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Our Editorials Articles Short Stories Poetry Reports Book Reviews Advertisement Our Sevices Contact Us	" THE. GREATS" AND ''THE WISESTS" OF HISTORY By: Shoaib Bin Hassan (November Issue 2006) As a man, leader of men, king, emperor and general, maybe in his own lifetime, but certainly after his death, the 17th king of Macedonia, Alexander (356-323) BC came to be know as Alexander the Great. His conquest of the world remained incomplete because after defeating king Porus of the Punjab, his soldiery refused to march towards mysterious Cathay (China), 'voting by feet', they happily turned homeward, Alexander reluctantly. They managed it without him. He died, on return journey, in Babylon. At his death like Christ, he was thirty three. Alexander is not as generally understood the first, but only the second, to be known to the knowledgeable world, as "The Great". That honour goes to the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus (585-530 BC) The Great. Put under proper prospective, Alexander turns out to be a pale Plantonic copy, all along the line, of the real Cyprus the Great. To his own people, Cyrus was known as pater patriae (the Father of the Nation). No country in the Third World today is without one of its own. He allowed the Jews to re-enter and re-build the Temple in Jerusalem in 538. Cyrus is six-times mentioned in three Books of the Old Testament as "ruler of the whole world". His religious tolerance was proverbial. He never sacked a town or killed captives. Xenophon wrote his famous book about him, the first of its kind called Cyropaedia. Cyrus pardoned and made him his adviser the defeated king Croesus of Lydia for his quick shrewd remarks: "No one of the living might be called happy." and: "in peace the sons bury their fathers, in war, the fathers bury their sons”. Alexander modelled himself on Cyrus. He pardoned the defeated Raja Porus for his quick response. Alexander married the daughter of one of the descendants of Cyrus called Roxana (Rukhsana). Trained by his father king Philip, instructed by Aristotle, Alexander was fully under the spell of Xenophon's Cyropaedia, A painted dog or a donkey was, according to Plato a copy of a copy of the real laid up, in heaven. (Russell's squib; what are they doing there?) The painted ones are preferable to the real ones around for, at leaset, they don't bark or bray. A great boon and blessing in this phase of the 20th century civilization whose major feature is ever-rising noise. After Cyrus the Great, after Alexander the Great, there were pale copies-Charlemagne, Pope Gregory the Great, Akbar the Great and Peter the Great... The last emperor who could have won the laurel, but did not, was Napoleon. Wellington who defeated him was equally 'ineligible for in his great ordinariness he was almost invisible in London's Strand or Soho shoppers crowd. No Napoleon the Great, the humiliation of defeat and imprisonment hastened his death. There is mystery to it. In the lonely island of St Helena, the main rooms Napoleon used had small wicket-doors in place of regular standard doors. Entering and leaving them he had to bend and bow many times a day. A devilsh device to humiliate the five feet no or two-inches ex-emperor. Not poison as he thought, but his daily dose of humiliation hastened his death at fifty two. With Napoleon's death also died the idea of conferring "The Great" on any individual. A large-scale levelling-down in new socio- politico sets up everywhere in the name of liberalization egalitarianism and democratization saw to its ouster and demise. Individualism gave place to groupism. Britain, France, Germany, China, Japan became Big Powers, while America and Russia Super Powers. However the men behind them were all in their dithering, blathering, tattering seven- Stalin, Churchill and Rossevelt. France was unrivalled. In May 1940, Marshal Petain became Vice Premier at eighty four, General Weygand at seventy three became the new C in C replacing General Gamelin who was too young at sixty eight. All these changes to meet Hitler's Blitz-krieg (Lightning War). They did not fail France. With lightening-quickness they surrendered. In life, or posthumously, if any one of these had been honoured with "the Great" that would have the greatest joke of the century. Rightly Naopleon thought that fifty two was not the ripe age for a French general to die. “The Wisest" unlike "The Great" as a honorific title had a shorter life, for being hubristic perhaps. Socrates (469-399 BC) is generally known as "the Wisest". No writing of his has survived. He has surrendered in Plato's Symposium, Apology, Republic, in Aristophanes The Clouds, in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Not Socrates, but king Soloman (970- 931 BC) was the first to be known for his Wisdom. The Old Testament has preserved thousands of his Proverbs: Success-oriented, this- wordly not idealistic but realistic. Like Bacon's Essays. Says Solomon: "Do you want to meet an important person? Then, take him a gift it will be easy. “On the same, T .S. Eliot's tip is sharp, shrewd and saltish: "so if you have business with Faber and Faber, I will give this tip, and it is worth a lot more, you will save yourself labour, if just you make friends with the cat at the door". In Sunday bazars, shoppers have, in their minds, one idea, cheap bargains. Unwisely, Socrates took his wisdom-pearls of virtuous life them. Brushed aside he was. Week after week, he carried on with his mission. By a false case, they got rid of him. The court found him guilty, and condemned him to death. The vilest end of the wisest by the vilest. His pupil Plato, his pupil's pupil Aristotle benefited from Socrates’s unconventional wisdom. No cheap bazars, they opened high-brow, high-fee secular schools, Academy and Lyceum - earning a lot more name and fame, a pot more of money. These long-lasting schools were closed after nine hundred years as unholy by Christianity when it became the Roman state religion. Toynbee's nine-volume History has maze-like oppressive circularity, Gibbon's six-volume History is impressive for its scope, sway a sweep. This "unholy" incident gave Gibbon an idea how to conclude his History ironically: "The decline of the Roman Empire was the triumph of Christianity and barbarism", which would have greatly pleasured Voltaire. (From “Aesthetics of Incompleteness” Edited and Complied By Amina Hassan. Publisher: Muhammad Suheyl Umar, Iqbal Academy Pakistan. To purchase this book please e-mail: iqbalacd@1hr.comsats.net.pk) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE IMPACT OF ARABIC UPON AFRO-ASIAN LANGUAGES Excerpts from Arabic Loan-words by Professor Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg, Cambridge, UK. (September Issue 2006) Arabic words are found in the vocabularies of many Asian and African languages, including Urdu, Malay, Swahili and Hausa. Arabic words have been absorbed as a result of complex historic developments leading to Islamisation and the subsequent contact with Arab traders or missionaries. All the four lingua francas (cited above) adopted the Arabic alphabet but in recent times some abandoned it in favour of the Latin alphabet. However, Urdu speakers stubbornly continue to use the Arabic script. Swahili speakers abandoned the Arabic script for Latin under German colonial pressure. The Malays have been writing in the Jawi (Arabic) script for many centuries but under the Anglo-Dutch colonial influence opted for Latin. However, for religious reason a small number of them (especially the 'Ulama'/ ulamak) continue to write in Jawi. From the start the Hausa language used only Arabic Alphabet but British colonial officers in Nigeria persuaded the Hausa speakers to abandon it for the Latin script, and since that time a copious literature was founded in the new script. The Arabic alphabet is ideally suited to the genius of the Islamic peoples; thus its overthrow in many Islamic societies (including Turkey) has severed the link between t traditional Islamic and modern Muslim literature, irrevocably exposing some languages of the Muslim peoples to European influence. Other major languages have acquired several hundred or even a thousand or more, Arabic loan-words. Among these are: Spanish, English and Hindi. More often than not Arabic words have become assimilated and have been subjected to the rules of the adopted languages. This explains why the usage of Arabic loan-words in Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia/ Indonesia) is different from those of Hausa or Spanish. Our purpose in including accounts of Arabic loan-words in several African and Western languages is not only to show how these words have found their way into foreign vocabularies, but also to suggest that Islamic civilization has left a lasting imprint on the language, literature, arts and sciences of many pre-modern societies. Sometimes Arabic words have entered foreign vocabularies as a result of Islamisation of some groups (or peoples) of non-Arabs; at other times, Arabic words have been borrowed by non-Arabs without the acceptance of Islam as a creed. The spread of Arabic influence is usually associated with the spread of Islam, but there is evidence to prove that the spread of Arabic in non-Arab societies came about as Arab nomads traded for pasture or merchandize, or as a result of Arab colonisation of the Fertile Crescent, Central Asia, Sind, North Africa, and the islands of Sicily, Crete, Malta and Cyprus in the medieval period. The Arabs conquered the whole of North Africa from the Nile Valley to the Atlantic coast during the First Islamic Century/ 7th-8th century AD. From the Second Islamic century/ 8th century AD onward the Arabs became the masters of the entire North and North-West of Africa. During the Third Century AH/ 9th century AD Arab merchants in the town of Tahart (in Algeria) had established trading contacts with Ghana, Mali and Mauritania. Moreover, Arabic was used as the administrative language in the Arab garrison towns of North Africa, such as Fustat (old Cairo),Cyrenaica, Qayrawan and Tunis towards the end of the Umayyad Khalifate (661-750 AD) of Damascus. Thus Arabs and Islam had made gradual progress in converting the Berber population of the Zanata, Masmuda and Sinhajah tribes and established trading links as well as opened missionary routes to Africa south of the Sahara by the 8th-9th century AD. The Arab military advance reached the Sudan (especially Nubia) towards the close of the 7th century AD and thereafter. The Arabs had also reached as far as Mozambique by the Second-Third Century of the Hijrah Era/ 8th-9th century A.D. Arab traders, missionaries and explorers had gained considerable knowledge about Eastern and Western Africa, as well as Africa south of the Sahara by the 9th-10th century A.D. as is evidenced by historical, geographical and literary writings in Arabic. In the "Lamu Chronicles" the coming of Arab permanent settlers in East Africa was reported to have taken place during the reign of the Umayyad Khalifah (caliph) 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (65-86 AH/685-705 AD). With the coming of the Arabs in Africa the Arabic language reached the regions of North Africa and East African littoral (Sahil/ Sawahil ) as early as the First century Hijrah/ 7th to early 8th century A.D. The spread of Arabic and Islam in East Africa was not accompanied by military adventure but simply by the peaceful means of trade and missionary work carried out by Arab merchants and settlers. After the colonisation of Egypt Arabic gradually became the lingua franca during the era of the Umayyad (661-750 AD)and the 'Abbasid Khalifates (750-1258 AD), and the Arabic alphabet was firmly established as the dominant medium of writing. The Coptic language, which had been the language of Egypt before Islam, was gradually reduced to a second language and its usage limited to the Coptic Church. The Berber language of North Africa gave way to Arabic, but it is still spoken in small pockets of Libya (such as Nalut ), southern Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Today Arabic is the lingua franca of the whole of North Africa. Arabic dialects are spoken in areas between Lake Chad and the Nile. In southern Sudan, Cameroon and the Central African Republic Arabic is spoken in the pidgin form of 'Bimbashi Arabic' and Turku. The Nubi are strong adherents of Islam and speak the South Sudan Arabic as their mother tongue. The so-called Nubi, who are found in southern Uganda, are "the descendants of soldiers from Sudan who settled in Uganda. Arabic is treated as a second language on the East African coast and it is fairly understood and spoken in the Somali Republic". The spread of Islam and Arabic in Africa enriched the languages of the African population with 'hundreds of religious, political, commercial and abstract words and expressions'. Arabic has contributed to the growth of literacy among the African tribes since the medieval period, and it has been admitted that Arabic had stimulated the Africans to write their own languages. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAITHS BUILDS COMMUNITIES By: Muhammad Sharif Baqa (London) (June Issue 2006) A leading orientalist, Professor Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) has defined faith as a “system of general truths which have the affects of transforming character when they are sincerely held and VIVIDLY comprehended”. From this point of view, the transformation and guidance of man’s inner and outer life is the essential aim of faith. Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal the eminent poet-philospher of the Indo-Pak sub-continent (1877-1938) was of the opinion that “Religion is not a departmental affair, it is neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor mere action, it is an expression of the whole man”. The ‘Book of Common Prayer’ describes faith in these words, “An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”. It is clear from these words of the Bible that faith is related to the internal and the external aspects of human life. There is not a shadow of doubt that faith plays a crucial role in our individual and collective life. Since the dawn of human civilization it has assumed paramount importance in building Communities in various ages and countries, without any exaggeration it is the pivot of our comprehensive social life. It is an undeniable fact that faith, to a great extent, is closely connected with certain ethical values and laudable moral principles. This basic inter-relationship casts tremendous impact on the prevention of crimes and many social evils. In my humble opinion no durable culture or sound social system can effectively and properly evolve without real faith. Being the essential basis of civilized and well-ordered life it regulates most of our community affairs, man festivals, popular customs and domestic relationship. From this standpoint its leading role of Community building cannot be ignored. It goes without saying that our places of worship are centers of our Communities. These faith places are expected to instill certain commendable moral qualities in the minds of their adherents so that they may enhance the noble cause of peaceful co-existence, social harmony and the spirit of tolerance. It is a fact that faith leaders can remove some deep-rooted prejudices and misunderstandings, which usually divide the followers of different faiths. We should remember that a Community has the power of the act as a corporate body when common problems arise and threaten its existence. Conflicts, which divide a Community into hostile classes and pressure groups, are often a test of its ability to solve problems. It is unfortunate that some groups after feeling the pangs of isolation, deprivation, lack of job opportunities and bad housing turn to dangerous and violent methods. Take the example of France where the new politics of anger has emerged. To avoid such circumstances the first priority is to builds on sound principle and policies the basic institutions of social life i.e., families, places of worship and the seats of learning etc. It will not be out of place to mention here briefly some salient features of the Muslim faith for general awareness. Islam is the religion of internal as well as external peace. It vehemently denounces all kinds of social disorder, injustice, oppression, exploitation and moral corruption. It promotes the welfare of all human beings irrespective of the distinctions of colour, creed, and race etc. Its concept of global brotherhood and peace is one of its chief characteristics. I venture to quote here a few versus from Qur’an:- “And disturb not the peace of the Earth after it has been reformed; this is good for you if you are believers.” “And do good to others as God has done good to thee, and seek not the violation of peace in the Earth, for God does not love those who break the peace.” “There is no compulsion in religion”. “Verily, we have made the children of Adam worthy of respect.” “Mankind is one community.” The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) has also laid considerable emphasis on the unity of the mankind. He said, “All creatures are the family of God, therefore you must show kindness to all the creatures of God.” Like Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other faiths have also emphasized to supreme importance of love, mercy, virtues and tolerance. Their scriptures have also condemned inhumanity and war-mongering. Let us be united in the name of humanity to enhance the worthy cause peaceful co-existence and social harmony in this multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-faith society. May God bless you all. Amen! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KNIFE CULTURE IN BRITAIN By: Azeem Akhtar (June Issue 2006) Carrying Knives in Britain has been a continuous problem so the government are holding a National Knife Amnesty in the period 24th May- 30th June. Sadiq Khan MP wants to tackle knife crime and violence in Tooting and the UK, where he states “knife amnesty is about creating safer streets”. He also commented “Often those who carry a knife or dangerous weapon mistakenly believe they are protecting themselves and have no intention of becoming a murderer- but coupled with drink or drugs these weapons all too often lead to bloodshed”. The amnesty will concentrate on those who carry knives and offensive weapons. It will urge and give an opportunity for people to hand in their knives during the amnesty period. Therefore people will be immune from prosecution. Many incidents involving knife crime have resulted in many lives being lost. Stories include a teenager lying in a pool of blood in the street after being stabbed. Most recently a student and upcoming footballer Kiyon Prince aged 15 died in a knife attack. Many experts believe that the number of fatal stabbings will only increase unless the knife culture among young people is tackled. Six percent of all violent crimes in Britain are reported to be knife-related and an estimated 12,500 knife related incidents occurred last year in London. Knife crime is common among young people aged between 15-18 years of age. A North London Labour MP Diane Abbot said that “Young children grow up in a society where music, the video games and the film are all saturated with violence”. The majority of the victims are young people and as the law stands, carrying a knife or bladed article in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse” can lead up to two years imprisonment. Many campaigners and the families feel such present sentences are not tough enough and they are asking for sentences such as five years in prison should be enforced. This can be shown by a campaign group referred as Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), “What we have to do is teach our children that violence is not acceptable in our society.’’

THE. GREATS" AND ''THE WISESTS" OF HISTORY
By: Shoaib Bin Hassan (November Issue 2006)

As a man, leader of men, king, emperor and general, maybe in his own lifetime, but certainly after his death, the 17th king of Macedonia, Alexander (356-323) BC came to be know as Alexander the Great. His conquest of the world remained incomplete because after defeating king Porus of the Punjab, his soldiery refused to march towards mysterious Cathay (China), 'voting by feet', they happily turned homeward, Alexander reluctantly. They managed it without him. He died, on return journey, in Babylon. At his death like Christ, he was thirty three.

Alexander is not as generally understood the first, but only the second, to be known to the knowledgeable world, as "The Great". That honour goes to the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus (585-530 BC) The Great. Put under proper prospective, Alexander turns out to be a pale Plantonic copy, all along the line, of the real Cyprus the Great.

To his own people, Cyrus was known as pater patriae (the Father of the Nation). No country in the Third World today is without one of its own. He allowed the Jews to re-enter and re-build the Temple in Jerusalem in 538. Cyrus is six-times mentioned in three Books of the Old Testament as "ruler of the whole world". His religious tolerance was proverbial. He never sacked a town or killed captives. Xenophon wrote his famous book about him, the first of its kind called Cyropaedia. Cyrus pardoned and made him his adviser the defeated king Croesus of Lydia for his quick shrewd remarks: "No one of the living might be called happy." and: "in peace the sons bury their fathers, in war, the fathers bury their sons”.

Alexander modelled himself on Cyrus. He pardoned the defeated Raja Porus for his quick response. Alexander married the daughter of one of the descendants of Cyrus called Roxana (Rukhsana).

Trained by his father king Philip, instructed by Aristotle, Alexander was fully under the spell of Xenophon's Cyropaedia,

A painted dog or a donkey was, according to Plato a copy of a copy of the real laid up, in heaven. (Russell's squib; what are they doing there?) The painted ones are preferable to the real ones around for, at leaset, they don't bark or bray. A great boon and blessing in this phase of the 20th century
civilization whose major feature is ever-rising noise.

After Cyrus the Great, after Alexander the Great, there were pale copies-Charlemagne, Pope Gregory the Great, Akbar the Great and Peter the Great... The last emperor who could have won the laurel, but did not, was Napoleon. Wellington who defeated him was equally 'ineligible for in his great ordinariness he was almost invisible in London's Strand or Soho shoppers crowd. No Napoleon the Great, the humiliation of defeat and imprisonment hastened his death. There is mystery to it.

In the lonely island of St Helena, the main rooms Napoleon used had small wicket-doors in place of regular standard doors. Entering and leaving them he had to bend and bow many times a day. A devilsh device to humiliate the five feet no or two-inches ex-emperor. Not poison as he thought, but his daily dose of humiliation hastened his death at fifty two.

With Napoleon's death also died the idea of conferring "The Great" on any individual. A large-scale levelling-down in new socio- politico sets up everywhere in the name of liberalization egalitarianism and democratization saw to its ouster and demise. Individualism gave place to groupism. Britain, France, Germany, China, Japan became Big Powers, while America and Russia Super Powers. However the men behind them were all in their dithering, blathering, tattering seven- Stalin, Churchill and Rossevelt. France was unrivalled. In May 1940, Marshal Petain became Vice Premier at eighty four, General Weygand at seventy three became the new C in C replacing General Gamelin who was too young at sixty eight. All these changes to meet Hitler's Blitz-krieg (Lightning War). They did not fail France. With lightening-quickness they surrendered. In life, or posthumously, if any one of these had been honoured with "the Great" that would have the greatest joke of the century. Rightly Naopleon thought that fifty two was not the ripe age for a French general to die.

“The Wisest" unlike "The Great" as a honorific title had a shorter life, for being hubristic perhaps. Socrates (469-399 BC) is generally known as "the Wisest". No writing of his has survived. He has surrendered in Plato's Symposium, Apology, Republic, in Aristophanes The Clouds, in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Not Socrates, but king Soloman (970- 931 BC) was the first to be known for his Wisdom. The Old Testament has preserved thousands of his Proverbs: Success-oriented, this- wordly not idealistic but realistic. Like Bacon's Essays. Says Solomon: "Do you want to meet an important person? Then, take him a gift it will be easy. “On the same, T .S. Eliot's tip is sharp, shrewd and saltish: "so if you have business with Faber and Faber, I will give this tip, and it is worth a lot more, you will save yourself labour, if just you make friends with the cat at the door".

In Sunday bazars, shoppers have, in their minds, one idea, cheap bargains. Unwisely, Socrates took his wisdom-pearls of virtuous life them. Brushed aside he was. Week after week, he carried on with his mission. By a false case, they got rid of him. The court found him guilty, and condemned him to death. The vilest end of the wisest by the vilest.

His pupil Plato, his pupil's pupil Aristotle benefited from Socrates’s unconventional wisdom. No cheap bazars, they opened high-brow, high-fee secular schools, Academy and Lyceum - earning a lot more name and fame, a pot more of money. These long-lasting schools were closed after nine hundred years as unholy by Christianity when it became the Roman state religion.

Toynbee's nine-volume History has maze-like oppressive circularity, Gibbon's six-volume History is impressive for its scope, sway a sweep. This "unholy" incident gave Gibbon an idea how to conclude his History ironically: "The decline of the Roman Empire was the triumph of Christianity and barbarism", which would have greatly pleasured Voltaire.

(From “Aesthetics of Incompleteness” Edited and Complied By Amina Hassan. Publisher: Muhammad Suheyl Umar, Iqbal Academy Pakistan. To purchase this book please e-mail: iqbalacd@1hr.comsats.net.pk)

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THE IMPACT OF ARABIC UPON AFRO-ASIAN LANGUAGES
Excerpts from Arabic Loan-words by Professor Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg, Cambridge, UK. (September Issue 2006)

Arabic words are found in the vocabularies of many Asian and African languages,
including Urdu, Malay, Swahili and Hausa. Arabic words have been absorbed as a result of complex historic developments leading to Islamisation and the subsequent contact with Arab traders or missionaries.

All the four lingua francas (cited above) adopted the Arabic alphabet but in recent times some abandoned it in favour of the Latin alphabet. However, Urdu speakers stubbornly continue to use the Arabic script. Swahili speakers abandoned the Arabic script for Latin under German colonial pressure. The Malays have been writing in the Jawi (Arabic) script for many centuries but under the Anglo-Dutch colonial influence opted for Latin. However, for religious reason a small number of them (especially the 'Ulama'/ ulamak) continue to write in Jawi.

From the start the Hausa language used only Arabic Alphabet but British colonial officers in Nigeria persuaded the Hausa speakers to abandon it for the Latin script, and since that time a copious literature was founded in the new script. The Arabic alphabet is ideally suited to the genius of the Islamic peoples; thus its overthrow in many Islamic societies (including Turkey) has severed the link between t traditional Islamic and modern Muslim literature, irrevocably exposing some languages of the Muslim peoples to European influence.

Other major languages have acquired several hundred or even a thousand or more, Arabic loan-words. Among these are: Spanish, English and Hindi. More often than not Arabic words have become assimilated and have been subjected to the rules of the adopted languages. This explains why the usage of Arabic loan-words in Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia/ Indonesia) is different from those of Hausa or Spanish.

Our purpose in including accounts of Arabic loan-words in several African and Western languages is not only to show how these words have found their way into foreign vocabularies, but also to suggest that Islamic civilization has left a lasting imprint on the language, literature, arts and sciences of many pre-modern societies. Sometimes Arabic words have entered foreign vocabularies as a result of Islamisation of some groups (or peoples) of non-Arabs; at other times, Arabic words have been borrowed by non-Arabs without the acceptance of Islam as a creed. The spread of Arabic influence is usually associated with the spread of Islam, but there is evidence to prove that the spread of Arabic in non-Arab societies came about as Arab nomads traded for pasture or merchandize, or as a result of Arab colonisation of the Fertile Crescent, Central Asia, Sind, North Africa, and the islands of Sicily, Crete, Malta and Cyprus in the medieval period.

The Arabs conquered the whole of North Africa from the Nile Valley to the Atlantic coast during the First Islamic Century/ 7th-8th century AD. From the Second Islamic century/ 8th century AD onward the Arabs became the masters of the entire North and North-West of Africa. During the Third Century AH/ 9th century AD Arab merchants in the town of Tahart (in Algeria) had established trading contacts with Ghana, Mali and Mauritania. Moreover, Arabic was used as the administrative language in the Arab garrison towns of North Africa, such as Fustat (old Cairo),Cyrenaica, Qayrawan and Tunis towards the end of the Umayyad Khalifate (661-750 AD) of Damascus. Thus Arabs and Islam had made gradual progress in converting the Berber population of the Zanata, Masmuda and Sinhajah tribes and established trading links as well as opened missionary routes to Africa south of the Sahara by the 8th-9th century AD. The Arab military advance reached the Sudan (especially Nubia) towards the close of the 7th century AD and thereafter.

The Arabs had also reached as far as Mozambique by the Second-Third Century of the Hijrah Era/ 8th-9th century A.D. Arab traders, missionaries and explorers had gained considerable knowledge about Eastern and Western Africa, as well as Africa south of the Sahara by the 9th-10th century A.D. as is evidenced by historical, geographical and literary writings in Arabic. In the "Lamu Chronicles" the coming of Arab permanent settlers in East Africa was reported to have taken place during the reign of the Umayyad Khalifah (caliph) 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (65-86 AH/685-705 AD). With the coming of the Arabs in Africa the Arabic language reached the regions of North Africa and East African littoral (Sahil/ Sawahil ) as early as the First century Hijrah/ 7th to early 8th century A.D. The spread of Arabic and Islam in East Africa was not accompanied by military adventure but simply by the peaceful means of trade and missionary work carried out by Arab merchants and settlers.

After the colonisation of Egypt Arabic gradually became the lingua franca during the era of the Umayyad (661-750 AD)and the 'Abbasid Khalifates (750-1258 AD), and the Arabic alphabet was firmly established as the dominant medium of writing. The Coptic language, which had been the language of Egypt before Islam, was gradually reduced to a second language and its usage limited to the Coptic Church. The Berber language of North Africa gave way to Arabic, but it is still spoken in small pockets of Libya (such as Nalut ), southern Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Today Arabic is the lingua franca of the whole of North Africa. Arabic dialects are spoken in areas between Lake Chad and the Nile. In southern Sudan, Cameroon and the Central African Republic Arabic is spoken in the pidgin form of 'Bimbashi Arabic' and Turku. The Nubi are strong adherents of Islam and speak the South Sudan Arabic as their mother tongue. The so-called Nubi, who are found in southern Uganda, are "the descendants of soldiers from Sudan who settled in Uganda. Arabic is treated as a second language on the East African coast and it is fairly understood and spoken in the Somali Republic".

The spread of Islam and Arabic in Africa enriched the languages of the African population with 'hundreds of religious, political, commercial and abstract words and expressions'. Arabic has contributed to the growth of literacy among the African tribes since the medieval period, and it has been admitted that Arabic had stimulated the Africans to write their own languages.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FAITHS BUILDS COMMUNITIES
By: Muhammad Sharif Baqa (London) (June Issue 2006)

A leading orientalist, Professor Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) has defined faith as a “system of general truths which have the affects of transforming character when they are sincerely held and VIVIDLY comprehended”. From this point of view, the transformation and guidance of man’s inner and outer life is the essential aim of faith.

Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal the eminent poet-philospher of the Indo-Pak sub-continent (1877-1938) was of the opinion that “Religion is not a departmental affair, it is neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor mere action, it is an expression of the whole man”.

The ‘Book of Common Prayer’ describes faith in these words, “An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”. It is clear from these words of the Bible that faith is related to the internal and the external aspects of human life.

There is not a shadow of doubt that faith plays a crucial role in our individual and collective life. Since the dawn of human civilization it has assumed paramount importance in building Communities in various ages and countries, without any exaggeration it is the pivot of our comprehensive social life.

It is an undeniable fact that faith, to a great extent, is closely connected with certain ethical values and laudable moral principles. This basic inter-relationship casts tremendous impact on the prevention of crimes and many social evils. In my humble opinion no durable culture or sound social system can effectively and properly evolve without real faith. Being the essential basis of civilized and well-ordered life it regulates most of our community affairs, man festivals, popular customs and domestic relationship. From this standpoint its leading role of Community building cannot be ignored.

It goes without saying that our places of worship are centers of our Communities. These faith places are expected to instill certain commendable moral qualities in the minds of their adherents so that they may enhance the noble cause of peaceful co-existence, social harmony and the spirit of tolerance. It is a fact that faith leaders can remove some deep-rooted prejudices and misunderstandings, which usually divide the followers of different faiths. We should remember that a Community has the power of the act as a corporate body when common problems arise and threaten its existence. Conflicts, which divide a Community into hostile classes and pressure groups, are often a test of its ability to solve problems. It is unfortunate that some groups after feeling the pangs of isolation, deprivation, lack of job opportunities and bad housing turn to dangerous and violent methods. Take the example of France where the new politics of anger has emerged. To avoid such circumstances the first priority is to builds on sound principle and policies the basic institutions of social life i.e., families, places of worship and the seats of learning etc.

It will not be out of place to mention here briefly some salient features of the Muslim faith for general awareness.

Islam is the religion of internal as well as external peace. It vehemently denounces all kinds of social disorder, injustice, oppression, exploitation and moral corruption.
It promotes the welfare of all human beings irrespective of the distinctions of colour, creed, and race etc. Its concept of global brotherhood and peace is one of its chief characteristics. I venture to quote here a few versus from Qur’an:-

“And disturb not the peace of the Earth after it has been reformed; this is good for you if you are believers.”
“And do good to others as God has done good to thee, and seek not the violation of peace in the Earth, for God does not love those who break the peace.”
“There is no compulsion in religion”.
“Verily, we have made the children of Adam worthy of respect.”
“Mankind is one community.”

The Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) has also laid considerable emphasis on the unity of the mankind. He said, “All creatures are the family of God, therefore you must show kindness to all the creatures of God.”

Like Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other faiths have also emphasized to supreme importance of love, mercy, virtues and tolerance. Their scriptures have also condemned inhumanity and war-mongering. Let us be united in the name of humanity to enhance the worthy cause peaceful co-existence and social harmony in this multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-faith society. May God bless you all.

Amen!

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KNIFE CULTURE IN BRITAIN
By: Azeem Akhtar (June Issue 2006)

Carrying Knives in Britain has been a continuous problem so the government are holding a National Knife Amnesty in the period 24th May- 30th June.

Sadiq Khan MP wants to tackle knife crime and violence in Tooting and the UK, where he states “knife amnesty is about creating safer streets”. He also commented “Often those who carry a knife or dangerous weapon mistakenly believe they are protecting themselves and have no intention of becoming a murderer- but coupled with drink or drugs these weapons all too often lead to bloodshed”.

The amnesty will concentrate on those who carry knives and offensive weapons. It will urge and give an opportunity for people to hand in their knives during the amnesty period. Therefore people will be immune from prosecution.

Many incidents involving knife crime have resulted in many lives being lost. Stories include a teenager lying in a pool of blood in the street after being stabbed. Most recently a student and upcoming footballer Kiyon Prince aged 15 died in a knife attack.

Many experts believe that the number of fatal stabbings will only increase unless the knife culture among young people is tackled. Six percent of all violent crimes in Britain are reported to be knife-related and an estimated 12,500 knife related incidents occurred last year in London. Knife crime is common among young people aged between 15-18 years of age.

A North London Labour MP Diane Abbot said that “Young children grow up in a society where music, the video games and the film are all saturated with violence”.

The majority of the victims are young people and as the law stands, carrying a knife or bladed article in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse” can lead up to two years imprisonment.

Many campaigners and the families feel such present sentences are not tough enough and they are asking for sentences such as five years in prison should be enforced. This can be shown by a campaign group referred as Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), “What we have to do is teach our children that violence is not acceptable in
our society.’’