The Nightmare Path

For quite some time people have been talking about American Dream becoming American Nightmare.
There is another supplementary question that needs an answer. Can America turn its back on this route?
We'll allow them to scramble to the task.
For the time being let us just have a look at one of the symptoms of the disease.
The legal drugs turning into a nightmare.
It is horrifying just to read the dry information itself.

Juan Cole's Conclusions

(1) In Egypt elections Muslim religious parties took over seventy percent of the seats.
(2) The biggest winner, the Muslim Brotherhood, prefer alliance with secular parties rather than the hard line Salafis.
(3) In South Carolina Newt Gingrich was voted Republic candidate by the people about 65 percent of whom o are evangelical.
(4) US media makes remarks about religious influence in Egypt polling.
(5) US media does not make remarks about religious influence in South Carolina voting.
(6) Class sensitivities are focused on in case of South Carolina while ignored in case of Egypt.
(7) "Illegitimate for Egyptians to vote on religious basis bot alright for South Carolina."
(8) Egyptians do not think that Mubarak was thrown out to establish Islamic rule.
(9) Probably religion played a role in South Carolina primaries and did not play any role in Egyptian elections.
(10) Muslim Brotherhood leader is a voice of reason.
(11) Newt Gingrich has a bad sugar daddy in Sheldon Adelson.


Source : The Blog Informed Comment by Juan Cole

Lawrence Davidson on Arab Spring

(1) As a result of Arab Spring two countries have gone to poll and both of them have voted for Islamic parties. These are Tunisia and Egypt.
(2) Liberals did  a good show in Tunisia.
(3) Till fifteenth century any external forces dabbling with the Muslim lands ended up getting Islamized - Turks, Mongols, Crusaders and all.
(4) After that the invaders were able to resist the Islamic influence and indeed the reverse trend started.
(5) Europeans started looking at Islam and Muslims as inferior.
(6) Muslims with political, social, economic, educational and military interactions with the Europeans started to move away from Islam.
(7) Some of them became liberal ans secular and some corrupt and dictatorial.
(8) This process has not penetrated deep into middle eastern society.
(9) This society is like a volcano - cool and calm from outside but boiling with lava from inside.
(10) The anger is against the western influences and an example of volcanic eruption is 1979 Iran revolution.
(11) Tunisian and Egyptian micro-revolutions are controlled eruption of the same Islamic magna.
(12) Juan Cole's assertions notwithstanding American politicians know nothing about middle east society.
(13) They keep driving home the Islamophobic message - because of a reason. There are entrenched interests.
(14) Because of this you can not create a workable US policy about middle east.
(15) Dalai Lama's quote that when ignorance is your master peace is not possible is applicable to current US relations with middle east.

Source : Arab News via Dr Abu Tamim

What is Good News?

Well you know the answer already. Yours truly only coined the question.
No news is good news.
Just look at the sample for today.
(1) Mody need not appear in court. Gujrat victims might never get justice.
(2) Egypt soccer clashes : 74 dead.
(3) Rs 100 cr recovered from Ponty Chadha complex.
(4) India preparing for small scale war with China.
(5) Pakistan considers India as existential threat.

And we rest our case.

Usually one reads the news to get informed about the society and the world. This is very well but our Elders tell us to read the newspaper to get admonition.

Now what admonitions could we get from above news items? Let us give it a try. That is how we can learn.

(1) Gujrat riots should be taken, juts like the destruction of Babri Mosque in 1992, as a watershed in the history of independent India. Definition of democracy has a fundamental instability. Suppose the majority decides to do injustice to the minority? In text books of political science this is solved by facile statements like asserting that protection of minority rights is an integral part of democracy. But then we have the reality. Did not Hitler come to the fore using democratic means? The similar scenario has been playing in India - though we prefer not to talk about it except for that short period when there is no possibility of ignoring it. In the context of Gujrat riots the possibility of justice for the victims is becoming more and more remote.

Here is just one of the many reminders of those horrific events. Nearly hundred people have taken shelter in the house of Ehsan Jafry. He makes an incredibly large number of calls for his safety, safety of his family and the safety of all those who had taken shelter in his house in the hope that the former member of Parliament will be able to manage safety for them. That was was not not be the case. One of those whom he called was the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The Chief Minister hurled abuses at him. Apparently communal temper is closest to short circuit in that state. That is when the avalanche of the tragedies start. Mr Jafry goes to the window outside which the lynching mob is waiting. He makes an offer. I am ready to come out if you want to kill me but leave others, the women and the children. None is spared. But that part is not easy to narrate. Even Ibn Katheer would say that it would be better if my mother had not given me birth and I was spared the narration of those events.

(2) Then Egyptians killing each others in scores over soccer. This is silly world in deed. You hear these things from Europe. And that is why yours truly criticizes that society. They have changed the physical character of sports that sports is not universal activity. Only the very odd (read special) can jump into the fray now. Then there is the show part. The money part. And then the emotional attachment part leading to violence. When one talks about sporting attitude it means that the attitude is broad minded in the sense that no emotional action will result because of victory or defeat. That is not the case. And indeed this event in Egypt is full of admonitions in all these aspects.

(3) For those who came late Ponty Chadha is the man who has been dealing in liquor for long. So much so that finally Mayawati honoured him with complete liquor distribution rights in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He must be having his fingers in Uttarakhand too. He is also the person ho made the most expansive land deal in the most expansive real estate in the country - Greater Noida. And then there are his shopping complexes. But even such a person can be caught on the wrong foot. Income Tax department raided his establishments and recovered lots of money from there. Needless to mention that Mayawati came in his defense by asserting that Congress is abusing CBI.

So what are the admonitions here? For some time we have been hearing that high and mighty people too are sometimes caged. Many big time politicians ended up in Jail. Many are having serious legal problems. But the fascination for the worldly things is such that they just do not give up their attachment to it. It is unlikely that Ponty Chadha might be eating more food the an average wrestler though he might be spending on it. His other expanses too might be qualitatively more than an average citizen who is productive. But how much more is required by Mr Chadha to go through life? Indeed there is no end to the worldly lust. If a man has a jungle all made of gold he shall wish for another similar jungle. This is playing in front of our eyes.

(4) What are the admonitions in the news that India is preparing for a small scale war with China? For one this world is full of tests. And many of the tests look as if they are beyond our capacity. Another admonition is that it is not a very good idea to follow Chanakya's theory that the countries that are adjacent to you are called enemy countries and the countries adjacent yo them are called friend countries. But After the India-China war of 1962 it is difficult to trust our northern neighbour. And if a mighty country like US is scared of the might of China then Indian worries are only understandable. The main admonition is that you can not afford to relax in this world. Apparently you have got to be on your toes.

(5) And what are the admonitions if Pakistan is scared of India? These are difficult to think of from the point of view of Ummah in general but from the point of view of Indian Muslims it is easy. Why was it created if it has to live a life of fear from India? But even after six decades of partition this the topic that is difficult to talk and absorb.

In short this world is not a place to fall in love with.

Noblest Speaker Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

According to Dileep Padgaonkar :

... the noblest utterance has come from the outstanding Islamic scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: 'The answer to a book is a book, not a ban' The response to real or imagined apostasy is to pit your case against the case of the apostate and leave it to the faithful - as well as to those who are beyond the confines of your faith - to decide for themselves The response is not to proscribe his book, seek to bar his entry into the land of his birth, let alone to issue an edict to get him murdered.

First things first - no one in India has issued a fatwah to the effect mentioned in the last sentence above. Mr Padgaonkar is a very responsible journalist, even if we do not agree that his job as the then editor of the the then most prominent English daily of India was the second most difficult job after the Prime Minister of India.  He is expected to choose his words carefully.  He made a lapse in this case.

Coming back to the book vs book response. Book, or books, have been written in response. May be Maulana Khan has read them or may be he has not. Even if he has read them then his statement really is more of a subterfuge then sagacity. Having chosen to hobnob with the detractors of Islam he expects other also to follow suit in the act of submitting to the apparent powers of current epoch. When such suggestions come from a person who has written hundreds of books on Islam then the clear and sure conclusion is that the tenets of the religion of Allah(SWT) has not entered the required quarters of his personality. And this reminds yours truly an incident about Maulana's erstwhile mentor. His mentor too was famous for expounding Islam. Somebody got impressed because of his book on the veil in Islam. This person got a chance to visit the family of Maulana Khan's mentor but found that the veil was honoured by laxity of implementation. Needless to say that this person was disenchanted.

The sad thing is that people, that is the Muslims, are by and large disenchanted with Maulana Khan. More sad thing is that Mr Padgaonkar got impressed by this person whose loyalties lie with those people whom, thankfully, agrees not to be  the real representatives of Indian society.

Jim Khalili At It Again

Jim Khalili brings us another installment of his exposition of Arab contribution to sciences in Pathfinder - the paperback version.

Here is the author information :

Jim Al-Khalili OBE is a theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey, where he also holds the first Surrey chair in the public engagement in science. He was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication in 2007, elected Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and has also received the Institute of Physic's Public Awareness of Physics Award. Born in Baghdad, Jim was educated in Iraq until the age of 16 and it was there, being taught by Arabic teachers in Arabic that he first heard and learnt about the great Arab scientists and philosophers. He has long championed the influence of Islam on science and hopes to bring attention to the rich Arab heritage in our understanding of science today.

The book description is here:

For over 700 years, the international language of science was Arabic. In "Pathfinders", Jim al-Khalili celebrates the forgotten, inspiring pioneers who helped shape our understanding of the world during the golden age of Arabic science, including Iraqi physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who practised the modern scientific method over half a century before Bacon; al-Khwarizmi, the greatest mathematician of the medieval world; and, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, a Persian polymath to rival Leonardo da Vinci.

And here are the reviews:

Brings alive the bubbling invention and delighted curiosity of the Islamic world ... his command of Arabic mathematical physics invests his story with sympathy as well as authority

-- Tim Radford, Guardian

A fascinating and user-friendly guide to this whole scientific movement --

Noel Malcolm Seven, Sunday Telegraph

Jim Al-Khalili has a passion for bringing to a wider audience not just the facts of science but its history ... Just as the legacy of Copernicus and Darwin belongs to all of us, so does that of Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham. To think otherwise, as this book so powerfully reveals, is to do disservice to the tradition to which they belong

-- Kenan Malik Independent Spry

 informative and timely ... Al-Khalili takes the reader through a brisk survey of the highlights of the period
-- Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

A fascinating introduction to a neglected area. His approachable style and ability to distil extensive knowledge into simple narrative makes Pathfinders an absorbing read
-- Siobhan Murphy, Metro

Enjoyable and informative ... provides ample evidence for the compatibility of Islam and science
-- Sameer Rahim, Daily Telegraph

He has brought a great story out of the shadows Literary Review This captivating book is a timely reminder of the debt owed by the West to the intellectual achievements of Arab, Persian and Muslim scholars
The Times

Asian Age on Farhan Mujib

A piece by Shruti Badyal.

The soft winter breeze was filled with silent tears as guests poured in at the do. Some called his works shamelessly gorgeous, others talked about his love for food, and then there were some, whose voices choked while paying a tribute.
Such was the presence of Mujib, even after he is gone. “He made surreal beautiful pieces from scratch. Each of his paintings was a catalogue in itself. He will live in the warmth of his endless conversations,” said a friend.

Hitting at the Core of Faith

The media getting drowned in support of the author of a banned book was a rather grotesque site.
There were people like Barkha Dutt, she of the mediation in Telecom Ministery allocation fame, talking about it.
And then there were many more.
Now cut one nonsense out of the scene -that Muslims have not read the infamous book.
Enough of us have - do not worry about that.
And we have read magic realism also. The said author is an extremely poor imitation.
Coming back to the crux - most of the cry foul crowd consists of separation of Church ans State.
Now state is suppose to watch out every activity - particularly the public ones. It clearly can not be a party or even an onlooker when the secular activities hit at the core of a religion.
That is what the banned book sought to do.
It was an overt attack on the core of Islam.
Beloved Prophet (PBUH)'s wives are considered mothers of the faithful.
If you name fictional women of easy virtue after them then you are hitting at a very delicate place.
And one thing is very clear here - Muslims can not retaliate in kind.
Use of filthy language takes you in the direction that is not part of Islam.
But when someone is hitting at the core of Islam, and by now it must be clear to any body who cares that this was all done by design, then this can not be taken as a mere act of creativity. The author might be creatively drinking but he has not taken it to the limits of drinking life threatening liquids.
Of course when creativity has serious repercussions for Islam and Muslims then it is taken as the most legitimate target. Crusades never died - at least in the intellectual realm.

Tragedy of Residual Communism

The RC, residual communist, intellectual insists, among other things, on absolute freedom of speech and expression. Of course the erstwhile USSR, by design, never was an epitome of the freedom of expression. After the demise of the USSR our RC intellectuals take their ideological solace from the other western sources - the US and the Europe. Now take the example of Azaan. By no stretch of imagination it can be classified as offensive. But then why is it banned in European countries? Clearly the sources of inspiration to our RC intellectual is a phony ideal. And the way the US authorities have been treating the demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street case is a clear indication that the so called absolute freedom of expression is an expansive toy that has been devised by the west as is used against the orient. True that it finds some currency in the west - you can criticize the US President even in their capital but we have just enumerated some examples where they too, the west, realize that this idea of absolute freedom of expression has got its limitations. RC individuals clearly are unoriginal and poorly creative.

Mukul Kesavan on Farhan Mujib

When Farhan Sahab started contemplating on taking collage making as a full time profession, those tentative moments where the new thread is not yet connected and the old one is not broken, there were moments of pondering. "Will it make financial sense?', he would mull. At the hind sight it was - fabulously so. And what profound words can be used to describe his work? This type of mulling came in the share of yours truly. After a little bit of trial the realization dawned that this is not everybody's cup of tea to use the right words for a creative work - even if you were quite familiar with. But soon the natural course set in and those profound words  about his work started flowing in. And these are still coming in even after he is gone. It was for the second or the third exhibition that he said that all the collages are occupying Mukul Kesavan room. Why? Because the writer has to get into the mood to write a critique of his collages. It was interesting - a realization of the work that goes behind the creative process. Creativity is not always spontaneous. As Winston Churchill famously said that all of my off the cuff remarks have been prepared well in advance. And now Kesavan is one of those many people who are left looking at the trail of that meteorite called Farhan Mujib.

Source : The Hindu

Your Own Choice?

Alright. Do it yourself.

I've heard people tell me stories filled with frustration of going to dinner after dinner, party after party, and a variety of speed dating, singles, and networking events with the expectation of meeting someone, and walking away more confused than when they had first ventured out.

From Hijab to Pyjama

Now it is time to ban the pyjamas.
Some where in UK.

8 Percent Cut : Leaner and Meaner

US is about to cut its military strength by more than 8 percent. That is reduction of a hundred thousand troops and reduction of billions of dollars in military budget. Hope it brings much deserved respite to the world from this nation that is very suave in its talk and merciless in its actions.

Source : BD Daily Star, BBC, Reuters

Greatness Thrust Upon Her

What do you know about Antonia Edvige Albina Maino?
A lot indeed for she is none other than Sonia Gandhi.
Who could imagine that a woman born in Italy will become third most powerful woman of the world - and most powerful in India.
A woman who would give India two children who will be treated like a prince and a princess.
Indeed Allah(SWT) gives without count to whomsoever He intends.
And there are Signs of Allah in the things around us for those who want to see them.

It Is Sweet, It Is Bitter

Janab Muhammed Hamid Ansari Sahab, Vice President of the People's Secular Republic of India, arrives at the parade observation stage at Raj Path, New Delhi, on January 26, 2012.
And the air is filled with Hindi words for welcome.
It is sweet indeed.
The Vice President is a Muslim. He is also an Alig.
And why will it not fill the heart with happiness.
Blessings of Allah(SWT) in this world are His Grace.
And for every blessing a thank is mandatory.
And all thanks are due to Allah(SWT) for all of His blessings.
And God willing he might be the next President too.
And thank you dear country - it is an honour indeed.
To think of Zakir Hussain.
Of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.
Of course the bitterness is that it would be even better if this was combined some things beyond tokenism.

Professor Mehdi Hasan and Janab Zafar Iqbal

Both of them have been chosen for Padam Shri Award this year.
Congratulations to both of you.
Of course yours greedy Alig could have done with at least twenty of hundred odd Padam Awards but that is a different matter.
Zafar Iqbal Sahab is quite humble about it.
Here is something about Professor Hasan's marathon Anatomy teaching career.
And even better information is here.

Cool and Discrete Killers

Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan saw the latest western military actions of history. Apart from the latest, most sophisticated and most fearsome technology including drones for mechanized killing there is one aspect that is not known as the front page news but might be the most decisive element in complete reduction of the society to the levels that might look prehistoric. These are the snipers employed by the western forces. Here the killing is cool, calculated and brooded. First reports completely regularize this process but that is the perpetrators perspective. Victims certainly are not around but their near and dear ones will shed their tears as long as they live.

Richard Dawkins and Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is humbled before astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. One reason is that out of the whole electromagnetic spectrum we can see only a very narrow band which we call the visible light.

Now this is indeed a humbling experience - only if Richard Dawkins was humbled before his creator rather than denying Him. To be humble before creation of God is good and to be humble before God is even better. Richard Dawkins is so close to the truth yet so far.

With Apologies to Muzaffar Ali

Old friends are old friends. Like Muzaffar Ali Sahab and Farhan Mujib Sahab. With old friendships goes the informality and a light banter. Once Farhan Sahab and Muzaffar Sahab met some where on G.T. Road and former said that let me introduce you to my wife.
Farhan Sahab : Which one? (Obvious reference to much marriedness of his friend.)
Muzaffar Sahab : Do not be crude. (Badtamizi mat karo.)

Well the man who could crack original jokes without an advance notice is silenced by Lord Most High.
Verily we are for our Lord and unto Him is our return.
And may He guide us on the Right Path.

PS: The condolence meeting for Farhan Sahab, held on January 22, 2012 in New Delhi, turned out to be overwhelming to, at least, two very composed people - Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi. Caroline D'Cruz in the Times of India:

A tribute for the late artist and teacher Farhan Mujib was organized in the capital recently, and childhood friend Javed Akhtar was there along with Shabana Azmi.
The couple was quite moved when an audio-visual presentation about the artist was screened, and Javed, whose eyes were often wet, did not speak much to the press about the artist, who passed away on 15 December, 2011. However, Shabana spoke a few lines about the artist before she too left the room in tears. Also present were Muzaffar and Meera Ali.

Justice Americana

A US soldier responsible for killing of twenty five unarmed civilians in Iraq will not serve any prison term.
In a so called attack on US interrogators a women, the accused, is the only one hurt and she is sentenced to eighty six years of prison.
Welcome to Justice Americana.