Economics, Politics, Religion, and War
You absolutely must read Ronan Bennett's Ten days to war.
For the stubborn or lazy among you, it basically says: for most impoverished countries, foreign aid and having your turn on the UN security council are not privileges. Rather, they are tools of bribery and enslavement. As one Arab poet said:
Jordan is not a strong country militarily or economically. Looking around from Jordan, you see Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Syria. These are certainly not the most cordial or stable of neighbours. Jordan lives off of foreign aid, particularly American. Jordan is a nice country, but one has to ask: does it have a choice? If I were in a room full of armed nuts, I'd also be as nice as possible. If Jordan tells the US to go take a powder, it will be left to fend for itself economically and militarily. Thus, it makes sense that Jordan has to support America's wars, whether right, wrong, or otherwise. Ironically, it is America's wars that are destroying Jordan's economy. Prior to the first Gulf war, Iraq was Jordan's largest trading partner. But it was the 2003 war against Iraq that did in Jordan's economy: Jordan used to get free oil from Iraq but the 2003 invasion ended that. Since then, the Jordanian government has been removing subsidies from petroleum products gradually.
A new player has entered the scene after the fall of Iraq: Saudi Arabia. As most people already know, Saudi Arabia is aiding Jordan. There really is no such thing as a free lunch, and one can only wonder how Jordan will be affected by this close relationship. I already noted in an earlier post that Jordan celebrated Eid according to Saudi Arabia's, "sighting." Of course, there will only be so far that the Saudis can interfere in Jordan. The Royal Family of Jordan are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and the Saudis have a known problem with showing respect to anything noble, lest respect for something turn into idol worship. As long as Jordan continues to pray for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) after the call to prayer and make the Prophet's birthday a national holiday, we are ok, insha' Allah.
For the stubborn or lazy among you, it basically says: for most impoverished countries, foreign aid and having your turn on the UN security council are not privileges. Rather, they are tools of bribery and enslavement. As one Arab poet said:
أنت عبد لما أنت فيه طامع و حر من ما أنت منه آيس
meaning, "You are a slave to that which you long for and free of that which you have despaired from." Foreign aid, the promise to increase it for good behaviour, and the threat to cut it for bad behaviour is how Uncle Sam disciplines the youngins.Jordan is not a strong country militarily or economically. Looking around from Jordan, you see Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Syria. These are certainly not the most cordial or stable of neighbours. Jordan lives off of foreign aid, particularly American. Jordan is a nice country, but one has to ask: does it have a choice? If I were in a room full of armed nuts, I'd also be as nice as possible. If Jordan tells the US to go take a powder, it will be left to fend for itself economically and militarily. Thus, it makes sense that Jordan has to support America's wars, whether right, wrong, or otherwise. Ironically, it is America's wars that are destroying Jordan's economy. Prior to the first Gulf war, Iraq was Jordan's largest trading partner. But it was the 2003 war against Iraq that did in Jordan's economy: Jordan used to get free oil from Iraq but the 2003 invasion ended that. Since then, the Jordanian government has been removing subsidies from petroleum products gradually.
A new player has entered the scene after the fall of Iraq: Saudi Arabia. As most people already know, Saudi Arabia is aiding Jordan. There really is no such thing as a free lunch, and one can only wonder how Jordan will be affected by this close relationship. I already noted in an earlier post that Jordan celebrated Eid according to Saudi Arabia's, "sighting." Of course, there will only be so far that the Saudis can interfere in Jordan. The Royal Family of Jordan are descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and the Saudis have a known problem with showing respect to anything noble, lest respect for something turn into idol worship. As long as Jordan continues to pray for the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) after the call to prayer and make the Prophet's birthday a national holiday, we are ok, insha' Allah.
posted by Flicken @ 10:26 PM
3 Comments:
At 8:07 AM ,
Anonymous said...
The Saudis are doing a good job of taking care of the two noblest places on earth. It's not fair to make a blanket statement that they "have a known problem with showing respect to anything noble..."
At 6:22 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Salaam 'Alaikum
While the fair minded can acknowledge the many beneficial things the Saudi regime does for the pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, one must also look at their long history of destroying places of Islamic importance. For example, they would like to build a parking lot on the home of Sayidatuna Aminah, the mother of the Prophet, aleyhi salaam, the place where he was born. A parking lot.
One can also look at the way the "religious police" who are officially unofficial, yet officially tolerated and encouraged, are known to physically beat people who are "too fervent" in their du'as in the Rawdah Shareef. Or how they stripped away all engravings and other mentioning of the Burdah Shareef in the masjid.
At 8:21 AM ,
Flicken said...
Salam.
The Saudis are indeed doing a good job of taking care of the two noblest places on earth. But this is after they destroyed almost everything else in Arabia.
You can read this:
http://www.islamicamagazine.com/Issue-15/The-Destruction-of-Holy-Sites-in-Mecca-and-Medina.html
and this:
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/destruction_of_islamic_architectural_heritage_in_saudi_arabia_a_wake_up_cal/
(Try googling, "destruction of sites arabia".)
Not only did they destroy actual sites, they also prohibit the recitation of the Burdah, as it contains shirk according to them. If you want to practice tawassul through the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), which the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself taught a companion to do in an authentic hadith, that is also shirk according to them.
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