shafique wrote:Lionheart,
Your description of 'oppressiveness' of western societies in relation to lack of morals etc has very little to do with democracy or form of government. You cannot legislate for morality.
I was shocked when I went to Saudi Arabia to hear that there is a problem of paedophillia there - to the point where my host would go and collect his teenage sons from school rather than have them travel home by themselves! They commented that Dubai was far safer in terms of fun crimes BECAUSE of the presence of prostitution!!
This is to illustrate the depravity of the society there now, where rape is not uncommon and the perversions have moved to kids. This is DESPITE having strict 'Islamic' or rather 'Wahabistic' laws.
Morality begins at home, society cannot take responsibility for bad parenting and bad values.
You cannot have it both ways - if democracy is bad because it has led to 'loose morals' in your view, then by extension you should also denounce the Saudi model for making it unsafe to let young boys walk around by themselves and have women going round in fear of being raped (by Saudis, I might add). And this is what is reported - what goes on behind closed doors would make Hugh Heffner blush!
As for the question of Muslim unity and your view that a Caliphate is the panacea for the ills of the Ummah - I admire your idealism, but have to feather it with the reality of the politics of current muslim population. They can't agree on a joint general approach on the question of punishment for Apostacy (which isn't death, btw), let alone sort out the theological differences between all the sects.
If the muslim ummah can't agree on the dates of Eid within a country, what hope is there for choosing a world-wide Caliph? The Islamic model does not allow for multiple religious heads, but one leader.
You seem to exclude Shia from the position of leading the muslim world, so even in your model there would be some separation. But leave this to oneside - in the Sunni sphere, who would you suggest would make a good (ok, lets just settle on Credible for now) leader?
Wasalaam,
Shafique
You cannot have it both ways - if democracy is bad because it has led to 'loose morals' in your view, then by extension you should also denounce the Saudi model for making it unsafe to let young boys walk around by themselves and have women going round in fear of being raped (by Saudis, I might add). And this is what is reported - what goes on behind closed doors would make Hugh Heffner blush!
Shafique... I have never used Saud Arabia as example of just and fair Islamic society... I have always spoken out against Saudis and other rich Gulf Arabs who hide behind Islam, while abusing it in the worst possible way...Although I have never lived in Saud Arabia personally... I have friends who live in Saud Arabia and have told me about the pedophiles, the abuse maides( mainly Phillipino, Indonesian), the wife beatings, the child slavery, and many other things that would make the stomachs of muslims around the world sick.
For the last 1000 years muslims have had disagrements over interpretation, differenceses on how to implement laws...but none of it stopped them from establishing the Ummah across the muslim world. Today it's not as much as differenceses in interpretetion of the deen, but rather the nationalism, race issue introduced by Western colonist that exist across muslim world. Sahaba worked to eliminate borders and racial differenceses to bring brothers together, while today's muslims are doing the opposite...by creating more borders and engaging more racial discrimination against fellow muslims.
You seem to exclude Shia from the position of leading the muslim world, so even in your model there would be some separation. But leave this to oneside - in the Sunni sphere, who would you suggest would make a good (ok, lets just settle on Credible for now) leader?
Shafique.... I excluded Shia, because shia don't want to be ruled by Sunnis and vice verse Sunnis don't want to be ruled by Shias. Shias were never part of the Ummayed, the Abbasid and Othoman khilifah...they always had a seperate Ummah in Persia...If shias want to be part of the Ummah than they welcome to join the Ummah...
Who would make good leader in the Sunni sphere?
I don't know...I think Allah(SWT) is the only one that knows right know...but inshallah I will pray I live long enough to see the leader of the Ummah.