Ali Selim

Gravestone Made of Wheat”, Weaver focuses on the love story of Inge and Olaf. Ali Selim’s film, Sweetland, also focuses on the message of short story, maybe even more so the love that Inga and Olaf share. They both cover the same story of a woman who comes to America from Germany, for freedom and to marry someone she has never met. The man and woman struggle with finding someone to grant her citizenship, since the war just ended and she is of German nationality. Ultimately she never gets citizenship, never marries Olaf, but even though the church never married them, they feel married in their hearts, and for them that is enough. Typically when directors change important details in movies it may compromise the message, but the way Selim changes details really helps emphasize the main message of the short story. Weaver also makes great choices in the way he writes to portray how Olaf feels about Inge, so both the story and the movie work for the same message, love conquers all. The movie does an outstanding job…

This chapter, except for the section on the Hazaras in the early Ismaili literature, has already been published under the title of ‘The Shi‘a Ismaʿili Da‘wat in Khurasan: From Its Early Beginning to the Ghaznawid Era’, at the Journal of Shʿia Islamic Studies, 2015, Vol. VIII, No. 1, pp. 37-59. In several qaṣīdas of his dīwān (1956), Farrukhī praises Sulṭān Maḥmūd Ghaznawī as the King of Zāwulistān. For further details see, Baiza, Y. (2014) The Hazaras of Afghanistan and their Shiʿa…

in her science lab. This was confirmed by one the boys who swore that he saw her from the lab’s window. I could not verify his account but the roamers continued about her and how she was flirtatious with the other visiting fathers to the school. I was fascinated by the amount of attention she received and how her beauty swayed the boy and the men alike. She became the object of my obsession of how to attract attention by being an eye candy. I wanted to be like ‘Aasha and I started taking care of…

The primary hagiographic story of ‘Aziz al Saksawiyya is the one found in the hagiographic work entitled Uns al-Faqir Wa izz al Hakir (the Intimacy of the Sufi and the greatness of the Denigrated) by the Sufi jurist ‘Abd al-Aziz ibn al-khatib who is known by the name of ibn Qunfudh (14th century). As we saw before this hagiographic record is a compilation of saints, Sufis and holy people belonging to Morocco and other Maghrebian countries. It includes only saints who were disciples of the axial…

The symbolism of Mecca for Helen In the play (The road to Mecca by Athol Furgard faber and faber edition) In the play “The road to Mecca” by Athol Furgard is a character named Helen, also known as Miss Helen. In the play she creates her own Mecca in her yard. Mecca is a city in Saudi Arabia and it is a holy city to followers of Islam. People take this religious journey to deepen their experience with God. In this case Helen takes a spiritual journey and she does not physically go to Saudi…

The Fatimid Caliphate (ad-Dawlah al-Fāṭimiyya) was an Ismaili Shia Caliphate, it lasted from the year 909 to the year 1171 and eventually fell when its last Caliph (Al Athid or Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥāfiẓ) died, making place for the Ayyubid Sultanate of Egypt and Syria under Saladin. The Fatimid Caliphate was the only Shi’a Caliphate, it was tied to the Ismaili branch of Shi’a Islam, the belief is centered around Isma’il, the son of Ja’Far As-Sadid, the sixth Imam and seventh…

the imam), ṭahāra (purification), ṣalāt (prayer), zakāt (almsgiving), ṣawm (fasting), ḥajj (pilgrimage) and jihād (striving in God’s way). Walāya is the best among them, because through it and through the one to whom allegiance should be paid, the knowledge of the other pillars is reached.” The importance of love for Imam Aly (AS) and by extension, all rightful successors of Imam Aly (AS), the pure Imams, can be seen from the following Ḥadīth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAAS): “None but a…

change the condition of any people unless they themselves make the decision to change... [Quran 2:54] Recall that Moses said to his people, "O my people, you have wronged your souls by worshiping the calf. You must repent to your Creator. You shall kill your egos. This is better for you in the sight of your Creator." He did redeem you. He is the Redeemer, Most Merciful. The Holy Qur 'an speaks of the equality of the two sexes in various verses. In one place it says: "...and women have…

Under the Black Flag: At the Frontier of the New Jihad by Sami Moubayed was a very educational book that included many specific details and important information. This book covered the topic and ideas of terrorism, ISIS, and al-Qaeda. I chose this book to learn more about the importance of this field, and I expected to understand the background, motives, and reasoning behind ISIS and terrorism. This 240 page nonfiction introduction to ISIS published by I.B.Tauris&Co.Ltd was a very educational…

3- How did you chose to become Shia? After I converted to Islam I decided not to follow any sect unless I know which one is right. I studied about Sunnis, Wahhabism and Sufism but there was no information Shias. I asked my Sunni friends about Shiism and they sent me a video clip showing a Wahhabi mufti talking about Shiism. He said that Shias are followers of Ali ibn Abi Talib. We also love Ali. Ali was the bravest in the Islamic society. He was the most knowledgeable and was very just. But a…