Charles de Foucauld

Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)

·      Birth: September 15, 1858    

·      Death:  December 1, 1916.  He lived for 58 years

·      Personality:  He was Proud, Aesthete, Temperamental, Pleasure-Loving, Hardheaded, Impetuous and Self-Centered.   But He was also Sensitive, Generous, Kind, Honest, and Single-minded.

·      Career:  He was A French Military Officer, Explorer, Monk, Porter at Nazareth, Priest and a Little Brother to the Tuaregs.

1.     He began as an agnostic.  In his unbelief and as a colonial soldier to Africa, He became “captive” of the black continent and fascinated by Islam.  He became truly present in the continent – explored it and learned its peoples and languages.

2.     He came back to his Catholic Faith through Islam.  It was a powerful experience of conversion.  He lived in utter simplicity, became truly poor and lived a monastic life.  He went back to the East, the Holy Land and became a Porter at Nazareth.

3.     He discovered FRATERNITY as the essence of Jesus’ Caritas.

4.     From the Holy Land, He went back to Africa … to be a “little” brother among the Tuaregs… and spent a monastic life almost like a hermit in the desert… in prayer and “welcome” to the pilgrims.

5.     Killed in his hut…

6.     Beatified – December 16, 2005 in Rome, Italy

Charles de Foucauld's Radical Choice

Charles de Foucauld’s Radical Choice…

Charles de Foucauld was not a “perfect” human being, far from it. His life was a radical choice in service of God and his “beloved Jesus”.  He went out to live with the farthest away and poorest of peoples. He spent hours in prayer - in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. His days were spent in welcoming everyone and he became as a “brother” to all who came to his hut.

He did not found a single institute yet there are religious families of men and women born from the profound intuition of Charles.  They are called as  “little brothers” and “little sisters” and they are spread out in the most remote corners throughout the world. These spiritual children of the “universal brother” have made their priority the poorest populations, the most abandoned, farthest from society.

There are also thousands of priests and laypersons who have discovered through his message a way of living the Gospel more fully to the ends of the earth, in fraternal sharing, caring for the smallest among us, and in silent adoration.

There are finally all those who have discovered the grandeur of this personality and its spiritual dimension that do not belong to his spiritual family or even to his religion.

Blessed Charles, who through his trials and errors, his thirst for solitude and for relationships, his great love of God and of his neighbor, still shows us today the way to universal brother/sisterhood! 

He invites us to leave our frivolousness, our reassuring boundaries, our small spiritual comfort, to rise to the numbers of challenges that he confronted without always succeeding. It is up to us to continue the path that he outlined for us”. (Bishop Claude Rault who had served in the Algerian Sahara)

The Feast of the Pentecost

Short Reflection for the Feast of Pentecost

Readings: Acts 2: 1-11; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b – 7. 12-13; John 20: 19-23

Selected Passage: And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20: 22-23)

Meditation: The feast of the Pentecost celebrates the coming down of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did NOT leave us orphans. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit - the power to forgive sin and to give NEW life! These are the two marks of the presence of the Holy Spirit: first, the forgiveness of sins; and second, the gift of life. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

Badaliyya Prayer Movement

The Badaliya Prayer Movement

Badaliya is an Arabic word that means to take the place of or substitute for another. It is a spiritual term that lies at the heart of the Christian faith experience and refers to the mystery of the image of God as Jesus sacrificing his life for all of humanity. To be a follower of Christ is to offer oneself out of love for the well-being of others.

Badaliya comes from Badal that is an Arabic word for “Substitution” or “Ransom”.  Louis Massignon had “discovered” the reality of BADAL – Substitution/Ransom for the reparation of injustices and for witnessing to the poor and victims of injustices.  Substitution/Ransom demands an offer of the total self – similar to the test of martyrdom or shahid.  Badaliyya Prayer is the movement began by Fr. Louis Massignon and Mary Kahil in Cairo in 1934. At that time Christians in Egypt were increasingly marginalized as Islam became the dominant religion in the region.

The Badaliya was a way to open themselves to befriending and praying with and for their Muslim neighbors. It embraced Massignon’s own understanding that by learning the language, and experiencing the traditions and culture of those of other religions our own faith life is enhanced.

The Badaliya prayer was a testimony to the universal love of Christ. A Badaliya prayer group formed in Paris joining the one in Cairo, and eventually Badaliya prayer groups arose in many other cities around the world. They met monthly and many individual lay persons and members of religious communities joined this prayer movement in spirit as well. For more information, see the article "A Model of Hope: Louis Massignon's Badaliya".

www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

Badaliyya – Philippines

May 05, 2016

Short Reflection for the Feast of the Ascension (C)

Readings: Acts: 1: 1-11; Ephesians 1: 17-23; Luke 24: 46-53

Selected Passage:  And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24: 46-48)

Meditation: The power of resurrection is made manifest in the repentance and forgiveness of sins! We are witnesses of this wonder! The Feast of the Ascension reminds all sundry that even we cannot physically see the person we love, he/she is always present within us. The risen Lord is always present within us – in the celebration of the Sacraments; in his words; and in our good deeds for our neighbors in need. www.badaliyya.blogspot.com

DHIKR SIMPLE METHOD...

1st step: Write the text or Dhikr (the Arabic word for REMEMBRANCE) in your heart.

2nd step: Let the text remain always in on your lips and mind - RECITING the text silently as often as possible...

3rd step:  Be attentive to the disclosure of the meaning/s of the text in your life.

The Status of Non-Muslim in an Islamic State

The Non-Muslims in an Islamic State

By Eliseo ‘Jun’ Mercado, OMI

1. Introduction:

            This write-up is meant to contextualize the debates on the status of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule. To begin with, Islamic rule is understood as the complete implementation of the Shari’a on both individuals and society as well. With the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)’s insistence in Islamic Rule and government, it is necessary to determine the status of non-Muslims in such a situation.

            The articulated MILF position is that the Islamic government shall ensure that the citizens, Muslims and non-Muslims, enjoy freedom, justice, equality and democracy and their human rights (Salamat Hashim’s Concept of Bangsamoro State and Government by A.S. Mansur Lingga). The MILF points to the fact that the people of the book are considered “protected people” (ahl-dhimma). But a simple reference to the concept of dhimma does not capture the essence of the concept and the praxis of the dhimma through the centuries.

            What we try to do is to research on the concept of dhimma as understood and practiced though the centuries and codified in variety of caliphal decrees and legal texts that contribute to the present corpus on the concept and praxis of dhimma.

1. Concept:

              The concept of Dhimma evoked the idea of protection/covenant during the time of the prophet.   The prophet took upon himself and the Islamic government the “protection” of the people of the book beginning with the Christians of Najran.

                The people of the book (ahl - ad - kitab) are the Christians, Jews and Sabaeans. They are guaranteed life, liberty and, in a modified sense, property. They are called dhimmi (ahl - dhimma) or protected/covenant people.

                  In return for the “protection” accorded the people of the book, they have to accomplish the following:

1. Each adult ‘sane’ male must pay a poll-tax (djizya).

2. Non-Muslims must distinguish themselves from believers by dress, not riding on horseback or carrying weapons.

3. Non-Muslims are not allowed to join the Islamic armies but they pay for the maintenance of Islamic armies.

4. They must always have a respectful attitude towards Muslims.

5. They are also under certain legal disabilities with regard to testimony in courts.

                     

The Praxis of Dhimma

               On the praxis of Dhimma, one can only study as far back as the praxis during the times of the Caliphs and Sultans from the 7^th century to the time of the Ottamans.

               The first example of Dhimma praxis is handed over by “Umar ibn Khattab, the second Caliph and companion of the prophet after Abu Bakr. The 7^th Century Pact of Umar is still extant.

                The 7^th Century Pact of Umar showed what the non-Muslims should do in exchange for the “protection” to be accorded to them by the Islamic State. This consisted in the following:

1. They must not build new monasteries, churches, convents, or monks’ cells. No repairs in the existing ones if they fall in ruins.

2. There shall be no public manifestation of religion nor convert anyone to it.

3. They must always show respect towards the Muslims and seats must be given to them.

4. They shall not mount on horseback, nor shall they gird swords nor bear any kind of arms nor carry them on their persons.

5. There shall be no selling of fermented drinks nor forbidden food.

6. There shall be no public display of crosses.

                        

                  This pact was further refined in the 8^th and 9^th centuries as written in al-Shafi ‘ i ’s Kitab al Umm. Briefly the refinements are summarized in the following principles:

1. The non-Muslims shall be subject to the authority of Islam and to no contrary authority.

2. They shall not refuse to carry out any obligation that the Islamic State sees fit to impose upon them by virtue of this authority.

3. If anyone of them speaks improperly of Muhammad, may God bless and save him, the Book of God or of his religion, he forfeits the dhimma (note: This is the basis of the Blasphemy Law of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran).

Modern Islamic Political Thought

               The status of non-Muslims in an Islamic State has remained the same until the coming of modern Islamic political thought during the 18^th and 19^th centuries reform by the so-called “Young Turks” Revolution of 1908.   The idea of freedom came into the scene in the 18^th and early 19^th century Ottoman Empire patently due to European influence.

                 Similarly, General Napoleon Bonaparte upon his arrival in Egypt introduced the French understanding of freedom on the basis of the French revolution’s slogan “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”.

                All these movements led to the reform edict of 1839, the first Ottoman Constitution in 1878 and the Young Turks Revolution of 1908. Freedom took roots during that period. This referred to individual as well as societal, political, social, economic and religious freedom. The people of the land, Muslims and non-Muslims, became co-citizens enjoying the same rights and privileges.   Nationality became the basis of unity and nationhood. Practically the entire Muslim world adopted this model with few exceptions. 

                  The dhimma was totally rejected since its concept and praxis put the non-Muslims in inferior positions. As a matter of fact, the Dhimmis were never considered citizens. The reform and the subsequent struggles for national freedom participated in by all citizens (Muslims and non-Muslims alike) gave birth to a new nation of citizens on the basis constitution or charter.

“Back” to Islam

                 There is an often-repeated Qur’anic obligation imposed on Muslims “to enjoin good and forbid evil” (al-amr bi’l - ma’ruf wa’l ‘an al-munkar).   By this injunction, a Muslim is required not merely to do good and avoid evil but also to enjoin good and forbid evil.   To fulfill this obligation, it requires the exercise of authority. And this has become the basis of the necessity that a Muslim has to be the head/chief of a community/state and the enforcement of Islamic Law. In short, it has to be an Islamic State! This movement is often labeled as “Fundamentalism”. Adherents of this movement struggle for the restoration of a truly Islamic society governed by Islamic Law and ruled by a Muslim leader. To them, this is the only true path to salvation and God.

                 The Islamic State is a community of believers.   Allah is the Sovereign of the state, the Qur’an is the Constitution and the Shari’a is the law of the land. The political and religious leadership was vested in God’s messenger who served as prophet and political leader of the Islamic community/state. Upon Muhammad’s death, his successors (Caliphs or Imam) assumed both the religious as well as the political leadership in the community.

                  The Shari’a or Islamic Law is based on the Divine Revelation (the Qur’an) and the Sunnah of the prophet. It provides a comprehensive code of life that included laws that regulate prayer, family, criminal, commercial and international law. The religious scholars (ulama) serve as the guardians of the Shari’a.     

                    The “return” to Islam movement is the paramount “cry” of the MILF. This movement holds that Islam is the ultimate norm in regulating the public, social and individual life of both the individuals and community. Islam under the MILF rule shall, once again (as in Medina), be the organizing principle of society. How this is to be done remains to be seen, since the MILF does not give a “model” of what they want as an Islamic State.

                    There are two elements/ingredients in their version of Islamic State. First is the rule of Shari’a in all things and second is the principle that leadership in an Islamic State is in the hands of Muslims. What needs to be discussed in the said Islamic agenda are the role and status of non-Muslims in governance, civil society and the religious practices.   No doubt, the dhimma is not acceptable to non-Muslims. The concept and the praxis of dhimma put the non-Muslims in an inferior status.

                       In modern social praxis, this is reverse discrimination. The dhimma is an anachronism today. No one, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, can accept nor tolerate the praxis of the dhimma.   It might have been good in the 7^th and the 8^th centuries, during the period of feudalism, but certainly people and citizens in this day and age cannot accept and tolerate inequality and denial of access to political power on account of religion and race. If the MILF position is to gain wide acceptance and support, it has to re-define its stance on governance, Shari’a applications and on the role and status of non-Muslims. (ERM 4/30/16)

6th Sunday of Easter (C)

Reflection for the 6^th Easter Sunday (C)

Readings: Acts 15: 1-2. 22-29; Revelation 21: 10-14. 22-23; John 14: 23-29

Selected Passage:  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14: 27)

 Reflection:  There are many things that bother us and cause us so many anxieties. The Gospel tells us ‘do not let our hearts be troubled or afraid’.  The Risen Christ remains with us in his words and in when we gather and remember his words and deeds, especially at the breaking of the bread.  The Risen Lord gives us PEACE!  www.badaliyya.blogspot.com