And He Wasn't an "Islamist" or . . .

. . . a "jihadist," a "militant" or even a "terrorist!"

"You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders & decrees.
An evil system never deserves such allegiance.
Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.
A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul."
-Gandhi

I can think of several ways in which this may be relevant. The first few that come to mind are:

• Should we as people of conscience be partaking in pledges of allegiance to nation-states?


• For US taxpayers, is it OK that we pay taxes knowing a significant percentage of that money is then re-rerouted to apartheid Israel?


• Are we really doing the utmost to resist the "evil system" or is there more we can do?
  

Day of the Land - A Lasting Stand for Liberation and Return

(Free Palestine Alliance - USA)

March 30, is Day of the Land ("Yaoum Al-Ard") for the Palestinian people.

In 1976, Palestinian Arab masses within the areas colonized by Zionism in 1948 rose up in the Galilee (Al-Jaleel) in a popular rebellion against land expropriation and Zionization of Palestine. From that day, March 30th has become the embodiment of the oneness of the Palestinian people in the face of exile, destitution, and attempted theft of our national identity. Successive uprisings have since taken place, mostly within 1967 borders, just as they have been all over Palestine since the turn of the 20th century in opposition of consecutive colonial policies.

It is a day to celebrate the relentless resistance of a people facing conspiracies at the hands of a tripartite assault: US imperial designs, the Zionist movement, and despotic Arab functionaries. Only yesterday, functionaries wearing the garbs of national leaders, completed their assembly in Riyadh, the heart of the Arab peninsula (Al-Jazeera Al-Arabiyya), as they convened the Nineteenth Arab Summit for the purpose of reaffirming the so-called "Arab Initiative", which capitulates in total to the demands of Israel and the US State Department. In addition to transforming Arab land into playgrounds for invading armies, another key part of this presumably Arab plan is to open wide the Arab gates for Zionist normalization while simultaneously using linguistic acrobatics and detractions, like "finding a solution of the refugee problem", or "solving the refugee problem in accordance with international law", to terminate the Palestinian Right of Return.

We warn that any language that explicitly avoids supporting the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees to their original homes and property along with payment of all due compensation, is an attempt to maneuver around this non-negotiable and inalienable right. We also warn of language that talks about a Palestinian state within 1967 border and remind all that Palestinian land is not divisible.

These same leaders also had the audacity to speak of Arab unity and to issue a fake criticism of the US ongoing destruction of Iraq. As if we are to forget that it is these very functionaries who either opened Arab gates for the US armed forces to overtake Iraq, or rode in as conquerors of Iraq on US Humvees, and who continue to make Arab lands available for US imperial military bases. They are the ones who watched from the sidelines as Israeli forces swept into Lebanon scorching the land and people, some even cheering the Israelis to finish the job quickly; although to their dismay, Israel instead was dealt a major defeat. They are the ones who bartered Palestine and its people for crumbs at the back doors of the White House, while watching successive policies of strangulation further cripple the besieged Palestinian people. And as they speak of "unity", in reality they are implementing US designs of sectarianism and de-Arabization, pitting even families against each other, as evident in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.

Our Day of the Land is a sustaining challenge to these very political programs. It is a unifying cry that insists on the Arab belonging of Palestine despite the passage of time. It is our people's stance for history to record that we are one and indivisible.

A must-read for 21st century Muslims

The Christian Science Monitor called it one of the "Best Non-fiction Books of 2004". For those of you who know me, you've probably noticed my obsession with Tariq Ramadan's Western Muslims and The Future of Islam.

What do I like most about the book? Its comprehensiveness. The topics Ramadan discusses in this book include everything from spirituality to social commitment. He truly portrays Islam as a way of life; one that is not only compatible with but is necessary for the 21st century.

Ramadan does not just summarize texts or reword old ideas; he brings forth a new way of thinking. More importantly, it is one that is deeply rooted within Islamic scripture.

What makes this book more powerful is the language used. I will not attempt to rephrase Ramadan's words because I know I will fail miserably. I will however quote a few of my favourite statements from the book, in hope that this encourages people to read the book and think about the ideas and solutions proposed.

Introduction

"While our fellow citizens speak of this 'integration' of Muslims 'among us', the question for Muslims presents itself differently: their universal principles teach them that wherever the law respects their integrity and their freedom of conscience and worship, they are at home and must consider the attainments of these societies as their own and must involve themselves, with their fellow-citizens, in making it good and better. No withdrawal, no obsession with identity, on the contrary, it is a question of entering into authentic dialogue..." (pg 5)

Encounter with the Universal:

"The second teaching of the revelation is to invite individuals to a deep study of their own inner lives. The search for God and the sense of "the need of Him" may also arise from the indefinable work of looking inward that is required of each of us. The knowledge of God leads us to our self, and the knowledge of our self leads to God." (pg 13)


The Way (Al-Sharia)

"...the shahada translates the idea of "being Muslim", and the Sharia shows us "how to be and remain Muslim". This means that,..., that the Sharia is not only the expression of the universal principles of Islam but the framework and the thinking that makes for their actualization in human history." (pg 32)

Spirituality and Emotions

"Muslim spirituality, as we have said, is demanding and, through the Islamic teaching, touches all the dimensions of life. ... This humility [before God] should spread wide and deep through all areas of life: at every stage of working on one's self there will be a struggle against complacency, pride, and the pretentious human desire to succeed alone, using one's own resources (on the social, professional, political, or intellectual level)." (pg 122)

Toward a Reform of Islamic Education

"Public schools already teach the basic subjects, it is for Muslims to find complimentary, alternative, and original ways of providing the knowledge they judge to be essential to comply with the requirements of the message whose followers they are." (pg 137)

Social Commitment and Political Participation

"The liberating dimension of Islam insistently demands, on the basis of the universal principles, that reality be challenged in order that it be reformed, not that its deficiencies be added up in hope that we may at best adapt to them or at worst successfully protect ourselves from them. ... It is about getting out of the logic of exception and necessity and thinking of our presence in terms of faithfulness to principles in the strict sense." (pg 160)

"The globalization with which we are presented and that is imposed upon us today sanctions above all the absolute primacy of the logic of economics over every other consideration... The picture would be very dark were it not for a widespread movement of resistance: when faced with neoliberal economics, the message of Islam offers no way out but resistance." (pg 173)

Economic Resistance

"The rich countries, like the wealthy merchants of Mecca in times past, cannot fail to see a danger in local and national movements whose aim is to remove themselves from the "classical" economic system. ... The prohibition of riba, which is the moral axis around which the economic thought of Islam revolves, calls believers to reject categorically an order that respects only profit and scoffs at the values of justice and humanity." (pg 188)

"But zakah is anything but that: the levying of this purifying social tax,..., must be considered within the purpose of establishing a real system of collective solidarity and social security, women into the very fabric of society, that aims at freeing the poor from their dependence so that eventually they themselves will pay zakat." (pg 189)

Interreligious Dialogue

"Interreligious dialogue should be a meeting of "witnesses" who are seeking to live their faiths, to share their convictions, and to engage with one another for a more humane, more just world, closer to what God expects of humanity." (pg 208)

The Cultural Alternative

"To be Western Muslims is to confront reality with all its challenges and, sustained every day by the "need of Him", to take on all our responsibilities." (pg 223)