Life is a tease!

Life is beautiful, but can be cruel, bringing within your reach something you have always longed for at a time when you cannot reach for and have it.

When Magical and Real meet

It is at that point where magical meets real that memorable moments are born.

Trial of the Century in Egypt botched by the village idiots

You all probably know by now that the so called trial of the century for Mubarak, the deposed president f Egypt, his Minster of Interior, Al-Adly, Mubarak's children and 6 most senior assistants of the Minister of Interiors has ended with a fizzle.

Mubarak and al-Adly received life sentences (that I am certain will be reversed on appeal), and ALL the others got acquitted.

A lot of Egyptians are mad as hell.  Count me one of those for many reasons.  Reading the reasons for judgments (حيثيات الحكم) is enough to get one's blood pressure go through the roof.

I am cutting and pasting here from my facebook comments on the subject with some thoughts and feeling about the trial. So, excuse me if it is coming across choppy.

سماع و قراءة حيثيات الحكم في قضية "القرن" تثير الغثيان. ما هو قدر عدم الكفاءة المطلوب كي تصبح احد اعضاء النيابة الخمسة في اكبر قضية في تاريخ مصر و العالم العربي؟ بيدو ان اي قدر من الكفاءة سيكون من معوقات الحصول علي الوظيفة. أرشح اعضاء النيابة في القضية لجائزة عبيط القرية الاول.

Reading or listening to the Reasons of Judgement in the so-called "Egypt's trial of the Century"  is simply nauseating.  How much ineptness does it take to qualify for a prosecutor's position? It seems clear that any degree of legal proficiency is a great impediment to getting a position as a prosecutor (النيابة).

I know it sounds strange at this time (since all Egypt is mad at the judge), but I kind feel bad for the presiding judge, Rifaat. Without proofs what was he supposed to do? My gut feeling, he took it on his own to give the top 2 accused (Mubarak and Adly) a guilty verdict with life sentence because he simply could not let them go. It was distasteful by all moral standards to let them go.  He just could not stomach it, even though he was not provided with any material proof. If the evidence is as meager as was seen on TV during some of the last few public sessions and as per his ruling statements, he probably would have had to give them all innocent verdict if he wanted to be legally in the clear.

For those non-Arabic speakers who followed the so-called "trial of the century" of Mubarak and his security assistants, but could not read the reason of verdict, here it is: 

The reasons for judgement provided by the judge for acquitting the 6 most senior assistance of the minister if interiors included the following: no material evidence linking would of the dead and injured to the weapons of the police, no evidence of communication (wired or wireless) between the acquitted leaders and their troops re the actions taken, no reliable weapons, ammunition or recovered bullets linking any police weapons to injuries (in a case that included including charges for the death of 850 Egyptians and injuring/assaulting 7000 others over 17 days of assault on the unarmed demonstrators, the prosecutors presented 4 guns and about 10 bullets in total). 

Prosecution witnesses were all deemed unreliable with past history perjury for some and previous media releases of suspicious nature for others.

The village idiots (playing the role of the prosecution) also filed the abuse of power and embezzlement charges against the children of Mubarak AFTER the statute of limitations has expired.  They actually chose - of all the corruption charges possible against Mubarak and his family after 30 years in power - to present a charge that has expired.  an no one notice that over the 10 month trial till the verdict was released less than 24 hours ago 

Prosecutors positions in Egypt are some of the most privileged and prestigious positions in the government.  It secures a life-long guaranteed career of financial comfort in a position of power, total immunity from nearly anything, and and easy access to a judge positions after few years.  As you would have imagined, they were exclusively filled with the children of the rich and powerful, especially in the higher-ups in the military, police and judiciary. Moreover, Law school of Egypt is not like hear: it takes the BOTTOM tier of students, so we are not starting with the creme de la creme anyway.

And I have to finish in a lighter note, otherwise I will have to bang my head into the wall.

And the Village Idiots prize of the Century goes to... the 5 members of the Egyptian prosecution in the trial of the century.

Egyptians are expecting to have many more days and months of turmoil. Tens of thousands are back into the Tahrir square. I do not know how much more blood would be shed before they start getting any breaks.

May God help us all.

Khaled

الأولى - أسباب الأحكام‏:‏ لا أدلة مادية أو فنية أو تسجيلات لم يثبت وفاة المجني عليهم بأسلحة الشرطة

Islamic Parties may rule Egypt, but Islam does not

The political situation in Egypt is very depressing for me and for most of the Egyptians I know, both in Egypt and out outside it.  The most obvious reason for that is the total lack of transparency in the political scene, combined with near total lack of credibility in Egyptian media.

Poor credibility, lack of political integrity and absent strategic vision taint the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and Salafi Islamic parties,  as much as it taints the more secular, progressive and liberal groups.  Most Egyptians I interact with, which – for full disclosure – is not a representative sample of all Egyptians, feel totally lost.  They have no one that speaks for them, and no clear political figure that they trust.

I have no trust in  the ability of Islamic-leaning parties  to lead politically, yet I have to admit that the election that brought them to power was technically fair election for the most part.  They control 70% of the seats in the parliament: 45% for MB, and about 25% for Salafi groups.  The secular, liberal and progressive groups suffered humiliating loss garnering less than 20% of the votes.  The remaining 10% or so belong to Wafd Party that truly is a Machiavellian Chameleon that is hard to classify politically, and I personally would not rust with a penny.

And even though I am a believer in Islam and a practicing Muslim, I have to admit: I do not like any groups to rule in the name of religion, any religion.  But, in Egypt, that was the people's choice – like it or not.

But I am stull disturbed, and confused, but the results of Egyptian elections.  And here is why.

Nearly 70% of Egyptians voted willingly to be governed by parties with some version of Islamic ideology.

But, Islam is big on deeds – not words.

Quran 9:105 "And say: ‘Work (righteousness): Soon will God observe your work, and His Messenger, and the Believers: Soon will you be brought back to the Knower of what is hidden and what is open: then He will show you the truth of all that you did.’"

"وَقُلِ اعْمَلُواْ فَسَيَرَى اللّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَسَتُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ"

In Islam, you are supposed to do your work to the BEST of your ability.

"God loves, if one of you is doing something that they should perfect it".  A saying by Prophet Muhammad pbuh.

ان الله يحب اذا عمل احدكم عملا ان يتقنه""

In Islam, you should honest in your testimony, fair even to those that treat you with hatred.

Quran 5:8 "O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for God in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to God. Lo! God is Informed of what ye do."

"يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ لِلّهِ شُهَدَاء بِالْقِسْطِ وَلاَ يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ اعْدِلُواْ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ"

In Islam, you are supposed to not take, give or mediate for a bribe.

Quran 2:188 "…  nor seek by [your wealth] to gain the hearing of the judges that ye may knowingly devour a portion of the property of others wrongfully."

"وَلاَ تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَالَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتُدْلُواْ بِهَا إِلَى الْحُكَّامِ لِتَأْكُلُواْ فَرِيقًا مِّنْ أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ بِالإِثْمِ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ"

Or as the Prophet, pbuh, said "God's curse is on the one that gives a bribe, and the one that takes a bribe"

"لعنة الله على الراشي والمرتشي"

In Islam, you are supposed to care of you fellow society members as you care for your own family.

"Believers are like one body; if part of it is sick, the rest of the body responds to it with fever, and sleeplessness" ".  A saying by Prophet Muhammad pbuh.

"المؤمنون كالجسد الواحد  اذا مرض عضو منه تداعى له سائر الجسد بالسهر و الحمى"

In Islam, you are supposed to be fair, equitable, charitable, tolerant, non-argumentative, kind and merciful.

Quran 3:134 "Those who spend (of that which God hath given them) in ease and in adversity, those who control their wrath and are forgiving toward mankind; God loveth the good;"

"الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاء وَالضَّرَّاء وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ"

And Quran 42:40  " But requiting evil may, too, become an evil: hence, whoever pardons [his foe] and makes peace, his reward rests with God - for, verily, He does not love evildoers."

"وَجَزَاء سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ"

In Islam, you are supposed to put your faith to work.  And when you do that, the society you live in transforms into a society where life is worth living and you become the envy of the world.

Well, Egypt is far from that enviable society.  That make me, and many others, wonder: if 70% of Egyptians voted freely for someone that declares Islam as a reference ideology, how come that Egypt is in the deep social, moral and economic trouble it is deep in?

And more importantly, if Islam-based political powers, be it Salafi movements or the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood are really keen on repairing and healing the society, rather that just being power hungry, how come they have not initiated nation-wide Islam-based campaigns encouraging their voters - the huge 70% of the population - to correct the social and moral evils that plague Egypt rather than focus on getting votes of those that responded to political Islamic slogans with no desire or intention to live Islamic morals rather that just vote for the candidate with Islamic slogan?

People of God care more - or should care more - about goals of religion and not about political positions.  If they control the hearts and minds of that huge segment of the population, why have not we seen any real change into the why their followers lead their lives?  If they do have that power over people and their use it for good, Egypt will be rebuilt and become great, even if there is not a single Islamic party in the parliament.

 

Unfortunately, Egyptians may have voted for Islamic parties to rule Egypt, but not for Islam.

Khaled

Somehow, Israel will not be there for a long time.

Another good article by the always-level-headed Akiva Eldar. Unfortunately, and despite people like him, Israel is doomed no matter how many nuclear weapons or superpowers are at its disposal. Arrogance and supremacy are ingrained in Israeli mindset - and that is inconsistent with long-term survival.  Remember apartheid South Africa, anyone?

When Israeli arrogance meets Arab honor - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Back to my 2 cents.  Few weeks ago, and on exposure to some of the recurring expressions of Israeli arrogance and hubris, I thought that modern day Israelis owe it to the millions of their ancestor victims of the holocaust that they have a state today, otherwise the world would have hardly swallowed the idea of gathering world Jews into another people's land.

The shame is that most modern day Israelis, and many of their arrogant supporters in the world will not leave behind a great prospect for their grand children.  Exercise of arrogance, excessive use of power, and abuse of the blessing of wealth and world sympathy for decades leave the future of their grand children very likely as uncertain in that part of the world as the prospects of their ancestors having their own country were before the twenties century.  The scars of the last 60 years will not be forgotten anytime soon.

For things to remain as good for Israel as it were over the last several decades, a lot has to remain the same.  But, as history teaches us, not much remains the same: not world superpowers, not the deluded Western public opinion, not the vogue of Christian Zionism, not Arab submissiveness, and definitely not Arab dictatorships.

I am not saying that the world is ripe now for any big change, but I know that in 50-60 years, the Middle East map will not look the same.  Israel still has a chance to be a 'normal' part of the Middle East but it does not listen to its many wise voices.  

The racist, bigoted, power-drunk voices are a lot louder and they have the podium.  That is where Israel's end is coming from.

There will ALWAYS be Palestine and Palestinians. Israel as we know it today is a transient phenom. 

Khaled

Why did I feel bad telling my friends 'Merry Christmas?

I am not the kind of person that thinks twice before greeting non-Muslims on their Holy day.  Most people I know would greet me on my Islamic religious events.  Verse 4:86 of the Quran commands me that if I am greeted, I should respond with a better greeting, or at last, a similar one.

But this year I hesitated before calling my Egyptian Christian friends to tell them 'Merry Christmas' on January 7, the Egyptian Orthodox Christian Christmas day.

The reason is that for Egyptian Christians, Christmas came in the heels of a bloody New Year's Eve in which a dozen Copts were slaughtered by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, Egypt.  The victims were coming out of one of the Orthodox churches of Alexandria.  Over seventy were injured; nearly all of them Christians.

The suicide bomber's body has not been identified yet, but I hope his soul rots in Hell for what he did.

I pain I felt in my heart was profound, no less than the pain when I hear about the almost 'regularly-scheduled-massacres' that the criminal fundamentalist 'Muslims-in-name only' terrorists have been committing on weekly basis as Muslim worshiper, of a different sect than their own, are coming out of mosques after Muslim Friday Prayers.  Many such explosions also involved churches in Iraq with dozens of deaths among Iraqi Christians.

The value of human life is the same, no matter what faith it belongs to (Quran 5:32).  The pain of the senseless loss exacted in the name of my faith is the same.  I would hesitate before telling a Muslim friend Happy Ramadan, or Happy New Hijri Year if they have just lost a loved one, or if their family has been targeted by hateful criminals, just because they had a different skin color, ethnicity or a different faith. 

For Egyptian Christians it cannot a happy New Year, or a Merry Christmas when they are in the shadow of blood shed and slaughter that any of them could have suffered it they were there – horror inflicted against them all for nothing other than being faithful to the religion of their parents and grandparents.

The pain for the loss of lives on New Years Eve hurts me even more since I was born and raised in Egypt.  I know how Egyptians felt and thought those days when I was much younger, and I see how Egypt is progressively drowning deep in hate and fanaticism that is destroying Egyptian society.

Egyptian Christians are a minority, and hence they are easy targets for those who think that discriminating against Christians is, in some twisted minds, form of piety, forgetting the timeless wisdom of Prophet Muhammad saying during the last few months of his life: "He who hurts one of the people of the covenant [a term used for Christians and Jews living among Muslims], I would be his adversary [on the Day of Judgment]".

"من آذى ذميا فأنا خصمه"

The Prophet peace be upon him also said: "Whomever kills one of the people of the covenant, shall not even get a whiff of Paradise".

Life for Christians in Egypt is far from ideal.  The government systematically discriminates against them most of the time (e.g., in high ranking posts in the military and major ministerial cabinet positions), and conveniently turns a blind eye towards discrimination against them committed by educational institutions (e.g., getting university tenured positions) and occasionally by private individuals,  

And with the same government ruling with iron fist, limiting freedom of expression and harassing opposition - both religious and secular - the tensions among Egyptians are rising higher and higher on daily basis, additionally fuelled by the extreme economic hardship.

And under these circumstances, unfortunately, Christians tend to become the easy target for many Muslims.  But there is more to it than just politics. 

Many Muslim clergy have found it easier to pick on Christians and on Christianity than to confront the government with its injustices.  Confronting authority with their wrong doings and their injustices is Islamically the highest form of Jihad and pious deeds, as Prophet Muhammad said.

"أن من اعظم الجهاد كلمة حق عند سلطان جائر"

But standing up to injustice, as the Prophet has commanded us, usually means bad outcome for those clergy.  It may mean less time in the media, and goes all the way to jail, detention or worse.  So, it is a lot easier to 'express their religious zeal' by picking on a weaker target: minority people of other faith. 

That is obviously a cowardly thing to do, but for the opportunists and demagogue clergy, it is a safer bet.

If anything good may come out of these horrible events, it may be the heightened awareness of the role of the Muslim clergy in the incitement against Christians.  Maybe, just maybe, it becomes a less tolerated practice in the future.

Over the last few days, voices have come out calling for the prosecution of several clergy (namely, Zaghloul Al-Naggar, Muhammad Saleem Al-Aw'wa and Muhammad Emara) for their persistent provocative and hate-filled statements against Christians.  I really hope some serious action will be taken against them.

As academics, they cannot be excused under the pretense of academic freedom. Their statements over the years were aimed at the public more than as a discourse before students of graduate theology classes.  They were expected to know that laity and predominantly illiterate public could not handle what those clergy think of as 'factual statements'.  They know that the public lacks the nuances to see their provocative anti-Christian statements with the appropriate qualifiers and constraints.

Pseudo-intellectual and even blatantly biased statements may be occasionally tolerated in a room full of informed academics and graduate students.  But for angry, oppressed and ill-informed public, such statements are like pouring gasoline on fire.  And, unfortunately, we have seen where that took us.

In the end, I called many of my Coptic friends, congratulated them – awkwardly - on their Christmas, and expressed my sorrow for their loss, which is also MY loss on many levels.

The guilt is not mine but the pain is, and part of the shame too.

Khaled

Polygamy : My 2-cents in response to a comment.

In my previous posting Wanna b a bride, I talked about the problem facing Muslim women in many Muslim societies not finding Muslim husbands.  One of the comments mentioned polygamy in Islam asked about its impact of the problem discussed in the posting.

I responded with enough material that may deserved its own 'mini' posting.  Also, re-posting my comment may lead to stimulating a discussion on polygamy.  So, here is the question and my comment.

MW said in a comment: "If some men have more than one wife, does that mean that there is also a proportional amount of men with no wives?"

My response was:

This is not a problem in most cases because the proportion of polygamous men is tiny. I lived in Egypt for 30 years and have not known of a single person in my family, friends, family friends, coworkers and other immediate contacts that married more than one woman. It does happen (more commonly in rural areas, especially if first marriage did not produce children), but the proportion is very small.

That could theoretically still lead to disturbance of the balance between men and women available for marriage, but only if one does not know enough about the man-female sex ratio in population at different ages and under different conditions of society dynamics.

Natural discrepancy in sex survival rates, tendency in ALL societies to maintain few years difference on average between husbands and wives, emigration sex biases, wars, etc, all result in about 5% bias in favor of women. You can research this if you will. I already have.

Of course if polygyny becomes a goal in itself (usually in rich spoilt societies of the gulf), it looses the actual legitimacy that comes from the very tight regulation on polygamy in Islam. The only verse that allows polygamy (i.e., polygyny) in Islam has pretty tight conditions for that practice and, still, it was in the context of extending supportive family structure to a large number of orphans after some of the early battles that was associated with significant losses amongst Muslims men in the battle, leaving behind unsupported women and children in a society where support comes traditionally in the form of nuclear family structure.

Many Arab and Muslim societies have legally restricted the right to have more than one wife to varying degrees, and in most Muslim society polygamy IS looked down upon unless its legitimacy could be gleaned from the circumstance. Men who marry a new 18 year old girl every few years are not considered appropriately behaving. Polygamy in early days of Islam meant to marry an older woman, usually with children, as a second wife, not a 'trophy' young girl to prove that you are 'the Man'.

While I do not intend, or need, to justify polygyny under the strict limitations in Islam by mentioning extramarital affairs, I think it is most telling that rates of polygamy among Muslims is a small fraction of adultery among married men AND women in Western societies.  I am not picking on Western societies, but that is where more statistics are available).   And by marriage, I mean ongoing marriages - not past marriages or among separated couple.

Khaled

Our Forgotten allies - Part 2: Christian Arabs struggle for Palestine

In a previous posting I presented my opinion that the Islamization of the Palestinian cause was harmful to Palestinians on one hand, and to all Arabs and Muslims on the other. I strongly believe that it was a short-sighted measure, tactically and strategically.

The major beneficiary of that mistake was Israel and its Arab- and Muslim-hating supporters who found a great comfort in presenting it to the Western world as a fight between progressive, liberal, egalitarian, and democratic ‘tiny’ Jewish state, and a ‘repressive fundamentalist Islamic ideology’ that controls fifty some states and over a billion Muslims who are ready to launch Holy War on Israel and its Western supporters.

To a much lesser extend, Muslim fundamentalists also benefited from using the Palestinian slogan as a convenient rallying call to which they give lip service, then turn around to carry on their other agendas (Remember Osama Bin Laden and AlQaeda, invoking the Palestinian issue in speeches, then going on killing Muslim Afghani and Iraqi civilians?).

Judging from the state of affairs of the world today, it is not difficult to see who actually benefited more from the Islamization paradigm.

Forgotten in the midst of all the screaming was the Christian Palestinian (as well as Christian Arabs). If you were not from Egypt, Palestine or Lebanon, you probably would not remember that Palestine was nearly 30% Christian in 1948 (1400 years after it came under Arab Muslim control), and is no more than 5% Christian now after 60 years only of Israeli control. You would probably not be aware of the significant contributions many Palestinian Christians and other Arab Christians provided for the Palestinian cause in effort, blood and money.

Another totally forgotten (and frequently intentionally ignored) aspect of the Christian Palestinian struggle, it the on-going Political involvement of Christian Arabs in the Israeli Palestinian issue. I will highlight here two only of the many examples .

The first is really an amazing example from Egypt. Since the early 80’s the Camp David Accords have paved the way to some sort of luke warm peace between Egypt and Israel. The people of Egypt in general still find the Israeli presence awkward, and very few have taken the chance to visit Israel. The issue is more complicated for Egyptian Christians, with their holy sited under Israeli control. And since the peace agreements were signed, the Egyptian Church (Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria) under the leadership of Pope Shnouda III has consistently refused to permit Egyptian Christians to visit the Christian Holy sites in occupied Palestine.

In the first week of this May, the Pope of Alexandria church in a his Cairo weekly sermon re-stated the long-held opinion of the church barring Copts from visiting Israel.

قال البابا: إن في مصر الكثير من الأماكن المقدسة التي يمكن التبرك بها، أما القدس المحتلة فيجب ألا نندفع عاطفيا نحو زيارتها دون النظر إلى البعد الوطني والسياسي، موضحا أن السلام غائب في تلك المناطق وما زال شعبها الفلسطيني يعاني من ويلات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي وقهره وأشار البابا إلى أنه من الصعب التراجع عن قرار الحظر في المرحلة الراهنة ما لم يتم التوصل إلى السلام الشامل والعادل، لأن السماح للأقباط سيدفع بمئات الآلاف منهم إلى زيارة الأراضي المقدسة خاصة في عيد القيامة، ما يروج للاقتصاد الإسرائيلي ويؤدي إلى إساءة للعلاقات بين الأقباط والأشقاء العرب والفلسطينيين

Pope Shnouda III said: “There is many [Christian] Holy places in Egypt that can be visited to be blessed with. As for occupied Jerusalem; we should not in an emotional way rush to visit it without considering the political and patriotic dimension”. He elaborated that “peace is absent from those territories, and its Palestinian people are still suffering from the horror of the Israeli occupation and its oppression”.
The Pope pointed out that "it is very difficult to retract the prohibition [against visiting the holy places in Palestine] at this time unless comprehensive and just peace is achieved. This is because retracting prohibition will lead to hundreds of thousands of Egyptian Christian Copts to visit the holy land, especially for Easter thus supporting Israeli Economy, and leading to harming the relationship between Copts and the Arab and Palestinian brothers."

For the Pope, boycotting the Holy sites while they are still under Israeli control is an act of resistance. He refuses to provide Israel with the economic benefit and the moral recognition of its authority over occupied holy sites that Israel is so eager to get. for him, the pain of keeping his followers away from their beloved Holy sites is a small price to pay in order to help liberate Palestinians from the evils of Israeli occupation.

And closer to the heart of the battle field, Palestine, Palestinian Christians are not silent either. Take for example the recent political document "Moment of Truth" released by Kairos Palestine. The document is modeled along an earlier document from Kairos South Africa that aimed at accelerating the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The parallels here are not so subtle. This is a big16-page documents, but it is worth reading. Here are some excerpts:

A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of the Palestinian suffering
“This document is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine. It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades. The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on at the occupying State, Israel.”
As Palestinian Christians we hope that this document will provide the turning point to focus the efforts of all peace-loving peoples in the world, especially our Christian sisters and brothers. We hope also that it will be welcomed positively and will receive strong support, as was the South Africa Kairos document launched in 1985, which, at that time proved to be a tool in the struggle against oppression and occupation.

The Moment of Truth document about realities on the ground:

The separation wall erected on Palestinian territory, a large part of which has been confiscated for this purpose, has turned our towns and villages into prisons, separating them from one another, making them dispersed and divided cantons. Gaza, especially after the cruel war Israel launched against it during December 2008 and January 2009, continues to live in inhuman conditions, under permanent blockade and cut off from the other Palestinian territories.

Israeli settlements ravage our land in the name of God and in the name of force, controlling our natural resources, including water and agricultural land, thus depriving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and constituting an obstacle to any political solution.

Reality is the daily humiliation to which we are subjected at the military checkpoints, as we make our way to jobs, schools or hospitals.

It has a message to Muslims and to the Christian world, defending Muslims:

Our message to the Muslims is a message of love and of living together and a call to reject fanaticism and extremism. It is also a message to the world that Muslims are neither to be stereotyped as the enemy nor caricatured as terrorists but rather to be lived with in peace and engaged with in dialogue.

And it concludes with this very strong message to churches and Christians of the world, praising some, and asking others to repent for what they did to Palestinians:

6.1 Our word to the Churches of the world is firstly a word of gratitude for the solidarity you have shown toward us in word, deed and presence among us. It is a word of praise for the many Churches and Christians who support the right of the Palestinian people for self determination. It is a message of solidarity with those Christians and Churches who have suffered because of their advocacy for law and justice.

However, it is also a call to repentance; to revisit fundamentalist theological positions that support certain unjust political options with regard to the Palestinian people. It is a call to stand alongside the oppressed and preserve the word of God as good news for all rather than to turn it into a weapon with which to slay the oppressed. The word of God is a word of love for all His creation. God is not the ally of one against the other, nor the opponent of one in the face of the other. God is the Lord of all and loves all, demanding justice from all and issuing to all of us the same commandments.

We ask our sister Churches not to offer a theological cover-up for the injustice we suffer, for the sin of the occupation imposed upon us. Our question to our brothers and sisters in the Churches today is: Are you able to help us get our freedom back, for this is the only way you can help the two peoples attain justice, peace, security and love?

What I am trying to bring up in this posting is not that there are good Christians, because to question that is ignorant and immoral. I am trying to show how silly it is to present the Israeli Palestinian conflict as an Islamic issue only. Our Christian Arabs are not only as harmed by the on-going conflict as Muslims are but also they are a tremendous and resourceful ally. Their involvement can extend the reach of Palestinian pleas for support and justice to most of the world Christians with a more resounding impact than Muslim could do on their own.

We need to remember that Israel did not grow to be what it is today relying only on its own people and resources. Israel managed to play the religion and anti-Muslim card very well and capitalized on it in the media and in all its public relations campaigns over the years. Without Israel getting the undeserved sympathy of the Western world Christians, the playing field could have been more balanced for all Palestinians; Muslims and Christians.

It is about time to realize that in this fight for justice we need all the allies we can get. Arab Christians have been much of a victim in this conflict as Arab Muslims have been. And they are an asset that Muslims should acknowledge and cherish.

Khaled

Coming next:
The Forgotten Allies - Part 3: Arab Christians produce the best ‘Art of Return’.

Our Forgotten Allies - Part 1: Is The Palestinian Problem An Islamic Cause?

For a large number of people, merely raising the question, whether the Israeli Palestinian conflict is a Islamic ‘religious’ issue or not, may raise eye brows. Many take it for granted that the conflict is a religious one.

Well. That has not been always been the case. And for several decades, Palestine liberation from Israeli occupation and oppression was an Arab national cause, not an Islamic cause. Actually, until recently, non-Arab Muslim countries were not at all seriously concerned about the Middle East conflict, except for a supportive vote in the UN every now and then.

Of course Islam, both as a religion and as a dominant Arab cultural backdrop, was influencing the formulation of the ‘lingo’ of the conflict. But that was in the context of Islam being the major element of Arabic cultural foundation, even for many Arab Christians.

The frequent use of Islamic terminology was therefore not out of the perception that the conflict was a religious one. And for over 40 years after the Palestinian Nakba (Arabic term for the Palestinian disaster in 1948), both Muslims and Christians were intensely involved as Arabs in all the military conflicts, resistance, negotiations, etc. Some of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) figures were Christians, and one of the most militant Palestinian groups was founded by George Habash, a Palestinian Christian.

Of course that does not mean that the early (and short-lasting) involvement of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group in the 1948 war did not have religious reasons, but for most Arabs, that is not how the conflict was viewed.

It was an issue of millions of fellow Arabs suffering from oppression and grave injustice, their culture was being destroyed, and their own existence as people was being denied. It was about Arab land robbed without any legitimacy – just because the other side could achieve land theft and population transfer by force – never effectively opposed.

I wish the conflict remained as secular as it was in the early decades. But, for different reasons, it was more practical for both Arabs on one hand and Israelis and their supporters on the other, to turn it into a religious conflict.

That was a grave mistake and to the detriment of Arab and Palestinian position in my opinion. And, consequently, it was to the great benefit of the pro-Israel crowd.

On the Arab/Muslim side, the transformation of the Palestinian cause from secular to religious started in the early 1980’s. Secular Arab governments have proven to be total failure in solving Arab world problems and, moreover, many of them started taking initiatives to surrender emotionally and materially to the US and Israeli demands.

And while that was happening, Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan were being hailed by the West as defenders of the World against the Soviet Union evil empire. The American and Arab propaganda machinery raised the stature of the ‘Mujahideen’ and their ideology to mythical heights casting them as saints. That was, incidentally, financed by Saudis and Americans, pumping the zealous religious emotions of Arabs and Muslims all over the world.

At a different level, Arab people were impressed by the success of another religion-based national liberation movement in Iran. The Iranian people succeeded in kicking out Reza Bahlavi’s regime, a bloody and very oppressive regime. And their ability to resist the pressure of military and economic war by Iraq and the West during the protracted Iraq-Iran war did not pass unnoticed in Arab Street.

It was not difficult to put the two together: success was based on how profound the religious feelings are, and how great the will to sacrifice was.

For Israel and its creators and supporters, religion has never been out of the picture from day one. After all, it was early secular Zionists that used the myth of God’s promise to his chosen people to promote their desire for a homeland. A promise that is laughable as backward unless you base it on religious ideology. But the surroundings were ripe for the plausibility of that silly claim of the Jewish people to a Jewish state the land of Palestine.

Secular Jews got the land that they felt would protect them for more destruction by Europeans. And religious Jews got what they thought was a fulfillment of God’s promise.

For Western Christian supporters (many with a long history of anti-Jewish sentiments) some saw it as a way to resolve the ‘Jewish problem’ but for others waiting for the second coming of the messiah to establish the kingdom of heaven, it was a step closer to making the end of times happen.

More recently, the pro-Israel voices, both Jewish and Christian Zionist, have taken a more explicit and advantageous religious direction with the ‘Islamization’ of the Palestinian /Israeli conflict by Arabs and Muslims. And over the last 10-15 years, the conflict has been framed by pro-Israel voices as a clash of religions. Fighting ‘Radical Islam’ real and imagined became the new hub of the pro-Israel policies.

At present, it is almost certain that enthusiastic pro-Israel voices would be fervently and irrationally anti-Muslim and explicitly Islamophobic.

Zionist Christians and fundamental Zionists have managed to create a powerful media network that regularly defends the blind support of Israel while foaming at the mouth about the dangers of Islam and Muslims in general.

For Muslims living in the West, most of the hatred and insults they face (in person, and in media pits like Fox News Network and Wall Street Journal, as well as a variety of Islamophobic online outlets) comes from the pro-Israel crowd while they are promoting Israeli points of view.

Framing the Israeli Palestinian conflict as a conflict between Islam and a ‘Judeo-Christian’ culture (whatever that means) has been very convenient for Israel and its advocate, and in my opinion has been extremely detrimental to Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians. But Muslims themselves take a lot of the blame for not resisting redefining the conflict in religious terms.

For Muslims, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be ‘re-redefined’. It is about seeking justice for Palestinians, a legitimate Islamic cause. It is not a conflict about defending Islam, because it is not.

Making it a war to defend Islam made us lose a very important and critical ally, but that will be the topic of another posting. In the mean while, your thoughts and opinions about this topic are appreciated.

Khaled

Liberté, égalité, fraternité: Fake, fake, and.... fake?!

Human societies are nothing if not... 'human'.

Part of being human is, unfortunately, being pretentious and dishonest, as well as posturing and self righteousness. There are no exception to that rule whether you are talking about Afghanistan, Egypt, The United States or, in this case, France.

The arrogance of French culture pops up every now and then giving the impression that the French have 'invented' freedom, equality and brotherhood of Man. That does not mean that a lot of minority have not found home and homeland in France over the years. But the 'convulsions' that erupt occasionally from the dominant ethnic group under the pretense of preserving the purity of the 'French value of secularism' still reveals they are just like everybody else in the planet: flawed humans.

I totally supported their effort to ban Niqab (face-hiding head-cover worn by some very conservative Muslim women, and is a social tradition regardless of religiosity in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan).

I supported the ban simply because Niqab is a dysfunctional social habit. That is not the case for the usual headscarf worn my a large number of Muslim women. And regardless of whether it is worn out of religious belief or simply as a social habit (which is a very common situation even in many non-Muslim rural societies), it is not a dysfunctional tradition unless it is enforced by coercion on women.

Some French, at least a vocal faction, have a different attitude towards a woman wearing a headscarf, especially if the style suggests she is a Muslim: they consider it backward, threatening, and above all anti-secular, whatever on earth that means.

I do not judge a woman as morally superior just because she wears a headscarf or a man because they wear a beard. But I do not hold it against them either.
That is the whole point of freedom of choice. And that is the point of judging the deed not the appearance.

A recent report on the British Gaurdian Online (see link at the end of the post) talked about how a leftist radical anti-capitalist politician, Olivier Besancenot, has caused an uproar in France and has drawn vocal opposition even from leftist/liberal groups for his 'fielding of a headscarf wearing 21 year old Muslim woman' as an election campaign running partner. The report mentioned few things about that young woman, Ilham Moussaid (see photo). And from what they list, she should not be any threat to French society and its value. After all, she is independent, politically active, supports abortion, supports leftist causes, and actually at a young age of 21 years, is the NPA anti-capitalist party treasurer.

But for the 'puritanistic' secularists, the limited scarf she wears is a threat to secularism that is too grave to ignore. And just because Marx and Trotsky did not see positive value in religion, people with strong sense of social justice and who care for the poor and weak out of their religious convictions, are not accepted as comrade worriers for social justice causes.

A "leading feminist group announced it would file an official complaint against the NPA's list of candidates in the Vaucluse département to protest against what it called an "anti-secular, anti-feminist and anti-republican" stunt".

Those who want to defend feminist and social justice causes need to shed their religion - all aspects of it. Social justice as a result of a religious sense is 'no good'.

This is similar to rejecting the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' as a moral argument just because it had religious root.

I am sure if the scarf was worn as a a part of an African attire - not an uncommon combination- it would have been seen as a manifestation of the great motto of France "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" in the land that thinks it invented freedom for all.

But, worn by a Muslim woman? Oh, no. That is a threat Western civilization.

It is not uncommon to see xenophobia, racism and pure hatred manifest itself under glorious slogans. It was American, Samuel Johnson, who said in 1779 that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel".

And for decades, patriotism and other moral values including religion have commonly been refuge not only of scoundrels, but also of those moral cowards who would rather use a respectable facade for their hatred, racism, xenophobia, greed for power and domination, (and more recently hate for Islam and Muslims). That occurs not only in the US, but in the West, the East and everywhere.

That is no less despicable that a cowardly soldiers holding human shields in front of them while shooting at or searching for the enemy.

I am sure many French would not feels the same way that the 'militant secularists' feels- at least I hope most would not. But it is usually the unhappy loud militant bunch that make the headlines in France like everywhere else. Another reminder how human societies are just that: human.

And that applies to the French too.

Khaled

The guardian full article can be found here:

• Election candidate in headscarf causes uproar in France

And this is an article from France with more nuanced insight of the politics behind the choice.

• France24 - Far-left party reveals ‘veiled’ female candidate

And the opinion of Olivier Besancenot himself, in his own words can be found her

• Olivier Besancenot, "What I Actually Said to Le Figaro regarding the Headscarf"

Abandoning our community, at least mentally

My criticism for many Muslims and how they perceived Islam is not new. And moreover, it will not stop for as long as I see a chance to change something or someone.

I consider that my responsibility and my religious duty. There is no point in being part of a community if one does not regularly critically appraise the state of health and future trajectory of that community. And if things are not to your liking, do something about it.

This is not just an activist's stance. It is actually the creed of Muslim as succinctly verbalized in the Quran. God describes the nation or community ( Arabic, أُمَّةٍ) that he blesses with the Prophet Muhammad, and the Revelation of the Quran, as

'the best of communities: enjoining what is right and proscribing what is known to be wrong and believing in God' (3:110).

(كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ)

Looking at the order in which this verse is structured yields a profound insight into the significance of the qualities listed: the activist stance came before describing the community as 'believing in God'. Prophet Muhammad pbuh has also stressed that numerous time. especially in one of the most recited quotations of the prophet:

"If you see a wrong-doing change it with your hand.
If you cannot, then with your tongue.
If you cannot, then wish in your heart that it would change, but that is the weakest exercise of faith."

Interestingly, most Muslims in Muslim majority countries as well as in local American Muslim communities, are totally passive when it comes to running their mosques. You can hardly talk to anyone in any mosque-going community that is remotely happy with the state of affairs in their mosque. Social private events for Muslims end up frequently being a rant about how much change is needed at mosques, and how ineffective community leadership is.

And regardless of whether those claims are legitimate of not, the most likely scenario is that the rant stops their. Most of these 'ranting' people attend Friday prayers because God told them to so so. One would imagine that obedience to God should also expand to include other commandments such as the one mentioned above endorsing activism and in verses 7:157, 9:71, 9:112 as well as in explicit commandment form in verse 3:103.

Why would not then they speak up in the mosques against all the flaws and faults they find with how the community is run. Why would not they send letters to those in charge, demand to speak in public gatherings and start their own websites, blogs and public campaigns against what they think is wrong?

The several but few incidents when such public criticism was made strongly enough, it resulted in positive change. The more outspoken the opposition to wrong policies is, the better the outcome - hence the praise from God to communities that adopts that as a common practice.

Yet again, many of us Muslims, would rather whine in private, fail to constructively criticize in public, and are content with just going to the Friday prayer.

I am not saying it is easy to face your community with criticism. And there is public and peer pressure to avoid doing that under the fake interest in community unity, and for fear of 'causing Fitna' - that is Arabic for major communal confusion that can lead to societal break down and war - a threat that shuts people up very quickly.

Most of them do not realize that democracy, self criticism, and critical appraisal of the performance of leadership is NOT fitna. It is what God wants. And the more they ignore the need to do that, the farther they are from being good Muslims.

The prophet's companions did not hold their tongues when he did something they thought was not in the practical interest of the community. After the Prophet's death, they continued to live by the same principles that God and his Prophet taught them. And the stories fill our memory with public objection and criticism by early Muslims against things that the Prophet did in his capacity as a civil and military leader. Similar stories also exist during the rein of the early civil successors to the Prophet.

Objections and protests were not counted as Fitna those day. Why, in God's name, do we count it as Fitna today in tiny places like our cities or our mosques?

In fact, that passive existence in a community is abandonment of the community in an intellectual way, especially at times when we know that things are not working very well. It is more damaging to the community than physical and financial abandonment which put more pressure on the faulty community to wake up and smarten up.

Silence when the ship is sinking is as bad as drilling the hole in the ship yourself.

Khaled.

To CAIR and the ACLU: Do not fight banning the Niqab and Burka

One of the best things that ever happened to American Muslims was, and still is, the birth of the Council On American Islamic Relations (CAIR). To say the least, it empowered American Muslims and brought their civil rights to the forefront in many Muslim communities. It is still a strong pillar of Muslim civil rights in the US (and Canada).

The American civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is also one of the most, if not the most, respected organizations in the US in my opinion. In my eyes, it comes even before the the supreme court in significance.

And the collaboration between these two organizations have done a lot of good for both American Muslims and Americans in general ranging from civil rights defense to education of the public and all the way protecting the majority from committing what, in retrospect, would have be shameful knee jerk oppression of minorities in times of social and political upheaval.

Yet, I totally disagree with CAIR on its stance on the recent decision by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to ban people from covering their faces on its three campuses. That ban extends to include that could include ski masks and scarfs drawn over the face as well as facial veils (Niqab and Burka). The new policy, according to the school, is out of concern for public safety but is not related to any particular case of terrorism or otherwise.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, disagrees with the Pharmacy school policy and he is making the argument that "People should have the right to practice their faith as they see fit, not as others see fit". The local ACLU staff attorney, Sarah Wunsch, said the policy was "puzzling and possibly illegal."
Mr Hooper also makes the arguments that since the school made an exemption for medical reasons, it should consider making an exception for religious reasons.

Needless to say, I am not in agreement with either of them.

As a practicing Muslim that identify strongly with my religion, and as a believer in personal freedoms and civil rights protection for Muslims as well as everyone else, I do not see the arguments made by Mr. Hooper or the ACLU attorney as valid.

Let me nbe clear: the issue here is not about covering the hair, but rather about covering the face. In human cosieties, the face is a central piece in the process of human interaction. I do not miss much if I do not see a womans's hair. But not seeing the face I deal with in public is disruptive to the flow of communication in any society. Only less than a handful of societies enshrine facial veil as a publicly enforced policy: Suadi Arabia and Afghanistan - and possibly some areas in Pakistan that are natural extension of Afghanistan and its culture.

Those societies can hardly be called anything but dysfunctional. They should not be a standard to measure ANYTHING.

In the rest of the Arab and Muslim world, facial veils are not mandates, although it is more popular in some locations than others outo fo cultural and social norms mostly.

Of particular interest is the ongoing Niqab battle in Egypt. Recently, the most senior cleric in Al-Azhar Islamic University has rejected Niqab as a religious requirement, and mandated not weraing it in the Al-Azhar Islamic education institutions and schools. A recent court ruling supported him in that endeavor against some opposing groups.

When I was in Medical school, the dean, whom I was not fond of for several reasons, banned Niqab on the premises of Cairo Medical School. I and most of my colleague - men and women - did not feel that was in appropriate.

We were not leftist liberal activists and actually most of us would be considered 'religious' by local standard here. We were reasonable medical students and future doctors who realized that the face is an important tool for us in understanding patients and communicating with them. And equally important is the doctor's face as an important tool in establishing the rapport with patient that has great impact on the conduction of effective medical encounters and establishing effective treatment plans.

I would not accept medical care for my self or my children from a physican or a health care provider whose face I cannot see.

I would not be able to take care of a patient properly if I do not see their face. I cannot legally examine a child in the presence of an individual that is not their legal guardian. Guess what: I cannot identify the guarduan until I see their face.

Until we all walk around with RF microchips planted in our bodies, the face will remain the only way to identify people we deal with. But even beyond the identification process, a faceless person is not someone any of us would effectively, or comfortably, communicate with in person.

Will you, no mater how religious you are, accept the authority of a police person - stopping you on the street and requesting you documents - whose face you cannot see?

Would you really think it is OK to hand your credit card to a person wearing a ski mask at the gas station or convenience store?

would you allow a plumper to enter your house, or a car mechanic to take apart your transmission under the condition that they shall remain faceless? Would you just take their word that they are truly the ones whose face is on the photo ID?

Would you allow your 12 year-old daughter or son to go to slumber party or a camp where every one is wearing a Niqab or mask and you have no clue who or what they are? Or would you rahter hand them over in on school day-trip to a faceless woman who may or may not have been the teacher?

Will you ever leave your 2 year old child in daycare in the custody of some human whom you do not know or can even identify in case of a mishap?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, something is wrong with you.

If you answer no to all these questions, then you are normal.

And, if that is the way normal people think, why would you think it is OK to have a colleague student that you do not even know if they are legitimate woman student or not a student or not even a woman? And why would you think it is OK to get pharmacy services from a faceless person who has full access to your health records, personal and financial information?

Wearing Niqab is a personal choice if you do not impose a faulty way of communication on others who have to deal with you in a professional capacity.

If you own your store, or private school, you can wear whatever you want. If your customers are OK with that, that is there choice too. But when you are taking your professional exams, have your picture taken for driver's license, work for someone else, or even shop in someone else's store, then it IS NOT YOUR CHOICE!!

I will not go into a religious argument about the Niqab and other forms of facial veils and whether it is mandated or not. Books and websites abound with discussion on that. But the majority of Muslims should not condone a minority opinion just because it looks more conservative or more 'religious'. We need to distinguish legitimate religious obligations, and the freedom and right to practice them, from hyper-conservative attitudes that we do not have to adopt as representing us and our religion.

As for the argument of making a 'religious exemption' similar to the 'medical exemption' in that Pharmacy school policy that Mr Hooper referred to, I take exception to that.

Equating a serious medical condition that you have no choice to have or not to have (such as in cases where aggressive skin cancers can result from even minor ultraviolet exposure if your skin is expose) with a personal choice to practice an extreme form of religious practice inconsistent with the conduction of every day's affairs in your society, is not an argument I would want CAIR to spend time making or defending.

We, Muslims and civil rights defenders alike, have bigger issues to worry about. And in some cases it may be better to make a judgment call and NOT get involved defending stance that may not even be religiously sound.

Khaled

Faith of the ancient -- أيمان العجائز

I have not posted anything for several months. Mostly as I see no value in it other than me venting, which was not my initial intention of starting this blog over 20 months ago.

Anyway, I received an email from a dear and thoughtful friend of mine who needed to vent after an email exchange with someone that forward him an email full of the usual nonsense: conspiracy theories about everything, and total denial of the most simple obvious truths in life as we know it. The most amazing usually in such email rants is the unrelenting sense of certainty and belief in thoughts that are the brain product of an 'intellectually below average' 5 year old.

My friend, in his email to me, expressed a wish that our clergy may be a bit smarter that those that circulate the mass emails. My friend is wishful that in their sermons and numerous teaching classes, they -- i.e., the clergy -- may help put some sense of reality in the minds of the paranoid defensive and ignorant individual 'mass email machines' who think they are using the internet to defend their own religion and ethnic groups.

I wanted to respond to my friend's email with a 2-liner: "The world is full of idiots, so do not waste your brain energy debating with them. Just mark emails from those persons and the likes of them as spam and move on."

But, being who I am, my email ended a longer then I intended, so I decided to post it on my blog- possibly just to vent as well.

The "ancients -- العجائز " mentioned in the title of the post is a term used in Arabic to refer to very old people that are waiting to die.
Not necessarily terminally ill, but their life seems to have come to being 'passing time awaiting death'.
Not in a depressed way, but as a matter of waiting for destined event to happen. One can only imagine how mentally placid and stagnant - yet peaceful - those people are.

Here is my email to my friend:

Salaam:

I am sorry you wasted your time responding to the those emails. I recently started a policy of marking as 'spam' the emails that come from people I know, who send nonsense most of the time. There are those who will NEVER send you anything but a mass forwarded nonsense that they may have not even read (not to mention thought about its content for a second or two). Mark those as spam and save yourself the headaches.

Most of 'Our' clergy - and I am using the word "our" loosely since they are definitely NOT mine - are no more informed, thoughtful, smart or less paranoid than those circulating those emails.

Still, I cannot help but envy people like those. They are certain of everything they know. They do not need to dig deeper or appraise anything to validate it. Their life is simple and they are comfortable they are collecting 'hasanat' (God's rewards) for every email they forward to 'enlighten' others.

Blessed are the idiots of the world!!!!

In the mean while, I am trying to drown myself in reading, especially about the early intellectual battles in Islam and some modern revival literature. There is a lot worth reading and a lot worth sharing but no venues, and no interest.

So, I have got to envy the 'mass forward email' people. Their life is a lot happier.

In the past I heard the following being attributed to Prophet, pbuh

اللهم ارزقني ايمانا كأيمان العجائز

which loosely translates as:

"O' Lord, bless me with faith (or belief) that the ancients have"

I am not sure if the prophet said it - actually it has been attributed to several other early Muslim scholars- but I see the wisdom in it: passive, submissive and totally non-critical faith or belief system is a blessing.

Although, knowing about our Prophet, I doubt he would have enjoyed that kind of non-challenging mental stagnation. If he said it, I would read it a his magnificent way of telling us what his own intellectual turmoils could have been.

I may dream of simple non-challenging life, but I do not think I would want it.

Talk about intellectual turmoil!!!!

Khaled

I am not sure my friend would feel any better after reading my email (I have not heard from him yet), but he vented and now I, too, have vented.

Let us carry on with life.

Khaled