Dear Editor
I refer to the letter by Lurlene Nestor begging for VAT relief and my heart skipped a beat while my eyes could only welled what the Faith of Humanity refers to as the last vestige of social capital or empathy.
Where are those who shout children first? Now is the time, and not only for toys but a tax break for the general funding for education, medical and clothing needs; after all these future leaders need to be treated with some dignity.
How much humiliating can it be that a child witnesses his or her parents are dragged on their feet pleading for mercy so the rice man may dip one more saucepan of livelihood! So the taunts of well-greased peers may go unhurt.
Jesus came at a time where mercy was buried in the hard rocks of human anarchy. He brought hope. A hope like the hope Abraham brought when the dry desert of Arabia parched the dying livers of Ishmael and Hajar. Water came as a hope for civilization, then, in the form of the famous zamzam well and until today we celebrate that hope by re-enacting that run at Hajj between the spots of Marwa and Safa.
All of this for what?
That we make this season a true blessing to humanity the way the Divine wished it to be- to relieve the poor of the yoke of poverty- the call of every Faith leader as far as I remember. The promise of every promising leader as far as the ears could recall. This is the song of every mother and the music of every father; the prayer of every innocent child when they watch TV and drop asleep longing with desire.
It’s not about making the rich richer but giving a gesture to the underdog; its not about Christmas or Eid but signalling a real act of hope into the fading memories of happiness as poor children watch faces painted by death with each wind that blows and each moon that sets.
I was lucky to be at the premier of Mandela: Son of Africa in Toronto and listen to him assert, "children are the rock on which our future will be built".
How lucky we are that given our position we can become the Mandela of Guyana and the mecca of Hope for “ahwe pickney” by reconsidering Lurlene Nestor’s silent prayer.
Yours truly,
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
stop beating woemn in the name of Quran
The controversy of choosing words that resonate with one's angle when translating the Quran is not new and so too on the topic of whether the Quran upholds beating one's spouse . I have written and delivered on this topic for years, reminding Muslims that verse 4:34, in one usage of darb, denotes showering her with extra romance and not beating.
Many translations have used spanking and light beating but Muslims who abuse their women folk, only to shout the Quran 'says' this, are actually abusing the Revelation, since they are brutalising these servants of God in the name of Allah and its time we have this correction done by every possible means. Some translators have struggled to explain that the best attestation of the Quran, Prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, himself, never beat a woman but condemned men who did this as beasts.
It must be remembered that the Prophet quintessentially agreed with Umar bin Khattab when he suggested about their women acting audaciously, after migration. However, Allah disproved of this idea and the Prophet decalred in an immediate sermon that he cannot tolerate such beastly men who after beating their wives want to make love. So, using violent sex as an analogy, as some would like, is completely irrelevant.
As for the democratic right to interpret ones material and have them published is not only Canadian but truly Islamic. The Prophet rightly said difference of opinion is a mercy and even though Zamakhshari may not be from the mainstream sect of Islam his linguistic treatise of the Quran is widely accepted and sold in Muslim bookstores.
Lets not make another hasty, riotous public outcry from the efforts of those who defend the abused mothers of this world and who in all rights have academic claims as much as any classical Imam did, regardless, for Allah alone is the best Judge.
I have written about women who abuse men too- we have a shelter for them here but that was an issue I was trying to clarify whether Quranically we can translate the verse that way and the article below is for now for us to comment.I always remember your comments on OJ and this is not to target anyone and no one should feel their experience is everyone's. We have a case here where an Imam actually said 'beat them' and the men went home and did that and the next Jumua the women came to the mosque looking for the Imam.
Many translations have used spanking and light beating but Muslims who abuse their women folk, only to shout the Quran 'says' this, are actually abusing the Revelation, since they are brutalising these servants of God in the name of Allah and its time we have this correction done by every possible means. Some translators have struggled to explain that the best attestation of the Quran, Prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, himself, never beat a woman but condemned men who did this as beasts.
It must be remembered that the Prophet quintessentially agreed with Umar bin Khattab when he suggested about their women acting audaciously, after migration. However, Allah disproved of this idea and the Prophet decalred in an immediate sermon that he cannot tolerate such beastly men who after beating their wives want to make love. So, using violent sex as an analogy, as some would like, is completely irrelevant.
As for the democratic right to interpret ones material and have them published is not only Canadian but truly Islamic. The Prophet rightly said difference of opinion is a mercy and even though Zamakhshari may not be from the mainstream sect of Islam his linguistic treatise of the Quran is widely accepted and sold in Muslim bookstores.
Lets not make another hasty, riotous public outcry from the efforts of those who defend the abused mothers of this world and who in all rights have academic claims as much as any classical Imam did, regardless, for Allah alone is the best Judge.
I have written about women who abuse men too- we have a shelter for them here but that was an issue I was trying to clarify whether Quranically we can translate the verse that way and the article below is for now for us to comment.I always remember your comments on OJ and this is not to target anyone and no one should feel their experience is everyone's. We have a case here where an Imam actually said 'beat them' and the men went home and did that and the next Jumua the women came to the mosque looking for the Imam.
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