Civic Involvement: An Islamic Imperative: Islamicity

Islamica*

Muslims have to build social and political networks in order to improve the condition of society, argue two leading American scholars

HAMZA YUSUF and ZAID SHAKIR

Improving the world in which we live is an Islamic imperative. God says in the Qur'an, "You are the best of communities brought forth for mankind." (3:110) Abu Su'ud describes this verse in his commentary: This means the best people for others. This is an unambiguous expression which states that the good [mentioned here] lies in benefit provided to the people. This is also understood from the expression, "brought forth for mankind" -namely, brought forth to benefit them and advance their best interests.[1]

Our Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, "God will continue to assist the servant, as long as the servant is assisting his brother."[2] We can thereby understand that divine aid and succor will accrue to this community as long as we are providing the same to fellow members of the human family.

Historical basis for involvement

In today's socio-political environment, concern and benefit can be understood as civic involvement. The word "civic" is derived from the word "city." Hence, civic involvement refers to the meaningful ways in which a private citizen is best involved in the life of his or her city. Despite its appearance in a largely agrarian context, if we consider the nature of the dominant means of economic production at the time of its emergence, Islam is best associated with the city. Our Prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him, is identified with the city. God mentions in the Qur'an, "I swear by this city, and you are a free man of this city." (90:1-2)

The Prophet's migration was from Mecca to Medina, from one city to another. Islamic learning and culture is associated with great cities -Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Isfahan, Samarqand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Qayrawan, Fez, Cordova, Seville, Granada, Istanbul, Sarajevo, Zabid, Timbuktu, Delhi, and many others.

It was the involvement of Muslims in the lives of these cities, many of which were established before the arrival of Islam, which defined them in their historical contexts. As Muslims, our involvement in the life of our cities should similarly leave a lasting and positive mark on them. Surely we have much to offer in that regard. It is not without purpose that God has placed us in significant numbers in and around the great metropolises of America. Now is the time for our constructive involvement in the lives of these cities to commence.

Such involvement is especially critical in these times of political transformation and the redefinition of both the role and scope of government here in America. As the two major political parties become increasingly responsive to special interest groups, particularly those associated with big business, large unions, and wealthy individuals, their role as facilitators of democratic and civic involvement is being eroded. This shift in responsiveness is leading to what is referred to as a dealignment of those parties. This dealignment causes private citizens to search for new institutions to serve as their primary means of political involvement, which consequently results in the proliferation of smaller, grassroots civic organizations. The collective weight of these organizations and their facilitation of direct citizen involvement in local politics is viewed by some as the reinventing of American democracy.[3]

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No, I Can't!: Media Monitors Network

by Uri Avnery

(Saturday, June 7, 2008)

"...Obama's declarations at the AIPAC conference are very, very bad for peace. And what is bad for peace is bad for Israel, bad for the world and bad for the Palestinian people."

AFTER MONTHS of a tough and bitter race, a merciless struggle, Barack Obama has defeated his formidable opponent, Hillary Clinton. He has wrought a miracle: for the first time in history a black person has become a credible candidate for the presidency of the most powerful country in the world.

And what was the first thing he did after his astounding victory? He ran to the conference of the Israel lobby, AIPAC, and made a speech that broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning.

That is shocking enough. Even more shocking is the fact that nobody was shocked.

IT WAS a triumphalist conference. Even this powerful organization had never seen anything like it. 7000 Jewish functionaries from all over the United States came together to accept the obeisance of the entire Washington elite, which came to kowtow at their feet. All the three presidential hopefuls made speeches, trying to outdo each other in flattery. 300 Senators and Members of Congress crowded the hallways. Everybody who wants to be elected or reelected to any office, indeed everybody who has any political ambitions at all, came to see and be seen.

The Washington of AIPAC is like the Constantinople of the Byzantine emperors in its heyday.

The world looked on and was filled with wonderment. The Israeli media were ecstatic. In all the world's capitals the events were followed closely and conclusions were drawn. All the Arab media reported on them extensively. Aljazeera devoted an hour to a discussion of the phenomenon.

The most extreme conclusions of professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt were confirmed in their entirety. On the eve of their visit to Israel, this coming Thursday, the Israel Lobby stood at the center of political life in the US and the world at large.

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The Watch List Prism: Islamicity

By: Ahmad Al-Akhras
Media Monitors Network

"Thomas Jefferson once said: "The most sacred of the duties of a government is to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens."

Like racial profiling, the so-called Watch List hinges on a false premise that people commit crimes because of their racial, ethnic or religious background. This false premise caused huge suffering to African Americans, Japanese Americans and now Arab and American Muslims. The worst part of this is the assumption that practicing Islam, never mind being an activist at that, gives one an appetite for terrorism. In the process, people who are in good standing who did not commit nor had a criminal record are treated as "posing a threat to civil aviation or national security" or as "potential enemies of the state".

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reported last year that since 2003, a database that stores names of "individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States" has quadrupled from 100,000 to 435,000. I am sure the numbers now are way higher. The question is that if the US has these many "terrorists" or "dangerous people," then we have a real and huge problem that cannot be solved by a watch list that selectively targets people.

Watch lists only provide false sense of security by pacifying the public with the perception of added security.

Jim Harper, in his Congressional testimony "The Promise of Registered Traveler," highlighted the folly of travel watch lists and identification-based policies intended to deter terrorists: "Checking identification for the purpose of comparing air travelers to lists of suspects or no-flyers is... deeply flawed and unlikely to interdict committed terrorist groups. Terrorists have ways to bypass these security checks." In the meantime, people who are in the trenches of building the bridges of civilization understanding and peace are alienated by humiliation.

On a recent trip back to Columbus, I was instructed to deboard the plane since my boarding pass was not "quad S'd," [pronounced quad "esd"] In plain English, my boarding pass was not labeled for what is called secondary screening. In other words, I was not subjected to extra screening, something that I am routinely subjected to.

This time around, however, I was in fact "quad S'd." And, as a common sense, since my return flight was on the same day, I requested the return boarding pass just before I started my trip, and I got it. Interestingly, the boarding pass of my return trip was not "quad S'd." So, the first leg was "quad S'd and the return flight was not. This is great, I thought. At last, I would not have to go through the routine of additional screening on the way back. I thought this particular airline has gotten enough background information about me that they opted to give! me a break this time around.

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The pleasures of seeking knowledge: Islamicity

By: Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D.

The rise of Muslims to the zenith of civilization in a period of four decades was based on lslam's emphasis on learning. This is obvious when one takes a look at the Qur'an and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad which are filled with references to learning, education, observation, and the use of reason. The very first verse of the Qur'an revealed to the Prophet of Islam on the night of 27th of Ramadan in 611 AD reads:

"Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not." (Quran, 96:1-5)

"And they shall say had we but listened or used reason, we would not be among the inmates of the burning fire." (Quran, 67:10)

"Are those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge alike? Only the men of understanding are mindful. " (Quran, 39:9)

The Qur'an encourages people towards scientific research:.

"And whoso brings the truth and believes therein such are the dutiful." (Quran, 39:33)

Every Muslim man's and every Muslim woman's prayer should be:

"My Lord! Enrich me with knowledge.." (Quran, 20:114)

The pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason, based on sense and observation is made obligatory on all believers.

The following traditions of the Prophet supplement the foregoing teachings of the Qur'an in the following way:

• Seek knowledge "even though it be in China."

• "The acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, whether male or female."

• "The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."

• "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."

• "God has revealed to me, 'Whoever walks in the pursuit of knowledge I facilitate for him the way to heaven.'

• "The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."

• "Scholars should endeavor to spread knowledge and provide education to people who have been deprived of it. For, where knowledge is hidden it disappears."

• Some one asked the Prophet : "Who is the biggest scholar?" He replied: "He who is constantly trying to learn from others, for a scholar is ever hungry for more knowledge."

• "Seek knowledge and wisdom, or whatever the vessel from which it flows, you will never be the loser."

• "Contemplating deeply for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."

• "To listen to the words of the learned and to instill unto others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises."

• "Acquire knowledge: it enables its possessor to distinguish right from the wrong, it lights the way to heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless - it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament among friends and an armor against enemies."

The Islamic Empire for more than 1,000 years remained the most advanced civilization in the world. The main reasons for this was that Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, cultivated a respect for authority, discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah inspired many Muslims to their accomplishments in science and medicine.

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Prince Charles, defender of Islam: Asia Times

By Fazile Zahir

FETHIYE, Turkey - The recent visit by Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to Turkey was hailed as a great success. The 82-year-old British monarch won favor with the local people by describing Turkey as a "confident and dynamic democracy" and praising close ties between Ankara and London.

She underlined British support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union, showed respect for the past by visiting the tomb of modern Turkey's secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara and for the present government by covering her hair when she visited an ancient mosque in Bursa and listened to a reading from the Koran.

The Turkish press on the whole recounted the visit as the queen's second to Turkey, the first having taken place 37 years ago in 1971. At that time, too, the public response was positive and excited crowds surged past protective barriers and swarmed the royal party's open-top cars. Back then, she took the opportunity to present a trophy to the winner of a horse race held in her honor. On this visit she was surprised and pleased to discover that the Queen Elizabeth Cup Race has continued annually ever since.

Some members of the press speculated that this was actually her third visit - a secret visit allegedly having taken place in 1961 to plead for clemency towards some Democratic Party politicians sentenced for execution. Apparently, she was turned down and left having seen no more than the airport. Despite odd rumors like this one, Turkey and Britain have on the whole a cordial friendship, with the British having at times been Turkey's only supporter for EU accession.

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Celebrating Malcolm X: Islamicity

"it is only after this deepest darkness that the greatest joy can come; it is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. I do believe that I have fought the best that I could, with the shortcomings that I have had. I know that my shortcomings are many."


By: Melissa Harris-Lacewell
theRoot.com* -

I am part of the generation - the post civil-rights generation, post-black power generation - that turned Malcolm X into a T-shirt and cap. He was our symbol of racial discontent and political angst. Though we did not live through the brutal repression of Jim Crow, we knew for ourselves, in our own way, the effects of racial inequality. We saw the systematic destruction of urban communities, the incarceration of our peers, the violence and drugs that ravaged our neighborhoods. We knew that even the new opportunities and unprecedented accomplishments that previous generations made possible for us were often marked by racial isolation and insults.

We met Malcolm through the prism of popular culture, and we embraced him as a commodity, to signal our own disbelief in the American dream.

On Malcolm X's birthday, those of us who embraced him as a pop icon need to encounter him again. We need to revisit Malcolm, because he has resisted all of our attempts to craft a single, well-packaged, vision of him. We need to unpack the things about him that remain elusive, difficult, messy and challenging.

We need to pause to think about him, because he left, for us, important social and political lessons.

Though Malcolm's life was short, it was marked by dramatic change. He was born into poverty, madness and racial violence. His youthful arrogance, crime and indulgence led him to jail. But prison was no end for him; through a religious and political awakening, he found freedom in the context of imprisonment. He became an organization man, an orator, a world citizen and a free thinker with a cosmopolitan vision of the world.

Malcolm displayed the capacity to learn, to grow, to discern and to change direction. It takes courage to admit that society's approach to old subjects has grown rigid and needs to evolve and change. It is hard for leaders to admit that they have been wrong in the past. His life is a reminder that greatness is not found in arrogant self-righteousness or intellectual hubris, but in the willingness to be open to our own limitations...

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Finding my Faith: Islamicity

By: Patricia Dunn
Salon.com* -

I'm not the same woman I was at 27 when I told my mother, "Ma, I can't eat the pasta fagioli." (She'd made it with bacon.) I'm not the same woman who lied when she said, "I didn't become Muslim because of Ahmed."

My mother believes that for women, most problems and solutions begin and end with the man in her life. But back then there was no way this feminist would admit to anyone -- including herself and especially not her mother -- that she had converted because of a man.

But today, at 42, and secure in my faith, I can admit that if it weren't for Ahmed -- though he is now my ex-husband -- the word "Islam" would probably still conjure up images of black-cloaked women and melodramatic Sally Field movies in my head. After all, I am my mother's daughter.

The day I left my Italian-Bronx neighborhood to go to college, I knew my communion and confession days were over. I was never going to let Jesus stick to the roof of my mouth again. There were too many contradictions for me in Catholicism. Why was my never-miss-Sunday-mass father excommunicated after he and my mother divorced -- especially when she was the one having the affair? How could the pope have an Olympic-size swimming pool while millions of his people were starving? And how could I tolerate the church's position on abortion and women's rights?

By the time I transferred from Barnard to UCLA, I was a lapsed Catholic who wanted nothing to do with organized religion. But I needed to believe in something....

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