Malalai Joya: Standing for Justice for Women in Afghanistan

I have just read this article in the Independent and feel inspired and saddened. While the British public is calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan and the US and the UK have the sudden ‘good idea’ of speaking with the Taliban, Malalai Joya speaks of the injustices to women under what she calls, “the regime of warlords”. This, she says, is what British and US soldiers are dying for. Self educated and working hard to educate other women, Malalai says, as quoted in the Independent article today, that, “Dust has been thrown into the eyes of the world by your governments. You have not been told the truth. The situation now is as catastrophic as it was under the Taliban for women. Your governments have replaced the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban with another fundamentalist regime of warlords. [That is] what your soldiers are dying for.” Malalai is willing to risk her life for the women of her country and she is in constant danger.
Go here to read the full article.

Malalai Joya has written a book of her memoirs
which can be ordered from here:

The Balance of Peace and Justice

This is an interesting article by Dr. Robert Crane on the balance of peace and justice for Gaza. He relates the two to transcendence and immanence and asks which is needed first. His approach is ontological but with very practical consequences. He concludes that:

“In the metaphysics of transcendence, to know God is to know and practice justice.  In the metaphysics of immanence, to know God is to know peace.  But justice is creative, and peace is not.  Peace is for the afterlife.  Justice is for the here and now.”

Sufis in Palestine

"Rare glimpses of two 20th-century Sufi saints are offered in this work: the eminent Shaykh al-Alawi and the lesser-known woman saint Fatima al-Yashrutiyya, both of whom continued on the Sufi path even as they watched their world crumble. Shaykh al-Alawi's influence was pivotal to the spiritual development of Thomas Merton, who looked to al-Alawi's writings and teachings in his own practice. Fatima al-Yashrutiyya is a rare example of a literate Muslim woman living a public spiritual life. Readers will see a new side of the Sufi Path from her uncompromising viewpoint, and can catch an uncommon glimpse of life in the early 20th century for a spiritual seeker, writer, and self-educated woman in the Muslim world. These essays represent Islam in its esoteric dimension and raise issues of regional unrest and colonial intervention that are still relevant. Through the words of these two saints the world of the Sufi brotherhood is opened, revealing an underlying theme of the oneness of Allah."

Fatimah al-Yashrutiyya was born in Acre, Palestine in 1883. The Yashruti Sufi Order in which she grew up and in which her father was a Shaykh (spiritual guide) are a branch of the Shadhili Order, founded in 1258. Fatimah’s father promoted the advance of education for women and in her autobiography she speaks of the many scholars of philosophy and the Sufi path from whom she learnt. Following the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, known to the israelis as the War of Independence, Fatimah and her family had to flee their home to live permanently in Beirut. The book pictured on the left, Two Who Attained contains a translation of her autobiography and is published by Fons Vitae. Just click on the image if you would like to order it. Below is an excerpt from the autobiography. The book also contains translations of the work of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, another 20th century Sufi saint.

“The Shadhiliyya Sufi method is founded on the Holy Book and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad, the search for knowledge, and the frequent practice of invocation in an attitude of worshipfulness and consciousness of the divine. This means of calling upon God is the easiest and most direct of spiritual paths, for it does not entail great hardship or much strenuous effort. The primordial light lying dormant within the soul gains strength through the light of knowledge and through the light of invocation, so that the soul is rid of its defects and impurities. It can then draw nearer to the Divine Presence until it is completely absorbed and the invocation burns away all thoughts of anything other than the One Invoked.”

Photo of Fatima al-Yashrutiyya taken from the Fons Vitae website

A New Era for Kurdish Literature

This sounds like a very interesting novel that explores the conflicting interests of politicians and novelists. The author, Bakhtyar Ali, hopes that this novel will herald the end of the subordination of Kurdish writers to politicians. I hope this novel will soon be translated into English and thereby gain a wider readership.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk A leading novelist’s latest work could mark a new era for Kurdish literature. In an unprecedented deal, author Bakhtyar Ali has been paid $25,000 by a publisher in the Kurdish region of Iraq, who has printed 10,000 copies of Ghazalnus and the Gardens of Imagination. The plot features elements of fantasy: the poet discovers a land that turns into an infinite garden at night, a group of women living in a shelter to escape domestic violence weave the world’s biggest carpet, and a Hollywood film buff leads a group of blind children on an imaginary sea journey. The plot of the novel depicts opposing realms, and opposing interests of poets and politicians.

Jewish/Muslim Dhikr

In Tel Aviv Jews and Muslims are doing dhikr (zikhr) together. This is a very encouraging story and well worth reading the entire article.

clipped from www.mepeace.org TEL AVIV — In a warehouse district not far from central Tel Aviv, in an anonymous, quasi-industrial zone, a zikr – an Islamic Sufi prayer ritual – unfolds. But most are from the tribe of Isaac – they are Israeli Jews. Between lectures in Hebrew on the connection between Jewish and Muslim mysticisms, they join together in chanting Wa la illaha illallah – “from God we come and to God we return.” (NB This translation is unfortunately incorrect, it should read “No god but God”  (Yafiah) Then, this mainly Jewish group recites the 99 names of Allah in surprisingly good Arabic: al Rahim, (the Merciful), al Aziz (the Almighty), al Hadi (the Guide) … A skylight reveals a night sky full of stars and the chants seem to rise up and out of the room.

Reading the Signs of God

Photo by I. Chatterjee

I live high in the Alpujarran mountains of Andalucia in Spain and the views across the mountains to the Mediterranean are stunning and give a great deal to reflect upon. The entire universe, including ourselves, is a great book filled with the signs of God waiting to be read. At this time of year, after the intense heat of summer, the weather is beginning to change. A pleasant drop in temperature, cooler breezes, a subtle change in the quality of the light are all harbingers of the coming Autumn and as I walk above the village and look out to sea I am reminded of the importance of rhythm in our lives and its connection with time.

From the beating of our hearts and the breathing of our lungs rhythm is an essential partner in the passing of time and the two link arms and appear throughout the natural and biological world and also manifest in cultural, religious, and social scenarios. If rhythm is honoured then the result can be a creative unfolding of divine surprises and moments of grace that reveal the true humanity of an individual. It is these divine surprises and blessings that suggest to me the melodies, keys, and chords for which rhythm builds the framework.

Entheos: Musings on the Meaning Behind a Word

Enthusiasm is a word that has its origin in the Greek word, entheos, meaning ‘having the god within’. The present day dictionary definition of enthusiasm is: 1. Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause. 2. A source or cause of great excitement or interest (The Free Dictionary online). Today the word is used for just about anything that excites our interest whether or not that interest is inspired by the divine.

Reflecting on the state of enthusiasm, how it feels, its source and its trajectory, I cannot ignore the etymology of the word itself. A simple word that means nothing until we lend it meaning and context and yet, simultaneously, a state exists that requires this word for its manifestation in the world of language and communication. If this state desires form it seeks linguistic expression and takes the risk of misapprehension and misinterpretation.

The Eternal Moment

This moment is the last moment in my life. How can it be otherwise? If we are travelling on our journey of return, no matter how slow our progress may be at times, there can be no movement if each moment is not the last, and there can be no trajectory if each moment is not also the first. In this world there can be no first unless it is born from the last. It is the last that gives birth to the first. But when last and first are clasped in an embrace reminiscent of the yin/yang symbol then they each lose themselves in the other and become the eternal moment. Past and future roll back into this moment, they are excursions, manifestations of the eternal in which we are offered lessons that open our eyes. But if we forget that linear time as we perceive it has its origin and return in the eternal moment then the umbilical cord of love and remembrance becomes rusty and we are left flailing in the illusion of a satanic permanence. The eternal moment is changeless but those who travel its limitless terrain, in Allah, with Allah, through Allah, experience continuous unveilings of the One.