tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168659062024-03-08T06:57:12.075-06:00Rasa'il Khalil al-Wafa'"Founders of Divine Laws are physicians of the soul and the purpose of them all is recovering the health of souls and protecting them from harm. As physicians of the body prescribe different treatments in different countries because of different diseases in different times; similarly, actions of physicians of the soul, commanding one thing and prohibiting another are identical to actions of physicians of the body."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1165111537784047082006-12-02T19:53:00.000-06:002006-12-02T20:11:14.596-06:00The Gate of Heaven<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/2949/1612/1600/979878/marc%20chagal_jacob"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/2949/1612/320/682266/marc%20chagal_jacob%27s%20ladder.png" border="0" /></a><br />This morning was like the morning of that first poem, the retreat in the guest house, ten years ago. The barn-that is, the garden house, which from my room seemed to me beautiful and mysterious-had become the very mystery in which I was hidden. It was the same hour. Perhaps the years were no more. The tired man was on his tower among the little boxes. There was a quilt for covering plants in a garden. It smelled of rats. Also the chicken houses had been moved. The outward orchard is all down. The wry trees are gone. The earth is sown with new grass.<br /><br />Famous but unknown, tired but powerful, a man without virtue and without prayer, impotent, hungry, at peace, unable to speak, looking at the valley: Who is like unto God! God, my God, here is a traitor who loves You beyond speech! And yet I have no love. I have no moon, I have no valley.<br /><br />I sat by the orchard heaters until I smelled all over of oil and flame. I saw the moon through the flame. Without heart, without brain, the senseless man has prayed for fire and apparently received none. Everywhere is beauty. Where are You, O my God? I was ashamed of singing on the road to the barn, but what else could I have done? Alive and dead I climb the glorious barn. The mud of my feet going up is the mud of my hands going down. I will go down more wretched than I went up because more glorious. This barn cannot be known. It is Mount Lebanon, where Father Charbel Makhlouf saw the sun and moon.<br /><br />I leaned my chin upon the windowsill and prayed to You, my Lover, in the following terms:<br />"When the pie was opened<br />The birds began to sing.<br />Was not this a dainty dish<br />To set before the King?"<br /><br />My God, Who is like You? How can I compare the visits of your children with the silence that dwells on the hills? Yet I have made their hearts suffer by loving them. I have defiled many lives with my impertinence. We have all gone away and have begun over and over to pray, and I believe conversation is a punishment for false mysticism. How can we help ourselves? But I am once again made clean by frost and morning air, here in the presence of the moon.<br /><br />As long as I do not pretend I suffer, as long as I do not trade in false coin, nor claim that I have already disappeared-my brothers' prayers can always mend me. The windows are open. Let the psalms fly in. Prime each morning makes me safe and free. The Day Hours sustain me with their economy, by night I am buried in Christ. At 3 a.m. I wear the old white vestment and say the Mass de Beata. Through the gaps in my own prayer come the psalms of the Night Office that I discovered in the woods yesterday afternoon.<br /><br />There, there is the crooked tree, the moss with my unspoken words, those pines upon that cliff of shale, the valley living with the tunes of diesel trains. Nobody knows the exact place I speak of and why should I tell them? For every man is his own Jacob, wakes up at the foot of his own ladder. And thus he arises in his own unrecognizable house, his gate of heaven.<br /><br />What happens after that? Do you put down "The rest is silence" and close the book and sell it to the public? That would be a lie. For Jacob afterward married. His first wife, the fertile one, was ugly. He served fourteen years. He bred sheep. He fled from Rachel's father. His flocks drank from the well where Jesus later sat and spoke with my elder sister.<br /><br />We too have all married over and over again, and yet we have no husband. But thank God for the hill, the sky, the morning sun, the manna on the ground which every morning renews our lives and makes us forever virgins.<br /><br /><br />Taken from "The Sign of Jonas" by Thomas MertonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1161449658360692572006-10-21T11:53:00.000-05:002007-01-08T20:08:50.766-06:00Morior Invictus<div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/garvey.0.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/garvey.png" border="0" /></a><em>Morior Invictus - </em>"In death, unconquered..." </div><div align="center"><br /></div>I have been away from the wide world of weblogging for an extended summer hiatus. For those of you who might know me and care, Shannon, Lupe and I moved from the south side of Chicago to the south suburbs of Boston in June. I have taken a job as a consultant at a law firm which is working on the 9-11 litigation; although sadly leaving the University of Chicago and some great friends in Bridgeport. Compounded with this transition was the blessed birth of a healthy baby boy on Sept. 4. Jack Daniel is a handsome little guy and seems to have, thankfully, not only got his mom's good looks but her saintly personality.<br />I have had to put my translation on hold, and the frustration of giving it up has prevented me from blogging. Not to mention the fact that so much was happening in our lives, I didn't even know how to begin writing about it. And I clearly have had no time to write about or translate anything else. However, I have recently begun working on another paper for the University of Chicago on the concept of jihad in the sermons of Ali b. Abi Talib. Or more specifically, on the concept of piety in the Amir al-Mu'mineen's sermons on jihad. Being away from Hyde Park, and in the cooperative environment of the law firm in which I work, has made me realize the importance of writing "in a community." I have therefore decided to switch gears, temporarily, from my translation, (which I promised my shaykh I would finish and I will,) and begin publishing a few pages of this paper for the comments, questions and criticism of whomever may care to read and respond. And perhaps more personally important, to have an informal forum and journalistic medium to express my ideas, even if no one is listening.<br />----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><div align="center"><br /><strong>The Concept of Taqwā in ‘Alī Ibn Abī Tālib’s Sermons on Jihād</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"فإنَّ الجِهادَ بابٌ مِن أبوابِ الجَنَّةِ فَتَحَهُ ﷲُ لخاصَّةِ أوليائِهِ وهو لِباسُ التَّقوَى ودِرْعُ ﷲِ الحَصينَة ُ وَجُنَّتُهُ الوَثيقَةُ ."<br /></span>“Jihād is one of the doors of paradise which God opens to chosen ones of His closest friends. It is a robe of piety, the impregnable armor of God and His trustworthy shield."<br /></div><div align="left"><br />Because the four years of ‘Alī Ibn Abī Tālib's caliphate were marred by the first and the most ideologically divisive, civil war in Islam's history, it is not surprising that social and armed conflict are prominent themes in many of the sermons, letters and sayings collected in the Nahj al-Balāgha<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a>- the vast majority of which were composed during this violent period of unrest in the early Ummah. However, ‘Alī's use of the word jihād, when exhorting his followers to enter into the brutish, human business of war (al-harb,) battles (al-malāhim,) and killing (al-qitāl,) is noteworthy. What are we to make of a quote like the famous one from ‘Alī’s twenty-seventh sermon, “On Jihād,” with which this essay began? What role does piety (taqwā) play in sermons that speak of combat? How does it change the tone of these speeches which were delivered before such gruesome battles?</div><div align="left"><br />Of course, it is a well known and well established fact that the Arabic root (j-h-d)’s semantic range of meaning includes not only "going to war," but just as often the "exertion of any pietistic effort" (al-ijtihād) or even "faithfully enduring some trial, tribulation or adversity" (al-majhada.)<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> After a close reading and literary analysis of passages, taken exclusively from ‘Alī’s sermons about going to war, this article will demonstrate that the concept of jihād therein is framed by the Amīr al-Mu’minīn’s even more copious exhortations to a piety (taqwā) which is rooted in the act of fearing God (taqā) and constantly remembering our own death's inevitability. This pious fear of God which makes a soldier unafraid to die is the moral quality that makes him so virtuous; and an example to be followed in the spiritual life of every Muslim. Of course, this thematic framing of jihād in the context of taqwā does not dilute the martial meaning of the word. It cannot be denied that the immediate, historical context of ‘Alī’s sermons on jihād were the very bloody battles of the first civil war. Instead, the use of religious language in ‘Alī’s speeches during the war augments our understanding of his definition of piety – as more than the mere possession of faith, but a committed willingness to take decisive action in that faith's defense. Indeed, the universal lesson of ‘Alī's sermons, appropriately classified as "calls to arms," is that we should all live with the kind of faith for which we are ready to die. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Piety clearly plays a leading role in ‘Alī’s sermons about going to war. And it dramatically changes the way we understand his concept of jihād in at least two ways. The first is literal and the second is allegorical. On the one hand, the Amīr al-Mu‘minīn’s use of religious language and emphasis on piety in his sermons on jihād affect our understanding of his justification and preparation for engaging in armed combat. This literal reading is perhaps one of the earliest examples of an Islamic just war theory. On the other hand, in an allegorical sense, the commander of the faithful’s sermons on jihād can be read as exhortations to all believers, men and women, young and old, to zealously pursue pious lives and daily combat forces of sin and evil which seek the corruption of human souls in the world. Jewish and Christian mystics have often read the military psalms of David in just such an allegorical way.<a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[3]</a> </div><div align="left"><br />This essay will deal with both the literal and the allegorical interpretations of ‘Alī’s sermons on jihād and describe the role piety plays in each. In the literal sense of these sermons and the historical context of the first civil war, I will demonstrate that ‘Alī’s emphasis on piety and moral virtue in his justification and preparation for war is one of the earliest examples of an Islamic just war theory (after the sayings and example of the prophet Muḥammad, of course.) In describing this literal interpretation of jihād, I will give examples of ‘Alī’s moral justification, physical preparations, and rules for engagement in armed conflict. In the allegorical sense of these same sermons, I will demonstrate that ‘Alī’s allusive use of religious and pietistic language in his exhortations to jihād opens the sermons up to another level of interpretation, one which calls all people to holiness by spiritually combating sin and evil on the battlefield of their own souls. In describing this allegorical interpretation of jihād, I will give examples of ‘Alī’s extensive use of metaphors (al-isti‘ārāt) (like the beautiful and oft-quoted, “Jihād is one of the doors of paradise, a robe of piety, the impregnable armor of God and His trustworthy shield”) which expand the semantic range of the orations and encourage interpretations that go beyond their immediate, literal meaning. </div><div align="left"><br />It is difficult to separate these two levels of meaning in ‘Alī’s sermons, because his eloquent use of figurative language is so common in them all. For this reason, I will divide my analysis of ʿAlī's sermons on jihād into three general themes: 1) on going to war and its justification; 2) on preparing and training for war; 3) and exhortations to jihād. And in exploring the role of piety in each of these three subjects, there will be occasion to describe both literal and allegorical interpretations of each sermon.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="center"><strong>On Going to War and Its Justification:</strong></div><div align="left"><br />Labīb Bayḍūn’s topical concordance of the Nahj al-Balāgha, published in Damascus in 1978, is an extremely helpful resource for students of ‘Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib's sayings on a given subject. In selecting passages for this essay, I have relied heavily on the outline and verses which Bayḍūn provides in the eighteenth chapter, so candidly entitled: “On war (al-ḥarb,) battles (al-malāḥim,) and killing (al-qitāl.)” It is interesting that Bayḍūn does not include jihād in this chapter title even though the word appears frequently in many of the quotations which he cites therein. It is indicative of an essential difference between ʿAlī's use of the words war, battles and killing on the one hand, and jihād on the other. The former group of near synonyms refers to the savage, unfortunate behavior of humanity in its fallen state. But the word jihād is so semantically connected to a pious fear of the Lord (taqwa) that it elevates the word's meaning in both the literal and allegorical ways already described. In the literal sense, ʿAlī's calls for jihād differ from other battle cries because they are appeals for a just war waged in a virtuous manner. The religious weight of the word jihād in this tragic context reminds Muslims that even in the ruthless human business of war, there is an example of justice and virtue to be imitated. In the allegorical sense, this same religious weight of the word jihād appeals to the ancient scriptural meaning of a holy war fought on a spiritual battlefield where both angels and demons fight for and against human souls. </div><div align="left"><br />In his introduction to chapter eighteen, Bayḍūn says: "‘Alī, who was never defeated in battle, would not begin to fight until he called his adversaries to the truth (yada‘ū ilā- l- ḥaqq) and showed them proof by reminding them of God's signs. If they rejected (him) after this, (still) he was slow to go to war - wanting to extinguish dissension and avoid bloodshed, seeking tranquility, harmony and peace." <a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[4]</a> This prefatory remark reveals another important dimension of the word jihād as it is used in ʿAlī's sermons. Before a commander can justify going to war, he must sincerely converse with his enemies, honestly calling them to witness the validity and moral imperative of his message. From the sermons of the ‘Amīr al-Muʿminīn, we can distill three essential conditions which must be met before justly engaging in any war. They are the eloquent expression (balāgha), impassioned exhortation (da‘wa) and faithful witness (shahāda) of the truth. These three activities are not only pre-conditions of a just war. They are also the basic justification and ultimate goal of any war which is piously pursued.<br /><br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> ‘Alī b. Abī Tālib (d.40/661), Nahj al-Balāgha, compiled by Sharīf al-Radī (d.406/1015),<br />edited by Husayn al-A‘lamī (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-A‘lamī li-l-Matbu‘āt, 2003).<br /><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> See Appendix I for a comprehensive study of the root (j-h-d) and its semantic range of meaning in ‘Alī's sermons collected in the Nahj al-Balāgha. </div><div align="left"><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[3]</a> Examples are too numerous to provide a detailed list at this time. Indeed, a whole book could be devoted to the subject in either one of the two traditions. However, St. Anthony of Egypt, St. John of the Cross and Thomas Merton are at least three examples of ancient, medieval and modern Christian mystics who would metaphorically read the psalms in such a way.</div><div align="left"><a title="" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=16865906&postID=116144965836069257#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[4]</a> Labīb Wajīh Bayḍūn, Taṣnīf Nahj al-Balāgha, (Damascus: Maktabah Usāma Karm, 1978), p. 231. </div><div align="left"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1147193259916423732006-05-09T11:47:00.000-05:002006-06-11T20:17:36.986-05:00The Desert's Seductive Charm: Part III<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>"فِتنَة ُ الصَحراءِ "<br /><em>The Desert's Seductive Charm</em><br /></strong>A Novella by Aḥmad Abū Khanayjar</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Translated from Arabic by Khalil al-Wafa')</span></div><div align="left"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>(٣)</strong><br /><em>I don't know where this gentleman gets all this prattle!? He is recollecting ancient beliefs which were lively in the regions of the desert and the tribe in a day when dominion was held by ignorance and superstition. But today religion and science have completely vanquished ideas such as these; by which primitive minds confronted the universe in order to live in agreement with what was found to explain the natural phenomena which their comprehension were unable (to grasp) - like the reflection of the moon's image in water.</em><br /><em>I think I know the motivation for this detail which he wants to add to his narrative. But this logic will drag him into numerous inconsistencies either with the original tale or with the events as they took place. Also, things being what they are, he has left out some (details,) like the moon's riding a camel on his descent to the desert.</em><br /><em>As for the inconsistencies which I have in mind, it is the creation of two identical young men. This isn't possible. And also their being puritanically chaste, despite the fact that one of them – I will not be able to clearly say his name without reliving the struggle and causing the rivers of blood to flow again – was caught naked inside a woman's tent, who continues to swear to his virility. And had it not been the will of God for the wise men to intervene, things would have gone in a very different direction. And he, on account of this, reduced the number of heads of cattle from their herds and secretly transferred them to the herds of the woman, since her husband was away (at the time.) And this is at least one of the reasons which compelled them to leave for the market – to fetch a new male camel which could introduce new blood into their herds; since the family of the woman made it a condition that (they would) take every male. As for the old camel herd, I will not dwell on him, since he is like the waiter in the cafe. But I will reveal to you a secret. The two young girls who were mentioned at the well during the moment of the eclipse, one of them was no other than "Safiyya," their cousin.</em><br /><em>But what is aggravating is that this council which he is holding by unfurling a tablecloth, sitting around and extensively lingering there - all of this is intended to create a distance from the events. But this will be over my dead body</em>. </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>7</strong>-<br />Now...<br />Allow me to move my feet to let the blood flow through them as I loose what binds them as a result of sitting in the previous council too long; so that I have the strength to complete all that I promised you in the way of "texture," and so that you are able to choose your own garment according to your own measurements, and people, everyone, can see it. I am the opposite of the emperor's tailor. I have not sought the refuge of a dark, remote room in which to place the loom. Instead, I have assembled the loom in broad daylight, facing the moon, in the open air, at the beginning, (from whence) the road forks and the side streets branch out like those which confronted Oedipus when he was returning home. But this is another story.<br />I'm talking to you!<br />My promise is still standing. I will finish the rest of the councils for you at the earliest opportunity. But now, let's go back to the two young men and their third, the husky camel, being led by his bridle calmly and obediently, passed from hand to hand. Or else they left the reins to him, as it walked between the two of them like a child between his two parents. (The camel) catching snippets of the conversation which was going on between them, displaying – from one moment to another – it's desire to participate (in the conversation,) by drawing their attention to himself by either getting a little ahead of them or falling behind to graze on some vegetation at the side of the road. And in each of these situations, one of the two young men would hurry to grab the bridle and pull the camel behind him.<br />As you can see....<br />The trip is calm, going along exactly according to plan and design. This is the point at which the roads begin to diverge, splitting into three paths:<br />The first goes straight in the direction of the tribal camps.<br />The second goes into the grazing fields, bypassing the tribes from behind. Indeed, it might take the un-experienced traveler into the depths of the desert.<br />The third goes straight into the vast wilderness, where there is (only) certain death and perdition. This third road passes between two huge boulders, to the right of which the second road passes and to the left of the two boulders, passes the desired track of the tribes and the camel race, whose appointed time was approaching.<br />The two of them smiled and their souls were happy when they saw the road diverging. So they let go of the rein of the camel, who no sooner felt the slackening of the bridle from them, then it started running towards the two boulders and knelt down between them. Bewilderment traced its lines in the eyes of the two young men when the camel seemed to them to be kneeling, burdened by the weight of his heavy load - the two boulders. His head facing the road of the vast wilderness. The camel had closed its eyes and started moving its mouth as it growled, a thin foam collecting around its nose and mouth. The two of them walked ahead in his direction fearfully. Each of them sat down on a boulder as night began to drop its curtain.</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>8</strong>-<br />The origin of the story of the two boulders is that a man had lost his way in the desert on his camel, finding himself in so much trouble that he looked out over (tracts of his own) annihilation. So he put a pebble under his tongue, trying to squeeze water from it in order to combat the thirst and dryness of his mouth. While he was sleeping near his camel, he awoke to a strong uproar breaking out around him, and the gurgling like the gurgling of water flowing among rocks. He thought to himself, 'I must be dreaming, or else these are the first throws of death, appearing as a craving for water. But the camel pressed him close to his side, so he sat up.<br />It seemed as if a cyclone had uprooted (everything) after it struck the area around him, while the weather was returning to its tranquil state. He stood up and saw it, the Sesban oasis, rising up in the middle of the desert. He stood up awe-struck, for despite all the stories which he had heard, he had never believed in the existence of a hidden oasis in the desert. He had always thought it was one of the fantasies and illusions of travelers along similar desert paths, by which they pass the time and make a long journey feel short. But now here it is, in front of him, just as the stories described.<br />It is an oasis whose dimensions are un-apprehensible to the eye from a distance. A wall of Sesban bushes, in all their verdant splendor, encircles it. From thence is derived its name. The uproar was coming from inside it. He went forward cautiously, followed by his camel. When the sound of water struck both their ears, the man stopped, wondering: Is water the bait, leading them to the trap of entering the oasis from which no one exits or returns?<br />The man noticed from his position that the weather was beginning to get colder and the moon was becoming more radiant. His eyes glimpsed something like watermelon vines extending their ends outside the wall of thick Sesban. He approached it to be sure of what he saw. He reached his hand out to the leaves of the plant to see if they were alive or if he was suffering the agonies of an incipient death as it now was tricking and deceiving him. But his hand collided with a fruit, pushing the leaves aside with his hand. The size of the fruit startled him.<br />He didn't think any more. He grabbed his camel and made him kneel between two fruits. No sooner did he pass the end of the net underneath them, then he cut them with his knife from the plant and he bound the ropes of the net to the saddle. He was moving eagerly and with fervently, afraid of being exposed whereupon the people of the oasis would capture him and drag him inside where his certain perdition lurks. He struck the camel cruelly on its backside, so the camel rose, struggling to its feet, complaining of its poor treatment which he had never received from his master before. With one leap, the man mounted the camel, spurring him on its side. It was as if the camel sensed his danger, so it ran far away from the oasis.<br />The stories say: "The oasis faces the tribe's camps." So the only thing the man had to do was turn his back on the oasis and travel until he found himself among his own people.<br />The camel started out quickly. Then, gradually, his pace started to slacken until he stopped completely where some say that the fruit started to get heavy. The sun was on the verge of rising when the camel knelt down. The man thought: (I) must have to leave the watermelons here – in the desert – and go with the camel, to save myself first and then return with the camel another time to transport the one proof of the existence of the city of Sesban.<br />He tried to free it from the net, but he couldn't. So he was forced to untie it from the saddle and leave it. On his way, he laid markers to lead him when he returned.<br />But when he returned with a band of his brothers and cousins, the two watermelons had turned into two boulders around which hung ropes of the net.<br /></span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><em>To Be Continued . . . </em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1146851027070801082006-05-05T12:43:00.000-05:002006-06-11T20:17:01.533-05:00The Desert's Seductive Charm: Part II<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /></span><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>"فِتنَة ُ الصَحراءِ "<br /><em>The Desert's Seductive Charm</em><br /></strong>A Novella by Aḥmad Abū Khanayjar</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Translated from Arabic by Khalil al-Wafa')</span></div><div align="left"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>(٢)</strong><br /><em>Even though I agree with him about this beginning, as one of the many beginnings with which it is possible to start; especially since it is more distinctive than other, more feeble beginnings. For there are (many) possibilities for the beginning, like: "On the day of the eclipse...or the day of the race....or on the day of infamy....or...." But he is free, so let him begin how he wants. However, the gentleman then must permit me to record some imperfections afflicting this beginning which almost lends itself to attracting the eye of the reader and the ear of the hearer:</em><br /><em>1) Why has he still not named his two protagonists at this point (in the story,) even though the story is realistic and the characters are well-known to everyone who lives in these parts? Or at least, he's heard their story of crossing the desert roads; (the same roads) which spread their story and publicized it among the caravans traveling between the tribes and their markets.</em><br /><em>And what is he getting at? Be on guard my dear friend, the reader! The first harbinger of magic is suggestion and the commingling of events which we are unable to separate. But I will reveal their names to you to spite him: Abel and Cain.</em><br /><em>2) He is stuck on the waiter in the cafe without a clear goal. What is his role? What does this gentleman want exactly? 'Tension,' as the saying goes? If the role of the waiter is to increase the tension of the events and also serve to link them, then is this plausible?</em><br /><em>3) Finally, he should have indicated what Cain purchased as the two were leaving the market where he bought a dagger. Why is he concealing this information?</em> </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>6</strong>-<br />The road to the tribe's camps is long, taking a full seven days and seven nights. So I have to let them walk, between them that camel which seized their vision and their hearts. And it was walking leisurely, like a bride ambling towards her groom.<br />The tale has been tranquil up to this point and the journey is long. On account of this, I will let them cross the road of desire slowly. And I will pause briefly to reveal what is ambiguous to you in the (yarn) I have been weaving for a short time. In front of me are seven nights, with seven councils. In them, I will narrate for you everything that will open the locks on events. But, in a measure. . . .<br /><br /><strong><u>The First Council :</u></strong><br />Know then! They are paternal and maternal cousins at the same time. They were born on the same night after seven years of torturous waiting. After six, barren years had passed in the marriages of the two brothers to the two sisters, throughout which they had tried everything and every medicine, hopelessness began to creep inside them. But the female soothsayer seemed to be a solution and final hope.<br />They went to her. She said after she threw her seashells on the sand between them: "Seven years, and seven years, and the full moon since the moment of its appearance at the pool of water, each of the two sisters would lie sleeping, naked, spreading her legs to the rays of the moon, following it wherever it goes. At the same time, the two naked brothers are in the water the whole time and at the moment of the moon's setting, two men come out of the water, and each one would have sex with his wife. Then, wrapping her in his gown, he returns with her to his tent, carefully (preventing) the air from touching her."<br />After arguing and quarreling, protesting and hysteria, everyone accepted. The longing for a son and the need for one who would bear the name before they disappeared into the desert sands was stronger than any other warning. So they went to the pool of water and carried out the instructions of the soothsayer exactly.<br />Nine months later, two children were born. It was as if they were twins, impossible to tell them apart. And to ward off the evil eye, they gave each of them the name: Hasan. </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong><u>The Second Council :</u></strong><br />They grew in exact proportion to one another, becoming two strong, young men. Life pulsed powerfully in their veins. They were never separated from one another, even sleeping, a night here and a night there. But what most worried people was their lack of interest in participating in the camel race which the tribe annually undertook four nights after celebrating ʿAshūrāʼ.<br />The tribe believes that the moon on an ancient night resembled the moon on this night – the night of the full moon. (Then, the moon) descended from on high when he saw a nymph from among the earth's daughters, treading lightly near the pool of water. He descended without her sensing him as he walked on the desert sands towards her. She had already taken off her robe, wanting to bathe, when she sensed him. So she dove quickly into the pool to hide her nakedness.<br />The moon stood confused when he couldn't find her. But the sand betrayed her secret to him, so he descended behind her and caused her to conceive by his rays. Then she came out (of the water) and gave birth to the original grandfather and grandmother of the tribes. But the daughters of the jinn noticed the moon's repeated descent to the pool, so they tried to kidnap and trap him, to keep him from the pool. So he ascended back into the sky and never repeated the descent. For he keeps trying to free himself from the snares of the jinn's daughters, who for their part keep trying to capture him again.<br />In imitation of this day, the tribe holds a camel race. And in the evening, the celebrations begin with the victor, who has the right to choose any bride he wants. Even if she is engaged to her cousin, still she becomes his right. For this is the custom.<br />These two were averse to participate, but what happened on the day of the eclipse... excuse me.... If you want to know what happened, wait for me in the next council.</span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong><u>The Third Council :</u></strong><br />When years passed without the two seeming to have a desire to participate in the race, and also showing no interest in marriage, as was customary, the unease which began insignificant and weak started to grow, until it became a nightmare hanging over the hearts of fathers and mothers.<br />Thus, despite their nature which was superior to their peers in the field of work and (despite) the number of heads (of cattle) which they owned: sheep, goats and camels; still, their shunning of the time-honored custom made them the subject of innuendos, conversation and rumors. All of this compelled the mother/aunt to ask them on that particular night about the reason for their aversion to women?<br />They understood from the beginning what the mother/aunt was getting at with her choice of the word, "women," instead of the word, "marriage." And when it seemed to them by the tone of (her) voice that there was a strong accusation being leveled against their manhood, or doubts abounded concerning them, one of them said: "We never found a women like you." The mother/aunt laughed, but ignored (his) circumvention (of the question.) Determined to know the answer, she said unequivocally: "Women all seem the same in bed."<br />In this way, the intimations increased in maliciousness and prominence. So one of them responded harshly, "But we never found someone who compelled us to leave one another, taking us to bed!"<br />The mother/aunt was reassured a little, even though she was intent on getting the young women's confirmation by enticing them to her tent. Perhaps . . . maybe . . . what she wanted was verification from the other direction.<br />So in the night on which the moon was eclipsed, the young women went out with tambourines and cymbals, singing and dancing to help the moon escape from the snares of the jinn's daughters who veiled him. And they set out in the direction of the well, laughing with the naiveté of girls and the frivolity of their intellects.<br />Among the maidens were two girls, causing all eyes to become fixed on them and a heavy silence to descend among the young men. This silence came commensurately to the two of them, causing them to turn towards one another and withdraw at a distance. Then they ran in the direction of the shepherd's fields, where the old, camel herd was pasturing their flock. They told him briefly about their desire to participate in the camel race and win it. The man laughed at length, taking his time to know (fully) what had happened. Then he counseled them. From there, the two set out in the direction of the distant market. </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span></div><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><em>To Be Continued . . . </em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1146588811241545912006-05-02T11:53:00.000-05:002006-06-11T20:16:22.376-05:00The Desert's Seductive Charm: Part I<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/Cain%20and%20Abel.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>"فِتنَة ُ الصَحراءِ "<br /><em>The Desert's Seductive Charm</em><br /></strong>A Novella by Aḥmad Abū Khanayjar</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Translated from Arabic by Khalil al-Wafa')</span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-1-<br />Watch!<br />I will take for you: a thread from the sun, a thread from the air, a thread from the earth, and a thread from the water and fasten them to the tip of my spindle, spinning it thoroughly, until (the four) become a single thread, strong and long, whose beginning is indistinguishable from its end. Then, on my loom I will lay it to weave a unique fabric.<br />Pay attention!<br />Stitching now means "plot." So arouse your senses, examine the "texture" of the garment closely, see the brilliance of its colors! I will encourage you to try it on and have it fitted to your size. Pass your fingers over it, feel the surface and its soft, velvet-like quality.<br />Listen!<br />You are the only one that the garment will fit, relative to its size. Its length and its width are equivalent to your height and girth. So the garment resembles Cinderella's glass slipper. For what I'm making now is not like magic. Rather, it is magic by its very nature.<br />Now....<br />Don't consider me a liar or a cheat like the emperor's tailor, who claimed to weave a garment which only the most intelligent could see. But then a child screamed: "The emperor is naked!" For my garment, all will be able to see and all will be able to touch. What's more, I will promote this manner of dress as suitable for everyone; each according to his or her (own) measurements, and also ....<br />But....<br />Let's now begin our story. All you need to do is be patient and kind with me.<br /><br /><strong>(١)</strong><br /><em>Who does this gentleman think he is? About what threads and garments is he speaking? He must want to trap us in the throws of his alleged "clothes." The story he's telling is only a stratagem. (caveat emptor) I'll be on my guard from the beginning, (when) his game was claiming that it was magic.</em><br /><em>But, this gentleman must know that magic only comes about through gullibility, and desiring that, he is trying to mislead (us) by it, with his violation of reality and its rules. All of this in order to make us see it his way and at that very moment, he will control us completely. Many things around us are eclipsed by obscurity, controlling them. So fear and intimidation are talking to us. For this reason, that's why he came; knowledgeable of our own limited experience, pretending that he has the power to reveal what is veiled in mystery in a strange land. And this is just the beginning, oh noble reader!</em><br /><em>Guard yourself against his actions. They are actions closest to the jugular. Like stealing kohl from the eye, or turning a rope into a snake, or making a man fly in the air, or walk on water, or cutting a young girl in half with a saw . . . and other such actions. Avoid them!</em><br /><em>Before he begins his story, let me make a correction: I read in one of the books, I don't remember where or when, neither the name of the book nor its author – that the naked emperor in that particular story represents a naked truth. So let him tell me, this noble magician, where and when was the truth naked?</em><br /><em>Pardon me . . . Have I fallen under the control of his magic? </em></span></div><em></em><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>2</strong>-<br />At dawn, the two of them dismounted in the area of the market just as the old shepherd had commissioned them. They walked around a little then stopped at a cafe to drink green tea, but their eyes were fixed on the camel merchant's yard.<br />Anxiety struck their sides, blowing violently in their beings. Sitting down didn't settle them, prompting the waiter in the joint to ask them, as he offered them the tea of their choice, "What is the reason for your visit?" Indeed, it seemed to him by their dress and their manner of speaking, they must be foreigners. One of them smiled and the other replied: "We were nearby here when we heard the clamor of the market place rising, and we wanted some tea."<br />The waiter smiled and went away. But his features betrayed his suspicion, and he continued watching them cautiously throughout the period of their sitting there. He said to himself: "You can't believe twins."<br />The two of them definitely felt the glances of the waiter spying on them. So they stood up after some time and they circled the market without stopping in front of anything in particular until they were no longer given the feeling that someone was spying on them, if indeed someone should be. And when they were walking around only leisurely, the two of them were on guard at the same time of anyone who came in contact with them. (Fearing) his hand might reach the coin purse, while they were inattentive, stealing it without their knowing.<br />The tour (of the market) took a long time. They passed the camel market during it and they returned cheerfully to the joint where the waiter received them with the same suspicious smile. They asked him for green tea and they sat waiting for it calmly.<br />They didn't utter a single word throughout the period of their sitting there, seeming to be only concerned with the taste of the green tea, and the heat in the air. And at the same time, they smiled at everyone who entered the cafe. But on account of the great similarity between them and their being strangers, the eyes of those entering the cafe were drawn towards them. Still they smiled to ward of the persistent glances and their astonished looks.<br />Despite all of this, the waiter didn't fail to notice that their ears were listening to the conversations of passing customers about selling and buying, about the market and its strength. He said to himself: 'I bet they want something, but what is it?' </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>3</strong>-<br />When the market started to disperse, the two of them got up, bought a water skin and two sacks of food which they left in the protection of the waiter at the cafe. Then they went directly to the camel market. The directions of the old man were clearly phrased: "Be present in the market early to become acquainted with its condition, without expressing their intention to buy, because the brokers in the market would come to know their desires, as well as the amount of cash in their possession. So (the brokers) would continue to lay in waiting, trying to sell to them at the highest price. And they, the strangers, would not be able to counter the tricks of the brokers and their little games."<br />The camel herd broke the camel's chains when the two of them entered. Their eyes passed around the yard, quickly examining all the camels there in order to choose the requested animal. Their vast number and various sizes confused their ability (to choose.) They turned towards each other, were they in a hurry to begin?<br />Before the one of them who was again tying his headscarf with a trembling hand answered, he caught out of the corner of his eye one of the brokers coming towards them. He grabbed the forearm of his companion to alert him. So his friend became aware (of what was going on) and the two of them decided to move quickly before the broker got to them; for they didn't know how they would escape him. No sooner did one of them move his foot, than a camel rushed up behind them, standing between them as if it was suddenly frozen. The head of the camel was facing the setting sun and his short bridle was dangling from his muzzle. As a result of the one camel's outburst, all the other camels were startled and the two of them separated instinctively out of fear that the camels would trample them in the commotion of the one camel's recalcitrance. But that one (camel) stood between them and they saw the animal's shadow cast behind it. It seemed like that of a legendary, colossal beast. The two calmly approached the camel which stood waiting for them and they grasped its bridle. </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>4</strong>-<br />They didn't debate the price set by the camel herd, who came running after his camel in pursuit of it. The directions said: "Get to know the camel herd and buy from him." The brokers tried to interfere, but the two of them with great firmness kept them at a distance from bidding and profit. They paid the camel herd the price and they led their camel towards the cafe. </span></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">• • •<br />-<strong>5</strong>-<br />The waiter, who had been watching them all day, continued guarding their possessions at the end of the day, helping them load the goods and the gifts which they had bought onto the back of the camel. He said: "Excellent! An excellent camel!"<br />He went up with them until they left the market. One of them took out some cash and gave it to him. The waiter smiled. They said: "A good boy." They passed in front of him, but he called out to them, saying: "Be on guard! Don't let the current tranquility of the beast fool you." He laughed as he returned to the cafe and the two of them set out in the direction of the tribe's camps. </span></div><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><em>To Be Continued . . . </em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1145849145050379422006-04-23T22:20:00.000-05:002006-04-23T22:36:43.676-05:00Happiness<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/egy-oldcity1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/egy-oldcity1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />"Happiness" - Naguib Mahfouz<br />(from <em>Echoes of an Autobiography</em>)<br /><br /><br />I returned to the old street after a long absence to attend a funeral.<br />No trace worth mentioning remained of its golden form.<br />On its two sides, towering buildings had replaced the villas, and it was crammed full of cars, dust, and turbulent waves of human beings.<br />With a feeling of great pride, I remembered its radiant appearance and the aroma of jasmine.<br />I remembered the beautiful girl who appeared at the window, casting her radiance on the passersby.<br />Who knows where lies her happy tomb in the city of the departed? There come to me now the words of the wise friend: "The first love is but a training that benefits the lucky ones who attain the love of God."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1145722634926407342006-04-22T11:07:00.000-05:002006-05-09T12:05:40.773-05:00The Night Journey and Mi'raj of the Prophet<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/Miraj2.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/Miraj2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Q.17:1: <em>"Praise be to Allah Who has taken His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram, Mecca) to the Farthest Mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqsa', Jerusalem)."</em> Q.33:56:<em> "Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Nabee (Prophet). You who believe; send blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation."</em><br /><br />Q.53: 1-18: <em>"By the star when it sets, Your companion does not err, nor is he deceived:Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is nothing except an inspiration that is inspired, which one of mighty powers has taught him, one vigorous; and he grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew near and came down till he was at a distance of two bow lengths or even nearer, And He revealed to His slave that which He revealed. The heart did not lie in seeing what it saw. Will you then dispute with him concerning what he sees? And truely he saw him yet another time by the furthest-tree of the furthest boundary, near which is the Garden of Abode. When that which shrouds did enshroud the furthest-tree, The eye did not turn aside nor yet was it overbold. Truely he saw one of the greater revelations of his Rabb (Lord)."</em><br /><br />________________________________________<br /><br />Allah ordered Jibraeel to go down with seventy thousand angels to Muhammad (pbuh), and stand by his door. "Accompany him to My presence. And you, Mikaeel, take the hidden knowledge and go down with seventy thousand angels and stand by the door of his bedroom. You, Israfeel, and you Azraeel, do as Jibraeel and Mikaeel have been ordered." Then He said to Jibraeel: "Increase the light of the moon with the light of the sun, and increase the light of the stars with the light of the moon." Jibraeel asked: "Allah, has the Day of resurrection dawned?" Allah said: "No, but tonight We are calling to Our presence Muhammad (pbuh), the last Messenger who came after Isa (Jesus) to reveal to him a secret that pertains to Us." Jibraeel said: "Allah, what is that secret?" Allah said: "Jibraeel! The secret of kings cannot be given to the servants. Go with My order and don't ask."<br />And Jibraeel began his descent carrying with him the heavenly message. All the angels accompanied him as Allah had ordered, until they reached the door of Muhammad (pbuh). When they arrived, they said: "Qum ya sayyidi: Arise, my Master, and prepare yourself! Ride on the back of the buraq, the heavenly creature that will carry you on your journey to the Rabb (Lord) of power through the land of the angels!"<br /><br /><a name="THE_BURAQ_(HEAVENLY_BEAST)">THE BURAQ (HEAVENLY BEAST)</a><br /><br />When Allah ordered Jibraeel to carry with him the buraq for Muhammad (pbuh) to ride, he went to the paradise of buraqs and there he found forty million buraqs. Every buraq had a crown on its forehead inscribed with the words: "There is no god only Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Under it was written: "Believe in Me, in My angels, in My books, and in My Rasools (prophets)." Jibraeel saw among them a buraq who secluded himself and who sat alone crying. Jibraeel came to him and asked him why he was in such a state. The buraq answered: "I heard the name of Muhammad (pbuh) forty thousand years ago, and my yearning for him has prevented me from eating and drinking." Jibraeel chose that buraq and he took him.<br />The buraq had the body of a horse but the face of a human being, with big black eyes and soft ears. His colour was that of a peacock whose plumage was set with red rubies and corals, on which sat a white head of musk on a neck of amber. His ears and shoulders were of pure white pearls attached with golden chains, each chain decorated with glittering jewels. His saddle was made of silk lined with silver and gold threads. His back was covered with green emerald and his halter was pure peridot.<br />The speed of the buraq is according to his sight. His legs reach wherever his eyes can see. Jibraeel said: "Rasool Allah, this night is your night, and your turn has come to shine in the sky of creation. You are the sun of ancient and recent knowledge, you are the moonlight of the beauties of the worlds, the happiness of creation and the adornment of the lands of human beings and angels. You are the cup of love from the river of milk and honey. The river of Kawser in paradise overflows in anticipation of seeing you. You, the joy of all creation, the pride of paradise, the tables are ready and the palaces of heaven are waiting for your coming!"<br />"Jibraeel," said Muhammad (pbuh), "did you come with a message of mercy or wrath?""I came with a message from your Rabb (Lord) to give you a secret.""What does the Rabb (Lord) of Generosity want to do with me?""He wants to shower you with His mercy and all human beings that accept you.""Give me a moment to prepare myself.""I brought you water of paradise and a turban with a message inscribed: 'Muhammad the servant of Allah; Muhammad the prophet of Allah; Muhammad the beloved of Allah; Muhammad the friend of Allah.'""Jibraeel, tell me more about that turban.""Allah created a turban from his light and he entrusted it to Ridhwan, the angel-custodian of paradise, and the praising of Ridhwan's host of angels belonged to the owner of that turban before heaven and earth were created. Tonight, when the order came for your visit, Ridhwan took the turban from paradise, and all forty thousand angels said with him: 'Our Rabb (Lord), you have ordered us from time immemorial to praise the owner of that turban. Honour us tonight with his sight and permit us to walk before him.' And Allah granted them what they asked. Then Allah ordered me, Jibraeel, to hand Mikaeel the precious jar of the pure water of Salsabil, and Mikaeel to give to Azraeel, and Azraeel to give it to Israfeel, then Israfeel to Ridhwan, then Ridhwan sent that water another time to the highest paradise: Jannat al-Firdaws, where all the beautiful maiden-angels washed their faces with that water and shone even more brightly. Then they sent back that water to me, and I am giving it to you."<br />And Muhammad (pbuh) showered with the water from paradise. As soon as it touched his noble body he became covered with a garment of subtle angelic light, and Jibraeel gave him the buraq to ride. But the buraq stopped and asked Jibraeel: "Is that Muhammad (pbuh) who is invited to our Rabb (Lord)?" Jibraeel said: "Yes." The buraq asked: "Is he the owner of the blessed pond in paradise?" Jibraeel said: "Yes." The buraq said: "Is he the leader of the people of paradise?" Jibraeel said: "Yes." The buraq said: "Is he the intercessor on Judgment-Day?" Jibraeel said: "Yes." At that time the buraq began to melt like ice and snow melt in the light of the sun. He knelt down and said to Muhammad (pbuh): "Pride of creation, ride on me; but I have one request to ask of you: Do not forget me on the day of intercession."<br /><br /><a name="THE_JOURNEY_TO_THE_FAR-DISTANT_MOSQUE">THE JOURNEY TO THE FAR-DISTANT (al-Aqsa') MOSQUE</a><br /><br />When Muhammad (pbuh) began to ride he was crying. Jibraeel asked him: "Rasool Allah, why are you crying? " He said: "I remembered human beings. Are they going to ride on Judgement Day as I am riding now on the buraq, and go to their heavenly palaces in paradise?" Jibraeel said: "Yes, truely, we are going to resurrect the pious ones in delegations of riders: On the Day when We shall gather the righteous unto the Beneficent, a goodly company (19:85)."<br />At that Muhammad (pbuh) felt happy, and he rode forward on the buraq. Jibraeel took hold of the reins while Mikaeel held the saddle, and Israfeel the saddle-cloth. The buraq moved in space until in the blink of an eye they reached the place appointed for their first stop in the middle of the desert. Jibraeel said: "Muhammad, go down and pray to Allah in this place." Muhammad (pbuh) said: "What is this place?" Jibraeel said: "This is the place where you are going to emigrate, and it is going to be your second city." That was the town of Yathrib not far from Mecca, and its name was going to be Madina.<br />In the blink of an eye they again passed through space until they stopped a second time, and Jibraeel told Muhammad (pbuh) to come down and pray."Which place is this, Jibraeel?" asked Muhammad (pbuh)."This is Sinai, where Musa (Moses) used to speak with Allah."Then the buraq moved in space another time until he reached a third place where Jibraeel ordered him to pray."And now, where are we, Jibraeel?""You are in Bethlehem, where Isa (Jesus) was born and from where he spread the message of the King of heavens and of the earth."<br />As Muhammad (pbuh) walked with delight on the soil where Isa (Jesus) was born, he felt someone moving near his right shoulder who said: "Muhammad! Wait, I want to ask you a question." But Muhammad (pbuh) did not respond. Then another call came from behind his left shoulder, but again he did not answer it. Finally, an unimaginably beautiful mountain covered with the wealth and beauty of this world appeared in front of him and spoke to him with a human voice, but for the third time Muhammad (pbuh) did not respond. Then he asked Jibraeel about the three voices. Jibraeel said: "If you had listened to the first voice all your nation would have been corrupted because it is the voice of evil; and had you listened to the second one, all your nation would have been tyrants because it is the voice of Satan. And if you had stopped to hear the decorated mountain all your nation would have preferred this world to the eternal world."<br />Muhammad (pbuh) continued on his way and saw two beautiful angelic beings, one masculine and one feminine. They wore a beautiful dress and the fragrance of heaven. They kissed him between his eyes and left. He asked Jibraeel who were these two. He said: "These are the believers of your nation. They are going to live in happiness and die in happiness and they are going to enter paradise." Then another angel appeared to him and offered him three cups to drink: one of water, one of milk, and one of wine. He took the cup of milk and drank, and Jibraeel said: "You have chosen the cup of fitra: innocence." Then a maiden-angel appeared and offered Muhammad (pbuh) three suits of cloth, one green, one white, and one black. He took the first two. Jibraeel said: "White is the colour of believers and green is the colour of paradise. All of your followers are going to be believers in this world and all are going to enter paradise in the next."<br />Then, as Muhammad (pbuh) was walking on the place where Isa (Jesus) taught, he entered the Temple of Sulaiman (Solomon) in Jerusalem. He found the temple full of angels waiting for him. Every angel in the temple represented a group of angels in paradise. Then he saw all the Prophets (alaihi salaam) standing in rows. He asked Jibraeel who all these were. Jibraeel said: "These are your brothers from among the prophets, and these angels are the leaders of all the angels of paradise." Then Jibraeel made the call to prayer, after which he said: "Muhammad, most honorable of beings in the sight of Allah, proceed to prayer." And Muhammad (pbuh) came forward and led the prescribed prayer, and all the prophets (alaihi salaam) and the angels followed him.<br /><br />Adam spoke saying: - "Praise be to Allah who created me with His hands and ordered the angels to prostrate for me and brought out all the prophets from among my descendants!"<br />Then Nuh (Noah) said: - "Praise be to Allah who accepted my prayer and saved me and my people from drowning with my ship with the help of the angels, and honoured me!"<br />Then Ibraheem (Abraham) said: - "Praise be to Allah who took me as His friend and gave me a huge kingdom, and gave me prophets for descendants, and saved me from the fire of Namrood, and made it cool and safe for me!"<br />And Musa (Moses) said: - "Praise be to Allah who spoke to me without an intermediary and chose me for His message, and made me victorious over Pharaoh with the help of his angels, and gave me the Torah which Jibraeel taught me how to write, and adorned me with His love."<br />And Dawood (David) said:- "Praise be to Allah who revealed the Psalms to me, and softened the iron between my hands and all other elements, and chose me for His Message!"<br />And Sulaiman (Solomon) said:- "Praise be to Allah who has made subject to me the winds, the jinn, and human beings; who taught me the language of birds; who gave me a kingdom which he never gave to anyone after me, and supported me with all his angels."<br />And Isa (Jesus) said:- "Praise be to Allah who sent me as a Word from Him to the world, taught me the Torah and the Gospel, made me cure the deaf, the dumb, and the leper, made me bring back to life the dead by His permission, and supported me with Jibraeel and all His angels."<br />And Muhammad (pbuh) said:- "All of you praised your Rabb (Lord) and I praise Him also, Who sent me as a M0ercy for human beings and revealed the Quran to me, expanded my breast, took out my sins, raised me up, made my Nation and all human beings the best that could be, and called me 'Kind and Merciful'"!<br />And Jibraeel said:- "That is why, Muhammad you are the last of Prophets and a Mercy for human beings. Prophets and angels, creations large and small, Allah and His angels send blessings and salutations on His Prophet! You also send much blessings upon him and utmost greetings! Increase your praise. Praise is an angel with two eyes and two wings that flies to Allah directly to ask forgiveness for its reciter until Judgment Day."<br /><br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) continued on his way, riding on the buraq together with all the angels that came to greet and accompany him. Whenever he passed through a different universe he found the angels of that universe gathered to greet and dress him with all kinds of gifts and adornments. They dressed him with the cloaks of perfection and made him the possessor of every beauty.<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) heard a very powerful voice coming from Israfeel from behind the veils of Lordly Power and Angelic Perfection: - "Paradises and heavens! Angels! Mountains and trees and oceans and rivers! Moons and suns and stars and planets and constellations! Plunge in to the beauty and perfection of Muhammad (pbuh). Angels and houris of paradise, walk with pride! Creation, be happy tonight, for we are receiving in our presence the Master of human beings and the Seal of Prophets."<br /><br /><a name="THE_ASCENT_-_AL_MIRAAJ">THE ASCENT - AL MI'RAAJ</a><br /><br />Another voice came from an angel called Ismaeel, saying: "Heavenly stairs, show yourselves and descend!" upon which the ladder of heaven descended all the way from Firdaws, the loftiest paradise, until it reached the Temple of Sulaiman (Solomon). The arms of the ladder shone with two heavenly lights, red amethyst and green jasper of the greatest perfection. Every believer is going to see that ladder and climb on it. It has one hundred steps and it goes from the temple to the first heaven.<br />Jibraeel called Muhammad (pbuh) and the buraq climbed the first step. There Muhammad (pbuh) saw all kinds of angels red in colour. On the second step, Muhammad (pbuh) saw angels in yellow cloth, on the third step the angels were green and all of them were greeting him and giving him heavenly gifts which he took and gave to Jibraeel to keep as a trust for the believers on earth. On the fourth step messenger-angels came and said: "Jibraeel, keep rising for the Rabb (Lord) is waiting!" And Muhammad (pbuh) saw their subtle bodies shining and their faces glittering like mirrors in the sun.<br />Then he climbed the fifth step of the ladder and saw a huge world of angels that had no beginning and no end. All of them were praising Allah and their only words were: "There is no god only Allah." He asked Jibraeel: "How many are these angels?" for he was awed by their numbers. Jibraeel said: "If the skies and the earth and the moon and the sun and the stars and galaxies were crushed into dust and were all piled up, their dust particles would not be one tenth of the angels of this step of the ladder of paradise." Then the buraq climbed up to the sixth step and there a great surprise awaited Muhammad (pbuh), and a great event took place which passed all description. An immense, white-upon-white angel sat on a chair of burnished white gold, accompanied by a great host of angels with wide, awe-struck gazes looking at the divine majesty. The white angel stood up and said: "Muhammad, welcome! I beg you to bless my seat by sitting on it." When Muhammad (pbuh) sat on the chair, it melted with love for him and became a cloud of multicolored light chanting the praise of Allah. Out of every drop of that cloud Allah created another throne and another great angel sitting upon that throne.<br />Then the buraq climbed to the seventh heaven and Muhammad (pbuh) saw angels whose light replaced the light of his vision, as in the case when someone looks at the sun and his sight is stolen away. At that time, he became able to see whatever these angels were seeing. Then he climbed the eighth step of the ladder and saw nothing but angels in prostration. He quickly climbed to the ninth so as not to disturb them. On the ninth step of the ladder he saw angels which passed description and he stood in awe, unable to comprehend their creation. At that time their leader appeared and said: "Rasool Allah! we are dressing you with the secret of our creation and enabling you to understand all things by Allah's permission."<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) went up to the tenth step of the ladder and saw the angels that praised Allah in all the languages that had been created since the beginning of creation. Muhammad (pbuh) wondered at the limitless creations of Allah. At the eleventh step, the angels numbered even more than the angels of the fifth step, and out of them an infinite number of colours glowed, different for each single one of them. At the twelfth step, Muhammad (pbuh) found angels with faces like moons and eyes like stars. The light of their faces were covering their words. On the thirteenth step, the most beautiful angels appeared and these were the angels of Allah, praising Allah with soft voices and revelling in other-worldly beauty. Their music did not resemble any other kind of music and if one tone of that music were heard on the earth everyone on it would faint.<br />On the fourteenth step Muhammad (pbuh) saw the angel Ismaeel with seventy thousand angels riding on horses. Behind everyone of them was a battalion of one hundred thousand angels created from the attribute of Beauty. It is the duty of each and everyone of these angels to appear on earth at least one time to bring it the touch of his beauty. The fifteenth to the twenty-fourth steps were under the command of the angel Ruqyaeel, great and small, thin and wide. The twenty-fifth step to the ninety-ninth were presided by the angel Qalaeel. His right hand was under the first heaven. Between each two of his fingers there are seven hundred thousand angels continuously praising Allah. For each of the praises that they utter strings of pearls come out of their mouth. The diameter of every pearl is eighty-one miles. For each pearl Allah creates an angel that guards it and keeps it as a trust for human beings until they enter paradise.<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) saw a huge throne from a precious element other than gold standing on five posts. Each post has two wings and each wing encompasses the constellation of our world five times. On each wing rest fifty thousand angels, each of whom ask forgiveness for human beings in a different dialect and yet in complete harmony and with an angelic sound that melts the rocks of the seven earths. Out of each one of their tears Allah creates fifty thousand angels more whose task is to ask forgiveness in the same way as these angels do and in many times more dialects than they. Then the throne spoke to Muhammad (pbuh) and said: "I and the angels who guard me were created to carry human beings to their stations in paradise." Then, the throne invited Muhammad (pbuh) to sit on it, and when he sat he felt a pleasure he had never experienced before.<br /><br /><a name="THE_FIRST_PARADISE:_THE_ABODE_OF_PEACE">THE FIRST PARADISE: THE ABODE OF PEACE</a><br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) arrived at the hundredth step where he heard the angels praising and glorifying their Rabb (Lord) in the first heaven. It is called Dar as Salaam, the Abode of Peace, and has one hundred and twenty-four thousand doors. Each door represents a prophet. Jibraeel knocked at the door reserved for Muhammad (pbuh). A voice said from inside: "Who is it?" Jibraeel replied: "It is Jibraeel and Muhammad (pbuh)." The voice said: "Has he been sent for?" Jibraeel said: "Yes, he has been called to the Divine Presence." The door was opened. The angel Ismaeel came on a horse of light, covered in a cloth of light, holding a staff of light. In his right hand, Ismaeel carried all the deeds of human beings performed during the day, and in the other, all that they had done during the night. One thousand processions of angels accompanied him.<br />Ismaeel said: "Jibraeel, who is with you?" He replied: "The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)." Ismaeel said: "Has he been sent for?" Jibraeel replied yes. Then the buraq was invited to land on the first paradise, the nearest paradise to the world. It is also called As Samaa ad-Dunya: the nearest heaven. This paradise can be compared to a rolling wave held in mid-air; Allah spoke to it and said: "Be a red emerald," and it was. The praising of its inhabitants is: Subhana zil Mulki wal Malakut: "Praise be to the Possessor of the earthly and the heavenly dominions."<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) looked at the first heaven and found an angel formed like a man. All the actions that belong to human beings are displayed to him. If the spirit of a believer comes to him he sends it to paradise; if the spirit of an unbeliever comes to him he asks forgiveness for it. When forgiveness is granted he sends it to paradise. He has a tablet made of light which hangs from the throne to the first heaven. He writes on it the names of those who are sent to paradise. Then Muhammad (pbuh) saw a man with an angelic power towards whom he felt a great attraction. When he asked who that man was, Jibraeel said: "This is your father, Adam." Adam greeted him and said to Muhammad (pbuh): "Welcome to the good son and the righteous Prophet."<br />There are two doors to the right and the left of Adam. When he looks at the right side he is happy and when he looks at the left he weeps. Muhammad (pbuh) asked what these two doors were. Jibraeel said: "The door to the right is the door to paradise and rewards. When Adam sees his children entering it he smiles and is happy. The door to the left leads to punishment and the fire. When Adam sees his children entering it he weeps and is sad for them. Out of each of his tears Allah creates an angel who asks forgiveness until the day when forgiveness is granted and they are allowed to enter into paradise."<br />Then the angels began to recite: "I yearn to see the one whom Allah createdTo be unique in creation!No beloved one is purer nor more elevated than that one,Allah's beloved is His servant, the Praised One (Ahmad)Whose name was cut out from the nameOf the Most Glorious One.His are the attributes that no eloquence can express.It is enough honour that for him the moon split in two.What more do you ask than Allah's perfecting of his beauty?And truely Allah endowed him with the best character.And truely Allah created his light to be the greatest blessing,And He called him "Beloved" before He created creation.And because of his light the sun was clouded over,Because of his overwhelming light filling the firmament.The clouds showed a great miracle and movedLike a wild herd,And thunder clapped and rain pouredUpon his mere request.What more do you want than the softening of the rockWhen he walked upon it with his sandalled feet,Although you did not see its marksWhen he tread on the sand?Allah has elevated him to His presenceAnd the angelic world.Were it not for him, there would never be paradise,Nor heavens, and no earth.What an honour Allah bestowed upon him when He gaveTen salutations to those who wouldSend to him only one!"<br />They moved for five hundred thousand light-years within the radius of the first paradise. The buraq moved faster than the speed of light, for each of its steps could reach wherever his sight did. The entire distances they travelled were filled with angels whose number is known only to the Creator, praising Him and glorifying Him with all kinds of praises. There was not one handful of space but it was occupied by an angel in prostration. They were all sizes, big and small. A voice came saying: "My beloved Muhammad! all these angels are glorifying Me, and I am sending all this praise as waves upon waves of angelic blessings to support human beings through their daily life. These blessings will guide them towards everything that concerns them, and open for them all kinds of physical and spiritual knowledge that will help them progress in their ways of life, materially and spiritually. I will raise them through this angelic power and enable them to enter My paradise when they come to My Divine Presence."<br /><br /><a name="THE_SECOND_PARADISE:_THE_ABODE_OF_CONSTANCY">THE SECOND PARADISE: THE ABODE OF CONSTANCY</a><br /><br />Then Jibraeel ordered the buraq to take Muhammad (pbuh) to the second paradise, whose name is Dar al Qarar, the Abode of Constancy. He then knocked at one of the doors of the second paradise. It was made of a heavenly element that has no name in our language. The angel Jarjaeel came with one thousand processions of angels who made an even greater and happier music than the angels of the first paradise. A voice said: "Who is it?" "Jibraeel.""Who is accompanying you?""Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy."Then the door was opened. Muhammad (pbuh) saw angels whose faces were like the disk of the sun, riding horses and girded with spiritual swords and lances. Muhammad (pbuh) asked: "Jibraeel! who are these?" Jibraeel answered: "These are angels whom Allah created to support humans against devils. Their praising is: Subhana zil `Izzati wal Jabarut: 'Glory to the Rabb (Lord) of Force and Might,' and they are wearing yellow turbans on their heads. When they praise Allah their turbans move and radiate a yellow light that supports the light of the sun. They radiate another light also, which makes the devils run away and chases out gossip from the heart of believers." Then Muhammad (pbuh) saw two very handsome men sitting on a throne made of red rubies. He asked: "Who are these?" Jibraeel said: "They are your relatives, Yahya (John) and Isa (Jesus)." Isa (Jesus) was of a reddish complexion as if he came out of the bath. Then angels came to Muhammad (pbuh) in battalions, greeting him one by one. Allah extended time in such a way that one second was enough to greet all of the angels and pray with them, for the time of prayer had come. Isa (Jesus) and Yahya (John) greeted Muhammad (pbuh) farewell, and Jibraeel ordered the buraq to go to the third paradise.<br /><br /><a name="THE_THIRD_PARADISE:_THE_ABODE_OF_ETERNITY">THE THIRD PARADISE: THE ABODE OF ETERNITY</a><br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) moved in space for another five hundred thousand light-years until they reached the third paradise. It is called Dar ul Khuld: the Abode of Eternity. As they approached their destination they heard great voices that thundered all around them. "That is the sound of angels praising their Rabb (Lord)," said Jibraeel. As they approached they heard the music of the angels by which everything moves in the orbits of the heavenly worlds. Jibraeel stopped at a door made of a pure, burnished heavenly copper, and he knocked. "Who is there?" said a voice behind the door. "Jibraeel, bringing Muhammad." "Has he been sent for?" "Yes." And the door was opened.<br />Muhammad (pbuh) entered and he saw an angel who changed from one shape to another in every moment. As he changed, his colour changed also. He seemed as one moving in a flash and yet immobile like a moving series of pictures and yet each picture is fixed in its place. Behind the angel Muhammad (pbuh) saw seven hundred thousand angels, all of them moving like the first angel, from one colourful image into another, like countless kaleidoscopes. Their feet reached the seven earths. Their musical praise was: Subhan al Hayy ul Qayyum al lazi la yamut: "Glory to the Living One, the Self-Subsistent who never dies!" The melody of their praise moved the entire heavens to unutterable joy which showered mercy on the earth and its inhabitants. Muhammad (pbuh) asked Jibraeel to ask the angel whether human beings could hear that music and if it were possible for them. The angel said: "Anyone who opens his angelic power and connects himself to us will hear that melody and he will receive the reward that we receive for uttering this praise." Then the angel recited: Secret Reality! Angelic heart of light,Kingdom of power, shining in steadfast light,Firm in foundation, in beauty all complete,Its essence descended from Adam's heart enthroned,Just as the All Merciful descended on His Throne.Essence of angels' light in Adam manifest,And yoked with it Allahs' trust fulfilled,The grant He made to all mankind.Here appeared knowledge of Allah's lightKnown only to chosen saints who alone can see.Where His knowledge glows imperfection fleesAnd all worldly cares dim and disappear.Here ends and begins the place of drawing nearWhere the pure ones settled, similar to light upon light.<br />As they moved forward they saw a handsome man before whose beauty everything paled. "This is Yusuf (Joseph), the Prophet," said Jibraeel. Muhammad (pbuh) approached him and greeted him, and Yusuf (Joseph) greeted him back with the best greeting of heaven. Jibraeel said: "Out of the beauty of Yusuf (Joseph) came the beauty of all human beings. His is the beauty of the full moon, the sun and the stars." Yearning for angelic beauty will melt the hearts of the stone hearted. The faint hearted cannot hope to approach its secret, for they will immediately fall under its power and extinguish themselves in it. That is the meaning of the sweetness of painful yearning in love: the approach of beauty in its absence is sweeter still than its embrace and possession. For possession of the beloved entails the satisfaction of the lower self, while to remain in pain because of the beloved is better than comfort and contentment.<br />Behind Yusuf, Muhammad (pbuh) saw a great human crowd, all of them wearing radiant angelic dresses. Muhammad (pbuh) asked, "Who are these people, Jibraeel?" He answered: "Behind Yusuf (Joseph), Allah created seven hundred thousand posts in paradise; on each post there are seven hundred thousand red jewels; each jewel contains seven hundred thousand palaces; in every palace there are seven hundred thousand rooms, and in every room there are seven hundred thousand windows. These rooms are inhabited by human beings who carry angelic powers and spend their lives in love of each other and nature. Their hearts are filled with love of Me and devoid of low desires. They pine for Me and I pine for them. Every day these human beings appear at their windows and look at the people of paradise. From their beauty a great light shines forth, in the same way that the sun appears in the windows of the sky and sheds its light over the people on earth. Then the people of paradise say: 'Let us run towards the Lovers of Allah.' As soon as they reach them these Lovers adorn them with all kinds of rainbows and showers of light. They give them a dress made of green silk which symbolizes the qualities of those made perfect and agreeable to Allah.<br /><br /><a name="THE_FOURTH_PARADISE:_THE_SHELTERING_GARDEN">THE FOURTH PARADISE: THE SHELTERING GARDEN</a><br /><br />Then Jibraeel called for prayer and Muhammad (pbuh) led the prayer among all the inhabitants of paradise. Then the buraq moved for another five hundred thousand light-years during which they travelled towards the fourth heaven which is called Jannat al-Maawa: the Sheltering Garden. There they heard a voice mixing angels and spirits. The door was made of silver upon a floor of gold. Again, the voice behind the door asked: "Who is there?" and Jibraeel answered, "Muhammad." "Has he been sent for?" "Yes." And the door opened.<br />Muhammad (pbuh) saw angels standing and sitting, lying and bowing, praising and saying: "Subhan al Malik al Quddus Rabb al Malaaikati war Ruh," : "Glory to the holiest King, Rabb (Lord) of the angels and the Spirit!" Muhammad (pbuh) asked Jibraeel, "Jibraeel, is that not the prayer of my grandfather Abraham?" and Jibraeel said, "Yes, this is how your grandfather Abraham used to pray, and Allah was so happy with that prayer that he created an entire host of angels and filled the fourth heaven with them. He ordered them to repeat the same prayer. If anyone recites that praising among human beings, Allah will give them rewards according to the number of these angels."<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) saw two angels, one of transparent crystal like spring water, and one denser like salt water. Jibraeel said: "One is the angel of sweet waters. He carries all the oceans of this universe with his right thumb. The other is the angel of salty waters. He carries all the oceans of this universe in his left thumb. These are the angels responsible for supporting every creature in creation through water, sweet or salty. They meet without mixing, as Allah has said: "He has loosened the two seas. They meet. There is a barrier between them. They encroach not one upon the other." (40:19-20)<br />Behind them Muhammad (pbuh) saw angels shaped like birds, standing on the bank of a great river of paradise. When a human being on earth says: "There is no god only Allah," one of these angel-birds opens his wings. If the person says: "Glory to Allah," the angel-bird enters the river to swim in it. When the person says: "Praise be to Allah," the angel-bird dives into the water. When the person says: "Allah is greatest," the angel-bird comes out of the river. When the person says: "There is no power nor might except in Allah," the angel-bird will shake off the water from him, and seventy thousand drops of water will come from him, out of each of which Allah creates an angel that asks forgiveness for that person until Judgment Day. In addition to this, Allah orders forty thousand rewards written in the book of that one and keeps them for him until his resurrection.<br />Then Muhammad (pbuh) saw a man who leaned against the books of human beings, in which were inscribed all their deeds. Muhammad (pbuh) asked: "Who is this?" Jibraeel said: "This is the Prophet Idris, peace be upon him." Muhammad (pbuh) approached Idris and greeted him. Idris greeted him back and said: "Welcome to the pious brother and perfect prophet." Above him Muhammad (pbuh) saw a dome of light on which was written: "There is no god only Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Muhammad (pbuh) looked inside it and saw a venerable old man with a white beard filled with light and crowned with a white turban. He asked: "Who is that, Jibraeel?" He answered: "That is an angel representing the Prophet Idris." Muhammad (pbuh) greeted him and said: "My brother! Allah has elevated you and honoured you, and you have entered paradise before me and saw its pleasures." Idris said: "Beloved one! At first I did not enter paradise nor see its pleasure. But when I left this world I entered a garden with a door on which I saw: 'Beyond this door none may enter before Muhammad (pbuh) and his nation.' And I asked Allah, 'For the sake of my grandson Muhammad (pbuh), let me in.' Allah let me in, so now because of you I am in this place."<br />Then Idris recited:"This Station sought by all for shelter,This lofty place where all people bow subduedAnd stands the noble MessengerWith wisdom and might endued,Station of guidance and angelic lightWhere gloom of night and orphans' sadnessAt once are effaced,This is the Station of direct communicationAnd the firm foothold for those determined to reach.The All-Merciful called him His beloved oneAnd he is the beloved one of the universeAnd from his light came the light of all life."<br /><br /><a name="THE_FIFTH_PARADISE:_THE_GARDEN_OF_BEAUTY_AND_FELICITY">THE FIFTH PARADISE: THE GARDEN OF BEAUTY AND FELICITY</a><br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) travelled for five hundred thousand light-years, after which he arrived at the fifth paradise which is called Jannat al Naeem: "the Garden of Beauty and Felicity." Its door is made of mixed gold and silver from heaven. Jibraeel knocked at the door and a voice said: "Who is it?" "Jibraeel, bringing Muhammad (pbuh)." "Has he been sent for?" "Yes." "Welcome, Beloved one, to the fifth paradise!" The door opened and Muhammad (pbuh) saw five beautiful ladies whose radiant light among their servants made them appear like diamonds surrounded by pearls. His heart was moved towards them. He asked Jibraeel: "Who are these ladies?" He answered: "This is Hawwa (Eve), the mother of human beings, this is the Virgin Maryam (Mary), the mother of Isa (Jesus), this is Musa's (Moses') mother Yukabid, and this is Assia, the wife of Pharaoh." The fifth lady looked like a sun among stars. Her light shone over the rest of the inhabitants of that paradise like a gentle breeze passing through the tree-leaves. Jibraeel said: "This is an angel representing your daughter Fatima"<br />Muhammad (pbuh) asked: "Jibraeel, what is the secret of this paradise?" Jibraeel said: "Allah created this paradise to reflect the beauty and perfection of women. The light of this paradise is the source of the angelic lights of all women on earth. Women have been created to carry the secret of creation in themselves. Allah has honoured them greatly by making their wombs the repository of His word which represents the Spirit. He looks at the most sacred place and there descends His mercy and blessings. He perfected that place and covered it with three protective layers to shelter it from any damage. The first is a layer of light, the second a layer of love, and the third a layer of beauty. There he fashions and creates human beings after His likeness, as Muhammad (pbuh) said: 'Allah created Adam after His likeness.' He orders the angels of the womb to perfect His creation by giving the baby life, beauty, health, intelligence, and all kinds of perfect attributes that will make each one distinguished among human beings."<br />"Women are not created weaker but more generous than men. They are created more beautiful and less fierce, as beauty hates to hurt and harm others. That is why they seem weak to people, but in reality they are not. Angels are the strongest of created beings, and women are closer to the angelic nature than men, as they are readier than men to carry angelic light. It is the good manners and ethics of spirituality which they carry which makes them less forceful than men. Even physically, however, they are extremely strong. They undergo great upheavals in their body without flinching for the sake of childbirth, and face the direst physical conditions more successfully than men because Allah has enabled them to insure the survival of generations."<br />"Allah gave women five angelic qualities which men rarely have. They are the source of peace, as Allah said that He created them "so that you might find rest in them" (30:21). This is the attribute of the first paradise which is named "the Abode of Peace." They are oasis of constancy in the midst of chaos and change. That is why they give birth as the mother nurtures and shelters the baby more reliably than the father. This is the attribute of the second paradise, which is named 'the Abode of Constancy.' They perpetuate generations. Through their offspring Allah creates angelic prophets and saints who establish His perpetual remembrance on earth as the angels establish it in heaven. This is the attribute of the third paradise which is named 'the Abode of Eternity.' They are generous and bountiful. They are described as 'a fertile land' in all Scriptures because they give without counting, including life. They sacrifice themselves for the sake of another creation, and this is the attribute of the fourth paradise which is named 'the Sheltering Garden.' Finally, they are the source of Beauty. Through their softness and subtlety, Allah has crowned the earth with the diadem of angelic grace. This is the attribute of the fifth paradise which is named "the Garden of Beauty."<br /><br /><a name="THE_SIXTH_PARADISE:_THE_GARDEN_OF_EDEN">THE SIXTH PARADISE: THE GARDEN OF EDEN</a><br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) travelled again on the buraq for five hundred thousand years. On his way to the sixth paradise which is called Jannat al Aden: "the Garden of Eden," he saw nations and nations of saffron-coloured angels standing on pedestals of pink marble. They had one thousand wings and on each wing there were one thousand faces. Each face had one thousand mouths saying: "Praise be to the Rabb (Lord) of Majesty and Splendour!" Jibraeel knocked at the door of the sixth paradise which was made of aquamarine and gold. As usual, a voice asked from behind the door who was there and the answer was given: "Jibraeel, bringing Muhammad (pbuh)." "Has he been sent for?" said the voice. "Yes," replied Jibraeel. The door was opened. Muhammad (pbuh) entered and what he saw passed all imagination and all recorded books, all fabled accounts, all legends, all histories.<br />Silent gold sat on stars of pearl. Under every pearl fifty thousand angels whirled in a lake of galaxies producing a heavenly sound like a million birds humming on top of the buzzing of a million bees. Everything is moving at the speed of light but at the same time everything is silent and still. Each angel spoke words of greetings to Muhammad (pbuh) at the same time in a different language but distinctly and without any clash one with the other. Their words were phrased in diadems and garlands of light which he wore one after the other on his head and around his neck. A huge angel named Semlaeel appeared at the head of ten thousand processions of similar angels wearing a crown of multi-coloured garnets and reciting praise of Allah in an angelic language which made each angel swoon and rise up in turn. These were the karubiyyun: 'Those brought near.' No one on earth can see them and live because of the intensity of their light which they borrow from the One they behold.<br />Muhammad (pbuh) asked: "Jibraeel! What is this untarnished heavenly sound?" "Rasool Allah!" Jibraeel answered, "This is the music of the angelic souls in the presence of their Rabb (Lord) trembling like a leaf, not daring to move or speak, awed and annihilated by perfection, yet vivified and moved by divine Light, rushing to the divine meeting and announcing your coming."<br />Muhammad (pbuh) saw a honey-coloured angel of astounding beauty and of yet even greater majesty so that his majesty overpowered his beauty. He had a long mane of hair and a long beard out of which light flashed like thunderbolts. He had a stern face and yet a child's eyes. His enormous chest seemed to heave like a dormant volcano under his shirt of heavenly brocade. When Muhammad (pbuh) enquired about him, Jibraeel said: "This is your brother Musa (Moses). He is the one who prayed six times on the Mount of Sinai in order to be a simple servant in your Nation. He is the vanquisher of tyrants and the secret of his father Yaqoob (Jacob). Allah wrote for him the character of a fiery servant. That is why he approached the burning bush and was not afraid when His Rabb (Lord) wanted to speak to him."<br />Musa (Moses) was crying and he said to Muhammad (pbuh): "Prophet of the Last Nation! Intercede for me and my people." Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Why are you crying, my brother Musa (Moses)?" He replied: "I cry for love of you and for the great honour where Allah has raised you and made your nation countless people and other nations very few, even mine. Muhammad! you are the seal of prophets and the light of creation. Allah is raising you today to His presence, to a station where no-one can reach. Remember me there as Allah made you the intercessor for all human beings including prophets, from Adam to Isa (Jesus). Then he recited:<br />"Prophet sprung from Hashim's line,Lover of Him Who is lauded above,Sealer of every book revealed to mankind.Opener of treasured knowledge sublimeWho mounted the buraq to ascend to his Rabb (Lord),Allah in Whose presence none before had remained,Approach that place where only angels draw nearMessenger of Allah before whom winds and clouds moveAnd lay open clear myriad paths to celestial light.For your intercession human souls plead and yearn,Prophet at whose sight angels delight!It is you for whom paradise was made and adorned,For you the furthest-tree of farthest limit is made to standAnd bear the fruit of compassion in every land.Beloved Muhammad, may Allah grant us to beAlways numbered in your noble band."<br /><br /><a name="THE_SEVENTH_PARADISE:_JANNAT_AL_FIRDAWS">THE SEVENTH PARADISE: JANNAT AL FIRDAWS</a><br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) arrived at the seventh paradise whose roof touches the Heavenly Throne and whose name is Jannat al Firdaws, after a travel of five hundred thousand light-years. He knocked at the door which was made of pure emerald, topaz, beryl, and gold. After he entered he saw another gate of light. From it came the praise of nations of hidden angels at whose sight one would die of awe because of their intense beauty. Their laud was simply: "Praise be to the Creator of Light!" Beyond this it is not permitted to speak about them. Muhammad (pbuh) greeted them with the greeting of peace and proceeded past the gate of gold to a dome of light which encompassed all the previous heavens, although the distance he had travelled between the sixth and the seventh heaven was the same as that between each two of the other layers of paradise.<br />Inside the dome Muhammad (pbuh) saw an angelic being which resembled him in every fashion and who was leaning against a wall of white silk which seemed to move like a waterfall and yet stand firm. Muhammad (pbuh) asked who that was and Jibraeel said: "This is your grandfather Ibraheem (Abraham), the leader of the pure of heart and a great one among prophets." Ibraheem (Abraham) said: "Welcome to the pious son and the perfected Prophet!" Around Ibraheem (Abraham) stood crowned angels. Each of their crowns contained four hundred diamonds, each worth more than what the entire earth contains. At their service stood throngs of angels crowned with the light of the previous angels and all were reading the Ayat ul Kursi. Jibraeel said: "This is the verse that keeps the universe firm in the balance. This is the secret of the order of Creation." And the angels recited:<br />Allah! There is no god save Him, the Living, the Eternal, Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes him. Unto him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in earth. Who is he that intercedes with him save by His leave? He knows that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, While they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He will. His Kursi includes the heavens and the earth, And He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous. (2:255)<br />Circumambulating the building against which Ibraheem (Abraham) leaned, the entire universes, the throngs of angels of the seven heavens, the angels of mercy and the angels of wrath, the angels of beauty, the angels brought near, the great and the small angels, the visible and the invisible angels, and all the human beings whose angelic souls had been purified and elevated to the divine presence, the prophets, the truthful saints, the martyrs, the righteous, all of creation whirled and turned in the same direction as every heavenly body, counterclockwise, around the Kaaba of the heavens. Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Jibraeel, How wondrous are the incredible marvels of my Rabb (Lord)!" And Jibraeel replied: "Muhammad! You have seen only a glimpse of the wonders of Allah."<br /><br />(Sources: WAQF IKHLAS<br />Publisher' Note:Permission to reprint and distribute is granted only if this heading is included, and the text is not modified in any way, shape or form to alter the intended meaning. Ihlas Holding A. S. Cagaloglu-ISTANBUL )Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1145239969351403012006-04-16T21:12:00.000-05:002006-04-16T22:43:20.556-05:00Adam's Liberation<strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span></strong><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!</span></strong> </em><br /><em><br /></em><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">The Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">"The Golden Tongued" (d.407)</span></strong><em><br /></em><br /><img alt="Adam's liberation" src="http://home.att.net/~sergei592/voskresenije.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">If any man is a devout lover of God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man is a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of the Lord. If any has labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any has wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any has come at the third hour, let him have no misgivings; because he will in no wise be deprived thereof. If any has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any has tarried even until the eleventh hour let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as to him who has wrought from the first hour. And he shows mercy on the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he giveth, and upon the other he bestoweth gifts. And he accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast you all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go away hungry. All of you, enjoy the feast of faith: receive all the riches of loving-kindness. Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shone forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He who was held prisoner of it, has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, he has made Hell captive. He angered it when it tasted of his flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was angered, when it encountered You in the lower regions. It was angered for it was abolished. It was angered, for it was mocked. It was angered, for it was slain. It was angered for it was overthrown. It was angered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen. O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the Angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Trans. by Isabel F. Hapgood, from </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">"The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox," </span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">ed. By Johanna Manly, </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">(Menlo Park, California: Monastery Books, 1990), p. 11</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1144635720066152772006-04-09T21:22:00.000-05:002006-04-11T23:32:29.826-05:00London<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/londyn.2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/400/londyn.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/londyn.1.jpg"></a><br /><strong><span ><em><span style="font-size:180%;">London </span></em><span style="font-size:180%;">- William Blake</span></span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">I wandered through each chartered street,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Near where the chartered Thames does flow,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">And mark in every face I meet,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Marks of weakness, marks of woe. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">In every cry of every man,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">In every infant's cry of fear,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">In every voice, in every ban,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">The mind-forged manacles I hear: </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">How the chimney-sweeper's cry</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Every blackening church appals,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">And the hapless soldier's sigh</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Runs in blood down palace-walls. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">But most, through midnight streets </span><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">I hear</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">How the youthful harlot's curse</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Blasts the new-born infant's tear,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1142531486138320732006-03-16T11:51:00.000-06:002006-04-04T00:32:23.813-05:00St. Patrick<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/st-patrick.1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/st-patrick.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">St. Patrick </span></em></strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">: </span></span><br /><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Profile </span></em><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13613a.htm">Scotland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08098b.htm">Ireland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, March 17, 493. His parents were Calphurnius and Conchessa. The former belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">decurio </span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">in </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06395b.htm">Gaul</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> or Britain. Conchessa was a relative of the great patron of </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06395b.htm">Gaul</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09732b.htm">St. Martin of Tours</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. Kilpatrick still has many memorials of Saint Patrick, and frequent </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrimages</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> continued far into the </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> to perpetuate there the fame of his </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13428b.htm">sanctity</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> and </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10338a.htm">miracles</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00406.htm">Kidnapped</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> from the Scottish mainland around the age of 16, and shipped to </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00390.htm">Ireland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> as a </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00833.htm">slave</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. He was sent to the mountains as a </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00645.htm">shepherd</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, where he spent his time in prayer. After six years of this life, he received a dream in which he was commanded to return to Britain; seeing it as a sign, he escaped. Studied in continental </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/ncd05541.htm">monasteries</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00580.htm">Priest</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00237.htm">Bishop</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. Sent by </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00824.htm">Pope</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> Saint Celestine to evangelize </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00255.htm">England</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, then </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00390.htm">Ireland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. In 33 years, he effectively </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00167.htm">converted</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> the whole of </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00390.htm">Ireland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. In the Middle Ages </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00390.htm">Ireland</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> became known as the </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Land of Saints</span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">, and during the Dark Ages its </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/ncd05541.htm">monasteries</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> were the great repositories of </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00424.htm">learning</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> in </span><a href="http://www.catholic-forum.com/Saints/pst00266.htm">Europe</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"> - all consequences of St. Patrick's ministry. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">The prayer, popularly known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate," is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:</span><br /><br /><span >I bind to myself today<br />The strong virtue of the Invocation of the </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm"><span >Trinity</span></a><span >:<br />I believe the </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm"><span >Trinity</span></a><span > in the Unity-The Creator of the Universe.<br />I bind to myself today<br />The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,<br />The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,<br />The virtue of His </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12789a.htm"><span >Resurrection</span></a><span > with His </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01767a.htm"><span >Ascension</span></a><span >,<br />The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.<br />I bind to myself today<br />The virtue of the love of seraphim,<br />In the obedience of </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm"><span >angels</span></a><span >,<br />In the hope of </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12792a.htm"><span >resurrection</span></a><span > unto reward,<br />In prayers of Patriarchs,<br />In predictions of Prophets,<br />In preaching of Apostles,<br />In faith of Confessors,<br />In purity of holy Virgins,<br />In deeds of righteous men.<br />I bind to myself today<br />The power of Heaven,<br />The light of the sun,<br />The brightness of the moon,<br />The splendour of fire,<br />The flashing of lightning,<br />The swiftness of wind,<br />The depth of sea,<br />The stability of earth,<br />The compactness of rocks.<br />I bind to myself today<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Power to guide me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Might to uphold me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Wisdom to teach me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Eye to watch over me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Ear to hear me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Word to give me speech,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Hand to guide me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Way to lie before me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Shield to shelter me,<br /></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm"><span >God's</span></a><span > Host to secure me,<br />Against the snares of demons,<br />Against the seductions of vices,<br />Against the lusts of nature,<br />Against everyone who meditates injury to me,<br />Whether far or near,<br />Whether few or with many.<br />I invoke today all these virtues<br />Against every hostile merciless power<br />Which may assail my body and my soul,<br />Against the incantations of false prophets,<br />Against the black laws of heathenism,<br />Against the false laws of heresy,<br />Against the deceits of idolatry,<br />Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,<br />Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.<br />Christ, protect me today<br />Against every poison, against burning,<br />Against drowning, against death-wound,<br />That I may receive abundant reward.<br />Christ with me, Christ before me,<br />Christ behind me, Christ within me,<br />Christ beneath me, Christ above me,<br />Christ at my right, Christ at my left,<br />Christ in the fort,Christ in the chariot seat,Christ in the poop [deck],<br />Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,<br />Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,<br />Christ in every eye that sees me,<br />Christ in every ear that hears me.<br />I bind to myself today<br />The strong virtue of an invocation of the </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm"><span >Trinity</span></a><span >,<br />I believe the </span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm"><span >Trinity</span></a><span > in the Unity - The Creator of the Universe.<br /></span><br /><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Happy St. Patrick's Day !!! </span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span></em></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">(and happy one-year, web-log anniversary to my Grenadan friend! )</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">(</span><a href="http://planetgrenada.blogspot.com/">http://planetgrenada.blogspot.com/</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">) </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">"This is the first post for Planet Grenada and my first attempt at 'blogging.' To be honest, I didn't spend a long time trying to find 'just' the right name for this blog but I think this will do nicely. Grenada was last stronghold of the Muslims in Spain when the Christians took back the country in the Reconquista. Grenada is also the name of the Caribbean country whose temporary Marxist regime was toppled by the Reagan Administration in the 1980's. (I can identify with both uses in interesting ways) Calling it *Planet* Grenada seems fitting to me since I've been thinking about and intrigued by the Afro-futurism movement recently and its ideas seem to resonate with some of my recent thoughts and activities. So for the moment, the name seems to evoke all the right things. It also seems a bit fitting to get this thing going in the early hours of St. Patrick's Day. At least, according to one version of the St. Patrick's day legend, the usual story of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland was actually a kind of bait-and-switch and the snakes are in reality a stand in for the Moors. Anyway, this is enough introduction for now. More to come later.... "</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">((Many more postings have followed in the first year of this creative web-log, which was one of the first sites to inspire me to create the </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Rasa'il Khalil al-Wafa'</span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">. Thanks Abdul-Halim! Keep on blogging in the free-world! ))</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1142483654441215792006-03-15T22:30:00.000-06:002006-03-18T19:50:18.416-06:00"I am the handmaiden of the Lord..."<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/r%20corrie.3.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/200/r%20corrie.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><em>In memoriam: </em>Rachel Corrie</span></strong><br /><strong>(April 10, 1979 - March 16, 2003)</strong><br /><br />"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior; he has looked with favor upon his lowly servant. From this day, all generations will call me blessed, the Almighty has done great things for me and Holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly." (Luke 1:46-53, the "Magnificat")<br /><br />February 27 2003<br />(To her mother)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Love you. Really miss you. I have bad nightmares about tanks and bulldozers outside our house and you and me inside. Sometimes the adrenaline acts as an anesthetic for weeks and then in the evening or at night it just hits me again - a little bit of the reality of the situation. I am really scared for the people here. Yesterday, I watched a father lead his two tiny children, holding his hands, out into the sight of tanks and a sniper tower and bulldozers and Jeeps because he thought his house was going to be exploded. Jenny and I stayed in the house with several women and two small babies. It was our mistake in translation that caused him to think it was his house that was being exploded. In fact, the Israeli army was in the process of detonating an explosive in the ground nearby - one that appears to have been planted by Palestinian resistance. This is in the area where Sunday about 150 men were rounded up and contained outside the settlement with gunfire over their heads and around them, while tanks and bulldozers destroyed 25 greenhouses - the livelihoods for 300 people. The explosive was right in front of the greenhouses - right in the point of entry for tanks that might come back again. I was terrified to think that this man felt it was less of a risk to walk out in view of the tanks with his kids than to stay in his house. I was really scared that they were all going to be shot and I tried to stand between them and the tank. This happens every day, but just this father walking out with his two little kids just looking very sad, just happened to get my attention more at this particular moment, probably because I felt it was our translation problems that made him leave. I thought a lot about what you said on the phone about Palestinian violence not helping the situation. Sixty thousand workers from Rafah worked in Israel two years ago. Now only 600 can go to Israel for jobs. Of these 600, many have moved, because the three checkpoints between here and Ashkelon (the closest city in Israel) make what used to be a 40-minute drive, now a 12-hour or impassible journey. In addition, what Rafah identified in 1999 as sources of economic growth are all completely destroyed - the Gaza international airport (runways demolished, totally closed); the border for trade with Egypt (now with a giant Israeli sniper tower in the middle of the crossing); access to the ocean (completely cut off in the last two years by a checkpoint and the Gush Katif settlement). The count of homes destroyed in Rafah since the beginning of this intifada is up around 600, by and large people with no connection to the resistance but who happen to live along the border. I think it is maybe official now that Rafah is the poorest place in the world. There used to be a middle class here - recently. We also get reports that in the past, Gazan flower shipments to Europe were delayed for two weeks at the Erez crossing for security inspections. You can imagine the value of two-week-old cut flowers in the European market, so that market dried up. And then the bulldozers come and take out people's vegetable farms and gardens. What is left for people? Tell me if you can think of anything. I can't. If any of us had our lives and welfare completely strangled, lived with children in a shrinking place where we knew, because of previous experience, that soldiers and tanks and bulldozers could come for us at any moment and destroy all the greenhouses that we had been cultivating for however long, and did this while some of us were beaten and held captive with 149 other people for several hours - do you think we might try to use somewhat violent means to protect whatever fragments remained? I think about this especially when I see orchards and greenhouses and fruit trees destroyed - just years of care and cultivation. I think about you and how long it takes to make things grow and what a labour of love it is. I really think, in a similar situation, most people would defend themselves as best they could. I think Uncle Craig would. I think probably Grandma would. I think I would. You asked me about non-violent resistance. When that explosive detonated yesterday it broke all the windows in the family's house. I was in the process of being served tea and playing with the two small babies. I'm having a hard time right now. Just feel sick to my stomach a lot from being doted on all the time, very sweetly, by people who are facing doom. I know that from the United States, it all sounds like hyperbole. Honestly, a lot of the time the sheer kindness of the people here, coupled with the overwhelming evidence of the wilful destruction of their lives, makes it seem unreal to me. I really can't believe that something like this can happen in the world without a bigger outcry about it. It really hurts me, again, like it has hurt me in the past, to witness how awful we can allow the world to be. I felt after talking to you that maybe you didn't completely believe me. I think it's actually good if you don't, because I do believe pretty much above all else in the importance of independent critical thinking. And I also realise that with you I'm much less careful than usual about trying to source every assertion that I make. A lot of the reason for that is I know that you actually do go and do your own research. But it makes me worry about the job I'm doing. All of the situation that I tried to enumerate above - and a lot of other things - constitutes a somewhat gradual - often hidden, but nevertheless massive - removal and destruction of the ability of a particular group of people to survive. This is what I am seeing here. The assassinations, rocket attacks and shooting of children are atrocities - but in focusing on them I'm terrified of missing their context. The vast majority of people here - even if they had the economic means to escape, even if they actually wanted to give up resisting on their land and just leave (which appears to be maybe the less nefarious of Sharon's possible goals), can't leave. Because they can't even get into Israel to apply for visas, and because their destination countries won't let them in (both our country and Arab countries). So I think when all means of survival is cut off in a pen (Gaza) which people can't get out of, I think that qualifies as genocide. Even if they could get out, I think it would still qualify as genocide. Maybe you could look up the definition of genocide according to international law. I don't remember it right now. I'm going to get better at illustrating this, hopefully. I don't like to use those charged words. I think you know this about me. I really value words. I really try to illustrate and let people draw their own conclusions. Anyway, I'm rambling. Just want to write to my Mom and tell her that I'm witnessing this chronic, insidious genocide and I'm really scared, and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature. This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is not at all what I asked for when I came into this world. This is not at all what the people here asked for when they came into this world. This is not the world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you decided to have me. This is not what I meant when I looked at Capital Lake and said: "This is the wide world and I'm coming to it." I did not mean that I was coming into a world where I could live a comfortable life and possibly, with no effort at all, exist in complete unawareness of my participation in genocide. More big explosions somewhere in the distance outside. When I come back from Palestine, I probably will have nightmares and constantly feel guilty for not being here, but I can channel that into more work. Coming here is one of the better things I've ever done. So when I sound crazy, or if the Israeli military should break with their racist tendency not to injure white people, please pin the reason squarely on the fact that I am in the midst of a genocide which I am also indirectly supporting, and for which my government is largely responsible. I love you and Dad. Sorry for the diatribe. OK, some strange men next to me just gave me some peas, so I need to eat and thank them. Rachel </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1142367376056469932006-03-14T14:16:00.000-06:002006-03-30T10:01:14.470-06:00Making Room...<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/christ-breadlines.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/christ-breadlines.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><strong>"MAKING ROOM..." - A Lenten Message :</strong></span> </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">(2006) Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">The Gospel proclamation for the First Sunday of Lent (Mark 1: 12-15) tells of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry of announcing the good news of the Reign of God. As we begin our Lenten observance this year, we would do well to fix our eyes on Jesus, to enter with him into the spirit of those 40 days in preparation for the celebration of the Easter mysteries.At the close of the 40 days, Jesus moves from the wilderness to Galilee. From that point forward, it seems that he is nearly always surrounded by people. Crowds gather around him. Whole groups follow him. They press in on him. We might say that people were always “invading his personal space.” We also know from the Gospels that Jesus took time for himself, time away from the throngs, in order to pray. But the Gospels most often portray Jesus together with others.Those 40 days in the wilderness were devoted to praying, fasting, and undergoing the harshest kinds of temptation. But the 40 days can also be understood as a period of intense preparation, a time for Jesus to make room in himself for all those he would meet in the course of his public ministry, for all those who would draw near to him, come to him, plead with him, ask him for mercy and healing and help. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Our Lenten practices, whatever they may be, are much more than pious devotions. Whether our practice takes the form of “giving up” dessert during Lent, redoubling our efforts at prayer, increasing our contribution to help those in need, fasting, or abstaining from meat, they are all to be understood as a Spirit-assisted effort to empty ourselves of all that would stand in the way of being filled to overflowing with the light and life and love of God. Do we really have room enough for God?So many of us live amid so much clutter, so much noise. We travel through life at breakneck speed. Lent is the time to empty ourselves not only of the seemingly never-ending stuff, sound and speed in our lives, but also of our pettiness, our prejudice, our anxiety, our fear. It is an opportunity to make room, not only for God, but for those who come our way. How open is our door to those who come to us? Is there room enough in our hearts and our homes for those in need? </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">To take up our Lenten practice this year in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we face a unique challenge in this call to make room for God. In recent months and in different parts of the world, we have seen the escalation of strong sentiments against immigrants. These sentiments appear to be mounting in our own country as well. How might our various Lenten practices such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, our effort to empty ourselves so as to make room for God, relate to the complex reality of immigration, especially in the face of increasing hostility toward immigrants? </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Pope Benedict XVI’s first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est (“God is Love”) is helpful to us here. Writing on love as the heart of the Christian faith, our Holy Father says:…if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be devout and to perform my “religious duties,” then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper” but loveless. Only my readiness to encounter my neighbor and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbor can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. . . Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. . . No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without calling for the impossible, but. . . a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">(Deus Caritas Est no. 18).</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">To the question: “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ answer is clear. As his disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least in society and in the Church. This Lenten season, join me in committing our Lenten practices to making room for the stranger in our midst, praying for the courage and strength to offer our spiritual and pastoral ministry to all who come to us, offering our prayer and support for the ones in our midst who, like Jesus, have no place to rest their heads (Matthew 8:20).</span><br /></span><br />(<em>more</em>... <a href="http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2006/3/4/184153/7907">Street Prophets: "The Gospel vs. H.R. 4437"</a> )<br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1142230464373774312006-03-13T00:14:00.000-06:002006-03-15T22:58:19.340-06:00"Galileo's Apologies"<div align="left"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/tsegea1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/tsegea1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin</span></strong> </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><em><strong>Poet Laureate:</strong></em></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(August 17, 1936-</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">February 25, 2006)</span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><div align="left"><br /></span>"Ethiopia’s premier versatile and prolific man of letters. For half a century now he has been continuously productive as poet, playwright, essayist, social critic, philologist, historiographer, dramatist, synthesist, peace activist, artistic director...on matters national, continental and global. Even if he has yet to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, he has often been more appreciated and duly honored abroad than in his own land. Perhaps this is in keeping with that old Ethiopian saying to the effect that ‘a prophet is often not esteemed in his own country.’ In this day and age, when most of us have been preoccupied and indeed consumed by wars and rumors of wars in Ethiopia-Eritrea and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, it seems as though there is nothing else of positive value or of grave concern that deserves or commands the attention of Ethiopians. Today we shall take time out from violence and war and reflect on the life and works of Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin who is a living legend, a literary hero, and as one observer described him recently, Ethiopia’s 'biblical sage'."</div><div align="left"><em>(more</em>... <a href="http://www.ethiopians.com/tsegaye/">http://www.ethiopians.com/tsegaye/</a> )</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><em><strong></strong></em> </div><div align="left"><em><strong>Selected Poems:</strong></em></div><div align="left"><strong></strong> </div><div align="left"><strong>Dreamer</strong></div><div align="left"></div></span><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">A lover love rejected<br />With a spirit dejected,<br />A monk God-forsaken </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Whose total Faith is shaken,<br />Are less lost than dreamer </span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Into whose peace a " question "<br />Plunged like a knife<br />And woke him to life,<br />To search, to find his way<br />To dodge, to fight his way<br />NOT dream it away !<br /><br /><strong>Guilty?</strong><br />On the grave of my friend, I stood.<br />For blood and flesh, I stayed . . .<br />And with faith I prayed, and prayed;<br />For blood and flesh, he was robbed . . .<br />And with doubt, I hoped, and I hoped.<br />On the grave of my friend, as I stayed...<br />On my future, I brood.<br />I stood on the grave of a man.<br />A tomb-stone of a man, I burdened.<br />The grave of a man, I murdered:<br />And with hope, my future, I sketched,<br />When with prayer, my killer hand, I stretched.<br />On the tomb-stone, of the man, I murdered: . . . Urrahh!!! I won!<br />On my victim's carcass, I climb. While on his tomb, I tread ...<br />My bloody fingers, I spread: Thus to repent, to justify, I have tried ...<br />While I hoped, and prayed, I have cried.<br />And I won, my daily wine, and bread! ... Is it a crime?<br /><br /><strong>Galileo's Apologies</strong><br />Give me not your cold shoulders,<br />Life is but useless if too cool;<br />Hate me not dear friends,<br />For I am but an ambitious fool<br />Whose dream goaded by fate.<br />His time-record in destiny's file.<br />Till eternity inserted: and yet,<br />Has proved but an imbecile.<br />Judge me not dear children.<br />For my cause is but the better<br />Of your own end and of our Earth,<br />Yet made me but, fortune teller.<br />Thus beware to read, honourable babes,<br />While keeping me in your hatred cage<br />In the Book of Time, in To-morrow Tell,<br />My apologies on the last page.<br /><br /><strong>I Remember</strong><br />When, " God! ", I said," why don't You let me choose?"<br />"More castles high and wide, with gardens full of charm,<br />Fountains here and there, more acres of good farm,<br />More golden rings to wear, spectacles and shoes,<br />All these you can; yet have nothing to lose.<br />Because I know, by one push of Your arm,<br />To give, and cause all people to alarm;<br />As life is short I should always amuse!"<br />Then walking out for air I met a child.<br />Who lying by the road in ragged dress,<br />With voice so dead and words he cannot press,<br />To passers-by who looked at him as wild,<br />Stated thus, " I am very soon to die," I have no home, no food, no foot, no eye! "<br /></span><br />For more biographical information and further links to Tsegaye's work, See also: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsegaye_Gabre-Medhin">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsegaye_Gabre-Medhin</a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1141606406341872022006-03-05T18:53:00.000-06:002006-03-14T15:07:27.626-06:00Before & After....What next?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/golden%20dome%20before%20and%20after.2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/golden%20dome%20before%20and%20after.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"><strong>"The Shrine Crisis - </strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"><strong>Words that need to be said"</strong> </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">By Muhammad @</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"><a href="http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com">http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Life is coming back to normal in Baghdad and marketplaces and offices are open again after being shut for 4 days. Although there were a few security incidents today people are mostly looking at these as part of the usual daily situation and not related to the latest shrine crisis.But, what can we learn from this lesson and how can we make benefit from it in avoiding similar problems in the future.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">It's not a secret who was behind the attack on the shrine and I am sure that who did it were the Salafi/Wahabis whether Iraqi or foreigners and with external support from parties planning to disrupt the political process in Iraq.The reason I believe it's the Salafis who did it comes from their own ideology which considers all mosques built upon tombs as places of polytheism and infidelity and thus must be destroyed. This also applies to Sunni shrines like Abu Haneefa and al-Gailani; Salafis consider the Shia and the Sufis their worst enemies and they commonly refer to them in their speech with the term "tomb worshippers" or Mushrikoon Quborioon in Arabic.It's worth reminding that this is not the first time Salafis try to destroy the shrines in Iraq; their armies invaded Iraq back in the 19th century and burned the shrines in Kerbala and Najaf before the Ottoman empire repelled them and stopped them from reaching Baghdad where they were planning to destroy the shrines of al-Kazum, Abu Haneefa and al-Gailani (Shia, Sunni and Sufi respectively).Followers of other sects would not dare do something like this because they fear the wrath of the imams; our culture has many stories about the supernatural powers possessed by the deceased imams. These stories planted fear in our hearts from even talking badly about them, let alone blowing up their tombs!This leaves only one faction that justifies and pushes for destroying these tombs and this is the Salafi ideology.Of course there are some who invest this ideology for political causes and here we come to the second beneficiary who stands behind the first beneficiary who carried out the attack for ideological reasons.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">This second beneficiary is the parties who would like to see the new Iraqi state fall apart and who are scared of the idea of a democratic, stable Iraq next door as such a neighbor would transmit the democratic infection to their peoples. This includes more than one neighboring country; one provides logistics and training, the other provides media support while another one endorses the remnants of the Ba'ath regime who lost a lot of their privileges when Saddam was toppled.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Now that we have outlined the identity of the perpetrators depending on motives, interests and ideology we can move on to talk a little about the reactions to the atrocity which has a lot in common with the reactions to the Danish cartoons (I'm comparing the reactions here, not the actions that triggered them). The two reactions are similar in two aspects a) Overreaction and b) Exploiting the atrocity to serve political causes.As a person who lives in Baghdad I've been following the situation from the early hours after the attack; on Wednesday morning I was on my way to work when I heard the news on the radio and I began watching closely to probe the feelings of the common people. People were at work as they always are, clerks behind their desks, grocers looking after their goods and municipal workers picking trash from the streets and I haven't noticed any unusual feelings among the people I came in contact with. In general life was normal until noon in the Shia majority district of Baghdad and there were absolutely no signs of a crisis of any sort. But on my way home I saw the </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">men in black </span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">take to the streets after Ayatollah Sistani issued his fatwa (I wish my Shia brothers bear with me and read to the end).</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwa on Wednesday that sounded peaceful and normal from the first look but if you look closer at each word you will find that the "safety valve" became the igniter this time.Two years ago the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf was attacked and although this is the holiest shrine for Shia Muslims the incident wasn't met with that much angry reactions instead we heard soothing statements like "these are mere stones and we can rebuild them and make them even better than before".This time things were different because the political situation is different; the Ayatollah called for nationwide protests (and not to attack Sunni mosques) and a week of mourning. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Now let's examine the part that said "do not attack Sunni mosques"…the sentence openly accuses the Sunni of being behind the attack or why would their mosques be mentioned in the first place?In the government statements the term "Takfiri terrorists/Saddami Ba'athists" is the one commonly used but in the Ayatollah's fatwa this was replaced by "Sunni".This fatwa which is sugar-coated with tolerance and restraint is actually pointing at the perpetrator that we-should-not-punish-because-we-are-merciful.So…the protests were not spontaneous like clerics want us to think; in fact the only spontaneous protest was the one in Samarra itself!I live here and I've seen the whole thing. The demonstrations in Baghdad began after the fatwa and I saw how shop keepers unwillingly closed their shops when the </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">men in black </span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">with their arms and loudspeakers ordered them to do so "in the name of the Hawza" and I saw the sad look on the faces of people abandoning their only source of income for a time that could go indefinitely.One might ask why would Iraqis obey such orders?I say, Imagine yourself standing in front of your shop watching the police retreat from the street while angry men with arms come and order you to leave your shop and join the "spontaneous protests"!Believe me you will find no other choice but to join the mob or face the risk of being considered an infidel traitor.I'd also like to point out the provoking language that was used in the calls for many protests. In one example I heard in person, the guy holding the mic said "today they attacked your Imam's shrine and tomorrow they will take your women, so rise up".</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">The reactions and protests were far from spontaneous like clerics claim they were. The protests were organized and under supervision of commanders who have clear goals and those commanders were intent on provoking a reaction that carries clear signs to the Sunni, secular and moderate parties that succeeded in applying substantial pressure on the UIA and won the US on their side.So those radical parties were looking for a justification for a planned crisis to bring back to attention the centuries-long suffering of the Shia and they wanted to gain more support for what they consider legitimate political demands from giving the impression that they are the only targets for terrorism.So, this was planned to prepare the atmosphere for putting the blame on others and sending a message to the other parties that "we cannot contain the anger of the street forever and you have to listen to us and answer our demands if you want us to prevent a catastrophe."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">However, it seems there are also some positive outcomes from this incident and its aftermath; the first one in my opinion was the performance of the Iraqi army which had a good role in restoring order in many places. Actually the past few days showed that our new army is more competent than we were thinking.But the latest events have also showed the brittle structure of the interior ministry and its forces that retreated before the march of the angry mobs (if not joined them in some cases) and I think the statements that came from the meetings of our politicians pointed this out so clearly when Sunni politicians said they wanted the army to replace the police and police commandos in their regions and this indicates growing trust between the people and the army.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">The other positive side is represented by the line we've seen drawn between clerics and politicians.In spite of the attempts of clerics to look like as if they were the defenders of national unity with all their meetings, joint prayers and hugs, the political leaderships got a sense of their growing danger and the meeting at Jafari's home (which al-Hakeem didn't attend) showed that the government is keen to keep the country intact and the government systems as functional as possible to contain the crisis. This meeting indicates that politicians have realized that those clerics whether Sunni or Shia are the origin of the problem and are ready to coup on even their political allies which made the politicians more aware of the danger imposed by clerics on the project of building a state ruled by the law.Clerics will not stop and they will carry on with their plans and I suspect they will launch the next phase of their plan soon after they received instructions from Syria (the Muslim scholars) and from Iran (the Sadrists).The objective of the second phase will to move the conflict from one on the streets to a conflict with America. That’s not my personal opinion, but it's what clerics themselves are saying including Muqtada who returned from Qum in Iran to organize a joint Sunni-Shia demonstration against the occupation!!Now the government has rise to the level of the challenge and proceed to take the most important and critical step and disband religious militias of all sorts and limit the influence of clerics-of any sect-in the decision-making process.I think this is the best time for the new government to tackle this issue as the government now has all the factors that make such a move legitimate and necessary.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">"Samarra crisis: Tying the strings"<br /></span></strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">By Salam Adil @</span><br /></span><a href="http://asterism.blogspot.com"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">http://asterism.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Reading Iraqi blogs lately has made me realise that I am as well, if not better informed about what is happening in Iraq than any overpaid newspaper commentator. So in the spirit of blogging I think I have even more right to publish my own poorly researched highly subjective articles.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">Let me start with two obvious points as described excellently by </span></span><a href="http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/02/shrine-crisiswords-that-need-to-be.html"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Mohammed in Iraq The Model</span></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">. The Sunni fundamentalist Wahabis were behind the bombing of the Samarra mosque. Probably people from Saudi Arabia as this bombing also coincided with an attempted bombing of the largest refinery in Saudi Arabia.The second obvious point is that the violence following the bombing was well-planned and organised. People did not spontaneously decide to put on black clothes and go occupy the nearest mosque.If you are worried about who actually carried out the bombing you are asking the wrong question. Any number of groups in Iraq have the means and the ability to bomb the shrine. the real question is how did they get away with it so easily. If you have read the reports, you will know that setting up the explosives would have involved a lot of heavy drilling and about 12 hours hard work. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">The big scandal is that there was no proper security around the shrine and the perpetrators knew it.Security is in the hands of the Iraqi police and internal defense forces and these are in the hands of the Shia militias. This bombing could not have happened without their knowledge. So the next question this raises is why would the Shia militias be so happy to allow one of their shrines to be destroyed like that. The answer to this can be seen in the political process.Things had not been going to well for the political Shia. They made a lot of gains in the past year and stood to lose everything. They had control of the interior ministry a working majority in the interim government and the lions share of the vote in the election. But the negotiations after the election were going pear-shaped. They did not have enough votes or supporters to get the two-thirds majority needed to form a government. The Kurds, encouraged by the Americans were digging in their heels to prevent the Shia getting control of the key defense and interior ministries and the Americans were enticing smaller parties in the UIA to switch sides. This would have made the UIA an actual minority in the parliament and allowed Iyad Allawi to be shoe-horned into the role of Prime Minister. Something extreme needed to be done to break this downward cycle and the Shia parties are nowhere near ready to burn bridges with America.Given this situation a civil war would have been a big advantage. It cements the UIA back together again as the smaller Shia parties would not be able to survive (literally) without the protection of the big Shia militias. It also gives the big Shia parties the justification to override the stalled constitutional process and go ahead with the formation of a break-away Shia state in the south that they had always been planning. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">I am also sure that they expected American politicians fearing upcoming elections would be scared to hell of the violence and would make any number of concessions to the Shia.However, I do no think the civil war plan played out the way the Shia militias expected. In one word Sadr happened. Instead of falling into line with SCIRI and Badr, Sadr jumped into an alliance with the Sunnis. If the Shia militias had continued their civil war plan they would have to face splitting the Shia movement down the middle with Sadr's supporters allied with the Sunnis against them. With the positive reaction of the Iraqi people to this unlikely alliance, victory would not have seemed so certain. So after staring into the abyss the Shia politicians and their counterparts in the militias would have been forced to break off the civil war and go down the political route again.Hence Jaafari's little trip to Turkey that incensed the Kurds so much. I would not be surprised if he went there to agree on what happens to the Kurds if the Shia form their own state.So what now?</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;">It is clear now that the Americans are no longer the main problem for the Iraqi people. They have come out of all this as impotent and irrelevant. The only thing the American army was able to do during this civil crisis was disappear in their bases and hope no one knocked on the gates. If America is not willing to contribute another 100,000+ soldiers to Iraq they might as well not bother.Now the main enemy for the Iraq people and the main danger for the region is the current government. It creates the situation for civil war because of the deadlock inherently written into its constitution. Parties in the government are forced into increasingly violent actions to break any deadlocks.It is also encourages civil war because it encourages the parties to form breakaway sectarian states with their own access to oil wealth. Unfortunately the leaders of the parties are to greedy and stupid to realise that such a move will inflame the sectarian divisions across Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and spark an international war over the oil-producing regions.The best solution is to drop the whole constitutional process. Iraqis must form a national unity committee and start from an entirely Iraq perspective. This is in the interests of the Kurds who will be fed to the turkish dogs otherwise and for the Sunnis who are left sitting in the desert. and the Shia because it will prevent a war that can kill millions.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1141245102294671802006-03-01T14:31:00.000-06:002006-03-01T15:11:52.476-06:00Ash Wednesday<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/ashwednesdaypainting.5.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/ashwednesdaypainting.3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/ashwednesdaypainting.4.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em><span style="font-family:georgia;">"Remember! Y</span></em></strong></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em><span style="font-family:georgia;">ou are dust, and unto dust you shall return."</span></em></strong><br /><strong></strong></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>A Meditation on Death: </strong></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>“The Imitation of Christ," </strong><strong>by Thomas á Kempis (d.1471)</strong></span></span><br /><strong></strong><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Very soon the end of your life will be at hand: consider, therefore, the state of your soul. Today a man is here; tomorrow he is gone. (I Machabees 2:63) And when he is out of sight, he is soon out of mind. Oh, how dull and hard is the heart of man, which thinks only of the present, and does not provide against the future! You should order your every deed and thought, as though today were the day of your death. Had you a good conscience, death would hold no terrors for you; (Luke 12:37) even so, it were better to avoid sin than to escape death. (Wisdom 4:16) If you are not ready to die today, will tomorrow find you better prepared? (Matthew 24:44) Tomorrow is uncertain; and how can you be sure of tomorrow? Of what use is a long life, if we amend so little? Alas, a long life often adds to our sins rather than to our virtue!<br /><br />Would to God that we might spend a single day really well! Many recount the years since their conversion, but their lives show little sign of improvement. If it is dreadful to die, it is perhaps more dangerous to live long. Blessed is the man who keeps the hour of his death always in mind, and daily prepares himself to die. If you have ever seen anyone die, remember that you, too, must travel the same road. (Hebrews 9:27)<br /><br />Each morning remember that you may not live until evening; and in the evening, do not presume to promise yourself another day. Be ready at all times, (Luke 21:36) and so live that death may never find you unprepared. Many die suddenly and unexpectedly; for at an hour that we do not know the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 24:44) When your last hour strikes, you will begin to think very differently of your past life, and grieve deeply that you have been so careless and remiss.<br /><br />Happy and wise is he who endeavours to be during his life as he wishes to be found at his death. For these things will afford us sure hope of a happy death; perfect contempt of the world; fervent desire to grow in holiness; love of discipline; the practice of penance; ready obedience; self-denial; the bearing of every trial for the love of Christ. While you enjoy health, you can do much good; but when sickness comes, little can be done. Few are made better by sickness, and those who make frequent pilgrimages seldom acquire holiness by so doing.<br /><br />Do not rely on friends and neighbours, and do not delay the salvation of your soul to some future date, for men will forget you sooner than you think. It is better to make timely provision and to acquire merit in this life, than to depend on the help of others. And if you have no care for your own soul, who will have care for you in time to come? The present time is most precious; now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. (2Corinthians 6:2) It is sad that you do not employ your time better, when you may win eternal life hereafter. The time will come when you will long for one day or one hour in which to amend; and who knows whether it will be granted?<br /><br />Dear soul, from what peril and fear you could free yourself, if you lived in holy fear, mindful of your death. Apply yourself so to live now, that at the hour of death, you may be glad and unafraid. Learn now to die to the world, that you may begin to live with Christ. (Romans 6:8) Learn now to despise ail earthly things, that you may go freely to Christ. Discipline your body now by penance, that you may enjoy a sure hope of salvation.<br /><br />Foolish man, how can you promise yourself a long life, when you are not certain of a single day? (Luke 12:20) How many have deceived themselves in this way, and been snatched unexpectedly from life! You have often heard how this man was slain by the sword; another drowned; how another fell from a high place and broke his neck; how another died at table how another met his end in play. One perishes by fire, another by the sword, another from disease, another at the hands of robbers. Death is the end of all men (Ecclesiasticus 7:2) and the life of man passes away suddenly as a shadow. (Psalm 38:7; 143:4)<br /><br />Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Act now, dear soul; do all you can; for you know neither the hour of your death, nor your state after death. While you have time, gather the riches of everlasting life. (Luke 12:33; Galatians 6:8) Think only of your salvation, and care only for the things of God. Make friends now, by honouring the Saints of God and by following their example, that when this life is over, they may welcome you to your eternal home. (Luke 16:9)<br /><br />Keep yourself a stranger and pilgrim upon earth, (I Peter 2:11), to whom the affairs of this world are of no concern. Keep your heart free and lifted up to God, for here you have no abiding city. (Hebrews 13:14) Daily direct your prayers and longings to Heaven, that at your death your soul may merit to pass joyfully into the presence of God.<br /></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1140498512623721992006-02-20T23:00:00.000-06:002006-02-20T23:08:33.086-06:00Aniconic Self-Portrait<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/wordpix2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/400/wordpix2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is a 'word cloud' built from the vocabulary of my web-log, (the most frequently appearing words are printed in a larger font.) Thanks to my friend over at <a href="http://planetgrenada.blogspot.com">http://planetgrenada.blogspot.com</a> for keeping me up to date on the happenings of the "cool kids" in the blogsphere ; )Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1139775931704425442006-02-12T13:45:00.000-06:002006-02-22T11:56:28.773-06:00An Iconic Peace<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/muhammadoncamel-jesusondonkey.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/400/muhammadoncamel-jesusondonkey.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Muhammad on a camel, and Jesus on a donkey, greet the prophet Isaiah</em>.<br /><br />Here is an 'icon of peace,' drawn long before the beginning of the current 'cartoon war.' This remarkable image is taken from a 14th century MS of the Ilkhanate empire in Iran and Iraq. Clearly, that "medieval age" was a much more tolerant time than our current "enlightened era" - a time of real respect and honest dialogue among the three, great, Arbahamic faiths. God willing, we will move beyond 'cartoon wars' one day, and again start to draw pictures of religious co-existence.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1139460473829166992006-02-08T22:47:00.000-06:002006-02-13T00:59:04.000-06:00The Cartoon War<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/world_02_13-302_small.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/world_02_13-302_small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/cartoon%20war.jpg"></a>f.y.i.<br />A new blog devoted exclusively to you know what and who (s.a.s.)<br /><br /><a href="http://face-of-muhammed.blogspot.com/">Face of Muhammed - Drawings of Muhammed</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1139016812528266772006-02-03T19:33:00.000-06:002006-02-03T19:46:19.016-06:00Hamas & Ibn Khaldun: Going for the Cylcle?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/hamasik.2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/hamasik.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span>f.y.i. A fantastic article taken from an intelligent and well-written weblogger, I just discovered. Add this site to your bookmarks! <a href="http://www.ahjur.org/tabsir">www.ahjur.org/tabsir</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">I am not an expert on the Palestine issue, nor am I trained to think in the apocalyptic terms sometimes engaged by pundits and enraged politicians who forget that political science is more often an art or even pure fiction than a replicable analytical technique. But the overwhelming election victory of </span><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A9856A9-9F5F-49D6-BFF3-1C7091136234.htm">Hamas</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"> (which might equally be seen as the crushing defeat of Fatah) is too intriguing to pass up. Much of the speculation in the media is about tactics: Will Hamas give up support of violent acts against Israelis? Will Israel stubbornly refuse to negotiate with a group it would rather see fade into oblivion? Will the United States see this democratic experiment as a bridge or a barrier on the so-called road map to peace? In all this I cannot help but think about what the famous 14th century North African savant </span><a href="http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/klf.htm">Ibn Khaldun</a><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"> would have said if he could be interviewed from the grave for the </span><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">New Tunis Times</span></em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">. It might go something like this… </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">NTT: “It is an honor, Mr. Bin Khaldun, to meet a man who some Western scholars think was the Arab intellectual precursor of the sociologists Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, the economist Adam Smith and the Italian political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “Actually, it is Ibn Khaldun, my friend. I am not yet ready to be cast into the Bin of discarded Islamic icons. And in my day and age we had no Misters and certainly nowhere near the number of mistresses to be imagined in Montesquieu’s Paris. I am only a humble scholar who has written a simple introduction to the study of history. If these other lesser lights you mention plagiarize what I wrote, it is none of my affair.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">NTT: “My apologies, Sir.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “Again, you seem not to know much about my world. I was neither sired nor ‘Sir-ed’ in Tunis, where my family comes from, or Cairo, where I taught for a spell.” </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">NTT: “Perhaps you have a view on the current election in Palestine, where an avowedly militant group called Hamas just won an impressive victory at the polls. What do you think will happen next?”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “I do not claim to be expert on 21st century history, and I must admit my surprise that the world has lasted this long without an apocalyptic end to the misery humans bring upon themselves and the rest of the world God created. But I have heard that the problem stems from the powerful state of Israel once it occupied this holy land more than half a century ago. Some Israeli politicians, if not the majority, view Hamas as little more than a bunch of wild Bedouin nomads. For them nomads are rough, savage and uncultured, and their presence is always inimical to civilization; however, I believe that at its core the people who support Hamas are hardy, frugal, uncorrupt in morals, freedom-loving and self-reliant, and so make excellent fighters. In addition, they have a strong sense of ‘asabiya, which can be translated as ‘group cohesion’ or ‘social solidarity.’ This greatly enhances their appeal during a time of military occupation. Western-oriented urban centers like Tel Aviv, by contrast, are the seats of the crafts, the sciences, the arts and culture. Yet secular luxury corrupts many Israelis, and as a result they see opposition as a liability to the state, even women and children who throw rocks at tanks. Morality is completely relaxed and the arts of defending justice and of negotiating with the enemy are forgotten, so they are no match for voting extremists.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">NTT: “I am not quite sure I understand that last point. How will Hamas assume power, since the Israeli state is not about to be obliterated by rhetoric?”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “If we think of Hamas as religious-driven nomads who conquer the minds of ordinary people, remember that their elected leaders establish a new political dynasty. At first the new rulers retain their Islamic virtues and solidarity, but soon they seek to concentrate all authority in their own hands. Increasingly they rule through a bureaucracy of clients, perhaps taking money from other conservative Islamist groups. As their former supporters lose their moral suasion there is an increasing use of the secular political process, and getting elected comes to be more important than proper ruling. Luxury corrupts ethical life, and the population of support decreases. Just look at what happened to Fatah. Rising expenditure demands higher taxes, which discourage production and eventually result in lower revenues.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">TNN: “Are you saying you support the economic policies of the Bush administration? As an Arab I would assume you revile American policies.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “Well Adam Smith took my idea of an invisible hand underlying all modes of production, with some hands perhaps less invisible than others. But the problem is not so much with trickle down economics as it is with trickle down politics, when elected officials skim off the people’s wealth and live in expensive villas; this is probably why Fatah was voted out of office. I really do not care what the Bush administration does as long as they just leave my part of the world alone. I wish they would invent an energy substitute for crude oil and let the Middle East get back to welcoming tourists and building shopping malls.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">TNN: “So what happens next in the process?”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “The elected officials of Hamas or any newly emerging party and their clients become isolated from the groups that originally brought them to power. Such a process of decline is taken to last three generations, or about one hundred and twenty years. Religion is a major influence on the nature of such a model; when ‘asabiya is reinforced by religion its strength is multiplied, and great empires can be founded. This is what both Hamas and the Iranian ayatollahs are counting on. The theory is that religion can also reinforce the cohesion of an established state. Yet the endless cycle of flowering and decay shows no evolution or progress except for that from the primitive form of violence against civilians to a civilized parliament like the Knesset where words replace bullets. Although the damage may be as bad in the end.” </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">TNN: “So do you really think it will take three generations or one hundred and twenty years before the crisis between the Palestinians and Israel is resolved?”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “Well some think that is how long it took Noah to build his ark. As a medieval rationalist, I would not say this, but consider the complications in the process of addressing deep-seated wrongs when all sides feel aggrieved. It can be noted that those people who, whether they inhabit the desert of Gaza or settled areas and cities in the West Bank, live a life of abundance and have all the good things to eat, die more quickly than others when a drought, famine or stringent government security comes upon them. This was the case, as I know well from seven centuries ago, with the Berbers of the Maghrib and the inhabitants of the city of Fez, and as we hear, of Cairo. It is not so with the Palestinian Arabs who inhabit waste regions and deserts, or with the inhabitants of regions where the glass house tomato grows and whose principal food is cheap imported spaghetti, or with the present day inhabitants of Ifriqiyah (Libya) whose principal income is from oil. When an Israeli missile strikes their houses, it does not kill as many of them as of the other group of people, and few, if any, die for any moral result. Those who die in such raids are victims of their previous habitual state of fighting back, not of the democratic hunger that now afflicts them for the first time. “</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">NTT: “But why does it take so long for change?”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “Think of it this way. Prestige is an accident that affects human beings. It comes into being and decays inevitably. No human being exists who possesses an unbroken pedigree of nobility from Adam down to himself. Nobility originates in the state of being outside. That is, being outside of leadership and nobility and being in a base, humble station, devoid of prestige, as is the case with every created thing. But this reaches its end in a single political party within four successive generations. This is as follows: The builders of the party’s glory know what it costs them to do the work, and keep the qualities that created past glory and made it last. The candidates who come after had personal contact with these founders and thus learned those things from them. However, the future candidate is inferior to the earlier in this respect, inasmuch as a person who learns things through study is inferior to a person who knows them from practical application. The third generation must be content with imitation and negative attack ads on the media and, in particular, with reliance upon a very narrow view of tradition. These future party members are inferior to those of the second generation, inasmuch as a person who relies upon tradition is inferior to a person who exercises judgment. The fourth generation, then, is inferior to the preceding ones in every respect. Its members have lost the qualities that preserved the party platform of their prior glory. They imagine that the earlier principles were not built through application and effort. They think that it was something due to their specific view of religion from the very beginning by virtue of the mere fact of their descent, and not something that resulted from group effort and individual qualities. For they see the great respect in which the newly elected leader is held by the people, but eventually the future leader does not know how that respect originated and what the reason for it was. He, for I doubt Hamas will elect a woman as leader in the near future, imagines it is due to his party descent and nothing else. He keeps away from those in whose group feeling he shares, thinking that he is better than they. This is the way of all flesh.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">TNN: Were you the first to say “the way of all flesh.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">IK: “No, I read it in a Maureen Dowd op-ed piece last week. “</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Luke Warmonger</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1138858545472421472006-02-01T23:16:00.000-06:002006-02-01T23:58:06.393-06:00"Watching Hamas"<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/democracy%20intifada.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/200/democracy%20intifada.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/democracy%20intifada.jpg"></a><span style="font-size:180%;">!!! </span><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">سنة جديدة سعادة </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;"></span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/main/start/"></a><em>"May this be a happy and prosperous Islamic New Year for all the people of that land, so anomalously, called 'Holy.'"<br /></em><br /><strong>f.y.i.</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>ELECTION DISPATCH<br />WATCHING HAMAS<br /></strong>by Ari Shavit (<em>The New Yorker</em>)<br />Issue of 2006-02-06 // Posted 2006-01-30<br /><br />Shalom Harari is a former Israeli Military Intelligence officer who has been following the rise of Hamas—the Islamic Resistance Movement—for almost a quarter century. An awkward, voluble man of nearly sixty, Harari gained a measure of fame in intelligence circles when he began to tell his colleagues in internal reports that Hamas, founded in 1987, and initially a small outgrowth of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, would, with its platform of armed resistance, grassroots politics, and Islamic ideology, come to dominate Palestinian politics. Six years ago, while most of his colleagues were anticipating peace, Harari was rightly predicting a second intifada; that uprising led to the decline of Yasir Arafat’s creation and power base, the Fatah Party.<br />Last Thursday night, just hours after it was announced that Hamas had crushed Fatah in legislative elections––an event that caused some right-wing Israeli politicians to declare the birth of a terrorist “Hamastan”—Harari welcomed a visitor to his home, in the town of Yavne, near the Mediterranean. While most Israeli and Arab-language news channels were broadcasting scenes of Hamas supporters in the Gaza Strip waving green flags as they celebrated their stunning victory, Harari had tuned in to a seemingly tedious military ceremony on Egyptian state television. “Look at the wives of the generals,” he said. “Many of them are wearing traditional head scarves. This was not so ten years ago. And this tells you where we are heading. When the women of Egypt’s pro-Western military élite are dressed like that, you know that the Hamas victory is not about Palestine. It’s about the entire Middle East.”<br /><br />Harari, who served as an intelligence officer in the West Bank and then as the adviser on Palestinian affairs to the Israeli Defense Ministry, is still closely connected to his former colleagues, and he said he had heard that, some weeks ago, the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, who was afraid of a Hamas rout at the polls, begged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to exert United States pressure and postpone the scheduled elections. Rice refused, Harari said, and told Abbas to go forward. (A State Department spokesman declined to confirm the details of their conversation.)<br />And yet Harari would like to believe that the American “mistake”––if that is what it was––was a blessing in disguise. “At least, now we know what we are faced with,” he said. “Now we can make a real diagnosis and understand what is truly the malaise.”<br /><br />Harari said that he first took note of the Palestinian Islamists in the early nineteen-eighties, shortly after the Iranian revolution, when Islamists won student elections in the prestigious universities of the West Bank. A decade later, Islamists won elections in chambers of commerce in the occupied territories and, more recently, started to win in municipal elections. Now Hamas has taken control of the parliament, he said, and is sure to challenge Abbas for the Presidency.<br />But look around, Harari said: “In Jordan, too, wherever there are free elections––trade unions, student unions, professional guilds––the Islamists have the upper hand. If the Hashemite kings”––Hussein and Abdullah––“had not played all kinds of tricks, the Islamists would have had a large representation in parliament as well. And when Egypt held its American-inspired parliamentary elections recently, the number of seats won by the Muslim Brotherhood rose fivefold. Throughout the Middle East, the Muslim Brotherhood is the main power with grassroots support. The Islamists are less corrupt. They are the ones with integrity and compassion. They are of the people and they speak for the people. Today in the Arab world, the choice is clear between democratically elected Islamists and Western-leaning dictators.”<br /><br />Rising heavily from the sofa in his living room, Harari held up a small prayer carpet he acquired in Gaza almost ten years ago. The rug had been woven by handicapped children in a philanthropic workshop run by Yasir Arafat’s brother, Fathi. “Look at it,” Harari said. “It has a map of the entire land—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. But the land is all green. All Muslim. No place for Jews here, no mention of Israel. Acre, Jaffa, Nablus—no Tel Aviv. Yet this was woven in a Fatah institution. Back in the Oslo era, the Hamas terminology was already taking over Arafat’s movement.<br />“Now look at these campaign posters,” he went on, gesturing at his collection. “They are all from recent weeks. Notice the difference: while the Hamas ads are calm and tranquil, with no hint of violence, the Fatah ads are full of guns and grenades and jihad rhetoric. While Hamas projects religious dignity, Fatah goes back to its aggressive revolutionary ethos. There was no real talk of peace. The decades of work that Hamas did in mosques and schools and charity organizations transformed Palestinian society from within. What suddenly erupted today has been simmering beneath the surface for a generation. There was not one moderate option that represented the whole Palestinian people. Americans, Europeans, and moderate Israelis like me wanted to believe that Arafat and Abbas were the sole representatives of the Palestinian people, but they were not. Hamas claimed all along that it had the support of forty per cent of the Palestinians, and it was probably right. Among the fundamentalists, the idea that Islam is superior to other religions has become predominant. Long before it took over the Palestinian parliament, Hamas managed to turn what we thought to be a national conflict into a religious war.”<br /><br />Harari, as a retired brigadier general, admits to being impressed by the resilience of the Hamas leadership in the face of Israeli attacks. The issue, of course, is whether this revolutionary movement, whose charter is devoted to the elimination of Israel, could develop into a ruling party interested in territorial compromise. On that Harari is doubtful. “It would take years before real negotiations could resume,” he said. “An over-all peace agreement is out of the question for a long time. ”<br />Yet the impact of the Hamas victory, he said, is not local but regional. “As we speak,” he said, “there are growing fears not only in Israel but in Jordan, Egypt, and even Syria. The Hamas victory is a Middle East earthquake. Its shock waves will be felt in every town between Casablanca and Baghdad.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1138564808427773122006-01-29T14:00:00.000-06:002006-02-01T23:00:40.030-06:00"The Raven"<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/Paul_Gustave_Dore_Raven1.4.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/400/Paul_Gustave_Dore_Raven1.2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><em>In memoriam</em>: <strong>Lenore</strong></span><strong> </strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">(E.A. Poe first published this, perhaps the most famous of all Armerican poems, in the <em>New York Evening Mirror </em>on this day, January 29, in 1845.)</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Only this and nothing more." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Nameless here for evermore. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">This it is and nothing more." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Darkness there and nothing more. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Merely this and nothing more. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">'Tis the wind and nothing more. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Perched, and sat, and nothing more. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Though its answer little meaning--little relevancy bore;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">With such name as "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Then the bird said "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Of 'Never--nevermore.'" </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Meant in croaking "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">She shall press, ah, nevermore! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor;</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:130%;">Shall be lifted--nevermore! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1137426933857894692006-01-16T09:55:00.000-06:002006-02-01T21:03:06.676-06:00Baba Yuhanna Bulus II<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/pope_kuftaro.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/pope_kuftaro.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Will Dialogue Survive The Death of Pope John Paul II?</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Pope John Paul II was, in many ways, the Muslim world's best friend among Christians in the world today. After his death this week, are there more friends waiting to follow his example?</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">By Zahed Amanullah, April 6, 2005</span></strong><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">With the death of Pope John Paul II this week at the age of 84, many </span><a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/4/6/latest/20050406091528&sec=Latest">Muslims</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> around the world </span><a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-03-voa30.cfm">reflected</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> on the man who did more to bridge the gap of understanding between Christians (erm, the Catholic ones) and Muslims than nearly any other. The pope's death "is a big loss for the Catholic Church and the Islamic world," said Sheik Sayed Tantawi, the head of Egypt's Al-Azhar University. Ahead of this Friday's funeral at the Vatican (sorry </span><a href="http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=76562">Charlie</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">), the Muslim world marked the occasion with periods of </span><a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=13990">mourning</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> and </span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504040043apr04,1,741533.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true">remembrance</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">. Even members of the fledgling Taliban said his ideas were "</span><a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL198891.htm">worth considering</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">." In his 1994 </span><a href="http://www.baou.com/newswire/main.php?action=recent&rid=20144">book</a><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> Crossing the Threshold of Hope</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">, Pope John Paul noted that "the image of believers in Allah who, without caring about time or place, fall to their knees and immerse themselves in prayer remains a model for all those who invoke the true God." During his 27 years as pontiff, John Paul II was the first Pope to visit a mosque (indeed, Muslim countries), and personally </span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/789595.stm">pardoned</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> his would-be Muslim assassin, who made an attempt on his life in 1981 (he later pardoned </span><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/26/pope.breakdancers.ap/">breakdancers</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> as well). Views on Islam will be a </span><a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pope-islam,0,361499.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines">key factor</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> in determining the next pope. "We have to learn to live with Islam," </span><a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pope-islam,0,361499.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines">says</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington. "We have to learn how to dialogue with Islam." One of the current prospects (with good betting </span><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1112591521682B211">odds</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">) is Nigeria's Cardinal Francis Arinze, a point man on Islam for the Vatican for over 20 years (he would also be the first African pope in 1,500 years). Over the next several weeks, cardinals will choose between him and many others - Italy's Dionigi Tettamanzi, Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, and Germany's Joseph Ratzinger - gauging their abilities to foster </span><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0404pope-challenge04.html">interfaith</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> dialogue with the Muslim world. Still, Muslims may rightly fear that the best in Catholic-Islamic relations is behind them. "At the heart of Islam is the call to stand in submission before God," </span><a href="http://www.freep.com/news/religion/crumm4e_20050404.htm">said</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> Eide Alawan, a Muslim activist from Michigan. "Through his doctrines, he did that. He was in total submission to God. And, in that sense, he was a Muslim."</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of alt.muslim. He is based in London, England.</span></em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1134970571772577952005-12-18T23:36:00.000-06:002006-02-08T18:32:08.846-06:00Kizilbash - What is your religion?<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/kizilbash.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/400/kizilbash.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><em><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">Kizilbash – for the love of the living Imam : </span></em><br />- http://<a href="http://www.kizilbash.squarespace.com">kizilbash.squarespace.com</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">What is your religion?</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;">"But what is your religion?" the young lady asked. Kizilbash didn't know exactly what to say. He paused for a moment, then the answer came, "If you ask my skin, 'What is your religion?' it will reply, 'I am Sunni,' because there is no inward without an outward. But if you ask my inner parts, they will say, 'We are Shia,' because there is no outward without an inward. My heart, the storehouse of the secret of secrets, proudly says, 'I am Alawi,' for blasphemy is the passport of the Lovers. If you ask my eyes, they will say, 'The right of us is Jewish and the left of us is Christian,' because one sees no life without law and the other sees no law without spirit. My hands are Hindu, because there is no belief without action and no action without reaction, and my ears are Buddhist, for they hear the voice of God in silence. My feet are atheist, for the dust of the earth knows nothing of God."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Typesetting;font-size:180%;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1133230567111277432005-11-28T20:16:00.000-06:002005-11-28T22:52:53.633-06:00Through The Looking Glass<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/alice.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/alice.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">Through The Looking Glass: Nine Danger Signs Of Militant Islam</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The purported "danger signs" of militant Islam appear often in the American landscape. Trouble is, they are found mostly among extremist Christians.</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">By Sheila Musaji, October 27, 2005 (Posted @ alt.muslim)</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">On Monday, October 24th, Frontpagemag.com published an article entitled </span><a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19927">The Nine Signs</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> by Jamie Glazov. This was an interview with Dave Holly of the </span><a href="http://www.unitedamericancommittee.org/">United American Committee</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> which purports to give the nine danger signs of militant Islam. Only two weeks ago the same group published an article (</span><a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/008497.php">The Seven Danger Signs of Militant Islam</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">) which they are promoting as some sort of a litmus test for Muslims and plan to distribute to Islamic leaders to sign and help promote. This group appears to be prone to conspiracy theories as shown by a </span><a href="http://uacblog.blogspot.com/">recent entry</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> on their blog which makes unfounded and false claims, as pointed out by the </span><a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB112916286283267316-O39SvqcNbsV9sTV_aMSZuVkW4iE_20051020.html?mod=blogs">Wall Street Journal</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">.I am certain that given a little time this list of signs will grow. Here are my responses to this idiocy propogated by </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">extremist Christians</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">. These responses are not given in the spirit of dialogue and mutual understanding in which I believe deeply, but in the spirit of aggrieved desperation. It is my prayer that the extremists among all faiths will stop pushing for a war between the two major faith groups on earth and stop inciting the ignorant to hatred and mutual distrust and animosity - for the sake of all of humanity.The following are the "signs", my responses, and examples of how each of these signs fail.</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 1: Justification of any Islamic terrorism, Palestinian or otherwise.</span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Which definition of terrorism? If you are speaking about suicide bombing or violence targeted at civilians, then that point has already been addressed by most legitimate Muslim scholars worldwide - it is forbidden by Islam and falls under the title of hirabah. A lengthy list of these statements and fatwas can be found at </span><a href="http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/2005jul_comments.php?id=733_0_39_60_C">Muslim Voices Against Terrorism</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: Pat Robertson's </span><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article307946.ece">call</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> for the assassination of the leader of a sovereign foreign state is an example of an American Christian cleric not only justifying but encouraging terrorism. Is this a danger sign of militant Christianity?</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 2: Supporting or refusing to condemn Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, Hamas, or other terrorists or other terrorist organizations by name.</span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Condemning Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda is no problem and has already been done by Muslim scholars. Since even the UN is having a problem coming up with an accepted definition of "terrorism" to agree to condemn "other terrorists or other terrorist organizations" without knowing who is making the designation would be foolish. For example, there have been some countries (Russia and China for example) who were quick to try to place the label of "terrorist" on legitimate independence movements who were carrying out non-violent protests. The Serbs tried to convince the world that the "ethnic Bosnians" (read Muslims) were terrorists during the time we now have proof the Serbs were carrying out ethnic cleansing against them. Any condemnation would have to be on a case by case basis. There have been a number of fatwas specifically </span><a href="http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/2005jan_comments.php?id=664_0_31_0_C">against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: Irish (Catholic) American support for the IRA has been longstanding and </span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1563119.stm">problematic.</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> Does this support or lack of condemnation say something about the Irish Catholic community? Is this a sign of militant Christianity?</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 3: Promoting jihad for Muslims to fight against what they determine is "injustice" or "aggression".</span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">The US government went to war with Iraq in what they determined to be a fight against aggression. WWII was fought to battle injustice and aggression. Does this mean that no Muslim country on earth has the right to fight against injustice or aggression? Or that no citizen of any country no matter the tyranny they live under has the right to do so?If what is being referred to are the illegal calls for jihad by individuals who have no right under Islamic Law (Sharia) to make such a call (e.g. Osama bin Laden) then no problem. The Amman Conference of Muslim scholars clearly </span><a href="http://www.jordanembassyus.org/new/pr/pr07062005.shtml">stated</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> that no one except qualified scholars are qualified to issue any fatwas or Islamic legal rulings.Muslim scholars have also clearly spelled out the </span><a href="http://www.religioscope.com/info/doc/jihad/2002_scholars_definition.htm">difference between</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> legitimate jihad and terrorism just as Christian scholars have spelled out the difference between terrorism and just war.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: The following statement by Ann Coulter is an example of a Christian promoting a Crusade against what she perceives to be injustice or aggression - "</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity... That's war. And this is war." </span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Is this a danger sign of militant Christianity?</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 4: Demands for Sharia law in the West, or denying that Sharia forbids equal rights for women and members of religions other than Islam.</span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">A community might make a request to have family courts which operate under Sharia law - just as some Jewish communities have family courts which operate under Jewish law. Whether they win or lose their case is up to their local communities and whatever the decision the Muslim community involved must abide by the laws of the nation they live in. Sharia law is a dynamic and changing system - just as any system of law. It may be possible that Sharia law in a particular community or nation is interpreted in such a way that the rights of women and minorities are not protected. This does not mean that Sharia in general is by its very nature required to deny these protections.The example given in the article was the murder of Theo van Gogh which was a criminal act under both Dutch and Islamic (Sharia) law. Even if the film in question was considered blasphemous, the Sharia rules for blasphemy do not apply to non-Muslims, and both Islamic and Dutch law require a legitimate court and a trial to decide innocence or guilt and punishment. This criminal act of an individual is no more reflective of Islam than the murder of abortion doctors is reflective of Christianity.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Examples of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: The following quote by a Christian minister is an example of a militant Christian view. It appears that Christians believe that they own the entire world: "</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">This is our land. This is our world. This is our heritage, and with God's help, we shall claim this nation for Christianity. And no power on earth can stop us." (D. James Kennedy)</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">As to how people of other faiths are viewed: </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">The God of Islam is not the same God. He's not the God of the Christian or Jewish faiths. It's a different God, and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion. (Rev. Franklin Graham)</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Their view of women is distorted. Christian women should </span><a href="http://www.gotquestions.org/roles-husband-wife-family.html">submit to their husbands</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> and Christian husbands should be the </span><a href="http://www.baptist2baptist.net/b2barticle.asp?ID=235">leader, ruler or person in authority</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> in the family. </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 5: Demanding that Americans accommodate the public expression of Islamic laws, customs, and practices that conflict with, or are harmful to American laws, customs, and practices.</span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">The example given in the article is the case of Sultaana Freeman, a Muslim woman from Florida who sued the Department of Motor Vehicles to permit a photo of her veiled face to be used on her driver's license. As a Muslim, I am glad that the Florida court ruled against her. Of course an ID photo needs to serve the function of ID, and further I would hope that no one is allowed to drive if they are wearing this form of niqab as it would restrict their vision. She has the right to dress any way she pleases and to interpret the Islamic modesty requirements as liberally or conservatively as she pleases, but must then also accept the consequences of those choices. I assume that she is an American citizen, and if so, she has the right to request anything she wants of the legal system, but the legal system has the right to deny her that request. Any American citizen has the right to object to any law they wish and to work to change that law if they so choose. As long as a particular law is in effect they are required to abide by the law or face the legal consequences.Any American has the right to file any law suit they want no matter how frivolous as long as they are willing to pay the costs involved, and to abide by the decision of the court.As far as "customs and practices" - it would be impossible to generalize such vague concepts or all Americans. The Amish drive their buggies on the highway - and they have the right to do so, that isn't the normal custom or practice, that doesn't make them un-American.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: Jerry Falwell said, "</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">One day, I hope in the next ten years, I trust that we will have more Christian day schools than there are public schools. I hope I will live to see the day when we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over and Christians will be running them. What a happy day that will be!"</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">. Is this an example of militant Christianity?</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 6: Denying that Muslims were involved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and other attacks around the world. </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">There are all sorts of conspiracy theories out there - some more lunatic than others. People have the right to deny or affirm any crazy theory they want under freedom of speech and thought. And, the rest of us have the right to call them lunatics.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: There are Christians who insist the world is no more than 6,000 years old and that creation took place in </span><a href="http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c002.html">six normal 24-hour days.</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> The Christian Identity Movement </span><a href="http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n3/holodeni.html">denies the Holocaust</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">.</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 7: Refusal to cooperate with or inciting others not to cooperate with authorities or standard security procedures. </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">During the peace protests in Washington DC, a number of individuals carried out acts of civil disobedience - they refused to cooperate with the authorities and were arrested. This is a long standing American form of protest. There are religious communities that refuse to pay the part of their taxes that go for military spending, and they pay the consequences of that action. Individuals have refused to cooperate with the draft and gone to prison instead. Librarians have resisted cooperation with "standard security procedures" implemented with the Patriot act. This too is the right of any American. Martin Luther King comes to mind as one example of a Christian who refused to cooperate with authority.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: The following quote from an article on </span><a href="http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?534">Christian civil disobedience</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> ought to speak for itself: "</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">When the government acts in a way which violates Christian conscience under the tests set out above, Christians have several ways to work with the situation. They can seek legislation which changes that which they abhor, they can use the courts to determine whether the law actually applies to them in the way it seems to, they can use the courts in an effort to overturn the law as being a violation of the Constitution, or they can submit to the government while refusing to obey the law."</span></em><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 8: Branding Progressive Muslims or Muslims of different opinions as "apostates". </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">The UAC article about these "danger signs" says: </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">"Attempts to label other Muslims in this way should be seen as a danger sign for peace-loving Muslims. This is not compatible with a free society. It is the same thing as hate speech, such as the KKK using racial slurs against Black people, or Nazis engaging in anti-Semitic rhetoric." </span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">This example shows a total disregard for the right of free speech guaranteed by the constitution. I may disagree completely with anything a Nazi or KKK individual says, but they have the right to say whatever they want as long as they don't incite to violence. The reason we have a free society is that even these hateful groups have the right to express their opinion. No Muslim has the right to make this statement about another Muslim. The Amman Conference of Muslim scholars clearly </span><a href="http://www.jordanembassyus.org/new/pr/pr07062005.shtml">addressed this issue.</a><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: You don't have to look very far to </span><a href="http://www.americandaily.com/article/1769">find examples</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> of Christians branding other Christians as apostates: </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">"These post-Christian secularists and sissy-Christian apostates push a new Pagan worldview and a budding, intolerant new 'ism' which may prove as ruthless in the name of 'tolerance and diversity' as every other totalitarian 'ism' born and bred from European anti-God thinking (Diocletian-Rousseau-Hegel-Marx-Nietzche-Darwin-Freud-Lenin-Hitler-Stalin)." </span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">And as for the Biblical punishment for apostasy - the punishment is death: (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 and 32:23-25, Deuteronomy 13:6-10, 1 Timothy 1:20)</span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Danger Sign 9: Refusal to interact, converse, or socialize with non-Muslims. </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">If any individual wants to be a hermit, or anti-social, that is certainly odd but it is not illegal. There are many religious groups in the US who isolate themselves from contact from the greater society in order to maintain their own particular way of life (some Mormon, Amish, and Mennonite communities for example). There are also many more religious groups that live in communities (Orthodox Jews in New York for example), and even more who advocate for their own parochial schools and social organizations for the same reasons. There are even a few cults who live entirely separated with no social contact with the greater society. This is odd, but protected by the constitution.I have never heard of anyone who refused to have anything to do with anyone outside of their community, and can't even imagine how they would exist in such a state.I am certain that American citizens in the early 19th century "never imagined that they would later be forced to compete for cultural dominance" with the Eastern Europeans, Jews, Italians, Irish, Chinese and other groups deemed as inferior or outside of the norm, but this is exactly what did happen. The city of Boston might be pointed out as an example of a particular ethnic group having "control of an entire city". The fact that Rotterdam's population is now 40% Muslim is just the way it is, as is the fact that in California and some other Southwestern states, the Hispanic population is probably over 50% now.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Example of how this sign fails</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">: The Christian Exodus group has taken separation from others who do not share their beliefs to a new high and have targeted making </span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96695&page=1">South Carolina a Christian state</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> and </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">"have not ruled out the possibiliy of the state seceding from the United States."</span></em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">In conclusion, after just a brief survey on the net, I found examples of militant Christians who would: - Deny rights to people of color (</span><a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/cr_ident.htm">Christian Identity Movement</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Support the murder of abortion doctors (</span><a href="http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/03/18/army.god.letters/">Army of God</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Make the practice of Islam "illegal and punishable" by law (</span><a href="http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/english/article254421.ece">Kristiansand Progress Party</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> in Norway.- Deny US citizenship to anyone who is not a Christian (</span><a href="http://www.serve.com/thibodep/cr/goal.htm">Gary North</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Deny that there is any possibility for Muslims and Christians to live in peace (</span><a href="http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/exposingislamlie.html">Operation Save America</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Allow the worship of no other religion on this planet except Christianity (</span><a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skepticism.info%2Fquotes%2Farchives%2Fchristian_extremism_index.shtml">Rev. Joseph Morecraft</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">, Chalcedon Presbyterian Church)- Demand that Christians have exclusive control of the US government (</span><a href="http://atheism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skepticism.info%2Fquotes%2Farchives%2Fchristian_extremism_index.shtml">Gary North</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Advocate the use of nuclear weapons to destroy the 100 largest Muslim cities, in the event of any WMD attack on America (</span><a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41771">David Atkins</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Arrest every Muslim that enters Georgia (</span><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/chambliss1.html">Rep. Saxby Chambliss</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Institute a policy of killing the relatives of anyone who commits an act of terrorism (</span><a href="http://www.shma.com/may02/nathan.htm">Lewin Nathan</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Sponsor a </span><a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/428956704/tf_link?ltl=1130248982">petition</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> to "close the borders, deport Musims, and deport Muslims NOW" - Believe that the rights of one American are worth more than the combined lives of all the men, women and children in other nations combined (</span><a href="http://capmag.com/article.asp?ID=1117">Ron Pisaturo</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Charge that those who believe in Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to run America than Muslims or Hindus (</span><a href="http://www.au.org/relrightresearch/They_Said_It.htm">Pat Robertson</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Want the reading of the Qur'an to be banned in public or private (</span><a href="http://www.au.org/relrightresearch/They_Said_It.htm">Christian Voice</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Believe that winning the 'War on Terror' means Muslims must be either "Westernized" or "Christianized" (</span><a href="http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/cgi-bin/newsviews.cgi/Islam/2005/10/07/President_Bush_s_Sp">Srjda Trifkovic</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Want to ignite a religious war that will lead to Armageddon (</span><a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_conc.htm">Concerned Christians</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- Believe that the Christian goal for the world is the development of universal Biblical theocratic republics (</span><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/bageant05252004.html">David Chilton</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">, Christian Reconstructionist)- Consider the 'War on Terror' to be a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Crusade">Tenth Crusade</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">- Support </span><a href="http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/fundienazis/right_south.htm">racial segregation</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> - Encourage Christians to "absolutely ignore the court" (</span><a href="http://www.yuricareport.com/Art">Pat Robertson</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">)- </span><a href="http://theamericanmuslim.org/research_comments.php?id=404_0_23_30_C">Remove the separation</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> between church and stateThis list could go on and on, but enough said. You can find numerous examples of militants, fundamentalists, extremists, criminals and even mass murderers among every religious group. Although counting numbers is pointless, I am certain that Slobodan Milosevic was responsible for more deaths than Osama bin Laden. I haven't seen any demands that Christians sign some sort of a statement to prove that they don't have "militant intentions".The reality is that this entire exercise is futile. The voices that have us looking to what it is in Islam, or Christianity, or Judaism to find the answers for why criminals carry out violent acts in the name of those religions are only creating polarization, decreasing any chance for dialogue, and leading us down a path that can only lead to a clash of civilizations that might end all civilization.The voice of moderation rather than the voice of extremism needs to be heard. We need a </span><a href="http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/2005september_comments.php?id=975_0_45_0_C">spiritual jihad against terrorism</a><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;"> carried out by those among all faiths who still have hope for a safe world for their children to grow up in.</span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">Sheila Musaji is the editor of the online journal </span></em><a href="http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/">The American Muslim</a><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:78%;">.</span></em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16865906.post-1132625790573679712005-11-21T20:16:00.000-06:002005-11-26T10:59:31.520-06:00The "Mu'allaqa" of Imru al-Qays<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/1600/pilgrimsgoingtoMecca.1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2949/1612/320/pilgrimsgoingtoMecca.1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><strong>١ قفا نبك من ذكرى حبيب و منزل بسقط اللوى بين الدخول فحومل</strong><br />1. Stop here, you two!<br />Let us weep for the memory of a beloved and a campsite,<br />Where the sands spin to an end, between al-Dakhūl and Hawmal,<br /><br /><strong>٢ فتوضح قالمقراة لم يعف رسمها لما نسجتها من جنوب وشمال </strong><br />2. And Tūdih and al-Miqrāt, whose traces have not been erased,<br />By the southern and northern winds which whipped across them.<br /><br /><strong>٣ ترى بعر الارام في عرصاتها وقيعانها كانه حب فلفل</strong><br />3. You see the fesces of white gazelle in the desolate spaces,<br />And the sunken tracts, (sprinkled) like peppercorns.<br /><br /><strong>٤ كاني غداة البين يوم تحملوا لدى سمرات الحيّ ناقف حنظل</strong><br />4. As if I, on the morning of departure, when they loaded (their camels,)<br />Near the tribe’s acacia trees, was splitting colocynth.<br /><br /><strong>٥ وقوقا بها صحبي عليّ مطيهم يقولون لا تهلك اسى وتجمل</strong><br />5. My companions stopped there their mounts for me,<br />Saying: “Don’t waste yourself grieving . . . control ourself!”<br /><br /><strong>٦ وان شفائي عبرة مهراقة فهل عند رسم دارس من معول</strong><br />6. Surely my cure will be tears poured out;<br />So at an effaced trace is there a place for weeping?<br /><br /><strong>٧ كدابك من ام الحويرث قبلها وجارتها ام الرباب بماسل</strong><br />7. As was your habit before her, with Umm al-Huwayrith,<br />And her neighbor, Umm al-Rabāb, at al-Ma’sal.<br /><br /><strong>٨ اذاقامتا تضوح المسك منها نسيم الصبا جاءت بريا القرنفل</strong><br />8. When the two of them arose, musk emanated from them,<br />A gentle breeze diffusing the sweet scent of cloves.<br /><br /><strong>٩ ففاضت دموع العين مني صبابة على النحر حتى بل دمعي محملي</strong><br />9. Then tears flooded my eyes from a delicate longing,<br />(Cascading) down my throat until they soaked my sword’s sheath.<br /><br /><strong>١٠ الا رب يوم لك منهن صالح و لا سيما يوم بدارة جلجل</strong><br />10. Aahh… Did you not spend many an excellent day with them?<br />Especially that day at the Juljuli estate.<br /><br /><strong>١١ و يوم عقرت للعذر<span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">ى </span>مطيتي فيا عجبا من كورها المتحمل</strong><br />11. Or the day I butchered my mount for the virgins,<br />What a sight were its saddle and load!<br /><br /><strong>١٢ يظل العذر<span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">ى يرتمين بلحمها وشحم كهداب الدمقس المفتل</span></strong><br />12. So they spent the night tossing its meat around,<br />And fat like the fringe of a tightly-twisted, raw-silk robe.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٣ و يوم دخلت الخدر خدر عنيزة فقالت لك الويلات إنك مرجلي</span></strong><br />13. Or the one day I entered the howdah, the howdah of ‘Unayza,<br />And she said: “Shame on you! You’ll force me to walk!”<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٤ تقول وقد مال الغبيط بنا معا عقرت بعيري يا آمر القيس فانزل</span></strong><br />14. She was saying, as the camel saddle swayed under us together,<br />“Oh Imrū al-Qays! You’ve butchered my camel, get down!”<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٥ فقلت لها سيري وأرخي زمامه ولا تبعديني من جناك المعلل</span></strong><br /><em></em>15. So I said to her: “Strip me and loose its reins,<br />Don’t drive me away from your twice to be tasted fruit.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٦ فمثلك حبلى قد طرقت ومرضعا فألهيتها عن ذي تمائم مغيل</span></strong><br />16. I’ve had sex with pregnant women, like you, while nursing,<br />I distracted her from an amuleted, one-year old boy.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٧ إذا ما بكى من خلفها آنحرفت له بشق و تحتي شقها لم يحول</span></strong><br />17. When he cried behind her, she turned to him,<br />With half her body, while the half under me didn’t turn.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٨ و يوما على ظهر الكثيب تعذرت على و آلت حلفة لم تحلل</span></strong><br />18. Or the day on the back of a sand dune, she drew back from me,<br />And swore an oath which was never broken.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">١٩ أفاطمة مهلا بعض هذا التدلل وإن كنت قد أزمعت صرمي فأجملي</span></strong><br />19. Oh Fatima! Be slow to act so boldly!<br />And if you’re determined to cut me off, do it skillfully!<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٠ وإن كنت قد ساءتك مني خليقة فسلي ثيابي من ثيابك تنسل</span></strong><br />20. If it is some characteristic of mine which has upset you,<br />Then draw my clothes from yours (and) they’ll slip away.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢١ أغرك مني أن حبك قاتلي و أنك مهما تأمري القلب يفعل</span></strong><br />21. Don’t you know that love of you is killing me?<br />And whatever you command (my) heart (to do), it does?<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٢ و ما ذرفت عيناك إلا لتضربي بسهميك في أعشار قلب مقتل</span></strong><br />22. Your eyes only shed tears to strike,<br />With your two shafts, the pieces of my slaughtered heart.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٣ وبيضة خدر لا يرام خباؤها تمتعت من لهو بها غير معجل</span></strong><br />23. Many a fair, secluded egg, whose tent none dare seek,<br />I dallied playfully with her, unhurried.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٤ تجاوزت أحرسا وأهوال معشر علي حراص لو يشرون مقتلي</span></strong><br />24. I stole past guards (to get to her,) past clansmen,<br />Eager, could they conceal it, to kill me.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٥ إذا ما ثريا في السماء تعرضت تعرض أثناء الوشاح المفصل</span></strong><br />25. Whenever the Pleiades are unfurled across the sky,<br />They unfold like pleats of gems and pearls on an ornamented sash.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٦ فجئت و قد نضت لنوم ثيابها لدى الستر إلا لبسة المتفضل</span></strong><br />26. I came when she had taken her clothes off to sleep,<br />Behind a screen, (everything) but a (delicate) mifdal.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٧ فقالت يمين الله ما لك حيلة و ما إن أرى عنك العماية تنجلي</span></strong><br />27. She said: “By God! There is no evading you!<br />And I see that the errors of your ways have not left you. "<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٨ خرجت بها تمشى تجر وراءنا على أثرينا ذيل مرط مرحل</span></strong><br />28. So I went out with her, and as she walked she drew behind us,<br />The hem of her embroidered gown (to cover) our two tracks.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٢٩ فلما أجزنا ساحة الحي و آنتحى بنا بطن حقف ذي ركام عقنقل</span></strong><br />29. When we left the tribal area, we were kept out of sight,<br />In the belly of low ground, (dunes) piled (on all sides), twisting, turning.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣٠ إذا قلت هاتى نولينى تمايلت علي هضيم الكشح ريا المخلخل</span></strong><br />30. When I said: “Give me! Grant me!” She swayed,<br />Towards me, slender of waist and plump in the anklets place.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣١ مهفهفة بيضاء غير مفاضة ترائبها مصقولة كالسجنجل</span></strong><br />31. Slender, fair, no corpulence (to her),<br />Her collar bone polished like a mirror.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣٢ كبكر مقاناة البياض بصفرة غذاها نمعر الماء غير المحلل</span></strong><br />32. Like the first egg of an ostrich, pearly white with shades of yellow,<br />It's food the sweet, life-giving water, unmuddied.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣٣ تصد وتبدي عن أسيل وتتقي بناظرة من وحش وجرة مطفل</span></strong><br />33. She turns away, revealing a smooth cheek, fending me off,<br />With a glance like the gazelle of Wajra with fawn.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣٤ وجيد كجيد الرئم ليس بفاحش إذا هي نصته ولا بمعطل </span></strong><br />34. And a neck like that of a white gazelle, long,<br />When she extends it, it is never unadorned.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;">٣٥ وفرع يغشي المتن أسود فاحم أثيث كقنو النخلة المتعثكل</span></strong><br />35. How full is the dark, (curly) hair, down (her) back falling, jet black,<br />As abundant as dates on a fertile palm.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;"></span></strong>(To be continued........)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arabic Transparent;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0