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شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
@sharghzadeh
May 28, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
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What does Rumi’s poetry have to do with Iran and Afghanistan Fighting? A thread 🧵

Since the Tālibān takeover, Iran’s government has been cautious but not hostile to the new government, to the chagrin of Iranians and many Afghans, especially the Persian-speaking Tājiks. Image
Early in the takeover days, Persian-speaking Afghans in the Panjshīr region began to resist the new Tālibān government.

They were led by Ahmad Masʿūd, the son of famous commander Ahmad Shah Masʿūd.

Many Iranians and Afghans believed that Iran should have supported resistance. ImageImage
Recently, Iranian border guards clashed with the Tālibān, leading to a few deaths. It might be related to tensions regarding water rights.

This prompted Ahmad Masʿūd to tweet a hemistich from Rumi:

“Didn’t I tell you don’t go there? I am your friend.” Image
Simply put, it means, “I told you so, I am your real friend in Afghanistan.”

Sending political messages with poetry may seem esoteric, but it is quite normal in Persian political culture.

Ali Shamkhani, once Iranian Minister of Defense recently resigned with a couplet: Image
If you are interested in the role of Persian poetry in Iran’s political culture, check out this article I wrote two years ago:

newlinesmag.com/essays/the-key… Image
I have also explained similar poetic messages from Iran’s former foreign minister, Javad Zarif:

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More from @sharghzadeh

شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
Sep 16, 2024
We need to learn something from the Jews:
don't take converts too seriously.

They should prove themselves for years before we invest anything in them.

Most converts have problems and our resource-strapped community is not equipped to deal with them.
Normal Westerners do not convert to Islam.

Most of them have problems, whether they be: a mental illness, an identity crisis, rebellion against parents, attraction to extreme ideologies, a desire to annoy society and engage in anti-social behaviors, etc.
For the sake of clarity, by 'convert' I don't mean an Arab Christian kid from Lebanon, or an Indian Hindu joining Islam, these are people who come from Islamicized societies, I mean people with absolutely no connection to this religion, like an Anglo American or a German.
Read 4 tweets
شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
Apr 24, 2024
🧵Western Mosques that are both beautiful and vernacular:

Dar al-Islam in Abiquiú New MexicoImage
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Fatih Mosque, Amsterdam


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Masjid Vaughan, Vaughan, Canada


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Read 9 tweets
شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
Aug 11, 2023
Middle Easterners are under the impression that their government is a foreign entity, as opposed to a reflection of the society.

"They are thieves"
"They are liars"
"They are curropt"
"They are nepotistic"
"They only care about themselves"

No, WE are all of those things...
...these traits are rampant in our societies.

Dads lord over their family like mini dictators.

Thievery and scamming are everyday occurances.

We constantly lie, to the extent that a truthful person is called a simpleton (sāda).

Our governments are just doing what we do!
A wise Sufi once said, "Don't curse Yazid, curse the Yazid inside of you!"

Our socities are full of Yazids, thank God we were not born in a palace!

If we were a minister, we would cheat, steal, embezzle, and hire our family members too.

That's why our complaints ring hollow.
Read 4 tweets
شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
May 29, 2023
The Navigating Differences document cements my theory that Islam in America will go the way of Judaism. 🧵
There will be reform-minded people, who compromise so many values that eventually their Islam becomes about biryani, TV shows, and Brown immigrant culture, in the same way that liberal Judiasm is about bagels, Jewish humor, Brooklyn accents, Chinese food on Christmas, etc.
Then there will be conservatives who are willing to compromise some things to exist in greater society, such as shaking hands with women, eating non-zabiha halal, mortgages, women marrying non-muslims, etc, the same way that conservative Jews have made similar compromises.
Read 7 tweets
شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
May 18, 2023
Muslims cry about Western colonization, our ancestors were engaged in the very same practises at the same level.

Muslims took slaves, looted, and erased cultures.

In an alternate timeline where Ottomans conquered the Americas, we would take pride in that as well.
Imagine a timeline where the majority of North Americans are Brown Muslims.

Then, poor European immigrants arrive and tear down statues of early Muslim leaders, complain that everything is too Muslim, etc.

Would a Muslim society accept that? I don't think we would.
This is why I find people who spend all day talking about colonization annoying.

We don't actually care about the crimes (which are only crimes in a liberal framework, by the way) we just care that we were the victims.

Had we been the victors, we would take no issues.
Read 7 tweets
شرق‌زده sharghzadeh Profile picture
May 17, 2023
Wanton destruction of old sites is par for the course in our countries.

The impulse to study and preserve relics is Western. Europeans founded Egyptology, not Egyptians.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great was identified by Europeans. Before they arrived, it was a grazing ground. Image
This page has documented just some of the insane destruction unleashed on Ahl al-Bayt shrines in Iran and Iraq. The carnage is just unimaginable.

More examples
Read 4 tweets

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