From: imnet@u.washington.edu (The Islamic Movement Network)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.afghanistan
Subject: ISLAMIC WORLD NEWS (6th)
Date: 7 Oct 1992 01:31:09 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu
X-Unparseable-Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 23:28:59 -0700 (PDT)

=====================================================================
=     IN THIS ISSUE:                                                =
=                   * NEWS UPDATE (Oct. 6)                          =
=                   * ON THE PARALYSIS OF THE MUSLIM MIND           =
=                   * ANNOUNCEMENTS                                 =
=====================================================================
BOSNIA
The Serbians launched their heaviest bombardment of Sarajevo,
the Bosnian capital, on October 5. Initial reports from the city
of 400,000 trapped civilians indicated that there have been
many casualties.
The bodies of those killed in the bombardment have not yet been
recovered from the streets to determine the exact number of
deaths.
The Serbs are attacking under the very noses of UN observers.
Under the terms of the August 27-28 London agreement, the Serbs
had agreed to put their heavy guns under the supervision of
the UN monitors. The idea was that this would prevent them
from attacking civilian targets.
Their outrageous behaviour over the last five weeks indicates
that they use every international forum to score propaganda points;
but they have no intention of honouring any of their promises.
The Serbian fascist leadership is not made up of honourable
people. They are thugs pretending to be leaders.
They are obsessed by a hatred born of their warped reading of
history.
Many Serbs who live in Sarajevo have had no problems with
their Bosnian or Croat neighbours. But the Serbian leadership
is determined to instill hatred in their minds, hence their
murderous campaign.

KUWAIT
The tiny shaikhdom of Kuwait is going through the ritual of democracy,
ever so reluctantly.
There were 278 candidates for the 50 seat assembly for which voting
took place on October 5. But women were not allowed to vote, nor
are they allowed to hold any position. This is what the US
fought for to restore in Kuwait!
The assembly too will be a toothless. It cannot legislate, nor criticise
government policy too loudly otherwise the amir, shaikh Jaber al-Ahmed
al-Sabah, will send it packing home as it did the last assembly
in 1986 when it dared criticise the performance of
ministers.
So what will the assembly do? Talk of course, but the regime will
prefer it to talk about irrelevant things. It will also be allowed to
praise the performance of the government to its heart's
content.
There are however, rumblings of dissatisfaction. Those Kuwaitis who
stayed behind and fought against the Iraqi occupation are asking,
why should those who fled and gambled away in the night clubs of Europe
during the occupation now return to rule over the rest?
They are demanding a say in the affairs of the country. Whether they
get it or not, it is important to realize that things will have to
change.
Too much has happened in the country to return to the old ways of
the pre-invasion days.
Even this controlled form of democracy in Kuwait has sent jitters
in Saudi Arabia where the regime is again under pressure from
a large group of ulama, university professors and other religious
figures demanding a change in the country.
In a memorandum delivered to the king, 109 leading figures have
demanded that the regime distance itself from the Americans and that
the royal household stop indulging in vices as well as give
an accounting of the way the wealth of the country is spent.
While it is too early for Saudi Arabia to have a revolution, these are
initial steps on the way to change.

AFGHANISTAN
The Afghans are doing what they have always done best: fighting.
If they are not fighting outsiders, then they are fighting themselves.
The latest round of fighting broke out in Herat, the historic city
in western Afghanistan.
Forces belonging to the ruling Jami'at-e Islami and the opposition
Hizb-e Islami exchanged gunfire for several hours on October 3 and 4.
Since the overthrow of the Najib regime last April, various factions
have also taken control of airports and aircraft.
Thus, the former guerrillas are now armed with the most lethal
weapons of modern warfare including aeroplanes.
Each group has bombed the other's stronghold and there have been
numerous casualties.
The government in Kabul as well as UN officials have meanwhile
said that the country faces a famine situation if food aid is not
delivered to the country quickly.
Winter months are particularly harsh in Afghanistan. There is also
a desperate shortage of fuel. Kabul, the capital, has remained without
electricity and water for the past several weeks.
At present, there appear little likelihood of a peaceful resolution
to the fighting.
This is all the more sad since more than 1.5 million lives have
been sacrificed to rid the country of the communist menace. Many people
are asking: was this what the jihad was all about?
This is a question that the guerrilla leaders must answer.
*******COURTESY OF CRESCENT INTERNATIONAL, The newsmagazine of the global  
         Islamic  Movement. Phone # (416) 474-9292, Fax (416) 474-9293.
ADDRESS: 300 Steelcase Road West, Unit8, Markham, Ontario, L3R 2W2 Canada.
**************************************************************************
EVENT SCAN ###############################################################

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                @                                        @
                @  ON THE PARALYSIS OF THE MUSLIM MIND   @
                @                                        @
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                                                          By Abu-Dhar

(...) Our time is, more than ever, a time of desperate need
to QUESTION Islam about ourselves, and to QUESTION ourselves about Islam.
  It is a desperate need because a DIGNIFIED Muslim cannot accept that the 
Muslim people are today the oppressed and the wretched of the earth(mustadafin
fil-ardh).
  It is an urgent need because a GOD-FEARING Muslim cannot accept that the body
of the Umma is torn apart in pieces of nation-states.
  It is an immediate need because a CARING Muslim would not accept that the 
heart of the Umma is bleeding of pain, humiliation and sorrow.
  It is an essential need because a THINKING Muslim will not accept that the
mind of the Umma is half-asleep in the coma.
  (...) I wish to question Islam about the Muslim mind, and the Muslim mind
 about Islam.
       The Muslim mind of our time is half-asleep and paralysed.
 When it comes to religion, our Muslim mind blocks and jams; it becomes
afraid to think, restless to reflect, lazy to work. We, Muslims, use our hearts
but ignore our minds, we care about feelings but disregard intellect (`aql); we
practice dhikr (remembrance of God) but we ignore fikr (reflection). Like
Medieval Christians, many Muslims have come to believe that `aql (intellect)
undermines iman (faith, that intellect may lead to unbelief.

  These are few pictures of Muslim mentality as it is, not as it should be.This
is the Muslim mind as it has become, not as it must be.

  What does Allah (swt) teach us on how it must be ? What does the Holy Quran
tell us about what the relation between faith and intellect should be ?

  In the Holy Quran, there are tens of verses which involve the root word `aql.
Yet, it is amazing that this word occurs nowhere in the Quran in the noun form.
It occurs only in the verb form (taqilun &naqilu &yaqiluha& yaqilun and aqalu)
which suggests that it is an activity. These verb forms are translated as USING
or ACTIVATING the intellect. Throughout the Quran, using the intellect is 
referred to as a positive activity contrary to the mistaken beliefs of many of
today's Muslims.

  Allah (swt) directly urges us to use our intellect in more than 20 verses of
the Quran. "Thus Allah makes clear his signs so that you may use your in-
tellect" we are told in Baqara:242, while in Yusuf:2 Allah (swt) says : "Indeed
we sent it down as a Qur'an in Arabic, so that you may use your intellect".

  In many other verses, Allah rebukes contradiction in behaviour as emerging
from NOT using the intellect : "And when it is said to them : Follow what Allah
has revealed, they said no ! We follow what wherein we found our fathers. Even
if their fathers did not use their intellect on anything or did not have any
guidance" (Baqara:170).

  A soul's belief is by the idhn of Allah, and the direct link between belief
and using the intellect is established in surat Yunus:100. "A soul does not
believe except by the idhn of Allah. And He leaves those who do not use their
intellect in misery (filth)".  The logical connective `And' strongly links 
belief and using the intellect and implies that misery(filth) are products of 
not using the intellect.

  Quite contrary to the false belief among some of today's Muslims who think 
that using the intellect may lead to unbelief, Allah says, referring to Satan :
"Indeed, (Satan) led astray many of you. Will you then not use your intellect"
(Yasin:36).

  Another set of ayats urging the activation of intellect (aql) are those where
Allah (swt) addresses nations calling them to use their intellect and reflect
on the fate of other nations as in Al-ankabut:35 :"And indeed We have left 
clear signs in that (settlement) for a nation who use their intellect ".

       These are only a few among tens of Quranic injunctions
to use our intellect, to have faith and knowledge, to practice dhikr and fikr.
  This is the Muslim mind as it SHOULD BE.

  What the muslim mind HAS BECOME is in sharp deviation from the true Islamic
teachings. The evidence for this deviation is only too obvious in our own lives
and in the prevailing culture in the Muslim world today.

  We, Muslims, are quick to tell others that READ was the first revealed word 
of the Qu'ran but many of us do not even have a copy of the Qu'ran.

  Those of us who do have a copy of the Holy Book have turned it into a Holy 
Object : we cover it in nice cloth, we put it on the highest shelf, we kiss and
we recite it. But as a Book, to be read and thought about, to be studied and
questioned, we hardly do.

  We, Muslims, are quick to quote our Prophet (saw) about the acquisition of
knowledge but many of us do not even have books on Islam in their homes. We are
ignorant about Islam, we lack basic knowledge of its history, its laws, its
philosophy, its politics, its economics, its arts, its problems to re-assert
itself as a living civilisation, but we waste endless hours watching stupifying
television programs.

  Those of us who do have books on Islam, read them before going to sleep. 
Books are meant to wake us up, but Islamic books put us to sleep, like sleeping
pills.  Books on science are serious and require mental efforts: so they are 
read on tables with pen and paper. But Islamic books are not that serious and 
they do not require mental struggle : so they are read on sofas and in beds.

      This tragic state of affair is also obvious in the prevailing  culture
 of the Muslim world today.

  The greatest tragedy in the history of Islam has been the implicit closing of
IJTIHAD (exertion of independent judgement) and its replacement by TAQLID 
(imitation).

  The result is that half of the Muslim world ignores Islam and the second half
understands it badly.

  There is actually a joke, in the Arab-speaking part of the Muslim world, in 
which a boy who has failed his SCIENCE exams goes crying to his father. After
listening to him, the father says : "Don't worry my dear son. You can still do
religious studies and sharia !"

  We even laugh about matters we should cry blood for.

  Allah says, in Al-Mujadal:11, "God will raise in rank those of you who 
believe as well as those who are given knowledge". But in the Muslim world 
today, we raise in ranks the businessmen and the politicians.

  How strange ??

  We used to be the teachers of the world and, today, we have become the illi-
terates of the world. IIIT says that the Muslim world spends the smallest % of
its GNP on education.

  In the 9th century Baghdad was reported to have more than 100 public libra-
ries.  In any Muslim city today, there are more government buildings and mar-
kets than libraries.

  In Cairo, during the rule of El-Aziz, one library was known to have 1 million
600 thousands volumes; today, a small country like England publishes more books
than the whole Muslim world put together.

  In the past Muslim tourists used to travel around the world to seek knowledge
and wisdom; Muslim tourists of today go to supermarkets instead of museums and
they buy gadgets instead of books.

      These are some images of the paralysed Muslim mind : a
mind that hears the Quran but does not listen.

                                 * * *
  
           It is important to criticise ourselves, but it is not enough to do so
  To change our shortcomings into awareness and action, into consciousness and
movement, we must find out why the Muslim mind has become frozen ? 

  Why, how and who made us lethargic and drowsy ? 

  From where are our minds being invaded ?

  Why are we submissive to misleading thoughts ?

  The questions are many ... but the answers are few.

  The causes which are INTERNAL to the Muslim world include i) the destruction
of the Muslim world by the Mongols in the 13th century and ii) the ideological
campaigns against the use of Reason by illegitimate rulers.

  The destruction of the Muslim world by the Mongols in the 13th century has
been a devastating experience for the Muslim world and an unprecedented event
in human history. The cities which were repositories of knowledge, and which 
had libraries studded with books were razed to the ground; scholars were put 
to death; men and women, young and old were cut to pieces; the bodies of 
pregnant women were ripped open and the unborn children killed. Hulagu Khan, 
the grand son of Changiz Khan, celebrated his victory by building a pyramid 
with Muslim skulls.

  The scale of the catastrophe was so great that Muslims lost their self-confi-
dence and an era of pessimism and disarray set in.

  In order to compensate for the chaos and destruction in the EXTERNAL world,
Muslims started to seek harmony only in the INTERNAL world of mystical exp-
erience and total otherworldliness. It was this detachment from the world that 
ultimately lead to an era of intellectual laziness and empty ritualism.

  The second internal source of the paralysis of the Muslim mind stems from 
ideological campaigns against Reason by the enemies of Islam in the clothes of
Islam, the enemies of the Quran who speak with the words of the Quran.

  Whereas the Holy Quran urges believers to use their aql (intellect), the 
illegitimate kings and rulers have played a crucial role in promoting a ritua-
listic Islam empty of intellectual and political contents.

  For, the use of intellect challenges an threatens unlawful absolute authori-
ty.  And, the spread of religious knowledge among Muslim masses strikes at the 
root of their powerbase.

  The legacy of deceit is still alive in many parts of the Muslim world today.

  The self-declared servants of Islam are still busy fighting the Quran with 
the Quran.

  As we know, they give prizes to those who RECITE the Quran with a beautiful
VOICE; but they execute the mujtahideen and mujadideen who INTERPRET the Quran
with a beautiful MIND.

  They impose on common-law detainees in prisons to MEMORISE the Quran to show
their Muslim constituency that they care about the Quran; but on the other 
hand, they put in the SAME prisons the ulamas who THINK about the Quran. The 
Prophet (saw) used to free kuffar prisoners to teach Muslims, but they imprison
Muslims who teach Muslims.

  When paid-preachers call Muslims to OBEY these rulers (uli al'amr minkum) 
they call them ulama; but when the true ulama call Muslims to THINK about who 
should be the lawful ruler they call them heretics.

  When Muslim GIVE charity to the poor they call them saints (muhsineen); but
when Muslims ASK why they are poor they call them terrorists (murhibeen).

  When Muslims are PATIENT with injustice and oppression, and give thanks to
poverty, they say they shall be rewarded by heaven. When Muslims THINK about
khilafa and liberation, they say this is fitna and they shall be rewarded by
hell.

  Throughout our lives, they tell us only about the pillars of Islam; but never
in our lives do they teach us about the roof of Islam, the walls of Islam and
the House of Islam to protect us.

  This is, Brothers and Sisters, how they fight the Quran with the Quran; this
is how they wage war against the Sunna with the Sunna.

   The enemies of Islam in the clothes of Islam encourage religious feelings 
but suppress religious thinking, they want us to practice dhikr but they dis-
courage us from practicing fikr, they want us to have emotions but no reflec-
tions so as to CONTROL us and MANIPULATES us.

      Among the causes EXTERNAL to the Muslim world which 
have contributed to the paralysis of the Muslim mind, the main factor is Euro-
pean colonialism and imperialism which have been relentlessly attacking Dar-El-
Islam since the 18th Century.

  In the colonial stage, the West destroyed Islamic institutions of learning 
and the values that promoted religious thinking to destroy the Muslim indepen-
dent mind which resists dhulm and kuffr and to break our spirits into sub-
mission.

  In the post-colonial stage, the adoption of Western cultural and educational 
systems throughout the Muslim world has created a cultural and an intellectual
environment that disrupts any serious religious thinking among Muslims.

                               
            Most questions as to why the Muslim mind is paralysed 
are still unanswered. It is the duty of us all to seek answers, to change our
shortcomings into awareness and action... Why has the Muslim mind become 
frozen ? Why, how and who made us lethargic and drowsy ? From where are our 
minds being invaded ? Why are we submissive to misleading thoughts ?


                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

  Allah (swt) says : "God Established the Umma as median among the nations,
Just as He established the Prophet as median among yourselves " (Baqara:143).

  This is the historical mission of our Umma as it SHOULD BE.

  What our mission HAS BECOME is the toy with which the kuffar do and undo 
world orders. The majority of Muslim peoples are the oppressed of the earth 
(mustada-feen fil-ardh) who live under tyranny, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, 
fear, sorrow and humiliation.

  The educated Muslims have a heavy responsibility in liberating Muslims from
oppression and restoring to the Umma its historical mission. One day, each of
us shall stand before Allah. On that day the holy words of our beloved Prophet
(saw), "He who arises in the morning and gives no thought to the affairs of
Muslims is not one of us",  shall witness against us. On that day the oppressed
Muslim people who have put trust and hope in us shall also witness against us. 

  A GOD-FEARING, DIGNIFIED, CARING and THINKING Muslim must feel RESPONSIBLE.

  The challenges ahead of us are many.

  Tawheed has been the idol-breaker of all times, from Ibrahim (swa) to Moham-
mad (saw). The idols of our time are not idols of wood and stone. The Hubal, 
Lat and Uzza of our time are man-made ideologies : Capitalism, Imperialism, 
Zionism, Nationalism, Individualism, Scientism and so many other man-made isms.
The idols of our time are American Islam, Nationalised versions of Islam and 
all other ideas that deceive man away from Allah (swt).

  The Prophet (saw) said : "The earth is God's Mosque"; it is therefore the 
duty of educated Muslims to break these idols which pollute the Ka'abah of the 
earth.  It is their responsibility to awaken and warn their people about them.

  Many Muslims, today, have come to believe that simply by the passage of time 
Muslims will undergo a miraculous revival. 

            The decline of the West does not automatically mean the
rise of Islam. Allah tells us in the Holy Quran : "God does not change the fate
of a nation unless they change what is in themselves".

  We Muslims have to change ourselves and go beyond only giving money and
distributing leaflets. To restore to the Umma its historical mission, Muslims
have to address the leading issues of our time, make Islam relevant to our
world, respond to the immediate needs of modern man. 

  Islam is not an academic field for experts. It is a mission and a becoming.
The project of reviving the Umma depends on the efforts of all Muslims (ulama, 
economists, historians, philosophers, scientists, engineers, students etc...) 
to provide Islamic answers, Islamic insights, Islamic interpretations, Islamic 
analyses, Islamic worldviews to all the problems to which Muslims, and modern 
man in general, are confronted. It is clear that the project of making Islam 
a living force in the world is not just a matter of halal and haram but also a 
matter of articulating the vision of Tawheed in all spheres of life and 
thought. This is why Islam needs ALL educated Muslims to participate in the 
THINKING process of reconstructing the Umma.

                Let us therefore awaken our sleeping minds, let us 
revolt against our stagnation, let us overthrow our laziness, let us breath
life in the comatose face of the Muslim World.

                Let us read our Holy Quran, let us THINK about our 
Holy Quran, let us read about Islam, its past, its present and its future.
Let us practice dhikr and fikr. Let us use our hearts and our minds.

  Allah says in the Holy Quran : "The life of this world is nothing but a game
and a pastime. Better is the abode of the hereafter for those who keep their 
duty to Allah. Will you not then use your intellect ? " (Al-Anam:32)

                         [EXCERPTS FROM A FRIDAY PRAYER, NAME WITHHELD]
                             - o O O O o -
############################ ANNOUNCMENTS ################################
*** This section is open for posting announcements for the
purpose of education and information only, no commercial or
solicitation ads please. ***********************************
*************************
Medical Doctors Relief & Development(MDRD), a voluntary,  
non-profit organization is seeking the support of members and 
volunteers who are willing to provide medical relief and
set up development operations in the poor countries of the world.
For more information, please contact Dr. Mohammad Amjad Alvi,
   1530 Albion Rd. Rexdale, Ont. Canada, M9V 1B4.
    Tel. (416) 240-0570, Fax (416) 240-1728
________________
Bosnia Appeal Fund:
As Musl;im suffering continues in Bosnia, another committee has 
setup a follow up league to coordinate the support. Donation could 
be mailed to:
Bosnian Appeal Fund,
4174 Dundas Street West,
Suit 209, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Phone (416) 236-9411
_________
The Third Annual Islamic week will be held from Oct. 12th - 21st
at the Univesity of Washington. The program consists of:
Islamic art and books display, Panel discussions, and lectures.
Imam Mohammed H. Asi will be in Seattle on Oct. 16th in Sha' Allah. 
For more information contact the Union.
-----------
Crescent International Has opened a Somali Relief Fund for onward 
transmission:
Somali Relief Fund c/o Crescent International,
300 steelcase Rd West,
Unit 8, Markham, Ont. L3R 2W2, Canada.   Phone (416) 474-9292
_______________
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   ****Islam, as a universal Religion, forbids any sorts of racial 
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of the geographical locations. Criticisms are for that particular system
or power structure and NOT the people. 
__________
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PRODUCTION:
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Xref: sparky soc.culture.afghanistan:1089 soc.culture.african:5211 soc.culture.arabic:4209 soc.culture.bangladesh:5125 soc.culture.pakistan:15596 soc.culture.turkish:10560 soc.religion.islam:1702