Disqus - Latest Comments for oaftab

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: Everything Comes With a Price

Omer Aftab — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:21:14 -0000

I have attended many SEF events - at least 10. Not once have I had to stand in a separate queue. Sure, the SEF tickets are kept separate from the others, but at the same table (and I don't think anyone gives a hoot about which ticket pad you get your tickets from). I think the incidents you have faced have been the exception, and not the rule. Quite frankly, I don't find this 'shameful' or 'humiliating'. In fact, I get to say, "I get free tickets, and you don't!".

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:33:04 -0000

ThorsProvoni,

To be very honest I don't have the attention span to read such long comments. Good arguments don't need to be so long. In any case, if you haven't noticed, I was trying to wrap the argument up by thanking you for sharing the information. I still thank you for taking the time out to write such long comments - truly appreciate your desire to enlighten me.

Finding wisdom in a book such as the bible is different from finding wisdom in one particular injunction. Because the book may indeed have stories of wisdom, albeit a few.

Taha says, that he finds great wisdom in the established position. Which means: He thinks, it is WISE to kill apostates (though he didn't say it explicitly - but please don't insult a person's intelligence by arguing that statement 1 does NOT lead to statement 2).

Simply put, if you find great wisdom in something, you imply that it is wise to do it. Which means, he believes that the benefits of killing apostates outweighs the costs.

Now what's an endorsement? I endorse Barack Obama for Presidency. Which means that I feel, that the benefits of having Obama as the President would be greater than its costs. I don't have to campaign for him, or tell others to vote for him, but I endorse him.

So, while Taha did not ADVOCATE the killing of apostates, he certainly endorsed it.

Genuinely not looking forward to irrelevant stories and poetry.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:48:18 -0000

Greta,

HAHA HA! Nice! Thanks for sharing this! Best thing for the morning! (morning here)

ThorsProvoni,

I absolutely agree with with you. If a representative of any religious organization at Harvard finds 'great wisdom', or by use of any other words endorses killing of people (frankly, I don't see how finding 'great wisdom' is not an endorsement - I am not saying he 'advocates' killing, but 'endorses' it), then he/she should be asked to resign. I am glad you have cited examples of representatives of religions at Harvard (at Hillel, though I am still not sure whether they were guest lecturers or actual appointees), rather than elsewhere. Certainly very worrying! Thanks for sharing this piece of information!

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:49:43 -0000

Occam's Razor leads me to believe that the al-Qaeda isn't a myth. If Osama bin Laden did not exist, or was not anti-USA, Pakistan would have been the first country to point that out, since Pakistan had maintained contacts with OBL until at least 1993, and after the Sept 11 attacks, a Pakistani journalist even met him.
Why would it have been in Pakistan's interest to point that out? Because Pakistan doesn't like the idea of US Army on it's borders - with the potential of intelligence gathering by USA of its nuclear sites and projects - which is not something Pakistan would want.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:18:03 -0000

For Greta only:

Here's the al-Qaeda video with English subtitles that I promised:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:50:49 -0000

And if you are bored, you might find this interesting:
http://2012.tribe.net/threa...

(book review of "Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think"
http://www.gallup.com/press... )

To save your time:-
"Interestingly, among the overwhelming majority of Muslims, their views were driven less by a hatred of the West than a perception that the West hates them. Only 17 per cent said the West "respects" Islam. "

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:45:17 -0000

For some reason this page has expired, but the headline should be enough:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...

So. ON YOUR FACE GRETA!

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:39:33 -0000

Greta,

Well. OK. Some Muslims believe that the War against Iraq was religiously motivated. How does that sound now?

But a question (divided into parts) to you: How do the al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban recruit soldiers? What message do the the militants leave whenever they behead someone? Aren't they Muslims? Don't they think the West is at war against Islam? And don't they think the Christians and Jews have united in war against them!?

There's a reason why Obama has had to publicly say that USA is not in a war against Islam. And the reason is this very common public perception in Muslim countries.

Now I do not know the Arabic equivalent of "bigot Christian dumbfuck", but I am pretty darn sure someone in al-Qaeda must have said that! I agree I can't back this up, but if I find some video with subtitles, I'll let you know.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:40:27 -0000

Greta,

If you only cared to read the opening sentence of my paragraph, "And from the point of view of Muslims,"...I was giving the argument of the Muslims. That's not MY point of view. I was saying, that according to the Muslims, the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan had religious motives - so in their point of view - it's the Christians who are mass murderers (and therefore calling Muslims as sole mass murderers on Earth is wrong - and I had cited cases of Jews, Hindus and Christians carrying out mass murders as examples).

You unfortunately have a tendency to pick sentences only selectively. I am neither posturing, nor am I a hypocrite.

I strongly believe that Taha should be asked to resign. I also believe that Islam should not be tarnished because of Taha's statements (my reply to Finn). I also think that Jews should not be dragged into this, because they have nothing to do with it. We could talk about them, if a Jewish chaplain AT HARVARD, had endorsed the killing of apostates. But that has not happened. For all the controversial comments that some Jewish professors at Harvard have made, NONE has found "great wisdom" in killing apostates. And even if they had, why should that acquit Mr. Taha?

Lastly, if you can't attack the ARGUMENT, don't try to attack the ARGUER - unless it exposes some flaw in the ARGUMENT. It doesn't advance your case, if you had any, in any way. Quite frankly, I don't see how your Jew bashing has even remotely contributed positively to the discussion here, which I believe, is about the ways the community at HARVARD should deal with controversial statements of a Harvard Islamic Chaplain. There's absolutely no point in referring to cases of Jewish apostates being killed in Israel. Please try to understand the SCOPE of this discussion.

Frankly, I don't want to continue this discussion further. It has gone way off track - to shameless mudslinging.

Regarding your question:
"As far as I can see, the slurs being used in this thread like "sand people", "Muzzy", and "bigot Christian dumbfuck" are not matched by any such slurs against members of the other Abrahamic faith. What does that suggest to you?"

I don't think a handful of slurs outweighs the pages of attacks on Jews. You and ThorsProvoni did quite a well job at balancing our slurs. But maybe you overdid it.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:08:12 -0000

Darwinnia,

You are awesome. Hats off!

ThorsProvoni,

Please read Darwinnia's 3rd point.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 10:52:12 -0000

Dear ThorsProvoni,

Why are you dragging Jews into this? Just because some Jews have committed misdeeds, does not mean Taha Abdul-Basser should be forgiven, simply because others are worse or similar.

He wasn't answering a question objectively. He was endorsing it and praising it. He could have simply said Islam wants apostates killed. Adding that there's "great wisdom" behind this injunction was uncalled for.

I would request the readers the keep the debate focused solely on Mr Taha's comments. Please do not make this a forum for Jew-bashing. It genuinely gets boring after a while, and doesn't really fit here. Maybe when some Jewish chaplain at Harvard endorses the killing of apostates, then we could argue all this. But at the moment, bringing Jews in is unnecessary.

Could you also elaborate exactly where my understanding of Arab Jihadism is mistaken? Thanks!

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:01:50 -0000

Finn,

CHILL OUT! Your hatred of PC-ness doesn't justify a distortion of facts. Nothing in fact does.

"There are no Jews or Christians or Hindus or Buddhists mass-murdering people in the 21st century. Only Muslims. Only Muslims. Only Muslims."

What world are you living in!? How could you be so utterly ignorant and make these bold claims with so much confidence!?

WTF is happening in Palestine!? 1300 civilians killed in a week! Isn't that mass murder!? Try reading up on the Gujarat riots (2001) in India. 5000 Muslims killed by Hindus! WTF would you call that!? Who are responsible for the genocide in Sudan? Muslims!? (hint: the answer is negative)

And from the point of view of Muslims, the hundreds of thousands of Muslims killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 340 in drone attacks in Pakistan, were all killed by Christians. There were no WMDs in Iraq. Why do you think Bush invaded Iraq!? Because he was a bigot Christian dumbfuck. And if you actually bought his WMD argument, you are the single biggest idiot on Earth.

So it's not Islam that's at fault. People would use any f-ing excuse to kill people. From non-existent Gods, to non-existent WMDs.

You must also realize that Islamic extremists, in particular the Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, were all created by the CIA to fight off the Soviets. ISLAMIC EXTREMISM WAS NON-EXISTENT IN THE 20TH CENTURY BEFORE THE 1980s. Now it's a loose dog gone wild and biting back.

I thoroughly condemn the comments of the Islamic Chaplain. And would request the Islamic community to call for his removal.

But his remarks certainly do not call for such an angry rant. Especially one that lacks breadth of vision, and has the potential to offend countless people at Harvard. Not all Muslims follow Islam to the core. Not all Muslims interpret the Quran in the same way. That's why there is this discourse.

You've called the PC ppl cowards. Well, why don't you grow some balls and use your real name?

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Chaplain’s E-mail Sparks Controversy

Omer Aftab — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:51:43 -0000

I don't see how the 'private' nature of these comments make them any less open to scrutiny or discussion. A chaplain is supposed to have private counseling sessions with students. And if he thinks that there's "great wisdom" in killing apostates, and that's the message he gives to the students in private, then he's certainly not fit for keeping his position as the Chaplain.

Calling his comments "misinterpreted" and "misconstrued" is a genuinely bad attempt at covering up, besides being an insult to the intelligence of a reader. His "immeasurable contributions" are irrelevant here - good deeds don't earn you a ticket for a misdeed.

More importantly though, I am inclined to wonder why the students were curious about killing apostates in the first place. Does one really need an advice or counseling session about the ways to deal with apostates!? And all they have to seek advice from is someone who calls "debating about religious matter" as "impermissible, in general"!?

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: Mumbai Bias

Omer Aftab — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:41:07 -0000

NOSL,
The author refers to Indian propaganda against Pakistan, NOT Islam. So there's no need to refer to Al-Jazeera or other Arabic channels, since they are not Pakistani. She could refer to Pakistani channels, but that would have only strengthened her case.

AME,
I don't think the author needs any acquaintance with the "historical and social background of the language" to conclude that the ENGLISH newspapers/channels are fairly biased. Hindi media - yeah, maybe. But certainly not English.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: Mumbai Bias

Omer Aftab — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:13:38 -0000

Mather House,
I am glad that you have been generous enough to exonerate 11 years of Pakistan's life off "offenses against India and the United States". By accusing Pakistan of just 50 years of offenses, are you pandering to the Harvard Islamic Society or are you just naive?
If by "offenses" you are referring to defeats in cricket, then you need to get your head checked. Because none of Pakistani actions can even remotely be called "offenses", or at least unilateral and unprovoked.
Nowhere in the article, has the author "diminished Islamic aggression and its governmental sponsors". All it says is that the Indian media has exaggerated the Pakistani threat. No need to feel so insecure about such a neutral statement. Unless of course you have some deep rooted fear of Pakistan/Islam. In which case too you need to get your head checked.

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: The Adhan at Harvard

Omer Aftab — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:06:00 -0000

Also, let me present a hypothetical scenario.

Suppose the band Coldplay performs in Harvard Yard for Springfest. Their song Bittersweet Symphony contains the following"

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die'

I am sure I can find people who believe they are not a slave to money, and that life is not a bittersweet symphony. If one is to go by your argument , that Harvard should not allow the use of a loudspeaker to declare false the profoundly important and personal beliefs of others, then one must conclude that Coldplay should not be allowed to perform. I don't think rational people would buy that.

Also, I can find tons of songs and speeches, already delivered at Harvard, that in some way or the other do imply that the beliefs of others are wrong. It would be stupid and inhumane to take the loudspeaker away from an expression that suggests others could be wrong. (though the adhaan doesn't say so...bearing witness does not establish truth).

Re: The Harvard Crimson :: Opinion :: The Adhan at Harvard

Omer Aftab — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:30:31 -0000

I am an atheist, and I normally like such articles because I enjoy seeing others getting pissed off. But I would look stupid if I laugh because of a fallacious argument.

It is a fallacy to say that the adhan was an attempt to convert people. If I sing a Punjabi song on the steps of Widener, e.g "aaja nee baija cycle tay" ("come, sit on my cycle") or "Preeto mayray naal waya kar lay" (Preeto, marry me!), then a woman who thinks that I am trying to seduce her, would be considered by any sane person, to be utterly stupid.

She can object however, if I stop her, and tell her to marry me in English or in a language that she can understand. None of the flyers given out had any attempt at proselytizing whatsoever.

The most logical conclusion one can make after seeing a person accompanied with a sign saying 'X awareness week" sing in a foreign language, is that the person is trying to highlight his culture. It makes absolutely no difference, if the songs has instead of love-filled verses, religious content. Or if the person, instead of singing, utters religious incantations.

I personally thought the adhaan highlighted Harvard's cultural richness. To your argument "Harvard Yard is NOT a comparative religions class" - indeed not - nobody ever implied otherwise. No one necessarily needs a structured platform to express ideas or simply sing. If people can pee on John Harvard, or run around naked once in a while, then certainly people can demonstrate their culture every once in a while too, and face absolutely no moral objection.