Traditional Education in an Age of Terror

THE MUSLIM WEEKLY 2004
An unusual setting for a talk on Islamic educational values some might say but, the Quadrangle Conference Centre at Oxford United's football ground played host to Hamza Yousuf of California with a strong crowd of about 1000 people in attendance.

Mr Yousuf in his own delectable style embarked on a discourse, which covered various aspects of contemporary Muslim behaviour. The jist being to identify how one can take the ideals of Islamic education and use them to help shape a more informed, culturally tolerant and temperamently obedient society. The distinction between what Islam provides us in book form (Quran, Hadith etc.) being far removed from what we as Muslims portray or exemplify today as a whole.

"Where is the quality?" he asked. The fact that we have to qualify nouns such as schools, universities, charities etc. with the verb 'Islamic' was indicative of our current abyss. In the golden age the Muslims didn't need to do that, as all these institutions were inherently Islamic.

He seemed almost vitriolic towards those that clamoured for an Islamic State, saying that he didn't see them in an Islamic State (i.e that their conduct or character presented them in an unislamic state) viz. How do you take someone from one place to the other when you are not there in the first place?

Musing over his meeting post 9/11 with President Bush, he referred to particular ayahs (verses from the Quran) and Hadith, which talked about rulers and tribulations. The most notable example being the command that Allah gave to Musa AS (Moses) to speak gently to Firaun (The Pharoah of Egypt). Further that the Qur'an gave guidance for any situation.

"Judge from the outward as nobody knows what's in the heart…not even the Angels or Satan" was his apparent riposte to those that misjudged him, giving the example that Imam Abu Hanifah had a well-known saying which is paraphrased as follows. 'It is better to call 1000 Non-Muslims, Muslim than to call 1 Muslim a Non-Muslim.
"Have I spoken in support of the war?" was his next clarification. "Never, a Muslim can be anything but a liar" (perhaps a jibe that, whoever suggested that he did support the war was lying) pointing out that guarding our hearts was imperative and that as an Ummah we shouldn't descend into becoming a 'Motley Crew'

The latter part of his speech tackled the concept of Fitna (which he interpreted as being anything from civil unrest, chaos to seduction) and he tailed off with some recommendations for the Muslim community here.

'Don’t hold anybody innocent to account and be patient. Persevere and avoid what Allah has prohibited. With reference to Calculus, he advised on getting rid of it, as it provided the tools for developing destructive weapons including those that are designed to leave buildings intact while killing human being (perhaps a reference to the Iraqi Oil ministry me thinks). He emphasized the need to promote love and understanding between family members, otherwise how can one expect the outside world to be any different.

"Wage peace, not war" was his cry.