Islamic Psychotherapy Online

(Revised version)

Volume 9, September 2009

St. Louis, Missouri

Editor: Hajji. Mohamed Ziauddin

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT AND MOST MERCIFUL

WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINES OF TOLERANCE?

EDITORIAL:

It is true, that Islam is a religion of TOLERANCE based on the teachings of Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) and the Holy Quran. On one hand all Muslims should strive for UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD and be tolerant and loving of one another. However when it comes to differences in lifestyles, including sexual orientations, the actions of the Ummah does not seem to reflect the degree of tolerance that Islam is ideally supposed to stand for. So the question is "Where do we draw the lines of tolerance"?

Based on Allah's command in the Holy Quran: "There is no compulsion in Religion", we are of the belief that we have no right to force our values on others. The least we can do to respect an adult human being is to accept them for what they are. Having said the above, if we do observe something that we feel is wrong, it is better that we work to address it in ways that is not overly critical, hateful, domineering, demeaning et.c. Trying to impact a change in anyone from the negative to the positive using the tools of affection, love, knowledge would be far more affective than using tools of force, reprimand, neglect, ostracism et.c. Any long lasting change COMES FROM ONE'S HEART and it comes VOLUNTARILY. As tolerant Muslims we need to take the above two into consideration.

We would love to have feedback from other Muslims in terms of their unique approach to deal with major differences that they find in the sexual lifestyles of other Muslims. Below is one example of a regular gathering of Muslims from sexually diverse lifestyles that do not include heterosexuals in GERMANY.

(The crowd at Gayhane, monthly party for Arab and Turkish gay men, lesbians and bisexuals at SO36, a Berlin nightclub) Berlin Journal

Berlin, Germany: (Berlin Journal):

GAY MUSLIMS PACK A DANCE FLOOR OF THEIR OWN:

“Six men whirled faster and faster in the center of the nightclub, arms slung over another’s shoulders, performing a traditional circle dance popular in Turkey and the Middle East. Most of the people filling the dance floor at the club SO36 in the Kreuzberg neighborhood were gay, lesbian or bisexual, and of Turkish or Arab background. They were there for the monthly club night knows as Gayhane, (hane means home in Turkish) an opportunity TO MERGE THEIR IMMIGRANT CULTURES AND THEIR SEXUAL IDENTITIES. Above event’s organizer was Fatma Souad a TRANSGENDER PERFORMER who was born as a male but dresses and appears like a female.

Gay men and lesbians from Muslims families in Germany say that they face extraordinary discrimination at home. A survey of roughly 1000 young men and women in Berlin, widely cited in the German press, found much higher levels of homophobia among Turkish youth. “These differences are there”, said Bernd Simon, who led the study and is Professor of Social Psychology at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. “We can’t deny them. The question is how do we cope with them”. He added “The answer is not to replace homophobia with Islamophobia, pointing out that homophobia is also higher among Russian immigrants and in other, less urban parts of Germany.

Kader Balcik, a 22 year Turk from Hamburg, said: “For us, for Muslims, it’s extremely difficult. When you are gay, you are immediately cut off from the family”. He was cut off from his mother because he is bisexual. “A mother who wishes death for her son, what kind of mother is that?”, he asked, his eyes momentarily filling with tears.

Hasan, a 21 year old Arab man, sitting at a table in the club’s quieter adjoining cafe stated: “They would kill me. My brothers would kill me.” Asked if he meant this figuratively, he responded,” No, I mean they would kill me”. He added “I’m living one life here and the other one the way they wish me to be,” Hasan said, referring to his parents. He said he still planned to marry, but when he turned 30 rather than right away, as his parents wished. “I have to have children, to do what Islam wants me to do,” he said. “I would stop with everything in the homosexual life. I would stop it”. (New York Times 1/1/2008).

As usual feel free to e-mail your comments to info@mehrunyusuficds.com.

ISLAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY ONLINE
(Revised Version)
Volume 8, August 2009
St. Louis, Missouri

Editor: Hajji. Mohamed Ziauddin

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT AND THE MOST MERCIFUL

EDITORIAL NOTE:

GLOBAL UMMAH'S FIGHT AGAINST EXTREMISM:

The Ummah has been passive for too long in terms of not being frank and upfront with the extremist elements. Such passivity and silence had sent a wrong message to the extremist Muslims and further reinforced their distorted belief that they had the backing and support from the global Ummah.

On a positive note, we are now seeing that various Muslims and Islamic organizations are standing up to fight against such injustice perpetrated by extremist elements who advocate killing innocents falsely claiming that they are doing it in the name of Islam. In the process they are creating more hardship to the ordinary Muslim on the streets be it, Abdul or Fatima.

In Egypt, a new brand of young Muslims from a new generation are speaking up against terrorism and are successfully able to interpret the Holy Quran to represent peace, love and harmony among mankind. Below are two additional global examples.

Inshallah, the momentum for the global Muslims to assert that Holy Quran is a guide and masterpiece to guide humanity towards PEACE rather than BLOODSHED as portrayed by the extremists is already ON.

It would be good if Islamic Centers consider posting on their notice board a ZERO TOLERANCE to violence in the context of the Ummah’s opposition to killing innocents, regardless of what the cause is and to provide internet, phone and provider resources that could be utilized on issues pertaining to conflict resolution and ways to assist a particular oppressed individual or group or nation.

Anyone who strongly feels on a particular issue, should do so either by volunteer work to help towards the cause of such issue or exercise their strong commitment by using their checkbooks to sponsor an orphan or family on a year to year basis or to donate to other educational, social service related causes et.c. for that particular oppressed group or nation. Muslims worldwide are more than able to come up with hundreds of better suggestions than to respond by death and destruction in their intent to assist the distressed Muslims worldwide. ANYTHING IS WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION EXCEPT VIOLENCE TO SELF AND OTHERS THROUGH SUICIDE BOMBING.

The extremists had also unnecessarily dragged the peace loving Tabligh Jamaat in their actions. Because many of the Tabligh Jamaat members tend to wear traditional Islamic clothing along with sporting an untrimmed beard, they became visible targets of many western governments.

We know that in the United States, the government sent out secret agents in the form of Muslim converts who joined and infiltrated the tabligh jamaat and reported back to the government that the tabligh jamaat are NOT involved in any “cells” or “terrorist group”. Not surprisingly the US government had LIFTED THE BAN on tabligh jamaat’s activities.

HERE AGAIN THE ABSENCE OF ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE LEADS TO MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND SUSPICIONS. For example, one of the principles of tabligh jamaat before they go out on DAWAA work is NOT TO TALK ABOUT POLITICS. This fact is not known to many non-Muslims. One of the tabligh jamaat's basic principles is to avoid violence at all possible costs and in reality , they are one of the most disciplined and peace loving groups in the world. In summary, even such a peace loving Islamic group had come under the government’s radar screen for scrutiny, because of the horrific acts of the extremist group.

Misinterpreting the gems of Holy Quran not only apply to violence but also on women in some contexts. Below are two examples of Muslim organizations condemning terrorism in India and the United States and the last part of this issue has an example of how the gems of Islam were twisted to inadvertently create more hardship and difficulty for our Muslim sisters.

In as much as we stood up against misinterpretation regarding terrorism, we need to stand up against similar misinterpretation regarding women because trying to voluntarily crush half of Ummah’s (female) productive potential is like voluntarily diminishing half of Ummah’s human resources covering various aspects.

EXAMPLE: I

INDIA: Feb 25, 2008, DEOBAND (Uttar Pradesh, India): (Yahoo News)

OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE ON TERRORISM ORGANIZED BY DARUL ULOOM – Deoband.

Darul Uloom was established in Deoband, in late 19th century and remains a renowned religious and academic Center of Islamic thought and practice. In the sub-continent, it remains the largest institution for the dissemination and propagation of Islamic teachings and the biggest headspring of education for Islamic sciences. Followers of Deoband School practice Orthodox Sunni Islam. Deoband produced some renowned Muslim Scholars who resisted British rule in India, which ended with independence and the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

“On the one hand terrorism should be condemned and on the other hand those who make accusations against the whole (Muslim) community should be countered because if the actual accused is not caught, then some innocent would get hanged. This will be our loss. ALL OF US BELONGING TO THE SAME (MUSLIM) COMMUNITY SHOULD COME TOGETHER TO FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM AND MILITANCY,” said Maulana Mahmood Madni, General Secretary, Jamiat Ulmea-i-Hind, who was participating in a debate on terrorism and other Islam-centric issues organized by the Darul-Uloom in Deoband.

PARTICIPANTS:

Ulema (Muslim Scholars) from six thousand Madrasas (religious schools) were participating in the debate called by the LEGENDARY SCHOOL OF ISLAMIC LEARNING IN ASIA. Apart from representatives of Madarasas, the other participants are Ahl-e-Hadith, Jama’at-e-Islami and Shi’ah schools of thought and the heads, delegates of their Madrasas and the Rectors (Sajjada Nashins) of the Dargahs of Ajmer Sharif and Kichhauchha Sharif. Further the heads and representatives of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Milli Council and the Darul Uloom Deoband’s Old Boys Association had also participated in above Conference.

Above organizers stated that they wanted that the DARUL ULOOM to take the initiative in stating that ISLAM DOES NOT SANCTION TERRORISM AND THAT DEOBANDIS DO NOT BELIEVE IN IT EITHER”.

‘WE WANT TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE TO ENTIRE WORLD THAT MUSLIMS AND ISLAM HAVE NO LINKS WITH TERRORISM. AND WE WANT TO GIVE THIS MESSAGE TO THE CENTRE THAT IF ANY MUSLIM IS ARRESTED IN ANY TERROR ACTIVITY THEN HE SHOULD BE TREATED JUST AS A CRIMINAL AND SHOULD NOT BE LINKED WITH ISLAM TO DEFAME MUSLIMS,” said Maulana Aadil Siddiquie, spokesperson, Darul Uloom, Deoband. The organizers of above conference REITERATED ITS DETERMINATION TO PROMOTE PEACE, NATIONAL SOLIDARITY AND BROTHERHOOD IN THE COUNTRY.

EXAMPLE: 2

UNITED STATES:

If you want to know details regarding the Muslim voices against extremism and terrorism, go to THE AMERICAN MUSLIM website at www.theamericanmuslim.org and you will find a series of article collections in the topic of MUSLIM VOICES AGAINST EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM, Muslims Denounce Terrorism, Quran and Hadith against extremism, Fatwas, Statements by Organizations, Statements and Articles by Individuals, A few quotes, THE MUSLIM MAJORITY WHO DON’T GET PUBLICITY, Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. Military, Selective Hearing of Muslim Voices Against Extremism, Sunni-Shia Unity Resources as well as many more collections on specific subjects including Resources for Responding to Claims against Islam and Muslims, and documentation of ISLAMOPHOBIA – Polls, Statistics, and surveys, alarming statements by year, incidents at mosques, incidents and hate crimes, media and propaganda et.c. If you want to keep up with Islam in America and topics of interest to Muslims in America and the West, above is the site to visit.

Below is an excellent note by the Founding Editor of THE AMERICAN MUSLIM (TAM).
“One of the most common statements made by non-Muslims is “Where are the Muslim Voices?”. We want our fellow Americans to know that the Muslim Voices are there, but they are being drowned out in the dim from those who see a clash of civilizations as inevitable. American Muslims know that extremists and terrorists don’t represent Islam, but our fellow non-Muslim Americans do not. The millions of Muslims in the US are indeed trying to communicate their disgust and opposition to extremism and to clearly differentiate between Islam and the actions of some Muslims. Our scholars have spoken out loudly and clearly, as have our national Muslim organizations, community leaders, and ordinary Muslims and still we are asked,” Where are the Muslim Voices”? We need to get our message out in every way possible until we are heard”.—Sheila Musaji, Founding Editor, Sheikh Mohamed Nur Abdullah, Religious Advisor. THE AMERICAN MUSLIM- Journal of Islamic Thought.

WOMEN:

MISUSE OF THE GEMS OF ISLAM:

Ban on women driving cars - “based on ISLAM or based on one’s TWISTING THE FACTS FROM ISLAM AS WE PERCEIVE IT”? You be the judge and decide for yourself as to what is truly the TRUTH.

This is what Majlis-Ul-Ulema from South Africa had to say about DRIVING AND WOMEN in their book “THE PIOUS WIFE” Page: 26-27.
(Reprinted word for word).

“Undoubtedly, for Muslim women to drive cars is contrary to the spirit and teaching of the Quran and Sunnah. The Quran Shareef commands Muslims females: “And remain within your homes and make not a display (of yourselves) like the display of the (time) of jaahiliyyah”.

The Quran and Ahadith place restrictions upon the emergence of females from the home. Islam exhorts and commands its female adherents to conceal themselves; hence Rasulullah said,” Woman is aurah” (i.e. to be concealed). When she emerges (into the public), shaitaan casts surreptitious glances (evil glances) at her.” Islam emphasizes Purdah – concealment – for women but western culture in a variety of ways and means (of which women driving cars is one) emphasis “self-expression” i.e. exhibitions of jaahiliyyah. Islam lays stress upon modesty and shame. (Hayya) whereas driving destroys the hayaa of women.

By means of driving, woman places herself in the forefront of exhibition. She barters away her hayaa by aping the ways and mannerisms of males in the driving seat. Her place is not in the driving seat to wander around, putting herself up for public gaze and display. Her place is the home – to live in dignity, respect, hayaa and honor. The greater her self-exhibition, the greater the destruction she brings to her natural modesty. And about this hayaa, Rasulullah said: “Hayaa is a branch of Imaan”. It is virtually impossible for a woman who drives, to observe the Islamic laws of Hijaab. Even if she is a bit conscious of Islamic Purdah restrictions, her constant projection and exhibition which driving entails corrodes her hayaa and reduces her to utter shamelessness. She then qualifies for the Quranic description of “tabarruje jaahilyyah” (exhibitions of the times of ignorance).

The argument advances in favor of women driving are all fictitious and designed to appease the lowly nafs of man. Those women who are observant of the Divine restrictions and prohibitions – those women who remain within the confines of Islamic Hijab will, Insha’Allah not be confronted with the fictitious ‘emergencies” and exigencies imagined and sometimes confronted by the women of exhibition. Those who have Trust (Tawakkul) in Allah Ta’ala will be well cared for”.

(ED NOTE: Dear Brothers From Majlis-Ul-Ulema, Thanks for spending your valuable time to write on above issue as part of your book “THE PIOUS WIFE”. With all due respects to you and appreciation for your eloquent language, I have some questions with regard to the manner in which the gems of Islam were wrongly interpreted and blended in your above note. I believe that I am not a loner walking in the wild on this issue and I suspect there are millions of Muslims worldwide who probably would be more inclined to raise similar questions as I raised on above note.

We all must try our best to avoid criticizing each other. Therefore while I appreciate your good intentions to contribute a guide for Muslim women, I am afraid that your advice may harm our sisters more than benefit them. Anything that would hurt our brothers or sisters would be a pain for us and therefore, we need to make a good faith attempt to address and if possible correct it to the best of our ability. Let above note from the brothers of Majlis-Ul-Ulema and the below note from the writer through this platform of newsletter be placed in THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS and let the UMMAH be the judge.

I say above because, many Muslims in the 21st Century have a very low tolerance for difference of opinion. The moment they differ, they immediately give the other a LABEL. For example, “He is a munafiqeen” (hypocrite). What is important today is the right of every single Muslim to assertively express his or her ideas. The Ummah should be tolerant enough at least to hear what one has to say. We can always analyze or discuss our response once we know the opinion of the individual. We should avoid making quick judgments based on stereotypes. For example, “Oh, after all, she is just a woman, from what she said, you know where she is coming from”.
EDITOR'S NOTE:

It is in such context mentioned above, that the important aspect of ISLAMIC PSYCHOLOGY steps in. Brothers of Majlis-Ul-Ulema, I believe your world view is totally disconnected from the present realities and your thinking is still anchored to history. In your world view, there are no “emergencies” and if any, they are “fictitious”. In your world view, all one has to do is trust in Allah and everything will be taken care of.

In your world view, a husband can never die before his wife, therefore the question of whether the wife would live independently and may need independent transportation would never arise. Your world view is free of emergencies, domestic violence and in a nutshell, no existence of single parent families, and that all household families are headed by a husband who takes care of hundred percent of the family’s finances and transportation needs. Although husband has gone to job in the morning and returns in evening, somehow transportation is arranged to pick and drop the children from school, husband does hundred percent of shopping using his vehicle and there is no need for wife to help with shopping if husband is busy and is unable to shop.

There are no broken families; there is not a single opportunity that may arise where the wife may need a car to commute. Husband will be in the best of health all the time and never be admitted at a hospital therefore there is no need for her to drive and visit the husband, OR there is guaranteed public transportation available between the wife’s home and the hospital.

This is ONE of many examples where good practicing, sincere, honest Muslims inadvertently distort Islam and not only create additional stressors in the life of the Muslim woman by depriving her of a basic transportational need that ALLAH has gifted to humanity, but also decreasing the potential productivity by fifty percent of the UMMAH thereby by default retard the optimal output from the global UMMAH. In simple words, we believe that their distorted world view has done MORE HARM than good for the UMMAH.

For example, in the real world, once a Muslim husband dies or divorces from his wife, how much more hardship will the wife have to undergone to become economically independent. Being in home and raising children all her life, she probably may have very limited income, how is she going to improve her educational standard, get a job with no prior job experience and how is she going to support herself and her children ?

WE BELIEVE THAT NO MUSLIM SHOULD PREACH ISLAM IN A WAY THAT DEPRIVES ONE OF THEIR BASIC RIGHTS AND IN THE LONG RUN LEADS TO INCREASED MULTIPLE STRESSORS. Instead we need to spread the golden message of Islam in a way that maximizes our ability not only to practice ISLAM in our personal lives but also to be a productive and contributing member, not only to our immediate family, but to the local community and society at large.

Even at the present time, although a Saudi woman is allowed to drive a plane, she is not allowed to drive a car. (There is currently at least one Saudi female pilot). Needless to say, below is an example of a step that was taken backward by abusing the gems of ISLAM i.e for women not to drive a car and thereby creating hardship for half of the Saudi Ummah. GOOD NEWS IS THAT SAUDI ARABIA HAS FINALLY DECIDED ON A PLAN TO LIFT ABOVE BAN AND IS WORKING TO IMPLEMENT ABOVE PROMISE VERY SOON. But who is going to compensate the thousands of Saudi women for all the hardships they had to face all along? NONE. WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THEIR HARDSHIPS?

On the other side, we are not advocating forgetting our Islamic roots and being obsessed with the contemporary times which symbolically is a combination of good and bad. THAT’S WHY ISLAM HAS STRONGLY ADVOCATED FOR US TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE, WHICH BY DEFAULT IS A POWERFUL TOOL TO ENABLE US TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM THE RIGHT AND WRONG AND PICK ONLY THE RIGHT.

INSTEAD WHAT WE ARE REALLY ADVOCATING is building a foundation on Islam but integrating it with the positives of the contemporary times. Needless to say blindly focusing on the contemporary times will equally destroy us, we need to gain KNOWLEDGE about the contemporary times and inshallah, with Allah’s guidance and blessings pick the appropriate positive contemporary KNOWLEDGE and combine it with the gems of ISLAM.

DISCLAIMER: We strongly believe that ISLAM is a religion of tolerance and it applies to tolerance to accept divergent and extreme points of view. Whether you want to send a supportive e-mail or angrily worded hate mail, we not only welcome and respect your opinion but would defend at any costs for your RIGHT to express it. TO US, THIS REPRESENTS ISLAMIC VALUE OF “TOLERANCE” IN ACTION AND NOT JUST IN WORDS OR FROM OUR SPEECHES.

As usual, feel free to e-mail us at info@mehrunyusuficds.com.

ISLAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY ONLINE

(Revised Edition)

Volume 7, July 2009

St. Louis, Missouri

Editor: Hajji Mohamed Ziauddin

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT AND THE MOST MERCIFUL

Focus of the Week: ANALYSIS OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER – Part III

In Part I of this E-Zine's focus, we highlighted verses from the Holy Quran to support our perspective that SUICIDE BOMBING is wrong. In Part II of this E-Zine ,we highlighted teachings of Prophet Mohamed (SAW) that supported above perspective. In this issue of Part III, we are highlighting the same from a Social perspective, which includes ideas from Islamic thinkers.

Islam is a beautiful religion advocating universal brotherhood, peace and love among mankind. In the past two issues, the virtues of peace, patience and perseverance were highlighted. Muslims in some parts of the globe perceived themselves victimized as a national group who were going through severe injustice and oppression. They became increasingly desperate, felt helpless & knew fully well that they were no match to fight face to face against their enemies who were loaded with very effective hi-tech weapons.

Ummah – especially the Religious Leaders and Intellectuals were unable to offer such a desperate, vulnerable and helpless group of Muslims, ALTERNATIVE PEACEFUL WAYS TO DEAL WITH SUCH INJUSTICE.

There was absolutely no co-ordination between the Imams, Psychotherapists and other professionals from Behavioral Medicine, Communication experts and the Govt to work on a concrete plan to come up with ALTERNATIVE PEACEFUL MEANS OF RESPONDING TO INJUSTICE.

A vacuum in above made it easier for a minority of misguided religious leaders to win the following of a very small but dangerous group of Muslims and mislead such a vulnerable and desperate group to resort to the worst possible violence currently seen on the face of the earth by essentially blowing themselves and others around them into pieces of flesh and bones. They not only focused on the enemies but on their own members of Ummah as well, with total disregard to the loss of innocent lives including women and children. It is an issue not only of loss of lives, but also being responsible for making many innocents who survived such violence by becoming permanently disabled with loss of vision, limbs et.c.

Such Muslims unfortunately were misguided and deviated away from the mainstream religion of peace – Islam by resorting to violence, bloodshed and mayhem.

From a clinical perspective, most behaviors emerge from mind of the individual. If the mind is corrupted or misguided then its implementation in behavior would be misguided too and in the case of the suicide bomber, it would be destructive.

The above Editor argues that this is not only a issue of Muslims who were religiously misguided but it is also a CLINICAL issue that needs to be addressed by both Muslim Professionals from Behavioral Medicine and Islamic leaders, especially when it comes to developing alternative peaceful strategies that could be positively utilized by individuals and groups.

In general, when an individual talks about suicide or homicide, he gets evaluated by a mental health professional and if needed involuntarily hospitalized against his or her own will. ISN’T IT STRANGE, THAT WHEN A MISGUIDED MUSLIM TALKS ABOUT POSSIBLE PLANS OF SUICIDE AND (MULTIPLE HOMICIDES) BY INTENT TO BE A SUICIDE BOMBER, THE CLINICAL ASPECT IS COMPLETELY IGNORED AND ONLY THE LEGAL, RELIGIOUS and POLITICAL ASPECTS BECOME THE FOCUS? WHY?

In the process of such a response, two mistakes are being committed. (1) There is an assumption that he is mentally sane. (2) There is an assumption that he is following the teachings of Islam.

We never hear the fact that he is a wrongly misguided Muslim who misinterpreted the teachings of Islam. Why? Could it be because of lack of proper understanding of Islam?

Br. Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo in his book PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL had one of his topics titled as: “Jihad in All of Its Other Forms” he quoted the Quranic verse: “And those who strive for Our (Cause), We will certainly guide them to Our Paths, for verily Allah is with those who do right” (al-Ankaboot 69).

Commenting on this verse, Ibn Al-Qayyim wrote: “Allah has connected guidance with jihad….The forms of jihad which are most obligatory upon a person are the jihad against the soul, jihad against desires, jihad against Satan and jihad against (being overcome by this) worldly life. …ONE CANNOT FIGHT THE EXTERNAL ENEMY UNLESS ONE FIGHTS THESE INTERNAL ENEMIES. WHOEVER IS GIVEN VICTORY OVER THEM WILL BE GIVEN VICTORY OVER HIS (EXTERNAL) ENEMY”.

Hence, this makes it clear that jihad in all of its various forms is actually part and parcel of the process of purification of the soul as it is one of the means of success and prosperity which can only be achieved through the purification of the soul. (Karzoon, Vol 1, p.285).

As indicated above, a true jihad primarily focuses its energy within one’s self and not projected violently outwards and not for worldly life issues. One could argue “for and against” that occupation of land is a materialistic worldly issue and by default whether such worldly issue is worth not only dying for in terms of voluntarily blowing oneself to pieces but also committing double sins in Islam - suicide and multiple homicides? This by no means is indicative that one should be passive when attacked or occupied. Instead the focus is on exploring alternative means of resistance or opposition to such oppression and injustice.

Ibraaheem bin Abdullaah al-Haazimee in his Compiler’s Foreword in the book: “Diseases of the Hearts and their Cures” stated:

“The heart forms the foundation, it is the owner of the limbs, and the limbs are its soldiers, so when the owner becomes purified its soldiers become purified, and when the owner becomes sullied then its soldiers become sullied”.

Al-Haafidh ibn Hajr al-Asqalaanee, May Allah have mercy upon him and provide us with his knowledge, said:

“The heart has been singled out for this because it is the leader of the body, and through the purification of the leader the subjects become purified, and with its corruption they become corrupted. So if you, O servant of Allah, wish to cure your heart then it is upon you to be truthful with regards to seeking refuge with Allah and putting your trust in Him, to pray a great deal of supererogatory prayers, to perform the actions of obedience to Allah frequently, to pray the night prayers while the people are sleeping, and to treat your heart by making it continuously stick to the remembrances and by befriending only the righteous…and to frequently recite the Quran. And Allah will indeed allow all of this to be preserved by him”.

Compared above gems with our misguided Muslims who put explosives right in front and around the “HEART” to blow it up.

Such a barbaric act of suicide bombing by being blown to pieces is one of the worst ways for a person to abruptly die and here we have in the 21^st century a group of misguided Muslims VOLUNTARILY SIGNING UP TO BE BLOWN TO PIECES in such a manner.

Dealing with a potential suicide bomber is not to RESPOND VIOLENCE WITH VIOLENCE because two wrongs don’t make it right. To truly understand a suicide bomber’s motives, we need to understand his psyche and the perspective he is coming from.

From a psychological perspective, the “fight OR flight” response does not apply to the suicide bomber since he does both. Through his self-destructive act, he FIGHTS the enemy head-on and kills those around him and in the process he also takes a permanent one way “FLIGHT” away from this world to the next. Can anyone guess what would be the stress level of a suicide bomber?

POINTS TO REFLECT:

How many times have you heard Islamic peaceful alternatives offered in terms of expressing anger or holding it in? Is a Muslim responsible for his own emotions and acts or are other people, be it oppressors or any body else, responsible for his emotions? How can a Muslim more effectively deal with anger, resentment and frustration, no matter what the reason may be (including occupation)? Do Muslims feel stressed out by problems that others place on them or by problems that they place on themselves? How best can we integrate the contemporary psychological knowledge dealing with CONFLICT RESOLUTION with the gems of Holy Quran and Hadith to deal with current group or organizational stressors faced by the global Ummah?

As usual, feel free to send your comments to info@mehrunyusuficds.com

ISLAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY ONLINE
(Revised version)
Volume 6, June 2009
St. Louis, Missouri

Hajji. Mohamed Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

FOCUS OF THE WEEK:

PART – TWO

Suicide Bombers


NEED TO INTEGRATE BEHAVIORAL KNOWLEDGE WITH THE GEMS OF ISLAM TO SOLVE SOME OF OUR UMMAH’S CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS.

THE UMMAH COULD BE DOING A FAR BETTER JOB TO EXPLORE THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE AND COME UP WITH PEACEFUL & INNOVATIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS TO DEAL WITH CONFLICT HOWEVER SEVERE IT MAY BE AND IN WHATEVER FORMS IT MAY BE ( FORCED BRUTAL OCCUPATION OF A NATION, OPPRESSION, INJUSTICE ET.C) EITHER AT A GROUP & NATIONAL LEVEL OR RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT AT AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL (Eg. SPOUSAL, SIBLING AND PARENT-CHILD CONFLICT).

Since the EDUCATED MUSLIM PSYCHOLOGISTS, PSYCHOTHERAPISTS AND ISLAMIC SCHOLARS HAVE NOT TEAMED UP TOGETHER TO PRESENT TO THE UMMAH A JOINT PACKAGE OF PEACEFUL TOOLS TO DEAL WITH CONFLICT, IS ONE THEN REALLY SURPRISED WHY THE MOST FRUSTRATED AND DESPERATE EXTREMIST ELEMENTS UTILIZE THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE AND UNFAIR APPROACH TO RESPOND TO SUCH ONGOING CONFLICT BY RESORTING TO SUICIDE BOMBING ON A NATIONAL OR ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL AND IN CERTAIN CASES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AT A FAMILY LEVEL?

SUCH VIOLENCE UNDERCUTS AND STABS AT THE VERY HEART OF THE CORE VALUES OF THE MOST PEACEFUL RELIGION ON EARTH – ISLAM. WE ALREADY HIGHLIGHTED THE GEMS FROM HOLY QURAN IN PREVIOUS ISSUE THAT EMPHASIZED ON PEACE, PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE ETC.

Prophet Mohamed (SAW) stated:

“WHOEVER SETS OUT ON A PATH FOR ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE, FOR SUCH ALLAH PAVES THE WAY TO PARADISE”. AL-TIRMIDHI.

Such knowledge includes behavioral knowledge. “Islam encourages the use of science and the scientific method. Acquisition of knowledge is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. In Islam, science and technology should be used for moral ends and serve all legitimate needs of mankind. Moreover, the use of science and the scientific methods is viewed as yet another means to understand and see the power and glory of ALLAH”. (Introduction to Islam - ISNA-US & CANADA)

As Counselor and Writer Abdul Lateef Abdullah stated: “People can manipulate religious teachings to say (or mean) virtually anything. The practice is often done to further personal or group agendas. It is embedded deep within the very history of religions themselves including Islam. IN CURRENT TIMES, ITS MOST NOTORIOUS CULPRITS ARE EXTREMISTS WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEEDY, OPPRESSED, AND IGNORANT TO JUSTIFY TERRORIST ACTS ON THEIR BEHALF”.

Dr. Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi offers more than 60 practical tips for the “IDEAL MUSLIM AND HIS COMMUNITY”, which includes many (listed below) that are violated by the suicide bomber who exhibits OPPOSITE of below characteristics.

(1) He has a good attitude towards others and treats them well
(2) He is gentle towards people
(3) He is compassionate and merciful
(4) HE IS TOLERANT AND FORGIVING
(5) He is patient
(6) He strives for people’s benefits and SEEKS TO PROTECT THEM FROM HARM.
(7) He enjoins what is good and forbids what is evil.
(8) HE TRIES TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY
(9) He guides others to righteous deeds.
(10) HE IS EASY ON PEOPLE, not hard
(11) He does not oppress or mistreat others.
(12) HE DOES NOT REJOICE IN THE MISFORTUNE OF OTHERS
(13) He is generous
(14) He is hospitable
(15) HE PREFERS OTHERS TO HIMSELF
(16) He helps to alleviate the burden of the debtor
(17) He spreads the greeting of Salaam (peace)

Therefore the suicide bombers who are essentially “gross violators” of the characteristics of an IDEAL MUSLIM cannot claim to have made a SUPREME SACRIFICE under the name of ISLAM and even if they do, it is misleading. Such destructive actions just don’t add up to say it is EQUAL to positive Islamic behavior.

SAYINGS OF PROPHET MOHAMED (SAW)

(A) “Do good deeds with propriety and moderation and DO NOT WISH FOR DEATH; For one is either good and may increase in goodness, or one may NOT be good but could (change and) ask for forgiveness” Al-Bukhari.

(Suicide bombing is NOT a good deed and generally NO SUICIDE BOMBING would ever be successful without the individual NOT WISHING FOR DEATH. From above saying, the suicide bomber violates Prophet’s recommendations on two counts).

(B) “Happy is the man who avoids dissension, BUT HOW FINE IS THE MAN WHO IS AFFLICTED AND SHOWS ENDURANCE". Sunan of Abu Dawood Hadith 1996.

(A suicide bomber DOES NOT SHOW ENDURANCE. If he does, he would not proceed with his destructive actions).

(C) “Oh, Allah, Let me be GRATEFUL, LET ME BE PATIENT, AND LET ME BE SMALL IN MY OWN EYES AND BIG IN THE EYES OF OTHERS”.

(The suicide bomber is NOT PATIENT and has a distorted perception of viewing HIMSELF BIG IN HIS OWN EYES in terms of his extreme sacrifice that he is offering on behalf of the UMMAH, when in reality, it not only creates additional problems for the surviving members of the suicide bomber but also for the families of the innocent victims that lost their lives due to his act of self-destruction)

(D) "Oh Allah, ENRICH ME WITH KNOWLEDGE, ADORN ME WITH PATIENCE, honor me with piety, and beautify me with health (and a sense of pardoning)." Ibn an-Najjar.

(A suicide bombers act is against above wish for patience and destroys the issue of his HEALTH in a second).

(E) “ HASTE IS AN ACT OF SHAITAN”- Prophet Mohamed (SAW)

(Many of the suicide bombers who fear that they may be caught or identified do their senseless destructive act in HASTE. Who could disagree that it INDEED IS AN ACT OF SHAITAN?)

(F) “Oh, Allah, Let there be harmony among us; let there be affection between our hearts; SHOW US THE PATHS OF PEACE: guide us from darkness into light and help us avoid shameful deeds, whether open or secret”. Al-Hakim

(A suicide bombers act only brings more disharmony between the opposing groups in a conflict, destroys any chances of creating affection between the opposing groups, and IS NOT a path of peace but instead ends up committing a shameful deed)

(G) “He who sees an abomination must change it with his hands, and if he cannot then he has to oppose it with his tongue, and if he cannot do even that then he has to reject it in his heart”- Prophet Mohamed (SAW)

(Above is a very important saying because nowhere it says that he who sees an abomination should respond by violence and bloodshed).

(H) “He is NOT the best among you who neglects his worldly life for the sake of the Hereafter, or neglects the Hereafter for the sake of his worldly life, until he works for both. Realize that this life is a path that leads to the Hereafter, so do not become a burden on others”. IBN ASSAKIR.

(This is one of the writer’s most favored sayings of the Prophet. As you can see the focus is to work for both worlds. A suicide bomber through his irrational, dysfunctional and faulty thinking (details of which is for the next issue PART III of this newsletter) has voluntarily made a destructive decision to neglect his worldly life including his relationship responsibilities to his immediate family. A suicide bomber does not complete his destined path set by Allah in THIS WORLD and abruptly not only short circuits his life through violating Islamic values forbidding suicide but also the lives of innocent men, women and children around him through multiple homicides).

(I) Last but not the least, in his last sermon, Prophet Mohamed (SAW) stated:

“O People, Just as you regard this month, this day, this city as sacred, SO REGARD THE LIFE AND PROPERTY OF EVERY MUSLIM AS A SACRED TRUST”….”HURT NO ONE SO THAT NO ONE MAY HURT YOU”. ….”Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. …I leave behind two things, the Quran and the Sunnah (Hadith) and if you follow these you will never go astray…. All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listened to me directly”.


Islam emphasizes on social justice. It opposes all those who exploit, oppress and deal unjustly with people and this is applicable at all levels individual, terrorist organization and State.

CURRENTLY THERE IS A SEVERE ABSENCE OF ALTERNATIVE AND PEACEFUL TOOLS THAT THE UMMAH COULD UTILIZE IN RESPONDING TO INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION.

THE IMAMS AND ISLAMIC SCHOLARS ARE SPECIALIZED IN ISLAM. WHO ELSE COULD BE MORE SUITABLE TO CONTRIBUTE EFFECTIVE “PEACEFUL TOOLS” THAN THE MUSLIMS FROM THE HEALING ARTS PROFESSION, WHO IN THEIR PRACTICE TEACH THE CLIENTS “SUCH PEACEFUL TOOLS” TO DEAL WITH RESENTMENTS, HOSTILITY, ANGER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIORS ET.C. WHY HAS ABOVE ELEMENT BEEN MISSING ALL ALONG? COULD IT BE BECAUSE THE UMMAH HAS SEPARATED THE TWO AND KEPT THEM APART?

IF THERE IS ONE POINT THE ABOVE EDITOR IS TRYING TO EMPHASIZE IN THIS ISSUE, IT IS THAT “ISLAM” AND “BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE” SHOULD NOT BE KEPT APART IN TERMS OF DEALING WITH CONFLICT RESOLUTION ISSUES. BUT INSTEAD BOTH OF ABOVE SHOULD BE INTEGRATED INTO ONE SINGLE ENTITY. THEN YOU WILL SEE THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF SUCH INTEGRATION AMONG THE UMMAH TO BE “ASTOUNDING”.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:

IN THE 1920’S MORE THAN HALF OF THE WORLD’S UMMAH WERE UNDER THE RULE OF THE BRITISH AND OTHER IMPERIALISTS. Later with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire there was a significant vacuum of leadership for the GLOBAL UMMAH for several decades. Many Muslim nations experiencing the fresh air of newly found independence were too busy trying to establish and consolidate their national, political, social and cultural identity.

Historically being tired from the ruthless oppression by the British, French, and other imperialist powers, THE UMMAH PREFERRED TO BE RULED BY ANY MUSLIM THAN A NON-MUSLIM. It is therefore not a surprise, as to why so many Muslim countries are led by dictators in one form or the other – either they are puppets of the West or they represent the extremist forces. Very few Muslim countries exist today that are truly democratic, for if true democracy be enforced by the majority, the UMMAH’s populous support would be on the side of MODERATION as our Prophet Mohammed (SAW) emphasized.

With lack of emphasis from the MUSLIM governing entities on seeking KNOWLEDGE from their contemporary times and integrating it to the gems of ISLAM, the way they dealt with difference of opinion was varied although most of them generally were non-democratic in their governing style. Little surprise the UMMAH had no shortage of ruthless dictators who used deadly force to crush the opposition especially in Iraq and Syria.

While acknowledging varied differences, in general, the tolerance to political dissent in Muslim countries was very thin and SUCH INTOLERANCE from the highest governing authorities CONTINUED TO TRICKLE DOWN through the different layers of society and groups and to this day, we find remnants of such SEVERE INTOLERANCE down to the people who create terror towards the innocent men, women and children.

The non-democratic and autocratic governments had laws in place to justify their actions as per their whims and Royal or Presidential decrees. The terrorists initially grew out of a group that was the most economically down and politically disenfranchised, besides being desperate, helpless and worst of all MISGUIDED in terms of inappropriate and false interpretation of the Holy Quran. Gradually their following increased from GROUND UP and went from lower economic group to higher economic group such as the doctors from the terrorist’s acts in England.

Such misguidance from certain leaders made the extremist elements have a FIELD DAY not only to “pick and choose” but also to “twist and modify” the Holy Quranic verses and hadith to suit their purposes to force their unrealistic view of the world and impose it on others. Blowing themselves up in pieces and in the process hurting others was a graphic expression of their terrible built up anger and seething resentments against whom they perceived as hard-core enemies.

WHERE ARE THE MUSLIMS FROM THE HEALING ARTS PROFESSION? WHAT ROLE THEY COULD HAVE PLAYED IN CALMING DOWN THE RAGING POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FIRES THAT ENDS IN THE ANTI-ISLAMIC PRACTICE OF SUICIDE BOMBING?

WHERE ARE THE IMAMS AND ISLAMIC SCHOLARS WHO COULD HAVE FROM THE VERY FIRST PHASE, CONDEMNED SUCH GRAPHIC ACTS AND CALLED UPON EMULATING OTHER PEACEFUL WAYS TO EXPRESS ONE’S OPPOSITION FOR WHATEVER CAUSE IT MAY BE?

WHERE ARE THE “LIBERAL” MUSLIM GOVERNMENTS WHO COULD HAVE EASILY CREATED TASK FORCE COMPOSED OF ISLAMIC SCHOLARS, IMAMS AND MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS FROM THE HEALING ARTS PROFESSION TO COME UP WITH A CLEAR PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPLEMENT IN TERMS OF RESPONDING TO PEACEFUL MODES OF OPPOSITION FOR WHATEVER LEGITIMATE CAUSE IT MAY BE?

IN THE ABSENCE OF AN ACTIVE ROLE OF ABOVE THREE IN THIS AREA OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION, WE THE GLOBAL UMMAH ARE PAYING A HUGE PRICE TODAY.

With no significant leadership from Muslims who could INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE CONTEMPORARY TIMES with the GEMS OF ISLAM TO OFFER ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ABOVE NEGATIVE EXPRESSION, ABOVE DESTRUCTIVE PRACTICES CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.

With no other creditable and peace-loving Muslim group armed with contemporary behavioral knowledge and gems of ISLAM available to advice the Muslims, the Ummah had no choice but to reluctantly and involuntarily be dragged by the non-Muslim world to be blamed by default to all the atrocities committed by a very small percentage of violent group of misguided Muslims.

The extremist forces have continued to have a field day but this may not last too long, since many EDUCATIONAL AND KNOWLEDGEABLE MUSLIMS today have been successfully able to INTEGRATE THE GEMS OF ISLAM WITH CONTEMPORARY KNOWLEDGE and are silently working to displace the extremist elements.

They are global in nature and from grass root organizations symbolically incubating and currently in a literal embryonic stage. The emergence of such long over due MUSLIMS and PEACE LOVING ISLAMIC GROUPS are expected, ALLAH WILLING to gain a wide range of support from majority of the GLOBAL UMMAH and will Inshallah win not by the unIslamic practice of blowing themselves up but by propagating their views in the global market place of ideas and respecting the wishes and differences of the people regardless of whether they receive the support from them or not.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE VERSE: “The ink of a Scholar’s pen is more precious than the blood of the martyr”. NOW YOU HAVE THE ANSWER AS TO WHY ISLAM PLACED MORE EMPHASIS ON THE INK OF THE SCHOLAR’S PEN TO THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYR. A PEACEFUL MUSLIM WOULD ALSO WAGE A BATTLE AGAINST INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION BUT NOT WITH BLOODSHED INSTEAD WITH INTELLECTUAL POWER IN THE MARKET PLACE OF IDEAS.

THE NEED OF THE HOUR FOR THE GLOBAL UMMAH IS NOT ONLY TO CONTINUE TO HAVE THE BEACON OF HOLY QURAN AND HADITH AS OUR SPIRITUAL AND BEHAVIORAL GUIDE, BUT ALSO TO INTEGRATE IT WITH THE REALITIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY TIMES AND SUCH A STRATEGY MAKES IT MORE PRACTICAL, FEASIBLE AND EASIER FOR US TO PRACTICE ISLAM IN OUR DAY TO DAY LIFE.

Holy Quran and Hadith are essentially a foundation and guide for the Muslims. They are the “battery posts”, “leads” and “starters” from which solutions to other worldly day-to-day details should emanate. The most effective solution to problem solve the complexities of the UMMAH in the 21st century is the one that has a combination of above Islamic gems as well as EXPERT SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE from contemporary fields of behavioral research. All Muslims readily use expert specialized medical knowledge for their benefit but WHY MISS OUT UTILIZING EXPERT SPECIALIZED BEHAVIORAL KNOWLEDGE?

So to all the Imams, Islamic Scholars and Muslims of the Healing Arts, COMMON, LET’S ALL JOIN OUR HANDS TOGETHER AND WORK TOWARDS WHAT OUR ISLAM STANDS FOR – P.E.A.C.E.

As usual feel free to give your valuable feedback by contacting us at info@mehrunyusuficds.com.

ISLAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY ONLINE
(Revised Edition)
Volume 5, May, 2009
St. Louis, Missouri

Hajji. Mohamed Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

FOCUS OF THE WEEK:
PART – I
VIEWING THE SUICIDE BOMBERS THROUGH THE ISLAMIC LENS: ARE THEY TRULY MARTYRS OR MISGUIDED MUSLIMS ?

(a) Prophet Mohamed (SAW) stated: ‘Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. SO YOU SHOULD NOT BE EXTREMISTS, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded.” Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38.

(b) Prophet Mohamed (SAW) stated: “Sometimes, I enter prayer and I intend to prolong it, but then I hear a child crying, and I shorten my prayer thinking of the distress of the child’s mother”. Fiqh us-Sunnah, Volume 2, Number 51

(Imagine if our loving Prophet Mohamed (SAW) was willing to cut down on the time for his prayer being sensitive to the distress of the crying child’s mother, then do you really believe that he would have ever approved the barbaric and atrocious act of suicidal bombing that involves innocent women and children being blown to pieces?)

INTRODUCTION:

It is not just the mainstream media that lacks a proper understanding of Islam but also many non-Muslim professionals from the Healing Arts Profession. Well known politicians, close-minded Christian fundamentalists and non-Muslim psychologists still believe the laughable myth that the suicide bombers kill themselves in order to go to Paradise since there is the promise of 72 virgins waiting on heaven for any martyr in Islam. Does their myth also apply to Muslim female suicide attackers from “Black Widows of Chechnya”, “Palestinian and Turkish female suicide attackers” who blow up themselves to get seventy-two (male) virgins? OR if they postulate that it is a “MAN”S WORLD” even in the HEREAFTER, then perhaps they may believe that the female suicide attackers were lesbians.

Above misinformation is all the more reason why Muslims should take a personal responsibility to educate the non-Muslims of what the peaceful religion of Islam is really about.

The facts that they don’t know is that as per Prophet Mohamed (SAW), a woman who dies during childbirth obtains the rank of a shaheed (martyr). A woman who exercises patience when her child dies, will be destined to enter Paradise immediately and even the partly-formed child in a miscarriage will take his or her mother to Paradise…Difficulties and calamities should not, therefore, lead to impatience, frustration and ingratitude or to any destructive acts.

Unfortunately certain Muslim Psychologists instead of integrating their learned contemporary psychology along with the gems of Islam and using such combination to work on solving problems, they have abandoned Islam and have joined a (may I add “pseudo”) elite group. On the other hand there are very good Muslim professionals from Psychology and related disciplines that may want to combine the two but find it new and too cumbersome to venture into applying such combination in their professional practice.

OUR UMMAH HAS BEEN LITERALLY TAKEN AS HOSTAGE BY AN EXTREMELY THIN MINORITY OF EXTREMIST ELEMENTS WHO HAVE INADVERTENTLY MISINTERPRETED CERTAIN GEMS FROM OUR HOLY QURAN AND HADITH.

THEIR ACTIONS FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE, AGGRESSION, SUICIDE BOMBING IN OPEN MARKET PLACES, MOSQUES, COLLEGE CAMPUSES ET.C. THEIR KILLING HELPLESS INNOCENTS, HAVE UNNECESSARILY CAUSED OUR UMMAH A LOT OF PAIN, GRIEF, SUFFERING, AND ALL THE MORE BAD PUBLIC RELATIONS WITH THE NON-MUSLIM WORLD.

THEY ARE PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MUSLIMS TO BECOME VICTIMS OF BOTH:
(1) THEIR RELENTLESS CAMPAIGN OF TERROR, VIOLENCE, DESTRUCTION AND DEATH OF INNOCENT CHILDREN & WOMEN ET.C
(2) AS WELL AS FROM BEING VICTIMS OF “SECONDARY TERROR” FROM IGNORANT AND EXTREMIST ISLAM BASHERS.

The repeated emphasis from ISLAM to SEEK KNOWLEDGE has not been seriously implemented and this has resulted in the extremist elements trying to utilize every opportunity to misguide the UMMAH. Their world view is exclusively rooted in the past with deliberate rejection of the realities of the contemporary times and they have repeatedly defamed Islam by drawing international attention and condemnation to their extremely violent, anti-Islamic and destructive acts and thereby pushing the UMMAH into further hardship and misery.

Imam Al-Ghazali was a specialist in treatment of bad conduct and he concluded that the treatment of all misbehavior among the people would not come only by wishes, but by the use of medicine formed from two ingredients.

(1) The first is KNOWLEDGE and
(2) The second is IMPLEMENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE.

"If either of these two is missing, this problem will not be cured. He also added that because the taste of most medicines is sour, people don’t use it. Or if they use it, they will not complete the dosage. And who does not have enough patience to use the sour medicine, he will not reach the sweetness of the cure".

The suicide bombers attempt all short cuts and end up NOT ONLY destructing themselves against the will of Allah but also destructing the lives of other innocent individuals around them, especially women and children.

In terms of above two highlights by Imam Al-Ghazali, the extremist elements basically closed their door of learning to KNOWLEDGE from the PRESENT. By so doing, they had not only lost the golden opportunity to integrate the gems of ISLAM with the KNOWLEDGE of the present but also lost the ability to “IMPLEMENT” SUCH COMBINED KNOWLEDGE. Their exclusive focus and obsession to the past roots of ISLAM in the absence of facing the CURRENT realities, has already turned the tide of their long-term outcome towards their own downfall.

In reality, they give a hoot to Islam’s emphasis on PEACE, LOVE, and UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD but instead focus on destruction. Such a destruction starts by them blowing themselves up to begin with, followed by destroying the lives of hundreds of other innocents including women, children and worshipers who came to the HOUSE OF ALLAH to pray.

Such victims HAPPENED TO BE IN THE WRONG PLACE AND IN THE WRONG TIME by being around the suicide bombers. Despite being an extremely small minority, they have through their destructive acts created a new generation of orphans, widows and loss of breadwinners of the family creating multiple economic and social stressors in the society.

It is not important what the writer has to say, but it is IMPORTANT WHAT THE HOLY QURAN and HADITH had to say on this matter. Let’s begin our analysis below:

(1) Holy Quran (5:32)
“ WHOSOEVER KILLS A HUMAN BEING (for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth), IT SHALL BE AS IF HE HAS KILLED ALL MANKIND, and whosoever saves the life of ONE, it shall be as if he had saved the life OF ALL MANKIND”.

(From the above Quranic verse, it is obvious of the tremendous emphasis that Allah has given to avoid killing a human being and multiplying the rewards of saving the life of a human being. Needless to say a suicide bomber has the destructive power to symbolically kill “all human beings” multiple times. If the suicide bomber accurately received the message from the Holy Quran he would implement acts of kindness to symbolically SAVE the life of HUMANITY multiple times).

(2) Holy Quran (2:152-153):
“O you who declare faith, seek divine assistance through patience and prayer. Surely, Allah is with those who patiently persevere”.

(The suicide bomber through his destructive act has showed that he is not willing to “seek divine assistance through patience and prayer”, even though Allah clearly states that He is “with those who patiently persevere”).

(3) Prophet Moses asked: “Oh, my Lord, WHO IS DEAREST TO YOU AMONG YOUR SERVANTS? Allah said: THE ONE WHO FORGIVES WHEN ABLE TO PUNISH”. Al-Bayhaqi.

(Many of the suicide bombers feel that by doing such a destructive act they are punishing their enemies. From the above, when Allah had told Prophet Moses that the DEAREST to HIM are the ones “who forgives when able to punish”, then, is not this a paradox? The suicide bomber feels that he is going straight to PARADISE when Allah through the above indicates exactly the opposite).

(4) Holy Quran (12:90)
“Indeed he who fears Allah, and is PATIENT, then surely Allah makes not the reward of the doers of good to be lost”

(The destruction brought on by a suicide bomber is a violation of above Quranic guidance because if one were to be PATIENT, then one would not destruct self and other innocents nearby. On the contrary suicide bombing is a clear act of SEVERE IMPATIENCE. Allah not only encourages one to be patient but also promises that when one fears him and remains PATIENT, he would not make the rewards of doers of such good be lost).

(5) Holy Quran (4:85)
“Whosoever aids and encourages goodness is a partner to it, and whosoever aids and abets wrongfulness is a partner to it; and Allah has supremacy over all”.

(Is blowing oneself in a marketplace or other public places involving loss of lives to innocents around – an act of “goodness” or “wrongfulness”? For sure, it is an act of WRONGFULNESS. If majority of the UMMAH feels it is wrong, then they have a historical responsibility to speak out against it and not be passive spectators or observers. Further they are encouraged to aid and encourage acts of kindness and goodness and work towards PEACE as the gem of Holy Quran indicates above)

(6) Holy Quran (6:82)
“Secure and rightly-guided are those that have faith and taint not their faith with injustice and wrongfulness.”

(Killing innocents through suicide bombing is an act of wrongfulness and injustice not only to the innocents who died but also their families)

(7) Holy Quran (42:37-39)
“(Such put their trust in Allah)…. who avoid the greater sins, shun shameful deeds and FORGIVE EVEN WHEN ANGRY. …Those who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation…. Those who, when an oppressive wrong is inflicted on them (are not cowardly, but) HELP AND DEFEND THEMSELVES”

(SUICIDE to begin with, is against ISLAM. Suicide accompanied by killing innocents especially women and children is indeed a very shameful deed. As indicated in above verse, Quran encourages FORGIVING WHEN ANGRY; a suicide bomber’s act is OPPOSITE of forgiveness. Concealing one self with bombs and deceiving the public and entering a peaceful public place such as a marketplace or House of Allah and then blowing oneself is DEFINITELY not defending oneself when an oppressive wrong has been done)

(8) Holy Quran (7:199)
“Be forgiving, command what is right and avoid (indulging in the ignorance of) the ignorant.

A suicide bomber’s act is NOT FORGIVING but rather an act of (indulging in the ignorance of) the ignorant.

(9) Holy Quran (16:97)
“ALLAH WILL REWARD THE DOERS OF GOOD, WHETHER MALE OR FEMALE, WITH THE REVIVAL OF A GOOD LIFE AND WITH APPROPRIATE REWARD ACCORDING TO THE BEST OF THEIR DEEDS”

(An act of killing innocents through suicide bombing is not act of DOERS OF GOOD and is definitely NOT THE BEST OF ONE’S DEEDS. Instead it is an act of double sin - self destruction and destruction of other lives).

CONCLUSION:

The writer recognizes the fact that above is only one such perspective of viewing the horrible act of a suicide bomber and fully understands that there are many other perspectives. It is encouraged for the UMMAH to have an open mind and be receptive to different perspectives without being judgmental and immediately giving a negative label to a person whose opinion does not mirror theirs.

It will be difficult for the UMMAH to successfully move forward unless it exercises more tolerance to different perspectives of a particular burning issue for the UMMAH. Let this perspective be ONE OF THE MANY perspectives in the intellectual marketplace of ideas. The Ummah has its own synergy to pick up momentum behind a certain perspective that has a judicious mixture between the historical Islamic roots and the fluid, dynamic and ever changing contemporary realities.

It is an established fact that globally the majority of the UMMAH are following Prophet Mohamed’s (SAW) recommendation of being MODERATES. The global UMMAH has two extremes, one extreme is the Muslims whose life is anchored to history and are disconnected to the present, and the other extreme are secular or anti-Islamic Muslims who luckily are also a very negligible minority.

Most of the Muslims fall in between and continue their struggle to lead a lifestyle that has a balance of both.

Above Editor concludes by recalling Prophet Mohamed’s (SAW) advice:
“He is NOT the best among you who NEGLECTS HIS WORLDLY LIFE for the SAKE OF THE HEREAFTER, or NEGLECTS THE HEREAFTER FOR THE SAKE OF HIS WORLDLY LIFE, UNTIL HE WORKS FOR BOTH. Realize that this life is a path that leads to the Hereafter, so do not become a burden on others”. IBN ASSAKIR.

As usual feel free to e-mail your comments to info@mehrunyusuficds.com.

ISLAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY ONLINE

(Revised Edition)

Volume 4, April 2009

St. Louis, Missouri

Editor: Mohamed Ziauddin MSW LCSW ACSW

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK:

POTENTIAL PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY THAT THE UMMAH COULD UTILIZE IN HELPING ITSELF.

In the gems of the Holy Quran and Hadith, there is emphasis on PEACE, TOLERANCE, and CARING FOR EACH OTHER AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. Then why do we still see such graphic violence in the behavior among some sections of our UMMAH?

While the gems of the Holy Quran and Hadith could be the foundation and building blocks of our interpersonal and social behavior, we as Muslims need to learn additional skills and tools when it comes to responding to difference of opinions and negativity. Such tools can be used both at a micro level and macro level, at an individual level and global level. Dealing with difference of opinion and negativity can be between a husband and wife on a marital level or between Shias and Sunnis at a sectarian level.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL IN TERMS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION. Needless to say the responses for conflict resolution would vary depending on the individuals or groups involved. But we need to start somewhere and at an appropriate later stage, blend in the expert advice of both Islamic scholars and Islamic psychologists and psychotherapists to get the most effective, practical interventions to address above interpersonal or inter group conflicts. This is only the first step and it can be enhanced organizationally with the help of legislative, governmental and non-governmental entities.

Listening to the above Islamic gems in speeches and practically integrating it with contemporary psychological tools and applying it in practice to resolve conflict in our interpersonal lives is likely to be more effective than just listening to the Islamic gems and missing out on above aspect of integration.

Is it then a surprise why there has been so much emphasis in Islam to seek KNOWLEDGE? All knowledge is from ALLAH and for effective problem solving we must integrate the contemporary knowledge of various behavioral disciplines with the Islamic foundational concepts derived from Hadith and Holy Quran.

Above Editor argues that the optimal benefit of the application of Hadith and Holy Quranic gems cannot be fully maximized in issues pertaining to interpersonal conflict, until it is integrated with contemporary psychological tools. Such tools come with the contemporary behavioral knowledge that is in a constant state of change, all from the grace of Almighty Allah. Muslims must continue serious pursuit of KNOWLEDGE as recommended in the hadith and Holy Quran.

In general, we should try to do our very best to avoid criticizing others since we could better utilize the time by correcting ourselves in whatever ways possible. Below examples is NOT with intent to pinpoint one particular national group (nationals of Qatar) or one particular occupational group (maidservants), but rather it is an honest attempt to address an issue of INJUSTICE and EXPLOITATION.

As Muslim professionals of the HEALING ARTS PROFESSION we have an obligation to address such a critical exploitative issue, create awareness of the plight of the silent victims and implement our Islamic duty to assist those in need in whatever ways practically possible even though such a terrible event is occurring on the other side of the globe by our own Muslim brothers and sisters.

Further, before we point our fingers at other non-Muslims and scapegoat them for our problems, it is good for us to take a deep and serious look at our own Ummah’s social backyard and work on ways to correct ourselves. This is told from our Ummah’s global perspective.

PLIGHT OF MAID SERVANTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST:

ONE SUCH ISSUE IS THE TREATMENT OF MAIDSERVANTS THAT COME FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES TO WORK IN THE MIDDLE EAST. LET’S TAKE FEW EXAMPLES IN THE COUNTRY OF QATAR.

TORTURE AND ABUSE OF DOMESTIC WORKERS REMAINS A PROBLEM IN QATAR. REQUESTS FROM HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS GO UNHEEDED. THE AUTHORITIES HAVE SO FAR FAILED TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THOUSANDS OF DOMESTIC WORKERS BY REFUSING TO BRING THEM UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE EXISTING LABOR LAW. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THOSE HOUSEMAIDS WHO FLEE THEIR ABUSIVE EMPLOYERS ARE CONSIDERED AS ILLEGALS AND DEPORTED.

THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES THAT 15 TO 20 PERCENT OF THE 100,000 WOMEN WHO LEAVE EACH YEAR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST RETURN PREMATURELY, DUE TO PHYSICAL ABUSE OR NONPAYMENT OF SALARY.

A 26-year-old Qatari woman has been sentenced to three years imprisonment after she was found guilty of beating her Sri Lankan maid to death. The 24-year-old maid, who came to Qatar two months before her death, was admitted to hospital with severe injuries and succumbed to her wounds in the hospital three days later. The court also ordered the convict to pay QR 150,000 to the family of the deceased as blood money. The accused had confessed to attacking the maid with her hands “on several parts of her body to teach her a lesson because she was lazy and non-obedient”.

The accused also told that the maid was “unclean and used to dress indecently in front of her husband” and therefore she used to beat her up. She denied using any weapon to attack the victim. The accused said that she pushed the maid against the wall repeatedly after discovering a local telephone number that she had.

A Qatari couple walked free (of jail time) despite beating their Indonesian housemaid into an irreversible coma and later death. A Doha court sentenced the couple of five years of imprisonment, but they never served the term after agreeing to pay QR 300,000 to the maid’s family as compensation.

An Egyptian couple has been accused of torturing to death a 24-year-old Filipina housemaid, a local Arabic daily has reported. The woman, who was employed with the family for 14 months, died after a horrifying sequence of abuse and torture, whereby she suffered burns and severe beatings, the Al-Rayah daily reported quoting a police report. There were burn injuries all over the maid’s body and a medical report described these as “imprints of torture”. The report said one of her fingernails was also removed. Investigators also found bloodstains on the walls and curtains of the apartment.

BRIEF ANALYSIS:

Where is the element of pearls of Islam - "Compassion and Tolerance" in the above? Many of us are ourselves immigrants settled in different countries. We cannot easily forget the send off, our own family and friends may have given us from the airport when we first left our home countries to go overseas for either higher education or higher wages or just joining our family in our new country of settlement.

Above victims had also like us, left their home countries to improve their lives, having no clue of the tragedy that was awaiting for them. The worst part is that the perpetrators were not non-Muslims but someone from our own peace loving faith of Islam. As far as we are concerned, they had grossly violated Islamic values of tolerance, compassion and peace.

From an occupational perspective, should the relationship between the maid and the family that she stays with, be considered an Employer-Employee relationship?

If yes, then of course the maidservant could avail of whatever limited rights the employee may have in such countries. If not, could not there be an alternative legislation to ensure that the basic human rights of such maidservants are protected? We are not claiming that the maidservants are perfect employees but rather what legal and Islamic course of action should the perpetrators as employers take, if they are not happy with the work performed by their maidservant. It is totally unislamic to torture, burn and kill as reflected in the examples above.

Why is such gross injustice towards the maidservants not addressed by the Imams in their speeches in Friday prayers in the Middle East? FIGHTING AGAINST INJUSTICE IS PART OF ISLAMIC VALUE.

From a psychological perspective, what new tools and skills can the families that employ maidservants learn when they have to deal with a maidservant that they are not happy with for whatever reason, besides the unislamic practice of torture and killing them.

One can only guess the pathetic level of communication between the perpetrators towards the maidservants. Is not there other more humane ways for the perpetrator to convey to the maidservant about their dissatisfaction with their work, if that is the main issue? Or if the perpetrators feel she is not fit to meet their expectations of a maidservant, why not just allow her to return back to her country (Alive) rather than in a casket?

While we don’t claim to have solutions for all problems, we want to start a spark by addressing such a problem that has repeatedly missed in the global Ummah’s radar screen, in the hope that it could pick up support and momentum to reach the desired location where it needs to be changed.

As Muslim Social Workers and Psychotherapists, we are strong advocates for the “poorest of the poor”, “victimized and traumatized”, “oppressed” et.c. And we encourage all Arabs of CONSCIENCE to work towards alleviating this issue at the grass roots level. OUR HEARTS GOES OUT TO ALL THE MAIDSERVANTS WHO ARE BEING CONTINUALLY OPPRESSED, SUBJUGATED AND EXPLOITED BY PERPETRATORS IN VIOLATION OF THE RELIGION OF PEACE – ISLAM.

DISCLAIMER: Focus is on the perpetrators and the victims in Qatar. This article in NO way intends to be a stereotype for all nationals of Qatar. We acknowledge that there are many nationals of Qatar who truly follow the gems of Islam in terms of taking good care and showing tolerance and understanding in dealing with their maidservants and our deep respects to them.

Acknowledgements:

http://www.peacefulmuslimah.wordpress.com/