مقالي الجديد: هل تتدخل أمريكا عسكريا في باكستان؟

إذا كان هدف الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها من الوجود في أفغانستان هو القضاء على مصدر هجمات 11 سبتمبر 2001 أي القاعدة، فإن ما يجري على أرض الواقع حاليا وتحديدا في باكستان يقول بضرورة إعادة الحسابات وإعادة تحديد المصدر الحقيقي لخطر الإرهاب الدولي وتوجيه الضربات إليه، وهو ما لا يتأتى - من وجهة النظر الغربية - إلا بالوجود العسكري المكثف لقوات حلف الناتو في باكستان، وإعادة تعريف جبهة القتال، وتحديد معنى "النصر" الذي تقصده أمريكا في الحرب التي لاتزال مستمرة بعد مرور أكثر من 9 سنوات على بدئها.


المقال كامل: http://www.akhbar-alkhaleej.com/#!400802



منشور من خلال مركز الخليج للدراسات الاستراتيجية

Ahl al-Hall wa-al-'Aqd - Part 1: The Paradox

"O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you" [Quran - al-Nisaa', 4:59]

Sahih Muslim, Book 20, Hadeeth# 4518: It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Holy prophet (may peace be upon him) said: Whoso obeys me obeys God, and whoso disobeys me disobeys God. Whoso obeys the commander (appointed by me) obeys me, and whoso disobeys the commander disobeys me. The same tradition transmitted by different persons omits the portion: And whose disobeys the commander disobeys me.

Book 20, Number 4524: It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: It is obligatory for you to listen to the ruler and obey him in adversity and prosperity, in pleasure and displeasure, and even when another person is given (rather undue) preference over you.

Book 20, Number 4525: It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr who said: My friend (i. e. the Holy Prophet) advised me to listen (to the man in position of authority) and obey (him) even if he were a slave maimed (and disabled).

I can keep on narrating the textual evidence of the obligatory obedience to the Muslim ruler, they are numerous in Quran and sunnah. And it makes logical sense; imagine if it was left to any and everyone to decide whether he/she sees the ruler as just or not, as tyrant or angel and act on it to depose or discredit the ruler, there will then never be any sort of stability and peace in the political life to allow development and progress to take place. Yet, on the other side of the coin, complete obedience to the ruler from every single person in the people can and will lead the ruler to do injustice and fear no opposition.

Professor Farooq Hassan raised a fundamental question that underlies a problem that the theory as well as practice of Islamic politics does not give due attention. He says, "The problem of the unrighteous ruler [...] was never really faced by the main body of Islamic opinion." "It is true that the principle was laid down in the hadith that there is no obedience in sin, that is to say, that obedience is not due to a sinful ruler. But since no means were indicated by which an unrighteous ruler might be deposed, the dilemma remained." [1]

This was one of the main factors that led to the rise of waves calling for a middle ground between Islam and democracy .. Actually, it led to several Muslim intellectuals fully adopting democracy as an Islamic governance system. Such process took place during the period of the weakening power of the Islamic Caliphate and the rising role of the Western powers; during this period the liberal and democratic principles started to infiltrate the Muslim intellectual circles which gave birth to the mentioned literature. "In the Muslim world, this contestation raises the challenge of defining 'Islamic democracy' in a way that is appropriate both to the demands of increasing popular political participation and to the desire to establish a clearly and authentically Islamic polity," John Esposito argued. [2]

But the adoption of democracy did not solve the fundamental question* .. how can a political system be Islamic and checks the powers of the ruler?



[1] Hassan, Farooq. The concept of state and law in Islam. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1981. P.52.
[2] Esposito, John L., and John O. Voll. Islam and democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. P.18.

* The question of why the current form of Western democracy is not Islamic is another topic that I might not be covering in full here during this series.

من أسباب فساد الأمه

"ما حدث الإنفصال بين السلطتين السياسية و الدينية إلا لأن أهل الحكم و السياسة جاهلون بالدين, لذا يتصرفون حسب ما تمليه عليهم أهواؤهم و رغباتهم, و لأن أهل الدين زاهدون في السياسة و الحكم, ومن رغب أن يخوض غمار السياسة خاضها بغير علم بمتطلباتها, و أساليبها, و أطروحاتها, لذا فإنه يُفسد أكثر مما يُصلح"

د.بسّام عطية إسماعيل فرج
الفكر السياسي عند ابن تيمية
صفحه362

An Islamic Alternative for the Selection of Ruler ... Intro to: Ahl al-hall wa-al-'aqd Between Classic Islamic Thought and Contemporary Application

Religion's role is increasingly coming back after decades of marginalization and attempts to eliminate it from the public sphere. Several incidents have taken place throughout the 20th century that were seen as indicators of the rising role of religion in the Middle East. Since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, several Islamic movements have been forming and developing. The decline of Arab nationalism, the Iranian revolution, and the Afghani war were some of the main catalysts that led to the fast development and increasing popularity of the Islamic social and political movements.

In several elections that have taken place in the last decade in the Middle East, Islamic movements have been able to secure notable successes; Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in the Palestinian Territories, AKP in Turkey, Justice and Development party in Morocco, Islamic Action Front in Jordan and Islamic parties in Kuwait and Bahrain are among the examples. One major criticism directed against most of the Islamic movements is the absence of a clear political program that reflects the ideological background of such movements.

In principle, although spectrum of movements ranging from AKP to Al-Qaeda share a common general ideological reference to Islam, there is a wide variation in the implementation of their understanding of the Islamic prime texts of the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him). On one side, some movements got overly engaged in the contemporary secular political process and applied the minimum out of their Islamic ideological principles. Another group was increasingly engaged with the Islamic classic text and detached themselves from the political realities leading them to develop revolutionary anarchic attitude.

One of the key debates that has been going on among theorists of Islamic politics especially after the fall of the last Caliphate in the 1920s was revolving around the mechanism of choosing a ruler in an Islamic political system. Plenty of literature has been written to compare and contrast contemporary democratic western system to Islamic political theory, yet I would argue that through looking deeply in the flaws of the democratic system Islam does offer an alternative that help much improve the political process for choosing the ruler.

"Ahl al-hall wa-al-'aqd" (Arabic term that literally means those who loose and bind) is a concept that was introduced in the classic Islamic political literature and is increasingly referred to in the recent times. Such group of notables in the Muslim society are obliged to carry on several roles, the most important of which is to choose the Muslim ruler. Al-Mawardi and Ibn Taymiyah along with other classic scholars of political theory in Islam admit the importance of the notables and their role in choosing the ruler. However, there is a propounded argument based on interpretation of Islamic text that is calling for the selection of the ruler through a direct public vote. An investigation of the arguments of several Islamic scholars about the nature of the group of notables and their duties makes it clear that elections of the Muslim ruler through Ahl al-hall wa-al-'aqd is a system that abides by the conditions and guidelines laid down in Quran and Sunnah and overcomes several of the flaws that will be presented to be found in the traditional democratic mechanism.

In-shaa' Allah I will try to lay down some main points about this topic in some upcoming posts.

I would like to hear your suggestions, thoughts or ideas about what points you think is important to tackle in this respect...

Israel "rebuilding" Iraq

I was doing some research on the private contractors in Iraq and i came across this blunt statement in one of the official report issued by the Congressional Research Service:


"Israeli firms, however, are eligible to participate in Iraq reconstruction programs as sub-contractors;" it added "reportedly, some are currently acting as sub-contractors in communications, water, security, and agriculture programs."


I wonder why "conspiracy theory" is widely believed in the Arab world ??


Source:
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report RL32229, Iraq: Frequently Asked Questions About Contracting, by Valerie Bailey Grasso et al. (click here for full report)

Barking in Columbia!

I thought he was already flushed down in history as one of the ignorant hate-mongers ... yet, it seems there are people who are still enjoying his idiocy!

His film was not even carrying a good argument, poorly produced and not professional to the extreme that a clip by a 9-years-old kid can get more views on you-tube than this.

I will not mention his name, nor that of the film .. it would only be giving him more search results on google .. we need just to sweep him under the carpet

The point of bringing this up here is that he is reappearing this week in Columbia University, and what is more strange is the language used in the flyers marketing the event. First i thought it was a counter campaign, yet when reading the names of sponsors at bottom of flyer it all came clear .. Cheap campaign by a cheap right wing group. I have to admit, though, that the flyers were creative enough to make it pointless to run a counter campaign with "Wanted" on banners.

... Attention to a dog might make it feel like a lion





If you need to know more about the dog check IslamOnline.net's coverage here

No Comment!

CNN "insults" President Obama!

I found this profound "typo", which I think if intended would place CNN in a huge swamp of troubles!

In an article about the US boycott of the UN racism conference next week because it criticizes Israel, the article had this inside:

Meanwhile, the Congressional Black Caucus said it was "deeply dismayed" by the decision made by the nation's first African-African president, saying it was inconsistent with administration policies.

If indented, the CNN would be accusing Obama of adopting the African old racism policies or reminding him of his origins!


Check article here: U.S. boycotts racism conference, says it 'singles out' Israel

Categorization & Self-Isolation

If there wasn’t a theory there already about that, then here is one … conscious categorization of people into groups and names leads to self-isolation and further defragmentation of society.

Now, let's take that into action. Well.. I did last week!

Along with some friends, we had some intellect discussions that led to more "self-identification" and, for sure, other's alienation… It felt weird. We went on in streets practicing categorization of people.

"Hey, there is a Salafi there," "the sheikh we heard this morning was tableegh we daawah;" and the list went on … Strange enough, it went so far as to categorizing people through their voices! & that was awkward. "That man calling the prayer sounds like a Salafi, they have this style in Athan." At that point I realized that it was useful or even fun no more.

As the theory states, now, in a predominately Muslim country one can feel internal isolation as long as he/she is not present in between the small group he identified himself with. An Ikhwani, a "good genuine" one, would feel isolated in a community of religious fellow Muslims for the simple fact that they are "Salafis," for example, and vise versa. And the list goes on.

Out of the top of my mind I can name four Muslim Sunni groups in the community I live in. Each group would tell you why he thinks he is "the" right one and the other ones are totally out of the "right path."

Even more, following the same logic, one can isolated himself from the group he is in. You can hardly find two people that have the same taste or way of understanding.

Let Us Agree

Let us agree on one thing, Sunni Muslims no matter how different they are, they have that big common background that unites them. Consequences that would result from the categorization process, other than self-isolation, are massive and grave. Unity is strength … Muslims are already weak facing the foreign enemies, there is no need to further create more internal enemies.

Unity among Muslims isn’t that easy to talk about … I guess that is to be continued..

Annapolis Conference: Gloomy as it Seems!

The threat against Israeli has became internal no more, yet its survival will depend on the acceptance and relations with its neighbors. Time, circumstances, and other factors have helped shaping the current internal Palestinian division, where the most heard party is the one which denounced resistance and is willing to give in several used-to-be constants in the Palestinian cause. Marginalizing Hamas, including Syria in the talks, and making Saudi Arabia join in with senior representation — for the first time in the presence of Israel — the Annapolis conference will mostly result into one of two options.

First, the desired US "peace" which is full Israeli peace and normalization with its neighboring Arab countries — leaving Hamas and Hizbullah as the only "extremist" resistance. In such case, international support and Israeli strict security measures — as that currently imposed on Hamas and the 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza — will act jointly to fight "terror". Consequently, virtual peace will be achieved, sure on the state levels and not "people's peace," and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be summarized by the declaration of an Abbas led Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza with no rigid promises on the main points of Jerusalem, 1967 borders, or the refugees right of return.

Gloomy as it seems, the Palestinian resistance will be washed away and the Arab street support for the Palestinian rights will be repressed as it has always been. The only hope would then resides in a major change in the ruling regimes in the countries of the Middle East with other regimes democratically elected that would hopefully revive the call for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a solution for the Palestinian forced in refugee camps and diasporas.

The second expected output will be "devastating consequences," as the former National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, describes it.

Episode #1: The "Religion" of Islam?

This is the first episode in a series that would be an attempt to understand the concept of the "Islamic State" ... Your comments will sure help be build more arguments :)

When one talks about an Islamic state, people ­­– especially in the west – tend to waffle! A religious rule! Wasn’t that the reason why world was in the dark ages? Wasn’t that why scientists were getting killed? & wasn’t that why people kicked religion out of their personal lives? … Well, I think Yes, but please know this:

Go through any English dictionary and type the word "religion", most results you will find that religion is referring to rituals and spirituality .. Which is true for Christianity.

However, he nearest word in Arabic to "religion" is "Deen" or "دين" which is not only rituals, spirituality, and prayers. Mohamed M. Yakoot tried to extract the meaning of Deen from Quran and Sunnah and the results were interesting.

In his article "Conceptualizing Deen .. Where to?" Yakoot concludes that Deen is a complex set of meanings. Deen mean creed; manners, prayers, and rituals; rule, judiciary, and government; means source and Shari'ah; obedience, love, and subordination to Allah; judgment and rewarding in the hereafter; Deen means to take up a promise with Allah to reach subordination and achieve succession.

So, saying that Islam is a "religion" would be unjust; in other words, equating Islam to Christianity would not be the best way to understand the former.

Once i was asked about the Palestine, how much was was the cause representing in my life; my answer was simple, yet important enough to turn my attention to a big fact. I said, Al-Aqsa is a holy Islamic site, we pray daily 5 times .. thus, we are in direct contact with our religion - or Deen in this case - which includes the sacred places every day.

Muslims do not practice religion, they live it. Islam would be a way of life rather than a priest a person would visit to cancel off his sins every week.

Thus, to rephrase, voices that are calling to "separate religion from state," i would perfectly agree with; and Deen is inseparable from state.

I'll leave you here for now...

To be Continued...

Changing the "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"

The "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" was announced to be taking place in about 142 US campuses ... Now they are only 100.

The announced purpose of the week was fighting "global jihad and Islamic supremacism"

now it is fighting "the terrorist threat"

It seems that the counter-campaign was effective!

...hehe

-----

Details:

The campagin's description began as following:

"During the week of October 22-26, 2007, the nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses."

Now:

"The Center will be conducting its week-long program on more than 100 college and university campuses throughout the nation to draw attention to a leading issue of our time, radical Islam and terrorism."

In the begining it was:

"The purpose of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week is as simple as it is critical: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the 'war on terror' and that global warming is a greater danger to Americans than global jihad and Islamic supremacism," the Project says on its website.

Now:

"The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the war on terror and that Global Warming is a greater danger to Americans than the terrorist threat."

الحمد لله ...

... & thanks for all those who

helped in making this change

Playing The Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week

It has been hyping recently in media ! "The Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"
As we say in Arabic: رُب ضرّةُ نافعة or something that may seem harmful can turn out to be actually beneficial!

I'll start the story from the beginning .. (in short as usual ;)

It all started like 5 month ago when David Harowitz (remember that name Well) decided to organize an "awareness week" to point at the "threat" that Islamo-Fascism has on the American people ... Now this notorious week is planned, organized, and already campaigned media wise. It will take place on Oct. 22 covering more than 140 of the top US universities; also hosting some REALLY notorious (from a Muslim point-of-view) guest speakers - one name would be Daniel Pipes.

OK, let's take it logical .. the Islamo-Fascism week would be perfectly achieving its goals if it had enough influence upon academia and students in those over 140 US influential top uni., correct? I mean if it was leaked outside it would be tracking criticism (as it is now) than support, which would surely ruin the whole campaign's objective.

A detailed guide of how to participate and take action in favor of such week was detailed on the campaign's website .... Clock was ticking and everything seemed as great as it is planned to be.

Now, Adam Kokesh (another name to remember) and six other friends of George Washington University realized all that ... (sure, Muslims were expected to do that first !! Yet, Adam's team did).

I would say that Adam is honest about his intentions, I know him personally i mean. We met somewhere in California 2 years ago and chatted for sometime.

Adam's team saw such Islamo-Fascism campaign - of David Horowitz - as racial, defamatory, and discriminatorily against Muslims and Islam .. So the team did what Horowitz wasn't ready for, he publicized the campaign in the "proper" way it should be .. hehe

Adam & the six others went to their home university of GW and went all around campus postering an Anti-Islamo-Fascism campaign poster.

Provocative, instigative as it is, the poster stated: "HATE MUSLIMS? SO DO WE!!!"

Adam saw that a media hype about the campaign would draw its failure .. & it is working!
The poster is dragging a mounting media debate about the upcoming event ..Muslim organizations are currently putting more efforts to counter the event.

However, Adam's poster was misunderstood to be advertising for the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week ... maybe now the story is becoming more clear to media after Adam's team letter to their university that clarified their intentions.

"Brought to you by Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness

PS Seriously, do a google video search for 'The Power of Nightmares'"

Actually, Adam in this poster is trying to be sarcastic of the event, and by pointing at the "Power of Nightmares" video one would get deeper understanding of some of Horowitz' real intentions behind the campaign.

Now, that poster not being the real advertising poster for the campaign, then which one is .. ! Here comes the sarcasm. Horowitz' campaign is using a poster taken out of a Dutch film !!

IslamOnline.net reported, "the campaign's main poster was said to show a Muslim teenage girl being buried before being stoned to death. It later proved to have been from a 1994 Dutch film."

Next blog post, GOOD News !

..... Stay Tuned

Egypt, Iran, & the US

This a quick thought, intended not to be elaborative ... What is the secret behind the recent rising Egyptian-Iranian relations; weren’t these relations cut since the 1979 revolution? Wasn't Egypt adopting almost the US anti-Iranian stance since then?.. why is it now that the Egyptian government mobilizing on the social and official levels towards melting the long standing ice between the pro-US Egypt and the Islamic anti-US Republic of Iran?

Two days ago, in a mosque that seems to be government monitored, an Egyptian Sheikh went on a public speech to say that the Iranian nuclear program is not that bad; Actually, i believe i heard him saying that Egypt should get one too! Sure, it was mentioned in a religious context.

On Sep 18, 2007, Reuters reported: "Egypt and Iran held rare talks at senior official level in Cairo on Tuesday and Egypt said dialogue would continue on restoring full diplomatic relations, broken off after the Iranian revolution in 1979."

Now, social and official levels, why? & this time?

For several reasons, Egypt has been increasingly pressured on several issues recently by the US, tension somehow is gradually rising, yet surface is still static.

The Egyptian-Iranian relations are played by the Cairo government as a card that would make the US use more carrots than sticks with Egypt. Mubarak's regime is playing it in the classic Cold-War-style.

Until now, Washington doesn't seem to take Mubarak seriously ... Maybe Bush is thinking of solving it the other way round through dealing with Iran first, which would automatically solve many regional US problems, including that of the Egyptian regime. However, Egypt can't play this game for long; Egypt has more interests with the US after all.

For now, I would keep watching ... Intensive diplomatic moves are expected to be done soon, stay tuned!

Like Equity Among Four Wives!

This might be a bit strange .. but, i was thinking today about something: if, maybe it will happen someday i dunno, i became the president of some small state, Island, or even village anywhere in this world; can i ever rule justly?

With all those words of criticism we hear all over the place against the unjust, brutal, and corrupt rulers especially in the Middle East region, the question remains: is it easy to turn to a just upright ruler over the night? Practically, i see it now as like trying to treat your four wives fairly.

The main problem is that it is not that man in power we chant against who holds the keys for everything at hand. He just cant simply press the bottom and switch off corruption, or issue a decree that turn his government fair ... Nor can he order a "free and fair" elections through which everything will be all great and fine.

Systems are complex and corruption when gets in like cancer systems become even more stronger; ruling elites and interest seekers form spider-net like relations that the single ruler might have absolutely no say against.

Let's take it more to its base & defragment things... State is government and subjects, subjects are society, society is families, family is individuals. If the individual doesn't have this thing inside that teaches him what is right and what is wrong, then our building unit is questionable.

Simply look at the US for example. It is claimed that it is the most advanced modern democratic system in the world. Basically, Americans depend on the system to make the ruler and government fair and just, not the individual. Remember: US is secular, which means that religion (the thing inside that teaches him what is right and what is wrong) is separated from the state system. Now, see what is happening in Iraq and just read about the appearing every now and then US corruption scandals (Oil exploitation, BlackWater, US $ billions disappearing in Iraq). If I were to take president Bush as model to follow to become a just ruler, then just give me few decades to push my village to the US modernity level and then I and everyone would become again the notorious Mr. Bush.

That would make me say, currently if I were to sit in the ruler's chair of one of the corrupt Middle East states I, and almost everyone, would not succeed in drawing the Islamic utopian system on the short term.

Change should go bottom up ... individual, family, society and then state.

So for now I would better look for the four wives and see what kind of just man am I!