Islam and its Norms - Article Example

2 QUESTION ESSAY \ 2 Question Essay Islam can best be summarized as a way of life. The Sharia contains clearguidelines and principles to govern Muslims in their daily activities. Apart from the religious perspective, these guidelines can also be divided into political, social and economical aspects of Islam. These are the norms that every Muslim has to adhere to failure to which will be met by severe consequences. Apart from Sharia, there are also hadiths of Prophet Mohammed which are considered as religious doctrines by the Muslims. These hadiths also have guidelines on how Muslims are to act towards others1. As Prophet Mohammed outlines in one of his hadiths that every Muslims should strive to work in life as if they were living eternally. This means that all Muslims should work for the success of both the individual and the faith. He further states in another hadiths that ninety percent of all rizk is obtained from commercial activities. This explains why Muslims are enterprising in nature. Profits are allowed in the Islamic doctrine provided they are lawfully gained. However, the Sharia also asserts that profits should not be the driving force for any Muslim, all brotherhood and religious obligations should be held higher than all profitable ventures. There are two forms of profits as outlined in the Sharia: Halal and Haram. Halal is the legitimate form of profit that the Sharia advocates for. There is a fixed rate of interest and therefore, no Muslim earns abnormal profits or suffers from excessive losses. It also prohibits unjust exploitation of fellow Muslim brothers. Haram on the other hand is an illegitimate profit that is mostly practiced in the West. A good example is usury which is against the Muslim doctrine. Another important factor to consider is economic freedom that all Muslims enjoy. Each person has the right to choose the type of work he or she wants to do, where to do it and how to enjoy the fruits of his or her labor. However, one is not allowed to flaunt his or her wealth in the face of less fortunate as this is against the principle of humility. “O Ye who believe do not eat up your property among yourselves in wrong. But there be amongst you trade in mutual good will.” (Quran 4:29). (Economic aspect of Islam by M. Cherif Bassiouni- journal). Islam spells out how one is to live and relate with others in harmony. Muslims are taught to demonstrate their beliefs through good deeds to their fellow brothers. Muslims consider themselves guardians and protectors of the will of God. They are to uphold the truth and oppose all wrong doing. It is therefore not good for a Muslim to be pious and overtly religious but at the same time he or she is at loggerheads with his or her brother2. How one relates with others is very important in the Islamic faith. Ibada is mandatory to every Muslim, that is, service to Allah through service to fellow men. How one is to act in a social setting is clearly outlined in the Quran. Moral values outlined in the Quran include justice, compassion, brotherhood, mercy, equality and fairness. Equality is among the privileges that all Muslims enjoy as spelt out in the Quran. However there are exceptions to these. For example, women do not inherit the equal share of property like men; they are entitled to half of what their male counterparts get. On the other hand, all male Muslims have the obligation of taking care of a poor female relative. In terms of justice, each Muslim is accountable for his or her actions. He or she will be judged according to the Sharia law without favor or prejudice. Like all other minority around the world, Muslim entered the political arena to fight for their freedom and rights from colonialists and oppressive regimes. Islam became a tool to unite all Muslims and all their ideologies were mostly adopted from the Quran. However, this has changed and a new group of radical Islamists is championing for world dominance. All Muslims under Islamic regimes are bound by tough Sharia laws since it is deeply ingrained in their religion. Muslims are forced to follow these rules without question since it is the will of God and their opinion does not matter. The Islamist movement calls for unity and loyalty without resistance, failure to adhere to these principles is met with extreme violence which goes against the laws of mercy and compassion as spelt out in the Quran. Most Muslims are forced to adhere to a cause that they are against. They are forced to sacrifice their own personal ambitions and desires to fight against the West. However, there are Muslims who are against this and are calling upon the world and other Muslims to fight this backward militant group3. Irshad Manji, a Canadian Muslim, talks about the bad state of Islam in her book The Trouble with Islam. She distances herself from the religion due to the fact that it has changed severely. MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD It was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. He formed the Brotherhood as an educational and religious group for Muslim youths in Egypt and the Middle East to counter the secular western influence that had taken over the region. He advocated for a pure form of Islam that had no western ‘impurities’, an Islamic tradition derived from Quran. He wrote his ideologies in a proposal dubbed On Jihad, where he describes how Islam has abandoned its identity and adopted the western culture. He declares in the proposal that an armed struggle against British colonialists, the monarchy and expulsion of Jews from the Palestinian land as ways of safe guarding the purity of Muslim faith. He began a recruitment program in 1930s in the Egyptian lower class. He used social networks like welfare groups, neighborhood associations and mosques to pass across his messages. As more members of the group were detained and tortured by the government, the Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity skyrocketed. This was mainly because the movement was viewed as a political outfit fighting against the British rule. Its membership rose from thousands in the late 1930s to millions a decade later. Hassan al-Banna was however assassinated by King Faruk and the mantle was passed on to Sayyid Qutb. Even though his writings are still held with high regards by Muslims today, Qutb was not involved with the formation and leadership of the Brotherhood. In his book Milestones, he asserts that Muslim was severely affected by western secularism, corruption and immorality. He called for total submission to the Sharia law and abolition of western institutions and ideologies like democracy. In order for his ideas to have a broader outreach, he had to look for an ideal vehicle. The Muslim Brotherhood was one particular vehicle and he therefore joined the group. Like his predecessor, he advocated for jihad and violence. He was arrested in 1954, tortured and later assassinated in 1966. The Movement has undergone a series of transformation over the years, key among them being disfavoring violence and adopting moderation, dialogue and political participation. Hassan al-Banna’s successor, Hassan al-Hudaybi critically argues against Qutb’s radical views and utterly rejects use of violence in his book Preachers not Judges. Hassan al-Hudaybi’s successor, Umar al-Timilsani also took the same route and abolished Jihad from the Brotherhood. The de-radicalization process of the Brotherhood has not been smooth as it has received sharp criticism from other Muslim groups like Al Qaeda. The Al Qaeda leadership has branded the movement a betrayal to the Islamic cause as they have embraced democratic elections which are contrary to Sharia law. Hamas, a Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine has refused to denounce Jihad and is still trying to get rid of Israel from their land. Ideological differences among the group members have led to factions breaking away from the parent group. Hizb al-Wassat broke away in 1996, since it opposed the old conservative regimes; it called for re-adoption of Jihad. This movement banished non Muslims from participating in politics and also advocated for a theocratic form of governance4. Under their new leader Muhammad Badi, they declared US and Israel their enemies and would fight them to the end. Hassan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb played a very important role in the formation and establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Banna was instrumental in creating the movement and penning its first manifesto, however its ideologies and mode of thinking is/was mostly influenced by Qutb’s passionate writings. Both leaders’ manifestos advocated for an armed struggle against the British colonial rule, Israeli invasion of the Palestinian lands and western cultural influence on Muslims5. Both leaders were caught by the British government, imprisoned, tortured and ultimately assassinated. Both charismatic leaders are teachers in their own rights. Hassan was a Primary school teacher while Qutb was a poet and an Egyptian author. There is no major difference in these two revolutionary apart from their physical appearances. They shared the same ideologies, experienced the same oppression under the British rule and King Faruk and also used the political vehicle to spread their ideas. Bibliography Mandaville, Peter, Global Political Islam. Chapter 10, October 2007, Routledge Fiona B. Adamson, Global vs. political Islam: competing ideological frameworks in international Politics, 2005, vol.7 pp. 547-569, Wiley. Saba, Fatima, Who counts as a Muslim? Identity, multiplicity and politics. 2011, Routledge. Cherif, M. Bassiouni, The social system and morality of Islam. 2012. Read More