Archive for April, 2009
04.17.09
Posted in Poetry/Quote at 11:51 pm by Abbas
Close the gates of your limbs and senses to all that will harm your heart, remove your standing with Allah, and bring in its wake grief and regret on the Day of Judgement and shame about the evil actions you committed.
The scrupulous person must have three principles: he should overlook the faults of all people, he should avoid offending them, and he should balance censure with praise.
The basis of being aware of Allah is to constantly take the self to account, to be truthful in one’s words and pure in one’s transactions, to leave every doubtful thing, to abandon every defect and doubt, to separate oneself from all which does not concern you and not to open doors which you will not know how to close.
Do not sit with anyone who obscures what is clear for you, nor with someone who takes the faith lightly. Do not question knowledge which your heart has no capacity for, and which you will not understand, of whoever said it, and cut off anyone who cuts you off from Allah.
(source: Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, Lantern of the Path, Section 18)
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Posted in Personal, Current Events at 8:06 pm by Abbas
Round three of our discussion on the Iran. I don’t have much time so I am going to be as terse as possible. It is almost time for finals, so I really can’t dedicate that much time to this topic, because I think most of my readers are familiar with the topic enough to make their own judgments.
if we cant even agree that Iran is a theocracy, there’s no point in having a discussion. whether shias disagree with the statement that iran represents shi’ism is besides the point…sticking to facts, it is the only shia state with a majority shia population, ruled by a shia government. so when i criticize iran’s politics it’s fair to say that i’m criticizing a shia state, just like when i criticize saudi, its fair to say that im criticizing a sunni state.
Before we can discuss of Iran is a theocracy, we need to define a few terminologies and get into another discussion, which I don’t have time for. In any case, you’re saying that if the majority of people are of a certain ethnic or religious group then it represents the ideals of that group? I think there is a difference between Shi’as and Shi’aism, like I believe there is a difference between Islam and Muslims.
the guardian council is charged with interpreting the constitution AND vetting candidates. all legislation has to be approved by the gc…and candidates have been disqualified by the gc on the basis of their perceived religiousosity. the supreme leader, who appoints members of the gc with the help of the chief judge (whom he also chooses), has the last word on all powerful posts, is in charge of defense, media, appoints the head of the judiciary, and handles foreign affairs…criticizing government can and has been equated with apostasy in iran…how is it the case that government and clergy are not one and the same?
Come on.. stop making it sound like the Supreme Leader does everything. He is a qualified mujtahid, you think he has that kind of time? 
The President who is second in command and is directly elected by the people has many duties, including nominating members of parliament, power to dismiss governmental members, appoint different high-level secretaries, formulate foreign policy, and so forth. You can see this reflection of duties when you look at the Khatami-era verse the current era.
Also, make sure you mention a Guardian Council that changes every three years, and a Supreme Leader, who was selected by an elected body (Assembly of Experts) and who can be impeached by that same body. Also note, that the Assembly of Experts also have minority religious groups and non-Muslims.
About criticizing the government being equated to apostasy (and ultimately death) really shows your lack of religious training and you’re not a scholar so I don’t expect you to know. However, in Shi’a law (and some Sunni) even an apostate is not to be punished by death, so I find it hard to believe that people have been murdered, for critisizing the government post-Revolution. In fact, the opposite is/was the case (please read up on the killings of sympathetic Shi’as and Sunnis in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, the West, Turkey, and in Iran during the Shah’s time).
I agree, many people died during the Revolution.. but it was a Revolution and the circumstances were very different.
the qualifications of the supreme leader are also besides the point..obviously he’s an ayatollah. for such a self correcting system, there are an awful lot of unaddressed issues such as the lack of freedom of expression…reformists are routinely censored by their government…they’ve shut down critical media…iran has behaved like any other oppressive government. how many activists have been placed under house arrest? what about those who have been given death sentences for speaking out against government?
You sound like a propagandist machine, the same machine that gets over 15 million of our tax money. He is not just an “ayatollah.” Please read “Islamic Government” by Ayatollah Khomeini (r) for in-depth analysis and information. Yes, some activists have been placed under house arrest, while some are not, including the very outspoken Dr Soroush. Death sentences for speaking out against the government? If you’re going to make wild accusations and claims, at least provide some evidence.
Did you even know that the Leader (Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei) seeks advice from known religious, and secular jurists on a consistent basis? Meaning that there is room for improvement and even the highest ranking official admits and accepts that.
it’s like when i hear ignorant arabs justify saddam’s rule by claiming that the iraqi people could only be ruled with an iron fist. not that i’m equating saddam with iran, but i just simply refuse to believe in this idea that people have to settle for something because it’s the best they have going for them…
I agree (and you better not be equating Iran with Iraq, because that would make everything you said dis credible in my eyes).
Anyway, have a good night.
I pray for your success,
peace.
(response to http://granfalloon.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/response-to-enlightenment-iran/ )
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Posted in Current Events, Poetry/Quote at 8:31 am by Abbas
I guess the blogger has responded to the below post I made. You can find it here: http://granfalloon.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/response-to-response-to-reformation-post/. I’ll just quickly make my points and call it a day, since the blogger is really just beating around the bush.
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“Iran physically and ideologically represents Shias all over … “
Some Shi’as may disagree.
“…the relationship between clergy and government is especially prominent in Iran because they are one and the same.”
What do you mean? That is definately not the case. Majority of the government are NOT made up of clergy. And some of the harshest critics of the government are clergy. So your conclusion here is somewhat unfounded.
“So in the end we have a system that always circles back to one guy…”
Clever. But let me ask you some preliminary questions, so we both know what we are talking about. Can you tell me who this “one guy” is? What are his qualifications? Furthermore, can you tell me how he was appointed? By whom?
If you know the answers to these simple questions, then I think we can both agree that ideally and on the practical level this is a self-correcting system.
“But as you noted Abbas, Iran too has its problems and the symptoms its society suffers from don’t look altogether different from that of the Arab world minus the gaping spiritual black hole.”
Look, there is no perfect system out there. We are all trying our best to be just and fair. Iran has issues, as does all other governments. However, I don’t think its fair to lump the Islamic Republic with the corrupt Arab regimes. Let us be fair. The literacy, democracy, education, advancement, spiritual development, and so forth that is produced in Iran is unmatched in the Arab world.
Then finally the blogger said that “power corrupts”. Well, it depends.
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04.16.09
Posted in Personal at 1:07 pm by Abbas
A post was made on a blog I oftenly read about how we should “reform” Islamic text. “Reform” has became a buzz word for many non-Muslims and Muslims alike. Here is an excerpt from the original post:
i have an interest in the idea of an islamic reformation and a rereading of islamic texts… not to say i support the entire movement or every attempt to reform the faith because id rather not have 15 editions of the Quran, but when a cleric is telling men they can be breastfed by female coworkers, i have to draw the line somewhere… and the topic in general is just filled with some pretty interesting debates.
Since I don’t want to waste space on my blog, you can find the entire article here: http://granfalloon.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/readings-of-islamic-texts/.
In any case, someone by the name of Ali commented arguing that this phenomenon of backwardness, which was the motivation of this “reform” idea presented in the blog, is usually in Sunni circles. In essence, this backwardness does not apply to Shi’a circles. Nevertheless, I assume the author of the post replied by saying,
I agree for the most part but to believe that their counterparts in the Shia world are entirely immune from political hijacking is a bit of a stretch. When the clergy is invested with so much authority, as in the case of the GC, the result generally isn’t that different from Sunni world, i.e stagnation and disenfranchisement.
On a purely spiritual level, complacent and dysfunctional religious leadership specific to the Sunni world is more alarming (to me) because of the lack of guidance and consistency…Islam within the Arab world has been reduced to a stream of fatwas and fragmented theological discourse espoused by self-promoted demagogues with accredited beards for ijazahs.
And I will address this person’s concerns here - since my comments are usually censored and edited. The first assumption that this person is making is the most common miconception that individuals make and that is implying that the Islamic Republic of Iran = Shi’ism. Yes, Iran is a made up of mostly Shi’as, but Shia history stretches way before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Let us make that clear, before I continue. The Shi’a principle of authority existed during and after the time of our Prophet (pbuh). In addition, there are many other Shi’a communities world-wide.
It is very important that one understands the concept of Imamate and Leadership in Shi’a doctrine before blasting the clergy. Click here for a short book describing it. And we also need to make a distinction that clergy in the Shi’a world is much different/advanced than the Sunni world. In the Shi’a world there is very rigorous training involved, which is much more central, universal, and organized relatively. It is usually centered around the marajeyyat system. Assuming one understands Imamate and its implications, the link to Imamate that we have currently is the maraja, whom are the highly qualified scholars that have the ability to take part in ijteehad. This is because our last Imam (Imam al-Mahdi pbuh) is hidden from us and these were his requirements for his representatives when he went into occultation.
Now that we have established what Imamate and Marajeyyat is we go onto the government of Iran. For the return of Imam al-Mahdi (a) there must be ground work set out for him as a pre-requisite for him to reappear. The Islamic Republic, the government of Iran, strives to be that ground work. Is it a perfect system? Of course not. Is it dynamic (changing)? Of course.
“When the clergy is invested with so much authority, as in the case of the GC, the result generally isn’t that different from Sunni world, i.e stagnation and disenfranchisement.”
In regards to the GC, the Guardian Council or Supreme Court in Iran, this person is right for saying it is invested with so much authority, but this person fails to mention that this Council is made up of only 6 religious jurists and 6 secular jurists. And even that the make-up changes every three years, so it is never in constant stagnation. Tell me a Sunni government, past or present, that has such a robust system of checks and balances as the Islamic Republic and then you may have a point.
And the last part of her comments, lets modify it to the Sunni Arab world, since we are too oppressed to have our own governments - even when we make up the majority.
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04.14.09
Posted in Poetry/Quote at 12:51 pm by Abbas
Remember what the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (pbuh) had said,
Oh Allah, when I lose my hopes and plans, help me remember that your love is greater than my disappointments, and your plans for my life are better than my dreams.
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04.12.09
Posted in Current Events at 9:35 pm by Abbas
Tragedy worse than Gaza waiting to happen in Pakistan
Ayatullah Nasir Makarim Shirazi, one of the top ranking Maraji’ Taqleed in Hawzah Ilmiyyah Qum, said:
Taliban, Al-Qaida and extremist Wahabis have committed a massacre in Parachinar Pakistan that is worse than Gaza. They have beheaded 600 hundred people, cut off hands of women and children.
Honorable Marja’ made these remarks in the beginning of his Dars-e-Kharij of Fiqh in Masjid-e-Azam, Qum where he strongly criticized the silence of Pakistan government in the face of crimes against Shias of Parachinar and said:
Why is the Pakistani government sitting idle and watching this happen? Is Parachinar not part of Pakistan? Pakistani government, which has a duty to defend its people, is not helping its own people and a genocide is taking place before its eyes.
Explaining the fact that the crimes of Al-Qaida, Taliban and the extremist Wahabis is the same as the crimes of Israel, he added:
It is clear that they are aligned with Israel because whatever happened in Gaza has repeated in the worse form in Parachinar.
The eminent Marja’-e-Taqleed voiced his complaint to the foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the National Television for their lack of reporting and lack of confronting these genocidal acts saying:
Negligence of Pakistan government, careless attitude of Foreign Ministry and the Media has resulted in the spread of these massacres.
Hazrat Ayatullah Makarim Shirazi said:
Just as we raised our voices loudly about the crimes the people of Gaza, we should also scream and yell in support of people of Parachinar because Foreign Ministry and Official Media have remained silent and do not speak about these inhuman acts.
His Eminence added:
Foreign Ministry must awaken the international organizations to these tragedies and demand from them to send teams to investigate the crimes committed in Parachinar.
His Eminence continued:
It has been 10 months that the area of Parachinar has been besieged and permission has not been granted to deliver food and medicines.
The Ayatullah emphasized:
These news reports must reach the public through the mass media, and we hope that Allah (swt) will soon take revenge of the oppressed from their oppressors.
http://www.muslimcongress.org/contentmc/organization/official-statement.aspx
Does anybody care… 
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Posted in Personal at 2:03 pm by Abbas
I think it is finally that time again.. to make a return. Regardless if anyone reads this or not, I didn’t really feel the need to express my feelings in a blog-like style, but I think it does help me (and hopefully others) in not only expressing myself, but allows me to keep my insanity by forcing myself to keep everything in perspective. Here is a simple update about myself:
- Relocated to the Washington DC metro area from California due to graduate school
- In graduate school at George Mason University striving for a degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
- Two jobs so I can make ends meet
- Involved with some national initiatives like Water On Ashura and Al Hujjah
- Trying to learn Arabic again (grammer and vocabulary mostly)
And that is pretty much it. I probably have forgotten to include some stuff, but that’s all for now.
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