Friday, September 25, 2009

"Muslim Terrorist"

Just got into another argument on Facebook about the phrase "Muslim Terrorist". As always, it started with someone posting an item and then agonizing about that phrase; "Muslims are not terrorists", the refrain always is. My reaction:
"No Muslims are terrorists? That's like saying no Muslims have brown hair."
And before I get into my main point—and because I know my brothers and sisters in the Muslim world will get all defensive and act as if I am just a self-hating Muslim saying that Muslims are terrorists, you can read my position on what a terrorist is here, and on the use of phrases like "Muslim terrorist" and "Hindu terrorist" here.

But the main point, quite frankly, is that this whole "Muslims are terrorists" ... "No, Muslims are not terrorists" is a great distraction from real issues that we should be discussing. Instead of thinking about and acting about the conditions and issues that face Muslims--and other humans--like neo-imperialism, exploitation, oppression. And those are just the external dangers. Even worse for Muslims are the internal issues like social and cultural attitudes that are backwards and, quite frankly, not even very much in alignment with the spirit of Islam which teaches us to be noble, strive for knowledge, and help make the world a better place for ourselves and for everyone.

And when I talk about oppression above, I am talking about both oppression by outsiders and by people who call themselves Muslims and take advantage of that.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Good Night, Sweet Prince--Ottoman Edition


The news that Ertuğrul Osman, the "Last Ottoman", the last grandson of an Ottoman Emperor—or, to put it more clearly, the Head of the House of Osman, the erstwhile ruling house of the Ottoman Empire, and the last house to hold the office of "Khalifa" and "Ameerul Momineen" to all Muslims with any seriousness—had died came in the form of two contacts posting a news item on Facebook. (One posted the NY Times story, and another, the BBC one.)

My first reaction was to ask who the next Head of the House of Osman would be. (A question that is not answered by either of the above stories from the mainstream media, and for which one has to turn to the Wikipedia. Apparently it's a gentleman by the name of "Osman Bayezid Osmanoğlu", who doesn't even have an entry on that encyclopedia yet. PS, Sept. 25, 2009: An article has since appeared.)

Then someone who sounds Turkish themselves judging by her(?) name, said "[a]s a side note, many secularists in Turkey are no longer so proud/happy about Atatürk having kicked the Sultan and his family out, because obviously the Osman family would have made much more 'presentable' heads of state in their view than the current headscarf-wived PM and President!"

From where I sit, that's the point a lot of us who think of ourselves as moderate have always made; extremism breeds extremism. For all it's modernization, Attaturk's policies were a really extreme response to where Turkish--and the wider Muslim--society and nation found itself. Who knows what might have developed had critical parts of the Muslim world evolved gradually as much of "The West" did. Instead, what happened was that a bad situation engendered a radical solution, which is now creating its own blowback...and so continues the circle of life...

Rest in peace, Son of Osman, we never knew ye—or what might have been

اِنٌا لِلٌہ واِنٌا اِلیہی راجیعون as we say; from Him to do we come, and to Him to we return.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Tariq A. Al-Maeena : An Eid message to our fellow expatriates/Guest Workers

As I promised over the weekend/holiday, here is Tariq Al-Maeena's piece in full:

An Eid message to our fellow expatriates
Tariq A. Al-Maeena

Now that the blessed month of Ramadan has come to an end, its passing should not signal the end of exertions of goodwill and worship that had governed us for this past month.

And as the citizens of this country prepare for the festivities of family gatherings and reunions in the days ahead, let us not forget the countless number of Muslim expatriates among us who stood with us in worship, but who will celebrate the dawn of Eid in solitude, away from family and friends.

Millions have come and gone, and millions remain among us today, some alone and distant from their families, tasked with the duties of helping oil the machinery that makes this country run. Many perform to the expectations required, mostly in silence. Their isolation and loneliness in a land different than their own cannot be simply compensated by the riyals they earn.

Leaving behind fathers and mother, brothers and sisters, wives and children, these foreign expatriates who reside amongst us ask little of us as they fulfill their duties. And yet they love and feel like the rest of us; the joys and pains that course through our emotions are not alien to them. Separated on a day meant for togetherness, many will celebrate Eid in solitude and bitter loneliness.

Let us honor them like we honor our own. Let us bestow upon them our best wishes as we do upon those near and dear to us. Let us thank them and expatriates of other faiths as well for the difficult sacrifices they are making daily in leaving their loved ones behind and coming to this country to help us forge a better life. Many move around us, barely visible or seen. Yet they continue in their toils, expecting very little thanks or gratitude from their hosts while putting in an honest day’s work.

Let us begin by ensuring that their rights are protected and dispensed with in the manner and spirit that Ramadan has roused in us. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The merciful ones will be shown mercy by the all-Merciful (Allah). Be merciful to those on Earth, Allah will be merciful to you." This mercy extends to the proper execution of our obligations to our guest workers.

The Prophet (pbuh) also said, "The likeness of the believers in their mutual love, their mutual mercy, and their mutual affection, is like a single body. If any part of it complains of an injury, the entire body responds with sleeplessness and fever… Allah will continue to help the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother.” This narration emphasizes the fact that our mercy as servants to our faith shouldn’t be confined to our immediate circle of family members and acquaintances. Rather it should extend to the entire nation of believers.

On this Eid day, most of us will enjoy the blessings of ample food and gifts. But we should never forget those among us, and especially the less fortunate expatriates form Third World countries whose daily existence is a continuous fast. These noble men and women deserve our thanks.

Those Saudis who have fasted and stood in prayer at night during this past month with sincere faith must continue to be diligent and dutiful in our worship of Allah, and kind to our fellow residents including the silent expatriate. Such obligations must continue in good faith, even as Ramadan comes to an end this year.

And while I can personally deliver my Eid greetings to family members, friends and associates, I take it upon myself to use this column to acknowledge our fellow expatriates and thank them for being among us. Eid Mubarak.

The writer is a Saudi socio/political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and can be reached at talmaeena@gmail.com.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Annual Call to Compassion, Patience and Peace between Muslims in this Season

A couple of years ago, when I was on the board of the Muslims for Progressive Values, I had pushed for a campaign calling for compassion, patience and peace within the Muslim community. You can read the petition and my original blog post here. And please give it a second thought. We all have strong positions and opinions on what the right time of Eid is, what our faith means to us, and what is good about our faith and wrong about our communities--even on how "Ramadhan" itself should be spelt in the English script. But, as the petition said:
...engage with people who hold different positions ... with respect, good will, and compassion. If we can pass this test of fraternity within the community, if we can treat other Muslims with respect whether we agree or disagree, and do so without losing sight of what holds us together and makes us brothers and sisters in our faith and our humanity; if we can do that, then we can try to begin fulfilling our role as the upholders of peace and justice and truly be the best of communities.
The month of Ramadan, the Hajj season, and the days of the Eids are some of the most blessed moments of our calendar, let us try to fill them with peace, compassion, and good will towards all humanity; and let us start within our community.
[Postscript: Also in previous years, I wrote this and this. Laury Silvers wrote a follow up that doesn't seem accessible any more.]

In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to two pieces of writing. Firstly, there is Mike Ghouse's piece "Ramadan Politics", in which he reminds us:
In the tradition of Prophet, let every one celebrate the way their group feels, it is against the spirit of Ramadan to denigrate, diminish and devalue other practices. The essence of Ramadan is to become humble, simple and free from ill-will, anger, meanness and hate. Let’s fill our hearts with goodwill and honor Ramadan by saying “Eid Mubarak” (pronounced “eed” as in “eel” the fish) or Happy Eid to every one who celebrates on a different day in the same town. The essence of Ramadan is joy and let’s not prick any one’s bubble; God has not signed a pact with any one behind others back, let’s rejoice the differences. If you want to celebrate, go to every celebration.

In the spirit of Ramadan, I pray Ramadan gets into our hearts and minds and make us embrace all factions of Muslims without undermining their tradition and further pray that we treat every human on the earth with dignity, respect and care.

For Ramadan to be truly universal, its benefits must extend beyond the fraternal ties of Muslims to common humanity with others. Fasting is meant to impart a sense of what it means to be truly human, and its universality is reflected by its observance in Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Zoroastrian and other faiths.
Okay, so he gets the translation of "Eid Mubarak" wrong; it is much closer to our Wiccan friends Samhain greeting of "Blessed be", than to the generic "Happy Holidays". But the point he makes is sound.

The other piece came to me via email, and to someone who's always been skeptical of the expat lifestyle in the Gulf, is one of the best gestures I have seen in a long time. It is a piece by Saudi socio/political commentator, Tariq Al Maeena and is "An Eid message to our fellow expatriates". I have sent him an email asking if I can reproduce his piece in full, but his main thrust is that:
as the citizens of this country prepare for the festivities of family gatherings and reunions in the days ahead, let us not forget the countless number of Muslim expatriates among us who stood with us in worship, but who will celebrate the dawn of Eid in solitude, away from family and friends.

Millions have come and gone, and millions remain among us today, some alone and distant from their families, tasked with the duties of helping oil the machinery that makes this country run. Many perform to the expectations required, mostly in silence. Their isolation and loneliness in a land different than their own cannot be simply compensated by the riyals they earn.

Leaving behind fathers and mother, brothers and sisters, wives and children, these foreign expatriates who reside amongst us ask little of us as they fulfill their duties. And yet they love and feel like the rest of us; the joys and pains that course through our emotions are not alien to them. Separated on a day meant for togetherness, many will celebrate Eid in solitude and bitter loneliness.

Let us honor them like we honor our own. Let us bestow upon them our best wishes as we do upon those near and dear to us. Let us thank them and expatriates of other faiths as well for the difficult sacrifices they are making daily in leaving their loved ones behind and coming to this country to help us forge a better life. Many move around us, barely visible or seen. Yet they continue in their toils, expecting very little thanks or gratitude from their hosts while putting in an honest day’s work.

Let us begin by ensuring that their rights are protected and dispensed with in the manner and spirit that Ramadan has roused in us. The Prophet (pbuh) said, "The merciful ones will be shown mercy by the all-Merciful (Allah). Be merciful to those on Earth, Allah will be merciful to you." This mercy extends to the proper execution of our obligations to our guest workers.
Some of my dearest and oldest friends now live in the Gulf, or grew up there--some have spent a couple or three generations there now. There are guest workers in a lot of countries we live in, whether in the East or the West. Let us keep them in our minds in this festival season.

As Mike Ghouse says in the piece above, "We wish a happy Ramadan, a peaceful and prosperous Rosh Hashanah, and truth triumphing Navaratri and other festivals that begin with the New Moon on September 19, this year."

Blessed be.

Pause for thought

I just ran into this quote from a Dawn editorial on Pakistaniat.com. It is written by a Pakistani in relevance to Pakistan; but it applies equally to Nigeria, Zimbabwe, inner cities in the US...pick your place.

Yes, those working on anti-imperialism, and against neo-liberalism and so on will tell you that it is what they are struggling against that causes the conditions mentioned below. But even then--and especially if you think that way--it's something to keep in mind, even if it is just to be able to remind onself and explain to others the relevance of our own work:
"Does a man who can’t feed his children really care whether or not Pervez Musharraf is tried for treason? Is a mother whose child has died of gastroenteritis likely to give much thought to America’s military presence in the region? Will a jobless person be impressed by the president’s much-touted ‘achievements’ during his first year in office?"
Pakistaniat: http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/18/blasphemy-law/
Dawn: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-the-real-issues-ha-03

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Obama passes the real test--or does he?

Ever since his inaugration, I have been saying that the real test on human rights for the Obama administration will not be what he does in Guantanamo Bay--which he had committed to close down as a campaign promise. The real test will be what he and the administration do in Bagram, which is much bigger, and from the Pakistani point of view, much closer to home.

I have been meaning to write something about this. And my point really isn't to just take a "Marg bar Amrika" point of view; to imply that America is always evil or that no American President can do any good. I really do feel that Obama has a chance to change the actual policies and procedures of the American presence around the world in all its forms, and to set a new tone.

But, as I have said repeatedly since before the last presidential elections (in the US), what Pakistanis remember from the 2008 presidential election cycle is Obama making his foreign policy chops by saying, in effect, that "we will bomb Pakistan, and its sovereignty be darned". And in the last month or two, the influx, or rumoured influx, of a thousand or two each of marines and mercenaries (oh, okay, Xe/Blackwater "consultants") in Pakistan, that image has been reinforced many fold. (See this story in the News Observer.) And in the mean time, the other story being followed and, very frankly, used to whip up anti-American fury in Pakistan is that of Dr. Afia Ahmed, "Prisoner Number 650". (Just google her name for a taste--or search Bloggers.pk, the main Pakistani blog aggregator.)

And just a night or two ago, I heard the Obama Administration's General Counsel of the Department of Defense tell the American Bar Association (on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11, no less) that Bagram was completely different from Guantanamo, and that what was happening there was okay, and so on. (The event is on CSPAN.)

But, suddenly, now I see the following story, which actually reverses, or substantially changes what the General Counsel said. Is Obama actually doing better than even his own team expected--and keeps thinking it should be doing? Or am I missing something? I would love to hear from our legal friends--and anyone else who has a real thought on this:

U.S. Gives New Rights To Afghan Prisoners

Challenging Detention to Be Allowed

These detainees were released from Bagram in June 2006. About 600 people remain in the prison.
These detainees were released from Bagram in June 2006. About 600 people remain in the prison. (By Musadeq Sadeq -- Associated Press)

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hundreds of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan will for the first time have the right to challenge their indefinite detention and call witnesses in their defense under a new review system being put in place this week, according to administration officials.

The new system will be applied to the more than 600 Afghans held at the Bagram military base, and will mark the first substantive change in the overseas detention policies that President Obama inherited from the Bush administration.

(Full Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202798.html)