oh my goodness

I call him the Mujahid because he knows how to fight. I criticize him sometimes because I think that his intentions are very good but because he doesn't always consider who it is necessary to fight. Now the Mujahid has drawn cartoons about the Prophet SAW and his marriage to Zaynab and this has started a gigantic argument that is quite depressing to see during Ramadan.

To be honest I don't really understand the comic, but it looks like the Mujahid is trying to put a human side on the Prophet SAW. The problem with this is that it reduces the Prophet to just another man. The Mujahid probably wants to relate to him but we cannot relate to him, we are lesser. Also the Mujahid thinks too much about sex and so we need a good aunty to find him a girl quickly!

Someone says in the comment that the comic was inspired by a post here at my blog. I hope that is not true. I think we should make fun of ourselfes. But not of our religion or our holy people. If we do that then we will not be able to treat our own faith with respect and that is the problem that the Christians in the US have today.

I somehow feel that the Mujahid had drawn the comic for the benefit more of non muslims like the Liberal Hawk and the Transhumanist rather than his fellow muslims. Why does he feel that we need to have art to be inspired? I know a few artisty types and they always insist that if you don't like their art than you "dont get it" and are not intellectual equal enough. I get this feeling from The Mujahid constantly telling muslims that we need to see things his way. But his way of seeing things is very influenced by the non-muslims. I see him drifting away from us sometimes.

and Anyway, hadith are useless. What do they really do but create arguments and distract the muslims from what is important? I do not write SAW after Bukhari's name!

CAIR cares

I know I promised not to blog but my goodness! I am sorry but I think that the Mujahid is very wrong to say that CAIR should not have made an issue out of the jafi car dealer who was trying to sell cars by making fun of Islam and stereotyping normal muslims as terrorists. Look yes everyone has free speech, including CAIR so why should CAIR be the one to be silenced? Anyone is free to be jafi but then any muslim is also free to call out the jafi and say "you are an islamophobe, you are offensive" and note that the car dealer themselves made the decision not to run the ad so it is not like CAIR forced them to do it. If CAIR does not stand up for us as a community then who will? Why should we muslims not object when others try to disrespect us and perpetuate the whole thing about how we are intolerant and cannot assimilate and repeat worst things about us seen on TV.

I always hear the supporters of the war say that media does not portray good news only bad because that is what sells for war and that actually war in Iraq is going fine. Well I am not an Iraqi so I do not know if war is really fine for them but same argument is for muslims. media shows us the same way all the time. A few ignorant rioters are suddenly all of Islam after cartoons or the Pope. I see brother Rezwan called this "media feeds muslim trolls" (via Carnival of Brass). So we have to fight this perception and this is why muslims in America feel more alienated even though we are more assimilated than in UK where my cousins live. The car dealer maybe was just trying to be funny; well, if your humor comes at someone else's expense then that is not funny, it is hurtful and rude. Isn't civilization and civilized behavior supposed to be civil and not rude?

I think that the Mujahid is mistaken to write posts such as he wrote because it feels like he is trying to portray himself as "moderate" to the jafis like the Baron who wrote such disgusting things about the Prophet. I do not understand why the Mujahid continues to curry favor with these people. The Qur'an says that they will never be satisfied until we muslims abandon Islam so there is no point in trying to accomodate them.

I really admire the Zionist because she would never allow this kind of insult to her faith. The Zionist has declared her blog to be an Israel-bashing free zone (and by Israel she also means Judaism) because she has had enough. Look at the Christians, they are so lax about the importance of their faith, yes freedom of speech is important but it is useless if only one side speaks! Defend freedom of speech by speaking out and defending your own belief and fight for your own dignity else others will take it away from you. Jews know that you must cut off stereotype and insult immediately and address it otherwise it will feed into itself and build up and then you have allowed it to grow to a point where it wont be as easy to fight against. We have to be vigilant and then we can make sure that Islam does not decay but thrives in our hearts and also earns respect from our neighbors.

Why would non-muslims respect Islam if we ourselves do not? We must not allow insult to go un answered. No I dont mean go and riot I mean take advantage of same freedom of speech that jafis can (and should) be allowed to. That is what CAIR does for us and it is why I support them because they are on my side. Baron insulting poet and Jafi and and car dealers in Ohio who insult Islam are not.

silence is not agreement

The greatest lie of the jafi is that muslims are silent on terror. The ordinary actions of every law abiding and decent citizen muslim are themselves a loud condemnation of fanaticism in and of themselves. expecting that muslims have an obligation to condemn is itself evil. it says that we in the great great majority must all day do nothing except watch for and repudiate the actions and words of that tiny tiny fraction all day who are obscene. well, we have real lives to live! I am not a condemnation machine.

so why did i accuse the Mujahid of giving ammunition to the jafis? because he too wants mulsims to condemn. and like the jafis he says that not condemning is the same as agreement, tacit or implied.

The Mujahid wrote this:

So, I ask, either the societies aren’t Islamic, or Islam is no longer an adequate protection for the lives of women. In fact, Islam has become a scourge. Which is it? Since there are many who will ‘protect’ Islam from this ‘merely cultural’ evil (”let’s not mix culture and Islam” they will say), I will say that every Muslim, practicing or not, who in any way stays silent in the face of this evil, is complicit. Therefore, I myself am guilty and I don’t know how to atone.

I said before that his question, "Which is it?" is the part that is the problem. He makes it a false choice. Why is it only these two options? Why isn't it that the societies are both Islamic and also tribal, patriarchal, backwards? Why can't we just say flat out that Pakistan's culture still retains some element of barbarism which is thankfully absent in the new world to which pakistan's best and brightest have emigrated? this is the NEW WORLD and there are no honor killings here. Pakistanis who emigrated to europe took some of that barbarism with them. where is that recognition in the Mujahid's comment above? Or is critique of pakistan's culture (my culture too!) off limits?

No! Pakistan is NOT a barbaric culture - I said that it has retained elements of barbarism just as most cultures do. But there is no shame in calling spades spades. We must attack the barbarism not the Islam - it is the barbarism that prevents Islam's vision of true gender emancipation. So attack that, even if it means that precious Pakistan gets a black eye. Hey America didnt give women the vote until just 50 years ago so really its not like anyone is perfect.

and the Mujahid thinks that the following actually makes it better and clear:

the part “every Muslim, practicing or not, who in any way stays silent in the face of this evil, is complicit” makes it pretty clear that when I say “Islam” there I mean the actions of Muslims.

i think he means that we should read the earlier quote as:

So, I ask, either the societies aren’t Islamic, or Islam is no longer an adequate protection for the lives of women. In fact, (the actions of muslims) has become a scourge.

ok, but this still is a false choice and in fact even worse because its not the fact that the evil people who do honor killings are muslim that is worth commenting on, but that they are barbarians. Why not say:

So, I ask, either the societies aren’t Islamic, or Islam is no longer an adequate protection for the lives of women. In fact, (the actions of barbarians) has become a scourge.

and the Mujahid says plainly that every muslim who stays silent is complicit. Is the Alim complicit? Is the Shayk? Is the Mughal? Am I?

Why has The Mujahid rushed to condemn, to show the Jafis that he is not like the rest of us who do not condemn? I dont think so. I think that the Mujahid sincere feels that the honor killing problem must be stopped. But the way to do is call the murderers MURDERERS. Say they follow BARBARISM. Instead he has given the jafi the license to say that this is Islam. And worse, the Jafis will point to me and say look how the moderate muslims are treated by their own when they speak out about the evil of their horrid little religion.

I do not castigate the Mujahid for i know his goal is true. But his method is too much aware of the jafi's favor. When he casts aside his need to stay in the graces of them, then he will be a more effective champion for us.

The Mujahid is very sad

He laments honor killings, as well he should. But he again makes the mistake: honor killings are about muslims, and about Islam.

So, I ask, either the societies aren’t Islamic, or Islam is no longer an adequate protection for the lives of women. In fact, Islam has become a scourge. Which is it?

What a lovely false choice has been setup here. Of course any time that a muslims commits an evil, then Islam has become a scourge because Islam somehow failed to protect the victim!

Yes of course these particular cases are by muslims, and the "honor" is wrapped in Islamic arguments and excuses. But The Mujahid makes the same mistake as those who argue that Islam is inherently violent and hateful of women. He paints it as muslim this and Islam that. What wonderful ammunition he gives to the jafis!

The Mujahid seems to try and be the voice who condemns. Any muslim, anywhere, who commits an evil act and he must step up and demonstrate to some audience of jafis that HERE is a muslim who is righteous! Funny but I do not think that The Mujahid is any more righteous than my father, or my brother, or my cousin, who live in America, in Pakistan, in East Africa. They do not honor kill me because I live here and because I might date a non-muslim. I am alive; I am fine.

And where do these crimes take place? Why do they not take place here in the US? Does the Mujahid try to answer this question? So eager is he to immediately toe the line that he never bothers to dig deeper. For some insight maybe we should look at the Shayk, though that link is from years ago and nowadays the Shayk seems not to care about issues as anything more than a philosophical excercize.

Yes honor killings are evil. And they are usually committed by muslims, in the name of Islam. But the fact that there aren't honor killings in the USA means something. I wish that the Mujahid would spend some energy on THAT instead of being so sad.

tilts at windmills

The Mujahid believes that entering the lion's den - ie the jafi community - is productive. His latest foray met with disaster that was really predictable from before:

What hurt most was the way in which I was blatantly excluded from the conversation as if I were completely invisible. There were postings and conversations in which the commentators spoke to each other about “he,” “the guy,” “the Muslim apologist,” “this experiment.” It was as if I was not there. I was not Ali Eteraz. I didn’t have a name. They described and discussed me without acknowledging me. I was no more to them than a vague idea. Not a person, but a pronoun. It was the most blatant case of linguistic exclusion I have ever experienced because even when a man has called me sand-nigger, it has been to my face and I have felt his spittle hit me and felt the actual tangibility of the moment. This time I felt brushed off like I was a husk. Non-existent. Precisely because of the severity of their actions I am going to call it bigotry and I am not going to forgive it.

of course to them you are not a person, you are a muslim, and there is a very big different from their attitude and the one like the Liberal Hawk's attitude, because the Liberal Hawk believes in liberty and the jafis (led by The Jafi) only believe in a weak Islam that is not a threat to them. muslims are not human, they are scum, to be crushed. Otherwise they will crush the West, that is the attitude.

I have sympathy for the jafi's opinion actually because I also want what they want, which is no more big attacks upon my nation and no more death of innocents. I think that the Liberal Hawk is beginning to understand the dangerous attitudes of his allies, but why the Mujahid continues to try and reach out (or why any muslim should heed the Liberal Hawk's call for reaching out) I simply cannot understand.

Remember the biggest argument of the jafis. They say that they want muslims to stop terror. As if muslims were not the biggest victims of terror already! And then they say in very sad tones that if we do not stop it then the consequences will be to awaken the sleeping giant and then Islam will be destroyed and that they really don't want to be forced to do that. Why is genocide against Islam even raised as an option if they don't really want to do that? Especially when you consider that NOTHING that muslims do - not even foil bomb plots - is ever good enough, one sees that maybe we are being set up to fail.