Thursday, March 24, 2011

SECTS IN ISLAM- writing "Al Khawarij"---also known as Ibadhi

Belated, I bring to you my promised beginning of the study into Sects in Islam by taking a closer look at their own logics and entities. I chose to start with the "Kwararij" because the majority of Muslims consider them to be the first original sect or division in Islam, whereas they [the Ibadhi] maintain that they are the only believers still on the right path, or at the very least, that they have the earliest sahih ahadith collection and that most other Muslims follow scholars or political leaders that have corrupted the Prophet's tradition.

I actually tried very hard to get someone from the Omani Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs to write this piece but his response to me basically was, "seek and you shall find the truth", handing me of a bunch of books they don't give out to the regular convert. Which basically was saying that he trusted me to write honestly my findings.


I was given the titles "Ibadism in History Volume I: The Emergence of the Ibadhi School" by Ali Yahya Muammar, published by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs; "The Overwhelming Truth, a Discussion of Some Key Concepts in Islamic Theology" by Ahmad b. Hamad al-Khalili [Grand Mufti of Oman], published by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs; a book they are currently attempting to translate explaining why Ibadhi pray as they do which is unavailable to the general reader at this time; "Al-Khawarij: Reality or Legend" by Juma Muhammad Rashid Al Mazumi, published originally in Tanzania in Swahili. These are my sources from drawing an Ibadhi perspective. Please forgive what I do not know. I do not call myself Ibadhi.

****Hey, I already got one rude and ignorant comment on this post. I knew it was going to be controversial but hey, that was quick, and in good form. So I better make an ammendment****

No anonymous comments are further going to be posted on the exploring sects in Islam series on ILH. Pick an acronym.

Also, don't use insults or a term without an intellectual TECHNICAL & LINGUISTIC account for it.

In case you didn't read, which ANON. [just another ignorant purporting ignorance based on wrong assumptions] obviously didn't, I posted before on the blog, the whole point of this series is to explore terms and definition INTELLECTUALLY, based on their historical date, linguistic make-up, technical definition, purported definitions, ect.

When you call someone "evil" you damn well better have some scholaristic backing for your "new" sect lol.

Anyways, I just wanted to say, anon. you are wrong about the "secret" books. Because.

a. I named the titles of the books that are readily available upon request from the Islamic Ministry of Oman. At your request, they will be made available. They are not "secret" or I'd not have named them, and they certainly wouldn't have given them to a sunni, me, not exactly known for keeping her opinions to herself. The book I did not name is not available as of yet so I won't quote it alot. They were kind enough to loan me their own copy which is still undergoing editing and the whole publishing process. You could say I talked them out of it. I also haven't met yet with their ahadith scholars, but intend to, for a very long sit down about why they don't like some Sahih Al Bukhari ahadiths. I won't call anyone wrong until I know how they are wrong, why they are wrong, and how I might be wrong. It's a new goal for me in this life. You should try it too anon;p

b. They are not regular hand-outs for converts because most converts wanna know how to pray and read Qu'ran and wear hijab, or at least read the seerah before going in depth like Khalili's book really does. It is on intellectual Shariah and alot of other goodies you need a more scholaristic background to get some benefit out of. It is actually a hard read for me in places, a bit like reading an encyclopedia or studying for the bar exam.

c. Since one of the books deals on Shariah law and namely, how an Immamate Caliphate runs, it talks about stuff too in depth for someone who doesn't know how the Prophet Mohamed lived his life and lead the Muslims. For example, in Ibadhism, a Caliph who is corrupt and only claims to be Muslim but leads the people in corruption, must be replaced by way of the book's interpetation of Shariah. The educated religious men of Oman don't really want some idiot only reading one sentance and going out assassinating Sultan Qaboos or something cuz he doesn't get it. They knew from questioning me that I knew enough to not to be dangerous to myself or others. Anon, I'd be iffy on lending YOU the book, cuz you don't know how to read it all and get the big picture.

For those who can't be nice (or even just smart) in the exploring sects edition posts on ILH, why don't you just stick with the fashion posts? Most minds can handle those;D

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