The burqa is an example of being "more Catholic than the Pope" (if I may use that expression). It is extremism that goes beyond the orthodox teachings of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never ordered that women hide their face, feet, or hands. And even in Saudi Arabia, no woman who makes the pilgrimage to Mecca is allowed to cover her face during the pilgrimage rites.
We have been warned to avoid extremism of the kind exemplified by the burqa and the practices of Da'esh (ISIS), al-Qa'eda, Boko Haram, etc. The Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Beware of extremism in religion because that was the only thing that destroyed those who came before you."
In the Qur'an, Allah says repeatedly that his orders and Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) are on an equal footing--both must be obeyed.
Allah orders that when there is conflict, all churches, monasteries, synagogues and mosques--every place where the God of Abraham is worshiped--must be protected from destruction.
It is related that Muhammad gave the following order (based on God's commandment):
"No bishop will be expelled from his bishopric, no monk from his monastery, no priest from his place of worship, and no pilgrim will be detained in his pilgrimage. None of their churches and other places of worship will be desolated or destroyed or demolished. No material of their churches will be used to build mosques or houses for the Muslims; any Muslim doing so will be regarded as recalcitrant to Allah and His Prophet. Monks and Bishops will be subject to no tax or indemnity whether they live in forests or on rivers, in the East or in the West, in the North or in the South. I give them my word of honor. They are on my promise and covenant and will enjoy perfect immunity from all sorts of inconveniences. Every help shall be given them in the repair of their churches. They shall be absolved of bearing arms. They shall be protected by the Muslims. Let this document be obeyed until Judgment Day.”
The men of Da'esh (ISIS) carry a flag bearing the names of God and the Prophet Muhammad, and they call for the Qur'an to be studied and followed. But their violent beliefs and behaviour are NOT to be found in the true Qur'an revealed to the Prophet and neither Allah nor the Prophet has ordered them to be the renegades, blasphemers and heretics that they are.
What Da'esh (ISIL) is doing is described in the Qur'an as "war against God and his Messenger" and as "spreading mischief (disorder) in the land". The maximum shari'ah punishment for such actions is, according to the Qur'an, death.
A serious problem faced by al-Jazerra faced in my cable market is the decision of the cable company to put them in an obscure part of the cable channel line-up. Generally, news providers are grouped together in some sort of logical arrangement: Canadian English news, Canadian French news, U.S. news, European French news, Spanish channels, etc. But in spite of two major line-up changes in the last two years, al-Jazeera was relegated to a dark corner in the midst of non-news channels far from the beaten paths of viewers. Thus, many viewers never even noticed that there was an al-Jazeera presence.
Al-Jazeera also applied for a Canadian channel that would have provided the Al-Jazeera main news feed in Arabic. The authorities said that would only be possible if there were a delay and censors were on-line 24/7 to block hate speech or incitements to violence. (Other Arabic feeds, from Morocco and Lebanon have no such impediments nor do any of the Spanish, U.S. English or other foreign broadcasters.)
Even in Canada, with its tradition of free speech and a free press, equality of rights is sometimes like that in George Orwell's "Animal Farm". To paraphrase Orwell, "All media outlets are equal, but some outlets are more equal than others."
The burqa is an example of being "more Catholic than the Pope" (if I may use that expression). It is extremism that goes beyond the orthodox teachings of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never ordered that women hide their face, feet, or hands. And even in Saudi Arabia, no woman who makes the pilgrimage to Mecca is allowed to cover her face during the pilgrimage rites.
We have been warned to avoid extremism of the kind exemplified by the burqa and the practices of Da'esh (ISIS), al-Qa'eda, Boko Haram, etc. The Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Beware of extremism in religion because that was the only thing that destroyed those who came before you."
In the Qur'an, Allah says repeatedly that his orders and Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) are on an equal footing--both must be obeyed.
Allah orders that when there is conflict, all churches, monasteries, synagogues and mosques--every place where the God of Abraham is worshiped--must be protected from destruction.
It is related that Muhammad gave the following order (based on God's commandment):
"No bishop will be expelled from his bishopric, no monk from his monastery, no priest from his place of worship, and no pilgrim will be detained in his pilgrimage. None of their churches and other places of worship will be desolated or destroyed or demolished. No material of their churches will be used to build mosques or houses for the Muslims; any Muslim doing so will be regarded as recalcitrant to Allah and His Prophet. Monks and Bishops will be subject to no tax or indemnity whether they live in forests or on rivers, in the East or in the West, in the North or in the South. I give them my word of honor. They are on my promise and covenant and will enjoy perfect immunity from all sorts of inconveniences. Every help shall be given them in the repair of their churches. They shall be absolved of bearing arms. They shall be protected by the Muslims. Let this document be obeyed until Judgment Day.”
The men of Da'esh (ISIS) carry a flag bearing the names of God and the Prophet Muhammad, and they call for the Qur'an to be studied and followed. But their violent beliefs and behaviour are NOT to be found in the true Qur'an revealed to the Prophet and neither Allah nor the Prophet has ordered them to be the renegades, blasphemers and heretics that they are.
What Da'esh (ISIL) is doing is described in the Qur'an as "war against God and his Messenger" and as "spreading mischief (disorder) in the land". The maximum shari'ah punishment for such actions is, according to the Qur'an, death.
A serious problem faced by al-Jazerra faced in my cable market is the decision of the cable company to put them in an obscure part of the cable channel line-up. Generally, news providers are grouped together in some sort of logical arrangement: Canadian English news, Canadian French news, U.S. news, European French news, Spanish channels, etc. But in spite of two major line-up changes in the last two years, al-Jazeera was relegated to a dark corner in the midst of non-news channels far from the beaten paths of viewers. Thus, many viewers never even noticed that there was an al-Jazeera presence.
Al-Jazeera also applied for a Canadian channel that would have provided the Al-Jazeera main news feed in Arabic. The authorities said that would only be possible if there were a delay and censors were on-line 24/7 to block hate speech or incitements to violence. (Other Arabic feeds, from Morocco and Lebanon have no such impediments nor do any of the Spanish, U.S. English or other foreign broadcasters.)
Even in Canada, with its tradition of free speech and a free press, equality of rights is sometimes like that in George Orwell's "Animal Farm". To paraphrase Orwell, "All media outlets are equal, but some outlets are more equal than others."