Sunday, April 3, 2011

victims of their own success - Islam: A Short History

One of those things I find interesting is reading the history of how the modern day version of Islam came to be. You get the impression, from modern day Muslims, that the ummah was always unified. They were always very, very religious. Well, at least the common people were. The caliphs, after the rashidun, not so much.

The neat thing is that the piety of the Muslim people was a reaction to the impiety of their leaders. The caliphs were victims of their own success. Rather than sticking to the humble and approachable attitudes of their predecessors they started emulating the rulers around them. They took on airs and didn't live with or speak to the common people. They stopped exhibiting the proper Islamic attitudes. And so the people became more and more divided and removed from them.

You had the rise of the four Islamic madhab, the recording of the ahadith, the codification of shariah, the sunnah, sira, and the rise of fiqh in this time period. All of it in direct response to the corruption and lack of islam that the people saw in their leaders.

It's one of those things that shows you the rule of action/reaction in people.

~

On a totally non-religiously related note:

I am a girl. And I totally take advantage of that. There are some things that are just the demesne of men, and I say, let them have it!

My car's low tire pressure indicator went off on Friday, so I went and filled the tires up. One of them, my back driver's side tire was *way* down. So I thought it might have a nail or something, but I couldn't see or feel one. I just decided to keep an eye on it. Well, it was okay all day Friday, and I didn't drive on Saturday. This morning, however, I was running late on my way to the gym and *bam*! The light went on again.

So I turned around, changed out of my sweats and into real clothes and headed down to Sears. Here's where being a girl is awesome: when I show up and know absolutely *nothing* about my car, or how it runs, etc. they fall all over themselves to take care of everything and not worry me about it. And I let them. Because I do not care what makes the car go. I know how to put the key in, make it go, and steer it. That's all that matters to me. :D

And on another random note, the book series I'm reading now is fun. One of the fun little things is that, in one of the cultures in the book, this is an actual criminal charge: Uncommon Stupidity.

6 comments:

  1. Heheh..I'm quite the same when it comes to cars. :)


    Enjoyed the observation on the Islamic culture thingie. What sometimes stuck out to me was that the more unIslamic the caliphs got, the more tolerable they were to nonMuslims. Like they speak of Islamic greatness in civilizations, but during those times the rulers tended to be the most liberal and open to outside discussion and influence so that people could learn from EVERYONE. Maybe that's a lesson for us all because maybe everyone has something to contribute (unless they are uncommonly stupid.) :)

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  2. :D

    Cars are fun, but the mechanics of them - the men can have it!

    *nod* I think it's because they fit in better with the other cultures. Of course, since they were trying to emulate them, that makes a lot of sense. I don't know if they'd count as the most 'liberal' or 'open to discussion'. They stomped down pretty hard on their own people, even without the people being rising up in rebellion or anything. Just people with different ideas.

    Uncommon stupidity totally needs to be a criminal charge in our world!

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  3. I have thought of a disadvantage. Since we have been trying to find a house for over a year. I came across an estate agent who seemed to think that if he spoke to a Mr, he would some how pay more for a house than I had offered.

    he was most insistant, I am the negotiator in our house. I know how much it will cost to renovate a home etc so I made the offer based on what I had seen and what other houses in the area had sold for. but no, he thought I was an idiot and didnt know anything. and a man would be able to explain to him in man language?

    and also when you go to a garage to have something to your car, there is that weird intake of breath, the whistle and the intake of breath again. then comes the blag as we call it, lies. and I am sure the price doubles. I no longer take our car to the garage. PB drops it off and deals with them. As I am afraid of being ripped off.

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  4. slice,

    Those are good ones. It's the opposite of the positive aspect I think of, which is that I can be a total moron about my car and no one looks down on me for it or thinks it's weird! :)

    Men have this whole boys club thing going, and they automatically assume that women don't know things about home repair/renovation and vehicles. Which is not always true, and a stupid assumption to make.

    I avoid the whole question of whether or not I'm going to get ripped off at the mechanics by either only using large national chains, like Sears, the dealer, or one or two guys that I personally know. If I had to send my car to someone I didn't know, I'd send it with a guy, for just the reason you stated.

    Funny story, when I was car shopping, we were test driving this little VW Rabbit and the guy was trying to show me how it could turn in a very small radius, only he didn't tell me what he wanted to do, so I started to do a K turn. And he's like, 'no, no. haven't you ever driven before?' Grrrr. Even if the Rabbit hadn't felt like being inside a tin can (very, very tiny!) I wouldn't have bought from him after that.

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  5. I think the VW car a rabbit, is that a beetle or what we call a golf?

    heck who cars I wouldnt of bought from him either

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  6. It's the Golf, for you guys. A Bug is what we call the Beetle's. :)

    Exactly! Very rude! I wound up with a Nissan, who I named Myrddin. And I love him. He's a good little car!

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