Agree To Disagree: It's Our Only Hope

Dear All,
Today I have a big question to pose: When will it all end? I was speaking to one of my friends over Skype yesterday and had a lengthy discussion about how Muslims today are the scapegoats of the world. I wonder if anyone else is getting this feeling, but as far as I'm concerned--I'm sick of fighting among monotheists. By that I mean I really think it's time for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to band together as one body--"Under God." Several times I get challenged by people from other faiths, and every time I end up walking out thinking, "what did they gain out of it?" Granted, some people ask to understand only; not to debate or debase anyone; however, for the most part, we are still living in frozen time: I'm right, you're wrong.

We discussed the fundamental issue with youths as concerns their faith in the Al-Rahman (The Merciful,) and we came to the conclusion that youths are turning away from religion today faster than ever. Put aside the antitheist views for any specific religion, and you see that this problem exists across the board. Today, more children are Agnostic or Atheist than they are of religion X. When I speak to people about this--namely to Agnostics--they give me one of two reasons. Either they believe religion is causing war, or they do not like being controlled.

So is religion causing war? My answer to that is definitely yes. But does it have to be that way? My real question is, is the religion causing the war, or are the people causing the war? Is it this purified faith that is causing Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques to crumble, or is it our hunger for power, our greed, and our vain desires? I'll let you think about that one.

Most of us who studied Islam know about the fact that the enemies of the Christians who were living under the government of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWH) were threatened by the Prophet himself because he wrote in a letter to them "These Christians are under my protection, and whosoever attacks them is attacking me. And whosoever attacks me is attacking God." My dear readers, this was said by the same Prophet who today is being labeled by Geert Wilders as a conqueror, warlord, and rapist. If this so-called rapist can agree to disagree to the point where he offers them physical protection, then we, my humble readers, are worse than this so-called rapist!

Why is Atheism prevailing today? I challenge you to observe an interaction between two Atheists. You will notice they appreciate each other's views--they unite under an antitheological philosophy, and they charish it! What is stopping the three monotheistic faiths from doing this? Are we all sitting around waiting for our Savior who will come with the Prophet Muhammad (SAWH,) or will we get up and start saving ourselves? I vote for the second choice. Yes, I agree--we have some differences. However, in the end, we are all descendants of the Prophet Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon him.) This is what we need to focus on. Otherwise, as much as I hate to admit it, the antireligion conversions will continue, and will even pick up speed--it's inevitable.

Now let us examine the second issue. In our discussion we touched on a cause for this reason. To me it seems as if children do not know why they do certain things. My friend stated that these children are conditioned to be a certain way; follow certain procedures. Is this a bad thing? No. However, it can be a bad thing if by the time the child reaches the age of baligh, it does not understand why it was conditioned before reaching baligh. This situation of not knowing, we concluded, was caused by the parents' lack of understanding of their faith. For instance, if my parents were not educated by their parents, who in turn were not educated by their parents, we have a big problem on our hands. This problem is the issue of what I call "religious robots." You do things "just because," with no reason for doing them. CNN interviewed some Chinese Muslims who were fasting under cover because the government has banned fasting. They asked one Muslim why he fasts, and his response was, with an embarrassed chuckle, "I don't know." This is when the reality of the situation hit home for me, and to this day I am utterly disgusted at the lack of understanding among my Muslim people. My dear readers, this lack of understanding is what is causing these suicide bombs, and terrorist plots. I have praised converts before because they understand more than we do. However, I regret to say that a lot of the terrorists today are Muslim converts who wish to "commit jihad" in the name of Islam. So this light of hope I had once because of the converts is fading quite quickly.

Indeed, if the child does not understand their faith, they will feel like they are being controlled; and they have a right to feel that way. In other words, the issue starts with the parents, but it's not all their fault. according to the Islamic view, what a child does after reaching baligh is their responsibility--they have the ability to reason with themselves, and the parents will not be held accountable. At the same time, before the child reaches baligh, the parents have the responsibility to teach that child as much as they can, and do their best to ensure the child does not stray.

Through all this though, there is still hope. As part of the society is going toward an antitheist view, another part is going toward the theist view--properly this time. A couple days ago, I read an article that CNN published which was an interview with some teenage women in hijab. They said they wore it to preserve their beauty and piety. Alhamdulillah, I hope all of them receive the blessings of God for speaking up. We must demolish these misconceptions one step at a time, and I sincerely feel they have taken one of those steps. The article was the first I've ever read where the reporters had no false information; I didn't disagree with any part of the article. From beginning to end, it was right on, and I think those teenage girls had everything to do with it. I bet Robert Spencer wasn't happy to see that article. Sorry mate, but your visions of opression are out the window. You see, I can lecture all I want about hijab for men and women (yes, men have hijab too.) However, in the end, people will only listen very closely to a woman who actually wears a hijab, because now we move away from theoretical philosophy into practical philosophy, and I applaud those women for representing Islam so well. You truely made my day.

Our discussion lasted for about three hours on the general subject I have written about in this entry, and in the end I saw that there are still some people out there who understand it, and can wade through all the misconceptions and fabrications that are thrown at them.

To all of you who think we as theists are doomed, there is still hope out there, but remember what I have said time and again: if you do not step up, noone will. Stop waiting for "them to do it" and turn it in to "I will do it." You will be amazed by the results. And hey, even if nothing comes of it--even if you are mocked, ridiculed, or just plain ignored, you have done your best, and that is all God wants from you.
Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar