The Underwear

2005-05-21T18:30:00.000+01:00

The first thought I had yesterday when I saw Saddam Hussain’s naked picture was about the make of his underwear. The thought itself will not be strange when I tell you why I was thinking of the underwear and not the political or humanity aspects of Saddam’s human right or whatever you want to call it.

Approximately two months ago, a friend of mind showed me the store which Queen Elizabeth purchases her underwear from. When I glanced at the store, I was able to tell how much it would cost you to get underwear. Few weeks later, I had to shop with two friends of mine in one of the biggest stores in London. While I was in the underwear section, I noticed how the underwear where kept in nice boxes; the type of boxes that you would probably see in chocolates or gift stores. Although, I wasn’t intending to buy any but thought of looking around and feel the materials that were made from. In few seconds, a sales assistance popped up and offered to help. The first question he asked: What sort of underwear are you looking for? Are you looking for left hang or right hang? Ummm “What are you talking about?” was my reply on him. The sales assistance noticed that I didn’t have a clue of what a “left or right hang” was and maybe he looked at me and noticed my Arabian look and thought about my stupidity, and therefore, he came forward couple of steps and gave me a presentation about underwears as he was a researcher in the underwear department of University of London. He taught me things that I didn’t have a clue about and I assure you no one from the middle or lower class would even know anything about them. Has anyone thought of where he would place his eggs when wearing underwear or about ventilation?

Once he finished his lecture, I dared and asked him about the people who would afford to pay 500 pounds (300 BD) for underwear. The salesman didn’t take a second to think and gave me couple of Arab princes who were regular customers. I said to myself: Ok so this means Prince X wears the right hang type. But curiosity kills the cat. I was thinking about the royal family in wonderland. What type of underwear do they wear? To explain the point, the question should be, what is their life style? Where do they go shopping and how much would they spend? Don’t we have the right to know?

Information about Gorge Bush (the president of the United States), for example, are publicly available. We know how much he gets paid, where he goes to play golf. Clinton (ex-president) once was questioned by the Congress because he spent hundred dollars in a barbar shop which the Congress found waste of money. Don’t we have the right to question our royal family for their personal spending which I am sure it is covered by the government budget?! Well, maybe I am loosing my brain on this..

Clinton, in his book My Life, approaches the story of his youth with gusto, sharing tales of giant watermelons, nine-pound tumors, a charging ram, famous mobsters and jazz musicians, and a BB gun standoff. He offers an equally energetic portrait of American history, pop culture, and the evolving political landscape, covering the historical events that shaped his early years and the events that shaped his presidency.

Five million copies, I repeat, Five million copies of My Life were sold making a fortune of at least Five Million Dollars (if we assume that each copy was sold for a dollar). Why don’t the members of the royal family start writing their autobiography then? They will make a fortune too..What I am talking about?!! They don’t need an extra income. They already own the country and everything in the country.

Struggling with the Russian names

2005-05-20T19:41:00.000+01:00

How many of us Arab people have picked up a book from the Russian literature (yesterday was my first time to read a Russian novel!) and quickly become confused by the strange, seemingly innumerable -- and long -- Russian names. And who could begin to try and pronounce them? Ivan Alexandrovich, Yuri Mikhailovich, Elena Sergeievna, Olga Nikolaievna...what's it all about, anyway?

After stugelling with the names, I have made some conclusions that turned up to be true later one when I asked for details from my Russian friend.
It all starts at birth. A Russian-born child is given a first name just like children in other cultures. The Russian child is also given a middle name, but unlike their Western cousins -- whose middle names, if given at all, are similar to a first name or perhaps a family name -- Russian babies take on a special version of their father's first name, known as a patronymic, or "otchestvo."

Put more simply, Ivan Alexandrovich is translated -- Ivan, son of Alexander. If the child is a daughter of Alexander, she will receive a first name (such as Maria) and she will be known as Maria Alexandrevna, or "daughter of Alexander." So, the boys attach "ovich" or "evich" and girls attach "ovna" or "evna" depending on which works better with their father's first name.

As for boys who are named for their fathers, well, there are no "Juniors" in Russia. If a boy child is named for his father Pavel, then his name will be Pavel Pavlovich, or Pavel, son of Pavel. There are also Alexander Alexandrovich, Mikhail Mikhailovich and many others!

To further the point...do Russians go around calling each other by such names?
The short answer to that is -- yes. But it depends upon the person and the circumstances. If the relationship is a formal one, such as employer/employee, then both names are used upon greeting and in conversation. The use of both first and patrynomic together is also used as a mark of respect or affection, whether to older people, people one does not know well, or even little children.

There are also cases where someone may refer to another person *only* by their patronymic. In other words, to her close family and friends, Tatiana Ivanova may be referred to only as "Ivanova" or, daughter of Ivan. There are even Russian married couples who will refer to one another in this manner. In the case of good acquaintances, friends, co-workers and family, chances are good that only the first name is used, although that name will most certainly be shortened and altered in various ways. Russians love word play, especially with names and nicknames.
Some examples include: Sergei=Seriozha, Maria=Masha,Mashka, Tatiana=Tasha, Tatya, Ivan=Ivanushka and so many, many more. It is a sign of pure affection. This really drove me crazy sometimes when my friend’s friends come to the office and start calling him with different names that his name. I thought the other names were nicknames or something but it was just today when I found out it is just a variation.

So, if you have a Russian in your life, you can gauge your loved one's affection for you by the number of "names" that have been bestowed. Some nicknames can be quite fun and nonsensical, having no translation.

Another unusual aspect of Russian names concerns the surname, or "familiya." Anyone who has studied a Romance language is familiar with feminine and masculine endings for words. Well, in Russian, it is much the same -- including surnames. For instance, a woman who is married to a man with the surname of Chekov, is addressed as Chekova. An unmarried woman also adds an "a" to her father's surname.

So if I say my name is Mohammed Ahmed ZamZam, then it should be Mohmmed Ahamedovitch ZamZam. This is not my real name just in case :P

The Rectangles

2005-05-19T13:16:00.000+01:00

Look at the picture below. Can you sort the rectangles based on thier size?

I guess you would say: the middle rectangle is the biggest, then the one on the right, then the one on the left.

Well, you are wrong. I have drawn this picture this morning and showed it to my students. The two rectangles (the one on the left and the one on the right) are identical. You are not the only one who was fooled with this. So don’t think you are a dim :)

There is a scientific and philosophical explanation for this phenomenon. But I would only explain the philosophical one here. The distance of the right rectangle from the middle one is greater than the distance of the left rectangle from the middle one. Although the two rectangles are identical, you still see the left one smaller than the right one. The reason is that when you stand close to something big you see yourself smaller. Take few steps away of it and you will see yourself bigger.

Two examples can be drawn from this:
In politics, whenever you get yourself closer to the bad guys or (the hawameer as we call them), people will see you as their baby. While others who keep themselves away from their dirty plans, are bigger in the people's eyes.

In relationships, when a woman comes closer to a man, she finds herself tiny and weak between his arms and that what it should happen. Let her keep a distance and she would see herself bigger and problems would starts. Well, this applies to men too, just in case you think I am biased.

No Comments

2005-05-18T13:31:00.000+01:00

Although i was still feeling dizy this morning, this cartoon made me feel better :)

My Ancestors

2005-05-18T12:51:00.000+01:00

You can never ever enjoy a long lasting dream. In less than 72 hours from enjoying the conference dinner and spending a great weekend with a special friend, I felled sick. Well, it wasn’t a great deal but a sever stomach-ache with vomiting and diarrhoea that forced me to stay in bed all day.

The good news is that I took the opportunity to read couple of books I was supposed to read long time ago. While I was reading the books, I discovered that my family (AL Majid) used to rule Bahrain in the 18th century. To be honesty, I wouldn’t call that a novel discovery as I was always told by my father that my grand grand father used to govern Bahrain but this was the first time that I read the whole story in a book. Well, I am a bit flattered and proud not because I belong to decent family but to a family that fought the first invasion of Al-Khalifa (the current royal family of Bahrain) and kicked them out of Bahrain.

Briefly, in the mid-18th century the al-Khalifa, a prominent family among the ‘Utub tribe from the central Arabian Peninsula’, established control over parts of Zibara in Qatar. Once, they have captured Zibara, the greediness of Al-Khalifa led them to invade Bahrain (which used to be the richest country in region along with Basra). However, the invasion was confronted with a strong resistance from the Bahraini citizens who made alliance with the Al-hwala (الهولة). The ruler of Bahrain at that time was Shiekh Mohmmed AL-Majid who was responsible on the religion aspects and the person who asked help from Al-hawala and fought Alkhalifa invasion.

What interested me was that Bahrain at that time had another ruler who was responsible on the political aspects (the book doesn’t mention his name). What I concluded was: The Bahraini government in the 18th century was ruled by two people. One was responsible on the religion affairs and the other was responsible on the political affairs. From my understanding to the events, that the first was the person who made the alliance with Al-hawala and confronted the invasion of Al-khalifa. This is particularly interesting as the government structure looks like the one in Iran at the moment.

It feels like flying!

2005-05-13T18:47:00.000+01:00

Did you ever dream you were flying? As a child, this was one of the good dreams, one of those I hoped for and wanted. Waking up from them always made me feel exhilarated and happy. I still occasionally dream I can do it, I still have that feeling, but it has become oh so rare. Not like as a child when I would find myself in a dream running like the wind, and then I would just take off and run just above the street, then higher and higher, in great, impossible leaps above the world. Sometimes I woke from those dreams, laughing myself awake.

I remembered this because two nights ago, I was experiencing the closest I ever got to that feeling. In the last couple of weeks I was extremely busy with preparing an important symposium that was sponsored and hosted by my organisation. It was one of the most stressing jobs I had lately.

Two nights ago, the symposium was over and my prize was a BIG dinner in the most wonderful place I could imagine. I had that dinner (actually it was a conference dinner) in a museum. Well, if you are into art, would you imagine having a dinner in the middle of the museum's main hall? To complete the scene, imagine a professional catering company is serving you with the finest food you could have.

Well, this was certainly a dream. But lucky me, that I lived that dream in the real life.

And not think of those other dreams.

كتب عن البحرين

2005-05-11T13:36:00.000+01:00

This is a list of the books I know about Bahrain. The majority of these books focus on sociology, politics and the history of the Bahraini people. If you know any other book, write the name of book, the author and the publisher if possbile and I will add it to the list.

البحرين قصة الصراع السياسي
سوسن علي الشاعر

الحركة الدستورية نضال شعب البحرين من اجل الديمقراطية
دار الوحدة الوطنية

البحرين الاصالة ومظاهر التغيير السياسي
كريم المحروس
مؤسسة الرافدين

انتفاضة البحرين وافاق المستقبل
ابراهيم الحاج

ظواهر التجربة المسرحية في البحرين
د ابراهيم غلوم
شركة الربيعان للطباعة

البحرين قضايا الامن والحرية
عصام الاديب
دار الصفا

البحرين في صدر الاسلام
د. عبد الرحمن عبد الكريم العاني
الدار العربية للموسوعات - لبنان

ال خليفة من صحراء نجد الى الاستيلاء على البحرين
جواد عبد الوهاب
مؤسسة الرافد

البحرين انتهاكات حقوق الانسان
محمد مهدي
حركة احرار البحرين

البحرين قضايا السلطة والمجتمع
فيصل وهون
دار الصفا

الزواج وتطور مجتمع البحرين
عادل احمد سركيس
مدبولي

الحركة الاسلامية واليسار في البحرين
احمد حسين
الصفا للنشر

البحرين مشكلات التغيير السياسي والاجتماعي
د.محمد الرميحي
دار ابن خلدون

البحرين من امارات الخليج
خضير نعمان العبيدي
مطبعة المعارف بغداد

العلامة السيد هاشم البحراني
فارس تبريزيان
دار المعروف للطباعة والنشر

Skepticism in the Arab media

2005-05-03T18:43:00.000+01:00

What's interesting (and somewhat encouraging) about this clip from an interview on Al-Arabiya with Saudi "women's rights advocate" Suheila Hammad (transcript here) isn't that she repeats the tired allegations that "Zionists" were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. It's that the interviewer for the Saudi-owned station expresses genuine skepticism and makes her look even more ridiculous than she makes herself.

The reason that I am writing about this is not becuase I am with or against Zionists. It is beacuse the popular myths that we use to answer all the issues we face in our life. Before 9/11, we would would usually say that Musad is responsible for the explosion in the X city. After 9/11, some people would give the credit to Al-Qada, others would definitly link it to Zionists, and the rest of the people would say the American.

I hope this sort of thing catches on in our media, neither encouraging nor censoring popular myths, but confronting them head-on with demands for evidence and countering them with facts. If this is done, I think we may realise the real problems that we are facing in the Arab world and start putting practical solutions.

Endless Love

2005-05-03T18:20:00.000+01:00

As British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces re-election, I offer a reprise of this classic video featuring a lovestruck Blair and Bush singing the breathless ballad "Endless Love."

The credit goes to Johan Söderberg who created this movie for a Swedish television program called 'Kobra'.

The Arab media

2005-04-29T18:02:00.000+01:00

"I know that adopting an impartial stand in the [Arab] media world is akin to suicide, because there are many who push the media into extremes, and take 'nationalistic' positions, and maintain that whoever thinks differently is committing treason against the [national] cause. [They maintain] that lying for the sake of the cause is moral and honorable. The Arab media [of today], in these hard times, is slowly turning into the 1967 media; at that time, radio announcers, analysts, and journalists exaggerated acts of courage and covered up defeats, which - historically - became a mockery."

"The Arab media today, with its clear inclination towards exaggerations and false promises of victory, is feeding the public stories that have nothing to do with the real events in the field. Hence, it is replicating the old media, despite the fact that it is broadcasting in color and using electronic technologies…"

Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, editor-in-chief of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat

قال لهـا.. فقالت له ...

2005-04-29T10:50:00.000+01:00

قال لها ألا تلاحظين أن الكـون ذكـراً ؟؟
فقالت له بلى لاحظت أن الكينونة أنثى !!
قال لها ألم تدركي بأن النـور ذكـرا ً ؟؟
فقالت له بل أدركت أن الشمس أنثـى !!
قـال لهـا أوليـس الكـرم ذكــرا ً ؟؟
فقالت له نعم ولكـن الكرامـة أنثـى !!
قال لها ألا يعجبـك أن الشِعـر ذكـرا ً؟؟
فقالت له وأعجبني أكثر أن المشاعر أنثى!!
قال لها هل تعلميـن أن العلـم ذكـرا ً؟؟
فقالت له إنني أعرف أن المعرفة أنثـى!!
.............

فأخذ نفسـا ً عميقـا ً
وهو مغمض عينيه ثم
عاد ونظر إليها بصمت
لـلــحــظــات
وبـعـد ذلـــك .

قال لها سمعت أحدهم يقول أن الخيانة أنثى ..
فقالت له ورأيت أحدهم يكتب أن الغدر ذكرا ..
قال لها ولكنهم يقولون أن الخديعـة أنثـى..
فقالت له بل هن يقلـن أن الكـذب ذكـرا ً..
قال لها هناك من أكّد لـي أن الحماقـة أنثـى
فقالت له وهنا من أثبت لي أن الغباء ذكـرا ً
قـال لهـا أنـا أظـن أن الجريمـة أنـثـى
فقالـت لـه وأنـا أجـزم أن الإثـم ذكـرا ً
قـال لهـا أنـا تعلمـت أن البشاعـة أنثـى
فقالـت لـه وأنـا أدركـت أن القبـح ذكـرا
...............

تنحنح ثم أخذ كأس الماء
فشربه كله دفعة واحـدة
أما هـي فخافـت عنـد
إمساكه بالكأس مما جعله
ابتسمت ما أن رأته يشرب
وعندما رآها تبتسم لـه

قال لها يبدو أنك محقة فالطبيعة أنثـى
فقالت له وأنت قد أصبت فالجمال ذكـراً
قـال لهـا لا بـل السـعـادة أنـثـى
فقالت له ربمـا ولـك الحـب ذكـرا ً
قال لها وأنا أعترف بأن التضحية أنثـى
فقالت له وأنا أقر بأن الصفـح ذكـرا ً
قال لها ولكنني على ثقة بأن الدنيا أنثى
فقالت له وأنا على يقين بأن القلب ذكرا ً

ولا زال الجـدل قائمـا ً
ولا زالت الفتنة نائمـة
وسيبقى الحوار مستمرا ً
طــالــمــا أن ...
الـسـؤال ذكـــرا ً
والإجـابـة أنـثــى

فمن برأيكم سوف ينتصر على الآخر؟

I recieved that in my email by the way and it worths to post it here.

Why Am I worried about the new law?

2005-04-26T19:30:00.000+01:00

Many Bahraini bloggers have recently been worried about the new law that the Ministry of Information announced yesterday. The law states that Web masters must register their sites with the MoI. The law does not say anything more and this is the worrying part.

- What is the definition of “Web masters”? Are they the people who have registered domains like whatever.com? Or are they the people who have any Web site like this blog?

- What is the legal action of not registering with the MoI? Is it a limited charge? Unlimited charge? 6 months in prison? Death penalty?

These types of laws have been seriously a worrying issue for the European Union. The EU commissions have signed many drafts for new laws without looking into the details of these laws, i.e. the small font words that comes under each law that no one is bothered to read. Recently, the European commission realised that they have agreed on laws and rules which would enable certain European organisations to have power over each European territory which is considered as a serious threat to the privacy and security of any European country. The point that I want to draw from this, is that we should think about the hidden agenda of this law before taken any action. No body has asked the MoI to manifest the law yet in details!

Free speach-protected Blog!

2005-04-25T14:56:00.000+01:00

According to Chan'ad, the Bahraini government is requiring the webmasters of all websites, including blogs, to register with the Ministry of Information. Starting Monday, April 25, bloggers and webmasters will have six months to register. If they do not register, they are threatened with legal reprisals. In a way, the Bahraini government is giving bloggers a backhanded compliment: they are saying that online news sites and blogs are the same as newspapers. However, in the backsliding environment of King Hamad's reforms, this is less of a compliment and more of a threat.

Well, I AM NOT GOING to register my blog with the government because my blog is protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 19)

Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 19).

Article 19
1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a)
For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b)
For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

Head over to Mahmood's Den to discuss this issure further.

Our Master of Disguise

2005-04-22T17:13:00.000+01:00

Last month we had a stunning celebrity (Angelina Jolie+Schumacher) emerging in the Middle East; young, good looking, with a PhD AND a motor racing champion. This month we are introduced to our very own 2-in-1 (Fifi Abduh+Sherlock Holmes).

Myriam Marzak is a Moroccan private detective and a master of disguise who would take all sorts of cases, anything from finding out if someone is committing adultery to locating former employees who have stolen money from banks or insurance firms.

Pictures are taken from BBC.com

How would I react to different media?

2005-04-19T17:23:00.000+01:00

Occasionally, you see sensational headlines claiming that playing games on the computer increases productivity. I have, however, always problems with tracking down the actual sources of such claims, so I never see anything but tantalising bits indicating that the brain is stimulated in interesting ways by reading computer mediated texts.

But from personal experience, I find that playing certain games helps me to change from one mode of working and thinking to another. It is for instance an important part of making the switch from administration to reading or writing scholarly material. Playing adventure games puts me into an analytical mode which resonates with the problem-solving structure of many of these games. First and second person shooters have a limited hold on me, but in a way they lead me the other way, from the analytical mode of research and writing, to the problem solving mode of administration. Get the crooks lined up, figure out how to finish them up and get the job done - that pretty much sounds like administrative work to me...

On this background I am frustrated with the kind of knowledge I don't have, and the kind of research I don't find. What I would like to know is how different people react to different media when they want to be expressive. I have some kinds of rituals. Some are like the rituals of athletes, who have to have two odd socks on for the important matches. My slight obsession with pens comes in that category. In order to write something clever, I think I need a cheap blue pen like the famous 25 Files one. But other rituals are important parts of making the brain work differently, like when I outline an article in different colours on a large piece of paper, or when I write its bits and pieces on stickers to move them around.

Meditation touches on this, as it is a conscious effort to put the brain into a particular mode. It is this mode-change I would like to find some literature describing: preferably in the way writing and reading and playing online primes the brain for certain tasks. I feel this effect on myself, but I don't know if it is just that I have conditioned myself to react in a certain manner to certain stimuli (administration + break with games = research time) or if the brain actually slips into different working modes. Or if it will ever be possible to figure this out.

ummm, ahhh, white lies... how can I say no?

2005-04-15T18:20:00.000+01:00

One month ago, a friend of mine called me up and asked me to go with him to an entertainment resort. I was tide up with busy plans at the time and replied, as charmed as I could, explaining my situation and promising him to make it in the future.

This morning he called again for the same thing reminding me about my earlier promise. This time I had to say yes although I would prefer to say no and spend the time sitting with myself thinking about the chaos that I have been going through recently. To drive the point home, he stirred me up about how I keep my promises.

I read my long-forgotten email, and cursed. It had not meant as a promise, but a gentle no. Alas, my gentleness had come back and bitten me on the ankle. This time I had to say no more firmly. Although I am better at saying no than I used to be, there are many occasions when I find myself, like so many people, in situations in which it is difficult to say no. For example, someone asks you out that you don’t want to go out with. If you repeatedly find yourself acquiescing to these types of requests and feeling unhappy about it you might want to look at some reasons why you say yes when you prefer to say no. You might fear the loss of the relationship or be afraid of damaging the relationship in some way. So you end up treating the relationship as fragile and dependent on your constant compliance.

Similar to so many people, I feel guilty about saying no since I have been taught to go out of my way to avoid hurting people’s feelings. So I end up feeling responsible for the other person’s feelings as if their happiness depends on my agreeing. I might feel I am a bad person if I refuse - selfish and self-centered. I have been taught the virtue of self-sacrifice and self-denial. So I end up being more concerned and more considerate of others than I am of myself.

I would like to end by pointing out that I do not have difficulties with all nos. if someone asks if I want a cup of tea, I can say “No, thanks” with considerable confidence. Yet more and more people seem to be losing their nerves over this simple negative: the standard reply being: “I am fine”. Which is all very well, but it is not the answer to the question.

Troubling statistics about Muslims

2005-04-14T15:44:00.000+01:00

Bernard Lewis, often called "the doyen of Middle Eastern studies", is the author of a number of books on Islam and the Muslims. One of his latest works is What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response. In it, he offers some troubling statistics about Muslims. Sheikh Salman al-Oadah summarise them into:

- The Muslims make up a quarter of the world's population, but they possess only 6% of the world's wealth.

- Two-thirds of the world's poor who live on less than $2 US a day are Muslims. Moreover, this income is depreciating by 2% annually. This is the greatest depreciation suffered by individuals in the so-called developing world.

- There is not a single Muslim country among the top 30 wealthiest nations.

- Among the 5000 products in the various fields of production with which various countries distinguish themselves, none of them are a point of distinction for any Muslim country.

- Except for oil, caviar, and Persian rugs, the 57 member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference offer nothing to the international marketplace.

- The debt of the Muslim countries is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The level of self-sufficiency in these countries is in perpetual decline.

- The median life expectancy for the Muslim individual is twenty years shorter than that for an equivalent person in the West. This is due to the disparity in health services, nutrition, and education. We can also add to this the factors of subjugation and repression.

- 40% of educated, young Muslims fail to obtain adequate employment in their own countries. They either remain in their countries without work or they are forced to immigrate to other countries. Moroccans, Tunisians, and Algerians generally immigrate to France. Egyptians and Syrians generally go to America or other places in Europe.

- While in the West, unemployment has varied between 5 and 12% throughout the past two decades, it has been consistently more than 20% in the Muslim world and continues to grow worse.

Muslim graduates and laborers are in desperate need of employment. They are unable to provide homes for themselves. This means that a good number of young Muslim men are unable to marry and establish families for themselves. Many young women never find husbands. In Iran, as many as 40% of the women under twenty will probably never marry. Saudi newspapers a few months ago released similar alarming statistics for Saudi Arabia.

- Lack of sufficient water is a problem facing the entire Muslim world.

- According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, there is only one Muslim country - Oman - among the 40 countries that provide their citizens with adequate, up-to-date healthcare.

- Politically, the Muslim world exerts only the weakest influence over world events. The door is slammed shut on Muslim countries that aspire to join the company of the world's decision makers. A handful of Western countries make up that exclusive club.

- Of the thirty worst conflicts that rage in the world. 28 of them concern Muslim people or Muslim countries.

- In the past three decades, more than 2.5 million Muslims have been killed in wars within the Muslim world.

- Two-thirds of the world's political prisoners languish in prisons in the Muslim world.

- 80% of the world's refugees are Muslims.

- Every country in the world that has completely collapsed and fallen into utter incapacity is a Muslim country. A good example of such a country is Somalia.

- The Muslim world is the least productive part of the world when it comes to scientific research and technology.

These statistics demonstrate a level of backwardness in the Muslim world in the domains of healthcare, education, economics, and human rights. In this regards, many Muslims will be asking: Who did this to us? Who is the enemy who brought upon us this weakness and this backwardness? Who has brought us to our sorry state?

Asking these questions is the main problem that the Muslim world is facing. Indeed, we need to rephrase these questions. Instead of asking who did this to us, we need to ask ourselves: How did we get into this situation? We need to emphasize the fact that we are the cause of our own problems, not some outsiders.

“قُلْ أَغَيْرَ اللّهِ أَبْغِي رَبًّا وَهُوَ رَبُّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلاَ تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ إِلاَّ عَلَيْهَا وَلاَ تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُم مَّرْجِعُكُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ “

"Every soul earns the results of its deeds on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another."

مَّا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللّهِ وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَ وَأَرْسَلْنَاكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولاً وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ شَهِيدًا

"Whatever good happens to you is from Allah; but whatever evil happens to you is from your own self."

Exclusivist and Inclusivist Muslims

2005-04-13T18:26:00.000+01:00

If you have been following the media closely in both the West and the Middle East during the last four years you would probably notice the growing hatred from both sides. Soon after September 11, Americans began to ask an important question: “why they hate us?” Unfortunately, neither the question nor the answers were clear or complete. To whom ‘they’ refers? To the terrorists, Muslim extremists, the Arabs, or the Muslims in general? The answers were inaccurate and incomplete, even misleading. “They hate us because they hate democracy, liberty, and equity for women” was the pre-prepared answer.

John Ashcroft, the former US attorney general, has made some very insulting remarks about Islam. The Reverend Franklin Graham, a man with many followers, branded Islam a “very evil and wicked religion”. Jerry Falwell, founder of the infamous, intolerant and narrow-minded so-called Moral Majority, even went so far as to accuse the Prophet (peace be upon him) of being a terrorist

On the other hand, the same action and question is being asked in the Middle East – why they hate us? Again, neither the question nor the answers are accurate or complete. To whom ‘they’ refers? To the religious right in the USA, to the Jewish lobby in the USA and Europe, to the various American governments, to the American and European peoples, or to the Christian world in general? The answers again were inaccurate and incomplete. “They hate us because they hate Islam and Muslims.”

In Bosnia, Muslims were expelled from their homes and butchered. In the Indian state of Gujarat, Hindu mobs massacred more than 2,000 Muslims in 2002. Muslims have been under siege in Palestine and Chechnya and even in certain parts of the Western world where they have been alarmed and frightened by a “rising tide of Islamophobia”. For the first time in history, Islam is in confrontation with all of the major world religions: Judaism (in the Middle East), Christianity (in the Balkans, Chechnya, Nigeria, Sudan and sporadically in the Philippines and Indonesia), Hinduism (in South Asia) and even Buddhism, after the Taliban blew up the statues in Bamiyan."

In the interest of fairness, however, we must admit that Muslim extremists have also victimized non-Muslims. Inexcusable events have taken place in the US, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Dr. Akbar S. Ahmed in his new book “Islam Under Siege” faults both Muslims and non-Muslims for what he calls “hyper-asabiyah”, excessive tribal, religious or nationalist loyalty. Dr Ahmed also says:

“real battle of the 21st century” will not be between religions but between exclusivists on one side and inclusivists on the other. Exclusivists such as the terrorists who carried out the Madrid bombing concentrate on the differences between their religion and everyone else’s, especially that of the despised enemy. They draw clear lines between themselves and “others”. Inclusivists, on the other hand, concentrate on the similarity between themselves and others despite religious and national distinction. They draw on the famous Qur’anic “diversity verse” which says that God made humankind “into diverse nations and tribes” so that the various nations and tribes could “come to know each other, not despise each other”. (49:13). Another Qur’anic verse that they emphasize is 2:256 which states clearly that there is “no compulsion in religion”.

This is actually true. The serious threat that I see is the increased violence undertaken by the minority exclusives to silence inclusivists. Take for examples the execution of the Iraqi scholars such as Al-hakeem. Muslims should be more concerned about exclusives is they want to say that Islam is a religion of peace. What can we do with that problem? Awareness. I think awareness is the best way to tackle the increasing growth of exclusives. We can begin to do this by saying “No to terror”. Dr Ahmed puts a nice remark on this by calling for a new global positioning in which Muslims put themselves in place of non-Muslims who fear them. Non-Muslims need to listen to what Muslims are saying instead of ceaselessly telling them howand what to think.

Are you a libertarian?

2005-04-12T17:29:00.000+01:00

I'm only 2 points far from being a libertarian, at least according to the "Libertarian Purity Test" by Bryan Caplan. I scored 159 meaning that I am nearly a perfect libertarian, with a tiny number of blind spots.

Take the test yourself and report the results in comments.

Please remember, this blog welcomes libertarians.

وسافرت

2005-04-10T22:57:00.000+01:00

تعودني عليك أيام أبد ما أفــــــــــــــارقك ليله

واذا عنك أروح اليــــــوم أقول لك نلتقي باكر

تعودني على لطفك وأسلـــــــــــــوبك وتدليله

وتتــــــــــــــــوقع أنا بحيا بدونك يوم بتسافر

أنا مـــــــــــا ودي أشكي لك ولكن قلت الحيله

أليمه فرقتك والله وأنا ع البعد مب قــــــــــادر

دخيلك حـــــط دمعاتي في عينك قبل ما تسافر

يا شين الـــــــــوقت في بعدك دقيقه كنها ليله

تخيل حالتي بعدك أنا إتحطمت ع الآخــــــــــر

أكلم نفسي فغيابك ألـــــــــوم القلب وأشكي له

وأصبر نفسي بالقوه وأقضي الليل وأنا ساهر

Career Dilemmas

2005-04-10T15:10:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine was recently raving about the new movie starring Natalie Portman. He enjoys the flick because it displays how individual in their mid-20’s have no idea where they want to go with their lives; and thus, are basically “lost.” He explained how the movie does a good job to demonstrate this problem.

I think this is interesting, because he is right, in so many ways. However, I do not think he realizes why, he, and so many of my other friends, are lost. Though there are probably many causes, I think it is important that we realize a couple of the most important ones, which I have thus far identified. This is a draft list, which I openly say, I may change via deletion or expansion in the future. But right now, Socialism (obviously) and Feminism are two main culprits.

Socialism, because of its failure to recognize the inherent value of a productive job, and Feminism, because of its assumption that all work, irregardless of its respective purpose, is of equal value. Consequently, people now pursue careers these days (i.e. starving artists, all Hollywood aspirants, etc.) under the assumption that they have to find the one thing they love doing more than anything else, and make a job out of it, irregardless of the true value it provides to its patrons. Then, when they realize they are not making any money doing so, and would be starving, where it not for their parents, they become ‘jaded’ and ‘lost’. They don’t know what to do, so pursue random careers, that have little chance of success, while working part-time, nonsense jobs.

Random thoughts on the passing scene

2005-04-10T15:06:00.000+01:00

How many other species' members kill each other to the same extent as human beings?

How can you be an "insurgent" in someone else's country? Yet despite the fact that the wave of terrorism in Iraq is led by an outside terrorist who is murdering Iraqis, our media still calls his terror campaign an "insurgency."

It is amazing how many people who phone ask to know who you are instead of telling you who they are.

Time and again, over the centuries, price controls have produced three things: shortages, quality deterioration and black markets. Why would anyone want any of those things with pharmaceutical drugs?

Don't you get tired of seeing so many "non-conformists" with the same non-conformist look?

Everyone is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty -- in a court of law. But we cannot just mindlessly repeat words outside the context in which they apply. If you discovered that your spouse had been secretly checking into motels with someone else, would you presume innocence until proven guilty?

It is amazing how many people think that the government's role is to give them what they want by overriding what other people want.

Automobiles are getting to look so much alike that it is hard to tell some cars apart, even when they are made by different manufacturers or even made in different countries. Recently, I was embarrassed to realize that I was trying to get into someone else's German-made car on a parking lot, thinking it was my own British-made car.

Some words that are said cannot be unsaid. The most you can do is avoid saying them in the first place.

A check of official records shows that my property line extends farther than I thought -- but laws prevent me from using that additional land. However, I can probably be sued if anyone gets injured while trespassing on it. In other words, I am worse off for owning more land than I thought I had.

If sanity ever returns to our society and we stop taking pretentious elites seriously, one of the signs will be that the public will force the removal of those ugly pieces of twisted metal that are called "art" in front of government building.

If the government gave a £2,000 subsidy to anyone who buys an automobile, do you doubt that the price of automobiles would go up -- perhaps by £2,000? Why then does no one see any connection between government subsidies to college students and rising tuition?

Poetry, the shadow that darken us all with the speed of light

2005-04-10T13:31:00.000+01:00

In this computer age, reality travels with the speed of light in a newsroom. Everything is illuminated. There are no gray areas -- no shadows.

Aljazeera TV advisory and story on the evening of Saturday 09, 2005, lift little to the imagination: “Twenty-nine people were killed and scores wounded in attacks against Iraqi security forces and civilians on Saturday, the second anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein's government.”

The rest of this breaking-news story was about the details of the attack. Aljazeera journalist tried to answer the traditional journalistic questions starting with the five W's and an H: who, what, where, when, why and how.

But it was too early for any answer except the "what."

Poetry, however, can give context to awful occurrences like this. Though not regenerating the slain nor correcting perceived wrongs, the art of putting words together can give perspective.

Gibran khalil poem “Al A’rd (in Arabic)” or “The Land (in English)” is an example of the poetry that I am talking about. Although, the poem was written years ago, its inspiration last for years and years after. It keeps you wonder and makes you think millions of times before you reach to an answer, if you could!.

تنبثق الأرض من الأرض كرهاً و قسراً .

ثمّ تسير الأرض فوق الأرض تيهاً و كبراً .

و تقيم الأرض من الأرض القصور و البروج و الهياكل .

و تنشئ الأرض في الأرض الأساطير و التعاليم و الشرائع .

ثم تملّ الأرض أعمال الأرض فتحوك من هالات الأرض الأشباح و الأوهام و الأحلام .

ثمّ يراود نعاس الأرض أجفان الأرض فتنام نوماً هادئاً عميقاً أبديّاً .

ثمّ تنادي الأرض قائلة للأرض : أنا الرحم و أنا القبر و سأبقى رحماً و قبراً حتى تضمحلّ الكواكب و تتحول الشمس إلى رماد .

What it means to apologize

2005-04-10T13:01:00.000+01:00

It was another long Saturday night; an old friend of mine was visiting the neighbourhood and decided to meet up for the night.

Ammar, three years older than me, went to the same college and shared the same interests. Two years ago he got married with his beloved girl. I was in their wedding when I felt the warm love in his eyes. It was then when I told myself that he was going to be a great husband and live happily with his wife.

Last night, the shine of his eyes was pale and I couldn’t stop myself from asking him about what was up with him. When he raised his eyes to me and before moving his lips I realised that he was having a problem with his wife; a problem of continuous arguments. After one hour of talking, I asked him on how he would approach his wife after an argument. He said they would usually stop talking then get together again in a while in a way like nothing had happened. But would that be the right way? At that moment I remembered the Venus and Mars on a Date, a book about helping men and women learn to communicate, especially during the "five stages of engagement". It said that during the engagement stage of a relationship, learning to give and receive apologies is important. In fact, the authors claimed that it is more important for a man to learn to apologize, and more important for a woman to learn to accept an apology. Apparently the authors believed that men accepted apologies easier and women gave them easier. But that's not my point here.

At least for my part, I took it as good advice to overcome pride, let down defenses, and apologize. I knew it was going to be a good spiritual discipline to cultivate for the lifetime of marriage ahead. In the movie, Love Story, Ali MacGraw's infamous deathbed words to Ryan O'Neal may have been "Love means never having to say you're sorry." But as experience shows, that only works in the movies!

Love says sorry plenty, or at least should. A sincere apology, well and simply stated, clears the air when somebody fails to love, honor and do the laundry.

Taking responsibility is a sign of maturity. It's immature to get defensive or tell the other person they did something worse than what you did. Responsible acknowledgment staves off bitterness and sets the stage for change.

Change, of course, is the operative word. An apology without at least some semblance of improved behaviour is as vacuous as a political party's pre-election promises. For an apology to count, you have to want to change and then follow Nike's advice and "just do it."

A genuine apology offered and accepted is one of the most profound interactions of people. It has the power to restore damaged relationships, be they on a small scale, between two people, such as spouses, or on a grand scale, between groups of people, even nations. If done correctly, an apology can heal humiliation and encourage forgiveness in the injured party.

Despite its importance, apologizing is antithetical to the ever-pervasive values of winning, success, and perfection. The successful apology requires empathy and the security and strength to admit fault, failure, and weakness. But we are so busy winning that we can't concede our own mistakes. Security in God, and knowledge of our weakness and need for him, are key.

We may even think we're right, and think "why apologize?" But I think many times it's not about being right or wrong. A true word at the wrong time or for the wrong purpose is wrong. Apology is not about who's right. It's not about winning. It's about restoring relationships.

Is democracy really innocent?

2005-03-08T17:15:00.000Z

I am reading a book entitled “On Power: The Natural History of Its Growth.” I am really amazed by how his author, Bertrand de Jouvenel, was that insightful. The dangers that he warned of, sixty years ago, seem to me are taking place in the world right now.

I am writing because I feel that one of the duties of the good citizens in the world who treasure liberty is to reflect on the problems set out in that book. I think we are facing two paradoxical problems: one is the lack of democracy in many parts of the world; the second is the failure of the same democracy we are watching taking place in the West. Let me quote from that book to explain my fears.

In the foreword of the book, Dr. Denis William Brogan (1900-1974), Professor of Political Science at Cambridge University, wrote the following:

“We are, most of us in the West, immunized against the doctrine of political infallibility and impeccability when it comes to us in the discredited forms it took in Berlin and Rome or even in the more sophisticated form it takes in Moscow. But we are not immune from ‘democratic’ arguments which state or imply that a majority can do no wrong, if it is our majority; that, if we are part of it, it cannot do anything disastrously silly. It can and it does.

…

But, since the people is not always right, is capable of going wrong morally and prudentially, it would be dangerous to relax the vigilance that is the price of liberty simply because power is in the hands of the ‘people.’ And in any case, power will not be in the hands of the people, but in the hands of rulers.”

Now, I quote some of what M. de Jouvenel has written:

“Circumstances arise which make the people themselves want to be led by a powerful will….

Democracy, then, in the centralizing, pattern-making, absolutist shape which we have given to it is, it is clear, the time of tyranny’s incubation.

By means of the air of apparent innocence which Power [he meant by Power the central governmental authority in a state or a community] derives from it, Power has attained a vastness of which a war and despotism such as Europe never saw before give us the measure. Had Hitler succeeded Maria Teresa on the throne, does anyone suppose that it would have been possible for him to forge so many up-to-date weapons of tyranny? Is it not clear that he must have found them ready prepared?

…

Can anyone doubt that a state which binds men to itself by every tie of need and feeling will be that much the better placed for devoting them all one day to the dooms of war? The more department of life that Power takes over, the greater will be its material resources for making war; the more clearly seen the services which it renders, the readier will be the answer to its summons. And will anyone be so bold as to guarantee that this vast mechanism of state will never fall into the hands of a glutton of empire? Is it not the will to Power rooted deep in human nature, and have not the outstanding qualities of leadership needed for the handling of a machine which goes ever from strength to strength often had for companion the lust of conquest?”