Can a democratically elected president be polygamist? Yes. Where? In South Africa. Is it only approved by men? No. Women elected him too. Even his party Women's League approves it. This is the new version of Africans democracy. This news appeared on different news media, the following appreared on Washington post.
Which Mrs. Zuma Will Be South Africa's First Lady?
By Karin BrulliardWashington Post Foreign ServiceSaturday, May 9, 2009
JOHANNESBURG, May 8 -- To the rarefied ranks of first ladies such as Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, South Africa will add Sizakele Khumalo.
Or will it be Nompumelelo Ntuli?
Or Thobeka Mabhija?
Though South Africa's recent general election featured all the mudslinging of a fierce political battle, it was long expected to result in the victory of ruling party leader Jacob Zuma, who is to be inaugurated as president Saturday. The real mystery -- one that has intrigued South Africans for months -- is which of Zuma's wives will be the nation's new first lady.
Zuma, a 67-year-old Zulu traditionalist, is about to become South Africa's first polygamist president. Confronted with the first lady question, spokesmen for his party, the African National Congress, have typically declined to respond or noted that the constitution does not touch on the issue, thus allowing Zuma to choose or alternate. The party, in fact, had stayed mum on just how many wives and children Zuma has -- figures that even his biographer could not nail down.
New clues emerged this week, however. At the bottom of an ANC statement that extolled Zuma's liberation-movement credentials and ballroom-dancing skills, the party casually noted that he is a father of 19 and a husband to three: Khumalo, Ntuli and Mabhija.
On Thursday, local news media reported that all three women were on Zuma's guest list for the inauguration, which is expected to draw 5,000 dignitaries.
But speculation remains rife about what the Times newspaper called the "protocol nightmare" of whether the state will be obligated to cover medical care, jet transportation and security for the entire Zuma brood. And South Africans are still in the dark about who will be Zuma's date to galas and have dibs on the spousal office in the east wing of the president's hilltop residence in Pretoria, the administrative capital.
"As a family they are supportive of each other," said Lindiwe Zulu, an ANC spokeswoman, noting that one of Zuma's daughters has often accompanied him to official events. "That family has got their own unique way of dealing with those issues. If they didn't, I'm sure we would have heard about it by now."
While providing fodder for headlines and comics, fascination with Zuma's polygamy is rooted in deeper dilemmas in democratic South Africa, whose ultra-progressive, Western-influenced constitution enshrines equal rights for women but also protects tribal traditions that were suppressed by the white apartheid government. Among them is the mostly rural practice of polygamy, which was legalized in 1998, though only for men belonging to tribes in which it is a custom.
"South Africa is a very modern, secular country with a great constitution, but it's also an African country. To some extent, Jacob Zuma sort of brings it full circle," said Penelope Andrews, a law professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana who has written widely on polygamy in South Africa, her native country. "And a lot of people are obviously fine with it."
But not everyone. As elections approached, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party attacked polygamy as "abuse of women." In an open letter to Zuma in the Mail & Guardian newspaper Friday, gender rights activist Colleen Lowe Morna wrote of Zuma's wives: "I doubt you would countenance any one of them having several husbands." One recent opinion poll found that 74 percent of respondents opposed polygamy.
But that survey was conducted in urban areas, and Zuma's backers say that is part of the problem. Critics, they maintain, are elites whose opinions are out of touch with many of their compatriots, particularly those who live in rural areas like the one where Zuma, who grew up herding cows, keeps a homestead. The ANC swept the elections with almost 66 percent of the vote, a resounding victory attributed in large part to Zuma's appeal.
"Jacob Zuma's pride in his culture is what has played such a large part in his hyper-popularity in this country," one reader wrote in a letter to the Star newspaper on Friday, saying Zuma was a victim of "pandering to overseas European values."
Zuma draws vigorous support from the ANC Women's League, which approves of polygamy as long as wives enter into it willingly and the husband takes good care of all spouses and children, said Zulu, the ANC spokeswoman. Though Zulu said she "may not agree with it," she said she is certain the Zuma marriages meet those standards.
"There are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children who they hide so as to pretend they're monogamous," Zuma once told a television interviewer. "I prefer to be open. I love my wives, and I'm proud of my children."
By most counts, Zuma has been married five times. One marriage, to Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, ended in divorce in 1998. Another wife, Kate Mantsho Zuma, committed suicide in 2000.
Zuma has been married since 1973 to his first wife, Khumalo, who lives at Zuma's country home and rarely appears in public. He wed Ntuli, who is in her mid-30s and often attends high-profile soirees, at a traditional Zulu ceremony last year. Early this year, news broke that he had paid lobola -- a sort of bride price, often given in the form of cattle or cash -- to the family of Mabhija, a socialite in her mid-30s. But there was no confirmation of their marriage until this week's ANC statement. His children range in age from infancy to older than 30.
Zuma's first lady situation is not unique, though his counterparts on the world stage tend to be kings, not presidents. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to have about four wives. King Mswati III of Swaziland is expected at the Zuma inauguration -- most likely with one of his 13 or so wives on his arm.
First ladies in democratic South Africa have not been major figures. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president and a bachelor for most of his presidency, was often accompanied to events by his daughter. Thabo Mbeki's wife was well recognized but hardly the subject of scrutiny or adoration.
The wife of Kgalema Motlanthe, South Africa's interim president since September, was such an unknown that a newspaper launched an investigation in January to find out who she is. That backfired after the newspaper reported that it had discovered a young and pregnant mistress of Motlanthe along the way, then retracted that after the woman recanted her story.
Even so, pundits and observers do not doubt that each Zuma wife would like the title. One Zuma insider has been quoted as saying Khumalo, as the oldest, is the most likely choice. Other reports predict the younger and more social Mrs. Zumas will vie for the job.
"You know the TV show 'Desperate Housewives'? It's going to be Desperate First Wives," said Andrews, the law professor. "I imagine there's going to be a little bit of controversy for the first year or two."
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Time to reclaim the night for sleep
Time to 'reclaim the night' for sleep
VIEWPOINT By Neil Stanley Sleep researcher, University of East Anglia
We all know the health risks of smoking, drinking and eating too much. But sleep expert Neil Stanley says we don't pay attention to the risks of having too little sleep.
In this week's Scrubbing Up health column, he warns it is time to "reclaim the night".
Good sleep is vital for good physical mental and emotional health - but unfortunately we seem to live in a society that has forgotten this fact.
In terms of healthy living, sleep is as important as good diet and exercise.
“ Why do we go through life feeling this tired? ”
Poor or inadequate sleep can have serious consequences on overall health and wellbeing and has been shown to lead to lower immunity, poor performance and mood changes.
In the longer term, inadequate sleep is associated with a greater risk of a number of diseases, such as heart disease, depression and diabetes.
There are also important consequences of poor or inadequate sleep which negatively affect the way we feel and perform during the day.
Round the clock
We are living in an increasingly "tired" society. Think about how you feel at the moment with one as very tired and 10 as feeling wide awake.
I reckon very few of you are a seven, let alone a 10. Why do we go through life feeling this tired?
One reason is the increasing extension of the daytime activities into the night.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, Tomorrow's World each week promised us a future where, due to advances in technology, there would be so much leisure time that we would have to come up with new ways of amusing ourselves.
Unfortunately what was created by all this new technology was the 24/7 society.
Technology never sleeps, and thus people can work around the clock - whether they are in the office or at home.
The long hours, information overload and stresses associated with 21st Century living negatively affect our sleep which, in turn, is detrimental to our health, work performance and even our relationships.
Convenience brings risks
As a society we need to give much more serious consideration to our work/life balance particularly with regards to sleep.
For example it has been estimated that in future a third of the workforce will be working shifts, mainly in the service sector.
However there is a large body of evidence which shows that working shifts is bad for health and increases accidents at work.
So, whilst it is of course important for some workers to work around the clock, does the convenience of paying a bill at 2am really outweigh the health risks of having so many people doing shifts?
“ You would not want a drunken surgeon operating on you or a drunken train driver taking you to work, so why would you accept a tired one? ”
It has been reported that tired drivers now cause more deaths on European roads than drunk drivers, and yet whilst it has become socially unacceptable to be drunk behind the wheel or in the workplace it is almost a matter of pride that we believe we can function properly when tired.
Yet you would not want a drunken surgeon operating on you or a drunken train driver taking you to work, so why would you accept a tired one?
The problem of poor sleep is perhaps even more important in children as it has been linked with increased risk of - amongst other things - obesity, diabetes, poor academic performance and behavioural problems.
You only have to watch an episode of Supernanny to see how profound the positive effect of a good night's sleep can be on the behaviour of children.
Over the past decade there has been an increasing body of evidence that shows that sleep plays an important role in regulating weight and controlling appetite, and so I find it surprising that when earlier this year the government started its Change 4 Life healthy living campaign there is no mention of the importance of good sleep.
Isn't it about time we reclaimed the night for sleep?
Provocative thoughts from experts in the worlds of health and medicine
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7880583.stmPublished: 2009/02/11 04:38:26 GMT© BBC MMIX
VIEWPOINT By Neil Stanley Sleep researcher, University of East Anglia
We all know the health risks of smoking, drinking and eating too much. But sleep expert Neil Stanley says we don't pay attention to the risks of having too little sleep.
In this week's Scrubbing Up health column, he warns it is time to "reclaim the night".
Good sleep is vital for good physical mental and emotional health - but unfortunately we seem to live in a society that has forgotten this fact.
In terms of healthy living, sleep is as important as good diet and exercise.
“ Why do we go through life feeling this tired? ”
Poor or inadequate sleep can have serious consequences on overall health and wellbeing and has been shown to lead to lower immunity, poor performance and mood changes.
In the longer term, inadequate sleep is associated with a greater risk of a number of diseases, such as heart disease, depression and diabetes.
There are also important consequences of poor or inadequate sleep which negatively affect the way we feel and perform during the day.
Round the clock
We are living in an increasingly "tired" society. Think about how you feel at the moment with one as very tired and 10 as feeling wide awake.
I reckon very few of you are a seven, let alone a 10. Why do we go through life feeling this tired?
One reason is the increasing extension of the daytime activities into the night.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, Tomorrow's World each week promised us a future where, due to advances in technology, there would be so much leisure time that we would have to come up with new ways of amusing ourselves.
Unfortunately what was created by all this new technology was the 24/7 society.
Technology never sleeps, and thus people can work around the clock - whether they are in the office or at home.
The long hours, information overload and stresses associated with 21st Century living negatively affect our sleep which, in turn, is detrimental to our health, work performance and even our relationships.
Convenience brings risks
As a society we need to give much more serious consideration to our work/life balance particularly with regards to sleep.
For example it has been estimated that in future a third of the workforce will be working shifts, mainly in the service sector.
However there is a large body of evidence which shows that working shifts is bad for health and increases accidents at work.
So, whilst it is of course important for some workers to work around the clock, does the convenience of paying a bill at 2am really outweigh the health risks of having so many people doing shifts?
“ You would not want a drunken surgeon operating on you or a drunken train driver taking you to work, so why would you accept a tired one? ”
It has been reported that tired drivers now cause more deaths on European roads than drunk drivers, and yet whilst it has become socially unacceptable to be drunk behind the wheel or in the workplace it is almost a matter of pride that we believe we can function properly when tired.
Yet you would not want a drunken surgeon operating on you or a drunken train driver taking you to work, so why would you accept a tired one?
The problem of poor sleep is perhaps even more important in children as it has been linked with increased risk of - amongst other things - obesity, diabetes, poor academic performance and behavioural problems.
You only have to watch an episode of Supernanny to see how profound the positive effect of a good night's sleep can be on the behaviour of children.
Over the past decade there has been an increasing body of evidence that shows that sleep plays an important role in regulating weight and controlling appetite, and so I find it surprising that when earlier this year the government started its Change 4 Life healthy living campaign there is no mention of the importance of good sleep.
Isn't it about time we reclaimed the night for sleep?
Provocative thoughts from experts in the worlds of health and medicine
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7880583.stmPublished: 2009/02/11 04:38:26 GMT© BBC MMIX
Child behaviour 'linked to sleep'
Child behaviour 'linked to sleep'
A good night's sleep could reduce hyperactivity and bad behaviour among children, a Finnish study reports.
It has been suggested that some children who lack sleep do not appear tired, but instead behave badly.
Of the 280 examined in the Pediatrics study, those who slept for fewer than eight hours were the most hyperactive.
Experts said adequate sleep could improve behaviour in healthy children and reduce symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
It is recognised that chronic sleep deprivation is a problem for many adults in Western countries and that it can have consequences for their health and daily life.
The team behind this research said not enough was understood about the role of sleep in children's lives but it has been estimated that a third of US children do not get enough sleep.
Monitoring
In this research, the team from the University of Helsinki and Finland's National Institute of Health and Welfare studied 280 healthy children aged seven or eight.
They wanted to see if those healthy children who slept the least were the most likely to display the kind of symptoms associated with ADHD.
None of the children studied had the attention disorder.
“ There is a lot of commonality between the symptoms of a tired child and the symptoms of a child with ADHD ” Neil Stanley, Sleep expert
Parents filled in questionnaires about their children's usual sleeping habits and then noted how long their children slept for over seven nights.
The children also wore devices called actigraphs, which measure movement, to monitor how long they actually rested for.
Parents' estimates of sleep duration were longer than the actigraph measurements, which the researchers say could be because they measured from bedtime or because they assumed their children were asleep when they were simply lying awake in bed or reading.
The parents were also asked about their children's behaviour, using measures normally used to diagnose ADHD.
The children whose average sleep duration as measured by actigraphs was shorter than 7.7 hours had a higher hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour score.
They also had a higher ADHD symptom score overall.
'Sleep needs differ'
Dr Juulia Paavonen, who led the study, said: "We were able to show that short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties are related to behavioural symptoms of ADHD.
"The findings suggest that maintaining adequate sleep schedules among children is likely to be important in preventing behavioural symptoms.
“ Even 30 minutes per night has been shown to give a major improvement ” Dr Juulia Paavonen, Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare
"It may well be that inadequate sleep is increasing some of the behavioural problems that have been seen in children with attention deficit disorders."
Dr Paavonen said further studies were needed to confirm the link.
And she advised parents that, even though the study suggested fewer than eight hours sleep could be problematic, it was not a figure everyone should aim for.
"Sleep needs differ between individuals. The only way to take care that a particular child has enough sleep is to see if they seem to have a problem with short sleep.
"But even [an extra] 30 minutes per night has been shown to give a major improvement in objective cognitive tests, improving reaction times, impulsivity and attention spans."
Sleep expert Neil Stanley, of the University of East Anglia, said: "It has been acknowledged for a while now that there is a lot of commonality between the symptoms of a tired child and the symptoms of a child with ADHD."
He said parents needed to recognise that sleep was important for children.
"These things have been lost at a time when ADHD is increasing.
"How much of what is diagnosed as ADHD is something that can be modified or improved, or even totally cured by a more rigid sleep pattern?
"Maybe parents should try and get sleep sorted out. If the child is still showing symptoms, then that's probably the time to look at pharmacological interventions."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8016531.stmPublished: 2009/04/27 23:08:16 GMT© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
BBC.adverts.write("printableversionsponsorship");
BBC.adverts.show("printableversionsponsorship");
A good night's sleep could reduce hyperactivity and bad behaviour among children, a Finnish study reports.
It has been suggested that some children who lack sleep do not appear tired, but instead behave badly.
Of the 280 examined in the Pediatrics study, those who slept for fewer than eight hours were the most hyperactive.
Experts said adequate sleep could improve behaviour in healthy children and reduce symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
It is recognised that chronic sleep deprivation is a problem for many adults in Western countries and that it can have consequences for their health and daily life.
The team behind this research said not enough was understood about the role of sleep in children's lives but it has been estimated that a third of US children do not get enough sleep.
Monitoring
In this research, the team from the University of Helsinki and Finland's National Institute of Health and Welfare studied 280 healthy children aged seven or eight.
They wanted to see if those healthy children who slept the least were the most likely to display the kind of symptoms associated with ADHD.
None of the children studied had the attention disorder.
“ There is a lot of commonality between the symptoms of a tired child and the symptoms of a child with ADHD ” Neil Stanley, Sleep expert
Parents filled in questionnaires about their children's usual sleeping habits and then noted how long their children slept for over seven nights.
The children also wore devices called actigraphs, which measure movement, to monitor how long they actually rested for.
Parents' estimates of sleep duration were longer than the actigraph measurements, which the researchers say could be because they measured from bedtime or because they assumed their children were asleep when they were simply lying awake in bed or reading.
The parents were also asked about their children's behaviour, using measures normally used to diagnose ADHD.
The children whose average sleep duration as measured by actigraphs was shorter than 7.7 hours had a higher hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour score.
They also had a higher ADHD symptom score overall.
'Sleep needs differ'
Dr Juulia Paavonen, who led the study, said: "We were able to show that short sleep duration and sleeping difficulties are related to behavioural symptoms of ADHD.
"The findings suggest that maintaining adequate sleep schedules among children is likely to be important in preventing behavioural symptoms.
“ Even 30 minutes per night has been shown to give a major improvement ” Dr Juulia Paavonen, Finnish National Institute of Health and Welfare
"It may well be that inadequate sleep is increasing some of the behavioural problems that have been seen in children with attention deficit disorders."
Dr Paavonen said further studies were needed to confirm the link.
And she advised parents that, even though the study suggested fewer than eight hours sleep could be problematic, it was not a figure everyone should aim for.
"Sleep needs differ between individuals. The only way to take care that a particular child has enough sleep is to see if they seem to have a problem with short sleep.
"But even [an extra] 30 minutes per night has been shown to give a major improvement in objective cognitive tests, improving reaction times, impulsivity and attention spans."
Sleep expert Neil Stanley, of the University of East Anglia, said: "It has been acknowledged for a while now that there is a lot of commonality between the symptoms of a tired child and the symptoms of a child with ADHD."
He said parents needed to recognise that sleep was important for children.
"These things have been lost at a time when ADHD is increasing.
"How much of what is diagnosed as ADHD is something that can be modified or improved, or even totally cured by a more rigid sleep pattern?
"Maybe parents should try and get sleep sorted out. If the child is still showing symptoms, then that's probably the time to look at pharmacological interventions."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8016531.stmPublished: 2009/04/27 23:08:16 GMT© BBC MMIX
Print Sponsor
BBC.adverts.write("printableversionsponsorship");
BBC.adverts.show("printableversionsponsorship");
The fighting isn't only with bullets
Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan
By Joby WarrickWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, December 26, 2008; A01
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.
Four blue pills. Viagra.
"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.
For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations.
In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, the officials say, the agency's operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the officials said.
"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people -- whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra," said one longtime agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours. Like other field officers interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity when describing tactics and operations that are largely classified.
Officials say these inducements are necessary in Afghanistan, a country where warlords and tribal leaders expect to be paid for their cooperation, and where, for some, switching sides can be as easy as changing tunics. If the Americans don't offer incentives, there are others who will, including Taliban commanders, drug dealers and even Iranian agents in the region.
The usual bribes of choice -- cash and weapons -- aren't always the best options, Afghanistan veterans say. Guns too often fall into the wrong hands, they say, and showy gifts such as money, jewelry and cars tend to draw unwanted attention.
"If you give an asset $1,000, he'll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find, and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money from someone," said Jamie Smith, a veteran of CIA covert operations in Afghanistan and now chief executive of SCG International, a private security and intelligence company. "Even if he doesn't get killed, he becomes ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where he got it."
The key, Smith said, is to find a way to meet the informant's personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace.
"You're trying to bridge a gap between people living in the 18th century and people coming in from the 21st century," Smith said, "so you look for those common things in the form of material aid that motivate people everywhere."
Among the world's intelligence agencies, there's a long tradition of using sex as a motivator. Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer and author of several books on intelligence, noted that the Soviet spy service was notorious for using attractive women as bait when seeking to turn foreign diplomats into informants.
"The KGB has always used 'honey traps,' and it works," Baer said. For American officers, a more common practice was to offer medical care for potential informants and their loved ones, he said. "I remember one guy we offered an option on a heart bypass," Baer said.
For some U.S. operatives in Afghanistan, Western drugs such as Viagra were just part of a long list of enticements available for use in special cases. Two veteran officers familiar with such practices said Viagra was offered rarely, and only to older tribal officials for whom the drug would hold special appeal. While such sexual performance drugs are generally unavailable in the remote areas where the agency's teams operated, they have been sold in some Kabul street markets since at least 2003 and were known by reputation elsewhere.
"You didn't hand it out to younger guys, but it could be a silver bullet to make connections to the older ones," said one retired operative familiar with the drug's use in Afghanistan. Afghan tribal leaders often had four wives -- the maximum number allowed by the Koran -- and aging village patriarchs were easily sold on the utility of a pill that could "put them back in an authoritative position," the official said.
Both officials who described the use of Viagra declined to discuss details such as dates and locations, citing both safety and classification concerns.
The CIA declined to comment on methods used in clandestine operations. One senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the agency's work in Afghanistan said the clandestine teams were trained to be "resourceful and agile" and to use tactics "consistent with the laws of our country."
"They learn the landscape, get to know the players, and adjust to the operating environment, no matter where it is," the official said. "They think out of the box, take risks, and do what's necessary to get the job done."
Not everyone in Afghanistan's hinterlands had heard of the drug, leading to some awkward encounters when Americans delicately attempted to explain its effects, taking care not to offend their hosts' religious sensitivities.
Such was the case with the 60-year-old chieftain who received the four pills from a U.S. operative. According to the retired operative who was there, the man was a clan leader in southern Afghanistan who had been wary of Americans -- neither supportive nor actively opposed. The man had extensive knowledge of the region and his village controlled key passages through the area. U.S. forces needed his cooperation and worked hard to win it, the retired operative said.
After a long conversation through an interpreter, the retired operator began to probe for ways to win the man's loyalty. A discussion of the man's family and many wives provided inspiration. Once it was established that the man was in good health, the pills were offered and accepted.
Four days later, when the Americans returned, the gift had worked its magic, the operative recalled.
"He came up to us beaming," the official said. "He said, 'You are a great man.' "
"And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."
By Joby WarrickWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, December 26, 2008; A01
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.
Four blue pills. Viagra.
"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.
For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations.
In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, the officials say, the agency's operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the officials said.
"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people -- whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra," said one longtime agency operative and veteran of several Afghanistan tours. Like other field officers interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity when describing tactics and operations that are largely classified.
Officials say these inducements are necessary in Afghanistan, a country where warlords and tribal leaders expect to be paid for their cooperation, and where, for some, switching sides can be as easy as changing tunics. If the Americans don't offer incentives, there are others who will, including Taliban commanders, drug dealers and even Iranian agents in the region.
The usual bribes of choice -- cash and weapons -- aren't always the best options, Afghanistan veterans say. Guns too often fall into the wrong hands, they say, and showy gifts such as money, jewelry and cars tend to draw unwanted attention.
"If you give an asset $1,000, he'll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find, and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money from someone," said Jamie Smith, a veteran of CIA covert operations in Afghanistan and now chief executive of SCG International, a private security and intelligence company. "Even if he doesn't get killed, he becomes ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where he got it."
The key, Smith said, is to find a way to meet the informant's personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace.
"You're trying to bridge a gap between people living in the 18th century and people coming in from the 21st century," Smith said, "so you look for those common things in the form of material aid that motivate people everywhere."
Among the world's intelligence agencies, there's a long tradition of using sex as a motivator. Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer and author of several books on intelligence, noted that the Soviet spy service was notorious for using attractive women as bait when seeking to turn foreign diplomats into informants.
"The KGB has always used 'honey traps,' and it works," Baer said. For American officers, a more common practice was to offer medical care for potential informants and their loved ones, he said. "I remember one guy we offered an option on a heart bypass," Baer said.
For some U.S. operatives in Afghanistan, Western drugs such as Viagra were just part of a long list of enticements available for use in special cases. Two veteran officers familiar with such practices said Viagra was offered rarely, and only to older tribal officials for whom the drug would hold special appeal. While such sexual performance drugs are generally unavailable in the remote areas where the agency's teams operated, they have been sold in some Kabul street markets since at least 2003 and were known by reputation elsewhere.
"You didn't hand it out to younger guys, but it could be a silver bullet to make connections to the older ones," said one retired operative familiar with the drug's use in Afghanistan. Afghan tribal leaders often had four wives -- the maximum number allowed by the Koran -- and aging village patriarchs were easily sold on the utility of a pill that could "put them back in an authoritative position," the official said.
Both officials who described the use of Viagra declined to discuss details such as dates and locations, citing both safety and classification concerns.
The CIA declined to comment on methods used in clandestine operations. One senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the agency's work in Afghanistan said the clandestine teams were trained to be "resourceful and agile" and to use tactics "consistent with the laws of our country."
"They learn the landscape, get to know the players, and adjust to the operating environment, no matter where it is," the official said. "They think out of the box, take risks, and do what's necessary to get the job done."
Not everyone in Afghanistan's hinterlands had heard of the drug, leading to some awkward encounters when Americans delicately attempted to explain its effects, taking care not to offend their hosts' religious sensitivities.
Such was the case with the 60-year-old chieftain who received the four pills from a U.S. operative. According to the retired operative who was there, the man was a clan leader in southern Afghanistan who had been wary of Americans -- neither supportive nor actively opposed. The man had extensive knowledge of the region and his village controlled key passages through the area. U.S. forces needed his cooperation and worked hard to win it, the retired operative said.
After a long conversation through an interpreter, the retired operator began to probe for ways to win the man's loyalty. A discussion of the man's family and many wives provided inspiration. Once it was established that the man was in good health, the pills were offered and accepted.
Four days later, when the Americans returned, the gift had worked its magic, the operative recalled.
"He came up to us beaming," the official said. "He said, 'You are a great man.' "
"And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Concept of Bid'a in the Islamic Shari'a
The Concept of Bid'a in the Islamic Shari'a©Nuh Ha Mim Keller 1995
The following is the text of a talk given by Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller at Nottingham and Trent University on Wednesday 25th January 1995.
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate There are few topics that generate as much controversy today in Islam as what is sunna and what is bida or reprehensible innovation, perhaps because of the times Muslims live in today and the challenges they face. Without a doubt, one of the greatest events in impact upon Muslims in the last thousand years is the end of the Islamic caliphate at the first of this century, an event that marked not only the passing of temporal, political authority, but in many respects the passing of the consensus of orthodox Sunni Islam as well. No one familiar with the classical literature in any of the Islamic legal sciences, whether Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), hadith, or jurisprudence (fiqh), can fail to be struck by the fact that questions are asked today about basic fundamentals of Islamic Sacred Law (Sharia) and its ancillary disciplines that would not have been asked in the Islamic period not because Islamic scholars were not brilliant enough to produce the questions, but because they already knew the answers. My talk tonight will aim to clarify some possible misunderstandings of the concept of innovation (bida) in Islam, in light of the prophetic hadith,
'Beware of matters newly begun, for every matter newly begun is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell.' The sources I use are traditional Islamic sources, and my discussion will centre on three points:
The first point is that scholars say that the above hadith does not refer to all new things without restriction, but only to those which nothing in Sacred Law attests to the validity of. The use of the word 'every' in the hadith does not indicate an absolute generalization, for there are many examples of similar generalizations in the Qur'an and sunna that are not applicable without restriction, but rather are qualified by restrictions found in other primary textual evidence.
The second point is that the sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was to accept new acts initiated in Islam that were of the good and did not conflict with established principles of Sacred Law, and to reject things that were otherwise.
And our third and last point is that new matters in Islam may not be rejected merely because they did not exist in the first century, but must be evaluated and judged according to the comprehensive methodology of Sacred Law, by virtue of which it is and remains the final and universal moral code for all peoples until the end of time.
Our first point, that the hadith does not refer to all new things without restriction, but only to those which nothing in Sacred Law attests to the validity of, may at first seem strange, in view of the wording of the hadith, which says, 'every matter newly begun is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell.' Now the word 'bida' or 'innovation' linguistically means anything new, So our first question must be about the generalizability of the word every in the hadith: does it literally mean that everything new in the world is haram or unlawful? The answer is no. Why?
In answer to this question, we may note that there are many similar generalities in the Qur'an and sunna, all of them admitting of some qualification, such as the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Najm,
'. . . A man can have nothing, except what he strives for' (Qur'an 53:39), despite there being an overwhelming amount of evidence that a Muslim benefits from the spiritual works of others, for example, from his fellow Muslims, the prayers of angels for him, the funeral prayer over him, charity given by others in his name, and the supplications of believers for him;
Or consider the words of Allah to unbelievers in Surat al-Anbiya,
'Verily you and what you worship apart from Allah are the fuel of hell' (Qur'an 21:98), 'what you worship' being a general expression, while there is no doubt that Jesus, his mother, and the angels were all worshipped apart from Allah, but are not 'the fuel of hell', so are not what is meant by the verse; Or the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Anam about past nations who paid no heed to the warners who were sent to them,
'But when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We opened unto them the doors of everything' (Qur'an 6:44), though the doors of mercy were not opened unto them; And the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
'No one who prays before sunrise and before sunset will enter hell', which is a generalised expression that definitely does not mean what its outward generality implies, for someone who prays the dawn and midafternoon prayers and neglects all other prayers and obligatory works is certainly not meant. It is rather a generalization whose intended referent is particular, or a generalization that is qualified by other texts, for when there are fully authenticated hadiths, it is obligatory to reach an accord between them, because they are in reality as a single hadith, the statements that appear without further qualification being qualified by those that furnish the qualification, that the combined implications of all of them may be utilized.
Let us look for a moment at bida or innovation in the light of the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) concerning new matters. Sunna and innovation (bida) are two opposed terms in the language of the Lawgiver (Allah bless him and give him peace), such that neither can be defined without reference to the other, meaning that they are opposites, and things are made clear by their opposites. Many writers have sought to define innovation (bida) without defining the sunna, while it is primary, and have thus fallen into inextricable difficulties and conflicts with the primary textual evidence that contradicts their definition of innovation, whereas if they had first defined the sunna, they would have produced a criterion free of shortcomings.
Sunna, in both the language of the Arabs and the Sacred Law, means way, as is illustrated by the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
'He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam [dis: Reliance of the Traveller p58.1(2)] ...And he who introduces a bad sunna in Islam...', sunna meaning way or custom. The way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in giving guidance, accepting, and rejecting: this is the sunna. For 'good sunna' and 'bad sunna' mean a 'good way' or 'bad way', and cannot possibly mean anything else. Thus, the meaning of 'sunna' is not what most students, let alone ordinary people, understand; namely, that it is the prophetic hadith (as when sunna is contrasted with 'Kitab', i.e. Qur'an, in distinguishing textual sources), or the opposite of the obligatory (as when sunna, i.e. recommended, is contrasted with obligatory in legal contexts), since the former is a technical usage coined by hadith scholars, while the latter is a technical usage coined by legal scholars and specialists in fundamentals of jurisprudence. Both of these are usages of later origin that are not what is meant by sunna here. Rather, the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is his way of acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting, and the way of his Rightly Guided Caliphs who followed his way acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting. So practices that are newly begun must be examined in light of the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his way and path in acceptance or rejection.
Now, there are a great number of hadiths, most of them in the rigorously authenticated (sahih) collections, showing that many of the prophetic Companions initiated new acts, forms of invocation (dhikr), supplications (dua), and so on, that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had never previously done or ordered to be done. Rather, the Companions did them because of their inference and conviction that such acts were of the good that Islam and the Prophet of Islam came with and in general terms urged the like of to be done, in accordance with the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Hajj,
'And do the good, that haply you may succeed' (Qur'an 22:77), and the hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
'He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam earns the reward of it and all who perform it after him without diminishing their own rewards in the slightest.' Though the original context of the hadith was giving charity, the interpretative principle established by the scholarly consensus (def: Reliance of the Traveller b7) of specialists in fundamentals of Sacred Law is that the point of primary texts lies in the generality of their lexical significance, not the specificity of their historical context, without this implying that just anyone may make provisions in the Sacred Law, for Islam is defined by principles and criteria, such that whatever one initiates as a sunna must be subject to its rules, strictures, and primary textual evidence.
From this investigative point of departure, one may observe that many of the prophetic Companions performed various acts through their own personal reasoning, (ijtihad), and that the sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was both to accept those that were acts of worship and good deeds conformable with what the Sacred Law had established and not in conflict with it; and to reject those which were otherwise. This was his sunna and way, upon which his caliphal successors and Companions proceeded, and from which Islamic scholars (Allah be well pleased with them) have established the rule that any new matter must be judged according to the principles and primary texts of Sacred Law: whatever is attested to by the law as being good is acknowledged as good, and whatever is attested to by the law as being a contravention and bad is rejected as a blameworthy innovation (bida). They sometimes term the former a good innovation (bida hasana) in view of it lexically being termed an innovation , but legally speaking it is not really an innovation but rather an inferable sunna as long as the primary texts of the Sacred Law attest to its being acceptable.
We now turn to the primary textual evidence previously alluded to concerning the acts of the Companions and how the Prophet, (Allah bless him and give him peace) responded to them:
(1) Bukhari and Muslim relate from Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him) that at the dawn prayer the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Bilal, 'Bilal, tell me which of your acts in Islam you are most hopeful about, for I have heard the footfall of your sandals in paradise', and he replied, 'I have done nothing I am more hopeful about than the fact that I do not perform ablution at any time of the night or day without praying with that ablution whatever has been destined for me to pray.'
Ibn Hajar Asqalani says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith shows it is permissible to use personal reasoning (ijtihad) in choosing times for acts of worship, for Bilal reached the conclusions he mentioned by his own inference, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein.
Similar to this is the hadith in Bukhari about Khubayb (who asked to pray two rakas before being executed by idolaters in Mecca) who was the first to establish the sunna of two rak'as for those who are steadfast in going to their death. These hadiths are explicit evidence that Bilal and Khubayb used their own personal reasoning (ijtihad) in choosing the times of acts of worship, without any previous command or precedent from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) other than the general demand to perform the prayer.
(2) Bukhari and Muslim relate that Rifa'a ibn Rafi said, 'When we were praying behind the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he raised his head from bowing and said , 'Allah hears whoever praises Him', a man behind him said, 'Our Lord, Yours is the praise, abundantly, wholesomely, and blessedly therein.' When he rose to leave, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) asked 'who said it', and when the man replied that it was he, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'I saw thirty-odd angels each striving to be the one to write it.' Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith indicates the permissibility of initiating new expressions of dhikr in the prayer other than the ones related through hadith texts, as long as they do not contradict those conveyed by the hadith [since the above words were a mere enhancement and addendum to the known, sunna dhikr].
(3) Bukhari relates from Aisha (Allah be well pleased with her) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) dispatched a man at the head of a military expedition who recited the Qur'an for his companions at prayer, finishing each recital with al-Ikhlas (Qur'an 112). When they returned, they mentioned this to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who told them, 'Ask him why he does this', and when they asked him, the man replied, 'because it describes the All-merciful, and I love to recite it.' The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to them, 'Tell him Allah loves him.' In spite of this, we do not know of any scholar who holds that doing the above is recommended, for the acts the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to do regularly are superior, though his confirming the like of this illustrates his sunna regarding his acceptance of various forms of obedience and acts of worship, and shows he did not consider the like of this to be a reprehensible innovation (bida), as do the bigots who vie with each other to be the first to brand acts as innovation and misguidance. Further, it will be noticed that all the preceding hadiths are about the prayer, which is the most important of bodily acts of worship, and of which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'Pray as you have seen me pray', despite which he accepted the above examples of personal reasoning because they did not depart from the form defined by the Lawgiver, for every limit must be observed, while there is latitude in everything besides, as long as it is within the general category of being called for by Sacred Law. This is the sunna of the Prophet and his way (Allah bless him and give him peace) and is as clear as can be. Islamic scholars infer from it that every act for which there is evidence in Sacred Law that it is called for and which does not oppose an unequivocal primary text or entail harmful consequences is not included in the category of reprehensible innovation (bida), but rather is of the sunna, even if there should exist something whose performance is superior to it.
(4) Bukhari relates from Abu Said al-Khudri that a band of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) departed on one of their journeys, alighting at the encampment of some desert Arabs whom they asked to be their hosts, but who refused to have them as guests. The leader of the encampment was stung by a scorpion, and his followers tried everything to cure him, and when all had failed, one said, 'If you would approach the group camped near you, one of them might have something'. So they came to them and said, 'O band of men, our leader has been stung and weve tried everything. Do any of you have something for it?' and one of them replied, 'Yes, by Allah, I recite healing words [ruqya, def: Reliance of the Traveller w17] over people, but by Allah, we asked you to be our hosts and you refused, so I will not recite anything unless you give us a fee'. They then agreed upon a herd of sheep, so the man went and began spitting and reciting the Fatiha over the victim until he got up and walked as if he were a camel released from its hobble, nothing the matter with him. They paid the agreed upon fee, which some of the Companions wanted to divide up, but the man who had done the reciting told them, 'Do not do so until we reach the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and tell him what has happened, to see what he may order us to do'. They came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and told him what had occurred, and he said, 'How did you know it was of the words which heal? You were right. Divide up the herd and give me a share.'
The hadith is explicit that the Companion had no previous knowledge that reciting the Fatiha to heal (ruqya) was countenanced by Sacred Law, but rather did so because of his own personal reasoning (ijtihad), and since it did not contravene anything that had been legislated, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein because it was of his sunna and way to accept and confirm what contained good and did not entail harm, even if it did not proceed from the acts of the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace) as a definitive precedent.
(5) Bukhari relates from Abu Said al-Khudri that one man heard another reciting al-Ikhlas (Qur'an 112) over and over again, so when morning came he went to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and sarcastically mentioned it to him. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul, it equals one-third of the Qur'an.' Daraqutni recorded another version of this hadith in which the man said, 'I have a neighbor who prays at night and does not recite anything but al-Ikhlas.' The hadith shows that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed the persons restricting himself to this sura while praying at night, despite its not being what the Prophet himself did (Allah bless him and give him peace), for though the Prophets practice of reciting from the whole Qur'an was superior, the mans act was within the general parameters of the sunna and there was nothing blameworthy about it in any case.
(6) Ahmad and Ibn Hibban relates from Abdullah ibn Burayda that his father said, I entered the mosque with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), where a man was at prayer, supplicating: 'O Allah, I ask You by the fact that I testify You are Allah, there is no god but You, the One, the Ultimate, who did not beget and was not begotten, and to whom none is equal', and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has asked Allah by His greatest name, which if He is asked by it He gives, and if supplicated He answers'. It is plain that this supplication came spontaneously from the Companion, and since it conformed to what the Sacred Law calls for, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed it with the highest degree of approbation and acceptance, while it is not known that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had ever taught it to him (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa'al-Jamaa, 119-33).
We are now able to return to the hadith with which I began my talk tonight, in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, '. . . Beware of matters newly begun, for every innovation is misguidance'. And understand it as expounded by a classic scholar of Islam, Sheikh Muhammad Jurdani, who said:
'Beware of matters newly begun', distance yourselves and be wary of matters newly innovated that did not previously exist', i.e. things invented in Islam that contravene the Sacred Law, 'for every innovation is misguidance' meaning that every innovation is the opposite of the truth, i.e. falsehood, a hadith that has been related elsewhere as: 'for every newly begun matter is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell' meaning that everyone who is misguided, whether through himself or by following another, is in hell, the hadith referring to matters that are not good innovations with a basis in Sacred Law. It has been stated (by Izz ibn Abd al-Salam) that innovations (bida) fall under the five headings of the Sacred Law (n: i.e. the obligatory, unlawful, recommended, offensive, and permissible):
(1) The first category comprises innovations that are obligatory , such as recording the Qur'an and the laws of Islam in writing when it was feared that something might be lost from them; the study of the disciplines of Arabic that are necessary to understand the Qur'an and sunna such as grammar, word declension, and lexicography; hadith classification to distinguish between genuine and spurious prophetic traditions; and the philosophical refutations of arguments advanced by the Mu'tazilites and the like.
(2) The second category is that of unlawful innovations such as non- Islamic taxes and levies, giving positions of authority in Sacred Law to those unfit for them, and devoting ones time to learning the beliefs of heretical sects that contravene the tenets of faith of Ahl al-Sunna.
(3) The third category consists of recommended innovations such as building hostels and schools of Sacred Law, recording the research of Islamic schools of legal thought, writing books on beneficial subjects, extensive research into fundamentals and particular applications of Sacred Law, in-depth studies of Arabic linguistics, the reciting of wirds (def: Reliance of the Traveller w20) by those with a Sufi path, and commemorating the birth (mawlid), of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) and wearing ones best and rejoicing at it.
(4) The fourth category includes innovations that are offensive, such as embellishing mosques, decorating the Qur'an and having a backup man (muballigh) loudly repeat the spoken Allahu Akbar of the imam when the latter's voice is already clearly audible to those who are praying behind him.
(5) the fifth category is that of innovations that are permissible, such as sifting flour, using spoons and having more enjoyable food, drink and housing. (al Jawahir al-luluiyya fi sharh al-Arbain al-nawawiyya, 220-21). I will conclude my remarks tonight with a translation of Sheikh Abdullah al-Ghimari, who said: In his al-Qawaid al-kubra, 'Izz ibn Abd al-Salam classifies innovations (bida), according to their benefit, harm, or indifference, into the five categories of rulings: the obligatory, recommended, unlawful, offensive, and permissible; giving examples of each and mentioning the principles of Sacred Law that verify his classification. His words on the subject display his keen insight and comprehensive knowledge of both the principles of jurisprudence and the human advantages and disadvantages in view of which the Lawgiver has established the rulings of Sacred Law. Because his classification of innovation (bida) was established on a firm basis in Islamic jurisprudence and legal principles, it was confirmed by Imam Nawawi, Ibn Hajar Asqalani, and the vast majority of Islamic scholars, who received his words with acceptance and viewed it obligatory to apply them to the new events and contingencies that occur with the changing times and the peoples who live in them. One may not support the denial of his classification by clinging to the hadith 'Every innovation is misguidance', because the only form of innovation that is without exception misguidance is that concerning tenets of faith, like the innovations of the Mutazilites, Qadarites, Murjiites, and so on, that contradicted the beliefs of the early Muslims. This is the innovation of misguidance because it is harmful and devoid of benefit. As for innovation in works, meaning the occurrence of an act connected with worship or something else that did not exist in the first century of Islam, it must necessarily be judged according to the five categories mentioned by Izz ibn Abd al-Salam. To claim that such innovation is misguidance without further qualification is simply not applicable to it, for new things are among the exigencies brought into being by the passage of time and generations, and nothing that is new lacks a ruling of Allah Most High that is applicable to it, whether explicitly mentioned in primary texts, or inferable from them in some way. The only reason that Islamic law can be valid for every time and place and be the consummate and most perfect of all divine laws is because it comprises general methodological principles and universal criteria, together with the ability its scholars have been endowed with to understand its primary texts, the knowledge of types of analogy and parallelism, and the other excellences that characterize it. Were we to rule that every new act that has come into being after the first century of Islam is an innovation of misguidance without considering whether it entails benefit or harm, it would invalidate a large share of the fundamental bases of Sacred Law as well as those rulings established by analogical reasoning, and would narrow and limit the Sacred Laws vast and comprehensive scope. (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaa, 145-47).
Wa Jazakum Allahu khayran, wal-hamdu lillahi Rabbil Alamin.
This text is also available in a professionally typeset booklet from
The following is the text of a talk given by Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller at Nottingham and Trent University on Wednesday 25th January 1995.
In the name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate There are few topics that generate as much controversy today in Islam as what is sunna and what is bida or reprehensible innovation, perhaps because of the times Muslims live in today and the challenges they face. Without a doubt, one of the greatest events in impact upon Muslims in the last thousand years is the end of the Islamic caliphate at the first of this century, an event that marked not only the passing of temporal, political authority, but in many respects the passing of the consensus of orthodox Sunni Islam as well. No one familiar with the classical literature in any of the Islamic legal sciences, whether Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), hadith, or jurisprudence (fiqh), can fail to be struck by the fact that questions are asked today about basic fundamentals of Islamic Sacred Law (Sharia) and its ancillary disciplines that would not have been asked in the Islamic period not because Islamic scholars were not brilliant enough to produce the questions, but because they already knew the answers. My talk tonight will aim to clarify some possible misunderstandings of the concept of innovation (bida) in Islam, in light of the prophetic hadith,
'Beware of matters newly begun, for every matter newly begun is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell.' The sources I use are traditional Islamic sources, and my discussion will centre on three points:
The first point is that scholars say that the above hadith does not refer to all new things without restriction, but only to those which nothing in Sacred Law attests to the validity of. The use of the word 'every' in the hadith does not indicate an absolute generalization, for there are many examples of similar generalizations in the Qur'an and sunna that are not applicable without restriction, but rather are qualified by restrictions found in other primary textual evidence.
The second point is that the sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was to accept new acts initiated in Islam that were of the good and did not conflict with established principles of Sacred Law, and to reject things that were otherwise.
And our third and last point is that new matters in Islam may not be rejected merely because they did not exist in the first century, but must be evaluated and judged according to the comprehensive methodology of Sacred Law, by virtue of which it is and remains the final and universal moral code for all peoples until the end of time.
Our first point, that the hadith does not refer to all new things without restriction, but only to those which nothing in Sacred Law attests to the validity of, may at first seem strange, in view of the wording of the hadith, which says, 'every matter newly begun is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell.' Now the word 'bida' or 'innovation' linguistically means anything new, So our first question must be about the generalizability of the word every in the hadith: does it literally mean that everything new in the world is haram or unlawful? The answer is no. Why?
In answer to this question, we may note that there are many similar generalities in the Qur'an and sunna, all of them admitting of some qualification, such as the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Najm,
'. . . A man can have nothing, except what he strives for' (Qur'an 53:39), despite there being an overwhelming amount of evidence that a Muslim benefits from the spiritual works of others, for example, from his fellow Muslims, the prayers of angels for him, the funeral prayer over him, charity given by others in his name, and the supplications of believers for him;
Or consider the words of Allah to unbelievers in Surat al-Anbiya,
'Verily you and what you worship apart from Allah are the fuel of hell' (Qur'an 21:98), 'what you worship' being a general expression, while there is no doubt that Jesus, his mother, and the angels were all worshipped apart from Allah, but are not 'the fuel of hell', so are not what is meant by the verse; Or the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Anam about past nations who paid no heed to the warners who were sent to them,
'But when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We opened unto them the doors of everything' (Qur'an 6:44), though the doors of mercy were not opened unto them; And the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,
'No one who prays before sunrise and before sunset will enter hell', which is a generalised expression that definitely does not mean what its outward generality implies, for someone who prays the dawn and midafternoon prayers and neglects all other prayers and obligatory works is certainly not meant. It is rather a generalization whose intended referent is particular, or a generalization that is qualified by other texts, for when there are fully authenticated hadiths, it is obligatory to reach an accord between them, because they are in reality as a single hadith, the statements that appear without further qualification being qualified by those that furnish the qualification, that the combined implications of all of them may be utilized.
Let us look for a moment at bida or innovation in the light of the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) concerning new matters. Sunna and innovation (bida) are two opposed terms in the language of the Lawgiver (Allah bless him and give him peace), such that neither can be defined without reference to the other, meaning that they are opposites, and things are made clear by their opposites. Many writers have sought to define innovation (bida) without defining the sunna, while it is primary, and have thus fallen into inextricable difficulties and conflicts with the primary textual evidence that contradicts their definition of innovation, whereas if they had first defined the sunna, they would have produced a criterion free of shortcomings.
Sunna, in both the language of the Arabs and the Sacred Law, means way, as is illustrated by the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
'He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam [dis: Reliance of the Traveller p58.1(2)] ...And he who introduces a bad sunna in Islam...', sunna meaning way or custom. The way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in giving guidance, accepting, and rejecting: this is the sunna. For 'good sunna' and 'bad sunna' mean a 'good way' or 'bad way', and cannot possibly mean anything else. Thus, the meaning of 'sunna' is not what most students, let alone ordinary people, understand; namely, that it is the prophetic hadith (as when sunna is contrasted with 'Kitab', i.e. Qur'an, in distinguishing textual sources), or the opposite of the obligatory (as when sunna, i.e. recommended, is contrasted with obligatory in legal contexts), since the former is a technical usage coined by hadith scholars, while the latter is a technical usage coined by legal scholars and specialists in fundamentals of jurisprudence. Both of these are usages of later origin that are not what is meant by sunna here. Rather, the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is his way of acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting, and the way of his Rightly Guided Caliphs who followed his way acting, ordering, accepting, and rejecting. So practices that are newly begun must be examined in light of the sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and his way and path in acceptance or rejection.
Now, there are a great number of hadiths, most of them in the rigorously authenticated (sahih) collections, showing that many of the prophetic Companions initiated new acts, forms of invocation (dhikr), supplications (dua), and so on, that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had never previously done or ordered to be done. Rather, the Companions did them because of their inference and conviction that such acts were of the good that Islam and the Prophet of Islam came with and in general terms urged the like of to be done, in accordance with the word of Allah Most High in Surat al-Hajj,
'And do the good, that haply you may succeed' (Qur'an 22:77), and the hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),
'He who inaugurates a good sunna in Islam earns the reward of it and all who perform it after him without diminishing their own rewards in the slightest.' Though the original context of the hadith was giving charity, the interpretative principle established by the scholarly consensus (def: Reliance of the Traveller b7) of specialists in fundamentals of Sacred Law is that the point of primary texts lies in the generality of their lexical significance, not the specificity of their historical context, without this implying that just anyone may make provisions in the Sacred Law, for Islam is defined by principles and criteria, such that whatever one initiates as a sunna must be subject to its rules, strictures, and primary textual evidence.
From this investigative point of departure, one may observe that many of the prophetic Companions performed various acts through their own personal reasoning, (ijtihad), and that the sunna and way of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was both to accept those that were acts of worship and good deeds conformable with what the Sacred Law had established and not in conflict with it; and to reject those which were otherwise. This was his sunna and way, upon which his caliphal successors and Companions proceeded, and from which Islamic scholars (Allah be well pleased with them) have established the rule that any new matter must be judged according to the principles and primary texts of Sacred Law: whatever is attested to by the law as being good is acknowledged as good, and whatever is attested to by the law as being a contravention and bad is rejected as a blameworthy innovation (bida). They sometimes term the former a good innovation (bida hasana) in view of it lexically being termed an innovation , but legally speaking it is not really an innovation but rather an inferable sunna as long as the primary texts of the Sacred Law attest to its being acceptable.
We now turn to the primary textual evidence previously alluded to concerning the acts of the Companions and how the Prophet, (Allah bless him and give him peace) responded to them:
(1) Bukhari and Muslim relate from Abu Hurayra (Allah be well pleased with him) that at the dawn prayer the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Bilal, 'Bilal, tell me which of your acts in Islam you are most hopeful about, for I have heard the footfall of your sandals in paradise', and he replied, 'I have done nothing I am more hopeful about than the fact that I do not perform ablution at any time of the night or day without praying with that ablution whatever has been destined for me to pray.'
Ibn Hajar Asqalani says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith shows it is permissible to use personal reasoning (ijtihad) in choosing times for acts of worship, for Bilal reached the conclusions he mentioned by his own inference, and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein.
Similar to this is the hadith in Bukhari about Khubayb (who asked to pray two rakas before being executed by idolaters in Mecca) who was the first to establish the sunna of two rak'as for those who are steadfast in going to their death. These hadiths are explicit evidence that Bilal and Khubayb used their own personal reasoning (ijtihad) in choosing the times of acts of worship, without any previous command or precedent from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) other than the general demand to perform the prayer.
(2) Bukhari and Muslim relate that Rifa'a ibn Rafi said, 'When we were praying behind the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he raised his head from bowing and said , 'Allah hears whoever praises Him', a man behind him said, 'Our Lord, Yours is the praise, abundantly, wholesomely, and blessedly therein.' When he rose to leave, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) asked 'who said it', and when the man replied that it was he, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'I saw thirty-odd angels each striving to be the one to write it.' Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith indicates the permissibility of initiating new expressions of dhikr in the prayer other than the ones related through hadith texts, as long as they do not contradict those conveyed by the hadith [since the above words were a mere enhancement and addendum to the known, sunna dhikr].
(3) Bukhari relates from Aisha (Allah be well pleased with her) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) dispatched a man at the head of a military expedition who recited the Qur'an for his companions at prayer, finishing each recital with al-Ikhlas (Qur'an 112). When they returned, they mentioned this to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who told them, 'Ask him why he does this', and when they asked him, the man replied, 'because it describes the All-merciful, and I love to recite it.' The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to them, 'Tell him Allah loves him.' In spite of this, we do not know of any scholar who holds that doing the above is recommended, for the acts the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to do regularly are superior, though his confirming the like of this illustrates his sunna regarding his acceptance of various forms of obedience and acts of worship, and shows he did not consider the like of this to be a reprehensible innovation (bida), as do the bigots who vie with each other to be the first to brand acts as innovation and misguidance. Further, it will be noticed that all the preceding hadiths are about the prayer, which is the most important of bodily acts of worship, and of which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'Pray as you have seen me pray', despite which he accepted the above examples of personal reasoning because they did not depart from the form defined by the Lawgiver, for every limit must be observed, while there is latitude in everything besides, as long as it is within the general category of being called for by Sacred Law. This is the sunna of the Prophet and his way (Allah bless him and give him peace) and is as clear as can be. Islamic scholars infer from it that every act for which there is evidence in Sacred Law that it is called for and which does not oppose an unequivocal primary text or entail harmful consequences is not included in the category of reprehensible innovation (bida), but rather is of the sunna, even if there should exist something whose performance is superior to it.
(4) Bukhari relates from Abu Said al-Khudri that a band of the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) departed on one of their journeys, alighting at the encampment of some desert Arabs whom they asked to be their hosts, but who refused to have them as guests. The leader of the encampment was stung by a scorpion, and his followers tried everything to cure him, and when all had failed, one said, 'If you would approach the group camped near you, one of them might have something'. So they came to them and said, 'O band of men, our leader has been stung and weve tried everything. Do any of you have something for it?' and one of them replied, 'Yes, by Allah, I recite healing words [ruqya, def: Reliance of the Traveller w17] over people, but by Allah, we asked you to be our hosts and you refused, so I will not recite anything unless you give us a fee'. They then agreed upon a herd of sheep, so the man went and began spitting and reciting the Fatiha over the victim until he got up and walked as if he were a camel released from its hobble, nothing the matter with him. They paid the agreed upon fee, which some of the Companions wanted to divide up, but the man who had done the reciting told them, 'Do not do so until we reach the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and tell him what has happened, to see what he may order us to do'. They came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and told him what had occurred, and he said, 'How did you know it was of the words which heal? You were right. Divide up the herd and give me a share.'
The hadith is explicit that the Companion had no previous knowledge that reciting the Fatiha to heal (ruqya) was countenanced by Sacred Law, but rather did so because of his own personal reasoning (ijtihad), and since it did not contravene anything that had been legislated, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed him therein because it was of his sunna and way to accept and confirm what contained good and did not entail harm, even if it did not proceed from the acts of the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace) as a definitive precedent.
(5) Bukhari relates from Abu Said al-Khudri that one man heard another reciting al-Ikhlas (Qur'an 112) over and over again, so when morning came he went to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and sarcastically mentioned it to him. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul, it equals one-third of the Qur'an.' Daraqutni recorded another version of this hadith in which the man said, 'I have a neighbor who prays at night and does not recite anything but al-Ikhlas.' The hadith shows that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed the persons restricting himself to this sura while praying at night, despite its not being what the Prophet himself did (Allah bless him and give him peace), for though the Prophets practice of reciting from the whole Qur'an was superior, the mans act was within the general parameters of the sunna and there was nothing blameworthy about it in any case.
(6) Ahmad and Ibn Hibban relates from Abdullah ibn Burayda that his father said, I entered the mosque with the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), where a man was at prayer, supplicating: 'O Allah, I ask You by the fact that I testify You are Allah, there is no god but You, the One, the Ultimate, who did not beget and was not begotten, and to whom none is equal', and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, 'By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has asked Allah by His greatest name, which if He is asked by it He gives, and if supplicated He answers'. It is plain that this supplication came spontaneously from the Companion, and since it conformed to what the Sacred Law calls for, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) confirmed it with the highest degree of approbation and acceptance, while it is not known that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had ever taught it to him (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa'al-Jamaa, 119-33).
We are now able to return to the hadith with which I began my talk tonight, in which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, '. . . Beware of matters newly begun, for every innovation is misguidance'. And understand it as expounded by a classic scholar of Islam, Sheikh Muhammad Jurdani, who said:
'Beware of matters newly begun', distance yourselves and be wary of matters newly innovated that did not previously exist', i.e. things invented in Islam that contravene the Sacred Law, 'for every innovation is misguidance' meaning that every innovation is the opposite of the truth, i.e. falsehood, a hadith that has been related elsewhere as: 'for every newly begun matter is innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in hell' meaning that everyone who is misguided, whether through himself or by following another, is in hell, the hadith referring to matters that are not good innovations with a basis in Sacred Law. It has been stated (by Izz ibn Abd al-Salam) that innovations (bida) fall under the five headings of the Sacred Law (n: i.e. the obligatory, unlawful, recommended, offensive, and permissible):
(1) The first category comprises innovations that are obligatory , such as recording the Qur'an and the laws of Islam in writing when it was feared that something might be lost from them; the study of the disciplines of Arabic that are necessary to understand the Qur'an and sunna such as grammar, word declension, and lexicography; hadith classification to distinguish between genuine and spurious prophetic traditions; and the philosophical refutations of arguments advanced by the Mu'tazilites and the like.
(2) The second category is that of unlawful innovations such as non- Islamic taxes and levies, giving positions of authority in Sacred Law to those unfit for them, and devoting ones time to learning the beliefs of heretical sects that contravene the tenets of faith of Ahl al-Sunna.
(3) The third category consists of recommended innovations such as building hostels and schools of Sacred Law, recording the research of Islamic schools of legal thought, writing books on beneficial subjects, extensive research into fundamentals and particular applications of Sacred Law, in-depth studies of Arabic linguistics, the reciting of wirds (def: Reliance of the Traveller w20) by those with a Sufi path, and commemorating the birth (mawlid), of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) and wearing ones best and rejoicing at it.
(4) The fourth category includes innovations that are offensive, such as embellishing mosques, decorating the Qur'an and having a backup man (muballigh) loudly repeat the spoken Allahu Akbar of the imam when the latter's voice is already clearly audible to those who are praying behind him.
(5) the fifth category is that of innovations that are permissible, such as sifting flour, using spoons and having more enjoyable food, drink and housing. (al Jawahir al-luluiyya fi sharh al-Arbain al-nawawiyya, 220-21). I will conclude my remarks tonight with a translation of Sheikh Abdullah al-Ghimari, who said: In his al-Qawaid al-kubra, 'Izz ibn Abd al-Salam classifies innovations (bida), according to their benefit, harm, or indifference, into the five categories of rulings: the obligatory, recommended, unlawful, offensive, and permissible; giving examples of each and mentioning the principles of Sacred Law that verify his classification. His words on the subject display his keen insight and comprehensive knowledge of both the principles of jurisprudence and the human advantages and disadvantages in view of which the Lawgiver has established the rulings of Sacred Law. Because his classification of innovation (bida) was established on a firm basis in Islamic jurisprudence and legal principles, it was confirmed by Imam Nawawi, Ibn Hajar Asqalani, and the vast majority of Islamic scholars, who received his words with acceptance and viewed it obligatory to apply them to the new events and contingencies that occur with the changing times and the peoples who live in them. One may not support the denial of his classification by clinging to the hadith 'Every innovation is misguidance', because the only form of innovation that is without exception misguidance is that concerning tenets of faith, like the innovations of the Mutazilites, Qadarites, Murjiites, and so on, that contradicted the beliefs of the early Muslims. This is the innovation of misguidance because it is harmful and devoid of benefit. As for innovation in works, meaning the occurrence of an act connected with worship or something else that did not exist in the first century of Islam, it must necessarily be judged according to the five categories mentioned by Izz ibn Abd al-Salam. To claim that such innovation is misguidance without further qualification is simply not applicable to it, for new things are among the exigencies brought into being by the passage of time and generations, and nothing that is new lacks a ruling of Allah Most High that is applicable to it, whether explicitly mentioned in primary texts, or inferable from them in some way. The only reason that Islamic law can be valid for every time and place and be the consummate and most perfect of all divine laws is because it comprises general methodological principles and universal criteria, together with the ability its scholars have been endowed with to understand its primary texts, the knowledge of types of analogy and parallelism, and the other excellences that characterize it. Were we to rule that every new act that has come into being after the first century of Islam is an innovation of misguidance without considering whether it entails benefit or harm, it would invalidate a large share of the fundamental bases of Sacred Law as well as those rulings established by analogical reasoning, and would narrow and limit the Sacred Laws vast and comprehensive scope. (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaa, 145-47).
Wa Jazakum Allahu khayran, wal-hamdu lillahi Rabbil Alamin.
This text is also available in a professionally typeset booklet from
Man is a human being....
'...man is a human being, not because of his physical prowess for physically the camel is his superior; not because of his size for the elephant is larger; not because his courage for the lion is more courageous ; not because of his appetite for the ox has the greater; not because of coitus for the least of the birds are more virile than he; but rather by virtue of his noble aims and ideals. As a matter of fact he was created to know." Imam Al-Gazzali(Ra), The Book of Knowlege, page 8. I added the picture.
Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray ad after complaints
Buy the scarf and wear it to show your solidarity with palestinians. It costs $10.
Newsday.com
Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray ad after complaints
Newsday.com
Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray ad after complaints
The Associated Press1:34 PM EDT, May 29, 2008BOSTON
Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.The coffee and baked goods chain said the ad that began appearing online May 7 was pulled over the past weekend because "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee."In the spot, Ray holds an iced coffee while standing in front of trees with pink blossoms.Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.The kaffiyeh, Malkin wrote in a column posted online last Friday, "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons."A statement issued Wednesday by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot."Absolutely no symbolism was intended," the company said.Dunkin' spokeswoman Michelle King said the ad appeared on the chain's Web site, as well as other commercial sites.Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective."I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."While some extremists and terrorists may wear kaffiyehs, "To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it," Bishara said.Malkin, in a posting following up on last week's column, said of Dunkin's decision to pull the ad, "It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists."Ray, host of the Food Network television program "30 Minute Meals" as well as a syndicated daytime talk show, began appearing in ads for Dunkin' Donuts in March 2007. When Dunkin' announced the partnership, it said Ray would be featured in TV, print, radio and online spots in a campaign running through 2010.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.The coffee and baked goods chain said the ad that began appearing online May 7 was pulled over the past weekend because "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee."In the spot, Ray holds an iced coffee while standing in front of trees with pink blossoms.Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.The kaffiyeh, Malkin wrote in a column posted online last Friday, "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons."A statement issued Wednesday by Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Inc., however, said the scarf had a paisley design, and was selected by a stylist for the advertising shoot."Absolutely no symbolism was intended," the company said.Dunkin' spokeswoman Michelle King said the ad appeared on the chain's Web site, as well as other commercial sites.Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective."I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."While some extremists and terrorists may wear kaffiyehs, "To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it," Bishara said.Malkin, in a posting following up on last week's column, said of Dunkin's decision to pull the ad, "It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists."Ray, host of the Food Network television program "30 Minute Meals" as well as a syndicated daytime talk show, began appearing in ads for Dunkin' Donuts in March 2007. When Dunkin' announced the partnership, it said Ray would be featured in TV, print, radio and online spots in a campaign running through 2010.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)