A Valiant
Effort
By Hasan Khan
Livermore, CA
Pakistan’s epic victory at
Banglore will be cherished for years to come.
They batted with authority, aggression and purpose.
Every ball was bowled to get the wicket and with
the treasured ferocity of greats such as Imran,
Wasim and Waqar. To sum up today’s memorable
win, one can only say “Wars may be fought
with weapons, but they are won by the men. It
is the spirit of the men who follow and of the
man who leads that gains victory.” It was
Inzy’s leadership and a fine team display.
One may find it hard to describe Pakistan’s
effort but it was Ganguly’s captaincy that
precipitated India’s fall. You can never
come out victorious if you rest your hopes on
a lone warrior like V.Shewag, and ask your generals
such as Dravid and Sachin to withdraw.
One cannot fathom the reason or logic to play
so defensive in ones own backyard. Nine wickets
in hand and the world’s most admired batsmen
at the crease, desperate opposition, a victory
already in the bag and you act like a child who
only worries about the last candy in his pocket.
Every ball good or bad, which was defended, was
like guiding the ship in the perfect storm, and
a STORM it was!
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Story of the Librarian of Basra
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
The Iraqi city of Basra has recently
been in the news once again, but not because of
any new catastrophe striking it. For once, the
news is good. Someone has written a delightful
children’s book based on a real life story
of an admired librarian in Basra. The fabled city
is not unaccustomed to fame, and even good fortune.
It has been venerated in numerous accounts and
chronicles as having been the preeminent seat
of Islamic learning and scholarship in the mediaeval
times. The city finds mention even in the Arabian
Nights as the port where Sinbad the Sailor embarked
on his seven voyages,
Founded as a military outpost during the Caliphate
of Hazrat Umar in 636 AD, Basra soon became the
home of renowned religious scholars, philosophers,
poets and Sufis. Among them, one of the most celebrated
jurists and theologians, Hasan al-Basri, born
in Medina a mere twelve years after the Hijra,
preached from the pulpits of this city, expounding
the finer points of the newly emerging science
of the traditions of the Prophet. He is credited
with having known seventy original companions
who fought in the battle of Badr, lending high
credibility to traditions transmitted by him.
Hasan al-Basri was so loved for his piety and
learning that when he died on a Friday in 728
AD, it is said, that almost the entire population
of Basra came out to follow his funeral. According
to the legend, for the first time in the city’s
history, no one of any status was left in the
mosques on that day to lead the afternoon prayers.
Basra played some crucial roles in the development
and growth of the Arabic language. The rapid expansion
of Islamic Civilization in the first century of
the Hijra calendar presented some new challenges.
Many scholars became concerned that Arabic was
getting mixed with Persian, Syrian and other local
languages. New and well-defined rules of grammar
were framed and established to protect the integrity
and purity of the classical Arabic language. Basra
became the center of much research rooted in the
science of philology and syntax. It was here that
the first Arabic dictionary, Kitab al-Ayn, was
compiled in the eighth century AD. The city also
drew its fame from being the center of a magnificent
Islamic tradition, Sufism. Rabi’a al Basri
born around 717 AD lived there. Stories of her
piety and single-minded devotion to God abound
in the theological and literary documents of that
era.
Basra went through various vicissitudes during
the nearly one-and-half thousand years of its
history. Although not devastated the way Baghdad
was in 1258 AD by the Mongol invasions, the city
as well as the surrounding countryside was nevertheless
ravaged and vandalized in the aftermath of the
Tartar onslaught. The famous Muslim traveler,
Ibn Battuta, who passed this way in 1327 AD, some
69 years after the Mongol invasion, was horrified
by what he observed. In place of a thriving metropolis,
brimming with religious and intellectual activities,
he found a desolate city that had shrunken greatly
in size. Its once majestic Friday Mosque now lay
several miles outside the city boundaries. While
attending the Friday prayer at the local mosque,
he felt embarrassed by the sermon delivered by
the Imam. In his journal, he recorded that the
khutaba was replete with numerous errors of grammar
and syntax, violating every rule of the correct
usage of the Arabic language. The Chief Qazi,
Hujjat al-Din, sadly commented that following
the Mogul invasion no one had been left in that
city, where the rules of grammar had been originally
crafted and refined, who was familiar with the
rules of grammar or the science of linguistics.
While no longer the citadel of learning it once
was, Basra had many palm trees and clusters of
decaying buildings left, but not much else. Ibn
Battuta according to his account spent the rest
of his time visiting the grave sites of the departed
scholars, Sufis and some companions of the Prophet
who lay buried there.
Following the Mongol violation, the city seems
to have descended into a state of slumber for
several centuries. In the twentieth century, it
was occupied by the British during the First World
War who then stayed on until 1930. In the eighties,
because of its oil refineries and strategic location
on Shatt al Arab waterways, it was targeted and
heavily damaged during the Iraqi-Iranian war.
Then, the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq against
Saddam Husain’s regime was launched in April
2003. Basra was besieged mainly by British troops
who finally captured it on April 6, meeting only
scattered resistance. Although spared major bloodshed,
its occupation by foreign armies caused much confusion
and panic. Many residents fled the city, anticipating
lawlessness and chaos. Others came out to profit
from the anarchy, loading their vehicles with
stolen goods, furniture, air conditioners, office
equipment, roaming from one location to the next
in search of bounty.
Amidst this chaos and confusion, unfolded the
story of the librarian of Basra, Alia Muhammad
Baker, first published by the New York Times in
its July 23, 2003, issue. Alia is now being celebrated
and lauded as a heroin in a new book, The Librarian
of Basra. The books is exquisitely illustrated
in elegant colors, and the whole story of her
heroic struggle to save the books in her charge
is told in cartoons, as seen from the eyes of
a child. Written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter
and published by Harcourt, and primarily intended
for children, the book is currently receiving
much favorable publicity in the print media.
As the war clouds gathered, Alia Baker, who served
as the chief librarian at the Basra Central Library
before the Anglo-American invasion, became extremely
concerned about the ultimate safety of thousand
of priceless, ancient manuscripts and treasured
books, including a seven-hundred year-old, hand-written
biography of the Prophet. For her the books were
a national treasure, part of her heritage that
needed to be preserved for coming generations.
Nevertheless, all petitions to the local Iraqi
authorities to move the documents to a safer location
went in vain. Despairing of any help and risking
her own life, Alia finally started a one-woman
operation of moving the most valuable manuscripts
herself to her home at night where she knew they
would be safe. Her house in time became a virtual
book warehouse. Still most of the book collection
remained at the Central library building, vulnerable
to destruction.
In early April, 2003, as the city fell to the
invading British armies, the struggle to save
books became more urgent and desperate. All the
guards and staff of the library disappeared in
disarray; artillery shells started raining on
and all around the building. Alia sought the help
of the restaurant owner next door to the library.
By this time, the looters had already arrived,
removing carpets, furniture and other precious
fixtures from the building. The restaurant owner
and other members of the community came to help,
joining in with Alia in packing and carting the
books to the empty dining rooms of the restaurant.
They succeeded in saving some 70 percent of the
books.
Exactly nine day after the bulk of the books were
moved, the library building was mysteriously set
on fire by someone, consuming whatever was still
left. No help ever came from the occupying armies.
Alia was grieved and devastated. It was the first
time in over a millennium, since Hulagu Khan burnt
the libraries of Baghdad in 1258, that anyone
had committed such an egregious act in Iraq. Unfortunately,
priceless, illuminated copies of the Qur’an
and thousands of other precious, historic manuscripts
in possession of the National Library of Baghdad
fared no better under the occupation forces. These
were also looted or destroyed about the same time
as the Basra library.
The book, The Librarian of Basra, focuses on the
dedication and selflessness of a single Iraqi
Muslim woman. Meant for 7- to 10-year olds, the
storybook highlights for the young mind the indomitable
spirit and determination of a woman, shown in
traditional Hijab, in a far away Muslim land.
For Alia Muhammad personally, however, life has
not been easy. She suffered a stroke and had heart
surgery following the incident of arson that destroyed
her beloved library, but is reported to be recovering
well. Meanwhile, the city of Basra that once was
the home of Rabi’a al Basri seems to have
other illustrious women it can be proud of.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
