Delusions of Progressive Muslims: Critique of Shaykh GF Haddad

Introduction - first draft :P - to a paper by Shyakh Gibril Haddad, "Amina Wadud's Innovation of Misguidance"



There are two ways to shake, challenge or try destroying the Pillars of Islam: from outside without using any argument from Islamic Tradition, and the second is to manipulate arguments, evidences from within to make a caricature out of the religion to meet a given ideological, political or cultural agenda. 

I've no problem with the first mode or type of critique on Islam. The proponents of that type are usually academic in their style, many of them are honest in their critical statements which are in congruence with their own world-view, and are not usually stimulated externally to attack Islam. I cannot pass the judgment of these type of critics as being truly intellectual, although the challenge is intellectual in its appearance, because rationalism is not Intellectuality (see works of Rene Guenon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr and other 'traditionalist' writers).

The second type of critique of Islam is not critique or critical at all, but a set of cacophonies - usually by pro-regressive Muslims & Islamophobics - aimed at twisting, modifying, and changing the rituals, practices, doctrines and overall world-view of Islam as such. I also include world-view because they hardly understand the genius of Islamic world-view and since they are purely sentimental, reactionary or politically motivated in their approach, it has nothing to do with any sort of systematic world-view. This explains their utter contradictions and huge blunders. This is the lowest of all kinds of attacks on any religion, because these stem from the stimulation to surrender a divinely revealed religion to one's whims or to satisfy others. And it is exactly in this category that the Progressive Muslim movements fall. 

The beginnings of these movements can easily be traced to post-establishment of colonial rule in Muslim world, when 'spirited' "thinkers" of the ummah relegated to themselves the task of defining the orientation of the efforts, inclinations, thoughts and inspirations of all Muslims: namely, to reform, modernize, and colonize Islam so as to catch-up with more "advanced" nations. One wonders what has reforming a Divinely revealed religion to do with gaining expertise at man made things we call technology. The contradiction was evident. The self-proclaimed reformists were not moved by the ideals and philosophies of Islam to present the world with alternatives to atheistic and man-made ideologies/discourses, but by their unchangeable inferiority complexes vis-a-vis the glitter of Western world. Many of them, even today, also in West, mistake the success of profane physical sciences with Western social sciences (see, 'Origin of Western Social Science', by Dr Asad Zaman).

Come 2004, post-9/11, Muslims needed to go many steps further to please New Colonial/Imperial masters of West. It was America's turn to launch war of ignorance coupled with that of terror to neutralize once for all the 'edges' in Muslim - intellectual, cultural and political - that threatened for centuries the Europeans. American academia may not have been fervent at all about taking the propaganda of Orientalists of reformation or an Islamic renaissance a step further - of the sympathetic ones perhaps. The urgency was felt more in westernized circles of pro-regressive Muslims who are the lowest of lowest in character than their predecessors in British and post-British Raj.

And this brings us to Amina Wadud. I would not like  to spoil the show for you with my incoherent, non-scholarly ramblings about such an "esteemed liberator" and her "magnanimous movement," namely, that of Progressive Muslims. Please read and benefit from this scholarly paper by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad, a Lebanese Islamic scholar. It's in PDF format with beautiful type-font and 2-column format that makes it more readable.

Amina Wadud's Innovation of Misguidance

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Further reading: 

1. Quran-only Feminists by Shaykh GF Haddad

2. For forensic and direct exposition of treacheries and lies of Islam-sellers in USA and West, visit the archives of: Dr Maxtor's Blog

American Exceptionalism & Neo-Neocons: Fukuyama's Assessment

In After the Neocons: America at the Crossroads, author Francis Fukuyama, an ex-Neocon, details his reasons for quitting the movement of neo-cons because it has been baptised in the image of policies of Bush's administration - a derivative operation with which he can no longer associate himself.

My concern today is with a chapter on American Exceptionalism in post-Iraq scenario. He not only shows how Amerika came to this point, but also traces roots to resentfulness of world - European & Asian (needless to highlight Islamic world here) - towards this self-perceived wise course of action. Looking at how America came to believe in the illusion that it was wise enough to exercise unilateral action without any external check or permissions (as to where to bomb and where to not, as per Powell), smacks of haughtiness, because once they came to know that Russia won't intercept to stop them, they accepted the license to bully anyone they wanted.

Briefly, as per FF, there are two main reasons that can explain American exceptionalism and associated resentfulness and new wave of anti-Amerikanism in both Muslims world and Europe:

1. Winning cold war and victorious ventures in Middle East

2. Imposing dogmatic policies of American economic liberalization programs that severely backfired and destroyed economies in many places

3. Unilateral action against Iraq in 2004

4. Poor communication in conveying following dictum: Either you're with us or against us. This wasn't against European audience, "independent nations." Rather. Against "irresponsible," terrorist-harboring states like Pakistan and Yemen.

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In any case, haughtiness of Amerikan regime reached it climax in Iraq war. Pakistan had nothing to gain except losses from following Amerikan economic advice (IMF loans, structural adjustments, etc.) and going into war of terror. I do need to study much more about those critical days of 2001 to arrive at a more or less scholarly judgement.

NATO Supply Stoppage costing US Millions of $$

Pain in the side! Surely. America had been in denial of the critical importance of Pakistan trade routes of death, destruction and expansion of Dajjalic mission of conquering the world, and becoming a false messiah and a god. Pakistan, understandably pragmatically, sold out for pennies and paved way for food and weapons of mass destruction into a country where humans are being slaughtered in the name of collateral damage, for its own happy demise in creation (God forbid).

However, things are not too bleak. In the short-run, at least for few months, America has been losing millions of dollars due to the closure of Nato supply route, reports The News (Pakistan). This may be too short a trouble, as Pakistan would be expected fall to its knees.; or, maybe its a drama staged by government and army to fool around with public opinion.

Some vehicles of American Imperialism in Pakistan

NGOs, without any shadow of doubts, see Encyclopedia of Sociology, p. ??? . American schools, colleges. Forman Christian College, Lahore, the best example that suffices. What do you reckon what 'missing' vehicles can be, (of which yours truly is only ignorant of it, while they're operating at their best)?

"Obama - The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan"

Below is a 'animated word cloud' (looks beautiful) by Jeff Clark. (Source.)

Animated Word Cloud - Obama - The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan from Jeff Clark on Vimeo.

“cultural schizophrenia”

The summary of the article, Globalization Unchecked: How Alien Media is Suffocating Real Culture, reads:

Globalization is creating “cultural schizophrenia” in developing nations, which lack the ability to protect their traditional ways of life against the constant bombardment of a dazzling and well-packaged Western culture. The author, reflecting on his travels in the Muslim world − a Muslim family watching a barely-clad Beyonce on MTV or Turkish youths playing an American video game that involves the killing of terrorists − concludes that the aspects of Western culture that permeate developing countries promote a set of ideas that ultimately sell products. Interactions between cultures have historically been beneficial, but the difference now is the speed with which these interactions happen. The constant bombardment of Western culture fails to give cultures in the developing world time to adapt and change. The result is that small and poor countries are left trying to benefit from economic globalization while cultural globalization undercuts their traditional ways of life. −YaleGlobal.

Read the article here.

'Shell wins Iraq oil field rights'

So it was all about oil fields… I wonder… Read story here.

"How many Muslims has the U.S. killed in the past 30 years?"

Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations at Harvard University, was pondering over why Muslims hate America. Not convinced by the judgmental and hasty Tom Friedman of New York Times, he made his own estimate of how much killings both parties have done to each other in past thirty years. He suggests that the data should be used carefully. I reiterate the advice of Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr to Muslims that do not 'see yourself with other person's eyes'. How can you do that in any case?

(Click to enlarge)Read full article here.