From: mmokhtar@attmail.com (Mazen Mokhtar)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic
Subject: Arabism
Date: 14 Aug 92 21:44:40 GMT
Organization: AT&T
Originator: mmdh@cbnewsf.cb.att.com


Assalamu `alaykum,

  Thank you for the nice title. I took the liberty to change it.

In article <3801@keele.keele.ac.uk> phd21@seq1.kl.ac.uk (A. Jaber) writes:

>  The legitimacy of the Arabs over their own land and way of life is not
>questionable. In the so called Arab Land most of the people who live there
>are Arabs.  So the ruler is bound to be an Arab. Do you think the Arabs have
>to be ruled by Chinese or a Turk or an Iranian you got it wrong.

  There is no Arab way of life, there are Arab ways of life, which they share
with many non-Arabs.

  I never questioned the legitimacy of Arabs, I am an Egyptian myself. The
Arabs should be ruled by whoever can best lead them, with their accord. If
Arabs belong to the same country as a Turk and a Chinese, then the Chinese
should not be excluded from running the country, even if they are a
minority. After all, government is not for the benefit of the governors,
but for the benefit of the governed. We don't care from where the governors
come as long as they are effective.

>	The Arabs accepted the rule of the non-Arabs based on Islamic
>	priciples and that did not work.

  They also accepted the rule of Arabs and that did not work either. It is
not sufficient for a government to be based on Islamic principles, it must
also apply those principles scrupulously. Hence we get the successes of
Omar Ibn Abd-ElAziz (an Arab) and Salahuddin (a non-Arab) among other.

>	The Arabic language is a very important factor to protect Islam.

  Most certainly. I believe that the Arabic language is of utmost importance.
The Arabic language is not in question, however; Arab separation from the
rest of the Islamic world is.

>History has taught us that only an Arab ruler can do so. You just look at
>how you speak Arabic and judge for yourself.

  Salahuddin is a counterexample.

  I will only agree that for many jobs and tasks it is important for the
person performing it to be fluent in Arabic. The Arabic language is crucial
to the understanding of the Qur'an and of Islam, but this should not divide
us. I encourage all Muslims to learn Arabic in order to better understand
Islam, I would even encourage them to adopt Arabic as a mother tongue and
become Arabs, not because I am an Arab, but because of Islam. Until they do,
they are still my brothers and sisters, they are my equals, and they deserve
to be treated in a way no different than the way I treat my fellow
Egyptians. Islam is the bond, not artificial political or language boundaries.

>	How do you want to define a state? Arabic way of life and Arabic
>	culture has developed through history from tribalism to a small
>	state like that in Hira (Iraq pre-Islam) then by the advent of
>	Islam Arabs took on a new way of life, you want to call it
>	Islamic go ahead I call it Arabic since Mohammad was an Arab and
>	the carriers of his message were Arabs as well.

  Muhammad (PBUH) was an Arab, but he was also light skinned, male, and from
the the Western part of the Arabian peninsula. The carriers of his message
included Salman Al-Farisi, Bilal, Bukhari, Muslim and numerous others who
were not Arabs (but often spoke Arabic very well.) Bukhari's last name is in
reference to the sea of Bukhara, which is the Caspian sea.

>Mohammad warned
>	us not from Nationalism but from Tribalism, becaue of your
>	ignorance in Arabic language you tend to get mixed up. Go and
>	study the Quran again and come and tell us.

  Actually, where in the Qur'an does Allah warn us from tribalism? I won't
tell you what to study and what to tell us.

>	In no place Arabism claims Arabs are superior to any race.

  You are speaking about Arabism as if it is a document, or as if it is
defined ("No place Arabism claims..") Arabism is an undefined ideology, quite
flexible in the hands of Abd-ElNasser or others. Arabism is defined by how
people understand it. It is not a racist ideology, all I said was that it
was _akin_ to racism, it excludes people on non-ideological (unfair) grounds.

> What Arabism is all about is that Arabs rule themselves and advance 
> their own cause.

  The cause is Islam. That is the cause that must be advanced. Arabism
presents itself as an alternative, and a poor one at that. Even Islam as
a cause, it must not be advanced at the unfair expense of others, Islam
is a jewel and it accepts no injustice. It is the way of success, and everyone
is invited to share the success. Islam excludes NO ONE.

>>  - It has a long history of creating failure and injustice.
>	Examples and rteferences please. Talk is very cheap.

  If a dozen countries are not example enough, what is? There is no country
on earth which subscribed to Pan-Arabism and which succeeded. They
cannot even claim that it was not implemented correctly, the champions of
Arabism were the leaders of those countries.

>	Are not those Muslim Mujahids in Afganistan are violating Islam 
>	by Killing each other. They arte all claimed Islam and all
>	received money from CIA and Saudi Arabia.

 Those among the Mujahideen in Afghanistan who are transgressors are violating
Islam, whoever they are. Claiming Islam is different from applying it. The
subject of Mujahideen funding can lead to a long discussion [but I wouldn't
want a militia known as the "carpet snatchers" protecting my city.]

>>  - Injustice.
>  Is it Justice for all those civilians killed in Kabul in the name of Islam?

  No, so what is your point?

>> - Discouraging free flow of ideas or information.
>	My Muslim brother !! You telling me about freedom of information!!!!

  Yes. Any objections? Islam gives me that right and every Arabist leader takes
it away. There is no escape from injustice today in Lybia, Syria or Iraq.

>  May be we can model our Islamic State on the Afgani model. No I guess the
>Iranian Model. If you do not like both get the Wahhabi Model from Arabia.

  How about the model of Muhammad (PBUH) ?


Regards,

Mazen Mokhtar
Xref: sparky soc.culture.arabic:3308 soc.culture.turkish:9023 soc.culture.iranian:7189 soc.culture.afghanistan:844 soc.culture.french:5853 soc.culture.african:4199 soc.culture.pakistan:13821 misc.invest:10690 sci.econ:6872