For six years, it used to be a One-Day Conference. This time a Two-&-a-Half-Days Convention was endeavored. By the Grace of God, it was an overwhelming success with thousands of families thronging the Ballroom and other rooms of JW Marriot Hotel in Galleria, Houston over the Thanksgiving Weekend of Nov 29 – Dec 01, 2013.
“This convention has a different feeling. From the very onset the first presentation, people are eagerly filling up the rooms in large numbers, to listen & learn. I have not seen this in any of the national large conventions,†said world renowned scholar of Islam Imam Omer Sulieman, as he was inviting Ryan Harris of Houston Texans to talk to this large gathering of people at this convention.
“Blueprint for a Lasting Legacy†was the theme of the Convention. Throughout the weekend, notable speakers like Ustadh Nauman Ali Khan, Shaykh AbdulNasir Jangdah, Shaykh Omer Sulieman, Shaykh Abdur Rahman, Imam Khalid Griggs, Shaykh Saad Tasleem, Imam Fahad Tasleem, Shaykh Gyasi McKinzie, and many more.
Unique topics like “Silencing the Naysayersâ€, “Demolition – Diseases of the Heartâ€, “Love Struckâ€, “Arab Spring: Success or Failure?â€, “Drunk Tank Pinkâ€, “Six Feet Underâ€, “Minority Report: Crossing Boundariesâ€, “Final Master Plan: Construction Time !â€; and other similar presentations.
The large attendance necessitated the live streaming to be setup for the attendees in other rooms of the hotel.
There was something for everyone, like the kids programs, which were provided by the Muslim Children of North America (MCNA); and a very well planned play area equipped with a variety of activities was provided for the kids.
With over 125 volunteers, phenomenal speakers, entertainment session, Bazaar, and attendees from all across the South Central USA, this first Houston two-and-a-half day conference held by ICNA-MAS convention came to a great end.
Even the large two segments on Sunday, which usually see less attendance in any other conventions, were fully packed: As such something really unique about this convention.
Kainat Hamid from Dallas, TX said, “It was my first Islamic conference and Alhamdulillah (By the Grace of God), it was such an amazing experience. Every session rekindled my love for this Deen (Islam), Allah SWT, and the Prophet Peace Be Upon him ! I can’t wait to talk about what I have learned with the Young Muslim (YM) Girls back in Dallas.â€
“Do not miss Year 2014 Convention. InShaAllah see you all and all those, who missed this eminent convention next year,†exclaimed Ustadh Nauman Ali Khan, while finishing his last presentation of the convention on Sunday afternoon.
One of the commonly accepted theories of Islamic history states that after an early period of rise Islamic civilization subsequently went into a long period of decline. A decline caused primarily due to a flawed theology adopted by medieval Muslims. This has recently been adopted by right-wing Islamophobic thinkers to imply that Islam is a fundamentally regressive religion. This narrative, however, is deeply flawed and runs contrary to the best historical evidence.
The Standard Narrative
Imam Al-Ghazali
This standard theory states that the first approximately 500 years of Islam were the golden age. In this period Greek science and philosophy was actively translated and studied in the Muslim world. This resulted in a spectacular flourishing of Islamic civilization. The great works of Ibn Sina in Medicine and Philosophy, Ibn Haytham in Optics, Al-Khawarzmi in Mathematics and Al-Biruni in Biology were written. Soon thereafter, Islamic theologians reasserted the primacy of revelation over reason and a sharp decline in the intellectual output of the Muslim world occurred.
The theory of Islamic decline has been so dominant and well accepted that the only question which is asked is “what caused the decline?†Many reasons are given, several of which are chronicled in popular books like What went wrong? By Bernard Lewis. The most popular reason cited is the rise of “conservative religious forces†which led to a “narrow, rigid and closed†interpretation of Islam and actively hindered the growth of science. The chief culprit they identify is the influential Islamic theologian Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE). One of the most influential and often-quoted Orientalist scholars E. C. Sachau writes:
The fourth [tenth] century is the turning point in the history of the spirit of Islam… But for Al-Ashari and Al-Ghazali the Arabs might have been a nation of Galileos, Keplers, and Newtons.
Numerous scholars , perhaps owing to this early Orientalist literature, have adopted a similar view ranging from the historian Toby Huff to the famous scientist Pervez Hoodbhoy . This sentiment has translated into the standard history of science. Thus we see the Nobel-prize winning scientist Steven Weinberg writing,
Alas, Islam turned against science in the twelfth century. The most influential figure was the philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali…. After al-Ghazzali, there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries.
Perhaps it is only natural for Ghazali to be singled out for critique due to his stature within Islamic intellectual history. Richard Frank describes his role as:
Al-Ghazali dominates the history of Muslim thought, and even though so categorical an assertion may be subject to qualification, there is no denying that he was the most important sunni theologian at a crucial turning point in the history of orthodox Muslim theology.
Although this article will deal primarily with Islamic science, Ghazali is also held responsible for the presumed “closure of the gates of ijtihad†which supposedly occurred around the same time . Furthermore, he is felt to have dealt a fatal blow to the field of Islamic philosophy.
This view has been conveniently adopted by right-wing ‘scholars’ who are happy to point out the intrinsic problems with Islam as a religion and its supposed inability to cope with science, complexity and modernity. This can be seen in the attitude of Steven Weinberg himself who goes on to blame modern day terrorism on this supposed development. The atheist and Islam-critic Richard Dawkins also subscribes to a similar view. Populist works such as The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide created the modern Islamist crisis by Robert R. Reilly published as recently as 2010 continue to propagate this myth. In it Reilly writes,
Were it not for al-Ghazali, Averroes and rationalism might have won the battle for the Muslim mind. But it did not happen, and, as a result, the Sunni Muslim mind suffered the consequences. It closed.
Bias and Ignorance
This normative view of Islamic history has, however, been seriously challenged recently due to a reexamination of the historical literature. This renewed study of Islamic intellectual history suggests instead of a decline, a brilliant renaissance of intellectual and scientific thought took place in Islam after Ghazali.
The theory of decline was largely a byproduct of Orientalist literature. Their interests lie not in a genuine study of Islamic civilization, but a focus on its role in the subsequent rise of western civilization. Professor Berggren identifies the problem when he writes that the “treatment of medieval Islam as a civilization deserving of attention only for its role as a channel through which the great works of the Greeks were carried safely to the eager minds of the European Renaissance†results in “selective and tendentious reading of medieval Arabic texts to show how Islamic science prefigured that of modern times.â€
The assumption that Greek science was the impetus behind rise of Islamic science has also been recently seriously questioned. The beginnings of Islamic science predated the translation movement. For example, George Saliba points out that it would be impossible to translate Greek scientific texts unless a highly sophisticated scientific vocabulary already existed in Arabic, implying a preexisting robust scientific tradition. Evidence also points to the fact that Islam’s engagement with Greek thought was always a critical one, not a passive and accepting one. This is true even when we look at the so called “neo-platonic†thinkers such as Ibn Sina who was highly critical of Aristotle, openly rejecting many of his ideas.
In fact, this moving away from the Greek tradition, “de-hellinization†within Islam as the sciences become more and more “Islamic†is seen by many as a move against reason . However, here again this is largely based upon the assumption that “Islamic†implies anti-reason, and not on any empirical evidence. The evidence on the contrary suggests a rich tradition of Islamic science developing within the context of a rational Islamic theology.
Much of the published research into Islamic science exists from the period prior to the scientific revolution in the West since this was naturally of most interest to western scholars. This attitude has resulted in a sharp drop off in the amount of academic research into the later Islamic period. Therefore, until recently we knew very little about what happened to Islamic science after the supposed decline took place. In a lecture delivered at MIT, Syed Hossein Nasr emphasizes the same point when he writes,
There are over three thousand manuscripts of medicine in India which have never been studied by anybody. This is [only] the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of manuscripts in Yemen which we don’t even know about.
Professor Dimitri Gutas points out that the patronage of science and the resulting scientific works in the later Ottoman period have been “almost completely unresearched.†The respected historian of Islamic science, Muzaffar Iqbal writes:
So far we know of at-least 1000 scientists who worked between the eighth and eighteenth centuries; there are thousand more about whom we have no information or whom we merely know the names and their works’ titles. There are over 200,000 manuscripts in Iran alone, of -which about three-quarters are as yet uncatalogued.
What Decline?
As this research is being conducted a new view of Islamic intellectual history is developing. Evidence points to continued vibrancy and rigorous scientific activity flourishing for centuries after Ghazali. Recently, Professor Ekmeleddi Ihsanoglu has documented that significant scientific activity continued in the Ottoman Empire well into the eighteenth century. Professor Jamil Ragep at McGill has documented the accomplishments of Muslim scientists in the later period including hundreds of students engaged in creative theoretical and practical science at the great observatories at Maragha and later in Samarqand. He writes,
During the past half century or so, an ever-increasing body of scholarly work has shown that science in Islam not only continued after al-Ghazali but in fact flourished for centuries thereafter. Over the next five centuries or so, one can document the production of thousands of scientific and philosophical texts in both the eastern and western Islamic world that are attested by tens of thousands of extant manuscripts.
Many important discoveries occurred in this later period such as: “discovery of the pulmonary transit (of blood from the heart to the lungs and back), precise determinations (up to fifteen decimal places) for Πand sin 1º, and map-projection techniques of remarkable accuracy and sophistication.†He points out that recently the quasi-crystalline Penrose pattern has been discovered in the architecture in Isfahan centuries before it was described by Penrose in 1975. He writes, “Given that less than 5% of the available material has been studied, it would seem that future research will bring to light many other discoveries.†Much of the works recently studied relate to Astronomy. Professor Lindberg in his Beginnings of Western Science writes,
Current archival research in the history of Islamic astronomy reveals decisively that at least this specific discipline flourished well into the sixteenth century—producing a continuous flow of knowledgeable, sometimes brilliant, astronomers, scatters throughout greater Islam. As for the other sciences thousands of Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts remain in libraries from Europe to the Middle East, unexamined. What they may contain we have no way of knowing until we look.
Echoing the same findings Abdelhamid Sabra (Emeritus professor of Arabic science at Harvard) and Hogendijk extends the period of growth into the nineteenth century. They write,
The Islamic tradition in the exact sciences continued well into the nineteenth century, and abundant source material is available in the form of unpublished manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, and other languages in libraries all over the world.â€
Yale professor George Saliba terms the post-Ghazali period the real golden age of Islam. He describes the brilliant scientific production in this period as nothing short of a renaissance. This leads Saliba to ask if Ghazali was responsible for the decline of science, then how does one explain the:
Production of tens of scientists in every discipline, who continued to produce scientific texts that were in many ways superior to the texts that were before the time of Ghazali. In the case of astronomy, one cannot even compare the sophistication of the post-Ghazali texts with the pre-Ghazali ones, for the former were in fact far superior both in theoretical mathematical sophistication, as well as in blending observational astronomy with theoretical astronomy.
Although it is beyond the scope of this article, it is worth pointing out that similar progress after Ghazali can been seen in other fields. For example, with regards to Islamic law professor Wael Hallaq writes,
It is our common, but rather inaccurate, belief that during the first three centuries of Islam, the highest and final stage of legal thought had been reached. It may be astonishing, therefore, to realize that the sophistication of technical legal thought was in fact achieved after these centuries…
Professor Saliba points out those Orientalist scholars could not see the originality in the post-Ghazali books, even though they read them carefully, simply because they were not looking for any such originality. The phenomenon is best seen in the context of the commentary literature, which is often construed as redundant learning, lacking in originality. In reality, Saliba argues, commentaries served a purpose similar to modern-day periodicals advancing knowledge in their respective fields and were in some ways superior to them, requiring a synthesis of all prior knowledge.
Contrary to the early Orientalist literature instead of demolishing science, Ghazali’s theology actually secured a place for science within an Islamic framework. The metaphysical basis for this requires a separate article. Suffice it to point out that neither Ghazali’s denial of necessary causality, nor his support of Ashari theology in anyway undermined prospects for rational inquiry within the Islamic context. In fact, these positions actually stimulated scientific activity. Ahmad Dallal summarizes its consequences when he writes,
After Al-Ghazali, the need to invoke religion to vindicate science considerably decreased, not because science was not accepted but because it did not need vindication.
Unlike in Europe where scientists were often persecuted by the Church , Islamic theologians actually created an environment which allowed science to flourish. This is not to say that there were never any religious objections to science in Islam, indeed there were occasionally. However, as professor Gutas points out these were relatively isolated incidents, the exception and not the rule.
If Muslims were so advanced, then one may ask, why then were the Europeans able to colonize and dominate the Muslim world? Historians such as Ahmad Dallal argue this was largely due to an economic imbalance created by Europe’s discovery of the resource rich New World combined with emerging capitalism and the strategic deployment of new technologies. The willingness of the Europeans to use these powerful technologies for the unprecedented exploitation of human and natural resources also played a role. This late decline was not necessarily due to a structural or intellectual deficiency within the Islamic world. In other words, traditional Islamic civilization’s ultimate demise late in the 19th century was largely due to factors extrinsic, not intrinsic, to its intellectual fabric.
Conclusion
Historical research now underway exposes the biases of the very influential early Orientalist scholarship on Islamic history and completely undermines the arguments of right-wing Islamophobic “scholars,†who would like to insist that something inherent about Islam’s theology resulted in its own demise. Professor Lindberg summarizes the issue as follows:
The truth is that the image of decline in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries is not the product of research in manuscript archives, but an assumption made in the absence of research and encouraged for its usefulness as a tool in religious polemics over the relative merits of Islam and Christianity: which religious culture wins the natural sciences sweepstakes?â€
Much research still needs to be done in to Islam’s rich scientific and intellectual heritage which clearly flourished well beyond its supposed golden age. The research needs to be historicized and done in an objective manner keeping in mind Islam’s own worldview. It is premature, even absurd, to ask, let alone answer, questions such as “what caused the Islamic decline?†A false question propagated by those with little genuine interest in Islamic history. Professor Nasr writes, “Muslims have not yet developed their own historiography of science.†As this develops, many of our assumptions regarding the history of Islam might be overturned. This may lead Muslims to seek to revive elements of its intellectual heritage. Indeed, we might more rightfully ask, “what was it about Islamic civilization that caused science, philosophy, medicine, and law to flourish in its lands for well over 1000 years?â€
Visit www.muslimphilosophy.com/aftab for a complete annotated version of this article.
Emaad Abdul-Qadir and Hiba Khan honored by Naperville
NAPERVILLE,IL–kidsMatter, together with the Naperville City Council, honored 19 young people for their significant community service efforts during the 2013 Naperville Youth Service Awards celebration on Monday, November 18, 2013.
Since 1993, the City of Naperville has presented the Naperville Youth Service Award to recognize and honor outstanding volunteer efforts by local Naperville area students and to encourage all youth to get involved in community service.
Among this year’s awardees was Hiba Khan who was nominated by the Edward Hospital; Emaad Abdul-Qadir nominated by Dupage PADS.
Wheaton opens first mosque
WHEATON,IL–The city of Wheaton saw its first mosque after the Islamic Center of Wheaton bought and moved into the site of a former church which they bought for $3.15 million.
Mosque spokesman Abraham Antar said he and the community are excited about the move. “Wheaton is a city of faith, and we’re very privileged to be able to establish an Islamic community for Wheaton and especially for the western suburbs,†he told the Chicago Tribune.
“This is a beautiful location, and one of the great attractions is that it gives us an opportunity as an Islamic organization to really connect with other churches,†he said. “It really presents us with an opportunity to really bridge the relationship with all congregations within the area. We haven’t really started yet, but we would like to.â€
‘Unmosqued’ Debate: Muslim Millennials Explore The Problem With American Mosques
By Yasmine Hafiz
Muslim millennials joined host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani on Huff Post Live to discuss the exclusivity of many American mosques, as captured in the upcoming film “UnMosqued†by Ahmed Eid. More and more American Muslims find themselves at odds with the culture in their mosque communities, particularly as many of these places of worship retain strong ties to homelands that self-identified American Muslims may not relate to, say many of those interviewed in “Unmosqued.â€
“You go to the masjid, and so many masjids speak their own native language,†commented one man. “Whether it’s Arabic, Bangla, Urdu, Turkish. and our children have a hard time understanding this message.â€
“Where is the young generation?†asks Imam Shamsi Ali. “They are moving away, and they are not coming back.â€
Ainee Fatima, Ali Baluch, Ramy Youssef, and Yousef Erakat chimed in on the debate to explain their feelings about the acceptance of the Muslim community.
Filmmaker Ali Baluch commented on internal criticism of the Muslim community by saying, “We don’t get hate from non-Muslims– we get hate from within. I’m sure many sisters and women and female Muslims can attest to this– that they get torn apart more by Muslims themselves, by saying they’re not doing something right, they’re not modest, they’re not wearing the scarf the right way. They get torn down more by Muslims than by non-Muslims.â€
He continued, “So when you want to worship and be in a great environment, you’re constantly bothered by this religious police who are saying you’re not praying the right way. Instead of guiding you the right way, they’re just scaring you away.â€
Huffington Post
Teen charged with stealing mosque donations
BOONTON,NJ–A teen has been charged in breaking into donation boxes and stealing $1500 in cash from the Jama Masjid Islamic Center in Boonton. According to the police video surveillance footage at the mosque o captured the crime that occurred on Nov. 23, and the release of images of the burglar led to several calls to police about the suspect’s identity.
The teen is charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief. None of the money has been recovered, police said.
Jewish and Muslim Day of Service Planned
ST.LOUIS,MO–On Christmas Day, the Islamic Foundation of Greater Saint Louis and the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis (JCRC) and its Milford and Lee Bohm Social Justice Center will sponsor the third annual St. Louis area-wide “Jewish and Muslim Day of Service.â€
The two religious communities are working together again to organize and participate in a large-scale Christmas Day of Service project. More than 20 agencies have been identified in the St. Louis area as sites that will host needed volunteers on Christmas. This year’s program will have a new site, new projects, and Jewish and Muslim co-site captains at most of the larger sites.
“It has been so gratifying to see St. Louisans of all backgrounds and faiths come together each year on Christmas Day to help others,†said Zubaida Ibrahim, co-chair of this year’s event for the Islamic Foundation.
“This event is a true labor of love between members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, and shows our joint commitment to social action,†said Roberta Gutwein, co-chair on behalf of JCRC.
This year’s new volunteer site is The Bridge, a homeless shelter. Volunteers will help prepare and serve a holiday meal.
For more information about donating to this event or to sign up online, visit www.stljewishmuslimdayofservice.org or contact Gail Wechsler, Director of Domestic Issues/Social Justice for the Jewish Community Relations Council at 442-3894.
Brian Davis, advisor to Muslim students WSU passes away
Weber State University professor Brian Davis died on Nov. 29 at age 59. Davis was an interfaith trailblazer, respected professor of business administration and a Century Institute scholar in the Goddard School of Business and Economics. He was the adviser for the Muslim Student Association at WSU, and arranged for a Muslim prayer space on campus.
Davis was an active member in the local community as well as internationally. He did a lot of research in the local area, working for many religious communities, particularly focusing on the Muslim and Buddhist immigrant communities.
Davis traveled all over the world and worked with many charitable groups, including the Working Group on Poverty and Development for the World Council of Religious Leaders, and was on the advisory board of the United Nations, based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Saturday December 7th definitely marked history for the Al-Maghrib Institute. More than 1,800 attendees gathered in the Adoba Hotel of Dearborn, MI for the day long ILMFest event- The festival of knowledge.
The grand ballrooms were packed from corner to corner, facing the stage lightened with purple lights. This is the first ILMFest that sold out a week in advance, and these events have been occurring in various cities across the globe. Historically, it’s the first ILMFest that didn’t have to put an “onsite registration†line the day of the confrence. Attendees all the way from Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, and Ohio came to attend this one day event.The hall way was filled with about 20 vendors, many coming from out of state too. Some were selling products, advertising for their companies, or selling tickets to an upcoming event.
7 speakers flew in from out of state, leaving their families to come join this remarkable conference. The event began 10 AM with a few local speakers. Boona Mohammed was the host, and did a remarkable job keeping humor in the air. Every speaker gave words of wisdom on refocusing your life, keeping the audience at awe. There was a lunch break, in which the majority ran out and grabbed lunch. At this time, the speakers and a few VIP members from the community were invited for a private lunch in one of the halls in the Hotel. Right next to that hall, was the Shuyookh VIP Room- themed and decorated nicely for them to feel at home. A fruit and snack arrangement awaited them, along with drinks, dates, nuts, and sabaya trays.
“This has been the best ILMFest I’ve attended,†said Sheikh Omar Suleiman in the VIP Room, as volunteers and speakers gathered post the conference. Over 60 volunteers, both female and male, previously dedicated months of preparation to host this one day conference. Whether it was being hospitable to speakers, preparing lunch, setting up the hall, or selling tickets, every individual but in effort and dedication to make sure thing went smooth. After the conference, the hall emptied out quickly. Volunteers had a meeting with the shuyookh, discussing pros and cons of the day. Speakers were impressed at this ILMFest, compared to other ones they have attended. They felt the day went smooth, ushering was very organized, and overall nice set-up. After a light dinner with the shuyookh, volunteers began cleaning up the hall. Some volunteers stayed past 2AM doing last minute clean up. At the end of the day, every individual gains his/her reward- and we ask that it is accepted from each and every speaker, volunteer, and attendee.
What are your views regarding eating by following the food pyramid precisely?
Answer:
Back in 2010, the new MyPyramid became MyPlate. In the past it was emphasized for Americans to get 6-11 servings of grains, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruit, 2-3 servings of dairy, 2-3 servings of nuts, meat, and beans, and the use of fats sparingly. The old food pyramid edges towards a “one diet fits all†which I completely disagree with. Are we supposed to force 6-11 servings of grains at the end of the day if say, we didn’t reach the amount? Can we go beyond 3-5 servings of vegetables? What happens if you skip your dairy? So many questions come into place with the older version of the food pyramid. So if you’re referring to the previous food pyramid, I’d state that it’s probably not the best tool to use to acquire a healthy diet on an individual basis. The needs of these different food groups clearly vary from one person to the next. This is why the 2010 pyramid decided to add the variations based on level of activity, age, gender, and even health conditions. Every individual has their own needs. One person’s medicine may be another’s poison. Meaning, dairy may work for one person, and cause discomfort, even reactions in another. The MyPlate on the other hand, emphasizes consuming lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, protein, and fats in limits. It changes based on the individual’s age, weight, gender, and physical activity. Even here though, I don’t argue that it’s a tool that would work for every single person. Filling up half your plate with “fried†vegetables shouldn’t count as a serving, and may be deceiving to some. Eating whole foods is the best route to take, whether it’s grains, vegetables, or dairy products.
For those just turning to a healthier lifestyle, the MyPlate may be a beneficial tool to an improved route. It gives an outline of what food groups to increase, and which to leave at a minimum. It’s a wonderful outline for an overall long term diet. But again, it may work for the majority, but at the end of the day, no one knows what your body requires better than yourself.
Former Head of Saudi intelligence and current Saudi King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud attends a close session meeting at the IISS Regional Security Summit – The Manama Dialogue in Manama, December 8, 2013.
REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s dream of binding the Gulf Arab states into a union will get a skeptical hearing at a summit this week, with differences over Iran, Egypt and Syria demonstrating that the Gulf’s absolute monarchs do not all speak with one voice.
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah proposed two years ago for a stronger union with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emeriates. The plan is expected to be one of the main topics on Tuesday when the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council hold their annual meeting in Kuwait.
But just days before the leaders were due to arrive, Oman dismissed the proposal with unusual directness in a region where the royal courts are usually not known for their bluntness.
“We are not for establishing a union at all,†Foreign Minister Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah said on Saturday at a conference in Bahrain, shortly after a Saudi official had renewed Riyadh’s call for closer unity.
Saudis shrugged off the sign of disagreement: “Oman has every right to express that view. I don’t think that is going to prevent the union from happening,†former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said in Bahrain.
“Having a more closely knit union between the GCC countries in my view is inevitable and whether Oman wants to join now, or later, that’s up to them.â€
Diplomats in the region say the Omanis are not the only skeptics: the UAE and Kuwait also expressed reservations at last year’s summit behind closed doors, they say.
Despite the similarities of the six Gulf monarchies, they have diverging regional outlooks, economies and political systems. The others are increasingly gaining the confidence to veer off a script written by Saudi Arabia, which has by far the biggest economy and more citizens than the other five combined.
“A number of Gulf states view Saudi Arabia as the gorilla in the room. Much as they have a lot in common with them, they don’t want to be dominated by the Saudis,†said Robert Jordan, U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2001-03.
“Given the somewhat divergent attitudes on Iran, and to a lesser extent Syria, it may be harder to get common ground in a shared foreign policy.â€
IRAN
The GCC was set up in 1981 to counter the rise in the region of non-Arab Shi’ite Iran, which Riyadh views as its principle rival for hegemony in the Gulf and wider Middle East. But though all six members are somewhat suspicious of Iran, Oman and Qatar have made moves to seek better ties with Tehran.
Oman went even further in the past year, hosting secret meetings between Iranian and U.S. officials which helped lead to a nuclear pact last month – a deal that had Saudis fuming.
“I think there is going to be more tension within the GCC because the prospect of Iran’s rehabilitation into the region does introduce a new set of tensions because the Gulf countries don’t have the same policies towards Iran,†said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institute in Doha.
Oman has always been an outlier in the group, with a unique Indian Ocean maritime culture. Its predominating Ibadi sect of Islam differs both from the Sunni sect of the other Gulf ruling houses and the Shi’ism of Iran.
But other members have also veered from consensus. Qatar, an increasingly confident upstart which earned energy riches more recently than the others, has irked neighbors with bold foreign policy moves, especially since the 2011 “Arab Spring†revolts when it backed movements linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Qatar provided billions of dollars of funding for Egypt when it elected a Brotherhood government last year, even though other Gulf monarchs were alarmed at the movement’s rise.
This year, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates made their opposing views on Egypt plain by pledging $12 billion in aid to Cairo after the military toppled the Brotherhood.
On Syria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have shared leading roles arming and funding rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. But although they are on the same side in the war, Western diplomats say they have backed rival rebel groups.
Domestically, there are political differences as well. While all six GCC states are ruled by dynasties that wield ultimate power, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman have ceded some political influence to elected parliaments, something that seems far off in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or the UAE.
Bahrain, though ruled by a Sunni Muslim family, has a Shi’ite majority, which means it treads a more difficult line. During the Arab Spring it was the only one of the six to see major unrest, which it and its allies blamed on Iran.
The six also differ economically, which complicates efforts to unite them. While all have oil, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE are rich OPEC members; Oman and Bahrain are poorer.
Qatar and the UAE are high-profile global traders with gleaming skyscrapers at home and airline logos emblazoned on soccer shirts abroad. Saudi Arabia, though the richest of all, needs its wealth at home to support a much larger population.
Oman said as early as 2006 that it would not join an as yet unrealized project to unite the countries under a single currency. The UAE, which sees itself as a main rival to Riyadh for dominance in regional finance, has also rejected the scheme, which would involve a Gulf central bank based in Riyadh.
(Additional reporting by William Maclean in Manama and Angus MaDowall in Riyadh; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Peter Graff)
The latest assembly elections in five Indian states do not offer good sign for Narendar Modi of the Bhartiya Janata Party, the Prime Ministerial aspirant of India even though his party has been given the mandate to run Delhi, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pardesh and Rajasthan. Prior to the election, Modi was sailing smooth and he appeared a viable and formidable candidate for India’s top job. But the election results has changed that all.
The reason: The emergence of AAP (Aam Aadmi Party, Common People Party) as a major player in India’s electoral politics. The AAP that was formed on October 2012 contested Delhi’s election and won some 28 seats out of 70 upsetting the BJP as well as the Congress Party, the two main political parties in Delhi. AAP is not composed of seasoned politicians. It is a party of common people drawan from all sectors of Indian’s society. It does not enjoy the patronage of any religious establishment or big corporations. It is not based on caste, religion or region. Its main goal is to rid Indian politics and bureaucracy of corruption. A corruption that is bigger in size in India’s history since the beginning. A corruption that encompasses every aspect of Indian society.
In this corrupt environment, it fielded candidates with no previous political background in general whose strength was their character and social service. Even in a district which is the stronghold of the Hindu fascist BJP, it fielded a Muslim candidate who mustered over 17,000 votes challenging the notion that a Muslim candidate can only contest the election only from a Muslim dominated district. The leader of the Party himself challenged the three term chief minister of Delhi risking his entire nascent political career.
AAP wants transparency in Indian politics. It wants democracy to serve people and not the politician. It wants to eliminate corruption in political circles by making it a crime. It wants to give people the right to recall their elected officials. It wants to create a public evaluation board to keep an eye on the functioning of political leaders and it wants public officials to represent their constituents and not lobbies. Its strength lies in the support of the people, average people who are never remembered by politicians once the ritual of democracy is over.
These are the ideals that more than 70 percent Indian voters under the age of 35 identify with. It is this section of India society that supported the AAP in Delhi. AAP was pitched against the cadre of the world’s most disciplined and dangerous secret organization, the Rashstriya Swayam Sangh (RSS) the fascist ideological organization behind the BJP and other similar outfits. It also faced the rank and file of the oldest Indian political party, the Congress. The party did not have an elaborate organization and unlimited secret funds that every political group usually spends in India. It refrained itself from buying votes on the election eve, a common practice in India where millions of dollars are distributed to buy voters. Both the Congress and BJP supporters gave away hefty cash to their potential voters. Liquor was distributed freely on the eve of the night.
AAP contested only from Delhi, Had it fielded candidates in other states, the BJP would not have got the majority anywhere, because a great majority for Indian voters seem to be sick and tired of the politics of Congress as a party that is immersed in corruption and the BJP, a party built on the bones and blood of thousands of Indians killed in communal rights. Since people did not have any alternative they chose the one they found was appealing to their religious emotions.
BJP’s politics is the politics of hatred, corruption and revenge, while the Congress politics is the politics of deception and corruption. Both have presided over the destruction of minorities rights systematically.
The decision of AAP to sit as an opposition in Delhi is a good decision as this would give the leadership an opportunity to focus on expanding the organization in different parts of the country. AAP has presented itself as a value driven organization and it has made it clear that it would not share power with those whom it accuses of being corrupt or communal. Rarely, one finds such a stand in politics. AAP knows that an overwhelming majority of Indians does not subscribe to caste and religion politics. It wants clean governance at all levels and it has no sympathy for those who play divisive politics. AAP has the capacity to channelize these sentiments in the upcoming election of Indian parliament because it is run by people and not by leaders. Thus, the party would pose serious challenges to both the fascist BJP and the corrupt Congress. The fascist party has its own cadre and it probably would get their full backing. But those who want to see a corruption free India that does not favor any caste or religion and that does not promote a particular class would be enthusiastic for AAP as they were in the just concluded elections in states where an alternative was not available.
It is this alternative that offers Muslims and other minorities an opportunity to identify with. Because India in the political hands of those who believe in a corruption free India offers the best hope for minorities including Muslims. In Delhi, the Muslims voted for AAP but not as enthusiastically as they voted for Congress. The BJP hardly got Muslim votes. But this would change in the upcoming Indian parliament election as Muslims cannot keep them isolated from what is happening in the country. AAP would be seen an alternative to Congress as BJP was never a choice of the overwhelming majority of Muslims. The BJP also does not want loud Muslim support as it would hurt its own upper caste, hate-filled interest groups including many in the US who have sent millions to the murderous Modi.
Naraendar Modi was hoping a smooth sailing in the national election. But things would change now. He would be forced to talk about the corruption in his own state and the violence his state perpetrated against Muslims and other minorities. The blood of the innocents would haunt him and AAP and its supporters would ensure that the communal politics, the hallmark of BJP, is not allowed to dominate the election agenda. On the strength of the masses, the AAP would make the corruption as India’s top agenda and through choosing candidates who would ensure clean politics, it would emerge as one of the most effective players in Indian politics. A new India is about to be born, an India where Modis would have no place, an India, where masses would rise above their caste and religions to restore the dignity to common men. Thus, Modi’s dream to become Prime Minister of the country would evade him even though his party seems to be intoxicant with the victory in four states.
One of the commonly accepted theories of Islamic history states that after an early period of rise Islamic civilization subsequently went into a long period of decline. A decline caused primarily due to a flawed theology adopted by medieval Muslims. This has recently been adopted by right-wing Islamophobic thinkers to imply that Islam is a fundamentally regressive religion. This narrative, however, is deeply flawed and runs contrary to the best historical evidence.
The Standard Narrative
Imam Al-Ghazali
This standard theory states that the first approximately 500 years of Islam were the golden age. In this period Greek science and philosophy was actively translated and studied in the Muslim world. This resulted in a spectacular flourishing of Islamic civilization. The great works of Ibn Sina in Medicine and Philosophy, Ibn Haytham in Optics, Al-Khawarzmi in Mathematics and Al-Biruni in Biology were written. Soon thereafter, Islamic theologians reasserted the primacy of revelation over reason and a sharp decline in the intellectual output of the Muslim world occurred.
The theory of Islamic decline has been so dominant and well accepted that the only question which is asked is “what caused the decline?†Many reasons are given, several of which are chronicled in popular books like What went wrong? By Bernard Lewis. The most popular reason cited is the rise of “conservative religious forces†which led to a “narrow, rigid and closed†interpretation of Islam and actively hindered the growth of science. The chief culprit they identify is the influential Islamic theologian Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE). One of the most influential and often-quoted Orientalist scholars E. C. Sachau writes:
The fourth [tenth] century is the turning point in the history of the spirit of Islam… But for Al-Ashari and Al-Ghazali the Arabs might have been a nation of Galileos, Keplers, and Newtons.
Numerous scholars , perhaps owing to this early Orientalist literature, have adopted a similar view ranging from the historian Toby Huff to the famous scientist Pervez Hoodbhoy . This sentiment has translated into the standard history of science. Thus we see the Nobel-prize winning scientist Steven Weinberg writing,
Alas, Islam turned against science in the twelfth century. The most influential figure was the philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali…. After al-Ghazzali, there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries.
Perhaps it is only natural for Ghazali to be singled out for critique due to his stature within Islamic intellectual history. Richard Frank describes his role as:
Al-Ghazali dominates the history of Muslim thought, and even though so categorical an assertion may be subject to qualification, there is no denying that he was the most important sunni theologian at a crucial turning point in the history of orthodox Muslim theology.
Although this article will deal primarily with Islamic science, Ghazali is also held responsible for the presumed “closure of the gates of ijtihad†which supposedly occurred around the same time . Furthermore, he is felt to have dealt a fatal blow to the field of Islamic philosophy.
This view has been conveniently adopted by right-wing ‘scholars’ who are happy to point out the intrinsic problems with Islam as a religion and its supposed inability to cope with science, complexity and modernity. This can be seen in the attitude of Steven Weinberg himself who goes on to blame modern day terrorism on this supposed development. The atheist and Islam-critic Richard Dawkins also subscribes to a similar view. Populist works such as The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide created the modern Islamist crisis by Robert R. Reilly published as recently as 2010 continue to propagate this myth. In it Reilly writes,
Were it not for al-Ghazali, Averroes and rationalism might have won the battle for the Muslim mind. But it did not happen, and, as a result, the Sunni Muslim mind suffered the consequences. It closed.
Bias and Ignorance
This normative view of Islamic history has, however, been seriously challenged recently due to a reexamination of the historical literature. This renewed study of Islamic intellectual history suggests instead of a decline, a brilliant renaissance of intellectual and scientific thought took place in Islam after Ghazali.
The theory of decline was largely a byproduct of Orientalist literature. Their interests lie not in a genuine study of Islamic civilization, but a focus on its role in the subsequent rise of western civilization. Professor Berggren identifies the problem when he writes that the “treatment of medieval Islam as a civilization deserving of attention only for its role as a channel through which the great works of the Greeks were carried safely to the eager minds of the European Renaissance†results in “selective and tendentious reading of medieval Arabic texts to show how Islamic science prefigured that of modern times.â€
The assumption that Greek science was the impetus behind rise of Islamic science has also been recently seriously questioned. The beginnings of Islamic science predated the translation movement. For example, George Saliba points out that it would be impossible to translate Greek scientific texts unless a highly sophisticated scientific vocabulary already existed in Arabic, implying a preexisting robust scientific tradition. Evidence also points to the fact that Islam’s engagement with Greek thought was always a critical one, not a passive and accepting one. This is true even when we look at the so called “neo-platonic†thinkers such as Ibn Sina who was highly critical of Aristotle, openly rejecting many of his ideas.
In fact, this moving away from the Greek tradition, “de-hellinization†within Islam as the sciences become more and more “Islamic†is seen by many as a move against reason . However, here again this is largely based upon the assumption that “Islamic†implies anti-reason, and not on any empirical evidence. The evidence on the contrary suggests a rich tradition of Islamic science developing within the context of a rational Islamic theology.
Much of the published research into Islamic science exists from the period prior to the scientific revolution in the West since this was naturally of most interest to western scholars. This attitude has resulted in a sharp drop off in the amount of academic research into the later Islamic period. Therefore, until recently we knew very little about what happened to Islamic science after the supposed decline took place. In a lecture delivered at MIT, Syed Hossein Nasr emphasizes the same point when he writes,
There are over three thousand manuscripts of medicine in India which have never been studied by anybody. This is [only] the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of manuscripts in Yemen which we don’t even know about.
Professor Dimitri Gutas points out that the patronage of science and the resulting scientific works in the later Ottoman period have been “almost completely unresearched.†The respected historian of Islamic science, Muzaffar Iqbal writes:
So far we know of at-least 1000 scientists who worked between the eighth and eighteenth centuries; there are thousand more about whom we have no information or whom we merely know the names and their works’ titles. There are over 200,000 manuscripts in Iran alone, of -which about three-quarters are as yet uncatalogued.
What Decline?
As this research is being conducted a new view of Islamic intellectual history is developing. Evidence points to continued vibrancy and rigorous scientific activity flourishing for centuries after Ghazali. Recently, Professor Ekmeleddi Ihsanoglu has documented that significant scientific activity continued in the Ottoman Empire well into the eighteenth century. Professor Jamil Ragep at McGill has documented the accomplishments of Muslim scientists in the later period including hundreds of students engaged in creative theoretical and practical science at the great observatories at Maragha and later in Samarqand. He writes,
During the past half century or so, an ever-increasing body of scholarly work has shown that science in Islam not only continued after al-Ghazali but in fact flourished for centuries thereafter. Over the next five centuries or so, one can document the production of thousands of scientific and philosophical texts in both the eastern and western Islamic world that are attested by tens of thousands of extant manuscripts.
Many important discoveries occurred in this later period such as: “discovery of the pulmonary transit (of blood from the heart to the lungs and back), precise determinations (up to fifteen decimal places) for Πand sin 1º, and map-projection techniques of remarkable accuracy and sophistication.†He points out that recently the quasi-crystalline Penrose pattern has been discovered in the architecture in Isfahan centuries before it was described by Penrose in 1975. He writes, “Given that less than 5% of the available material has been studied, it would seem that future research will bring to light many other discoveries.†Much of the works recently studied relate to Astronomy. Professor Lindberg in his Beginnings of Western Science writes,
Current archival research in the history of Islamic astronomy reveals decisively that at least this specific discipline flourished well into the sixteenth century—producing a continuous flow of knowledgeable, sometimes brilliant, astronomers, scatters throughout greater Islam. As for the other sciences thousands of Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts remain in libraries from Europe to the Middle East, unexamined. What they may contain we have no way of knowing until we look.
Echoing the same findings Abdelhamid Sabra (Emeritus professor of Arabic science at Harvard) and Hogendijk extends the period of growth into the nineteenth century. They write,
The Islamic tradition in the exact sciences continued well into the nineteenth century, and abundant source material is available in the form of unpublished manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, and other languages in libraries all over the world.â€
Yale professor George Saliba terms the post-Ghazali period the real golden age of Islam. He describes the brilliant scientific production in this period as nothing short of a renaissance. This leads Saliba to ask if Ghazali was responsible for the decline of science, then how does one explain the:
Production of tens of scientists in every discipline, who continued to produce scientific texts that were in many ways superior to the texts that were before the time of Ghazali. In the case of astronomy, one cannot even compare the sophistication of the post-Ghazali texts with the pre-Ghazali ones, for the former were in fact far superior both in theoretical mathematical sophistication, as well as in blending observational astronomy with theoretical astronomy.
Although it is beyond the scope of this article, it is worth pointing out that similar progress after Ghazali can been seen in other fields. For example, with regards to Islamic law professor Wael Hallaq writes,
It is our common, but rather inaccurate, belief that during the first three centuries of Islam, the highest and final stage of legal thought had been reached. It may be astonishing, therefore, to realize that the sophistication of technical legal thought was in fact achieved after these centuries…
Professor Saliba points out those Orientalist scholars could not see the originality in the post-Ghazali books, even though they read them carefully, simply because they were not looking for any such originality. The phenomenon is best seen in the context of the commentary literature, which is often construed as redundant learning, lacking in originality. In reality, Saliba argues, commentaries served a purpose similar to modern-day periodicals advancing knowledge in their respective fields and were in some ways superior to them, requiring a synthesis of all prior knowledge.
Contrary to the early Orientalist literature instead of demolishing science, Ghazali’s theology actually secured a place for science within an Islamic framework. The metaphysical basis for this requires a separate article. Suffice it to point out that neither Ghazali’s denial of necessary causality, nor his support of Ashari theology in anyway undermined prospects for rational inquiry within the Islamic context. In fact, these positions actually stimulated scientific activity. Ahmad Dallal summarizes its consequences when he writes,
After Al-Ghazali, the need to invoke religion to vindicate science considerably decreased, not because science was not accepted but because it did not need vindication.
Unlike in Europe where scientists were often persecuted by the Church , Islamic theologians actually created an environment which allowed science to flourish. This is not to say that there were never any religious objections to science in Islam, indeed there were occasionally. However, as professor Gutas points out these were relatively isolated incidents, the exception and not the rule.
If Muslims were so advanced, then one may ask, why then were the Europeans able to colonize and dominate the Muslim world? Historians such as Ahmad Dallal argue this was largely due to an economic imbalance created by Europe’s discovery of the resource rich New World combined with emerging capitalism and the strategic deployment of new technologies. The willingness of the Europeans to use these powerful technologies for the unprecedented exploitation of human and natural resources also played a role. This late decline was not necessarily due to a structural or intellectual deficiency within the Islamic world. In other words, traditional Islamic civilization’s ultimate demise late in the 19th century was largely due to factors extrinsic, not intrinsic, to its intellectual fabric.
Conclusion
Historical research now underway exposes the biases of the very influential early Orientalist scholarship on Islamic history and completely undermines the arguments of right-wing Islamophobic “scholars,†who would like to insist that something inherent about Islam’s theology resulted in its own demise. Professor Lindberg summarizes the issue as follows:
The truth is that the image of decline in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries is not the product of research in manuscript archives, but an assumption made in the absence of research and encouraged for its usefulness as a tool in religious polemics over the relative merits of Islam and Christianity: which religious culture wins the natural sciences sweepstakes?â€
Much research still needs to be done in to Islam’s rich scientific and intellectual heritage which clearly flourished well beyond its supposed golden age. The research needs to be historicized and done in an objective manner keeping in mind Islam’s own worldview. It is premature, even absurd, to ask, let alone answer, questions such as “what caused the Islamic decline?†A false question propagated by those with little genuine interest in Islamic history. Professor Nasr writes, “Muslims have not yet developed their own historiography of science.†As this develops, many of our assumptions regarding the history of Islam might be overturned. This may lead Muslims to seek to revive elements of its intellectual heritage. Indeed, we might more rightfully ask, “what was it about Islamic civilization that caused science, philosophy, medicine, and law to flourish in its lands for well over 1000 years?â€
Visit www.muslimphilosophy.com/aftab for a complete annotated version of this article.
Israel’s prime minister proves he is not the smug, petty, vindictive, waffling, in-your-face insulting man he seems. He’s something worse.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara in a plane bound for London, May 3, 2011. Photo by GPO
By Bradley Burston
In his eleventh-hour decision against attending the funeral of Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Netanyahu proved that he is not the smug, petty, vindictive, waffling, in-your-face insulting man he seems. He’s something worse.
The problem is not so much that the prime minister had first informed the South African government that he would, in fact, attend the ceremony, alongside Presidents Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, French President Francois Hollande, and scores of other world dignitaries, among them Iranian President Hassan Rohani, in what is expected to be a world gathering unprecedented in scope.
Nor is the basic problem the fact that the decision was made so abruptly and with such lack of consultation, that the office of President Shimon Peres was thrown for a loop, and it was unclear if arrangements could be made to have Peres represent Israel in Netanyahu’s stead.
The problem is the reason Netanyahu chose to give: Money. The trip would cost too much. The problem, then, is the message Netanyahu has chosen to send:
My Israel, which so craves and demands legitimacy and recognition as a full partner in the community of nations, does not consider a man like Nelson Mandela, or a nation like South Africa, or the sentiment of an entire world, worth the price of a plane flight.
In sending this message, Benjamin Netanyahu has treated the passing of Nelson Mandela as he does every challenge in statecraft: He has addressed one problem by creating another.
His message is clear: My Israel, which spends untold tens of millions on such matters as bolstering and protecting settlement construction during peace negotiations with the Palestinians, or erecting detention facilities for African asylum seekers rather than formulating coherent and just refugee policies, has nothing left over for this man Mandela.
But that’s only the beginning. With a wink and a nod to the settler right, the academic rabid right, and the KKK-esque far right, Netanyahu is sending an even stronger message:
This is where I stand on this Palestinian-lover, Mandela. And this is where I stand on his Palestinian-lover heirs.
At home, the decision has been interpreted as Netanyahu’s response to recent reports of profligate household spending.
Bottom line, Netanyahu seems to be suggesting: I have learned my lesson from having lavish bedrooms installed in airliners for relatively short trips, and for overspending taxpayers’ money on flowers and candles and pool water for my three homes.
I will economize. No more empty frills. Like the Mandela funeral.
Worst of all, perhaps, and certainly setting a new standard in irony, Netanyahu’s skipping the Mandela commemorations will allow him to oversee an extraordinary exercise in ramming through a Knesset bill to allow authorities to jail African asylum seekers for up to a year without trial, and to keep them from finding gainful employment in Israel.
Just last month, the cabinet approved a budget allocation of 440 million shekels ($126 million) to fund the provisions of the as-yet-unpassed and High Court-vulnerable bill – more than 60 times what it would have cost for Netanyahu to attend the funeral.
Never has Netanyahu sent a message quite this infuriating, with so much apparent success.
He is betting, apparently, that the moderate majority has expectations so low, its resources of outrage so overtaxed and depleted, its capacity for response so beaten flat, that it will do little more than shrug and trudge on. And this bet may well be the smart money.
What we are stuck with, in the end, is the message that Netanyahu is sending to the world. The world that Netanyahu’s Israel is determined not to be a part of.
“The whole world is coming to South Africa,†foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said at the weekend.
Heben Nigatu wrote an article on Buzzfeed this week entitled “21 Microaggressions You Hear On a Daily Basis,†based on a photo series taken by photographer Kiyun, who asked minority students at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus to “write down an instance of racial microaggression they have faced.†She uses the term “microaggression†to refer to “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.â€
An Asian American is frequently asked, “No, where are you REALLY from?â€
A biracial student is bothered by the question, “What ARE you?â€
Another biracial student is often asked, “You don’t speak Spanish?â€
Microaggressions are not usually intended as personal attacks but clumsy attempts at conversation, frequently demonstrating the speaker’s desire to learn more about another.
“Often, they are never meant to hurt – acts done with little conscious awareness of their meanings and effects. Instead, their slow accumulation during a childhood and over a lifetime is in part what defines a marginalized experience, making explanation and communication with someone who does not share this identity particularly difficult. Social others are microaggressed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly.â€
It’s an interesting discussion especially in light of the multiculturalism of the American Muslim community. Even though Muslims like to pray side by side with people of every color, it cannot be denied that pretty much every one of them will ask me where I’m from right after they ask my name, at any given mosque in America. If I say I’m from Michigan, they will invariably say, “But where are you REALLY from?†If I say my family is Swiss and German, they will say, “Oh, so you are WHITE.†Even if tell them my parents were immigrants, they will often insist I’m a White. The people talking to me like this are often American born themselves. So how come they get to be Egyptian or Pakistani while I am reduced to a skin tone? It is constantly draining to be around people who just do not understand where you are coming from, or what you feel you are.
Columbia University psychologist Derald Wing Sue who studied microaggressions against people of color in a white majority environment writes, “The result is confusion, anger and an overall sapping of energy.â€
Years after Jena converted to Islam and married, she was surprised to learn that her husband had no idea that she was different than other white women. “It never occurred to him that I had unique personal characteristics and my own individual approach to life, based on where I come from, my social class, my cultural background and my personal experiences. My values often differ vastly from another person of similar skin tone, including other Muslims.â€
It is amazing how very different most American converts to Islam are from each other, often converting to Islam for completely different reasons and possessing a wide variety approaches to understanding scripture and practice.
In America, there is ongoing conflict between people who want to be appreciated for what they are including their ethnicity, and those who want to ignore cultural differences. This was highlighted in the Fordham university photo series with a couple examples:
A black university student complains of being told, “You don’t act like a normal black person.†It makes him uncomfortable to openly discuss racial differences.
Meanwhile, another black student feels offended when told, “I never see you as a black girl.†It makes her uncomfortable that someone wanted to overlook her race.
Another student states: “The limited representation of my race in your classroom does not make me the voice of all Black People.â€
I think many Muslims can relate to that one – especially those who wear hijab are constantly being treated as the voice of all Muslim people, who exist to bear the brunt of misconceptions and patiently explain Islam to the ignorant. It can be tiring.
“These incidents may appear small, banal and trivial, but we’re beginning to find they assail the mental health of recipients,†Sue says.
Whenever most people are faced with someone who does not understand us, it makes us uncomfortable that we have to explain and even justify things we already take for granted, especially if we fear judgment in their discussion of our culture. It also truly hurts when we try to ask friends about their own political and cultural beliefs and practices, after they have assailed us with their own prejudiced assumptions about our thinking, and they get all defensive and indignant that they should have to explain themselves to us.
On the bright side, the mere existence of such awkward conversations means that integration is happening. People are trying to include people of other cultures in their everyday conversations. In a different decade, people who were different might live in totally secluded communities where they never had to confront anyone who doesn’t share their world view. In the past, far fewer people went out of their way to talk to people different from themselves. Those who tried to mix would be more often ridiculed or threatened than just asked weird questions.
Personally I feel more comfortable with open conversation that discusses racial background groupings, which gives people the room to fix any misconceptions, rather than politically correct colorblindness, which tends to promote the idea that skin color doesn’t matter as long as we all think and act according to ruling class social assumptions.
While it’s clear that microaggressions have negative affects, Kenneth R. Thomas, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin–Madison maintains that teaching people to look for insult in ambiguous language or warning people to be very very careful about mentioning ethnic background can also backfire, as it “would restrict rather than promote candid interaction between members of different racial groups.â€
Kenneth Sole, PhD, whose consulting firm Sole & Associates Inc. trains employees on team communication, works with clients on ways to frame discriminatory incidents so they feel empowered rather than victimized.
No other leader in world history has been more scrutinized and ridiculed than Prophet Muhammad (s). Since the founding of Islam in 610 AD, Christians and Jews have attacked the Prophet of Allah (s) with many slurs. However, according to a new book The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (s) with the Christians of the World (published by Angelico Press, 2013), these accusations are found to be dishonest, prejudiced, and not based on sound scholarship.
Dr. John Andrew Morrow, author of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (s), is a scholar who received his PhD from the University of Toronto and completed the full cycle of Islamic seminary studies. He was raised in a multilingual family in Montreal and Toronto, Canada. Morrow is also a Native North American of the Metis nation and proudly identifies himself as an “Aboriginal Person.â€
In his book, Morrow applies a documentary analysis of textual and historical research to the covenants created by Muhammad (s). Notable American poet, Charles Upton, notes in the foreword that these documents — letters, covenants, treaties — which Morrow accesses “have largely been neglected by both traditional Muslim and modern western scholarship, and are practically unknown to the mass of believers.†In reviewing Muslim, Christian, and secular documentary sources, Morrow’s study of the covenants of the Prophet (s) brings “out their light in this period of darkness in which the People of Scripture, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, have strayed from their sacred traditions of tolerance and co-existence.â€
The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (s) provides a detailed account of Muhammad’s (s) character and conduct as seen through his lifelong encounters with Christian hermits, monks, priests, and communities. Morrow states that these experiences confirm that Muhammad (s) had “confidence in his ability to count on the spiritual solidarity of the People of the Book,†or members of the Abrahamic tradition. Morrow also affirmed that Muhammad (s) “had much more in common with the followers of Christ than with the idol-worshippers who surrounded him.†One of the covenants analyzed by Morrow is the “Covenant of the Prophet Muhammad (s) with the Monks of Mount Sinai.†This agreement championed universal peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims. In the text, Muhammad (s) calls on Muslims to respect Christian judges and churches, and for no Muslim to fight against their Christian brother. As Morrow rightly claims, the Covenant with the Monks of Mount Sinai is:
“a clear rejection of classism, elitism, and racism… all are equal before God for whom the most important thing is not language, skin color, social status or class position, which exclude others, but rather the degree of piety, humanity, love for others (which includes not only human beings but the entire natural order), sincerity of faith, the acceptance of His Commandments, and complete certainty as to the special place occupied by His Prophets, Messengers, and Imams.â€
Saint Catherine’s Monastery is considered to be the only monastery in the world to serve both a church and a mosque. Morrow writes that for centuries, “the sound of ringing church bells came from the monastery’s tower while the Muslim call to prayer was emitted from the minaret.†Morrow describes the location of these two religious buildings an “aural manifestation of monotheistic unity [which] would have made the Messenger of Allah [Muhammad] (s) proud.â€
In addition to the covenant with the Christians at Mount Sinai, Morrow examines “The Constitution of Medina,†a key document of the Prophet’s (s) concerning the importance of human rights in Islam. According to Morrow, the “Constitution†created a community out of “a unique system which had never existed before and which has never been since despite honest efforts to emulate it.†He adds that through the “Constitution of Medinaâ€:
“[i]dentity and loyalty were no longer to be based on family, tribe, kinship, or even religion: the overriding identity was membership in the ummah of Muhammad (s). The Constitution of Medina decreed that the citizens of the Islamic state were one and indivisible regardless of religion. Be they heathen, People of the Book, or Muslims, all those who were subject to the Constitution belonged to the same ummah. In doing so, he created a tolerant, pluralistic government which protected religious freedom. The importance of this is so extraordinary that it is often misunderstood.â€
Moreover, Prophet Muhammad’s (s) “Medina Constitution†created a society which, Morrow claims, is one where
“every single member… enjoyed equality before the law as all privileges of class were abolished. The rich and the poor; the noble and the laymen; the Arabs and the non-Arabs; the blacks and the whites; the men and the women; and the children and the adults all had the same rights. Even Muhammad (s), as the Messenger of Allah, was not above the law.â€
In this context, the “Medina Constitution†was not only a revolutionary document for human rights, but it also expresses a democratic spirit. Morrow believes that Muhammad (s) was an ultimate defender of diversity, as he mentions that the Prophet (s) “established a form of social justice rare in any time.â€
The Covenants of the Prophet (s) also offers an analysis of how Muhammad (s) embraced Jews. Morrow argues that Muhammad’s (s) stay in the Cave of Moses at the top of Mount Sinai shows that he had a deep connection to Moses (as). Morrow writes: “Muhammad (s) also insisted that the Law of Moses remained binding with some minor modifications which resulted from the final revelation.†Furthermore, in the Treaty of Maqnah, which was made between Muhammad (s) and Jews in Banu Janbah, a city in the Gulf of ‘Aqabah, the Prophet (s) stated that Jews
“may be in peace… When this letter of mine comes to you, you are in security [under his rule]… Towards you is no wrong and no enmity. After today you will not be subjected to oppression or violence… Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah (s) has exempted you from jizyah (a tax) and compulsory labor.â€
In touching upon the Prophet’s (s) covenants with Christians and Jews, Morrow makes it clear that Muhammad (s) did not try to make the Islamic world only Muslim. He adds: “… the Prophet (s) recognized that there were nations and peoples within the Muslim ummah… Whether they were Jews or Christians, and later Hindus and Buddhists, these communities represented a kind of United Nations under Islamic rule.†Morrow’s point is significant as it alerts us to the idea that Christians and Jews were intended to be a part of – and protected by – the global Muslim community.
Perhaps the greatest strength of Morrow’s brilliant piece of scholarship lies in its ability to reach the hearts and minds of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. He teaches us that Muslims must do a better job of protecting their non-Muslim minority populations, or else they risk apostasy in violating Muhammad’s (s) teachings on religious tolerance. The Covenants of the Prophet (s) also instructs Christians to carefully consider Muhammad’s (s) covenants, which provide examples to counter popular negative stereotypes of the Prophet (s) among Christians. Similarly, Jews are encouraged to consider the Prophet of Allah’s (s) legacy, as they can learn that he had reverence and respect for their ancient faith, Judaism.
The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (s) with the Christians of the World recognizes that although there are differences between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, Muslims are nonetheless advised by Muhammad (s) to respect and embrace Christian and Jewish communities. The covenants of the Prophet of Allah (s), as Morrow notes, paint a clear picture of how Muslims are to treat their minority communities. Morrow’s book reminds us of the possibility that Muslims, Christians, and Jews can live side-by-side in peace and harmony if only they heed the advice of Prophet Muhammad (s).
Ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar wave as they are transported by a wooden boat to a temporary shelter in Krueng Raya in Aceh Besar, in this file picture taken April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Junaidi Hanafiah/Files
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand will help the United Nations and the United States with any investigation into the findings of a Reuters report that Thai immigration officials moved Myanmar refugees into human-trafficking rings, the prime minister said on Saturday.
The United Nations and the United States called on Friday for an investigation into the report, published on Thursday and based on a two-month investigation in three countries, that revealed a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thai immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who chairs a government committee on human trafficking, declined to comment on the findings when asked about her reaction.
“I cannot comment on the Rohingya issue and reaction as this is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministryto handle,†she said in a comment to Reuters, delivered through an aide.
“The ministry will liaise with the United States and the U.N. to help with any investigation they need.â€
The Rohingya are stateless Muslims from Myanmar, also known as Burma. Clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists exploded in Myanmar last year, making 140,000 people homeless, most of them Rohingya.
Since then, tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled from Myanmar by boat and many arrive off southwest Thailand.
After being delivered to human traffickers at sea, the Rohingya are transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay ransoms to release them, according to the Reuters report. Some are beaten and some are killed.
“These allegations need to be investigated urgently,†U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Vivian Tan said in a statement. The United States issued a similar call hours later.
“We are aware of reports alleging that Thai officials have been involved in selling Rohingya migrants to human traffickers,†U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. “We urge the Thai governmentto conduct a serious and transparent investigation into the matter.â€
SANCTIONS RISK
Major General Chatchawal of the Royal Thai Police was quoted in the Reuters report as saying that there was an unofficial policy to deport the Rohingya to Myanmar.
He called this “a natural way or option twoâ€. But he said the Rohingya signed statements in which they agree they want to return to Myanmar.
These statements, however, were at times produced in the absence of a Rohingya-language translator, Reuters found.
New York-based watchdog group Human Rights Watch criticized Thailand for moving detainees into established smuggling and trafficking rings, and warned Thailand could face a possible downgrade in a U.S. list of the world’s worst enforcers of human-trafficking laws.
Such a downgrade would place Thailand, a close U.S. ally and Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, at risk of U.S. sanctions and put it on par with North Korea and Iran among the worst performers in fighting human trafficking.
The U.S. State Department is gathering information for its next Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, due in June. Thailand faces an automatic downgrade to Tier 3, the lowest rank, unless it makes “significant efforts†to improve its record in combating trafficking, the State Department says. The Tier 3 designation could leave Thailand subject to U.S. sanctions.
Sek Wannamethee, a spokesman for Thailand’s Foreign Ministry, said earlier that the Rohingya issue was one of several the United States would take into consideration before deciding on Thailand’s grade.
Nine people have been arrested in Thailand in relation to Rohingya smuggling in 2013, including two government officials, according to police data. None of the arrests has led to convictions.
Thailand prosecuted 27 people for trafficking in 2012, down from 67 the previous year, according to the 2013 TIP Report by the U.S. State Department.
My father had been intending to go for Hajj for most of his adult life. Over the years, I have seen plans come together then unwind for a myriad of reasons. One time he even had the visa, tickets, and reservations in place only to be denied time off from his job. Other years the plans were there but the finances were hard to come by. So when he was finally able to get all aspects of his life aligned to go for Hajj, he was overjoyed. After asking around to friends and family, the Dar el Salam Hajj agency was highly recommended to him. My father wanted to make sure that he traveled with this agency because they have a very good reputation and provide the best services.
In today’s computer age, we turn to the internet to help us find information. When my father searched for Dar el Salam online, the first featured link that appeared was to a Dar al-Islam website. He clicked on this website and proceeded to communicate with Omar at the Dar al-Islam agency. My father was not aware that the person and company he was speaking with was not the Dar el Salam that he was trying to contact. My father even wrote out his first money order to Dar el Salam, which was cashed by Omar at Dar al-Islam. We didn’t suspect anything until we saw the flight itinerary. There were 4 flights and 3 plane changes required with one of them being at Beirut, Lebanon. At that time the US president and congress were contemplating declaring war on Syria due to chemical weapons attacks. The US department of State issued an advisory that US citizens not travel to Lebanon for any reason. When he asked Omar to change the flight so that it didn’t go through Beirut, he refused. It was at this time that I decided to do some research into his company. I went to hajjratings.com and saw that Omar with Dar al-Islam had very negative reviews and bad experiences with his groups. My father was devastated to hear that he wasn’t travelling with the real Dar el Salam agency and had gotten trapped in with Dar al-Islam.
Because my father had already given his money to the Dar al-Islam agency for an upgraded package, he decided that he had no choice but to try and complete his Hajj with them. He did not hear back from Dar al-Islam even after repeated calls and emails to get an estimated time of arrival of passports and visas. It wasn’t until one week before the departure date that he got an email from Omar telling him that the passport was ready and that he wanted to meet at the Masjid at 4pm. We went to the Masjid but he did not show up. We even went to his business residence and he did not respond to us when we knocked on his door. Because he was not responding to our phone calls and had my parents’ passports and wasn’t giving them to us, we called the police to see if they could get the documents from him. Initially he did not even open the door to the police, but when the policeman got a little louder, he opened the door and told him that the passport wasn’t ready and he would give it to my father one day before their flight leaves. He did eventually get the passports and asked my father to pick them up the next day. Throughout this entire process there was a complete lack of communication and he acted very rude towards my parents.
My father showed the passports and visas to a friend who works in the Hajj industry. He was told that the Hajj visas that he received were missing some important stickers, including the muallim assignment. Because of this, my parents would have to spend more time at the Jeddah airport to have a muallim assigned to them. This is exactly what happened when they arrived in Jeddah. Even though there was not that much rush at the airport, it took them more than 16 hours to leave the airport. They had to go to the mutawif office to drop off their passports and get transportation to the hotel. As soon as the person at the mutawif office saw the name of the group, he became very angry and started yelling at Omar. He was saying that he is a liar and deceives people of America and is doing a disservice to his community. My father was really tired and just wanted to get to a hotel room that he was hoping was booked for him. Omar did provide the hotel, Madawy Ajiad, but it was a very sub-par hotel. There were 4 beds per room and very small bathrooms without air conditioning. The hotel was located far from the Haram on top of a mountainous hill, which made it very difficult to walk up or down. The hotel was a 20 to 30 minute walk from Haram and private transportation was not provided from the hotel to the Haram.
The promises that were made by Dar al-Islam regarding package features were not delivered. All throughout the trip, the buses that Omar said he would provide were the free government buses. In order to get onto these buses, the group had to walk to reach the bus stops and switch many times in between before reaching their destination. This caused delays and undue hardship. On the night the group left for Mina, they were told by Omar that they needed to walk from their hotel to the bus stop. They subsequently changed many busses and it took them all night to get to their “VIP†tents. The advertised “VIP Services†for the Mina and Arafa camps were also not provided. Other than a carpet which was already in the camp, no mattresses or sleeping bags, and no restaurant meals or refreshments were provided. During the stay there, the only food provided was pre-packaged charity food given by the Saudi government. That was the only food that was provided and it was only given once during the day. There were no beds or mattresses in the tent. There was even no cold water, drinks, or refreshments. The group had to get together and pitch in to purchase cold water. Omar was not even concerned that there were elderly and children in the group. The promised three daily meals were not provided at Makkah, Mina or Arafa. It was a struggle every day just for basic necessities. No spiritual guidance was provided at any point during the trip. Despite all of this difficulty, in the end, the Hajj was completed and may Allah accept it.
After this experience, I was taken aback that something like this could be happening here in America. We always hear about people defrauding Hajjis, but I never thought that it would happen to my family. I encourage anyone who is going for Hajj or thinking about going for Hajj to check the hajjratings.com website to read reviews about the agency you are traveling with. Keep in mind that there are many agencies that have similar names. My parents were trapped and endured a difficult Hajj experience because of the company names being so alike. Please beware, and don’t be the next victim of this fraud.
More often than not, when we think of plastic surgery, we think Hollywood. But Dr. Khalique Zahir, is changing that perception.
“My inspiration to go into medicine comes from my parent’s encouragement,†began Dr. Zahir, who is another valuable volunteer of IMANA, Islamic Medical Association of North America. This doctor’s contribution is performing surgeries on a regular basis in countries such as Sudan, Ghana, Bangladesh and the Philippines. He performs burn reconstructive surgery, cleft lip surgeries, and other congenital deformities that may require correction. Volunteerism in medicine is something that Dr. Zahir is very passionate about, and this stems from his exposure to IMANA. His family has been involved with this organization since the 1970’s, in efforts to promote medical and ethically responsible health care for all.
This was the best access for physicians who wanted to contribute their skills, and reach out to those areas of world that lack such physicians. One of Dr. Zahir’s most rewarding aspects of his field is that it gives him the best opportunity to change the way people function daily. “This is a skill set that those wishing to become a physician should go through with the intent of serving mankind for the greater good,†said Dr. Zahir.
Growing up in West Virginia, Dr. Zahir is the son of a physician. He completed undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University, and medical school at West Virginia School of Medicine. He continued on with his residency in surgery at Yale University/ St Mary’s Hospital, and residency in plastic surgery at Vanderbilt University. After completing his research training program at Yale is when he chose to go into private practice. His practice, Aesthetique Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery, LLC., came after his inspiration to go into this field of medicine during his research in the field while attending Yale.
Dr. Zahir has been practicing for the last 13 years in Virginia and Maryland. “All people regardless of religious consciousness should help their neighbor, friend or those in need here and abroad, bearing in mind that to change the life of one person by giving them assistance is an act of compassion that may be their salvation,†said Dr. Zahir.
Leaders from around the world, some still locked in antagonism, gather in Johannesburg to pay homage to Nelson Mandela.
Al Jazeera
World leaders, from US President Barack Obama to Cuba’s Raul Castro, are paying homage to Nelson Mandela at a mass memorial in South Africa that recalls his gift for bringing enemies together across political and racial divides.
Obama shook the hand of Castro at the memorial, an unprecedented gesture between the leaders of two nations which have been at loggerheads for more than half a century.
Castro smiled as Obama shook his hand on the way to the podium to make a speech at the commemoration for former South African President Mandela, one of the world’s greatest peacemakers who died on Thursday.
Castro was also among the designated orators at a Johannesburg football stadium where 23 years earlier Mandela – freshly freed from apartheid jail – was hailed by cheering supporters as the hope for a new South Africa.
‘Last great liberator’
In his address, Obama said Nelson Mandela earned his place in history through struggle, shrewdness, persistence and faith, comparing him to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.
Obama urged the world to act on Mandela’s legacy by fighting inequality, poverty and racism. He said progress in the US and South Africa mustn’t cloud the fact there’s still work to be done.
He said “South Africa shows us that we can changeâ€.
Obama called Mandela the last great liberator of the 20th century, and said he thought about how to apply Mandela’s lessons to himself as a man and as president.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Johannesburg said that all the speakers selected were leaders and statesmen from countries that had previously been under colonialist rule.
“There is no head of state from the UK or the commonwealth speaking at the funeral,†he said. “The list of speakers displays South Africa’s political orientation away from the west.
“Each of the six selected speakers have had a history of colonialist rule.â€
Obama’s Air Force One arrived at Waterkloof air force base near Pretoria on Tuesday morning after a 16-hour flight from Washington DC.
Obama was asked to speak because of the close relationship between the US and Mandela.
The US president and his wife Michelle were followed down the steps by former president George W Bush and his wife Laura. Two other former US presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, were arriving separately.
Coinciding with UN designated Human Rights Day, the memorial service for Mandela in the 95,000-seat Soccer City stadium is the centrepiece of a week of mourning for the globally-admired statesman, who died on Thursday aged 95.
A light rain fell on Tuesday as thousands of mourners gathered at the stadium in Soweto, the Johannesburg township that was a stronghold of support for the anti-apartheid struggle that Mandela embodied.
Singing, joyous crowds are swelling in the stands despite the rain. Workers still were welding at a VIP area as the first spectators arrived.
Police have promised tight security, and are patrolling a wide perimeter around the stadium. Even so, the first crowds entered the stadium without being searched.
The fact that the visiting leaders – more than 90 are expected – include some from nations still locked in antagonism, such as Cuba and the US, adds piquancy and resonance to the homage being held at the gigantic bowl-shaped stadium, the venue of the 2010 World Cup final.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will both be there. Blair has called Mugabe a dictator who should have been removed from power.
Mugabe has called Blair an imperialist and once told him to “go to hellâ€. Such antagonisms will be put on mute on Tuesday as the life of someone who put his faith in reconciliation into practice to successfully unite a multi-racial nation is remembered.
“What he did in life, that’s what he’s doing in death, he’s bringing people together from all walks of life, from the different sides of opinion, political belief, religion,†Zelda la Grange, Mandela’s former personal assistant, told Reuters news agency.
Israel’s top leaders will be conspicuous by their absence at the memorial, skipping the ceremony for the anti-apartheid hero whom Palestinians have always viewed as their comrade in the struggle for freedom.
Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor President Shimon Peres will attend the event, officials said on Monday, citing costs and health reasons.
Incandescent lamps are often considered the least energy efficient type of electric lighting commonly found in residential buildings. Although inefficient, incandescent lamps possess a number of key advantages–they are inexpensive to buy, turn on instantly, are available in a huge array of sizes and shapes and provide a pleasant, warm light with excellent color rendition. However, because of their relative inefficiency and short life spans, they are more expensive to operate than newer lighting types such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Types of Incandescent Lamps There are three common types of incandescent lamps (called A-line lamps) used in residential applications: • Standard incandescent or pear-shaped A-19 lamps • Energy-saving or halogen A-19 lamps • Reflector or parabolic reflector (PAR) lamps, sometimes called “flood†or “spot†lamps Standard Incandescent A-Line Lamps Commonly known as the screw-in “Aâ€-type lamp that use a medium Edison (E-26) base, standard incandescent bulbs are the least efficient light source commonly found in homes. These lamps produce visible light by heating a tiny coil or filament of tungsten wire that glows when it is heated by an electrical current. “Long-life†lamps are an example of lamps with thicker, stronger filaments that can last much longer than a standard service lamp, but they are less energy efficient. New efficiency standards for lighting require lamps to use about 25% less energy. These standards began taking effect starting in January 2012 and the phase-in will be complete as of January 1, 2014, after which time traditional incandescent general service lamps such as the common A-19 will not be available in most stores. Learn more about the new lighting standards. Energy-Saving Incandescent (or Halogen) Lightbulbs A halogen lamp is a type of incandescent lamp with a capsule that holds a special halogen gas composition around the heated filament to increase the efficacy of the incandescence. They are more energy efficient than standard incandescent bulbs but somewhat more costly. Halogen lamps may also have a special inner coating that reflects heat back into the capsule to further improve efficacy by “recycling†the otherwise wasted heat. Together, the filling and coating recycle heat to keep the filament hot with less electricity. They also provide excellent color rendition.
Halogens are a little more expensive than standard incandescent lamps, but are less expensive to operate because of their higher efficacy and longer life expectancy. They are commonly used in reflector lamps such as indoor and outdoor flood or spot lighting, indoor recessed and track fixtures, and floor and desk lamps. Some halogen bulbs are dimmable, as indicated on the package, and are compatible with timers and other lighting controls. Reflector Lamps Reflector bulbs (Type R) spread and direct light over specific areas. They are used mainly for floodlighting, spotlighting, and down lighting applications both indoor and outdoor. There are two types of reflector lamps: • Parabolic aluminized reflector lamps (Type PAR) are used for a number of applications, including outdoor floodlighting. • Ellipsoidal reflector lamps (Type ER) focus light beams about 2 inches in front of its enclosure, projecting light down from recessed fixtures. Ellipsoidal reflectors are twice as energy efficient as parabolic reflectors for recessed fixtures. The first incandescent electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc. Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was determined to devise a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle, England. The inventor Thomas Alva Edison (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 40 hours. Edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for over 1500 hours. Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928) improved the light bulb by inventing a carbon filament (patented in 1881); Latimer was a member of Edison’s research team, which was called “Edison’s Pioneers.†In 1882, Latimer developed and patented a method of manufacturing his carbon filaments. In 1903, Willis R. Whitney invented a treatment for the filament so that it wouldn’t darken the inside of the bulb as it glowed. In 1910, William David Coolidge (1873-1975) invented a tungsten filament which lasted even longer than the older filaments. The incandescent bulb revolutionized the world.
Adapted from a CSID report on the Conference by TMO
Under the framework of further shedding light on the transformations the Arab World is witnessing, while taking into great consideration the international experiences of other nations in democratic transitions, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) organized its Second Annual Conference on 29¬30 March 2013 under the title “Democratic Transformations in the Arab World: Tunisia as a Modelâ€.
The conference covered a wide array of subjects from many different viewpoints including those from academia, first-hand actors in the Arab Spring countries, especially Tunisia, and others.
The conference considered the process of transitioning from authoritarian models of statecraft to democratic institutions, and considered the process by which the apparatus of state controls can transition to freedom-based societies, by reducing the hypervigilant security apparatus. The conference considered the examples of “model†states such as Korea and Turkey, and the kind of constitutional reforms best suited to building post-authoritarian democracies in Arab Spring countries.
The overall focus was on Tunisia, which may be the most successful of the Arab Spring countries, so far. Another important measure of the new government in Tunisia is religion—how does religion fit into or affect the nascent governments in the post-Arab spring world? As Egypt demonstrates religious differences—or religious vs. secular beliefs—can lead to instability and seismic shifts in government.
Zakiyah Ansari, Imam Khalid Latif appointed to De Blasio transition team
New York Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio recently announced the appointment of 60 experienced leaders and experts to his transition committee that will assist him in building a progressive, competent and diverse city government.
“These leaders are volunteering their expertise in every issue and area of municipal affairs,†said Mayor-Elect de Blasio. “Together, they will join Transition NYC Co-Chairs Carl Weisbrod and Jennifer Jones Austin in helping me to assemble a team that’s devoted to building one great city where everyone shares in our prosperity.â€
Among the sixty is education advocated Zakiyyah Ansari and Imam Khalid Latif.
Zakiyah Ansari is the Advocacy Director at Alliance for Quality Education. A mother of eight, Ansari has seen six of her children graduate from New York City public schools and go on to college, with two currently enrolled in city schools.
Imam Khalid Latif was appointed the first Muslim chaplain at NYU in 2005 where he began to initiate his vision for a pluralistic future on and off campus for American Muslims. He was also appointed the first Muslim chaplain at Princeton University in 2006. Spending a year commuting between these two excellent institutions, he finally decided to commit full-time to New York University’s Islamic Center where his position was officially institutionalized in the spring of 2007. Under his leadership, the Islamic Center at NYU became the first ever established Muslim student center at an institution of higher education in the United States. Imam Latif’s exceptional dedication and ability to cross interfaith and cultural lines on a daily basis brought him recognition throughout the city, so much so that in 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg nominated Imam Latif to become the youngest chaplain in history of the New York City Police Department at the age of 24.
Dr. Abdul Rehman is the recipient of Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award
The Louis R. Miller Leadership Awards Breakfast is a special, prestigious event highlighting the accomplishments of outstanding small business owners and not-for-profit organization executives on Staten Island. Dr. Abdul Rehman, a physician who has practiced for forty years, has been named as the recipient of the award this year. The award will be given at the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting in February.
Dr. Abdul Rehman has be actively voluntering in a number of humanitarian and charitable activities.
After the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, Dr. Rehman — who also serves as the director of religious affairs and chairman of the founding committee for the Masjid Al-Noor Mosque in Concord — worked to raise funds for victims.
Dr. Rehman this year received the Best Doctor Award and The Humanitarian Award both by the Medical Society of the County of Kings.
Interfaith meeting held in South Brunswick
SOUTH BRUNSWICK,NJ–An interfaith luncheon in South Brunswick was attended by around 200 people of different faiths.
â€This is an opportunity for the sharing of stories to replace fear and misconceptions,†said Dr. Mazoor Hussain, coordinator of interfaith affairs for the Cranbury Institute of Islamic Studies, to the South Brunswick Post.
The afternoon luncheon, the ninth such annual gathering sponsored by the institute, included a panel of three members of the Christian clergy, the Rev. Bill Walker, the Rev. John Morrison, the Rev. Cornell Edmonds, Rabbi Eric Wisnia of the Congregation Beth Chaim temple in Princeton Junction and Sohaib Sultan, Princeton University’s first Muslim chaplain.
Muslims and Jews call for immigration reform
American Jews and American Muslims called on Congress in a joint statement to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a meaningful path to citizenship. In joining together as unlikely allies, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) renewed their united push to refocus Congress’ attention on the nation’s most pressing domestic policy crisis.
The following is a joint statement from Alan van Capelle, CEO of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice and Haris Tarin, director of the Washington, D.C., office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council:
“In combining our voices, we hope Congress hears that immigration reform is a priority issue across America’s many diverse communities, bringing together even those that many believe have little in common. In fact, America’s Jewish and Muslim communities share the collective experience of facing xenophobia and prejudice for their culture and faith, and being treated as outsiders in our home country.
Comprehensive immigration reform has long been a priority issue for both our communities, as many of our families share stories of immigrating to the U.S. Both of our communities have deep roots here. But both of our communities also know firsthand the struggle to find acceptance in our adopted homeland.
Eleven million people in this country contribute to our economy and strengthen the fabric of our communities, but are living without the basic civil rights and protections that the rest of us enjoy. This fundamental injustice cuts against the core values as a nation, as people of faith, and is especially compelling to the Muslim and Jewish communities who value America’s enduring history as a welcoming and compassionate nation.
Our coming together today to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform is, in itself, a testament to the great potential of an America with a just and inclusive immigration system. In other parts of the world, sadly, such a collaboration would be all but impossible. America’s strength is derived from its ability to draw the best and the brightest from all walks of life, including all and excluding none.
We urge you to come together, as we have, to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship, and keep America strong.â€
Both Bend the Arc and the Muslim Public Affairs Council have been active in advocating for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship, citing shared values of treating others with dignity and respect, and the importance of keeping families together.
I found a 35 calorie toast bread brand at the supermarket and decided to switch from the regular toast I used to buy. Are there certain brands better than others I should look for?
Answer:
Bluntly, if a bag of bread is advertising for 35 calories, I’d throw it right back on the self. That’s even before I look at the paragraph-long ingredient list on the back of the bag.
There is a huge problem in this country. While companies are doing well with sales of items that are fat-free, low-calorie, sugar-free, and “not butterâ€, the country is facing an obesity epidemic. Clearly something just isn’t right. People are “dieting†yet gaining weight. What went wrong in the equation? Well, our ancestors did not count calories. They ate bread, meat, dairy, and nuts and were in much better physical fitness overall. Obviously, they were eating food in its natural state. Today a good majority of what’s supposed to be edible, even our dairy and meat, is injected with hormones, processed to an unnatural degree, or genetically modified. If making bread 35 calories means dumping in two dozen chemicals to replace its texture, softness, and preservation then we have the wrong concept of food.
Food is meant to give us energy, and in case you’re not aware calories are energy. Eating bread isn’t bad for you; in fact having whole grains and healthy carbohydrates are essential for proper human function.
Having a slice of bread made of the essential ingredients of flour, water, salt, and yeast and being satisfied after is much better than filling yourself up with 35 calorie toast. Not only are you eating food in its natural state (if using healthy flour) you’re avoiding the many chemicals that could be harmful to your health. Don’t count calories, eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.
Bread is usually made with less than five ingredients, if you’re bag of bread exceeds this number, even if they have a million banners and bubbles on the front of the bag claiming it to be healthy, put it right back on the shelf. Whole produce and food don’t advertise to us from every angle- we are well aware that they’re beneficial. You may not know whether the 35 calorie toast is good for you or not, that’s where the advertisement comes in. Even if it’s not 35 calories, claims like “whole grain,†“made with whole wheat,†and “healthy†are full of loopholes. The best thing to do is look at the ingredient list. If you don’t have the ingredients in your kitchen cabinet, forget that bag of bread.
Check out my blog blackbeanbrownies.wordpress.com for this recipe (picture) of homemade, gluten-free oregano buns stuffed with an organic cheese mixture.
On Wednesday November 27th, the Eve of Thanksgiving, an Interfaith event was held in Hamtramck to welcome representatives of at least four faiths. Politicians from Hamtramck and Lansing were so plentiful that in fact they outnumbered the non-politician guests at the interfaith function.
Following is an article about the event by Lawrence Ventline.
Hamtramck celebrates Thanksgiving with interfaith clergy
Hamtramck leaders and residents celebrate Thanksgiving and the first-ever coming together of interfaith clergy.
By Lawrence M. Ventline
A police officer sounded his siren, magnified his speaker voice and pulled over a driver just minutes before a crowd talked “turkey†about reducing crime, building bridges and the commonly-held mandate of Jewish, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists, among other faith traditions to “love God and neighbor.â€
They came from West Bloomfield, Ferndale, Center Line and the entire Detroit area to give thanks and praise for “the first time in Hamtramck’s history when clergy organized two years ago, called the Common Word Alliance,†according to leaders.
“What’s going on inside here?†asked a lad who stood by watching the patrol car across the street from a park where a handful of youngsters were playing before dark on the eve of Thanksgiving Day. A healthy Hamtramck was on the minds of founder Arif Huskic, Dan and Sharon Buttry, Muhammed Razon, Imams Abdul Latif and Feljem Salkic, Jennifer Young, Sheikh Saleh al-Gahim and others in the crowd.
“The CWA anniversary celebration and Thanksgiving Day of prayer shows that the Hamtramck and surrounding communities can celebrate our commonalities, as well as our differences of diverse prayers for peace,†said Gail Katz of West Bloomfield. “It is helping to turn hostility into hospitality.†Katz is chairperson of World Sabbath and co-founder of Women’s Interfaith Solutions for Dialog and Outreach in Metropolitan Detroit.
While giving thanks, original natives, colonists crime, the Civil War and other concerns surfaced Nov. 21 on the corner of Joseph Campau at Danforth.
Wampanoag Indians and Plymouth colonists were part of an autumn harvest feast in 1621. Two hundred years later, Thanksgiving was marked by singular colonies and states, but in 1863, an annual, national celebration was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln.
Michigan’s most internationally diverse city, with about 22,423, residents was originally settled by German farmers and Polish factory workers at the Dodge Brothers facility in 1914.
Today, however, the faces and faiths of Hamtramck have changed. Immigrants from the Middle East and South Asia, among others, celebrated Thanksgiving Wednesday with clergy leaders of the ecumenical Common Word Alliance in the People’s Community Services.
“God Almighty knows about us on our second anniversary of founding and the world needs to know that leaders came together to pray for global peace,†added Huskic, from Bosnia.
“The police department has been enhanced,†said an excited Buttry. He told of a “love of God and neighbor†initiative similar to neighbors on each block taking time to know and trust who lives next door. The initiative is a major thrust of the ecumenical All Faiths Festival “that aims to foster dialog among all faith traditions, strengthen families and marriage and, to stop the conflicts that begin in people’s hearts,†added AFF leader John Domenick of Center Line.
Ferndale resident Jennifer Young ticked off a list of public events hosted by the Detroit Interfaith Outreach Network (DION) that is steered by Rabbi Dorit Edut of Huntington Woods.
Participants praised citizens for local and national reports that show that U.S. crime has consistently dropped over the last 20 years, while crime, guns and limiting assault weapons was not reflected in the polls of voter’s concern Nov. 6.
There were 351 violent crimes committed in Hamtramck in 2010. With 22,423 residents, the city’s population is similar to Harrison Township near Mt. Clemens, according to the latest statistics available. Only one crime of murder or (non-negligent) manslaughter was listed, amid 152 crimes of robbery, 186 crimes of aggravated assault, and 300 crimes of motor vehicle theft. Some categories were not reported, however, while “crime is as commonly accepted as blowing one’s nose,†admitted a volunteer who was mopping the hallway floor.
Organizers praised a community garden that residents on Goodson Street harvested with CWA this summer.
“We have to reduce crime in Hamtramck,†concluded Huskic. Buttry, however, a minister and a long-time leader in interfaith relations in Detroit, was optimistic and said “crime is down.â€
Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski greeted the guests and gave “thanks to you for whom I’m grateful,†the long-time leader said while wiping away tears.
“Neighbors need to know God and one another,†said Rev. Bogdan Milosz, a pastor at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Church on Conant near Caniff in Hamtramck.
Reach Reach Rev. Lawrence M. Ventline, D.Min., a pastor, a board certified professional counselor and a former first executive director of the ecumenical Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, head of All Faiths Festival, at 313- 530-2777. Visit www.religionrootsrelationships.blogspot.com. He is a native of Detroit who resides in Harrison Township.