The Question Should Be: Why We Hate Them? Bryant C. Mitchell, Arab News

                         After the disaster of Sept. 11, the common man in the Western world awoke from his spiritual slumber and was told that they needed to find the answer to what            they were told was a fundamentally important rhetorical question: Why do they hate us? As a result, a frantic search began to find out any and all information       t                   they could about Islam and the Muslims.

                    The underlying premise in the framing of this question is that “they” — Muslims — possess some innate abhorrence for things Western and thereby modern.       T                 The Western religious scholars long ignored by their slumbering populace rushed to the forefront to provide an array of answers. They included, but were not limit  ited to the following:

        • Islam is an inherently anti-modern religion;     • Islam is a demonic religion as was its founder;

        • Islam is an inherently violent religion based on the conquest and subjugation of non-Muslims.

                     Let’s examine the facts. Here is what some prominent American opinion-makers and leaders have said about Islam:

“W          We should invade (Muslim) countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”   — Columnist Ann Coulter, National Review Online, Sept. 13, 2001.

             “Just turn (the sheriff) loose and have him arrest every Muslim that crosses the state line.”

               — Rep. C. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security and Senate candidate, to Georgia law       officers, November 2001.

              “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith where God sent his Son to die for you.”  — Attorney    General John Ashcroft, interview on Cal Thomas radio, November 2001.

            “(Islam) is a very evil and wicked religion; wicked, violent and not of the same God (as Christianity).”

— Rev. Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, November 2001.  “Islam is Evil, Christ is King.”

            — Allegedly written in marker by law enforcement agents on a Muslim prayer calendar in the home of a Muslim being investigated by police in Dearborn, Michigan, July 2002. 

“Who put our oil under their sand?” — A banner of the Orange County Peace Coalition (OCPC), a broad-based group of diverse individuals and organizations. OCPC is a multiethnic, multireligious, multipolitical organization composed of over 20 volunteer groups united for peace. They indicate they have come together because national leaders are propelling the United States into a war that will destabilize the world and threaten our civil liberties.

          “We are going to correct a mistake that God made?” — Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, a senior intelligence chief who made church speeches casting the   fight against terrorism in religious terms. The three-star general is deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

                     What the above passages clearly demonstrate is that a more pertinent question to ask is why do we hate them. What’s going on here? What’s going on isn’t             rocket science. Simply put, Muslims do not inherently hate the so-called “West or modernity”. What they dislike, so more adamantly than others, isn’t the                quest, but the quest’s baggage. Now I will briefly examine two important articles of this baggage to get a sense of the source of the difference in perspective. They are:

                     Western economic philosophy is based on the basic that the ends justify the means. As a result, the pursuit of economic gain should not be constrained by moral             or religious ideology. Islam, on the other hand, prohibits businesses that promote the sale of intoxicants, pork products, art that depict human images, gambling,       interest, pornography, and prostitution, all of which are legal in one form or another in Western societies.

                         Western democracy is based on the premise that all laws are subject to change and reinterpretation. For example, the US Constitution is viewed as a living              document that is subject to change by expression of two-thirds of the Will of the People. In contrast, an Islamic constitution is based on the Qur’anic law that               can’t be changed given its origin. As result, the Western political system is reactive in nature.

                     Laws instituted first and questioned regarding their constitutionality after the fact. In Islamic tradition, every effort is made to ensure that laws passed through        the Qur’anic screen before they are put into effect. Finally, many of the purported freedoms that the West so zealously wants imparted to Muslims are not               freedoms at all, they are forms of enslavement. Fortunately for the Muslims this basic knowledge has been infused deep within the moral genetic code.                   U                 Unfortunately for the West, its most recent invasion into the Muslim market-space is reactivating that code with some very predictable consequences given             the  force and viciousness of the incursion.

— Bryant C. Mitchell who converted to Islam at the age of 35 teaches management and entrepreneurship courses at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Not included in this articles are comments by Graham, Falwell, Robertson, Inoyk, Severin, Savage.....the list is long!!!!!!

"Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror, and the American people are safer."

“the governments of the United States and Pakistan are working closely in the fight against terror"
 

"President Musharraf is a friend of our country,"

July 12, 2004: President George W. Bush Oak Ridge, Tennessee,

"God is on our side!"

Zbigniew Brzezinski exhorting anti-Soviet Mujahideen on the border of Afghanistan, 1979

The AFGHAN MUJIHIDEEN WERE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE

2 MILLION MUSLIMS DIED IN FIGHTING THE USSR ON THE SIDE OF THE USA

BACKGROUND OF ISLAM

&

JEWISH CHRISTIAN

SYMBIOSIS

v      Selected Readings from the Quran

v      For Further Information on Islam

v      Test Your own knowledge of Islam and your own Sacred Texts

v      How the best Make fun of Muslims. Selected Humor on Muslims

v      Muslims in America: A brief history of Islam in America from the 11^th century to the present

v      Jewish Christian Muslim Symbiosis

v      The Quran on “Befriending the Jews and Muslims”

ISLAMO CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION

BY DR. RICHARD BOULLIET

"Looked as a whole, and in historical perspective, the Islamo-Christian world has much more binding it together than forcing it apart.The past and future of the West cannot be fully comprehended without the appreciation of the twinned relationship it has had wth Islam over some fourteen centuries. The same is true of the Islamic world. The case for Islamo-Christian civilization is rooted in the historical reality of those centuries. One might hope that historians of Western Civilization and of Islam will see the value of readjusting their perspectives to take this reality into account. But our society can not wait for the sluggish current of historiograpical reflection to carve a new channel.  The case for Islamo-Christian civilization rests more immediately on the need of all Americans to find common ground with our Muslim diaspora communities at a time when suspicion, fear, draconian government action, and demogaguery increasingly threaten to divide us. Islamo-Christian civilization is a concept we desperately need if we are to have any hope of turning  an infamous day of tragedy into a historic moment of social and religious inclusion." 

Richard Bulliet is a professor of history at Columbia University. A former director of Middle East Institute and an executive secretary of the Middle East Studies Association. He is the author of Islam: The View from Edge, The Camel and the Wheel, and editor of The Columbia History of Twentieth Century

OUR COMMON HERITAGE Table of the Phoenician Alphabet

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WHAT IS COMMON BETWEEN ISLAM, MOZART & CROISSANTS

THE Janissaries were the elite fighting force of the Ottoman Empire. When they advanced into battle it was to shrill and alarming war music. But what made them more terrifying was the slow rolling stride of their march in which for every two steps forward, they took one step sideways. This inexorable advance in strict formation, utterly contemptuous of the hails of enemy arrows and javelins, served to confuse and then terrify their opponents, who often broke and ran before these ferocious shock troops actually reached their ranks

Janissary Music influenced Mozart & Beethoven

The military march music of the Janissaries is characteristic because of its powerful, often shrill sound combining bass drums, horns (boru), bells, the triangle and cymbals (zil), among others. Janissary music influenced western classic musicians like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Janissary Music is still played at state, military and tourist functions in modern Turkey by the Mehter Band and the troops that accompany. For more details, see Turkish music (style).

References

  Godfrey Goodwin - Janissaries    David Nicolle - Janissary

  1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica   http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Janissaries

"Let's try to move back to the year 1683. During the second siege of Vienna by the Turkish army, a group of bakers hear soldiers tunneling under their kitchen and alert the authorities of the impending danger. Following the expulsion of the would-be invaders, they are rewarded with a special privilege: baking a special pastry in the shape of the crescent which ornamented the Ottoman flag. While the croissant made its first appearance, the fashion of coffeehouses spread from Istanbul to the European capitals. The fear of centuries had, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire, made way for a kind of fascination with all things Turkish. "During their retreat from Vienna, the Janissaries seem to have left behind some of their musical instruments near the monastery of Kremsmunster in Graz. Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741), one of the leading figures of the Austrian Baroque and resident of the area at the time, composed some works emulating 'Mehter' music. Although quite forgotten nowadays, it is possible that these are the forerunners of the 'Alla Turca' style so familiar from the music of Haydn and Mozart. The influence of the Janissaries did not stop at the introduction of percussion instruments into the orchestra. Composers also attempted to imitate the character of the music. This is best exemplified by Mozart's opera 'The Abduction from the Seraglio.'

"The fashion of 'Orientalism,' as it came to be known in the 19th century, spread to all art forms including painting, literature, architecture and even furniture-making.

"The Sinfonia a Tre by Fux (with its curiously titled movements: Turcaria, Janichara, Posta Turcica, etc.) Written by Mozart before 'The Abduction from the Seraglio' and like it, set in the harem of an Ottoman palace,

"While Turkish music was influencing the classical masters of the 18th century, a group of painters (later referred to as the 'Bosphorus Painters') who took up residence in Istanbul were creating the school of 'Orientalism' in the visual arts. Painters such as Melling, van Mour and Hilair had direct experience of the East. Those who did not travel had their sources in literary figures such as Lord Byron, Lamartine, Guatier and de Nerval. An exhibition of work by Orientalist painters can be seen during the event. The reaction by a contemporary Turkish artist to Orientalist painting can also be seen in the massive work of Bedri Baykam entitled 'Ingres, Gerome, This is My Bath.'

OTTOMAN MUSLIM INFLUENCED VIENNA MUSIC FOR CENTURIES AND GAVE THE WEST THE BASS DRUM, THE CYMBALS AND THE BELLS

For those who think of Mozart,Hyden and the Vienna Symphonies as Wester Art need to know that it is a confluence of the symbioses. The following articles tell us about the Muslim influences on Western music

Turkish music", in the sense described here, is not really music of Turkey, but rather a musical style that was occasionally used by the European composers of the Classical music era. This music was modeled--though often only distantly--on the music of Turkish military bands, specifically the Janissary bands.

Description: "Turkish" music is always lively in tempo, and is almost always a kind of march.

When "Turkish" music was scored for orchestra, it normally used extra percussion instruments not otherwise found in orchestras of the Classical period: typically, the bass drum, the triangle, and cymbals. These instruments really were used by the Turks in their military music (see Janissary), so at least the instrumentation of "Turkish" music was authentic. Often there is also a piccolo, whose penetrating tone adds to the outdoor atmosphere.

It seems that at least part of the entertainment value of "Turkish" music was its perceived exoticness. The Turks were well known to the citizens of Vienna (where Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven all worked) as military opponents, and indeed the centuries of warfare between Austria and Turkey had only started going consistently in Austria's favor around the late 1600's. The differences in culture, as well as the frisson derived from the many earlier Turkish invasions, apparently gave rise to a fascination among the Viennese for all things Turkish--or even ersatz Turkish.

An important impetus for "Turkish" music occurred in 1699, when Austria and Turkey negotiated the Treaty of Karlowitz. To celebrate the treaty, the Turkish diplomatic delegation brought a Janissary band along with other performers to Vienna for several days of performances.

Eventually, the instruments of "Turkish" music lost their Turkish associations, and classical composers made free use of them in later 19th century symphonic writing; thus these instruments are a gift to Western classical music from the Turkish military-music tradition.

Examples: All three of the great Classical era composers, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, wrote at least some "Turkish" music. For sound files illustrating some of these works, see the External links section below.

Mozart

·  Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" (''Die Entf hrung aus dem Serail''), from 1782, is the quintessential work of Turkish music, as the whole plot centers on the stereotyping of comically sinister Turks. (The Pasha, at least, turns out noble and generous in the end.) The overture to the opera as well as two marches for the Janissary chorus are Turkish music in the sense just described.

·  The Piano Sonata in A, K. 331 (1778) ends with the famous rondo marked "Alla Turca", "in the Turkish style". Rapid arpeggios in the left hand are used to imitate the "Turkish" instruments. The imitation probably came closer with the piano of Mozart's day, whose bass strings made something of a rattle when played loudly, than is possible on modern instruments. (In the early 19th century, piano manufacturers even made instruments with special stops for performing Turkish music.)

·  The finale of the Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major K. 219 (1775), sometimes called the "Turkish" Concerto, is interrupted by a loud episode of Turkish music. Mozart adapted this passage from an earlier ballet, "Le gelosie del seraglio" ("The Jealousies of the Seraglio") K. 135a, composed for Milan in 1772. In the concerto, the cellos and double basses add to the percussive effect by playing their instruments col legno, that is, striking the strings with the wood of the bow.

Haydn

·  Haydn's "Military" Symphony (1794) uses Turkish music in both the second movement (which depicts a battle) and in a brief reprise at the end of the finale.

Haydn had a somewhat remote personal connection to the Turkish army--his great-grandfather had been a fatal civilian casualty during the Turkish invasion of 1683.

Beethoven

·  In 1811, Beethoven wrote an overture and incidental music to a play by August von Kotzebue called The Ruins of Athens, premiered in Pest in 1812. One item from the incidental music (Op. 113, No. 5) is a Turkish march. Beethoven also wrote a set of variations on his march for piano, Op. 76.

·  Beethoven's Wellington's Victory, also called the "Battle" Symphony (Op. 91, 1813) commemorates the British victory in the Battle of Vitoria. The opposing British and French armies march to battle with Turkish-music versions of their respective battle songs, "Rule Britannia" and "Malbrouck s'en va-t-en guerre".

·  Beethoven returned again to "Turkish" music, by this time rather out of vogue, in a passage of the final movement of his Ninth Symphony (1824). A tenor soloist, assisted by the tenors and basses of the chorus, sings a florid variation on the famous theme, accompanied by Turkish music from the orchestra.

Others

Turkish music also appears in works of Rameau, Rossini, Ludwig Spohr, and in two operas of Gluck, "Iphigenie auf Tauris" (1764) und "Die Pilger von Mekka" (1779).

Musical characteristics: In "Turkish" music, the percussion instruments often play this rhythm: This is the same rhythm (probably not coincidentally) as the stereotyped chant of marching soldiers: "Left ... left ... left right left." (It should not be imagined, however, that the tempo is necessarily plodding: the Janissaries conjured up in Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto, for instance, would be making considerable headway following the tempo of most performances.) The melodic instruments in Turkish music often emphasize the rhythm by playing grace notes, either singly or several in succession, on the beat.
The role of Turkish music in a larger work seems to be to serve as a form of musical relaxation. Thus, in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the Turkish episode serves as a period of lowered intensity between two more massive and emotionally charged sections. Turkish music commonly is found in finales, which (as Charles Rosen point out) are typically the most relaxed and loosely organized movements of Classical works.

External links

·  East Meets West - Turkish Influences on the Viennese Classics

·  A page on authentic Turkish military music

Links with sound files of works cited  ·  Web site of violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja:   * Her essay "On the 'alla turca' in the Rondo of the Violin Concerto K. 219 (in German).

   * * Kopatchinskaja's performance of the "Turkish" movement of Mozart's concerto, with Roy Goodman and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra

·  A midi performance of the "Alla turca" movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 311, from the Lexscripta Web Site.

·  Beethoven midi performances, from Tina Billett's "Keyboard Creations" Web site

  * Turkish March from The Ruins of Athens   * "Wellington's Victory"

                                http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Turkish-music-(style)

East Meets West - Turkish Influences on the Viennese Classics

….it nevertheless affected the makeup of the Western orchestra by leading to the establishment of percussion instruments of Turkish origin (bass drum, cymbals, bells) as permanent members of the ensemble. It's hard to imagine an orchestra today without them! The Turkish Janissary ensemble also had a significant impact on the development of the military band in the West and is the direct antecedent of the modern Shriners' band (Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine), frequently seen in parades today.

Beethoven was fascinated by another Turkish musical tradition—this one a mystical religious ceremony to which he alluded in his incidental music for the stage work The Ruins of Athens (1811). The ceremony derives from one of the sects of Islam, that of the Mevlevis, who were famous for their whirling dervish ritual: dancing in a circle with a slow, controlled spinning motion as a part of their religious experience. This ceremony was sung to the accompaniment of flute, lute, and percussion, including kettledrum and cymbals. Beethoven's Chorus of Whirling Dervishes, a pale imitation of the original, is an example of exoticism that has been filtered through Western culture. Both the Janissary band and the whirling dervish ceremony are obsolete in modern-day Turkey, except as tourist attractions. The term "whirling dervish"—implying one who twists and turns, like a restless child—has, however, endured in the West.

http://www.wwnorton.com/enjoy/index/cultural/perspec8.htm

http://www.urduword.com/cgi-bin_dictionary/standard_search.cgi?English=Brown

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"There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256) and Muslims are ordered to say "The truth is from your Lord, so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve." (18:29)