Interview with Nur

[Nur]

Nomads

 

 

As we cross the five year mark as contributers to Somaliaonline, we have recieved valuable feedback from our readers as private messages, we encourage all readers to send in their views as this organization takes pride in serving you, even if you you dont share perspectives with the CEO.

 

We thought that its appropriate to answer frequently asked questions:

 

 

Q. Who is Nur?

 

A. An Islamic activist on the Wide Web of Wonders

 

Q. What are your objectives behind your activism?

 

A. Seeking Allahs pleasure

 

 

Q. How is that, can you be more specific?

 

A. Allah loves all of his creatures, his favorite among them are those who are helpful to them, the opposite is also true. My main objective is to help where my help is mostly needed and for which I am able qualified, allowed, and capable.

 

Q. What is that?

 

A. The activity that can meet all the above requirements is to share my thoughts about Islam in contrast with competing faiths and lifestyles, call me a Ralph Nader of Islamic thought consumerism, my intention is to search for and share useful knowledge, its a personal choice when it comes to beliefs. By influencing beliefs, I feel that ideas discussed on theses boards will make it to Somali mainstream thought consumerism, that way I feel I can make a difference no matter how small.

 

Q. Are you married?

 

A. I have not answered a personal question on these forums for 5 years.

 

Q. Why is that?

 

A. My person does not matter, my thoughts do.

 

Q. What are your general intersests?

 

A. Reading and Contemplating verses in Quraan, and narrations of the hadeeth, wisdom, Islamic activism, youth affairs, fatherless families, orphans, the poor, the outcasts, the phyisically or mentally challenged, the spititually challenged.

 

Q, What would you do if I gave you a Million Dollars right now?

 

A. Invest in Real Estate Opportunity Fund, profits of venture to the people, the needy, women and children, set up a trust fund, elect a credible board of notables in Philanthropy, Education, Religion, Science and Technoloy, include Non Muslim Honorary Observer: President Jimmy Carter, All members of each Islamic philanthropy Organizations, establish its office in Helsinki , Finland ( Finns scored Most Honest People On Earth, like Somalis or Republicsns, they dont have luxury of cheating, if they do, they will freeze to death, their system is very tight, and honesty over there, is a necessity) , Investment Fund to be overseen by transparency international ( TI ) , employ most efficient professional personnel, hire McKenzie to streamline management processes for best in class business practices, Earnst & Young to audit to uncle Sams satisfaction, a Sharia comopliance Investment advisory to streamline Islamic philanthropic objectives with acceptable international business standards, Set Objective for fisrt year: Build 200 low cost Homes, $5k each, Dig 1000 wells, set up 30 primary schools, Generate clean alternative energy for rural development , Build 4 Fruit processing factories @ $149K each, to export Fruit Juices to Gulf countries to buy Oil, and establish three animal feeding stations, to export livestock, and a slaughterhouse , easy no Riba loans to be repaid, so money can grow and circulate, as Allah meant it be ( Bimaa yanfacu naasa)

 

Q. Isnt that too ambitious?

 

A. I guess so, but a dream is all I got, and its free.

 

 

Q. Why do you sensationalize issues that get you in trouble witha an audience that has a lot of respect for you, dont you know that you have hurt many Somali sisters by the way you approached FGM and Polygamy, a NO NO territory do delve in without getting a bite back?

 

A. As a volunteer activist on this forum and other Islamic Forums, I raise issues that raise eyebrows in amazement, I post burning topics that can cause forest fires, controlled that is, after the fire is out, I till the ground, to change soil so we can throw in seeds to grow new crops, much more stronger in quality than those we have burned, and more lasting in duration.

 

Such was the past two topics that I have posed on these threads @ Somaliaonline Islam pages ( Marriage Is On Your Mind? and A Letter To A Married Somali Woman). I was after a result that i postulated and my findings, contrary to what I may have written of being let down by sisters, It was on the bulls eye, a long way is ahead of us before we can discuss an issue without immersing our deeper emotions and its apparent repercussions. Solutions to our problems are too close to see at times.

 

In other forums where I took radical ideas to viewers in support of women's point of view, I was also ridiculed, I was accused of being a woman ( I was called Nasra) masquerading as a man attempting to change status quo, and InshaAllah I will post some of the interesting responses I received from my gender and strangely enough form our complementary partners, women.

 

Personally speaking, as a male, I have unparalleled level of respect for women in general and Somali women in particular, in my own community, my advice is sought in resolving conflicts that arise between family members living abroad, and on my vacations ( I go to Mogadishu, other details are withheld for fear of being taken hostage, going rate over my head after reading responses by sisters should be around U$ 100,000.), there is nothing more touching than to see the plight of disadvantaged women, the weak and children in our war ravaged country. I go to pieces over the horrors of neglected kids, abused women and irresponsible men altering lives of the innocent beyond repair.

 

The More you read Nurtel publications, the more you will realize the driving force behind this one man institution dedicated in assisting his people, both in their relationship with their maker, Allah, and in their worldly needs, ( I will be posting new threds about career planning soon, come and see) and nothing gives me more enjoyment than to know that my conributions have helped someone change views that were limiting their potential or that my writeups have helped them get closer to their maker.

 

In Conclusion, I apologize to my viewers if I came rather strong, I do not take your opinions lightly, but as a facilitator, I push the envelope of possibilities to new heights so that, after we've exhausted a discussion, we can look back with envy, what we might have failed to solve, so we can resolve to act wiser in the future as life is a learning curve, marriage being the roughest ride, so the steeper the curve, the faster we learn, and the rougher the ride. So, My California viewers near Disney, Marine world, or the Medieval Times theme Parks, you should understand my analogy, and further consider this piece as the final splashdown on your faces after ending the ride, the learning ride.

 

 

Q. Do you write books?

 

A. No, I attempted to write one in Somali, but published it on SOL boards after a futile attempt, to complete it. it was in Somali, about Sharia, and it was tough, but I deferred it to later inshAllah.

 

Q. Your favorite book?

 

A. Quraan

 

Q. Your favorite sport

 

A. Long Distance run in a lonly rural road in September, or along a beach from Kismayo to Lamu-Malindi.

 

Q. Most enjoyable Moments?

 

A. Dhiker Moments

 

Q. Traits you like in People you admire?

 

A. Cheerful, Simple, logical, transparent, helpful, honest, soft humor, faithful.

 

Q. Favorite foods.

 

A. Fish, clams, shrimp, lobsters, etc.

 

Q. Who inspired you most:

 

A. Prophet Muhammad SAWS. in 23 years he established a faith.

 

Q. Followed by?

 

A. Imam Shafici , Ibn Qayyim Al Jawzi, Al Ghazali, Ibn Taimiyah.

 

Q. Modern Islamic thinkers?

 

A. Sheikh Mohammad Ibn Ibrahim, ( Bin Bazz Teacher), Xujjatullah Al Dahlawi, Abul Alaa Al Mowdudui, Abul Xassan Nadwi,

 

Q. From the West?

 

A. Abraham Lincoln, you notice all great people had beards?

 

Q. Favorite Poets?

 

A. Abul Cataahiya, Al Asmaci, Shawqi, Mutanabi, Sayyid Muhammad Abdalle Hassan, Bacadle.

 

Q. Favorite artist?

 

A. Dutch Graphic artist M.C. ESCHER Collection, I appreciate his deep way of seeing things, its indulging just appreciating his work.

 

Q. Which of the dozen Islamic revivalist groups do you belong?

 

A. None

 

Q. You mean you are a lonely rider?

 

A. Not neseccarily, Allah is with me, and besides I am part of the larger picture of the Ummah, by belonging to a specific group, I am limiting my reach, thus not viable for my vision.

 

Q. What do you think about Islamic revivalist groups?

 

A. I think they have a devine calling to resetablish islam again as a viable choice of millions of faithful, each and every group has a perspective from which it sees a solution for the problem, the complete solution lies in bits and parts of their combined philosophies, minus some unfounded innovations some of them have introduced without support from Sunnah, however due these differeing perspectives they are in effect working against each other annulling their effectiveness instead of adding forces and working for islam together. Each group has a philosophy of reestablishment of Islam again, but they differ on tactics, my take is that in the present time, a time in which the world is so connected in every which way you can imagine, violence will not deliver the answer, true bravery lies in standing up and speaking clearly about ones beliefs, ( The Prophet SAWS said "Best of Jihad is a word of Truth said on the face of a tyrant") Muslims will always be held to live with a set of higher morals to those opposing our quest to establish Allah's faith for Allah's people. To solve a problem, we have to remove ourselves from it first, because as long as we are the problem, we can never devise a stlution or deliver islam to others to adopt. In this conflict, The stakes in my opinion are not land, nor oil, I am willing to give it up, but my right to live a true montheist Muslim worshipping Allah on all of earth in harmony with all of His other creatures is NON NEGOTIABLE.

 

 

Q. What is e-Nuri?

 

A. It is a one man organization, using all lawful means available to reach and teach Islam best way I could, it is for a profit organization, our exit strategy being death when we hope to collect our profits from our maker, e-Nuri, stakeholder. The organization came to being on other forums, and found by accident some that of our posts were circulating and even posted at Islamic sites with psoitive reviews, tagged : Author Unknown. That was when the CEO entreprenNUR decided to invest heavily on this niche market, a unique style in delivering the message of Allah to a new generation who are very resistant to old remedies of Muhaadaro.

 

e-Nuri was previously know as Nurtel, back in the old days, it was located at Somalinet, an environmentally challenging site, there, the organization earned its wings as the moderating force of Islam amidst some of the most skewed posts. Later, Sister Raxmah invited the organization to open shop @ Somaliaonline a very quiet yet responsible site that for the fisrt time had a vision of building the right readership against the temptation of sheer numbers to boast the number of hits to make advertisement money ( . The Superior Know What Is Right, The Inferior Know What Sells : Philosopher Confucious).

 

e-Nuri style is said to be sarcastic, at times mocking at conventional wisdoms, it provides a fresh look at issues from the point of view of someone who is fully by-cultural, as he spent his life equally abroad as he did at home, and who is an avid reader of all literature in several languages, learning a lot from other experiences and weighing it against our values before opining.

 

e-Nuri writes about diverse topics such as social issues, politics, and current events, all from the Islamic point of view. It believes that reason is not treason, and if all humans reason, with all the facts available to all of them, they will converge to a similar conclusions on issues they radically differ on today, its ignorance that is causing rifts, thus e-Nuri , a pacifist organization who shuns violence as a means of change, focuses on attacking problems, not people, in a world that is busy identifying the person as the problem and then going after them with all avialable brute force, while ignoring the underlying problems that will haunt them later. Neutral Somalia, posted at Somaliaonline Politics section depicts the authors political thought provoking solutions.

 

 

Q. Could you tell us more about the background of the founder

 

A. Nur, is the birth name of the CEO, not the current one, born and raised in the horn of Africa, educated in the west and widely travelled for business. He has always been an Islamic activist, mellowing from youth revelutionary philosophy to that of a social change, peaceful change philosophy, positive change being his concern and not any change, personally, what the CEO posts reflect his past or present personal struggles to rise to his maker, places and names in his posts are fictitious, but the content are invariably all his or that of his close aquaintances.

 

Nur leads a very happy life, he harbors no ill feeling for anyone particular, his preoccupation is what he can do for himself through helping others, nothing gives the CEO more pleasure than helping clarify an issue or allay undue fears from the practice of our faith.

 

The CEO is very cordial with all religious persuations and races that he came to know and interact in different capacities, Christians and Jews, Secularists and Islamists alike, participated in interfaith dialogues, Islamist-nationalist dialogues, and regards all humans as a single family and prays that Allah guides lost souls to the right path, although he believes that there is nothing as precious on earth like the Somali Woman, If Allah blesses him in paradise, his Xuur Al Ayn will be a Somali. One of my unfinished aticles combining paradise and Somali Women is titled " Preserving The Amazon Valley And The Somali Hijabi Woman" two great undiscovered rich resources.

 

The CEO is a very normal Faarax by all yardsticks, ( Good and Bad) , intentionally , he does not disclose his private life, as the scope of his efforts are targeted toward helping others, he enjoys sports, loves the outdoors, reading, skiid in Pensylvania slopes, and diving in Dahlak islands in Eritrea. Travelled in Africa, Asia , Europe and North America, experiences that give the CEO a very wide perspective of issues. Against that background, the CEO is also a lifetime student of Islamic Jurisprudence and Fiqh, Aqeedah, languages, drawing from famous scholars of our time and the 12 century Hijri.

 

 

Q. Why is that you start great topics and then never finish, why do you lie?

 

A. Well, 99 % of my topics are composed directly on the page you are reading, ( This one is an an example), no time to edit and no time to follow through, finishing, reason being time scarcity, and that if I dont post my thoughts they are lost forever, so our policy has been post as many thoughts as possible, only the good ones will be requested. Being a one man show also has its drawbacks, responding to all responses is a mamoth job, and if i dont respond, I lose my readers, considering the fact that i have a life that has its needs. But, we realize that we need to expand, we are interviewing few good women and few good men to joing our ranks and moderate the e-Nuri posts. Few souls that we approached feel spiritually challenged to join the team, but we are working on them.

 

 

Please come back, To Be Continued.......

 

 

Nur

 

 

2006 e-Nuri Corporation

Somaliaonline Village On The Web

[Conspiracy]

Did people actully asked you all those questions? or did you jsut volunteer to tell us little more about yourself ? .. and if they did ask you all those questions dude how big is your ego getting all those PM's ..

thanks for telling us about yourself though good to know about you more

[-Serenity-]

Q. Are you married?

A. I have not answered a personal question on these forums for 5 years.

Is that so? Sharing your background, hobbies, inspirations, beliefs, occupation, etc is not personal eh? Hilarious!

 

You're just unwilling to share your marital status iska dheh... and I'm sure for good reasons...there is no ceeb in that, good-wadaad

 

although

he believes that there is nothing as precious on earth like the Somali Woman

, If Allah blesses him in paradise, his Xuur Al Ayn will be a Somali. One of my unfinished articles combining paradise and Somali Women is titled " Preserving The Amazon Valley And The Somali Hijabi Woman" two great undiscovered rich resources.

No doubt. Precious and best in numbers

[Khalaf]

Yaaa Amelia ,

 

Don't u know brother Nur has body guards, you been warned.

[Nur]

Conspiracy bro.

 

Thanks for a great comment, always a pleasure to hear from you.

 

If one is not careful, positive comments can destroy a rather beneficial member of society, creating a fad, and I am not different, Jazzkallahu kheirn brother for the witty note, its a valuable reminder to keep feet on the ground.

 

The contents were typical of questions I recieved since I came to SOL 4.5 years ago, because the internet is a passing place, I thought a Q & A would help passersby who may not visist again, thus reason behind it.

 

Now will you give the eNuri Chief Commodore a Standing Ovation ?

 

Nur

[Pi]

Yo, the Shaykh is grinning. Now that's a first. A man on a sacred mission, keep it up, dude.

 

I got one more question for you, dude. Umm, from all your years on cyber discussion and debates (from somalinet to SOL to any other forums) which ones are the most memorable and enlightening?

[Nur]

Amelia sis

loooooooooool

 

you write:

 

Background, hobbies, inspirations, beliefs, occupation not personal issues.

 

These are for public record, but the M word is deffinetly a personal Q.

 

 

You write: .......................GOOD IN NUMBERS, Like Four petals of a flower, huh

 

Put yourself in the Faarraxs shoes, after reading your posts i have no doubt your first choice will be a destitute poor widow with six kids, now tell me the truth ( waan kuu qarinaya, adigoo naga yaqaan haweenka Somalida, mid miyaad ku ekaan laheyd?)

 

InshAllah if i get to it, my upcoming article on the Somali woman and the Amazon Valley will make them so rare and nowhere to be found, best kept secret in tghe world.

 

 

Nur

[Nur]

Pi

 

Yeah I , thanks for the comment

 

MADMAC, Never seen in my life a human so dedicated to spread ignorance 24 hours a day. My debate with him can be as big as container if one has to sift thru the pages.

 

CILMIILE, the head secularist and an ex Wadaad, who knew the ins and outs of the Kismayo and Bossaso waddaado battles.

 

The AWAKENER

 

The best Sufi Debator, his debates rekindled my love for research.

 

MUTAKALLIM and the Shia crowd

 

The sent back to school to support my points of view with substantiated material, after I ws done, I could have written a book of my own.

 

 

Nur

[Pacifist]

Salaam Brother Nur

Mashallah thanks for sharing with us. May allah all mighty bless u every way imaginable Amin. Although lately I have become a silent reader and not contribute much due to time. Lakiin I am forever learning from E-Nuri. I certainly appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Jazakallah walalo

[Sharmarkee]

Salaam,

 

Shiekh Nur You said:

 

"Q. Your favorite book?

 

A. Quraan

 

Q. Your favorite sport

 

A. Long Distance run in a lonly rural road in September, or along a beach from Kismayo to Lamu-Malindi.

 

Q. Most enjoyable Moments?

 

A. Dhiker Moments

 

Q. Traits you like in People you admire?

 

A. Cheerful, Simple, logical, transparent, helpful, honest, soft humor, faithful.

 

Q. Favorite foods.

 

A. Fish, clams, shrimp, lobsters, etc.

 

Q. Who inspired you most:

 

A. Prophet Muhammad SAWS. in 23 years he established a faith.

 

Q. Followed by?

 

A. Imam Shafici , Ibn Qayyim Al Jawzi, Al Ghazali, Ibn Taimiyah.

 

Q. Modern Islamic thinkers?

 

A. Sheikh Mohammad Ibn Ibrahim, ( Bin Bazz Teacher), Xujjatullah Al Dahlawi, Abul Alaa Al Mowdudui, Abul Xassan Nadwi,

 

Q. From the West?

 

A. Abraham Lincoln, you notice all great people had beards?

 

Q. Favorite Poets?

 

A. Abul Cataahiya, Al Asmaci, Shawqi, Mutanabi, Sayyid Muhammad Abdalle Hassan, Bacadle.

 

Q. Favorite artist?

 

A. Dutch Graphic artist M.C. ESCHER Collection, I appreciate his deep way of seeing things, its indulging just appreciating his work."

 

What a life Style Sh.Nurow, quite inspiring! MashaAllah Calyk! High in life as they say

 

Hayee Akhirna waa sidan InshaAllah:

 

Ø¥Ùنَّ الْمÙتَّقÙينَ ÙÙÙŠ جَنَّات٠وَعÙÙŠÙون٠(15

آخÙØ°Ùينَ مَا آتَاهÙمْ رَبّÙÙ‡Ùمْ Ø¥ÙنَّهÙمْ كَانÙوا قَبْلَ Ø°ÙŽÙ„ÙÙƒÙŽ Ù…ÙحْسÙÙ†Ùينَ

16)

[Nur]

Sharmarjke bro

 

why did you stop...........Kaanuu qaliilan minal leili maa yahjacuun, wa bil asxaari hum YASTUGHFIRUUN, wa fii amwaalihim xaqun lis saa'ili wal maxruum, wafil ardi aayaatun lil muuqiniin wa fii anfusikum......... A falaa Tubsiruuuuuuuuun?

 

A Job for eNuri Opticians

 

JZK

 

 

Nur

[S.O.S]

Assalaamu calaykum brother Nur,

 

You say:

 

or along a beach from Kismayo to Lamu-Malindi

Can you seriously run that distance?....amazing!

......though my motive is not sportive, I'm planning to walk along for days

[Nur]

S.O.S

 

I once ran from Kismayo beach to Kiyunga, around 20 km nonstop along the breezy coastline , but I walked closed to Lamu in an expedition. The most distance I ran in a weekend ( 2 days) , 40 km, the first 5 km are the hardest, past that, body runs perpetually, as effortless as breathing, you get so high with theis euphoric feeling, you simply dont want stop, Nothing is more stimulating, phyisically, mentally and spiritually than a good long distance run right after Fajr prayers. But that was a while back. Last three years , I hardly ran that much due to uncertain job assignments that interrupted my schedule.

 

Many ideas I posted were ideas I conceived while running, its the most enjoyable sport if you ask me, all you need is a pair of running shoes, my best days, I would clock 12 KM /Hour for at least 5 days a week, during these minutes ideas flow in my head like fresh camel milk is squeezed out of fisrt time she-camel the day after..

 

One day while I was running on the track of a University Campus, I noticed this Somali college kid watching me at awe, I remember seeing him before sitting on the bench looking at me on the track before, and as I pass each lap, we waved, but that day he came up to me to say hello while I was bending down for a post-run muscle stretching,

 

He asked me @ point blank ( Qolomaad tahay?) not even Assalamu Aleikum. It was shocking, specially by a college freshman, Somalias hope down the drain, I posed for a while in grief, thought about what to say, then, I decided to let it on him, lets have a campus civil war, "waxaan ahay" i said to his utmost attention, " reer Qansax", I was suspecting he was a Qurac, he was speechless, he cant trust me anymore, no more waiving, or smiles, I can never be his friend, becaus the we have divided allegiances, although I have never known him enough to harm him.

 

Nur

[xiinfaniin]

lol@I can never be his friend, although I have never known enough to harm him.

 

Nurow, I had a very pious (seems to be the choice word for a good reason) who was a true example of what muslin ought to be. He had a very diverse background; a UN humanitarian officer who presided highly known UN operations, and brilliant physicist, among many others. When we first met it was a Maghrib prayer in a narrow aisle at the college. We become good friends, indeed very close friends. I benefited from him a lot.

 

After years of trusted friendship, he decided to leave from the west and headed his native land. He thought he could be more effective and more of help to his people than overstaying in the west (as most people often do). One evening (few days from his departure) he called me and requested to meet with him at a remote coffee shop. He asked me if I could guess why he called me tonight. My answer was way off the mark. He was interested qolodaan ahay. Of course I was a Qurac. He asked if I want to know qoloduu yahay. My answer was no. But he told me anyway. He was a Qansax. But as expected from both our developed Islamic knowledge (mature enough to at least make us see how insignificant qabiil really is) and the solid friendship we had, it had a zero effect on us. Indeed, even in long distance, our relationship solidified and grew much stronger.

 

I wish that was the case for all Somalis. By no means do I think this is a unique narrative (After all, we had a prior association that could override any prejudices, even if Islamic knowledge was not a factor) but I suspect it is not that common one.

 

Back to your story with the college kid,judging from your cyber character I can’t think that you gave up on him and surrendered him to the other forces. Did you follow up on him? Did you see him again? I lament that kid (kid implies youth) carried that poisonous package all the way to the western college halls.

 

Sorry for being off topic.

 

P.S: i noticed your other tread that deals with this venom and I will contribute IA.

[Jacpher]

I can’t believe you declared war on poor faarax!

 

I think it is the nature of Somali society to want to know your qabiil or nationality for no good reason before they get to know you first. We have strong desire to know one's tribal affiliation or nationality whether a nomad next door, African customer at the supermarket or the Middle Eastern Imam at the mosque. I don’t ask others about their qabiil but I had an episode with Somali women whom I was helping at a shopping mall couple of years ago. She asked for my qabiil and the city I am from. She immediately mentioned a distance relative of my father. I told her not to look any further. She referred to me as her son from that point on. It may be normal for our elders to ask those kinds of questions but I see no harm in revealing your qabiil as it doesn’t necessarily make you an outcast, at least not in public. Wouldn’t it be easier and wiser to possibly give the answer and educate them later? You certainly know sooner or later that question will pop up.

 

Nur, do you have a blog or still under planning?