Of bells and minarets

Written by René Guitton

When Jerusalem was conquered in 635 AD, the second caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab refused to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, despite an invitation from the Christian patriarch Sophronius, for fear that his men invoke the precedent to turn the place of worship into a mosque and thus deprive the Christians of their right to freely practice their religion.

Although 1,400 years have passed, people were sometimes more civilised and more tolerant then than in our modern world, where passions and tensions seem to have translated into a return of fanaticism and religious intolerance.

The example set by Omar, the inventor of dhimmitude, the code governing the life of non-Muslims under Islamic law, is symbolic of the covenant bearing his name, which granted the "People of the Book" (a term which refers to Jews and Christians) the right to live on Muslim-majority or Muslim-ruled lands and possess their own places of worship.

Is it possible to imagine Jerusalem, Aleppo, Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis, Algiers, Casablanca, without their lace-like filigree of church towers, minarets and sometimes synagogue cupolas soaring up to the sky like so many ladders guiding the prayers of the faithful up to their God?

The complicated Middle East of bygone eras provides a simple lesson for today, one that it sometimes finds hard to follow because it finds itself riddled by deep contradictions and attempts toward religious uniformity. This situation, which has been exemplified by Switzerland on 29 November, 2009 with the adoption of a law prohibiting the construction of minarets on its soil, risks promoting a rejection of the "other" and the unconditional right to pray as one chooses.

The incident would be trivial if it were not, in a sense, tragic. It is difficult to fathom how Switzerland, a country that prides itself in its centuries-old neutrality, could feel that its existence and culture are threatened by the construction of minarets. Regardless of the factors inspiring the bill, many feel its results primarily expressed a rejection of Islam and the right of Muslims to practice their rites freely wherever they live.

However, the Swiss referendum results do not only affect Muslims, although they are its main victims. It also risks institutionalising the so-called "clash of civilisations", leaving it up to citizens, or their elected representatives, to decree lifestyles and mindsets as a function of demographic majorities.

With this type of reasoning, a ban on the construction of minarets in countries where non-Muslims constitute the majority could also apply to the construction of churches or synagogues in Muslim-majority countries. In this regard, ethno-religious uniformity and viewing religion as a monolith risks reviving the post-Reformation concept of one people, one country, one religion, in which the ruler's religion determined that of a country's.

The absurd application of this principle is responsible for the disappearance of the time when Spain was known for its three religions, when the Jews and Moriscos (Muslims forced to convert to Christianity and suspected of doing so in name only) were expelled at the time of the Renaissance, a move that resulted in the spiritual and material impoverishment of the Iberian Peninsula.

The same principle inspired many a totalitarian regime in the modern era, in an effort to remove any spiritual element that might threaten their rule. The same principle is again at work today in many regions of the planet where being a member of a minority is synonymous with inequality.

Those who reject the construction of minarets in Switzerland do not realise that they could be viewed in the future like those who burnt synagogues or destroyed churches in what was known as the Fertile Crescent, or elsewhere. It is worth recalling that whenever a community is threatened, be it Jewish, Christian, Muslim, agnostic or atheist, others could be threatened too.

The spiral is now set in motion and could wreak its horrendous effects unless we stand up to reaffirm that the pre-eminent dignity of every human being, and the right for every person of faith to pray to his or her God as he or she sees fit, are not subject to a building permit. The minarets of Geneva are worth as much as the bells of Basel. Now is the time for one and all to remember this.

(René Guitton, a writer and essayist, is a member of the Alliance of Civilizations and has recently been awarded the 2009 Human Rights Prize.)

Time for justice & rule of law

Marium (Mary): As mentioned in Quran

Marium (Mary), daughter of 'Imran

[3. Surah Aal-e-Imran : Ayah 35,36] "(Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast." [3. Surah Aal-e-Imran : Ayah 37] "So her Lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing, and gave her into the charge of Zakariya; whenever Zakariya entered the sanctuary to (see) her, he found with her food. He said: O Marium! whence comes this to you? She said: It is from Allah. Surely Allah gives to whom He pleases without measure." [3. Surah Aal-e-Imran : Ayah 42,43] "And when the angels said: O Marium! surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of of the world. O Marium! keep to obedience to your Lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow." [3. Surah Aal-e-Imran : Ayah 45-48] "When the angels said: O Marium, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the '. Messiah, Isa son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah). And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones. She said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to I me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is. And He will teach him the Book and the wisdom and the Tavrat and the Injeel."

Isa (Jesus), son of Marium (Mary)

Isa (Jesus), son of Marium

[3. Surah Aal-e-Imran : Ayah 59] "Surely the likeness of Isa (alaihi salaam) is with Allah as the likeness of Adam (alaihi salaam); He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was." [19. Surah Marium : Ayahs 34,35] "Such is Isa (alaihi salaam), son of Marium; (this is) the saying of truth about which they dispute. It beseems not Allah that He should take to Himself a ! son, glory to be Him; when He has decreed a matter He only says to it "Be," and it is." [4. Surah Nisaa : Ayah 171] "O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa (alaihi salaam) son of Marium is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector." [5. Surah Al-Maidah : Ayah 110] "When Allah will say: O Isa (alaihi salaam) son of Marium! Remember My favor on you and on your mother, when I strengthened you I with the holy Spirit, you spoke to the people in the cradle and I when of old age, and when I taught you the Book and the wisdom and the Taurat and the Injeel; and when you determined out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by My permission, then you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission, and you healed the blind and the leprous by My permission; and when you brought forth the dead by My permission; and when I withheld the children of Israelfrom you when you came to them with clear arguments, but those who disbelieved among them said: This is nothing but clear enchantment. "

Mohammad Ali Jinnah

DOUBLE CLICK to read.

Who Will Fill The Void? « Naveen Naqvi

Who Will Fill The Void? « Naveen Naqvi

My Comments:

Mohsin Meer on December 24, 2009 said:

What is the existing situation and what will be the future scenario counts. What “should have been or what should be” has no significance in “real world”!

My short political predictions;

1) This is the last PPP government and end of PPP’s major role in Pakistan’s mainstream politics.

2) PML(N) may make next “coalition government” with MQM as a major ally. PML(N) has no moral or political edge over PPP but one man – Shabaz Sharif – will be the winning factor. (read again – Shabaz Sharif and not the Nawaz Sharif) PML(N) san Shabaz Sharif – a man with a solid character and undeniable deliverables – will have a same fate as PPP. So they should pray for his health and life.

3) MQM has no danger to get weaker or vanish despite what type of leader they have. His followers are “better” than leader in all arenas where their leader “excel”. So no one can snatch their “Catch 22″ MNA seats – a good enough diving borad for “Muthaida Muhajir” interests. But they should stop day dreaming of ruling Pakistan single-handedly for their heinous past crimes against Punjabis in Karachi. They may not even be able to win a single seat in Punjab despite their current success of winning one in Azad Kashmir by the ballot votes of Kashmiris living in Karachi. (who can even dare to defeat Mafia in their HQ?)

4) Mullas of any type have no future in politics in near future or even in far future. They may win few seats here and there in their stronghold pockets of illiteracy belt areas and these seats will be good enough for their “bread & buttered halwa”.

5) All the above is good until 2016 and 2017 elections will be the “Elections for Change.”

So until then “enjoy” the “intellectual debates” and as Sana coined – “right noises”.

In Urdu press, I just like few columnists and Athar Masood is one of them