Comments on: Craving “Middleness”

By: Hyde

Hyde — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:54:19 +0000

Pakistan was just another “divide and conquer” strategy of the modern world. It has been a problem since 1947. The muslims in India have been left alone. The ideology behind Pakistan was so secularist that is quite ironic that, on the complete opposite, that today Pakistan is on the brink of a “religious fundamentalist collapse”

By: Reader

Reader — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:05:43 +0000

Fantastic article. Well-said, Alhumdulillah. I think we need to make more of an effort to appreciate what this author has said than to critique her for her choice of words. If you understand it but don’t think your community will, then you be the one to relay it using simple words. You be the translator and the relayer, Inshallah. Secondly, as per the verbiage, sometimes the beauty of a message is known through the words that are used. If Iqbal used simple words for the “laymen” to understand, we wouldn’t have the gems of literature he left behind with us today. Appreciate the art, brothers and sisters.

Often, what strikes people, even when they don’t understand the language of the Qur’an, is the sheer beauty of it. The rhythm, the rhyme, the sounds of the words. So if you don’t understand the message of this article, brothers and sisters, at least appreciate the beauty of it. Mashallah, la hawla wa la quwata illa billa.

By: Salih

Salih — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:53:40 +0000

This is a brilliant article. Given that you are in Pakistan, I would strongly recommend that you meet the scholars at Zaynab Academy as they have been very successful in bridging precisely the gap that you are talking about. Shaykh Kamaluddin is at once a traditional Islamic scholar and university professor of humanities. The gap you are trying to bridge is the need of the day and a concerted effort is what is required.

By: Fezz

Fezz — Sun, 27 May 2012 20:57:08 +0000

In fairness this piece does read more like a policy paper than a mainstream (“middle”?) article but I think there is nothing wrong in stretching onself occasinoally!

“This means that the university graduate possesses the cultural capital that eventually makes him monopolize resources, sit at the helm of affairs and control policy, even when his value-system is at the fringes of an otherwise deeply conventional religious society. He is poised for control over the generation of ideas and opinion-making, and constructs inroads into the media and the academia. ”

This – I thought – was the most significant paragraph of the piece. It is specific to the part of the country from which the author originiates and I think emphasises why it is vital that why should – in a measured way – moor ourselves to our religious understanding and dip into this “intellectual river” and engage with academics lest we all be swept away by the underlying currents.

By: Su

Su — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:32:44 +0000

However, as the brothers above said, if you’re trying to engage those not educated in elite institutions, your use of language and terms will be lost on them. Perhaps this highlights the gap between not just ideas but how these two groups express themselves and the language used. I often find many academics speak almost speak in code understood only by those who participate in the intellectual river. Which is why unfortunatley sometimes they are really out of touch with ‘reality’.

By: Su

Su — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:28:28 +0000

This is an excellent piece.

By: Aziza

Aziza — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:06:48 +0000

JazakAllah Khair for this very eloquent article which I truly enjoyed reading. As a student in an American university, I wholeheartedly agree with the main message here. In fact, I have come to view educational institutions as “Godless” unless they are specifically religious such as madrassahs or catholic schools. There definitely needs to be more focus on religion and establishing this middle ground. Sadly it seems as though secular notions are dominating for the time being.
May Allah help us all to hold onto our faith in these trying times and spread its beautiful message as much and best as we can.

By: Yaqub

Yaqub — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:28:35 +0000

In reply to ethenm.

“ethenm”, English is my first language. I was born and raised in the U.S. I state that fact because the need for clarity in communication via using straight forward verbiage isn’t only limited to persons whose first language isn’t English.

The message brought up in this “middleness” article is pertinent; and the author deserves a lot of credit for taking the time and effort to share the article with us. However I feel the message is lost for the MAJORITY of people; simply on the lines of the verbiage used. If only a more mainstream English verbiage was used to share the great points…so many more would benefit (rather than a few).

By: Mujahid Abdul-Aleem

Mujahid Abdul-Aleem — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:02:18 +0000

ASA,
A very well written article, Mashallah! She mentions a dichotomy that has kept the ummah in a bind for a long time now. How do we find the balance? That’s a question I don’t have the qualifications to answer.

By: ethenm

ethenm — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:28:11 +0000

In reply to Yaqub. I agree with the Yaqub brother the words you have chosen are difficult to understand for me and those whose first language is not english even maybe for English speakers. However, I bookmarked this page just in case I use this article and words in my work. Jazakhallah the issue you discussed above is the most difficult challenge which religion in general and Islam in particular faces. How to solve this clash between rationalism and Islam? I dunno, What I know is to just implement the same logic to my daily life my religion.