(Islam in Print): The Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs

The Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs

who publish the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
They say:

The Institute remains committed to the pursuit of objective and scholarly research on the situation of Muslim minorities and through its Journal provides a forum for a frank but responsible discussion of issues relating to Muslim minority experience

Seems like an interesting bunch, even though their publications are few and there is no access to abstracts and tables of contents for their journal on the site, which is disappointing.
But I did find this site which offers the TOCs.
looking at it right now there are a lot of “Balkan” and “Turkish” type articles, and a few about Nana Asma’u and several others about Nigeria in general.

Most people that cry all day long about Minority Fiqh would not even consider Nigeria has a place that would fit into the definition of Minority fiqh. Why? Well because they themselves have no definition for it. And the concept for many implies (to themselves mostly) some type of special status that allows for the fundamental non-negotiables of Islam to be compromised because they chose to live in a land where they are too afraid to chin-up and call themselves a Muslim.
Another group of people would be converts that feel that because Allah guided them to Islam that they have been endowed with some special understanding of Islam, which then allows them to compromise the fundamental non-negotiables of Islam and then accuse the former of the same.

In reality we are not in need of a “Minority Fiqh” we are in need of Mujtahids living in Minority Muslim lands, so that we know that the Islam we are practicing is pleasing to Allah and in agreement with that which the Messenger was sent with.
But what you’re saying basically means the same thing? Right?
Just look at the current discourse on the topic and you will see the difference.

And just before any of you comment and say
“I think you are an absolute nut for stating this in this post!”
I would like to kindly inform you of my next (Islam in Print) Post
the “Journal of Muslim Mental Health”

Notes on the post “Emulation of Non-Arabs”

After putting out the last post “Emulation of the Non-Arabs in their dress” a few people emailed me about the whole subject of “Arab vs. Non-Arab” being equated with “Muslim vs. Non-Muslim”.

This in mind, I think that one of the first things we have to do when reading early Islamic literature, is to remember that every language has a culture behind it. You may be saying ‘well Ok, but what does that have to do with this subject?’ The answer is clear, in that Islam in its final form, was revealed in the Arabic Language, the first recipients of its message were the Arabs. Therefore in its initial spread, Islam took on a very Arab tone.

Now with that, came not only the fact that Islam was being carried by the Arabs outside of the Arabian peninsula, but also the fact that these simple, very basic Arabs were coming into contact, and maybe even more importantly dialogue, with the Non-Arabs that used to support them through business and charity. Because of increased business, spoils of war, and a large influx of wealth through both Zakat and Jizyah, many who were forced to do without, were now seeing those same things they did without for so long almost forced upon them (and as is the case with human nature not all those people really had that big of a problem with that).

Because of Allah’s wisdom, and his placing Islam as the final revelation to mankind, The Prophet Muhammad, having been endowed with concise speech, spoke to his followers before his death about the dangers of this wealth and its adverse effects on them as a people. The inherent style of the Arabs was one of ruggedness, self-sufficiency, and resilience in the face of the dire straits dictated by the land they lived in.

These prohibitions, which are clearly not one of a “Arab vs. Non-Arab” style were presented to the Arabs, by other then the Prophet, at a later time by analogy, That is to say: Anything that seemed to go against the rough and rugged lifestyle of your forefathers, then beware.

Thus, for them as a simple people with a simple message, it would naturally be feared that this simple message would be corrupted by those that would use the force of conquest or the supposition of language, and thus religious, superiority for their own personal worldly gains. Some of this can be seen in the treatment of some of the Caliphs of the late Umayyad and Early Abbasid periods when dealing with the Scholars, the far majority of whom were converts and/or children of converts, as well as for the most part Non-Arabs. Other examples can be found in the Arab-Berber tensions throughout the period of North African conquest.

Now back to the main topic, with that said, what may be considered to be extravagant by one people, may not be so for another. What may seem to be of fine quality in one part of the world, is of the lowest in another. So the fear was that the Arabs, not being people of any particular extravagance, would lose sight of that simple message that they were ordered to carry to the rest of the world through over indulgence in the fancies and luxuries of the rest of the world. And so they were ordered to avoid such things and stay on track with the call to Islam.

Now the problem arose that they would sometimes enter a land in which say, sandals and lightweight clothing made for the desert lifestyle were just not going to do the job. Here the question then arises, what are the norms of Islamic dress? I.e. what would constitute extravagance and undesirable luxury and what would not? So at this point the causal reasoning for the prohibitions mentioned in the various hadith were extracted, and summed up to be that which clearly went against an explicit text, or that which contained undue waste and luxury which lead to a moral hazard on the part of its user.

Through reading about this topic, it can be seen today that not only would the extravagance of the Non-Arabs be prohibited, but likewise would the extravagance of the Arabs. Therefore it is imperative that when we read the classical works of Islamic legal work, that we wade through the aspects more specific to positive law and extract or better yet trace back the normative understandings of Islam so as not to confuse that which is required of us with that which is dictated by culture and custom.

And Allah knows best.

Emulation of the non-Arabs in their dress

Emulation of the non-Arabs in their dress
from the “M‘iyar al M‘urab” of Al Wansharisi (died 914), V.11/Pp.27-28

 

The pious jurist, the Mufti, Abu Abdullah Al Mawwaq was asked about the ‘Darnadin’ is it permissible to wear? It being a piece of roman clothing; the aspect of emulation not being applicable when compared to its benefits, because it is a piece of economical clothing which is useful and protects one from the cold.

 

He answered:

Not everything that the people of ignorance do is forbidden from performing except that which the Shariah forbade and the principles of the religion indicate that it should be left alone.

The non-Arabs that we were forbidden from emulating are the Persian kings of that time because of their extravagance and the like. This prohibition is specific to those actions that they perform which are in direct contradiction to those things necessitated by our religion. As far as the recommended, obligatory, or permissible things in our religion that a [Muslim] does, then we are not to leave these things off merely because of their [i.e. non-Muslims] indulgence in similar actions [1].

The reasoning behind this is that the Shariah does not forbid those things related to emulation while at the same time permit them; The Messenger of Allah built the trench on the border of Medinah, emulating the Non-Arabs [in this action], astounding the Confederate forces, then later they came to know that this was done at the direction of Salman Al Farisi [2].

This ‘Darnadin’ which was mentioned is an economical piece of clothing, it is not extravagant, and is very useful, protecting one against the cold; It has been authentically narrated from the Messenger of Allah that he had worn a Roman coat with narrow sleeves [3].

Looking at this issue in another light, this being stated explicitly by the esteemed scholars, that the Messenger of Allah forbade the Arabs from emulating the Non-Arabs [4] yet it is not related from anyone that when the Non-Arab Delegations came to him that he forbade them from wearing their own clothing and ordered them to dress like the arabs….

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[1] See Al Taj wa _l Iklil of Al ‘Abdari, V.1/P.502

[1] See Al Fusul fi Sirat _l Rasul of Ibn Kathir, P.163

[2] Narrated by Al Tirmidhi (1768), Al Nisa_i (125), Ibn Majah (3563) and Ahmad (18265).

[3] Narrated by Ahmad (301) as the statement of Omar, who then narrates that the Messenger of Allah forbade the wearing of silk for men. The context of the narration shows that Omar understood this prohibition to be one forbidding emulation of the non-Arabs of that time in their extravagance. Similar to this is his prohibition of sitting on silk carpets (see Ibn Majah 3654) and tiger skins (see Ibn Majah 3656).