Muslims face discrimination in India: Shabana Azmi

Sunday, August 17 2008 12:48(IST): "Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims", said Bollywood actor and former MP Shabana Azmi. She said this in 'Devil's Advocate' show of CNN-IBN TV channel hosted by Karan Thapar. She said that though Muslims are safer in India than in other parts of the world because they have a stake and space in Indian democracy, Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims.

Shabana said, "I think there is not enough understanding of the fact that in a democracy how you treat the security of the minority must be a very important part for the success of a democracy. You can't only make token gestures and actually let them be in the state that they are as the Rajinder Sachar Committee report shows. So what happened is token gestures are made but real issues are never addressed."

Shabana Azmi said that despite India's secular nature Muslims are discriminated here. She said she couldn't buy a house in Mumbai because she was a Muslim. "I wanted to buy a flat in Bombay and it wasn't given to me because I was a Muslim and I read the same about Saif (Ali Khan). Now, I mean, if Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi cannot get a flat in Bombay because they are Muslims, then what are we talking about?"

Questioned about the Kashmir violence having a wider communal ramification elsewhere in the country at present, she said, "That's why I am so distressed over what is happening in Kashmir. For heaven's sake it should be brought to a stop and it should have been brought to a stop right when they started that nonsense."

But she agreed that it was the responsibility of the Muslim leadership to change the image of their community. "I don't think that the Muslim leadership has bothered to clear the air about what Islam actually is."

Source: OneIndia News

TATA against Muslims?

I fail to understand why TATASKY chose not to telecast QTV and Peace TV when both the channels are free-to-air and focuses on Islamic teachings and has NO political affiliation to any group. On the contrary Tata chose to telecast religious channels of Hindu, Sikh and Christian communities. Why so unfair treatment for Muslims?

Mr. Ratan Naval Tata, I would like to bring to your kind notice that the Tata Empire which stands all across India has equal contribution of the Muslim community which includes Mr. Ishaat Hussein (The Finance Director of Tata Sons).

Its high time you take note of this UNFAIR TREATMENT and add those channels, before you are branded as communal.

Madrasa syllabi free from communal hatred

New Delhi: CABE Committee on Regulatory Mechanism for Text Books (RMTB) set up by HRD ministry to examine whether the syllabi of religious madrasas and RSS-managed schools contain matters spreading communal hatred, has given a clean chit to madrasas and confirmed in its report that no objectionable matter is taught in madrasas and their books contain nothing which may promote communalism or religious hatred. The RMTB Committee is co-head by JNU’s Prof. Zoya Hasan.

She said that the committee’s report has been prepared after studding the primary and secondary class books of government and private madrasas and schools run by RSS in approximately 11 states of India. She said that it has been clearly found out that there is no truth whatsoever in the accusations that the books taught in madrasas promote religious hatred and communalism. On the contrary, books taught in educational institutions run by RSS definitely contain matters which promote communal feelings that may give rise to religious conflicts.

It may be stated here that the CABE met on 10 August last year for the first time in ten years. Concern was expressed that in the books prescribed in the NCERT syllabus and also in books taught in Saraswati Shiv Mandirs run by RSS, historical and other facts have been presented in distorted form and that false information is being fed to students. Minister Arjun Singh stated that the time has come that in addition to NCERT books, those taught in government and private religious schools and madrasas should be reviewed. The meeting decided to form seven committees, one of which is CABE Committee on RMTB whose chairpersons are Prof Zoya Hasan and Prof Gopal Guru. Members of this Committee are GP Deshpande, Teesta Setalwad, secretaries of UP, AP West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan School Education and NCERT director Prof Krishn Kumar.

Madrasas have been absolved of the blame of teaching communalism while RSS schools as well as schools of some states have been criticised.

Source: The Milli Gazette Online

Foreigner's search for justice in Gujarat

Dholakha (Gujarat): Zarina, an Australian who embraced Islam 13 years ago, is running from pillar to post in Dholakha, Gujarat in search of justice and to have the killers of her son who was killed in the Gujarat riots of 2002, booked. As ill luck would have it, her husband Mohammad Abdur Rahman was killed in Mumbai riots which had erupted in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. Ten years later her 14-year-old son Imran too was killed. This double tragedy has caused so much pain and sorrow to her that at 35 she looks much older.

Born in Perth, Zarina came to India when she was only 16 years old along with her elder sister Dorothy who was a medical student in Bangalore. Thereafter she did a diploma in nursing and joined Saint Martha Hospital in Bangalore where she met her would-be husband, Abdur Rahman who was a patient there. Rahman was a resident of Mumbai. She married Rahman and gave birth to Imran who was a student of 9th class in Mumbai but later on she got him admitted in a madrasa at Dholakha. On the night of 28 February 2002 when the riots had already erupted Imran was attacked and seriously injured. The attackers wanted to burn him also but he was somehow saved and admitted to a hospital in a serious condition. After about one-and-a half months he succumbed to his injuries and died.

Zarina says that when her son was attacked she was in Mumbai. She left for Dholakha as soon as she came to know of the attack and could meet him only after six days. When he was on his death bed, he expressed his last wish that she should remain in India only and not return to Australia. In deference to her son’s last wish she says that she has decided to live in India, come what may. Therefore the question of her going back to Australia does not arise. Hence, instead of living with her parents in Australia, she prefers to live in this congested, Muslim-populated small town. She has no source of income and therefore financially she is in a very bad condition and survives on the assistance provided by some sympathetic people and the aid agencies.

She is so much wrecked by her miseries that she does not properly remember her past and has forgotten many things. Her neighbours say that she has lost her mental balance. She insists that she will not desert Islam. She says that she wants justice and wants to see those people being punished who killed her son and husband.

Police had closed the case of her son’s murder for want of proof but on Supreme Court’s intervention it was re-opened last November but there is no progress so far in spite of the fact that she had named at least two killers, as told by her son. One of them is Raju, son of one Narahari and the other is the son of a goldsmith. She says that she has provided some clues to the police and if one of the them is caught, other killers too will be caught. Inspector B.G. Solanki, however, does not think so because when her son was alive she failed to disclose the names of the killers to the police or to her own people. It is therefore difficult to believe what she says. Some local Muslims say that when the attack was made on the madrasa there were policemen and home guards around but they do not want to identify the culprits. Another argument against this is that the madrasa was attacked at night and hence it is difficult to identity the culprits in the crowd due to lack of proper light.

Zarina says that she is waiting for the day when the killers will be punished. She says that local people see her in a strange manner, probably because she is the only white skinned lady in this area who can speak only English. People do help her by giving her money and eatables. She says that destiny has been unkind to her but she is determined to fight for justice.

Source: The Milli Gazette Online

India waging second freedom struggle

Washington: "The country is facing a second wave of struggle for freedom-freedom from politics of hate," Harsh Mander stated while addressing an audience consisting of community leaders on 12 June 2005 here in Metropolitan Washington.

Harsh Mander, a senior IAS officer, had resigned from the powerful Indian Administrative Service as a protest against the failure of government authorities during and after Gujarat pogrom in 2002.

He has been actively engaged in rehabilitation of Gujarat pogrom victims and pursuing courts to reopen cases that were thrown out of judicial system citing various reasons under pressure from the Gujarat state government.

He said that Gujarat tragedy was unique in many ways and the reconciliation process has a long and difficult road ahead. He lamented that there had been no acknowledgment of the guilt. Instead, the administration has been saying that things were not so bad, and if anything happened to the minority community, they deserved it. Although several high-level officials and different NGOs and Human Rights organizations have documented the lapses in law enforcement during the carnage and even the involvement of authorities in the carnage, Narendra Modi's government is still in the state of denial of the carnage. Furthermore, his government is continuing to block the prosecution of culprits responsible for heinous crimes perpetrated against Muslims with impunity in Gujarat.

Discussing the importance of Modi as a BJP functionary, Mander informed the audience that the party utilized Modi's services as a star campaigner in recent election in Jharkhand. In that campaign Modi repeatedly told election rallies that he was proud of the manner in which he "defended Hindus in Gujarat". Modi is also reported to have boasted that to do what he did in Gujarat "needs a man with a 46 inch chest."

Mander also observed that unfortunately the communal virus has spread to Rajasthan and Orissa and has made inroads even in states like Kerala, where RSS took advantage of tension between two (Hindu and Muslim) fishing communities. He narrated an incidence when a member of Hindu community told him that in order to teach the Muslims a lesson, a Gujarat-like response would be welcomed in Kerala!

He observed that it is very unfortunate that in India people respond only when their own community faces injustice. If each community only reacts when its own interests are threatened, it will find no support from others in its own hour of need. The best way to fight communalism is to respond when other minorities or groups are being harassed or threatened. In this respect, he suggested that Indian Muslims should also be concerned when the rights of underprivileged communities and other minorities are being trampled. He believed that closer cooperation among the minorities would help all communities.

He noted an apparent relationship between the level of education and communalism; people with higher education appear to be more communal as compared to common masses, perhaps because these less-privileged people are more focused in earning their daily bread and are, therefore, less interested in politics of communal hatred.

Mander believed that the hope was alive and all was not bleak. Overall, the media, both print and audio-visual, and social workers performed an outstanding job in covering the massacres and in pressing the government to take stronger action. Also, the Supreme Court has been quite responsive.
While expressing reservation about his generation, Mander said that he has faith in the younger generation to uphold secularism in India. He stressed that secularism means equal justice to all, irrespective of religion, caste, or regional affiliations and the younger generation understands this better than folks of my generation.

Mander is on a five-weeks tour of US at the invitation of the Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC) with a mission of securing justice for victims of Gujarat massacre. The Association of Indian Muslims and local community members coordinated his trip to Washington.

By Zafar Iqbal
The Milli Gazette Online

Source: Milli Gazette Online

FREE THE MUSLIM WOMEN

by Young Muslims UK

If the media and its ensuing stereotypes are to be believed then Islam does not have very much to offer women, except for a life of misery, oppression and slavery. However, if one bothers to look closely at Islam then it has an abundance to offer men and women alike.

There is little doubt that many Muslim women are subject to abuse and subjugation - without making sweeping generalizations, many women in some so called Muslim lands are denied the rights given to them by Islam - rights to which they are entitled as human beings and as women. However we must separate Muslims from Islam; we must separate theory from practice. In Islam this separation is possible - Islamic legislation has given women unprecedented status, even if Muslims did not always live up to these amazing standards.

Let us take a quick look at some of the rights of women in Islam, comparing them with some of the legislation relating to women in Britain:

Education

Considered by many these days as a basic human right, in Islam both men and women are duty bound to seek education for the Prophet Muhammad said: "The search for knowledge is a duty on every Muslim" [Bukhari]. So, while there were no places at British Universities until the late 1870s (Ox. Ill. His. Brit. p493), there have been records of Islamic Universities with women students throughout the history of Islam: Nafisah was an early 8th century hadith scholar and the great jurist Imam al-Shaf'i participated in her circle at Al-Fustaat. Shaika Shuhuda another 8th century scholar was a lecturer at Baghdad University - the Oxford and Cambridge of its time. Nazhun was a 12th century scholar and of course we cannot forget Aisha (ra), the wife of the Prophet who in the 7th century was one of the greatest relaters of hadith.

So, whilst Muslim women were attending universities and were lecturers and scholars in the 8th century, 80% of London Women and 100% of East Anglican women were illiterate in 1640 - figures taken from A. Fraser page 129 and D. Cressy page 178.

Political Participation

Women in the UK managed to gain the right to vote in 1918, but that was only for women over thirty. They did not manage to gain full voting rights equal with men until 1928. These gains were not achieved easily though - to gain the vote the Suffragettes marched, rallied, chained themselves to railings, went on hunger strike and eventually one of them jumped in front of the Royal Horse on Derby Day. Muslims women however each had the right to give or not to give their allegiance from the beginning - and this right was given them without them having to march, rally, not eat or jump in front of a horse.

Property

Up until 1801 British women did not have the right to own anything - not even themselves. For up until this time a husband had the right to sell his wife. In Sweden in 1984 a man was entitled to half his wife's earnings. Islam though has allowed women to own their own property from the outset. Everything a woman earns belongs to her. She is not a chattel to be bought and sold, but rather an individual human being, responsible to no one for her income except for God. A married woman may remind her husband: "What's his is theirs, what's hers is her own!"

It would be easy to go on with a list of the rights of women in Islam - but how does Islam really benefit women?

Islam has given women the right to be themselves! They are equal before God - on the Day of Judgment they will be answerable as individuals and cannot say "my husband told me to do it", "my, father, brother, uncle - led me astray". Nor will they be treated unfairly because they are women - women have souls in Islam - and there has never been any debate about that in Islamic history unlike in Christianity!

Islam offers to women, as it does to men, a belief in God, and this upholds everything. Belief in the Creator gives life a wholeness, and a balance, for it means that we do not look at everything in the short term - the intrinsic whole is this world and the Hereafter. This belief in God, this taqwa - God consciousness - thus shapes everything in Islam.

Men and women in Islam are protecting friends of one another; they are garments of each other hiding each other's faults. The Qur'an says:

"Verily, for all men and women who have surrendered themselves unto God, and all believing men and believing women, and all men and women who are true to their word, and all men and women who are patient in adversity, and all men and women who humble themselves before God, and all men and women who give in charity, and all self-denying men and self-denying women, and all men and women who are mindful of their chastity, and all men and women who remember God unceasingly: for all of them has God readied forgiveness of sins and a mighty reward". [Surah 33: verse 35]

This verse offers women so much; it offers them paradise on the basis of their own actions. It demands of them good character, tells both men and women to be active; and instills in them the sense of individual responsibility.

So, Islam offers to women, as it offers to men - paradise as a reward, it offers a complete picture which considers both this world and the hereafter - built solidly upon the foundation of a believe in The Creator. A relationship with one's Creator brings untold peace - for men and for women.

Islam allows women to know themselves as they are. Thus in Islam women are equal to men, but they are not the same. Men and women are equal before God - they are the protecting friends of one another, they are garments of one another, hiding one another's faults; but they are not the same. In Islam - imitation is not liberation.

Women are not men - an obvious statement, but one which is often overlooked. Islam offers a balance - which can be seen if one looks to nature - black and white, up and down, day and night etc. etc. Two halves to form a whole. Balance is absolutely vital. But, after the industrial revolution women and men are becoming more and more alike. Men have become cogs in the system. Women have also been pulled into the consumerism of an industrialized society and have been forced into the work place, but still receive no help at home - a recent study showed that 9 out of 10 men were not 'New Men' and did not help out at home (The Times, Nov. 1995).

Western society has ignored the balance and told women that for them to have status they must achieve what men achieve. Western society has created a new image for women based on the male - and this is very objectionable. Rather than highlighting her individual strengths, she is told to compete according to male criteria in order to have value. But she is not given any help to cope with her additional responsibilities. "Work, have a career to achieve status - but we will not provide crucial facilities, or time off during school holidays." We are now facing a situation where, as the President of Bosnia, Alija Ali Izebegovic, said:

"Modern civilization has disgraced motherhood... It has preferred the calling of a salesgirl, model, teacher of other people's children, secretary, cleaning woman and so on to that of mother. It has proclaimed motherhood to be slavery and promised to free women from it." [Islam Between East and West p.144-145]

So, we have put down the feminine and are saying: 'masculine criteria is the best, indeed only thing to judge by, feminine criteria is second class - useless'.

But in Islam both are equal, but they are different. So in Islam we do not have the situation where: -the logical is perceived as better than the lateral; the firm is perceived as better than the tender; the analytical is perceived as better than the intuitive. In Islam women do not say: "I'm only a housewife" - Where did this ONLY come from? - It came from taking the masculine criteria as best. Why is being in the rat-race superior to being a mother? Because we see the masculine as superior to the feminine. Where is the spirit of the Malcolm X (Malik al-Shabazz) quote:

"If you educate a man you educate one person; if you educate a woman you educate and liberate a nation".

Women in Islam of course have a role beyond that of motherhood - one does not spend 25 years preparing for and another 25 years recovering from motherhood - but the point is do not demean motherhood; and do not demean and belittle the feminine. Islam offers to women pride in the feminine. The equal but different roles of men and women in Islam have to be understood, and in understanding - individuals can be themselves, and thus find a balance and true happiness.

And this peace and security allows and gives room for the development of a woman's potential based on her own strengths.

Source: Young Muslims UK

CNN - U.S. soldier uses Quran for target practice

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A soldier used the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target practice, forcing the chief U.S. commander in Baghdad to issue a formal apology on Saturday.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, flanked by leaders from Radhwaniya in the western outskirts of Baghdad, apologized for the staff sergeant who was a sniper section leader assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment. He also read a letter of apology by the shooter.

It was the first time the incident -- which tested the relationship between U.S.-backed Sunni militiamen and the military -- was made public since it was discovered May 11.

"I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Hammond said to tribal leaders and others at the apology ceremony. "In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers."

Another military official kissed a Quran and presented is as "a humble gift" to the tribal leaders.

The soldier, whose name was not released, shot at a Quran on May 9, villagers said. The Quran used in the incident was discovered two days later, according to the military.

Hammond also read from the shooter's letter: "I sincerely hope that my actions have not diminished the partnership that our two nations have developed together. ... My actions were shortsighted, very reckless and irresponsible, but in my heart [the actions] were not malicious."

A tribal leader said "the criminal act by U.S. forces" took place at a shooting range at the Radhwaniya police station. After the shooters left, an Iraqi policeman found a target marked in the middle of the bullet-riddled Quran.

Copies of the pictures of the Quran obtained by CNN show multiple bullet holes and an expletive scrawled on one of its pages.

A military investigation found the shooter guilty and relieved him of duty; he will be redeployed to the United States for reassignment away from the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, a U.S. official said.

"The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior," Hammond said. "I've come to this land to protect you, to support you -- not to harm you -- and the behavior of this soldier was nothing short of wrong and unacceptable."

Officials said the soldier claimed he wasn't aware the book was the Quran. U.S. officials rejected the claim.

Tribal leaders, dignitaries and local security officials attended the ceremony, while residents carried banners and chanted slogans, including "Yes, yes to the Quran" and "America out, out."

Sheikh Hamadi al-Qirtani, in a speech on behalf of all tribal sheiks of Radhwaniya, called the incident "aggression against the entire Islamic world."

The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq also condemned the shooter's actions and the U.S. military's belated acknowledgment of the incident.

"As the Association of Muslim Scholars condemns this heinous crime against God's holy book, the Constitution of this nation, a source of pride and dignity," the groups statement said, "they condemned the silence by all those who are part of the occupation's agenda and holds the occupation and the current government fully responsible for this violation and reminds everyone that God preserves his book and he [God] is a great avenger."

Source: CNN

When Islam Almost Vanished

By Jawad Jafry

The genocide lasted decades. Historians said that the world had never seen murder and destruction on such a massive scale. Millions died and those left alive often longed for death. People openly wondered whether the light of Islam would be forever extinguished. But the course of history changed through some of God’s most unassuming servants.

In the thirteenth century a tidal wave of devastation swept over the Muslim world. City after city, region after region disintegrated amidst a storm of iron and fire. The death toll was incredible.

Nishapur 1,747,000 dead
Baghdad 1,600,000 dead
Herat 1,600,000 dead
Samarkand 950,000 dead
Merv 700,000 dead
Aleppo 50,000 dead
Balkh completely destroyed
Khiva completely destroyed
Harran completely destroyed

Baghdad was often described as the jewel of the world. For six long weeks this jewel cracked and shattered under the ferocious might of the Tartar hordes. The rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates ran red with blood. Women who had observed modest and chaste lives were savagely assaulted and raped. Five centuries of knowledge accumulated from every literate civilization and contained in the world’s largest libraries was reduced to ashes. Many of humanity’s greatest centers of education, commerce and culture became nothing more than killing fields.

The architect of this colossal avalanche of death was Genghis Khan. His barbaric legions were triggered into a forty year bloodlust through the folly of the Muslim ruler, Muhammad Khwarizm Shah. Once a powerful and mighty monarch, Khwarizm Shah ordered the execution of Mongol caravans that came to trade within his kingdom. When Genghis Khan sent a delegation of envoys to lodge a formal protest, Khwarizm Shah executed most of them. These two inhuman acts were avenged at the cost of millions of innocent lives.

The Tartar Holocaust began in 1218 CE six centuries after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It moved westward from Mongolia across Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, southward toward Delhi and northwest to Budapest and Moscow. People as far away as Sweden shuddered at the thought of a Mongol invasion. Muslims were so overawed by their power that one Mongol could kill over a hundred Muslims and none would dare defend himself. In Arabic a proverb sprang up which meant that if someone tells you the Mongols have suffered a defeat don’t believe him.
On the eve of the Mongol invasion, the spiritual state of the Muslim world was pathetic. Corruption, disunity, and materialism were rampant. Khwarizm Shah was not the only example of insufferable leadership. The Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mustasim, was reportedly pleased to hear of the collapse of Khwarizm Shah’s empire because of his personal dislike for the monarch. Before the Mongols reached Baghdad, the Caliph's advisors had convinced him to seriously scale back the army. The city was in no way prepared to withstand what lay in store for it.

And yet Islam did not die. Genghis Khan who proclaimed himself as the Scourge of God, who delighted in the rape of conquered women could not exterminate the Muslim ummah. Within a generation the tide had begun to turn in Islam’s favour. Baghdad was destroyed by Genghis’ grandson Halaku but his great grandson Berek became a Muslim. In fact, Berek withdrew his forces from Halaku’s army after the fall of Baghdad which contributed to the first defeat the Mongols suffered against the Muslims during the battle of Ayn Jalut in 1260. The aura of the Mongols’ terrifying invincibility was broken. Three years later Berek himself would defeat Halaku’s forces in the Caucus region. Those who tried to destroy Islam became its protectors.

The role that ordinary Muslims played in this miraculous recovery cannot be ignored. The entire ummah owes a debt of gratitude to those men and women who never forgot the centrality of their faith or the importance of sharing it with others. Berek or Baraka Khan was introduced to Islam by two unknown merchants. Their efforts eventually led Islam to reach Russia and Eastern Europe.

If the Tartars are regarded as part of Islam’s universal brotherhood today, one can thank the efforts of unsung heroes like Jamal Uddeen. The vast Mongol empire was divided amongst the various descendants of Genghis. In certain parts of the empire, the Mongols regarded Muslims as no better than animals while Christianity or Buddhism were expected to become the official state religion. But the sincerity of ordinary believers like Jamal was to outshine all else.

Jamal was a Persian who was travelling through the Middle Kingdom or Chaghatay Khanate known for its animosity toward Muslims. With his small band of travellers he mistakenly travelled through the game preserves of the Mongol Prince Tuqluq. Jamal was arrested and brought before Tuqluq. In his anger the prince told Jamal that a dog was worth more than a Persian. Jamal replied, “Yes. If we did not have the true faith, we would indeed be worse than dogs.” Tuqluq was struck by the reply. He inquired what Jamal meant by the true faith. When Jamal explained the message of Islam Tuqluq was convinced. He asked Jamal for some time to unite the fractured Middle Kingdom and then he would proclaim his faith. Jamal returned home and later fell ill. As he was dying, he instructed his son Rasheed to remind the prince of his promise when he became king. When Tuqluq ascended the throne Rasheed set out to meet him. An ordinary person had little access to royalty and after many efforts Rasheed risked his life to enact a plan. He called out the adhan at fajr nearby the royal compound. He was brought before the king and there he invited him to fulfill his promise. On that very morning Tuqluq Timur Khan, king of the unified Middle Kingdom, became a Muslim.

Death and destruction are ravaging Baghdad once more. The innocent victims of this injustice must not be forgotten. We owe it to them to follow in the footsteps of the Last Prophet, in the footsteps of ordinary believers like Jamal and Rasheed Uddeen and share Islam with each and every human being. The beauty of our character and our sincere conduct need to be the beacons that attract those around us to this Divinely prescribed system of life. True it is Allah alone who guides; it is also true that Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves. For us to do anything less would be to disgrace those who are dying before our very eyes.

Historical Sources:
Saviours of the Islamic Spirit, Volume 1, by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
History of Islam, Volume 2, by Masudul Hasan
A Short History of the Saracens, by Amir Ali