Reflections on an Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan

Submitted by Fazal Habib Curmally (Pakistan), Aug 26, 2010 at 00:44

Greetings Vijay, I would buy quite a bit of what you have said. But let me explain. Sharia means the way and there are five schools of Shari'a or Islamic Law extant today. These are the Hanafi, Sha'afi, Maliki, and Hambali. These are the sunni schools of law. The Shi'a have the Ja'afri school of law. In India, Afghanistan. Pakistan and parts of Central Asia the Hanafi school which is the most liberal school of law. The Al-Qaeda practice the Hambali school which was revised in the 13th century by Ibn Taymiyya and if you see the textual references the Al-Qaeda give they will be referring to this scholar and a reformist called Wahab in the 18th century (?) who founded the Wahabi school and this is in practice in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

In India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have reform movements in the Hanafi school and the Deobandi school which is similar to the Wahabi school exists.It is these people who are the Islamists.In Pakistan they have barely one seat in the Lower House. As you are aware Pakistanis have rejected the taliban and Al-Qaeda way of doing things.As you may know we are still fighting them in the FATA regions that border Afghanistan.It is this extermists who want to turn back the clock.and go back to the Golden age. So a blanket Islamist definition is not on, because most if not all Muslims want to live under Divine law rather than Man made laws and are searching ways and means of reopening the gates of Ijtehad. In Pakistan we have a Government body called The Council of Islamic Ideology that whets all legislations to ensure it does not violate the Islamic spirit of the Law. mark you spirit and not the word This is why we Refer to the Quran e Karim and the Life of the Prophet (pbuh) as sources for our laws. In Pakistan they have barely one seat in the Lower House. As you are aware Pakistanis have rejected the taliban and Al-Qaeda way of doing things.As you may know we are still fighting them in the FATA regions that border Afghanistan.

If Muslims who are born in the West and hold western nationalities want to revert back to the "Golden Age" then it is their headache. They are disenfranchised and misfits in the societies they belong to. So is America going to give prominence to a minority of Muslims because of their lack of knowledge or are they going with the majority? This is the crux.

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