August 8, 2007 – 11:24 am
What ails the Arabs, we have all asked ourselves at one time or another? Quite a lot.
Actually, come to think of it, just about everything. Where shall I begin? A wise choice would be with a friendly warning. Lawyers call it a ‘disclaimer notice’, or an ‘exclusion of liability’ clause. In my case, it is a necessary adjustment of readers’ expectations. It is a reminder that I neither claim to have the time or space to do justice to this subject, nor do I have a clue about what sober new-year resolutions could possibly salvage our doomed Titanic. So why did I choose such a big title? To grab your attention, I guess (you’re reading this far, aren’t you?). And to write something for this issue, of course, because you have grown accustomed to my monthly rants. However, please bear in mind that you are unlikely to find any earth-shattering analysis below.
A remarkable job has already been achieved by the more learned professionals who compiled the UNDP reports cataloguing the shortcomings of the Arabs. If this article will sound like a superficial exercise in self-flagellation, then probably this is exactly what it is. Therefore if you happened to be doing something more useful before landing on this page – such as plucking your eyebrows or picking your nose – I strongly urge you to please go ahead and continue whatever it is you were doing. I assure you that you are more likely to attain fulfillment there. Otherwise, you may humor me and read on. The choice is yours. Read More »
August 2, 2007 – 12:04 pm
Dear Muslims!
You know that to eliminate all kinds of vices from the world and to promote good is the responsibility of every Muslim. Allah, the Lord of the universe, says: “You are the best Ummah who have been created to show the right path to the people. You command for doing good and forbid from doing evil, and you have faith in Allah”
The Holy Prophet (SAW) has also said that everyone amongst you is a caretaker and is responsible for his subordinates on the Day of Judgment. Rulers will be answerable for the citizens of their state; every family head will be accountable for the members of his family and will be asked as to what he did for their reformation, education and better life. He will be asked as to whether he forbids them from adopting the bad ways, and helped them in leading a pious life or not. The Holy Quran has called this task as “Enjoining (People) To Do Good and Forbidding (Them) From Doing Evil.”
Respected Muslims! The world history reveals that until Muslims performed the task of commanding the people to do good and barring them from doing evil, the pious people remained dominant in those societies and there was peace and tranquility and satanic forces were subdued. But, when this collective responsibility was designated only to clerics, and the common Muslims ignored this task, in spite of the efforts of the clerics, waywardness spread quickly. Read More »
January 17, 2007 – 11:32 am
Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters,
God forbid if any one of our near one and dear one is killed then the killer is evil, a beast and what not and should get penalty… But if one among us kills anybody then he is not evil and we start lying, denying or even justifying the killing…. double standards? Read More »
November 12, 2006 – 11:27 am
The history of the Islamist debate in Turkey dates back to the late 19th Century during which period the Ottoman Empire was in clear decline while western Europe was advancing further into the realms of technological and industrial superiority. As observed in the Russian and Chinese cases of the same period, Turkish political and religious figures embarked on an almost desperate soul-searching assignment with the ambition of discovering the illusive mechanism by which the waning state and society of the empire could be recovered. This was not a premiering debate, however, but was one that had harassed the minds of Turkish statesmen and intellectuals since the 17th Century when Ottoman advances into Europe had all but ceased.
By the late 1800’s the debate had become one of bipolarisation: ‘Westernise’ vs. ‘Islamise.’
The Westernisers advocated the adoption of western technology and approaches to industry as well as the institutional structure of western states. The Islamists on the other hand shared the view that western technology and industrialisation was inevitably essential for the regeneration of the Ottoman state, but argued clearly against the restructuring of the institutional nature of the Turkish empire along western lines.
Islamic society, in the eyes of the Islamists, had already established its value and had catalysed some of the greatest empires and political ideologies witnessed over the preceding millennium and a half – why abandon it? The Islamists failed to win the debate despite their own convictions and the Republican theme which became engrained in the official ideology defining ‘civilized’ society in the Turkish statesman’s understanding (Toprak, 1999), won the moment. Read More »
August 16, 2006 – 12:01 pm
(This article was originally published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine)
Vroom… vroom, roared the Harley before its engine was turned off outside the pharmacy on duty in Geneva one quiet Sunday morning a few years ago in September. The six foot ‘quelque chose’ rider dismounted the daunting machine, took off his intimidating German helmet, neatly tucked it under his left arm, and walked slowly inside the drugstore.
Click…clack, he steadily thumped his way across the aisles in his huge boots and leathery attire. Elderly Sunday morning shoppers could not hide their disquiet at the site of this unusual visitor with his menacing looks, but pretended to mind their business. With the dark sunglasses carefully hiding hung-over eyes, but betraying weekend stubble, disheveled hair and an overgrown goatee, he placed his helmet on the counter. Read More »
August 9, 2006 – 12:01 pm
(This article was originally published in Jordan’s Living Well magazine)
Forgive me, Ernesto, for helping myself to this undeserved title of which I am grossly unworthy. I ask permission not only because I’m so unlike you in that I cannot believe in a single earthly dogma for the salvation of mankind so as to dedicate my whole existence to fight and die for it.
This noble, but often blinding, human trait is only part of the abyss that demarcates your fearless soul from mine. What really sets us apart here is that my inconsequential motorcycle expeditions will not leave these pages, whereas your celebrated treks are already grand history. And so are you. From t-shirts to boxer shorts, your portrait is a cult image more recognizable than most Hollywood celebrities. Alas, the only portrait you’re likely to find of this author is a Swiss police mug-shot for some serious traffic violations, but we won’t get into that. So Comandante, you still rock! Read More »
August 31, 2005 – 11:38 am
“It’s good to be alive this morning,” my friend Firas wrote on MSN Messenger. It was the morning of July 23, 2005. The world had just woken up to news of the massive bombs in Sharm Al-Sheikh, a car bomb in the heart of the buzzing night life of Beirut, and various stories related to the hunt for the failed bombers in London. A month later, the news of death and destruction continue unabated, with the latest being a series of rocket attacks in Aqaba that killed a young Jordanian soldier, not to mention the sad monotony of the daily reports on the massacres in Iraq. The mad terrorists are on a roll this
summer, and they seem to be chasing every breath of life on planet earth. Read More »
“There are no gay Arabs,” a Saudi friend of mine once said to me over lunch, causing Pepsi to shoot out of my nose.
Now, before I write anything else, I’d have to stress that I like to think myself aware of certain cultural differences that lead to misunderstandings. For example, if any of my high school friends from sunny Charlotte , North Carolina , saw two men from Amman kissing each other on the cheek in greeting, they might instantly decide that some sort of homosexual innuendo has just taken place. Obviously, the Ammanites would have an entirely different view of the situation.
Affectionate behavior between people of the same gender is viewed differently by different eyes. A careful observer needs to have a variety of “eyes” for a variety of occasions. Read More »
Aslaam-o-Alaikum!
Do you know what degree of shame, abomination, misery and wretchedness is being heaped on the innocent and peace-following Muslims all over the world because of this so-called and self styled Jihad of yours? Read More »
