1250119847

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AUTHOR’S NOTE Out of respect for the Prophet Mohammed, it is customary to say the words “peace be upon him” or a variant of this phrase whenever he is mentioned. In print this is abbreviated to PBUH. Here, in the letters, I assume the reader utters it as appropriate.
PREFACE I have two sons. My older son, Saif, was born in 2000 and my younger son, Abdullah, in 2004. Their presence in my life has provided me a framework for living. If I thought I had purpose as a bachelor, I discovered much greater purpose and meaning through my children, and with my wife. Whereas life as a bachelor meant looking out for myself, starting a family brought a sense of balance and responsibility that I could not have imagined. The responsibilities that come with building a family enable you to take a step back from yourself and see that the world consists of other people with greater claims on your energy and time than you yourself. Their existence provides the ground for my actions in the world. I feel an infinite obligation toward my children, who are still dependent on me and their mother for guidance and protection. I used to think that ideas and attitudes were something of interest but of no great importance. Matters would resolve themselves, things would work out. Now that I have children, I see the world through a broader lens. Now what happens in the world matters very much. And whose ideas dominate matters. In coming to this realization, I also recognized that the obligation of care and protection that I owe my children extends further. It extends more generally toward those of us who do not have the means to control their lives or who depend on others for the structure of our communities and societies. I am the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Russia. The United Arab Emirates is located on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, just south of Iran and east of Saudi Arabia. Our population was traditionally a mix of desert dwellers and seafaring pearl divers and goods traders. Today, we have a population approaching ten million, with over 180 nationalities represented. People live, work, and worship in peace alongside one another. I have been ambassador from January 2009 until today. I have had the privilege to be an observer of international relations from at least three very different perspectives. Because I speak English, Arabic, Russian, and French, and have friends and colleagues in the United States, Europe, Russia, and the Arab world, I have had access to the thinking that takes place within different cultures and political systems. The longer I perform my job, the more I am convinced of the power of ideas, and language, to move the world to a better place. The world I grew up in was one where ideas floated around but had little connection with reality. I would hear about dreams of a new world order based on a very straightforward type of Islam. We were taught to pray and how to read the Quran. We were always told that certain actions were haram.
Page 3 and 4: Begin Reading Table of Contents Abo
Page 5: To my mother for all her patience,
Page 9 and 10: My work in diplomacy came later, an
Page 11 and 12: playground gossip about the Jews or
Page 13 and 14: THE GRAY AREA Habeebie Saif, You ar
Page 15 and 16: debates that are taking place in Eu
Page 17 and 18: have your favorites. My favorite is
Page 19 and 20: They have stories to tell you about
Page 21 and 22: LANDSCAPES OF ISLAM Saif, You know
Page 23 and 24: Yemen, you will find an intellectua
Page 25 and 26: lot of power and influence at stake
Page 27 and 28: egion—are dry and relatively hars
Page 29 and 30: FRAGMENTS OF MEMORY Habeebie Saif,
Page 31 and 32: impossible to know what my father d
Page 33 and 34: THE LIMITS OF WHAT WE CAN KNOW Dear
Page 35 and 36: MY FIRST DARK DAYS Saif, The summer
Page 37 and 38: He took out a pen and paper and beg
Page 39 and 40: clearly that Allah may intend for u
Page 41 and 42: and therefore, there is some kind o
Page 43 and 44: spread of the Islamic values of res
Page 45 and 46: Perhaps an extended statement like
Page 47 and 48: most important ways are going to be
Page 49 and 50: our lives. I believe we owe that to
Page 51 and 52: Orthodox Islam brought the spiritua
Page 53 and 54: So there are leading Muslim figures
Page 55 and 56: home you were discriminated against
Page 57 and 58:
the earth at the end of our lives
Page 59 and 60:
accordance with the Quran and the P
Page 61 and 62:
would wonder why I could hardly mem
Page 63 and 64:
slightly more at ease in a world of
Page 65 and 66:
VIOLENCE Habeebie Saif, As much as
Page 67 and 68:
they commit. I want you to see how
Page 69 and 70:
ROLE MODELS Habeebie Saif, You will
Page 71 and 72:
are always called to return by thos
Page 73 and 74:
Everyone seemed to have had a cousi
Page 75 and 76:
Qutb was an extremely fluent and pe
Page 77 and 78:
eject it, as is possible in Western
Page 79 and 80:
Of course we instinctively want to
Page 81 and 82:
REVELATION AND REASON Habeebie Saif
Page 83 and 84:
that for a thousand years we have t
Page 85 and 86:
SERMONS AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE M
Page 87 and 88:
y its practitioners. Do you underst
Page 89 and 90:
differs from the Sunni method. The
Page 91 and 92:
opened up the world of knowledge an
Page 93 and 94:
knowledge from other cultures—cul
Page 95 and 96:
learning from their stories. In his
Page 97 and 98:
Remember that I realized that what
Page 99 and 100:
MEN AND WOMEN Habeebie Saif, You ha
Page 101 and 102:
asic respect that any human being d
Page 103 and 104:
FREE SPEECH AND THE SILENCE WITHIN
Page 105 and 106:
a dream come true. Some people cher
Page 107 and 108:
A CLOSER LOOK AT A MORAL CONUNDRUM
Page 109 and 110:
When he saw them again, he inquired
Page 111 and 112:
choices that have been made for us
Page 113 and 114:
likelier to see life for what it is
Page 115 and 116:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Omar Saif Ghobash
Page 117 and 118:
Contents Title Page Copyright Notic
Page 119:
LETTERS TO A YOUNG MUSLIM. Copyrigh
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