Am I a Skeptical Muslim?

it is interesting to note how do people not only take pride in their strength of faith in a religion that stresses humility as 'the' personal trait, but also demean other fellow muslims to flaunt their 'better' understanding of Islam. Certainly this attitude dates back to the preIslamic era of clan pride. Evaluation and Judging is by no means a mortal's task, and the one who thinks so is definitely no different from the mulla who in his ignorance believes that sitting in the mosque entitles him to question any one's faith.

zahid nigah e kam say kisi rind ko na daikha kar
kia janay Uss Kareem ko tu hai kay woh pasand!

#238:
Zeeba, that was impressive. And instructive, at least for me. I have rarely seen Muslims express differences with the Koran openly - although in this day and age there is much to disagree with (as there is in every scripture).
Even very educated and liberal Muslim friends of mine shy away from this topic. So your remarks came as a welcome surprise.

Re: # 236
Do you think the principal is protected in the West? Do you know what values mortgage-backed securities are fetching now? And what has happened to peoples' retirement savings? How about credit default swaps? Aren't those worthless?

10c to a dollar? May be 20c or 30c in some cases?

Have you heard about toxic assets owned by major banks that cratered, requiring a huge bailout at taxpayers' expense?

Please think about the recent meltdown of the financial markets around the world before passing judgment.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 238

Zeeba:

What you write makes a lot of sense for all religions. Although the problem I see comes when a person is required to declare what his/her beliefs are. This allows people in the society to brand a person and person’s beliefs; and this is just the beginning. For example, you do not follow certain cannons of Quran or whatever other Islamic thoughts or values are. This is your personal choice, why must it be declared or become a topic of public debate. I do not understand this part. An example of another side of the same coin is that people start passing judgments on the others (believers or non-believers) based on their belief. An illustrative example is in this board, Riaz brings out material from Vedas on female child issue. His act to me (a non-believer) looks as if he believes and is convinced that all Hindus believe and must be believer and follower of Vedas as canonical laws, probably because according to him all Muslims believe in one and only thing. I have observed this phenomenon among fundamentalists in other religions too, be they are right wing Hindus, Christians, or orthodox jews.

I wish you guys should have come and reclaimed this board from Riaz Haq, Tahemed Sahib and right wing Hindus. There is far more to discuss and learn, at least for me.

Re: # 237...I did not know if Tahir was God's spokesperson.....lol

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Re: # 238 Zeeba ...very well said and impressive post.

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Re: # 237
This talk of "half Muslim" reminds me of the story of Mirza Ghalib after he was arrested in Delhi and hauled before a British officer following the war of 1857. When asked if he was a Muslim, the great poet responded, "I am only half a Muslim". Upon further query, Ghalib explained, "I drink alcohol but I do not eat pork. So that makes a half Muslim".
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Tahir,

I think that if you accept the muslim variation and diversity as Mr. Qureshi has expressedly shown, you'll be able understand the message that he has tried to convey here.

I read your I-log and unfortunately, your rants about Quran saying this and Quran saying that haven't really changed the historical fact of disturbing conflicts that the very close companions and family of the Prophet were afflicted with soon after his death.

I too am a Muslim, majorly because I belong to a muslim household. But that doesn't mean that I follow everything that the shariat, sunna or the Quran tells me to do, for example I don't quite follow the notion that 2 women's shahadat is equivalent to one man's, nor do I quite agree with the 'light' wife beating' as allowed in the holy book, and I belive that the sentences for adultry, blasphemy, stealing, fornication etc. are too harsh. Moreover I believe that jews and christians can be our indiscriminate friends too. Other than these, I have little or no problems with Islam. Is that too shocking for you to understand?

Mr. Qureshi, you're not the only skeptic muslim around here. The very notion of having a "Muslim Ummah" is oppressive but unrealistic. I quite agree with you on the need of reforms in Islam that are direly needed in today's world (especially in terms of tolernace and the rule of governance for many practicing muslims). But unfortunately, many scholars have deemed the fifteen hundered yr old Islamic teachings to be unchanged and invincible, completely ignoring the social transformations the muslims have undergone since the elapse of Islam.

Dear Mr.Tahir,
Thank you very much for your latest email. I was amused on your naming me as "half muslim." But the fact is that no one has ever been a full or complete muslim , because you cannot fix the limits on the faith. If you say one prayer you get less divine reward and thus the reward increases the more you observe the obligations.Thus in this field sky is the limit.

But you cannot dub the less observing faithful as half or quarter muslim, because he or she still remains a muslim.
God alone can determine who is a complete muslim. But still being half muslim is still better than not being a muslim at all.
May I assure you that I am not an absconder on intellectual queries. I would rather welcome these. If I am wrong I can correct myself.Otherwise if I have some logic in my submissions and the readers get to my point of view,I stand rewarded. I did not see your questions as the response is so overwhelming that I am lost and engaged. Could you please email your questions once again. I shall try my best to answer.
With regards,
Saeed Qureshi

It may provide ‘levity’ for us, but that should not deter you from pursuing this ‘real and large’ halal market. I cannot match your extensive research but the little experience I have had is only in banking where despite all the smoke and mirrors they tend to cast in terms of Islamic Banking in the end remains an entirely haram proposition.

Western bankers in their mad pursuit of ever shrinking ways to make money have gone full steam ahead in this minefield which will explode in their faces. You see, there is reason that no mudarba has lasted a generation. Name an Islamic mudarba in any Muslim country that has stood the test of time. In the West you have banks which lasted for hundreds of years, this gave people confidence that they could be trusted and they did fulfill their trust. Banks like the Rothchild’s although owned by Jews who were hated in Europe still did extremely well because they earned their credibility both in terms of safety of principle and an adequate return on capital.

That is just not the case in Islam at all because the only capital you can invest is as a venture capitalist and there are no safe guards at all to protect your principal. Citi or Barclays when the going gets rough will find that there rights on collecting their principal balances are very limited and the ability of their borrowers to claim losses is huge. The wisdom they are showing by getting into this business can only be matched with their participation in the sub prime mortgage market.

Let it be known to all that Mr. Saeed Qureshi has become an absconding half-Muslim; he never stood up and answered my questions that I posted as an I-log!

Re: # 232

Vertical search engines and web filters are nothing new, although their use by orthodox Jews appears to be quite creative.

As the world moves from broadcast to narrowcast, we are likely to see a lot more customized content for even narrow groups, religious or otherwise, that satisfies their own unique needs and tastes.

This Dawn blog may provide a moment of levity for a few "secular", "western wannabe" and mostly clueless Muslims in Pakistan at the expense of their more devout brethren. But I think comparing 1.5 billion global and divesrse Muslims with a small number of Jews defies all logic, to say the least. There are far too many nationalities, elasticities, denominations, thought patterns and cultures in the vast world of Islam than the fairly small world of Judaism.

Halal market, on the other hand, is real and large, and it attracts investors and businesses based simply upon the opportunity for significant returns.

I say this with experience of extensive travels and many visits to Israel, Palestine and many Muslim nations in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Tahmed Saheb,

I am your slave indeed!!

I am a lowly hindu before you!!

Riaz Sahib:

A halal browser should definitely be part of your trillion dollar halal business plan. Check it out.

http://blog.dawn.com:91/dblog/2009/07/04/halal-online/

Mr. Laddu: I surrender. You are unbeatable. Like the energizer battery cell.

Re: # 228

well, Riaz ul Haq wanted to make s comparison......I provided him the correct scenerio back home.....