No doubt Madressa is important. But so are parents. We adults should be wise enough to know that children have massive amounts of physical strength, but get tired quickly with the monotonous ways of our teachings in madressa as well as at home. So how to motivate these children? With computers. You might have seen the number and types of educational softwares for children that have been produced by the western countries. These ‘games’ are both entertaining as well as educating.

 I propose that we, as Muslims, move in the same direction and produce such educational materials as easy to read books, computer linked games (and other related softwares), slides, videos, etc.

Books

By providing books written especially with Muslim Children in mind, it will be possible to achieve two objectives at one go i.e. practise their English; and learn about the Islamic way of life.

 

Slides

This is especially effective in a Madressa situtation where the children have no intention to write notes. Visual aids are known to be as effective as writing notes.

 

Videos

Again, this is a very practical method to teach our children the proper way to do Wudhu, Ghusl, pray Salat, etc.

 

Computers

For those who have computers at home, they can play Islamic games (e.g. Shaitan Buster) or access a CD of Islamic Encyclopedia. Softwares are now out that teach Salaaat. I suggest that a strenuous effort be made by the Council to implement such softwares in our communities for the benefit of our children.

Taking this a step further is very important. We should allocate funds to enable some software specialists, artists and people with good Islamic knowledge to come up with CD’s, diskettes, etc. that contain interesting, entertaining and educational material for our children.

 

Internet/BBS/E-Mail

All these services are available to anyone with a phone line and a modem. Internet consists of a vast range of materials and, therefore, I suggest the Council issue some suggestions and guidelines for parents to follow while allowing their children to access Internet sites. The E-Mail facility can be moulded to our needs by having access to different Muslim children around the world. This is important in this day and age where Muslims are often denied the freedom of speech. Through correspondence, our children would come to know of the difficulties faced by their Muslim brothers around the world. With this, I pray to God to guide us onto the Right Path.

 

Mahmood H.M. Daya, P.O. Box 14757, Arusha.

 I believe it was in Tanga in late 60s/early 70s that the constitution of the Africa Federation was amended to state that no one individual would serve in the same capacity for more than two consecutive terms. At that conference I had enquired "why do we need this clause when the person serving was doing an excellent job?" I was told that by not having this clause, other able bodied people normally crop out because someone was doing the job any way (good or bad). By having this clause, the community will be forced to look for someone to captain the ship. Sounded fair!

 We know that the present President of the World Federation, Mulla Asgharali M. M. Jaffer is doing an excellent job. We know - at least based on my knowledge of other likely leaders within the community - that he is not replacable easily. But the point remains that by removing this restriction from the constitution, we have created a breathing space ( may be breathing universe!!) for others, who would otherwise have been arm-twisted into accepting the position. We now have forced Mulla to continue, when he himself may have preferred for someone else to navigate our Safina.

 The amendment, to me, seems not an appreciation of services by Mulla but a selfishly motivated manoeuvre by the supporters of the amendment to cop-out from taking the challenge. What was done in Tanga has been reversed so that the incumbent, whether willing or not, is forced to continue.

Ghulam Abbas Sajan

Toronto

In one Hayderi Newsletter issued by the Hayderi Jamaat of London, Mohamed H. Lalji has said: "The book, "Islamic Messianism" when read by any person other than a Shia would give an immediate low profile of Shia beliefs and the irony is that the book is widely used by university students undertaking religious studies. The long-term damage this book might cause to our faith is incomprehensible and only Allah (SWT) knows better. It hurts even more when one of your own brothers has written it. It is not possible to explain all the details in an article of this sort."

This book is sacrilegious. It casts aspersions on Wilayat, Imamat and Ghaibat of Hazrat Hujjat A.F. and whilst the Toronto Open Forum decided that the issue be considered closed what about those who continue to read the book? And whilst the writer has proclaimed his own belief, has he really admitted that he has erred as far as writing the book is concerned?

In his letter, Gulam Dhala has praised the writer greatly because he is a Khoja scholar without an 'aba' and assumes that because the writer has served our community in the west in many ways, he should not be touched. But truly, this logic is difficult to perceive.

Dhala also tells us that Ayatullah Khui A.M. personally assigned to him to translate Al-Bayan Fi Tafsir Al-Qur'an. Is this true? Probably the author himself can tell us.

Finally we are told that Sheikh Taskhiri has read and approved the book in question but the truth is that he has not read the book.

Mohamed Hemani, P.o. Box 87200, Mombasa

The tabligh sub-committee

Held a camp for both boys and girls

Encouraging them to socialize and seek religious knowledge.

 

In attending a camp for the very first time

So all of us were very happy and fine

Longing to be on time for everything over there

A system fair and wise to change our days.

Marvellously went everything until the end

Inshallah, we will have a chance to meet again,

Curiously waiting to know the future plans.

 

Inspiration we gained,

Nearness we achieved

Truthfulness was our aim.

Excellent it was.

Realistic we became

None other, but we, Muslims

Altogether joined hands

To mark the end of this happy day,

In celebrating and rejoicing

On and on till the very last minute of the day

Nice Muslims we became,

Avoiding bad habits as much as we can.

Looking for ways and means to be the best again.

 

Nairobi was a jolly nice place

And all the girls enjoyed their stay

Ideally it was the best in all aspects.

Remembering the fun we had at the Camp,

On and on, again and again,

Brought satisfaction and pride within Muslim girls.

Indeed! It surely made an impact on all of us.

 

Sunny and breezy days went by,

Understanding one another with a sigh,

Mashallah, it was a success,

Many girls never got upset

Exchanging ideas and opinions among ourselves,

Ready are we to change ourselves.

 

Coming and going, early and late,

Attending classes to date,

Meeting friends again and again,

Pleasing them as much as we can.

 

Fatima M. Sachedina, P.O. Box 81856, Mombasa.

Again standard procedures dictate that voting could be by shouts of "Yes" and "Nos" or by show of hands or by ballot. However any participant can object to the first two methods if they can inhibit or intimidate conscientious voting. For example the election of Executive Councillors is by ballot voting and such normal procedures rarely have the need to be mentioned in the constitution.

 The amendment at this particular moment of time concerns only Mulla. Though he has not aired his intentions publicly, the speakers who spoke a lot about experience certainly had no doubt. As a potential beneficiary he should either have accepted voting in any form or let somebody else chair the session for him to appear unprejudiced.

 Then we had two Africa Federation terms depreciated to debris. Can we ask for an interpretation of this alleged retrogression for a term when AF so ably handled the Somalia crisis and subsequent resettlement of displaced citizens. The CHB, Censta and Think Tank were also launched then and there were those historic trips to India, Pakistan and Iran amongst other notable achievements.

 God bless our community or else oratory will soon put us off our trajectory

 Afzal Mottaqi, Dar es Salaam.

Coming to the Toronto Forum, Dr. Sachedina no doubt is a learned person, a fine orator and has a strong grip on our brothers and sisters in the western world especially the young generation. His book Islamic Messianism is however rather dubitable and it was thus decided at the Forum that it be discarded by ignoring it.

The book cannot however be ignored as copies are already there in well known universities in the western world at the risk of misguiding present and future generations. Moreover how can we honour Dr. Sachedina as a mumin when he is the author of the book?

Honestly it appears from the way things ended at the Toronto Forum, that it was intended to please all parties without any major compromises. If not, why were issues like withdrawing the book from circulation not considered when we know that it can mislead?

I wish I could be wrong. Can any one with sound knowledge of Fiqh through Federation Samachar please guide me as I am puzzled, confused and lost. Rather than have a war of words between the members of community, would it not be better if such issues are handled without compromises?

Senior Citizen, P.O. Box 233, Dar es Salaam.

The harm done can be undone only by Dr. Sachedina himself. To err is human and to make amends is never late. It matters a great deal when in all sincerity Dr. Sachedina maintains his fallibility as human being and his sensitivity to the concerns of his fellow believers in the community. The time is therefore ripe for him to undo what has erroneously been done by him.

In all fairness, we should confine ourselves to the discussion on the book as a demonstration of the maturity of the community in resolving a long outstanding issue. We should not harp upon personalities involved, nor should we be personal about the issue. Against this background the question of allowing ourselves to sling the proverbial "mud" and "lynch" our own in the hope of degrading him does not arise.

It is up to Dr. Sachedina to set straight the misinformation being spread by non-Muslims teaching Islam with the help of his book "Islamic Messianism". Dr. Sachedina would be well advised to heed to the suggestion given by Mulla Asghar at the Toronto Forum "not to defend the book" but lately in the translators introduction of Ayatullah Amini’s book, he has defended his book again. At the same time it would be appropriate for him not to find subterfuge by dedicating his other translation works to distinguished personalities like Mulla Asghar and Hujjatul Islam Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi without obtaining their blessings.

The ball is now in the court of Dr. Sachedina to resolve the issue of "Islamic Messianism" in order to put an end to further misuse of his book.

Wama Alayna Illal Balagh.

Fidahusein A. Hameer, Dar es Salaam.

Take the following incident narrated by a young man who was asked as to why a sweet smell of mishak and amber emanated from his body:-

"Once an old lady visited my shop and after buying her necessities, she requested me to carry the package to her house and pleaded that because of her advanced age she wished to have the package taken upstairs. Upstairs I was welcomed by a young beautiful girl who said that she had planned with the old woman to get me there. Finding myself in this dilemma, I asked her to allow me to visit the wash-room for which she directed him downstairs. Once in the wash-room I smeared my body with filth and the girl found me so unpresentable that she asked the old woman to turn me away. On my return home, I took a bath and from that moment the fragrance emanated from my body as a reward from Allah (S.W.T.)."

Now let us turn to the incident of Hazrat Yusuf and Zulekha in her palace room where she first covered an idol before trying to seducing Hazrat Yusuf. When Hazrat Yusuf asked the reason, she stated that she was ashamed of carrying out an evil act in the presence of her God. Hazrat Yusuf asked how he could submit to such a shameful act before God who is omnipresent. During the conversation, Hazrat Yusuf got a chance to slip away but she caught his garment from behind as a result of which it tore.

Failing in her plans, Zulekha complained to the King that Hazrat Yusuf tried to seduce her and called for him to be sentenced. When the case came up for hearing, Allah (S.W.T.) saved Hazrat Yusuf for abstaining from the evil act by making an infant present in the court to speak; who, of course, could not be coerced or bribed to make a prejudiced statement. The infant cried: "Examine the garment; if it is torn from front, Hazrat Yusuf is guilty and if it is torn from behind Zulekha is guilty."

In return for his noble act, Allah (S.W.T.) rewarded Hazrat Yusuf with the Kingdom of Egypt and made him Prophet. A few years later, the same infant, in his adolescence, attended the congregration of Hazrat Yusuf where Jibrael was also present. Jibrael was asked to behold this young man and Hazrat Yusuf made him sit beside him and bestowed upon him many gifts. Although the infant testified only as commanded by Allah (S.W.T.), Hazrat Yusuf rewarded him profusely.

Whilst God rewards the virtuous, Verse 25 warns that He is severe in the requital of evil. Today terminal diseases like AIDS are an example of God's curse and so let us all resolve to stay away from evil acts.

Pyarali Asserwalla, Mombasa, Kenya.

I am sure that the objective of the World Federation is to serve Islam and Islamic Values as well. Our Prophet (pbuh) had rightly announced to overlook any thing for the great one and so why does the Africa Federation similarly not overlook for the great one?

At present the leader of the World Federation is Mulla Sahib and there is no alternative to him. The Africa Federation must accept that Mulla is a divine gift for the entire Shia community because he is the most learned, eminent, honest, pious and great leader. Why replace a great leader by a good leader!

The amendment requires the majority of the floor and though the Africa Federation may not agree, they must respect democratic values.

Mulla Sahib is and will remain our leader. A man makes the constitution but not a constitution makes a man. We ask Africa Federation to honestly think for the betterment of the entire ummah.

Syed Ali Ibnul Hussain, President of All India Bilal Mission

The AF Stand on the Clause was supported by reasoning with no intention to undermine democracy. Editor

We are often given the examples of Safi Gulpaygani. We are told that he is an Ayatullah. I am not so sure based on the information I have received from some people (read maulanas) who know him. I read his book which was translated in one of the crudest English imaginable. Sachedina’s book is not an easy read. It took me at least 18 readings of Page 3 before I could understand it - the page around which there is so much controversy. I have my doubts with regards to how this page and, for that matter, the entire book was translated for Safi Gulpaygani before he responded in Farsi, which as indicated above, was pathetically translated in English.

The point that I wish to make is "who is the loser?" Is it Sachedina? Is it the academic world? Or is it international agencies? Or is it us? For your readers’ information, Sachedina is invited to make academic presentations; he is writing a medical thesis for United Nations; he is regularly invited by the Iranians to give lectures in United States; the Shi‘a Lebanese community invited him for reading majalis in English during last two Muharrams; he was requested by Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini to translate his book on the 12th Imam ( atf); and he was in the Islamic Republic of Iran recently for the occasion of commemorating the passing away of Imam Khumeyni (ra), as the guest of President Khatemi. So who has lost out? It is the so called defenders of Shi‘ism - the people of Indo-Pakistani origin which includes the khojas.

However, doubts linger in my mind. Is the current debate a genuine belief and concern on the part of some of the "scholars" within the Indo-pak community living in Africa, Europe and North America or is it jealousy?

Ghulam Abbas Sajan, Toronto.

 How can we take Dr. Sachedina's non-defence for granted. I do not believe that in these issues silence is the answer. Rather one must declare one's opinion publicly because our basic belief of Islam teaches us that one can never be a Muslim by reciting Kalema by heart but one has to declare in order to became a Muslim.

 I know that Dr Sachedina is intelligent and has done a lot for Islam in the West but then he should also be brave and admit his mistakes so that future generations are not negatively influenced. If some of the opinions of Sheikh Saduq's 'Itiqadat' were corrected by Sheikh Mufid's 'Tashih' (The corrections) and if some 'Mutaqaaimun' (ancient) jurist is corrected by a 'Mutaakhirun' (contemporary) jurist, then why should not Dr Sachedina be corrected by Moulana Rizwi or for that matter Ayatullah Safi Gulpaygani?

 And to make matters worse, at the question time in the Forum, the Chairman curtailed people from discussing the book, saying that enough had been said on this subject. If the Forum was about the controversial book, on what other subject did the chairman want people to discuss on?

I was very disappointed that nothing concrete was achieved in this Forum, which was a good idea to clear the air about Sachedina's book but was marred by limited time to express constructive dialogue.

 As things stand, the Islamic Messianism appears to have only been tossed in water from which it will eventually float up. This is why I regard the Forum as being inconclusive.

Muhammad Ladak, P O Box 36, MOSHI. [E-mail; mladak@cats-net.com]

Transparency demands accuracy. Either accept him with his book or excommunicate him from the community unless he is prepared to accept the laid down Islamic sheria. Before the situation goes from bad to worse and the community is divided, it is high time you as a honest and faithful Editor take initiative and seek a permanent solution from our Marja explaining him in detail the gravity of the situation and for his ready reference attach all materials e.g. the book Islamic Messianism, video cassettes of the Toronto Forum, correspondence for and against the book. Please write directly from your desk without involving any Wakil/Agent and request him for his ruling Fatwa. After all he is the highest and final authority.

If the Fatwa is in favour of Dr. Sachedina we will accept him with all the respect due to him, otherwise it will be in his jurisdiction either to follow the guidelines of "Angel Fitrus" or "Iblis". Let us all in general and the community leaders in particular stick to transparency for our own benefit.

Gulam Dewji, Dar es Salaam.

Our Juloos should be designed for the public eye and thereby for their awareness. Thus whatever we show, portray, display, say or recite should be primarily meant for them. The organisation of the entire exercise should focus on making the Juloos more purposeful. This is now even more important as the Juloos is being telecast live thus reaching thousands of people.

Proposals & Recommendations

On behalf of the Tabligh Section of the Dar es Salaam Jamat, I present a few suggestions, some of which have been introduced but need to be further developed.

1. The overall appearance of the Juloos should portray grief and sorrow.

2. The number of Replicas (Alams, Julas etc) should be reduced.

3. Whatever replicas the committee decides to take out should also portray grief and sorrow. In addition they should not in any way provide an opportunity for the general and innocent Muslims to confirm the anti Shia propaganda of idol worshipping.

4. More banners and placards should be taken out.

5. The use of the media (radio, TV, newspapers) to propagate the message of Kerbala should be consolidated. Instead of only a one day Ashura Supplement, it is better to give short articles daily for the first nine days of Muharram in various popular dailies. Similarly special programmes for local TV stations can be prepared to be telecast on Ashura.

6. Effective distribution of handouts and leaflets should be undertaken.

7. Some onlookers should be interviewed for their views on the concept of Ashura.

8. The Scouts, the organisers of the most educational and effective project, ‘The Kerbala project’ should be fully encouraged and assisted.

9. The reduction in the playing of Urdu nawhas to be continued.

10. The increase in Kiswahili lectures on TV to be continued.

11. The services of instructors from Bilal to be arranged well in advance and if necessary increase of allowances to be considered.

12. Re-introduction of the facility of operating a small kiosk for selling books at subsidised rates to be looked into.

13. To continue the practice of delivering the Kiswahili lecture in the mid way of the procession, as introduced two years ago.

14. To display banners outside our Centres during Muharram.

I pray that Allah (S.W.T.) grants us patience, strength, wisdom and unity to fulfil these responsibilities.

Dr. Shiraz Datoo, Dar es Salaam.