Islam here 11th edition 2017

Erasing Islam from Rumi’s Poetry Page10

Dr. Ghassan on the Ecology of War

INTERVIEW

Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman Honoured by PRISA

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Just 47 miles from devastated Mosul, its not about fashion but the re-awakening of the civic order of the past & a high expectation of life.

Effendi Kurdistan ERBIL - NORTHERN IRAQ

Our 11th Edition

EDITORS DESK The great & noble path

NABEEL ABDALHAQQ - Cape Town

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s Salaamu Alaykum respected readers. Thank you for picking up the eleventh edition of Islam Here. Once again we are drawing closer to Ramadan and I am sure you are all anticipating its arrival. I remember once stating out loud that I was genuinely excited about the fast and could not wait for it to come, at that moment, a man of knowledge nearby, quickly added, “The fast is excited about you!”

This statement later had a profound impact on me as the fast of Ramadan took on an almost human form. I imagined the fasting during the day as being like a guest who had travelled to come and live with me for a month. As with any guest in my company, my behaviour needed to change, I had to adapt so as not to offend my guest. I could not argue in front of him and I would have to be at my best at all times. I remembered the words of Allah in a Hadith Qudsi, “Every good action of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting which is for Me, and I will assign him a reward for it.” At the end of the month, I would have to say goodbye to the fast.

By this time, the fast had left its mark on me. There was a sadness at the end. The kind of sadness you feel when you depart from good company. But then there is the sighting of the new moon. Sweetness fills the air and a peace settles in. We pay the Fitra, so that the sweetness is shared and beggars will not have to beg on this day.

There is the Eid prayer early in the morning. The greeting and hugging of brothers.

In a moment, rancorous hearts are mended, wrong doings forgotten. Polished hearts stare blindly at one another unable to hide the smiles within. ‘Eid Mubarak!’ the people shout.

Every year the breakfast after the Eid prayer feels the same, both strange and wonderful. You may eat and drink now, all the while feeling that you could do without.

But you must eat, for the fast is over. I recognise now by all of this, that everything has a form, including the one who fasts during Ramadan. Residing at the outskirts of a world experience in flux. When Ramadan ends, so does the form and you return to your previous form but not quite the same.

May we all have the openness of heart when Allah sends his esteemed emissary to us.

May we recognise this guest of Allah’s when we meet it and may we remember when we have forgotten about it. May the book of Allah be our other companion and may He unlock from it meanings that we act upon.

Amin.

From our articles this edition, Parvez Asad Sheikh’s article ‘For Aleppo’ is an opener for us. It is a brilliant and defining piece that allows us, as an Ummah, to look at the Truth about where we are. It shows a common thread shared by the Muslims if not the world. There is a displacement and a lack of imaginable reference. It reveals a deeper crisis hidden under the structural crisis we see starting to show cracks around us. A crisis of Identity. Mr Sheikh remedies this with an inescapable truth. A core truth that exists in us all.

Author Andre Vltchk conducts an interview with a very important man in the Muslim world. Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta is a pioneer in a new discipline in both Philosophy and Medicine called, The Ecology of War. Specialised in re-constructive surgery and resident at the AUB Medical Centre in Lebanon, the Ecology of War research was born out of the neighbouring conflicts in the region and the thousands sent there

wounded and disfigured by war. Dr Ghassan has unearthed a pattern, an ecological phenomenon that has spread throughout the world. He has found that this phenomenon begins with the breaking of the Social contract. It occurs not only in war-ravaged nation states but in the first world and in places where states no longer exist. There is an important conference on the Ecology of War to take place on the 15th of May 2017, with over 300 delegates from various fields ranging from political to medical to find out how to best safeguard the human being beyond the existence of the state. This is the future and we must support Dr Ghassan.

Hajj Abdallah Dutton, lecturer at Dallas College in Cape Town, opens a window into the core of Muslim civilisation by reconnecting us with our chivalric roots. He makes a distinct connection between the age of chivalry experienced in Western Europe with their encounter with the Muslims during the Crusades liberating a dark Europe from the clutches of Vatican christianity and inspiring an age of creativity like that of the Muslims of that age.

Listen to what was said regarding the celebration of the Mawlid of Nabi Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam, by Shaykh Abdalqadir As-sufi, teacher of Shaykh Mortada Elboumeshouli, who is head of the Qadiri Shadhili Darqawi Tariqa in Morocco. I hope it may inspire you as it has done with me. “We make no connection to Allah, but we make our connection to Sayyiduna Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam, and that will take us very, very far. It will take us as far as we need to go. The Muhammadan secret is not a Divine secret, it is your secret (with Allah). It is an Adamic secret because Sayidduna Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam, is from Sayidduna Adam, alayhi salaam. He is the perfection of the Adamic being. Adam was the first prophet and from him comes Sayidduna Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam. The genetic, total perfection of the Adamic line is Sayidduna Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam, and he is the khatam (seal) of the prophets. You are the inheritors of something very ancient, something very big and something very exalted, so you must enjoy it. Qur’an is yours. It is all for you. He brought this message for you. We have a direct connection with Sayidduna Muhammad, sallalahu alyhi wasalam. We are genetically – Adamically – connected to him, intellectually connected, and spiritually connected. We are connected by nafs (self), form and adab (behaviour), because we have taken on his adab, his ibada (form of worship), his beard, his fasting, his wudu (ablution for purification), his salat (prayer), his hudud (boundaries of action), and a Muhammadan personality.”

Hajj Abdallah Dutton related to me that the King of the Zulus said to him, “The Americans come to my land pursuing their interests, fracking and poisoning the earth.

The Muslims come to my land and they build wells for my people to have drinking water.” This is the Muhammadan legacy, and it is for this time in which we live as in all time until the Day of Days. We make du’a for King Muhammad of Morocco and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. May Allah guide them both. May Allah surround them with men of both inward and outward knowledge. May Allah strengthen them and give them expansion. Amin. For it is these two kingdoms, like pillars, that hold up our world community and without them in this age, there would not be a Muslim World to speak of IH

.

Yours in Islam Nabeel Abdalhaqq

It is reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Ali ibn Abi Talib:

“If Allah guides a person through you, it is better for you than all that is on the earth.”

Bukhari No. 2783 & Muslim No. 2406

Glossary

Adab: Correct behaviour inwardly & outwardly.

Alim. pl. ‘Ulama’: A scholar/s, specifically in regards to the sciences of Islam.

Amir: Commander, general, political leader of the community.

Ayat: lit. A sign, a verse of the Qur’an.

Baraka: The continuity of Allah’s blessing that emanates out of a determined part of creation to the benefaction of those around that experience it.

Ba’ya: Homage, allegiance given to a leader Bayt al-mal: The communal treasury.

Dawa: lit. Call. The act of calling people to Islam.

Deen: Life-transaction, Allah says in the Qur’an: “Surely the deen with Allah is Islam” (3:19) (see ‘Islam’ below) Dhikr: lit. Remembrance, mention. In general sense all ibada (see below) is dhikr. In common usage it has come to mean invocation of Allah by repetition of His names or particular formulae.

Du’a: Making supplication to Allah.

Faqih. pl. Fuqaha.: A man learned in knowledge of fiqh (see below) who by virtue of his knowledge can give a legal judgement (fatwa, see below).

Fatwa: An authoritative legal opinion or judgement made by a faqih (see above).

Fiqh: The science of the application of the Shariah (see opposite).

Futuwwa: The spiritual courtesy that manifests in good behaviour.

Hadith: The transmission of the sayings of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Hajj: The annual pilgrimage to Makka.

Halaal: Permitted by the Shariah.

Haraam: Forbidden by the Shariah.

Hijra: Emigration in the way of Allah. Islam takes it’s dating from the hijra of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from Makka to Madina.

Ibada: An act of worship.

Ihram: The conditions in respect of clothing and behaviour adopted by someone on hajj (see above) or ‘umrah (lesser hajj).

Ihsan: It is to worship Allah as though you are seeing Him. Even though you do not see Him, He sees you.

Ijtihad: lit. to struggle - to exercise personal judgement in legal matters when there is no known precedent.

Imam: Man who leads the prayer, an eminent scholar.

Iman: The belief in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day & the Decree - the good of it and the bad of it.

Islam: Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakat, to fast in Ramadan, and to make the pilgrimage to the House (Ka’ba in Makka) if you are able to do so.

Jihad: Struggle, particularly warfare to establish and defend Islam.

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facebook: islamherenews\ Twitter: islamheretweets\ Youtube: islamheremedia\ Issuu:

Jumu’ah: The day of gathering, Friday, and particularly the midday prayer on that day.

Jannah: The garden of paradise.

Khutba: The discourse given by an Imam from the ‘mimbar’ (a three-staired platform) in place of the first two units of the midday prayer at a mosque on Friday Jumuah.

Madhab: A school of fiqh (see opposite). There are four accepted Madhabs. i.e.: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, Hanbali.

Mujtahid: Someone who is qualified to use ijtihad (see opposite).

Nafs: The self. The ego.

Qadi: A judge.

Qibla: The direction faced in prayer, which is towards the Ka’ba in Makka.

Qur’an: The un-created words of Allah, Glory be to Him, and the recited book.

Ramadan: Month of the obligatory fast.

Ruh: The spirit which gives life.

Sadaqa: Giving in the way of Allah.

Salaam: lit. peace Salat. pl. ‘Salawat’: The ritual prayer of the Muslims. Five are obligatory each day at specified times.

Shahada: The bearing witness of the unity of Allah and the prophet-hood of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Shaykh. pl. ‘Shayukh’: Someone who has a vast command of something, of knowledge in particular.

Shariah: lit. A road. It is the legal modality of a people based on the revelation of their Prophet. The last Shariah in history is that of Islam. It abrogates all previous Shariahs.

Sunnah. pl. sunan.: lit. A form. The customary practice of a person or group of people. It has come to refer almost exclusively to the practice of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but also comprises to the customs of the first generation of Muslims in Madina.

Sura: A large unit of Qur’an linked by thematic content, composed of ayats (see opposite). There are 114 suras in the Qur’an.

Tasawwuff: Sufism Tariqa: A particular school of Tasawwuf (see above) under the tutelage of a shaykh of tarbiyya(instruction).

Tawhid: The science of the Unity of Allah.

Ummah: refers to the community of the followers of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Umrah: The lesser pilgrimage. It can be performed at anytime of the year..

Wali. pl. Awliya: Someone of is a ‘friend’ of Allah. Someone who is close to Allah in inward awareness and knowledge of Him. Waqf. pl. Awqaf.: The body of a property that has been transferred publicly from personal ownership to the property of Allah, until the Day of Judgment to be used to the benefit of others short of wastefulness and destruction of its substances.

Zakaat: Annual poor tax paid on standing wealth, agricultural produce and livestock.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Islam Here Newspaper or official policies of the Islam Here. The publication is intended for a Muslim audience, and as such follows guidelines prescribed by established traditions of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jammah, unanimously accepted by the majority of the Muslim world community. Content is intended for the reflection and consumption of the reader and not as an incition to any particular action that may or may not infringe on inherent rights or freedoms on any one person; group or creed.

Director: Nabeel Abdalhaqq Editorial Staff: Abdallah Dutton; Parvez Asad Sheikh; Nabeel Abdalhaqq; Advertising Sales: Nangamso Swazi nani@islamhere.org / nabeel@islamhere.org Distribution: Islam Here Pty Ltd. Distribution

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OPINION

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For Aleppo T

here is a book that was published by an American anthropologist, apparently fascinated, about the old Punjabi families of Kenya.

Within the chapter on my particular clan there is a wonderful anecdote, recounted by a then-young man who I am sure is now distinguished in age, about my great-grandfather.

The words paint the imagery of the young man seeing a distinguished man, half trader and half adventurer, sitting in his quarters and pensively thumbing his prayer beads while puffing on a hookah pipe. One day, during his habitual travels to the Arabian Peninsula, my great-grandfather made a detour to Syria and returned home with a beautiful bride who took residence in her own section of the family estate. The bride later returned to Syria with her two children. As is the nature of family, being the nexus of all politics, news slowly stopped flowing back from this Syrian branch. I do not know their current situation, nor do I know on which side of the battle they have found themselves. All I can do is pray that they are safe and that they are protected.

We are in crisis. Our collective humanity is in crisis and the manner in which we form our political and, ultimately, social myths have left us acutely unsure of ourselves. And so we run to the obvious and the simple in order to

define our world. But man is complex, so the obvious and simple are fantastic simulacra of an anarchic reality. Politically speaking, this crude aggregation of reality has manifested itself as a swing to the edges of nationalism and populism, regardless of the position on the now-outdated political spectrum. There is a quote from Napoleon that my Mentor uses; ‘Les extremes se touchent’. (the extremes touch, in other words they are the same)

We give importance today not on the facts of events but, rather, the interpretation.

The ‘Brexit’ vote was a vote for a mythical Britain that cannot even be found prior to 1066. Donald Trump’s victory is the result of the same basic and crude construct of nationhood; the land of the rugged Frontiersmen of yore. Bernie Sander’s dreamy progressive populism helped to ensure that the stiff and unnatural Clinton camp saw their traditional base eaten away. A Nazi-founded political party came within inches of power in Austria. Political events are non-linear, however, and the event itself is merely a harbinger of a dangerous potentiality.

The element that is missing from all of these

events is a defined and common reality or truth. We give importance today not on the facts of events but, rather, the interpretation.

As such, everything is hyper-subjectivised and relativised: the earth is floating through the universe on the back of a giant turtle.

This inevitably leads to a sense of paralysis when the time comes to offer a realistic and strong alternative and way forward. I dare say that our inability to grasp the traumatic reality of the war in Syria lies at the core of this paralysis.

Given this context it was possible to witness the vapid exchange between the representatives of the United States and Russia during a recent emergency U.N Security Council session on events in Syria. Both sides took the moral high ground, both sides had their interpretation of events, both were correct but neither was true. If power today more than any time in the past decade and a half, at least, lies in the ability to define reality based on an interpretation that suits an actor’s political interests, then let us for a moment avoid all interpretation in the interest of reality. Let us discard the complicated dialectics

at play in the Syrian Conflict and the relativising of fundamental political concepts such as legitimacy. Rather, we shall lay down the indisputable before ourselves so that we may at least absorb the reality of events.

Since 2011, at least 400,000 have died as a result of the Syrian Civil War. A great part of this number represents civilians; the elderly, women and children. At least 12,000,000 people are now refugees either in their own country or in unknown lands. These are lives lost and lives irreversibly disrupted. Events such as Aleppo have been happening constantly for more than five years now, every day.

Every time these numbers increase, we as humanity are affected. If we ignore this reality in the interests of interpretations, we drive ourselves further to the political extremes. If we can come to terms with this reality and demand a concerted means to stop the killing, we will find peace. What happens to the innocent people of Syria happens to us all.

The real challenge of our time is to take responsibility

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CULTURE

The Erasure of Islam from the Poetry of Rumi

CULTURE - ROZINA ALI TOUCHES ON THE POPULARITY OF RUMI AND THE CULTURAL APPROPRIATION OF MUSLIM WORKS WHILST ISLAM IS STILL VILIFIED AS A CANCER IN THE WEST.

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couple of years ago, when Coldplay’s Chris Martin was going through a divorce from the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and feeling down, a friend gave him a book to lift his spirits. It was a collection of poetry by Jalaluddin Rumi, the thirteenth-century Persian poet, translated by Coleman Barks. “It kind of changed my life,” Martin said later, in an interview. A track from Coldplay’s most recent album features Barks reciting one of the poems: “This being human is a guest house, Every morning a new arrival, A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes, as an unexpected visitor.”

Aphorisms attributed to Rumi circulate daily on social media, offering motivation. “If you are irritated by every rub, how will you ever get polished,” one of them goes. Barks’s translations, in particular, are shared widely on the Internet; they are also the ones that line American bookstore shelves and are recited at weddings. Rumi is often described as the best-selling poet in the United States. He is typically referred to as a mystic, a saint, a Sufi, an enlightened man. Curiously, however, although he was a lifelong scholar of the Qur’an and Islam, he is less frequently described as a Muslim.

The words that Martin featured on his album come from Rumi’s “Masnavi,” a six-book epic poem that he wrote toward the end of his life. Its fifty thousand lines are mostly in Persian, but they are riddled with Arabic excerpts from Muslim scripture; the book fre-

quently alludes to Qur’anic anecdotes that offer moral lessons.

Fatemeh Keshavarz, a professor of Persian studies at the University of Maryland, told me that Rumi probably had the Koran memorized, given how often he drew from it in his poetry. Rumi himself described the “Masnavi” as “the roots of the roots of the roots of religion”—meaning Islam—“and the explainer of the Koran.” And yet little trace of the religion exists in the translations that sell so well in the United States. “The Rumi that people love is very beautiful in English, and the price you pay is to cut the culture and religion,” Jawid Mojaddedi, a scholar of early Sufism at Rutgers, told me recently.

Rumi was born in the early thirteenth century, in what is now Afghanistan. He later settled in Konya, in present-day Turkey, with his family. His father was a preacher and religious scholar, and he introduced Rumi to Sufism. Rumi continued his theological education in Syria, where he studied fiqh, and later returned to Konya as a seminary teacher. It was there that he met an elder traveller, Shams-iTabriz, who became his mentor.

The nature of the intimate friendship between the two is much debated, but Shams, everyone agrees, had a lasting influence on Rumi’s religious practice and his poetry.

In a new biography of Rumi, “Rumi’s Secret,” Brad Gooch describes how Shams pushed Rumi to question his scriptural education, debating Quranic passages with him and emphasizing the idea of devotion as finding oneness with Allah.

Rumi would come to blend the intuitive love for Allah that he found in Sufism with the legal codes of Islam and the mystical thought he learned from Shams.

This unusual tapestry of influences set Rumi apart from many of his contemporaries, Keshavarz told me. Still, Rumi built a large following in cosmopolitan Konya, incorporating Sufis, Muslim literalists and theologians, Christians, and Jews, as well as the local Seljuk rulers. In “Rumi’s Secret,” Gooch helpfully chronicles the political events and religious education that influenced Rumi. “Rumi was born into a religious family and followed the proscribed rules of daily prayer and fasting throughout his entire life,” Gooch writes. Even in Gooch’s book, though, there is a tension between these facts and the desire to conclude that Rumi, in some sense, transcended his background—that, as Gooch puts it, he “made claims for a ‘religion of love’ that went beyond all organized faiths.” What can get lost in such readings is the extent to which Rumi’s Muslim teaching shaped even those ideas.

As Mojadeddi notes, the Qur’an acknowledges Christians and Jews as “people of the book,” offering a starting point toward universalism.

“The universality that many revere

in Rumi today comes from his Muslim context.”

The erasure of Islam from Rumi’s poetry started long before Coldplay got involved. Omid Safi, a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Duke University, says that it was in the Victorian period that readers in the West began to uncouple mystical poetry from its Islamic roots. Translators and theologians of the time could not reconcile their ideas about a “desert religion,” with its unusual moral and legal codes, and the work of poets like Rumi and Hafez. The explanation they settled on, Safi told me, was “that these people are mystical not because of Islam but in spite of it.” This was a time when Muslims were singled out for legal discrimination—a law from 1790 curtailed the number of Muslims who could come into the United States, and a century later the U.S. Supreme Court described the “intense hostility of the people of Moslem faith to all other sects, and particularly to Christians.” In 1898, in the introduction to his translation of the “Masnavi,” Sir James Redhouse wrote, “The Masnavi addresses those who leave the world, try to know and be with God, efface their selves and devote themselves to spiritual contemplation.” For those in the West, Rumi and Islam were separated.

In the twentieth century, a succession of prominent translators—among them R. A. Nicholson, A. J. Arberry, and Annemarie Schimmel—strengthened Rumi’s presence in the English-language canon. But it’s Barks who vastly expanded Rumi’s readership. He is not a translator so much as an interpreter: he does not read or write Persian. Instead, he transforms nineteenth-century translations into American verse.

“He is typically referred to as a mystic, a saint, a Sufi, an enlightened man.

Curiously, however, although he was a lifelong scholar of the Qur’an and Islam, he is less frequently described as a Muslim.”

It’s verse of a very particular kind.

Barks was born in 1937 and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He received his Ph.D. in English literature and published his first book of poetry, “The Juice,” in 1971. The first time he heard of Rumi was later that decade, when another poet, Robert Bly, handed him a copy of translations by Arberry and told him that they had to be “released from their cages”—that is, put into American free verse. (Bly, who has

PAGE5 published poetry in The New Yorker for more than thirty years—and whose book “Iron John: A Book About Men,” from 1990, greatly informed the modern men’s movement—later translated some of Rumi’s poems himself.) Barks had never studied Islamic literature.

But soon afterward, he told me recently, over the phone from his home in Georgia, he had a dream.

In the dream, he was sleeping on a cliff near a river. A stranger appeared in a circle of light and said, “I love you.” Barks had not seen this man before, but he met him the following year, at a Sufi order near Philadelphia. The man was the order’s leader. Barks began spending his afternoons studying and rephrasing the Victorian translations that Bly had given him. Since then, he has published more than a dozen Rumi books.

“I see a type of ‘spiritual colonialism’ at work here: bypassing, erasing, and occupying a spiritual landscape that has been lived and breathed and internalized by Muslims from Bosnia and Istanbul to Konya and to Central and South Asia.”

I

n our conversation, Barks described Rumi’s poetry as “the mystery of opening the heart,” a thing that, he told me, “you can’t say in language.” In order to get at that inexpressible thing, he has taken some liberties with Rumi’s work. For one thing, he has minimized references to Islam.

Consider the famous poem “Like This.” Arberry translates one of its lines, rather faithfully, as “Whoever asks you about the Houris, show (your) face (and say) ‘Like this.’ ” Houris are virgins promised in Paradise in Islam. Barks avoids even the literal translation of that word; in his version, the line becomes, “If anyone asks you how the perfect satisfaction of all our sexual wanting will look, lift your face and say, Like this.” The religious context is gone. And yet, elsewhere in the same poem, Barks keeps references to Jesus and Joseph. When I asked him about this, he told me that he couldn’t recall if he had made a deliberate choice to remove Islamic references. “I was brought up Presbyterian,” he said. “I used to memorize Bible verses, and I know the New Testament more than I know the Koran.” He added, “The Koran is hard to read.”

Like many others, Omid Safi credits Barks with introducing Rumi to millions of readers in the United States; in morphing Rumi into American verse, Barks has dedicated considerable time and love to the poet’s works and life. And there are other versions of Rumi that are even further removed from the original—such as the New Age books by Deepak Chopra and Daniel Ladinsky which are marketed and sold as Rumi but bear little resemblance to the poet’s writing. Chopra, an author of spiritual works and an alternative-medicine enthusiast, admits that his poems are not Rumi’s words. Rather, as he writes in the

introduction to “The Love Poems of Rumi,” they are “ ‘moods’ we have captured as certain phrases radiated from the original Farsi, giving life to a new creation but retaining the essence of its source.”

Discussing these New Age “translations,” Safi said, “I see a type of ‘spiritual colonialism’ at work here: bypassing, erasing, and occupying a spiritual landscape that has been lived and breathed and internalized by Muslims from Bosnia and Istanbul to Konya and to Central and South Asia.” Extracting the spiritual from the religious context has deep reverberations. Islam is regularly diagnosed as a “cancer,” including by General Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national-security adviser, and, even today, policymakers suggest that non-Western and non-white groups have not contributed to civilization.

For his part, Barks sees religion as secondary to the essence of Rumi.

“Religion is such a point of contention for the world,” he told me. “I got my truth and you got your truth— this is just absurd. We’re all in this together and I’m trying to open my heart, and Rumi’s poetry helps with that.” Safi has compared reading Rumi without the Qur’an to reading Milton without the Bible.

Such readings were not entirely unique back then. Rumi’s works reflected a broader push and pull between religious spirituality and institutionalized faith—though with a wit that was unmatched. “Historically speaking, no text has shaped the imagination of Muslims—other than the Qur’an—as the poetry of Rumi and Hafez,” Safi said. This is why Rumi’s voluminous writings, produced at a time when scribes had to copy works by hand, have survived.

Language isn’t just a means of communication,” the writer and translator Sinan Antoon has said. “It’s a reservoir of memory, tradition, and heritage.” As conduits between two cultures, translators take on an inherently political project. They must figure out how to make, for instance, a thirteenth-century Persian poet comprehensible to a contemporary American audience.

But they have a responsibility to remain true to the original work—an act that, in the case of Rumi, would help readers to recognize that a professor of Shariah could also write some of the world’s mostly widely read love poetry.

Jawid Mojaddedi is now in the midst of a years-long project to translate all six books of the “Masnavi.”

Three of them have been published; the fourth is due out this spring.

His translations acknowledge the Islamic and Quranic texts in the original by using italics to denote whenever Rumi switches to Arabic. His books are also riddled with footnotes. Reading them requires some effort, and perhaps a desire to see beyond one’s preconceptions.

That, after all, is the point of translation: to understand the foreign.

As Keshavarz put it, translation is a reminder that “everything has a form, everything has culture and history. A Muslim can be like that, too.”er ROZINA ALI - This article first appeared in the New Yorker.

5/01/2017. Rozina Ali is part of the editorial staff.

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rbil, the largest city in Kurdish Northern Iraq and home to 1.5 million people. It borders Iran to the East, Turkey to the North and Syria to the West.

The city is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with life in the city dating as far back as 6000 B.C. As such, there are signs of many ancient cultures that have etched their paths in wherever the dust seems to settle. Most recent of these, prior to the wave of Pan-Arab nationalism that swept across the Middle East, were that of the Effendis – an Ottoman ruling elite.

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Effendi KURDISTAN

Effendi is an Osmanli term which in speaking is equivalent to the English ‘sir’, being used for any man who is respectable in both character and station. The Effendis of Iraq, arose from the arrival and spread of modern schooling in the Middle East. Large numbers of land-owning, middle class Ottoman Kurds that wished to augment their income became Effendis.

They would learn to read and write, articulate and conduct themselves in the manner befitting a noble station and undertake appointments in government service. They were not only essential to the modernisation of the Ottoman Empire in that time but mostly being of humble origins, they measured the prestige of their education by the merit of their actions and not lineage.

2017, and just 1 hour away from the devastated city of Isis-occupied Mosul, The city of Erbil has survived the transitions of monarchy to democracy, dictatorship and eventual state collapse. Just one year ago, in February 2016, within this peculiar environment, officially front line against Islamic State in Northern Iraq, 20 young men decided to create Iraq’s first gentleman’s club, called ‘Mr. Erbil’. Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances of the time, the Mr Erbil Gentleman’s Club arranged to host its first photo shoots. The launch and photo shoot last year quickly made waves on social media. Dubbed “gentlemen’s gatherings” in a recent profile in Vocativ, it took place at the city’s ancient citadel, a UN world heritage site.

The pictures of the 20 men posing in latest Western men’s fashion - specifically, full with the trademark sharp suits, tight trousers and lovingly trimmed beards - became wildly popular on Instagram. Mr Erbil now has some 30 core members and more than 25,000 fans on Instagram, and a Facebook presence too.

The style may be Western, but Mr Erbil stresses that what they are doing mixes “modernity” and cultural heritage, by harking back to the lifestyles of the traditional Effendis. The point of all this, you would say, seems only cosmetic.

But there is deeper meaning in the lived experience of it for Kurds in Northern Iraq. The group feels that this attention to the outward appearance as an aesthetic expression will exert a profound influence on the self-image of young Muslims. They want to project a ‘possibility’ with an historical and very real reference of what a man can be.

PIC: THE THREE CO-FOUNDERS OF THE GROUP OMER NIHAD, AHMED NAUZAD AND GORAN PSHTIWAN

The three co-founders of the group, Omer Nihad, Ahmed Nauzad and Goran Pshtiwan hope to use the power of image to change the way their region is perceived. “It is a harsh time we are facing and we wanted to overcome it with positive thinking and social changes,” Mr Nauzad told. “Ten years ago people didn’t have such high expectations in life,” says Nihad. “We decided to come up with something that grabs people’s attention, something they can relate to … otherwise people wouldn’t care or listen.” Together, they don the likes of tailored three-piece suits, manicured beards, and colourful pocket squares. Looking good is one part of their mission. The group have come together to celebrate the history of their country through fashion and to push for social good. What this has effectively done is created a vast contrast against the usual angst of Iraqi streets, where there has not been any reason to have a sense of hope.

EXCERPT TAKEN FROM MR. ERBIL: “A year ago today, in Erbil Kurdistan, three men from one of the world’s most ancient cities gathered with the aspiration to form a gentleman’s club; their vision was to instil into their youth that wearing the hottest, designer suits doesn’t in fact make you a man, but rather it is your character that defines it.

We wanted to, not only bring attention to the necessity of women’s rights, the protection of our environment, and our failing economy,

highlight inspiring Iraqi Kurdistan girls who are doing good for the country… an appreciated gesture in an otherwise traditional, male-centric society. They want their countrymen to change their attitude towards women.

To see them not as symbols of acquired male patronage but as the pillars of support in upholding society. “We want to help women in our society to express their art, their fashion, their creativity. If the man is seen protecting women, it will be a more powerful message , especially in Kurdistan,” Mr Nihad said.

To this effect, they’ve released a video made in 14 different languages to raise awareness on violence against women. One of their regular posts is on Kurdish pop singer and human rights activist Dashni Morad whose Green Kids charity has provided for three mini libraries for refugee children in northern Iraq.

If that’s not enough, her efforts also extend to providing workshops in leadership skills to the Yazidi women who survived the massacre and rape of IS militants. Alongside an image of Ms Morad posted by Mr Erbil, the caption read: “The effort she puts in for humanity, love and peace is so impressive! Keep up the good work, you are making us proud.” Ms Morad said having Mr Erbil show such great support towards women’s achievements goes a long way. “By highlighting our achievements, they [Mr Erbil] show their huge followers, many young men, that women play just as much of a vital role in our society,” BUSINESS

“Ten years ago people didn’t have such high expectations in life,” says Nihad. “We decided to come up with something that grabs people’s attention, something they can relate to … otherwise people wouldn’t care or listen.” but also to figure out ways to resolve these issues within our region. During this time, we faced many obstacles such as our failing economy, and the political issues that were brought on because of it. Despite our lack of resources, we were determined to turn our ideas into reality.”

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hey take inspiration from the effendis that wore fine clothing. Dressing up not only allows them to relive the traditional style of ‘effendis’, but also subtly show the world the Kurdish culture – not the plagued image of a country in chaos.

Their “Girl Inspiration” posts, rolled out every Thursday on their social media accounts,

The political component to Mr. Erbil is serious. They see themselves as more than a club, but a movement that represents Iraqi Kurds who are looking for a better life. Their most recent photo shoots that took place at the city’s ancient Citadel, is often overshadowed by surrounding conflict. To sustain the group’s activities, they became heavily involved in the design, working closely with the city’s tailors and businesses to help boost the local economy. They also launched some popular beard products, which are locally made and sold across seven stores in Iraq. “A lot of people were asking what we use for our beards and I guess we wanted to make something here for them, instead of them going outside for it,” Mr Pshtiwan said. One of the Mr Erbil’s founders explains that, beyond the various photo shoots aimed at trending on social media, they have many projects in the works such as offering “etiquette classes” to members, opening a sartorial photography and mannequin agency, a barbershop, a tailor’s workshop and even a line of clothing.

They have started something that has slowly begun to spread, young men from other cities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have launched copycat groups. “We started this movement with the suits,” says Nauzad. What will be the judge in time of the movement that the group has started, will be the authenticity of its inward character and ethos. Nobility and service to others IH EDITORIAL STAFF

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MUSLIM IDENTITY

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CHIVALRY The Riding Beast of the Modern Muslim

teracted with each other, the christians were taught the lessons of Islamic brotherhood and leadership that covered not only the Deen of Islam, but Islam as social nexus. Now back in Europe and still fresh from their encounter with the Muslims, when papal control over Europe propagated its religion of guilt and hopelessness, it was naturally rejected by these European warrior knights. This manifested itself in the creation of a new elite religion of noble brotherhood based on the Futuwwah of Salahuddin’s knights.

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t was this new religion (religio¬ meaning ‘to bind together’) that held European courts in check and resisted the ever extending tentacles of papal tyranny up until the end of the 16th Century. Under papal christianity, service was only praiseworthy if it was to the church, women were sinful creatures lacking any higher function of spirituality and the poor were unworthy of any recognition as god had not blessed them with wealth. European aristocrats were not noble solely by birth, but by their adherence to the knightly chivalric code which bonded them together in their obligation to serve, protect women and raise up the poor; conduct taken from the Muslims.

In England chivalry was the binding force that enabled the Plantagenet dynasty, one of the greatest dynasties in recorded history, to rule successfully over four centuries. As the Plan-

PIC: : REPRESENTATION OF SULTAN SALAHUDEEN AL AYOUBI , SULTAN OF EGYPT

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oday people are no longer allowed to look past the effects of political events and are unable to question and reflect on the root causes that led up to them. At the same time mainstream media throws ‘breaking news’ in our faces to keep us all in the continuum, trapping us in the lie that this is just the way things are and there is nothing we can do about it.

As we move deeper into the 21st Century the consequences of excessive greed become increasingly apparent. At every turn modern man is drowning in debt, animal species head towards extinction, rainforests are mowed down, food supplies dwindle and water becomes a commercial commodity. At the same time millions of innocent civilians are displaced as a by-product of illegal wars, mental illness increases at a rate previously unknown to mankind, and the human species degenerates from a free thinking individual into an enslaved robot suffering from a psychosis in the inability to react to a social structure that does not work.

As they met on the battlefield, took prisoners and interacted with each other, the christians were taught the lessons of Islamic brotherhood and leadership that covered not only the Deen of Islam, but Islam as social nexus.

tagenets eventually collapsed and the Tudors took power they reawakened the flame of chivalry. It was the Tudor King Henry VIII who, while fostering the doctrines of chivalry through the symbolic importance of heraldry, titles, tournaments and sports, made the final move of severing England from all ties with Rome through the Reformation. This move led to the highest point of governance in England, but the political impact would echo into the next generation ushering in the seeds of a new-order.

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and contemporary of Henry VIII’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, represented the end of the cycle of chivalry. As the tyranny of papal control in Rome showed the first signs of deterioration after the mighty blow of Henry VIII, we see the arrival of a new power structure in the political class led in by the Cecil family as advisors to the Queen.

Lord Essex was the last true upholder of the chivalric code, resisting with all his might the turning tables of power in England and by extension Europe. In the letters of this warrior scholar we are given the outline for what constitutes chivalry and how the discerning youth can implement it into their lives and within them we see another clarification of the roots of chivalry in Islamic teaching. We will delve into these in following articles.

We all find ourselves living in a time infested by injustice, but in order to remedy the disease we must go to the source. This can only be done by looking back through history to break away from the contemporary mindset of just accepting events as coincidence. In our history we repeatedly find tyranny being overcome by a grouping of noble men bonded in service and divine worship. This form became known in Western Europe as chivalry, an unreconstructed model of Islamic ‘Futuwwah’ or excellence. Look closely as this is not a history that we are taught openly, but it is this ethos that must be revived for us to start seeing change.

THE NEW ORDER In the Old Order, ruled by the Christian Church, every child in the world was born into sin.

In the New Order, ruled by the Financial Sect, every child in the world was born into debt.

Everywhere man was free to sin.

Everywhere man was enslaved to debt.

The modern Muslim must stay above the water by embracing and living by a chivalric code, but this cannot be done alone.

The revival of a grouping of young men of nobility is of the utmost importance. Raising themselves up under the banner of chivalry in its original form, that is Futuwwah, men of honour bonded together by Divine worship and mutual concern for each other along with those under their responsibility. As these men start to arise in small groupings, supported by the finest women, a new reality will become apparent. They will not only have the capacity to resist today’s tyranny, but to build a new society to save those less fortunate from drowning.

Chivalry was the code of conduct adhered to by medieval warrior knights in an expression of not only distinction, but competing in acts of excellence among a grouping of like-minded peers. Its implementation among the European aristocracy of the Middle Ages facilitated a just and functional running of society through a dynamic of both conflict and collaboration between the king and the ruling aristocracy. At the same time as curbing the monarch’s power, the aristocracy, under the chivalric responsibility of ‘noblesse oblige’, raised up their subjects whom, by the nature of man, were forced to reciprocate by raising up their lord. This dynamic presided over centuries of ruler-ship in Europe and enabled the smooth transition of power through centuries and across generations.

Honour and Nobility are universal. The Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, perfected it and we have inherited it from his companions, may Allah be pleased with them. In every age and every form, it is a constant reservoir for the Muslims. We must take it on and we will see change

To the knights of this station, both virile and virtuous, a religion centred on the helpless image of a man nailed to the cross was repulsive and the idea of an initiated elite class of priests, whose misogyny was made clear through their unnatural practice of celibacy, was equally appalling.

It is ironically with the papal crusades that the inevitable cross fertilisation occurred between European nobles and Muslim knights. As they met on the battlefield, took prisoners and in-

PIC: MAIDEN TIES A SCARF TO HER HUSBANDS ARM IN HIS HONOUR BEFORE BATTLE. PAINTING IS TYPICAL OF CHIVALRIC ART INDICATING CHANGE IN ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN (Leighton, God Speed)

HAJJ ABDALLAH DUTTON PIC: EUROPEAN REPRESENTATION OF SALAHUDEEN ENTITLED SULTAN OF EGYPT. HE HOLDS BREAD IN ONE HAND AS A SYMBOL OF PEACE BALANCED BY THE SWORD ON THE OTHER (Unknown origin)

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INTERVIEW

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DR. Ghassan Abu-Sitta

PIC: DR. GHASSAN ABU-SITTA - RE-CONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON (Vltchek)

INTERVIEW - AUTHOR ANDRE VLTCHEK INTERVIEWS PIONEER DR. GHASSAN ABU SITTA ABOUT NEW DISCIPLINE IN PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICINE BEFORE THE UPCOMING CONFERENCE ON THE ECOLOGY OF WAR.

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r. Gus Abu-Sitta is the head of the Plastic Surgery Department at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre in Lebanon. He specializes in: re-constructive surgery. What it means in this part of the world is clear: they bring you people from the war zones, torn to pieces, missing faces, burned beyond recognition, and you have to try to give them their life back.

Dr. Abu-Sitta is also a thinker. A Palestinian born in Kuwait, he studied and lived in the UK, and worked in various war zones of the Middle East, as well as in Asia, before accepting his present position in Beirut, Lebanon.

There is a huge conference, which he and his colleagues are launching on the May 15, 2017, on the “Ecology of War”.

I believe that the topic is thoroughly fascinating and essential for our humanity, even for its survival. It combines philosophy, medicine and science. What happens to people in war zones? And what is a war zone, really?

The destruction of the strong state leads to conflict. A great number of people on our Planet actually live in some conflict or war, without even realizing it: in slums, in refugee camps, in thoroughly collapsed states, or in refugee camps.”

We spoke about fear, which is engulfing countries like the UK, about the new wave of individualism and selfishness, which has its roots in frustration. At one point he said: “In most parts of the world “freedom” is synonymous with the independence struggle for our countries. In such places as the UK, it mainly means more individualism, selfishness and personal liberties.” We talked about imperialism, medicine and the suffering of the Middle East. Then we decided to publish this dialogue, shedding some light on the “Ecology of War” – this essential new discipline in both philosophy and medicine.

ucate you, and give you health, all of those things. And that non-coercive power that the states exercise is a critical part of the legitimizing process of the state. We saw it evolve in 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. So as a digression, if you want to look at how the state was dismantled: the aim of the sanctions against Iraq was not to weaken the Makhabarat or the army; the aim of the sanctions was to rob the Iraqi state of its non-coercive power; its ability to give life, to give education, and that’s why after 12 years, the state has totally collapsed internally – not because its coercive powers have weakened, but because it was robbed of all its non-coercive powers, of all its abilities to guarantee life to its citizens.

AV: So in a way the contract between the state and the people was broken.

GA-S: Absolutely! And you had that contract existing in the majority of post-colonialist states. With the introduction of the IMF and World Bank-led policies that viewed health and the provision of health as a business opportunity for the ruling elites and for corporations, and viewed free healthcare as a burden on the state, you began to have an erosion in certain countries like Egypt, like Jordan, of the non-coercive powers of the state, leading to the gradual weakening of its legitimacy. Once again, the aim of the IMF and World Bank was to turn health into a commodity, which could be sold back to people as a service; sold back to those who could afford it.

AV: So, the US model, but in much more brutal form, as the wages in most of those countries were incomparably lower.

GA-S: Absolutely! And the way you do that in these countries: you create a two-tier system where the government tier is so under-funded, that people choose to go to the private sector. And then in the private sector you basically have the flourishing of all aspects of private healthcare: from health insurance to provision of health care, to pharmaceuticals.

AV: Paradoxically this scenario is also taking place in the UK right now.

GA-S: We see it in the UK and we’ll see it in many other European countries. But it has already happened in this region, in the Arab world. Here, the provision of health was so critical to creation of the states. It was critical to the legitimacy of the state.

AV: The scenario has been extremely cynical: while the private health system was imposed on the Arab region and on many other parts of the world, in the West itself, except in the United States, medical care remains public

and basically free. We are talking about state medical care in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

GA-S: Yes. In Europe as part of the welfare state that came out of the Second World War, the provision of healthcare was part of the social contract. As the welfare state with the advent of Thatcherism and Reagan-ism was being dismantled, it became important to undergo a similar process as elsewhere. The difference is that in the UK, and also in countries like Germany, it was politically very dangerous. It could lead to election losses. So the second plan was to erode the health system, by a thousand blows, kill it gradually. What you ended up in the UK is the piece-by-piece privatization of the health sector. And the people don’t know, they don’t notice that the system is becoming private. Or in Germany where actually the government does not pay for healthcare – the government subsidizes the insurance companies that profit from the private provision of healthcare.

“So you already have the disintegration of these states and the migration of people to the regional centres. The state is no longer a major player, because the state was basically destroyed. We feel that this is a disease of the near future, medium future and long-term future. Therefore we have to understand it, in order to better treat it, “ AV: Even the social medical care in Europe: isn’t it to some extent a cynical arrangement?

European countries are now all part of the imperialist block, together with the United States, and they are all plundering the rest of the world – the Middle East, Africa, parts of Asia – and they are actually subsidizing their social system from that plunder. That’s one thing. Doctors and nurses working for instance in the UK or Germany are often ‘imported’ from much poorer countries, where they have often received free education, is another.

GA-S: I think what has happened, particularly in Europe, is that there is a gradual erosion of all aspects of the welfare state. Politically it was not yet possible to get rid of free healthcare. The problem that you can certainly see in the United Kingdom is that health is the

ECOLOGY OF WAR BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT IN THE ARAB WORLD AND EUROPE GA-S: In the South, medicine and the provision of health were critical parts of the post-colonial state. And the post-colonial state built medical systems such as we had in Iraq, Egypt and in Syria as part of the social contract. They became an intrinsic part of the creation of those states. And it was a realization that the state has to exercise its power both coercively, (which we know the state is capable of exercising, by putting you in prison, and even exercising violence), but above all non-coercively: it needs to house you, ed-

final consequence of social and economic factors that people live in. So if you have chronic unemployment, second and third generation unemployment problem, these have health consequences. If you have the destruction of both pensions and the cushion of a social umbrella for the unemployed, that has consequences… Poor housing has health consequences. Mass unemployment has health consequences. Politically it was easy to get rid of all other aspects of the welfare state, but they were stuck with a healthcare problem. And so the losing battle that the health systems in the West are fighting is that they are being expected to cater to the poor consequences of the brutal capitalist system as a non-profit endeavour. But we know that once these lifestyle changes are affecting people’s health, it’s too late in terms of cure or prevention. And so what the European health systems do, they try to patch people and to get them out of the system and back on the street.

So if you have children with chronic asthma, you treat the asthma but not the dump housing in which these children are living in. If you have violent assaults and trauma related to violence, you treat the trauma, the physical manifestation, and not the breakdown of youth unemployment, or racism that creates this. So in order to sustain this anomaly, as you said, you need an inflated health system, because you make people sick and then you try to fix them, rather than stopping them from being sick. Hence that brain drains that have basically happened, where you have more Ghanaian doctors in New York than you have in Ghana.

AV: And you have an entire army of Philippine nurses in the UK, while there is suddenly a shortage of qualified nurses in Manila.

GA-S: Absolutely! This is the result of the fact that actually people’s health ‘happens’ outside the health system. Because you cannot get rid of the health system, you end up having a bloated health system, and try to fix the ailments that are coming through the door.

COLLAPSE OF THE HEALTH CARE & MIGRATION AV: You worked in this entire region. You worked in Iraq, and in Gaza… both you and I worked in Shifa Hospital in Gaza… You worked in Southern Lebanon during the war.

How brutal is the healthcare situation in the Middle East? How badly has been, for instance, the Iraqi peoples’ suffering, compared to Western patients? How cruel is the situation in Gaza?

GA-S: If you look at places like Iraq: Iraq in the 80’s probably had one of the most advanced health systems in the region. Then you went through the first war against Iraq, followed by 12 years of sanctions in which that health system was totally dismantled; not just in terms of hospitals and medication and the forced exile of doctors and health professionals, but also in terms of other aspects of health, which are the sewage and water and electricity plants, all of those parts of the infrastructure that directly impact on people’s lives.

AV: Then came depleted uranium…

GA-S: And then you add to the mix that 2003 War and then the complete destruction and dismantling of the state, and the migration of some 50% of Iraq’s doctors.

AV: Where did they migrate?

PIC: BEFORE AND AFTER PIC SHOWING THE EFFECT OF THE WAR IN SYRIA ON A SHOPPING BAZAAR (RIGHT : CHRISTOPH SCHMALTZ ). (LEFT : TOM DAAMS)

GA-S: Everywhere: to the Gulf and to the West; to North America, Europe… So what you have in Iraq is a system that is not only broken, but that has lost the components that are required to rebuild it. You can’t train a ...

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INTERVIEW

on the Ecology of War it you have to understand the dynamics of the ecology of war. That’s why our program was set up at the university, which had basically been the major tertiary teaching centre during the civil war and the 1982 Israeli invasion. And then as the war in Iraq and Syria developed, we started to get patients from these countries and treat them here. We found out that we have to understand the dynamics of conflict medicine and to understand the ecology of war; how the physical, biological, psychological and social manifestations of war wounding happen, and how this ecology of war is created; everything from bacteria to the way water and the water cycle changes, to the toxic reminisce of war, to how people’s body reacts… Many of my Iraqi patients that I see have multiple members of their families injured.

...New generation of doctors in Iraq, because your trainers have all left the country. You can’t create a health system in Iraq, because you have created a government infrastructure that is intrinsically unstable and based on a multi-polarity of the centres of power which all are fighting for control of the pie of the state… and so Iraqis sub-contract their health at hospital level to India and to Turkey and Lebanon, or Jordan, because they are in this vicious loop.

AV: But this is only for those who can afford it?

GA-S: Yes, for those who can, but even in those times when the government had cash it could not build the system anymore. So it would sub-contract health provisions outside, because the system was so broken that money couldn’t fix it.

AV: Is it the same in other countries of the region?

GA-S: The same is happening in Libya and the same is happening in Syria, with regards of the migration of their doctors. Syria will undergo something similar to Iraq at the end of the war, if the Syrian state is destroyed.

AV: But it is still standing.

GA-S: It still stands and it is still providing healthcare to the overwhelming majority of the population even to those who live in the rebel-controlled areas. They are travelling to Damascus and other cities for their cardiac services or for their oncological services.

AV: So no questions asked; you are sick, you get treated?

GA-S: Even from the ISIS-controlled areas people can travel and get treated, because this is part of the job of the state.

AV: The same thing is happening with the education there; Syria still provides all basic services in that area.

GA-S: Absolutely! But in Libya, because the state has totally disappeared or has disintegrated, all this is gone.

AV: Libya is not even one country, anymore…

GA-S: There is not a unified country and there is definitely no health system. In Gaza and the Palestine, the occupation and the siege, ensure that there is no normal development of the health system and in case of Gaza as the Israelis say “every few years you come and you mown the lawn”; you kill as many people in these brutal and intense wars, so you can ensure that the people for the next few years will be trying to survive the damage that you have caused.

AV: Is there any help from Israeli physicians?

GA-S: Oh yes! Very few individuals, but there is…But the Israeli medical establishment is actually an intrinsic part of the Israeli establishment, and the Israeli academic medical establishment is also part of the Israeli establishment. And the Israeli Medical Association refused to condemn the fact that Israeli doctors examine Palestinian political prisoners for what they call “fitness for interrogation”.

Which is basically… you get seen by a doctor who decides how much torture you can take before you die.

AV: This actually reminds me of what I was told in 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa, where I was invited to participate as a speaker at the International Conference of the Psychologists for Peace. Several US psychologists reported that during the interrogation and torture of alleged terrorists, there were professional

AV: Is the AUB Medical Centre now the pioneer in this research: the ecology of war?

PIC: MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS IN HAITI (Vltchek)

“This ecology, this biosphere that the conflicts create is even altered at the basic DNA of the bacteria.” psychologists and even clinical psychiatrists standing by, often assisting the interrogators.

GA-S: Yes, there are actually 2-3 well-known American psychologists who designed the CIA interrogation system – its process.

AV: What you have described that is happening in Palestine is apparently part of a very pervasive system. I was told in the Indian-controlled Kashmir that Israeli intelligence officers are sharing their methods of interrogation and torture with their Indian counterparts. And. Of course, the US is involved there as well.

CONFLICT MEDICINE GA-S: War surgery grew out of the Napoleonic Wars. During these wars, two armies met; they usually met at the front line. They attacked each other, shot at each other or stabbed each other. Most of injured were combatants, and they got treated in military hospitals. You had an evolution of war surgery. What we have in this region, we believe, is that the intensity and the prolonged nature of these wars or these conflicts are not temporal-like battles, they don’t start and finish.

And they are sufficiently prolonged that they change the biological ecology, the ecology in which people live. They create the ecology of war. That ecology maintains itself well beyond of what we know is the shooting, because they alter the living environment of people. The wounds are physical, psychological and social wounds; the environment is altered as to become hostile; both to the able-bodied and more hostile to the wounded. And as in the cases of these multi-drug-resistant organisms, which are now a big issue in the world like the multi-drug-resistant bacteria, 85% of Iraqi war wounded have multi-drug-resistant bacteria, 70% of Syrian war wounded have it…

So we say: this ecology, this bio-sphere that the conflicts create is even altered at the basic DNA of the bacteria. We have several theories about it; partly it’s the role of the heavy metals in modern ordnance, which can trigger mutation in these bacteria that makes them resistant to antibiotics. So your bio-sphere, your bubble, your ecological bubble in which you live in, is permanently changed. And it doesn’t disappear the day the bombs disappear. It has to be dismantled, and in order to dismantle

PAGE9 Let’s look at it from a different angle: what constitutes a war wound, or a conflict-related injury? Your most basic conflict-related injury is a gunshot wound and a blast injury from shrapnel. But what happens when you take that wounded body and throw it into a tent?

What are the complications for this wounded body living in a harsh environment; does this constitute a war-related injury? When you impoverish the population to the point that you have children suffering from the kind of injuries that we know are the results of poor and unsafe housing, is that a conflict-related injury? Or you have children now who have work-related injuries, because they have to go and become the main breadwinners for the home, working as car mechanics or porters or whatever. Or do you also consider a fact that if you come from a country where a given disease used to be treatable there, but due to the destruction of a health system, that ailment is not treatable anymore, because the hospitals are gone or because doctors had to leave, does that constitute a conflict-related injury? So, we have to look at the entire ecology: beyond a bullet and shrapnel – things that get headlines in the first 20 seconds.

NOT A CRISIS BUT PERPETUAL STATE

GA-S: Yes, because of the legacy of the civil war… of regional wars.

AV: Your research seems to be relevant to most parts of the world.

AV: Nothing less than a regional perpetual conflict…

GA-S: Absolutely. Because we know that these humanitarian crises only exist in the imagination of the media and the UN agencies. There are no crises.

GA-S: Perpetual conflict, yes; first home grown, and then regional. We are the referral centre for the Iraqi Ministry of Health, referral centre for the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, so we act as a regional centre, and the aim of our program is to dedicate more time and space and energy to the understanding of how this ecology of war comes about.

AV: In my writing and in my films, I often draw the parallel between the war and extreme poverty. I concluded that many societies that are in theory living in peace are in reality living in prolonged or even perpetual wars.

Extreme misery is a form of war, although there is no ‘declaration of war’, and there is no defined front line. Would you agree, based on your research? Do you see extreme misery as a type of war?

GA-S: Absolutely. Yes. At the core of it is the ‘dehumanization’ of people. Extreme poverty is a form of violence. The more extreme this poverty becomes, the closer it comes to the physical nature of violence. War is the accelerated degradation of people’s life to reaching that extreme poverty. But that extreme poverty can be reached by a more gradual process.

War only gets them there faster.

AV: A perpetual state of extreme poverty is in a way similar to a perpetual state of conflict, of a war.

GA-S: Definitely. And it is a war mainly against those who are forced to live in these circumstances. It’s the war against the poor and the South. It’s the war against the poor in the inner-cities of the West.

AV: It is perpetual state, again.

GA-S: Exactly, it is perpetual. It does not stop.

It is there all the time. Therefore there is no concept of ‘temporality of crises’, one thing we are arguing against. There is no referee who blows the whistle at the end of the crises.

When the cameras go off, the media and then the world, decides that the crises are over. But you know that people in Laos, for instance, still have one of the highest amputation rates in the world.

AV: I know. I worked there in the Plain of Jars, which is an enormous minefield even to this day.

GA-S: Or Vietnam, with the greatest child facial deformities in the world as a result of Agent Orange.

AV: You worked in these countries.

GA-S: Yes. AV: Me too; and I used to live in Vietnam.

That entire region is still suffering from what used to be known as the “Secret War”. In Laos, the poverty is so rampant that people are forced to sell unexploded US bombs for scrap.

They periodically explode. In Cambodia, even between Seam Reap and the Thai border, there are villages where people are still dying or losing limbs.

GA-S: Now many things depend on how we define them. It is often a game of words.

ECOLOGY: BEYOND A BULLET AND SHRAPNEL

AV: India is a war zone, from Kashmir to the Northeast, Bihar and slums of Mumbai.

AV: When you are defining the ecology of war, are you researching the impact of extreme poverty on human bodies and human lives?

GA-S: If you take the crudest way of measuring conflict, which is the number of people killed by weapons, Guatemala and Salvador have now more people slaughtered than they had during the war. But because the nature in which violence is exhibited changed, because it doesn’t carry a political tag now, it is not discussed. But actually, it is by the same people against the same people.

GA-S: This extreme poverty is part of the ecology that we are discussing. One of the constituents of the ecology is when you take a wounded body and you place it in a harsh physical environment and you see how this body is re-wounded and re-wounded again, and this harsh environment becomes a continuation of that battleground, because what you see is a process of re-wounding. Not because you are still in the front line somewhere in Syria, but because your kids are now living in a tent with 8 other people and they are in danger of becoming the victims of the epidemic of child burns that we now have in the refugee camps, because of poor and unsafe housing.

AV: I wrote about and filmed in Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, on several occasions. The extreme violence there is a direct result of the conflict implanted, triggered by the West, particularly by the United States.

The same could be said about such places like Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti. It has led to almost absolute social collapse...

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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PRESS RELEASE

ISLAM HERE

under rubble.

As the leader of the foundation, Sooliman has travelled to some of the most war-torn regions on the planet. He has braved bombings in Syria, witnessed the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and has been held at gunpoint in Bosnia. He has been in some of the most dangerous situations imaginable – often by his own volition – yet his uncompromising commitment to serving his fellow man leads him to place himself in these circumstances time and again.

Following the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Gift of the Givers was one of the earliest international responders to the tragedy. While Haiti had a mounting death toll of over 300,000 lives, Gift of the Givers sent three rescue teams to the region, and over 500 tons of aid supplies. Sooliman, along with the foundation’s search and rescue team, set up a temporary hospital in the region and were generously equipped with donations amounting to over R13 Million from South African donors.

PIC: DR. IMTIAZ AND ZOHRA TAKE A PEAK AT PHOTOGRAPHIC SHOTS BY ADRIIAN STEIRN FOR 21 ICONS SERIES ON SABC 3. (21 Icons)

Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman Honoured PRESS RELEASE - 9 MAY 2017, JOHANNESBURG. BELOW IS PART OF AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DOCTOR ON THE 21 ICONS TV SHOW.

“My son, you will form an organisation. The name will be Waqful Waqifin, and that name is translated into ‘Gift of the Givers’. You will serve all people of all races, of all religions, of all colours, of all classes, of all political affiliations and of any geographical location. You will serve them unconditionally.”

D

octor Imtiaz Sooliman is a man of God. And after receiving this message from his spiritual leader, Sufi Sheikh Muhammed Saffer Effendi al Jerrahi in Istanbul, he followed the calling. Sooliman passed up his career as a medical doctor to head up the missions undertaken by the relief organisation, travelling to some of the most desolate parts of the world. Through his work with Gift of the Givers, he has responded to floods, war, famine, tsunamis, kidnappings and earthquakes.

He has put up hospitals, run clinics, created agricultural schemes, dug wells, built houses, developed and manufactured energy food, renovated fishing boats, offered scholarships, and provided shelter and food to millions.

Sooliman has rescued Mozambican flood victims, rebuilt houses after Khayelitsha’s New Year fires, and distributed aid packages to the families of the Marikana miners.

The transition from doctor to humanitarian was simple. He is compelled by the same basic principles that led to his decision to become an MD: respect, care, professionalism and dedication to service. But there is something else that fuels Sooliman’s passion to do this type of work; he speaks of a common humanity that unites us. His passion for, and belief in mankind are what drive him, and his reason for doing comes from his faith in something bigger than himself.

Born in 1962 in Potchefstroom in the North West, the importance of community in Sooli-

man’s life can be traced back to this small, four-district town. What he recalls most from this period is the sense of community. He and his family lived in what he describes as “one sort of complex…not like the complexes of today which are far more modern. They were simple structures in those days and there was a lot of love. People ate in the same kitchen, they cooked on the same stove, they shared things together, they always laughed together, and everything was done together in the same yard.”

This sense of community extends to his work with Gift of the Givers. When an international call for help is sent out, Gift of the Givers responds by rallying its network of doctors, nurses, relief workers and professionals. Humanitarian and medical supplies are collected and sent to the disaster area. This is done without prejudice or judgement. The organisation’s motto, “Best Among People are those who Benefit Mankind”, sums up the principles of the foundation. Sooliman sees the world as one large community, one that he feels compelled to do his part in uplifting.

Sooliman’s warmth and kindness are palpable. He speaks fast, comfortably sharing anecdotes with the ease of an old friend. The laughs are plentiful, the stories are told with a swift and animated flair and his gaze never leaves the face of the person with whom is he is speaking. Despite all the tragedy he has been witness to, Sooliman never fails to see the humour within the situation. “Bombing, shelling! Bombing, shelling!” He chants, imitating the song of a doctor he encountered while working in war-torn Syria to establish a hospital. He recognizes the necessity for humour in these situations and understands how essential it is for the outlook of those in these circumstances.

Since its inception in 1992, he has grown Gift of the Givers into Africa’s largest disaster relief organisation. It is responsible for a series of firsts: innovating the world’s only containerised mobile hospital, the world’s first groundnut-soya high energy and protein supplement, and they possess Africa’s only “life locator”, a device used to detect people alive

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Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) had the honour to award Dr Imtiaz Sooliman with its Gold Award for Outstanding Public Relations for South Africa. This award which has been awarded only 12 times in the institute’s 60 years of existence, recognises the incomparable humanitarian work Dr Imtiaz Sooliman has rendered to South Africans, his country, and internationally. PRISA recognises Dr Sooliman’s leadership, compassion and commitment to serve all human beings which is more than admirable and together with his excellent relationships, the various governments and local and international media raised the profile, image and reputation of South Africa as a country that cares and is willing to extend help and assistance both locally and internationally. PRISA Board Member said Dr Imtiaz Sooliman has made The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa proud to be South African and the Institute is honoured by having him join the ranks of its esteemed Gold Medal recipients being Professor Chris Barnard, Former President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Sooliman has also been a continuous supporter of the people of Palestine, which remains a cause close to his heart. Since 2002, he and his team have been providing aid to the people of the region in the form of food and medical supplies, as well as through the establishment of a Childcare centre in Gaza. Established in the eastern Gaza strip, the aim of the centre is to help preserve and increase the skills of Palestinian children that have been weakened by poor living conditions. In the past four years, Gift of the Givers has delivered over R30 Million in aid to the region. “All over the world, our doctors and engineers are praised not only because they are highly skilled but because they show such heart, passion and commitment. Victims are amazed how our teams touch them, hug them and show them so much compassion,” PRESS RELEASE: On Friday 5 May 2017, the board of the Public

PIC: MUHAMMAD SOOLIMAN RECEIVING THE AWARD ON BEHALF OF HIS FATHER DR IMTIAZ SOOLIMAN FROM PRISA BOARD MEMBER, ROSHNEE PILLAY (PRISA)

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DR. Ghassan Abu-Sitta on the Ecology of War INTERVIEW CONTINUED GA-S: Yes, in Jamaica, the CIA played a great role in the 70’s.

AV: In that part of the world we are not talking just about poverty…

GA-S: No, no. We are talking AK-47’s! ICRC, they train surgeons in these countries. So the ICRC introduced war surgery into the medical curriculum of the medical schools in Colombia and Honduras. Because effectively, these countries are in a war, so you have to train surgeons, so they know what to do when they receive 4-5 patients every day, with gunshot wounds.

AV: When I was in Haiti, I was working in Cité Soleil, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. They say it is the most dangerous ‘neighbourhood’ or slum on Earth. I went there with a truck, with two armed guards, but they were so scared that they just abandoned me there. At one point I saw a long line in front of some walled compound. I went in. What I saw was several local people on some wooden tables, blood everywhere, and numerous US military medics and doctors performing surgeries under the open sky. It was hot, flies and dirt everywhere… A couple of kilometres from there I found a well-equipped and clean US medical facility, but only for US troops and staff. I asked the doctors what they were really doing in Haiti and they were quiet open about it; they replied: “we are training for combat scenario… This is as close to a war that we can get.” They were experimenting on human beings, of course; learning how to operate during the combat.

GA-S: So, the distinction is only in definitions.

AV: As a surgeon who has worked all over the Middle East but also in many other parts of the world, how would you compare the conflict here to the conflicts in Asia, the Great Lakes of Africa and elsewhere?

GA-S: In the Middle East, you still have people remembering when they had hospitals. Iraqis who come to my clinic remember the 80’s. They know that life was different and could have been different. And they are health-literate. The other issue is that in 2014 alone, some 30,000 Iraqis were injured. The numbers are astounding. We don’t have a grasp of the numbers in Libya, the amount of ethnic cleansing and killing that is happening in Libya. In terms of numbers, they are profound, but in terms of the effect, we are at the beginning of the phase of de-medicalization.

So it wasn’t that these medical systems did not develop. They are being de-developed. They are going backwards.

AV: Are you blaming Western imperialism for the situation?

INTERVIEW

“We don’t have a grasp of the numbers in Libya, the amount of ethnic cleansing and killing that is happening in Libya.

In terms of numbers, they are profound, but in terms of the effect, we are at the beginning of the phase of demedicalization. So it wasn’t that these medical systems did not develop. They are being de-developed. They are going backwards.”

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GA-S: From Afghanistan to Mauritania. And that includes the Algerian-Mali border. The Libyan border… The catastrophe of the division of Sudan, what’s happening in South Sudan, what’s happening in Somalia, Libya, Egypt, the Sinai Desert, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, even Pakistan including people who are killed there by drones…

THE FINAL PHASE AV: But then we also have around 10 million people who have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo, since the 1995 Rwandan invasion…

GA-S: Now that is a little bit different. That is the ‘more advanced phase’: when you’ve completely taken away the state… In the Arab

sciences together to see the bigger picture. We try to put the pieces of puzzle together, and to see the bigger picture.

AV: And now you have a big conference. On the 15th of May… GA-S: Now we have a big conference; basically the first congress that will look at all these aspects of conflict and health; from the surgical, to the reconstruction of damaged bodies, to the issues of medical resistance of bacteria, infectious diseases, to some absolutely basic issues. The movement of patients is not easy, and the sanctions… One topic will be ‘cancer and war’… So this conference will be as holistic as possible, of the relationship between the conflict and health. We expect over 300 delegates, and we will have speakers from India, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, from the UK, we have people coming from the humanitarian sector, from ICRC, people who worked in Africa and the Middle East, we have people who worked in previous wars and are now working in current wars, so we have a mix of people from different fields.

BEYOND THE STATE AV: What is the ultimate goal of the program?

PIC: MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) STAFF WALK ALONG A CORRIDOR IN ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ BOMBED HOSPITAL IN AFGHANISTAN’ KUNDUZ. PENTAGON CLAIMS HUMAN ERROR AT FAULT. (Najim Rahim/AFP)

GA-S: If you look at the sanctions and what they did to their health system, of course! If you look at Libya, of course! The idea that these states disintegrated is a falsehood. We know what the dynamics of the sanctions were in Iraq, and what happened in Iraq after 2003. We know what happened in Libya.

AV: Or in Afghanistan…

GA-S: The first thing that the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan or the Nicaraguan Contras were told to do was to attack the clinics. The Americans have always understood that you destroy the state by preventing it from providing these non-coercive powers that I spoke about.

AV: Do you see this part of the world as the most effected, most damaged?

GA-S: At this moment and time certainly.

And the statistics show it. I think around 60% of those dying from wars are killed in this region…

AV: And how do you define this region geographically?

world Libya is the closest to that scenario.

There the oil companies have taken over the country. The mining companies are occupying DRC. And they run the wars directly, rather than through the Western armies. You erode the state, completely, until it disappears and then the corporations, directly, as they did in the colonialist phase during the East Indian Company, and the Dutch companies, become the main players again.

AV: What is the goal of your research, the enormous project called the “Ecology of War”?

GA-S: One of the things that we insist on is this holistic approach. The compartmentalization is part of the censorship process. “You are a microbiologist then only look what is happening with the bacteria… You are an orthopaedic surgeon, so you only have to look at the blast injuries, bombs, landmine injuries…” So that compartmentalization prevents bringing together people who are able to see the whole picture. Therefore we are insisting that this program also has social scientists, political scientists, anthropologists, microbiologists, surgeons… Otherwise we’d just see the small science. We are trying to put the

GA-S: We have to imagine the health of the region beyond the state. On the conceptual level, we need to try to figure out what is happening. We can already see certain patterns.

One of them is the regionalization of healthcare. The fact that Libyans get treated in Tunisia, Iraqis and Syrians get treated in Beirut, Yemenis get treated in Jordan. So you already have the disintegration of these states and the migration of people to the regional centres.

The state is no longer a major player, because the state was basically destroyed. We feel that this is a disease of the near future, medium future and long-term future. Therefore we have to understand it, in order to better treat it, we have to put mechanisms in place that this knowledge transfers into the medical education system, which will produce medical professionals who are better equipped to deal with this health system. We have to make sure that people are aware of many nuances of the conflict, beyond the shrapnel and beyond the bullet. The more research we put into this area of the conflict and health, the more transferable technologies we develop – the better healthcare we’d be allowed to deliver in these situations, the better training our students and graduates would receive, and better work they will perform in this region for the next 10 or 15 years.

AV: And hopefully more lives would be saved

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ISLAMIC TRADITIONS

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The Command Against Those That Hate the Companions QUR’AN | HADITH | FIQH

Concerning the correct adab with regards to the Messenger of Allah and his Companions.

I

n our view, the fundamental error of those who deny the Sunnah and the Traditions is that they have not understood the true place and position of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The need only to look in to the Qur’an for a correct appreciation of the nature, duties and functions of the Prophet, and it will become clear to them that the station of the Prophet is not only that of Allah’s Messenger. Rather, he is also to be followed and obeyed completely. He is the leader, the guide, the judge, the ruler, the arbiter, and it is, again, in the Qur’an itself that the various capacities and functions of the Prophet are delineated.

The Prophet is to be obeyed and the believers are religiously bound to carry out his orders. The following words are addressed to the Muslims in the Generous Qur’an, the translation of which is: “Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger.”

(Qur’an 4:59 The Women)

From the manner in which the twin commands have been expressed, like obedience to Allah, obedience to the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is permanently enjoined upon the Muslims as a religious obligation.

This is the obligation of being Muslim.

The Companions who had seen and heard him personally took exceptional pains to embody, maintain and preserve the entire record of his sayings and deeds and handed it down to the following generations with utmost care.

We have them to thank that even though some one and half thousand

of the Prophet

years have gone since the passing away of the blessed Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the radiance of his sayings and good example is still with us to guide the steps of the seekers of the Truth - just as it was during the early phases of Islam. Any learning of the Deen of Islam, fulfilment of its practises can therefore not be possible without a firm, unyielding GOOD opinion of them. BAD opinion of the Companions is therefore a sign of deep and dark ignorance that leads you out of the Deen of Islam.

Qadi ‘Iyad wrote: “Part of respecting and obeying the Prophet, Sallalahu alayhi wasalam, consists in respecting his Companions, obeying them, recognising what is due to them, following them, praising them, asking forgiveness for them, refraining from discussing their differences, showing enmity to those who are hostile towards them and shunning the misguidance of the Shi’a and the innovators and the reports of any historians or ignorant transmitters who detract from any of them. If there is something equivocal which is reported about them regarding the trials that took place between them, then adopt the best interpretation and look for the most correct way out of it since that is what they deserve.

None of them should be mentioned in a bad manner nor are they to be rebuked for anything. Rather, we mention their good deeds, their virtues and their praiseworthy lives and are silent about anything else.” The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “When my Companions are mentioned, hold back.”

(At-Tabarani) Allah says, the translation of which is:

the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.”

(Qur’an 9:100 The Repentance)

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves...”

(Qur’an 48:29 The Victory)

The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “My Companions are like stars. Whichever of them you follow, you will be guided” (Al-Bazzar) Anas said that the Messenger of Allah, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “The likeness of my Companions is like salt in the food. Food is

“And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and

“Certainly was Allah pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you, [O Muhammad], under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity upon them and rewarded them with an imminent conquest” (Qur’an 48:18 The Victory) “Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah . Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any alteration -” (Qur’an 33:23 The Combined Forces)

Whoever loves Abu Bakr has established the Deen. Whoever loves ‘Umar has made the way clear.

Whoever loves ‘Uthman has been illuminated by the light of Allah.

Whoever loves ‘Ali has taken hold of the firm handle.

not good without it.” (Al-Bazzar) Abu Sa’id al-Khudri said that the Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “Do not curse my Companions. If any of you were to spend the weight of Uhud in gold, it still would not reach the measure of one of them or even one-half of it.”

(Muslim)

He, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “Anyone who curses my Companions has the curse of Allah on him, and of the angels, and of all people. Allah will not accept any exchange or recompense from him.”

(Ad-Daylami and Abu Nu’aym) He said in the hadith from Jabir, “Allah choose my Companions over everything else in existence except for the Prophets and the Messengers, He choose four of them for me; Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and Ali. He made them my best Companions, and all of my Companions are good.” (Al-Bazzar and Ad-Daylami) In his ‘Ash-Shifa’,Qadi ‘Iyad wrote: Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani said, “Whoever loves Abu Bakr has established the Deen. Whoever loves ‘Umar has made the way clear. Whoever loves ‘Uthman has been illuminated by the light of Allah. Whoever loves ‘Ali has taken hold of the firm handle. Whoever praises the Companions of Muhammad is free of hypocrisy. Whoever disparages any of them is an innovator opposing the Sunnah and the right acting Salaf.

It is feared that none of his actions will rise to heaven until he loves them all and his heart is sound.”

The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “Do not curse my Companions. A people will come at the end of time who will curse my Companions. Do not join them and do not join with them and do not marry with them and do not sit in their assemblies. If they are ill, do not visit them.” Anas ibn Malik said, “The Prophet, sallalahu alayhi wasalam, said, “Allah chose me and He chose my Companions, and he made them my in-laws and made them my helpers. At the end of time, He will bring people that disparage them. Do not become related to them through marriage and do not marry them. Do not have relations with them and do not connect yourselves to them.

The curse has alighted upon them.”

He, sallalahu alayhi wasalaam, said, “Protect me and my Companions and my relations by marriage. Anyone who protects me in them will be protected by Allah in this world and the next. Anyone who does not protect me in them will be abandoned by Allah. Anyone abandoned by Allah is about to be seized.” (Abu Nu’aym and ad-Daylami) EDITORIAL STAFF - Islam Here

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LEADERSHIP - Part four in a four part research into the rule of Mu’awiya.

Norwich, England Aisha Bewley is world renowned scholar, historian and prolific translator of classical Arabic works, most notably: The Noble Qur’an, Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik, Ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad, The Tabaqat of Ibn Sa’d, and The Women of Madina.

I

f you look closely at Mu’awiya and examine his behaviour, you will see that what he actually did was to take on the Sunnah of the Prophet and try to embody it as much as possible in a real and constructive way. If one looks at his statements and behaviour, his inspiration always came from the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings be upon him. He envisaged himself as following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

ON APPOINTING HIS SON At this point, we should perhaps remark on what is perhaps the major criticism most people direct against Mu’awiya – the fact that he chose his son Yazid to succeed him, thereby instituting a dynasty. Mu’awiya had seen the effects of a civil war and was keen to avoid another one. There was more than one possible contender for leadership at that time.

There was not only Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but also ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, who had an even larger following in the Hijaz.

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar could also have made a claim, but he was only interested in matters of the Deen. There were also various Kharijite groups waiting for an opportunity to assert themselves.

Mu’awiya, a great pragmatist, realised that Husayn certainly had better character than his son and Ibn az-Zubayr a wider following, but he realised also that Yazid had the army of Syria behind him, which could enforce peace and prevent civil war. He urged Yazid to avoid bloodshed as much as possible. When criticised for having people give their allegiance to Yazid in advance, Mu’awiya pointed out that Abu Bakr had named ‘Umar as his successor before his death, and that the upheaval involved in an election could lead to another civil war, which would involve Muslim blood being shed and offer the enemies of the Muslims an opportunity to attack. It was not the desire for a dynasty which led Mu’awiya to have people offer allegiance to his son while he was still alive, but the desire to ensure peace and prevent civil war.

To repeat the judgement on Mu’awiya in a nutshell: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “The best of your Imams is the one you love and who loves you, who gives to you and you

to him.”

During Mu’awiya’s rule he put into practice the advice that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant peace, had given him, “When you rule, do it well.” He was scrupulous about justice and was generous and fair to people of all classes. He honoured people who possessed ability and talent and helped them to advance their talents, regardless of their tribe. He displayed great forbearance towards the rashness of ignorant men and great generosity towards the grasping. He made the judgements of the Shariah binding on everyone with resolution, compassion and diligence. He led them in their prayers and directed them in their gatherings. He led them in their wars. In short, he proved to be a balanced and model ruler. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas stated that he did not see a man more suited to rule than Mu’awiya.

Umar ibn al-Khattab said,

Do not mention Mu’awiya with anything but good. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘O Allah, guide him!’

There has been ample testimony to Mu’awiya’s abilities. Ibn Taymiyya said, “The behaviour of Mu’awiya with the people was the best behaviour of any ruler. His people loved him,” reflecting what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is recorded as having said in the Sahih of Muslim: “The best of your Imams is the one you love and who loves you, who gives to you and you to him.”

This was Mu’awiya’s behaviour in a nutshell.

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “Do not mention Mu’awiya with anything but good. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘O Allah, guide him!’”

Abu Musa al-Ash’ari called him, “Aminu’llah,” the trusty one of Allah.”

Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, the conqueror of Iraq and Iran and one of the oldest Companions and one of the ten promised the Garden, said that after ‘Uthman, he did not see anyone who judged by the truth more than Mu’awiya. He also said, “ After ‘Uthman I did not see anyone giving more judgement for what was right than Mu’awiya.”

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Pre-Trumpism Has the world forgotten so quickly?

I S L A M H E R E

FRAUDULENT JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR Kennedy was guilty of approving the creation of a mercenary army to invade Cuba, as well as covert warfare in Vietnam. Johnson massively escalated U.S. military involvement in Vietnam with the introduction of ground troops, which he fraudulently justified through misrepresentation of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

GENOCIDE Succeeding Johnson, Nixon waged a nearly genocidal air campaign against not only Vietnam but Cambodia and Laos, killing hundreds of thousands of people, destroying ecosystems across Indochina, and leaving an unfathomable amount of unexploded ordnance, which continues to kill and maim hundreds of people each year.

SPREADING DEMOCRATIC DICTATORSHIPS

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hen the dust settled on the November 8 election, we learned that a completely unpredictable, ego-maniacal, narcissistic buffoon would inherit the White House and the vast corruption that go along with it. This deeply offended many people who see Donald Trump’s racist and misogynistic rhetoric as “unpresidential.” Liberal New York Times columnist Charles Blow summed up this view: “I respect the presidency; I do not respect this president-elect.” That the president-elect should not be respected is a given. But why should we care about America’s presidency?

The Imperial Presidency of the United States has evolved over the last century to the point that the executive holds certain powers that can be considered dictatorial. Arguably, the most consequential decision in politics is to wage war. The Constitution specifically reserves this right for Congress. The President, as Commander-in-Chief, directs the wars that Congress declares. However, starting with Truman’s intervention in the Korean War in 1950 and continuing with invasions of Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq and Afghanistan and the bombings of dozens more countries, the President’s ability to unilaterally initiate war with a sovereign nation has been normalized. The US Congress has not declared war since 1941 despite the fact the U.S. military has intervened in nearly every corner of the world in the years since.

EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION, TORTURE AND ASSASSINATION In recent years, George W. Bush assumed the power to kidnap, torture, and assassinate any individual, anywhere in the world, at any time, without even a pretence of due process.

Upon replacing Bush, Barack Obama legitimized Bush’s kidnapping and torture (by refusing to prosecute the perpetrators or provide recourse to the victims) while enthusiastically embracing the power to

assassinate at will. Noam Chomsky has said this represents Obama trashing the 800-year-old Magna Carta.

Can there be anything more dictatorial than the power of a single individual to kill and make war at will? While American presidents do not have the power to unilaterally impose taxes, pass legislation, or incarcerate without charges inside U.S. borders, the illegitimate authority they do possess to carry out unrestrained violence across the world is unquestionably a dictatorial feature.

EXCEEDING LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY There has not been a single American president since World War II that has not exceeded his constitutional authority by committing crimes that would meet the standard by which officials were convicted and executed at the Nuremberg trials.

CONCENTRATION CAMPS Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 to imprison Japanese Americans in concentration camps was a flagrant violation of the Fifth Amendment right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

NUCLEAR WAR Truman’s fire-bombing of Tokyo, nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and invasion of Korea violated provisions of multiple treaties that are considered the “supreme law of the land” per Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.

REGIME CHANGE Eisenhower’s use of the CIA to overthrow democratically elected presidents in Iran and Guatemala, as well as the initiation of a terrorist campaign against Cuba, violated the UN Charter, another international treaty that the Constitution regards as the supreme law of the land.

Ford covertly supported the South African invasion of Angola and overtly supported the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.

Carter continued supporting the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, as well as providing financial and military support to military dictatorships in Guatemala and El Salvador. Reagan oversaw the creation and operation of a terrorist army in Nicaragua, sponsored military dictatorships throughout Central America, and directly invaded Grenada.

As we have seen, every single American president since at least WWII has engaged in serious violations of international and domestic law.

INVASIONS, SANCTIONS & BOMBINGS Bush the Elder invaded Panama and Iraq.

Clinton oversaw sanctions in Iraq that killed as many as 1 million people, carried out an air war that indiscriminately pulverized civilian targets from 15,000 feet in Serbia, and bombed a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan that produced medications for half the country. Bush the Lesser invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama continued both of those wars, as well as dramatically expanding the drone assassination program in as many as seven countries.

THE PRESUMPTION OF A ‘PRE-TRUMP’ ERA Liberal Clinton defender Matt Yglesias argues that from a historical perspective, Trump is uniquely dangerous. “Past presidents,” Yglesias writes, “have simply been restrained by restraint. By a belief that there are certain things one simply cannot try or do.”

It is hard to take such vacuous proclamations with a straight face. As we have seen, every single American president since at least WWII has engaged in serious violations of international and domestic law to cause death, destruction and misery across the

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world, from murdering individuals without due process to unleashing two nuclear bombs on civilian populations in a defeated country that was seeking to surrender.

WHAT TRUMP HAS WON When Trump assumes the presidency, he will inherit a frightening surveillance/military/ incarceration apparatus that includes a targeted killing program; a vast NSA domestic and international spying network; a death squad (the Joint Special Operations Command); and an extralegal system for indefinite kidnapping and imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. Partisans see a problem only when the presidency is in the “wrong” hands. If Obama is at the helm, liberals are fine with unconstitutional mass surveillance or killing an American citizen without charge or trial every now and then. Conservatives trusted Bush to unwarrantably surveil Americans, but were outraged at the Snowden revelations. Principled opponents recognize that no one should be trusted with illegitimate authority. The hand-wringing and hyperventilation by liberals about the dangers of a Trump presidency ring hollow and hypocritical.

MURDER AS PUBLIC RELATIONS The complete destabilizing of the Libyan state; murdering of Gaddafi and his cabinet to make sure that no revival of the state was possible; the aiding of the influx of Takfiri terrorist groups into that region to loot the Libyan arms supply; The opening of the Libyan borders to allow a massive influx of refugees into the European continent as part of a weaponised globalist programme; can be seen through the Wiki leaks email hacks as nothing more than a PR strategy to aid Hillary Clinton in her planned election campaign. After hearing that Gadaffi had been tortured and murdered, she ‘trump’eted fashioning herself as a modern Caesar, “We came, we saw, he died! (maniacal laughter followed). Her clear disbelief at the final election result shows clearly that she believed that through her hard ‘work’ she deserved the presidency.

IN TRUTH...

American presidents long ago became the equivalent of elected monarchs, beyond the democratic control of the those they purportedly serve. The occupant of the office is able to substitute his own judgments and whims for a universally applicable set of laws and limits on the exercise of power. It is what Dolores Vek describes as “actually existing fascism.” Both parties have contributed to it, the media has normalized it, and the public has accepted its creation and continued existence without rebelling against it. Until now. We do not know what President-elect Trump will do once in power. Pulling back the bankrupt overreach of aggressive empire and focussing on isolationist policies, rebuilding the credibility of the rule of law and repairing international relations, according to his recent update on the transition process, gives a sigh of relief to opponent nation states and tensions around the globe. What happens next, we shall see Matt Peppe

ISLAM HERE

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PRESS RELEASE

Lilly to support people with diabetes fasting during Ramadan

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PRESS RELEASE - CONVERSATION MAPS SUPPORTED BY LILLY HELP MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS RAISE AWARENESS AMONG THEIR PATIENTS ON HOW TO FAST SAFELY AND AVOID POTENTIAL DIABETIC COMPLICATIONS.

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s the holy month of Ramadan draws closer, it is estimated that 40-50 million people with diabetes worldwide will fast during Ramadan, which starts this year on 26 May 2017, subject to the sighting of the new moon, to 24 June 2017.

Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan by abstaining from food, drink and oral medications from dawn to dusk. Given its significance in Islamic faith, not being able to fast due to a health condition can be devastating.

Although the Qur’an specifically exempts people with a medical condition from the duty of fasting, many people living with diabetes still choose to fast despite the health risks.

“Fasting presents significant challenges for people living with diabetes in terms of managing blood sugar levels, which is why it’s essential to consult with their doctor well in advance of the holy month of Ramadan to find out if they can fast and if so, plan a way to do it safely,” explains Dr Aneesa Sheik, Medical Director of Lilly South Africa.

“The lack of food and water during the day, along with the heavy meals eaten before and after fasting at suhoor and ifthar can create serious health issues for people living with diabetes, as they are faced with major disruptions to their diet and daily routines. This can lead to serious complications among which are low or high blood sugar levels. Studies have shown that there is an increased risk of severe low blood sugar levels for individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, especially for those who change the dosages of their oral medications or insulin1, 2.

“Blood sugar level that is too low and left untreated can cause confusion, clumsiness, or fainting, and in the case of severe low blood sugar, can lead to seizures, coma, and even death. A high blood sugar level can damage blood vessels, and over a long period of time can result in serious complications, including irreversible organ damage. In general, fasting is very challenging for people living with diabetes, particularly patients with type 1 diabetes, who are dependent on insulin.

“If you have type 1 diabetes your doctor will want to ensure that blood sugar is regularly monitored to prevent any health risks, and may even need to adjust insulin doses according to your food intake and activity. Fasting

with type 2 diabetes can also be risky, especially if you have poorly controlled diabetes.

It is important to remember that your prescribed medication may also influence your ability to fast. Muslims with diabetes who wish to fast must plan diligently and well in advance for a safe and healthy Ramadan,” explains Dr Sheik.

Providing healthcare professionals with the right tools and resources, including time and personnel to educate patients and encourage them to discuss a treatment plan for fasting during Ramadan has been a key focus area for Lilly.

The “Lilly Diabetes Conversation Map” tool, specific to “Managing Diabetes during Ramadan” was launched in 2013 and is used across the country and beyond. The Lilly Diabetes Conversation Map tool was created by Healthy Interactions. It has been used in more than forty countries and translated into more than thirty languages. It helps doctors and nurses guide their patients on how to manage diabetes during the month of Ramadan, understand myths and facts about diabetes, the major complications to watch out for during fasting and the important habits to maintain while fasting. If you are living with diabetes or have a loved one who is, and would like to attend a conversation map session, make a note of the following events:

• 24 May 2017, 11:00, Dr. H Bacus, KZN, Suite 3, Shifa Medical Mews, 482 Randles Road, Sydenham, 4091.

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Healthcare professionals who would like to use the Lilly Diabetes Conversation Map tools for patient group consultations can contact Lilly on 011 510 9300 for more information.

References: 1. EPIDIAR Study Group: A Population-based Study of Diabetes and its Characteristics During the Fasting Month of Ramadan 2. DCCT Research Group. N Engl J Med 1993;329(14):977-86.

3. Salti et al. Diabetes Care 2004;27(10):2306-11 Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world’s first commercial insulin.

Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and voluntarism. To learn more about Lilly South Africa, please visit us at www.lilly.co.za

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