'Haroon Siddiqui\r'

'The pages gentle history daubed in bloodshed of violence in the name of religion, territorial gains etc. be ask the crying drumhead. How to make this Planet Earth heaven-like? The assist is simple and direct. Eyes encompassing of understanding, heart full of love and the life that refuses conflictsâ€enough! These al star be enough! In the recorded history of munificence in the last five thousand years, politicians, kings, soldiery generals, religious leaders remove miserably failed to work out the important question of achieving repose for mankind. Most of them f every(prenominal) in acted like proverbial Tom.The teacher asked, â€Å"Tom, why are you answering every question with a nonher question? ” â€Å"Why not? ” was Tom’s rejoinderâ€again a question! If the purpose of the hold is to tender some facts think to the Moslem universe of discourse of the world in the light of the post 9/11 calamity, it has achieved some success. In name of constituent to cementing understanding between other communities and the Islamics, it has failed. On issues related to Faith, arguments and counter-arguments stool not solved and exit never solve the differences. The root cause of deep misinterpret lies elsewhere.Haroon begins the phonograph recording with a electric charge. He writes, â€Å"The approximately 27 million Muslims living in Western Nations have been targeted in other ways. They have been victims of social profile and frequent identity mix-ups at air-ports and border crossing, where they may be harassed and sometimes detained. Monitored by both(prenominal) the secret services, and the media, they must be careful just approximately what they say in e-mails, ph matchless conversations in public. ”(Siddiqui, 2006, p, 11) This complaint doesn’t carry much weight. These are conventionality procedures in cases of emergency, in war-like situations, and even during normal times.The 9/11 attack was a n extraordinary, war-like act. There is no doubt, the perpetrators of this fearful act are Muslimsâ€to which terrorist outfit they belonged, is altogether a different issue. In such situations this has hap playpened with all the communities in the world and either student of history so-and-so quote examples in abundance in support. Statistics pleasant to his view point are presented by Haroon and his words is grudging and full of malice. His opinions are sometimes same to that of a fanatic Muslim Preacher sermonizing during the Fri twenty-four hours prayers at the mosque but Haroon is talented and educated.The first 2 chapters take in anti-American and anti-Jew propaganda. It is uncontaminated political stuff, no literature. Haroon should have no complaints about his childhood. (Most of the Muslim children have). He hailed from an stiff family. He was born in Hyderabad, India, where Muslims very intumesce know the meaning of living in peace and brotherhood. He enjoyed th e career in journalism, in an surround of totally free press in a democratic country. He migrated to Canada in 1967, and the authentic get rolling to his international journalistic career began when he join the Toronto Star, as the foreign affairs analyst.Soon, he was one of Canada’s most honored journalists. He is a kind rights specialist, has covered important events like warrantor crisis in Iran, Iran-Iraq War, and has traveled to 35 countries. He has interviewed gratuity political leaders of the world. To draw the readers to his point of view, Haroon bids in the book the listing of historical events that angered Muslims and stretch forth to anger them. He reminds the readers that Muslims are 1/fifth of the population of the world. He harps on the demerits of the Iraq War, and the psychological and tangible tortures of Muslims in USA.To substantiate his claims, he cites serious cases of somebody injustice. He writes, â€Å" The administration also fingerprinted an d questioned 50,000 Muslims from or associated with Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq and Sudan…Among those arrested was throng Lee, a 1990 West Point Military honorary society graduate and a Muslim who was appointed the Muslim Chaplin at Gyantanama Bay. He was hounded because he had warned against mishandling of Muslim prisoners there. In September 2003, he was thrown into solitary childbed and charged with mutiny, sedition, espionage and aiding the enemy. ” (Siddiqui, 2006, p. 16)From the academic perspective, this is a good book for the debate class, as it has the potentialities for endless and hot discussions. The limit of the book, like Politics, European Muslims, The Faith, Women, jehad and terrorism, and the Future provide an array of topics for arguments and counter-arguments. To be fair to Haroon, he condemns with rival vehemence the Islamic fundamentalists, for fanning flames of Islamophobia. He defends the tenets of Islamâ€and that is what is expected of a good Muslim. He blames the local cultural traditions for the brusque conditions and backwardness of the Muslim women, not the Islamic teachings.He advocates for rapid economic reformations of the Muslims and advocates their rehabilitation, the need to protect their essential dignity and honor. He pleads to go into the root causes of Muslim-misery. He describes with objectiveness and depth, what it is to live in post 9/11 America if one is a Muslim. Haroon’s variant and comments on jihad will startle any Realized Soul. much(prenominal) is his deep understanding of the Jihad c erstwhilept. Jihad is a struggle, a crusade, he says. From the pure perspective of Muslim religion, it is to strive on the form of God by observing the five essentials of Islam.It is try to live as a good human being. Haroon talks about the jihad against oneself, ipso facto, the Self-Realization mentioned in the Hindu Scriptures. Jihad is understood in terms of war by most of the Westerners. The comm on Muslim also understands the concept of Jihad as per this connotation. truly it is something different says, Haroon. According to him, the jihad is the struggle against the ego, the devil, the jihad of the tongue (propagating the religious tenets of Islam) to spread the word of Islam, of charity, of the pen to spread of knowledge. Viewed from this angle, Jihad seems to be the most good-hearted word.When the Westerner thinks about the word jihad, he in the main thinks about as the blood-dripping sword for the cause of bedcover Islam and for the destruction of other faiths. But Haroon convinces one that it is the redolent rose spreading peace on all counts. So bi it! But Muslims as easily as non-Muslims need proper counseling about the correct connotation of the word Jihad in the light of explanations given by Haroon. So, Jihad against cleanliness, Jihad for literacy, Jihad against corruption, Jihad against drugs, Jihad against atrocities against women, Jihad against child-lab orâ€why not!Muslims praying five times a day seems an unnecessary practise for some(prenominal). But the actual logical implication of namaz is highlighted by Haroon thus: â€Å"Prayers are designed to stand up God-consciousness five times a day, throughout one’s life. Prayers also provide regular exercise †like yoga or Tai Chi or Qigong built into the day †and serve as a calming retreat from the daily demands of life. Muslims thus contemplate to balance deeni wa dunyavi (the spiritual and the worldly). They can’t abandon one for the other; that’s the essence of their faith. ”(Siddiqui, 2006, p. 121) Conclusion:Haroon Siddiqui is a mind-level intellectual and any literary work by such individuals stop at the mind- obstruction. But the Truth they are desperately nerve-wracking to reach is available not for knowing, but for experiencing once one transcends the mind. All the fights, misunderstandings between the Politicians, Preachers of different faiths, Scholars are related to the level of reason. The judgment processes of an individual channelise not by the repetition of scriptural revelations, not by reading or studying to a greater extent and more books. Experiencing is the ultimate spirituality.It is the lesson beyond all lessons, when the thought processes of an individual change. When the thought processes change, the action process will also change. Misunderstanding of all types will vanish. Such changed action processes will change the society whether it is the Muslim society or the Western Society. Haroon, on many issues elucidated in the book, knocks desperately at the last barrier of the mind, but he is unable to cross it. ============= work Cited: Siddiqui, Haroon: Book: Being Muslim Hardcover: gross pages Publisher: Groundwood Books (Aug 17 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 088899785X ISBN-13: 978-0888997852\r\n'