The islamic culture of submission

The Gulf War was in 1989-90. My most enduring memory of it’s an interview with Yasser Arafat. Interviewer: ‘Who do you support in this War?’ Arafat: ‘Saddam’. Interviewer: ‘Why do you support Saddam?’ Arafat: ‘I don’t support Saddam’. I thought to myself ‘How can Israel negotiate anything with this man?’ The 1.2-1.6B Muslims in the world comprise 20% of the world’s population [1, 2]. Yet Islamic cultural and religious tenets are largely unknown beyond the Ummah. I’m unsure why. Probably to know and interpret Islam requires an insider’s experience and understanding. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (pictured) [3] is an amazing woman. Born in Somalia in 1969, she was a Muslim until 2002 (when at age 32 she became an atheist). A Dutch citizen and former Dutch parliamentarian, she’s written and spoken extensively about Islam – honestly, thus controversially, thus bravely. Last week the FT ran an important essay she’d written. (Here’s the full version [4] and a short one [5].) She explained the Islamic culture of submission: ‘In this culture submission is instilled early on. If you are not allowed to talk back to your father, or teacher, or clergyman, submission to state tyranny becomes almost second nature. In such a setting, the methods to empower oneself – indeed to survive – are conspiracy, manipulation, intrigue and bribery’. I accept this concept. Do the Western media? No – given their unbridled optimistic reporting of recent Egyptian developments. If the Islamic culture of submission’s real, this optimism’s unfounded. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Time will tell.

farmdoc's blog post number 568

How do you know when you’re really famous? Super famous? The answer, of course, is when people refer to you by your first name only. That’s how I know Beyonce (pictured) is really famous. Maybe it helps if your first name’s very unusual. I’ve never heard Beyonce sing, and I haven’t watched her on video. But I read here that as part of her 'I am...' world tour, she gave a concert in Egypt three days ago. And Islamic conservatives there called her show an ‘insolent sex party’ that threatens Egypt’s ‘social peace and stability’. They accused the Egyptian government of encouraging debauchery, and called for the concert’s cancellation. As it happens, these vocal fundamentalists belong to the opposition Muslim Brotherhood who, along with their hardline Muslim brothers, treat women as second – if not fifth – class citizens. So naturally they can’t tolerate let alone condone an independent, successful and thus wealthy woman – as I assume Beyonce is. If they want to live ascetic misogynistic lives, let them do so in Iran or Gaza or Saudi Arabia where women have almost no rights. If they choose to live in Egypt then they must abide by the standards of its government and thus most of its population. But they don’t, so it’s no wonder the Egyptian government’s been squeezing them with security crackdowns and administrative measures aimed at curbing their conservatism. I hope Beyonce’s Egyptian concert was successful beyond expectations. Show ‘em, Beyonce.