Reflections from Canada

Oromia

2005-12-24T14:03:00.000-05:00

taxi: what language are you speaking?
global soul: Arabic
taxi: where are you from?
global soul: Bahrain, you?
taxi: Oromia
global soul: Oromio? Where is it located?
taxi: Northeast Africa.
global soul: hmmm, interesting.
taxi: you've never heard of Oromia?
global soul: nope! is it an indepdent country?
taxi: yes yes…
global soul: what’s the capital city?
taxi: Finfinnee
global soul: and what language do you speak?
taxi: Oromiffa
global soul: okay! I’ll search for it tonight..
Taxi: yeah… go to Oromia Online…
global soul: okay, thank you
Taxi: thank you bye

--- exiting the cab ---

friend: this guy is making his country up… I’ve never heard of Oromia…
global soul: oromia is probably the “Kurdistan of Africa”…

--- back home, checked oromia online, and the following info appeared:

People: Oromo
Country: Oromia
Area: 600,000 sq.km approx.
Capital: Finfinnee (also called Addis Ababa)
Population: 30 million (1995 estimate)
Language: Oromo, also called Afan Oromo or Oromiffa
Economy: Mainly agriculture (coffee, several crops, spices, vegetables) and Animal Husbandry; Mining industry; Tourism trade; Medium and small-scale industries (textiles, refineries, meat packaging, etc)
Religion: Waaqqefata (the traditional belief in Waaqa or God), Islam, and Christian (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant)

“The Oromo make up a significant portion of the population occupying the Horn of Africa. In the Ethiopian Empire alone, Oromo constitute about 30 million of the 55 million inhabitants of the Ethiopian Empire. In fact, Oromo is one of the most numerous nations in Africa which enjoys a homogeneous culture and shares a common language, history and descent and once shared common political, religious and legal institutions. During their long history, the Oromo developed their own cultural, social and political system known as the Gadaa system. It is a uniquely democratic political and social institution that governed the life of every individual in the society from birth to death.”

Read further and you’ll learn about the Ethiopian aggression against the Oromo people and their struggle for independence

Serious violations of human rights are occuring in Oromia and barely anyone knows about it.... same thing happened in Rawanda...and is happening in many other places around the world but no one intervenes until it's probably too late at which time it also becomes worthy of media coverage.

La Vie!

A beautiful thought

2005-11-07T21:24:00.000-05:00

“dai diamanti non nasce niente… dal letame nascono i fior”
– Fabrizio DeAndre’ (Via Del Campo)

It translates into something like:

“from diamonds nothing is born… from manure flowers are born”

A Modest Proposal to the Leaders of the Arab World

2005-11-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Your Royal Highnesses: Kings, Sultans, Sheiks, Generals, and Presidents of the Arab World

My God’s Peace and Blessings be Upon You,

The state of affairs in our great Arab land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf has been going through an unprecedented decline that I felt strongly obliged as a loyal citizen to direct my solace and advice to those who deserve it most, your majesties- the great leaders of our Arab world. You are, perhaps, in no need for my modest proposal… you being the most cognizant, the most prudent, and the most concerned about the state of affairs in our great nation. I am certain, however, that sharing my opinion and offering my advice poses no harm and could serve as a useful reminder.

In an era sustained by the power of science and technology, I find it appropriate your majesties to begin this proposal by commenting on the state of those two disciplines. I often ask myself, your majesties, how many scientists and inventors do we have? How many patents of the world’s inventions do we own? How much money do we invest in science and technology every year? After some thorough research, I came to the conclusion that we do lag behind the entire world. On a positive note, however, I assure you that you should not be in the least distress upon the lack of scientific and technological innovations. What difference does it make if an Arab or an American or an Indian or a Chinese invents the latest technology? Sooner or later we will all have access to it. Back in the days, it made a difference. The flow of information was so slow that being the inventor placed one ahead of the game and we were indeed ahead of the game when times necessitated. Today, however, thanks to globalization, all we need is our money and in no time we can possess anything we want. Instead of reinventing the wheel we can use our purchasing power to support the hardworking men and women around the world. We are on the right track your majesties and have admirably contributed to the efficiency of the world trading system. Moreover, we have already had our share of contribution in history and so it’s about time for others to pitch in.

Without further ado, your majesties, I offer you my condolences for all your dead subjects in Sudan, Iraq, and Palestine. I’m sure the past few years have been very difficult for you. Despite the political turmoil, however, our resilient economy has faired pretty well. Growth was respectable, oil prices have been firm, interest rates low, inflation low, stock markets up, real estate markets strong *. I believe this tendency for our nation to prosper while our people perish is a beautiful demonstration of the solidarity within the Arab World and the extent to which our people… your people are willing to sacrifice their lives in order for the nation to be.

Your majesties, I know I am in no position to interfere in personal family matters, but stemming from a personal sense of duty, I feel obliged to encourage you to expand your progeny. We have a great religion that allows the just and equitable man to marry one, two, three, and four wives in times of ultimate necessity. Who is endowed with more justice than your majesties and what could be more necessary than safeguarding our nation from anarchy and turmoil? A strong and fortified nation needs people of candor and caliber to carry on your legacy and no one could or would accomplish that more faithfully than your own children, your own flesh and blood.

Moving on your majesties, I have to address the state of the military. There is indeed an important consideration rightly to be borne in mind when inquiring into the characteristics of the military and that is whether to have citizens, auxiliaries, or mercenaries as a defense force. It has been the tradition to hire citizens on the assumption that they are the most loyal to their country. But that is a common fallacy which has led many leaders into the sad ending of a coup d’etat. We only need to recall the military coups in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Tunisia in order to realize that they were all perpetrated by citizens of those countries. Having said this, it is only logical to conclude that employing mercenaries is the best option. As for auxiliaries, needless to say, what is more rewarding than having the most powerful army and armada by our side, protecting us and lending us its support in a time of war and hardship?

But since prevention is better than cure, your majesties, having a strong military should remain a secondary objective. It is certainly better to avoid conspiracies and hatred than exert any amount of effort to suppress them. There are simple yet effective techniques to acquire the love and affection of the populace. One very effective method often used by leaders around the world is called pseudo-austerity. All you have to do is display some degree of resemblance to your subjects. Meaning, you don’t have to appear in a military suit or hang a huge dagger on the belt of your robe. Just keep it simple. Ghandi was simple, Ho Chi Minh was simple, Madiba was simple, and they were all loved by their people, just because of that.

With regards to freedom of expression, your majesties, it is undoubtedly a fundamental freedom but just like everything else in this world, freedom is not without limits. It should be subject to reasonable limits set by people like your majesties. Those who incite hatred against you for no justifiable reason and defame your esteemed selves and spread lies that are a far cry from reality belong, ideally, to one place: the prison. Your benevolence and grace, however, is far greater than their transgressions. As such, forgiving political dissidents and other perpetrators will make you the national heroes you are. Locally, you’ll be deservingly acknowledged as the benevolent leaders, the forgivers, the second-chance givers. Internationally, you’ll be acknowledged as the reformers, the freedom supporters, and the human rights promoters. It's a win-win situation, your majesties.

Before I end this proposal, there is one more important issue to be addressed and that is Democracy. I heave a sigh, your majesties, as I write to you that democracy is an illusion. It’s a virtue with no basis in our Arab world. Democracy in our great nation will result in a state of tyranny from the majority and the majority in our Arab nation are poor, illiterate, gullible people who do not know what is best for themselves so how could they ever know what’s best for the nation? Furthermore, all the great American thinkers and scholars have declared democracy to be a disaster in the US and that George W. Bush was not the elected leader so why do we load ourselves with more than we can bear when the most powerful nation in the world has failed to carry that burden? At least your majesties are bona fide monarchs and elected presidents for life in bona fide monarchies and republics. To each plant its own soil, your majesties, and the soil in our Arab land is not yet ripe for democracy.

Finally, I profess, your majesties, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to offer you my free expertise and counsel. My only motive is that of any loyal citizen- to serve my great and noble leaders in every possible way.

Sincerely Yours,
A loyal citizen

Video Test

2005-10-04T17:52:00.000-05:00

My Flickr

2005-04-29T00:28:00.000-05:00

I populated my flickr account with some old and new photos, many of them have already been posted in my blog. I will continue to add more pictures regularly so keep checking. Enjoy!

Unitarianism

2005-04-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

What’s great about having a blog (even a frequently dormant one like mine) is receiving e-mails from all sorts of interesting people. I have recently been corresponding with a Canadian Unitarian minister who is interested in Islam and other world religions. I asked him about Unitarianism and he was more than generous in his response:

Today the Unitarian church is the most liberal of the protestant groups. Some Christians and even many Unitarians do not consider us Christian. We are very humanistic in our outlook.

Unitarianism has its historical roots in Eastern Europe, England and the United States. In Eastern Europe it has survived in the Transylvania area. In England it developed out of the non-conformist church. In the United States it was the religious dimension of the "New England Enlightenment" of the early part of the 19th Century. It is Unitarian in that they denied the notion of the trinity. We jokingly say that "Unitarians believe in one God, at most!" This narrow theological doctrine has never been the extent of our religious view. We tend to have a more positive view of human nature than mainstream Christians do. The other branch of our denomination, the Universalists originally defined by the theological idea that all men and women would be saved. They had a very positive view of a benevolent God as opposed to the "fire and brimstone" theology of evangelical Christians. A funny expression among us is that "The Unitarians believed that Man was too good to be damned while Universalist thought that God was too good to damn Man." Both were Anti-Calvinist movements. Both have deep roots in the American ethos. They have been called "Americas Fourth Faith" along with Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. A case could be made for the Fourth Faith to include besides Unitarian and Universalists, Liberal Quakers, Reformed Jews, Ethical Culturalists and Religious Humanists. [The US (and Canada) has changed due to immigration such that Muslims, Hindus and Buddhist are significant in number to our religious tapestry. The idea of America having three or four faiths is outdated.]

Socially Unitarians are usually very well educated, socially and politically involved in their community. They seem to believe that Faith has more to do with how you behave rather than what you say you believe. "It is best to be known by deeds rather than creeds". Historically we have been in the forefront of education for women, concern for convicts, mental health, social work, anti-slavery, civil rights and opposition to war.

Part II:

Throughout Christian history there has been a minor theme of Unitarian Christianity. In fact, early in its history Unitarian theology might have been a majority view. At the Council of Nicea Trinitarian Christianity was made the orthodoxy. Since then Unitarianism has been a heretical view. It has had other names. Other than Unitarian. Today there are Christian theologians who do not hold to Trintitarianism in mainstream Christianity. There certainly is room for dialogue.... Channing was one of the early shapers of Unitarianism in America. The other two were Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Parker was most famous for his anti-slavery efforts and Emerson was a literary figure. Emerson had notions in his writing influenced by Hindu thought. He wrote about the notion of the "oversoul". All three of these men were Unitarian clergymen.

Internationally, Unitarians belong to the International Association for Religious Freedom. This is an interfaith group. It even includes one small Muslim group if i remember correctly. There are also Buddhists, Hindus and Shinto and other groups. We are excluded from the Christian Council of Churches for we refuse to swear to a creed. Usually these groups require one "Believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour". Our faith has no creedal test of membership. Lots of Christians do not hold strictly to this test but swear to it for the sake of Christian Unity. In fact, I have recently read some Christian material that is indistinguishable from current Unitarian views. We are no longer such a heretical group.

Unitarians have long bee interested in World Religions. I spent one year taking a course at Harvard's Centre for the Study of World Religion. In the 19th Century and into the early 20th Century Harvard was the intellectual centre for Unitarianism. Harvard Divinity School has trained many of our ministers. I attended Tufts University, a Universalist University. I also took courses at Harvard, Boston University School of Theology and Andover Newton Theological School. Those were my days as a wandering student in Boston…

and a follow up:

I just googled "Antitrinitarianism" there is lots of information available on the history of this unitarian view of the Christian doctrine of God. The major history of Christianity has been written by Trinitarian Christianity but the unitarian view goes back to the beginning and has a persistent influence through the ages. There are many names for unitarian views: Armininism, arianism, socinianism, Polish Brethren, antitrinitariansm, protoantitrinitarianism etc. Seventh-Day Adventist today hold a unitarian view of God.

Unitarians, Universalist and other liberal Christians are comfortable with a unitarian view of God. Of course, in the modern day in Christianity there are few theological debates except among academics.

Maqams

2005-04-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

Maqamworld is a really cool website. Although primarily an educational website for musicians learning or interested in classical Arabic/Middle Eastern music, each maqam page also includes recording samples of pieces composed in that maqam which is great for people like me who lack the musical talent but not the interest. Here are some of my favorite pieces: AlNikriz, AlHijaz (Foug Il Nakhal), AlBayati, Nahawand. While surfing I also came across interesting pieces of “uyghur muqams” which I thought are a fascinating mix of classical Middle Eastern and Chinese music. Enjoy!

Les Arabes à Londres!

2005-04-10T16:42:00.000-05:00

“I went to London for two weeks to take a break from my tribal affiliations… but, I found the tribe waiting for me at Heathrow Airport.”

That’s how Nizar Qabbani begins his article in which he describes the pathetic state of Arab tourists in London. He then continues to lament the London he once knew before the Arabs have invaded:

Where is London that I knew in the fifties? London that offered me the best of my poetry and the best days of my life? Where is the beautiful gray color, and the beautiful civilized silence, and the Victorian tea halls, and the mythical English countryside? Where is Covent Garden, and the Royal Albert Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall, and the Old Vic Theatre? Rest in Peace! We’ve eaten them all! Queen Victoria, and King George V, and King Edward VII sold their palaces and their royal carriages to Arab financiers, and Shakespeare sold the scripts of Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for 50 pounds… bought with it a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes and traveled on the back of a vehicle after conceding that the new owners of the British Isle do not honor music, theatre, and drama.

He who does not want to travel should go to London in the summer. He who wants to master all the accents of Quraish* should stroll through Oxford Street, and the Piccadilly Circus, and Leicester Square, and Soho, and Knightsbridge, and Cromwell Road… and he who wants to remain seated in Al-Fishawi café in Sayyidna Al-Hussein*, the cafes in London are its second edition.

Arabism, on my eyes and my head*. It is my mother, my sister, my love, and all the family tree but is it necessary to carry the family tree on my back and roam with it across the globe? Is it a requirement for loving one’s country to have all the thighs and bellies of Quraish sitting on my lap?

* Quraish: A renowned Meccan tribe in
* Sayyidna Al-Hussein: A neighborhood in Cairo.
* Arabic expression

I hear family, friends, and other people who spend their summers in London grumbling about the same thing (i.e. the whole Arabization of London in the Summer… every Summer) which sounds a bit odd because the very people who complain are often the ones who contribute to this whole phenomenon as well. But, be it a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing…why do Arabs get the blame? There are little Italies, little Chinas, and little Indias all across the world so why should Arabs be deprived from having their own little communities let alone enjoying their summers in London and pumping loads of money into the economy while doing so. Why does the presence of Arabs seem to be so bothersome to many people including Arabs themselves?! What is it that we’re not doing right? Could Nizar Qabbani’s final remarks serve as an answer?

…it is the first time in my life to witness a model of Arab imperialism. I feel appalled and disgusted and I ask myself: is this how we’ll rule the world if it was destined for us to rule it? Of course, I haven’t seen armies proceeding and flags waving, nor have I seen armors, knights, and dead people. All the dead people I have seen were the deads of gambling, sex, and porn film piled up over each other on the sidewalks of Park Lane under the feet of Anglo-Saxon prostitutes.

Sticks and Stones

2005-04-06T22:28:00.000-05:00

Bill O’Reilly, the host of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox network is one freaky man. If freedom of speech has any downside then it is people like him. I am taking an entire course this semester on media and the agenda-setting role it plays and have since then been more skeptical of what I read, watch, and listen to. It is beyond shocking how brainwashed, mislead, and intellectually disenfranchised people become in a world dominated by media conglomerates with vested interest in a misinformed complacent citizenry. The Fifth Estate’s documentary Sticks and Stones reveals one side of this often unscrupulous media and it does so in the context of discussing the schism between the conservative right and the liberal left in the US. It’s a 45 minutes documentary, worth watching if you have the slightest interest in the issue. It is also an interesting insight into the Canadian perspective of US media and politics. The Canadian media can also be very biased in its own right. This documentary, for example, certainly tries to vilify one side in favour of the other. I’m sure conservatives in the US can have a better representation than those sick people interviewed in the documentary or do they? Anyway, I was taken aback by a couple of segments in the doc particularly Bill O’reilly’s interview with Jeremy Glick whose father was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bob McKeown’s exchange with Ann Coulter was also quite interesting. "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" she says. When McKeown asked her whether her comment was a joke she said "no, it is not.. and I think Canada might have noticed this... point one and point two are already official US policy."

To watch the documentary click here.

Spring

2005-04-05T01:09:00.001-05:00

The snow is melting, spring is coming. I welcome it with wide open arms.

A profile of a nude pregnant woman’s torso was brought to my attention- the belly, the breast and a nipple. A dozen of other images soon emerged from the fissures demarcating the dry from the wet areas.

There's peacock...a knight's helmet... and a face similar to that in Edvard Munch's famous Scream.

The beauty of abstract art!

Free Ali Blog

2005-03-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Chana’d, a FreeAli blog has been set up. All updates regarding Ali et al.’s arrest will be available on the website. And thanks to DIB for writing a letter that can be used as a template to address public officials, NGOs and other relevant agencies around the world. By doing so, we can bring the world’s attention to the issue and expedite the release of bahrainonline moderators AND insha'allah the road towards freedom of expression in our Bahrain.

Free Ali

2005-03-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

I don't think I can add anything more to what have been said in other Bahraini blogs:

Bahrania: Interrogation/Arrest . Propaganda . More Moderators Detained . & More
Chan'ad: Pictures from the Free Ali Protest
Mahmood: Is it worth it?
Homer: Blogging Repurcussions . The Charges
Winds of Change: Respect Conditional on Guaranteed Freedom
Silly Bahraini Girl: A Disclaimer :)

What's happening is very depressing...but as they poet says:

بلادي و ان جارت علي عزيزة

Freedom

2005-02-27T19:50:00.000-05:00

حينما اقـتـيدَ أسيرا
قَــفــَزَتْ دمــعتـُـهُ
ضاحِــكـَـةً:
ها قد تحرّرتُ أخيرا!

When he was cuffed.. a prisoner
His tear bounced
laughing:
“I have finally been liberated!”

- Ahmad Mattar, Lafitat

What I find extremely powerful about these words is the combination of sarcasm, disappointment, and despair they convey on one hand and the sense of victory, satisfaction, and liberation prevailing on the other. A “tear” is normally a product of sorrow, but when it falls from the eye, it is also being released from a “cell”…it is being liberated and hence, ultimately, victorious.

People who are being detained, questioned, and imprisoned for practicing a fundamental human right: EXPRESSION are in fact sending a stronger message through their ordeal…a message that strengthens the voice of those who were already active…and awakens those who were asleep.

Ashura in Canada

2005-02-19T21:42:00.000-05:00

“I have learnt from Hussein how to be oppressed yet victorious”
– Mahatma Gandhi

The Muslim Union at my university have set up a table in the university center to commemorate Ashura and create awareness about the tragedy of Karbala. They did a good job in achieving their goal …I’m sure Gandhi’s quote on the stretched banner served as an effective attention-getter. Gandhi said that about Hussein? The passersby would wonder. Who is Hussein? The curious ones would ask. Mission accomplished.

This Muharram was my first time to attend the maatam in Canada or the “husseiniya” as they call it here. Going to the husseiniya was an interesting experience. It is not the place I would go to, however, to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein. I would rather listen to a speech by an articulate religious leader or read a well-written account of the tragedy than be surrounded by frantic women who, through their hysteric mourning behaviour, demote the great and deep meanings of the tragedy. It is clearly easier to cry than contemplate.

Pondering over the tragedy of Karbala and its modern-day implications is an important thing to be done by every Muslim, and although many Shia memorials are great and effective reminders of what happened in Karbala, I think the tragedy should be viewed independently of any ritualistic traditions people perform to commemorate it. I think the azza and all the processions are effective ways to evoke feelings about the tragedy, but there comes a certain point when they start rendering diminishing returns. There is always that point when the azza becomes over-dramatized and extremely pretentious taking away from the austerity of the occasion. The more force is applied and the more frantic the procession becomes, the less one feels connected and “tuned in” to the real story and the more he or she becomes engaged in the void and meaningless masochistic acts of self-injury.

So anyway, I went to the husseiniya because I thought it would be interesting to see how Muslims abroad commemorate Ashura. I wanted to find out whether there are any significant differences in the ritualistic aspects of the commemoration. To my surprise, there was quite a difference… at least in the women’s expression of grief. Most, if not all of the women in the husseiniya were weeping and wailing hysterically. But you see, I went to an Iraqi husseiniya and hysteria is not unexpected from Iraqi women…they are known to be a bit dramatic by the nature of their character. I suppose they’re weeping and wailing not only over the tragedy of Karbala but over the tragedy of their own lives as well. Many of the Iraqis in the maatam immigrated to Canada unwillingly, not in search for a better life as much as in refuge away from Saddam’s regime. The feeling of estrangement in a strange land far away from home just adds to their grief and sadness in an occasion like Ashura. Keeping that in mind, the situation was still very overwhelming to me and I felt a bit self-conscious being the only one in sight who was just sitting there quietly. This is part of the sheikh’s speech I managed to record. The sound is not very clear but if you listen carefully to the background you’d be able to hear the sound of the weeping women.

Back in Bahrain, it was different. The women in the maatam we used to go to would gather around quietly… listening to the “graaya” while gently clapping their hands on their thighs and chests. Some women would cry, others would try to suppress their tears… nothing being done, as far as I can remember, was an extreme irrational manifestation of grief. The women I saw yesterday, on the other hand, add a new dimension to grief-expression. After the sheikh finished reciting the story of Karbala, they lined up in a huge circle which took up the whole already-small space of the maatam, squeezing me and the handful of others who were not participating against the back walls of the room. Being the short and curious person I am (not a good combination when you’re amongst a crowd like this) I decided to strategically position myself atop the solitary chair in the corner of the room, taking thereby the risk of breaking one of its already crooked legs. After the circle was formed, the women started uttering their Husseini shrieks and hitting their chests and heads with all the strength and force their hands can produce. The scene was fantastical to say the least. I never knew there was a feminine equivalent to the men’s chest-beatings. The sound of the clapping you hear in this audio clip is the result of the women’s azza. In no time, their faces and chests turned red from the sheer pressure they were exerting on themselves. I was told that many women end up fainting after such an exhaustive mourning, thankfully, no one fainted last night.

Although the majority of the women were Iraqis, the husseiniya was relatively more diverse than the Lebanese, Kuwaiti (Bidoon), and Pakistani husseiniyas in the city. In addition to Iraqis, there was a diverse mix of Lebanese, Kuwaiti, Syrian, Iranian, Pakistani, Afghani, and Kurdish women. There was also a hybrid of Arab-African and Arab-Indian women in the group, making the scene all the more interesting for me. From among the crowd, an Afghani woman caught my attention. I’ve never seen Afghanis performing azza before- let alone Afghani women with exotic Hazara features. I therefore found it pretty interesting to see her performing azza the Iraqi way. The Hazaras of Afghanistan have Mongolian origins. They are supposedly the descendants of Genghis Khan’s army. Today, the majority of the Hazaras in Afghanistan are Shia Muslims. Because of her very distinctive Mongolian features, the Hazara woman in the husseiniya stood out form the crowd.. she almost appeared to me as an extract from a Mogul miniature painting… watching her yell “Ya Hussein” with a penetrating Dari accent and then hitting her forehead against the palms of her hands so forcefully made it even more surreal.

What a beautiful and diverse world we live in, I thought.

At around 1 or 2 am, we took the bus to return home. Guess what kind of people you’d find taking the bus late Friday night (early Saturday morning)? That’s right, drunk people. The unpleasant smell of beer and alcohol was suffocating me…it was hard to imagine that only few minutes earlier…I was around women in black mourning the death of Imam Hussein!

dialogues!

2005-02-07T13:05:00.000-05:00

Following are a few conversations I’ve had or overheard in the past few days. A and B are different persons in each of the dialogues. I could be one or the other or neither.

Dialogue 1: Middle East Conflict

A: What do you think about what’s happening in Palestine? It’s your country.
B: I don’t know man! What do we have going over there anyway? Dumb and Dumber?

Dialogue 2: The Four W’s
A: The weather is beautiful today…
B: yeah… the sun is shining and the snow is melting… who would imagine the weather in Canada to be so nice in early February..
A: well, you never know what the weather would be like here. There are 4 W’s in Canada you just cannot predict…
B: what are they?
A: Weather, Women, Wages, and Welfare!

Dialogue 3: No Comment
A: Surat Yusuf is my favorite chapter in the Quran…
B: really? tara it’s makrooh [undesirable] to read surat yusuf
A: C’mon! That can’t be. It’s the QURAN!
B: It’s not haram, just makrooh especially for girls.
A: but why is it makrooh?
B: Because it describes in detail how Zuleika attempted to seduce Yusuf…so you know…

*A is speechless*

Dialogue 4: Warming up for Muharram

A: You’re invited to Sara’s party on Friday, so please come with me.
B: From now till Friday.. yseer ‘7air. But what’s the occasion?
A: Muharram*
B: Isn’t it too early to celebrate the Islamic New Year?
A: No, this is not a new year’s celebration. Shias don’t celebrate the New Year because it’s the beginning of Muharram you know…
B: Hmmm, if it wasn’t for New Year’s, why would anyone celebrate the coming of Muharram?
A: No! They're not celebrating Muharram, we just won’t be able to party or listen to music for 2 months so…
B: so this is the final release so to speak?
A: yeah!
B: woa! This just doesn’t sound right!

* Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It also marks the month in which Imam Hussein and members of his family were martyred in the Battle of Karbala.

Dialogue 6: If we only had mind-reading machines…

A: hey..what are you thinking about so hard?
B: you don’t want to know
A: c’mon...
B: well, at that very moment I was thinking about Gorbachev’s birthmark
A: and what about his birthmark?
B: I’m trying to figure out what landmass/map it resembles
A: and what did you come up with?
B: The map of Muharraq seems to bear a slight resemblance to it

C: you guys are you crazy or what?

The Kalash

2005-02-02T01:16:00.000-05:00

I’ve been reading about the fascinating Kalash tribe in the Hindu-Kush area of Northern Pakistan. Their background and history further intensified my desire to travel through Central Asia, all the –istans in particular. For the most part, the history of the Kalash people remains obscure and controversial. According to some scholars, the Kalash people are direct descendants of Alexander the Great’s soldiers. This view however is unsubstantiated and most scholars trace the history of the Kalash back to the Indo-Aryan migration/invasion in 1500 B.C. No matter where they came from and when they settled in the mountain villages of the Hindu-Kush, the light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes of many Kalash people provide an interesting evidence to their Caucasian origins.

The Kalash are among the few remaining non-Muslim people in Central Asia. Having been isolated for centuries in the Hindu Kush mountain ranges, the Kalash people have become genetically distinct. The centuries and centuries of isolation also allowed them to maintain their pagan beleifs and preserve their culture from outside influence. In Afghanistan, they used to occupy a region called Kafirstan (land of the infidels) but in 1895 they were conquered and forcibly converted to Islam by Amir AbdulRahman Khan and since then the region became known as Nuristan (land of the enlightened)! Today, there are approximately 3,000 Kalash people living in Northern Pakistan. Their culture and traditional way of life is under threat from urbanization, industrial development, and tourism, in addition, being surrounded by millions of Muslims from every direction does not help. Although violence is no longer used against them, the Kalash people continue to face racism and are under constant pressure to assimilate to the Muslim/Pakistani culture. Many Kalash people, especially men are converting to Islam only to leave their tribe in search for better economic opportunities in other regions of Pakistan.

It's quite interesting to browse through pictures of the Kalash tribe. They have such a beautiful culture. Kalash women wear black gowns adorned with a dozen of yellow, red, and orange necklaces. They also wear a beautiful headgear covered with beads and other colorful stuff. Men wear the standard shalwar qameez but they distinguish themselves from Muslims by putting a feather in their woolen caps.

One day, if I.. or hopefully when I embark on that trip of a lifetime through central asia (the silk road perhaps?) I'll make sure to include the Hindu-Kush valleys in my route.

For more photos and info about the Kalash, check out the following websites:

-The Kalash, the last descendants of Alexander the Great
-Abi Gul (beautiful girl)
-Picture of a beautiful kalash girl
-Images from Chitral: 1973-76
-Kalash Indigenous Survival Program
-Pakistan: De Paris a Auckland sans avion
-Kalash: A dieing culture
-Children of the Kalash Valleys
-Kalash Valley: Where fairies dance and sing
-Kalash Festival of Choimus

7ilwa yal ba7raiiiniyeh

2005-01-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

7ilwa yal ba7raiiiniyeh. I’ve never heard of this song before. The group apparently produced only one album in 1969 and disappeared into oblivion. What I find interesting about the song is the Bahraini accent used. Are the words just being stretched out for the sake of rhyme and rhythm or is this accent actually spoken in Bahrain?

Previous related posts: Bahraini accents, Arabic language/accents

Anger

2005-01-23T23:01:00.000-05:00

Angry Man? Outraged Woman? Or a beast lurking for his prey?

Photos I

2005-01-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

I find those signs very amusing. They're so typical of local family-owned Arab and South Asian stores and restaurants. Another one I recall is: "Family and friends… please don't enter the kitchen during busy hours." Those seemingly common-sense courtesies ought to be printed in big bold letters and displayed on a high ledge in the store; otherwise you’ll find the whole tribe and next-of-kin marching all over the place…making themselves feel at home.

A very rare meal that we get to enjoy every once in a long while.

My Toenail!

2005-01-18T22:20:00.000-05:00

It was around midnight when I felt like cutting my fingernails… toenails actually. My friend who was sleeping over at my place suddenly yelled:

“NOOO! Don’t!”

“Don’t what”

“Don’t cut your nails”

“Why??”

“Cutting your nails at night will bring you poverty”

“heh! who said so?”

“it is written in the ahadeeth”

“which ahadeeth?”

“I don’t’ know but my mother knows”

“Please tell me you’re not serious?”

“Wallah, I’m serious.”

“Hmm! Do you know why Arabs and Muslims are backward my friend?” I said while *tick* the mouth of my nail cutter took a bite out of of my big toe nail. “It is because most people still think the way you do!”

She nodded her head in slight agreement and some hesitation. Of course, how can you expect someone who had been hearing all this nonsense throughout their entire life to change their mind in one night even in the most trivial of things such as cutting your toenails!

Unfortunately, my friend is not unique. As a society in general, our umbilical cord is still attached to the placenta of ignorance in the days of Jahiliyya. We lack the ability to examine the knowledge we receive. We’re just not critical enough…we’re not analytical enough… and we don’t even know our faith enough to the point that we fear questioning some nonsense just because “gee! This might really be part of what I’m supposed to believe in.” “Read!” Gabriel revealed to Muhammad some 1400 years ago and we have yet to do that in the 21st century. Wasn’t it the prophet who said that spending more time learning is better than spending more time praying…that one learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshippers…that the ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr? Wasn’t it Imam Ali who said “Use your intellect to understand something when you hear about it… for surely there are many who repeat the knowledge that they hear, and there are few who examine it.” So why don’t we do that? Why are we a bewildered herd as Chomsky would put it?

Well, the answers are obvious but to overcome them is the challenging task because the problem is that as a nation we’re ignorant and in order to be critical of ourselves we need to have the ability to think and realize that there is something fundamentally wrong with us but to have the ability to do that…we need to be critical to begin with…so basically throughout the past few decades we’ve done a good job of cornering ourselves in a Cath-22 situation and the only way out of this conundrum is to… is to…

I don’t really know!

No Comment

2005-01-18T01:39:00.000-05:00

Brave Kid

2005-01-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious! Check it out.

Bahraini Pride

2005-01-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

Bahrania posted a couple of trivia questions about Bahrain's history. Those questions reminded me of a friend who would proabably know the answers to all of them. Besides having a peculiar personality, he also has a weird sense of patriotism which is hard to describe. In his digital photo albums you’ll find pictures of Gilgamesh, a historic (mayabe even mythic) figure but who my friend regards more as an ancestor of some sort. He talks about Dilmun and the ancient civilizations on a regular basis as if they have a direct impact on our daily lives as Bahrainis in the 21st century. When I asked him one day why are you so proud of being Bahraini? This was his answer:

I am proud because we have a history over 10,000 years old. We are mentioned in the epics of humanity, from Gilgamesh, to the tales of Alexander the Great, to the Persians, and the Indus Valley, to the Bible. I am proud because I feel that we are in fact one of the superior civilizations. I am proud because I am from a friendly country where everybody loves the other. I am proud because I was born in a land of revolution where people always fought to help those who are oppressed. Where did most of the Shia revolutions against the Umayyads and Abbasids start from? Bahrain. Not only Shia revolutions but also others, like the Zinouj revolution hence the name "il Zinj.” Bottom line is that throughout our history, whenever there were weak people in the region, no matter what background, what skin color, what sect of Islam Bahrainis were always supportive and always died for these people. You tell me what are the people of Bahrain known for? The Golden Smiles, il a9aleh, il 6eeba. Tell me why Bahrain is called "The Land of Eden" not only in the epics of the ancient civilizations but also in the Bible?

Bahrain over the ages has blended many cultures. It had many lovers from Gilgamesh, to Zeus, to Jesus, to Islam. They have all affected her. Bahrain is a beautiful woman, with many suitors. Many have trued to subdue her but she is a playful girl and dumps them all. The Babylonian Gods, called her Dilmun, Zeus and his followers called her Tylos, Jesus wasn't much for nicknames and Islam went with Bahrain. Bahrain took from the Babylonians and the Assyrians the rules and the system of life. From the Greeks it took its cultural identity and its treatment of others. From Christianity, it took the way of life, and the humbleness that is God and from Islam we joined all.

The Hajj

2005-01-15T23:26:00.000-05:00

The Hajj is about to begin. It’s almost impossible to feel the hype when you’re a thousand miles away from the scene or if you simply don’t have a family member or a relative who is embarking on this trip of a lifetime, nonetheless, the image of having 2 million people from every corner of the globe wearing the same garments, performing the same rituals, and repeating in one cohesive voice their prayers to God does spark a sense of awe and wonder. I went to Mecca once to perform the Umra, I was young and naive at best back then but I still remember shedding a few tears upon seeing the Ka’aba for the first time. It was a pure moment of awe not triggered by any sense of religious realization or awareness… jut pure awe at the serenity of the scene and moment. I often wonder if it is possible to maintain the same level of spirituality while performing the Hajj and enduring all what a pilgrim has to endure in a very arduous environment and atmosphere. Oh well, to all the pilgrims …Hajj Mabroor wa Sa’ie Mashkur. May all the prayers for peace, happiness, and everything beautiful be granted.

My cute little sis during the Umra

My Grandma

2005-01-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

click on image to enlarge
My grandma...the hub. I miss sitting on that beautiful red carpet and massaging her feet.

Snow

2005-01-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

Snowy day like almost everyday in the upcoming few months

More old pics of Bahrain

2005-01-05T22:30:00.000-05:00

I posted previously a couple of old pics of Bahrain. Here are some more I came across recently:

These pics are also of azza processions. Date unknown.

I found the following pic on postcardman.net. According to the caption, this postcard is a real photo of a mosque in Manama. While the date the photo was taken is not mentioned, it does say that the stamp on reverse was postally used in 1952. Is this minarate still standing today? It reminds me of that old mosque few blocks away from Bab Al Bahrain. Is that it or am I hallucinating?

I came across the following photo of which the caption reads "Manama" on ebay:

This picture, along with many others of the region are compiled in a book called the "Pirate Coast" by Charles Belgrave who was a British colonial officer serving as the personal advisor to Sheikh Hamad, the ruler of Bahrain at that time.

I've been so interested in old photos and documents recently. I can't wait to go back to Bahrain and dig through old family albums.

Jesus: The Messenger of Humanity

2004-12-25T05:54:00.000-05:00

Chan’ad has a great post about how people in Bahrain are commemorating the birth of Jesus. It is absolutely amazing that people from different faiths can unite under the message of one man. The following stories I am about to share are fascinating accounts of how Muslims and Christians were able to not only tolerate each other but to offer help and support to each other in the most critical moments throughout history, from the birth of Islam till our very day.

The Church of the Nativity Siege

In April 2002, as Israeli forces entered Bethlehem and battle broke out, many Palestinians (both armed and civilians) sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity. More than 200 Palestinians were protected BY the church INSIDE the church for 38 days! Because of this incident, many people accused Muslims of desecrating Christianity’s holiest site. That is not true. Those people are underestimating the strong relationships between Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land and they’re ignoring the essence of the message Jesus sent to humanity. Jesus stood with the oppressed against the oppressor. Under the Israeli occupation, the Palestinians are the oppressed and by offering sanctuary to the Palestinians in the church, Christianity honors the word of Jesus and his teachings in the highest manner. Besides, Christians and Muslims lived peacefully in the cities of Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and other towns and villages in Palestine for centuries. Unconditional help and support Christians offer to Muslims and Muslims offer to Christians in times of hardship is only the natural result of a common history of peaceful coexistence. In fact, 1400 years ago when the persecution of Muslims increased in Mecca, the prophet Muhammad advised some of his followers to migrate to Al-Habasha (present-day Ethiopia) to seek help from the Christian King Negus. The King kindly treated the Muslims who found the Christian kingdom as a safe haven away from the oppression of Quraish. What happened in the Church of the Nativity is no different. It is a confirmation of the long tradition of support true Christians had given those who needed it…true Christians who believed in the message Jesus sent to humanity… the message that Muhammad continued… the message that unites both Christians and Muslims.

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The Doorkeeper and the Key-bearer of the Church is a Muslim

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a 900-year old church in Jerusalem. It is the church where Jesus is believed to have been buried and resurrected. In the 12th century, when Saladin entered Jerusalem and defeated the Crusades, he found Christians from different denominations fighting over who should keep the key to the church. To end the fighting, Saladin entrusted the key to a Muslim family. They key had been passed down father to son until this day. After 8 centuries, it is still a Muslim man who safeguards the key in his home and wakes up every morning at dawn to open the church doors and returns every night to lock them. Truly amazing!

Muslims believe in God and in Jesus as a great prophet and messenger, despite disagreements on other aspects of faith, Muslims and Christians can meet on at least these common grounds.

The Miniskirt in the Middle East

2004-12-24T02:19:00.000-05:00

If you stroll through a mall or walk down a street in any Arab/Middle Eastern city today (with a few exceptions) you will immediately notice a significant difference between women in their clothing and dress styles. On one hand, you will find women in daffas, abayas, headscarves, and veils… covered up head toe, revealing nothing but their faces- i.e. the archetypal image of Arab, Muslim women depicted by western media. On the other hand, you will notice just as many women dressed up in the latest western fashion, wearing what any western woman would wear as her daily apparel. Despite this wide range of clothing styles, there is one thing you will hardly, if ever, notice in the Arab Muslim street and that is local women with bare legs- women in miniskirts! The reason for that is quite clear and simple: In conservative Islamic Middle Eastern societies, women are expected to dress modestly and conservatively. Even women, who choose not to cover up completely, do make the conscious choice of covering as much skin as possible by avoiding, among many other things, short hemlines.

Thirty and forty years ago, however, the scene was completely different. In the 60’s and 70’s miniskirts were ubiquitous in many Islamic, Arab, and Middle Eastern countries. Women wore miniskirts as their daily apparel. From Kabul in Afghanistan to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, miniskirts were the trend and it was generally acceptable for many women to wear them. This might be surprising to those who never expected miniskirts to have been, at one point in time, so common in the Middle East. I, personally, have many friends back home who were dumbfounded when they first saw old pictures of their mothers, aunts, and other young women from the same generation wearing miniskirts all throughout their youth. How come? They questioned.

Image: Students at Kabul University (1970's, I think)

Indeed! Why was it acceptable for Middle Eastern women to wear miniskirts some 30 and 40 years ago, while doing so today would be considered an aberration? What happened in those past few decades that changed women’s values, attitudes, and behaviour? What are the social, political, economic, and psychological factors that caused this overwhelming change in lifestyle?

Image: Young Bahraini and Kuwaiti ladies in the 1970's

Well, to begin with, many parts of the Middle East since the early 20th century up until the early 70’s were colonized by European powers. There is no doubt that colonization expedites the process of acculturation. Besides adopting or being forced to adopt the language and ideology of the colonial powers, fashion and lifestyle would also seep in. For example, until 1971, Bahrain was colonized by Britain. Looking back at the years of colonization, it is evident that besides the growing number of English-speaking citizens in Bahrain, there were growing numbers of men wearing suits instead of the traditional thoab and a growing number of women wearing more western fashion, and in particular the miniskirt, instead of the traditional dress.

Besides western colonization, the nature of leadership in the Middle East after many countries started gaining independence had a direct impact on people’s lifestyles. Military coups in the Middle East during the mid 20th century and onwards installed new regimes in which the political order was still radical but very secular in nature. In Egypt, Jamal Abdul Nasser promoted Arab Nationalism and imprisoned/executed members of the Muslim Brotherhood who opposed his secular approach. In Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba promoted secularism to the point of banning Tunisian women from wearing the Hijab in state offices. Essentially, people did not have religious leaders with strong political power preaching and dictating what is and what is not acceptable to wear. Instead, they had leaders who encouraged a western liberal lifestyle and that was distinctly, if not primarily, reflected in the clothes people wore and became accustomed to.

Finally, the oil boom played a huge role in liberalizing many parts of the Middle East and especially Arab/Persian Gulf countries. In the 1970s, an immense amount of wealth flowed into the region attracting foreign investors from the west and migrant Asian workers from the East to live, work, and settle in the region. The increased amount of expatriates transformed the Gulf into a cosmopolitan area accommodating and open to new lifestyles. In addition to all that, women started receiving education and entering the workforce, mass media was expanding, and feminist ideas promoting women’s freedom were being voiced. All those were instrumental factors behind the birth and growth of the miniskirt as popular fashion in the Middle East.

“To us, the miniskirt was “cool” because it symbolized modernity, progress, glamour, and everything western we idealized. We looked down upon those who did not wear miniskirts. We thought of them as being traditional, backward, and oppressed.” This is how a Bahraini woman today describes her mentality and that of other young women back then. “We were naïve,” she said. “We regarded miniskirts as synonymous with modernity and westernization.”

So why then did this attitude change? What happened? Why are miniskirts not common anymore?

Well, in 1979, Iran, an important and influential country in the region experienced dramatic political changes. The powerful Shah of Iran was toppled by Ayatollah Khomeini and an Islamic Republic was established, transforming Iran from a country that strived in every single way to imitate the west into a country that was confrontational with the west and unwilling to compromise its values to accommodate western ideals. During the reign of Reza Shah, women were forced to take off the chador and during the reign of his son Mohammad Reza women were encouraged to wear western-style clothing. After the Islamic revolution, the reverse occurred. Women were forced to wear Islamic attire which included wearing the chador or more recently, the headscarf and loose-fitting clothes. My point here is that the revolution in Iran did not only change the political and social dynamics of Iran but of the neighboring countries as well. Basically, the Islamic revolution had a domino effect in the region. Neighboring Sunni countries felt threatened by the emerging Shia presence. They wanted, more or less, to develop a strong Sunni-Islamic identity to keep up with what they perceived an impressive but a threatening Shia victory in Iran. As a result, people became more religious-conscience and receptive to what religious authorities from mullahs to imams had to say. In addition, because the secular leadership in the region had already failed in quenching their thirst for glory, religion became the alternative source of pride. As a result, people’s lifestyles started to change. In Bahrain, even though covering one’s hair was not obligatory many women did so by wearing the Daffa and it was at that time when the miniskirt was abandoned.

The positive response and quick adjustment to the new, more conservative “dress-style and lifestyle” that came about in Bahrain after the revolution was partly due to the cognitive dissonance women were experiencing in the first place. The miniskirt was not part of the Islamic/Arabian culture and in fact it went against basic moral values of modesty and conservatism people believed in. Therefore, when external socio-political factors took place prompting women to change the way they dressed, women willingly responded to the change because it, in effect, helped in narrowing the cognitive dissonance they were experiencing as a result of adopting a lifestyle that was incongruous with their own cultural and religious heritage.

Today, the fascinating contrast between women in “black” and women in “brands” stands out saliently in streets, malls, and other public places in Bahrain and across the region. This contrast stands out as a proof to the strength of the Islamic identity and the sweeping power of western globalization. Is it faith and divine power that shapes people’s lives or is it politics and market forces that people respond to?

The Greatest...

2004-12-20T01:07:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was watching a show about The Greatest Canadian. Canadians had to pick just one person who they believed to be the greatest and they voted Tommy Douglas. He was a social policy innovator who introduced social welfare, universal Medicare, and a multitude of other social benefits each and every Canadian enjoys till this very day. The debate over who should be the Greatest Canadian was very interesting and it lead me to ask myself: Who is the Greatest Bahraini? If a similar poll was to be conducted in Bahrain, what names will appear on the list? or is Bahrain too small of a society to give birth to greatness? If so, who is The Greatest Khaligi? The Greatest Arab? The Greatest Muslim? Do we have answers to those questions?

Of course, we’re talking 20-21st century… let’s not all get nostalgic about the very distant past.

Arabian Gulf

2004-12-12T13:07:00.000-05:00

A couple of months ago I was thinking of having a new, preferably creative URL for my current blog or maybe even a future one. Using trial and error I found a URL which doesn't quite meet my criteria but which could serve another purpose many people seem to be so passionate about!

Today as I was inspecting my blogger account after a long time of absence, I stumbled upon that URL which I have completely forgotten about. To my surprise it happens to be arabiangulf.blogspot.com!

I innocently chose this URL without even keeping in mind the Persian/Arabian Gulf controversy and I got a giggle out finding a few comments waiting for me on the test post I have published, disqualifying the authenticity of the name. Heh.

One of the commenters also has an entire blog dedicated to the cause of the “Persian Gulf.” What a commitment!

I’m not really big on names and labels and I don’t really care if the Gulf is “Arabian” or “Persian” even though arguments do favour the latter. In fact, Persia dominates the gulf not only historically, but also boarder wise. Not to mention that outside of the GCC no other country refers to it as the Arabian Gulf, even the Arabs used to refer to it as "Khaleeg Faris." As far as I’m concerned, however, it aint gonna make a bit of a difference in the world. As long as the sea/gulf border is agreed upon, I doubt this argument will go beyond, well, an argument! Plus, we have an entire sea named after us. That makes up for it, no?

For now, I’ll let myself enjoy this silly tickly sense of victory for unintentionally laying my hand on a controversial blogspot URL. *smirk*

Verse

2004-09-09T09:40:00.000-05:00

لَئِن بَسَطتَ إِلَيَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقْتُلَنِي مَا أَنَاْ بِبَاسِطٍ يَدِيَ إِلَيْكَ لَأَقْتُلَكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Even if thou stretch out thy hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch out my hand against thee to kill thee, for I do fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. (Holy Quran: 5:28)

Lullaby

2004-09-08T23:11:00.000-05:00

Mahmood has a simple yet strong message on his blog- to light a candle in memory of all the Russian children who died. I don’t have a candle to light, but I do have this enchanting and melancholy lullaby to share in memory of all the beautiful and innocent children around the world who had to die in such a horrible way. I also dedicate this lullaby to all the parents who had to bury their children before their time.

The voice is my friend’s voice. We recorded it yesterday.

Listen to it please.

Sky

2004-09-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

The sky earlier today was beautiful.

E-mail from an American aid worker in Afghanistan

2004-09-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

I received the following e-mail from an American aid worker in Afghanistan and I thought I should share his insightful views in my blog. He writes:

I appreciated the article about "the painful truth". I was living in Uzbekistan during 9/11 and the people I know couldn't have been more kind and sympathetic to us Americans at that time. I noticed though that eventually the stories of it being done by Israel and the fable of all of the Jews not going to work that day started circulating around the country and was believed by some of my highest educated friends. After a while I found that many of them, while still sympathetic to our loss, had reached a justification of the action in their mind, either because of the "Palestinian cause" or the Jewish conspiracy against Islam or something. It was remarkable.

The more I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that since they would never do that and they identify themselves as Muslims, they couldn't imagine any other "Muslim" doing that. I am a Christian and when I hear of a "Christian" having bombed an abortion clinic or been outlandishly rude, I want in no way to be associated with him or her, so my first instinct is to think that the person couldn't really have been a Christian. After all Jesus taught the way of love and mercy and patience and grace.

I welcome the process of people questioning how these things have developed because I think it is the only way forward. I'm in about as conservative of a Muslim country as there can be and would love to see more self analysis by people, but here no one has been trained to "think", but only to do what they are told by the mullah, warlord, their father or husband or brother or whatever. It is sad. I thought it interesting to hear a village mullah one time tell me, "it is strange that we Muslims keep tearing down this village (it was a site of fighting by Mujahadeen), and you Christians then come in and help us."

As an American overseas I'm always trying to evaluate our policies and shortcomings through the different insights I gain from other cultures and peoples. It makes me a bit more of a stranger in my own country, but a more complete person. I hope your stay in Canada is allowing you to see the world through the eyes of a different culture as well.

...

I'm trying to plan a trip to Herat for this weekend if I can get a ticket and fighting doesn't break out. Another great historical city which I'm afraid has lost most of its glory, but hopefully I'll see for myself.

I spent most of yesterday exploring how the world was responding to the tragedies in Russia. I'm afraid people as a whole are hard headed and slow to learn lessons from the past. It seems to me that trying to answer "terror" with force is only going to create more terror which requires more "force", etc. The end result is a lot of death and hatred. I read an interesting book that talked about in these situations about how absurd it would be to forgive the perpetrators of the crime. But if you follow the path of unforgiveness to its conclusion you have perpetual war or hatred. Look at Palestine/ Israel, India/ Pakistan, Tutsis/ Hutus, etc., everyone is just in their right for "revenge", which just creates more people with a just cause for revenge. Forgiveness is the only thing that can break the crazy cycle of hatred and killing. So here is to a little more grace and forgiveness in this world!

The other side of the coin

2004-09-07T00:40:00.000-05:00

I have to clarify few things regarding my previous post. Even though al-Rashed’s article sheds light on a major source of the problem, which is terrorism carried out by Muslims, he just presents one valid side of a very complicated problem. Blaming Muslims and Muslims religious leaders doesn’t remove the blame from America, Israel, and other countries and it doesn’t make them more innocent or virtuous. America is a major player in the spread of terrorism. In fact America is a terrorist in many ways, as much as those Muslim terrorists are. So if we are keen on understanding the problem and on trying to find solutions for it, we have to acknowledge all sources of the problem. Focusing on one side and ignoring the other doesn’t help… it just creates more confusion.

Now regarding al-Rashed’s article, it certainly fails to present the other different sides of the problem. He focuses on Islamic extremism but fails to mention or even hint at America as being a contributive party in the emergence of this Islamic terrorism and also in committing terrorism in the region. America’s recent invasion of Iraq killed atleast 11,000 innocent civilians. If that is not terrorism, I don’t know what is. And let us not conceal it under the guise of liberation and freedom. Innocent people die by the hundreds and thousands, and so we have a serious problem… humanity in its entirety is in jeopardy.

One more thing I wish to address is death and the view of death in those atrocities we see today and why the American military is not receiving the same kind of stern criticism and repulsive reaction Muslim terrorists do.

I will rely on David Grossman’s analysis in his book On Killing to tackle this issue. In his book, Grossman compares the atrocities of Hamburg (1943) and Babylon (689 B.C.) and poses the question: What is the difference? A valid question to ask today would be: What is the difference between the death caused by the American military and the death caused by the Islamic fundamentalists?" “There is no distinction in the results – in both, the innocent population involved died horribly ..” Grossman answers his question. “The difference is that, emotionally, when we dwell on the butchers of Babylon or Auschwitz or My Lai, we feel revulsion at the psychotic and alien state that permitted these individuals to perform their awful deeds. We cannot understand how anyone could perform such inhuman atrocities on their fellow man … But when most people think of those who bombed Hamburg or Hiroshima, there is no feeling of disgust for the deed, certainly not the intensity of disgust felt of Nazi executioners. When we mentally empathize with the bomber crews, when we put ourselves in their places, most cannot truly see themselves doing any different than they did. Therefore we do not judge them as criminals.”

Today Muslim terrorists are regarded as being more culpable than America because of this psychological factor Grossman mentions. One way of killing should not be glorified over the other. Killing is ugly… killing is bad and especially if it results in the death of innocent civilians and that’s exactly why we have to acknowledge and fight all sources and forms of terrorism for it seems to me that the term “terrorist” has been recently defined by the media as inclusive of only non-governmental entities and guerrillas which happen to be mostly Muslim, as if no western government is eligible of being associated with this term, whether partially or completely and that undermines the process of solving the problem because despite all the great things in America (the nation), America (the government) is responsible for a great deal of the terrorism the world is facing today and that kind of terrorism should be equally feared and denounced.

The Painful Truth: All World Terrorists are Muslims

2004-09-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to follow world events nowadays without being slapped in the face, quite often, with news so horrific and disturbing, it makes you both physically and mentally apprehensive, especially as a Muslim.

Horrendous crimes are happening one after the other in so many different places… to so many different people… I feel awkward saying this, but it’s becoming hard to keep track of all of them.

What’s sad and embarrassing is that all these terrorist acts are being committed by Muslims.

I was reading an article written by Abdulrahman al-Rashed in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. In the article, al-Rashed lays the blame squarely on the corrupt religious leaders who encourage those terrorist acts.I took the liberty of translating some parts of the article into English. My translation could be a bit off, so to those of you who understand Arabic, I encourage you to read the original article. (The direct link to the article is not available, you should find it in the archive under sept. 4, 2004) To all others, here it goes:

Unquestionably, not all Muslims are terrorists, but with all sorrow we say that the majority of terrorists in the world are Muslims. The student kidnappers in Ossetia are Muslims. The kidnappers and killers of the Nepali cooks are Muslims. Those who practice rape and killing in Darfur are Muslims and their victims are Muslims too. Those who bombed the civilian complexes in Riyadh and Khobar are Muslims. Those who kidnapped the French journalists are Muslims. Those who bombed the two airplanes last week were two Muslim females.

Bin Laden is a Muslim and Al-Huthi is a Muslim, and most of those who carried out suicide bombings in buses and schools and houses and buildings around the world in the past ten years are Muslims.

What a bad record we have. Doesn’t it say something about ourselves, our society, our culture?

Those images are indeed harsh, shameful, and degrading to us when we gather them and put them all together in one day, but instead of denying and justifying them, we have to first acknowledge their validity and not to garnish articles and speeches claiming our innocence.

After admitting this sickness, it’s easy for us to cure ourselves. Self-medication begins with confession. After that we have to track down our terrorist sons because they are the end-product of our corrupted culture. Listen to what the television sheikh Yousif Al Qaradawi said, he publicly preached the permissibility of killing American civilians in Iraq. Imagine, a religious man encouraging the killing of civilians! A sheikh in his old age encouraging young men to kill civilians while having two daughters studying under the protection of British security forces in the “infidel” UK. How can a father like him confront Berg’s mother whom her son was beheaded because he came to Iraq to work on communication towers? How can we believe him when he says that Islam is a religion of mercy and tolerance if he turns it into a religion of blood?

(...)

Islam is an innocent religion ... It describes killing as the greatest of crimes, and it condemns those who even step on an insect and it rewards those who quench the thirst of a kitten. This is the Islam we knew before the emergence of those fanatics and their campaigns ....

It doesn’t dignify us to have those who take students as hostages, and those who kidnap journalists, and those who kill civilians, and those who bomb buses…associating themselves with us no matter what pain those avengers have faced. They are the ones who disfigured and spoiled Islam.

(...)

Tooth Fixed!

2004-08-27T14:03:00.000-05:00

I had one of two options, filling or crowning. Dental fillings are not as durable as having crowns but they are way cheaper and the results are still great. A crown on one tooth costs around a $1000 CDN! That's a lot to pay for each tooth, given a good alternative in havng a filling done. So I settled with the filling for now and in the future insha'allah, we'll get a crown placed on each tooth (maybe even with a more affordable price :))

Childhood injuries can be costly sometimes. Ah! If I only behaved myself.... ;)

Jesus in Islam

2004-08-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

After watching the Passion of Christ when it was first released earlier this year, my desire to see a high quality production of a movie dealing with events of Islamic History was rekindled. The Life of the Prophet Mohammad or the Battle of Karbala or any phase of Islamic history would make for a great movie. I am visualizing a film that would not just be a series of gory scenes which the Passion of Christ unfortunately was, but a film that would go beyond the mere stirring of emotions into revealing in more depth and detail the real greatness of the characters it tries to portray.

I personally think that the Passion of Christ underestimated the greatness of Jesus. I know the focus of the movie was the last 12 hours of Christ but I personally think more could have been done to develop his character even whilst focusing on the last few hours of his life. The movie was absolutely fantastic from an artistic and cinematic point of view, but it really didn’t do the character of Jesus justice. I really felt that if someone knew nothing about Jesus and saw the movie, they’d leave with a very blank inadequate impression of him. There was more blood than passion and that is a huge shortcoming in the portrayal of a character whose main message to humanity was about love, mercy, and compassion. In that, Jesus reminds me of Imam Ali. Both are unarguably great figures who had a huge positive impact on humanity, but which have also been done a huge disfavor by their own supporters. For instance, Muslims and especially Shias, have been for so long focusing on Imam Ali's eligibility of succeeding the prophet, while forgetting to appreciate his genius, his literary masterpieces, and his moral intellect. Same goes to Jesus; people across all monotheistic religions have been debating the nature of Jesus and the death of Jesus, forgetting to appreciate the LIFE of Jesus, his character and his accomplishments.

After watching the movie, my friend and I started comparing the Christian version of the story to Islam’s. Halfway through our discussion, I realized that my knowledge about how Islam views Jesus was lacking. Therefore, I decided to learn more about him and his mother (peace be upon them) by gathering all the related verses in the Holy Quran and reading their various interpretations. Below are all the verses I found. By keeping them in mind, an adequate picture of Jesus and Mary from an Islamic perspective can be formed.

Mary & the Birth of Jesus

And remember the angels’ words to Mary. They said: ‘God has chosen you. He has made you pure and exalted you above womankind. (3:42) Mary, be obedient to your Lord; bow down and worship with the worshippers.’ (3:43) This is an account of a divine secret. We reveal it to you (O Muhammad). You were not present when they cast lots to see which of them should have charge of Mary; nor were you present when they argued about her. (3:44)

Verse (3:44) refers to the dispute over who should be in charge of Mary. After casting the lots, Zakariya was chosen.

The angels said to Mary: ‘God bids you rejoice in a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary. He shall be noble in this world and the world to come, and shall be one of those who are favored. (3:45) He shall preach to men in his cradle and in the prime of manhood, and shall lead a righteous life.’ (3:46) ‘Lord,’ she said, ‘how can I bear a child when no man has touched me?’ He replied: ‘Even thus. God creates whom He will. When He decrees a thing He need only say: “Be,” and it is. (3:47)

The following is one of my favorite set of verses in the Holy Quran. It vividly describes the different phases Mary (pbuh) went through from the conception to the birth of Jesus and people’s reaction to it.

And you shall recount in the Book the story of Mary: how she left her people and betook herself to a solitary place to the east. (19:16) And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent to her Our spirit in the semblance of a full-grown man. (19:17) And when she saw him she said: ‘May the Merciful defend me from you! If you fear the Lord, [leave me and go your way.]’ (19:18) He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. (19:19) She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" (19.20) ‘Thus did your Lord speak,’ he replied. ‘“That is easy enough for Me. He shall be a sign to mankind and a blessing from Ourself. This is Our decree.”’ (19:21) Thereupon she conceived him, and retired to a far-off place. (19:22) And when she felt the throes of childbirth she lay down by the trunk of a palm-tree, crying: ‘Oh, would that I had died before this, and passed into oblivion!’ (19:23) But a voice from below cried out to her: ‘Do not despair. Your Lord has made a stream to flow beneath you; (19:24) and if you shake the trunk of the palm-tree it will drop fresh ripe dates in your lap. (19:25) "Therefore eat and drink and rejoice; and should you meet any mortal say to him: “I have vowed a fast to the Merciful and will not speak with any man today”’ (19:26) Carrying the child, she came to her people, who said to her: "O Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! (19:27) "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman!” (19:28) She made a sign to them, pointing to the child. But they said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" (19:29) He (Jesus) said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; (19:30) And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; (19:31) He hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; (19:32) So Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!” (19:33) Such was Jesus the son of Mary: a statement of truth, about which they vainly dispute. (19:34) God forbid that he Himself should beget a son! When He decrees a thing He need only say: ‘Be,’ and it is. (19:35)

Holy Spirit

We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye called impostors, and others ye slay! (2:87)

And (remember) her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our spirit, and We made her and her son a sign for all peoples. (21:91)

Nature of Jesus

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not "Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. (4:171) Christ disdaineth nor to serve and worship Allah, nor do the angels, those nearest (to Allah): those who disdain His worship and are arrogant,-He will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer) (4:172)

They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help (5:72)

Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. (5:75)

In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: "Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every - one that is on the earth? (5:17)

And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they! (9.30) They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him). (9.31)

They say: "God hath begotten a son!" - Glory be to Him! He is self-sufficient! His are all things in the heavens and on earth! No warrant have ye for this! Would you say of God what you know not? (10:68)

Jesus is like Adam in the sight of God. He created him from dust and then said to him: ‘Be’, and he was. (3:59)

Crucifixion?

They declared: ‘Surely we have killed the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah; but they killed him not, nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not (4.157) But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise. (4.158)

Muslims believe that Jesus was not killed. God protected him and the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man; and that man, not Jesus, was crucified. Muslims also believe that Jesus will reappear along with the Mahdi to defeat the Dajjal or the “anti-Christ.”

God said: ‘Jesus, I am about to claim you back and lift you up to Me. I shall take you away from the unbelievers and exalt your followers above them till the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me shall all return and I shall judge your disputes. (3:55)

Teachings of Jesus

Jesus told his people: 'O People of the Book! Do not transgress the bounds of truth in your religion. Do not yield to the desires of those who have erred before; who have led many astray and have themselves strayed from the right path' (5:77)

And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am sent forth to you from God to confirm the Torah already revealed, and to give news of an apostle that will come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." (61:6)

And when Jesus came with evident signs, he said: 'I have come to give you wisdom, and to make plain to you some of the things you differ about, Fear God and follow me. (43:63) God is my Lord and your Lord: therefore serve Him. That is a straight path.' (43:64)

Then God will say: 'Jesus son of Mary, did you ever say to mankind: "Worship me and my mother as gods besides God?"' 'Glory be to You,' he will answer, 'I could never have claimed what I have no right to. If I had ever said so, You would have surely known it. You know what is in my mind, but I know not what is in Yours. You alone know what is hidden. (5:116) I told them only what You bade me. I said: "Serve God, my Lord and your Lord." I watched over them while living in their midst, and ever since You took me to Yourself, You have been watching them. You are the witness of all things. (5:117) If You punish them, they surely are Your servants; and if You forgive them, surely Your are mighty and wise.' (5:118)

He (God) will instruct him in the Scriptures and in wisdom, in the Torah and in the Gospel, (3:48) and send him forth as an apostle to the Israelites. He will say: (…) I come to confirm the Torah which preceded me and to make lawful for you some of the things you are forbidden. I bring you a sign from your Lord: therefore fear God and obey me. (3:50) God is my Lord and your Lord: therefore serve Him. That is a straight path”’ (3:51) When Jesus observed that they had no faith, he said: ‘Who will help me in the cause of God?’ The disciples replied: ‘We are God’s helpers. We believe in God. Bear witness that we submit to Him. (3:52) Lord, we believe in Your revelations and follow the apostle. Count us among Your witnesses.’ (3:53) They contrived, and God contrived. God is the supreme Contriver. (3:54)

Miracles of Jesus

God will say: 'Jesus son of Mary, remember the favor I bestowed upon on you and on your mother: how I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, so that you preached to men in your cradle and in the prime of manhood; how I instructed you in the Book and in wisdom, in the Torah and in the Gospel; how by My leave you fashioned from clay the likeness of a bird and breathed into it so that, by My leave, it became a living bird; how, by My leave, you healed the blind man and the leper, and by My leave restored the dead to life; how I protected you from the Israelites when you had come to them with clear signs: when those of them who disbelieved declared: "This is but sorcery"'; (5:110) how, when I enjoined the disciples to believe in Me and in My apostle, they replied: "We believe; bear witness that we submit."' (5:111) 'Jesus son of Mary,' said the disciples, 'can your Lord send down to us from heaven a table spread with food?' He replied: 'Have fear of God, if you are true believers.' (5:112) 'We wish to eat of it,' they said, 'so that we may reassure our hearts and know that what you said to us is true, and that we may be witnesses of it.' (5:113) 'Lord,' said Jesus son of Mary, 'send down to us from heaven a table spread with food, that it may mark a feast for the first of us and for the last of us: a sign from You. Give us our sustenance; You are the best provider.' (5:114) God replied: 'I am sending one to you. But whoever of you disbelieves hereafter shall be punished as no man will ever be punished.' (5:115)

Miscellaneous

We made a covenant with you (Muhammad), as We did with the other prophets; with Noah and Abraham, with Moses and Jesus son of Mary. (33:7)

We have revealed Our will to you (Muhammad) as We revealed it to Noah and to the prophets who came after him; as We revealed it to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes; to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and David, to whom We gave the Psalms. (4:163)

We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign for mankind, and gave them a shelter on a peaceful hill-side watered by a fresh spring. (23:50)

When Jesus son of Mary said to the disciples: 'Who will come with me to the help of God?' the disciples replied: 'We are God's helpers.' Some of the Israelites believed in him while others disbelieved: But We gave power to those who believed, against their enemies, and they became the ones that prevailed. (61:14)

We're growing up, aren't we!

2004-07-07T01:53:00.000-05:00

From a purely technical sense, I can say that my teenage years will officially be over in a couple of months and my 20th birthday will mark the real entry point to a new phase in my life. Or would it? Well, birthdays have never meant a whole lot to me; but since human beings have the tendency to use dates and numbers, no matter how insignificant they are, to indicate new beginnings and old endings, I will do the same. I will make my 20th birthday a new beginning to a new phase in my life. Nothing drastic is going to happen; all I want to do is put a conscious effort into reconsidering my priorities, redefining my convictions, and fine-tuning my behavior towards many things. I want to submerge myself into some sort of an ideological and psychological baptism that will open any closed doors in my mind and allow me to understand things I have never understood before and accept things I have never thought of accepting.

I have to say that approaching and experiencing the early stages of "adulthood" is kinda surreal especially because your childhood years don't really seem that far away. You experience something which is hard to explain, almost a crisscross between the lives of Holden, a young Don Quixote, and Madame Bovary BUT in a 21st century setting and with an Arabic/Islamic slant which makes things even more "phony" and inexplicable than you can imagine!

Hmm, maybe this forward I received from a friend could explain this whole thing a bit better and in more universal terms. You don’t need to be 20 or 20-something to relate to it. Any amount of years, more or less, is long enough to have lived pasts which were once presents and presents which were once only distant futures and that’s all you need to discern certain life patterns frome the before and after experiences. When you're in your twenties, you look back at your teens and childhood with the same nostalgia a 60 years old has when looking back at his or her youthful 40s. It's all relative. Very much so.

Being Twenty-Something

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap.

Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Language

2004-06-21T23:31:00.000-05:00

I was browsing through ethnologue.com, a fabulous world languages website and I came across the following entries under Languages of Bahrain:

ARABIC, BAHARNA, SPOKEN: a language of Bahrain

Population: 300,000 (1995)
Region: Also spoken in Oman
Alternate names: BAHRAINI SHI’ITE ARABIC, BAHARNAH, BAHARNA
Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.
Comments: Bilingualism in Gulf Spoken Arabic. Their dialect is stigmatized. Shi'a Muslim.

ARABIC, GULF SPOKEN (KHALIGI)

Population: 100,000 (1995)
Region: In and around Zubair and on the Fau Peninsula. Also spoken in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen.
Alternate names: Khaligi, Gulf Arabic
Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.
Comments: Sunni Muslim.

At first, I was surprised to find those dialects listed on the website, but after skimming through the list of thousands and thousands of languages and their colloquial forms, I thought it was only normal to have the Bahraini variations included.

Now, if the population of Bahrain is 500,000 and we are to base our allocation on ethnologue’s statistics, we’ll have the Bahraini population divided as following: 300,000 speaking “Baharna”, 100,000 speaking Gulf Arabic (Khaligi), and the remaining 100,000 divided between those who speak Farsi, Urdu, Hindi, etc. This might not be a completely accurate allocation, but a fairly sufficient one perhaps.

Anyway, what really caught my attention though was this statement: “Their dialect is stigmatized,” which is a true, but an unfair statement at the same time, because technically, all local dialects across the Arab world are considered stigmatized in relation to the classical language and they become more so when spoken in a certain manner or by a particular group of people. But perhaps the reason for the inferiority of the Bahraani dialect is either because it has been associated with the poor uneducated class of villagers for so long or because it is spoken by the Shiite Arabs who are a minority in the Sunni Arab world. No matter what the reason is, what’s interesting is that while the Khaligi dialect is used in local soap operas, songs, and traditional/nabati poetry, the Bahraani dialect is not used in anything other than informal communication and perhaps in Azza and some religious songs. It is very unlikely to hear a song or watch a television series based entirely on the Bahraani dialect. I really find that fascinating... how different dialects, which are equally flawed and distant from the original classical language, end up having a varying level of significance due to past (and even present) societal hierarchies.

You may want to read about what I think of the Arabic language and local dialects in a previous post I wrote here.

Fortunately, I should say, the widespread use of dialects did not significantly (not yet, at least) affect the original classical form of the language and I don't think it will as long as the Quran is held in high esteem. At one point, I was convinced that dialectal Arabic could no way influence any other language linked to or influenced by Arabic in one way or another, and when I say influence I mean have an influence on the official/formal language of a particular country, not its dialectal lexicon. But anyway, I was wrong. The Maltese language is almost entirely derived from informal dialectal Arabic (particularly North African), which makes me wonder why Malta is a special case? Is it because it’s Roman Catholic and perfecting the language of the Quran is not of prime importance? Or is it because the “Arab invaders” were Berber and not Arabs? Interesting topic to research.

For now, let me teach you some Maltese ;-)

English: Maltese: Arabic

Book: ktieb: kitab
Dog: kelb: kalb
Sugar: zokkor: sukkar
Cat: qattus: qutta
Door: bieb: baab
Death: mewt: mawt
Money: flus: flus/floos (informal)
Lemon: lumija (pronounced as loo-mee-ya) Not very different from how it is pronounced in the aforementioned Bahraani dialect ;-)

The following Maltese proverbs are other strong indications of how Maltese is derived from dialectal Arabic:

Il-mara bhall-lumija taghsarha u tarmiha.
A woman is like a lemon; you squeeze her and throw her away.

Gebel ma gebel ma jiltaqa', izda wicc ma wicc jiltaqa'.
Mountain does not meet mountain, but a face meets another face.

Il-flus ghandhom il-gwienah.
Money has wings.

Bil-flus taghmel triq il-bahar.
With money you can make a road in the sea.

Mara ghandha sebat erwieh.
A woman has got seven souls.

I am almost certain that those dimwitted proverbs are not the most accurate representation of the Maltese language and so I decided to go into a more credible source, the government of Malta website, to see how much I can understand from the Maltese written over there! I randomly clicked on the Health section and voila:

Saħħa

Din il-ġabra toffri links għal sptarijiet u servizzi farmaċewtiċi u wkoll links għal servizzi provduti minn aġenziji oħra. Issib ukoll informazzjoni biex tgħinek tgħix ħajja b'saħħitha, u fatti nteressanti u statistika dwar is-saħħa. Hemm ukoll taqsima speċjali għall-Prattikanti tal-Mediċina.

Health

This cluster offers links to hospitals and pharmaceutical services and also links to services provided by other agencies. Information to help you lead a healthy lifestyle and interesting health facts and statistics are also available here. There is also a special section for Medical Practitioners.

Obviously, this excerpt looks more sophisticated than the previous funny proverbs; it is also more difficult to understand for a native-Arabic speaker, however, there are certain phrases that can be easily understood by just relying on our Arabic knowledge and they are the following:

minn aġenziji oħra: by other agencies
ħajja b'saħħitha: healthy lifestyle
is-saħħa: the health
taqsima speċjali: special section

and then by relying on our knowledge of any Indo-European language we speak: English, French, Italian, etc. and some common sense, we should be able to understand another good chunk of it: farmaċewtiċi, servizzi, statistika, etc..

Apparently, the Maltese language is written using Latin alphabets, therefore, while an Arabic-speaking person would be able to understand some Maltese, the average Maltese speaker will not be able to read Arabic. It is also important to note here that both Maltese and English are the official languages of Malta. In fact, English is almost spoken by everyone that many people believe learning Maltese is virtually useless. If I remember correctly, one of the English teachers at my school back in Bahrain was Maltese! On the other hand, there are many people like this passionate guy, who believes that the Maltese language should be protected and cherished as a national heritage. He says:

It is true that English is also our official language. But we have only one national language that distinguishes us from all other people in the world, and that is Maltese.

If for no other reason we have to protect Maltese as part of our national heritage, of which every Maltese worth his name should be proud. English is an official working language for us, inherited through our colonial history. It could have been Italian, Spanish or French or any other used by colonisers. But what identifies us as Maltese is the Maltese language.

Hmmm. But wasn't the Muslim conquest of Malta a form of colonialism and the impact it had on the Maltese language, an unfavorable consequence of colonialism? *Ponders*

Learn some marketing skills

2004-06-14T23:52:00.000-05:00

I was searching through my files for some interesting photos to share and I cam across the following pictures which were taken during a trip to Iran.

We were in the car when those stacks of red shining pomegranate (rumman in Arabic) caught our attention and so we stopped to have some.

As we came closer to the street vendor, we realized that there were only few boxes of rumman and the rest were only red painted balls!

Let me zoom in a bit more so you can have a better picture

Smart trick, isn’t it?

I haven’t seen it in Bahrain yet, so maybe someone could spread the word :-)

ALLAH MADE ME FUNNY

2004-06-14T00:05:00.000-05:00

I watched some segments of the show on TV and I found it hilarious!

“Can you imagine…we still have kings and kingdoms in the Muslim world! Are we still in the 15th century or waht? Yeah we are, according to the Muslim calendar!”

That was one of the jokes I can recall right now.

note: 2004 is the year 1425 according to the lunar Islamic calendar, which begins on the year the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) emigrated to Madina. So the Muslim world is both literally and metaphorically in the 15th century :-)

THE QUESTION has always been where can Muslims and non-Muslims go for social growth, and entertainment by us, for us, and about us? The answer? "Allah Made Me Funny : The Official Muslim Comedy Tour."

“The concept of this tour is to make a comprehensive effort to provide effective, significant, and appropriate comedy with an Islamic perspective, which is both mainstream and cross-cultural. The idea is to provide a venue whereby Muslims and non-Muslims can feel safe, relevant, and inclusive of an experience where humor is used to bridge gaps of bias, intolerance, and other social ills that are pre and post 9/11 relevant,” allahmademefunny.com

There are jokes about the “super-hijabies” (i.e. women covered up head to toe with only their eyes showing) and about the dreams of a young American Muslim boy being shattered because he cannot be a pilot anymore..

All the jokes were clean, yet funny… (well, at least the ones i've heard so far)

With an open mind… and an open heart… they should not offend anyone.

Comedy is good for you :)

Sign

2004-06-12T19:52:00.001-05:00

While biking today, I came across this sign:

Pick up and take away your animal’s waste
Emportez les excréments de votre animal

and there is a little drawing to show you how to do it in case your intelligence betrays you :)

I've actually seen people picking up and taking away the waste of their dogs. I was very impressed! I can't even imagine seeing that happening in the Middle East. Dogs and horses' excrement on sidewalks and roadsides are left behind until a poor Indian worker who wakes up at 4.00 am in the morning picks it up as part of his daily routine.

Why are Canadians obliged to clean after their animals and if they don't, they get penalized, while we, Arabs, don't even consider it as an option?

Documentaries

2004-06-07T18:53:00.000-05:00

Below are some of the documentaries I have recently watched. Some are touching, others are appalling, but all are worth watching.

In The Name of God: Scenes from the Extreme: A glimpse into extreme fundamentalist communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine

Easy Prey: Inside the Child Sex Trade: Child prostitution and trafficking in Romania

Garden: Life of gay Arab teenagers in the red light district of Tel Aviv, aka "the Garden"

My Flesh and Blood: Story of a single mother and her 11 adopted special needs children.

Why did they Kill their Neighbours?: A story of a man who murdered his own family memebers in the 1994 genocide in Rawanda

Bowling for Columbine: About the roots of gun violence in America.

Dying to be Apart: The story of Ladan and Laleh Bijani - the conjoined iranian twins.

Muhammad Ali - Through the Eyes of the World

Arna's Children

A Devout Beggar

2004-06-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

"Jesus loves you, whether you're white or brown or whatever. Can you spare me some change?"

"Do you mind if I take a photo?"

An assurance that Jesus loves me and a pose for a photo for one buck, good deal!

Travel

2004-06-03T18:59:00.000-05:00

تغرب عن الأوطان في طلب العلا و سافر ففي الأسفار خمس فوائـد
تفرج هم واكتســــاب معيشة و علم وآداب وصحبة مـــاجد
فإن قيل في الأسفار هم وكربـة و تشتيت شمل وارتكاب الشدائـد
فموت الفتى خير له من حياتـه بدار هوان بين واش وحــاسد

الإمام علي كرم الله وجهه-

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes to this world was mom and dad’s face staring at their newborn baby, and the next thing was probably a world map! There were maps all over the house, in the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. Physical, political, and all sorts of thematic maps were framed and hung on the wall or tucked under glass tabletops. The plastic ball we used to play with and the lamp on the comodino beside my bed were in the shape of a globe, and even the jigsaw puzzle I enjoyed putting together was of a world map. For some reason, world geography became an integral part of the house.

As kids, my siblings and I would enjoy sitting around and quizzing each other with geography questions. We used to memorize the entire capitals of the world and know the colors and symbols that each flag consists of. Maps, flags, and prime political figures were our passion. In no time we were experts. My parents, aunts, and uncles would sometimes refer to us for specific information, and if we knew the answer, the widest smile of self-esteem would be drawn on our faces and if we didn’t, the desire to enhance our knowledge would be greater than ever.

I remember my geography teacher asked the class once to draw the map of the world without looking at it. Of course, I already knew it by heart and I also had the advantage of being good at drawing. So, in a matter of few minutes, I’ve drawn a fairly accurate map with all the oceans, continents and major cities of the world labeled. The teacher sure was surprised and the students filled the classroom with their oohhs and aahhs. Similar tour de forces would be achieved until I got quite blasé about it.

As a kid, so naive and unreflective, I wasn’t quite aware of the importance and benefits of travel. As I grew older, however, I became to realize that traveling is more than making a journey over a long distance. It’s a way of stretching your mind and embracing everything that’s new and different. It is about stepping past the borders you grew up in to submerse yourself in a new lifestyle.

The person who doesn’t knead with the people of the country he is visiting. If he doesn’t intermingle with the new sights, smells, and sounds. If the traveler goes to Egypt and doesn't master the art of bargaining or goes to Agra and doesn't feel jealous of Mumtaz Mahal; if he goes to Arabia and doesn't get touched by the calls to prayer, or goes to Brazil and doesn’t get the itch to dance the Samba; if the traveler doesn’t experience firsthand how others do things differently and returns from a place exactly the same way he entered it, then he sure did something wrong and have missed the whole purpose of being there!

Islam: My Humble Opinion

2004-06-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Islam needs to be safeguarded from Muslims themselves before anyone else.

In our part of the world, it’s easy to fall prey for intellectual and ideological monopolists who literally monopolize certain subjects namely, religion, and end up making it their own intellectual property. They’re the only ones who are allowed to explain it, to defend it, to preach about it, to beautify it, to disfigure it, and to mold it between their hands into what pleases them. While the rest of the world encourages individualism, they encourage you to follow them blindly. It is considered a sign of devotion and unshaken faith to do so because you are putting your trust on people of knowledge and intellect. And many people do. They follow the conscious of others rather than their own. Some end up in safe hands but others end up between the clutches of those who encourage Sept.11, Al-Khobar attacks, and the bombings of innocent civilians, or I beg your pardon “corrupt infidels.”

In a time when religion is being ripped apart by both its opponents and defendants, normal adherents, like you and I, end up being lost in the middle, confused on the reality of our own faith, we become cursed if we do what they say and even more cursed when we don’t. No wonder why people are turning away from religion whether consciously or unconsciously. Religion has become such an unattractive alternative.

My point here is that learning by example is an important form of learning. It is reinforcement for the knowledge we obtain. Unfortunately, this good example is absent from our Islamic world. One does not have to look hard to realize that the reality of Islam on the ground is very different from the ideals of love, peace, tolerance, unity, modesty, etc that not only Islam but all religions teach.

Extremism, intolerance, spendthrift, slander, backbiting, imbalance, disunity, vulgarity, you name it, are all behaviors that have been repeatedly condemned and prohibited in the Holy Quran. Unfortunately, however, these activities are not rare in the Islamic world; in fact they are very common, to the point of becoming habits and norms, both on an individual and society level. That’s very saddening. It’s a shame when the Quran says “be not divided among yourselves” and we see Shiites and Sunnis disqualifying each other and disintegrating. It’s a shame when the Quran says “fight against those who fight against you, but do not transgress limits” and we see Islamic militias exceeding all plausible limits in their acts of violence. It’s a shame, when the Quran says, “squander not your wealth in the manner of spendthrift” and we see Muslims doing just the opposite. It’s a shame when the Quran says “do not commit excess in your religion” and we see Muslims in ALL sects exaggerating in the manifestation of their belief. I can go on and on and the point remains that we make no effort whatsoever in obeying the word of God whom we worship, yet we keep emphasizing our Muslim identity and many people take it even a step further by doing what they do in the Name of Islam and for the Love of God. It’s ironic.

I have to mention here that certain verses in the Quran, when read literally, ahistorically, and out of context can end up justifying certain acts of violence that Muslim fundamentalists commit. Those verses are offered as textual references to the violence carried out against innocent civilians. This is not Islam. One has to realize that when ignorance, arrogance, and belligerency come together, you have the perfect recipe for violence. That is true not only in religion, but in any doctrine or ideology that is approached in a similar manner, and Islam, evidently, is no exception.

Anyway, below is a subtitled list of my favorite Quranic verses that illustrate this discrepancy between Islam and Muslims, all Muslims, from the average person in the streets of Riyadh, Manama, and Amman to the terrorist in the caves of Tora Bora.

Note: The following verses are by no means the only ones related to the following topics. These are only some of the verses I came across through my reading of the Quran (English/Arabic)

Balance and Moderation

“O people of the book commit no excess in your religion” (4:171) another translation of the same verse reads: “O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion”

"Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight against you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors." (2:190)

The servants of God are those “who when they spend, are neither extravagant nor parsimonious, and (keep) between these the just mean.” (25:67)

“Squander not your wealth in the manner of a spendthrift” (17:26)

"Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance but commit no excess therein" (20:81)

Religions, Tolerance and Freedom of Belief

“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error” (2:256)

“Say: O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship…To you be your Way, and to me mine” (109: 1,2,6)

“If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!” (10:99)

“Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and doeth right, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (2:62)

“Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And unto Him we have surrendered.” (2:136)

“Say: O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with him” (3: 64)

“And dispute ye not with the People of the Book except by what is best, but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and to Him we submit” (29:46)

Unity

“O ye who believe! (…) hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren (…) Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong (…) Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs: For them is a dreadful penalty” (3: 102-105)

"As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did." (6:159)

Speech and Manners

“And tell my servants that they should speak in a most kindly manner.” (17:53)

“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious” (16:125)

“And the servants of (Allah) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, "Peace!" (25:63)

"O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames.” (49: 11)

Understanding the Quran

“He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.” (2:7)

Those Who Reject Faith

“They deny what their knowledge does not encompass” (10:39)

“As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.” (2:6)

“Those who reject faith... the loss is their own.” (2:121)

Relationships

“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.” (49:13)

“He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He ordained between you love and mercy.” (30:21)

Beauty and Enjoyment

“Say: Who is there to forbid the beauty which God has brought forth for His creatures, and the good things from among the means of sustenance? Say: They are (lawful) in the life of this world unto all who have attained to faith -- to be theirs alone on the Day of Judgment.” (7:32)

“O children of Adam! Beautify yourselves for every act of worship, and eat and drink freely, but do not waste: verily He does not love the wasteful.” (7:31)

Martyrs

And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah: "They are dead." Nay, they are living, though ye perceive (it) not. (2:154)

Doubt? Reassurance?

When Abraham said: "Show me, Lord, how You will raise the dead, " He replied: "Have you no faith?" He said "Yes, but just to reassure my heart."

Status of Parents

"Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or more attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say, "my Lord! bestow on them Thy Mercy, even as they cherished me in childhood." (7:23-24)

"We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents; in pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth." (46:15)

"We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents; but if they strive (to force) thee to join with Me anything of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not." (29:8)

“And we have enjoined upon man to be careful of his parents, His mother bears him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years, so give thanks to Me and to your parents, for unto Me is the journeying. But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not, but deal with them nicely in the world and follow the path of him who repents to Me." (31:14-15)

The Soul

"Nor do I (joseph) absolve my own self (of blame): the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil (…) but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (12:53)

“And fear the Day when ye shall be brought back to Allah. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned, and none shall be dealt with unjustly.” (2:281)

“On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns” (2:286)

“By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it…and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right” (91:7-8)

Miscellaneous

“O ye who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another.” (49:12)

"O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done." (6:49)

“If you give alms openly, it is well, and if you hide it and give it to the poor, it is better for you” (2:271)

They say: "Trade is like usury," but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. (2:275)

“If the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew.” (2:280)

“Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere” (2:155)

“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.” (2:186)

“It is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you.” (2:216)

“They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." (2:219)

“For Allah is full of bounty to mankind, but Most of them are ungrateful.” (2:243)

Worship none but Allah; treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need; speak fair to the people; be steadfast in prayer; and practice regular charity (2:83)

Whoever submits His whole self to Allah and is a doer of good,- He will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (2:112)

Arabic Poetry

2004-05-30T20:37:00.000-05:00

Better to quarrel with the wound
Than be intimate with the knife.

- Qassim Haddad

Jehat Al Shi’ir is one of the best Arabic poetry websites on the Internet. Incidentally, it is based in Bahrain and is directed by Qassim Haddad, a very famous and respected Bahraini poet. It’s definitely worthy of being bookmarked if you’re into Modern Arabic Poetry.

A good feature in the website is having many of its Arabic sections translated into English, French, Spanish, and Dutch.. that's an excellent way to introdue and familiarize Arabic Poetry to people beyond the Arab world.

This is another link to one of my favourite websites on Arabic Literature and Poetry.

My Paper Money Collection

2004-05-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

My dad was an avid collector of many things including coins and paper money. He stopped collecting for quite a while and generously gave me the opportunity and responsibility to build on his collection. Many of the paper money I have are not used anymore which makes them even more valuable. The collection has been growing pretty fast as I travel and as my friends from all around the world keep sending me.

There is so much to learn from those tiny little pieces of paper. They give a glimpse into the country's history, its achievements, arts, politics, etc. I enjoy looking at the designs, the colors and fonts used... I research about the person printed in the currency, the watermarked historical sites and all the other details that say quite a lot.

I’ve recently received some Chinese paper money from a Finnish friend of mine. Besides the Chinese characters that appear in large font on one side of the 1 yuan, I noticed 4 small writings on the reverse of it, one of which is written in Arabic script.

One Yuan: click one image to enlarge
After some research, I learned that it is written in Uyghur which is a Turkic language spoken in Xinjiang province (aka the Chinese Turkistan) Xinjiang Province is the largest province in China and the majority of its population are Muslims. The people in Xinjiang province are not Han Chinese, they are Turkic people mostly Uyghurs and Kazakhs... that’s why they have that beautiful Mogul complexion on their faces:

Besides the Uyghur in Arabic script, the other 3 written languages that appear in the bottom of the banknote are: Mongol (Mongolian), Zang (Tibetan), and Zhuang. These languages represent the minority groups in the autonomous provinces of China.

Here is a typical? Uyghur sign in Xinjiang Province!

Even though I knew there are millions of Muslims in China, I didn’t expect that they had a widely-used language based entirely on Arabic script. I remember a Chinese friend of mine saw some Arabic writing in a book I had and it was totally unfamiliar to her. I found that to be a bit strange, given that Arabic script is written on every single Chinese banknote.

Anyway, throughout my research about Uyghurs and Xinjiang province, I learned many interesting facts about Muslims in China. If you're interested, you may want to check out this website for a short summary.

Chat: Girls!

2004-05-25T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is a chat between two friends of mine. The chat, by itself, is unfortunately considered a typical conversation between any two girls. It doesn’t go beyond the usual what-to-wear and how-to-look topics of discussion. But, if you wish to learn something from it, then you sure can. It’s an insight into the makeup of one segment of the Bahraini society and how social and religious conventions play a huge role in the sneaky attitude and the multiple identities people adopt. It saddens me that many capable and intelligent young people, especially girls end up living lives which lack the commitment and motivation to do things of value that will make a positive difference in our society. I am mainly referring here to the obsession girls have on looks, “beauty”, and physical appearance. It’s crazy how lives are being built on and revolve around such flimsy concepts. This is a serious problem because it means that all the money, energy, and time that could be invested on education, knowledge, global awareness, hobbies, self-improvement and other things that could elevate the standard of our society, is spent on clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, and building an ego that is insecure and easily threatened. I won’t be exaggerating to say that many, if not most of the girls in Bahrain are in the same boat. The desire to conform, man’s expectations from woman, lack of confidence, despair from having any other opportunity, you name it… are all factors that influence their behavior...and to top it all off, the feeling of being beautiful, sexy, and attractive and being told that, is so rewarding and satisfying that any opportunity cost becomes very well worth it.

Here's the conversation:

A: by the way, do you have a good hair dryer? and what type is it? the big one or the one with the brush stuck to it?

B: i have two, one with the brush stuck to it and the straightner..the iron one

A: You don’t have a hair dryer like the big ones they have in the saloons?

B: nope, but I think the one I use is good because it does my hair just fine, so i'm sure it will do yours just as well

A: ha ok, i don’t like the iron straightener but i will manage with the other one

B: okay

A: I don't do my hair that often anymore because when i get out from the shower its already straight...but just in case..

B: Hey listen, i will try too loose more weight before you come…coz I want you to be my fashion designer… I want to change my style…

A: sure, I need to do a lot of shopping too

B: ohhh, I forgot to tell you.. this is major news...I finally bought a baby pink top and I wore it yesterday…so this is a step forward towards wearing colors… instead of all black

A: wow… mabrooook

B: yah hehe, this is the only colored shirt I have

A: this is a big big step, we will buy for you more bright colored shirts inshallah

B: yep, btw have you seen the delegates of miss universe 2004?

A: no

B: it’s on june first, so watch it.

A: inshallah

B: I remember it used to be the event of the year … we all go to uncle Saeid's house to watch it

A: ya i know

B: haha

A: cuz he enjoys watching pretty woman with bikinis heheh

B: all men do..uncle Saeid is supposed to be the "mosque and maatam" guy but look at what-

A: yeah..it's just infront of the people...

A: Do you have beaches there?

B: haha why?

A: i wont wear a bikini, don’t worry… im just asking

B: yes, there are beaches and they’re relatively clean

A: ya i know, not like the ones we have in Bahrain

B: but canada is not considered a “beach country”

A: ya i know

B: but we will take you to the beach one day... we can just have a barbecue party..

A: ya that's what i want... oh and one more thing… I might wear sleeveless shirts and stuff, do you mind?

B: no, i don't mind...i wear sleeveless shirts and tight tops when i go jogging

A: really, hehe cute...good… good…I need to take my freedom for once

B: yep

A: you know my mother doesn’t mind if I wear sleeveless clothes, but not infront of my brothers u know …so it's not like I will be doing things behind my mother's back...I will be wise.

B: I know.. I know

A: its just that i need to feel more comfortable when we go shopping and stuff…

B: sure.. we’ll have so much fun

A: allaaaaaaaaaaaay [bahraini expression of excitement]

B: hahahah

A: I will finally come to Canada!

B: yes, finally!

A: hehe i know that there is a smile on ur face right now

B: hahahah…yup

B: and i'm laughing alone

A: ya me too

B: i'm so excited now …we haven’t seen each other for such a long long time

B: yeah, I'm really looking forward to having you with us in Canada. Anyway, i have to go to the gym now, I will talk to you later.

A: okay.. yalla bye

B: yalla bye bye

Bahrain: A Tradition of Demonstrations

2004-05-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

Since I moved to study in Canada, I haven't been closely following the news in Bahrain. Every once in a while I would skim through the websites of local Bahraini newspapers or ask friends and family members about recent updates and that's about it. Thanks to a few Bahraini blogs (check my link list) I can now learn about what’s happening back home in a timelier manner and from a far more interesting perspective.

Latest event was a protest in Manama against what’s happening in the holy shrines of Najaf and Karbala. The huge crowd resulted in confrontations with the police who tried to oppress the demonstrations using their usual force tactics. Weird how police, who are supposed to maintain the peace and order…end up causing all the mess. Talk about getting the job done right!

Even though it’s very disappointing to know that a peaceful demonstration has been dealt with by the police in such an oppressive manner, I really feel proud that Bahrainis continue to express themselves without fearing the consequences. I personally don't regard those demonstrations as signs of unrest or instability but as signs of an alive and active society that is speaking out and doing something about the injustices that occur.

Speaking of demonstrations, I would like to share a couple of old pictures illustrating this long tradition of political and religious manifestation in Bahrain. I am not sure of the exact years or occasions so if anyone could correct me or fill me in with more details I would appreciate it.

My friend approximates that this picture is taken in the 1940’s. It clearly shows an azza procession. Boy, people looked different back in those days. Azza is a religious procession usually held by shia Muslims when commemorating the death of important religious figures. It mainly involves chanting eulogies and hitting oneself on the chest as an expression of grief and sadness.

This picture could have been taken the 1960’s. It's a political demonstration; I am not sure what the demonstration was about.

click on image to enlarge

Arna's Children

2004-05-17T01:24:00.000-05:00

I saw Arna's Children in the Passionate Eye. Excellent heart-breaking documentary to say the least. I hope everyone gets the chance to see it.

ARNA'S CHILDREN tells the story of a theatre group that was established by Arna Mer Khamis. Arna comes from a Zionist family and in the 1950s married a Palestinian Arab, Saliba Khamis. On the West Bank, she opened an alternative education system for children whose regular life was disrupted by the Israeli occupation. The theatre group that she started engaged children from Jenin, helping them to express their everyday frustrations, anger, bitterness and fear. Arna's son Juliano, director of this film, was also one of the directors of Jenin's theatre. With his camera, he filmed the children during rehearsal periods from 1989 to 1996. Now, he goes back to see what happened to them. Yussef committed a suicide attack in Hadera in 2001, Ashraf was killed in the battle of Jenin, Alla leads a resistance group. Juliano, who today is one of the leading actors in the region, looks back in time in Jenin, trying to understand the choices made by the children he loved and worked with. Eight years ago, the theatre was closed and life became static and paralysed. Shifting back and forth in time, the film reveals the tragedy and horror of lives trapped by the circumstances of the Israeli occupation. click here for more

The Arabic Language and My Fanaticism

2004-05-15T21:56:00.000-05:00

My friend and I were having a chat in a shawarma place here in Canada when the Lebanese owner of the restaurant curiously asked: “How come you’re both from Bahrain but you speak very differently?!” My friend and I broke out into laughter because we do have very different accents and we very often make fun of it. You don’t even have to understand Arabic in order to notice the difference in the way a person from Muharraq speaks in comparison to a person from Manama. I, myself, wonder how almost each village in Bahrain ended up having a very distinctive accent of its own. This could make for a very interesting study. Anyway, I find the variety of accents and dialects a very interesting phenomenon. The Arab world is a perfect case in point. Dialects significantly vary from one Arab country to the next and if it wasn’t for radio and television, understanding one another would have been quite a challenge. Despite the beauty of dialects, however, and the distinctiveness they add to the different cultures, I would rather see them disappear from the Arab world. If a linguistic genie comes to me one day and asks me to make a wish for the Arab world it would definitely be to eradicate all the accents and dialects spoken by the Arab people. I know this sounds very radical, but I seriously believe that if classical (fusha) Arabic was the common day-to-day language used by every Arab citizen, the Arab world would have easily been the pinnacle of world literature and poetry. I am certain that one reason behind the golden era of Arab culture and science was the fact that classical Arabic was mastered by everyone. It was the language spoken by the common man and hence it was easy for people to articulate their ideas in a lucid and intelligible manner. They spoke the language so eloquently that their poetry was improvised. Fine speech was their lifestyle. Now, I don’t want to render local dialects as being useless because they have produced a wide ranging form of popular art and folklore across the Arab world but just thinking of the amount of benefit we could obtain by internalizing classical Arabic as our every day language, local dialects become worth the sacrifice- if compromise was not an option. In a nutshell, I think that we should not underestimate the shortcomings of not writing the way we talk or rather not talking the way we write.

The sad thing… or the funny thing (depending on how you look at it) is that if I approach my friends today and start talking with them in classical Arabic, they won’t take me seriously. I would probably be laughed at for sounding like a cartoon character. It would be equivalent to using Shakespearean English in a casual conversation. That should not be the case because classical Arabic is the only formal way we can communicate in and for a formal way of communication to be so outlandish for us is not exactly what we want. It is also disappointing to know that a significant amount of the literate Arab population who supposedly speak Arabic are not able to form one coherent sentence in classical Arabic without having some major flaw in it . This is very unfortunate because it means that a major form of expression is eliminated.

The last time I was in Bahrain, I watched a debate on Bahrain television, can’t remember if it was a shura council or a parliamentary session debate…all I remember is that the public speaking skills of the men who spoke out leave a lot to be desired. They say it’s better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and prove it. How true. However, I am certain that if classical Arabic was spoken in such public forums the nonsense being said would have sounded way better.

Oh well, regardless of how the Arabic language is being spoken, I think it is the most beautiful language in the world. It looks beautiful in writing. It sounds beautiful when spoken in prose, read in poetry, or recited from the Holy Quran.. and above all it is amazingly structured…knowing Arabic is like weaving a Persian carpet, once you know how the inner knots are made, the possibilities of developing words and connotations are infinite.

Sorry for sounding like a linguistic chauvinist, but I’m writing this post directly after spending some time reading Al Motanabby’s poetry and so I am in a kind of an ultra-appreciative mood for the Arabic language.

But anyways... since this linguistic genie of mine will never come… and since it will take centuries and centuries for dialects to disappear and real language to prevail and that is only IF the desire to change was there in the first place… and since fairouz sings in dialect and we all want to continue listening to her... I have another more realistic wish to make…and that is simply for the Arabic language to be less strange and more familiar to us as Arab people.

now, you might wonder why on earth am I writing this blog in English.

OSAMA

2004-05-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

OSAMA is a movie about a young afghan girl disguised as a boy to support her family. What I liked most about the movie is the cinematography. The use of color is fantastic… every scene in the movie is a work of art. I liked the raw looks of the afghan people. They are untouched by the outside world, strong in their simplicity, serene despite all their suffering. The depiction of the characters was pretty effective too…be it the flamboyant mullah who is obsessed with wet dreams ablution… or the young Espandi who talks a lot… or the judge whose decision to execute people is as easy as fingering a bead in his misbah… they all had this air of authenticity in them.

Just few weeks ago before watching OSAMA, I watched an Iranian movie called “BARAN”. It was also about a young afghan girl (a refugee in Tehran) disguised as a boy in order to work and provide for her family. It’s hard to believe how oppression could reach to such extremes as to force people to take on measures that can hardly be considered as sensible plausible options to take. An afghan friend of mine who is living in Canada told me that two girls in his family back in Afghanistan had to disguise themselves as boys for a couple of years because they did not have a man to work and take care of the family. One of the girls couldn’t get away with it for too long because her breasts started growing. The other girl got so used to her role as a boy that her voice and behavior, after she had to be a girl again, were still very masculine.

Reality is stranger than fiction sometimes!

In the Name of Identity

2004-05-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

When I first moved to study in Canada I was fascinated by its diversity and multiculturalism. I still am. I loved asking people about their experience moving to and living in Canada. One common question I used to ask was: “Do you feel more Canadian or Indian/Arab/Latino/Russian/or whatever their ethnicity was?” I never got any definite answers and that's probably because my question is fundamentally flawed.

In his book, Amin Maalouf begins by expressing his concern over the political correctness or rather incorrectness of this question that I have been asking many people. He says: “How many times, since I left Lebanon in 1967 to live in France, have people asked me, with the best intentions in the world, whether I felt “more French” or “more Lebanese.” Questions like that bothered him because they require a choice to be made while he firmly believes that identity CANNOT be compartmentalized. “You can’t divide it up into halves or thirds or any other separate segments. I haven’t got several identities: I’ve got just one, made up of many components in a mixture that is unique just to me, just as other people’s identity is unique to them as individuals.” Amin Maalouf is Arab, French, Lebanese, Catholic, and a mixture of other “components” and he rejects to slice and dice himself up into multiple identities or to be put in situations that would require him to choose an either/or.

The book reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend from Bahrain some few years ago. Before getting into what he said however, I should mention to those who don't know that Bahrain, relative to its small size, is a very diverse place...there are Sunnis, Shias, Arabs, Ajams, etc.. This diversity naturally caused some friction not very long ago in Bahrain’s history. Accepting, understanding, and embracing the other.... be it at school, the streets, or the workplace took some time and is still an ongoing process.

Anyway, my friend is Bahraini from Iranian decent. Most Bahrainis like him, in addition to Arabic, speak Farsi or rather a very informal dialect of Farsi locally referred to as "Ijmi." To my surprise, he told me one day:"I am a person with no identity. I am not Bahraini and I doubt most Bahrainis consider me as one. Many members of my family don’t even understand or speak a word of Arabic. I am not Iranian either. I’ve never set foot in Iran nor do I have any family over there... I belong nowhere." He said that but I don’t know if he really meant it. It could have been just one of those moments of anger or depression or whatever. But that’s beside the point because it really made me think that there could be many other Bahrainis who feel the same way. In multicultural places like Canada, the US, UK, Australia, etc. this might not be an issue with most people. However, in a country like Bahrain and in a region like the Arab world, citizenship and affiliation seem to be an issue. Society in general puts a pressure on individuals to reduce their identity to one single affiliation. And that is wrong from both a religious and a social point of view because “it encourages people to adopt an attitude that is partial, sectarian, intolerant, and domineering.” People MUST feel at home in the place they live in. “When someone feels that his language is despised, his religion is ridiculed and his culture is disparaged, he is likely to react by flaunting the signs of his difference. On the other hand, when someone feels he has a place in the country where he has chosen to live, then he will behave in quite another manner.”