the vizier submitted copy

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MICA (P) xxx/xx/xxxx

ISSUE 01 | AUGUST 2011

KNOWING

RAMADAN

QURANHE SACREDCOMPANION

BIOGRAPHY

AS-SHIFA

HEN & NOWMONEY


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CONTENTS

Editorial

Chie Editor - Hasbullah Syaaii

Cover Story

Ramadan

On Handling the Wazirate

Interview

With Mr. Vizier

Quran

he Sacred Companions

Biography

Ash-Shia

Edmond Sara

Global

he Changing Middle East

hen & Now

Rise o

Money

PoetryRelections on Surah Al-Kah I

Relections

On Education

Il Miglior Fabbro

Ezra Pound

Ihsan

Al-Fudayl ibn Iyads advice to Harun Ar-Rashid

From a Hakeem

Te Vizier eamCHIEF EDIORHasbullah Shaiy

PUBLISHERWazir Press110 Middle Road#07-03AChiat Hong BuildingSingapore 188968

ASSOCIAE EDIORShaee Shari

MARKEING EAMMutalibHabib Noor

CONRIBUORSSyaree PashaAl-FannanSalmanMahjabeenShaykh GhazaliAbdal Hakeem

SPECIAL HANKSMohamed Nawaz

DESIGN & LAYOUMustaa Shah

PRINED BYStamord Press Pte Ltd

ISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 201

HE VIZIER 3


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Dear Readers,

Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu.Ramadan Kareem!We humbly present to you in this auspicious month o Ramadan

the irst issue o the Vizier (Muslim) magazine in Singapore, thelike o which we have not seen in our country or many decades.

Men o letters have always deemed it indispensable to have some

type o journal circulating in their locality, which will provide

a platorm to write or established as well as aspiring writers,

especially in these times when publishing has been taken over

by capitalist mechanisms. Secondly, because o the internet,

publishing has lost its value and responsib ility so much so that any

man who is not trained to write may sc ribble as he wishes, most

o the time dross, and to make matters worse, using the excuse

o the internet simply dismiss his/her opinions and views when

called to account or by brushing them aside as an unimportant

page on the internet. Writing must be accounted or as much asspeech is accounted or, says Imam Ghazali. May Allah guide

this magazine on its proper course and protect the contributors

to this magazine including mysel rom the excesses o the pen.

he wazir, or vizier in English, is a word o meanings as vast as

Muslim civilisation. he vizier, usually an advisor to the king

and the most important man ater the king, i s also a commander,

a representative o the king either in his absence or abroad

where the king cannot travel, an ambassador regularly going

on diplomatic and negotiation missions, and the prime or chie

minister in the kings court. here have been many instances in

history where viziers have in act been more powerul than theking himsel. he vizier is indispensable or the king as long

as he abides by certain moral obligations. Responding this, we

have reproduced in this issue rom Imam Ghazalis ascinating

text Counsel for Kings, one section entitled, On Handling the

Wazirate and t he Charac ter o Wazirs, whic h in to days world bears

more importance and relevance than Machiavellis The Prince.

Since it is Ramadan we have placed as the cover story an article

about this month and on asting by a young and promising writer

under the heading entitled Foundations, which will insha Allah

in uture issues be on important matters o the iqh apart rom the

usual rudimentar y lessons Muslims learn at a very young age. Forexample, matters on muamalah, money, travelling, etc. We have

reproduced here a ew excerpts rom classical Islamic texts

too such as a very important anecdote rom the lie o Harun

ar-Rashid most pertinent or men in positions o leadership,

taken rom The Meccan Revelations o Shaykh al-Akbar.

he two most important oundations in a Muslims lie is

undoubtedly the Quran and the sunnah o our Beloved

Messenger o Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

In that respect, we are honoured to host an article on the Quran

by Shaykh Ghazali ( Imam o Islamische Ummah Gemeinschat

Berlin) and ind it most necessary to introduce Qadi Iyad

seminal text, Ash-Shifa, to understand the stature o the

Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, beore attempting to look

into the seerah and the dierent dimensions o the sunnah

he Vizier will take the opportunity every issue to analyse

and comment on events and news concerning the globa

Muslim community. For example the historic change that i

now taking place in the Middle East as we write. It will also

look into history, civilisation and arts and in the process hos

good journals as well as poems by young, old or aspiring

Muslim writers and poets. We have published a ew here

his is the irst issue and we humbly ask the support o our

readers in whatever way they can by sponsoring the publication

or investing in it, advertising, contributing to the content, o

subscribing. We look orward to hearing your comments on

this our launching issue and pray that this wil l revive the noble

tradition o the responsible pen and encourage the return to

the classical sources to study the Deen as it was in its early

times a dynamic political reality. As it began as something

strange so has it returned to something strange today. In such

times, every eort to revive the Deen will be rewarded with

the merit o matrydom a thousand times over and over again

Chief Editor

EDITORIALISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 201

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COVER STORY

Allah says in the Quran, Ramadan is the

(month) in which the Quran was sent down,

as a g uide to mankind and a clear guidance

and judgment (so that mankind will

distinguish from right and wrong). (2:183)

O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for

you as it was prescribed for those before you,

so that you may gain Taqwa (piety ) (2: 183 )

he Messenger o Allah (peace be upon

him) said: He who asts during Ramadan

with aith and seeking reward rom Allah

will have his past sins orgiven . (Bukhari)

Ramadhan also marks the signiicance o

historic occasions o ac tive establishment

o the Deen such as the battle o Badr

which occured on the 17th o the month

in the second year o the Hijrah (624

AD) as well as the conquest o Makkah

which occured on 20th Ramadan, 8

AH (630 AD). hereore the month o

Ramadhan is more than asting as it

recalls the victorious past o the irst

community o the Prophet (s.a.w).

Fasting keeps a person specially

connected to Allah, Most High. When

a person keeps ast, his heart becomes

sincere and clean. he word or Fasting

in Arabic SAUM linguistically reers

to abstaining rom doing something.

One should totally abstain rom eating,

drinking and sexual relations rom dawn

to sunset. It is necessary to resist all

temptations or wrong actions in the sight

o Allah while one is asting. Avoiding

immoral behaviour, anger, showing

compassion and constantly practising

patience are also part o the requirements

o asting. he Prophet (s.a.w) said, Fast

is hal o patience and patience is hal

o aith. He also said in another hadith,

may Allahs peace and blessings be upon

him, Everything has got a gateway and

asting is the gateway o worship. he

object o keeping ast is to keep the belly

vacant in order to control passions and

to increase taqwa. Fasting in Ramdhan

is compulsory and undoubtedly has great

beneits along with it. he beginning o

it is mercy (irst ten days), the middle

(second ten days) is orgiveness and the

last (third ten days) part o it is reedom

rom the ire. Ramadan is the time where

we can puriy ourselves by holding on

to sel-discipline and reraining rom

what will break the ast and to indulge

in extra worship which will bring extra

rewards or us. he Prophet (s.a.w) said,

Fasting is like a shield. I a man keepsast, let him not rebuke and dispute. he

best way to spend the day while asting

is to adopt silence, keep the tongue busy

with the remembrance o Allah, recitation

o the Quran and praying or blessings

and peace on our beloved Messenger

o Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Imam Ghazzali rahimahullah

mentions in his Ihya Ulum ad-deen:

he speciality o asting is orbearance

and sacriice, as it is an action o the

mind and is secret rom public eye

but all other actions all within human

eyes. Nobody sees ast except Allah

as it is a secret action with sincere

patience. Secondly, it is punishment or

the enemy o Allah as the way o the

devil is sexual passion and it increases

through the help o ood and drink.

As Imam Ghazzali said nobody sees

ast except Allah because Allah gives

enormous beneits and rewards or

asting as He said in a hadith quds

narrated by the Prophet (s.a.w), he

ast is or Me and I will repay it.

Imam Hasan al-Basri ( r) said, Allah made

this month o Ramadhan or running in

which the people will be running or good

deeds and competing with one another.

Ramadhan is the time or us to strengthen

and renew our connection with the Noble

Quran which the Prophet (s.a.w) brough

directly rom Allah, Most High and to takeadvantage o the opportunity o increasing

in beneicial knowledge and abiding by

the Quran. Narrated Ibn Abbas (r): he

Prophet was the most generous amongs

the people, and he used to be more so

in the month o Ramadan when Gabrie

(a.s) visited him, and Gabriel (a.s) used to

meet him on every night o Ramadan til

the end o the month. he Prophet (s.a.w

used to recite the Holy Quran to Gabrie

(a.s), and when Gabriel (a.s) met him, he

Fasting in Ramadan is the ourth

pillar o Islam, which Allah(s.w.t) has made obligatory

on Muslims rom the second year o the Prophets migration(Hijrah) to Madinah. Te montho Ramadan is the month in whichthe revelation o the Holy Quranto the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)commenced and then graduallylasted over a period o 23 years.

KNOWING RAMADANISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 2011

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COVER STORY

used to be more generous than a ast wind

(which causes rain and welare). he

early community used to ollow this ater

the Prophet (s.a.w). Sayyidina Uthman

(r.a) recited the Quran once a day. Imam

Shaiiy (r.a) recited the Quran sixty

times in Ramadhan, which meant thathe completed reading the Quran twice a

day. Whatever amal we do in Ramdhan,

we get incredible beneits in comparison

to other months. When we ast, our heart

is clean and thereore is more accessible

to study and to grasp the meaning o

the Quran. We will not get distracted.

Aisha (r.a) reported that the Prophet

(s.a.w) said, he one who recites the

Quran beautiully, smoothly and precisely,

will be in the company o the noble andobedient angels. As with the one who

recites with diiculty, stammering and

stumbling with his verse, then he will have

twice the reward. (Bukhari and Muslim)

he above hadith shows that even the

one who recites the Quran stammering

or stumbling gets twice the reward o

the one who recites it beautiully and

precisely. Even i we cannot do like how

Sayyiduna Uthman (r.a) did to recite theQuran once a day or as Imam Shaiiy

did to recite sixty times in Ramadhan

we could at least make a point to recite

a page o the Quran or a Surah o the

Quran i our recitation is not luent,

and read its meaning and commentary

and attempt to understand as much as

possible so that we may taste the beneit

o worship. When this is established, then

it becomes a habit or us to take on the

Quran and recite it daily as the Prophet

(s.a.w) said, Recite the Quran or itwill come as a companion on the day o

Rising (Companion here reers to the one

who recites it). Let us not orget that

when the early community asked Aishah

(r.a) to desribe the Prohet (s.a.w), she

said that he was the Quran, walking.

Ramadan is also a time or relection as

one should relect on the heavens and

earth, and the marvels and mysteries o

Allahs creation, and also on onesel,

about ones past deeds and a sk orgiveness

or wrong actions committed in the past

and to constantly have a good opinion

that indeed Allah will orgive those

deeds as Ramadhan is illed with mercy,

orgiveness and reedom rom the ire.

Being constantly aware and consciousabout ones deeds and remembering

Allah in every state and every breath as

it increases taqwa is recommended in

Ramadhan so as to make it a way o lie

extending beyond the month. Let us not

orget the amous wird o Sahl at-ustari

rahimahullah which he did all his lie and

reached per ection at an early age, Allahu

maee, Allahu Naadhirun ilay, Allahu

Shaahidun alay (Allah is with me, Allah

sees me, Allah is the witness o my acts).

One should also give charity in

abundance especially in Ramadan.

Allah has mentioned in His Book, Spend

in charity out o the sustenance that

We have bestowed on you beore that

time when death will come to someone,

and he will say: O my Lord i only you

would grant me reprieve or a little

while, then I would give in charity and

be among the righteous. (Quran 63:10)

he Prophet, may Allah ble ss him and grant

him peace, said, Save yoursel rom hellireby giving even hal a date- ruit in charity.

Feeding the poor and providing meals at the

time o breaking ast gives great beneits.

Fast must be kept sincerely rom the

heart as Allah says in the Quran,

Indeed Allah only accepts from the

Muttaqeen (who have taqwa and are

righteous). Quran 5:27

At the time o breaking ast, one should

not eat excessively as it is injurious to

health. Food is medicine as mentioned by

Ibn Sina and understood by the Hakeems.

Its little does beneit and its much spoils.

Dates and milk or breaking ast beore the

maghrib prayer is sunnah. he purpose

o asting is to increase our taqwa, to

do as much o extra worship, asking

orgiveness, giving charity, and most

importantly, constantly holding on to

patience. Intention is cardinal. hese are

all beneicial solely or the one who does it

Fasting in the month o Ramadhan

not only indicates the importance o

intense worship, but also intense action

Establishing Islam especially in ourtime, and reviving the lost sunnah

and the practice o the early Muslims

is essential. hese can only be done i

Muslims once again revive collective

duties and existence because the Muslim

does not exist alone, he exists as part o a

community and Ramadhan is the best time

o the year when the Muslim is able to ee

a collective existence. It is said that group

action is seventy times better than secre

action. I Muslims come together and obey

what Allah has commanded to do andrerain rom what He has prohibited u

rom, then we can see the Madinah o ou

Master Muhammad (s.a.w) in every city

under the leadership o an Amir. hus

one should work to establish Allahs deen

as well as to have mastery over his sel

and puriy his soul to reach perection

Ramadan is the perect time or us. he

Fast o the highest class is not only toast by reraining rom ood, drink and

sexual relations, but also to ast with the

mind and soul. hese people keep the

ast o the mind. In the words o Imam

Ghazali, hey do not think o anything

else except Allah and the next world. hey

only think o this world with the intention

o the next world as it is the seed planted

or the hereater. It is our duty to set the

place where we are living in order, and

in accordance with Allahs command

abiding by the law whi ch He has laid or usin the Quran. One should remember tha

Ramadan is only a means and not an end

Let Ramadhan be a gateway or every good

thing to start and not such good actions

which will also end when Ramadhan ends

One should not ast just or the sake o

asting. A certain sage said, One sin i

written or one whose eorts during

the day are made only to prepare or

breaking ast. Occupying our time with

meaningul and beneicial deeds which


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will bring us immense beneit rom Allah

is suicient or people with intellect.

When Ramadhan comes to an end, in

the last ten days, one should ask his Lord

or reedom rom the ire. One should

increase his worship either in isolation

or in group, or even itika in a mosque.

Narrated Aisha (r.a): With the start o

the last ten days o Ramadan, the Prophet

(s.a.w) used to tighten his waist belt (i.e.

work hard) and used to pray all the night,

and used to keep his amily awake or

the prayers. Laylatul-Qadr, the Night o

Power, comes in the last ten days or most

o the suis and the men o knowledge

indicate it to be speciically the 27th night

o Ramadan. Narrated by Aisha (r.a):

Allahs Apostle used to practice Itika inthe last ten nights o Ramadan and used

to say, Look or the Night o Qadr in the

last ten nights o the month o Ramadan.

Laylatul Qadr is the night when one

sincerely turns to Allah or repentance

and Allah will turn to him orgiving him

immediately. It is the night w hen the Quran

was revealed. Allah says in the Quran,

(Among the nights of Ramadan is) the

Night of Power (which) is better than a

thousand months. (97:3).

Some commentators believe it was the

night when the Quran was brought down

rom Baytul Mamur (Heavenly abode),

or Jibrael to reveal in parts to the Prophet

(s). Others say it was the night when the

Prophet received the entire Quran, but

was asked to transmit it as and when the

occasion demanded and Allah knows

best. A Sui o the past said about the

greatness o Laylatul Qadr, Just as the

arrival o a child is celebrated, on its

birth and then every year as a bringer o

joy and ulilment or the amily, Laylatul

Qadr is celebrated as a bringer o light

and guidance or mankind. Unlike the

birthday which is celebrated with a east

or the senses, Laylatul Qadr includes

a east or the spirit, a east o worship

and prayers. Some Ahadith inorm that

the ate o every believer or the coming

year is decreed on this night. hat is why

it is recommended that the supplications

or this night be to ask or special avour

in the decree or the year. Believers are

encouraged to stay awake the entire night

and pray or blessings and orgiveness

When Aisha (r.a) asked the Messenger o

Allah (s.a.w) what extra worship shouldone do in this night particularly, He (s.a.w

said, One should recite the ollowing dua

Allahumma innaka anta auwwun

kareemun tuhibbul auwa auanna.

he meaning o it is, O Allah, You are

he Pardoning, he Generous, You love

to pardon so pardon us. Laylatul Qad

is the most sacred night o the year, and

it would be unwise to be heedless o

the tremendous beneits o this night

It should not be orgotten that zaka

al-itr (which should not be conused

with zakat, the third pillar o the Deen)

must be given at the end o Ramadan

Zakat al-itr puriies the ast and it i

only through the act o giving to the

poor that Allah ulills the ast and

orgives what wrongs and mistakes the

slaves had done throughout Ramadan

And lastly comes Id al-Fitr which is a

day o celebration ater a whole month o

intense asting. Id al-Fitr should only be

celebrated in the day itsel, not the whole

month o Shawwal as it has now become a

customary practice o Muslims in dieren

parts o the world, and neither do we have

to prepare or Id al-Fitr while we are

asting or the thirty days and orget al

the worship, thankulness and orgiveness

we have to oer to our Lord. Let this

Ramadan bring great beneit to us, as wel

as to Islam collectively and let it be an

opener or every good thing, as a mean

which will commence the continuation

o good actions in our whole lie and not

end when ramadan ends. Remembering

the battle o Badr and the Conquest o

Makkah let this month, in that context be

a platorm o action to establish Allahs

Deen in our private and communal lie

COVER STORY

ext by: Abdal Hakeem


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COVER STORY

ON HANDLING THE WAZIRATE AND THE

CHARACTER OF

WAZIRS

You should understand that a king will

be successul with the help o a virtuous,

worthy and competent minister (Dastur);

because no king can rule without a

minister, and any king who acts (solely)

on his own judgment will surely all.

Are you not aware how Allahs apostle

despite the high rank which he held,

was commanded by Allah to consult the

intelligent and the learned among his

Companions? God on high commanded

(Q. iii. 159) , And consult with them on the

matter,; and in another place, reerring

to Moses (Q. xx. 30-33), Appoint or me

a wazir rom among my own kinsolk,

Aaron my brother. Conirm my strength

through him and associate him in my

task. (In Persian) He said, Appoint my

wazir rom among my kinsolk, Aaron

my brother. I the Prophets (could) not

do without wazirs and administrators,

how much the more do we need them?

Ardashir Pabakan was asked, Which

companion suits the king best?

He replied, A virtuous, intelligent,

devoted and honest minister, with

whom views can be exchanged and to

whom secrets can be told; or good

ministers see how kings are aring.

he king ought to observe three principles

in his treatment o the wazir: (i) not to

punish him in haste when vexed with

him; (ii) not to covet his wealth when he

grows rich; and (iii) not to reuse him a

(necessary) request when he makes one.

Similarly, the king ought to grant three

acilities to the wazir: (i) to let him see

the king whenever he wishes; (ii) not to

listen to talk by slanderers against him

(iii) not to keep secrets hidden rom him

For the good minister is the guardian o

the kings secrets, and on him depend

the orderly handling o businesses

the revenue, and the prosperity o the

realm and o the treasury; through him

the monarchy acquires adornment

prestige and power. Suggesting (courses

o action) and answering questions

are his constant tasks. He is the

gladdener o the kings riends and the

conounder o the kings enemies. No

man is more deserving o encouragemen

and esteem than such a minister

It is related that Anushirvan recomme nded

to his son: Respect the minister, or i

ever he should see you engaged in any

unworthy activity, he would not collude

I Niccolo Machiavellis Te Prince is still pertinenttoday or men o leadership and political positions,then one may saely and condently say the same

about Imam al-Ghazzalis Nasihat al-Muluk(Counsel orKings) written ve centuries earlier than Machiavellistext, and or Muslims especially, this text is o ar greater

importance than Te Prince. While Te Princecontainsin it the core teaching o expediency, that any meansto reach an end is justied, Counsel for Kings has init the undamental reminder and teaching o rulingaccording to what Allah has sent down and acting in aposition o leadership bearing in mind that the ruler oneday is accountable or his deeds based on his treatmento his subjects justly in the sight o Allah. Te Imamadvices on the art and science o ruling with wisdomtoo. Reproduced here is an excerpt rom that royal texto Imam al-Ghazzali, advising on the importance or

men o political leadership to have the right vizier, whoaccording to him is indispensable to a leader. He writes:


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COVER STORY

with you in it. A wazir must be the sort

o man who inclines to virtue and shrinks

rom evil. I he inds the king to be k ind-

hearted and sympathetic towards the

subjects, he will be a (good) helper in the

kings (task); with a little capital, he will

in time bring in a (good) return. (I theKing is hard-hearted and unsympathetic,

the wazir must gradually redirect him

in the gentlest possible manner, and

guide him to the praiseworthy, or rather

the well praised, path.) (My son) should

understand that stability comes to the

king through the minister and to the

world through the king; he should (be

aware) that he ought not to think or do

anything save that which is good; and

he should know that the irst person

whom a king needs is a minister.

Bahram Gur was asked, How many things

does the king need to complete the course

o his reign and to live his lie ree o care?

He replied, Six things: (i) a good minister

to whom he may reveal secrets and with

whom he may exchange opinions; (ii) a

good horse to rescue him should ever the

need arise; (iii) good weapons and swords;

(iv) copious wealth o light weight and

heavy value, such as jewels, pearls, rubies

and the like; (v) a wie o air countenance

to console him in his troubles; and (vi)

a good cook who, i the kings temper is

rayed, will cook something to soothe it.

Ardashir has said, Every king will be

well advised to seek, and having ound,

to keep, these our: (i) a wazir who can

be trusted; (ii) a secretary who possesses

erudition; (iii) a chamberlain who shows

mercy; and (iv) a boon companion whogives good counsel. When the minister

is trustworthy, this shows that the king

is sae; when the secretary is erudite,

this shows that the king is intelligent;

when the chamberlain is merciul,

the people bring their petitions to the

king; and when the boon companion

is a good counsellor, this shows that

things are not heading or disaster.

he Chie Mobed (Mubad-Mubadan) in

the reign o Anushirvan said: Kingship

cannot be maintained without good

and helpul assistants, and (the best o

assistants) will be o no avail unless the

king himsel is pious; or the root must

irst be sound, and then the branch. Piety

in a king means uprightness, namely thathe should be upright in all his dealings

and should insist by word and deed that

all his subjects and oicials be as upright

as he is; that he should keep his heart

uprightly with God on high, and that he

should be aware how his might and his

power, his accomplishment o his tasks,

his triumphing over his enemies, and

his success in his ambitions, all come

rom God. For should he ever become

vain-glorious, there would be danger o

downall, as the ollowing story shows.

Anecdote

he Prophet Solomon, God bless him, was

seated on the throne o sovereignty. he

wind lited him and carr ied him into the air.

Solomon looked down upon his kingdom,

eeling ull o vainglory in the obedience

rendered to him by birds, (jinns) and

humans. houghts o his own greatness

and majesty were passing through hismind, when suddenly his throne began

to topple over. O throne, right yoursel!

he said. Be upright yoursel, replied

the throne; then I will right mysel.

God on high has stated in His tremendous

and ever-existent book (Q. xiii. 12): Verily

God changes not what is in a people

until they change what is in themselves.

Abu Ubayd has said in his (book o)

Proverbs: He who keeps within the limitsprescrib ed (by God) is sae rom stumbling.

he minister must accordingly be learned,

intelligent and old; because although

a minister may be young and have

intelligence, he will not have experience

unless he is old, and the things which men

learn rom lie cannot be taught them by

any other man. he good minister is the

ornament o the monarchy, and a pure

and excellent ornament is needed. It has

been said that the minister needs ive

things i his work is to be satisactory

and good: (i) watchulness, whereby he

will see clearly the outcome o everything

upon which he enters; (ii) knowledge

whereby concealed things will be revealedto him; (iii) courage, so that he will ear

nothing that ought not to be eared and

will show no timidity; (iv) truthulness

so that he will treat all men honestly

without exception; and (v) ability to keep

secrets at all times, until inally he depart

this lie still keeping (the kings) secrets

Ardashir Pabakan has said that the

minister must be unhurried, well spoken

brave-hearted, broad-minded, good

looking, modest and taciturn; and (in

addition) pure in aith, so that he may

restrain the king rom all unorthodoxy

ripe in experience, so that he may

lighten the kings tasks; and watchul

so that he may see the consequences

o things, ear times vicissitudes

and guard against times wrath

Whenever a king has an honest and devoted

minister, that minister will have more

enemies than riends. Accordingly theking must not listen to talk by slanderers

against him; the result will (only) be tha

the riend bears a grudge and that the

enemy suers disappointment. Likewise

the minister, when he sees any undesirable

habit (orming) in the king, must bring

him back to good habits (but withou

speaking harshly); because i you speak to

a king who is sel-willed in a way which

displeases him, he will do something stil

worse. he proo o this statement is tha

when God on High s ent Moses, may Allahgrant him peace, on a mission to Pharaoh

He bade (His prophet) speak gently; in

the words o His book (Q. xx. 46), And

speak gently to him, in case he may be

mindul or araid. Since God on High

enjoined gentle speaking to His enemy

it behoves (us) even more to speak gently

to other men. I the king replies roughly

the minister must not take it to heart; or

power loosens a kings tongue, with the

result that he may speak irresponsibly


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COVER STORY

However devoted, truthul and right-

doing the minister may be, he should never

claim credit with the king or his c onduct

or put the king under an obligation to

him; because, as the saying goes, i you

do someone a kindness and then reproach

him (or ingratitude), you would bebetter o owing a debt o gratitude

yoursel. his (maxim) is especially

applicable where kings are concerned.

It must be understood that any [good]

which the minister and other close

associates o the king can do will result

rom the eulgence surrounding the king,

and that people will accordingly owe a

debt o gratitude to the king; while the

worst disasters which can beall a king

will arise rom two sources rom an

(unaithu l) minister, and rom evil intent.

Anushirvan has said that the worst

minister is the one who whets the

kings (appetite) or war at times when

suspension o war would be expedient;

[because ordered government, and lie,

health and property are destroyed in war].

Aristotle has said that when a king has an

ignorant minister, his reign will be like acloud which passes without dropping rain.

Aphorism

(In) the Book o Maxims, (Aristotle) has

said: Work which is done by another

mans hand, both by way o smooth-

speaking and by way o rough-speaking,

and which serves your purpose and brings

you no discredit, will be better than work

which you do with your own hand. here

is a proverb coined by the sages: Better to

catch the snake with other mens hands.

he wisest wazir is one who, as long as

he can, will wage war by correspondence

and diplomacy and use (every) artiice

to stop war. I he cannot put things right

through diplomacy and artiices, he will

try giving presents. I their (army) is

deeated, he will pardon their aults and

will not be in haste to kill them, because

a man still alive can be killed, whereas

a man once killed cannot be made alive.

A man becomes a man in orty years,

and out o a hundred men one proves

competent (to serve the Sultan); and

i a man rom the kings army is taken

prisoner, (the good minister) will ransom

him, to give hope and encouragement tothe rest. He must keep each mans ration

at the proper level, and call up men or

training in the use o military equipment

and weapons; and he must speak kindly

to them and treat them civilly, because

many wazirs were killed by the troops in

the days o old. It is indeed good ortune

or the king when God on High gives him

a competent, truthul and devoted wazir;

or the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant

him peace, said: When princedom or

(high) oice are granted to a man, Godon High, i He wishes that man well, will

give him a pious, truthul and right-

doing wazir, to remind him i he orgets

anything o his duty towards the subjects,

and to assist him i he remembers.

he author o this book declares that in

all periods o time God on High maniests

His power over the world by selecting

certain categories o His slaves, such as

kings, ministers, and doctors o religion,

in the interest o the worlds prosperity.

One o the marvels o the world is the

story o the Barmakids whose muniicence

and generosity no men have equalled, so

numerous were their governorships and

so copious their revenues. Ater (their

all), the oice o steward and wazir to the

kings decayed and lost status and lustre,

until God on High reormed (matters)

through the Glory o the Empire Nizam

al-Mulk, al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Ishaq.God raised him to the same high level

as the wazirs o old, and indeed even

higher; so much so that among the rich

and cultured, the alien (and poor), and

the rest, there is nobody whether noble

or humble who has not beneited rom

his bounty and benevolence. We have

only mentioned this point in order

that the reader may understand how

great is the disparity between men

who are suitable and men who are not.

Buzurgmihr has said: Some things are

not comparable with others. he essentia

qualities o man are iner than all (other

qualities, or the universe rom end to

end has been embellished by man. God on

High does not make mistakes; He grants

worthiness to whomsoever He wills, and

keeps every individual in whatsoever stat

He wills. Kings, and (their) ministers and

the stewards (o their domains), mus

thereore be in this category (o those to

whom worthiness is granted). hey mus

conserve the usages o the ancients, and

when they demand sums o money rom

the subjects or the well-being o the

empire, they must demand them only a

the proper seasons and times; they mus

know the usages and ix (tax-)burdens

in accordance with capacity and ability

(to pay). hey must be crane-slayers

not sparrow-slayers, at the hunt: that is

to say, they must take nothing rom the

poor; they must not covet the belongingsand estates o deceased persons when

there are heirs, but must shun such greed

as it is inauspicious; they must keep the

hearts o the subjects and oicials happy

by granting them beneits and satisying

their petitions; and they must realise

that their rank and dignity and their

competence and worth are bound up with

the welare o the subjects. hey wil

then earn good repute in this world, and

orgiveness and acceptance in the next


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INTERVIEW

Interview o BeConrmed


12 HE VIZIER


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INTERVIEW

Interview o BeConrmed


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Although recitation o theQuran brings great meritsand benets, know that the

purpose o it is action. Te lie o the

believer revolves around the arenao action; actions that spring orthrom the commandments o the Lordthrough His kalam Te Quran.

he Quran is a companion or the stranger

in this world, who patiently awaits his

victorious seal, sweeter than honey

his death. For the Rasool, May Allah

bless him and grant him peace, said:

When I am gone, I shall leave two

preachers or you to give you wisdom:one speaks and the other is silent.

he one which speaks is the Quran

and the one which is silent is death.

he realm o silence is penetrated through

the realm o speech. o remember death

so as not to exceed the limits set by Allah

Most High in living a lie to please Him,

in act, begins or the believer by taking

the Quran as his intimate companion.

In these times o ours, we have been

put into such a systemic and structural

working lie that the limits set by

AllahMost High is altogether almost lost.

Man, this creature, who is the vicegerent

o the Creator has become a rusty iron.

His soul (ruh) has gone rusty through

constant indulgence in the Dunya or

the beneit o the sel (nas). Forget not

that it is only in the reviviication o the

recitation o the Quran and a urther

eort o implementing its commands in

the sphere o action that one can be led

to remember death, the silent companion.

he Quran is an Imam. It suices or

the one who seeks to clean his/her soul

and surrounding. It is a distinguisher as

it distinguishes by giving you a history

o those who sought Allahs pleasure and

those who brought upon themselves His

wrath. It teaches you the oundations

that you need to plant your eet irm in

aith and dedicated service to Allahs

cause and it teaches you to rerain rom

misguidance. As a result comes the action

that Allah Most High demands rom you

to command goodness and to eradicate

alsehood. O all struggles, the noblest is

this that brings success by Allahs leave

he Quran is a light (noor) in this

dark world as man is speeding towards

his destruction. here is no more

value attached to an animal, let alon

man. Character is history. he whole

behavioural pattern to which the Quran

calls humankind is now a orgotten path

Mankind exploit one another and the

world has become darke r. Rights are being

debated while man denies his spirituality

the very core o his essence. here is

a right that the soul searches, there is a

right every mans amily demands, a right

that his community looks or, a right tha

his Creator has established upon him

together with all other rights, which he

needs to work or and which is in the

speech o his Lord, the Quran. o bring

this light irstly in him and onwards to

his surrounding is a challenge in this dark

world. Once this is understood, one mus

grasp that the Quran is guidance. It is a

sweet river or the thirsty. he guided

are those o the best o mankind, the

prophets, the truthul ones, the witnessing

QURAN

THE SACRED

C O M P A N I O N


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martyrs and the pious. All through the

history o man, the b est amongst the best

(mentioned above) are spoken o in the

Quran while the worst amongst mankind

are also mentioned in the Quran.

Allah Most High says:

Then do We abase him (to be) the

lowest of the low. (Surah 95 : v 5)

hrough this stage, the relector who

ponders and acts, now chooses to act in

order to rise to be the best model o man

as explained by Allah Glory be to Him:

We have indeed created man in

the best of moulds. (Surah 95 : v 4)

Herein lies the mercy o the Lord. Here

man enters the realm o mercy; a mercy

that descends on those who act with

knowledge to acquire the pleasure o

their Lord; a mercy that when acquired,

urther brings on a special mercy

sakeenah to guard and guide the

traveller to his next stage, the barzakh to

rest, receiving a cool breeze rom paradise

and thenceorth to jannah or the vision

o Allah Glory be to Him, his Beloved.

From the group, he chooses to be by the

Quran, that is to be amongst the elite,

as he guards himsel not to all amongst

those who acquired Allahs wrath,

Majestic is He, or amongst those who have

been terribly misguided. He does this

by seeking rom his Lord to remember

that which he had orgotten and to be

taught that which he is ignorant o.

he slave then advances urther to seek

sustenance and consistence rom his

Lord in the recitation o the Quran

during night and day, through which

his intellect is sharpened, his chest is

expanded, his heart is warmed with

serenity, his actions ennobled, his lie

uplited and the Quran now becomes a

proo or him when he stands beore the

Lord o the worlds, when dues all short.

Know that Allah Most High has

included the reciter o the Quran

amongst the puriied by saying:

This is indeed a Quran most

honourable, In a Book well-guarded

which none shall touch but those whoare purified. (Surah 56 : v 77-79)

Purity starts with intention, outward

action o purity, recitation o the most pure

speech, which in turn demands relection

and action towards the Pure by the puriied.

he relection o the slave leads him to

the understanding o his Master. he

slave relects on the mysteries o the

Attributes and the meanings o Allahs

names, Glory be to Him. When he readsa verse o deed, such as: He created the

heavens and the earth, he understands

the sublimity o the Creator rom the

marvels o creation; he recognises the

perec tion o Allahs knowledge and powe r.

When the slave reads: Surely we have

created man rom a drop o thickened luid

to test him, he ponders on the wonders

o the drop: How does a simple drop, a

liquid, bring into being so many dierent

things, such as lesh, skin, veins, bones

etc.? And how are the limbs and the organs

such as the hands, eet, head, eyes, tongue,

etc. created? And how do the marvels

o the jewels o understanding such as

hearing, sight, lie etc. come into being?

Know now that the meanings o

the Quran will not appear to three:

1. One who has not read a commentary

(asir) and has not become acquaintedwith Arabic.

2. One who has become entrenched in

great wrong and punishable actions

in Allahs sight or has come to believe

in heretical innovations which have

darkened his soul.

3. One who has studied the Deen and

remains in its outer orm but who

disapproves o all the nurturing his soul

requires, thereby contradicting his study

o the Deen.

Such are those who will remain at the surace

and cannot penetrate deeper than that

he slave has to move deeper. When a

verse is read instilling ear, the slav

becomes rightul and weeps. When a

verse about mercy is read, joy and delighappears. When the attributes o Allah

Most Majestic are read, the slave become

a model o humility and weakness. When

he reads such absurdities as the utterance

o the unbelievers about Allah Glory be to

Him, such as attributing to Him a son and

partners (things about which they have

no knowledge o), the slave lowers his

voice and reads with shame, modesty and

embarrassment. He also detests the actions

o the unbelievers and seeks rom Allah

Most High strength to establish the Deen

here is a meaning or each verse and every

meaning has a requirement. he slave mus

adopt this character as he takes the Quran

as his intimate companion and establishe

the Deen within him and outside o him

he Quran says that the lie o this world

is, like the twinkle o the eye. We should

not stand beore Allah Most High and

say, Oh Allah! Give us a second lie and

we will live it to your pleasure. When

Allah Most Majestic raises His slave on

Judgment Day, the slave will say tha

lie was like the twinkle o the eye. In

such short a time, man has to grasp and

penetrate the meaning o Allahs speech

the Quran. A great sage said, man is like

Baqarah (cattle reerring to the second

chapter o the Quran). he moment he

dives deep into the ocean o the Quran

he becomes Nas (man, meaning attains

manhood reerring to the inal chapter o

the Quran). As the slave dives deeper and

deeper into this ocean, what he brings orth

is nothing but Pearls o unique quality

he action o the slave who learns rom

the Quran is noble. It is nothing bu

nobility. It is high orderliness. his lead

to the conquest o three: Conquest o the

sel, Conquest o the surrounding and

the community, and then Conquest o

the entire cosmos. From this ollows the

QURANISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 201

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establishment o the Commandment

o Allah Most High lowing switly

rom the actions o the slave

he holy Rasool, May Allah bless

him and grant him peace, said

Man is asleep, when he dies he awakes!

Relect on this noble saying o the Rasul

May Allah bless him and grant him peace

Beore death overpowers the slave

the slave has to take on the speaking

companion, the Quran. his lead

him to beriend the silent companion

which is death! Suicient are these

companions in dark nights as light

and know that as night passes on whacomes next is bright daylight which is the

establishment o Allahs commandments

QURAN

ext by: Shaykh Ghazali


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he most important biography o any man who hastread the earth that a Muslim should read, studyrevere and keep in heart to adhere to as much

as his capacity permits is undoubtedly the lie o ourBeloved Messenger o Allah, Muhammad, may Allahsblessings and peace be upon him. His countenancewill be shown to everyone who enters the grave aerdeath or identication and that would determinethat phase o existence beore the Resurrection. Heorms the second part o the kalimah ash-shahadah Muhammadun Rasoolullah and it does not bet aMuslim to mention his name and position granted byAllah all his lie and be unaware o his lie and stature.Te purpose o the seerah o our Beloved Messenger oAllah, may Allahs blessings and peace be upon him, isto lay the oundations o our iman, strengthen it andearn Allahs rahmah and he was himsel rahmah

purely by which alone unveilings occur, lights maniestand secrets revealed. It is not to take account andremember dates and events in order to scrutinise thathistory in the light o modern dialectical thinking. TeMuslim cannot aord to put his iman and the possibilityo acquiring Allahs pleasure in jeopardy to do that

he last century has seen numerous reproductions o the

seerah, especially in the English language, charged with a ul

dose o either apologetic dictum or else Masonic language. Any

attempt to go on the other side o the dialectic has resulted only

in letist thought in an Arabic tone and colour. It is now nonecessary at all to start a resh attempt to picture the lie o the

Messenger o Allah, may Allah send him blessings and grant him

peace, in a new light according to our times, or to restore his

stature in the right that Allah has granted him, so to say. he

doctors o the Deen in the past have done all o that perectly

in the most brilliant possible manner. What is deinitely lost in

modern seerah literature is the relection o authors love or the

Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the placing o him

in the highest stature granted him by Allah amongst everything

other than Allah. his is a matter o iman, aqeedah, Allah

pleasure, desti ny, the grave and the hereater. Not only that, it is a

matter o our origin, the purpose and meaning behind existenceand most important o all, it is a matter o the path leading to

the knowledge o Allah. Without the Messenger, may Allah send

him blessings and grant him peace, in the words o Sayyiduna

Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, we would not have

known Allah. Any attempt to study the seerah should irst be in

this light. hen ollows everything else; then the understanding

o the person o the Messenger, may Allah send him blessings

and grant him peace, through his lie accounts will relect an

entirely dierent light on the readers heart and shine on his ace

Having clariied that let us proceed onto the most importan

BIOGRAPHY

Ash-ShifaAn Introduction

to the Studyof the Seerah


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text produced by any able scholar o all

o Muslim civilisation on the subject,

namely Ash-Shia bi tari huquq al-

Mustaa (Healing by recognition o the

rights o the Chosen One) by Qadi Iyad

Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi o Andalus. May

Allah be pleased with him and sanctiyhis soul or having given to posterity

such invaluable a text as this to obtain,

study, understand and protect which

book one may put ones very lie at stake.

{Insert here a brie biographical note

o Qadi Iyad rom Umdatus Salik}

he Qadi begins in the preace to the

book by asking Allah or the illumination

o his and the readers heart and to

granted knowledge o Allah and be

elevated in stations o gnosis ater

praising the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam. One may ask how the seerah

is connected to that; that very question

never as even slightly entertained in the

past, I mean beore the last century, is

due to the mishandling o the biography

o the Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa

sallam. he seerah as Qadi Iyad has

distilled and crystallised, is to increase

our understanding o the Rasul and his

stature, may Allah send him blessings

and grant him peace, and by that heal

the heart o all its ailments, prepare it

or illumination rom Allah and when

unveilings occur, be raised by Allahs

mercy to stations o proximity with Him.

he Qadi then continues, You have

repeatedly asked me to write something

which gathers together all that is

necessary to acquaint the reader with thetrue stature o the Prophet, peace and

blessings be upon him, with the esteem

and respect which is due to him, and

with the verdict regarding anyone who

does not ulil what his stature demands

or who attempts to denigrate his supreme

status even by as much as a nail-paring.

I have been asked to compile what our

orebears and Imams have said on this

subject and I will ampliy it with ayats

rom the Quran and other examples.

Know, may Allah ennoble you! that

you have burdened me with a very

diicult task. You have conronted

me with a momentous undertaking

which ills my heart with trepidation.

hen ollow words o love or Allah and HisMessenger, peace and blessings be upon

him, and words o hope that perhaps Allah

will orgive him and the reader, heal his

heart and the readers and elevate him and

the reader by the rank o the Messenger,

peace and blessings be upon him.

O the our parts the Qadi has divided

the book into, the irst deals with what

Allah has mentioned about the Prophet

in His book; the various ayaat o the

Quran and the sound and well-known

narrations o his companions that

describe him and Allahs perecting o

his good qualities and character and the

description o his noblest position in

this world and the hereater. he author

has called it Allahs great estimation o

the worth o His Prophet expressed in

both word and action. It also deals with

the miracles Allah had maniested at the

Prophets hands and the special properties

and the marks o honour (karamat)

with which Allah has honoured him.

he second part Concerning the rights

which people owe the Prophet, peace be

upon him deals with the obligation

to believe in him, obey him, ollow

his sunnah and the necessity o loving

him, exalting him, respecting him and

honouring him. hen a special portion

o this part has been dedicated to praying

or salawat and salam on him, theobligation o doing it and its excellence.

Part three deals with the correct aqeedah

regarding the Prophet, peace be upon

him. o wit, what is necessary and

impossible or him, what is permitted

and orbidden or him, and what is valid

in those human matters which can be

ascribed to him. Qadi Iyad mentions

the ollowing under this section:

his part is the secret o the bo ok and the

core o its ruit. What comes beore it lays

the oundation and provides the proos or

the clear anecdotes we will relate in it. I

governs what ollows it and accomplishe

the goal o this book. When its promise

is put to the test and its duty ulilledthe breast o the accursed enemy will be

constricted and the heart o the believer

will shine with certainty and its lights wil

ill his breast. he man o intellect will then

value the Prophet as he should be valued.

he last part is on the judgements

concerning those who think the Prophe

imperect or curse him, may Allah bless

him and grant him peace. he last o

this part deals with the judgement on

anyone who curses Allah, His Angels

His Prophets, His Books, and the amily

o the Prophet, and his companions. he

whole o the last part is very importan

because only i one is acquainted with

such judgements in the Deen, will one be

able to take up any written seerah o the

Prophet, may Allah bless him and gran

him peace, in the last hundred years and

decide whether it is worthy o reading

whether it has maintained the adab due

to the description o the lie and actions

o the Prophet and his companions

or whether it should be dumped

Imam Ash-Shaiiy, may Allah be pleased

with him, said that the Muwatta o Imam

Malik is, in his view, the next most

important book ater the Quran. Almos

all the early Muslims during his time

and almost all the ulama or the las

1300 years, except the last century, have

accepted that verdict whole-heartedly

and raised no objection to that statementIt could well be said that the Muslims

library at home should begin with the

Quran irst o all and together with it as

concise a commentary as asir Jalalayn

or asir Ibn Juzayy to understand Allahs

kalam in its rightul manner and then

ollowed by the Muwatta o Imam Malik

he third most important text to il

the shel o a Muslims library should be

Ash-Shia o Qadi Iyad. his completes

the oundations o a Muslims basic

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understanding o the Deen o Al-Islam.

In sum, we take trouble to mention

again and again that Ash-Shia marks

the beginning o every Muslims journey

to study the biography o the Messenger

o Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace. I the Quran is a journey, then

the study o the seerah rom Qadi Iyads

perspective and exposition is a journey

too. he Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa

sallam, mentioned that the best journey is

that which is undertaken again ater it is

completed and when asked wh at is that, he

replied, may Allah bless him and grant him

peace, that it is the reading o the Quran

and upon every completion it should be

started anew. he Messenger o Allah,

may Allah bless him and grant him peace

was described by the mother o Believers,

Aishah, Allah is pleased with her, to be the

Quran walking. he journey o Ash-Shia

opens doors to Allah and upon completion

every time, could be started anew too.

It is through Ash-Shia that the Muslim

will beneit immensely and immeasurably

rom other classical texts o the seerah

such as that o Ibn Ishaq and the Tabaqat

al-Kabir o Ibn Sad, or example. May

Allah increase us, you and me, in the

knowledge o His Messenger, sallallahu

alayhi wa sallam, and have rahmah on

us, grant us knowledge o Him and draw

us nearer to Him through His Beloved,

Muhammad, sallahu alayhi wa sallam.

BIOGRAPHY

It is time now to look at thisnew elite who govern theworld. Everyone can name

three world-amous ootballers.

Everyone can name several world-amous lm stars. Everyone canname some miserable politicians.Yet now, when our hundred peoplepersonally own almost hal theworlds total wealth, only a smallhandul could name one o them.

Were it not or the event o his death and

the strange nature o his demise, we would

all have remained blissully ignorant o

his very existence. At 5 a.m. on FridayDecember 3rd 1999, it was claimed that

two masked intruders broke into the

Monaco penthouse o the billionaire

banker, Edmond Sara. Fires were started

in the apartment which got out o hand,

and the terriied banker led to the

bathroom with his nurse and locked the

steel reinorced door or saety. Although

his wie told him by cell-phone that it was

sae to come out, apparently he was too

scared and as a result the banker and his

ext by: Hasbullah

Edmond

Safra

Excerpted from Technique of the Coup deBangue (Madinah Press, 2005)


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BIOGRAPHY

nurse were killed by smoke inhalation.

he penthouse atop the elegant six-

storey Belle Epoque building, which true

to orm, also housed three banks, was

seriously damaged in the resultant blaze.

Soon the story o the masked intruders

gave way to the story that the ire had

been an inside job started by his jewish

nurse, ed Maher. hat story in turn

became increasingly dubious as the media

began to investigate the event. An ugly

trail o evidence emerged rapidly showing

that Sara was under investigation in

connection with Iran-Contra operation.

here were urther allegations that

he was deeply involved in handling

unds o the Russian maia.

hen a book suraced

entitled Vendetta by Bryan

Burrough which told in

dramatic orm o a savage

conlict between Sara and

the powerul American

Express banking sector.

Excerpts o the book were

published, but the book

suddenly went out o print

and became inaccessible.he corpse at the centre

o this renzy o gossip and

news turned out to be one

o the wealthiest private

citizens in the world. Simply

nobody had ever heard o him.

Yet he had owned the rade

Development Bank o Switzerland

which he had sold to American Express

in 1983. He owned the Republic NationalBank o New York, SAFRA banks (F lorida,

New York and Caliornia), Banque de

Crdit Nationale, S.A.I. (Beirut, Lebanon),

Banco SAFRA, S.A. o Brazil, Sabon S.A o

Panama, Concord rust Ltd. in London,

and as well as these he owned numerous

other banks throughout the world.

He had been born in Lebanon, and

true to the proile we have indicated

he deined himsel as both banker and

philanthropist. At the time o his death at

the age o sixty seven he was overseeing

the sale o the Republic National

and the ailiated SAFRA Republic

Holdings to Britains HSBC Holdings

or $9.85 billion. he sale went through,

generating $2.8 billion or Saras heirs.His security chie, Shmule Cohen, got to

the apartment too late to rescue Sara,

who had recruited a small army o security

guards rom among the veterans o special

units o the Israeli army.

His bankers proile remains utterly

classical with the usual series o

luxury houses, villas and apartments

throughout the world. His villa La

Leopolda, which had been the property

o King Leopold o Belgium, hence its

now vulgar name, had been the site o

those hideous celebrity parties at which

the banking elite liked to surace to

mingle with media stars and moguls

One highly poetic press report on his demise

told its credulous readers that his wealth

had been gained in the Lebanon through

helping inance the desert caravans


20 HE VIZIER


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GLOBAL

Governments, historians andpolitical analysts are notunaware that coup dtat is an

art; and every art has its technique.Te art o capturing the state andseizing control over its unctions and

operations have passed through twostages and has assumed a much morecomplex and subtle technique withthe ull utilisation o technologicaladvancements at the turn o the newmillennium. At the rst stage, it wasmilitary. At the second, it was toseize technical and/or parliamentarycontrol. oday, it is throughtechnological and technical controlover populations (youth especially)and public opinion that overthrowsa government. Tis has become very clear over the last decade.

Sulla, Cromwell, Hannibal, Caesar and

the Plutarchian military generals o

the irst stage may never succeed today,

neither can Napoleon (who marked the

beginning o the second stage), rotsky,

Mussolini, Hitler, Pisudski, Kapp or Fidel

Castro may succeed today in attempting a

coup dtat with their parliamentary and

technical capture o the state due to the

modern presence o technological and

inancial conditions that more than ever

beore have a tremendous inluence over

political-economic rule and vice versa.

In political history, revolution rom

the French word revolvere, to revolve

is the radical takeover o power by the

governed. But every revolution in the

past was led by distinguished political

players. Robespierre, Danton, Marat in

the French Revolution; Lenin and rotsky

in the Russian Revolution; Mussolini in

the Italian Revolution; Fidel Castro in the

Cuban Revolution and the list goes on. But

who the principal players o the current

Arab revolutions are is unknown. I it is

generally described as the people, thenone may ask what power do the people

have without at least a leading voice? I

so, who is that leading voice? Nothing

is known. All that is known through the

media is the displeasure o the masses over

a dictatorship that has been orceully

tyrannising the populations o the Arab

world or a couple o decades to almost

hal a century. hough the dictatorships

and tyranny are true and the revolutions

mean good news o tyrants who never

THE CHANGING MIDDLE EASThad concern or their own people being

successully overthrown inally, i

should also be acknowledged that mere

displeasure and protests due to economicdissatisaction cannot successully

overthrow a government that has been

ruling or many years. It does not stand the

test o any intelligent mind that has studied

the historical development o politica

power and sovereignty. here are hidden

hands that have been pulling the strings

unisia, Egypt and the rest o the Arab

people undergoing political unrest echo

distinctly the Colour Revolutions tha

introduced into history the third stage o

the technique o the coup dtat. Serbia

(Bulldozer Revolution), Ukraine (Orange

Revolution), Georgia (Rose Revolution)

Lebanon (Cedar Revolution), Kyrgyzstan

(ulip Revolution) and Kuwait (Blue

Revolution) were the successul one

amongst the many more others. On the other

hand, Irans Green Revolution had ailed

he technique and art must be indentiied

and the goal must be lo cated. hen alone

can one attempt to analyse the prevalen

chaos and anarchy in the Arab world as

well as the destiny o the peoples o what

the Pentagon as early as 2001 proposed

to change into a Greater Middle East

In the Greater Middle East project, the

Bush administration with Richard Perle

and Douglas Feith called or a campaign

to have a US-Middle East ree trade area

stretching rom Morocco to Aghanistan

Now as we see US interests to intervene inPakistani political aairs and her nuclea

capacity, it may be clearly understood tha

the Greater Middle East stretches urther

pass Pakistan and that has implications

against China and Russia. Part o the

plan includes an economic relationship

between the US and this Greater Middle

East as well as an economic transormation

similar in magnitude to that undertaken

by the ormerly communist countries

o Central and Eastern Europe,


HE VIZIER 2


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as was mentioned in the G8-Greater

Middle East Summit paper released by

Washington in June 2004. It also includes

issuing massive micro-inancing loans to

millions o individuals and privatisation

o big sectors o the Middle East economy.

In short, Washington has been engaging

in a more than a decade-long planning to

take ull economic and political control

over the Middle East stretching rom

Morocco to Pakistan. hrough this they

will be able to heavily restrict China in

her titanic technological and investment

projects and keep her in check, eliminatea nuclear threat rom Pakistan, take

control over the long stretch o land

across the Eurasian continent and by

that bar Russia rom accessing the warm

waters. he hidden hands that have been

working on the revolutions are quite

clearly seen especially in Egypt. he Rand

Corporations involvement in Egypt and

Egypts Keaya movement that has long

called or Democracy as well as US-congress

inanced NED (National Endowment or

Democracy) are all cats that have comeout o the bag and exposed the hidden

hands behind the Arab revolutions.

Michel Foucault described in his lectures

at the College de France, that rom the 18th

century, when man came to be deined as

a specie, history witnessed the transition

o power rom control over territory to

control over populations. his he deined

as bio-power. With the French Revolution

and the resulting years o error, police

power and the guillotining o Kings,

Queens and Aristocrats this transition

became evident. Carrying on rom

there, with the Bretton Woods Accord

and President Nixons abandoning o it

has assumed a strong concentration o a

inancial colour, that is, inancial control

over populations not only by governments

but by private economic hands as well.

Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar

Gaddai had inancial control over

populations just like the inancial elite o

most democratic states. he political irony

is that the operations o a dictatorship and

a democracy are the same in that they allhave a Constitution, a Central Bank and a

National Debt, and inally a currency. No

state in the world today can reute that.

he dierence is that in a dictatorship the

oppressor one who has inancial control

over the masses is identiied as a single

man with an obedient ilk surrounding

him, protecting him, assisting him and

carrying out his orders whereas in a

democracy, the major player that grants

inancial control to unknown privateindividuals (inancial elite) is a political

party that does all the same in a subtle

manner over a short period as long as it

stays in power ater which another elected

party replaces the previous one only to

perpetuate the ormer conditions. he

modus operandi o all republics is the

same, though in terms o policies, which

are not as signiicant, they may dier.

he Arab dictators ollow the same model

o a state rom the irst French Republic

hitherto, without exception, ound today

in almost all nation-st ates o the world. Bu

without that subtlety o inancial contro

prevailing in democratic states dictator

have always been exposed to open-ire

hence today the people (or rather the

crowd), can explicitly point out that so

and-so is responsible or unemployment

taxation, inlation, uneven distribution

o national revenue and all that string

o terms attached to so-called ineicien

and corrupt management o the economy

his is not to molliy their corruption

but to point out the greater signiicanceo the system per se that should be

accountable more than any individua

in power. Political philosophy and the

historical development o the technique

o revolution is the key to understand the

catastrophic anarchy that we witnes s today

It is o great importance at this point to

move a while to look into an essay o equa

pertinence to the subject penned by no

less a giant writer and thinker than Aldous

Huxley, entitled, Sel ranscendenceHuxley points out the politica

signiicance o the term Crowd Delirium

hat is, he writes, he inal symptom o

herd-intoxication is maniacal violence

... a savage violence, o which, in their

normal state, they would be completely

incapable. he revolutionary encourages

his ollowers to maniest this last and

worst symptom o herd-intoxication

and then proceeds to direct their renzy

against his enemies, the holders o

GLOBALISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 2011

22 HE VIZIER


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political economic and religious power ...

Huxley goes on to explain that the

radio, television, newspapers, ree and

compulsory education, etc, are amongst

the technical and technological devices

that excite and instigate mobs towardspolitical, economic and religious goals.

I Huxley was alive today, he would

have almost instantly declared the same

o mobile phone networking services,

social networking websites and other

such Inormation and Communications

echnology (IC). He writes, Being

in a crowd is the best known antidote

or independent thought. Hence

the dictators rooted objection to

mere psychology and a private lie.

Intellectuals o the world unite! You

have nothing to lose but your brains.

he crowd delirium that has been

caused by modern IC such as those

that deliver eortless accessibility

to communicate with large groups o

people without the usual constraints o

time and space, has churned the Arab

populations today in exactly the same

way as it churned the Central Asian

and Eastern European populations o

the last decade to revolutionary renzy.

It is those who control the Inormation

and Communications echnology the

same people who had control over the

revolution in unisia and Egypt. heir plot

in Libya has ailed and the next resulting

stage, as is evident today, is o course war.

he entry o oreign military troops o the

UN, USA or otherwise indicates clearly

that these orces had a hidden agenda in

Libya. It is not by chance that Libya hasthe largest oil reserves in Arica which

had till today been under the ull control

o Gaddai. It is also not by chance that

Libya is one o the two countries in the

world whose Central Bank (which is the

monetary authority) is not private (the

other is Iran). he rebels have already

begun preparations to establish a ree

and private Central Bank while the war is

still in process. his was what happened

with the central bank when Hitler was

removed in Germany. hese economic

concerns let out the secret that the ocus

o those who initially attempted the

coup dtat which Gaddai recognised

immediately, was not about liberating the

people rom the iron ists o a dictator but

was about taking economic and inancialcontrol over the population whose oil

and other such resources o Arica

and the Central Bank were Gaddai-

owned in the name o nationalisation.

he geopolitical and economic shits that

are currently taking place in the Arab

world which the people overcome by

crowd delirium cannot see happening,

is re-shaping her destiny. Israel, which

is unsurprisingly silent plays a key role

because o the Sinai desert that serves as

a buer zone between hersel and Egypt.

From the river Nile to the river Euphrates

and Syria in the north and Jordan in

the Southwest orm Biblical Israel. he

political tension prevalent in this region

at this point in history is advantageous

to Israels political as well as inancial

control over the region. Very soon Israel

can quite easily seek to militarily expand

her territory into the Sinai and the Iraqi

desert as well as into Golan Heights and

encompass Jordan. Ater all they want

the 1967 borders. Israels expansionist

ambitions which have been declared on

many public political occasions cannot be

overlooked in these times o turmoil in

the region. In short, the revolutions and

regime-changes are moving in a direction

which could very well make it easier

or Israel to militarily, politically and

economically expand her territorial power.

I Israels borders do not expand to coverthe Biblical region o the holy land, then

at least in Michel Foucaults description

o bio-power, Israel may quite easily

extend her inancial and political control

over her neighbouring populations. I

one cannot see this coming, then one is

unaware o the historical growth o the

political, economic and military power

o Israel and her Zionist aspirations

apparently secular but ironically religious

since 1948. Washington undoubtedly

GLOBALISSUE 01 | RAMADHAN 201

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together with her historical alliance

with France and Britain, is supporting

Israel through the Greater Middle

East military and economic project.

he more immediate results o therevolutions in the coming months will

be massive privatisation o resources in

the Arab world and the devaluing o the

currencies o the countries undergoing

regime-change. unisia, Egypt, Libya,

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, all

have relatively strong currencies.

When the resources are privatised by

oreign companies, especially with

the oil-exporting countries, then the

export power will decrease directly

impinging on their currencies. Revenuecoming rom their exports will be

channeled out o the countries due to

the production o these commodities by

oreign companies. When the Balance

o rade (BO) undergoes imbalance

then the currencies will be devalued.

Could democracy today thereore be equal

to capitalism in terms o international

trade, especially since Milton Freedmans

call or No government intervention

into the economy? Could democracy

today thereore mean privatisation o the

nations resources? Is this the price theArabs have to pay or democracy? Was it

not the price South Arica paid (with all

the gold and diamonds in her country) to

be ree rom Apartheid? hen, very soon

the economic concerns like unemployment

and inlation which were the original

reasons or the calls or democracy,

will ind no ulillment. he economic

conditions may resurace with greater

intensity ater some years. his is because

with capitalism and privatisation comes

more debt and with more debt comes moretaxation and with more taxation comes

inlation and then inally unemployment

and crime. Crowd-delirium blinds the

people rom seeing this. As a inal note,

it is worthy to mention here that unlike

Libya, i Syria and Pakistan join the

Russian alliance, military intervention

into these two states that are also going

through anarchy will not be possible

with Russia, China, Iran, urkey and

some Central Asian countries that may

immediately plunge into the scene

GLOBAL

ext by: H. S.


24 HE VIZIER


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THEN & NOW

he Ottoman Empire wasestablished in the mid-1400s and at its peak had

extended into Europe stretching

rom North Arica right acrossCentral Asia and had at one pointeven inuenced Southeast Asia andsome parts o China. However, bythe end o the nineteenth century itwas in terminal decline. On the onehand, this resulted in some o hersubjects within the empire seekinggreater autonomy and Nationalindependence instigated mainlyby various colonial orces. On theother hand, powerul countriessuch as France and Great Britainwere extending their inuences andinterests in Ottoman territory as theyhad ambitions to share and divideup the responsibility o rule over notonly the Arab lands as it might seembut over all o the Ottoman Empire.

he British at that time had already

contracted special treaty relations with

Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman and also on

the rucial coast, which now orms the

United Arab Emirates. he race or control

over the Ottoman Empire was intertwined

between two dominant orces o the

nineteenth century British and French

colonialism that attempted to surround

the Mediterranean Sea. he decline o

Ottoman power provoked both internal

and external interests in establishing

boundaries and borders all over the

territory that had been or still under

the declining control o the empire such

as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and

Palestine. It should not be overlooked that

at that same time Zionism, the political

orce that has so vastly impacted over

the Middle East today, was also gaining

strength, support and momentum.

Amidst the great turbulence in the

Ottoman Dawlah there arose a Bedouin

by the name o Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd

ar-Rahman al-Saud, commonly known

to his dear western allies as Ibn Saud,

who remains to this date something

o an enigma to both the British and

the Muslim world. His roots ran deep

into the heart o Arabia. His amily, the

Saud, traced its origins back to more

than a thousand years. raditionally

it had been associated with the centra

province o Najd most particularly with

the cities o al Dir`iyah and, later Riyadh

In 1745, the historical year signiican

to the modern Saudi state, the meeting

between Muhammad ibn Saud and

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab

occurred marking the beginning o the

irst Saudi state. he two men established

a relationship that links their descendents

to the present day. Muhammad ibn Saud

died in 1765, bequeathing his politica

legacy to his able son and successor

Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud. As early as 1773

King Abd al-Aziz ibn Sauds great-grea

grandather captured Riyadh and within

a number o years controlled all o Najd

he history o the Saudi amily is one o

unique signiicance in Arabia. Abd al

Aziz ibn Abd ar- Rahman al-Saud was o

the sixth generation descending directly

rom Saud ibn Muhammad Murqin (d

1725), rom whom the al-Saud amily and

in turn Saudi Arabia take their names

Rise of the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia


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27/48


28/48

THEN & NOW

At the time o the birth o Abd al-Aziz in

1880, central Arabia had already allen

into political ragmentation, and in 1891

the al-Saud tribe in Riyadh began engaging

in a power struggle against the al-Rashids,

the ruling tribe o Hayil. his conlict led

Abd al-Azizs ather Abd ar- Rahman ibnSaud to lee Riyadh in 1891. he al-Saud

amily initially took reuge with al-Murra,

a Bedouin tribe living in remote and

inaccessible areas at the edge o Rubal-

Khali or a couple o years. Abd al-Aziz

had thereore been exposed to the power

politics and warare amongst Arabias

ruling amilies rom a very young age.

In 1893, the al-Saud amily was invited to

Kuwait by its ruler, Shaykh Muhammad al-

Sabah. By now Abd al-Aziz as a young man

soon became great riends with Shaykh

Muhammad al-Sabahs hal brother,

Mubarak al-Sabah. Ater Mubarak seized

power ollowing the strange and sudden

demise o his ruling hal brother, Abd al-

Aziz was invited to attend daily unctions

o royal audience, in which petitions were

presented and grievances heard. At these

requently acrimonious and politically

charged sessions, Abd al-Aziz saw at irst

hand the daily practice o government and

international politics and as he observed

he had ample opportunity to relect upon

his amilys situation. Najd had been

central to the irst and the second Saudi

States, and its loss engendered a deep

sense o resolve in Abd al-Aziz to act

immediately to recover and re-establish

his patrimony, and to restore the ami ly o

al-Saud to the leadership o central Arabia.

Young Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd ar-Rahman

al-Saud and his amily spent timein Kuwait as guests o the new ruler

Shaykh Mubarak al-Sabah, advising the

latter and providing more insight into

international politics. Mubarak was an

able politician and Kuwait, strategically

placed at the head o the Arabian Gul,

was a ocus o western activity in the

area especially since both the Germans

and the urks attempted to challenge

Britains hegemony in the gul looking

towards a p ossible terminus o the Berlin

to Baghdad railway. Abd al-Aziz observed

the international negotiations o Mubarak

al-Sabah through meetings with the West

which were essential political aairs or

the Arabs seeking independence rom

the Ottoman Empire. It revealed much

about the personalities involved, inparticular the startling impact Abd al-

Aziz had on his British hosts during the

negotiations. Amidst these negotiations,

wide-open British eyes ell on Abd al-

Aziz as a potential personality to extend

their political alliance with his tribe to

urther destabilise the Hejaz (modern

day Saudi Arabi) and impede German

and Ottoman advances in the region. his

could be best done by extending political

and military support to the Saudi amily

to gain political control over the Hejazsince they were already hostile to the

Ottomans and sought tribal independent

power over the Arabian Peninsula.

Intrigued by this man who was emerging

as a potential leader rom the turmoil

o inner Arabia, the British, desperate

to court him once war with the urks

became a reality in 1914, engaged in

a long term strategic relationship that

beneited both sides. British support

aided the Saudis rom the eorts to a

so-called reuniication o the country,

which meant driving out the urks rom

the region, and raising an Arabian polity

and nationality which results meant

that Britain could look upon a riendly

government in a part o the world which

they regarded essential to control the

centerpiece o the Ottoman empire.

he British successu lly concluded a reaty

o Friendship in 1916 with Abd al-Azizibn Abd ar-Rahman al-Saud. hat treaty

urther destabilised Ottoman rule over

the Hejaz. Abd al-Aziz received a monthly

stipend o 5000 pounds ssterling rom

the British reasury. British diplomatic,

inancial and military eort joined orces

with Abd al-Aziz in the Peninsular and

directed to move against the Ottoman

Sultan to wrest control over the H

the vizier submitted copy

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