The Book is also Just a Book

Re: # 46

``I propose that non-Muslims keep out of the fray for a while so that they can learn from the interactions of the moderate Muslims and the Mullah brigade``.

Gladly. But the actions of the muslim believers affect the non-muslims also. How can they remain mute. I think the time has now come for all the muslims to keep their faith locked up for a decade. This will benefit the mankind.


Regards....

Re: # 48
Interesting! Punjabi and Lucknavi urdus!!
Bikul sahii, drlokraj saahab!!!

inquirer,
what you suggest about non-muslims keeping out of the fray would work if we were living in a world where the actions of one did not affect or have consequences for others. THAT is not the case. inter-faith dialogues are just as vital as intra-faith ones.

and furthermore, this is an article written regarding desecration of the quran-e-majeed, but desecration is not just about what happens to muslims. the notion of desecration is one that is part of all of us who commit to a belief/ideology, and have had tenets of such enlighten our souls rather than deaden them, as farzana aptly refers to in the last paragraph (yes, some of us actually do read her articles from beginning to end. .).

#47,

I guess, transistors, air flights, internet, computers, microchips happened either in barbaric or decadent times.

re: FV

Every religion has an element of irrationality in it and every religion has an ideal, which is considered as a sacrosant to its basic belief systems and values. Religious symbology gains its aura not necessarily by the intent of its gospels but by the importance its adherents attach to it and the contextual meaning, which they confer upon it in order to rationalize the justification of its importance. Reactions to an act, which goes against the grain of the orthodoxic values originate not generally from abused religious sentiments, but from the politics of the religious believes, which creates a sense of injustice and thus, demands an act of retribution as an amends to original slight.

All the Abrahmic faiths, which includes Islam, claim communion with God and their central message is to ordain an act of behavior, which the faithful are supposed to obey and abide by in their daily routines. The idea is to create a code of conduct, which helps in the regulation of a society and to prevent the anarchy, which invaribly results as a result of an absence of viable and credible set of laws. The most well intentioned example of this rationalization was the Mosaic Law, and a study of the Mosaic Law shows that it was a code of ethical conduct. From this law, ideals of Christianity took shape and formulated themselves into the guise a re-formed Ten Commandments.

The only difference, and it was a telling discrepency, was that the Christian Ten Commandments differed from the Mosaic Commendments in their interpretations of the ``Law of God. The basic contention of Christanity was that Judaism had become too ritualistic and was not personal enough, but was a threatening philosophy and thus, Christanity saw it self as a reform movement within Judaism intending to correct its flaws. It is interesting that Jesus was cruxified by the political edict of the Jewish priests in Jerusalem for a political reason and not for being a religious prophet.

Therefore, like Christanity before it, Islam too claimed to offer a more personalized faith, without the benefit of the intermediaries known as the clergy and it was, in the beginning, concerned about the salvation of its followers` souls. Later on Islam, too, became corrupted by the rituals, which propagated and drowned out its message. The ritualization of a religion, whereby the symbols and the acts of worship take on an added significance is a political development and the politics, which dominates religion does so with the wish to gain political power through the idolotary of religious symbology infused with a political inclination.

A symbol, by itself, is an abstract idea but what makes the symbol a potent reflection of the belief system of a religion or a political ideology, is the message which is associated with it.

In other words, such symbols are the reflection of our sense of cherished views, which we consider as sacred and as being as sina qua non of our personal, political, social or cultural characteristics. An American might not understand the value of the Quran to a Muslim and to him, it is a just a book and likewise, a Muslim might not be aware of the reverence which an American attaches to his/her nation`s flag and his/her sense of anger, when the American flag is burned. To the Muslim, the American flag is simply an identification of United States, but s/he does not understand the emotive appeal of the flag to an American and what it stand for; liberity, freedom, and democracy.

Hence, who is right and who is wrong?

The answer is irrationality and it depends on our reaction, when we see an act which assults our own sense of what we think shapes our identity; to the Muslims, it is the Quran and to the American, it is the flag. On the other hand, an average French might laugh at both the reaction of the Muslim to the desecration of Quran and American`s reaction to the flag burning. However, s/he will be up in arms and deeply indignigant, if act was the allowence of religion into politics.

We are ourselves responsible for our irrationality and this irrationality is commeasurate, with the importance we attache to those symbols, which we consider as defining our basic beliefs; whether they are religious or patriotic or secular in their nature.

Ciao

Some context is in order here.

The people who died were killed (entirely, from what I read) by Afghan security forces, a proxy for an occupying army that is accused of desecrating something deemed sacred by the occupied. Don`t ask me about the dynamics of why people protest, but it`s clear that this would cause serious unrest, whereas the detention of a few anonymous prisoners would not (but in fact, they do...however such unrest is always deemed Islamist lead insurgency, and brutally crushed, so we never really hear about such protests).

Now, unless I`ve missed something in the news, how did these people kill ``themselves``?

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Point taken about the screwed up priorities in the Muslim world (in general), though.

``If Islamic societies want to worry about desecration, they should start looking at how they treat their own people``

Actually, it`s governments in Islamic societies that typically fail the people. The saving grace here is percicely those people by far and wide (minus the odd honor killing here and there).

Re: # 53
Thanks, ferozk. We need responses like yours. They shed light on the situation and also proclaim COMMON weaknesses and strengths of the faiths. Once these are internalized people begin to see constructive ways to approach various imagined/real insults by people of other faiths. They also have a chance to, thus, develop bridges of understanding.

Re: # 49
Thanks. I did not mean to withdraw from the interaction for ever. I only wanted to avoid a shouting match across inter religious correspondents (as it has invariably happened at the Chowk) and thus provide an opportunity to people like ferozk to refine the discussion into a focussed interaction.

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Re: # 51
If you are a non-Muslim, then opportunities like this provide you a chance to refine and recalibrate your thinking. So one should exercise the patience to observe the interaction. You could even help along by asking questions in a positive format to seek specific pieces of information.
PS. I am a non-Muslim.

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The book is just a Book. Agreed. Then why did americans were found in the ``desecration`` of this book only and not the other millions of books in the world ?

If anybody abuses me parents, I will certainly not kill him. But punching him twice on his face might give me satisfaction. No matter, how bad I am with my parents while dealing with them, it will hurt me if any third person comes and comments bad about them. Alternatively, being a ``liberal``, I can write a beautiful article telling that:

1. Oh, if he abused it. No problem. My parents are two of 6 billion humans in the world.
2. No, abuse doesn`t have any effect on me. What is abuse? Just a vibration inside the air generated by throat muscles.
and yes, my logic works here.

Same is true for Quran. I have an emotional affiliation with Quran just as I have with my parents. I will certainly not like if somebody abuses it and abuses it for purpose. A couple of high energy kicks on the ass are required for such a person.

Being a liberal doesn`t mean being on the westeren side all the times. If west is found involved in an atrocity, highlighting it doesn`t make you ``less liberal``.

If americans are burning qurans and they know that it is something sacred for muslims, it means that they are trying to provoke them. Is it ethical to provoke a group by hitting its sensitive issues...

and yes, I again agree that muslims need to be more intelligent while dealing with such situations.

Re: # 57
Very contrary to your reputation proclaimed by Chowk!!

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God works in mysterious ways.

Karma`s cycle always catches up with the (mis)deeds.

These same fanatics were having orgasams when they blew up Bamiyan Budhas (sacred to Budhists). Now, let their souls have spasms at the sight of their things get desecreated.

Retribution - nature style.

Re: # 63
Fair and wonderful memories! Lekin extra ``a`` ne to majaa kirkiraa kar diyaa hogaa!!