The Death of Edward Said -- A tribute

Said the truthful?

How truthful was this Ivy League intellectual? Decide for yourself:

1. ``I would say that from about last November (2002) on, dissent disappeared from a mainstream media swollen with a surfeit of ex-generals and ex- intelligence agents sprinkled with recent terrorism and security experts drawn from the Washington right-wing think tanks.``
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles4/Said_US.htm

2. ``No one could argue today that Afghanistan, even after the rout of the Taliban, is a much better and more secure place for its citizens.``
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002900
FACT: Number of Afghan refugees that have returned after ouster of Taliban = 1.8 million

3. ``US Middle East policy built as it is on two mighty pillars, the security of Israel and plentiful supplies of inexpensive oil.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html
FACT: Cost of producing/shipping oil = $3 per barrel; price of oil = $31 Nymex Crude 10/10/03

4. ``None of his (Saddam`s) neighbours perceives him as a threat.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html

5. ``You cannot speak about Palestinian suffering or Arab frustration because Israel`s presence in the US prevents it.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html


Cordially,
Rizwan

mni #189:

Further to my post #190 - OK. Time`s up. You have failed to back up your heat with light with regard to my calling Said a lier when he claimed in al ahram that US bookshops are full of anti-Islam books.

I hope you will reflect upon this a bit, and start using your own eyes and ears and mind a bit more in future rather than simply accepting views presented by someone famous ``intellectual``, or some government propoganda for that matter. You will see reality, rather than the self-pleasing picture of reality that the likes of ``secular`` or the islamist extremists draw for consumption by unthinking people.

MNI if you are honest--and you appear to be-- then why keep the fact of your apostasy from your immediate family? Are you afraid of their reaction? Also i am not sure if you are married but when one partner becomes a murtad [apostate] his or her marriage is immediately annulled and if they continue to live together as man and wife it is zina. Probably your poor wife is a believing Muslima--shouldn`t you tell her of your decision to apostate so she can decide for herself if she wants to stay living with you? Surely you owe her that much? (If you are not married then none of this applies of course!)

astaghfirullah...

mni #189 I am patiently waiting for you to tell me what you found anti-Islamic in these books on the amazon.....(the clock is ticking)...

But you seem more interested in making your own beliefs the issue: while for the Man Worshipper Naqsh your post is manna from heaven (so he can stand on a pedestal and declare you an apostate - another anti-Quranic concept this little chamcha picked up from his gods), I really couldnt care less what your beliefs are. They are your business and have nothing to do with the discussion on this board.

All I ask is of you is to shed some light on the heat you have been shedding. If you cant shed any more light, I will assume that all you have to shed is heat - as in hot air.

sattar2:
Naqsh (#184) ...

... while you take back your salam ... perhaps you should also slit his throat ... and flush his head down the toilet ... I am sure your insecure, vengeful god will reward you abundantly for killing an apostate ...

Let`s not put words in Naqshbandi`s mouth. All that Naqshbandi did was taking back his salam.

On the books yes, the punishment for apostacy is death. But books don`t mean much. My apostacy (outside of my immediate family) is well-known. I continue to have many Muslims as friends. No one has killed me yet. You seem to be pretty much alive too? Then why such anger at Naqshbandi?

N #186 You will excuse me for not engaging in discussion. Thank you.

hamidm mian...i do not want to get in the middle of the arguments between you and tahmed--you are both gumraah at best--but please do not write that the `prophet of the barelvis had not descended then` (or words to that effect). Our Prophet is non other than Our leige-lord and Master Sayyidina wa Mawlana Hadrat Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al Muttallib al-Arabi, al-Hashimi, The Beloved of Allah (sal Allahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam--Allah`s blessings and peace be upon him and his family) who was born on the 12th of the lunar month of Rabi` al Awwal in Makkah al Mukarramah in the year 570 of the Christian Era and after whom no new prophets shall be sent. May my parents and myself be sacrificed for his name alone! Ameen!

Ala Hadrat Imam Ahmad Rida Khan rahmatullah alayhi of Bareilly Sharif, UP, India (d.1921) was a great reviver of the Deen in the 14th Islamic century and the Imam of his time in tariqat and shariat but he was only a slave of the shoes of The Noble Prophet sal allahu alayhi wa sallam. He was an honoured slave though so much so that the Beloved Master accepted his slavery and we are happy to be his slaves in turn! Allahu Akbar! What a great fortune to be accepted as a slave (ghulam) by Allah`s Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. Thus he signed his fatwas, ```Abd al MuStafa Muhammad Ahmad Rida Khan`` Abd meaning servant/slave in Arabic.

I hope this is clear.
As a modern Pakistani naatkhaan has written:

Main kahoon ke ghulaam hoon aap ka
Aur woh kehein ke ``haan humein qabool hai!``

subhan Allah!

Naqsh (#184) ...

... while you take back your salam ... perhaps you should also slit his throat ... and flush his head down the toilet ... I am sure your insecure, vengeful god will reward you abundantly for killing an apostate ...

tahmed--with all due respect to your late father i doubt many ulama even bothered to read his book as it was probably so unlearned compared to their knowledge that they couldn`t be bothered with it.

What were your father`s qualifications in religious knowledge? Who were his teachers? Did he have isnad? (Isnad--chains of transmission) Without isnad we do not accept anything in this religion as otherwise anyone can say anything. Does he have isnad in all of the sciences of the Qur`an and the 15 sciences of the Arabic language? If not then his views mean nothing just as my views mean nothing (which is why I only relay views of traditional ulama who have these sciences with isnad and never my own views).

That is probably why the ulama didn`t even bother with the book. It is like expecting Einstein to respond to an article written by a tabloid journalist refuting his Theory of Relativity by writing a professional article. He wouldn`t even bother.

Ditto the ulama. Still if you can give me the details of the book i would be interested in reading it...

MNIphirsay --I can`t believe you have turned apostate by your own admission. Law hawla wa la quwwata. I take back any salams I gave you under the impression that you were a Muslim. Naudhubillah.

***

As for Ed Said he was a very good writer and intellectual who told the truth about al-Falasteen.

In response to SN, who wrote:

``I would really like other chowk posters to respond to this. Haven`t they seen a sudden spurt of anti-Islam books in the US bookshops - just like the pro-Islam books?``

Sure, been to the book store the other day (Chapters), and the ``current events`` section was filled with them. The ``Pro-Islam`` books were in the religion section...

mNI #181 you seem to have the time to read my lengthy post to another person. Yet you have not yet had the time to answer the one simple question I had for you yesterday I think on this board, namely:

What is it in any of these books you list that you consider anti-islamic?

tahmed32 #177:
He did none of the above. And this affirms my point that too many of us muslims have this stupid habit of labelling books, individuals, indeed entire communities and countries, as ``anti-Islamic`` without any basis.

Please leave this lecture baazi on the problem with Muslims for someone else. Just so you know, I do not consider myself a Muslim, having given up religion 13 years ago. That`s why when I say someone is being anti-Muslim, I say that based on something more than the visceral rage and paranoia of a fanatical believer.

On the topic of books, I have said what I had to say already.

PM:
[it`s as if I`ve accepted that these are the ground rules, and we have the choice to play or leave.]
....but they have another choice - to embrace the perfect religion:-)

plat #176 I see you are now trying to trivialize my objection to your misquoting me. As I said, dont bother to apologize, dont bother to explain. Go out and enjoy the rest of your day. (and you didnt get the ``corrected`` quote at the end of your post right either).

SameerJB#172

``It is impossible for a balatantly outrageous, succinct and irrational person in his interpretation of history to get his work published by the world class publishers, surviving tough academic environment of Ivy laeague standards and Columbia University granting him tenure. There has to be some scholarly merit in his work otherwise he would have been ignominiously thrown out in the cold long time ago. ``

Excellent Point. Does that mean we all have to completely agree with all that he says? Certainly not. But that doesn`t take away the merit of his work. And ranting against him, calling him various names is just not on...(though fuzair didn`t do that...)