In the process, the Muslims gave up education and science and turned their back on innovation, creativity and enlightenment.
They also replaced personal liberty with social and political tyranny and exchanged a democratic and egalitarian way of life for hereditary monarchy and dictatorship. And for all sorts of feudal and authoritarian power structures.
And they filled their mind with all kinds of idle thought and empty spaces.
I have always refrained from honouring these debates by joining them. But let me ask this question anyway – a question that to me is most simple and elementary. Those who spend endless hours and days debating if a woman can be a leader or not; and if she can be in charge of something or not; and then they drag the glorious and blessed name of Islam in this almost perverse, foolish and futile debate; all they need to do is just think about one thing.
That is all they need to do. Think about one thing. Answer one simple question.
Let them ask themselves: Just who was the owner, master – and leader – of their kitchen, when their gourmet meal was being prepared the previous day, and who was in charge of that cup of sumptuous tea or coffee – or some other similar drug – that their wife placed in their hand that morning?
And then let them allow their imagination to wander. And let them ponder all the Might-Have-Beens of that kitchen and all the likely brews that could have taken the place of that cup of life-giving early morning tea or coffee. And all the different kinds of poison, some slow to act and some faster to work their havoc; some most painful and some with their deadly effects barely visible to the naked eye.
No, under the eminent, capable and compassionate leadership of their women, their cup of tea was still a cup of tea and the food they had been consuming all of yesterday was nothing but food. The result is that these ingrate men live on – maybe only to ungraciously malign their women another day.
They are still alive and breathing – these ungracious and ingrate men – and continuing to make mischief. Their wives did not use their total mastery of their territory to put an end to their existence with a chalice full of hemlock. And the women of their household – and practically every other household on earth – exercised their leadership in the most positive, supportive and nurturing manner that they have been doing for who knows how long.
And then what many of these male Muslims need to do thereafter is to hang their head in shame and turn to God and repent from their folly and their arrogance – and for having strayed so blatantly and shamefully from the pure, pristine and pro-female teachings of Islam.
And immediately thereafter they need to start apologizing to every woman they meet – starting out with their mother and wife.
These Muslim men who ask if a woman can be a leader.
Two Paths to Success: Islam and Machiavelli
Islam presents a methodology of doing life – and attaining success – that is a bit at variance from that articulated by Machiavelli. To Niccolo Machiavelli, Success was the result of lies and deception and manipulation and ruthlessness — and of taking advantage of the weak, the unwary and the vulnerable.
In Islam, however, Success is a gift and a blessing from God Almighty and its path is illuminated by truth and justice and honesty and integrity and transparency — and fairness and compassion. It is often a by-product of Charity toward all and malice toward none as someone once put it.
Lying Is Endemic to Human Nature,
Machiavelli May Have Just Shown Us How to Do It Well
Machiavelli did not invent the art of lying, deception and manipulation. He merely codified it and raised it to the level of almost a science – and spelled out the practical and pragmatic reasoning behind it.
Europe Makes Cheap Political Hay Using the Niqab Issue
They lie. Those who say they are protecting the cultural integrity of a nation or society by banning the Niqab – the full face-covering some Muslim women insist on wearing in public, thinking that is what Islam wants them to do.
But to any sensible person, and Islam is all about being a sensible person, Niqab could present a serious security situation in places like the streets of Paris, London and Brussels in these uncertain times. Who can vouch what surprises lurk behind what Niqab?
Indian Muslims and Their Glacial Pace of Change
Not that Indian Muslims – especially the good ones – won’t do the right thing, the smart thing. It is just that many of them may not be around by the time they get around to doing it.
People Pleasing Does Not Always Pay
Memo to politicians: Those who try to please everyone on everything may end up pleasing no one on anything.
Opiate Use of Islam by Its Followers
Muslims used to get mad at Karl Marx for calling religion “The Opium of the People.” But that didn’t seem to have stopped many of them from OD-ing on it.
If Only He Had Claimed to Be God or Son of God!
Sometimes I think part of the resistance some people feel toward Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, comes from the fact that he did not claim to be God or Son of God. If he had done that, the world probably would have been in a stampede to bow down before him.
But him claiming to be God’s messenger on earth, and asking everybody to follow his example of super-uprightness, and obey God’s law of perfect truth, justice, equality and morality in all things, that is a tough sell.
How to Be a Republican or a Democrat Using the Prism of Islam
It is not a question of being Republican or Democrat. It is about doing what is absolutely, positively the best for America with regard to everything – above personal interest and beyond party politics. Now, that comes pretty close to how a real Muslim would think. Except that a real Muslim may go even further and think in terms of the wellbeing of the entire human race.
