What is all the fuss about?
Many in the West were genuinely surprised at the Muslim reaction to a series of cartoons. They fail to see how pictures could induce such a response. Muslims may empathise with their astonishment. We know firsthand how the Europe has nurtured the masses to think that creedal convictions should be divorced from day-to-day living. We know this because the system of secularism that prevails in the West also prevails in the Islamic world, albeit in a more shrewdly disguised form. That is were the empathy ends. Although we have these foreign systems imposed upon us, we still have the correct thoughts and sentiments when it comes to demonstrating our love for Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam).
We do not hold dear the notion of having a law and economy based on worldly affairs, whilst having a separate spiritual code for affairs relating to our god. This concept is well founded in the West and, ironically, has its origins in their religious texts. "Render unto Caesar, therefore, the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Mathew's Gospel 22:21). From the onset Christianity made Jesus god, but marginalised his actual teachings. The extremist atheistic views of the European enlightenment widened this gulf between temporal life and a life lived for the hereafter. The result of this was the forging of a European culture at ease with the irrationality of drinking the blood of Christ on Sunday and then deconstructing every detail of what they consider to be divine on Monday. They view lampooning and lying about a messenger of Allah, Isa ibn Mariam (as), as the height of intellectual and artistic expression. Their rationale being that; the one who can poke fun at that which most consider sacrosanct is truly an artistic genius. In reality this form of expression is the height of human arrogance. Because: "when people stop believing in god they, don¡¦t start believing in nothing. They start to believe in anything" (saying attributed to G.K. Chesterton). So now that god is taken out of the frame, adoration is directed toward man himself. The human-form is therefore celebrated and worshiped. Laws and governance are made by man for man. This is surely the ultimate self worship.
Insulting Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) may be acceptable to the human-centred Western world; where the worship of the human-form; through art and culture is positively praiseworthy. However we hold any communiqué with our Lord to be special and above satire. Therefore the scripture that Allah revealed to us is given pride of place in our lives, and the person and character of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is given a unique position in our hearts and minds. This attitude is reflected with regards to every single one of Allah's (swt) messengers (as). It follows that we hold those that were instrumental in bringing this message from our creator, to the created, to be exceptional and excluded from ridicule. So we invoke the peace and blessings of Allah on those that delivered the message of tawhid to mankind when we utter their (as) names. We derive inspiration from the narratives of their life-stories. We name our children after them (as). We desire to emulate the actions of the last prophet, Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam), in as much as we should. The position of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is dearer to us than ourselves and our kith and kin.
We suggest that modern secularism is a natural extension of the teachings found in the apocryphal scriptures that were adopted by the what became the Roman Church. Western Christianity is a transmogrification based on revelation, in contrast to Islam which is not based on revelation: it is revelation. According to Islam the core creeds of Christianity such as the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption are all cultural creations: bereft of an unbroken chain of narration leading to Isa ibn Mariam (as). The Qur'an indeed confirms that Allah sent revelation to Isa ibn Mariam (as), in the form of al-Injeel, but it denies the authenticity and accuracy of the transmissions, accounts and epistles produced by the founding fathers of their religion. We believed that Isa ibn Mariam (as) was sent as a messenger to the Children of Israel; charged with the mission of correcting their deviation from the covenant with Allah. He (as) forewarned them of the approach of a Greater Teacher whose name was given as Ahmad.
This is the case of Christianity and how it differs fundamentally from Islam. However the modern secular democracies and constitutional monarchs of Western Europe are worlds apart from iron-age philosophy and teachings. Liberal democracy places human beings as legislator; as well as overseers and regulators of the laws that they have made. Anthropogenic law positions parliamentarians, senators and monarch as "gods". This is in a manner analogous to the way the People of the Scripture took their religious hierarchy as lawmakers rather then the interpreters of law. ¡،±They take their rabbis and priests to be their lords besides Allah and (they take as their Lord) Christ, the son of Mary; Yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah. There is no god but He. Praise and glory be to Him, (far is He) from having the partners they associate (With Him). [TMQ 9:31]¡ئط This was elaborated upon when ¡¥Udai bin Hatim said that I came to Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) while he was reciting this verse, he then said, ¡¥they did not worship them; but if they made something halal, the people made it halal, and if they made it haram, the people made it haram.' Modern liberal democracy is a hybrid born of a battle between atheist and theist zealots. The result was a form of ruling that allowed individual citizens to believe in god (dissimilar to post-revolution France and Soviet periods) whilst insisting that theism was to be kept out of life's affairs and ruling.
In contrast to this we place the law of Allah (swt) at the heart of our individual affairs, our family affairs, our neighbourhood affairs and, just as importantly, our communal and inter-communal affairs. "O you who believe! Obey Allah, obey the Messenger and the rulers from amongst you, and if you disagree on a matter then return it (for judgement) to Allah and the Messenger if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day." [TMQ 4:59] "It is not for the believer (male or female) that when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter that they should have any choice in their matter." [TMQ 33:36] We received this law through the revelation that was sent to Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). Thus all of our laws, our knowledge of this world and of the hereafter, our moral code and our attitudes to life all come from the utterances and actions of the beloved prophet of Allah, Muhammad, Mustafa Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). It is paramount for our success as individuals and as an Ummah that we realise the importance of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) in our lives and the lives of humankind. Allah says (in rough translation), "We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds." (21:107) Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Tahir explained this ayat, "Allah imbued Muhammad with mercy, so that his very being was mercy and all his qualities and attributes were mercy to all creatures. Whoever is touched by any aspect of his mercy is saved in both worlds from every hateful thing and obtains everything he loves. Do you not see that Allah says, "We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds.?" Ibn Abbas said, "He is a mercy to the believers and also to the unbelievers since they are safe from what befell the other communities who cried lies."
It is related that Umar (ra), said to the Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam), "Part of your excellence with Allah is that He has made obedience to you obedience to Him." Allah says, "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah" (4:80) and "If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you." (3:31) It is related that when this ayat was sent down, people said, "Muhammad wants us to take him as a mercy in the way the Christians did with Isa", so Allah revealed, "Say: Obey Allah, and the Messenger." (3:32) Allah connected obedience to Muhammad with obedience to Himself in spite of what the people said.
So in answer to the question 'what is all the fuss about?' the answer is everything. To us following Allah's law is all we have been put on this earth to do. Therefore love respect and obedience of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is our raison d'être. Allah says, "Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the light which He sent down." (64:8) He says, "We sent you as a witness and a bringer of good news
and a warner so that they might believe in Allah and His Messenger." (48:8-9) He says, "Believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet."
(7:158).
We do not hold dear the notion of having a law and economy based on worldly affairs, whilst having a separate spiritual code for affairs relating to our god. This concept is well founded in the West and, ironically, has its origins in their religious texts. "Render unto Caesar, therefore, the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's" (Mathew's Gospel 22:21). From the onset Christianity made Jesus god, but marginalised his actual teachings. The extremist atheistic views of the European enlightenment widened this gulf between temporal life and a life lived for the hereafter. The result of this was the forging of a European culture at ease with the irrationality of drinking the blood of Christ on Sunday and then deconstructing every detail of what they consider to be divine on Monday. They view lampooning and lying about a messenger of Allah, Isa ibn Mariam (as), as the height of intellectual and artistic expression. Their rationale being that; the one who can poke fun at that which most consider sacrosanct is truly an artistic genius. In reality this form of expression is the height of human arrogance. Because: "when people stop believing in god they, don¡¦t start believing in nothing. They start to believe in anything" (saying attributed to G.K. Chesterton). So now that god is taken out of the frame, adoration is directed toward man himself. The human-form is therefore celebrated and worshiped. Laws and governance are made by man for man. This is surely the ultimate self worship.
Insulting Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) may be acceptable to the human-centred Western world; where the worship of the human-form; through art and culture is positively praiseworthy. However we hold any communiqué with our Lord to be special and above satire. Therefore the scripture that Allah revealed to us is given pride of place in our lives, and the person and character of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is given a unique position in our hearts and minds. This attitude is reflected with regards to every single one of Allah's (swt) messengers (as). It follows that we hold those that were instrumental in bringing this message from our creator, to the created, to be exceptional and excluded from ridicule. So we invoke the peace and blessings of Allah on those that delivered the message of tawhid to mankind when we utter their (as) names. We derive inspiration from the narratives of their life-stories. We name our children after them (as). We desire to emulate the actions of the last prophet, Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam), in as much as we should. The position of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is dearer to us than ourselves and our kith and kin.
We suggest that modern secularism is a natural extension of the teachings found in the apocryphal scriptures that were adopted by the what became the Roman Church. Western Christianity is a transmogrification based on revelation, in contrast to Islam which is not based on revelation: it is revelation. According to Islam the core creeds of Christianity such as the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption are all cultural creations: bereft of an unbroken chain of narration leading to Isa ibn Mariam (as). The Qur'an indeed confirms that Allah sent revelation to Isa ibn Mariam (as), in the form of al-Injeel, but it denies the authenticity and accuracy of the transmissions, accounts and epistles produced by the founding fathers of their religion. We believed that Isa ibn Mariam (as) was sent as a messenger to the Children of Israel; charged with the mission of correcting their deviation from the covenant with Allah. He (as) forewarned them of the approach of a Greater Teacher whose name was given as Ahmad.
This is the case of Christianity and how it differs fundamentally from Islam. However the modern secular democracies and constitutional monarchs of Western Europe are worlds apart from iron-age philosophy and teachings. Liberal democracy places human beings as legislator; as well as overseers and regulators of the laws that they have made. Anthropogenic law positions parliamentarians, senators and monarch as "gods". This is in a manner analogous to the way the People of the Scripture took their religious hierarchy as lawmakers rather then the interpreters of law. ¡،±They take their rabbis and priests to be their lords besides Allah and (they take as their Lord) Christ, the son of Mary; Yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah. There is no god but He. Praise and glory be to Him, (far is He) from having the partners they associate (With Him). [TMQ 9:31]¡ئط This was elaborated upon when ¡¥Udai bin Hatim said that I came to Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) while he was reciting this verse, he then said, ¡¥they did not worship them; but if they made something halal, the people made it halal, and if they made it haram, the people made it haram.' Modern liberal democracy is a hybrid born of a battle between atheist and theist zealots. The result was a form of ruling that allowed individual citizens to believe in god (dissimilar to post-revolution France and Soviet periods) whilst insisting that theism was to be kept out of life's affairs and ruling.
In contrast to this we place the law of Allah (swt) at the heart of our individual affairs, our family affairs, our neighbourhood affairs and, just as importantly, our communal and inter-communal affairs. "O you who believe! Obey Allah, obey the Messenger and the rulers from amongst you, and if you disagree on a matter then return it (for judgement) to Allah and the Messenger if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day." [TMQ 4:59] "It is not for the believer (male or female) that when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter that they should have any choice in their matter." [TMQ 33:36] We received this law through the revelation that was sent to Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). Thus all of our laws, our knowledge of this world and of the hereafter, our moral code and our attitudes to life all come from the utterances and actions of the beloved prophet of Allah, Muhammad, Mustafa Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). It is paramount for our success as individuals and as an Ummah that we realise the importance of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) in our lives and the lives of humankind. Allah says (in rough translation), "We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds." (21:107) Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Tahir explained this ayat, "Allah imbued Muhammad with mercy, so that his very being was mercy and all his qualities and attributes were mercy to all creatures. Whoever is touched by any aspect of his mercy is saved in both worlds from every hateful thing and obtains everything he loves. Do you not see that Allah says, "We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds.?" Ibn Abbas said, "He is a mercy to the believers and also to the unbelievers since they are safe from what befell the other communities who cried lies."
It is related that Umar (ra), said to the Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam), "Part of your excellence with Allah is that He has made obedience to you obedience to Him." Allah says, "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah" (4:80) and "If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you." (3:31) It is related that when this ayat was sent down, people said, "Muhammad wants us to take him as a mercy in the way the Christians did with Isa", so Allah revealed, "Say: Obey Allah, and the Messenger." (3:32) Allah connected obedience to Muhammad with obedience to Himself in spite of what the people said.
So in answer to the question 'what is all the fuss about?' the answer is everything. To us following Allah's law is all we have been put on this earth to do. Therefore love respect and obedience of Rasool-Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) is our raison d'être. Allah says, "Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the light which He sent down." (64:8) He says, "We sent you as a witness and a bringer of good news
and a warner so that they might believe in Allah and His Messenger." (48:8-9) He says, "Believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet."
(7:158).
posted by Alien Alienated at 5:15 PM
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