The Nomad and the Olive Branch

I admit that I am no student of Philosophy. However, I must comment that after reading certain philosophical works (are they philosophical?), I started to question them from a more - you can say - "simplistic" point of view, one that does not include all the confusing mumbo jumbo in contemporary and classical Philosophy. One such person who caught my eye was a German guy named Hegel. Georg Hegel . He was a German philosopher back in the day, and had quite a cult following, both right-wingers and left-wingers. I tend to view him in the same light as the same guy who said that "democracies can't fight each other" (which is utterly false ). Why is that? Hegel, like Samuel Huntington, in his controversial yet faulty "Clash of Civilizations" theory (I wrote something about this , but I suppose Edward Said has a much better argument), provided a philosophy that is based on simplistic collectivist ideas that do not take into account the many variables that s...

With chaos stretching from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, we have never lived in a more dangerous time. Our man in the Middle East looks back over a lifetime of covering war and death, and lays out a bleak future for all of us - one that even those living in the comfort of the Home Counties cannot escape. by Robert Fisk A few days after Lebanon's latest war came to an end, I went through many of the reporter's notebooks I have used in my last 30 years in the Middle East. Some contained the names of dead colleagues, others the individual stories of the suffering of Arabs and Kurds and Christians and Jews. One, dated 1991, is even splashed with a dark and viscous substance, the oil that came raining down on us from the skies over the Kuwaiti desert after Saddam blew up the wells of the Emirate. It was only after a few minutes that I realised what I was looking for: some hint, back in the days of dangerous innocence, of what was going to happen on 11 September 2001. And sure en...

"God created you from a single male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other ." -The Koran, (49:13) When you look at a map of the world, you will notice that it's not one big homogeneous land mass. It is a world divided by borders. But look further, and there are more divisions than meets the eye. You will see people... many people... of different backgrounds, whether they are cultural, racial, social or religious. The world itself is a mosaic within a mosaic within a mosaic, and these mosaics aren't simply components of each other, but interweave at parts. Unfortunately, there are many who wish to disrupt this delicate balance, especially regarding religious divisions. Throughout history, religious divisions have been at most pseudo-apocalyptic: from the Crusades to the Inquisition, while politically driven, had religious undertones, and spiritual differences were exploited for the sake of...

Ramadan: It's Not Just a Food Fast Ramadan in America can be overwhelming. Here are five ways to simplify and be more spiritual for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. By Dilshad D. Ali Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, is special to millions of Muslims worldwide as a holy period dedicated to fasting, self-purification, and spiritual attainment. Every year the world’s Muslims redesign their life to focus on the goals of Ramadan: A whole-body awareness of God and a humble thankfulness for whatever blessings He has granted. But Ramadan in non-Muslim countries can be more challenging, as Muslims try to navigate the requirements and recommendations of Ramadan--fasting from sunrise to sunset, fitting in the five daily prayers at their appointed times, attending special evening tarawih prayers at the mosque, and reading the Qur’an each day for an entire month--while juggling the demands of work, school, and family. While I passed lunchtime in my junior high school guidance cou...

Ya know what ticks me off? Islamophobia... Anti-Semitism... Anti-Africanism... Anti-White... racism. Racism. Discrimination. Bigotry. You name it. But if anything, I also hate hypocrites. I'm here to talk about some of the hypocrites who defend Islam, who, while still in a minority, need to tone their voice down because they are setting a bad example for the Muslim community. It's like someone who complains about other people persecuting him/her and what he/she believes in, and at the same time forces others to deviate from societal norms for his/her sake by telling them to do something that would comply with their religious values. What I'm trying to get at is that there are some Muslims who have many other phobias as a result of Islamophobic pressure being applied unto them. For example, there are Muslims who will stand up for their religion and denigrate the religious beliefs of others. The biggest example of this is the trend of anti-Semitism evident amongst extremely l...