Pearls (II) . ByTarek Heggy• When I published my article, 'If I were a Copt,' some Islamists attacked me. It seems I should be inequitable to Copts in order to be a true follower of Islam. Part of what they said was that my article was tantamount to lighting a match in an ammunition depot. Hence, I have two questions to ask those Islamists: First, does the accusation mean that you admit there is ammunition? Second, if the victims in al-Kushh were Muslims and I wrote criticizing Christian attackers, would you describe my writings in this case as being tantamount to lighting a match in an ammunition depot? Wake up, O obscurants. We are partners in humanity. If we think we have the right to ask people to respect our beliefs, it is our duty to respect the others' beliefs. Simply speaking, speeches of some about the holy books of others being falsified are a destructive start to dialogue. How great was our homeland 70 years ago when Sa'd Zaghlul gathered everyone under the banner of "Religion for God and Homeland for All!" And how indolent, fragile and disunited it has become since fatwás about breastfeeding adults and excretions emerged! I wonder if Shaykh Mustafá Abd al-Raziq would have released rude fatwás of this nature.
• During the last few weeks I remembered Ibn Khaldun; more precisely, I remembered his distinction between 'Nomads' and 'Urbanites.' The so-called Muslim world is now living in its 'Nomadic era' in the full sense of the word. They, I mean nomads of sand, camels and oil, are free to be proud of their desert-nomadic background. However, we do not want them to bring their 'culture' to us on the backs of their oil-dollar molded camels. Egypt and Morocco are the only two countries in the region with a history as central governments. In Egypt , the central-government system started 50 centuries ago; Morocco implemented it 40 centuries later. Nevertheless, the rest of the countries in the region are novices when it comes to central-government systems. Algeria , for example, did not accept this system until the time of Hayreddin Barbarossa and Aruj the Red-beard, less than five centuries ago. One of the consequences of this is that the Arab mind accepts the existence of armed powers and the spread of weapons unrelated to a central state. Moreover, there are a lot of other catastrophic features assuring that Arab peoples remain 'tribes', inexperienced with the central-state system and the legal system supervised by such a state. A citizen with a tribal mentality and nomadic ideology can speak about things such as 'conciliation between the Lebanese Army and the criminals of Fath al-Islam' or about 'the right of Hizb Allah to launch a war without consulting the central state,' or about 'peace between the fighting powers in Palestine .' Remember, I told you that only Egypt and Morocco knew the central-state system?
• As for our fellows, they are still living in the era of 'Qays,' 'Abs' and 'Abu Hurayrah' [traditional names of people and tribes dating back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad]. A leader of one of the Palestinian squads in Lebanon , calling himself 'Abu Hurayrah', is a case in point. Yet we yell: Save us, Dr. Ahmad 'Ukashah. You have more knowledge than those calling themselves "Abu Hafs," "Abu Hurayrah," and "Mu'az." In the 21st century, they are in dire need of therapeutic treatment with strong pills.
• Although the Constitution of our country says that we are a civil state; and although the regime is involved in a real war against supporters of theocracy, courts in our 'Farce-land' issue verdicts that contradict the principles of a civil society and its constitutional foundations. On the one hand, a court forbade a Christian who converted to Islam from returning to Christianity!!! On another 'ill-omened day', a judge, influenced by his cultural and social background, released a decree compelling the American University in Cairo to allow niqab- clad students to have access to the university campus [ niqab is a full-veil that covers the whole body from head to toe. A few years earlier, another court ruling brought the contempt of the civilized world down on us when it separated a great thinker and his wife.
• A message to Hasan Nasr Allah: If you claim the right to declare a war against a neighboring country without consulting Parliament, the prime minister or the president and if you claim the right to possess an armed force outside the regular army of the country, it will be natural for you to practice politics away from a legitimate framework because you 'mentally' belong to the primordial era and not the era of modern state.
• A message to Michel Aoun: On April 4, 2005 , at your Parisian house, in the presence of the Lebanese journalist Pier Aql, you told me that the greatest dangers surrounding Lebanon were Syria , the militants of Hizb Allah and the Iranian influence. These very three are now the triangle of your new coalition. Knowing that, tell me, what sort of honor do you speak of in your speeches?
• A message to the prime minister of Qatar : Mr. Hamad . at a small dinner, attended by less than ten people, inside a tent at the Wajibah Palace in Doha , in the presence of the Prince of Qatar and his wife, I listened to your opinions about Israel and heard, from you, about your frequent visits to that country. Moreover, everyone knows that the largest U.S. military base, outside of the American borders, lies on Qatari land. So, will you explain to me why al-Jazeera Satellite Channel taunts some of its guests, accusing them either of supporting the normalization of relations with Israel or of seeking to establish an American base on Lebanese lands. What do you call this? .Politics? .Dualism? .Confusion? .Political adolescence? .Destruction? Or is the issue no more than a child trifling with unlimited abilities?
• A message to Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazin): In dozens of international conferences, I have heard Israeli lecturers speak about your limited leadership skills. I have always defended you, thinking that your political vision was the best at hand. Nevertheless, during the last few months, I began to accept the conviction that you have missed an opportune moment to make the decision, as decisive leaders would do, to oust the government and dissolve the parliament. My justification was that Isma'il Hunayah's government, unlike all the governments in the civilized world, recused itself from all agreements and commitments signed before they came to power. Time, dear sir, is one of the essential factors of making the right decision. You should have made this decision nearly one year ago. Implementing the decision now will be even more difficult. Yet, it still remains the wisest decision. For a year and half, a monster of chaos has penetrated Palestinian society in general and Gaza in particular. What caused the already-complicated situation to deteriorate was the primeval Middle-Ages-like Makkah agreement, which ignored the actual reasons behind the conflict. What has happened was predictable and will remain so as long as all the parties lack even a novitiates understanding of a modern-state system, but are still 'mentally' living in the era of tribes and forging their agreements in municipal councils. Anyhow, you made a wise decision a few days ago. My advice is not to allow certain Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia , Qatar , and Syria , to defuse the value of your decision through their municipal councils.
• A message for all Egyptians: A hard-line Islamic group in Palestine announced that it would behead female Palestinian television announcers if they did not wear a hijab. For a month, a gang named 'Fath al-Islam' has been killing youth from the Lebanese Army, both Christians and Muslims. In Samara, extremist Sunnis bombed the mosque of two imams of the Shiite Imamiyah denomination, one of the largest Shiite denominations. During the same week, armed Hamas men killed dozens of their Palestinian brothers in Gaza . All these crimes, which occurred in the span of one week, are clear examples of what is being done in the name of religion. Shall we take warning from these actions? Shall we return religion to where it used to be in our Egyptian history; a personal affair? Shall we remove religious references from our identity cards? Shall we leave the management of the state, society and life to two single factors: science and administration? Shall we stop seeking religious opinions on issues not related to religion, such as bank interest, organ donation and transplants, building loans, and other secular topics on which religious leaders are not qualified to offer reasoned views?
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