The lingering relevance of the past often visits us, questioning our assumptions about the here and now. The Archives page dusts off the mirror of time and, in its reflection, presents in-depth analysis of events that refuse to die in the pages of history. Scholars may reference these well-documented articles in their research, provided they credit the author and the website.
The Archives page presents articles and essays that have shown resilience in adhering to principles and whose relevance has defied the passage of time. If we listen attentively to the whisper of conscience, history should not be repeating itself--but it does.
The Day America Lost Its Soul
With hindsight, everyone criticizes the insanity and stupidity of the Iraq wars. With foresight, I predicted many, if not all, of the consequences in articles I submitted to many of the leading newspapers and magazines in the U.S., whose dismissive, silent collaboration with the prevailing madness of invading Iraq rejected my writings in whole and in segments. They wrote their columns with blood then, just as their hindsight punditry is deafening us now. What the pen inked was trumped by the saber-rattling of ‘experts’ in Pentagonian brass. This writing never saw the light of day before the war. Some ten years later, we unveil the revelations.
When the embedded corporate media played the drumbeat of war to convince 65% of the American public that Iraq was involved in 9/11,
When in their hatred for the ‘other,’ Americans turned a deaf ear to the voices of more than 15 million anti-war protesters around the world—the largest in human history,
When the Congress of the United States abdicated its responsibility by cowering to the White House bullies and authorized an act of war most of them had not read,
When the Cheney-Bush administration threatened world peace through its in-your-face confrontation by violating the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of the United States,
That’s when Americans lost their Republic, and America lost its soul. We are still soul-searching in futility.
Ten years later, more than 600,000 civilians have died, over 3 million have become refugees, Iraq has turned into a travesty of sectarian strife we instigated, and Abu Ghraib stains the conscience of humanity; the perpetrators of this crime against humanity in brazen defiance say: “I’d do it again in a minute.”
Had there been no Nuremberg Trials, the Nazis would have certainly been as unrepentant.
The Case Against Iraq
October 3, 2002
The American leadership reacted to September 11 without having the vision to learn from the paradigmatic shift it represents. Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare. The nightmarish campaign for a regime change in Iraq is based on three claims: Read more
When the Taliban took the reins of power in Kabul in 1995, the media had a ball sensationalizing their ridiculous restrictions on growing beards ‘Islamically.’ The editors of The Minaret shelved this article so the politicized agenda of yellow journalism would not get further mileage at the expense of the article’s accuracy and the seriousness of its content. The article's historical analysis, however, remains relevant. We are un-shelving the article after the long hiatus.
The Bearded Truth
Islam is a religion of moderation as testified by both Qur’anic revelations and hadith traditions: The best of things are done in moderation. If so, then why are individuals and governments in Muslim societies resorting to extremities in words and deeds? Worse yet, they label their actions in the name of Islam, thereby violating the very principles of moderation and truth that the Prophet advocated.
A case in point is the government-ordained compulsory beard growing in Afghanistan, where it was reported that the government expelled several (75 on one account) civil servants from their jobs for trimming their beards. According to the authorities, shaving or trimming beards violates the sunnah, the tradition of the Prophet. The government therefore considers it its own responsibility to implement the policy, even if by force, so that compliance with the Prophet's sunnah may be upheld. Unaware that the government's action in this case constitutes compulsion, which violates the Qur’an’s command proscribing compulsion in matters of religion (Qur’an II: 259). On theological grounds, ought we violate the word of God to uphold the sunnah of the Prophet? Read more