Islam – Religion, History and Civilization by Seyyed Hossein Nasr – a great book on this subject is Islam, A Short History by Karen Armstrong and my note on it is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/islam-short-history-by-karen-armstrong.html - 8 out of 10

 

Islam – Religion, History and Civilization by Seyyed Hossein Nasr – a great book on this subject is Islam, A Short History by Karen Armstrong and my note on it is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/islam-short-history-by-karen-armstrong.html

 

8 out of 10

 

Reading about Islam and other religions can be illuminating, sometimes frustrating, and could lead to redemption, Insha’Allah, which is why I dedicate some attention and time to this topic, however, I am not sure you will gain much, if anything by reading these lines, so here is my spoiler alert, you have been warned…

 

And there go my two potential readers, I have this blog where there is nothing but an isolated Accidental Tourist https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-accidental-tourist-by-anne-tyler.html landing on my pages, but resilience, as in that Serenity Prayer, which has some stoic undertones, and sounds so sage, if only we apply it

‘Lord, Give Me Wisdom “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” These familiar words, often seen on plaques, were written by the American theologian, Richard Niebuhr, and is commonly known as “The Serenity Prayer.”

 

We have a world which seems at conflict destined to grow bigger, Israel has attacked, and presumably killed the Hezbollah leader, I thought I have the name, but it does not matter, indeed, the names of the loathsome must not be given prominence, and this could lead to a larger war, engulfing Iran, then USA and maybe Russia, China…

Ergo we need to understand better Islam and other ideologies, dogmas of the enemy, presumed, or possible, and we see that this is a religion of peace, the very name is based on that, and like the other faiths, many of them anyway, the excesses come from misinterpretation, like the zealots of the Inquisition

 

You have fanatics everywhere, good and bad on all sides, which is one of the main reasons why racism, discrimination are so stupid and wrong, whenever you have, say one hundred folks, you will get the Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and looking at the history of the movement, we find some fabulous aspects there

One date that came out recently is 751 and the battle of Tara, of which we learn little (nay, it is nothing) in the West, and it was a crucial moment in the history of the world, the clash between Islam and China, which ended with the victory of the former, and the result was the Islamization of Central Asia and the Turkish peoples

We know in this part of the world about Poitiers, the place where the Muslim armies were stopped in their conquest of Europe, they engulfed Spain, and they were about to become masters of France, only that came to an abrupt end, while only a little later, they could prevail over the armies of the Chinese emperor…

 

The Chinese have had allies, they were led by a Korean general, and Turkish clans were on their side, to begin with, and because they switched sides, the victory belonged to the Islamic groups, and then after this, Central Asia would become their ‘dominion’, we have also the Turks becoming not just Muslim, but spreading this further

The Islamic rulers were very clever, for centuries we could argue that that was the most important civilization on earth – after writing this, it feels like deleting it, but then why not admit to mistakes, debating myself here and saying it does not work that way, there were also the Chinese and others and it is about difference

 

Outliers https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/outliers-by-malcolm-gladwell.html by Malcolm Gladwell is a classic of psychology, arguing that the 10,000 hours of study, or exercise over ten years is a formula for success, and the stupendous author looks at the culture of the Far East, mainly China and the ways they have had

The cultivation of rice is at the heart, and this requires complete attention, there is a saying there to the effect that you can rise with the sun only a few days per year, maybe five, and then you have to keep the exact amount of water, too much or too little will ruin it, whereas in the ‘West’, there was another crop that was essential

 

Maize, wheat do not demand the same amount of time, you cultivate in spring and harvest in autumn and in winter you can sit on the stove (over simplifying, absurd, I know, but still) and that is a huge contrast, and it explains why Koreans, Chinese and others have this attitude towards work, problems, and why Dragon mothers are so impressive

Islam allowed those conquered to keep their faith, they were free to worship their own saints, and their victories are better explained that way, different populations embrace the Muslim ways, rules, those were not imposed on them, and we have such a wide territory covered in such a short time, and superb buildings from Cordoba to Baghdad

 

Alas, some of the leaders of our time choose to impose a different doctrine, one of violence, and against civilians, all in the name of…peace, and I especially refer to October 7, when Hamas killed and took prisoners in Israel, while their doctrine is one of wiping out this state, something you find in the policy of Iran

So this is a horrible situation, wherein terrorists could spark another world war, just by claiming that their reading of the Koran has jihad translated as a war to kill the infidel, and while their holy book has some excesses, just like the rest, my understanding is that this jihad refers mainly to a war within yourself, to fight the evil we all harbor, and yes, the other side has committed terrible acts, but Hamas and Hezbollah are heinous and need to be eliminated in my view

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”