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Urdu cannot be crushed : Markandey Katju

2012-02-12T07:00:00.000+05:30

In my opinion the best poetry in modern India is in Urdu. I have read the poetry of many countries, including England, America, France, Germany and Russia, apart from reading some of the poetry of Indian languages – Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabir, etc., Tamil poetry, Bengali poetry, etc., – but there is no match to Urdu because the voice of the heart as expressed in Urdu poetry is, in my opinion, not expressed in any other language of the world.

There is a misconception that Urdu is the language of Muslims and of foreigners, which is a false propaganda made against Urdu after 1947.

Before 1947, all educated people in large parts of India studied Urdu. It was not the language of Muslims alone. It was the language of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, everybody. But after Partition a deliberate propaganda was made by certain vested interests that Hindi is the language of Hindus and Urdu is a language of Muslims. This was done to make Hindus and Muslims fight each other (part of the divide and rule policy). A lot of effort was made to crush Urdu in India. But a language that expresses the voice of the heart cannot be crushed as long as people have hearts.

Unlike Arabic and Persian, which are foreign languages, Urdu is an indigenous language and is loved by the people of India even today. If you go to a bookstall on a railway platform in India you will find a lot of poetry books of Mir, Ghalib, Firaq, etc., of course nowadays in Devanagari script. You will not find any book there of Mahadevi Verma or Sumitra Nandan Pant, the Hindi poets. Very few people read Hindi poetry, everybody reads Urdu poetry.

Urdu has a dual nature. It is a combination of two languages, that is, Hindustani and Persian, which is why it was at one time called Rekhta, which means hybrid. Since it is a combination of two languages, the question arises: is it a special kind of Persian or a special kind of Hindustani? The answer is that it is a special kind of Hindustani, not a special kind of Persian. Why? Because the verbs in Urdu are all in Hindustani. The language to which a sentence belongs is determined by the verbs used in it, not the nouns or adjectives. In Urdu, all the verbs are in simple Hindi (which is called Hindustani or Khadi Boli). For example, Ghalib says:

“ dekho mujhe jo deeda-e-ibrat_nigaah ho

meree suno jo gosh-e-naseehat_niyosh hai”

The verbs ‘ dekho', ‘ suno', ‘ hai' are all simple Hindi, though the nouns or adjectives may be Persian or Arabic.

Urdu has a dual nature because it is a combination of Hindustani and Persian. Hindustani is the language of the common man, while Persian is the language of aristocrats.

Markandey Katju in his article titled What is India? Frontline Volume 29 - Issue 02
Jan 28 - Feb 10, 2012 . Here

The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives

2012-02-11T08:00:00.000+05:30

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment
This first habit may be the most insidious, since it appears to be highly desirable. Shouldn’t a company try to dominate its business environment, shape thefuture of its markets and set the pace within them? Yes,but there’s a catch. Unlike successful leaders, failed leaders who never question their dominance fail torealize they are at the mercy of changing circumstances.They vastly overestimate the extent to which they actually control events and vastly underestimate the role of chance and circumstance in their success.

CEOs who fall prey to this belief suffer from the illusion of personal pre-eminence: Like certain film directors, they see themselves as the auteurs of their companies. As far as they’re concerned, everyone else in the company is there to execute their personal visionfor the company. Samsung’s CEO Kun-Hee Lee was so successful with electronics that he thought he could repeat this success with automobiles. He invested $5 billion in an already oversaturated auto market. Why? There was no business case. Lee simply loved cars and had dreamed of being in the auto business.

Warning Sign for #1: A lack of respect

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests
Like the first habit, this one seems innocuous, perhaps even beneficial. We want business leaders to be completely committed to their companies, with their interests tightly aligned with those of the company. But digging deeper, you find that failed executives weren’t identifying too little with the company, but rather too much. Instead of treating companies as enterprises that they needed to nurture, failed leaders treated them as extensions of themselves. And with that, a “private empire” mentality took hold.

CEOs who possess this outlook often use their companies to carry out personal ambitions. The most slippery slope of all for these executives is their tendency to use corporate funds for personal reasons. CEOs who have a long or impressive track record may come to feel that they’ve made so much money for the company that the expenditures they make on themselves, even if extravagant, are trivial by comparison. This twisted logic seems to have been one of the factors that shaped the behavior of Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. His pride in his company and his pride in his own extravagance seem to have reinforced each other. This is why he could sound so sincere making speeches about ethics while using corporate funds for personal purposes. Being the CEO of a sizable corporation today is probably the closest thing to being king of your own country, and that’s a dangerous title to assume.

Warning Sign for #2: A question of character

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers
Here’s the image of executive competence that we’ve been taught to admire for decades: a dynamic leader making a dozen decisions a minute, dealing with many crises simultaneously, and taking only seconds to size up situations that have stumped everyone else for days. The problem with this picture is that it’s a fraud. Leaders who are invariably crisp and decisive tend to settle issues so quickly they have no opportunity to grasp the ramifications. Worse, because these leaders need to feel they have all the answers, they aren’t open to learning new ones.

CEO Wolfgang Schmitt of Rubbermaid was fond of demonstrating his ability to sort out difficult issues in a flash. A former colleague remembers that under Schmitt,” the joke went, ‘Wolf knows everything about everything.’ In one discussion, where we were talking about a particularly complex acquisition we made in Europe, Wolf, without hearing different points of view, just said, ‘Well, this is what we are going to do.’” Leaders who need to have all the answers shut out other points of view. When your company or organization is run by someone like this, you’d better hope the answers he comes up with are going to be the right ones. At Rubbermaid they weren’t. The company went from being Fortune’s most admired company in America in1993 to being acquired by the conglomerate Newell a few years later.

Warning Sign for #3: A leader without followers

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them
CEOs who think their job is to instill belief in their vision also think that it is their job to get everyone to buy into it. Anyone who doesn’t rally to the cause is undermining the vision. Hesitant managers have a choice: Get with the plan or leave.

The problem with this approach is that it’s both unnecessary and destructive. CEOs don’t need to have everyone unanimously endorse their vision to have it carried out successfully. In fact, by eliminating all dissenting and contrasting viewpoints, destructive CEOs cut themselves off from their best chance of seeing and correcting problems as they arise. Sometimes CEOs who seek to stifle dissent only drive it underground. Once this happens, the entire organization falters. At Mattel, Jill Barad removed her senior lieutenants if she thought they harbored serious reservations about the way that she was running things. Schmitt created such a threatening atmosphere at Rubbermaid that firings were often unnecessary. When new executives realized that they’d get no support from the CEO, many of them left almost as fast as they’d come on board. Eventually, these CEOs had everyone on their staff completely behind them. But where they were headed was toward disaster. And no one was left to warn them.

Warning Sign for #4: Executive departures

Habit #5: They are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image
You know these CEOs: high-profile executives whoare constantly in the public eye. The problem is that amid all the media frenzy and accolades, these leaders’ management efforts become shallow and ineffective. Instead of actually accomplishing things, they often settle for the appearance of accomplishing things.

Behind these media darlings is a simple fact of executive life: CEOs don’t achieve a high level of media attention without devoting themselves assiduously to public relations. When CEOs are obsessed with their image, they have little time for operational details. Tyco’s Dennis Kozlowski sometimes intervened in remarkably minor matters, but left most of the company’s day-to-day operations unsupervised.

As a final negative twist, when CEOs make the company’s image their top priority, they run the risk of using financial-reporting practices to promote that image. Instead of treating their financial accounts as a control tool, they treat them as a public-relations tool. The creative accounting that was apparently practiced by such executives as Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling or Tyco’sKozlowski is as much or more an attempt to promote the company’s image as it is to deceive the public: In their eyes, everything that the company does is public relations.

Warning Sign of #5: Blatant attention-seeking
From Forbes. More Here

Five Ways to Control Your Tongue

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000+05:30

Here are some tips on how we can control our tongues and increase in patience both in our communication with others and within ourselves:

1. Think

The phrases “think before you speak” and “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all” seemclichéd, but hold a lot of weight in the life of Muslims. It has sadly become common to be irritable when we are fasting, so we tend to snap quicker and say things we don’t really mean. In order to combat this, think about what you are about to say before you open your mouth. It sounds simple, but we have become so accustomed to speaking without thinking that words just seem to fly out of our mouths before we know it.

Tip: Try to take a couple moments before you speak to evaluate whether what you are about to say is beneficial or necessary. Use your hunger, weakness, tiredness (whatever it is that you’re feeling) to prevent you from opening your mouth unnecessarily!). Spend more time doing dhikr, or thinking, or contemplating than wasting time on unnecessary speech, which is not beneficial and potentially harmful.

2. Apologize

Hard as it may be, if we do happen to say something that is hurtful to someone, just simply apologize. Whether it was what you said or how you said it, remind yourself to apologize for your misbehavior if you feel like you stepped out of line (regardless of whether or not the other person shows that they feel hurt or upset). This can have nothing but positive effects. Many of us have trouble apologizing to people and accepting our mistakes so it will both humble us and also ensure that we are more careful next time, because it can be pretty uncomfortable to accept your mistake and verbalize it. Secondly, it can help better your relationship with the other person, because you are showing that you are aware of their feelings and that you care about them.

Productive Ramadan. More Here

I.I.T.s, the Mother of all exams and Manu Joseph

2012-02-09T19:27:00.000+05:30

In the 1980s and ’90s, the migration of Indian scientific talent to the United States, deplored here as a “brain drain,” became a subject of intense debates in schools and colleges. Once, during the convocation ceremony at I.I.T.-Madras, the chief speaker received a standing ovation when he declared, “Brain drain is better than brain in the drain.” His words traveled with the speed of a rumor across Madras, also known as Chennai, through homes and schools, evoking laughter and applause, and delivering a bleak reminder to young boys that their lives depended on passing the J.E.E.

The glamour of the I.I.T.’s has always inspired parents to force their children to take the J.E.E. Increasingly, those parents are from modest educational and financial backgrounds. A few years ago, in Mumbai, I walked into a J.E.E. coaching class that conducted its own entrance exam to filter out 9 out of 10 applicants. An orientation program for parents was under way. A man who could not read English was sitting with brochures and study materials. He was disturbed that I was carrying a red book while he had not been given any such book. I told him that the book I was holding was a novel called “Love in the Time of Cholera.”

For a long time, the IITians were from urban, literate middle-class families, and it was inevitable that their success would inspire small-town Indians to prepare for the mother of all entrance exams.

I.I.T. professors and alumni have been mourning the falling quality of the students. Last October, Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys and an I.I.T. alumnus, told an audience in New York that the new IITians were substandard. “They somehow get through the Joint Entrance Examination. But their performance in I.I.T.’s, at jobs or when they come for higher education in institutes in the U.S. is not as good as it used to be.” It is improbable that the I.I.T.’s will ever regain their old glory. The circumstances of the nation have changed, and the smartest Indians do not need an engineering degree to find a place in the world or to make a decent living. Also, the government has not invested enough in the I.I.T.’s, and the most talented scientific minds have the option to enroll in genuinely outstanding centers of learning in the West instead of being stuck in a place that has derived its prestige largely from the fact that only one in 50 cracks its entrance exam
Manu Joseph in The New York Times. More Here.

Note: Manu Joseph failed to note the caste dimension. Earlier all the IITians used to be Brahmins. Now aspiring students from other lower castes and dalits have succeeded in cracking the test. The number of Brahmins have started dwindling. Suddenly IITs have lost their glory. (Note by T. Azeez Luthfullah)

The arrest of Professor Ghulam Azam: a grandchild's account

2012-02-09T12:01:00.000+05:30

Our last visit was limited to a paltry half hour with the four of us observed by eleven standing security personnel and several CCTV cameras. My grandfather was laid across the prison bed, physically weaker than I have ever seen him to be, yet encouragement emanating from his eyes and softly spoken words. I am reminded of his last message. before arrest, calling on his followers to prioritise the protection of the nation and its people over any concern for him and to obey the law. It is a testament to his courage in the face of adversity, his devotion to his country and his spiritual strength while the rest of us quail. My grandfather has always been a frank and honest man. He has remained steadfast by his ideals and his hopes for his country, dedicating his life to these causes in a way I have never witnessed from any other person. As I witness his unchanged spirit in his prison cell, I realise that a man of integrity cannot be conquered.

A. Azam in Open Democracy. (A. Azam is the grandchild of Professor Ghulam Azam and a writer based in Britain.) More Here

The Satisfaction of an iPhone

2012-02-08T06:01:00.000+05:30

You haveowned an iPhone 4 since it came out. You accessorized it with different covers,a wall-charger, and even a car-charger. Then in October 2011, the iPhone 4Semerges. Suddenly, you want the new iPhone, you need the new iPhone, youenvision the new iPhone in your hands. So you upgrade, and you get rid of your(suddenly) old model. The newer version is minimum two hundred dollars with atwo-year contract, you add on insurance (just in case), and a new cover or two.

You are content…until the iPhone 5 comes out in 2012, and thenthe cycle repeats.

This scenario is familiar to many Americans who like to keep upwith the latest trends. It is a cycle of replacing and upgrading perfectlyusable objects that we own, and it is a result of ‘perceived obsolescence’.Perceived obsolescence is a concept that explains how we believe that the itemswe own, that are still usable, have suddenly become ‘obsolete’. They cannot beused anymore because there is a better, newer, and more functional version outthere. Remember the first version of the iPhone? It has become so obsolete thatthe concept of buying and using one now is laughable.

However, perceived obsolescence applies to more than justiPhones; it applies to any material object that we buy. Down the line, wedecide that we want to get rid of these objects because they are no longertrendy; this includes clothing, electronics, and even home décor.

The Qur’an tells us how we have become so distracted withmaterial objects:

“Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you, until you visitthe graveyards,” (Qur’an 102:1-2).

Do we wish to spend all of our lives racing to accumulatematerial goods and benefits that will never bring us true satisfaction?Although it is exciting to receive a new iPhone, how long until we get boredand decide that we want something better, newer, and more expensive? We spendcountless hours per week working, only to spend a great percentage of ourpaycheck on things that we do not need.

As for the solution, are we supposed to shun all materialaspects of this life and deem them haram (prohibited)? No, notnecessarily. But we do need to realize that the problem is not in the practiceof being consumers, but in the actual mindset of consuming. We need to learnhow to alter our perspective and realize the difference between wanting something and needing something. Ofcourse we all know the actual difference between wanting and needing, but theline between these two concepts becomes fuzzy when we desire the wrong things.We begin to believe that we actually need the new iPhone,video game console, or pair of jeans, even though we simply want it and inreality, our life would not crumble or fall apart without it.

As Yasmin Mogahed reminds us: “Remember that everything in thislife is only a glimpse. Love, beauty, happiness are only imperfectapproximations. Only the dunya (worldly) version of these things.Seek the Real thing […]”

The line between the ‘real thing’ and ‘approximations’, however,has become blurred. We have become so bombarded with advertisements that lureus into believing we want things that we do not even want. Men are convincedthat if they buy a certain cologne they will look as handsome as the modelwearing it, and women are convinced that if they buy a certain mascara theywill have eyes as beautiful as the model’s, even though both the male andfemale models in the advertisements have been heavily photoshopped. Many timeswe believe the advertisement, we fall for its promises, its deceptions, itslies, and we buy the cologne, the mascara, the jeans, the camera—anything andeverything that is advertised these days. We buy the product, we may use it fora while, and eventually it becomes clutter that fills up our homes and ourlives. Eventually our homes and our minds become so stuffed with clutter andthings that we do not need that our values become inflated as well. We forgetwhat is important and what is not.

Remember our main goal in this life: to serve Allah subhanahuwa ta`ala (exalted isHe), and to reach jannah (heaven) in the real, everlastinglife. Enjoy the beauties of this world because they are gifts from Allah (swt)but do not be led astray by them. The less stuff we have, the more grateful wewill be for the things we do have.

Studies have shown that truly happy purchases are not materialobjects, but experiences that we create. These types of purchases creatememories that will never be forgotten, that we can carry with us at all times,and that will never clutter up our shelves.

By Deena Majeed Link Here

Make someone smile today

2012-02-06T08:16:00.003+05:30

T Azeez Luthfullah, Br Sheikh Ismail, Moulana Syed Jalaludeen Umari, Br Adil Sait and Dr S.Q.R Ilyas

It takes just a second to change our lives.
A careless driver, a passing snake, a scream unheard…
Our whole world can turn upside down without a moment’s notice.
We may even die before we know it.

I’m not saying that we should not do anything with our lives.
We all know the story of the man who refused to leave his room for the fear that a car might run over him or a tree might fall on him, and finally was killed when a painting that fell from the wall hit him on the head.
I want to say just this:
In the little time that we live, let’s do good things.

Lend a helping hand, now and then.
Add colour to someone’s life.
Go on. Make someone smile today..

Poet at Heart. Here

Five ways to give 'physical' Sadaqah

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Every good deed is charity.” (Bukhari)

He also said: “On every person’s joints or small bones (i.e. fingers and toes), there is sadaqah (charity) due every day when the sun rises. Doing justice between two people is sadaqah; assisting a man to mount his animal, or lifting up his belongings onto it is sadaqah; a good word is sadaqah; every step you take towards prayer is sadaqah; and removing harmful things from pathways is sadaqah.” [Muslim]

So based on the hadeeth above, here are five ways you can start to give ‘physical’ sadaqah this ramadan. The list is hardly exhaustive however as you read, ask yourself how you can implement these acts of charity in your daily schedule to increase your good deeds inshaAllah:

1. Always start with a smile:

We can never underestimate the wonders behind a smile. The Prophetic teachings tell us that every smile is charity.

So step one is to make sure you smile; often opportunities in the day arise where we can effortlessly smile and spread the salaam, such as when your on the road travelling, going to work, at the mosque, when you pass by a homeless person, when you meet guests or see children (as often it brings a smile to their face too!)

2. Remember Allah frequently:

To remember Allah is to give sadaqah with your tongue. The value and weight of dhikr are heavy and outstanding, and is our key to being rich in our relationship with Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’la). In an amazing narration the Prophet advised the one who could not give money to charity, or offer anything from their possessions, to increase in performing dhikr as a better equivalent.

Allah (Subahanahu Wa Ta’la) says in Surah Al-Baqarah: ‘Remember Me, and I will remember you’ [2:152].

You might wonder where you can start as there are so many adhkars for so many occassions.

Productive Ramadan. More Here

Open letter to Barkha Dutt regarding Salman Rushdie

2012-02-03T07:41:00.001+05:30

Dear Ms Dutt.
So wonderful and courageous of you to undo the efforts of politicians and Muslim clergy in keeping away the controversial author Salman Rushdie, from even a video link to the Jaipur Literature Festival, bringing him alive, the same evening from London on your channel and letting him blast India, Indian culture, its people, police, administration and the famous and respected Islamic seminary of Dar-Ul-Uloom Deoband, calling it breeding ground for Taliban and the peaceful protesters outside the Diggi Palace against his presence as gangsters.

Madame, you were highly agitated, when moments before you were to moderate Rushdie's video speak to the festival, the Rajasthan Police stopped the conference sighting a perception of threat to the festival. Your anger and disappointment is understandable. It must have hurt your ego.But what happened to the resolve you made in the debate that followed immediately after the video linking got cancelled. You so vociferously and emotionally condemning the competitive politicization of such religion based issues, that impinge on the freedom of expression and speech, also resolved that media should refrain from indulging in competitive mediazation and stop giving coverage and unnecessary exposure to fringe elements on both sides of the divide when it comes to issues based on ethnic or religious demands that harm the larger interest of the society.

Your bringing Rushdie on your channel in a programme lasting over 40 minutes was not in line with your resolve. Neither it will help to end the episode on an amicable note. And what did Rushdie say on that programme except to blast Indians, our culture, our leaders, our law enforcement agencies and hurt the sentiments of India's s largest minority , calling peaceful demonstrators outside the festival venue as gangsters.

The renowned seminary of Deoband was branded as nursery for terrorists.

Where was the need for you to recollect, Rushdie's comment, "that those who burn books will burn people" that was made several years ago, when his "Satanic Versus" was burnt in protest in several Muslim countries. What were you implying? That Muslims are immolators. And you just let him have uninterrupted time to predict the going down and under of a great country.

What happened to your nationalism, what happened to that fiery spirit in you, what happened to that passion and emotion that you so often show and exhibit when it comes to India's prestige and respect.

You provoked him into reiterating, that his blasphemous book, "Satanic Versus, in which he had ridiculed the Prophet if Islam and his household was work of art. That he was justified in writing the book that has hurt the feelings of 1. 7 billion people across the globe, including the 200 million, Indian Muslims..

If those agitating outside Diggi Palace were gangsters, what about those who deliberately, provokingly, exacerbated the issue by reading passages from the banned book. What would you call them? Intellectual gangsters?

Yes it is an old issue. It was dead, so was Salman Rushdie, but I am sorry the electronic media has brought back to life, this shameful issue. While you say that media should stop pandering to religious , self proclaimed leaders, nevertheless it's the media that never misses an opportunity to pitch in significant, ignorant, in articulate persons and make a mockery of religion. You have further inflamed the Rushdie episode, by giving him so much time only to lambast a great country and its people.

Who is Rushdie to say India will go down and under, India and its people have stood the test of time again and again. We stood up to the great tragedy of Partition, and then again we showed how cohesive we are, as people when we stood up to the demolition of Babri Masjid.

Syed Qamar Hasan.
Abu Dhabi based Indian journalist.
Cell. 0097150-6417350.

Vinod Mehta steps out of Outlook

2012-02-02T12:06:00.000+05:30

Atlast Vinod Mehta has stepped out of Outlook. He had been the moving spirit, face and symbol behind Outlook.

I like Vinod Mehta. He may be a drunkard. He may have a dog with him and call it 'Editor'. But still he fought against the fascists - Sangh Pariwar. He may have played soft hindutva occasionally. He may have sided with Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen. But still he was the one of those who pierced the Hindutva balloon. He may have sided with the congressis but still he gave the voice for the voiceless, however feeble it may be. He may have brought out dirty, pornographic content as sex specials and bollywood specials. But still he was the one who cracked the betting syndicate in Indian cricket. He may have witch hunted Azharuddin but still he was the one who gave space for Arundhati Roy.

I had been one of the vivid readers of Outlook for ten years. I have criticised him bitterly and he continued to publish my letters in his magazine. I may not miss him as I stopped reading Outlook since 2006 when I was assigned an important project. The project absorbed all of my time and I could not afford to read Outlook and other magazines. But still I used to read it online now and then and continued to watch Vinod Mehta's utterances in Times Now and NDTV.

He could never be a role model. Nevertheless his boldness, brazenness are admirable. He would always be remembered as the brave journalist who fought tirelessly against the Modis, Advanis and Singhals. I had always dreamed of giving him an award for communal harmony.

As they say every good thing comes to an end. Alvida Vinod!

More Here and Here and Here

Lessons from Baghdad's past and Sharjah's present

2012-02-01T08:49:00.000+05:30

This is perhaps the best time to be in the Gulf right now. And coming from a warm region, the colder it is the better for me. I just can’t have enough of this magical, absolutely rejuvenating weather, forever talking about it with anyone who cares to listen. The air is incredibly sweet and pure. And to live it and breathe in it all seems like the greatest blessing nature could offer one. I am not very religiously inclined but right now I feel like bowing my head in total submission and thank Him for all His precious gifts.

But not everyone appears to enjoy the nature in its full glory and breathtaking splendor. Some can still manage to come up with enough excuses to endlessly grumble and whine about the ways of the world in general and the weather in particular. They huff and puff and sniffle as they complain of cold weather conditions, fog and even the divine breeze flowing from up north and across the Gulf. They almost long for the humid and oppressive weather conditions of an Arabian summer as they go on and on about their wretched flu and all sorts of allergies and diseases that the Arab spring conspires to bring them every year.

And I feel nothing but pity for them. Do they realise what they are missing? Okay, it is a bit chilly perhaps for the thin-skinned and overly sensitive. But it’s not cold-cold as in a depressing English or European winter with overcast, gloomy skies. These low temperatures in the Middle East go with a warm and bright sunlight. This morning when I went down to pick up my phone, forgotten as usual in my car, the burst of sunshine outside took my breath away. It was another clear and bright day with a light breeze caressing those fortunate enough to be up and about, instead of being chained to their desks.

More important, Sharjah has resisted the reckless, blind development and growth that came with the dawn of the oil era in most Gulf countries. In its quest for a balanced growth, it has remained faithful to its Islamic identity and Arab traditions even as it has actively encouraged the pursuit of knowledge and arts and culture. Perhaps, it is because Sharjah’s ruler is himself an accomplished poet, historian and holder of a PhD from a distinguished British university.

Perhaps it’s a stretch but I find in the contemporary Sharjah – and the UAE to some extent – the echoes of the 8th century Baghdad under the legendary Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid–the land of the thousand and one tales, the land of Scheherazade. Those were the times when the Muslim civilization was at its peak and Baghdad had been the greatest city on earth, not just the capital of the most powerful and richest empire of the time but also a great centre of scientific learning and knowledge, home to Dar Al Hikmah, the House of Wisdom founded by Harun al-Rashid that functioned as a research centre and library, in addition to translating the best and brightest minds from around the world, including from ancient Greece and India, into Arabic. That treasure trove of learning played a critical role in both the Islamic Golden Age and the European Renaissance. Whatever happened to that craving for knowledge that drove the Arabs to far corners of the world? There are lessons to be drawn from Baghdad’s past and Sharjah’s present.

Aejaz Zaka Syed in The News. Here

Salman Rushdie, Freedom from insult and Islam

2012-01-31T14:41:00.000+05:30

“I wrote this biography of Muhammad just over ten years ago at the time of the Salman Rushdie crisis. For some time, I had been disturbed by the prejudice against Islam that I so frequently encountered, even in the most liberal and tolerant circle. After the horrific events of the 20th century, it seemed to me that we simply could not afford to cultivate a distorted and inaccurate view of the religion followed by 1.2 billion Muslims who make up a fifth of the world’s population. When Ayatollah Khomeini issued his infamous fatwah against Rushdie and his publishers, this Western prejudice became even more blatant.

“In 1990, when I was writing this book, nobody in Britain wanted to hear that almost exactly a month after the fatwah at a meeting of the Islamic Congress, forty-four out of the forty-five member states condemned the Ayatollah’s ruling as unIslamic––leaving Iran out in the cold. Very few Western people were interested to hear that the Sheikhs of Saudi Arabia, the Holy Land of Islam, and the prestigious al-Azhar madrasah in Cairo had also declared that the fatwah contravened Islamic law. Only a handful of people seemed prepared to listen sympathetically to the many Muslims in Britain who dissociated themselves from the Ayatollah, had no wish to see Rushdie killed, but who had felt profoundly distressed by what they regarded as the blasphemous portrait of Prophet Muhammad in his novel. The Western intelligentsia seemed to want to believe that the entire Muslim world was clamouring for Rushdie’s blood. Some of the leading writers, intellectuals and philosophers in Britain described Islam in a way that either showed astonishing ignorance or a quite horrifying indifference to the truth. As far as they were concerned Islam was an inherently intolerant, fanatical faith, it deserved no respect; and the sensitivities of Muslims who felt hurt by Rushdie’s portrait of their beloved Prophet in The Satanic Verses were of no importance.

“I wrote the book because it seemed a pity that Rushdie’s account of Muhammad was the only one that most Western people were likely to read. Even though I could understand what Rushdie was trying to do in his novel, it seemed important that the true story of the Prophet should also be available, because he was one of the most remarkable human beings who ever lived. It was quite difficult to find a publisher, since many assumed that Muslims would be outraged that infidel woman like myself should have the audacity to write about their Prophet, and that if they publish this book I would soon be joining Rushdie in hiding. But as it turned out, I was greatly moved by the warm and generous reception that Muslims gave my book in those difficult times.”

- the first few paragraphs of the Introduction to October 2001 edition (just after 9/11) of book Muhammad, A Biography of the Prophet written by former Roman Catholic nun Karen Armstrong.

Karen Armstrong was motivated to study Islam so thoroughly and come out with this biography only after the protest by Muslims following the publication of The Satanic Verses about two and a half decades back.

Soroor Ahmed in Two circles. More Here

Salman Rushdie is a third class writer: Justice Katju

Salman Rushdie is a “poor” and “sub-standard writer” who would have remained largely unknown but for his controversial book ‘Satanic Verses’, according to Markandey Katju, till recently a judge of the Supreme Court.

Katju, who is now the Chairman of Press Council of India, criticised the admirers of India-born author based in Britain, saying they suffered from “colonial inferiority complex” that a writer living abroad has to be great.

From a report in Hindustan Times. Here

Slamming the Jaipur Literature Festival's focus on the Indian-origin British writer, Justice Katju, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, criticised “so-called educated Indians” who “suffer from the colonial inferiority complex” and believe that writers living in India are inferior to those living abroad.

“Salman Rushdie dominated the Jaipur Literature Festival. I do not wish to get into the controversy whether banning him was correct or not. I am raising a much more fundamental issue,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “I have read some of Rushdie's works and am of the opinion that he is a poor writer, and but for The Satanic Verses would have remained largely unknown. Even Midnight's Children is hardly great literature.”

From a report in The Hindu. Here

Islam emphasises on 'Freedom from insult'

Well, whether or not freedom to insult is a Western value, Islam has nothing to do with it. It lays emphasis on its exact opposite: the freedom from insult.

It values human dignity, decency, and harmony in the society. The freedom of religion it ensures includes freedom from insults. While it does not shy away from academic discussion of its beliefs and showing the falsehood of non-Islamic beliefs, it makes sure that the discussion remains civil. In those discussions it wants to engage the intellect of its opponents; in contrast those who itch to insult their opponents are interested in satisfying their vulgar emotions.

Thus while its most important battle is against false gods it asks its followers to refrain from reviling them. (Qur’an, Al-anam, 6:108). It also reminds them to stay away from harsh speech. “Allah loves not the utterance of harsh speech save by one who has been wronged.” (Qur’an, Al-Nisa, 4:148). Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, who is being reviled by the scum of the world, taught Muslims to never let the low moral standards of their adversaries dictate theirs.

As a result of these teachings Muslims can never even imagine insulting any Prophet --- from Adam to Moses to Jesus to Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Even when they ruled the world, Muslims treated the religious leaders of non-Muslim also with respect – even during battles. In the Baghdad court Jewish and Christian scholars engaged in open discussions with the Muslim savants.

Needless to say they had not been attracted by the freedom to insult but its exact opposite. Freedom from insult is a fundamental value that assures peace and harmony. It leads to healthy societies. And Muslims are very proud of their impeccable record here.

A earlier post in Luthfispace Here and More by Khalid Baig Here

The arrest and ordeal of Ghulam Azam Sahib

2012-01-29T17:35:00.000+05:30

Veteran leader of the Islamic Movement in the Indian sub-continent Janab Ghulam Azam Sahib is languishing in jail for the past eighteen days. He is 89 years old and affected with age related complications. The attitude of the Bangaladesh Government is depressing, agonising and shameful. What does it want to achieve by torturing a 89 year old leader? The silence of the world community is deafening.


Ghulam Azam Sahib moving with the help of two policemen

Ghulam Azam Sahib waiting for help

Ghulam Azam Sahib - prison van

Inside the prison van

Ghulam Azam getting down from the prison van

Yet you can make a difference. Just click the link How can you help and do the needful. More Photos Here

“I am worried about my husband’s life”

“After seeing him today, I am worried about my husband’s life. At 10.30 am on Friday, the prison authorities agreed 3.30 pm for me to meet my husband at the prison cell. When I arrived there on time, the authorities of the prison cell made me, an 80 year old woman, wait for an hour without even having the courtesy to give reasons. The man (my husband) who left the house for court 16 days ago on 11 January 2012 walking was almost unrecognizable today. He was so weak that he could merely sit on his bed with the help of two people. He is not able to have a single meal in peace. “

“An 89-year-old man needs constant care and support,, whereas he even has to [perform menial tasks such as] washing his own plate. The inhuman behaviour towards him shown by the hospital and prison authorities is a gross violation of human rights. After many oral and written efforts, we could not yet provide him with Qur’an, Hadith, Qur’an Translation and Tafsir (commentary) for the last 17 days that could keep him going in his solitary life. In spite of trying for two weeks, no barber was arranged for him. After the specialist’s recommendation and many oral and written applications, he was allowed some additional foods on Thursday. He is not getting the types of food he needs. There have been around 10-12 applications to the hospital and prison authorities most of which have not even been replied. The way both the authorities are trying to avoid our family is hurtful and extremely discourteous. “

More Here.

Divine Measurement

2012-01-26T07:57:00.000+05:30

Islam divides daily life into two spheres: what we have control over and what we do not. We have no control over the circumstances developing around us. The car breaks down; we get laid off at our job; an earthquake topples the city; we bump into a long-lost friend; and so on. These things just happen. We couldn't prevent them because we didn't know they were coming. Islam says all of these things are a test for us. They were predetermined challenges or merely things that, because of a complex confluence or events, just happened. They were a part of our Divine Measurement (Qadr).

Even though we often have no control over what happens to us, we do have control over how we feel and respond. When a tragedy strikes, do we blame God? When we see a diamond, does covetousness well up within us? When someone does evil to us, do we reciprocate or forgive? When we are alone, do we feel lonely or jubilant? Islam says we have control over our feelings, emotions and personal actions. Our test lies in how we respond to what happens around us. Do we exercise patience with life's challenges or do we panic and create disorder in our lives and in others? Now if we really think of the complex web of actions and reactions that go on every day in all of our lives, we can begin to appreciate how little our capacity is compared to God's.

Compiled From:
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam, 2nd Edition" - Yahiya Emerick, p. 103

Selfless or Selfish

2012-01-23T21:29:00.000+05:30

Imam Sirr al-Saqati narrates:

— For thirty years I have been asking God's forgiveness for an Alhamdolillah (Thanks and praise be to God) which I uttered with joy thirty years ago. When asked if it was a sin to praise and thank God, Sirr al-Saqati explained:
— In the Mosque of Baghdad, even as I was teaching the Prophetic Tradition, 'The one who does not feel troubled because of the troubles of Muslims', a man came rushing in and said that a great fire had broken out in the Baghdad market burning all the shops to ashes, but adding: ‘Nothing has happened to your shop'. Glad that my shop had been saved from the fire, and not remembering that all the other shops had not, I happened to utter 'Alhamdolillah'. That was clearly a selfish act. While the shops of all other people were burnt, I should not have been rejoicing over mine being saved. It is for that selfish act of mine that I have been asking God's forgiveness for thirty years and praying to God that He may not make me a selfish one.

Sirr al-Saqati continued to repent of that act until his death. Before he died, he asked to be buried in a solitary place no one knew of, and explained why:

— It sometimes happens that earth throws out the dead bodies of some sinful ones so that the living ones may take a lesson. If I am a selfish one who does not feel troubled because of the troubles of other Muslims, the earth may throw me out. So [bury me some unknown place so that the people do not know me as one wicked and sinful to that degree.

Bade be-aabru hokar...

2012-01-19T16:11:00.002+05:30

Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisee ki Har Khwahish Pe Dam Nikle
Bohot Nikle mere armaan lekin Phir Bhee Kam Nikle

Thousands of desires, each worth dying for...
many of them I have realized...yet I yearn for more...

Nikalna Khuld Se Aadam Ka Sunte Aaye The Lekin,
Bade Be-Aabru Hokar Tere Kooche Se Hum Nikle.

We have heard about the dismissal of Adam from Heaven,
With a more humiliation, I am leaving the street on which you live...

Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Khan. Here

India and China to build largest telescope

2012-01-13T08:12:00.000+05:30

China and India are catapulting to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in a Hawaii telescope that will be the world's largest when it is built later this decade.

China and India will pay a share of the construction cost - expected to top one billion US dollars - for the Thirty Metre Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time.

It is the first advanced telescope in which either nation has been a partner.

"This will represent a quantum leap for the Chinese community," Shude Mao, professor of astrophysics at National Astronomical Observatories of China, said in a telephone interview from Waikoloa on the Big Island, where he was attending a meeting of the telescope's scientific advisory committee.

A report in Press Association. Here

Indians in Norway aborting girls : Study

2012-01-13T08:06:00.001+05:30

Norwegian-Indian woman give birth to abnormally high numbers of boys, a study has shown, sparking fears that families are deliberately aborting female foetuses.

“Our study seems to indicate that some parents of Indian origin are practising sex-selective abortion,” said researcher Are Hugo Pripp at the national hospital (Rikshospitalet) to newspaper VG.

The study, which looks specifically at the third and fourth children born to mothers of Indian and Pakistani origin from 1969 to 2005, shows that the ratio of girls to boys changed dramatically among Indian-Norwegian mothers after ultrasound scans became available in Norway in 1987.

A report in The Local, Norway's newspaper in English. Here

India's bureaucracy is the worst!!

2012-01-13T08:00:00.001+05:30

India's bureaucracy is the worst in Asia, according to a report.

The report by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranks bureaucracies across Asia on a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the worst possible score. India scored 9.21.

India fared worse than Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and China.

The report said India's bureaucracy was responsible for many complaints businessmen had about India, like lack of infrastructure and corruption.

It also said that Indian bureaucrats were rarely held accountable for wrong decisions.

"This gives them [bureaucrats] terrific powers and could be one of the main reasons why average Indians as well as existing and would-be foreign investors perceive India's bureaucrats as negatively as they do," said the report, quoted by the Press Trust Of India news agency.

India's government has not reacted to the report.

Singapore remained the country with the best bureaucracy, with a rating of 2.25. It was followed by Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

A report in BBC. Here and Here and Here

Lokpal, shopping malls and an ordinary hawker

2012-01-13T07:38:00.000+05:30

Contrary to Gandhiji's ideas about the decentralisation of power, the Jan Lokpal Bill is a draconian, anti-corruption law, in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy, with thousands of employees, with the power to police everybody from the Prime Minister, the judiciary, members of Parliament, and all of the bureaucracy, down to the lowest government official. The Lokpal will have the powers of investigation, surveillance, and prosecution. Except for the fact that it won't have its own prisons, it will function as an independent administration, meant to counter the bloated, unaccountable, corrupt one that we already have. Two oligarchies, instead of just one.

Whether it works or not depends on how we view corruption. Is corruption just a matter of legality, of financial irregularity and bribery, or is it the currency of a social transaction in an egregiously unequal society, in which power continues to be concentrated in the hands of a smaller and smaller minority? Imagine, for example, a city of shopping malls, on whose streets hawking has been banned. A hawker pays the local beat cop and the man from the municipality a small bribe to break the law and sell her wares to those who cannot afford the prices in the malls. Is that such a terrible thing? In future will she have to pay the Lokpal representative too? Does the solution to the problems faced by ordinary people lie in addressing the structural inequality, or in creating yet another power structure that people will have to defer to?

Arundhati Roy in The Hindu. Here

Hijab is the height of intellect and sophistication: Tawakkol Karman

2012-01-10T21:29:00.001+05:30

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman poses with her medal and certificate during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony at the city hall in Oslo. The international community has not provided enough support for the uprising in Yemen, “Arab Spring” activist Tawakkol Karman lamented after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday.

Journalists asked Tawakkol Karman with suprise whether she does not see her mode of dressing as something which contradicts her education and intellectual level as the hijab is viewed as oppression of women and backwardness.

Karman answered them : “The human being in early times was almost naked with the development of his thought over time he began to wear clothes.What I am today and what I wear Is the height of intellect and sophistication reached by man through the ages, not backwardness.Unclothedness is a sign of backwardness and human thinking going back to early times”.

From Humanitarian endeavour. Here

NO DISCRIMINATION OF COLOR AND RACE

2012-01-08T22:40:00.000+05:30

Bilal Habashi was among the pioneers of Islam. He was a slave of Umayya ibn Khalaf, one of the leading figures of the polytheist Quraysh. Since he accepted Islam in its very early days, he was made to suffer unbearable tortures. They made him lie on burning sand in the desert and put very heavy stones on his chest, leaving him in the sun for long periods. They also whipped him frequently but every time he was subjected to such tortures, he declared 'One, One, God is One!' After years of torture, Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, bought him from his master and emancipated him immediately.

After the Hijra, the great migration of Muslims to Madina, God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, made Bilal his mu'adhdhin—the caller to prayer. He was so esteemed among the Companions that 'Umar, the second Caliph, said of him: 'Bilal is our master and our master (meaning Abu Bakr) emancipated him.'

The ideal of equality and human brotherhood is explicitly enjoined in the Qur'an and discrimination on the basis of nation or race (tribe) is explicitly rejected: O mankind! We created you of a man and woman and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. The best and most honoured of you in the sight of God is the most pious and God-fearing among you. Surely God is the All-Knowing, the All-Aware.

Abu Dharr, the leader of the tribe of Ghifar, and one who accepted Islam in its early days, narrates:

Once I was conversing with Bilal. Our conversation gave way to a dispute. Angry with him, the following insult burst from my mouth: 'You cannot comprehend this, O son of a black woman!'

As Islam expressly forbade all kinds of racial, tribal and colour discrimination, Bilal was both upset and greatly angered.

A while later a man came and told me that the Messenger of God, upon him be peace and blessings, summoned me. I went to him immediately. He said to me:

'I have been informed that you addressed Bilal as the son of a black woman.'

I was deeply ashamed and could say nothing. God's Messenger continued his reprimand: 'This means you still retain the standards and judgements of the pre-Islamic days of ignorance. Islam has eradicated all those false standards or measures judging people by blood, fame, colour or wealth. It has established that the best and most honourable of men is he who is the most pious and upright in conduct. Is it right to defame a believer just because he is black?'

Abu Dharr felt profound remorse. He went straight to Bilal's house and, putting his head on the threshold, said: 'This head will not rise from here until the blessed feet of Bilal tread on the face of foolish, impolite Abu Dharr.'

Bilal responded: 'That face deserves to be kissed, not trodden upon', and forgave Abu Dharr.

FJP's twelve steps to a new Egypt

2012-01-06T21:18:00.002+05:30

There are many challenges facing the Egyptian society, at the present time, which the FJP seeks to remedy in the coming period, through the objective visions detailed in the party’s program. The most important of these challenges are as follows:

First, the principles of liberty and equality: the FJP emphasizes that it seeks to grant citizens the freedoms they deserve, to safeguard the fundamental rights of every Egyptian, and change all practices or legislation that challenge or restrict these freedoms or violate these rights. Freedom is one of Islam’s duties. “Indeed We have honoured the Descendants of Adam” (Quran, 17:70).

Second, security: Since the revolution, Egypt suffers an almost total lack of security. On the other hand, security is essential for life, work and production. The FJP, therefore, stresses the need for restructuring the Ministry of Interior, purging it of all officers who were involved in the oppression of the people and the practices of corruption, and changing the prevailing strategic doctrine – starting with students of the police academy and honorable officers; to provide security and protection for people, not for the ruler alone; to prepare and adopt a security policy for the protection of all national institutions; to raise the financial standard of soldiers and low-income people, and to put a cap on the remuneration of senior officers; and to monitor the ministry through the parliament to ensure good performance.

Third, high-priority economic problems: The FJP believes that the Egyptian citizen is both the basis and the target of Egypt's development. Hence, it is essential that extricate the people from the mire of poverty, poor health and deficient educational services.

The party believes that human dignity and freedom depend on the citizen earning a decent living with freedom from exploitation and poverty.

The party emphasizes that response to the unemployment problem requires the concerted efforts of many of society's institutions to provide employment opportunities, such as the banking system, educational institutions, civil society and the business community, as well as the adoption of large national projects, and at the same time motivating and supporting young people to develop their own small business projects. Thus we can increase rates of economic growth to absorb entrants to the labor market, so that we can provide jobs to the jobless and adequate remuneration for every worker, and social security for every disabled person.

Fourth, social problems: The FJP bears in mind that there are members of the community whose material resources prevent them from fulfilling the needs of dignified living. The party’s economic program, therefore, suggests that – in addition to what is now available in the community of charitable organizations and solidarity among its citizens – there is need for activating the mechanisms of Zakat (giving of alms) to address aspects of deficiencies in economic and social life. Waqf (endowment) mechanisms should be utilized side-by-side with mechanisms of Zakat.

Fifth, treatment of the imbalance in the structure of wages: The FJP attaches great importance to the issue of wage structure imbalance in the Egyptian market. The party will endeavor to set minimum and maximum wages to ensure a decent life for the Egyptian citizen, with increase in wages linked to inflation rates, and to prevent senior management personnel from taking more than one job or being on the boards of more than one company or Fund, to give the opportunity for others to benefit from remuneration made for those posts.

Sixth, the issue of environmental pollution: With regard to the problem of environmental pollution, the FJP believes that the ecological balance between man and what he builds in his urban environment on the one side and between God's creation in the natural environment on the other, is the basic framework that should govern and control the process of populating the world. Hence, the party has set priorities and policies to deal with all types of environmental pollution, from reducing the impact of pollution, to treatment mechanisms, and safeguard policies to prevent recurrence. This is to be achieved through the establishment of a national council for the protection of the Nile River, bringing together all relevant bodies to allocate responsibilities and avoid conflicts of authority and work to enact a package of legislation, laws that criminalize contamination of this great river, with firmness in the implementation of this legislation.

Seventh, the housing issue: The FJP believes that this critical issue is of major concern to every family and every young person. Therefore, the party was keen to find a viable solution to it through geographical re-distribution of construction development and population, to match human resources quality and quantity with development essentials and national security requirements, through the division of the state into development regions, and working to attract people and talent from regions with denser populations and less resources to regions with the less dense populations and greater resources.

Eighth, the problem of transportation: In its program, the FJP adopts the concept of integration of the four methods of transport: road, river, sea and air, so as to raise the performance efficiency of this sector domestically and internationally, through the Ministry of Transport playing a key role in overseeing all the various activities of the sector, setting the necessary policies for this sector to efficiently play the role it is entrusted to do, to avoid conflicts among the different bodies currently overseeing the sector, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Environment, local authorities... etc.

Ninth, the issue of education and scientific research: The FJP has paid special attention to human development that ensures human dignity and recognizes the right of every citizen to education, so as to build a generation capable of carrying the banner of progress and development of this homeland.

The party believes that reforming and developing education, research institutes and scientific institutions will strengthen national unity and deepens the Arab and Islamic identity, because that is the way to intellectual and cultural unity within Egypt and among the Arab and Muslim countries, as it maximizes development in order to achieve progress and leadership and puts the nation at the forefront of the world.

The party aims to make education and scientific research the main tool to meet the needs of the community and the nation and to achieve its ambitions and progress at home and abroad, through various programs and mechanisms, including: providing education for all members of society, injecting moral values into education at all stages, expanding education quantitatively, qualitatively and geographically using ‘open’ learning and distance education as well as e-learning etc, providing training and ‘continuing education’ to keep abreast of accelerating scientific and technical progress, focusing on the development of innovative thinking and building skills, and developing and updating curricula and activities commensurate with the era, developing capacities and talents and achieving the required goals and specifications with the adoption of an approach of thinking, dialogue, research and discussion in education, instead of the rote alone.

In the same context, the party has prepared solutions for the treatment of the problem of illiteracy, which is an affront to the community, through the following means: development of a national project to completely eliminate illiteracy within a few (5) years, while stimulating all resources for its implementation, adoption of a budget commensurate with this project, compelling large companies and factories to organize literacy classes for their employees, and giving adequate tax breaks for the purpose, and encouraging children, especially in the countryside, not to drop out of education, providing special care for poor families so they would not be forced to withdraw their children from education and into work in order to bring in money.

Tenth, the development of the health sector: The FJP has prepared an ambitious program for the development of the health sector’s conditions through the provision of mechanisms for health care for all citizens, regardless of their financial status or place of residence, to ensure the citizen's freedom to choose where to receive medical treatment and service, with emphasis on those who cannot afford medical costs, to improve the quality of health service and ensure fair distribution so as to provide access to adequate health care for low-income families, and to expand health insurance coverage to include all Egyptians within a specified period of time.

Eleventh, the development of tourism: Tourism occupies its rightful place in the party platform, as Egypt's cultural and historical, Pharaonic, Grecian, Roman, Coptic, Islamic heritage as well as its temperate climate and the charming and hospitable nature of its people are all unrivaled in the whole world. Tourism, as an industry and an export activity, is a very important source of foreign currency, an essential component of national income, and a key component for the creation of productive employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of our youth, through the protection of tourist areas in ancient Egyptian cities, and on the coasts of the country’s Mediterranean and Red seas, on modern tourism bases, and the prevention of unplanned urban growth in these areas, encouraging the private sector and attracting foreign investments in the tourism industry, and directing all service ministries related to tourism – such as Ministries of Aviation, Transport, Media, Culture, Environment and other ministries and agencies concerned with tourism activities in Egypt – to support promote tourism amongst the most important objectives of their annual plans. All this, necessarily, requires better care for workers in this area and for tour guides as well as public and private tourism companies and adoption of their problems and finding substantive and comprehensive solutions to such problems.

Twelfth, deepening of cooperation with Arab countries: The FJP has stressed that it seeks to support plans and mechanisms for integration and joint Arab action in all areas, and emphasized the right of the Palestinian people to liberate their land and the right of peoples to obtain their rights and to have free will to govern themselves in the way they consider appropriate. The nation must truly be the source of authority and power.

In conclusion, we hope that with the brief outline above we have succeeded in answering some questions raised in the minds of everyone, asserting that the FJP will work with diligence and dedication during the coming period to turn their hopes and aspirations for the great people of Egypt to a practical reality that benefits everyone, without discrimination, for the rejuvenation and advancement of Egypt and the establishment of the modern Egyptian civic, constitutional state, based on freedom and democracy – a truly new Egypt.

Mohamed Morsi, President Freedom and Justice Party in ikhwanweb. Here

Honoring Orphans

2012-01-06T07:45:00.000+05:30

TheProphet, peace be upon him, said: "Makethe orphan come close to you, and be nice to him, and wipe his head, and feedhim from your food. That will cause your heart to be soft, and your needs to befulfilled." [al-Tabarani]

AlsoProphet, peace be upon him, said: “Themost loved homes to God, Al-Mighty & Sublime, are homes in which the orphanis honored.”

Accordingto Islamic law (shari’ah), Muslims have a responsibility to show benevolenceand care for orphans. Orphans according to the Islamic definition arethose children, who are left with no protection from their fathers due todeath. Traditionally in the history of humanity, men have been themaintainers of their families not only monetarily but also in providingphysical protection. In this context, orphans are vulnerable and need aidand protection from the community even if their mothers are still living.

God says in the Qur’an (2:83):

[and be good] to the orphansand the very poor, speak kindly to men, make prayer, and give in charity.

Inthe sense that the key posture toward orphans should be kindness, orphansbelong to the entire community, and everyone takes responsibility for theirwelfare. Perhaps this can be attributed to a deep spiritual morality thatdemands Muslims be charitable toward less fortunate others, but the state ofbeing an orphan takes on an even more profound meaning in the Islamic religion.

Reporter's story, Editor's story and Anna Hazare

2012-01-04T07:46:00.000+05:30

The Indian news media generate public interest through two distinct kinds of stories — the reporter’s story and the editor’s story. In 2005, when Parliament passed the Right to Information Act, which gave any Indian citizen access to most government documents, it was the result of a long and difficult process of influencing public opinion by reformers and persistent reporters. It was never a sexy story. Beat reporters kept pushing the many aspects of the idea of right to information, and the story slowly made its way from the inside pages to the front pages, from the periphery of television reportage to prime-time discussions. It was the reporter’s story, and at the end of it, all the public was reasonably well informed about the act, why it was important and how they could use it.

The anti-corruption movement, on the other hand, was an editor’s story from the very beginning, from the moment Mr. Hazare arrived in New Delhi in April, sat on a wayside with his supporters and threatened to starve to death if the government did not create the Lokpal.

Television news quickly converted Mr. Hazare into a saint who had arrived from his village to fight the corrupt authorities in New Delhi. On the first day of his fast, there were no more than 300 people around him, but the cameras framed the fast in such a way that it gave the impression that something big was going on.

Among his core supporters there were several impoverished poets whose laments were chiefly against “people who go in cars” and “people for whom there are big shiny roads while the poor have nothing to eat.” In short, their laments were not only against politicians, but also against the newly prosperous middle class.

At the time, the television news media, which are largely headquartered in New Delhi, had very little understanding of Mr. Hazare, who is from the western state of Maharashtra. Until last April, his influence was confined to rural parts of Maharashtra. By the time the anchors asked the important question — “Who exactly is Anna Hazare?” — it was too late. They had already proclaimed him a modern saint, and he had amassed millions of supporters in a matter of days. As it turned out, Mr. Hazare is not a man the urban middle class would normally call a saint.

Manu Joseph in The New York Times. Here

Do not be SAD

2012-01-04T00:12:00.003+05:30

When you experienced sadness yesterday, your situation didn't get any better by you being sad. Your son failed in school, and you became depressed, yet did your depression change the fact that he failed? Your father passed away, and you became downhearted, yet did that bring him back to life? You lost your business, and you became saddened. Did this change your situation by transforming losses into profits?

Do not be sad: You became despondent due to a calamity, and by doing so, created additional calamities. You became depressed because of poverty and this only increased the bitterness of your situation. You became gloomy because of what your enemies said to you; by entering into that mental state, you unwittingly helped them in their attack against you. You became sullen because you expected a particular misfortune, and yet it never came to pass.

Do not be sad: Truly a large mansion will not protect you from the effects of depression; and neither will a beautiful wife, abundant wealth, a high position, or brilliant children.

Do not be sad: Sadness causes you to imagine poison when you are really looking at pure water, to see a cactus when you are looking at a rose, to see a barren desert when you are looking at a lush garden, and to feel that you are in an unbearable prison when you are living on a vast and spacious earth.

Do not be sad: You have the true Religion to live by, a house to live in, bread to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear, a wife to find comfort with; why then the melancholy?

Compiled From:
"Don't Be Sad" - Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

Markazi Majlis-e-Shura in my Naani ghar..!

2011-12-28T22:42:00.000+05:30

It was a fascinating spectacle.

The Markazi Majlis-e-Shura of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was about to begin in my grand mother's house. The atmosphere was that of bonhomie. You could find sherwani clad Moulanas everywhere. Where on earth you could find such a comraderie and mutual affection.

I was very much elated. I found myself running here and there. I was very much amused and excited. In my grandpa's room elderly Moulanas were staying. H Abdur Raqeeb Sahib's voice could be heard. I could not comprehend what is being said. Raqeeb Sahib was sitting in a chair and some Moulana was reclining in a bed. They were talking amicably.

Suddenly I found myself in the hall. It is the same hall where I used to play as a child. Grand pa used to listen BBC in his radio sitting in a easy chair in that very hall. They had converted it into a meeting hall.

Instantly I found myself moving towards the backyard. There people are taking their breakfast silently. Ameer-e-Halqa A Shabbir Ahmed was eating french toast. Somebody was placing a slice of a colourful fruit in someone's plate.

Then again I found myself in the passage between the hall and the backyard. At that instant Ameer-e-Jamaat in a bright blueish black Sherwani entered. He was moving confidantly like a bridegroom with a vibrant smile lit in his face. His steps are measured. He was flanked by two Moulanas. I could not recall their faces.

The hall is nearly full. Ameer-e-Jamaat and others were sitting in a row.

Suddenly I hear a feeble voice of my wife calling Rafia, my fourth daughter (who is doing her UKG). I look for Rafia. She was coming towards me. I move towards her to fetch her.

Just then the voice of my wife had gone shriller.

RAFIAAA..! SCHOOL JANE KA IRADHA HAI YA NAHIN..!

I woke up instantly.

Oh! It was a dream!
What a dream it was!

Biggest winner of the world in 2011 was Islam : Patrick Buchanan

2011-12-24T08:20:00.002+05:30

This year, clearly, one of the world's big winner was -- Islam.

From Morocco to Pakistan, a great awakening is occurring. The most dramatic example of Islam rising again came in Egypt, with the fall of the 60-year-old military dictatorship. The West hailed the coming of democracy but democracy delivered a rude shock. In the first round of voting, over 60 percent of ballots were for the Muslim Brotherhood or the radical Islamist Nour Party. In the second round, 75 percent voted Islamist. In Tunis and Tripoli, too, the overthrow of autocrats revealed a silent majority sympathetic to Islamism.

Worldwide, the Muslim population has surpassed Catholicism as the world's largest religion, with 48 members of the U.N. General Assembly now boasting a Muslim plurality or majority.

India, with 150 million Muslims, has more than both Egypt and Iraq. Russia, with 25 million, has more Muslims than Libya and Jordan combined. China has more than Syria. Five percent of Europe is Muslim, and the numbers continue to rise.

If demography is destiny, the future would seem to belong to Islam.

Patrick Buchanan in an article titled "Second Period of Islamic Powrer" in Realclearpolitics. Here

Relating to Neighbours

2011-12-23T06:02:00.001+05:30

Neighbours have rights, be they Muslims or non-Muslims. The Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "He is not a true Believer who eats his fill while his neighbour is hungry." (Bayhaqi.)

Thus, the quality of our Din (Faith) and fate in the Akhira (Hereafter) will also be determined by how well we fulfill your obligations towards our neighbours. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, a man said:

"O Messenger of Allah, such and such woman has a reputation for engaging very much in Prayers, Fasting and Almsgiving, but she hurts her neighbours with her tongue quite often." He said, "She will go to Hell." Then he said, "O Messenger of Allah, such and such woman engages in only a little Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving and gives just a few pieces of cheese in charity, but she does not hurt her neighbours with her tongue." He said, "She will go to Paradise." (Ahmad, Bayhaqi.)

One class of neighbours is our relatives. Another class are those who are not our relatives and the third class of neighbours are those who sit with us, even for a few minutes. This third class of neighbours is a very wide group and includes those who sit by our side. If we are travelling in a taxi, bus, train or aeroplane the person who is sitting by our side is our neighbour. If we are in the office, our co-worker is our neighbour. If we are at school, our classmate is our neighbour. The Prophet gave a comprehensive account of our duties towards our neighbours when requested to do so by one of his Companions:

If he asks for a loan, you should give him a loan; if he wants your help, you should help him; if he be sick, you should go to see him; if he be needy you should try to fulfill his need; if he gets good news, you should congratulate him; if any calamity befalls him, it is your duty to console him; if he dies, you should attend his funeral; you should not raise your walls to such a height that they obstruct the ventilation of your neighbour's house, even if he is willing; do not tantalise your neighbour with the smell of your delicious food unless you send a portion of it to him; if you bring fruit into your house then send some to your neighbour; otherwise, keep it hidden from your neighbour, and you should also be careful that your children do not take some out, else the children of your neighbour may feel disappointed. (Tabarani)

Compiled From:
In the Early Hours" - Khurram Murad, p.125

Enlightened Leadership

2011-12-22T00:48:00.000+05:30

The enlightened Muslim leadership of the early empires enabled the rise of the various golden ages. This vision of leadership, however compromised by the unavoidable human ego, institutional failings, bad luck, and corruption, managed for more than eight centuries to inspire a climate of invention and intellectual ferment that was unique and helped shape a future vision of modern leadership in Europe and other non-Muslim countries.

The leadership legacy of Abu Bakr would seem to be in creating a model of humility, compromise, incorruptibility, and a dedication to charity and public welfare. These values provided an enduring ideal of leadership in the Muslim world and beyond, an ideal often contrary to the baser instincts of men.

Ali is one of the first Muslim leaders to set down in writing a detailed template for enlightened leadership, elements of which later surfaced in the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, in Fatimid and Sunni Egypt, in Seljuk Persia and Anatolia, in the Delhi sultanate and Mughal India, and in the Ottoman Empire.

Evidence is included in a lengthy letter on leadership, which Caliph Ali sent to his loyal follower, Maalik al-Ashtar, appointing him as the new Muslim governor of Egypt:

... Remember, Maalik, that amongst your subjects there are two kinds of people: those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you; and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you.... Let your mercy and compassion come to their rescue and help in the same way and to the same extent that you expect Allah to show mercy and forgiveness to you....
You must always appreciate and adopt a policy, which is neither too severe nor too lenient; a policy which is based upon equity will be largely appreciated. Remember that the displeasure of common men, the havenots and the depressed persons overbalances the approval of important persons, while the displeasure of a few big people will be excused by the Lord if the general public and masses of your subjects are happy with you....
Remember, Maalik.... The thing which should most gladden the heart of a ruler is the fact that his State is being ruled on the principles of equity and justice and that his subjects love him. And your subjects will only love you when they have no grievances against you. So let them have as many justifiable hopes in you as they can and fulfill as many as you reasonably can. Speak well of those who deserve your praise. Appreciate the good deeds done by them and let these good actions be known publicly.

Compiled From:"Lost History" - Michael Hamilton Morgan, pp. 254-257

Five deeds to heaven

2011-12-21T06:36:00.000+05:30

Abu Dhar, states: 'I asked the Messenger of God [may God bless him and grant him peace] how the servant is delivered from the fire.' and he answered, 'By faith in God.'

'O Messenger of God, is there no deed with faith?'

He Answered, 'That you give in charity what God has put in your possession' - or 'That you give in charity what God has provided you with.'

'O Messenger of God, what if a person is poor and finds nothing to give?'

He said, 'Then let him enjoin justice and forbid wrongdoing.'

'And what if he is unable to enjoin justice and forbid wrongdoing?'

'Then let him assist some simple-minded person.'

'O Messenger of God, what if whatever he did would not help?'

'Then let him assist someone who has been wronged.'

'O Messenger of God, what if he were too weak and unable to help someone who has been wronged?'

'Do you not wish to leave your friend any good? Then let him restrain himself from harming others.'

'O Messenger of God, do you mean that someone will enter Heaven for doing thus?'

He replied, 'Anyone who manages but one of the things I have described will be taken by the hand into Heaven.'

[Bayhaqi, Suhuab al-Iman]

Compiled From:
"The Invocation of God" - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, p. 37

Justness

2011-12-17T07:21:00.000+05:30

The Prophet, peace be upon him, held one of his Companions, called Abu Lubabah, in great esteem, so much so that he had left him in charge of Medina when he had left for the first Badr expedition. Some time later, a young orphan came to Muhammad to complain that Abu Lubabah had taken from him a palm tree that had long been his. The Prophet summoned Abu Lubabah and asked him to explain. Investigations showed that the palm tree did belong to Abu Lubabah, and the Prophet judged in the latter's favour, greatly disappointing the young orphan. Muhammad privately asked Abu Lubabah, justice having now been rendered, to give the tree to the young orphan, for whom it was so important. Abu Lubabah adamantly refused: he had gone to such lengths to assert his right of ownership that to concede to this request was inconceivable. This obsession veiled his heart and compassion. Revelation was to recall, on both the individual and collective levels, the singular nature of the spiritual elevation that makes it possible to reach beyond the consciousness of justice, that demands right, to the excellence of the heart, that offers forgiveness or gives people more than their due: "God commands justice and excellence." [Quran 16:90]

It was not a question of giving up one's right (and Abu Lubabah had been justified in requiring it to be acknowledged); rather, it involved learning to sometimes reach beyond, for the sake of those reasons of the heart that teach the mind to forgive, to let go, and to give from oneself and from one's belongings, moved by shared humanity or love. The Prophet was saddened by the reaction of his Companion, whom he held in great esteem: he realized that Abu Lubabah's almost blind attachment to one of Islam's recommendations, justice, prevented him from reaching the superior level of justness of the heart: excellence, generosity, giving. Eventually, another Companion, Thabit ibn Dahdanah, who had witnessed the scene, offered Abu Lubabah an entire orchard in exchange for that single palm tree, which he then gave away to the young orphan. Muhammad rejoiced at that outcome and did not resent Abu Lubabah's attitude. He later entrusted Abu Lubabah with other missions.

Compiled From:
"In The Footsteps of The Prophet" - Tariq Ramadan, p. 133

Things are not always as they seem

2011-12-14T08:44:00.003+05:30

Things are not always as they seem. Let us analyse this statement from an Islamic perspective.

Noah started making his ark in a desert. His friends made fun of him saying, ‘where is water?’ ‘Are you going to sail the ship in the desert?’ He had to tolerate their taunting remarks. Who won ultimately?

Musa’s mother threw her infant son in the river. Did he die?

Yusuf’s jealous and scheming brothers threw him in a well. Was that the end of Yusuf?

Ibrahim was thrown in the fire. Did the fire harm him?

When Imran’s wife delivered the baby-girl – Maryam, she regretted for not having delivered a baby boy. Was she right? Is not Maryam one among the four great women of the world? Did she not become the blessed mother of Prophet Isa!

When Musa left Egypt along with Bani Israeel, he lost his way in the cover of darkness and had to face Red Sea, and no way to ‘escape’! Who realised that very moment that the apparent danger to Musa and his followers would turn out to be the end of the mighty Phir’oun!

Abrahah, the Christian governor, left Yemen with a huge army of men and elephants, with the evil intention of demolishing Ka’bah. Did he achieve success?

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions left everything behind in Makkah and migrated to Madinah. Was it an acceptance of his ‘defeat’ at the hands of the pagan Arabs?

At the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were greatly upset because the Prophet agreed to all the terms of the Treaty dictated by the enemies of Truth and the terms were seemingly unfavourable to the Muslims. What happened later?

Abu Jandal was crying as he was captured during the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah and the enemies had put chains around him. He screamed: Help! Help!! None helped. It appeared as if the Prophet was pushing his companion into the jaws of death. Who had the last laugh?

Many such situations are found in the stories of the past nations. The start of the situation might indicate the end would be unpleasing. But if you read the complete story, you will realise that Allah has a plan which brings out a fruitful result.

At times in our life we are faced with certain difficulties, it might seem that it is a punishment being given out but it actually turns out to be a blessing from Allah. Our duty is to stay patient and realize that He is the All-Knowing! Patience, courage, and determination can be gained by reading the numerous inspiring stories mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadeeth.

Let’s have a brief explanation to the three incidents quoted above.

Prophet Nuh faced taunting remarks from his nation. But he did not become discouraged. He kept on following the orders of Allah. He and his followers were saved from Allah’s punishment. As for the disbelievers among his nation, they were punished because of their arrogance. We learn from his story the importance of following the orders of Allah, making Him our priority, ignoring the pressure put by those who have a blindfold on their eyes!

Musa’s mother had faith in Allah, which gave her the courage to put her new born baby in a river. As a result Allah kept her baby safe and returned him to his mother. He also granted her son Prophethood. It is very difficult for a mother to give up her baby. Who could dare to put one’s baby in a river? But this mother did that. Her deep faith in Allah made it easier for her to accept Allah’s decision.

After Yusuf was thrown in the well by his brothers it seemed he would not have survived. But the result turned out to be different. He was afraid but then he recalled his father’s love and affection. Yusuf prayed to Allah for help. He was not afraid anymore. This incident instilled in him patience and courage.

Yunus was swallowed by a fish, Musa was puzzled at the acts of Khizer, Ja’far ibn Abi Talib had to confront Negus, Ali ibn Abi Talib had to sleep on the bed of the Prophet, risking his life on the night of migration, Prophet Muhammad had to surrender to Allah’s will while he lost his sons and consequently had to face the taunting remarks of the Quraysh calling him ‘Abtar’!

Yet look at how they turned out for them in the end. So don’t despair!
Have patience especially during difficult times. Patience is a virtue and if conquered, its fruit will be sweet.

Remember after every difficulty there is ease. Allah does not want to hurt his beloved servants. All hard times teach a lesson or two. It makes one courageous to survive in the world. It teaches one to be fearless of everything except of Allah.

Muqeet in his best. Here

Islam and European Renaissance

2011-12-14T08:20:00.000+05:30

What are now often called ‘Western values’ – democracy, equality, toleration, freedom of speech, etc – are the products largely of the Enlightenment and of the post-Enlightenment world. Such values are, of course, not ‘Western’ in any essential sense but are universal; they are ‘Western’ only through an accident of geography and history.

Christian Western Europe rediscovered the Greek heritage, and in particular Aristotle, in the thirteenth century, a rediscovery that helped transform European intellectual culture. It inspired the work of Thomas Aquinas, perhaps the greatest of all Christian theologians, and allowed reason to take centre stage again in European philosophy.

But how did theologians and scholars in Western Europe find their way back to Greek thought? Primarily through the Muslim Empire. As Christian Europe endured its ‘Dark Ages’, an intellectual tradition flowered in the Islamic world as lustrous as that of Ancient Athens before or Renaissance Florence after. Centred first in Baghdad and then in Cordoba, in Muslim Iberia, Arab philosophy and science played a critical role not just in preserving the gains of the Greeks but in genuinely expanding the boundaries of knowledge, both in philosophy and in science.

Arab scholars revolutionsed astronomy, invented algebra, helped develop the modern decimal number system, established the basis of optics, and set the ground rules of cryptography. But perhaps more important the science was the philosophy. The Rationalist tradition in Islamic thought, culminating in the work of Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd, is these days barely remembered in the West. Yet its importance and influence, not least on the ‘Judeo-Christian’ tradition, is difficult to overstate. Ibn Rushd especially, the greatest Muslim interpreter of Aristotle, came to wield far more influence within Judaism and Christianity than within Islam, his commentaries shaping the thinking of a galaxy of thinkers from Maimonides to Aquinas himself.

Christians of the time recognized the importance of Muslim philosophers. In The Divine Comedy, Dante places Ibn Rushd with the great pagan philosophers whose spirits dwell not in Hell but in Limbo ‘the place that favor owes to fame’. One of Raphael’s most famous paintings, The School of Athens, is a fresco on the walls of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, depicting the world’s great philosophers. Among the pantheon of celebrated Greek philosophers including Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras and Diogenes stands Ibn Rushd.

Today, however, that debt has been almost entirely forgotten. There is a tendency to think of Islam as walled-in, insular, hostile to reason and freethinking. But the fact remains that the scholarship of the golden age of Islamic thinking helped lay the foundations for the European Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. Without the Muslim world, it is possible that neither may have happened.

Kenan Malik in Pandaemonium. Here
Read "Islam is the answer for the environmental crisis", says Prince Charles

Mideast uprisings: A lesson for strong men and counterfactual historians

2011-12-14T08:06:00.001+05:30

Manipulated over the past century and a half by greedy outsiders and their own repressive leaders, many Arabs in the middle east and north Africa are saying, "Enough already!" In country after country from Morocco to Bahrain, popular uprisings are now a raging fire. The long simmering resentment of ordinary people against widespread corruption, unemployment, grotesque inequalities and curtailment of freedom which is now a growing explosive anger, is said to have been sparked by the self-immolation of a young Tunisian man who refused to be cowed down by the brutality of a corrupt police force. The wave of protests has caught the world by surprise, especially the recent events in Egypt where the stunning removal from power of Hosni Mubarak, the long time dictator and US ally was unimaginable just a few short months ago. Egyptians themselves are probably among the most surprised. This time the bogeyman for the mass demonstrators is not the US or Israel, but their own leaders who have long exploited anti-US sentiments to control the citizenry while doing the bidding of the west for their own profit. I have no special insights to add to what we are hearing in the news about the middle east. Things are in a ferment; it is hard to predict how the present and future will shape up in Egypt or elsewhere, and what the implications are for the coming trends in geo-politics. At this moment, the hottest spot in the Arab fire storm is in Libya where the crazy colonel has threatened to become a martyr while inciting a civil war among his countrymen with the help of foreign mercenaries. A map of the region shows the time line and the current status of events in the affected areas.

Ruchira in Accidental Blogger. Here.

Hukumat-e-Ilahyia se Welfare Party of India Tak

2011-12-13T10:36:00.001+05:30

What is the reason behind the decision to launch Welfare Party of India? Has Jamaat-e-Islami Hind compromised its treasured principles? Has the Jamaat discarded its nasb-ul-ain? What about the age old cherished dream of forming the Hukumat-e-Ilahiya (Kingdom of God)? Could this be described as a turnaround by the Jamaat? Ameenul Hasan answers all the questions convincingly and patiently. You could see a different Ameen here. The vibrancy is missing. He speaks smoothly and with conviction. After watching this enlightening lecture all the doubts regarding the Welfare Party move fade away. A must watch for those who have not yet digested the major move by the oldest Islamic Movement in India.

Malappuram in Karachi

2011-12-13T06:48:00.000+05:30

The tiny Malayali community in Karachi has shrunk over the years. Those who remain wait in vain for a passage to India

The nondescript apartment looks like an average home in Karachi. It’s the bar of Chandrika herbal soap in the bathroom and the Mathrubhoomi calendar on the wall, ubiquitous to Malayali homes, that betrays the lineage of its occupants. The flat’s octogenarian owner, BM Kutty, came to Karachi from Kerala in search of greener pastures in 1949, a time when Karachi was just a train ride away from Mumbai. Since then, the political activist has spent six decades of his life as a Pakistani national.

Kutty is part of the shrinking community of Malayalis settled in Karachi. Unlike some Muslims of north India who migrated to Pakistan during Partition, the migration of Malayali Muslims had a different context. The first exodus from Kerala to Karachi took place in 1921, the year of the Mappila Revolt, when landless Malabar Muslims (Mappilas) of Malappuram district in north Kerala launched an armed rebellion against the British and upper-caste Hindus. The uprising was brutally crushed after the British proclaimed martial law, and the Karachi chapter of Mappilas was born.

“Many Mappilas fled to Mumbai or Karachi. Here, they started from scratch with nothing but a kettle and cups, delivering tea to offices. Soon, they were running paan shops and hotels,” says Kutty. Today, most Malayalis in Karachi are small-time owners of shops and restaurants. One can find an odd Malabari restaurant in the city, the masala dosa on the menus of many non-Malabari restaurants, and Malabar betel leaves from Kerala in Karachi’s paan stalls. But few of the city’s Mappilas speak Malayalam. At schools run by the Malabar Muslim Jamaat, established in 1920, a handful of students can speak Malayalam, but second-generation Malayalis are more fluent in Urdu than in their native tongue.

According to the Malabar Muslim Jamaat, the Malayali population in the city is dwindling. From 64,000 in 1986, they are one-tenth of that figure now, living in middle-class colonies like Mahmudabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Shershah and the Muslim Malabari colony.

For Karachi’s Mappilas, visiting relatives in Kerala was never a hassle, even after Partition, says Kutty. But after the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the scene changed, as ties between the two countries soured, and trade and travel links were snapped. Those who managed to get a visa went to meet their families in Kerala; some tried to stay on as fugitives in their own homeland only to be deported. “Some with wives and children in Kerala got remarried in Karachi. A few others with means managed to get Indian passports,” says Kutty, who recently published his autobiography Sixty Years in Self-Exile: No Regrets. A few hundred Pakistani Malayalis continue to retrace their steps back home, mainly to Kerala’s northern districts, and are fighting to reclaim their Indian citizenship. But they have to be content with living on long-stay visas until the Indian government decides on their fate.

Why would some of Karachi’s Mappilas want to return to Kerala? The first set of Mappila migrants and others such as Kutty had come here in search of better job prospects. In the Seventies, Malayalis on their way to the Gulf found Karachi their accidental homeland. Abdul Kadar, 54, from Tirur in Kerala, landed on the Karachi coast in 1976. “A travel agent charged me and several others Rs 700 each, promising to take us from Mumbai to Dubai by sea. Our motor launch set sail and when it finally docked, we were told that we were at our destination. I got off along with the others. I realised that I had been duped and brought to Karachi instead,” says Kadar. Stranded in a foreign land with no passport, Kadar was forced to get a Pakistani passport by claiming that he was born there.

Shalini Nair in Indian Express. Here

The beginning of the end of the Western hegemony

2011-12-07T07:14:00.001+05:30

Tawakul Karman

The Arab liberation revolution will fundamentally change the Middle East. The acceleration of the West's decline will change the world. One outcome will be a surge toward China, Russia and regional powers like Brazil, Turkey and Iran. Another will be a series of international flare-ups stemming from the West's lost deterrence. But the overall outcome will be the collapse of North Atlantic political hegemony not in decades, but in years. When the United States and Europe bury Mubarak now, they are also burying the powers they once were. In Cairo's Tahrir Square, the age of Western hegemony is fading away.

Ari Shavit in Haaretz. Here and Here

Imran Siddiqi bags Infosys Award

2011-12-06T12:27:00.001+05:30

Dr. Imran Siddiqi, Scientist and Group Leader, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has bagged the Infosys award for outstanding scientists.

Dr Imran Siddiqi has been chosen for the Infosys Rrize 2011 in Life Science by the Infosys Science Foundation for his path-breaking contribution to the understanding of clonal seed formation in plants which could revolutionize agriculture for poor farmers in developing countries.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh, with a 22-karat gold medal, and a citation.

More Here and Here and Here

Islamic Finance in the 21st Century

2011-12-05T14:13:00.001+05:30

It is no secret that conventional financial systems are not working and the sector is looking for alternative and responsible ways of doing business.

Islamic finance poses an ethical and non-conventional model and is currently the only area with strong growth, said Professor Ignacio dela Torre, Academic Director of the Master in Finance Programmes at Spain's Instituto de Empressa (IE) Business School last week.

Dela Torre was speaking at the relaunch of the Saudi-Spanish Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, a partnership between IE Business School and Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz University.

The relaunch coincided with a conference on "Islamic Finance in the 21st century". He said when employment levels are high in the West, it makes sense for finance students to familiarise themselves with alternative finance models that also include eco-finance and micro-finance.
"From a macroeconomic point of view it makes sense that European governments and financial markets set up Islamic windows so excess liquidity can be channelled through some European financing markets with these structures."
"There is already $1 trillion (Dh3.67 trillion) of Islamic money and it is growing at 20 per cent with $200 million of additional Islamic money coming in every year," said Dela Torre.
Students are showing interest in this area of finance and universities in the United Kingdom and France have responded to the demand early on. Over the past five years, IE has been offering Islamic finance programmes.

"When you travel to the Gulf, where 50 per cent of banking is Islamised, there are not enough people with skills and understanding of Islamic finance," he said.
He added that from a career perspective it is wise to have knowledge of this area because those who work in conventional finance will sooner or later be faced with Islamic finance.
Amelia Naidoo in Gulf News. Here

A pacemaker without wires

2011-12-05T14:07:00.001+05:30

A pacemaker that regulates the heart by wirelessly zapping it with pulses of ultrasound from outside the organ is currently undergoing human trials in Europe.

Conventional pacemakers stimulate the heart tissue via electrical leads that are fed into the heart through a vein. But leads can fail, requiring additional surgery to remove and replace them. The conventional approach also restricts where the therapeutic shock can be delivered.

The new device uses focused acoustic waves that are picked up by a small receiver implanted permanently inside the heart, converting the energy into electricity. Unlike radio waves, ultrasound can pass through tissue at high-enough energy levels without causing any heating.

"This represents a significant breakthrough, eliminating the lead in the heart," says Paul Skjefte, marketing strategist for EBR Systems, the company that created the pacemaker. The startup, based in Sunnyvale, California, was spun out of research by founder Debra Echt, a former professor of medicine and a cardiologist at Vanderbilt University.

A report in Technologyreview. Here

"Egypt revolution is Youthquake": Sadat Husseini

2011-12-04T12:52:00.001+05:30

Here is the most powerful speech given by Br Sadat Husseini on "Middle East revolutions: Impacts and expectations".
Sadat Husseini is member of Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. In his speech he has listed out five lessons to be learnt from the Middle East revolutions. It is worth watching.
I heard the full speech in one session. This is the first time that I have spent so much time in viewing a speech. The subject is alluring and Sadat captivates you with shers, arabic slogans, Quranic verses and english quotations.

A slap that failed to stir the nation

2011-12-03T21:58:00.001+05:30

The day Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar received ‘the slap’ I and Sharad Joshi were speaking at a national conference of farmers in Haridwar. A little after lunch, Swami Ramdev walked in to take his seat on the dais and expressed his apologies for being late. He said he was late because he had got busy responding to media questioning on the thappad.

The moment he gave out the news of the ‘the slap’ there was a round of applause. I think the clapping and cheering that followed was louder than the applause any one of us had received during and after our presentations. Meanwhile, the stream of messages on my mobile seemed never ending. My twitter too was flooded with congratulatory messages. I am aware that howsoever we may strongly condemn the incident, which was the politically correct thing to do, the fact remains that there was a sense of jubilation all around.

For a country reeling under an unprecedented price rise, corruption and economic policies that benefit only 1 per cent of the population, ‘the slap’ was an expression of the simmering anger and increasing frustration. While the more daring have picked up the gun (in the Maoist-affected areas) against the inequalities being continuously perpetuated with impunity, the liberal and the educated in the urban centres too are getting restless. I agree with Shobha De when she says ‘this is not about Sharad Pawar. He just happened to be the man at the receiving end of the most recent slap’.

Please do not get me wrong. I am not advocating throwing shoes to be a democratic form of dissent. But at the same time, I want you to think, and think deeply, as to why this democracy finds nothing disturbing when farmers kill themselves in order to draw the attention of powers that be to their plight. Such arrogance and indifference in a people’s democracy can’t go on for long. “The slap’ and the chappal cannot be simply dismissed as the work of a mentally unstable person. It is an expression of growing anger among the masses. Let us not wait for an Arab spring to force the Indian democracy to truly respond and represent the people. It is a question of the forgotten 99 per cent. #

Devinder Sharma in Ground Realities. Here.

Mohamed Badie, the man who matters most in Egypt

2011-12-03T20:59:00.001+05:30

Who is the man at the helm of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, now poised to lead Egypt in the post-Mubarak era?

Liberals view him as an uncompromising religious conservative and even within the Muslim Brotherhood some doubt his ability to lead. Will Mohamed Badie succeed in uniting the Muslim Brotherhood and forming a parliamentary majority?

The press conference was set to start at noon, but at one the long table at the front of the tightly packed room remained empty. The cameramen were still jostling to set up their equipment, jamming their heavy tripods into what remained of the spaces along the walls.

It almost didn’t matter, everyone knew the story they were there for. It was all about the man who would finally take his seat at the table at 2 PM: The Muslim Brotherhood’s General Masul, the General Guide, Mohamed Badie. It was September 2010 and parliamentary elections, were on everyone’s minds, as they are today. Especially when it came to predicting the power of the Muslim Brotherhood in those elections.

Mohamed Badie Abdul Mageed Samy, a highly educated man with roots in labour rights and a strong commitment to outreach, is poised to become one of the most influential powers in the ‘new Egypt.’ Yet, his rise from relative obscurity to the forefront of national politics has left many Egyptians perplexed. Liberals view him as an uncompromising religious conservative and even within the Muslim Brotherhood some doubt his ability to lead. Will Mohamed Badie succeed in uniting the Muslim Brotherhood and forming a parliamentary majority?

Maryam Ishani in Majalla. Here and Here

The Art of Asking

2011-12-02T20:57:00.001+05:30

Remembrance has greater merit than supplication. This is because remembrance is adulation of God Almighty by the beauty of His attributes, His gifts and His names; while supplication consists in the servant asking God for something he needs. And what is this compared to that? Thus, it is stated in a hadith: 'To someone too busy with My remembrance to supplicate Me, I give what is more excellent than what I give to those who ask.' [Muslim]

This is also why the preferred form of supplication begins with praise and adulation for God, then gives blessings upon His Prophet and, finally, asks for what one needs. This follows a hadith from Fudala Ibn Ubayd. When the Messenger of God heard a man in worship supplicating God without praising Him and without invoking blessings upon His Prophet, he remarked, 'This one has rushed things.' Then he called the man over and said to him or someone else [who was with them], 'When one of you offers the prayer, let him begin with adulation for his Lord Almighty, then let him ask for blessings upon the Prophet. After that, let him ask for what he wants.' [Ahmad, Tirmidhi]

Compiled From:
"The Invocation of God" - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, p. 120

இராஜாஜியின் குலக்கல்வித் திட்டமும் ஜெயலலிதாவும்

2011-11-30T15:47:00.001+05:30

1969 ஜனவரி 20 ஆம் நாள்...

உடல் நலிவுற்று சென்னை அடையாறு புற்றுநோய் மருத்துவமனையில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார் அண்ணா.
உற்சாகம் ததும்ப புன்னகை பூத்த முகத்துடன் மருத்துவமனையில் வந்து இறங்கிய அண்ணா, ஏராளமான புத்தகங்களுடன் உள்ளே நுழைந்தார்.

அங்கு அவர் தங்கியிருந்து சிகிச்சை பெறும் வகையில் ஏ.சி அறைக்கு ஏற்பாடு செய்யப் பட்டிருந்தது.
அவரை அங்கும் இங்கும் அழைத்துச் செல்ல சக்கர நாற்காலி தயாராக இருந்தது.
அமெரிக்காவிலிருந்தும் பம்பாயிலிருந்தும் புற்றுநோய் நிபுணர்கள் வரவழைக்கப் பட்டனர்.
அண்ணாவுக்கு என்ன ஆகுமோ, ஏதாகுமோ என்ற பதைபதைப்பில் தமிழக மக்கள் ஆழ்ந்தனர்.
மருத்துவமனையின் ஒவ்வொரு அசைவுகளையும் ஊடகங்கள் செய்தியாக்கிக் கொண்டிருந்தன.
திமுக பொருளாளர் சாதிக் பாட்சா தமது அறிக்கைகளின் மூலம் அண்ணாவின் நிலை பற்றிய அறிவிப்புகளை செய்து கொண்டிருந்தார்.

இத்தனை பரபரப்பும் பதற்றமும் சூழ்ந்து நிற்க அண்ணா மட்டும் அமைதியாக, தாம் கொண்டுவந்த புத்தகங்களை படித்துக் கொண்டிருந்தார்.உயிர் போகும் வேளையில் கூட வாசிப்பை நிறுத்தாத அன்றைய முதல்வர் எங்கே..?

உலகத் தரத்துடன் கூடிய ஒரு வாசிப்புச் சாலையை உருக்குலைக்க நினைக்கும் இன்றைய முதல்வர் எங்கே..?

புற்றுநோய் முற்றிய நிலையிலும் புத்தகங்களோடு வந்திறங்கி, மருத்துவமனையைக் கூட நூலகமாக மாற்றினார் அன்று அண்ணா!
என்ன நோய் முற்றியதோ தெரியவில்லை, அந்த அண்ணாவின் பெயரால் அமைந்த அழகிய நூலகத்தை மருத்துவமனையாக மாற்றத் துடிக்கிறார் இன்று அம்மா!
Aloor Shanawaz at his best. Here

How British, American and European firms exploit Indian 'guinea pigs'

2011-11-30T10:39:00.001+05:30

Western pharmaceutical companies have seized on India over the past five years as a testing ground for drugs – making the most of a huge population and loose regulations which help dramatically cut research costs for lucrative products to be sold in the West. The relationship is so exploitative that some believe it represents a new colonialism.

Since restrictions on drug trials were relaxed in 2005, the industry in India has swollen to the point where today more than 150,000 people are involved in at least 1,600 clinical trials, conducted on behalf of British, American and European firms including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Merck. There may be more.

While there is no official figure, some estimates suggest the industry may be worth as much as £189m. Regulators have struggled to keep pace with the explosion. Between 2007 and 2010, at least 1,730 people died in India while, or after, participating in such trials. Many of those people, often only eligible for the studies because they were ill, might have died anyway. Yet when there are complications, even those resulting in deaths, there is often a failure properly to investigate.

Andrew Buncombe and Nina Lakhani in The Independent. Here

From tragedy to travesty: Drugs tested on survivors of Bhopal

2011-11-30T10:33:00.001+05:30

Secret reports seen by The Independent reveal that drug trials funded by western pharmaceutical firms at the Indian hospital set up for survivors of the Bhopal disaster violated international ethical standards and could have put patients at risk.

Some 14 patients died during the three trials examined by the reports. In one trial, for an antibiotic, five out of seven patients died during the trial or soon after it finished. While there is no suggestion that every death merits compensation, critics say there has been no adequate investigation into whether compensation was appropriate in any of the cases. None has ever been paid.

At least eight other trials were carried out on hundreds of Bhopal gas victims. The Independent has evidence of patients who were unaware that they were taking part in a trial at all. The conduct of the trials has exposed the hospital to furious criticism from activists who say that survivors have been used as guinea pigs without proper informed consent.

Nina Lakhani in The Independent. Here

News can be bought and sold :Seema Mustafa

2011-11-30T09:49:00.001+05:30

The story of a country cannot be without its people. The government’s decision to bring in a Food Security Bill cannot be divorced, in the coverage, of what impact it will have on the ground. It is the job of the media to explore not the legalities of the legislation, but whether it will bring relief to the people, and to what extent. These stories are not being covered any more with the media getting away with a couple of quotes from the VIP politicians, and a ‘this party is against the other party’ kind of superficial approach. What has happened to the Women’s Reservation Bill? What does 51% FDI in the retail sector mean for the people? And by people, the yardstick should be poor people, and not just the consumers who determine the advertisements and the TRP ratings.

People do not like to come out on the streets to protest. Not even those who belong to political parties. They do so because they genuinely believe that there is no other course, and the issue is important enough to merit their participation. But when thousands of workers march on the streets of Delhi for justice and rights, the entire media without an exception blocks them out as they are the conscience check for unbridled capitalism keeping the corporates in business.

All that is reported are traffic jams as a result of people’s protests. Of course, if the protests turn violent the media is in full attendance to damn the protestors and their supporters.

The state has realised the importance of controlling the media across the world, particularly in democracies. It has also realised that it does not need to do this through draconian laws (like censorship) and has opted for outright seduction. Big media empires are set up with covert state support, and the pay back is through the manipulation of news that is difficult to detect. This has happened in the US, it is happening in India. Multi media chains are being established by industrial houses, they get full support by the government that even bails them out at later stages through closed door multi-crore deals, so that eventually they can control the news.

The distance between the journalist and the politician has been bridged, and both go to bed with each other to ensure smooth functioning of the new media industry that first creates the news and then disseminates it with admirable ease. The voter cannot be controlled, but the information can. And as the Iraq war and its embedded journalists have shown so successfully to the world, information can be bought and sold.

Seema Mustafa in DNA. Here

The Fast Car

2011-11-29T23:24:00.002+05:30

If the life of this world is an illusion, the period of greatest illusion occurs during youth. It is a period of high energy and great enthusiasm, coupled with an air of invincibility and perpetuity. Like the driver of a fast car, one may also develop a disdain for the slower cars on the highway of life. It is difficult to imagine that the car will run out of fuel and that one day the engine will wear out.

For the moment though the car is fast and it can go places!

For this reason there are special warnings for the youth and glad tidings for the person who uses this energy wisely. A famous hadith tells us that on the Day of Judgment no man will be able to move from his place until he answers five questions. "How did he spend his life? How did he utilize his youth? How did he earn his wealth? How did he spend it? And, how did he practice what he learnt?" [Sunan al-Tirmidhi]. While the first question asks generally about one's life pattern, the second especially focuses on the period of youth.

On the other hand, the person who devoted his youth to the worship of Allah will be among the selected seven kinds of people [Bukhari, Muslim].

Hence the profound advice in another famous hadith to value five things: "Youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, free time before preoccupation, and life before death."

A fast car is dangerous if it does not have strong controls. And that is where Shaitan targets the vulnerable --- by loosening the controls. It has been his time-tested trick to work through temptations and make desires look irresistible. The path of deviation looks good. It is cool. It is fun. It is endlessly entertaining. The only problem is,it leads to assured disaster.

Compiled From:
"Youth: On Culture, Religion, and Generation Gap" - Khalid Baig

Police, administration and judiciary should be committed to secular principles.

2011-11-28T17:13:00.001+05:30

The last six months have witnessed attacks on members of the minority community in four different states: Forbesganj, Arhariya in Bihar, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and Gopalgarh, Bharatpur in Rajasthan. All those who have been killed and suffered material losses have been members of the minority community. Despite the fact that the states concerned are ruled by very different political dispensations — the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, JD(U)-BJP in Bihar, the BJP in Uttarakhand and the Congress in Rajasthan — the unforgivable and dangerous communal bias displayed by the police and administration and the ways in which political rulers have sought to cover up, justify or downplay this bias, have been similar. Those who believe that all Indian citizens have the right to equal treatment from the administration and the judiciary must voice their concern.

Affected families from Forbesganj, Moradabad and Gopalgarh attended a convention against communal conflict organised by the All India Democratic Women’s Association in the capital recently. Rudrapur went unrepresented because the families of victims have fled the town. They spoke at the convention about bereavement. It was not pity they sought, but recognition of injustice, and punishment of those responsible.

The events of recent months have emphasised the necessity of making the police, administration and judiciary free of bias and committed to secular principles. Exemplary punishment must be meted out to those who violate these principles. Governments must display much more sensitivity and commitment to rehabilitation. The state has to prove its commitment to the secular Constitution through action that cannot be half-hearted and tardy.

Subashini Ali in Indian Express. Here

Fallujah remembered by a US marine

2011-11-28T16:48:00.001+05:30

It has been seven years since the 2nd siege of Fallujah -- the American assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds-of-thousands more -- the assault that poisoned a generation, plaguing the people who live there with cancers and their children with birth defects.

It has been seven years and the lies that justified the assault still perpetuate false beliefs about what we did.

The American veterans who fought there still do not understand who they fought against, or what they were fighting for.

I know, because I am one of those American veterans. In the eyes of many of the people I "served" with, the people of Fallujah remain dehumanized and their resistance fighters are still believed to be terrorists. But unlike most of my counterparts, I understand that I was the aggressor, and that the resistance fighters in Fallujah were defending their city.

It is also the seventh anniversary of the deaths of two close friends of mine, Travis Desiato and Bradly Faircloth, who were killed in the siege. Their deaths were not heroic or glorious. Their deaths were tragic, but not unjust.

How can I begrudge the resistance in Fallujah for killing my friends, when I know that I would have done the same thing if I were in their place? How can I blame them when we were the aggressors?

Ross Caputi in StopWar.org. Here

Ten principles of the Prophet of Islam

2011-11-28T11:24:00.001+05:30

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the most successful man in the entire human history. Being the last Prophet of Islam, he not only set a good example for the whole mankind but also showed to them how to achieve success in this world. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, a prominent Islamic scholar, has identified 10 successful principles taught by the Prophet.

“By studying the life of the Prophet we can derive those important principles of success,” he wrote in an article. “To begin from the possible” is one of those principles. The Prophet’s wife Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) has explained this principle through a Hadith in which she said: “Whenever the Prophet had to choose between two options, he always opted for the easier one” (Al-Bukhari). To choose the easiest option means to begin from the possible, and one who begins from the possible will surely reach his goal.

To see advantage in disadvantage was the Prophet’s second important principle, says Khan. In the early days of Makkah, there were many problems and difficulties. But a verse in the Qur’an, “With every hardship there is ease, with every hardship there is ease,” (94:5-6) inspired Muslims. They learned from the verse that if there are some problems, there are also opportunities at the same time. “And the way to success is to ignore the problems and avail the opportunities,” Khan points out.

Changing the place of action was another principle, which is derived from the Hijrah. According to Khan, Hijrah was not just a migration from Makkah to Madinah but was a strategic move by the Prophet to find a more suitable place for Islamic work.

“Make a friend out of an enemy” was the fourth principle, which the Prophet learned from the Qur’an, which enjoined upon him the return of good for evil. The Qur’an then added, “You will see your direst enemy has become your closest friend” (41:34). “It means that a good deed in return for a bad deed has a conquering effect over your enemies,” Khan wrote in his article.

After the Battle of Badr, about 70 of the unbelievers were taken as prisoners of war and many of them were educated people. The Prophet announced that if any one of them would teach 10 Muslim children how to read and write he would be freed. This was the first school in the history of Islam in which all the students were Muslims and all the teachers were from the enemy rank. Here comes the fifth principle: Wring success out of failure.

The power of peace is stronger than the power of violence is the sixth principle. When Makkah was conquered, all of the Prophet’s direst opponents were brought before him. They were war criminals, in every sense of the word. But the Prophet did not order to kill them. He simply said: “Go, you are free.” The result of this kind behavior was miraculous. Most of them embraced Islam.

No to dichotomous thinking was another principle of the Prophet. “In the famous Muta battle, Khaled bin Waleed decided to withdraw Muslim forces from the battlefield because he discovered that the enemy was disproportionately outnumbered. When the Muslim forces reached Madinah, some commented “O Furrar” (deserters). The Prophet said “No. They are Kurrar” (men of advancement).” Those Madinah Muslims, who commented wrongly about their forces, were thinking dichotomously, either fighting or retreating. The Prophet said no. There is also a third option, and that is to avoid war and find a time to strengthen yourself to make a powerful comeback. History tells us that the Muslims, after three years of preparation, advanced toward Rome and won a resounding victory.

To bring the battle in one’s own favorable field was the Prophet’s eighth principle. Before the Hudaibiyya Treaty the unbelievers were determined to engage Muslims in fighting, because obviously they were in an advantageous position. But the Prophet, by accepting their conditions unilaterally, entered into a pact. It was a 10-year peace treaty. Until then, the meeting ground between Muslims and non-Muslims had been on the battlefield. Now the area of conflict became that of ideological debate. “Within two years, Islam emerged as victorious because of the simple reason of its ideological superiority,” the scholar said.

Gradualism instead of radicalism was the ninth principle, which is well-established by a Hadith reported by Al-Bukhari. Ayesha says that the first verses of the Qur’an were related mostly to heaven and hell. And then after a long time when the people’s hearts had softened, the specific commands to desist from adultery and drinking were revealed in the Qur’an. “This is a clear proof that for social changes, Islam advocates the evolutionary method, rather than the revolutionary method,” Khan explained.

To be pragmatic in controversial matters was another of the Prophet’s important principles, he said. During the writing of the Hudaibiyya Treaty, the Prophet dictated these words: “This is from Muhammad, the Messenger of God.” The Quraysh raised their objections over these words. The Prophet promptly changed the word and ordered to write simply Muhammad son of Abdullah. This pragmatic approach adopted by the Prophet brought peace and prosperity for Muslims and accelerated the propagation of Islam.

In Arab News. Here

Why do we laugh?

2011-11-26T11:15:00.001+05:30

He who laughs last usually has to have the joke explained. But then why bother? After all, nothing kills humor faster than analysis. That sentiment has long dogged humor studies, a field often disparaged as an affront, even an existential threat, to its subject matter. It’s just a joke: Don’t overthink it.

But what if humor (or mirth, in research speak) is intimately linked to thinking? What if we’d have trouble thinking without it? That’s the argument of “Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind” (MIT Press, 2011).

Coauthored by three scholars, the book had an unusual genesis: It began in 2004 as an undergraduate term paper. First author Matthew Hurley, a native of Reading, Mass., had enrolled at Tufts University after a few years of travel and work as a computer programmer. As part of a self-designed major in cognitive science, Hurley took a course on humor taught by the psychologist Reginald Adams Jr. It struck Hurley that most humor theories focused on why we find certain things funny. But, he wondered, why do humans find anything funny? Why do we have a sense of humor in the first place?

Chris Berdik reviews the book "Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind" in the Boston Globe. Here

Hemant Karkare, unsung hero of 26/11

2011-11-26T10:53:00.001+05:30

In Hemant Karkare’s net (of investigations, of course) many big and small fishes of VHP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and Sanatan Sanstha (which has been found to be involved in Diwali-eve blasts in Goa last week) had been trapped. Serving and retired army officers, academics, serving and retired officials of India’s premier intelligence service were ensnared in Karkare’s fishing net. The menacing power of the latter groups, inspired by sustained anti-Muslim hate campaigns of the last six decades, gave the plot a sinister and highly destructive character.

Among the plans unearthed by Karkare was a blueprint for the assassination of 70 prominent Indians who could by a hindrance to the project of Hindutva. Interestingly, most of the persons marked for elimination would, naturally, be Hindus because it is they who primarily run the dispensation. The conspirators were also unhappy with organisations whose Hindutva they suspected to be less virulent than desired.

M. Zeyaul Huque in Milli Gazette. Here

The murder of Ishrat Jehan and others in Modi's Gujarat

2011-11-25T11:00:00.000+05:30

Ishrat Jehan, Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi, Tulsi Prajapati, Haren Pandya have one thing in common: They were murdered when Narendra Modi ruled Gujarat
THE WHEELS of justice might grind slow, but they do grind, it appears. In a major setback for the Narendra Modi-led government, on 21 November, the infamous Ishrat Jahan killing was officially declared a fake encounter by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Gujarat High Court, exposing the blatant lies of many officers in the state police. This reaffirmed Metropolitan Magistrate SP Tamang’s explosive findings in an earlier report.

The high court has already directed the Gujarat Crime Branch to register a fresh FIR in the case. Taking cognisance of it, the petitioner Mukul Sinha has filed a fresh petition that has been forwarded to the CBI. “We have not just named Tarun Barot and Vanzara but also Intelligence officers such as IB Joint Director Rajinder Kumar, Commissioner of Police K Kaushik and ADGP Intelligence J Mahapatra for having acted on the basis of these concocted inputs,” says Sinha. The CBI is also set to take down the testimony of the anonymous whistleblower TEHELKA spoke to.

Altogether, there seem to be tough times ahead for all the officers who toed the government line in Gujarat. By sending summons to Tirodkar and Nayak, the CBI has set the ball rolling in a bid to expose the larger rot. The details of what transpired between Daya Nayak and the Gujarat Police hold the key.

Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi, Tulsi Prajapati, Ishrat Jahan, Haren Pandya — each of these killings have dented Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s credibility on the national stage. If the investigation into Jamal’s death is taken to its most logical conclusion, it might just hammer one more nail into Modi’s prime ministerial ambitions.

Rana Ayub in Tehelka. Here

"Just one slap?" :Anna Hazare over slap on Sharad Pawar

2011-11-24T21:22:00.001+05:30

Harvinder Singh, a resident of Rohini in the capital, slapped the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in full glare of TV cameras on Thursday.

Anna Hazare, self-confessed arch rival of Pawar, was quick to respond to the incident. Initially with swagger Anna said, "Just one slap?";

A report in IBN LIVE. Here

Ek hi maara? : Anna Hazara on slap on Sharad Pawar

After committing a faux-pas in his reaction to the attack on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Anna Hazare said tonight that he was ready to apologise if his remark was perceived to be "wrong".

"He got slapped! Only one slap?" Hazare had said to a group of journalists at Ralegan Siddhi when he learnt about the attack on Thursday. But later he condemned the attack.

Explaining what he meant by his remark, Hazare, talking to a Marathi news-channel, was at pains to explain the faux pas saying "I was addressing a daily gathering of people when someone sent me a note informing about the attack. I wanted to know whether it was just a slap or there was some other kind of violence."

The social activist said he did not say or mean anything inappropriate when he said "ek hi mara?". He always believed in non-violent method of agitation, Hazare said.

"However, if it is perceived that I have said something wrong, I am ready to apologise," he said.

A report in DNA. Here.

“He got slapped! Only one slap?”: Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare on Thursday tied himself in knots with his reaction to the attack on Sharad Pawar first appearing to respond with contempt and later condemning it.

“He got slapped! Only one slap?” he said to a group of journalists who broke out in laughter at his reaction.

A report in The Hindu. Here

Save Kingfisher; Dump Mallya: Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar

2011-11-24T21:01:00.001+05:30

Kingfisher Airlines is deep in the red. Should the government organize its rescue? When millions of small businesses are allowed to go bust when banks cut off credit to thousands of smaller defaulters, rescuing Kingfisher will smack of crony capitalism.

The airline has defenders too. Kingfisher has justly earned a reputation for excellent service standards. Quality is always worth preserving. We need to save Kingfisher without saving Mallya.

Its main competitor in quality, Jet Airlines, has frequently made good profits, while Kingfisher never has.

Kingfisher has already been rescued. Banks converted unpaid loans to Kingfisher into equity at a very favourable premium of 62% to the ruling market price, a tribute to Mallya’s political clout rather than company’s future prospects . Even after that the company has sunk deeper into the red. Even after being restructured and slashed, its debts exceed Rs 7,000 crore. Government concessions to the industry may save other airlines, but not Kingfisher.

A failed management must be changed. That’s normal in a market economy.

If Mallya really wants yet another chance, he must be told to bring in at least Rs 3,000 crore of fresh equity. If he cannot entice the investing public—which is probable--he must sell his other assets. Apart from liquor company UB Holdings, he owns stakes in the cricket team Royal Challengers, Bangalore; the Kolkata football teams Mohun Bagan and East Bengal; and the Formula 1 team Force India. In many other countries his bankers would force him to sell these.

If Mallya will not sacrifice his other assets for Kingfisher , then he cannot ask others to sacrifice their financial interests for him. His creditors should acquire the company and auction it.

Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar in The Times of India. Here and Here

Ashok Mitra's scathing attack on media

2011-11-24T19:59:00.001+05:30

If the price is right, the letters will be printed

Is not there a huge misunderstanding at work? The culture of writing letters to the editor, a colonial curiosum, is sought to be grafted into the postcolonial soil. This country during all these post-Independence decades has, however, hardly been a prim, stable system in the grip of the bourgeoisie, whatever the illusion of the latter. Post-Emergency, post-Mandal Commission, post-Babri Masjid destruction, India is a most messy affair. It is worth considering how Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar has come to be accorded retrospective deification more than half a century after his death. Our current inheritance is a coarse, uncouth, relentlessly cynical terrain.

The coup de grâce has been afflicted by economic liberalization, setting at total disarray the parameters of the system. Illiteracy, for one, is fast replacing rational discourse. As long as one is reasonably acquainted with the lingo of the information technology universe, it is possible to get along famously, that is, make piles of money, with no need to surf in any other direction. Familiarity with art and literature has zero lucre-yielding prospect, unless one is savvy enough to climb the bandwagon of, for example, event management or public relations or the electronic media. To stay relevant, it may actually often be necessary to feign idiocy. Globalization-mongers detest history and are proud of their disdain for philosophy; so steer clear of these themes too. Culture is whatever is telescoped into pastilles dispensed by the gobblebox. Little tolerance is shown for news which does not concern one’s narrow sphere of interest. The demand schedule is king. The traditional newspapers have to convert themselves, for dear life, into tabloids. They have been forced to move away from hard news; gossip and visuals are enough.

The central message of globalization — make money whatever the means — has led to the inevitable consequence: indulgence in corrupt practice has turned into passport for social recognition. Since no stigma attaches any more to financial skulduggery, the news industry has taken to it as effortlessly as a duck takes to water. News can now be manufactured if the price is right. Space has to be found for such fabricated news.

Remember the story of the Texas hillbilly who struck oil under his land and was all of a sudden flush with money? At the end of a busy day in town, he stopped for a drink at a wayside inn, right next to the precincts of a newly set up university. He was curious to know what a university did and was told it produced PhDs and the innkeeper had the franchise from the university to sell the doctoral degrees. The hillbilly felt expansive and bought a PhD for himself by dishing out a thousand dollars. As an afterthought, he laid out on the table another thousand bucks and purchased a PhD for his horse as well. That is roughly the state of affairs in India as of this moment. The strange animals who die to write letters to the editor are altogether out of place here. On the other hand, one never knows, they too could easily imbibe the ethos of the free market economy and offer hard cash to newspaper editors to get their lofty thoughts published. If the price is right, the letters will be printed, which eventually will have nothing to do with the quality of their contents.

Ashok Mitra in The Telegraph. Here

Pioneer Environmentalist

2011-11-24T01:09:00.004+05:30

"There is none amongst the believers who plants a tree, or sows a seed, and then a bird, or a person, or an animal eats thereof, but it is regarded as having given a charitable gift." [Al-Bukhari, III:513].

The idea of the Prophet Mohammed as a pioneer of environmentalism will initially strike many as strange: indeed, the term “environment” and related concepts like “ecology”, “environmental awareness” and “sustainability”, are modern-day inventions, terms that were formulated in the face of the growing concerns about the contemporary state of the natural world around us.

And yet a closer reading of the hadith, the body of work that recounts significant events in the Prophet’s life, reveals that he was a staunch advocate of environmental protection. One could say he was an “environmentalist avant la lettre”, a pioneer in the domain of conservation, sustainable development and resource management, and one who constantly sought to maintain a harmonious balance between man and nature. From all accounts of his life and deeds, we read that the Prophet had a profound respect for fauna and flora, as well as an almost emotional connection to the four elements, earth, water, fire and air.

He was a strong proponent of the sustainable use and cultivation of land and water, proper treatment of animals, plants and birds, and the equal rights of users. In this context the modernity of the Prophet’s view of the environment and the concepts he introduced to his followers is particularly striking; certain passages of the hadith could easily be mistaken for discussions about contemporary environmental issues.

Compiled From:
"Prophet Mohammed: A Pioneer of the Environment" - Francesca De Chatel

More Here

“Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life”: Haruki Murakami

2011-11-23T13:52:00.001+05:30

Murakami submitted “Hear the Wind Sing” for a prestigious new writers’ prize and won. After another year and another novel — this one featuring a possibly sentient pinball machine — Murakami sold his jazz club in order to devote himself, full time, to writing.

“Full time,” for Murakami, means something different from what it does for most people. For 30 years now, he has lived a monkishly regimented life, each facet of which has been precisely engineered to help him produce his work. He runs or swims long distances almost every day, eats a healthful diet, goes to bed around 9 p.m. and wakes up, without an alarm, around 4 a.m. — at which point he goes straight to his desk for five to six hours of concentrated writing. (Sometimes he wakes up as early as 2.) He thinks of his office, he told me, as a place of confinement — “but voluntary confinement, happy confinement.”

“Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life,” he said. “If you cannot concentrate, you are not so happy. I’m not a fast thinker, but once I am interested in something, I am doing it for many years. I don’t get bored. I’m kind of a big kettle. It takes time to get boiled, but then I’m always hot.”

Sam Anderson in The New York Times. Here

Tahrir Square and crowd behaviour

2011-11-22T11:50:00.001+05:30

Crowds, we are often told, are dumb. They obliterate reason, sentience and accountability, turning individuals into helpless copycats. Commentators on the riots offered different explanations but most agreed that crowd psychology was part of the problem. “The dominant trait of the crowd is to reduce its myriad individuals to a single, dysfunctional persona,” wrote the novelist Will Self in the New Statesman. “The crowd is stupider than the averaging of its component minds.” The violence was said to have spread like a “contagion” through the crowd, facilitated by social media. For those who wanted to sound scientific, the term to drop was “deindividuation”: the loss of identity and moral responsibility that can occur in a group. But do crowds really make us more stupid?

Earlier this year, the world watched a crowd bring down an autocratic government, by the simple act of coming together in one place, day after day, night after night. Egyptian protesters created a micro-society in Tahrir Square, organising garbage collection, defending themselves when they needed to, but otherwise ensuring the protest remained peaceful. As well as courage, this took intelligence, discipline and restraint. Few international observers accused the crowd in Tahrir Square of being dysfunctional, or of turning its members into animals. The Tahrir protesters also used social media, but rather than calling for a ban, as some in Britain did after the riots, people wrote eulogies to the liberating potential of Twitter. It seems that not all crowds are bad. But when bad things happen, the crowd gets the blame.

John Drury, a psychologist at Sussex university who studies crowd behaviour, believes that the idea that crowds induce irrational behaviour and erase individuality just isn’t supported by the evidence. First, most crowds aren’t violent. The crowd in the shopping mall or at a music festival is usually calm and ordered. Even crowds that include conflicting groups, as at football matches, are more likely to be peaceful than not. Second, even when crowds do turn violent, they aren’t necessarily irrational. In the 18th century England was afflicted by food riots. If ever there was an atavistic reason to riot, that was surely it. But the historian E.P. Thompson showed that the riots took place not when food was at its most scarce but when people saw merchants selling grain at a steep profit; the rioters were motivated by a rational sense of injustice rather than the “animal” drive of hunger.

Ian Leslie in Moreintelligentlife. Here

Perfect Muslims

2011-11-22T03:13:00.002+05:30

Bukhari records that God's Messenger, peace be upon him, said: "The Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand Muslims are safe. The Emigrant is one who emigrates from what God forbids."

This hadith describes the ideal or norm by beginning with the Muslim, as opposed to a Muslim. In this way, our Prophet draws attention to the qualities of perfect Muslims, not to those who are only nominal Muslims.

Our Prophet mentions the tongue before the hand, for slander, gossip, and insult often do far more damage than physical violence. If people can refrain from verbal assault, they can more easily refrain from physical assault. Moreover, self-defense against physical violence is often easier than that against gossip and slander.

Emigration means more than leaving one's family, house, possessions, and native land for the sake of God. To be capable of the latter, one must emigrate from the material to the spiritual dimension of his or her being, from worldly pleasures to an altruistic life, and from selfish aims to living for a Divine cause. Therefore, obeying Divine prohibitions is directly related to being a good Muslim and to sacrificing one's life in the service of people purely for the sake of God.

Compiled From:
"The Messenger of God: Muhammad" - Fethullah Gulen, pp. 104, 105

My Little hands

2011-11-21T18:21:00.001+05:30

I clean the shoes on their feet

That they thrust at my 7-year old face

But I understand, he’s a city man

My little hands dare not make him late.

I wake up to work, I walk to work

I sleep only so that I can work

When I get to work I’m beaten to work,

Even though I never stop,

Harder, faster, better or beating

I eat whatever makes me work.

One day we were awarded an hour’s break,

So I leaned back on the factory’s outer wall,

Looking at the buildings, and roads and shimmering dresses,

And thought: I had a hand in them all!

But as I looked at my hands,

Bruised and rough, like a tired old man’s,

I wondered: Is a hand in them all I will have?

What I was to shed as tears for my predicament,

I shed it all as sweat.

But suddenly, I was surprised to find,

A tear slowly creep out of my eyes,

How could it be? I asked myself

But then I realized…

It was just how my body sweats… in my hour of rest.

Zaynab Chinoy in her blog. Here

A Million Dollars is Not Enough

2011-11-21T11:52:00.001+05:30

I’ve already written about how Palestinians of all ages and genders in Gaza are nuts about Bollywood movies — and hence Indians — thanks to the “Zee Aflam” channel which streams Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Sharukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor & Co. 24-7.

But on Thursday I was shocked when Mohamed, a young Palestinian lecturer at Al Aqsa University in Gaza City, asked me if I had been to Sri Lanka and then proceeded to tell me about his deep concern for the human rights abuses of Tamils there. “You really must go there and see for yourself,” he said. He had visited the island nation after attending a conference in New Delhi a few years ago.

Earlier Mohamed had asked me if I spoke Hindi, and I said no, that my family was from south India. “Ah, are you Tamil?” Even though I’m only half, I answered in the affirmative, surprised that he was familiar with Indian geography. Most Americans and Europeans I’ve met have never even heard the word, much less know where on the map Tamils hail from.

This conversation was all the more surprising because it took place in the besieged, blockaded Gaza Strip, land of the 37.4% unemployment rate, where 77% of households live below the poverty line and two-thirds of the population are refugees. Another professor had just finished explaining how during “Operation Cast Lead” in 2008/2009, Israel not only killed the living, but disturbed the dead — shelling the cemetery where his mother was buried.

We had also discussed the similarities and differences between Israeli apartheid and South African apartheid. In South Africa, blacks were allowed to travel on the same roads as whites, not so in the West Bank, where Israel prevents Palestinians from traveling on the same roads as Jewish settlers –which now being challenged by the Palestinian “Freedom Riders.” Similar to the South African apartheid regime, Israel has corralled Palestinians into bantustans, however apartheid South Africa, unlike Israel, never bombed said bantustans or fired white phosphorous at civilians, burning them to death at temperatures of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Out small group concluded the conversation by agreeing that the growing movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel is more critical now than ever. Today India announced a donation of $1 million dollars to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides basic food and other basic services to 5 million Palestinian refugees. While this money will no doubt be appreciated — especially in the wake of the U.S. cuts to UNESCO funding after Palestine gained a seat — people here in Gaza have repeatedly told me that they don’t want charity, they want solidarity, they don’t want aid, they want equality.

Just as India and Pakistan were the first countries to officially impose a trade embargo on South Africa in the 1950s, it is time for the developing world to yet again step up and act against apartheid — Israeli apartheid — when the west will not.

Radhika Sainath in her blog. Here

"This wave will not stop.": Rachid Ghannoushi

2011-11-21T11:11:00.001+05:30

"I once said that al-Qaeda was over in Tunisia, the eruption of the revolution in Tunisia means there is a third way for a change. It's not that of violence, it's not that of integration into the current regimes under the pretext of aiming to reform them because these regimes cannot be reformed.

Changing the internal systems of these regimes failed and changing them through violence also failed. So the Arab world was going through a state of inactivity.

Tunisia came up with a third way which is the peaceful revolution. In one year three regimes have so far been toppled and two others are on the way to being toppled. This wave will not stop."

-Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi

Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of the Ennahda party, which won the first Tunisian elections after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country's former president, was toppled in January, talks about the Arab Spring, free elections and the implementation of Sharia in Tunisia. Marwan Bishara interviews Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi. Here

Sheila Dikshit inaugurates Al Shifa Hospital

2011-11-20T18:21:00.001+05:30

Alshifa Multi Speciality Hospital has been inaugurated by Delhi Cheif Minister Sheila Dikshit today at Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi.

In her inaugural speech, she appreciated the efforts of Human Welfare Foundation, the umbrella body of Vision 2016 program in general and the hospital project in specific which puts forward the concept of quality and affordable health care for all.

She said the project is a land mark initiative fort the people of Okhla. She expressed her long desire for establishing a maternity hospital in Jamia Nagar which was not executed due to non availability of land but will establish once land is availed or will support Human Welfare Foundation to start one. She also said that the government can join hands with HWF for efforts in capacity building and human resource development.

Moulana Syed Jalaluddin Umri delivering the presidential address

The inaugural function was presided by Syed Jalaluddin Umri, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and Chairman of Human Welfare Trust. He said “Providing service for the helpless and needy people is part of Ibadah (worship) in Islam,”. Making his point home, the JIH Ameer, who is also the Chairman of Human Welfare Trust, said, “Serving the society is as much important as saying one’s own prayers; that’s why the Qur’ān has mentioned Zakat repeatedly only after Salat (Namaaz).”

Prof. K. A. Siddique Hassan, Secretary General of Human Welfare Foundation said that the hospital will be a helping hand for the needy. It will solve the problem of non-availability of quality and affordable health care in the area. The hospital will be an ideal model of health care, in a place where health care is a means of exploitation and an opportunity for huge profits. He explained the activities of vision 2016 program.

Sandeep Dikshit (Member of Parliament) Safdar H. Khan (Chairman, Delhi Minority Commission), Kiran Walia (Minister of Social Welfare, Delhi), Dr. Azad Moopan, (Chairman, DM Healthcare) Mr. Sandeep Dikshit (Member of Parliament) Dr. Hussain (Chairman, Fathima Healthcare Services) and Syed Hamid Hussain (Chairman, Human Welfare Foundation and Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard Univesity) spoke in the function. Engineer Saleem (Secretary, Human Welfare trust) convened the program and Brigadior Zafar Ali (Operations director, Al Shifa Hospital) delivered the vote of thanks.

Al Shifa hospital has specialised departments for General medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, paediatrics and physiotherapy. It has a bed capacity of 36 and will be upgraded to 150 shortly. The hospital will soon have two more specialised departments – eye and dental. Medical laboratory, radiology, ultra sound scanning, spirometry and ECG are available in the hospital.

A report in JIH website. Here

Who's the leader?

2011-11-19T15:03:00.001+05:30

I don't like Thomas L Friedman. He is the example for WASP White Anglo Saxon Protestant. His essays are written in simple, straight sentences. Besides he has the knack of narrating grippingly. But he is WASP. He is simply anti-Muslim, anti-Islam, anti-non-American. For him only thing that matters is America. Even then I continue to read him off and on. Occasionally he writes sensibly. The following passage is an example:

Yes, it’s true that in the hyperconnected world, in the age of Facebook and Twitter, the people are more empowered and a lot more innovation and ideas will come from the bottom up, not just the top down. That’s a good thing — in theory. But at the end of the day — whether you are a president, senator, mayor or on the steering committee of your local Occupy Wall Street — someone needs to meld those ideas into a vision of how to move forward, sculpt them into policies that can make a difference in peoples’ lives and then build a majority to deliver on them. Those are called leaders. Leaders shape polls. They don’t just read polls. And, today, across the globe and across all political systems, leaders are in dangerously short supply.

From Thomas L Friedman's piece in The New York Times. Here

Arundhati Roy on Occupy the wall Street

2011-11-19T12:44:00.001+05:30

Today, we know that the "American way of life" – the model that the rest of the world is meant to aspire towards – has resulted in 400 people owning the wealth of half of the population of the United States. It has meant thousands of people being turned out of their homes and their jobs while the US government bailed out banks and corporations – American International Group (AIG) alone was given $182 billion.

The Indian government worships US economic policy. As a result of 20 years of the free market economy, today, 100 of India's richest people own assets worth one-quarter of the country's GDP while more than 80% of the people live on less than 50 cents a day; 250,000 farmers, driven into a spiral of death, have committed suicide. We call this progress, and now think of ourselves as a superpower. Like you, we are well-qualified: we have nuclear bombs and obscene inequality.

The good news is that people have had enough and are not going to take it any more. The Occupy movement has joined thousands of other resistance movements all over the world in which the poorest of people are standing up and stopping the richest corporations in their tracks. Few of us dreamed that we would see you, the people of the United States on our side, trying to do this in the heart of Empire. I don't know how to communicate the enormity of what this means.

They (the 1%) say that we don't have demands… perhaps they don't know, that our anger alone would be enough to destroy them. But here are some things – a few "pre-revolutionary" thoughts I had – for us to think about together:

We want to put a lid on this system that manufactures inequality. We want to put a cap on the unfettered accumulation of wealth and property by individuals as well as corporations. We demand:
• An end to cross-ownership in businesses. For example, weapons manufacturers cannot own TV stations; mining corporations cannot run newspapers; business houses cannot fund universities; drug companies cannot control public health funds.
• Two, natural resources and essential infrastructure – water supply, electricity, health, and education – cannot be privatized.
• Three, everybody must have the right to shelter, education and healthcare.
• Four, the children of the rich cannot inherit their parents' wealth.

A report in Informationclearinghouse. Here.

Why the Sangh loves Anna Hazare?

2011-11-18T21:46:00.001+05:30

When Anna’s team stands and shouts “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, it is not hailing the Indian Republic but a mythic nation that exists only in the mind. It was no coincidence that the very stage on which Anna first fasted at Jantar Mantar had a map of India shaped in the image of Bharat Mata as the backdrop. It is no coincidence that Anna is a teetotaler given to flogging young men who do not obey him. It is no coincidence that Kejriwal has often shared the stage with an anti-reservation organisation called Youth for Equality. It is no coincidence that the electioneering they are doing is not directed against corruption but the Congress (even if the distinction is sometimes hard to make, it exists). It is no coincidence that Constitutional issues are so readily dismissed by Anna and Kejriwal, who has even anointed Anna above Parliament. It is no coincidence that through the Jan Lokpal Bill, they imagine an ombudsman who would be to the republic what Anna is to Ralegan Siddhi, someone who will whip us all into shape.

The support extended by the RSS, the overt expressions of sympathy, the covert mobilisation of numbers, the desire to make common cause with Anna, is not some public play at deception and politics, it is the manifestation of a genuine desire to make common cause with a man who has managed to fulfill their aims. Mobilise the people, corner the Congress, and fight to the death for Kashmir (only rhetorically, of course, for in reality the soldiers who die in the fighting are motivated by a far more prosaic professionalism).

Hartosh Singh Bal in Open. Here

"When London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Paris have become Islamic banking hubs why can Kerala not become on?": H Abdur Raqeeb

2011-11-17T17:27:00.001+05:30

H Abdur Raqeeb

Kerala could become a role model of tapping Islamic finance market to raise badly needed funds for infrastructure development, according to experts.

Mr H. Abdur Raqeeb, Convener, National Committee on Islamic Banking at the New Delhi-based Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF), made a strong pitch for these funds at the Infrastructure Conference-2011 that began here on Wednesday.

Mr Raqeeb quoted a Kerala High Court observation that no specific prohibition was contained in any statute that made it impermissible to carry out Islamic banking in the country.

Simple regulatory changes could transform India into a regional hub for Shariah-compliant finance and clear the way for a much-needed wave of investment into its infrastructure, he added quoting international experts and consultants.

SHARED RISK

“When London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Paris have become Islamic banking hubs why can Kerala not become one and lead the country to become a developed economy in the near future?,” he wondered.

Islamic banking focuses on transparency, cooperative ventures, shared risk and ethical investing attracts a wide range of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

In Malaysian Islamic banks, more than 40 per cent of investors and 60 per cent of borrowers are non-Muslims, mostly Chinese.

One in five applicants for some of the Islamic products is a non-Muslim in the Islamic Bank of Britain.

ISLAMIC BONDS
Asset-backed Islamic bonds, known as ‘Sukuks,' provide funds for long-term investment.

This tool is used in a number of developing and developed countries. India too should seek to make use of these resources, Mr Raqeeb said.

The fact is, Islamic finance can do wonders. Post 9/11, petro-dollars have been actively eyeing for a safe investment destination.

And this is the opportunity that India should avail of, given that it is not just a safe but vibrant investment destination.

HUGE MONEY
An estimated $1.5 billion in funds is sloshing around West Asia as of now. The region will have $8 trillion to invest by year 2020.

Ms Muliani Indrawati, Managing Director, World Bank, has confirmed that the World Bank Group has ‘formally recognised Islamic finance and has designated it a priority area in their financial sector programme.'

The World Bank has always closely cooperated with the Islamic financial services sector. This demonstrates its commitment to help strengthen the institutional development of the industry.

Vinson Kurian reports in Business Line. Here