“All praise to Allah Who when He rose to the heavens became exalted, and on earth became close - closer to us than the jugular vein.” Then he raised his hands towards the heaven and said: “O Allah, send upon us rain which would give us relief, and which would be savory, productive, abundant, pervading, immediate, without any delay. Let it be beneficial without any harm, which would fill the udder and cause the produce to grow from the earth; and it would give life to earth after it had died.” (Allah’s Prophet, peace and blessings upon him and his Family, attributed in Al-Amali, ch. 36, #3)

“The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircrafts, missiles or nuclear weapons. Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity. The global position of the United States is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth, and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices. ”

Message of H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
To the American People

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O, Almighty God, bestow upon humanity the perfect human being promised to all by You, and make us among his followers.

Noble Americans,

Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries;

Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;

And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity;
Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you.

While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together.

Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection.

Both greatly value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity, and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and bullies.

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And remember We took your covenant : Shed no blood amongst you, nor turn out your own people from your homes: and this you solemnly ratified, and to this you bear witness. (Qur’an 2:84)

Waith akhathna meethaqakum la tasfikoona dimaakum wala tukhrijoona anfusakum min diyarikum thumma aqrartum waantum tashhadoona

landslide victory for Rafael Correa: “If they want, we won’t close the base (in Manta) in 2009, but the United States would have to allow us to have an Ecuadoran base in Miami in return.”

landslide victory for underrepresented Shi’a Muslims in Bahrain.

from Amazon’s editorial review:

Over the past few decades, a new form of Orientalism has been developing. As exemplified by Elie Kedourie and Bernard Lewis, it points to Islam as the West’s archenemy. The rise of political Islam and its opposition to Western domination of the Islamic world are seen as evidence of a deep, abiding hatred of all things Western. Accordingly, the new Orientalists call for thorough reforms, among them regime changes, wars, and the imposition of “democracy” on Islamic societies. They warn that if the West shrinks from this challenge, the Islamists will surely gain power and destroy the West.

Not surprisingly, many of the new Orientalists are strong partisans of Israel.

For a taste of this wonderful book, check M. Shahid Alam’s excellent essay: The Muslims America Loves.

In the heyday of the old colonialism, the white man did not need any help from the natives in putting down their religion and culture. Indeed, he preferred to do it himself. Then, the opinion of the natives carried little weight with the whites anyway. So why bother to recruit them to denounce their own people. As a result, Orientalists wrote countless tomes denigrating the cultures of the lesser breeds.

Today the West needs help in putting down the uppity natives–especially the Muslims. One reason for this is that with the death of the old colonialism, some natives have begun to talk for themselves. A few are even talking back at the Orientalists raising all sorts of uncomfortable questions. This hasn’t been good: and something had to be done about it. In the 1970s the West began to patronize ‘natives’ who were deft at putting down their own people. Was the West losing its confidence?

The demand for ‘native’ Orientalists was strong. The pay for such turncoats was good too. Soon a whole crop of native Orientalists arrived on the scene. Perhaps, the most distinguished members of this coterie include Nirad Chaudhuri, V. S. Naipaul, Fouad Ajami and Salman Rushdi. They are some of the best loved natives in the West.

Allah’s Prophet (peace and blessings upon him and his Family) said: “Do not let your hearts die by eating and drinking too much, since the hearts are similar to farms that will get ruined from too much water.” (attributed in Mishkat al-Anwar, ch. 10, #420)