Editorial – Shahrokh Ahkami – PH, #73, Spring 2014
The arrival of the Persian New Year (Norouz) coincides each year with the anniversary date of the publication of Persian Heritage (Mirass-Iran). Throughout the nineteen years of our existence we have dealt with and survived many obstacles. Yet, we continue to move forward. This would not be the case if it were not for our devoted readers and hard working staff. Educating those with Persian roots and non Persians, on the medical, business, historical, scientific and cultural contributions Persia and Persians have made on society, remains the primary goal of the magazine. Last week I had a firsthand experience on the success of this goal. I would like to share this with you.
My eleven year old grandson, Ryan, called me on the phone and his voice was filled with excitement. “Papa, today our lesson in school was about Islamic culture. My teacher taught us about the rich Islamic cultures and how they influenced other older and modern cultures of the world. He also told us how Islam has affected the world’s philosophies and values.” Ryan explained that not only did his teacher say these things, but that it was written that way in his text book.
Hearing this I became very curious and asked him how he felt about what he was taught and if he thought it made a difference. Ryan still excited replied,“Papa I thought that many of the things the teacher said were not true!” Of course I had to ask why he felt that way and to my amazement he said, “Papa, because they have taken all that Persia and Persians have given to history and society and credited it to a religion (Islam) instead of to the Persians, this is not true Papa!”
I explained to him that the world of Islam is vast and crosses over many countries with rich and thriving cultures such as Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and many others. Again I asked why he was so upset and why he thought his lessons were wrong. Quickly he responded, “Papa are you testing me or are you honestly asking me this question?”
“Well Ryan, before I answer your question tell me some detailed information about your lessons today.” I was curious to find out if his teacher made mention of the contributions of Iranian (Persian) scholars.
He proceeded by telling me that he learned about Mohammad Zakariya Razi and his invention of alcohol, Sulfuric Acid, while he was searching for a way to make gold (alchymya.) They mentioned him Papa, but in the lesson, Arab and Islamic researchers were given the historical credit for this and for medicine. The teacher taught us about Avicenna who wrote The Cannon of Medicine and other books on medicine, philosophy and poetry. They mentioned Omar Khayyam, who was introduced as a Persian poet, but the rest of the credits of the Persians scientists and poets went to the Arabs in this text book. We learned that the architect and builder of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, was Iranian and worked along with a Jewish astronomer. ”Ryan, still excited brought up the Olympics, in Sochi, Russia. He remembered one ice skating couple who performed to the music of Scheherzade (Shahrzad). During the performance the commentator told the audience that the story of Scheherzade was about a Persian Princess who recited stories to her husband king, in order to prevent him from killing her.
I asked Ryan, “What does the story of Scheherzade and the ice skating have to do with your classroom experience?” He simply said,“Because Papa in our text book they state that the story is the story of a Persian Princess but that it was written by the Arabs.” Scheherzade, 1001 Nights, I explained, is the story of a Persian Princess, during the Sassanid Dynasty, before Islam. The king’s wife betrayed him. As a result, for the next three years, he married a girl every night and murdered her the next day. Scheherzade, the daughter of the vizier (prime minister) volunteered to be married to the king. In order to save her life, she began to tell the king a story every night to put him to sleep. After three years and having fathered many children with her, the king pardoned Scheherzade. The story was in fact first written in the Indian language then translated into Arabic and finally into Persian.
I told Ryan that I was so proud and happy for his interest and knowledge of his Persian heritage. Continuing the conversation I informed him that Persians were represented in medicine with Farabi and Avicenna. In politics and government administration Persians ran the system under the Arab Caliphs. Persians taught them the system which the Arabs continued to apply to their future governments. In poetry, Persians are proudly represented by the great Ferdowsi, Hafez, Khayyam, Rumi, Nezami, Saadi, etc.. In astronomy the Persian Nasir al din Toosi (Tusi) is recognized for building the first observatory, which included a library containing over 40,000 books. And we cannot forget the contributions of Omar Khayyam in algebra, mathematics and astronomy and Nezam-ol-Molk who built Nezamieh University in Baghdad. These Ryan are only a few names of Persians who have made notable contributions to their fields and society.
I brought to Ryan’s attention that during the Arab invasions and because of Arab expansion Arabic became the universal language. Because of this Persian scientists, historians and scholars were forced to write in the Arabic language. Persians, however, from the beginning of the invasions resisted to submit completely to Arabic culture and the language. If it were not for Ferdowsi and his Book of Kings, Iran like Lebanon, Egypt and Syria would have inherited the Arab language. I ended the conversation with Ryan with a feeling of accomplishment. I was proud of his interest in his ethnicity and I wondered if the conversation I had with him was being held in other Persian American homes.
A few weeks ago, when the president of Iran was speaking in the southern region of Iran, he discussed the riches of Islamic law and culture and made the comparison to western (Oxford University) teachings. It is unfortunate that the President of Iran chooses to embrace the Persian contributions as Islamic focusing on 1392 years of Persian history in the Islamic period, rather than focusing on the culture and civilization of Persia that is thousands and thousands of years old.
This is important. It is also important to note that an Iranian, who is a university professor, during a lecture claimed that Cyrus and Darius the Great and the celebration of Norouz were not important. The professor, instead tried to embrace the culture and personalities of Islam to be of utmost importance. Iranians always complain that negative events in Iran are due to the actions of the British, Russians and Americans. Iranians claim innocence and play the victim.
On the other hand while visiting museums such as the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the British Museum, in London, Iranians become irritable seeing how Arab petroleum wealth has been used to change history, such as the renaming of the Persian Gulf and Persian scholars, physicians and other Persian talents and inventions attributed to or regarded as Arabs by association to Islam. Iranians shed tears and blame the West but being honest, true blame should be placed on all Iranians, hyphenated or not.
Face it, if the Iranian president takes no pride in Persian, NOT ISLAMIC contributions and does not acknowledge the great Persian empires, and if an Iranian university professor follows the same suit (denying the importance of Cyrus the Great, Darius and Norouz) how can Iranians expect a different outcome? Yes, Iranians, hyphenated or not, are to blame! Had we unified and used out vast wealth to defend Persian culture, any attempt to change history would have been honorably stopped. Like my grandson Ryan, we must not be afraid to speak out against injustices. We can no longer politely discuss these issues without seriously challenging, as a group, any change in Persian history. Had we done this petro-dollars and Arab influence would not have been able to change Persian history, names and distort historical facts. False statements, made by former Iranian statesmen have been and continue to be used by the western media to support hatred and misunderstanding towards Iran and its people.
Iran, a country with such wealth and resources has been economically drained. This is UNBELIEVABLE when the wealth received in the past eight years from oil, is greater than the revenue received from oil from the inception of the oil industry in Iran. This income, unfortunately has been deposited into personal bank accounts leaving the country in economic shambles and the people under serious financial and social hardship. As I stated on a number of occasions, this tactic of oppression may be the way the regime survives. When people are barely surviving, economic and political issues become secondary in their minds. Again I don’t know why Ryan’s questions and comments stirred up my emotions but once again at Norouz, I am left with a sense of loss.
Norouz means rebirth. We celebrate this holiday with events and celebrations as we say good bye to the past and welcome a new beginning. These years as we do the traditional spring cleaning of our homes, we should also clear our minds. Let us all start this year with fresh optimism and positive thoughts. This can only be accomplished by changing our way of thinking. Yes, we can sit together and remember the old times, but we can no longer afford to be stuck in the past. It is the future that we must be concerned with. Yes, we must always take pride in our Iranian, Persian history. More importantly, however, we must protect it from future attempts to change it. I truly hope that one day we can live like our host countrymen,take lessons from our past and institute measures and steps toward a better future.
Again thank you for allowing Persian Heritage Magazine to be part of your home. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a happy and healthy new year, filled with love and compassion.