Muslim Footballers Kick Stereotypes in 20th FIFA World Cup, Brazil

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is the 20th FIFA World Cup, a tournament for the men's football world championship, that is currently taking place in Brazil has an abundance of Muslim players. Dotting the football landscape, Muslim players starring in their different teams from across the world are expected to draw much attention of spectators with special performance. Since, 6 of the 32 teams comes from countries where Islamic presence is substantial and more over 3  of them placed together in Group F, it is almost certain that Muslim players will be involved in the tournament’s latter stages.  

In an article published in web-magazine Newageislam.com it has been pointed that if Muslims make their mark in different ways and as long as these make a positive contribution to society, we must celebrate it. And this should happen not because these players are Muslims, but for the reason that the religion to which they belong is mostly in 'news' for wrong reasons. The article titled 'The Melting Cup: Muslim Footballers Kick Stereotypes in Brazil' has been authored by Saif Shahin. He asks, "Can the success of these Muslim players and the cult status they are gaining kindle a warmer acceptance of Muslim immigrants—and of Islam as a religion—in the heart of Europe"? On current evidence, it seems rather unlikely. Just this year, Switzerland passed a referendum to impose strict limits on immigration. Contesting on anti-immigration and often blatantly Islamophobic platforms, several far right parties won substantial victories in the recently held European parliamentary elections.

Karim Benzema

For obvious reasons, these Muslim players are typically reticent on such issues. But occasionally they do speak out. Ozil, after winning an award for ‘successful integration into German society’, said: “This is a great honour for me and I’m very happy. Integration creates something new and makes for a more colourful Germany.” And referring to France’s National Front, Zidane once warned, “Think - and I stress my words- about the consequences of voting for a party that does not at all correspond to the values of France.” 

Another fact which needs to be mentioned here is that for the first time for 28 years that Ramadan has overlapped with a World Cup. Not only teams including France, Switzerland and Germany have players of Islamic faith, but also Bosnia-Herzegovina, Algeria, Cameroon, Iran, Ivory Coast and Nigeria all have large Muslim populations.

Read complete article along with interesting comments here: http://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/saif-shahin,-new-age-islam/the-melting-cup--muslim-footballers-kick-stereotypes-in-brazil/d/97665

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results!

"Our history is replete with the doings of the Ulema who have brought humiliation and disgrace to Islam in every age and period," said Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in an interview o journalist Shorish Kashmiri for a Lahore based Urdu magazine, Chattan, in April 1946. He further asked,"The upholders of truth are exceptions. How many of the Ulema find an honourable mention in the Muslim history of the last 1,300 years? There was one Imam Hanbal, one Ibn Taimiyya. In India we remember no Ulema except Shah Waliullah and his family. The courage of Alf Sani is beyond doubt, but those who filled the royal office with complaints against him and got him imprisoned were also Ulema. Where are they now? Does anybody show any respect to them?"

In a recent discussion at popular web magazine Newageislam.com, Sultan Shahin and Ghulam Mohiyuddin raised questions like - Can Jihadis be dismissed as common criminals or should their wide acceptance as puritans worry Muslims? Is this an ideological issue or a mere law and order problem?

Taliban and Boko Haram are discussed because they are no ordinary criminals. They kill muslims by committing suicide in belief that by doing so they will go to heaven. They, in fact, should be called as Islamist terrorists. They consider themselves followers of what they call "pure" Islam and a large number of Muslims consider them the best of Muslims. These terrorists have admirers among Muslims all over the world including Pakistan. These Islamist terrorists go to mosques with suicide vests and kill themselves during prayer in order to kill fellow Muslims so that they reach heaven instantaneously and take ownership of their 72 wives waiting for them there. Sultan Sahin asks,"Which gang of ordinary criminals - mere law and order problem - does these things"?

Taking this discussion to another level, Ghulam Mohiyuddin write, "Quran does not allow such extremist beliefs and behavior, but the Islamophobes keep quoting from the Quran to contradict us. This back-and-forth has been going on for several years, but it is not getting us anywhere. Even if what we are saying is correct and what the Islamophobes are saying is false, we do need to find NEW ways to make such gross misinterpretations impossible. Einstein defined insanity as: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Read the complete discussion along with the comments of people from different walks of life here: http://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-and-jihad/sultan-shahin-and-ghulam-mohiyuddin/can-jihadis-be-dismissed-as-common-criminals-or-should-their-wide-acceptance-as-puritans-worry-muslims?-is-this-an-ideological-issue-or-a-mere-law-and-order-problem?/d/87276 

Why are there no Muslim philosophers?

Hasan Azad

Few days back, I chanced upon to read this article in a popular web magazine NewAgeIslam.com and thought to share few excerpts from this thought provoking article. Hasan Azad, the author of this article says that his friend posed the question to me that why are there no Muslim philosophers while I was studying some critical Western texts of philosophy in the fall of 2009 with him. Hasan writes,"Although this is a complicated question - which I do not take at face value, given that Kaviraj is himself an important postcolonial thinker - it does point to a significant failure of Muslim thinkers to engage their own intellectual tradition, together with the Western tradition of thought".

He continues and states that on one level the question "Why are there no Muslim philosophers?" is an absurd one. Hamid Dabashi and Walter Mignolo, both major thinkers in their own right, mention the names of a number of Muslim philosophers (Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Azmi Bishara, Sadeq Jalal Al-Azm, Fawwaz Traboulsi, Abdallah Laroui, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr). Wael Hallaq - himself also a very important thinker - has added to that list in his own commentary on the relation of politics and knowledge (Muhammad Arkoun, M Abed al-Jabiri, Ali Harb, Hasan Hanafi, and Muhammad Shahrur).

Hasan wonders why Euro-American public discourse seeks to identify and promote "moderate" Muslims over "extremists"? He ask how Muslim academics themselves contribute to this politicised geopolitical narrative by trying to identify "moderate Muslims and Islam" over other forms of Islam, which are more varied and variegated than anyone could ever imagine. My argument is that by characterising Muslims according to such a "racialised binary", as critical race theorist David Tyrer describes it, Muslim academics are playing the role of "house Muslims".

In recent past I myself have heard a term "pseudo-secularism" used mostly during discussions among Indian politicians. Hasan, too, was charged that he is indulging in "pseudo-intellectualism" while he was trying to put forward his view-point during a conversation. It is a charge, Hasan feels, that normally does not warrant a response, as it is often made to stop a discussion short without addressing the substantive question posed. She or he (the person chose to remain anonymous) argued that one of the advantages that Muslims had was they "refused" to think within colonial paradigms, and that is the advantage that Muslims still have. (It is not clear to me over whom Muslims have or had "the advantage").

Hasan Azad is a doctoral candidate specialising in Islamic Studies at Columbia University. You can read the full article here: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/hasan-azad/why-are-there-no-muslim-philosophers?-are-muslim-academics-playing-the-role-of--house-muslims-?/d/87535