On this day in 2006

It was a strange time - someone dear to me once told me how the war had made her remember that she was a Muslim. This statement was true for me as well and on so many levels. .

Syria's strange love affair with Britain

For anybody who has been fortunate enough to visit both capitals, London and Damascus appear to stand at the poles of two opposing cultures and world views. Both of these cities were once the capitals of great empires. In Damascus, Salah el Din rides his steed to glory and victory whilst in London, the lonely figure of Richard the Lion Heart raises his sword one last time. Syrians in particular have a strange infatuation with the English. Their educational system is held in high esteem and is commonly (and accurately) believed to be better than the American one. Their president was also educated in Britain and ultimately married a Syrian woman from Acton, who was brought up and educated in Britain as well. Historically, we are told the tale of the Syrian trader who married a local woman, a tale repeated countless times till the present, living where today there is a border with Scotland when the Romans were still in Britain. The British have Lawrence of Arabia, a semi-legendary figure who 'helped' in the Arab revolt but strangely they were happy to leave Syria and Lebanon to the French during the "mandate" years.

Syria and Britain are two countries which should, by all accounts, be enemies. Yet strangely there exists a bizarre connection between the two countries which persists in spite of whatever political turmoil is taking place. In the eighties, the Syrians tried to blow up an El Al flight taking off from Heathrow. The man responsible is still in prison here, but the issue was hushed up and nobody remembers that anymore. Britain's pro-Zionism is also silently overlooked by Damascus in its relations, as is Syria's support for Palestinian resistance movements. Both countries hold special relationships with stronger allies, the United States for Britain and Iran for Syria, and both seem to act as the conduit through which much negotiation takes place between these two opposing powers. During the 1990 Gulf War, a member of the British Special Air Service managed to escape Iraq to the safety of Syria, then a member of the coalition to oust Saddam from Kuwait, but in protest at the aggression of the United States against Iraq and its continued bombing, Syrian rioters 'managed' to completely trash the British Council's offices before proceeding to the US embassy, where one of the rioters was able to pull down the American flag and then duly urinate on it. British intelligence routinely "tips" Syrian intelligence services to pick up individuals of interest who fly to Damascus to learn Arabic or religion, to be tortured and interrogated, before the necessary diplomatic outrage allows for their release - or not. The incidents go back and forth, and yet there seems to be a silent 'understanding' between the two countries which has persisted over the years.

It is a very curious relationship...and one which I expect will produce strange offspring in the future. .

"Syria renaissance excludes human rights"

Lina Sinjab is back! Credit where it is due though, this article isn't half bad. .

Metaphysical Mistake

I hold Karen Armstrong in great esteem and really enjoy reading her books on religion. Here is a very interesting article she's written for the Guardian:

Confusion by Christians between belief and reason has created bad science and inept religion. .

Crooked pens

Fawaz Jarjis writing on al Jazeera about Iran. He says that the government has won the battle but not the war and that the cost has been their political and moral legitimacy in the eyes of their people. Predictably the article looks like it may have been written for CNN or the BBC rather than al Jazeera. I was suspicious of Jarjis so when several commentators pointed out his anti-resistance sympathies against the Palestinians I felt my suspicions were justified. I think that since the invasion of Iraq, the US-Iranian battle for the Middle East has grown into the defining conflict in the Middle East for this decade. Our very own Cold War..

PS. I still think we should expect to see those hostages released very soon. .

Events in Iran - An Analysis

What are the Americans buying for the release of the five Iranian diplomats? Their release yesterday after almost two years of captivity raises serious questions, especially considering the timing and context. The West and Iran have been in a state of undeclared war since the Iranian revolution in 1979. Granted there have been periods of detente, such as the Israeli arms sales to the revolution and American assistance during the Iran-Iraq war. Recently, we saw a slight thaw with the Americans requesting Iranian assistance in supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan, as well as the undeclared agreement to cede Iraq to Iran's sphere of influence. But this kind of behaviour has been the exception rather than the norm and when the riots began in Iran over disputes about the elections, the West was quick to show where its sympathies lay. The response from Iran has been swift against what it called Western interference in its affairs, and in particular singled out the British government as the "most evil".

The saga with the diplomats is the latest in a series of tit for tat killings, kidnappings and publicity stunts by both sides. It began in January 2007 when five Iranian diplomats were seized in Iraq during a time when the United States was complaining about Iranian meddling in Iraq. The violence during this time was extreme. During January the Mossad also assassinated Ardeshir Hosseinpour, a scientist on the Iranian nuclear programme. In February that same year, a sixth Iranian diplomat is "kidnapped" in Iraq, but no group comes forward to claim responsibility. in 2007, a bizarre kidnapping of five British personnel, a civilian and four body guards, took place right under the noses of the US army. The Times reported a year later that the five were being held by Revolutionary Guards in Iran but overall the media coverage of these men over the past two years was minimal - surprisingly. On the 23rd of March 2007, the Iranians announce their capture of 15 Royal Navy Sailors whom it claims were within its territorial waters. The British denied this and typically brought out their whiteboards, marker pens and ordinance maps on the news to explain themselves in front of their public and the world. This is still considered to be the greatest insult in the history of the Royal Navy and the event turned into a media circus which humiliated Britain. On the 3rd of April, the people who had kidnapped the sixth Iranian diplomat released him, it is still not known who had been holding him. The very next day, Mahmoud Ahmedi Nejad announces the release of the prisoners as a "gift" to the United Kingdom.

Two years later and the only two remaining and unresolved issues from that period were those of the five Iranian diplomats, held by the United States, and the five British personnel who were being held by Iran. One of these is said to have killed himself in captivity, whilst two of them were shot and their bodies handed over to the occupation forces in Iraq the day following Khamenei's warning to the West not to meddle in Iran's internal affairs and after his singling out the British government as the cause of the disturbances. There are still two hostages who are being held by Iran and it is probably highly likely that the release by the Americans of the five Iranian diplomats could be as a payment for the release of the two remaining British hostages. This may be because the United States and Britain do not want more attention than necessary focused on what has happened to these five men - the forgotten - especially after two of them were executed. It also raises other serious questions about what role Britain has played in the riots in Iran.

In another note, there has been a sharp rise in the deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan - could this be the start of an Iranian response to British meddling? The recent G8 meeting in Italy also had a meeting scheduled in combating the drugs trade in Afghanistan, but the Iranian delegate had withdrawn from the meeting following Khamenei's speech a few weeks ago and did not attend. Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose daughter (and effectively himself) were placed under house arrest at the start of the riots distanced himself from the protestors when it became clear that they cannot dislodge Ahmedi Nejad and place the corrupt Mousavi in his place. His attempt at dislodging Khamenei, something well within his considerable political power, also appears to have fizzled. The highest ranking Iranian employee in the British embassy is now facing charges of espionage and playing a crucial role in what has happened in Iran following the elections. The arrest of the naive French student is probably a red herring and only a warning to the French to not think about sticking their noses in other peoples business. So all the loose ends have been tied up and Iran is now mopping the protestors, who are now left to their own devices.

The silly 'green' revolution is over. As Walid al Mualem, Syria's cunning Foreign Minister said, whoever had bet on the collapse of the Iranian revolution made a big mistake. I think now, the last serious attempt to dislodge the Islamic Republic has failed, and there is a much bigger chance of Israeli attempts to bomb Iranian nuclear installations than before. The Saudi and American nods of approval are an indicator of things to come. .

This was probably always likely...

During one of those 'deep' discussions that can take place every now and then, someone mentioned to me that even if the Prophet Muhammad had been killed, Allah would still have created an Islam, still created a Muhammad somewhere and still revealed a Quran, for it is written. The first thing that I felt when that was said was that this sounded ludicrous. What happened the way it happened could not have happened any other way, is an old Stoic belief about how the world with its events is explained. If it could not have happened in any other way, then there is no free will and we may think we are making decisions but ultimately are only doing what we were destined to do. The issue of free will versus predetermination is an old philosophical one, and I have no intention of fully writing down my views on the topic yet, especially not today, but I was thinking about what this person had told me and realised something.

How many times have you come across an idea that you thought was so brilliant and new, only to discover that somebody has already thought of it and been recognised for it. Children draw diagrams of their inventions only to find out that a scientist somewhere has in fact already been studying it and released it. Today, whilst reading, I remembered a complex idea that I had been trying to explain to a friend about my view of life in the universe and the constancy of life even though the underlying atoms which make us up are being dismantled and reassembled in different forms. The reason I remembered this idea was because Heraclitus, the ancient pre-Socratic philosopher was mentioned. I had been aware of his saying before, that you never step into the same river twice, but never tied it in with his wider view that the only constancy is the pattern of change - exactly what I had been so desparately trying to word like a four year old child trying to explain what it is they want.

If there is an underlying process which is similar within all human beings, then, in similar situations and with similar external stimula, we would always or for the most case (Aristotles definition of necessary) act the same way or think something up in a similar fashion. Even those who go against the tide would act this way only because it has reached a certain level or speed in a certain direction, so if they had not, another would inevitably have done so. It is not predetermined that you would act on the impulse, only that you may experience it. So when the Prophet explained one of the Quranic passages about those who go to Paradise as "inheriting" it from the non-believers, he said that each human being has two places reserved for them, one in Paradise and one in Hell. Those who act on certain impulses may go one way or the other, so if it is not you, another may be strong or weak enough to succumb or succeed.

So if there was no Rome, another Rome would have come about, if there was no Moses or Elvis, another Moses or Elvis would have surfaced eventually. Almost as if whatever is 'possible' will, with enough time, be eventually fulfilled - I wonder if there is some shred of truth in that. When I read the Qur'an, there is never any mention of when something will happen, no mention of when the Qiyama (Day of Judgement) will take place, or of issues to do with Islamic eschatology, but the language remains clear, this will happen and when it does, you will not be able to delay or bring it forward by even a moment. Almost like the inevitability of death and my inability to predict where in the world it will happen, only that it will. These are very humbling thoughts. .

On crackpots

I will post more on this later, but I get very annoyed when I here people 'citing' books by Harun Yahya in discussions about science and evolution. I have not read his books but the arguments people claim to get from him are not representative of Islamic positions on science. Frankly the man seems like a crackpot. I have not found a single reason why I should refuse evolution because I am a Muslim and I have not found a single atom of evidence in the Qur'an or elsewhere, which would rule out such a theory. Even Imam al Ghazali in books written over a thousand years ago had no problem in categorising man as a "speaking animal" in his examples or discussions about logic, he takes it as a given. It is ironic that the same people who glorify the Islamic history and past scientific advances find that an honest and serious study of the very books they champion would lead them to hold completely opposite positions to those they hold now regarding science and learning. In fact if they even read the Qur'an they would find it says nothing about such issues, simply because the Qur'an is not a scientific text. So what I am saying is the Qur'an did not mention the internet, just because it did not talk about the dinosaurs that does not mean they did not exist, and it does not have secret codes in it about the date of the end of the world. Now go away. I'm annoyed.

Back to my thesis... .

Sayid Qutb, Morality and Pinnochio

I am almost finished with reading Sayid Qutb's book "Milestones on the Way" which I hope to post something on at some point soon. But an interesting thing occurred whilst I was reading it yesterday, I came across a passage that he quotes from the Qur'an and for some reason this verse really resonated with me:

فأعرض عمّن تولى عن ذكرنا و لم يرد الا الحياة الدنيا. ذلك مبلغهم من العلم, ان ربك هو أعلم بمن ضل عن سبيله و هو أعلم بمن اهتدى
النجم 19-20

So avoid those who have abandoned remembering Us and only wanted this life. That is the limit of their knowledge. Your God knows who has strayed from his way and He knows who has followed it.

(al Najm 19-20)

There is something which people used to worry about a lot in human history such as the development of a good, virtuous and upright character. The ancient and medieval philosophers had all worried about it and so did the major faiths which give people signposts for achieving these traits. Yet we are told that so few had the patience, the courage or the intelligence to pursue this way. This tendency to be stupid exists today and in fact it is worse because it is now all pervasive. Everywhere I look in London I see people who are brash, loud arrogant and selfish. The same is true in other countries but perhaps not as bad as it is here or in the United States. They do not see themselves that way of course, nobody does, but then again we like to be with people who would make us feel as if we are not evil but good. But that is what they are. It was this chain of thought which reminded me of the strangest of things! I had forgotten how much I had loved the film Pinnochio as a child. I even had an illustrated story that was read to me over and over and I would, as children do, also watch it endlessly until I almost memorised it. There was a scene in Pinnochio which had a profound impact on me as a little boy, the one where he joins a loud, brash and rude group of boys and runs away from home to go and have 'fun' in a fair. In this fair, the boys can do what they like, they can even 'smoke' cigars and drink beer like 'adults'. There are no restrictions, no limits and no rules.

Unfortunately after they have their 'fun' it turns out that the fair is run by an evil man who casts a spell on them. All those who drink cigars and smoke beer are turned into jackasses and then caged in boxes to be sold to salt mines, circuses, farms or other horrid places. Pinnochio is fortunate, but he sees all those he thought were his friends get dragged to the most horrible of fates. It was probably the finality of such a horrible fate, with no hope of a second chance or redemption, which would bother me so much back then. That theme figures strongly in the scene and I imagine it did have strong religious connotations, a child friendly version of what eternal damnation must be like.

The scene is actually quite disturbing and I don't think it ever left me. Especially with all the other fears that my mother (bless her) had implanted in my head such as the fear of drugs, the fear of stealing and the fear of lying because Allah would burn me with fire. I would rebel against this 'nonsense' when I grew older but something inside me always pulled me away from the worst of things that people can do these days. When I would visit nightclubs many years ago, I would imagine people there looked like gorilla's in a bizarre mating ritual, they looked so primitive and ridiculous regardless of how gorgeous the woman would look or how smart and gel-ed up the man chatting to her would be. I would feel disgusted that I had happily relished mixing in such an environment where alcohol, cigarettes and far worse (in toilet cubicles) would be taken. I also felt disgusted with myself for having spent so long seeing women as just objects to be used, as game to be pursued and hunted down. That is actually what many of the women in these places are, because they do want to be hunted down and they did want to be objects to the 'best' man out there. It could be human instinct but it just didn't feel right.

I guess Allah sometimes wants us to fall in the mud so that we can appreciate the cleansing effects of water but that does not mean that we should seek this kind of environment. I don't agree with people who think you should go out and 'experience' life (as they think this is), as if this rubbish and the horrible people you would meet during this time is a necessary rite of passage for us. There is a real danger of corruption, not just of the body, as the tired, flaccid and tattood bodies of those who go through this are testament to, but also of the soul. Restraint, patience, politeness, modesty, all these are qualities that people in the 'big' cities of the world now ridicule. Aside from these probably the biggest quality that is now missing is shame.

I think shame is a wonderful feeling to have. When a child first begins to feel shy or shame it is because they are starting to become self aware. They are not sure if what they have done is acceptable or not. When they do good, parents then commend the child and when they do bad, the parents rebuke them. At least that is how it is supposed to be and this is a process which Muslims in fact carry out throughout their lives. There is a much maligned phrase الأمر بالمعروف و النهي عن المنكر calling for good and restraining from evil, which expresses this philosophy perfectly I think. It is, I have now discovered, the Islamic answer to the English philosophy of only having the 'right' to interfere when ones actions would 'harm' others no matter how immoral or outrageous we think they are. A view that is taken to be dogma today, even in the Arab world. However I believe this is a fallacy, for immorality is an active element which spreads effortlessly through a society since it is likeable, easy and seductive. Morality on the other hand is a component which can only be brought about through action. Not just any action, but an action rooted in a will which derives its morality from something other than just a persons desires and fancies. For this reason, morality is what I like to call, a 'passive' element in a society.

When I say society I refer to it as a collection of human beings and not as a state. Society has its roots in family, and when I have a family, shame and fear will have their rightful place in raising the children - not as tools of tyranny, but of mercy. Whilst I cannot, and rightly so, make their decisions or live their life for them, the least I can do is plant the right seeds in their mind so that when they do come across the crazy, sexy and cool but ultimately misguided people, or as the Quranic verse above says, those who desire only this world then they have a better chance of surviving their own individual experience with Fitna. My Aunt has a nice saying about the stern way her generation were raised. She said our parents disciplined us so that the world wouln't have to in the future. I agree with her, when the world teaches us a lesson, it is a crueller teacher than any strict parent.

In the mean time, please find linked the scene in Pinnochio when the boys discover they have been misled and lied to, and when they start transforming into donkeys... .

Sheikh Imam - Ana Toub 3an Hobak ana

This is my favourite song from Sheikh Imam. Toob in Arabic means to repent. When you say Ana toob 3an hobak ana? he is asking "I could ever repent from loving you?". The words have always resonated with me...

I am begging you, Allah punish you
Making me stress with you and making me stress over you
Even if you were away for a year, I am still as I am
I cannot forget you, nor can I be without you
How can I repent from loving you?

.

Maysaloon is back

After a brief sojourn Maysaloon is back. I think it is a human trait where we feel we have to say goodbye, not because the connection is broken, but because we think that in this way we would find closure and perhaps feel we can move on. I've learned that this is an illusion, for if we are caring enough to want to say goodbye, we are also humble enough to leave our door cracked open that little bit wider - just in case. It is ironic that Allah forgives the transgressions people might make against His laws, but not those that people commit against each other, but if we really understand the meaning of this, we find that between people too there is nothing which has been broken that cannot be fixed - if we are just wise enough to emulate one of His traits rather than let arrogance, pride and evil come in the way. I think for these reasons I will always prefer the Arabic farewells such as الى اللقاء, (till we meet), or وداعاً, (wada'an), which is shortened and comes from أستودعك الله (Astowde'ok Allah), which means I leave you in God's keeping.

There is an old Arabic saying which goes: a mountain and a mountain will never meet, but a human being and a human being will...so for those we have parted ways with us we tell them الى اللقاء - the door, however formidable, will always be open for you.

Maysaloon will continue, but I feel it taking a slightly more spiritual twist than before. For a blog which has been ongoing since the July war in 2006, I feel it has become a roadmap of my development as a human being. Since that milestone three years ago, how many things have changed!? .