Abdullah Ibn Al Muqaffa: Words of Wisdom for the Kings...
One of the earliest contributors to the genre of “mirrors for princes” literature (Fürstenspiegel in German), Abdullah Ibn Al Muqaffa (720–757CE) perfected the art of political writing during the Early Middle Ages. A convert to Islam, he became a prominent writer, as well as an influential chancery secretary (katib). He penned key textbooks that instructed rulers on aspects of governance and behaviour, while he pioneered the emergence of classical Arabic literature. Best known for his translation from Farsi of the epic “Kalilah wa-Dimnah”, his real contributions lay in the use of literature to advise young and inexperienced princes at their accession. Although the best known (European) “mirror”, “Il Principe” [The Prince] (c 1513) by Machiavelli was universally appreciated,...
Muslim Americans More Popular than the Tea Party...
Tea Party favorites Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Larry Klayman spent most of last week bashing Muslims and introducing the “Quran” and “Allah” to the shutdown and debt ceiling debate that they are losing in Congress. Unfortunately for them, Muslims are in fact more popular and viewed more favorably by Americans than the far right movement. Having failed at governance and the basic task of securing an operational government, the Tea Party leaders had to retreat to ugly screams of Islamophobia in order to distract attention from their downfall and to drum up support with fear tactics. Larry Klayman, a clownish figure who started the Tea Party group Freedom Watch, brought a whole new dimension to...
Terrorists Distort Islam to Commit Their Grisly Crimes...
Over the years, I’m sad to say, I have become inured to news of bloodshed, murder and calamity. A massacre here, a car-bombing there, an attack on worshippers at a Christian church in Pakistan or a terrorist attack on shoppers, like the recent one at Westgate Mall in Nairobi. UAE officials have consistently condemned the acts of those who inflict terror in pursuit of cynical goals they falsely portray as not only justified but authorised by Islam. But am I shocked by each event? Rarely. The death toll is too great; the frequency of such attacks is, to a certain degree, no longer news. I usually read the stories briefly, scarcely moved by the death toll. Yet once...
Why Turkey Lifted Its Ban on the Islamic Headscarf...
Turkish women who want to wear the hijab – the traditional Islamic headscarf covering the head and hair, but not the face – to civil service jobs and government offices will be able to do so now that the Turkish government has relaxed its decades-long restriction on wearing the headscarf in state institutions. The new rules, which don’t apply to workers in the military or judiciary, come into effect immediately and were put into place to address concerns that the restrictions on hijab were discouraging women from conservative backgrounds from seeking government jobs or higher education. “A dark time eventually comes to an end,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech to the parliament. “Headscarf-wearing...
Peace Prize for Jewish and Muslim Leaders of United Hatzalah...
When Jerusalem resident Eli Beer implemented a neighborhood-based volunteer emergency response system to Israel in 2006, he wasn’t dreaming of prizes, only of saving lives. But in recognition of the fact that United Hatzalah of Israel has brought together some 2,100 trained volunteers from every sector of Israeli society to respond to medical emergencies in Arab and Jewish neighborhoods without discrimination, Beer and Arab-Israeli United Hatzalah-East Jerusalem leader Murad Alyan were chosen to receive the 2013 Victor J. Goldberg IIE Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the New York-based Institute of International Education. The award, which includes a $10,000 prize that the men intend to donate to their organization, was presented at a June 24 ceremony at the US Embassy’s...
So, What Did the Muslims Do for the Jews?...
By David J Wasserstein, May 24, 2012 Islam saved Jewry. This is an unpopular, discomforting claim in the modern world. But it is a historical truth. The argument for it is double. First, in 570 CE, when the Prophet Mohammad was born, the Jews and Judaism were on the way to oblivion. And second, the coming of Islam saved them, providing a new context in which they not only survived, but flourished, laying foundations for subsequent Jewish cultural prosperity – also in Christendom – through the medieval period into the modern world. By the fourth century, Christianity had become the dominant religion in the Roman empire. One aspect of this success was opposition to rival faiths, including Judaism, along...
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