Tashbih Sayyed (1941–2007) was a Pakistani-American scholar, journalist, and author and was the editor-in-chief of ''
Our Times
''Our Times'' (, literally "The Time of My Maiden Years") is a 2015 Taiwanese teen romantic comedy-drama film directed by Frankie Chen. It is the directorial debut of Chen, who previously directed television dramas. The film stars Vivian Sung as ...
'', ''
Pakistan Today
''Pakistan Today'' is a Pakistani English-language daily newspaper, published by Nawa Media Corporation from three Pakistani cities Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab; Karachi, Sindh; and Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory. The newspaper late ...
'', and ''
In Review''. Sayyed worked from 1967 to 1980 for the
Pakistan Television Corporation
Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore.
Background
Historical co ...
. In 1981, he emigrated to the United States. As a regular columnist for newspapers in the US, Pakistan, Germany and
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Sayyed wrote about what he perceived as the
Islamist threat to the US. In 2004 he was one of the founders of the
Center for Islamic Pluralism
The Center for Islamic Pluralism (CIP) is a U.S.-based Islamic think tank challenging Islamist interpretations of Islam. It was founded in 2004 by eight people including the Sufi Muslim author Stephen Suleyman Schwartz and officially opened o ...
.
He was also founder of the websites ''Muslim World Today'' and ''Pakistan Today'' (not the Pakistani newspaper of the same name). Sayyed is featured in the documentaries, ''
Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel'' and ''
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West''.
Life and career
Tashbih Sayyed was born in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1941 to a
Shiite Muslim
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
family.
Following the partition of India and the creation of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 1947, his family left for Pakistan.
He started his career in journalism at
Pakistan Television
Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore.
Background
Historical co ...
in 1967, ultimately becoming the controller and general manager of the station. During his last years at Pakistan Television, Sayyed became the founder of the station's current affairs programming. As a result of his liberal views, however, he came under attack by the
Zia ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...
regime. He left his position at the station in 1980 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1981.
[
After moving to the United States, he worked as a translator and writer for several years.][
In later years, Sayyed founded two California-based weekly newspapers, ''Pakistan Today'' (1991) and ''Muslim World Today''. He is the author of eight books, including ''History of the World'', ''Left of the Center'', ''Pakistan – An Unfinished Agenda'', ''Mohammad – A Secularist's View'', ''Foreign Policy of Pakistan'' and ''Shadow Warriors – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban''. He appeared in the documentary ''Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel'' (2003) and in ''Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West'' (2005).][
He was the founder and president of the Council for Democracy and Tolerance in the United States, an organization established to promote pluralism and respect for democratic values in society. He also served as editor of '' South Asia in Review'', a quarterly journal, and was an adjunct fellow of the ]Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...
in Washington, D.C.. He was a speaker for Benador Associates.
Death
After Sayeed's death in 2007, his daughter Supna succeeded him as editor-in-chief of ''Muslim World Today'' and ''Pakistan Today''.
Views on the Islamist movement
Sayyed criticized Palestinian extremism, saying that "Terrorists not only benefit from wide support through Palestinian society, they embody only too well the deepest hopes of the majority: to destroy the Jewish state". He criticized Arab nations of making the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...
second-class citizens in Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, or the Gulf States, and said that the refugees "cling to the illusion that defeating the Jews will restore their dignity".
He said that Arab dictators, the PLO and radical Islamist movement
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...
s have used the media, mosques and universities to present Jews as unholy intruders, occupiers, murderers, and enemies of Islam. "To create a Palestinian state
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PL ...
before this mindset is changed can only ensure that the new state will be yet another terrorist sponsor.", he argued. He continued by saying that Palestinian "terrorist movements" have successfully connected the Arab-Israeli conflict with the militant Islamists' goal of establishing a global caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
.
Views on Israel
Sayyed regarded Israel highly, and said that Israel is vital for the stability of the region.[ In an article published in ''Muslim World Today'', describing his visit to Israel, has said that Arabs are protected by Israel's democratic principles, the Muslim Arab citizens of Israel are afforded all the rights and privileges of Israeli citizenship. He noted that Israel is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Arab women can vote. In contrast to the non-Israeli Arab world, Arab women in Israel enjoy the same status as men. Muslim women have the right to vote and to be elected to public office. Muslim women, according to Sayyed, are in fact more liberated in Israel than in any Muslim country. Israeli law prohibits polygamy, child marriage, and the "barbarity" of female sexual mutilation. He concluded by saying "I am convinced that it is true that God created this earth but it is also a fact that only an Israel can keep this earth from dying".]
He condemned the press that portrays the Israelis as villains, and "chooses to ignore all rules of ethical journalism when it comes to Israel".[
Sayyed was strongly affiliated with ]Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
and openly promoted himself as a Muslim Zionist. His close friend was the eminent Israeli journalist Ari Busse. Busse's strong pro-Zionist views were reflected in Sayyed's writings. Busse now runs ''Muslim World Today'' and ''Paktoday.com''.
See also
* Wafa Sultan
* Muslim supporters of Israel
Bibliography
*''History of the World''
*''Left of the Center''
*''Pakistan – An Unfinished Agenda''
*''Mohammad – A secularist's View''
*''Foreign Policy of Pakistan''
*''Shadow Warriors – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban''
Stop Ahmadinejad Before It's Too Late
, ''Global Politician
''Global Politician'' was an online magazine of politics that published analysis of current events, as well as interviews with politicians, government officials, diplomats, book authors and terrorists. It was founded in October 2004 and is based ...
'', 5 November 2007
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayyed, Tashbih
1941 births
2007 deaths
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Pakistani writers
American columnists
American male non-fiction writers
American political journalists
American political writers
American Shia Muslims
American writers of Pakistani descent
Muhajir people
Muslim supporters of Israel
Pakistani emigrants to the United States
Pakistani non-fiction writers
Pakistani opinion journalists
Pakistani political journalists
Pakistani political writers
Pakistani scholars
Pakistani Shia Muslims
Pakistani Zionists
20th-century American male writers