Sunday, January 1st, 2006
Good morning...
The New Year came along, and we all wish it to be a year of welfare
and peace to all the nations of Earth, especially the people who live
in hot conflicts, and among them- the Iraqi people...
We wish the Iraqis would fulfill some of their dreams to build a
homeland on new bases, with justice, respect for everyone's rights,
and peace, security, and settlement would prevail... we wish that new
leaderships would come to Iraq; more nationalistic, more honest in
dealing with the country's future, and the fate of people....
*************************
Chance can sometimes be the key to long stories...
Last week I went to a library to ask about a certain book, but I did
not find it, so I walked between the passages of the sometimes
carefully stacked books on the shelves, or carelessly on the floor. I
bumped into a line of thick books on the side of the passage; volumes
bound with brown leather, and gilded writings. I looked at it, and it
turned out to be volumes of the book (In the shades of the Quran), I
remembered the book, it was an interpretation of the Holy Quran,
written by Sayid Qutub, an Egyptian man from an Islamic group,
executed in the President Abdul Nasser era.
That was all I knew...
Curiosity pushed me to open the book and read the introduction written
by Sayid Qutub, I looked at his words in which he said- he never knew
happiness until he lived under the shade of the Quran, that in this
time, people moved away from the religion and Quran, living by the
values of an ignorant society, loving materials and worshiping
people...
I shook my head and smiled, telling myself- if only you could come and
see how things are now...
********************************
I went back home, turned open the Internet, and looked for Sayid
Qutub... I found many websites that spoke about him, telling the story
of his life, his character, his culture, then about the political
tension in Egypt after the July 1952 revolution, the clashes between
the ruling political authority and the other Parties; whether Islamic,
Communist, or Socialist, about the arrests, prisons, torture, trials,
and executions, and in the end- Sayid Qutub was one of the people
executed by the charge of taking part in an assassination attempt
against Abdul Nasser in 1966. That means he was 60 years old at that
time... and he was executed with a group of men by an attempted
assassination charge?
Well then, as they say according to the Islamic doctrine- a soul for a
soul, meaning- a killer must be killed, but what about a man who did
not kill, why should he be killed?
He went to America in 1949, and remained there for two years to study
and specialized in education and the basics of curriculum, for he
worked as an supervisor in the Ministry of Education before that.
He finished his book "In the shades of the Quran" while he was in
prison...
He also wrote many books about Islam and its future while in prison,
he believed that change wouldn't happen by coups, but by educating
people, and that would be a procedure that takes a lot of time...
And during his trial, he lifted up his shirt to show the audience the
marks of torture on his body during his detention period...
And now, as I read his books, I realize how much the nation has lost
by losing a man like Sayid Qutub and what he represents in culture,
and the deep view to the issues of life, and I couldn't believe he
believed in terrorism, or took part in assassinations or acts of
violence against the state; a man who wrote all these books, got to
the sixties of his life, and used to work as an inspector in the
Ministry of Education, who can convince me he was evil, and carried
notions of destruction and ruin to his country??
Or that he deserves to be executed?
***********************
And so, a story drags another in its tail...
I said to myself: I want to read books about that phase in the history
of Egypt...
It isn't the history of Egypt alone, but an important history of the
whole nation, for Egypt was the pioneer in revolution and independence
in 1952, while all the Arab countries at that time were under the
British, French, or Italian imperialism...
I found a book about a collection of interviews with Hussein
Al-Shafi'I on the Al-Jazeera channel, in the program (A Witness on An
Era), who was one of the revolution's leaders in Egypt, a deputy
president for a while, and a member of the court that sentenced the
execution of Sayid Qutub...
I read the whole book, and it made me sad; I saw a man, whose age now
is 87 years, who wouldn't admit to any mistake committed by the
revolution or its men, against the opposition, or by the officers
against each other, under the motto: the revolution eats her sons... I
was stunned as I read the problems they encountered, and how these
were solved by various jurisprudences sometimes, or by injustice acts,
executions, torture, and imprisonment for the opposition at others,
and the old man justified everything, under the banner of- protecting
the revolution...
And many other stories about internal conflicts, tyranny of opinion,
and the break up of the former allied revolutionary men, into foes and
enemies; some of whom resigned, others were detained under house
arrest, and one committed suicide after the country's defeat in a
mysterious, silly war- the 1967 war which tore the nation apart,
inflicting disappointment, frustration, and wounding the pride, more
than what happened in the present Iraq war.
Hundreds of books were written about this war, or maybe thousands, to
discover and analyze the reasons that led to the disaster. Some said
it was treason, and some said it was bad planning, and a lot more
reasons, but today, after I read those many books about the history of
that period, I began to see that the main reason was ignorance and
tyranny... worshiping the individual, adulating the president's
character, without directing his attention towards his mistakes, and
putting the leadership into the hands of men who were trusted by him,
but not the efficient...
Weren't those the same constituents of the devastation that has
befallen upon Iraq?
The same principal; one man, tyrannical in his opinion, who eliminated
his colleagues and opponents, took the decisions alone, and led the
country into the pit, and during that time he used to cut the tongue
of whoever protested against him or his policies, considering himself
the only wise man, and the hero of his time... and everything
deteriorated; culture, education, teaching, development, and true
building, and the spirit of corruption, adulation, and climbing
prevailed... while the people were either ignorant and tricked, or
perhaps participants in the sin... the honest men who dared to
criticize the regime were eliminated, some died in prisons, were
executed, or assassinated...
And the newspapers, magazines, and broadcasting stations clapped and
sang for the hero, Mr. President...
By GOD, it's a shameful history...
And it is repeated here and there...
And we can never declare the west innocent from dedicating this
phenomena in our countries, or backing these dictatorial types, as
long as they agree to collaborate with the west, secretly or in
public, as in Iraq, for example- when America backed a man like Saddam
Hussein, pushing him to power, and used him to achieve her interests
by waging war on Iran, the enemy of America, then Iraq's war on
Kuwait....
And here the clash happened, a clash in interests or thoughts, and the
friends turned into enemies...
Then the embargo of Iraq started, everything deteriorated ... and
everybody knows the rest of the boring story...
And then comes America, crying over the Iraqi people, wanting to save
them from that monstrous tyrant...
In the Holy Quran, there is a verse describing this scene, speaking
about the devil, and Man: (...As the devil said to Man, be an infidel,
and when he became an infidel, he said to him- I am innocent of what
you have done, I fear GOD, the Lord of all beings...), meaning-
America pushed Saddam to do all those evil deeds, then they said to
him: oh, we do fear GOD, oh, people, this man is a tyrant who left
mass graves, killed his people, destroyed his neighbors, and
lab...lab...lab...
**********************************************
When I finished reading the book of interviews with Hussein
Al-Shafi'I, I wasn't ever convinced by his opinion, or his testimony
on an era, even though he used Quranic verses in every occasion, but I
found this a sign to run away from responsibility, and justify
mistakes...
Then I went on to read the book of Brigadier General Muhammad Najeeb,
who was a leader of the revolution with them, in 1952, and he was the
oldest among them, for he was 50, and the rest of the group in the
thirties of their lives, and his rank was Brigadier General in the
army, while theirs were lower than him...
And it was natural that Muhammad Najeeb would collide with the rest of
the group, for there were the differences in age, experience, and
viewpoints...
I read Al- Shafi'i's opinion, that they were defending the revolution,
and wouldn't allow the democracy or the elections that Muhammad Najeeb
demanded, for they saw these as a conspiracy so that every body,
however unworthy, would assume power...
And when I read the diaries of Muhammad Najeeb, my heart filled with
sadness and compassion for him, for he demanded to implement
democracy, rejected the disbanding of Parties, rejected torture for
prisoners or executions for the accused, stressed the necessity of
writing a new constitution for the country, and separating the army
from politics, while the young men with him thought only by the
military mind which believed of nothing of all this, and understood
nothing of the civilian life spirit, or the meaning of democracy,
believing that power was in their hands, and there is no need to give
it to others who do not understand...
This is the catastrophic mentality, owned by people whose minds are
stubborn, arrogant, and narrow, and their experience in life is
shallow, not deep...
The result was the defeat of Muhammad Najeeb, his removal from power,
and his being put under house arrest from 1954 to 1971, meaning- until
Jamal Abdul Nasser died. And he suffered cruelty, neglect, and the
insults of some junior officers who were responsible about his
compulsory residency...
By GOD, disgraceful stories, and a shameful history...
In the Egyptian cinema I saw films made about Jamal Abdul Nasser, and
Anwar Al-Sadaat, but I didn't see anyone produce a film about Muhammad
Najeeb...
His diaries were full of sadness, and truthfulness, it didn't contain
anger or hatred, in spite of all the injustice he saw in his life, but
rather it carried the soul of a generous, honest, kind spirited man,
which made me cry a lot....
Especially when he wrote while in compulsory residence with his
family: the thing that hurt me and made me sad the most, was when my
little son came to me and asked me with deep interest: Were you a
President?
I smiled to the boy, and said jokingly: Yes, but what made you ask,
this is a long gone history...
He showed me a school text book, in which there was the sentence:
Jamal Abdul Nasser is the first president of Egypt...
All the pressing machines removed my name from all books, and the name
of Muhammad Najeeb is no longer published in a book or newspaper...
********************************
Why do we do this, and allow a man like Muhammad Najeeb to be
insulted?
Or a man like Sayid Qutub to be executed?
Did the policies of our governments ever change?
Of course not, Egypt suffers still, and Iraq is still suffering...
And most Arabic people are still suffering...
As if this became a part of our history and heritage...
Oh yes, these sick, unjust, tyrannical, corrupt governments became a
part of our heritage.
When will we stop this?
This was the society that Sayid Qutub criticized in his writings, for
Islam is a religion that came on to free a human from his fear of
another human... from adulating another human, or agreeing to the
injustice of a human against another...
Where is Islam in the life of the nation now?
Is it rituals, like praying and fasting?
Or is it a rebellious spirit against injustice and falseness?
Where is this spirit?
***************************************
And among all those things I read, the "George Orwell" Novel: (1984)
was present with me all these past days....
And although he didn't write with the optimistic religious moral, the
spirit of darkness and despair was dominant in the novel... but a part
of it was undoubtedly true, specially when "Winston Smith" the leading
character of the novel speaks about the people around him, who lived
in terror under the authority of the Big Brother, with the " Thought
Police" everywhere, for thinking was a crime.... And the party's
slogans: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is power . As
he writes in his secret diaries: {They will not rebel until they
become aware, and they won't be able to become aware until they
rebel....}, {They remember a million useless things, like a fight with
a work colleague/ a chase for a lost wheel/ the dust whirlpools in a
dusty morning... but the facts relevant to the important issue is
beyond their field of vision; they are like ants who can see the small
objects, but cannot see the large objects}...
For me, and that remark about the ants- I have really seen many Iraqis
whose brains are like an ant's, those whom you ask after the war: what
do you think about what is happening in Iraq? And you get answers
like:
o Oh, by GOD, things are better than before, I bought a beautiful,
clean car, thank GOD...
o Oh, by GOD, my salary is a lot better than before, it is true that
the security conditions and the services are not very good, but they
will get better, GOD willing...
o Before the war, I used to study in collage, and after the war I
worked with a British organization, and they took me on a training
course to Britain. That was the first time I left Iraq, and I'm very
happy....
These are samples of the little, ant-like minds, who see only the
little distance belonging to them, and wouldn't think to ask: what
about the others? What about the country's future?
*********************************
So, it does really mean- Ignorance is Strength: for these governments
are keen on keeping their people ignorant, and derive its power and
existence from that ignorance's existence....
I mean- where were the people when Sayid Qutub was executed? When
Muhammad Najeeb was put under forced house arrest, and his name was
omitted from the school text books?
I am one of many people who did not hear of his name until recently...
Where were the people?
The answer takes on many possibilities:
People were in a hustle-bustle, in heated debates about the
revolution, and its enthusiastic, heated speeches about development,
change, manufacturing the future, defeating the enemies, and the rest
of this "big talk", which is mostly false, and nothing of it was
realized on the ground of reality. Like what Muhammad Najeeb said in
his diaries:
(It is not a matter of building factories and dams, but in building
human).................
In those far off times, the opposing minds were eliminated, described
as being the enemies of the people, perhaps, and the people are in a
maze, in a whirlpool inside which they do not know the truth from the
false, and would GOD bless and aid the unjust, adulating, hypocrite
governments?
Of course defeat is their fate....
********************************
In "1984", Winston Smith says: {All the history books before the
revolution has been destroyed, and we no longer know how was the true
life of the people 25 years ago?}.
And now I wonder: All the history books are available, talking frankly
about all the catastrophes that were committed against the nation, but
where are the people? Were their awareness? And why did they turn into
a negative power, devoid of action, and influence?
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