Back from Africa
-
Salaam brothers and sisters!
I have just come back from some travels, almost two months. Well I am actually still on the road but now I got internet! Right now I am slowly sailing towards Finland, land of Santa Claus. Told my kids I had to go pick up their presents.
I started my travels sailing along the north coast of Scotland, and there I was reminded of the grandness of Allah that is so easily forgotten living in a city. Unbelievable nature, took my breath away...
Then, I went to Africa. I have been there before but not as a muslim and this time it turned out to be a completely different Africa I saw. An entire other world opened up, one that was closed to me before, and I got to tell you, I have gained oceans of knowledge.
One thing I would like share with you is the unbelievable obvious observation that mainstream islam cannot be generalised into one. I met a lot of sunni muslims from different regions and not one of them practiced the same sunnism! I saw how they took their own traditions, cultures and ways, integrating them quite freely into their faith. I could see this by comparing the muslims to the non-muslim neighbour, different faith, same culture........I am not saying they were wrong, they made religion fit into how they were as people, and this is imo a very islamic thing to do. What they did wrong however was to believe that their "way" is the right one and everyone else were wrong.
The very big wrongness was however the complete denial that their own culture had blended into their faith. They truly believed (for example) Allah had given them the right to dance traditional folk-dance but dancing in a disco was haram. This made me very sad for all the African/Middle East brothers and sisters in my home country who are struggling to find a balance between their new country and their faith. If they could just realize what is cultural influence and what is not..... I believe they could live a much smoother life and be more welcomed by the "locals" and not seen as a threat.My trip to Africa has made me even more set in the belief of the Quran Alone movement. The sunnis have had hundreds of years to adapt the religion to fit their culture. In Africa it works, but when the African muslim moves to another and very different culture they run into trouble. They struggle to be accepted and they find a hard time making the laws of their faith fit into the laws of society. They are unknowingly following laws of a completely different culture than what they live in.
Me on the other hand, a Quran Alone muslim in a sunni muslim country had absolutely no problem with practicing my faith. There was no need to change any of the practices that I had derived directly from the Quran.I blended into society as good as any caucasian man could do, both into the muslim society and the rest of the nation. Nothing in my faith made my everyday life difficult..well except refusing to chew Kat. Against my religion I said, which caused some stir.....they laughed whole-heartedly when I claimed it was a drug.....Also when I didnt eat a goat I knew had been tetered to a pole for two days before being slaughtered, they couldnt understand why I did not see the food as halal.I saw a tendency that the African muslim wanting to be Arab. A person who spoke arabic was automatically put in a higher rank than everyone else and one of the best compliments you could give to someone was to say they look like an arab. In their homes there were photos of the Kabaa and replicas of different kind of religious artefacts from Mecca. Many times I had to bite my tongue, wanted to ask them if they realized they were african, not arab. It saddened me to understand they knew more about Saudi Arabia than their homeland.
They also had a general despise against their fellow countrymen who happened to be christian. Many times I heard them laughing to stories about christians regarding this or that water as holy and their belief that demons can possess a person........Once again I had to bite my tongue on numerous occassions.......zamzam water anyone? Praying towards a black stone? Hello!?But, their version of islam worked, it really did. It worked for them in that particular place in that particular continent. They never had to battle between culture and faith because their culture was already in their faith. Before my trip I was a little worried about being a Quran Alone and that I would be regarded as not "pious" enough by my African hosts. It turned out to be the opposite actually. One example being a young man of fourteen years preaching to me the ill-effects of alcohol. He told me the average German drinks annually enough beer to fill an olympic swimming pool. I asked him who told him that and he said "my teacher at school". I asked him if this was true and he said yes it must be because my teacher said so. I asked him to calculate how much beer the average German must consume per day in order to fill that quota. It turned out to something like 2000 litres per day...........I told him according to the Quran you must use your brain and not blindly follow..........Made me look like a scholar of the highest degree, I felt like a super-hero.... Since they knew I only followed the Quran they seemed to listen more because the words I said came from the Quran and not another source. I steered far away from any kind of debate, so of course I don't know if they would have listened as much if the discussion got heated.
Africa gets to you, it is a myserious place with no hot water and alot of mosquitos........can't wait to go back. Our muslim brothers and sisters welcomed me with open arms and the love they showed can not be found in Europe.
-
Salaam Emil! Good to have you back. I was getting worried why you were away since you're a quality poster and I always like reading your posts!
And that was a great read.
What you said about the Arab thing is not only true for Africans but also South East Asians living here in the UK - at least in London. Over time you'd expect society to get more liberal and open-minded like how Britain (and Europe) got throughout history, ranging from the dark ages to the industrial revolution when everyone was still a staunch Christian to secular thinking in the 19th century to now. On the other hand it seems as if the muslim community in the UK is getting more conservative every year and thats also true back home in Pakistan and I'm sure its true throughout the world in general among Muslim communities. For example, here in the UK, Pakistanis, Indians and Bengalis - South Asians in general make up the majority of the Population and I've noticed religious Sunni teachers and Sunni elders starting to encourage the younger generation of muslims to wear the thobe (Arab dress) along with the Kufi (Islamic hat) - reason being that they're fulfilling their religious duties by doing so, and I guess it's true since Sunnis believe emulating the Prophet Muhammad is itself a religious duty. And along with this, they're naturally getting more conservative, growing beards and not wearing trousers below the ankle and all in all it's extremely frustrating because the muslim community here is becoming more and more close-minded by the day. Liberal and secular muslims are being looked down upon and it's hard for them to openly talk about such sensitive issues as the more influential conservative Muslims are the ones teaching the new generation of muslims every year and at the same time giving advice to muslims who want "Islamic" advice. And they always say being secular is the way of the Shaytaan etc you know how it is. I guess this is a classical example of who culture and religion clash as these muslims really do not integrate in society nor do they fit in and they usually socialise with other "like minded" muslims.
And just the other day my mum said that she would start pronouncing Mashallah and Inshallah ans Mash'allah and Insh'allah because "Arabs pronounce it like that". And I was like, "Yeah...but we're not Arabs." Not only that, my mum considers watching movies and listening to music to be a bad thing when such things were the norm a few years ago! Thank God my Uncles are not like that so whenever they watch or movie or go to the cinema, I'll just go with them.
It also seems more and more muslim girls are wearing headscarfs every year - not a bad thing in itself, but just goes to show the increasing conservatism. It's as if it's part of the culture and religion now. I have 3 young female cousins all below the age of ten, who wear headscarfs (courtesy of their crazy conservative mum who wears the full veil and dad who has a big beard) and and their mum plans to get them married off straight after they finish college when they're 18. I was like triple facepalm. And then I have friends who I've known since I was a kid - friends who'd shave (not that keeping a beard is a bad thing lol), socialise with females, hardly wore "religious" clothing but do the exact opposite now. brickwall
So I guess this is just another example of how religion and culture just don't mix properly (especially Sunni Islam). Like you said, it may work in one's native home where they culture has taken centuries to seep into the religion as if it's normal, but once you go to a different country, everything changes.
And back in Pakistan it's even worse, with Wahabbi crap being propagated by Saudi Arabia into Pakistani mosques causing a clash between cultural, secular, and conservatives, with the whole thing taking a heavy toll on Pakistani minorities - Christians, Hindus, Secularists, Shias, Ahmadis and others. At it's birth Pakistan was a secular, liberal state but look at it now, it reeks of conservative sectarian Islam to the point where politicians can't even challenge the Blasphemy law or they'll receive huge amounts of backlash, lose votes/popularity and even get death threats (as was the case last year, where a prominent politician got killed by his own bodyguard for suggesting the blasphemy law had to be reformed!)
Also, I you won't be received well if tell muslims here in the UK or Pakistan that you're a Quran-Only muslim - I can garuntee you that!
Sorry for the overly long post, just wanted to get that out. Like you say, the Quran-Only movement will free muslims of all these problems but that won't happen until these sectarian muslims get over their ego and see where Quran-Only muslims are coming from, see what the Quran has to offer them without traditions. But the thought of me explaining such a thing to my friends is just &.
Anyway, I hope to travel to many places in the future, Africa included. Kashmir in particular has great nature, some of the best in the world - I hope to travel here one day, see the Himalayas, the natural scenery, beautiful lakes, etc. Google it if interested. Nature is beautiful.
-
Welcome back, Emil! And thanks for your interesting post and for taking your time to give us such an insight.
As for the views of our brother PAssassine, I think what he relates is a true to nature reaction of peole who feel unsure and who maybe had some expectations, which hav enot been fulfilled. Unable to go into a deep and truthful analysis of what has happened to them and their expectations and not onsidering whether such expectations were founded or not, they cling to the most immediate thing which gives them that sense of security and assuredness, and if they have not anaysed the reason for their feeling of insatisfaction, now they ar enot going to analyse their feeling of security.
Those who do not go along with that behaviour and feeling because they have motives to feel more assured should not dispair. that will change also, and we should be there so that people find the balanced alternative, or at least the feeing of independence and self-assuredness to look themselves for what they seek.
No doubt it is going to be tough, because beside, those kind of societies made upon exteriorities usually end up being hypocritical and cruel, where calamitie are pushed under the rug.
Salaam
-
Emil, Great post. I rally enjoyed it and I pray you and your family finish all your travels safely.
I see my husband who is from Egypt struggle with the culture and his faith here in the USA.
I hear others in my masjid talk and make fun of the Christians here. How stupid they can't even pray without Isa.. Well you can't pray without Muhammad... hello? Or the whole Christmas thing from saying Merry Christmas to Santa being shirk. ughh. I will be happy when the holidays are done.
But thank again for the post. When you are getting the presents for your kids, see if santa has something for me...lol
Take Care,
Christine -
Emil, Great post. I rally enjoyed it and I pray you and your family finish all your travels safely.
I see my husband who is from Egypt struggle with the culture and his faith here in the USA.
I hear others in my masjid talk and make fun of the Christians here. How stupid they can't even pray without Isa.. Well you can't pray without Muhammad... hello? Or the whole Christmas thing from saying Merry Christmas to Santa being shirk. ughh. I will be happy when the holidays are done.
But thank again for the post. When you are getting the presents for your kids, see if santa has something for me...lol
Take Care,
ChristineSalam sis
Seriously, every time I see your avatar it makes me smile ;D
I heard about this "Merry Christmas" prohibition. Also watched this youtube clip where the American scholar Yusuf Estes said we should not celebrate birthdays because in fact, we are following a pagan tradition........What the h#ll confused
Makes me wonder when there will be a "fitna" prohibiting days and months. After all, they are named after pagan Gods.