Islam and Pluralism *Sunday, Apr 05 2009* Beards, veils do not symbolise Talibanisation<http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1299>
…Jesus had a beard. The iconic prophets of the Old Testament certainly wore beards, … Not all prophets had beards; Solomon had one, but David seems to have shaved regularly. There is nothing specifically religious about a beard in Judaism, Christianity or Islam. A beard is not a Quranic injunction, or a fundamental commandment of the faith. But some Muslims wear it out of admiration for, and in imitation of, their prophet, whom they adore as the true exemplar of humanity. There are those who keep it as a mark of identity, or even an assertion. …. …the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ mother, would never have got admission in France’s state schools. There is no image, statue or painting, in which she does not have her head covered. The judgement opens up an interesting can of minority rights. A large number of madarsas in West Bengal have Hindu students. Would the maulvis in the madarsas be within their rights to demand that every girl come in a veil and every boy wear a beard? Should they make it compulsory for non-Muslim students to fast during Ramadan? I would hope not. Hindu children in Muslim-run institutions come for an education in the three R’s, reading, writing and arithmetic, not in the fourth R, religion. Does the Supreme Court verdict mean that a Sikh child can be forced to shave if he joins a Catholic school? --- *MJ Akbar* I do think that autonomous schools should be allowed to set their own rules without the pressure of religious diktat. But I didn’t think the court should have equated the desire for a beard with the vile fundamentalism of the Taliban. That observation clearly stretched the point. Yet, scratch the surface of the subject and there are no easy answers. -- *Barkha Dutt* 1 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1299> Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam *Why hedonistic polygyny is against Islam <http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1300>* It is clear from these arguments that verse 4:3 is not a hedonistic licence to marry several women. This can be better understood by analysing the concept of marriage in the Quran. Not enough research has been done on the statements of the Quran which repeatedly describe man and woman as “spousal mates” created to find “quiet of mind” (7:189) and “to dwell in tranquillity” (30:21) in the companionship of each other. Verse 7:189, which traces the origin of man to a single cell (nafsan waahida), talks of the wife in the singular as zaujaha, thereby emphasising monogamy. Thus, marriage according to the Quran is the emotional bonding of two minds. This cannot be achieved simultaneously with more than one woman. It is sad that Muslim women have allowed themselves to be subliminally brainwashed into becoming objects of sexual gratification for men, which has resulted in scores of them suffering in silence. It is time they broke free from the shackles that hold them hostage to the whims of a few patriarchal ulema who have stalled the progress of the Muslim community through their misinterpretation of Islam. Let them take the first step towards achieving this by questioning all medieval readings of Islam that seek to exploit their femininity. -- *A. Faizur Rahman* More...<http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1300> Islamic Ideology *Islamic Government” - An Oxymoron <http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1298>* Unlike the enforced, distorted Islam of tyrants and terrorists, faith chosen freely without coercion and without forced conformity is the genuine faith. In a world where faith freely chosen fills the heart, the true religious spirit may come alive vibrantly to establish the ideal society where all people may partake of that precious freedom called choice. Early Muslim history corroborates this fact. Muslims helped Jews to create their Golden Age and helped liberate Christians from the tyranny of the Roman church. Muslim philosophy and science promoted the Enlightenment and Renaissance of Europe. Muslims also developed experimental science. In those days, we educated anyone who came our way without force-feeding our faith. Now we have governments that have taken control of our body claiming to send our “meat and blood” to God while Muslims have to beg from non-Muslim societies for their daily bread to keep their body alive. Islam will remain a dream and a theory with no practical value until faith rules the hearts and liberal democracy with an accountable free press rules human “blood and meat.” like the enforced, distorted Islam of tyrants and terrorists, faith chosen freely without compulsion. -- *T.O. Shanavas, *M. D., Vice President, Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. More.<http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1298> -- Syed M. 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