Religious advice should not involve political interest, says Nasheed

The Maldivian public are often misinformed of authentic Hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) because some local scholars offer religious advice with the intention of serving their political interests, former President Mohamed Nasheed said last night (June 23).

Speaking at a ceremony at the Male’ City Hall to launch a second volume of Dhivehi translation and interpretations of Sahih Muslim’s Hadiths by former State Minister for Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, Nasheed said genuine religious advice should not involve personal interest or a political “agenda.”

While a politician might present statistics in a way that would favour his party, “religious advice should not be given in a way that would benefit a political ideology.”

One of the biggest problems facing the country today was the “mixing up” of politicians and religious scholars, Nasheed added.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate said Sheikh Hussain Rasheed’s book should be made widely available for the public so that Maldivians could distinguish between inauthentic and authentic Hadiths.

The Hadiths were compiled by Imam Bukhari and Muslim during the Abbasid caliphate, Nasheed observed, which was a “golden age” for Islam and the pursuit of knowledge.

“It is said that there were 700 libraries in Baghdad during that period,” he said.

Sheikh Rasheed’s second volume of Hadith translations are available for MVR 250 (US$16).

The former Adhaalath Party President explained at last night’s ceremony that the complete translations of the 5,263 sayings would be published in a planned 12 volumes.

Parts two and three of Sheikh Rasheed’s books on prayer instructions were also released last night by former Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid. 

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12 thoughts on “Religious advice should not involve political interest, says Nasheed”

  1. how come Sheik Hussain rasheed involvement in MDP is OK for Nasheed,

    This is true and only Nasheed and his his people should engaged such people and no one else.

    What ever Nasheed does , it will be legal and ethical and rest of the people must follow Nasheed .

    This guy Fili Nasheed is two faced man and will alawsy have double standards and he thinks that the entire country is personal property and rest of the people will have to follow his orders.

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  2. Kuribee, that not what yaamin said to right, please listen carefully.

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  3. Kuribee are you in love with Nasheed? No matter what the topic whether it involves the man or does not you manage to say something about him. Even if its pure hatred you do know what comes after hate....love.

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  4. Politics without mullahs? That is unthinkable in Dhivehistan. The last autocrat of Dhivehistan Mullah Maumoon gave birth to Siamese twins called Azhari Islam and Maumooni politics joined at the heart. To separate this monstrosity would first require convincing Dhivehistanis that separation is needed. Thankfully the mullahs are doing a good job at convinncing Dhivehistanis that religion and politics make an explosive mix. The mullahs are the biggest asset for secularists.

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  5. its true . most of our mullahs/sheiks misguiding us. we have to fight protect our country from this mullahs.

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  6. Nasheed, my advice is just don't go there, i.e. religious matters. I think Nasheed has been misunderstood or mistranslated here.

    I think what he is trying to say is profound but it may not have been said in a way that the layman properly understands. Firstly, there is no difference in Islam between religion and politics. However, there is a big difference in using religion as a political weapon and guiding political decision making based on religion. These are two very different things.

    I believe Nasheed was trying to highlight that. His reference to the Abbasid Caliphate makes this concrete. The Abbasids were no angels by the way. They or more accurately, their forefathers started a sectarian divide that continues to spill blood to this very day (Syria). But I'm digressing.

    However, the Abbasids were much more open minded about how religion should guide one's life which is why the Golden Age was given a chance to come to existence.

    In contrast, in today's stifling atmosphere where Islam is used as a weapon to further a political agenda, something like the Golden Age would never have happened. In fact, this is the reason why there are no outstanding centres of learning anywhere in the Islamic world today (contrast that with Baghdad under the Abbasids).

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  7. Where is helpline that Nahseed mentioned in Danish cabinet; the alternative for fundamental Islam?. Where is Islamic renaissance in Maldives, Islam that can be competitive with modernism, art, music, intellectual debates that can revolutionize the minds to escape from medieval mediocre philosophy?
    Without this helpline, we can’t have the democracy that can guarantee human rights. Why can’t the Maldivian engage in critical debate about fundamental Islam, the purest form of Islam? Why people are afraid to reject all Ahadheese that demonize Islam and why can’t some courageous Islamic scholars reinterpret Quran in 21st century languages and abrogate all rubbish from Quran to make it more civilized. Islam is no deferent than any other religion and Musilms are still glued to its fundamental teaching fundametlly same in all Abrahamic religions.
    Islam also have some good things you can make it look good. Like you keep your religion I have mine, who ever kills one human is equal to annihilate the whole human race. Stick to this two golden rules that comes from Quran and Hadhees and base ball Islamic philosophy on these universal golden rule. You can turn Islam to a modern religion overnight that can live with democracy. Even Mohamed has compromised with few gods in Khaba when he faced strong rivalry.

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  8. The religion is THE way of life. Politics, music, health, transport are included. That IS the religion of Islam.

    Fundals wants to stay in the 7th century BC.

    That's the problem!

    Islam must evolve, with humanity as the centrepiece. Not God. What is good for the human survival and peace must be encouraged. Having to protect and serve an invincible God just does not make sense. He is invincible, for goodness sake!!!

    Wars and material needs cloaked as religion is the problem!

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  9. President Nasheed, the mullahs in the Maldives believe that Islam is not just a religion, they believe it is a complete system, a away of life, encompassing the economic , legal,social and political systems of the nation. They seek a return to theocracy, the time of Omar the Great, who ruled with an iron fist. The Adhalath Party is not just about the religious aspects of Islam, they seek to rule the Maldives as a theocracy.

    Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and his representatives in Special Majlis who wanted to make it compulsory for all Maldivians to be muslim should take responsibility for giving power to the hard core "We want a Muslim State" group who is re-writing the history of the Maldives with their xenophobia, misogyny racism and fascist ideology.

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  10. You are not going to get a good lesson about the importance of a separation of religion and politics from an accurate translation of either the Qur'an or the Hadith, if read on their own.

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  11. Imagine if all Muslims of the world stopped buying music! Because most contemporary music is definitely haraam. Now if this happens then the record industry would be greatly weakened because muslims represent 1/5 of humanity. Now all this translates to billions of dollars annually for them to lobby law makers in different parts of the world and they have successfully introduced things like digital rights management, patents on concepts, arts and almost the air we breathe. The point is that by the sale of music they are working for their own profit. They don't care about the rest of humanity. ideally what you hear from you ears shall be free, what you think from your brain shall be free, what you see with your eyes shall be free; love shall be free. But the kuffars way of life is stifling growth in these very sectors they are so endeared of. They are miserably enslaved by the things they love.

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  12. @Humanbeing,

    You make a great point here!

    Islam pause a great threat to the western hypocrites as they are highly dependent on oil and many other resources which the Muslim lands possess. Their only option is to put Islam out of politics so that their greedy hands can get full access to the resources without any trouble thus they make it sure that the leaders are secularists who is point blank about religion! Thus comes Seyku Nasheed into the contest!

    See how the invasion of Iraq is profiting the Americans through Halliburton.See how the Poppy fields in Afghanistan are still kept in the open when the Taliban tried to destroy it.Who is profiting from all this??

    Contractors Reap $138 Billion from Iraq War, Cheney’s Halliburton #1 with $39.5 Billion
    http://leaksource.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/contractors-reap-138-billion-from-iraq-war-cheneys-halliburton-1-with-39-5-billion/

    War on drugs revealed as total hoax - US military admits to guarding, assisting lucrative opium trade in Afghanistan

    Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034289_Afghanistan_opium_trade.html#ixzz2XFPZhJjm

    @Ahmed bin Addu...

    Why aren't you talking about these points aforementioned? Why are you only talking about the falling of the Caliphate?

    The Caliphate came to an end because Muslims chose money and wealth over Islam. They became corrupt and lazy because their wealth was abundant and i am sure this is the case with the current world situation.The EU seems to be falling with their banking system.

    Why aren't you talking about the Algerian coup which happened in 1992 where the Islamic party was on the edge of democratically being elected!Why did some officers (posing as Islamists) torture civilians and then the blame was put on the Islamists???Why isn't anyone researching and talking about this? Why did the French detest the Islamists there???

    Instead of talking about the hidden Agenda the western media will always portray Islam as the Enemy and everyone has fallen for it, even Muslims!

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