Fly Buy Dubai July 07

Sitting at a riverside cafe ‘The Blue Barjeel’ . Its 33.4 Centigrade according to my newly acquired Casio dual time watch (my imitation Rolex purchased in Islamabad has broken again!) Its 10pm and I’ve just crossed over by Abra water taxi from Al Sabka to Dubai Old Souk on the other side of the Creek.
I’m in Dubai on a stopover from London to Seoul. I had a few hours to kill so I’ve left the airport and have been shopping.

I also love wandering along the Creek (by the two Rolex Towers) looking at the boats - mainly Dhows in various shapes and sizes from Iran India Pakistan, Yemen - with names like MSV Alisha, Araral Balaji, Shere Nasav MSV, Al Hussein. Goods piled high ready for loading - white bales of anonymous materials, used Toyota Cars (also white), Tins of vegetable oil, Cartons of Alsinsa Cola, Boxes of Rocket Batteries. Pandano Cranes and Sumitamo Forklifts parked in readiness for the early morning shift.

Michael Palin travelled on one of these when he made the film travelling ‘Around the world in 80 days’ and Gavin Young in his book ‘Slow Boats to China’ Maybe, just one day.....

It feels good to be back in the region again, drinking or rather sipping Arabic coffee (although the menu surprisingly called it Turkish coffee - especially since the owner is a Syrian from Damascus)
I enjoy just getting out of the Airport and feeling the temperature, walking, talking to people (Urdu gets you a long way in this part of the world especially with Taxi drivers and shopkeepers). I’m tired , thirsty and sweaty. Its noisy, lots of traffic, people walking up and down clutching their plastic shoppers and plastic bottled water. There is a gentle breeze from the water.
A constant stream of people board the Abras crossing over from the Bur Dubai Abra station and occasional bigger Restaurant boats cut across their bows. All brightly lit up, coloured lights painting pastel patterns on the water’s face. At this time of night the water’s as black as the dregs of my Arabic coffee.
On the opposite bank is the St George Hotel, blue neon lights highly visible. Strange that a Saint should be so brazen in this part of the world. Maybe its a sign! He originates from the Levant - I came across him in Lod (currently in Israel) and was shown around one of the many churches dedicated to his name. They insisted he came from there. He is certainly well known in the Middle East.

But the Dragon to be slain here is not made of hide and blood and yet it still hoards gold and all that glitters. Dubai is full of blatant commercialism.. Dubai is one big shopping Mall - an edifice to Mammon. Consumerism gone mad. All bright lights and endless energy. So strange to have a free port in such a Muslim enclave.

The International airport - home to modern dragons made by Airbus and Boeing - reflects this in its slogan: ‘Fly Buy Dubai’

Balthasar’s Odyssey October 2004

Amin Maalouf: ‘Balthasar’s Odyssey’ (Vintage 2003) translated from the French by Barbara Bray
ISBN 0 09 945208 1

see review on  http://www.spikemagazine.com/0704aminmaalouf.php

Ottoman Istanbul   

Anticipating a global catastrophe in 1666 the ‘year of the beast’, when the end of the world is prophesied, Balthasar Embriaco, a dealer in curiosities from the Levant, sets out in search of a rare book. In addition to the 99 names revealed in the Koran, the ‘Hundredth Name’ is thought to reveal the highest name of God, which will be able to avert the apocalyptic disaster. Balthasar’s Odyssey takes him to Constantinople through treacherous Mediterranean seas to Genoa and through a naval war zone to Europe. He arrives in London shortly before the Great Fire.

The insights from people on the journey seemed somehow relevant to today’s inter-faith arena.

The Blind Sheikh Abdel-Bassit:

‘Istanbul, Istanbul. To those that have eyes it’s hard to say the world has nothing to show. Yet it’s true, believe me. If you want to know the world, all you need to do is listen. What people see when they travel is never more than an illusion. Shadows chasing other shadows. The roads and the countries teach us nothing we don’t know already, nothing we can’t hear within ourselves in the peace of the night'  (p24)

Boumeh, his nephew:

‘Allah is just a concentration of ‘al ilah’ which simply means ‘the god’ It’s not a name, it’s just a designation’. (p 96)

Ali Esphanai, fellow traveller:

Ever since the dawn of Islam scholars have argued over a verse that occurs three times in similar terms in the Koran and lends itself to various interpretations. He quoted the phrase carefully: ‘Fa sabbih bismi rabbika-I-azim,’ which may be translated as ‘Glorify the name of your Lord – the Most High. The ambiguity arises from the fact that in Arabic the epithet ‘I-azim’, ‘the Most High’, may refer wither to the Lord or to His Name. In the first case the verse is merely a normal exhortation to glorify the name of the Lord. But if the second interpretation is correct the verse might mean ‘Glorify your Lord by His Highest Name’, which would suggest that among the names of God there is a major one which is superior to all the others, the invoking of which produces special results (p274)

Father Thomas:

The only way for a Christian to address God is through prayer. He must be humble and obedient and tell him of his own grievances and hope concluding by saying Amen and trusting that His will may be done. Proud men, on the other hand, look in the books of the magicians for forms of words that they think can alter or divert God’s will. They imagine Providence as a ship, whose tiller they, poor mortals through they are, may manipulate to suit their own purposes. But God is not a ship – He is the Master of all ships , and of the seas, and of quiet skies and tempests alike. He cannot be ruled by forms of words, invented by magicians, nor constrained by phrases or figures. He is incomprehensible and unpredictable, and woe to him who thinks he can tame him! (p94/5)

Balthasar himself reflects:

‘When people think the world is about to founder, something goes wrong and men lapse into either extreme devotion or extreme debauchery.’ (p66)

I enjoyed Balthasar, a ‘bewildered and worldly hero’ in this historical novel, cum spiritual treatise, cum travelogue. But then I am not like the blind Sheik. Travel (and travel writing) is for me a way of reflection.

From your own correspondent

Woking Oct 2004

The Metropolitan and the Mufti Aleppo Sept 2004

Christians are better off in Syria than anywhere else in the Middle East. Other than Lebanon, this is the only country in the region where a Christian can really feel the equal of a Muslim – and Lebanon of course has many other problems. In Syria there is no enmity between Christian and Muslim. If Syria were not here, we would be finished. Really. It is a place of sanctuary, a haven for all the Christians; for the Nestorians & Chaldeans driven out of Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox and the Armenians driven out of Turkey, even some Palestinian Christians driven out of the Holy Land by the Israelis. Talk to people here and you will find that what I say is true’

Mar Gregorios in Dalrymple’s book 

From the Holy Mountain (Flamingo 1998) page 150

When William Dalrymple, author of the ‘From the Holy Mountain’ met the Metropolitan he described him as a

‘small round figure’ who walked in backwards telephone in hand, talking animatedly ‘He turned a pirouette and advanced towards me his free hand extended. He finished his telephone call, snapped shut the phone with a flick of his thumb and popped it into his cassock pocket.’ He then showed him some architects plans and blueprints that were on a table.

The scene was almost exactly re-enacted for us. Archbishop Yohanna 

Ibrahim showed us plans for an old people’s home in the new Syrian quarter – on 7537 metres of land given by the government. The blue print had 4 floors of hospital and 2 floors of an old peoples’ home. ‘How can CMS help with the construction?’ was the implied question.

Christians are a sizable presence here. Christians are now around 5% of the population but at one point there were as many as 50%. There are 11 denominations: 6 of them Catholic and many churches. The Syrian Orthodox church is growing and rebuilding itself, even though many are still leaving for the West. ‘But Syria is still a place where a Christian can feel an equal citizen with a Muslim.’ the Archbishop assured us. 

Like so many in the region, the archbishop hospitably dropped everything to show us around his diocese. 

Our tour included 2 Schools, a Clinic, a Hospital and a Church.First a private co-ed school - Ben e Talub – which has 800 primary students in years 4 to12, around 300 of them on scholarships, supported by World Vision. According to the register, the St Ephraim dispensary saw 17,164 patients in 2002. It is a converted old ‘Bohemian’ house in popular city centre, where about 25 are treated and a further 25 referred per day. While we were there, a young Muslim woman in Hijab (head covering) was visiting the dentist, whilst she happily let her baby be looked after by the Christian staff. 

At the second dispensary, in the Syrian quarter of Hay Sulemania, a dentist and a general medic see around 5000 patients per annum.The Diocese also has a Hospital, started by Dr. Altonian in 1918. He is famous for bringing the first X-ray to Syria. We saw a display case of old instruments, including gold nails for orthopaedic work and ivory ophthalmology instruments.A nurse was nursing her father who had recovering from a RTA. Another Armenian nurse ran the gynae ward. The hospital had 2 operating theatres, a delivery room and an ophthalmic theatre.

In Azizi the Church of St George celebrates the story of King Abgar. He wrote to Jesus to come and heal him. According to tradition, Jesus sent one of 70, the disciple Adai, with the‘Mendellion’, a face cloth, which produced the necessary miracle and healed the king. This became the first principality to be baptised Christian. 

The church has an attached school, built with $ 1/4 million, donated by a parishioner in Belgium. ‘It was reburbished a week ago. We are still getting organised’ explained principal Sarah Ghramji. CMS-Interchange may be able to arrange for her to visit schools in UK to help improve the standards. Not so much investing in buildings, but more in people.Mar Gregorios was apologetic: ‘We have everything here, but on a small scale’. He certainly has big vision.

'The Mufti of Aleppo'   Ahmad Masoun

“Once a child asked me ‘why does religion came from hot country ?’ I told him it was to raise the temperature in the cold countries!”

The Archbishop took us to meet the Mufti. ‘Pepper and Salt’ I called them. His house had a special reception room for guests – with chandeliers and walls lined with bookcases, full of Islamic books and treatises. ‘Mufti’ means the ‘one who gives interpretation’. His base is the mosque of Rowda garden where 30-40,000 go to listen to him in mosque. With the recent death of the Grand Mufti of Syria, he is a possible candidate. He was charming, open and full of hope, good news in the midst of so much bad interfaith. Over honeyed tea, he spoke of many things. About the need for real dialogue - not just a constitutional dialogue. Aleppo is a good example of this. Inter-faith is in the open – it’s on the street. The two faiths work closely together.

Syria and Palestine are the seed-bed of religion. The prophets came from here – It is the place that God chose.Christians, especially Arab Christian, have a lot to contribute –‘It was a fatal mistakes to evacuate minorities from the area’…‘Christians and Muslims have been brought up here as brothers, We even shared the same wet nurse….Local mothers feed each others babies.’

There is an old old tradition of Mariam's feast (sufra) to remember Jesus birth, because there was no one there to celebrate, when He was actually born. ‘So we also celebrate today, as Muslims. This is a tradition my grandmother taught me.'

There was great openness between the faiths until the Zionist state was formed. Then it went bad…This ‘clash of civilization’ is not of God. Religion does not clash in itself. Although Protestant religion is ‘man-made’, he corrected ‘they use the Bible as a front - But there should be no fight between two prophets. The war in Iraq has severely damaged co-operation. Everyone knew what would happen. I said you must think before you open fire…this fire will burn you… it opens the doors to hell. It is always more difficult to rebuild than to destroy. The key to hell is in the hands of politicians: the key to heaven is in the hands of religious leaders.

We always pray for Palestine, but together the politicians seem determined to keep the door of heaven firmly closed. The Sons of Abraham should not be teaching animosity and war! My hope is that pain will cause people to return for healing, but are we ready to comfort the people as they return to God?

He was very happy and proud and most encouraged by the example of men of faith. He sent warm greeting to the Archbishop of Canterbury, together with Prince Charles, especially appreciating their stand and statements in the arena of interfaith. ‘But not to all religions leaders in Britain’ he added, ‘some are failures!’ His parting message to the people of the UK, who keep carrying the message of peace:

‘‘if the flames continue, everyone will catch fire… we can only extinguish them by light.’

The Mufti showing a model of the Kaaba. - He has suggested that, in the spirit of openness, Christian groups should be allowed to visit. Maybe this will be the first ‘Praxis Mecca’ !

The Archbishop of Aleppo’s words about coexistence certainly seemed true. The Syrians Christians we met appear to experience refreshingly good relations with Muslims. But the last word goes to our driver, Raymond, an accountant who recently returned from Saudi.

‘We have a good future between the religions. I have seen it with my own eyes. We do not need to leave. His eminence is giving us a good hope’.

From your own correspondent
Aleppo: Sept 2004

Istanbul – THE CITY March 2003

Istanbul – THE CITY

Istanbul is the only city in the world that stands astride two continents. The main part of the city, which forms the south-easternmost extremity of Europe, is separated from its suburbs in Asia by the Bosphorus, which flows through a deep cleft that separates the two continents in the north-western corner of Turkey. The European part of the city is further divided by the golden Horn, a scimitar-shaped estuary fed at its upper end by two streams known as the Sweet Waters of Europe, the Greek Cydaros and Barbyzes… The Horn divides the European side of the city into two parts, with the medieval port quarter of Galata on the north and on the south the ancient imperial capital itself, the old city that some prefer to call Stamboul, though for Greeks it will always be Constantinopolis or in English Constantinople.

John Freely ‘Istanbul: The Imperial City’ (Viking, 1996) pg 3-4

This is indeed as John Freely describes it,

‘the Imperial City, the capital in turn of two world empires over a period of nearly 16 centuries’. Monuments and ruins of Byzantine and Ottoman empires crown the hills on either side of the strait. ‘stin polis’ in Greek means ‘in the city’ or ‘to the city’ - needing no other name to identify it, for this is truly The City beyond compare’

John Freely op cit pg315

Now midway through the twenty-seventh century of its tumultuous existence, the City has survived sieges, sacks, conquests, civil wars, riots, plagues, fires, earthquakes, and modern construction projects; retaining its identity through successive changes of name, population, language, religion and political status; occupied in turn by Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, crusaders, Byzantines again and then Turks, followed by the Allied nations of Europe, with large minorities of Latins, Armenians, Jews, Arabs, Bulgars, Macedonians, Albanians, Russians and other ethnic groups during various eras of its history; its essential character and spirit enduring through the ages, almost as if it had an immortal soul. 

As Petrus Gyllius noted more than four centuries ago, when he set out to describe the topography of the imperial city on the Bospherus,

‘It seems to me that while other cities are mortal, this one will endure as long as there are men on earth.’

In 2002, travelling through with a colleague Mark, we had visited Rev Ian Sherwood and Christ Church, known as the ‘Crimea Church’ on the Asian side. He is part of the Diocese of Europe The Church of England has been quicker adopting Turkey than the European Union.

In 2003, we stayed in the Imperial quarter of the city, in a cheap hotel overflowing with Iranians and Russians. This year it was in some back streets nearer the Hagai Sophia, more in the heart of Istanbul. It was the haunt of Dutch and Germans. Friends of ours, who we met up with for a Turkish kebab meal were able to show us the ideal location - a cheap comfortable hotel with views of the Haggai Sophia and the Blue Mosque from the bedroom window -stunning lit up at night.

ANGLICAN DIOCESE 

‘English congregations and churches have been established on the European mainland since before the Reformation. The number of these grew to such an extent that they were grouped from 1633 under the Episcopal care of the bishop of London, and later through a specially commissioned bishop. During the subsequent 200 and more years Anglican diocese were founded in many parts of the world. Among them, from 1842 the diocese of Gibraltar placed under the care of a bishop Anglican congregations in territories bordering he Mediterranean and other parts of south-west Europe. Northern and central mainland Europe remained under the care of the bishop of London. In July 1980 a single diocese was formed from the two areas. The Diocese in Europe is present in 42 countries with around 250 chaplainries and congregations and forms part of the Province of Canterbury’ 

from Diocese in Europe Concise Directory of Chaplaincies 2001-2002