Muslim Media Review

Review: The Crusades, Christianity and Islam by Jonathan Riley-Smith

2009-11-04T23:42:00.010-05:00

The Crusades, Christianity and Islam by Jonathan Riley-Smith

Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith is the author of scores of material regarding the Crusades.

This easy-to-read book is divided into four chapters. The first two present the idea that the Crusades were deeply rooted and justified for polities which claimed adherence to Christianity and the individual Christians who participated. The third chapter described the role of European protocrusader, pseudocrusador rhetoric in 19th century imperialism.

The fourth chapter basically claims that the only reason we view the Crusades as a particularly gruesome, unusual period of history is an anti-religious, anti-imperial period of European intellectual history, particularly after World War I. Muslims, who had hardly noticed the Crusaders, misappropriated this European production for their own nationalistic purposes. This misappropriation culminated in the widespread, erroneous ideas prevalent among Muslims that the West continues its Crusades to this day.

Matthew Gabriele identified one problem with this view, namely that it implies that there was no reason at all for the mid-twentieth century Arab intellectuals to popularize the contemporary view of the Crusades. My other concern is that the author does not actually cite any Muslim or Arab Christian historians to support his view that they promote a distorted view of the Crusades and modern history. The author presents the view of Osama bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahiri and Hizb al-Tahrir, which is the equivalent of presenting the rhetoric of the KKK and the John Birch Society and Rush Limbaugh as the pinnacle of the U.S. historiography. Amin Maalouf's The Crusades through Arab Eyes is listed as a source, but it is not discussed in detail. I did not recognize any contemporary Arab historians of the Crusades in the sources list. The author does not list any Turkish or Arabic sources. Finally, I think the author exaggerates when he claims that pre-modern Muslim historians ignored the Crusades. I think it would be worth a look at al-Maqrizi's works to see how serious he regarded the Crusaders. I am no expert, in this or any field :-), and perhaps the publishing requirements limited the author in this regard. In this case, I'd appreciate comments directing me to sources supporting the author's contentions.

A particularly annoying passage relies on Bernard Lewis and Hizb al-Tahrir to maintain that Muslims could not possibly know anything about the Crusades since they were unconcerned with anything non-Muslims did (p. 71).

The author does not address how modern Christian Arabs and Muslims are supposed to regard Christian Zionism and U.S. military religious zeal. If saliibi (modern Arabic for Crusader) is the wrong word, and colonialist and imperialist are out of style since the collapse of communism, then by all means suggest a more accurate term for ongoing Western military intervention.

November 14, 2009 addendum: Check out Abal-Hakim Murad's article America as a Jihad State: Middle Eastern perceptions of modern American theopolitics. It goes into much more detail about contemporary Muslim notions of Crusaders based on the actions of the Bush Administration and individual U.S. citizens post September 11, 2001.

Review: Change from Within: Diverse Perspectives on Domestic Violence in Muslim Communities

2009-11-04T23:30:00.004-05:00

Change from Within: Diverse Perspectives on Domestic Violence in Muslim Communities
Edited by Maha B. Alkhateeb and Salma Elkadi Abugideiri
ISBN-10: 0979138906
Peaceful Families Project www.peacefulfamilies.org

This book is a collection of essays and documents related to domestic violence among Muslims, primarily in North America.

It's not an easy read, but it is important. I particularly liked Zainab Alwani's The Qur'anic Model for Harmony in Family Relations and Imam Mohamed Magid's Affecting Change as an Imam. There are also accounts from survivors of domestic violence.

I acquired my copy from the Peaceful Families Project. It included a video which was used in a domestic violence awareness program at my local masjid.

Bones, Season 5, Episode 4-Good Portrayal of Muslim in Workforce

2009-10-10T11:32:00.004-04:00

I had reviewed quite negatively the 2nd episode of Bones in 2005, but I actually have some good things to say about the latest episode, The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Season 5, Episode 4. Actor Pej Vehdat plays the minor character Arastoo Vaziri, a lab intern at the Smithsonian. Prior to this episode, his cheesy foreign accent and the writing which constantly highlighted his being Muslim irritated me. In this episode, in a fit of anger when his boss Dr. Camille Sorayan wonders whether he can sift through remains which include pig bones and whether he should take a break to do his ritual prayer, Arastoo drops his affected accent and tells her to just let him do his job. Later in the episode, he reveals that affecting a foreign accent allows him to avoid questions from his mostly nonreligious colleagues about his religion. In other words, scientists would accept that a "fresh off the boat" Third Worlder would cling to archaic religious beliefs but they would be less tolerant of a religious scientist who grew up in the United States. The episode ends with a rather honest conversation about Arastoo's religious beliefs and practices.

Now while the episode was not perfect, I think it highlighted well the following workplace issues:

1. Muslims can function well in workplaces provided some simple accommodations are made. And by the way, these accommodations are mandated by law. So allow Muslims 10 minutes away from the factory line to do their ritual prayers. Or give them 10 minutes away from the support line. Let them take an extra hour for Friday congregational prayers and work an extra hour some other time. And there are plenty of Muslims doing science.
2. Some scientists do exhibit a bias against religious co-workers. See some of the reaction to the documentary Blast!.
3. Non-Muslims should simply ask their Muslim co-workers questions rather than make assumptions or act weird. Now don't do this in the interview and hiring process. That's illegal. Obviously, if you ask a question and don't like what you hear, then be man or woman enough to adjust and respect another person's opinion.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has published guides to Islamic religious practices for the employer, the health care worker, the prison administrator, the school administrator and the law enforcement official.
So kudos to the writers of this episode.

Law & Order Episode "Great Satan"

2009-10-10T10:57:00.003-04:00

National Broadcasting Company's long-running series Law & Order's episode "Great Satan" (Season 20, Episode 3) portrays the use of an informant to convict a group of New York City Muslims for a terrorist plot against a synagogue.

The episode does an excellent job of portraying the informant in a sympathetic light. The informant, a career petty criminal, testifies despite his testimony's revealing a crime he committed before naturalization, thus condemning him to losing his U.S. citizenship and deportation to Syria. He does this after Lt. Bernard says that the World Trade Center used to have a prominent place in his favorite panoramic view of Manhattan from Brooklyn.

I think it's appropriate to remind viewers that the argument for informants, namely that these "anti-American" plotters would eventually figure out how to put a bomb together and that the use of informants (aka instigators) to move a plot forward towards conviction puts dangerous people in jail, is laughable if it were not today's standard law enforcement technique.

The fact that the actual, convicted plotters could hardly find their way out of a wet paper bag does not seem to deter law enforcement personnel from beating their chests over their heroic defense of our safety and then extending their hands to the public treasury for more money to combat "home-grown" terrorists. Meanwhile, police are extending their surveillance beyond Muslims to include vegans, anti-globalization activists, environmental activists and other "dangerous" groups.

I think the show sent a very poor civil rights message. I'm preparing now a wiki with a page about the proper role of local police departments in anti-terrorism. When it's ready, I'll hopefully link to it. In the meantime, I'd recommend following the blog Muslims in the Law.

My Modern Interpretation of John Donne's Sonnet 14-Batter My Heart

2009-08-15T01:03:00.014-04:00

John Donne (1572-1631)

Holy Sonnet XIV: Batter My Heart, Three-Person'd God

Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend
Your force, to breake, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due,
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearley'I love you,'and would be loved faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie:
Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe,
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.

The text of this sonnet is taken from http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~lyman/english233/Donne-Batter_My_Heart.htm. There is an accompanying study guide as well. You can hear a reading of the sonnet at http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=3491882&song=Holy+Sonnet+14+-+Batter+my+heart%2C+three-personed+God... I've shortened the URL to http://bit.ly/5Vjkv

Ayman Fadel's Modern Interpretation

My system does not meet specifications
My compiled code produces an endless loop
The DLL I took from the outsourced corporation
Gives me runtime errors and gobly gook
Lord, I've got your proposal to fix this situation
Your references check out, and I'm good to go
But my shareholders are locked in litigation
And my IP rights are held in escrow.

The sonnet reminded me of a supplication which the Messenger Muhammad salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught.

The hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari:

صحيح البخاري، الإصدار 2.03 - للإمام البخاري

الجزء الأول >> 4 - كتاب الوضوء. >> 75 - باب: فضل من بات على الوضوء.

حدثنا محمد بن مقاتل قال: أخبرنا عبد الله قال: أخبرنا سفيان، عن منصور، عن سعد بن عبيدة، عن البراء بن عازب قال

قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: (إذا أتيت مضجعك، فتوضأ وضوءك للصلاة، ثم اضطجع على شقك الأيمن، ثم قل: اللهم أسلمت وجهي إليك، وفوضت أمري إليك، وألجأت ظهري إليك، رغبة ورهبة إليك، لا ملجأ ولا منجى منك إلا إليك، اللهم آمنت بكتابك الذي أنزلت، وبنبيك الذي أرسلت، فإن مت من ليلتك، فأنت على الفطرة، واجعلهن آخر ما تتكلم به) قال: فرددتها على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فلما بلغت: اللهم آمنت بكتابك الذي أنزلت، قلت: ورسولك، قال: (لا، ونبيك الذي أرسلت).

ش أخرجه مسلم في الذكر والدعاء والتوبة، باب: ما يقول عند النوم وأخذ المضجع، رقم: 2710.

(مضجعك) فراشك ومكان نومك. (ألجأت) أسندت. (رغبة) طمعا في ثوابك. (رهبة) خوفا من عقابك. (منجى) مخلص. (الفطرة) الدين القويم، وهو الإسلام الذي يولد عليه كل مولود. (لا، ونبيك) أي لا تقل ورسولك، بل قل ونبيك كما علمتك، وفيه إشارة إلى التزام الألفاظ الواردة في الأدعية والأذكار

I also think I misspoke in the video when I said tawba nasuuh is God's intervention to help us straighten ourselves out. Without getting into too much detail, we humans should do tawba nasuuh, or sincere and genuine repentance to God from our mistakes. God's tawba towards us is not called tawba nasuuh, since it would be beneath God's majesty to do something ungenuine or imperfect or unwise. God's tawba is to forgive our sins. See al-Tabari's commentary on Sura 2, Verse 128:

أما التوبة فأصلها الأوبة من مكروه إلـى مـحبوب، فتوبة العبد إلـى ربه: أوبته مـما يكرهه الله منه بـالندم علـيه والإقلاع عنه، والعزم علـى ترك العود فـيه. وتوبة الربّ علـى عبده: عوده علـيه بـالعفو له عن جُرْمه والصفح له عن عقوبة ذنبه، مغفرةً له منه، وتفضلاً علـيه.

As an FYI, I composed the first draft of this under the auspices of the Augusta Chapter of the Quality Poets Society. So credit goes there, although it is obviously not responsible for my work's defects!

Review: Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance by George Saliba

2009-08-12T09:54:00.009-04:00

Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance by George Saliba.
MIT Press: Cambridge, MA and London, UK; 2007.
ISBN: 0-262-19557-7. Hardcover, 315 pages with endnotes, a bibliography and a subject index.

This monograph is a series of lectures which challenge the dominant narrative of the history of science culminating in the European Renaissance. The dominant narrative is that Muslim rulers in the early Abbasid period, under the influence of the Mu'tazila theological school (aka rationalists), sponsored a translation of Persian, Indian and Greek scientific and philosophical texts. When the ahl al-hadith theologians (aka irrationalists), who in large part adopted the Asha`ari theology and who are most identified later with Imam al-Ghazali, persuaded later Abbasi rulers to cease sponsoring rationalist theology, scientific production began to decline. Finally, the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258 CE combined with religious hostility to science to cement cessation of scientific thought and production throughout Muslim lands. In key contact points, such as Sicily and al-Andalus, Europeans were able to reacquire the Greek scientific and philosophical legacy which had been faithfully transmitted by Muslims, and these Europeans later used this legacy to develop the Renaissance. In short, Muslims were a storage facility for Europeans' intellectual property, supplemented with unclaimed items left by the ancient Indians and Persians, until the Europeans could complete renovations.

Professor George challenges this narrative at the following points:

Scientific activity among Muslims and others in the areas Muslims ruled began during the period of the Bani Umayyah when the ruler `Abd al-Malik ordered the state administration to use Arabic rather than Syriac and Persian. Scientific activity was the result of competition for a more efficient bureaucracy among the educated Arabic-speaking Muslims, Syriac speakers and Persian speakers. This persisted through the ascension to power of Bani al-`Abbas. Rulers' sponsorship of scholars was not the main force for scientific activity.
Byzantine science was not the source of scientific knowledge. Science was too far in decline in Byzantine-ruled areas. Scientists in Muslim-ruled areas used ancient Greek sources to supplement their scientific production.
Despite an attachment to an Aristotelian cosmology, scientists quickly discovered errors in the ancient Greek sources. In fact, as they translated them, they corrected them to correspond to their own astronomical observations and mathematical advances. In particular, by the 13th century, no serious astronomer wrote without challenging ancient Greek sources like Ptolemy's Almagest, and many advocated different mathematical models to predict the motions of the planets and stars. Furthermore, new instruments and observational methods were developed.
Most of the scientists were religious functionaries as well. Religion's main impact on astronomy was to force its separation from astrology and to compel attempts to harmonize Aristotelian cosmology and Ptolemian physics. Theology compelled astronomers to deny the universe's objects divine attributes, and thus their motions had to be explained according to the mathematical laws of their models. In short, theology did not obstruct science.
While more research is needed, it is likely that Renaissance Europe pursued the knowledge contained in the astronomy books written in Arabic in the 13th century and that Europeans studied these books in Arabic and that Copernicus himself had access, through someone knowledgeable in Arabic, to the advances made by astronomers in Muslim-ruled areas in the 11th through 13th centuries CE.
The so-called age of decline in Muslim-ruled countries after the 13th century is filled with scientific production and advances. It was a decline only relative to the Europeans' tremendous advances brought about through their interactions with the Americas.

Although Muzaffar Iqbal's review in Islam & Science (Volume 7, No 1, Summer 2009) criticizes the book for its pushing the analysis of the rise of the "ancient sciences" without enough evidence and for reiterating the revisionist perspective which serious scholars have adopted for decades, even he admits that the book brings coherence "to the revisionist narrative scattered across various papers and books over the last few decades ..." For me, and for most readers of this blog, this book is the simplest way to access this debate in the history of science, and it is an effective response to the continuing Western exceptionalist narrative.

Houston, TX-Dr. Ezzat's Paintings on Display Until Sept 30

2009-08-06T07:12:00.003-04:00

Clear Lake City-County Freeman Public Library in Houston, TX is hosting a display of Dr. Ezzat Abouleish's paintings until September 30. Here is a note I received from him:

The opening ceremony went very well, Alhamd LELLAH, on Monday 8.3.2009. The show has been well received by Moslems and non-Moslems alike. The high spirituality and beauty of Islamic art was astonishing to the show visitors and expressed in their written comments. If you have not seen the exhibit yet, I recommend to visit and to take along the family. I feel our children need it more than us. The venue is Freeman Library of Clear Lake, 16616 Diane Lane (off Bay Area Blvd), Houston Texas, 77062. Tel. 281 488 1906. The display will continue to Sept. 30Th, but the sooner the better.

Film: Christian Zionists: On the Road to Armageddon by Stephen Sizer

2009-07-29T12:03:00.002-04:00

Christian Zionists: On the Road to Armageddon. By Stephen Sizer. Distributed by Presence Media. http://www.presence.tv/dvd

2 DVDs with six 20-minute segments.

These six segments are lectures by Dr. Stephen Sizer (http://www.stephensizer.com/) which trace the historical roots, theological bases and political consequences of Christian Zionism. The DVDs come with a study guide to facilitate discussion.

The weakest part of this DVD is the section on historical roots, and I think that is primarily due to the lack of time to explain to those unfamiliar with dispensationalism the importance of this doctrine. It was shocking to me to learn that many high-ranking British politicians, including Lord Balfour, the author of the Balfour Declaration, followed this strand of Anglo-Protestantism. Another piece of news to me was that the principal editor of the version of the Bible used by American fundamentalist Protestants, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, was a disciple of John Nelson Darby, the leading proponent of dispensationalism.

The second section, theological bases, is best suited to an audience able to understand Christian doctrines. I believed Dr. Sizer did a good job, and I felt I understand this segment, but I think it would be difficult for someone unfamiliar with Christian theological doctrines. I hope that a reader with more background in this area might add some additional comments to this blog entry concerning this section.

The third section, political consequences, is accessible to all, and it is of course the reason why this video can appeal to those who seek some peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Book Review: A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide by Mark D. Siljander

2009-07-29T10:51:00.007-04:00

A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide. By Mark D. Siljander. New York: HarperCollins; 2008. pp. 260. ISBN: 978-0-06-143828-8.

Mark Siljander served his Michigan district in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1987. He came into office supporting Ronald Reagan’s, Newt Gingrich’s and Tom DeLay’s policies of economic deregulation, supply-side economics and confrontation with the Soviet Union and other communist and socialist nations. In a conversation with a trusted advisor, he revealed all he needed to know and all he wanted to know about Muslims and Islam:

… if I didn’t mind his asking, as a follower of Jesus, what was my strategy in relation to other people in my travels around the world? I replied without hesitation: it was to convert them to the Christian faith. [p. 16]

His advisor then asked him to produce a textual basis for this position from the Bible. Mark Siljander spent the next year searching, but at the end concluded that no single verse “stated or even implied that Jesus of Nazareth promoted, began or intended to begin any religion. … Following Jesus, according to Jesus’s own disciples, was not a matter of religion; it was about the revelation of God’s truth as conveyed by Jesus’s influence on the human heart.” [p. 18] This represented a crash in Mark Siljander’s personal life.

When President Reagan appointed Siljander an alternate delegate to the United States’s delegation to the United States, Siljander began to meet with representatives from forty-one nations, asking each one “about themselves and their lives; about their region of the world, what it was like, and what were their biggest challenges; and finally, what did they think the United States could do to improve our image in the United Nations and around the world?” [p. 20] These representatives told Siljander that previous United States diplomats never asked these questions.

We don’t have conversations. The United States tells us how they suggest we vote, what they suggest we do. They’re cordial and friendly, and very polite. But they don’t ask us anything about ourselves or our countries, and certainly don’t ask for our opinions on how the United States can better its relations around the world. [p. 21]

Interpersonal relationships were missing, Siljander concluded, and he spends the rest of the book describing how he uses his new understandings of the Bible and the Quran to build interpersonal relationships with Muslims and others around the world.

Siljander recounts meetings with Western Sahara rebels, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the foreign minister of Libya, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and others. In these meetings, Siljander would insist that his associates and he were not seeking to persuade these leaders to do anything, but instead they wanted to become their friends. As a way to initiate their friendship, they suggested that they discuss their mutual love and admiration for Jesus and his teachings. And then they would ask to pray together for a better relationship and peace.

The lesson Siljander drew from these encounters was that a non-sectarian understanding of Jesus and a commitment to living his teachings could facilitate conflict resolution in a way that the traditional conflict resolution focus on diplomatic, political, economic and military engagement could not.

Is Siljander so naïve to believe that this can work? Apparently, he is. Even when Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in 2006 destroyed the Muslim-Christian discussion group in which he participated, he wrote:

Am I made less hopeful with each new eruption of hostilities, each new incidence of suicide bombings, each fresh escalation in the seemingly interminable cycle of attack and retribution? Quite the opposite: I’m more hopeful. [p. 207]

He is looking for highly influential people to carry “the radical idea of reconciliation that Jesus taught two millennia ago and, in my view, that the Qur’an reiterated” until those ideas dominate the society.

If being naïve in the hope for peace is the book’s only fault, then I’d say it’s a welcome flaw and I ask God to bless me with it. And if this book is taken as an attempt to get people to rethink their previous religious conceptions which made them think that conflict is good, necessary or inevitable, then I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I do think there are significant problems to Siljander’s specific approach, however. The most important is his attempt to modify Muslims’ understanding of Jesus to include the idea that he was crucified, he was the son of God and that he was divine. He promotes historically minority opinions of groups of Muslims regarding these doctrines and then claims that Muslims who believe these things can be “Messianic Muslims.” Messianic Muslims, who would never identify themselves in this way, “retain their cultural identity, … go to the mosque and read the Qur’an, and … pray in the name of Jesus and read the Bible.”

Even if I don’t read this as a backdoor attempt to “convert” Muslims, which Siljander vehemently denies, the inequality of this relationship is revealed by the fact that he never talks about a Muhammadi Christian, a Christian who is inspired by the example of the Messenger Muhammad ﷺ. Jesus ﷺ is important for Muslims to follow, but it is not important for Christians to follow Muhammad ﷺ.

The second big problem is that the impetus in the book is for Muslims to change. I find it hard to take this whole project seriously when Siljander associates with Islamophobe and ardent Zionist Cal Thomas. While I know the author may not be in complete control of a book’s jacket comments, one endorsement of the book comes from Edwin Meese, III, a fellow at the Islamophobic, neo-conservative and colonialist Heritage Foundation. He is quoted saying, “I cannot overstate the importance of Siljander’s strategic efforts to defuse the activities of radical Muslims worldwide.”

Real peacemaking efforts begin at home. Yes, there are plenty of Muslims who need to be converted to peace, but there are also plenty of warmongering heathens right here at home for Siljander to reach.

Finally, Siljander never addresses why a religious approach to peacemaking and relationship-building is better than a humanistic or an international law approach. Would it not be better to begin with the U.N. Charter of Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions than the Aramaic Bible and speculations on the Qur’an?

The author has a web site, http://www.adeadlymisunderstanding.com, for further information.

Review: Tears of the Desert by Halima Bashir and Damien Lewis

2009-07-29T10:31:00.008-04:00

Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur. By Halima Bashir with Damien Lewis. 2008. One World Books. Hardcover. 316 pp. ISBN 978-0-345-50625-2.

Reading this book should strengthen one’s resolution to oppose the falsehoods that one person is better than another by virtue of one’s birth and that one person should usurp the rights of another if the opportunity presents itself. It is the failure of peoples of the world to nip these falsehoods in the bud which lead to the massive casualties the author Dr. Halima Bashir describes in Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur.

One could quibble with certain aspects of the book, most specifically its lack of analysis of Sudanese society, ecology and politics.For example, a map of the places Dr. Halima mentions should have been included. In addition, constructions like “black Africans” and “Arabs” are oversimplifications of Sudanese society.

One hopes the reader will go on to learn more about Sudan before advocating counterproductive policy initiatives.

But this book does not need to include these things to be valuable. Regardless of the accuracy or precision of the expressions of Dr. Halima’s claims about the place of the Zaghawa (Dr.Halima’s tribe and the tribe of most members of the Justice and Equality Movement), the Masalit, the Fur and the other “black African” tribes relative to the “Arabs,” no government should institutionalize discrimination against groups within the society it governs such as those she experienced becoming a physician, and certainly no government should use scorched-earth counterinsurgency tactics. Finally, no government should encourage rape, which is among the most shocking practices of the Sudanese government’s war against peoples it identifies as sources of rebellion in Dar Fur.

The book’s final chapters discuss Dr. Halima’s efforts to win asylum status in the United Kingdom. I hope that United States pro-Dar Fur activists would focus more of their energy on opening the United States to more refugees, simply because the solution of the actual civil war is, as of my writing these words, beyond the influence of these activists.

One of the more interesting themes in Dr. Halima’s book is her criticism of city Arabs. Their privilege allows them to be weak, foppish, lazy and generally unproductive. What strikes me about her descriptions is that they appear to have adopted entirely the habits of the British colonizers. This phenomenon of an elite class which perpetuates the patterns of colonial rule is common in nearly all formerly colonized nations.

Another detail worthy of note is the difference between al-Khartoum and the rest of the country. This focus on the capitol city and perhaps the neighborhoods of the provincial capitols where the government-sponsored elites live is also a frequently reproduced pattern in the global south.

Dr. Halima’s descriptions of her early childhood were also important. There may have been some elements of nostalgia and tribal pride, but her family members truly came to life in her narration and provided an authenticity to the narrative.

The authors have produced a well organized, easily followed and engaging narrative.

May Allah ﷻ have mercy on the victims of the crimes described in Dr. Halima’s book. May Allah ﷻ restrain those criminals and prevent them from continuing their oppression. May Allah ﷻ forgive us for our weakness and inactivity in supporting the victims of this genocide.

Additional Resources:

Video Interview with Authors on Muxlim.TV
Tortured , but not Silenced, NY Times Column by Nicholas Kristof
What to Do About Darfur, by Nicholas Kristof

Review: This is Palestine by George Azar

2009-06-25T12:07:00.003-04:00

This is Palestine is a data CD collection of photos by George Azar, with commentary by Mariam Shahin and accompanying music. It is published by the United Nations Development Programme, Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. It is compatible with Windows and Macintosh personal computers.

I bought my copy from Palestine Online Store. It took nearly five months for it to fulfill the order, so if you need it soon, call ahead and confirm that it is in stock. When I placed my order electronically, an employee contacted me and alerted me to its being out of stock and asked me if I would prefer to cancel my order or receive the item later. So, I thought the customer service was OK.

The photos themselves show the Palestinians as human beings in various phases of life, including the political. It also shows Muslims and Christians. The pictures are from a variety of locations in Palestine.

There is a also a collection of photos of fashion and jewelry.

If you are having a public event about Palestine, I'd recommend using this slide show to play while people are waiting for the program to get started and/or after the program is over and people are milling about.

I have not seen the companion book, Palestine: A Guide. The UN also maintains a photo gallery.

Review: Radical Reform by Tariq Ramadan

2009-06-01T16:28:00.002-04:00

Read Muslima Media Watch's review of Tariq Ramadan's new book Radical Reform. I have not read it yet.

Interview with Founder of Georgia Student Scholarship Organization

2009-05-31T10:58:00.004-04:00

On August 4, 2008, I posted a blog entry discussing the state of Georgia's new law which allowed Georgia residents to divert a portion of their state income taxes to student scholarship organizations which would pay the money to accredited private schools in Georgia to pay for children transitioning from public schools.

On May 20, 2009, I conducted an interview with Ziad Minkara, the founder of Liberty Scholarship Foundation. To my knowledge, he is the only Muslim involved with a student scholarship organization. I encourage you to listen to the interview to understand aspects of the school choice movement and how you can support such efforts.

In addition, South Carolina is considering similar legislation. Americans United for Seperation of Church and State is hosting a debate on this proposed legislation on Sunday, June 7, at 6 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbia at 2701 Heyward St, Columbia, SC, 29205. Below is a description of the event.

Sen. Robert Ford's bill to give tuition tax credits to families to pull their kids out of public schools may have died in this last session of the General Assembly, but you can bet that the issue of "school choice" is not deceased. We will debate the issue of tuition tax credits in particular and of school choice in general at our upcoming AU meeting. Tim Moultrie, a Libertarian candidate for SC Superintendent of Education, will argue for the merits of school choice, while Ronny Townsend, former Representative from Anderson and Chair of the SC House Education and Public Works Committee, will advocate for public education. Both will also take questions from the audience. This should be an informative and invigorating discussion.

Review: Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages (The Series) by Rosen Publishing

2009-05-10T16:43:00.004-04:00

I read two books in the series Great Muslim Philosophers and Scientists of the Middle Ages by Rosen Publishing. They were the books about al-Khawarizmi and al-Biruni.

I liked both books for the following reasons:

They were in general not "religious", meaning they did not attribute scientific progress or lack thereof to religion, particularly Islam. When discussed, secular factors, primarily sponsorship by the wealthy and powerful, were identified as the cause of scientific progress.
They contained illustrations with informative captions, sidebars introducing tangential lines of inquiry, and discussions of the subjects' ideas and their place in their intellectual milieu.
They have a glossary and a recommended reading list.

I got these two books from my public library. I encourage librarians to acquire these books. For this blog, I'm planning to start tagging books I believe appropriate for public libraries with the tag "Good for Public Library."

The publisher recommends this for grades 5-8. I think it could benefit students at all levels, yet the writing is accessible to the younger age group the publisher recommends.

Review: The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji

2009-05-08T16:24:00.003-04:00

Pamela Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reviewed The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji. Here is an excerpt of the book.

I have not read the book.

Review: Secret Son by Laila Lalami

2009-05-08T16:07:00.001-04:00

Aaminah Hernndez's review of Secret Son by Laila Lalami

I have not read the book.

Review: Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad by Marnia Lazreg

2009-05-07T20:02:00.020-04:00

Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad, by Marnia Lazreg, is an eloquent plea to end torture. Professor Marnia pursues a historical, anthropological and philosophical inquiry into France's use of torture in its war against Algerian independence from 1954-1962.

The most important thing to understand is that France's use of torture and terror "was about France and her internally contested history and identity, which inescapably included the empire." (p. 23) The counterinsurgency's main purpose was to deny a political identity to the Algerians, and torture, which represents the greatest level of control of one human being over another, allowed the French the quickest, most efficacious justification of French control of Algeria. Algerians could not be allowed to challenge the French people's self-image.

The author describes methods of torture and state terrorism. Torture began with undressing the captive. After some beating, including slapping (which some in the U.S. today don't want to classify as torture), electrocution of genitalia and other sensitive areas of the body would begin. Torturers would also perform "castration" through twisting of the male genitalia. Other techniques included rape with objects, forced sitting on bottles, solitary confinement, near starvation, truth serum and sleep deprivation.

Yet the bulk of the narrative describes the various justifications and experiences of torture. Military theorists studied and taught competing theories of why torture was necessary in counterinsurgency. Anthropologists explained why torturing Algerians was prudent or beneficial. Church clergy and military chaplains found doctrines which allowed torturers to seek forgiveness and communion. Politicians could decry the evils of communism, Pan-Arabism and Pan-Islamism.

Torturers came in all shapes and sizes. Some Algerian (Muslim), some pied-noirs, some conscripts, some veterans of IndoChina, some committed, some bored. Some were educated, some were not.

It was advised that only non-sadists should be allowed to conduct and witness torture. How humane.

Often, when a prisoner's interrogation was complete, he was "sent for wood," a euphemism for summary execution and disposal.

Torture occurred in fixed urban locations, in countryside outposts, or in structures appropriated by mobile military intelligence teams. It took place at all times of day, but night was preferred as the prisoner's fear at night was greater.

French veterans of the Algerian war often remember their first torture session. The captors' laughter was "a constant feature of torture séances." Witnesses noted the unique smell created by the combination of sweat, excrement, urine, blood and the dampness of the chamber ignited by electricity. The screams of the victim seemed to intensify this odor.

A primary justification for torture was its alleged information-gathering (intelligence) value. Another justification was that it would purge the (corrupted, infected) French-Muslims (Algerians) of their non-identification with France. The concentration camps included hygiene lessons in the French manner in between torture sessions.

Chapter 6, Women: Between Torture and Military Feminism, is a fascinating look on how the French military used the rhetoric of the feminist movement to practice torture, especially on women. The French military established the Equipes Médico-Sociales Itinérantes (Mobile Socio-Medical Teams) to

"make contact with women," that is to say, "to know, inform educate, organize and guide them" in preparation for their acceptance of the "most French solution to the Algerian problem." (p. 147)

... the method used by the EMSI during their "meetings" with women combined thematic lessons on topics such as hygiene, child rearing, and housekeeping (while listening to music) as entry points for propagandist discussions of key political issues focused on the military conception of the war. For example, lessons on body hygiene (seen as easily achieved because "a bar of soap is not expensive") involved discussions of the "myth of Algeria's independence," France's achievements in Algeria, her benevolence, and civic rights--all of which were contrasted with a description of gender inequality among native society. Using a system of punishment and rewards, the [Adjointes Sociales Sanitaires Rurales Auxiliares (Auxilary Rural Social and Health Workers-ASSRA)] withheld children's clothes and other enticements from women deemed unclean and thus unreceptive to French norms. The strategy equated acceptance of continued colonial rule with adoption of French customs and lifestyles. ... In villages and towns, the ASSRA were given step-by-step instructions on how to make women remove their veils. Fighting veils was on a par with getting rid of "flies," "ticks," and "lice." (p. 148)

Yet, the success of this well-orchestrated campaign targeting women was dubious. The women's "circles" sponsored by the EMSI reported that the women they attracted preferred romantic movies to propaganda films about the war they were told to watch. The women also demanded to "sing in Arabic, and when they did, they sang fellagha songs!" (p. 150)

The French military was so obsessed with the campaign against the veil that, when it took over the French government in May of 1958, it held unveiling ceremonies of Algerian women in major cities before the international press.

Of course, when it came to military operations, both reconnaissance and reprisal, the French military treated women as part of the Algerian population it needed to terrorize and suppress. When the military entered the village, soldiers regularly stole jewelry and chickens and acted, as instructed, like "lords of the manor."

Rape sessions were called "strip tease"; rapists committing collective rape "go through" the victims as through a field, or "play." A former paratrooper distinguished between rape as a tool of torture for securing intelligence, and "rape for comfort." In the various urban torture centers women were routinely raped, especially at the famed Villa Séseni in Algiers. The women who survived the war use the code word "torture" among themselves to mean "rape," a term that covers all degrading experiences, as they continue to feel the trauma of having been violated but are unable to come to terms with it, not only because of shame and fear of opprobrium, but aso because of the everlasting and indelible memory. It was not infrequent that women were picked up during roundups for the purpose of being raped and were selected according to their looks and age.

Despite the rhetoric of support for women, the French were only inrerested in "breaking down existing networks of solidarity mediated by women." In the end, the French military before independence and the National Liberation Front (FLN) after independence deprived women of "recognition as a self-willed human being fighting for a cause he strongly believes in." (p. 168)

The author includes an excellent chapter on the position of the Christian Church on antisubversive war. Official church positions ranged from approval to feigned ignorance to vague condemnations. None was effective in ending the war. One non-official group of Catholics openly supported the war as an anti-Muslim, anti-Communist, anti-leftist counterrevolution/crusade.

Another excellent chapter compares Sartre's, Camus's and Fanon's positions on the war. Fanon's belief that the violence of the colonized directed at the colonizers heals psychological wounds colonization inflicts on the colonized makes it seem like insurgencies are a psychological problem rather than a political and economic problem. Camus never overcame his pied noir identity to recognized that colonialism had a role to play in the war. He could both condemn and excuse torture on philosophical grounds, but his partisanship prevented him from having a strong voice regarding the Algerian War of Independence.

The last two chapters discuss the American apologists and advocates (see Elshtain below) for torture in the so-called Global War on Terror.

The book is available from Princeton University Press.

Supplemental resources:

History Repeats Itself: France in Algeria, the US in Iraq by Marnia Lazreg
Pew Research poll on U.S. residents' attitudes towards torture
May 1, 2009 "The Moral Debate about Torture" on U.S. Public Television's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Note that Jean Bethke Elshtain, whom Professor Marnia criticizes sharply, appears on this program defending torture.
Bruce Fein and Mark Danner on Bill Moyers Journal
Sadiq Reza "Torture and Islamic Law", Chicago Journal of International Law

P.S. I had heard about the U.S.-operated School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, whose graduates have frequently been implicated in war crimes and government takeovers, but I did not realize that many Latin American military officers also studied at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre in Paris. (p. 19-The reference is to Escadrons de la mort by Marie-Monique Robin, pp. 168-9.) I'm in the middle of reading The School of the Americas by Lesley Gill. Maybe I can put a review up here and compare.

P.S.S. I also condemn all the torture inflicted by others besides France and the United States.

P.S.S.S. Professor Marnia has a book coming out in September 2009 entitled
Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women. Given my big stack of unread books and my personal commitment as a man never to talk about this issue, I'm hoping someone wiser than me can review this as soon as it comes out.

Review: Al-Mudarris Quran Software

2009-05-01T07:20:00.001-04:00

MuslimMatters.org published a review of Al-Mudarris Quran Software.

I have not used the software or any software like it.

Review: Son of Mountains by Yassin Aref

2009-04-26T20:19:00.004-04:00

Son of Mountains: My Life as a Kurd and a Terror Suspect by Yassin Aref is now on my Amazon wish list. So look for an upcoming review.

Yassin Aref's lawyer appeared on Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report.

Film: New Muslim Cool

2009-04-25T11:22:00.001-04:00

June 23, 2009 is the broadcast date for the PBS documentary "New Muslim Cool."

Review: American Muslim Women: Negotiating Race, Class and Gender within the Ummah by Jamillah Karim

2009-04-24T11:53:00.003-04:00

Jamilah King reviewed American Muslim Women: Negotiating Race, Class and Gender within the Ummah by Jamillah Karim.

I have not read the book. It is available from Amazon.

Film: Warring Factions, by Justin Mashouf

2009-04-23T10:03:00.002-04:00

See Hena Ashraf's review at altmuslim.com.

I have not seen the movie.

Film: 'Bama Girl

2009-04-20T11:17:00.003-04:00

'Bama Girl follows University of Alabama seniors in their campaign to be elected homecoming queen. It ended up focusing on Alpha Kappa Alpha member Jessica Thomas, an African-American who had set her sights on being the homecoming queen since her first year in the university.

I saw the movie as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers when Rachel Goslins screened her film in Augusta, GA's Imperial Theatre.

I had held a lot of anti-white fraternity/sorority life ideas since my undergraduate days. I used to repeat phrases like "buying friends" and "muffies and buffies" (before Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Now I've mellowed a lot since then, and I realized that people participate in white fraternities and sororities for a lot of different reasons, and I should not just judge people right off the bat. In addition, I did not spend my university life feeding the poor, so it's not like I was really that morally superior to people who spent their time dressing for socials and singing arcane songs.

But some of those anti-Greek ideas still remain, and I did not think I would be sympathetic to any students who cared about homecoming (I have yet to buy University paraphenalia such as sweatshirts), much less actively campaigned to become homecoming queen. As I watched the film and learned about the Machine's efforts to coordinate the white Greeks' votes behind a candidate and Jessica Thomas's gathering of her friends and supporters, including one who worked in an electoral campaign for the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I asked myself why could not these people work to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and reduce carbon emissions and demand an end to the prison-industrial complex and the war on drugs.

But if I go beyond my crass Marxism, I admit to myself that this coalition building and canvassing is training for lives of public advocacy. While I may scorn university bodies such as student government and homecoming, I have to admit that those activities are an effective introduction to corporate and government work.

My other problem with the homecoming queen (and king) is its sexism. A quick search on the term "homecoming queen protest" came up with the following headlines:

I don't remember even hearing about a homecoming queen election at the University of Virginia, and fellow alumni told me that University of Virginia did not have a homecoming queen.

In addition, I have come to believe that part of being an "ally" with the "oppressed" is respecting the goals they set for themselves. While I may not consider an African-American winning the homecoming queen election at University of Alabama to be a milestone on the road to ending American white supremacy, obviously some African-Americans have considered things like homecoming queen elections important.

The film itself is humorous, gentle in its treatment of the people who appear in it and short enough that my interest did not stray.

Review: Love in Headscarf

2009-02-28T14:51:00.002-05:00

Muslima Media Watch's review of Love in a Headscarf.

I have not read the book.

Film: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

2009-02-23T10:00:00.003-05:00

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson is a 2-DVD, 220-minute documentary about Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

The first DVD covered Johnson's quest to win the heavyweight title, and the second DVD covered society's persecution of the champion, eventually leading to his arrest, flight from the United States and eventual imprisonment.

I hope that people can watch it to understand the comprehensive, pervasive white supremacy which encompassed all sectors of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. That Euro-Americans considered boxing a sphere of racial competition is symptomatic of a deep pathology of which I have never heard in other places, even where there are patterns of racial, ethnic or tribal discrimination.

Additional Resources:

On Point with Tom Ashbrook interview with Wiliam Rhoden, author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete

Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, a lecture at the University of Virginia Miller Center by Thomas J. Sugrue