The Moslem world today [Archives:2002/21/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By Hassan Al-Haifi
One of the biggest dangers facing Islam today is the gross misconceptions that are being disseminated about this phenomenal religion. The source of this danger is not just the traditional adversaries, who still consider Islam a threat to their cultural and civilized heritage and the No. 1 adversary of Western Civilization, etc. Islam, despite its simplicity and harmony with human instinct and conformity to basic common sense is, ironically, being erroneously conveyed and understood by even some of the most seemingly astute propagators, missionaries and activists. The first obvious threat to Islam is that the followers of the faith, for one reason or the other, generally have veered away from the holistic orientation of their teachings. Moslems are required to feel very much attached to all Moslems throughout the world. The brotherhood of Islam does not recognize sovereign dominions based on any other affiliations once the creed of Islam is adopted (or for that matter inherited).
Thus, Moslems theoretically have to do something about the obvious lack of cohesiveness amongst the faithful, which came about as other powers and forces held sway in deciding the fate of the world. This is not to say that Moslems throughout the world should make an abrupt attempt to erase their borders and form one state to govern all the Moslem World. Practically speaking, this will obviously disrupt the lives of millions of people and may in fact have negative results, as confusion and the absence of a systematic approach would only create a chaotic climate. However, Moslems, even in their present arrangement, must start to strive to remove some of their attitude of disassociation from the events and affairs that concern other Moslems. Furthermore, they are compelled to direct their efforts towards indeed arriving to that Utopian Moslem society, to which the Moslems of Indonesia for example are concerned about the welfare of the Moslems of Mauritania, as if they were from Java or Sumatra.
Of course this kind of thinking is not strange to Moslems and in fact, Moslems throughout the grass roots level have no difficulty in appreciating such ideas and indeed making them work. As witnessed by the large demonstrations everywhere in the Moslem World, in support of the Palestinians during the last (and continuing) Israeli incursions, throughout the world, Moslem constituencies were quick to see the grave suffering of their brethren in Palestine. They were also quick to realize that Israel was adamant on the desecration of its third holiest shrines in Islam and thus had to come out and express their disapproval at the silence of the international community to the crimes being perpetrated by the chauvinist Zionist zealots.
On the other hand, Moslems of the world should sense that Islam is being reflected by such horrendously naïve behavior of its own followers, who have done great harm to the idealistic, ethical and moralistic principles, that once made Islam a shining example of sound human community spirit. There is no question about it that such followers of the faith are either misguided or misinformed about their own creed. They may also be operating with some clandestine arrangements that have nothing to do with Islam, knowingly or unknowingly (it really does not matter which, the result is the same), for their own narrow-minded aims and interests. Or, they may be genuine in their intentions, but they lack the proper knowledge in Islamic jurisprudence and ethical and moral conduct to be able to carry out their objectives in a manner that will not corrupt the true image of Islam and provide common grounds for non-Moslems to direct an uncalled for animosity to Moslems everywhere. Much damage has been done to Islam by the events of the last three to five decades, and the saddest part of it all is that Moslems themselves should be the first to blame. First of all the political repression that most Moslem states is governed under has clamped down on popular initiative and community spirit altogether. Second of all, many questionable movements, under different Islamic guises and under different manifestations, were allowed to operate in the Moslem World and even in non-Moslem countries. These movements (which could have a common origin) were allowed to ferment sizable constituencies through various well-organized programs and substantial funding. When they were well entrenched, they claim to be the sole voice of Islam, rejecting any views that did not coincide with theirs.
The fact of the matter is that Islam is innocent of their narrow and misguided dogma and approach, not to mention their outlook on life (and death) in general.

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