₦airaland Forum

Dear Mr. OlaAjia and TayoD,

I read with interest the posers by TayoD, and the response by Mr. OlaAjia, and while I must commend OlaAjia's efforts to clarify issue, there are still some outstanding posers, and that's what I'll try to expouse on.

Muslims face Mecca world over because that is where the Ka'aba is. Now, the Ka'aba is believed to be the first shrine for the worship of God by Muslims. When man went astray by associating partners with God, he abandoned it and it was consequently left derelict. However, Abraham(ASW) on one of his journeys to visit Hajar and her son Ishmael, was commanded by God to rebuild it. And so Father and son rebuilt the Ká'aba while circumambulating it. That is why today, Muslims all over the world face it. Now, as one of the scientific wonders of the world, The positioning of the Ka'aba is such that it is centrally placed and anywhere you are on the surface of the earth, if you face east, then you are facing the Ka'aba. That is why some people erroneously think that Muslims face the sun. No. The sun rises from the east, and Muslims are asked to face just left of the exact direction the sun rises from. So when next you see Muslims face the direction where the sun rises from, you'll know that they face the Ka'aba which they believe to be the first place of worship of God.

As regards why we have to visit mecca, even as a christian, I know you appreciate the essence of brotherhood in your faith. The injunction on visiting Mecca at least once in your lifetime for those who can afford it, is therefore in furtherance of this objective. Let me tell you a short story. As at the 1940s and 50s when blacks were still being discriminated against by the whites( I am not saying it has stopped just yet), Malcom X who was a Muslim in reaction to this discrimination went to Mecca. But before he embarked on that trip, he belong to a Muslim organisation called Black Nation of Islam whose singular objective was to fight the whites and the christianity which they professed but hardly believed in. But when Malcom reached Mecca, and he saw black, white, red, arab, indian, all of them bowed down in prostration to the Almighty creator, he re-examined his Muslim faith and changed his ideology. He paid dearly for it with his life though, but it was worth the while. The lesson here is that he saw Islam unite the hearts of all these people in submission to their creator, and class, strata based on race, colour etc, were broken. The only separation was based on the piety of the worshippers, and this was known to God alone. He discovered this by undergoing a pilgrimage to Mecca. Besides this, anybody that has been to Mecca with the right intentions, comes back to say how refreshing it was as a spiritual experience. I hope you are clear on this now.

I suspect you must know that the bible initially was written in Hebrew, which was the language Jesus(ASW) spoke. It was however translated to greek, latin, and then the anglosaxons of which English is a part. Now, in Islam we have learnt lessons from the translation of the bible wholly, and how this has caused loss of meaning in some verses, and ambiguity in others. That is why the Quran retains it's original Arabic form. However, we have it's interpretations in other languages, but these are just what they are-interpretations and translations. They cannot substitute the original Arabic Quran as it is. Consequently all Muslims are enjoined to learn Arabic to get a proper understanding of the message.

In Naija, unfortunately some Hausas and Fulani have a complex as you rightly said. I experienced this first hand during my Youth Service. And I must say, there are a lot of them who do not have a complex too. But those who exhibit any form of complex, simply betray a manifestation of their level of ignorance in Islamic teachings. In Islam, discrimination or superiority complex is strictly forbidden. And I can tell you that a re-awakening is taking place in Northern Nigeria as we speak. Same also for southern Nigeria where some Muslims practice less-than-Islamic behaviour which clerics from the North harp -on to make their conclusions about southern Muslims. I used to be a state official of Muslim Corpers Association of Nigeria(MCAN) in one of the Northern States, and I will tell you that some members of the Northern intelligetsia are addressing this problem already. The Dan Masanin Kano specifically chided some Hausas for this attitude at one of MCAN's conferences in Abuja. Now don't you worry, it is a problem in Naija now, we have identified it, and we are doing things about it. But I dare advise you to help your Christian brothers and sisters amongst the caucasians, and mongoloids who still have a problem with recognising other races as creatures of God who deserve respect and human treatment. A true Muslim would dare not habour such thoughts talkless of acting on it.

Once again, I will congratulate Mr. OlaAjia for a job well done. TayoD, even if you do not accept these reasons, at least you know now why somethings are like they are in Islam. Keep up the inquisition, and the truth shall set you free.

@beyonce1

I read with interest your misgivings about the white garment church. And I can confirm to you that evenMuslims view them with suspicions. I had a friend attending one of these churches in Ogudu GRA, and the pastor had always told them not to enter a particular room. Now on this day, all of the church members had gone home, but this guy forgot something and went back. He knocked on the door to that room, but heard no response, and so he opened the door. What did he see? The pastor had a rosary like the ones muslims use and was saying some muslim invocations!!! My friend memorized them, then came to me to know their meanings. The pastor told him though not to tell members of the congregation what he had seen.

You know where I am going with this? Well, people are afraid of what they do not know. La illa ha illa Lahu Muhammed rosulu laha means -There is no god, but God, and Muhammed is his messenger. A lot of christians are umcomfortable when muslims speak Arabic instead of english, and I cannot but agree with them that it's unnerving when you do not know what the other person is saying. So, I encourage muslims when they are asked to pray in public where we have other religoius faithfuls present, to pray in English so people hear and understand what they say. Though, the ritual solat-or prayer Muslims say must be in Arabic because an interpretation in english will as experience has shown us in the past, dilute the original meanings, or alter them altogether. That is why, those five daily prayers must be said in Arabic. Now, I have learnt Arabic to an extent, and if the Muslims were saying evil things, I would not be a muslim now. This is especially as when I was a child, and I went to bible school, my teacher would tell me those muslims worship idols, and the devil. But wheninthe higher institution, I became a good muslim, I discovered all I was told in bible school was balderdash.

Now, why are muslims afraid of white garment adherents? It's simple,we have mystics in Islam who use the Quran for illegal and unwholesome activities. You know, any word of God has power, but God does not intend that these books be used for evil. But man in his quest for power will use the injeel(Gospel), Sabur(psalms), Taurat(Torah), and the Quran(Koran) for mysticism. And some of the customers of these muslim mystics are other muslims with shaky faith, pastors of white garment churches, and indeed pastors of pentecostal churches. So, we view some of their activities with suspicion.

I would not marry even a muslim girl if I see amulets in her house or any other form of protection or help, which is prohibited and unfounded in Islam (These things are not permitted in Islam). This is only natural because, if for some reason we have a problem extraeneous or internal, she could go and consult these mystics who would give her 'things'to use without my knowledge. And this could compromise my faith. However, I can marry a christian girl because it is permitted in my religion. But she must be chaste, and she'll have to agree that our children would be muslims, if she herself chooses not to be. But before this can take place, I'd have satisfied myself that it's impossible to get a good muslim girl.

So let the debate continue.

Hi
I will be leaving familiar waters in contributing to this. But I would want to know more about this topic, and perhaps give christians an insight into how they are perceived by Muslims.

In actual fact, we know that the concept of speaking in tongues is very recent. It must have started in the 20th century, because the christians of old, did not engage in this practice. I think that those tracing it's practice to biblical times erroneously depict the confusion which descended on the disciples of christ and the attendant loss of communication between them as speaking in Tongues. In Nigeria, Muslims know that some Pastors come to mystic Muslim scholars who are illegally using the Quran and Jinns for things they shouldn't use them for- magic. Now these Jinns give the Pastors some incantations to proclaim when they want to attract followers to their churches. So we see their episodes of speaking in tongues as an incantation recital exercise designed to activate the powers of these Jinns. And then, they hide under the pretext of the Holy Spirit's descent to beguile a gullible followership who try to replicate this incoherent sayings in a bid to out do each other and show holiness.

However, I am not saying this vie is correct. I am open to correction. But this must be done in a laymans way, because as I said earler, I am Muslim, not christian, and I will find it difficult to understand direct biblical quotations.

Mrlawng, Logical, Syrup,

I have read all the fireworks, and I understand everybody's feelings as they write. But I must make certain things clear. Firstly, Islam is percieved as a terrorist religion today only because of one thing- The Muslims have been negligent. The Muslims allowed the exact things that the Prophet of Islam (SAW) asked them to be mindful of to destroy them. Tribalism and negligence of seeking knowledge. I say this because today, it is the 'Superpower"of the world that defines what a terrorist is. BY American definition, a terrorist is anybody who's against America's interest. It doesn't matter whether this interest is actually moral, based on the major religions of the world, so long as it is in America's interest, anybody against it is a terrorist. Let us examine the facts.

When the US and the Soviet where locked in a battle for supremacy, anybody that demostrated against the status quo in the American establishment was called a communist. Thus, the black uprising in the sixties to protest the way blacks were forced to enrol in the army and fight in Vietnam, was called a communist plot to bring down the president. Thus, the CIA justified it's use of hard drugs to suppress the uprising consequently destroying a generation of African Americans, on the basis of them being communist. When America carried out the bay of pigs invasion of Cuba, it was to challenge communism. When America sponsored the assasination of Chilean president, it was all to help it fight communism. When they carried out a vicious campaign of assasinating nationalist African Heads of State who challenged their hegemonist and dominating tendencies, like Nkurumah, Lumumba, Muritala Mohammed, it was all in a bid to save the world from evil communism. Why am I giving these anecdotes? You will see the connection soon.

Now, when Britain settled Israel in the middle east in the 1940's (then it was the powerhouse of the world), it realised that it couldn't return the Jews to Palestine where they inhabited a long time ago, without a war. What did it do? It drew up something called the Balfour declaration, which states that Palestine will be divided into two states, one called Israel, and the other for the Muslim Arabs living there. Now, after WW2 America became one of the big powers behind the formation of the UN. The UN took over the Israel negotiations and actually sanctioned the creation of two states. But at that time, some Arabs had been ejected forcefully from where they had come to know as home for centuries. Specifically 105 villages including Yasser deir were wiped off the map militarily so that Israel can be born, or is it reborn. Now, the massacres that happened there stoked the anger in the rest of the Arab world, and they started planning to go to war. However, Israel in a pre-emptive attack (whatever that is) destroyed their armies, captured more territory, and killed (which is most objectionable) innocent women, children and old people, just because they were Arabs. This coming in the heels of a similar persecution of the Israeli in the hands of the Nazis, was a real surprise to the world. Thus, a cycle of hate was born. Now with the collapse of the Soviets (it didn't matter to the US that the soviets were also christians), US became the sole world Power. It's economy had expanded, and it became ever so greedy for oil, a resource in abundance in the middle east. The Arabs (who brought Islam to the world) were angry and at war with Israel. They also saw US as an enemy because of it's assistance to Israel in the past. So two things became the foreign policy of the US. 1. Get the UN to recognize Israel as a state, consequently, it will be able to buy arms, develop them, cooperate militarily with other countries. 2. Prevent Palestine from becoming a state. So it will be illegal for any countries to sell arms to them, or receive military cooperation. Now, the US used a carrot and stick approach in the Middle-east. Either you comply, give US your oil and have it support your rule, or get toppled by whatever means necessary and be brandished a negative element-since communism was no longer in vogue, they had to invent or better put apply a new word-Terrorism. But the toga of terrorism was not yet widely accepted at that moment. Now the Arabs frustrated that inspite of a UN resolution agreeing to give Palestinians a State, not much was done in this direction by a largely docile international community, and seeing reprehensible acts of suppression and genocide being meted to the Palestinians who had AK's against armoured tanks, M16 Gunships, apache helicopter gunships, F22 Bombers, thought of a new way of fighting. Since they couldn't fight the armoured tanks face to face, in desperation, started a new offensive-suicide bombing, targetting not just military, but also the civilian populace of Israel. This new form of attack was unprecendeted. The Israeli and Americans, with the whole world were astounded. They couldn't believe that people will blow themselves up for a cause- which is to get back their land. Violence by the state of Israel only excerbated the situation as these Arabs saw themselves fighting a just cause in Islam, which is preventing others from oppressing them. Now the strategy of violence worked well to serve the USs interest in taking oil from the Arabs as states that do not comply will have their regimes toppled sublty or openly. Also after the signing of the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Israel still acquired nuclear technology from the US and this made the Arabs to be insecure and feel unjustly treated. Thus, the never ending cycle of antagonism started. Muslims all over the world saw this happenings as an affront to them, their religion and way of life. But this alone did not cause the worlwide Muslim reaction it's causing now. It was a combination of factors that led to the paranoia with which Muslims world over view Western interests and ideas. The media helped demonise Muslims, and this led to their feeling under siege. Now, somebody feeling like he is under siege is bound to be paranoid, and consequently aggressive. Time and time again, rules will be set, Israel will violate these rules, and scoff at the international community with US behind their back, as if saying what do you want to do about it. This led to a loss of faith in the current order of things by Muslims. Thus, we had loose Clerics employing demagoguery, asking gullible young Muslims to employ suicide attacks as a strategy to combat the all-powerful oppressive power called the western power. So, even in states where these strategy was needless, it was used. This continued the cycle of hate, making Christians and other religions feel threatened and justifiably so. Now this oppression became like a double edged sword, as it was also used by Muslim clerics who were compromised, to ignite hatred for christians among Muslim youths. Consequently, if political leaders needed to show their relevance to the authorities in countries like Nigeria, all they needed to do was pay a cleric who will preach on friday about the oppression of muslims world over, especially in the middle-east. He will turn fear into anger and anger into hatred. He will then order that all Christians in their vicinity must be punished for this acts of oppression against
Muslims. They must be killed, so that the youths will enter heaven if they die in those conflicts. And a largely uneducated followership( uneducated in Islamic teachings) carries out the teachings to the letter killing innocent Christians. This in turn further drums-up support for their (christians) earlier stereotypes that muslims are terrorist, a view preached all too often by the western dominated media. The Americans, seen to be a Christian state, but not really so (otherwise, if it were so Christian, why would it allow gay marriages, gay priests, the church of Satan-things that challenge the christian faith directly exist and protected) will then play up these images of hatred, magnify them and blow them out of proportion to create a sense of fear in it's citizens in order to draw support for even harder tactics against Muslims. The hate cyle is then complete.

Now after all this story, let me take you back to where I started from. Muslims are terrorists today because Ameriaca Says so and it is the new toga in getting whatever it wants (in this case oil from the Arab states)- A classical case of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Why does everyone believe America? It is the world power. The moment Muslims allowed the Ottoman empire to break up, they gave the upperhand to people who are interested not in salvation of their people or any other people, but in dominating others for their own survival. Otherwise, how would you explain the slavery Africa and Asia were subjected to, inspite of the christian religion being the religion of the colonialists. If today, everybody in the world became a christian or jew, there still will be the ongoing war because at the end, it's about control of resources, not necessarily religion. The only way Muslims will stop being terrorists is if they became the world power again. But religion, ideology, ethnicity serve the purposes of being the vehicle through whichacts of hate are justified. Now some Christians know this, but why are they willing collaborators?

There are two reasons;
1. What they experience first hand in the hands of rampaging Jihadists killing people senselessly, Jihadists who play to the script written for them by faceless people with personal interests. By reacting impulsively, instead of allowing deep thought and reflection influence their actions these Jihadists or more appropriately killers perpetuate hate.
2.They (Christians) are distracted by their individual concerns for glory, glamour, security, prosperity, group membership and standing, along with the usual petty vices related to sloth, gluttony and sex ( the vices do not apply to real christians). They don’t want to risk unpopularity and reduced career prospects by countering mainstream thinking, however manipulated this may have been. Delusion can be comforting and appear desirable, so even when they recognise the truth, that some Muslims are facing oppression, they are afraid to say it or challenge it.

"However, I conclude with the thought that truth, and reflection on the most important and relevant kinds of truths, are what’s most needed for peace in the world today". I think it is necessary at this point to bring a quote by Professor Randal Marlin, Adjunct Professor iat Carleton University Ottawa, Canada.

"But we cannot afford to acquiesce in the simplistic imagery that is thrown at us from our political leadership, advertisers and mass media. This is too often skewed toward special and not public interests. Meditative thinking, looking for and supporting those forces that counter-act such things as reckless acquisitiveness, unchecked fears, hatreds and prejudices -- that’s the way to peace ahead. There are many sources in the Internet that give support for meditative thinking and the factual basis for resisting simplistic imagery. But it’s up to the individual to make use of those sources".
Muslims and Christians, this is what we need.

Hi all,
This is my first day on Nairaland, and I hope it will be worth the while contributing to public discourse in this manner, so that we can all appreciate what makes each of us unique, and subsequently respect each other.

Firstly, I'd like to say I agree with "wellborn" that criticism, especially when made in an unoffensive way, leads to making things better. In fact because of criticism, I have examined and re-examined why I am a muslim, and I have found out that there are somethings that still require explanation, others have to be accepted on passing a thorough sense of logic that I usually subject things like that to.

Now, to the Da Vinci code issue. Let me commend the christians for not subscribing to violence as a the first approach to solving disagreements. Here I have to admit, a great majority of muslims need instructions about this. And believe me, if they were to follow the way of the Prophet Muhammed (SAW), they would know that under the rules of engagement in Islam, if you [b][/b]Must retialate against an attack on your beliefs, it has to be in the same measure as what your attacker deployed in the first place. But really, in my Quran, which is the most common interpretation of the Quran these days, God emphasises at any given point in time the virtues of forgiveness, and why it is better to forgive.

Having said that, in the recent cartoon demonstrations, I personally had to question many clerics that sanctioned those demonstrations in Kenya. I did this with benefit of hindsight as I had in the past as a student, been involved in protests, and even led some, and I know that no matter how pure your intentions are, protests are bound to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements that have another agenda different from the one professed by the protesters. And in all these experiences, I know it only takes one stone to be thrown, and pandemonium willbe let loose. So, it was on this ground that I challenged the wisdom of these clerics, and told them I would have preferred that they written rejoinders on those cartoons in the same newspapers that published them. Some of them pointed out to me that their rejoinders will not be published, to which I replied, then write to the regulators in the industry, intimating them of a plot to unjustly incite and provoke you. Now, I am certainly not a pacifist, but i would like our reactions as Muslims to either trigger a touch of conscionable regret in the aggressors, or at least help free us from their vicious circle of hate which those people intended to ignite. If there is a need, like in the case of an unprovoked, rumour based attack on a people as witnessed by the unjustified assault on Iraq by the Americans, I will definitely be in the forefront of those fighting to repel such aggression. As everybody knows, the reasons America justified it's illegal invasion of Iraq inspite of opposition from the international community-weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) still remain to be discovered. In essence, the message is, as a Muslim, if inddeed there is a need to retialate, I would have to make sure it's in the same proportion as the attack. However, it is better I forgive. This captures the essence of the Islam.

I read on peoples response to this thread that they seldom know Islam. This has given me a broader perspective on why a lot of Christians hate Muslims, and thus the cycle of hate is born. It is a fact that man fears what he does not know. And sometimes, this fear translates to hatred. It is just the same thing that makes Muslims, uneducated Muslims ( uneducated in Islamic teachings) to take up arms in response to the manipulative tendencies of pretensious clerics-Lack of knowledge about your supposed adversary. The above message which I say captures the esssence of Islam is demonstrated in many instances during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (SAW). An example is given below. He (SAW) was with his companions one day, when some Jews were passing by and greeted him thus 'As Samu Alayka' which means 'Death be Upon you', in a bid to mimic the muslim way of greeting- As salam Alaykum. Some of his companions unsheated their swords to fight for this reverred Prophet (SAW), but he restrained them saying, do not fight them, just reply unto them Wa Alaykum-meaning 'And unto you'. This was just an example of when the Prophet (SAW) tried to placate his followers who at that time still had the character of the days of unbelief namely bellicosity. Countless other examples abound of when the Prophet (SAW) asked forgiveness for a people that made him a laughing stock, or even agressed at him. Another example was when he went to preach to a town, and the people there not only rejected him, but threw stones at him, and tortured him severely. With blood smeared all over his body and face, he was chased out of the town. As he left, Angel Gabriel (ASW) appeared to him and asked him what he required the angel to do. He specifically asked if the Prophet wanted the inhabitants of the town to be wiped off the surface of the earth, to which the Prophet (SAW) replied no. He(SAW) said, spare them because it may be that the children of these people will accept Islam. And it is on record that years later, everybody in that town accepted Islam. This typifies the benevolent and charitable demeanour of Islam and it's prophet. However today , most Muslims prefer to see the vengeful course of action as the natural one, while infact, it is supposed to be the option of last resort.

I would like to conclude by throwing an insight into the Afghan issue. It is true that in Islam, the sharee 'ah says anybody that reverts from Islam by being an apostate (ie. claiming He is still Muslim, but altering the message of Islam like adding verses to the Quran, or preaching falsehood and misleading people) should be killed. Also, the law states that should a Muslim convert to christianity or any other religion, and he did this in perfect sanity, he should be killed to safeguard him in the hereafter. However, if he opts out of being judged by the sharee'ah, he should be left alone. There is a verse in the Quran which says "There is no compulsion in Religion". And that is why Muslims are not asked to kill Christians or Jews or any other religious group based on their religious persuasions. In fact, in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, under Ottoman rule history, it was stated by historians that Muslim rule was the one of all empires that ruled the earth, that tolerated other religions almost to a fault. It emphatically stated that the level of religious tolerance afforded by the Muslims, was unprecedented in the History of the world. Other religious groups were given protection and freedom, but they had to pay a tax, in much the same way as citizens of any country today pay taxes. Now having said these, I do not expect some pretensious people to ask why a religion fron God would ask that reverts be killed, because I know in the history of Christianity, the church sanctioned the executions of people who had divergent views about christianity. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for denial of christ. A lot of other people were also killed in similar manner, and this intolerance for dissenting views led to two significant issues in the history of christianity. First, there was a rebellion in the church, and the protestant faith was born. Second, science and it's adherents challenged christianity- And this has led to the Godless society we now live in, sacrificing Obedience to God, in the name of freedom to be who you want to be. And I also know that the first law of nature is self preservation, and this probably was the reasoning behind Pope Urban sanctioning the crusades of the 11th century in the name of christ where millions of people were killed, destroyed, annihilated because they did not follow the religion of the dominant world power. Or more aptly put, because they were heathens deserving only to die, and we, children of God whom God has bequeathed the earth to. Today, Islam also assumes that it is the remaining truely unaltered way to God, but it does not in anyway condone killing other people only because they do not believe. No, instaed Islam believes that in the end of time, there willbe a catasclysmic war in which the Jews will be haunted and almost destroyed, because they will be the ones behind the anti-christ and the beast of the earth. Jesus(ASW) will lead the Muslims to fight the anti-christ and will kill it. Now, the christians will be given two options before this war by Jesus; either to join him, or join the Jews and the anti-christ. A portion of Christians will take the sides of the Muslims, while a portion will take sides with the antichrist. At the end, Jesus and his followers will triumph, and the Trumpet will be blown for the Day of reckoning. A lot of Muslims may be quite uncomfortable with me sharing this knowledge about Islam for fear of ridicule or criticism, but I prefer it to be criticised and appraised by others, so that for those that do not fear reduced career propects, or being brandished unfashionable or terrorist, and who may have clues to the truth, this will serve as an insight and may eventually lead them to actions that will eventually determine their fate with the Creator. And if it is properly criticised, it could also serve the opposite purpose of liberating me from my ignorance about the truth.

Peace be Unto you all. (SAW and ASWW mean Peace be unto Him.)