About that mosque...

I was amused this morning, amid all the overheated hubbub about the proposed mosque and or Islamic center three or four blocks from ground zero in Manhattan, to read about efforts for the Boy Scouts of America to make their current jamboree Muslim friendly. Along with a lot of high tech gadgets an "inflatable mosque provides a place for Muslim scouts to worship."

Amazing. As a former Scout who actually earned three or four merit badges (and wished there had been one for reading large books about history) I have a certain amount of respect for the institution but am a bit bemused, particularly when the article describes the latest scouting styles.

Some boys sport lime-green hair to match the T-shirts of their non-dress uniforms, and most wear loose-fitting knee-length shorts, some surfer-dude cool with bright swirls.

What would Baden-Powell make of this?

And having almost finished the Baburnama, I wonder: wouldn't the first Moghul have loved to have had an inflatable mosque to take along on his raids? Not to mention his wine parties.

Poetry Nook

A poem by Longfellow retelling Marco Polo's story of the destruction of the Caliph in Baghdad by Alau, better known as Hulagu Khan, grandson of Chinggis Khan. His brother was Kubla Khan who did "a stately pleasure-dome decree" in another pretty good poem.

"I said to the Kalif: 'Thou art old,
Thou hast no need of so much gold.
Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here,
Till the breath of Battle was hot and near,
But have sown through the land these useless hoards
To spring into shining blades of swords,
And keep thine honour sweet and clear.
* * * * *
Then into his dungeon I locked the drone,
And left him to feed there all alone
In the honey-cells of his golden hive:
Never a prayer, nor a cry, nor a groan
Was heard from those massive walls of stone,
Nor again was the Kalif seen alive.'
This is the story, strange and true,
That the great Captain Alau
Told to his brother, the Tartar Khan,
When he rode that day into Cambalu.
By the road that leadeth to Ispahan."

T E Lawrence has an encounter.

Lawrence, he of Arabia, was on campaign and climbed up an escarpment to bathe in a fresh pool of water flowing from between the rocks.

Upon the water-cleansed and fragrant ledge I undressed my soiled body, and stepped into the little basin, to taste at last a freshness of moving air and water against my tired skin. It was deliciously cool. I lay there quietly, letting the clear, dark red water run over me in a ribbly stream, and rub the travel-dirt away. While I was so happy, a grey-bearded, ragged man, with a hewn face of great power and weariness, came slowly along the path till opposite the spring; and there he let himself down with a sigh upon my clothes spread out over a rock beside the path, for the sun-heat to chase out their thronging vermin.

He heard me and leaned forward, peering with rheumy eyes at this white thing splashing in the hollow beyond the veil of sun-mist. After a long stare he seemed content, and closed his eyes, groaning, 'The love is from God; and of God; and towards God'.

His low-spoken words were caught by some trick distinctly in my water pool. They stopped me suddenly. I had believed Semites unable to use love as a link between themselves and God, indeed, unable to conceive such a relation except with the intellectuality of Spinoza, who loved so rationally and sexlessly, and transcendently that he did not seek, or rather had not permitted, a return. Christianity had seemed to me the first creed to proclaim love in this upper world, from which the desert and the Semite (from Moses to Zeno) had shut it out: and Christianity was a hybrid, except in its first root not essentially Semitic.

This observation leads him into a dream like incantation of the progress of Christianity.

A most peculiar man.

taken from Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Iranian math

According to a pro-regime newspaper, "a maximum of 5,000" mourners showed up for Ayatollah Montazeri's funeral.

This is what 5,000 people look like.


Montazeri was a brave, devout, Muslim, and as far as I can tell, a decent human being. Dead, he may overcome yet.

Ahmadinejad's family Jewish?

I don't know what to make of this report claiming that Ahmadinejad of Iran's family actually were Jewish and changed their name when they converted.

File it under 'interesting, if true.'

Is Western Civilization Different?

For years now I have had the notion that Western Civilization is different from every other civilization I am aware of because of the fundamental split right through the middle of its soul between secular and spiritual power. I have never worked out the details, but anyone who studies medieval history must be struck by this fact. Most, however, don't realize that it is unique.

I have found a good expression of it by Dan Diner in Lost in the Sacred: Why the Muslim World Stood Still. In discussing the critique of Western society by Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian scholar who laid out the intellectual foundations for the jihadists (or whatever they should be called). It is, in fact, the reason Qutb thought Christianity had gone wrong right from the "render unto Caesar" incident:

Sayyid Qutb is not wrong here: a fundamental institutional tension does in fact run through Western culture, whether in the various interpretations of the "two swords" theory in the high Middle Ages or in the earlier distinction between imperium and sacerdotium inherent in the fabric of the Holy Roman Empire. The individuality and freedom so important to the West can be traced back to a basic question in medieval Christianity: who should be obeyed -- the emperor or the pope? These two authorities struggle for supremacy in the heart of the perplexed, who can choose only one of them. Thus the birth of freedom in the expression of a deep internal rift. It stems from the individual's doubt and despair. Freedom springs from conflict and the discord associated with it. And in this conflict the individual is left all alone. Only conscience born of this discord can provide a sense of direction -- but conscience is not infallible.

So far it is a good book, one that looks at Islam by taking its spiritual coherence and unity as a serious attribute of Islamic society.

Muslim Rationalism

No, despite what you sometimes hear from some Americans, many of whom should know better, this is not an oxymoron. Usually when someone wants to make this point they will point to the wonders of culture, art, and science created in Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain. That, however, came to an end centuries ago. What about today?

It is tempting sometimes to think that the Islamic world has descended into irrationality, and often enough Pakistan can be used as an example. So just for your amusement here is a little column by Irfan Husain, a Pakistani journalist I sometime read. He is, at the very least, rational.

He even cites William of Ockham, a medieval Christian monk!

An antidote to this kind of muddled thinking is Occam’s razor, a philosophical device popular in medieval Europe. Although it predates him, it is ascribed to William of Okham (1285-1349), a Franciscan monk who preached a philosophy of simplicity: “Plurality should not be posited without necessity.” Or in other words, all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best. Thus, by paring away the improbable, we are left with the most probable explanation for an event.

Nice touch. I use the 'razor' myself on occasion.

This post brought to you by the color Red

... which seems to be in some trouble in Saudi Arabia. Wish I were making this up.

thanks to Andrew Sullivan, once again.

The ever-current Edward Gibbons.

Over on National Review Online's "The Corner" Mark Styn, whose book
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It is under legal attack in Canada for insulting Islam (or something like that) resorts to the great Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, as all educated pundits ought. The key quote is from Gibbon's description of the Battle of Poitiers (aka The Battle of Tours). Gibbon takes a short flight of fancy that Styn thinks is now coming true:

“Perhaps,” wrote Edward Gibbon in The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, “the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.”

You should read the whole thing though. Gibbon I mean. Not Styn. The latter seems a bit overheated (just check out the subtitle of his book).

A Pakistani's view of Jihad ... and the West

It is easy to see Pakistan as a dysfunctional society overrun with the craziest of Islamist extremist who are on the verge of taking over ... and getting their thumbs on the nuclear button. This is too simplistic. Reading the English language Pakistani paper Dawn gives some idea of how secular, democratic, and international important segments of the society are.

A good example of this is a recent column by Irfan Husain, a regular contributor to the paper. He give a caustic overview of religious fanaticism and jihad, as well as an interesting view of the West's reactions. Here is a sample:

The theological underpinning of this [jihadist] logic requires a significant departure from orthodox Islamic teachings. For instance, standard commentaries prepared after decades of study by all the major schools of jurisprudence argue that only Islamic states can declare jihad. This is not something individuals can go around doing according to their whim.

However, radical Islamists following the teachings of Syed Qutb and Maudoodi argue that in the absence of a genuine Islamic state and a caliphate, true believers have a duty to bring Islamic rule to the whole world, by the sword if necessary. This line has appealed to two generations of Muslims, and there has been a steady hardening of these beliefs over the last 50 years.

After discussing the negative side of the jihadist movement, he concludes in what is clearly meant as a warning to Muslims in general and Pakistani's in particular:

But as incidents like the ones in London and Glasgow increase the uncertainty and fear in the host community, people are increasingly questioning why Muslims who hate their ways are allowed to enter and work in Britain. Several of those allegedly involved in these latest attempted attacks are doctors. This has horrified westerners who are more used to seeing doctors as peaceful professionals than as suicide bombers.

The question being asked privately in the UK is: “If these people hate us and our way of life so much, why don’t they just go back to where they came from?”

China, the Siege of the Red Mosque, and a brothel

Sounds like a Johnny Carson routine, but what do they have in common? An interesting story, told here on National Review Online. Here is the key to it:

This is all to do with Musharraf having finally authorized an assault on the "Red Mosque" seminary in Pakistan's capital. It's a nest of radical jihadis, who have been making a nuisance of themselves going round the city imposing Islamic virtue, Taliban-style. One of those impositions somehow led to them kidnapping the madam of a Chinese-staffed brothel much frequented by Pakistan's movers and shakers (if you'll pardon the expression).

So the denizens of the Red Mosque made two mistakes. One, they threatened to deprive the decision makers of their 'recreation.'

Two, they angered the Chinese, who unlike the Americans actually CAN tell Pakistan's President Musharaf what to do and when to do it. For one thing, they share a 300 mile long border with Pakistan and the world's largest army is on the Chinese side of it. For another, they are a lot meaner than we are. I forebear to say that they are also more competent then we are, though I am certain the Pakistanis sure think so.

Point taken, at least as far as Musharaf was concerned. The Islamists he has been telling us he simply didn't dare take on, are now being taken on.

I am still mystified, btw, with why Dan Simmons in his little 'Century War' fantasy discounted the Chinese completely. No one in that part of the world does.

Dan Simmons is back with a modest proposal

... actually, several modest proposals on how to deal with the situation in Iraq. A very good question, and Simmons is a smart and talented guy when not whiffing too much testosterone or bile. I discovered his latest essay while reading Michael Toten's blog "Middle East Journal." I think I have linked to it before and it is worth checking out, though it may depress the hell out of you. Here's what he has to say about Simmon's essay:

It isn’t possible for anyone to agree that all four options are good ones. They’re contradictory (and absurd) on purpose. But the whole thing is a delightful and thought-provoking out-of-the-box read by a clearly intelligent person.

Personally, I wouldn't go that far, but it is certainly worth a read. Some of you may remember my long series of posts on his "Century War" last year. I don't think I have the energy to do that with this essay, but read it and see what you think.

For me, I'll ponder it for a few days.

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Mulsims in America

They have arrived! That great old American trait of trying to make a buck by selling you anything possible is now focusing on Muslim Americans. Advertisers are now figuring out how to target Muslims consumers without offending everyone else. There is also the little problem of which type of Muslim to focus on, since our Muslim population is so diverse. The story from The New York Times is here.

Somehow, I see this as a positive sign.

"Happy Ramadan" cards, anyone?


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Neo - Cons and the Crusades

Over on the Financial Times web page Jacob Weisberg has an interesting article on the black-tie gala for the American Enterprise Institute, home of many neo-con intellectuals, including Mrs Dick Cheney. It seems to be behind a firewall so I can't link to it, but at one point Weisberg describes a speech given at the event by Bernard Lewis, house intellectual of the Neo-cons (and one of my favorite historians). It appealed to my sense of humor. Here is the core of it:

In his address, the 90-year-old Mr Lewis did not revisit his argument that regime change in Iraq could provide the jolt needed to modernise the Middle East. Instead, he spoke about the millennial struggle between Christianity and Islam. Mr Lewis argues that Muslims have adopted migration, along with terror, as the latest strategy in their “cosmic struggle for world domination”. This is a familiar framework from the original author of the phrase “the clash of civilisations”. What did surprise me was Mr Lewis’s denunciation of Pope John Paul II’s 2000 apology for the crusades as political correctness run amok, which drew clapping. Mr Lewis’s view is that the Muslims started the trouble by invading Europe in the eighth century; the crusades were merely a failed imitation of Muslim jihad in an endless see-saw of conquest and reconquest.

Were one to start counting ironies here, where would one stop? Here was a Jewish scholar criticising the Pope for apologising to Muslims for a holy war against Muslims, which was also a massacre of the Jews. Here were the theorists of the invasion of Iraq, many of them also Jewish, applauding the notion that the crusades were not so terrible and embracing a time horizon that makes it impossible to judge their war an error. And here was the clubhouse of the neo-conservatives, throwing itself a lavish party when the biggest question in American politics is how to escape the hole they have dug.

Latin Music

I have for years now always been fooled for at least a fraction of a second when I walk into a music store and see a bin in the popular music section labeled "Latin Music." For one brief instant I expect to find popular songs with lyrics in Latin. And I'm always disappointed.

Since I am in a nostalgic mood for all my past silliness, here are the lyrics to a song by Cat Stevens before he converted to Islam that actually are in Latin:

Hunc ornatum mundi
Nolo perdere
Video flagrare
Omnia res
Audio clamare
Homines
Nunc extinguitur
Mund(I) et astrorum lamen
Nunc concipitur
Mali hominis crimen
Tristetat(e) et lacrimis
Gravis est dolor
De terraeque maribus
Magnus est clamor
O caritas, o caritas
Nobis semper sit amor
Nos perituri mortem salutamus
Sola resurgit vita
Ah, this world is burning fast
Oh, the world will never last
I don't want to lost it here in my time
Give me time forever here in my time.

A type of Dies Irae from the point of view of those left behind, don't you think? Obviously Cat was giving a lot of thought to spiritual imagery at the time. Odd that he found his answers in Islam.