THREAD 🧵

✡️ 🇮🇱

1/7

A controversial doctrine in Judaism, or more particularly its mystical tradition, is that Jews have a different, markedly superior soul to non-Jews.

Such idea has been endorsed by the most authoritative rabbis, including the Rebbe (an assumed model for the likes of Ben Shapiro, Netanyahu and millions of Jews).

Rabbi Hanan Balk wrote an essay on the subject in 2013, "The Soul of a Jew and the Soul of a Non-Jew".

Therein he quotes many sources.

Let’s read. 👇 2/7

The Zohar, the main source of the Kabbalah :

"The people of Israel, the Zohar states, possess a living, holy, and elevated soul (“nefesh ḥayah kadisha ila’ah”), as opposed to the other nations, who are described as akin to animals and crawling creatures, which lack this “Divine” soul and possess only an “animal” soul."

THREAD 🧵

1/10

Because of the current tensions between Türkiye 🇹🇷 and Israel 🇮🇱 there’s a lot of historical revisionism about the situation of Jews in historical Türkiye, including the Ottoman Empire.

Here I’ll post some excerpts from book 📕 "The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic" by Standford Shaw.

It dismantles many myths and highlights lesser known facts such as the Jewish support of Ottoman conquests.

It goes way beyond welcoming +200k Jews who fled Spain 🇪🇸 / Portugal 🇵🇹 and some might be surprised to learn that Mehmed 2, the conqueror of Constantinople at 21, might have been *the* most pro-Jewish premodern ruler.

It also includes testimonies from rabbis who contrasted their Ottoman life to the harsher European conditions and incited the Jews of Europe to move into the Ottoman provinces.

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"These Ottoman conquests marked a very substantial change for the Jews of the Middle East and Europe. They meant instant liberation, not only from subjugation, persecution, and humiliation but often from actual slavery in Christian hands. As a result, Jews contributed significantly to the Ottoman conquests."

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SHORT THREAD

1/6

The "Dönmeh" of Türkiye are crypto-Jews, that is, ethnic Jews who outwardly profess Islam but in reality perpetuate the idea of Sabbatai Zevi, a 16th-century fake Messiah whose approach to morality was grounded in particular interpretations of the Talmud and especially the Kabbalah tradition, notably the idea of "redemption through sin" : that the Messianic era would be precipitated the *more* you'd sin, thus Sabbateans indulged in overtly sinful activities such as orgies [see my article at the end for more information on their metaphysics].

The Dönmeh have played a major role in the modernization of Türkiye, over-represented when looking at their population, e.g. as members of the Young Turks (see Mehmed Cavid, Doctor Nazım, Hasan Tahsin or Sabiha Sertel, the first Turkish female journalist); this has been detailed by Marc Baer in a major book on the question (published in 2010), even if he argues that it was a form of self-sabotage as the "cosmopolitan" Ottoman Empire was more welcoming of them than the "secular-nationalist" Turkish Republic they'd shape.

It's said that, despite assimilation (marriage with Turkish Muslims), there are still 10s of 1000s of Dönmeh, often in influential positions, even in recent times (İsmail Cem, the leftist Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2002, during his last year the controversy rising as many said that he'd succumb to the US pressure to invade Iraq due to his ethnic background).

I want to share an article written for the Jewish Chronicle in 2003, which is a profile of the group (the London-based JC is the oldest continuing Jewish newspaper.)

As the Jewish author Mordechai Beck asserts, the Dönmeh are no representatives of traditional Judaism, obviously, being the followers of a false Messiah. Still, while not (normative) Jews when it comes to *religion*, they're Jews in terms of *ethnicity* and thus a parcel of "Jewish identity politics", that can be manifested through different ideologies (*not* limited to Zionism). 2/6

He begins by talking of a bomb attack on a synagogue, and the perpetrators blamed Dönmeh for various ills of the Turkish society :

SHORT THREAD 🧵

1/11

A lot of people seem to be surprised at the "full support" shown by Indians 🇮🇳, at least its Hindu 🕉️nationalists, for Israel. 🇮🇱

Many seem to think that it all began when BJP got into power in 2014, yet in 1978 already a book unveiled such a union, "The Unholy Alliance: Indo-Israel Collaboration Against the Muslim World".

The book shows that both Hindu nationalists and secularists have favored Israel, a "full support" which has been manifested both at the level of the elit as well among the general public of the Hindus.

Let's go through some of its points. 2/11

In the foreword by an Arab scholar originally from Palestine, Ihsan Haqqi, the book begins by comparing the Zionist onslaught on Palestine to that of India in the Hyderabad State, a princely state which was the richest in India and also headed by a Muslim who financed Islamic causes.

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Bad news 😱 for Christian Zionists & Hindutva : Maimonides (12th century), the single most influential rabbi in history, said

“They must renounce their [idol] worship or be slain […] if we see an idolater being swept away or drowning in the river, we should not help him.”
“From the above, we can infer that it is forbidden to offer medical treatment to an idolater even when offered a wage.”

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A.K. Brohi [1915–1987] 🇵🇰 was one of the most influential jurists of the region, began "secular" before getting close to "Islamist" Gen. Zia (Brohi is on the right in the pic.)

In 1966, this is what he wrote on the effects of "affluence" on women/family system/society.

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"It is not only the earning of money by lawful means that is the current Gospel—it is the worship of wealth itself that is the dominant duty."

1/9

China’s 🇨🇳 little-known but substantial assistance to the Mujahideen 🇦🇫 against the Soviets, also involving Mao Zedong’s grandson Kong Jining.

Thread 🧵 2/9

"For the first decades of the relationship, Afghanistan was largely peripheral to China’s interests."

1/15

Zhang Chengzhi [b. 1948] is one of China’s 🇨🇳 best known writers today, an anthropologist (Mongolia 🇲🇳/Japan 🇯🇵) turned poet & novelist.

Maoist activist during his student days (coined the term "Red Guard") he later evolved into a Pan-Islamist ☪️ YET remaining Maoist.

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In 2012 he went to Palestine 🇵🇸 :

"[…] swathed in a black-and white-check Palestinian scarf, the keffiyeh, Zhang addressed an audience made up of inhabitants of the camp. He and his party brought with them to the event a cardboard box filled with $100,000 […]"

1/6

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto [1928–1979], President [1971–1973] & then PM [1973–1977] of Pakistan 🇵🇰, and his concept of "Islamic Socialism" by the 1960s onwards.

Thread 🧵 2/6

"Why socialist parties have not succeeded in India is because Hinduism is against socialism, just as it is against Islam. Hinduism can never tolerate socialism, because the Hindu religion provides for various classes."

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"Importance of religion in life" in Pakistan 🇵🇰 as per the World Values Survey Wave 7 [2017-2022].

By ETHNIC GROUP :

(for other variables — age, education, social class … — see below 👇) By AGE :

1/5

Mullah ‘Umar 🇦🇫 🏳️ could be critical of both the religious/morality police and the Pashtunwali, "the [pre-Islamic] tribal code" of the Afghans-Pashtuns than can eventually be conflictual from the perspective of the Sharia.

Short thread 🧵 2/5

"Mullah Omar and the other Taliban leaders were very concerned about the intimidating behavior of the religious police in Kabul."

1/6

King Fahd was Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦’s Crown Prince from 1975 to 1982 after which he’d remain King 👑 till 2005.

Under his rule, the Kingdom adopted a critical stance about the West and, in particular, the US 🇺🇸 and Zionism. 🇮🇱

Rhetoric sounded like post-‘79 Iran 🇮🇷

Thread 🧵 2/6

"Saudi editorials accused the ‘enemies of Arabs and Islam’ of implementing a campaign initiated by ‘foreign news sources’ that were intended to discredit the state. Western media commentaries were described as seeking to ‘weaken the people’s morale’ […]"

1/7

İbrahim Kalın has just been selected as the director of the MİT, Türkiye’s national intelligence agency.

Earlier he served as Erdoğan’s spokesperson for many years.

But he began as an academic specialized in Islamic metaphysics.

Here he criticizes Western rationalism.

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"As a mark of modernity, reason has been constructed as a self regulating principle and the arbiter of truth from the mathematical and physical sciences to social and political orders […] has never worked as expected."

1/7

General Zia-ul-Haq [1924–1988], "Islamic dictator-president" of Pakistan 🇵🇰 [1978–1988], and some of his thoughts on Islam ☪️ as derived from few speeches 🎤

Short thread 🧵 2/7

"Muslim countries must consider ways and means for the collective defence of the Islamic ummah rather than the defence of individual countries."

1/11

Necmettin Erbakan [1926–2011], early mentor of Erdoğan (before parting ways later due to differences in foreign policy), is considered the father of "Islamist politics" in the mainstream Turkish 🇹🇷 democracy.

This is how he initiated a movement from 1970 onward.

Thread 🧵 2/11

He was a mechanical engineer, being one of the first post-WW2 Turkish students to graduate from Germany 🇩🇪 ; as a student already he was implicated with the Naqshbandis.

1/9

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Felix Siauw [born 1984], a convert ☪️ of Chinese descent, is one of the most popular preachers in Indonesia, with many millions of followers on social media.

Known for his "radical" positions, there’s not much in English about him, but there’s this 2018 article.

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Some bio : he was born into a Catholic ✝️ family and has been associated with Hizb ut Tahir Indonesia (now banned), an Islamist movement known for his pro-Khilafa position in particular, reflected in the names of Felix’ children.

1/6

Ryoichi [‘Umar] Mita [1892–1983] was a Japanese 🇯🇵 economist & social worker who reverted to Islam ☪️ & wrote books 📚 related to the religion.

Also translated the Qur’an, his translation being the first by a Japanese convert.

These are some of his thoughts on Islam.

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"The righteous way of life as taught by Islam, was shown to me by our Pakistani 🇵🇰 Tablighi brethern (Missionaries), who visited my country and to whom I am deeply grateful."

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Within the Muslim discourse, there are 4️⃣ approaches to evolution, which are :

1️⃣ Creationism

2️⃣ Human exceptionalism

3️⃣ Adamic exceptionalism

4️⃣ No exceptions

As Shoaib Ahmed Malik details in 📖 "Islam and Evolution".

To make it simple 1 post = 1 thinker

👇

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Summarized classification :

1/16

Emir Abdelkader [1808–1883] of Algeria 🇩🇿, a philosopher-poet grounded in Islamic scholarship turned warrior, and his struggle of more than a decade [1832–1847] against French 🇫🇷 imperialism.

Thread 🧵 2/16

Context of the French invasion :

1/6

General Zia-ul-Haq, the "Islamist dictator" 🇵🇰 [1978–1988], on education, including the traditional role of the mosque 🕌 as "the nucleus of the community", in a 1977 speech 🎤 delivered at the National Educational Conference, Islamabad.

Short thread 🧵 2/6

"Mosque has been the nucleus of our community. It is not merely a place of worship. It is the community centre and also the educational centre in the community. During the colonial days it did not suit our rulers that we maintain and strengthen our social institutions […]"

1/11

The Hejaz railway 🚃 was a project of Sultan Abdülhamid II that aimed to help Muslims for Hajj. 🕋

Supported by ordinary Muslims (no European 🏦 loans) it connected Damascus 🇸🇾 to Medina 🇸🇦

But the role of a Punjabi-Muslim 🇵🇰 writer ✍️, Inshaullah, is little known.

🧵 2/11

This railway also had a symbolic significance outside the Sultan’s Pan-Islamism, as it projected the Ottoman Empire as a great power on par with the West, due to its abilities for technology/infrastructure :