On Revolutions, Saudi, and What Might Happen

Bluntly put, my opinion is worthless. After all, I'm just another spectator of the upheaval going on in Middle East countries. I merely happen to be closer to the epicenter than most people I know, right here at home in Saudi Arabia - where the latest chapter of the ongoing Arab revolution was supposed to happen.

Today, March 11, there was a fair amount of hysteria going on within and without the country about it. The story was that there was going to be a 'Day of Rage', beginning from after the Friday prayers - familiar to those who've been keeping up with Arab protests as a strategy to get as many people together as possible, the prayers being mandatory for every Muslim male to attend. Family members went today, and they came back with nothing but a tale of lots of police cars around the perceived 'danger zone' (interspersed with over-excited exaggerations from the younger one, of course), and nothing else.

I wasn't surprised.

In clear terms, I don't think a revolution in Saudi at this point is going to work. For one, King Abdullah is loved by the people. He recently returned from a lengthy recuperation from a back injury abroad, which brought on a fierce wave of patriotic feeling in most Saudis. I was out late on the day the King returned, and I was entertained at a long stoplight (with a foreign driver, a stranger to me, at the wheel, of course) by the sight of at least thirty cars full of young guys - who don't really need an excuse to coast the streets waving flags and whooping - doing just that. Bellowing the national anthem (off-key, may I add) as though the Saudi national team had just won a match. It's a superficial display of affection, like the BBM I got with the poetic "People burn themselves in protest, but we burn on the inside with love for our king", but genuine. Revolution will happen, if ever, after the king dies, but not before.

In general, the Saudi people are content. Yes, there are ludicrous violations of human rights; women are treated scandalously; rampant corruption exists unbridled, and there are scores of examples to set for each of these and many other offenses, a sea of details I don't need to dip my toe in at the moment. But Saudis (well, admittedly I've mostly talked to schoolgirls) are mostly of the opinion that the notion of protesting is foreign. That Shias, that Iran, that general malcontents - not us, not real Saudis - are instigating the unrest is the general consensus.

Helping is the manipulation of religion the Saudi government has going on - has had going on for quite a while - justifying itself. In one of my religious subjects last term, my book said that it was haram or unlawful to challenge the leader, the one in position - even if that leader is unfair/committing sins/being generally awful. This strikes a nerve with me, because in my opinion the great Muslim stagnation of the last centuries was caused in part by ineffectual, unfit, unchallenged rulers who used religion much as modern dictators have.

All in all, though, I just hope for the best. Dialogue, as the foreign minister said, can indeed solve much of Saudi Arabia's problems - if the government will heed the voices of its people and the warning of the fates of dictators past (and recent). Who'd have imagined, several months ago, that Mubarak and Ben Ali would be gone, Gaddafi and others teetering precariously on the same yawning chasm? Perhaps a few months further and we will be looking back in deeper skepticism, wondering at how we were in March!

So let us pray that God will lead us all out of this as a better, improved, more dynamic Saudi Arabia; as, indeed, I pray for the entirety of the Middle East.

The Sorry-I've-Been-A-Neglecting-Beast Post

It's pretty ironic that my last post on this blog is dated almost exactly a month ago. The last time I clicked 'Publish Post', it was January 25 - the day of the beginning of the Egyptian uprising, a most exciting chapter of the ongoing Arab revolution that has made the world sit up and take notice, that made me start feverishly using Twitter in an effort to find out and be updated on just what was going on.

Ironically, the very reason I have been neglecting this blog for a while.

You see, when you are busy checking a social networking site every few seconds (BlackBerries are both a blessing and a curse), checking the TV, checking newspapers, the whole shebang, you tend to neglect other, lesser-seeming stuff. Such as blogging to a nonexistent audience. It's the bitter truth that I must confront myself with. Sorry.

Add to that high school end-of-term exams (several of which I botched, incidentally.) Add to that a sudden resurgence of my until-recently-dormant desire to write FICTION, and this blog has been poorly neglected indeed.

Those are the factors which have left this blog so silent, dank and forlorn-looking. The fact that the color scheme is black doesn't help much either.

So here is the inevitable question - whatever shall I write about on this blog next? Probably politics - the eruption that is going on next door (I'm in Saudi Arabia, one of the lucky people who can call the Middle East 'next door') is far too noisy, colorful and dangerous to ignore. Until then, fellas - @TheLogicker on Twitter is where I can most definitely (thanks to that darned Blackberry) be found.

Now, a month and a day after January 25, I shall click 'Publish Post'. A post that is about absolutely nothing.

I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Science vs. Religion, a Musing

It's an age-old cliche: science vs religion. Faith vs reason. As though the two are opposites; as though neither can live while the other survives (to quote Harry Potter tongue-in-cheek). As though they are locked at each other's throats in an eternal battle to the death. One will vanquish the other eventually, and for now the victor seems to be science. I mean, it's obvious, right? Religion is fast becoming irrelevant in the developing world for several different reasons.

First of all, no more fear of the unknown. People know why things happen now, without having to use God as an excuse. God is now considered to be a 'safety net'; a vain attempt to ward off the threat of looming death into something more friendly. Self-delusion, wasted hope, whatever you want to call it: in their opinion, that's religion. They want to see themselves as people who can depend on themselves, not on some foreign unseen deity in the sky.

Then there is the problem that people have with the whole 'organized religion' thing. Churchmen, sheikhs, rabbis; they are all seen as clinging to traditions of the past (whether the traditions are good or bad). Our century is all about shaking up institutions and religion is being treated no differently.

Finally, most people aren't choosing their religion anyway. They take the convenient way out - following their parents' beliefs, mostly without any real conviction. Religious holidays have become empty rituals to be followed half-heartedly, for example; church every Sunday, or the mosque every Friday - even Islam's five daily prayers - has become a drag. Because who's going to go for something they haven't been motivated for, haven't chosen, in the first place?

Hero of the Day: Marie Nemani

This is an article I came across on Reza Aslan's website (who deserves a Hero of the Day of his own, actually) by 13-year-old Muslim Australian Marie Nemani. She puts together a coherent, compelling and passionate argument proving the point that a Muslim can be an excellent member of any international community regardless of his nationality or race.

It's an argument that needs to be aired more and more in these days of accusations and finger-pointing towards Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries. Yes, a Muslim can be a good Australian, a good American, a good German or Indonesian or Pakistani or whatever. Because Islam is not "just" for anyone. It is not a racial or nationalistic creed.

It is a truly international religion.

http://www.aslanmedia.com/post/2339644878/goodmuslim-goodcitizen

Enjoy!

Why I'm Not Threatened By Science

So why am I, a religious person, not threatened by the looming scepter of science-come-to-steal-God? Or rather, why am I STILL a religious person?

I think it's because I'm Muslim. Let me explain.

In Islam you are ORDERED to seek knowledge, from the cradle to the grave. The bases of many sciences and arts - algebra; optics; the guitar -are of Muslim origin. Go here to find out more about Muslims' inventions: http://www.1001inventions.com

So knowledge is no threat to me. How so? Let's take the example of evolution first, and how it has unbalanced Christianity. (Meaning no offense to any particular religion, incidentally; this is just detailing the wider topic of just why religion has been rejected today.)

Now, the Church rejects the theory of evolution for many different reasons, mostly because it doesn't mesh with the way the Bible describes creation happened. First light, then the plants, then the animals (I'm not listing literally, I don't know the sequence by heart).

Evolution - modern scientific discovery - comes along and tips the Biblical account onto its head.

What does the Church do?

a) Embrace: this runs counter to its own teachings

b) Bluster: this means nothing except to those doing the blustering

c) Ignore.

Needless to say, c) is the preferred route.

But what would Islam do? Or what do I, as a Muslim, do?

First of all, never mind whether or not the theory of evolution is true. Arguing about it will send you down the proverbial rabbit hole (I've tried it) so unless you're a molecular biologist or the like and that stuff directly interests you, I prefer to take another stance.

I think that we have no right to outline and put down in concrete exactly how God created the world. He could have created it any way He wanted to, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge. I don't have a problem believing in the theory of evolution because I think that in the end, evolution itself proves the existence of God by violating one of the laws of physics:

The Beginning.

Something cannot come out of nothing.

Therefore, the nothing must have come out of something. The action of the Big Bang must have been caused by... something.

What is this something, how is this something, who is this something?

I believe it is God.

In the end, if God does exist, and He created this universe, and He created us, then learning about this universe and the nature of our own souls can hold no threat for us or our faith or our eternal souls, as long as we keep the essential thing in mind:

That everything has always come into being with a purpose.

:)

_________________

A good piece dealing with the same topic:

http://www.emel.com/article.php?id=79&a_id=2209&c=63&return=big%20bang

The Year in Islamophobia...

Here is a timeline, a quick look at Islamophobia in America this year. (Yes, I'm being lazy about updating my blog without actually writing anything :)

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/12/year-islamophobia

Hero Of The Day: Lesley Hazleton

So I'm going to be starting a series. Links to Youtube videos, basically, ('cos I don't know how to put the actual whole video, like, INTO the post yet, if you know what I mean) of people who deserve one way or another to be honored. Looked at. Shouted-out. However you want to put it.

Feel free to submit whatever Hero you feel should be given the heart-felt and longed-for honor of being put on my website. Animals, vegetables and minerals may qualify. Justin Bieber, Robert Pattinson and/or Kristen Stewart need not apply. (Unless they've done something enormous to deserve such an honor and the reforming of my view towards them. Which, ahem, would need to be BIG.)

Now, presenting our First Hero of the Dayyy.... (I don't get to announce stuff like this very often, let me have my fun!)

LESLEYYYYY HAZLETON!!! (which you already know if you've been half-awake, as that is pointed to very clearly in my subject line itself. Ha.)

She is an author, an agnostic Jew who gave a 10-minute talk about the Qur'an a while ago that was heartfelt, enlightening, and very true. She refers to herself as "an accidental theologist" (not very informative, but I liked the way that sounds :)

Here is the video that has qualified her for this honor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7yaDlZfqrc

Her blog:

http://accidentaltheologist.com/

So, cheers to Ms. Hazleton! Stay tuned :)