Sister! “Bend over backwards and tolerate,” said Dr Bilal Philips, the Canadian ‘Ilmveriya’ of Jamaican origin last Friday afternoon over ‘Atoll Radio’ – the Islamic FM station. He was responding to a woman who called to get advice on how to deal with her husband’s ‘cold’ first wife.
“You know how you would feel when your husband takes another wife,” he counseled. So “scrape at the bottom of the barrel” to get into good terms with her. Though, he added, it is the responsibility of the husband to get her relatives “to calm her down.”
The past week we heard the two converts – Dr Philips and the UK-born Brother Abdulraheem Green raise awareness and make recommendations to the Maldivians. They were brought by the Islamic NGO, ‘Jamiyyathulsalaf’ under the program ‘The Call 2010’ as part of their jihad to establish in Maldives what they consider an Islamic state.
‘Ilmverin’ is a term heard extremely rarely in the past. But now, it is a term that the religious factions commonly use in the Maldives to refer to the bearers of all knowledge, and maintain expert authority.
A Sheikh, a title acquired when a person achieves a first degree in Islamic Studies from an Islamic University, also becomes an Ilmveriya. They suggest that ‘Ilm’ or intellect cannot be limited to one area of knowledge such as economics, medicine or law. But Ilm comprises all knowledge and that can only be derived from Quruan and Hadhith – the foundation of all truths. The Ilmverin understand the total meaning and context of Quruan and Hadith and are therefore the true intellectuals. Thus, the unlimited knowledge of the Ilmverin enables them to inform and advise the public on any area, be it midwifery or state governance, as requested.
The religious factions claim that Maldivian society is “so much out of order”. And in the midst of the social and political challenges there is an immense move by them to bring the Ilmverin to the public’s attention as the saviors of the nation’s future.
The Ilmverin seemingly has the answers for all the social and political illnesses the Maldives face. Hence, it has become “the moral duty” of the religious factions to get the Ilmverin to put the country back on the right path to bring safety and prosperity for the entire population.
So on the Friday program another woman phoned in. This time she went on tearfully saying she cannot deal with her situation when she found out her husband and the father of her children was about to get married to another woman.
“You love him,” Dr Philips encouraged soothingly. “Do you want [in spite of] your love for your husband [for him] to commit a sin… [When it’s in your hands to legalise his relationship]?”
And yet another asked for Dr Philips’s verdict. This time she wanted to know whether in Heaven she would be granted her wish for her husband to love only her.
Dr Philips instantly drew her attention to human nature. And based on his all-encompassing knowledge he replied: “Men in their nature are to have more than one woman whereas the natural desire of a woman is to have one man to raise a family.”
If a certain group in the world argues that what could be regarded as “nature” of human being are only the biological needs such as to eat, to drink, to sleep, to have sex, etc, Dr Philips certainly did not believe so.
So he told the woman: “You have whatever you desire in Paradise.” And even though her husband can wish for any number of women at any time in Heaven, he said her wish will be granted. He assured her that in any case, since there is no such thing as jealousy in Paradise, she would not encounter any problems anyway.
There have were many more opinions and verdicts sought from Dr Philips and Brother Green during their week-long program of lectures and Q/A sessions. And more must be sought by the Maldivian sisters from Dr Philip’s spouse Sister Sara Philips, at the private gathering she held for them on Saturday.
But within the crux of these programs lie three crucial, consistent and calculated messages. While all three messages have a direct relevance to the local state of affairs and the geopolitics of the world, they are delivered in an environment where the space for alternative voice is simply non-existent – a consequence of carefully laid social control methods.
Rule number one says no one should publicly question what an Ilmveriya says – especially a non Ilmveriya.
Rule number two is that no one should entertain an attempt to make a distinction between what an Ilmveriya says, and the Quran and Hadhith.
Rule number three is that any alternative viewpoint that differs from those of the religious factions in Maldives is an attempt to eradicate Islam from the country – so people who comment on what the Ilmverin says, and people who attempt to raise alternative viewpoints, should be immediately stopped.
Further, such people have to be dragged into the public domain as the ignorant and the Anti-Islamists. Or, perhaps they could be presented as agents of Christian missionaries with links to the West. Or if it is necessary they could even be Atheists or Apostates.
And if all that seems too strong, they could also be presented as chain-smoking, coffee-drinking lesbians!
The logic seems to be that all such people deserve defamation, intolerance and violence.
The religious factions have made it clear to the public that to be dubious about what an Ilmveriya says is equivalent to having doubts about Islam. To criticise what an Ilmveriya says is to ridicule Islam. To point out the inconsistencies and the contradictions in what the Ilmveriya says is to create confusion, destroy Islam and, it is claimed, a conscious effort to break up the Islamic solidarity of the nation.
To try and raise an alternative viewpoint is an attempt to establish secularism. And make no mistake! Such attempts are nothing but the biggest, most heinous, crimes ever – to question Islam and Allah’s order.
Lastly, the public should be assured that the Ilmveriya is never wrong, or telling lies. The Ilmveriya is never corrupt and will never manipulate people’s minds to exploit them. The Ilmveriya will never misuse his power on the others’ understanding that the Ilmveriya is always right. So, everybody is expected to listen to the Ilmveriya and gulp the information as truth without even ‘a single drop of water’.
In such an environment the Islamic Ministry that represents the religious political party, the Adhaalath Party and their affiliated lobby group, Jamiyyathul Salaf, have set in their agenda in motion. The immediate target is to implement Islamic Sharia in Maldives, to “Arabise” Maldivian society and to Islamise the Maldivian educational system.
And so Dr Philips brought the Maldivians’ attention to their own Constitution saying: “Make no mistake about what (the Maldivian Constitution) says… the Constitution of Maldives says the country will be ruled by Quran and Sunnah.”
Dr Philips pointed to the necessity of Islamic Sharia. He said that: “Where heads are cut off, and hands are chopped and people are lashed, such societies enjoy peace and stability.”
He picked Saudi Arabia as an example, saying he never needed to keep his front door locked during his twenty-year long stay there. Little did Dr Philips know that in Maldives people never used to lock the front doors of their houses, either. And even now on islands such as Kendu in Baa Atoll, most people still leave their front doors unlocked night and day!
Dr Philips spoke of the weaknesses of democracy and how they contribute to the destruction of societies. He spoke of the flaws of the foundations of democracy – equality, rational empiricism and discussion and consensus and explained what they meant.
He spoke of the danger of secularism and said it “is the religion for democracies”. He said only Islam can claim to be the religion of Eve and Adam. Dr Philips said what Islam has to offer (the world now) is a moral message which is not there in the rest of the world.
The call for Maldivian women to wear the hijab has lately become extremely loud in sermons and media forums delivered by the local sheiks. And Dr Philips meticulously included this second message in all his lectures.
He said Islam elevated and protected the status of women. He warned Maldivian women that “when you remove the hijab, you suffer”. He pointed out that the head scarf is not enough for a Muslim woman because it covers only her head and leaves “her top” and “her bottom” exposed.
He urged Maldivian women to wear the hijab which he says is a loose covering that covers the woman’s private parts. If there are other Ilmverin in this world who disagree that it is compulsory for all Muslim women all over the world to wear the hijab or headscarf, the Maldivians should never hear of them.
The third message came through Dr Philips in his last, but special lecture organised by the private institution The Clique College. Students, teachers and educators were recommended to attend it. In this lecture he called the Maldivians to “revamp the education system so that it falls in line with Islam as enshrined in the Constitution.”
He said Islamisation of the education system is “something which here in the Maldives is or should be on the forefront of the thinking, the discussion, the decisions which have to be made for the future of education.”
He said the education system has to be governed according to the Quran and Sunnah to “produce the ideal Maldivian citizen.”
He said the Western nations have a secularised education in which “morality is completely taken out” and “everything is geared towards materialism.” So, he said, “parents should encourage other parents and approach the government to change” the Maldivian education system into an Islamised one.
Dr Philips gave a detailed description of the teacher, the student, the environment and the materials used in an Islamised education system. He said the outcome of an Islamic education system is a student who is conscious of his/her need to worship Allah, is conscious of his/her goal in life – the Paradise; and is motivated to implement the divine commandments.
He also added that their social responsibility is to provide the needed skills to the society.
“It’s obligatory for every Muslim to seek knowledge”, he said, and identified useful knowledge and useless knowledge for the audience.
He said useful knowledge has an immediate practical use. He urged the audience not to waste time on useless knowledge, and said that sending rocket ships to Mars and getting robots to roam around and dig its soil to find its geological composition was an example of useless knowledge.
He said the goal of knowledge should not be for the sake of knowledge: “What drives people to do such things is their belief that there is no God… and the universe is an accident,” he said.
Dr Philips said that in Riyadh, it was found that the Quran, Islam and Arabic were subjects that the students most hated while they loved other subjects taught by non-Muslims. To avoid such a response and for effective knowledge transfer, he urged to use the KEIA model which stands for ‘Knowledge, Eman, Ikhlas and Amal Salih’.
He gave examples of how to Islamise subjects such as mathematics. He said teachers of Islamic Studies should be qualified in classroom management, child psychology and educational methodology.
Dr Philips finally ended his lecture circuit by offering a way for his audience to pick up from where he left. He reminded them of his online university that offers diploma and degree studies for free or nominal charges. Before he finished he also mentioned that there is an Islamised English-language reading series he has produced for kindergarten kids.
And it remains for us Maldivians now, while our politicians dance to the loudest tunes, to determine whether, when the cultural dynamics finally take shape and the Maldives becomes listed among developing nations – is it going to be the Saudis or the Somalian pirates that we turn to for money and the required knowledge transfer to maintain our economy.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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'sending rocket ships to Mars and getting robots to roam around and dig its soil to find its geological composition was an example of useless knowledge???????
Why are we tolerating this BS? We are going to end up in the middle ages at this rate.
Is the KEIA model related to the Swedish furniture firm IKEA?
It's women's nature to want only one man? I've had three the past week, I must be a gay man trapped in a woman's body then 😀
I liked this article. It's time we, as Maldivians, put our foot down and took our rights back.
If you criticize someone preaching something more extreme than what you believe in, you're somehow against Islam. I think it's high time we accused these preachers of the same. By saying what we believe is wrong, they're also criticizing Islam. But somehow that's just fine.
Bilal, Naik and co. are all out to get as much money as they can before they pass away. It sickens me that they have the nerve to talk about materialism.
If you say they aren't, why the hefty fees?
How much money has the government spent, bringing them in, organizing the event, housing them at resorts? Does anyone even care?
What real benefit did those speaches give the country if anything?
Is the government going to spend any money bringing in scholars from other fields?
Why not bring in some marine scientists, some physicists, some astronomers?
Generate some interest in the youth for knowledge?
Or would that be un-islamic?
Somehow these lectures always tend to end with the Ilm veriyaa selling his own product. Peace TV, Online uni of Dr Bil Phil etc. When will we wake up and realise that they are con artists?
More importantly when will the Islamic Ministry bring in some serious scholars who are able to debate some real issues?
Good job Aniya. This article is insightful and very relevant to the dabate. Good job. Looking forward to more.
Aniya, you are one brave brave lady. I admire your guts. You are one of the few people willing to publicly stand up against these bullies. Kudos to you!
The tragedy of the Maldives is the lack of an identity of the people, that has caused the latest wave of Arabization to become a strong force, in the guise of religion.
Wahhabism/Salafism are failed ideologies.
These ideologies have caused social upheavals, violence, misogyny and cannibalization of culture wherever they their tentacles have spread.
Wahhabism has NO achievements, no heroes and made no positive contributions to the world or Muslim community in its entire miserable history.
But average Maldivians seem ignorant of this fact under the oil-money fueled 24X7 media assault on the country by these single-dimensional 'ilmuverin'.
It is horrifying that the government of the Maldives would bring in these 2 "scholars" - one of whom apparently has terror links - who have forcefully denounced democracy, and in doing so, has subverted the constitution.
These moves are highly condemnable.
Of course, there will inevitably be comments here of two natures
a) Those who do not have any argument to counteract the author, and will resort to maligning her personally
b) Those who do no have anything to defend themselves with - but will make a Mullah inspired rant about the dangers of 'secularism', 'atheism' and blame some of us for being 'christian missionaries'.
Maldivian women face a massive identity crisis. It is very true that Mullas try to make women subservient by words and deeds. But the fact the matter is that Maldivian women are NOT and have never been as disadvantaged as women in other Islamic countries. In fact Dhivehi women are the totally materialistic and ruthless. They even flirt not for love or sex, but to scheme for power or position. Totally superficial and no substance..
And where is our Anni.. The man of freedom... Why is he silent on this... I think this country will be invaded by Taliban pretty soon.. Just wait and see.
whats the point of this article?
@Aniya
Aren't you "guys" trying to do the same thing?
Trying to secularise the Maldives and bring 100% percent western values to Maldives?
Bilal Philips or Aniya - both have an objective. IT'S A PITY ANIYA ONLY DARES TO HOLD MEETINGS IN CYBERSPACE and suffices with a dozen or so anti-islamic comments from the same old commenters, while Bilal Philps/Zakir Naik or A.R.Green hold "The Calls" where THOUSANDS attend.
First of all you need a view point to sell to the public - but every body have carnal desires. If it's carnal desires you want to sell, then ONLY FOOLS WOULD RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD!
What is deemed "useless" knowledge at one time can be very useful in another time. Consider Pure Mathematics. This is mathematics done only for the sake of mathematical knowledge. However decades or even centuries later these mathematical theories have been found to be useful in the most practical aspects. For example modern cryptography used to secure online banking etc uses properties of prime numbers that were studied because people thought they were "interesting in itself". In fact back then people like Hardy proudly proclaimed that number theory had no practical uses. But now without it online commerce would be impossible. So studying things for the sake of knowledge itself is a very important thing.
Another question is who gets to decide if something is useful or not? Philips and Green?
Since the esteemed Sheikh mentioned the space program, let me remind you that a lot of modern technology was first designed for use in the space program.
It is exactly because of the influence of such view points as that of Philips that the Islamic empires declined from the position of "Keepers of the world's knowledge" to backward idiots who were easily colonized by those who took up the mantle of knowledge from them.
President Musharaf said "Today we are the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy, the most un-enlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race". And his suggested solution is education and knowledge. When one contrasts Musharaf's advice with that of Philips one can see that the former genuinely wants the Muslims world to develop and rise out of poverty while the latter is preaching a path to the destruction of the Muslim community. Makes one wonder about the "converstion" of these Philips and Greens.
Hani I totally agree with you,
IF they are so called followers of our Prophet , why not make everything free! Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) never took a dime from anyone and he traveled on camel or on foot. Time these " con artists" do the same... why waste money and depend on a pilot. ( according to then non illiterate ) to travel from land to land.
Two things we must follow were the Quran and how Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) lived. Does'nt ever say he had taken more women. But yes Prophet Ibrahim took but there were good reasons behind and it was his wife who suggested for the second woman . not that Prophet Ibrahim had desires to fulfill unlike These extremist men has their owlish eye on every women they see they do not even leave a young adolescent go under from their eyes.
yes Maldives should be 100% Muslim country but let people decide how they want to dress as and choose what ingredients they should in their way of embracing Islam. Do not try once failed ideologies to again be implemented as it will again fail, go to riot and it will take time to unite ...
I've heard enough!
"sending rocket ships to Mars and getting robots to roam around and dig its soil to find its geological composition was an example of useless knowledge"
the little respect i had for these desert dwellers has ended right there..
According to these people the world should be full of da'wa people calling each other for good. who is going to take care of food, shelter, clothing etc. the hijab also needs to be produced in order to wear it.
and i fear that this massive brainwashing frenzy is really working on thousands of Maldivians..
@ heck
is it supporting western values when someone disagrees in cutting someones hands off?
is it a western value to know how to respect women (mother/daughter/sister)?
is it a western value when you stand against uneducated your children?
if you are a human and if you see your brothers hands being cut off or your sister flogged in public... do you cry because your hurt and that's what your heart makes you feel like to let tears out or is it because western values tell you to cry when you see violence towards your family?
and yet here you are calling it "carnal desires" when we are talking about anti-violence
what are you promoting dear... marrying more than one woman? not a carnal desire? wanting to see lesbian activities in your room between your four wives? not a carnal desire from your point of you???
from my point of you, you must have a disease called PGAD... its called permanent genital arousal disorder.
and as for Bilal, i would say i don't want to be a part of your naasige (HO-house) suvarugeh! because people who rush in a hurry to cure their PGAD are nothing but the greatest fools who use their weenee to think rather than their brains!!!
if bilal can come back to advice his violent ideas, i think serial killers and robbers can too make NGO's and bring the greatest criminals who can tell you new ways of torturing and robbing people!!!
"heck : Aren’t you “guys” trying to do the same thing?
Trying to secularise the Maldives and bring 100% percent western values to Maldives?"
Thank you. I was waiting for your comment.
Could you please care to describe which western value you are against?
Freedom of speech and expression? Democracy and free elections?? Women's rights and suffrage? Tolerance? Social security? Equal representation of sexes? Constitutional protection for minorities? Adoption of science, enlightenment and technological progress? Rule of law?
None of these exist in the holy kingdom of Saudi Arabia that belches out all these 'ilmuverin' we secularists criticize so much.
The failed, pathetic and dangerous wahhabi ideology is a marvelous tool to control masses with - as any middle eastern theocracy, or tin pot dictatorship will attest to.
But it IS NOT the panacea for all our problems.
1400 years of civilization and an infinite amount of common sense stands between the Maldivian's modern aspirations and the civilizational black hole of wahhabism.
What has this ideology ever achieved? What are its' historical contributions to civilization - if any? There aren't.
Attacking secularism is NOT a defense of wahhabism. The vast majority of the world's Muslims live happily in secular societies, with full freedom to worship, preach and congregate.
The only difference is that in liberal democracies - they do not let greedy politicians use religion as a manipulative tool to paint every issue - from curriculum to red-bull to television as an emotive 'religious' issue to be discussed only by salafist evangelists.
There are many, many, many leaders even in the Islamic faith that openly espouse secularism -as a MEANS to protect Islamic principles.
By repeating the 'ilmuverin's lines about 'dangerous' western values - you're not fooling anyone.
Saudi Arabia had and still has so many Ilumu verin. That is why those dirty Americans came to discover oil under the desert and corrupt the Saudi Royal family with vodka and women.
Luckily this oil money is funding the spread of Salafism and Wahhabism.
thank you aaniya for this awesome article! thank you minivan, for being a voice for the voiceless.
Perspective from a well known and well respected Muslim scholar, author and activist.
http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s1239023.htm
You will learn that if you look at the three monotheistic/Abrahamic religions in the world (Judaism, Chritisanity and Islam), they both have similarities and differences, most notably, the divergence in their origins. Of course, Islam was the youngest and considered the most complete form of the previous two religions.
However, Islam today is where Christianity was 700 years ago. With the likes of the Spanish Inquisition bearing uncanny references to modern Islamic society. We have yet to go through 'the renaissance' or the period of enlightenment that Europe went a few centuries ago, where organised religion was rejected in favour of a more socially acceptable, scientifically viable way of life.
But as MALDIVIANS, we must remember that organised religion is a NECESSITY. Religion is what controls the masses, its the perfect tool of political manipulation that feeds on the fears of the common man and his paranoia into the unknown that is called 'religion'. Religion and money - the complete way to power!
I think minivan news editorial has a responsibility to pick "these article com comment" on a basis of some substance. Whats the point of this article? I dont know.
But i think its right that we should group together and send this type of comment to minivan EVERYDAY...so minivan will publish them on the front page!! NICE!!
Aniya ia part of a very vocal bunch of fringe elements trying to implement their ideology and way of life on the majority maldivians. The good news is that Maldives is now a democratic country - and with democratic principles we can easily defeat this fringe elements from our society.
Lets face it. Mullahs does not have the intellectual capability to conduct a decent discussion without calling others non-believers.
Mullahs are mostly self-proclaimed so called Ilm verins, and thats probably is the only way they can control weaker and vulnerable human beings. And they get paid to do this.
Why don't they stay away from mobile phones, internet, tvs, motorbikes, modern houses, electricity etc., these are definitely not in the Sunnath. Why don't they go and live like the times about 1400 years ago? They won't. Because they also enjoy all these.
I'm getting sick of these Mullahs. And the worse thing is that this government is entertaining all this crap.
For one thing, Gayoom, maintained moderate islam that this country has been practicing from the time that the country converted to Islam.
However, as soon as this government came in, now we see, mushroom in islamic radicalism. Who is to blame?
why would anyone need to steal in saudi Arabia when the government provide basics free of charge + give each citizen money + import expats to do chors etc.. ... it is preposterous to compare two countries like this... one has oil money flowing while the other depends on a fragile economy..... these scholars should shut up.... we dont want outsiders to come here and tell us how to live... thank you very much.. maldivians are intelligent, creative and open people.. please leave us alone...
Great article. Something many Maldivians are unaware of.
Right. As if anyone who is human enough will listen to that known terrorist ally. A waste of time!.
And don't give me that crap about "un-indicted conspirator". Hampton gave enough evidence to put that man on the electric chair, twice.
I cannot understand why all muslim countries are the least developed in the world? They are far behind in education, health, science etc. than non Islamic countries. Why don't these so called ilmverin give what they claim with facts and figures? Is Saudi Arabia the best country in the world? Are the people living there the happiest? What about Sudan and somalia? What do these ilmuverin have to say about Bangladesh? The facts are there for anyone who cares to see. Check the UN reports on those countries and then you will come to know what these ilmuverin tell you are nothing but lies and distorted stories.
religous BS and political correctness together will bring an end to civilization...we need more people like geert wilders
Thank you Aniya.
These so called 'ilmverin' truly are con artists of a high order. The quality of their 'ilm' is certainly as pathetic as their sick way of earning money - preaching nonsense to the ignorant, ill-informed, the paranoid, impressionable and the highly insecure.
Just as Bilal Phillips' Q&A advice is nonsensical, Abdulrahman Green's 'sex drugs and rock n roll' speech was hopelessly juvenile. It is sad indeed to see people of such low calibre and poor substance supposedly bringing 'religion' to Maldivians. Calling these men and others like them 'ilmverin' is a very sick joke.
Gayyoom made sure the masses received a sub-standard education. And now, this government is making sure (through sheer unadulterated negligence and disregard to public order) that the insufficiently educated masses are fed with a strong dose of religious misinformation to churn them up into a frenzy; fearful of hell-fire and damnation and the wrath of god in the after-life - all because of the empty words of so called 'ilmverin' !! For some, the desire for power over others have no limits.
Only Maldivians have to take the blame for this farcical situation. Maldivians have let down the Maldives and continue doing so by bringing these con artists to our shores. Maldivians are choosing to listen to and accept the drivel of the con artists. Therefore, only Maldivians are responsible for finding a solution to this. Maldivians have to make a choice not to be conned by these opportunists, and not to let those among their own who are destroying the peacefulness of this country for personal, financial and power gains.
It is up to them to use their god-given common sense and start making these islands a haven of tolerance for themselves and others, as they once were. It is up to them to reclaim the friendly, care-free, fear-free island cultures, now slowly dying agonising deaths. It is up to Maldivians to find a way to make their earthly lives meaningful, joyful and peaceful. They have to decide what Maldives they want to live in. Do they follow the Bilal Phillips', the Zakir Naiks and other opportunists of this world. Or do they follow the peaceful, tolerant ways of their ancestors.....
aaniya great work. we shall never let the empire of evil tried to be built by salaf adaalath be built without opposition. and shall never let them win. Maldives cannot be the next Afghanistan.
"Great article. Something many Maldivians are unaware of."
I will be very suprised if many maldivian read this bull crap!!
@ everyone who positively comment on this :
PLEASE be more vocal - Do your bit. lets all build a force against these uneducated people...Such BS. The Govt or the media or some source really need to teach people on proper footnotes, who con artists are ...
@ everyone who negatively comment on this:
Please wake up. No one is trying to do anything here besides protect our nation from turning into another Afghanistan or an Iran. Do you really think thats what Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) would do? He was the most tolerant leader of all - and this is what you give back?
Good lord, If heaven is the place you are seeking, then heaven is not for me. Because I don't think I belong to anyplace you do...
I agree with the comment about Qayoom doing a good job in dealing with the extremists, but I guess back then, this issue had not been so big, people were more conservative in their beliefs cultures and traditions plus there was no downpour of Mullah's from places like Pakistan.
I think the government needs to do something about the rising fundamentalism. I cannot accept the fact that the government I voted for is sponsoring and inviting people like Bilal Phillips!
I also truly believe that this is the tipping point, the point and time at which the conservatives and the moderates should come out and fight against the extremist elements. I wonder what would push the moderates to the point at which they would vocally oppose these Mullah's in an active organised fashion!
@ All the crazy Martians
I agree with Bilal Philips.
Instead of wasting billions of dollars on Mars it would be simple GOOD MANNERS to FIRST try and stop all those crude oil leaking into the oceans and massacring hundreds of innocent birds and fishes !
They don't have the know-how to stop things like this and yet it's time to escape to Mars to hide from DOOMSDAY!
As Bilal Philips said what drives these people to MARS is the belief that there is NO CREATOR - that is what we cannot accept. Listen to the warning in the Quran to those who try to flee to Mars or other planets!
Al-Ankabut (29:22) "Neither on earth nor in heaven shall you be beyond reach ; nor have you any guardian or helper besides Allah"
@Aniya
Aren't you "guys" doing the same thing? Whenever we talk about you secularists you try to tag us extremists or terrorists? keke!
Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle your @$$ is too black to go out and parade on the catwalk? keke!
@Dhona
I thought in Islam chopping off the hand was for stealing. So which western value are you lobbying for to let convicted thieves walk away free? I don't think it's that free even in western society!
So which western value are you lobbying for to let your wife sleep over with your best friend to bond relations?! Is this the type of respect you are lobbying for women?
Western society only respects catwalk girls not Susan Boyles unless she has a makeover, okay? Wake up!
Once they cover up their figure they are worthless objects! There is no real respect there. They are used as tools to sell products like lubricants!
So which western value are you lobbying for claiming to educate your children? Evolution or secularism? Muslims were running after your much enlightened education as long as they thought western education was not secular. But once western education system got contaminated with evolution theory claiming man and monkey shared the same ancestors, then Muslims stopped,looked back and saw the driving force behind western education. I would say that is where Muslims got scared of your education and actually over-reacted. They should have kept their calm and followed the Prophet's (PBUH) advise "Seek knowledge even in China"
Western society has become workaholic - just for the money! No money - no honey!
And look where all these knowledge has has led us - global warming! Look at what the damn smart civil engineers who were educated from the West were slowly doing all these years! Slowly dynamiting our reefs which Allah had given us as protection. Even ANNI is at odds with western nations for drowning Maldives in the very near future. I bet ANNI has his Mars suit ready by now. Have you? Transport minister has gone on record saying that the conventional Maldivians 'bandharu' like a rectangular swimming pool is no good. That we should opt for natural 'bandharu'? Infact there is a campaign going on to put all the policemen back on bicycles! At this rate how can you rule out the much islamic vehicle 'jamalu' which has no significant carbon emmissions? Who knows he might not call upon Maldivians to go back to good old "han'das" or 'athiri' for toilet!? Where are we headed? To good old days? The purpose of western education is itself in doubt! Why? Because in all these endeavours one basic thing was lacking. CREATOR.
We are on the verge of reaching a point of no return because of man's greed! So naturally man will want to find a new home be it MARS or MOON!
So I think Aniya should start a campaign to find what type of dresses Martian girls wear! If they wore the hijab, she need not waste her time trying to secularise this tiny country anymore.
According to scientists Maldivians will be nude anyway in 50 to 100 years.
So Aniya might as well grab herself a jet pack and zoooooooom off to MARS on mission impossible, but I strongly suspect she might change course to VENUS instead!
aniya first of all get a life and marry a person, that's the reason why your poking your nose here and there, there's nobody to help you in your life.. most of these feminists here are living in an extremist life when it comes to family life, most of them divorced broken families, either married to a European guy, i don't want to list them .. so please give your comments to your children .. then come to public, and also note that islam is the way of life, which includes all aspects of life ...
heck:
your exactly the kind who will call other who bedate or disagree with your points Extra smart or an ateshist. You people think everything is all about after life while god clearly said to achieve both and also clearly said not to take religion and follow extreme views on it.
"According to scientists Maldivians will be nude anyway in 50 to 100 years."
Nice to learn science from such enlightened sources.
A tragedy, really, to hand over choice and democracy to people who cannot begin to value it.
if extremists win. we ll need armed resistance in the Maldives and a call for a legitimate civil war shall be announced. those who win after that will rule. adhaalath party cannot stand behind a democracy and liberal banner and conquer Maldives so simple like that. come out and declare war against moderates instead of such pirated and evil war under a cover. perverts!!
BTW i don t think extremist will want a legitimate civil war they will want to send suicide bombers to hospital and fight for what they call justice. :)))))). the first attempt was show cased by salafi followers in sultan park by blowing up dozen of tourists.
I see the same people commenting all over again blaming Scholars just because they preach Islam which prohibits the things they like to do.
These guys are so ignorant that they don't even want to listen to what these Scholars are saying.
you guys can burn as much as you like there is no room here in the Maldives for atheists,liberals,any other religion and secular democracy.We are ready to spill our blood to protect our beloved religion.
Neither have we wanted western values nor Bedouin culture. We want people not dictate us how we should live and what we should believe. Let it be individualism that prevails in our society.
Great article Aniya, admire your guts.
Its funny how these sheikhs and Adhalath party and Salaf seems to stand for Islam. If one questions anything they say, one is accused of being unislamic.
God gave us brains for a reason, or else he would have just left us with ears to listen to these so called ilmuverin and not question.
@heck
your modus operandi is so predictable; make nonsensical arguments when some one challenges your pin headed point of view go after the person call them lesbians, "secularist", or atheist.
if your are against enlightenment and knowledge. why not you give up inoculation, penicillin, electricity and internet. Lets see how long you will survive with out modern conveniences.
those modern conveniences which was brought to you by the evil "secularist" not your flea bearded know nothings.
And on that note do you even read wtf you are writing. I swear to god i loose 10 iq points just trying to comprehend the utter BS that is in your comments.
go read a book and stop spewing hatred and venom that is fed to you by your "ilmuvering".
Go read proper history learn the origins of "salfi" and "wahibisum". Go read Tahāfut al-Tahāfut and writing of Ibn Rushd. No Muslims did not runaway from western education because they saw it was contaminated. They ran away because after Mongol hordes ransacked Baghdad conservatives like Al-Ghazali came to power and effectively sidelined teaching of Ibn-Rushd and other moderates. That is when Islamic society moved towards the dark ages we are in right now. This is long before Darwin's publications.
FYI the whole point of space program is to widen the frontiers of human knowledge not to escape a creator. I assume you and your kind would make the same claim about LHC. I can assure you their are no groups of scientist/secularist going around thinking how can be disprove existence of god.You and your kind are the reason why Muslims are in a black bleak backward sociality we are right now.
Your arguments are hollow and more you and your kinds speak the more idiotic you look.
And can some one please explain to me when has Secularity become such a bad thing does the half of the idiots speaking against it even know what it means ?
But Mr. Philips, Martians needs Islam too. If Athiest and Christians go to Mars first, all is doomed.
I say we do our prayers so that god may send us to Mars before the athiests.
All join the 'Mars, 100% Muslim planet' program.
aniya,why are u worrying your head about the hijab?are you worried about those wearing skimpy clothes and showing off their butts and boobs?no?ok!
then why worry about some preachers talking about 7yards of cloth? let those who buy the clothes worry! u just wait in your jeans and tshirt..dr.philips ,ilmverin not even white conerts will come to take off your top and bottom!enjoy!
spill blood. extremist are ready to spill there own blood?? they r simply ready to spill others blood. you extremists tiny minds have sinmply just the guts to go and blow up market places hospitals where there is no actual war or soldiers. if you think we are scared of the coward suicide bomb squad of extremists then shoooo all you can blow up us while we are sleepin or in DJ but in real world where there is real war you abonden you own people and flee and try bombing civilians with low grade c4 .sheeehs you perverts. the following is proof that you always abandon your kind when in real need is below:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7148555.ece
Minivan - could u pls replace my earlier comment with this? Few changes. Tks.
@ Riluwan. Would appreciate if you would also please read views from other Islamic scholars – one link is provided in my comment above. (http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s1239023.htm)
No disrespect meant, but there really are more views than one about this religion of Islam that we all share, aren’t there? There are many esteemed scholars of Islam in this world, who hold different viewpoints that encourage us to debate about how we see various aspects of this all encompassing faith. Surely we can be tolerant of other people’s views as well? Why go to the extremes of spilling blood over what someone else may think? Neither you nor I can control someone else’s thoughts. Why can’t we all listen more, read more, understand more? Does not mean we have to change our own individual beliefs if we do not want to, but does that mean that the next person is not entitled to hold their own beliefs? Killing each other off does not propagate Islam in the world. The more we discuss each other’s beliefs, the more likely we are to come to some common ground on all issues, even if it is to agree to disagree – well that is what I have come to believe based on my own experience living as a Muslim in this country, in Pakistan among both Sunnis and Shias, in other South Asian and Western countries among people of various religious beliefs and those who do not believe in religion, as well as having had the good fortune of witnessing the diversity of Islam at the time of Haj.
If you want to judge me (or others) on the basis of what I wear or my thoughts, and want to spill your blood and mine because you do not agree with me, I guess that is your prerogative. But I would say, why not try to open our minds beyond our own narrow realms, try to coexist in peace and leave the judging to Allah? Our individual thoughts or words or the actions of a government can NEVER diminish Islam, because our creator is so much more powerful than all of us combined, wouldn’t you agree? Let us create platforms for more discussion, more thought, more understanding – you know, the more I’ve read, the more I’ve discussed, the more I’ve observed others, I have come to appreciate the beauty of Islam. There is much that I have questions about, and much that I am still learning and wanting to question just like Aniya and many others who do so – thing is, while some years ago I was scared of questioning anything to do with religion because at the time I thought it meant I did not believe in Islam, I am now more than willing to keep questioning, and learning – from a variety of sources. And more at peace, because I have come to realise that questioning does not mean that I have lost my faith. It only means that I am seeking to understand myself and my purpose in life more.