"I am free to do what I want"

In this society many of us really believe we are free to do what we want with our lives. And being a teenager or young adult, brings with it a whole different perspective. As soon as we enter into the world of being a young person in this society, we are tempted to take on a whole outlook on the way we live life. Whether its going out to clubs and pubs, looking for no-strings-attached romance or being typically rebellious with family and authority; the attitude of just living by whatever takes ones fancy or gives one pleasure is a common one for teenagers.

In Western society, the youth have created as well as have been pushed into a niche where responsibility is a far concern as seeking pleasures is the only concern. Thus being sexually active without responsibility has grave consequences – Alfie Patten, the 13 year old who became a father was a shocking example of this. This is no surprise as a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in 2005 revealed that in the US, 27% 13 to 16 year olds and 41% of 14 to 15 year olds are sexually active. It is therefore no surprise that teenage pregnancies are a significant problem in the West, with the US and Britain having the highest rates.

Although the attitude of doing as one pleases exists in the West, the reality is that we live in a society, not in isolation. Therefore although some of us may interprete freedom in our lives as just trying to get a good job, have a decent career and start a stable family to make ourselves happy, another person may interprete this freedom in a totally different way. So making oneself happy for a rapist has a lot more of a disasterous consequence, although they have acted upon the same idea that we ourselves may hold - the freedom to please ourselves. So if we really believe we all should be allowed to exercise our own freedoms as we live quite a decent and righteous life, then we should not have a problem with a rapist existing in our society too, who also has exercised his freedom.

Are you really free?

This is the question which many of us living in Western societies assume the answer to. However if we really ask ourselves this question we will find the answer to be in the negative. We are not at all really free. Although society promotes sexual freedom to satisfy ones desires, the British law requires that you must be above the age of 16 to do so. Although we believe we are free to dress in whatever way we please, be it a sack even if we chose, the reality is if you decided to walk down the street stark naked, you would be arrested. If you asked a newspaper to report some type of abuse about the Queen you would be told that it was not allowed.

Therefore it is clear we are not at all totally free – We are just free to the extent that society and the Government allow you to be. Therefore the question then begs, that if we are not free, but all live by a set of norms and rules, then what rules should we be following? The norms of a society which human beings have decided for themselves, or the norms and rules of the Creator who created our very bodies and souls?

Freedom causes you to think only about yourself

The desire to exercise their desires before anything else, damn any responsibility naturally fuels a certain mentality within young people. The endless quest to make oneself happy, makes people put their own desires first, above anyone elses.

The idea of individualism in society causes young people to just have fun without limits, without thinking about the impact on other people or on society. Individualism gives boys the licence to behave sexually in whatever way they please, but never intend to commit to the girl they are intimate with. Individualism means a superficial desire of always wanting a pretty size 8 girlfriend, as a woman on a BBC reality TV show about single mothers disclosed, that her partner left her whilst she was 5 months pregnant because he felt she lost her ‘looks’. Individualism means parents who prioiritised their own career success or love life over the wellbeing of their children, as reported by the 2009 Children’s Society report; which has resulted in children being more anxious and unhappy.

The panel which produced the 2009 Children’s society report stated that the current ‘excessive individualism needs to be replaced by a value system where people seek satisfaction more from helping others rather than pursuing private advantage’.

Western societies breed the idea of individualism as an idea people live by in society and you are told it does not matter how your actions affect others – if you are fine that’s all the matters. However this is not at all true as everything people do in society affects others – If a man is intimate with a woman and gets her pregnant and then does a runner, he not only affects the life of the woman who has to survive and bring up a child and fend for herself alone, but he also affects the life of the baby who grows up without having a father figure. Actions by individuals affects society, and this is the idea that must be understood by Western society for it to deal with the current social breakdown that is being witnessed in society.

Islam cares about others around you

There is a Hadith reported in Bukhari, narrated by Nu'man bin Basheer (ra) that the Prophet (saw) said,

"The example of the one who stands for the Deen of Allah and the one who has left it are like the people in a boat, some of whom occupy the upper deck and some occupy the lower deck. Whenever those in the lower deck need water, they have to go to the upper deck to retrieve it. So some of them said, ‘why don't we make a hole in our deck so we do not harm the people of the upper deck?' If the people do not stop them, they will all fall and be failures, but if they stop them they will all be saved"

The Prophet SAW is here aliking the example of the situation of people needing to work together to keep a ship afloat, like people in society – If people just seek to fulfil their own needs and desires without thinking about everyone else, then eventually they will all sink. Islam therefore necessitates that we think about the community and society, as well as our own selves. Under the Islamic Khilafah, the social system of Islam necessitates that the agitation of the sexual instinct is totally removed from society, so that the society and community are protected from the ravages of unrestricted promiscuity which occur as a result of unrestricted freedom.

The Prophet (saw) said:
‘Oh you youngsters. Whoever amongst you who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him more to lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e.chastity). And whoever is not able to marry he should fast, because it will be a protection for him’ (Bukhari and Muslim).

The stability and commitment of marriage is the place for the satisfaction of this instinct, so that it is not let loose in society.

We are slaves of Allah

The idea that we are free to do whatever we want and fulfil our desires in whatever way we want is a total fallacy. If we have no freedom over the number of times our heart beats, how many electric impulses our brain sends and how much oxygen our lungs intake, how can we possibly believe that we are free to fulfil the needs and desires of our body in other respects, as discussed above? Clearly we have been created by Allah and are being kept alive by Allah, so how can we have the audacity to believe that when it comes to the areas of our needs where we have a choice, that Allah has no room to tell us what to do?
Rather Allah swt has clearly told us in the Holy-Qur'an,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ 
‘I have created jinn and man for no reason but to worship me’. [TMQ 51-55]

This makes clear that whether it is the involuntary or voluntary needs and desires, everything we do must be in line with what Allah loves, and abstaining from whatever Allah hates, as our very purpose in this world, is for Him.

The Prophet (saw) narrated in a hadith,
‘Any action not based upon our affair will be rejected.’
Therefore there is no room for a Muslim to feel that he has the freedom to choose however to fulfil his desires – Every single action he does must be in line with Islam. This does not mean that a Muslim must pray and fast 24 hours a day and nothing else, but it just means that in the way we have relationships with people, how we buy and sell, how we behave with our parents, where we go in our free-time, must all be in line with the deen of Allah.

This is because as Muslims we know that death is the most definite thing and that after death the Day of Judgement will inevitably come, where we must answer for every single deed that we carried out in this world. This will be the Day when,
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ (7) وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ (8
‘he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it ,And he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.’ [surah Zalzalah 7-8]

Thus knowing that Allah will account us for even the smallest error we make in arrogance defying his deen, should make us people who use our minds to always think before we act. The behaviour of doing as we please, damn consequences and whether it is right or wrong, is never for the thinking, mature Muslim.

The thinking, mature Muslim has taqwa, fear and consciousness of his Creator, which ignites within him a desire to continuously remember his Lord in everything he does, so even if she wants to freemix and join in with the other girls with their flirting and college romances, her fear and love for Allah far exceeds her small and human desires.

She remembers that Allah’s promise of the great reward of the Hereafter which will satisfy ones desires beyond imagination, is the best reward to wait for:
وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يُكَفِّرْ عَنْهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِ وَيُعْظِمْ لَهُ أَجْرًا
"And whoever fears Allah, and keeps his duty to Him, He will forgive his sins from him and will enlarge his reward." [TMQ At-Talaq 65:5]

Indeed, life in this society is extremely difficult to withstand for the Muslim youth, as they are constantly forced into submitting to their lowly human desires and seek their own benefit. But a Muslim knows that this is simply the path to destruction, in this life and the Hereafter and for the community around them. With the help of their Creator, therefore they are able to seek the higher ground for actions and live purely for Allah over the base desires of human beings:
الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ (63) لَهُمُ الْبُشْرَى فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
‘Those who believe and constantly guard against evil, for them are glad tidings in the life of the present and in the Hereafter, no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity.’ [Surah Yunus 63-64]

A child's prayer can be as brave and bold as this...

To start the theme for the next month, we reflect for a moment how Islam gained honour in the hands of great youth of the past: Mus'ab ibn Umayr, Jafar ibn Abi Talib, Asma bint Abu Bakr, Aysha, Tariq ibn Ziyad and the many more. Could a child's prayer be so simple; to be as brave, ambitious and courageous as them? If a child can only wish and dream, a young person can make it happen.

Osama bin Laden’s death: The US patriot reflex

In one episode of The Simpsons the school bell rings, prompting the students to sprint for the door before the end of a history lesson. The teacher pleads with them to let him finish. “Wait a minute! ” he says. “You didn’t learn how World War II ended!” There’s silence as the class waits expectantly. “We won!” shouts the teacher. Delighted, the class cheers, as one: “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”

The patriotic impulse in American society is intense and pervasive. The kind of national fervour reserved elsewhere for occasional events like royal weddings, World Cup victories or major tragedies is a dormant reflex waiting for a trigger. The flags are always out; the pledge is recited every day in schools. The muscle that converts shared citizenship into a form of national genius is well-trained and prepared. By the early hours of Sunday morning, as hundreds poured into the streets to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden, it was flexed and ready to do battle.

By lunchtime Jack Bauer, the terror-fighting star of the television series 24, was trending on Twitter. In the evening Comedy Central’s leftwing dynamic duo took the baton. Jon Stewart declared: “We’re back, baby,” while Stephen Colbert called on al-Qaida to “suck on [his] giant American balls”. The comment may have been half in jest, but the audience cheered in earnest.

While many nations suffered from al-Qaida’s terrorism and few in the world will mourn Bin Laden’s death, the United States is the only place where it sparked spontaneous outpourings of raucous jubilation.

The national unity that Barack Obama has sought to harness following the announcement is indeed eerily familiar. Albeit in joy rather than sorrow, it’s the same kind of unity that followed 9/11. It is also the same kind of unity that rallies around flags, dismisses dissent and disdains reflection. And however comforting it may have been at the time, the consequences of that kind of unity has been disastrous.

The reason Bin Laden’s death was a source of such elation is in part because almost every other American response to 9/11 is regarded as a partial or total failure. Two thirds of the people believe that the Iraq invasion was not worth it, and the country is evenly divided on the issue of whether the invasion Afghanistan is a good idea. The public mostly supports keeping Guantánamo open – but nonetheless concedes that doing so will fuel anti-American sentiment.

So the frustration of the last decade, during which the limits of America’s military superiority were tested and found wanting, had their outlet in the murder of a single man at the hands of a crack team of US Navy Seals.

Having effectively declared war on the world it is hardly a surprise that Bin Laden would come to this kind of end.

This was not so much the exercise of American power as the performance of it. Coming eight years to the day after George W Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln to announce “Mission accomplished” in Iraq, news of Bin Laden’s death was yet another mediated milestone in this war on an abstract noun. Like the capture of Saddam Hussein, the murder of Bin Laden changes little. Al-Qaida was never a top-down organisation, and was in decline anyhow – and the principal reason for its waning fortunes is the uprisings in the Arab world, revolts that have mostly taken place against America’s client states.

But to suggest that “justice has been done”, as President Obama did on Sunday night, seems perverse. This was not justice, it was an extra-judicial execution. If you shoot a man twice in the head you do not find him guilty. You find him dead. This was revenge. And it was served very cold indeed.

Given the nature of the 9/11 attacks a popular desire for vengeance in the US is a perfectly understandable and legitimate emotional response. It is not, however, a foreign policy. And if vengeance is a comprehensible human emotion then empathy is no less so.

Americans have a right to grieve and remember those who died on 9/11. But they have no monopoly on memory, grief or anger. Hundreds and thousands of innocent Afghanis, Iraqis and Pakistanis have been murdered as a result of America’s response to 9/11. If it’s righteous vengeance they’re after, Americans would not be first in line. Fortunately it is not a competition, and there is enough misery to go around.

But those who chant “We killed Bin Laden” cannot display their identification with American power so completely and then expect others to understand it as partial. The American military has done many things in this region. Killing Bin Laden is just one of them.

If “they” killed Bin Laden in Abbottabad then “they” also bombed a large number of wedding parties in Afghanistan, “they” murdered 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha and “they” gang-raped a 14-year-old before murdering her, her six-year-old sister and their parents near Mahmudiyah. If “they” don’t want to be associated with the atrocities then “they” need to find more to celebrate than an assassination. Vengeance is, in no small part, what got us here. It won’t get us out.

Gary Young

Guardian 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/03/bin-laden-death-us-patriot-reflex

Muslim women in the Khilafah

The Islamic Education system presents an ideological challenge to western civilization

For decades many have discussed whether the Islamic ideology can return as a leading civilization, one that can bring nations out of illiteracy, war, poverty to advancement in education, peace, and economic prosperity as in the past. A civilization that can stand as an example to the world...

People of the likes of H.G Wells, a famous historian and writer have brought this discussion to the frontline and was quoted to have said "Islam has created a society more free from widespread cruelty and social oppression than any other society had ever been in the world before". Others have also commented on the great Islamic civilizations, such as Carly Fiorina (the chairman and CEO of Hewlett Packard) "the civilization I'm talking about, of course, was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent - rulers who challenged our notions of self and truth; who contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership; whose leadership led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.......humanity has learned much from the diversity of the Islamic world - a world that was based on meritocracy, not inheritance".

When we look to the Muslim world today we see the decline in thought and advancement. People of the likes of George W.Bush have considered it the “uncivilized world”. One would never perceive a time of prosperity in its past. However we must look at the Islamic past, not in a historical context but as inspiration for the future of the so called “civilized” world as well as for what is perceived as the “uncivilized” world; as it was the past not the present, which truly represented Islam as a civilization and may again in the future.

The Education System of Islam

The education system of Islam is built on Islamic principles of giving the right of education to all and to advance society in knowledge and skills. Under Islam, the value of education was very important because Islam obliges the pursuit and acquisition of Knowledge. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) stated, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim male and female” 

This encourages the Muslims to pursue knowledge for this life and for the hereafter. The view held is to educate so that it may benefit the wider society but also to please the creator Allah (SWT). With this outlook the Islamic caliphate established numerous Universities for Muslims and non-muslims, men and women. 

Universities under Islamic rule 

During the time of the Fatimids, Caliph Almuiz built and opened Al-Azhar University in 361 AH / 972 AD. Since then it has become the most well known mosque in the whole Muslim World, and the oldest university ever known worldwide for all types of studies. Right from the beginning, the seminars held at Al-Azhar were of purely academic nature and produced thousands of eminent scholars and educationalists. The Universities academic excellence became known later in both east and west. During the Fatimid period, Al-Azhar was an essential part of the intellectual life. Beside the usual seminars, education sessions were held for women. Al-Azhar was also the official seat of judges on certain days and the accountant or chief tax collector "Muhtasib" for nearly two centuries. It attracted many teachers as well as many students from all over the Islamic world. Many famous scholars graduated from al-azhar and many more came from the schools of Baghdad, where they got to know scholars of the calibre of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Abu Ishaq al-Isfara'ini, Al-Juwaini and Abu-Bakr Al-Baqilani. When Napoleon Bonaparte attacked Egypt in (1213 A.H / July 1789 A.D) he looked upon Al-Azhar as the most well known university in the whole Islamic world. During his exile at Saint He wrote in his diary that Al-Azhar was the counterpart of Sorbonne in Paris. He looked highly upon Al-Azhar Ulema (scholars) as the elite of the educated class and as the leaders of the people.

During the rule of Caliph Al Hakam Ibn Abdul Rahman The University of Cordoba was established, which was a well established centre of learning especially in Europe. Indeed the Kings and the Queens of Europe used to send their children to study within theses universities. It made great contributions to art, the physical sciences, mathematics, geometry, and medicine. Their music was so highly cultivated that it was regarded to be a science, used to cure the insane. Students came from all over Europe to study in the great Muslim universities in Cordoba, Granada and Seville. Europe learned many things from the Muslims, including the Arabic numeral system, the concept of zero, the concept of harmony and concepts of law, maths and physics. In fact, the flood of knowledge coming from these universities led to the creation of the first universities and colleges in Europe.

The world-class University of Sankore, Timbuktu, its achievement in higher education is important to Islamic civilization even though it was less known compared to Al-Azhar, Al-Qairawan, Al-Qarawiyyin and Qurtuba Universities. Like all other Islamic universities, its students came from all over the world. Around the 12th century, it had an attendance of 25,000 students, in a city of 100,000 people. The university was known for its high standards and admission requirements. It produced world-class scholars recognised by their publications and graduates.

All these universities and others provided the fertile ground in which scientific discoveries and inventions were made.

The educated under the caliphate

Below are some eminent people that were produced in the universities under the Islamic caliphate. Each showing how Islam when applied in its true light can build remarkable personalities.

Ibn Sina - b.980, he is well renowned for the book he wrote called Al Qanun [The Canon] which contained a million words. It was translated into Latin in the 12th century and remained of the most valuable textbooks in medieval Europe until the 17th century. He was the first to describe Meningitis, and his work on minerals was one of the main sources of geology of the Christian encyclopedists of the 15th century. His commentary on the works of Aristotle was as significant as the work of the Greek scholar himself. Greek science and Philosophy was lost to the Europeans during the Dark Ages, but the Muslims preserved and expanded the knowledge.

Al Haythem - d.1035, was the greatest analyst of ophthalmology. His work was based around the role of the retina in vision and he wrote a book on optics which discussed the propagation of light and colours. His work influenced scientists such as Roger Bacon, Keplar and Leonardo Da Vinci. Later Ibn Nafis d. 1289 explained the circulation of blood flow, over 300 years before William Harvey who wrote about his research in 1628.

Yaqub Ibn Ishaq Al Kindi - b.800 was the first physician who analytically determined the dosage of most drugs. He had influences in other fields of studies such as geography, mathematics, philosophy and physiology. His influence lasted for 7 centuries.

Al- Bayruni – b.973, was the greatest polymath. His research amounted to 180 works and of that 40 has survived. He was also involved in other fields of study like mathematics, astronomy, natural science, geography and he was a historian as well as a chronologist, and linguist. He was a competent instrument maker who made a geared mechanical calendar in the 11th century. His approach to learning bore careful observation and experiment. 

Al Baitar – d.1248, was a pioneer in the medical treatment of animals. He invented al-Baitarah which was a science concentrating on animals. The word was later changed to ‘Veterinary’ in English. 

Jabir Ibn Haiyan – is recognized as the father of chemistry because he established the practice of experimental chemistry. The word chemistry is derived from the Arabic ‘Al Kami’. He practiced medicine in Kufa [Iraq] in 776.A large amount of his books were popular for 7 centuries and were translated into Latin. He introduced many technical terms for instance ‘alkali’, ‘cinnabar’ and ‘alembic’ which are still used in scientific vocabulary. The most important of his discoveries was the preparation of sulphuric acid, till this day it is a major component of industry. 

Ibn al-Haytham- b.965, He found Major contribution to physics. His book discusses how rays of light travels from objects towards the eye. He was also the first person to construct a camera obscura. In his book of Balance and Wisdom, Al-Khazim ( d.1121) wrote on mechanics, hydrostatics and physics. The book contained a theme of gravity, identified as a central force directed towards the centre of the universe. This was written centuries before Isaac Newton (1642-1727) encountered his theories.

Ibn al-Shatir - b.1304, he calculated the planetary bodies and included a planetary theory that shares many features with that of the work of Nicolaus Copernicus(1473) who knew of at-Shatir’s research.

An ideological challenge to western civilization

During the history of Islam, the Islamic education system was very important and well respected over the whole world. It raised the Islamic civilization to such heights as to witness a period of richness and intellectual advancement unmatched anywhere; a civilization, which benefited Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide; a civilization which became an example to Europe during the dark ages; and a civilization which truly represented the Islamic ideology, unlike the representation today in the Muslim countries. 

Islam, a challenge to western civilization? One may argue it was a challenge of the past. However, many worldwide are seeing the failure of the western civilization to cater for the needs of humans globally, or to bring global economic prosperity. Instead we see aspects of western civilization imported, creating a wide development gap between countries and enforcing aid policies which are strangling nations to its depths; many are seeing educational development in some countries and not others. In contrast the Islamic civilization brought global economic prosperity, and an education system, which developed many regions from the Middle East, Asia, to Europe. 

The ideals, values and principles of Islam remain and are the same today; with application to    the current Muslim world, Islam has the same potential to again create a great alternative civilization for the world. 

Shilla Begum (Graduate of Biochemistry- University of London; teacher of Science)