Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44682)	9/23/2003 6:32:18 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

Practice what you preach Iqbal Latif Sheikh Yusuf has obviously given his children the best possible opportunities and educated them at the finest institutions in the world. Then why does he preach something different to others? Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, arguably one of Islam’s most influential cleric, takes the podium at Omar ibn al-Khattab Mosque, a short distance from the headquarters of the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar to deliver the khutba, the Friday sermon. The theme of the day is the arrogance of the United States and the cruelty of the war it unleashed on Iraq. Consider his Website, Qaradawi.net, where the faithful can read his fatwas (religious edicts) regarding issues of modern life, from living in non-Islamic lands to the permissibility of buying houses on mortgage, and the follies of Arab rulers who have surrendered to US power. However, the deeds of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi are quite different from what he preaches! Take his children: One of his daughters made her way to the University of Texas where she received a master’s degree in biology, a son had earned a PhD from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, and yet another son has embarked on that quintessential American degree, an MBA at the American University in Cairo. An American friend took exception when I said that I regarded Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s stance as hypocritical. He retorted that it was not hypocritical but practical. “I don’t see a contradiction here. You want your kids to have the best education, so you send them to the US. But that doesn’t mean that you want the US (a) dropping bombs on your cousins in Iraq or (b) imposing their morality on your country. “In fact, weren’t some of the early leaders of India (and Pakistan at the time, I suppose), who agitated against the British rule educated in the West? I’m not perfectly familiar with the details of their personal lives, but I wouldn’t doubt that they would send their kids to England for education. “The elites frequently send their kids to the best schools, whether abroad or at home. They try to bring back the best of what they see and reject what they don’t want. But it’s hardly intelligent to force your country to live in mud huts simply because you don’t agree with the morality or foreign policies of the leading countries. “Perhaps you fail to understand the complexity of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi. His complaint with the US is about: ‘... the arrogance of the United States and the cruelty of the war it unleashed on Iraq.’ I fail to see what that has to do with where his children are educated. If the man were a simpleton with only one thought, then he could conclude that since the US is ‘arrogant’ and started a ‘cruel’ war, therefore it cannot offer good education. But the very arrogance of the US that he is complaining about speaks of the technological advantages of the US. “Now if the sheikh’s message was about the ‘incompetence’ of the US, and their inability to compete in business, then sending his kids to be educated there would be more difficult to understand, though still not impossible. To come to the conclusion that he shouldn’t have his kids educated there he would have had to have commented on the ‘incompetence of the Americans in educating foreign students.” My response is to say that as a Pakistani I cannot tolerate the double standards prevailing in the Islamic Crescent. Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is extremely popular in the Arab states, especially in the Gulf where his weekly religious and Fatwa programme is broadcast in many Arab Gulf satellites. He has indeed issued many fatwas which are supposed to be mandatory for Muslims in order to ascend the heavens. Please note the following two fatwas by the Sheikh, available at his website qaradawi.net. 1) Depositing monies in American banks for Muslims is a crime of the highest order that constitutes ultimate sin. 2) Buying American products is a sin for every Muslim These are examples of the sort of edicts that deal with the ‘incompetence’ of the US, and its ‘inability to compete in business’. If someone sends his own children to US he definitely uses the US banking system and consumes US products; on both counts his fatwa is negated. To live the way you preach is an Islamic tradition that stems from the tradition established by the Prophet (PBUH) and I find Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi culpable of hypocrisy What is suitable for himself and his family should also be allowed to other Muslims. I would teach my children to be loyal to and love the country where they are educated and make their living. I wouldn’t issue calls of ‘intifida’ through a fatwa against that very country. Therefore I charge him with double standards because if the academic environment of the US is suitable for his offspring then one can safely say that it is a superior place for other Muslims too. Equal opportunity for everyone is the only way we will progress within the confines of culture, tradition and the limitations of our region. Muslim children should be given the best possible by their parents. Sheikh Yusuf has obviously given his children the best possible opportunities and educated them at the finest institutions in the world. Then why does he forbid others to make use of this option? In the end Islam teaches us that what is good for the children of the Ulema should be good for ordinary Muslims too! dailytimes.com.pk

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44682)	9/23/2003 6:49:57 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Mush in NY...''He said it was time Pakistan buried the hatchet with Israel. And he said Pakistan is taking a wait-and-see approach on sending Pakistani troops to Iraq. Some in the crowd jeered at this point. “Well if our Muslim brothers in Iraq want us to send them, why shouldn’t we?” he responded. ''