From: minhaszt@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Zafar T Minhas)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Subject: Re: Spain and Iran
Date: 21 Aug 92 03:50:55 GMT
Organization: University of Cincinnati

In article <1992Aug20.235522.19002@wuecl.wustl.edu> seyyed@wuee1.wustl.edu (Seyyed Mahdavian) writes:
>In article <1992Aug20.194030.22691@ucunix.san.uc.edu> minhaszt@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Zafar T Minhas) writes:
>
>>Also my position on Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari is no different than that
>>of any other Muslim who is in the know about Islam. Alot of the Sahihat is 
>>truly Sahih and alot of it is not. 
>
>That's not correct Zafar. Though there are different versions of those books
>(in fact in the versions that we believe most, you will find undisputable
>proof for the justification of Shi'a's claim about Ali-ibn-Abitaleb and other
>issues), but you can deny facts like "apostates such as Salman Rushdie should
>be punished to death" only if you can present a reliable version of those
>books in which your idea is supported. If you just say: I don't accept this
>particular hadith (not just one hadith in fact), then how can you ever TRUST
>the Sahih? Then the Sahih being important and reliable, simply doesn't make
>sense.

You are right about this. I can not and should not point out something in Islam without presenting solid evidence to support a particular opinion.
>
>
>>                                   So you can not say that I am so primitive
>>in my Islam. Talk to those who are primitive about Islam on this net. They
>>have some stupid notions about the religion and insist that what they are 
>>saying is true and when someone like you tries to defend it they say that
>>you are pushing religion down everyones throat. They tell falsehoods or 
>>misconstrue Islam and call it freedom of speech, freedom of thought, 
>>intellectualism, but you try and correct some wrong notions (in a way that I
>>disagree with but that is beside the point), and that is labelled as fanaticism
>>and apologetics, you are going after the wrong person Seyyed.
>                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>No! I am precisely after the right person! I don't give a damn to unbelievers
>who call me fanatic, stupid, ... To be honest, I even enjoy it, because I
>understand how badly they are hurt :-) The problem with you is different.
>You are known as a knowledgeable man about Islam (and in fact you are). I am
>afraid you are presenting a picture of Islam which is pleasant to the readers
>of this newsgroup (because you oppose the government that they hate), but is
>not a correct picture. I feel like you are giving those unbelievers kind of
>bribe, i.e. you write pleasant articles for them, and in return, they support
>your ideas. This is trading Islam. You have for example supported indirectly
>Shahrokh Mortazavi, and only God knows how many private e-mails you have 
>written to each other, and let me remind you what kind of guy Shahrokh 
>Mortazavi is.

About presenting people with bribes, i.e. somehow changing the picture of Islam
so that it people accept more readily, that is haram, it is almost like making
halal what is haram and haram what is halal, and that would throw me out of the
fold of Islam anyways. I don't want to show a picture of Islam that is more 
attractive and then be seen as a murtad by God in the end. Allah forgive me
and protect me from that.

As far as e-mails to Sharokh Mortazavi (or is it Murtadavi) I never had any
sort of e-mail contact with him except for correcting a few things he thought
I said which in reality you said.


>A few months ago, Shahrokh Mortazavi wrote:
>
>> In his new book "History of Middle East Revisited", famed scholar Naivad
>> Ham, writes (p 56):
>>
>> "Many debates have broken out on the encripted message in that sentence.
>> However, recent research has shown that ``Mohammand is the _Seal_ of all
>> Prophets'', simply and metaphorically compares him to the aquatic mammal
>> with a smooth and torpedo shaped body".

So he is equating the Prophet of God to a seal, there is a word in Urdu which
is exactly the same in Farsi, in Arabic it is known as Ibn Zina, you know what
that means. I have no respect for people like that. 

>
>You supported him in such a degree that he said: "Zafar, you have changed"
						   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>and he was right.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He may have said I changed, but my opinion about Islam has not changed. In 
fact, Muslims are not supposed to have an opinion about Islam. The Momin is
supposed to say "Same'na wa Ata'na" (We hear and we obey).

>Let me tell you what your secret is. Your secret is that you attack the kind
>of scholars that are hated by these people. Believe me that's the only reason
>you have been able to survive so far.

The reason why I dislike the so-called scholars of Islam of today is much
different as to why these people dislike them, one thing that I have not
been able to do is to give what I feel about Islam and the place in this
world, however, if you want to have some idea, please, please, please read
these five books:

Road to Mecca - Muhammad Asad
Islam at the Crossroads - Muhammad Asad
Islamic Manifesto - Alijah Ali Izzetbagovic
Islam Between East and West - Alijah Ali Izzetbagivch 
Islam and The Destiny of Man - Hassan Guy Eaton

Also you seem to think that I am painting a rosy picture of Islam and all that.
I see myself as doing Da'wah, and I am doing Da'wah the way the Prophets did,
the way the Quran did. "Do it in a way that is better than the rest." To get
mad, to get upset, be sarcastic, etc. is not the way of a Da'i. 

Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim
1)Wal Asr
2)Innal Insana lafi Khusr
3)Illa-lazina amanu wa Amilu-sSalihat
4)Wa Tawaso bil-Haq
5)Wa Tawaso bis-sabr

do you understand?

>I don't want to make a discussion with you here. I just give you a hadith
>from Prophet Mohammad(s):
>Once Prophet Mohammad(s) asked his companions: "What is the strongest handle
>of faith?" One of them said: "Salat?" The prophet answered "No".
>- Jihad ?
>- No.
>- Siam ?
>- No.
>- Infagh ?
>- No.
>...
>Then the Prophet(s) said:
>"The strongest handle of faith is LOVING FOR GOD AND HATING FOR GOD"
>

Inshallah that is what I ahve been trying to do, only our methods are 
different.
>>


>>zafar
>Seyyed.

wa ma towfiqy illa billah

zafar