Noam Chomsky on the war against ISIL

We speak to the renowned US academic, and look at the state of Egypt five years after the Arab Spring. 

In this episode of UpFront, Mehdi Hasan speaks to the renowned American academic Noam Chomsky about his public spat with the Turkish president, the war against ISIL and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

We also look at the ramifications of the Saudi Arabia-Iran feud, and debate the state of Egypt five years after the Arab Spring.

Headliner: Noam Chomsky on ISIL, Turkey and Ukraine

Noam Chomsky has been described as "arguably the most important intellectual alive". And as one of the world's most celebrated academics, he has published more than 100 books and is a leading critic on United States foreign policy. 

In the first of a special two-part interview, Chomsky sits down with Mehdi Hasan to discuss the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, Ukraine and Turkey. 

Chomsky and other "so-called intellectuals" were recently criticised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting Kurdish separatists. The author and activist, who has accused the Turkish government of waging a "terrorist war" against the Kurds, tells UpFront that President Erdogan is "undoubtedly carrying out vicious repressive actions attacking the Kurdish population", adding that he would call him a "murderer". 

Chomsky also talks about imperialism, and comments on the row between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Part two of the interview to be aired Friday, January 29 at 1930 GMT includes who Chomsky would vote for in the US presidential election, why he doesn't support a full boycott of Israel, and the impact of the rise of Islamophobia. 

Reality Check: Beyond the Saudi Arabia-Iran feud

The spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran heated up earlier this month after the execution of Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr and the burning of the Saudi embassy in Tehran. 

Some have called the feud a war within the Muslim world, pointing to what many see as an inevitable clash between the two countries. A look at history however, proves otherwise. 

In this week's Reality Check, Mehdi Hasan challenges the notion that the current row between Saudi Arabia and Iran stems from a 1,400-year-old theological split and says the feud should not taint relations between Muslims, the majority of whom live outside the Middle East. 

Arena: Is Egypt better off under Sisi?

Monday marks the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ended the 30-year rule of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. 

In 2013, the country's first ever elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi, was deposed in a military coup following massive protests against his rule. 

Since then, there have been large crackdowns on dissidents by the government and, according to Amnesty International, there has been a "dramatic deterioration in human rights".

So, is the country better or worse off than it was before the Arab Spring? In this week's Arena, Egyptian-American activist Mohamed Soltan, who was arrested and tortured for two years as a political prisoner in Egypt, debates with Raymond Stock, an expert on the Middle East.

Source: Noam Chomsky on the war against ISIL - Al Jazeera English

.

Related:

Genesis of Terror & Road to Peace

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Humanity, Religion, Culture, Science, Peace

 A Project of  Peace Forum Network Peace Forum Network Mags Books, Articles, Blogs, Magazines,  Videos, Social Media Overall 2 Million visits/hits

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General Guidelines for Dialogue & Discussion

DIALOGUE is an exchange of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, especially a political or religious issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.
Dialogue is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange.

DISCUSSION is the action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to EXCHANGE ideas.
Discussion is an act or instance of discussing; consideration or examination by argument, comment, etc., especially to explore solutions; informal debate.

General Guide lines for a Good Discussion:

The purpose of a good discussion is to work with others to come up with the best set of ideas or ways to deal with a situation. In an argument or a debate, only one side wins. In a good discussion, everybody wins!

Here are some quotes to draw inferences:

“I am convinced about the veracity of my opinions, but I do consider it likely that they may turn out to be incorrect. Likewise, I am convinced about the incorrectness of the views different from mine, but I do concede the possibility that they may turn out to be correct.” — (Imam Shafa’i)

"Invite  to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided."(Quran;16:125)

“Let not the hatred of a people swerve you away from justice. Be just, for this is closest to righteousness…” (Quran: 5:8).

"Whoever intercedes in a good cause has a share of it, and whoever intercedes in an evil cause has a portion of it."(Quran:4:85)

"If thou call them to guidance they hear not.  Thou wilt see them looking at thee but they see not."(Quran:7;198)

"Verily, the vilest of all creatures  in the sight of God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason."(Quran:8:22)

"Verily, God does not change men's condition unless they change their inner selves; and when God wills people to suffer evil [in consequence of their own evil deeds], there is none who could avert it: for they have none h protect them from Him."(Quran:13:11)

"This, because God would never change the blessings with which He has graced a people unless they change their inner selves  and [know] that God is all-hearing, all-seeing." [Qur’an;8:53]

"That was a people that has passed away. They shall reap the fruit of what They did, and ye of what ye do! of their merits there is no question In your case." (Quran:2:134.)

"O believers! If some wicked person brings you any news, inquire thoroughly into its truth (lest) you should cause (undue) harm to a people unknowingly, and later feel regret for what you have done."(Quran:49:6)

"..... and that he who was to perish should perish through a clear proof, and who was to survive might survive through a clear proof. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing (Quran:8:42)

"And do not follow a thing about which you have no knowledge."(Quran:17:36)
"Good and evil are not equal. Repel (evil) with what is best, and you will see that the one you had mutual enmity with him will turn as if he were a close friend."(Quran:41:34)
""..... Be not among those who argue for the sake of argument."(Quran:6:114)

"If you obey the majority of those on earth, they will make you lose the way of Allah. They follow nothing but whims, and they do nothing but make conjectures."(Quran:6:116)

"Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant."(Quran:7;199)

Some Points for Considerations for Good Discussion:

1. Think before you write or speak.
2. Be precise, to the point, offer one point/idea in one message.
3. Read carefully to what others have to say, don't reply in hurry, respond logically in brief. Provide references / web links where possible. Don't ignore arguments offered by others, avoid repetitions.
4. Don't ridicule others.
5. Don't insist on your point if other does not agrees with you.
6. Don't be emotional, keep cool, flexible and tolerant. Rigidity is like a poison for discussion.
7. Do not interrupt when some one else is writing 
8. Make use of what others have to say when it is your turn.
9. Only say what you truly believe.
10. Make sure to contribute to the discussion.
11. Don't be stubborn, support good ideas that other people have, even if they are different from your own.
12. Search for the best solution even if it is different from the way that you thought at first.
13. Its not necessary to immediately reach an agreement, EXCHANGE of ides/opinions may add to your knowledge. 
14. Be polite, don't use abusive language or harsh words.
15. Be focused on the topic under discussion, don't widen the discussion to irrelevant topics. 
16. Close the discussion on positive note even if it remains inconclusive. 

Related:

• Trialogue: http://peace-forum.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
• Muslims and Dialogue: ... Dialogue between people of different faiths is a pressing necessity. Yet, relatively few dialogue initiatives have been launched by Muslims.
• Genesis of Terror & Road to Peace

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Humanity, Religion, Culture, Science, Peace

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Peace Forum Network
Peace Forum Network Mags
Books, Articles, Blogs, Magazines,  Videos, Social Media
Overall 2 Million visits/hits

Follow @Peace_Forum

Most of your Facebook friends ar'nt real

Think you have 1000, 750, 500 or 200 friends based on your Facebook connections? Think again.

A new study has revealed that it's impossible to have more than 150 friends.

The 150 limit, known as "Dunbar's Number", was named after British professor and study author Robin Dunbar.

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"The 150-layer is the important one: this defines the people you have real reciprocated relationships with, those where you feel obligations and would willingly do favours," the scientist explained to AFP.

The study also looked at the different boundaries within friends circles on the online social media site.

According to the professor, we tend to have five intimate friends, 15 best friends, 50 good friends, 150 friends, 500 acquaintances and 1500 people we can recognise on the site.

"People can [and sometimes do] have 500 or even 1000 friends on Facebook, but all they are doing is including people who we would normally call acquaintances or people we just recognise by sight but don't know very well," he said.

The study, which had a total of 3375 participants, both male and female between 18 and 65, reported that when participants were asked how many "genuine" friends they had, there was an average of 27.6 per cent. But when asked how many would be there in a crisis, the number dropped dramatically to a mere four friends.

The study also found that these numbers stayed the same regardless of the number of Facebook friends one had.

"Respondents who had unusually large networks did not increase the numbers of close friendships they had but, rather, added more loosely defined acquaintances into their friendship circle simply because most social media sites do not allow one to differentiate between these layers."

The study also made it clear to note there is a trend that younger individuals are starting to move away from Facebook and use other forms of social media instead.

"There has been a notable tendency for teenagers to move away from using Facebook as a social environment and to make use of media like Snapchat, WeChat, Vine, Flickr and Instagram," Dunbar said.

There were 86 per cent of individuals in the 18 to 29 age category on Facebook in 2013, but by 2015 this dropped to 82 per cent.

Alternatively, 2013 saw 35 per cent of those 65+ using Facebook with an increase to 48 per cent in 2015.

"What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young person's decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day your mum sends you a friend request," reported Lead Anthropologist at the University College London, Daniel Miller.

"Mostly they feel embarrassed to even be associated with it."

With the increase of social media and its users all around the world, face-to-face communication has also decreased, leading to the decay of friendships.

Recent Facebook deactivator Nat Duncan told Fairfax how the pressure of diminishing friendships made her take a step back from the social media giant.

"I left Facebook because it made me feel lonely," she said.

"Facebook made me feel lonely because I could see many (many) 'friends' on my account who I'd like to be (or continue to be) real friends with. I'd begun to notice that the friend's I'd had in the past who'd done this sort of thing (telephone calls, coffee, dinner, even texts and emails) just had gone AWOL on the real friends activity roster.

"They had stopped doing these things because they truly believed they were playing their part in maintaining our friendship by 'liking' a post, commenting on a post, tagging me in a post or worst of all just lurking around my posts knowing what I was doing but not even interacting with the posts."

Dunbar suggests that we still keep up to date with our face-to-face social interactions to prevent these friendships slipping from the "friends" to "acquaintance" zone.

"Friendships, in particular, have a natural decay rate in the absence of contact," he said.

"Face-to-face meetings are required from time to time to prevent friendships, in particular, sliding down through the network layers and eventually slipping over the edge of the 150 layer into the category of acquaintances [the 500 layers] beyond."

So next time you come across that person with hundreds of friends on Facebook, just remember that, like you, they probably only have only a few they can rely on during a time of crisis. But make sure you keep up with face-to-face interactions so you'll still be able to turn to them in a time of need.
http://m.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/most-of-your-facebook-friends-arent-real-20160125-gmdcht.html

Ten Facts Everyone Needs To Know About Israel

1. Out of the 14.2 million Jewish people in the world, (in 2016), only a minority of 43% reside in Israel.

2. Whilst 75% of Israelis are Jewish, 21% are indigenous Arabs with restricted civil rights.

3. Israel has the highest birth rate in the developed world, with an average of 3 children per woman.

4. The Netanyahu government now receives more than US$6 billion every year from the US congress/ AIPAC lobby i.e. equating to $1000 annually for every Jewish Israeli, courtesy of the American taxpayer.

5. Israel has induced over 500,000 of its citizens to illegally settle in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem in an attempt to frustrate the wishes of the UN for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state for five million indigenous Arabs.

6. Israel is the only undeclared nuclear weapon state in the world with a secret stockpile of up to 400 nuclear warheads. It is not a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which Europe, America and even Iran, are all subject to by the IAEA inspectorate of the UN.

7. Angela Merkel has unilaterally supplied Israel with a deadly ‘second strike’ nuclear capability in the form of a German-built, Dolphin-class submarine fleet that is now more powerful than anything possessed by the defence forces of France, Britain or Germany, thereby leaving all of Europe dangerously vulnerable.

8. Netanyahu, in a direct challenge to the EU, has this week authorised yet another land grab in the Occupied Territories in breach of the provisions of the Trade Association Agreement with the EU thereby inviting the imposition of tariffs against Israeli exports to the European single market.

9. According to published statistics, Israel is the most dangerous place for any Jewish person to live compared to Britain, France, United States or Canada.

10. The father of the current Israeli Prime Minister, was personal secretary to Vladimir Zhabotinsky, the founder of Irgun, a Revisionist Zionist paramilitary organisation. Two of the operations for which the Irgun is best known are the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on 22 July 1946 and the DeirYassin massacre, carried out together with Lehi on 9 April 1948.

* All the above factual information is verifiable and available within the public domain

Ten Facts Everyone Needs To Know About Israel

By Anthony Bellchambers
Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-must-now-open-its-nuclear-program-to-iaea-inspection-or-face-sanctions/5502024

http://www.globalresearch.ca/netanyahu-to-seize-154-hectares-of-palestinian-land-in-violation-of-international-law-and-in-direct-challenge-to-eu/5502931

http://flip.it/hOOSk

IQBAL AND THE MODERN RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM

Iqbal was a versatile genius. The myriad aspects of his personality like the sparkling glow of a big diamond, dazzle the eye. Some people are enamoured of the elegance of his style and the beauty of his art. Some others are impressed by the width of his knowledge and the depth of his thought. Still others seek light from his philosophical vision and political acumen. But, when a student of contemporary history looks at Iqbal he feels that although he was a great poet, a noble master of his art, an inspired thinker, a sharp politician and an illustrious philosopher, he was some thing more than all that, he was a pioneer of the Renaissance of Islam in this country. And herein lies his real greatness.
The Muslim society had long been undergoing a spell of degeneration. The disintegration which set in after the early Caliphate continued to gradually sap the foundations of the Islamic civilization and after a long period of rout and rally, the dark night of gloom and stupor was cast over it. The creative faculties were benumbed and the political power was lost. Although different reform movements grew and many leaders of thought endeavoured to awaken the Muslims from their slumber and infuse a new life in the Muslim society, little ice was actually broken. The most tragic part of it was that Islam no longer remained a dynamic politico-cultural force. It was reduced to the miserable and ineffective position of an amalgam of a few rites and rituals and was denied by its own followers its real role of a culture-producing factor. This was the unfortunate position when the British took hold of India. They very cleverly tried to impose the Western civilisation upon the people of this region. This gave birth to a plethora of new problems.
The political and economic supremacy of the West and the system of education which it imposed created a slavish mentality among the Muslims. They got engrossed in an inferiority complex. Even the last vestiges of their political confidence were destroyed. They were reduced to a very hectic existence.
Signs of a new awakening appeared on the horizon when Comrade, al-Hilal and Zamindar shook the Muslims from their stupor and stirred them to rise and do their duty. Khilafat Movement proved a great boon. It spurred the emotions of the Muslim India and encouraged it to enter the arena of political fight and cultural revolt. But the new awakening lacked in proper intellectual and philosophical foundations. It was Iqbal who laid these foundations. He was the true pioneer of the modern renaissance of Islam in India.

Iqbal's Diagnosis
Iqbal had a keen vision and a penetrating mind. He studied the conditions of the Muslim society and fully realised the ills that infested its body. He clearly understood the real impact of the Western culture and read the writing on the wall. He knew that a revolutionary change in the outlook of the Muslims was the greatest need of the hour. He warned them that if they ignored the great challenge of their time they will be eliminated from the surface of existence and be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Iqbal's diagonsis of the problem was that the long period of cultural disintegration and the influence of the modern West had destroyed the moorings of the Muslim society. Muslims declined because they left Islam and because they adopted an easy life of submissiveness and inactivity. Under the spell of the West, their confidence in their values was shaken and they began to ape the Western ways of life. Moreover, an inferiority complex developed in them and an estrangement between social life and the religious values ensued. The influence of non-Islamic Sufism further sapped the springs of activity and Muslims became what they were.
This was realistic appraisal of the situation and Iqbal harnessed all his energies to pull the Muslims out of this mire of degeneration.

New Attitude towards the West
First of all, Iqbal asked the Muslims to revise their attitude towards the West. He said that all was not good in Europe. He critically studied the fundamentals of the Western civilization and exposed their fallacies. He criticised those who blindly followed the West and asked them to use reason and vision. In his Lectures he said:
"The only course open to us is to approach modern knowledge with a respectful but INDEPENDENT attitude".
He further expressed the fear "that the dazzling exterior of the European culture may arrest our movement". He took the lid off the destructive potentialities of the Materialistic civilization of the West and warned against the dangers of atheism and Godlessness. How beautifully he says in "Pas Cheh Bayad Kard At Aqwam-i-Sharq":
آدمیت زار نالید از فرنگ
زندگی ہنگامہ بر چید از فرنگ
پس چہ باید کرد اے اقوام شرق
بازروشن می شود ایام شرق
در ضمیرش انقلاب آمد پدید
شب گذشت و آفتاب آمد پدید
یورپ از شمشیر خود بسمل فتاد
زیر گردوں رسم لادینی نہاد
گرگے اندر پوستین برۂ
ہر زمان اندر کمین برۂ
مشخلات حضرت انسان ازوست
آدمیت را غم پنہان ازوست
در نگاہش آدمی آب و گل است
کاروان زندگی بے منزل است
"Humanity is in agony at the hands of Europe
And life has lost its joyful tumult
What, then, is to be done, 0 peoples of the East,
That the lost glories of the Orient be regained?
A revolution has taken place in the depths of her being,
The night is passed and the sun has risen;
Europe lies smitten by its own sword
And has given irreligion to the World;
A wolf in lamb's skin,
Ever in ambush for the lamb,
It has brought trouble to humanity
And a growing grief.
Man in its eyes is but water and clay;
And life but a random caravan without a destination".
Iqbal gracefully declared that religion alone could extricate mankind out of the present Babel of social chaos and intellectual confusion. He said:
"And religion alone can ethically prepare the modern man for the burden of the great responsibility which the advancement of modern science necessarily involves and restore to him that attitude of faith which makes him capable of winning a personality here and retaining it hereafter. It is only by rising to a fresh vision of his origin and future, his whine and whither, that man will eventually triumph over a society motivated by an in‑human competition, and a civilization which has lost its spiritual unity by its inner conflict of religious and political values."
While pointing out the major weaknesses of the West and the hollowness of its materialism and secularism he did not look right of those real factors which have been responsible for Europe's success and grandeur. He says:
قوت مغرب نہ از چنگ و رباب
نے ز رقص دختران بے حجاب
نے ز سحر ساحران لا لہ روست
نے ز عریاں ساق و نے از قطع موست
محکمی او را نہ از لا دینی است
نے فروغش از خط لاطینی است
قوت افرنگ از علم و فن است
از ہمین آتش چراغش روشن است
حکمت از قطع و برید جامہ نیست
مانععلم و ہنر عمامہ نیست
"The Secret of the West's strength is not in the lute and guitar,
Nor in the promiscuous dancing of her daughters.
Nor in the charms of her bright-faced beauties,
Nor in bare shins, nor in bobbed hair.
Her strength is not from irreligiousness
Nor is her rise due to Latin script.
The strength of the West is due to knowledge and science,
Her lamp is alight from this fire only.
Knowledge does not depend on the style of your garments,
And a turban is no obstacle to the acquisition of knowledge." Thus Iqbal surveyed the contemporary ideological panorama and honestly presented the true achievements and the real failings of the Western civilization so that the blind imitation of it may be stopped. But he did not stop there. On the other hand he conclusively showed the indebtedness of the West to Islam in those things which led to its rise and growth and thus inspired in the Muslims a new confidence in their own values. He said:
حکمت اشیاء فرنگی زاد نیست
اصل او جز لذت ایجاد نیست
نیک اگر بین مسلمان زادہ است
ایں گہراز دست ما افتادہ است
چوں عرب اندر اروپا پر کشاد
علم و حکمت رابنا دیگر نہاد
دانہ آں صحرا نشیناں کاشتہ
حاصلش افرنگیاں برداشتہ
این پری از شیشۂ اسلاف ماست
باز صیدش کن کہ او از قاف ماست
"Science was not brought into being by the West;
In essence it is nothing but the delight that lies in creation;
If you ponder well, it is the Muslims who gave it life;
It is a pearl we dropped from our hands.
When the Arabs spread over Europe,
They laid new foundations of learning and science.
The seed was sown by these dwellers of the desert;
But the harvest was reaped by the West.
This spirit is from the flask of our own ancestors;
Bring this fairy back, for she hails from our own Caucasus."

Revolutionizing Thought and Action
Iqbal realised the need and the importance of the reconstruction of the Islamic thought. He knew that the modern attack on religion could be fought only with new weapons. The opponent will have to be met on his own ground. He also felt that Islam is a dynamic and revotionary movement but centuries of stagnation had laid some layers of dust over its religious thought. He stepped ahead to remove the dust and bathe the diamond clean so that it may again radiate light to the world groping about in the dark.
His lectures on 'Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam' are an attempt to fulfil this need. One may disagree with some of his interpretations but it is impossible to honestly deny the revolutionary message these lectures contain and the tremendous influence they left on the mind of Muslim India.
But Iqbal had a still higher mission in view. He was not a mere philosopher who could feel satisfied with the simple intellectual exposition of the ideology of Islam. He wanted to stir every fibre of a nation that had fallen in slumber and to arouse it to play its rightful role in the fashioning of the future. In his two masnavies, Asrar-e-Khudi' and Rumuz-e-Baikhudi, he delineated the factors of individual and social growth. Iqbal discussed the causes of millat's decline and threw light on the alien influences which disrupted its body-politic. Iqbal asked the Muslims to return to the real message of Allah and his Prophet.
The fundamentals of Islam, he said, were Tawheed, Risalat, Akhirat and Jihad. Tawheed provides for all members of the society a basis for unity of thought and unity of action. It is the greatest revolutionary force under the sun.
در جہان کیف و کم گردید عقل
پے بہ منزل برد از توحید عقل
اہل حق را رمز توحید از بر است
دراتی الرحمن عبداًمضمر است
تا ز اسرار تو بہ نماید ترا
امتحانش از عمل باید ترا
دین ازو حکمت ازو آئین ازو
زور ازو قوت ازو تمکن ازو
عالماں را جلوہ اش حیرت دہد
عاشقان را بر عمل قدرت دہد
پست اندر سایہ اش گردد بلند
خاک چوں اکسیر گردد ارجمند
The Mind, astray in this determinate world,
First found the path way to its distant goal.
By faith in Tawheed (Unity of God); what other home Should
bring the helpless wanderer to rest?
Upon what other shore should Reason's barque
Touch however? All men intimate with truth
The secret of Tawheed have by heart,
Which is implicit in the sacred worlds:
He comes into the Merciful, a slave.
In action let faith's potency be tried,
That it may guide thee to thy secret powers:
From it derive religious wisdom, law,
Unfailing vigour, power, authority.
Its splendour doth amaze the learned mind,
But giveth unto lover's force to act;
The lowly in its shadow reacheth high,
And worthless scum becomes like alchemy.
He dwelt upon the basic concepts of Islam in detail and showed the potentialities of the faith. His words gave a new message of life to a nation "forgotten so long, neglected so long".
Iqbal's poetry and thought stirred the Muslim India and inspired it to rise to the occasion and play its rightful role in the remaking of the world. After animating the nation with a new spirit, he also gave it a new concrete ideal to achieve in the political field so that the new energies that were released could be harnessed to build a homeland for Islam. This ideal was PAKISTAN.
Iqbal laboured hard to strengthen and foster the belief that Muslims are a nation, an ideological community and that it is a dictate of their faith to establish a state, a society and a culture in the light of the principles given by the Quran and the Sunnah. He gave sober thought to the political problem of the Muslim India and after years of reflection suggested the idea of Pakistan in his Presidential Address to the Annual Session of All India Muslim League in 1930 wherein he said, "The life of Islam as a Cultural force in this country very largely depends on its centralisation in a specified territory. This centralisation of the most living portion of the Muslims of India .... will eventually solve the problem of India as well as of Asia. "This was essential so that the Muslim India may become "entitled to full and free development on the lines of its own culture and tradition." And in a letter to the Quaid-e-Azam he wrote in 1937, a year before his demise:
"A seperate federation of Muslim provinces reformed on the lines I have suggested above is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North West India and Bengal be considered as nations entitled to self-determination just as other nations in India and outside India are."
This was a pointer to the future. Nation followed the lead given by Iqbal and after great effort and sacrifice, Pakistan became a reality and inaugurated the new era of Muslim renaissance.
Iqbal's message was a message of action. He was a pioneer of Islamic Renaissance in this sub-continent and herein lies his real significance. We have very briefly outlined the great and gigantic task he performed. But we could present only a few glimpses of his work, for you cannot bottle sunshine. Let us end this study with those immortal words of this great revolutionary which moved a nation and worked as a clarion call:
"Vision without power does bring moral elevation but cannot give a lasting culture. Power without vision tends to become destructive and inhuman. Both must combine for the spiritual expansion of humanity."
اہل حق را زندگی ز قوت است
قوت ہر ملت از جمعیت است
رائے بے قوت ہمہ مکر و فسوں
قوت بے رائے جہل است و جنوں
"The standard-bearers of truth live by being strong;
The strength of every nation lies in unity;
Wisdom without worldly power is but a fraud and a myth;
And worldly power without wisdom is folly and madness."

Source:
IQBAL AND THE MODERN RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM by  KHURSHID AHMAD
http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/apr62/7.htm
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Reasons for Iqbal’s Professed Attitude towards Western Civilization

Iqbal was a visionary. He had studied in depth, the ancient and modern philosophies. Comparison of different religions with Islam was his favorite subject. From these religious readings, he arrived at the conclusion that any religion that advocates only materialism will never be able to give a complete solution to man’s problems. He accepted that Europe has advanced in the technological field because scientific knowledge has opened new vistas for human advancements,. Iqbal felt that the Western civilization did fulfill man’s material needs but this thrust for spiritual fulfillment was not quenched. Iqbal believed that if the western civilization had been aware of the meaning of faith, their spiritual and material circle would have been complete. On the contrary, Islam presents a balance between religious practices and worldly duties. It is because of this that Iqbal warns the Muslims against blindly following the west in their progress.

The Road to Defeat of ISIS Goes Through Riyadh

When President Barack Obama told the people of America on Monday that "it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization," he was stating what should have been obvious: Americans and Europeans cannot purge Islam of the poisonous ideology that has taken root within the faith.

The United States, France and Russia can drop all the bombs they want on Iraq and Syria, but they cannot defeat the Islamic State by destroying buildings and trucks.

If they wished, they have the power to send thousands of ground troops, armed with heavy weapons, to occupy both countries, wipe out ISIS forces, and then stay there to keep order. That still would not result in the elimination of ISIS. Its followers would simply go underground and bide their time.

The loud voices that have responded to the mass murders in Paris by calling for intensified military action have a thin grasp of history. The United States sent more than a half million troops to Vietnam but did not prevail. The Soviet Union was forced to retreat from Afghanistan. France did not keep Algeria. We should have learned that Western powers cannot permanently impose their will by force on insurgent movements whose adherents have long-term ideological commitments.

Sunni Muslims need to destroy ISIS

If ISIS is to be extirpated from the Muslim world, it will have to be done by Sunni Muslims, not by outsiders. Their mentors and sympathizers, primarily in the Gulf, will have to undertake a serious effort to uproot the ideas and beliefs that are the foundation of the Islamic State. Doing that will be especially difficult for Saudi Arabia, which spent two decades and billions of dollars to spread worldwide a version of Islam that is uncomfortably similar to that of the Islamic State.

It's hard to argue with Richard Bulliett of Columbia University, who wrote: "King Salman faces a difficult choice. Does he do what President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and many Republican presidential hopefuls want him to do, namely, lead a Sunni alliance against the Islamic State? Or does he continue to ignore Syria, attack Shi'ites in Yemen, and allow his subjects to volunteer money and lives to the ISIS caliph's war against Shi'ism?" He predicted that "In five years time, Saudi Arabia will either help defeat the Islamic State, or become it."

King Salman and other prominent Saudis have said all the right things about ISIS atrocities, and for a time Saudi warplanes participated in the international coalition conducting air strikes against ISIS positions. But the Saudis then transferred their planes to the war in Yemen--a war against Shiites, while the conflict with ISIS is a war against Sunnis.

Saudi Arabia's ideological dilemma

This ideological dilemma for Saudi Arabia can be traced to November 1979, when a group of armed Saudi renegades took over the Great Mosque in Mecca at gunpoint and held it for days against futile efforts by Saudi Security forces to retake it. The rebels accused the Saudi regime of being unreligious: westernized, liberal, tainted by un-Islamic ideas. One of them was proclaimed the mahdi, the Rightly-Guided One who will restore the true faith.

In the end the rebels all died, but their ideas prevailed. As an old adage in region goes, they lost the battle but in many ways they won the war. So traumatized were the Saudi rulers that they acted to burnish their religious credentials by implementing many of the rebels' demands. They tightened up on social practices, removed unveiled women from television, and unleashed the muttawa to enforce rigid rules of behavior. They abandoned their longstanding practice of tolerating the semi-clandestine religious services of foreign workers. More than that, they pumped billions of their oil dollars into spreading their Islamic ideology, as it had been taught by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th century preacher who had demanded that Islam purge itself of alien influences and shun contact with unbelievers.

From West Africa to South Asia, the Saudis dispatched imams to preach this uncompromising version of the faith; they sent textbooks; they financed religious schools called madrasas; they paid to build mosques. These religious messages did not, of course, tell Muslims that they should go to Europe and kill innocent people. But they did teach that Islam worldwide must defend itself against its relentless enemies, the "crusaders." Bombings of ISIS by Westerners reinforce that idea.

Weaponry can't overpower ISIS' beliefs

That ideology came back to bite Saudi Arabia when Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda compatriots returned from the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan and attacked the Saudi regime--which in their view had committed the unpardonable sin of allowing half a million non-Muslim troops, led by Americans, to use Saudi Arabia as a base for attacking Muslim Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.

With its instinct for self-preservation, the Saudi regime now portrays itself as a firm foe of the kind of extremism represented by al-Qaeda and ISIS. But the ideas it spread have taken root among many disenchanted and disenfranchised Muslims--the ones who believe that if they enforce their version of a purified Islam as it was practiced in the time of the Prophet Muhammad, a purified world purged of heretics and apostates such as the Shiites, they can achieve peace and prosperity in accordance with God's law.

No amount of weaponry can overpower that deeply-held belief among the small percentage of Muslims who sympathize with the tactics of ISIS. Only the Saudis and their allies in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait can do that.

Can the Saudis lead that effort without repudiating the faith they have promoted for the past generation?

*This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Follow Yassin K. Fawaz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YassinFawaz
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8978348

Muslim youths think IS, Al Qaeda distort Islam: poll

A majority of Arab Muslim youths see the actions of extremists such as the militant Islamic State group (IS) and Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam’s teachings, according to a new poll.

The Zogby Research Services poll of 5,374 young Muslim men and women from the Middle East and North Africa also found that many millennials blame corruption and repressive governments for the rise of militants groups.

“At least three-quarters of millennial respondents in all countries surveyed” said movements like IS and Al Qaeda “are either a complete perversion of Islam’s teachings or mostly wrong”, the polling firm said.

The survey was conducted in October and November 2015 with respondents aged 15 to 34 in Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories.

More than 90 per cent of respondents in Morocco and the UAE called both extremist groups a “complete perversion of Islam”, as did 83 per cent of respondents in Egypt and more than 60 per cent in Bahrain and Jordan.

More than 55 per cent of respondents in the Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia also said the radical groups were distorting Islam’s teachings.

More than 30 per cent of those polled in many countries, including 69 per cent of respondents in the UAE and 50 percent in Morocco, said “corrupt, repressive, and unrepresentative governments” were the main causes of young men and women joining extremist groups.

Others blamed extreme religious teachings and poor levels of education.

“In most countries, the majority says that religion does not need to be reformed” but rather that religious discourse “needs to be made more relevant”, the polling firm’s chief James Zogby said while releasing the survey results.

Source: Dawn
http://www.dawn.com/news/1232748/muslim-youths-think-is-al-qaeda-distort-islam-poll

The Muslim Extremist Discourse: Constructing Us Versus Them

This unique book analyzes the discourse of militant organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda. It interrogates the discourse of these extremist organizations, which publish their own newspapers. These publications, widely distributed to the local population, play a critical role in securing and maintaining public support for the militant organizations. The book examines how these organizations discursively construct the socio-political reality of their world, in the process defining the Self and the Other. The Self becomes umma, or the global Muslim community, while the Other becomes the West, including the United States, Israel, and India. This book presents an analysis of three historical moments the assassination of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, the controversial YouTube video Innocence of the Muslims, and the shooting of the Pakistani child activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. This analysis reveals the discursive strategies used by the militant organizations to create what Foucault calls regimes of truth and articulate identities of the Self and the Other. The first of its kind, this book provides an insight into the mind-set of extremists. It presents a picture of the world that extremists construct through their own discourse and explains how extremists try to win the hearts and minds of mainstream Muslims in order to expand their support base, seek donations, and find new recruits. Understanding extremist narratives and the ways they feed the broader militant discourse may yield more meaningful and effective strategies for the West to communicate with mainstream Muslims."
"The Muslim Extremist Discourse: Constructing Us Versus Them" By Faizullah Jan
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1026947/the-militant-discourse/
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The militant discourse:  By Ayesha Siddiqa

The Chinese want foolproof security to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The primary reason being, the protection 》》》》 keep reading 》》》》 http://takfiritaliban.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-muslim-extremist-discourse.html?m=1

Genesis of Terror & Road to Peace

After 911, the world is in turmoil. The history of violence can be traced back to Russian (ex USSR) invasion of Afghanistan in 80's, followed by war in Afghanistan actively supported by USA, which abandoned Afghans after defeat of ex USSR. After Al-Qaida & Taliban, new terror groups like Daesh (wrongly called IS or Islamic State is neither Islamic nor State) in the Middle East, North Africa and Boko Haram in Nigeria have emerged. Daesh is radicalising young Muslims in USA, West, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other parts of the world through social media but the number is small. No integrated response to expose and defeat the twisted ideology of terror exists to defeat the radicalisation for recruitment. 

Daesh came in to existence due to US policies and Sectarian policies of Iraqi regime supported by its neighbour. Syrian oppressor ruler has added further impetus to the war. Daesh controlled area is land locked, surrounded by opponents. Mysteriously it is getting latest weapons, logistic support and money. Russia has also joined to support regime in Syria and to appease  Iran.  USA, West, Turkey and Arab allies (except Syria, Iraq) on one side and Russia, Syria Iran, Iraq are trying to contain this  menace. However due to complex, conflicting geostrategic interests of opponents, Daesh is surviving. Israel is the biggest beneficiary of the this situation, the attention and resources of its opponents are directed away. 

The issue is very complex with no solution for peace in sight. A collection of opinion,views & analysis by experts may provide some understanding leading to some sort of road to peace:

• The real War against Terror is the war of Ideology, Narrative, Discourse
• Slouching Toward Global Disaster: Chaos and Intervention in the Middle East  

• The Root Cause of Terrorism: By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan 

• A 30 year war in the Middle East 

• Isis: In a borderless world, the days when we could fight foreign wars and be safe at home may be long gone  

• What is Daesh up to ? 

• Zionism is blocking the path to peace 

• Terror Attacks in Paris: Western Imperialism Is to Blame  

• The Paris massacre and its fallout  

• The Empire of Chaos: An Interview With Noam Chomsky  

• Tragedy of Muslim Youth مسلمان نوجوانوں کی مایوسی  

• ISIS Daesh : neither Islamic nor state terrorists recruited, funded trained by imperialists implement their agenda. http://flip.it/HYVVn   

• Frankenstein the CIA created - From Mujahideen to Al-Qaida , Takfiri Taliban .. Daesh, ISIS... http://fb.me/555Sbduob  

• Great deception Peal Harbour now Attack in Paris... https://youtu.be/LZ0VQ6panOc  

• Paris Attack like 911 & Pearl Harbour to seduce France in to war against Muslims: Several writers, including... http://fb.me/1Qp9QmqsL  

• Bernard Lewis Plan to Carve up Middle East . Paris attack & Daesh could be part of Anti Muslim agenda....... http://fb.me/4SLYJMXqD 

• ISIS, Vanguard of the Global Elite & Plan to Redraw the Middle East http://flip.it/XWCpz  http://fb.me/6XB33yJzK 

• ISIS funding rooted by CIA http://fb.me/2nng73voH 

• ISIS funding rooted in West, says UK analyst http://fb.me/3TtUjuwhy 

• How Does ISIS Fund Its Reign of Terror? http://flip.it/XxsIh 

• ISIS Leader Admits to Being Funded by the US http://fb.me/7Dn1KGPfT 

• Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Urdu: آپریشن ضربِ عضب ALA-LC: Āpres̱ẖan Ẓarb-i ʿAẓb pronounced [ɑːpreːʃən zərb-e əzb]) is a... http://fb.me/4oE9fys3H 

• 50,000 killed, $80 billion loss incurred in war on terror, in Pakistan world apathy

• http://tribune.com.pk/story/802231/50000-killed-80b-loss-incurred-in-war-on-terror-na-told/ …

• Islam rejects terrorism: http://takfiritaliban.blogspot.com/?m=1 

• ISIS, Daesh, Boko Haram, Taliban - Illogical Logic of Terrorists to kill innocent people on name of Islam -... http://fb.me/7N469xbH0 

• Jihad or terrorism. .. http://fb.me/5dbHMpUlZ 

• THE SPIRIT OF MUSLIM CULTURE: “Muhammad of Arabia ascended the highest Heaven and returned. I swear by God that... http://fb.me/39gC8696Z 

• Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam: By Muhammad Iqbal:

• Preface: The Qur’ān is a book which emphasizes... http://fb.me/2rap57JYE 

• http://peaceforum.webs.com

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Peshawar_school_massacre

Web Links:

• http://takfiritaliban.blogspot.com  
• https://richardfalk.wordpress.com

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Humanity, Religion, Culture, Science, Peace

 A Project of 
Peace Forum Network
Peace Forum Network Mags
Books, Articles, Blogs, Magazines,  Videos, Social Media
Overall 2 Million visits/hits

Follow @Peace_Forum