Since you don't use capital letters, it's not exactly clear what you
mean by your last sentence," Look where it got us".
Do you mean us or US – the United States? (Smile)
Yes, two certainties and the battle hymn is "Onward Christian
soldiers."
Bush asserts "With God on our side" and his Democrat alternative,
just about then slight variation, John Kerry a little more humble,
hopes, to continue the battle, "With us on God's side" (Again us or
US?)
I met the late Sheikh Hassan Cisse the Pir of the Tijaniyat based at
Koalcak – Well, I met him several times and he struck me as being more
academic than charismatic - and talking about fanaticism, on one
occasion I asked him a question (here in Stockholm) – a simple,
perhaps slightly philosophical question and his disciples who were
assembled on the carpet, around him must have mis-understood every
letter of the question, because they asked him whether they should
throw me out of the window (it was a nine story building…..) Of
course they Sheikh smiled, and answered my simple enquiry, to my
satisfaction, anyway.
John Edward Philips, I agree that it's hard to reconcile SOME of
Usman Dan Fodio's teachings with those of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab:
http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/tm/uftj_e.html
Moses Ebe Ochonu, my understanding is that since we are talking about
ideas without borders, there doesn't have to be a physical proximity
or even a kufr laden colonial-like continuum for Boko Haram's
ideology or ideological genealogy to reach back to anti-colonial
Mahdism or be different from the same kinds of impulses that moved
the Sene- Gambia Jihadists……. "their methods and ideology should be
situated in more contemporary impulses." Sure. Contemporary
oppression and kufr, as they perceive it.
In as far as it's not yet the Islamic Republic of Nigeria, as long as
we all keep within the straight and narrow of secular Human Rights,
there should be no problem. Those pockets of Nigeria – Nigerian
states being governed by Sharia must protect their minorities be they
alcoholics, atheists or mushrikin or "people of the Book".
The dialogue between Orthodoxy and heresy always gestates something
new
( provided that one of the parties ( "the heretic") does not lose his
head on the chopping block like Mansur al-Hallaj – and this is likely
to happen in more totalitarian religious States where there is not
that kind of more tolerant/ broad/ open-minded philosophy department
or freedom of speech.
Peter Lamborn Wilson's essay " The Anti- Caliph – A study in Islamic
heresy" from Gnosis No 4 of the Spring/ Summer 1987 , which I read
then, and have in my hand just now- continues to make an impression
which might be lasting. It's mostly about cyclic time and Ismailism.
Wilson's book, "Scandal: Essays in Islamic Heresy" also published in
1987 is priceless. It should interest Toyin Adepoju no end and I'm
sure that Farooq Kperogi himself would be defending orthodoxy since
Wilson takes anti- Literalism much further than a mere "de-
contextualized reading of religious texts" – One of Wilson's theses is
that "the uncovering of the inner meaning of a revelation results in a
reversal of its outward symbolism: those who participate in its Gnosis
are freed from both the literal meaning and the legal stipulations of
organised religion." – this happened ( in history) "when Hassan II
the Ismaili Pir of Alamut , proclaimed on 17the day of Ramadan 560/
July 23, 1165) a general esoteric abrogation of the Sharia., and "
the veil of dissimulation ( taqiyya) was lifted from the letter of
the law , and its outer form was shattered. The declaration was that
"The Chains of the Law have been broken!"
Ismailis believe that "Moses brought the LAW and that Aaron taught its
esoteric significance… Mohammed (SAW) brought the Koran and Sharia Ali
embodied their secret significance…"
Here is the full essay, the anti-caliph", for your perusal:
http://www.evolver.net/user/sacredblasphemies/blog/anti_caliph_peter_lamborn_wilson
Or here:
http://www.wattpad.com/164221-the-anti-caliph-ibn-%27arabi-inner-wisdom-and-the?p=2
Peter Lamborn Wilson:
http://www.google.se/search?q=Peter++Lamborn+Wilson
On Jan 6, 7:56 pm, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
> i want to add a coda to be sure that i am not misunderstood.
> i perhaps should not have so quickly used the
> term "african islam," except that i meant that
> islam as a religion was created by muslims in
> africa, just as islam as a religion was created
> by muslims in asia and elsewhere.
> i don't know why people can't just get on with this simple truth:
> religions are made by people. there is no one
> pure only simple absolute blah blah version; it
> is people in one corner of the world trying to
> establish dominion for their version over overs,
> and this "truth"-about -my-version attitude is to
> be found, alas, everywhere. jew, christians,
> buddhists, hindus. even atheists have their purists. a pox on them all.
> the version of islam in africa, the versions i
> know of, are quite wonderful. listen to the wird,
> and it is heaven. read alan and mary roberts
> Saint in the City on Bamba and Mouridism, it is wonderful.
> the versions i have learned about in other parts
> or the world are also, in many regards, quite
> wonderful, and also, inevitably, quite different.
> they are all ISLAM, all equally the religion.
> some is practiced in detroit; some in kaolack,
> some in northern nigeria, and it might be
> niassene. some in new york and dakar and it is
> mourid; some is tijiani, in yet other places.
> go on, some is wahabi.
> some might say we are the pure ones, the only ones, the true ones.
> let em say it. big deal. i am sure bush thought
> he owned the truth too. look where it got us.
> ken harrow
>
> At 02:20 PM 1/5/2011, you wrote:
>
> >Professor Harrow,
>
> >As you know,
>
> >in the most puritanical form of Islam if you can call it that -
> >WAHABISM is very strict in it's definition of Shirk (idolatry and
> >polytheism and reliance on other than Allah) to the extent that much
> >of what passes off as superstition and belief in the efficacy of the
> >charms, and talismans and amulets of West African and North-West
> >African Maraboutism is looked upon as SHIRK which according to Islamic
> >tenets is the one sin that Allah subhan t'ala will not forgive.
>
> > From Wahabism's point of view this reliance on charms and talismans,
> >or even
> >"The medicine man" (has various names from coast to coast) is
> >regarded as something suspect that's part and parcel of some
> >indigenous African cultures, going back to the pre-Islamic age of
> >Jahiliyya
>
> >Even Ismail al- Faruqi's classical modern work "Tawhid" is very strict
> >in its definition of Shirk, and in that definition encompasses the
> >tenets of Wahabism.
>
> >So Wahabism regards itself as the purifier of those who deviate from
> >the strict understanding of Tawhid and of Shirk……
>
> >Whereas many of the local varieties of African Islam which as you
> >say is sometimes married to more local culture and practices of
> >indigenous African practitioners of the faith make concession to
> >amulets as being empowered by Allah.
>
> > So there is this on-going conflict between the Purifiers ( from
> >Saudi Arabia , called Wahabi and those aspects of "African Islam "
> >which from the Wahabi point of view is dangerously close to shirk, if
> >indeed not shirk.
>
> > I do not see any conflict between Sheikh Othman Dan Fodio's writings
> >on Tawhid and Wahabism except that Wahabism does not seem to be very
> >fond of Sufism……
>
> >On 5 Jan, 19:01, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
> > > no religion on earth did not "get" its beliefs, credos, practices,
> > > from other places, as well as developing aspects of their own.
> > > as for the ways christianity and islam came to africa, i suggest you
> > > reread the chapters in my volume Faces of Islam to see that the
> > > complicated passages that led islam to africa could not every be
> > > reduced to the simple figures of raiders/traders/colonisers. dave
> > > robinson wrote the opening chapter on the passage of islam into africa.
>
> > > lastly, as anyone who knows the first thing about islam in africa, is
> > > it, like all versions of islamic belief and practice anywhere sui
> > > generis. to be clear about it, it is african islam, while also
> > > participating in aspects of "world" islam. but it is the creation of
> > > indigenous african thinkers and believers--and much that did come
> > > down across the desert was also being created by north africans.
> > > it is for this reason that i believe it is totally misleading to
> > > think of religions as being imported, rather than merging with an
> > > already existent set of beliefs, beliefs that prepared for the
> > > possibility of a foreign belief to be integrated into an existing set
> > > of beliefs.
>
> > > if you don't know about such basic notions, and want to think of
> > > these religions as foreign imports, i suggest googling mouridism for
> > > starters. or kimbanguism for that matter.
> > > ken harrow
>
> > > At 04:57 AM 1/5/2011, you wrote:
>
> > > >Complements of the season,
>
> > > >On a much broader perspective, i do not think it is empirically, or
> > > >even historically correct to say that we got religion and democracy
> > > >from the colonial interlopers! We may have gotten Islam and
> > > >Christianity from the European and Arab colonisers and slave
> > > >raiders/traders; but we certainly had our own religions and pantheon
> > > >of gods like every other human civilisation. Furthermore we may have
> > > >gotten this specific form of democracy from the european colonial
> > > >interlopers, i think and i blieve that history supports this, that
> > > >we were certainly developing forms of governance which were becoming
> > > >more participatory, and more representative than the absolute
> > > >monarchy by the time of conquest.
> > > >I do not agree that democracy is a western gift to the world.
> > > >Regards,
> > > >Jaye
>
> > > >From: KAYODE EESUOLA <gamesmaste...@yahoo.com>
> > > >To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > > >Sent: Sat, December 25, 2010 7:54:12 AM
> > > >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Jos i perpective
>
> > > >Two things we got from colonial interlopers: religion and democacy
> > > >have contnued to bring war and crisis on Africa, yet we continue to
> > > >patronise them as the solutions to our problem. Like fools we go to
> > > >church , we go to mosque and we do elections everyyear; and in doing
> > > >so Africa inflict more woes on herself.
> > Is'nt it hightime we looked elsewhere?
> > > >I rememberr Fela Anikulapo kuti
>
> > > >--- On Fri, 12/24/10, orunmilab...@yahoo.co.uk
> > > ><orunmilab...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > >From: orunmilab...@yahoo.co.uk <orunmilab...@yahoo.co.uk>
> > > >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Bombs in Jos
> > > >To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > > >Date: Friday, December 24, 2010, 6:03 PM
>
> > > >This is, indeed, sad. It shows the ineptitude and failure of the
> > > >ruling class to provide basic needs of the people and in this
> > > >particular instance, security. That this happened without ANY of the
> > > >countless security agencies being maintained with tax payers money
> > > >is absolutely lamentable.
> > > >Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
>
> > > >-----Original Message-----
> > > >From: Toyin Falola <toyin.fal...@mail.utexas.edu>
> > > >Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > > >Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:13:59
> > > >To: <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
> > > >Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > > >Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Bombs in Jos
>
> > > > >Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:56:31 +0100
> > > > >Subject: Bombs in Jos
> > > > >From: Sati Fwatshak <sfwats...@gmail.com>
> > > > >To: Toyin Falola <toyin.fal...@mail.utexas.edu>,
> > > > >j.cheswo...@cmcsoxford.org.uk,
> > > > > Franz Kogelmann <fr...@kogelmann.eu>, Dana Chivvis
> > > > ><danachiv...@gmail.com>
>
> > > > >This is to inform you that this evening, about 730-8pm Nigerian
> > > > >time, Bombs were dropped in various Christian dominated parts of Jos
> > > > >killing several and wounding several more people. The affected
> > > > >areas include Gada Biyu, Angwan Rukuba, and Tina Junction, with
> > > > >drinking spots and bars most targeted. Though I live in the Staff
> > > > >quarters very close to the Muslim-dominated part of the town, I
> > > > >received a phone call from far away Abuja about the incident and
> > > > >then called people both Christians and Muslims and Jos and they all
> > > > >confirmed the incident. No one or group has claimed responsibility.
> > > > >It is sad indeed.
> > > > >Sati
>
> > > >--
> > > >Toyin Falola
> > > >Department of History
> > > >The University of Texas at Austin
> > > >1 University Station
> > > >Austin, TX 78712-0220
> > > >USA
> > > >512 475 7224
> > > >512 475 7222 (fax)
> > > >http://www.toyinfalola.com/
> > > ><http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa>www
> > .utexas.edu/conferences/africa
> > > >http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
> > > >http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>
> > > >--
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>
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> > > >--
> > > >You received this message because you are subscribed to the
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> > > >of Texas at Austin.
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