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Intizar Zaidi
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Jul. 15, 2008
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Book Review
Chasing A
Mirage – The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State.
- Author:
Tarek Fatah
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Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.,
Canada
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Reviewed
By: Javed I.
Chaudry
I n his response
to my message, Javed Chaudry merely proves my
point that he has skimmed through "Chasing a
Mirage" and his not read the book in its
entirety or with any seriousness. He suggests
that Tarek Fatah's critique of the succession
of Prophet Muhammad is based on the Shia
belief that Hazrat Ali (RA) was the rightful
hear to the Apostle. This is incorrect and
false.
Nothing could be further than the truth.
Tarek's book in chapter 6 talks about the
conflict as being between Umar and the Quresh
on one side, and Saad Bin Ubaidah and the
Ansar on the other. Of course, this is not
what we study in our history, but when Abu
Bakr and Umar told the supporters of Saad that
the "Quresh are the rulers and Ansar are their
servers", this was abandoning the principles
of Islam as written in the Quran and Sunnat.
However, Javed Chaudry seems to have missed
that whole chapter!
In fact on page 107 Tarek dismisses the Shia
claim to the succession. He writes:
"Of course the shia also dispute the validity
of Abubakr's ascension, but their theory of
succession is even narrower and more
restricted than that of the Sunni."
Javed Chaudhry like so many Pakistanis has
done the unethical act of putting words in the
mouth of an author under the cover of "a
review". Will he take up the challenge and
face off with Tarek Fatah in a debate
organized by FOTH? I doubt it very much.
BTW, if you want to hear Tarek Fatah defend
the book and hear Dr. Tahir Qazi critique
"Chasing a Mirage," please come to the North
York Civic Centre Auditorium at 5PM this
Saturday (July 19). The event promises to be
involve a vigorous exchange with other
speakers including Farzana Hassan, Tahir Aslam
Gora, Rashid Nadeem and Asma Mahmood.
More details of the event over here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=20756281547
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=20756281547
I'll try to come from Montreal and hope I can
meet Javed Chaudry there. Unless of course he
prefers to snipe from hideouts :-)
Send questions or
comments to
Family of the Heart
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