A Good Question
Posted on January 8, 2007 by Tariq Nelson
Peaceful Muslimah asks: If Islam is for All Times and Places, Then Why Must We All Become 7th Century Arabs?
Note: For those offended at the question, just take it at face value. If you disagree or are offended, then you are saying that Islam is limited to time and place and there is no room for other cultures or advancement
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Filed under: Convert Issues, Sloganism over Reality, The Culture of Denial and Pretense
But this, is intself, a misnomer. Anyone who is telling people to become a 7th century Arabs, are themselves, very confused about their deen.
Another case of confusing religion for culture.
But Abu Sinan –
That is the point. Look at how many Muslims ARE confused about our religion and then tell me this is not a problem. A man worries about the length of his dishdasha and beard but lives beyind his means on credit cards. Or in a case close to home, worries over which foot to enter the toilet with but has refused to contribute to the financial support of one of his wives even though he insists that polygyny is his right.
The question is not a misnomer. But it does beg one to question what exactly is a Muslim. I think that this is a critical question.
Salaam Alaikum,
PM
Oh, I agree big time! But the problem is that these types of people just dont realise that it is a problem. I have had this argument with many “born Muslims” who insist that the culture practiced in their home country is Islamic because it is a “Muslim” country.
I have done this many times, go cultural practice by cultural pratice, and have them explain it to me with verses from The Qur’an or valid and accepted hadith. This usually gets their walls crumbling because they had never actually examined their ideas for empirical truth.
As a Sri Lankan/Indian Muslim to explain why a women in their culture pays dowry to the man. Based on what hadith or what verse in The Qur’an?
Ask a Saudi man on what he bases about 50% of what he believes and his cultural practices. They usually cannot defend it past “this is the way we do it in the home of Islam.”
Yes, as his royal family leaves for Europe for Ramadan so as not to disturb their eating, drinking and womanising. Indeed, “this is how we do it in Saudi”.
As to “what is a Muslim” this is a hard road to go down. I think being Muslim is more than the Shahada, but when you start talking about this people will accuse you of being a “takfiri”. But when you look at specific instances, like a blogger who recently said her goal for 2007 was to “get some ass” but then insisted that it is important to eat halal meat.
When I brought the subject up and asked if it wasnt a bit odd that someone would worry about eating halal when writing posts about “getting some ass” and another post complaining about a former lover’s “uncircumsised penis” everyone either ignored the subject, or tried to comfort the lady’s anger at me. As if.
The people you associate with says a lot about you and if people are willing to defend such a thing and continue to frequent their blog and comment, that says a lot about them.
But back to the subject, it is hard to talk about because then you get accused of being a takfiri for doing what I feel is the obvious. We have gotten to the point where people will attack you for pointing out the most obvious of things. I just pointed out that keeping halal doesnt go hand in hand with Christian and Jewish boyfriends, talk of sex, ect, and I am the bad guy.
I think there is a point where people do have the right to say something. It is one thing to argue about minor issues about hadith, it is another to brag about openly non Muslim behavior, then get offended when others call you on it.
If you are going to talk about it, better be able to take the heat. We need to be able to have frank discussions about issues without worrying about being labeled.
Peace folks…
This isn’t a problem relegated to what you could call “so called Muslims” (my term)…
Christians, jews, etc. all face this same problem in that many claim to be a follower, yet don’t seem to follow much of anything!!! Culture vs religion or is it culture and religion?
For some cultures, they have cherry picked parts of the Qur’an that suit what they had before becoming Muslims. I do not see the need to “revert” to when “life was simpler”. I’ve heard that same thought from conservative Christians too, and I don’t see how it will help deal with the issues of today and the future.
I commented on this as well at my blog, it think it is a bit more complicated.