Shaykh Jamaal Diwan
Last Friday, the Muslim Student Union wrapped up their Islam Awareness Week at UC Irvine with an open house in which folks could come and observe the Friday Jumah prayers and a sermon from Shaykh Jamaal Diwan. I stopped in the see what was going on though I had no interest in filming students at prayer or participating in their religious service. From what I could see, there were only a few non-Muslims present though some of the women (sitting on the other side of the room) may have been donning hijabs to show proper respect. I actually remained outside during the prayers and only entered to listen to part of the sermon. Diwan, who is a young convert to Islam, had recently completed his study at Cairo's Al Azhar University in Sharia Law. He is active at the Islamic Center of Irvine and has an online advice site with the Center called Shaykh's Corner.
After listening to part of Diwan's sermon on the Prophet Mohammad, I left early since I had a class to prepare for and frankly didn't feel I was missing much. (I had been invited to stay for refreshments afterward by one of the MSU members.)
At any rate, I have taken the liberty of checking out some of Diwan's writings and am linking a couple I thought were interesting. The first is his advice to a Muslim who wanted to know if it was permissible for a Muslim to wish a Christian "Merry Christmas". I don't consider this an earth-shaking issue though there has been a lot of chatter about it on the internet recently. Diwan gives a rather tortured answer, but I did note that he has a tendency to quote Yusuf al Qaradawi (as he also does in the second link).
http://sc.icoi.net/2012/12/19/saying-merry-christmas/
In the second link, Diwan also references Muslim Brotherhood founder, Hasan al Banna, as he provides a list of recommended readings which include works by al Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Ghazali, (Abou Ala) Mawdudi, and Qaradawi. Aside from Qaradawi, Mawdudi, Qutb, Ghazali, and al Banna, I am unfamiliar with the other authors listed.
http://sc.icoi.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Reading-List-for-Islamic-Workers.pdf
(Source: Shaykh's Corner, website of Islamic Center of Irvine)
In 2009, Yusuf al-Qaradawi said, "Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the Jews people who would punish them for their corruption...The last punishment was carried out by [Adolf] Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them...Allah Willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers."
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like someone I would not want to use for moral guidance.
I have that comment on video here. I agree wholeheartedly.
ReplyDeleteIs there an online forum where the SJP or MSU members who are political have discussions?
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in hearing their views and having discussions with them. I am not interested in shouting matches that occur on the campus.
It is too bad some of them don't comment here so different perspectives are heard and discusssed.
The SJP and political arm of the MSU types do not seem interested to hear other viewpoints and discuss the I/P with others that I am aware. This may allow them to continue to believe their radical views and add cohesion to their little group, but it also limits who will be willing to accept their views because they come off too extreme and lack the ability to compromise.