By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 2:53am GMT 20/03/2008
A Moroccan internet prankster jailed for pretending to be the brother of the king on the social networking site Facebook has been given a royal pardon.
Human rights groups had expressed outrage after Fouad Mourtada, a 27-year-old computer engineer, was sentenced by a court to three years in jail and fined 10,000 dinar (£650) for "the use of false information and usurping the identity" of Prince Mourlay Rachid.
Mourtada, a graduate of the prestigious Mohammedia Engineers School in Rabat, had insisted he had meant no harm by setting up a Facebook page purporting to belong to King Mohammed VI's younger brother.
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He said at his trial: "I admire him, I like him a lot and I have never caused him any wrong, it was just a joke. I am innocent."
His lawyer had pointed out that Facebook contained sites for President Sarkozy, George Bush and Tony Blair, as well as sport and film stars, without any proof that they were real.
Amnesty International, which condemned Mourtada's sentence as disproportionate to the offence, had been particularly worried by the judge's claim that he had "undermined the sacred integrity of the realm as represented by the prince".
His release from jail in Casablanca on Tuesday evening followed an international campaign for his release by human rights groups and ordinary internet users.
Reporters Without Borders, a media freedom campaign group, welcomed the royal pardon but added: "Nevertheless, we regret that his liberation was due to a royal pardon and not a fair verdict."
The case illustrates that whatever the internet's generally liberating effect on free speech elsewhere in the world, any sort of criticism or mockery of the royal family remains very risky in Morocco.
Ahmed Benchemsi, a Moroccan journalist, faces up to five years in jail over an article he wrote about one of the king's speeches.
In another official reprieve for another Facebook user, a computer engineering student in Canada learned he would not be expelled for running a study group on the site.
Ryerson University in Toronto decided that Chris Avenir, 18, had been charged with 146 counts of academic misconduct - one for each of the classmates who discussed their course work on his Facebook page.
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Friday, March 21, 2008
Morocco's Facebook 'prince' given royal pardon
Major Cultural Award in Arab World Announces Winners
Mohamed Benaissa Honoured With 2008 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Cultural
Personality of the Year
Awards Recognise Contributions to Scholarship and Creative Development in
Arabic Literature at Ceremony in Abu Dhabi
ABU DHABI, UAE, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Moroccan Minister and
Ambassador to the United States, Mohamed Benaissa has been named Cultural
Personality of the Year in the 2008 Sheikh Zayed Book Award, walking away
with a prize of one million UAE dirham.
Benaissa was recognised for his unique contribution to Arabic culture
and the pioneering role he played in founding the Asilah Festival for arts,
culture and thought at an award ceremony attended by Deputy Crown Prince
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, an independent award conferred by the Abu
Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, recognises significant
contributions to Arabic culture in nine diverse categories and is designed
to help foster scholarship and creative development in Arabic culture.
Winners in six other categories were also celebrated for their
achievements in fostering cultural development in the Arab World at the
event in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on March 12.
Established in 1978, the Asilah Arts Festival is renowned the world
over as a platform for artists to showcase their works and share ideas. The
festival, held annually in Morocco, is an annual cultural extravaganza
which attracts both studio and performing artists from all over the world,
transforming Morocco into a cultural forum.
Other winners honoured at the ceremony this year were:
- Ibrahim Al Kouni of Libya - Literature
- Huda Al Shawa of Kuwait - Children's Literature
- Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research - Best Publisher-
Distributor
- Dr. Faiz Assayagh of Jordan - Translation
- Rifat Chadirji of Iraq - Architecture
- Dr Mohamed Saadi of Morocco - Young Author
Rashed Al Ureimi, Secretary General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Committee said: 'I would like to congratulate all of the winners for their
contributions to culture in the region and beyond. The quality of the work
we have looked at this year was extremely high.'
Benaissa was awarded one million UAE dirham (around GBP140,000) by the
Sheikh Zayed Book Award Committee in recognition of his individual
achievement with the other winners each receiving 750,000 dirham (around
GBP105,000) for their contributions to culture.
The 2008 Sheikh Zayed Book Awards attracted participation from many
well-known personalities in the Arab cultural arena. The Award Committee
evaluated a total of 512 works from more than 1,200 nominated across the
nine award categories, which represented submissions from more than 30
countries.
Notes to Editors:
About the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Cultural Personality of the Year
The award is given to a prominent culture figure, Arab or
international, who has made a clear contribution to the enrichment of Arab
culture, creatively or intellectually, and that his/her work or activities
embody the values of originality, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
About the Sheikh Zayed Book Award Supreme Advisory and Advisory
Committees
The Award Supreme Committee is presided by Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al
Nahyan, president of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, and
includes Zaki Nassiba, Advisor for the Presidency Office and vice-president
of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage; Mohammed Khalaf Al
Mazrouei, General Manager of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and
Heritage; Jumaa Al-Qubeissi, Director of National Books Unit of the
Authority; Mr. Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt International Book
Fair; and Turky Al Dakhail , media personality and author.
In its 2007-2008 session, the Award Advisory Committee includes an
elite of local and Arabic cultural figures. In addition to Mr. Rashed Al
Ureimi, a member and the Secretary General, the committee comprises Dr. Ali
Rashed Al Noaimi of the United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates author
Mohammed Al Mor, Dr. Abdallah Al Gadami of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Radwan Al
Sayed of Lebanon, Dr. Salah Fadl of Egypt, Sheikha Mai Khalifa of Bahrain,
Algerian novelist Waciny Laredj and Dr. Said Ben Said Alaoui of Morocco.
About the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage
The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is a
government institution in charge of safeguarding, conserving and promoting
the heritage and culture of Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture
and Heritage is administered by a Board of Directors chaired by H. E.
Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
SOURCE Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Ex-Moroccan minister Bin Eisa wins Zayed book award
WAM
Published: March 01, 2008, 21:23
Abu Dhabi: Former Moroccan foreign minister Mohammad Bin Eisa has won the Shaikh Zayed Book Award for 2008 in the category of the Cultural Personality of the Year.
In a press release, Secretary-General of the Shaikh Zayed Book Award Rashid Al Uraimi said Bin Eisa has been awarded in recognition of his contributions to the cultural movement as well as for his role as a co-founder of Morocco's Aseelah Culture Season which was launched in 1978 as a forum for Arab, African and western cultural achievers and creative individuals and thinkers.
Bin Eisa will be presented a cash award of Dh1 million along with a certificate of appreciation.
Bin Eisa was born in Aseelah city, Morocco in 1937. He was Morocco's minister of culture between 1985-1992. He then became Morocco's minister of state for foreign affairs and culture between 1999-2007.
A prestigious ceremony will be held at the iconic Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi to honour winners of the second edition of the Shaikh Zayed Book Award (2007-8). The ceremony will be held on the sidelines of the upcoming Abu Dhabi International Book Fair from March 11 to 16.
Another Moroccan researcher and PhD holder won the Shaikh Zayed Book Award in the category of Young Authors for his book Future of international relations in the light of civilizations clash, which was described by the secretary-general as a remarkable contribution to Arab politics and philosophy.
The translation award went to Jordanian Fayez Al Sayagh, while the Arts Award went to Iraqi architect, Rafa Al Jaderji, and Publication and Distribution Award went to the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.
The Libyan novelist Ebrahim Al Kowni won the Literature Award, while Huda Al Shawwa, a Kuwaiti, won the Child Literature Award.
In all, 512 candidates from 30 Arab countries contended for the second edition of the Shaikh Zayed Book Awards.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Heritage_and_Culture/10194100.html
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Influence of the Moors in Spain and Portugal
by Edward Vivian Scobie
The same degree of intellect and learning was brought by the Moorish conquerors of the Iberian peninsula to Portugal. Like Spain, that country was to be culturally influenced by the Moors. Its association with Africa dates as far back as the fourth and fifth centuries when Africans arrived in southern Europe. But it was in 711 A.D. that they marched in as conquerors under the command of Tarik. To reinforce what has been said earlier these Moors, as the early writers chronicled, were "black or dark people, some being very black."
After the invasion of 711 came other waves of Moors even darker. It was this occupation of Portugal which accounts for the fact that even noble families had absorbed the blood of the Moor.
From that time onwards, racial mixing in Portugal, as in Spain, and elsewhere in Europe which came under the influence of Moors, took place on a large scale. That is why historians claim that "Portugal is in reality a Negroid land," and that when Napoleon explained that "Africa begins at the Pyrenees," he meant every word that he uttered. Even the world-famed shrine in Portugal, Fatima, where Catholic pilgrims from all over the world go in search of miracle cures for their afflictions, owes its origin to the Moors. The story goes that a Portuguese nobleman was so saddened by the death of his wife, a young Moorish beauty whom he had married after her conversion to the Christian faith, that he gave up his title and fortune and entered a monastery. His wife was buried on a high plateau called Sierra de Aire. It is from there that the name of Fatima is derived.
The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon and the rest of the country until well into the twelfth century. They were finally defeated and driven out by the forces of King Alfonso Henriques, who was aided by English and Flemish crusaders. The scene of this battle was the Castelo de Sao Jorge or, in English, the Castle of St. George. Today, it still stands, overlooking the city of "Lashbuna"--as the Moors named Lisbon.
The defeat of the Moors did not put an end to their influence on Portugal. The African (Moorish) presence can be seen everywhere in Portugal; in the architecture of many of the buildings. They still retain their Moorish design--like the Praca De Toiros--the Bull Ring in Lisbon. A walk through Alfama--the oldest quarter in Lisbon, with its fifteenth century houses, narrow-winding streets--dates back to the time when it was the last settlement of the Moors. Fado singers abound in all corners and bistros of Afalma. Their songs and rhythms owe much to the influence of the Moorish musicians centuries ago. Even the fishing boats on the beaches of Cascais show marked African traces. Called the rabelos, these boats, with their large red or white sails, which also ply on the Douro River to fetch wine from the upper valleys, are reminiscent of the transport boats of Lagos in Nigeria.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Moors and Arabs
When the Romans entered West Africa in 46 B.C., they saw Africans and called them Maures, from the Greek adjective Mauros, meaning dark or black. It is from Mauros and the Latin term Marues that the word Moor is derived. Since the inhabitants of North Africa were black, the Romans and later the Europeans called them Moors. It is no coincidence that the land inhabited by the Moors was called Mauritania and Morocco, meaning "Land of the Blacks."
In the beginning of the seventh century, the Arab prophet, Muhammad, began to preach the word of Islam. Consumed with religious fervor, the Arabs sought to spread Islam and conquer the world. By 708, the Arabs had overrun North Africa. Consequently, Moors in large numbers accepted Arabic as the national language and converted to their conqueror's religion, Islam. Interestingly, hundreds of years later, Africans who had been enslaved by Europeans would again convert to their conqueror's religion, Christianity.
After the fall of the Roman Empire (fifth century), Spain was held by a barbaric white tribe, the Visigoths. Though they were Christians, their brand of Christianity was cruel and unjust. For this reason, Spain's Jews, serfs, and slaves looked favorably upon the arrival of a new civilization in which they would be able to live free of persecution.
Tarik, a great African chief, was given the rank of general in the Arab army and sent to raid Spain. On April 30, 711, Tarik landed on the Spanish Coast with 7,000 troops. His troops consisted of 300 Arabs and 6,700 native Africans (Moors). An ancient source, Ibn Husayn (ca. 950, recorded that these troops were "Sudanese", an Arabic word for Black people.
The Moors were unstoppable, and Visigothic Spain ceased to be. The few resisting Visigoths fled to the caves of the Cantabrian Mountains. Later in the century, the cave dwellers would venture out of the Cantabrian Mountains and reclaim parts of northern Spain.
The Moors of Africa were the real conquerors. When the Arabs arrived, the hardest part of the job had been done. Instead of treating the Moors fairly, the Arab chiefs assigned themselves the most fertile regions. The dissatisfied Moors were not long in coming to blows with the Arabs. (The History of Spain by Louis Bertrand and Sir Charles Petrie - published by Eyre & Spottiswood, London, 1945, page 36). Ultimately, the Moors acquired two-thirds of the peninsula, which they named Al-Andulus.
Al -Andulus was obliged to pay tribute to the Arab Caliph (King) of Damascus. As Al-Andulus acquired its own identity, its bond with the Caliph began to weaken. In 756, Al-Andulus proclaimed itself an independent state. Thus, its only links to the Arabs would be the Islamic faith and the Arabic language.
The Moorish architectural remains in Cordoba, Seville, and Granada prove conclusively that these cities were more prosperous and artistically more brilliant than any Christian cities in Europe at the time. The Moors of Al-Andulus held the torch of leaning and civilization when the rest of Europe was plunged in barbaric ignorance.
If Moorish Spain had been an accomplishment of the Arabs it would have been called Arab or Arabic Spain. Instead it bears the name of its creators, the Moors, i.e., Moorish Spain. Moorish culture was black in origin, bright in Achievement, and powerful in its influence on the rest of Europe.
Yvonne Clark is a researcher and public lecturer currently residing in Los Angeles, California. She had recently returned from an educational tour of Bahia, Brazil, and has done extensive research on Moorish Spain. Ms. Clark may be contacted at ycclark@earthlink.net
from
http://africawithin.com/moors/moors_and_arabs.htm
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please help me to form a review by providing your opinions.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Arab countries must grow up and modernize
I visited the Japanese cell phone company DoCoMo in Tokyo recently. A robot made by Honda gave me part of the tour, even bowing in perfect Japanese fashion. My visit there coincided with yet another suicide bomb attack against U.S. forces in Iraq. I could not help thinking: Why are the Japanese making robots into humans, while Muslim suicide squads are making humans into robots?
The answer has to do in part with the interaction between culture and natural resources. Countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China have relatively few natural resources like oil. As a result, in the modern age, their first instinct is to look inward, assess their weaknesses, try to learn as much as they can from foreigners and then beat them at their own game. In order to beat the Westerners, they have even set aside many of their historical animosities so they can invest in each other's countries and get all the benefits of free trade.
The Arab world, alas, has been cursed with oil. For decades, too many Arab countries have opted to drill a sand dune for economic growth rather than drilling their own people -- men and women -- in order to tap their energy, creativity, intellect and entrepreneurship. Arab countries barely trade with one another, and unlike Korea and Japan, rarely invent or patent anything. But rather than looking inward, assessing their development deficits, absorbing the best in modern knowledge that their money can buy and then trying to beat the West at its own game, the Arab world in too many cases has cut itself off, blamed the enduring Palestine conflict or colonialism for delaying reform, or found dignity in Pyrrhic victories like Fallujah.
To be sure, there are exceptions. Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai, Morocco and Tunisia are all engaged in real experiments with modernization, but the bigger states are really lost. A week ago we were treated again to absurd Saudi allegations that "Zionists" were behind the latest bombing in Saudi Arabia, because, said Saudi officials, "Zionists" clearly benefit from these acts. Someone ought to tell the Saudis this: Don't flatter yourselves. The only interest Israelis have in Saudi Arabia is flying over it to get to India and China -- countries that actually trade and manufacture things other than hatred of "infidels."
The Bush team has made a mess in Iraq, but the pathologies of the Arab world have also contributed -- and the sheer delight that some Arab media take in seeing Iraq go up in flames is evidence of that. It's time for the Arab world to grow up -- to stop dancing on burning American jeeps and claiming that this is some victory for Islam.
One thing about countries like Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, they may not have deserts but they sure know the difference between the mirage and the oasis -- between victories that come from educating your population to innovate and "victories" that come from a one-night stand by suicidal maniacs like 9/11.
As I said, the Bush team has made a mess in Iraq. And I know that Abu Ghraib will be a lasting stain on the Pentagon leadership. But here's what else I know from visiting Iraq: There were a million acts of kindness, generosity and good will also extended by individual U.S. soldiers this past year -- acts motivated purely by a desire to give Iraqis the best chance they've ever had at decent government and a better future. There are plenty of Iraqis and Arabs who know that.
Yes, we Americans need to look in a mirror and ask why we've become so radioactive. But the Arabs need to look in a mirror too. "They are using our mistakes to avoid their own necessity to change, reform and modernize," says the Mideast expert Stephen P. Cohen.
A senior Iraqi politician told me that he recently received a group of visiting Iranian journalists in his home. As they were leaving, he said, two young Iranian women in the group whispered to him: "Succeed for our sake." Those Iranian women knew that if Iraqis could actually produce a decent, democratizing government it would pressure their own regime to start changing -- which is why the Iranian, Syrian and Saudi regimes are all rooting for us to fail.
But you know what? Despite everything, we still have a chance to produce a decent outcome in Iraq, if we get our eye back on the ball. Of course, if we do fail, that will be our tragedy. But for the Arabs, it will be a huge lost opportunity -- one that will only postpone their future another decade. Too bad so few of them have the courage to stand up and say that. I guess it must be another one of those "Zionist" plots.
New York Times News Service
Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
The cultural impact of the french colonialism on the Moroccan identity
The nature of colonialism in the form of ancient and modern history is to exploit peoples and vulgarize them if possible at all levels, including the exploitation of culture. This immensity concept of the cultural activity in the western colonial period arises in
by Abdelkrim Amrani
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Islamic intellectual history (especially philosophy and theology)
In addition to Islamic Civilizations 145 ("Islamic Philosophy and Theology") as well as a full year of Arabic 240 ("Classical Arabic Philology"), certain specified courses are required of all students who plan to write a dissertation on some aspect of Arabic/Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) or Islamic Theology (kalâm). The aim of these requirements is to give students the ability to locate a particular text more precisely within Islamic intellectual history: both diachronically (i.e., in terms of that text's relationship to previous and later texts within the text's own specific intellectual tradition, be it falsafa or kalâm) and synchronically (i.e., in terms of that text's relationship to contemporaneous texts within other textual traditions, be they Islamic Law, Qur'an Commentary; Sufism, etc.). Students planning to write on some aspect of Arabic/Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) will be required to complete at least two semesters of Arabic 249r ("Arabic Philosophical Texts: Seminar"); one semester of Arabic 250r ("Arabic Theological Texts: Seminar"); one undergraduate-level course on Ancient Philosophy (e.g., Classics 100, Philosophy 101; Philosophy 102, Philosophy 105); and one graduate-level course on Ancient Philosophy (e.g. Classics 268r; Greek 110r, Philosophy 202). By the time they take their General Examinations, students planning to write about some aspect of Arabic/Islamic philosophy will also be required to demonstrate - through examination or through completion of coursework with a grade of "B" or better - at least a third-year level of proficiency in Greek OR Latin OR Hebrew, depending on their specific interests. (NB: Students planning to write on some aspect of the Greco-Arabic translation movement will also be required to demonstrate at least a second-year level of proficiency in Syriac.) Students planning to write on some aspect of Islamic Theology (kalâm) will be required to complete at least two semesters of Arabic 250r ("Arabic Theological Texts: Seminar"); one semester of Arabic 249r ("Arabic Philosophical Texts: Seminar"); four courses in the following areas: Qur'an; Islamic Law; Institutional History; Hadith; Arabic Grammar; Sufism; or Late-Antique or Medieval Christian or Jewish Thought.
from
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/arab_islam.html
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Arab American National Museum Seeks to Dispel Stereotypes
| Dearborn, Michigan 03 October 2007 There are scores of museums in the United States, to educate the public about specific ethnic groups, but not until two years ago was there one devoted to Arab Americans. That is when the Arab American National Museum opened in Dearborn, Michigan, near Detroit. VOA's Mohamed Elshinnawi recently toured the museum and has this report.
Museum Director Anan Ameri told us, "When people come and visit the exhibits, they say, if they are Latin Americans or Italian Americans: 'Oh, this is like my father's story, my grandmother's story.' And in the bottom end of it, the Arab American story is really the American story, the story of immigrants coming to this country from all parts of the world to create better lives for themselves and for their children."
Celine Taminian is the director of educational programs. "On the second floor we have three major exhibits or galleries: Coming to America, Living in America and Making an Impact,” she says. "Through these exhibits we teach students who live in America about the Arab culture and Arab Americans who live here in the U.S., about their lifestyle, about the work they do, how they came to the U.S. and what their impact is on this culture and on this country."
Barbara Aswad is a professor of anthropology at University of California. "Americans absolutely do not know enough about Arabs, and certainly about Arab Americans. They do not know their history, and I hope eventually they will get more history in this museum."
Ralph Valdez is the museum's director of cultural programs. He says the museum organizes a multi-cultural music series to demonstrate the common ground that different cultures share. "They can see in the art, similarities of themes of love, family and devotion and very many things that people of all nationalities and ethnicities celebrate in their art,” he said. “They see the commonalities and that helps them to open their understanding and get away from the stereotypes." Since its opening two years ago, more than 80,000 people have visited the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, and it has become a well known resource for documented information about Arabs and Arab Americans . http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-03-voa55.cfm |
Friday, September 28, 2007
The story of Cat Stevens' conversion to Islam
He marked the seventies with his unforgettable melodies and topped the charts for more than a decade, Cat Stevens stopped abruptly an exceptional musical career to the deep regret of millions of fans worldwide.
Cat Stevens who changed his name to Youssef Islam didn’t stop singing out of lack of inspiration but rather due to the fact that, he at last, found his own path by converting to Islam. This is the story with his new faith.
He says” I was born to a Christian family which revered money and did the same, I felt in admiration for singers to the extent that I made of them my supreme god , then decided to become one of them. I ended up by becoming one of the biggest Pop stars, and media made of me an icon, bigger than life itself and will live forever.”
Stevens further added” When day I felt sick and was admitted to hospital, there I had enough time to contemplate and think about things. My conclusion was that we are only a body, and all and all I was only working to satisfy my biological needs. The illness was a god send I opened up my eyes. Once I left the hospital I made inquiries through readings and concluded that Man was a combination of a body and soul.”
“My quest for truth continued in parallel with my artistic career , till the day when a friend of mine who came back from a trip in the East and told that he found serenity inside a mosque which he didn’t in a church, which led me to shift my interest to that religion and bought a translated Koran. At last I found answers to my questions: Who I am?, where I come from ? and what is my goal in Life?. Through my several readings of this holy book, I concluded that there is only one god with whom we can communicate directly without any interference.”
This how Cat Stevens converted to Islam .
Agencies
from echoroukonline
Thinking Like an Arab by by Alan Caruba
Thinking Like an Arab by by Alan Caruba: "Thinking Like an Arab"
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Ibn Duraid
IBN DURAID [Abu Bakr Mahommed ibn ul-Hasan ibn Duraid ul-Azdi] (837-934), Arabian poet and philologist, was born at Basra of south Arabian stock. At his native place he was trained under various teachers, but fled in 871 to Oman at the time Basra was attacked by the negroes, known as the Zanj, under Muhallabi. After living twelve years in Oman he went to Persia, and, under the protection of the governor, `Abdallah ibn Mahommed ibn Mikal, and his son, Ismail, wrote his chief works. In 920 he went to Bagdad, where he received a pension from the caliph Moqtadir.
The Magsura, a poem in praise of Ibn Mikal and his son, has been edited by A. Haitsma (1773) E. Scheidius (1786) and N. Boyesen (1828). Various commentaries on the poem exist in MS. (cf. C. Brockelmann, Gesch. der ar. Lit., i. 211 ff., Weimar, 1898). The Jamhara fi-1-Lugha is a large dictionary written in Persian but not printed. Another work is the Kitab ul-Ishtigaq (" Book of Etymology"), edited by F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, 1854); it was written in opposition to the anti-Arabian party to show the etymological connexion of the Arabian tribal names. (G. W. T.)
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Ibn_Duraid
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Losing hearts and minds
It is virtually axiomatic that the major trends of US policy in the Middle East today are directly linked to the aftermath of 11 September, 2001. The war against terrorism, the invasion of Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq, the policies of regime change and promoting democratisation in the Arab world have shaped the political scenery of the Middle East and have led the US to become the major player in one of the world's tensest and most trouble-ridden regions. Has this superpower succeeded, in the course of the past six years, in safeguarding its interests and eliminating what it regards as its main potential threats? Otherwise put, in political-strategic terms, is Washington better off today in the Middle East than it was before September 2001?
There is no need to recapitulate the developments during this period to determine that the balance sheet of gains and losses clearly shows that the threats to American interests are much graver and more diverse than they were before 2001. Indeed, for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the beginning of the 1990s there has emerged a regional axis, lead by Iran, antagonistic towards the US and keen to defy the American enterprise for regional and international hegemony.
No less dismal a failure is the Bush administration's attempt, in the aftermath of September 2001, to reshape Arab public opinion of the US and of US policy in the Middle East through the exercise of so-called instruments of "soft power". The energetic public diplomacy programme, as epitomised by the establishment of Al-Hurra, or "Freedom TV", and Sawa Radio using native Arabic speakers, fell a long way short of winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab people. Recent opinion polls, many conducted by American research centres, reveal that these television and radio stations attracted only a smattering of Arab audiences and that from Morocco to Bahrain, Arab opinion of US policy is more negative than ever.
In large part this failure of public diplomacy is the product of an inappropriately designed approach, based almost exclusively as it was on the concept that governed Washington's media and propaganda campaign targeting the socialist bloc during the Cold War. Whether out of naiveté or pure ignorance, the architects of this project ignored the fundamental difference between the people of Eastern Europe, the majority of whom were fascinated by the Western way of life and who would tune into Radio Free Europe and seize whatever opportunities they could to read American and Western European publications, in spite of the considerable risks they faced in their police states, and the people of the Arab world who, when thinking about America, are concerned above all about American policies towards the Middle East and who regard these policies as hostile to Arab rights and causes and relentlessly biased in favour of Israel. Any media directed towards Arab audiences that could not address this concern, simply because it could not alter the facts, was doomed to lack credibility.
But the architects of policies that gave rise to Al-Hurra TV and Sawa Radio overlooked a more glaring difference between socialist Eastern Europe and the Arab world. In Poland and East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, people had only the choice between their own state-run media and the more enticing state-run media from the West. Arab audiences at the beginning of the 21st century are inundated with choices, not only from land-based broadcasting stations in Cairo, Riyadh and Amman, but also from satellite networks. Al-Hurra and Sawa could not even begin to compete on the open airwaves with such much more attractive and sophisticated stations as Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.
But there is also a technical reason for this failure. As though it was not a difficult enough task to improve the image of the US in the Arab world at a time when this superpower has forces occupying an Arab country that is undergoing horrifying tensions and upheavals, and at a time when it encouraged its Israeli ally to go on the offensive against another Arab country in the hope of altering the map of regional alliances, the American media targeting the Arab world was consistently poorly managed. Programming and the substance of programmes never went beyond the blatantly propagandistic campaign to vindicate American policies. How could it possibly succeed?
The Bush administration lost the battle to win Arab hearts and minds. It is difficult to foresee any reversal of US fortunes any time in the near future.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/862/sc2.htm
Friday, September 21, 2007
Greatest Botanist and Pharmacist of the Middle Ages: IBN AL-BAITAR
Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi IBN AL-BAITAR IBN AL BAITARIbn Al-Baitar full name (Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi) was one of the greatest scientists of Muslim Spain and was the greatest botanist and pharmacist of the Middle Ages. He was born in the Spanish city of Malaqa (Malaga) towards the end of the 12th century. He learned botany from Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, a learned botanist, with whom he started collecting plants in and around Spain. In 1219 he left Spain on a plant-collecting expedition and travelled along the northern coast of Africa as far as Asia Minor. The exact modes of his travel (whether by land or sea) are not known, but the major stations he visited include Bugia, Qastantunia (Constantinople), Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa and Adalia. After 1224 he entered the service of al-Kamil, the Egyptian Governor, and was appointed chief herbalist. In 1227 al-Kamil extended his domination to Damascus, and Ibn al-Baitar accompanied him there which provided him an opportunity to collect plants in Syria His researches on plants extended over a vast area: including Arabia and Palestine, which he either visited or managed to collect plants from stations located there. He died in Damascus in 1248.
Ibn Baitar's major contribution, Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al- Mufrada, is one of the greatest botanical compilations dealing with medicinal plants in Arabic. It enjoyed a high status among botanists up to the 16th century and is a systematic work that embodies earlier works, with due criticism, and adds a great part of original contribution. The encyclopedia comprises some 1,400 different items, largely medicinal plants and vegetables, of which about 200 plants were not known earlier. The book refers to the work of some 150 authors mostly Arabic, and it also quotes about 20 early Greek scientists. It was translated into Latin and published in 1758.
His second monumental treatise Kitab al-Mlughni fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada is an encyclopedia of medicine. The drugs are listed in accordance with their therapeutical value. Thus, its 20 different chapters deal with the plants bearing significance to diseases of head, ear, eye, etc. On surgical issues he has frequently quoted the famous Muslim surgeon, Abul Qasim Zahrawi. Besides Arabic, Baitar has given Greek and Latin names of the plants, thus facilitating transfer of knowledge.
Ibn Baitar's contributions are characterized by observation, analysis and classification and have exerted a profound influence on Eastern as well as Western botany and medicine. Though the Jami was translated/published late in the western languages as mentioned above, yet many scientists had earlier studied various parts of the book and made several references to it.
Abu Mansur ibn Tahir Al-Baghdadi
Born: about 980 in Baghdad, Iraq
Died: 1037
Al-Baghdadi is sometimes known as Ibn Tahir. His full name is Abu Mansur Abr al-Qahir ibn Tahir ibn Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Tamini al-Shaffi al-Baghdadi. We can deduce from al-Baghdadi's last two names that he was descended from the Bani Tamim tribe, one of the Sharif tribes of ancient Arabia, and that he belonged to the Madhhab Shafi'i school of religious law. This school of law, one of the four Sunni schools, took its name from the teacher Abu 'Abd Allah as-Shafi'i (767-820) and was based on both the divine law of the Qur'an or Hadith and on human logical reasoning when no divine teachings were given.
We have a few details of al-Baghdadi's life. He was born and brought up in Baghdad but left that city to go to Nishapur (sometimes written Neyshabur in English) in the Tus region of northeastern Iran. He did not go to Nishapur alone, but was accompanied by his father who must have been a man of considerable wealth, for al-Baghdadi, without any apparent income himself, was able to spend a great deal of money on supporting scholarship and men of learning.
At this time Nishapur was, like the whole of the region around it, a place where there was little political stability as various tribes and religious groups fought with each other. When riots broke out in Nishapur, al-Baghdadi decided that he required a more peaceful place to continue his life as an academic so he moved to Asfirayin. This town was quieter and al-Baghdadi was able to teach and study in more peaceful surroundings. He was certainly considered as one of the great teachers of his time and the people of Nishapur were sad to lose the great scholar from their city.
In Asfirayin, al-Baghdadi taught for many years in the mosque. Always having sufficient wealth, he took no payment for his teachings, devoting his life to the pursuit of learning and teaching for its own sake. His writings were mainly concerned with theology, as we must assume were his teachings. However, he wrote at least two books on mathematics.
One, Kitab fi'l-misaha, is relatively unimportant. It is concerned with the measurement of lengths, areas and volumes. The second is, however, a work of major importance in the history of mathematics. This treatise, al-Takmila fi'l-Hisab, is a work in which al-Baghdadi considers different systems of arithmetic. These systems derive from counting on the fingers, the sexagesimal system, and the arithmetic of the Indian numerals and fractions. He also considers the arithmetic of irrational numbers and business arithmetic. In this work al-Baghdadi stresses the benefits of each of the systems but seems to favour the Indian numerals.
Several important results in number theory appear in the al-Takmila as do comments which allow us to obtain information on certain texts of al-Khwarizmi which are now lost. We shall discuss the number theory results in more detail below, but first let us comment on the light which the al-Takmila sheds on the problem of why Renaissance mathematicians were divided into "abacists" and "algorists" and exactly what is captured by these two names. It seems clear that those using Indian numerals used an abacus and were then called "abacists". The "algorists" followed the methods of al-Khwarizmi's lost work which, contrary to what was originally thought, is not a work on Indian numerals but rather a work on finger counting methods. This becomes clear from the references to the lost work by al-Baghdadi.
Let us now consider the number theory in al-Takmila. Al-Baghdadi gives an interesting discussion of abundant numbers, deficient numbers, perfect numbers and equivalent numbers. Suppose that, in modern notation, S(n) denotes the sum of the aliquot parts of n, that is the sum of its proper quotients. First al-Baghdadi defines perfect numbers (those number n with S(n) = n), abundant numbers (those number n with S(n) > n), and deficient numbers (those number n with S(n) < n). Of course these properties of numbers had been studied by the ancient Greeks. Al-Baghdadi gives some elementary results and then states that 945 is the smallest odd abundant number, a result usually attributed to Bachet in the early 17th century.
Nicomachus had made claims about perfect numbers in around 100 AD which were accepted, seemingly without question, in Europe up to the 16th century. However, al-Baghdadi knew that certain claims made by Nicomachus were false. Al-Baghdadi wrote (see for example [2] or [3]):-
He who affirms that there is only one perfect number in each power of 10 is wrong; there is no perfect number between ten thousand and one hundred thousand. He who affirms that all perfect numbers end with the figure 6 or 8 are right.
Next al-Baghdadi goes on to define equivalent numbers, and appears to be the first to study them. Two numbers m and n are called equivalent if S(m) = S(n). He then considers the problem: given k, find m, n with S(m) = S(n) = k. The method he gives is a pretty one. He then gives the example k = 57, obtaining S(159) = 57 and S(559) = 57. However, he missed 703, for S(703) = 57 as well.
The results that al-Baghdadi gives on amicable numbers are only a slight variations on results given earlier by Thabit ibn Qurra. In modern notation, m and n are amicable if S(n) = m, and S(m) = n. Thabit ibn Qurra's theorem is as follows: for n > 1, let pn = 3.2n -1 and qn = 9.22n-1 -1. Then if pn-1, pn, and qn are prime, then a = 2npn-1pn and b = 2nqn are amicable numbers while a is abundant and b is deficient.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
