And thats how Sarah Sees It!It would be remarkably presumptuous to put it down to coincidence. No not the building site but rather the flaring of the debate right around the start of Ramadan. It is nothing new. Saddam was executed on Eid. Maybe they considered him to be a replacement sheep? Who knows. I don't. Back to the GZM aka Victory Mosque aka Durka Durka Jihad.
GZM VM DDJ, officially registered as the Cordoba Community Centre, was already given approval in December last year with no real issue. As Jon Stuart of the Daily Show commented "maybe it was approved in the spirit of the Christmas season". I cannot comment as to the amount of church plans Egypt approves in the "spirit of the holy month of Ramadan" but I reckon its a similar number. We do like our skyline adorned with as many religious symbols as possible. Now I am not going to go into some full blown discussion about the pros and cons of locating this centre a few blocks away from ground zero because other than not being there, or an authority on planning, I also do not wish to engage in a political debate where all my funny anecdotes have already been stolen by Charlie Brooker in his commentary here.
There is something I do wish to discuss and that's the rise of irascible religious leaders. The word leader should in any case get those alarm bells ringing, especially when followed by religion. I like to think that I make the distinction between those who wish to be referred to as religious leaders and Islamic scholars. Unfortunately they don't. I remember reading a while back a job description from the 14th century for an imam. Given the common argument regarding the "backward" nature of Islam in that it leans towards a different century, this should come as a bit of a surprise. The qualifications expected of an imam in the 14th century were quite extensive. Beyond knowledge of the quran and the hadith [sayings of the prophet], imam's were also to be versed in all sciences including law (jurisprudence), have extensive understanding of astronomy and knowledge of alchemy; be readers of history, politics, philosophy and theology to encompass all religions and beliefs; be fluent in Arabic, Greek, Latin and an Asian language; have skills in calligraphy and art; be masters in elocution and public speaking; charismatic and meticulously well groomed (details regarding the upkeep of their beard is also described); be diplomatic, approachable and have humble mannerisms and good looks.
Well, they don't make them like they used to in the 14th Century then! Now we are met with imams who barely speak Arabic, never finished school and who's only qualification is their ability to regurgitate the Quran to an equally ignorant flock who for lack of better knowledge inevitably perpetuate their status from Quran teacher to imam to religious leader. They look like they have never come across a razor let alone a loofah and don out fatwas like hot bread in a rations queue. If those are imams of the lower classes, mid class imams are hardly any better. They may wear their ray-bans out but they are equally at fault for misguiding their congregation with over zealous advice based on rabbit-out-of-hat tricks as opposed to deeper understanding of the time-context nature of the religious texts. There was the shining beacon of an example in Egypt (where else...) where one imam had the audacity to recommend to a woman working in a male dominated office that should she give her male colleagues 5 breastfeeding sessions so they can be alone in one room because then the men would be considered relatives and hence not potential mating partners. Fabulous. I cannot even use the joke "this has set us back centuries" because really this phenomena of faulty fatwas and unintelligible imams is something inherent to this century. Upper class imams are comparable to Scientology 'leaders' - high on charisma and charm, low on just about everything else. My question is clear - where have all the good imams gone? Where are our scholars? Has the great religious institution of Al Azhar not been able to churn out one decent imam in the last century? Its not leaders that are required. What Islam needs is a scholar capable of knowing that after a life time of study he is non the wiser for it and therefor is far more cautious with his words and actions.
Having said that I also commend Egypt as being one of the only countries in the region to produce decent Muslim televangelists. The one example I can think of now is Amr Khaled. He is Egyptian but his programmes - mostly narrations of the prophet's life - are produced abroad because the government, paradoxically, is afraid of popular religious programmes and claim his popularity is dangerous. This is the very same government that banned the ma'edas (meal tables of Day 2) when the bird flu epidemic was in full swing but did not ban stadium attendance at football matches. I am not necessarily a fan of televangelists myself; however, if this should be the crutch upon which wider society is to lean upon at least knowing that there is more truth than fiction in their words allows me to rest somewhat easier at night.
Finally, this month is about taking responsibility for your actions and being held accountable to the highest living court - your self. That part where the daily internal struggle (jihad..)ensues to align your decisions and ensure we limit the amount of damage there is to control. God gave us free will, not collective will - so in the end we are nothing more than the byproducts of our own decisions. Someone may very well lead me to the bridge but in the end it is I who chooses to jump.
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