The Orientalist Attack

[Islamic Revival]

As-salam alaikum,


I'm looking for some online information regarding the Orientalist Attack and some examples of it. Does anyone have any material or links?


JazakAllah khair.

[maruf]

Here is an old article, I do not know if you have read it before.

was-salaam


Orientalist Attack - The Role of Muslim Women Today



After reading the article in the 10th issue of Al Fajr on "The Orientalist Attack" I would like to
make an additional point of considerable importance.
The Orientalist war against Islamic thought employed various tactics which were to leave Muslims
not only confused and defeated but also more vulnerable to make compromises with Jahiliyyah.
After making Islam seem as the system lacking answers to problems that the West alone had
created, orientalists invited the ill-equipped muslims to their "better" system. Unfortunately women
in Islam have been one of the biggest subjects of the orientalist attack.
More recent movements, especially women's libertion, have also distorted many minds on the issue
of women in Islam. The repercussions of such attacks can be witnessed in many disatissfied muslim
women who view the veil as suppressive and who seek to "Liberate" Muslim women from their
Terror status. Mrs Jehan Sadat has joined Nawaal Sadawi in writing literature related to the anguish
of the women in the middle east. Islam is the blame for their anguish.
The West is very content in seeing that not only are the kufr governments doing a good job in
suppressing Islamic revival, and not only are muslims fighting muslims for gain, but also the
women, the core of the basic Islamic family, are rebelling and demanding their "equal rights".
The muslim governments and muslim men are not the only ones being forced to subjugate
themselves to the Kufr desire of seeing muslims disunited, indeed the Muslim women too are being
pushed to compromise with Jahiliyyah. Muslim women have forgotten the commandment of Allah
(swt).
"0 PROPHET TELL YOUR WIVES AND DAUGHTERS AND THE WOMEN OF THE
BELIEVERS TO DRAW THEIR CLOAKS CLOSE AROUND THEM. THAT WILL BE
BETTER, SO THAT THEY MAY BE RECOGNISED AND NOT ANNOYED. ALLAH IS EVER
FORGIVING, THE MERCIFUL" (33.59)
Instead they are choosing to blend into the masses of Kufar women who show no shame in
revialing their Awrah. It is hard to visually distinguish the believing women from the kafir women
because not only have they adopted the western mode of dress, but also they have become so
familiar with the intermingling of the sexes that their habits, attitudes and values have also become
patterned after women of the west.
Jehan Sadat, Benazir Bhutto, and others like them are trying to show that Islam is not a solution to
the women’s problem. What little these women know! And yet the West has such women in awe
for all the years they have studied - and that too in westeni institutions! The problem lies in the lack
of proper education of women in matters of Islam and in matters of women's position in Islam.
Islam stresses that "The seeking of knowledge is a must for every Muslim man and woman”<br>(Mishkat)
It is only through proper education that muslim women will realize that Islam being Din-ul-Fitra
has endowed them with all the rights and high esteem satisfactory to their nature. It is this esteem
that western women have been looking for, for many years and will contlnue to look for, for many
more years. Islam has granted women rights of inheritance, equal opportunity, choice in marriage
etc., while the western women superficially gain ground and continue to be exploited and degraded.
It is this ignorance of the beauty of Islam, the solution to all existing problems, that is confusing
muslim women. They should properly equip themselves with the knowledge of Islam, fear Allah,
and stand firm. Women are the nucleus of the Islamic family as well as the first teachers of the
muslim youth. They play a very important role in both being mothers and wives. They must realise
that there were many great muslim women in the past known not only for the the virtue, but also
their intelligence, their political, and economic involvement such as Ayesha, Fatima, and Khadija
(RTA). These women should be our models to follow.
The fact that so much tradition and culture and western influence has taken muslim women away
from Islam only shows that the education of muslim women must be looked into, and existing systems must be done away with. The Muslim women alone are not the blame for their present
condition. Unfortunately, many people feel it is unnecessary for their daughters to be properly
educated especially in subjects such as Islamic law and government. Issues such as politics and
international affairs are assigned to be concerns of the male domain. Most husbands do not care or
do not have the time to encourage their wives to keep up with world news along with themselves.
Nor do they encourage her to become learned in Islamic matters. They feel it is adequate for her to
deal only with household duties.
Many Muslim men have also lost scope of the right Islam and forget their duties to their wives and
don't give them the proper attention and care. The Prophet (saw) said:

The most perfect of the believers is the best of you in character and the best of you are those among
you who are best to their wives”. [Tirmidhi]
Also in many cultures, Parents are grieved upon the birth of a daughter (a problem since the time of
jahlliyyah before Islam) and don't do their duty in bringing their daughters up properly.
The Prophet (SAW) also said:
“Whoever properly brings up two daughters until they reach maturity, that man and myself (the
prophet) will be so close in paradise (as two adjacent fingures) (Muslim).
Inshallah things are changing with the younger generation and with the coming revival of Islam.
With the reinstitution of the Islamic state this problem shall no longer have reason to exist, but until
that day when the Khilafah returns, Muslim women too must strive to better educate themselves -
for jihad is incumbent on every individual.
Muslim women must strive for the way of Allah, and try to change their present state.

"SURELY ALLAH DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONDITION OF A PEOPLE UNTIL THEY
CHANGE THEMSELVES.” (13: 11)
Inshallah I hope to see women actively parcipating - in groups working for the establishing of the
Islamic State. I pray for the time when both men and women leave behind their apathy and become
aware of the need for the coming back of Islam and will struggle with their lives and property
together so that they will fulfil their duty to Allah (swt) in the best manner possible.


Najma Sulthana

A sister awaiting the Khilafah

New York, USA.
Al-Fajr Magazine, April 1988

[maruf]

another one:



Satanic Verses


So much has been written and said about Salman Rushdie's book 'SATANIC VERSES' that we can
add nothing new to the matter. However, putting aside his attacks on the Prophets' of Islam (peace
be upon them), on the companions and wives of the prophet Muhammad, and on the divine law, the
subject of the 'Satanic verses' is a familiar orientalist hobby-horse. Every orientalist worth his salt
has used the subject of the Satanic Verses to cast doubt on the teachings of Islam. William Muir,
Theodore Noldeke, W.Montgomery Watt are but few who have narrated with relish the story of
how the Prophet (SAW) allegedly recited two verses of Surah al Najm under Satanic inspiration.
The story goes that one day the Prophet (SAW) was sitting in company with the people around the
Kabah. They talked to him and he responded to them with great sympathy. Then he started to recite
the verses from Surah al Najm: ..... And he saw him yet another time, by the lote-tree at the farthest
boundary, near unto which is the Garden of Abode, when that which covers the tree does cover it.
The sight turned not aside, nor did it extend beyond the limits. Indeed he saw some of the greater
signs of his Lord. Have ye seen al Lat and al Uzza? And Manat the third one besides ?...
Here it is claimed that the Prophet (SAW) added the verse under Satanic inspiration. ”These are
the Exalted Damsels (Gharaniq). and verify their intercession (with God) Is to be hoped for.”<br>It is alleged that the Quraysh were so overjoyed with this that they prostrated themselves along with
the Prophet (SAW) the story further develops that Gabriel came that night to the Prophet and told
him what Satan had done and replaced those verses with the verses:
...Could it be that you have the male progeny unto you, and unto Him the female? that, indeed were
an unjust partition. Verily, they are but names you have named, you and your fathers. Allah has not
revealed concerning it (any) warrant."
The basis for their allegations are actually provided by classical Muslim texts. AI Tabari, al Waqidi
and lbn Sad mention the story though they differ in their details. However the story has been
refuted by countless Muslim writers in the past.
Firstly, the story completely contradicts the concept of the Infallibility (Masoom) of the Prophet.
The Prophet was incapable of making a mistake in conveying the religion.
Secondly, no mention of the Satanic Verses is found in any authentic books of the hadith of the
Prophet (SAW). AI Bukhari mentions the prostration of the Mushrikeen but makes no mention of
the verses.
Thirdly, lbn Ishaq, the leading writer of the life of the Prophet dismissed them as the invention of
the heretics. Furthermore he wrote on the life of the Prophet well in advance of those historians
who mention the incident. Ibn Ishaq died in 150 A.H. AI Waqidi died in 207 A.H, Ibn Sad was
Waqidi's student, and al Tabari died in 310 A.H.
Fourthly, Ibn Kathir, the famous commentator on the Quran, has made a critical assessment of the
different versions of the alleged verses and found them weak in their chain of authorities (Isnad).
Many more arguments are put forward by scholars of Islam to refute this story of the Satanic
Verses. But for all this, Salman Rushdie's book is not about the Satanic Verses. It is an attack
on Islam in the guise of a novel in which he insults the Muslims and tries his best to give a
distorted view of history and Islam. He ridicules the religious consciousness of the Muslims and is
guilty of blasphemy. Based on this book and his comments both on television and in the
newspapers he is a murtad (apostate).
Ayatollah Khomeini's decree is therefore not surprising. But his reaction comes some five months
after the book was published. Immediate action should have been taken at governmental level to
stop the publication of the book. The question must be asked, why did the Muslim countries react
only after the Muslim in Britain had forced the issue ?
The failure of the Muslim governments to take any action against the publication shows their
complete insincerity to Islam. When, a few years ago, a television programme entitled a 'Death of a
Princess' was broadcast on British television the Saudi Government took action against the British Government and threatened to cut trade relationships. This was because the programme showed the
Saudi regime in a bad light. Yet when Islam is defamed these puppets stay silent. Is not the
honour of our Prophet and our religion as important?

Al-Fajr Magazine, March 1989

[maruf]

Please let me know if this helps:




The Orientalist Attack



With no prospect of ever defeating the Muslims militarily, the Orientalists decided to embark on a
new crusade, a war on the thoughts and emotions of Islam. A campaign designed to create doubt in
the minds of Muslims, by way of a gradual process of distorting the reality of the Islamic thoughts
and emotions. To eventually alienate the Muslims themselves from the true thoughts and
sentiments of Islam.

The Muslims' response to this attack was invariably apologetic, with the Muslims interpreting the
thoughts of Islam in a way which they thought would please the Orientalists. The legacy of this
response is still with us. In Issue 9 of 'Al Fajr' we examined the attack and ensuing response in
respect of five subjects: polygamy, divorce, khilafah, jihad and divine fate and destiny. This article
seeks, very briefly, to respond to the attack on these five concepts.

RESPONSE

The correct manner of presenting the thought of Islam is through the Creed (Aqeeda). The rational
approach is to establish from the outset the correctness of the Islamic Creed upon which all the
rules of Islam are based. Having proven the existence of Allah, that the Quran is the revealed word
of Allah and that Mohammad (p.b.u.h) is the Messenger of Allah, it should be easy to portray the
enlightened Islamic thoughts. However, accepting that we are forced to respond to specific
allegations, of one sort or another, the rationality and enlightenment of Islam can still shine forth.

POLYGAMY

Polygamy is permitted in Islam. Allah has allowed man to marry up to four wives, and ordered
him to treat them all as equals and not distinguishing one of them above the others. This equality
does not mean total equality in all aspects. It is equality in all kinds of material treatment such as
clothing housing and support. Strict equality in emotions and feelings is beyond man's ability.
Allah stated in the Quran:
"YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DEAL EQUALLY BETWEEN YOUR WIVES".

Those who sought to defend Islam in the wake of the Orientalist attack interpreted this to mean that
it is impossible for man to treat all wives equally and therefore, by inference, man cannot marry
more than one wife. However this contradicts the example of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) and the
companions and the generations that followed, because polygamy was more the norm than the
exception with them. Actually the classical commentators of Quran are quite clear that this verse
refers to equality between wives in emotion and feelings of love. Accordingly, such equality -
which is beyond man's ability - should not be a reason to justify abolishing polygamy.
As for the rational of the permissibility, is a thing which matches the fact and reality of the
situation. The reality is that man throughout history, and in every society, has practised
polygamous relationships. The kufr society which is so vehement in its opposition to polygamy is
corrupted to the core with sinful adulterers who commit acts of adultery and indecency shamelessly
with an unlimited number of women. The problem with the kufr society is that it is riddled with
contradictions. The stance which saves the moral face of the society is to officially recognise only
one wife. Unofficially however you can do what you like!

The implicit recognition for a man

having an unofficial polygamous relationship is the absence of punishment for adulterous
relationships. If it is wrong for a man to have more than one wife then he should be punished if he
has another relationship. Illegitimate relationships destroy the fabric of the society. Children are
denied their rightful recognition and inheritance, women are branded as cheap and easy, and the
man bears no responsibility for his actions.
Islam does not accept unofficial relationships. All sexual relationships should take place in a stable
environment where the dignity of both partners can be preserved, and where the children can grow
up in a reassuring family structure.
Moreover, monogamy deprives a great number of women their legitimate right to being married
and having children. In times of war, for example, the death rate among men is proportionatelyhigher. In this case polygamy is the best means to extend the circle of marriage to combine a great
number of widows and unmarried women and give them security, companionship and an
honourable life.


DIVORCE


It seems that the West, who embarked on this intellectual crusade, have no longer any need to be
convinced of the merits of divorce as a means to put an end to unhappy matrimonial life. The
following quotes taken from the Christian magazine 'Plain Truth' graphically illustrates the growth
in divorce and the more disturbing breakdown in the fabric of the society:
"United States: Half the marriages this year will probably end in divorce.
"Britain: The divorce rate in England and Wales is the highest in western Europe. Nearly one in
seven single women age 18 to 49 lives with a man she has not married. Nearly one in eight
children lives is a one-parent family".
"France: One in four marriages ends in divorce, in cities the rate may be 50%".
Divorce is permitted in Islam to enable the couple to terminate their disputes and unhappy life, so
that each may start a new happier life with a new partner who may be better suited. If people
cannot live together without causing distress and misery then surely it is better for both to part
honourably and with kindness. This is not to say that divorce is something to be taken lightly, as it
is evidently taken so in the West. The Messenger of Allah said:
"The most detestable of lawful things to Allah is divorce". (Abu Daud)

KHILAFAH

The disbelieves expressed disgust at how Islam put all the aspects of ruling in the hands of one
person i.e the Caliph. The fact of the matter is that they took the question away from its
surroundings. With the Khilafah system the Caliph is given complete authority. As a ruler this is
his true status, complying with the reality and a normal fact of life. Authority and ruling are always
in the hands of one person. It is impossible to have the authority in the hands of two people at any
time whatever the system of life.
The unique quality of the Khilafah is that one man is given the authority (Sultan) as a trust. This is
because the ummah (nation) decides who should be the Caliph. They elect him and give him the
pledge of allegiance. Thus, it is they who select him. The implementation and execution of the
system cannot be undertaken by the ummah. This is the case, whether they wish to do it directly or
through representatives. The Caliph is the implementor who has been given the pledge on
condition that he obeys the predefined system. After all, this man already believes in the system.
He has embraced it and proven himself to be a candidate worthy of upholding it. His piety is one
strong safeguard for the system and the ummah. Moreover, if he fails to observe the condition of
his pledge to the ummah (i.e to implement Islam) then the ummah is asked, encouraged and even
given a reward to take to task the Caliph and to bring him back to the straight and narrow. This is
the correctness of Islam! The Caliph is not ruling the ummah by his own opinion. He is ruling the
ummah by the Quran and Sunnah and by his understanding of them. There is no fault in this
providing he is doing his work efficiently and is seen to be efficient. The disbelieving orientalists
claim that their systems are not in the hands of one person. The communists are most vociferous in
claiming a collective leadership. Yet in the entire communist history from Lenin to Corbachov
there has never been a collective leadership.

[maruf]

The Secretary of the Party is their leader.

As for capitalism it can be of two types:
(1) Presidential, republican or monarchy
(2) Ministerial. In the presidential system

the president is effectively the real ruler. Sometimes the president may have ministers where the
president is elected and he selects the prime minister from the majority. This may happen in
Kingdoms, alternatively the monarch may be the real ruler. In the Presidential system the president
has the right to 'hire' and 'fire' i.e to appoint and dismiss advisers, ministers and secretaries. He is
elected to implement the constitution and only when he requires finance does he go to the people,
and even this he spends as he likes.

No collective leadership exists. Eventually, the strongest will force his opinion on the others. If
not the implementation of laws would be impossible.
Thus, it can be seen that the approach of the Khilafah to ruling is not a practice which is so
different or unique. Ruling is always practised by one person as is the implementation. The
responsibility and authority may be delegated to others but they remain responsible to him. They
are required to obey him. The Caliph is the same. He has delegates, assistants and governors but
he has overall responsibility. The difference is that the Caliph is connected with a system which he
believes in and for which the ummah has elected him, as is their right. If he deviates from the
system they should remove him from office.

JIHAD

Muslims and Muslim rulers are ordained to call people to Islam to deliver them from the darkness
of anatheism to the light of faith in Allah, and to rescue them from being immersed in the illusions
of the materialistic life wherein they suffer deprivation of spiritual happiness.
Islam has its own regulations of war. It imposes on Muslims to prepare whatever force they can to
protect themselves and their faith and to dismay the enemies of Allah, and their enemies. Jihad is
not self defence!
Muslims are ordained to call their enemies to Islam before fighting against them. If they refuse,
Muslims should call them again to pay the tribute and submit to the laws of Allah. If the enemy
refuses again, Muslims should fight them in order that there may be no persecution and religion
should be for Allah alone.
Muslims are strictly commanded not to kill women, children, old men, and monks who do not
participate in war against Muslims.- They are commanded to treat prisoners of war kindly, and not
demolish trees, farms etc. The opened country by Jihad, will have its people treated justly and
equally, with no domination or exploitation. If they become Muslims they will be brothers. If not
our Prophet has confirmed that we should not harm any of them.

All these commandments prove that the desire for exploitation and domination is not the goal of
Jihad in Islam, but its sole aim is to deliver people from the worship of man-made objects to the
service of Allah, The Creator. Jihad is only a means to propagate truth and mercy among people.
It is natural for any nation which believes its ideology to be correct, should wish to deliver it to
others. Everyone likes to share the good. This same desire to spread the message has been
demonstrated by the capitalists and marxists, with the devilish motives and practices in the
conquered countries.

FATE & DESTINY

Islam looks to Muslims as responsible for the actions in that circle of affairs which they dominate.
We see some occurrences where man is compelled to succumb to the results. Thus, there are two
circles - one which man dominates and one which he cannot control.
Man is held responsible for the results of his actions. This means he has to take care of what he is
doing. Islam says he is going to be rewarded or punished in the hereafter for any right action or
wrong action. Once the Muslim has this realisation he will be vigilant and alert about the effect of
his free action. He is not allowed to follow whims or desires haphazardly when he realises there is a questioning in the hereafter. For the Muslim who believes in heaven and hell the consequence of
his actions is quite vivid in his mind.
As for those actions which he is compelled to submit to he has no choice as to accept or reject
them. This is despite whether he may look upon them as good and bad. This category of actions is
by the power and knowledge of Allah.
The attitude of the Muslim must be to accept both once they have happened. He must accept
events. He must not blame himself excessively nor to distress himself much. He may end up using
his energy in fruitless arguments: "O why did I not do this and why didn't I do that..." He must
remember that if it has happened it is from the knowledge of Allah. However, one must not accept
the result without paying heed to the correct solution if the result of an occurrence is not
favourable. The answer is always to be constructively critical and always seeking the guidance
from the text to the correct solution. This makes us dynamic rather than fatalistic.


Al-Fajr Magazine, August 1987

[maruf]

Orientalist subversion of Islam


The Qur'an has been investigated, researched, checked, and commented upon by the enemies of
Islam. To such an extent that they have established institutions which thoroughly study Islam as a
deen. Researching periodicals produced by these institutions, it becomes clear the in depth study of
Islam that is scrutinized and studied. We should realize that the in depth study of Islam by the
Kuffar is not new, it existed at the time of the birth of the Message. The case was such that the
Meccan Mushirks knew exactly what Muhammad (saaw) came with. And they fought and plotted
against him. On the other end of the spectrum, the Muslims knew exactly what Islam is all about.
Such that you had two extremes of the spectrum in the society.

Realizing our situation today, there is still in existence the end of the spectrum, which is against
Islam as total Deen. And they are working day and night to plot and fight against the rebirth of this
deen. They the Kuffar know for a fact that in order to dilute this deen and weaken its foundation
they have to insert corrupt thoughts or ideas that are alien to it. Over the years the Kuffar have
become very clever in inserting Kufr concepts into the deen. Of course, this has been achieved over
centuries of hard work on the side of the Kuffar.
The Kuffar have gone to the extent of making commentary (tafseer) on the verses of the Qur'an.
They have gone directly to the source in order to deduce their poison, which seeps into the Muslim
masses. One such topic among many other is the topic of Amal Saleh (good actions/works). This
topic is heavily propagated and channeled into the Muslim mindset in order to dilute the deen.
Muslims are heavily encouraged to do good works, especially in the month of Ramadan. On the
surface level the poison is not visible, but beneath the surface we see it vividly. The Muslims have
extended the notion of good works to the extent of using western posits of good works. For
example, helping out your fellow human being, or stamping the halal stamp on the United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights, or doing good works in assisting the United Nations to feed people
of famine. Or more appropriately put, helping out your fellow human being because he or she is a
human being regardless of the platform being used. This manifestation of good works is clearly
visible in the current Muslim popular media, and requires no comment.

The Muslim World is a journal which continues to probe the Deen and the Muslim world in depth,
open articles are written about early works of Islam, and exegesis are exchanged between the
Orientalists on their thoughts about Islam. In a recent article, entitled The Olympics of "Good
Works": Exploitation of a Qur'anic metaphor , The Muslim World, Vol. LXXXI, No.1, 1991.
This article address the issue of dialogues between Muslims, Christians, and Jews, and he addresses
a topic that is often addressed in these dialogues, namely that of good works. What the author
propounded to do was to justify the position of these dialogues and Amal Saleh through the Qur'an.
(Subhan Allah). Here follows a brief of some of the points posited in the article:

"In this paper my objective is to call attention to the much neglected metaphor of competitive race
contained in two Qur'anic verse which are frequently quoted in the context of interfaith dialogue.
The metaphor of competitive race, I believe, is central to the Qur'anic invitation to dialogue with
the Jews and Christians and is of crucial importance in our understanding of the Qur'anic
perspective on the meaning and method of interfaith dialogue. What follows, then, is an attempt to
explore the metaphor of competitive race as used by the Quran in the context of interfaith dialogue
and within the framework of the Qur'anic perception and understanding of the motives and
behavior of the Christian and Jewish participants in that dialogue. I have refrained form a critical
evaluation of the Qur'anic view of the participants in the dialogue because my goal is simply to
present the manner in which the Qur'an perceived all the communicators in the dialogue and the
solutions it offered in the light of that experience."
The rest of the article continues to support this claim, by twisting the text of the Qur'an in order to
support such a preposterous claim. Notably, these same ideas that are brought forth in the article are
presently being used by the Muslims to justify Dialogues with the Jews and Christians. They fail to
realize the detriment of such an activity with the Kuffar. It is clear from Seerah of the Prophet(saaw) that he never had a dialogue with the Jews and Christians, what he had was Dawah, which is
inviting the Kuffar to the fold of Islam. The Prophet (saaw) didn't weigh the Jews and Christians on
the same platform along with the Muslims!
Allah (swt) in the Qur'an explicitly settles the issue of Amal Saleh. In many ayah, Allah (swt)
mentions the criteria for Amal Saleh. It is amazing that the Kafir was able to twist the text of the
Qur'an in order to prove that Allah (swt) accepts the Amal Saleh of the Jews and Christians. This
phenomenon of twisting the Qur'an is not only limited to the use by the Kuffar, but unfortunately it
has infected the minds of some of Muslim scholars.
It should be made crystal clear, that Amal Saleh is valid only under the Islamic Aqeedah. Allah
(swt) only accepts the Amal Saleh of Muslims under the banner of Islam. The Amal Saleh of the
Kuffar including Jews and Christians is rejected. In the following ayats:
Muslims must be very careful in how they use the text of the Qur'an and what basis they use for
their thinking, because the kuffar were able alter our Aqeedah, which is basis for entering and
remaining into the fold of Islam. We have interpreted Islam to conform to the western conception
of religion as a purely moral and spiritual endeavor. The missionaries greatest success came in their
converting educated Muslims to western culture, so that even when Muslims defended Islam
against western slander, they adopted western standards to satisfy western objections. So effective
was this brainwashing that were Muslims to read Qur'anic verses commanding them to live
according to Allah's laws, they would no act on them because they "place an obstacle between their
own minds and the verses' concepts and meanings, because western civilization controls them; this
applies to most people, both those with western education and those with Islamic education. They
read the Qur'an through western lenses that block Muslims from perceiving the imperative to act.
Let us read the Qur'an through the correct lense, that is the Islamic Aqeedah. We should not view
Islam with any other lense. We must look upon the Qur'an as the first generation of Muslims
(Sahabah) and not go beyond in order to justify alien concepts to our liking.

[maruf]

Here is some online info:

www.troid.org/articles/islaamicinfo/Islaamingeneral/commonmisconceptions/orientalism.htm

[Islamic Revival]

Thanks for all this! The Al Fajr magazine article was exactly what I was looking for, and the rest is a bonus.

JazakAllah khair.

[maruf]

wa yakum Islamic revival.

Keep up the good working in attempting to revive our Ummah.

was-salaam