MAKtube | Understanding Perceptions

Germany has just held its elections and Angela Merkel has won her fourth term as chancellor, she is widely deemed to be the most powerful women on the planet. But Germany is in a dilemma the far right is on the rise the AfD or alternative for Germany party (Germany's main far-right party) has just won 94 seats in parliament compared to 0 in 2013. This will be the first time a far-right nationalist part will be part of the government since Hitlers Nazi party. The sudden rise in far-right nationalism is a worry for Europe but what has caused this astronomical rise in just a short period of time and what do the AfD stand for. The AfD was founded in 2013 on the back of the Euro-zone crisis, opposing Germany's financial support of Euro-zone states. There policy's and ideology are similar to other far-right groups as well as advocating for a Swiss-style direct democracy and dissolution of the Euro-zone. They also oppose immigration/Islam as well as gay marriages and adoption...

 Fakhri pasha (also known as Fahreddin Pasha, fakhruddin and Omer Fahrettin Turkkan) the lion of the desert, the defender of Madina is a personality that not many are familiar with. He was an Ottoman general who was given the command of the Hejaz expeditionary force in WWI. At this time the Ottomans who were in control of Arabia and particularly Hijaz (present-day Saudi Arabia) were faced with an uprising, a revolt by the Arabs with the help of the British most notably TE Lawrence or the Lawrence of Arabia. Fakhri Pasha was ordered to go and defend Madina the city in which the prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) is buried. Due to the Arabs betraying the Ottoman caliphate and siding with the British Fakhri Pasha was given the task of defending the city as well as protecting the Hejaz railway line which was the most notable supply route to Madina and its entire means of logistics. Nearly 450 attacks by the Arab forces would be seen within a period of one year but the brav...

To understand the link between The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and terrorism one must go back to its inception and the beginning of Islam. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded 1932 by ibn saud with the help of religions leader Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab who was the founder/reviver of Wahabism. Prior to ibn sauds takeover the land was ruled by the Ottomans who were Sufi's a branch within Sunni Islam. The ideology of Wahhabism has had many different names throughout history including Wahhabi, Salafi, Ghair muqallid and khawarji just to mention a few. This ultra conservative ideology stems back right to the beginning of Islam. The prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prophesied about them in countless Hadith (sayings/quotes) for example:  " the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was brought some goods and he divided it, giving something to those on his right and to those on his left, but giving nothing to those who were behind him. One of those behind him, a man of dark com...

With North Korea being in news quite often now, many of us will be wondering what is the problem with north Korea and why does it seem to be the most hated country on earth?and why is Trump hell bent on its destruction. To answer these questions we must first understand its ideology and history. How the country of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea came to be? North Korea is the northern part of the Korean Peninsula with Pyongyang being its capital. Korea used to be one country but evidently has been separated in two, with the southern part being called South Korea. Between the two there is a heavily fortified Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and Both countries claim to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula. Before WWI Korea was seen as any other south east Asian country but WWI would change everything as now the Japanese empire had invaded and conquered the Korean peninsula. The Koreans not liking the idea of having the Japanese rule over them wou...

He may bee seen as the most hated president by some and a revolutionary by others but what makes him so controversial, minority's in America may say "hes a threat to our civil rights" women might say "hes a threat to our rights" and obviously most Muslims would say the same. but is trump really as bad as he seems to be or does he just make himself the perfect candidate to be hated. He is undoubtedly rich, an extremely successful businessman having stakes in dozens of corporations. he owns a hell of a lot of stuff which we cant mention here as we might be here all day. having everything in the world one could imagine, so why run for office? It obviously wasn't for money or fame well he did say he wanted to be' the president that is never forgotten' so there may be an element for fame but seriously haven't most people. As he said he decided to run for office after he thought past presidents hadn't done such a good job. As he ran his ca...

We have been seeing in the news for some time now every now and again the mentioning of Qatar and the blockade that has been placed in it by other middle eastern countries. it took many of us by surprise why all of a sudden these country's would implement such a move. In one of my previous blogs Iran vs Saudi the power struggle  i stated how middle eastern country's were forced to choose a side between Iran and Saudi this situation is basically a symptom of that specific problem. Qatar is one the richest country's in the world. the biggest producer and exporter of LNG its boasts of massive oil and gas reserves. the south pars/north dome field located in the Persian gulf is by far the biggest gas field in the world it is jointly owned by both Iran and Qatar this is where the complexity of the situation starts. if Qatar sides with Saudi it fears its stake in the gas field will be overtaken by Iran therefore seeing its wealth at danger it has no other option. One extreme...

For many of you wondering what is actually going on in Burma and how it all started it can be difficult understanding the situation that is currently gripping this nation and its people. we may hear in the news or see on Facebook images of murder and destruction but why is this genocide occurring? Burma/Myanmar is a country situated in south Asia bordering Bangladesh it has a majority Buddhist population. in the province of Rankine formally Arakan  the Muslim population  (Rohingya) is in majority, this province shares its borders with Bangladesh (a majority Muslim country) and it at the epicentre of this conflict. Prior to 1785 this province was under the control of Mughal India as well as the sultanate of Bengal having Buddhist kings and importing Muslim slaves from India caused the Muslim population to rise Muslims would be appointed in various positions of government and appointed ministry's. Up until 1785 the Rohingya Muslims lived peacefully and were given re...

When most of us hear the name of Iraq it reminds of us Saddam Hussein and Isis. a war torn country a failed state is what most of us think of this place but in reality all of this, our perception is built around what has happen in the last 15 years which is true. A great injustice is people don't know how many times Iraq and especially Baghdad have have been wiped out just to make way for a greater state. what is happening now, Iraq has seen numerous times before. it has seen grater oppression and has seen its sovereignty violated  it has experienced its rivers run red with the blood of fallen martyrs. like its mystical past almost ironic Iraq will surly rise from the rubble and heal its wounds of war like its has done for the past 5000 years. To understand the fabric of this region one needs to go back before america, before Saddam, before the mongols and even Islam. The history of Iraq begins ever since the start of human civilisation thus earning it the title of '...

Ever since historical records began the middle east has been controlled by two ethnic groups the Arabs and Persians both with there own different languages but extremely similar cultures. These two ethnic groups have always held a bitter rivalry trying to differ themselves from one another,  doing things opposite to each other, trying to gain an edge. an example of this would be historically Arabs would only recognise two types of people Arabi (Arab) and Ajami (the rest of human kind) not singling out Persians as gesture to show that they are not worth even recognising. but one similarity has always to gain influence and control over the middle east. Before even the advent of Islam in the middle east religion was a differing factor between the Arabs and Persians. Christianity Judaism and forms of idol worshipping was prevalent amongst Arabs while Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and fire worshipping being prevalent amongst Persians. As Islam conquered the middle east the split ...

As a child growing up in the united kingdom in the 90's, a child of economic immigrants there were many struggles children like me had to face racism, discrimination and due to these factors  children like me found it hard to adapt to the white British culture. many of you may ask what has your childhood got to do with the boxer named Muhammad Ali my answer would be  : everything. Growing up the internet was in its infancy, social media non existent the VCR was being phased out by the DVD and smartphones unimaginable. Every weekend we would go to the library to read books and rent out dvd's. it was then when i picked up the DVD 'when we were kings' and on the front i saw  for the first time muhammad ali. Boxing was the sport of the 90's the golden era where Mike Tyson, lennox Lewis and the British muslim boxing legend prince naseem hamad to mention a few would entertain crowds and families at home. but as we would watch boxing we would on ...

So I came to Pakistan from England and due to business I had to acquire a Pakistani driving licence as I could only use my British license for 6 months. So after doing some research and asking some friends I went to the main driving licence centre located in DHA next to zamzama park. I had to acquire a learners license first so as I approached the gate and the guard kindly asked me what have I come for and pointed me to the direction of a desk.  as I approached the desk located out side the main building three overweight traffic officers were having there tea with not a care in the world as I rudely asked "sir I need a learners license" and was pointed in to the main building.  I entered and noticed the building was quite new and unexpected of a government building so being pleasantly surprised I approached the main counter seeing the building was empty due to monsoon rains and on every counter officers with 'gutkha' in there mouths and smart phones on hand. ...