Trump and our misplaced fears

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Let’s jump right into it.

Amidst all this apocalyptic talk, I believe we are doing ourselves a great disservice.  We are allowing ourselves to be governed by our irrational fears.  I’m hearing talk of WWII internment camps, rise of fascism, and mass deportations. How are we any different with our extreme depictions of the future than the other side who rallied around an impending Armageddon due to guns being confiscated by big government, attacks by terrorist immigrants, and the replacement of the US constitution with Shariah law.

Breathe people.

Let us put things in perspective.

America didn’t suddenly transform into Nazi Germany overnight. The vast majority of Americans still support womens/minorities/gay rights, acknowledge climate change, and even believe that immigration helps the country.

Trump did not win because of his hate-filled platform.  He won despite it.  It just goes to show you how frustrated people have become with status quo politics – which is exactly what Hillary stood for.

At the same time, are we so naïve to believe that the sentiments publicly expressed by Trump didn’t exist in the minds and hearts of millions of Americans? Didn’t the racist police exist during Obama’s presidency? Haven't islamophobic incidents occured throughout the past 8 years? Weren’t countless drone attacks on Muslim countries overseen by Obama?

Some will counter that never have such vile remarks and beliefs been uttered from a presidential platform.

Are you suggesting that the likes of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their neo-con cabal had any lesser vitriolic beliefs?  They led us into two devastating wars, instituted a surveillance state like no other, laid the groundwork for the 2008 financial meltdown, and so much more, but since they never expressed racist or misogynistic sentiments, our sensibilities were not sufficiently provoked.

How odd.

Also, can I say that I feel a sense of chicken coming home to roost?  No one batted an eye when the benevolent Obama expanded his executive powers, failing to reign in the NSA and the surveillance state. Obama apologists loyally turned a blind eye to their leader’s unflinching support of Wall Street. Democrats stayed quiet at the assassination of a US citizen (Anwar Awlaki).

So let’s get off our high horse in denouncing the unacceptable and repugnant when it spews from Trump’s mouth, but happily accepting when it’s packaged in the eloquent and soothing words of Obama. If you want to make the argument that the sky is falling, try not insulting our collective intelligence by claiming Trump’s victory is the catalyst.  Obama’s eight years, as well as Bush’s eight before him, sure helped bring about our current state of affairs.

Speaking of Obama…

Just like America didn’t get a racial panacea when Americans voted in their first Black president, she won’t get a racist paradise by voting in the first openly racist president.  200 years of American history has shown us one thing, namely the system has been deliberately constructed to prevent major shifts in one direction or the other.

Obama’s two terms have shown us that one man does not a government make. Regardless of how visionary and full of hope his promises were, he was forced to work within the strict confines of the American government. And so too must Trump.

Yes, I do believe there will be a temporary spike in hate crime. Thugs and bigots will be emboldened to lash out and act upon their racist tendencies. In response, minorities will have to put up their personal defense mechanisms, in the same way Muslims do in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack carried out by their co-religionists. They will have to constantly look over their shoulders, keep their guards up, and hope for the storm to pass. Eventually common sense will prevail, irrational fears will subside, and the masses can go back to their viral videos and celebrity gossip.

Fear and all its associated, knee-jerk reactions have a necessary role to play in our survival. Sure there are times when vigilance and paranoia are necessary. But once we calm down and begin to use our rational faculties, I believe we will all see through the haze of political fog that is impeding our vision. And what we will see is that our fears and hatred are misplaced and our enemy is not a Republican or Democrat.

Our enemy is the 1%.

Our enemy is the military industrial complex.

Our enemy is Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Big Oil, and all other Big Industries.

Our enemy is crass materialism and its failed attempt to fill our spiritual void.

Everything else is distraction and a sideshow.


Saturday, November 12, 2016 | | 5 Comments  

Bill Maher finally gets it right

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Normally Bill Maher is a bigoted idiot who fancies himself as an educated liberal. He has a history of bashing Islam for having inspired the radicals and extremists, while often conveniently forgetting that Western aggressions have paved the way and tilled the soil for those perpetrating completely un-Islamic reactions.

Except this one time. For once he connected the dots and (somewhat) admitted that a source of so much misery around the world is Western meddling in extremely unstable parts of the world.

 Let's hope and pray that others too come to their senses and instead of digging a deeper hole and channeling their inner Rambo*, realize that less is more.

 *Speaking of whom, I think it should be mandatory viewing for everyone to watch the Rambo episode when he aids the Afghani Mujahideen. That just about sums up the complete confusion upon which American foreign policy is based. The West has no clue who to support when it comes to these lands of a thousand tribes, such as Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan.

Sunday, November 15, 2015 | | 0 Comments  

What to write about?

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Yes, it's been quite a long time. My longest respite from blogging yet. I have my excuses. Leaving Saudi Arabia after 12 years and relocating the family to Islamabad would leave many a bloggers gasping for air. At the same time, it sure does provide for some good material.

So what topic, dear reader, should I resuscitate this blog with? My musings on leaving Saudi Arabia? The challenges of living in Pakistan? Our inevitable move back to the States? Is Trump a bigger joke than even George W. Bush? Is Pakistan sports a bigger joke than those two combined? Android vs IOS? Coffee vs Tea?

I need some inspiration.
I need some motivation.
I don't need any more perspiration (friggin' humidity here is killing me!).

It's your call.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015 | | 4 Comments  

Controlling our Narrative

Monday, November 11, 2013

Let us all stop being manipulated. Let us stop our mouths from watering every time the bell rings. Let us stop being knee-jerk consumers of 24-hour news channels, internet crazes, and instant feeds.

Let us begin dictating our own agenda. Let us decide for ourselves what is worthy of our attention. Let us raise the bar in inter- and intra-communal discussions.

For every video showing a Taliban beating some lady, let us refrain from commenting at the behest of wider society. For every news story highlighting the plight of Saudi women and their prohibition from driving, let us turn our backs on outside forces dictating the relevancy of certain issues (and thus the irrelevancy of so many other). For every video of a Saudi beating an expat worker, let us avoid being goaded into an apologetic response merely to appease our host nations. For every nutjob Muslim highlighted for acting like a nutjob, let us stop validating the highlighters by psychoanalyzing the nutjob.

Let us stop digging ourselves deeper into our hole by continuously answering, ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ Just as we understand the idiocy in replying to that question, we must also understand the madness in responding to every sensationalized whoop and holler highlighted in our newsfeeds.

We need to begin framing our own context and establishing our own position instead of responding to foolish viral videos and cultural phenomena that serve to only further substantiate prejudices and biases. Instead of fostering an enlightened alternative, we are only nourishing the degenerate beasts of shock journalism, snuff entertainment, and socio-cultural rubbernecking.

Must we have an opinion on every shmuck getting her fifteen minutes of fame? Must we demean ourselves with water cooler discussions about the latest video phenom on Youtube?

Or maybe we can choose the high-road and become prophetic, not only in our daily worship, but in our consumption of daily culture. Let us stop shrouding these instances of cultural flatulence in faux discussions of morality and ethics and instead, insist on meaningful conversations rich with substance and import, consistent with our agenda and beliefs.

Monday, November 11, 2013 | Labels: , , , , | 6 Comments  

Egypt: I told you so

Friday, July 12, 2013

I’ll humbly join the chorus of know-it-all’s who are not so humbly declaring to the world that they predicted the unfortunate fate of ‘democratic’ Egypt. While the current turmoil and chaos is very saddening, it definitely is not surprising. Two years ago, based on the experiences of Pakistan and Turkey, I envisaged such a scenario where the military would intervene. I must admit that Turkey has shown greater maturity and resilience in their standing up to the military, but Pakistan has remained true to form with the military still calling all the shots.

Truth be told, Egypt has a long way to go before they can reach the depths of Pakistan.  To reach such ignominy they would have to vote in a president, some sleazeball like El-Baradei, who would run the country for three years before stepping down under corruption charges, then return to power 4 years later before getting overthrown in a military coup, then go into exile in Saudi Arabia for 8 years, and then finally return and somehow ‘win’ elections to make him the leader of the country for the third time (I just summed up Pakistan’s current Prime Minister’s career arc). Yeah, Egypt has a looong way to go.

Welcome to the big boy’s table, Egypt…where Pakistan has a monopoly on adventures in farcical democracies.

On a more serious note, I've read countless analyses of the situation in Egypt, but the most astute and comprehensive breakdown is this post by Tariq Ramadan.  Well worth your time...

Friday, July 12, 2013 | Labels: , , | 2 Comments  

30 million by Four

Friday, July 5, 2013

I recently listened to this very enlightening podcast episode by Lexicon Valley titled '30 million by 4'. It details a very interesting research that highlights the importance of engaging your young children in conversation. Anyone with preschool children would greatly benefit from the 20 minutes or so.

30 million by 4 podcast

And I won't tell you what the title means...you'll have to listen to the podcast to figure it out. :-P

Friday, July 05, 2013 | Labels: , | 7 Comments  

When Muslims Intermarry

Friday, April 26, 2013

I recently returned from a short two-week trip to the US and one of the more common discussions I had with family and friends was about the future of Muslims in the West. I plan on posting my thoughts in some upcoming posts, so let me start things off with a very real concern: Intermarriage.

As Muslims being to assimilate and integrate, I find myself not so worried about some of the more recurring issues such as hijab or drugs or aqeedah – don’t get me wrong, they aren’t trivial, but they aren’t likely to result in offspring completely leaving the religion. On the other hand, the increasing rate of Muslims marrying outside our religion is just such an issue.

What so many Muslims may see as an acceptable practice from the Shariah point of view (where in fact a man marrying a Christian or Jewish woman is sanctioned, as they are People of the Book), is in my mind a very dangerous practice that will all too often result in future generations essentially leaving Islam.

As if the pressures of modern Western culture are not strenuous enough on a young Muslim, adding to the mix the life-long presence of a non-Muslim mother is, needless to say, very harmful.

And so I found this Washington Post article quite timely as it reinforced my recent concerns.

One interesting discussion I had was with my brother-in-law, who suggested that if I wanted to study the future of Muslims in the West, I ought to look at the Jews when they first arrived to the US. At the time of their arrival, they had a most similar makeup to us Muslims, in that they had relatively high levels of religious observation, a formal law like our Shariah, and restrictions on intermarriage.

And what I found was quite disturbing. When they first arrived in the late 19th century, Jews were intermarrying at a 4% rate. After nearly a century, their intermarriage has skyrocketed to nearly 50%. And this is from a religion in which intermarriage is strictly forbidden!

And as a consequence, as more Muslim men decide to intermarry, Muslim women will be left with little choice but to follow suit. This article from Al-Jazeera documents this inevitable rise in women marrying outside the faith.

Now some of you may be thinking, ‘How does this affect me or my children? They are being raised in a strictly observant household where intermarriage is not an option.’ That may be true, but can the same be said for two or three generations down the line?
 

Friday, April 26, 2013 | Labels: , , , , , | 6 Comments  

Anyone there?

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Hellooo...Anyone out there?!

I'm really not sure why I haven't posted anything for quite some time. Sure, the kids are homeschooling which has kept me busy. Also, I have limited access to the Net during the day, so that's killed some of my momentum. Anyways, I recently returned from a short trip to the US and I feel the need to put up some of my thoughts.

Let's start off with this link to a nice BBC article on the importance of boredom. I had written my thoughts on this very same topic some while back.

Anyways, sorry for the extended hibernation. I hope to get back to putting pen to paper and sharing some of my thoughts...

Thursday, March 28, 2013 | Labels: , | 8 Comments  

The Western Muslim's Burden

Sunday, September 2, 2012

A few days ago, a friend posted the following video about the efforts of the Deputy Mufti of Turkey to improve the women’s prayer areas in Turkish Mosques:



My friend lauded the efforts as a positive development and at first glance it does seem like a commendable initiative. However, after thinking about it, I must disagree.

I won’t critique the overt Western bias in the newscast.  Media in the West has an established agenda when it comes to covering the Muslim world – namely, the attempt to project Western liberal values onto a ‘backwards’ society. So when the news team who produced this short piece presents the female Deputy Mufti as a purveyor of some enlightened way and every other schmuck who questions her as an ignoramus, I’m not surprised.

And without sitting down and talking with the Deputy Mufti herself, I cannot possibly understand her motivations and rationales for leading this drive, so I’m not interested in criticizing her.

My reproach is for all of us Muslims in the West, who may see such a project and, based on our Western values and beliefs, immediately judge it as being a positive development for our misguided brethren in the Muslim world. We feel at ease in imposing our ‘civilized’ interpretations of Islam upon the backwards Muslim societies, like some twisted manifestation of the White Man’s burden - let us call it the Western Muslim's Burden. 

Afghanistan and the issue of female education is another example of the Western Muslim's Burden . We all started salivating when the West rang the bell calling for educating the young girls of Afghanistan.  I recall hearing khutbas and reading articles about the role of education and knowledge in Islam and how the Taliban's efforts against female education were antithetical to Islamic teachings. 

And so without realizing that fundamental societal issues needed to be addressed first, great initiatives were undertook to quickly open girl’s schools. All this effort was misdirected and misspent with increased tension and strife between the US-backed government and the more conservative elements of Afghan society.

Let us not repeat such dog-and-pony shows across the Muslim world.

Look, I’m all for efforts to make North American and European Masjids more women-friendly. For too long, sisters have been huddled into basements, behind barriers, and up on balconies – the same sisters who are actively participating in their work environments, universities, and all other areas of greater society. The dichotomy between these two worlds is so great and contradictory that it is has become unsustainable.

Originally, during the first generation of immigrant Muslims in the West (from the late sixties to the early nineties), Muslim women were coming from societies in which female participation in Masjid affairs, and to an extent in greater society, was very limited. And so, Masjids were built and organized to simply maintain that social structure.

As the first generation of indigenous Muslims grew up and this crop of Western-Muslims began to see the contradiction between the segregated role of women in the Masjid and the more egalitarian role of women in Western society, something had to change. And thus was born the movement to make the Masjids more women-friendly.

This recent movement hasn’t arisen in a vacuum. The social context has defined it. Muslim men and women have become acclimated to a more liberal stance on women’s role in society, thus allowing them to embrace the concept of a Masjid more amenable to women’s participation.

But can the same be said for Turkey?  

One needs to simply peruse the headlines to see that honor-killings and apostasy issues are still taking place in Turkey. Female literacy rates as well as employment rates are low especially when compared to their Western counterparts. Governmental positions held by women, salary gap between men and women, number of women shelters and other key indicators are similarly tilted against women. As much as the Turkish government may try to convince the world that Turkey is ready to join the EU, its people are still grounded in a more Eastern, traditional worldview.

Has the Turkish population internalized Western values, such as women’s rights, before initiating this project for women-friendly Masjids?

Now you may counter that removing the barrier or increasing women’s involvement in Masjid affairs are not exclusively Western values - that they are Prophetic values, as can be readily found in the Seerah of our Beloved Prophet (saw). Fair enough, but the social context of the Prophet’s time allowed for such practices (It could be argued that women in Muslim Arabia 1400 years ago were treated better than in most modern Muslims countries). It must be noted that in cases where the Prophet introduced concepts and ideas counter to prevailing social customs, such as abolishing slavery or prohibiting alcohol, it was done in a gradual manner so as not to upset the delicate balance of society.

So, if our objective is to (re)introduce the Muslim world to liberal values that are native to our tradition, then we must seek to do so in a holistic, foundational manner, avoiding the headline-grabbing, West-appeasing initiatives that will do nothing to change society and may even result in alienating the masses.


Sunday, September 02, 2012 | Labels: , , , , , | 9 Comments  

Despising Ramadan in Riyadh

Thursday, July 19, 2012

I have come to despise Ramadan in Riyadh. True, despise is a harsh emotion, but you may come to join me once you meander through the recesses of my mind…

It all started when we first arrived to the kingdom. We experienced our first Ramadan in a Muslim land – and it was exhilarating. Ramadan was no more a muffled observance by a religious minority – it was a proud experience causing greater society to unashamedly shout out its undying love for the One.  Ramadan ceased to be a state of aberration, with Muslims scuttling to their spiritual outposts in the scant Masjids dotting the American landscape, desperately seeking the company of fellow fasting Muslims. In Riyadh, the streets and shops were abuzz with a celebratory mood most deserving of Ramadan and every corner found a masjid alive with daily iftars and nightly prayers.

It was simply intoxicating.

And as with all intoxicants, the high was short-lived, superficial, and extremely ungratifying.

After almost ten Ramadans in Saudi Arabia, I’m convinced there is no real understanding of and even less appreciation for this sacred month. Ramadan has become a priceless painting collecting dust in the garage of a cultural boor.

From the Mercy of the One who has no limit to His Mercy, we are presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. every. single. year. And this gift is squandered by the vast majority as they simply reshuffle their schedules and adjust their bodies to adapt to the various Ramadan ‘inconveniences’.

Ramadan is supposed to be the month of starving the nafs and feeding the heart. Instead, they pamper their bodies by sleeping all day and indulge their nafs by waking all night.

All year long we have unjustly imprisoned our hearts. We’ve clothed them in the orange jumpsuits of dunya, blinded them with the black hoods of our passions, surrounded them with the walls of our desires, callously scoffed at their requests for (spiritual) nourishment, and severed all ties with their kith and kin (the people of dhikr).

Yet, the Most Loving (swt) gives us a chance to undo all this damage beset upon our hearts. He has presented before us a succulent buffet of spiritual subsistence and invited our hearts to plunge into it. This, the month of the heart, has been carefully designed by our Lord to help us reenergize our enervated souls while wreaking chaos on our nafs. Allah (swt) has installed mechanisms to debilitate the voracious appetite of the nafs – no food, no drink, no spousal relations.  Knowing our nature and its addiction to these fuels of the nafs, Allah has instated a month-long embargo as an aid to our developing an alternative heart-based energy; an energy that is infinitely cleaner and infinitely enduring.

And what do my bungling hosts do with this gem? Instead of restraining the nafs, they give it carte blanche throughout the night. Shops are readily available to fancy any and every craving. Restaurants are filled with those filling the vessels of their insatiable appetites. Social gatherings are rescheduled to the wee hours of the night. Coffee shops are filled with patrons chatting away the last thirds of the night.

Starve the nafs?

Nay, this month has become a celebration of the nafs!

It has been transformed into a toothless vestige that is now celebrated like other vile, commercial holidays.

Oh, how urgently our hearts are in need of the REAL Ramadan!

We have failed to realize the nature of our hearts. Like our bodies that we are so quick to titillate with every possible sensation, our hearts too need nourishment. They hunger for a provision that has Divine ingredients. They long to be entertained by passions and joys furnished by their Creator.

Yet, the one time of the year in which the most Merciful has laid out the red carpet, we spurn His favors, choosing instead to find alternative ways to suckle our ever-dependent nafs.

Sad to say, but Ramadan in Riyadh is catered for feeding the nafs, not the heart.  What nourishment does one offer the heart with the endless Iftar buffets lavishly laid out at countless restaurants?  What benefit do the accommodating shopping hours provide to the heart? What value is it to the heart spending all night laughing and playing in an istiraha*? What else but the nafs is fed from the special TV dramas and comedies featured in Ramadan?

Alas, in such an environment, replete with devices designed to anchor down our heaven-aspiring hearts, should not one despise it? Indifference is worse, no? I’ve tried for the past few years to no avail. Maybe you’ll suggest empathy; after all we should feel sorry for the misguided. But would you dare suggest empathy towards an abusive husband? I declare abusing the heart is worse.

Yes, scorn is most fitting.  Not for the people, but for the society. And I fear that my scorn would not be limited to Riyadh if I had but the chance to experience Ramadan in other Muslim lands.

*An Istiraha (trans. 'place of rest’) is a small enclosed park-like facility, usually rented out for an entire day (or night) by a few families. It usually includes separate sitting areas for men and women, an open grass area, a small pool, and a kitchen. Public parks are crowded, unclean, and not private, so an istiraha is the destination of choice for many families.

Thursday, July 19, 2012 | Labels: , | 17 Comments  

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