Tag Archives: Sufism

14May/08

Iranians in Fear of Fear

Human Rights, Iran, Islam and Democracy, , , , , , ,

By Nir Boms and Reza Bulorchi
Published March 23, 2006

Following two decades of Tehran’s lies and three years of international wishful thinking, Iran’s nuclear case was finally brought to the hands of the U.N. Security Council. In the meantime the mullahcracy in Tehran has been gearing itself for another phase of international standoff.   

On the same day Tehran declared “the Russian proposal is no longer on our agenda.” the Sunday Telegraph reported that Iran has built a secret underground emergency command center in north Tehran as “they prepare for a confrontation with the West over their illicit nuclear program.”     Continue reading →

12May/08

A Twist of Faith in Syria

Middle East, Syria, ,

By Nir Boms
Published July 28, 2006

Another bomb of Syrian origin exploded – but this time it did not hit Haifa, Israel, but rather Washington. Although its impact inside the corridors of the Capitol, where it was quietly detonated, was barely noticed, it was felt in the Middle East and has given Syrian dictator Bashar Assad another reason to worry. 

The “bomb”: a well-known and respected Sufi scholar from Syria, Sheikh Abdullah AlgharibAlhamadAltamimee, stepped off a plane in Washington and publicly called for Mr. Assad’s ouster. While the development may not appear significant on the surface, the sheikh has broken the thousand-year-old Sufi tradition of refraining from politics. 

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11May/08

A Sheikh Speaks

Middle East, Syria,

By NIR BOMS
August 9, 2006

When Sheikh Abdullah Algharib Alhamad Altamimee, a Syrian Sufi scholar who has been teaching Islam for 13 years, decided to speak against the Assad regime, he broke with a thousand years of Sufi tradition. When he decided to travel to Washington last month and officially join the ranks of opposition, he told his wife that his life was no longer in his hands. His call for change could not have come at a more difficult time, in the midst of another bloody chapter in the Middle East. Yet perhaps now is when his words are needed most.

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