Body Language In International Diplomacy.

 

The Picture above shows Hussein Tantawi, Head of the Egyptian Military Higher Council, welcoming Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America, in Cairo Egypt.

Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America had made a diplomatic visit to Cairo, Egypt, just recently. She met first with Muhammad Mursy, the newly-elected President of Egypt and later on she met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Head of the Egyptian Military Higher Council.

The Jordanian newspaper daily, Alarab Alyawm, has published the picture shown above, as Tantawi and Clinton were shaking hands. It is so obvious that the hand of Mrs. Clinton was holding the hand of Tantawi so strongly, while her eyes wide-opened and looking straight at Tantawi 's face, while Tantawi's face had a shy smile and his eyes were looking, somehow, down,not straight into the eyes of  Clinton. Please see the picture shown above.

It seems to me that Clinton was trying to tell Tantawi that by the strong hand-shake and looking straight into his eyes, the following unspoken diplomatic gestures: you might be the highest commander of the whole Egyptian military, but I, Hilary Clinton, represent the government of the United States of America that was / is showering your military with annual military aid. The body language in this case had said it all, and no words were necessary to be said by Clinton to Tantawi to get the meaning of her body language. By the same token, Tantawi's shy smile and gesture of obvious humility was telling Clinton that I got the hint and you are most welcome, Mrs. Secretary.

The whole Clinton-Tantawi 's encounter in body language has reminded me of the superb body language of the late King Hussein of Jordan. He was a master when it came to body language in international diplomacy. During my stay in Amman, Jordan, managing a technical business operations in the whole Middle East and part of North Africa, for an American multi-national corporation, in the 1970's and 1980's, I saw countless times the late King Hussein on the Jordanian television receiving visitors at his Raghadan palace in Amman. He always sat at the very edge of a big comfortable chair with his both hands in his lap. That was to show utmost respect to his visitors whoever they might have been: Heads of State, Prime Ministers, military Generals etc...I had never seen him moving his hands, while talking with his visitors. I had never seen him sitting on his comfortable royal chair crossed legged, or in any other manner except sitting always at the very edge of it and his both hands in his lap.

While mentioning the late King Hussein's body language, it may be of interest to describe his body language, as he received King and Queen of Spain at Amman Airport: He received them at the bottom of their airplane's stair. He had shaken the hand of the King of Spain as normally as could be, but as the Queen of Spain stepped forward, King Hussein bend his head down as he held her hand for the usual hand shake and kissed the Queen's hand. It was a touching sight in a profound way. I thought it was beautiful to see on Television the late King Hussein of Jordan kissing the hand of  a visiting Queen. I had made a point, that day, of  watching the news at 8:00 p.m. on the Jordanian Television, in order to see again King Hussein kissing the hand of Queen of Spain. I was so disappointed as the Jordanian Television omitted that part of the royal reception at Amman's Airport, due to protestations raised by certain groups of Jordanian citizens who did not like to see their king kissing the hand of a visiting queen. Most unfortunate !!

One might have some disagreements with the policies of the late King Hussein of Jordan, but one could not refrain from admiring the body language he mustered in receiving his visitors and guests-most outstanding in human conduct,characterized with splendid royal humility, rarely matched, indeed

Another well known world figure who knew how to win the profound admiration of people, and probably their votes as well, was President Dwight Eisenhower who was the President of the United States of America for two terms in the 1950's. His genuine and admirable smile could disarm voters, Heads of State alike.

In short, the body language in international diplomacy can have a profound effect, if used appropriately in the right time and place and circumstances.     

                                                                                                       

      

Eid Al-Fitr.

I wish all my Muslim friends and readers of this Website A Very Happy Eid Al-Fitr,full of joy and celebrations across the Islamic World.

May the future be kinder to all Muslims and the rest of the human race, And may the future bring genuine understanding and tolerance among all religions of the world.

Sincerely,
Sodium  

A Great Book About ISLAM.

For those human being who are genuinely are trying to understand Islam the way it should be understood,free of bias and prejudice,the following book is a must read:

What Everyone Needs To Know About ISLAM
By
John L. Esposito

Dr. Esposito is a Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University in Washigton DC area. He is also" the Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

I have just finished reading the above book. It is worth every penny of the $ 21.95 I paid for purchasing it(Hard Cover). It is absolutely fascinating in its categorical division of the topics and subject matters. And it is even more fascinating in the ease in presenting the subject matters to the readers through questions and answers teaching techniques.

The book is divided into the following categorical divisions:

(1)  General Information.

(2)  Faith and Practice.

(3)  Islam and Other Religion.

(4)  Customs and Culture.

(5)  Violence and Terrorism.

(6)  Society,Pollitics,and Economy.

(7)  Muslims in the West.

Each subject matter listed above is discussed in questions and answers technique. For example,let us take number (6) Customs and Culture,of the list given above. It covers 29 important questions for which 29 responding answers were immediately given beneath each question such as:

~  Why does Islam seperate men and women?
~  Are Women second class citizens in Islam?
~  What kind of roles did women play in early Islam?
~  Why do Muslim women wear veils and long garments?
~  Why aren't women allowed to work or drive in Islam?
~  Why do Muslim men wear turbans or caps?
~  Why do Muslim men wear beards?
~  Does Islam require circumcision?

The above questions should be enough to to give an idea about the kind of questions the book contained and immediately answered the question right below it. Let us take the first question of the above list of questions and give only the first paragraph of the detailed answer provided by the book:

Why does Islam seperate men and women?

"Many,though not all,Muslim societies practices some gender segregation-the separation of men and women-to various degrees, in public spaces such as mosques,universities, and the marketplace. Thus in many mosques men  and women have seperate areas for prayer or are separated by a screen or curtain. Unmarried men do not mix with unmarried women outside of very specific context, such as family gatherings or a meeting between two potential spouses that occurs in the presence of a chaperone. Seclusion, which differs from the public segregation of the sexes, is the practice of keeping women within the home so that they have no contact with public space. Although gender segregation and seclusion are practice in some Muslim societies, in many Muslim countries, from Egypt and Tunisia to Malaysia and Indonesia, men and women, especially in the cities and towns, increasingly study and work together. In our modern, globalizing world, where two incomes are often necessary to maintain a household, women are increasingly joining the work forcee and breaking down the gender space"

That is only the first paragraph of the answer given to the above question. Anyone interested in reading the rest of the detailed answer should get it directly from the book. The answer given above is only an example to make the comprehension of the content of the book easy to grasp.

The beauty of this book is centered in the fact that if you have one single question about Islam you need not read the entire book to get the answer,rather you need only to locate the question in the book and get the answer immediately below the question you are interested in. It is so beautifully easy.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE ENTIRE BOOK AND iF YOU CAN AFFORD BUYING IT,BUY IT TO HAVE IT AS A GOOD REFERENCE IN YOUR HOME LIBRARY.
             


           

What is Irony?

It seems that some writers have some difficulties in expressing themselves as they try to use the word "Irony" or "Ironic" correctly. Because of a bit of difficulty I encountered in understanding what they were trying to convey to me,as a reader of their posts when the word "Irony" or Ironic" was involved in a sentence or paragraph or sigment of their posts,I felt that an attempt must be made in explaining what I understood and how I used the word "Irony" or " Ironic" in an English sentence correctly. To do that there are requirements a blogger must know in order to use these two word correctly. The main requirements are the following two points:

~ The meaning of  " Irony".
~ Why it is necessary to use it in some specific cases.

As to the meaning of "Irony",it really means the opposite of what it is used to describe or define. Examples will be given later.

As to why it is necessary to use in in some writings has to do for being the only way possible to express literally two opposing,or rather contradictary meanings by one word. Or to make easier to understand its proper use,one may consider it as the connecting word necessary to use in order to connect two opposing or contradictory meanings of a situation or a description or a case. Anyone who is familiar with the 20 Figurative Speech Words can easily understand what has been outlined in the foregoing so far. I believe Irony is number 9 nin the list of the 20 words.

Examples For Understanding The Exact Meaning Of Irony:
============================================
In the early 1960's,I worked in a research department related to my field of formal training. One of my working colleges weighed at least 400 pounds,an intelligent and nice fellow in every aspect one could wish a college to be. Just imagine how a fellow weighing 400 pounds to be. He was just too fat or if one wish to be polite one may say that he was just obese. He has areal name but no one in the department called him by his real name. Instead,his co-workers called him "Tiny",instead of calling him "Fatty".  He had no problem,at all,in responding to the call as I and other co-workers called him," Tiny". In fact,I believed that he preferred to be called "Tiny" rather than "Fatty". I worked in that department several years and I had never knew "Tiny"'s real name. Now from this description of a real situation I can write the following sentence using the word "Irony" or "Ironic":

It is an irony that a man who is so fat and big is called "Tiny".

Or

It is ironic that a coworker who weighed 400 pounds was called "Tiny" by his coworkers.

Another Example:
===============
What one may call a person who does not practice what he or she preaches?

One may call him a " HYPOCRITE",but one may use ELEQUENTLY the word,"Irony" or "Ironic" ,instead of the word,"HYPOCRITE" ,such as follows:

It is an irony that the Preacher does not practice what he preaches.

It is ironic that the Preacher does not practice what he preaches.

===================================================================

Final words: I do hope that the above outline will prove helpful to the readers of this website and to those who are interested in the topic.
    
   

Gems By Columnist Chris Hedges.

Column Title: America in the Time of Empire:
==================================

At one point Chris Hedges writes the following truism:

"Dying empires cling until the very end to the outward trappings of power."

The fact he uses the plural,"empires", is an indication that his knowledge of the human history is profound.

He goes further in describing how and to what  the dying empires cling; in such a beautifully arranged system of constructive series of thoughts, one after another, written in such talented ways; leaving only full-stops(dots) to seperate them for easier comprehension , or at least for easier reading. The following sentances are some of the gems being extracted from the above specified column for their eloquence and truism:

~ " They (the fading empires) mask their weakness behind a costly and technically advanced military."

~ " They (the fading empires) pursue increasingly unrealistic imperial ambitions."

~ " They ( the fading empires) stifle dissent with effecient and often ruthless mechanism of control."

~ " They (the fading empires) lose the capacity for empathy, which allows them to see themselves  through the eyes of others, to create a world of accommodation rather strife."

~ " The creed and noble ideas of the nation become empty cliches ,used to justify acts of greater blunder , corruption and violence." 

~ " By the end ,there is only a raw lust for power and a few willing to confront it."

End of quote.

The above saddening realities,beautifully and eloquently expressed,were written five years ago,and to be exact,they were written on November 26,2007. Since then, the trends of such saddening realities have become more so, to a point that even the most optimists can no longer ignore.

In short, the almost prophetic nature of  these realities make the writing of Chris Hedges the most needed at this juncture of the present time.

A thousand cheers for the honesty and eloquence of Chris Hedges .......       

Sufism And Sufis.

Dedication:
=========

This essay is being dedicated to Merrie for her thoughtfulness and purity of heart. Merrie is an electronic friend I have communicated with for many years in the past,but unfortunately I have never met.

                                                                                                             Sodium,
                                                                                                          May 5,2012

Why This Essay Now?
=================

During the time I was fulfilling the promise I had made to other electronic friends who had expressed interest in learning more about Islam, and in the middle of presenting to them a series of 14 different topics about Islam, I received a completely unexpected E-mail from Merrie. It was totally unexpected since we did not communicate with one another for sometimes. What is of interest to this essay was what she wrote about Sufism in the E-mail she sent me,and I quote:

"I ran across this website and thought instantly of you and that you might enjoy it. I do not know if you appreciate Sufism as it is a special order of Islam but there are some beautiful thoughts that I've seen written by Sufis.
May you be well,
Merrie"

She accompanied  her E-mail with the following essay:

"The Beauty of Mathematics and the Love of God  Darvish <<"

It was a beautifull essay. And anyone who may be interested in reviewing it can do so through the following link:

http://darvish.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/the-beauty-of-mathematics-and-the-love-of-god/

The whole content of her E-mail has touched me to the core, to a point of blaming myself for forgotten to include Sufism and Sufis in the series I was providing and I promised then my other electronic friends that I would write a special essay about Sufism after finishing the series made of 14 different topics about Islam.

However,I thought of inserting Sufism in the series I was handling then. It just did not work. Hence,this essay about Sufism and Sufis is being written now.

Definitions Of Terms:
===============

In order to comprehend Sufism ,one must ask the questions:

Question: What is Sufism?

Answer: According to some authorities on Sufism,it is a philosophy that uses poetry, music and dancings to worship and communicate with God. That is the way for those who are seeking an enlightenment with God.

Question: But where the word, Sufism, came from?

Answer: It came from the Arabic word,"Suf" which meant "wool."

Question: what, "Suf ", which meant/means, "wool",  has to do with a philosophy called Sufism?

Answer: It had happened that the adherents of Sufism wore cloths made of "Suf" , meaning "wool". Hence, they are called Sufis. For a single one person he or she is called Sufi without the "s". In Arabic,the correct words are asfolows

Sufi for a single male person who follows Sufism.
Sufieh for a single female person who follows Sufism.
Sufian or Sufiyyn for two male persons who follow Sufism,depending on the grammer of the two words.
Sufiatan or Sufiatyyn for two female persons who follow Sufism,depending on thegrammer of the two word.
Sufiuoon or Sufieen for male plural,depending on the grammer of the two words in the sentemce.
Sufiaat for female plural.

Question: Is Sufism an integral part of Islam?

Answer: Yes and No,depending whom you asked. Some Islamic schools of thoughtsthe like the Wahabi in Saudi Arabia,do not consider Sufism as an integral part of Islam. Most  Islamic schools of  thoughts consider,however Sufism as an integral part of Islam. For details about the shools of thoughts in Islam,please review the topic entitled,"(9)Interpretations Of The Verses Of The Qura'n" ,as they were outlined in the series made of 14 different topics about Islam in this website. The schools of thoughts are called "Mathahib" in Arabic.

Question: What are the tenants of Sufism?

Answer: The main tenant of Sufism is the "Tawheed" (also written as Tawhid), which means "The One-ness of God". So is the Tawheed with regards to all other Islamic schools of thoughts. Hence,Sufism shares its fundamental tenant with all other Islamic schools of thoughts,that is the "Tawheed" or "The One-ness of God". Therefore, Sufism is an integral part of Islam. What taints a little doubt about this fundamental fact about Sufism is the fact that there are so many people who are NOT Muslims, but  follow and practice Sufism.

Although the fundamental tenant is the same with all other Islamic shools of thoughts as one examines the details of the tenants of Sufism,one may discover that even in the details Sufism's tenants are quite similar,if not identical to the details that embodied in the good teachings in Judaism,Christianity and Islam. The best I could find from a rather lengthy researches to provide more credence to this conclusion was/is what a Sufi commentator by the name of Qushayri provdes about his Sufism,(as quoted in Sufism: An essential introduction to the philosophy and practice of the mystical traditionof Islam,by Carl W. Ernst,PhD):

"Sufism is entry into examplary behavior and departure from unworthy behavior."

"Sufism means that God makes you die for yourself and makes you live in him."

"The Sufi is single in essence,nothing changes him ,nor does he change anything."

"The sign of the sincere Sufi is that he feels poor when he has wealth, is humble when he has power, and is hidden when he has fame."

"Suffism means that you own nothing and are owned by nothing."

"Sufism means entrusting the soul to God and most highfor whatever he wishes."

"Sufism meansseising spiritual realities and giving up on what creaturespossess."

"Sufism means kneeling at the door of the Beloved, even if he turns you away."

"Sufism is a state in which the conditions of humanity disappear."

"Sufism is a blazing lightning bolt."


Poetry of Sufism:
==============

The Islamic genious and hence Sufism's genious stems from the Qur'an,the Muslims' Holy book. No poet could make beautiful Arabic poetry or writer of beautiful Arabic proses could do so without profound knowledge of the beautiful language of the Qur'an.

Sufism has produced so many poets but one Sufi poet will immediately comes to mind is Jalal el-Deen el-Romi who was not only a Sufi poet,but also jurist as well. He spent his entire life trying to emulate the way Prophet Muhammad had conducted his daily life. His love of God was unshakable. Some of his poetry:

O' myy God,don't let me in the hand of this unreliable self.
Don't make me agree with anyone but youI run to You from deceits,troubles of myself,
I am Yours.
Don't give myself  back to me.


I come to you without me,come to me without you.
Self is the thornin the sole of the soul.
Merge with others,
If you stay in self,you are grain a grain,you are a drop,
If you merge with others,you are an ocean,you are a mine.


I am neither a Christian nor Jew
Neither Persian nor Moslem.
I am from neither East nor West
Neither from land,norfrom water.


Note from the  writer of this essay:
=========================

This essaymay be considered the gate way for those interested in developing a more profound comprehention of Sufism and Sufis like Jalal eL-Deen el-Rumi. Sufism and Sufis make a fascinating and most interesting topic to pursue further. All one needs to learn more is to have time,patience and genuine desire to learn more.

Good Luck.
                                                                                                                                                                       

Apology To The Readers Of This Website.

For the last three weeks I have very difficult time keeping my computer working properly and connected to the Webpage of the Internet. It seeems now the difficulties are overcome and I hope it is going to be permanent,since I was told it was fixed two weeks ago and only worked okay for two hours and stopped working and I faced the same difficulties as before. Hence,I am not sure how long it is going to work this time. Sooner or later,a solution to the difficulties must be found.

Therefore,please accept my sincere appology for any inconvenience encountered by you,due to the difficulties I have been encountering in keeping my computer connected to the Webpage of the Internet. And Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Sincerely,
Sodium