C L O S E R Internal Debates - 7/11 - C L O S E R

‘No god but God’: The War Within Islam – New York Times

Posted on May 30th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

‘No god but God’: The War Within Islam – New York Times
‘No god but God’: The War Within Islam
By MAX RODENBECK

THESE are rough times for Islam. It is not simply that frictions have intensified lately between Muslims and followers of other faiths. There is trouble, and perhaps even greater trouble, brewing inside the Abode of Peace itself, the notional Islamic ummah or nation that comprises a fifth of humanity.

News reports reveal glimpses of such trouble — for instance, in the form of flaring strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in places like Iraq and Pakistan. Yet the greater tensions, while similarly rooted in the distant past, are less visible to the wider world. The rapid expansion of literacy among Muslims in the past half-century, and of access to new means of communication in the last decade, have created a tremendous momentum for change. Furious debates rage on the Internet, for example, about issues like the true meaning of jihad, or how to interpret and apply Islamic law, or how Muslim minorities should engage with the societies they live in.

What is unfolding, Reza Aslan argues in his wise and passionate book, ”No god but God,” is nothing less than a struggle over who will ultimately define the sweeping ”Islamic Reformation” that he believes is already well under way across much of the Muslim world. The West, he says, is ”merely a bystander — an unwary yet complicit casualty of a rivalry that is raging in Islam over who will write the next chapter in its story.”

i d e a n t: Open Ijtihad

Posted on May 11th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Research International, Young Muslims.

i d e a n t: Open Ijtihad

[The following presentation was made at the Los Angeles Latino Muslim Association’s annual meeting, April 16 2005.]

Open Ijtihad:
Technology and New Opportunities for Community Building and Activism

ijtihackers

I want to cover four major themes in this presentation. First, I want to say a couple of words about ijtihad, or independent reasoning in Islam. Then, I want to use the concept of open source software to help illustrate the differences between a closed and an open religious system. Third, I want to suggest a methodology for those of us committed to practicing ijtihad in an open system. And finally, I want to suggest ways to use new information and communication technologies to aid in this process. As an example of such applications of technology, I will give a brief introduction to blogs, or web journals.

If we think back to the so-called ‘golden age’ of Islam, we would recognize many characteristics of the kind of ‘open’ system I have summarized here: research, independent reasoning, debate, the forming of networks across spaces and institutions, and even across different religious and cultural affinities. Innovation was encouraged then. Ijtihad was seen as a necessity. But with innovation and ijtihad came responsibility. Let’s embrace that responsibility again, and let’s do our part in ensuring that all of humanity works together towards a more peaceful, just and enlightened existence.

Protected: Koran: Bron of obstakel voor integratie

Posted on May 7th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

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Fjordman: Is Swedish Democracy Collapsing?

Posted on May 6th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues, Young Muslims.

Fjordman: Is Swedish Democracy Collapsing?

A top Muslim scholar said the Muslim minority in Sweden would abide by Swedish law in confronting a Christian preacher who insulted Prophet Muhammad, urging his fellow Swedish Muslims not to take the law into their own hands or commit any violent acts to avenge the remarks of the Christian cleric. Norwegian celebrity evangelist preacher Runar Sï¿½gaard, in a sermon at Filadelfia church in Stockholm on March 20, repeated claims that Muhammad was “a confused pedophile” since his wives included a girl aged nine years old. Sï¿½gaard is under protection by Swedish police after receiving death threats. The sermon has triggered fears of a religious war in Sweden. It is essential according to Islamic teachings to respond to those who defame Muhammad. Muslim extremists in Sweden have urged Al-Qaida’s al-Zarqawi to take action in the matter, and radicals of the Salafyist variety have posted a very explicit threat to launch a wave of terrorist attacks against Sweden because of the “insult”. The threats were posted on a number of known Islamist forums and were accompanied by rather lurid graphics.

It’s seem like Sweden gets its share of problems with militants. Many of the problems and issues described in Fjordman’s piece, are probably familiar for the Dutch, certainly for the Fortuynists. I was wondering however, as we can see a kind of countermovement (well the early beginning of it) against these anti-western militants on many of the Dutch forums and MSN-groups, is there a kind of countermovement among Muslims in Sweden?

The message of the Swedish militants is strikingly similar of that of the Dutch: jihad, jihad and again jihad. What to do after jihad? They don’t know. When you look at the questions and needs of most young Muslims, you will see that these militants don’t have an answer. They only have some kind of answer on some political issues. Their religious language therefore can not conceal that we are dealing with political militants and not religious militants per sï¿½.

The connect gangraping and all that with Islam (muslims) is ridiculous (and nowhere is the proof in the article) but nevertheless very important for the image of muslims among non-muslims. It is also an example of what happens in the rest of the article of Fjordman. The anti-establishment message is connected with crime-issues, migration and (a lack of) swedish culture and identity. It looks somewhat like a pre-fortuyn era in Sweden and when someone like Fortuyn will show up there, he/she will probably be able to get a lot of votes.

Sweden is already a banana republic, perhaps on its way to becoming an Islamic republic. Swedish culture is disappearing with astonishing speed in front of our eyes. If the trend isn’t stopped, the Swedish nation will simply cease to exist in any meaningful way during the first half of this century. The country that gave us Bergman, ABBA and Volvo could become known as the Bosnia of northern Europe. The “Swedish model” will no longer refer to a stable and peaceful state with an advanced economy, but an Eurabian horror story of utopian multiculturalism, Socialist mismanagement and runaway immigration. Sweden has national elections in 2006. This will be one of the last opportunities the country has to resolve its towering internal tensions in peaceful and civilized ways. Some fear it’s already too late.

Let’s hope for the Swedes that they will realize in time that multiculturalism isn’t the solution for the problems and that Fortuynesque politics isn’t the solution either.

USATODAY.com – Canadian Muslim writer riles, counters radical Islam

Posted on May 1st, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues.

USATODAY.com – Canadian Muslim writer riles, counters radical Islam
Canadian Muslim writer riles, counters radical Islam
TORONTO (AP) â€” Irshad Manji has plenty of enemies among her fellow Muslims. Her critique of Islam is frank and fierce. She defends the invasion of Iraq. She sympathizes with Israel. She’s a lesbian and doesn’t try to hide it.

Protected: Nahed Selim in de Volkskrant

Posted on April 18th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates.

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“Women’s Rights” in Islam

Posted on April 17th, 2005 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Yesterday, see below, i had an entry called “Welles Nietes: de vrouw in de Koran” (It is, it isn’t, women in the Quran) about a Dutch discussion on the place of women in Islam. One female Muslim participant said Islam oppresses women, the other said Islam does not. This in itself is not very interesting and surprising. The same goes for Idiocy of Gender Equality: The Case of the Woman Imam by Yamin Zakaria. What is interesting in all these contributions is how people use ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ to legitimize their opinions. Zakaria states:

It is only rational and consistent to protect the rights of everyone including women by invoking the Islamic laws instead of resorting to secular arguments that are rooted in feminism. If secular values are the criteria then it makes little sense to interpret Islam to fit into the secular garb but far greater sense to simply abandon it. Why go for secular compatible Islam instead of pure secularism? It simply makes no sense. Unfortunately there are even feminists in Hijab along with their male apologists in leash, many of whom are also disguised as Islamic scholars with their beards and robes, are using Islamic texts to promote non-Islamic ideas like womanï¿½s rights, gender equality as Islamic, wittingly or unwittingly. If a man or a woman has been denied their rights, we invoke the Islamic laws as remedy instead of viewing the problem as though it is rooted in gender differences.

Had Islam and Muslim men been the real oppressors of women, the feminist movement would have arisen from within the Islamic societies. Indeed, the origin of such movements perhaps reflects where the real oppression of women existed and still exists! No one can explain why Islam supposedly anti-Woman continues to attract more women than men. Both, logic and Islamic texts dictates that womanï¿½s rights have no place in Islam, those who speak in its name has the worst track record in violating the rights of womankind. It is a political tool like the UN resolutions, employed selectively against opponents. Otherwise we would have seen it deployed in a consistent manner.

In response to the issue of womenï¿½s equality being pressed into the face of Islam, we as Muslimï¿½s have to set our own agenda and not be baited by mischief makers who have a malignant intent towards Islam and Muslims. With this self inspection we must face truths about the broad experience of Muslimï¿½s across the world and the variable application of the Islamic laws, which is causing problems.

Although he makes a distorted sketch of the West, she certainly has a point. Who decides what women’s rights are, what emancipation is? Musims or secular non-muslims? By asking himself these questions he also shows some inconsistencies in the arguments of Muslims who want to copy the ‘western-style’ feminism into Islam. She did this in another article for example, where she (among other things) criticized Amina Wudud:

Amina Abdul Wadud led a mix congregation of male and female Muslims in a Friday (Jumma) prayer for the first time in the 1500 years of Islamic history. Again the impetus for such acts emanates from the hostile secular environment. After the prayer, she are her clique stated that they were instilling gender equality and womenï¿½s rights. Ironically, Amina Abdul Wadud did that whilst wearing the Islamic headscarf (Hijab) which is considered by many to be at odds with gender equality and a symbol of the oppression of women!

Her claims of reinterpreting the text to establish ï¿½justiceï¿½ for women displays her arrogance. Let us put aside the ï¿½evilï¿½ and impartial men. At the very beginnings of Islam there were the wives of the Prophet (SAW) with many other female personalities, followed by the successive generation of women scholars for centuries. Do we assume that they have all failed in their fundamental duty and hence overlooked their legitimate right to lead the Friday prayer of mix congregation? To the contrary segregation of prayers was established from the onset, as women were instructed to pray behind the men. If that is the case then how women can lead the men in prayer while the rest of the women are behind the men in the first place.

In any case, justice for Amina Abdul Wadud is not from within Islam but a reformed version that is in compliance to her preconceived secular values like gender equality; – the real arbiter. And not surprisingly she also favour homosexual marriages and detests the clear cut penal codes in the Quran. A clear act of apostasy!

Gender equality is only an example of the general drive by the moderate brigades to constantly prove the compatibility of Islam with secular values. If Islam is proven to be compatible to secular notions, what reasons remain than for adhering to Islam? Why not simply adopt the original yard stick of secularism instead of clinging on to the secular-compatible ï¿½Islamï¿½. The exercise is very much an own goal scoring and completely folly. Given the choice between a genuine Rolls Royce and a close imitation it is well-known what most rational people would opt for.

The moderate brigade constantly shout about Womenï¿½s rights in Islam as a means to deflect criticisms emanating from the secular camp without once thinking about the credentials of those who are dispensing the criticisms. Do the critics have the right? To answer this question we need to examine their track record against what they preach. If they pass the test only then it makes sense to entertain their charges. Otherwise it is a pointless exercise to entertain the words of hypocrites.

What he says here is more or less, why should we remain Muslims if it is fully compatible, no even the same, as secularism? It is one of the most heard comments on ‘western-style’ feminism: we want emancipation, but we don’t want to be like you. What we see nowadays among young female Muslims is exactly that standpoint. We want equal rights, we want all the rights, including the right to live our religion the way we want to. And this is seems to be quite confusing for many people; Muslims and non-Muslims. Ow yes, the articles are written by a male Muslim.

You can find both articles of Zakaria below:
(more…)

"Women's Rights" in Islam

Posted on April 17th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Internal Debates, Some personal considerations, Young Muslims.

Yesterday, see below, i had an entry called “Welles Nietes: de vrouw in de Koran” (It is, it isn’t, women in the Quran) about a Dutch discussion on the place of women in Islam. One female Muslim participant said Islam oppresses women, the other said Islam does not. This in itself is not very interesting and surprising. The same goes for Idiocy of Gender Equality: The Case of the Woman Imam by Yamin Zakaria. What is interesting in all these contributions is how people use ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ to legitimize their opinions. Zakaria states:

It is only rational and consistent to protect the rights of everyone including women by invoking the Islamic laws instead of resorting to secular arguments that are rooted in feminism. If secular values are the criteria then it makes little sense to interpret Islam to fit into the secular garb but far greater sense to simply abandon it. Why go for secular compatible Islam instead of pure secularism? It simply makes no sense. Unfortunately there are even feminists in Hijab along with their male apologists in leash, many of whom are also disguised as Islamic scholars with their beards and robes, are using Islamic texts to promote non-Islamic ideas like womanï¿½s rights, gender equality as Islamic, wittingly or unwittingly. If a man or a woman has been denied their rights, we invoke the Islamic laws as remedy instead of viewing the problem as though it is rooted in gender differences.

Had Islam and Muslim men been the real oppressors of women, the feminist movement would have arisen from within the Islamic societies. Indeed, the origin of such movements perhaps reflects where the real oppression of women existed and still exists! No one can explain why Islam supposedly anti-Woman continues to attract more women than men. Both, logic and Islamic texts dictates that womanï¿½s rights have no place in Islam, those who speak in its name has the worst track record in violating the rights of womankind. It is a political tool like the UN resolutions, employed selectively against opponents. Otherwise we would have seen it deployed in a consistent manner.

In response to the issue of womenï¿½s equality being pressed into the face of Islam, we as Muslimï¿½s have to set our own agenda and not be baited by mischief makers who have a malignant intent towards Islam and Muslims. With this self inspection we must face truths about the broad experience of Muslimï¿½s across the world and the variable application of the Islamic laws, which is causing problems.

Although he makes a distorted sketch of the West, she certainly has a point. Who decides what women’s rights are, what emancipation is? Musims or secular non-muslims? By asking himself these questions he also shows some inconsistencies in the arguments of Muslims who want to copy the ‘western-style’ feminism into Islam. She did this in another article for example, where she (among other things) criticized Amina Wudud:

Amina Abdul Wadud led a mix congregation of male and female Muslims in a Friday (Jumma) prayer for the first time in the 1500 years of Islamic history. Again the impetus for such acts emanates from the hostile secular environment. After the prayer, she are her clique stated that they were instilling gender equality and womenï¿½s rights. Ironically, Amina Abdul Wadud did that whilst wearing the Islamic headscarf (Hijab) which is considered by many to be at odds with gender equality and a symbol of the oppression of women!

Her claims of reinterpreting the text to establish ï¿½justiceï¿½ for women displays her arrogance. Let us put aside the ï¿½evilï¿½ and impartial men. At the very beginnings of Islam there were the wives of the Prophet (SAW) with many other female personalities, followed by the successive generation of women scholars for centuries. Do we assume that they have all failed in their fundamental duty and hence overlooked their legitimate right to lead the Friday prayer of mix congregation? To the contrary segregation of prayers was established from the onset, as women were instructed to pray behind the men. If that is the case then how women can lead the men in prayer while the rest of the women are behind the men in the first place.

In any case, justice for Amina Abdul Wadud is not from within Islam but a reformed version that is in compliance to her preconceived secular values like gender equality; – the real arbiter. And not surprisingly she also favour homosexual marriages and detests the clear cut penal codes in the Quran. A clear act of apostasy!

Gender equality is only an example of the general drive by the moderate brigades to constantly prove the compatibility of Islam with secular values. If Islam is proven to be compatible to secular notions, what reasons remain than for adhering to Islam? Why not simply adopt the original yard stick of secularism instead of clinging on to the secular-compatible ï¿½Islamï¿½. The exercise is very much an own goal scoring and completely folly. Given the choice between a genuine Rolls Royce and a close imitation it is well-known what most rational people would opt for.

The moderate brigade constantly shout about Womenï¿½s rights in Islam as a means to deflect criticisms emanating from the secular camp without once thinking about the credentials of those who are dispensing the criticisms. Do the critics have the right? To answer this question we need to examine their track record against what they preach. If they pass the test only then it makes sense to entertain their charges. Otherwise it is a pointless exercise to entertain the words of hypocrites.

What he says here is more or less, why should we remain Muslims if it is fully compatible, no even the same, as secularism? It is one of the most heard comments on ‘western-style’ feminism: we want emancipation, but we don’t want to be like you. What we see nowadays among young female Muslims is exactly that standpoint. We want equal rights, we want all the rights, including the right to live our religion the way we want to. And this is seems to be quite confusing for many people; Muslims and non-Muslims. Ow yes, the articles are written by a male Muslim.

You can find both articles of Zakaria below:
(more…)

Welles Nietes: de vrouw in de Koran

Posted on April 16th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues.

Enige tijd geleden verscheen er op Frontaal Naakt een stuk ‘De Islam is wel degelijk vrouwvijandig‘ van Sharona Asghari.

Zij betoogt:

Dit is allemaal geen kwestie van persoonlijke interpretatie. De Koranregels zijn glasheldere aanbevelingen die door zowel vrouwen als mannen moeten worden nageleefd. Moslims geloven dat de Koran en de Sharia eeuwig en voor alle tijden zijn. De stelling dat sommige regels niet meer van toepassing zijn, gaat niet op. Dan wordt de Islam namelijk als geheel kwetsbaar, omdat dan alles een kwestie is van menselijke interpretatie. Hier kom ik tot de conclusie dat de Islam, en wel in zijn zuivere zin, de reden is waarom vrouwen al eeuwen, dag in dag uit, werden en nog worden onderdrukt en voor hun kleinste rechten moeten vechten. Moslims geloven dat Allah de allerhoogste is die weet heeft van alles, zelfs van onze ongedane daden. Als dat zo is, waarom heeft Allah dan de ongelijke rechten en plichten ingesteld? Hij wist immers dat mannen de Koran en de Sharia zouden gebruiken als middel tot vrouwenonderdrukking?

Het is de hoogste tijd om de Islam te bekritiseren en toe te geven dat vrouwen in de Islam niet gelijkwaardig zijn aan mannen en dat dit in tegenspraak is met de Universele Rechten van de Mens en met de Nederlandse wet.

In het stuk ‘Moslimvrouwen hebben een streepje voor‘ reageert Fahim Dieffenthaler (van de Ahmadi-beweging) daarop.

Het misverstand over de positie van de vrouw in de Islam berust zowel bij moslims als bij niet-moslims vooral op het verwarren van bescherming met onderdrukking of opsluiting. Het is een gemakkelijk misverstand: een beschermend huis kan door (jaloerse) omstanders een gevangenis worden genoemd, maar is niet zo bedoeld.

Met name dit laatste stuk op veel reacties rekenen. Opvallend is daarbij dat het voor een groot deel gaat om een discussie tussen gelovigen, waarbij niet-moslims zich dan mee gaan bemoeien en uitleggen hoe het in elkaar zit:

Weet mevrouw niet dat Mohammed zelve gezegd heeft dat de vrouw niet of nauwelijks kans heeft in het paradijs te komen (gelukkig maar, de druiven zijn er of zuur of maagden die van alles willen waar je als vrouwelijke paradijsganger weinig mee kunt), dus met die gelijkheid van zielen zit het ook niet helemaal zoals wij hier in het westen gelijkheid verstaan.
Wel ben ik blij voor de dame dat zij zich gelukkig voelt in haar gevangenis en ach, waant niet iedere uil zijn kind een adelaar?

Gelukkig zijn er ook nog die het wel snappen zoals Lagonda:

Een interessant probleem bij het discussieren over de inhoudelijke punten van een religie zien we ook hier weer de kop opsteken, namelijk dat een religie zich niet laat kennen door de bronnen ervan te bestuderen. De Koran is even rijk van inhoud als de Bijbel, en dat geeft een ieder de gelegenheid om erin te lezen wat men erin wenst te lezen. Het zogenaamd “op religie” gebaseerde gedrag wat hiervan het gevolg is, is vaak slecht (of helemaal niet) te rijmen met wat er in de bronnen te lezen valt.

En inderdaad. De theologische discussies zijn toch vooral voor moslims onderling lijkt me. Om vervolgens te begrijpen hoe een en ander werkt in het dagelijks leven, moeten we vooral niet beginnen met de oorspronkelijke bronnen van de islam, maar kijken naar de motivaties en betekenissen die mensen geven aan hun leven en de context waarbinnen zich dat afspeelt. Die verschilt dus per tijd en plaats. De betekenissen zijn vaak meervoudig omdat mensen niet alleen moslim zijn, maar ook man of vrouw, jong of oud, gehuwd ongehuwd, werkend of niet werkend, enzovoorts. Zoals veel christenen het niet op prijs zullen stellen dat moslims hen gaan vertellen hoe ze de Bijbel moeten interpreteren, zullen veel moslims een dergelijke excercitie van niet-moslims ook niet op prijs stellen. Laat dat dus maar aan moslims onderling over. Waar niet-moslims en moslims natuurlijk wel met elkaar over kunnen discussieren, is hoe en ander vervolgens in het dagelijks leven in de omgang met anderen (moslims en niet-moslims) zijn beslag krijgt. Doe je dat niet krijg je een simpele welles-nietes discussie en anders kun je nog wat constructiefs krijgen. Het aardige van Frontaal Naakt is, dat je beide ziet.

Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Posted on April 14th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Home / Headlines / Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)
Virtual people’s virtual Islam
by Abid Ullah Jan
(Sunday 10 April 2005)

“Young people in the Muslim world, with lust for sex and the glittering Western world before their eyes, find themselves sitting in this virtual world for hours on end, pausing only briefly and then going back on to chat as soon as they are done with other affairs. Many parents are totally oblivious of what their teenagers are doing late at night on the internet. Even watching pornography becomes a blessing by comparison with these chat rooms and infiltratorâ€™s moderated groups for the simple reason that pornography does not change their ideological orientation against Islam and it does not make one hate everything that is related to Muslims and Islam.”

Virtual people's virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Posted on April 14th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Public Islam, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

Home / Headlines / Virtual people’s virtual Islam – Media Monitors Network (MMN)
Virtual people’s virtual Islam
by Abid Ullah Jan
(Sunday 10 April 2005)

“Young people in the Muslim world, with lust for sex and the glittering Western world before their eyes, find themselves sitting in this virtual world for hours on end, pausing only briefly and then going back on to chat as soon as they are done with other affairs. Many parents are totally oblivious of what their teenagers are doing late at night on the internet. Even watching pornography becomes a blessing by comparison with these chat rooms and infiltratorâ€™s moderated groups for the simple reason that pornography does not change their ideological orientation against Islam and it does not make one hate everything that is related to Muslims and Islam.”

Tariq Ramadan: An International call for Moratorium on corporal punishment, stoning and the death penalty in the Islamic World

Posted on March 31st, 2005 by .
Categories: Important Publications, Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands.

In several European newspapers an article written by Tariq Ramadan today. In the Netherlands this article appeared in NRC Handelsblad called: Stop tijdelijk toepassing van shari’a.

Tariq Ramadan is very popular among many European young Muslims. His message to them, in short, is that they have no excuse for not behaving like and being a good Muslim in Europe. He is controversial because of, among other things, his vagueness about several items in the shari’a. This article can be seen as an attempt to clarify that position: he calls for a moratorium on applying the shari’a and for a discussion about the sources of the shari’a.

In the name of the scriptural sources, the Islamic teachings, and the contemporary Muslim conscience, statements must be made and decisions need to be taken.

[…]

we launch today a call for an immediate international moratorium on corporal punishment, stoning and the death penalty in all Muslim majority countries. Considering that the opinions of most scholars, regarding the comprehension of the texts and the application of hudÃ»d, are neither explicit nor unanimous (indeed there is not even a clear majority), and bearing in mind that political systems and the state of the majority Muslim societies do not guarantee a just and equal treatment of individuals before the law, it is our moral obligation and religious responsibility to demand for the immediate suspension of the application of the hudÃ»d which is inaccurately accepted as an application of â€œIslamic sharÃ®â€™aâ€.
This call doubles itself with a series of basic questions addressed to the body of Islamic religious authorities of the world, whatever their tradition (sunnÃ® or shÃ®â€™Ã®), their school of thought (hanÃ¢fÃ®, mÃ¢likÃ®, jaâ€™farÃ®, etc.) or their tendencies (literalist, salafÃ®, reformist, etc.)

or in Dutch:

Ik roep op tot een onmiddellijk moratorium in de islamitisch wereld in naam van de principes van de islam zelf.

Voor het Westen zijn lijfstraffen, steniging en doodstraf in naam van een religieuze verwijzing die aan een hele maatschappij wordt opgelegd niet aanvaardbaar: men moet deze praktijken zonder meer veroordelen.
De islamitische wereld geeft zeer tegenstrijdige signalen af: harde en definitieve veroordelingen komen van een kleine minderheid van intellectuelen of sociale en politieke actoren, terwijl bepaalde regeringen proberen hun `islamitische’ karakter te laten zien door de toepassing van deze repressieve praktijken.
Delen van de islamitische wereld (van Nigeria tot MaleisiÃ«) eisen strikte toepassing van de shari’a, terwijl de meeste ulema’s (islamitische schriftgeleerden – red.) verzekeren dat deze straffen `bijna nooit opgelegd kunnen worden’ (door op de vereiste voorwaarden te wijzen), maar zij vermijden zich daarover duidelijk uit te spreken (meestal om hun geloofwaardigheid bij de bevolking niet te verliezen).

(The article in the NRC is somewhat different from the original call).

On Ramadan’s website you can also find several comments already.
For the complete text in English and Dutch: (more…)

Protected: Moslimstudenten worstelen met evolutie

Posted on March 31st, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Young Muslims.

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Prayer service led by women

Posted on March 30th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

The discussion about the prayer service led by Islamic studies professor Amina Wadud is not over. She led 80 to 100 men and women in Muslim prayer at a church in New York. Muslim clerics denounced her actions and some have suggested that it was part of a plot to corrupt Islam, which requires separate religious services for men and women. The Washington Times has a story on the “heightened state” of security at Virginia Commonwealth University. University spokeswoman Pamela Lepley said on Saturday that inflammatory comments on Internet forums discussing Miss Wadud’s actions and her views about the role of women in Islam “raise concerns.”

No specific threats have been made, but security is at a “heightened state,” Miss Lepley said. The university has consulted Virginia and federal agencies.
(more…)

Protected: Trouw, nieuws & achtergronden – Theo van Gogh / Die 'viezerik' heeft ons wel geholpen

Posted on March 15th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Trouw, nieuws & achtergronden – Theo van Gogh / Die ‘viezerik’ heeft ons wel geholpen

Posted on March 15th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Young Muslims, Youth culture (as a practice).

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Protected: Trouw, nieuws & achtergronden – Allochtone moeder wil blijven werken

Posted on March 15th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Multiculti Issues, Young Muslims.

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Protected: Discussie en bezinning op het Driestar College

Posted on March 12th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Gouda Issues, Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Religion Other.

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Women and Islam: Erotic Novel Breaks Muslim Taboos – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Posted on March 10th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates.

Women and Islam: Erotic Novel Breaks Muslim Taboos – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE
Erotic Novel Breaks Muslim Taboos

By Romain Leick

A Muslim woman breaks the taboos of her culture: using a pseudonym, she publishes an erotic tale divulging the secret sexual lives and cravings of Muslim women. The book was a phenomenon in France, but conservative Muslims have attacked it as trash. If her identity were revealed, she fears she would be stoned in her native Morocco.

You have to like her writing (for me it is a little bit to vulgar sometimes) but:

Nedjma wants to shock the world. Using an odd coupling of semon and prayer, she breaks the traditional wall of silence behind which Islamic women live and behind which their sex lives are obscured.

Although the muslim world has a rich erotic culture there is certainly some taboo on it as well :

Anger, says enigmatic author Nedjma, was probably the main motivation that propelled her book. Anger over the backwardness, the fanaticism, the delusion, the ignorance, and violence in the Arab world. Sexuality, pleasure in her own body, the separation of love and sin showed her the way to freedom. All the evils of an Islamic society that feels itself threatened by the West, and therefore constantly tempted to close itself in cultural autism, are mirrored in the oppression of women.

Jezus-Moslims: Hoe islamieten Jezus erbij nemen

Posted on March 8th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Religion Other.

Nog nooit van gehoord, nu gelezen inTrouw, religie & filosofie – Jezus-Moslims

Volgens de Belgische zendeling en theologiestudent Jaap Hansum, afgelopen weken in orthodox-christelijke media aan het woord, is een Jezus-moslim niet alleen iemand die zich door de koranische Isa (Jezus) laat inspireren. ,,Hij aanvaardt de kern van het evangelie, inclusief het verzoeningswerk van Christus en zijn opstanding.”

Een Jezus-moslim is iemand die zich als een moslim gedraagt, maar zich ook tot het christendom aangetrokken voelt. Hij of zij doet mee aan het gebed in de moskee en aan de ramadan en draagt wellicht islamitische kleding. Jezus-moslims hebben zich meestal niet laten dopen, en doen niet mee aan het avondmaal, dat in de veelal evangelische kerken die ze bezoeken, is voorbehouden aan gelovigen die ‘all the way’ gaan.

In het artikel wordt onder andere de vraag gesteld of dit nu een overgangsfase is of gewoon een nieuwe stroming. Waarschijnlijk zijn beide zeer goed mogelijk.

Doneer of Sterf

Posted on March 5th, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Misc. News.

Hoogervorst heeft een nieuw plan zo konden we gister lezen in de Volkskrant – Hoogervorst wil voorrang voor orgaandonoren

Beetje vreemde uitspraken van Hoogervorst:

Minister Hoogervorst van Volksgezondheid wil burgers die als orgaandonor geregistreerd staan voorrang geven op de wachtlijst voor transplantaties. Een belangrijke reden voor de VVD-bewindsman is dat ‘met name moslims op religieuze gronden hun organen weigeren af te staan, maar die wel willen ontvangen als ze ziek zijn. Dat wringt.’

Het CMO is dan ook begrijpelijk ‘not amused’:

Joemman benadrukte dat onder moslims de meningen over orgaandonatie verdeeld zijn. Orthodoxe gelovigen zijn volgens hem in het algemeen tegen zowel het doneren als het ontvangen van organen.

De uitspraak van Hoogervorst ‘riekt naar discriminatie’ en geeft moslims ten onrechte ‘het etiket van profiteurs’, vindt bestuurslid A. Marcouch van de Unie van Marokkaanse Moskeeï¿½n Amsterdam en Omstreken. Het is volgens hem een algemeen probleem en niet alleen een van moslims dat mensen geen donor willen zijn, maar wel organen willen ontvangen.

Marcouch wees erop dat de Europese Raad voor Fatwa al enkele jaren heeft geoordeeld dat orgaandonatie niet in strijd is met de islam. Hij riep Hoogervorst op om samen met moslimorganisaties een voorlichtingscampagne te beginnen. ‘De islamitische gemeenschap heeft in deze ook verantwoordelijkheid te nemen en het donorschap uit de taboesfeer te halen en bespreekbaar te maken.’

De meningen zijn dus verdeeld zoals we ook al hadden kunnen lezen in de column van Hasna el Maroudi in Spunk en op het forum van Marokko.nl Mag je als moslim orgaan donor worden? en Lokum.nl: Donor bloed?

Nog even los van dat: Ik ben nog niet dood dus ik weet niet precies hoe dat gaat, maar als ik mijn codicil erop na kijk zie ik nergens mijn religie staan. Als je je orgaan echt afstaat, wordt dan je religie genoteerd? Of als je bloed geeft? Volgens mij niet toch? Staat nergens in het formulier en je ook nergens aangeven dat je weigert om religieuze redenen (welke dan ook). Dus hoe komt iemand dan aan zo’n opvatting?

Protected: Trouw, religie & filosofie – Interview / Lesbiennes voelen de afkeer van moslims

Posted on March 4th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands.

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Protected: Verzet tegen uitzetting imams

Posted on February 28th, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Islamnews, Uncategorized.

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Protected: Salafisme en filosofen als leermeesters

Posted on February 22nd, 2005 by martijn.
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Religious and Political Radicalization, Young Muslims.

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Islam In The West: The Threat Of Internal Extremism

Posted on February 21st, 2005 by .
Categories: Internal Debates, Islam in the Netherlands, Murder on theo Van Gogh and related issues, Religious and Political Radicalization, Research International, Young Muslims.

alt.muslim – your muslim news community
Islam In The West: The Threat Of Internal Extremism
By Muqtedar Khan and John L. Esposito, February 17, 2005

The world has never been more interdependent, and the plight of Western Muslims is illustrative of how global integration is now a palpable reality. The murder of a Dutch film producer, Theo Van Gogh, allegedly by a disenchanted Dutch Muslim [Mohammed Bouyeri, 26], the denial of a visa to the US for a Swiss Muslim scholar, Tariq Ramadan, or the humiliating deportation of a British Muslim, Yusuf Islam, from the US immediately on arrival are all front page news all over the world. Not only do these episodes draw widespread attention from the media, they feed upon and fuel the new crisis in Western Civilization – “Islam in the West”.

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