More Fatwas on the way on Anti-Islamic film maker

There is no shortage of opportunists in the world. No one has exclusive monopoly on being an idiot; members of every race, religions, nationality and ethnicity are in this game together, particularly the politicians. This essay is about a $100,000 bounty offered on the head of the anti-Islamic film maker from Pakistan. Iran would be the next one to issue.

Mirza Ghalib is an Indian poet who has written a couplet on every possible situation in the world. Here is a couplet on this situation in Urdu/ Hindi language;

"Bewkoofon ki koi kami nahin ghalib,
Ek dhoondho hazaar milte hain."
 

There is no dearth of idiots O Ghalib,
Look for one, thousands will emerge.

Humor first. Some 40 years ago, I read in Shama Magazine about a boat that was violently rocking in the middle of a storm in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda, everyone was scared to death and were desperately panicking. One man stands up in the boat, his friend says, what the hell are you doing? He says, “Praying”, the friend laughs, you are the worst sinner in the world, and you believe in prayers? The man tells him to shut up and stands up anyway, and calls every one to join him in the prayer.

After a long spiel, he says Dear God, we seek your help, please calm the waters down and save our lives….

Fifteen minutes later, the storm subsides and the boat safely reaches the coast, after everyone got off the boat, they fell on this man’s feet and praised him to no end… you are a saint, you are a man of God... and on and on, and the man was basking in the lavishes.

His friend pulls him over and screams in his ear, you liar, what if the storm had sunk us all?

The smirking chimp responds with a smile - then no one would have been there to question me, right?

The moral of the story is - a cunning man, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, a minister in Pakistan is offering a bounty of $100,000 on the maker of the Anti-Islamic film. He has got nothing to lose but gain from it because that bounty is as good as asking God to help win the Mega Million lottery.

New York Times reports, “A Pakistani cabinet minister on Saturday offered a $100,000 reward for the death of the person behind the anti-Islam video made in the United States that has roiled Muslims around the world, even suggesting that Taliban and Al Qaeda militants could carry out the killing.

The next one in line would be President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who is losing out in Iran with the sanctions, and the only way out for him is to show to his people that he fears no one but God, and he will get a fatwa issued on the film maker as if it is a heroic thing, and a few will fall for it.
 

A few idiots in American politics may be hatching schemes to turn Obama upside down, and may get a few fake threats issued by the numerous, dime a dozen repugnant radical Al-Qaeda type of gangs, upon which I hope Obama will not act in-judiciously to prove that he is macho man.

Romney may have nothing to lose like that man on the boat, and say, “If I am the president, I will bomb them to Oblivion” and make Obama look weak. Romney may win my support, if he were to say, “If I am the president, I will emulate President Obama, and chase those bad individuals and get them, just like the President got Bin Laden and Awalaki, instead of bombing the countries to smithereens and screwing up America, and American economy." Would he do that?
 

I urge men and women on the right, particularly Limbaugh, Coulter and my friend Sean Hannity, not to make a political capital out of this. It will encourage more chaos, and it is not good for America. Let Romney and Obama fight on their character and abilities. Let the best one for America win. I am a Republican and I want the best man (at this time, next time, I pray it would be a woman) to run this nation. Romney has a lot of explaining to do to come close to Obama at this point. We do need some one who can turn things around or at least not screw it up.

President Obama and Hilary Clinton did not apologize to any one over the violent incidents in the Middle East, they simply pointed out to the Pakistani public through their adverstiments videos that the movie was disgusting, that we respect the sentiments of people of faith. The movie was not supported by America, it was made by a looney and we have to freedom in our country.

We have to watch out for the fatwas and the political schemes and not reactunnecessarily, its a game to them and we don't need to get sucked into the fakies

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest onSean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly atHuffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blogwww.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily. 

Pluralism and Islam

This is particularly addressed to Muslims

We are still fighting a battle with the right wing politicians, and they are constantly mis-representing Islam. As Muslims, we need to rise above and make an effort to understand ideas and concepts without being judgmental.

Let me give you the example of the railway lines, two parallel rail lines run for the length they have designed to run and each line stands on its own. They do not converge, but they exist side by side.

Like wise, there are several faiths that exist side by side. Acknowledging their existence and accepting that it is God’s will to have made us different, and then his guidance for us to know each other is simply Pluralism. Pluralism is not a religion, it is an attitude to be respectful of others sentiments and faiths.

Pluralism is not a religion. Pluralism is simply an attitude of how we deal with others. Pluralism is co-existence. The idea of integration is oppressive and expects the minority to merge with the majority.

Pluralism is NOT integration, it is purely co-existence. You are who you are and, I am who I am, and let’s figure out a way to live with least conflicts.

Pluralism is an attitude of respecting the otherness of other and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of his creation.

Of the several beautiful values, one of the most important values of Islam is to leave the judgment call to Allah and practice non-judgementality in our daily lives. We recite the verse Malik-i-yomiddin so many times a day and hope that becomes a part of it.

Here on this group, except personal attacks all views on a given topic have been posted. We need to resist the thought of gaining support from a few to be against some one. What is the need for it? We all can read between the lines.

My Pluralistic attitude encourages me to present all views, even if they are contrary to my own. This is a critical value, as Muslims, we need to consider adopting. This leads to a development of healthy societies.

Conformity kills creativity; it is the push for conformity that we have gotten behind. The world would not have moved an inch forward if we were all conformist. From a religious point of view – we would not have had the two divisions or six schools of thought.

Muslims are not a monolithic lot, and most certainly each one of us is responsible on the day of reckoning – I am responsible for me and no else will come to rescue me except the good things I have done. Your take and my take on Islam would differ on a few issues and that is healthy. There is no compulsion in Islam.

Mike Ghouse

Need for one God

Indeed, there is only one creator God.

 No matter what name we call him, her or it, it remains the same. To believe that Allah is not the same God as what others believe amounts to creating a duplicate or another God, it’s called Shirk in Islam.

The idea of one abstract God was for more people to see their description of God fit in to the larger, all inclusive abstract God. It’s like painting the house in neutral colors to fit in any decorative theme. 

Each group of people ascribe different attributes to that creator, all are valid to that believer. Muslims and Jews see God as non-entity, non imaginable, non-collapsible into one word and we believe in the abstract form of God, hoping it fits all descriptions; narrow and wide. However, Hinduism sees the same creator in different aspects - in the form of representations - same with Christianity and some other religions.

The idea of mono-theism is larger than a private club where membership is restrictive. 

Monotheism or abstract God was created to bring all folds together - so if we fight with each other, let it be about land, food, water and the resources and not for God. You do fight for God if that God is yours exclusively. God belongs to every one of his creation.

At if, it is a new way of looking at Shirk, it will be rejected by many at this time, until it makes sense to everyone and God willing we need to learn to express it in terms where is not off the basics in Quraan. I believe it is indeed ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ

 But we have to learn to express it well and I am learning... this is my 3rd attempt and hopes you can enhance it as well or reject. But you have no right to decide who is a Muslim or not - only God decides. After all what is a Muslim? It is someone who subscribes to the idea of equilibrium where all of us live in harmony within ourselves and keep the balance with others.

 I love to Quote Chief Seattle again: "All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the webs, he does it to himself." - Chief Seattle, 1854.

I am sure you will find verses in Gita, Quraan, Bible, Avesta, Torah and other holy books to this effect.

May God and his goodness guide us for creating a world where everything has its own respectable place in the universe? 

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. He is available to speak at your place of worship, work, school, college, seminars and conferences. . Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find this article at www.TheGhousediary.com

Spirit of Ramadan

Rituals signify the mile stones of our daily life. Every significant moment of the day is a ritual. It is an unwritten way of measuring our progression; a memory pattern to bring discipline to our actions.

From the moment we are born to the last rites of our life and every moment in-between is laden with rituals, though some of us may deny it. Whether we go to the gym, eat our food; go to sleep, wear clothes, drive some place, in our intimate moments, or picking that phone up, we follow rituals.

Discipline is necessary to do things on time, managing personal relationships, driving to a destination or keeping within budget to achieve the goals; the result is worth the discipline to most people. When joyous, whether we are a theist or not, we have to express that sentiment, otherwise a sense of incompleteness lingers in our hearts.The Spiritual masters have captured the human gravity for rituals and have molded it with the art and science of self-discipline in their respective religion. The noble purpose of each one of them was to bring a balance in our lives and a balance with things that surround us; life and environment.

The Spirit;

Every faith is composed of a set of unique rituals to bring discipline and peace to human life. Fasting is one of the five key rituals that Muslims around the world observe.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is generally observed with a ritual precision; it is an annual training or a refresher. It requires one to abstain from food, drink, intimacy, ill will, ill talk, ill actions or any temptations from dawn to dusk, every day for a month. One has to rise above his or her baser desires. Islam gifts this month to its followers to inculcate discipline to bring moderation in their daily lives. Twenty five hundred years ago, Buddha, the enlightened one taught that human suffering is caused by unrestrained desire to own and had recommended a middle path, and the same recommendation was made by Prophet Muhammad fourteen hundred years ago.

Although Ramadan is popularly known in the West for its culinary delicacies and fancy Iftaar (ceremonial breaking of fast at sun down), the spirit and intent of Ramadan lies in a human transformation in a month long inner spiritual journey of finding oneself in tune with spirituality. God has no need for the hunger or thirst of someone who hurts others, violates their dignity or usurps their rights, said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The fasting of the stomach must be matched by the fasting of the limbs. The eyes, ears, tongue, hands and feet all have their respective fasts to undergo. The tongue's temptations, for example - lies, backbiting, slander, vulgarity and senseless argumentation - must be challenged and curbed to maintain the integrity of the fast.

Consciousness of behavior and vigilance over action are the most profound dimensions of fasting: the fasting of the heart focuses on the attachment to the divine. That is when Ramadan really becomes a source of peace and solace, just as Christmas goes beyond the rituals to bring forth kindness, charity and caring.

True fasting is self-purification; and from this, a rich inner life that bring about values such as justice, generosity, patience, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and empathy - values that are indispensable for the success of the community.

Knowing about hunger is different from knowing hunger. Empathy is not an intellectual equation; it is a human experience. Our hardness of heart often springs from our distance from the human condition of others. The poor, sick, disenfranchised, oppressed - we rarely walk a mile in their shoes, not even a few steps. "Rest assured," cautioned one teacher, "if you do not taste what it feels like to be hungry, you will not care for those who are."

For fasting to be truly universal, its benefits must extend beyond the fraternal ties of Muslims and must extend to forging a common humanity with others. Fasting is meant to impart a sense of what it means to be truly human, and its universality is reflected by its observance in Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Zoroastrian and other faiths.

Ramadan will come and go with such stealth that we cannot but be reminded of our mortality. What is it that we value and why? Habits, customs, even obsessive behavior like smoking can be curtailed with relative ease in the face of a higher calling.
More:

Politics of Ramadan - http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/08/politics-of-ramadan-on-moon-sighting.html
---
Rituals of Ramadan - http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/09/traditions-of-ramadan.html

---
Spirit of Ramadan http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2011/08/spirit-of-ramadan-eid-mubarak.html

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. He is available to speak at your place of worship, work, school, college, seminars and conferences. . Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find this article at www.TheGhousediary.com