Islam is a religion of peace. The word Islam means “submission” or in other words the total surrender of oneself to God. Islam was originated in the 7th century with the teachings of the last Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Holy book Quran was revealed by God to Muhammad (PBUH). Muhammad (PBUH) was a God’s Messenger.
Reza Aslan is a writer who has written the book entitled “NO GOD BUT GOD”. The thing which forced him to write this book was the misconception of the Muslims related to the religion. He was watching and demonstrating different issues and events from the last few years happening in the World. He realized that Muslims in the name of their religion are doing certain things which are prohibited in Islam. Not only this book is a call to reform and to end the religious battle between East and West.
Reza is an Iranian but lives in United States. He is a Muslim writer and scholar of religions. He in his book said that the Islamic Reformation is somehow happening. We are actually living in Islamic reforming World. After the 9/11 the United States is against the Muslims. The United States calls them Terrorist and is still fighting against Terrorism. On the other hand the activities in the name of Jihad made by Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden are just for Islamic Reformation. They have their own point of view. Al-Qaeda has reached to the extremism but in the light of Islam attacking and killing innocent people does not come under the name of Jihad. Reza Aslan in his book is strongly in favor of women’s rights. He argued that Islam is the only religion which has given a great status to women in the society. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for the first time increased the women’s rights. The women fought with the men in different battles. He argued that if a woman of those times can fight with men than why not a woman of today works with men. He on the other hand clears one of the most important misconceptions about veil of women. The imposition of veil to women is not found in the Quran.
He thinks that many wrong concepts have been entered in Islam which is creating a false image about the Muslims. One of the images about Muslims is the Terrorist. There is a need to read the Quran and its translation very carefully so that the real meanings of the verses get in the society. Many wrong facts and teachings have been imposed on the people who have made the Islam very difficult religion to follow.
He explains that since the death of Muhammad (PBUH) certain significant changes have been taken place. The Muslims have divided themselves in different sects like Sunni, Shia and etc. There is no division of sects in Islam. The violence and crime is every where which is strongly condemned by the Islam. He describes that Islam is the religion which gives the principles of equality. Islamic teachings emphasize to care for the poor. Say no to crime and there should be no violence in the society.
About the Islam Reza’s point of view is very moderate. He thinks that the things must go on only on the basis of the actual teachings of Islam written in the Holy book Quran. According to him the actually meaning of Islam has been lost somewhere. For that reason everyone is fighting and this civil war will take many years to clean the Islam with false ideas and misunderstandings. Muslims are being hatred everywhere. But very soon the original vision of tolerance and unity will be in the Muslim World. His style of writing forces the religious and non-religious to think. He is actually giving hope to the Muslims that their future will be definitely a good one. They will be loved as Islam is the sign of peace and love. He wants people to believe and have faith in God and this can only be done by reading and understanding the correct meanings of the Quranic verses and hadiath. He wanted a modern Islam which can compete with the West society. He in the 1st part of the book has presented the Muhammad’s (PBUH) greatest contributions in the Islam. Muhammad (PBUH) has to face many controversies and difficulties but at the end he was successful. Reza from the history of Islam wants to give hope to the Muslim.
On the other hand Ceaser E. Farah is a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. She is a scholar of Islamic faith. She has also account on the economic, cultural and political views of Islam. She in her book entitled: Islam, Beliefs and Observance have given a detail account on the different sects of Islam that how they come and gone. She explained the origin of Islam in a very great manner which clears all the events that would happened at that time.
In her book she explained that today the United States in the name of terrorism attacking on the different countries like Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. The Americans wanted to clear that the attack on the World Trade Centre was because of Muslims. They want to create an imperial power on the Muslims. This concept about Muslims has roused them to fight against their religion. Farah on one side thinks that fighting against their religion is right but on the same time she thinks that killing innocent people is a crime. At the Day of Judgment, those who have killed the innocent people will be punished. The Islam gives a lesson of tolerance which is lacking in the younger generation. She also thinks that Islam is a very easy religion to follow.
If we compare the perspective of both the writers namely Reza Aslan and Ceaser Farah we can conclude that Reza argued on the misconceptions of some Islamic facts and teachings. According to him the revival of Islam will going to be soon in the World as all the Muslims communities are working hard to protect their religious traditions and culture. With all this he thinks that there is a need to create a modern Islam on the basis of actual teachings and limitations of Islam so that Muslims can compete with the West generations and live strongly. While the Farah’s perspective is that the extremism is creating a false impression of Muslims. She in her book has given a detailed account on the religion of Islam. Reza has made the Muslims to hope for the best future with the original meaning of Islam which was set by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Farah’s book is best to know about the stories of Islamic history and the today’s events and issues while the Reza’s book has produced some future predictions about the full Reformation of Islam will occur. So we can say that the both writers have done a remarkable work in the fields of Islamic faith and religion.
REFERENCES
Aslan R. (2006). No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.
Farah C. (2003). Origin, Beliefs and Observance of Islam. New York: Barron’s Educational Series.
Sookhdeo P. (2007). Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam. New York: Isaac Publishing, Inc.
Review Of “No Name Woman” By Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston’s No Name Woman is part of the novel entitled “The Woman Warrior.” Its first chapter is the No Name Woman, which is about protagonist and her family. The villagers feel that their family is mysterious. She also feels that because her ‘no name’ aunt bears a child without a husband and she found out that her sister-in-law and its child drowned their selves in their well. She wants to talk about their family to the villagers so that the people will understand them but she thinks of it so hard but could not obtain the reason of the happenings in their clan.
The point of the author in this part of the novel is to establish the character of the protagonist as well as the people around her. This is to understand how the main character thinks and acts for her ideas and concepts as a woman and as part of the mysterious family in their village. “Whenever we did frivolous things, we used up energy; we flew high kites. We children came up off the ground over the melting cones our parents brought home from work and the American movie on New Year’s Day-0h, You Beautiful Doll with Betty Grable one year, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon with John Wayne another year (Kingston, 396).” The development of the plot in this part of the novel is slow. The author made each situation or scenario significant and connected to one another to form an established concept of maturity and ideology of the main character.
The protagonist’s desire to unleash the ghost and past life of her ‘no name’ aunt became the conclusion of the author is this story. Through this, the readers will understand how the main character went through the detail of her family to define her identity as part of them.
Non Governmental Organization
In 2002, the United Nations started a project that aimed to alleviate global problems such as poverty and epidemic diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS (United Nations, 2006). The project would be called the Millennium Project and out of it grew the Millennium Development Goals or MDG (2006). MDG has 8 goals, namely: eradication of poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and women empowerment; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and global partnership for development (UN Millennium Project, 2005,p.3). HIV/AIDS in particular, has been a global concern since it started in the 70s (Mann, Tarantola, and Netter, 1992, p. 11). Given the extensive spread of it, HIV/AIDS has become the “first modern pandemic” (p.11). An estimated 26 million people has been killed by HIV/AIDS (Garrett, 2005, par.4). In 2007 alone, 2.7 million people have contacted the disease (Johnston and Fauci, 2008). What makes the disease more debilitating is that despite research and all, HIV/AIDS has remained the most complicated disease. The cure for HIV/AIDS has been elusive. Last July, U.S. president George Bush endorsed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, which allocates $39 billion for AIDS research over the next five years (The Economist, 2008). While studies are being conducted to help assuage the spread of HIV/AIDS, the existence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) are instrumental in controlling the spread of the disease.
The term non-governmental organization (NGO) was coined to distinguish it from intergovernmental specialized agencies and international private organizations following the establishment of the United Nations or UN (Willetts, 2006). From UN’s point of view, NGOs are not controlled by the government or any political party (2006). Furthermore, NGOs should not be non profit and non criminal and concentrates on human rights issues (2006). NGOs may be “based in a single country and operate transnationally” (2006). Additionally, there may be grass-roots organizations or community-based organizations (2006). Then there are those called international umbrella NGOs that offer hierarchy for various NGOs (2006).
From 1990, the number of NGOs that dealt with HIV/AIDS has increased tremendously (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2002, p.4). These organizations have been instrumental in the “prevention, care, and impact mitigation” of the HIV/AIDS epidemic (p.4). Through their technical and organizational capacities, NGOs and CBOs have helped put awareness of the disease in the frontline. One international NGO that has risen to the call of HIV/AIDS consciousness is the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. (Its’ logo is seen below). The icon is a representation of global partnerships.
Image 1. Logo of International HIV/AIDS Alliance (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2008)
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance ( or The Alliance), with a secretariat in Brighton, United Kingdom, comprises linking organizations around the world in assisting communities that are at risk for the disease (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2004, p. 5). The secretariat follows this structure:
Communications and resource mobilization department
Executive Director’s office
Field Programs department
Finance and administration department
Policy Department
Technical Support Department (International HIV/AID Alliance, 2008)
The Alliance started in 1993 and has since formed strategic alliances with other NGOs from countries like Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ecuador, India, Madagascar, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine and Zambia (p.5). A list of its Alliance’s linking organization is discussed in succeeding sections. The Alliance has also started to extend their work in China, Eastern Caribbean, Zimbabwe and Myanmar (p. 5).
In the years that the Alliance has been in existence, it has already endowed financial support to roughly 2500 projects, executed in 1,800 communities around the globe (p. 5). The Alliance has provided technical assistance in terms of skills building and organizational development (p. 5). The Alliance has roughly allotted an estimated US $100 million to organizations around the world (p. 5). The Alliance, which is also an UNAIDS collaborating center, received funding from varied donors, such as CIDA (Canada), DANIDA (Denmark), BUZA (The Netherlands), NORAD (Norway), AECI (Spain), Sida (Sweden), DFID (United Kingdom), USAID (US) and private firms and foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Comic Relief, European Union, GlaxoSmithKline, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Merck and Co., Inc., Nuffield Foundation, Pfizer Laboratories, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Ford Foundation, UNAIDs, UNDP, and WHO (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2008).
Following the outbreak of HIV/AIDs in the 80s, acknowledgement of the disease has brought global attention, resulting in the creation of programs that aimed to address it. By 1991, several funding agencies and international organizations convened to find ways on how to provide sufficient support to developing countries that have been stricken with HIV/AIDS (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2004, p. 5). In a span of two years, the group was able to arrive at training needs assessment, project design and pilot project proposals for two countries (p. 5). It was called the International Alliance Supporting Community Action on AIDS. The name was later changed to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (p. 5). On December 1993, the Alliance was incorporated and registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under number 1038860 (2007, p.3) A board of trustees act as the “highest policy-making body” in the organization (p. 3). The board, comprising global experts in the Alliance’s focus, is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s strategic framework is followed (p.3).
The Alliance’s mission is to “reduce the spread of HIV and meet the challenges of AIDS” (p.11). The Alliance is not only committed to prevent HIV infection but also assist “access to treatment, care and support, and eventually minimizing the impact of AIDS (p. 11). With regards to its organizational vision, the Alliance dreams of a world where nobody will suffer and die from AIDS (p.3). Achieving this would mean that HIV/AIDS is already manageable and that HIV transmission has been reduced or if not prevented at all (p. 3).
Since 2006, the Alliance has provided assistance in over 30 countries, partnering with local community organizations and non governmental organizations (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p. 12). The linking organizations, as stated earlier, do the legwork of The Alliance’s thrust, conducting “operations research, training and good practice development, policy analysis and advocacy” (p.12). A list of its linking partners and their work is summarized below.
Linking Organization
Type of Work
Instituto para el Desarrollo humano -Bolivia
Key population
Capacity Building
Initiative Privee et Communautaire de lytte Contre le VIH/SIDA au Burkina Faso- Burkina Faso
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment, Orphans and vulnerable children
Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance- Cambodia
Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- The Caribbean
Prevention, Key Populations, Care and Support, Treatment, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- China
Anti-stigma, Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, and Care and Support
L’Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA en Cote d’Ivoire- Cote d’Ivoire
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- China
Anti-stigma, Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, and Care and Support
L’Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA en Cote d’Ivoire- Cote d’Ivoire
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Orphans and vulnerable children
Corporacion Kimirina- Equador
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support
International HIV/AIDS Alliance (Delhi), International HIV/AIDS Alliance (Andhra), LEPRA Society, NAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child, Palmyrah Workers Development Society, Vasavya Manila Mandali- India
Anti-stigma, Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support
Colectivo Sol A.C.-Mexico
Anti-stigma, Key Populations, Capacity Building
Alliance’s Global Reach Part 1 (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p. 12)
Linking Organization
Type of Work
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- Madagascar
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity
Building
Association Marocaine de Solidarite et Developpement- Morocco
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- Mozambique
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- Myanmar
Anti-stigma, Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support
Network on Ethics, Human Rights, Law, HIV/AIDS, Prevention, Support and Care- Nigeria
Prevention, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment
Via Libre- Peru
Key Populations, Capacity Building
Philippine NGO Support Program, Inc.- Philippines
Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA-Senegal
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS alliance- South Sudan
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building
AIDS Network Development Foundation- Thailand
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Representation
International HIV/AIDS Alliance-Uganda
Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment, Orphans and vulnerable children
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- Ukraine
Anti-Stigma, Prevention, Key Populations, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment
International HIV/AIDS Alliance- Zambia
Anti-stigma, Prevention, Capacity Building, Care and Support, Treatment
Alliance’s Global Reach Part II (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p.13).
Among its objectives listed in its annual 2007 report included the following:
Health advancement, especially those that concern HIV, sexual and reproductive health
Advancement in resource usage by civil society organization particularly those that concern HIV, sexual and reproductive health
Promotion of human rights as set by the UN
Assistance to people afflicted with HIV and their families
Advancement in equality and diversity issues (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p.4).
To fulfill these objectives, the Alliance laid out IMPACT 2010, which formed the
core of its strategic directions. There are four strategic directions, namely
Deliver scaled-up, quality community-based HIV programs and increase access to health and social services
Increase civil society capacity to implement effective community responses
Strengthen communities’ ability to influence national programming and international HIV policies
Strengthen the Alliance as partnership of strong national linking organizations (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p.4).
The highlights of its 2007 achievement include reaching 47, 496, 738 people through
information and education campaigns, distributing 19, 728, 186 condoms, reaching 1,302, 328 people through programs and other activities, distributing 544,436 publications and resources through electronic and hard copies, providing 267,061 people with HIV counseling and testing services, training 83, 379 people to offer HIV services, helping 55, 862 orphans and vulnerable children, providing 16,061 HIV-infected people with antiretroviral treatment, and providing 824 grants to NGOs and community-based organizations (p.6).
The year 2007 was one that saw the expansion of the Alliance’s work in addressing the consequences brought on by HIV/AIDS. The Alliance has helped put in the forefront scouring financial support for program maintenance (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p.7). Through money made available by the Global Fund, financing for HIV drugs has been possible (p. 7). Furthermore, it also saw an increase in the Alliance’s work in countries such as Peru, Central Asia, Bolivia and Uganda (p. 6). The Alliance has also expanded its reach with regards to children. It started new projects focusing on children in India, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia and Senegal (p.6). The Alliance has also started working with China in managing an outreach and needle exchange program (p. 6). Additionally, the Alliance has developed more resources, such as publication for distribution (p. 7). A revised edition of its anti-stigma toolkit Understanding and challenging HIV stigma, A toolkit for action has been revised to include feedback from field trainers (p.7). The Alliance also started on a new publication called Nothing about us without us, which is aimed at providing tools and strategies for policy makers and program managers (p. 7).
While the figures are flattering, the Alliance is still affected with the challenges that NGOs regularly face.
Ross and Segal (2002) state three challenges that NGOs deal with:
Accelerating rate of change in the sector
Demand for new services in response to changing needs among users
Competition for resources among nonprofits and among nonprofits and public or even private bodies (p.10).
Ross and Segal believe that NGOs may turn these challenges to improve their
performance and analyzing drivers that have the most impact (p. 10). The burgeoning of NGOs has allowed them to be “powerful forces” in global politics (McGann and Johnstone, 2002). According to the Independent Sector, another NGO, an estimated 1.5 million NGOs are based in the US along (2002). The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) observes the same sentiment, saying that the increase of NGOs globally has been dramatic (2002). McGann and Johnstone lists several reasons that have cause the proliferation of NGOs, from increased in democratization , demand for information and analysis, heightened awareness in civil society, advances in communication technologies, escalation of non-state and inter-state actors, increased in project funding, and belief that they can do it (2002). Since their inceptions, NGOs have proven their worth, making corporations and government accountable to the public and sometimes exposing its dirt (2002). However, the reverse cannot be said for NGOs. McGann and Johnstone further explain that while NGOs hold the liberty in scrutinizing the works of the government, transparency and accountability of NGOs remain skittish. A New York Times article suggests that NGOs must also “practice what they preach,” meaning they should be open to criticisms lest they lose their credibility and independence (2002). An international dialogue on the topic with the NGO community is the first step in accomplishing this. Transparency concerning finances, governance and programs should be discussed.
In the case of the Alliance, based on its annual 2007, its main challenge is risk management. In fact, the organization has already placed a risk management strategy (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2007, p.4). A team has been formed to tackle risk management within the organization. Among its responsibilities include monitoring compliance with donor regulations, managing the response to suspected fraud and other financial concerns and ensuring that the Alliance has adequate security procedures and policies in place” (p. 4),. Furthermore, Alliance’s risk management system consists of the following components:
Strategic directions and strategic objectives. Ensuring that the four strategic directions of the alliance is translated into 21 focused strategic objectives
Risk identification and risk assessment. Ensuring that major risks are in synch with the strategic objectives
Risk mitigation. Ensuring that mitigation strategies are identified, complied and implemented by concerned teams
Monitoring and review (internal audit). Ensuring that monitoring and review process are completed by risk management and compliance team
Risk Reporting. Ensuring that the trustees are aware of the risks that the Alliance is facing or possible risks that it may faced (p. 4).
Embarking on a risk management system is an effective way for the Alliance to monitor,
check, solve and prevent possible threats that come its way. It is a great toolbox for the Alliance to help the organization achieve its goals and objectives. However, it is not the end-all tool. It will not stop the Alliance from encountering problems but with the risk management system in place, it may help the organization in trying to achieve breakthroughs or changes that it hoped to achieve when it was created: to reduce the spread of HIV.
References
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Garrett, L. (2005). Foreign Affairs. The Lessons of HIV/AIDS.
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http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050701faessay84404/laurie-garrett/the-lessons-of-hiv-aids.html.
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(2004). Strategic framework 2005-2007. UK: International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
(2006). In from the margins 2006 annual review.
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(2007). International HIV/AIDS Alliance website.
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(2008). International HIV/AIDS Alliance website.
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Mann, J., Tarantola, D. and Netter, T. (Eds.). (1992). A Global report AIDS in the world.
USA: Harvard University Press.
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California: Jossey-Bass.
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achieve the millennium developmental goals. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from
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Willetts, P. (2006). COTY City University. What is a non-governmental organization.
Retrieved August 30, 2008, from http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/CS-NTWKS/NGO-ART.HTM#Part1.