Abdal Hakim Murad – Winter Reading List 2

Abdal Hakim Murad
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The transcript discusses various aspects of the history and significance of the black community in America, including Jefferson's actions and their use of media to alert people about their religious beliefs. The segment also touches on the use of media to achieve political goals, including the history of black people being blacked out and the use of media to highlight their religious beliefs. The transcript provides recommendations for books and a book by an academic, and also mentions a book by an American teacher.

AI: Summary ©

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			Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu
salam ala Rasulillah, where early
		
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			he was happy woman well,
		
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			so this is, I believe the second
in our winter reading list
		
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			sessions, where we look at
publications recent and
		
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			occasionally not quite so recent
that we might be curling up with
		
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			during the long winter evenings,
some of which may actually be
		
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			appropriate as stocking fillers
for our non Muslim friends. So
		
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			we're not really looking at
detailed Fichte texts here. Nor
		
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			yet at masterworks of Islamic
philosophy, but rather a books
		
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			that are a little bit more
middlebrow, more general for an
		
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			ordinary reader that nonetheless
draw on important issues, but also
		
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			on some of the more recent
scholarship that's been happening.
		
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			So we've got quite a bouquet to
offer you in this little session.
		
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			And I wanted to start first of
all, with something that well is
		
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			100 years old, morbid you pick
tools novel the early hours. So
		
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			why am I choosing this? Well, it
has many virtues picked all we
		
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			know as probably the best known
translated into English of the
		
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			Holy Quran. But in his day, he was
a best selling and hugely revered
		
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			novelist. That was how he earned
his living. But he was also a
		
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			campaigner for Indian
independence. He was the editor of
		
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			the Bombay Chronicle, which was
deemed to be anti Raj. And so he
		
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			was fired from that. Close friends
with Ghandi, the Phil Avitus,
		
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			movement and so forth.
Interesting. And the introduction
		
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			to the book has a potted history.
If you're interested in Indian
		
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			Muslim heritage pictoral, there's
actually quite a quite an
		
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			interesting figure, but a
novelist. So he converted to Islam
		
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			about halfway through his novel
writing in Korea. And it's
		
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			interesting to see how the Islamic
preoccupations and deepening of
		
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			his sort of soul work unfold in
this literary genre. So this is
		
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			generally regarded as his best
novel, and also as his great
		
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			Islamic novel. In fact, I would
say it's the great Islamic novel
		
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			in the English language, the early
hours. And it's named after the
		
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			word Doha
		
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			the famous verse from the Quran,
which indicates that there will
		
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			always be a new dawn, never
despair. And what's it about?
		
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			Well, it's about the Balkan wars
of 1912. And the years leading up
		
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			to that final collapse of Muslim
power in Europe. So we think about
		
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			the Inquisition, the record is due
in Spain, but that's five
		
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			centuries ago. There's something
very similar is happening in the
		
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			east of Europe in the Balkan
Peninsula, more or less within
		
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			living memory.
		
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			So Pictou Pandit publishes this
novel in order to give people not
		
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			just a sense of what the politics
were, he himself was sympathetic
		
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			to the Committee of Union and
Progress and not very keen on
		
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			Abdulhamid autocratic rule quite
unlike Abdullah Quilliam, and some
		
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			other British Muslims are active
at the time, and he uses his novel
		
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			to present a sympathetic case to
the Committee of Union and
		
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			Progress through the eyes of a
simple ordinary Balkan, Turkish
		
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			Muslim soldier, camera Dean.
		
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			I won't summarize the novel nor
yet provide any spoilers. But for
		
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			me, it's a very interesting
indication of an earlier set of
		
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			crises which afflicted the OMA and
certainly hurt the conscience of
		
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			British Muslims at the time.
pictoral went on to create an
		
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			Anglo Ottoman society which
campaigned for the integrity of
		
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			the Ottoman Empire when some
Whitehall were thinking that it
		
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			should be broken up. And we can
see what a catastrophe that has
		
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			led to with new states like Bosnia
and Lebanon and Iraq, really not
		
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			working very well after the
Ottoman colorful umbrella is
		
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			withdrawn. So he kind of
prophetically anticipated the
		
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			disasters of the Middle East in
the Balkans in the 20th century,
		
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			after the Pax automatica was
withdrawn, but what's most
		
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			interesting for me in the book is
the way in which he depicts very
		
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			ordinary life and interesting
individual events against the
		
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			backdrop of late Turkish rule in
the Balkans. So here is just an
		
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			example of that. And all of the
book is well written em Forster
		
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			thought that he was one of the
great novelists of the day. But
		
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			here's a passage camera Dean has
fallen into
		
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			a espionage or counter espionage
		
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			ring in the Balkans and is sent on
a secret mission on the train,
		
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			which the Ottomans have built up
into the hinterland. So this is
		
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			from chapter 13. I'm readin in the
intervals of conversation looked
		
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			out at the ever changing
landscape.
		
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			As the train meandered up into the
hills with his dark green of
		
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			forest, here the blue of some deep
lake under a cloudless sky. It was
		
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			not the first time he had traveled
by the iron road, but it was the
		
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			first time he had been
sufficiently at ease in traveling
		
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			to look around him with such keen
enjoyment. This compartment where
		
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			he lounged was vastly different
from the trucks into which they
		
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			packed for soldier men. And this
was but it Kinji second class,
		
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			there was built in Jim first class
also on the train compartments,
		
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			like a casket need for holding
jewels, and some compartments
		
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			closely curtains were reserved for
women, the shrill voices the
		
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			inmates being herded every halt.
Everything had been arranged with
		
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			nice convenience and propriety.
The train possessed a cheery,
		
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			whistling voice, the guard watched
over all like a proud father. The
		
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			spice of danger in the expedition
was a source of energy to come
		
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			over a dean, making his mind alert
to notice trifles and filling him
		
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			with a sense of joyous life. He
felt quite sorry when the train
		
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			stopped at the station short of
Monastir, at which he had been
		
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			ordered to alight that guards book
for him to talk to a soldier who
		
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			was on the platform with the
result that he passed out without
		
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			the slightest difficulty.
		
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			And then he walks on to his
destination in this remote
		
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			Macedonian town. Out of the open
country, he passed suddenly into a
		
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			labyrinth of narrow markets with
scraps of awning hanging back like
		
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			overhead crowded with all sorts of
people, men in turbans, high crown
		
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			fizzes, CALPADS, multifarious
raiment, and women in stripe veils
		
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			of diverse us. Arriving at a
mosque he had a mind to enter and
		
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			make up his areas of prayer before
proceeding further. But as he was
		
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			on the point of doing so he saw a
face well known to him within the
		
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			gateway and quickly turned away.
		
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			It was the spy Khalil last unit
Salonika, the men who had so
		
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			nearly brought him to destruction
on a lying charge. What was he
		
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			doing in this country turn far
from the seat of government, the
		
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			source of pay for such as he
praying that the rogue might not
		
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			have seen him come readin hastened
to the barracks, the sight of his
		
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			old enemy had made him anxious to
bear the letter to its destination
		
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			instantly. So it's a kind of
thriller as well, but kind of John
		
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			McCurry in the Ottoman Balkans, it
has a romantic interest.
		
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			Inevitably, it's set against the
backdrop of the majesty of the
		
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			horrifying spectacle of the
collapse of the old empire. I
		
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			think it's a really good read.
It's only a little paperback,
		
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			perfect stocking filler. So we
must move on to my pick, number
		
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			two, German MagMod, the leaf of
the neem tree, the leaf of the
		
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			neem tree famous Indian tree used
in various medicinal and tea
		
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			making activities. And this is by
a member of the younger generation
		
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			of British Islam, a Londoner
somebody whose literary gifts have
		
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			already made Him known on the BBC,
and as a filmmaker, and as a poet,
		
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			somebody who insha Allah has much
to look forward to. And here we
		
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			have a very different British
Muslim voice, which is not the
		
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			voice of the British Muslim going
out to try and sort things out in
		
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			the Islamic world. But the
descendant of those who have
		
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			migrated under very difficult
circumstances from the Islamic
		
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			world, to the imperial capital of
London, dealing with its
		
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			materialism, the racism, the
Islamophobia, the risks of
		
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			assimilation, and I think it's one
of the most reliable and
		
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			accessible places to go to if
you're interested in that
		
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			particular aspect of the British
Muslim experience. So this is a
		
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			book which is mostly poetry, but
also contains certain short
		
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			stories and prose, anecdotes.
		
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			So walking through mer 11 breeds a
love of money. This is apparent.
		
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			The higher the ceiling, the
sweeter the fruit. If you look too
		
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			long at this place, and it's
brothers, you will wake in the
		
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			mornings with a mouthful of copper
and steel, a lack of saliva and
		
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			ears shorn of hair. Free to hear
all the nothings you need. behind
		
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			your eyes, you'll keep the names
of horses and the floor plans of
		
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			strangers homes.
		
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			Back home, we say is it your dad's
house, Baker Street doesn't live
		
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			under the feet of your aging
mother, even if we build a mosque
		
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			them. The curvature of a lip or
the long mile of an eye do not
		
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			need capital to burn, but it's
difficult to see with an eyeful of
		
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			ashes.
		
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			And then another representative
poem takes a village.
		
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			The only place I know like the
back of my hand is the back of my
		
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			hand and sometimes he could be
driving to in my head. They know
		
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			me in mirror poor and Gillingham.
On some nights they mentioned my
		
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			name in Karachi.
		
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			and perhaps once a decade, it's
uttered in Rajouri. But I doubt
		
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			many can put a face to it that
		
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			they still ask about me at the
mosque at home, my only claim to
		
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			community, no other place smells
like elders before they died. I
		
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			can visit home for a few hours
every week to feel like a guest or
		
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			a friend of my father. How long
you allowed to claim a place
		
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			before you were accused of lying
		
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			before they stopped listening, and
the food you left out is no longer
		
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			edible, like spoiled fruit of a
whole town's labor.
		
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			She wants to do a third of these
thick, I receive a lot of poetry,
		
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			some good, some
		
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			disappointing, no, but this is
certainly one of the best
		
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			specimens of that emerging
discipline of British Muslim
		
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			poetry that I've received
recently.
		
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			get worse or trouble goes the
first line of the month manager.
		
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			I'm not as brave as Imam Ibn
Natalie. But my therapist said not
		
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			to respond with fear. She uses the
metaphor of a clock that I can't
		
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			take down that will be in the
other room if I try to go that
		
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			tells me I have to drown it out
that poetry is abstract, and I
		
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			need to target the senses.
		
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			I respond apprehensively listen to
her medicine. I think of cooking
		
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			more being outside and touching
the soft Life of Plants. Even
		
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			touching a pet she says it all
sounds so simple.
		
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			I'm no messenger. But I think of
the Arab Prophet asking his wife
		
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			to cover him. I think of
trembling, of being a strange
		
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			father.
		
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			If my body temperature and
neglecting responsibility, I think
		
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			of the skin on my hands
prematurely turning to rubber. I
		
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			wonder what happens when you mix
blood and obsession. If lineage
		
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			pulls from that well, or if that's
water only I use over and over.
		
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			They're quite atmospheric, always
short.
		
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			reminding me of certain other
		
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			British poets Danny absi, perhaps
comes to mind. But here we are
		
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			published in the United Kingdom in
2021. By Hotjar press, no doubt
		
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			available on Amazon and at your
local Islamic bookshop with any
		
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			luck. So moving on, we come to one
of my all time favorites by the
		
00:12:22 --> 00:12:28
			Danish Muslim journalists Kanade
holmboe Does it encounter does it
		
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			encounter which has subtitles and
adventurous journey through
		
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			Italian Africa.
		
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			Again, this is old, like the Pick
tool book came out in the 1930s.
		
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			But it's been reprinted. And I
think again, it's an example of
		
00:12:44 --> 00:12:48
			people in the early 20th century
pioneering arts that have
		
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			subsequently been explored by many
others. This is one of the first
		
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			works of travel writing by a
European Muslim hobo was from
		
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04
			Denmark, and had already published
a book about the French
		
00:13:04 --> 00:13:09
			suppression of the reef rebellion
in northern Morocco in the 1920s,
		
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			and worked quite regularly for
some of the major newspapers in
		
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			Copenhagen.
		
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17
			One of the few Muslims in the
whole country at the time, he
		
00:13:17 --> 00:13:23
			thought quite a pioneer are very
dedicated. And this is his very
		
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			hair raising trip almost
unbelievable at times, in a really
		
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			beat up old, falling to pieces
Chevrolet with a very eccentric
		
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			American traveling companion.
There is people that they pick up
		
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			here and there as they drive
across the Sahara Desert, from
		
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			west to east from Morocco trying
to go to Egypt. Again,
		
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50
			I don't want to offer any
spoilers. But in each one of these
		
00:13:50 --> 00:13:55
			countries, you get not just
vignettes of the traditional life
		
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56
			of the populations.
		
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			The poverty, superstition,
unshakable faith, heroism, you
		
00:14:04 --> 00:14:08
			also get a sense of the absolute
apartheid style distinction
		
00:14:08 --> 00:14:12
			between the rulers and the ruled
the French racism in North Africa,
		
00:14:12 --> 00:14:17
			the Italian racism in siren Erica
and in Tripolitania.
		
00:14:19 --> 00:14:25
			And the story becomes more and
more kind of nerve wracking until
		
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27
			he gets to Mussolini's Libya.
		
00:14:29 --> 00:14:34
			Mussolini, Mussolini bared his
teeth most effectively in his
		
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38
			African conquest in the invasion
of Abyssinia which was one of the
		
00:14:38 --> 00:14:43
			low points of the whole European
imperial story but also in the way
		
00:14:43 --> 00:14:47
			in which he occupied Tripolitania
and particularly siren Erica,
		
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50
			which had been quite happy and
loyal under the Ottoman Empire
		
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			until the same year 1912 When the
Balkan provinces were amputated
		
00:14:55 --> 00:14:59
			from the Ottomans. The Sultan's
God traditionally was made up of
		
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02
			of Libyans, they had been,
		
00:15:03 --> 00:15:07
			it'd been a very good
relationship. So he
		
00:15:08 --> 00:15:14
			kind of commutes between the world
of dandified, Italian military
		
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17
			officers, officers, and then at
various points as you drive to
		
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			learn, almost dying of thirst in
various places as this terrible
		
00:15:20 --> 00:15:26
			car breaks down again and again.
He starts to get to know as he
		
00:15:26 --> 00:15:30
			moves into the heartland of the
rebellion and siren, Erica is on
		
00:15:30 --> 00:15:34
			there and Mortara revolt, what
exactly the Italians are doing the
		
00:15:34 --> 00:15:38
			genocide, the herding of half the
population into concentration
		
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40
			camps, where they're basically
left to
		
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44
			starve to death unless they
convert to Catholicism, and they
		
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47
			get baptized, in which case, it's
a different story. It's a very
		
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49
			kind of religionist tale.
		
00:15:51 --> 00:15:58
			So here's an example of one story
that he encounters in siren airco
		
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01
			when he's talking to one of the
dissidents who are struggling
		
00:16:01 --> 00:16:06
			against the Italians. So this is
what this is. The story here is
		
00:16:07 --> 00:16:11
			a score of our men led by myself
at attended a Greek Festival in a
		
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15
			neighboring oasis. It lasted three
days, and we returned to our
		
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19
			oasis. It seemed quiet enough. But
the first person I met was my
		
00:16:19 --> 00:16:23
			wife. She came running to me
horror in her eyes, her hair
		
00:16:23 --> 00:16:27
			streaming down her back, her
clothes torn off her body. Oh, do
		
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30
			not come home do not come home,
she wailed. Allah forgive me for
		
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33
			having to tell you what has
happened. She sobbed and wailed,
		
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37
			and I could not get another word
out of her. I got off my camel and
		
00:16:37 --> 00:16:41
			then my brother appeared. He came
up to me kiss my cheeks and said,
		
00:16:41 --> 00:16:45
			Brother, you know as well as I do
that Allah alone beats out justice
		
00:16:45 --> 00:16:50
			to man. Muhammad is dead. Dead, I
said, but he was not ill. No, he
		
00:16:50 --> 00:16:54
			replied, our brother was shot. The
Italians have been here. They shot
		
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55
			every fifth man.
		
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00
			I was so shaken that I was
speechless. But my brother
		
00:17:00 --> 00:17:04
			continued. You must place your
trust in Allah, whatever happens.
		
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05
			Aisha is gone.
		
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09
			I chose my daughter and I could
not control myself any longer.
		
00:17:09 --> 00:17:14
			Tell me I cried. Is she dead? He
shook his head. No, he said, an
		
00:17:14 --> 00:17:18
			Italian Sergeant with some
Eritrean troops arrived. They
		
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20
			drove the camels away and when
they left with the animals, they
		
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22
			took Aisha with them too.
		
00:17:23 --> 00:17:27
			Oh, my brother, could you not have
spared my house, that shame in my
		
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30
			heart that sorrow? You knew how I
loved her. But you might rather
		
00:17:30 --> 00:17:33
			have killed her than that that
disgrace should fall upon my name.
		
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38
			I knew nothing until it was too
late. Eritrean soldiers kept guard
		
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39
			everywhere you were applied.
		
00:17:40 --> 00:17:44
			For a long time, I did not answer
him. Then I said, You must take
		
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48
			care of my wife and son of man who
is only nine years old stood
		
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50
			beside his mother. I'm going to
look for Aisha
		
00:17:52 --> 00:17:56
			I left the oasis on my only
remaining camel. I did not know
		
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59
			that I was never to see it again.
I searched for many months in many
		
00:17:59 --> 00:18:03
			towns, and at last I found her.
She had been put in a public
		
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06
			brothel in Derna house where
everyone could commit literally
		
00:18:06 --> 00:18:11
			for payment. The chief clenched
his hand around his rifle. She
		
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14
			knew me and I asked her to come
with me. But she shook her head
		
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18
			and wept. Her father, she said, I
believe that I am ill. And if I've
		
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21
			got that illness, I shall never be
well again.
		
00:18:22 --> 00:18:26
			Aisha I forgiven you, as Allah
will pardon us all. How did you
		
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26
			get here?
		
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30
			The Italian carried me away when
they took the camels and
		
00:18:30 --> 00:18:34
			afterwards I was brought here to
this house. She sobbed. Only Allah
		
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36
			the merciful knows what I suffered
at that moment.
		
00:18:37 --> 00:18:41
			Kill me father, she asked, I shall
never escape from this place, and
		
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43
			death will be a favor when it
comes from your hands.
		
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48
			So I killed her, kissed her
forehead and fled, fled to the
		
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49
			mountains.
		
00:18:50 --> 00:18:54
			Everyone was silent. I could not
answer him. I was too deeply
		
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55
			moved.
		
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59
			That's just one of the stories
that he hears. And he's got the
		
00:18:59 --> 00:19:03
			ear of a journalist. He's looking
for these human interest stores,
		
00:19:03 --> 00:19:08
			stories that put a kind of flesh
of reality on the bare bones of
		
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12
			what the historians record of what
colonial rule in those places was
		
00:19:12 --> 00:19:16
			actually like colonialism plus
Mussolini plus Catholicism plus
		
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17
			race theory.
		
00:19:19 --> 00:19:24
			A dreadful story. Moving on now to
my pick, number four. This is
		
00:19:24 --> 00:19:29
			called Saracen chivalry, councils
on valor, generosity and the
		
00:19:29 --> 00:19:33
			mystical quest by Pierre Xia,
Inayat, Han,
		
00:19:34 --> 00:19:39
			this is a different kind of
narrative. It's a sort of
		
00:19:39 --> 00:19:44
			historical novel, but taking the
form of insight into the principle
		
00:19:45 --> 00:19:49
			of what Islam calls fatawa. That
is to say the chivalry that
		
00:19:49 --> 00:19:54
			connects the need to act
ethically, outwardly, even on the
		
00:19:54 --> 00:19:58
			field of battle, with the need to
act correctly and heroically
		
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00
			against the demons and the enemies
within
		
00:20:00 --> 00:20:04
			And these things have to be united
as with the twin pointed sword of
		
00:20:04 --> 00:20:09
			Imam Ali, who was regarded as the
great hero of the warriors of
		
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11
			fatawa. So, this book
		
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16
			designed in many ways for a non
Muslim readership, I think in
		
00:20:16 --> 00:20:20
			order to present these, these
virtues to them
		
00:20:22 --> 00:20:27
			is a kind of imagination of a book
that spun off from the great
		
00:20:27 --> 00:20:31
			pacifier legend poster for the
Knights of the Round Table. King
		
00:20:31 --> 00:20:35
			Arthur, the holy grail that kind
of heart of European mythmaking,
		
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36
			sacred symbolism.
		
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40
			Some of you will know the story
		
00:20:41 --> 00:20:45
			that according to Volf, hyung von
Eschenbach, who was the German
		
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48
			13th century author of The Great
Parsifal story, one of the
		
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51
			monuments of medieval literature
really
		
00:20:54 --> 00:21:00
			the king of Anjou Gomorrah that
goes off as a night to offer his
		
00:21:00 --> 00:21:04
			services wherever chivalry is
understood, and he enters the
		
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06
			service of the Khalifa of Baghdad,
		
00:21:08 --> 00:21:13
			for whom he performs many deeds of
heroism. story says he's a
		
00:21:13 --> 00:21:17
			Christian, but the Khalifa is
Muslim. And that world of chivalry
		
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20
			salad in Richard the Lionheart
often brings together in a kind of
		
00:21:20 --> 00:21:24
			mutual respect in a strange way,
the two rival civilizations.
		
00:21:25 --> 00:21:30
			He goes off to a mythical kingdom
in Africa where he falls in love,
		
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32
			of course with Queen Bella cane.
		
00:21:34 --> 00:21:41
			He marries her, he is white and
she is black as ebony, and leaves
		
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45
			her pregnant and then goes on to
continue his night. arrogancy.
		
00:21:45 --> 00:21:50
			According to the story, she dies
of grief. He marries again how to
		
00:21:50 --> 00:21:54
			Lloyd up in Europe and has another
son.
		
00:21:55 --> 00:22:01
			So the first son is Farah fees,
who emerges as a kind of mottled
		
00:22:01 --> 00:22:05
			half white half black strangeness.
And the second son the half
		
00:22:05 --> 00:22:09
			brother is policy file becomes
cost the hero of bargainous
		
00:22:09 --> 00:22:13
			greatest opera and a major figure
in the Grail legends.
		
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17
			The Grail is not very big in this
particular book, and the book
		
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20
			takes the form of Queen Bella
canes.
		
00:22:22 --> 00:22:28
			Advice to her not yet born son,
Pharaoh fees, urging him to uphold
		
00:22:28 --> 00:22:33
			the honor of the house of Andhra
but also the honor of the
		
00:22:33 --> 00:22:38
			Shuttleworth tradition in Islam.
So this is a kind of photo Vietnam
		
00:22:38 --> 00:22:41
			as medieval Muslims sort of
calling it goes through the basic
		
00:22:41 --> 00:22:45
			practices of religion, and the
basic virtue. So here's a couple
		
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46
			of examples.
		
00:22:47 --> 00:22:53
			This is Queen Bella Cain, writing
to her unborn son fees to her
		
00:22:53 --> 00:22:57
			Gomorrah, it pains me more than I
can say that I will not see you
		
00:22:57 --> 00:23:01
			grow to manhood. I will not see
your form, hear your voice or feel
		
00:23:01 --> 00:23:06
			your touch. Even still, I will
turn toward you that your face may
		
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09
			be veiled to me. I pray and trust
that I will be given the sight to
		
00:23:09 --> 00:23:14
			see what is in your heart. With
eyes of fire I will watch over you
		
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16
			delighting in your happiness and
mourning your grief.
		
00:23:17 --> 00:23:21
			Before long you will be a young
man. The lengthening of your limbs
		
00:23:21 --> 00:23:25
			needs only time. If a boy merely
eats he will grow. But to become a
		
00:23:25 --> 00:23:29
			young man in the true meaning of
the word to become a fetter a
		
00:23:29 --> 00:23:33
			chivalrous youth, something more
is wanted. Your nourishment must
		
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37
			be virtue, generosity, courage,
courtesy and wisdom must be your
		
00:23:37 --> 00:23:41
			constant practice. In garments.
You must aspire to the knighthood
		
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43
			of purity and you must attain it.
		
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48
			For as long as men and women have
risen towards the good in thought,
		
00:23:48 --> 00:23:51
			word and deed, so long has
chivalry graced the Earth.
		
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55
			Whenever revelation has come down,
the order of chivalry has rallied
		
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58
			to the prophets call, renewing its
fealty to the ancient covenant
		
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02
			time and again with the sweat and
blood of its worth is it has
		
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03
			redeemed its vow.
		
00:24:06 --> 00:24:08
			One of the earliest sections of
the book goes through the five
		
00:24:08 --> 00:24:13
			pillars in which the queen is
explaining to her unborn son, the
		
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16
			enormous importance of the five
pillars and their spiritual value.
		
00:24:17 --> 00:24:19
			So this is the section on proud
		
00:24:21 --> 00:24:26
			fees to Volga muret prayer is
ascension. When you bow down,
		
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30
			prayer lift you up. As your head
descends to the earth, your heart
		
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31
			ascends to the sky.
		
00:24:32 --> 00:24:36
			A Chevelle yet needs a Shavon
porphyries and camels are
		
00:24:36 --> 00:24:40
			commonplace. patter Lamont streets
are overcrowded with them. A real
		
00:24:40 --> 00:24:46
			Ghazi requires a mound of Brock's
noble breed. And what is that? The
		
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49
			Holy Breath of prayer the side
that rises beyond time and space.
		
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51
			Spirit rides the wind.
		
00:24:53 --> 00:24:57
			I trust you will perform your
prayer steadfastly. Prayer is both
		
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00
			a solemn duty and a delicate
pleasure. We
		
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02
			When you step onto your prayer rug
you step from the world of
		
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06
			becoming to the world of being.
When you lift your arms in praise
		
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09
			the burden of the past and future
falls from your back. And your
		
00:25:09 --> 00:25:12
			heart expands to greet the
presence of the present, which is
		
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14
			another name for the eternal.
		
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17
			They you stand on Earth, you bow
and rise in the temple of
		
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18
			eternity.
		
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23
			To pray five times each day with
gesture, thought and feeling is to
		
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26
			put in motion the tides have a
rhythm that will elevate your
		
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29
			soul. Deepen your peace, see you
through danger and guide you
		
00:25:29 --> 00:25:33
			towards the fulfillment of your
life's purpose. Hold on to this
		
00:25:33 --> 00:25:37
			rhythm. When all else crumbles
around, you let dust return to
		
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40
			dust, but prayer is heavens
portion.
		
00:25:42 --> 00:25:46
			And the sections on the cat and
the Hajj and Ramadan are also
		
00:25:47 --> 00:25:50
			simple to understand. It's not an
academic book, but there's
		
00:25:50 --> 00:25:54
			considerable depth here. And then
the second portion of the book
		
00:25:54 --> 00:25:57
			goes through the traditional
virtues of fatawa.
		
00:25:59 --> 00:26:02
			On wisdom, on courage, on
temperance, on generosity, on
		
00:26:02 --> 00:26:06
			justice, on nobility, and so
forth. So this is
		
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08
			definitely
		
00:26:09 --> 00:26:14
			worth giving to non Muslim
friends, because it's about
		
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17
			fellowship, it's about that use
chivalric things held in common,
		
00:26:17 --> 00:26:21
			but within it within the book is A
Vindication of the basic spiritual
		
00:26:21 --> 00:26:27
			principles of Queen Bella cane,
the mythical Muslim queen. So this
		
00:26:27 --> 00:26:30
			one is published by omega
publications of New York.
		
00:26:32 --> 00:26:36
			Strongly recommend it. So we come
to the last of my five picks for
		
00:26:36 --> 00:26:41
			this year. This is by Jeffrey iron
Bowden, who is an academic in
		
00:26:41 --> 00:26:44
			America has already published a
number of interesting things,
		
00:26:44 --> 00:26:48
			particularly on Islam and American
literature, Islam and the
		
00:26:48 --> 00:26:48
			enlightenment.
		
00:26:50 --> 00:26:55
			This is his most recent offering
Jefferson's Muslim fugitives, the
		
00:26:55 --> 00:26:59
			last story of enslaved Africans,
the Arabic letters and an American
		
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00
			president.
		
00:27:01 --> 00:27:06
			Well, you can already see that
this is a book by an academic
		
00:27:06 --> 00:27:10
			that's aiming for a larger public.
And there's been a certain amount
		
00:27:10 --> 00:27:10
			of interest
		
00:27:13 --> 00:27:18
			in Jefferson and his relationship
to Islam, ever since, of course,
		
00:27:18 --> 00:27:23
			the famous episode in 2007, I
think it was when Congressman
		
00:27:23 --> 00:27:28
			Keith Ellison of Minnesota, when
he took his vow of office to enter
		
00:27:28 --> 00:27:33
			the Congress did so. Not in the
Bible, but on Thomas Jefferson's
		
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36
			own copy of the Koran, which I
think was probably sales
		
00:27:36 --> 00:27:41
			translation. And in that era of
war on terror, mad Islamophobia,
		
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44
			of course, that gave the
journalists something to chew on.
		
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48
			And then Denise Spellman has
written a book about Jefferson's
		
00:27:48 --> 00:27:51
			grant Jefferson's relationship to
deism certain trends in the
		
00:27:51 --> 00:27:55
			enlightenment that were influenced
by certain Islamic texts and
		
00:27:55 --> 00:28:00
			traditions, a certain sort of
Unitarianism a certain sort of
		
00:28:00 --> 00:28:04
			insistence that the personality of
Jesus is enormous ly impressive,
		
00:28:04 --> 00:28:07
			but only if you consider him to be
really a human being rather than
		
00:28:07 --> 00:28:11
			divine. That's another story. But
in in Jeffrey's book, what we have
		
00:28:11 --> 00:28:14
			is something that looks at some
documents.
		
00:28:16 --> 00:28:19
			And these documents originate and
he begins the book rather
		
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22
			dramatically, with a stormy
evening at the White House in
		
00:28:22 --> 00:28:27
			1807. And Jefferson's already had
a hard day traveling his horse
		
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29
			almost drowned, there were floods.
		
00:28:30 --> 00:28:34
			And so he's sitting in the White
House when a mysterious person
		
00:28:34 --> 00:28:39
			sends a message saying, I have
something a vast importance to
		
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39
			tell you
		
00:28:40 --> 00:28:43
			guys admitted, I guess it's a bit
more difficult these days.
		
00:28:45 --> 00:28:49
			And it turns out that the man
comes with two mysterious
		
00:28:49 --> 00:28:54
			documents, which nobody can read
from two fugitives who had been
		
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55
			arrested in Kentucky.
		
00:28:57 --> 00:29:00
			What's the significance of this?
Well, again, there's spoilers. The
		
00:29:00 --> 00:29:05
			book weaves in and out of larger
questions of Jefferson's and early
		
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07
			America's relationship with
		
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12
			the Muslim world. But this is
specifically about literature
		
00:29:12 --> 00:29:17
			generated by slaves. So here you
have these two fugitives who are
		
00:29:17 --> 00:29:22
			sending letters it seems to the
president in the White House, when
		
00:29:22 --> 00:29:26
			they are Muslims who've been
enslaved and are in chains and it
		
00:29:26 --> 00:29:29
			seems to have escaped several
times from various forms of
		
00:29:30 --> 00:29:34
			incarceration, including the
famous Christian prison and in
		
00:29:34 --> 00:29:37
			Kentucky, make it over state lines
into Tennessee that on its own
		
00:29:37 --> 00:29:42
			would make it a great movie. So
they send letters complaining of
		
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44
			their treatment, but the letters
were in Arabic,
		
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48
			in a kind of West African mother B
type script.
		
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52
			And they say
		
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57
			in the who Allah Delica Shaheed
god is their witness. They're
		
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59
			doing it partly to alert you
		
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02
			One who's at the top of the
American pyramid, that massively
		
00:30:02 --> 00:30:06
			unequal society, to the reality of
what's happening right at the
		
00:30:06 --> 00:30:09
			bottom and people who aren't even
kind of Christianized Africans,
		
00:30:10 --> 00:30:14
			but Ishmaelites. So, from the
bottom, unlettered to the top.
		
00:30:16 --> 00:30:21
			So, I'm burden goes through these
documents, which is found, it
		
00:30:21 --> 00:30:24
			seems, I think it's the
Massachusetts Historical
		
00:30:24 --> 00:30:27
			Institute, he actually discovered
them and they're reproduced here
		
00:30:27 --> 00:30:31
			for the first time. And then he
uses this as his cue to talk about
		
00:30:31 --> 00:30:35
			the neglected story of these
people who are at the bottom that
		
00:30:35 --> 00:30:41
			Ishmaelites that the rejected ones
of American society, who not only
		
00:30:41 --> 00:30:46
			have the wrong race, but also have
the wrong religion. Because there
		
00:30:47 --> 00:30:51
			is Muslims and therefore, mores,
Saracens, the parodic metric
		
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52
			others Ishmaelites.
		
00:30:54 --> 00:30:57
			So that weaving together of a
Muslim identity with an African
		
00:30:57 --> 00:31:02
			American identity is something
that has been significant for the
		
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05
			kind of Malcolm X Muhammad Ali
phenomenon later on, for Keith
		
00:31:05 --> 00:31:10
			Ellison as well. But what has not
been really brought to the surface
		
00:31:10 --> 00:31:14
			recently is the fact that these
African slaves, they often were
		
00:31:14 --> 00:31:18
			highly literate, and could produce
books when given a chance, in
		
00:31:18 --> 00:31:24
			Arabic, on flip on doctrine, and
they could quote the Quran. The
		
00:31:24 --> 00:31:28
			first of these actually is not the
documents that Jeffrey is
		
00:31:28 --> 00:31:34
			disinterred, but a document that
goes back to 1750 or so. And there
		
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35
			are others.
		
00:31:36 --> 00:31:40
			Very moving tiny little fragments
scribbled down sometimes in
		
00:31:40 --> 00:31:44
			prison, sometimes on plantation
sometimes in extremely difficult
		
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47
			circumstances, that hardly anybody
in America could read. Jefferson
		
00:31:47 --> 00:31:50
			certainly didn't know what these
things said, it took a long time
		
00:31:50 --> 00:31:52
			before anybody could start to
		
00:31:53 --> 00:31:56
			start to decode these documents.
		
00:31:58 --> 00:32:03
			And so this is work in progress.
There's so much sort of Black
		
00:32:03 --> 00:32:08
			Lives Matter, preoccupation,
generally legitimate about the
		
00:32:08 --> 00:32:15
			American caste system. But the
aspect of the enslaved that shows
		
00:32:15 --> 00:32:19
			that actually, many of them were
princes, many of them were highly
		
00:32:19 --> 00:32:23
			literate, many of them were deeply
devout and religious and saintly
		
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26
			men and women who could, right
that's not part of the narrative,
		
00:32:26 --> 00:32:30
			because generally, the kind of
Black Lives Matter world comes out
		
00:32:30 --> 00:32:34
			of a entirely European
enlightenment, Marxist idea, and
		
00:32:34 --> 00:32:37
			doesn't really like to acknowledge
other tributaries and other
		
00:32:37 --> 00:32:40
			cultures. It's certainly not
multicultural, although sometimes
		
00:32:40 --> 00:32:45
			will claim to be so the liberation
that they propose is based
		
00:32:45 --> 00:32:49
			entirely on European intellectual
genealogy. So this other story,
		
00:32:49 --> 00:32:52
			this other America, this truly
		
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55
			exiled and Israelite
		
00:32:57 --> 00:33:00
			principle, maybe there's other
documents to be found, maybe
		
00:33:00 --> 00:33:07
			movies to be made, may be an
awareness of the Islamic identity
		
00:33:07 --> 00:33:12
			and the literate Islamic identity
of many of those early African
		
00:33:12 --> 00:33:16
			Muslim slaves in really desperate
circumstances. They describe how
		
00:33:17 --> 00:33:21
			horrific it was plantation slavery
really was no joke
		
00:33:22 --> 00:33:25
			will come to the surface and we'll
start to see the natural
		
00:33:25 --> 00:33:29
			connection that exists between
sort of America white Protestant
		
00:33:29 --> 00:33:32
			Christian power gun lobby
Christianity, on the one hand,
		
00:33:33 --> 00:33:35
			that's not the only way of being a
Christian in America, but in the
		
00:33:35 --> 00:33:39
			kind of Bush era, the Trump era,
it seemed to be dominant. And on
		
00:33:39 --> 00:33:44
			the other hand, the rejected
eldest son, Ishmael Hotjar, the
		
00:33:44 --> 00:33:49
			ones who are cast out for being
half African, that really the only
		
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50
			religion in the world.
		
00:33:51 --> 00:33:55
			That is the that is founded by
somebody who has some African
		
00:33:55 --> 00:33:58
			blood because of course, the
Israelite story is precisely that.
		
00:33:59 --> 00:34:05
			So there's a lot more to be done
on this. Jeffrey has given a wider
		
00:34:05 --> 00:34:09
			story about Arabic literature in
early American Republican culture
		
00:34:09 --> 00:34:13
			and much of that is interesting as
well but certainly a something
		
00:34:13 --> 00:34:17
			that indicates how very ancient
apparently obscure texts can
		
00:34:17 --> 00:34:21
			really break surface and become
sensations nowadays and and shed
		
00:34:21 --> 00:34:26
			light on the actual meaning of
injustices and headline issues
		
00:34:26 --> 00:34:30
			today. I think this is definitely
a very interesting text and it's
		
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32
			Oxford University Press.
		
00:34:33 --> 00:34:37
			In New York, they're generally not
too expensive. 2020 Yeah, so it is
		
00:34:37 --> 00:34:42
			new, the reviews have still not
quite digested it but yep.
		
00:34:43 --> 00:34:48
			An excellent piece of scholarship
that also contributes directly to
		
00:34:48 --> 00:34:53
			the culture wars in modern
America, strongly recommended. So
		
00:34:53 --> 00:34:59
			that brings us to the end of my
five winter texts for reading as
		
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59
			we go through the
		
00:35:00 --> 00:35:05
			is dark and soggy month, but it is
encouraging to see how much is
		
00:35:05 --> 00:35:10
			being published now, often by kind
of piratical small publishers
		
00:35:10 --> 00:35:15
			these voices very often from the
margins, but then that tends to be
		
00:35:15 --> 00:35:18
			where truth is the story of
religions is all about God being
		
00:35:18 --> 00:35:21
			with the margins being with the
dispossessed being with the
		
00:35:21 --> 00:35:25
			discriminated against with the
Worcester Dauphine with the monka
		
00:35:25 --> 00:35:30
			theoretical Lobo home so hopefully
as we internalize this, and gain
		
00:35:30 --> 00:35:34
			what is really the message of all
of these texts, which is Allah,
		
00:35:34 --> 00:35:38
			Allah cliche in Shaheed, he is the
witness of everything. The elites
		
00:35:38 --> 00:35:41
			may not see it, but God sees it
and sees the real shape of
		
00:35:41 --> 00:35:46
			history. And it is the most that
I've seen, who will ultimately be
		
00:35:46 --> 00:35:49
			the worry theme as the Quran
insists they're the ones who
		
00:35:49 --> 00:35:54
			inherit in the next world if not
always in this. barnacle. Alfie
		
00:35:54 --> 00:35:57
			Kohn salam o aleikum wa
rahmatullah Cambridge Muslim
		
00:35:57 --> 00:36:01
			College, training the next
generation of Muslim thinkers