COMMON SENSE
By Hassan Al-Haifi
The puritanical sects that took on many names and covers, spread throughout the Moslem World, under a loosely tied network, with icons of the movement rapidly catching media attention. The spread and prestige achieved by these various dubious institutions that emerged gradually began to take on the image as being representative of Islamic thought and doctrine.
Furthermore they took on the shape of political movements in the various states that made up the Moslem World, taking full advantage of whatever marginal political freedoms were made available in these states. In many areas, they also took on a paramilitary presence, with established training grounds and with their icons roaming around the country with heavily armed escorts.
Once these puritanical institutions established firm grounds in any country, they began to forcefully put their will upon the Moslems of these countries demanding that only their views on all matters of religion be accepted by all, and anyone who refuses shall be considered as a heathen or a heretic. Thus another factor that worked against the development of the other rational, traditional Psalmists, who painstakingly sought to protect what they could of the tolerance and compassion which Islam truly conveyed. It is noteworthy to mention that the major factors that helped these puritanical sects gain rapid momentum over the last three decades were as follows:
• Widespread illiteracy and ignorance among most of the populations of the Moslem World and the inability of the prevailing regimes in these states to provide widespread educational and other social services to the populations of these states.
• The substantial funding that the propagators and organizers of these institutions had access to, most of which came from the followers of these puritanical sects in some of the rich Gulf States.
• The seemingly innocent and excessive religious character of these movements appealed to innocent followers of Islam, who could not characterize these movements properly. Many Moslems saw in the active excessive adherence portrayed by these groups as more attractive to the spread of vice and corruption that prevailed in many Moslem states, which faithful Moslems saw as rightly being anathema to Islam.
• The ample media sensations created by the propagators of these puritanical, so called orthodox sects.
• Their tight net organizational and clandestine nature of their activities, which lacked any transparency, and thus were not subject to questioning even by the mass constituencies that have fallen under these movements.
• The ability of the followers of these creeds to convey to the United States and other Western allies that they can guarantee victory against Communism. This led to substantial clandestine military as well as tactical support for these movements, in areas like Afghanistan, Bosnia and Central Asia.
• The tendency of some regimes in the Moslem World to ally themselves politically with these movements, with a mutual tacit laisse-faire attitude of the regime and the proponents of these movements, as long as each stayed within agreed lines limiting the attacks against the respective side. The Sudan was one of the first to declare itself free from such clandestine political arrangement.
There are many other reasons why these movements began to take on the position of the leading Psalmists in the Moslem states, but it is clear that these movements have done great harm to the image of Islam and to the future hopes of the Moslem Nation. It is the challenge of trying to offset all this damage that has been caused that true Moslem activists must work to achieve, if Islam is to regain its true face in the world as a creed that insists on peace and human rights for all citizens of the world and values human life and works to spread welfare and prosperity for all human beings.

BY JUDITH BROWN
I would like to reply to the article in this week's Yemen Times by an American, Dr. Arthur Bellinzoni, in which he asks the question, "Can Muslims adapt to the 21st Century?" (Issue 43).
He states, inaccurately, that Jewish and Christian fundamentalism are things of the past, and the only fundamentalism we have to worry about is Islam.
Oh, no, Dr. Bellinzoni, you are just looking at things from your own very one-sided view. Jewish fundamentalism is alive and well, as I and many European friends have witnessed when we see the way settlers behave in the Arab territories that Israel occupies, killing, torturing, dispossessing Arabs, all with the excuse that "God gave them this land".
Let's get it straight. Their God told them they could have the land providing they looked after the land and the people of it, but instead they choose to humiliate Arabs who are prepared to share the land with them. This type of Jew destroys Arab lives and the land they live on. This is not true Judaism which is firmly based on a system of justice.
American Christian fundamentalists on the other hand think that if "The Promised Land" is fully occupied by Jews, then there will be another Messiah who will come down and convert the whole world to Christianity.
They use the far from perfect American democratic system to tie the hands of the political leaders forcing them to support the truly evil regime in Israel, all in the name of their God.
This does not mean that Jews and Christians are inherently wicked. Here in the UK and also in Israel there are many organizations where Jews, Muslims, Christians and others work together respectfully for peace. We are the ones who are not fundamentalists.
I have many Muslim friends in Yemen, they are like sisters to me. The thoughtful love and consideration which they unfailingly demonstrate to me, a non-Muslim, proves that they are far from fundamentalist, and I can assure you they are the vast majority.
Dr. Bellinzoni, over many years I have worked closely with Muslims and I do not find them less progressive than my British and American friends and relatives. I do not find them less able to adapt to this century.
It is a sign of your own racism and religious prejudice that you think so. All people, of all races and religions, are the same mix of good and bad. Muslims react against the West because our nations vilify them and arrogantly act as if their land and resources are ours, not because of religious fervor.
Until you and those like you realize that, there will be no peace in the world. It is you who have to adapt to reality of the times we live in, not Muslims.

BY JANET WATSON
As a child, I used to watch a television series called Dr Who. Dr Who had a tardis - a large box which resembled a police telephone box from the outside, but which from the inside was the size of a spaceship. This machine took him across dimensions of time and space instantly.
Now, as I sit in my English kitchen, looking at my postcards from Yemen, I long for a tardis. To be able to get up and walk into Sug al-Bagar or Bab al-Yaman or Bab Shu'ub. Maybe for a weekend, or maybe just for an afternoon's qat chew, or an evening with my Yemeni women friends watching the Syrian sahrah. The cards on the wall make San'a seem so close, so real. A telephone call so clear, I could be calling my neighbor.
I left Yemen some time ago after spending almost two years in the country. The ease with which I stepped on to the plane to London belied the vast difference between my life in Yemen and my life in England. In England I ride a bicycle; my clothes are different; the weather is colder; I work in an office; I teach Arabic to undergraduate students; I shop in supermarkets; the bread, a symbol of life, is wrapped in plastic.
In Yemen I walk almost everywhere; I climb hundreds of stairs a week to visit friends; I do not have to answer e-mails; I rarely sit on my own; the bread, a symbol of life, is fresh.
Above all, in England, it is the fresh spontaneity of Yemen that I miss. I miss the daily contact with my women friends. I miss the control I have over my life. People often speak about how difficult and frustrating life can be in the Middle East. I think I know what they mean, but it is not my experience. It is in England where time is master that time is wasted, through the very routine of the country, the strict office hours, the timetables, the meetings, the energy-sapping appointments, the plastic wrappings.
In Yemen, the day stretches miraculously from the fresh, sharp light of early morning to the comforting warmth of late evening. I need no means to count the time in Yemen. Time is not my master here. The bread, reflecting life, is fresh.