Tales of a Solitary Soul

I have decided to move to a new address:

fahmed.wordpress.com

Those that cry are not weak. Cursed are those whose hearts remain hard and eyes dry upon the sight of injustice and oppression.

I can translate for those who do not understand Urdu.

Labels: abuse, beggar girls, injustice, oppression

"Knowledge is sought, it does not just come."

Abdullah ibn' Abbas

Labels: ibn Abbas, Islam, knowledge

Last night, I attended my graduation banquet and it was definitely in stark contrast to the high school experience. High school graduation banquet was a fad, a culmination of peer pressure and fear of the unknown. For some, it was to become the most memorable night of their lives while others were just there because an absence would otherwise be treated with open mouth shocks and wide eyed bewilderment for the remaining two weeks of school.

It was a meaningless celebration to commemorate an accomplishment which was anything but. A shiny brand new expensive suit was mandatory, arriving in a limo was a requirement as if Palestine had been conquered, and of course, most felt it was their rightful duty to be completely wasted by midnight. A date was considered fashionable but going with friends was still respectable. Better not to come than commit the gravest of sins -- going alone.

We were frogs in a well for whom the world didn't exist outside the hollow circular walls, barriers so weak they were almost imaginary. Self imposed shackles of ideals paper thin, myopic and of little substance. Its been five long years and an even longer path to where I stand now. I don't refer to the university degree for it's just a piece of paper that does little to define a person.

Last night, I wore the same suit I've had for five years and with my sister, we headed off to the banquet in a car that would have been unthinkable if I was still inside the well.

Labels: banquet, graduation, high school, university

My uncle in Pakistan and I were conversing a few days ago when the topic of language surfaced. It's a common trend in third world countries and especially the South Asian ones to employ English as the main language of communication in schools, colleges, and governmental institutions. Increasingly, 'english medium' schools are springing forth where the medium of instruction is in English and not the land's native language. Why?

Partly because the mastery of the English language provides for better job prospects. Undeveloped economies lack the indigenous industrial base and therefore to attract offshore investments, an English speaking labor force is a considerable asset. Another reason is that the colonial legacy ensures a feeling of inferiority for generations and an attraction towards light skin and foreign languages.

There is a saying that to destroy a people's identity, take away their language. The promise of short term success has lured the masses into more than they have bargained for. Fifty years down the road, the damage will become obvious when a generation raised is neither proficient in their native language nor the English one.

Labels: languages

Update (March 27): A response from CBC

Dear Faraz Ahmed:

I write to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail, which I have shared with Mary Sheppard, Executive Producer of CBC News Online, along with the request that your concerns be addressed.

Yours truly,

Vince Carlin
CBC Ombudsman

Recently, death threats were issued against the Muslim Canadian Congress, a fringe group not representative of the views of the Muslim community. Nonetheless, they reserve a right to freedom of expression, no matter how ludicrous, without a fear of reprisal and revenge.

Mainstream Muslim groups such as CAIR have spoken out in their defense but it's interesting to note the media coverage on this issue. The CBC headline screams, "Muslims condemn death threat issued to moderate group."

The group in question is labeled 'moderate' except there is no way to ascertain what exactly constitutes the word's definition. But its presence gives legitimacy to the group in the eyes of the reader because after all, moderate has a much nicer ring to it than 'extremists.' The story goes on to state the group "has been speaking out publicly in support of equality for women."

Two false and subtle meanings are conveyed:
1. Muslims don't given women equal rights
2. This is the ONLY group that speaks for women

Don't be naive to think this was unintentional. Journalism is not neutral, not by a long shot. It's just that methods of mis-leading have become more refined and sophisticated.

Labels: bias, CAIR, CBC, Islam, journalism, misleading, Muslim Canadian Congress, women

The other day, I was discussing with someone about my attempts to cut down the sleeping hours. Realized that if we sleep 6 hours every day, then by the age of 60, we'd have slept 15 years of it. But then again, some people will not wake up their entire lives.

Been desperately trying to take advantage of every minute though it still manages to fly by like a Ferrari. Also attempting to maintain a healthy balance unlike the usual overdose of school that has become the norm during the month before exams. In the midst of finishing two books, among others:

1. Companions of the Prophet
2. Purification of the Heart - Matharat-ul-Qulub by Imam Mawlud

Another one has been sitting on the shelf for a while now but can't begin on it till after exams: Islamic Methodology of Education

Labels: Books, Islam, sleep

I imagined securing an overseas volunteer position should be piece of cake, considering I will be paying for my own airfare and accommodation. It probably would have been easier to get a paid job..

Well, the hunt continues but with very little success for now. Let's see where this road leads to.

Labels: overseas, volunteer

A story related by a close friend:

I was headed home from university with a scheduled switchover at the Southgate bus terminal. The temperature had dropped significantly and the wind had also picked up so it was not the most pleasant of times to be out and about. I made my way towards the heated confines of the terminal, already packed with weather refugees.

High school kids, their identity revealed by carefree attitudes, tired shoppers with their fingers wrapped around the shopping bags, and the arching backs of the university students, under the mighty weight of their overpriced books formed the general populace that chattered away amicably. It seemed like a social circus of sorts, each person engulfed in a conversation to hurry the slow ticking clock.

Three wooden benches were strewn together in the shape of a T with a strategically placed garbage can at their junction point. I watched as an older gentleman, in his 50s or so, began to sift through the trash. He wasn't badly dressed nor did foul odor emanate from his presence so it was surprising to see him do that. I felt disdained for a moment. Not being able to find any bottle or cans, he disappeared into the crowd. I pitied him, wondering what circumstances force someone to look for 10 cent cans to fill an empty stomach.

Before the matter could be given any more thought, my bus docked itself at the terminal. I hurried out only to find a long line had already formed meaning the frosty weather would be a companion for a few more minutes. As I stood there, staring at the streams of cars that zipped back and forth, I saw him again. He was now searching through another trash can in the cold weather, without as much as gloves.

I walked over to him but he was intensely busy in his search for survival to pay any heed. Not sure what went through my head but I pulled out a $5 bill, thinking he would consider it to be blessing. After all, he would have to collect 50 bottles to make that much. As I put the $5 bill infront him, he stopped for a second and stared at me intently as if he's seen a ghost. Then he remarked, "No!"

I was dumbfounded. In sheer ignorance, I had assumed that every poor person is a beggar.. I walked away ashamed at myself. The world is full of surprises, where sometimes paupers are nobler than princes.

Labels: bus, lesson, Southgate, university, weather

I walked out of the ETLC computer lab today to take a break from the grueling 8 hour a day routine, only to discover the main hallway littered with high school students impatiently waiting for this year's model UN. Decided to sit in on the proceedings of the UN Legal Committee, discussing the definition of aggression by nation states. Of course, just like the real UN, they couldn't reach a definite conclusion.

Earlier, someone behind me was discussing the combination of entertaining read and zero literary value that the Da Vinci Code makes. I turned around to agree upon which he remarked, "Are you not the one that likes to read Gabriella Garcia Marquez?"

It was over a year ago that I had given an impromptu talk in class about Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Marquez. I had talked about the feeling of losing yourself in the secluded Latin American town where time stood still. He had bought the book, apparently intrigued by my discussion of Marquez's writing style of magic realism.

Then he went on to recommend Ulysses. Not so sure if I'm ready for James Joyce yet.

Labels: Books, Da Vinci Code, James Joyce, Marquez, Ulysses, university

Five common poisons of the heart that cause it to eventually die:

1. Company that distracts one from the remembrance of Allah(swt)
2. Risking the Hereafter for the life of this world
3. Doing things other than for the sake of Allah(swt)
4. Excessive eating
5. Excessive sleeping

source: Sheikh Tamir Abu-Said

Labels: advice, heart, Islam

.....and I'm not talking about the flower.

Labels: children, poverty, rose

Part 1

I don't agree with the implied perception of how different nationalities in Dubai co-exist harmoniously. Anyone who has visited the desert state for even a day will begin to notice the segregation. At work, there is a hierarchical pay system based on the color of your passport.

Financial Times

Along its eastern edges on the Persian Gulf, the Arab world is undergoing a transformation more profound than any produced by its rival states, squabbling political parties or violent insurgencies.

Representing this transformation is Dubai, whose great wealth and extraordinary growth exists beyond oil, -construction and even the Middle East, since the United Arab Emirates imports the bulk of its population, -commodities and infrastructure from outside the region. But immigration is a non-issue here, along with nationalist hysterics and xenophobia, because the small number of Dubai citizens makes a national culture there impossible. Instead, Dubai's nationality exists in the form of advertising and commodities. It is to be found in the guise of leisure and entertainment, from shisha bars to desert safaris, whose designers, builders and consumers are foreigners.

Similar is the role of Arabic, whose formulaic presence in public signs and announcements serves only as a backdrop to the babble of Urdu, Russian, Persian and Tagalog that are the true languages of Dubai. There is only one common language - English - that even Arabs must use in their daily interactions with Chinese shopkeepers, Indian teachers and Iranian dentists.

Rather than representing a failure of modernity, Dubai's elimination of nationhood as a basis for identity portends a global future. It is the closest thing to a community organised by capitalism. Befitting a capitalist paradise, the UAE has a reputation for bad labour practices. But freed from cant about the national good, workers and management have recourse to a language beyond citizenship. It is not the greater good of the nation, but the good of the individual and of humanity at large that is invoked here. For in Dubai, even the state does not represent the collective will of its subjects but is only their arbiter.

Dubai is a technocracy, its ruling family the simulacrum of a monarchy. Having been granted their titles by the British in India, the UAE's rulers derive their glamour from the vanished world of the Raj, while functioning like presidents of corporations. Democracy is misplaced in Dubai, being possible only in a community of citizens. To confine democracy to the small minority of Emiratis is nonsensical and to offer citizenship to the country's majority absurd. Democracy means citizenship, citizenship means nationality and nationality means the creation of a majority. There is no ethnic, linguistic, religious or even political majority in Dubai, nor can there ever be one given its total reliance on a migrant and expatriate workforce.

If democratic representation is not part of Dubai's politics, public opinion certainly is, though its lively debates are not regulated by any national interest. But unchained from the collective ideal of citizenship, opinions, prejudices and identities remain disconnected fragments. Pakistani and Egyptian taxi drivers tell you of the bigotry they experience following the arrival of the most recent group of expatriates: whites from places such as Australia and South Africa. Many of these expatriates have been imported to Dubai precisely because they are white. Their contribution to the city is their colour, which fetches a high price in the bazaar, as it had in the slave marts of the past.

Dubai is heir to a long history of free ports, from Zanzibar to Hong Kong, providing the junctions along which international capital flowed. Crucial in opening up the ex-Soviet republics of central Asia to business, it is also important to countries already integrated into the global market. The Persian Gulf provides a huge country such as India with the bulk of its foreign revenue, in the form of labour remittances, keeps its national airline afloat and provides the world's largest film industry, Bollywood, with one of its major markets. The subcontinent's crime syndicates also operate out of here, with Dubai serving, among other things, as the transit point for pirated DVDs and other goods that are not allowed to move legally between India and Pakistan. Given the numbers of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who live here, Dubai has even managed to reproduce the Raj by bringing its dispersed inhabitants together again.

The city is a junction for traffic of all kinds. Dubai plans to attract visitors who will outnumber its own shifting population more than 10 times over.It lives by re-exporting not onlyautomobiles and electronic goods, but also Russian dancers, Filipino lounge singers and British DJs, who have become fixtures in every Asian city worth its name. Along with its neighbours, Dubai even recycles the US; hence the fashion of building scaled-down versions of the White House, beginning in Kuwait after the firstGulf war and exported throughoutthe region. In Karachi, entire neighbourhoods are filled with WhiteHouse knock-offs, their pediments inscribed with gilded phrases fromthe Koran. Dubai also re-exports itself and may now be found in special economic zones across the world. But the most important thing it recycles is a global society that exists beyond the nation state.

Labels: Dubai, globalism

My aunt, whom I was pretty close to, passed away in Pakistan.

"To Allah we belong, to Him we shall return."

Make dua' for her but more importantly, make dua' for yourself. Verily, Allah sends reminders so those still living can wake up.

International Week at the U of A:

Tuesday
Killercoke.org: Fighting Power with Power (12.00pm - 1.20pm in Dinwoodie Lounge)
Buduburam 16 Years Later: A Case Study in Protracted Refugee Situations (5.00pm in International House Meeting Room)
Keynote Address: Water and Human Security, A Thirst for Survival (7.30pm ETLC 001)

Wednesday
Individual Responsibility to Alleviate Poverty (2.30pm in Alumni Room)

Thursday
Change Your Lens: View the World (10.30am in International House Meeting Room)
Terror is in the Eyes of the Beholder (3.30pm V-Wing 102)

Friday
Food For Thought (10.00am International House Meeting Room)
Tar Sands as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (11.00am in Timms Centre Lobby)

Labels: International week, politics, university