543)A Guide to the Cosmos, in Words and Images: Book Review; Quotes from Blogpost Four Hundred

January 5, 2010

Books on Science

A Guide to the Cosmos, in Words and Images

By DENNIS OVERBYE

In the universe there is always room for another surprise. Or two. Or a trillion.

Take the Witch Head Nebula, for example — a puffy purplish trail of gas in the constellation Eridanus. When a picture of it is turned on its side, the nebula looks just like, well, a witch, complete with a pointy chin and peaked hat, ready to jump on a broomstick or offer an apple to Snow White.

In 30 years of covering astronomy, I had never heard of the Witch Head Nebula until I came across a haunting two-page spread showing it snaking across an inky black star-speckled background in “Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle,” an exquisite picture guide to the universe by Michael Benson, a photographer, journalist and filmmaker, and obviously a longtime space buff.
Actually “exquisite” does not really do justice to the aesthetic and literary merits of the book, published in the fall. I live in New York, so most of the cosmos is invisible to me, but even when I lived under the black crystalline and — at this time of year — head-ringingly cold skies of the Catskills, I could see only so far. If you don’t have your own Hubble Space Telescope, this book is the next best thing.

Mr. Benson has scoured images from the world’s observatories, including the Hubble, to fashion a step-by-step tour of the cosmos, outward from fantastical clusters and nebulae a few hundred light-years away to soft red dots of primordial galaxies peppering the wall of the sky billions of light-years beyond the stars, almost to the Big Bang.

The result is an art book befitting its Abrams imprint. Here are stars packed like golden sand, gas combed in delicate blue threads, piled into burgundy thunderheads and carved into sinuous rilles and ribbons, and galaxies clotted with star clusters dancing like spiders on the ceiling.
Mr. Benson has reprocessed many of the images to give them colors truer to physical reality. For example, in the NASA version of the Hubble’s “Pillars of Creation,” showing fingers of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula boiling away to reveal new stars, the “pillars” are brown and the radiation burning them away is green; Mr. Benson has turned it into a composition in shades of red, including burgundy, the actual color of the ionized hydrogen that makes the nebula.

You can sit and look through this book for hours and never be bored by the shapes, colors and textures into which cosmic creation can arrange itself, or you can actually read the accompanying learned essays. Mr. Benson’s prose is up to its visual surroundings, no mean feat.

“The enlarging mirrors of our telescopes,” he writes, “comprise material forged at the centers of the same generation of stars they now record.”

One set of essays relates what was going on in the sky to what was going on back on Earth. The Witch Head, for example, is about 700 light-years from here, which means its soft smoky light has been traveling to us since the early part of the 14th century. It is a milestone for, among other things, the bubonic plague, the first stirrings of the Renaissance in Italy and the foundation of the Ming dynasty in China.

The Heart Nebula, another new acquaintance, in Cassiopeia right next to the Soul Nebula, is 7,500 light-years away. Its image dates to the time of the first proto-writing in China and the first wine, in Persia, and when the Mediterranean burst its banks in biblical fashion and flooded the Black Sea.

The journey outward ends in those distant blurry galaxies on the doorstep of the Big Bang. Or is it the beginning?

“Eternity,” Mr. Benson quotes William Blake as saying in an epigraph, “is in love with the productions of time.” Well, aren’t we all?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/05books.html?ref=science


"...As we use our intellect to gain new knowledge about Creation, we come to see even more profoundly the depth and breadth of its mysteries. We explore unknown regions beneath the seas – and in outer space. We reach back over hundreds of millions of years in time. Extra-ordinary fossilised geological specimens seize our imagination – palm leaves, amethyst flowers, hedgehog quartz, sea lilies, chrysanthemum and a rich panoply of shells. Indeed, these wonders are found beneath the very soil on which we tread – in every corner of the world – and they connect us with far distant epochs and environments.And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives – the more our imagination staggers. Just think for example what might lie below the surfaces of celestial bodies all across the far flung reaches of our universe. What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration"(Aga Khan IV, Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)
For the full version of this quote see:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/easy-nashs-blogpost-four-hundred-updated-with-quotes-from-the-opening-of-the-delegation-of-the-ismaili-imamat/

"In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God"(Aga Khan IV, July 23rd 2008, Lisbon, Portugal)

"The United States' position as a world leader, in my view, grows directly out of its accomplishments as a Knowledge Society - and this Knowledge - rightly applied - can continue to be a resource of enormous global value"(Aga Khan IV, Austin, Texas, USA, 12 April 2008)

"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)

“Parts of the Ummah are concerned about the relationship between Muslims and the contemporary knowledge society, which is now principally rooted in the West. It is my deepest conviction, my deepest conviction, that we must make that knowledge society our own, in keeping with the Alid tradition towards the intellect, but always doing so within the ethics of our faith. Thus, I have sought from my Jamat your Nazrana of time and knowledge.”(Aga Khan IV, Paris, France, July 11th 2007)

"Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe” was a field of particular distinction in Islamic civilization-–in sharp contrast to the weakness of Islamic countries in the field of Space research today. In this field, as in others, intellectual leadership is never a static condition, but something which is always shifting and always dynamic"(Aga Khan IV, Convocation, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, June 15th 2006)

"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)

“Muslims believe in an all-encompassing unit of man and nature. To them there is no fundamental division between the spiritual and the material while the whole world, whether it be the earth, sea or air, or the living creatures that inhabit them, is an expression of God’s creation.”(Aga Khan IV, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, 13 April 1984)

"In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect. Nor do these two involve any contradiction, provided man remembers that his own mind is itself the creation of God. Without this humility, no balance is possible. With it, there are no barriers. Indeed, one strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours, God has opened and continues to open new windows for us to see the marvels of His creation"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)

"Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing Unity. Spirit and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is answerable to God for what man has created"(Aga Khan IV, Speech to the Asia Society, New York, USA, September 25 1979)

"God has given us the miracle of life with all its attributes: the extraordinary manifestations of sunrise and sunset, of sickness and recovery, of birth and death, but surely if He has given us the means with which to remove ourselves from this world so as to go to other parts of the Universe, we can but accept as further manifestations the creation and destructions of stars, the birth and death of atomic particles, the flighting new sound and light waves. I am afraid that the torch of intellectual discovery, the attraction of the unknown, the desire for intellectual self-perfection have left us"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, 1963, Mindanao, Phillipines)

"The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine Will"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)

"Islam is fundamentally in its very nature a natural religion. Throughout the Quran God's signs (Ayats) are referred to as the natural phenomenon, the law and order of the universe, the exactitudes and consequences of the relations between natural phenomenon in cause and effect. Over and over, the stars, sun, moon, earthquakes, fruits of the earth and trees are mentioned as the signs of divine power, divine law and divine order. Even in the Ayeh of Noor, divine is referred to as the natural phenomenon of light and even references are made to the fruit of the earth. During the great period of Islam, Muslims did not forget these principles of their religion(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952, Karachi, Pakistan)

"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952, Karachi, Pakistan)

"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)

"Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they Trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth; (Here) indeed are Signs for the people of intellect"(Noble Quran)

Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 51, verse 47: We built the heavens with might, and We expand it wide(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter79, verse 30: And then he gave the earth an oval form(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 86, verse 11: I swear by the reciprocating heaven.....(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

"One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer"(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)

"All human beings, by their nature, desire to know."(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, circa 322BC)

http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html


Easy Nash
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

542)The Royal Society, London, UK: Celebrating The 350th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Modern Science; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred

The Royal Society

The Establishment Of Science

Jan 7th 2010
From The Economist print edition

Celebrating The 350th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Modern Science

THE streets surrounding St James’s Palace in London are dotted with gentlemen’s clubs, many of which now also admit women. This year, one such establishment is marking its 350th anniversary. The club in question is not merely a meeting place for like-minded members, however: it is the society that founded modern science.

The first fellows of the Royal Society, as it is now known, were followers of Sir Francis Bacon, a 17th-century statesman and philosopher who argued that knowledge could be gained by testing ideas through experiments. On a damp and murky night in November 1660, a dozen of them met to hear a lecture by a 28-year-old astronomer called Christopher Wren, who would later become the architect who designed St Paul’s Cathedral. Inspired, they determined to meet every week to discuss scientific matters and to witness experiments conducted by different members of the group. In so doing, they invented the processes on which modern science rests, including scientific publishing and peer review, and made English the primary language of scientific discourse.

The French Academy of Sciences, founded in 1666, proved no great rival; the American Association for the Advancement of Science was not formed until 1848. The first account of the Royal Society’s scheme of work, published in 1667, was accompanied by a frontispiece (see picture) showing Charles II, who granted the society its royal charter, with Sir Francis on his left and the society’s first president on the king’s right.

Sir Isaac Newton, who defined the laws of gravity, became president of the Royal Society in 1703. Its members (no more than 44 outstanding British scientists are elected to fellowship each year, along with up to eight foreign members) go on to win Nobel prizes; indeed, 74 of the society’s 1,300 living members are Nobel laureates. Before such honours were bestowed, many worthy of the accolade were fellows of the Royal Society, including Michael Faraday, who discovered electromagnetic induction, Charles Darwin, who uncovered evolution, and William Thomson, who formulated the first two laws of thermodynamics.

Such is the excitement at the Royal Society’s anniversary that Britain’s state broadcaster, the BBC, has created a year of science-related programming to celebrate it. Bill Bryson, a popular American author, has edited a book on the story of science that highlights the society’s role. The British Museum is holding a series of lectures on science’s contribution to the objects that it holds. The Royal Society itself is organising a festival billed as “a huge and splendid celebration of the joy and vitality of science, its importance to society and culture, and its role in shaping who we are and who we will become”. A proud tradition, indeed.

http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15214028


Related Posts:
The 19 Grand Ideas Of Science: What Is The Universe Made Up Of And How Does It Operate? Quotes Of Aga Khan IV And Others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/11/501-19-grand-ideas-of-science-what-is.html

A Collection of Posts on this Blog about Great Scientists; Quote of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/437a-collection-of-blogposts-on-great.html



"Science is a wonderful, powerful tool and research budgets are essential. But Science is only the beginning in the new age we are entering. Islam does not perceive the world as two seperate domains of mind and spirit, science and belief. Science and the search for knowledge are an expression of man's designated role in the universe, but they do not define that role totally....."(Aga Khan IV, McMaster University Convocation, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 15th 1987)

"The great Muslim philosopher al-Kindi wrote eleven hundred years ago, "No one is diminished by the truth, rather does the truth ennoble us all"(Aga Khan IV, 27th May 1994, Cambridge, Massachusets, U.S.A.)

"It is no exaggeration to say that the original Christian universities of Latin West, at Paris, Bologna and Oxford, indeed the whole European renaissance, received a vital influx of new knowledge from Islam -- an influx from which the later western colleges and universities, including those of North Africa, were to benefit in turn"(Aga Khan IV, 16 March 1983, Aga Khan UNiversity, Karachi, Pakistan)

"The truth, as the famous Islamic scholars repeatedly told their students, is that the spirit of disciplined, objective enquiry is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity. To quote the great physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina: "My profession is to be forever journeying, to travel about the universe so that I may know all its conditions." "(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)

"It (Surah of Light from the Quran) tells us that the oil of the blessed olive tree lights the lamp of understanding, a light that belongs neither to the East nor West. We are to give this light to all. In that spirit, all that we learn will belong to the world and that too is part of the vision I share with you"(Aga Khan IV, Speech to the Asia Society, New York, USA, September 25 1979)

"Our religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the past in all fields"(Aga Khan IV, 6th February 1970, Hyderabad, Pakistan)

"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)

"One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer"(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)

http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html


Easy Nash
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

541)Salim Mansur Speaks My Mind With A Clarity That Is Astonishing: "Target The Terrorists, Not The Public"; Quote Of Easy Nash

Target the terrorists, not the public
By SALIM MANSUR

January 9th 2010

There comes a moment in life, private and public, when what is grudgingly tolerated becomes intolerable.

When life has reached such a tipping point, then, at any instance, the most insignificant annoyance or the least provocation can undo the carefully arranged order of living and uncork a cascade of fury in those indignant of being abused for no fault of their own.

I sense the public in the West quite justifiably is approaching a tipping point for the endless provocations since 9/11 from jihad-waging Islamists.

The recent Swiss vote that overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on minarets -- the slender tower that architecturally distinguishes a Muslim mosque -- is a sign of how frayed the tolerance of some Europeans for anything Islamic has become. It is my guess that if such referendums were held in other European states, the results would be similar or close to how the Swiss voted.

The failed Christmas Day bombing attempt by 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, likely an al-Qaida operative, to blow up a transatlantic flight en route to Detroit has possibly pushed the American public closer to the tipping point.


Cartoonist targeted

A few days later, an axe-wielding 28-year-old Somali immigrant -- later identified by Danish police as someone connected with the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group Al-Shahbab -- burst into the home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in a failed attempt to kill him for drawing the 2005 cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

The Islamist war declared against the west is taking its toll. The small and big attacks in the West since 9/11, and the untold many prevented, are too numerous to list.

Airports and air travel symbolize the extent to which the Islamists have succeeded to put the West under siege. But they could not have done this by themselves.

The idiocy of political correctness has worked in tandem with the Islamists to collectively punish the public in liberal-democratic societies, incrementally stripping them of the hard-won individual freedoms that have distinguished the West from all other cultures past and present as an open society.

This has resulted in a widening disconnect between the public and the political elite. The public senses acutely their society is being undermined from within, while the political elite remains unresponsive or reluctant to forthrightly address the source of the problem.

The same public, generous to a fault, have watched in dismay the near absence of Muslim opposition to the Islamists. This refusal of Muslims in general to confront the Islamists, despite the mounting evidence of their jihadi crimes, has more or less broken the trust of non-Muslims and drawn the public in the West closer to the tipping point.

Instead, Muslim organizations in the West, while steeped in apologetics, polemics and bigotry of their own, have pressed politicians with their politically correct demands to refrain from common sense policies -- such as profiling for security purposes -- that would ease the collective harassment of the public.

An open society cannot function without security. But there is a delicate balance between security and freedom and the public recognizes this balance has been abused.

It is time for politicians to act wisely before the public goes over the tipping point.

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/salim_mansur/2010/01/09/12401446-sun.html

salim.mansur@sunmedia.ca


Related:

David Frum: England made Abdulmutallab
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/01/09/david-frum-england-made-abdulmutallab.aspx

Canada a beacon in a troubled world
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/salim_mansur/2010/01/02/12323841-sun.html

Having Purged Myself Of The Putrefaction Of Liberalism + Socialism Here Is A Collection Of Posts Coursing Nourishing Conservatism Through My Veins
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/06/489having-purged-myself-of-putrefaction.html



Easy Nash

If there are 23,000 jihadist websites and blogsites out there in cyberspace, there is no reason why we should not create 100,000 non-jihadist websites and blogsites: Easy Nash(2007).
If my Blog was a four year undergraduate degree I guess my major would be Science and Religion and my minor would be Politics: Easy Nash(2010).
The mother of all insecurities: 1.6 billion Muslims on the planet and they lather themselves into a dingbatty islamofascist rage if one or two Muslims happen to be pro-zionist: Easy Nash(2010).

540)Emulating Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Haytham; Renewing the Impetus of Philosophical Thinking in Islam: Paper presented by IIS's Dr Nader El-Bizri in Iran

IIS Scholar Presents Paper at Conference on Islamic Philosophy
December 2009

Dr Nader El-Bizri presented a paper titled: ‘Renewing the Impetus of Philosophical Thinking in Islam?’, at the international conference, Islamic Philosophy and the Challenges of the Present-Day World. The conference was held in Tehran and Hamedan, Iran, between 10th and 13th November 2009.

Dr. El-Bizri also gave three interviews in English and Arabic, on ‘Philosophy, Science and Islam’ to the Iranian media and press, including Radio Tehran.The conference was organised by the Iranian Institute of Philosophy, the Academy of Science, the Ministry of Science, Research & Technology, in association with UNESCO (Tehran Office and Paris Headquarters), and Bu Ali Sina University in Hamedan.

This academic event corresponded with the UNESCO celebration of ‘World Philosophy Day’ in November 2009. International colloquia and symposia also took place in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, as well as in Tehran and Hamedan.

The focus of the conference in Tehran and Hamedan was primarily on the legacy of Ibn Sina, who is also known by his Latinised name of Avicenna. The conference coincided with a highly distinguished national ceremony held at Ibn Sina’s shrine in Hamedan. Delegates from fifteen countries were in attendance at the ceremony, as well as participating in the conference sessions in Iran.

By critically conceptualising the ‘impetus of philosophising in Islam’, Dr. El-Bizri’s paper focused on the fundamental question concerning the ‘renewal of philosophical thinking’ that is inspired by Islam as a vibrant lived faith and a rich intercultural sequence of civilisations.In this context, he drew a distinction between the philosopher who is motivated by the systemic unfolding of fundamental questions and concepts, and the archiving exegete who is primarily bent on reporting them. This calls for rethinking some of the principal systems in ontology and epistemology in relation to history of ideas in Islam.

The foundational traditions that had a deepimpacton philosophical and scientific thinking in Islam and a profound influence on European scholarship in the mediaeval and Renaissance periods, are best represented by the legacies of two influential polymaths: Abu ‘Ali Ibn Sina (d. 1037 CE) and al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (also known as Alhazen, d. ca. 1041 CE). Both offer pointers and directives that may in part assist in reformulating the essential classical questions in ontology and epistemology, and in devising new responses to their conceptual prolongations in the light of contemporary philosophy, the exact sciences, and ‘the unfolding of the essence of technology’.

Dr. El-Bizri sees this line of enquiry as an ‘exercise in thinking’, rather than a research project per se, and as one intellectual pathway amongst many others. In its epistemic possibilities, this study may potentially facilitate the founding of new modes of rethinking metaphysics and cosmology, while being inspired by intellectual history in Islamic civilisations. It is essentially oriented by lived and concretised aspirations in the unfurling of genuine philosophical thinking in relation to ‘Islam in the 21st Century’.

The conference and accompanying events were covered by Iran’s national media and press. The conference was concluded by a high-profile ceremony. The Minister of Science, Research & Technology, the Minister of Culture, the Director of the Academy of Sciences, Professor Reza Davari Ardakani, and the Institute of Philosophy, Professor Gholamreza Aavani, attended, along with various other Iranian dignitaries.

Prestigious awards were also granted to distinguished scholars for their contributions to the field of ‘philosophical studies in relation to Islam’. Award winners included Ayatollah ‘Abdallah Javadi Amoli, Dr Ali Akbar Velayati, Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Professor Gholamreza Aavani.

http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=110938


"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)

"....AND SHOULD'NT IB SCIENCE STUDENTS not learn about Ibn al-Haytham, the Muslim scholar who developed modern optics, as well as his predecessors Euclid and Ptolemy, whose ideas he challenged...."(Aga Khan IV, "The Peterson Lecture" on the International Baccalaureate, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 18 April 2008)

"The truth, as the famous Islamic scholars repeatedly told their students, is that the spirit of disciplined, objective enquiry is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity. To quote the great physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina: "My profession is to be forever journeying, to travel about the universe so that I may know all its conditions." "(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)

http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html


Easy Nash
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

539)Arabic- And Persian-Named Stars, Clusters and Constellations As Seen On A Clear Night From A Cruise Ship In The Southern Hemisphere;& A Bond Movie

Beneath the banner "Movies under the stars" on the outside top deck of our cruise boat, lying on beach chairs, snuggling under warm red blankets, munching on popcorn just like at Silver City Fairview Mall, we watched Daniel Craig play a brutish James Bond in Casino Royale. But this Bond was actually falling in love with the alluring Vesper Lynd who herself had vowed never to fall for the pull of his "perfectly formed arse", among other things. She does eventually fall in love with him but ends up breaking his heart. Can you imagine James Bond with a broken heart?! I think this Bond will turn out to be a good one despite M's attempts to mother him, a 007 agent licensed to kill.

How appropriate for me to be watching an action movie on a gigantic screen blaring out the headline "Movies under the stars". When the movie ended my attention turned to the heavens and it immediately dawned on me how clear the night sky was. Many stars in our Milky Way galaxy as well as a galaxy or two nearby were clearly visible, if not with the naked eye then definitely with binoculars. What I witnessed was a visual feast far more alluring than the movie I had just seen.

I recognized some clear patterns in the night sky which anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of astronomy would find with ease. I was on the hunt for living proof of Islam's ascendancy in the field of astronomy about a millenium ago. If you don't believe the quotes of Aga Khan IV in Blogpost Four Hundred, the cardinal post of my Blog on the link between Science and Religion in Islam and the high octane fuel that powers my Blog, or Jim al Khalili as he narrates the blockbusting BBC 7-part series "Science and Islam"(this series was recently featured on the much-visited and wildly popular ISMAILI MAIL website)-if you don't beleive them-then just look up at the sky and see for yourself.

Many stars discovered, observed and described by Muslim astronomers from the 7th to 14th centuries have retained their Arabic and or Persian names in the 21st century and many of those names are quite imaginative in their descriptions.

Clearly visible in the skies of the southern hemiphere(our cruiseboat was steaming up the southern Pacific coast of Chile in South America) the first cluster that screams out at you is the Southern Cross, shaped like a crucifix. This structure is not visible without serious telescopic magnification in the northern hemisphere, which is where I live.

The individual stars, star clusters or constellations with Arabic or Persian names present in that night sky in the southern hemisphere during the waning days of December 2009 were:

1)Eri, the brightest star in the Eridanus cluster, latinized word for the Arabic, which means "end of the River"
2)The 3 very large stars that form the belt of Orion: Al-Nitak, Al-Nilam and Mintaka
3)Nearby stars to Orion's belt: Betelgeuse and Rigel
4)Aldeberan, a star inside the Hyades constellation
5)Algol, a star in the Perseus constellation
6)Hamal, a star in Aries
7)Mira and Diphda, stars in the Cetus constellation
8)Achenar, a star near the Phoenix constellation
9)Alnair, a star in the Grus constellation

As we approach the northern hemisphere in January 2010 many of the stars mentioned above continue to be visible here but also those that make up the Big Dipper and Little Dipper:

Big Dipper:
1)Dubhe
2)Merak
3)Phecda
4)Alioth
5)Miza
6)Alcor
7)Alkaid

Little Dipper:
1)Yildun
2)Gildun
3)Vildiur
4)Yilduz
5)Pherkard
6)KhochabAlifa al Farkadain
7)Anwar al Farkadain

Other stars that are visible include Alteb and Denair, which lie close to the curve of the Milky Way galaxy.

Let's also not forget the crater on our Moon named after Ibn Battuta, the famous Muslim traveller from the Middle Ages..........



"The great Muslim philosopher al-Kindi wrote eleven hundred years ago, "No one is diminished by the truth, rather does the truth ennoble us all"(Aga Khan IV, 27th May 1994, Cambridge, Massachusets, U.S.A.)

"The truth, as the famous Islamic scholars repeatedly told their students, is that the spirit of disciplined, objective enquiry is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity. To quote the great physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina: "My profession is to be forever journeying, to travel about the universe so that I may know all its conditions." "(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)

"And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives - the more our imagination staggers.........What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration.....the Power and the Mystery of Allah as the Lord of Creation"(Aga Khan IV, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)

"Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe” was a field of particular distinction in Islamic civilization-–in sharp contrast to the weakness of Islamic countries in the field of Space research today. In this field, as in others, intellectual leadership is never a static condition, but something which is always shifting and always dynamic"(Aga Khan IV, Convocation, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, June 15th 2006)

Above quotes from:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html



Related Posts:
Al-Nitak, Al-Nilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Al-Deberan: Arabic-named stars in nearby constellations in space.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/289al-nitak-al-nilam-mintaka-betelgeuse.html

Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the night sky: legacy of Astronomy during Islam's golden era.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/295big-dipper-and-little-dipper-in.html

Islam and Astronomy: Vestiges of a fine legacy; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Ibn Sin
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/358islam-and-astronomy-vestiges-of-fine.html

A Collection of Posts on Astronomy; Quotes of Noble Quran, Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III, Nasir Khusraw, Abu Yakub Al Sijistani and Aristotle.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/456a-collection-of-posts-on-astronomy.html



Easy Nash
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

538)ISMAILI MAIL'S Top Posts Of 2009 Feature A Few By Easy Nash; A Successful Year.

It is appropriate to begin the new year and the new decade elaborating on a post made by ISMAILI MAIL in the waning days of 2009: their Top 15 most visited Posts for 2009:

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/years-top-posts-at-ismailimail-2009/


Yours truly Easy Nash featured in two, perhaps three, of those Top 15 most visited Posts:

1)ISMAILI MAIL'S Number 7 Top Post came straight from my Blog and garnered 3134 views; it is an offshoot of Blogpost Four Hundred, the cardinal post on my Blog on the link between Science and Religion in Islam and the high octane fuel that powers my Blog:

Golden Jubilee Quotes of Aga Khan IV:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/golden-jubilee-quotes-of-aga-khan-iv/
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/434golden-jubilee-quotes-of-aga-khan-iv.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/08/500blogpost-five-hundred-is-blogpost.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html


2)ISMAILI MAIL'S Number 13 Top Post was an online interview I conducted on behalf of Ismaili Mail of Canadian Conservative Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Hon. Jason Kenney during his visit to Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India in January 2009. It garnered 1525 views:

Minister Jason Kenney visits Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi, India
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/conservative-minister-jason-kenney-visits-humayuns-tomb-in-new-delhi-india/

The Minister Jason Kenney collection on Ismaili Mail:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/?s=jason+kenney&searchbutton=go%21


3)ISMAILI MAIL'S Number 2 Top Post garnered a blockbusting 4164 views and reflects Canada's Stephen Harper Conservative government's ongoing love affair with His Highness Aga Khan IV, 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Nizari Ismaili Muslims:

Government of Canada will be seeking to extend ‘Honorary Citizenship of Canada’ to His Highness the Aga Khan
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/government-of-canada-will-be-seeking-to-extend-honorary-citizenship-of-canada-to-his-highness-the-aga-khan/

To really see the full impact of this ongoing love affair you need to read this post on my Blog:

The Conservative Government Of Prime Minister Stephen Harper Has Consistently Shown The Utmost Deference And Respect To His Highness The Aga Khan.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/06/486the-conservative-government-of-prime.html


Related Post:

A Tribute To ISMAILI MAIL'S Publisher; My Final Post Of 2009; My Final Post Of The Decade. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/12/537a-tribute-to-ismaili-mails-publisher.html


Easy Nash
http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/08/500blogpost-five-hundred-is-blogpost.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/453a-blog-constructed-within.html

In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God: Aga Khan IV(2008)
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

537)A Tribute To ISMAILI MAIL'S Publisher; My Final Post Of 2009; My Final Post Of The Decade.

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/

I have been meaning to write this post for a while but this is the most appropriate time to do so. Ismaili Mail has just completed 3 full years of existence and has received almost 3 million hits from readers on 6 continents. I crunched some numbers and that works out on average to around 2740 hits per day, 114 hits per hour or 2 hits per minute, all occuring 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year since it began. It is indeed a well-visited and well-read website.

It is not unreasonable to ask who publishes Ismaili Mail and what makes this person tick. I did some sleuthing and have it on good authority that Ismaili Mail is a solo effort by a person who chooses to remain anonymous.

A detailed look at the Ismaili Mail website reveals the vast array of topics it has covered and continues to cover. It is a repository of information, knowledge and wisdom pertaining to anything that has to do with the Shia Nizari Ismaili Muslim tariqa of Islam. Ismaili Mail is obviously a labour of love and we all know who this love is directed at.

For me personally, the author of a Blog on the link between Science and Religion in Islam, Ismaili Mail is the mother ship to my baby Blog. My Blog, along with many other Blogs, has benefitted greatly from the publicity afforded to it by Ismaili Mail's publisher and I am eternally grateful for this gesture.

On this third anniversay of the Ismaili Mail website it is fitting, I think, to pay tribute to its publisher, a kind-hearted, selfless, hard-working and determined individual whose efforts have enriched all of us and promise to continue enriching all of us for years to come.

Easy Nash
Creator of the trademarked phrase "..much-visited and wildly popular ISMAILI MAIL website." http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/12/533a-blog-begun-as-retirement-project.html


The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

536) A Collection Of Posts On The Much-Visited And Wildly Popular ISMAILI MAIL Website Entitled 'BBC: Science And Islam-The Power Of Doubt'.

Physicist Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.

Al-Khalili turns detective, hunting for clues that show how the scientific revolution that took place in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe had its roots in the earlier world of medieval Islam.

Each part on the ISMAILI MAIL website has a comment by Easy Nash.


1)Part 1
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/bbc-science-and-islam-the-power-of-doubt-part-1/


2)Part 2
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-part-2/


3)Part 3
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-part-3/


4)Part 4
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-part-4/


5)Part 5
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-part-5/


6)Part 6
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-part-6/


7)Part 7-Final
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/bbc-science-and-islam-%e2%80%93-the-power-of-doubt-%e2%80%93-final/


8)ISMAILI MAIL'S summary, youtube links and interesting observations of the 7-part series by the BBC on Science and Islam
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/physicist-jim-al-khalilis-science-and-islam/


Related posts from this Blog:

Blogpost Five Hundred IS Blogpost Four Hundred, The High-Octane Fuel That Powers My Blog On The Link Between Science And Religion In Islam
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/08/500blogpost-five-hundred-is-blogpost.html

A Collection Of Posts Describing The Ethos Of My Blog On The Link Between Science And Religion In Islam; Quotes Of Aga Khans And Others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/04/463a-collection-of-posts-describing.html

'The Sciences' from the IIS's 'Muslim Philosophy And The Sciences' by Dr Alnoor Dhanani; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/11/507the-sciences-from-iiss-muslim.html

A Collection of Posts on this Blog about Great Scientists; Quote of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/437a-collection-of-blogposts-on-great.html

Blogpost Four Hundred, Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Science and Religion: Comprehensive Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Others; a never-ending post..
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html


Easy Nash

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

535)Cancer Treatment Takes A Giant Step Forward As Scientists Crack Code; Quote From Blogpost Four Hundred.

"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)

http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html



The complete genetic codes of two human cancers have been mapped for the first time. The move could herald a medical revolution in which every tumour can be targeted with personalised therapy.

The exhaustive genetic maps, which catalogue every DNA mutation found in two patients’ tumours, will transform treatment of the disease. It has been described as the most significant milestone in cancer research in more than a decade.

Scientists predict that by about 2020 all cancer patients could have their tumours analysed to find the genetic defects that drive them. This information would then be used to select the treatments most likely to work.

Insights from the genomes will also lead to the development of powerful drugs to target DNA errors that cause cancer and highlight ways in which the disease can be prevented. Cancers would be diagnosed and treated according to their genetic profiles rather than their position in the body.

“The pace at which genomics is moving is probably the most exciting thing that’s gone on in cancer research in more than a decade,” said Professor Sir John Bell, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. “These cancer genome projects are a major landmark, as significant as the sequencing of the human genome itself.”

The research was led by Professor Mike Stratton, of the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge. He said that the findings would transform the way we see cancer.

“These catalogues of mutations are telling us about how the cancer has developed, so they will inform us on prevention. They tell us about all the processes which are disrupted in cancer cells, which we can try to influence through our treatments. So this is a really fundamental moment in the history of cancer research. I can envisage a time a decade or more hence when these catalogues will become routine, and influential in selecting treatment for that individual. That’s what we’re expecting — every cancer patient will have one of these charts.”

Cancer is a disease of the genes. Environmental factors such as smoking, radiation or alcohol consumption inflict DNA damage that causes cells to grow out of control.

The new maps, which are published in the journal Nature, plot this genetic chaos in unprecedented detail for the tumours of two cancer patients. One had small-cell lung cancer; the second had malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, which funded the research, said: “This is the first glimpse of the future of cancer medicine, not only in the laboratory, but eventually in the clinic. The findings from today will feed into knowledge, methods and practice in patient care.”
The catalogues are the first of thousands that are being created by the International Cancer Genome Consortium, a £600 million project to identify all the mutations that drive 50 common types of cancer.

The initiative will sequence tumours from 500 patients with each cancer type, including several forms of breast and liver cancer, and compare the results with the genetic code of healthy cells. It will reveal which DNA defects contribute to the onset and spread of cancer, and which are incidental.

Peter Campbell, of the Sanger Institute, said: “The knowledge we extract over the next few years will have major implications for treatment. By identifying all the cancer genes we will be able to develop new drugs that target the specific mutated genes and work out which patients will benefit from these novel treatments.”

Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, added: “The next step will be to find out which of these thousands of mutations are just collateral damage, and which actually drive these cancers. Only then can we begin to find ways to correct or prevent them. Never before has the potential of genomics to bring benefits to patients been so apparent.”


CASE STUDY

The prospect of genetically mapping individual cancers was given a cautious welcome today by Tom Haswell, 64 (Lucy Bannerman writes).

When the lung cancer patient was diagnosed with a tumour the size of an orange in his chest, doctors said he had three to six months to live.

That was 16 years ago. Mr Haswell, who now describes his quality of life as “totally acceptable”, said he hoped the new research will help speed up the process of finding the right treatment for the right patient.

“The idea of targeting treatment options to one particular kind of cancer would be brilliant,” he said. “I hope it will eliminate the approach many people face after diagnosis, which is, ‘let’s try this, and if that doesn’t work, let’s try another.’

In his own case, Mr Haswell had to wait three months to be advised of his treatment options. Eventually, having been informed there were no suitable chemotherapy drugs and that curative radiotherapy would not be practical, the retired father of two from Glasgow decided to take part in a drug trial, which helped shrink the tumour significantly.

“I was told I could take part in the clinical trial or die, basically.

“So, I particularly like the idea of knowing treatment would be personalised. That would be a great benefit to everyone.

“I would also be interested to know the differences in mutations, for example, between cancers in smokers and non-smokers. Maybe that will help us understand why people who have never smoked, also develop the disease.”

If shortcuts are found, that could also help prevent patients having to go through gruelling treatments unnecessarily, Mr Haswell added.

However, he said: “From the point of view of researchers, and clinicians, this must be the best news they have had all year. “But from a patient perspective, I treat every new about a breakthrough, or ‘wonder drug’ with caution. These things take years to develop, so it is not going to have any benefit for today’s lung cancer patient.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6959325.ece

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580441,00.html?test=latestnews


Easy Nash

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)

534)Weaving Together The KESHAVJEE Family Story From The Accounts of Mamdoo Keshavjee, Lella Umedaly, Muthal Naidoo and Easy Nash; Quote Of Aristotle.

"All human beings, by their nature, desire to know."(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, circa 322BC)

http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html

Contents:
1)THE REMOTE REMOTE HISTORY, LIKE I MEAN FROM 10-15 THOUSAND YEARS AGO: HOW DNA FROM INNER CHEEK CELLS(MOUTH CHEEK NOT BUTT CHEEK ;-)) CAN TELL A FASCINATING STORY

2) THE EARLY YEARS, THE PIONEERING SPIRIT: MUTHAL NAIDOO GIVES US A GLIMPSE

3)LELLA UMEDALY WRITES A COOKBOOK AND MASTERFULLY WEAVES IN OUR FAMILY STORY AMIDST DESCRIPTIONS OF CULINARY EXCELLENCE.

4)ABC BAKERY, TOLSTOY FARM, RAJABALI AND THE MAHATMA, NAUGHTY NAUGHTY REHMTULLA AND THE POLITICS OF DEFIANCE: MUTHAL NAIDOO ELABORATES

5)POLITICS IN THE BLOOD OF RAJABALI'S DESCENDANTS?

6)CHARISMATIC HABIB:
RECRUITS MIRIAM MAKEBA, DOLLY RATHEBE, SYDNEY POITIER, CANADA LEE TO EMPIRE CINEMA;
ENTICES THE KHIMANIS FROM PAKISTAN TO COME AND TEACH RELIGION TO THE KIDS;
KK KHOJA AND GULAM MANJEE SET UP ROYAL CINEMA;
MRS MANJEE KESHAVJEE DONATES LAND FOR THE AGA KHAN NURSERY SCHOOL;
SHERBANOO VELSHI SETS UP HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE CLINICS.

7)LELLA UMEDALY GOES TO THE DIAMOND JUBILEE DARBAR IN DAR ES SALAAM; GETS MARRIED; DESCRIBES THE SCATTERING OF OVER 2000 KESHAVJEE DESCENDANTS TO THE FOUR CORNERS.

8)MAMDOO'S MAGNIFICENT MOSAIC MAKING MAGIC IN MARABASTAD NEAR THE MAGALIESBERG, PRESAGING OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE.

9)EPILOGUE



1)THE REMOTE REMOTE HISTORY, LIKE I MEAN FROM 10-15 THOUSAND YEARS AGO: HOW DNA FROM INNER CHEEK CELLS(MOUTH CHEEK NOT BUTT CHEEK ;-)) CAN TELL A FASCINATING STORY:

"Curious about my remote origins, I joined an international National Geographic genetic study done by world-renowned geneticist Spencer Wells in 2004 and dutifully sent a sample of my inner cheek cells to his research lab in the USA. Since I am endowed with the genes that issued forth from the venerable loins of the patriarch of this family, the father of those four brothers, the man whose first name was Keshavjee, I was pleased to sacrifice myself to discover knowledge of our origins. I was startled to discover that I, of northwestern Indian stock, share the same genetic markers as a caucasian Englishman I know and that a very large proportion of Europe's, Central Asia's and the northern Indian subcontinent's population all originate from one man who lived in the area of present-day Ukraine or Southern Russia ten to fifteen thousand years ago! This is how I described my heritage based on the information sent to me by Spencer Wells, the world-renowned geneticist:

"Based on a genetic analysis done in 2004 of the Y-chromosome extracted from my cheek cell DNA, which shows that I belong to the R1a haplogroup of the M17 genetic marker, my remote ancestor was a man of European origin born on the grassy steppes in the region of present-day Ukraine or Southern Russia 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. This man's descendants(known also as the Kurgan people) became the nomadic steppe dwellers who eventually spread as far afield as India and Iceland. I am descended from the Indo-European branch of this clan, which is thought to be responsible for, among other things, the domestication of the horse and the development of the Proto-Indo-European language, leading eventually to the development of English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, other Romance languages as well as Sanskrit-based languages like Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Urdu. Many of the Indo-European languages share similar words for animals, plants, tools and weapons. My more recent ancestors were originally Hindus living in Chotila, Gujarat, India(35% of people currently living in the State of Gujarat, millions of people, carry the same genetic marker as me). They were converted to Shia Ismaili Islam by Persian Sufi Mystics(Pirs) around the 14th century CE. My great-grandfather and his 3 brothers travelled by ship and train from India to Pretoria, South Africa around 1894. Thus, having originally left Africa 60,000 years ago during the big migration, my ancestors had, once again, returned to Africa. I emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada from Pretoria, South Africa in 1973. My wife has a similar heritage to me but she was born in Mbale, Uganda and lived in Kampala, Uganda. Both our children(son 25yrs, daughter 16yrs) were born in Canada. I am very proud of my heritage."(Easy Nash, 2007)



2) THE EARLY YEARS, THE PIONEERING SPIRIT: MUTHAL NAIDOO GIVES US A GLIMPSE

"The community of Shia Muslims.......was small but very enterprising. Its founder, Jivan Keshavjee, had arrived in Pretoria in 1894, about the time the Coolie Location was set aside for Indian occupation. He was from Chotila, a village near Rajkot in India, where his family was engaged in commerce. He came to South Africa with a friend, Ganibhai Haji Cassim, who had relatives in the country. Jivan and Ganibhai worked in Port Elizabeth for a short while before they left for the Coolie Location in 1894.

In the next year, with the help of other Muslims already established in the area, Jivan started a business at 112 Prinsloo Street, K.J. Keshavjee and Sons, so named as he was known as "Khoja" Jivan Keshavjee. ‘Khoja' means trader. His relatives who were not Keshavjees, entered the country as "Khojas," adopted the designation as their surname and used it for their businesses. At some point, Jivan Keshavjee dropped the term and when his brothers, Velshi, Manjee and Naran, arrived in Pretoria, they came in as Keshavjees.

In 1903, in an attempt to confine Indian trade to the location, the Coolie Location was given bazaar status and became the Asiatic Bazaar. This meant that Indians could own property, establish businesses and build places of worship. So the Keshavjees, Jivan and his brothers, acquired a number of stands on which they built their homes and shops. They had businesses on almost every corner of Blood(Bloed) Street. Jivan Keshavjee's shop was on the corner of Fifth and Blood Streets; Manjee had a shop on the corner of Jerusalem and Blood. On the corner of Fourth and Blood was KK Khoja and Company and there was another shop on the corner of Blood and Sixth. Velshi had a shop at the corner of Grand and Sixth Streets. Other Ismailis, relatives of the Keshavjees, MA Khoja and HK Khoja, also owned general dealerships along Blood Street and in other places in the location. The Ismailis were hardworking and successful businessmen, and the location, as tiny as it was, was a fortuitous place to have a shop. It consisted of a grid of a dozen streets that housed about twenty thousand people. So business boomed."(Muthal Naidoo, 2008)



3)LELLA UMEDALY WRITES A COOKBOOK AND MASTERFULLY WEAVES IN OUR FAMILY STORY AMIDST DESCRIPTIONS OF CULINARY EXCELLENCE.

"In the 1890s when my great-uncle, Jiwan Keshavjee left the family home in Chotila, Gujarat, a province near Bombay (now called Mumbai). He traveled on a steamer ship tracing the ancient trade routes from India to Africa, and his three brothers, Velshi (my grandfather), Naran, and Manji, followed soon after, leaving a life of struggle and poverty in search of opportunity. Most Indian immigrants settled in East Africa or Mozambique, but the brothers went almost as far as the steamer could take them. Disembarking on the eastern coast of South Africa, probably at Durban, our family often tries to imagine why these unique and adventurous men, our Keshavjee clan founders, traveled so far. Once the ship docked, the authorities sent them far inland to Pretoria, the Dutch capital, and they lived there for more than two generations.

The brothers, in their youth, did not know the adversities they would face. There were few Indians, and segregation was already thoroughly entrenched, so we lived apart from the Bantu, the white Afrikaner, and the British colonialists. The region proved to be a difficult place to live and raise a family, but the brothers, though poor, were young and strong. They worked hard as merchants, opening small grocery shops, and soon were able to send to India for their wives, sisters, and extended families. Each of the brothers had four to six children, and this group was the start of what we now think of as the Keshavjee clan. I am part of the second generation born in South Africa.

My grandfather, Velshi, was a very religious Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim who was strict in his ways. He and his three brothers built a beautiful mosque in the heart of Pretoria’s Indian area. In those years, my grandfather also developed a friendship with the famous Indian pacifist and statesman Mahatma Gandhi. The Mahatma came to South Africa as a young man, after he completed his law degree in England, and he lived near Durban, on the coast. He traveled to Pretoria to try an important case and befriended my grandfather, and even though he was of the Hindu faith, he tutored my uncle Rajabali, helping him to learn his Ismaili Muslim prayers. Because of Gandhi’s close relationship and influence, Uncle Rajabali became a vegetarian. Thus we all learned to cook many simple vegetarian dishes, some of which are described in this cookbook. A number of our family members even supported Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance and participated in acts of civil disobedience to protest the passes that all Indians once had to carry. Today letters between Gandhi and my grandfather Velshi, are in Ghandi’s ashram near Ahmedabad, India.

With time and great effort, the family prospered in their various businesses. One uncle had a bakery, another had a gas station and yet another a small machinery auction house. My father owned a movie theatre, but the government censored the movies, not allowing us to see white people kissing, for example, and they insisted that movie houses be segregated. Indians, blacks, and white Afrikaner were all separated, and my father was forced to choose between an Indian and a black clientele. This segregation would precipitate my father’s later decision to leave South Africa for Kenya.

My father’s generation of men brought young brides from India or from Indian communities in East Africa so they could marry within their religion. And so the family grew. To marry my mother, Sakina, my father had to return to Vichia, a village in the province of Gujarat where my family originated. My grandfather had arranged the marriage, and Mahatma Gandhi was asked to take the wedding jewelry to my father’s intended to seal the proposal. Sakina came to South Africa as a young bride of fifteen and was immediately responsible for cooking, under the auspices of the matriarch, my grandmother, Jabubai.

I was born in 1930, the second of five children. My mother died of a weak heart when she was just 29 years old, so I became responsible for my brothers and sisters when I was only twelve. Soon after, my father remarried to a distant relative, whose name was also Sakina, the family grew further with three more brothers.

The growing clan of Keshavjees now numbered over one hundred people, and the community was one large family, often sitting, praying, and eating together. We lived in homes that were close together, where all doors were open to all the children. In addition to caring for each others‘ children, the women shared the cooking and cleaning tasks."(Lella Umedaly, 2006)



4)ABC BAKERY, TOLSTOY FARM, RAJABALI AND THE MAHATMA, NAUGHTY NAUGHTY REHMTULLA AND THE POLITICS OF DEFIANCE: MUTHAL NAIDOO ELABORATES

"By 1920, the Keshavjees, having established flourishing general dealerships, began to diversify and expand their interests. Velshi Keshavjee acquired the ABC Bakery, a tiny business in a tin shanty that made deliveries by horse and cart. He bought out the owner, a Chinese man who had gone bankrupt, modernised the bakery and put in the latest equipment and machinery. Under Rajabali, Velshi's eldest son, it became the eleventh most advanced bakery in the country. Rajabali was an enterprising businessman and a progressive thinker. As a young boy, he had lived at Tolstoy Farm, the satyagrahi settlement that Mahatma Gandhi had established in 1910 at Lawley on the outskirts of Johannesburg. So he was interested in the political movements of the time and in social upliftment and supported the work of the Indian Congresses.

His large, spacious house behind the bakery became a guesthouse for many prominent political figures. As there was no hotel accommodation for people of colour in the area at that time, when the Kajees (A.I. Kajee was chairman of the Natal Indian Congress in the 1940s) came to Pretoria, they went straight to Rajabali's home at the bakery. In 1952, Rehmtulla, Rajabali's son, took part in the Defiance Campaign and marched to Germiston Location in Patrick Duncan's batch, which also included Mrs Thayanayagie Pillay. His involvement in politics brought people like Ahmed Kathrada and Walter Sisulu to the bakery. Though their visits were very discreet, the police were aware of the activities at the bakery and raided it frequently"(Muthal Naidoo, 2008)



5)POLITICS IN THE BLOOD OF RAJABALI'S DESCENDANTS?

"The descendants of Rajabali seem to have politics in their blood. The 8-year old Rajabali had already been sensitized to Gandhi's Satyagraha movement and human rights issues in 1910 at Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg. The anti-apartheid defiance campaign preoccupied Rajabali's eldest son, Rehmtulla, whose family paid a steep price for his shenenigans and were eventually forced to leave South Africa in 1973/74. After arriving in Canada he became a card-carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party and did a lot of work for them till the day he died in 1992. Rajabali's younger son, Murad, became the first ever South Asian member of parliament in Canada, representing the provincial Liberal Party in the Toronto riding of Don Mills from 1985-1990. Rajabali's daughter's husband was a member of the Kenyan parliament from the town of Kisumu during the 1960s and '70s. Murad's son, a prominent Business journalist with CNN, also dabbled in provincial Canadian Liberal politics as well as American democratic congressional politics and his involvement in the political arena may not yet have fully unfolded. Rajabali's great-grandson, Rehmtulla's grandson, is at present the Director of Communications and Parliamentary Affairs for a senior minister in the current Canadian Conservative government. With activism spanning the entire political spectrum the descendants of Rajabali Velshi Keshavjee have beenderdundat."(Easy Nash, 2009)



6)CHARISMATIC HABIB:
RECRUITS MIRIAM MAKEBA, DOLLY RATHEBE, SYDNEY POITIER, CANADA LEE TO EMPIRE CINEMA;
ENTICES THE KHIMANIS FROM PAKISTAN TO COME AND TEACH RELIGION TO THE KIDS;
KK KHOJA AND GULAM MANJEE SET UP ROYAL CINEMA;
MRS MANJEE KESHAVJEE DONATES LAND FOR THE AGA KHAN NURSERY SCHOOL; SHERBANOO VELSHI SETS UP HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE CLINICS.

"But the Ismaili community, in general, did not become involved in political activities; it concentrated its efforts on business and building a sound economic base for social services. Among the most successful Ismailis, were the Keshavjees whose various branches comprised many enterprising individuals. In the Velshi Keshavjee family for instance, in addition to Velshi himself there were his sons, Rajabali and Habib, and his daughter Sherbanoo. They took on interests as diverse as the bakery business, the film industry, social work, education and the building of the Jamatkhana, the white mosque in Boom Street.

In the 1920s, when the Ismaili community was ready for a new mosque, Velshi Keshavjee, made that his special project and headed up a committee that undertook to replace the little tin shanty set up as a mosque by Velshi's pioneer brother, Jivan, with a magnificent jamatkhana. The committee commissioned an architect who drew up plans for a fine building with interior décor of wood panelling and plush carpeting. When work on the building in Boom Street was completed in 1928, the Asiatic Bazaar had a new landmark - a beautiful white mosque, the Jamatkhana. A black plaque proudly displays the legend that Velshi Keshavjee laid the foundation stone. As fate would have it, Velshi Keshavjee died in an accident right at the doors of the mosque in 1954. He was crossing the road when a Putco bus hit him and dragged him to the gates of the Jamatkhana where he died. The Jamatkhana, the pride of the Ismaili Muslim community in the location, became renowned among Ismailis throughout Africa. It still stands on the corner of Boom and Fifth Streets and is now a national monument.

During their time in the location, Velshi's son, Habib, and his daughter, Sherbanoo, a social worker, turned the Jamatkhana into a community centre. Habib helped Sherbanoo establish a clinic on the premises with visiting doctors who came in on a regular basis and more frequently when there were epidemics of one sort or another. In 1944, their aunt, Mrs Manjee Keshavjee, donated a plot of land behind the mosque for a crèche and enabled Sherbanoo and Habib to start the first nursery school in the location. Habib recruited Glennie Tomlinson, a teacher from Cape Town, and went from door to door to encourage people to send their children to the crèche. The response was good and they employed several teachers for whom they provided training in Montessori methods. Habib was also something of a dietician and insisted on healthy nutrition at the school.

In 1949, after donating a plot of land on Barber Street for a madressa, Habib recruited Mowlana Sadruddin Khimani and his wife, Malek, from Pakistan, to induct Ismaili children in the Shia understanding of Islam. The Jamatkhana, with the madressa on Barber Street, became the hub of Ismaili community life. It was a multipurpose community centre, with its clinic, nursery school, madressa, a Council Room downstairs and a prayer area upstairs. With the exception of the prayer area, which was restricted exclusively to Ismailis, the venues at the Jamatkhana were open to all.

Habib's involvement at the mosque consumed only a small part of his energies. His main interest was in the cinema business. In the 1920s, the Keshavjee brothers, Jivan, Velshi, Manjee and Naran, originally part of the firm of Keshavjee & Co. split up, formed separate companies and went into independent ventures. Some branches of the clan acquired sites that had been used for showing films, such as the Bombay Star Bioscope and the Nav Jivan. The new owners of these venues, converted the Bombay Star into a shirt factory and sold the Nav Jivan. They left the development of cinemas to Habib and his uncles KK Khoja and Goolam Manjee Keshavjee. Habib had been running film shows for African audiences at the Dougall Hall from about 1926. When, in 1928, his uncles built the Royal Theatre on Grand Street that was the start of a rivalry that gave rise to a thriving cinema industry in the location. Bioscopes were a lucrative venture for the Keshavjees because the entertainment business provided a world of make-believe that allowed people to escape the squalor of their surroundings. In Marabastad, there was a large population hungry for escapist fare. So stars like the young Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, Betty Grable, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald, Tyrone Power, Boris Karloff and Johnny Weismuller became icons in the locations.

At the Royal, KK Khoja and Goolam Manjee showed Warner Brothers movies. In order to outdo them, when Habib acquired the Empire Theatre around 1933, he obtained contracts with MGM, United Artists and Twentieth Century Fox. As a showman, he did everything he could to bring people into the Empire. He kept abreast of technological developments and ensured that his theatre offered the highest quality entertainment. He employed an African pianist to provide background music during the silent film era, and in the forties, he commissioned Omarjee Suliman, a young man with a passionate interest in film technology, to create special exhibits using animation. So there were flamboyant displays at the Empire to advertise new features such as David and Beersheba, Samson and Delilah and Mighty Joe Young.

Habib also used the cinema to promote local talent. In 1947, Miriam Makeba performed at the Empire for five pounds a show. Other African artists who appeared there were the Manhattan Brothers and the cast of the film, The Magic Queen, starring Dolly Rathebe. Habib devised a promotion campaign for the film with photo sessions that took the stars to various venues and landmarks such as the Union Buildings.

At Easter, the bioscope was crowded mainly with African people. They came from Marabastad, Bantule, Lady Selborne, Newclare and locations all over Pretoria, to continuous showings of The Life of Christ. These performances, which began early in the morning and finished late at night, were always sold out.

In 1949, when Canada Lee and the young Sydney Poitier, stars of the film, Cry the Beloved Country, were on location in South Africa, Habib invited them to the Empire. From the stage of the bioscope, they encouraged the mostly African audience not to give up hope for freedom.

Though there were restrictions regarding the admission of African people to the bioscopes, cinema owners ignored them. With the coming of apartheid, however, the authorities began to fine cinema owners for admitting African people to "violent" films, American gangster movies and such like. People like Habib could see the writing on the wall and believed that their progress would be stunted under apartheid. Soon after the Nationalist government came into power in 1948, His Highness, Sultan Mohammed Shah Aga Khan, the Ismaili Imam, called on his followers in South Africa to leave the country. As they saw no hope of a viable future in South Africa, the Keshavjees sold their cinemas to the Chetty brothers, the emerging cinema moghuls, and emigrated.

Habib, like his pioneer Uncle Jivan, was a charismatic figure. When he left in 1952, he drew people to Kenya in the same way that Jivan had drawn people from India to the Asiatic Bazaar. Almost everyone followed. Ten years later there was no longer an Ismaili Muslim community in Pretoria. A few individuals remained but the majority had made their way to other parts of the world"(Muthal Naidoo, 2008)



7)LELLA UMEDALY GOES TO THE DIAMOND JUBILEE DARBAR IN DAR ES SALAAM; GETS MARRIED; DESCRIBES THE SCATTERING OF OVER 2000 KESHAVJEE DESCENDANTS TO THE FOUR CORNERS.

"In 1946, when I was fifteen, my father decided to go with the family to Dar es Salaam in East Africa. We went to attend a ceremony honoring our spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, Sultan Mohamed Shah, who had become Imam of the Ismailis when he was eight years old and had served as our leader for seventy-five years. This Diamond Jubilee brought Ismailis from all over the world, and they watched as our Imam, a heavy-set man, was weighed against an equal amount of un-cut diamonds. The entire East African congregation had contributed money to purchase the diamonds, and once he was weighed, this treasure trove was sold again to establish a trust. Now called the Aga Khan Foundation, this trust is of great importance to the Ismailis. It is used for humanitarian aid around the world and to provide low-interest loans to Ismailis everywhere, to build homes, attend universities, and start businesses. I sat in the front and witnessed this amazing ceremonial occasion.

The journey to the diamond jubilee was a trip of a lifetime…a real safari. The countries through which we traveled, now called Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya, were beautiful. The roads were all murum (dirt), so it took us two weeks to cover 3,000 miles, and we had enough flat tires to last a lifetime! But we made many friends along the way and ate rich and different foods that are part of the Indian cuisine of East Africa. We learned some mouthwatering recipes like Biryani, chicken curries, and mutton curries.

This journey was to have a major impact on my family. It was when I first met my future husband. It was also a time when apartheid was becoming a huge and oppressive issue for our family, and my father was contemplating leaving South Africa. n 1951, he and his cousins would decide to seek their fortunes in a more open society. Following the advice of our Imam, they would migrate to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and in later years, many members of the Keshavjee clan would follow. A few remained in South Africa, however, this was to be the first of the moves that would scatter the clan around the world.

Members of the clan now number approximately 2,000 and have settled all over the world. We keep in touch by e-mail today, but we can recognize each other a mile away, so strong are our physical resemblances. Once a Keshavjee speaks, the recognition is complete, because of tone of voice and abundant use of gestures. We confirm our kinship by asking, “Where have you been and what have you done?” The answers are inevitably bold and enthusiastic, so it seems that most members of the Keshavjee clan have adventurous souls and ambitious dreams. We are also people with a good sense of humor, and we love family get-togethers over a sumptuous meal"(Lella Umedaly, 2006)



8)MAMDOO'S MAGNIFICENT MOSAIC MAKING MAGIC IN MARABASTAD NEAR THE MAGALIESBERG, PRESAGING OUR GLOBAL VILLAGE.

"As I reflect on my life, I sometimes go back to my childhood days and recollect my thoughts about the life we led in the non-white ghetto in Pretoria. There were three ghettos in a total area of about a mile and a quarter by a mile and a quarter for the three basic non-white groups, namely coloured or Cape coloured (those of mixed race), Indian or Asian and African or Bantu. The ghetto was made up of Marabastaadt, the area for blacks, the Asiatic Bazaar for Indians and the Cape Location for those of mixed race. All of us who lived there just called it Location.

By the mid-forties, the Black African population was growing rapidly and they were slowly being moved out to Atteridgeville. The blacks called it Pelindaba --a basic bare-boned city, some 8 or 9 miles West from the City of Pretoria. Atteridgeville was ethnically divided to keep people from different black tribes who came from different areas of South Africa apart. This was in keeping with the divide and conquer philosophy of the ruling party in South Africa –Apartheid began at the ethnic or root level. Once the Blacks had been moved out, plans for moving the Coloureds was initiated. The Coloureds were moved to Derdepoort, an area some 10 miles East of Pretoria. Similar arrangements were made in Johannesburg and other major and minor cities of South Africa. Indians in Pretoria were to be moved to Laudium, which today is a reality and somehow also ethnically divided. However, before all those events took place, all three races lived in the one Location.

The Location was bounded on the North side by the Magalis (pronounced with a throaty g –almost like a raspy h) range of low mountains. Struben Street acted as the Southern border. The Municipality of Pretoria had a fence along the entire Southern border, behind which they stored road building equipment and other requisites. The West side of the Location was cut off by a highway called Von Wielligh Street. The East side was cut off by the Apis (Monkey) River. Boom Street ran through the middle of the Location, connected by a bridge on the East side to the White areas and the outside world. These three major groups of people shared their destiny of being cut off from so-called superior White civilization. We definitely lived in a world of our own.

Some Indians who had shops in the City of Pretoria, from the early part of the century before the official Apartheid policy came into effect, were allowed to go to their businesses during the day, but had to be back by evening to spend the night in the Location. Some Indian businessmen did have homes behind their businesses in the City, but this was an anomaly from the early part of the century. By the mid-fifties they were already ear-marked for removal –both business and residence. This was part of the Group Areas Act which set aggressive milestones for the separation of the races.

Those were years of increasing oppression and being on the receiving end of an inherently discriminatory and divisive policy. South African White policy in those years was designed to progressively remove all economic and political opportunities from non-whites. However, reminiscing of the days in the Location, all is not lost because life is not measured in terms of money, places or status. It is measured in how we lived with our fellow man and the trials and tribulations we bore together and how we emerged from it all.The first great thing that came to be was that Mahatma Gandhi came to live in the Location in the early part of the 20th century. This was surely divinely ordered. He lived there for many years before moving to Natal and eventually back to India. Everyone knows the mark he left on India. Few have heard of the legacy he left in South Africa –a legacy of pride in heritage, fighting for freedom and belief in the greatness of ordinary people. I went to school with many children who came from families who took the Mahatma as their leader. Many of them later played important roles in the South African freedom movement.

Now my thoughts go back to the fact that the Location was probably one of the richest sources of cultural exchange on the face of the globe at that time –something never to be repeated in this fast changing, modern world of ours. Toronto is probably the only other place where this cultural heterogeneity is encouraged, to a point. However, Toronto is not a ghetto and it is also so large that the ethnics have their own ghettos. But Pretoria’s Location was unparalleled on the planet because nowhere else were so many different people put together in such a small area from where they could not leave by their own choice.

The richness of life that I’m also talking about is the people who lived in this Location. And my memory takes me to re-meet the neighbours and their cultures and the languages that were spoken here all around us. The Location was over-crowded because the Indian area was no more than about ¾ of a mile by ¾ of a mile. There were close to 10,000 people in that small area, living in poverty and under an oppressive regime. Families and extended families of 20 or 30 people using one toilet was not uncommon. But people got along. We survived. We learned to tolerate each other. Understand each other. We visited each other in our homes. We went to school together in this one-of-a-kind place in the world, the Location. We had three movie theatres, showing Indian, American, British, Egyptian and Tamil movies. This was our escape.

When I look back on my school days and school mates, first of all, everyone spoke either one of the country’s major legal languages, English or Afrikaans. The Coloureds mostly spoke either local or Cape Afrikaans (a Dutch-German derivative language, with a smattering of Flemish and English mixed in). The African servants and black customers at the local shops (blacks were allowed to be there until 7 pm, but had to observe the curfew that forced them to go back to their areas by 7 pm), spoke either Zulu, Xosa, Venda, Sesutho, Swazi, Ndebele, Tswana or Mchangan. Most of the Indians and local business people spoke at least 2 of the above languages, including their own local language from India. In addition most also spoke Hindi, English or Afrikaans or both.

Indians were truly multi-lingual out of necessity. They were the trades people of the area –running small shops and service businesses for the blacks and coloureds, who worked in the white areas. There were also a couple dozen Chinese families living in the Location. Some came from Mainland China, others from Hong Kong or Macau. They spoke either Cantonese or Mandarin.In the Location, there were Indians from South India, especially Tamils, who were a big percentage of the population. They spoke, depending on where they came from in the South of India, Madrasi, Telegu or Malayalam. Also, some from the mid-section of India spoke a few different dialects of Indian languages. There were the Hyderabadis, who spoke their own language. There were Cochnis from Cochin, they spoke their own distinct language. There were a few from Ceylon, who spoke Sinhalese. Moving North towards Pakistan, there were many Urdu speaking peoples. Indians from Mumbai spoke Marhastran. And Parsis, who also came from the same area, especially from Mumbai, spoke Gujerati. Then there were the Gujeratis, with a big ethnic population, who spoke their different brands of Gujerati –the Kanamyas, the Surtis, the Katchis, the Katchi-Mehman and Halai-Mehman from Sindh. There were Sindis who spoke pure Sindi, with their own unique script. There were those who spoke Hindi and as we go further North, we find the Sikhs, with their own language, Punjabi. There were people from Kolkata, speaking Kalkatian language. And from Bangladesh, people spoke Bengali. There were Patthan-speaking Indians from the North West of India and Punjabi-speakers from the Punjab.
This was a microcosm of almost all the people you could think of. Pizzaro and Cortes didn’t allow the Aztecs and the Mayas to be in the Location, otherwise we would have had them also. And the North American Indians and the Northern Aboriginals all fighting for survival –they were not here.

There were Portuguese-speaking Indians who came from Portuguese speaking enclaves in India. The Malays of the Cape were also here, with their Malay-mixed Afrikaans. They had come to South Africa with the Dutch from Malaysia. There were German-speaking coloureds who came from the Cape province, on the border with Southwest Africa, where they spoke German. And there were Arab-speaking Mullahs at the local Madrassa.

I’m sure I’m forgetting some other people with their peculiar language here. But they were there in this Location. All their children, boys and girls, were at the local school. Nowhere on Earth will you find this. The children of the very, very wealthy and those of the very poor, went to the same school because of the Apartheid ghetto –which did not differentiate between rich and poor –only between white and non-white.

In spite of the oppression and lack of opportunities, what could be more momentous than having one of the greatest men on this planet as a neighbour living in this Location? That’s what it felt like to have Mahatma Gandhi as part of our neighbourhood. It gave our lives and experiences meaning and richness in a larger global sense. When I see Ben Kingsley portraying Mahatma Gandhi, I say to myself, ‘We had the real thing.’

In conclusion, I must reiterate the richness of this once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-long-historical-period that only divine intervention could have produced. Where in the world would you get a Location of so many cultural and sub-cultural backgrounds with their rich heritage of music, dress, color, religion and language have come together in such a small place? Yes, there were even Ismailis here. One family in particular, the Keshavjees, had very close contact with Mahatma Gandhi. This was truly a historical event of a magnitude that would have world-wide impact. Mahatma Gandhi was part of this beautiful historical mosaic. Indians and Africans played out their roles, while the British and Dutch looked on from the side-lines with their attitudes of Apartheid, snobbery and British arrogance. Look where they are today.

This was a one-time phenomenon with, not Ben Kingsly whose relatives are also known to me, but the real thing thrown in: the Mahatma. This is my legacy. A tapestry full of riches, a mosaic to cherish, with all the different music, art, religion, dances, stories and languages woven into the fabric of life. The White man in South Africa, with his one superior language truly missed out. To him, Gandhi was yet another `coolie` to be derided and ridiculed. What irony. Wake up Canada, smell the real world that the divine created. Embrace it or you’ll lose out also".(Mohamed Ally(Mamdoo) Keshavjee, 2008)



9)EPILOGUE

"When the Ismailis left Marabastad, Pretoria lost the contributions that fine minds make to enhance a society. Had the "Khojas" remained in the Asiatic Bazaar, however, many avenues of development would have been closed to them. In other countries they had the freedom to fulfil their potential. In Canada and the United Kingdom, they embarked on careers that carried the most gifted - among them the descendants of Velshi Keshavjee - to the top of their professions. In 1987, Murad Keshavjee, Velshi Keshavjee's grandson, who became a member of the Ontario Liberal Government of David Peterson, was deputy whip of the Liberal Party, Chair of the Committee of the Ombudsman and Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Citizenship. Shafique Keshavjee, Sherbanoo Velshi Keshavjee's grandson, is the leading heart-and-lung thoracic surgeon in Canada and director of the Toronto Lung-Transplant Programme.

The successes of Ismailis, even in diaspora, are clearly attributable to the cohesiveness of their community, a unity fostered through religious beliefs and the spiritual guidance of the Imam"(Muthal Naidoo, 2008).



Relevant posts and links:

The Genographic Project of the National Geographic Society: How I discovered my ancestry from 10-15 thousand years ago.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/249the-genographic-projectnational.html

Blogger Muthal Naidoo posts a goldmine of information on the Keshavjees and other Shia Ismaili Muslim families of South Africa.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/11/504blogger-muthal-naidoo-posts-goldmine.html
http://www.muthalnaidoo.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123&Itemid=96
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/jivan-keshavjee-habib-chagan-and-the-ismaili-community-of-pretoria/
http://www.muthalnaidoo.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=89

Mamajee's Kitchen, by Lella Umedaly-Cuisine
http://mamajeeskitchen.com/mylife.html
http://mamajeeskitchen.com/index.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/mamajees-kitchen-by-lella-umedaly-cuisine/
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/01/125another-one-of-those-off-topic-posts.html

Languages in the Location
http://mamdoochacha.blogspot.com/2008/03/languages-in-location.html

Two Magnificent Accounts describing the sojourn of the Keshavjee family in Pretoria, apartheid South Africa, during the 20th Century: A Legacy
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/414two-magnificent-accounts-describing.html

A Collection Of Posts On My Blog About All Things KESHAVJEE; Quotes from Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/11/505a-collection-of-posts-on-my-blog.html


Easy Nash

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)