Three things to be happy today 1

1. I should be happy and thankful today because my boss helped me to solve my problem of not having a secretary for the next few months.
2. I should be happy and thankful today because I feel like my communication skills have improved a bit and that it helped the committee I am in to move forward from a sticky issue. I hope that my persistence in focusing on the issue at hand and expounding all the angles causes an epiphany on the part of my colleague who creatively suggested a solution to the problem.
3. I should be happy and thankful today because I was able to eat my favorite breakfast.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.

posted from Bloggeroid

Niqabi refusing handshake with the King

The First Alien Contact

And so it was said that the most historic moment in human history will be the first ever contact between the human species and aliens. For some this is not a question of 'if' but 'when'. So historic that history will be divided by using 'precontact' and 'postcontact' instead of BC and CE.

Well if we define an alien as something extra terrestial or even extradimensional, then, humans have been in contact with the 'aliens' from the beginning. Prophet Adam alaihissalam was in 'contact' with the angels and Iblees, a jinn.

Further it is argued that these aliens are so advanced in technology that the analogy of possible fighting against them is like fighting using nuclear weapon vs. sponges, we humans of course are the ones with sponges.

Well, again, numerous hadith tells us the ability of Angels and Jinns that are supernatural well beyond the latest technology we have today. Think about how the jinns transported the throne of Queen Bilqees to the palace of prophet Sulaiman.

Historic? Yes so historic these first contacts have been that human history always changes once they happen. When Angel Gabriel came into first contact with the prophet Muhammad, the first chapter of the Quran was revealed. This first event unfolded the the rise of Islamic civilization that spread to east and west and paved the way of lifting out Europe from its Dark Age into its Renaissance.

My main point is that this first contact is not a novel idea to the Muslims and perhaps to the believers of heavenly revealed religions. This idea that beings with higher abilities would come one day to Earth and save us from our self destruction have been done time and over again.

"And I have sent a messenger to every nation proclaiming worship only Allah and avoid worshipping false gods" (Quran 16:36)

Fiqh of Muslim Minorities

Bismillah walhamdulillah wassaltu wassalamu 'ala Rasoolillah


Islam

There is an All-Knowing All Merciful Lord of the Universe who created human beings on earth although He knew that they will spill blood (Quran 2:30). He placed them therein in order to be His khalifa and should they fufill this, then they would be fulfilling the purpose of their creation - to worship Him alone. In return, Allah sent prophets and messengers (16:36) in order to remind mankind, time and again, about their purpose on this earth.

  Maqaasid as Shariah (Objectives of Islamic Law)

The prophets and messengers on the other hand have other secondary missions as well. They also brought laws so that the worship of Allah alone is established and sustained. The Ulama (scholars) of Islam have deduced a number reasons why the Shariah was brought by the prophets. The objectives of Shari'ah are the preservation of:
1. Religion
2. Life
3. Lineage
4. Intellect
5. Property


The Madhahib (sing. Madhhab) evolved inside Muslim Civilization

The Shari'ah is like a blueprint, if you will, from which all the laws, rules and ordinances can be derived. The Shari'ah is immutable yet its application might differ from place or time. Just like the prophets' laws differ in some aspects because they existed in different places and time, the application of Shari'ah of Prophet Muhammad in different parts of Muslim lands might also differ from place and time. This application of Shari'ah can be called Fiqh and as we all know, the Muslim Ummah have different 'Fiqhs' throughout the history of Islam. But we are living in a time so different from the time when the Madhaahib evolved. Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Ash-Shafi'ee, Imam Ahmad, Imam Awzai, Sufyan Ath Thawri and many more lived and passed judgment on Islamic issues while there were living under the protectorate of Islamic 'country' where the Muslims are the overwhelming majority. Therefore, it goes without saying that not all of the issues of contemporary Muslims who are living as minorities are given light inside the books of Madhhabs. There are many causes why there exist Muslim minorities around the world today. This includes the disintegration of the last Caliphate (Ottoman) whereby sections of Muslim areas were occupied and turned into what is now called a 'country'. Further, there were also the case of the Muslims in the Philippines where relatively small sultanates were incorporated into a country. Lastly, immigration in search of greener pastures also causes sizable Muslim minorities such as in the US and other European countries.


The Fiqh of Muslim Minorities

Muslims as minorities face many challenges in their endeavor to be worshipers of Allah. The issues of hijab, beard, Mosques and Minarets, separatism and rebellion, Islamic education, polygamy, confronting Islamophobia, Halal, election and participation in the political process and many more fall into these challenges.


This is a call

This is a call to all who were endowed with the responsibility of guiding the orphans of this Ummah, the Muslim minorities, first and foremest the Ulama from amongst them to come together and define and prioritize the needs of Muslims as minorities. Barakallah feekum

Some Thoughts During Breakfast

While munching cheese croissant and egg omelet bathed in hot sauce, sipping hot coffee with medium sugar and a teaspoon of coffee mate,   I thought about writing in my blog today...Just had conversation with my wife about a Youtube video of a man who insha Allah was a shaheed or martyred in the way of Allah.

Somehow this reminded me of a very subtle thought just like a video surreptitiously playing in the background inside my head. It is quite possible that somebody who would want to work for the betterment of Muslims in Southern Philippines whose ideology does not conform with the status quo might end up being murdered like Dr. Eustaqio III.

In my interrupted attempt to chronicle a semi-fiction version of my childhood and basically my life - The Hero Quest - I actually planned of ending the series with the murder of Ben (Oh sorry - spoiler alert) because he became successful in changing the status quo, that is continuing Manila hegemony over Muslims of Mindanao  by perpetuating Oligarchy, divide and rule approach for the revolutionaries, and all out war for the extremists. I think this approach might be strategically correct decades or centuries ago but now rendered outdated if not disadvantageous for both the country and the Muslims in Mindanao especially in the long run.

And then, Dr. Eustaqio was murdered! Whatever the reason(s) maybe, this confirms the video playing in my head.

Dr. Ammar Eustaqio working for Peace thru Education

Is working for peace a way to die? As paradoxical as it may sound, this is one of the first thought that crossed my mind when I heard the news of the death of Dr. Arturo 'Ammar' Eustaqio III. Although I don't know him personally and has never met him, deep inside me, I feel an inexplicable 'closeness' to him. Since the time I came to know about his conversion to Islam years ago, there was in me a degree of desire of wanting to know him more. And so I 'googled' him up and searched for his email address, sent it but I got an email failure delivery reply. At that time he wasn't still the president and UZ was still ZAEC.

As an enthusiast in  education and specifically Islamic Education, there was a subconscious process in my mind that made the connection between the personality of Dr. Ammar (may Allah have mercy on him) and the education of Muslims in Southwestern Philippines - Zambasulta area (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi). I felt that he can play a vital role in providing education to the underprivileged Muslim youth in a region where literacy rates is among lowest in the country.

At that time (circa 2005), there was an inverse relationship between my interest in education as a means of liberation and my stance towards revolution. My understanding of the Fiqh of Muslim minorities requires the Muslim to be part of the political process and nation building endeavors. When my children got bigger, the psychological demand for quality Islamic education is slowly growing in my head. This led me to a quest of looking for visionaries who shares the same sense of responsibility and urgency. Alhamdulillah for the great visions and amazing intellects of Islamic education advocates like Sherma Sappari, Warina Jukuy and Mark Santos, the Mindanao Islamic Education Conference 2012 will insha Allah transpire on the 10th of April 2012.

Now back to Dr. Ammar, he was supposedly one of the key discussants of the Focus Group Discussion in the conference. For me, it would be a dream came true to finally meet him and hear his thoughts about the role of education of Muslims in Southern Philippines. Universidad de Zamboanga, UZ, has the overwhelming number of share of enrollees in the region 9 area and a lot of Muslim students prefer UZ as their school.
But, Allah has decreed and He does whatever He wills, he was shot dead 9 days before the conference.

Searching again his name in google I came accross a PDF file entitled "Education and Peace". He eloquently expressed that servitude and slavery - in many forms -  hasn't vanished in the modern world and that education is the way to freedom. Recognizing that peace can be achieved by giving education to the underprivileged, he wrote:

'The more “underprivileged” are granted access to educational opportunities, the less “discontents” there will be.'

 To me, and probably for others as well, I believe that Dr. Ammar, or 'Sir Archie' practiced what he preached. Unlike those who just talk of peace, he practiced it by allowing Muslim student in UZ more freedom to practice their religion while they undergo education and training.

To end this, I say the same thing Sir...

Education for freedom!  Let this be our battle cry in our quest for peace. 

Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon.

My Idealism has ended but the Ideas have not

 

There was something nice about being young: naïve and carefree, the world at that time is a blank canvass, an undefined and boundless potential. The mind is fresh enough to perceive ideas, that are shape not by experience but by unbridled imagination. My lack of experience was compensated by insatiable hunger for information. And so I remember reading everything readable I can lay my eyes on, including the Green Book of Qadafi, supposedly, a ‘Muslim’ version of the Red Book or the Das Capital of Carl Marx.

And yes, I wanted to change the world, well, specifically Mindanao. The Bangsamoro narrative was slowly introduced to my pscyhe during the Ramos-Misuari era and SPCPD and what not. Thus I saw my self, primarily as somebody from the Bangsamoro – hence I wrote under the pen name “albangsamori”. With Armed Revolution romanticized by Che Guevara and Che Guevara Wannabes,  and being influenced by that,  I was furious and indignant that Misuari had to make a peace deal with the government. This belief (that we need war to achieve change), which I now believe to be misdirected, was reinforced by misunderstanding the Islamic methodology of Al Amru bil Ma’roof wa nahtu ‘anil Munkar (Enjoining what is good and forbidding what is bad).

Once I was with a wise man, Mr. Ibn Hajr Turabin, a father of a friend. He told me for Muslims to get back their homeland, they have to buy Mindanao (or some of its portion).  It sounded like a joke to me then, but now, to me at least,  it makes more sense than fighting an unwinnable fight.

And so the years gone by, and to my disappointment, the world has still not change.  My idealism has waned. I no longer wanted to write using the pen of ‘albangsamori’.

Having said all these, I am aware that this shouldn’t stop me from communicating my ideas about my homeland.