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The science of charting the Earth's lands and waters was of primary importance to Muslim navigators, for next to faith itself and one's obedience to it, commerce and travel fed the social economy and thus governed people's daily lives.

In addition to improving the astrolabe (without which no Western mariner would feel safe on the open seas for centuries to come), Muslims were the first to apply the principle of magnetism to marine and land travel, perhaps as early as the 9th and 10th centuries.

Al-Khwarizmi and other leading Muslim scientists measured and standardized the length of a terrestrial degree, while Al-Biruni accurately determined latitude and longitude: in fact, six centuries before Galileo, he pondered the possibilities of the Earth's rotation about its own axis.

The leading 12th-century geographer al-Idrisi, a star product of the brilliant Islamic culture that flourished in Sicily, was commissioned by the Norman King Roger II to compile a world atlas. With dozens of maps covering areas never before charted, al-Idrisi's atlas became the best mapped representation of the known world in Medieval times. Muslim achievements in geography and cartography were still leading the world during the 15th-century. When Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama set out to sail down the coast of Africa, his ship was guided by a Muslim pilot using Muslim maps and sea-charts still unknown to Europeans.

Not surprisingly, Muslim geographical encyclopaedias and dictionaries were a mainstay of European libraries for centuries. Works such as al-Burini's History of India and Yaqut's Mu'jam al-Buldan lit the way for future Western explorers, traders, and historians.

Ibn Baas was one of the greatest traveler-authors of the Middle Ages. Covering 75,000 miles between North Africa and China during the 14th century, he recorded in his famous book, Rihla (meaning "journey") everything from geography and politics to local religious and social customs wherever he visited. A later Muslim geographer produced the first authoritative account of Africa, which remained a basic source of European knowledge for two centuries.

The knowledge gained by Muslim geographers and cartographers was passed to the West largely through translators appointed by Christian kings, who were eager to advance their own nations by enriching them with Islamic scientific and intellectual achievements. Indeed, when the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II founded the University of Naples in 1224, one of his major aims was to enable Western scholars to learn from Islamic culture.

It is hard to imagine what modern life would be like without Arabic numerals. The history of the last seven centuries, particularly in the West, would certainly be different if 13th-century Europe had not adopted the Arabic style of counting and calculating.

Arabic numerals, as they came to be called throughout the world, also made it far easier to cope with simple everyday sums. Try solving even a simple arithmetic problem in Roman numerals -- the system in general Western use until the 13th century - and you would find it extremely unwieldy and time- consuming! Thus the Muslims gave to Europe an essential tool on which all of the world's science and commerce now depends.

The further mathematical development of Algebra - in which alpha-numeric symbols are capable of infinite potential or possibilities -- was a crucial innovation by 9th-century Muslims, most notably al-Khwarizmi, one of the greatest scientific minds of his era. Here, at the heart of this pivotal achievement, is a reflection of the Islamic faith in the mathematical concept of a universe whose creation by God is an unending, or infinitely living process.

Later Muslim scholars also made revolutionary advances in trigonometry and geometry. These new mathematical developments made it possible to reform the calendar to such a level of accuracy that it would be in error by only one day in five thousand years.

Armed with such flexible, yet precise methods of calculation, Muslim astronomers could explore the heavens in greater detail than had ever been possible. Their discoveries were not only important to science, but again both important and practical to their faith; for Muslims everywhere needed to know exactly in which direction to turn for prayers, what course to set for pilgrimages, and exactly when to begin the month-long fast of Ramadan.

In fact, it would take volumes to talk about Muslims contributions to mathematics and astronomy in the detail they deserve.

The 8th century scientists al-Fazari, al-Farghani, and al-Zarqali, as well as later scholars al-Battani, Ibn-Yunus and others, improved instruments such as the astrolabe and compass, built unprecedented large-scale astronomical observatories, and compiled planetary tables and star charts that were used throughout Europe for centuries.

In observing and mapping the movements of the sun, planets, stars and other heavenly bodies so comprehensively, Muslim astronomers expressed the fundamental aims of Islam, which urged a never-ending quest to understand God's visible signs in the cosmos.

Through observing the material universe, Muslims came to better understand the works of God. Nothing that humans could investigate on earth or in space was considered alien by these scientists.

Thus throughout the Muslim world, it was not at all unusual for an astronomer to be also a mathematician, geographer, physician, or even something of a philosopher and certainly, to some degree, a theologian!

Such multi-disciplined scholars paved the way for the European "Renaissance man" concept - a kind of versatile genius represented by Leonardo da Vinci, among others. He and other gifted scientists throughout the West, such as Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, benefited from the fruits of disciplined Muslim mathematician-astronomers who passed on their methods of objective investigation, as well as their preserved transcriptions of early classical pioneers, including Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Without this great combined heritage, the European Renaissance and modern Western civilization could hardly have taken shape as they did.

Without their Muslim scientific forebears, would it indeed have been possible for 20th-century astronauts to set foot on the Moon?

There is much more to know about Islamic sciences at:

www.islamichistorymonth.com

(Dr. Mohamed Elmasry is national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. He can be reached at np@canadianislamiccongress.com)

Moments before author and pollster extraordinaire Michael Adams got up to speak at Siegfried Hall in St. Jerome's University on November 9, chancellor Dr. Peter Naus summed up a key concern that put the entire evening in focus.

The occasion was an unusual one for SJU's Centre for Catholic Experience, which isn't known for hosting book launches and signings. But when Adams, a Walkerton native and successful "local boy," came out with Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism, the topic was irresistibly compelling.

Dr. Naus picked up on the urgency of understanding what we're all about in the 21^st century by asking, "Why is it that what is working in Canada is no longer working in my native Holland? ... [It was] once a model of tolerance." He continued by wondering aloud whether Canadians share a widespread fear that our country also may no longer be the beacon of understanding and acceptance that it once was for the international community. And that is the thorny issue that Michael Adams tackles head-on in Unlikely Utopia ...

Adams is president of Environics Group, which has been responsible for many memorable public opinion surveys -- including the first ever in-depth polling of Canadian Muslims (last year) and, more recently, the first Canadian-based survey of Afghanis within their own war-torn country. He went straight to the heart of things by assuring listeners that in our efforts to build a better multicultural society "we're doing OK ... but we could do better."

Unlikely Utopia... is Adams' fifth book about global issues and national trends that have emerged since he began his professional polling career during the 1970s. A popular previous publication, Fire and Ice (2003), examines how the distinct value orientations and ethics of Americans and Canadians are moving us farther apart, not closer together as many commentators are suggesting. How some of those values play out in statistical trends is shown in how Canadians feel about pluralism and multiculturalism.

The difference in Unlikely Utopia... however, is that Adams intentionally deals in its pages with issues over which big government and mass media (and by extension, most Canadians) are woefully under-informed, or even in denial. In fact, the Environics group had to set up an endowment fund to support important surveys that no one else wanted to do.

While upper-case Multiculturalism is an official policy adopted by the Canadian government in 1971 (shortly after it introduced the point-system acceptance criteria for immigration applicants), it has taken most of the succeeding generation for native-born Canadians to fully realize that the majority of our population comes from neither of our founding cultures, British or French. It took the shock of the mid-1980s Air India crash and the world-shaking 9/11 disasters for the general population to come to grips with the "others" in our midst - or the many intersecting elements of lower-case multiculturalism that were publicly invisible before terrorism became a household word.

The first widely reported example of "reasonable accommodation" in Canada happened when Sikh RCMP recruits were allowed to wear turbans instead of the traditional Stetson hats. Since them, many branches of civic and municipal services have accepted (to varying degrees) professional attire that respects the cultural identity and dignity of some visible minority groups.

Today, Muslims - numbering nearly 800,000 according to the latest numbers -- are "the new other" in our society and the fastest-growing religious and cultural group. As a result, Canadians are seeing more examples than ever of "reasonable accommodation": hijabs on soccer fields, niqabs at the polling booth; or the modest restyling of professional uniforms for everything from the local Tim Horton's server to VIA Rail conductors. But for some, the accommodation issue has identified Muslims as even more prominent targets than before, as seen in the furore earlier this year over the controversial "town code" of Herouxville, Quebec.

We have to get over, and move on from, the quaint and historically misleading idea that Canada is "moose, mountains and Mounties." The fact is, we've always been multicultural, ever since "others" were brought in to do the dangerous and demeaning jobs avoided by those of British or French ancestry. Our colonial multiculturalism was also, for the most part, systemically racist. But what makes Canada so different, Adams contends, is that we somehow never degenerated into a cultural "war of all against all," as seems to have happened in the American melting-pot assimilation (at all costs) scenario.

Perhaps we have developed a deeper sense of fair play, altruism, idealism or even self-confidence. Whatever it is at the core of our collective national psyche, we have made this country the destination of choice for more immigrants - 250,000 annually - than any other on the planet. Today, one in five Canadians is foreign-born and two in five are first- or second- generation offspring of immigrant parents. Only Australia has a higher proportion of foreign-born in its population.

Apart from sheer numbers, perhaps the biggest challenge facing 21st-century Canada is that for the past 15 years, more than half of our new immigrants come from non-Christian nations. We are becoming not only a multi-ethnic nation, but a multi-faith one as well; and among the major non-Christian religions, Islam is one that does not make a formal distinction between the secular and spiritual life as large segments of Christendom once did. A staggering 90% of Canadian Muslims are foreign-born and have forever changed the professional and technological landscape of our nation - most would say for the better.

Another challenge to the low-profile Canadian way of doing things is the realization that the newcomers in our midst are often more work-ethic motivated and more politically proactive and engaged than those of us with deep family roots here. Adams' surveys found that 75% of new immigrants to Canada become citizens as soon as they can and that 85% of those eligible to become citizens do so. "There is something going on in this country that makes people want to be fully part of it - and it's not just medical care and other services; you can get some of those without being a citizen," he noted.

The engagement factor doesn't stop there: besides earning citizenship "a big way to express your confidence in your country is to run for politics." Currently in the House of Commons, there are 41 foreign-born MPs covering all recognized parties and they make up 13% of the total roster of sitting MPs. Even more interesting is the fact that among those foreign-born MPs, fewer than three actually represent the dominant culture of their respective ridings.

Adams went on to outline a number of other fascinating distinctions between the fabric of Canadian society and that of other nations, particularly the U.S. Additionally, there are some challenges all developed nations face, such as the global issues of environmental damage and the transitioning of world economies from labour-based to information-based. And some of these world trends can aggravate existing problems that affect the way cultural enclaves in Western societies relate to and support one another.

There are certainly gaping holes in our largely benign Canadian social landscape - the inexcusable marginalization and disempowerment of our 1.5 million First Nations peoples, the unchecked rate of child poverty, and the lack of meaningful career opportunities for foreign-trained professional, to name just a few. Yet an overwhelming number of settled immigrants (including those unable to do jobs for which they were trained abroad) report no regrets at having become Canadians.

And for those of us who were around when big-M Multiculturalism was adopted as our nation's official policy, Adams says we still feel positive about that as a core value, right up there with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

So Michael Adams' advice to his fellow Canadians of all backgrounds and cultures is to balance optimism with pragmatism; celebrate what we've done right, but also be vigilant about forces that could undermine it. "We are on a good track, but we can't be complacent," he concluded.

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Michael Adams' latest book, Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism (2007) is published by Viking Canada. ISBN: 067006368

(Pauline Finch is a Kitchener resident and CIC office assistant-copyeditor, currently completing a Master of Divinity degree. She can be reached at adm6@canadianislamiccongress.com)

By the time you read this - if you live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area - you might just make it to the last current run performance of Pintaresque: Exit Strategy (Nov. 24, at 8:00 p.m. in the Registry Theatre).

Why write a thumbnail review of a production most readers won't get to see? It's because this multi-media interdisciplinary play about the journeys of refugees and immigrants, directed by Lebanese Canadian dramatist Majdi Bou- Matar, is in many ways a historic event; an embedded story in itself, where powerful human art expresses real-life situations far more vividly than any amount of "factual" reporting.

Drawing on a considerable range of talent in dance, mime, speech and explosive physical action, Stella Umeh, Daniella Forge, Nicholas Cumming and Badih AbouChakara portray a series of vivid scenes on the journey of immigration. The rapidly intersecting acts are played across a sparse and subdued stage, moving from a family's fearful decision to leave their unnamed native land, through the trauma of flight, capture, escape, deprivation, despair, torture, abuse, separation, reunion, adjudication and - even in the relative safety of a new country - the continuing disorientation and uncertainty about how to fit in, how to survive, how to reclaim a semblance of personal identity.

Between and around the interactions of the physical cast, video projections by Terrance Odette of interview segments with actual immigrants recall snippets of past lives, bizarre anecdotes about near-misses and narrow escapes, and truly poignant reminiscences about present and past losses that can never be restored. Other video background clips portray an ironic and satirical view of North American consumerism and self-centredness through the cutting comments of Nobel laureate Harold Pinter, against the stark contrast of "foreign" human beings in conditions of abject poverty.

The extremes of raw emotion and subtle introspection that continually collide and merge in Pintaresque: Exit Strategy are imaginatively enveloped and magnified by the intense soundscape of local composer Nicholas Storring.

You may not get to see Exit Strategy this time around, but it's too powerful an experience to be crated up and put away for good once the curtain falls this weekend. These are the stories of "others" among us that are by turns almost too painful or too incredible to tell without the nurturing dynamic of art.

For more information see: http://www.mtspace.ca

(Reviewed on Nov. 16 by Pauline Finch adm6@canadianislamiccongress.com for the CIC Friday Magazine.)

Dear Dr. Elmasry;

Thank you for your excellent articles and your efforts at correctly representing Islam.

I intend to read your article in full as a Friday Khotba. As salaam o alaikum.

Shahid

(Toronto)

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Dear Dr. Mohamed Elmasry;

My name is Yoni Vendriger and I'm the president of a Boston-based non- profit organization called Students for Peace. We focus on promoting peace and co-existence among students of all backgrounds through social and cultural events, dialogue activities and now also online. We are about to launch our site that will have a newsroom section showing positive news from around the world and also a community blog section.

I recently read your article, "EVERY ACCOMMODATION IS ‘REASONABLE'."

I think this is a beautiful article that I would like to show on our site as well and would like your permission.

I am sure how we will post it, either copy and paste, or as a link. If we put a link I prefer linking to the original location and not the WVNS site.

Thank you very much,

Yoni Vendriger

Students for Peace

www.students4peace.org



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[Editor's note: Due to the complexity of details in the following letter, a separate paraphrase has been added below it.]

Dear Dr. Elmasry;

With profound regards,

JAMAT ISLAMI HOODWINKS IMRAN KHAN (PAKISTAN TEHRIK INSAF'S CHIEF)

On behalf of Lahore Press Club and Punjab Union of Journalists, I express immense gratitude for the solidarity expressed by your high profile Islam organization based in Canada, hence Pakistani print and electronic media is extremely indebted. We are deeply concerned about the Pakistan's biggest political party "Jamaat-i-Islami's youth wing "Islamia Jamiat-i-Talaba shoves Imran Khan into police hands. Imran Khan had announced to start the movement from the PU after strong assurance of IJT support from his ally (JI) Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief patron of IJT. In an eventful day, Imran khan's sudden appearance galvanized the protesting students into action who started to flock to the politician and chanting slogans "Go Musharraf's go". The precession gained momentum and Imran was lifted onto the shoulders of the students then pushed inside building by IJT students. The ijt which had gathered support from other city institutions as well, also fired crackers around the building to disperse the swelling crowd of the students.Imran khan and some of his supporters brutally manhandled by the ijt members besides roughing up the foreign and local media who demanded that they should be allowed to talk with imran.This detebtuib drana c= dragged ib tukk 12.pm fir almost an hour, during which plain clothed security personnel also reached the spot. Later PU van No.LRC-526 was brought to the entrance gate of the building and Imran was bundled into the vehicle. The ijt activists made a protective chain around the van to stop journalists from interaction with imran.Accompanied by two PUprofessors,irman was taken to gate No.1 amid silent protest6 of students, where awaiting police team arrested Imran.

Lahore Press Club bans coverage of IJT LPC has banned the coverage and organization of any event by IJT in its premises for manhandling the journalists from print and electronic media during the visit of national cricket hero Iman Khan to Punjab university on last Wednesday. A press statement issued by the governing body of the slub stated that Jamiyat activists manhandled and threatened the journalists present at the scene to cover the even. This correspondent while trying to interact with Imran Khan was grabbed and manhandled by the IJT activists. The LPC also condemned the act by declaring it fascism while putting a ban on holding their press conferences, demonstrations or any other activities in the premises of journalists club.

We shall be indebted if CIC express its solidarity with the media and condemn the action by the activists involved in Imran arrest. As organizers of anti emergency movements at the Lahore University of Management sciences(LUMS)and FAST national university and different student organizations have condemned IJT for conniving to arrest PTI chief Imran Khan and called its move an attempt to sabotage student struggle against the suspension of constitution and proclamation of

Emergency+ in the country.

Please forward this email to the other media organizations functioning in Canada and members of civil society, parliament, human rights activists, all peace loving segments of Canada.

Thanking you with regards.

Tariq Khan Niazi.,

Coordinator for Foreign Affairs committee. Lahore Press Club and council member of Punjab Union of Journalists.

Lahore.

email.asadgemini400@hotmail.com

cell 0092-8056567

* * *

JAMAT ISLAMI HOODWINKS IMRAN KHAN

On behalf of the Lahore Press Club and Punjab Union of Journalists, I express immense gratitude for the solidarity of your Islamic organization in Canada.

We are deeply concerned that the youth wing of Pakistan's biggest political party, "Islamia Jamiat-i-Talaba," has turned cricket star Imran Khan over to the police. Imran Khan had begun a movement away from Punjab University after strong assurance of IJT support. In an eventful day, Imran Khan's appearance galvanized protesting students into action. The procession gained momentum and Imran was lifted onto the shoulders of the students, but the IJT, which had support from other city institutions as well, tried to disperse the swelling crowd of students. Imran Khan, some of his supporters, and some foreign and local media were manhandled by IJT members. This disturbance went on for almost an hour, during which plainclothes security personnel also became involved. Then a security van arrived at the building and Imran was bundled into it. The IJT activists surrounded the van to stop journalists from interacting with Imran. Accompanied by two Punjab University professors, Imran was taken to where waiting police officers arrested him.

The Lahore Press Club has banned coverage of any IJT event in reprisal for its mistreatment of journalists during the visit of national cricket hero Iman Khan to Punjab University last Wednesday (Nov. 14). A press statement issued by the governing body stated that Jamiyat activists manhandled and threatened the journalists present at the event. The LPC also condemned the act as fascism while putting a ban on holding press conferences, demonstrations or any other activities on the premises of the journalists' club.

We would be grateful if CIC expresses solidarity with the media and condemns the actions of those involved in Imran's arrest. As organizers of anti-emergency movements at Lahore University of Management Sciences, different student organizations have condemned IJT for conspiring to arrest Imran Khan and called this move an attempt to sabotage the student struggle against the suspension of Pakistan's constitution and the proclamation of a state of emergency in the country.

Please forward this email to other media and peace activist organizations in Canada.

Thanking you, with best regards.

Tariq Khan Niazi

Foreign Affairs Committee, Lahore Press Club.

asadgemini400@hotmail.com