Dear Samadi, further on <Alas, how we find ways to poke holes in Islam when we have a chance. LOL>
On this; please look at this one incident on which I got a lot of flak on poking holes on Islam.. I wrote this infamous piece.. Please kindly read the highlight
iranian.com
To understand the background of this schism between Qum and Najaf, one needs to look profoundly at contemporary centers of Shi'ites learning's. Four senior Grand Ayatollahs constitute the Religious Institution (al-Hawzah al-'Ilmiyyah) in Najaf, the preeminent seminary center for the training of Shiite clergymen. Before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Najaf was the most important center of study for Shia religious leaders.
However, Saddam Hussein ordered mass arrests and the expulsion of senior clerics, giving the Iranian seminary in the city of Qom the opportunity to take over the religious leadership of the Shias. Qom became the pre-eminent religious center for Shia Muslims since the Iranian revolution, however, Najaf has a history of more than a millennium of leadership, and the Iranian clerics who run the holy city of Qum, are facing a revived rival.
As of mid-2003 the seminary in Qom hosted between 40,000 and 50,000 clergy, while the number in Najaf stood at about 2,000, down from about 10,000 before the Ba'ath regime took. The first exodus from Qom to Najaf is expected to be by exiled Iraqi clerics, estimated to number between 3,000, and 5,000.
At the heart of schism lies reluctance of seminary of Najaf to get involved in worldly affairs -- in essence al-Hawzah al-'Ilmiyyah in Najaf wants to shield the highest Shi'ite religious leadership, the marjaiyya, from politics - this is an old tension within Shi'ite Islam between two conflicting tendencies, quietism and activism.
Whether clerics should confine their activities to religious affairs or also seek a role in politics has been a matter of fierce debate among Shi'ites for well over a century. Sunnis, who in theory are expected to obey their rulers and even tolerate a tyrant in order to avoid civil strife and preserve the cohesion of the Muslim community, observant Shi'ites recognize no authority on earth except that of the imam.
Now kindly read Monday's 23rd Jan 2005, IHT..
BAGHDAD With the Shiites on the brink of capturing power here for the first time, their political leaders say they have decided to relegate Islam to a supporting role as they form the new Iraqi government.
.
The senior leaders of the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of mostly Shiite groups that is expected to capture the most votes in the election Sunday, have agreed that the Iraqi whom they nominate to be the country's next prime minister would be a layperson and not an Islamic cleric. The Shiite leaders say there is a similar but less formal agreement that clerics will also be excluded from running the government ministries.
.
"There will be no turbans in the government," said Adnan Ali, a senior leader of the Dawa Party, one of the largest Shiite parties. "Everyone agrees on that."
.
The decision appears to formalize the growing dominance of secular leaders among the Shiite political leadership, and it also reflects an inclination by the country's powerful religious hierarchy to stay out of the day-to-day governing of the country.
.
.
iht.com
Now when i wrote that piece it looked that I am fomenting disunity amongst the faithful but the facts are very clear, truth is very bitter, I try my best to gaze into the future, sometime I pass with my crystal ball others I fail but the earnest desire is to be fair.; |
