Conversations with a Bangladeshi-Canadian Neighbour

Conversations with a Bangladeshi-Canadian Neighbour

Hi Rita:

In my previous mail, all that mentioned that I was reading a book, titled Dead Sea Scrolls, authored by Robert Eisenman. It never occurred to me that my reading of such a book of history would trigger you to call me "you happen to be a man of faith......"Because you are immersed within it, and it holds vital importance to you" and many more.

Perhaps out of my exuberance I regarded you as an intellectual, loaded with virtues and wisdom. Unfortunately, I find now that I was wrong. After all I am human too and as such, susceptible to error in judgement.  

Regards,

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From: rrosenfeld@sympatico.ca
To: syedfaruq@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Emperor Vespasian of Rome
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 17:19:06 -0400

Hello Syed,

Well, irrespective of the issue of “our age”, you happen to be a man of faith, and I happen to be a woman of no faith. I am completely secular, Syed. I hold no brief for religion. It interests me as a historical solution to a general problem of socializing groups of people, of teaching them that there are certain absolutes of behaviour toward one another that should be observed if one wished to be a civil, humane being. So I recognize that organized religion has had an important part to play in civilizing people who would not, without its encouragement, fully adopt their inborn sense of decency toward others. And I appreciate that for many people their faith is vital in how they view the world and those around them, compelling them to behave in an exemplary manner – unfortunately not always.

 

You are interested in the minutiae of your religion, in its interpretation of past events, and that sort of thing. Because you are immersed within it, and it holds vital importance to you. Religion, any religion, is of interest to me on a purely sociological, philosophical scale. Those within any religion whose worship is such that it is fanatical in nature is abhorrent to me, for such people have no tolerance for others, and tolerance is critical to her relationship with one another.

 

You’ve harked back to the time of antiquity and the surfacing by courtesy of a man who had a brilliant idea to meld religious beliefs and take from that a synthesis that he would present as a unique vision through which a divine being would develop a relationship with humankind. For such a relationship to succeed it needs adherents, and the more the better; thus proselytization becomes critical, and in the case of Islam it was conducted through the means that an antique, tribal society knew best; to mobilize for conquest in the name of the omniscient, omnipotent spirit. Who, if he/it/she were so powerful, would not require the intercession of humankind to persuade by scimitar-and-fire those loathe to join them That’s simply my take of it.

 

As for messiahs and the Jewish religion; there were many throughout the millennia; one of the most famous/infamous being Sabbatai Zevi, who told his followers that his ability to fly was sufficient proof of who he was. Such spiritual charlatans abound in world history. Syed, have you read Tarek Fatah’s writing? Say, for example, his Chasing a Mirage? He is a very approachable writer and a decent human being. I understand that people from Pakistan and those from Bangladesh, though worshipping the same god, might, given their historical relationship (Pakistan breaking from India in 1948, Bangladesh from Pakistan in – was it 1956? – accomplished through horrendous bloodshed, might be suspicious of one another, but surely in Canada there is no need for that...?

 

In Chapter 6 of his book: The Prophet is Dead, he writes of the historical falsehoods imposed upon Muslims by clerics “...by our clerics concerns the events immediately following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE. Almost all Muslim scholars, especially contemporary ones, have repeated the legend, without any hesitation, that after the death of Allah’s Apostle his successor was “elected” with unanimous consensus at the end of an all-night conference of Muslim elders....” I commend this book to you, it is most interesting; you might even wish to contact the author himself; as I mentioned a friendly, approachable man.

 

As for Hourani’s book, while it is about the Arab peoples, you must bear in mind that Islam is basically about the Arab peoples; it is their fundamental history, since Islamic principles encompass all areas of daily life. The Koran is inextricably held to be Arabic for authenticity, and while Islam is embraced by non-Arabs who have been steeped in its traditions and worship, the story of Islam is the story of the Arab populations, basically.

 

Best regards. Rita

 

From: Syed 

Sent: Monday, September 30, 2013 11:25 AM

To: Rita 

Subject: RE: Emperor Vespasian of Rome

 

Hi Rita:

I thought that at our age, it is good to have some mental exercise through writing, reading and participating in thought-provoking issues. I remember those early days in this road when we joined together to fight against the City Hall and had the city install those stop signs on Desepinettes. Now what could be more exciting than getting into the matters of controversy?

I was reading a book, titled Dead Sea Scrolls, by Robert Eisenman. He gave a vivid description of the Jewish people who hid their sacred scrolls in the caves of Dead Sea while running away from the tyranny of the Roman Emperor.  

Your criticism of the article is praise worthy. It is true that the author doesn’t rank amongst any of the classical one, whoever wrote anything about Muhammad or Islam. Nevertheless while Albert Hourani’s ‘A History of the Arab Peoples’ may contain many historical events about Arabia, but the fact will still remain that the earliest biography of  Muhammad was written over 100 years after Muhammad’s death. This fact alone will stand on the way towards establishing the critical history about the relation between the Jewish inhabitants of Medina and Muhammad.

The author, though unknown to the classical circle, gave a few mind boggling pointers that seem to be absent in all the writings on Islamic matters. Why the year 622, when Muhammad was ousted from Mecca, became the beginning of the Islamic year? Wouldn't it have been more appropriate that the birth-year of Muhammad (570) or when he is believed to have received the first revelation (610)?

The author seems to conclude that the arrival of Muhammad in Medina was the fulfilment of the prayers of those victims of Titus and Flevius Vespasian. These were the people who were looking forward to having a redeemer for them for several generations. How Muhammad, though a stranger in Medina, can became the mayor of Medina? Why the city dwellers would change the name of Yathrib as Medinatun Nabi, which means the city of the prophet? More to the point, the concept of prophethood existed only within the Jewish people, and not within the idol-worshipping tribes of Mecca.

Regards,   

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From: rrosenfeld

To: syedfaruq

Subject: Re: Emperor Vespasian of Rome
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:07:11 -0400

Hello Syed,

Thank you for sending that link to the article you wished me to look at. This is the first opportunity I have had to do so. And I must tell you that what the author of the article is advancing is pure speculation; it is clear he is no classical scholar; he has some things right, and many wrong. To my knowledge (which is admittedly thin) Islam took its inspiration from Judaism, and adopted many of its tenets, mentioned by the writer. Prophet Mohammad felt an affinity for Judaism and for Jews; obviously at that time in history there did exist a closeness of culture within a functionally plural society, to a degree. The tribes of the Middle East are not named Semites – all of them – for nothing; they all had much in common; their common geography made it so, and the conditions which that geography imposed upon them all.

 

I would recommend, if you are interested, what I consider to be a far more typical work of classical scholasticism; Albert Hourani’s ‘A History of the Arab Peoples’. Mr. Hourani writes of Yathrib later known as Madina, and the connections between various tribes largely of trade. “having lived side by side with Jewish inhabitants of the oasis, they were prepared to accept a teaching expressed in terms of a prophet and a holy book. This move to Madina, from which later generations were to date the beginning of the Muslim era, is known as the hijra ... relating to to the negative of flight from Mecca, also the positive one of seeking protection through settling in a place other than one’s own. In later Islamic centuries, it would be used to mean the abandonment of a pagan or wicked community for one living in accordance with the moral teaching of Islam.”

 

As for Jews there declaring Prophet Mohammad the Messiah, this is utter nonsense; Islam was formed as above mentioned and became a strenuously proselityzing ideology, and it campaigned for others to surrender their pagan beliefs to the superior faith in Islam. When the Jews ultimately spurned Mohammad’s invitation to leave their ancient religion for what he felt was the final succession of Islam, he turned against them and slaughtered them.

 

As Mr. Hourani puts it: “The development of the Prophet’s teaching may have been connected with changes in his relations with the Jews of Madina. Although they had formed part of the original alliance, their position became more difficult as Mohammad’s claim for his mission expanded. They could not accept him as a genuine messenger of God within their own tradition, and he in turn is said to have accused them of perverting the revelation given to them: ‘you have concealed what you were ordered to make plain’. Finally some of the Jewish clans were expelled and others killed.

“It may have been a sign of the breach with the Jews that the direction which the community faced in prayer was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca (zibla) and a new emphasis was placed on the line of spiritual descent which bound Mohammad to Abraham. The idea that Abraham was the founder of a high monotheistic faith and of the sanctuary at Mecca already existed; now he was seen as neither a Jew nor a Christian, but the common ancestor of both, and of Muslims too. This change was also connected with a change in Mohammad’s relations with Quraysh and Mecca...”

 

As I say, my friend, I place far more trust in the veracity of a scholar whose credentials and academic study of his subject appear to me to be far more verifiable than the article to whose attention you drew me... no offence intended, Syed.

 

Cheerio,

Rita 

 

From: Syed 

Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2013 7:44 PM

To: Rita 

Subject: Emperor Vespasian of Rome

 

Rita:

Yesterday, while you were returning from the ravine with your husband, we had a short discussion near the mail-box. The subject was Emperor Vespasian of Rome.

Here is an article that includes the escapees of Roman tyranny who took shelter in Medina and eventually had interaction with Muhammad.

Please click on the title below and you will be there on the article.   

Prophet Muhammad was Revered as the Jewish Messiah in Medina

 

The Street - A Composite Sketch (25)

Not a very long street, just off a major arterial, it is shaped like a question mark. At the conclusion of the bulge it meanders into another street. One half of the street backs onto a heavily wooded ravine, a neighbourhood treasure, though few of the street's residents quite recognize its value, nor make use of its propinquity. It cleanses the air everyone breathes, it hosts birds and wildlife and presents a treasury of wildflowers throughout the seasons. At one time the street, part of a larger suburban community, shared a small-town address. It has long since been subsumed into the greater national capital of the country, through a wide-ranging amalgamation of communities and even farms. The street and the houses on it were built two and a half decades ago. The domiciles are comprised mostly of single-family, detached dwellings, with a handful of semis verging on the main thoroughfare. Many of the residents are the original home purchasers. They would comprise roughly 50% of the residents of the street. The semis appear to have changed hands far more often than the detached homes. And those homes that have been re-sold have often enjoyed a succession of owners. The original home owners who moved into their houses when their children were small have mostly bid farewell to now-grown children. The street represents an amalgam of family types, and there is a significant percentage at this time, of retired people, singly and in couples who, though their houses are meant for family occupation, still opt to remain in their too-large, but comfortable and familiar and valued homes. It is a very quiet street, with little traffic other than those who live there. The house fronts are diverse, and attractive. Most residents take care of their homes, seeing them as their primary investments. Furnaces have been replaced, and air conditioners, and also windows. Kitchens and bathrooms have been remodelled, and people have added decks and occasionally airy 'summer houses' to the backs of their homes. One-third of the homes boast swimming pools, in-ground and above-ground. Most people take pride in their properties, and feel they must achieve lawns that are weedless and smoothly green. Some painstakingly remove weeds by hand in the spring, others hire lawn-care companies to spread chemicals on their lawns. Invariably, the people who look after their own gardens and lawns have superior gardens and lawns. Each house has a large tree planted in front; maples, ash,crabapples, spruce or pine, fully mature. This is a community that is truly mixed, representing people from around the world, come to Canada as immigrants, settled and making the most of opportunities open to all its citizens in a free and open society noted for its pluralism and dedication to fair representation. There are the extroverts and the introverts, those who prefer not to mingle, others who do. They are herewith loosely sketched:

This is the Twenty-fifth part of the anatomy of The Street.

They're both unprepossessing in appearance. Short in stature, small-boned people. Their use of the English language is excellent, little betraying their Bangladeshi provenance. Which merely means that have verbal dexterity in a number of languages. (Little surprise, given the country's colonial past of the British Raj, as originally part of India, then Pakistan, and then obtaining nation-status for itself. None of which was accomplished - the Pakistani independence and the resulting Bangladeshi independence - without a great deal of political turmoil and agonizingly bloody violence.

He would obligingly discuss these historical events, explaining that they migrated to Canada in search of greater opportunities for themselves and their children. And they have been able to make a good life for themselves in Canada, raising two children whose physical presence far outstripped that of their parents. Size, but not education. They came to Canada from Bangladesh offering professional qualifications. He as a food scientist and she as an auditor. And both took advantage of the federal government's hiring practises, offering opportunities to qualified visible minorities.

As a matter of fact, she was able to qualify doubly in the affirmative-action programs, as a visible minority-member and as a woman. Their children did well at school, and they were comfortable with Canada. It wasn't long before they became citizens. And not long after that they bought their first house, where they stayed a few years, then moved on to another house, their second, on the street of which we write. A very nice two-story detached home with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a powder room. A far cry from what they had been accustomed to.

Despite his size, he was an assertive man. He was quick to acknowledge the presence of others, and generously brought people into his confidence. Like the Jewish couple who lived just up the street, with whom he enjoyed bantering. He became more familiar with the woman, coming across her more often than her husband. And he was the kind of person who, if something bothered him would not only say so, but do something about it. If public services were lax in some way he would contact the proper civic authorities and let them know. Going so far as to invite others to join him. Which some did.

And though he often said to the Jewish woman that they should get together and discuss their common religious roots in the "Abrahamic religion", she only smiled. He did not quite understand how someone could be rooted in a specific culture, belong to an ethnic tribe for whom religion was of manifest importance, yet claim to be secular. And despite his very overt friendliness to just about everyone on the street, when he saw a common acquaintance speaking with the Sikh man who lived further up the street, he shrank back. As though, said the Sikh neighbour, who noticed everything, he thought him a threat.

Eventually, as the years progressed, the Bangladeshi Muslim family learned to relax about the near neighbourly proximity of a Sikh family. Sufficiently so that when each of their daughters achieved marriageability and did indeed marry in the traditional way, they formally congratulated one another. Still keeping at a respectable distance, socially, while observing a rudimentary casual relationship. While their daughter married and moved away, her younger brother remained at home, even after graduating eventually from university. He could be seen often quietly walking up to the neighbourhood mailbox to retrieve mail.

He was, unlike his father, shy. Like his mother in that way. She had a shy smile and a quiet manner, and enjoyed speaking with her neighbours. Those who preferred to be neighbourly in any event. She would often meet some of her neighbours returning from work in the late afternoon, on public transit. That, in fact, is where most of her contacts were made, on the express-type buses that ran specific direct routes, and which many of the people in the neighbourhood made use of. She chose to wear modest Western dress in public, and never covered her head.

When he eventually retired, she, a few years younger than her husband, decided to continue working, because she enjoyed her work. He learned to do the unthinkable; house work. From time to time he would send colourful emails to some of his neighbours with whom he had achieved a nice relationship. They are not unaware of the dysfunctional relationships around them, of other families on the street. They credit their religion, informing every facet of their life, with ensuring that their family respected others as well as themselves.

Their son steadfastly refuses the very notion that an arranged marriage could be the solution to his solitary lifestyle, trusting that in good time he may find a suitable partner. His parents worry incessantly about him. And wonder why their married daughter has not yet gifted them with a grandchild. Other than that, and news that comes out of their native country from extended family on occasion, they have few concerns to disrupt the even balance of their lives.