"Fish is Fish"

"Fish is Fish (Lionni, 1970) describes a fish who is keenly interested in learning about what happens on land, but the fish cannot explore land because it can only breathe in water. It befriends a tadpole who grows into a frog and eventually goes out onto the land. The frog returns to the pond a few weeks later and reports on what he has seen. The frog describes all kinds of things like birds, cows, and people. The book shows pictures of the fish's representations of each of these descriptions: each is a fish-like form that is slightly adapted to accommodate the frog's descriptions- people are imagined to be fish who walk on their tailfins, birds are fish with wings, cows are fish with udders. This tale illustrates both the creative opportunities and dangers inherent in the fact that people construct new knowledge based on their current knowledge."

From "How People Learn: brain, mind, experience, and school" by John D. Bransford, et al.(2000, Washington, DC: National Academy Press), pg. 11.

Oh, What Games They Play

An interesting comparison of Orwell and Huxley. Thanks to RecombinantRecords.net

Youth and the issues they face today

A laudable and much needed service for our communities. For details see Muslim Youth Helpline's website.



See another noteworthy initiative here: Children's Islamic Library

Hope other communities can take inspiration from the above two projects. For the library project, I think a further challenge would to be incorporate general educational and recreational material, especially considering the dearth of Islamic educational material in certain areas. The challenge would be to develop the logistics and compile a list of quality material. By 'logistics' I mean general guidelines and review process.

The Love Connection

Something that's long known to exist in all kinds of affectionate relationships, science is finally opening itself to this area of research:

from NPR (May 21, 2009):

The Love Study

On a bright spring day, Schlitz is leading Teena and J.D. Miller down a path to the laboratory at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, north of San Francisco. Schlitz is the president of the institute, which conducts research on consciousness and spirituality. The Millers have been married a decade and their affection is palpable — making them perfect for the so-called Love Study.

Schlitz takes Teena into an isolated room, where no sound can come in or go out. Teena settles into a deep armchair as Schlitz attaches electrodes to her right hand.

"This is measuring blood flow in your thumb, and this is your skin conductance activity," the researcher explains. "So basically both of these are measures of your unconscious nervous system."

Schlitz locks Teena into the electromagnetically shielded chamber, then ushers J.D. into another isolated room with a closed-circuit television. She explains that the screen will go on and off. And at random intervals, Teena's image will appear on the screen for 10 seconds.

"And so during the times when you see her," she instructs, "it's your opportunity to think about sending loving, compassionate intention."

As the session begins, Dean Radin, a senior scientist here, watches as a computer shows changes in J.D.'s blood pressure and perspiration. When J.D. sees the image of his wife, the steady lines suddenly jump and become ragged. The question is: Will Teena's nervous system follow suit?

"Notice how here … see, there's a change in the blood volume," says Radin, pointing to a screen charting Teena's measurements. "A sudden change like that is sometimes associated with an orienting response. If you suddenly hear somebody whispering in your ear, and there's nobody around, you have this sense of what? What was that? That's more or less what we're seeing in the physiology."

An hour later, Radin displays Teena's graph, which shows a flat line during the times her husband was not staring at her image, but when her husband began to stare at her, she stopped relaxing and became "aroused" within about two seconds.

After running 36 couples through this test, the researchers found that when one person focused his thoughts on his partner, the partner's blood flow and perspiration dramatically changed within two seconds. The odds of this happening by chance were 1 in 11,000. Three dozen double blind, randomized studies by such institutions as the University of Washington and the University of Edinburgh have reported similar results.

The 'Quantum Entanglement' Of Love

So how do you explain this? No one really knows. But Radin and a few others think that a theory known as "quantum entanglement" may offer some clues.

Here's how it works. Once two particles have interacted, if you separate them, even by miles, they behave as if they're still connected. So far, this has only been demonstrated on the subatomic level.

But Radin wonders: Could people in close relationships — couples, siblings, parent and child — also be "entangled"? Not just emotionally, and psychologically — but also physically?

"If it is true that entanglement actually persists, by means of which we don't understand," he says, "if they are physically entangled, you should be able to separate them, poke one, and see the other one flinch."

This idea — that we may be connected at some molecular level — echoes the words of mystics down the ages. And it appeals to some scientists.

But it infuriates others — like Columbia University's Sloan. The underlying idea is wrong, he says. Entanglement just doesn't work this way.

"Physicists are very clear that the relationship is purely correlational and not causal," Sloan says. "There is nothing causal about quantum entanglement. It's good to be open-minded, but not so open-minded that your brains fall out."

Radin and others agree that that's what science says right now. But they say these findings eventually have to be explained somehow.

The Story of Stuff

Watch the video here: Story of Stuff or here (full version). The website is here.

For related videos, see The Corporation, Affluenza (see also its PBS website), and Consuming Kids (also their feature: 'what parents can do').

A Cautionary Video About America’s ‘Stuff’
By Leslie Kaufman, NYTimes, May 11, 2009

Excerpt:

The video was created by Annie Leonard, a former Greenpeace employee and an independent lecturer who paints a picture of how American habits result in forests being felled, mountaintops being destroyed, water being polluted and people and animals being poisoned. Ms. Leonard, who describes herself as an “unapologetic activist,” is also critical of corporations and the federal government, which she says spends too much on the military.

Ms. Leonard put the video on the Internet in December 2007. Word quickly spread among teachers, who recommended it to one another as a brief, provocative way of drawing students into a dialogue about how buying a cellphone or jeans could contribute to environmental devastation.

So far, six million people have viewed the film at its site, storyofstuff.com, and millions more have seen it on YouTube. More than 7,000 schools, churches and others have ordered a DVD version, and hundreds of teachers have written Ms. Leonard to say they have assigned students to view it on the Web.

It has also won support from independent groups that advise teachers on curriculum choices. Facing the Future, a curriculum developer for schools in all 50 states, is drafting lesson plans based on the video. And Ms. Leonard has a contract with Simon & Schuster to write a book based on the video.

The enthusiasm is not universal. In January, a school board in Missoula County, Mont., decided that screening the video treaded on academic freedom after a parent complained that its message was anticapitalist.

But many educators say the video is a boon to teachers as they struggle to address the gap in what textbooks say about the environment and what science has revealed in recent years.

“Frankly, a lot of the textbooks are awful on the subject of the environment,” said Bill Bigelow, the curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools, a quarterly magazine that has promoted “The Story of Stuff” to its subscribers and on its Web site, which reaches about 600,000 educators a month. “The one used out here in Oregon for global studies — it’s required — has only three paragraphs on climate change. So, yes, teachers are looking for alternative resources.”

Environmental education is still a young and variable field, according to Frank Niepold, the climate education coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are few state or local school mandates on how to teach the subject.

The agency is seeking to change that, but in the interim many teachers are developing their own lesson plans on climate change, taking some elements from established sources like the National Wildlife Federation and others from less conventional ones like “The Story of Stuff.”

Ms. Leonard is self-educated on where waste goes and worked for Greenpeace to prevent richer nations from dumping their trash in poorer ones. She produced the video, with the Free Range Studios company, and with money from numerous nonprofit groups; the largest single giver was the Tides Foundation. She did so, she said, after tiring of traveling often to present her views at philanthropic and environmental conferences. She attributes the response to the video’s simplicity.

“A lot of what’s in the film was already out there,” Ms. Leonard said, “but the style of the animation makes it easy to watch. It is a nice counterbalance to the starkness of the facts.”

Nature Alive

Meri Mehboob Kahin Aur Mila Kar Mujh Se

Sahir's poem on Taj Mahal reminds one of Ali Shariati's On the Plight of the Oppressed People. Like Ali Shariati, Sahir seeks to set standards for beauty and love.

A question that comes to mind: Beauty and Truth, are they two separate things? Could a magnificent monument - be it Taj Mahal, Egyptian Pyramids, large Cathedrals, or extensive Mosques - built on the involuntary sweat and blood of innocent people be ever considered beautiful?

I copy two different translations of the poem below.




Taj Mahal by Sahir Ludhianvi

For you, the Taj may be a monument of love;
you may adore this lovely spot
but, darling,
let's meet somewhere else!

In such royal places,
we-- the poor?
Regal opulence seen every which way,
two poor lovers-- here?
Really out-of-place!

Sweetheart, under this so-called symbol of love,
if only you'd seen the vulgar splurge of opulence.
Charmed you may be by royal mausoleums,
if only you'd thought
of our own dismal homes!

Countless millions are in love;
who can say their emotions aren’t real
just because they, like us, have no means
to put up an advertisement?

These mausoleums, these arrogant forts,
these pillars of royal eminence, these lush gardens:
In these very flowers and vines
runs the blood of our own ancestors, my love.

Don't you think they must also have been in love,
the people whose art and skill
made this monument so beautiful?
They and their loved ones now lie nameless,
in unmarked graves,without a single candle
yet lit for them.

These gardens, by the Jamuna [River],
this palace, the embroidered doors, walls and niches--
that's just how an emperor,
using his wealth and power,
mocks the love between us destitutes.

Could we meet somewhere else, darling ?

Translated by: Riz Rahim

Taj Mahal by Sahir Ludhianvi

The Taj, mayhap, to you may seem, a mark of love supreme
You may hold this beauteous vale in great esteem;
Yet, my love, meet me hence at some other place!

How odd for the poor folk to frequent royal resorts;
‘Tis strange that the amorous souls should tread the regal paths
Trodden once by mighty kings and their proud consorts.
Behind the facade of love my dear, you had better seen,
The marks of imperial might that herein lie screen’d
You who take delight in tombs of kings deceased,
Should have seen the hutments dark where you and I did wean.
Countless men in this world must have loved and gone,
Who would say their loves weren’t truthful or strong?
But in the name of their loves, no memorial is raised
For they too, like you and me, belonged to the common throng.

These structures and sepulchres, these ramparts and forts,
These relics of the mighty dead are, in fact, no more
Than the cancerous tumours on the face of earth,
Fattened on our ancestor’s very blood and bones.
They too must have loved, my love, whose hands had made,
This marble monument, nicely chiselled and shaped
But their dear ones lived and died, unhonoured, unknown,
None burnt even a taper on their lowly graves.

This bank of Jamuna, this edifice, these groves and lawns,
These carved walls and doors, arches and alcoves,
An emperor on the strength of wealth,
Has played with us a cruel joke.
Meet me hence, my love, at some other place.

Translation by: K.C. Kanda

Life's Little Instructions

Found this in my inbox today. Presents some useful points. Especially bcz of the last point, I felt that this advice was more than just think-good-feel-good self-centered absorption.

The 11 Rules To Change Our World

1. You be the change you dream of seeing (Thanks Mahatma Gandhi). "If everyone of us would sweep their own doorstep, the whole world would be clean," observed Mother Teresa. She was right.

2. Make time every day to reconnect to your highest ideals and boldest dreams. Without hope, people perish.

3. Leave every person you meet better than you found them. Life's too short to withhold encouragement and kindness.

4. See every setback as a stepping stone and every problem as a blessing in disguise. Contrary to what critics might say, these are NOT corny aphorisms. They are timeless truths of humanity. (And critics are just people too scared to grow their dreams anyway - pay no attention to them. The world needs more people lifting people up rather than putting people down).

5. Go the extra mile in everything you do - you don't need a title to be a leader. And on your deathbed, you'll never regret expressing the best within you.

6. Do what's right rather than what's easy. Being a great person isn't a popularity contest. Many of the greatest leaders were disliked because they refused to bend to the winds of public opinion. That's called Strength of Character.

7. Care for your health. You elevate the world by elevating yourself and your health really matters. Why be the richest person in the graveyard?

8. Tell your kids they are geniuses - and how much you adore them. Each of us are born geniuses but lose that gift within the first 6 years of our lives as we adopt the fears and limiting beliefs of those around us. Your kids are the leaders of the future. Grow their potential. Now.

9. Learn something new every day. As you grow, you begin to see possibilities you didn't have the eyes to see before. Read from an inspiring book, listen to an audio program, visit a good blog, go to a powerful workshop or have a conversation with an elder. One idea is all it takes to transform your life.

10. Keep your life simple. Please. The secret to success and happiness is building your life around a few important things. The person who tries to do everything accomplishes nothing.

11. Remember that life is a mirror and we receive what we give out. To get more joy, give more joy. To have more respect, give more respect. To realize your dreams, help others realize theirs.

By Robin Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Also see a previous SM post related to this topic, Living in the Moment

Review - Jasmine and Stars: Reading More Than Lolita in Tehran

Review: Jasmine and Stars: Reading More than Lolita in Tehran (UNC Press, 2007)

By Ali A., Islamic Insights, Feb 9-15, 2009

While reading a text assigned for your class on a topic related to Islam and Muslims, ever had that feeling of frustration, “That’s NOT how it is!”? You know the reading is full of holes, yet you are at a loss for words to articulate what’s wrong with it?

If your answer is yes, here is a book in which you will find a range of tools to dissect those annoying readings. The book is called “Jasmine and Stars: Reading more than 'Lolita' in Tehran” (UNC Press, 2007). The author is Fatemeh Keshaverz, who is a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Keshaverz’s argument is two-fold. One, she exposes the omissions and misrepresentations in Azar Nafisi's national bestseller “Reading Lolita in Tehran” (Random House, 2003). Two, she presents a literary analysis of a range of poetry and prose from Iran as well as gives us a feeling of life in Iran from her personal experience. This exposition is meant to question the simplistic and bleak picture one may get from “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and to invite the readers to understand Islam and Muslim cultures in their full complexity and richness.

Keshavarz argues that Azar Nafisi’s book represents a ‘New Orientalist’ narrative. Her argument builds on the critical writings of Edward Said in which he argued that the way the West perceived the Orient (the East) had profound consequences on their mutual interactions. By “West”, he was particularly referring to the circles of power and the intellectual discourse over the past few centuries. In the Orientalist perception, the East was seen as unvaryingly different, backward, inferior, mysterious, and dangerous. It was something to be wary of or to be disciplined. Aggressive colonial expansions in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere were rationalized as a ‘progressive force’ which would civilize the indigenous populations in the colonized lands. These expansions occurred simultaneously with the development of the Enlightenment and technological advancements in the West. [1] Edward Said further argued that such perceptions, especially concerning the Muslim world, continue to dominate the popular discourse in the West.

Developing on Said’s line of argument, Keshavarz argues that the ‘New Orientalist’ narrative "equally simplifies its subject. For example, it explains almost all undesirable Middle Eastern incidents in terms of Muslim men's submission to God and Muslim women's submission to men. The old narrative was imbued with the authority of an all-knowing foreign expert. The emerging narrative varies somewhat in that it might have a native--or seminative--insider tone. Furthermore, as the product of a self-questioning era, it shows a relative awareness of its own possible shortcomings. Yet it replicates the earlier narrative's strong undercurrent of superiority and of impatience with the locals, who are often portrayed as uncomplicated. The new narrative does not necessarily support overt colonial ambitions. But it does not hide its clear preference for a western political and cultural takeover. Most importantly, it replicates the totalizing - and silencing - tendencies of the old Orientalists by virtue of erasing, through unnuanced narration, the complexity and richness in the local culture" (p.3).

The introduction and the first chapter of “Jasmine and Stars” introduce the goal and main arguments of this book. The subsequent three chapters take the readers on an exciting journey which explores the rich literary heritage and diverse lives of the people in Iran. Keshavarz particularly focuses on the Sufi tradition in her discussion of Islam. The personal stories she shares all throughout the book convey feelings of warmth, tenderness, and “shared humanity” (p.5) (shared by the peoples of Iran and the West). In her analysis of poetry, novels, and Sufi thought in these three chapters she also shows how these literary expressions animate in the lives of ordinary people in Iran. The fifth chapter quite sharply dissects “Reading Lolita in Tehran”. Concluding the book in the sixth chapter, Keshavarz once again exhorts the readers to explore the shared humanity and richness of Muslim cultures.

The first and fifth chapters along with the introduction could also be read separately if readers are interested in specifically reading the critique of “Reading Lolita in Tehran”. The tools and vocabulary provided in these chapters could also help with evaluating works such as “Nine Parts of Desire”, “The Bookseller of Kabul”, “'The Kite Runner”, “The Almond”, “Persepolis”, and “The Trouble with Islam”.

The value of this book should be self-evident in a time when distortions and lies about Islam and Muslims are widespread. These distortions are damaging not only for inter-communal relations but also the way Muslims themselves perceive their identity. Yet while reading the book, at times I wished that Keshavarz had scrutinized the premises of these distortions even more deeply. This analysis would have expanded the power and scope of her criticism. Below are two inter-related points in this regard.

The first point is that people do not have to believe in the same things you believe in before you could appreciate and respect their humanity. By presenting instances of ‘shared humanity’ (shared values, emotions, thoughts), Keshavarz does a fine job of relating with the Western audience. Her discussion of modern Iranian literature, particularly the works by Forough Farrokhzad and Shahrnush Parsipur, conveys a strong sense of agency – the kind of agency which is idealized in the liberal feminist discourse(s). Keshavarz is also very frank about her feminist sensibilities in the book that have informed her selections and arguments. However, the real challenge in any attempt to understand other cultures and peoples is to appreciate the ‘differences’ in outlooks and sensibilities, while also observing that our own ideals may not be universally valid. For example, women in Muslim cultures may also cherish ‘autonomy’ and ‘empowerment’, but their definition of these ideals may be very different from what some liberal feminists would like for them. Failing to recognize this difference can result in the kind of intolerance that is seen today in France against the Muslim Hijab. Some scholars would take the argument on another level to argue that ideals like ‘freedom’ and ‘autonomy’ (which have a particular history in the Western liberal tradition and are often defined in terms of individual choices and interests in opposition to community values and interests) may not be as important – if at all – for many women in other cultures. Saba Mahmood and Lila Abu-Lughod’s works make compelling arguments in this regard. [2] In their works they also argue that appreciating these differences does not necessarily mean falling into moral relativism.

The second point is that we need to question the question first before answering with the typical ‘Not all Muslims are fundamentalist/extremists, and we need to consider the voices of moderation and peace too’. The question that needs to be asked first is what’s wrong with being a fundamentalist and who defines a “fundamentalist” as such? If being a fundamentalist means believing in some fundamentals of religion, then most Muslims are fundamentalists! This issue connects to a dichotomy that underlies the popular discourse in the West. In this dichotomy Muslims are either ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’. Good Muslims are ‘modern’, ‘moderate/progressive/rational’, and ‘pro-western’. The Bad Muslims are ‘backward’, ‘fundamentalist/extremists/fanatics’, and ‘anti-western’. I am not saying that “Jasmine and Stars” necessarily falls into this trap. But it misses the voices and sensibilities of those considered to be the “Bad Muslims” (both male and female), particularly those that were part of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and those that are opposed to physical and symbolic intrusions by global powers today. By no means is this segment of the population a minority in Iran, and they are the ones most frequently stereotyped in the ‘New Orientalist’ narratives. Representing their lives and outlooks does not necessarily mean that one endorses or justifies them. But as risky and daunting as this task may be for the kind of project that Keshavarz is engaged in, without challenging the ‘Good vs. Bad’ Muslim dichotomy most answers would come off as merely apologetic in the popular discourse.

Toward this end, we first need to scrutinize the normative assumptions of the liberal-secular discourse and its supposed moral superiority. (Examples are in the last two points – one relating to the discourse on women’s rights, the other relating to the politics of war on terror). Next, we need to bring in the political and historical context in the picture. I have Mahmood Mamdani’s important work “Good Muslim, Bad Muslims” (Pantheon, 2004) in mind that critically examines the American foreign policy during the Cold War era. In the first chapter of “Jasmine and Stars” Keshavarz could also use a more elaborate discussion on the relation between power and knowledge, in how misrepresentations about Islam serve the hegemonic ambitions of global powers today. [3]

In the challenging task of representing the missing voices (of the supposed “Bad Muslims”), Keshavarz could perhaps find a parallel with the outrage she personally felt when it was unintentionally implied to her by another person in London that the Iranian culture and people were backward ('they ate with hands') (p.24-25). The outrage was not about using or not using spoons per se. It was about the insinuation underlying it in that particular situation which she felt was undermining her culture and her own identity. She perceived it to be a kind of symbolic violence. It is clear from the text that she felt it rational and natural to respond to it. Other people can also have similar attachment to their religious symbols and values, and they can be as real and rational to them as any other reality out there.

On a side note, at times, I did not feel very convinced by the interpretation she presents in some of her anecdotal examples. For instance, the encounter she had at the grocery store in the check out line where she thought that her Muslim name caused discomfort and suspicion in the next lady. She made that conclusion by just observing the lady’s body language and thought that the lady's particular behavior was a reflection of the dominant cultural understandings (p.16-17). One can similarly question the scene in the bus where she listened to a conversation between two soldiers who were returning from the war front in 1987. Based on a very short dialogue between the soldiers, our author suggests that "I can tell you for sure that neither of them had enjoyed the war, or had looked for heroism, and yet neither had run away..." (p.134). Not sure what she meant to imply with this, but the question is whether anything could be implied with certainty on the basis of that short conversation. In these and some other anecdotal examples, more ethnographic details would have helped the readers to judge for themselves whether they agree with her interpretation.

I hope that the critical remarks in the second half of this review would not to dissuade you from reading this wonderful book with full of gems. These remarks were only meant to seriously engage with her arguments. I highly recommend this book for personal readings and group discussions. [4]

Ali A. is a doctoral student in social sciences. He can be reached at alismails786@gmail.com.

References:

[1] The critical point that needs to be emphasized here is that the justification given for Colonial expansions was not contradictory to the liberal ideals of political rights and self-determination. The Enlightenment contained notions of uni-linear progress of history and civilizations, the emphasis on particular modes of thought and reason, and the importance on individual rights and private property as means of self-actualization. Based on these ideals certain cultures and peoples were seen as “modern” and “superior” and others as “backward” and “inferior”. Both John Locke and John Stuart Mill supported and rationalized the practice of colonialism as a “progressive force” which would civilize and advance the backward civilizations. That was the “White Man’s Burden”. These ideas were also incorporated by particular versions of missionary Christianity. For more on this line of argument see Uday Mehta’s “Liberalism and Empire” (Chicago, 1999).

[2] See Lila Abu-Lughod. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” (American Anthropologist, September 2002). An interview with Abu-Lughod (Asia Source, March 2002). See Saba Mahmood’s interview by Nermeen Shaikh in “The Present as History” (Columbia, 2007) and her book “Politics of Piety” (Princeton, 2005).

[3] Hamid Dabashi’s critical review of “Reading Lolita in Tehran” entitled “Native informers and the making of the American empire” (Al-Ahram, June 2006) has some useful insights in this connection.

[4] Readers may also like to see the following pieces: Interview: Fatemeh Keshavarz with ZNet; Interview: Fatemeh Keshavarz with UNC Press; Interview: Good Muslim, Bad Muslim - Mahmood Mamdani - Asia Source; Review: Movie ‘300′ by Hamid Dabashi; “Questioning Liberalism, Too” by Saba Mahmood, Boston Review.

Connect Your Hearts With Gaza's

An excerpt from "What Gaza Asks From Supporters?" from Gaza Awareness:

"The plight of the oppressed Palestinians and the cause of resisting the occupation are good enough reasons for people of conscience from different backgrounds to come together. This movement is not for particular individuals or organizations – religious or secular – over in Palestine or in the West. Some of us may not agree with everything that others believe in or have done in the past. But, people can still come together on the basis of their common belief in compassion and justice for humanity.

It’s also important that we do not lose sight of the distinction between the political Zionists and the general Jewish people. Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews (for example, the right wing Christian supporters of Israel in America). What should distinguish us from the Zionist oppressors are our morals/principles. It would be a shame and a moral defeat if in the process of resisting the oppression we become like the oppressors and start stereotyping and targeting a whole ethnic/religious group.

Consider also that you and I are part of the same society that we complain is so apathetic. Change starts from within, and once we have, it's impossible that we won't affect those around us.

Educate yourself, join the protests, and boycott the companies that are known for supporting the oppressive Israeli state.

Connect your heart with the oppressed people in Gaza and elsewhere in the world. Feel their pain. Hear their voices. Don’t let your busy life make you oblivious to their plight.

Honor the memories of the victims of the Gaza massacre. They were killed because they dared to dream a life of dignity and freedom for themselves and their children. Honor them in your commemorative vigils in years to come.

Honor them by your continued activism. Generate emergency funds in your localities through donation and public service. Establish these funds as part of a regular project (with a target amount to be generated each year) to help victims in Palestine and elsewhere.

Honor them by saving their memories and their cause from getting distorted in media and history writing, especially once the ongoing Israeli aggression is over and things resume to normal. Remain in touch with the latest developments and continue to write those op-ed columns and letters to your local and national newspapers and to your governments and local and international human rights groups.

Keep that spirit of activism alive!"
------
For more information and references, see Gaza Awareness at http://gazaawareness.blogspot.com/

The Message of Karbala

I find the below message quite inspiring. Reminds one of Ali Shariati's Arise and Bear Witness.

A Message from Sheikh Muhammad Bin Yahya Al-Ninowy:

Virtues of Muharram

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim

“Among the believers are Men, who delivered their promise to Allah” (Ayah 23/Surat Al-Ahzab)

If history has taught us anything, it has certainly delivered a message with unequivocal resonance; Haqq and freedom are not something that is given. Haqq and Freedom are things people take, and people are as free and on the Haqq as they want to be.

Islam, the religion of Haqq, justice and freedom came into a place and time where oppression was the rule, slavery was a tool to humiliate the weak, killings a way to solve problems. A society fueled by feuds, raging by violence, and merely being born in the wrong family could mean eternal slavery, oppression, and stripping of any and all rights. The Beloved Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, emerged as the voice denouncing those ways while striving to ensure justice and equality.

By endangering himself, he -sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, gave us one of the most precious monotheistic gifts, namely the collective duty of self criticism.

Speak the truth though against yourself. Support the Haqq, denounce the Batel. Stand with the Haqq, abdondon the Batel.

Stand up to oppressors and tyrants, no matter of the price.

The Seerah of the Beloved Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of Haqq over Batel, of Justice over Tyranny, of Freedom over Slavery.

If the Beloved Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, has taught us anything, then among the many, he taught us an important lesson.

One that the Qur’an amplified numerously: It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather a profoundly faithful few, who are keen to uphold the truth and sacrifice for it.

To be the example of a candle that burns itself illuminating the way for others, to give the ultimate sacrifice to enlighten the path of the truth, as the truth and only the truth shall set you free.

In a very famous Hadith, the Beloved Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, says: “Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn”. The meaning entailed by this Hadith is not that I am Husayn’s grandfather, as this is an obvious fact. The meaning sheds light that Husayn is like me, Husayn’s line is similar to my line, Husayn’s message is my message, Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn.

The Ayahs and Ahadith about Ahl ul Bayt al-Athar including their Master Al-Imam Al-Husayn are numerous, that most of you know.

We are already in Muharram, and in a few days, the day of Ashura comes. A day where the Beloved of the Beloved demonstrated the highest of nobility, and offered the ultimate of sacrifices. It is no wonder, knowing that he is the grandsone of our Beloved Holy Prophet, the son of Amirul-Muminin Ali, brother of Al-Imam Al-Hasan, and a beloved son to Master, the Lady of Ahl ul Jannah Sayyidatina wa Mawlatuna Fatimah-Azzahra, sallallahu ala sayyidina Muhammad wa aalihi wa sallam.

There was a noble reason that demanded the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. The simple and obvious reason is simply to preserve Islam. Islam, Haqq, Truth, Justice, Equality, Freedom and Liberty are all precious values that demanded precious sacrifice. That, to my mind, is the supreme significance of martyrdom. But the highest honour must still lie with the symbol, who faced fearful odds and refused to surrender to evil. Rather than allow a stigma to attach to sacred things, they paid with their own lives the penalty of honour and Haqq. The begining of the batter offered by our beloved Imam Husayn was when he went from city to city, hunted about from place to place, but making no compromise with evil. Then was offered the choice of an effectual but dangerous attempt at clearing the house of God, or living at ease for himself while closing an eye on the ongoing destruction of Islam and its values. He chose the path of danger and hardships with duty and honour, and never swerved from it giving up his life freely in the absolute bravest of ways ever known to Mankind.

That briefly is the story. What is the lesson? There is ofcourse the physical suffering in martyrdom, and all sorrow and suffering claim our sympathy, —- the dearest, nearest, purest, closest to our hearts, souls and minds. The one who the Beloved Holy Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam, himself used to interrupt his speeches to pick him up, delay his prostration to honour and not bother him, the one whose face not only is honourable, but it is the face where The Holy Prophet’s honorable lips, face, and body touched, loved, and valued. It is that very same honorable face, that Yazid bin Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan al-Ummayadi humiliated, slaughtered, put on the spears, and kicked…….. There are no words that can describe the pain profoundly felt in every Free Human’s mind, soul, and heart.

But there is a greater suffering than physical suffering. That is when a valiant soul seems to stand against the world; when the noblest motives of Islam are reviled and mocked; when truth seems to suffer an eclipse. It may even seem that the martyr has but to say a word of compliance, do a little deed of non-resistance; and much sorrow and suffering would be saved; and the insidious whisper comes:

“Truth after all will never die”

But the whole battle is for man’s keeping hold of Haqq and Freedom. And that can only be done by the highest examples of man’s conduct - spiritual striving and suffering enduring firmness of faith and purpose, patience and courage where ordinary mortals would give in or be cowed down, the sacrifice of ordinary motives to supreme truth in scorn of consequence. The martyr bears witness, and the witness redeems what would otherwise be called failure. It so happened with Al-Imam Al-Husayn, the Master of the youth of Ahlul Jannah. For all were touched by the story of his martyrdom, and it gave the deathblow to the tyrant politics of Yazid bin Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan al-Ummayadi and all the oppression it stood for. And Imam Al-Husayn being alive, more alive than ever, not only externally but living profoundly deep in our hearts, in our souls, and in our minds, has still the power to ignite the light of truth in the heart of all free, to send a message to the courageous not to bow down to evil, and to teach people not to surrender to tyranny.

There are those who until today believe that forgeries, fancy words, and booklets can mask the shining truth. Persistent attempts to distance Al-Imam Al-Husayn and his Sirah away from Ahlus Sunnah are ongoing, and more intense, and serious than ever. This Yazidi line, regardless of what banner or name they choose to brand themselves with, can no longer fool the intellectual Muslim. Their scare tactics, labeling, and “intellectual terrorism” are weapons of the past, and no longer effective for those who see. While we must pray for their guidance, we shall never fall as victims to their misguidance.

In the upcoming very sad days in our lives, and the life of every free human being, I urge myself and you To:

1. Express sadness and show sorrow for the massacre of the dearest and purest of the Family of the Beloved Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalih wa sallam. It is customary to many families of Ahlul bayt to show sadness during this month.
2. Expressing sorrow should be manifested by sincere intentions of repentance, and believing that if you were with them, you would have been on the side of Imam Husayn, even if it costs you any and everything.
3. Increasing the recitation of Qur’an, and try to teach your fellow family, friends, and non-Muslims about the revolution of Imam Husayn.
4. Increase your Istigfaar per day, and increase your Durud on the Beloved Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam.
5. Learn the Sirah of Imam Husayn, try to benefit from it, love it, live it.
6. Be generous to your family: bring them water ( and remember on this day Yazid’s army prevented Imam Husayn from drinking water), bring them food and remember the things that happened.
7. Be thankful to Allah, and ask Him to gather you with the supporters of Imam Husayn in this Dunya, and with his supporters and companions in the Akhira.
8. Be on the Haqq. Just, Freedom side,and check yourself.
9. Make the month of Muharram a month of Al-Husayn in your life, in a step to eventually make every month a month of Al-Husayn, Grandfather of Al-Husayn, Father of Al-Husayn, Mother of Al-Husayn, Brother of Al-Husayn, and those who love and follow Al-Husayn.
10. This is your chance to abandon the rest and follow the best. This is your chance to connect with Al-Imam Al-Husayn. Take time, purify your heart and connect.

His story purifies our emotions. We can best honour his memory by allowing it to teach us courage and constancy.

The sacrifice of Imam Husayn comes after the Sacrifice of his father, Sayyiduna Amirul’Muminin wa Imam al-Mutaqqeen Ali bin Abi Taleb al-Hashimi, and the sacrifice of Imam Hasan, and the line of sacrifice and martyrs among Ahlul Bayt is still a line enlightening the way for generations to come. They are like stars; you will not succeed in reaching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.

Al-Imam Al-Husayn’s message was simple and clear: Is life so dear or so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty Allah! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Haqq, or give me death!

“It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees”

Wassalamu Alaykum,
Muhammad Bin Yahya Bin Muhammad Al-Ninowy

Courtesy: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Canadian_Muslims/

Every Day is Ashura, Every Land is Karbala