harry potter and the book-burning benedict

Since I had recently been blogging about cults recently I thought it would be appropriate to write a tongue-in-cheek entry about how fanatical and cultish the Harry Potter fans are. I know a whole bunch of people who went and bought the new book yesterday and several of them have already finished it!

The Harry Potter books are almost like a powerful, but non-addictive drug. There is a strong compulsion to buy it, and people put aside numerous obligations aside in order to get their "fix" but once they've read the book, they don't need to keep rereading it.

But on second thought, looking back to some of the opposition to the Harry Potter books, I have to wonder which group is more cult-like, the fans, or the fanatics who think that people who read the Harry Potter books will suddenly start worshiping the devil.

Fanatics are after Harry Potter again (An old article, about the response to earlier books)

Pope Benedict Opposes Harry Potter Novels (a more recent article based on an older interview with the Pope, when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger)

That's not to say the books shouldn't be criticized. As a Muslim, I myself would express reservations about the fact that in the first volume, the villan turns out to be the nice harmless-looking guy in the turban. But I think it is more useful to point out this fact than to censor the book.

J.K. Rowling's Official Website

Wikipedia on Harry Potter

more protestant islam

Here is another paper exploring the concept of "Protestant Islam":

Contemplating Protestant Islam: A Look at Islamic Reform Movements through the Lens of Sixteenth-Century Christianity by Charles McDaniel A paper presented at CESNUR 2004 international conference, Baylor University, Waco (Texas), June 18-20, 2004. The paper is academic and so it is rather "objective" in tone. And it is unlike the previous piece in that it isn't mainly a defense of traditional Islam.

protestant islam

Here is an article called Protestant Islam by Mohammed Al-Abbasi from Masud Khan's excellent site for promoting traditional Islam. I would say it argues in favor of a mild forms of the guru principle (in the sense of defending the value of following traditional scholarship) and is critical of the Salafi movement.

the guru principle

The topic for the Progressive Blogger Union this coming week is Sun Myung Moon. He is not just a kooky "cult" leader. He has been very quiet about it, but he seems to have gained a certain amount of influence in the U.S. behind the scenes. For example he owns the Washington Times.

A less famous "guru" is Lauryn Hill's recent spiritual advisor named Brother Anthony, mentioned in the Rolling Stone piece called The Mystery of Lauryn Hill

Our individualistic secular society tends to be VERY suspicious of "gurus". In fact, one can even find antipathy to "gurus" even among people who acknowledge a spiritual dimension to life, which from a certain perspective is a little odd. If you have legal trouble, you go to someone who knows the law; a lawyer. If you have financial issues, you go to a financial advisor. If your car needs to be taken care of, you go to a mechanic; someone who understands cars and knows how they work and has experience fixing them. So if your soul is troubled, why wouldn't you go to an expert, someone who knows souls and knows how to heal them and guide them along the right path? So, in theory at least, I think that the idea of a guru - shaykh - teacher makes alot of sense.

The problem comes in when you actually have to find a good guru. In the case of mechanics, lawyers and doctors there are bodies which certify the ability of each "expert". You can ask to see their diploma from law school, or their board certification etc. In the spiritual case, this is often much harder to do (although it is not impossible to get some indications. For example, in Sufism a shaykh would need to have ijaza or permission to teach given by another shaykh)

At the same time, it also very possible for any sufficiently charismatic individual to simply claim to have some kind of spiritual qualification and abuse the trust of unsuspecting students., And that's where the problems start. False, unqualified or fraudulent gurus can damage and exploit the people put under their charge and we are right to be concerned about them. And unfortunately such gurus are common and widespread. Finding a true teacher is a difficult process, and requires a certain degree of discernment. Like finding a needle in a very big haystack.

The healthy counterbalance to the guru principle is what might be called spiritual egalitarianism (At least that's the term which comes to mind); the idea that spiritual knowledge isn't just the special domain of experts but that it is something we all have access to. Some groups, like the Quakers are quite explicit with their doctrine that we all have the "inner light" and so instead of looking outward towards a scholar or a shaykh, they tend to look within to examine their own conscience in search of guidance.

I would say that, like the guru principle, the idea of spiritual egalitarianism has its positive aspects but it can also be abused. (In the sense of not recognizing ANY differences between the deepest spiritual insights and the most self--serving populist slogans) And I would say that there is evidence for both tendancies in Islamic sources (from the positive perspective). There are certainly references which suggest that if we don't know something we should "ask those who know". But there are also texts which point to the idea that our ability to reason gives us the capacity to look at the signs of Allah, in the world, in history, in nature and in ourselves to find evidence of his will.

More later...

arrested development

The other day I was driving some friends to the airport and I popped an old mix tape I'd made about 10 years ago into the tape deck. I had labelled it "Redemption Songs" and it was full of a lot of modern music which was spiritual and mostly upbeat, but not necessarily devotional in the usual sense. There was plenty of Bob Marley (of course), some Ladysmith Black Mambazoo, some Fugees ("The Temple"), some KRS-ONE ("The Real Holy Place"), some Tracy Chapman ("Mountains of Things", "All That You have is Your Soul"). Even some Terrence Trent D'Arby ("If you all get to Heaven").

There was also a lot of Arrested Development ("Tennesee" "Fishin' For Religion", etc.) My friends actually hadn't heard of Arrested Development (damn I feel old) and as I was trying to explain what they were like, I thought that this would actually be a good topic to blog on.

Now I really don't like the word "cult" but apparently sometime after the group moved off the radar, Speech (the main vocalist from Arrested Development) became a member of the the Atlanta Church of Christ, one of the International Churches of Christ (part of what is sometimes called the Boston Movement). The movement has become contraversial recently because of some "cult-like" features.

The Church practices something called "discipling" where newer members would be paired with a more experienced member who would guide them in the church. Now at first glance this idea isn't so bad. And even in Islam there are individuals who may seek the assistance of a shaykh who they could consult when they make certain decisions. But the problem is that this more experienced member or "discipler" didn't even have to have any special qualifications. And on top of that, the disciplers exert a high degree of control over the day-to-day life of the people below them (including extra-curricular activities, who they can date, and how often to have sex with their spouses, etc.)

On top of that, the Church seems to make high demands on the time and resources of its members and discourage ties with people outside the church. And they seem to have a narrow view (narrower than most Christians anyway) of who is a "true believer".

Recently, the Church has gone through a certain amount of restructuring and reform. Kip McKean, charismatic former-head of the movement resigned due to personal reasons and that seemes to have created the opportunity for many of the churches in the movement to "mellow out" (while other individual churches have probably not changed very much at all).

At the same time, this is all just background and a general picture. I have no idea if Speech, himself, has really been victimized by the group in any sense. Perhaps the Atlanta Church of Christ is less controlling. Or perhaps in an attempt to attract a celebrity/spokesperson he is being treated differently from other members. (Just as some have said John Travolta and Tom Cruise and other celebrity Scientologists are probably treated differently from rank-and-file members of the Church of Scientology).

On top of that it is hard to imagine the "revolutionary" brother who sang "Fishin' For Religion" or essentially made up his own religious scripture in a song like "Washed Away" ending up as a member of a cult but then stranger things have happened. But on the other hand, in his Arrested Development days, Speech's songs certain manifested a strong spiritual hunger and longing which actually might make a person more likely to join a group like ICOC.

In any case, Speech continues to make music. And his albums continue to explore religious themes. For example, Check out Speech's solo album "Spiritual People"

Speech/Arrested Development Webpage (LIFE MUSIK)

Arrested Development Lyrics

More critical piece about ICOC from a Muslim site

A page on ICOC from Rick Ross' anti-cult site

different religions week

Different Religions Week 2005 is Friday, July 15 to Friday, July 22. During the week, please consider attending a religious service of a faith different from your own.

Different Religions Week was founded in 2003 by Nathan Black, an undergraduate at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Troubled by the frequency of religiously motivated violence and the complexity behind the conflicts, Black resolved to make a small, long-term contribution to the search for tolerance and peace.

Black believes that most religiously motivated violence arises from the misunderstanding and demonizing of one side by the other. He is convinced that if people could simply observe the way their supposed enemies connect with their spiritualities and muster the strength for their daily lives, we would all be struck by the similarities of humans and their faiths ?not the alleged differences over which we kill.

Aware that closed minds are difficult to change, Black formulated Different Religions Week as a chance for those already tolerant to stand up and say, I, for one, am going to stop living in a box. It is hoped that if such an expression of open-mindedness is made as loud as possible, some of those on the fence about different religions will then feel compelled to participate. They, in turn, may be able to tickle the curiosity of their peers with even narrower worldviews. In this way, understanding and tolerance of different religions may eventually trickle down to the most adamantly bigoted the fanatics and the terrorists that sadly exist in most every religion, and who lie at the heart of the scourge of religiously motivated violence.

Maybe you should consider trying it out and learn about a different place of worship. And conversely, we should keep in mind that someone might want to visit the masjid (after all, the week goes from Friday to Friday) so we should try to be good hosts.

Via: Left End of the Dial

islam and the race question

A little on the academic technical side, this is a brief paper by Dr. Paul Hardy (Who I think I 've actually met before. Only I knew him as Abdul Ghani... he was one funny brother) called "Islam and the Race Question" which argues that Islam is deeply egalitarian and anti-racist.

not just in february

On the Hanafi fiqh list, someone had recently asked a question about Blacks and Islam and part of the answer included a link to a piece by Imam Zaid Shakir entitled Reflections on Black History Month. I still have to think a little more about his take on Fanon, but in general it is a pretty good piece.

what do blacks have in cuba?

This is actually an old article by Pedro Perez Sarduy about the racial situation in Cuba. In other contexts Sarduy often sounds like an apologist for the Cuban regime but this current article seems a little more even-handed.

santeria and islam

Here is a brief review of the book Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, And National Identity by Christine Ayorinde.

The review begins with the remark:

"Ayorinde breaks new ground in her important discussion of the evolution of revolutionary policy toward religion in general, and Afro-Cuban religious practice in particular. . . . Although she is careful not to overstate her case, the conclusion one can draw from her book is that the nation Fidel Castro declared to be 'Afro-Latin' in 1975 is in the process of becoming the world's first socialist state acknowledging (however tacitly) a congeries of African-derived religious forms as its 'national' religion."--Stephan Palmié, University of Chicago

For a long time I've been thinking about the relationship between Santeria and Islam. There are interesting similarities and contrasts. Although on a personal level, the bulk of my family members are either Protestant (like my parents) or Catholic or non-religious, from an "ethnic" perspective, one could certainly make a case that Santeria is the religion of "my (Cuban) people" (which is basically the point of the above passage). The descendants of African slaves in the New World especially South of the Border were able to substantially hold onto the faith and traditions of the ancestors by hiding their practices within a Catholic matrix. Outwardly they showed devotion to Saint Barbara, but inwardly they would think "Chango". Outwardly they would pray to St. Peter, but in their hearts they would say "Ogun". Some might dismiss Santeria as idolatry and superstition, but from another perspective it is an admirable exercise in creative resistance to oppression.

If ethnicity were a primary consideration in choosing a religion, then it is likely I would have become a practitioner of Santeria (which is becoming more dominant and widespread in my parent's homeland) instead of Islam. I chose Islam, in part, because it was a more universal religion, a more human religion. As one author put it, Islam is about the encounter between God as such, and man as such. Nevertheless, there are still ways in which Islam has a certain strong organic relationship with the Latino and Black [1] [2] experience. (Also check my links section for sites which deal with Black or Hispanic/Latino Muslims)

Another interesting question for me is to think about how Muslims ought to view Santeria. In my opinion, one of the real strengths of Islam is it's capacity to come to terms with other religions and tolerate them, without collapsing into a wishy-washy relativism. Muslims can respect the divine origins of Christianity, Judaism, and other revealed religions while at the same time encouraging a commitment to truth and justice.

As the Quran says:

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. [2.62]

And over the centuries, as Muslims encountered other faiths, arguments were made that Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, etc. could also be recognized as people of the book, or at least those who "believe in Allah and the Last day and do good".

In the case of Santeria where do we stand? Although sometimes thought of as polytheistic because of the belief in different orishas or spirits, Santeria actually does believe in a single creator God (named Oludumare). So in Islamic terms it is at least conceivable that the different orishas represent different names or aspects of the one God, or more likely, the orishas, who are generally not thought of as perfect or absolute, can correspond to angels or jinn. Another possibility is that some of the orishas were actually human prophets who (like Jesus) became "deified" once their ministries ended. In fact, this likely in the case of Chango who was an ancient Yoruba king.

Do practitioners of Santeria have a book? The principles of Santeria are generally transmitted by an oral tradition (and so was the Quran originally), but there is a collection of oral texts, in particular there are a set of texts related to Ifa divination (which in certain respects is similar to the I Ching, discussed in an earlier blog entry)

Santeria also provides its practitioners with an ethical/moral framework as well. In this regard, the 11 Commandments attriibuted to Oludumare are sometimes mentioned:

1. You will not steal
2. You will not kill, except in self-defense and for your sustenance
3. You will not eat human flesh
4. You will live in peace among yourselves
5. You will not covet your neighbor's properties
6. You will not curse my name
7. You will honor your father and mother
8. You will not ask more than I can give you and you will be content with your fate
9. You will neither fear death nor take your own life
10. You will teach my commandments to your children
11. You will respect and obey my laws

All in all, I would just like to suggest that Santeria, like Christianity and Judaism, can be thought of as a religion of Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book) with a divine origin (however distant or however much it may have changed since its beginnings). But of course, Allahu alim (God knows best).

wild pigeon

On a related note.. let's look at censorship of a much more extreme political and violent variety. 10 years in prison for writing a single poem! May Allah make it easy on him:


The poem "Wild Pigeon," written by a Muslim poet in China and published by an official Chinese literary publication, seems innocuous enough - a young pigeon is trapped and caged by humans when he ventures too far from home, and chooses to die rather than be imprisoned for life. However, this poem was published in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, otherwise known as East Turkestan, and officials saw in Nurmuhemmet Yasin's poem a call for Uighur separatism. The plight of China's Muslim minority, which considers itself to have been forcibly integrated into China (alas, that bane of Muslim existence, oil, lies under their feet), has become worse in recent years as Beijing has implemented measures to suppress the Muslim population of 19 million and encourage non-Muslim Han Chinese to settle the area. This, in turn, has radicalized some Uighurs and turned them towards militancy, which then creates a backlash against the remaining Uighur population. Which brings us back to Mr. Yasin and his poem. After a closed trial in February 2005 at which he was not permitted to hire a lawyer, Yasin was sentenced by the Kashgar Intermediate Court to 10 years in jail for inciting Uighur separatism, a sentence which was later upheld on appeal. He has been permitted no visitors, and his personal collection of 1,600 poems and stories has been confiscated. Yasin's story is by no means unique - similar judgements have been made on other Uighurs for infractions as small as wearing a beard. "The authorities continued to use the international war against terrorism to justify harsh repression in Xinjiang, which continued to result in serious human rights violations against the ethnic Uighur community," reads a report from Amnesty International. "The authorities continued to make little distinction between acts of violence and acts of passive resistance." While there is little chance that China will restore the independence East Turkestan enjoyed between 1938 and 1949, activists are turning to the Internet and other media sources to keep China's human rights abuses in check, using Tibetan activism as an example.

Source: alt.muslim

censorship?

Just yesterday the issue of censorship came up for me in a weird way. I drove a friend to a high school where he had to work on a project. And when I got bored I used the high school's computers to surf the internet, check e-mail and actually write a little for this blog. The first time I came to the Planet Grenada front page, everything was fine. But after a few minutes when I tried to come back a bizzare/scary warning message appeared saying that due to content, access to the page would be denied.

It gives me something to think about. On the one hand I want to be free to be edgy and candid and open and critical. I should be able to use all the words in the dictionary (and a few that aren't) if I want to. On the other hand, I do feel that the content of this blog is interesting, informative, positive, and its something that I'd want to share with a large set of people. It feels like a trade-off.

respect the technique

Politically conscious Afro-Peruvian rapper, Immortal Technique, is the subject of this recent piece from In These Times, entitled Respect the Technique

fighting terrorism with islam

Finally, someone doing things the right way. Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar, of Yemen's Dialogue Committee and the Yemeni Organsation for Human Rights came up with a unique strategy after an increase in militant influence in Yemen led to increased attacks. Confronting captured militants in prison, he challenged them to back up their beliefs with the Quran in a series of debates, ultimately proving to many that their interpretations of the Quran were misleading.
full story from alt.muslim

negrodamus 2

Audience Member: Negrodamus, why is President Bush convinced there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Negrodamus : Because he has the receipt.

negrodamus 1

Audience Member: Negrodamus, why do white people like Wayne Brady so much?

Negrodamus : White people like Wayne Brady because he makes Brian Gumbel look like Malcolm X.

"it makes my teeth white" - paul mooney

In this blog, especially with certain entries, I often have some very intensely personal things in my life that I'm dwelling on, but instead of coming out and saying exactly what is going on in a clear and explicit way, I often point to public events or creative works or artists who are in the same ballpark, and which are hopefully still interesting to the other people reading, but in reality are only the tip of the iceberg. This is no exception...

Have you ever heard of Paul Mooney? He's this amazing Black comedian. In my book he is actually THE Black comedian. He was a writer for Sanford and Son, he wrote for Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live, and head writer for In Living Color (he's the one who made up Homey the Clown). He has appeared in Spike Lee's film Bamboozled, Robert Townsend's film Hollywood Shuffle and even an episode of Good Times. Most recently he has appeared on the Dave Chapelle show as Negrodamus and on the Ask a Black Dude segment.

An article entitled Straight Talk appeared in the Bay Area journal Metroactive a few years ago gives a taste of Mooney's material but doesn't do it justice. Instead of shucking and jiving like generations of Black comics from Mantan Moreland to Martin Lawrence to the latest Neo-Blaxploitation sit com on UPN (which stands for U Pick a Nigger, according to Mooney) or BET for that matter, Paul Mooney's laser sharp wit is radical, liberating, cutting edge and cathartic.

The two albums of his I'm aware of ("Masterpiece" which I have, and "Race" which I'm trying to find) are both out of print.

Mooney's humor is certainly not for the easily offended, but if you can get past that he has alot to say. If you think about it, due to obvious economic and demographic realities of the market, most Black entertainers and artists are creating a product intended for white consumption, or at least strongly influenced by the preferences and demands of white consumers (e.g. the biggest consumers of mainstream hip-hop are white kids). And in the case of comedy, this means that to a large degree Black comedians set up Black people to be objects of ridicule. But Paul Mooney turns this formula on its head and fights for laughs with the ruthlessness of a Mau-Mau.

He uses his words to redefine the world in new ways. It's like he can reach deep into your gut, up through your limbs, pull out your funny bone and then proceed to beat you upside the head to knock some sense into it.

More later...

on my mind...

Nothing particularly deep to say today. I've been a little tired these days. I'm still in the middle of reading Black Skin, White Masks. Some recent things happening in my life have made me go back to it. Fanon's a genius. BS, WM is a classic when it comes to understanding the ways in which racism influences personal relationships (romantic or otherwise).

I'm also in the middle of Wicked (it fleshes out the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West, with a sympathetic eye). I'd definitely recommend it. This is the second time I'm reading it. The book has some meaty stuff in terms of the nature of evil and how it sometimes is a matter of perception. (But it goes further than just saying "One man's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter). It realistically fleshes out the world of Oz in terms of politics culture and religion. (The Wizard was a liar who used deception to overthrow Ozma, the legitimate ruler. And in order to concentrate the wealth necessary to actually build an Emerald City or a Yellow Brick road, he then used his power to exploit the neighboring kingdoms and disrupt their ecosystems. Basically the Wizard was a tyrant. The author, Gregory Maguire, also creates several religions for the land Oz. One is a pagan nature-based religion while another is more of an ethical monotheism... in fact, the witch is a "preacher's kid" ). There are also a number of other interesting touches which make the story rather compelling, especially if you are familiar with the original Wizard of Oz.

On deck:
I'm not sure if I'll actually make time to read this, but the other story which has been on my mind these days is M. Butterfly. It is allegedly based on a true story. (I guess truth can be stranger than fiction).

don't ask for whom the bell tolls...

But seriously, I'm praying for peace in London and all over the world.

what is the islamic stance on the london bombings?

If Muslims are at a point where people actually ask this question and there is any significant degree of suspense about the answer, then the PR battle is already lost. But if you still need to look, here is a response from Faraz Rabbani from the Sunni Path website on the question: What is the Islamic stance on the London bombings?

(Note, the above answer is from the Hanafi perspective. If your name is Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson or Ann Coulter and you happen to be reading this. You will have to check elsewhere to find out what the non-Hanafi position is)

Actually, I also included this page because there is a link to a paper from Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad called Bombing Without Moonlight: The Origins of Suicidal Terrorism which is a bit old (written last year) but which still makes timely and interesting reading. And from there one can also find links to other writings by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad...

we are all collateral damage

(a response to the London bombings)

We Are All Collateral Damage
By Zaid Shakir

The Roads to Peace

The roads to peace are paths of war,
The gentle dove will leave her scar.

The moral men to say the least,
Will kill us all to get their peace.

The roads that lead to victories gained,
Are filled with people full of pain.

Only our Creator knew,
We’d kill so many to save so few.

The recent terrorist tragedy in London is disheartening. Once again some nefarious force has seen fit to totally disregard innocent human life in pursuit of a vile agenda that few of us know and even fewer could understand. The response of the world leaders assembled in Edinburgh for the G-8 Summit is perhaps more disheartening, as it promises more of the misguided policies that have proven so ineffective in prosecuting the war on terror. The leaders of the Western powers continue to imply that they will fight violence with more violence of their own. If current events are any indicator of future developments, such a policy will only serve to beget yet more terrorism.

This is a war being guided on both sides by self-righteous hypocrites whose motives and proclamations mirror each other. Each side sees God as being exclusively with them. That being the case, the restraint and judiciousness urged by Christian and Islamic theology to guide the execution of war is cast aside with wanton impunity. Each side manipulates a vulnerable public to create a climate that allows for the perpetuation and the inevitable escalation of the ongoing slaughter. Each side reserves the right to use the spectacle of indiscriminate violence to “Shock and Awe” the opposition, yet will deny that its tactics can be described as terrorism. Each side sees their civilian population as hapless, innocent victims, while the suffering innocent civilians on the other side are acceptable collateral damage.

There will never be any real progress in ending this terror war, until we realize that we have all become collateral damage, unacceptable collateral damage. That being the case, there is no they or we in this affair. We are they and they are we. When a child in New York never sees his mother again because she was crushed in a collapsed tower at the World Trade Center, we all have suffered an irreplaceable loss. When an impoverished family in Afghanistan is bombed from the face of the Earth by a misguided missile, something of our collective humanity is destroyed by the blast. When a child in Iraq is born with gross birth defects due to his mother’s exposure to depleted uranium, we have all been deformed. When London commuters fear ever again entering the underground, because of the ill-advised actions of a handful of desperate fanatics, their insecurity touches us all.

We, the collaterally damaged, will continue to exist in a state of dehumanizing loss, deformity, and insecurity until we rise up, unite, and refuse to support at any level the policies of leaders who continually fail to heed one of the surest of all political lessons: killing innocent civilians will never lead to a positive outcome for the transgressing party. This realization is the first meaningful salvo anyone could fire in a real war on terror. However, as long as we are not as moved by the suffering of innocent civilians anywhere as we are by the suffering of those close to us, it will be a salvo that remains unfired.

Imam Zaid Shakir
7/7/05
source

memin pinguin pulled

I guess public pressure can account for something. Fox finally caved and the racist stamps were recalled.

stop trippin'

Sunan Abu Dawud Book 41, Number 5097
Narrated AbuHurayrah:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah, Most High, has removed from you the pride of the pre-Islamic period and its boasting in ancestors. One is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner. You are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust. Let the people cease to boast about their ancestors. They are merely fuel in Jahannam; or they will certainly be of less account with Allah than the beetle which rolls dung with its nose.

kerry descended from the prophet muhammad?

This news is a bit old but I didn't hear about until recently and it seems interesting enough to share. Apparently, according to the genealogists at Burke's Peerage, former Presidential candidate John Kerry is actually a descendent from the prophet.

Harold Brooks-Baker, Publishing Director of Burke’s Peerage, said [...]that, “Senator Kerry, unlike all of the former presidential hopefuls, is a virtual walking United Nations of Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other descent onlrivaleded by his distant cousin, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain”.

Such a rich, cultural and religious heritage should give Senator Kerry a great advantage in understanding the complex political issues in the world today, especially those of the Middle East. He is a kinsman of the Shiite Shahs of Persia, the most famous of whom was Shah Abbas I who reigned from 1587 to 1629, and also the Muslim Kings of Tunisia, both of whom descend from the Prophet Muhammad; he is also descended from Alexius I, the Greek Orthodox Emperor of Byzantium who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 1081-1118 and via that link is a kinsman of the last Greek Orthodox Emperor Constantine 11th Palaelogus who was slain by the Turks in 1453 while defending Constantinople. Burke's Peerage has documented the SenatorÂ’s kinship with the Christian kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus and through them, the Bourbon monarchs of France including Louis XV, XVIXVIII XVIII and Charles X of France.

It sounds impressive, and in some sense it is, but if you think about it isn't so amazing. It's similar to how if you are in a room with 23 or more people, it is really likely that there is a pair of people with the same birthday. If you stop and think about all the co-incidences which have to happen in order for it NOT to be the case, it makes perfect sense.

In the case of looking at geneaologies, start with one individual. They have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, etc. in a quickly growing geometric series of ancestors back through the generations. Now, in order for two people to NOT be related, that means that they don't share a common ancestor. And that would mean if you look back at their two geometrically increasing sets of ancestors, they don't overlap. But as you go into the past, in every generation, the number of ancestors is approximately doubling, but the world population of is getting smaller and so eventually it becomes nearly impossible for two people to be unrelated, especially if they are of the same "race". So for example, it has been said that every white person alive today is descended from Charlemagne!

the (real) da vinci code

So I finished the Da Vinci Code yesterday. It was a pretty entertaining book. Not great, but interesting. Assuming they get some decent actors and a good budget, the movie should do pretty well. A friend of mine already lent me a copy of Angels and Demons (the book to which The Da Vinci Code is actually a sequel which deals with the Illuminati and the Vatican).

Anyway, part of the The Da Vinci Code really focuses on a secret stash of documents which establish a radically different alternative understanding of Christian history. I'm not going to spoil the novel by giving away whether the characters find this hidden stash or not. But in the "real world", if you are curious, you might be interested in checking out some of the many resources out there associated with early alternative forms of Christianity.

The most significant alternative form of early Christianity is Gnosticism.

A good resource for looking at many of these alternative texts (Other gospels, the Nag Hammadi texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.) is the Gnostic Society Library

Another good place to look is the Wesley Center Online's page on Noncanonical Literature or the early Christian writings page

There is a large amount of overlap among these pages but you they each have their differences too.

From a Muslim perspective this literature is especially interesting because it can help fill a particular gap: If Jesus was a Muslim, then where did the original Christians go, and where did the Pauline Christians come from?

By looking at these alternative texts maybe we can come closer to the actual Gospel of Jesus; the Injeel described in the Quran. And by looking at the history of these other groups perhaps we can understand the process by which Christianity went from the original teachings of Christ, to spreading and "mutating" into a larger movement with ALOT of theological diversity, and then changing again into the official religion of the Holy Roman Empire.

For example, some Christian groups had different understandings of the crucifixion and saw Jesus as a human and not as the divine second person of the Trinity.

"and the indians, give them whatever they want"

One of the most interesting passages in the John Grisham novel, the Pelican Brief, is the scene where the fictional Supreme Court justice Abe Rosenberg, is looking at a varied collection of protestors, each with their own set of issues:

`Biggest crowd ever!' Rosenberg yelled at the window. He was almost deaf. Jason Kline, his senior law clerk, stood behind him. It was the first Monday in October, the opening day of the new term, and this had become a traditional celebration of the First Amendment. A glorious celebration. Rosenberg was thrilled. To him, freedom of speech meant freedom to riot.
`Are the Indians out there?' he asked loudly.
Jason Kline leaned closer to his right ear.
`Yes!'
`With war paint?'
`Yes! In full battle dress.'
`Are they dancing?'
`Yes!'
The Indians, the blacks, whites, browns, women, gays, tree lovers, Christians, abortion activists, Aryans, Nazis, atheists, hunters, animal lovers, white supremacists, black supremacists, tax protestors, loggers, farmers - it was a massive sea of protest. And the riot police gripped their black sticks.
`The Indians should love me!'
`I'm sure they do.' Kline nodded and smiled at the frail little man with clenched fists. His ideology was simple; government over business, the individual over government, the environment over everything. And the Indians, give them whatever they want.

I don't think I've ever seen a "complex" political philosophy, encapsulated so briefly. I occasionally wonder if I can sum up my own beliefs as concisely. Sometimes I feel like my views are more the product of ad hoc sympathies and "teams" that I root for than the product of an objective overarching political ideology. (Would it be fair to say that Muslims are especially susceptible to this?) But then again, I think my views do tend to fit into Rosenberg's list above.

I've recently come to realize that I value freedom of speech more than the average person. A free marketplace of ideas is necessary for the truth to come out. Especially when it comes to criticizing government policy.

"'What kind of jihad is better?' He replied, 'A word of truth in front of an oppressive ruler!'"
(Sunan Al-Nasa'i , No. 4209)

Obviously on religious grounds one should strive for adab (good manners) and treat people well, and not gossip, lie, back-bite, slander, etc. One should speak in the best of terms.

But if someone is going to use a racial slur against me, for example, I think I would much rather to have the right to call them out as a racist prick than have the legal authority to punish them for their words.

The other response I would have to Rosenberg's list would be to make the part about "Indians" (dispossessed refugees, pro-independence, pro-autonomy forces) much more central. Whether you are talking about Puerto Rican nationalists, Kurds, Kashmiris, Chechens, Palestinians, etc. I think government should depend on the consent of the governed and there are certain places around the world where some groups have clearly withheld their consent. At the same time, there are clear advantages to international organizations like the UN or NATO or OAS etc.

I guess if I were Emperor of the Planet, I would cut up countries into smaller pieces according to national/ethnic/linguistic/religious boundaries but then at the same time I would like to encourage cooperation within voluntary international organizations of nations.

young lords

So once at a performance of Slave Ships South, somebody had asked me about the last line:
Ahora que estamos en el Norte, que traemos?
Now that we are in the North, what do we bring?

Part of an answer has to lie in the Young Lords Party, the Puerto Rican answer to the Black Panthers. (Some of these websites were already included in an earlier blog entry about the Last Poets mainly because Felipe Luciano was an early member of both organizations)

Young Lords Internet Resource, comprehensive collection of links for further research and documents for download

Latino/a Education Network Service, excellent history and explanation of the Young Lords with lots of links and access to a book and documentary about the Young Lords

¡Palante, Siempre Palante!, an extensive site about the Young Lords

Young Lords Party 13-Point Program and Platform (original version)

E-text has numerous articles related to the Young Lords

"The Young Lords and Early Chicago Puerto Rican Gangs" attempts to place the Young Lords in the context of ethnic Puerto Rican history and youth-gang history.

the da vinci code

So I finally got on the bandwagon and have started to read The Da Vinci Code. It really interesting so far but the concepts don't seem terribly original. In fact, alot of its ideas have been appearing in the culture lately

For example, there is Stigmata a film which is, in a visual sense, very well done. There are many shots of the movie which are set up like powerfully beautiful photographs. Aspects of the movie are inspired by the Gospel of Thomas and (like the Da Vinci code) part of the plot involves a group within the Catholic Church who is apparently willing to go to great lengths in order to gain control of a powerful secret.

Dogma is a Kevin Smith comedy. It certainly isn't for the easily offended. I won't say very much about the plot except that like The Prophecy and Constantine (two movies which are in other respects also VERY similar to one another... but The Prophecy came first) it features angels as the "villians". And like the Da Vinci code it also plays with the idea that Jesus has living relatives in the modern-day.

My favorite thing to mention about Dogma is the fact that Chris Rock's character, Rufus the black disciple, is *actually in the Bible*. He's possibly mentioned twice:

Right before Mark's description of the crucifixion we can read:

And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull). (Mark 15:21-22)

Cyrene is in Northern Africa. And then as a part of the introduction to one of Paul's letters he writes:

Greet Rufus, eminent in the Lord, also his mother and mine. (Romans 1:13)

Millenium is a tv series by the makers of the X-Files. Except where the typical X-files episodes might have to do with aliens and psychic phenomena, the typical episode of Millenium has to do with serial killers and apocalyptic/satanic cults. And like the Da Vinci code, a big part of the series had to do with the idea that Jesus has relatives who are alive in modern-times.

Actually, I understated it when I said that the Da Vinci is based on ideas which have already been floating around in the culture. In fact the authors of another work Holy Blood, Holy Grail (which claims to be a non-fictional work about secret societies, the Holy Grail and the descendents of Jesus) are trying to sue the author of The Da Vinci code for plagarism.

Even so, the Da Vinci Code seems like an engaging book so far and I'm eager to see how it ends.

poetry slam

Last night I was one of four featured poets at the local poetry spot. The evening mostly went well. I started off with Slave Ships South and then did two other poems afterwards (Ok it was a short set). It is an interesting process getting ready for Nationals. But especially since there is an enforced 3-minute time limit on poems I actually have a couple of pieces which I'm really fond of but in order to perform them I have to amputate whole sections so its a bit painful. (How do I hate clocks.... let me count the ways...).

chess films

So this past week I recently saw Searching For Bobby Fischer and Fresh (Which I often call "Searching for Bobby Fischer in tha Hood". They are both good movies, they are both about chess, and they are both screaming to be compared to one another.

Searching for Bobby Fischer is the story of real-life chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, a young middle-class white kid who enters the world of competitive chess. (Certain aspects of the movie are fictional even though many of the characters correspond to real people). For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the film is the fact that so much of it is actually set up like a chessboard, in the sense of being composed of adjacent black and white squares. For most characters, there are several other characters who are their "opposite" according to some point of view.

In Fresh, the action of the plot also mirrors the game of chess but in a different way; several of the characters are clearly meant to correspond to chess pieces. And so even though the main character Michael (nicknamed Fresh) is a chess prodigy who learned how to play the game from his father (played by Samuel Jackson), the most important "game" in the movie the very real struggle of Fresh to against himself and the forces which conspire to overwhelm him. So where Josh is a real person watching an unreal game, Fresh is a fictional character but he is "playing" in the real world. But like watching a chess game, we never see Fresh explaining to us the ultimate plan behind his actions. All we see are a series of moves. Drugs are swapped. A lie is told. Pieces sacrificed. And in the end, one side or another ends up checkmated (or is it a draw?)

Either way, I would highly recommend both movies. (And it is interesting to see them together). They both have excellent casts, excellent dialogue (Chess definitely needs more trash-talking) and excellent stories.

who is muqtedar khan?

If you haven't heard of him before, here are some links which give a little background:

Muqtedar Khan's IJTIHAD website
His blog, GLOBALOG
His column on global affairs, GlobalEye

And also, here is a highly critical piece on Khan from ZNET called Memo to Muqtedar by Abu Dharr

muqtedar khan's resignation

In another kind of "declaration of independence", Muqtedar Khan recently resigned from the board of the PMUNA (Progressive Muslim Union of North America). Hopefully it will stimulate the growth and development of a Progressive Muslim movement which is both, genuinely progressive and genuinely Islamic. Here is his letter of resignation:

Dear Omid (Safi)

Assalamu Alaykum,

Lately I have found the environment with Progressive Muslims Union extremely oppressive, abusive and hateful. I have found both PMU and MWU extremely intolerant of difference and disagreement. This is the only Muslim group where people who believe in the teachings of the Quran are ridiculed and those who express ambivalence about it even about the existence of God are celebrated.

But lately the culture of takfir and the absolutely lack of basic adab and simple etiquette that is becoming a defining characteristic of PMU has become suffocating.I have been extremely critical of many Muslim organizations, specially ISNA, AMSS and CAIR organizations that are routinely ridiculed by PMU members who feel that they are morally superior to all Muslims -- both in private and in writing but have never, ever been abused by any of them and most importantly never ever been made to feel that I do not belong.

It should not be a great loss to PMU. Even though I was member of the advisory board for a year, I was never consulted even once on any of its decisions. The advisory board never met even once and we never even had a single meeting with the executive committee. It is a sham anyway.

My close interaction with PMU has taught me three things, (1) that clearly I am not sufficiently indifferent to the teachings of Quran and the traditions of the Islamic heritage to be a "good Progressive Muslim"; (2) I was too gullible to believe in its empty claims of openness and tolerance for different perspectives. And (3) I have also learned that I am completely opposite in nature to most of the members of PMU. For example I believe that a rational argument precedes the moral judgment.

PMU is operating with a set of moral principles randomly acquired from Marxism and/or postmodern cultural trends and is treating them as absolutely moral truths, and are now looking for arguments [hopefully with some Islamic content] to justify them. PMU members unleash fanatical rage when this is questioned and resort to abuse, distortion, false accusations as a substitute to argument.

I can understand, sympathize and participate in exercises of Ijtihad that seek to reassess "human understanding" of Islam. I have been advocating this for over a decade. My website Ijtihad was launched in 1999. But not to observe Islamic values after recognizing them as such to me is a sin. I cannot for example in good conscience approve of alcohol consumption by those who acknowledge it as forbidden. To demand that I do so in order to remain a member of the community is exactly the kind of oppression that I though we had come together to fight.

I have been very prolific in presenting my views and opinions on myriad things Islamic or otherwise and hence there is very little about my politics that can be claimed to remain unknown. So when PMU invited me to join the advisory board, it was with full knowledge of my positions, so why the uproar now over my refusal to toe the party line. I have never, ever, hesitated from expressing my views and dissenting with any majority in every organization that I have worked with. But, the extent of intolerance that I have experienced from members of PMU has been shockingly unexpected and unprecedented. I have come to this sad realization that PMU's moral claims on social justice and tolerance and the "big tent approach" are shallow and indeed false. PMU is just another organization as intolerant and closed as any in our society.

Please liberate me from the oppressive and intolerant culture of PMU and accept my resignation from the advisory board with immediate effect.

Your Brother in IslamMuqtedar KhanM. A. Muqtedar Khan, Ph.D.

Director of International StudiesChair, Political Science Department, Adrian CollegeNon-Resident Fellow, Brookings InstitutionTel: 517-264-3949URL: http://www.glocaleye.orgURL: http://www.ijtihad.org

"patriotism" is a way of saying "women and children first"

More food for thought on the Fourth of July: This isn't critical in the same way as my other "holiday" entries. This is from a speech called "The Pragmatics of Patriotism" by Robert Heinlein (yes the science fiction author) and he actually gives a really thoughtful way to think about these moral questions. :

I now define "moral behavior" as "behavior that tends toward survival." I won't argue with philosophers or theologians who choose to use the word "moral" to mean something else, but I do not think anyone can define "behavior that tends toward extinction" as being "moral" without stretching the word "moral" all out of shape.

Selfishness is the bedrock on which all moral behavior starts and it can be immoral only when it conflicts with a higher moral imperative. An animal so poor in spirit that he won't even fight on his own behalf is already an evolutionary dead end; the best he can do for his breed is to crawl off and die, and not pass on his defective genes.

The next higher level is to work, fight, and sometimes die for your own immediate family. This is the level at which six pounds of mother cat can be so fierce that she'll drive off a police dog. It is the level at which a father takes a moonlighting job to keep his kids in college —and the level at which a mother or father dives into a flood to save a drowning child… and it is still moral behavior even when it fails.

Evolution is a process that never stops. Baboons who fail to exhibit moral behavior do not survive; they wind up as meat for leopards.

The next level in moral behavior higher than that exhibited by the baboon is that in which duty and loyalty are shown toward a group of your own kind too large for an individual to know all of them. We have a name for that. It is called "patriotism."

Behaving on a still higher moral level were the astronauts who went to the Moon, for their actions tend toward the survival of the entire race of mankind.

[...]

Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on… as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you've had it, you're done, you're through! You join Tyrannosaurus Rex, one more breed that bilged its final test.

I first read this speech many many years ago but his way of grounding even very altruistic acts of sacrifice on survival of the fittest is rather compelling and its something that I've found myself thinking about over and over again. An interesting consequence is that even sacrifices made for Pan-Latino, Pan-African, Islamic causes would be considered "patriotism" under Heinlein's definition. The important thing is to make efforts for a cause larger than yourself.

what to the slave is the fourth of july?

This is a talk delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852.

To check out the whole speech read the above link, but here is an exerpt (which is oddly modern for being over 150 years old):

Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work The downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world, and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated. Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are, distinctly heard on the other. The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen, in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God."

"asalam-alaikum , akhi. could you get me a lottery ticket?"

i just had a weird experience. I was at a gas station tonight to put gas in my car. But the person in front of me in line (African-American) goes up to the guy at the register (probably Arab) and says:

"Asalam-alaikum, akhi. Could you get me a lottery ticket?"

He then haggles a little about the price of the ticket pointing out that the tickets are cheaper across the street. Then when the man receives his lottery ticket, he makes a point of saying "Shukran". But then when the Arab man says "your welcome" or something else in English, the first guy makes a point of saying that he should say afwan. Then he gives his salams and quickly leaves with his lottery ticket.

I don't mean to be judgemental and I wouldn't even claim that my own life is necessarily free from equally dramatic inconsistencies. But I'm not interested in turning this blog into a confessional where I tell on myself, at least not for the moment. All I'm saying is that the above exchange was really striking and I thought I'd share.

black loyalists

Here is another early "fourth of July" entry.

Just recently a good Black friend of mine told me that his family had cottage in Canada. And that every year they had a tradition of going there for the fourth of July. Go figure.

Anyway, it seems like a couple hundred years ago there were thousands of Black folks who had the same idea. I need to double-check to make sure that I'm remembering this correctly but I seem to recall seeing a historical special on tv which actually made the claim that MOST Blacks in the American colonies were Loyalists (pro-British) during the American revolution. They realized that the American revolution wasn't being fought for their freedom, and the British were offering land, freedom and security to Blacks who joined them... and according to some sources, hundreds of thousands took them up on it. Many of them ultimately settled in Canada. Check it out.

The Black Loyalist Heritage Society webpage

Another Black Loyalist Homepage

A page on Black Loyalists from the The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies

inside the river of poetry

Louis Reyes Rivera traces the origins of modern poetry and spoken word, with special attention to the Latino and Black contributors to the form.

for the fourth of july

I guess I'm in a pre-holiday kinda mood

From Malcolm X's Message to the Grassroots

(another site with text and audio)

Look at the American Revolution in 1776. That revolution was for what? For land. Why did they want land? Independence. How was it carried out?Bloodshed. Number one, it was based on land, the basis of independence. And the only way they could get it was bloodshed. The French Revolution -- what was it based on? The land-less against the landlord. What was it for? Land. How did they get it? Bloodshed. Was no love lost; was no compromise; was no negotiation. I'm telling you, you don't know what a revolution is. 'Cause when you find out what it is, you'll get back in the alley; you'll get out of the way. The Russian Revolution -- what was it based on? Land. The land-less against the landlord. How did they bring it about? Bloodshed. You haven't got a revolution that doesn't involve bloodshed. And you're afraid to bleed. I said, you're afraid to bleed.

[As] long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people. But when it comes time to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls be murdered, you haven't got no blood. You bleed when the white man says bleed; you bite when the white man says bite; and you bark when the white man says bark. I hate to say this about us, but it's true. How are you going to be nonviolent in Mississippi, as violent as you were in Korea? How can you justify being nonviolent in Mississippi and Alabama, when your churches are being bombed, and your little girls are being murdered, and at the same time you're going to violent with Hitler, and Tojo, and somebody else that you don't even know?

If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it's wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it's wrong for America to draft us and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country.

more on negrismo

A brief page on negrismo (mostly in Spanish)

negrismo curriculum guide

Here is a resource meant for Spanish teachers who want to do something in their classroom for Black history month. It includes an overview of the negrismo movement, gives background for several different countries, describes possible classroom activities and has a useful bibliography.

memin pinguin

Without making any apologies for the Mexican government, I would say that they are probably being sincere in not seeing the Memin Pinguin stamps as offensive. The Negrismo movement (the Latin American black consciousness movement which coincided with the Negritude movement in the Francophone black world) such as it was, was centered more in the Caribbean (especially Cuba and Puerto Rico) and not so much in places like Mexico. And even in those areas of Latin America with high concentrations of blacks, history tended to move along a path somewhat different from the political/social/cultural movements exemplified by the civil rights/Black power struggle in the United States.

In some respects, Latin America is more racially inclusive than the United States. But in other respects, many in Latin America are not as "conscious" or sensitive to the sorts of slights which bother folks in the US. What's weird about the recent issue with the stamps is that it is not clear to me what the Afro-Mexicans feel about the situation.
It is clear that civil rights groups in the US are stirred up about the issue, but I wonder if the stamps are really the most important issue on the Afro-Mexican agenda (if there even is one). Maybe they have bigger fish to fry?

the mexican stamp controversy

Mexico recently issues a series of stamps based on Memin Pinguin, a popular black comic-book character drawn with features reminiscent of Jim Crow era pickaninny caricatures.

Najee Ali of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. is among the coalition of civil-rights activists who are condemning the stamps as racist.

The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico.

The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.

Activists said the stamp was offensive, though officials denied it.

"One would hope the Mexican government would be a little more careful and avoid continually opening wounds," said Sergio Penalosa, an activist in Mexico's smal black community on the southern Pacific coast.

"But we've learned to expect anything from this government, just anything," Penalosa said. In May, Fox riled many by saying that Mexican migrants take jobs in the United States that "not even blacks" want.

Fox expressed regret for any offense the remarks may have caused, but insisted his comments had been misinterpreted.

Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be.

"This is a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture," Caballero said. "His mischievous nature is part of that character."

However, Penalosa said many Mexicans still assume all blacks are foreigners, despite the fact that at one point early in the Spanish colonial era, Africans outnumbered Spanish in Mexico.

"At this point in time, it was probably pretty insensitive" to issue the stamp, said Elisa Velazquez, an anthropologist who studies Mexico's black communities for the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

"This character is a classic, but it's from another era," Velazquez said. "It's a stereotype and you don't want to encourage ignorance or prejudices."

The 6.50-peso (60 cent) stamps -- depicting the character in five poses -- was issued with the domestic market in mind, but Caballero noted it could be used in international postage as well.

A total of 750,000 of the stamps will be issued.

Ben Vinson, a black professor of Latin American history at Penn State University, said he has been called "Memin Pinguin" by some people in Mexico. He also noted that the character's mother is drawn to look like an old version of the U.S. advertising character Aunt Jemima.

The stamps are part of a series that pays tribute to Mexican comic books. Memin Pinguin, the second in the series, was apparently chosen for this year's release because it is the 50th anniversary of the company that publishes the comic.

Publisher Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. "It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news," de la Parra said, calling him "so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly."


Source CNN

ali shariati

I remember a long time ago (even before I was Muslim) I was reading about existentialism and how Sartre and Camus were atheist existentialists. And Kierkegard was a Protestant existentialist. And Marcel was a Catholic existentialist. And that Buber in some sense might have been a Jewish existentialist. And so of course the natural question was: What would Islamic existentialism look like? Even now, there are some features of existentialist thought which are appealing to me, but not enough for me to sign up for a membership card. And I think few Muslims would even be motivated to call themselves "Muslim existentialists" even if the label fit.(It would probably be seen as sectarian and assimilationist) In any case, to be honest, I still don't think I have a good answer to my question.

Fanon himself was strongly influenced by the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre. In fact, Sartre wrote the preface to Wretched of the Earth. Fanon, was from Martinique but of course he ultimately went to Algeria to participate in the revolution in that particular Muslim country.

Sartre was also an admirer Ali Shariati, one of the intellectual architects of the Iranian revolution, of whom he said: "I have no religion, but if I were to choose one, it would be that of Shariati's."

Here is the "official" Shariati website (whatever that means) which contains a sampling of his writings and speeches, a biography and many other resources.

recalling frantz fanon

Recent events have made me want to go back to reading Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks. The brother was a genius. Or at least he had a deep and far-ranging analysis of the ways in which white supremacy drives both black folks and white folks crazy. The style is sometimes hard to follow in the sense that he doesn't give us a systematic explanation or perspective. Instead, he presents the reader with flashes of experiences. And if you see yourself in them, fine. If you don't see yourself in them, that's fine too.

The way he puts it:

Many Negroes will not find themselves in what follows. This is equally true of many whites. But the fact that I feel a foreigner in the worlds of the schizophrenic or the sexual cripple in no way diminishes their reality. The attitudes that I propose to describe are real. I have encountered them innumerable times.

His other main work, Wretched of the Earth also deals with some of the same questions, except in the context of a national resistance movement against colonial oppression (the Algerian Revolution).

Some Quotes from Black Skin, White Masks

Some excerpts from Wretched of the Earth and related literature

piri thomas

Here is Piri Thomas' website
Actually, Down These Mean Streets was in certain respects as important to me as the Autobiography of Malcolm X. One of the more bizzare and striking passages in the book is when he and his brother argue about whether or not they are black. If I have more time I might quote the passage in another entry.

I"ve met Piri a couple of times. The first time was in college when I was active in the campus Latino student organization and I did alot of the coordination work to bring him on campus. The second time I was just in the audience at one of his "flows" and walked and talked with him a little bit afterwards.

nigger-reecan blues by willie perdomo

A long time ago, I remember seeing a show on PBS which showed various short art films or otherwise avant-garde performances. And on one episode of this show, I caught a film of Willie Perdomo doing "Nigger-Reecan" blues. I think it blew my mind to find out that there was someone out there who could relate to race in anywhere near the same way that I could. It's kind of funny from a certain point of view. In terms of my personal life, I think the poem was very much an important catalyst for me riding an entire train of thought. But now when I look back to the original poem, it doesn't impress me the way it once did. At one time, I very much needed to hear it, but right now I'm at a different place.

Nigger-Reecan Blues
Willie Perdomo (for Piri Thomas)


Hey, Willie. What are you, man?
No, silly. You know what I mean: What are you?
I am you. You are me. We the same. Can't you feel our veins drinking the
same blood?
-But who said you was a Porta Reecan?
-Tu eres Puerto Riqueno, brother.
-Maybe Indian like Gandhi Indian.
-I thought you was a Black man.
-Is one of your parents white?
-You sure you ain't a mix of something like
-Portuguese and Chinese?
-Naaaahhh. . .You ain't no Porta Reecan.
-I keep telling you: The boy is a Black man with an accent.
If you look closely you will see that your spirits are standing right next to
our songs. You soy Boricua! You soy Africano! I ain't lyin'. Pero mi pelo es
kinky y kurly y mi skin no es negra pero it can pass. ..
-Hey, yo. I don't care what you say - you Black.
I ain't Black! Everytime I go downtown la madam blankeeta de madesson
avenue sees that I'm standing right next to her and she holds her purse just
a bit tighter. I can't even catch a taxi late at night and the newspapers say
that if I'm not in front of a gun, chances are that I'll be behind one. I wonder
why. . .
-Cuz you Black, nigger.
I ain't Black, man. I had a conversation with my professor. Went like this:
-Where are you from, Willie?
-I'm from Harlem.
-Ohh! Are you Black?
-No, but-
-Do you play much basketball?
Te lo estoy diciendo, brother. Ese hombre es un moreno!
Miralo!
Mira yo no soy moreno! I just come out of Jerry's Den and the
coconut
spray off my new shape-up sails around the corner, up to the Harlem
River and off to New Jersey. I'm lookin' slim and I'm lookin' trim
and when my homeboy Davi saw me, he said: "Como, Papo. Te
parece como
un moreno, brother. Word up, bro. You look like a stone black
kid."
-I told you - you was Black.
Damn! I ain't even Black and here I am sufferin' from the young
Black man's plight/the old whtie man's burden/and I ain't even
Black, man/a Black man/I am not/Boricua I am/ain't never really
was/Black/like me. . .

-Leave that boy alone. He got the Nigger-Reecan Blues
I'm a Spic!
I'm a Nigger!
Spic! Spic! No different than a Nigger!
Neglected, rejected, oppressed and depressed
From banana boats to tenements
Street gangs to regiments. . .
Spic! Spic! I ain't nooooo different than a Nigger.

30 days - "muslim like me"

Morgan Spurlock, the creator of Supersize Me, has recently created a show for FX called 30 days where the premise is that he would follow an individual who would be put into a radically new situation, and the cameras would follow this person for a 30 day period to see what they learned.

Tonight's episode is supposed to show, evangelical Christian, David Stacy as he lives with a Pakistani and sees what it is like to be Muslim for 30 days.

Debbie Schlussel (who seems like an Ann Coulter clone in certain respects) has written a piece trashing the episode accusing Spurlock of having Islamist leanings (?) but if you look at the rest of her archives it is pretty clear that Schlussel's world view is basically distorted by antipathy towards Muslims. So it is not surprising that she would be motivated to discount anything which showed Muslims in a positive light.

In any case, the show should be interesting.

the sword of damocles

There once was a king whose name was Dionysius. He was so unjust and cruel that he won himself the name of tyrant. He knew that almost everybody hated him, and so he was always in dread lest some one should take his life.

But he was very rich, and he lived in a fine palace where there were many beautiful and costly things, and he was waited upon by a host of servants who were always ready to do his bidding. One day a friend of his, whose name was Damocles, said to him
-"How happy you must be! You have here everything that any man could wish."
"Perhaps you would like to trade places with me," said the tyrant.
"No, not that, O king!" said Damocles; "but I think that, if I could only have your riches and your pleasures for one day, I should not want any greater happiness."
"Very well," said the tyrant. "You shall have them."

And so, the next day, Damocles was led into the palace, and all the servants were bidden to treat him as their master. He sat down at a table in the banquet hall, and rich foods were placed before him. Nothing was wanting that could give him pleasure. There were costly wines, and beautiful flowers, and rare perfumes, and delightful music. He rested among soft cushions, and felt that he was the happiest man in all the world.

Then he chanced to raise his eyes toward the ceiling. What was it that was dangling above him, with it's point almost touching his head? It was a sharp sword, and it was hung by only a single horsehair. What if the hair should break? There was danger every moment that it would do so.

The smile faded from the lips of Damocles. His face became very pale. His hands trembled. He wanted no more food; he could drink no more wine; he took no more delight in the music. He longed to be out of the palace, and away, he cared not where.

"What is the matter?" said the tyrant.
"That sword! That sword!" cried Damocles. He was so badly frightened that he dared not move.
"Yes," said Dionysius, "I know there is a sword above your head, and that it may fall at any moment. But why should that trouble you? I have a sword over my head all the time. I am every moment in dread lest something may cause me to lose my life."
"Let me go," said Damocles.
"I now see that I was mistaken, and that the rich and powerful are not so happy as they seem. Let me go back to my old home in the poor little cottage amon the
mountains."

And so long as he lived, he never again wanted to be rich, or to change places with the king.

I like this story. I remember reading some version of it a long time ago, when I wore a younger man's underwear. For the longest time I just saw it as some kind of cautionary tale about the hidden risks and dangers which go along with power and authority. Then more recently I thought of it as a counter-revolutionary fable/myth, told to try to convince the people not to rise up against rich tyrants oppressing them.

But currently, in my own life, on a small scale, I've decided to accept my own seat under the sword so I'm trying to be more optimistic and hopeful. I'm trying not to be as gloomy or as cynical as the above interpretations suggest. Actually I think a more balanced and constructive approach to leadership is suggested by the following hadith from Bukhari:

Volume 9, Book 89, Number 261:
Narrated 'Abdur-Rahman bin Samura:
Allah's Apostle said, "O 'Abdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand, you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking for it, then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then do what is better and make expiation for your oath."

There are good ways to be a leader and bad ways. And maybe even the best leaders still get a sword dangling above their head, but maybe it's lighter? Or the thread is thicker? We'll see. Keep in me in your dua.

arabs in brazil

Here is an interesting piece about Arabs in Brazil. Apparently Brazil is the country with the most Arabs outside of the Middle East and many Arab-Brazilians have become an integral part of the society.

marvin x: first muslim american poet

Here is the preface, written by Dr. Mohja Kahf, for an upcoming book on Marvin X

louis reyes rivera

Here is an interview with Puerto Rican Afro-Latino poet, Louis Reyes Rivera from the Chickenbones: A journal website.

Known as the "Janitor of History," poet/essayist Louis Reyes Rivera has been studying his craft since 1960 and teaching it since 1969. The recipient of over 20 awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award (1995), a Special Congressional Recognition Award (1988), and the CCNY 125th Anniversary Medal (1973), Rivera has assisted in the publication of well over 200 books, including John Oliver Killens' Great Black Russian (Wayne State U., 1989), Adal Maldonado's Portraits of the Puerto Rican Experience (IPRUS, 1984), and Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam (Crown Publishers, 2001).

Considered by many as a necessary bridge between the African and Latino American communities, he is a professor of Pan-African, African-American, Caribbean and Puerto Rican literature and history whose essays and poems have appeared in numerous publications, including Areyto, Boletin, The City Sun, African Voices, and in five award-winning collections: In Defense of Mumia; ALOUD: Live from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Of Sons And Lovers, Bum Rush The Page, and his own Scattered Scripture.

the lynching resolution

Here is the actual text of the recent lynching resolution from the US Senate along with some historical statistics about lynching in the US by state plus a list of the 20 Senators (19 Republican and one DEMOCRAT) who didn't sign the resolution.

us admits to torturing prisoners

US admits torturing prisoners

26jun05
GENEVA: Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the UN that prisoners were tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture, said a member of the 10-person panel, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They are no longer trying to duck this and have respected their obligation to inform the UN," the committee member said. "They will have to explain themselves. Nothing should be kept in the dark."

Australian David Hicks is among hundreds of foreign terror suspects being held at Guantanamo in Cuba.

The UN said it was the first time it had received such a frank admission of torture from the US.

The committee, which monitors respect for the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, is gathering information from the US ahead of hearings in May.

The US has signed up to the convention. The document from Washington will not be made formally public until the hearings.

"They said it was a question of isolated cases, that there was nothing systematic and that the guilty were in the process of being punished," the committee member said.

The report said the torturers were low-ranking soldiers and their acts were not approved by their superiors.

Mistreated detainees have died in the detention centres. Scores of US military personnel have been investigated, and several tried and convicted, for abuse.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said UN human rights experts should be allowed into Guantanamo.

"The Secretary-General hopes that this matter can be resolved to allow the experts full access to wherever they need to go," a spokeswoman for Mr Annan said.

The only independent body allowed in is the Red Cross. It usually keeps its findings confidential.

Mr Annan's call came a day after four top UN human rights experts slammed Washington for not opening the prison to inspection.

source

"you can't handle the truth"

I just saw A Few Good Men (again) last night. It was a entertaining courtroom drama about violence between US soldiers and much of the action took place at the Guantanamo base in Cuba. I think Jack Nicholson's speech at the is the most compelling defense of evil I've ever seen on film.

In the real world, the Jack Nicholsons are alot more clever, and there are alot more of them. And it takes more than Tom Cruise swooping in to save the day. Remember, its not about the lone hero. It's about the masses of people taking small steps in the right direction.

.....
Here is a story from the Houston Chronicle about the fact that the UN has been asking to visit and inspect Guantanamo since early 2002 and have been getting the runaround from the US government
U.N. group says Guantanamo torture reports are credible

the last temptation of christ

I just saw The Last Temptation of Christ last night. When it came out there was a great deal of contraversy associated with the film, especially for Christians living in the West, because the film portrayed Jesus (as) saying and doing a number of things which departed in radical ways from the traditional Christian understanding of Christ.

Although the film didn't exactly portray a "Muslim" Christ either, there were some interesting aspects to the film from a Muslim perspective. The Last Temptation portrayed Jesus in a much more human and vulnerable light, unsure of what he was going to say or do for most of the film.

Secondly, apparently Peter Gabriel (who was in charge of the film's score) wanted to give the music an authentic feel so he used contemporary Middle Eastern musicians, from Turkey, Ethiopia, Egypt, Senegal, and even Pakistan (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan). I don't know if the filmmakers made this choice consciously or not, but an interesting result is that during parts of the film, including the last Supper scene you can actually hear Baba Maal singing words from the adhan in Arabic! [La ilaha illa Allah - no god but Allah (God)]

Another provocative point is how the film deals with the crucifixion. Jesus is shown to be nailed to the cross but as he is hanging up there an angel appears to him:

ANGEL
Your father is the God of Mercy, not punishment. He saw you and said, 'Aren't you his Guardian Angel? Well, go down and save him. He's suffered enough.' Remember when he told Abraham to sacrifice his son? Just as Abraham lifted his knife, God saved Isaac. If he saved Abraham's son, don't you think he'd want to save his own? He tested you, and he's pleased. He doesn't want your blood. He said, "Let him die in a dream. But let him have his life." Come with me.

JESUS
All this pain is a dream?

ANGEL
Just a dream.

JESUS
I don't have to be sacrificed.

ANGEL
No. No you don't.

In terms of the movie, this angel is really the devil trying to divert Jesus from the true mission, but of course from a Muslim perspective, the angel's words actually ring true. Jesus didn't really have to be sacrificed and God has a long track record of saving his prophets in their moments of adversity: saving Abraham from the fire, Daniel from the lions, Jonah from the whale, etc.

There are even a number of Old Testament passages which (in contrast to typical Christian claims that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin") state that God doesn't want or require sacrices and that he cares more for the state of the heart. (Psalm 51:16-17, Psalm 40:6, Micah 6:6-8, Hosea 6:6)

And finally, another incredible moment in the film is the point when Jesus (after being rescued from the cross) meets Paul preaching in the street:

PAUL
Look around you! Look at these people.Do you see the suffering and unhappiness in this world? Their only hope is the Resurrected Jesus. I don't care whether you're Jesus or not. The Resurrected Jesus will save the world -- that's what matters.

JESUS
The world can't be saved by lies.

PAUL
I created the truth. I make it out of longing and faith. I don't struggle to find truth -- I build it. If it's necessary to crucify you to save the world, then I'll crucify you. And I'll resurrect you too, whether you like it or not.

JESUS
I won't let you. I'll tell everyone the truth.

PAUL
Shout all you want. Who'll believe you? You started all this, now it can't be stopped. The faithful will grab you and call you a blasphemer and throw you in a fire.

JESUS
No, that wouldn't happen.

PAUL
How do you know? You don't know how much people need God. You don't know what a joy it is to hold the cross, to put hope in the hearts of men, to suffer, to be killed -- all for the sake of Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God. Messiah.

Jesus is listening intently now.

PAUL
(continuing)
Not you. Not for your sake.(pause) I'm glad I met you. Now I can forget you. My Jesus is much more powerful.

Of course, for most Muslims (and many other Biblical scholars for that matter), Paul bears the primary responsibility for founding Christianity and moving it away from Christ's original teachings. And some of that is obviously reflected in the above exchange.

All in all, I would say that the movie is a very interesting experience especially if you are fairly familiar with the regular Christian version of events and are not easily offended. Reading Nikos Kazantzakis' original novel is even better. But if you don't have time/money for either, you can actually read the Screenplay of The Last Temptation of Christ online as well.

islam has a progressive tradition

This is a brief article by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf called "Islam has a progressive tradition too" and it is interesting to me because of the way in which Thomas Cleary is mentioned. If you stop and think about all the languages Cleary knows and the amount of effort he has put into sympathetically translating "Oriental" texts, his work is big step towards counter-acting the whole clash of civilizations mentality fostered by folks like Huntington.

i ching and the tao of islam

Seek knowledge, even as far as China
-well known saying attributed to the prophet Muhammad

I've been reading the I Ching these days. I have a couple of different translations. One of them is the "Taoist I Ching" by Thomas Cleary (who has also translated the Quran, the sayings of the prophet [saaws] and a collection of the sayings of Ali [ra] called "Living and Dying with Grace).

The I Ching is used by some people as a form of divination, but Cleary suggests that this is a corruption and a misunderstanding of its original purpose as a book of wisdom.

In fact, one could speculate that the I Ching could be a "kitab", i.e. a version of a revealed book given to one of the earlier prophets. Some might object that the concepts of Chinese religion don't seem to fit into an Islamic framework, there are a number of works out there which strongly make the opposite case. The most popular work along these lines has got to be Tao of Islam by Sachiko Murata (also a favorite among many bloggers on the Su-Shi webring)

The book persuasively makes the point that in the Islamic tradition there are many different examples of pairs of opposites which are held in some kind of tension which is not dissimilar to the Chinese idea of Yin and Yang. (Heaven and Earth, the Pen and the Tablet, the Right and Left hand of God, Immanence and Transcendence, Mercy and Wrath, Male and Female, Khalifatullah and Abdullah,etc.) So perhaps Chinese thought isn't incompatible with Islam and its just a matter of properly "translating" the concepts from one "language" to another.

(And here is a second review for Tao of Islam by Muhammad Legenhausen)

Actually a similar point is made by another work by Sachiko Murata, Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light which contains translations of certain historically significant texts by Chinese Muslims but also discusses how the Muslims chose to borrow some of the pre-existing concepts of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in order to explain and express Islamic teachings.

And thirdly, there is also Sufism and Taoism: A Comparative Study of Key Philosophical Concepts by Murata's teacher, Toshihiko Izutsu, which compares and contrasts the thought of Lao-Tzu with that of Ibn Al-Arabi.

All these works serve to bridge the apparent superficial differences between Islamic and Chinese thought. And I would suggest, point to the possibility that many of the classics of Chinese philosophy might be kitabs which can be read fruitfully by Muslims for their benefit.