The Kingdom of Hypocrites
Asalaam Alaikum,
In the Glorious Qur'an, Allah SWT reveals to us the true nature of the munafiqun or hypocrites. Our beloved prophet, Muhammad (SAW), has also defined the nature of the munafiqun - "if they speak, they lie; if they promise, they break their promise; and if they are trusted, they do not fulfill their trust."
For years, I have struggled to understand how so many Muslims and so many Muslim nations for that matter, continue to have such horrific human rights records, especially in light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. There is no place in Islam for treating those who are not of your tribe like second-class citizens; for treating women like they are your slaves and they live only to serve man; and for treating those who work for like animals and leaving them in a state of indentured servitude.
I was shocked when I heard about the high suicide rate of Ethiopian maids in Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon because of ill treatment in the form of over-work, less pay, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. These are all Muslim majority countries and odds are their employers were Muslims. How can these people call themselves Muslim, perform their salat, give zakah and go on Hajj, but also treat their employees badly simply because they are not Muslim? Or, dare I say it, not Arab?
But, the news today has really sent me over the edge. Reuters, ABC, CNN and now Neal Boortz are reporting on the story of 49-year old L.T. Ariyawathi, a Sri Lankan mother of three, whose Saudi employers - a married, Muslim couple - responded to her complaints by hammering 24 nails into her body! Into her hands, legs and forehead!! And not just nails, hot nails?
WTF? This is absurd, horrifying and haraam. But, from what I have heard, this is not an isolated case. Maybe these two are the only ones who have resorted to hammering nails, but the overall condition of women, migrant workers and all non-Arabs in Saudi Arabia is something that is known the world over and in that country, but always in hushed tones. The government has even started to run an ad campaign to encourage people to be kind to their maids. This is a progressive step, but it makes you wonder how long abuse of this kind has gone on and the magnitude.
Why do we continue to stand by and say nothing when Muslim-majority countries continue to commit acts of violence that are un-Islamic and haraam? Why do we continue to stand by and not hold these people and these governments accountable for their actions? And why do we stand by and do nothing as these Muslims continue to perpetuate senseless acts of unIslamic violence and greed and continue to undo all the good work that the greater community is trying to accomplish?
In short, the West is the not the enemy of Islam. Muslims are the enemy of Islam.
Asalaam Alaikum,
In the Glorious Qur'an, Allah SWT reveals to us the true nature of the munafiqun or hypocrites. Our beloved prophet, Muhammad (SAW), has also defined the nature of the munafiqun - "if they speak, they lie; if they promise, they break their promise; and if they are trusted, they do not fulfill their trust."
For years, I have struggled to understand how so many Muslims and so many Muslim nations for that matter, continue to have such horrific human rights records, especially in light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. There is no place in Islam for treating those who are not of your tribe like second-class citizens; for treating women like they are your slaves and they live only to serve man; and for treating those who work for like animals and leaving them in a state of indentured servitude.
I was shocked when I heard about the high suicide rate of Ethiopian maids in Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon because of ill treatment in the form of over-work, less pay, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. These are all Muslim majority countries and odds are their employers were Muslims. How can these people call themselves Muslim, perform their salat, give zakah and go on Hajj, but also treat their employees badly simply because they are not Muslim? Or, dare I say it, not Arab?
But, the news today has really sent me over the edge. Reuters, ABC, CNN and now Neal Boortz are reporting on the story of 49-year old L.T. Ariyawathi, a Sri Lankan mother of three, whose Saudi employers - a married, Muslim couple - responded to her complaints by hammering 24 nails into her body! Into her hands, legs and forehead!! And not just nails, hot nails?
WTF? This is absurd, horrifying and haraam. But, from what I have heard, this is not an isolated case. Maybe these two are the only ones who have resorted to hammering nails, but the overall condition of women, migrant workers and all non-Arabs in Saudi Arabia is something that is known the world over and in that country, but always in hushed tones. The government has even started to run an ad campaign to encourage people to be kind to their maids. This is a progressive step, but it makes you wonder how long abuse of this kind has gone on and the magnitude.
Why do we continue to stand by and say nothing when Muslim-majority countries continue to commit acts of violence that are un-Islamic and haraam? Why do we continue to stand by and not hold these people and these governments accountable for their actions? And why do we stand by and do nothing as these Muslims continue to perpetuate senseless acts of unIslamic violence and greed and continue to undo all the good work that the greater community is trying to accomplish?
In short, the West is the not the enemy of Islam. Muslims are the enemy of Islam.
true absolutely!
ReplyDeleteMay Allah guide these hypocrites to real Islam as taught by the Prophet, or bring in their place others who are true to the peaceful and just religion for all mankind.
disgusting and sad. Totally unislamic- KSA has a lot of issues within itself; extremely hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteWell, I do hope the courts apply a just and equally appropriate punishment, including paying the woman her diyya for harm done to her body. That, at least, would be the one redeeming aspect from this gruesome, and indeed completely haraam, action.
ReplyDeleteTo my discussion:
"Why do we continue to stand by and say nothing when Muslim-majority countries continue to commit acts of violence that are un-Islamic and haraam?"
Who is the 'we'? If it includes you, then we ARE saying something; this post is a testament to that. If that 'we' includes me, then, yes, we are saying something in daily conversations, taking advantage of every opportunity we're given to highlight the differences between Muslim values and Islamic values.
But, is the solution to have 'the West' say something? If it is to point fingers and ride around blindly on our high horses, then I say no. But if it is to address humanitarian issues in their myriad manifestations across all societies and cultures, which occur even in this country (children adopted by affluent families to work as servants/slaves for the household; women and children brought to THIS country for men HERE to "enjoy," etc., etc.), then I am on-board.
However, it seems that even those organizations/governments that at first glance purport to address humanitarian issues often employ, rather, a rhetoric of cultural superiority (of us) and the "always already" intrinsic inferiority (of them, the other). This, in itself, is a different type of humanitarian crisis, leading to degradation of the soul for all. So, how can any of the surface-level manifestations be remedied when most of us (humans) refuse to swallow a big humility pill and heal ourselves at a much more profound level, the soul?
And, on a final note, let's not forget to take into consideration whose rubric is doing the scoring. To be sure, the scores for 'the West',or the whole world for that matter, would look substantially different if using an Islamic (from the Qur'an) rubric.
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ReplyDeletei completely agree with the last line about muslims being enemies of islam, but it's also the case that there are domestic violence shelters and human rights centers even in muslim countries.
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