Dear S.H. Haider Sahib, 

The topic of this discussion of course is not 9/11, I agree. But, had 9/11 not taken place, you would be missing many books today, perhaps including the one with the Mirage chasing and State of Islam recipes. The subject of 9/11 is very wide and complex, too complex to be discuseds here, perhaps we should have a FoTH seminar for that some time in the future? 

Regarding the dudes you talked about, ie, Modoodi and Qutb. Since they have left this world, they are no longer trapped in chasing the mirages, they are doing bigger and better things, chasing the rainbows from one galaxy to the next. It is beyond me why some refuse to seize talking about them and cannot stop from dragging them in their books and articles? Can you imagine, talking about Modoodi and Qutb in Ottawa newspapers – how many people in Ottawa would have actually heard those names? 

It is true, the restriction did come down from certain quarters of the town making it mandatory to read every word of every page before assuming the privilege of writing a review of the book. Not only that, I was informed that an official witness and attestation by a notary public could have been a requirement to prove that one has been an honest and bona-fide mirage chaser to qualify with the class of the official mirage chasers of the year 2008.  

But in your case, Haider Sahib, it seems that you had not gone beyond the review of the cover of the book. If this situation still holds true, then, take it from me, Sir,   that you are the wisest of us all – you cannot see but I am bowing to you with my hat under my arm as a token of admiration that you have the wisdom to judge which mirage to chase and which one to pass before starting the actual chase. Some of us have wasted too much time chasing the wrong mirage. 

If there was a magic mirror we could have asked: 

Mirror mirror on the wall – who is the wisest of us all? 

The magic mirror would have responded as: 

Those ones of you who did nor read the book - at all ! 

 

During the late 19^th century, Darwin’s book, Voyage of the Beagle came out. I read it and enjoyed it. In 1950s (or was it 1960s?) a movie called the Flight of the Phoenix was released, I watched it and enjoyed it. Then, in early 2008, a book called Chase of the Mirages came out, I am still chasing it  ………  

On a serious note, Haider sahib, in your new job as a court judge, I am afraid, you were too fast to reach the verdict. You have issued the verdict on the basis of prosecution statements only, you did not allow the defense argument at all. I thought it was assumed that you were presiding over a Canadian court, not the Gitmo circus. Not to worry, we will leave it here for another day, another place.  

Javed I. Chaudry