Interview with an Islamic Australian law enforcement officer

Transcription

1 Interview with an Islamic Australian law enforcement officer Interviewer: Thanks for chatting with me Ali. The first thing I d like to ask about is the Muslim faith. I m sure you re aware that there are a number of misconceptions around Islam, and practicing the Muslim faith. Firstly, what is Islam all about? Interviewee: Islam is an Arabic word which means surrender. This essentially means to accept the power of Allah, and follow His Commands. It s about happiness in this life and success in the life after death obtained by obeying Allah. Islam is not only a religion, but a complete way of life. It shows us how to live our lives in the best possible way. People are sometimes surprised when I tell them that Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness so as you say, there are some misconceptions. It s important to understand that the majority of Muslims have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith. You know Islam is now the world s second largest religion after Christianity. There are an estimated 1.2 billion Muslims around the world and Islam is recognised as the fastest growing religion. According to statistics, one in five people on the planet are Muslim. Interviewer: I see. I m interested whether Muslims follow something similar to the Christian Ten Commandments. Is there something like that in your religion? A set of key principles or beliefs? Interviewee: Yes, we have an important set of central beliefs known as the 5 Pillars of Islam and to a non-muslim, they can be described as the central beliefs of Islam. Muslims are required to reflect the 5 pillars through daily actions. These 5 pillars are Shahada, Zakāt, Salat, Sawm and Hajj. Shahada is the declaration of faith and trust, where we profess that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is God's messenger. Kalima is a set statement normally recited in Arabic: "I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger." Salat is Prayer a very important pillar, it consists of five daily prayers which are named according to the times they are spoken: Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and Isha' (night). The Fajr prayer is performed before sunrise, Dhuhr is performed in the midday after the sun has surpassed its highest point, Asr is the evening prayer before sunset, Maghrib is the evening prayer after sunset and Isha is the night prayer. All of these prayers are recited while facing the Kaaba in Mecca. We must wash ourselves before prayer, as a form of purification. We use a series of set positions including; bowing with hands on knees, standing, prostrating and sitting in a special position (not on the heels, nor on the buttocks). 1

2 Interviewer: Thank you Ali. I understand that Muslims must also practice charity, is that correct? Interviewee: That s correct. This the third pillar, Zakāt. Zakāt is the practice of giving based on your accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all who are able to do so. It is considered to be a personal responsibility for Muslims to ease economic hardship for others and eliminate inequality. We must spend 2.5% of our wealth for the benefit of the poor or needy. This money is usually given to the Mosque. Interviewer: I see, that sounds similar to practices in Christianity. One of the things I have also heard about is fasting. Is this something that Muslims choose to do, or is it a religious requirement? Interviewee: Yes fasting is a religious requirement and is the fourth pillar. Its called Sawm which means fasting. We have a holy month named Ramadan. This is the ninth month of every Islamic calendar. Fasting is obligatory during Ramadan where Muslims must abstain from food and drink, including water, from dawn to dusk. During this time we are required are to be especially mindful of other sins. Fasting is necessary for every Muslim that has reached puberty unless he/she suffers from a medical condition which prevents him/her from doing so. The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness and to look for forgiveness from God, to express their gratitude to, and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and to remind them of the needy. Interviewer: What happens when Ramandan ends? The "festival of breaking of the fast" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide. It marks the end of Ramadan, the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-tosunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. Its a very big event very special. Interviewer: So that s the 4 th pillar what does the fifth pillar entail? Interviewee: The fifth pillar is the Hajj - a pilgrimage that occurs during the Islamic month of Dhu al-hijjah to the holy city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. The pilgrim is honoured in the Muslim community. Islamic teachers say that the Hajj should be an expression of devotion to God, not a means to gain social standing. The believer should be self-aware and examine their intentions in performing the pilgrimage. This should lead to constant striving for self-improvement. Interviewer: I guess one of the terms that tends to have a negative connotation when people consider Islam is the term jihad. What does this actually mean Ali? Interviewee: You know in Arabic, the word jihād is a noun it simply means "struggle". 2

3 It s important to understand that there are two meanings of Jihad, the greater jihad or the spiritual struggle and the lesser jihad or the outer physical struggle. The "greater jihad" - this has a non-violent meaning, is the inner struggle by a believer to fulfil his religious duties. Like praying five times a day and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The "lesser jihad" is the physical struggle against the enemies of Islam. This physical struggle can take a violent form or a non-violent form. A non-violent lesser jihad against the enemies of Islam can actually be the "jihad of the pen", such as a written debate. Pro-violent and extremist supporters translate jihad the way that they want turning struggle into "holy war". Interviewer: I m interested in discussing what may occur when someone makes the choice to convert to Islam. This seems to happen with some people in prison. Interviewee: I think that you need to understand firstly that Muslims believe people are born with faith in God; that a conversion to Islam is actually returning or reverting to the original faith. The issue when someone converts in a prison environment is that their knowledge of Islam may be very limited, depriving them of the ability to recognise or challenge extreme or incorrect interpretations of the Qur an. For example when teaching about the five pillars of Islam, someone could actually be teaching that there are six pillars. They simply wouldn t know or be able to challenge the incorrect teachings this is a serious concern if the teachings contain extremist beliefs. Interviewer: Yes, I can see that it would be a concern. So what things should we be aware of here? Interviewee: I think we need to focus not on why they ve turned to Islam - there are many motivations why prisoners might turn to Islam. What we need to be mindful of is what they are actually being taught. It is the teachings and interpretation of the Qur an that are so important here. This leads to other questions that are particularly relevant within the corrections environment such as: Who is leading the prayers or lessons? What is actually being taught? Is there a group within a group who pray separately? Are there prisoners who have started to grow lengthy beards? Are there prisoners requesting the Qur an? 3

4 Are there prisoners requesting removal of their tattoos? Are there prisoners who appear to be more radical than others? A simple message here is - don t assume anything and report everything. Interviewer: You ve outlined that there can be different interpretations of Islam. Without focussing on extremist versions of Islam, are there defined denominations of the religion, for instance like Protestants and Roman Catholics within the Christian faith? Interviewee: Yes, just like in Christianity, there are several interpretations of Islam - possibly up to 72 different interpretations. These differences relate to how a particular Imam or Sheik interprets the Qur an. About 90% of Muslims are Sunni and about 10% are Shia. Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world is Sunni whereas the majority in Iran and Iraq are Shia Muslims. There are other different sub-divisions if you like within both Sunni and Shia interpretations. For example, one interpretation is Sufism, a type of mystical interpretation of Islam. They believe that God and the universe are one whereas mainstream Sunni and Shia Muslims believe that God (Allah) is a separate being who created the universe. Interviewer: So if would seem that both Islam and Christianity have some similarities. Are there any others? Interviewee: There are alot of similarities between Islam and Christianity. Islam believes that Christians and Jews are people of the book, and together with Muslims recognise the God of Abraham as the one and only God. Muslims believe that the Qur an represents the completion of the scriptures to be the final and eternal message to humanity. Islam recognises Jesus (also known as Al-Masih) as a prophet and a mortal being. Jesus is mentioned by name in the Qur an 25 times. Islam believes that Moses is also a prophet (and a leader in Islam. Moses is mentioned in the Qur an more than any other individual. Moses is believed to have urged Muhammad to reduce the numbers of prayers to five, being the five prayers per day that are now practiced. A really interesting comparison is in Deuteronomy Chapter 14 from the Old Testament of the Bible, it discusses the concept of clean and unclean food, this is very similar to Halal and Haram food. We ve also see similarities between Muslims and Christians in the wearing of modest clothing Muslims wear the Hijab, Burqa and Niqab whereas traditional Christians wear habits, robes, vestments and scarves. Interviewer: What about extremist views are they common to just Muslims? What are your thoughts here? 4

5 Interviewee: I think it s important to acknowledge there are radical and extreme beliefs in all religions. On one hand you have Muslims that call for an Islamic state, and consider the actions of the West a continuation of history, particularly the Crusades East vs West. On the other hand there are Christians that believe that whites and black should be segregated, and deny that government has any authority over them. Extremists come from both sides - such as Osama Bin Laden, Mohammad Sidique Khan and Abu Bakar Bashir as well as David Koresh, Timothy McVeigh, and Jim Jones. Consider extremist violence such as 9/11 New York, 7/7 London and the 2 Bali Bombings as well as Anders Breivik in Norway, the Waco Texas incident, the Oklahoma bombing or the Jonestown Guyana incident. I think it s clear that extremism knows no bounds it is simply not restricted to one religion... 5