28 March, 2024

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Leadership Change: Imperative For Muslims

By Ameer Ali

Dr. Ameer Ali

Wealth and piety had been the historical legitimisers of Muslim leadership in Sri Lanka. Wealth was accumulated either through inheritance or from trade and commerce. Of the two, trade has a special relationship with the religion of Islam. It remains the most representative of Islam’s professions. For example, the Prophet himself was a trader, his first wife Khadija was one of the wealthiest trading magnates in Mecca, and so were a few of the Prophet’s closest friends and followers. The Quran itself uses commercial terminologies as metaphors to impart its messages. It is trade that introduced Islam into Sri Lanka, originally from the Middle East and later from India. The Muslim community started as a trading community and remained so until recent times, although one section of it took to agriculture after the 16th century. Finally, it was this commitment to trade and business that earned the community the colonial sobriquet “business community”. Hence, it was natural that Muslim leadership had its origins in wealthy business families, concentrated mostly around Colombo.

Piety legitimised leadership in an indirect way. Not all wealthy are pious and not all pious are wealthy. Piety is entirely a personal matter between a believer and the Creator, and there is no standard measure of assessing whether one is genuinely pious or not. However, to ordinary Muslims a person’s piety could be gauged by that person’s commitment to the five pillars of Islam namely, the confession, daily prayers, fasting, zakat (obligatory charity) and pilgrimage to Mecca. The last of these, when performed, automatically carries the title Haji, which adds to a person’s religiosity and respectability in the community. Commitment to these religious obligations certify one as a practicing Muslim. In addition to this the extent of one’s involvement in mosque affairs, such as participating in mosque administration and maintenance, care for the welfare of mosque functionaries such as imams and muezzins and managing madrasas (religious schools) enhance a person’s leadership claim. Long before the Wakfs Board was established in 1956, it was private individuals and families that administered and governed charitable religious institutions. A popular belief that God favours those who are pious cleansed the wealth of the pious from all sins in its accumulation.

Demonstration of piety naturally won the admiration of the ulama, whose opinion carried decisive weight among their followers. Long before SWRD Bandaranaike discovered the political value of Buddhist monks, Muslim leaders realised the power of the ulama to win political support from the masses. The ulama, because of their claimed monopoly over religious knowledge, had the credentials to certify a person’s piety. Thus, wealth and piety with support from the ulama played a deterministic role in the early emergence of Muslim leadership.

To this class of Muslim leaders, political opportunities during and after the colonial era provided an opportunity to exploit their business skill to bargain and win favours from the rulers to benefit themselves and their community. Party politics that developed over the years extended this opportunity even further. Sectional interests prevailed over national interests during debates in the parliament. For instance, when the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 and the subsequent Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act of 1949 were introduced in the legislature Muslim leaders supported both mainly because repatriation of Indian and Pakistani businessmen would mean less competition to local Muslim businesses. Similarly, when the national language issue came up in the 1950s Muslim parliamentarians unanimously opted for Sinhalese, even though Tamil is the mother tongue of vast majority of Muslims, because Sinhalese is the language of the majority who patronised Muslim businesses. Even today it is in the interest of business that majority Muslim voters sympathise with the United National Party, which stands for free market and private enterprise.

A notable feature of this business-ulama leadership however, was the absence of a secular intellectual element. There were a few Muslim legal professionals but not an intellectual class as such to speak of. The delayed entry of Muslims to secular education was the main reason for this shortage. It was not until after the 1960s and particularly after the 1990s that one could see the emergence of a secularly educated Muslim group, thanks to the services of one charismatic leader, Badiuddin Mahmud, popularly known as Badi. Incidentally, he was the first Muslim professional educationist to hold a cabinet position.

Badi, a product of Aligarh University in India and contemporary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of Pakistan, was the Minister of Health from 1960 to 1963 and then Minister of Education from 1970 to 1977. His term as Minister of Education marked a turning point in the history of Muslims in this country. Sometime in 1972, he invited all Muslim leaders for a crucial meeting at his Colombo residence, in which he urged them to change the outlook and direction of the community from being wedded to trade and business to other pursuits and professions and thereby remove the colonial image of a business community. Single handed, he devoted his time and effort to improve the standard of Muslim education so that future leaders in his community would emerge from an educated class. The present generation of Muslim scholars and professionals in the country, and the current crop of Muslim politicians, are indeed the products of the Badi Revolution.

Although Badi’s efforts provided great impetus to secular learning in the community and was responsible to a large extent in creating a class of Muslim educationists and professionals, his measures did not change the structure and nature of religious education. The ulama of today are, no doubt, more articulate and better organised than their predecessors. Yet, they remain even more conservative than before on issues affecting the welfare of the community. The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), the apex institution of religious functionaries, is heavily influenced by ultra-orthodox ideologies with backing from the business elite. What this means is that the new class of politicians even though they are more secularly educated than their predecessors cannot function as effective leaders without the support of the ACJU and the business sector.  The prevailing impasse in reforming the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) reflects this ineffectiveness. This is one side of the problem facing Muslim political leadership. It cannot break away from the historical business-ulama nexus that has kept the community’s vison short-termist and ethno-religiocentric rather than national and future oriented.

From another side however, this ethno-religiocentric vision is not unique to Muslim political leadership. It is unfortunately the reigning characteristic of all political leaders and parties in the country. National interest is sacrificed for the sake of sectional gains, and politics is viewed as a zero sum game, where one community’s gain is believed to be another’s loss.  There is therefore a need for change in the character of political leadership in all communities, but to the Muslim community in particular this change is imperative. Why?

Muslims rank third in population strength and unlike the Sinhalese and Tamils, they are impacted more by developments outside the country due to their religious connection to the world of Islam. Religiously, the Muslims of Sri Lanka are part of a world community of nearly 1.6 billion or nearly one-fifth of world population. Whether one likes it or not, the fact of the matter is Muslim countries are at the centre of several running international disputes and debates in this unipolar world. Islam and Muslim economies are also subjects of constant global polylogue, the tenor and outcome of which impact the image and conditions of Muslims living as minorities in plural societies. Local Muslims may have no involvement in any of these events, like for instance the blasting by the Taliban of the historic Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan; yet, they became targets of sneer and physical harassment. Likewise, when sections of local Muslims blindly follow the cultural traits and practices of Islamic sects that are historically disconnected to Sri Lanka a natural suspicion is aroused within other communities regarding Muslim indigenousness. These are very sensitive areas that call for an enlightened and farsighted leadership to navigate the community through testing waters. When Muslim leaders fail to comprehend local sensitivities to alien influences, be it cultural ideological or otherwise, and are not equipped with a practical agenda to counter those influences, the community’s future and peaceful coexistence are jeopardised. Since the 1980s, Sri Lankan Muslim leadership has tragically failed in this area.

More important than this is the failure of this leadership to play the role of an honest broker and bridge builder between the other two communities that are still showing no sign of narrowing differences between them. This is a historical miss on the part of Muslim politicians from the time of independence. Muslims, living cheek by jowl with Tamils in the North and East and with Sinhalese in the rest of the country, with fluency in both Sinhalese and Tamil languages, and with centuries of close acquaintance with the religious and cultural values of the two communities is excellently placed to play the role of an impartial intermediary in solving issues arising between the two brethren communities. To play that role however, requires a leadership with intellectual sagacity, patriotic commitment and subtle Chanakyam. In the past, there were one or two Muslim leaders who possessed these qualities and tried to mediate, but by the time they intervened the differences between the two communities had widened to dangerous levels. Regrettably, these qualities are scarcely evident in the current leadership. Because of the leaders’ opportunistic politics and self-motivated economic and social manoeuvres, Muslim community in general has lost the mutual trust and social cordiality that were built over centuries of coexistence. The greatest challenge facing future leadership is to recover this loss. That is the only way to prevent the recurrence of anti-Muslim violence witnessed in recent times.

The time has arrived therefore for Muslims to search for an alternative and quality leadership to lead them in this troubled environment. Obviously, the onus of this search falls not on the ordinary masses but on the intelligentsia that has emerged after the 1980s. While part of this intelligentsia remains chorus singers to the current leadership and conservative religious establishment, there is another, more youthful, that shows signs of originality in thought and a desire to change the status quo. What is more encouraging is the presence within this group a number of educated and professional Muslim women who are prepared to express, in spite of opprobrium from the conservatives, their concerns about certain retrogressive developments within the community. What is needed is a local “republic of letters” or an intellectual academy to bring these groups under one umbrella. That academy should have the courage and intellectual capacity to confront the ruling orthodoxy. It should actively engage in constructive ijtihad (new interpretation of old dictums) to counter that orthodoxy, which is trapped in tamadhhub (partisanship in Schools of Law) and taqlid (imitation) oriented. The newly constructed ideas and arguments should ultimately reach the public through the pulpit, which requires a new generation of ulama trained not only in Islamic theology but also in other academic disciplines. The collaboration between the intelligentsia and the new generation of ulama will pave the way for a new breed of political leadership. The need for this change is extremely imperative to face a turbulent future.

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    Dr. Ameer Ali,

    RE: Leadership Change: Imperative For Muslims.

    “Demonstration of piety naturally won the admiration of the ulama, whose opinion carried decisive weight among their followers. Long before SWRD Bandaranaike discovered the political value of Buddhist monks, Muslim leaders realised the power of the ulama to win political support from the masses. The ulama, because of their claimed monopoly over religious knowledge, had the credentials to certify a person’s piety. Thus, wealth and piety with support from the ulama played a deterministic role in the early emergence of Muslim leadership.”

    Yes. What the Muslims have is Ulama-ism.

    Proto-Ulama, turned into Ulama and Ulama-ism,. Ulama controlled the rulers, and therefore, the hegemony of the Ulama was maintained. Ulama told the rulers to burn the philosophy books, so the rulers burned them. The Muslims have been backwards, for the last 1,000 years, and gradually entered the dark ages, while maintaining the Ulama hegemony.

    The Ulama wear Arab long shorts, sport long beards with mustaches shaven, wearing slippers, and travel first class in kuffar (unbelievers) invented planes and use kuffar invented mobile phones, and belive that the earth is flat, spread out like a carpet, and that the Sun goes around the Earth.

    The Ulama like to burn philosophy books. Do the philosophers burn Ulama books? No. They just debate.

    https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/artsandculture/2015/4/9/ibn-rushd-in-his-darkest-hour

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      Amarasiri

      The Ulama like to burn philosophy books. Do the philosophers burn Ulama books? No. They just debate.

      The philosophers said the the world is flat and the Ulama said it is round who is correct We all know today that earth is spherical

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        Rbh
        (298Words)

        “The philosophers said the world is flat and the Ulama said it is round who is correct We all know today that earth is spherical”

        You got it all mixed up. It was the Ulama who said that the world is flat, per Quran, and the philosophers who said that the world is round (Aristotle), and Eratosthenes’ measured the circumference of the Earth in 230 BCE.

        http://www.lajpe.org/icpe2011/25_Ana_Rita.pdf

        The Ulama have to follow the Ulama Syllabus of Quran and the Hadith. The Christian Priests have to follow the Syllabus of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament. They cannot use reason , observations and demonstrations, as it is supposed to be against their theology, and they become heretics and apostates, and potentially their heads are chopped off or burned at the stake.

        The Ulama Syllabus of the Quran and Hadith Says:

        Qur’an 2:22. (He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].

        Qur’an 15:19 And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.

        Qur’an 20:53
        Qur’an 43:10
        Qur’an 50:7
        Qur’an 51:48 Qur’an 71:19
        Qur’an 78:6-7

        Saudi Muslim cleric claims the Earth is ‘stationary’ and the sun rotates around it

        https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-muslim-cleric-claims-the-earth-is-stationary-and-the-sun-rotates-around-it-10053516.html

        A Saudi Arabian cleric has claimed that the Earth does not orbit the sun and is in fact stationary, making the opposite true.

        Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari stunned students at a university in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday by telling them the Earth is “stationary and does not move”.

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          Mr. Amarasiri

          You got it all mixed up. It was the Ulama who said that the world is flat, per Quran, and the philosophers who said that the world is round

          Earth is a rotating sphere.The Quran says that when the night and the day overlap, they make a ball (sphere):

          [Quran 39.5] [Allah] Created the heavens and the Earth in truth. He overlaps [Yukawer in Arabic يُكَوِّرُ] the night over the day and overlaps [Yukawer يُكَوِّرُ] the day over the night, and enslaved the sun and the moon. ALL MOVE (Kullon Yajree كل يجري) to a prerecorded destiny. Is He not the Exalted, the Forgiver?

          The Arabic word “Kura” means ball; its verb “Yukawer يُكَوِّرُ” means to make into a ball. The Quran says that the overlapping of the night and the day makes a ball (sphere).

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            rbh ,

            (284 Words)

            You are still mixed up., just like the Ulama.

            The Ulama Syllabus of the Quran and Hadith Says:

            Qur’an 2:22. (He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].

            Qur’an 15:19 And the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance.

            Then go to Hadith. That says that the Suns goes under Allah’s throne, if it gets the permission, rises from the East again.

            So we have. per The Ulama Syllabus of the Quran and Hadith, that the Earth is like a flat dish, with the maintains as pegs, and a canopy above.

            176375: The correct way to describe the sun is that it “prostrates beneath the Throne” and not that it “sets in a spring of warm water”

            https://islamqa.info/en/176375

            It is narrated by Abu Dawood in as-Sunan (3991) that Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), riding a donkey, and the sun was setting. He said: “Do you know where this (sun) goes?” I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: “It sets in a spring of warm water (innaha taghrubu fi ‘aynin hami’ah).” Is this hadeeth saheeh? If it is, then what does it mean? I have heard some non-Muslims using this to stir up doubts about Islam and cast aspersions on it.

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            Rbh, are getting right those Arabic Phrases?
            In Tamil it is customary to describe two repeating things as they are in a circle. These are compared to Cart Wheel, which is round or a Rolling Ball which is globe. It is common even these days you listen to village folk telling “their life is freely rolling like a ball”. They mean that it is pest-ed with out of control ups and downs (sorrow and happiness). This gives no connection with the Tamils’ understating of the astronomy. English has an interesting word “Round Trip” that is absolutely a meaningless concoction-but works well.

            The Quran says that the overlapping of the night and the day makes a ball (sphere).
            You are interpreting the other way around. He simple said day and night making a ball, not the global nature of the earth making day and night.
            enslaved the sun and the moon. He means when one tie a stone to rope and rotate it, the stone is running, but not couldn’t run away because it was enslaved to the one by the rope. Moon and Sun are running around the earth because Allah has enslaved them by his power not running away from earth. Note here that he is putting the Sun and the Moon in one basket and enslaving them not running away from earth. So he is predicting Sun is only following the moon or Moon is only following the sun, but earth is not in this. That is wrong.

            Your quotation is nowhere showing that the person wrote that sentence did know the earth is like globe. First he did not talk about astronomy, so he is not trying explaining the shape of the earth. Second thing he did not use the ball as an example for Earth’s shape. He is just saying day and night repeats.
            But it is you, who is taking a leap frog jump and telling that night and day are coming because earth is rolling.

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            So, when he used cart-wheel nature for repetition, you say he did know that earth was a globe. That is not in the words you brought here.

            He wanted a dynamic sandwiching nature so that he can compare the day come back into night and night come back into day. He used the word overlapping that is flat and sandwiching. Further, he wanted is an unending repetition that keeps moving forth like just a computer algorithm 01 01 01 01…. move in long cable, watched at an specific point. For that,, apparently he used a wrong example of globe. These days it is convenient to use the binary algorithm to show how day and night repeats metaphysically, but I am still thinking what he could have used those days without a hard object like ball. He used the wrong word “overlapping” to make a sense of day and night sandwiching on each other and for the repetition of the sandwiching he used a ball rolling, that it is also not ideal. Basically his talk is wrong.
            There is another mistake; he could not keep track of the stars, missing in one season, reappearing in the other season, so he guessed they were permanently left behind. So he is saying only earth, sun and moon are (all are) moving. It is unlikely that he predicted the moving of the galaxies and the universe. There were no telescopes of any kind those days to go beyond human eyes. If he was telling that with an extra sense, but not with human senses, then he would told where they all are going because even that he would have sensed with that extra sense. But he just said they are going to a predetermined place that is because they are enslaved Allah’s properties, so are going to him. Allah is controlling the universe so they cannot go anywhere that he did not tell. So the predetermined place is known to Allah and thus to the writer, who knows Allah.

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          Amarasiri, tell me when you go on walking in the land what do you see? Mountains moving and getting bend, rivers bend as it flows? Why are you mixing up science with religion? You says Aristotle says earth is round and Eratosthene measured the circumference of earth, can you prove that? That is tell me where can I see the written proofs in parchments, tabloid form or any other form dating back to that time. Don’t tell me to refer to wiki or some book written by some bogus historians. Quran and Hadith witten at that period still available as proof. You can argue for or against it. Don’t bring as example these bogus historian’s where no written proof of that available. Don’t follow anti-Muslim websites.

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            Ralli Ameen,

            Good to hear from you with a contrary opinion.

            1. “Why are you mixing up science with religion? “

            Truth, whether it comes from science, philosophy or religion, if demonstrated and proven, is the same. Amarasiri makes no distinction as to the source, but only to its validity.

            2. “You says Aristotle says earth is round and Eratosthenes measured the circumference of earth, can you prove that? “

            Aristotle lived around 300 BCE in Athens, and Erastothene around 250 BCE in Alexandria. You can get this information from historians and reports, just the same way Amarasiri gets them. Of course, the internet makers it easier ton search for them, thanks to advances made by the Unbelievers and Kuffar, over the past 500 years, as they got to the age of reason and enlightenment, 500 years ago. Suggest you talk to museums.

            3. “Quran and Hadith witten at that period still available as proof. You can argue for or against it. Don’t bring as example these bogus historian’s where no written proof of that available. Don’t follow anti-Muslim websites.”

            Quran was written around 650 BCE, collecting oral traditions, according to Islamic sources., about 20 years after Prophet Mohamed. Hadith was aritten 100- 200 years later. More than 95% of the Hadith collected was bogus and unreliable. The Quaranics, completely discard the Hadith.

            4. “Don’t follow anti-Muslim websites”.

            What matters is what is the truth? It does not matter if it comes from Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Science,Anti-Islamic, Anti-Christian, Anti-Buddhist, as the truth is one. Some tome ago, the Catholic church forbade the Heliocentric model of the solar system. They burned Giardano Bruno on February 19, 1600. Still, the Earth rotates on its own axis and orbits the Sun.

            Ibn Rushd in his darkest hour

            https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/artsandculture/2015/4/9/ibn-rushd-in-his-darkest-hour

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        Rbh,
        (239 Words)

        “The Ulama like to burn philosophy books. Do the philosophers burn Ulama books? No. They just debate.”

        Ibn Rushd is the most capable rationalist philosopher in the history of Arab civilization.
        https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/artsandculture/2015/4/9/ibn-rushd-in-his-darkest-hour

        Ibn Rushd was summoned to the Mansur’s court, publicly insulted and cursed and accused of heresy. The king ordered him to be exiled along with anyone who spoke about philosophy.

        Mansur also ordered that all parts of the kingdom should warn against philosophy, and philosophical books be burnt except for those dealing with medicine, mathematics and astronomy. These books were important because they help people know the time and the direction of Mecca for when they pray.

        A final reason offered was Ibn Rushd’s book The Incoherence of the Incoherence, in which he responded to the fallacies of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s The Incoherence of Philosophers. He did this despite knowing Ghazali was the master of the Almohad dynasty who were in power, and believed the earth was located between the horns of a bull.

        This was the desire of the Ulama, and the ruler, Caliph, went along with it. The current Muslim politicians in Sri Lanka, is going along with the Ulama interpretation of the Quran and the Hadith. So, the Earth is spread out like a carpet, and the Sun goes under Allah’s Throne, daily.

        Ulama are not alone in this book burning business. The Christians, Muslims and the Mongols did that too.

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          Rbh,

          “Ulama are not alone in this book burning business. The Christians, Muslims and the Mongols did that too.”

          Even the Sinhala burned the Tamil Books at the Jaffna Public Library, during the last century, but that was a one-time event related to separatism, not religion.

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      Dr. Ameer Ali

      RE: Leadership Change: Imperative For Muslims

      That is what the Proto-Ulama and Ulama said 1,200 years ago, when they had to battle the rationalists, the philosophers and the Mutazilites. Finally they became the sole-interpretation of the Quran and the Hadith. That is what you are seeing today.

      So, who is a good Muslim is a pious Muslim , was defined by the Ulama, then and now. Others are non-pious, kuffar( unbelievers), heretics and apostates.

      In the Catholic Church there is one Pope. In Islam, thee are thousands of “Popes” called Ulama, and each can issue a Fatwa.

      Do any of them have demonstrated proof of after-life, which they promise? Only belief, and the dead person would not know, and the living do not know either. Same for Christianity.

      The new effect is that the Muslims have been gradually entering the dark ages over the past 1,000 years.

      Neil deGrasse Tyson, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī, and the Decline of Science in the Islamic World

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qLSzhuTCXc

      A response to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s contention that Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī brought about the decline of mathematics and science in Islamic civilization.

      But Ghazali’s Incoherence of the Philosophers, had 17 errors, per Ibn Rushd, in his Incoherence of the Incoherence. The best example is the burning of cotton and the agent, which can be demonstrated to be in error, by covering the burning cotton with a glass jar.

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      Dr. Ameer Ali

      RE: Leadership Change: Imperative For Muslims: Breaking the Spell of the Ulama!

      Surrender is the heart of Worship.Islam, Christianity, Communism.

      Ulama , follows that rule.

      The Best Documentary Ever – Dr. Daniel Dennett Breaking the Spell

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1rKQAqkxs

      In New Hampshire, USA, they say “Live Free or Die”. In religion, submit to the religion or die, if heretic or apostate.

      One of the greatest thinkers of our age tackles one of the most important questions of our time: why people believe in God and how religion shapes our lives and .

      In Breaking the Spell Daniel Dennett explores how the great ideas of religion have enthralled us for thousands of years – and whether we could (or should) break .

      Dan Dennett talking about his book ‘Breaking the Spell’. Includes an interesting introduction in which Michael Shermer discusses how people can be misled into .

      Dr Daniel Dennett – Breaking the Spell.

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      Dr. Ameer Ali,

      RE: Leadership Change: Imperative For Muslims.

      How did the Proto-Ulama,and Ulama develop Ulama-ism? What rile did the Hadith play?

      What is the Ulama, Mullah, Moulavi Syllabus of the ACJU? So, their arguments are built in quick-sand,.

      1. Quran, written within 20 years, per Islamic sources.

      2. Hadith and Prophetic Traditions, Sunnah. described and written in the Hadith 200 years later, per Islamic sources.

      It is claimed that 95 to 99% of the Hadith have been dismissed as unreliable. There is a group called the Quranics, who rely only on the Quran, not Hadith, and claims that Hadith is unreliable (Abdur Rab. ISBN-13:ISBN-3:978-49528776 AND ISBN-10:1495287173).

      After all, there was Islam for 200 years before the Hadith were written.

      (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Hadith 421)

      In a narration, again from Sayyidina Abu Dharr, there appear the additional words to the effect:

      “I asked the Prophet about the Statement of Allah: — ‘And the sun is quickly proceeding towards its destination. That is the designing of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing ‘ (36.38) He said, ‘Its course is underneath “Allah’s Throne.’” (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Hadith 327)

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      Here the madman Amarasiri, crying Ibn Rushd, Ibn Rushd………… In his previous birth he would have been Ibn Rushd’s keep. The subject was “Change of Leadership” by another worthless rotten writer Ameer but this fool cries Ibn Rushd, Ibn Rushd.

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        Ralli Ameen ,

        1. “Here the madman Amarasiri, crying Ibn Rushd, Ibn Rushd”-
        “In his previous birth”
        “The subject was “Change of Leadership” “

        Philosophers make ignorant Ulama mad. … Do not believe in rebirth, without demonstration.. The subject is change of leadership from the Ignorant Ulama, ACJU, to Philosophers, those who love Wisdom, not ignorance (Ulama)

        Well, Ibn Rushd clarified the fallacies of Hamid Al-Ghazali, showed that 17 out of 20 arguments are incorrect. If you get 17 wrong put of 20 questions, you would surely fail. That was shown by Ibn Ruishd, in the Incoherence of the Incoherence, 900 years. ago.

        Ibn Rushd is the most capable rationalist philosopher in the history of Arab civilization.

        https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/artsandculture/2015/4/9/ibn-rushd-in-his-darkest-hour

        Ibn Rushd was summoned to the Mansur’s court, publicly insulted and cursed and accused of heresy. The king ordered him to be exiled along with anyone who spoke about philosophy.

        So what did the Ulama do? Got the ruler, Caliph to burn all of Inb Rushd’s philosophy[hy books and other philosophy books. Ibn Rushd said that there is no conflict between Theology and Philosophy,. The problem lies with the lack of knowledge, i.e. ignorance of the Ulama.

        A final reason offered was Ibn Rushd’s book The Incoherence of the Incoherence, in which he responded to the fallacies of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s The Incoherence of Philosophers. He did this despite knowing Ghazali was the master of the Almohad dynasty who were in power, and believed the earth was located between the horns of a bull.

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          Amarasiri

          Stop writing the same nonsense over and over again. It seems like you have read these web sites hundreds of time and now you know these by heart. All the people who read history knows about this Rushd and those who wants more knowledge on his philosophy will refer to the sources. What this has got to do with the subject “Leadership Change”? Aren’t you a nut repeating the same things over and over again like a Mina. I asked you to prove Aristotle and Eratosthenes with their writings on any form, parchment, tabloid or engraved on stone etc. Nothing available. You says to refer to historian but historians too speculate without written proofs. So don’t repeat these nonsense like a parrot. If MMDA is wrong just point out where it has gone wrong and how it should be corrected without attacking the Ulamas.

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    Dr Ameer Ali ..
    You must joking or teasing..
    Did you see any Muslim political leader changed power since the time of Hajjaj or even since before his time until modern time? Did any Muslim political leaders give away power for democratic election..?
    Did Islamic history see any democratic process of political leadership selection?
    Today; you see from Middle East to Far East all Muslim political leaders do want to keep power until death?
    May be M&s and MR learn this from Muslim politicians ?
    Do you think Hakeem; Richard; or that matter any Muslim politicians will leave power until they die?
    Do mot think that they have patriotism to Sri Lanka or for Muslim community ?
    All they want to keep is fame; popularity; prosperity of their family and friends …
    Sri Lanka needs radical political change…for the sake of 22 million People?.
    Sri Lanka needs people like Sri Ma; JR; Lalth; and Premadasa..
    Those leaders did accumulate money and wealth like what we see today ;
    Even late Sri ma.B paid from her pocket money when a Chinese delegation wanted to go on a picnic to Nuwaraeliya….She could have used all government fund for them but she was so careful those days to spend government fund for private use …
    MR AND M&S MUST READ HER BIOGRAPHY TO KNOW HOW TO LEAD THIS NATION…
    DO NOT BE FOOLED BY MUSLIM POLITICIANS ..
    ALL MUST GO HOME ..
    GIVE POWER TO A NEW LEADERSHIP..
    NFGG HAS GOT GOOD PEOLE ..TALENTED PEOPLE FROM MUSLIM COMMUNTIY ..

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    The need for this change is extremely imperative to face a turbulent future.

    The ulama of today are, no doubt, more articulate and better organised than their predecessors. so they can act on this, Action is the key to all success.The ulama can move forward Don’t expect to see a change if they don’t initiate one.

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    The ulama, because of their claimed monopoly over religious knowledge, had the credentials to certify a person’s piety. Unquote’
    Here is a funny but true story that happened in a district in the Central Province some years ago. There was this so called pious Alim who was befriended by a school drop-out crook businessman who was combing the city in his own vehicle (this vehicle was his only collateral but he claimed he has a car yard), operating covertly a Ponzi/Pyramid investment scheme. This Alim knowingly or unknowingly was working with this Ponzi businessman hand-in-glove to the extent of campaigning for the crook businessman which resulted in an enormous amount being invested by the city’s business community and one day………. this crook escaped from the city overnight…then what?…… like the 2008 financial crisis hit New York, this city in the Central Province looked the same….it emerged that well to do men who had all the means to say Alhamdulillah and live peacefully also had invested in this scheme out of greed…it was during my short vacation I met in Colombo one such investor friend from this city…who told me that all the investors were desperate & unable to do anything because the Kingpin of this racket was Potta Naufer. This Alim was left in a limbo despite his good credentials. Also most Sri Lankans can recall how many crook Ulamas promoted a bogus Profit Sharing scheme under the pretext of labeling it as Halal and escaped when the Company was busted – one such fellow was late rogue Niyas Lebbe, now Mujibur Rahman is trying to rescue the investors, looks like another fake venture targeting his vote bank in Colombo.
    The Ponzi rogue is free from the clutches of law and is a free bird now. Knowing people know where this city in CP am referring to and who this Alim & Ponzi rogue are.

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      CT this last line was not published…….

      So this Piety is not a Surety. Only the Creator Almighty Allah (swt) Knows the depth of one’s Piety, men can’t measure it b’coz it is not tangible. .

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        Ayub Ali,

        “Only the Creator Almighty Allah (swt) Knows the depth of one’s Piety, men can’t measure it b’coz it is not tangible. .”

        But the Ulama emphasizes that they know, as they are the people of knowledge, and therefore know what is best for the Muslims.

        So their position: The MMDA is perfect.

        This is the take over of Islam , initially by the Proto-Ulama, then Ulama, and what the Muslims have is Ulama-ism, not Islam.

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    dear ameer
    it is not only muslims but sinhalese and tamils that need a change in leadership
    but in the present day none are forthcoming
    the younger generation are not strong enough to take on the old leaders
    so we will be consigned to our fate for a long time

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      n.
      There is not a single “ULEMA” of international repute in S L They are mostly political hacks
      spreading a ” Beduoin Desert” culture in the name of Islam.
      Dr. A. A. article is a good one in giving a historical perspective and the power of the “ULEMAS” to the gullible Muslims of the past and the present
      The present generation of Muslims both female and male are much better educated and that portends well for the country as a whole.
      The ACJU’s influence should be curtailed significantly; the time has come for the ” Female Muslim’ to contribute in S L politics.

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    Ameer Ali

    “The time has arrived therefore for Muslims to search for an alternative and quality leadership to lead them in this troubled environment.”

    Instead of lecturing from Australia, why don’t you come here and put your ideas into practice? Otherwise, you are Wasting everybody’s time.

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    Ameer Ali: Talks about history but not the present problems. SO, it is just a useless article. You talk about anti-muslim violence that happened recently. You do not talk how it started. So, that is typical of muslim dishoensty when it comes to their affairs. they are so forced to accept the Almighty, they never criticize it and so that they are used to lie. Anyway what happens there so manymus politicians repsenting different mus.lim groups. If they weak they are with the major parties. Other than that, all are NATIONAL LOST MPs and they have the supprt of middle easterncharities – sheiks who have money and they spend that for their religion. That is a must among muslims. Some how recently prominent politicians are addicted to that and national lis tmuslom MPs are living on that even if MMDA comes, IT is first handed over to those national list MPS saying go and make some hay out of that because that will profits both of us. So, understand the exact situation. when the religion goes with business will that ever work for your soul. It is all fo rmoney. Who is Satan in your religion ?

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    Dr. Ameer Ali,

    Historically seeing, it is true that Muslims came to SL for trading and Muslim did lots of trading, and are still doing. But the present day situation not so. Today, if you interview some of the popular Muslim businessmen to someone selling toys on the pavements, you will realized that they were forced do it because of the circumstances.

    1- Parents didn’t show them the importance of education

    2-Lack of support from within their circles

    3-Govt discrimination towards providing jobs for other community

    4-Some cases private sector discrimination

    Whatever it is, Muslim community can not bring a leader since selfishness is in their bloods. For example, some well-to-do Muslim establishments give priority to Muslims, and you know why? It is to their advantage from security to paying peanuts, becasue the employees think foolishly they get more facilities such as praying time break for 5 times, and since employer is a Muslim, they would better understand

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    Hi Ameer Ali

    “The time has arrived therefore for Muslims to search for an alternative and quality leadership to lead them in this troubled environment. Obviously, the onus of this search falls not on the ordinary masses but on the intelligentsia that has emerged after the 1980s”

    Obviously you are thinking about Tamil speaking Islamic people in Sri Lanka. At least have the courage to Tamil Speaking Hindus and Christians in your category. Unfortunately you are driven by Chauvinistic mind set. You never consider yourself as Sri Lankan. That is what is wrong in your assessment.

    The majority Sinhala Buddhists also must search for an alternative and quality leadership lead them through troubled national political, economic, religious and social environment.

    Thank you for acknowledging the emergence of Tamil speaking Islamic intelligentsia after the 1980’s.- You have sugar coated the destruction lead by Badi , one of dirtiest politician ever created by your so called ” business-ulama leadership”.
    Badi’s education policy was one of the leading factor that lead to create LTTE and 30 years of Civil war in Sri Lanka. Shrewd and dirty Badi formulated and implemented an education policy that gave immense advantage to the Tamil speaking Islamic people in every part of the country. Obviously you are one of them. If not for Badi’s warped education policy, I wonder whether you would have ever had an opportunity represent an “Islamic Intelligentsia” . It denied the opportunities for thousands of Tamil Speaking Hindus and Christians and Sinhalese to gain entrance to the Universities. You through a perverted and corrupt mechanism manage to create an “Islamic Intelligentsia” and setting Sinhalese against Tamils. 30 years of war in Sri Lanka created the “Islamic Intelligentsia” .
    It seems, Badi’s business-ulama leadership has not stopped at creating “Islamic Intelligentsia”. What will be there next move? Only Sinhalese can guess it but Tamils must understand what a predicament they got into by not understanding root causes of the thirty year war.

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    There shouldn’t be Sinhala leaders/Tamil leaders/Muslim leaders/other leaders in the country.

    People’s leaders are enough for smooth flow of life & thus economy.

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    Thank you Ameer Ali for keeping the MMDA1950 debate alive.
    The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), the apex institution of religious functionaries, has silenced the activists using social boycott threats.
    ACJU has rammed down the throat of the Lankan Muslim business elites, the ultra-orthodox ideologies. The Muslim MPs had to take the orders of ACJU.
    .
    MMDA1950 is about human rights.
    MMDA1950 is misogynistic. It favours men in the marriage part as well as the divorce part. It has to go.

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    The religion practiced by most Muslims is not that taught by the prophet. He told us to follow the imams from his family. This Hadith is authentic. We choose to follow our self interest and every Imam was poisoned. The only exception being Imam Hussain. We are still suffering the consequences.
    If we wake up to this reality, we will lead the world.
    If in doubt, Watch The Islamic Republic of Iran.

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      Faiz Mohideen,

      “If in doubt, Watch The Islamic Republic of Iran.”

      Is that the reason why the Wahhabi-Salafi Iblis Satan followers. per Hadith of Najd want to kill all Shia, Sufi, Ahmedia and others per Hadith of Najd?

      Hadith of Najd.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_Najd

      The Hadith of Najd is a hadith with several chains of narration about three geographical locations, one of which is prophesied to be the source of calamities. While all Sunni Muslims accept the group of hadith as authentic, the exact location of the area referred to as “Najd” is disputed.[according to whom?] Possible locations listed are the areas around Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

      “O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Shaam. O Allaah bestow your blessings on our Yemen.” The people said, “O Messenger of Allaah, and our Najd.” I think the third time the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said, “There (in Najd) will occur earthquakes, trials and tribulations, and from there appears the Horn of Satan.”

      Scholar from al-Azhar: Wahhabism is a Satanic Faith, the Horn of the Devil that Muhammad Predicted

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDy_apXW3E

      How to debate with the so called Salafiyyah-Wahhabiah,, the Iblis follwers.

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        You donkey, you say those who strictly follow Quran and Hadith are Satans whether Wahabi or others and those who follows innovated Islam are true followers. There are lot of innovations by Shia like priesthood but still they follow the Quran and Hathis. They follow sharia law, women wear Hijab (more strict than some other Muslim countries) so we cannot brand you as Shia but an Anti-Muslim rotter or paid servant of Anti-Muslim forces.

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    You donkey, you say those who strictly follow Quran and Hadith are Satans whether Wahabi or others and those who follows innovated Islam are true followers. There are lot of innovations by Shia like priesthood but still they follow the Quran and Hathis. They follow sharia law, women wear Hijab (more strict than some other Muslim countries) so we cannot brand you as Shia but an Anti-Muslim rotter or paid servant of Anti-Muslim forces.

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