A few comments about the below article: *Having an event at a secular institution, about the Deen of the secularists, i.e. atheism, inviting Muslims to come, and then insisting on there not being Ikhtilaat has to be acknowledged for what it is. Its kind of like demanding vegetarian when going to a fast-food hamburger restaurant. It doesnt surprise me at all that secularists would oppose gender segregation at what they consider to be their place of worship, i.e. the university. I think Muslims forget that secularism worships science and institutions of learning. We wouldnt let them come to a Masjid and demand desegregation, why make a battle out of going to their place of worship and demand they respect Islamic values? *Muslims naively assume that they are allowed to express their Deen in the West because thats what westernized scholars have been falsely asserting for decades- look, you can pray, fast and go for Hajj, so youre free to be a Muslim. The fact is, Muslims are not free to express their Deen and that becomes painfully obvious when Kuffar push back against Muslim values in public spaces. It is out of this naivety that Muslims are surprised when Kuffar respond the way they do, and it is out of this naivety that Muslims do not even try to pick their battles more strategically. Why make gender segregation a battle fought on the grounds of secularists? If we lose the fight on their grounds, it threatens the practice on ours. Think about it. *The below article also combats the notion common among British Muslims that Americans are uniquely challenged where it comes to practicing the Deen. The UK public is still grossly insensitive and fearful of Islam just like the US and Muslims could only benefit from working together on strategies for Dawah. *Brother Tzortzis is not a Muslim scholar. In fact, what he is most famous for, i.e. debating atheists and philosophers, is not such a good thing for himself or Muslims, in my humble opinion. Al-Hamdu li-Llahi for any people who have been encouraged to study Islam more deeply or become Muslim from exposure to his talks, however Audhu bi-Llahi with regards to popularizing philosophical and theological rhetoric among Muslims who do not seem to have even a basic grasp of Islam. *As an alumni of a gender-segregated, non-Muslim, religious, secondary school in the US, I can safely say that my perspective is largely shaped by the fact that there are religious academic institutions that have been successful in maintaining their beliefs and values for decades in the US, and it did not happen by trying to impose those beliefs and values onto fiercely secular institutions, whether legally or by supposition. There is nothing to be gained from trying to force Islamic values onto secular institutions in the West. aljazeera/indepth/features/2014/01/muslim-gender-segregation-stirs-uk-debate-2014130111242593264.html
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:44:34 +0000
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