Shi'a Pundit

Devoted to the viewpoint of Islam of Muhammad SAW and Amir ul-Mumineen, Ali ibn Abi Talib SA, in the Shi'a Fatimi Ismaili Dawoodi Bohra tradition.

halal and kosher slaughter to be banned in UK?.

Muslims and Jews are cousins - in fact the greatest threat to pur respective religions is not each other, but the concerns of te material world against which we must be united. Case in point: an attempt to ban the halal and kosher slaughter of animals in the UK:

The method of animal slaughter used by Jews and Muslims should be banned immediately, according to an independent advisory group.

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), which advises the government on how to avoid cruelty to livestock, says the way Kosher and Halal meat is produced causes severe suffering to animals.

Both the Jewish and Muslim religions demand that slaughter is carried out with a single cut to the throat, rather than the more widespread method of stunning with a bolt into the head before slaughter.

Kosher and Halal butchers deny their method of killing animals is cruel and have expressed anger over the recommendation.

It remains to be seen whether this issue is addressed jointly by muslim and jewish groups or whether they choose to fight the battles separately out of mistrust. Guess which strategy will succeeed and which will fail?

America is the greatest Islamic country in the world.

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collateral damage and niyat.

Katherine, a commentator on this Tacitus post about Israel's jihad on Hamas, writes:

Suicide bombers intentionally kill civilians--they want that result to happen. Israel knowingly kill the family members of Hamas leaders--they know that it will result from their actions; but they will be happy, not disappointed to find out they weren't in the car after all.

So there is a distinction. But most states treat crimes committed knowingly and those committed intentionally exactly the same. They certainly do so for homicide.

this comment resonates with an Islamic understanding of judgement. The concept of niyat (intention) is a major input to the evaluating the consequences of your actions (in both the material and spiritual regimes). Niyat is of course a major factor in the American judicial system as well - for example, its why some people are charged of manslaughter and others murder-1.

That said, the concept of "collateral damage" is absolutely immoral because it seeks to disavow all responsibility. To take the manslaughter example, consider scenario A, the teenager driving drunk who hits a tree that falls and kills a man. The teen will be charged with manslaughter, because despite the fact that killing the man (or felling the tree) was not his niyat, it was still the direct consequence of his actions. Saying the tree killed the man doesn't work because the "upstream" causal actor was the teen. The tree didn't decide to fall down because teh teen hit the tree, it fell because that was part of the immediate mechanical outcome of the teen's decision to act wrongfully - drive drunk.

Scenario B: If the teen was actually driving sober and lost control of his car because of a road hazard, then there was no wrongful action on the teen's part and the resulting death would not be directly caused by his upstream actions.

Collateral damage essentially argues that the death caused by the upstream is analgous to Scenario B. I disagree, because there is known, finite, and probable outcome that you will it a tree and kill a man when you go out driving sober. However, teh decide to fire a missile into a civilan area, there is indeed a known and probable outcome that noncombatants will be killed. By pursuing the action regardless, you are firmly in Scenario A.

Compare and contrast teh actions of the American military with the IDF - when faced with fedayeen firing from the rooftops of civilian homes, our forces withdrew (and actually lost an Apache). IDF helicopters in the same scenario would have simply leveled the neighborhood.

Collateral damage may be necessary from a tactical standpoint, but it still amounts to manslaughter. Any attempt to justify it is absolutely immoral and indefensible.

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hug a Jew.

As a companion to the fantastic (if dated) piece in Slate on the roots of anti-semitism in Arab cultures, I have to point out the Hug a Jew! column over at Muslim WakeUp! They also have a link to an important article by Tariq Ramadan, grandson of teh founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, who addresses the incompatibility of anti-Semitism with Islamic teaching:

“To my regret, anti-Semitic utterances have been heard not only from frustrated and confused young Muslims, but also from certain Muslim intellectuals and imams,” he says, “who in every crisis or political backsliding see the hand of the ‘Jewish lobby.’ There is nothing in Islam that gives legitimization to Judeophobia, xenophobia and the rejection of any human being because of his religion or the group to which he belongs. Anti-Semitism has no justification in Islam, the message of which demands respect for the Jewish religion and spirit, which are considered a noble expression of the People of the Book.”

Even when he identifies urges that have their source in economic distress and social frustration, or the desire to protest against Israel’s oppressive policy, among people who express themselves in an anti-Semitic way and are involved in anti-Semitic acts, Ramadan refuses to demonstrate understanding or forgiveness toward them. He says: “The social and political forces in the Muslim communities must act to educate toward the delegitimization of elements of anti- Semitism. Leaders and imams have the responsibility to disseminate an unequivocal message about the profound connections between Islam and Judaism and Islam’s recognition of Moses and the Torah.”

“Despite what is happening today in Israel and Palestine, despite [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon’s policy, despite the feelings of anger and frustration - those responsible for all the Muslim political and social organizations must open a clear dialogue that distinguishes between criticism of Israel’s policy, and anti-Semitic and Judeophobic statements and actions. This is lacking today and this is a great responsibility.”

This is a critical aspect of akhlaq (character) for a muslim - adherence to the Truth and rejecting falsehood for short-term political gain. The abuse of religion to justify anti-Semitism is a great atrocity on both the material and spiritual levels.

Ramadan is careful to identify the shared responsibility of both Muslims and Jews with regard to invoking anti-semitism as a barrier to dialouge^[1] :

Ramadan warned, in his interview with Ha’aretz that two dangerous phenomena exist side by side: one is criticism of and protest against the Israeli government’s policy toward the Palestinians that are accompanied by declarations that deny that the Holocaust took place and the other defines any criticism of Israel as anti-Jewish propaganda and as ignoring the memory of the Holocaust.

“Recently, in a public debate that was held in Brussels on the war in the Middle East,” related the Muslim philosopher, “a woman in the audience challenged: ‘Why do you always bring up the Holocaust?’

”I replied immediately, ‘It is possible to be against Israel’s policy in Palestine, but we must take into account the real memory of the Jews’ suffering in the 20th century and evince special sensitivity to the Holocaust. This is an obligation of conscience and ethics. We must remember what happened so that it will never happen again.’

“From a different perspective, it is our obligation to tell every Jew or Zionist who supports Israel’s official policy that it is impossible to make systematic use of the Holocaust and the memory of the victims to give legitimization to Israel’s oppressive policy in Palestine. This is forbidden. The fact that there are people who use the memory of the Holocaust to justify Israel’s actions, which many define as state terror against the Palestinian people, does not justify others not taking into account the memory of the Holocaust. Both approaches must be condemned.”

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Karbala revisited.

The Washington Post has an article describing how things are going (rather well) in Karbala. I'm certainly not surprised to see a co-incidence of stability and piety in one place. But I think the real reason for the success in Karbala of the American occupation is more due to strong and principled leadership rather than any actual policy decisions by the American side:

For many, Abdel-Mahdi Salami is the city's spiritual authority. He is the deputy of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the ranking cleric at the Shiite seminary in Najaf, 50 miles south of Karbala. In contrast to some more activist clerics, Sistani eschews a role in government for the clergy, a message welcomed by U.S. officials here. He has suggested in edicts that politics is beneath clerics' spiritual calling.

Salami -- with his thick-framed glasses and a beard streaked with gray -- has followed that injunction. By all accounts, he wields great authority and enjoys popularity from the hectic, even anarchic days after the fall of Hussein's government on April 9 when he and 25 other clerics stepped in to run the government. He refuses to meet with the Americans, conveying his wishes through the city council, and Belcher credits him as instrumental in enabling his forces to work with the council.

Outside the worn metal door of Salami's office, down a dirt path bisected by a trickle of sewage, Sistani's edicts are posted. One urges residents of Karbala to adhere only to clergy representing Sistani and three other senior ayatollahs in Najaf.

Another urges all residents to return any stolen property to the local government. "Keeping this property is forbidden," it reads. In past weeks, Sistani has urged clerics -- divided as they are -- to remain outside the government and has warned against revenge killings.

But in a hint of the ambivalence of the clergy toward the U.S. occupation -- a mix of cooperation and suspicion -- Salami said he worried about the corruption that he said he was witnessing in Karbala. Drugs are becoming more prevalent, some sold near the shines, "immoral" compact discs are for sale and U.S. troops are searching women and spreading pornography, he said. He was particularly angry that a U.S. detachment remained stationed at Karbala University, which both male and female students attend.

The voices of sanity, and moderation, are also often the voices of piety and sacrifice. But the question is whether such fledgling idealism can survive the coming onslaught from the gathering forces of tribalism and political intrigue on the geopolitical scale (Iran especially has much to gain). And the inherent cultural clash, with American soldiers spreading porn in the holy city, and insensitivity to gender sensitivities, is only added fuel for the fire. I still remain pessimistic, but I'm convinced that having taken the reins, we must see it through. The alternatives are worse.

UPDATE: It doesn't look good though. When both DailyKos and Steven Den Beste agree that the forces are stretched thin, you know the writing is on the wall. I doubt that this administration can make this commitment.

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Shi'a Pundit was launched in 2002 during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The blog focuses on issues pertaining to Shi'a Islam in the west and in the Islamic world. The author is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community. Bohras adhere to the Shi'a Fatimi tradition of Islam, headed by the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (TUS).

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