The average age of Hajis have come down

The average age of pilgrims has come down since the last decade. “Before, people would come at the end of their lives... Haj was seen as the last act of faith for those aged pilgrims. That is no longer the dominant case. Young people from all over the world, and especially Turkey, are undertaking the pilgrimage. They come here and go back with great impressions about the Muslim world. They narrate their experiences to their friends and relatives, creating a sense of exhilaration among the new generation. This is a major change,” said Dr. Yasin Aktay, a fine academic and columnist from Turkey. He seems to be a very popular Tweeter and Facebooker. He was busy replying to the hundreds of comments that came from his 5,000 Facebook friends.

The other major change that Aktay noticed since his last visit to Makkah in 1997 was the complete transformation of Makkah's landscape. “These new buildings and the massive expansion around the Holy Mosque led to the disappearance of the old city,” he said. But is that good or bad? “In one sense it is bad, since the historical aspect of Makkah as a city is no longer available. The only historical sign remaining in Makkah is the Kaaba itself. And in another aspect, just because of this, I think we are inclined to think that even history is performing a circumambulation. As a result, history is disappearing, so that there remains nothing but the oneness of Allah, which is manifested by the Holy Kaaba.”

 Siraj Wahab in Arab News. Here

Who is Shahryar?

Q: Who is Shahryar?
A: Shahryar is the famous Urdu poet from India who has been conferred with the Jnanpith, India's topmost award in the field of literature.

Q: Is Shahryar his real name?
A: No. His real name is Kunwar Akhlaq Mohammed Khan.

Q: How old is he?
A: He is 74. He was born on June 16, 1936.

Q: His birthplace?
A: Anwala village in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

Q: Aligarh Muslim University alumni are ecstatic at the honor given to him. Was he associated with the university? In what way?
A: Shahryar is a quintessential AMU alumnus. He was associated with the university's Urdu department for several years and served as lecturer, reader, professor and department chairman. He retired from active service in 1996. It is also worth noting that he spent his formative years at AMU City High School and also completed his graduate studies at AMU. Perhaps his greatest assignment has been editorship of "Fikr-o-Nazar", the university's prestigious research publication. He was also member-in-charge of the university's Public Relations Office for some time.

Q: Is Jnanpith his first award?
A: No. He got the Sahitya Akademy Award in 1987 for his anthology of Urdu poetry titled, "Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai".

Q: Is he the first Urdu litterateur to get the Jnanpith?
A: No. He is the fourth. Firaq Gorakhpuri (1969), Qurratulain Haider (1989) and Ali Sardar Jafri (1997) were the previous recipients of the award.

Q: Your favorite couplets from Shahryar?
A: These two from his ghazal "Zindagi Jaisi Tamanna Thi Nahin Kuch Kam Hai" are my favorite. He read this ghazal at the mushaira in Jeddah on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, a day before the Jnanpith award was announced. This ghazal is perhaps closest to Shahryar's heart as well because he recites this one at all poetry gatherings. He did recite this in the 2005 Jeddah mushaira as well.

Ghar Ki Taameer Tasawwur Hi Me Ho Sakti Hai
Apne Naqshe Ke Mutaabiq Ye Zameen Kuch Kam Hai

Bichde Logon Se Mulaqaat Kabhi Phir Hogi
Dil Me Ummeed To Kaafi Hai Yaqeen Kuch Kam Hai

Q: What is so great about Shahryar's poetry?
A: I put that question to Hifzur Rahman, the Riyadh-based Indian diplomat, who is himself a connoisseur of Urdu poetry and literature. This is what he has to say: "Shahryar's greatest contribution is that he refused to break the mold of ghazal. What he did was to add a dash of modernity to this popular genre without tampering with its traditional structure. This is a particularly tough task, but not for Shahryar. He came out with some of the best lines in Urdu poetry."

From Siraj Wahab's post in Notes from Arabia. More Here

Attack on Freedom Flotilla and the hypocrisy of the western media

The people of the Western world have been given a jaded perspective on the unprovoked Israeli attack on an unarmed, six-ship relief flotilla on the high seas, some 130 km off the Gaza coast in international waters.

The assault by marauding commandos has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union and NATO-member Turkey, but US and British media outlets for the most part have opted to broadcast the Israeli government’s official line, branding the foreign nationals as terrorists.

The Israeli naval forces disrupted maritime communication from the flotilla before the combined air-and-sea assault, and less critical newsgathering organizations are settling for handouts from the Israeli government.

A good comparison is the coverage between the British Broadcasting Corp. and Qatar-based Al-Jazeera News.

At the noon (Saudi time) bulletin BBC ran the story as its lead and continued to air Israeli version of the gruesome attack. Not just that, it gave precious airtime to the Israeli spokespersons with little interruption or questioning from the anchor. One missed Nik Gowing in the newsroom. The Israeli spokesperson and Israeli sympathizers waxed eloquent on how the organizers of the flotilla were responsible for bringing the tragedy upon themselves. There was little or no mention about the fact that the attack had taken place in international waters.

Al Jazeera English brought in everything. In its 1 p.m. bulletin, the anchor led the story by mentioning that 14 people had died in the Israeli attack on the lead ship called Mavi Marmara. It then showed dramatic footage right from the ship that was under attack. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Al-Shayyal was on board the main ship — a sharp contrast to Tia Goldenberg of The Associated Press filing her reports from the Israeli missile boat INS Kidon, which took part in the attack.

“Two people have been confirmed dead,” Al-Shayyal reported. “The organizers of the aid flotilla have now asked all passengers to go inside. Israeli commandos have descended upon the ship. The ship is still in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Marmara has been surrounded on all sides by armed boats. We can still hear shots being fired — even after the white flag has been raised. There are all civilians on this ship. They include women, children and the elderly.”

Al-Shayyal’s reports and the dramatic shipboard footage explained it all. It was there in images. Al Jazeera then took the viewers to the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon who was reading a statement.
“We were attacked by those on board the ship. We regret the loss of life but the responsibility for this tragedy lies with the organizers of the flotilla. We told them not to enter Gaza. We told them to deliver the aid through appropriate channels. The organizers of the aid flotilla are the supporters of Al-Qaeda and Hamas. They were armed and trying to lynch our soldiers, and that is why we acted in self defense,” he said.

Al Jazeera then brought in Murat Mercan, chairman of the Turkish Parliament commission of foreign affairs. “Ayalon is a liar,” he said. “The ships were cleared by the Turkish authorities. There were no arms of board. Only people. There were so many ways of stopping the ship. Obviously, Israel wasn’t interested in merely stopping the ship. This will have consequences. No country has the right to attack any ship, armed or unarmed, in the international waters. This is a serious violation. In the coming days, you will see how Turkey will respond,” he said.

Al Jazeera took the viewers to Ayman Mohyeldin in Umm Al-Fahm which is where Sheikh Raed Salah, a prominent theologian from Palestine, came from. He was also on the ship and was shot in the head by the Israeli commandoes. He also gave a sense of the people’s feeling saying, “All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the international community to learn what could have possibly led to this type of confrontation.”

Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Istanbul, was out in the streets of Istanbul gathering people’s reactions. Turkish protestors carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags were swelling up in the town square to register their protest. "The Turks had a constructive military alliance and for many years they saw the issue of domestic terrorism as one they had to share information about,” she said. “But since the Gaza war relations have nose-dived and it would be absolutely fair to say that this attack is the lowest point."

The best part of Al Jazeera coverage was the soundbyte from the erudite Palestinian leader Nabil Shaath. Very methodically, he called the Israeli bluff. “This is a murderous attack,” he said. “All this talk about there being arms on the ship is absolute nonsense. One is reminded of the American drugs police who sometimes plant drugs on somebody just so they can arrest him. Nobody is going to believe Israel. Such excessive use of force indicates their nefarious designs. They went in to kill, and they did.”

So far, Western news outlets seem content to take statements and press releases from the Israelis; the rest of the story remains unreported.

From Siraj Wahab's article in Arab News. It is a telling comment on the hypocrisy of the western media. More Here.

Blind Inventor looks to the future

Despite the loss of a leg and his sight, nothing deters young inventor Mohannad Jibreel Abudayyah from pressing on. The 22-year-old space engineering student at Dhahran’s King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) continues his quest for knowledge and applies his almost limitless imagination to create practical solutions for everyday problems.


Something that held his fascination for a long time was the transistor. “I would look at it and wonder for hours how it worked. Such was my passion for understanding the mechanics behind it that I saved every halala that I got as pocket money during my childhood days in Jeddah. When I had enough money, I went out and bought a radio. The idea was to open it and to see what went into that small machine, how it worked, how it managed to bring all those sounds from across the globe into my room? I remember asking a cousin: ‘How does this work?’ He took the new radio and pointed at the on-off button. ‘Just press this one, and it will work ... it is that simple,’ he told me. ‘No, not that. I mean how does it work?’ He excused himself saying he didn’t know and that he didn’t care. ‘In fact,’ he told me, ‘no Saudi will be able to help you. Only the Japanese know all that stuff,’” Abudayyah said.

He recalls vividly that conversation of years ago. “I told my cousin, ‘Why do only the Japanese know? Why do we not know?’ My cousin was plainly irritated by my persistent inquiries. ‘We lead a good life. God has given us the money to buy all the technology in the world. They make; we buy. This is what I call a good life. Alhamdulillah.’ I told him he was wrong. ‘Those who are making the technology have a good life. What if they were not there to invent all these things? What use is our money then?’ I asked my cousin. He couldn’t take it any longer and went away, leaving the conversation in the middle of nowhere.”

To make matters worse, there were no books to guide Abudayyah. “I would spend all my time just thinking about technology. What makes the refrigerator work? How does that clock sound an alarm exactly at the hour it is set to? What technology is at work bringing those images live to our television screen? How does that airplane glide in the sky? They were all simple questions. But nobody had the answer,” he said. “I decided to take the time-tested trial-and-error route. I removed one part and then another and used different permutations and combinations till I succeeded in getting the radio circuit right. Since then I have dreamed of nothing else but to be an inventor — to make a qualitative difference in the lives of people through my inventions.”

Over the years he has succeeded in turning ordinary toys into useful items. “You must have seen those chimpanzee toys hanging in corner shops. You just clap close to the soft toy and the chimpanzee starts clapping. It is available for SR50. What I did was to use that technology for a different purpose. I made a coffee-and-tea-vending machine. One clap and the machine pours hot coffee; two claps you get a hot cup of tea. It is very simple but interesting. So I am into modifying simple technology to suit our needs,” he said. “I have created or invented many such useful gadgets.”

Beyond the novel inventions of his youth, Abudayyah now is developing new type of deep-diving submarine with a university research grant. “A prototype is ready. I have conducted experiments in the lab in a simulated environment. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has complimented me on my work. The king’s words still ring in my ears: ‘You are the Kingdom’s pride.’”

Abudayyah lost his eyesight and one leg in a freak road accident a year ago. His whole life changed after the accident, but the passion to invent only got more insistent. “Now I was conscious of the needs of the people with visual impairments. I enrolled at KFUPM and started studying space engineering,” he said.

Abdulrazzak Al-Turki, who suffers from visual problems and who is a successful businessman, has been a mentor to Abudayyah. “He will be the first space engineer with visual impairment,” Al-Turki told Arab News. “I see myself in him. This accident and tragedy has only strengthened his resolve to do better. He is a role model for youngsters, and his success will spur a whole new generation of young Saudis.”

Since his accident, Abudayyah has delivered 100 lectures, telling young inventors how to get started and how to keep going in the face of adversity. “I have trained more than 600 people in the process of invention, and I have taught more than 300 engineers and students how to become professional inventors,” he said. “I have got certificates from Europe, and I am doing a book on how to be an inventor. Nothing is impossible in this world. You just require determination to pursue your passion.”

From Siraj Wahab's inspiring write-up in Arab News

To read the full article click here.

Saudi Arabia, women and a photo..!

The old saying goes “one picture is worth a thousand words.” Most of Saudi Arabia’s Arabic newspapers carried a photograph on last Friday’s front-page that has become a talking point on blogs, Internet forums, shisha cafes, newsrooms and the corridors of power.

The photo shows Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan proudly standing among more than 35 Saudi women from across the nation who voiced their views during the April 8-10 National Dialogue Forum in Najran.

Many of the women are beaming with pride over the honor of being asked to stand with the Kingdom’s rulers. Many people are saying the photo has a symbolic message for the nation that the time has come for women to be recognized.

The women participants of the forum’s session in Najran traveled to the Royal Court in Riyadh on April 25 to meet the king and the crown prince to brief them about the discussions. At the end of the meeting, a group picture was taken by the royal photographer. That was that.

From Siraj Wahab's comment in Arab News.

To read the full comment click here.