#istanbul convention main points

[ceyhanmedya]

Istanbul Convention

New Post has been published on https://hazirbilgi.com/what-is-the-istanbul-convention-what-are-its-features/

Istanbul Convention

What is the Istanbul Convention? What are its features?

The Istanbul Convention is a human rights convention prepared by the Council of Europe, which includes articles on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. 

The Istanbul Convention, which consists of 12 chapters and 80 articles  , includes various rights not only for women who are victims, but also for children who are exposed to sexual abuse and psychological and physical violence.

Istanbul Convention for Turkey

The convention, of which Turkey was the first signatory with a parliamentary decision , was signed in Istanbul on 11 May 2011 and entered into force in 2014 and started to be implemented internationally in 45 countries, including European Union countries and other countries. 

The international convention, which includes articles on gender discrimination and the prevention of violence, has been implemented for ten years to protect victims of domestic violence. Despite the objection campaign of  many women’s rights defender associations and non-governmental organizations with the slogan ‘ Istanbul Contract Keeps Alive ‘, Turkey withdrew from the contract with the official statement made by the Presidency of Communications on March 21, 2021.

The justification for the cancellation of the Istanbul Convention was explained as “Turkey’s manipulation by a segment trying to normalize homosexuality, which is incompatible with social and familial values”.

What are the basic principles of the Istanbul Convention?

The articles and application methods in the Istanbul Convention are shaped within the framework of some basic principles. The principles defended and taken as basis in the contract and the purposes of the contract;

Preventing domestic violence

Protecting women from violence

Promoting equality between women and men

Driving a trial, prosecution and support policy with a holistic approach

It is valid in peacetime and in situations of armed conflict.

What is the definition of domestic violence according to the Istanbul Convention?

With the regulation made regarding the implementation of the provisions in the articles of the Convention, the concept of domestic violence is defined comprehensively. According to this; All acts of physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence in the family or between former spouses and individuals living together, whether or not the perpetrator shares the same residence with the victim.

What is the definition of violence against women according to the Istanbul Convention?

According to the Istanbul Convention, the definition of violence against women is; It is defined as all kinds of threats, coercion, restriction of freedom, physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence that constitute human rights and violation in public or private life.

What measures and supports are provided for victims of violence in the Istanbul Convention?

According to the convention, various trainings and awareness should be conveyed primarily for the reduction of violence throughout society. Various provisions and measures have been taken to eliminate the victimization of women, children and homosexuals who have been subjected to violence and to prevent this situation from recurring. Some of these measures and supports are as follows:

Raising public awareness about domestic violence and sexual abuse through the information sector and media institutions,

Providing legal and psychological support for women and children who are victims or witnesses to violence,

Establishment of shelters for the shelter of victims of violence,

Employment to provide health services and economic independence,

Having a free support hotline that can be called at any time of the day,

Perpetrators of victims of violence have the right to compensation,

Annulment of forced and underage marriages,

Accepting various verbal and non-verbal behaviors as sexual harassment in addition to physical behaviors of a sexual nature,

Prohibition of female genital mutilation,

Preventing forced abortion and sterilization,

Victims of domestic violence, perpetrators or other persons at risk are ordered to leave the residence for a certain period of time and not to come into contact with each other,

Physical and psychological stalking for the purpose of harassment or violence is considered a crime.

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[tittyblade]

Oh ya I’ve heard Türkiye is having some elections today, how’s that going? :D

it’s on sunday!!! ive spent the entirety of this morning crying over election coverage LOL. this is the single most important event of my life. yk how every politician says the next election is the most important one so everyone should go out n vote? thats the situation here but quite literally.

on one hand you have islamic extremists (erdoğan. one of the “parties” that support him is literally formed from an extremist cult. the only reason they haven’t all been put on trial is bc erdoğan supports them and he’s only got the extremists’ support left. and also bc years back he declared a nationwide state of emergency and quickly passed multiple laws in succession where. he’s no longer the prime minister but “the sole leader” of turkey. yeah)

and on the opposition there’s a coalition of 6 parties, literally all the major left parties with some nationalists, with their joint candidate kılıçdaroğlu. CHP (the main opposition party) has been center left lately, but its the actual fuckin party that first turned turkey into a republic from a sultanate. its huge. compared to US politics the average left wing party is actually pretty fuckin left here LOL. and they havent won the govt since 1950s (last peaceful n prospering decades of turkey) AND. THEY ACTUALLY STAND A CHANCE. all the polls point towards kılıçdaroğlu winning the elections

and you have no idea how bad it’s been here for the last few years. god. there’s so many shit thats wrong in the country because of the current government. civillians getting arrested for tweets criticizing erdogan, not being able to afford anything, being unable to pay your rent, erdogan (WITH HIS SINGULAR DECISION) withdrawing from the istanbul convention, the femicides being the highest it has ever been since the entire history of the turkey, murdered religious minorities and murdered journalists, tens of thousands of people left alone to die after the earthquakes back in february. its pretty fucking scary living here unless you’re a cishet sunni muslim man.

everyone i know that can afford it has been fleeing the country. sometimes it feels like thats the only option you have unless you want to get killed as a 20 something year old trying to make ends meet. i’m only 20 yo myself and the past 8 years has brought me and everyone under 30 to such a place where the only thing we feel about the future is hopelessness. i feel like ive aged 10 years in the last year alone and i bet anyone thats lived under a similar govt can relate. my countrys politics alone has been robbing me of my youth and my will to live.

AND. DESPITE ALL OF THAT. i have hope for the very first time. i have hope for a better future now bc of the opposition candidate and i have faith in him to deliver his promises. everything thats happened since january he’s been dealing with with grace, and him + mayors from his party actually do shit.

so yeah. the entire course of turkey is gonna change this sunday. if we were to lose this would be the last democratic elections held (the last elections held, period) before erdoğan fully converted the country into an autocracy, and when kılıçdaroğlu wins its gonna become a socialist state, as socialist as it’s ever been since the 1950s. pretty fuckin big stakes

[mariacallous]

It’s the finale of the 25th Nationwide Latvian Song and 17th Dance Festival on July 8, the country’s uninspiringly named but widely loved national celebration. And, as is customary when a new president has been chosen by parliament, the celebrations are doubling as an inauguration day, opened by the old president and closed by the new one. The new one, and up until this point serving as Latvia’s foreign affairs minister, is Edgars Rinkevics. Representing the center-right New Unity party, he’s been an elected deputy in three parliaments and was the state secretary of the Ministry of Defense from 1997 to 2008. He’s also the first president in the EU or any NATO country who’s openly gay.

Rinkevics is 49 years old and was born in 1973 in Jurmala, a famous resort town in what was then part of the Soviet Union. He’s a symbol of a new mentality for the small Baltic country, a clean break from the so-called “Soviet mindset.” That’s not just, or even mostly, because of his sexuality, but also his staunch support of Ukraine and his strongly held position that Latvia is, and historically has been, a Western nation, instead of just a transit hub between the East and the West.

In his role as the foreign minister, Rinkevics has focused on strengthening Latvia’s role within NATO and the EU, looking to show that the nation of under 2 million people is a trustworthy partner in global affairs. Although Latvia is a parliamentary republic, and the president is a diplomatic and ceremonial figure rather than the head of government, Rinkevics’s role serving as a pragmatic unifier of the ethnically divided Latvian society and promoter of these Western values.

To put this into perspective—his main opponent in the race was Uldis Pilens, an architect and entrepreneur with close ties to Russian businesses, supported by the more conservative wing of the Latvian parliament. The conservatives are mired in their own internal conflicts between their personal business interests with Russian oligarchs and their voters’ understanding of a socially conservative Latvian national identity.

Here, the president-elect’s sexuality comes into play. Latvia has had major issues with approving any progressive civil partnership laws, let alone equal marriage. The Saeima—the Latvian parliament—has been ignoring judgements by the Latvian Constitutional Court, and the majority of deputies, elected from primarily conservative, right-leaning parties, even staging a walkout from a parliamentary session to disrupt quorum so that they wouldn’t even need to debate this issue. This caused a massive uproar in Latvian society—including people who traditionally hold anti-gay views, because this wasn’t a debate—something that both sides of the argument wanted to happen, with evidence-based argument—but an outright refusal to do their jobs as elected representatives of the people.

There’s a desire among much of the public to get rid of the Soviet cultural legacy, where homosexuality was illegal and considered by many to be dirty, mostly through the influence of the ever-present prison culture. Although no official polling data on this is available because traditional politicians choose to not even touch the matter, this year’s Pride was attended by an extraordinarily large number of non-LGBTQ people who just came out to support the movement. With the election of Rinkevics, social change has finally reached national politics.

Another closely related issue is women’s rights, another area where Latvia has been stuck in the past. The Istanbul Convention has still not been ratified in the country. Unfortunately, it took a tragic event for this attitude to change: a brutal murder of a woman by her ex-husband in the city of Jekabpils. The perpetrator had been stalking and threatening his former wife for months before the attack. Latvian police were legally unable to react to this and provide any assistance, with the country’s prosecutor-general even stating in an interview that the victim’s lawyer was to blame for not taking enough action to protect her.

That set the tone for the first public statement that Rinkevics made as the new president-elect, stating, “The tragedy in Jekabpils is the negligence and responsibility of many state institutions, any attempt to blame the victim or her lawyer for what the state failed to do is unacceptable, this also applies to the prosecutor’s office,” thus showing his willingness to criticize governmental institutions and make a stance for his political and ethical beliefs. He reaffirmed this position in an interview with me, for my podcast The Eastern Border, stating that: “it is important to move our country away from post-soviet mentality” and have a strong focus on “the expansion of civil liberties which have been somewhat neglected in Latvia, due to our tragic past within the Soviet Union.” The idea of leaving the Soviet past behind, while still learning from it, seems to carry a great weight with the new president.

Then there’s the ever-looming question of Russia, Latvia’s onetime colonial ruler. As foreign affairs minister, Rinkevics has always taken the clear stance that whatever the difference in size, the Baltic country will not yield to threats and pressure, and will not accept being treated as anything but an equal partner in any negotiations. He’s made it clear that he considers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime to be the prime threat and the most likely opposition to NATO.

Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the new Latvian president has taken a strongly pro-Ukrainian position and been instrumental in Latvian efforts to provide as much help as possible to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and the Ukrainian armed forces. He also tries to act as an interlocutor between the Western countries and Kyiv, fostering mutual understanding when cultural or political differences threaten a rupture between allies.

Rinkevics stated in an interview to Latvian Public Radio that: “The West must focus on weakening Russia as much as possible, but the outcome of the war will primarily be determined by the Ukrainian soldiers on the front line.” His view is that the democratic world should not fear Russia’s collapse, but arm itself with strategic patience and maximum endurance—and be prepared to handle the problems that would emerge, from the safe management of nuclear weapons to the establishment of a post-war order. This mediation process is a very demanding, ambitious, and delicate task—but Rinkevics’s past experiences in diplomacy mean that he should have enough expertise to at least make a decent effort with good chances of success.

Rinkevics’s experiences explain his approach. He was born in 1973 in the Latvian resort town of Jurmala—which, during the Soviet era was considered the fanciest place in the whole USSR to vacation. Even today, many Russian oligarchs have villas there, and rich exiles who’ve left Russia to escape Putin’s regime and the ongoing conflict often pick it as a home base. Growing up there let him observe the Soviet elite, the new class that ruled from Moscow but spent its free time in relative luxury.

But by the time he was in college, Latvia was an independent nation, and those years were spent at the University of Latvia, in the faculty of history and philosophy where he got his bachelor’s degree. After that, he got his master’s degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, now known as Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, a part of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. Finally, he received a Ph.D. in political science and international relationships from the University of Groningen.

This combination of understanding of the Soviet—and later Russian—political elite, together with his ties to the West during his studies in the United States, forms the basis of Rinkevics’s worldview—he is a man of both worlds but with his eyes set clearly toward the West. His sexual orientation also plays a part—in the Soviet Union, homosexuality was a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison on paper, and often longer in practice.

His career has been as diverse as is his education. Latvia’s size means that young, educated people can take powerful roles from early on. In 1995, a 22-year-old Rinkevics began at the Ministry of Defense as a senior policy officer. Shortly after, in 1996, he assumed the role of director of the Department of Defense for a period of six months. Following this, he served as deputy state secretary for defense policy until May 1997. Upon leaving that post, he took on the position of acting state secretary, and by August of the same year, he was appointed as the state secretary in the same ministry.

In February 1998, Rinkevics assumed leadership of a Latvian work group responsible for bilateral defense and military matters under a commission implementing a partnership charter between the Baltic States and United States. Between 2002 and 2003, he served as a member of the delegation for Latvia’s NATO accession negotiations, holding the position of deputy head of delegation. Additionally, from 2005 to January 2007, he held the position of the head of the Office for the Organization of the Meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government. In October 2008, Rinkevics transitioned from his role as state secretary to become the head of the president’s chancery, a position he held until July 2011.

On Oct. 25, 2011, Rinkevics began his political career, assuming the role of a nonparty-affiliated (a rare case in politics, as normally parties nominate their own members for executive positions, but Rinkevics was not a member of any party at the time—he was just deemed competent enough to be selected for the job) foreign affairs minister in Valdis Dombrovskis’s government—serving under the prime minister who had been successful in dealing with the 2007 economic crisis. In January 2012, he joined the ranks of the newly created Reform Party, headed by the ex-President Valdis Zatlers, whose political basis was focused on opposing the “Russian money”—the rich businessmen, tied with Putin’s regime, who at the time had a significant influence in Latvian politics.

Rinkevics showed his competence and abilities when, after Dombrovskis resigned, he continued to serve as foreign minister in Laimdota Straujuma’s government. In May 2014, Rinkevics transitioned to the Unity party, together with most of the members of the Reform Party. That did not change the electoral opinion about him, and in autumn 2018, Rinkevics was elected to the 13th Saeima on the list of his new party—“New Unity” alliance. In January, he was yet again confirmed as foreign affairs minister in the government of Krisjanis Karins.

The general view is that throughout his political career, Rinkevics has demonstrated consistency and competence. His tenure as foreign minister extended beyond a single government, as he continued to hold the position under the administrations of both Straujuma and Maris Kucinskis. Rinkevics is one of the few genuinely liked and respected politicians in Latvia. In the 2022 parliamentary election, he received the highest number of supporting direct votes (35,072) among all candidates. His success and popularity, despite being openly gay in the traditionally conservative Latvian society, shows that he’s able to deal with difficult situations, operate well under stress, and has a respectable amount of courage.

It seems likely that the new Latvian president will take the country to an even more pro-Western direction—and attempt to heal divisions within Europe between East and West. As he told me: “It’s not enough to get rid of Lenin’s monuments that were around us, when we were under the Soviet occupation—the hardest one to get rid of is the one in people’s heads.”

[govindhtech]

Samsung Foldable Campaign Success Stories

Users Are Able to Take Advantage of Both Virtual and Real-World Experiences Thanks to Recent Samsung Foldable Campaigns

Fans all across the world had their imaginations captured by enormous and evocative Galaxy foldables.

The Galaxy Z Flip5 Fold5 has finally made its debut. Customers from all over the world are discovering the next generation of foldable excellence thanks to the eye-catching visual style and the distinctive capabilities of the folding forms of both the Galaxy Z Flip5 and the Galaxy Z Fold5.

These capabilities range from the Flex Window features and versatile FlexCam photography on the Galaxy Z Flip5 to the unparalleled multitasking and large screen gaming experience on the Galaxy Z Fold5. In honour of Samsung’s recently released mobile devices, the company has introduced a whole new series of promotional movies.

Crowds congregate around an exciting show in the midst of Times Square in New York City, as well as outside the Coex Media Tower in Seoul and the Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Mall in Chengdu, China. The giant Galaxy Z Flip5 Fold5s, which have their bases linked to big billboards, progressively unfold upward to show luminous, high-resolution screens as they tower over the busy traffic and curious passersby below.

Samsung’s most recent foldable devices become the main point of these classic metropolitan backgrounds as people below look up and capture photographs on their cellphones. But how did Samsung manage to pull off such a technological miracle?

The enormous next-generation Galaxy smartphones were brought to life in various worldwide locations owing to a blend of real-world photographs and the skill of computer-generated imagery (CGI). They began in Istanbul, working in conjunction with a Turkish figure of influence named Bulut ahin, and shortly after that, they began appearing in significant marketplaces all over the globe. These enormous, lifelike foldables were created by superimposing them over footage of genuine billboards and buildings.

This was accomplished with the use of sophisticated video editing methods, moving cameras, and rotoscope technology. The digital models, which are rendered at a massive scale yet in carefully accurate detail, grab the imaginations of viewers by presenting the new foldables’ unusual form factors fitted into situations that are already known to them.

Attendees Can Get Their Hands on Samsung’s Latest Devices at the Festival

In addition to the recently released films of virtual foldables, Samsung has been organising a variety of in-person experiences at music festivals around Europe, including in Hungary, Poland, and Romania. KCON LA 2023 is the largest Korean cultural conference in the United States, and Samsung is an official sponsor of the event. Samsung also participated in the convention by setting up a booth there.

[morshiberna]

the things happening in turkey are especially hurtful to witness with the political debate happening in my country rn

[smulders-cobie]

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN TURKEY AND THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO CHALLENGE

So you may have seen the “Black and White photo challenge” circulating around social media, but do you actually know what it’s in aid for? What the meaning behind it is? Well, this handy post is here to tell you. Here I will add as much information and add some links to infographics, petitions and donation sites. This post has heavy content, so multiple trigger warnings are in place. Graphic description of violence and abuse is throughout this post and on ALL infographics linked.

What is happening in Turkey?

328 women were killed in Turkey in 2019. In June 2020 alone 50 women were killed, and then on the 16th July this year a young uninversity student called Pinar Gültekin went missing. She was last seen waiting for a bus in Mugla Province. A few days later her body was unfortunately found, she was beaten, strangled and buried in a barrel. Her killer was known to her, and has been taken into custody, largely due to social media coverage. When these killings are reported, many of them are either hidden, written off or the men involved are either released shortly after or if taken seriously, they get very short prison sentences. This happens to ALL women, the women who do and don’t cover their hair, old and young women, single, queer and trans women and women of all communities whether that be Kurdish, Armenian, Arab, Assyrian women etc. The victims are often blamed with rumours circulating accusing the victim of being impure, disloyal or deserving of the killing. (info credit, info credit, please click for more detailed infographics)

Now the Turkish government are moving to REMOVE the Istanbul Convention, which is taking away what little protection women in Turkey have, so this attack on the Convention is an attack on women’s rights. What is the Istanbul Convention you ask? Well, it was created to protect women against all kinds of violence and to prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women as well as domestic violence. The Convention also prohibits discrimination against women. If Turkey were to withdraw from this Convention, the results will be catastrophic as this is a country where domestic violence and gender violence is constantly increasing. (42% of Turkish women aged between 15–60 had suffered some physical or sexual violence by their husbands or partners.) (info credit, please click for a more detailed infographic)

How can I find out more information?

Turkish media is mostly government controlled, so half of this information is mostly available on social media, even though some of the world’s media is starting to pick it up. I’ve found quite a few instagram accounts helpful as this is the best place to pick up the information. 

auturkishculturalclub: This account is the main account that I have found information from. It is run by American-Turkish university students and has been a solid start point for anybody who wants to read up on this matter. Please check the first two story highlights on their profile as this has plenty of info.

minaonthemoon: This account has an amazing infographic on what is happening and also explains the Istanbul Convention too. They update their stories with info too, so please consider giving this account a look over. 

shafakelif: Elif Shafak is one of Turkey’s most known and popular authors and she also has created a two slide infographic on what is happening in more detail with some facts and statistics (which I have included above).

How can I help?

First of all you can help by simply reblogging this post, that way the word will get out as to what is happening. 

You can also share the infographics above through other social media. Post on your Instagram stories, retweet tweets on Twitter, speak to your friends, family, just speak out in general!

If you would like to participate in the Black and White challenge please do! But don’t forget to use the hashtags #istanbulconvention, #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır, #kadinasiddetehayir, #challengeaccepted and #womenempowerment

If you do take part in the challenge please also include a bit of background info so the movement doesn’t lose it’s message.

Please consider signing and sharing THIS PETITION, as well as THIS PETITION. It takes two minutes and it genuinely is a massive help.

If you are so able, please consider DONATING to this Turkish Women’s shelter foundation. If you are unable to donate, simply SHARING this link will help also.

As time goes on I will update this post with other information I have/find, links to other petitions and donation places etc. In the mean time, please dont hesititate to reblog this post, add to this post if you come across any other information from TRUSTWORTHY sources, and share as much as you can so that we can respect all of the women that are being abused and killed in Turkey and give them and their families peace at last.

[wisdomrays]

TAFAKKUR: Part 433

THE MAIN FACTORS IN THE SPREAD OF ISLAM: Part 2

A. J. Arberry has also pointed out that the reason for the spread of Islam is Islam itself and its religious values. (Aspects of Islamic Civilization, p.12)

He writes:

‘The rapidity of the spread of Islam, noticeably through extensive provinces which had long been Christian, is a crucial fact of history. The sublime rhetoric of the Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy…and the urgency of the simple message carried, holds the key to the mystery of one of the greatest catalysms in the history of religion. When all military, political and economic factors have been exhausted, the religious impulse must still be recognized as the most vital and enduring.’

Brockelman, who is usually very unsympathetic and partial, also recognizes the religious values of Islam as the main factor for the spread of Islam (History of the Islamic Peoples, p.37). Rosenthal makes his point as follows: ‘The more important factor for the spread of Islam is the religious Law of Islam (Shari‘a, which is an inclusive, all-embracing, all-comprehensive way of thinking and living) which was designed to cover all manifestations of life.’ (Political Thought in Medieval Islam, p.21).

Besides many other reasons which are responsible for the spread of Islam, it is the exemplary life-style and unceasing efforts of individual Muslims to transmit the message of Islam throughout the world which lie at the root of the conquest of hearts by Islam. Islamic universalism is closely associated with the principle of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf (enjoining the good) for Islam is to be spread by Muslims by means of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf. This principle seeks to convey the message of Islam to all human beings in the world and to establish a model Islamic community on a worldwide basis. The Islamic community is introduced by the Qur’an as a model community: We have made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses (models) for the peoples, and the Messenger has been a witness for you (2.143). A Muslim or the Muslim community as a whole thus has a goal to achieve. This is the spread of Islam, conveying the truth to the remotest corner of the world, the eradication of oppression and tyranny and the establishment of justice all over the world. This requires the Muslim to live an exemplary life, and thus the moral and the ethical values of Islam have usually played an important part in the spread of Islam. Here follow the impressions of the influence of Islamic ethics on black Africans of a Western writer of the nineteenth century:

‘As to the effects of Islam when first embraced by a Negro tribe, can there, when viewed as a whole, be any reasonable doubt? Polytheism disappears almost instantaneously; sorcery, with its attendant evils, gradually dies away; human sacrifice becomes a thing of the past. The general moral elevation is most marked; the natives begin for the first time in their history to dress, and that neatly. Squalid filth is replaced by some approach to personal cleanliness; hospitality becomes a religious duty; drunkenness, instead of the rule becomes a comparatively rare exception chastity is looked upon as one of the highest, and becomes, in fact, one of the commoner virtues. It is idleness that henceforward degrades, and industry that elevates, instead of the reverse. Offences are henceforward measured by a written code instead of the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain–a step, as everyone will admit, of vast importance in the progress of a tribe. The Mosque gives an idea of architecture at all events higher than any the Negro has yet had. A thirst for literature is created and that for works of science and philosophy as well as for the commentaries on the Qur’an.’ (Quoted from Waitz by B. Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism, pp.42-43)

The tolerance of Islam is another factor in the spread of Islam. Toynbee praises this tolerance towards the People of the Book after comparing it with the attitude of the Christians towards Muslims and Jews in their lands. (A Historian’s Approach to Religion, p.246). T. Link attributes the spread of Islam to the credibility of its principles together with its tolerance, persuasion and other kinds of attractions (A History of Religion). Makarios, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in the seventeenth century, compared the harsh treatment received by the Russians of the Orthodox Church at the hands of the Roman Catholic Poles with the tolerant attitude towards Orthodox Christians shown by the Ottoman Government and prayed for the Sultans (T. Link, A History of Religion).

This is not the only example of preference by the followers of the religions for Muslim rule over that of their own co-religionist. The Orthodox Christians of Byzantium openly expressed their preference for the Ottoman turban in Istanbul to the hats of the Catholic cardinals. Elisee Reclus, the French traveller of the nineteenth century, wrote that the Muslim Turk allowed all the followers of different religions to perform their religious duties and rituals, and that the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were more free to live their own lives than the Christians who lived in the lands under the rule of any rival Christian sect (Nouvelle Geographie Universelle, vol. 9). Popescu Ciocanel pays tribute to the Muslim Turks by stating that it was luck for the Romanian people that they lived under the government of the Turks rather than the domination of the Russians and Austrians. Otherwise, he points out, ‘no trace of the Romanian nation would have remained,’ (La Crise de l’Orient).

The Muslims’ attitude towards the people they conquered is quite clear in the instructions given by the rightly-guided Caliphs: ‘Always keep fear of God in your mind; remember that you cannot afford to do anything without His grace. Do not forget that Islam is a mission of peace and love. Keep the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) before you as a model of bravery and piety. Do not destroy fruit-trees nor fertile fields in your paths. Be just, and spare the feelings of the vanquished. Respect all religious persons who live in hermitages or convents and spare their edifices. Do not kill civilians. Do not outrage the chastity of women and the honour of the conquered. Do not harm old people and children. Do not accept any gifts from the civil population of any place. Do not billet your soldiers or officers in the houses of civilians. Do not forget to perform your daily prayers. Fear God. Remember that death will inevitably come to every one of you some time or other, even if you are thousands of miles away from a battlefield; therefore be always ready to face death.’ (Andrew Miller, Church History; Ali lbn Abi Talib, Nahj al-Balagha)

A historical episode which Balazouri, a famous Muslim historian, relates, tells about how pleased the native peoples were with their Muslim conquerors is of great significance

When Heraclius massed his troops against the Muslims, and the Muslims heard that they were coming to meet them, they refunded the inhabitants of Hims the tribute they had taken from them, saying: ‘We are too busy to support and protect you. Take care of yourselves.’ But the people of Hims replied: ‘We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we were. The army of Heraclius we shall indeed, with your help, repulse from the city.’ The Jews rose and said: ‘We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Hims unless we are first vanquished and exhausted.’ Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them. The inhabitants of other cities–Christians and Jews–that had capitulated did the same. When by God’s help the unbelievers were defeated and Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went out with singers and players of music, and paid the tribute (Futuh al-Buldan).

To sum up, although most Western writers, under the instigation of biased Orientalists of the Church, have alleged that Islam spread by the force of the sword, the spread of Islam was because of its religious content and values, and ‘its power of appeal and ability to meet the spiritual and material needs of people adhering to cultures totally alien to their Muslim conquerors’, together with some other factors. Some of these factors are the tolerance which Islam showed to people of other religions, the absence of ecclesiastic orders and hierarchy in Islam, mental freedom and absolute justice which Islam envisages and has exercised throughout the centuries, the ethical values it propagates, and Islamic humanitarianism, universalism and brotherhood, and its inclusiveness. Sufi activities, the moral superiority of Muslim tradesmen, the principle of ‘enjoining the good’, and Islamic dynamism and the magnificence of the Islamic civilization contributed of their own to the spread of Islam.

The main religious qualities which attracted people to Islam were:

(i) the simplicity of the theological doctrines of Islam based on the Divine Unity;

(ii) rationalism of the Islamic teachings;

(iii) the complete harmony of the Islamic ideals and values with human conscience;

(iv) the inclusiveness and comprehensives of Islam, covering all aspects of physical, mental, and spiritual life of individuals and societies, hence the harmony of religion and life which it established;

(v) the lack of formalism and mediation;

(vi) the vividness, dynamism and resilience of the Islamic theology, and its creativity and universalism, and its compatibility with established scientific facts;

(vii) the cohesion and harmony of the Islamic principles, and

(viii) the shortcomings of other theological systems.

[lesbianlovelanguage]

YOUTUBER AU I’m such a fucking sucker for those. It can be anything you want really. Maybe they are friends doing a challenge or something and they end up kissing (or more ;)) or they could meet each other at like a creator even and take a pic together and everyone starts to ship them... :)

HI! Anon I am so sorry, life has been *general handwaving* a MESS. But, I’ve finally gotten most of my shit together and look! A fic! Finally!!! I hope you enjoy two ridiculous boys being ridiculous.

---

“You guys asked for it, and here it is. The explanation to Bendy and the Ink Machine! Now, I’ve watched a ton of playthroughs of this, especially The RatKing’s, as well as played through it myself, and I think I’ve got it.” 

Such a simple statement, it made it through both of the editors as well as Steve and Dustin themselves without raising any red flags. But as with everything, once it had been released on the internet it became fuel for fans to break apart and over analyze. 

The comments started pouring in, the standard mix of support and people trying to break apart his theory. But one comment in particular would stand out and begin something so much bigger than itself. 

Twenty minutes after Steve had pressed upload, someone with the username Random Hoe posted a comment saying Awe! A collab between you and Billy would be totes amazing!! While an innocent comment in itself, it began to pick up steam as people ranted and demanded for the two popular youtubers to interact more. It turned from video ideas to outright shipping within two hours, and only five hours after the video had been up, people began tagging Steve on Twitter with everything from edited screen grabs to fanart and video edits, all about Steve and Billy’s secret yet undying love for each other. 

Steve had almost quit Youtube as the fanbase for what had been dubbed “Stilly” steadily grew and became all the more ravenous. There were less and less comments and reactions to his theories, whether movie, video game, or even book related, and more and more comments about how he needed to do a collab with Billy ASAP, and how he’s queerbaiting, and how it’s okay to come out, it was 20Gayteen after all. He had tried to do damage control, but it only made things worse. 

And then someone showed Billy, and Steve not only wanted to quit Youtube, but also crawl under a rock. 

Billy’s only reaction to someone sending him a picture of Steve and Billy during a live stream was “Nice art, like the hair,” but Steve could have sworn his mouth twitched down in a grimace before Billy recovered his composure. 

But Dustin had convinced Steve to keep going, and with two months of no recognition or new content, the frenzy of Stilly shipping died down. It never disappeared, but no one sent anymore art to Billy and stopped tagging Steve in all of their posts. That had been in February. 

Vidcon was in June, and Stilly was the least of Steve’s worries. He’d been asked to host a panel on the new game show he and Dustin had begun hosting on Youtube TV about pop culture trivia, and then host a live episode with various Youtube guests as competitors. It promised to be relatively simple, a simple explanation of the origin and behind-the-scenes and a simple Q&A session followed by what he spent every Thursday doing for the past two months. And it was, him and Dustin breezing through the panel bouncing off of each other and the first round of Did You Know? You Don’t Say? flying by as the famed beauty guru aced almost every question. But once the second guest stepped on stage, Steve knew it was all going to go to shit. 

Because Billy Hargrove, The Rat King himself, swaggered out on the stage in flip flops and an Everlast crop top and flopped into the contestant’s chair with a smirk. Steve froze, mouth suddenly drier than a desert. 

Luckily, Dustin didn’t even stutter. “Ah! The next victim. Should we go easy on him?” He waggled his eyebrows as he asked the audience. The audience shouting brought Steve out of his daze, and with a shake of his head, he turned and spread his arms out wide. 

“Well then, let’s begin. So, Billy, Do you know what the rarest MnM color is?” 

The cocky smirk melted off of Billy’s face, replaced by one of thoughtful determination. He’s silent for only a moment before he looks up and says, “Brown, like your eyes, Pretty Boy.” Steve feels his pale skin flush with heat, but he coughs and tries to play it off.

“Quite the charmer there, Rat King. Luckily, your lines are actually true. One point! Let’s see it!” He calls out and then looks behind him to the television screen currently displaying the scoreboard. A large blocky 1 appears and the audience cheers. 

“Alrighty then,” Dustin says after the crowd dies down. “Next question. Billy, Do you know the original name of Istanbul?” Billy chuckles, and shakes his head.

“Easy. Constantinople.”

Dustin fake pouts and looks over to Billy. “None of that Rat King charm for me?” The audience laughs, and Billy chuckles before throwing a wink at Dustin.

“Not quite old enough to ride this ride, bud.” 

Dustin scoffs and shakes his head, making the curls bounce around wildly. “Whatever you say, old man. You did get it right by the way. Let me see another point!” Dustin mimics Steve and gestures towards the scoreboard which now shows a big, white 2. 

“Your turn, Pretty Boy. Give me something hard.”

“Alright. Let’s see.” Steve pretends to look over his notes before seeing the perfect question. “So, Billy, Do you know which two American states don’t observe daylight savings time?” Billy stares blankly at Steve. This was the final question in their lineup, but he had asked for a hard question. 

Luckily, Billy recovers quickly and clears his throat before giving another chuckle. “Damn, I know I said give me a hard one, but I wasn’t expecting that. I’m gonna go with Hawaii and Alaska?” Steve shakes his head and gives a small sigh. 

Dustin gives a little cheer, and then runs over to a table off to the side of the stage where they have a cue card that the contestant has to read off of if they lose. It was Dustin’s idea, the You don’t say? part of the title. It’s his favorite part of the show, because they get to see their contestants say some ridiculous things.

“Well, unfortunately, that was incorrect,” Steve announces over the booing audience. “And, following the rules, you now have to read whatever is on this card.” Dustin hands Billy the cue card with a wicked grin. 

Billy sighs and flips over the card. There’s a moment of silence as he reads over what the card says, and then he looks up at Steve and clears his throat.

“Would a Pretty Boy want to go out with me?” He says in a clear voice, gaze never leaving Steve’s. 

Suddenly too many things for Steve to process happen at once. He feels the heat return to his cheeks and his mouth dry out again, the audience goes wild, and a buzzer sounds, signaling that they were out of time for Did You Know? You Don’t Say? Dustin comes through and pushes a frozen Steve off-stage, where Billy is waiting in the wings. With the audience’s weighty gaze gone, the feeling returns to Steve all at once.

“What the hell man? What was that out there?” He hissed at Billy. The man simply shrugs and gives another one of his trademark smirks.

“Just giving the people what they want, Princess. Try to keep up.” And then he turns around, and walks away. Simple as that. Nothing to it. 

Steve wants to scream. Fortunately, he and Dustin have been friends for years, and he knows all of Steve’s tics by now. The stagehands shoo them from the wings, and he pulls Steve through one of the backdoors to outside the convention center. Somehow, he also procures a water bottle in the hustle, and hands it to Steve once they’re both sitting on the steps outside. Steve takes the water bottle gratefully and chugs half of it in one long gulp. He pulls it away and wipes at his face before sighing. He seems to deflate, like a balloon losing all of its helium at once, and Dustin puts an arm around him. It’s awkward because he’s shorter than Steve, but it’s still comforting nonetheless. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Dustin asks quietly.

“I- I’m so stupid. For just a second I thought it was real, but why would it be? What would someone like him see in someone like me?” Dustin lets out a huff before pulling away and turning towards Steve.

“Steve, buddy, pal o’ mine. You’re an idiot. If anything, he doesn’t deserve you. He’s a pompous ass for pulling a stunt like that. It’s bullshit.” 

“He could have anyone. Between his paycheck and his pecs, he’s one of Youtube’s hottest content creators.”

“Yeah, sure. But for the sake of alliteration, he also lacks personality. The guy’s a huge dick! And he proved it today. He knew that you wouldn’t shut him down and bitch him out on stage, so he thought it would be funny to pull that shit.”

“Yeah, he is kind of just a publicity-seeking asshole, you’re right,” Steve admits, feeling a little better, and a lot angrier. “You know what, Dusty-Poo? I’m gonna find him, and give him a piece of my mind.” He stands up, itching for a fight and knowing who to go find for one.

“Tha-that’s not exactly what I meant but sure! Go knock him down a peg.” Dustin stands up as well and follows Steve back onto the main showfloor. 

It takes about twenty minutes to find Billy amongst the crowd but Steve sees him, and locks in like a tiger stalking his prey. Or something cool like that. Thankfully, Steve doesn’t have to make a huge scene as he walks up to Billy and gets in his face. 

“You. Me. Conference Room 3. Now,” Steve says, poking a finger in the middle of Billy’s chest to emphasize his point. Billy chuckles, but still follows along as they walk into the empty conference room. Once they clear the doors and Steve hears them swing shut behind them, he turns to Billy.

“Explain. What the fuck was the point of that little,” he wavs his hand around, “stunt you pulled during the game show?” 

Billy raises an eyebrow. “Told you Pretty Boy. I gave the people what they wanted. 

“So that’s it? It was a publicity stunt?” 

“You tell me. You’re the one who started the whole thing,” Billy shoots back, still holding on to an air of nonchalance, but Steve can his patience waning.

“You- you mean the stuff from February? When I happened to mention you in one video? You think I meant for that shitstorm to start, for fun and publicity?” 

Billy only shrugs again.

“Okay. Nope. Again, I mentioned your channel one time, as a source. Gave credit where credit was due. I do it for all the channels I watch! I’ve mentioned Nancy’s channel like 8 times, and Jonathan’s too. Never had this shit started with them.”

“They’re married, Steve. Like super married. Of course it wouldn’t. We’re both single, queer youtubers. Of course shit’s gonna stop. Didn’t your agent or whoever look over your video?”

Steve huffs. “Oh yeah, let me just go hire an agent, cause I have such a need for someone to monitor my every move,” Steve snarked. Billy just looked at him like he had failed to add 2 and 3.

“You’re telling me you, part of one of the biggest channels on Youtube, don’t have an agent?” 

“We’re not one of the biggest channels, and we’ve never needed one! We’ve got our team of editors and assistants, no need for some agent.”

“Steve,” Billy says patiently, like he was explaining something to a child, “You have over 4 million subscribers. That’s a big channel.” 

“We’re still not one of the biggest channels, dipshit.”

“Oh, I'm the dipshit? I didn’t start a fucking fandom frenzy apparently by accident. Because I was smart and got a fucking agent.”

“You’re such an asshole.” 

“Whatever you say Princess.”

“Stop fucking calling me a princess!” Steve screams, voice booming in the silent conference room. “Why do you do that? Pretty Boy, Princess, Stevie? Just- just stop with the fucking nicknames. It’s not fair.” The second part of his outburst comes out as a whisper, sounding almost desperate. 

Billy was at a loss for words, but then again, he had always been more of a man of action. 

So he says nothing, only gives a seconds’ thought of what he was going to do, before lunging forward and doing it. 

Steve’s next words are muffled as Billy crashes their lips together with absolutely no finesse, teeth clacking. It probably constituted as the worst kiss Billy has ever had, but as he moves back, Steve grabs a fist full of blond locks and pulls him forward. Their 

second kiss is far better. By no means is it soft, but that was just par for the course with them wasn’t it? 

The kiss comes to a natural ending as they both pull back to breath, before Steve starts to giggle. 

“You really need to work on your pick-up lines, Rat King.”

A soft gasp from the doorway cuts off Billy’s retort, and they both turn to see a girl decked out in Youtube merch, including a jacket with the Upside Down Theories logo on it. She had dropped her backpack, and was open-mouthed gaping at the two. Her eyes are as wide as dinner plates as she frantically gathers up her backpack and shoots out of the conference room. 

“Chances that this blows up online by tomorrow?” Steve asks, turning to the blond next to him. 

“I’m betting in the next two hours, Pretty Boy,” Billy replies.

A wicked smirk creeps onto Steve’s lips as he shrugs and says, “Oops. What was that about getting an agent to help with this stuff?” 

---

Aside from this taking FOREVER, I hope you guys enjoy this! It was tons of fun to write.

tag team: @lostnoise @gideongrace @stevefuckingharrington @a-magey @catharrington @trashycatarcade @myboyfriendsteve @thesummerof84 @lightsupinthenorth @smashmouth-hargrove (lmk if you would like to be added/removed from the list!)

[orange-positivity]

Hi, I'm an Asian with very little background of Slovenian politics - could you please help me understand the situation on the ground and how's it come about?

Hi! I'm not the best with politics but I'll try my best

I'll first do a run through and then I'll put in bold what's happening right now but before I start, the main thing right now is that they want to shut down independent media

Just putting this first because it's the most important, okay now for the run through

Pretty much our former prime minister, Marjan Šarec resigned and so Janez Janša was elected by the National assembly in March, which is also when the coronavirus outbreak started in Slovenia. Now a lot of shit went on while we were in lockdown and I honestly can't tell you much about that because I wasn't really following politics at the time, but there was a thing with ordering unsuitable masks and respirators and also during the whole corona crisis, they tried to pass laws completely unrelated to the epidemic (because they knew all media attention was on the virus). Janez Janša and his political party (SDS) are also very right wing and corrupt (Janša actually went to jail for corruption a few years back)(he's also good friends with Orban, the Hungarian prime minister and I think he [Janša] owes him [Orban] some money?) and there were just a lot of allegations of corruption flying around during that time as well as bribing other parties into teaming up SDS to form the government (members of the parties who connected with SDS got promotions and raises). The government also gave themselves the highest paycheck possible, but they offered very little financial support to small businesses during the lockdown (as far as I know, the only thing small businesses got was that they can pay their taxes with a delay or something?). They also passed an amendment against the conservation of nature, but thankfully that's been put on hold by the constitutional court.

That was lockdown and the protests started in early April with people banging their pots and pans on the balcony. In late April, the bike protests started. So every Friday, people would ride their bikes on the streets around the parliament. There was a lot of shit with the police at the beginning, putting up fences on our protesting space for no good reason and writing people up or arresting them for BS. At this point I'd like to say that the protesters have never gotten violent. The most "violent" thing they did was throw massive paper airplanes across the fence.

But I feel like shit really hit the fan on the 24th of June. For context, 25th of June is Slovenian independence day.

So Slovenian Antifa organized an anti celebration on Prešeren square in Ljubljana (Slovenian capital) on the 24th, as to say "we don't support this government and what it's doing to our country". That's when the Nazis roll in. They saw what the antifa was trying to do and they said "okay, we'll go to Prešeren square as well as to show our support to the government". There were about 50 of them and they were all wearing neon yellow vests (no correlation with the Yellow Vests movement in France btw - they just stole their symbolism). Some (I think 11) of those "Yellow Vests" had Nazi tattoos and some of them were identified by other people as active members of the Slovenian neonazi group called Blood&Honour.

On the 24th, the police also put fences around half of Ljubljana city centre. People couldn't get to their homes, cars, bikes because the police wouldn't let them through... They [the police] did that so that the government officials could have their own private independence day celebration (on the Congress square which is about 200m from Prešeren square) without having to listen or look at the protesters.

After that, the nazis came to three more protests before deciding to "leave us alone" by mixing into our crowd (their words not mine), taking pictures of us and trying to expose us on their twitter account (@/RJopici). They call this "yellow monitoring" and they said they specifically target middle aged people employed in the public sector, NGOs and or on RTV (RTV is radio television Slovenia basically like the BBC)

What's happening right now

Janša is pushing to shut down RTV (the biggest independent media house in Slovenia). He says it's a leech to the Slovenian budget and not even necessary (because most of his voters watch Nova 24 TV anyway which is Janša's TV company and it's basically like the Fox news). Shutting down independent media is simply unacceptable. Hungary and Serbia already shut down most (if not all?) independent media and idk about Poland? But Janša looks up to those countries and wants Slovenia to be like them. So yeah, Janša and SDS are pushing to shut RTV down entirely or at least cut its funding. This on it's own is a bad thing, but it's really put in perspective when you see just how shitty and biased the reporting of politically owned media like Nova 24 or Planet TV is. They lie and turn everything around to cater to their agenda.

The other thing that's happening is we have an increased number of corona cases. We were down to only 6 active cases so the borders opened and a lot of Slovenians went to Croatia (which is a popular tourist destination for like most of Slovenians). So people brought in new cases from abroad and as of 25.7. we have 241 active cases (which isn't a lot compared to other countries but we are pretty small). Despite that, the government still doesn't want to shut down the borders again or at least put Croatia on the red list because putting Croatia on the red list would mean people returning from there would have to go into a two week self isolation period and that would mean people would be discouraged to travel to Croatia, obviously. But I'm pretty sure our government gets a share of the money Croatia makes from Slovenian tourists, which is why they don't want to restrict travel to Croatia just yet. Probably once the tourist season is over, they will restrict travel immediately.

Instead Nova 24 TV is blaming the protesters for the rise of infection numbers, which isn't true. If the new infections were in fact caused by the protesters, then Ljubljana would be the epicenter of the epidemic (since that's where the biggest protests are), but as of right now, Hrastnik is actually the epicenter and Hrastnik is in a whole different region than Ljubljana.

There's also now talk about stepping away from the Istanbul convention (just like Poland did) - but right now it's just some of the right wing politicians tweeting about it. As far as I know, Janša's government is also looking to privatize healthcare (rn we have free public healthcare). Obviously they won't do that in the middle of the epidemic, but it's one of their interests.

That's not even counting all the racists, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic comments our politicians make on twitter daily.

Oh and if you're wondering where our president (Borut Pahor) is amidst all of this, he's posting selfies on Instagram and refusing to acknowledge the situation at all.

TLDR: our government is corrupt and wants to shut down independent media and just all in all make our country more like Poland or Hungary and people aren't happy with that

If anyone is from Slovenia, feel free to fill this in if I've missed anything or got anything wrong

[holly-mckenzie]

1, 2 and 6 for skammaker? <3

Oh my gosh! I started answering this question than accidentally closed my tab...😭  this is why you don’t have a billion tabs open friends and foes ... Okay, to start, I want to say. That I haven’t really thought about the SKAM remakes beyond this post, and I honestly wasn’t expecting an ask. So, yes, I will be making up stuff as I go along, and yes, I will be taking criticism!

1. What country + Language is your SKAM set in?

The countries that I would love to see SKAM remakes in are, but not subjected to. Brasil, Russia, somewhere in the UK (not England, they had Skins), India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and New Zealand. The language would be the national language of the country except for the Malaysian, Indian, and Kiwi remake because than the language would reflect the ethnicity or state the main of the season is from.

2. What is it called? (is it SKAM (insert place), a different word (wtfock, druck) or something else?)

I actually don’t know enough about the cultures/slang of the countries to be able to create a cool/unique name, so most of them would probably just be Skam + The Country. The exception being Brazil and Malaysia. SKAM Brasil = Mó Bafão SKAM Malaysia = Geram Skam NZ = Sweet As

6. Introduce us to your version of Eva?

Okay, I really wish you hadn’t asked for Eva, because I hadn’t thought this far... thus I will be making up stuff as I go along! So, I will only be answering about certain countries... lol.

SKAM India - Anjali

The season starts with Anjali, a native of Kerala who now lives in Bangalore (yes, I was inspired by Bangalore Days) moving in with her Aunt’s family in order to get a new start. Determined to not bring that much attention to herself or her family (again), Anjali just wants to keep her head down. However, when her cousin insists that Anjali make new friends instead of constantly moping about and following him around, Anjali reluctantly agrees to try. When her family throws a huge function (maybe due to a religious holiday or a wedding?) Anjali bumps into the part of the past that she has been trying to hide from. This is where she also meets one of her extended, crazy extended, family’s friend, the beautiful and independent Nana (my version on Noora). Nana’s family is originally from Nagaland, though they have been staying overseas and have just moved to Bangalore, where she will be attending school with Anjali. Anjali is delighted to find herself a friend in Nana and the Girl Gang. However, Anjali is constantly on edge due to the familial pressure that she is receiving (to not bring shame upon the family again) as well as the paranoia that her new friends may find about the incident from her old school and judge her.

Anjali is the second daughter in her family, and so she constantly put in her position where she “needs” to sacrifice her own desires for her family. Before the incident at school, she was a happy-go-lucky, super kind, as well as musically talented. At one point, she used to post videos of herself singing and playing the guitar on YouTube, but it seemed she stopped doing that completely. Anjali’s family is Catholic, though it becomes evident as the season unfolds that Anjali feels some form of resignation about the church and religion, as well as feeling like she is not good enough... It also becomes evident that Anjali feels some form of aversion to her older brother, who her parents praise to no end. As the season unfolds we see how these familial pressures come to head in Anjali’s life and how she deals with them.

* tw for the season : familial pressure + slut-shaming ** additional notes: Anjali is probably attending an all-girls school, where she will meet the girl gang. The “shame” of the season will deal with the fact that Anjali had a secret bf when she lived at home who she had s*x with. However, when her parents and community find out they all have opinions (especially the church), which Anjali thinks is unfair because her bf and also her brother (who also had a gf) are not shamed for their actions. This is why parents send her to live with her aunt’s family.

Geram - Alicia Tan

Alicia Tan is a Chinese-Malaysian girl who is starting school at a new school (due to the fact that things got messy at her old school). As she starts her new school year, Alicia feels lost, very lost. Her parents are never around, and when they are, they criticise her, expect scholastic excellence from her and compare her to her cousins. This doesn’t help Alicia as she tries to transition to attending the all-girls convent school her parents have sent her too with hopes that it will bring a positive change in her life (especially after what happened at her old school). However, Alicia just feels lost, in part, due to the disconnect she feels with her fellow peers for being so white-washed. All Alicia wants to do is keep her head down, listen to her favourite K-Pop artists, and sketch.

However, when her grandma encourages her to make new friends and her parents sign her up for tuition in order to help with her failing grades, Alicia meets a group of girls that actually seem really cool, ones that she can trust. On a whim, Alicia stalks the strange and alluring Nor, the new Malay girl who’s back from living in NZ, and the girls click. This ends with Alicia joining the girls as they join a school club (the drama club?), much to the chagrin of her parents, who want her to stay focused on her school work. Alicia just wants to forget about her past and move on, however, her past keeps on coming back to haunt her and she wonders if things will ever go back to normal.

* tw for the season : mental illness + suicide attempt mention ** additional notes : the “shame” depicted in this season is pressure brought on from her family (to be the perfect daughter) + the fact that she is mentally ill and there was an incident at her previous school. Her parents don’t want that to get out, and blame Alicia’s ex-friend for being a “bad influence”, and Alicia lets them (this is my version of the whole cheating thing).  

Mó Bafão - Marie Vitória Silva

The season starts with Marie Vitória Silva entering a new school year in São Paulo, Brazil. Originally from the city of Cuiabá, Marie moved to São Paulo around the age of twelve. Much like Eva, Marie’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mom. Marie feels a lot of pressure from her extended family about the way she dresses, her weight, her hair, her skin etc. She is very self-conscious, which is totally amplified by the fact that her boyfriend (who she spent the “best summer of her life with”) sometimes belittles her. Said boyfriend insists that Marie should go to a party and “have fun”, which Marie does only to feel incredibly self-conscious by the appearance of her ex-friends. However, Marie also meets Grace Lee, the new Coreano-Brasileira (Korean-Brasilian) international transfer student.  Marie eventually finds herself befriending a new group of misfit girls, due to the fact that they end up working on a group project together.

Marie Vitória Silva is a young Brasilian girl who doesn’t necessarily fit into Brazils mould of a beautiful young woman. Marie is more on the thick side, with curly hair that she can’t seem to control (unless it's straightened), She is not doing that great at school, and is constantly compared by her family to her more successful cousins. Marie Vitória Silva enjoys watching movies and TV shows and is a pretty important voice within certain Brasilian fandoms. She spends a lot of her time on the internet creating content for said fandoms and prefers that to party and whatnot. However, as the season goes on Marie Vitória Silva starts to come to terms with herself and the things that she enjoys, including finding peace with herself as the way that she is.

* tw for the season : slut shaming + fat shaming ** additional notes : the “shame” depicted in this season is pressure brought on by Brasilian society to look and behave a certain way. Marie feels the pressure to constantly look beautiful and constantly party. Much like the original SKAM series, it will involve the tension between Ingrid and Marie. However, this tension is exemplified by the fact that during her previous year of school, Mó Bafão!Ingrid would pressure Marie Vitória Silva to drink, party, and find a boyfriend, instead of staying home all the time. This led, Marie to go out and party which would eventually lead to the infamous kiss, and Marie being labelled a slut. However, one of the things that the season will touch on is Marie’s introversion and also the fact that she is asexual.

BONUS:

SKAM TURKÏYE : Eda

(Me? Being inspired by the dizis I’m watching? More likely than you think!)

Eda is a young Turkish woman, who’s family is German - Turkish, but decided to move back to Istanbul when she was younger. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I am a complete ho for Serkan Çayoglu, this is straight-up coincidence, don’t @ me). She’s starting a new school year, after spending the best summer of her life with her boyfriend, Can (my version of Jonas). However, Eda feels ostracised at her new school due to the whole Jonas/Ingrid thing. Eda is a total nerd and really loves watching Dizis, which Can totally give her shit for because they are apparently “so dramatic” and “so long”. However, Eda is a total romantic at heart and doesn’t really care. She has difficulty at school due to her dyslexia, which has caused her to be the butt of numerous jokes in her family and accounts for why she isn’t doing great academically. Her parents are together, though they constantly fight, which causes Eda to feel uncomfortable in her own house, accounting for why she spent so much of her summer at Can’s house. The shame that is dealt in this season is about still more or less about slut-shaming, and the isolation that Eda feels before and even when she joins the girl gang. It also has huge and insanely important themes of girls supporting girls. * tw for the season : slut shaming

[yoshi-p]

everyone and their dog is doing it and everyone is absolutely allowed to share their opinions so i want a turn but first let me clarify:

hello im yase, been around since 1.0. I am of turkish and nogai descent and i can speak fluently in tatar, turkish but my english doesn’t hold 100% so i will be all over the place.

Unfortunately this will all be word of mouth and may be taken as vague posting, but I have experienced issues since the release of 4.0 and would like to give my opinions. I want to let this all off my chest this is just a huge vent basically so i guarantee my english will be terrible.

the most important point: NEVER EVER SPEAK FOR ANOTHER CULTURE. NEVER EVER SPEAK ABOUT A CULTURE YOU DON’T KNOW. YOU HAVE SPREAD FALSE INFORMATION AND I AM SO HURT.

another point is ITS A VIDEO GAME GUYS (does not apply to everything but some people really need to take a step back because people are concerned.)

Here’s the hot topic I’ll talk of first: garleans. I personally do not play one as I prefer to play characters that would never be involved in a sense with the political agenda because in real life im too stupid to comprehend anything like that so i wouldn’t even know how my character would behave with the hot topics. I really do think people need to take a step back and see that everyone who is putting in their input is making solid points but personally I would never compare them to nazi germany though I see why people are generalising. I always saw it as tsardom of russia with the use of roman influence as well, something obvious in naming conventions and the way the ranks/monarchy(?) works but it’s not so clear what the main influences of most places in this game if you have a look at the bigger picture. Without like full on spoiling, its weird to have this view to me with the knowledge that ascians are behind this. Are you implying anyone who plays or was influenced by ascians is also under this umbrella? 

Also why THE HELL WOULD YOU TAG SOMETHING KNOWING IT WOULD GET A LOT OF TRACTION AND RESPONSE THEN BE LIKE “you guys misunderstood, I was expressing my feelings” lol no. “ I don’t understand where this is coming from, and at this point, I don’t really want to.” then why did you even fucking bother do it in private dont tag it.

You are COMPLETELY valid to feeling uncomfortable, it is fine because with how much of this world we have there will be aspects some of us don’t like. You are not inclined to involve yourself with someone if they roleplay as a garlean but you do not need to start publicising it in a way that will paint the community in black and white when its truly a wider spectrum.

YOU CHOOSE WHO YOU INVOLVE YOURSELF WITH AND WHO YOU PLAY WITH, PLEASE GET AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO GIVE YOU NEGATIVE FEELINGS OR YOU’LL SPREAD IT TO OTHERS.

from that initial and very brief tagged post there popped up many others and new discourse is arising, opening discussions about many things which is better then being blind to it all. but if you have personal grievances with someone and you state its over, let it be over. It’s not healthy behaviour. it’s also troubling to see someone complain a lot about the game and continue to play, no one is forcing you or holding a gun to your head. take breaks if you need to and play less frequently. like, real life is so much more important and there are people in this community that prioritise relationships with players etc.

Also, please stop fucking talking about mongolian/turkic/turkish culture like you know things. 99% of the big mouths in this community are americans. like majority are white americans. 

over the course of this expansion i have had many people of varied backgrounds share with me some terrible experiences and i myself have seen some truly stupid shit. 

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU LEARN OF OUR CULTURE AND WHERE TO CONTINUE DOING SO. DO NOT INTERPRET MEDIA AS ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF CULTURE.

it is absolutely not hard to tag a post and ask around, someone will pop up. I’ve been doing my very best to let everyone i know that i can help with learning about my culture or to find someone who would be more then happy to explain and share with other cultures. But when you go off of a documentary you saw of Genghis khan or only know of the tourist white people scenes of istanbul you as a community say some TRULY dumb shit.

I like to try and be patient because i myself when approaching someone of a culture i admire and am curious about i want that in turn. But if you say to me things like “Ainu aren’t real” or “Tatar people have nothing in common with tribes from the Altai mountains” its hard to do so.

FFXIV regions are not just “Germany” “Turkey” “Mongolia”. If you think this, it’s clear to me you don’t know shit and are too lazy to explore, further just google shit its not that hard. I had someone tell me that my people could never be in this game since its “Straight up mongolia” fucks sake NO ITS NOT. The designs vary and i can see the differences in simple things like words because i actually bother to do research even coming from a turkic culture. There were some beautiful little things dropped that linked to not only my people but others like Uyghur and Altai. The only place in FFXIV i think could only have a singular influence is Kugane, because from a foreigner’s perspective that’s already interesting enough. Many people have grievances and real issues with how SE has handled Doma’s influences and no one ever talks about that. Representation for asia in media has turned into this mess of specific east asian countries, the trio that even then gets categorized into China/Japan with brief mentions of Korean culture. 

Its frustrating. There are people who are happy to teach you. Who are willing to show what is wrong with the picture.

I have read several posts about Turkey/istanbul/Antalya. Yall fuckin weird you guys seem to think its in U.A.E or some shit with how you act. It’s in the Mediterranean/Europe/Asia/Middle East and there is no such thing as a specific looking Turkish person. You claim everyone is specifically white/brown, HELL NO. It’s a mixed nation and that’s the history of the land, if you had ever fucking stepped in turkey and spoke to any person on the street they’ll say their heritage that lead them to there. People claim Ala mhigo’s influences are turkey but i have yet to see that. As someone who has lived there and has heritage there and is strongly connected to that culture, i dont see it. sure the ala mhigan gown had patternings but thats also present in my nogai culture too because parts of turkey’s society descended from the line of the Kayi tribe. Just fucking LEARN TO READ GUYS. None of you guys even know what the altai mountains mean and i could sit and explain over and over again if you let people SPEAK.

Look at Thavnairian items. We have outfits that are completely different, a full length dress and then a bustier. you can’t start generalising things in video games to be one culture you have to realise most places in this game have several influences. We don’t know a lot but everything we have been given has been varied enough to pin point it to ONLY one influence.

I don’t want to just keep going about this simply because im growing frustrated.

The thing with Viera complaints. I think some are valid but some are stupid. For one as I make this post it hasn’t even been confirmed so there is no reason for policing Viera to a severe extent. Considering all the Ivalice content in game has been an alternate universe kind of thing its dumb as shit. But feol viera being made without understanding the knowledge that people who have played rw picked up is quite frustrating. As a community, its important to help people when we have information that others may need that they cant understand the context of.

I know people are worried about them being fetishized, that is my legitimate fear too as a huge ivalice fan. But this is a repeated cycle especially when we consider generalizations like miqo’te especially seekers and belly dancing or when au ra arrived and people thought xaela were genghis khan basically. 

The game is not solid, there are so many holes in the lore and the plots and i know people hate that but we fill the gaps with our own opinions and theories. While I understand some people think we need to move forward in 2019 because “japan is xenophobic”, its a very difficult thing to do. THEY DO HIRE PEOPLE FOR CULTURE ADVISING. THEY TRAVEL OFTEN AND DEVELOP WITH THIS. IT’S NOT LIKE THEY WENT ON GOOGLE AND SAID “yeah a japan land would be fun” they literally have people hired specifically for this stuff. however, at the end of the day its a company that has yet to show it can evolve with the times. Its becoming more and more evident with the recent patterns of main titles in FF and side projects having so many issues in story/lore/management. remember 1.0 basically died being absolute garbage and this is salvaged from that.

its really late and i had a terrible evening so i may not be making the most sense but theres more important things to worry about then to make this game a miserable experience when it could be a huge learning opportunity for everyone. There’s no need to generalise people into categories because of characters they choose to develop but its important to note with majority of people standing up higher on the pedestal are those speaking for the minorities groups that have direct influences in the game.

also lol if you fucking say ainu aren’t real to me one more time i will fucking throttle you

[96thdayofrage]

A memo sent to Hillary Clinton that WikiLeaks made public in 2016 has not gotten the attention it deserves. Now is the time. After President Donald Trump tweeted that he was pulling American troops out of Syria, Clinton joined his vociferous critics who want more war in Syria.

“Actions have consequences, and whether we’re in Syria or not, the people who want to harm us are there & at war,” Clinton tweeted in response to Trump. “Isolationism is weakness. Empowering ISIS is dangerous. Playing into Russia & Iran’s hands is foolish. This President is putting our national security at grave risk.”

Actions indeed have consequences.

The memo shows the kind of advice Clinton was getting as secretary of state to plunge the U.S. deeper into the Syrian war. It takes us back to 2012 and the early phase of the conflict.

At that point, it was largely an internal affair, although Saudi arms shipments were playing a greater and greater role in bolstering rebel forces. But once the President Barack Obama eventually decided in favor of intervention, under pressure from Clinton, the conflict was quickly internationalized as thousands of holy warriors flooded in from as far away as western China.

The 1,200-word memo written by James P. Rubin, a senior diplomat in Bill Clinton’s State Department, to then-Secretary of State Clinton, which Clinton twice requested be printed out, begins with the subject of Iran, an important patron of Syria.

The memo dismisses any notion that nuclear talks will stop Iran “from improving the crucial part of any nuclear weapons program—the capability to enrich uranium.” If it does get the bomb, it goes on, Israel will suffer a strategic setback since it will no longer be able to “respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon, as it can today.” Denied the ability to bomb at will, Israel might leave off secondary targets and strike at the main enemy instead.

Consequently, the memo argues that the U.S. should topple the Assad regime so as to weaken Iran and allay the fears of Israel, which has long regarded the Islamic republic as its primary enemy. As the memo puts it:

“Bringing down Assad would not only be a massive boon to Israel’s security, it would also ease Israel’s understandable fear of losing its nuclear monopoly.  Then, Israel and the United States might be able to develop a common view of when the Iranian program is so dangerous that military action could be warranted.”

This document, making the case to arm Syrian rebels, may have been largely overlooked because of confusion about its dates, which appear to be inaccurate.

The time stamp on the email is “2001-01-01 03:00” even though Clinton was still a New York senator-elect at that point. That date is also out of synch with the timeline of nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

But the body of the email gives a State Department case and document number with the date of 11/30/2015. But that’s incorrect as well because Clinton resigned as secretary of state on Feb. 1, 2013.

Central to the Great Debate

Consequently, anyone stumbling across the memo in the Wikileaks archives might be confused about how it figures in the great debate about whether to use force to bring down Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. But textual clues provide an answer. The second paragraph refers to nuclear talks with Iran “that began in Istanbul this April and will continue in Baghdad in May,” events that took place in 2012. The sixth invokes an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour conducted with then-Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak “last week.” Since the interview took place on April 19, 2012, the memo can therefore be dated to the fourth week in April.

The memo syncs with Clinton’s thinking on Syria, such as calling for Assad’s overthrow and continuing to push for a no-fly zone in her last debate with Donald Trump even after Gen. Joseph Dunford had testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that it could mean war with Russia.

The memo was sent to her shortly before Clinton joined forces with then-CIA Director David Petraeus to push for an aggressive program of rebel military aid.

Needless to say, the memo’s skepticism about negotiating with Iran proved to be unwarranted since Iran eventually agreed to shut down its nuclear program. The memo, which Clinton twice asked to be printed out for her, underscores the conviction that Israeli security trumps all other considerations even if it means setting fire to a region that’s been burned over more than once.

But the memo illustrates much else besides: a recklessness, lack of realism and an almost mystical belief that everything will fall neatly into place once the United States flexes its muscle.  Overthrowing Assad would be nothing less than “transformative,” the memo says.

“…Iran would be strategically isolated, unable to exert its influence in the Middle East. The resulting regime in Syria will see the United States as a friend, not an enemy. Washington would gain substantial recognition as fighting for the people in the Arab world, not the corrupt regimes. For Israel, the rationale for a bolt from the blue attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be eased. And a new Syrian regime might well be open to early action on the frozen peace talks with Israel. Hezbollah in Lebanon would be cut off from its Iranian sponsor since Syria would no longer be a transit point for Iranian training, assistance and missiles.”

It was “a low-cost high-payoff approach,” the memo says, that would eliminate one enemy, weaken two more, and generate such joy among ordinary Syrians that peace talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv will spring back to life. The risks appeared to be nil. Since “the Libyan operation had no long-lasting consequences for the region,” the memo supposes, referring to the overthrow of strongman Muammer Gaddafi six months earlier, the Syrian operation wouldn’t either. In a passage that may have influenced Clinton’s policy of a no-fly zone, despite Dunford’s warning, the memo says:

“Some argue that U.S. involvement risks a wider war with Russia. But the Kosovo example [in which NATO bombed Russian-ally Serbia] shows otherwise. In that case, Russia had genuine ethnic and political ties to the Serbs, which don’t exist between Russia and Syria, and even then Russia did little more than complain. Russian officials have already acknowledged they won’t stand in the way if intervention comes.”

[foodistanbul]

Talking of the schools of Paris

Thus my old friend and I are wont to saunter on talking of the schools of Paris, which for several centuries have played so vast a part in the history of France and of Europe, and which during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were the main intellectual centre of the West. And we look in at the Sorbonne to see the fine tomb of Richelieu in his church, which has the earliest dome ever built in Paris, or we stand for a moment before the well-known house on the Quai Voltaire, where the literary dictator of the eighteenth century died in the plenitude of his fame.

Thus we stroll on to the Boidevard St. Germain, and at the corner of the Rue Bonaparte we drop in at the old church of St. Geivnain des Prfc, to the historian one of the most memorable in Europe, for its foundation dates from thirteen centuries ago, and parts of what we see are far older than any church in London. There, with fragments of Merovingian building, we find the tomb of the greatest of modern philosophers — Rene Descartes. And as we come into the quarter of the Ecole de Medicine (a little below the square of the Odton, between it and the Boulevard St. Michel), ‘ here,’ says my friend, ‘ is the “ terre sainte de la Revolution,” ’ and he takes off his hat as a mark of respect, for he is a republican of the type of old Carnot, but in no sense a Jacobin. Then we come to the Mus/e Dupuytren, the surgical museum of Paris, formerly the refectory of the convent of the Cordeliers friars, of the Franciscan order, and in the revolution the Cordelier club of Danton and Camille Desmoulins.

St. Francis to express humility and love

Strange that the garb designed in the thirteenth century by the blessed St. Francis to express humility and love — the rough belt of cord — should become in the eighteenth century the synonym of passionate terrorism. A little further off was the house where Danton lodged and thus his statue is now placed beside it. My friend knew the nephew of Danton, who remembered the great tribune. And close by private tour istanbul, I have had pointed out to me the house where Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat in his bath. ‘ There,’ said my friend once, ‘in the terrible days of May, 1871, against that baker’s shop, I saw as he lay dead in his gore the body of poor Jules — an excellent soul but a flighty—and for three days no one dared to touch or remove it.’

Somewhat higher up the hill, just above the Sorbonne, we came upon a dingy little inn in a back street. There is a H6tel (then called St. Quentin) where J. J. Rousseau first stopped when he arrived in Paris, and there he first saw his wife, Therse Levasseur, who was a servant maid there; the story is told well in the Rousseau of Mr. John Morley. And we wander up the hill to the old St. Etienne du Mont, that strange potpourri of Renascence, Gothic, and classical bits; and there we search for the tombs of Racine and of Pascal, the body and monument of Racine having been removed from the old Port Royal, where he was originally laid, to be placed here beside Pascal.

Pascal lived and died close by this St. Etienne du Mont. I shall never forget the effect on my mind when one day sauntering up the hill from the Luxembourg garden to the observatory, I saw an old and dingy building of the seven-teenth century, now a women’s hospital. ‘ What is that? ’ I asked. ‘That,’ said my friend, ‘is the Port Royal of Paris, a dependance of the central Port Royal des Champs, and it was spared when the great seat of Jansenism was destroyed. What you see is the house where Sceur Ange- lique and the Arnauds removed for peace, which sheltered the Jansenists during twenty-five years of their most brilliant time. There Pascal met the Arnauds; there often came also Racine in his later years of theological mysticism.’ It is the only surviving monument of that wonderful movement in France that we know as Jansenism.

[istanbulobelisk]

Talking of the schools of Paris

Thus my old friend and I are wont to saunter on talking of the schools of Paris, which for several centuries have played so vast a part in the history of France and of Europe, and which during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were the main intellectual centre of the West. And we look in at the Sorbonne to see the fine tomb of Richelieu in his church, which has the earliest dome ever built in Paris, or we stand for a moment before the well-known house on the Quai Voltaire, where the literary dictator of the eighteenth century died in the plenitude of his fame.

Thus we stroll on to the Boidevard St. Germain, and at the corner of the Rue Bonaparte we drop in at the old church of St. Geivnain des Prfc, to the historian one of the most memorable in Europe, for its foundation dates from thirteen centuries ago, and parts of what we see are far older than any church in London. There, with fragments of Merovingian building, we find the tomb of the greatest of modern philosophers — Rene Descartes. And as we come into the quarter of the Ecole de Medicine (a little below the square of the Odton, between it and the Boulevard St. Michel), ‘ here,’ says my friend, ‘ is the “ terre sainte de la Revolution,” ’ and he takes off his hat as a mark of respect, for he is a republican of the type of old Carnot, but in no sense a Jacobin. Then we come to the Mus/e Dupuytren, the surgical museum of Paris, formerly the refectory of the convent of the Cordeliers friars, of the Franciscan order, and in the revolution the Cordelier club of Danton and Camille Desmoulins.

St. Francis to express humility and love

Strange that the garb designed in the thirteenth century by the blessed St. Francis to express humility and love — the rough belt of cord — should become in the eighteenth century the synonym of passionate terrorism. A little further off was the house where Danton lodged and thus his statue is now placed beside it. My friend knew the nephew of Danton, who remembered the great tribune. And close by private tour istanbul, I have had pointed out to me the house where Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat in his bath. ‘ There,’ said my friend once, ‘in the terrible days of May, 1871, against that baker’s shop, I saw as he lay dead in his gore the body of poor Jules — an excellent soul but a flighty—and for three days no one dared to touch or remove it.’

Somewhat higher up the hill, just above the Sorbonne, we came upon a dingy little inn in a back street. There is a H6tel (then called St. Quentin) where J. J. Rousseau first stopped when he arrived in Paris, and there he first saw his wife, Therse Levasseur, who was a servant maid there; the story is told well in the Rousseau of Mr. John Morley. And we wander up the hill to the old St. Etienne du Mont, that strange potpourri of Renascence, Gothic, and classical bits; and there we search for the tombs of Racine and of Pascal, the body and monument of Racine having been removed from the old Port Royal, where he was originally laid, to be placed here beside Pascal.

Pascal lived and died close by this St. Etienne du Mont. I shall never forget the effect on my mind when one day sauntering up the hill from the Luxembourg garden to the observatory, I saw an old and dingy building of the seven-teenth century, now a women’s hospital. ‘ What is that? ’ I asked. ‘That,’ said my friend, ‘is the Port Royal of Paris, a dependance of the central Port Royal des Champs, and it was spared when the great seat of Jansenism was destroyed. What you see is the house where Sceur Ange- lique and the Arnauds removed for peace, which sheltered the Jansenists during twenty-five years of their most brilliant time. There Pascal met the Arnauds; there often came also Racine in his later years of theological mysticism.’ It is the only surviving monument of that wonderful movement in France that we know as Jansenism.

[istanbulsurf]

Talking of the schools of Paris

Thus my old friend and I are wont to saunter on talking of the schools of Paris, which for several centuries have played so vast a part in the history of France and of Europe, and which during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were the main intellectual centre of the West. And we look in at the Sorbonne to see the fine tomb of Richelieu in his church, which has the earliest dome ever built in Paris, or we stand for a moment before the well-known house on the Quai Voltaire, where the literary dictator of the eighteenth century died in the plenitude of his fame.

Thus we stroll on to the Boidevard St. Germain, and at the corner of the Rue Bonaparte we drop in at the old church of St. Geivnain des Prfc, to the historian one of the most memorable in Europe, for its foundation dates from thirteen centuries ago, and parts of what we see are far older than any church in London. There, with fragments of Merovingian building, we find the tomb of the greatest of modern philosophers — Rene Descartes. And as we come into the quarter of the Ecole de Medicine (a little below the square of the Odton, between it and the Boulevard St. Michel), ‘ here,’ says my friend, ‘ is the “ terre sainte de la Revolution,” ’ and he takes off his hat as a mark of respect, for he is a republican of the type of old Carnot, but in no sense a Jacobin. Then we come to the Mus/e Dupuytren, the surgical museum of Paris, formerly the refectory of the convent of the Cordeliers friars, of the Franciscan order, and in the revolution the Cordelier club of Danton and Camille Desmoulins.

St. Francis to express humility and love

Strange that the garb designed in the thirteenth century by the blessed St. Francis to express humility and love — the rough belt of cord — should become in the eighteenth century the synonym of passionate terrorism. A little further off was the house where Danton lodged and thus his statue is now placed beside it. My friend knew the nephew of Danton, who remembered the great tribune. And close by private tour istanbul, I have had pointed out to me the house where Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat in his bath. ‘ There,’ said my friend once, ‘in the terrible days of May, 1871, against that baker’s shop, I saw as he lay dead in his gore the body of poor Jules — an excellent soul but a flighty—and for three days no one dared to touch or remove it.’

Somewhat higher up the hill, just above the Sorbonne, we came upon a dingy little inn in a back street. There is a H6tel (then called St. Quentin) where J. J. Rousseau first stopped when he arrived in Paris, and there he first saw his wife, Therse Levasseur, who was a servant maid there; the story is told well in the Rousseau of Mr. John Morley. And we wander up the hill to the old St. Etienne du Mont, that strange potpourri of Renascence, Gothic, and classical bits; and there we search for the tombs of Racine and of Pascal, the body and monument of Racine having been removed from the old Port Royal, where he was originally laid, to be placed here beside Pascal.

Pascal lived and died close by this St. Etienne du Mont. I shall never forget the effect on my mind when one day sauntering up the hill from the Luxembourg garden to the observatory, I saw an old and dingy building of the seven-teenth century, now a women’s hospital. ‘ What is that? ’ I asked. ‘That,’ said my friend, ‘is the Port Royal of Paris, a dependance of the central Port Royal des Champs, and it was spared when the great seat of Jansenism was destroyed. What you see is the house where Sceur Ange- lique and the Arnauds removed for peace, which sheltered the Jansenists during twenty-five years of their most brilliant time. There Pascal met the Arnauds; there often came also Racine in his later years of theological mysticism.’ It is the only surviving monument of that wonderful movement in France that we know as Jansenism.

[wisdomrays]

THE MAIN FACTORS IN THE SPREADING OF ISLAM: Part 2

A. J. Arberry has also pointed out that the reason for the spread of Islam is Islam itself and its religious values. (Aspects of Islamic Civilization, p.12. He writes:

‘The rapidity of the spread of Islam, noticeably through extensive provinces which had long been Christian, is a crucial fact of history. The sublime rhetoric of the Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy…and the urgency of the simple message carried, holds the key to the mystery of one of the greatest catalysms in the history of religion. When all military, political and economic factors have been exhausted, the religious impulse must still be recognized as the most vital and enduring.’

Brockelman, who is usually very unsympathetic and partial, also recognizes the religious values of Islam as the main factor for the spread of Islam (History of the Islamic Peoples, p.37). Rosenthal makes his point as follows: ‘The more important factor for the spread of Islam is the religious Law of Islam (Shari‘a, which is an inclusive, all-embracing, all-comprehensive way of thinking and living) which was designed to cover all manifestations of life.’ (Political Thought in Medieval Islam, p.21).

Besides many other reasons which are responsible for the spread of Islam, it is the exemplary life-style and unceasing efforts of individual Muslims to transmit the message of Islam throughout the world which lie at the root of the conquest of hearts by Islam. Islamic universalism is closely associated with the principle of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf (enjoining the good) for Islam is to be spread by Muslims by means of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf. This principle seeks to convey the message of Islam to all human beings in the world and to establish a model Islamic community on a worldwide basis. The Islamic community is introduced by the Qur’an as a model community: We have made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses (models) for the peoples, and the Messenger has been a witness for you (2.143). A Muslim or the Muslim community as a whole thus has a goal to achieve. This is the spread of Islam, conveying the truth to the remotest corner of the world, the eradication of oppression and tyranny and the establishment of justice all over the world. This requires the Muslim to live an exemplary life, and thus the moral and the ethical values of Islam have usually played an important part in the spread of Islam. Here follow the impressions of the influence of Islamic ethics on black Africans of a Western writer of the nineteenth century:

‘As to the effects of Islam when first embraced by a Negro tribe, can there, when viewed as a whole, be any reasonable doubt? Polytheism disappears almost instantaneously; sorcery, with its attendant evils, gradually dies away; human sacrifice becomes a thing of the past. The general moral elevation is most marked; the natives begin for the first time in their history to dress, and that neatly. Squalid filth is replaced by some approach to personal cleanliness; hospitality becomes a religious duty; drunkenness, instead of the rule becomes a comparatively rare exception chastity is looked upon as one of the highest, and becomes, in fact, one of the commoner virtues. It is idleness that henceforward degrades, and industry that elevates, instead of the reverse. Offences are henceforward measured by a written code instead of the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain–a step, as everyone will admit, of vast importance in the progress of a tribe. The Mosque gives an idea of architecture at all events higher than any the Negro has yet had. A thirst for literature is created and that for works of science and philosophy as well as for the commentaries on the Qur’an.’ (Quoted from Waitz by B. Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism, pp.42-43)

The tolerance of Islam is another factor in the spread of Islam. Toynbee praises this tolerance towards the People of the Book after comparing it with the attitude of the Christians towards Muslims and Jews in their lands. (A Historian’s Approach to Religion, p.246). T. Link attributes the spread of Islam to the credibility of its principles together with its tolerance, persuasion and other kinds of attractions (A History of Religion). Makarios, Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch in the seventeenth century, compared the harsh treatment received by the Russians of the Orthodox Church at the hands of the Roman Catholic Poles with the tolerant attitude towards Orthodox Christians shown by the Ottoman Government and prayed for the Sultans (T. Link, A History of Religion).

This is not the only example of preference by the followers of the religions for Muslim rule over that of their own co-religionist. The Orthodox Christians of Byzantium openly expressed their preference for the Ottoman turban in Istanbul to the hats of the Catholic cardinals. Elisee Reclus, the French traveller of the nineteenth century, wrote that the Muslim Turk allowed all the followers of different religions to perform their religious duties and rituals, and that the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were more free to live their own lives than the Christians who lived in the lands under the rule of any rival Christian sect (Nouvelle Geographie Universelle, vol. 9). Popescu Ciocanel pays tribute to the Muslim Turks by stating that it was luck for the Romanian people that they lived under the government of the Turks rather than the domination of the Russians and Austrians. Otherwise, he points out, ‘no trace of the Romanian nation would have remained,’ (La Crise de l’Orient).

The Muslims’ attitude towards the people they conquered is quite clear in the instructions given by the rightly-guided Caliphs: ‘Always keep fear of God in your mind; remember that you cannot afford to do anything without His grace. Do not forget that Islam is a mission of peace and love. Keep the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) before you as a model of bravery and piety. Do not destroy fruit-trees nor fertile fields in your paths. Be just, and spare the feelings of the vanquished. Respect all religious persons who live in hermitages or convents and spare their edifices. Do not kill civilians. Do not outrage the chastity of women and the honour of the conquered. Do not harm old people and children. Do not accept any gifts from the civil population of any place. Do not billet your soldiers or officers in the houses of civilians. Do not forget to perform your daily prayers. Fear God. Remember that death will inevitably come to every one of you some time or other, even if you are thousands of miles away from a battlefield; therefore be always ready to face death.’ (Andrew Miller, Church History; Ali lbn Abi Talib, Nahj al-Balagha)

A historical episode which Balazouri, a famous Muslim historian, relates, tells about how pleased the native peoples were with their Muslim conquerors is of great significance:

When Heraclius massed his troops against the Muslims, and the Muslims heard that they were coming to meet them, they refunded the inhabitants of Hims the tribute they had taken from them, saying: ‘We are too busy to support and protect you. Take care of yourselves.’ But the people of Hims replied: ‘We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression and tyranny in which we were. The army of Heraclius we shall indeed, with your help, repulse from the city.’ The Jews rose and said: ‘We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Hims unless we are first vanquished and exhausted.’ Saying this, they closed the gates of the city and guarded them. The inhabitants of other cities–Christians and Jews–that had capitulated did the same. When by God’s help the unbelievers were defeated and Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went out with singers and players of music, and paid the tribute (Futuh al-Buldan).

To sum up, although most Western writers, under the instigation of biased Orientalists of the Church, have alleged that Islam spread by the force of the sword, the spread of Islam was because of its religious content and values, and ‘its power of appeal and ability to meet the spiritual and material needs of people adhering to cultures totally alien to their Muslim conquerors’, together with some other factors. Some of these factors are the tolerance which Islam showed to people of other religions, the absence of ecclesiastic orders and hierarchy in Islam, mental freedom and absolute justice which Islam envisages and has exercised throughout the centuries, the ethical values it propagates, and Islamic humanitarianism, universalism and brotherhood, and its inclusiveness. Sufi activities, the moral superiority of Muslim tradesmen, the principle of ‘enjoining the good’, and Islamic dynamism and the magnificence of the Islamic civilization contributed of their own to the spread of Islam.

The main religious qualities which attracted people to Islam were:

the simplicity of the theological doctrines of Islam based on the Divine Unity;

rationalism of the Islamic teachings;

the complete harmony of the Islamic ideals and values with human conscience;

the inclusiveness and comprehensives of Islam, covering all aspects of physical, mental, and spiritual life of individuals and societies, hence the harmony of religion and life which it established;

the lack of formalism and mediation;

the vividness, dynamism and resilience of the Islamic theology, and its creativity and universalism, and its compatibility with established scientific facts;

the cohesion and harmony of the Islamic principles, and

the shortcomings of other theological systems.