2014年7月27日 星期日

Demonstrations are anti-islamic?

Tariq Ramadan的風格。
牛津大學Tariq Ramadan教授最近常收到其他教親的來信:「參加(聲援巴勒斯坦)示威活動符合伊斯蘭嗎?」
Ramadan教授回覆,參與公共事務本來則是伊斯蘭的首要原則。那些政治阿訇,引用古蘭與聖訓,作為穆斯林不能參與示威的依據,事實上他們發佈的不是教法判令(fatawa),而是政治判令。這些政治阿訇解讀經典相當有問題,例如他們說無論領導者做出什麼事情,穆斯林都必須服從領導者。
「最大的Jihad是在暴君面前說出真話。」另外我們必須記得,先知Musa在向法老宣教之前,安拉對他說「你倆對他(法老)說話要溫和,或許他會記取教訓,或者有所畏懼」(20:44)
參與示威,是堅定表達反對不義行為的具體展現。這種示威是溫和與非暴力方式。羞辱、搞破壞與種族歧視,不是示威者應該做的事情。
I have received numerous messages with the same question: “Is it Islamic to demonstrate?” I thought such a question was outdated but it does not seem to be the case, as some people claim to be scholars and confuse minds.
Some are asking for verses and prophetic traditions (ahadith) that would allow demonstrations. Actually the real proof lies with those who forbid it. The first principle in Islam, in social affairs, is permission and it is for those who prohibit protests to provide us with a verse or a clear tradition (hadith) banning demonstrations. It does simply not exist!
Some “scholars of power”, from Saudi Arabia to Egypt (and indeed historically under all despots), produce fatwas, with questionable interpretations and biased positioning, stating that the leaders (whoever they are) must be obeyed and therefore demonstrations are prohibited. Serving the despotic powers and States, installed and paid by them, these “scholars” produce legal opinions tailored for power. These are not Islamic fatwas by scholars, but political fatwas by courtiers.
What the Prophet (PBUH) said is pretty clear: “The best jihad is a word of truth before a tyrant, a despot.” This is exactly what those protesting in the streets are doing… they are speaking a word of truth where they live, where they are able to do so. It is a noble action, sometimes very brave because of the risks involved, and it is an action that is sometimes more a duty than a right.
One more point. We shall remember Moses and Aaron (PSE) before Pharaoh: “Tell him gentle words, perhaps he will remember or he will be moved, shaken.” There is a way of speaking : with firmness and gentleness, with courage and without violence. Gentleness and non-violence are indeed true courage: no insults, no vandalism, no racism. Dignified and powerful speech by women and men respecting themselves and their cause. As for those who vandalize or shout racist slogans, they express more their personal frustrations than they defend a cause. Or they are manipulated, or they are infiltrators trying to ruin the cause.

We should not be naive when organizing events : it is imperative to give every effort to be both heard and never instrumentalized or exploited. This is a requirement and a responsibility, but we must never be silent. In all circumstances, we need to remain wise and courageous. Simply put, … wise, and courageous.

2014年7月13日 星期日

American Muslims' ongoing civil rights fight

伊斯蘭恐懼症在美國。

Washington, DC - Thirteen years after the September 11 attacks, Arabs and Muslim Americans in the US still face continuing bias and prejudice, Arab Americans and civil rights activists say.
"It has gotten worse for us," said Nadia Tonova, the executive director of the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) in Dearborn, Michigan. "We are a community that is constantly under suspicion. It's really at a point where it's out of control."
The NNAAC is rolling out a $4.5m grassroots mobilisation campaign called "Take on Hate" in New York City on July 15, designed to give Arab Americans and Muslims tools for combating bias and prejudice. The campaign, funded by the Open Society Foundation and the Proteus Fund, will focus on achieving public policy changes, educating the US public about Muslims and giving community activists a platform to battle discrimination.
The campaign aims to challenge acts of discrimination such as an incident that occurred on June 16, during a panel discussion held by the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

2014年7月8日 星期二

Ramadan in Sweden with no dusk, no dawn

介紹在北極圈附近封齋的穆斯林情況。

Kiruna, Sweden - During this year's holy month of Ramadan, when consumption of food and water is prohibited between dawn and dusk, how do Muslims observing the fast manage in the far north of Scandinavia, where the sun never sets?   
An estimated 700 Muslims are spending Ramadan in the mining town of Kiruna, located 145km north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by snowcapped mountains throughout the summer. Many of them are recent asylum seekers, sent to Kiruna while their claims are processed.
The sun stays up around the clock from May 28-July 16, which constitutes half of the fasting period this year.
"I started Ramadan by having suhoor with the sun shining in my eyes at 3:30 in the morning," said Ghassan Alankar from Syria, referring to the meal just before dawn. 

2014年7月2日 星期三

Ramadan: A centuries-old American tradition

在南北戰爭之前,估計15%-30%的黑人奴隸是穆斯林。那時已經有齋戒的記錄,但卻違背白人規定的法律。

This weekend marks the beginning of Ramadan. Nearly one-fourth of the world will observe the annual fast and eight million Muslims in the United States will abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset during the holy month. A gruelling task at any time of the year, Ramadan this year will be especially daunting during the long and hot summer days.      
Islam in America is rapidly expanding. It is the fastest-growing religion in the nation, and the second most practiced faith in twenty states. These demographic shifts prompted a prominent Los Angeles-based imam to comment, "Ramadan is a new American tradition." The cleric's forward-looking pronouncement marks Islam's recent arrival in the US. However, this statement reveals a pathology afflicting a lot of Muslim Americans today - an inability to look back and embrace the opening chapters of Muslim American history written by enslaved African Muslims.    

'The birthplace of Islam in Britain': Kensington's Victorian mosque reopens

該文介紹英國第一位入教的英國人,在利物浦建立英國第一座清真寺。他積極在英國宣教,讓200位英國人成為穆斯林。既使那個時代,伊斯蘭在英國被視為異端,他也受到許多外界的攻擊,但他仍透過理性思辨的方式,向英國社會宣揚伊斯蘭。

The mid-terrace house in Liverpool, with its broken windows and peeling paint, had given no clue it was, as one of the men behind its renovation put it, the "birthplace of Islam in Britain".
The building, in Brougham Terrace, Kensington, was once owned by Abdullah Quilliam, who opened it as Liverpool Muslim Institute in 1889.
A prominent English solicitor who had been educated on the Isle of Man and the son of a Methodist preacher, William Henry Quilliam converted to Islam two years earlier, taking the name Abdullah and claiming to be the first native Englishman to embrace the religion.