Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah calls for a revival of "The jurisprudence of peace"

2014-03-02 13:22:31

WAM ABU DHABI, March 2nd, 2014 (WAM) -- In a recent gathering of scholars planning the landmark Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the Muslim world's pre-eminent scholars and jurists, and Chairman of the Forum's Scientific Committee, has called for a revival of what he termed "the Jurisprudence of Peace (Fiqh al Silm)" in Muslim societies, emphasising that a condition of peace can only exist if hearts are filled with love and goodwill to all humanity, a precept that is deeply rooted in the teachings of the Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him.

Sheikh bin Bayyah stressed that spreading a culture of peace was critically important at a time when the Muslim world was plagued by sectarianism, extremist ideologies, civil violence and civil war. "Chaos, conflicts and wars do not guarantee human rights or, in fact, anything at all. Peace is an ultimate human objective and fundamental human right that supersedes Islamic legislation as a guarantor of other rights," he said.

He explained that this was the primary motivation for launching the "Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies", which will be hosted by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi at the St. Regis Abu Dhabi on March 9th and 10th.

According to the Sheikh, in order to restore the principle of peace as a priority certain areas of Islamic jurisprudence, which have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, such as the doctrine of jihad and the concept of 'promoting virtue and preventing vice', need to be clearly defined, as well as the nature of social relationships and civil peace.

He explained that these misunderstandings and misinterpretations are caused by three grave trends: the widening gap between a true understanding of Qur'anic commands and activism based on ignorance; 2) a misconception that ends justify the means; and 3) the abandonment of wisdom, justice, compassion and goodwill, that are four values that underpin and are intrinsic to the application of religious law (Sharia).

Sheikh bin Bayyah, who is the Director of the UK-based Global Centre for Renewal and Guidance and one of the world's leading Maliki jurists, called on journalists across the Muslim world to report news responsibly and objectively, without igniting controversy, sewing seeds of confusion and inciting communal hatred, given the parlous state many Muslim societies are in. Muslim journalists, he said, as members of the Community, have a responsibility to try to defuse civil and political strife and conflict, not exacerbate it.

He also called on governments across the Muslim world to bring men and women of knowledge and wisdom across many disciplines and professions into the process of establishing a platform to prepare for achieve peace in their societies in the same way that governments have a platform and infrastructure for war. "Just as war enlists the best and brightest of people and changes societies, it is absolutely imperative for peace to be given the same priority," he said.

WAM/AAMIR/Moran

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Classes Taught at Barnard/Columbia by Professor Najam Haider

Islam in the Post-Colonial World

Barnard College/Columbia University, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2013

This course focuses on the multiple manifestations of the Islamic vision in the modern world.  The semester begins with a survey of the central elements that unite a diverse community of Muslim peoples from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds.  This includes a look at the Prophet and the Qur’ān and the ways in which both were actualized in the development of jurisprudence and sufism/mysticism.  The course then shifts to the modern period, examining the impact of colonization and the rise of secular modernity on the Muslim world.  Topics range from intellectual attempts at societal/religious reform (e.g., Islamic Revivalism, Modernism, Progressivism) and political re-interpretations of traditional Islamic motifs (e.g., Third-Worldism and Jihadist discourse) to traditional efforts at accommodating scientific and technological innovations (e.g., evolution, bioethics).  The class ends by examining the efforts of American and European Muslim communities to carve out distinct spheres of identity in the larger global Muslim community (umma) through expressions of popular cultural (e.g., Hip-Hop).

Revolution and Revival in the Muslim World

Barnard College/Columbia University, Spring 2011

This class focuses on the history and development of revolutionary movements in the Muslim world.  The course begins by examining the life of the Prophet with a particular emphasis on his efforts at socio-ethical reform and his role as the political leader of a nascent religious community. The remainder of the semester is devoted towards the analysis of pre-modern and modern movements/groups who utilized this original template to justify their own versions of an ideal “Islamic” community.  The class includes a detailed study of the origins of Kharijism, the early Umayyad civil wars, the ‘Abbāsid Revolution, the rise of Ismā‘īlism as manifest in the establishment of a Fāṭimid Caliphate and the Nizārī “Assassin” order, the emergence of Shī’ī political activism with the Safavid state, and the growth of apocalyptic reform movements such as the Bābīs in Iran.  It culminates with a close examination of the ideology of modern Jihadist groups found in Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as al-Qā’ida.

http://www.najamhaider.com/classes-taught/

Timothy Winter Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge page

http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/directory/timothy-winter

Professor Andrew Delbanco at the American Studies Program @Columbia University

Professor Andrew Delbanco, winner of the 2006 Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates, is the author of Melville: His World and Work (2005), which won the Lionel Trilling Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in biography. The Death of Satan (1995), Required Reading: Why Our American Classics Matter Now (1997), and The Real American Dream (1999) were named notable books by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. The Puritan Ordeal (1989) won the Lionel Trilling Award. Among his edited books are Writing New England (2001), The Portable Abraham Lincoln (1992), volume two of The Sermons of Ralph Waldo Emerson (with Teresa Toulouse), and, with Alan Heimert, The Puritans in America (1985).

Andrew Delbanco's essays appear regularly in The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, Raritan, and other journals, on topics ranging from American literary and religious history to contemporary issues in higher education. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and named by Time Magazine as "America's Best Social Critic." In 2003, he was named New York State Scholar of the Year by the New York Council for the Humanities.

Professor Delbanco has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was a member of the inaugural class of fellows at the New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers. He is a trustee of the National Humanities Center and the Library of America, and has served as Vice President of PEN American Center. Since 1995 he has held the Julian Clarence Levi Professor Chair in the Humanities at Columbia University.

His most recent book, Melville: His World and Work, was published in the United States (2005) by Alfred A. Knopf. It appeared in Britain under the Picador imprint, and has been translated into German and Spanish.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/amstudies/faculty/intermediate.html

Congressman Paul Findley: They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby

The first book to speak out against the pervasive influence of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on American politics, policy, and institutions resonates today as never before. With careful documentation and specific case histories, former congressman Paul Findley demonstrates how the Israel lobby helps to shape important aspects of U.S. foreign policy and influences congressional, senatorial, and even presidential elections. Described are the undue influence AIPAC exerts in the Senate and the House and the pressure AIPAC brings to bear on university professors and journalists who seem too sympathetic to Arab and Islamic states and too critical of Israel and its policies. Along with many longtime outspoken critics, new voices speaking out include former President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, Senator Robert Byrd, prominent Arab-American Dr. Ziad Asali, Rabbi Michael Lerner, and journalist Charles Reese. In addition, the lack of open debate among politicians with regard to the U.S. policy in the Middle East is lamented, and AIPAC is blamed in part for this censorship. Connections are drawn between America’s unconditional support of Israel and the raging anti-American passions around the world—and ultimately the tragic events of 9/11. This replaces 1556520735.

Amazon

Shaykh Hamza on Baseball and Reading 'in the Flow'

Sports is an interesting metaphor. I read a beautiful book called All Things Shining where they really use sports as a metaphor for this because one of the few things our culture really acknowledges is excellence in sports. But one of things about a great moment in sports - when a pitcher is having a perfect game in baseball, you know what happens to the team? Nobody talks to him. They completely, everybody just stays away. Because he's entered into a completely different zone. They call it 'the flow' in sports psychology. They're in the flow. And great athletes know this. And it's when everything becomes unified. They're not experiencing separateness. Everything is perfect. And that's when he pitches a perfect game. Shut-out, no-hitter. Just strike-out after strike-out. And nothing goes wrong. It's a perfect flow. This is the state of the saints, all the time. This is where they're at. This is where the awliya are at.. It's perfect flow. And that's why they don't get disruptive, they don't get disturbed, because they're aware. Now reading at the highest level is that. You're in a state of flow. That's why he's [Mortimer Adler] saying if you learn these rules, the more you work at them, you will begin to read in a state of flow where all of these things are making sense, they've coalesced and telescoped for you, but it's hard work.

-Hamza Yusuf, "How to Read a Book, Part II" (from about 1 hr, 5 mins in).

Firas Ahmed on Institution Building and Vision necessary for American Muslims going forward

Muslims have ignored establishing some of the most basic institutions that are necessary for any minority community who seeks to have their voice taken seriously. There are no widely circulated national publications that explain Muslim perspectives. There is no widely recognized think tank expressing Muslim understandings of policy debates. There are a scant few public intellectuals from Muslim backgrounds that articulate mainstream views or who represent general Muslim thinking. While there are a number of very talented Muslim academics, very few have been able to cross-over and achieve mainstream credibility. Every other minority community has multiple inventories in each category listed above. What Muslims have are a number of smaller efforts that lack support, lack funding and lack human resources. If Muslims have failed in all these arenas it is not for a lack of talent, but rather for a lack of collective vision.

-Firas Ahmed, "The American Muslim Community's "Obama" Problem" 

Passing The Baton (The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X)

In this short Ta'leef Collective documentary vignette, Dr Umar Faruq Abdullah and Imam Zaid Shakir intimately discuss the life and death of Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz). They discuss how Muslims should understand Malcolm's life and the need for us to honor him and continue his legacy. Imam Zaid intimately explains how he was sitting with Betty Shabazz (Allah have mercy on her) and she said to him, "The Nationalists have claimed Malcolm. The Socialists have claimed Malcolm. Now, it's time for you Muslims to claim Malcolm... because he was a believer... he was a believer." "People before us passed us this Baton (Islam)," explains Imam Zaid, "and in the 20th century it was a hard leg of the race.... it was difficult to be a Muslim. But despite all the hardship, that baton was put in our hand... are we going to drop it or are we going to pass it on?" Stay tuned for the full Ta'leef Collective lecture "The Life And Legacy Of Malcolm X" which will be released in the coming weeks. produced by Mustafa Davis

http://vimeo.com/74110703 

(Video) Shaykh Khalil Abdur-Rashid: "New Paradigms of Muslim Community Leadership"

http://vimeo.com/41310763

Khalil Abdur-Rashid delivers a talk at the Fourth Annual Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Conference entitled "New Paradigms of Muslim Community Leadership," Harvard University, April 7-8, 2012.

Imam Khalil Abdul-Rashid is a PhD student at Columbia University, specializing in Islamic Law and Bioethics.

Grewal analyzes the American Muslim community

http://williamsrecord.com/2014/02/12/grewal-analyzes-the-american-muslim-community/