In the name of many of friends, I would like to thank you for your
devotion, your honesty, your exemplary courage
and your perseverance.
I read many of your works. I agree completely on criticisms which
you make for the occident. I also share many of your criticisms for the contemporary Moslem thought. You generally put good questions for the latter. However, I agree a little less with you concerning
certain of your answers which touch the Fiqh field
where you are less qualified.
If you had raised your questions which are often relevant and
leave the answers to qualified people in Fiqh this would be really much better.
I would like by the same occasion to tell you forgiveness!
Forgiveness for
all that you suffered from the not-Moslems. And especially forgiveness for
all that you suffered from the Moslems!!
These later would have gain much if they listened to you more, in spite of the points of difference. But unfortunately they did not do it.
Dear Garaudy, I ask Allah to reward you for all that you did for the
good of humanity and to forgive you the remainder.
Thank you for all.
Answer
The biggest mistake in the Islamic world is the confusion between Sharia with Fiqh. Sharia is explained in detail in Surah 42, verse 13. So it is a common Sharia between Islam, and what was sent to Moses and Jesus: that God is one, and God is the only ruler and He is the only one who is omniscient. I find these same statements in the Torah, Bible and Quran. This Sharia (law) is the word of God, while Fiqh is a human attempt to interpret God's word.
The Sharia, as it is clear in the Quran, brings together all people. No one wants people in the 21st century to live in the way people used to think in the 12th or 13th centuries. There is no difference between Fiqh and Sharia scholars in Islam; they all submit to Allah's commands. The Qur'an has about 200 verses dealing with legal issues and 2,000 dealing with general behavior and morality, so don't make the 200 dominate the 2,000.
Name
Ala' Faqi
-
Profession
Question
What is your position on Zionism and its aspirations in the ARab and Islamic world in light of the absence of a national project to confront it?
Answer
Zionism has nothing to do with religion. It is a political movement, a colonialistic movement. We should not confuse our views on Zionism and those on Judaism. We cannot treat a Jewish musician the same way we treat Isaac Shamir, for instance.
Zionism should be confronted. In my works, I distinguish between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. There are many Jews who agree with me, for instance, Rabbi Berger. Before he died, he was writing the introduction to my book, "Founding Myths of Israeli Policy."
Name
Mudar Abdul Ghani
- Syria
Profession
Clerk
Question
The UN declared 2001 the year of dialogue between civilizations. You are the founder of the Center for Dialogue Between Civilizations, so what are your predictions for this year? What are your preparations for this occasion? Thanks.
Answer
I do not know what the UN limitations are, but I know what our limitations are. I am working on a book with some Jews, Christians, Muslims and atheists. But this dialogue cannot continue if the current U.S.-dominated free-market economy continues, because our defense of Islam cannot be separated from the struggle against U.S. economic hegemony.
Regarding civilizational dialogue, we are a world divided between norht and south. The world pays the price in a new Hiroshima every day. The real enemy is the free market economy where everything is for sale or purchase. The process is not one of dialogue and exchange of opinion but one of searching for practical solutions to the market economy.
I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic, and Allah proves in the Quran how He is constantly creating new realities all the time, and we should comprehend this to bring change.
Name
Fouad Ma'ashi
- Germany
Profession
Question
In your books you have pointed to the means for Muslims to confront the Western cultural invasion. Is there any solution to the issue of globalization?
Answer
The solution is simple. In the past, there was the weak and strong, some could refuse to play along with the others. But now you have the International Monetary Fund, for instance, saying: I'll give you funding if you follow my policies. On the cultural level, the stronger is the one imposing values, culture and thought to the others.
I am coming out with a book in junction with two Jews (Habi and Berger), two Muslims, an Indian and two Catholic priests. the book will be titled, "The 21st Century: Global Suicide or Resurgence?" The basic idea is that if the 21st century continues to go on as it is now, it will never make it past 100 years.
the way to save humankind is to break the domination and control of America. When I say "break America," I don't mean the American people but the hegemony that its policy on the rest of the world.
Name
Daoud
- Bahrain
Profession
Question
Who were you before your conversion to Islam, and who are you now?
Answer
Before and after Islam, I was a human being. One searching for meaning in his life. I have always been fighting for justice and following the divine commands of all prophets.
Name
Muhsen
- Palestine
Profession
Question
Anti-semitism is a ready-made accusation that Israel shoots in the direction of anyone who it does not like. Do you agree?
Answer
Anti-semitism is an accusation usually made by Israel against its opponents. The issue is not anti-semitism, but anti-Zionism and anti-imperialism. We have to not confuse between nationalism and colonialism.
Name
Shirin Abdul Hadi
- Egypt
Profession
Question
What did you find in Islam that you didn't find in other creeds?
Answer
Islam, to me, is a continuation of what I had been searching for since my youth. I was born in an atheist family. I don't feel sorry for that, because it protected me from adopting a certain way of thinking.
I realized that it would take a massive effort to change the world and the logic governing the world, so I chose Marxism fo r awhile. Father RAnner, a Jesuit, once told me that Marxism never gave solutions deeper than daily life solutions. So I turned to Christianity but remained a Marxist. But the church did not have the capability to organize an entire society, so I turned to islam.
The process is not fragmented phases for me, but a natural evolution. I am happy that I am 87 years old and alive and still devoted to my youthful dream of when I was in my 20s, which is to reform the world, to add meaning to life by unifying mankind.
Name
Lubna F.
- Egypt
Profession
Question
What is the solution with the Zionist enemy, as long as we live under govenment that promote normalization with the enemy? As a nation, how can we confront this enemy as well as our govenments, which dominate our institutions of civil society, our daily affairs, and even our religious activities?
Answer
What's needed is the unity of ARabs and Muslims to force Israel to respect its borders. And to force it to return occupied Arab territories, such as the Golan Heights. Israel has the right to live in peace and security, but within the borders determined by U.N. resolutions.
However Israel cannot claim a need for security while still occupying other people's land.
With regard to the Egyptian govermnent, that's the problem of the Egyptians, not me. I cannot impose demands on national governments. However, the people themselves should impose their views on their governments.
Name
Abou Ahmed
-
Profession
student
Question
I want to congratulate you for your courageous views on international Zionism. I must say that very few historians who dared to confront the Zionist lies, and you are one of them.
I have a personal web page that I post articles on Zionism and the Holocaust, and my friends are warning me that I should refrain before the western governments crack down on me. Do you think the Zionists have that power to control the Internet?
And when will your work be posed on the web?
Answer
There is a website that has all of my publications, that's why I receive death threats from Zionists. But I will continue my struggle as much as I can or else the 21st century will end before it begins.
I wrote recently that the United States is an Israeli colony. the defense minister is Jewish, the same goes for the secretary of state, as well as three top heads of U.S. intelligence. Most of the members of the National Security COuncil are Jewish. In other words, the Zionists hold the centers of power and influence in th America, and Clinton is just a puppet in their hands.
Name
Miguel Jose
- Guatemala
Profession
Question
Is there any future left for communism on intellectual and political levels?
Answer
The issue is not one of culture or theories at the political level, but one of the unity of humankind.
