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issue 14 vol.2

December 2013

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Disclaimer: Where opinion is expressed it is that of the author and does not nec-essarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or islam today. All infor-mation in this magazine is verified to the best of the authors’ and the publisher’s ability. However, islam today shall not be liable or responsible for loss or damage arising from any users’ reliance on information obtained from the magazine.

December 2013

Issue, 14 Vol, 2 Published Monthly

islam today magazine intends to address the concerns and aspirations of a vibrant Muslim community by providing readers with inspiration, information, a sense of community and solutions through its unique and specialised contents. It also sets out to help Muslims and non-Muslims better understand and appreciate the nature of a dynamic faith.

Publisher: Islamic Centre of England 140 Maida Vale London, W9 1QB - UK

ISSN 2051-2503

Managing Director Mohammad Saeed Bahmanpour

Chief Editor Amir De Martino

Managing Editor Anousheh Mireskandari

Political Editor Reza Murshid

Health Editor Laleh Lohrasbi

Art Editor Moriam Grillo

Layout and Design Sasan Sarab - Michele Paolicelli

Design and Production PSD UK Ltd.

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www.islam-today.net

Follow us on facebook www.facebook.com/islamtodaymag

Alexander Khaleeli

Ali Jawad

Batool Haydar

Cleo Cantone

Frank Julian Gelli

Hannah Smith

Heidi Kingstone

Mohammad Reza Jozi

Mohsen Biparva

Muhammad Haghir

Muhammad Reza Amirinia

Nehad Khanfar

Sabnum Dharamsi

Contact us

Editorial team

Back CoverCyrus the Great cylinder is considered the first charter of right of nations in the world dating back 539 BC. The cylinder was excavated in 1879 in the foundations of the Marduk temple of Babylon, Iraq.

Islamic Centre of England

3

From the Editor5 Time for a new ‘Declaration’

News6 News from around the world

Life & Community 10 Britain moving ahead on Islamic

Finance

Nehad Khanfar is enthusiastic about the

British government’s pledge to become

the first country outside the Islamic world

to issue Islamic bonds (sukuk)

12 “Silent night, holy night, all is

calm, all is bright”

Sabnum Dahramsi observes the different

attitudes of British Muslims to Christmas

Arts16 In the Spotlight

Ibrahim El-Salahi - Sudanese contempo-

rary painter

Masterpiece

‘Grounds for standing and understanding’

by Babak Golkar - Iranian Artist

17 Photography

‘Camouflower’ by Arwa Abouon – Libyan

artist

18 The Place to BE

P21 Gallery, London

Exhibition of contemporary Middle East-

ern and Arab art and culture

Addendum

‘In the City’

Graphic design and sound-art exhibition

on Alexandria, Algiers, Baghdad and

Nablus

19 Malay Silverware

Cleo Cantone follows the trail of the Lotus

tree through the rooms of London’s V&A

museum

Politics22 The Follies of American Intel-

ligence

US eavesdropping on Germany is yet more

evidence that the country’s exceptionalist

mentality prevents it from extending its

influence around the globe, argues Reza

Murshid

Feature26 Healthcare - America’s big

ideological battleground

Will ObamaCare genuinely extend health-

care to the poor or will it create a two-tier

healthcare system? Heidi Kingstone

investigates

28 Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi: The star

finder

Mohammad Reza Jozi celebrates the life

and unique discoveries of the Persian

mathematician and astronomer, Azophi

Review32 The Nostalgic Man of Europe

What lies behind the current nostalgia

for the Ottoman Empire, especially when

Turks themselves have historically tried

to forget that legacy? Mohsen Biparva

reviews the BBC documentary ‘The Ot-

tomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’

Cover 36 Universality of human rights:

Between truth and fantasy

Differences on account of culture or reli-

gion should not be used an excuse to shy

away from the brutal reality suffered by

billions around the world, says Ali Jawad

Faith 40 ‘Read, in the name of your Lord!’

Any discussion of developing Islamic lit-

eracy must, first and foremost, begin with

the Qur’an, says Alexander Khaleeli

4

Glossary of Islamic Symbols The letters [swt] after the name of Allah [swt] (God), stand for

the Arabic phrase

subhanahu wa-ta’ala meaning: “Glorious and exalted be He”.

The letter [s] after the name of the Prophet Muhammad[s],

stands for the Arabic phrase sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam,

meaning: “May Allah bless him and grant him peace”.

The letter [a] after the name of the Imams from the progeny

of the Prophet Muhammad[s], and for his daughter Fatimah[a]

stands for the Arabic phrase ‘alayhis-salaam, ‘alayhas-salaam (feminine) and ‘alayhimus-salaam (plural) meaning

respectively: (God’s) Peace be with him/ her/ them.

44 Travelling Light

Batool Haydar finds a poignant analogy

between preparing for travel and under-

taking the most important journey of all

Interfaith46 Hermit of the Sahara

Frank Gelli recalls the remarkable figure

of Charles de Foucauld and explains how

he remains a symbol of ongoing spiritual

struggle

Health 50 The ghost of DU lingers on in Iraq

and Afghanistan

The dramatic increases in birth defects in

both regions requires urgent multifaceted

international action, says Laleh Lohrasbi

52 Is Islam really responsible for

the rising incidence of multiple

sclerosis?

Laleh Lohrasbi examines the claims of

a connection between increased rates of

(MS) among Iranian women and their

Islamic code of dress

Opinion54 The Invention of Holidays

Mohammad Haghir investigates the origin

of the modern culture of holiday-making

and its relation to the global industrial

economy

Places58 Granada; City of light

Muhammad Reza Amirinia reminds us of

everlasting signs of Islamic rule, Moorish

art, culture and tradition in Andalucía

Science62 The scientific power of prayer

Hannah Smith reflects on the biological

ways God has programmed us to connect

with Him

64 The honeybee is dying out: urgent

attention required!

Hannah Smith examines the plight of the

honeybee and explains how Muslims can

help prevent them from dying out

What & Where66 Listings and Events

Friday Nights Thought Forum - Islamic Centre of England

Spiritual Mysteries and Ethical Secrets - Islamic Centre

of England

The New Middle East – London School of Economics

Becoming Politically Savvy and Political Participation –

Sabeel

The Unique Necklace by the Andalusian, Ibn Abd Rabbihi

– SOAS

Classical Arabic courses - Ebrahim College

Jameel Prize 3: The shortlist - Victoria & Albert Museum

The Dilemma in Contemporary Iranian Art (Seminar) -

SOAS

The case of transitional justice in Tunisia - St Antony's

College – Oxford

Fakhruddin Razi, Kalam & al-Tafsir al-kabir - Islamic

Circles

Intensive Classical Arabic - Ibn Jabal Institute

Andalucian Routes - Islamic Spain Experience

Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War:

1914 – 1919

Pearls - Victoria and Albert Museum, London

55

Over the last couple of years we have witnessed the roaring sound of thousands of people across the world

yearning to be heard. Various non-violent protests have been organised in capitals across the world from North Africa to Europe and America to support the fundamental rights of all persons without distinction of any kind, calling for respect, dignity and self-determination in political and economic life.

These events have reminded us that people’s desire for a justice that guar-antees their rights is as fresh today as it was 63 years ago when the UN General Assembly proclaimed the 10th of December as Human Rights Day. This was followed two years later by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document laying the foundation for safeguarding the rights of people across the world.

The universality of the Declaration was questioned from the outset as it was seen as a messenger of a very specific ethical and cultural vision unquestion-ably rooted in Christianity and the European Enlightenment. Today the question still remains as to the proper source from which human rights should be drawn; “fundamentality”, “univer-sality”, “inviolability” or “indivisibility”?

In the cover story of this issue Ali Jawad has highlighted certain paradoxes that exist in the current understanding of the concept of human rights resulting from the presence of many cultures and ideologies in our world, making it diffi-

cult to claim any kind of universality for such rights. He also expresses concern at the politicisation of human rights by governments and states considering it a major obstacle towards improving its status.

Theorists have identified three possible foundations of human rights: Divine authority, laws of nature and ratifica-tion of international treaties (ie. the “consent” of States).

The American legal scholar Michael J. Perry suggests that only by thinking of men as the work of God (thereby “sacred”) can we believe in the “univer-sality” and in the “mandatory nature” of human rights (aiming to protect “dignity”).

In today’s world the problem with this view is that not everyone accepts the existence of an omnipotent God. There also remains the problem that the world has many different religions. So how can a vision tied to a specific religious view be universally shared?

Those who subscribe to the religious view of human rights have to accept that the God-based argument cannot provide the basis for a wider agreement - at least not at present. A better option would be to find a framework based on consultation, agreements and consent among states.

The example of the life of the Prophet provides for Muslims a guideline for action in this respect. When the Prophet Muhammad(s) was invited to take the leadership of the city of Yathreb after his migration from Makkah, not everybody accepted him as the Prophet of God, especially not the members of other religions already present in that city. The Prophet was certainly not going to impose himself by force. What he did instead was to come to various agreements and understandings of a practical and expedient nature to enable the city to function under his

leadership. He put aside his ‘mantle of prophet’ for those of other faiths that had not accepted his Divine Mission.

Muslims believe that despite all difficul-ties humanity is on a course towards a better life. And like many other reli-gions, Islam supports the theory that, ‘God’s promise of a time when injustice and suffering will be overcome’. In Islamic eschatology this will take place under the leadership of a very special man, known in Islamic traditions as the Mahdi. His greatest achievement will be to remove all those obstacles that prevent us from seeing the universality of our destiny and our unique relation to our Benevolent Creator. Only then will we be able to fully appreciate the concept of universality.

In the meantime there is still much work to be done to filter a theory of universal human rights from a quintes-sentially western ethnocentrism. This could be achieved by establishing a nucleus of universally shared values. The core could easily include the most serious violations of human rights on which the majority of states agree. These are: genocide, racial discrimina-tion (especially apartheid), torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and the violation of the right of peoples to self-determination. The list could gradu-ally be extended to include the right to nutrition, access to water, health and safety, security, freedom of expression, and the participation of citizens in decision-making of their governments through free elections.

There is a need for a review of the original UN declaration. The Second Declaration of Human Rights would respond to the need to identify those very few rights that can truly be called “universal”. A goal probably too ambi-tious, but one with which the interna-tional community will sooner or later have to come to terms. •

555

Time for a new ‘Declaration’

EditorFrom the

6

Rugby Player Converts to IslamBlake Ferguson has revealed he converted to Islam because his life as an ex-rugby player was spiralling out of control on alcohol-fuelled benders.

The exiled NSW State of Origin star told the press it was also a decision made to save his stalled rugby league career.

‘Alcohol is completely forbidden in Islam,’ he said, ‘and that’s been my problem for the last five years. It’s brought me down to where I am now. I enjoyed a drink but it just creates prob-lems. I’ve had enough. I really have.’

Reports in the press revealed that Ferguson was encouraged by Anthony Mundine, a Muslim boxer, to make a commitment to the Islamic faith.

They were photographed together praying at Zetland Mosque. Ferguson, who earlier this year failed in attempts to give up alcohol, says he is aware of the doubters.

‘I’ll prove them wrong, God willing,’ he said, ‘It was always going to be the reaction. I expected that. Everyone’s out there to watch me fail. I’ll just prove them all wrong if you know what I’m saying.’

Ferguson lived with Mundine before converting to Islam.

‘Living with Choc made me realise what I’ve done to myself. He is clean-living with amazing dedication. That’s what drew me towards Islam. I’ve never been baptised before. I was always fearing God.’

Mundine previously help to convert superstar Sonny Bill Williams to the Islamic faith when he was facing similar challenges in his life and football career.

‘So far it hasn’t been hard (off alcohol) because I’m around good influences and good people. My face has changed. I’m looking and feeling fresh. My whole physique has changed. This will make me strong, God willing. Islam is going

to make me a better person and better rugby league player,’ Ferguson said.

‘It’s going to make me more focused, more dedicated, more devoted. Being an NRL player is really a 24-hour job. I haven’t appreciated that in the past.

Mundine said he was confident his ‘brother’ would stay focused and commit to the religion long term. ‘It’s pressure for a boy like him to convert,’ Mundine said.

Cameron Unveils Islamic Index on London Stock Exchange

British Prime Minister David Cameron recently unveiled ground-breaking plans for a new Islamic index on the London Stock Exchange as he declared Britain is open for business at the opening of the World Islamic Economic Forum.

Cameron delivered his message to more than 1,800 political and business leaders from over 115 countries who travelled to London for the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum – and the first held outside a Muslim country.

Global Islamic investments have soared by 150% since 2006 and are expected to be worth £1.3 trillion next year.

Cameron said that London Stock Exchange is creating a new way of iden-tifying Islamic finance opportunities by launching a world-leading Islamic Market Index; strengthening FTSE’s leading position as a developer of inno-vative, alternatively-weighted indices

- this index will be another global first for the City of London.

According to Cameron, the UK govern-ment is partnering with the Shell Foundation to create a new £4.5 million grant to boost the work of the Nomou initiative - a growth fund that provides skills and finance to small businesses across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, which will provide opportunities for British companies in the longer-term

The London Stock Exchange is an attractive draw for Islamic finance listing with over 49 Sukuk (an Islamic bond which pays investors a fixed return based on the profit generated by an underlying asset) listings valued at US$ 34 billion over the last 5 years.

Islamic finance has also helped trans-form London’s skyline by financing in whole or in part developments such as The Shard, Chelsea Barracks and the Olympic Village.

Author Slams Former Justice Secretary on Women’s Veil

A British author has criticised former Justice Secretary Ken Clarke for describing the Muslim women’s veil as ‘a kind of bag’.

Writing for British daily The Telegraph, Cristina Odone, asked Clarke to respect other people’s choices: ‘Ken Clarke says the veil is “a kind of bag”. I wonder what he would have made of the nuns who schooled me?’

Raised as a Catholic, Odone has been a journalist, novelist and broadcaster and served as the editor of Catholic Herald.

She asked Clarke who is now a minister without portfolio: ‘Would the minister

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without portfolio have called Mother Teresa’s habit “a kind of bin liner”?’

Odone found it reprehensible that that some Westerners were bullying Muslim women for observing their religious dress code.

‘Women’s religious dress code, however, poses all kinds of challenges to the Western eye. Or rather, Muslim women’s religious code does: I haven’t heard anyone complain about Orthodox Jewish women wearing a wig and sober dresses. But mention the veil, and critics instantly claim that this is no display of piety but a submission to some horrid chauvinist,’ Odone wrote.

According to Odone, Muslims are already under pressure and the sugges-tion to ban the veil will add further pres-sure on the community: ‘As Muslims, they feel stigmatised already: their faith schools are under attack, their tradi-tions rubbished, and their allegiance to this country suspect. Now, their clothes are being portrayed as unacceptable.’

Muslims Assist Typhoon-Stricken PhilippinesBritish charity Islamic Relief has provided an immediate grant of £50,000

and launched an emergency appeal to provide shelter, food and other essen-tials as the people of the Philippines struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of what threatens to become the country’s worst natural disaster.

The storm is one of the fiercest to make landfall since weather records began. The typhoon left at least two million people in 41 provinces affected and at least 23,000 houses damaged or destroyed.

Large areas along the coast were transformed into twisted piles of debris, blocking roads and trapping decom-posing bodies underneath.

Ships were tossed inland, cars and trucks swept out to sea and bridges and ports washed away.

The United Nations said officials in Tacloban, which bore the brunt of the storm, had reported one mass grave of 300-500 bodies.

“Many of those in the path of the storm are very poor, making it more likely that their homes will be damaged or destroyed and that they will need support to rebuild their lives,” Islamic Relief said in its appeal.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III said he was considering declaring a state of emergency or martial law in

Tacloban.

A state of emergency usually includes curfews, price and food supply controls, military or police checkpoints and increased security patrols.

As the ‘super typhoon’ battered commu-nities in the Philippines, American Muslims were preparing to present help from thousands of miles away.

Both the Zakat Foundation of America and Helping Hand USA also issued immediate appeals for help.

Muslims make up nearly eight percent of the total populace in the largely Catholic Philippines.

The mineral-rich southern region of Mindanao, Islam’s birthplace in the Philippines, is home to five million Muslims.

Islam reached the Philippines in the 13th century, about 200 years before Christianity.

Islamophobic Mayor Attempts to Bully Muslim-Run Women-Only GymThere is seemingly no controversial aspect to this brand new women-only health club in the upscale Parisian suburb of Le Raincy. Fire and security officials have confirmed the gym meets all safety codes, and an eager young couple have worked hard to make their new business a success.

But the owners say that since the town’s right-wing mayor discovered they were Muslims, he has tried to shut down their business in order to keep his suburb Muslim-free. For many this is a perfect case of Islamophobia, because there is no religious aspect to this story. The gym happily serves clients of all races and beliefs, with no restrictions what-soever. The only problem appears to be that the owners are openly Muslim.

Islamophobia is a convenient tool: The

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mayor has an election next spring, and many believe he is trying to ruin the lives of two innocent people in order to win the conservative vote in this bourgeois suburb.

But there is a deeper political message as well: Le Raincy is telling those in nearby Muslim-majority suburbs, ‘You are not welcome to move here.’

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity, but the owners have had their grand opening clouded by powerful enemies who are still pushing to shut down their business.

For many Muslims in France such thinly-veiled Islamophobia may be routine, but they are increasingly less tolerant of such harassment. Analysts say the hardest step is convincing the average French citizen that their strict idea of secularism is so easily and so often used as tool for exclusion and discrimination.

Driver Throws Muslim Boy Off Bus for Reciting PrayerA 10-year-old Brooklyn boy recited a Muslim prayer in Arabic to help him find his MetroCard on a city bus - prompting the driver to call him a “terrorist” and toss him off, a new lawsuit charges.

The prayer is a common Muslim phrase used sometimes in the face of a chal-lenge.

‘[The child] said it as he was trying to find his card so he could get’ home, said Hyder Naqvi, lawyer for the boy and his family.

‘He’s a young boy, but he’s old enough to know what discrimination is.’

The disturbing incident occurred as the child was boarding the B-39 bus on his way home from school in Sheepshead Bay around 2:45 p.m. in October 2012, according to the Brooklyn Federal Court suit.

The flustered boy couldn’t find his card and sought a little divine assistance.

“I start in the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent,” the boy said, according to the suit.

The plea worked. The boy found his card and started to board again.

But the unidentified driver had a racist meltdown as soon as he heard the Arabic, spewing the slur and forcing the boy back and closing the doors, the suit says.

When the child got home, ‘he told his parents what happened, and they were obviously upset by it,’ Naqvi said.

The Transport authority’s repre-sentatives have met with the family and provided pictures of various drivers to identify the accused bigot — but the family was never told who the person was, the lawyer said.

“They decided at that point to seek counsel,” Naqvi said.

Charging religious discrimination and civil-rights abuses, the family is suing the agency and the driver for unspeci-fied damages.

US and Israel Lose Voting Rights in UNESCOUNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel,

two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the UN’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full member-ship to the Palestinians.

The US decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on US laws that prohibit funding to any UN agency that implies recognition of the Palestin-ians’ demands for their own state.

Israel also pulled its funding, objecting to what it called ‘unilateral attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition of statehood’.

Both countries missed the deadline to provide an official justification for non-payment and a plan to pay back missed dues. That automatically triggered suspension of their voting rights.

The Palestinians have so far failed in their bid to become a full member of the UN but their UNESCO membership is seen as a potential first step towards UN recognition of statehood.

The United States has characterised UNESCO’s move as a misguided attempt to bypass the two-decade old peace process. Washington says only a resumption of peace talks ending in a treaty with Israel can result in Pales-tinian statehood.

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10

BRITAIN MOVING AHEAD ON ISLAMIC FINANCE

11

In his speech addressing the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum held in London in October 2013, UK Prime Minister David Cameron

said: “I don’t just want London to be a great capital of Islamic Finance in the Western world, I want London to stand alongside Dubai and Kuala Lumpur as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world.”

George Osborne - UK Chancellor of the Exchequer - had earlier announced that Britain would be the first country outside the Islamic world to issue Islamic bonds (sukuk). The bonds, worth £200 million, bring to mind the history of Islamic finance development in Britain, when in 2006, the then UK Chancellor Gordon Brown expressed his intention to make London a global centre. Since then London has hosted dozens of events related to Islamic finance. These have covered most areas related to the growing industry of Islamic insurance (takaful), bonds (sukuk), banks, risk management, derivatives, and so on.

Osborne’s announcement is a step forward in enhancing the position of London as the strongest Islamic finan-cial centre in the western world. London is not a new player - academic British institutions, UK banks, financial institutions and legal firms based in the capital have long shown a practical interest in this field.

In a further statement the Prime Minister also announced that the government has already removed the double tax on Islamic mortgages and extended tax relief on Islamic mort-gages to companies and individuals as well as introducing commitments to opening up new forms of student loans and business start-up loans.

The UK’s familiarity with Islamic finance makes it easier to understand the British government’s enthusiasm for it. But the question remains as to what the government hopes to achieve through encouraging Islamic finance.

Some believe that the government is now convinced that Islamic finance including sukuk could offer solutions to the UK’s financial problems and for this reason is ready to allow Islamic finance to play a greater role in the British banking market.

However should the UK government plan to compete with other major players, it should recognise the growing role of Islamic finance in the global financial markets and incorporate Islamic finance into the British finan-cial market. This means giving over a greater portion of the British market to Islamic finance. Attracting Middle Eastern investors to the British market in order to help its deeply damaged economy requires an interactive rela-

tion between Britain and the Middle East whereby one party offers cash and the other provides experience and a stable financial environment.

Could it be possible that the UK govern-ment has considered the intrinsic moral value of Islamic finance, seeing it as a possible ally in creating a more just economic system? It seems unlikely. Hard-headed financial considerations are what is driving the government’s interest at this time.

The reality is that Islamic finance has now proved itself to be a successfully functioning model to parallel the well-established western model of finance. Western countries have finally started to realise that Islamic finance can benefit non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

A logical outcome would be that Islamic finance, with its Islamic Sharia compli-ance and its flexible nature, can be regulated within Western legal systems. All this requires is a well-organised hosting financial structure and a willing investing country.

Such positive progress to promote Islamic financial products and make them available on the London market can also provide an opportunity for presenting Islam to non-Muslims. By being an international financial plat-form, Britain can offer and promote Islamic products to an already large array of existing clients from Europe and the rest of the world. There is much hope that Cameron’s recent announce-ment can create a positive ground for more understanding between the Islamic world and the west.

The British government’s latest involve-ment in Islamic finance has generated great interest worldwide. This kind of exposure can show the practicality of

Islamic financial law, its suit-ability in a modern financial context and its applicability under non-Islamic laws as a viable investment option. Cameron’s announcement can be used as a vehicle to drive the financial sectors to accept new methods and models to help damaged economies across the world.

Whatever the government’s motiva-tion behind the latest announcement, Britain can be credited for thinking out of the box in trying to introduce new and innovative methods to encourage economic growth. •

Dr Nehad Khanfar is a lecturer in Islamic Finan-cial/Banking Contracts and Comparative Con-tract Law at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies in London.

The reality is that Islamic finance has now proved itself to be a successfully functioning

model to parallel the well-established western model of finance.

The UK government’s commitment to offer Islamic financial services to the world, and the possibility of other western countries following suit, can be considered an historical moment for the global future of Islamic finance, says Nehad Khanfar

12

Christmas approaches and it is impossible to ignore the spangly party atmosphere. For Muslims who live in non-Muslim countries, the season of good will presents many challenges, says Sabnum Dharamsi

14

I have come across many different attitudes to Christmas, and so I decided to take a closer look at the way we do things, in the hope of finding a way to get through the festive season unscathed!

First of all here is a slightly tongue-in-cheek guide to some of the attitudes we adopt over Yuletide.

1) AGAINST: There are many Muslims who bunker down, deciding perhaps that nothing useful can be got from the outside world at this time. Some aspects of Christmas can assault or even offend our Islamic sense of sobriety. People around us are planning on overeating, over-indulging, drinking to excess and dressing in immodest or undignified ways. In response, Muslims develop a hyper-awareness of the outsider and take a strong dislike to the rampant mate-rialism and frivolity. You may even spearhead a Facebook campaign about Xmas being an absurd waste of money, and find yourself shouting loudly at largely disinterested people about the huge amounts of debt that people get into, not to mention the ecological damage wrought by tonnes of excess packaging.

2) FOMO: Fear of missing out. For some of us, there is a lot more ambivalence. Perhaps it is something that one doesn’t feel entirely comfortable about, but the energy that surrounds Christmas can be quite overwhelming. It looks fun, and everyone seems to be having a great time. You would love to be a part of it, but you realise you can’t be. If you have kids, maybe you’ll indulge them a bit, but really you would love to have your own excuse to go out, dress up, laugh irrationally loudly, sing songs and make merry. Even if you were invited, you’d still be different, and lack the confi-

dence that comes from Christmas being something you’ve practised, rather than just observed. And it may lead to situa-tions in which you would feel guilty or compromised. So you are holed up at home, an outsider and excluded.

3) JOIN IN: So perhaps you’ve given up on wanting, and have gone for it. For many Muslims, Islam is not so much a religious as a cultural identity, and only a part of that identity. So although you might not share this with family elders, you feel comfortable with going to the parties, doing the countdown shopping, playing charades and maybe

even getting a tree. Some of you will do this with other Muslims, some with non-Muslims and some with a mixture. Some of you will get a halal turkey. Some of you will even get into the age-old Christmas pastime of family arguments, such as the one that comes of trying to explain to the children why you can’t have a dog….(great-grandma wouldn’t like it??)

4) PLURALISTIC: Many Muslims, while practising, see no harm in some ways of joining in, when the festivities don’t clash overtly with Islamic teachings. There are often talks at this time reminding us of what we share with Christianity, and how Jesus(a) is significant for both faiths. You love your faith, and feel connected to the more religious aspects of Christmas and Christianity. Perhaps you connect with the carol singing, and enjoy the speeches of the Archbishop of

Canterbury. It can be quite nice too, to compare the tone of sacred festivities in Islam and Christianity, and find differ-ences and similarities between our Eids and Christmas: we all overeat, we all have lovely rituals, Eid is less commer-cialised and more sacred, Christians have more fun etc. But where do you draw the line? You believe in live and let live, but you’re really not sure about your child being in the school nativity play.

5) FORBIDDEN: Some Muslims feel that Christmas is firmly un-Islamic on religious grounds. They will often be

aware of the historical origins of Christmas and how many of the symbols of Christmas (Christmas tree, decorations, Santa) are not part of early Christian religious tradition, but are pagan elements that have been grafted on. They often withdraw children from the last week of school so they are

protected from the Christmas hype and don’t feel they’re missing out. They may be charitable givers, aware of Islam’s association with modesty, but also feel strongly that celebrating Christmas is to participate in the false idea that Jesus(a)

is the son of God. They will often be critical of other Muslims above.

One of the key things that strikes me is that we all have multiple identities, and often these clash with each other. Just as it’s hard to be both a perfect son and perfect husband, especially in the same house, it’s hard to be both Muslim and British, especially as our own understandings of these are constantly changing, both at an indi-vidual and societal level. And we also all have contradictions within ourselves. Particularly in respect of religion, it can be extremely hard to know and accept where we are in relation to it; on the one

The clashing of beliefs and cultures, so evident in the Christmas season, challenges us to explore

our self-concepts and intentions more closely.

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hand we understand that this is meant to be a priority in our lives, but we may not always feel it inside. On the other hand we may be extremely religious on the outside, but that may also mask a fear that our hold on our faith identity is more fragile than we project.

So what to do? God tells us “O mankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (not that you may despise [each other]. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is [he who is] the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted [with all things].” (Qur’an 49:13)

I believe that the clashing of beliefs and cultures, so evident in the Christmas season, challenges us to explore our self-concepts and intentions more closely. Working out who we are and how we are go together. Indeed, Islam is a way of life, and God has decreed not only the times that we live in, but also where we live. He created us to inhabit a world of hardship, “Verily We have created man into toil and struggle.”(90:4)

So it’s incumbent on each of us to work out how to be Muslim in the time and place in which we find ourselves. In a way Islam - submission - means working out what it means to be Muslim in this day and age and this place. For each of us Xmas is a bit like being a Muslim who drives a taxi on a Saturday night. You are in it but not of it. The question is whether we conduct ourselves with compassion, with mercy, with under-standing, with discernment, or whether we are judgmental towards others?

Perhaps it isn’t about whether we are

in or out, but about our niyyah (inten-tion), and how that is manifested in our actions.

The question of how we conduct ourselves is particularly salient when applied to those who are more vulner-able. For example, take new converts who want and need to be more open to other established Muslims. I find that often those who’ve been brought up as Muslims can be quite harsh about converts participating in Christmas with their families, forgetting that Christmas is a huge test for them. Similarly, with young people, adults often forget how essential a part of a young person’s development it is to make friends, to not be too different, to form their own social networks and to experiment. Christmas is a huge test for them too, and adults can be part of creating an overly rigid and therefore dismissive response to their needs rather than understanding them.

There are often no clear-cut answers to how to respond to challenges, but what is important is to foster joy and zest for living in our children, to develop nurturing environments where possible so that not only do they have the capacity and confidence to make mature choices, but also so that they associate spirituality with joy.

Perhaps the most important life-learning for Muslims and Christians alike is being compelled to engage with diverse perceptions and values through which we are also encouraged to dis-identify with the narrowness of our concepts, and respond to the deeper truth of who we are. •

‘There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear’. (New Testament 1 John, iv. 18)

‘Each man’s work will become mani-fest.’ (New Testament 1 Corinthians iii. 13)

‘The true servants of the Most Merciful are those who behave gently and with humility on earth, and whenever the foolish quarrel with them, they reply with [words of] peace.’ (Qur’an 25: 63)

‘And follow that which is revealed to you, and be patient until Allah issues [His] judgement, and He is the best of judges’. (Qur’an 10:109)

Sabnum Dharamsi is a therapist and co-founder of Islamic Counselling Training. www.islamiccounselling.info

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Considered a pioneer in African art, Ibrahim El-Salahi is a Sudanese contemporary painter who studied Art at the University of Khartoum.His artistic studies were extensive. During the 1950s and 1960s he studied in London, Italy, the US and South America. In 1966 he led the Sudanese delegation in the first World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal.El-Salahi taught Applied Arts in Khartoum and was a member of the Khartoumi School founded by the Sudanese calligrapher Osman Waqialla.His time in Europe and the Americas were crucial to expanding his knowledge of Renaissance art. These experiences have been fundamental in developing his own style. From the exposure of other artists and contemporary western art forms, El-Salahi developed a unique style

which is based on his own African and Islamic heritage. It is a style which has built bridges and enabled modern art to be recognised beyond Europe.Recognised as a visionary modernist, El-Salahi’s painting expands the narrative of global artistry by forging a cross cultural and cross continental link. The narrative El-Salahi has brought to the art world tells of another story which can connect to other cultures and customs.

His work has developed over the decades from elementary lines to abstracted and, more often, organic forms. His paintings have a meditative quality, which assisted by the muted colours and earthy tones, highlight the aesthetic style of the Khartoum School. He is documented as one of the first painters to incorporate Arabic calligraphy in his paintings El-Salahi’s is a visual style in keeping with many artists outside Europe and America. Last summer a major retrospective of El-Salahi’s work was mounted at the Tate Modern in London.

Babak Golkar is a Vancouver based artist of Iranian origin who is internationally recognised for his imaginative conceptual artwork. When I first saw his work, I was filled with a range of emotions. Firstly, I was surprised by the candour of his work and the pared down complexity of his ideas. I was stunned, puzzled and intrigued. Having studied art for many years, I appreciate how important the vertical and horizontal axes are in the formation of sculpture. As an artist, one’s first and foremost role is to engage the viewer. This is, of course, mainly executed through firmly rooted concepts and an informed choice of materials. But, what every artist engages in are ideas around the collaboration of positive and negative space just as a composer considers the notes, the pace and the pauses of a piece of work. And any listener of classical music will have concluded that the silent punctuations are equally relevant to the notes that precede or follow. Likewise, the artist, practitioner of matter, vies with material in relation to space and time.Art is an opportunity to convey something; a message or simply a feeling. Here, Golkar expresses many things. When I first saw this piece from a distance, it resembled the model of a New York skyline rendered in white on an interesting landscape. On closer inspection, I

ARTS Art Editor Moriam Grillo

MASTERPIECE‘Grounds for standing and understanding’ - Babak Golkar

Grounds for standing and understanding - Acrylic, wood, wool

The Last Stand 1964 - Oil on canvas

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realised that the white figures were fixed upon a rug of Eastern origin. A more detailed inquiry helped me to recognise that the figures themselves were actually part of the rug from which they materialised. For me, there are so many metaphors that arise from this piece, the strongest being ones that centre around time - the rug representing antiquity and the geometric shapes that arise from it modernity, East meeting West, past shaping the present, a moment born out of a mass of time, a lifetime. My final feelings on this piece were that not only did it skilfully pay homage to a celebrated past - one that the maker could relate to and was born of, but that the visual language used built bridges between the vast identities of the East and West. Looking at this piece, I found myself pondering on the healing quality of time, the power of time and space and how this model, this microcosmic space, reflects our modern world. That this could represent a thousand landscapes in a thousand places, perhaps even a thousand moments in a thousand lives, with all lives and locations sharing a similar story, a story rooted in time and space.Reflecting on his work, Golkar says: “I started imagining the patterns as three-dimensional forms. Because of the intense colour contrast of the dyes used in nomadic Persian carpets, the shapes began to vibrate if looked at for a long period of time”. Arwa Abouon was born in Tripoli,

Libya. Currently living in Montreal, she studied Design at Concordia University.

She produces light-hearted photographic representations, based on portraiture and still life, about identity and belonging. Her finished work is highly graphic; each image conveyed through simple blocks of colour or pattern. Often employing

monochromes as a basis for her images, Abouon uses old-fashioned postures and compositions, making her subjects appear to have been recorded in a bygone era even though her images are obviously produced in the 21st century. Her photographs are simple yet complex, in form and meaning. A woman of deep thinking, her work reflects her own personal journey through life. With many of her images furnished by family members, Abouon’s underlying narrative is laden with a deep sense of love and belonging. Her style is unassuming and presented without the aggressive undertones of many artistic representations of identity.

PHOTOGRAPHY‘Camouflower’ Arwa Abouon, 2004

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“The themes addressed in my works stem directly from my life experience as a female artist living and working that possess much wider social effects by collapsing racial, cultural and religious borders. In other words, the images, which are seemingly autobiographical in nature, move beyond mere autobiography,” she explains.Although it would be easy to regard

her work as administering an element of pastiche this appears to be simply a revision of the formality of portraiture. She uses portraiture to question and study human behaviour and ideas of familial and social conditioning that shape us as people. Repackaging these studies with a balance of humour and homage, Abouon infuses her own Islamic identity into the mix to

provoke deeper contemplation and discussion. She says: “I question my own place within a so-called Western culture on the one hand and an upbringing in a Muslim household on the other. My ultimate aim is to sculpt a finer appreciation of the Islamic culture by shifting the focus from political issues to a poetic celebration of the faith’s foundations.”

The P21 Gallery, designed by the award winning Egyptian architect, Professor Abdul Halim Ibrahim, is an independent London-based non-profit organisation established to

promote contemporary MiddleEastern and Arab art and culture.P21 Gallery21 Chalton StreetLondon NW1 1JD

In The City is a graphic design and sound-art exhibition that provides a rare glimpse into four enigmatic, but over-looked Arab cities - Alexandria, Algiers, Baghdad and Nablu - by recapturing and re-imagining elements of those cities. The collection explores each city’s panorama through its streets, landmarks, people, signage and sounds. Each room contains elements borrowed from the city it represents, forming a variety of installations that will entice interaction between the audience and the work.

The exhibition runs until December 15 at the P21 Gallery, London.

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Moriam Grillo is an inter-national artist. She holds Bachelor degrees in Pho-tography, Film and Ceram-ics. She is also a freelance broadcaster,photographer and writer.

TO PLACE TO BE ADDENDUMP21 Gallery, London In the City

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I have often dreamed of travelling to Southeast Asia and my Malaysian friends have encouraged me to do so. With its majority Muslim popula-

tion, the region boasts the co-existence and shared cultural heritage of different religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Situated at the crossroads of trade between East and West, Islam penetrated the Malay Archipelago in the 16th century, largely through commerce. Indeed, up until the Euro-pean ‘spice rush’, the spice trade was in Muslim hands and was mostly water borne. Spices were not the only means

by which Islam spread in the region: medical knowledge and by extension the Arabic language of medical texts became the lingua franca of medicine in Southeast Asia.

Malay arts were no less affected by Islamic influence, which continued to blend with pre-existing Buddhist and Hindu traditions. Indeed, intri-cate metalwork has a long history in Malaysia and was traditionally a royal craft. The sultans would provide their silversmiths with European coins or Chinese ingots to be melted down and turned into various accessories;

hence they were mainly for royal use. The practice of melting down silver was copied by the notables who exchanged old silverware for new items, making the survival of pre-nineteenth century silver something of a rarity.

Enter British colonial administrators making the precious, vanishing old silverware at once sought-after and collectable. These collections found their way to Europe and to the great exhibitions of the 19th and 20th centu-ries: in 1886 such an exhibition was held in London featuring Perak Sultanate regalia. The following year, electrotype

The rich tradition of Malay silverware is being showcased in an exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Cleo Cantone went along to take a look

Malay silverware

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copies of the regalia were made for the South Kensington Museum with the object of inspiring students and arti-sans. In the following decades, several gifts of Malay silverware were donated to the museum. These items were eloquent proof of elaborate crafts-manship, using a variety of techniques.

The V&A’s collection of Malay silverware is kept in the Silverware galleries in a single case including house-hold items and accessories for royal use or rites of passage, such as births and weddings. There are ceremonial boxes in the shape of favoured fruits: the Dorian described as the ‘king of fruits’ or the coconut, ‘the heart and soul of Malay cooking’, the bitter fruit, gelugor, used in curries to add acidity. Bowls, batil, used for drinking or finger washing before a meal and saucers, ceper, which held the drinking bowl are func-tional as well as ornamental. As meals were taken on the floor, bowls were not placed directly on it but on the accompanying saucer. Here

the saucer’s broad rim is in the shape of lotus petals and embellished with scrolls in low relief.

Floral ornamentation also permeates two presentation boxes that belonged to Sultan Abdul Rahman of Riau and Lingga (ruled 1883-1911). The floral pattern is carved in low relief while the segments of the lid are hammered on the reverse - a technique known as embossing - then worked with a fine tool on the front using ‘chasing’. (image 1)

Even the daggers (krises) are for cere-monial use and their sheaths are embel-lished with floral motifs. Used both in Java and in the Malay Archipelago, they have a straight or wavy iron blade and gold or silver casing. Primarily destined for royalty and nobility, these daggers are also used in wedding ceremonies by grooms. Their undulated handles are made with wood or water buffalo horn. (image 2)

Among the utensils was a large tray (talam) marked with Jawi script naming its owner. Here, the geometric designs

bear witness to the influence of Islam on Malay arts: the two overlapping eight-pointed stars in the middle of the tray and the twelve-pointed stars on the

rim are such examples. In addition, the scalloped edge resembles the petals of the lotus flower with its Buddhist associations and symbolic allusions to

purity. (image 3)

A magnificent pedestal tray, used for presentation of gifts at weddings belonged to the mother of Sultan Abdul Rahman. He ruled over the Riau Lingga kingdom which was suppressed by the Dutch colonial government, sending the sultan into exile in Singapore.

The smallest boxes were used to store betel nut (image 4) but a particularly large and beautifully adorned example consists of multiple segments divided by gilded bands. The decoration is

distinctly European and compares to contemporary examples from England and France. Originally owned by the Sultanate, it then came into the possession of a British colonial adminis-trator and historian.

Perhaps the least intricate but no less splendid covered dish brings me back to the original trail: used to hold food or sweetmeats, this

The trail of the lotus flower […..] is a symbol shared by different cultures, uniting them like the multiple petals of the covered silver dish.

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dish is entirely covered by lotus flower petals and the handle on the top is in the shape of a lotus bud. (image 5)

Here we see an example of the embossing and chased technique balanced by blank, darker spaces that accentuate the carving. The dish originates from Indonesia but we see it appear equally on Iranian or Afghan copperware. In the Jameel gallery, on the ground floor of the museum, you can find such a dish dating to 1496. Made with tinned metal, it is said to have once shone like silver and its recessed background is filled with black. Interestingly, in the Asia galleries on the same floor, you will find the so-called Bidri ware from the Deccan city of Bidar in India.

The technique known as Bidri consists of objects cast from a high zinc alloy inlaid with silver which is then covered in a mud paste; once the paste is removed, the alloy changes from a dull grey to black, leaving the silver inlay unchanged. The earliest of such

objects dates from the 16th century and the example displayed is an over-sized lime box used to store betel mixed with spices and chewed after meals or offered to guests.

The traditions of hospitality and ceremonies in the Muslim world find expression in these exquisite objects, carved by masters of their trade, utilised by the powerful and brought to the cases of this museum for all to enjoy.

The trail of the lotus flower took me from the monasteries of Bangkok (in the Southeast Asia gallery), through Iran and to the Malay Archipelago of the present display. It is a symbol shared

by different cultures, uniting them like the multiple petals of the covered silver dish. •

Silver from the Malay World,

Victoria and Albert Museum, Room 66 15 July 2013 – 16 March 2014

Admission Free

Dr Cleo Cantone holds a PhD from the University of London. Her book “Making and Remaking Mosques in Senegal”, based on her doctoral research, has recently been published by Brill.

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Image 4: Small betel nut boxes

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The Follies of Ame rican IntelligenceThe recent revelations of NSA eavesdropping on Germany shows that the American intelligence machinery actually militates against spreading American influence around the globe, argues Reza Murshid

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The Follies of Ame rican Intelligence

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The twentieth century has been billed by most liberal political commentators as ‘the American century’ because of

the prominent and decisive role that the United States played in shaping modern geopolitical realities.

But in recent years many who have seen the insurmountable challenges that this superpower has faced both at home and abroad - from the recent government shutdown in Washington DC to the US failure to create a robust alliance in its much-touted War on Terror - have started wondering if the 21st century can also be called the same.

From the ashes of the Second World War, the United States emerged as a global power, only matched by the Soviet Union for its military and espionage prowess as well as its global influence. Over four decades later, after engaging in bitter Cold War rivalries with the communist bloc which included its disastrous misadventure in Indo-China and the deranged brinkman-ship in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States was instrumental in putting an end to the Soviet era and effectively destroying the mystique that socialism had for a vast population around the globe. During these four decades, the US espionage network played a pivotal role in ending the Soviet reign.

But it was intelligence gathering with a myopic vision. As the United States was defeating its arch enemy in Moscow, a new rival to the American power was emerging. The emergence of this new rival was not properly noticed by the U.S. intelligence analysts who were too hell-bent on only observing the events in the Eastern Bloc to notice tectonic shifts in the Muslim world.

In the last decades of the American century, a robust Islamic movement opposed to the unelected Shahs, Sheikhs and ‘unelected presidents’ mostly allied with Washington emerged and threatened to destroy the alliance between these tyrants and the White

House. The movement was not given due attention by the spy masters in Washington. That is why the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran has been termed ‘an unpredicted revolution’ because the whole intelligence appa-ratus in the United States failed to see it coming. Large numbers of CIA agents had been stationed in Iran during the Shah’s time but they failed to report the simmering discontent back to headquarters.

The more recent Arab Spring also took the same intelligence machinery by surprise. This is probably because the machinery on the whole is so Islamo-phobic and devoid of sympathetic experts on Islam that it is loath to admit that the Arab Spring is actually a sequel to the Islamic awakening that started

in the 1950’s in the region, leading to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the struggle to drive the Red Army out of Afghanistan.

The failure to discern the changes in the Islamic world in the last century to this day plagues the American intel-ligence apparatus vis-à-vis the Muslim world. Lack of proper, in-depth intel-ligence means that the US is always lagging behind reality as it develops. Most observers believe that the inability of US policymakers to deal with the shifting landscape of this Islamic move-ment has meant that even today they are unable to adopt a coherent strategy towards Iran or other key players in the Muslim world.

Unintelligent way to treat an ally

The most important challenge that the United States is facing today is rooted in its shady alliance three decades ago with fighters who were active in the

war of liberation in Afghanistan in the 1980’s. It is now an open secret that Al-Qaeda, the supposed perpetrator of 9/11, was the baby Frankenstein that was nursed in the lap of its mother, the CIA, in the battlefields of Helmand and the Hindu Kush.

After the devastating shock of 9/11, the United States has been attempting, but failing miserably, to build permanent allies in the War on Terror. In the past century, creating an alliance with European powers was much easier for the American strategists despite the fact that most of the twentieth-century European governments were led by leftist politicians who were ideologi-cally aloof to the ideals of the world’s number-one capitalist country.

But take a look at American efforts to build an alliance now, and it is clear that Washington has fallen flat on its face. An example of this can be seen in the current state of US ties with Germany.

In the twentieth century, the United States and its allies were able to crush Nazi Germany and then

initiate a Marshall Plan to ensure that post-war Germany would be reborn with a robust economy, the best anti-dote to Hitler’s National Socialism. Consequently, following the partition of Germany, West Germany was a close US ally throughout the Cold War until the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc.

But as it stands now, US-German relations are characterised by mutual distrust mainly because of the follies of the US intelligence apparatus. It is fair to say that the most embarrassing moment of Barak Obama’s presidency occurred recently when his administra-tion was found with its hand in the German information cookie jar.

Thanks to Edward Snowden’s latest revelations, Germans came to know that Angela Merkel’s phone had been bugged by US National Security Agency (NSA) for more than a decade. This fiasco caused the US ambassador to be summoned - for the first time in living

The failure to discern the changes in the Islamic world in the last century to this day plagues the American intelligence apparatus vis-à-vis the Muslim world.

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memory - to provide an explanation for the unnecessary snooping on the Chan-cellor. Obama offered his apology to Merkel when she called him to demand an explanation, but the damage was already done.

Only weeks earlier, Obama had been in Germany making one of his grandiose statements. Merkel was present on the same stage and smiling throughout Obama’s speech. But had she known how the US spy network was eavesdrop-ping on her phone conversations, it is unlikely she would have been such a polite host.

To make things worse, Obama later claimed that he had no idea that the spying was being carried out. The US officials and commentators appeared quite nonchalant about what their government had done, adopting the following line of argument: Every government is at it and the US is no different. They conveniently forgot to mention the rather obvious fact that you don’t eavesdrop on your friends, let alone someone who does not pose a threat.

One American commentator wrote: ‘An apology would be ludicrous, given the behaviour of other countries.’ We are not sure what other countries have done to justify the action of the bumbling idiots who run the US intel-ligence apparatus. An apology is offered when a person becomes aware of the wrongdoing. The behaviour of others should not play any part in it.

The reluctance to apologise is rooted in the notion of ‘American exceptionalism’ which is deeply ingrained in most American strategists. In the recent Syrian chemical dossier, when US commentators were discussing whether the US should bomb Syria, a number of American pundits appeared to favour a US air strike on Syria despite the absence of a United Nations resolution simply because they believed in this hackneyed notion.

The expiry date of this notion is long past. With the impressive rise of China and India, the strong economic performance of Brazil (also spied upon

by the same intelligence apparatus), and the powerful diplomacy of Russia, the new century promises to have no room for American exceptionalism. The American Century was built and buttressed by American intelligence gathering. But it is less certain that the current century will follow suit because of America’s continuing myopia and unwillingness to understand new world realities. •

Reza Murshid is a political analyst and freelance writer.

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From a British perspective, it’s next to impossible to understand what so horrifies Americans when you mention

these words - universal healthcare – as it is such an integral part of our DNA.

In many ways it is also a fundamental part of American ideology to mistrust ‘big’ government. The notion of the individual over the collective is a concept that stretches back to The Constitution and the ‘Bill of Rights’, and even beyond, to colonial times. Each divides and defines our nations – UK, US, (Europe, Australia, Canada) – in a manner unlike anything else.

With the rollout of ObamaCare, which

will hopefully make things better for most Americans, the landscape is subtly shifting.

ObamaCare is shorthand for what is actually the Affordable Care Act. In 2010 the American President signed the complex 2000-plus page law that reforms and restructures the $2.6 tril-lion dollar healthcare industry.

To its many American critics, universal care conjures up nightmares of creeping socialism, something definitely used by its Republican detractors to whip up opposition.

To its many Democratic supporters, however, healthcare reform will finally bring about long awaited financial

accountability and universal coverage for every American. It will be an inclu-sive plan to cover most of the country’s citizens.

For those who can afford it, they will have to buy coverage on health insurance exchanges by 2014 or pay a monthly fee. By law insurance companies will no longer be able to drop a client if he or she is sick, and it protects against gender discrimination (women will get paid more), and expands free preventa-tive services and health benefits.

However, the October 1st rollout (when the exchanges opened for business – or not as the case may be) has been beset by massive technical glitches. The data

Feature

With ObamaCare health reform moving towards completion, America’s political forces find themselves in a tussle between two contrasting philosophies on the role of the state, says Heidi Kingstone

Healthcare America’s big ideological battleground

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centre hosting the website at the heart of Obama’s reform crashed. But this is only the first step in a long process that will continue for several years and in various stages.

Until now tens of millions of poor Americans have remained uninsured. One of the key features of ObamaCare is that it proposes to give 30 of 44 million of those Americans access to health insurance.

As it stands the US spends twice as much per capita as the UK on healthcare – (£5300.00 per person or 17.7 per cent as a percentage of GDP – a very poor aggregate of health performance) without superior outcomes. Shockingly, Families USA, a healthcare advocacy group that supports ObamaCare, estimated last year that in the world’s wealthiest nation, a person dies every 20 minutes for lack of insurance.

In a recent column Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times jour-nalist, told the story of a middle-aged truck driver who opted out of buying a plan when his company no longer offered healthcare. When he tried to purchase a replacement, as a lifelong smoker, he couldn’t afford the premiums. Having had insurance for decades, he took a chance, and as chance would have it, he developed colon cancer. As Kristof points out, with ObamaCare the man would have sought treatment with the first symptoms. Now, it might be too late.

In the past, roughly 80 per cent of Americans were covered by their employers for health insurance. If you lost your job or quit, you couldn’t transfer the plan. Private plans also dropped people when they became ill. The federal government sponsored Medicare programme primarily covers Americans over 65. Medicaid is for low income families.

Small businesses worry they will have to pay a penalty starting in 2015 if they don’t provide coverage and it can be very expensive. While the plans are state-based and are poised to make

insurance more affordable, individuals will start to be penalised in 2014 if they don’t comply.

Most people who get health insurance through their employers like their plans and don’t want to lose them or have to pay more. Individuals who either don’t want insurance or who have low cost plans, or whose income is just above the threshold for subsidies, are also worried about the cost. Healthy young individuals don’t want to buy expensive insurance plans. Small ‘c’ conservatives simply don’t like the idea of government telling them what to do.

The issue is if Americans don’t sign up and prices don’t come down, then it will not have the hoped for result. Think of it this way: If an insurance company only insures young healthy people who pay in but almost never claim, then the company can keep rates low and make

lots of money. That was the situation before - lots of cheap insurance plans existed that “cherry picked” healthy individuals and offered competitive prices.

Old people were left with Medicare; large employers or the public sector kept prices for their plans lower because they enrolled so many people. The new requirement now means that insurance companies can’t deny anyone insur-ance, so all sorts of unhealthy people can now not be dropped or ignored. But, the cost can only come down if enough young, healthy people who will contribute but not make claims, join. If they don’t, costs won’t come down and politically, this could spell trouble for Obama.

The powerful lobbyists have been the industries around healthcare, like phar-maceutical companies, hospitals, health care providers, doctors and insurance companies. They worry they will lose out as a result of the reforms, yet most

of these huge industries make their profits through traditional US insur-ance. Powerful, well-resourced, highly skilled lobbyists are able to manipulate the American system because there are more points of access for special interest groups in the American presidential system. The parliamentary system is reasonably disciplined and accountable.

Like everywhere, only a small percentage of Americans take a big interest in politics. As each Congressman or woman runs campaigns on their own resources, most deals are done behind closed doors, mostly while the rest of the country is watching TV.

One benefit of the new legislation will be a reduction of unnecessary opera-tions and treatments. These were often prescribed for a number of reasons including patient demand and doctors’

own financial interests, such as ownership stakes in labs and testing equipment. All healthcare systems have to find ways to ration care. But in the US, it is not based on evidence, science, or cost-benefit; it’s based on the ability to pay.

According to Paul Krugman, The New York Times Op-Ed columnist and Nobel laureate, “the health reform fight has always been about more than health reform. Liberals have long viewed health reform as the opening wedge, a sort of proof of concept, in a campaign to strengthen the US safety net and reduce income inequality.”

It is a fight between those who believe government has a role in promoting social welfare and social justice outcomes and those who believe that things should be left to individuals and the market. It’s a critical dividing line in American politics. •

Heidi Kingstone is London based foreign correspond-ent and features writer. She has lived in Afghanistan, and reported from Iraq and Sudan. She is currently writing a book on Afghani-stan.

It is estimated last year that in the world’s wealthiest nation [USA], a person dies every

20 minutes for lack of insurance.

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The above verse of the holy Qur’an, as well as several others, invites Muslims to look into the sky and ponder

on its amazing creation. One of the

Muslim scientists who responded to this invitation and contributed to the progress of the science of astronomy, was Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Umar al-Sufi al-Razi, a Persian mathematician and

astronomer who is known to westerners with various titles but most often with the Latinised name “Azophi” (al-Sufi).

Sufi started his work when the Greek tradition of astronomy had died out centuries before but was revitalised during the second half of the eighth century by Muslim astronomers such as Abu Ma‘shar (Albumasar), al-Fazari, al-Nairizi, and al-Battani.

Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi:The star finder

“What, have they not beheld heaven above them, how we have built it, and decked it out fair” (Qur’an, 50:6).

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Sufi was born on 8th November 904 in the city of Raay near modern Tehran. Of his early life and education not much is known but we know that in 948 when he was in his mid-forties he travelled to the city of Dinawar and Isfahan for further education.

In 969 Ahud al-Dawla, king of the Buyid dynasty invited Sufi to Shiraz and appointed him as the chief astronomer

of his court until his death in May 986. Sufi’s relationship with Ahud al-Dawla was so close that the latter regarded himself as a friend and pupil of Sufi. It was in this city that Sufi compiled his magnum opus Kitab Suwar al-Kawakib al-Thabita (Book on the Constellations of the Fixed Stars).

Sufi wrote several books on the subject of astronomy all of which are in the

Arabic language, such as on the use of the astrolabe, the celestial globe, and an introduction to the science of astrology.

He also crafted a celestial globe of silver for Ahud-al-Dawla which was later exhibited in 1043/44 in the public library of Cairo by the Egyptian astro-labe maker Ibn al-Sinbadi. (Image 1)

Sufi is however well known for his Kitab

Building upon and surpassing previous knowledge Islamic scientists blazed a trail for new discoveries in the 9th century. Mohammad Reza Jozi takes a look at the life of Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi

The constellation Andromeda in the Doha manuscript

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Folio 165 from manuscript of

al-Su�'s treatise on the �xed stars

1009-10 Bodleian Library, Oxford

Abenezra azophi craters 4096 h1

Gemini Constellation al-Su�

30

Suwar al-Kawakib which he authored when he was 61 years old and which he dedicated to his patron. In this book Sufi gives the detailed specifications of 48 constellations which Ptolemy intro-duced in his “Almagest”.

These specifications are from the perspective of the observer, not from the perspective of the globe. The main purpose of the Suwar al-Kawakib is to guide the observer who looks at the sky. Sufi’s profound knowledge of astronomy becomes evident when he recalculates and corrects the positions and the magnitudes of many stars already listed in Almagest by Ptolemy. Further to this, he describes each constellation with full details and then draws a table which consists of the location, longitude, lati-tude, colour and magnitude of each star inside the figure of that constellation.

Sufi managed to observe 1027 stars in general and give the minutest details of each of them. This includes the name and the description of 40 stars from his personal observations which had not been discovered before nor were listed. Furthermore, he gives the first known record of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) which some centuries later was observed by Amerigo Vespucci and Ferdinand Magellan and also three nebulous objects i.e. the Andromeda Galaxy, Brocchi’s Cluster and the Omicron Velorum Cluster.

Also in this book Sufi complemented the 48 constellations introduced in Almagest with useful information about the derivation of the names of the stars in Arabic and their equivalents in Greek.

One of the innovations of Sufi is his artistic illustration of the constellations which helps the reader to memorise and locate the position of the stars in the sky. This was an advantage which Almagest totally lacked. These illustra-tions represent the constellations twice; first in mirror image, as they appear on a celestial globe, and second as they actually appear in the sky.

Today more than 90 manuscripts of

Suwar al-Kawakib are preserved in the libraries and museums of the world. One of the most valuable manuscripts of this work which belonged to the celebrated Muslim astronomer Ulugh Beg (1394-1449) and was made around 1430 is now kept at Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

However the oldest manuscript of Suwar al-Kawakib is now kept in Bodleian Library in Oxford - it was inscribed 26 years after his death by his son Abu’l-Hussein Sufi. (Image 2)

Suwar al-Kawakib became a classic text in astronomy for many centuries both in Islamic lands and later in the Latin west. The first Persian translation of this book appeared in the hand of Nasir al-Din Tusi in the 13th century and its first Latin translation was produced by the order of the Alfonso X (1252-1284), king of Castile. It was from this Latin translation that the western world became acquainted with the name of

Sufi (Azophi) and Suwar al-Kawakib.

In 1533 Petrus Apianus (1495-1552) from Ingolstadt published a star map in his Horoscopion generale (and also in his Instrument Buch of 1533) which contained several ‘Arabic’ asterisms (cluster of stars) apparently based on an Arabic copy of Sufi’s star atlas in his possession.

In 1665 Thomas Hyde, the English orientalist and keeper of the Bodleian Library, in the commentary to his edition of Ulugh Beg’s Zij-i-Jadid Sultani introduced several quotations from Sufi’s book. This in turn became a source for Italian astronomer, Giuseppe Piazzi, who in 1814 extracted many names and fragments from Sufi and Ulugh Beg and incorporated them in his Praecipuarum Stellarum Iner-

rantum Positiones. (Image 3)

As a tribute to this distinguished Muslim scientist the lunar crater “Azophi” and the minor planet 12621 “Alsufi” are named after him. •

Muhammad Reza Jozi is gradu-ated from Tehran University in Sociology. He is editor of An Anthology of Philosophy in Per-sia and consultant editor of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

Sufi’s profound knowledge of astronomy becomes evident when he recalculates and corrects the

positions and the magnitudes of many stars already listed in Almagest by Ptolemy

The constellation Andromeda in the Doha manuscript

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Folio 165 from manuscript of

al-Su�'s treatise on the �xed stars

1009-10 Bodleian Library, Oxford

Abenezra azophi craters 4096 h1

Gemini Constellation al-Su�

31

32

There has been a tremendous nostalgic romanticisation of the Ottoman Empire in recent years, and the BBC is

no exception. The Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors a three-episode series broadcast in October 2013, is one example. The series was replete with references to the Ottomans’ past glories

with presenter Rageh Omaar constantly reminding us that the Ottomans ruled for 600 years over three continents and that theirs was an empire of tremendous wealth ruling over one million square miles of land.

The series is packed with elaborately captured views from the picturesque landscapes of the Bosphorus and

beautiful architecture of Istanbul that sometimes resemble holiday adverts. The nostalgia for the empire fits into a contemporary fondness for all things Ottoman – the documentary itself mentions the recent Turkish TV series, The Magnificent Century, which has attracted 200 million viewers worldwide and made the cast and crew interna-

Review

Was the Muslim Ottoman Empire a European empire? What does the Ottoman Empire mean for both European and Middle Eastern nations? Mohsen Biparva examines the BBC production ‘The Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim Emperors’

The NostalgicMan of Europe

33

tional celebrities.

The series is a product of the BBC’s

Religion and Ethics Department which

has also recently produced ‘The Life of

Muhammad(s)’. The Ottomans can also

be seen as the continuation of another

series presented by Rageh Omar in

2009, An Islamic History of Europe,

focusing on Islam in Spain, Sicily and

France. The connection between these

documentaries is their emphasis on

‘European Islam’ and the thesis that

Islam is not alien to Europe. They

would also have us believe that Euro-

peans and Muslims have lived alongside

one another for a large part of history,

not as two inherently different people,

but as one. According to this view, Islam

has been and still is an integral part of

Europe and European identity.

The Ottomans’ director, Gillian

Bancroft, has other documentaries on

his CV which have also been broadcast

by the BBC: A History of Christianity,

Bible Mysteries and When God Spoke

English about the making of the King

James Bible. Knowing his interest in the

history of Christianity, one would expect

Bancroft to look at the Ottomans from

a Christian point of view. And this is

not entirely untrue as the documen-

tary renders a romantic picture of

Byzantium, its glory and its demise.

Episode Two for instance talks about

the Turks’ atrocities against Christians,

and particularly about the practice of

enslaving Christian boys and girls; boys

for the Sultan’s elite troops known as

Janissary (yeniçeri in Turkish) and girls

for the harem. We learn that because

of religious restrictions, Turks

were allowed to capture only

non-Muslim (Christian) boys

for the Sultan’s Janissary. One

of these enslaved Christian

boys was Mimar Sinan, the

great architect and civil

engineer of the Ottoman

court, who built a number of

iconic Ottoman mosques and

palaces.

During the film we also learn

about the key moments of

the Ottoman Empire: the fall

of Constantinople to Muslims in 1453;

the battle of Vienna in 1683 and the

consequent Ottoman defeat that for

many historians marks the beginning

of its end, followed by the 1917 fall of

Jerusalem and the fall of Istanbul a

year later, all of which have their reso-

nance in contemporary societies. The

partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

at the end of the First World War is

perhaps the most significant of them,

and as the film stresses quite rightly,

has shaped the current geopolitics of

the Middle East and Eastern Europe, if

not the entire world. Without knowing

Ottoman history, it is truly impossible

to understand the current situation of

the Middle East: the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict, the civil war in Syria and

the political turmoil in Egypt, all of

which are in a sense by-product of the

Ottoman demise.

Another key date in Ottoman history

was 1798 when a French expeditionary

force commanded by the young general

Napoleon Bonaparte invaded and

governed Egypt. The French occupation

was short-lived and soon replaced by

the British invading force, but it was

the first time that the Ottomans and

Muslims in general had to learn the

harsh lesson of their decline and the

rise of Europe.

Sometimes it is hard to imagine the

intensity and severity of the Ottoman

fall. The Treaty of Sèvres (1920), later

replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne

(1923), partitioned the entire Ottoman

territory into pieces and if it wasn’t for

the Turkish independence movement

and Ataturk’s leadership, there would

be no Republic of Turkey as well.

From a variety of different opinions

and theories about Ottoman decline,

the one advocated by this film, is in

keeping with the established narrative

of the West, which blames the lack

of modern institutions, modern tech-

nology, freedom of individual and the

rule of law; a theory that can be traced

back to the words of mainstream histo-

rians such as Bernard Lewis and Niall

Portrait of Mehmed II by Venetian artist Gentile Bellini

34

Ferguson. On the issue of their decline,

the Ottomans themselves had arrived

at the same conclusion when they

began their modernisation programme

in 1839 known as Tanzimat. During

this period, they published their first

newspaper, established a parliament,

abolished slavery, established a central

bank, modern style schools, post office,

modernised the army and so on. In

imitating every detail of the west they

even adopted a national anthem and a

national flag. The quest for modernity

however did not stop with the dissolu-

tion of the Ottoman Empire. The new

republic too followed the same path

and with much more intensity.

To divorce modern Turkey from its

Ottoman Empire Symbol

35

Ottoman past, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

introduced the principals of Kemalism

in six so called ‘arrows’: populism,

republicanism, nationalism, secularism,

statism and reformism. He replaced the

Islamic calendar with the Gregorian

calendar, abolished the caliphate,

prohibited the fez (the traditional hat

worn by males) and more importantly

decreed that the Roman alphabet

replace the Arabic script. The ultimate

goal of Kemalist reforms since then

has been to be considered part of

Europe. This ninety-year old dream is

yet to be achieved.

For many years, Turkey’s weak

economy was cited as the main reason

for Europe not to accept it. Nonetheless

in recent years with its economy stronger

than many of its European neighbours,

very few excuses remain. Turkey first

applied for European Union member-

ship in April 1987, after thirty five years

of membership in NATO. During the

following years, most East European

countries as well as the Baltic republics

succeeded in acceding to the EU. For

Turkey who joined NATO based on the

geopolitics of the Cold War, the demise

of the Soviet Union was not good news;

not only did it not help its EU member-

ship, it even jeopardised its standing in

NATO as one of the alliance’s bulwarks

against the Red Army.

Having been denounced by non-aligned

countries in the 1960s, disillusioned by

its treatment by the EU, and rejected

by Islamic and Arab countries in the

1990’s because of its close relations

with the United States and Israel, the

government of the then president

Turgut Ozal turned its attention to

the newly independent Caucasian and

Central Asian republics with the hope

of leading an alliance of the so-called

‘Turkic’ nations.

In the 1990s, leaders of Turkey and other

nations ‘stretching from the Adriatic

to the border of China’ had the vision

of building a community of ‘Turkic’

people. In 1991-92 Turkey started a

series of activities to strengthen its

ties with these nations. It included

long-term low-interest loans, direct aid,

satellite TV, tourism, and scholarships

for Turkish speaking students. However,

Turkey’s activities in the Turkic repub-

lics suffered a setback both because of

limited resources and because of the

rise of Russia reasserting its influence

in the region after a period of decline.

This failure might in part explain recent

enthusiasm for the Ottoman Empire,

especially when Turks themselves

have historically tried hard to forget or

distance themselves from that legacy.

Failing to establish a league of Turkic

nations, and finding itself rejected

by Muslim nations, reviving Ottoman

memories may be a defiant reasser-

tion of Turkish identity.

The film tries to portray the Ottomans

as a ‘European’ dynasty, which may

sound paradoxical. As Edward Said

argues in his book Orientalism, the

orientalist discourse not only shaped

what he calls the ‘imaginary geog-

raphy’ of the Orient (or the Middle

East) but the European identity too

is constructed through the establish-

ment of difference, in opposition to

this imaginary ‘Other’. For Europe as

a culturally constructed identity with

relatively undecided geographical

eastern frontiers, it would be extremely

difficult to accept the Muslim Ottoman

Empire as a ‘European’ empire, without

facing an identity crisis. It is not just

the Middle Eastern nations that have

to know Ottoman history to understand

their current position. Europeans also

need to keep the memory alive in order

to understand their own identity.

BBC - The Ottomans: Europe’s Muslim

Empires, Director: Gillian Bancroft, 2013

36

Universality of human rights

37

As one of the most talked about ideals in modern political discourse, the subject of human rights is at once very

straightforward and painfully nebulous. Human rights is the buzzword that ticks across media screens when highlighting issues of oppression, injustice or unfair treatment. Its slogans are raised by politicians, intellectuals, trade unions and activists of all shades and colours. Indeed our political and social culture seems woefully deficient without refer-ence to human rights.

Each one of us assents to the notion of human rights, and factors it in one way or another into an outlook on the general human condition and wider global reality. The preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaimed on 10th December 1948 points to some of the underlying reasons for this universal association to human rights.

The UDHR begins by affirming the inherent dignity, equality and freedom of human beings. It then proceeds to condemn oppression, tyranny and

For those sincerely seeking to improve the human condition and upholding the basic rights of their fellow humans, it requires a solemn sense of personal duty away from the prejudiced involvement of politicians and statesmen says Ali Jawad

Universality of human rights

38

‘barbarous acts’ that have “outraged the conscience of mankind” in indirect reference to the horrors of the Second World War. It would be difficult to find an individual who does not agree with both facets of this preamble, let alone openly oppose them.

Despite our initial assent however, question marks begin to stack up when tasked with defining these terms. For example, how do we define freedom, dignity, equality, oppression and so on? What sources do we rely on to come up with these definitions? These ques-tions open up a Pandora’s Box of sorts when we put them alongside notions of universality.

At the same time, we are faced with certain absurdities in the application of human rights. For instance, we witness wars advo-cated ostensibly in defence of human rights which end up exacting untold loss of human life, pain and suffering. Or the forceful proselytisa-tion of aggressive free market policies in the name of creating open, democratic and human rights-upholding socie-ties, whereas these very policies have noticeably widened the economic divide between the so-called ‘haves and have-nots’ and doomed millions, if not billions, to half-lives of virtual slavery and unfulfilled potential.

When confronted by such dilemmas, we are impelled to develop a more precise view of human rights, firstly as a concept, and then proceed to examine its application in real-world contexts. To do such, we inevitably gravitate towards the UDHR and its role in defining the contours of this discourse in our present day.

Human rights and their universality

Discussions concerning human nature have taken place for millennia. Different outlooks have posited their own unique views about the character and

composition of human beings both in their individual ‘selves’, and how this in turn influences their collective social existence. Similarly, the concept of ‘rights’ and its variants rooted in legal jurisprudence throw up a rich diversity of opinions. This diversity is simply carried forward when coming up with a working definition, even if we were to define human rights as ‘the rights you have simply because you are human’.

As with all political documents and charters, the UDHR is also rooted in a particular historical context and experience. To its critics, the claim of universality is simply code-word for the imitation of a uniquely western understanding. It would be wrong to assume that the critics of the UDHR are exclusively individuals with cultural

or faith-based sensitivities. For post-modernists, the very notion of history as a single, unified process that produces a coherent and universal human rights discourse is void, particularly in an age in which instrumental reason has become the reigning yardstick. For those who look upon the subject of universality from an anthropological angle, there is a seemingly unresolv-able paradox: how can we speak of the universality of human rights in the absence of a universal human culture?

Obviously, there exist lines of defence against such arguments. For instance, to those who solely rely on the culture-argument, the immediate rebuttal tends to take the following shape: should we treat cultures and cultural values as sacred or sacrosanct regardless of what they promote?

Putting aside the associated polemics, it is evidently clear that there exists a rich diversity of views concerning human rights, as well as in our conceptual

understandings of the fundamental ideals - such as dignity, freedom etc. - that form their bedrock. The UDHR emanates from a very particular context and claims of universality overlook this diverse tapestry. Nevertheless, one still notices a broad consensus on what we consider to be basic human rights; an outcome, no doubt, of our common human nature and experience. Differ-ences largely arise out of interpretation concerning the ‘form’ of these rights, rather than their very being.

The building blocks of the various charters of human rights that we have today - be it the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) or the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights (CDHR) - originate from the same spring of human experience. In fact, one notices

a great deal of simi-larity between the two documents and the rights that they stipulate. To overlook the commonality that exists would be akin to not seeing the wood for the trees. Indeed scholars like the late

Ayatollah Mohamed Taqi Jafari viewed human rights discourse as an impor-tant step towards creating a common human culture:

“Beyond their appearance, all human cultures have a lot in common and are inseparably associated. We need to understand the logic of diversity versus unity by realising the poetry of unity in the constitution of self and society.”

Human rights and their politicisation

“It is an undeniable fact that human life has never been as universally treated as a vile and perishable commodity as during our own era.” – Gabriel Marcel

More than sixty years after the UDHR was proclaimed, we observe a precarious human condition. Unspeakable crimes such as ethnic cleansing, or attempts at it, are still taking place with frightening frequency. In the last few decades, we have also witnessed an unmistakable

“[…] all human cultures have a lot in common [..]. We need to understand the logic of diversity versus unity by realising the poetry of unity in the constitution of self and society.”

Ayatollah Mohamed Taqi Jafari

39

trend towards the militarisation of poli-tics; a situation in which military might is frequently resorted to in the resolu-tion of political conflicts. Additionally, the dividing gulf between the haves and the have-nots is widening by the day. And despite the Millennium Develop-ment Goals, certain rights stipulated in the UDHR remain a distant goal for a large portion of humanity. All these realities either point directly to wors-ening human rights conditions or serve as alarm bells for the same.

In our current context, the politicisation of human rights presents a formidable challenge. Certain states seemingly motivated by a sense of national exceptionalism have come to regard themselves as sole owners of enlight-ened human values. Coupled with this, the notion of humanitarian interven-tion often resorted to by the same political powers, has arguably drained the term of all proper meaning. In truth, human rights has been employed as a flag of convenience and moralising rallying cry to justify impe-rial agendas and hegemonic plots.

Under the garb of human rights, political powers have committed some of the most egregious violations and contributed to a wider climate that is inimical to the protection of the basic rights of individuals and entire commu-nities, such as has been witnessed in the aftermath of the so-called War on Terror. Experiences of the recent past give further credence to the belief that human rights should be removed from the embrace of politicians in the absence of proper mechanisms and institutional frameworks.

Moreover, it appears increasingly clear that there is an urgent need for real dialogue, at a global level, about our human rights aspirations on the one hand, and the extent to which political powers can influence and exploit these on the other. Moments of crisis such as the recent NSA and GCHQ spying fiascos provide fertile ground for such efforts.

For those sincerely seeking to uphold the basic rights of their fellow brethren and aspiring to better the general human condition, the reality of the world that we live in today requires a solemn sense of personal duty and commitment. Human rights is not simply an abstract social aspiration, rather it affects the lives of each and every one of us. It is a notion that shapes our daily lives, colours our dreams and fulfils some of our deepest hopes. As members of the human family, we have an individual duty to better our surrounding reality, and to exhibit genuine empathy towards those who live in far-off lands, or those who are of a different race, or those who belong to a culture or religion different to our own.

Regardless of whether the UDHR is truly universal on a conceptual level or

not, differences on account of culture or religion or any other ‘ism’ for that matter, should not be used an excuse to shy away from the brutal reality suffered by billions around the world today - let alone be used to justify oppression and tyranny. The profound spirit embedded in the words of the famous leader of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’, can serve as a guiding light during these adverse times. Lastly, we should speak out clearly and unequivocally against the politicisation of human rights, if indeed human rights is to be the basis for the ideal human societies of the future. •

Human rights is not simply an abstract social aspiration, rather it affects the lives of each and

every one of us.

Ali Jawad is a human rights activist and political analyst with a keen interest in international diplomacy.

40

‘Read,in the name of your Lord!’

41

Read! (iqra’) was the first word of the Qur’an (96:1-2) revealed to the Prophet Muhammad(s); a command enjoining him

not only to read to himself, but to read aloud to others (qira’ah). The verse continues, ‘…in the name of your Lord who created; created man from a clinging mass.’ The command to read is then repeated again: ‘Read! And your Lord is most generous, who taught by the Pen, taught man what he knew not.’ Whereas the first command is connected to the act of creation, the second command is connected to knowledge, suggesting that attaining knowledge is the purpose for which Man was created, and that this act of reading is what conveys him to this ultimate purpose. This is, of course, no ordinary knowledge, but knowledge of the Divine. Nor is the act of reading here ordinary, it is reading the revela-tion aloud to mankind to convey that knowledge of the Divine.

The Qur’an frequently describes itself as a book (kitab), the last of many books which God has sent to mankind, including the Torah and the Evangel. In this way it situates itself in a literary tradition of divine scriptures. Scattered throughout its verses are allusions to the implements of writing; pens (68:1), ink (18:109), parchments (52:3) and scrolls (21:104), as well as the act of writing itself in many forms. This association between the Qur’an and a written tradition stands in stark contrast to the environment in which it was revealed; the literary tradition of pre-Islamic Arabia was primarily aural in nature. The poetry of the Jahiliyyah (time of ignorance) was fluid and transmitted orally, while the Qur’an is a fixed, inscribed text. Its self-description as a written book would have great import for the early Muslim community. Literacy naturally became of paramount importance, such that after the Battle of Badr, the Prophet himself promised to set free

any prisoner who taught ten Muslims to read and write. He also appointed scribes – one of whom was Ali ibn Abi Taleb(a) – to write down the revelations he received and oversaw their arrange-ment into surahs (chapters). We also see that this had implications beyond the Qur’an itself. Because Islamic knowledge comes not only from the Qur’an, but from the Sunnah (words and deeds) of the Prophet, the Sunnah by extension became something people wanted to write down and preserve. In a famous incident, a companion by the name of Abu Shah asked for something the Prophet said in writing, to which the Prophet asked his companions to ‘write this for Abu Shah.’

The emphasis on literacy that began with the Prophet continued with the classical scholars, who saw writing as the foremost means of preserving and transmitting knowledge. This is reflected in the fact that major Islamic centres of learning, such as the Dar al-Hikma in Abbasid Baghdad, began collecting, translating and copying manuscripts on a near-industrial scale. Discussing the relative merits of speaking and writing in his Munyat al-Murid, the great Lebanese scholar, al-Shahid al-Thani (d. 1558), ranks writing as superior because it persists in its existence and remains useful even after the death of its

author, whereas speech vanishes from the external world nearly as quickly as

42

it appears. In this way, a written book becomes an ongoing source of divine reward (sadaqa jariya) for its author. The written text, it would appear, is a divinely-favoured mode of communica-tion from many angles. But, as I alluded to initially, the act of “reading” (qira’a) retains an aural aspect in that the verb actually means to read aloud to an audience. In fact, the word Qur’an means a text that is recited, not merely read. Classically, reading was a collabo-rative process; a teacher would read a religious text aloud to his students and comment upon it, they would copy it down and annotate it; they would then rehearse the text between themselves (mubahatha) before later reciting it back to the teacher and having it corrected before receiving a licence (ijaza) to teach it. Whereas today, reading is very much seen as an individual activity, the Islamic tradi-tion maintained a communal aspect to it.

Today, one of the major problems facing Muslim communities in the West is a lack of Islamic knowledge. One reason for this is a shortage of scholars who are fluent in the languages of Europe and America (especially languages other than English), familiar with the cultures of this region and equipped with the necessary level of Islamic knowledge to offer guidance to others. This problem is compounded by the fact that levels of secular education in the West are very good, whereas Islamic education is widely-perceived to be lagging behind.

We are in a situation in the West where basic literacy (the ability to read and write), thanks to the advent of near-universal education, is widespread. This is, without a doubt a positive develop-ment. But unless it is accompanied by a correspondingly well-developed programme of Islamic education and learning, it is likely that many of those who enjoy the benefits of a good secular education will turn their backs on what appears to be an illogical and out of date religious tradition. It is unthink-able that the Ummah (community) of the Prophet whose revelation began

with the command “Read!” should be virtually illiterate with regards to his teachings! Any discussion of developing Islamic literacy must, first and foremost, begin with the Qur’an. The Qur’an has to be one of the most-read but least-understood books in human history. Whether it is a recitation for a deceased loved-one, the month of Ramadhan or an istikhara (seeking guidance from God), the Qur’an is often opened and recited, but if this act of reading is to bring us to knowledge of God, it must be accompanied by a genuine under-standing of the words being read. As God’s final revelation to mankind, is it really befitting that we should under-stand so little of its meaning while we read so many of its words?

To remedy this, a working knowledge of Arabic is essential. It is not enough to read translations of the Qur’an without being able to refer to the Arabic, as God says ‘Indeed We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason.’ (12:2) First, part of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an is the peerless eloquence of its elegant, rhyming prose, which can only be appreciated if someone, has at least a working knowledge of Arabic. Second, there are many verses of theological or legal significance whose meaning is subject to disagreement amongst different schools of thought. Take the Verse of Purification (ayat ul-tathir 33:33), for example. Without knowledge of Arabic, how will the reader know that the pronouns in this verse are all masculine, while the pronouns in all the verses around it are feminine, indicating

a shift in the object of purification? Different translations will only reflect the biases of their translators; without Arabic, the reader will not be able to discern which one is most faithful to the text. Fortunately there are now many excellent courses online, as well as textbooks, teaching both Quranic Arabic and Arabic in general. This must also be accompanied by an effort to develop a familiarity with the Qur’an by reading the Arabic in parallel with a reliable and scholarly translation (such as that by Ali Quli Qara’i) on a regular basis, preferably a little (even a page) every day. Setting aside thirty-minutes for Qur’an study and noting down any questions or interesting points that emerge from the text will also help to

nurture a basic understanding of the text and its contents.

But as well as striving to acquaint ourselves with the Arabic language, it is also essential that we strive to bring books from Arabic (and other Islamic languages) into English through translations. It is only in this way that we will be able to provide educational resources to the next generation of our own communities, a generation whose mother tongue is largely that of the country which they grew up in, and also produce materials that

will benefit non-Muslims interested in learning more about Islamic wisdom. It is only through this reciprocal move-ment into and out of Arabic that we can hope to fully emulate the multifaceted reality of the injunction “Read!” •

43

44

Batool Haydar explores the joys and frustrations of packing for a long trip and reflects on the wonderful analogy this provides for the greatest journey of all

Travelling Light

45

I recently had to pack all my worldly possessions and move to a new country. When I mentioned to family, friends and colleagues that I

was migrating, the response I got most often was, “It’s going to be a big change, isn’t it?”

Moving from one location to another sounds exciting and adventurous and to some extent, it is. There’s a new place to explore, new people to meet, a new environment to immerse oneself in and of course the proverbial ‘culture shock’ to experience. There is much to learn not just about the surroundings, but also about yourself and your own ability to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings.

However, in my journey to The Move, I discovered another lesson that both disturbed and inspired me. I learnt the subtle meaning of the word ‘attachment’ and ‘material value’. It began with the battle I had to initiate with my bags. With an allocation of a few meagre kilograms to carry my life’s worth with me, I was first torn between the essentials and the accessories. What I wanted to take versus what I needed to take. It seemed easy enough at first as two distinct piles grew. Then came the actual packing and after putting in the absolute necessities, I weighed the two suitcases I was to carry with me…

That was when things started to look not-so-rosy. I had pruned my clothes, my books, my toiletries down to what I would need for the first few weeks until the rest of my things would be shipped, but it was still too much! I went through the process of unpacking and re-packing five more times, and with each cycle I found one item (or two) that seemed dispensable even though I had been absolutely sure I would not be able to survive without them in the previous round.

I did manage to get what I needed within my weight allowance, but it got me thinking about two things:

1. The level of emotional or personal importance I had given to my various possessions. How much of my mate-rial wealth was I attached to and how strongly?

2. The time that it takes to prepare for a move that you consider to be long-term or permanent. It took me weeks to decide what I needed to take imme-diately and what could wait. And then more hours of soul-searching and common sense to narrow down the list even further!

In the end, what I did bring with me was actually more than enough and despite the fact that my boxes haven’t arrived, I don’t miss anything. In fact, if it weren’t for the checklist of contents, I would barely be able to recall what is in them! Which also leads me to question how much of the importance I gave to each item is real and how much of it is imagined.

At the end of the day, I’m left wondering at the beautiful analogy this has provided for The Biggest Move of all - the one from this dimension to the next. There are so many difficult ques-tions that arise:

y If I am so attached to my belong-ings that leaving them in a different country for a temporary while affects me, how will I be able to abandon them without a second thought when I have to leave them behind forever? Will this attachment interfere with a smooth transition for me?

y It took a lot of forethought, planning and weighing of priorities to decide what I would really need and what I thought I would need. Do I spend that much time preparing for the inevitable Move that awaits me? If I don’t, then what happens if I end up taking the wrong things with me that I cannot make use of?

We may think these queries are far-fetched and that when the time comes, we will be overwhelmed with love and loyalty and do the right thing. Sadly, this is not true. When we look at the history of Islam we can find many examples of renunciation of worldly belongings. The historical plight of Imam Husayn(a) - the Prophet Muhammad’s(s) grandson - who was forced to abandon Medina during the month of Muharram with his compan-ions in 680 CE, provides lessons on the

human ability to undergo difficulties for something we believe in. But it is not easy. Among his companions there were those who did think about their homes, their families, their wealth and possessions first. And there were those who followed him without a thought for anything else except their duty.

The main wealth that all these unique personalities carried with them were hearts filled with love, souls radiating with faith and a loyalty to the Truth that kept them steady and certain even though they had no more than the garments on their backs.

Perhaps this is one of the important lessons - understanding the value of being able to travel lightly in posses-sion, but heavy with piety. Because there is no doubt that each and every one of us will have to migrate one day from this life to the next. The manner in which we prepare for that journey is what will determine the quality of life after we cross over.

If we put as much effort into making sure we have all that we need, if we ponder on the currency of exchange required and how to collect enough of it, then we will naturally become more aware of the reality of our exist-ence. The automatic reaction to this awareness will be a realisation of how illusionary the material gain we covet is and how it is possible to become attached to something that isn’t even real.

I believe that Islam is such a beautiful way of life because its lessons and principles are found in the most common, everyday goings-on. If you feel like you’ve been slightly disconnected from religion and faith, I would highly recommend trying to take a trip on a minimum - and then observe yourself as you get ready for that journey! You might discover aspects of travelling that no tourist guide book will ever mention! •

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HERMIT OF THE SAHARA

Interfaith

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Looking at the life of Charles de Foucauld, Frank Gelli believes that if alive today, this Christian mystic would find it much more difficult to live in the spiritual desert of the Western world than the Sahara

HERMIT OF THE SAHARA

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The life of Blessed Charles de Foucauld reads like a novel. Born a French Viscount, a cavalry officer from the elite

Saint-Cyr military academy, young Charles was worldly and dissolute. He took a beautiful lover called Mimi, gambled and got drunk. Until, fatally, the Sahara beckoned.

In 1883, accompanied by a native rabbi, he undertook in disguise a dangerous Reconnaissance au Maroc, basically as spy on behalf of the French army. Charles had rejected God – sigh…ever so tempting to a debauched young man. But God had not repudiated him. A priest told him to follow Pascal’s advice to an unbeliever who would like to believe: “Behave as if you already believed. Go to Mass. Pray. Receive the Eucha-rist…” It worked! Conversion followed. And a priestly voca-tion. To the Trappist Order, the most extreme, austere, world-denying of all monastic communities.

The order was founded by l’Abbe’ de Rance’, another reformed rake who described La Trappe as training for ‘daily dying’. A Trappist monk is mostly silent. He eats no meat, fish or eggs. Fasts are frequent. He sleeps on a straw mattress in a common dormitory, rising at 2am for the Night Office. He prays seven hours a day and is committed to manual labour… little wonder that philosopher Nietzsche, that titanic enemy of transcendental values, detested La Trappe with a special loathing. Yet, this self-denial was not quite enough for de Foucauld. (His family motto was ‘Never Retreat’.) So he went to Palestine, to labour as a lowly servant of nuns in convents at Nazareth and Jerusalem. There he rejoiced in unlovely duties like raking manure. The goal was imitating ‘Christ the poor’ – the young Messiah’s mysterious, hidden life in his own land.

Later Charles returned to North Africa. Not a soldier but as a monk. He settled as a hermit at the oasis of Tamanrasset in the Sahara, near the nomadic Tuaregs.

Here he compiled a Berber dictionary. Dressing in a white robe, he lived in a small shack of rough stones and reeds, surviving on a meagre diet of dates and meal. Communion was celebrated daily – a visiting French general remarked that watching a transfigured Fr Charles saying Mass in his primitive hut was a well-nigh supernatural experience, like beholding a ministering angel. (What would former lover Mimi have thought, I wonder?)

The Sahara solitary did not seek to convert the villagers. Instead, he desired them “to look on him as their brother, un frere universel.” Well and good. Yet, there are paradoxes. He appears to have baptised a blind slave woman –

she later lapsed. As a former French Army officer, locals inevitably regarded him with suspicion. In 1916, after Senoussi rebels broke into the monk’s little house and shot him dead, arms were found in the hermitage. I guess the Vatican advocatus diaboli – the priest appointed to examine critically the life of a candidate for beatification - must have had a field day at the condign Vatican trial. Yet, on a Sunday in 2005, amidst the pomp and grandeur of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Catholic Church beatified him – the first step to sainthood.

De Foucauld’s end would not seem to commend him to conventional inter-faith dialogue. Yet, turbaned and veiled Tuaregs in blue robes attended the St Peter’s ceremony and shook hands with the Pope afterwards. Surely they did not

think Fr Charles was quite a bad chap.

Blessed Charles’ allocated Feast Day is on 1st December. The beginning of Advent – the holy season immediately before Christmas, the Feast of the Incar-nation. A time of preparation not only for the birthday of Jesus(a) but also for the Second Coming of Christ as Judge at the Last Day, an awesome concept. Methinks it suitable that such a stern and rigorous holy man should inau-gurate Advent. To remind Christians, insh’allah, of the ongoing spiritual struggle and warfare.

Although small religious communities have arisen inspired by him, Blessed Charles’ ascetic example is hardly flavour of the month. Who cares for

self-denial in a rampantly hedonistic age? Yet, his radical call to the wilder-ness is thoroughly rooted in Christian spirituality - St Antony of Egypt and his desert hermits being the most illustrious examples.

The desert is an ideal habitat for training in tran-scendence. A stark place of searing extremes of trial and temptation. But also a space where man is utterly thrown upon himself, alone, stripped

of civilised accoutrements, fit to wrestle with and to encounter the Absolute. Moses, Jesus and Muhammad knew it.

In his essay, Charles de Foucauld au regard de l’ Islam, the Muslim author Ali Merad relates how the thing the hermit particularly appreciated in Islam was its simplicity: ‘Simplicity of dogma, simplicity of hierarchy, simplicity of morality.’ Indeed, he often acknowl-edged the attractions of the Muslim religious life. Like another great French admirer of Islam, Louis Massignon, Charles’s spirituality was stimulated, fertilised and enhanced by his passion for the land and people he loved with a robust love: Africa and the Arabs.

To be sure, Merad is no starry-eyed fan. He is perhaps a little ungenerous to his subject at times. As when he lays partial and dubious stress on de Foucauld’s

By telling God to get out of their lives, Europeans have allowed foul, dark,

unspeakable things to creep in instead. Not converting Arabs but re-Christianising

Christians, that’s the challenge for you today.

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Frenchness, his Army background and connections. As if it was possible for Charles, or indeed anyone else, to have had a history different from the one he actually had. The truth is that like another Saint who had been a soldier prior to his conversion, St Ignatius of Loyola, the hermit found a higher, bloodless and perfect militancy in the service of Jesus Christ.

Were he alive today, would Fr Charles live out his vocation in the same way? Many would say that withdrawing to the wilderness smacks of escapism. Or, worse, of religious tourism. It solves nothing, they argue. Besides, why travel that far? The desert’s denizens now dwell in our midst. The exotic Arabs who fascinated men like Sir Richard F. Burton, T.E. Lawrence, Louis Massignon and de Foucauld are ordinary fellows living in familiar, unromantic places, amongst them the Parisian banlieues and London’s Edgware Road and Bayswater. And why aim at converting Muslims, when they can be the Church’s good allies in the fight against godless secularism?

“You put your finger on it, mon cher Pere” I can hear Blessed Charles sighing. “The desert has now come in Europe. No, not the desert beloved by my brothers, the monks and the mystics. Not the spiritual battlefield we yearned for. Fighting demons? Contending with warlike tribes? Tropical diseases? Fending off wild beasts? Tarantulas, scorpions, serpents, white ants? Mere bagatelles. Who’s afraid of those? I’d handle them with my little finger. Your plight is infinitely worse. Present-day Western wastes beat any Sahara. Nothing to do with materiality or wealth. Don’t be deceived by professional do-gooders. Europeans are bloated with grub, goodies and gadgets galore. You are choke-full of them. But your crass fullness is really a dire emptiness. A frightful void created by the deliberate, intentional expulsion of God from the culture, the societies, the institutions of what used to be Christian heart-lands. (Something my beloved Berbers would never understand...) And nature, spiritual nature too, abhors a vacuum.

If you push God out, something else will creep in. By telling God to get out of their lives, Europeans have allowed foul, dark, unspeakable things to creep in instead. Not converting Arabs but re-Christianising Christians, that’s the challenge for you today.”

Yes, Blessed Charles. Golden words.

Popes Benedict and Francis argue the same. Of course, sceptics demur. Only recently some wise guy was having a go at the Holy Father about that. ‘No longer credible trying to bring God back into Europe’, he wrote. Hmmm…it depends. It’s up to God, mate, surely. With men many things are impossible, but with God all things are possible. •

Revd Frank Julian Gelli is an Anglican priest, cul-tural critic and a religious controversialist, working on religious dialogue. His last book “Julius Evola: the Sufi of Rome’ is avail-able on Amazon Kindle.

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Ten years after the Iraq war, and twelve years after the western intervention in Afghanistan, the dramatic

increases in birth defects and cancer in both regions have alarmed medical experts. Scientists believe lead, mercury, white phosphorus, nerve gas and above all uranium contamination during US-led military assaults is to blame (See islam today September 2013 ‘The Deadly Legacy of Depleted Uranium’). Aiad, a five month-old Iraqi baby was born with a complex congenital heart defect. Fortunately for Aiad, his parents were wealthy enough to take him to

Health

Medical Editor Laleh Lohrasbi

Years after the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the use of depleted uranium by the US army still haunts all those exposed to it. Laleh Lohrasbi looks at the devastating effects of the poisonous material

The ghost of DU lingers on in Iraq and Afghanistan

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the private Kasra hospital in Tehran for heart surgery. Aiad was lucky. There are thousands of babies just like him born with similar defects.

Unfortunately, for Mubin, living in Kabul with one hand and one and a half legs, life has not been as generous. Spiral-ling numbers of birth defects ranging from congenital heart defects to brain dysfunctions, malformed limbs and leukaemia, are the legacy that western forces have left for Iraqi and Afghan children.

Depleted uranium [DU] was used to give extra weight to bullets. The US and the UK military used nearly 2,000 tons of depleted uranium bombs during the early years of the Iraq war alone. It is believed that they are still being used in Afghanistan. A Canadian research group found very high levels of uranium in Afghanistan during a series of tests in 2002-2003 just after the US-led invasion. A decade after the Iraq war of 2003, a team of scientists based in Mosul, northern Iraq, has also detected high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three different sites in the province of Nineveh.

Depleted uranium, or spent nuclear fuel, is twice as dense as lead, making it an effective material for armour-piercing shells and bullets. On explosion they disintegrate with up to 40 per cent of the uranium, which is still radioactive, turning into fine powder. The particles are so small that rather than fall back to earth they hang around in the atmosphere. The dust particles are not only poisonous but they can enter the bloodstream and become lodged in the lymph glands from where they emit radiation causing cancer.

Although depleted uranium is 40 per cent less radioactive than natural uranium, it remains a significant danger to human health. Exposure to it has been linked with genetic damage, birth defects, cancer, diabetes, immune system damage, and other serious health problems. The World Health Organisa-tion has strongly recommended against using depleted uranium because it has a half-life of 4.4 billion years. Once it

gets into the environment, it remains there forever, leaking into the water system. People drink and bathe in it, and the long-term health effects are extremely serious.

The latest study found that in Fallujah (Iraq), more than half of all babies surveyed were born with a birth defect, and one in six of all pregnancies ended in miscarriage between 2007 and 2010. The same survey showed a four-fold increase in all cancers, a twelve-fold increase in childhood cancer in under-14s and a thirty eight-fold increase in leukaemia. By contrast, Hiroshima survivors showed a seventeen-fold increase with regard to the latter.

What is more disturbing is that due to the increasing number of cancer cases in Afghanistan local doctors are advising women not to have children. In Kabul and Kandahar, a number of health conditions, including birth defects, doubled in less than two years of the invasion in 2001.

American servicemen were also victims of their own devastating weapons. According to the Birth Defect Research for Children (BDRC) of America, chil-dren of veterans face a much higher risk of birth defects than the general population. Betty Mekdeci, founder and executive director of BDRC says: “Veterans are dying, but even more tragically, the children they’ve left behind are suffering”.

Paul Sullivan, a highly respected veterans’ advocate who works at Bergmann & Moore, a law firm that solely represents veterans, says: “Toxic exposures are prevalent among our deployed troops because there are no enforceable environmental laws on the battlefield for ingestion, inhalation, or absorption of hazardous chemicals.”

Sullivan believes that there was wide-spread depleted uranium dust contami-nation, affecting hundreds of thousands of US service members during the 1991 Gulf War.

“However, the VA (US Department of Veterans Affairs) has refused to perform long-term, post-deployment scientific medical research on Desert Storm

veterans, even though this is a known carcinogen and associated with birth defects in animal studies.”

Even as the Pentagon continues to claim against all the scientific evidence that depleted uranium poses no hazard to human health, it has reportedly told US troops in Iraq to avoid sites where these weapons have been used - destroyed Iraqi tanks, exploded bunkers, etc.- and to wear masks if they do have to approach. Many burnt out vehicles have been brought back to the US, where they have been buried in special sites reserved for dangerously contaminated nuclear materials.

Dr Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Michigan, has done a comprehensive study on epidemic birth defects in Iraq. She believes her observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health. She suggests a comprehensive large-scale environmental testing of the cities where cancer and birth defects are rising. Food, water, air, and soil must be tested to isolate sources of public exposure to war contaminants. This is a necessity to discover the source, extent, and types of contaminants in the area followed by appropriate projects to prevent further exposure to toxic war contaminants.

Savabieasfahani says that the epidemic of birth defects in Iraq is mainly Folate dependent, so treatments can be offered by Folate and vitamin supplements. Administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body may also be explored for appropriate candidates.

This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December would be a good opportunity to high-light the plight of victims of this kind of human induced disability. •

52

Recent research by Julia Pakpoor and Sreeram Ramagopalan - both genetics students from Oxford Univer-

sity - published in the journal Neuro-surgery and Psychiatry, has sparked a heated discussion in the medical world. The duo claim their research shows a connection between increased rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) among Iranian women - between 1989 to 2006 Iran experienced an 8.3-fold rise in cases of the disease - and the requirement for women to cover themselves in public in accordance with Islamic rules and lifestyle changes brought about after the 1979 revolution.

This claim has raised many eyebrows, including my own, and after researching

the issue I remain sceptical that religion is at the root of this worrying rise.

Causes of Multiple Sclerosis

What causes multiple sclerosis is not yet known. What is universally accepted is that MS is an autoimmune disease but the reason as to why multiple scle-rosis develops in some people and not in others is still a mystery.

In general MS is a neurological disease in which the body’s immune system attacks myelin - the sheath surrounding the nerves. In the process the myelin - essential for the transmission of the nerve pulses between organs and brain or spinal cord - gets destroyed causing varying problems of mobility. Destruc-

tion of the myelin may lead to nerve deterioration which is irreversible. The symptoms of disease depend on the amount of damage to the nerves. In severe cases the affected person may lose the ability to walk or speak. A combination of factors ranging from genetics to childhood infections may play a role in the myelin being attacked.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D Deficiency is an important factor in the onset of Multiple Sclerosis Disorder. Considering that Iran is blessed with long summer days and lots of sunshine, one may conclude that Iranians ought to be at low risk of developing MS. However studies carried out in the cities of Isfahan and Tehran

An increase in cases of multiple sclerosis in Iran has been attributed to Islam’s insistence on women dressing modestly. Laleh Lohrasbi assesses the evidence behind the claim

Multiple Sclerosis?

Is Islam really

responsible for the

rising incidence of

53

suggest that the rate of vitamin D defi-ciency among the Iranian population is high, more so among women and young people. Radical lifestyle changes in Iran in recent decades such as urbanisa-tion, living in apartment blocks and an increase in air pollution may well have contributed to increased vitamin D defi-ciency, along with insufficient consump-tion of vitamin-D-rich foods, widespread use of sun screens, sun creams and avoiding sun exposure for fear of skin cancer or for aesthetic reasons. In other words differences in the rate of exposure to sunlight between men and women should be understood in line with culture and lifestyle changes rather than attributed to religious dress codes.

Environmental factors

The distribution of MS around the world shows that white people in northern Europe, southern Canada, northern USA, New Zealand and south-eastern Australia have the highest rate of the disease with considerably higher rates in high latitude countries such as Sweden. In comparison Asians, Africans and the descendants of native Americans have shown the lowest risk. The reason why MS is linked to high latitude countries is unclear but some scientists have suggested that exposure to sunlight may reduce cases of the disease by generating higher levels of vitamin D.

Age, family and gender

MS is mostly found among the 20-40 age cohort and women are about twice as likely as men to develop the disease. Family history is another factor. For example if one of the parents or siblings has multiple sclerosis, there is a 1 to 3 per cent chance of family members developing the disease, considerably higher than those with no history. The youthful profile of Iran’s population – over half of all Iranians are under 35 - could be a possible explanation for the increased incidence of MS.

Global Incidence of MS

Multiple sclerosis is found in every region of the world and according to the

most extensive survey ever done on the disease in October 2013, the number of people living with MS has increased by 10 per cent to 2.3 million in the last five years.

A research published in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences in 2008, reviewing the frequency and clinical patterns of multiple sclerosis in Arab countries, showed that the clinical pattern of MS covering Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine (including Arabs living in Israel), and Oman, was generally similar to that in western countries.

Covering the skin with items of clothing, sunscreens, creams and make-up decreases the level of sunlight absorbed by the skin which can result in vitamin D deficiency. However in the case of Muslim women, especially in Iran, as hands and faces are not covered, there is sufficient time for skin, even if it is just for a couple of hours per day, to supply enough vitamin D to the body.

After getting his own blood tested, Iranian researcher Amir-Hadi Maghzi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California San Francisco, discovered that despite moving to California he continues to suffer from a lack of Vitamin D. He believes that an increase in levels of vitamin D intake and a good diet can reverse vitamin D deficiency which in turn can control the rising incidence of MS.

Brighter future

Iran has certainly proven that improve-ments in hygiene and health care, which can delay the exposure of individuals to common viral agents and certain infections such as Epstein-Barr virus - believed to be associated with multiple sclerosis - has reduced the risk of MS in the country. Better hygiene translates into better diagnostic tools, and general awareness has also improved the diag-nosis of this disease.

Iran’s strong experience in the treat-ment and support of MS patients is worth mentioning. Iran’s Multiple Sclerosis Society, founded in 1998, is the 44th member of the Multiple Scle-

rosis International Federation. It offers many support programmes for patients and their families including financial support, group therapy, physiotherapy and online consulting.

The society has recently announced that the formula of ‘Fingolimod’ – a new medicine used in the treatment and control of MS - has been successfully decoded by Iranian pharmacologists. The licence for mass production of Finglomid has now been granted by the Iranian Food and Drug Administration and doctors are being offered training courses to administer the medicine. Fingolimod, the first oral disease-modifying drug, works to reduce relapses and delay disability progres-sion in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

Conclusion

It might be tempting to accept that due to Islamic dress codes, Muslim women in particular have less exposure to the sun and suffer Vitamin D Deficiency. However as many other factors are also involved, singling out women’s Islamic attire for increased MS is simplistic.

Pakpoor herself acknowledges that her MS theory is speculative. MS rates are going up in many other places around the world and there is insufficient data showing exactly when MS rates started to rise in Iran. And it is still not known how much of the increase in MS may be the result of better diagnoses.

The fact is that MS is a very complex disease and combinations of factors are needed to trigger it. Vitamin D deficiency – although important – might not fully explain its increasing frequency. •

Dr Laleh Lohrasbi is a pharmacologist. She has worked as an editor for the medical section of “Hamshahri”, a daily newspaper in Tehran.

54

The Invention of HolidaysMass tourism has changed the reasons and the ways we travel. Mohammad Haghir describes the history and philosophy behind the relatively modern phenomenon of holiday-making

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The Invention of Holidays

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With Christmas just around the corner and another holiday season looming, many will stay at home

for the festivities but a sizeable number of us will hop on a plane or catch a train to sunnier/snowier climes. But what do most of us really know about the drive to escape our ‘real’ lives and about the normality with which ‘getting away from it all’ is viewed?

The idea of going away somewhere on holiday means different things to different people. We go away in order to leave behind the normal routine of our daily lives for a while and for different reasons. We may want to explore and understand new things in the world, or we may want to forget something bad (the loss of a dear one) or celebrate something good (a honey-moon).

Whatever the reason, most people expect to return from a holiday refreshed in some way, whether this is physical, spir-itual, intellectual, emotional, etc. However the idea of getting away is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century in Europe that the seeds of a new culture of excursions were sown. Today, holidays constitute a whole industrial complex of the global economy along with all their related industries such as transport, tourism, entertainment, food and beverages, and even drugs.

But where did the culture of holidays start? And what are its function(s) in relation to other aspects of society: economy, geography, history, psychology, knowledge, expectations, etc?

Apart from the geographical discoveries history tells us that early travellers were mainly aristocratic families who

travelled for reasons of study often accompanied by their servants, and poor people who travelled primarily for religious reason such as pilgrimages.

The concept of holiday-making emerged in Europe in response to industrialisa-tion in the early 19th century and the subsequent process of large-scale urbanisation that resulted in the populations of many European states expanding greatly (over 150% in Great Britain, more than 100% in Germany and 42% in France).

Eventually the wealthy middle classes began to copy the upper classes - the idea being to spend a part of their summer time in “the villa” in the coun-tryside away from the heat of urban centres. Schools would start to adapt to these new requirements allocating a

holiday in their calendar to facilitate “a break from business life”.

In 1822 at Dieppe in France, the first bathing establishment by the sea on the English Channel was born. First used as a holiday centre for the military, Dieppe represented a shift in holiday destinations. After the development of the railways the sea began to grip the imagination of the aristocracy and the wealthy middle classes. This opened up a fundamental connection between holidays and mobility. Successive developments in the evolution of the

typology of holidays became connected to the developments or advancements in the field of individual mobility.

What we now call tourism or organised mass travel has a more certain date and an identified inventor hailing from the British Isles. In 1841 Thomas Cook, a Baptist church minister campaigning against liquor, arranged to take a group of 540 campaigners by train from Leicester to Loughborough. Taking advantage of the new possibilities offered by the railway, Cook began to organise and offer even more special-ised group travels. His destinations would include Egypt and the Middle East. His enterprise has been identified as the starting point for the modern tourist industry and the modern idea of group travel.

Today we are witnesses to an extension of that idea - sometimes extreme – to the boundaries of human behaviour. Daniel Bragg’s study (broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thinking Allowed’) is an excellent description of some extreme ideas as to how holidays have come to be understood, at least by a sizeable number of the younger European popula-tion, in the 21st century.

‘Getting everything’, ‘boys’, ‘girls’, ‘drunk’, ‘smashed’, ‘loud music and people’, ‘everyone is buzzing’, and crucially, ‘living the dream’ are all terms with which people interviewed in the BBC programme describe their holiday experiences in Ibiza. Bragg’s research reveals how a pathological process advertised through the mass media promotes a certain kind of holi-daying. In this pathology, young people are duped into thinking that they are making free choices but it is rather ‘the fiction of choice’ and ‘unfreedom’.

What we now call tourism or organised mass travel has a more certain date and an identified inventor hailing from the British Isles; Thomas

Cook, a Baptist church minister

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Accordingly, those who sign up to these kinds of holidays are the manipulated masses of new liberalism, created and maintained by the needs of the organi-sations operating them.

The object of this brand of holiday makers is not to develop a better understanding of the world, for example showing interest in learning the local languages, or getting involved in local culture by trying the local food. Rather, when on holidays they maintain what they do back home over the weekends, multiplied by one hundred. In other words, this is no longer an excur-sion or exploration but only a highly intensified repetition of already existing experiences that serve the interests of particular economic and cultural concerns.

At the same time it is also common-place that, through this culture, many people who go to a place for the first time on a two-week excursion return with assertions of knowledge about that new place; its people, culture, history, geography, etc., and all on the basis of experiences gathered somewhat superficially over a short period of time. Thus, in terms of an understanding of the world, holidays could, as indeed they do, act as contributing factors about some of the false knowledge claims made by the so called holidaymakers.

Of course, there are many enlightened holidaymakers that use the opportunity offered by something new to enrich their own and the lives of others. However, given the modern idea of holiday-making, it is more likely that for most ordinary holidaymakers, a holiday

means a time structured with various activities, all pre-arranged, only because an independent excursion is often more expensive than a group one and is also perceived to be less safe. In this sense, enlightened holidaymakers are few and far between.

The process follows a well-established pattern. Firstly, a dream life is propa-gated to the masses by the industry. Then dream locations and transport to and from these locations are arranged. Holiday companies then provide for perceived holiday activities which are planned in advance. In all of this there is little sense of adventure and excitement involved in encountering truly novel experiences - its all a false, packaged dream created and sold to the people as the real thing. This is how many

modern holidaymakers are duped.

The New Year is a time when many of us plan our summer break, with no end of tourist companies offering us that dream ticket. However, next time we want to get away, we ought to consider the purpose of our excursion and ask ourselves who really benefits from the kind of holiday we choose. •

[…] many people who go to a place for the first time on a two-week excursion return

with assertions of knowledge about that new place […..] and all on the basis of experiences gathered somewhat superficially over a short

period of time.

Places

GranadaCity of Light

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The old city sings songs of life and death: Granada, the city of light and delight, a beau-tiful and exciting place with

spectacular views. When I walk through it, I hear sounds of people from ancient times. The cries, laughter, happiness, sadness, sweetness and sourness of the families who used to live here, still lingers in the air. The clay houses which reflect the influence of Moorish culture, tell the story of a civilisation that resided in this area for centuries and put down deep roots. With every step, I walk through history.

The orange and citron trees are scattered all over green gardens and perfume the air. The beautiful Andalucían flowers, plants and fountains create a spiritual feeling. It is fascinating that the narrow alleys still carry Arabic names. Every-thing has the impression of an exotic Arabian culture; the cultural combina-tion appears so strong that, despite the passage of over five centuries, the town appears frozen in time.

Muhammad Reza Amirinia takes us on a tour of the city of Granada, once the jewel in the crown of the European Islamic civilisation of Al Andalus

Wall pattern - Alhambra Palace, Granada

City

scap

e of

Gra

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Granada in Spanish means pomegranate, a lavish fruit grown locally from which the city’s name may have derived. It could also have originated in its early Jewish settlers called Karnattah (Gharnatah) in Moorish or Gamata al-Yahud, which means “Hill of Strangers”.

Granada is surrounded by peach-coloured brick walls, which bend around the charming old quarter of Albaicin. The old city fasci-nates visitors with its narrow paved streets and Moorish style houses, mansions and old Arab baths. The Darro River passes through the city, separating Albaicin from the hill of Alhambra. There are five stone arched bridges crossing the river joining two hilly parts of the city. The ancient Carrera del Darro is a lovely street running parallel to the river, which leads to the hilly alleys of Albaicin and its narrow stairways. This route offers one of the most picturesque scenes in Granada.

The city comprises many remarkable architectural and artistic monuments from the Moorish, Jewish and Catholic past, loading several layers of history around the old town. Granada is the bishop’s archdiocese, and is scattered with elaborate and decorative churches, convents and monasteries. The Gothic Cathedral of Santa María de la Encar-nación, which was built over the city’s central mosque, stands at the centre of the city with a display of extravagant decoration and many fine paintings and sculptures. The Church of Santa Ana, built over a mosque, is another example of the city’s Islamic past.

The University of Granada, founded in 1526, attracts many young people to the city and creates a vibrant student life, which fans out around the old city and cathedral. The nearby market and souvenir shops are housed in the arcades of the Arab bazaar. The city’s courts and squares are filled with

flowers and majestic fountains, with small cafes, bars and restaurants dotted around. The Plaza Bib Rambla is a popular place for locals and tourists. In the evening, the square’s terraces fill up and entertainers find an opportunity to showcase their talents.

While the Albaicin fascinates visitors and attracts them to its hidden places and secretive gardens, the modern commercial city with its shopping centres, boutiques, cafes and restau-rants and boulevards is a different, busy and dynamic world.

Granada is next to the hill of the Alhambra, which is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The Alhambra is a palace city and the jewel of Granada with its beautiful gardens, stunning landscapes and amazing architecture. The rooms and halls are decorated with engraved wood ceil-ings, ceramic tiles, cast-plaster walls, and decorated windows. Unlike the paintings and sculptures in Christian churches and palaces, Muslim artists avoided representing images of living creatures.

The Alhambra is decorated with callig-

raphy, finely carved Arabic scripts displaying the name of God in holy religious messages. One phrase; “There is no Conqueror except Allah”, adorns the walls and columns of the palace throughout.

The Alhambra has its own tales. The empty and silent halls of the palace, enclosed by the symbols of royalty, speak of the glorious days of Andalucía.

The ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Granada began with the Christian re-conquest in 1492. The eventual mass expulsion of the remaining Muslims in the 16th century is one of the darkest points in the history of Spain. Granada experienced a bloodbath and there was no escape for the people who did not submit

themselves to the will of the new rulers and embrace Christianity.

Tyranny and rigidity swept away the fragile union of these people, shattering the hope of coexistence in a nation where Jews, Christians and Muslims had lived in peace.

Granada, which has witnessed both corrupt Muslim and Christian rulers, is now secular. The younger generations are less inclined towards religion. The city that used to have 300 mosques in the 15th century now only has a solitary new purpose-built mosque. There are many churches that are either closed or converted into museums. Others offer prayer services but very few people attend.

The history of Al-Andalus raises many questions. To what extent does religion influence the culture and traditions of a nation? And how, despite the re-conquest and the fall of Islam and the extensive efforts of subsequent rulers to wipe out all signs of Islamic rule, Moorish art, culture and tradition remain as poignant reminders of a bygone age. •

Narrow street in the ancient Spanish city Granada

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The purpose of prayer in Islam is manifold: to instil peace, discipline, commitment, and remembrance of God

but fundamentally its perfection is to connect with God, the imperceptible entity who created us and upon which our existence and reality is dependent because He is the only thing that truly exists, He is the Real or Truth (Al-Haqq).

But how does a human being connect with his Lord who has told him that he is unknowable by human percep-tion and unlike anything within the created universe that he can perceive? Connecting to God in prayer cannot be like conversing with another human through direct exchange of words: God is One, He has no parts, whether they be limbs or a tongue

or ears. And how does God, the Real, connect with us, the unreal? The mystics and saints (awliyah) of Islam, whether they be Shi’a or Sunni, have taught us that the secret lies with the abasement of the ego, or that body of thoughts and emotions that is unique to our individual selves, that which begins with ‘I’ or ‘me’.

The prayers of the mystics have been differentiated from those of the average Muslim by their length and deep medi-tative qualities. Ayatollah Bahjat, the famous mystic of Qom who passed away in 2009, was known to stand in prayer for hours oblivious to the surrounding conditions. One story relates that he was once stooped in ruku’ for such a long time that a foot of snow was able to accumulate on his back. Similarly

Imam Ali(a) to whom many Sufi orders trace their teachings, was known to fall down in a trance-like state when in prayer, so consumed by it, that it was the only time in which his murderer was able to attack him.

It is through this deep meditative form of prayer that Muslim believers report connection with God characterised by feelings of transcendence and oneness or unity with the Sublime. However these feelings of oneness and tran-scendence are not restricted to Islam and are reported by followers of other faiths or no faith when they engage in prayer or meditation.

Scientists have attempted to explore a neurological basis of belief and spiritual practices in what is sometimes called neurotheology or spiritual neurosci-

Science

Prayer or salah in Arabic is one of the pillars of Islam. The Qur’an commands believers to perform the ritual prayer five times a day:

Extol, then, God’s limitless glorywhen you enter upon the evening hours, and when you rise at morn;and seeing that unto Him is due all praise in the heavens and earth,

glorify Him in the afternoon as well,and when you enter upon the hour of noon. (Qur’an 30:17-18)

The scientific power of prayer: How God has programmed us to connect with Him

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ence. Although limited research exists at present, there is a growing body of evidence which suggests that prayer and meditation are key to obtaining the theistic transcendence and closeness to a supreme being whose worship is central to so many faith traditions.

In 2012, scientists at the University of Missouri found strong evidence after examining the religious beliefs of people who had suffered brain damage to the right parietal lobe that impairment to this region of the brain can lead to greater feelings of selflessness, transcendence from physi-cality, and closeness to God. The scientists surveyed 20 people with traumatic brain injuries to the right parietal lobe, the area of the brain situated a few inches above the right ear, and found that the participants exhibited greater feeling of closeness to a higher power than an uninjured control group. These findings correlate with previous studies linking impairment to the right side of the brain with a decreased focus on the self.

Imaging of the brain activity of Buddhists and Francescan nuns during prayer and

meditation has shown that these activi-ties can enable humans to mimic the effects of the brain injury by impairing or shutting-down activity in the right parietal lobe. This suggests that the guidance of the Qur’an, other holy scriptures and the spiritual practices of the Prophets and saints are providing us with a template by which we can detach ourselves from our worldly ego, physical

perceptions and obtain nearness to God. Such a state could be construed as the highest form of peacefulness, in which one is utterly oblivious to the stresses of the material world and able to achieve the ultimate contentedness, happiness and peace that all humans seek in this life, and for which many turn to Islam.

Truly, to a happy state shall attain the believers: those who humble themselves in their prayer, and who turn away from all that is frivolous, and who are intent on inner purity. (Qur’an 23:1-4)

As we have learned, prayer is one method through which Muslims can efface their ego and self, extinguishing their contingent reality to that which is

truly Real. It is important to remember however that to achieve the enlightenment of the great mystics a believer must also embark on the other means by which to achieve closeness to God: the journey to achieve ‘inner purity’. Like the challenge to achieve perfect prayers, this involves an arduous journey to extinguish selfish ego-based tendencies by control-ling personal desires, turning the physical self of thoughts

and actions away from ‘all that is frivolous’, and ultimately making one’s nature closer that of God, the Source of Good (Al-Nafi), and the Real. •

To achieve the enlightenment of the great mystics a believer must also embark on the other means by which to achieve closeness to God: the journey to achieve ‘inner purity’.

For Muslims and people of diverse faiths, prayer and meditation are central to their religious observance. Hannah Smith highlights scientific research which supports what believing people have known for millennia; that such spiritual practices are a means by which to detach from the world and come closer to God

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The honeybee is dying out:urgent attention required!

Research shows that the honeybee, central to the production of most of the world’s food crops is rapidly dwindling in numbers. Hannah Smith examines the plight of the honeybee and explains how Muslims can help prevent them from dying out

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Scientists warn that the humble honeybee, soldier of the natural world, essential to production of 90 per cent of the

world’s food crop, is rapidly declining in numbers. The worrying decline, which if left unchecked will have a huge impact on global food production and the world economy, began almost a decade ago. In the past six years more than 10 million beehives have been lost and in the past winter alone one-third of US honeybee colonies died or disappeared. The mysterious phenomenon in which entire beehives full of tens of thousands of bees disappear leaving only a queen bee and a few workers behind has been named Colony Collapse Disorder.

What is causing Colony Collapse Disorder?

Scientists suggest a combination of factors including poor nutrition, pesti-cide use and diesel exhaust fumes are responsible for causing Colony Collapse Disorder.

The use of pesticides and herbicides that are used in modern agriculture to kill crop pests are responsible for a number of life-threatening effects on the bee. Researchers at Royal Holloway University who fed bees neonicotinoids, a newer class of pesticides, found that at sub-lethal levels typical of real-life exposure they cause disorientation and impair normal bee behaviour. When a large enough number of bees are exposed, computer modelling shows that the functioning of the colony breaks down as it relies upon efficient cooperation of all worker bees to coordinate activities such as foraging for food, keeping the hive warm and looking after young.

New research published in October this year suggests that exhaust fumes produced by diesel-powered engines also play a key role in disorientating bees leading to Colony Collapse Disorder. A group of researchers from the UK’s University of Southampton have found that the pollution produced by diesel combustion reduces bees’ ability to recognise the scent of various flowers, a key sense they use in navi-

gating and finding food sources.

Fungicides, although not directly harmful, show equally powerful indirect links to Colony Collapse Disorder. Fungicides whose use is not regulated can increase a bee’s susceptibility to Nosema cerenae, a parasite that has been linked to CCD. Scientists have discovered that bees in colonies with high concentrations of fungicides are three times as likely to be infected by Nosema.

The culture of monocropping in modern agriculture, whereby huge swathes of land are given over to a single crop such as corn or wheat, is also of concern. Monocrops threaten bees by systematically removing the flowering plants whose pollen bees feed off replacing it with lower quality nutritional sources.

Why should we care about the decline of honeybees?

Although more easily identified with the honey they produce that is a source of excellent human nutrition and has natural medicinal properties, the decline of the honeybee and its potential extinction have much more terrifying consequences for food crop yields and the global economy. Honey-bees are the sole pollinators for a large number of food crops; as they travel from plant to plant they transfer pollen which is necessary for the fertilisation of many plant species. Since WWII the number of crops relying on bee pollina-tion for reproduction has increased 300 per cent and of the 100 crop species responsible for providing 90 per cent of food worldwide, 71 are dependent on bee pollination equalling one third of the world’s crop production, according to UN estimates. The financial cost of bee extermination is estimated at between $37bn and $91bn annually.

How can Colony Collapse Disorder be prevented and what is currently being done?

There are a number of ways in which humans can halt the decline of the honeybee from macroscale agricultural policy changes to microscale action in individual households. In Europe, the

European Commission has passed a temporary ban on the use of three types of neonicotinoid pesticides. At the same time, individuals at the grass-roots level are being encouraged by a number of newspapers and campaigns by non-governmental organisations to take up a number of easy initiatives to create a ‘bee-friendly society’. Remedial actions include planting flowers that bees feed off all year round wherever possible such as in home gardens and window-boxes, and eradicating domestic pesticide use. Some people have even gone as far as setting up their own beehives; beekeeping on rooftops and in backyards has become very fashion-able among young, urban professionals. However campaigners recommend against beekeeping, favouring plant-based remedies because of the fragility of hives and the ease with which bees can die over winter months from starva-tion.

As Muslims we should readily take up this cause and become part of global initiatives to save the plight of the honeybee because environmental stew-ardship is the example of our exemplary Prophet Muhammad(s) and God has appointed humans as vicegerents of the precious natural world which we have a duty to conserve for generations to come. •

Hannah Smith has an under-graduate degree in Geophysics from Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, and a Masters degree in Ge-ology from the University of Michigan.

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Through December

Friday Nights Thought Forum London’s weekly open gathering.

Time: 19:30- 21:00Venue: Islamic Centre of England

Every wednesday through December

Spiritual Mysteries and Ethical SecretsIslamic Centre of England adult learn-ing programme

Based on the famous work of Allamah Fayd Kashani “Al-haqa’iq fi mahasin al-Ta’wil”

Taught by: Shaykh M.S. Bahmanpour

Course fee: Regular rate: £30 Student rate: £20Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PMVenue: Islamic Centre of England, 140 Maida Vale, London W9 1QBWeb: www.ic-el.com Email: education@ic-el.com Tel: 02076045500

4 December

The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab WorldSpeaker: Professor Fawaz Gerges, LSE; Professor Madawi al-Rasheed, LSE; Dr John Chalcraft, LSE

Chair: Dr Toby Dodge, LSE

The New Middle East is a comprehen-sive book to critically examine the Arab popular uprisings of 2011-12. While these uprisings prompted a number of cursory publications, this volume ac-cording to its publisher contains reflec-tions on the causes, drives and effects of these events on the internal, regional and international politics of the Middle East and North Africa.

This event is free and open to all on a first come first served basis.Time: 6.00pm-7.30pm

Venue: Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House, LSEWeb: www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/Events/events2013/New-Middle-East.aspx Tel: 020 7955 6198 Email: s.masry@lse.ac.uk

7-8 December 2013

Becoming Politically Savvy and Political Participation Speaker(s): Dr. Haitham al-Haddad

Dealing with Politics: Becoming Politi-cally Savvy and Political Participation

Organiser’s statement: “As Muslims we feel caught in a perpetual dilemma. We live in a world and a time far from the utopia that we would so love to experi-ence. We face daily challenges in being able to live in an Islamically conducive environment. So how do we tackle those challenges today? Not living in an ideal situation has led some to involve themselves in the political forum to exact our God-given rights. But others consider the process itself a contradic-tion and an undermining of the Laws of God - so how do we exact our rights?”

Time: 8am Venue: London (TBC)Web: http://www.sabeel.org.uk/ Email: info@sabeel.org.uk Tel: 0203 514 3077

9 December 2013

The Unique Necklace by the Andalusian, Ibn Abd Rabbihi: Arab Identity in the Making?Organiser: Prof. Ben Fortna

The Faculty of Arts & Humanities, His-tory Department, African History Semi-nar Series

Open to members of the public.Time: 5.15pm – 7.15pmVenue: Room: G3, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXGWeb: http://www.soas.ac.uk/history/events/ Email: bf7@soas.ac.uk

Classical Arabic coursesThe programme incorporates modern and classical Arabic as well as grammar. It is a comprehensive coverage of clas-sical Arabic and grammar. The organ-isers advise students who are looking for serious and focussed study of Ara-bic in order to access the language of the Qur’an and Hadith should consider completing the whole programme.

Fees: £125 (12 weeks)Venue: Ebrahim College, 80 Greenfield Rd. E1 1EJWeb: www.ebrahimcollege.org.uk/flexiblelearning/

11 Dec 2013 - 21 April 2014

Jameel Prize 3: The shortlistOrganiser: Victoria & Albert Museum

Organiser’s note: “There were almost 270 nominations for the Jameel Prize 3 from countries as diverse as Algeria, Brazil, Kosovo, Norway and Russia. A panel of judges, chaired by V&A Direc-tor, Martin Roth, selected the shortlist of ten artists and designers.

Although the shortlist is diverse, all the artists and designers are directly in-spired by sources rooted in the Islamic tradition. The works on show will range from Arabic typography and calligraphy to fashion inspired by the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul and from social design and video installation to delicate and pre-cise miniature drawings.”

The winner of the Jameel Prize 3 will be announced at the V&A on 10 Decem-ber 2013.

Time: 10:00 AM-5:00 PMVenue: Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RLWeb: www.arabbritishcentre.org.uk/events/jameel-prize-3-shortlist-exhibition

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11 December 2013

Collecting from the Past or Appropriating the Present: the Dilemma in Contemporary Iranian Art (Seminar)Islamic Art Circle Lectures Series

Organised and chaired by: Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif

Time: 7.00pm-9.00pmVenue: Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXGWeb: www.soas.ac.uk/art/islac/ Phone: 01608 730769 Email: RosalindHaddon@gmail.com

12 December 2013

‘The revolution devours its own children? The case of transitional justice in Tunisia’The Middle East Centre Friday Seminar Series

Speaker: Dr Doris Gray, Al Akhawayn University, Morocco.

Affiliation: Middle East Centre, Oriental Institute and St Antony’s College.

Time: 5.00pm Venue: The Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College - OxfordWeb: www.sant.ox.ac.uk/mec/middleeastlectures.htmlPhone: 01865 284780

14 December 2013

Fakhruddin Razi, Kalam & al-Tafsir al-KabirOrganiser: Islamic Circles

Delivered: Dr Ayman Shihadeh, SOAS University of London

Time: 9am - 5pmVenue: Birkbeck College, Malet St, London WC1E 7HXWeb: www.islamiccourses.org Phone: 07956983609

16 December 2013

Level 1 Intensive Classical Arabic (Ibn Jabal Institute)Time: 10:00am -1:00pm 3 Week IntensiveVenue: 29-31 Oxford Street, London W1D 2DRContact and more information:Web: www.bit.ly/HZCJtR

16 – 28 December

Islamic Spain ExperienceOrganiser: Andalucian Routes

Organiser’s statement: “Join one of our guided tours and discover the history of Islam in Spain. A period in time that has been written out of the history books. Andalucian routes brings alive the rich heritage with a step by step detailed itinerary of the rise and fall of Islam in Spain. With presentations and talks throughout you are guaranteed to leave with a better understanding on how the Moors of Spain came to be so successful and how their rule fell apart.”

Time: 12pmVenue: Malaga AirportWeb: www.islamicspain.co.uk Email: info@islamicspain.co.ukPhone: 0034 958 221 860

31 December 2013

Forgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War: 1914 – 1919Organiser’s statement: “Visitors to the Menin Gate in Ypres are often surprised to find the names of Muslim sol-diers who died on the West-ern Front. The contributions and sacrifices of soldiers and workers from North Africa to the Great War have not been given the recognition which

they are due. Colonial subjects worked, fought, were captured and died in their thousands between 1914 and 1918.

This is the first international exhibition to pay tribute to the citizens of North Africa who served on the Western Front. The men of North Africa, Berbers and Arabs alike, had no stake in the Euro-pean war that erupted in August 1914.”

Time: 11:59Venue: Various locations Web: www.forgottenheroes.eu Tel: + 32 2658 02 70Email: pressandcommunication@forgottenheroes.eu

Through January 19

Pearls Pearls, an exhibition of the V&A and the Qatar Museums Authority, explores the history of pearls from the early Roman Empire to present day. Their beauty and allure, across centuries and cultures, have been associated with wealth, royalty and glamour - but also with the brutal and dangerous labour of the divers who bring them to the sur-face. Natural oyster pearls were fished in the Arabian Gulf from as early as the first millennium until the decline of the trade by the mid-20th century, caused largely by the development of cultured pearls. Yet natural pearls have always been objects of desire due to their rar-ity and beauty, and goldsmiths, jewel-lers and painters have exploited their symbolic associations.

Time: 10.00 to 17.45 daily 10.00 to 22.00 FridayVenue: Victoria and Albert Museum, London Web: www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-pearls/

From Cyrus the Great cylinder

..I never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs, I will take his or her right back and penalise the oppressor. And until I am the monarch, I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of others by force or without compensation. Until I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labour. Today, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other’s rights. No one can be penalised for his or her relatives’ faults. I prevent slavery and my governors and subordinates are obliged to prohibit exchanging men and women as slaves within their own ruling domains. Such a traditions should be exterminated the world over..