Matters of (Islamic) Opinion

Last Saturday, another teacher and I were having a discussion of Islamic sects and schools of thought with our 15/16 year old students. I'd typically only teach A Level Maths but on this occasion I helped out with the Islamic Studies class. Our discussion was prompted by a question around how flexible Islam is and why Muslims are not required to be identical and why Muslims can, in fact, hold different opinions on the same issue and all be correct. One of the students mentioned that he had once been praying and a friend of his tried to physically correct a minor detail in how he was praying during his actual prayer and later refused to accept that there were multiple acceptable styles. It was different to how he did it so therefore it must be wrong - and he refused to back down until eventually his father explained to him.

As the discussion progressed, we talked of the differences between Sunni and Shia, the differences in madhdhabs (schools of thought) and differences in practice. We outlined the madhdhabs and made clear that they were not the work of the one single eponymous person but large bodies of work by numerous scholars spanning all the centuries. We touched upon how the variations in practice came about and held firm that variation is not just tolerated but is a blessing. Most importantly we tried to explain that different does not necessarily mean better or worse.

The best example we could give was the narration covering the time a group of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) companions had gone to visit a specific place. Before their departure they'd been given instructions not to pray their (Asr) afternoon prayer until they arrived at the place. However, the travel took longer than expected and sunset approached well before they arrived. With time for the afternoon prayer fast running out, a discussion broke out over whether they should pray now or continue on. Some said the point of the instruction was to get them to make haste, others said the instruction was definitive in when they should pray. Without settling the disagreement, some prayed there and then and the rest waited to pray until arrival - going beyond sunset and outside the specified timings.

Upon their return, they put the question to the Prophet (pbuh): who was in the right? He said both views were acceptable. Put simply, while there are certain inviolable and immutable beliefs, reasonable differing opinions on matters of law were and are acceptable.

Later that same Saturday I was as at a friend's house for dinner and during the course of the evening I was talking with a married couple that I hadn't met before. The husband had been brought up as a Muslim and the wife was a reverted Muslim. Alongside the excellent and fascinating food, they both had fascinating stories of the journey to Islam, the expectations of their different cultures and how their own expectations of difficulties with cross-cultural marriage didn't really materialise as predicted.
For example, when the British Christian parents were due to meet the Pakistani Muslim parents, there was considerable nervousness but they got on astonishingly over a mutual shared interest in Medicine and Science! One pair were doctors and the other pair a nurse and a scientist. Those of you with friends in medical fields will know about medic-chat - on this occasion it was certainly welcome!

One curiosity which did intrigue me was the issue of how a revert to Islam chooses a 'type' of Islam to follow. Those who are brought up as Muslims tend to passively go with the type that they were raised as but it must be difficult when having to actively make a choice. I asked the question and the answer I got was quite pleasing. The choice she'd made was to be Muslim - a strict sub-type choice wasn't necessary. She continued that one of the first questions people would ask when she told them that she had reverted was "Which sect are you?" and in the initial instance everyone would try and persuade her that theirs was the best way!

This brought to mind the discussion at school and the people for whom my way is the only way and any variation from this is inferior and wrong. It's quite a contemporary and historical phenomenon, not just in the Muslim faith but in general human history.

In Islam there are different schools of thought and paths and there is an ever present danger that when someone doesn't take the time to learn about themselves and others and their beliefs they can forget that that the road to salvation is not a tightrope. It is exactly a road - with people in many lanes and travelling at different speeds. You might find yourself veering off if you're not careful but justifiably doing things a little differently to someone else doesn't keep you from continuing in the right direction. Different does not necessarily mean better or worse.

Next Article: What to expect on a Driver Awareness Course
Previous Article: Are you single? I know someone.

P.S.

We're always keen for volunteer teachers - no experience necessary!

If you are interested in teaching, volunteering or working with the school please contact the headteacher Shaimaa at ccwestsatschool@gmail.com.

The school runs every Saturday (subject to the school timetable) from 10am-1.30pm at the MCHC, 244 Acklam Road, W10 5YG. (Year 4 to A Level)

Qibla and reliance on technology

Qibla app not quite working as it should

I was sat at my computer at work this afternoon when up popped a new email notification. It turned out to be a message from another of the Muslims in the office stating the direction of the Qibla (Mecca) along with a couple of maps as supporting evidence. I was mildly surprised - it was a little out of the blue as there had been no previous discussion of the issue and so far as I knew the direction I and others prayed in was well known and consistent. I bemusedly shrugged it off as the sender being a little bored and quickly forgot about it.

Later in the afternoon I remembered I hadn't prayed Zuhr (early afternoon prayer) and upon checking the time realised I only had a few minutes in which to do so. I hurriedly left my desk and went down to the first aid/prayer room and found myself a little disgruntled to see a man already using the sink for wudhu (ablutions). Didn't he know I was running late? I waited for him to finish and quietly chatted to the other man in the room and immediately as the sink became available, I performed wudhu. So far nothing out of the ordinary. 

But once I'd finished I turned to ask the first chap if we could pray in jamaat (as a group in congregation) and spotted that he'd placed his prayer mat in slightly the wrong direction. He wasn't out by much but I informed him he wasn't quite oriented properly - to which he responded that he was. The other guy in the room agreed with me and we both suggested that he should orient himself in the direction I indicated and I placed my prayer mat on the ground to show him what we meant.

He said no and whipped out his phone to show us a Qibla compass app which pointed in the direction he was facing and said another person had also done the same thing with their phone and they'd both gotten the same direction. At this point I understood why the email had been sent out earlier - someone else must've had this same discussion and not been impressed with obstinacy. It was not a new discussion to me - Qibla direction is a fairly common discussion point and in fact, shortly after I joined the company I myself had spent a chunk of time with architect's floorplans and Google maps and Qibla direction websites to identify to my own satisfaction which direction Mecca was in.

But with only a few minutes left in which to pray, I didn't have time to argue and explain the problems that phone compass sensors have inside buildings where they're surrounded by metal objects and electromagnetic-field-generating electrical devices or the previous discussions that had been had or the various lengths people (including myself) had gone to to work out the direction to our best understanding. His app had said this was the direction and his faith in technology was strong and stubborn and without freedom of time, I yielded the discussion and got on with the prayer united in congregation and his chosen direction.

Reliance on technology has become a way of the world with ever more devices, machines and apps that take care of all the details, big and small. They take away a lot of stress and make life a lot easier and we end up so reliant on them that we only notice when they break down. This isn't usually a problem - I'm perfectly happy to take a train to work, drive a car, use my phone as my alarm clock or type up a blog post on a computer. Technology as a tool is great but technology as a source of information is a whole other can of worms. 

The first claim to state is that information is only ever as good as the source. A known liar is no good as a source and a stranger shouldn't be taken at face-value. In day to day life, we laugh at people who use the Daily Mail as their evidence for stories and universities won't even accept Wikipedia as a citable source because, despite its sometimes overwhelming range and detail, the source of information on the website is unknown. Knowing what has gone into producing a piece of information is vital to being able to trust it. 

A couple of days ago I came across an interesting article on the BBC about how mathematical models are being used to score defendants on their likelihood to commit crime. The article mentions how the algorithm/model behind the scoring is a black-box secret. Yet it's apparently being used to decide whether a person is guilty or a crime or not. As someone who works in 'big data' this sets off all my alarm bells. If in my consultative work I built a model without explaining how it worked I'd be laughed out of the meeting room! Yet here is a live example of people making sentencing decisions based on "Computer says 'Yes'". 

In the case of the Qibla app above, the man had downloaded the app but didn't have an understanding of how it worked. It gave him an answer to a question he had and so far as he was concerned it had to be the right answer as it was a machine. Never mind that people were telling him otherwise. Just didn't occur to him that a machines can go wrong if the inputs are wrong. The image at the start of this post show just how wrong apps can be.

At the Saturday School I volunteer at, I get supremely infuriated and irritated when the A level students are using their calculators for the simplest calculations. I often confiscate them when I see them using a calculator to work out 1^2 or when they're confused after typing in a calculation and getting a different solution to the answer-sheet - "they're using a calculator so it must be correct and the answer-sheet wrong" - without realising they've actually typed the input numbers correctly.

It's a worrying trend that as technology gets more and more complicated, fewer and fewer people understand how it works and are happy to take it on blind faith that it works properly. The only real way to fight the trend is to get educated and learn more about the technology that controls you and the world around you and to be constantly aware that even the best machine is only as good as its input - what do you know of the input?

To quote Arthur Weasley in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets "What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.”

Previous article: Noor Tagouri and a needless dose of outrage
Next article: Goodbye with/without regret?

Important Jumuah Notice

An email I wrote while VP of Cambridge University I-Soc:
Assalamualaikum dear brothers.

I'm afraid this is a long email, but it is very important you read until the end. InshA it will be informative.

It has come to my attention that there have been several complaints about "inadequate" levels of covering up at Jumuah prayers by those brothers praying in the last rows who, for one reason or another, insist on displaying their body to those behind them, with little regard for the general well-being of the community. A quote from an affected sister (which may or may not be made up): "It's especially bad during the sujud! All of a sudden looking down is not an option for those with a wariness of things unsightly and those with a dislike of nausea!".

I'd like to be constructive in my criticism, so I have spent some time extensively researching the possible causes of the phenomenon and possible solutions and have devised a two-stage plan to resolve this thorny issue:

STAGE 1: Know Thine Enemy

One of our foes is quite easily identified. There is a relatively popular new fashion trend to wear low-hanging trousers which, as the name suggests, hang low. I'm not one to judge the fashionability of most clothing types, but I am strongly against low-hanging trousers and related clothing which, I am told, are designed "to show the batty". Having consulted various government bodies and experts I am sure I am not alone in regarding this particular fashion trend as "heading down the wrong road".

In an effort to aid comprehension and understanding I have compiled an exhaustive list of various acceptable low-hanging items:

• Fruit on trees.

My research further indicates that this new fashion could be an unwanted side-effect of the banning of corporal punishment in UK schools by the Education Act of 1986. The original motivation behind the legislation was to make life harder for teachers, to encourage rowdy behaviour in the classroom and to bring about a general feeling of malaise throughout the population.
However, new evidence suggests that an unforeseen consequence of the ban was to reduce sales of mens' belts (due to the removal of the option to teach young hoodlums a lesson in appropriate behavour by laying about them with your belt). Evidence to show the link between the ban and belt sales includes the irrefutable proof provided by watching a bout of professional wrestling. The "championship" belts (an unusual type of belt awarded to the champion) are often used to attack the opponent with the intention of discouraging the opponent from attacking the belt-holder. It is also worth noting the corroborative evidence of the dramatic drop in sales of canes.

A third detail which must be identified is the tendency of young males to wear t-shirts and/or pullovers which have a hem that only just reaches the waistband of their trousers. Under normal circumstances this is not a problem, but when in Ruku or Sujud, it is common for the lower back to become visible to those behind and trying to avoid direct eye-contact can be distracting for those trying to concentrate on their prayer.

STAGE 2: The Enemy of Your Enemy is your Friend

I will now embark on a brief discussion on the possible remedies for the aforementioned issues.

The simplest remedy to the problem is to wear a thawb. This particular item of clothing is very popular throughout the Middle-East because of the freedom of movement it affords (visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thawb for further information on thawbs). The basic design of thawbs makes it practically impossible to unknowingly display any skin and is thus ideally suited for praying in. There have also been claims that wearing a thawb is advantageous if you are ever in need of a quick route through a traffic jam. A causal link has never been proven though.
Naturally, different designs and styles are available for the fashion conscious.

For those with a penchant for trousers, I wholeheartedly recommend investing in trousers with a properly fitting waistline, even if it does mean coming to terms with any weight-issues you may have. The benefits of a properly fitting waistline are innumerable and so I will not attempt to ennumerate them.

I realise that most of you are students with a limited budget, so if you have any money remaining after purchasing properly fitting trousers, I would request that you use this money to invest in a quality belt (preferably leather) (visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_(clothing) for further information on belts). Recent advances in the science of belt and buckle manufacture now mean that you can purchase belts with removable buckles, something which was unheard of only four years ago. This exciting development is helping to reverse the decline in the popularity of the belt (see above for discussion). "The belt is mightier than the sword" is a well-worn phrase that has survived the test of time and it is clear why.

Finally, I recommend wearing a vest or shirt that can be tucked into the trousers. This style of dress is very popular throughout the business world and rightly so. The pervading sense of calm and oneness with the world that wearing a modern-day shirt causes has led some fashion gurus to state: "Fasten your seatbelts! Shirts are back in vogue and are every man's must-have fashion item!". I'm not going to argue with fashion gurus and neither should anyone else.



In summary, wear appropriate clothing when praying. This is important not only for modesty in dress, but also for the validity of your prayer.


Wasalaam,

Yusuf