Wanted: An Oasis Between Mecca and Madina.

That is Mecca Masjid and Madina Hotel in the Charminar area of Hyderabad. And the oasis would be a place for ladies – primarily to pray and relax. Let me share my personal experiences that have convinced me of the need for such a place.
We have been visiting Hyderabad for long periods since 2000, and have often gone shopping in the famed bazaars around Charminar. Since we are big on shopping and do not particularly enjoy it, we would try to get as much done as possible on each visit. And that would require serious planning before each visit. The two biggest factors to consider would always be the weather and salat times. If we started early in the morning – that would mean around 10 as no true Hyderabadi would open his shop before 11 am – we would have to bear the brunt of the oppressive afternoon heat, and finding a place to pray Dhuhr before returning home. If we started after Dhuhr, we would have to deal with Asr (and Maghrib too, as we would invariably end up running a few hours behind our meticulous planned schedule anyway).
Of course, I could always pray in any of the dozens of mosques in the area, but what about my wife? There are no exclusive women’s mosques or even sister’s sections in the mosques there, like in the Middle East or in North America. And I am sure they had very good reasons for that. In our culture, women probably did not go out of their houses for very long, so they would never need to pray outside their homes. Note that the last two sentences are in the past tense. Even if that was true in the past, it is certainly not so anymore. A significant proportion of the humongous crowds we saw there were women. And the majority of them were ostensibly devout burqa-clad Muslims. So how were they dealing with offering their salat when it was time? I have no idea -- what I do know is our own struggles. My wife has prayed sitting in the car, in a friend’s photocopy shop when it was closed, in the back of a burqa shop (the shopkeeper was surprised by our request but either believed in ‘the customer is queen’ or in getting indirect thawaab), amidst the mazaars in the Mecca Masjid compound (taking special care not to face them), and once even in a regular mosque (it was well after salat time, and a kindly man there shooed her into a remote corner where she could pray and run). And however difficult all this was, it would have been impossible if she did not make wudu before leaving home.
All this set me thinking – could we be the only ones facing this issue? Could there be other sisters who would benefit from a place of their own there? If the number of visiting shoppers could not justify a place dedicated to them, could it be used by the local sisters too? An oasis where visitors could pray, make wudu, relax, feed their children or let them take a nap, put their feet up and let their hair down. A sorority where local sisters could get together for Islamic classes, reading and borrowing Islamic books (and other media), discussing issues, or just socialising with each other. It could be a dedicated Sisters Centre, the office of an Islamic organization, an Islamic bookstore, run after-hours in an Islamic school… Do you think there is a need for such a place? What resources would it take? Do we have these resources – a place, money, (wo)manpower, management? How do we go about starting it? Are there other places in the city (and in other cities) that need such a place? Hey, I thought of belling the cat – now somebody out there go and do it!

A Caricature of Diplomacy!

So much has been said and done about the offensive cartoons depicting the Prophet (pbuh) in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September, that I had to debate whether I should even bother to write anything more about it here. And regardless of how I feel about it or the significance of this event, does it belong in this blog which was about action items rather than a venting forum? I finally decided yes – as long as I restrict myself to specific action items.
What is being billed as the ‘clash of the civilizations’ is looking more like a ‘contest of the generally-challenged’ (generally standing for mentally, politically, diplomatically, sensitively, …). On the one hand, there was the Danish newspaper taking pains to ensure they were being flagrantly offensive (by publishing offensive cartoons of the Prophet (pbuh) instead of testing the waters by publishing inoffensive cartoons or offensive write-ups), and the other European newspapers seeking to increase their circulation under the guise of promoting free speech (giving a new twist to free by re-publishing the copyrighted cartoons free of charge), and the Danish government taking diplomacy to new depths by wording apologies that were neither apologetic nor acceptable. In the other corner, you had Muslim mobs rioting as if bent upon proving the stereotypes right. Protest rallies generally protesting disrespect to the Prophet (pbuh) but with no specific message for their audience, and Islamic scholars unable to resolve for us whether the (greater) insult was in portraying the image of the Prophet (pbuh), caricaturing him (pbuh), attributing terrorism to him (pbuh), or refusing to apologise. ‘Muslim’ governments upping the ante by boycotting Danish products and breaking diplomatic ties (does not inspire much confidence for the long-term given their history of weak-kneed capitulation), and the conservative US government (and their ‘staunch allies’ – read ‘blind followers’) trying to score points by promoting religious sanctity over press freedom. Had the Danes done this out of ignorance, they needed to be told what they could have done instead to avoid hurting Muslim sensibilities; but since they did this with the express purpose of offending and have managed to cause the furore they wanted even if it took four months, they obviously need no advice from me. So, let me fill the space here with a list of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ for Muslims instead.
Caveat: I am no Islamic scholar, so be sure to get my opinions here endorsed by someone you trust. (The opinions expressed here are those of my employer – I am self-employed.)

Do not:
1. Do anything un-Islamic.
2. Transgress the laws of your country.
3. Do anything that shows Islam and Muslims in an unfavourable light.
4. Disrespect other religions or symbols sacred to others.
5. Hide behind vague statements like ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ while ignoring the less-than-peaceful behaviour of certain Muslims.
6. Expound Jewish or CIA conspiracy theories – they are wearing thin.
7. Kick Great Danes (they are much bigger than French poodles).

Do:
1. Recognise that all this is happening and all that will happen is through the will of Allah, and we have to do whatever we have to do because we are accountable for our actions, not because we are capable of achieving any results.
2. Pray to Allah to guide us and guide everybody towards the truth.
3. Present yourself as a role-model citizen.
4. Treat this as an opportunity for Dawah – satiate people’s curiosity with the truth.
5. Be gentle and use polite language – using crude language and attacking critics are the signs of hypocrisy.
6. Ask our scholars to get together and prepare a unified position statement with supporting Quran/Hadith evidence, so that all Muslims can understand clearly the ramifications of what happened and what we need to do.
7. We all like to take refuge in saying that a few radicals do the wrong thing, the media focuses on them, it ends up giving our religion a bad name. The vast majority of Muslims are moderates, and almost by definition apathetic and inert. But as committed members of an ‘Ummat-ul-Wast’, we have to be extremely, radically, truly, and actively moderate in word and in deed.
8. Unequivocally condemn the rioters, the embassy and flag burners, the hackers, the assaulters, etc., without reservations, and with no references to justifications or provocations.
9. Be specific about what has offended us – statements like ‘the Prophet (pbuh) was not a terrorist, he was the greatest human being ever’ (though absolutely true) raise questions like whether it would have been all right for them to publish 'respectful' cartoons of the Prophet (pbuh).
10. Seek legal counsel and file a case against the Danish newspaper if a case can be made for it under Danish laws.
11. If you are convinced by conspiracy theories, hire professional investigators to uncover the evidence.
12. Boycott Danish products – but write letters of apologies to the Danish companies for being forced to do so. At least we should know the pain of being punished for the mistakes of others representing us.
13. Try to understand that there are many on the other side who are doing this only to cause mischief but there are many others who really believe in their cause. And that given their culture of a lack of respect for religion and religious figures, it is impossible for them to feel or even understand our reverence and sensitivities.
14. Forward the link to this website to 100 friends each and ask each one of them to forward it to 100 friends of theirs each!

Better Today?

BismillahirRahmanirRahim. A Muslim’s today ought to be better than his yesterday, and his tomorrow better than his today. So why ‘Better Today’ and not ‘Better Tomorrow’? Everybody talks about a ‘Better Tomorrow’, but the fine print reads ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’. I was once thinking what the best time is to do something good – Ramadan, the days of Haj, Lailat-ul-Qadr, … And then it hit me… of course, the best time is now! What other moment can you be sure of? Do I mean we should restrict ourselves to the realistic and the achievable? Certainly not! If an act would lead to a better tomorrow, the mere thought of that act constitutes a better today. If you slide ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’ to the fourth dimension, it becomes ‘Think for the Future, Act for the Present’. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one footstep, and unless I believe I can make a difference, I cannot. ‘Better Today’ is a board for me to chalk out my ideas, discuss them, refine them, spark other ideas, then scrap some and InshaAllah launch some as viable projects.