It was a few minutes past 7:00PM and a large number of Muslim audience were getting ready for another night of lecture by the famous Sheik Jabir at the Bin Uthman Memorial Mosque. Over three hundred people sat in the mosque while over one thousand were outside hoping to hear the lecture through the loud speaker.
There were about a hundred men, both young and old dressed smartly in light brown uniforms. Some were busy at the gate with metal detectors searching those coming in. The recent bomb blasts and terrorist attacks lead to this proactive measures. Among the audience was a man dressed in white jallabiya and skull cap.
He walked towards the fence, making sure no one could hear him, he put a call through.
"The sheikh has arrived," he said in a little above whisper, " the lecture will last two hours, that means the Isha prayers will be postponed to 9:00PM. I hope you will be in position."
"I am close by," Mufty said from the other end, " I see everything. Just keep me posted. May his soul rest in peace."
The man smiled. He knew Mufty never missed a target so it was going to be the end of the pesky Sheikh. Mufty was sitting comfortably on a branch of tree with thick leaves which gave him the cover he needed. He had a bubble gum in mouth and he chewed slowly as he dabbed the butt of his target riffle. He would wait patiently, hoping the angels were watching him, building his mansion in paradise as he carried out God's work.
Sheik Jabir was fifty five years old.
He was light complexioned with long beard. Highly knowledgeable, articulate, charismatic and influential, he was well respected and famous. He walked into the mosque flanked by two First Aid Group (FAG) members. Sitting on a comfortable chair with a table in front, he waved his Qur'an reciter, Alaramma Saheed to sit on the chair beside him while the FAG men stood firmly behind them. There had been a wave of excitement as he came in. Some of the audience shouted,"Allahu akhbar!"
He started by praising God, invoked blessings on the Holy Prophet SAW, the companions and the Muslim caboodle.
After a brief prayer, he looked at the crowd, went silent for a few seconds then said, " I was asked to talk about the importance of hajj but I beg to digress because we are faced with a an issue with great pernicious influence on us. We are aware of the incipient agitation by a group of people calling for the abolition of Western Education in this country.
They claim it is Haram and anything west is forbidden. So I want to talk about education. We do not have enough time to talk much about this important topic but I will try to be brief. The first thing Angel Gabriel asked the holy Prophet SAW to do was to read. The Holy one did not only come to teach how to worship but a complete way of life. Study the Qur'an, you find geography, economics, sociology, mathematics, history, law, etcetera.
He taught medicine, hygiene, government and a lot more. So where is this idea from that Islam frowns at education? They call it western education.
He paused, wiped his face with a hanky then continued, "how dare you say education if forbidden when some of the greatest contributions to education was done by Muslims. Like I said in retrospect, we do not have much time for this but I will like to tell you or remind you of some of these contributions which I know most of you are aware of. Imagine a world without mathematics. Imagine mathematics without algebra.
Thanks to Muhammad ibn Musa al-khawarizm. The word algorithm was coined from his name. He was born in 720 and died 840. He was a great mathematics researcher whose work in algebra, algorithm, calculus, astronomy and geography cannot be forgotten .
He compiled the oldest trigonometric table. He also introduced Indian numerals which became Arabic numerals and today, the most popular number system which is the Hindu-Arabic number system is been used worldwide. Before him was Jabir ibn Hayyan, Abu Musa was known as the father of chemistry. Did you know that shampoo was introduced to Europe by a Muslim who opened a bath house in Brighton Seafront in 1759.
He was also appointed shampooing surgeon to King George IV and William." He paused, sipped water and then said, " the ancient Greek thought eyes emitted rays like laser which enable us to see.
The first person to realise that light enters the eyes rather than leaving it was a tenth century Muslim mathematician, astronomer and physicist called Ibn Al-haithm. He worked on the pin hole camera after noticing the way light came in through the window shutter. The smaller the hole, the better the picture. He worked out the first camera obscurer from the Arabic word qamara which means a dark or private room. The first person to describe how the eye works in detail was Abu al-hassan from Basra. He worked out experiments with reflective materials and proved that the eye does not sense the environment with light rays as was previously believed. He also discovered that the curved glass surface can be used for magnification. His glass 'reading stones' were the first magnifying glasses ever to be made.
The reading glasses were developed from this. The greatest physician until the modern era was Ibn Sina also known as Avicenna. His book, Al-qannun fi al-tibb was a standard book used in Europe for seven hundred years. After the creation of hospitals around the year 1000, a Muslim doctor known as Al-Zahrawi published a 1500 page illustrated encyclopaedia of surgery which was used in Europe as a medical reference for five hundred years. The first detailed world map was by Muslim. The first degree-granting university was founded in Fez, Morocco in the year 859. I wonder why some people use Islam as an excuse to cause chaos. Although generations of rulers have tried to expunge the era when Muslims ruled and changed Europe from historical records, recent archaeology and scholarship have shed fresh light on the moors who flourished in Al-Andalus for more than seven hundred years. Find out and see the ingenious mathematics behind Granada's dazzling Alhambra Palace.
Their astronomy, art, agriculture helped propel the west out of dark ages and into renaissance. If you want to know more about this, watch a documentary by Bettany Huphes titled 'When The Moors Ruled in Europe'. I also urge you to watch another documentary by BBC,presented by Omar Rager titled 'An Islamic History of Europe'.
Now tell me who on Earth as any substantial reason to claim western education is bad. Islam is a religion of peace and knowledge. Do not let anyone deceive you. Send your children to school, both boys and girls. The Prophet, peace be upon him said we should learn from the cradle to the grave....I, Jabir support girl-child education........"
"Allahu akhbar!" a follower shouted. " You have spoken the truth, Mallam."
"I support education," he continued, " but denounce any life style that comes with it that contradicts our religious beliefs . I find it highly idiosyncratic and befuddling why these agitation is on ground. Where did these people get this idea? Are they truly bastions of Islamic ethics?
No! They are epitome of hypocrites, retrogressive and ignorant souls or......people made to cause upheaval. You claim it is haram to deal with western education, yet you use their cars, wristwatches, guns, fly their planes, and so on," he giggled, shook his head, " I must say this today. I believe the recent bomb blasts we have been experiencing are connected to these agitations.
I have my reasons but due to lack of evidence, I will not go deep now but insha Allah, the time will come when this people will be exposed. They claim it is jihad. Lah! This is not jihad. This is pure terrorism. People don't know what jihad means. When you do anything that uplifts the word of God, it is jihad and you must start with your heart. Fight your heart. The heart is prone to evil. Overcome your evil desires and follow the laws of God. The prophet gave commandments in wars brothers and sisters, this is how you know who is a real jihadist. Even during a war, it is prohibited in Islam to cut down a tree, kill a child, kill old people, destroy a temple, or church, kill those who surrender, or run away, kill a woman, sick person, a priest, pastor, or monk. It is also prohibited to disfigure the dead.
You are only allowed to kill an animal only for the purpose of eating and it is obligatory to treat prisoners well and feed them. But what do we witness today? You go to a trade centre and detonate a bomb, killing innocent people, children, women, old people, civilians, and keep shouting 'Allahu akhbar'. You will rot in hell. You detonate bombs and destroy lives and properties in the name of Islam....your own Islam but not ours, the conventional and true Islam. If you are right, bring out your proves that the Prophet, peace be upon him behaved the way you do. I challenge any one to check history, all the gazwahs and tell us where the Muslims killed children ,women, civilians, and so on.
You are not Muslims but terrorists! There is no compulsion in religion. Unto your religion and unto mine but do not stop me from practicing mine. You are been brainwashed to commit suicide after committing mass murder by suicide bombing, and you are told that seventy two virgins await you in heaven.
No virgins in hell," there was a short burst of laughter from the audience, "Suicide is a straight ticket for eternal stay in hell fire. You will pay for killing yourself and others. Terrorists have no religion, I once heard a white man say. Some faceless oligarchs, deep into a fustian pact are behind this rhetorical, rabble rousing clandestine movement. But I blame us who allow ourselves to be instigated and used in these sanguinary acts. Today, Islam is seen as a religion of war. There are gullible ones, with negative pre-conditioned mind-set gotten through subliminal messages, rhetoric, propaganda and vitriol, who believe . Don't get me wrong, there are Muslims who perpetuate these acts, but they don't represent Islam.
When it is a muslim, it is terrorism, if it is a non-Muslim, it is just a crime. We must put all hands on deck and make the world a better place. We must live in peace and work together, no matter our differences. We will not be honest with ourselves if we say we are one. We are different in many ways but all we need to do is understand our differences and live as one. Like I said in retrospect, we must start by fighting our hearts, pray and abide by divine laws then God will help us. I think I can use the remaining time to talk about Hajj.........."
He preached for another hour and the prayers was called. Mufty knew the time had come for the Sheikh to get lead balls into his body. In the darkness, without the use of light, he began to assemble his gun. While the Sheikh preached the word of God, Mufty set his gun to kill him, hoping he was doing the work of God. The die was cast.
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Thank you very much.