Reforming Religious Fundamentalists

Re: # 40
Dear nycoolest..thank you for your wise comments. i agree with you that we need to educate masses to change their tribal thinking. and it can be done better by education and evolution rather than a bloody revolution. i did not understand what you wrote...buying out all the local mullahs...what did you mean by that?
sincerely
sohail

Dr. Sahib, it is indeed a very thought provoiking article.
Pakistan and America has to pose like they are the winning horse in the reigon to have divide and rule strategies in place for breaking the resistance's back. It was used by Brits in past then recently it is being used in Iraq by Americans. The current actions of Pak Army/Government finally seems to be in right direction when they are powering up locals to fight against Talibans.. kinda like beatin Talibs by their own gagme and trusting locals. The growing success figures in Sawat and Bajaur Agency is a good sign. These tactics must continue with care, rather blindly bombing the area. American (foreign) intervention has to stop cause this cant solve anything and it can be done by usin PAF effectively. After some trust build up the next step should be to quietly replace/remove or buy out all the local mullahs (the main source of hate propogation) to change the collective mindset of Tribal society. It would take years to clean the years of mess up in the reigon.

dr sahib, since there is no "one" interpretation of scripture..no singular mandated stance by a leadership ala catholicism...the only way to do it..is to strike out those passages that are used by terrorists to a) conduct terrorist activities and b) use religion for their thuggery to silence opposition even within the moderate elements within their co-religionists.

Re: # 37
dear create alpha...and how would you reform religion?...
in my humble opinion we do it by teaching people that there are metaphorocal interpretations to scriptures alongside literal interpretations. mohammad iqbal in his book
reconstruction of religious thought in islam wrote
heaven and hell are states not places
and
story of adam and eve is the story of every man and woman
by teaching science, psychology, philosophy and fine arts we help people transform their ideology and personality and when followers of a religion transform...their religion transforms as well.
sincerely
sohail

"Reforming RELIGIOUS Fundamentalism" would require reforming the RELIGION not more arts and crafts

Sohail,
I wish you could elaborate on the aspect of 'Romantic Revolutionaries'. In mlitary Sociology we can also call them sar Ba kafak (Coffin on the head). In my view they are romantics.

Re: # 34 dear hamidm2..i hope you never underestimate fine arts and its potential to transform human hearts. in my opinion violent religious fundamentalists are the people who lack
critical thinking
creative imagination
and
peace consciousness
when they are in jail you can ignore them or execute them but some counselors work with them and get to know them as human beings and try to engage them in a creative compassionate dialogue. I have worked in forensic psychiatry and visited jails and dealt with murderers. Therapists try many things that people outside the jails and psychiatric hospitals find strange and funny. Don't you agree that if we had more classes of fine arts and critical thinking in schools we could have prevented many religious fundamentalists.
sincerely sohail
ps....maybe teaching sense of humour might be as effective as art classes because i rarely saw fundamentalists laugh and joke around. you have a good sense of humour

dr sohail sahib,

..... this is the funniest article that i did not read on chowk ! please don't be offended, i don't read most of the articles past the first paragraph because, being a clairvoyant, i can tell exactly what is in it ......

..... anyway, i was going to suggest art classes for the talibs but it seems somone has already recommended that ..... i am surprised some of our hindoo friends have not recommended yoga, meditation and levitation .... i would also suggest looking into tai-chi, whirling and hypnosis ..... personally, i think we should focus on chinese style re-education, and if that doesn't work we should brand them as apostates and hand them over to the saudis

..... but, you are a very funny man!

I envy Dr. Sohail’s zeal and enthusiasm for promoting peace in the world. We may differ from what he writes, in several details, but his message is beyond criticism and controversy.

He asks, “Can militant religious fundamentalists be reformed?� I think they can.

Firstly, these fundamentalists are engaged in a self-defeating struggle when they try to impose their brand of fundamentalism (Taliban type) by violent means on the peaceful Muslim brethren. Time can not be revered by 15 centuries. Their basic tenets are rejected by a majority of the Muslim population. Although they can and are creating a lot of chaos in peaceful communities, they can not drive them back into ignorance, illiteracy and intellectual backwardness.

Secondly, there are silent, unselfish and peaceful undercurrents unleashed by humanitarian reformers to promote education among the remotest parts of Pakistan where no schools existed ever. One of such dedicated reformer is Greg Mortenson. What he has done and is busy doing in the remotest and not-easily-accessible parts of Baltistan is unprecedented in our recent history.

I had heard about his book, Three Cups of Tea, from a friend but hadn’t mustered sufficient will to get it to read. Then I heard about this book on TV and kept hearing about it every now and then. One day finally I sat down to start a search for this book in the area libraries. Copies of this book were there in every library but were checked out and there was invariably a long waiting list in all of them. I put down my name in the waiting list. I was lucky to borrow this book in a couple of weeks..

I read the book from cover to cover and was impressed by the single-mindedness and devotion of Mortenson to the cause of children’s education in the far flung areas which are very poor and form the catchment of the Taliban madrassas. Mortenson’s aim is not to reducing terrorism directly; his aim is to educate children. He offers same kind of curricula to children, which are offered by any other Pakistani school (not madrassas). Education which he is offering in his schools is transforming not only the lives of the students but also the lives of their illiterate parents. Education alone probably is not going to bring any fundamental change immediately but it sure will change the society for good in due time.

Let me reproduce a rather extensive extract from Three Cups of Tea to illustrate my point. Mortenson was in Pakistan when 9/11 occurred. He was advised by the U.S. Embassy to leave Pakistan because it was no longer a safe haven for Americans. But Mortenson was for a reason in Pakistan which he wouldn’t abandon. So he continued with his program. He went to visit Kuardu, a village in Baltistan where he had established a school for boys and girls and had planned to build similar shools in several other villages in that area. In the inaugural ceremony of his school, a Shia religious leader, Syed Abbas, was to address the gathering (Syed Abbas was greatly respected by his people whose leader he was). He started his speech as follows:

“Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim…As-salaam Alaakum… It is by fate that Allah the Almighty has brought us together in this hour…Today is a day that you(r) children will remember for ever and tell your (their) children. Today, from the darkness of illiteracy, the light of education shines bright…

We share in the sorrow as people weep and suffer in America today as we inaugurate this school. Those who have committed this evil act against the innocent, the women and children, to create thousands of widows and orphans do not do so in the name of Islam. By the grace of Allah the Almighty, may justice be served upon them.

For this tragedy, I humbly ask Mr. George (Cowan) and Dr. Greg Sahib for their forgiveness. All ofyou, my brethren: Protect and embrace these two American brothers in our midst. Let no harm come to them. Share all you have to make their mission successful.

These two Christian men have come half way around the world to show our Muslim children the light of education… Why have not we been able to bring education to our children on our own? Fathers and parents, I implore you to dedicate your full effort and commitment to see that your children are educated. Otherwise, they will graze like sheep in the field, at the mercy of nature and the world changing so terrifyingly around us…I request America to look into our hearts – and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people. Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education. But today another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in.�

I believe, our collective salvation lies in education.

Mohammad Gill

Re: # 23

Now you have a mental block......

I just want you to answer this question-

1. Does Kalima asserts a fact or an intention??

If it asserts a fact that muslim believes then it is just like saying all the time

"The moon is not cheese"

It is a stupid assertion.

Muslims all the time chanting kalima look the most stupid if it is a question of fact that is asserted by then. Presuming muslims are normal logical beings, then it is NOT so.

2. So the KAlima is infact an assertion of 'intention'

It is a supremacist assertion of intention towards other faiths that says that

We muslims do NOT believe in your deities , except Allah and WE do not believe in your prophets , except Mohammad.


In the same way - the constant assertion of

"Allahu-Akbar" is another supremacist chant that is like an movie fan follower asserting or an ad campain running for the "No. 1 Detergent".

Nothing looks so pathetic when they all the time say that my god is No 1 (and your gods are inferior to him).

Yeah Dr. Sohail follow the Fake Pakistani community in #29's advise....but before you find time in your busy schedule for a face 2 face, post a reply to my post#25.

What would I do with religious fundamentalists, especially those who adopt militant practices, have violent consciousness, and have become involved in armed struggle,
KILL THEM AND HANG THEIR DEAD BODIES ON STREETS AND LET OTHERS KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THEM IF THEY DECIDE KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE.

Masadi Sahib, you and HP should book a joint session with Dr. Sohail Sahib. You have often accused HP of being a dimwit, I think you two need to have a heart to heart in presence of a professional.

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Re: # 24
dear tahmed 32...I agree with you that children who are sexually abused can become very agry not only with their abusers but also generalize their anger towards the whole community and become violent as adults.
When i was doing research about those psychopaths who later on became serial killers ( after I interviewed Javed Iqbal Mughal in his death cell (phansi ghat)in lahore pakistan) and wriote the book
The Myth of the Chosen One...(translated in urdu and published in pakistan as 'apna qatil' by mashal publishers)
I read that many of those men suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse as children. sincerely sohail

HP:

"... please don’t write on subjects you don’t know anything about ..."

How dare you say such things. Sohail has made it very clear as to how you reform a terrorist. First, catch him/her. Second, provide crayons for art lessons. Third, discuss teenage sexual behavior. Click, the terrorist is reformed!