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© 2012 Sanjeev Sabhlok's revolutionary blog
I don't recall where I first came across Michael Ghouse, but this gentleman has been doing what many of us ask Muslims to do – to condemn Muslims who kill innocents or behave badly. Indeed, he has been doing even more by going out of the way to promote liberty – something very rare in the Muslim world which is more known for its fanaticism and exclusiveness than inclusiveness and collaboration.
Yet it is strange that few have heard of him. The global media is mischievous and prefers to pick up divisive figures, for such malicious reporting helps get more readers at the cost, which these people in the media don't bear, of fueling the common stereotypes. Instead, the media should highlight the work of people like Mike. Let no false Muslim be given credence.
I was pleased to read Mike Ghouse's condemnation of the recent attacks in Mumbai (see his blog post here). He runs the World Muslim Congress. All power to him! He has now kindly provided a link to a talk he gave a couple of weeks ago. It is 13 minutes long. I obviously haven't met Mike yet, but it has been a pleasure to listen to him speak and therefore to get to know him better.
I see in him a kindred soul, and wish him Godspeed. May Mike's work act as the catalyst for Muslims worldwide to go back to their roots – of inquiry, critical thinking, and freedom. It is shameful how Islam has allowed itself to deteriorate after its golden age that lasted over 500 years after Mohammed (see my blog post on this subject).
I was also intrigued, by the way, to hear in Mike's talk that Tipu Sultan was one of the first three sovereigns to recognise USA upon its declaration of independence. I have heard that Tipu Sultan was a brilliant – and collaborative – ruler. I've also visited his forts and palaces in Karnataka. I'm not a history buff, however, so if someone can tell us more about Tipu's political philosophy that would be useful.
But do listen to Mike, below.
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TIpu Sultan was a member of the french Jacobin Club, which espoused republicanism [the opposite of monarchy] citizen empowerment, and atheism based on the liberal ideas in Rosseau's Social Contract. Many consider the political organization of the club as instrumental to the success of the French revolution because of it's branches throughout France. After the overthrow of the monarchy, the Jacobins became a faction in the power struggle that followed, unleashing the reign of terror,and the reaction which eventually put Napoleon in power. It's not clear to me if Tipu Sultan's membership in the Jacobin Club represented forward looking political views or was a way to ally with the French to check growing British colonial power in India. Nevertheless, Tipu did show a worldview that was well aware of global power play.
While Morocco was one of the first countries to recognize the US, I doubt this had anything to do with Morocco's Islamic culture and suspect it was more to do with resisting Britain's naval power which interfered with the [white] slavery trade upon which Morocco's economy depended. The 'Barbary Pirate Slave Trade' refers to slavers from N Africa who captured European ships and their sailors who were then sold into slavery to operate galleys and other labor across the ottoman empire. Islam sanctioned slavery of non-believers. The slavers also conducted raids on the coast of Italy & France, going as far north as England, Ireland, and Iceland, sometimes capturing entire villages. After US independence, the first war fought by the fledgeling republic, was against the 3 Barbary Pirate states, ending in a warships shelling ports in Morocco eventually forcing the rulers to sign a treaty to cease their support of slave piracy against US ships and enslavement of US sailors.
There is a certain historical irony here. The first war the US fought was to prevent enslavement of sailors on US ships so that the US ships could carry on their African slave trade unhindered.
Thanks, Charu. Interesting to hear about a republican monarch. I went to Wikipedia which has a significant entry on him (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipu_Sultan) and reminded myself of some of the history lessons in school (and indeed in Mysore where I’ve visited both his palace and fort in 1982 as part of the Bharat Darshan organised by the academy) – and learnt new things as well. I wish I had time to explore Tipu’s political thought a bit more. Very complex character he seems.