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MICA (P) xxx/xx/xxxx
ISSUE 01 | AUGUST 2011
KNOWING
RAMADAN
QURANHE SACREDCOMPANION
BIOGRAPHY
AS-SHIFA
HEN & NOWMONEY
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CONTENTS
Editorial
Chie Editor - Hasbullah Syaaii
Cover Story
Ramadan
On Handling the Wazirate
Interview
With Mr. Vizier
Quran
he Sacred Companions
Biography
Ash-Shia
Edmond Sara
Global
he Changing Middle East
hen & Now
Rise o
Money
PoetryRelections on Surah Al-Kah I
Relections
On Education
Il Miglior Fabbro
Ezra Pound
Ihsan
Al-Fudayl ibn Iyads advice to Harun Ar-Rashid
From a Hakeem
Te Vizier eamCHIEF EDIORHasbullah Shaiy
PUBLISHERWazir Press110 Middle Road#07-03AChiat Hong BuildingSingapore 188968
ASSOCIAE EDIORShaee Shari
MARKEING EAMMutalibHabib Noor
CONRIBUORSSyaree PashaAl-FannanSalmanMahjabeenShaykh GhazaliAbdal Hakeem
SPECIAL HANKSMohamed Nawaz
DESIGN & LAYOUMustaa Shah
PRINED BYStamord Press Pte Ltd
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Dear Readers,
Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu.Ramadan Kareem!We humbly present to you in this auspicious month o Ramadan
the irst issue o the Vizier (Muslim) magazine in Singapore, thelike o which we have not seen in our country or many decades.
Men o letters have always deemed it indispensable to have some
type o journal circulating in their locality, which will provide
a platorm to write or established as well as aspiring writers,
especially in these times when publishing has been taken over
by capitalist mechanisms. Secondly, because o the internet,
publishing has lost its value and responsib ility so much so that any
man who is not trained to write may sc ribble as he wishes, most
o the time dross, and to make matters worse, using the excuse
o the internet simply dismiss his/her opinions and views when
called to account or by brushing them aside as an unimportant
page on the internet. Writing must be accounted or as much asspeech is accounted or, says Imam Ghazali. May Allah guide
this magazine on its proper course and protect the contributors
to this magazine including mysel rom the excesses o the pen.
he wazir, or vizier in English, is a word o meanings as vast as
Muslim civilisation. he vizier, usually an advisor to the king
and the most important man ater the king, i s also a commander,
a representative o the king either in his absence or abroad
where the king cannot travel, an ambassador regularly going
on diplomatic and negotiation missions, and the prime or chie
minister in the kings court. here have been many instances in
history where viziers have in act been more powerul than theking himsel. he vizier is indispensable or the king as long
as he abides by certain moral obligations. Responding this, we
have reproduced in this issue rom Imam Ghazalis ascinating
text Counsel for Kings, one section entitled, On Handling the
Wazirate and t he Charac ter o Wazirs, whic h in to days world bears
more importance and relevance than Machiavellis The Prince.
Since it is Ramadan we have placed as the cover story an article
about this month and on asting by a young and promising writer
under the heading entitled Foundations, which will insha Allah
in uture issues be on important matters o the iqh apart rom the
usual rudimentar y lessons Muslims learn at a very young age. Forexample, matters on muamalah, money, travelling, etc. We have
reproduced here a ew excerpts rom classical Islamic texts
too such as a very important anecdote rom the lie o Harun
ar-Rashid most pertinent or men in positions o leadership,
taken rom The Meccan Revelations o Shaykh al-Akbar.
he two most important oundations in a Muslims lie is
undoubtedly the Quran and the sunnah o our Beloved
Messenger o Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
In that respect, we are honoured to host an article on the Quran
by Shaykh Ghazali ( Imam o Islamische Ummah Gemeinschat
Berlin) and ind it most necessary to introduce Qadi Iyad
seminal text, Ash-Shifa, to understand the stature o the
Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, beore attempting to look
into the seerah and the dierent dimensions o the sunnah
he Vizier will take the opportunity every issue to analyse
and comment on events and news concerning the globa
Muslim community. For example the historic change that i
now taking place in the Middle East as we write. It will also
look into history, civilisation and arts and in the process hos
good journals as well as poems by young, old or aspiring
Muslim writers and poets. We have published a ew here
his is the irst issue and we humbly ask the support o our
readers in whatever way they can by sponsoring the publication
or investing in it, advertising, contributing to the content, o
subscribing. We look orward to hearing your comments on
this our launching issue and pray that this wil l revive the noble
tradition o the responsible pen and encourage the return to
the classical sources to study the Deen as it was in its early
times a dynamic political reality. As it began as something
strange so has it returned to something strange today. In such
times, every eort to revive the Deen will be rewarded with
the merit o matrydom a thousand times over and over again
Chief Editor
EDITORIALISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 201
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COVER STORY
Allah says in the Quran, Ramadan is the
(month) in which the Quran was sent down,
as a g uide to mankind and a clear guidance
and judgment (so that mankind will
distinguish from right and wrong). (2:183)
O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for
you as it was prescribed for those before you,
so that you may gain Taqwa (piety ) (2: 183 )
he Messenger o Allah (peace be upon
him) said: He who asts during Ramadan
with aith and seeking reward rom Allah
will have his past sins orgiven . (Bukhari)
Ramadhan also marks the signiicance o
historic occasions o ac tive establishment
o the Deen such as the battle o Badr
which occured on the 17th o the month
in the second year o the Hijrah (624
AD) as well as the conquest o Makkah
which occured on 20th Ramadan, 8
AH (630 AD). hereore the month o
Ramadhan is more than asting as it
recalls the victorious past o the irst
community o the Prophet (s.a.w).
Fasting keeps a person specially
connected to Allah, Most High. When
a person keeps ast, his heart becomes
sincere and clean. he word or Fasting
in Arabic SAUM linguistically reers
to abstaining rom doing something.
One should totally abstain rom eating,
drinking and sexual relations rom dawn
to sunset. It is necessary to resist all
temptations or wrong actions in the sight
o Allah while one is asting. Avoiding
immoral behaviour, anger, showing
compassion and constantly practising
patience are also part o the requirements
o asting. he Prophet (s.a.w) said, Fast
is hal o patience and patience is hal
o aith. He also said in another hadith,
may Allahs peace and blessings be upon
him, Everything has got a gateway and
asting is the gateway o worship. he
object o keeping ast is to keep the belly
vacant in order to control passions and
to increase taqwa. Fasting in Ramdhan
is compulsory and undoubtedly has great
beneits along with it. he beginning o
it is mercy (irst ten days), the middle
(second ten days) is orgiveness and the
last (third ten days) part o it is reedom
rom the ire. Ramadan is the time where
we can puriy ourselves by holding on
to sel-discipline and reraining rom
what will break the ast and to indulge
in extra worship which will bring extra
rewards or us. he Prophet (s.a.w) said,
Fasting is like a shield. I a man keepsast, let him not rebuke and dispute. he
best way to spend the day while asting
is to adopt silence, keep the tongue busy
with the remembrance o Allah, recitation
o the Quran and praying or blessings
and peace on our beloved Messenger
o Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Imam Ghazzali rahimahullah
mentions in his Ihya Ulum ad-deen:
he speciality o asting is orbearance
and sacriice, as it is an action o the
mind and is secret rom public eye
but all other actions all within human
eyes. Nobody sees ast except Allah
as it is a secret action with sincere
patience. Secondly, it is punishment or
the enemy o Allah as the way o the
devil is sexual passion and it increases
through the help o ood and drink.
As Imam Ghazzali said nobody sees
ast except Allah because Allah gives
enormous beneits and rewards or
asting as He said in a hadith quds
narrated by the Prophet (s.a.w), he
ast is or Me and I will repay it.
Imam Hasan al-Basri ( r) said, Allah made
this month o Ramadhan or running in
which the people will be running or good
deeds and competing with one another.
Ramadhan is the time or us to strengthen
and renew our connection with the Noble
Quran which the Prophet (s.a.w) brough
directly rom Allah, Most High and to takeadvantage o the opportunity o increasing
in beneicial knowledge and abiding by
the Quran. Narrated Ibn Abbas (r): he
Prophet was the most generous amongs
the people, and he used to be more so
in the month o Ramadan when Gabrie
(a.s) visited him, and Gabriel (a.s) used to
meet him on every night o Ramadan til
the end o the month. he Prophet (s.a.w
used to recite the Holy Quran to Gabrie
(a.s), and when Gabriel (a.s) met him, he
Fasting in Ramadan is the ourth
pillar o Islam, which Allah(s.w.t) has made obligatory
on Muslims rom the second year o the Prophets migration(Hijrah) to Madinah. Te montho Ramadan is the month in whichthe revelation o the Holy Quranto the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)commenced and then graduallylasted over a period o 23 years.
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COVER STORY
used to be more generous than a ast wind
(which causes rain and welare). he
early community used to ollow this ater
the Prophet (s.a.w). Sayyidina Uthman
(r.a) recited the Quran once a day. Imam
Shaiiy (r.a) recited the Quran sixty
times in Ramadhan, which meant thathe completed reading the Quran twice a
day. Whatever amal we do in Ramdhan,
we get incredible beneits in comparison
to other months. When we ast, our heart
is clean and thereore is more accessible
to study and to grasp the meaning o
the Quran. We will not get distracted.
Aisha (r.a) reported that the Prophet
(s.a.w) said, he one who recites the
Quran beautiully, smoothly and precisely,
will be in the company o the noble andobedient angels. As with the one who
recites with diiculty, stammering and
stumbling with his verse, then he will have
twice the reward. (Bukhari and Muslim)
he above hadith shows that even the
one who recites the Quran stammering
or stumbling gets twice the reward o
the one who recites it beautiully and
precisely. Even i we cannot do like how
Sayyiduna Uthman (r.a) did to recite theQuran once a day or as Imam Shaiiy
did to recite sixty times in Ramadhan
we could at least make a point to recite
a page o the Quran or a Surah o the
Quran i our recitation is not luent,
and read its meaning and commentary
and attempt to understand as much as
possible so that we may taste the beneit
o worship. When this is established, then
it becomes a habit or us to take on the
Quran and recite it daily as the Prophet
(s.a.w) said, Recite the Quran or itwill come as a companion on the day o
Rising (Companion here reers to the one
who recites it). Let us not orget that
when the early community asked Aishah
(r.a) to desribe the Prohet (s.a.w), she
said that he was the Quran, walking.
Ramadan is also a time or relection as
one should relect on the heavens and
earth, and the marvels and mysteries o
Allahs creation, and also on onesel,
about ones past deeds and a sk orgiveness
or wrong actions committed in the past
and to constantly have a good opinion
that indeed Allah will orgive those
deeds as Ramadhan is illed with mercy,
orgiveness and reedom rom the ire.
Being constantly aware and consciousabout ones deeds and remembering
Allah in every state and every breath as
it increases taqwa is recommended in
Ramadhan so as to make it a way o lie
extending beyond the month. Let us not
orget the amous wird o Sahl at-ustari
rahimahullah which he did all his lie and
reached per ection at an early age, Allahu
maee, Allahu Naadhirun ilay, Allahu
Shaahidun alay (Allah is with me, Allah
sees me, Allah is the witness o my acts).
One should also give charity in
abundance especially in Ramadan.
Allah has mentioned in His Book, Spend
in charity out o the sustenance that
We have bestowed on you beore that
time when death will come to someone,
and he will say: O my Lord i only you
would grant me reprieve or a little
while, then I would give in charity and
be among the righteous. (Quran 63:10)
he Prophet, may Allah ble ss him and grant
him peace, said, Save yoursel rom hellireby giving even hal a date- ruit in charity.
Feeding the poor and providing meals at the
time o breaking ast gives great beneits.
Fast must be kept sincerely rom the
heart as Allah says in the Quran,
Indeed Allah only accepts from the
Muttaqeen (who have taqwa and are
righteous). Quran 5:27
At the time o breaking ast, one should
not eat excessively as it is injurious to
health. Food is medicine as mentioned by
Ibn Sina and understood by the Hakeems.
Its little does beneit and its much spoils.
Dates and milk or breaking ast beore the
maghrib prayer is sunnah. he purpose
o asting is to increase our taqwa, to
do as much o extra worship, asking
orgiveness, giving charity, and most
importantly, constantly holding on to
patience. Intention is cardinal. hese are
all beneicial solely or the one who does it
Fasting in the month o Ramadhan
not only indicates the importance o
intense worship, but also intense action
Establishing Islam especially in ourtime, and reviving the lost sunnah
and the practice o the early Muslims
is essential. hese can only be done i
Muslims once again revive collective
duties and existence because the Muslim
does not exist alone, he exists as part o a
community and Ramadhan is the best time
o the year when the Muslim is able to ee
a collective existence. It is said that group
action is seventy times better than secre
action. I Muslims come together and obey
what Allah has commanded to do andrerain rom what He has prohibited u
rom, then we can see the Madinah o ou
Master Muhammad (s.a.w) in every city
under the leadership o an Amir. hus
one should work to establish Allahs deen
as well as to have mastery over his sel
and puriy his soul to reach perection
Ramadan is the perect time or us. he
Fast o the highest class is not only toast by reraining rom ood, drink and
sexual relations, but also to ast with the
mind and soul. hese people keep the
ast o the mind. In the words o Imam
Ghazali, hey do not think o anything
else except Allah and the next world. hey
only think o this world with the intention
o the next world as it is the seed planted
or the hereater. It is our duty to set the
place where we are living in order, and
in accordance with Allahs command
abiding by the law whi ch He has laid or usin the Quran. One should remember tha
Ramadan is only a means and not an end
Let Ramadhan be a gateway or every good
thing to start and not such good actions
which will also end when Ramadhan ends
One should not ast just or the sake o
asting. A certain sage said, One sin i
written or one whose eorts during
the day are made only to prepare or
breaking ast. Occupying our time with
meaningul and beneicial deeds which
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will bring us immense beneit rom Allah
is suicient or people with intellect.
When Ramadhan comes to an end, in
the last ten days, one should ask his Lord
or reedom rom the ire. One should
increase his worship either in isolation
or in group, or even itika in a mosque.
Narrated Aisha (r.a): With the start o
the last ten days o Ramadan, the Prophet
(s.a.w) used to tighten his waist belt (i.e.
work hard) and used to pray all the night,
and used to keep his amily awake or
the prayers. Laylatul-Qadr, the Night o
Power, comes in the last ten days or most
o the suis and the men o knowledge
indicate it to be speciically the 27th night
o Ramadan. Narrated by Aisha (r.a):
Allahs Apostle used to practice Itika inthe last ten nights o Ramadan and used
to say, Look or the Night o Qadr in the
last ten nights o the month o Ramadan.
Laylatul Qadr is the night when one
sincerely turns to Allah or repentance
and Allah will turn to him orgiving him
immediately. It is the night w hen the Quran
was revealed. Allah says in the Quran,
(Among the nights of Ramadan is) the
Night of Power (which) is better than a
thousand months. (97:3).
Some commentators believe it was the
night when the Quran was brought down
rom Baytul Mamur (Heavenly abode),
or Jibrael to reveal in parts to the Prophet
(s). Others say it was the night when the
Prophet received the entire Quran, but
was asked to transmit it as and when the
occasion demanded and Allah knows
best. A Sui o the past said about the
greatness o Laylatul Qadr, Just as the
arrival o a child is celebrated, on its
birth and then every year as a bringer o
joy and ulilment or the amily, Laylatul
Qadr is celebrated as a bringer o light
and guidance or mankind. Unlike the
birthday which is celebrated with a east
or the senses, Laylatul Qadr includes
a east or the spirit, a east o worship
and prayers. Some Ahadith inorm that
the ate o every believer or the coming
year is decreed on this night. hat is why
it is recommended that the supplications
or this night be to ask or special avour
in the decree or the year. Believers are
encouraged to stay awake the entire night
and pray or blessings and orgiveness
When Aisha (r.a) asked the Messenger o
Allah (s.a.w) what extra worship shouldone do in this night particularly, He (s.a.w
said, One should recite the ollowing dua
Allahumma innaka anta auwwun
kareemun tuhibbul auwa auanna.
he meaning o it is, O Allah, You are
he Pardoning, he Generous, You love
to pardon so pardon us. Laylatul Qad
is the most sacred night o the year, and
it would be unwise to be heedless o
the tremendous beneits o this night
It should not be orgotten that zaka
al-itr (which should not be conused
with zakat, the third pillar o the Deen)
must be given at the end o Ramadan
Zakat al-itr puriies the ast and it i
only through the act o giving to the
poor that Allah ulills the ast and
orgives what wrongs and mistakes the
slaves had done throughout Ramadan
And lastly comes Id al-Fitr which is a
day o celebration ater a whole month o
intense asting. Id al-Fitr should only be
celebrated in the day itsel, not the whole
month o Shawwal as it has now become a
customary practice o Muslims in dieren
parts o the world, and neither do we have
to prepare or Id al-Fitr while we are
asting or the thirty days and orget al
the worship, thankulness and orgiveness
we have to oer to our Lord. Let this
Ramadan bring great beneit to us, as wel
as to Islam collectively and let it be an
opener or every good thing, as a mean
which will commence the continuation
o good actions in our whole lie and not
end when ramadan ends. Remembering
the battle o Badr and the Conquest o
Makkah let this month, in that context be
a platorm o action to establish Allahs
Deen in our private and communal lie
COVER STORY
ext by: Abdal Hakeem
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ON HANDLING THE WAZIRATE AND THE
CHARACTER OF
WAZIRS
You should understand that a king will
be successul with the help o a virtuous,
worthy and competent minister (Dastur);
because no king can rule without a
minister, and any king who acts (solely)
on his own judgment will surely all.
Are you not aware how Allahs apostle
despite the high rank which he held,
was commanded by Allah to consult the
intelligent and the learned among his
Companions? God on high commanded
(Q. iii. 159) , And consult with them on the
matter,; and in another place, reerring
to Moses (Q. xx. 30-33), Appoint or me
a wazir rom among my own kinsolk,
Aaron my brother. Conirm my strength
through him and associate him in my
task. (In Persian) He said, Appoint my
wazir rom among my kinsolk, Aaron
my brother. I the Prophets (could) not
do without wazirs and administrators,
how much the more do we need them?
Ardashir Pabakan was asked, Which
companion suits the king best?
He replied, A virtuous, intelligent,
devoted and honest minister, with
whom views can be exchanged and to
whom secrets can be told; or good
ministers see how kings are aring.
he king ought to observe three principles
in his treatment o the wazir: (i) not to
punish him in haste when vexed with
him; (ii) not to covet his wealth when he
grows rich; and (iii) not to reuse him a
(necessary) request when he makes one.
Similarly, the king ought to grant three
acilities to the wazir: (i) to let him see
the king whenever he wishes; (ii) not to
listen to talk by slanderers against him
(iii) not to keep secrets hidden rom him
For the good minister is the guardian o
the kings secrets, and on him depend
the orderly handling o businesses
the revenue, and the prosperity o the
realm and o the treasury; through him
the monarchy acquires adornment
prestige and power. Suggesting (courses
o action) and answering questions
are his constant tasks. He is the
gladdener o the kings riends and the
conounder o the kings enemies. No
man is more deserving o encouragemen
and esteem than such a minister
It is related that Anushirvan recomme nded
to his son: Respect the minister, or i
ever he should see you engaged in any
unworthy activity, he would not collude
I Niccolo Machiavellis Te Prince is still pertinenttoday or men o leadership and political positions,then one may saely and condently say the same
about Imam al-Ghazzalis Nasihat al-Muluk(Counsel orKings) written ve centuries earlier than Machiavellistext, and or Muslims especially, this text is o ar greater
importance than Te Prince. While Te Princecontainsin it the core teaching o expediency, that any meansto reach an end is justied, Counsel for Kings has init the undamental reminder and teaching o rulingaccording to what Allah has sent down and acting in aposition o leadership bearing in mind that the ruler oneday is accountable or his deeds based on his treatmento his subjects justly in the sight o Allah. Te Imamadvices on the art and science o ruling with wisdomtoo. Reproduced here is an excerpt rom that royal texto Imam al-Ghazzali, advising on the importance or
men o political leadership to have the right vizier, whoaccording to him is indispensable to a leader. He writes:
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COVER STORY
with you in it. A wazir must be the sort
o man who inclines to virtue and shrinks
rom evil. I he inds the king to be k ind-
hearted and sympathetic towards the
subjects, he will be a (good) helper in the
kings (task); with a little capital, he will
in time bring in a (good) return. (I theKing is hard-hearted and unsympathetic,
the wazir must gradually redirect him
in the gentlest possible manner, and
guide him to the praiseworthy, or rather
the well praised, path.) (My son) should
understand that stability comes to the
king through the minister and to the
world through the king; he should (be
aware) that he ought not to think or do
anything save that which is good; and
he should know that the irst person
whom a king needs is a minister.
Bahram Gur was asked, How many things
does the king need to complete the course
o his reign and to live his lie ree o care?
He replied, Six things: (i) a good minister
to whom he may reveal secrets and with
whom he may exchange opinions; (ii) a
good horse to rescue him should ever the
need arise; (iii) good weapons and swords;
(iv) copious wealth o light weight and
heavy value, such as jewels, pearls, rubies
and the like; (v) a wie o air countenance
to console him in his troubles; and (vi)
a good cook who, i the kings temper is
rayed, will cook something to soothe it.
Ardashir has said, Every king will be
well advised to seek, and having ound,
to keep, these our: (i) a wazir who can
be trusted; (ii) a secretary who possesses
erudition; (iii) a chamberlain who shows
mercy; and (iv) a boon companion whogives good counsel. When the minister
is trustworthy, this shows that the king
is sae; when the secretary is erudite,
this shows that the king is intelligent;
when the chamberlain is merciul,
the people bring their petitions to the
king; and when the boon companion
is a good counsellor, this shows that
things are not heading or disaster.
he Chie Mobed (Mubad-Mubadan) in
the reign o Anushirvan said: Kingship
cannot be maintained without good
and helpul assistants, and (the best o
assistants) will be o no avail unless the
king himsel is pious; or the root must
irst be sound, and then the branch. Piety
in a king means uprightness, namely thathe should be upright in all his dealings
and should insist by word and deed that
all his subjects and oicials be as upright
as he is; that he should keep his heart
uprightly with God on high, and that he
should be aware how his might and his
power, his accomplishment o his tasks,
his triumphing over his enemies, and
his success in his ambitions, all come
rom God. For should he ever become
vain-glorious, there would be danger o
downall, as the ollowing story shows.
Anecdote
he Prophet Solomon, God bless him, was
seated on the throne o sovereignty. he
wind lited him and carr ied him into the air.
Solomon looked down upon his kingdom,
eeling ull o vainglory in the obedience
rendered to him by birds, (jinns) and
humans. houghts o his own greatness
and majesty were passing through hismind, when suddenly his throne began
to topple over. O throne, right yoursel!
he said. Be upright yoursel, replied
the throne; then I will right mysel.
God on high has stated in His tremendous
and ever-existent book (Q. xiii. 12): Verily
God changes not what is in a people
until they change what is in themselves.
Abu Ubayd has said in his (book o)
Proverbs: He who keeps within the limitsprescrib ed (by God) is sae rom stumbling.
he minister must accordingly be learned,
intelligent and old; because although
a minister may be young and have
intelligence, he will not have experience
unless he is old, and the things which men
learn rom lie cannot be taught them by
any other man. he good minister is the
ornament o the monarchy, and a pure
and excellent ornament is needed. It has
been said that the minister needs ive
things i his work is to be satisactory
and good: (i) watchulness, whereby he
will see clearly the outcome o everything
upon which he enters; (ii) knowledge
whereby concealed things will be revealedto him; (iii) courage, so that he will ear
nothing that ought not to be eared and
will show no timidity; (iv) truthulness
so that he will treat all men honestly
without exception; and (v) ability to keep
secrets at all times, until inally he depart
this lie still keeping (the kings) secrets
Ardashir Pabakan has said that the
minister must be unhurried, well spoken
brave-hearted, broad-minded, good
looking, modest and taciturn; and (in
addition) pure in aith, so that he may
restrain the king rom all unorthodoxy
ripe in experience, so that he may
lighten the kings tasks; and watchul
so that he may see the consequences
o things, ear times vicissitudes
and guard against times wrath
Whenever a king has an honest and devoted
minister, that minister will have more
enemies than riends. Accordingly theking must not listen to talk by slanderers
against him; the result will (only) be tha
the riend bears a grudge and that the
enemy suers disappointment. Likewise
the minister, when he sees any undesirable
habit (orming) in the king, must bring
him back to good habits (but withou
speaking harshly); because i you speak to
a king who is sel-willed in a way which
displeases him, he will do something stil
worse. he proo o this statement is tha
when God on High s ent Moses, may Allahgrant him peace, on a mission to Pharaoh
He bade (His prophet) speak gently; in
the words o His book (Q. xx. 46), And
speak gently to him, in case he may be
mindul or araid. Since God on High
enjoined gentle speaking to His enemy
it behoves (us) even more to speak gently
to other men. I the king replies roughly
the minister must not take it to heart; or
power loosens a kings tongue, with the
result that he may speak irresponsibly
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COVER STORY
However devoted, truthul and right-
doing the minister may be, he should never
claim credit with the king or his c onduct
or put the king under an obligation to
him; because, as the saying goes, i you
do someone a kindness and then reproach
him (or ingratitude), you would bebetter o owing a debt o gratitude
yoursel. his (maxim) is especially
applicable where kings are concerned.
It must be understood that any [good]
which the minister and other close
associates o the king can do will result
rom the eulgence surrounding the king,
and that people will accordingly owe a
debt o gratitude to the king; while the
worst disasters which can beall a king
will arise rom two sources rom an
(unaithu l) minister, and rom evil intent.
Anushirvan has said that the worst
minister is the one who whets the
kings (appetite) or war at times when
suspension o war would be expedient;
[because ordered government, and lie,
health and property are destroyed in war].
Aristotle has said that when a king has an
ignorant minister, his reign will be like acloud which passes without dropping rain.
Aphorism
(In) the Book o Maxims, (Aristotle) has
said: Work which is done by another
mans hand, both by way o smooth-
speaking and by way o rough-speaking,
and which serves your purpose and brings
you no discredit, will be better than work
which you do with your own hand. here
is a proverb coined by the sages: Better to
catch the snake with other mens hands.
he wisest wazir is one who, as long as
he can, will wage war by correspondence
and diplomacy and use (every) artiice
to stop war. I he cannot put things right
through diplomacy and artiices, he will
try giving presents. I their (army) is
deeated, he will pardon their aults and
will not be in haste to kill them, because
a man still alive can be killed, whereas
a man once killed cannot be made alive.
A man becomes a man in orty years,
and out o a hundred men one proves
competent (to serve the Sultan); and
i a man rom the kings army is taken
prisoner, (the good minister) will ransom
him, to give hope and encouragement tothe rest. He must keep each mans ration
at the proper level, and call up men or
training in the use o military equipment
and weapons; and he must speak kindly
to them and treat them civilly, because
many wazirs were killed by the troops in
the days o old. It is indeed good ortune
or the king when God on High gives him
a competent, truthul and devoted wazir;
or the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said: When princedom or
(high) oice are granted to a man, Godon High, i He wishes that man well, will
give him a pious, truthul and right-
doing wazir, to remind him i he orgets
anything o his duty towards the subjects,
and to assist him i he remembers.
he author o this book declares that in
all periods o time God on High maniests
His power over the world by selecting
certain categories o His slaves, such as
kings, ministers, and doctors o religion,
in the interest o the worlds prosperity.
One o the marvels o the world is the
story o the Barmakids whose muniicence
and generosity no men have equalled, so
numerous were their governorships and
so copious their revenues. Ater (their
all), the oice o steward and wazir to the
kings decayed and lost status and lustre,
until God on High reormed (matters)
through the Glory o the Empire Nizam
al-Mulk, al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Ishaq.God raised him to the same high level
as the wazirs o old, and indeed even
higher; so much so that among the rich
and cultured, the alien (and poor), and
the rest, there is nobody whether noble
or humble who has not beneited rom
his bounty and benevolence. We have
only mentioned this point in order
that the reader may understand how
great is the disparity between men
who are suitable and men who are not.
Buzurgmihr has said: Some things are
not comparable with others. he essentia
qualities o man are iner than all (other
qualities, or the universe rom end to
end has been embellished by man. God on
High does not make mistakes; He grants
worthiness to whomsoever He wills, and
keeps every individual in whatsoever stat
He wills. Kings, and (their) ministers and
the stewards (o their domains), mus
thereore be in this category (o those to
whom worthiness is granted). hey mus
conserve the usages o the ancients, and
when they demand sums o money rom
the subjects or the well-being o the
empire, they must demand them only a
the proper seasons and times; they mus
know the usages and ix (tax-)burdens
in accordance with capacity and ability
(to pay). hey must be crane-slayers
not sparrow-slayers, at the hunt: that is
to say, they must take nothing rom the
poor; they must not covet the belongingsand estates o deceased persons when
there are heirs, but must shun such greed
as it is inauspicious; they must keep the
hearts o the subjects and oicials happy
by granting them beneits and satisying
their petitions; and they must realise
that their rank and dignity and their
competence and worth are bound up with
the welare o the subjects. hey wil
then earn good repute in this world, and
orgiveness and acceptance in the next
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INTERVIEW
Interview o BeConrmed
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INTERVIEW
Interview o BeConrmed
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Although recitation o theQuran brings great meritsand benets, know that the
purpose o it is action. Te lie o the
believer revolves around the arenao action; actions that spring orthrom the commandments o the Lordthrough His kalam Te Quran.
he Quran is a companion or the stranger
in this world, who patiently awaits his
victorious seal, sweeter than honey
his death. For the Rasool, May Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said:
When I am gone, I shall leave two
preachers or you to give you wisdom:one speaks and the other is silent.
he one which speaks is the Quran
and the one which is silent is death.
he realm o silence is penetrated through
the realm o speech. o remember death
so as not to exceed the limits set by Allah
Most High in living a lie to please Him,
in act, begins or the believer by taking
the Quran as his intimate companion.
In these times o ours, we have been
put into such a systemic and structural
working lie that the limits set by
AllahMost High is altogether almost lost.
Man, this creature, who is the vicegerent
o the Creator has become a rusty iron.
His soul (ruh) has gone rusty through
constant indulgence in the Dunya or
the beneit o the sel (nas). Forget not
that it is only in the reviviication o the
recitation o the Quran and a urther
eort o implementing its commands in
the sphere o action that one can be led
to remember death, the silent companion.
he Quran is an Imam. It suices or
the one who seeks to clean his/her soul
and surrounding. It is a distinguisher as
it distinguishes by giving you a history
o those who sought Allahs pleasure and
those who brought upon themselves His
wrath. It teaches you the oundations
that you need to plant your eet irm in
aith and dedicated service to Allahs
cause and it teaches you to rerain rom
misguidance. As a result comes the action
that Allah Most High demands rom you
to command goodness and to eradicate
alsehood. O all struggles, the noblest is
this that brings success by Allahs leave
he Quran is a light (noor) in this
dark world as man is speeding towards
his destruction. here is no more
value attached to an animal, let alon
man. Character is history. he whole
behavioural pattern to which the Quran
calls humankind is now a orgotten path
Mankind exploit one another and the
world has become darke r. Rights are being
debated while man denies his spirituality
the very core o his essence. here is
a right that the soul searches, there is a
right every mans amily demands, a right
that his community looks or, a right tha
his Creator has established upon him
together with all other rights, which he
needs to work or and which is in the
speech o his Lord, the Quran. o bring
this light irstly in him and onwards to
his surrounding is a challenge in this dark
world. Once this is understood, one mus
grasp that the Quran is guidance. It is a
sweet river or the thirsty. he guided
are those o the best o mankind, the
prophets, the truthul ones, the witnessing
QURAN
THE SACRED
C O M P A N I O N
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martyrs and the pious. All through the
history o man, the b est amongst the best
(mentioned above) are spoken o in the
Quran while the worst amongst mankind
are also mentioned in the Quran.
Allah Most High says:
Then do We abase him (to be) the
lowest of the low. (Surah 95 : v 5)
hrough this stage, the relector who
ponders and acts, now chooses to act in
order to rise to be the best model o man
as explained by Allah Glory be to Him:
We have indeed created man in
the best of moulds. (Surah 95 : v 4)
Herein lies the mercy o the Lord. Here
man enters the realm o mercy; a mercy
that descends on those who act with
knowledge to acquire the pleasure o
their Lord; a mercy that when acquired,
urther brings on a special mercy
sakeenah to guard and guide the
traveller to his next stage, the barzakh to
rest, receiving a cool breeze rom paradise
and thenceorth to jannah or the vision
o Allah Glory be to Him, his Beloved.
From the group, he chooses to be by the
Quran, that is to be amongst the elite,
as he guards himsel not to all amongst
those who acquired Allahs wrath,
Majestic is He, or amongst those who have
been terribly misguided. He does this
by seeking rom his Lord to remember
that which he had orgotten and to be
taught that which he is ignorant o.
he slave then advances urther to seek
sustenance and consistence rom his
Lord in the recitation o the Quran
during night and day, through which
his intellect is sharpened, his chest is
expanded, his heart is warmed with
serenity, his actions ennobled, his lie
uplited and the Quran now becomes a
proo or him when he stands beore the
Lord o the worlds, when dues all short.
Know that Allah Most High has
included the reciter o the Quran
amongst the puriied by saying:
This is indeed a Quran most
honourable, In a Book well-guarded
which none shall touch but those whoare purified. (Surah 56 : v 77-79)
Purity starts with intention, outward
action o purity, recitation o the most pure
speech, which in turn demands relection
and action towards the Pure by the puriied.
he relection o the slave leads him to
the understanding o his Master. he
slave relects on the mysteries o the
Attributes and the meanings o Allahs
names, Glory be to Him. When he readsa verse o deed, such as: He created the
heavens and the earth, he understands
the sublimity o the Creator rom the
marvels o creation; he recognises the
perec tion o Allahs knowledge and powe r.
When the slave reads: Surely we have
created man rom a drop o thickened luid
to test him, he ponders on the wonders
o the drop: How does a simple drop, a
liquid, bring into being so many dierent
things, such as lesh, skin, veins, bones
etc.? And how are the limbs and the organs
such as the hands, eet, head, eyes, tongue,
etc. created? And how do the marvels
o the jewels o understanding such as
hearing, sight, lie etc. come into being?
Know now that the meanings o
the Quran will not appear to three:
1. One who has not read a commentary
(asir) and has not become acquaintedwith Arabic.
2. One who has become entrenched in
great wrong and punishable actions
in Allahs sight or has come to believe
in heretical innovations which have
darkened his soul.
3. One who has studied the Deen and
remains in its outer orm but who
disapproves o all the nurturing his soul
requires, thereby contradicting his study
o the Deen.
Such are those who will remain at the surace
and cannot penetrate deeper than that
he slave has to move deeper. When a
verse is read instilling ear, the slav
becomes rightul and weeps. When a
verse about mercy is read, joy and delighappears. When the attributes o Allah
Most Majestic are read, the slave become
a model o humility and weakness. When
he reads such absurdities as the utterance
o the unbelievers about Allah Glory be to
Him, such as attributing to Him a son and
partners (things about which they have
no knowledge o), the slave lowers his
voice and reads with shame, modesty and
embarrassment. He also detests the actions
o the unbelievers and seeks rom Allah
Most High strength to establish the Deen
here is a meaning or each verse and every
meaning has a requirement. he slave mus
adopt this character as he takes the Quran
as his intimate companion and establishe
the Deen within him and outside o him
he Quran says that the lie o this world
is, like the twinkle o the eye. We should
not stand beore Allah Most High and
say, Oh Allah! Give us a second lie and
we will live it to your pleasure. When
Allah Most Majestic raises His slave on
Judgment Day, the slave will say tha
lie was like the twinkle o the eye. In
such short a time, man has to grasp and
penetrate the meaning o Allahs speech
the Quran. A great sage said, man is like
Baqarah (cattle reerring to the second
chapter o the Quran). he moment he
dives deep into the ocean o the Quran
he becomes Nas (man, meaning attains
manhood reerring to the inal chapter o
the Quran). As the slave dives deeper and
deeper into this ocean, what he brings orth
is nothing but Pearls o unique quality
he action o the slave who learns rom
the Quran is noble. It is nothing bu
nobility. It is high orderliness. his lead
to the conquest o three: Conquest o the
sel, Conquest o the surrounding and
the community, and then Conquest o
the entire cosmos. From this ollows the
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establishment o the Commandment
o Allah Most High lowing switly
rom the actions o the slave
he holy Rasool, May Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said
Man is asleep, when he dies he awakes!
Relect on this noble saying o the Rasul
May Allah bless him and grant him peace
Beore death overpowers the slave
the slave has to take on the speaking
companion, the Quran. his lead
him to beriend the silent companion
which is death! Suicient are these
companions in dark nights as light
and know that as night passes on whacomes next is bright daylight which is the
establishment o Allahs commandments
QURAN
ext by: Shaykh Ghazali
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he most important biography o any man who hastread the earth that a Muslim should read, studyrevere and keep in heart to adhere to as much
as his capacity permits is undoubtedly the lie o ourBeloved Messenger o Allah, Muhammad, may Allahsblessings and peace be upon him. His countenancewill be shown to everyone who enters the grave aerdeath or identication and that would determinethat phase o existence beore the Resurrection. Heorms the second part o the kalimah ash-shahadah Muhammadun Rasoolullah and it does not bet aMuslim to mention his name and position granted byAllah all his lie and be unaware o his lie and stature.Te purpose o the seerah o our Beloved Messenger oAllah, may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him, isto lay the oundations o our iman, strengthen it andearn Allahs rahmah and he was himsel rahmah
purely by which alone unveilings occur, lights maniestand secrets revealed. It is not to take account andremember dates and events in order to scrutinise thathistory in the light o modern dialectical thinking. TeMuslim cannot aord to put his iman and the possibilityo acquiring Allahs pleasure in jeopardy to do that
he last century has seen numerous reproductions o the
seerah, especially in the English language, charged with a ul
dose o either apologetic dictum or else Masonic language. Any
attempt to go on the other side o the dialectic has resulted only
in letist thought in an Arabic tone and colour. It is now nonecessary at all to start a resh attempt to picture the lie o the
Messenger o Allah, may Allah send him blessings and grant him
peace, in a new light according to our times, or to restore his
stature in the right that Allah has granted him, so to say. he
doctors o the Deen in the past have done all o that perectly
in the most brilliant possible manner. What is deinitely lost in
modern seerah literature is the relection o authors love or the
Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the placing o him
in the highest stature granted him by Allah amongst everything
other than Allah. his is a matter o iman, aqeedah, Allah
pleasure, desti ny, the grave and the hereater. Not only that, it is a
matter o our origin, the purpose and meaning behind existenceand most important o all, it is a matter o the path leading to
the knowledge o Allah. Without the Messenger, may Allah send
him blessings and grant him peace, in the words o Sayyiduna
Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, we would not have
known Allah. Any attempt to study the seerah should irst be in
this light. hen ollows everything else; then the understanding
o the person o the Messenger, may Allah send him blessings
and grant him peace, through his lie accounts will relect an
entirely dierent light on the readers heart and shine on his ace
Having clariied that let us proceed onto the most importan
BIOGRAPHY
Ash-ShifaAn Introduction
to the Studyof the Seerah
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text produced by any able scholar o all
o Muslim civilisation on the subject,
namely Ash-Shia bi tari huquq al-
Mustaa (Healing by recognition o the
rights o the Chosen One) by Qadi Iyad
Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi o Andalus. May
Allah be pleased with him and sanctiyhis soul or having given to posterity
such invaluable a text as this to obtain,
study, understand and protect which
book one may put ones very lie at stake.
{Insert here a brie biographical note
o Qadi Iyad rom Umdatus Salik}
he Qadi begins in the preace to the
book by asking Allah or the illumination
o his and the readers heart and to
granted knowledge o Allah and be
elevated in stations o gnosis ater
praising the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam. One may ask how the seerah
is connected to that; that very question
never as even slightly entertained in the
past, I mean beore the last century, is
due to the mishandling o the biography
o the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam. he seerah as Qadi Iyad has
distilled and crystallised, is to increase
our understanding o the Rasul and his
stature, may Allah send him blessings
and grant him peace, and by that heal
the heart o all its ailments, prepare it
or illumination rom Allah and when
unveilings occur, be raised by Allahs
mercy to stations o proximity with Him.
he Qadi then continues, You have
repeatedly asked me to write something
which gathers together all that is
necessary to acquaint the reader with thetrue stature o the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him, with the esteem
and respect which is due to him, and
with the verdict regarding anyone who
does not ulil what his stature demands
or who attempts to denigrate his supreme
status even by as much as a nail-paring.
I have been asked to compile what our
orebears and Imams have said on this
subject and I will ampliy it with ayats
rom the Quran and other examples.
Know, may Allah ennoble you! that
you have burdened me with a very
diicult task. You have conronted
me with a momentous undertaking
which ills my heart with trepidation.
hen ollow words o love or Allah and HisMessenger, peace and blessings be upon
him, and words o hope that perhaps Allah
will orgive him and the reader, heal his
heart and the readers and elevate him and
the reader by the rank o the Messenger,
peace and blessings be upon him.
O the our parts the Qadi has divided
the book into, the irst deals with what
Allah has mentioned about the Prophet
in His book; the various ayaat o the
Quran and the sound and well-known
narrations o his companions that
describe him and Allahs perecting o
his good qualities and character and the
description o his noblest position in
this world and the hereater. he author
has called it Allahs great estimation o
the worth o His Prophet expressed in
both word and action. It also deals with
the miracles Allah had maniested at the
Prophets hands and the special properties
and the marks o honour (karamat)
with which Allah has honoured him.
he second part Concerning the rights
which people owe the Prophet, peace be
upon him deals with the obligation
to believe in him, obey him, ollow
his sunnah and the necessity o loving
him, exalting him, respecting him and
honouring him. hen a special portion
o this part has been dedicated to praying
or salawat and salam on him, theobligation o doing it and its excellence.
Part three deals with the correct aqeedah
regarding the Prophet, peace be upon
him. o wit, what is necessary and
impossible or him, what is permitted
and orbidden or him, and what is valid
in those human matters which can be
ascribed to him. Qadi Iyad mentions
the ollowing under this section:
his part is the secret o the bo ok and the
core o its ruit. What comes beore it lays
the oundation and provides the proos or
the clear anecdotes we will relate in it. I
governs what ollows it and accomplishe
the goal o this book. When its promise
is put to the test and its duty ulilledthe breast o the accursed enemy will be
constricted and the heart o the believer
will shine with certainty and its lights wil
ill his breast. he man o intellect will then
value the Prophet as he should be valued.
he last part is on the judgements
concerning those who think the Prophe
imperect or curse him, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. he last o
this part deals with the judgement on
anyone who curses Allah, His Angels
His Prophets, His Books, and the amily
o the Prophet, and his companions. he
whole o the last part is very importan
because only i one is acquainted with
such judgements in the Deen, will one be
able to take up any written seerah o the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and gran
him peace, in the last hundred years and
decide whether it is worthy o reading
whether it has maintained the adab due
to the description o the lie and actions
o the Prophet and his companions
or whether it should be dumped
Imam Ash-Shaiiy, may Allah be pleased
with him, said that the Muwatta o Imam
Malik is, in his view, the next most
important book ater the Quran. Almos
all the early Muslims during his time
and almost all the ulama or the las
1300 years, except the last century, have
accepted that verdict whole-heartedly
and raised no objection to that statementIt could well be said that the Muslims
library at home should begin with the
Quran irst o all and together with it as
concise a commentary as asir Jalalayn
or asir Ibn Juzayy to understand Allahs
kalam in its rightul manner and then
ollowed by the Muwatta o Imam Malik
he third most important text to il
the shel o a Muslims library should be
Ash-Shia o Qadi Iyad. his completes
the oundations o a Muslims basic
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understanding o the Deen o Al-Islam.
In sum, we take trouble to mention
again and again that Ash-Shia marks
the beginning o every Muslims journey
to study the biography o the Messenger
o Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace. I the Quran is a journey, then
the study o the seerah rom Qadi Iyads
perspective and exposition is a journey
too. he Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, mentioned that the best journey is
that which is undertaken again ater it is
completed and when asked wh at is that, he
replied, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, that it is the reading o the Quran
and upon every completion it should be
started anew. he Messenger o Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace
was described by the mother o Believers,
Aishah, Allah is pleased with her, to be the
Quran walking. he journey o Ash-Shia
opens doors to Allah and upon completion
every time, could be started anew too.
It is through Ash-Shia that the Muslim
will beneit immensely and immeasurably
rom other classical texts o the seerah
such as that o Ibn Ishaq and the Tabaqat
al-Kabir o Ibn Sad, or example. May
Allah increase us, you and me, in the
knowledge o His Messenger, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and have rahmah on
us, grant us knowledge o Him and draw
us nearer to Him through His Beloved,
Muhammad, sallahu alayhi wa sallam.
BIOGRAPHY
It is time now to look at thisnew elite who govern theworld. Everyone can name
three world-amous ootballers.
Everyone can name several world-amous lm stars. Everyone canname some miserable politicians.Yet now, when our hundred peoplepersonally own almost hal theworlds total wealth, only a smallhandul could name one o them.
Were it not or the event o his death and
the strange nature o his demise, we would
all have remained blissully ignorant o
his very existence. At 5 a.m. on FridayDecember 3rd 1999, it was claimed that
two masked intruders broke into the
Monaco penthouse o the billionaire
banker, Edmond Sara. Fires were started
in the apartment which got out o hand,
and the terriied banker led to the
bathroom with his nurse and locked the
steel reinorced door or saety. Although
his wie told him by cell-phone that it was
sae to come out, apparently he was too
scared and as a result the banker and his
ext by: Hasbullah
Edmond
Safra
Excerpted from Technique of the Coup deBangue (Madinah Press, 2005)
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BIOGRAPHY
nurse were killed by smoke inhalation.
he penthouse atop the elegant six-
storey Belle Epoque building, which true
to orm, also housed three banks, was
seriously damaged in the resultant blaze.
Soon the story o the masked intruders
gave way to the story that the ire had
been an inside job started by his jewish
nurse, ed Maher. hat story in turn
became increasingly dubious as the media
began to investigate the event. An ugly
trail o evidence emerged rapidly showing
that Sara was under investigation in
connection with Iran-Contra operation.
here were urther allegations that
he was deeply involved in handling
unds o the Russian maia.
hen a book suraced
entitled Vendetta by Bryan
Burrough which told in
dramatic orm o a savage
conlict between Sara and
the powerul American
Express banking sector.
Excerpts o the book were
published, but the book
suddenly went out o print
and became inaccessible.he corpse at the centre
o this renzy o gossip and
news turned out to be one
o the wealthiest private
citizens in the world. Simply
nobody had ever heard o him.
Yet he had owned the rade
Development Bank o Switzerland
which he had sold to American Express
in 1983. He owned the Republic NationalBank o New York, SAFRA banks (F lorida,
New York and Caliornia), Banque de
Crdit Nationale, S.A.I. (Beirut, Lebanon),
Banco SAFRA, S.A. o Brazil, Sabon S.A o
Panama, Concord rust Ltd. in London,
and as well as these he owned numerous
other banks throughout the world.
He had been born in Lebanon, and
true to the proile we have indicated
he deined himsel as both banker and
philanthropist. At the time o his death at
the age o sixty seven he was overseeing
the sale o the Republic National
and the ailiated SAFRA Republic
Holdings to Britains HSBC Holdings
or $9.85 billion. he sale went through,
generating $2.8 billion or Saras heirs.His security chie, Shmule Cohen, got to
the apartment too late to rescue Sara,
who had recruited a small army o security
guards rom among the veterans o special
units o the Israeli army.
His bankers proile remains utterly
classical with the usual series o
luxury houses, villas and apartments
throughout the world. His villa La
Leopolda, which had been the property
o King Leopold o Belgium, hence its
now vulgar name, had been the site o
those hideous celebrity parties at which
the banking elite liked to surace to
mingle with media stars and moguls
One highly poetic press report on his demise
told its credulous readers that his wealth
had been gained in the Lebanon through
helping inance the desert caravans
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GLOBAL
Governments, historians andpolitical analysts are notunaware that coup dtat is an
art; and every art has its technique.Te art o capturing the state andseizing control over its unctions and
operations have passed through twostages and has assumed a much morecomplex and subtle technique withthe ull utilisation o technologicaladvancements at the turn o the newmillennium. At the rst stage, it wasmilitary. At the second, it was toseize technical and/or parliamentarycontrol. oday, it is throughtechnological and technical controlover populations (youth especially)and public opinion that overthrowsa government. Tis has become very clear over the last decade.
Sulla, Cromwell, Hannibal, Caesar and
the Plutarchian military generals o
the irst stage may never succeed today,
neither can Napoleon (who marked the
beginning o the second stage), rotsky,
Mussolini, Hitler, Pisudski, Kapp or Fidel
Castro may succeed today in attempting a
coup dtat with their parliamentary and
technical capture o the state due to the
modern presence o technological and
inancial conditions that more than ever
beore have a tremendous inluence over
political-economic rule and vice versa.
In political history, revolution rom
the French word revolvere, to revolve
is the radical takeover o power by the
governed. But every revolution in the
past was led by distinguished political
players. Robespierre, Danton, Marat in
the French Revolution; Lenin and rotsky
in the Russian Revolution; Mussolini in
the Italian Revolution; Fidel Castro in the
Cuban Revolution and the list goes on. But
who the principal players o the current
Arab revolutions are is unknown. I it is
generally described as the people, thenone may ask what power do the people
have without at least a leading voice? I
so, who is that leading voice? Nothing
is known. All that is known through the
media is the displeasure o the masses over
a dictatorship that has been orceully
tyrannising the populations o the Arab
world or a couple o decades to almost
hal a century. hough the dictatorships
and tyranny are true and the revolutions
mean good news o tyrants who never
THE CHANGING MIDDLE EASThad concern or their own people being
successully overthrown inally, i
should also be acknowledged that mere
displeasure and protests due to economicdissatisaction cannot successully
overthrow a government that has been
ruling or many years. It does not stand the
test o any intelligent mind that has studied
the historical development o politica
power and sovereignty. here are hidden
hands that have been pulling the strings
unisia, Egypt and the rest o the Arab
people undergoing political unrest echo
distinctly the Colour Revolutions tha
introduced into history the third stage o
the technique o the coup dtat. Serbia
(Bulldozer Revolution), Ukraine (Orange
Revolution), Georgia (Rose Revolution)
Lebanon (Cedar Revolution), Kyrgyzstan
(ulip Revolution) and Kuwait (Blue
Revolution) were the successul one
amongst the many more others. On the other
hand, Irans Green Revolution had ailed
he technique and art must be indentiied
and the goal must be lo cated. hen alone
can one attempt to analyse the prevalen
chaos and anarchy in the Arab world as
well as the destiny o the peoples o what
the Pentagon as early as 2001 proposed
to change into a Greater Middle East
In the Greater Middle East project, the
Bush administration with Richard Perle
and Douglas Feith called or a campaign
to have a US-Middle East ree trade area
stretching rom Morocco to Aghanistan
Now as we see US interests to intervene inPakistani political aairs and her nuclea
capacity, it may be clearly understood tha
the Greater Middle East stretches urther
pass Pakistan and that has implications
against China and Russia. Part o the
plan includes an economic relationship
between the US and this Greater Middle
East as well as an economic transormation
similar in magnitude to that undertaken
by the ormerly communist countries
o Central and Eastern Europe,
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as was mentioned in the G8-Greater
Middle East Summit paper released by
Washington in June 2004. It also includes
issuing massive micro-inancing loans to
millions o individuals and privatisation
o big sectors o the Middle East economy.
In short, Washington has been engaging
in a more than a decade-long planning to
take ull economic and political control
over the Middle East stretching rom
Morocco to Pakistan. hrough this they
will be able to heavily restrict China in
her titanic technological and investment
projects and keep her in check, eliminatea nuclear threat rom Pakistan, take
control over the long stretch o land
across the Eurasian continent and by
that bar Russia rom accessing the warm
waters. he hidden hands that have been
working on the revolutions are quite
clearly seen especially in Egypt. he Rand
Corporations involvement in Egypt and
Egypts Keaya movement that has long
called or Democracy as well as US-congress
inanced NED (National Endowment or
Democracy) are all cats that have comeout o the bag and exposed the hidden
hands behind the Arab revolutions.
Michel Foucault described in his lectures
at the College de France, that rom the 18th
century, when man came to be deined as
a specie, history witnessed the transition
o power rom control over territory to
control over populations. his he deined
as bio-power. With the French Revolution
and the resulting years o error, police
power and the guillotining o Kings,
Queens and Aristocrats this transition
became evident. Carrying on rom
there, with the Bretton Woods Accord
and President Nixons abandoning o it
has assumed a strong concentration o a
inancial colour, that is, inancial control
over populations not only by governments
but by private economic hands as well.
Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar
Gaddai had inancial control over
populations just like the inancial elite o
most democratic states. he political irony
is that the operations o a dictatorship and
a democracy are the same in that they allhave a Constitution, a Central Bank and a
National Debt, and inally a currency. No
state in the world today can reute that.
he dierence is that in a dictatorship the
oppressor one who has inancial control
over the masses is identiied as a single
man with an obedient ilk surrounding
him, protecting him, assisting him and
carrying out his orders whereas in a
democracy, the major player that grants
inancial control to unknown privateindividuals (inancial elite) is a political
party that does all the same in a subtle
manner over a short period as long as it
stays in power ater which another elected
party replaces the previous one only to
perpetuate the ormer conditions. he
modus operandi o all republics is the
same, though in terms o policies, which
are not as signiicant, they may dier.
he Arab dictators ollow the same model
o a state rom the irst French Republic
hitherto, without exception, ound today
in almost all nation-st ates o the world. Bu
without that subtlety o inancial contro
prevailing in democratic states dictator
have always been exposed to open-ire
hence today the people (or rather the
crowd), can explicitly point out that so
and-so is responsible or unemployment
taxation, inlation, uneven distribution
o national revenue and all that string
o terms attached to so-called ineicien
and corrupt management o the economy
his is not to molliy their corruption
but to point out the greater signiicanceo the system per se that should be
accountable more than any individua
in power. Political philosophy and the
historical development o the technique
o revolution is the key to understand the
catastrophic anarchy that we witnes s today
It is o great importance at this point to
move a while to look into an essay o equa
pertinence to the subject penned by no
less a giant writer and thinker than Aldous
Huxley, entitled, Sel ranscendenceHuxley points out the politica
signiicance o the term Crowd Delirium
hat is, he writes, he inal symptom o
herd-intoxication is maniacal violence
... a savage violence, o which, in their
normal state, they would be completely
incapable. he revolutionary encourages
his ollowers to maniest this last and
worst symptom o herd-intoxication
and then proceeds to direct their renzy
against his enemies, the holders o
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political economic and religious power ...
Huxley goes on to explain that the
radio, television, newspapers, ree and
compulsory education, etc, are amongst
the technical and technological devices
that excite and instigate mobs towardspolitical, economic and religious goals.
I Huxley was alive today, he would
have almost instantly declared the same
o mobile phone networking services,
social networking websites and other
such Inormation and Communications
echnology (IC). He writes, Being
in a crowd is the best known antidote
or independent thought. Hence
the dictators rooted objection to
mere psychology and a private lie.
Intellectuals o the world unite! You
have nothing to lose but your brains.
he crowd delirium that has been
caused by modern IC such as those
that deliver eortless accessibility
to communicate with large groups o
people without the usual constraints o
time and space, has churned the Arab
populations today in exactly the same
way as it churned the Central Asian
and Eastern European populations o
the last decade to revolutionary renzy.
It is those who control the Inormation
and Communications echnology the
same people who had control over the
revolution in unisia and Egypt. heir plot
in Libya has ailed and the next resulting
stage, as is evident today, is o course war.
he entry o oreign military troops o the
UN, USA or otherwise indicates clearly
that these orces had a hidden agenda in
Libya. It is not by chance that Libya hasthe largest oil reserves in Arica which
had till today been under the ull control
o Gaddai. It is also not by chance that
Libya is one o the two countries in the
world whose Central Bank (which is the
monetary authority) is not private (the
other is Iran). he rebels have already
begun preparations to establish a ree
and private Central Bank while the war is
still in process. his was what happened
with the central bank when Hitler was
removed in Germany. hese economic
concerns let out the secret that the ocus
o those who initially attempted the
coup dtat which Gaddai recognised
immediately, was not about liberating the
people rom the iron ists o a dictator but
was about taking economic and inancialcontrol over the population whose oil
and other such resources o Arica
and the Central Bank were Gaddai-
owned in the name o nationalisation.
he geopolitical and economic shits that
are currently taking place in the Arab
world which the people overcome by
crowd delirium cannot see happening,
is re-shaping her destiny. Israel, which
is unsurprisingly silent plays a key role
because o the Sinai desert that serves as
a buer zone between hersel and Egypt.
From the river Nile to the river Euphrates
and Syria in the north and Jordan in
the Southwest orm Biblical Israel. he
political tension prevalent in this region
at this point in history is advantageous
to Israels political as well as inancial
control over the region. Very soon Israel
can quite easily seek to militarily expand
her territory into the Sinai and the Iraqi
desert as well as into Golan Heights and
encompass Jordan. Ater all they want
the 1967 borders. Israels expansionist
ambitions which have been declared on
many public political occasions cannot be
overlooked in these times o turmoil in
the region. In short, the revolutions and
regime-changes are moving in a direction
which could very well make it easier
or Israel to militarily, politically and
economically expand her territorial power.
I Israels borders do not expand to coverthe Biblical region o the holy land, then
at least in Michel Foucaults description
o bio-power, Israel may quite easily
extend her inancial and political control
over her neighbouring populations. I
one cannot see this coming, then one is
unaware o the historical growth o the
political, economic and military power
o Israel and her Zionist aspirations
apparently secular but ironically religious
since 1948. Washington undoubtedly
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together with her historical alliance
with France and Britain, is supporting
Israel through the Greater Middle
East military and economic project.
he more immediate results o therevolutions in the coming months will
be massive privatisation o resources in
the Arab world and the devaluing o the
currencies o the countries undergoing
regime-change. unisia, Egypt, Libya,
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, all
have relatively strong currencies.
When the resources are privatised by
oreign companies, especially with
the oil-exporting countries, then the
export power will decrease directly
impinging on their currencies. Revenuecoming rom their exports will be
channeled out o the countries due to
the production o these commodities by
oreign companies. When the Balance
o rade (BO) undergoes imbalance
then the currencies will be devalued.
Could democracy today thereore be equal
to capitalism in terms o international
trade, especially since Milton Freedmans
call or No government intervention
into the economy? Could democracy
today thereore mean privatisation o the
nations resources? Is this the price theArabs have to pay or democracy? Was it
not the price South Arica paid (with all
the gold and diamonds in her country) to
be ree rom Apartheid? hen, very soon
the economic concerns like unemployment
and inlation which were the original
reasons or the calls or democracy,
will ind no ulillment. he economic
conditions may resurace with greater
intensity ater some years. his is because
with capitalism and privatisation comes
more debt and with more debt comes moretaxation and with more taxation comes
inlation and then inally unemployment
and crime. Crowd-delirium blinds the
people rom seeing this. As a inal note,
it is worthy to mention here that unlike
Libya, i Syria and Pakistan join the
Russian alliance, military intervention
into these two states that are also going
through anarchy will not be possible
with Russia, China, Iran, urkey and
some Central Asian countries that may
immediately plunge into the scene
GLOBAL
ext by: H. S.
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THEN & NOW
he Ottoman Empire wasestablished in the mid-1400s and at its peak had
extended into Europe stretching
rom North Arica right acrossCentral Asia and had at one pointeven inuenced Southeast Asia andsome parts o China. However, bythe end o the nineteenth century itwas in terminal decline. On the onehand, this resulted in some o hersubjects within the empire seekinggreater autonomy and Nationalindependence instigated mainlyby various colonial orces. On theother hand, powerul countriessuch as France and Great Britainwere extending their inuences andinterests in Ottoman territory as theyhad ambitions to share and divideup the responsibility o rule over notonly the Arab lands as it might seembut over all o the Ottoman Empire.
he British at that time had already
contracted special treaty relations with
Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman and also on
the rucial coast, which now orms the
United Arab Emirates. he race or control
over the Ottoman Empire was intertwined
between two dominant orces o the
nineteenth century British and French
colonialism that attempted to surround
the Mediterranean Sea. he decline o
Ottoman power provoked both internal
and external interests in establishing
boundaries and borders all over the
territory that had been or still under
the declining control o the empire such
as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and
Palestine. It should not be overlooked that
at that same time Zionism, the political
orce that has so vastly impacted over
the Middle East today, was also gaining
strength, support and momentum.
Amidst the great turbulence in the
Ottoman Dawlah there arose a Bedouin
by the name o Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd
ar-Rahman al-Saud, commonly known
to his dear western allies as Ibn Saud,
who remains to this date something
o an enigma to both the British and
the Muslim world. His roots ran deep
into the heart o Arabia. His amily, the
Saud, traced its origins back to more
than a thousand years. raditionally
it had been associated with the centra
province o Najd most particularly with
the cities o al Dir`iyah and, later Riyadh
In 1745, the historical year signiican
to the modern Saudi state, the meeting
between Muhammad ibn Saud and
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
occurred marking the beginning o the
irst Saudi state. he two men established
a relationship that links their descendents
to the present day. Muhammad ibn Saud
died in 1765, bequeathing his politica
legacy to his able son and successor
Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud. As early as 1773
King Abd al-Aziz ibn Sauds great-grea
grandather captured Riyadh and within
a number o years controlled all o Najd
he history o the Saudi amily is one o
unique signiicance in Arabia. Abd al
Aziz ibn Abd ar- Rahman al-Saud was o
the sixth generation descending directly
rom Saud ibn Muhammad Murqin (d
1725), rom whom the al-Saud amily and
in turn Saudi Arabia take their names
Rise of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia
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THEN & NOW
At the time o the birth o Abd al-Aziz in
1880, central Arabia had already allen
into political ragmentation, and in 1891
the al-Saud tribe in Riyadh began engaging
in a power struggle against the al-Rashids,
the ruling tribe o Hayil. his conlict led
Abd al-Azizs ather Abd ar- Rahman ibnSaud to lee Riyadh in 1891. he al-Saud
amily initially took reuge with al-Murra,
a Bedouin tribe living in remote and
inaccessible areas at the edge o Rubal-
Khali or a couple o years. Abd al-Aziz
had thereore been exposed to the power
politics and warare amongst Arabias
ruling amilies rom a very young age.
In 1893, the al-Saud amily was invited to
Kuwait by its ruler, Shaykh Muhammad al-
Sabah. By now Abd al-Aziz as a young man
soon became great riends with Shaykh
Muhammad al-Sabahs hal brother,
Mubarak al-Sabah. Ater Mubarak seized
power ollowing the strange and sudden
demise o his ruling hal brother, Abd al-
Aziz was invited to attend daily unctions
o royal audience, in which petitions were
presented and grievances heard. At these
requently acrimonious and politically
charged sessions, Abd al-Aziz saw at irst
hand the daily practice o government and
international politics and as he observed
he had ample opportunity to relect upon
his amilys situation. Najd had been
central to the irst and the second Saudi
States, and its loss engendered a deep
sense o resolve in Abd al-Aziz to act
immediately to recover and re-establish
his patrimony, and to restore the ami ly o
al-Saud to the leadership o central Arabia.
Young Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd ar-Rahman
al-Saud and his amily spent timein Kuwait as guests o the new ruler
Shaykh Mubarak al-Sabah, advising the
latter and providing more insight into
international politics. Mubarak was an
able politician and Kuwait, strategically
placed at the head o the Arabian Gul,
was a ocus o western activity in the
area especially since both the Germans
and the urks attempted to challenge
Britains hegemony in the gul looking
towards a p ossible terminus o the Berlin
to Baghdad railway. Abd al-Aziz observed
the international negotiations o Mubarak
al-Sabah through meetings with the West
which were essential political aairs or
the Arabs seeking independence rom
the Ottoman Empire. It revealed much
about the personalities involved, inparticular the startling impact Abd al-
Aziz had on his British hosts during the
negotiations. Amidst these negotiations,
wide-open British eyes ell on Abd al-
Aziz as a potential personality to extend
their political alliance with his tribe to
urther destabilise the Hejaz (modern
day Saudi Arabi) and impede German
and Ottoman advances in the region. his
could be best done by extending political
and military support to the Saudi amily
to gain political control over the Hejazsince they were already hostile to the
Ottomans and sought tribal independent
power over the Arabian Peninsula.
Intrigued by this man who was emerging
as a potential leader rom the turmoil
o inner Arabia, the British, desperate
to court him once war with the urks
became a reality in 1914, engaged in
a long term strategic relationship that
beneited both sides. British support
aided the Saudis rom the eorts to a
so-called reuniication o the country,
which meant driving out the urks rom
the region, and raising an Arabian polity
and nationality which results meant
that Britain could look upon a riendly
government in a part o the world which
they regarded essential to control the
centerpiece o the Ottoman empire.
he British successu lly concluded a reaty
o Friendship in 1916 with Abd al-Azizibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Saud. hat treaty
urther destabilised Ottoman rule over
the Hejaz. Abd al-Aziz received a monthly
stipend o 5000 pounds ssterling rom
the British reasury. British diplomatic,
inancial and military eort joined orces
with Abd al-Aziz in the Peninsular and
directed to move against the Ottoman
Sultan to wrest control over the H
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