Our Experiences Play a Major Role....

Our experiences play a major role in shaping who and what we are. Whilst most people like to think they are 'worldly' people, many are in fact not. They haven't had the wonderful opportunity that some of us have had to travel the world and to learn from scholars. Or indeed the opportunity to work and socialize with people in other countries of different backgrounds, religions and cultures. And many, if they are afforded the opportunity don't bother to engage with locals anyway. I've witnessed that hundreds of times through both recreational travel and business travel. It's such a shame. Such a waste of the opportunity to learn.

When situations arise like we are witnessing now with radical Muslims seeking revenge, one of the first responses from the 'unworldly' people, the closed minded people are to tar everyone with the same brush. They are Muslim, all of them want to kill us. Did every German want to kill the Jews? Of course not. So why in heaven's name would every Muslim want to kill us. There is no question thousands do, but millions don't; not that some people will acknowledge this fact or indeed accept it as fact. Fear, distrust, bigotry, lead to that reaction. For some it's fear. For some distrust and others bigotry. And it's fair to say for some it's a combination of all three.

When you have the temerity to question the attack on and to defend the majority you are accused of being naive; easily fooled. Or, as happened today, you're branded a leftie (which I'm not) and it's hurled at you as though that makes you subhuman. I can say with some conviction I'm not naive, easily fooled or a raging leftie. I'm a middle of the road conservative; on some issues strongly to the right on others tilting to the left.  I actually find the accusations infuriating, but generally manage to hold my tongue in check; just.

I've asked a few who've taken shots at me how many actual Muslim's have they met. A fair percentage has said none. A bit like our Ms Lambie, their inspiration and knowledge source I suspect is Google and social media.

We have every right to be wary. But the question was asked on radio today do you feel less secure after the events of yesterday? The answer is no, I don't. Will I be a little bit more aware of what's happening around me, absolutely. I think we've probably been a little too complacent for too long. Will I stop standing up for what it in my heart. Absolutely not.

When Circumstances Change

Almost as soon as Hitler came to power the systematic persecution of Jews began. The Nazis introduced many anti-Jewish laws. History tells us that the civilian population had little or any knowledge of the extent of those laws.

Got me thinking about what we are witnessing now as it relates to the attacks on Muslims.  I'm not talking about the bad guys here, ISIS & their ilk. I'm taking about ordinary Muslims.  The difference of course is, that in this circumstance the 'attacks' are led by citizens, not the elected leaders (Senator Lambie being the exception). We should also reflect on the point that Lambie wants to be Prime Minister. There are people who both support her and will vote for her.

Some of the similarities..

1933 - Random attacks on Jews & Jewish property started. Attacks on Muslims by and large haven't started here YET, but they are common occurrences in UK and other parts.

1933 - Kosher - ritual slaughter of animals banned. There are constant calls here to do the same as this relates to Halal. Halal has been banned in some European countries.  As a non meat eat I hate all slaughter but those advocating banning Halal never mention Kosher. Why not?

1935/36 - Jews no longer allowed to vote. There has been a cacophony of calls here to ban Muslims from voting if they support Sharia Law.
1935/36 - Benefits payments stopped. Same call here for Muslims who support Sharia Law.

1938 - Some Jews have passports removed and prevented from leaving the country. Muslims are having their passports removed and being stopped from leaving. I acknowledge the circumstances are different but innocent people are being caught up in this now.

1941 - Jews forced to wear a yellow star. We have the reverse call here to prevent Muslims from wearing certain items of clothing.

I find this all a tad concerning. History shows us how quickly circumstances can change. If they did and if more people like Lambie got into parliament, how many would turn on the Muslim community just as they did against the Jews.

The Sharia Debate - A Perspective

The debate about sharia law is highly emotive. Sharia is complex but I suspect many only consider the most extreme aspects. Given the current situation that's understandable,  but are we being fair in doing so.  I don't claim to be an expert, even Muslim Scholars differ however I think I can apply reason and fairness.

In reality, Sharia is personal religious law and moral guidance for the vast majority of Muslims. Moreover, these particular values are in harmony with the core values at the heart of Australia and the very vast majority of Australians. I guess a simplistic comparison would be Christians using the 10 Commandments as their guide with some extras. 

·       educating the individual; 

·       Upholding morality in public and private;

·       preventing hardship, on individuals and society;

·       establishment of justice;

·       preventing oppression. 

One of the more contentious examples in Australia is that Sharia law decrees that men and women should dress modestly, although Countries vary in how they interpret this.  It’s fair to say that in some countries like Saudi Arabia and Taliban controlled parts of Afghanistan the application of this, as it this applies to women is repressive. On the other hand most women in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia (except for Aceh) and western countries as an example choose how they dress in compliance with their religious law. That is their decision, not ours to demand. This is also at the heart of one of the emotive debates in Australia.    

If I’m honest I find women ‘modesty’ dressed less offensive than many of the immodesty dressed women on our streets. I am not intimidated by women covering (anymore). I say anymore because when I was first confronted by large numbers of women in niqabs my first reaction was sorrow and my second was slight intimidation. After years of mixing with these women it doesn’t bother me anymore.  I do however respect the fact that many in this country are intimidated and distrustful.  

Other areas of daily life where Muslims may turn to Sharia for guidance include family law, finance and business.

Sharia is extremely complex as there are five different schools of Sharia law.  There are 4 Sunni doctrines; Hanbali, Maliki and Hanafi. There is one Shia doctrine; Shia Jaafari.  Where it becomes complex is the five doctrines differ in how literally they interpret the texts from which Sharia Law is derived.

For the majority of Muslims, those we like to refer to as 'ordinary' Muslims they just want to live their lives in peace and consider an interpretation of Sharia to be valid so long as it protects and advocates for life, property, family, faith, and intellect. So when people call for Sharia to be banned and those who follow Sharia to be deported or have any government support removed they are essentially including all Muslims. That’s where problems arise in my opinion.

I found this recently. I'll post unedited because it's interesting to review in the context of how the majority of Muslims live their lives and how we live our lives.

"The scholars explain that the welfare of humans is based on the fulfilment of necessities, needs, and comforts.

Necessities

Necessities are matters that worldly and religious life depends upon. Their omission leads to unbearable hardship in this life, or punishment in the next. There are five necessities: preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth. These ensure individual and social welfare (added NOT to be interpretation as welfare payments) in this life and the hereafter.

The Sharia protects these necessities in two ways: firstly by ensuring their establishment and then by preserving them.

Religion: To ensure the establishment of religion, Allah Most High has made belief and worship obligatory. To ensure its preservation, the rulings relating to the obligation of learning and conveying the religion were legislated.

Life: To ensure the preservation of human life, Allah Most high legislated for marriage, healthy eating and living, and forbid the taking of life and laid down punishments for doing so. 

Intellect: Allah has permitted that sound intellect and knowledge be promoted, and forbidden that which corrupts or weakens it, such as alcohol and drugs. He has also imposed preventative punishments in order that people stay away from them, because a sound intellect is the basis of the moral responsibility that humans were given. 

Lineage: marriage was legislated for the preservation of lineage, and sex outside marriage was forbidden. Punitive laws were put in placed in order to ensure the preservation of lineage and the continuation of human life.

Wealth: Allah has made it obligatory to support oneself and those one is responsible for, and placed laws to regulate the commerce and transactions between people, in order to ensure fair dealing, economic justice, and to prevent oppression and dispute.

Needs and Comforts: Needs and comforts are things people seek in order to ensure a good life, and avoid hardship, even though they are not essential. The spirit of the Sharia with regards to needs and comforts is summed up in the Qur’ān,"

The question then arises how these are applied. 

Religion: I'm not going to focus on the point of religion. I think that is worthy of separate review. I will say this however, when I've asked my Muslim friends both here and overseas about praying so often; why they do and the benefits they gain, they've stated; it helps them to maintain discipline to lead a better and more productive life. It helps them to learn about themselves; how do they become better people and it gives them a release, almost like meditation. That said, I acknowledge it does cause divide with the non-Muslim community.

Life: I don't believe anyone can take issue with the description here apart from the interpretation of punishment. Many people have very strong opinions about the taking of life as punishment for taking another person's life. However let's not forget even the U.S. has the death penalty and they do execute people. The latest was only last week.  It is also prudent to point out that many Muslim states that follow Sharia Law do not have death penalties. In fact the vast majority don't or they are very sparingly applied. Example, the sentence is death but not carried out and the perpetrator jailed instead. 

The other issue relates to the method of execution. We consider, rightly so, the thought of beheading abhorrent. In fact, delivered as capital punishment it's a quicker death than hanging or lethal injection. Note I’m not referring to the barbaric practices of ISIS. On the other hand if you read about recent executions by injection in the US they were nothing short of barbaric in the extreme. 

Interestingly enough many of those who are outspoken in this country on capital punishment in say the ME are the very same ones who are advocating on social media that we should send Christine Milne and the Greens to the Iraq for ISIS to behead them. Now I have little time for Christine Milne but what awful comments. To me it's sickening that people would even consider saying that. 

I consider ALL capital punishment abhorrent.  The same as the chopping of hands etc. and no one in a modern society would entertain something as barbaric. That said given the level of attack we see on social media with reference to ‘medieval’ practices I was somewhat stunned to see the results of a recent survey in the UK on the application of capital punishment. 45% were still in favour. 16% of UKIP supporters said beheadings were acceptable. I found that enlightening given UKIP’s attacks on Muslims and immigration.   

Intellect: Nothing overtly controversial here except alcohol and drugs. But when you consider the impact that drugs and alcohol has on society; the destruction, the violence, the exploitation, the crime and the resultant poverty perhaps we should be debating the pros and cons. If people choose not to drink or take drugs we should be congratulating them, not attacking them. I know a couple of people who have in fact converted to Islam to help them beat their drug and alcohol addiction. They’ve been successful and I admire them greatly. 

Now, the punishment handed out by some hardliner Muslim's to those who do abuse substances is harsh and we find it abhorrent but so are the soft penalties we hand out. The only different is in the Muslim world the perpetrator suffers in 'our' world the victims continue to suffer.  Once again, the issue is one of degrees not necessarily the 'value’ of don't drink or take drugs. 

Lineage: Marriage. This is a very touchy subject. That said I can see some merits in linage and the continuation of human life.  It's sex outside of marriage and adultery that probably causes the greatest divide. We witness almost daily the impact on society of children born out of wedlock. Often, this is due to reports of abuse and far too often today the deaths of innocent little children.

Many also complain about the burdens on the welfare system due to unmarried women and single parents.  It's lamentable that it's far too easy for young girls to have children with limited ability to look after them and to some degree I believe we seeing the manifestation of this over many years in the increase in disenfranchised youth.  Youth who I might add are ideal targets for radical Muslims or radical any other group for that matter.

Remember, many of those globally who are now fighting in ISIS corner the Middle East are converts. The murderers of Lee Rigby were converts.  Some of our worst offenders were converts. So, I have no issue with a group of people who say marriage is sacred and should be preserved. 

The other issue which causes eruptions is the practice of stoning of those who commit adultery or have sex outside of marriage. The practice is abhorrent. Thankfully, stoning is practised in few countries and instances are largely due to remote 'tribal' communities handing out punishments. The bible and the Torah in fact talk of stoning but thankfully we've moved on. 

Many Muslim clerics, religious scholars, and political leaders, including those in the countries where stoning is practiced, have condemned stoning as “un-Islamic”. Changes are happening, albeit slowly in some parts. With the exception of idiotic youths and radicals I feel safe in saying 99.99% of Muslims in this country neither want to see or support the practice of stoning or lapidaries as it's also referred to. 

Wealth: Nothing controversial here and I've stated a number of times when it comes to Sharia banking laws I think we could learn a few things about application / non application of fees and charges. Let's face it; there are many people who spend a lot of time complaining about the unfair practices of banks and credit card companies. Perhaps we should be having the debate about whether it would be in our best interests to review of Sharia banking laws.  If they are better than ours, fairer than ours, we'd be a bit silly to just dismiss them because Muslims want that for themselves, don't you think?  That said any law has to be a law for all, not some. 

The other point that is used as a bat to belt up Muslims is the abuse of welfare. Now, we have definitely been made aware of a few Muslim abuses recently. It's also fair to say that many economic refugees have tried to come here because of access to welfare. Some have admitted that. By and large however according to the 2011 Census data the 'ethnic' groups accessing welfare don’t highlight those from Muslim countries as the biggest offenders. Brits, Italians & Greeks are the biggest users of welfare. I suspect given the debacle created by Labor, that this has changed, but it's an interesting fact nevertheless. So I guess if we now have more from the Muslim community accessing welfare due to failed immigration we can blame our political leaders. 

Needs and comforts: Not a lot to say about this. People living in this country want small luxuries however modest to make life easier and more enjoyable. Speak to most Muslim dads and they will tell you (often with a chuckle) about their wife's and their daughters and dresses and shoes. At least my friends have. We all want a comfortable life. I can’t see anything wrong with wishing the same for our fellow man.

So back to the call to Ban Sharia!! All I ask is this, when we condemn Sharia let's be very clear what it is exactly that we are condemning. When ignorant politicians like Jacqui Lambie demand that those who advocate Sharia Law be kicked out or lose access to welfare let's be very specific about EXACTLY what elements we are talking about. Because if we are not specific we (using the royal we) are just merely attacking a whole group of people who by and large follow a set of moral principles in living their lives peacefully, respectfully and ethically. 

I expect there are many who will read this and brand me a Muslim apologist. Jackie Lambie would brand me a Sharia terrorist. I'm neither; Muslims don't need me, an 'infidel' to apologise for them. They're more than capable of expressing their own views. As for Ms Lambie her opinion is totally irrelevant to anyone with an ounce of decency or intelligence. My only objective is to try and bring some balance and to be fair to those who are 'assaulted' merely because of who they are and the values they choose to live by.  

So let’s try and be clear about what is we are railing against as this relates to Sharia Law; religious law, common law as opposed to statutory law. For that matter, the radical Muslim element can shout all they like for Sharia Statutory Law, it won’t happen.

Religious law refers to ethical and moral codes taught by various religious traditions. Examples include Christian canon law, Jewish halakha and Hindu law as well as Sharia Law 

The Impact of Social Media & Society

I'm not the most patient of people, but that does depend on circumstance; what whom & why. I'm not prone to violent outbursts or screaming matches. I enjoy friendships with people of all persuasions; religious, ethnic backgrounds, political leaning, general interests. I respect their views, although we often share differing views and I hope they respect mine. Whilst I'm far from being a pushover, I do prefer to discuss differences than fight and argue. That said, even I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end when I do launch forth. I'm not proud of the odd times I 'have lost it'; it wasn't a pretty sight.

Having rationalized this, I now admit I'm finding it harder and harder to stay calm, focused and polite on social media. I think social media has many benefits. It's an outlet for us to express ourselves. We make contact with people all over the world who share common interests and we are often exposed to things we would have never considered before. If used properly, we can learn a lot. All good and now for the downside.

It's a forum that also exposes you to the worst of mankind. At least in thought and word. The lack of humanity, the cruelty, the bullying.  The ignorance, the fear, the racial attacks, the bigotry. The lack of respect, the hate, the bias, the inability to compromise, the double-standards. The anger.  The foul language. There are times I wish I could use a 60point font and just scream - WAKE-UP and listen to yourselves. People attack others without recognising they are no better.  They're doing exactly what they accuse others of doing. I guess the shocking realisation for me is that more and more 'ordinary' people (not meant in a derogative manner, just the men and women in the street) are becoming more aggressive. At least that's my gauge having followed some people for years. It saddens me. If we can't be civil to each other, if we can no longer recognise the impact we have on others through our thought and word then I fear for our future. If we keep it up, the society we end up with isn't a society I want to be part of anymore.

Who Needs ISIL - We're Destroying Our Society...

We don't have to have ISIL on our shores to destroy our society. We're doing a pretty good job of it without their help. As the fear level increases the hate level increases along with it. People turning on each other not because they've actually harmed each other, but simply because they are different. They dress differently, they follow a different religion, they support a different political party or simply a different cause.

The assault at this point is mainly verbal, via platforms like social media. Although, that verbal assault is becoming more extreme. There have been instances of the assault spilling out into the streets. Thankfully for us more frequently overseas than here.  But it's a smoldering tinderbox ready to ignite. It's only a matter of time before someone will be badly injured or even killed here. It just takes one nutter with an axe to grind.

It's alarming, it's distressing, it's senseless and it's certainly dangerous. I pray common sense prevails and we as a collective wake-up before it's too late.

Until We Walk in Their Shoes...

I’m rendered speechless at times when I read comments such “just blast them off the face of the earth, just kick them out.” In other words the only response to those ‘you’ don’t like, or don’t understand is to address it with brute force.  I fear what our attitude and behaviour will become when we so easily fall into such a violent way of thinking.

We never really know what motives people to do certain things until we have experienced the same motivators or drives. 

In thinking about this it prompted to recall an experience I had some years back.  I was working for a very large, well known multi-national. At times items of value were returned to the company for a refund.  Some of those items started to go missing as did food items; taken from the fridges around the building.  One in question was a valuable diamond ring.  We searched high and low, called in the police to no avail.  Things settled down for a while and then a couple more things went missing.  Investigations were launched. Security and police once again investigated.  We struck a blank.   About three weeks after that event I received a phone call from one of the merchants in the local shopping centre.  One of my employees had been caught shop lifting.  He’d stolen a sweatshirt and a tie.  The merchant didn’t call the police which was very generous of him.  I went and collected the young man in question and we went back to the office.

As you would image the discussion about his behaviour was rather tense. Not only had he committed a crime (for which he was very lucky not be charged) but as an employee any negative reflection on the company could not be tolerated.  Then the penny dropped. Could this young man be the one stealing from the company?  I along with my head of security asked the question. He admitted he had.  Then it all came out. 

This young man had arrived in Australia as a refugee (thought the front door) from the ME; we were aware of this when we hired him.  He had been a very good employee. Hard working, punctual and whilst a little shy he had work friends.  Until the stealing emerged we had no reason to council him or even suspect him. When we pressed him on the question of stealing he told us that from a very early age he had to take what he could to survive in a war torn country.  He had been forced to do that from about five years of age. His family never knew where their next meal, item of clothing etc. was coming from. Often they went without food for days.  So as the opportunity presented he stole things, food, valuables and clothing.  Some of these things were kept to sell for food (at times shelter) when they had no money.  Whilst he now lived in a country that was peaceful, where he had a job and a roof over his head he found it hard to settle and to break his old habit.  He never trusted that at some time things wouldn’t change here. As he said, he lived in a peaceful country once and then things changed so from the age of five he was conditioned to survive.  We had no option but to dismiss him.  As you would appreciate we couldn’t simply overlook theft. Like the merchant we didn’t call the police and I also organised to get him some help.  I’m not sure where the young man is now. We kept in touch for a while but I moved on and so did he. But I will never forget that experience.  It taught me that until we walk in someone else’s shoes we never know what drives their behaviour and whilst we may not condone it, we could and should try to understand it.  If we did, perhaps our responses might soften, not be so encouraging of violence as the first and only option.

Quote: “Judge not lest ye be judged” “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”