Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The few and the humiliated

One thing that is being said on some of these blogs and also between Muslims is that the Ktown situation is "blown out of proportion" and that we don't need to do much because "it's only a few people." Also that people who go to Jordan are all rich and elite so who cares. I want to say something about this.



First it is true that at any given time, there are probably only about 200 to 400 foreigners in Kharabsheh with the shaykh. It used to be more and now it is less - a lot of people left him in 2008 and are leaving him now.



It is also true that about 95% of the problems that are being mentioned are specific to being in Kharabsheh. It is two different tariqas - the tariqa of those who live in America or England or wherever, and those who come to Jordan. Murids in Jordan have a different tariqa, with different rules and mentality. Murids who stay home in California have a tariqa that is radically different. However, the same four people are the leadership of both of these tariqas. Nuh is the shaykh in Jordan and he is the shaykh in California. And not all of the craziness is confined to Jordan. Some of the harsher or wierder stuff has been transmitted to all the murids, and is recorded on Mp3 or cd. Also, some of the rules are world-wide rules, not just Ktown rules.



So there is that.



Also, it may only be a grand total of 1500 or less people who have passed through Jordan - and many did so for a short time and never experienced the psychosis of the Shadhilis - but that is still 1500 or however many people who lived, up close, in the heart of a cult. Even if only 800 feel that they have been affected in a detrimental manner, that is 800 people who need help and understanding. And I think the number is much higher, because the crazy marriage and divorce stuff certainly was never limited to Jordan. The divorces have been a problem for NK from the years before anyone even lived in Ktown with him.



If the people who go there are rich or whatever, that shouldn't be a factor in whether or not you seek to protect other Muslims from the harm of the tariq. First of all, for those of you reading, it is not true that "only" rich people went to Jordan. Quite a few of us went on scholarships we received to study Arabic. A lot of people saved up their money from their jobs for a year or two before hand so that they could live six months or a year in Jordan and have suhba with the shaykh. There are some murids who work while they are in Jordan. There are some murids who came when a relative died and they inherited something that gave them the money to go. All in all the people who I knew in Ktown who were from rich backgrounds were definitely outnumbered by people who were regular middle class families, and even from working class backgrounds in some cases.



But I don't know where in Islam it says that you can never have empathy, understsanding for the well to do or where it says that a rich person who is harmed by a religious charlatan is not worthy of your assistance.



The reason Ktown matters is that the people who go to Ktown, who are recruited to be in the tariq, are in many cases, influential people. They run magazines, businesses, they come back to America or Canada in positions of leadership as teachers of the deen, imams, etc. Their Islamic academy and online Islamic knowledge database has reached tens of thousands of Muslims and non-Muslims alike - propogating Keller's very specific (and sometimes mistaken) understandings of Islamic law and belief and telling them that this is the one true understanding of Islam. So it isn't just for that well to do Pakistani kid that you have to feel some concern, it is for every naive Muslim or non-Muslim who logs into their website seeking knowledge of the deen. For every person who picks up "Reliance" or reads his articles looking for insight into Islam.



Nuh Keller is not a true shaykh. Nor is he a mufti or a scholar of Islamic law, even though he, his wife, and his students insinuate otherwise. Nuh, Besa, Hedaya, and others in the tariq have seriously harmed many people - financially, spiritually, emotionally. They have stood by while women were being assaulted in their own homes and blamed the women for the abuse. All of the people who were harmed or are being harmed by them are Muslims. The prophet (saws) said that a true Muslim is someone who other Muslims are safe from the harm of his tongue and hands. This is not true and will probably never be true of Nuh Keller, his wife, and their friend. Even if it was one person whose emails about personal sexual problems or faith struggles was forwarded by them to other people in the tariqa, that would be enough. This is not the hallmark of a shaykh or of scholars of the deen.



That is why this matters, even though yes, in comparison to the general Muslim population, we are small in number. Al Qaeda is also small in number compared to the general Muslims, yet you are quick to assess the harm and damage they have caused, and to repudiate their philosophies and actions. Keller may not be killing people, but he also has caused damage and spiritual death in his murids. That is why it matters.