Blog Archives
The Colonial Pact: How France Sucks the Life out of Africa
![Territories occupied by France in various centuries. Map by: Kayac1971 I’m a creator of historical maps. [This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]](https://passtheknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/french_empire_17th_century-20th_century.png)
Territories occupied by France in various centuries. Map by: Kayac1971 I’m a creator of historical maps. [This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]
According to Wikipedia,
In the 19th century, France established a new empire in Africa and Southeast Asia. In this period France’s conquest of an Empire in Africa was dressed up as a moral crusade. In 1886 Jules Ferry declared; “The higher races have a right over the lower races, they have a duty to civilize the inferior races.” Full citizenship rights – assimilation – were offered, although in reality “assimilation was always receding [and] the colonial populations treated like subjects not citizens.” [1]
The same attitude that Europeans in general had towards other races at the time. France wound up with control of most of West Africa.
Following the First World War, and even more so after the Second World War, anti-colonial movements began to challenge European authority. France unsuccessfully fought bitter wars in Vietnam and Algeria to keep its empire intact, but by the end of the 1960s many of France’s colonies had gained independence. However, some remaining territories – especially islands and archipelagos – were integrated into France as overseas departments and territories.
This sounds good. But did it really go down this way?
France’s mission civilisatrice left indelible marks on its former territories. Although Francophone African countries acquired statehood and international recognition at independence, they remain the chasse gardée of France. Contrary to expectations, independence did not really alter the lopsided relations France established with its former colonies. Through a web of connections, links, agreements, and pacts, France succeeded in granting a “dependent independence” that continues to haunt African states.
The basis of sound ethics is the Sunna
By: Kemal Sandıkçı
Source: lastprophet.info
One of the most important reasons for anarchy and depression, two of the greatest problems in today’s societies, is undoubtedly moral degeneration. In the past prophets were sent to nations which were morally degenerated. As a matter of fact, Prophet Muhammad states that he was sent to complete moral virtues (Muvatta, “Husn al-Huluq” 8; Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musnad, II, 381). We learn from the Quran that the nations which could not save themselves from the vortex of immorality, despite having prophets sent to them, were punished severely with divine retribution.
In today’s world, where science and technology has rapidly developed, where new weapons of mass-destruction are created daily, where the largest share of national budgets has been allocated to the defense industry, there can be no doubt that the importance of ethical values has become increasingly more important.
Record Number Evacuated in Malaysia’s Worst Floods
(Reuters) – More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from their homes by authorities in five northern states of Malaysia hit by the Southeast Asian’ nation’s worst monsoon floods in decades.
Extremely high levels of floodwater and bad weather have made relocating victims and the transport of food supplies by helicopters difficult, Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.
A total of 103,412 people have been displaced in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis, state news agency Bernama said, surpassing the previous record of 100,000 people evacuated during floods in 2008.
Northeastern peninsular Malaysia, which is worst affected, is regularly hit by flooding during the annual Northeast Monsoon, but this year’s rains have been particularly bad.
On Tuesday, nearly 60 foreign tourists were among almost 100 people rescued by boat and helicopter from a resort in a Malaysian national park lashed by its highest rainfall since 1971.
The flooding comes as communities in northwestern Malaysia mark the 10thanniversary of the devastating tsunami that hit on Dec. 26, 2004.
Nigeria: Muslim progress requires scientific education also
By: Daud Abdul Fattah Batchelor
Source: http://muslimvillage.com
The infamous Boko Haram sect erupted on the world stage in 2009 with their aim to establish an Islamic State. Since their subsequent radicalisation resulting from harsh treatment at the hands of State security forces, they degenerated into harassing innocent civilians, especially school children. Boko Haram’s approach is aligned with certain influential opinion-makers in the Nigerian Muslim states who teach that receiving a modern education is evil and forbidden as the popular name of ‘Boko Haram’ implies. Such education is derisively dismissed as “western education” – synonymous with Christian missionaries and British colonialism. Demonisers of such education are often supervisors of traditional “Qur’anic schools”, which follow a restricted non-contemporary syllabus. These are however, still the mainstay of the education system in the twelve northern ‘Shariah-states’. A strong state-driven modern education system is essential, but a state program, which commenced in the 1970s flounded when oil prices fell abruptly. In the northeast and northwest Muslim zones, 50% of children do not attend formal schooling compared with 20% in southern Nigeria. Consequently, large segments of Muslims cannot participate effectively in Nigeria’s development.
Tel Aviv’s Islamic States crusader game plan is straight out of the Middle Ages
By: Tony Gosling
Source: http://rt.com
When England’s famous crusader, Richard the ‘Lionheart’, returned home in 1194 to a hero’s welcome, few of the cheering English folk had a clue about the rivers of blood he and his friends had been spilling in the name of Jesus across the holy land.
Sudan floods wipe off thousands of homes
At least 184 people injured and 6,100 families near capital Khartoum and from Nile and North Kordofah states.
Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/
More than 3,000 homes have been destroyed by floods that hit almost half of Sudan’s states over Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holidays, official media said.
At least 184 people were injured and 6,100 families were displaced many of whom were from the Nile and North Kordofah states, the SUNA news agency reported on Saturday.
“Twenty-two districts in eight states were affected by flooding and heavy rain,” the report said citing the federal health ministry.
Lost Islamic History Book (Available now)
Islam has been one of the most powerful religious, social, and political forces in history. Over the last 1400 years, from origins in Arabia, a succession of Muslim polities and later empires expanded to control territories and peoples that ultimately stretched from southern France, to East Africa to South East Asia.
Yet many of the contributions of Muslim thinkers, scientists, and theologians, not to mention rulers, statesmen and soldiers, have been occluded. This book rescues from oblivion and neglect some of these personalities and institutions while offering the reader a new narrative of this lost Islamic history. The Umayyads, Abbasids, and Ottomans feature in the story, as do Muslim Spain, the savannah kingdoms of West Africa and the Mughal Empire, along with the later European colonisation of Muslim lands and the development of modern nation-states in the Muslim world. Throughout, the impact of Islamic belief on scientific advancement, social structures, and cultural development is given due prominence, and the text is complemented by portraits of key personalities, inventions and little known historical nuggets. The history of Islam and of the world’s Muslims brings together diverse peoples, geographies, and states, all interwoven into one narrative that begins with Muhammad and continues to this day.
Firas Alkhateeb is an American researcher, writer and historian who specialises in the Islamic world. He completed his BA in history from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2010 and has since been teaching Islamic history at Universal School in Bridgeview, Illinois. He founded and writes the website Lost Islamic History.
£12.99 • Paperback
Free Worldwide Shipping
Available now || Order now
Book: Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation From The Past
Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation From The Past covers the rise and fall of Islamic history from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the rise of modern nation states. Too often books on Islamic history only focus on the Middle East. This book covers all aspects of Islamic history, including Africa, Spain, India, China, Southeast Asia, and even American slavery! Inventions, scientists, and the history of Islamic studies is also highlighted. This book will be more than just a collection of facts and articles from the Lost Islamic History website; it will be a full and balanced history of the Muslim world.
The pre-order price is £12.99, and includes free shipping worldwide! It will be shipped out in May!
Islam has been one of the most powerful religious, social, and political forces in history. Over the last 1400 years, from origins in Arabia, a succession of Muslim polities and later empires expanded to control territories and peoples that ultimately stretched from southern France, to East Africa to South East Asia.
Yet many of the contributions of Muslim thinkers, scientists, and theologians, not to mention rulers, statesmen and soldiers, have been occluded. This book rescues from oblivion and neglect some of these personalities and institutions while offering the reader a new narrative of this lost Islamic history. The Umayyads, Abbasids, and Ottomans feature in the story, as do Muslim Spain, the savannah kingdoms of West Africa and the Mughal Empire, along with the later European colonisation of Muslim lands and the development of modern nation-states in the Muslim world. Throughout, the impact of Islamic belief on scientific advancement, social structures, and cultural development is given due prominence, and the text is complemented by portraits of key personalities, inventions and little known historical nuggets. The history of Islam and of the world’s Muslims brings together diverse peoples, geographies, and states, all interwoven into one narrative that begins with Muhammad and continues to this day.
Firas Alkhateeb is an American researcher, writer and historian who specialises in the Islamic world. He completed his BA in history from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2010 and has since been teaching Islamic history at Universal School in Bridgeview, Illinois. He founded and writes the website Lost Islamic History.
PASS THE KNOWLEDGE (LIGHT & LIFE) 