To me, it sounds like a desperate effort on the part of those with barely any roots to lay claim to a culture that they don’t understand, will probably never fully appreciate, will subscribe to selectively, and are using it purely as a tool to establish some sort of elitism because they lack any credibility elsewhere in their lives.
Imitation is supposed to be the best compliment, so next time you see someone appropriating your culture, thank them. Their efforts will probably contribute more to the preservation of your cultural roots than your efforts to claim guardianship over something you probably had nothing to do with regarding its establishment.
Of course, if someone is actively trying to alter the truth about the roots of a specific cultural practice, by all means correct them. But more often than not, the debates around this on Tumblr is about others practising some elements of a different culture that they don’t naturally belong to, and that is then misconstrued as appropriation. It’s not. It’s imitation or adoption, but not appropriation.
In my mind, the Europeans going into Eastern lands, colonising it, destroying its historical records and recreating a new adulterated view about the sources of the knowledge and culture that they now claim to own, is cultural appropriation. Seems like most don’t understand the difference between imitation and appropriation.
ap·pro·pri·a·tion/əˌprōprēˈāSHən/
Noun:
- The action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission.
- The artistic practice or technique of reworking images from well-known paintings, photographs, etc., in one’s own work.
This entire debate about cultural appropriation, especially within the context of this wonderful global village that everyone is always happy to celebrate and be a part of, is superfluous.
Tag: Islam
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Cultural Appropriation
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Debatable debates, and questionable quotes
After seeing a post this morning that was quoted to be from Hadith Qudsi, I doubted its authenticity which led to me browsing through the collection of Hadith Qudsi to see if it may have been a variation in translation or not. I couldn’t find it. The ‘offending’ quote was:
I wonder at a person who preaches to people but not to his own soul
If anyone has knowledge of the origins of this hadith, or if in fact it is a hadith, please let me know, but so far, it doesn’t appear to be hadith at all. It has a strong under tone of rhetoric, and in my limited knowledge (may Allah forgive me if I’m wrong) I’ve never known Rasulullah (SAW) to speak with rhetoric, so immediately this quote raised alarm bells.
However, the good that came out of this for me was being reminded about the following hadith:
Book 1. Hadith Qudsi. Hadith 006.
The Authority Of Al-Numan bin Basheer : I heared the messenger of Allah say : “That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart.”
Reporters.
Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.
I’ve italicised those words that I found most inspiring. What strikes me most about this is that it is a reflection of the numerous debates I witness on a daily basis, on Tumblr and in real life, regarding matters that are based on opinions or interpretations, rather than matters that are clearly halaal or haraam. Like this hadith states, “the lawful and the unlawful is plain”, so the extended debates we get into regarding who is more correct about interpretations is usually centred around issues that relate to preferred ways of doing things rather than what is outright forbidden or allowed.
This was highlighted to me in another hadith that I came across in the same collection, which reads:
Book 1. Hadith Qudsi. Hadith 009.
The Authority Of Abu Hurairah : I heared the messenger of Allah say : “What I have forbidden to you, avoid; what I have ordered you [to do], do as much of it as you can. It was only their excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their prophets that destroyed those who were before you.”
Reporters.
Related bu Bukhari and Muslim.
Again, the italics are mine for emphasis. This excessive questioning is what leads to 99% of the debates we have on Tumblr and in real life. Every single occasion that I have personally witnessed where such debates rage, the underlying tone and manner of such debates was always driven by the egos of those involved in the discussion. I keep reminding myself that halaal and haraam is clear. So in that, there is no doubt. Therefore it makes sense that if there is doubt about something, the doubt would be regarding its interpretation or preferred method of implementation, but not about its validity as being halaal or haraam. So when someone insists that we are compelled to seek a deeper understanding of the inferences and meanings and interpretations behind what is plain, this hadith answers such endeavours clearly:
Book 1. Hadith Qudsi. Hadith 030.
The Authority Of Jurthum bin Nashir : The messenger of Allah said : “Allah the Almighty has laid down religious duties, so do not neglect them. He has set boundaries, so do not over step them. He has prohibited some things, so do not violate them; about some things He was silent-out of compassion for you, not forgetfulness, so seek not after them.”
Reporters.
A fine hadith related by Al-Daraqutni and others.
But the most poignant of the ahadith that I came across in my search for the hadith that I found to be suspicious is this:
Book 1. Hadith Qudsi. Hadith 035.
The Authority Of Abu Hurairah : The messenger of Allah said : “Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices one to another; do not hate one another; do not turn away from one another; and do not undercut one another, but be you, O servants of Allah, brothers. A muslim is the brother of a muslim: he neither oppresses him nor does he fail him, he neither lies to him nor does he hold him in contempt. Piety is right here-and he pointed to his breast three times. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother muslim in contempt. The whole of a muslim for another muslim is inviolable: his blood, his property, and his honor.”
Reporters.
Related by Muslim.
Once more, italics are my own emphasis. The thought that this hadith left me with is that if we apply the principles of what is clearly stated here, by holding another Muslim in contempt because of their beliefs or actions, we’re doing either one of two things. We’re either deliberately violating the injunction of this hadith, or; we’re suggesting that in our view, the person we’re holding in contempt is in fact not Muslim. Isn’t this tantamount to declaring takfir on another?
I have been taught that debates should be had not to determine who is right and who is wrong, but rather to arrive at the truth. It’s rare these days to find anyone debating for the correct purpose, but instead we expend precious resources in time and energy focused on satisfying nothing more than our nafs under the guise of seeking to establish the truth with others.
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My struggles with those symbols
It feels like I’ve come almost full circle in my contemplations regarding that dastardly symbol that grates me each time the thought flits through my mind. After reading a post on Tumblr this week, I was suddenly faced with the realisation that perhaps my response to this matter has been one of extremism rather than purposeful reason.
My contempt for the moon and star as symbols of Islam has not abated. But my resolve to separate myself from the community based on this contempt that I feel is wavering. I maintain my position regarding the double standards and hypocrisy demonstrated by many Ulama of South Africa. I have not engaged with others outside of this country, but I have no reason to believe that the mainstream views will be equally distastefully biased towards the popular vote rather than the principled reality. A reality that dictates that the moon and star are symbols of paganism adopted directly into Islam from pagan roots and has never had any reference to any Islamic practise either during the time of Rasulullah (SAW) or after.
But this is clear to me, and is therefore not at the core of my uneasiness tonight. The post that I read this week on Tumblr spoke of unity in the Ummah and what acts were overlooked although known to be incorrect at the time of its occurrence, in favour of maintaining such unity. These acts were overlooked by learned companions (RA) in their endeavour to maintain unity above all else. Suddenly, with this in mind, my decision to remove myself from the gathering at the local masjid out of protest against that horrible symbol affixed to the minaret and dome seems to be an act of extremism rather than conscientious objection.
I used to feel assured that my position was correct and my behaviour justified. I’m now left with only the feeling of surety regarding my position, but no longer my behaviour. I’m starting to doubt if staying away, and avoiding the difficult discussions with the trustees is in fact the correct way to deal with this, and more importantly, if it is a justifiable response to what is a bid’ah but not necessarily a major act of kufr.
May Allah guide me in this matter. Ameen.
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On the Occasion of My Death
With all the news this week about deaths, and supposed deaths, affecting people I know and love, and people I thought I knew, it got me wondering what it is that I would want people to realise on the occasion of my death. So this would be my eulogy to me:
Please remember that the tears you cry are tears for your own loss, and not for me. If you were thinking of me, you’d realise that happiness is called for, and not sadness. My struggles are finally over, and what lies ahead can only improve but never get worse. So if you grieve for me, know that you’re grieving in vain, because it is only good that is done in my memory that will benefit me, not time wasted grieving over something that cannot be undone.
I lived a life of seeming hardship, but in fact, there were many that were more downtrodden than me. Save your sympathy for those that are alive, and rejoice at the news that those that are dead suffer the anguish of this world no more. Do not commit acts of innovation in my name, nor commemorate the cycles of the years upon the anniversary of my death. I never recognised these superficial occasions in my lifetime, so please don’t dishonour me by commemorating it on my behalf after my demise.
Death has always been waiting, and relative to the expanse of eternity, our lives are literally a blink of an eye. Some blink longer than others, but nonetheless it is no more than a blink. Too many focus on the challenges and punishments that we’re cautioned about, but most never contemplate the blessings. Our challenges are limited to this finite time that we’ve been placed on earth, while our rewards are celebrated for eternity. So those that think that Allah is cruel or harsh in subjecting us to this life of trials and tribulations, let them be reminded that such hardships are short lived, whilst its rewards, if endured with dignity and faith, are eternal.
So please don’t mourn for me. Every tear you shed is a reflection of the compassion and yearning of your own soul before it is a symbol of what lies ahead for me. It is natural to grieve, but know without a doubt that that grieving is for your loss, not for my demise. Life is for the living, not for the dead. If you wish to benefit me at all, remember the good that I may have shared with you, forgive me for the bad, and always remember me fondly while overlooking my shortcomings.
Beyond this, I request nothing more from you. Like we have been reminded by the Prophet of Allah (SAW), speaking ill of the dead only affects the living, so don’t hurt those that may have held me endearingly in their hearts by reminding them of my faults. Celebrate life with goodness and cheat death by making such goodness the inheritance of your offspring.
“To Allah we belong, and unto him is our return”
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The Gift of Children
“and children as [love’s] witnesses,” [74:13] Muhammad Asad
I was reading The Qur’an yesterday, and as I was taking notes, on the issue of how The Qur’an explains who God guides to Faith, but it was this seemingly innocuous ayah, one that follows one of the most important ayahs in The Qur’an, that truly caught my attention.
As you know, yesterday, alhamdulilah, my family welcomed a new member, and this ayah jumped out at me. This portion of this Surah is talking about how God has bestowed upon us countless gifts, limitless potential, and yet there are those who discount those and “greedily desires that I [God] give yet more!” [74:15]
What struck me was that children are not described as gifts, as they are in other parts of The Qur’an (most notably how The Qur’an describes daughters as something to be very happy about) but that in this instance, the children are given a very different role: as witnesses to our appreciation of what God has bestowed upon us.
I am not a parent, but, I have been trying to make sense of this formulation. Muhammad Asad injects the word “love” as a implied construct to the witnessing, which I more-or-less agree with, yet there remains a deeper element, one that I think is linked towards our judgment by God.
I have come to this conclusion because of the context of the Surah in question, Surah Al-Muddaththir, which covers the concept of afterlife and how we get there. I think this because, while we joke about marriage as a process in which we “complete half of our deen,” I feel like children (and our spouse) are the major reason for that formulation. These are the people who will be in your direct care, who will experience your character, your emotions, your actions, more than any other group of people.
Your spouse may be able to divorce you, but your children, no matter what happens, will always reflect your actions in this world because of how you introduce them to it. Whether you abandon them, give them up for adoption, nurture them, whatever it is you do, they are the ultimate reflection of you, and thus this innocuous phrase, placing children as “witnesses” makes sense to me, when I look at it this way.
I may have been drawn to this ayah because of being in a maternity ward, but I look at it now as one of the major proofs of how The Qur’an puts an immense premium on our actions and dealings with others, and I am saddened (especially every time there is a tumblr “flare up”) because I have been so impressed by the dedication and faithfulness to Islam by the Tumblr Muslim Ummah, that to watch us forget our akhlaq, our manners, with each other, over things we could debate (properly) if only we remembered what The Book we debate over commands us to do.
This ayah also underlined how we must readjust ourselves, our mindset, and our hearts when approaching having children of our own. I have heard those who bemoan their children, as if they are infringements upon their freedom; those children did not ask to be brought into this world, you did. The world that these innocents will be brought into, their entire approach will be directed by you, and I hope that as Muslims, we can take this message to heart, and to illustrate to the world, through our actions and our children (insha Allah) that Islam is not just a belief, but a true way of life.
It is our children that will reflect us the most, and while we may be great people, and nice to our friends, it is how we treat and deal with the ultimate trust, our children, that reflects our character more than anything. What we do, on a daily basis is what defines us, maybe not to our friends and co-workers, but to God and those who matter most: our children. It is our children that display the bifurcation between the person who is conscious of their Islam personally and those who are conscious of Islam completely.
Finally, this ayah underlines something that many times Muslim youth struggle with: adhering to their parents. Many times we are just being bratty, but other times, I am sure there are cases where the parents are not upholding their duties, which must be horrible. Thus, it is this ayah that underlines to us that in order to expect obedience from our children, we must fulfill their trust in us as their parents. If the simple fact that these children are from you cannot motivate you, I hope that God’s command does.
I pray for the children who do not have their parents, and for those of us who do that we appreciate that fact; I pray for those of us who have misunderstandings with our parents to overcome them and realize what is more important in life; I pray for those who are or who will become parents to have the patience and fortitude to care and nurture their children; I pray for the Muslim youth, to realize their potential, to rise to action, to forsake rhetoric for deeds, and to show this world that Islam is not just in our hearts, not just on our tongues, but in the good that we will tirelessly work towards; insha Allah, I pray that we can fulfill the commands of Almighty God with sincerity, ya Rabb.
Ameen.
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Beautiful Recitation of Surah Qasas
Here’s a recording of a man inspired by Sheikh Abdul Basit. This reciter is from a suburb called Surrey Estate (if my memory serves me correctly) in the Western Cape, South Africa. I once heard that he was invited to the home of Sheikh Abdul Basit to recite for his family because of the striking similarity in recitation style. The entire family is reputed to have been reduced to tears at the sound of his recitation.
His voice and breath control is amazing, Masha-Allah. He really immerses himself into this recitation around 03:40 in this recording. Subhanallah.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/) -
Being a Muslim in South Africa
This is a view from a layman, an average Muslim, who was born and raised in South Africa. This is not the view of an academic, or a scholar, nor someone that holds any other identifiable titles as a Muslim, other than being one of the masses.
Given the generalisations about Islam in South Africa, I thought it prudent to share some real life experiences and observations about living here as a Muslim.
Islam was introduced into South Africa over 300 years ago by a Malaysian political prisoner that was banished to South Africa from his own country. He is commonly known as Sheikh Yusuf. He was largely responsible for establishing unity amongst the other Muslim prisoners or slaves that were brought to South Africa under the auspices of the Dutch colonisers back then. I’m not a history boffin, so suffice to say that this is largely accepted as the beginnings of Islam in this part of the world, in Cape Town to be specific.
Muslims from India were also amongst the indentured labourers brought to South Africa by the British colonialists. They subsequently established the biggest Indian community outside of India which is in Durban, on the South African east coast. A thriving and very active Muslim community exists there these days. So from the two opposite ends of the country, the Shafi’ee madhab was entrenched in the lives of the Muslim community in Cape Town with a strong Malaysian culture, while the Hanafi madhab was entrenched in Durban with a strong Indian culture.
From these two areas, Islam spread throughout South Africa with mosques and communities existing in every major city and most rural areas as well. Offshoots of these communities have dabbled in Sufism and have largely focused on establishing community services and charity organisations. Many large and very beneficial organisations that provide and facilitate burial services, orphanages, mosques, madrasahs and other essential services stem from the Sufi groups. However, there is also an active engagement across all communities of all madhaib throughout South Africa that play an active role in establishing such structures and support systems for Muslims in their communities.
The overall culture in South Africa is largely conservative with a strong focus on individual piety in the Indian communities, with a more overt community-focused culture in the Malay communities. Limited success has been noted in the spread of Islam to the indigenous black communities in South Africa, with this largely being blamed on the same conservative and insular nature that was engendered in the Muslim communities as a result of apartheid. One of the benefits, but also curses of apartheid was that it strengthened communities of similar racial backgrounds, but in so doing, also led to very little efforts focused on inviting other race groups to Islam. Hence the relatively stagnant pace at which Islam has grown in the country over the last few decades.
There is a significant interest being shown by other race groups in Islam these days, with reverts becoming more common than ever before. However, the Indian and Malay sub-cultures often isolates reverts from the rest of the Muslim communities when it comes to social events, but not when it comes to integration in the mosques. It’s a strange mix that takes some getting used to. Not that I’m condoning it in any way.
Generally, there is no shortage of bid’ah and bickering in many parts of various communities as is existent in Muslim communities throughout the world. But there is also a concerted effort by many to break the silence and the dogmatic following of tradition in the way Islam is practised here. Politically, Muslims enjoy freedom of religion and are able to practise Islam openly. The sight of women in hijab and niqab in shopping malls and public spaces throughout the country is not a rare sight at all.
The Tableeghi Jamaat is active predominantly in the Indian community, and have their own mixed bag of successes and failures regarding the ideas and principles that they seem to propagate. But I guess this is true about many groups and not just them. Overall, for a Muslim, South Africa is generally a very tolerant place to live, and the Muslim culture is mostly embraced, except by some of the old school predominantly white Christian communities that still hold onto the ideals of the apartheid era. This can be seen in the hurdles and obstacles that need to be cleared before mosques can be established in predominantly white neighbourhoods, and even more so in the resistance that we get in requesting permission to recite the adhaan out loud. But the Muslim communities have been able to overcome many of these obstacles, even though at times it takes up to 8 or 10 years to get permission to have a piece of land rezoned for the building of a mosque. So our struggles in this space mirror those of Muslim communities in other western countries as well.
There is a high prevalence of men, women and children that have memorised the Qur’an. There are also many established institutions that offer formal studies in Islamic subjects, mostly aligned with the Hanafi madhab in the form of Darul Ulooms. There is room for much improvement, as is always the case, but overall, Alhamdulillah, being a Muslim in South Africa is not as trying as being a Muslim in most other non-Muslim countries around the world.
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Which version of Islam would you like today?
Sadness is…seeing Islam being watered down on Tumblr in order to maintain follower counts and appease fans. Finding ways to make Islam more palatable to those that are deliberately looking for loopholes does not invite others towards Islam, but instead invites them to a new permutation of what used to be Islam. This is the slippery slope that got the disbelievers into the position that they’re in. Look around and you’ll quickly notice the trends. The clerical hierarchies, the supposed tolerance for unacceptable behaviour, the contortion of gender roles, the ‘intellectualisation’ of the Sunnah, the formalisation of the acquisition of religious knowledge, the abdication of responsibility in social commitments, and so much more.
There is a huge difference, like night and day, between acknowledging our shortcomings in practising Islam the way it was intended to be practised, and trying to justify our shortcomings by assuming that some interpretations of Islam are incorrect so that we can condone our shortcomings. By the same token, there is an equally huge difference between practising Islam the way it was intended to be practised, and displaying an extremist view of how its rulings should be interpreted out of excessive piety. This is clearly reflected in the current state of scholarly pursuits because everyone feels a need to save Islam from incorrect interpretations but no one is willing to answer the question that begs to know what constitutes excessive questioning in terms of implementing the Sunnah. Something that I often contemplate, without arriving at an answer yet, is whether or not the actions of Rasulullah (SAW) was dissected to the nth degree by the first three generations, or was the dissection a response to the wanton deviance of those that followed?
Determining this has resulted in pursuits that are blindly excessive in most cases, hence the disconnect between the scholars, the wannabe scholars and the layman. In response, the layman, tired of being constantly blasted with rhetoric and condescension for having a deficient Imaan, retaliates by trying to justify why their mediocre efforts are acceptable, if not more meritorious than the wannabe scholars. The wannabe scholars respond by lambasting everyone with labels of deviance, blasphemy and heresy. And so the chasm between the groups widen, and Islam gets bastardised into a flavour-of-the-month for whoever endeavours to justify their view for a misguided audience.
Because of the wisdom of the current generation of ‘scholars’, we now have underdogs in the Ummah that see fit to establish their own institutions that promise to be more accepting and tolerant of the ‘deviants’ and those that are looking for loopholes. There are no loopholes in Allah’s laws. If you think you’ve found one, you’re either innocently ignorant, selectively obtuse, or downright deviant with insufficient sincerity to seek the truth.
Alas, my use of logic in trying to understand simple rules about being a Muslim will attract the venom of those that see logic as being a tool of those inspired by Greek philosophers because they (the accusers) are too blinkered to realise that Islam is logical in its practise, and divine in its faith. Every single ritual ever prescribed for us has a logical and practical purpose that either benefits us individually, or society collectively. And where the rights of society are impacted, such constraints will take precedence over individual liberties. But in the selfish atmosphere that we have engendered, it’s nearly impossible to even determine the rights of society any more simply because our focus is on individual piety only. We’ve lost the balance that Islam fosters, and instead have become obsessed with Islam as being a personal struggle and nothing more.
