Thought for the day . . . . TFTD.ws

Centrifugal forces

TFTD: There are factors that bind the diverse Muslim populations together, just as there are factors that divide and separate them.

Q: Given the way the Muslims have continuously sought to tear apart their states into smaller ones, what reassurances do we have that any future caliphate superstate will remain cohesive, stable and intact?
(Rummani)

Promotion of unity ideas and of course the danda (stick)!
(from Rickshaw Rick)

Obligatory khilafah

TFTD: The khilafah or Imama is referred to by many scholars as something whose existence is obligatory.

Q: Does this word refer to the ruler, to the basis of his rule, or to the system of governance?
(Rummani)

To all three. (from Duck 'N Dive)

Recruitment vs Daawah

TFTD: Raising political discussions to recruit people to an organisation for the achievement of a specific cause, however noble: can that be called "daawah"?

Shouldn't daawah be for the sake of Allah (i.e. exclusively in order for both the caller and the called be rewarded and spared punishment)?

The Messenger (saas) ignored the blind man and was upset with him because he was inviting a noble man; he wanted the Deen to be supreme and dominant by means of that man.
(from Qari Ashoor)

Islamic everything

TFTD: Hospitals are established with charters to provide their patients with a range of services, undertaking to adhere to an agreed set of standards. They are bound by the policies, procedures and regulations of the Ministry of Health and the law of the land.

When a hospital is described as an Islamic hospital, all that is implied is that its management, practices, policies and general ethos reflect the religious and cultural sensitivities of the stakeholders. The service they deliver however, is healthcare, NOT Islam.

The same applies to so-called Islamic universities. Their deliverable is knowledge, not Islam.

Q: Does the same logic apply to an Islamic state? What is it that such a state would deliver? Please elaborate.

Islamist or Kufrist?

TFTD: If you're not an Islamist, what does that make you?  A Kufrist?  :-)

(Rummani)

:-D lol ! Islamism is a man made ideology, no different to how liberalism is.
(from Toppled Pyramid)

13 centuries of decline?

TFTD: It is often said that the Muslims have, for 13 centuries, been in a state of decline, intellectually, culturally and politically, due to the erroneous understanding of Islam.

Q1: Looking back at Muslim history, to what extent would you say that was true?

Q2: Could that simply be a convenient excuse to have revitalist movements?

Q3: Does the current backwardness of the Muslims have anything to do with Islam?

Q4: Where does the Enlightenment and modernity come into this, if at all?

(Rummani)

The source of authority

TFTD: What gives a ruler real authority and legitimacy?

• Is it his popular mandate?
• Is it his qualifications and suitability for the job?
• Is it the extent of his de facto physical authority on the ground?
• Is it how well he does at the job, and how many targets he achieves?
• Is it the approval of the judiciary?

... or is it something else?

(Rummani)

Without  a doubt a popular mandate to get there. But he wouldn't get a popular mandate unless he could demonstrate the other factors.
(Genius @ Work)

Method-1, Method-2, Method-3

TFTD: There is a Method-1 to implement the public rulings of Islam, and this is an executive authority in the form of a ruler, also known as a state. The evidence for this is both the logic of necessity, as well as the example of the Prophet (saas) in Madina. Method-1 is the public method of Islam.

Bringing about such an authority from a situation where none exists, also has a Method-2, with evidence from the Mekkan period. Method-2 is the method for the political parties to follow.

Q: Does the structure, organisation and manner of manipulation and execution of this authority within the state, also have a further Method-3 (i.e. a Method-3 for the ruler to follow), and if so, where is the evidence taken from?

(Rummani)

Was Muhammed (saas) accountable?

TFTD: Was Muhammed (saas), in his capacity as FALLIBLE ruler, accountable to those under his authority, and if so, how?

A ruler would be, but but he (saas) would not be, as he is the Prophet.
(from Rickshaw Rick)

Made-up realities

Quote of the day: (originally circulated on 10/01/2007)

Nothing is ever as easy as it seems to be except in made-up realities (like math), and we'll always be slaves to our discourse.

anon