اختر مو مبارک

Eid Greetings

Tor_Khan تور خان

I Want To See The World United ...

The song comes from the UN's 7 Billion Actions series, and gives us a chance to look forwards with a simple message of unity.  It is a good way to start the New Year.

Hope and wishes.

A Classroom View

Welcome to my world.

Collage created using Google Picasa. 

Photos taken using a Samsung Galaxy S. 

Eid Mubarak - د اختر سلامونه

ټولو ته په دې  لوئې مبارکه ورځ باندې، د اختر سلامونه

Tor_Khan تور خان

To Be a Muslim

Pa Bismillah,

I extend my welcome to all Muslim and non-Muslim, old and new. Salaam and Marhaba.

There is the way it is - and the way it is supposed to be. These are very different things.

To be a contemporary Muslim is to know that we live in an imperfect world and that there are many pulls and distractions. Muslims must navigate their faith through the issues that test us daily. That is the way it is.

And of course there is the matter of image. Muslims don't get it easy in the press. Sometimes, Muslims are drawn towards apology and it can be exhausting attempting to apologise for every error made by every Muslim that is reported. Personally speaking, I sometimes feel that I am right out of apology.

I recognise the disappointing reality of inequality - that Muslims make up a good proportion of the world's poorest people who live in the grip of disinformation and confusion. This is not the way it is supposed to be but the way that it is. The modern media feeds on this and the bad press feeds bad policy, the unnecessary wars and continual confusion within.  

Sitting in the Gulf, I see examples of how it could be but also how it should not be. Local Arabs, living off the oil boom, are anything but poor. The state apparatus is supportive of the basic needs - the way it could/should be. In Islam, our system of zakat and charity should mean a distribution of wealth and food to the poor and a natural trickle down effect. And yet amongst Muslims globally, we still have serious abject poverty, despite our systems to protect the most vulnerable - like, I say, the way it is supposed to be versus the way that it is. 

The good thing is that despite the bad press, Islam remains strong in the hearts of many Muslims and that Islam continues to draw people to the faith. I think therefore that the way it is supposed to be, is a good place to start. Lauren Booth's decision to become a Muslim is significant because of the profile of her famous brother-in-law, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is often perceived across the Muslim world as an antagonistic crusader who knowingly brought misery to Muslims. Lauren Booth's story of simpler, less dramatic approach, is a timely reminder that Islamic civilisation at its political and cultural height offered its subjects, Muslim or not, a genuine peaceful path. The way that it is supposed to be. 

And, Allah, of course, knows best.

Prize for Peace

Something political is going on - I'm not the only one to notice the irony in offering the Nobel Peace Prize to a US President who is currently discussing an expansion to the war in Afghanistan.

Some quotes:

"I believe the Nobel Committee has not met the conditions of Alfred Nobel's will where he stipulates it is to be awarded to those who work for an end to militarism and war, and for disarmament. This is not the first time the Nobel Peace Committee in Oslo has ignored the will of Alfred Nobel and acted against the spirit of what the Nobel Peace Prize is all about," Mairead Maguire.

"He just became the president. Things are just the same as the way they were by the administration of Mr. [George W.] Bush. Things are not better, things are worse and worse." Obaid Alam, Afghanistan, "The number of U.S. Army [troops] has increased here. The number of terrorist attacks increased here. I’m kind of confused whether that Nobel Award [is] for all those things."

“Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast — he hasn’t had the time to do anything yet…For the time being Obama’s just making proposals. But sometimes the Nobel Committee awards the prize to encourage responsible action. Let’s give Obama a chance." Lech Wałęsa

"It's a joke. How embarrassing for those who awarded it to him because he's done nothing for peace. What change has he brought in Iraq, the Middle East or Afghanistan?" Liaqat Baluch

"To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace." President Barack Hussein Obama II

"But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century."

Let's hope so.

رمضان مبارک

ټولو ته  د روژه میاشت ډير ډير مبارک وي  

Tor_Khan تور خان

Karachi Konnection - خوش آمدید

I am in Karachi.

My Grandfathers – both of them – left their villages to make new lives with their families in Karachi. It's a story as much tied in with the Partition of India as it is with a common migration destination for many Pashtoon menfolk seeking work in the then-capital of a newly formed country. My maternal Grandfather spent time in Bombay, eventually settling in Karachi where he was a career coolie, my paternal Grandfather spent his time in the commercial navy in Calcutta and later Karachi.

I generally look back a generation or two – my better times in Pakistan as a child arriving for the first time were in the rural (mostly mountainous north) - Hazara and Swat where my immediate ancestory lies. I would later return to Swat as an adult to the very house where my maternal Grandfather was born and raised - the beauty of the valley is entrenched in my mind forever. I don't know if we will get an opportunity to travel this summer, but without doubt, it is this stronger sense of Pashto language and Pashtoon identity that defines me, and not the human soup identity that is increasingly prevalent in Karachi.

My father has often romanticised about the village, Malla Kalyan in Attock where his forefathers had their holding, but in truth, over the years, he has tended to go back less and less. He has invested more time in Karachi and tends to introduce himself as a Karachiite, firming up what I call our Karachi Konnection.

Slumdog Hundredaire

Karachi is the Sindh equivalent of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay of course and under the British was administered under an arrangement called the Bombay Presidency. Like Bombay/Mumbai, it is a city that has drawn in many layers of migrants – and is now a multiple layered society where communities jostle alongside one another, and occasionally break in rioting, turf wars and looting. Karachi is very complex – it remains a city that simmers with tension – on the ride home, I could almost sense it en route to my father's place in Shireen Jinnah Colony (named after the founder of Pakistan's sister). My wife pointed out the places in Clifton where she and our children were trapped during rioting that broke out a couple of years ago following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. There is something about the city that the residents here just accept as normal – from my eyes looking in from afar, there are obvious wrongs. The erratic electricity supply is one, but the thing that strikes is the slum-living conditions of many of the people here. Whilst very used to my middle-class trappings, it's humbling – I also have family in the more run down parts of town – and I have to be mindful. On the first night in town, I find myself sleeping on the floor in a corner of a room with no windows. This, dear readers, technically speaking, is home.

Khush Amdeed خوش آمدید

Sheikh Zayed Masjid

Marhaba

Across the Islamic world, Muslim cities are often defined by their historical masjids. The Sheikh Zayed Masjid, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi is actually fairly new and was officially opened towards the end of Ramadan two years ago. There is still some landscaping work to be completed on the grounds, but you can see the green embankment and sometimes they turn on the water features.

It's an incredibly beautiful construction - a modern synthesis of Moorish and Mughal architecture composed mostly of white marble with an interior of white gypsum and coloured marble floral patterning (28 different styles of marble for the decor and the mosaic). It has the largest carpet in the world (all 47 tonnes of it shipped over from Iran) and the heaviest copper and gold plated chandeliers imported from Germany, made up of 1 million Swarovski crystals (there are seven of them, the largest of which is 10 metres in diameter with a 15 metre drop in the main hall).

The masjid has a 82 domes, covers an area of 22,412 square metres with a potential to hold a capacity of 40 thousand - it is rated amongst the biggest masjids in the world. There are four minarets, standing at 107 metres. You can see one of the courtyard minarets in the picture here.

Mausoleum

Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the union that is the UAE has his final resting place here. His mausoleum is on the grounds, though it's strictly no photography. You can, however, peer through the grills and listen to the qira'at as you approach the chamber.

As a family, we often choose to pray Jum'ah here. I include some pictures I took there last week straight after Jum'ah prayer.

Enjoy.

Pa Khair Raghley پخېر راغلې

پخېر راغلئ

Starey Mashaye

Salaam. Welcome to Tor Khan's blog ...

... to introduce me - I'm a son, a brother, a father, a husband, an uncle, a nephew, a cousin, a neighbour, a friend and an educationalist.

I'm also a slightly displaced Pashtoon who has lived most of his years amongst the rolling hills of Yorkshire. Some years ago, I made the break and since then have lived and worked in Doha, Minnesota and Abu Dhabi, travelling a little and returning for short stints to Bradford between each venture. Right now I'm in the UAE, but life's a journey ... and I'm a traveller ...

Here you'll find postings to things of interest, musings and captured moments that tell their own story. You'll also find a good dose of joy, wonder and contemplation.

I'll leave you with a couple of lines from Rahim Shah's Sandara Da Pukhtoon (Song of the Pashtoon):

Kabul, Ghazni, Paktia ka Kandahar,

De tolo Pukhtano Afghanistan de Mor auw Plar

(click to see the video)

Kabul, Ghazni, Paktia or Kandahar,
For all Pashtoons, Afghanistan is mother and father.
(penned by Feroz Afridi)

Take care and enjoy.

Da Khudai Pa Amaan.
د خداى په امان

Tor_Khan تور خان