Muslim IQ Test - Part Two

Open Book Test

I have a book which is “Sharh Al-Aqeedat-il-Wasitiyah; Fundamental Beliefs of Islam & Rejection of False Concepts”. As one would expect of this book, the beliefs of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah is outlined; the faith stands on five pillars; belief in Allah, His Angels, His Messengers, the resurrection after death and belief in Qadr; the good or bad destiny. We also believe in the Attributes of Allah, with which He qualifies Himself and the Attributes with which Muhammad has qualified Allah. This is therefore, a genuinely good book for students of Islam; it is used as one text in Islamic schools. It was written by the famous Islamic scholar, Ibn Taimiyah.

When we study Islam, as Muslims, we learn the Qur’an, tafsir Quran, basic Fiqh, (later one can study up to PHD in Usool Ul Fiqh; Islamic Jurisprudence), Hadiths (traditions or sayings), the Seera, or life of the Prophet. These are the main subjects in Islamic Studies courses or in the Islamic Universities.

Freedom of Religion

It is fair to say that Muslims are much more interested in learning their religion than in learning about Christianity; apart from interreligious dialogue there is little or no interest in Christianity from Muslims.

We find in the debates for example, a lot of friction; and very little of the vast knowledge available gets touched on, and when issues are discussed there is oftentimes great friction or animosity from the speakers, and or the audience. These debates are like wrestling matches, someone said; they are about scoring, not about learning the truth about the religions being discussed. Otherwise, the debaters should accept much of what his/her opponent says which is sensible, but we find that this is almost never what happens. If you discuss any other subject, besides religion (or politics), you will find people can accept a person’s statements, even opinion, because you have nothing to lose and will likely benefit from this person who may be an authority, or may be someone who is self-taught, and you trust him enough to take him at his word. But when fundamentalist Muslims and Christian evangelicals debate, there is less acceptance of the others word or opinion; his/her authority is almost nil in his/her opponent’s estimation.

What we also find happens a lot, is that Islam is the topic of the debate - it is not Christianity which is in the hot seat. For this reason alone, it is often the case that Islam is put on trial. Islam must prove itself, whereas the Christian is to prove Islam wrong; as the debate moves on, the Christian take the role of prosecutor, judge and jury. He may have many supporters in the audience who will likewise have the same preconceived ideas about Islam which color the proceedings.

I don’t think debates will ever have the effect which Muslims are hoping, for the most part. There are some people who are more successful at debates. But I think debates are generally a bad idea. Also, it largely depends on what the debate topic is, and who the debaters are.

Un-Christian behavior

When I watched some of the debate between Rob Morey and Shabir Ali, I was to say the least, very surprised at some of the things Morey was willing to say on stage in front of cameras.

e.g. “If I say Shabir’s thing is black, you would know what I am talking about” - Emphasis on the word “thing”, by Morey.

I think no Muslim should ever debate this man again, as a protest; who will debate the Christians when they can insult our brothers or sisters this way? And it doesn’t reflect badly on the Muslim. The speech of the Christian reflects very badly on himself only. But on principle, such a person should be boycotted.

Morey was explaining his interpretation or understanding of a hadith, which he says shows that someone saw the Prophet Muhammad’s private part. The prophet, SAWS, was white; the hadith is telling how someone saw the “whiteness of his thigh and the whiteness of ‘the thing’”. “Of Muhammad”, says Morey. Whether there is any interpolation by him is a relevant question. But I am not again debating here what Morey said, just reiterating what was said.

About the length of a shirt

I mentioned the mid-thigh, last time, but also, some Muslim Arabs today even misunderstood a simple thing such as the length of the man’s shirt, if it is the middle of the leg, (the whole leg) or the middle of the shin or lower part of the leg only. If it is the middle of the leg, the shirt will be much shorter, which is how some extremists have interpreted it, who wear short shirts because of their faulty interpretation, whereas the longest a shirt can be is above the ankle. Correctly, the shirt would normally, according to Sunnah, be worn to the middle of the shin, not middle of the leg, which would be at the knee or above that. We see in Pakistan, men wear long shirts but they also wear baggy pants, so their style is not like the style of the gulf people, who wear long white thobes, which almost trail to the ground, sometimes. This is forbidden. Women’s clothing can be longer than ankle-length, men’s should be above the ankle at least, but not above the knee. This is the practice of the people before, and doesn’t have to do with modern styles or what some Muslims wear of their own cultural clothing, which may or may not be acceptable. A similar misinterpretation can happen when reading about “the hand”, some interpret it to be only the palm and five fingers and back of hand, while it is actually means the arm up to and including the elbow, such as the area which should be covered with water during ablution for prayers. Thus, the word for hand and arm up to and including the elbow (in Arabic), is being translated as “hand” in English when it means more than the hand only. This is just an example of a problem in translation.

What Morey wants

Whatever the hadith (above) is speaking about could be disputed, based on the language, and I don’t know what the Arabic has to say. But I will say this; definitely there is nothing in the hadith which would shake any good Muslim’s faith. There is nothing in the Qur’an or the hadiths which is so shocking or disturbing that believers would have their faith shaken. Is anyone honestly very disturbed that a man or woman, who is doing some physical activity, might or might not have become exposed?? The point to remember here is that everything about the Prophet was recorded, whatever people heard or saw him doing, etc. That doesn’t prove beyond any doubt that the hadith above is about what Morey thinks it is about; the fact is it can be misinterpreted. But this is not really my concern, though Morey wishes us to stop there and see what he sees.

I am speaking in all honesty and want to know, is anyone shocked that a person in the public eye, even for a split second, or little longer, might have something of the body or a private part of the body, breast or any other part exposed? When Janet Jackson, famously had a “wardrobe malfunction”, people filmed it and replayed the tape over and over again. I must say, that society is unfortunately very fixated today on such unfortunate occurrences, especially because the person who it happens to is very famous. But years after the fact, no one cares about it anymore or even thinks about it. If it were not for tapes of the occurrence, people would forget all about it, and history would have nothing to record about it; except in some archive which might have mention of it on page two of a newspaper, or in a newsreel or sports reel. Of course, due to society’s fixation about the human body, especially the female body, Janet Jackson’s breast will be seen again in the future, on a special segment, maybe with some editing to hide the majority of what was seen live at the Super bowl. Kids in 2020 will think it’s a hoot, when it airs on America’s Funniest years after the original hyperbole. Not to worry though, I’m sure Ms. Jackson has moved on long ago.

Muslims, similarly can move on from bad experiences, such as the mistreatment of Shabir Ali, by the evangelical Morey; the guy is a jerk. Not only is he a jerk but he is a fat ugly white guy. As one person recently remarked on the internet, I believe it was a comment from a black man, all white American men “look like Michael Moore” (or they are often fat and ugly).

Christian evangelicals like to wear suits like they are very professional; they never seem at ease; and I can’t blame them. I think if you are going to lie and say terrible things about Islam, the Prophet of Islam and Muslims, you will definitely find great opposition, even the type of unseen opposition, recording all that we do and say, and which curses the sinful and non-believers. There is “someone” who sees and hears everything, you can be sure.


The Shrouding of Allah’s Messenger


‘Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Jabir bin ‘Abdullah [RA], that he said: “While the people were rebuilding Al-Ka’aba, the Prophet Muhammad, SAWS, went with ‘Abbas to carry some stones. ‘Abbas said: “Put your loincloth round your neck to protect you from the stones.” (As he did that) the Prophet, [SAWS], fell to the ground and his eyes turned skyward. Later on, he woke up and shouted: “My loincloth…my loincloth.” He wrapped himself in his loincloth.’ In another report: “His loins were never seen afterwards.”’ (Page 82, al-Mubarakpuri)

This event in which the Prophet lay prostrate and the reclamation of the Ka’aba after it had been partly destroyed due to heavy flooding coincided; the age of Muhammad was 35 years, and it occurred five years prior to his receiving the mantle of Prophethood. (Ibid)

An example of the respect with which people held the Prophet and how they regarded his modesty as sacrosanct, was when the Muslims closest to him prepared the burial shroud of the Messenger of Allah, and had wondered what to do regarding the washing and shrouding of the Prophet, and they decided not to remove the Prophet’s clothes but to wash and bury him while his clothes were on him.

“Muslim IQ test”

Where Morey discusses 25 propositions, which I haven’t yet seen on a video, but I assume part of that was the discussion of the five pillars of Islam. There is nothing in the five pillars of Islam which Muslims and Islamic scholars dispute; anything he has to say would be inconsequential. The fasting, pilgrimage, zakat or charity, etc. are all frankly found in every religion of merit in one form or another. The fact that Muslims pray, fast, etc. or the number of prayers, or fasts, or form of some rituals has nothing whatsoever to do with pagan religion or any other religion. Islam is complete and the rituals were revealed as to the five w’s; what, when, why, who, how (last letter, lol), and I have no doubt that Morey has been reading up on the misconceptions which abound, written by non-Muslims, about the moon god, and other nonsense. It’s like an Illuminati of Islam, except that there is no conspiracy. There is nothing hidden in the religion; I guess the fact, that everything in fact was recorded in Islam, including what may or may not have happened while the Prophet, SAWS, was riding, proves again, that Islam is an open book; there is nothing in the Qur’an or hadiths which can hurt us. We believe in the truth of what was revealed, and anything which is confusing for some people, is only a test of their faith, or a trial for them. Some Muslims unfortunately also will have doubts based on something which is in fact unimportant. The true believers in Islamic monotheism know that it is the truth from their Lord, and we are content with what Allah has given us and we put our trust in Him. We are grateful to Him for our faith, and no doubt we know that the non-believers are always in contention with us about our pure religion.

Summing Up

Aisha called someone a liar, in fact, Omar Al Khattab also warned this man about what he says.

That Muslims worship a moon god, is totally false.

Many accusations which we don’t have the time for are mostly misinterpretation, or blatant falsehood.

Important issues versus unimportant issues; what does Islam say, and what’s relevant today?

The five pillars of Islam and the six pillars of Iman (faith) are what any reader should do as a preliminary study before the study of the Qur’an and hadiths.

The Qur’an and hadiths, in particular, are for Muslims. In other words, the Prophet Muhammad, told us to tell others the good news, that if they believe they will enter Paradise by Allah’s will. Then we should set out for them what are the main beliefs, five main pillars of Islam, and explain to them the six pillars of faith. If they accept, then they can become Muslim.

Understanding the Prophet (SAWS)

“Goodness (rightness) is good morality; and sin (misdeed) is what embarrasses you (i.e. you are not comfortable within yourself) and you hate it to be known by others” (Muslim, 15/2553)

The question today - can we really judge people by everything that they or others did in the past? When ancient peoples did things, some of the things they might have been ashamed of, and others they were not ashamed of; should we as people coming much later, with a very different culture and ideas judge those former peoples according to our modern beliefs or standards? I don’t believe we should.

Am I saying this to defend some of the former people’s actions? Perhaps; I prefer to think we can look at ancient cultures and societies without judging them. For what is it about their cultures that we dislike, or disapprove of that is necessary to debate today?

Slavery is all but gone and we can hope the final remnants of slavery will be eradicated but who knows? Women’s rights are not yet equal across the nations nor even practiced all across the board in any modern nation. We can see there are strata where women are very blessed or free, vs. others where they are very poor, or degraded. There is a “glass ceiling” even in corporate boardrooms, or corporations today, which women have not always been able to break through. It takes a very special, intelligent or strong woman to do so. The rest are not able to break through that invisible, unspoken barrier which favors men. The most poverty-stricken people in America are elderly women. It’s the same all over the world.

Everyone accepts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; no one disputes the rights of children or the rights of women or minorities. All nations agree to the broad categories of human rights; women, children, minorities, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom from torture, etc.

I mention the above saying of Muhammad, pbuh, to show that there was a concept of “morality” in ancient Arabia. Of course, it evolved once Islam was introduced into the culture and it changed the religion, culture, cultural norms, and effectively created new ideals and examined cultural practices, etc. which were wrong, eliminated or corrected many of the cultural and religious practices, as well explaining what was “sinful” versus what was “virtuous”. Ethics and morals were important to earlier peoples as they are important to societies now.

“Fear Allah wherever you are, follow a bad deed with a good deed as it erases it, and deal with people with high ethics”. (Tirmithi – 1987 & Ahmed 5/153)

Some of the ideals which were noble, such as chivalry, bravery, honesty, are still ideals which people today agree are positive. Other ideals (or ideas), such as male chauvinism, were fought or became unacceptable. People learned that men and women are equal and share the same basic humanity and rights.

“Oh people, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God’s trust and with His permission. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers”.

- From Muhammad’s farewell sermon

It was the Prophet’s youngest wife, Aisha, who gave Muslims then and all to follow, the important examples of what was required of Muslim men, regards their wives, families, and society.

Muhammad taught, “Women are the twin halves of men”.

Michael Hart, a writer defended his choice of Muhammad, to lead the list of the top 100 in history, “My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world’s most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels” (From the book, “The 100, A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History”)

We can say here that, perhaps Mr. Hart didn’t think Muhammad was the most pious person, and preferred Jesus to Muhammad, but he ranked Jesus second. Or we could speculate that maybe there were others on the list, who though not ranked first, were more self-sacrificing (I am saying this, only to be partial, though I cannot say that I am not really partial about Muhammad, pbuh, as he is the most near to perfection of all Allah’s creatures, nonetheless, I ask others to think about their choice of the most “perfect” human and the reasons they would pick that person.)

Christians will say Jesus was better than Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah unto both of the holy Messengers of God, but I do not distinguish between them or any of the Prophets, for Allah told us, they are “brothers”. Islam speaks about five strong prophets, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah unto all of them. There were many others we don’t know by name, and others mentioned by name in the Quran as well as some pious individuals or Saints, including the Mother of Jesus, Maryam (Mary mother of Christ (the Messiah)), may Allah be pleased with her.

The best person, therefore is not only someone who Allah had spoken to, or one who Allah had created with His own hands, or one who he had given the power to heal the blind and lepers or to raise the dead, nor one who was “his special friend”, as Abraham, nor one who He forgave all his sins, Muhammad, or gave him a miracle that would be for all humanity, or the final message, peace and blessings be unto them.

We don’t distinguish between the prophets, and there is no need. Allah sent these Prophets and Messengers to guide people in different times and different places. Therefore, they all were chosen slaves of Allah and the most obedient, praiseworthy and blessed of all the people.

In a narration about the ascension of Muhammad into heaven, Moses says that he had killed a person and send Muhammad to another; Jesus, merely tells Muhammad to go to another of the Prophets of God, Noah says, he had asked Allah something for which he had no right, and so on. We see from many of the stories or narrations that the Prophets of Allah were human beings whom Allah favored from his creation. He says about human fallibility, that if humans did not sin He would have created another creation that would sin, so that they would seek His forgiveness, because Allah, Most High, likes to hear His slaves pleading with Him, and He likes to forgive sins. Allah, azawajal, did not create men to be perfect, but to seek His forgiveness.

People often misunderstand religion. It is the Christians who are most close to the Muslims in their beliefs, though they raised Jesus to a status above his human status, when they said he is the son of Allah. Despite this invention, they believe in the need for repentance. The idea of repentance, and that God would forgive our sins is central to both Christianity and Islam; in Islam the most important belief or pillar of faith being the Oneness of God, and the worship of One God. This is why polytheism or associating others with Allah is called the greatest sin (Shirk al Kabir). Shirk, or joining partners with Allah is the only sin which Allah will not forgive, for which people remain forever in Hell. If it was not for that, they would all be Muslims. The Jews believe that they are “the Children of God” or His “chosen people” a concept foreign both to Islam and Christianity. It is in fact a racist idea which permits many heinous crimes in the name of their religion (in reality they kill and occupy for “Zionism” and Zion.)

Therefore, we do not say that the Prophets were perfectly sinless, but we believe that Allah guided them to the best forms of worship, the best supplications and prayers, the best ideals, and the best moral code and superior moral conduct. As a result of their good deeds and prayers, Allah forgave the Prophets their mistakes. It is famously recorded that Prophet Muhammad used to seek Allah’s forgiveness 70 times a day.

Muhammad, pbuh, was sent first and foremost to his own people, the ancient Arabs. But because Islam rooted out racism and enjoined many more of the modern ideals we take for granted, it is rightly called a universal religion.

Therefore, you will hear Muslims say that Islam is a religion for all time and place. (It is generally understood as such.) Where I might differ with some Muslims is that Islam is certainly compatible with today’s modern ideals. Some Muslims believe that Islam must “reform”; they don’t understand that Islam already is capable of meeting the challenges of social reform without the religion needing reform or improvement.

Sometimes what people will complain about are not cultural or religious ideals which need fixing, but moral values which they believe are now outdated. If we listen to such people, we would accept many evils in the name of freedom or modernity.

Lastly, the name Muhammad means in Arabic, “the person who is highly, frequently and repeatedly praised for his good deeds. Therefore, he is a praiseworthy person.”(P. 3, Muhammad, Who Is He? A pocket guide, produced by Discover Islam Center, 2012)

The fact that one is a praiseworthy person, or even a Prophet and Messenger of Allah, doesn’t affect his status as a human being, and this means that as other people he goes through trials, is subject to worries and misgivings, stumbles and falls, even. It is true that Prophet Moses had in his ignorance, killed a man, and Prophet Yunus (Jonah) had sought to run away from his Prophetic mission despairing of the peoples’ conversion to his religion, Islam. (Islam is the universal religion and was the religion of all the previous prophets and messengers of God.) It is also true that the Prophets, like all people, used to ask for forgiveness of Allah. They did not believe themselves free from error, responsibilities or worry. In fact, they prayed often, repented often, performed more good deeds seeking Allah’s pleasure, to show their grateful attitude to Allah for the many blessings which He bestowed upon them. They also relied on Allah to help them perform the task He set out for them to do; preaching the Oneness of God, Allah, and establishing a community of believers, who would then call others to Islam.

Therefore, we believe that Islam is the universal religion, and that all the Prophets or Messengers of Allah called to the worship of Allah.

Statements about Muhammad, pbuh:

“Whoever saw him unexpectedly would admire and revere him. And whoever socialized or associated with him familiarly, loved him. He was gentle by nature. He was neither coarse nor disdainful of anyone.”(P. 15, Ibid).

He told his friends, “I am a guarantor for a house at the outskirt of the Paradise for those who quit arguing even if they were right and I am a guarantor for a house in the middle of Paradise for those who quit lying even if they were kidding and I am a guarantor for a house in the highest part in the Paradise for those who behave with good manners.” (Sahih Abu Dawood)

Muhammad, pbuh, never found fault or overpraised others, nor got angry for his own sake. He did not speak unnecessarily, nor accept (an) other’s(s’) lauding his praises. He was unfailingly cheerful. But if he was angry when Allah’s law was violated, then his face would express strong emotion and displeasure. (Pp. 14-15, Muhammad, Who Is He?, 2012.)

“Muhammad never got angry for his own sake” (P. 15, Ibid)

Concluding remarks:

As it is not possible for any person to remove himself or disassociate himself from his own time, or the age into which he was born, nor his place; just as the bronze age man could not have imagined electricity, nor invented glass nor filaments for lights, it is not probable that men of Muhammad’s time would have changed everything around them; no more than what they were capable in a quarter of a century, nor that the next generation of Muslims which followed or generations for the next few centuries could have known or understood more than the ethical questions which Islam confronted. Many other social norms; ‘pithy’ preferences, which may or may not be regarded as ‘backwards’, inhumane, or injustice today, were not all questioned (neither eradicated nor once and for all banned) in the early Islamic Empire; nor would those people be responsible for our misguidance, just we are not responsible for the misguidance of theirs. Only Allah is the judge, and that is what all people can at least agree on, who believe in God and fear Him. It is enough to say that the Muslims have definitely evolved. Islam did that. Islam teaches, “There is neither harm nor reciprocating harm” a general ethos, which can be applied to any situation; any people can use it, it is workable anywhere.

It is recorded, that Aisha (RA) once said, “If alcohol had been banned (forthwith) the Arabs in Muhammad’s time would not have become Muslims” (although I am paraphrasing) In fact, during one of the earlier reigning Russian Czar’s time, he refused Islam on the very same pretext. In fact, it was not only a pretext, he must have felt it impossible to give up the freedom to drink alcohol, because that was one of their (Russians) lives’ greatest pleasures (or an addiction); then the Czar accepted Christianity, and since then, the religion even today, in some of the former Russian Empire has been one form or other of Christianity. Of course Islam also invaded (they tried to peacefully preach Islam and were challenged) later and took root; in the Bikhar region (e.g. Uzbekistan) also Chechnya, the Ukraine, etc.

I quote Yusuf Estes who said, “…not worshipping the Prophets, not worshipping the Messengers, putting them in a higher (sic) status saying only good about them.” Or what is often said, we say, not exaggerating their status beyond their human capacity for good and evil. I ask, “Who doesn’t sin?” The bible says, Jesus said, “He who has not sinned, shall cast the first stone”. Everyone has sinned, including the Holy messengers of Allah. We say they are holy, meaning they were the most holy of humans, but they were not perfect. The Catholics call their priests “holy”, too. It means that they think they are better than everyone else, not that they are perfect. It means that they believe there is a way to God through those people. Maybe, they can forgive us? That’s what the Catholics believe about their priests, that they can forgive them their sins. On the other hand, in Islam people go directly to God; Muslims pray for forgiveness, which also, all others do, who believe in God, but Muslims are sure that they never associate others with God, such as another human being. There is no priest class in Islam; no one can forgive sins for us; only God can forgive us. Forgiveness is easier than one might think, just pray sincerely to be forgiven and never do the sin again; that’s called “repentance” and it’s the only way to get forgiveness. God already knows what you did...you don’t have to tell another living soul, or breath a word of your sin, because that is not going to make you feel any better, especially if you believe that God won’t forgive you. You have to believe that God is the forgiver of sin, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Allah said, “I am what my slave thinks I am”, which means, if you believe Allah is forgiving, He will be. If you think Allah is generous, He will be. Etc.

(Where I have erred it is due to my own weakness or fault, and where I have stated the correct interpretations or beliefs, it is due to Allah. I ask Him for guidance.)

More about Fatawas without Knowledge – Part Two

Another example of a few years ago, was the Muslim man in France, who told his sister to shave her head because she couldn’t (or was fearful of) wear(ing) the hiijab (Muslim women’s head cover), there.

At the time it was a big issue, especially because she appeared in public, crying that she had to resort to removing her hair (voluntarily) yet (obviously) hated her actions.

But from the purely Islamic viewpoint, this ill-conceived ‘Islamic ruling’ by her brother was in fact based on wrong knowledge, or motivations. Did he tell her to shave her hair because 1) Jewish women sometimes shave their hair, or used to in the past and wear wigs to cover their head, in lieu of wearing a head cover similar to hiijab, in fact what is a “head scarf”, for religious reasons?

2) Was the brother motivated by the urge to get attention for his sister’s cause, instead attracting public scrutiny, which seemed to have worked less in his favor (and hers) than more in his or her favor?

From the Islamic Viewpoint:

Our actions must be purely for the sake of Allah

Our actions must be done based on proper knowledge

If these conditions are lacking, then the correct Islamic behavior will not be forthcoming.

The solution:

Wouldn’t it have been better for the girl not to shave her hair, and to try covering some other way?

Wouldn’t it have been better to keep her intention to wear the hiijab, when she was ready, but not shave her head (because that is also unlawful in Islam)?

To try to avoid one sin, the brother allowed his sister to commit two sins!

Niya:

Intentions are very important in Islam. Without the proper intentions, seemingly good actions can actually earn someone sin; because if someone does an action for the sake of Allah’s pleasure only, then it is rewardable, even one hundred times, or more; but if one does the same action to appear good in front of the people, then the same is actually punishable, and will not be accepted by Allah in the least. In fact, these kinds of people are possible hypocrites, or have a characteristic of hypocrisy.

As to committing a sin, such as removing the head covering, which is one of the few public actions Muslim women are obliged to follow according to the Qur’an and Sunna, it is less dangerous, perhaps than trying to invent new things into the religion (bid’aa) or circumvent Islamic objections (proper knowledge) such as what happened when the brother advised his sister to shave her hair, without consulting with an (real) Islamic scholar.

Muslim Community Values

While, it is praiseworthy to wear the hiijab, or other Islamic clothing, such as a covering Jilbab for the regular clothing (like a ‘manteau’), it is often the central issue about Muslim women which gets negative media attention. Perhaps Muslims, as a community should begin to shift the attention away from the hiijab, if possible, to more urgent community issues, such as the need for better Islamic education for their children. This education, in some places, through the funding of separate schools, for Muslims is now a reality. At conferences, specially about this milestone, the Muslim community in the West has heard that a generation of Muslims speaking fluent Arabic, memorizers of the ‘hadiths’ (traditions), and with the necessary skills and knowledge in modern subjects, studying in Universities in all the various fields of study, are ready to take the stage, as the foremost models for True Islam in their society.

While, we also have to worry about the hiijab issue, because “our daughters” in school, especially young girls, need to confront this as well, it is a much more personal issue than the issue of education.

I don’t know if this makes any sense, to most people; but for many women in the west, hiijab is no longer a ‘stumbling block’ or a ‘problem’. Many women in the public eye now wear jilbab and hiijab, or even a cloak similar to a ‘burqa’, such as the Middle Eastern ‘abaya’ (but which does not cover the face, only the body).

Therefore, do we need to keep at the hiijab as a fundamental right? Or should we/are we able to address other issues, such as education (funding for private Islamic schools, or independent schools, such as could be modeled on some schools in the Middle East, where Islamic education is a subject, as well as languages), or whatever type of schools they desire, as a community? These could be institutions which require the Islamic dress code, or ones which reserve it as a fundamental right, but without insisting on it, because hiijab in the west is very much a private matter.

Note: The Muslim community in the West, unlike the European community, hasn’t seen the pervasive racism or hate that Muslims living in Europe have; with laws banning the veil, or even banning hiijab.

Freedom of Religion:

When the West can admit that Muslims there are good citizens, and as a result of equal rights, which proves to be a plus not a minus, then this model community of which Muslims can be proud, hopefully can be the first example of True Islam, perhaps in the world. It will be an Islamic Revival, starting in the heart of Western civilization, it is hoped.

In future, to prove that Muslims were right in the belief that Islam is for all time and place, a Universal religion, for humankind.

Farfetched;

Unlikely or perhaps something people who have not experienced the power of religious conversion in their own life cannot fathom. As a community, since 9-11 Muslims have shown patience and perseverance. Their exemplary behavior, even in the face of government policy against freedom of belief and in some cases, suffering and persecution, should be understood and remembered. They were able despite suspicion to stand shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors of different faiths and backgrounds, to pray for the safety of their communities, or lend a helping hand, wherever they could, as well as during natural disaster, such as the flooding of years past in New Orleans.

A positive outlook for a positive future (lies ahead).

Democracy, (not to be confused with secularism, which is the absence of religion) much more than the European model of Multiculturalism, has helped Muslims to integrate, while retaining their fundamental right of religious freedom.