Mullah Omar: Taliban Rules and Regulations

[jmm99]

is to me an impossibility in a physical, tangible sense. A clash of leaders and their followers, influenced by tangible and intangible factors, is quite tangible and possible (e.g., the Battle of Tours).

There, Charles (not Martel, the Hammer, until a century later) and Al Ghafiqi probably had little knowledge (much less understanding) of the other's civilization - and, if they had been so knowledgeable and understanding, their clash would most likely still have occured.

Those who aspirate "clashes of civilizations" (e.g., the Red Threat, the Yellow Peril) seem to me to be devotees of some form of Zoroastrianism's ultimate conflict between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.[*]

I do not discount the motivation of ideology (particularly among leadership), or the manipulations of causes (slogans) directed to the masses in political efforts. I don't see "clashes of civilizations" as a useful concept.

As to this:

from M-A
We have here to accept that I am French and you are American. Two cultures, close but different.

No doubt. You guys eat snails.

Cheers

Mike

--------------------------
[*] I leave such questions to speculative theology.

[jmm99]

These provisions seem important to me, since they evidence positive steps to establish a rule of law under a Taliban judicial system:

44 - If the local people come to the Mujahidin with their personal problems the leader of the group has no right to get involved. Only the provincial authority and district authority will consider these issues. They will try to have tribal leaders solve the problem. If this is not possible, then they have to take the issue to the provincial court.

32 - Every province must make a court with one judge and two Islamic experts so they can solve problems that the leader and elders cannot solve.

This independent judicial system (the local Mujahadin leader is excluded from the process) has two levels: (1) initial problem solving attempt at the local shura (or jirga, language dependent) level; and (2) secondary problem solving level before the provincial court.

My questions are whether this judicial system is actually operating; if so, in how many provinces; and what feedback is there about its "success" - how it is viewed by the populace. Anything open source on this ?

[carl]

The above is the headline of an AP story published on Jan. 21. The link is below.

http://www.journalgazette.net/articl...API/1001210598

NATO spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said a new directive woul be issued soon to set down new rules for night raids. 'It addresses the issue that's probably the most socially irritating thing we do and that is entering people's homes at night.

The story elaborates upon how this is really upsetting the Afghans. I thought it would be of interest given as how this thread has addressed this very issue. I hope the new directive will be made public. That would be helpful.

[Tukhachevskii]

Joseph C. Myers, “The Quranic Concept of War,” Parameters, Winter 2006-07, pp. 108-21, reviewed The Quranic Concept of War, by Brigadier S. K. Malik of the Pakistani Army (originally published in Pakistan in 1979).

I do not have this book - is there a re-print at a reasonable price ?

Better...see here

[jmm99]

HT for the link to Malik, The Quaranic Concept of War.

I recently (last week) ran into another product of the Pakistani Army, Lieutenant-General A.I. Akram, The Sword of Allah - Khalid bin Al-Waleed (1969) (pdf download), probably the greatest of the early Arab generals (victor at Yarmuk, etc. - Wiki for Walid).

Regards

Mike

[Tukhachevskii]

The first time I heard the name Khalid was when I discovered that Pakistan’s MBT (largely made in China) was to be named that (back when I was a wee nipper who thought fun was memorising Jane’s Armour and Artillery). Only later did I bother to find out more. Thanks for the link. You might find these interesting too...


Izetbegovic, A., The Islamic Declaration: A Programme for the Islamisation of Muslims and the Muslims
Peoples (Sarajevo, 1990). Written by the former president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Aliya Izetbegovic.

Al-Maududi, A. A., Jihad in Islam (Beirut: Holy Koran Publishing House, 1939)

Al-Misri, Ahmad, Reliance of the Traveller, Rev. Ed., Ed & trans. N. H. M. Keller (Maryland: Amana
Publicatuons,1988). The classic book of Shafi’i jurisprudence which points out, as do other works on Islamic jurisprudence, that the division of Sunni Islam into four legal schools doesn’t hide the fact that they agree on 70% of the central doctrines (the differences usually revolve around esoteric issues such as whether the quran was “created” or whether it was existent from the beginning of time, whether God has immutable natures, do his qualities mean his essential nature is split vs. Tauhid/unity, the degree to which ‘urf or common law can impinge upon the Shari’a, who constitutes a legitimate political authority empowered to declare Jihad, the degree of ijma necessary for a ruling to be binding, etc.). W. Montgomery Watt, the British Orientalist who converted to Islam, stated that the core doctrines were more than 70% identical but that’s a different matter. Also, one must be careful as Keller omitted to discuss slavery, amongst other topics, which is, however, still extant in the Arabic text to the right! I found the sections on the correct method to go to the loo/bog/toilet/ “bathroom” hilarious (especially regarding women....but then again I also enjoy watching Jackass, on the odd occasion!).

Haywood, J. A. & H. M. Nahmad, A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language, 2nd Ed. (London: Lund Humphries, 1965). A standard work on Arabic grammar for those wishing to brush up their Arabic or for committed (is that a pun?) beginners.

Wehr, H., A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 3rd Ed. Ed. & trans. J. M. Cowan (New York: Spoken Language Services, Inc., 1976). The indispensible classic especially in connexion with the above work.


Hughes, T. P., Dictionary of Islam being a cyclopaedia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies and Customs, together with the Technical and Theological Terms of the Muhammadan Religion (New Delhi: Manushiram Publishers, Ltd., 1995/1885). The classic and still largely unsurpassed work by an Orientalist who ranks with Lewis, Hurgronje, Jeffery, Watt, and Schacht as one of the great SME (and one who wrote before the post-modernist/Said inspired nonsense of the present). A friend of mine left his religion (he was a Sikh) after reading the entry on that in Hughes work, apparently they weren’t taught that (apparently they hate Muslims)!

Siddiqui, K., The Muslim Manifesto (London: The Muslim Institute 1990). Written by the founders of what is now the so called “moderate” British Council of Muslims during the Rushdie affair, illuminating for its statement that the publication of the Satanic Verses was a “declaration of war” on Islam. It also an excellent example of what Muslims consider “oppression” which is always useful when discussing what “defence” means to Muslims and to the doctrine of Jihad.

Ibn Nuhaas, The Book of Jihad, trans Noor Yamani (n.d). Like the reliance of the Traveller it is a translation of a classic work accepted by the Sunni schools of Law. Unfortunately, the translator often forgets to separate his own voice from that of Ibn Nuhaas which can lead the unwary astray. I did have an original Arabic copy which had been scanned but I can’t seem to find the internet link.

[jmm99]

Hopefully, many of them of them will be as useful as Maududi's Jihad has been to my understanding.

Lots of DLing.

Regards

Mike