Pleased With Materialism

Yours truly subscribes to the Google's blog called Notable Blogs.

And yours truly is irritated at the choice made there. To yours truly it seems that the main blog selector there is like PPP. When Benazir Bhutto was carrying her second child someone remarked that PPP does not stand for Pakistan People's Party but for Permanently Pregnant Prime Minister. The Goodle's blog selector seems to be a Permanently Pregnant Partisan. Most of the blogs selected there have a similar theme lots of semi-form coloured flags and the like. It is so repetitive that it inspires you to unsubscribe.

Today's offering is IS. Yes, that is the name. Of course nothing wrong with that. The blogger has his freedom to name his or her blog. The additional irritation was blogger's choice of reading.

Yours truly gets immediately interested when some one reveals as to what the person is reading.
This blogger is reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What put-off yours truly, for yours truly has not read the excessively famous book, is the reason for revising his or her reading of the book.

I always enjoy a character who devotes himself to acquiring possessions and throwing parties.

Materialism is another name for west. And we new that they are not ashamed of it. What is endearing about this person is that he or she has given us the shame in a nutshell.

Crisis of Confidence in British Banks

Western, Christian, world has been having little problem with Muslims.
First it manifested in crusades.
Then came the colonialism - physical subjugation of Muslim lands and liquidation of several Muslim Empires.
Spain, Sokoto, Egyptian, Ottoman, Iranian, Mughal.
No mean achievement on their part.
And then came the economic colonialism - that is continuing till now.
It is really miraculous that notional constructs like paper money, banking and finance can be used so effectively to keep the Muslim world at the wrong end of the controlling strings.

By the Grace of Allah, Exalted is He, the edifice of European powers, founded on falsehood, is crumbling.

The Libor scandal has rattled the confidence of public in the integrity of the institutions managing their money.

"Urgent improvements, both to the way banks are run, and the way they are regulated, is needed if public and market confidence is to be restored."

It is clear that this is not a case of minor misdemeanor - it is symptomatic of a malaise of thorough nature, the instability of the Riba based banking manifesting itself in the ugliest manner.

Yet another comment is equally ominous:

But - given that this report also highlights that several other banks are likely to be involved in this, and with these other investigations now under way - it's likely that this Libor case and the implications of who did what and when will take many weeks, months or years to really unravel.

Not reassuring at all.

***---***---***

Q: What is Libor?
A: Libor, the London inter-bank lending rate, is considered to be one of the most crucial interest rates in finance.

Q: How did the crisis surface?
A: As early as 2005 there was evidence Barclays had tried to manipulate dollar Libor and Euribor (the eurozone's equivalent of Libor) rates at the request of its derivatives traders and other banks.

Q: What are derivative traders?
A: Those who deal in derivative products as compared to vanilla products in the financial markets.

Q: Shouldn't vanilla products bring more profit as compared to derivative products?
A: Derivative products have more securities.

Q: Why does government provide such a facility like derivative products?
A: A banker, financer,  businessman is unlikely to present the case from this point of view to the government. He will push his product so that only rosy picture is in view for anyone listening from the government side.

Q: Is there no check mechanism in place?
A: UK has the FSA - Financial Services Authority, its operation was not smart enough to catch the deception.

Q: How did the sacdal develop?
A: Between January 2005 and June 2009, Barclays derivatives traders made a total of 257 requests to fix Libor and Euribor rates, according to a report by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Q: So what?
A: Suppose I sell at higher rates. Then I request for lower rates by the same institution and then buy whatever I sold. Then I repeat the process again and again. I am making money just sitting there. As long as the interbank exchange rate is being manipulated at my request. You dot not know the joy of internal trading! Ever heard of free lunch. It is there if your operation is hidden behind the legalese of the derivative trading.

Q: Did Bob Hamilton use the cloak of technicality to  hide the reality from public life.
A: Precisely. He is being accused of taking the can of worms with him.

Q: This reminds of a past speculative trading executive who just left a note of I am sorry after flushing huge amount of public money in risky investments. Is it like that?
A: No. Here all the details are not yet out but prima facie the matter is of internal trading - in above example it was pure irrational risk in the present case it is intentional money making. The facilitators must have got their cuts in some way.

**********

2008 Signs: (Wall Street Journal)

LONDON -- One of the most important barometers of the world's financial health could be sending false signals.
In a development that has implications for borrowers everywhere, from Russian oil producers to homeowners in Detroit, bankers and traders are expressing concerns that the London inter-bank offered rate, known as Libor, is becoming unreliable.
Libor plays a crucial role in the global financial system. Calculated every morning in London from information supplied by banks all over the world, it's a measure of the average interest rate at which banks make short-term loans to one another. Libor provides a key indicator of ...

***

In early June, Tim Geithner, who was the head of the New York Fed at the time, sent Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King, a list of proposals to to try to tackle Libor's credibility problem.
They included the need "to eliminate the incentive to misreport" by protecting the identity of the banks that submitted the highest and lowest rates.


**************
 2012

On 4 July, Mr Diamond faced a three-hour grilling from MPs over the scandal, during which he described the behaviour of those responsible as "reprehensible" and said it had made him physically ill.

Shaikh Siraj Wahhaj

Brothers at SF are talking about Shaikh Siraj Wahhaj - preacher who perhaps was on stage when Shaikh Ahmed Deedat was the only other figure visible on international scene in English. Here are his Halal Tube lectures.

Lectures are in alphabetical order.

• Siraj Wahhaj – Allah Desires For You Ease

• Siraj Wahhaj – Allah Doesn’t Look At Your Bodies

• Siraj Wahhaj – Angels and Jinn

• Siraj Wahhaj – Anti-Crime

• Siraj Wahhaj – Atonement

• Siraj Wahhaj – Be Non-Conformist

• Siraj Wahhaj – Be Opposite the Disbelievers!

• Siraj Wahhaj – Believe in God and His Messenger

• Siraj Wahhaj – Call to Jews and Christians

• Siraj Wahhaj – Closer Than Ourselves

• Siraj Wahhaj – Derailed

• Siraj Wahhaj – Enemies among Mates

• Siraj Wahhaj – Extremism and Moderation

• Siraj Wahhaj – Fast-a-thon with SBU MSA 2004

• Siraj Wahhaj – Fear

• Siraj Wahhaj – Feminine Men And Masculine Women

• Siraj Wahhaj – Fundamentalism and Terrorism

• Siraj Wahhaj – Go Not Near Zina

• Siraj Wahhaj – Guide for Humanity: Universal Teachings of the Prophet (s)

• Siraj Wahhaj – Guilty As Charged: Failure to Act

• Siraj Wahhaj – Hasten To Good Deeds

• Siraj Wahhaj – Health and Leisure Time

• Siraj Wahhaj – Hypocrites

• Siraj Wahhaj – I’m Only Human

• Siraj Wahhaj – Infinite Justice of Allah

• Siraj Wahhaj – Islam is the Cure for Racism

• Siraj Wahhaj – Islamic Khilafah

• Siraj Wahhaj – Islamic Sharia Law: An Opportunity or Threat to America?

• Siraj Wahhaj – Keep It Real

• Siraj Wahhaj – Knowledge is Sacred

• Siraj Wahhaj – Lessons From Moses

• Siraj Wahhaj – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

• Siraj Wahhaj – Managers For Allah

• Siraj Wahhaj – Mark of a Hero: Malcolm X

• Siraj Wahhaj – Marriage

• Siraj Wahhaj – Part-Time Muslim

• Siraj Wahhaj – Patience & Gratitude

• Siraj Wahhaj – Patience & Gratitude

• Siraj Wahhaj – Planning for Tomorrow

• Siraj Wahhaj – Polygamy

• Siraj Wahhaj – Price of Paradise

• Siraj Wahhaj – Quran for Humanity

• Siraj Wahhaj – Ramadan: Prepare Yourself

• Siraj Wahhaj – Reconciliation

• Siraj Wahhaj – Relying on Allah

• Siraj Wahhaj – Righting the Wrongs: Faith and Social Justice

• Siraj Wahhaj – Stand Up For Justice

• Siraj Wahhaj – State of the Ummah (1993)

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Currency of the Hereafter

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Currency of the Hereafter

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Happiness Solution

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Life of Malcolm X

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Pursuit of Excellence

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Right Place, Time & Friends

• Siraj Wahhaj – The True Spirit of Islam

• Siraj Wahhaj – The Wake Up Call

• Siraj Wahhaj – There is no life but the hereafter

• Siraj Wahhaj – Things Ain’t Good in the ‘Hood

• Siraj Wahhaj – Turn off the TV!

• Siraj Wahhaj – Upholding Faith, Serving Humanity

• Siraj Wahhaj – Ways to Paradise

• Siraj Wahhaj – We’re on the Same Team

• Siraj Wahhaj – Why Muslim Women Cover

• Siraj Wahhaj – Wisdom & Beautiful Teachings: A Dawah Workshop

• Siraj Wahhaj – You Can Have the Family You Want

Silence of Aung San Suu Kyi on Rohingyas

Aung San Suu Kyi is a very visible name, just like Nelson Mandela's in older days.
She has spent a life time in fighting for people's rights in Burma, now called Myanmar.
By now she is out there in the open, free.
She also has traveled abroad and collected her Nobel Prize.
She is in the Burmese Parliament and enjoying the usual perks of life.
Sort of life time triumph.

Except that her care for human rights are bit exposed now.
She has failed to, so far, to take a principled stand on the plight of Rohingyas in Burma.
She has her eyes on the high political office in her country and does not want to anger the majority Buddhists by speaking for preserving the rights of Rohingya Muslims.

She toured Europe just after the Rohingya riots and evaded a clear answer on the issue.

The president of Burma was even a step ahead - he was ready to send Rohingya to any country willing to take them in. As inept as you can get on the international scene. Rohinyas are recognized by UN as the most persecuted minority in the world. Burma accuses them to be migrant Bangladeshis in spite of the fact that they have been living there for generations. Bangladesh too is not willing to take them in.

Michael Scheur

Michael Scheur, born in 1974 in Buffalo, USA, is a former US intelligence officer who resigned from CIA in 2004.

He asserts that Osama Bin Ladenis struggle was not to wage a war against US but to weaken it economically.

He asserts that the so called terrorism is not the real threat to US but the so called Islamist ideology is.

He asserts that the so called Islamist ideology is struggling not just for independence but against institutionalized barbarism.

He asserts that the current state of the U.S.-Israel relationship undermined U.S. national security.

Major Nidal Hasan Conundrum

This is a conundrum to US only.
For the rest of the humanity it should not be very difficult to understand as to what went wrong.

Here is the time line of the episode we are talking about.
November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Hasan of Fort Hood, Texas, USA killed thirteen servicemen and injured dozens in a shooting spree.
His cousin, Nadir Hasan, later on told Fox News that Major Hasan had complained of of harassment because of his "Middle Eastern ethnicity" and had tried to leave the army.
Maj Hassan, a military psychiatrist, was due to be deployed in Iraq.
Maj Hasan was paralysed from the chest down after being shot by police during the incident at Fort Hood.
He is being held at a special hospital cell about 15 miles (25km) from the base.
His trial is in progress but might be delayed because he now sports a beard and that make his identification by the witnesses difficult.
Major Hasan says that he has a premonition of death and would not like to die in a state of sin - by shaving his beard.
The problem is, for the authorities court marshaling him, is whether to shave him forcibly or not.
That is not the conundrum we are talking about.
The conundrum is why did he behave the way he did.
Some other facts that came out of the investigation are as follows. Major Hasan had given a talk in which he averred that those servicemen who want to leave the services should be allowed to do so because they do not agree with the objectives of war.
Technically he did have that choice, it was allowed by the rules but the people he consulted gave him the opposite impression.
Major Nidal Hasan, being US army psychiatrist, had the job to motivate the soldiers being deployed.
In layman's terms his job will be to motivate US soldiers to kill Iraqis - his fellow Arabs.
US expectations were and perhaps still would be that it will be alright, natural and logical for him to do the bidding. Is it really that simple? On the face of it we know Major Hasan just cracked up.
In the history of mankind there have been very rare examples where people gave preference to the call of duty and acted against their family and near and dear ones.
In India the most famous scripture, Gita, after the Vedas, is about that. It needs Krishna to motivate Arjun to go for the war against his own relatives.
In Islam it was the company of the beloved Prophet (PBUH) and his rigorous training that could prevail upon some Companions (RA) to fight against their family members.
In any society it is difficult to wage war against your family, blood relatives or your clan or race.
US expectations from Major Hasan to motivate soldiers to kill Iraqis should be looked in that perspective.
Not the perspective that the US media is clutching to - Major Nidal Malik Hasan's contact with Anwar Al-Awlaki - the only American targeted and martyred by the US in a missile attack in Yemen.

It is strange that a country that is so advance in all academic discipline should be so naive in one of them - psychology. It is not rocket science - to use a cliche.

Specter of Poverty Haunts America

A BBC report:

Just off the side of a motorway on the fringes of the picturesque town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a mismatched collection of 30 tents tucked in the woods has become home - home to those who are either unemployed, or whose wages are so low that they can no longer afford to pay rent.
Conditions are unhygienic. There are no toilets and electricity is only available in the one communal tent where the campers huddle around a wood stove for warmth in the heart of winter.
Ice weighs down the roofs of tents, and rain regularly drips onto the sleeping campers' faces.
Tent cities have sprung up in and around at least 55 American cities - they represent the bleak reality of America's poverty crisis.

See Also : Wikipedia

That is a Lapse

Aijaz Zaka Syedis one of those Muslims who waking up to the new world without getting trapped in the partition generated time warp. This is a big trap to escape from. But he does commit mistakes. Take the following excerpt, for example.

No matter how much they loath each other, the Muslims and Gujarat’s Modi can’t seem to get out of the tango they find themselves forever locked in. The passage of time hasn’t done anything to dull the pain and trauma of the 2002 pogrom that wiped out more than 2,000 lives.

Yours truly does not like this statement. Muslims are in this tango without wanting. Period.

Less Than Friendly Fukushima

Radiation from Fukushima has had its effect.

In the wake of last year's massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan, the Fukushima nuclear power plant on the country's northeast coast barely avoided a complete meltdown. Tens of thousands of residents were displaced and officials assured the world that the release of harmful radiation posed little threat. Now a new paper published in Scientific Reports has found that this is likely far from the truth, as at least one species of butterfly from the surrounding area has suffered major damage stemming from radiation exposure.

American Military and Fiscal Health

Military health might be alright but that also requires fiscal health. Latter one seems to be in a state worry.

Q: Why don't you provide protection from Syrian Air Force to the rebels in Syria?
A: "This is a country that we, as a United States is war-weary," said retired Gen. James Cartwright, an ABC News consultant. "We have fiscal challenges of our own and to get in the middle of a civil war. … I just don't see it happening."

Source : Yahoo

Not Impressed With Mahatma Gandhi's Letter

A brother has reproduced M.K.Gandhi's letter to the Secretary of Student's Union at AMU.

LETTER TO THE HONY. SECRETARY, ALIGARH UNIVERSITY UNION January 4, 1937

DEAR FRIEND,

In spite of our differences in post-Khilafat days, I have nothing but pleasant
memories of my association with Maulana Mohamed Ali whom I miss on so many
difficult occasions. You cannot celebrate the Mohamed Ali Day better than by all
of you resolving to establish cordial  unity  with  Hindus. Brotherhood which
Islam  teaches is a mockery if it excludes people belonging to the other faiths.

Yours sincerely,
M. K. GANDHI


THE HONY. SECRETARY
MUSLIM UNIVERSITY UNION
ALIGARH, U.P.
From a copy: Pyarelal Papers.
Courtesy: Pyarelal
VOL. 70 : 21 OCTOBER, 1936
-24 FEBRUARY, 1937
Page No. 248 THE COLLECTED
WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Yours truly is against having a Student's Union at AMU. Even above letter does not change yours truly's mind. In fact circulation of this very-very old letter has a purpose behind it - to strengthen a claim for having a Student's Union at AMU.

15 August Poetic Meet 2012

On the eve of Independence Day Urdu Department of AMU holds a poetic meet - a Musha-'ira. That is, on the evening of 14 August. Since the Independence Day , that is today, falls in Ramadan the poetic meet can not be held in the evening - that is the busiest time of the night because of Taraweeh. Yours truly was in Faculty of Arts and saw some activity around the famed Lounge of that faculty. "What is happening?", it was around 10:30AM. "Musha-'ira", was the answer given by the Bull. A Bull is a member of local internal security of AMU. Official name of the security is AMU Police. Those of you from India should think of a Bull as the Home Guard - a man with lots of responsibility but virtually no power. A Lamb will be a better description for such miserable creature as a Bull.

Yours truly availed the opportunity to enter the venue. By that time only around twenty people were around which would rise to hundreds in a short while. Once yours truly was lucky enough to get an invitation to this meet. No, not as a poet - that yours truly is not. What always surprises yours truly are some faces who do not miss the Musha-'ira but there has never been a reaction in their bodies by all the poetry flowing around that. Jumbish, movement, is the Urdu word. The Lounge of Faculty of Arts has a back door but these creatures, many of them of feminine gender, make their grand entery through the front door. They ensure that they arrive when the function is already going on. Amazing confidence. The point is clear - they are there because, in their view, they are important people. Let us dump the rubbish here itself - we are talking about Musha-'ira.

Dr Zahid Khan, Chairman of Urdu Department, made his opening and uninspiring remarks. We do not call singers, we call poets to this meet. This very old and regular poetic meet, in fact there is another one on the eve of Republic Day,  these two meets have given platform to many would be poets of Urdu - Dr Khan averred.

Dean, Faculty of Arts, Professor Waris Kirmani, Professor Amin Ashraf , Professor (Hakim) Zillur Rahman and Zubair Razvi were called to the dais - in various awkward fashions. And the proceedings started - Dr Siraj Ajmali was compering. (Yes, yes Dr Shariq Aqil was there in the audience but this was Urdu Department Musha-'ira.) Dr Ajmali said that when the poet Ahmed Mehfooz, from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, was shaking hands with Professor Zafar Ahmed Siddiqui then the Chairman Professor Khan remarked that catch these historic moments. I suppose it was sort of meeting of giants. A pleasant surprise for Dr Zafar Ahmed Siddiqui is one of those people whom yours truly meets many times in the Majlis of Hazrat Shaikh Hakim Kalimullah Sahab (DB). Not only that even the first poet to be called was a boy with full beard - though the Musha-'ira did not start with the Recitation of the Noble Qur'an. It should - we have been created for worship and we should not ignore that.

This Musha-'ira is basically local, though every year some external poets are called, so the quality is on the medium side. This should not be taken otherwise because this is the department of Jazbis and Shahryars - they too read poetry here. Qamar Gondawi, a poet of Jigar Muradabadi tradition was there. He said that he likes to recite poetry in Aligarh and Karachi - the audience is perceptive.

Though yours truly did not attend it full but even in that duration some good poetry was recited. Unfortunately the environment was not charged enough and most of the couplets were recited only once or twice - not enough time to note any thing down.

Dr Ajmaly praised Zubair Razvi to requisite heights and hence the poet said that the compere many times leaves nothing for the poet to say. Dr Ajmaly indirectly and directly made a request to Mr Razvi to recite Ye Hai Mera Hindustan (This is my India) - his very famous patriotic poem - poem recited in the early fifties. Mr Razvi is pretty senior - he looks much younger than his age. Late Syed Muhammed Ahmed, former APRO of AMU, had once told yours truly that it is Zubair Razvi who introduced this fanfare of tricks to make Musha-'ira an entertainment that most of the poets employ today. Chairman had already punctured the tone based balloon in his preliminary remarks and till yours truly was there not a single poet recited poetry in tone. Though there were several demands - including one to Rizwan-ur-Raza Rizwan, former student of Urdu Department.

Zubair Razvi came to the podium and recited several Nazms and a Ghazal. None in tone. He also said that old fanfare of Musha-'ira is really behind him. He also said an interesting thing that Nazm does not require any show of appreciation on part of the audience while Ghazal does. He also said it is against the spirit of the Nazm to elaborate on its meaning. After reciting his Nazm he would recite it again - fearing, and justifiably, that we might have missed the purport. As asserted above - there was no possibility to take notes so here is one of the Nazms that he recited, from internet:

Ali Bin Muttaqi Roya

Purani baat hai
lekin ye anhoni si lagti hai
Ali bin Muttaqi Masjid ke mimbr per kharha
kuch Ayaton ka wrd karta thaa..
Juma ka din thhaa
Masjid ka sehn
Allah ke bandon se khaali thha
Woh pehla din thha
Masjid mein koi Abid nahin aaya
Ali bin muttaqi roya
Muqaddas Aayaton ko Makhmali juzdan mein rakha
Imam e Dil girafta
Nichei mimbr se utar ayaa
Khala mein duur tak dekha
Fadha mein har taraf pheili hui thhi
Dhundh ki kaie
Hua phir yun
Munderein Gumbadon per
An ginat par parh parhei
Kasni Kalei kabutar
Sehn mein nichien utar aaei
Wzu ke wastei rakhei hue loton pe
Ek Ek kar ke Aa beithei
Imam e dil girfta
phir se mimbr per charhha
Juzdan ko khola
Safon per ek nazr dali
Woh pehla din thha masjid mein
Wzu ka hauz khali thha
Safein mamoor thin sarii;

He said that he had written a number of Nazms with the same refrain - sort of modern day stories in poem with pathos of partition and effects of colonialism. (Translation intended.)

 

India Corruption

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has assured the nation that steps will be taken to reduce corruption and ensure transparency in governance. Today is India's independence day.

No one will suspect his intentions. Ability is a matter of time to see. It was Indira Gandhi who made the most disastrous statement for India on corruption. When prodded on this point she retorted that corruption is a global phenomenon. And that was it. So far there has been no looking back. If the person at the most powerful position makes a statement like that than it has a lot of meaning and many repercussions. It is acceptance of inability to do the needful. A sad thing in itself but what is more that this inability was admitted. It does make some difference when you feel that you are incapable of doing something and when you admit that. The damage was done. If this problem is solved in future then the person behind that will be of more impressive capabilities than Indira Gandhi, not less. We have not seen such people around for some time. Dr Singh is a giant in his own right but we all know that he is the wrong person in the right chair or the right person in the wrong chair - whichever way you look at it. The net sum is that on the face of it the things look as if we do not have the right cocktail to solve the corruption problem. We have a willing PM but unwilling environment.

Ye zulm bhi dekha hai tareekh ki nazron ne
Lamhon ke khata ki thi sadiyon ne saza payi

History is witness to this atrocity too
Moments erred, centuries suffered

Deception of It All

BBC Headline: Panetta: Israel yet to decide on Iran strike

It is difficult to believe anything, any news item, when Israel features in the content. Immediately before the Six-Day War the whole world learned that Israel has sent its reserve military personnel home on vacation. Some people were seen frolicking in swimming pool - people on holiday. And then Israel attacked Egypt - destroying their whole air force on the first day. In next six days they comprehensively defeated three countries single handedly - Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Now the target of affection is another Muslim state - Iran. Just see how cool the discourse is:

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said recently that time was running out - a view also echoed by Israel's ambassador to the US.

What is Islamist?

There is some terminology that has been introduced in the modern discourse,  journalism in particular but media in general, that should be objected to by Muslims. The word Islamist qualifies this category.

Here is an excerpt from today :

 CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi dismissed Cairo's two top generals and quashed a military order that had curbed the new leader's powers, in a move that further stamped his authority on the country and its army.

Now what is an Islamist? Well if you mean a person who intends to implement Islam in his life then there is already a word for that - Muslim.

So why this new word? The reason is not rocket science to fathom. After decimating USSR in Afghanistan the US in particular and the west in general was looking for a suitable enemy to run down. Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington supplied them one - Muslims. But it is not easy to create an enemy - even for the west at its deceptive best. So Al-Qaida was created. People will remember that there was no such organization - it is a creation of US foreign policy. Once they used the term enough then Usama Bin Laden too started using it. And once that was done then there is no looking back. Earlier Muslim movements that sought to implement Islam in not only private but public life too were legitimate targets to be criticized.

Now what is wrong if Muslims want to implement Islam in their life? Christians denounced their religion as a reaction to past Church atrocities but Muslims have no such compulsion. So why expect them to denounce Islam in public life. Jewish people are the luckiest in this game. It is strange that west that frown a lot at practice of Islam completely ignores the fact that they have supplied a most protected cocoon to Jewish people to practice their religion - Israel. May be a new slogan has to be introduced into the same public discourse - hands off Islam.

I am no Vagabond!

Naman Behuda Girdey Koocha-O-Bazaar Mi Gardam
Mazaaq-E-Aashiqi Daaram Paye Deedar Mi Gardam

Khudaya Rehkun Bar Mann Parishaan Vaar Mi Gardam
Khata Kaaram Gunah Gaaram Bahaal-E-Zaar Mi Gardam

Sharaab-E-Shauq Mi Nausham Ba Girdey Yaar Mi Gardam
Sukhan Mastana Mi Goyan Vale Hushiyaar Mi Gardar

Gah-E-Khandam Gah-E-Giriyam Gah-E-Uftam Gah-E-Khezam
Masiha Dar Dilam Paida-O-Mann Beemar Mi Gardam

Beya Jaana Inayat Kun To Maula Naaye Rumi Raa
Ghulam-E-Shams Tabrezam Qalandar Vaar Mi Gardam

With all the Ignominy, I Dance in Bazar!

نمی دانم کہ آخر چوں دمِ دیدار می رقصم

مگر نازم بایں ذوق کہ پیشِِ یار می رقصم

Namee danam key akhir chun dam-e-deedar mi raqsam

Magar nazam baeen zoqey key peshey yar mi raqsam

 

I do not know why at last to have a longing look, I dance

But I feel proud of the fondness that before the Friend, I dance

تو ھر دم می سرائی نغمہ و ھر بار می رقصم

بہر طرزِ كہ می رقصانیم اے یار می رقصم

You strike the musical instrument and see, everytime I dance!

In whatever way you cause me to dance, o Friend, I dance

کہ عشقِ دوست ہر ساعت دروں نار می رقصم

گاہےبر خاک می غلتم , گاہے بر خار می رقصم

بیا جاناں تماشا کن کہ درانبوہ جانبازاں

بصد سامانِ رسوائی سرِ بازار می رقصم

Biya jana tamasha kun key dar ambohey ja bazan

Basad saman e ruswaee sarey bazar mi raqsam

Come o Beloved! See the spectacle that in the crowd

of the intrepid and daring,

With a hundred ignominies in the heart of the market, I dance!

خوش آ رندی کہ پامالش کُنم صد پارسائی را

زہے تقوٗی کہ من با جبّہ و دستار می رقصم

Khusha rindi key pama lash kunam sad parsaee raa

Zahey taqwa key maan ba jubba o dastar mi raqsam

Blessed is recklessness that I trample underfoot

the very many acts of virtue.

Hail to piety, that with the robe and the turban I dance.

تو آں قاتل کہ از بہرِ تماشہ خون من ریزی

منم بسمل کہ زیرِ خنجرِ خونخوار می رقصم

Tuwan qatil key az behrey tamashan khun e man rezee

Manan bismil key zerey khanjar ey khun khar mi raqsam

منم عثمان مروندیؔ كہ یارِ شیخ منصورم

ملامت می کُند خلقِ و من بردار می رقصم

Manam Usman-e-Harooni wa yar-e-shaikh-e-mansooram

Malamat mee kunad khalqey waman bardar mi raqsam

I am Uthman-e-Haruni and a friend of shaykh Mansur,

They revile and rebuke and on the gallows I dance.

Link : SM

Timothy Winters Wont Leave Me

Those who know Abdul Hakim Murad (formerly Timothy J Winters) would know that.
They would know that he wont leave me.
No, no he is not stalking me physically.
It is all in the mind.
Yours truly tried to grapple with first installment of  his Contentions.
And the experience was not satisfactory.
So yours truly thought that it was the end of the affair.
This was sad because others had expressed rather high opinion about him.
And yours truly concurred and still concurs but the decision was to turn my affections to other directions.
But then I am watching this video.
And the matter of fact is that he is pulling me back.
I'll make a forecast - may Allah (SWT) forgive me for that.
This is not a forecast in the sense of predicting the future.
It is forecast in the sense of expectation - and expectations are prone to be belied.
The forecast is that he will be made a Lord one day.
I am paying tribute to his sobriety.
In the mean while, as the title alludes to, yours truly has to spend more time on him.
Yours truly's main complain against him was the cryptic nature of his discourse.
Needless to say that it is not reflection on either his sincerity or authenticity.
Yours truly has no reason to doubt the former and knows too little about the latter to say anything.
But one thing is sure - if Shaikh Murad is cryptic then the natural thing will be to decode him for the laity.
If you can, that is.
Some one has to try and if that some one is yours truly then so be it - there is nothing better in this world than the Wish of Allah (SWT) and that is what yours truly is considering the present situation to be
More than one person has complained about uncomprehending posts by yours truly.
In a sense present exercise, to grapple more with Shaikh AH Murad's ideas and thoughts, will be a Kaffarah for my own sins. And for those of you who came late a Kaffarah is a sort of fine except it is in the sense of obedience rather than punishment. 

Turkey Does it Again

They rise up to the occasion. Rajab Tayyab Ardugan was not there in Myanmar but his daughter Sumaiyya Ardugan and wife Amina Ardugan were there in Myanmar. So were the Turkish Foreign Miniter Ahmed Davutoglu and his wife Sarah - with a Boeing 787-300 load of help material.

See the pictures here and the report here.

Where Was the Trust, to Begin With?

A BBC report:

Three US soldiers have been killed and one injured by a gunman wearing uniform in Helmand province, Nato has said.

This is supposed to be a green on blue attack. This is the sophistry invented by the ever ingenuous US/NATO forces in the context of Afghanistan war on Muslims called the war on terror. It signifies Afghan soldiers killing US/NATO troops. In 2012 there have been nearly one attack per week of this nature. BBC further comments:

The attacks have led to a serious erosion of trust between Nato and Afghan forces.

This statement is not correct. For many years US/NATO has been taking actions vis-a-vis Muslims and Islam that have no support or approval in the Muslim world. To talk of erosion of trust is technically the correct term. Before erosion the trust must have been present from the beginning. Yo force your way into Afghanistan. You prop up a puppet government. You wage a war against the people and then you, one fine, morning, start talking of erosion of trust. Such argument is not even self-serving - it only betrays delusion.