So This is Christmas...

The snow has arrived!  I love this time of year.  So many childhood memories of snowmen, Christmas decorations, baked goodies, and family time are brought back with the coming of the season.  There is no other collective memory that I can recall from my childhood that are more special than these.  It was the one time of year when the whole family came together to celebrate, exchange Christmas cheer, and renew our bond. 

Congress Seeks to Kill High-Speed Rail. WH-WH-WHAT?

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Okay, I just have to ask, the current congressional members not the most backward-thinking blockheads ever to hold public office?  Is this the kind of legislative leadership that Republican voters had in mind when they voted  in these fools?  Oh, yes... I forgot, the environment means nothing to this constituency.  They likely applauded after the first act delivered by this congress, i.e., turning back the clock on compostable utensils, plates and cups by re-introducing plastics in the House cafeteria.  Wow- way to go!  Just keep filling the planet with Styrofoam!  Way to lead by example!  “They bend when exposed to hot soup!” they say.  That’s odd; I’ve been using (and re-using) the mine for three years with no problem!  "But what about the straws?" they plead.  Who drinks hot coffee through a straw?!  Perhaps it's the toxins from the plastics, leeching into their food that is responsible.  Hey, while you're whittling away at progress, why not roll back the schedule ban on energy-sucking incandescent lights?!  Oh, that's right!  You were working on that over the summer!  Now they want to kill high speed rail.  Idiots!  Do they not understand the number of jobs- permanent jobs at that- which could be created?  What about the money that could help revive rural America via tourist revenue?  And they call the other folks across the aisle “job killers”?!  No, let’s just put $4/gal fossil fuel in our cars and drive cross country!  Have these people never been to a developed country other than their own or are they simply too prideful to take lessons from others?  The beneficiary in each of these efforts is big oil.  The same material that goes into making plastics, tops off our gas tanks.  We, the American people, are the losers.  Wake up!  And no, climate change is not a hoax you imbeciles!!!!!   

And When Knowledge is Replaced with Ignorance...

The crises occurring within the Muslim world glares into the face of a tradition twisted by a century and a half of neglect and hubris.  The vacuum triggered by the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate ushered in what has become an era of unprecedented degradation to a system of law rooted in 1400 years of scholarship and consensus.  The magisterium class in Islam, despite its often nonlinear approach, upheld the established methods of evaluation and ruling, has been largely replaced by haphazard individuals who openly disdain the legitimacy of the recognized schools of legal thought.  Interestingly, those largely responsible for the destruction of the caliphate were, and in many quarters continue to be, in collaboration with those forces generally hostile to Islam, while simultaneously, deriving legal opinions from fringe elements that exist within Western ideologies.  This has resulted in a climate of anti-intellectualism and contempt for those striving to maintain the classical institution of teaching and learning established by contemporaries of the Prophet (عليه السلام‎), ultimately culminating in a loss of direction for those seeking his path and the continued decay of the ummah itself.       

The Breeding of Individualism and the Unraveling of Civil Society

As a child growing up in the United States, much of the social conditioning applied to my generation honed in on the importance of the individual and his or her right to self-advancement.  A sort of all-for-one entitlement program, the concept of rugged individualism maintained a hovering presence.  The assumption that a person could do and be anything was a major theme integrated into the pedagogy of the mainstream classroom.  It was argued, to raise the self-esteem of young people, schools should dismantle the practice of rewarding only those who excelled in a particular area in exchange for a practice of recognizing all students, regardless of the achievement, if any.   Most institutions maintained a discipline policy and that occasionally included a corporal component.   To a certain extent, depending on how it was reinforced in the home, this mode of rearing contained the potential to develop a certain degree of responsibility in the youth.  For most, it was recognized that attached to every action was a reaction; if someone violated the school policy or the expectations of public behavior it was expected that a consequence would follow be it through punishment or forthright disapproval.  If a young person failed to turn in their homework or hit a baseball through the neighbor’s window, it was generally understood that it came with a price.  Casually hollering profanity in the public square would be considered shameful and chances were, someone would let you know, regardless of age.  Before venturing outside the lines of acceptable behavior, those with sense enough to understand how the game was played would carefully weigh the risks.  Over the years, however, the same proponents who called for an end to the selection process of rewarding excellence (sometimes with material recognition but not always) also asserted their influence over the realm of behavioral management which has resulted in an erosion of societal values that have upheld the values of empathy and respect that traditionally held together the national fabric of social norms and civic responsibility.   

Osama and Contemporary Reasoning: A Duel Assassination

The storming of Osama bin Laden’s compound, his subsequent execution, and the joyous triumphalism on behalf of his enemies is troubling on innumerable levels. If we scan through our memory files back to that dreadful morning of September the 11th, we will find a gaping hole in the case against bin Laden as the prime suspect in what was by definition, an international crime (lest we forget, thirteen percent of the victims were foreign nationals). On the face of the allegations made against him firstly is his denial of involvement. If, as the popular line suggests, his motive was driven by faith, it should be understood that people of faith do what they do with the intention of pleasing the Divine. This is particularly true in Islam. To deny an act after having committed it for the sake of God, would serve to nullify any heavenly reward.  For bin Laden to repudiate what his accusers have dubbed his “pinnacle achievement," should initiate a reanalysis of the possible motives attributed to his role in the 911 attacks.  Opponents argue he denounced any involvement only to avert being bombed into oblivion. Interestingly, these same individuals claim the ultimate aim of his ideology was predicated on martyrdom. Such an argument is severely flawed.

The Obligation of Environmental Stewardship in the Shari‘a

‘We offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it; mankind undertook it–they have always been inept and foolish.’ (33:72)[1]

Among the innumerable mercies Allah ta'ala has bestowed upon His creation in the Shari’a is the relationship between humanity and the natural environment. The Qur’anic narrative establishing a khalifat Allah fi’l-ard or vicegerent is fundamentally unique within the monotheistic tradition in which humanity’s relationship to earth is described as steward rather than an owner. Both in the passages of the sacred text and the prophetic traditions pertaining to creation demonstrate an inherent harmony ingrained within the core dimensions of Islam. As with many Qur’anic injunctions, there is an infinite revealing of knowledge taking place with the unfolding of time and our increased understanding of creation through the evolution of the sciences. As modernity illustrates, however, it is only by the Grace of Allah that the seeker of knowledge strives to comprehend revelation utilizing the blessing of the intellect. Dismissing the Divine element in the quest for understanding is to our spiritual peril as environmental degradation is to our existence.