Role of the Hadith in Shaping Muslim Identity

Role of the Hadith in Shaping Muslim Identity Islam is a religion both of the book and of tradition. Both of these avenues are, to some extent, sacred for the Muslim. In this way it is akin to other major religions of the world. For example, in Catholicism, there is a veneration of both their Sacred Scriptures and their Sacred Tradition (though this veneration is equal in Catholicism). For most Muslim traditions, however, the veneration of the Quran and the Hadith (the traditions) is not equal, though perhaps it could be justly said that for all Muslims the Hadith is venerated second only to the sacred Scriptures of Islam (i.e., the Quran). This is true for all the major branches of Islam: Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi. However, it is not true that the Sunni Muslims have the exact same Hadith as either of the other branches (and vice-versa). The traditions contained within the Hadith are not uniform among the various major branches of Islam. But, owing to this high veneration of the Hadith among all Muslims, the Hadith has been instru mental and important in shaping Muslim identity. The Nature of the Hadith But, what is the Hadith, exactly? According to Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, in their recent work on Muslim and Christian agreements and differences, they give the following definition: Hadith: Literally, a story; an oral tradition later written down of what the prophet supposedly said (sunna), did, or approved ofsomething said or done in his presence, (Answering Islam, 338). This seems to be attested-to by other scholars. The Sunnis themselves get their name from its relation to sunna and their being followers of the sunna, (R.C. Zaehner, Encyclopedia of the Worlds Religions, 170). It is interesting to note that the Hadith, although it has a pragmatic end in that it further clarifies vast aspects of Islamic life, shows a particularly strong devotion to the Prophet Muhammed. Akbar S. Ahmed notes this too when he writes, So great is the respect and affection the Prophet commands that his very sayings, hadith, are the source of wisdom and social practice in the Muslim world, (Islam Today, 18). In many ways, this links Islam with other major religions of the world wherein the sayings and doings of the founder of a religion are often the most revered content of the religion. The Hadith as a Source of Great Reverence for the Prophet The second part of the five-part creed of Islam indicated the orthodox view of Muhammed. That is, he was merely the Prophet of God. He was, to be sure, the greatest prophet who superseded all prior prophets, but he was still a mere man. It used to be common practice even up to the mid-twentieth century for Westerners who were not themselves Muslims to refer to Muslims as Mohammedans. This came to be seen as a very offensive reference, according to Muslims because it tended to draw too strong a parallel to Christians being the followers of Christ, as Mohammedans were the followers of Muhammad. For the Christian, Christ is the God-Man. That is, the early Church long ago defined that the one person of Jesus Christ has two natures: one human and one divine. He is both God and man in one hypostasis (i.e., one person). This is, however, not at all the view held toward Muhammad, who is a mere, though extremely blessed, mortal man. The Metaphysical Distinction Between Gods Word and the Hadith However, one must remain clear that the reverence given to the Scriptures (i.e., the Quran) must be distinguished from that given to the Hadith. The difference lies in a distinction between the very words of God (which is what sacred scriptures would be, according to all theistic religions) and those writings or oral traditions that, while perhaps protected from error, are nevertheless not the very words of God breathed-out, as it were, upon the pages of the scriptures. For Reform Jews, the Talmud (a collection of writings dealing with moral and legal matters) is to be revered in much the same way as the Hadith is for Muslims (R.C. Zaehner, Encyclopedia, 37). Likewise, the Catholic Church has a Magisterium, which produces official writings from its Church councils and, at times, from its popes. These writings of the Magisterium are to be faithfully held by all Catholics everywhere (R.C. Zaehner, 140-1). They are not tantamount to the divine revelation of Scripture and Tradition toget her, but they are given a reverence not unlike the Islamic reverence given to the Hadith. As the Muslim scholar Badru D. Kateregga explains the distinction, The Hadith is not a Holy Book (revelation) as the Quran and the previous Scriptures. However, to the Muslims the importance of Hadith ranks only second to the Holy Quran. The Hadith is complementary to the Quran. It helps to explain and clarify the Holy Quran and to present the Quran in a more practical form. As Muslims, our knowledge of Islam would be incomplete and shaky if we did not study and follow the Hadith. Similarly an outsider cannot understand Islam if he ignores the Hadith. This last statement by Kateregga particularly notes the strong similarity to the other major theistic religions of the world. It could equally be said that with having only the Jewish scriptures and without the Talmud one could not properly understand Reform (and perhaps Conservative) Judaism. So too, having only the Bible, without learning any of the teachings that have come out of the major councils of the Catholic Church, one could hardly arrive at, or understand, Catholicism. Early History of the Hadith: Relation to Shariah Law Early on in Islamic history, there was a desire to have the law of the lands of Muslims be a law based explicitly on the writings of the Quran. However, there were soon found to be many instances wherein the laws contained in the Quran did not forthrightly apply to all relevant instances. So, the various Islamic societies had to extend the sources past the Quran alone. One of the sources to which Shariah Law extended for a source of itself was to the Hadith. It is difficult to describe exactly what comprises the foundation of the Shariah Law. Geisler and Saleeb delineate four bases of it: the Quran, the hadith, ijma (consensus of the community), and qiyas, the application of analogical reasoning to the other three sources for the deduction of new rules, (Answering Islam, 84). What this seems to amount to in practice, according to the entry on Law and Society in the Oxford History of Islam is that it is only when the ijma supports the independent thinking or juridical opinions of a pa rticular instance does this instance obtain the luxury of being a binding force of a ruling (hukm) of Shariah, (110). This is a clear instance of the importance of the Hadith in shaping Muslim identity, as all Muslim societies, to some extent or another, adopt Shariah Law as either a guiding or binding force upon all those within a given Islamic nation. The Early Search for Authentic Hadith Additionally, by the second century after the founding of Islam, there were found in the various Islamic legal schools so much variation between them, as to the Islamic law itself and/or its application, that a search for the authentic Traditions became necessary (Zaehner, Encyclopedia, 171). Soon they were divided into three categories (definitely reliable, questionable, and likely unreliable) and eventually collected into six great collections, which are still in use today. Therefore, a search soon began for all the authentic Traditions of the prophet recorded by his contemporaries, also known as the Companions of the Prophet. These Companions were thought to be eye-witnesses and recorded that which they knew the Prophet Muhammed to have done or said on legal or moral issues not definitively laid out by the Quran. Where such Traditions were found to exist, it was held, the rulings they contained, explicitly or implicitly, were decisive and mandatory for all Muslims. The sunna (prac tice) of the Prophet obviously superseded all other sunnas, and still more any speculative reasoning, (Zaehner, 171). Some (Perhaps) Uncomfortable Applications of the Hadith in the Modern World With the rise of the Taliban regime in modern Afghanistan, there was an attempt at a strict application of various passages of the Quran and the Hadith. There were many indirect applications based loosely upon the Hadith (e.g., no television-watching, the closing of girls schools), but there were also a number of applications based directly on the hudud criminal punishments derived from the Quran and Hadith (e.g., amputation for theft, death for murder, stoning for adultery, Oxford History, 660). Another application of clearly affirmed traditions within the Hadith is that of martyrdom especially within a context of jihad (Esposito, What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, 133-4). In the Hadith, there are many descriptions of rewards given to those who die for the struggle of Islam. Reforming the Hadith? Upon some of these considerations of the application of the Hadith, some have called for a large-scale reform of the Hadith to suit modern ways and understandings. One of the first of these was Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98). He even questioned the historicity and authenticity of many portions of the Hadith. Some more current legal reformers have called for various subtle distinctions as means of arriving at a middle-ground, which would preserve much ancient understanding of Islam, but would also simultaneously make certain applications of the Hadith (and even the Quran) as necessarily time-bound and culture-derived. For example, some who have been called revivalists and neomodernists have made a distinction between what might be called the eternal portions of the Quran and the Hadith and those that are the result of fallible human understanding of the eternal laws and their subsequent application, known as fiqh (Oxford History, 685). A further distinction along these lines could be bro ken down according to ones vertical responsibilities (i.e., with respect to God) being unchanging, yet ones horizontal responsibilities (i.e., socially with respect to ones fellow man) being open to change and further refinement. There are even those who call for more extreme reforms in the Muslim faith. A recent example would be found in the journalist Irshad Manji in her recent book The Trouble with Islam: A Muslims Call for Reform in Her Faith. In the book, Manji seems to advocate that it is possible for portions of the Quran and Hadith to even be in error, particularly those portions that are often used to advocate violence against non-Muslims (or non-perfect Muslims). Concluding Thoughts Of course, this type of recent line of thinking along reforms (however large or small) has led some traditionalist Muslims into an even more entrenched position in their, what we might call, fundamentalism their strict adherence to all things ancient in Islam, even the application of the Quran and Hadith in Shariah law (a la the Taliban). However, such a reaction from traditionalist is not at all unexpected by anyone, least of all the reformers themselves. However it might end up being resolved and the conflict towards reform, which seems to some extent inevitable, are brought to a close, it is likely that the role of the Hadith in this and future generations will be a moderated one. Of course, just what exactly will moderate it remains to be seen. Will it be reason alone that triumphs? Will it be a rush toward even more modernity in Islam? The world eagerly waits to see.

Sticking With Arnis

Somehow this sport is ignored and perhaps most Filipinos fail to recall it, and even the layers of Earns have been quite unnoticed. Take for example Tensile Palace. Despite all the accomplishments and contributions Palace has made for the school and the country through playing Earns, she unfortunately still does not seem to get the attention and appreciation she deserves. A passionate and graceful Earns varsity player born on April 4, 1 996, Hazels Gristliness R. Palace has given pride to the school and her country through her achievements in the sport.Truly, junior BBS Psychology student Tensile Palace is not just your ordinary Eaten. During one interview, Tensile hares that she just heard about Earns from her uncle when she was in fifth grade. He taught her Earns basically for self defense, but that was also the time when Tensile became engrossed to earns. However, it wasn't until college that she learned more about the sport and actually got to practice it. She started learning ea rns under Sir Richard Gallon in his PEE class.Soon and luckily enough, she was invited to become part of the Atone College Earns Varsity team the semester after. Everything escalated from then on. Of all the mainstream sports, Palace chose to play a snubbed sport. And so e ask, M/why Earns? Why not volleyball or basketball or any other mainstream sport? † Unexposed and out of sight, the MAC (Martial Arts Center) located near the college covered courts of ADAM is where Palace has regularly been practicing Earns for 2 years and 2 months now. Undeniably, she has grown in love with the sport.To her, what got her interested in Earns is because of its history. She was also inspired by the stories of Sir Gallon on how Earns was used in the past. She says Earns could say a lot about our cultural background as Filipinos. â€Å"l guess I just really felt that I could help reserve that cultural heritage and that part of our identity as Filipinos through learning Earns and most probably passing it on to the younger generations in the future. So it's not really about the sport and martial art being mainstream but the cultural heritage and sense of identity as Filipino,† says Tensile.Earns indeed has a huge part on our individuality as Filipinos and it contributes immensely to our cultural growth. This ignored martial art, Earns, is what completes us as countrymen. And because we are armed with one of the many Filipino prides, it is our responsibility to uphold this art. Holding on strongly to that obligation is none other than Tensile. As proof, besides being part of the Atone College Earns Varsity team, she is also a part of KAMALA (Kali Earns Martial Arts Organization) and the Philippine Demonstration Team.Moreover, she teaches Earns to grade 7 and 8 students from ASH every Wednesday to fulfill her duty of â€Å"passing it on to the younger generations. † Since Tensile bountifully gives her time and efforts to preserve Earns, she needs to manage her t ime well. The building where she just had her consultation with one of her professors was hundreds of steps away from he MAC, so she bustled through the buildings and roads in campus as she was late for her training on one Monday afternoon. She beamed, though catching her breath, when she saw me waiting for her at Managing, then she apologized for being late.Then and there, we started walking to their team's training ground. As I watched her train until the late-night hour, I contemplated on how she brings about her time. Admittedly, Tensile said that she has difficulty with time management; with piled-up school tasks, training and family time, she tries her best to balance and sacrifice time for each. Neglected school responsibilities is a big no-no because academics is her first priority, and to help herself out, she decided not to be part of any school organizations this school year.On the other hand, amidst all the busyness, keeping in touch with her family was never a failure f or her. She says she is very open to them. When her parents call her on the phone daily, she often talks about what happened during her training. â€Å"My friends also get updated on what's happening in my â€Å"Earns career†,† she laughs shyly. Although she is still a fresh competitor in the world of Earns, Tensile Palace has won numerous awards and only her university, family members and a couple friends recognized her success.Listed below are some of the awards she received for merely the past few months. In spite being nervous and pressured, Palace did not make these an excuse not to excel in her first kickoff in the world stage. She was one of the hand-picked members of KAMALA to represent the Philippines in the 2014 World Martial Arts Festival in South Korea last August. This once in a lifetime experience has encouraged her to pursue Earns more, and she is definitely determined to make Earns now as a sport and as a martial art.

The Origins of Affirmative Action

â€Å"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (1)† Affirmative action can trace its roots back to the 14th amendment, although it did not really get started until Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed, giving minorities equal employment rights. The overall strategy and outline for this plan were contained in Executive Order 11246, which was issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1972 (Gilbert et al. 2). This led to a wave of programs that were intended to further the equal employment opportunities for minority individuals. Affirmative action programs were intended to legally require organizations to be diverse. During the 1990's these programs have come under a lot of scrutiny and are being replaced with a concept known as diversity management. . Managing and valuing diversity are key aspects of organizational behavior, but the question lies in how to create the diversity within the organization. In this paper, I will examine several articles that will give us reasons that affirmative action should be replaced by diversity management, as well as one that believes that affirmative action is still needed in today's society. Mary Guy believes that affirmative action programs are still needed today. She noted that if we lived in a perfect world we would not have a need for organizations to have affirmative action programs (240). However, since people have a tendency to work around people that are most like us, programs are needed to ensure that past discriminatory actions are corrected. Opposition to these programs generally has come from â€Å"advantaged† groups who feel that quotas will keep them from their jobs. Since the laws creating affirmative action never required quotas, then when quotas have been put in place, they are merely exceptions to the rule (Guy 242). Diversity in the workplace has been slowly increasing under affirmative action, however, Guy feels that this is no time to abandon it, but to keep it moving forward (242). â€Å"Stigmatization revisited: Does diversity management make a difference in applicant success? ,† written by Jacqueline Gilbert and Bette Ann Stead, includes the results of experiments conducted at two universities. These experiments examined whether there was a greater perception of increased qualifications and competence when employees were hired under a system of diversity management versus an affirmative action plan. The second article â€Å"Diversity management: A New organizational paradigm,† written by Jacqueline Gilbert, Bette Ann Stead, and John Ivancevich, defines diversity management and compares it to affirmative action. Furthermore they discuss strategies that will help to insure that a diversity management program is successful. (Gilbert et al. 1) In â€Å"Stigmatization revisited†¦ † the authors performed experiments to determine the effects of affirmative action versus diversity management. Individuals, both women and those of color, that were hired under the guise of an affirmative action plan were generally viewed as less qualified than there peers. It was noted that the perception was that if they were qualified for the position, then they would have been no need for an affirmative action plan. Those individuals that were hired in an atmosphere of diversity management were not perceived as being more or less qualified than their peers. These results were especially evident when the job was a traditional â€Å"male type†, for example, an electrician (Gilbert & Stead 11). They concluded that an organization that valued and promoted cultural diversity would enable women and minorities to be perceived as competent for the positions that they held. Also those companies would have an inherent advantage when it came many other areas; including resource acquisition, marketing, creativity flexibility, and corporate attractiveness. These advantages would lead to greater profits and therefore a more positive outcome (Gilbert & Stead 11). Thc theories of affirmative action are changing in today's world, according to the authors of â€Å"Diversity management†¦ Many states, as well as the federal government, are debating the future of programs that are viewed as giving any type of advantage to a particular group of people (i. e. race or gender) (Gilbert et al. 1). In order to alleviate concerns of discrimination, companies are developing corporate cultures that embrace cultural diversity. This is known as diversity management. Affirmative action has come under a lot of scrutiny, both by majority and minority groups, due to misperceptions and problematic implementations of the programs. Many people view affirmative action as a quota system that leads to unqualified individuals being hired ahead of those that are qualified, and are therefore viewed as less competent than their peers. By treating all people equally, with regards to race and gender, these perceptions disappear (Gilbert et al. 8). These programs, however, will not work if they only exist in one part of an organization. Diversity management programs must start with the CEO and work its way down to the bottom. By being prevalent throughout an organization, the positive ethics of a strong diversity program will not be detrimentally affected with the decisions of one individual who chooses not to be ethical (Gilbert et al. 8). Through their research, the authors feel that the traditional misperceptions that are prevalent in an affirmative action program should not surface in a diverse multicultural organization (Gilbert et al. 8). As we can see, the problems that have been associated with affirmative action can be dissolved and the goals still met with a strong diversity management program within and throughout an organization. Affirmative action is under fire all around the country. Here in Georgia we have had several cases that have been brought to the public's attention. The University of Georgia is being sued because of racial preferences in its admission process (Rankin & Suggs 1). The City of Atlanta's affirmative action set-aside plan is being challenged in a lawsuit as well (Campos & Rankin 1). The overall trend in these suits, as well as others throughout the country is that any system that gives preference to certain groups is actually discriminatory in and of itself. In my view the original concept of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was that any type of discrimination is in violation of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution. Affirmative action programs that use quotas, no matter how they are implemented, result in individuals being classified and treated according to their race and gender. Diversity management programs within an organization will promote the multiculturalism that is required, as our business world becomes more and more global. Though traditional discrimination is still around in some cases, I do not believe that we need to keep affirmative action in the form that it is in today. A strong diversity management program will actually do more for the affected individuals by treating them as individuals instead of as part of a group. By looking at the individual and their individual contribution, stereotypes can be avoided. This is not an easy task, as old habits die hard, and people are slow to change. By embracing cultural differences that exist within our organization, misconceptions and prejudices can be left behind as we rise above discrimination and into diversity management.

Human Resource Management - 2297 Words

The major challenges of profitability and increased competition have made the HRM function more important to business success than ever before. Discuss. Respond your finding with examples. Introduction (Human resource management is more important in a changing environment than before. There are some challenges and changes, which have great impacts on organizations respective to human resource (HR) function behaviors. These impacts know as globalization, increasing customer’s expectations, transparent market, and human resource management (HRM) provides possibilities to make organizations more healthy and competitive. Where the firm may focus on cost for employee compensation and make conclusions on share services or outsourcings.†¦show more content†¦Similarly, the incidence of consultation and cooperation on technical change has been insufficient in the eyes of some trade unions. In countries where the unions have been strong and where the HR function has had little strategic importance in decision-making it has proved difficult suddenly to introduce radical workplace change without workers being extremely sceptical of management gimmicks. It is not until managemen t demonstrates a genuine desire to involve workers and unions in decision-making that progress has been smoother and quicker, particularly when coupled with workers enthusiasm for new work practices that promised potential for greater autonomy and career advancement. But the unions response to work reorganization was often slow, at least initially. It was not a key issue for them until employers began aggressively to pursue it, specifically employee involvement, job reclassification and consolidation, job rotation and teamwork. Many enterprises are developing new HRM policies that are an integral part of business strategy and long-term planning. 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