example is the Peace process similar for a Muslim and a Jainmath follower.
A person born in strict Buddhist family may not want even to hurt an animal, but a natrual instinct of a muslim makes him joy ful over slaughtering of a Goat or sheep during Eid.
Some Christians consider marrying their first cousins as sin, but natrual instinct of Muslims allows it.
These are just few examples due to shortage of time.
If you can i want a detailed answer.
Wakas has asked an excellent question.
Peace Raj-ah,
I see to many flaws in that translation of the verse, but lets leave that and go on with the main discussion.
What are the basics? Peace is not harming others, this is the same basic for anyone on earth and anybody understands and knows this, whatever their background.
The slaughtering and marrying are details of the structure of society, not the basics, which is general peaceful cooperation and equality to all. Everybody knows this, so I am surprised you give such faulty examples.
Major antropology studies shows that early mankind lived in groups wherein male and female were equal, and they lived in peace and cooperation with other groups. Only when the cultural tribal system was introduced over time did the concept of warfare arise and hierarchy.
In many forager societies still existend on earth, the word for 'war' does not exist. Also the main theme in original ancient theology was more monotheistic.
This is the fitrah mankind was created in. Peaceful and equal cooperation among everybody.
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This is the fitrah mankind was created in. Peaceful and equal cooperation among everybody.
brickwall
Muslim cleric tells Australians 'Husbands should be allowed to rape and beat their wives'
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 116 PM on 22nd January 2009http//www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1126556/Muslim-cleric-tells-Australians-Husbands-allowed-rape-beat-wives.html
A Muslim cleric has sparked outrage by telling his followers it is acceptable to rape and beat their wives.
Samir Abu Hamza, who runs an Islamic centre in Melbourne, ridiculed Australian laws banning forced sex within marriage.
Hamza told a male audience in Sydney 'Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?'
He added that wives must immediately respond to their husbands' sexual demands.
The firebrand preacher also said a man was entitled to use 'limited force' as a last resort to punish a disobedient wife.
He explained 'After you have advised them for a long, long time, then you smack them, you beat them and - please brothers, calm down - the beating that the Muhammad showed is like the toothbrush that you use to brush your teeth.''You are not allowed to bruise them; you are not allowed to make them bleed,' he added in a video of the 2003 lecture in Sydney recently posted online.
'You don't go and grab a broomstick and say that is what Allah has said.'
In another online sermon, Hamza branded Australians 'boozers who are hooked on gambling and prostitution'.The cleric urged followers to spread the word of Islam to save Australians.
'They think happiness can be achieved by being intoxicated, by going to the casino and blowing your money away, by going from one prostitute to the other,' he said.
'They don't know what life is all about, that's why they are on the booze, why they are binge drinking... why unfortunately suicide has skyrocketed, murder, anxiety and depression.'
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned Hamza's comments about marriage, insisting that violence towards women was not permissible under any circumstances.
He said 'Australia will not tolerate these sort of remarks. They don't belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them, and apologise.'
Joumanah El Matrah, the executive of the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria state, said Hazma's comments were 'a grossly inappropriate representation of both the Quran and Muslim views on violence, both in wife beating and rape'.
'I don't like to use the word extremism, but certainly his views are outdated and a minority view that is insistent on seeing women as less human than men, she said.
Sherene Hassan, the vice president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said research has found that some imams in Australia share Hamza's stance on domestic violence.She said the council will hold a series of workshops aimed at changing those views.
Conflicts between mainstream Australia and its fast-growing Muslim minority, who number 400,000 in a population of 21 million, have gained a higher profile in recent years.
Australia's former mufti, Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, created a furor in 2006 which split the Islamic community with a lecture in Sydney in which he compared women who do not wear head scarves to 'uncovered meat' and said immodestly dressed women invite rape.
Mr Hamza, born in Lebanon, moved to Australia as a youth with his parents.
He has delivered contradictory lectures, at times telling his followers they should be grateful to live in Australia because it had a fair system of justice, welfare safety nets and the rights for individuals to express their views.Tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim youths erupted into days of rioting at Sydney's Cronulla beach in late 2005.
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I came across the following book which discusses iman and islam in significant detail
http//books.google.co.uk/books?id=PDxHG5MtLawC
You can read most of it online.
It is by Toshihko Izutsu, who I consider to be good in knowledge/reasoning.
Peace,
He is one the best, I have all his books. I quote them above also.
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brickwall
Muslim cleric tells Australians 'Husbands should be allowed to rape and beat their wives'
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 116 PM on 22nd January 2009http//www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1126556/Muslim-cleric-tells-Australians-Husbands-allowed-rape-beat-wives.html
A Muslim cleric has sparked outrage by telling his followers it is acceptable to rape and beat their wives.
Samir Abu Hamza, who runs an Islamic centre in Melbourne, ridiculed Australian laws banning forced sex within marriage.
Hamza told a male audience in Sydney 'Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?'
He added that wives must immediately respond to their husbands' sexual demands.
The firebrand preacher also said a man was entitled to use 'limited force' as a last resort to punish a disobedient wife.
He explained 'After you have advised them for a long, long time, then you smack them, you beat them and - please brothers, calm down - the beating that the Muhammad showed is like the toothbrush that you use to brush your teeth.''You are not allowed to bruise them; you are not allowed to make them bleed,' he added in a video of the 2003 lecture in Sydney recently posted online.
'You don't go and grab a broomstick and say that is what Allah has said.'
In another online sermon, Hamza branded Australians 'boozers who are hooked on gambling and prostitution'.The cleric urged followers to spread the word of Islam to save Australians.
'They think happiness can be achieved by being intoxicated, by going to the casino and blowing your money away, by going from one prostitute to the other,' he said.
'They don't know what life is all about, that's why they are on the booze, why they are binge drinking... why unfortunately suicide has skyrocketed, murder, anxiety and depression.'
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned Hamza's comments about marriage, insisting that violence towards women was not permissible under any circumstances.
He said 'Australia will not tolerate these sort of remarks. They don't belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them, and apologise.'
Joumanah El Matrah, the executive of the Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria state, said Hazma's comments were 'a grossly inappropriate representation of both the Quran and Muslim views on violence, both in wife beating and rape'.
'I don't like to use the word extremism, but certainly his views are outdated and a minority view that is insistent on seeing women as less human than men, she said.
Sherene Hassan, the vice president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said research has found that some imams in Australia share Hamza's stance on domestic violence.She said the council will hold a series of workshops aimed at changing those views.
Conflicts between mainstream Australia and its fast-growing Muslim minority, who number 400,000 in a population of 21 million, have gained a higher profile in recent years.
Australia's former mufti, Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, created a furor in 2006 which split the Islamic community with a lecture in Sydney in which he compared women who do not wear head scarves to 'uncovered meat' and said immodestly dressed women invite rape.
Mr Hamza, born in Lebanon, moved to Australia as a youth with his parents.
He has delivered contradictory lectures, at times telling his followers they should be grateful to live in Australia because it had a fair system of justice, welfare safety nets and the rights for individuals to express their views.Tensions between Muslim and non-Muslim youths erupted into days of rioting at Sydney's Cronulla beach in late 2005.
Yep, people ignore their true fitrah because they follow dogma. That is shirk.
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Shakara She (a camel) obtained a good share of leguminous herbage or (other) pasturage, and in consequence abounded with milk; and she (a beast) became fat and her under became full of milk (Lanes Lexicon)
So Shakara is the act of giving milk, meat, eggs, or wool of an animal as a consequence of the owners feeding it in a good manner.
Shukr is done by giving something as an end result of receiving a favor.
?Shukr?; ?is the paying off to the God due to the Gods bounties.
Verse 31.14 explains the meaning of ?Shukr? very clearly. The parents took care of us when we were infant. So we have to take care of them when they are old. We have to give (care) to them for their giving to us (care). Shukr does not mean to say ?thank you? to them.
31.14 And We have enjoined upon man concerning his parents. His mother beareth him in weakness upon weakness and his weaning is in two years - Give ?SHUKR? unto Me and unto your parents. Unto Me is the journeying.
Shukr is done as a result of or for (Nai?ma) a benefit; favor; good; blessing, bounty
27.73 Your Lord is full of bounty for mankind, but most of them do not give ?SHUKR?.
4.147 If you do good did and give security to others Allah will not punish you. Allah is (SHAKIRAN) responsive and aware.
Allah is ?shakiran? because he gives us his bounties for our good did (a?mal saliha)
So shukur is done by action. It is a favor against a favor. So one makes the favor done for him manifest by doing a favor against it. ?Kufur? is hiding the favor done for you.
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Salam all,
I agree with your article a lot brother Arnold Yasin. I was starting to think that nobody else thinks this way about God, the universe and natural instinct.
My own understanding is as follows
Being a Good Person (moral and just actions, helpful, kind, respectful etc.) = following the natural instinct instilled within the Human Specie by God = i.e. following quranic criteria for righteous person = being a submitter(muslim) to the will of God
I think that a momin or believer/acknowledger is someone who agrees that one should act morally and justly and then a submitter is the next stage of actually carrying out those principles/actions. The reason I think this is because you first have to accept that we must act 'good', before we actually become 'good'.
This is why I think most verses with commandments start with 'O you who believe/acknowledge'. Because one must first recognize the importance of doing good before being commanded to do good.
O you who believe, you shall give to charity from the provisions we have given to you...
I do not think that belief/acknowledgment of God is just simply saying 'I know your up there God'... I think it is much deeper than that. I view belief/acknowledgment of God as recognizing that there is a divine system or law (which we call God) that must be obeyed and recognizing that our actions will be accounted for.
This is why I prefer to use the Urdu equivilent of God which is 'Khuddaa' which reminds me of 'mother nature' and the universe, because although there is nothing wrong with using 'God', for me it reminds me of what some jews/christians perceive of God as a big old man with a beard sitting somewhere in a definable space.
Next is what I think a kafir is
Kafir or disbeliever or ingrate = someone who does not appreciate the importance of being good = i.e. the importance of obeying God = the importance of following your natural instinct.
Im my view a disbeliever cannot be somone who uses a different name for 'God' is not officially part of your 'club' or sect. Because in the same verse as I quoted above God says this...The disbelievers are the unjust.
Therefore a just person cannot be a kafir. A just and moral person who gives to charity, honors his parents and does many good works MUST be a muslim as he/she is submitting to the will of God, and the will of God is for us to be moral, give to charity etc.
This is also why I find it hard to accept when people call whole countries and whole religious sects consisting of thousands of people muslims or kafirs. How does one know what is in the heart of every person in that group?
For example, a Christian may go to church and be told time and time again about the intercession of Jesus. But if he does not believe it in his heart, or whenever he implores for help and to be thankful he comes up with a thought of God (a divine system controlling and governing everything in existence) instead of Jesus. Then that person is a believer in God, not an idolworshipper.
The point I?m trying to say is that it doesn?t matter what you call yourself, what label you give yourself or what relgious ?club? you belong to. What is important is your acknowledgement of the concept of God and your ability to carry out the divine natural orders of God, no matter what you call God.
Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; ANYONE who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.
Say, "Call Him GOD, or call Him the Most Gracious; whichever name you use, to Him belongs the best names." You shall not utter your Contact Prayers (Salat) too loudly, nor secretly; use a moderate tone.
Example my hindu friend once said to me, ?I hope God makes this exam work for me?, then he said ?O wait, I?m supposed to believe in loads of gods?. You see his natural instinct told him that there was one divine system that governs everything including his exam paper, however when the human corrupted influence came in because of the label, ?hindu?, he gave himself or was given he decided to believe that some physical being gods would govern his life.
Many atheists and agnostics who I know say things like ?its wrong to disrespect your parents?. Where are they getting this from? It is the natural instinct God has placed within them that tells them to respect their parents, i.e. it feels right. Without knowing it or giving this feeling a name or label they are actually submitting to God, by respecting their parents which is the will of God for the human specie. You see the atheists are mainly disbelieving in the judeo-christian concept of God and in some cases the traditional muslim concept of ?Allah?. Most of the atheists I know believe in a universal moral code for humans, they believe in what goes around comes around, even though they do not give the governance of the universe a name, without realising it they are submitting to it.
Thank you for bearing with me through this post. Please comment or constructively criticise my statements.
The reason I think this view - of whoever is the most ?good? person is the best muslim ? is not portrayed much by the religious leaders is because it removes them from their comfort zone, they cannot just sit there and say we are right everyone else is wrong. In my opinion the ones who are right are the ones who are the most righteous and good and the ones who are wrong are the spitefull, bitter and transgressing.
Thanks,
Peace.O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes, that you may recognize one another. The best among you in the sight of GOD is the most righteous. GOD is Omniscient, Cognizant.
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Thank you, Wakas, for the article, I had not read it before.
It has helped me define the words 'Momin' and 'Muslim' much better. Its sort of like asking "what came first the chicken or the egg". By reading that article and also reflecting on my own journey I agree that one must first submit before going to the next stage of certainty or faithfullness.
This is what happened to me after I read through Dr. Khalifa's translation of the Quran, I thought 'all I must do is good works'. But then as I carried out this hypothesis, I wanted to increase the amount of good works I did in a day and decrease the bad works.
I found that the only way that was possible was to observe salat and fast etc. so that there would be a constant reminder to me in the day - like a revision session of prioritizing good works before anything else. With this my faith increased as I started reading the Quran even more.
Peace.
