Paradoxes of political Islam

Political Islamist arguments about authority and authenticity are full of ambiguity and paradoxes. Since many such ideas emerged from rhetorical argument against either traditional or modern mainstream religious and political authorities, these ideas are not substantive.

From Mutazili to Modernism: On Aql

The era of the Rashidun Caliphate (Rule of the Divinely Guided Deputies of God) ended with the death of Ali. It was followed by the Umayyad dynasty established by Muawiyah. muawiyah was already building a stronghold as the ruler of Syria while Ali was still alive, and secured his position as the commander of the faithful after his death. The Umayyad dynasty ruthlessly disposed of its enemies in the effort to strengthen political hold. The biggest enemy and the greatest challenge to the fledgling regime was the family of Ali and Fatima, the descendants of the prophet himself. The communities persecuted by the Umayyad rulers and the groups that were excluded from power during this era usually found an ‘Imam’ from the prophet’s family to take lead when they revolted against the regime. The Umayyads repeatedly crashed many such rebellions and thwarted many attempts, including the ones they only suspected to be forming. During the nearly hundred years of the Umayyad rule, the unnatural deaths of Imams from the prophet’s bloodline was a regular phenomenon.

Future may be even bleaker for Bangladeshi secular writers

Secular writers that use the blogosphere as their platform are now one of the most severely persecuted minorities in Bangladesh. The country has become unsafe and oppressive for atheists and agonists as well as for the followers of no organized religion and those with religious views that diverge from the orthodoxy. Three bloggers were publicly hacked to death in each of the last three months. Each time the blogger and atheist identity of these people came to the forefront because of the situation prevailing in the country. Secular bloggers, including those that were eventually murdered, have been receiving repeated death threats while going through a process of dehumanization and demonization by the larger society in the last couple of years.

Geneology of Ummah and Caliphate

When people of Bangladesh were busy watching Fifa worldcup and was battling each other about who was the better team, Brazil or Argentina, a caliphate was declared in Iraq and Syria. The militant organization named ‘Islamic state of Iraq and Lavent’ or ISIL/ISIS in short now calls itself just ‘Islamic state’ or IS have declared this caliphate on the areas they control in Iraq and Syria. This enunciation of supreme authority over Muslim population all over the world by a terrorist organization is the result of the failure of secular democratic states in the Muslim world and western interventions. Although no Muslim majority country or Islamic country have recognized them and there is no possibility that anyone will do that in the future, but for now ‘Islamic State’ is a reality that we all must face. For now, it seems impossible even to contain its growth, let alone destroying it. The rise of ISIS was empowered by the growing dissatisfaction of Sunni population against US occupation and the Shiite dominated Iraqi government backed by US. So IS considers both US and Shiite Muslims their mortal enemy. However, the Christians, Alawites or Yazidis are not safe in their hand either. Is have attacked the Yazidis, killed them and captured them to use them as slaves, claiming the Yazidis to be polithists and also claiming that selling or using them as slave is permitted in Islam.

Ibn Taymiyyah and Rise of Salafism

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A Christian man named Assaf al Nasari was charged with blasphemy against Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, in 1293 AD Syria. I do not know the details of the case, but back then in Syria all four streams of the Sunni Islamic law surviving today were valid. Byber, the Mamluk sultan, made Hanafi, Maleki, Shafi and Hanbali schools of law i.e. madhabs equally powerful and applicable in his reign. However, these four madhabs had different opinions on the punishment of a non-Muslim blasphemer. Their positions vary between considering it a minor offence fetching light punishment and a major offence punishable by death penalty.

How Muslims became the chosen people and the Sabeans got extinct

 Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans – those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (Sura Baqarah, verse 62)

 

There is a belief among the Jewish people that they are the chosen people of God. Traditionally, They believed themselves to be the sole recipient of God’s blessings. According to some exegesis, the verse from Quran mentioned above contests this claim. From this interpretation, it prevents Muslims from considering themselves the only people of God. This verse reveals that besides Muslims, honest people from among the Jewish, the Christian and the Sabean will also be rewarded by God in the hereafter. We are able to easily distinguish the Jewish and the Christian people mentioned in this verse; we all know who they are. Muslims accept these two groups as the ahl-al Qitab, meaning ‘people of the book’. But who are the Sabeans?

The Arabs, The ‘Mawali’ and The black flag from khurasan

The Black Flag of an Islamic Caliphate has returns to the world with the ‘Caliphate’ of ISIS. Using black flags to denote an Islamic political authority has gradually become popular over the 90s among the Islamic terrorist groups. The reason behind this popularity is a propaganda using a prophecy found in some hadith traditions regarding the rise of the black flag from Khorasan. The Taliban used to raise a black flag. ISIS inherited it from its predecessor, al-Qaeda. And now it is the official color of this so-called Caliphate of our time.