Currently there is much discussion on social media regarding a fatwa from the Mufti of Saudi Arabia prohibiting demonstrations that bring awareness to Gaza and protest against Israeli aggression. Two few brief points: 1) I personally, with utmost respect to the Mufti, completely and totally disagree with his opinion. In fact, this is an example of one of my criticisms of the Salafi movement (you can read the pertinent part here: muslimmatters.org/2014/04/22/on-salafi-islam-dr-yasir-qadhi/4/) - a lack of political awareness and an assumption that ones own isolated culture must be extrapolated to encompass all of Islam. Perhaps in some societies protesting on the streets might be considered chaotic (or, as the Mufti puts it, ghawgha); however, anyone who understand the dynamics of media and politics in the West realizes that public protests are one of the primary mechanisms of spreading and popularizing ones grievances. It is because of this that the founders of America actually have a clause in the Constitution that prohibits the government from prohibiting public demonstrations! Protests and demonstrations are a cultural matter whose benefits and harms (and hence Shari ruling) will vary from time, to place, to culture, to issue. The Mufti has his opinion, based on his own background and culture; many others, myself included, respectfully disagree. 2) Having said that, I also find it deplorable that others are using this disagreement to smear a scholar of the religion, or use it to claim that he does not support the Palestinians, or is a supporter of Israel, or even (and I have read this myself on FB from more than one commentator) to claim that he might be Dajjal himself (we seek Allahs refuge from such foolishness and evil)! Disagreement with one opinion should not lead to insulting or accusing one of bad intentions (much less accusing one of being the Dajjal!!). I know for a fact that the Mufti supports the Palestinian uprising and considers the Zionist state to be a terrorist, evil one. He merely disagreed with one tactic to help the Palestinians, not with the Palestinian cause. I urge the students of knowledge who disagree with his opinion (and I am one of them!) to not lose their cool (or Islamic manneris) and go beyond what the Shariah allows. And, to be quite frank, where were these very same people who now mock the Mufti of Arabia for not demonstrating in public when the Mufti of another country allowed its own army to massacre and kill their own demonstrators who disagreed with the government?! Even if you disagree with this fatwa, he is not called for harming anyone, whereas the other fatwa from that Mufti is truly a despicable one, since it justifies bloodshed. Be fair, dear students of knowledge, and let not the hatred of another theological faction of Muslims cause you to be unjust! اعدلوا هو أقرب للتقوى ولا تنسوا الفضل بينكم
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 18:06:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015