Lets Destroy The Bamiyan Buddhas!

Educated Arabs support blasting of Gautam Buddha statues. The question posed on the arabia.com poll was:

Taliban`s decision to destroy Buddha statues:

_Is justified

_Is horrific

_Highlights hypocrisy of the international community

The informal online poll results thus far out of 1250 voters thus far was

42%- Is justified

38%- Is horrific

20%- Highlights hypocrisy of the international

community.

The Bamiyan Buddhas:

It is symptomatic of the Pathology of our Age that the World was readily Outraged at the Destruction of Stone Statues, but has Looked on Stonily while the Human Destruction continues incessantly before their Unseeing eyes in that godforsaken country, Afghanistan.

What did Buddha represent?

Why is the World so anxious to Preserve Buddha`s

Statue when it has been Systematically Destroying

Everything that the Buddha stood for?

The Buddha was not meant to become an Object of Art to

be viewed in the Smithsonian or the Metropolitan

Museum of Art. We cannot Freeze our Conscience in

Stone and Live out our gory lives in Blood.

The Demolishment of the Bamiyan Buddhas is the

Symbolic Act of our Current Moral Disintegration. If the role of Art is to Inform the Conscience, then the Bamiyan Statues have served their intended purpose in their final destruction.

What would you rather save, an ancient statue that

a hungry and ignorant child is bent on destroying or the child itself?

http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/afghanistan/afghbk.htm
http://www2.rawa.org/women.html
http://mosaic.echonyc.com/

In respose to sadna (Reply # 186)
Dear Sadhana:

I cannot even thank your for the links. The stories and pictures are indeed dreadful. What else could you expect in a society that is tribal, poor, theocratic, male dominated, and predominantly uneducated. I wish the people of Pakistan learn from the Afghani experience.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Dear bilal,

Before I answer your questions please can you do a simple task? Please read the other references which came up as well for the word ``kafir`` when you did the search as you have mentioned. Also, and this is more important, please read this

http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/aqida10.htm

and also

http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Belief_and_Islam/bintrod.htm

that will insha Allah answer your questions better than I. After that, I shall try my humble best to answer any q`s you might have insha Allah.

best wishes

Asif

re asif n # 177

``what is this miserable world compared with the Next World (for the believers)?``

To which Meer Taqi replied:

``Jaye hai jii najaat ke gham mein`

Aysi jannat gayi jahannum mein``

I am sorry I put you in the same class as Ghazzali; as for his shoes, did you check out a local Payless Shoess outlet or perhaps the more upscale JC Penney?

Sorry again for confusing the Jamaat, deobandis, Ghazzali and Mullah Omar. I am a simple fellow and it is hard to keep on differentiating between those who want crucify the unbelievers and those who just want to tar and feather them and those who simply want to kill them and take their women.

Perhaps you guys can cooperate in starting a islamicbigots.com site where us normal folks can get the precise definition of each shade of turbaned hatred.

Re: scout

``a truce is a truce``

I guess we weren`t meant to have a truce :)

Rinku # 185

``It is symptomatic of the Pathology of our Age that the World was readily Outraged at the Destruction of Stone Statues, but has Looked on Stonily while the Human Destruction continues incessantly before their Unseeing eyes in that godforsaken country, Afghanistan.``

it is also symptomatic of our age to be paralyzed by circular thinking and convoluted perceptions of moral equivalence. as if the ``two nation theory`` wasn`t enough of a shining example of the brilliance in pakistani thought, many pakistanis on this forum have put forth the notion that the int`l condemnation of the needless destruction of the afghani statues is somehow hypocritical b/c the world is less unified and vocal in protesting everytime one afghani kills another. this sentiment is more a result of pakistani hatred for a world that doesn`t agree with their twisted view of things such as kashmir then any genuine outrage.

i have contributed to earthquake relief efforts in gujurat but not in el salvador. does that make me hypocritical? i don`t think so.

rather then constantly blaming the west for their problems, pakistan and many muslim nations need to start owning up to the fact that their problems are almost entirely caused by themselves.

i think its also noteworthy to point out that the person with the least amount of outrage at this destruction would be the buddha himself for one of the central tenents of his teaching was the impermanence and illusory nature of life. (remember at the end of the film ``little buddha`` when a monk, in order to demonstrate this impermanence of life, came and swept his hand over a painstakingly designed mandala design, intricatley laid out in colored sand?)

In response to Asif Naqshbandi (Reply # 188)
Dear Asif:

I am not at all satisfied with your response to my post (Reply #179). Please answer my questions or inform me why you don’t want to do
the same.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Dear Bilal,

In the context of my previous post, I am yet to understand many things. These questions are not meant specifically for yourself.

Sadhana

a. If a person A is seen to be headed for Islamic hell, why do persons B and C get bothered to the extent of persecuting them? Is it in the Book?

And some hectoring others on chowk(and elsewhere), about how good as Muslims they are or arenot, how is it different in intent from what the Taliban is doing ?

b. Many Pakistanis are vehement in disowning any association with a common past with Indians while saluting their Afghan, Persian and Arabic associations in the glorious past and the future.

So why the contradiction namely Pakistanis` disproportionate outrage about a mosque and status of coreligionists in India left behind 53 years ago which the interim was spent systematically disowning and the contrasting APATHY about 20 million suffering and dying Afghans who are self-proclaimed brothers in blood and religion?

c. Pakistan has already invested resources and leverage in Afghanistan and is an important player in that region. To be a player in the east is costing it heavily in many ways. So again why the apathy about fellow-Muslims in the west and self-ruinous involvement in the east?

d. Why, while proclaiming sole ownership on principle and humanism, no Pakistani presses for universal adult franchise for the Afghans but demands plebiscites for others?

Sadhana

In response to sadna (Reply #: 193)
Dear Sadhana:

Your statement: “If a person A is seen to be headed for Islamic hell, why do persons B and C get bothered to the extent of persecuting them? Is it in the Book?”

My reply: In modern nation-state, the punishments for the violation of state laws are given by the state. In less organized and/or disorderly societies, this task is performed by existing social institutions or by some self-appointed individuals. Persecution, however, is not limited to the so-called Islamic societies. Personally, my preference is for modern, democratic, and orderly socio-political systems and organizations.

Your statement: “And some hectoring others on chowk(and elsewhere), about how good as Muslims they are or aren’t, how is it different in intent from what the Taliban is doing ?

My reply: The Muslims are increasingly getting politicized around the world in response to imagined, perceived, or real threats to their collective Muslim identity. In this process, various social actors often undermine and violate the rights of other individuals.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Rsaxena #190,

I don`t give up that easy buddy boy.

Re: Hazrat Naqshbandi (ra)

``no not ALL shias......definitely all qadianis...``

Which Shias are Kafirs according to you and why do you think so, and why at the same time that s.o.b Muawiyah is some asman-say-utra-hua farishta for you.

``.....means taking chittars [or even worse] i would be willing to take them insha Allah.``

Let`s not get drastic, chittars alone will be just fine for you Naqshbandi. You are probably an ok fella, just need to get some sense knocked into you. Mullah Omar better than Jefferson! sheesh! And you wonder why Muslims are in such a poor state. Do you even know who Jefferson was.

``u need to get off your self-righteous ``i can read english so I don`t need to follow the scholars of islam`` attitude and actually find out what islamic aqeedah entails. for your own good in this world and esp. the Next``

Self-righteous? Mua? :-). I just can`t stand your ala-hazrats with their outdated crap. Iqbal had politely suggested re-vamping the whole Islamic code. He believed that the decline of Islam is a direct result of the Shariah and called for a ``Reconstruction``. I think Iqbal was being polite. Personally I think that Shariah should be discarded altogether-calling it obsolete would be an understatement. All the works on Islamic Law should be kept in museums and libraries and studied as a part of medieval history for those interested.

p.s. I know enough non-muslims who are better human beings than I (a proud ummati) am. That`s why I am hesitant to condemn them to hell fire. Besides when will you learn that according to Muslim (sunni-naqshbandi-deobandi-wahabi-beralvi-umkana-dhumkana) beliefs the term ``Malik-i-Yom-ideen`` applies only to the Almighty. Last I heard your name was Asif.

I dont give a hoot about a buddha which is useless to the people of afghanistan. Many will propose that these statues have cultural and thus tourism can be promoted from them. LOOL are you hindus joking???? Thats like sayin well visit Gujrat after the earthquake. Some hindus on this board wrote that why dont we pakis talk about the enfanchisement of the afghanis....YOu hindus do the same with sikhs then we`ll talk....Another thing is that when Babri masjid was destroyed the world didnt care......Its only when some nonmuslim thing gets destroyed do these hypocrites pay attention. Its hilarous to see hindus talk about buddhist rights u guys have a hx of buddhist persecution. You wanna talk about cultural and i mean real cultural destruction lets talk about the impostion of hindi on muslims and the dying out of urdu in india. thats real cultural destruction that these hindu hypocrites wont talk about.......

pakistan zindabad

ps u dont like what the taliban did too bad rebuild babri then we`ll talk...

re sadna

``d. Why, while proclaiming sole ownership on principle and humanism, no Pakistani presses for universal adult franchise for the Afghans but demands plebiscites for others?``

I suspect you`re referring to Kashmir. I am hardly a Pakistani as my posts show but an eighth Kashmiri (if genetics are calculated that way). The reason why a plebiscite is slighly more pressing (mind you sadnaji I am not saying `more warranted`) in Kashmir is because of

a. the peculiar circumstance of the state`s amalgamation into India and Pakistan and

b. The binding moral trust on the international community to fulfill its obligations under successive UN Security Council resolutions.

That said, Pakistan is in no moral position today to articulate principles and humanism. Dictators, bigots, and apologists for Mullah Omar have lost the right to be spoekesmen for human rights in Kashmir or elsehwere.

Pakistan will have a far more respectable and noble case in the world of public opinion(and so will the Kashmiris) when those who speak for Pakistan will not be the tenor singers in the orchestra of Islamist bigotry.

rajajanjua,

if you use that kind of language for ANY of the Companions of Allah`s Messenger (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam) do not expect a reply from me.

Now, if you want a reply rephrase your question in decent language and we can discuss.

You really have no fear of Allah using such terms for one of the Companions of Allah`s Messenger.

La hawla wa la quwwata ilah billah.

From the vehemence of your reply i`d think you are a Rafidi yourself. (Shia)