I’d
like to editorialize before I begin to address several conversations with
Tahir. It strike me that these
conversations do have a personal meaning. The meaning has to do with opening a closed
mind. Not Tahir’s mind. Mine.
I have no control over Tahir’s mind and I see no general interest from
him in terms of learning ANYTHING from me.
Regardless, he will hear my side of an argument whether he wants to hear
it or not. He is a personal connection
and I appreciate his perspective. I even
like his commitment to his perceptions even if I completely disagree. Winning here is not my agenda, though
expressing an alternative view is required.
At one point I asked him if he had the kind of conversations we were
having with his friends in Dubai. No,
because they are all Muslim. They all
agree already. He has mentioned our
conversations to others but clearly he has not mentioned how much we
differ. Tahir seems as committed to this
dialogue as I but for different reasons.
To
step aside from divisiveness for a moment, some things about Tahir’s Islam are actually
defensible and admirable. One point he
stresses is that Islam has a rule for just about everything, including how to
sleep and how to sit on the toilet. It
is clear that perhaps 85% (my unscholarly guess) is rational and even
helpful. Or at least defensible. It’s not lunacy. So if you were in Islam, this may be a
gratifying thing: a roadmap as it were.
The discipline of the practice is certainly a stabilizing
environment. The other thing that comes
through is that the religion is steeped in a sort of reverence for living, for
God’s creation, for his blessings. You are not so important. He is all pervasive and I think in its way,
the ego is kept in check. And if you
have been given a bad deal somehow, it is God’s punishment and you should be
thankful for the corrective. If you
behave badly, you need to get back on track.
Ah, if life were only this simple.
I think for Tahir, it is. Not
that desire and temptation are not an issue for him and all human beings. I myself think shit happens and the link to
God’s punishment is rather slim. See
Answer to Job. I need to bring this one
up with Tahir.
I
have many associates who cannot stand to hear one word of this sort of
thing. Like, why bother talking to the
source of jihad? I guess my response is
that we need exactly that – to talk to the source of jihad. Yet the intolerance I hear and see on our
side is rather discouraging to me. We have
a brick wall and we have no desire to know the other. It reminds me of our way of wanting to bring
democracy to those who don’t particularly care about it. Democracy springs out of a good educational
system and many of these countries are poor and poorly run. They don’t have a tradition of
education. I wonder why my friends are
so non-interested. Or worse, think I’m a
bit loony for engaging with Tahir at all…
One
disappointing exchange, or should I say enlightening exchange had to do with my
ongoing discussion of gay rights. I sent Tahir an article about two men,
married, who decided to adopt four foster care children. Like, needy foster
children.
They
have clearly worked hard to create a happy healthy home for the kids. Tahir of course only sees RED in that they
are gay and that is WRONG WRONG WRONG.
They are unnatural, they are pursuing their desires, lust. If they want families, so it the right way –
marry a woman and have children. The
fact that these guys are doing God’s work (I wouldn’t be surprised if they go
to church on Sundays) completely passes him by.
To him, they are pursuing their “desire” and by this he means sex. No good deed goes unpunished? I may have created a new meaning for that
phrase. I did feel rather shocked at his
resistance, his refusal to give an inch, to even acknowledge that the sinners
are doing something good. He elaborates
on sex in parks and the like, and I point out that this is going on in
Islamabad. He counters that this doesn’t
make it right. Because there may be
Muslims who fall off the wagon doesn’t mean a thing and in this he is
right. It is as simple as his example where
there are candies you may like, but that you shouldn’t eat because God tells
you this. By living within God’s plan
you will see reward and the desire you once had will disappear. This exchange saddened me, but hey, no one
said this dialogue was meant to create happiness.
I
tried this one again, mentioning a male couple where one partner was dying and
both were unhappy about the situation.
Tahir will acknowledge human concern (“we are all human) in the fact of
death, but my point was to illustrate that the couple had more in common than
lust. He had no response to this angle.
We
have discussed many items. The washing
ritual before prayer 5 times a day.
Being moderate. He did drink some
in earlier times, but no longer. He
tells me there will canals of drink in heaven, but without preservatives. If you live within the boundaries of Allah,
“you will come to know his blessing.” If
you insist that you can ignore his doctrine, you will be punished. But this is repeated endlessly in the
Koran. I wonder how it was that one time
Islam, Judaism and Christianity lived in relative harmony. He doesn’t deny the fact that journalists get
killed in Pakistan more than other countries.
This is because of the militants that are out there, not because of
Islam per se.
Pakistan
is the land of milk and honey surrounded by China, Russia and India – all enemies
in one way or other. The Paki secret service
out did the KGB at one point – something he is proud of. Pakistan is blessed with many natural
resources.
He
has suggested I listen to Tariq Jameel.
I’ve looked into others that have been recommended. One was a disaster. A few have been Sufi style scholars and are
rather inspiring. Mr. Jameel (he has
some formal title as a spiritual leader in Islam) is a warm presence and it
seems to me sticks to the day to day issues facing regular folks. It appears that only men go to these lectures
so the environment is amusing, at least to me.
Mr. Jameel has a chastising sensibility and he is often right, at least
within the context to the issue at hand which generally gentle. Tahir likes him because "he loves his
God". He is "sweet, real, strong". Mr. J "will hit your heart and your mind". I totally agree.
Here
is one amusing lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9BjO74wwZA .
Or the story of Ya’fur the talking donkey at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvAcY1F1cc0 .
However, I doubt Mr. Jameel utters anything radical (or pro
Marriage Equality.) Nonetheless, he
offers real value in a world that seems to need the basics.
So I enter the discussion of the militant Islam. Tahir is very much
against the militants. But, I insist, is not the
decadent USA inherently the enemy of Islam by our in your face freedoms? Tahir tells me that we are an enemy against
ourselves. We will face the day of reckoning
like everyone else. There is no need for
Islamists to attack us. In his mind.
Tahir often tells me to keep “reciting” the Koran. I decided to remind him that I am not
reciting the Koran, but that I am READING it.
No, he insists, I am reciting it by reading it. The use of the word recite is meant to show
respect. I give up on this one. His English is good but again we are facing a
cultural difference here too large to bridge or at least one I'm not willing to press.
I will continue to read and he will continue to think I recite.
Oh, sex and shaved public hairs?
By shaving, not only do you improve the appearance of that area, you
increase blood flow to the genital area.
Hence, increased sexual vitality.
My buddy in Kuwait did not see the vitality angle, but agreed to shaving
(men and women) due to cleanliness. True
enough, they live in a very hot area of the world and hair and sweat don’t mix.
If you are punished by God, it is a good thing. He is putting you back on track. Answer to Job? Yet another question.
But today he did not hold back….. (another entry for another day.)
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