Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
INSIGHTS ON ISLAM: a Convert's Search for God and Spiritual Truth
"ALLAH'S MERCY IN RELATION TO SIN"
AN EXCERPT FROM MY FORTH-COMING BOOK. . .
02-22-98:
Realized
more fully that Allah’s Mercy is not a faculty that manifests one
time; say, at the onset of the commission of a sin. His Mercy
– His desire to save you from the consequences of your impending
sin – is in force all throughout the commission of the sin,
offering you at every moment, with
every
downward step you take towards the harming of your body and soul, the
opportunity for you to reverse your course of action and instead turn
to Him in
repentance.
This
is because
Allah’s Love for you is constant and ever present, like gravity,
and His Mercy that seeks to save you from the inferno of your sins
and transgressions is ever waiting for you to turn to Him and take
hold of His life-saving rope so you may be pulled out from the pit
and be rescued from
your self-wounding sin.
But
alas, there always comes a moment in the act of every transgression
against yourself or others where the tides of fear or circumstance
cannot be reversed or blamed for what your “self that incites to
evil” propels you to do.
There
comes a time in the commission of all sins – that is, in every act
of separation from God – when
you consciously submit to your inner Shaitan and let go of the rope
of Allah and commit to engaging in an act of “willful selfishness”
we generally refer to as “sin.” It is at such moments that our
direct disobedience to God can and often does result in the
manifestation of the negative (and usually predictable) consequences
of our willful selfishness.
Such
consequences may not appear immediately – and this, too, is a Sign
of Allah’s Mercy, of Him giving us every opportunity to repent –
but should our hearts not seek His Forgiveness and divine
redemption, His punishment (like His Mercy) shall be, like gravity,
inescapable. And it is then that we shall fall. Even then, at that
late hour, we can still choose to fall to our knees and prostrate in
humility and sorrow, seeking His countenance and Mercy in sincere
remorse and repentance, for remorse is the smelting furnace of an
anguished heart and a self-tortured soul, each seeking
in
final desperation to purify the gold of our original goodness of the
dross of our sins.
It
is a necessary fire whose flames shall, insha’Allah,
cool
the heat of our future passions that we may yet be saved from the greater
Fire in the Hereafter.
Monday, March 25, 2019
MY SPEECH ON THE "SPLIT" IN AHMADIYYAT
For "Musleh Ma'ud" [Promised Son] Day Event in Feb. I gave a speech on the Split in the Ahmadiyya Jama'at, usually marked from 1914 upon the demise of the 1st Khalifa and the election of the 2nd Khalifa, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra). But the true series of events is more interesting by far. . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3K1o9fv1cA&feature=youtu.be
Sunday, November 25, 2018
THE "GREEN BOOK" IN THE LAND OF RED, WHITE, BLACK AND BLUE
On
Thanksgiving Day the wife and I went to see the film "Green
Book" – a biopic about the relationship between Black
world-class pianist Dr. Don Shirley (in a wonderfully nuanced
performance by Mahershala Ali) and his Italian driver and bodyguard
Tony Vallelonga (in a hilariously in-your-face portrayal by Viggo
Mortensen). They first meet when Dr. Shirley hires Tony to accompany
him on a concert tour that will take them through the Deep South in
pre-civil rights 1962 America. The title of the film comes from the
travel guide called a Green Book that African-Americans relied on to
find Black-friendly restaurants, gas stations, entertainment and
lodgings in an America where knowing where it was safe to go for
food, gas, fun and sleep could mean the difference between a pleasant
vacation and a racist nightmare ordeal that could end up costing you
your life.
The
wife and I both enjoyed the film – very impacting on so many levels
because there were so many levels to the film. I encourage everyone
to go see it. But I have to say I am dismayed at some of the
comments and reviews that basically "talk trash" about
certain aspects of the film, like saying it's “White people making
a movie about racism for White people,” or complaining that Don
Shirley wasn't portrayed correctly or in enough depth.
Firstly,
on the racism charge, if you want to reach White audiences with a
message they need to hear, the modus operandi of using White people
to do that is actually a good thing. Look at Spike Lee's "Black
kKklansman" as an example. While undoubtedly an important film
that should be widely seen and one masterfully executed by Spike (as
usual), how many White people were lining up to see it? Same problem
Michael Moore has: their reputations precede them. Point being, you
can't get a good message into a person's head if they don't want to
listen to the messenger.
As
for complaining about the depth (or lack thereof) with regard to
historical accuracy or details, I only got one comment for all those
nit-pickers and nay-sayers out there: show me what YOU have done to
bring America to an awareness of Dr. Don Shirley and his music, and
the Green Book that (literally) could mean life or death for
African-Americans traveling in pre-civil rights America, especially
in the South. Yeah, I thought so. Nada. Zip. At least now there's
a movie out there that's going to reach millions of Americans –
many of them African-Americans who have never heard of Don Shirley or
the Green Book – and I am hoping that whoever sees this engaging
film will be enlightened and moved emotionally by what they see in
"Green Book."
Medicine
is more easily imbibed with a little honey, and "Green Book"
is the kind of medicine that a LOT of people need to imbibe,
especially in today's Trumpian world where racism is being
dog-whistled left and right by the man currently in the White House.
Before Trump came on the stage, the Green Book that saved the lives
of countless African-Americans was just a historical remnant of a
much more intolerant and racist time. What's truly scary is that if
things race-wise keep deteriorating, the Green Book may, by necessity,
have to make a comeback. We can't allow that to happen. It's bad
enough that some people don't understand why "Black Lives
Matter" or why Colin Kaepernick and other Black athletes want to
take a knee to protest racial injustices. It's even worse when some
people don't think there's a problem with racism in America at all.
That's
why "Green Book" comes to the fore at a time when the need
to face America's past, vis-a-vis race relations, is even more vital
to the survival of America as a country and as an ideal. We are not
all White. We have never been all White. We are a mixture of people
from all over the globe in search of a better life and a chance to
live free.
True,
many of the people who came here did not do so of their own volition
but rather in chains or through the harsh winds of war, famine or
economic hardship, but regardless of the misfortune or dire
circumstances that brought them to America, some of them and many
more of their descendants were first empowered and eventually granted
more freedoms and better opportunities by the promise inherent in
seven simple words that truly gave birth to America: "Life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
We
owe it to our children – White, Black, Brown or whatever shade of
skin tone they may be – to ensure that the America our past
generations hoped for continues to shine, not just as an ideal, but
as an attainable reality of freedom, hope and opportunity. America
must fight and strive to be the place where the oppressed can escape
religious, political, racial, economic and other forms of
persecution. Trump and his minions are herding us down the road to a
fascist, authoritarian, apartheid police state that will spell the
death of America as we know it.
Think
I'm being overly reactionary? Remember: Germany was one of Europe's
most highly cultured and civilized nation-states, boasting strong
democratic and humanitarian mores and institutions. . . before Hitler
came to power. In less than a decade, Hitler and the Nazis destroyed
everything good in their country and tried to do the same in the rest
of the world. And all along the way, the Nazis had willing enablers
and sycophants to oil the wheels of their racist, antisemitic,
eugenics-driven machineries of death.
So
call me reactionary – it's what happens when you know even a little
bit of American and world history and are not feeling at ease or
encouraged by current trends. OK, the rant is over. Here's the link
to an article on "Green Book." Go see the movie and support
the ideal of what America needs to be and, God-willing (and
people-willing), can be.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mahershala-ali-green-book-20181121-story.html
Sunday, June 18, 2017
AUDIO-VIDEO LINKS + GHAFFAR'S BLOG POSTS
=========================================================
Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar - Email: JonathanMAG@Gmail.com
Cell: 1-909-525-5299 - Work Ph. (Chino Mosque): 909-627-2252
Mailing Address: 11941 Ramona Ave. – Chino, CA 91710-1661 USA
1-866-WHY-ISLAM (rings at Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino, CA)
=========================================================
Link
to my online 8-Gig folder of Tabligh & Da'een Education Materials
(includes 5-vol. Eng. + 1-vol. Eng. commentary Qurans + Sher Ali Quran +
many books by PM & others in PDF form):
=================================================
How I became an Ahmadi Muslim (20-min. version)
YouTube LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s
How I became an Ahmadi Muslim (20-min. version)
YouTube LINK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s
Salat
-- the Muslim 5x daily prayer audio files in English and Arabic + Surah
Fatiha (ch.1) + Surah Baqara (ch.2) v1-8 + Surahs 87-114 [WAV &
MP3s]
Link to MP3 of KCAA 1050-AM radio show interview on The Kathleen Wells Show 29-min. excerpt with Imam Zafarullah and Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar from Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Chino, California. Interview Wed. Oct. 22nd, 2014. Topics: response to Bill Maher's anti-Islam comments, ISIS, true teachings of Islam and Ahmadiyyat.
Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar’s Oct. 11th 2012 1-hour radio interview:
“How I became Ahmadi Muslim”
“How I became Ahmadi Muslim”
“Ground Zero Mosque” radio interview with Jonathan M.A.Ghaffar Aug.2010
“Introduction
to the Holy Quran” audio CD files [originally recorded by M.A.Ghaffar
in 2011 at the Baitul Hameed Mosque; sound quality re-engineered in 2014
for 2nd pressing of CD with new disc & jacket design.]
Prof. Bart Ehrman vs. Evangelical Craig Evans debate on NT reliability:
“Understanding Islam” KCAA 1050-AM Radio Show 32-kbs MP3 audio files (Sept.2009-Feb.2012: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cbgcj3oz8ud9i74/kFzeftqJoh
“Understanding Islam” KCAA 1050-AM radio show scripts
Introduction to Ahmadiyyat (Video link)
“Voice of Islam” radio shows (1-15 from 2002)
Holy Quran Arabic recitation by M. Rashid Alafasy
Quran CD in English and Arabic (AMC Portland Jama’at production)
Abdur Raheem Hubbs’ short video on “Muhammad in the Bible”:
GHAFFAR’S BLOG POSTS. . .
06-03-17: SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2017/06/seeing-forest-for-trees-in-fight.html
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2017/06/seeing-forest-for-trees-in-fight.html
12-02-16: LOVE IS WHAT GIVES US POWER OVER EVIL
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/12/rebuilding-our-way-to-better-america.html
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/12/rebuilding-our-way-to-better-america.html
10-15-16: MY ANSWER TO "A GERMAN'S VIEW ON ISLAM"
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html
08-17-16: MY COMMENTS ON AN ANTI-MUHAMMAD VIDEO
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/08/my-comments-on-anti-muhammad-video_17.html
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/08/my-comments-on-anti-muhammad-video_17.html
06-09-16: MUFTI MUHAMMAD SADIQ AWARD COMMENTS: How I became an Ahmadi Muslim
YouTube LINK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s
YouTube LINK:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iVhlzmJrGY&t=990s
12-01-15: POLICE IN THE BLACK AND WHITE SPOTLIGHT
BLOG LINK:
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2015/12/police-in-black-and-white-spotlight.html
05-04-15: 5,000 WORDS OF THANKS TO MR. BRADBURY
jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2015/12/police-in-black-and-white-spotlight.html
05-04-15: 5,000 WORDS OF THANKS TO MR. BRADBURY
04-22-15: 21st ANNIVERSARY OF MY 2nd CONVERSION
07-10-14: SOLVING THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE "TROUBLES"
07-09-14: A GEM FROM THE MASTER, RAY BRADBURY. . .
05-15-14: 10 WAYS TO BE CLOSER TO GOD
04-19-14: ONLY LOVE CAN HEAL HATE
04-03-14: SAYING “NO” TO THE CANCER OF WAR
03-27-14: SECOND COMING OF JESUS ALREADY HAPPENED
12-11-13: GOD IS ONE, NOT THREE-IN-ONE
11-08-13: PAKISTAN’S DEADLY BLASPHEMY LAWS (footnoted)
10-19-13: LIVING THE LESSONS OF ABRAHAM
10-04-13: THE HEALING PROPERTIES OF MYRRH wrt: JESUS
BLOG LINK: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-healing-properties-of-myrrh-and-why.html
09-21-13: MUHAMMAD: THE BEST MESSENGER OF ISLAM
08-18-13: PAKISTAN’S BLASPHEMY LAWS (OP-ED VERSION)
08-17-13: ARE MOSQUES HOTBEDS OF TERRORISM?
08-08-13: BLASPHEMY LAWS ARE THE REAL BLASPHEMY
07-20-13: RAMADHAN A TIME FOR RE-DEDICATION TO GOD
04-17-13: TERRORISM WILL NEVER SUCCEED
03-16-13: PEACE AND SALVATION THROUGH THE MESSIAH
03-15-13: PEACE STARTS WITH JUSTICE AND RESPECT
03-14-13: WHO ARE THE REAL BLASPHEMERS IN PAKISTAN?
01-26-13: GOD’S LAWS ARE A BLESSING NOT A CURSE
01-05-13: CHAI WITH IMAM SHAMSHAD
12-15-12: CHRISTMAS – A REMINDER TO FOLLOW CHRIST
12-15-12: WHY JESUS DID NOT DIE ON THE CROSS
12-6-12: SAVING MALALA TO SAVE ISLAM
8-22-12: RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFO ON AHMADIYYAT
7-2-12: DEFENDING THE QUR'AN [Reply to 2003 Newsweek article]
7-2-12: FREEDOM WITHOUT JUSTICE ISN'T FREEDOM
7-2-12: 9-11: AFFECTS AND EFFECTS 10 YEARS LATER
7-2-12: WHY THE MURDER OF AHMADIS IN PAKISTAN
SHOULD CONCERN AMERICANS
7-2-12: WHEN THE POLICE ARE THE CRIMINALS
6-30-12: WE ARE HERE TO LOVE GOD AND EACH OTHER
6-30-12: SAUDI GRAND MUFTI'S EDICT GOES AGAINST ISLAM
6-30-12: OSAMA BIN LADEN -- AN ICON NO MORE
6-30-12: NOAH'S ARK FOR THE MUSLIMS
6-30-12: KILLING MUSLIMS IN THE NAME OF ALLAH
6-30-12: IF JESUS VISITED PAKISTAN
6-30-12: FEAR IS THE STONEMASON
6-26-12: REFLECTIONS OF THE PROPHET (saw)
6-23-12: WHY PEOPLE DON'T ACCEPT ISLAM
EVEN WHEN THEY BELIEVE IT'S TRUE
5-16-12: A HEART ALIGHT ON THE WINGS OF JOY
SUNG FORTH IN THE CALL TO PRAYER
5-16-12: IS WAR THE ONLY WAY TO PEACE?
4-4-12: THE ABRAHAMIC FAITHS: GOD'S TIMELINE TO ISLAM
4-4-12: DEFINING ISLAM WITH LOVE OR HATE
BLOG LINK: jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2012/04/defining-islam-with-love-or-hate.html
Saturday, June 3, 2017
SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS
Pres. Trump has returned home from his first tour of the Middle-East and Europe, evoking praise and vitriol here and abroad, depending on whether you view the world and its myriad, interconnected complexities through Trump's myopic green-colored glasses or not. What is painfully obvious is that Trump is woefully ignorant of, and thus completely unprepared to handle, the realities of statecraft on today's world stage with its many volatile players.
Just look at his visit with the Saudis. With one hand he gestures for peace across the Middle-East while calling for a crackdown on Sunni Jihadist extremism, yet with his other hand, he shields his eyes from five decades of Saudi-funded and exported Sunni Jihadist extremism while selling the Saudis $110-billion in US-made weapons. (This is like hiring a known pedophile to run your daycare center!) And these weapons will inevitably be used against Shia (read: Iran-friendly) factions in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen -- which means some of that $110-billion in bombs and bullets will end up in the hands of ISIS.
This will result in even more death and destruction and even more refugees seeking escape to anywhere safe. So it understandably angers and amazes me how some people can raise the alarm over an influx of Muslim refugees -- created by the instability of their war-torn countries -- and signal the doom and downfall of their own countries while doing nothing to help prevent the death and destruction in Muslim countries which produce these unwanted refugees in the first place.
Go back a decade or so before Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen were embroiled in their political and military upheavals and you'll see tens of millions of Muslims living relatively peacefully in relatively stable societies. True, most were ruled by iron-fisted dictators, but the reality is that America and other Western nations, as well as Russia, were often instrumental in putting those dictators in power and were more than happy to turn a blind eye to these dictators' evils and repression of their respective populations.
So it's hardly a surprise when these same populations rise up and demand their freedoms the first chance they get. Sadly, power vacuums are rarely, if ever, filled by altruistic, kind-hearted, benevolent statesmen who love their countries, but usually by murderous tyrants and despots who only crave self-enrichment and power.
The answer to this whole debacle is simple: the US and all those who seek to end the problem of radical Islam need to empower the reformist and moderate forms of Islam such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (visit Alislam.org, MuslimsForPeace.org, KhalifaofIslam.com) and also work to re-educate the Muslim world that, for the past half-century, has been fed a steady diet of hate and ignorance from the Saudi-funded madrasas (Islamic schools) teaching their radical Wahhabi-Salafi doctrines and intolerant, violent Jihadist version of Islam. (I know, easier said than done, but that’s the real solution in a nutshell.)
Then, at the same time, the US and her allies must stop supporting -- with their dollars, guns, and silence -- the root sponsors of this self-destructive interpretation of Islam. Then, after a generation of Muslims has been raised without this Saudi-financed Wahhabi-Salafi doctrinal cancer in Islam, you will see the Islam that existed for at least a millennia after the birth of Islam in the 7th century AD.
History is the best barometer of what is actually true -- be it in a culture, a philosophy, a religion or a civilization. Barbarism never produces civilization. Even a cursory review of Islamic history demonstrates a worldview and reality where education, literacy, science, freedom of religion and interfaith tolerance, freedom to dissent, and technological advancements were all in evidence for well over a thousand years. This was not the result of the absence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world, but the presence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world.
Of course, Islamic history is not pristine, let alone perfect. As I often remark, “Religion would be great if there were no people in it.” But because people are often driven by fear, greed, insecurity and hate, it is no surprise that you have in a religion’s Holy Book all the good things it commands its followers to do and live by, and then you have the lives they often choose to live according to their own lower, animalistic natures instead of their own higher, moral and spiritual selves. It’s a wonder God puts up with us at all, given our frequent disobedience, arrogance, and outright disbelief in Him and His prophets and His Teachings. But all that is on us, not God.
All Holy Scriptures give the same core of ethical and moral tenets so we can freely choose to strive to better ourselves instead of butcher each other. Thank God I believe in a God Who is Patient and Forgiving or we would all be doomed and in deep spiritual trouble. The liability and responsibility, of course, are still firmly and entirely laid upon our shoulders. And this goes for the believers in any Faith, or for atheists who believe in no god but subscribe nonetheless to an ethical code and the sense of having an innate moral compass to be adhered to and not ignored.
For those who do believe in a Higher Power, God never forces us to do or be good. If He did, we would be little more than meat puppets. God gives us the freedom of choice and also the responsibility for the consequences of our choices. It is the key moral and spiritual arrangement between God and mankind that validates our purpose in this life.
The downside of this is that it does not remove evil from the world. But that, in fact, is also the upside as well and the main point of our existence. In whatever form evil takes and in whatever religious garb evil people seek to cloak themselves in, combating and defeating evil is our job, not God’s. That is why Islam clearly states that it is a Muslim’s duty to stand up to and fight against tyranny and evil – especially when it hides behind the name of Islam.
It would be nice to believe that Muslims can and will do this by and for themselves, but the reality, like the reality of Hitler and Nazi Germany, forebodes otherwise. When someone is dying from cancer – one they may vociferously deny is afflicting them in the first place – it becomes incumbent on others to do whatever they can to help affect a cure. The silent majority on every side of the issue needs to step up and speak out and be proactive and not just reactive. As the famous adage goes, “All that is required for the triumph of evil is for the good to do nothing.”
So decrying a “problem” is good in that you call attention to it, but unless you understand the problem and how it came to be and what you can actually do about it, you will find yourself woefully ill-equipped to solve it. This is the case with almost all the articles and essays and blogs and videos out there calling Islam a “terrorist religion” out to destroy the West.
The “solutions” presented are usually knee-jerk, reactionary, emotionally or religiously biased, and they invariably suffer from faulty and misinformed perspectives mired in fear and ignorance that only exacerbate the situation, making real, substantive and effective responses nearly impossible to achieve. The danger of this is obvious and often lost in the din of alarm bell rhetoric and the stampede of the frightened herd.
And it is this danger of rushing headlong into a hasty and flawed reaction to the very real problem of ”Islamist” terrorism that will doom the fight against it from the very start. As in any battle with an unpredictable opponent, the secret to winning depends on understanding your adversary, knowing the geography and pitfalls of the battlefield, and having the knowledge and resources to thoroughly defeat your enemy.
In this battle, the weaponry is overwhelmingly ideological and not military. The physical fight is always the “Lesser Jihad” – while the “Greater Jihad” is the much more difficult challenge to heal the hearts and minds of those infected with the deadly myopia of extremist, radical Islam. But that battle can be won. It must be won. The consequences are too dire to contemplate if we – Muslims and our religious and secular allies – fail to act. There is no room anymore for a “silent majority” on either side. It is high time for Muslims especially to step up and deal with this cancer of deadly extremism in the body of Islam.
[ This essay is an excerpt from my post titled: My Answer to 'A German's View on Islam' at: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html ]
Just look at his visit with the Saudis. With one hand he gestures for peace across the Middle-East while calling for a crackdown on Sunni Jihadist extremism, yet with his other hand, he shields his eyes from five decades of Saudi-funded and exported Sunni Jihadist extremism while selling the Saudis $110-billion in US-made weapons. (This is like hiring a known pedophile to run your daycare center!) And these weapons will inevitably be used against Shia (read: Iran-friendly) factions in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen -- which means some of that $110-billion in bombs and bullets will end up in the hands of ISIS.
This will result in even more death and destruction and even more refugees seeking escape to anywhere safe. So it understandably angers and amazes me how some people can raise the alarm over an influx of Muslim refugees -- created by the instability of their war-torn countries -- and signal the doom and downfall of their own countries while doing nothing to help prevent the death and destruction in Muslim countries which produce these unwanted refugees in the first place.
Go back a decade or so before Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen were embroiled in their political and military upheavals and you'll see tens of millions of Muslims living relatively peacefully in relatively stable societies. True, most were ruled by iron-fisted dictators, but the reality is that America and other Western nations, as well as Russia, were often instrumental in putting those dictators in power and were more than happy to turn a blind eye to these dictators' evils and repression of their respective populations.
So it's hardly a surprise when these same populations rise up and demand their freedoms the first chance they get. Sadly, power vacuums are rarely, if ever, filled by altruistic, kind-hearted, benevolent statesmen who love their countries, but usually by murderous tyrants and despots who only crave self-enrichment and power.
The answer to this whole debacle is simple: the US and all those who seek to end the problem of radical Islam need to empower the reformist and moderate forms of Islam such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (visit Alislam.org, MuslimsForPeace.org, KhalifaofIslam.com) and also work to re-educate the Muslim world that, for the past half-century, has been fed a steady diet of hate and ignorance from the Saudi-funded madrasas (Islamic schools) teaching their radical Wahhabi-Salafi doctrines and intolerant, violent Jihadist version of Islam. (I know, easier said than done, but that’s the real solution in a nutshell.)
Then, at the same time, the US and her allies must stop supporting -- with their dollars, guns, and silence -- the root sponsors of this self-destructive interpretation of Islam. Then, after a generation of Muslims has been raised without this Saudi-financed Wahhabi-Salafi doctrinal cancer in Islam, you will see the Islam that existed for at least a millennia after the birth of Islam in the 7th century AD.
History is the best barometer of what is actually true -- be it in a culture, a philosophy, a religion or a civilization. Barbarism never produces civilization. Even a cursory review of Islamic history demonstrates a worldview and reality where education, literacy, science, freedom of religion and interfaith tolerance, freedom to dissent, and technological advancements were all in evidence for well over a thousand years. This was not the result of the absence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world, but the presence of true Islamic thinking and government in the world.
Of course, Islamic history is not pristine, let alone perfect. As I often remark, “Religion would be great if there were no people in it.” But because people are often driven by fear, greed, insecurity and hate, it is no surprise that you have in a religion’s Holy Book all the good things it commands its followers to do and live by, and then you have the lives they often choose to live according to their own lower, animalistic natures instead of their own higher, moral and spiritual selves. It’s a wonder God puts up with us at all, given our frequent disobedience, arrogance, and outright disbelief in Him and His prophets and His Teachings. But all that is on us, not God.
All Holy Scriptures give the same core of ethical and moral tenets so we can freely choose to strive to better ourselves instead of butcher each other. Thank God I believe in a God Who is Patient and Forgiving or we would all be doomed and in deep spiritual trouble. The liability and responsibility, of course, are still firmly and entirely laid upon our shoulders. And this goes for the believers in any Faith, or for atheists who believe in no god but subscribe nonetheless to an ethical code and the sense of having an innate moral compass to be adhered to and not ignored.
For those who do believe in a Higher Power, God never forces us to do or be good. If He did, we would be little more than meat puppets. God gives us the freedom of choice and also the responsibility for the consequences of our choices. It is the key moral and spiritual arrangement between God and mankind that validates our purpose in this life.
The downside of this is that it does not remove evil from the world. But that, in fact, is also the upside as well and the main point of our existence. In whatever form evil takes and in whatever religious garb evil people seek to cloak themselves in, combating and defeating evil is our job, not God’s. That is why Islam clearly states that it is a Muslim’s duty to stand up to and fight against tyranny and evil – especially when it hides behind the name of Islam.
It would be nice to believe that Muslims can and will do this by and for themselves, but the reality, like the reality of Hitler and Nazi Germany, forebodes otherwise. When someone is dying from cancer – one they may vociferously deny is afflicting them in the first place – it becomes incumbent on others to do whatever they can to help affect a cure. The silent majority on every side of the issue needs to step up and speak out and be proactive and not just reactive. As the famous adage goes, “All that is required for the triumph of evil is for the good to do nothing.”
So decrying a “problem” is good in that you call attention to it, but unless you understand the problem and how it came to be and what you can actually do about it, you will find yourself woefully ill-equipped to solve it. This is the case with almost all the articles and essays and blogs and videos out there calling Islam a “terrorist religion” out to destroy the West.
The “solutions” presented are usually knee-jerk, reactionary, emotionally or religiously biased, and they invariably suffer from faulty and misinformed perspectives mired in fear and ignorance that only exacerbate the situation, making real, substantive and effective responses nearly impossible to achieve. The danger of this is obvious and often lost in the din of alarm bell rhetoric and the stampede of the frightened herd.
And it is this danger of rushing headlong into a hasty and flawed reaction to the very real problem of ”Islamist” terrorism that will doom the fight against it from the very start. As in any battle with an unpredictable opponent, the secret to winning depends on understanding your adversary, knowing the geography and pitfalls of the battlefield, and having the knowledge and resources to thoroughly defeat your enemy.
In this battle, the weaponry is overwhelmingly ideological and not military. The physical fight is always the “Lesser Jihad” – while the “Greater Jihad” is the much more difficult challenge to heal the hearts and minds of those infected with the deadly myopia of extremist, radical Islam. But that battle can be won. It must be won. The consequences are too dire to contemplate if we – Muslims and our religious and secular allies – fail to act. There is no room anymore for a “silent majority” on either side. It is high time for Muslims especially to step up and deal with this cancer of deadly extremism in the body of Islam.
[ This essay is an excerpt from my post titled: My Answer to 'A German's View on Islam' at: http://jonathanmaghaffar.blogspot.com/2016/10/my-answer-to-germans-view-on-islam.html ]
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