Arabisc: Why People Are Different; Women Wear the Hijab and Flickr is Banned!

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In today's quick tour of Arabic blogs, we will make three stops. Our first is in Yemen, where we see a blogger's take on why people are born different from an Islamic perspective; the second is in Kuwait, where a blogger is urging a newly appointed female minister not to cave in to pressure and don the Islamic head gear – the Hijab – and the last stop in the UAE, where a blogger has just returned from a trip to Indonesia but is having trouble downloading his pictures online because flickr is banned in his country!

For Yemeni blogger Riyadh Al Ghaili there is a good reason why people are born different. Al Ghaili, who runs a blog of a religious nature, aims to explain the different teachings of Islam in a series of posts. The post I will translate today narrates an imaginary conversation with a friend about why people were created different from each other.

قال لي صاحبي وهو يحاورني : كيف يمكن تحويل حالات التنافر والتفرق والخلاف بين العناصر المكونة لهذا الشعب إلى حالات تجاذب واتحاد واتفاق لتكوين شعب واحد ؟
قلت : يا صاحبي ؛ إنها سنة الله تعالى في خلقه …
إن الخلاف يا صاحبي له ثلاثة أسباب :
أولها : الجهل ، وهذا خلافٌ زائل بزوال الجهل ، فمتى ما علم الجاهل أذعن للحق ، وخضع للحجة ، وسلّم للمنطق .
وثانيها : سوءُ الفهم ، وهذا أيضاً خلاف زائل بزوال سوء الفهم ، فمتى ما فهم المسيءُ تراجع عن جداله ، وعاد إلى صوابه .
وثالثها : العناد ، وهذا يا صاحبي هو الخلاف الذي لا يزول ، فالمعاند يعلم أن الحق ليس في صفه ، وأن الحجة ليست إلى جانبه ، وأن الصواب ليس في رأيه ، ولكنه بالرغم من ذلك يستمر في جداله ، ويتيه في مرائه ، ويكذب في حديثه ، ويفجر في خصامه
“Speaking to me, my friend said: How can we change the conditions of animosity, division and disagreements between the different factions that make up this nation to create a single united society? I said: It is the will of Allah in His creations. There are three reasons for those differences my friend. First of all, ignorance. And this difference could be dissolved by ending ignorance, which is possible when someone ignorant submits to righteousness, accepts proofs and agrees with logic. The second reason is misunderstanding and this too could be resolved by removing the reason for the misunderstanding. When a person who misunderstood something realises the situation, he will stop arguing and return to the correct path. The third reason is stubbornness and this my friend is a difference which cannot be overcome. The person being stubborn realises that he is not right; that he has no proof on his side; and that his opinion is not right. Despite this, he continues with his arguing; gets lost in his thinking; lies in his speech and commits sins against his adversaries,” he explains.

In Kuwait, blogger Zaydoun defends the right of newly appointed female Higher Education Minister Nouriya Subeeh Barrak Al-Subeeh not to wear the Hijab – an Islamic head cover for women.

لا يحق لأي من نواب التخلف أن يفرض على وزيرة التربية الجديدة نورية الصبيح لبس الحجاب أو الملفع في جلسات مجلس الأمة، كما أتمنى من سعادة الوزيرة أن لا ترضخ لشروطهم… فهم إن كانوا يعاملون مبنى مجلس الأمة وكأنه الحرم الشريف الذي يجب أن تغطي كل امرأة شعرها قبل دخوله، فهم قبل ذلك دنسوا حرمة هذا الصرح مئات المرات بأفعالهم ومراوغاتهم وتعدياتهم المستمرة على الدستور الذي أقسموا على الدفاع عنه
إن الحجاب موضوع شائك ومثير للجدل ولا يسعنا أن ندخل بمتاهاته هنا، لكنه يبقى في النهاية أمر شخصي لا يحق لأحد أن يفرضه على الوزيرة وخاصة بعد أن أدت القسم أمام سمو الأمير مرتدية بدلة أنيقة وبدون أي غطاء على رأسها… فإذا كان سموه لا يرى أي مشكلة في سفورها فيفترض أن العين ما تعلى عن الحاجب وعلى نواب الأمة التركيز على أمور الوزارة وليس على شعر الوزيرة
“None of the backward Members of Parliament have the right to impose on the new Education Minister Nouriya Al-Subeeh wearing the Hijab or head cover at the Parliament sessions. I hope the minister will not bow to pressure and give in to their demands. If they are treating the Parliament building as if it were the Holy Mosque where a woman should cover her hair before entering it, then they have tarnished the sanctity of this place hundreds of times by their deeds, conniving schemes and continuous trespassing against the Constitution, which they have swore to defend,” he writes.
“The Hijab is a complicated issue and brings up a lot of disagreements which are not in a position to discuss now. At the end of the day, it remains a personal choice which no one has the right to impose on the minister, especially after she gave her oath of office in front of the Amir (ruler) wearing a neat suit, without a head cover. If His Highness doesn't see a problem in receiving her with her hair uncovered, it is expected to the eye not to go above the eye brow. The MPs better focus on the affairs of the ministry rather than the minister's hair!”

Our last stop is in the UAE, where blogger Abdulla travels to Indonesia and tells us all about his visit here. Although the post is about uploading photographs of his trip for his readers to see what was he up to in Indonesia, Abdulla doesn't miss the opportunity to point out that photo hosting site flickr is banned in his country!

البعض طلب صوراً للرحلة وقد تأخرت في وضعها على الشبكة لأن فليكر محجوب – شكراً اتصالات! – وأردت طريقة ما لرفع صوري إلى فليكر فلم أجد وسيلة عملية سريعة، هناك خدمة تقدمها غوغل سأستخدمها كبديل حتى يعود فليكر … هذا إن عاد.
الخدمة هي Picasa Web وهي توفر مساحة 1 غيغابايت مجاناً.
قبل أن تشاهدوا الصور أذكركم بأنني لم أمارس هذه الهواية منذ وقت طويل، الكثير من الصور لم ألتقطها بنفسي إذ كان السائق أسجد هو الذي يطلب مني الكاميرا عندما لا أستخدمها، على أي حال إليكم بعض الصور من الرحلة:
“Some of you have asked for photographs from my trip, which I have been delayed from posting because flikr is blocked – thanks to Etisalat . I had wanted to upload my photographs to flikr and could not get a faster way to post them. There is a service provided through Google which I will use as an alternative until the ban on flikr is lifted… if it ever is. It provides about 1 GB free hosting space. The service is Picasa Web. Before you see the photographs I have to warn you that I have not practised this hobby in quite a while and most of the pictures were taken by our drover Asjad, who used to ask me for the camera whenever I wasn't using it. Anyway, here are the photographs from the trip.”

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