What is wrong with the Sunni Unity Pledge…

Mind, Body, Soul » Blog Archive » What is wrong with the Sunni Unity Pledge…

Assalamu alaikum, some people will say “there will always be the haters”, when speaking of people/sites who will continue to engage in the same sorts of things that the “Sunni Unity Pledge” is trying to do away with, and my question is, how do we deal with these people? Just saying “well there will always be the haters” makes me want to say, “And?”

What do we do then? And what is the point of the pledge if the same sort of fitna is still going to exist? I’m not saying the pledge is a bad thing, I supported it, no less. However, the pledge can’t be a pledge and then we just pat ourselves on the back and say, “hey look at me I support Sunni unity, don’t you?”

The pledge has to be a step and that is how I see it. The question then to me because “how do we deal with the haters”? Do we just pretend they don’t exist? What if said “haters” are respected by some of the very signitories of the pledge?

And I don’t care who we’re talking about here, “traditional” “Salafi” “sufi” whoever! A pledge is a pledge, but how do those of us deal with sites, groups, people, whoever, who engage in the sorts of things this pledge states it is against? I mean, if you come across something, and said “something” is takfir-ing a grup of Muslims you’ve said that you are “united” with, how would you handle that? How would you handle it if they said “these Muslims are dviant” or “these Muslims are engaging in bida” or “shirk”, or whatever?

I’m not saying that we’re going to answer *all* of these questions with one pledge. I’m saying that this pledge has to be a stepping stone to learning how to deal with these questions, among many others which people have brought up. The pledge should not be the end all, be all. We have to follow it up with action, and further steps to strengthen our unity, or at least, the mutual respect and tolerance that we say we want to be between each other. That is what I’m saying,a nd Inshallah, it will happen.

Thoughts on “Sunni Muslim Unity”

Assalamu alaikum, Aamina expresses many of my sentiments regarding “unity” of Sunni Muslims. While it seems like a noble statement, calling for the unity, or at least, the mutual respect, of Sunni Muslims of varying theological persuasions, and while I support this move and statement wholehartedly, it’s one thing to have some Muslim bloggers say, “yeah, we should do this”, and it’s something different when many of our most notable scholars begin to also sign on to the “pledge of unity”.

The only nagging thing that I keep coming back to is, what of the groups and people who still continue to harp on “who is deviant”, posting lists of so-called “deviant” websites, scholars, etc.? What if these scholars continue to be admired/followed by people who are also saying, “yes we want unity and mutual respect between Sunni Muslims”?

Can you reconcile the view that “so-and-so is deviant” with the idea of “mutual respect” when the first reaction and the nature of many is to condemn people for their “deviancy”?

Don’t get me wrong, the “pledge of unity” is a good start, but from where I sit, it is only the first step in a long process, and I’m just wondering how far is this going to go? Especially when just last week, just at the start of Ramadan, no less, you still have certain groups/people who still feel the need to post huge long lists of “deviant” websites and scholars that “we as Muslims should be wary of”.
How can you have “unity” or even “mutual respect and tolerance” when you still have people running around calling others”deviant” for engaging in certain practices for which, while they or their scholars may not agree is “OK”, there may be a genuine difference of opinion among the Ummah about?

Not only do we need to stop the “takfir-ing” of Muslims but we also need to stop the “so-and-so is deviant” stuff as well. Because personally speaking, I find it hard to “unite” with anyone who thinks I’m a deviant, or “ignorant” or “not following the true and purified Sunnah” or whatever you want to call it. We can say we have differences of opinion, and I’m definitely willing to respect those who have different views than myself, but I’d like the same respect, and that is all I’m saying.

And I’m just not sure what kind of “unity” can occur when you still have what many Muslims see as respectable scholars still compiling lists condemning other Muslims as being “deviant”. I really don’t want to seem cynical/pessimistic about the whole thing, but when I still see sites talking about “what are the most deviant websites”, and when I still see comments about “ignorant Muslims worshipping graves”, my reaction is to be happy and supportive of efforts at “Muslim unity”, while at the same time feeling the need to step back and to prepare myself for the fact that this might not succeed, sad as that may be if it were to fail. And Allah alone truly gives success, and may He make this effort truly successful, despite whatever “misgivings” insignificant little me might have.

And perhaps this shouldn’t matter, but is anyone else feeling as cautious about this as I am? Yes, I’m happy, yes this is wonderful news, but I’m cautious nonetheless! Becuase just yesterday, I saw comments to the affect of “well it’s good that we’re uniting even if we have to go along with the deviant sufis”, or whatever. And I’m like, is this what we mean by “unity”? Which brings me back to the question, is “unity” the right word?

And how, pray tell, do we deal with our differences? How do we deal with them in a constructive way? Because to me the answer is not to just sweep them under the rug and pretend they don’t exist. And perhaps this is for the scholars, students of knowledge, and people otherwise more knowledgeable than myself to tackle and address. Because personally, I have mixed feeling sabout the whole thing, i.e., glad that something like this is being worked out, apprehensive that it might not work as we still see some of the same kinds of things going on that have caused division in the past, and feeling a sense of, I don’t know how to put it, except to say that I’m kinda kicking myself for feeling apprehensive!

THE WAR | PBS

THE WAR | PBS

Assalamu alaikum, a documentary film currently showing on PBS about World War II. This is what, IMHO, makes PBS such good quality TV!

Love & The Masjid: A Single Muslima’s Look at Ramadan « Izzy Mo’s Blog

Love & The Masjid: A Single Muslima’s Look at Ramadan « Izzy Mo’s Blog

Assalamu alaikum, a good post from Izzy Mo.

Alhamdulillah! / Good News: Faten has been found! « Tariq Nelson

Good News: Faten has been found! « Tariq Nelson

Sa’imeh Sister: Blahg Blahg Blahg » Blog Archive » A Dishonorable Affair

Sa’imeh Sister: Blahg Blahg Blahg » Blog Archive » A Dishonorable Affair

Assalamu alaikum, Subhanallah! It’s one thing to say “this is not Islam”, but for the Muslims who think this is, actually, Islam, this is why we, as Muslims have to address htis. Because many Muslims think that “honor killings” are OK, and are part of their religion! So we as Muslims, have to address this! However, the “how” is what I have a question about.

To me, “honor” has nothing to do with it. This was clearly premeditated! The family planned it, the borhter carried it out, and then they even had a celebration when it was over! Did this girl’s life not mean anything? What is the “honor” in seeming not to “honor” the sanctity of life, that Islam teaches us is so important!?

What about the “honor” of the fact that her father? was it? was supposedly having an affair and the only reason this whole thing even happened in the first place was because the “friend” of the father threatened to expose it if this girl didn’t go with him?

I’m still fasting right now so I don’t want to get too angry over this, but at the very least this makes me so sad! Excuse my “Americanism”, but there is no “honor” in this! If anything, there is continued “dishonor” in the fact that this girl, and others like her, are murdered, etc., for supposedly “dishonoring” a family!

This goes back for my dislike of the morality of a whole community or family being put on the shoulders of its women. If women are supposedly to be so virtuous and “honorable”, what about hte man?

And hte idea that many have that this is “religion” that it is obligatory in Islam to do this? That is the worst of it to me!

Anyway, I’ll stop now as this just about has me in tears thinking about this!

The Sunni Unity Pledge | Mujahideen Ryder’s Blog

The Sunni Unity Pledge | Mujahideen Ryder’s Blog

Assalamu alaikum, I know I blogged about this already (I think anyway), but he is collecting signatures of those who are supporting this and I just wanted to add my name to it. Inshallah, more people/blogs/websites will add their names/voices/duas/actions to this effort, Inshallah.

A Great Blessing in a Blessed Month: Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge

Suhaib Webb » Blog Archive » A Great Blessing in a Blessed Month: Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge

Alhamdulillah! Let’s hope this sort of thing continues!

Update from Abu Sinan « Tariq Nelson

Update from Abu Sinan « Tariq Nelson

Pastor opposing airport’s sinks for Muslims | IndyStar.com

Pastor opposing airport’s sinks for Muslims | IndyStar.com

Assalamu alaikum, from the article: A Baptist pastor who lost a son in Iraq objects to the placement of special sinks that would aid Muslims at the Indianapolis airport in preparing for prayer
because he opposes “the fraternization with our open enemies during a time of war,” according to a statement from his church.”

OK, whatever. Installing the sinks was more of a safety issue, I’d thought, than a religious accommodation, though I think those lines can get kind of blurred.

Anger as Airline Refuses to Fly Disability Activist – Yahoo! News

Anger as Airline Refuses to Fly Disability Activist – Yahoo! News

Assalamu alaikum, thanks Aaminah for emailing me this story! Wow! What can you say?

Sa’imeh Sister: Blahg Blahg Blahg » Blog Archive » Confront the Whisperer, Confront Your Self

Sa’imeh Sister: Blahg Blahg Blahg » Blog Archive » Confront the Whisperer, Confront Your Self

Assalamu alaikum, Mashallah, this post almost brought tears to my eyes! And I mean this in a good way! This was definitely a good reminder for me and did cause me to reflect! Alhamdulillah for this.

Urgent message from Abu Sinan « Tariq Nelson

Urgent message from Abu Sinan « Tariq Nelson

Assalamu alaikum, Abu Sinan’s sister-in-law is missing. Inshallah she is found safe and sound. See the link above for more details!

Umm Zaid’s Hijrah Mijrah Series

Assalamu alaikum, Umm Zaid has a what appears to be an ongoing series on the topic of making hijrah. Funny that I was just thinking about this. And while I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of making hijrah in and of itself, ass Umm Zaid points out, there are many things that you have to consider.

For my part, I’d have to have some way of supporting myself (or my husband would as I’m married). Health-care, especially as it pertains to women and children would be a big concern to me. And if I had any children, things like education, etc. Also, for me as a blind Muslimah, I’d be concerned about what sorts of services might be available. Would I get assistance if I went out, what are the local attitudes toward people with disabilties, etc.

And of course, this is all ontop of knowing the place and people you will be moving to and with. Personally speaking, and just IMHO, I think people talk about “making hijrah” like it’s just so easy, like you can just jump on a Greyhound bus or a plane and bam! You’re in the “Islamic State of Eutopia”!

“you can’t pray at your job, make hijrah”. “your family and friend or neighbors harassing you for being a Muslim, make hijrah”. Etc., etc., etc. And to me, it’s not as simple as that. Some people, for whatever reason, are just not in a position to make hijrah. Perhaps it’s financial, perhaps it’s health issues, who knows.

But I think just telling people to “make hijrah” in response to a problem they’re having is just oversimplifying things. However, having said that, if one does decide to make hijrah, one must do a lot of preparation and planning! Getting finances together, finding out as much about the place you’re going to move to, etc., etc., etc.

I can’t imagine why anyone would just “go and make hijrah” without doing the, well what I’d consider, the requisite research, etc. That’s just plain silly! And yes, I’m all about “relying on Allah” but that doesn’t mean not doing your homework before you embarking upon something either.

Anyway, keep checking Umm Zaid’s blog as Inshallah, she’ll have more posts regarding this to come and as of now, she’s saying things a whole lot better, Mashallah, than I could have or am doing now *smile*.

My FirstDay of Fasting…

Assalamu alaikum, today was my first day of fasting, as I was not able to fast for the past few days. And I did fine until just before breaking my fast! I got probably one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had, to the point that I could barely eat!

I had to go lay down until it went away and then get back up and eat my dinner! Subhanallah! Inshallah, that won’t happen again for a long time!

And on that note, Alhamdulillah, I’m started to get into the Ramadan mode now that I’m able to fast! But it’s hard to do other acts of worship as by the time I get home from work, break my fast, etc., I just want to sleep!

However, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about earning rewards, and thinking about how I’ll be answerable/accountable for *everything * I’ve done, and I found myself thinking about all of the little things that we forget, like that snippy comment we made to a friend or family member, or how much food/water we waste when people in some places barely have either.

I think to myself about how I feel too lazy to get up from tahajjud or fajr and I think, “you know, that could really make the difference”. And thinking about all of this, well, frightens me but then also gives me hope of Allah’s forgiveness and mercy!

Subhanallah! And I think I need to take the dog out, I keep hearing it rain outside and Inshallah, I can get her outside before the next big blast of rain hits!

BTW, I think Chloe is getting this praying thing down, today I was praying at work, and she just laid ever so quietly beside me! Before, it was hard to get her to stay in one place! Chloe’s a wonderful dog! But I have to watch her as she likes to get into everything!

So anyway, I need to go and get her outside and get to bed myself as I still don’t feel quiet myself. Inshallah, everyone is having a blessed Ramadan and getting the most out of this blessed and joyous month! Because before you know it, the Eid will be upon us.

Islamic Revival Among Diaspora Gambians

Assalamu alaikum, I’m still not sure what this article is trying to say. I’d like to believe that one would not have to choose between Islam and capitalism, as an example, or between “African identity” and “religion”, whether it’s Islam, Christianity, etc.

I get the feeling that when people talk about Islam and Christianity, as they relate to Africa, they are seen as impositions from the outside, rather than religions/ways of life which have been now adopted by the people. And I’m not sure if you can honestly say that Islam and Christianity are anymore impositions from the outside so much, although in some cases, they might have started out that way.

I’m sure that there were many Muslims and Christians both who tried to “impose” their respective religions on to people, not just Africans. However, the tone in the article seems to be suggesting that Gambians are just “turning to Islamic revival”, because they have nowhere else to go. And though I can’t speak for why diasporan Gambians, en masse, are becoming more religious, it bothers me that the authors of the article seem to be implying that this is somehow a bad thing!

If we are Muslims, we should say Alhamdulillah that people, whether Gambians or some other nationality, are turning back to Islam and becoming more religious and are endeavoring to follow and practice their religion more fully. Would the authors of this article like to see things go back to the way they were? Referring back to Part 1 of the series, would the authors feel better if Gambians became less religious? Going back to drug dealing, etc., and all of the supposedly bad qualities that Gambians were supposedly known for “back then”?

I really don’t know why people get so upset when they see people become more religious, especially when it comes to Islam, and then proceed to lament about how “good” things were when things were more “secular”.

As far as Jammeh using Islam, i.e., building mosques in state institutions, etc., what can I say about that except to state the obvious that Jammeh is trying to play on the religious sympathies of 90% of the Gambian population who happen to be Muslim. Anyone can see that this is for “political expediency” and to show off to the Muslim world, rather than some sort of religious zeal on Jammeh or anyone else’s part.

There is a difference between endeavoring to follow one’s religion more fully and using that religion as a prop in your political game. As far as finding one’s identity in this world of globalization, perhaps this is getting increasingly hard to do. If a country or people are predominantly Muslim, how should they define themselves? As Africans only? As African Muslims? And if they define themselves as Muslims, where should they stand if their feelow Muslims, not only in Iraq and Palestine are attacked, but Muslims in other parts of Africa as well? It just seems to me that people who talk about “finding your identity” are really meaning that they should throw off all vestiges of anything else except “African”, whatever that means as there are numerous ethnic groups, cultures, languages, etc., that call Africa home.

Should an African Muslim, for example, be expected to just stop being Muslim, or stop identifying themselves as Muslims, in the name of “trying to find your African identity”? Surely we are complex enough and intelligent enough as human beings to find room for both identifies, Muslim and African? Or, Muslim and American, for htat matter.

Muhammad-Nur’s Blog » Keeping Converts

Muhammad-Nur’s Blog » Keeping Converts

Assalamu alaikum, nice entry, check it out, that’s all I can say… Mashallah.

And why we are all here / Ramadan Journal…

Assalamu alaikum, moving onward and forward.

Day 1, which for this community was on the 13th. I was not able to fast, which I was glad of, because I didn’t have the yearly dilemma of “who to follow”, that I always have. Because even though I have resolved to follow Zaytuna (and feel comfortable with this decision), inevitabley, if I wasn’t fasting *someone* would ask me about it! And I’m just not good at saying “well I’m not fasting ’cause I followed Zaytuna”. My experience has been that many people here don’t know about Zaytuna, have not heard about organizations like the Nawawi Foundation, SunniPath, etc. And when they do hear of them, they will ask something like “do they follow the Qur’an and Sunnah”, or they generally seem to be a bit wary of these organizations. You multiply that with my experience of feeling as though I’m being sized up, as I’m a convert, and being asked to “recite as much Qur’an as you know” or “describe how you pray”, etc., as if I’m being quizzed to see if I’m a “real Muslim” or not, the environment is just not conducive for me to be able to even try to broach the subject of “differing moon sightings” or differing anything else. Here at home, though, it’s not a problem, I’ve resolved to follow Zaytuna, just for the sake of my own sanity *smile*, and because I trust their judgment on this issue, and their adab on this issue is impressive to me. And when I go to the masjid, I just won’t say anything, and if I’m ever asked about the issue, well, I don’t know how I’d deal with that question. I’d feel badly saying something like “well I follow something different”. That just seems well, kinda uppity and condescending to me. And I’m never good at broaching/discussing controversial subjects, so I just avoid them, mostly. I’d be interested to know how others in this sort of situation deal with this, and with good adab/respect for their fellow brothers and sisters. Surely I’m not hte only one who is in this situation. Having said all of this, though, as the community did start on the 13th, I just started that as “day 1″, as it was Day 1 here. Perhaps I’ll make a notation as “day one for the community” or something, I don’t know. But anyway,I went to work and came back home. I’m having a hard time getting into the spirit of things. I mean, I know it’s Ramadan and all, and I’ve got that “feeling” that I always get when Ramadan is about to start, but I’ve just been feeling “blah” physically.

Day 2 (yesterday): Again got up, went to work, came home. Read a bit of Qur’an here and there. And I feel just so, lazy / scatter-brained. Perhaps I can go to tarowih prayers once I’m able to fast again.

Day 3: Woke up with an absolute headache! But alhamdulillah, my husband got up, took Chloe out for me, took her on a “normal dog walk” where of course she was not guiding but she could just walk and be a dog! He said she seemed to really enjoy the time out. And he even took her to the bathroom, groomed her, and gave her her water and dog biscuits that she gets in the morning. And today is “doggy day” where she gets her monthly heartworm preventative tablet, and later she will get her flea/tick treatment (FrontLine Plus).

Not sure what we’re eating later on, I’ve not felt much like eating. Inshallah, I’ll feel better tomorrow.

Cesarean Moon Births

Assalamu alaikum, an oldie but goodie *smile*, well, perhaps you couldn’t call it that, as it was just published last year. But I’m in the middle of re-reading it, and putting it next to some of the other moon sighting-related articles on this blog, Inshallah, one can come to a clear decision, within themselves, as to what to do, Inshallah.

I’m weighing in my mind the “interest” in this subject that I have, with the fitna that discussing this subject and continuing to talk about it can cause, but on and off the Net, and I’m starting to think that I should just put it to rest. And on that note, here is Part 1 and Part 2. For those of you with accessibiility concerns, it is a pdf document, so you might want to consider saving the document and opening it externally in Adobe, rather than having it open within your browser. You might also want to save the document as a text file, which you can do within Adobe by clicking on File and the Save As Text.

Enjoy, and Inshallah, we can learn to agree to disagree on this issue. And the idea occurred tome that in cities with one mosque, well, not sure if this would be violating or going against any Islamic principles or anything, but for Muslims who are following differing opinions on this issue, I’d wondered if perhaps you could hold like two different Eids? That way, those who were falling say, Saudi, or calculations, could come on “their day”, and those would followed local sighting, could have thier Eid on their day. Of course, in cities with multiple Masajid, it’s possible that you might be able to do Eid on different days.

Is this a possible solution to the problem? I mean, you wouldn’t necessarily be causing “disunity”, but you’d be inclusive of people who followed differing opinions as you do, and this might create a feeling of not unity but a spirit of, well, fellowship? I ca’t find the right word for it at the moment. And this may not even be soemthing that is allowable/permissible anyway, but it’s just a thought.

Critics of the Fiqh Council of North America neither follow the Sunnah of Moon sighting nor their acclaimed Ijma’a

Update: I’ve read the below-linked article, and you know, I’m tired of this! Just plain tired of it! I feel like I’m watching too kids fighting, “you’re not following the Sunnah” “no, you’re not following the Sunnah and not only that, you follow calculation too, so you’re not *really* not following the Sunnah, and what’s more, you use calculation just like us, so you’re just like us, the very people you’re saying you’re against.” Yada yada yada, and on and on and on it goes! I remember that not so long ago, www.moonsighting.com took the same position as many of the groups that started Ramadan on the 14th this year. Which is OK, if they want to change their position that is fine, no problem here! But it’s this constant back-and-forth, this constant slamming of whoever you’re not in agreement with, the seeming lack of adab, IMHO, the seeming need to show how “wrong you are and right I am”, to show “who’s following the “real” Sunnah and who’s not”.

And this is why I follow Zaytuna, as of now. They’ve never flip-flopped, they’ve always applied the same criteria year in and year out, as long as I’ve been keeping up with them, they’ve always been consistent, you never saw a “well such-and-such an organization says it’s Ramadan or Eid”, then later saw the same message with something like “but I think differently, Ramadan or Eid should be on “x” day”, and of course, you never saw this revision in the message until *after* you’d started your fast or broken it. And they’ve always had good adab in how they disagree with others, no “you’re just like the Jews” or “our critics just aren’t following the Sunnah” inflammatory comments here, as I’d seen on a couple of other sights who went with September 14th as the start of Ramadan. The issue was not that somone did or di not site the moon, the issue was what were they seen, based on our knowledge that we have today, and if that *something* could have been the moon, and I guess Zaytuna felt that it was not. Quoting from the statement on www.crescentwatch.org:

“CrescentWatch.Org did not receive any reliably confirmed reports of the new crescent moon being sighted in North America on Wednesday evening.

We will complete the 30 days of Shaban and begin Ramadan Thursday evening with the first day of the fast on Friday.

We are aware of the few isolated sighting reports in Chicago, New York, and Toronto and, upon investigation and careful evaluation, we, along with several
moon sighting committees around the country, found them not credible, resulting from common mistakes or miscommunications, or based on sightings outside
of the US and Canada. Additionally, we are unable to accept such astronomically implausible sightings in the Northeastern U.S. unless they are followed
by abundant sightings in the Western and Southern U.S., where sightings would be easier and far more likely. Numerous qualified moon sighters around the
country, including ones in Texas, Arizona, and California, reported clear skies but no naked eye sightings of the new crescent moon Wednesday evening.
Knowing that isolated and implausible sightings provide nowhere near the certainty required to start the month of Ramadan, we welcome another day of Shaban
for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of this blessed month.”

It seems to me that they are still following the Sunnah, yet at the same time, applying the knowledge that Allah has given us. i.e., that we now know the probability/possibility of seeing the moon in a given place, and if it’s seen in one place, it should be seen in west of that place, and if it’s not, that “sightings” of the moon in said places should not be taken as reliable. So what is the problem? I recall www.moonsighting.com (where I actually learned about all of this criteria in the first place), was saying the same thing not two years ago! Which is OK, but my issue is, where is the good adab here? I mean, I read the article and got a “you’re just like us, hardy har har” kinda feeling about it. And the article just seemed to have a condescending “you’re wrong and we’re right and you’ve proved it ’cause you use calculations just like we do”, etc., etc., etc. Although the last sentence said that we just should “respect our fiqhi differences”, etc. And that I agree with. But as I said, I’m just tired of this! In trying to play one-upsmanship as to “who and who isn’t following the Sunnah” of moon sighting, many have forgotten about the Sunnah, as far as adab and disagreeing with one another goes.

Assalamu alaikum, this should be interesting to read, once I have a chance to read this. But the only way that the critics of the Fiqh Council could possibly be “not following the Sunnah” at least just going by the title of the article, might be how these critics might approach this disagreement? And I include myself in this. I know that I am not the best one to discuss this topic with others who do not follow the same opinion as I do. I tend to be very forceful when I express myself, and add a bit of snarkiness in there, and well, that’s a bad mix! It leads to contentiousness and rancor between people, and that is not good. Inshallah, I will at some point be able to acquire the ability to discuss this topic, among many others which to me could be classified under the rubric of “traditional Islam”, like madhhabs, tasawuf, etc., with people who don’t necessarily agree with me, in a way where I don’t feel on the defensive or where I don’t come across as arrogant or sarcastic. That is what I’d like to happen.

At this point, I find that I can only discuss these sorts of things with either like-minded people, or people that I know will respect my point of view, even if they don’t necessarily agree with it. But titling an article in such a way that suggests that your critics “don’t follow the Sunnah” when said critics are stating that we should follow the confirmed Sunnah of sighting the moon, by actually going out and seeing it with our own eyes for ourselves is well, I find it to be condescending and arrogant!

I much prefer Zaytuna’s approach, stating that they disagree but doing it in a way that is respectful of others’ intelligence and with the good manners/adab of assuming that “the other side”, as it were, has the best of intentions. It’s not the “disagreements” regarding moon sighting that bother me so much, it’s the contentiousness that arises from it, the back-and-forth, the implying that so-and-so is “not following the Sunnah”, or “not modern enough” or whatever.

Anyway, the article is in PDF format, so I’m not sure how Jaws will read it. I’ll try to see if I can find an HTML or text/word version of the file somewhere and read it.

Moon sighting/astronomy has always been in interesting topic for me, even before I was Muslim. I’d always been interested in the stars, planets, etc., I went to space camp once, when I was in the tenth grade. So, this is just an interesting topic, of how the astronomical calculations are formulated, how long it takes to see the new crescent after the conjunction of the new moon, etc., etc. So moon sighting, in and of itself, is just an interesting topic for me.

And I don’t mind reading the differring perspectives on this. However, it’s the bad adab, the rancor, etc., that just about turns my stomach! I really don’t understand why the “calculation camp” can’t just understand that the people who oppose their position have just as good of intentions as they do. Accusing people of “not following the Sunnah” isn’t going to win them over to your side any quicker, which is what the astronomic-calculations-only side would like, eventually, to happen, that people just start using the global Islamic calendar that they’ve formulated. However, if this does not happen, if people are slow to change, or don’t adopt this formula at all, they should not be ridiculed, criticized, whatever. We are all striving to please Allah, and I understand that those who are advocating a calculated global calendar are only trying to make things easy and try to minimize the controversy in which we Muslims seem to find ourselves engaged in at least once a year and twice if you count the month of Dhul Hijja. However, I can’t help but think that the title alone is meant to be a provocative thing, and as I said before, why do this in Ramadan? Perhaps instead of saying “so-and-so who doesn’t agree with us isnot following the Sunnah” why not post an article showing how *you* are following the Sunnah. That would just seem less confrontation that “critics of so-and-so group are not following the Sunnah”. It just seems like the buzz phrase is “oh they don’t follow the Sunnah”, and it seems like a way of deligitimizing “the other’s” position, when IMHO, it would be better to focus on your own position and why you feel it is correct, than to lambast others who are critical of you.