Salam Munzir,
On th God alone movement in the Maldeves, the reason I ask is because I noticed lots of trafic to FM comes from there (for example, last month it was ranked # 9 with nearly 22,000 hits) - if there is an underground silent movement, which I believe is confirmed by the warning Bilal Philips gave, then such a groups should be targetting through print/media.
Would we be able to run an ad in local newspaper or magazine advertising FM?
I would say that 22000 hits is quite catchy. So we should start the movement out in the open just as a local sunna promoting Association by the name of SALAFI have started by bringing scholars such as Bilal Philips to lecture the public. However, I would say that this would be a difficult task since freedom of rights granted by the constitution states that the constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedom to all persons, in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam. Now we are faced with the dilemma of tackling the actual issue we are addressing. How Islam should be defined, whether we have to base our belief on the Quran alone or whether we have to incorporate additional hadith/sunna etc. When the constitution talks about rights being granted if they are not contrary to any tenet of Islam and promotes sectarian beliefs as pointed out earlier by you, the path we have to tread would definitely be rough and tough.
I suggest Free-Minds members to give their opinions on how we should plan to move ahead in our effort to introduce the God Alone movement in the Maldives on a large scale since Maldives is a 100% Muslim country so far to my knowledge. I am prepared to take the lead over here. We need your support and help to counter the growing extremism over here as stated by the Human Rights Commissioner of the Maldives, parts of his press release given below for members atention
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"I don't think we can afford conflicts of opinion on religion in a small community like ours, or get into a situation such as in big countries like Pakistan or Afghanistan," he said, adding the HRCM was bringing the matter to public attention because it was a human rights issue as well.
"Among these issues, not sending girls to school is a very serious problem," he continued. "We are not just saying these things. We are saying this with proof and evidence. Not giving vaccinations to children is also a reality. Also, forcing girls to marry at a young age, this too is a reality. We have evidence of this."
At the press conference, Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Kareem, a member of the commission, said the rise of extremism was causing ?strife and social division?.
Kareem attributed the upsurge in extremism on the islands to an increase in the number of religious sermons by certain licensed preachers and religious scholars. Referring to Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed, he said the Islamic ministry believed the preacher had a ?dangerous? mentality.
?They believe that the former government was right to take action against him. He is still giving religious lectures on various islands. He does not accept anything the ministry says,? said Kareem.
He added the ministry had not taken any action against independent prayer groups such as the one that congregated at Dharumavanthu mosque on Fridays.
Although the mosque was authorised to hold Friday prayers, said Kareem, the independent prayer group would take the imam?s microphone from him.
But, speaking to Minivan News earlier this week, Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed, state minster of Islamic affairs, said the ministry had drafted a set of regulations to combat extremism in the country.
Shaheem said the regulations will come under the Religious Unity Act and will be enforced after about a month after consultation with the president.
The regulations will empower police to break up independent prayer groups.
The state minister said he had recently returned from a SAARC seminar on extremism. ?We are working an an international level as well as the national level to get rid of extremism, radicalism and terrorism,? he said.
He added the ministry had sought advice from professionals in counter-terrorism and there was international consensus now that military confrontations did not solve the problem.
?Look at what happened at Himandhoo. The former government went and attacked them and it did not solve anything,? he said, stressing that the ministry's policy was advising, counselling and disseminating accurate information about Islam.
In 2007, locals armed with home-made weapons clashed with police in riot gear searching for two suspects in the Sultan Park bombing. The same year footage shot in an illegal mosque on the island was found posted on an al-Qaeda website.
Shaheem said the ministry?s new approach involved talking to those with extremist religious views peacefully and resolving disputes through debate and negotiation. He added the strategy had already yielded results.
?Right now, apart from only four people, everyone else on Himandhoo prays at the island mosque,? he said. ?We want the Maldivian people to hate terrorism.?
But, said Kareem today, despite the ministry counselling and advising extremists, there have not been any signs of improvement. /Unquote
