Chess and the Divine Decree

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindy47452/5211342837/

Original article can be found here. Translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, this is a writing by the famous Algerian scholar, mystic and resistance fighter Abd al-Qadir al Jaza'iri (1808-1883), rahmatullahi alayhi. For a discussion of chess in the wider legal context, refer to here. In the meantime, enjoy...

It would be honor enough for the people of India had they bequeathed us nothing but chess, a game that, like the sun itself, has traversed the entire globe. Indeed, people everywhere hold high in esteem and deem intelligent anyone who masters it or even plays it well. Such being the case, in how much greater esteem should we hold the brilliance of its ingenious inventor?

His name was Sissah b. Dahir, and he invented chess for Shah Ram around 500
CE, the king of India, after the Persian Ardashir b. Babak (d. 393 BH/241 CE) invented checkers for the first of the latter kings of Persia. The Persians and their king took great pride in checkers, which soon became their national pastime. However, when Sissah b. Dahir, the Indian philosopher, introduced the game of chess to the world, all the sages of his time immediately recognized its superiority over checkers.

After demonstrating the game to Shah Ram, Sissah completely beguiled the king and
overjoyed him with its ingenious qualities. Shah Ram informed Sissah that he could “ask
whatever reward desired, and it shall be granted.” Sissah replied, “I ask only that you take
one grain of wheat and place it upon the first square of my board and then continue to
double it with each additional square until the last square is reached, and bestow upon
me all the grain that has accumulated.”

The bemused king could only laugh at such a paltry request and informed Sissah that
he could not comply with such an insignificant request for such a momentous invention;
moreover, the king had already resolved to grant him a much greater prize. Sissah
informed him that his original request was all he wanted.

They continued to debate the point until the king realized how resolute Sissah was in his
desire. Finally, the king commanded his factor to fulfill the inventor’s request, but when
the ministers began to calculate just how much wheat would be needed, they realized
the impossibility of the request. They explained that they did not have enough wheat in
the royal storehouses to fulfill the request. The king scoffed and demanded an explanation.
The ministers sat down with the king and illustrated their calculations, and he
soon comprehended the reality of their conclusion. The king then turned to Sissah and
said, “In your request, you have revealed to us something even more wondrous than your
invention!”

Whoever ponders the game of chess, and reflects deeply upon the nature of its pieces
and the fixity of its patterns will realize that a profound secret concerning the nature of
destiny has been disclosed to him by the simplest of methods. This could only result from
its originator being a realized sage who revealed his profound wisdom in the arrangement
and organization of his game.

In fact, God, the Exalted, revealed to the formulator of chess what God Himself has pre-eternally performed, what is pre-existent in His knowledge, and what occurred in His first determination of
the cosmos. For this reason, no other person, save the game’s originator, shared with him its creation. Moreover, this reveals why all those who play chess are constrained by the predetermined limits decreed by the game’s inventor. And, although the player of chess is in complete subordination to the originator’s decreed limitations, the player’s own merit and effort or neglect and lassitude will determine whether he wins or loses the game of chess.

Indeed, both players, despite being entirely free to choose their actions, to deliberate
their possibilities, to utilize their strategies, and to exert all of their personal efforts in
their moves are nonetheless entirely circumscribed in their possibilities, due to the very
limitations predetermined by the inventor himself. They cannot break the laws set, nor
exempt themselves from the limited possibilities given. In this way, they are fated yet
appear free and, equally, they are free yet appear fated!

The inventor caught a glimpse of a sacred secret among the paradoxes of providence
and realized that all human beings are freely accruing their actions and either gaining
the rewards of their right moves or suffering the consequences of their wrong ones. Furthermore,
he realized that God, the Exalted, does not oppress His servants, but that they
themselves are the oppressors. Human beings are fulfilling their destiny without being
forced against their will in the paths they pursue. Indeed, God left the creation free to
err or act appropriately. Analogously, the inventor of chess has decreed certain things for
those who play his game, and while they are held to those limitations, they are nonetheless
free to choose their moves while not being stripped entirely of their own volition.

Hence, if one plays his game well, it is to his advantage, and if poorly, it is to his detriment.
Neither of the two players can escape the limits of the squares, the pieces, their numbers,
and their prescribed movements. Had its inventor allowed other possibilities, the players
would have been constrained by them as well.

Ponder this well, for chess is an edifying metaphor and a sagely invention. It develops
the rational component; increases intelligence; diverts the mind from distressing matters;
reveals hidden character traits in its players, as games are wont to do; and imitates very
realistically military situations that result in the sweetness of victory over one’s opposition
or the bitterness of defeat at his hands.

Poem: So I Heard they Killed Satan

So I heard they killed Satan

Yet

The crow-picked sockets of rotting cherubs

Shed no tears of joy nor pain.

So they smiteth the Devil

Still

The earth's impaled with crimson steel

Ripped from sinless carcasses.

The evil one is dead and gone

Yet

The Beast has come -

The gorger on the effluent

The coprophage of human hate

And petty caprice, belching

Over Armageddon.

Men gloat over corpses

To them, fair trade for vengeful gain

The Devil may be dead and gone

But Hell and demons still remain.

Some of my favourite Muslim jokes

Two American Muslims are kidnapped by members of an extreme right-wing militia, and taken away for execution. As they are being tied to their posts, a militiaman comes and and says "Alright ya ragheads, 'cause I'm feeling nice, how 'bout one last cigarette before we shoot ya?"
The first Muslim defiantly screams "Go to hell you disbelieving scum!"
The second Muslim cringes and whispers "Shhhhh, Abdullah, you're making us look bad...."

Rashid was depressed. A friend noticed and asked him what was wrong. "Y-y-y-you s-s-see bro" Rashid replied, "I g-g-g-got knocked b-b-back for a j-job offer."
His friend asked "What job, Rashid?"
"N-n-n-n-newsreader"
"Well, Rashid, if you think about it, you'll have to admit that's not very surprising"
"D-d-damn straight bro. B-b-b-bloody I-i-islamophobes."

Bob the atheist was taking a walk in the park one day when he passed a Catholic priest. Bob shouted to the priest "Your religion is a fantasy!" and continued merrily on his way. Bob then happened to walk by a Rabbi. Turning his head, Bob exclaimed "Everything you believe in is a lie!" Feeling rather pleased with himself, he then happened to come across a Muslim cleric. Bob murmured "Good morning sir."

Warning: this next one is very Australia-specific......

For his annual leave, a traditional Pakistani Muslim from Melbourne decided to visit Queensland. Passing through a small rural town, he cut quite a strange figure in his skullcap and shalwar kameez as he fingered his prayer beads. People would stop and stare, and little kids would follow him, giggling all the way. Soon he had practically the whole town following his every step! Finally losing his temper, he whirled around and screamed "Ok fine! Stare at the bloody Mexican!"

Finally, an oldie but a goodie:

"When I was in the desert," said Mullah Masruddin (yep, that Naruddin!), "I caused an entire tribe of horrible and bloodthirsty bedouins to run."
"However did you do it?" asked a person.
"Easy, I just ran, and they ran after me."

 

Farah Pandith at the Islamic Council of Victoria

On the evening of April the 5th, the Islamic Council of Victoria was fortunate enough to host Secretary Hillary Clinton's Special Representatives to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, for an intimate public talk.

It was Ms. Pandith's first visit to Australia, and the 42nd country she had visited since being appointed to her position in 2009. She began by giving the audience a brief overview of the responsibilities of her job. The Special Representative's office was basically designed to execute the Obama government's vision for engagement with Muslim communities worldwide, with a special emphasis on grassroots work and the under-30 generation. Ms. Pandith noted that even though the US government's engagement with Muslims is far from a new phenomenon, it never before has been made such a priority. She emphasised how important it is to hear young Muslims of the 'Facebook Generation' in order to connect them and share their ideas not only with other of their demographic, but senior government officials, private organisations, NGOs and other such groups. In Ms Pandith's own words, "You cannot isolate one-fourth of humanity".

During her travels, Ms Pandith noted that wherever she was, the concept of identity remained a key issue amongst young Muslims, those who grew up in the shadow of 9-11. Identity is no abstract matter, and remains important for all people. Therein we can appreciate the danger of the isolation of this demographic, in that if young Muslims feel that engagement with conventional society is pointless or unachievable, they will turn to less savoury elements in order to consolidate their own identities. Indeed, young Muslims don't want to be talked about, but rather, have a role in framing the conversation.

It was at this point that the presentation moved to a more conversational style of interaction, with Ms Pandith opening the floor to questions. An audience member asked her to define her conception of 'grassroots' action. Ms Pandith summarised it as basically "walking the street" to go into the place real people go to - neighbourhood by neighbourhood, community by community. Recalling her history of employment in the private sector, during which she often sat on community boards, she developed an awareness of the importance of community collaboration - due to the complexities within society, goals are not achieved in isolation, and it is not just government  that can act as the solution to problems.

Another gentleman made a query as the differences in the situation of Muslim communities in Europe and the US, for instance in regards to social integration. In reply to this Ms Pandith emphasised the dangers of making generalisations, as well as the need to be aware of differences not just between countries, but within countries themselves. As an example, she cited the differences between Madrid - the city with the largest mosque in Europe, and a significant convert population - and Barcelona, where mosques cannot even be built and the large Pakistani population consists largely of single males! She noted the role of the US Constitution in helping to create a relatively well-integrated American Muslim demographic, whilst Europe fails to possess comfortable levels of diversity, also touching on the many varied reasons for such ghettoisation. Despite the growing world trend for the isolation and fear of the 'other', Ms Pandith recognised the opportunities available in Europe (eg relative political stability and lack of war) as well as the challenges. She noted how the question of integration was very imporant but hard to unpack. 

Another audience member asked about the effectiveness of implementing conversations with communities in such a climate where people feel free to publicly accuse the US President as being a secret Muslim, with the intention of attacking his legitimacy. Ms Pandith replied that there will always be conspiracy theories as well as negative global events to deal with. She remembered being at the White House when rumours of the Quran being flushed down the toilet at Guantanamo surfaced. Despite this, she still had to continue doing her job, stating that it would be impossible to do so if she waited everyday for a  perfect news day.

Another person half-jokingly asked that to go with Ms Pandith's role, shouldn't there be a Muslim Special Representative to the US? Ms Pandith responded by saying that although she couldn't speak for other countries, the US initiative was both special and unprecedented. It is in the best interests for both the US and the world at large, and since the goal, very necessarily, was to connect communities, it was chosen to use this way to do things.

A woman in the audience noted that Bill Clinton was big on cross-cultural training, and asked if Obama was the same. She was also very interested in how much effort was being put into education to address misconceptions about Islam. In reply, Ms Pandith emphasised that despite the importance of religion in her country, there is a very strict line between the church and the state, although individual persons in government are free to take part in such activities if they wish. She also noted that there is an abundance of interfaith groups and the like to take on the task of clearing religious misconceptions.

When asked about the extent of Muslim participation in US politics, Ms Pandith noted the differences in Europe and the US in regards to this issue, with the former having lots of young Muslims in politics. Although the situation in the US is changing, it is not happening very fast, although there are many Muslims already in government who are steadily going up the ranks. She stated that there are many reasons why US Muslims are not inclined to run for office. For example, the children of migrants are generally not encouraged to get into politics, as it wasn't the "cool" thing back in the home countries of their parents!

A gentleman in the audience, noting that Ms Pandith was born in Kashmir, stated that he took issue with calling the place a 'disputed territory', and cast doubt on the US's sincerity in combating the root causes of Muslim terrorism. Ms Pandith objected, saying that it was clear that the Obama administration had very forcefully spoken about aspects of global terrorism, and that the Kashmir crisis is at heart an issue to be worked out between India and Pakistan, and is not part of her remit. She also stated that accusing the US of not tackling the 'root causes' was a very general statement - the US is not hands-off at all, and all kinds of things are being done in accordance with the complexity of the factors involved.

Another audience member who was born in Afghanistan admitted to feeling a certain confusion about his identity; whether he was Afghan, Australian or a global citizen. He also wondered how he was supposed to stand as a Muslim, since be didn't perform many acts of worship like prayer, and asked if the US drew any distinctions between Muslms of different 'groups'. Ms Pandith replied that it is important not to look at Muslims as a lump, which is both insulting and untrue. Understanding diversity allows for respect and the comprehension of issues. It was not the perspective of the US government to discriminate which Muslims are more 'Muslim' than others. She recalled having many painful conversations. For instance, in Copenhagen in a room with fifty Muslim children, a sixteen year old girl raised her hand, stating that she was apparently not a Muslim, and that her imam had told her that. When asked why, she just said "Well, look at me". Ms Pandith failed to understand her point, and repeated her question twice more, but getting the same answer each time. She eventually realised that the girl's non-Muslimness was due to her wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and that even her mother had told her that she wasn't Muslim if she dressed that way (Ms Pandith also recalled an American imam who was sitting next to her at the time bursting into laughter at this point). She said that there was no such thing as the "Muslim World", and that that was an idea al-Qaeda wants everyone to believe. There is no "Muslim Community", but "communities".

As the talk finished slightly ahead of schedule, the group broke up even though the conversation continued for some time ahead. All present were grateful for the opportunity to hear from a figure doing such an important job in the world today.

*Apologies for any misquotings or misrepresentations, which are entirely my own*

What Australians Really Think......

Australia doesn't exactly have a good reputation for its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. People throughout the world look at us and wonder how a first-world country which loves so much to carry on about wonderful, enlightened and democratic it is can abuse with such fierce glee such vulnerable and disadvantaged people, whether for political gain or pure and simple schadenfreude. But beyond what one sees in the media, plenty of Australians do indeed care. And here is evidence.

Saints, Sufis and Star Wars

(Excerpted from Q News, Issue No. 363)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away noble Sufi shaykhs trained young

dervishes to battle dark powers that sought to lead people along the path of

hatred and anger.They floated through the air, walked on water and did

remarkable acrobatics - all by invoking the divine Force. Sound familiar? It’s better

than you think. IRFAN M. RYDHAN explores the secret relationship between Islam

and Star Wars.

Most Star Wars fans know that director George Lucas,

influenced chiefly by the works of the late American

scholar Joseph Campbell, took spiritual elements

common to many world religions to create the mystical fabric

of his epic saga of good versus evil. As a Muslim, I always

thought the Jedi to be what a true follower of Islam should be

like. Jedi masters, with their North African cloaks and scruffy

beards look like Sufi shaykhs, are taught to respect a greater

power, fight for the innocent and honour a code of morals and

ethics in order to bring about peace and justice in their societies

- exactly what the Islamic tradition prescribes. So what is

the connection between these seemingly ‘Islamic principles’

and the fictional Jedi Order of the Star Wars saga?

There is devotion to Star Wars that non-enthusiasts will

not understand. For example, National Statistics UK reported

that in its 2001 Census 390,000 respondents declared Jedi to

be their chosen religion. I am sometimes unsure whether devotion

to Star Wars has crossed the make-believe barrier or if

these Star Wars fans are just pulling our leg. There may be

some truth in fiction. And I think I know where some of the

truth of the Jedi comes from.

I came across an interesting article entitled Eternal Jihad:

The Way of the Mystic-Warrior from a Sufi website. It

revealed, “We are at the core a Movement of Jeddi; masters of

Futuwwat (“the Way of the mystic-warrior”). We encourage

adherents to train both physically and spiritually, for their

own personal edification and to enhance their knowledge and

abilities in the struggle. The Real does not lie alone in contemplation,

prayer and meditation; nor does it lie alone in

action and revolution. Both of these are notions of “one or the

other” and Allah is not ‘one or the other’. ‘Allah’ literally

means ‘the One[ness] which manifests from Nothing.’”

Note that the Arabic term al-Jeddi (master of the mystic-warrior

way) along with another Islamic term not mentioned,

palawan (perhaps from pahlwan, or strong young man in

Punjabi), similar to Lucas’ Padawan for Jedi apprentice, were

actual titles used by Muslim knights.

THE FORCE

The Force is the common thread between all six movies

and is defined as an energy field, which binds all living things

together, like Allah, God, a Supreme Being or power that most

religious adherents worship, follow and yearn to become a

part of. According to Star Wars mythology, the Jedi “are a

noble order of protectors unified by their belief and observance

of the Force.” The Jedi study and train under the

apprentice-master relationship similar to how many religious

students study under a priest or religious scholar until they

have learned enough to teach and train the next generation of

students.

From a Muslim perspective, the similarities between the

Jedi and the Islamic traditions of instruction are strikingly similar.

For example, a Muslim scholar usually trains under a

shaykh for a number of years before they are given the right

or permission - ijazah - to teach others about Islam. As Martin

Nguyen points out, “In Islamic Sufism shaykhs will have silsilas

that list the chain of teachers going back to the Prophet

Muhammad. A silsila indicates a shaykh’s lineage of mystical

learning from which he draws his spiritual authority.”

Similarly in the Jedi tradition of Star Wars, each Padawan

(apprentice) is taught the same tradition and skills their Jedi

masters were taught by their previous masters. Star Wars fans

know the lineage of Jedi instruction starting from Yoda to

Count Dooku to Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi Wan Kenobi to Anakin

Skywalker.

In the first Star Wars movie, Episode IV: A New Hope,

Luke Skywalker, like his father, Anakin, lives in the desert

(incidentally, the desert planet of Tatooine was actually filmed

near the real desert town of Tataouine in Tunisia). From

among this remote desert area with no roots of a civilised

urban society, a ‘chosen one’ arises who brings the hope of

peace and justice to their society. Anakin is the chosen one in

the latest Star Wars films, and Luke can be considered the chosen

one from the original Star Wars trilogy.

Similarly, the Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings be

upon him) lived in the desert where there was no true rule of

law or justice and people followed the tribal system of blood

vengeance. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, brought

Islam to the Arabs, which completely changed their way

beliefs, thinking and the way they lived their lives. Instead of
living for the present and for themselves, as Muslims they lived

for the hereafter and were taught to take care of the poor,

orphans, those less fortunate than themselves and to fight for

social justice and well being for the whole community.

Thus, the Jedi too is taught to be selfless and not selfish like

the Sith, an ancient order of Force-practitioners devoted to the

dark side and determined to destroy the Jedi. Just as Yoda, the

little green master, taught young padawans not to give into fear

and be tempted by the Dark Side - the temptations of the devil

or shaytan - Muslims are taught not to be attached to the life

of this world, the dunya, nor to fall prey to the diseases of the

heart like jealousy, envy, fear and especially hatred as they lead

to evil and sin.

THE GREEN ONE

There is an interesting connection between the Jedi master

Yoda (a short, green skinned creature first seen in Episode V:

The Empire Strikes Back) and Islamic traditions - the character

of al-Khidr means “the Green One” in Arabic. Some

Quranic commentators say that Khidr is one of the prophets,

others refer to him simply as a divinely sent guide and yet others

argue that he is a perfect wali, a friend and devoted servant

of God.

So in other words Yoda - the name itself comes from the

Hebrew for ‘wise one’ or from the Sanskrit for ‘warrior’ - is like

a spiritual mentor who guides the young Jedi in the ways of the

force and teaches them to be strong enough to resist the temptations

and evil inclinations of the Sith and other Dark Forces.

In Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the Emperor tries to

influence Luke Skywalker to give into his feelings of anger and

hatred. As we all know Luke’s father Anakin, did fall prey to

the Emperor’s whispers and joined the Dark Side to become

the fearsome Darth Vader. Because the Jedi - like Muslim warriors

- are taught that one’s intentions in battle must be pure

and that it’s wrong to kill out of anger, even when is outwardly

justified.

Imam Ali, the fourth Caliph and the cousin of the Prophet

Muhammad, was faced with this situation at the Battle of the

Ditch. The noble Imam had knocked an enemy soldier to the

ground and was raising his sword to kill him, when the unbeliever

spat in his face. Imam Ali at once stood still and

refrained from killing his enemy and stated: “Your property

and your life have become sacrosanct to me. I am not authorized

to slay you. I can receive permission to kill only in holy

combat, in fighting commanded by Allah. Just a few moments

ago, I had overcome you in battle, knocked you to the ground

and was on the point of slaying you. But when you spat in my

face, my selfish anger was aroused against you. If I had killed

you, I would have slain you not for Allah’s sake but for my

own selfish reason; they would then have called me not a

champion warrior, but a murderer. When you spat in my face,

my selfish passion threatened to overwhelm me, so instead of

striking you with the sword for my own sake I struck my passion

for the sake of Allah, Exalted is He. There you have the

reason for your escape.”

The Jedi could be considered “Holy Warriors” (or

mujahideen) as they fight for truth, justice and peace. They

meditate (do dhikr) as much as they can, to become “one with

the force”, even in the midst of battle. In Episode I: The

Phantom Menace, the Jedi master, Qui-Gon Jinn begins to

meditate in the middle of his battle with his arch-nemesis

Darth Maul.

Islamic History is filled with stories of Muslim warriors

who stop in the heat of the battle to remember Allah and take

heed of the noble teachings of Islam. Imam Hussain the grandson

of the Prophet stopped to do his Asr prayers at Karbala.

There is even an account of Sayyidna Ali who completed his

prayers while he had an arrow stuck in his leg.

There is a saying in Islam, which states: “Life in this world

is Paradise for the unbelievers and a prison for the believers.”

Which basically means that if one puts all their faith in this

world - the dunya - then it is very easy to fall off the straight

path and be tempted by Satan to the “dark side”.

This is shown very clearly in Episode III: Revenge of the

Sith which is all about the Anakin’s fall into the dark side.

Lucas, himself stated in an interview that the he chose the final

battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan to be on a planet with

flowing molten lava and fire, which represents the fires of

Hell. It is the ultimate showdown between good and evil.

Anakin falls victim to the dark side because he loves power

and the dunya, as he wanted to have the power to live forever

and save his loved ones from death, in particular his wife from

dying during childbirth. He has excessive anger and arrogance,

as he felt he was the most powerful Jedi and no other

Jedi was better or stronger than him. He began to distrust

those who are his righteous guides. He felt Obi-Wan, his

Shaykh, was jealous of him and thought the Jedi Council - or

should we say shura - was against him, which lead him to follow

other sinister forces for guidance. Lastly he had hatred in

his heart and admitted to hating the “sand people”. He fell to

all those vices that Islam teaches the Muslim to avoid.

THE SAND PEOPLE

The sand people or the Tusken Raiders could be considered

a metaphor for the nomadic peoples of Arabia. In

Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the Tusken Raiders kidnap

and torture Anakin’s mother, Shimi, eventually killing her.

Anakin then proceeds to kill sand people in vengeance, and as

he tells his wife, that he ‘killed all of them, including the

women and children.’ But this did not relieve him of his anger

and hatred. I believe Lucas is trying to make a point about the

continuous spewing of hate against Arab and Muslim peoples,

specifically after September 11th. Even though the countries of

Iraq and Afghanistan were bombed relentlessly (it hasn’t

stopped yet), as punishment for the attacks of September 11th

(without any proof or legitimate legalities of course), many

Americans still have hatred against anyone that even looks like

an Arab or Muslim. Many innocent people, specifically

women and children, have been harassed, attacked and sometimes

even killed, because of this ‘hate’.

This wasn’t the only example of Lucas getting political.

After Episode III debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, many

Europeans were saying that Anakin represents Bush and his

Neo-Con cohorts currently in power. One couldn’t help but

notice the very overt examples in the last and final instalment

of the Star Wars series. Of course, the most obvious example

was when Anakin tells Obi-Wan before their final duel,

“Either you’re with me, or against me”, which sounds remarkably

like a current American President.

THE JEDI ARTS

One of the most popular aspects of the Star Wars films are

the exciting light-sabre duels and swordsmanship (Lucas is an

admitted fan of old Samurai films) and martial arts style fighting,

which of course originates from the East. As a former student

of Eskrima Serrada - stick and blade fighting developed

by Muslims of the Philippines - myself, I see many similarities

in the fast-moving and short-range fighting I studied and the

“invented” art of the Jedi masters.

When Anakin fights Count Dooku at the beginning of the

Episode III, he applies a disarm and cut technique that is

directly from the Eskrima tradition Dooku’s arm. The fighting

techniques in Star Wars are reminiscent of the Muslim martial

arts of Southeast Asia as exemplified by Pencak Silat and

Eskrima, which are based on paying attention to the limbs of

the attacker and not concerned with an immediate strike to the

attacker’s head or torso.

Ray Park, who plays Darth Maul in Episode I: The

Phantom Menace, studied Kung Fu (very similar to the empty

hand techniques of Serrada) and Wushu. He frequently travelled

to Malaysia to refine and develop his skills. The bases of

the Muslim martial arts of Southeast Asia are spiritual. This is

the local Sufi expression of Islam. Traditional Indonesian/Malay folklore attributes the initial design of these arts to Muslim saints in the region going back to the 7th

Century. The Silat system is attributed to nine main awliya or

saints, also called the Wali Songo.

Here is another example of the Sufi-Jedi connection. As

Jedi’s study the force and train in the Jedi Arts under the

apprentice-master relationship, so do the Sufis.

My research has shown me some remarkable similarities

between the spiritual world of Star Wars and the ideals, principles

and understanding of Islam. Some of the similarities are

clear - master/apprentice being shaykh/talib and the Force being

akin the creative presence of the divine in creation. Other similarities

were more hidden and surprising - the Jeddi and Palawan

Muslim knights and Yoda’s remarkable similarity to Khidr.

Even though Lucas himself is not a follower of any specific

religion, he has used elements of Islam to convey universal

understandings of good and evil. Combining the common

threads of the human experience with a futuristic space-age

setting and exciting martial arts swordsmanship, came a creation

that has inspired many, across religious lines. There is

something about the Star Wars saga that everyone can relate

to and enjoy. People searching for a “truth” within the

mythology of Star Wars, will hopefully look a little deeper

behind the fiction and find a way of life which emphasises

peace, justice and brotherhood for all humanity. Sounds like

Islamic ideals to me. 􀂄

Canberran Culinary Capers

Flew to the capital for work this week. And as anybody familiar with Canberra would know, there isn't all that much really interesting stuff to do over there, apart from visit a few popular attractions and landmarks (which I had no time to), and sample the local cuisine (which I actually did to some extent).

Now, because my hotel room did not have any cooking facilities, I breakfasted for two days on instant kimchi soup noodles (which were actually not too bad). However, on my last day there I treated myself to scrambled eggs on toast and a long black at the local milk bar - at AUD$11.50, it was quite possibly the most expensive breakfast I have ever had.

Dinner-wise, on the first night, I ordered Indian takeaway - pulao rice and fish kebabs. Said fish kebabs would have been more properly classified as fish cookies (AUD$6.50 for two!!!!!!!). Another meal was more memorable - a mate and I had dinner at Mecca Bah, where I ordered a rather good lamb tagine. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to take a photo (just picture lamb pieces in a tomato-based sauce with fresh parsley on top). That same evening,  we visited the masjid in Yarralumla for Maghrib prayers - viewed from the main entrance at sunset, it was stunningly beautiful but I FORGOT TO TAKE PHOTOS AGAIN!!!!!! (but you can find a couple of snaps over here)

Fortunately, I did take a few snaps of the most visually pleasing meal I had there. It was very tasty as well - the mamaris (veal with smoky eggplant mash) with a couple of colleagues at Turkish Pide House. And so it is with these,  that I close this post.....