by Douglas Thompson co-author of the book with Youssef Nada
According to Thompson, the book
is in a sense, it is about all the stories we want to know and learn from.
Spending 3-4 years with Youssef Nada, it is a joint work on humanity. It is
about how humans are basically, Nada explaining his world, that everybody is
human. As he says, everyone born is good. After that, it all goes wrong, due to
the circumstances, the surroundings, the experiences, the influence. These become prejudice and fear.
He is telling the story of the
Muslim Brotherhood, its early start, its struggle and conflicts – telling it as
human beings. Youssef Nada walked his own path, follows his own rules. He
simply refused to be involved in corruption. He would rather lose out on
contracts because of his principles. He became successful by being honest and
trustworthy.
Nada recalls that the greatest
moment of his life was joining the Muslim Brotherhood. Nada was only 17 years
old when he witnessed conflicts on the streets. He saw a group that came along
and managed to defuse the situation and resolve the conflicts. That group was
the Ikhwan Muslimun and they reasoned with the belligerents to think of their
families and their livelihood. Nada listened to a convincing rationale that in
everything we do there shall be a result, a consequence to it.
He framed his thinking, his
devotion to his religion, his love for the religion. Always inspiring to do
something that he believes in. There has got to be an understanding. We may all
have annoying habits, simple things in life but we must be overcoming them. We have
got to accommodate each other, in sharing and in being considerate.
Since joining the Brotherhood in
1948, Nada has been imprisoned witnessing the vivid brutalities of torture,
being exiled and he went on building a billion dollar business. After 9/11,
Nada was branded by George Bush himself as a financial terrorist, becoming the
enemy and was persecuted.
Lesser men would have crumbled
under but not Youssef Nada. He lost 300 million USD in just one day. Nada
fought the injustice for 12 years, winning in the courts but he is still
blacklisted by the US.
I do not know where the character
comes from unless the secret formula for it comes from faith and what he
believes in. I can only endorse everything that he stands for. For aside from
theological questions, Nada is such a good man.
The only regret Nada has is not
achieving (against incredible odds) that engagement, dialogue, the exchanging
of views at a calm level between East and West. Exchanging views on value
systems. For in the future, it is economically leaning to the East.
It may sound cliché, but it is
the effort to contain the parameters to the best you can, the opportunity to
make the world a better place. There is a lot of good in most people. We have
to validate faith and belief in good politics. Good men and good politics.
(A book discussion on the truth
about the Muslim Brotherhood by presenters, Douglas Thompson and Anwar Ibrahim
at Quality Hotel Shah Alam)
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