Misbah is Arabic for “lamp,” a symbol of illumination

Misbah Spring 2008

Volume 1, Issue 1

Princeton’s First Magazine Exploring Islam and the Muslim World

 2

Misbah Magazine
Exploring Islam and the Muslim World

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Babur Khwaja ‘09

EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Joy N. Karugu ‘09

SENIOR EDITOR
Wasim Shiliwala ‘09

LAYOUT
Waqas Jawaid ‘10

CONTRIBUTORS
Nabil Abdurehman ’11
Humayra Ali GS
M. Jehangir Amjad ’10
George Hatke GS
Celene Marie Ayat Lizzio ’08
Faraz Khan
Intisar Rabb GS
Fethi Mübin Ramazanoğlu GS
Misbah Magazine explores the ideas,
history and development of Muslims and Islam in the
world. It is offered free of charge to all students, faculty
and staff of Princeton University. All questions about
donations and off-campus subscription and advertising rates
should be directed to misbah@princeton.edu.

Views expressed in Misbah Magazine do not necessarily

reflect those of the editors, sponsors, trustees or of
Princeton University. Letters to the editor can be directed to
misbah@princeton.edu and may be edited for length and
clarity.

Printing of this journal is made possible by

generous grants from the following sources:

Office of the Dean of Religious Life

Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts
Princeton University Center for Human Values Undergraduate Forum The front and back covers feature the Sultan Ahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
Princeton University Council of the Humanities Photos by Timothy Neesam and Rafael Schwemmer, respectively. The above photo,
Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies by Seccad Yazicioglu, shows the mosque’s interior. Calligraphy by Said Bak.

Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World

 1

Photo by Mohamed Somji.

Contents
Editor’s Note 2

The Decline of Muslims in the Sciences 3

Zia’s Destructive Legacy 4

Katrina: Continuing Lessons for the Muslim

and American Communities 6

‘Modern’ Visions of Islam: At the Junctures of

Humanism, Pragmatism and Scriptural Authority 12

A Translation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz 13

Of Traders and Tribesmen:

The Hadramawt Region of Eastern Yemen 14

“Blessed are the Peacemakers” 17

A Pearl in Mawaraunnahr 19

A Call for Understanding 21

Princeton University - Spring 2008

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Editor’s Note
Welcome to the first issue of Misbah Magazine. After
months of planning, our staff has created the first
magazine at Princeton University dedicated to promoting
an intellectual discourse on the ideas, debates and cultures
relevant to Islam and the Muslim world. Misbah is an
Arabic word that translates to “lamp,” and we hope
similarly to provide illumination. We intend to explore
the Muslim world by engaging in intellectual debates,
presenting diverse art forms and analyzing historical
legacies. We hope to achieve this goal with articles, poetry
and photography that explore a broad range of subject
matter. As this magazine is intended primarily for a
Princeton University audience, we attempt to present our
ideas through a lens that recognizes Islam’s relations with
other cultures and traditions.
This first issue offers a range of articles and artwork. The
feature article by George Hatke GS examines the trade
diaspora that grew from the Hadramawt region of Yemen,
analyzing how the diaspora affected social dynamics and
the spread of religion. Not to focus exclusively on politics
and history, an article by Humayra Ali GS examines the
legacy of scientific achievement in Muslim civilizations
and explores the causes of the decline in scientific
innovation in Muslim societies today. Each article
presents a different realm to explore.
No discussion on Muslim civilization would be
complete without some reference to its art. This issue
presents poetry and photography from around the
world. Maryam Wasif Khan ’08 has translated works of
a Pakistani poet from Urdu to English, and our staff has
assembled pictures of historically significant sites from
around the Muslim world.
Given the variant forces and movements within the
Muslim world, this magazine can provide a means for
Princeton and the broader community to engage in
issues that are relevant today. This discussion can only
be enhanced if more people participate in it. We plan to
release our second issue in the Fall of 2008, and we invite
anyone of any belief to submit articles or artwork.

Yours truly, The Mezquita of Córdoba, Spain. Photo by Félix Gutiérrez.

Babur Khwaja ‘09

Editor-in-Chief

Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World


The Decline of Muslims
in the Sciences
By Humayra Ali GS
It is a historical fact that the Muslim world once made re-
markable scientific contributions to the world at large. Over
a thousand years ago, Muslims introduced modern experi-
mental science—new methods of experimentation, observa-
tion, and measurement—placing far greater emphasis on
experimental science than had the Greeks. From Al-Khwariz-
mi’s invention of algebra, to Ibn al-Haytham’s introduction of
the laws of the reflection and refraction of light and illumi-
nating the principles of inertia long before Issac Newton, to
Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine—a 318-page medical textbook
that served the basis for medical teaching in Europe and the
Middle East for hundreds of years—all bear testimony to the
phenomenal scientific work and spirit brought about by the
Muslims in the early and high Middle-Ages up until the 16th
century. A part of this period is better known as the Golden
Age of Islamic Science.
Unfortunately, however, there has been a shocking decline
in the involvement of Muslims in the scientific arena since the
16th century and up through the present day. Despite the
fact that Muslims comprise roughly one fifth of the world’s
population, today only a miniscule fraction of scientific pub-
lications are made by the Muslim world in comparison to the
United States and the countries of Europe.
Many theories emerged as to why there is such a diminished
interest in the realm of science in the Muslim world. Some of
these factors include: (1) The decline of economic prosperity
and affluence in Islamic states after the 15th century, which
doomed the flourishing of science. This idea has been exten-
sively studied in Ibn Khaldun’s (a famous historian’s) Muqad-
dimah, the first volume of his book on universal history. He
observed that as economies suffer, the marketplace or the
demand for scientific professions decreased as a result. When
cities like Baghdad, Cordoba, al-Qairawan, al-Basra, and al-
Kufa became prosperous in the early centuries of Islam, civili-
zation was established and as a consequence both science and
scientists flourished in these areas. On the contrary, when
prosperity and civilization faded in those cities, the affluence
of science and its profession decreased as well. (2) From the
19th century, some have suggested that this decline of Islamic
science can be attributed to the negative views of Muslim
theologians towards the progress in science and scholasticism,
though this idea has been challenged and dismissed by many
scholars. There was no one religious authority that controlled
the entire educational system; so the educational system was
free from dominance of orthodox influences. (3) The Madrasa
3
system that came about after the founding of the Nizamiyya
Madrasa in Baghdad in the 11th century favored the study of
theology and law rather than natural sciences as suggested by
others. It is claimed that traditionally the orthodox Ash’ari
school of theology held such a view. This idea was also chal-
lenged since the study of natural sciences was performed
independently by different instructors, in different institu-
tions. So it is not that the teaching of science did not prevail
at that time, but rather that scientific research institutions did
not flourish as a result of their dependence on the prosperity
of the Islamic states and the effect of these states economic
decline—whereas the Madrasas were sustained by funds
from the people in authority and endowments from pious
and wealthy individuals. (4) Conflicts between Sunni and
Shia Muslims, in addition to the invasions by Crusaders and
Mongols on Islamic lands during the 11th and 13th centuries
also contributed to the decline of Islamic science. Invasions
by the Mongols caused the destruction of Muslim libraries,
observatories, medical hospitals and educational institutions.
These annihilations ultimately destroyed Baghdad, the Ab-
basid capital and intellectual centre in 1258. Again, this can
tie back to factor (1), that the economy of the Islamic world
decreased a great deal after the invasions of the Crusaders and
Mongols—rendering scientific progress rather stagnant.
If indeed the most viable factor that contributed to the
impediment of scientific growth in the Muslim world is the
decline of prosperity in Islamic states after the 15th century,
then there still remains some hope; because fortunately, today,
a good part of the Islamic world is blessed with both human
and natural resources. It seems that the Muslim world will
depend heavily upon the successful utilization of its man-
power and natural resources in order to bring about a fruitful
economy that will reinitiate the importance of research and
development and recreate the scientific infrastructure needed
to sustain a job market for the growth of scientific professions.
Furthermore, an economic co-operation and prudent collabo-
ration between Islamic states that have a wealth of researchers
and states that are rich in natural resources is critical. Not
only must the Muslim world today devote itself whole-
heartedly to the study of science, but it also needs to do so at
a high level of proficiency. Otherwise, we will surely fail to
revive our lost legacy, a glorious past.
Humayra Ali is a sixth-year graduate student in the Molecular
Biology Department at Princeton University.
Princeton University - Spring 2008
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Zia’s Destructive Legacy
By M. Jehangir Amjad ‘10
Religion and ethnicity are arguably the two most significant
ideological forces that have molded the Indian Sub-continent
into the form in which it finds itself today. It is not surprising
that ethnic issues find themselves at the forefront in modern-
day India and Pakistan, considering the vast diversity found
across the region. Religion, on the other hand, has always
been a shaky fault-line. Ever since the advent of Islam in
the Sub-continent, brought about by the conquest of Sindh
by Mohammed bin Qasim in the early 8th century CE, the
people of the region have braced a topsy-turvy ride along the
religious fault-line. The divide itself, separating Islam and
Hinduism, remained blurred for many centuries only to be
replaced by periods of clear demarcation and bitterness on
both sides.
In the Indian Sub-continent Islam faced its most unique
challenge: Hinduism. Unlike Christianity and Judaism,
Hinduism was an entirely disparate brand of religious
ideology and shared little in common with orthodox Islamic
principles. Muslims never became a numerically superior
community in the Sub-continent, but when they became the
ruling class in the region, a great theological challenge arose.
This change occurred during the conquests of Mahmud of
Ghanzi in the 11th century CE. India and Hinduism were
unexplored horizons for Muslim rulers and scholars alike.
Therefore, with the exception of Abu Raihan Muhammad
Alberuni (973-1048 CE), Muslim scholars and rulers were
unaware of the theological challenges and difficulties in
governance that were to become apparent as soon as the
Islamic conquests of the Sub-continent began to consolidate.
This is because unlike Christianity and Judaism, Hinduism’s
philosophical approach was entirely disparate from Islam
and entirely alien to Muslim scholars. Therefore, there was
no consensus about the best approach towards dealing with
Hindus and Hinduism. The response, thus, hovered between
orthodox, legal, and formal [Category A] on the one hand
and unorthodox, syncretic, and informal [Category B] on the
other. Mughal Emperors Akbar, Jehangir, and Shah Jehan put
Category B into practice and achieved peace in the region
and experienced periods of artistic, economic and intellectual
growth. This was all undone by Aurangzeb who replaced
Category B with Category A. This dichotomy of policies
remained fact up until partition in 1947.
It was unexpected that a 96 percent Muslim majority
Pakistan would continue to experience this dichotomy of
policies that were an answer to challenges posed to Islam by
Hinduism. But it realized itself in modern-day Pakistan as
well, only with socialism and Western liberalism replacing
Hinduism. The choice of responses to this new threat were
similar to Category A and Category B. Category B, in this
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
case, was put into practice by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was
then overthrown by General Muhammad Zia ul Haq who
responded with a Category A response. The ideological
similarities between Aurangzeb and General Zia’s rule are
illustrated in the chart, adapted from Akbar S. Ahmed’s
renowned book Islam, Ethnicity and Leadership in Pakistan.
As a direct consequence of the orthodox Sunni Islamic
mindset and policies of Aurangzeb, the Hindus, other
non-Muslim communities, Muslims with non-orthodox
Sunni leanings and liberal minded conciliatory Muslims
felt alienated and downgraded to the status of second-class
citizens. Aurangzeb was most severe towards the Hindus
and at his death it was clear that the religious divide in the
Sub-continent was severely deepened. Sir Jadunath Sankar
wrote in A Short History of Aurangzeb 1618-1707: “Schools
of Hindu learning were broken up by him, Hindu places of
worship were demolished, Hindu fairs were forbidden, the
Hindu population was subjected to special fiscal burdens in
addition to being made to bear a public badge of inferiority;
and the service of the State was closed to them.” This
deliberate alienation of the numeric majority of the Sub-
continent kick-started the demise of the Mughal Empire and
eventually paved the way for partition along religious lines.
Singh further observed: “The detailed study of this long and
strenuous reign of fifty years drives one truth home into our
minds. If India is ever to be the home of a nation able to keep
peace within and guard the frontiers, develop the economic
resources of the country and promote art and science, then
both Hinduism and Islam must die and be born again.”
Of course, both Islam and Hinduism were not reborn and
an India free of internal religious strife and prosperous in
terms of the arts, economy and scholarship was never again
The Badshahi Masjid, Lahore, Pakistan. Photo by Jawad Zakariya.

Comparing Aurangzeb and Zia
Aurangzeb
1. Orthodox, legalistic Islam
2. Emphasis on ummah, Muslim community
3. Discouraged art (singing, music etc)
4. Supported clergy/ulema
5. Outward signs of orthodoxy: rejected silk clothes and gold
vessels, the Nawroz-the Persian new year, the solar year
6. Patron of Fatwa-i-Alamgiri, the most comprehensive digest
of Muslim jurisprudence ever compiled
7. Favorite reading: the Qur’an
8. Wished for Muslim society to revert to orthodox mold
thus drawing boundaries
a realistic possibility. Aurangzeb, ironically, dealt the most
venomous death blow to the Mughal Empire himself and
eventually made way for the British domination of the Sub-
continent to be followed by partition in 1947.
Zia ul Haq did not have Hindus to alienate. He controlled
a 96 percent Muslim populace but still managed to rekindle
a battle between orthodox Sunni Islam and Western liberal
minded Muslims. Only this time, those targeted included
Shia Muslims and ordinary Pakistanis whose daily lives were
influenced by Hindu customs. Zia’s adventure in Afghanistan
endeared him to Islamists all over the world, but he managed
to leave behind a culture that threatened the very existence
of Pakistan itself. The millions of Afghan refugees from the
decade of internal and external warfare who were welcomed
but not effectively documented by Zia are now a cause of
major tension within the country. Micro-economically, the
Afghanistan adventure diverted resources and capital away
from development and welfare projects to the military which
absorbed all economic aid from the United States and Saudi
Arabia. The hundreds of thousands of militant jihadis inspired
by Zia’s orthodox version of Sunni Islam returned home,
loaded with immense quantities of arsenal and a great sense of
motivation to ‘help’ Pakistanis revert back to the glorious days
of the Caliphate. It was only during and after the Zia era that
the Shia-Sunni divide in the country became wide enough to
bring about open confrontation. The Klashnekoff became a
public symbol and an entirely new militant era in Pakistan’s
history was born.
Just like Aurangzeb, Zia’s legacy continues to haunt
Pakistanis to this day, twenty years down the line. His brand
of Islamization is still being preached and the generations
of Pakistanis who grew up and were educated to think like
orthodox Sunni Muslims are now carrying the torch forward.
Even after a return to parliamentary democracy, there are
numerous political parties that owe their popularity and
monetary survival to the legacy of Zia: “The Jamaat-i-Islami
party, which is the counterpart to the fundamentalist wing
of the Afghan resistance, still campaigns for his version of
5
General Zia ul Haq
1. Orthodox, formal Islam, prays five times daily, visits holy
places in Saudi Arabia regularly
2. Ummah supreme over ethnicity
3. Culture defined by Islam
4. National Assembly called Majlis-e-Shoora (Ideally good
Muslims)
5. Personally austere; Abstains from alcohol; Public meetings
formal, protocol (wears military or national costume)
6. Personal and ideological fan of Alama Maududi-a
renowned orthodox Pan-Islamist religious scholar
7. Heroes: Prophet Muhammad and Muslim generals
8. Wishes to draw boundaries firmly around Islam
Islamization and the subjugation of women and dissent,”
notes Atlantic Monthly contributing editor Christopher
Hitchens. Among some of the other problems that survive
to this day are the absolute control of all affairs of the State
by the Pakistan Army, the bitter ethnic divide and alienation
that was felt by non-Punjabi Pakistanis due to the rejection
of their ethnic and cultural practices by Zia and the ideology
of Pan-Islamism and the brutal destruction of the political
process, media and other forms of popular expression. In the
words of Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a former Professor of Pakistan
Studies at Columbia University, “Political polarization,
strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism, ethnic conflict in
Sindh and distortion of the 1973 constitution are the legacy
of Zia’s military rule.”
Mujahideen in Peshawar, Pakistan. Uncredited photo from 1982.
The similarities between Aurangzeb and Zia are striking
both in terms of their thinking and implementation of
policies as well as in their outcomes. There is no doubt that
the situation of Mughal India at the time of Aurangzeb was
different from that of Pakistan under the rule of Zia. This
difference was largely due to the absence of a majority Hindu
population in modern-day Pakistan. But, the underlying
fact that I have tried to highlight here is the similar use of
the orthodox brand of Sunni Islam by both rulers and the
Princeton University - Spring 2008
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similar outcomes with respect to their situations and enemies.
Although not even twenty years have passed since Zia ul
Haq’s death in office in 1988, the immediate legacy he has
left behind suggests nothing but a pattern similar to that
of the post-Aurangzeb Mughal Empire. Economic decline,
an immensely powerful and interventionist yet corrupt
military, stagnation in the fields of arts, sciences and the
humanities and a widening religious gap leading to isolation
and violence and a feeling of deprivation and alienation
among minority ethnicities are all similar legacies to that of
Aurangzeb. History has surely returned to haunt Pakistan
and the future looks extremely bleak. Zia has unleashed a
brand of Islam that is not only unpopular with the masses
but is also incompatible with slightly differing religious or
ideological views. By brutally exterminating Bhutto and any
other dissenting views, Zia and his legacy have ensured that
Katrina: Continuing Lessons
for the Muslim and American
Communities
By Intisar Rabb GS
Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the
coastal areas of Lousiana and Missisippi, the national
memory of the dire situation it left behind has dimmed.
The economy, education, health care, and yes, Iraq, are all
important issues to top the ongoing presidential campaigns.
But where, one wonders, are the myriad other issues that
Katrina left behind and that still plague communities on the
Gulf coast and beyond? These are matters that continue to
face every American in general and every Muslim American
in particular; Katrina and her aftermath should jostle the
consciousness of both. Lest we forget, in the face of the
racism, poverty, and inequality that Katrina brought to the
fore, we might look to both American democratic and Islamic
ideals for reminders to not only remember but also to do.
The following article was written not long after Katrina hit,
but its message is—unfortunately—as true and urgent today
as it was then. In 2005, there were thousands of people
displaced, most roads blocked, countless schools closed, and
billions in infrastructure and personal belongings lost. It
was a humanitarian disaster, and everyone recognized it. In
2008, while there has been some progress made by those
who returned to Louisiana and Mississippi and others who
commendably lent their help, thousands remain displaced,
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
the masses remain in check even if they do not align with
his outlook on Islam. Unfortunately, just like the Mughal
Empire, the problems left behind by Zia are numerous and
transcend many facets of the society. The future only promises
to further widen the gaps cracked open by Zia, leading to an
eventual break-up of Pakistan along ethnic lines (reminiscent
of the partition of the Sub-continent along religious lines).
Any diversion from this replay of history should be treated
as an anomaly and would, most definitely, be against the
run of play. It will be a violation of the pattern that has been
characteristic of Islam in the Sub-continent since Mahmud’s
raids in India in the early 11th century.
M. Jehangir Amjad, a sophomore at Princeton University, hails
from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
roads blocked, schools closed, and more. It remains a
humanitarian disaster; does everyone still recognize it?
The hope is that this renewed printing will help serve as a
reminder to stop the light that Katrina shed from dimming or
her victims from receding back into invisibility.
BEFORE KATRINA: THE INVISIBLE PROBLEM
Ralph Ellison was either prescient or invisible. How did he
develop a character who spoke as if he were an inhabitant
of New Orleans 58 years before Katrina? The protagonist of
Ellison’s famous work of fiction remarked:
“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those
who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your
Hollywoodmovie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of
flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said
to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because
people refuse to see me.”1
Katrina forced the world to see the poor people of
Louisiana and Mississippi. It forced them to see what those
attuned to America’s socio-political and economic realities
already knew: economic disparities of an unacceptable
nature persist in America. They afflict the Black population
disproportionately.2 They also relegate too many Whites,

Latinos and others to a life of squalor. For these people, there
is no way out. Indeed, no one sees them.
Most policy and opinion leaders refuse to acknowledge this
ongoing humanitarian crisis in a meaningful way. Every now
and again, a politician or media pundit will raise a hue and
cry about one Black child whom the system failed or identify
one depressed town. They passively assert that “more needs to
be done,” and occasionally call upon Congress to act.
They fail to realize (or acknowledge) that one Black child or
one Black town merely represents larger, systemic phenomena.
Case in point: the Katrina aftermath. Politicians and pundits
raised the hue and cry but the government responded with
an anemic form of disaster relief that hardly addressed the
emergency, much less the underlying problems of the region.
The fact is that post-hoc public band-aids in the form of
disaster relief do not address the greater predicament that
threatens America’s social and democratic fabric. Neither do
diluted measures crafted in response to the occasional public
outcry. Where are the effective civil rights legislation, fair
and affordable housing measures, small business incentive
programs, public welfare and social security plans, educational
reforms, and healthcare initiatives? If such programs survive
the politics that postdate the campaign promises, what
becomes of such proposals in practice? Did the affirmative
action of the past few decades level the structurally uneven
playing field that slavery’s 300 years left behind? Is no child
left behind? What ever happened to the national healthcare
plan? What ever happened to the social security overhaul?
What of implementation, oversight, accountability?
What does all this have to do with Katrina? Some view
Katrina as a “natural” disaster that has nothing to do
with social or policy issues. To the contrary, the response
to Katrina has everything to do with race and poverty in
America, everything to do with the promises of equality and
democracy, everything to do with community. In short, our
leaders’ approach to national crises highlights serious issues
that continue to exist while at the same time creating new
ones. Katrina dredges up these problems from the mud of
invisibility.
After Katrina, most of those left homeless, stranded or dying
on the side of the road, were Black. This is no coincidence, for
their plight began with slavery and since then many remain
“poor and powerless.”3 Yet, how is it that these freedmen’s
children continue to live in deplorable conditions in a country
whose GDP is the largest in the world? More important still,
how is it that no one sees them? Just after Katrina, they were
visible. Here, I focus on one question: How do we keep them
in sight?
KATRINA & THE INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE:
DISASTER RELIEF
For starters, we can assess the response to a formerly
invisible problem on an institutional level. To that end, we
need not reiterate the failures of President Bush, the Federal
7
Emergency Management Agency, Congress, the Senate,
state governors and city planners. Others have highlighted
their shortcomings in the wake of Katrina. Instead, our
institutional inquiry focuses on the four most important
lessons that emerge from the government’s lackluster response.
The first lesson is: we have a problem. The problem has been
outlined above: fellow human beings, often from Black or
other minority communities, live in deplorable conditions.
The second lesson is: band-aids don’t work. We pump
billions of dollars into solving a problem once disasters occur,
but an influx of money to relieve disaster fails to address the
heart of the matter: the prior status quo. This is bad policy.
Not only is it costly, but disasters like Katrina underscore the
extent to which a policy of ignoring domestic problems leaves
us underprepared and overwhelmed.
On a human level, the disaster band-aid policy also costs
residents anguish, pain, and death. Monetarily, disaster relief
costs the government billions of dollars, far more than useful
pre-emptive strikes such as building adequate infrastructure
for everyone (rather than just the select few) and ensuring
that city dwellers (rather than those who fled the city) have at
least enough resources to prepare to evacuate when their lives
are threatened.
Instead, the government expends our resources abroad
before taking care of problems at home. Now that disaster
finally forced it to face some domestic problems, the
government should realize that its policies merely exacerbate
existing problems. Simply put: disaster relief band-aids do not
stick. They cover the wound so long as it is visible and fall off
when the public eye turns back to its previous affairs.
This brings me to the third lesson: the injuries still exist.
After applying the band-aid, we think the problems have
disappeared, but more often than not, we have merely
made them invisible. Reconstruction efforts may strengthen
levies, but they do not give poor residents jobs; address the
failing local educational system; ensure individual mobility,
liberty or safety; offer healthcare; guarantee housing or
prevent predatory lending and home foreclosures; or provide
opportunities for a better life. Rather, disaster relief policy
aims to return the city and its residents to the status quo, with
perhaps a few nominal improvements to infrastructure. Once
the aid is delivered, the job is “done.” We can then return
to “our” lives. For many, that will mean again being poor,
disenfranchised, invisible. So the predicament persists. And
that takes us to lesson four: we still have a problem.
AFTER KATRINA: IT AIN’T OVER, EVEN AFTER THE
FAT LADY SINGS
After slavery, after Jim Crow, after integration, America
has yet to achieve the promise of equality. Lamenting the
same situation, Cornel West wrote that Charlie Parker sang
the blues because it was either do that or kill somebody.4 But
Charlie Parker’s song is nothing like that of the fat lady who
signals the end of dramatized operatic fiction. For we are
Princeton University - Spring 2008
 8
dealing with reality. In reality, even if Charlie
Parker sings, it still ain’t over. It won’t be over
until everyone lives (not has the theoretical,
constitutionally-guaranteed opportunity to live,
but lives) the decent life that the Bill of Rights
and the Constitution, religious and humanistic
mores, democratic and humanitarian norms
promise. That project requires an ongoing effort
to identify, concern ourselves with, and address
problems—even the sort that are invisible to the
public eye until disaster strikes.
If Katrina tells us nothing else, it tells us that
we must constantly work to ensure justice,
even in “invisible” arenas. From Katrina, we
learn the outcome of attempts to address the
problem of slavery. America’s elite thought they
achieved justice by abolishing legal slavery.
But then they noticed disparities in the ways
Blacks were treated vis-à-vis whites under the The 9th Ward in New Orleans. Photo by Gail Williams.
Jim Crow regime of segregation. Then they thought they had
segregation, not all that much changed. Notwithstanding all
achieved justice and equality with the “separate but equal”
the advances in race relations, the parallels of 1927 Louisiana
doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson.5 But a belated realization of
and 2005 Louisiana are striking. Reality on the ground says
years of injustice, unequal opportunity, disparate resources,
that a regime of nonsegregation does not ensure integration,
and routine exclusion of Blacks finally drove the Supreme
and even if it did, integration does not ensure equality or
Court to declare in Brown v. Board of Education that separate
justice.
was “inherently unequal.”6 Then they thought they had
For all our progress and all our success, what of the people
achieved justice and equality with “integration” or at least
who lack opportunity, who cannot speak of generations of
nonsegregation. Now we’ve got it!
entrenched wealth and Ivy League legacies, who can barely
But it is the same old story all over again—both in terms of
make a living, who cannot access proper education, who are
slavery’s legacy and also quite literally. The Great Mississippi
caught in a cycle of poverty-fomenting violence and drug-
Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood prior to
pushing, who are stuck in Louisiana when Katrina hits?
Katrina, and it devastated Louisiana along with six other
states. Then, as now, the disaster took its greatest toll on the
KEEPING AN EYE ON THE STORM: DOING
most impoverished people: Blacks, who were sometimes
DEMOCRACY
forced at gunpoint to repair the levees. Then, disaster relief
Katrina invokes needs that range from the immediate to
housing efforts came in the form of refugee camps, the
the long term and that implicate Americans in general and
conditions of which were so horrible that Herbert Hoover
Muslim Americans in particular. On a general plane, each
asked the media to overlook reports that detailed those
American can urge the government to address America’s
deplorable conditions. He promised in exchange to effect
problems at the policy level. On a particular plane, Muslim
reforms for Blacks after the election. He failed to make good
Americans should urge each other and fellow Americans to
on his promise.
address America’s problems at the community level.
Historians and analysts credit these events with spurring on
As for policy proposals, avoiding Katrina-like situations
the voting rights movement of the time, the shift in Southern
demands a paradigm shift. For times of crisis, our government
Black allegiance from the Republican to the Democratic party,
should transform its ineffective, debilitating, and costly
and providing the spark for New Deal proposals for more
band-aid approach into a clear-eyed, forward-looking,
government services. They also credit these events with major
humanitarian, ends-based, democratic approach that
demographic shifts such as the Blacks’ Great Migration to the
recognizes problems and addresses them before they turn into
North and a great deal of Black cultural output. Examples
disaster. In essence, they must be proactive.
of the latter include folksongs and blues music such as those
Such an approach is clear-eyed and forward-looking insofar
by Bessie Smith and “When the Levee Breaks,” by Memphis
as it constantly monitors the welfare of its citizens. This
Minnie (If it keeps on raining, levee’s goin’ to break / And the
will enable the government to take comparatively small and
water gonna come in, have no place to stay … I works on the
inexpensive steps now to avert infinitely more expensive
levee mama both night and day / I ain’t got nobody, keep the
disaster later.
water away). That spoke of the days of segregation. But after
It is humanitarian because it seeks to ensure that every

Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World


human enjoys a decent standard of living along with a
measure of safety and security. If we truly believe in the equal
value of human life, and each individual’s right to pursue
liberty and happiness, we must work to reasonably ensure that
those words ring true not only for those who already have
access to Washington’s package of rights and entitlements, but
also for the invisibles.
The approach is ends-based inasmuch as it measures success
in terms of success itself, not in the empty promise of a
hypothetical opportunity for success.
Finally, it is democratic because full civic participation and a
sense of community can only occur once people’s basic needs
are met, once they receive adequate schooling, once they live
in safe communities, and once they know that they have a say
in their own governance. In any community, the problem of
one member is the problem of every member. Focusing on
the most vulnerable members is like paying attention to the
canary in the mine; its faltering lungs signal to the miners that
the air has been contaminated. The community would do well
to address its problems rather than live with pollutants that
will take their inevitable toll on everyone.7
Advocating a paradigm shift cannot itself create one. The
government is a slow-moving machine for which policy
changes are difficult, and even when they occur, can take
decades to transform reality. But to acknowledge the difficulty
of demanding democracy is not to minimize the need for
doing so. In fact, it means that much more responsibility falls
on average citizens to keep Katrina’s invisibles visible to the
policy world and to average citizens, that is, to each other.
This is what it means to say that, “[d]emocracy is never a
thing done … [but] always something that a nation must be
doing.”8 It takes conscious citizens to do democracy.
WHIRLWIND OF COMPASSION: COMMUNITY
CONSCIOUSNESS
Here is where the Muslim American contribution comes in.
Communities destroyed. Photo by Greg Hounslow.
9
Ramadan has [long since] passed [the month of fasting that
began in September 2007], but hopefully, it leaves behind its
imprint on the Muslim conscience. Ramadan is the annual
reminder to Muslims to be conscious of the invisible. God
says in the Qur’an that he prescribed fasting on Muslims so
that they might learn consciousness (2:183). Consciousness of
what? The immediate suggestion is God of the unseen world,
which automatically devolves to a consciousness of the things
with which God is concerned in the world in which we live,
including the unseen invisibles. Like that consciousness about
which W.E.B. Dubois speaks with respect to Black Americans,
this is a double-consciousness. It stems from the “twoness”
of the spiritual and corporal aspects of the human, which are
virtually inseparable.9
For Muslims, the first aspect of that consciousness partially
takes the form of certain beliefs—beliefs in a compassionate
God who wants justice, in an afterlife in which each will
be evaluated according to their deeds and in prophets who
deliver that message. The second aspect entails a heavy
community component that is always concerned with
justice, not for Muslims, but for human beings. The Qur’an
emphasizes this imperative for justice over and over again.
It calls upon Muslims to stand up for justice, in its deepest
sense, even if it be against themselves (4:135, 6:152).
It also promotes a form of distributive justice by repeatedly
calling for Muslims to make contributions that ensure the
welfare of their neighbors. For example, the Qur’an always
pairs prayer (a focus on the divine and spiritual for personal
welfare) with charity (a focus on the corporeal and communal
for public welfare). Particularly during Ramadan, Muslims are
encouraged to pray more and to be more generous. The days
of fasting serve as a reminder of those who may be hungry all
the time. As such, Ramadan functions as an annual reminder
to be conscious of the invisibles and to do something to
improve their situation.
The Qur’an says:
It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or
the West, but righteousness [describes] one who believes in God
and the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, and the Prophets; [who]
gives of their resources, for the love of God, to relatives, orphans,
the indigent, travelers, to those who request it and to those
in bondage; [who] stand in prayer and give in charity; those
who fulfill their promises when they enter into agreements and
those who are patient in adversity, disaster, and in the midst of
tribulation. Those are the people of truth, and those are the ones
who are conscious (2:177).
Quite obviously, America is not an Islamic country, nor
does it aspire to be. My point here is that Islam builds into
its practice constant reminders for Muslim adherents to
be conscious of the invisibles. This value coincides with
fundamental American democratic and constitutional
values. To the extent that it does, Muslim Americans should
draw upon their own inspirations to be at the forefront of
promoting positive American values.
Princeton University - Spring 2008
 10
It is worth mentioning that the Muslim Black American
combines attributes that render her contribution even
more valuable, for she possesses a triple-consciousness. She
is Muslim, Black and American. As such, like other Black
Americans of faith, her makeup inspires the capacity for
God-consciousness, human self-consciousness, and Black
consciousness. There is the Black American double-vision
that comes from seeing themselves not only as they are,
but through the gaze of others who look upon them with a
mixture of “amused contempt and pity.”10 Combined with the
other traits, these multiple elements push the Black American
Muslim to have a constant regard for the invisibles and a
passion for justice.
Indeed often, the Black American Muslim, her family and
community members are themselves invisible, even as some of
her Muslim brethren garner visibility by gravitating towards
a certain iteration of the American dream and, in the process,
forgetting their own doubleconsciousness. The Blackamerican
Muslim does not have that luxury. He is a minority on all
fronts, cannot shed his identity, cannot easily reach visibility,
certainly not on a community scale. In this regard, the Black
American Muslim himself often represents the passenger
on the bottom deck of the boat, the Muslim canary. With
one eye on the canary and the other on God, the American
Muslim community has internal impetuses to constantly
urge itself and its wider American community to see its own
invisibles.
What are some concrete ways in which this can take form?
In the aftermath of Katrina, there are several projects to which
Muslims can contribute and encourage contributions. Here, I
do not limit these suggestions to victims of Katrina, as those
in need of such services reside in every state. Nor do I limit
these suggestions to the obvious form of giving: monetary
donations. For this is not the sole scope of giving that Islam
encourages or society requires . Rather, I point to a range of
measures with respect to the visibly urgent needs after Katrina
that may help bring the needs of other invisible pockets to the
fore.
In addition to the reminder provided by Ramadan annually
and prescribed prayers daily, Muslims can join together with
others peoples of faith in the mosque, church, and synagogue,
to pray and work to help those in crisis situations in their
local communities. This is the type of work in which The
Mosque Cares11 organization in Chicago has been engaging
for decades.
Community members and community organizations can
contribute to efforts to address the root causes of suffering in
the inner city by creating and promoting dynamic community
programs as alternatives to difficulty and hopelessness. The
Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)12 in Chicago
takes this as its mission, as should be duplicated in every city.
The Jamestown Project13based in Cambridge, MA promotes
such efforts on the scholarly and policy arenas. Community
members or mosques can adopt a family to provide lodging,
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
shelter, food, clothing or financial and moral support to those
who need it. Some have contributed to the Adopt a Katrina
Family project.14 Islamic Relief International has turned its
generally international focus inward to address some short-
term and long-term humanitarian and reconstruction needs
after Katrina;15 it also has a number of ongoing programs
for feeding the homeless and providing health services to the
needy.
Doctors can provide medical services to the poor for free or
at reduced cost. An example of this is the University Muslim
Medical Association (UMMA) Community Clinic16 in Los
Angeles, or the IMAN17 Health Clinic Initiative.
Educators, college students and professionals can take
on a student in poor or mediocre schools to provide
mentoring, college-counseling, and to help ensure that the
student receives a good education. An outstanding example
of an organization dedicated to focusing on our youth is
Brotherhood/ Sister Sol18 in New York. Community members
can join efforts like those of the Islamic Networks Group19
based in San Francisco to provide educational resources to
local schools or the Muslim Public Service Network,20 both of
which promote civic engagement in public institutions.
Social workers can redouble their efforts to help address
problems of domestic violence and children living in bad
situations. Bait ul Salaam21 in Atlanta is an organization
that provides homes for battered women. Those who live or
work in the cities can help address the drug problems that
run rampant there through donating or helping to replicate
the work of community organizations. An example of one
outstanding drug recovery program of this type is I Can’t, We
Can in Baltimore.22
Entrepreneurs and businessman can contribute to the efforts
of community-oriented non-profit ventures, small business
start-ups, and job-training initiatives aimed at economic
empowerment and viability. GraceLine products aim at
facilitating such economic empowerment.
Lawyers have and can continue to provide legal services to
the multitude of cases that have arisen after Katrina and that
existed before Katrina. For example, some of the most urgent
needs involve criminal defense, to addresses situations in
which prisoners have been displaced, have been improperly
held in prison, have suffered Abu Ghraib-type prison abuse,
or simply were never afforded adequate or effective legal
counsel. The Justice Center (and its Louisiana Capital
Assistance Center)23 has been working to address these issues,
as has the newly reformed Orleans Public Defender Service
under the guidance of Harvard law professor Ronald Sullivan,
a ten-year veteran of the D.C. Public Defender Service. As I
have discovered, there is plenty that can be done remotely.
Community leaders should reign in the consciousness of the
community in a way that moves toward publicly articulating
shared American values, demanding policy action against
ignoring (or worse, discriminating against) the invisibles, and
contributing to or building projects like those listed here.
 11
Community leaders and members alike should seek out the articles/15163.html.
4 Cornel West, “Exiles from a City and from a Nation,” The Observer (September 11,
invisibles to help address their problems; they should not wait 2005 available at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1567247,00.
for a crisis mode or for disaster to strike to discover the plight html.
of their neighbors. 5 163 US 537 (1896).
6 347 US 483 (1954).
7 Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres have expanded on the notion of the miner’s canary in
CONCLUSION (THOUGH IT STILL AIN’T OVER) their book, The Miner’s Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy
(Cambridge, MA & London: Harvard University Press, 2002). The Prophet Muhammad
I have tried here to examine some of the problems that is said to have related a parable with a similar message. He compared people to passengers
Katrina brought to light just three years ago. Katrina revealed on a boat; a hole anywhere on the boat will affect all, whether on the lower deck or the
that America has very ineffective and costly policies for upper deck.
8 Archibald McIeish, quoted in Paul Taylor, Stepanie Robinson, Eddie Glaude, & Ronald
handling its problems. America ignores or fails to see its Sullivan, Jr., While Democracy Sleeps: A White Paper on Democratic Citizenship in the
problems until it reaches a crisis point. Rather than post-hoc United States (New Haven, CT: The Jamestown Project, 2005).
efforts to address past wrongs or disasters, America would do 9 W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (new ed., New York: Dover Publications,
1994) p.2.
much better to see its problems and address them in advance. 10 Ibid.
This is a goal that American citizens should urge. Yet, we 11 www.themosquecares.com
12 www.imancentral.org
cannot expect overnight results. As such, Americans have a 13 www.jamestownproject.org
duty to act as the community members and democrats they 14 www.adopt-a-katrina-family.com
are to ensure the values of humanity and democracy. These 15 www.irw.org/katrina
16 www.ummaclinic.org
policy and community projects are ones in which Muslim 17 www.imancentral.org
Americans have a great role to play. They should draw upon 18 www.brotherhood-sistersol.org
their internal mechanisms for consciousness of the invisible to 19 www.ing.org
20 www.baitulsalaamnetwork.freehomepage.com
promote better communities and a better America at the local 21 www.muslimpublicservice.org
and policy levels. In this way, we might, just might, finally 22 www.icantwecan.org
23 www.thejusticecenter.org
achieve the promise of democracy and equality.
Otherwise, the specter of invisibility persists. Ralph Ellison
was not prescient; he was explaining problems that were
extant then; and that exist now. Will they continue to exist
in the future? The answer to that question depends on what
we take from the memory of Katrina. For all the havoc she
wreaked, Katrina at least gave us a means to see the invisible
man. We must not forget her lessons to
us all.

Intisar Rabb holds a JD from Yale Law

School and is currently a PhD candidate
for studies in comparative American and
Islamic law at Princeton University.

Originally printed in the Winter 2006

issue of Islamica Magazine as “Hurricane
Katrina: Lessons for the Muslim and
American Communities.” Reprinted with
permission of the publisher of Islamica
Magazine.

References

1 Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man (1947), prologue.

2 According to US Census Bureau 2004 statistics, Black
households had the lowest median income ($30,134)
and the highest poverty rate (24.7%). C. DeNavas-Walt,
B. Protor and C.H. Lee, Income, Poverty and Health
Coverage in the United States: 2004, U.S. Census Bureau
(August 2005).
3 Christopher Morris, “In New Orleans, Once Again,
the Irony of Southern History,” History News Network
(September 3, 2005), available at http://www.hnn.us/
Whole neighborhoods underwater. Photo by Greg Hounslow.

Princeton University - Spring 2008

 12

‘Modern’ Visions of Islam:

At the Junctures of Humanism,
Pragmatism and Scriptural Authority
By Celene Marie Ayat Lizzio’08
As a community accustomed to seeing itself in relation to with heritage comes with its challenges; more frequently than
‘the other’, and as a community often seen by ‘the other’ as not a contentious plurality of opinion reverberates, tensions
occupying a liminal space between modernity and the ancient are drawn, positions etched out, contentions bubble and fuse,
world, Muslim societies and their global diasporas are wres- and objectivity perchance takes momentary respite on the
tling for definition in politics, discourse and livelihood vis-à- sideline.
vis numerous competing interest-poles. There are demands for Approaching religious landscapes in this manner, we see
a progressive reconciliation of monotheistic universality with a continuity of events, countless divisions, alliances, battles
pluralistic societies; there are seemingly irreconcilable ques- for authority, and conflicts to establish acceptable modes of
tions of ethics, not to mention religious rhetoric informing worship, governance and other processes of law, still eluding
violent political allegiances and law being exercised in coun- our best efforts to define them. Rather than being gloomy,
terproductive or unjust manners; there are interests arising the value in looking at religion from this perspective is in
from power politics and geo-political alliances involving land confirming that the religious landscape is discursive, often
and resources; there are demands to comply to standards set contentious, and that social traditions and ‘Truth’ are most of-
forth by international governing institutions; there are pres- ten built upon dialogic argumentation, rather than ubiquitous
sures from civil strife and concerns for securing property and agreement. Emerging from this continuity is the legacy of
sustenance. In the midst of such circumstances, Muslims are today and the vision that no religion is defined independently
navigating variant interpretations of foundational texts and of the individuals who were there, subjected to desire, to bias,
negotiating religious practices through conflicting claims to wrestling with practical circumstances, and interpreting and
authority. re-interpreting the pages of communal histories to frame con-
As such tensions of interest come to fruition, they demand ceptions of reality. With such a dynamic at play it is natural
that the contemporary Muslim body-politic do two things: 1) to expect integral ruptures in how vested parties negotiate
Distinguish the time-bound and pragmatic needs of its living community allegiances. Extending this proposition, there are
framework, needs which must be met to maintain relevance figures articulating a dubiously coherent and at times overly
for followers, and 2) Discern precisely how the universal val- prescriptive Islam, figures who maintain self-interests and
ues and ethical frame of reference that the community takes individual visions against greater communal sentiments. The
to be its foundation can still triumph any in-the-moment Muslim community is well served when those who do not
pragmatism, i.e. there is a marked need for the Muslim com-
munity to preserve a sense of continuity with its heritages
while at the same time accommodating a long list of demands
for flexibility and in the face of ever-changing social realities.
Today, in a spirit of reinterpretation and re-evaluation of
sacred texts, there are Muslims adamantly vouching that no
contradictions of interest exist between ‘liberal values’ and
their religious counterparts, or arguing that ‘pure Islam’ is not
inherently at odds with precepts of human rights, and actively
pursuing these lines of thought through public diplomacy,
activism or academia. Other groups of Muslims argue that
secular liberal precepts pose a danger to Islamic societies, and
the best forms of governance for Muslims can and should be
derived wholly from the foundational religious texts. Coalesc-
ing around these two general orientations are multifarious
opinions vying for bargaining power. With history as a testa-
ment, preserving community and maintaining a continuity Arabic calligraphy from Seville, Spain. Photo by Tiffany Tong GS.

Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World


concur with unjust prescriptions and elitist visions exercise
their bargaining power on public forums. After all, religion
and other value systems do not come to be defined indepen-
dently from human articulation and our communal on-going
efforts define sound theology from invention, good from evil,
right from wrong, and other such inevitable binaries.
Indeed, across the territorial expanse that has at one time or
another been sway to Muslim influence, many of the consid-
erations that I have mentioned in one way or another occupy
notable positions in discourse, polemics and dialectics. The
contemporary Muslim discourses recalled above are not lim-
ited in scope to the present moment, nor are they simply reac-
tions to ‘modernity’ on our contemporary terms. As Patricia
Crone, Michael Cook, Muhammad Qasim Zaman, and other
prominent Islamic scholars have shown, most often intra-
Muslim discourses reflect, dare I say, ‘fundamental’ dynamics
having reflections in, or traceable to the very beginnings or
antecedents of the religious polity, and with it the beginnings
of Muslim theology, law, governance, and social institutions.
Close
Translated by Maryam Wasif Khan ‘08
Stay close to me,
my killer, my lover. Stay close,
when the night walks
drunk with the blood of the skies
bearing the balm of musk, diamond crusted
arrows,
lamenting, laughing, singing
with the bells of the azure anklets of pain.
When hearts stifled by the breast
gaze at the trails left by wandering hands bathed in sleeves
bearing desire
and the wine in its cup
whimpers, perverse and unfulfilled like a child.
When resolution unwinds.
When speech falters.
When the night walks
mourning in solitude.
Stay close,
my killer, my lover.
Stay close to me.
Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984), a Pakistani, was among the most celebrated Urdu poets of his time.
Maryam Wasif Khan is a senior in the Comparative Literature Department at Princeton University.
13
Amidst the undeniable push for renewed commitments to
piety, and amidst salient yet diverse aspirations for self-de-
termination, we may readily agree with the premise: “Islamic
discourse is dynamic, fluid, and ever-transforming, within the
parameters of a highly political ongoing project of producing
‘orthodoxy’ through the interminable reinterpretation and
re-evaluation of texts and practices” (G.P. Makris, Islam in the
Middle East, 2007:201). Indeed, even a neophyte soon finds
out that to be Muslim does not just imply the willing sub-
scription to God’s moral order, but frequently entails sifting
through a host of other considerations deeply rooted in the
domain of the political.
Celene Marie Ayat Lizzio is a senior majoring in Near Eastern
Studies at Princeton University. She is also an undergraduate
fellow at Princeton’s Center for the Study of Religion and at the
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination in the Woodrow
Wilson School.
Tum Miray Paas Raho
By Faiz Ahmed Faiz (from Urdu)
Tum miray paas raho
Mairay qaatil, mairay dildar, miray paas raho
Jis gharri raat chalay
Aasmaanon ka lahoo pee kai syaah raat chalay
Marhum-e-mushq liyay, nishtar-e-almas liyay
Bain karti hui, hansti hui, gaati niklay
Dard kai kaasni paazaib bajaati niklay.
Jis gharri seenon mein doobay huay dil
Aasteenon mein nahaan haathon ki rah
taknay lagein.
Aas liyay
Aur bachon kai bilaknay ki tarhaan qulqul-e-mai
Behr-e-naasoodgi machlay tu manai na manay
Jab koi baat banai na banay
Jab na koi baat chalay
Jis gharri raat chalay
Jis gharri maatmi, sunsaan raat chalay
Paas raho
Mairay qaatil, miray dildaar,
mairay paas raho.
Princeton University - Spring 2008
 14
Of Traders and Tribesmen:
The Hadramawt Region of Eastern Yemen
By George Hatke GS
Ask the average man on the street what he knows about
the Hadramawt and chances are, if he has heard of it at all,
he will immediately associate it with the Bin Ladens, a Saudi
family of Hadrami origin. An arid region of wadis and towns
of multi-storied mud-brick houses stretching across the
eastern two-thirds of Yemen as far as the Omani border, the
Hadramawt makes up most of what was once the People’s
Democratic Republic of Yemen—South Yemen in Western
parlance. Though the Bin Ladens are now inextricably linked
with one particularly infamous family member, their wealth
is the product of the same history of migration and entrepre-
neurship which has characterized the Hadrami diaspora for
centuries. This history is one not of terrorism but of trade,
scholarship, and cosmopolitanism spanning the entire width
of the Indian Ocean and linking such cities as Aden, Hydera-
bad, and Jakarta in a maritime network.
The Hadramawt has always been a meeting place of differ-
ent cultures. It was linked with the rest of the ancient world
by land and sea, and exported its famous frankincense by
both routes. With the coming of Islam many sayyids took up
residence in the region, teaching Islam and gaining notoriety
as holy men. Under the rule of the Rasulid Dynasty of Yemen
(1228-1454 CE) Sufism became popular, and many Hadra-
mis were drawn to the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 1240 CE).
The seaport at the Hadrami city of Al-Mukalla. Photo by Grete Howard.
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
It was at this time that the Shafi‘i school took root as the
madhhab par excellence of the Hadramawt. Hadrami sea
trade brought the Shafi‘i madhhab to the Swahili Coast and
Southeast Asia, where it remains the predominant school
today. After the Rasulids’ successors, the Tahirids (1454-1517
CE), lost the interior of the Hadramawt to the Kathirid tribe
by the latter half of the fifteenth century, Tarim, located in
the center of the Hadramawt, emerged as a center of scholar-
ship not just locally but for the Indian Ocean as a whole. It
boasts no fewer than 360 mosques and its wealthy families
still possess large manuscript libraries. Though the neighbor-
ing city of Say’un, which the Kathirid Dynasty (1395-1967
CE) established as its capital, often sought to outdo it as the
chief Hadrami center of learning, Tarim’s reputation remains
undiminished. Its Dar al-Mustafa school continues to attract
students from throughout the Islamic world and beyond.
However, though Hadramis remained actively involved
with sea trade throughout the Middle Ages, it was not until
the sixteenth century that they began settling permanently
in the port cities of the Indian Ocean. This region would
henceforth be their mahjar, or place of emigration. By
the twentieth century Hadrami communities had been
established in Egypt, the Sudan, the Hijaz, the Swahili Coast,
Madagascar, the Arabian Gulf, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
 15
Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia. retired to the Hadramawt only to become embroiled in
One early luminary of the Hadrami mahjar was the scholar decades-old tribal feuds. Their wealth was often resented by
‘Abd al-Qadir b. Shaykh al-‘Aydarus (d. 1628 CE). The son the have-nots of Hadrami society. There were disparities in
of an immigrant Hadrami father and an Indian mother, wealth even between those who had spent time abroad, a phe-
he wrote a history of the Indian Ocean region in the tenth nomenon that reflects the differences in emigration patterns
Islamic century (17th century CE), hence the book’s title according to region. Emigrants from the Wadi Daw’an in
Tarikh al-Nur al-Safir ‘an Akhbar al-Qarn al-‘Ashir (History the western Hadramawt typically went to East Africa, where
of the Travelling Light, Concerning the Events of the Tenth they worked as peddlers in cities like Mombasa and Zanzi-
Century). Though a child of the diaspora, al-‘Aydarus still felt bar. Those from the Upper Hadramawt, by contrast, went to
a special affinity for the homeland of his father, and notes that Southeast Asia and struck it rich as business-owners. Clearly,
many of the Hadramis whose stories he records went back fortune shined on some more than others.
there to live out their final days. This sense of genealogical British intervention did little to calm intertribal disputes.
connection to the Hadrami homeland, and indeed the desire Though Great Britain had acquired the port of Aden as early
to die and be buried there, was what gave the Hadrami mah- as 1839 it was not until the 1870s that they established
jar its cohesiveness. Such ties allowed Hadramis to survive as contact with the interior regions of the Hadramawt and
a distinct community over the centuries, no matter how well began signing so-called “protection treaties” with local rulers.
they were assimilated to the foreign societies in which they The end result was the formation of the Aden Protectorate,
lived. which covered most of the Hadramawt by the mid-twentieth
Of course there were other factors that tied Hadramis in the century. The guiding principal behind these treaties was
mahjar to the homeland. Since very few Hadrami women that, in return for arms and money, these rulers—of whom
ventured abroad, Hadrami men who settled in India or there were no fewer than ninety—would not initiate relations
Southeast Asia usually took local wives, and the children of with any foreign power except Great Britain. Though the
these marriages, known as muwallidin, grew up eating local
food, wearing local dress, and often speaking better Hindi,
Tamil, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, or Chinese than Arabic. In
an attempt to better acquaint them with Arabic and with
Hadrami ways, as well as to instill in them a pride in their
roots, many muwallidin were sent back to the Hadramawt by
their fathers for their education, but while there they fre-
quently felt very much out of place in their sarongs and their
taste for spicy Indian or Southeast Asian cuisine.
Once the Qu‘ayti tribe captured the port cities of Mukalla
in 1858 and Shihr in 1866, their Kathirid rivals were left
landlocked and, while this never stopped the flow of Had-
rami emigrants from the interior, it gave the Qu‘aytis greater
opportunities to participate in Indian Ocean trade. For years
the Qu‘ayti sultans commanded the armies of the nizam of
Hyderabad, and many spent most of their time in India,
marrying Indian women and becoming very Indianized in the
process. Even women living in Qu‘ayti territory were fond
of wearing their hair in the Indian style, parting it down the
center instead of plaiting it.
Some Hadramis who lived—and married—abroad also
had a Hadrami wife waiting for them when they periodically
went back to the Hadramawt to visit. At times, however,
years might pass when such hapless women did not see their
husbands, and in some (albeit rare) cases a woman would not
see or hear from her husband for as many as forty years. The
dichotomy between mahjar and homeland in the Hadramis’
Indian Ocean diaspora thus placed some at a disadvantage.
The clash between cosmopolitanism and parochialism
was also played out in the incessant feuds that raged in the
Hadramawt. Well into the twentieth century, many wealthy
returnees from the mahjar, having made their fortune abroad,
A community in the Hadramawt. Photo by Jon Bowen.

Princeton University - Spring 2008

 16
British managed to keep the Turks out of the Hadramawt
by this means, they also left the Hadrami interior isolated
while foreigners were allowed to monopolize businesses in
Aden. The influx of wealth acquired by Hadramis in the
mahjar did not remedy the situation either, as much of it
went into the wasteful construction of palaces in cities like
Tarim and Say’un. Some wealthy Hadramis even had cars
imported, though these had to be disassembled on the coast
and then transported piecemeal on camelback. Even when
reassembled, cars were of little use in the roadless Hadramawt
except as a status symbol for the elite.
In a region like the Hadramawt where every tribesman
carried a rifle, tribal feuds often made for difficult living
conditions, and cases in which families were stuck in their
tower-houses for decades were not unheard of as late as the
twentieth century. Already weakened by competition with
imported Southeast Asian rice, Hadrami agriculture suffered
further as a result of local warfare. At times the fighting
between tribes became so intense that farmers had to build
protective mud-brick walls along the pathways linking towns
to fields out of fear of getting hit in the crossfire. Those farm-
ers who did make it to their fields in safety often found their
date-palms already destroyed by their rivals’ having poured
kerosene on them. gradually shed its Islamic trappings to the point of eradicating
But inter-tribal jealousies were not the only problem faced
by Hadramis. As in any society in which wealth is unevenly
distributed, the elite dominated social life, and since Hadra-
mis placed great emphasis on genealogical descent as a guide
to social interactions, members of the elite who also happened
to be sayyids enjoyed numerous privileges denied to others.
In both the Hadramawt and the Hadrami mahjar, sayyids fre-
quently insisted on occupying the first two rows in mosques
at prayer-time. They also led processions through towns dur-
ing major religious events, and when greeted by non-sayyids
they would expect to have their right hand kissed. In South-
east Asia sayyids insisted on occupying positions of leadership
in social organizations within the Hadrami community. In
addition, sayyids viewed genealogical credentials as the basis
for kafa’a (compatability) in marriage. Thus, while there was
nothing to prevent a sayyid man from marrying a non-sayyid
woman, a woman of sayyid origin was strictly prohibited
from marrying a non-sayyid man. Even after generations of
intermarriage with local women, sayyids of Hadrami origin in
Southeast Asia still rigidly adhered to these standards.
But as early as the 1880s, many Hadramis in Southeast
Asia were expressing discontent with this state of affairs.
Non-sayyids who had acquired wealth through business or
construction were particularly resentful of having to defer
to sayyids. During this time the influence of egalitarian
ideals promulgated by such Islamic modernists as Muham-
mad ‘Abduh and Muhammad Rashid Rida began to be felt
throughout the Hadrami mahjar. Arriving in Batavia (pres-
ent-day Jakarta) in 1912, Ahmad Muhammmad al-Surkatti,
a Sudanese shaykh educated in the Hijaz, helped disseminate
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
these ideas further, and three years later issued a fatwa repudi-
ating the sayyids’ interpretation of kafa’a. Though al-Surkatti
was met with much hostility from the sayyids and eventually
returned to the Hijaz, some of his Hadrami followers founded
the Jam‘iyyat al-Islah wa’l-Irshad (Association of Reform and
Guidance), a charitable organization which built hostels for
orphans, widows, and the handicapped as well as clubs and
libraries. Though open to all Muslims, the organization spe-
cifically barred sayyids from serving as directors.
In the Hadramawt itself, different solutions were found for
social inequalities. After Great Britain withdrew from the
region in 1967, an independent Marxist state known as the
People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen was formed out of
what had been the Aden Protectorate. The rhetoric of class
replaced that of genealogy, and while this naturally served to
undermine sayyid influence, one of the leading revolutionar-
ies at the time, Faysal al-‘Attas, was from a well-known sayyid
family. Some members of the Indonesian Communist Party
were also of Hadrami sayyid background. But if traders and
tribesmen had been the key components of Hadrami society
in previous centuries, a new model was found in the Qarami-
ta. A radical Isma‘ili movement which established what was
intended as a utopian society in eastern Arabia in 899 and
religion from public life, the Qaramita advocated a communal
sharing of resources, and were upheld by the South Yemeni
regime as Arabian proto-socialists. (Conspicuously absent
from South Yemeni state dogma, however, was any reference
to the fact that the Qaramita also advocated the indiscrimi-
nate sharing of women, with no regard to Islamic marriage
laws. Needless to say, this latter feature of Qarmati society
never caught on in South Yemen even among the most ardent
of Marxists!)
Marxism had overall little impact on the Hadrami popula-
tion, though. Islam has always played a central role in Hadra-
mi life, and continues to do so today, nearly two decades after
the unification of the two Yemens in 1990. The nationaliza-
tion of the economies of the countries of the Indian Ocean
has undermined the role of Hadramis in local businesses,
but the descendants of Hadrami immigrants, particularly in
Southeast Asia, remain active in trade and construction. The
Hadramawt itself has not fared quite as well. Like the rest of
Yemen it lacks the abundant oil reserves of other regions of
the Arabian Peninsula, which is why its cities have not under-
gone the radical modernization witnessed by Riyadh or Abu
Dhabi. In many ways the cosmopolitanism of the Hadrami
mahjar never did mesh well with the traditions of the conser-
vative Hadramawt. Yet it is this same conservative attitude
that has allowed the region to retain its old character, the likes
of which other parts of Arabia have long since lost.
George Hatke is a fifth-year graduate student in the Near
Eastern Studies Department at Princeton University.

“Blessed are the Peacemakers”
By Faraz Khan
In the name of God who created the heavens and the earth
and all that is within them. Glory to Him, we are unable to
praise Him in accordance with His praise. Thus, we accept
our shortcomings and ask God for compassion, forgiveness
and grace.
God mentions in the Holy Qur’an: “O people, we have
created you from a male and a female, and then we made you
into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”
49:13
Islamic tradition is very clear about the human family in
that we all come from Adam and Eve. God tells us in the
Qur’an that he created us to know one another. Our differ-
ences in language, color, ethnicity and culture are a sign from
God that we should connect with each other, not harbor
suspicion and hatred for one another: “If God had willed, He
would have made you one community but things are as they
are to test you in what He has given you. So compete with
each other in good.” 5:48
In addition, God mentions that He would have made us
into a monolithic community, but it is a test and part of His
grand plan to observe our actions : “If God did not enable
some men to keep back others, hermitages, synagogues,
chapels and mosques where the name of God is mentioned
would have been demolished.” 22:40
Muslims believe that many religious teachings of the earlier
prophets were preserved by various religions. As long as the
source of the teaching is God, harmony and justice will exist
in these teachings.
As God commands the believers to say, “We believe in what
has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to you;
our God and your God is one.” 29:46
One may ask then why there would be a need for interfaith
dialogue; if we are on the truth, why spend time learning
other than the truth? Should we not protect our faith by iso-
lating ourselves from other ideas?
Let us look into the lives of the people of God for guidance.
Indeed, the prophet Muhammad welcomed dialogue and
he welcomed the Christians of Najran and allowed them to
stay and pray in the mosque of Medina. He never compelled
people to become Muslim. God says to the believers in the
Qur’an, “There is no compulsion in religion.” Islam requires
that one become a believer by his or her own volition.
Religion is a matter of conviction of the heart and mind. It
is a commitment to do good work based on shared values to
uplift human experiences. In essence, we have an obligation
to humanity based on our belief in God.
Unfortunately, some people have the perception that
religion teaches prejudice, intolerance, and division, and, as
proof, they mention all the wars and crimes committed in
17
the name of religion and/or God. Here I would like to point
out that no war is holy. No crime committed by a religious or
nonreligious person is above the justice of God. Foul behavior
has no religion, no scripture, no temple, and no prophets.
Those who engage in such criminal behaviour are charlatans,
wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Any crime committed in the name of God or freedom
does not exonerate any individual from their evil action. The
prophet Muhammad said, “God does not look at your faces
and physical bodies but rather he looks at your hearts and
actions.” For this reason, believers should come forward with
exemplary behavior.
It certainly takes courage and a deep conviction in one’s own
way of life to reach out to others. But this reaching out may
also help in clarifying various religious positions. For example,
a Muslim or a member of any religious community who
makes the news by committing evil deeds does not represent
his or her religion. Yet people may confuse an individual’s
misbehavior as representing the entire religious teaching of
a tradition. Hence, a dialogue is crucial to better understand
and appreciate people of other faiths.
My first encounter with interfaith discussion was about
five years ago with Paul Heck, a former fellow at Princeton
University. In his talk, he casually asserted that many religious
people claim to possess the whole truth. He then followed
by stating that we need to be humble before making such
strident claims. His words left me a bit confused. How could
I be “humble” when I believe that, as a Muslim, I do possess
the truth?
God tells us in the Qur’an that “Those who strive for our
sake, we shall guide them to our paths. Surely, God is with
those who do good.” There are many paths to God. Those
who accompanied Abraham went on his path to God. Those
who followed Moses took on his path. Those who loved and
became disciples of Jesus took his way. And those who fol-
lowed the prophet Muhammad are on the path to God.
God is the truth (al-Haqq) and calls us to become people of
the truth. To quote Gregg Mast, president of the New Bruns-
wick Theological Seminary, “We don’t possess the truth but
the truth possesses us.”
Dialogue is what brings us closer, as in the words of Rabbi
Reed of Rutgers University Hillel, “How good it is when
brothers (referring to the children of Ishmael and Isaac) come
together.” There is an active dailogue between Muslim and
Jewish students at Princeton University, thanks to the efforts
of Muslim and Jewish students and the leadership of the
former Princeton chaplain Khalid Latif and Rabbi Julie Roth,
executive Director of the Princeton Center for Jewish Life/
Hillel. These are commendable efforts that need community
Princeton University - Spring 2008
 18
support.
In this time when people are vilifying and demonizing the
other, it is urgently necessary to have a dialogue to rid our-
selves of stereotypes and misinformation. Unless we commit
to an active dialogue between our various religious traditions,
suspicion will fill the void. Rev. John Larson, campus pastor
for the Lutheran Campus Ministry at Rutgers, mentioned
in an interfaith discussion after the tragic events of Sept. 11,
2001 that a local imam said it was the responsibility of Mus-
lims to reach out to and educate their non-Muslim friends,
neighbors and coworkers about Islam. But as this responsibili-
ty has not been adequately shouldered thus far by the Muslim
community, the result of such neglect is that Islamophobia
is on a rise. Regrettably, the latest surveys show that many
Americans believe that Islam endorses violence and hatred.
Today, the world is in pandemonium because the luna-
tics have seized the cockpit and taken us further away from
dialogue and mutual understanding. Due to the urgency of
this call, we must not be passive in pursuing tolerance and
understanding. American Muslims must take a lead in bridge-
building and fostering a respect for human rights and social
justice. Certainly, God is not prejudiced, and we are all equal
The Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Photo by Sarah Dajani ‘09.
Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World
in his sight as children of Adam. God in his infinite wisdom
did not make us a monolithic community. Consequently, it is
incumbent upon us that we keep the dialogue open and genu-
inely try to understand our brothers and sisters in humanity.
We must accept and welcome diversity in our ranks. A person
who is sincere to God will also be sincere to people and vice
versa.
In conclusion, what kind of world would we like to leave
behind for our children? A place full of suspicion, insult,
prejudice and hate or a place full of love, understanding, com-
passion and justice? Let us work together and let our actions
speak louder than our words. For surely, we are at a shortage
of people who can contribute to peace, love and understand-
ing. As our prophet Jesus Christ mentioned, “Blessed are the
peacemakers.”
Be peacemakers, contributors and callers to God. Let us
pray and recognize the bonds that unite us and let not our
differences divide us. Amen.
Faraz Khan is a regular khatib (speaker) at the New Brunswick
Islamic Center. He frequently lectures at local mosques and college
campuses on issues related to Islam and Muslims.

A pearl in Mawaraunnahr
By Fethi Mübin Ramazanoğlu GS
If you were to rank the centers of the Islamic World
throughout the centuries, which cities would be at the top of
your list? Probably you would start with Mecca and Medina,
and continue with Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo. If you
wanted to add a bit of a western source, maybe you would
add Granada or Cordoba. These would all be fine choices,
but, now, I would like to draw your attention to one of those
cities which was perhaps never as brilliant as the aforemen-
tioned ones, but yet has a unique signature in our history. A
city which, as it has usually been in the shadow of a nearby
giant, deserves to be mentioned first as one of the “secondary”
cities: Bukhara.
Bukhara is a city located in the historical region of Tran-
soxiana, the region between the rivers of Amu Darya (Oxus)
and Syr Darya (Jaxartes) in today’s Uzbekistan, and known in
Arabic as Mawaraunnahr,. If it was not for a single figure, the
famous hadith scholar Imam Bukhari, probably many of us
would not even know that Bukhara existed. Even though it is
currently on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, very few
of us have probably ever planned to visit Bukhara one day.
Perhaps one reason for this is the fact that it was overshad-
owed by Samarkand: Amin Maalouf probably never thought
of naming his celebrated novel after Bukhara. Enough said
about the bad luck of Bukhara, let us talk about its merits.
Samanid architecture in Bukhara. Uncredited photo.
19
The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for many
centuries, but the city itself was established around 5000
BCE. Due to its position on the Silk Road, it has been an im-
portant cultural and economic center throughout its history.
As a major city in the Iranian sphere of culture, it was not left
unnoticed in the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, and legend con-
nects its history to the killing of the Iranian prince Siavush.
Bukhara was conquered by Ubaydullah bin Ziyad in 54
AH/673 CE and was quickly Islamized during the 2nd cen-
tury AH/8th century CE. The following centuries marked
Bukhara as a major cultural, educational and economic
center under the rule of various dynasties, most notably the
Samanids. It was a highly cosmopolitan city containing ele-
ments from Iranian, Turkic, Arab and even Chinese cultures.
Destruction was not alien to Bukhara since it was burnt
down at various times due to the common use of timber as a
building material, and it was again fire, not the armies, that
devastated the city shortly after its fall to the Mongols on 4
Dhul-Hijja 616 AH/10 February 1220 CE. Bukhara quickly
recovered from the Mongol invasion, but there were massacres
and looting on various occasions afterwards. Most notably,
the city population was almost totally killed in 671 AH/1221
CE by Ilkhanids and there was even a period when Bukhara
was uninhabited. Even after a century, in 733 AH/1332 CE,
Princeton University - Spring 2008
 20

The courtyard of the Kalon Mosque, Bukhara. Photo by Alan Cordova.

the famous traveler Ibn Batuta narrates that the masjids, ma- the fifth most populous city in Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, it
drasas and the bazaars of the city were in ruins. is not the number of people or the gross domestic product
Revitalization came in the following centuries and Bukhara of a city that attracts us to it, rather it is the important role it
once again became a major center for various Turkic dynas- has played throughout Islamic history and the connection we
ties. Uzbek control started in the 10th century AH/16th cen- should all thus feel with it.
tury CE and continued until the Russian invasion. Bukhara
was one of the strongholds of the resistance against Russian Fethi Mübin Ramazanoğlu, from Turkey, is a graduate student
invasion both during the Czarist and the early Soviet eras, in the Physics Department at Princeton Unversity.
but Russians attained the final victory in 1345 AH/1926 CE.
This era added a Russian element to the multicultural charac-
ter of the city. Nevertheless, Bukhara partially maintained its
status as a living Islamic center as it was home to one of the
only two madrasas in the region during the Soviet era.
The city of Bukhara and its province are the birth place of
two legendary figures in the history of Islam: the compiler of
the famous hadith collection Imam Bukhari (d.256 AH/870
CE) and the world renowned philosopher and physician Ibn
Sina (Avicenna b.428 AH/1037 CE). Another prominent fig-
ure from the area is Baha-ud Din Naqshband Bukhari (d.791
AH/1389 CE), who is the founder of the Naqshabandi sufi
order which has influenced millions of followers all around
the world, and continues to exist today. These preeminent
scholars were not only born in Bukhara, but also educated
there at least through their teens. This fact alone shows the
high quality of the education and the high level of scholarship
fostered in the city through a six-century period.
Today, Bukhara is still an important historical and cultural
city. Many ancient masjids and madrasas, as well as the tomb
of Baha-ud Din Naqshband, are in the city, but in terms of
population and economic influence, it has even stronger rivals
than its long time fellow Samarkand: currently Bukhara is Kalian Minaret, Bukhara. Photo by Dave Rawlinson.

Misbah - Exploring Islam and the Muslim World


A Call for Understanding
By Nabil Abdurehman ‘11
I remember where I was the morning of September 11,
2001; I was in seventh grade, sitting at my desk in home-
room. My teacher carted in a TV and changed the channel
to CBS, which was replaying the footage of the towers being
hit. A little while later, after the teacher returned the TV and
re-entered the classroom, she looked at me (I must have still
been groggy) and asked if anyone had said anything to me,
presumably about me in connection with the attacks. Puzzled
how, in my mind, anyone could connect me in Tennessee
with the destruction of buildings which I’d never heard of
before in New York, I replied to the contrary, curious of the
consequences that would result from that indelible day in
American history.
My sophomore year at school in AP European History, I
remember the section we spent covering Islam, the entire
half page of it. How is it that in a history book with over
1000 pages, only a little more than half a page of text was
devoted to the Muslim influence in Europe? They ruled in
Spain for over 700 years, yet I don’t remember any mention
of this being given except for their final ousting in 1492 from
Grenada, shortly before Christopher Columbus’s expeditions
to the West were financed by the monarchy. What do we
make then of Lady Macbeth, who says, “Here’s the smell of
the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this
little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” “Oh” indeed, as during this time
Europeans, let’s say, less than emphasized the importance of
bathing and cleanliness; James Loewen mentions in one of his
books how some of the explorers who came to America and
lived in the woods smelled so bad, the animals were repelled
by their scent and the Native Americans attempted to show
them how to bathe. Compare this to the Muslim practice of
performing ablution every day before prayers, and the detailed
rules distinguishing between what is filthy versus pure, so that
a certain degree of cleanliness is mandated by the religion.
This quote of Shakespeare’s indicates that, at least in some re-
spects, Western society held Muslim culture as a sort of model
to which their own was compared. Islam’s immutable ideals
are still held as a foil to the West’s changing values, but in a
light far more critical than curious or inquisitive. And recently
Islam has come under an increasing number of attacks for its
beliefs and practices.
Among the most blatant of these attacks were the cartoons
claiming to depict the Prophet Muhammad published by
Danish newspapers under the guise of free speech. Of course,
when Muslims were being denounced and insulted as barbar-
ic, it was not the wisest move to mob and attack different em-
bassies, but it is understandable how they could be so deeply
insulted by such a violation of their beliefs. I mean, Spain has
21
a law that firmly prohibits any defamation of its royal family,
punishable by two years in jail - but wait, isn’t this hypocrisy
on Spain’s part, to preach free speech but to practice other-
wise? With cases like this, is it difficult to see how tensions are
increasing between Islam and the West?
But what is Islam, and what does it teach? It is because
there are so many different possible answers to this question
that there is much confusion and misunderstanding about
the religion. Traditional Islam isn’t what Elijah Muhammad
or Louis Farrakhan teach in the so-called Nation of Islam,
which promotes racism and attributes to God anthropomor-
phic characteristics. It’s also not represented by the extremists
who falsely claim that traditional Islam allows suicide bomb-
ings (on the contrary, these are prohibited for several differ-
ent reasons). Muslims believe that nothing deserves to be
worshiped except for God (the Arabic for God is “Allah,” a
contraction of “the” and “God,” emphasizing the monotheism
at the core of Islam). We believe that God is not a human,
a body, a shape, a color, an image, nor does God in any way
whatsoever resemble anything in creation. A famous saying
goes, Whatever you imagine in your mind, God is other than
that.
An understanding of the basic tenets of Islam is becom-
ing more and more crucial, especially since this religion, the
world’s fastest growing one, is receiving an unprecedented
amount of worldwide attention, and with that, scrutiny. As
long as there are extremists, everyone is in danger, especially
mainstream Muslims who are being blamed for the misguided
acts of a very small number of deviants. Don’t forget, Mus-
lims died in the World Trade Center, too. People, Muslim
and non-Muslim, need to learn more about Islam, for all our
sakes.
Nabil Abdurehman is a freshman and prospective math major
from Memphis, TN.
Princeton University - Spring 2008
Spring 2008