The New Nation - Internet Edition

First Bangladesh Hajj Festival, Singapars seminar

Md. Abu Abdullah

The first ever Hajj Festival of Bangladesh took place form 05 to 07 June 2008. It drew the attention of people from all walks of life. Fifty Hajj agencies - small and big, attended the festival, said Moulana Yakub Sharafati, Secretary General of Hajj Agencies of Association of Bangladesh (HAAB). The agencies detailed their previous experiences and prospective provisions of Hajj. The prospective pilgrims had a chance to compare and contrast different packages offered by the Hajj agencies. In the inaugural ceremony of the festival, Hon'ble Adviser for Religious Affairs Mr. Hasan Arif urged on extending appropriate services to the pilgrims. Secretary for Religious Affairs Mr. Ataur Rahman winded up the festival.

Hajj, the largest congregation of the world is one of the five basic tinnets of Islam. Every year millions of muslims gather in the holy land of Makkah in the quest of eternal peace and salvation. To manage this mammoth mob is a daunting task, especially for the receiving country Saudi Arabia and also for the bigger muslim countries every year. Bangladesh , being the third largest muslim country of the globe, experiences this phenomenon every year. As the day advances, the Hajj management system is becoming more complex, time and money consuming, compounded with limitations of resources. It is therefore high time, a comprehensive Hajj management system should be in place to extend better services to the pedestrians on the road to Makkah.

In 2007, the number of Hajjis who performed pilgrimage under government and private management were 5512 and 42229 respectively. Complaints against Hajj management is nothing new. The Hajj management has evolved in the course of time. The perspective pilgrims managed by government deposit money in banks. In private sectors irregularity starts from the very deposition of money. Sometimes the Hajj of aspirants, deposit their money to some unauthorized persons simply because of familiarity. On occasions, the money is given without any document which is totally illegal, not to speak. As per the government procedure, the money should be deposited to the bank accounts of the approved Hajj agencies, with due receipt.

A slight deviation of the Dhaka-Jeddah flight schedules of the pilgrims carrier planes results in serious sufferings. At the outset of the pilgrims season many flights remain unfilled due to unwilling of the Hajjis to fly in advance. It leads to an increased load of passengers later on. The Saudi authorities finalise the schedules of all the flight carrying pilgrims from all over the world at least six month ahead of Hajj, leaving no time for flight adjustment at the last moment.

After embarkation in the Jeddah airport the responsibility of road transport to Makkah and Madina goes to the Muallams, who in exchange of money serve the hajjis in the two holy cities. At times no bus is available there; mistime of flights also disrupts the transportation of Hajjis.

The housings of Makkah have been built at the hilltop or the slope of the mountains over the last centuries. The terrain surrounding the holy Kabba is mountainous. So, the rents of hotels and houses in close proximity of Kabba are relatively higher. The comprehensive hajj packages of 2,16,782 and 1,99,112 taka have been determined on the condition of staying in houses situated at a distance of 1000 meter and 1500 meters respectively.

Many a pilgrim desires to stay close to the holy Kaba at a relatively higher expense. This year on basis of the accommodation, services, proximity to the holy Kabba etc. the private Hajj agencies, have declared Hajj packages ranging from 2,20,000 to 9,00,000 per person.

There are numerous complaints as to the standard of meal from the pilgrims in general. Dietary habit is an individual affair. It is not easy to accommodate meal abroad considering differences of locality, age difference, solvency and personal choice.

The pilgrims flock to the holy city of Modina to offer ziarat to the shrine of Prophet Mohammad (sm) and to say 40 wakts of salat in the mosque of the prophet. Here the pilgrims are accommodated for eight days as a routine. Any breach in the routine disrupts the system as a whole. At times the pilgrims face problems owing to their ignorance of rituals in Meen, Murzalifa and Arafat. This is why training is a must before approaching for hajj.

By the mercy of Allah the Hajj has been solemnized smoothly every year. Muslims from the different part of the world with different languages and cultures persevere all havocs patiently with the hope of performing the pilgrimage with purity and piety. Their are desire is but appeasement of the Allah. Each muslim of the world aspires to observe the compulsory Hajj once in the life time. The Hajj appears at the end of each year and the Hajjis too continue to congregate in Mekkah years after years.

Islamic Religious Council of Singapore organized a conference titled, "Singapore International Hajj Seminar" on 17 May 2008. The theme of the seminar was "sharing experiences of Hajj amongst muslim minority countries" in the Asia-Pacific region. About thirty-two participants from 15 Muslim minority countries along with representatives from Brunei , Indonesia and Malaysian muslims attended the seminar.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Dr YAACOB Ibrahim inaugurated the seminar. He explained the measures taken by his government on Hajj.

Hisham Al-Mominah, Chairman of Mominah Establishment and Talah, Jeddah presented a special paper in the seminar on "The Management of Hajj for Muslim Minority countries in the 21st Century". Mr. Abdul Halim Mohammad Amin, Head of Hajj Services of Islamic Religious council of Singapore and Ustad Tengu Mohammad Fouzy President, Association of Muslim Travel Agents of Singapore explained Hajj management system and their services.

During sharing experiences, Sulaiman C. Mutia, Hajj Attaché of the Philippines in Jeddah said that there were 13 ethno-linguistic muslim groups in the country and last year 4871 had performed Hajj from the Philippines . Community radio stations and Mosque Imams educate to perform hajj and every year about 5000 perform Hajj, said Ibrahim Sayed Ismail, Chairperson of the South African Hajj and Umrah council. Haji Nadimah Abdat, a Hajj services provider of Sydney , Australia said, "they provide services to different ethnic backgrounds of different mazhabs and different countries of the world". Assistant Attaché of British High Commission in Singapore said, last year 25000 British had performed Hajj. He said, Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Civil Aviation Authority had run a media awareness campaign, to help Hajj pilgrims become aware of the range of rights available and encourage them to be responsible when choosing a Hajj service provider. Haji Mohammad Yousuf, member, Jamiya Islamic community of Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam said, time and money spent to get Hajj visa at the Saudi Embassy in Thailand and rising cost of Hajj were main challenges for them.

Major problems of Hajj for these muslim minority countries are to organize the scattered Muslims for Hajj, getting visa where there is no Saudi embassy, Hajj flight, accommodation at Makka etc. Everybody complained about the small Hajj quota given to them by the Saudi authority. They opined to inform the matter to the Saudi authority as well as to the OIC.

They shared experiences of evaluation of Hajj management, role of Islamic Councils and Organization on Hajj, legal framework on Hajj management, quality of Hajj services, role of Hajj travel agents, introduction of Health and transport Insurance for better Hajj management.

About the outcome of the seminar, one participant said that exchanging experience among the participants, further cooperation would increase and better hajj management would be ensured in future.

The participants of the seminar also learnt about the mosque management, wakf administration and development, inter faith programmes and Halal Food Certification system of Singapore .

The counties of the world are now interacting more than any time before. By sharing experience they could pave the way for a better hajj management in the future days to come. People related to hajj management in Bangladesh could take lessons from their experiences and replicate those in forming our own hajj management system.

Qur'an in contemporary scholarship

Mohammad Khan

Being the fountain-head of the Islamic worldview and the most authoritative source of Islamic principles and practices, it is not surprising that the Qur'an and its teachings have been extensively analysed and dissected by both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars. For example, Bruce Lawrence, professor of Islamic studies at Duke University in his book The Qur'an: A Biography (London, 2006) provides a brief overview of the revelation, compilation and interpretation of the Qur'an as the sacred scripture of Islam. Aimed primarily at lay readers, this book is an accurate and journalistic account of the Qur'an, its teachings and interpretation.

Likewise, Abdullah Saeed's The Qur'an: An Introduction (Abingdon, 2008) covers similar topics, albeit in a more detailed and scholarly way. A professor of Arab and Islamic studies at Melbourne, the author writes largely for a non-Muslim audience. By contrast, Ingrid Mattson's The Story of the Qur'an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life (Oxford, 2008) is a refreshing study of the role played by the Qur'an in the lives of Muslims. As well as explaining the history, compilation and main themes of the Qur'an, the author's analysis and exploration of its role in Muslim thought, culture and daily practices is very informative and enlightening. A professor at Hartford Seminary and a practising Muslim, Mattson's approach to the Qur'an is both scholarly and authoritative.

Unlike the aforementioned works, the book under review has been written by a prominent Italian Islamicist. Translated from Italian into English by Oliver Leaman (who is himself a prominent writer on Islamic philosophy), the book aims "on the one hand to offer a clear exposition of the form and content of the Qur'an, and on the other, to convey an understanding of the methods and directions that interpretation followed in the Islamic world. If we try to see first how Muslims have interpreted the meaning of their sacred text and how the classical science of interpretation may regard that text as open, then we can see in the contemporary world what theoretical possibilities may apply to our understanding of the text." (p11)

Consisting of five short but analytical chapters, the author begins by placing the Qur'an within the wider context of Islam as a religion and way of life. Whilst acknowledging that Muslims consider the Qur'an to be Divine revelation (kalam Allah) vouchsafed to Prophet Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years, the author, being heavily influenced by Alessandro Bausani (who was a prominent Italian Orientalist of the twentieth century), repeatedly questions the traditional Islamic account about the Prophet having been an unlettered Prophet (nabi al-ummi). Like other European Orientalists, Bausani wrongly translated the Arabic word 'ummi' as 'gentile' and this enabled him to question the traditional Islamic account of the Prophet having been unlettered. Campanini's failure to correct this raises as many questions about his own intellectual integrity and authoritativeness as Bausani's.

In Chapter 2, whilst exploring the question of the Qur'an's authorship and composition, the author argues that the Qur'an we have with us today is not considered by the Shi'a Muslims to be an authentic revelation because they have their own version of the Qur'an (p17). He uses this argument to prove the alleged "inconsistency of the Qur'anic text." (p64) This argument is, however, totally unfounded and baseless because both the Shi'a and Sunni Muslims have one and the same Qur'an. Nevertheless, the author is right to say that "The Qur'an is a Book that has to be recited. It is a Book that contains parables and edifying stories, moral suasion and stories of prophets and kings…Muslims, especially if they are Arab, claim that reciting the holy Book is to be suffused with the splendour and rhythmicity of the language. In effect, studying the suras of the Qur'an or at least the brief suras where the verses are concise and follow a real rhyming assonance, it is possible to verify the literary character of the Book." (pp22-23)

Chapter 3 provides a concise but critical analysis of the fundamental themes of the Qur'an. Unlike the 'revisionists' (such as John Wansbrough, Patricia Crone, Michael Cook, etc), the author thinks it is important to engage with the religious themes of the Qur'an in order to ascertain whether there is any variation among the Qur'anic commentators on those topics. Dismissing Francesco Gabrieli's superficial reading of the Qur'an, the author considers the Qur'an to be coherent and identifies many fundamental Qur'anic themes, including the conceptions of God in terms of His essence and actions, prophecy, politics, law and juridical prescriptions, and jihad. Although he briefly interprets these Qur'anic themes by invoking a combination of Muslim and non-Muslim sources, his unconventional reading of certain Qur'anic passages does leave a lot to be desired. For example, he wrongly argues that the first ten verses (ayah) of Surah 'Abasa accuses the Prophet (pbuh) of "having a sin of pride." (p63)

In Chapter 4, the author attempts to survey the vast field of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and usul al-tafsir (the science of Qur'anic exegesis). After distinguishing tafsir from ta'wil, he explores the works of classical scholars like Ibn Qutayba, al-Tabari, al-Zamakhshari, al-Ghazali, al-Razi, al-Suyuti and al-Kashi among others. In this chapter the author also takes issue with the 'revisionists' and argues that their unconventional approach to the Qur'an has been 'effectively challenged' by Neal Robinson (see his Discovering the Qur'an, London, 2003). Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami and Muhammad Mohar Ali also produced powerful critiques of the 'revisionist' methodology, although the author does not seem to be familiar with their works.

The last chapter of this book is the longest, consisting of 38 pages. Here the author attempts to analyse the problem of interpreting the Qur'an in the modern age. He believes the emergence of modernity, secularism and nationalism, and their subsequent impact on the Muslim world prompted Muslims to adopt different approaches towards the Qur'an. As such, some Muslims pursued the 'salafi' view; others took a 'literary' or 'scientific' approach, while yet others championed a 'radical' interpretation, not to mention the 'hermeneutic' line of scholars like Fazlur Rahman.

In conclusion, the author argues, "The evolution of contemporary commentary seems to point to the increasingly diffuse necessity for an open reading of the Qur'an. A mystic said: 'progressive revelation of the Qur'an is accomplished through the text, but not through its meaning.' The conquest of meaning is the challenge that presents itself to Muslims who now reflect on their sacred text." (p132-133) Despite its Orientalist slant, this is an interesting and useful book, not least because it provides a thorough overview of contemporary Western as well as Muslim thinking and scholarship on the Qur'an, and its role in the modern world.

(The Qur'an: The Basics, by Massimo Campanini, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp 157. 2007. HB. Muhammad Khan is author of The Muslim 100, Leicester: Kube Publishing)

Islamic law Its future course

Shah Abdul Hannan

Islamic law research has progressed a lot and some laws on the basis of Islam have been legislated in various countries, though we can not say that the legislated laws are perfect and there are no lacunae. There has been major progress in the case of Islamic constitutional law and financial law in particular. Ulama and politicians for the first time in history agreed on the principles of Islamic constitution when in Pakistan they framed constitution in 1956 and then 1973 constitution. These were defining moments in the area of Islamic constitutional thought. Before that , because a kind of monarchy prevailed and later colianlism ruled the Muslim world, the political fiqh of Islam could not develop properly though some writings of Khaldun, Imam Gazali, Mawardi , Nizamul Mulk Tusi and other writers are available. But it was through Pakistan constitution for the first time and later through Iranian constitution we could formulate clear constitutional principles which are also suitable in the changed world of the current time.

The agreement was reached in these documents that the state would be a republic, sovereignty in the absolute sense belongs to Allah, government would be run by the people's representatives elected by the people , there would be a list of fundamental rights which every citizen would enjoy, judiciary would be independent. These are the guidelines for future for Islamic jurists where ever they work for Islamic constitutional thought.

In the area of law making the Mazhab is no longer a primary factor, if we look into the constitutions as we have mentioned, OIC fiqh academy rulings and in the new manuals being made internationally or nationally by IDB, Islamic Banks and other Islamic institutions. The same principle has been followed in framing new Shariat Act of Pakistan where it has been laid down that the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah would be the guiding principles, the opinion of any scholar of the past or present may be alluded to if felt necessary.

There is a lot of mis-understanding about the depth and vastness of Islamic law. Lot of people think that Islamic law relates to some criminal matter only where as criminal issues in Islamic law is not even five percent of the totality of Islamic law. Islamic law covers also regulations regarding economics, business, finance, banking, constitutional law, moral and ethics, family law ,procedural law of various types.

I also feel that a lot of research lies ahead of us in all areas, particularly in the areas of finance, political thought , Hadood (criminal punishments clearly provided in the Quran and Sunnah.). In this regard some issues have been raised by Dr Tariq Ramadan and some other scholars. In Pakistan also , Hadood law came under scrutiny on the ground that some provisions are hurting the women interest in an unfair way .As far as I have understood the problem is not in the substantive part but in the procedural part of the law which is really based on British criminal procedure .British criminal procedure is very long-winded and can not do proper justice as we have seen in the matter of repepeated police remands and consequent torture.The modern judiciary has failed to solve the proble and urgent steps are necessary in this regard.

It should also be clarified what we mean by Islamisation of law.I have checked up most of the laws in Bangladesh and in ninety eight percent there is hardly any thing to change because these deal with procedure and the punishment , if any , provided in these also falls in the area of Taazir ( laws to be made by the state ).For instance all the university acts, all the finance acts, all the Municipality acts, traffic act, poison act etc.Only in some acts some sections have to be changed mainly involving interest and only some penal provisions( other penal provisions are in the area of Taziir and may remain ).

Islamic jurists are all committed to the development and application of the law of Islam in all branches of human life as Islamic laws are fully consistent with human rights ( Islam gives all human and fundamental rights to all citizens, Muslims and Non-Muslims,as seen from OIC declaratio of human rights agreed to by senior Ulama, thinkers and legal experts) .

(The writer is a former secretary of the Government of Bangladesh)

Muslim News dialogue with politicians

A Special Correspondent

There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university t a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see." John Masefield, Poet Laureate

They should be hotbeds of radical thought and free thinking, but with guidelines introduced recently on tackling extremism on campuses and recommendations that academics monitor students for signs of involvement in extremist activity or radicalisation, how far British universities can take pride in their tradition of academic freedom is of growing concern to academics, student bodies and students.

Little surprise, then, that The Muslim News' initiative on a 'Dialogue with politicians', jointly hosted by the Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed J Versi, and Government Whip, Sadiq Khan MP, should attract an inquisitive and apprehensive crowd of predominantly young Muslims. Last month's dialogue featured Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities & Skills, John Denham, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Rob Wilson, and Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Innovation, Universities & Skills, Stephen Williams.

The reissuing of guidance to universities on tackling extremism on campus, 'Promoting good campus relations, fostering shared values and preventing violent extremism in Universities and Higher Education Colleges', was, with good cause, the main subject of the evening.

The Secretary of State was at pains to point out that the guidance was a necessary and desirable contribution to the state of campus relations and something requested by Higher Education (HE) bodies themselves as they struggle to prevent violent extremism from germinating in the relative security of Britain's universities. The need for the document was defended on grounds of its going beyond the emphasis on terrorism prevention to focus on the role of HE institutions in developing and sustaining the shared values that are fundamental to Britain's future as a multicultural society.

With growing numbers of students entering higher education in the UK - figures suggest that the introduction of variable fees has not thwarted the ambitions of those set on going to university from attaining their goal - the Government believes HE institutions play a critical role in the development and exercise of the shared values that underpin British society. It is the experience of questioning, debating, of open and free argument at university that provides a forum for the teaching and embracing of those values essential to peaceful coexistence and robust dialogue.

Laudable as these intentions are, Faisal Hanjra, Federation of Students' Islamic Societies representative, queried whether the Government in focussing on campuses was not overstating the issue and creating a problem where one did not actually exist. Raising the question of an earlier draft of the guidance document, which laid heavy emphasis on Muslim students, he claimed that the stigmatisation felt by Muslims at the disproportionate focus on them as a student group did much to undermine the very basis of good campus relations that the Government aimed to foster.

And criticising the Opposition Party's endorsement of a report authored by Director of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, Professor Anthony Glees, on campus extremism, Hanjra noted the weakness of both the report's content and its poor academic rigour. That the Opposition Party should make use of its findings to inform their own policies, was of some concern, Hanjra said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Ruhana Ali, Education and Welfare Officer at LSE Students Union, pointed out that the guidance document, with its mention of prayer rooms and the encouragement of Muslim women into leadership posts, could not defensibly be seen as a document that was applicable to all groups on campus in a fair and equal manner.

Rob Wilson, responding to a question on the published guidance, underlined the difficulty of evading the victimisation of Muslim students and achieving the goal of protecting both students and HE institutions. He acknowledged that there persisted a perception that Muslims were being singled out and that this would need to be addressed, though he admitted a considerable improvement in the published version over the earlier draft. Stephen Williams added that the guidance document should be equally and robustly applied to all ideologies that made use of violent extremism as a means to their ends, including animal rights groups, if the perception of victimisation among Muslims was to be overcome.

While the threat assessment might indeed suggest that al-Qa'ida remains the Government's main concern as it works to "strengthen the resilience of communities against forces that would tear them apart, enabling them to resist extremist influence and root out terrorism," the balance it needs to strike between working with communities and not against them has not yet been reached it would seem. Other issues raised during the evening included the responsibility of universities in meeting the needs of their diverse student populations. The panel was asked whether universities had a duty to provide prayer rooms, chaplains and halal meat for their Muslim students in keeping with recommendations made in a report authored by Dr Ataullah Siddiqui. Rob Wilson in characteristic Conservative fashion took a free market approach, arguing that if universities hoped to attract Muslim students in our fee paying age, they needed to meet the needs of all their students.

Of equal concern to those present was the issue of low educational achievement by ethnic minority students and graduate unemployment in the minority communities.

The Secretary of State spelt out various initiatives that the Government is working on to widen the participation of students from underprivileged backgrounds. He went on to argue that there was a lack of sufficient understanding as to why certain ethnic groups performed badly over all other groups when factors such as poverty and prior attainment were accounted for. The need to foster aspirations earlier on in the lives of children, from around 10 to 14 years of age, in order to ensure that the university option is one that is conceived early on, is among work being done to counter the disparity in levels of educational attainment across ethnic groups in Britain. And on the matter of graduate unemployment, while national statistics suggest that graduates from ethnic groups perform reasonably well or better than their White British counterparts (75% of British Asian graduates are in employment within three years of graduation, while the figure is 74% for Whites and 67% for Blacks) the problem of high local unemployment among ethnic minority graduates is not known.

Stephen Williams pointed to the choice of institution and choice of degree programme as contributing factors to low levels of educational achievement and graduate unemployment in the minority communities. Building high aspirations in students from these communities is essential to countering these trends, he stated.

The whole session was masterfully chaired by Mehdi Hasan, an editor at Channel 4. His witty yet serious approach to the issues at hand, ensuring that awkward questions were given their due while never losing an opportunity to inject light humour into the evening's proceedings, was a welcome change from more overbearing Chairs.

If interest in British politics amongst the younger generation and participation in political debate with those elected to represent them is waning, initiatives such as this dialogue with political leaders is an important and rewarding step in the right direction. It is through forums such as these that politicians are more likely to win the hearts and minds of British Muslim citizens and strengthen their pride in and commitment to the democratic tradition.

(Source: Muslim News, London)