04.16.09

Response to “Reformation” Post

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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