Wednesday 1st September 2010
Dealing with the Arab by Jonathon Fryer
Today we the Probus Club of Ewell welcomed as our esteemed guest speaker Jonathan Fryer (left)
Jonathan was born in Manchester in 1950, following the divorce of his natural mother he was adopted as an infant by a local businessman and his wife, who later spent much of their time in South Africa.
Jonathan obtained a place at Manchester Grammar School, which he disliked. He spent the summer of 1967 in Tours, perfecting his French. He left school before the end of his final year and travelled overland to Vietnam, where he reported on the war for the Manchester Evening News and the Geographical Magazine. His overland journey back to England in September 1969 gave him his first introduction to the Middle East, which has remained an abiding interest. This trip Jonathan had planned as a “gap” year tour of the Mediterranean countries, as he said way before “gap years” had been invented!!
But his plan had been thwarted by a block on British subjects getting visas to Syria, so in frustration Jonathan had written to the King of Syria and he whilst in India received a reply that he was more than welcome to visit, hence the plan of the tour became part of his homeward journey.
Jonathan won an Open Exhibition award to St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he read Oriental Studies (Chinese with Japanese). He returned to the Far East for a year in 1971-1972, studying part-time at the University of Hong Kong and in Tokyo.
Jonathan joined Reuter’s news agency as a graduate trainee after university, serving for just over a year in London and Brussels. On receiving his first book contract (for The Great Wall of China) he went freelance, but kept Brussels as his base for seven years, travelling widely in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He returned to England in 1981, settling in London, largely to develop his political interests. As a freelance writer on international affairs, he has worked mainly for the BBC (Radio 4 and World Service), but has also contributed to the Guardian, Independent, Economist, Spectator, Oldie, Tablet, Society Today and Liberal, amongst others.
For a decade, he regularly appeared on the Today Programme’s ‘Thought for the Day’, as a Quaker but in recent years has become better known for his despatches in From Our Own Correspondent. He has travelled to 160 countries, reporting, researching or making radio documentaries.
Since 1993, Jonathan has taught part-time at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), currently Humanities, and more recently began teaching at City University, he lectures frequently on cruise ships, notably around the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, as well as to groups and associations in the UK. Through the British Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he has given seminars on democracy-building and the media in locations such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Uruguay.
Jonathan explained that most in the western world do not understand the Arab as a person or their culture, he pointed out that physically the Arab could be a very white person with blond hair and blue eyes ranging to the other end of the spectrum of totally black in feature both eyes and hair and the language although Arabic could be almost incomprehensible to the extremes. So what constitutes an Arab, well Jonathan explained it was based upon the fundamental tenets, found in other religions but based upon the Five Pillars of the Muslim Faith and the usage of Arabic as found in the Koran.
Islam requires that all adherents perform five central duties, which are believed to strengthen their faith in and service to Allah. These duties are the five Pillars of Islam - the basic tenets of the faith, which all Muslims strive to perform, regardless of where they live or what sect they belong to.
1. Testimony of faith - The testimony of faith is the most important pillar of Islam. To perform the testimony of faith, one is required to say with conviction at least once in his or her life:
"There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
In order to convert to Islam, one must utter this with complete conviction.
2. Prayer - Muslims pray five times daily, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. Prayer often occurs in a mosque, but Muslims may pray anywhere: inside or outside, in their office, home, school or elsewhere. While praying, one faces Mecca and strives to recite his or her prayers from memory. Ideally prayers are recited in Arabic.
3. Charity - Charitable giving, or Zakat, is a requirement of faith for all Muslims. Used to benefit the poor, Zakat represents a fixed portion of one's wealth and assets. Beyond this requirement, one may also perform an act of charity (sadaqah) by donating additional funds to the needy. Historically, the zakat was collected by Muslim caliphate at the end of each year. In modern times, almsgiving is incumbent upon the individual Muslim - except for in Saudi Arabia, where Zakat is strictly enforced by the rule of Islamic law. Interestingly he pointed out this amount is about 2.5 % compared with the Christian giving of 10 % but this is from a minority rather than the smaller figure from all.
4. Fasting or Sawm - Sawm literally means any ritual fasting, but is generally understood to refer to ritual fasting during the month of Ramadan. From dawn to dusk for the entire month, Muslims must refrain from eating, drinking and engaging in sexual relations. Through this physical abstinence, Muslims are able to focus intently on their spiritual selves, atoning for their sins and recommitting to serving Allah. As an aside he suggested that visiting a Muslim country on business is not a good idea during Ramadam.
5. Hajj or pilgrimage - During the last month of the Islamic calendar, Dhu al-Hijjah, some two million Muslims ascend to the holy city of Mecca for the Hajj, or pilgrimage. Every able-bodied Muslim is required - if their finances permit - to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. If performing the hajj will put an undue burden on one's family, he or she may appoint a proxy to fulfil this duty in his or her place. Once one completes a pilgrimage, he or she is able to add the title Hajji to his or her name. Islamic teachers are careful to warm, however, that the Hajj must be performed as an expression of devout faith - and not as a ploy to gain social status.
Jonathan pointed out the difference of the western concept of pilgrimage such as the Anglicans processing to say Canterbury as a poor reflection compared with the requirement of the Muslim to Mecca. He also pointed out we will never make a pilgrimage to Mecca (below) as this is restricted to Muslims.
This was a fascinating lecture of which only a part is recorded here, as Jonathan said it is a subject that covers a years course at University! In question time a member enquired why there is still conflict in say Bagdad between the sub cultures if the essence of the Koran is Peace and this is part of the reply. There are two branches within Islam: Sunni and Shiite. Like the Catholic/Protestant split, the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is theological in nature, although both branches uphold the same basic tenets of faith.
The primary difference between the two branches is their divergent belief in religious succession. The Sunni branch believes that legitimate religious leaders are those appointed by consensus. They believe that the heirs of those leaders are connected to Muhammad's first four successors, his caliphs.
Shiites, on the other hand, believe that religious leaders must descend directly from Muhammad's bloodline. His forth caliph was Ali, the husband of Muhammad's daughter Fatima. Shiite Muslims believe that Ali is the true source of Islam and all religious leaders should descend from him.
The Sunni branch comprises the vast majority of the Muslim population today -- up to 90 percent. The Shiite minority is concentrated in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.
Another question related about our relation ship to the Arab world, however much Tony Blair and his loyalist ministers of the time or indeed the present Government may argue to the contrary, this resurgence in Islamic consciousness and growing militancy among the young, in particular, is partly attributable to US and British foreign policy.
Even those people who loathed Saddam Hussein and his barbarous dictatorship condemn the US-led invasion of Iraq and the ongoing presence of Western troops there. Despite the fact that much of the violence in Iraq is now between Shia and Sunni factions, the carnage is still largely seen as Washington and London’s ‘fault’.
This high speed excellent presentation (without a note in sight) opened the eyes and understanding of the Probus members and it only remained for the vote of thanks from Brian Coleman-Smith to thank the speaker for a fascinating lecture and taking time to clarify our understanding of the Arab culture, so thanks Jonathan.
