Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs: confronting injustice done to non-Muslims in the name of Islam

Ralph Acosta

Ralph Acosta — 2003-03-23T10:40:35-08:00

You said "Many things are being done and given the name of Islam that have nothing to do with Islam."

I'm sure you could substitute "Christianity", "Hinduism", or any other religion's name for "Islam" and have the sentence be just as correct. The true role of religion in any government's (that i'm aware of) eyes is to justify whatever the people in that government want to do. Please always remember that when we speak of "religion" we often mean the highest ideals expressed in that religion and the best of humanity, whereas when we talk of "government" we are simply talking about the means people are using to organize themselves. All governments are either controlled or influenced by people whose primary concern is remaining in control as long as possible for the most good for themselves, TO THE EXTENT THEY ARE ALLOWED by the people under that government. So if they can use religion as a means of convincing people that their role is to be passive and do what the government tells them, they will eventually ... well, you know what they'll do because we have, and have had, lots of examples based on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. IN MY OPINION one of the best things that ever happened to the "West" was the Protestant Revolution, because it broke that back of the idea that there was only one way to reach God, and ultimately led to the separation of church and state. That, in turn, allowed the flowering of scientific thought (remember Galileo's fate under The One True Church), which led to technical and economic growth, which led to who's really in charge today. Whether that's "good" or "bad," it "is." Thanks, by the way, for your blog.

Muhammad

Muhammad — 2003-03-27T18:37:34-08:00

You make assumptions in applying the idea of nonMuslims living in autonomy inside a Muslim state to somalia. It may well be impracticle in somalia to move all non Muslims to a certain geographical region and give them autonomy. The probability that any leader will be responsible for a significant # of Muslims and most of the times a majority of Muslims is what made the somalians put up the restriction. A non-Muslim incharge of an area with majority of Muslims or even a significant minority (like 40%) is not a good one. A Muslim leader on the other hand wuold be bound by the shariah, and hence would have to in theory uphold the rights of the non Muslims.

It is very easy to form an opinion against people trying to establish the law of Allah without recognizing the difficulties they face or without understanding the situation completely. Any start, even if it has faults towards establishing the shariah is welcome! Faults will go away with time and no one can be perfect. What can be done is to make efforts to establish the divine law and try to be perfect in your efforts. May Allah give our somali brothers the tawfeeq to conform to the siraat-e-mustakeem (the straight path).

Al-Munaqabah

Al-Munaqabah — 2003-03-28T05:11:42-08:00

Thank you for your feedback, brother Muhammad. Actually, I did address the question of whether or not it was practical for an autonomous region to be formed. I support the people of Somaliland in their efforts to govern themselves by Islam. However, if they make an error in their implementation and commit an injustice because of that error, then we should speak up and let them know so that they can correct the error and rectify the injustice. That is part of commanding the right and prohibiting the wrong.