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Husayn ibn Mansur al-HallajThis is the story of Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallaj who was born in Madinaal-Bayda, a little village in the ancient province of Fars, in southernPersia, in the year 224 A.H./857 C.E., two years before his Masteral-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with them both.He grew up in Wasit and in Tustar where the cultivation of cotton was themain occupation of most of the people. His father was a cotton-carder fromwhich he gained his name of al-hallaj-one who cards cotton.Even when he was a young child al-Hallaj felt drawn towards a spirituallife, and at the age of sixteen he attached himself to the Shaykh Sahlat-Tustari whom he accompanied when he moved from Tustar to Basra in `Iraq.He served this Shaykh for two years and then, when he was eighteen yearsold, he left him and went to Baghdad.However, the young Hallaj did not stay long in Baghdad, and soon returnedto Basra where he became a student of `Amr al-Makki. This Shaykh, acompanion of al-Junayd, was a scholar to whom the great Master wrote someof his well-known Rasa'il.Al-Hallaj remained with `Amr al-Makki for a period of about eighteenmonths, until an estrangement came between them when his Master offeredal-Hallaj his daughter in marriage. He preferred to marry a lady whoremained his only wife, the daughter of another holy person, Ya`qub ibnAqta. They had three sons, one of whom was Hamid who recorded much of theexisting information about Hallaj's later life.As a result of this estrangement with his Shaykh `Amr al-Makki, al-Hallajagain left Basra and once more travelled to Baghdad, where this time hewent to see al-Junayd and asked his permission to become his student.Junayd accepted him and became his Guide and Master and the guardian of hisspirit.As his Guide, al-Junayd came to know everything about al-Hallaj's heart,which was very sensitive and exactly like that of a child. He knew his souland what Allah, Most High, had created in his spirit. He saw that this newstudent was a specially ecstatic and passionate (`ashiq) lover with a verypure Eye, who was completely in love with everything about his Beloved fromWhom he feared to be separated for a moment.Al-Junayd's Way, as we know, was that of perfect sobriety, in which theSecret of God's Love had to be deeply contained, and only revealed towhoever could be trusted to guard It. In accepting al-Hallaj as hisstudent, he knew that he was committing himself to a difficultresponsibility. But he also knew that Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise,had created al-Hallaj's spirit just as He had created his own spirit, andthat whatever He Ordered and Willed must come to pass.In al-Hallaj's case the Secret of the Love seized and intoxicated hisentire being. His longing and yearning for Allah was such that only in histotal destruction by Him could he find the Union which was the sole purposeand goal of his life. This was the Beauty (al-jamal) and the Majesty(al-jalal) of his bondsmanship to Allah, and like a great river flowingfrom its source to the ocean, nothing could hinder or stop its course.Al-Junayd, his Master and teacher, counselled al-Hallaj to seek solitudeand silence for himself, but at the same time he knew that his student'sheart was full of yearning to help all the people whom he met, and to whomhis spirit was moved to speak to about the One Beloved and His Love.Al-Junayd also knew that it was for this reason that al-Hallaj could notremain in any one place for long. But he was always urged to go here andthere, so that he travelled further and further from his native land, hisoutward journeys inspired by his inward searching and walking with hisBeloved.In all his travels Junayd's spirit never left his holy student, and he wassurrendered to what Allah wanted of him. For he knew that every soul whichHe has created is in His Hands, and he whom He has chosen for Himself doesnot choose for himself, but it is Allah, through the heart of His slave,Who chooses for him.Al-Hallaj, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was still a youth said,"And already love had engraved Him in my heart with its red-hot iron ofdesire-what a branding!"Then he said, speaking with the Tongue of the Truth:"I am He Whom I love, and He Whom I love is I.We are two spirits dwelling in one body.If you see me, you see Him;And if you see Him, you see us both."These words can be compared with what `Abdu'l-Karim al-Jili, severalcenturies later, was to say: "We are the spirit of One though we dwell byturns in two bodies."In his heart al-Hallaj knew that he could see Allah, the Beloved everywherein His Creation. Although he saw that the people were blind, dumb,animal-like and they could not recognize Him, yet as he said, "The beloveddoes not drink a single drop of water without seeing His Face in the cup.Allah is He Who flows between the pericardium and the heart, just as thetears flow from the eyelids."He said about this in a poem:"I saw my Lord with the Eye of my heart,And I said: Truly there is no doubt that it is You.It is You that I see in everything;And I do not see You through anything (but You).You are the One Who owns all places.And yet no place is You.And if there were a place given by You for the place,That place would know where You are.And if there were an imagination for the imagining of You.That imagination would know where You are.I understand everything, and everything that I seeIn my annihilation is You.My Lord, bless me and forgive me,For I seek no one but You."For a while al-Hallaj remained with Junayd in Baghdad and then he travelledto the Hijaz for the Pilgrimage after which he stayed in Mecca for a year,living a very hard life and all the time giving himself difficult spiritualpractices to fulfill.After that year in Mecca he returned to Baghdad and immediately went to seeal-Junayd. It was said that when he knocked on the Master's door, Junaydasked, "Who is there?" and the reply came, "I am the Truth." (ana al-haqq).But Junayd said to him, "Beloved al-Hallaj, be careful about the Secret ofAllah. Do not give It to those who cannot understand It." Then he added,"The time will soon come when you will set fire to a piece of wood."Al-Hallaj replied, "The day when I set light to that piece of wood, youwill be wearing the clothes of the orthodox." And so in fact it happened aswill be seen later, if Allah wills.Hallaj was now widely acclaimed and loved by the people. But the religiousscholars could not accept him, and they doubted the reports of his miraclesand took exception to his utterances, such as when he said: "I wonder atYou and me. You annihilated me out of myself into You. You made me near toYourself, so that I thought that I was You, and You were me." They alsogrew angry when they heard him say: "My spirit mixes with Your Spirit, innearness and separation, so that I am You, just as You are I." They couldnot understand how anyone could utter such sayings. Then, one by one, theybegan to turn against him and to shun his company.At other times the religious authorities and scholars accused him of beinga heretic (zindiq) when he said such things as: "Your Spirit mixed in myspirit just like wine and clear water, and if something touches You ittouches me, for You are I in every state."Attacks now mounted against him in Baghdad and grew in frequency so that heleft the city, and for five years travelled far from his homeland. He alsoleft his Sufi clothes, and put on those of the people amongst whom he went.But this did not mean that he had left the Path of Allah because no matterwhere he went, or what he did, he remained a beloved of the Path. Nothingcould make any difference to his heart, nor quench the flame of his spirit,for he saw that his Beloved God was in every face around him, and he foundHim in every place where he happened to be.For part of the five years that he spent away from Baghdad, he was inKhurasan, Transoxania and Sistan. He then returned to Ahwaz in south westPersia where he was accepted and loved, both by the elite and by the peoplewho drank from his words. He used to speak of the secrets in men's hearts,and for that reason they called him al-Hallaj of the secrets.It is related that once, while he, may Allah be pleased with him, was onhis travels, he met up with Ibrahim al-Khawass whom he asked what he wasdoing. Al-Khawass told him that he was travelling to increase his trust inAllah, and for his general well-being. Al-Hallaj then said to him, "Youspend your whole life in cultivating your own inner self. Where then is thewell-known forgetting of self in the Unity?"The Love of Allah meant for al-Hallaj that: "You remain standing in frontof your Beloved when your qualities are destroyed, and when your existencehas disappeared in His Existence." Remembering the hadith of the Prophet,prayers and peace be upon him: Nothing loves Allah by any action which ismore pleasing to Him than loving Him, al-Hallaj said, "Suffering is HeHimself, whereas happiness comes from Him."However al-Hallaj, who accustomed himself to suffering, did not mean by thenecessity of suffering that this was the returning of the human being,through Allah's Majesty (jalal) to be as he was before he was, which washow al-Junayd had spoken about the Love. Al-Hallaj saw the meaning ofsuffering through the Love as the way by which the human being could comethrough the deep Secret Love (al-`ishq) to taste the essence of the Essenceof Allah, and the meaning of the Secret of the Creation. Passionateoverflowing love (`ishq) meant for al-Hallaj the ever-moving, creating andrecreating Love by which all is destroyed in order to be brought back againto further tasting of the Essence, and a higher state of ecstasy andannihilation.When he spoke in this way and used these terms, many people, especially theorthodox Muslims of Bagdad, and even some of the moderate Sufis themselves,considered him dangerous and turned away from him. Because in this he waswalking with and tasting of a knowing that was reserved for very few, andonly acceptable when contained, as was the case of al-Junayd, in theperfect baqa' and subsistence amongst created beings. Al-Hallaj, may Allahbe pleased with him, said:"Is it You or I? That would be two gods in me;But far be it from You to manifest as two-The He-ness that is Yours is in my One-ness forever;My all added to Your All would be a double existence.But where is Your Essence, from my place of looking,when I see You?Since my essence has become plain, in the place where I am not.And where is Your Face, which is the Object of my gaze,Whether in my inmost heart, or in the glance of my eye?Between You and me there is an I am that battles with me,So take away, by Your Grace, this I am from in between."He said, "Love is in the pleasure of possession, but in the Love of Allahthere is no pleasure of possession, because the stations of the Reality arewonderment, the cancelling of the debt which is owed, and the blinding ofvision. The Love of the human being for God is a reverence which penetratesthe very depths of his being, and which is not permitted to be given exceptto Allah alone. The Love of Allah for the human being is that He Himselfgives proof of Himself, not revealing Himself to anything that is not He."This was the meaning for Hallaj of the Words of Allah, the All-Mighty: "Ihave chosen thee for Myself." (20:41).Then he, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Love (mahabba) is from theseed (habba) of the heart. The seed of the heart is its pith (lubb), andthe pith is the place of the subtlety (latifa). The subtlety is the placeof Allah, and the place of Allah is the complete freedom (tamalluq) withHim."Now again for the second time al-Hallaj left for the Pilgrimage dressed inthe ragged clothes of the darwish and with a large number of followersaccompanying him, all dressed like him.It is said that when they reached Mecca, one of the authorities theredenounced him as a heretic and a magician; so he returned to Basra, andfrom there he went to the town of Ahwaz in south west Persia where heremained for a period of time.But al-Hallaj's spirit would not allow him to stay for long in any place,and he felt called again to travel to distant places. He said, "Now I amgoing to the lands of many gods to call men to Allah." So he took a boat toIndia and from there he travelled to China.His enemies said that he went to India to learn magic, and especially thesecret of how to perform the Indian rope trick. But he, may Allah bepleased with him, did not need any of those things. Allah, the All-Mighty,gave him everything, and there was nothing that he needed from any humanbeing. His only desire was for his Beloved in his heart. He told his familythat he wanted to go to India and to the Far East to call the unbelieversto God.So he travelled to Gujarat, and from there he wandered through the Sind andthe lower Indus valley, which had been part of the Muslim Empire since 711C.E. He met many people in all his journeying and spoke to thousands; andmany people loved him and followed him in those distant lands. The seedswhich he sowed there grew and remained with the people, and it is said thatthey can still be found in the religion and the poetry of those who claimto descend from them in that province.>From the Sind, he travelled to the northern borders of India, then toKhurasan, and to Turkestan, and eventually to Turfan. It is suggested thathe may have gone with the caravans carrying brocade from his home town ofTustar to the East, and returning with Chinese paper to the Islamiccountries.Some say that his teachings were written down on precious paper which wasdecorated in the style of the Manichaen manuscripts from Central Asia.Also, he was said to have entered into relationships with the Carmathianpeople, who were supposedly Shi'ites, but who were in truth original Arabsof Arabia.In 900 C.E. they had revolted against the despotism of the Persians and themilitarism of the Turks. The Carmathians were described as being puritanand democratic, and came from the same tribes which, in the time of theProphet Muhammad, prayers and peace be upon him, had formed the spear headof the great Arab conquests. Now their rebellion, which had begun inArabia, led them out further and further until they captured Damascus, Homsand Hama, all of which they were occupying at that time. Afterwards theywere to seize the Yaman and in the year 906 C.E., a year before themartyrdom of al-Hallaj, they captured Kufa, and were threatening Baghdad.At the time when al- Hallaj was journeying across India and Asia Minor, theCarmathians ruled in Bahrain and also in the northern Sind and in Multan.These last two places al-Hallaj had recently visited on his travels.When later he, may Allah be pleased with him, was faced with hostileaccusations, one was that he had stirred up feelings in these outlyingeastern places hostile to the Caliph of Baghdad.What is certain is that al-Hallaj was loved and sought by many peoplewherever he travelled, and when he returned to Baghdad many of them wrotehim letters; the Indians addressing him as Abu 'l-Mughith, the Chinese asAbu 'l-Mu'in, and in all the places which he visited he was given a specialname by which he was known.All this, and particularly the fact that he had vast followings amongst thepeople of all the places where he had travelled, made the government ofBaghdad very suspicious of Hallaj, and not only suspicious, but they beganto look upon him as a threat to the security and stability of their power.In Al-Akhbar al-Hallaj there are many stories which give a good idea abouthis life in Baghdad, both before and after he returned from his long secondjourney to the East. He is said to have taught the people and called themto Allah with intense love and asceticism.When someone asked him about the Unity of Allah (at-tawhid), he answeredhim: "Allah, Most High, is the very One Who Himself affirms His Unity bythe tongue of whomsoever of His creatures He wishes. If He affirms HisUnity in my tongue it is He Who does so, and it is His Affair. Otherwise,my brother, I myself have nothing to do with affirming Allah's Unity." Hereal-Hallaj was not speaking from any humanity, but with the tongue of theUnity. In his presence he was in fact always affirming Allah's Unity, butin his heart he knew that no matter to how many different places hetravelled to bring the people to Allah, still his witnessing would not becompleted. So it was that, moved by this burning desire which he saw couldnot be fulfilled except in the total destruction of his very existence, hebroke his discipline of silence, and tore aside the Veil to reveal thehidden Secret. Thus his need and longing to eliminate the I am betweenhimself and his Beloved God took on a more open form. His fellow ecstaticsand companions, ash-Shibli, an-Nuri or Bayazid al-Bistami, although theydid not always keep silent, managed, nevertheless, to stay away from theanger and the stones of the people. Ash-Shibli said, "Al-Hallaj and I areof one love and one belief, but my madness saved me, while his intelligencedestroyed him."There is a story told by one of al-Hallaj's young followers, Ibrahim ibnFatik: One day I went to see my Master al-Hallaj at a house belonging tohim; and I arrived at a moment when he was in a state of absence. I saw himstanding on his head saying, "You Who make me near to You by Your Presence,and Who set me at a distance by Your Absence, as far as is Eternity fromtime, You manifest Yourself to me so that I think of You as the All, andYou withdraw Yourself from me until I deny Your Existence. But Your Absencedoes not continue, and Your Presence does not suffice. War with You doesnot succeed, and peace with You is not secure."Ibrahim al-Fatik then said: When he sensed that I was there he sat uprightand said, "Come in, and do not be afraid!"So I came in and sat down before him, and his eyes were like two burningflames. Then he said, "My son, some people testify against me that I am anunbeliever, and some of them testify to my saintliness (wilaya). Those whotestify that I am an unbeliever are dearer to me, and to Allah than thosewho testify to my saintliness."Then I asked him, "Master, why is that?"He said, "Those who testify to my saintliness do so from their good opinionof me, while those who testify against me of my unbelief do so from zealousdefense of their religion (ta`assuban li-dinihim). He who zealously defendshis religion is dearer to Allah than he who has a good opinion of anyone."Then he said, "Ibrahim, what will you do when you see me crucified andkilled and burnt? That will be the happiest day of all the days of my life."Ibrahim ibn Fatik also told about a visit which he paid to al-Hallaj onwhich occasion he found him reciting the Qur'an at full length. When he hadfinished, he turned to Ibn Fatik laughing and said, "Do you not see that Ipray to try to please Him? But he who thinks that he has pleased Him hasput a price on His Pleasure."He said, may Allah be pleased with him, "Praise be to him whose humanitymanifested the Secret of the splendor of His radiant Divinity, and who thenappeared openly to his people in the form of one who eats and drinks!"All Sufis have always considered belief as an inner state rather than themore formal one of submission to Allah which is generally understood byMuslims. The Prophet, may prayers and peace be upon him, had said,"Submission is public, and belief is in the heart." Then he pointed to hisbreast three times and said, "Fear of Allah (taqwa) is here, fear of Allahis here!"Al-Hallaj said this because he believed that faith (iman) was the firststep leading to the overwhelming Love of Allah (wallah), astonishment andawe. When reverence (taqwa) is combined with knowledge, then the state oftotal surrender (istinya) or intention to the Qur'an becomes possible."This," he said, "is the reward of the stations of belief."He, may Allah protect his secret, spoke about the Holy Qur'an saying: "Init there are signs of Divine Lordship (rubbubiyya), tidings of theResurrection, and news about the future until the Eternity of Eternities.Whoever knows the Qur'an, for him it is as though he were in theResurrection." For he, may Allah be pleased with him, believed that onlythe Saints are destined to reach the Secret of Lordship (as-sirrar-rubbubiyya).He said, "He who looks for Allah by the light of faith is like he who seeksthe sun by the light of the stars."At the same time, he acknowledged faith as the foundation for all callingupon Allah, which should be followed by seeking His Face, as he said, "Noone can lay claim to Allah in any way except through faith, but in realitythere can be no claim to having attained Him." For He, Praised and Exaltedis He, has said: "Call upon Allah, or call upon the Merciful, whichsoeveryou call upon, to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names." (17:110)He went on to explain that faith, in so far as it means speech, action andintention, is still concerned with the intermediaries (wasa'it). But theseintermediaries, or mediums, are eclipsed (isqat al-wasa'it) as soon as therealities are tasted, so that they remain afterwards only in an outwardform (rasm) for those who need the outward form.He said, "In none but Him can two opposite attributes be merged together.He, Allah, is not thereby in contradiction, for knowledge is concealed byignorance, but He, Allah, is the meeting-place of both the Unity and theIgnorance."In his Akhbar al-Hallaj he spoke about what he meant by the meeting-placeof opposites in Allah in relation to faith (iman) and unbelief (kufr). Hesaid, "Faith and unbelief are different only in name, because in theReality there is no belief and no unbelief. The place where they meet isthe place where they are dissolved in the Essence Itself, the Reality,al-Haqiqa."Al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "At-tawhid is theisolation of the reality of Allah in Itself." In saying this he wasexplaining about both the state of transcending and the process oftranscending in which the thought that any temporal thing or state orcondition can have existence in itself is destroyed. The meaning ofJunayd's words is the same as the meaning of Hallaj's saying: "In none butHim can two opposite attributes be merged together, but He is not therebyin contradiction. Allah is the meeting-place of opposites."Al-Hallaj said, "When you become obliterated, you arrive at a place inwhich nothing is either obliterated or confirmed. It is the Divine erasingsand effacements, and it cannot be expressed in words." Here he was reachingout, in Sufi language and terminology (isharat), to express what no humanlanguage can truly express. Only the hearts of the true beloveds whose eyesare open and who are in the deep surrender to Allah in all His Faces, cantouch something of the meaning of Hallaj's words. It was this hiddenlanguage, beyond the understanding of the rational mind, which disturbedand angered the orthodox religious scholars and guardians of the peace ofBaghdad.As he, may Allah be pleased with him, said in a poem:"The long-awaited revealing of a well-kept secretis becoming clear to you.A dawn is breaking on your darkness.Your own heart is the veil covering the Secret.If you had kept yourselfHe would not have been revealed to you.But when you destroy your own heartHe enters it and discloses His holy revelation.So, guarded by this revelation,an ever-nourishing dialogue will followIts verse and prose delicious to Us both."Increasingly the delicious meanings of his ecstatic states took possessionof him until he reached a point where the two states of belief and unbeliefhad disappeared in the Majesty (jalal) of Allah's Decree for him, so thatfinally he came to be called an unbeliever by those who could notunderstand him and who feared him because of a certain power which hepossessed. For how could there be any meeting-place between he who lovesthrough the ecstasy of annihilation and he who loves by the outside Law?So that finally when al-Hallaj said, "I became an unbeliever to Allah'sReligion, and unbelief is my duty because it is hateful to Muslims," thiswas the culminating point of ecstatic expression (shathiya) for those earlybeloveds of Allah who included Hasan al-Basri, Rabi`a al-Adawiyya, Bayazidal-Bistami and an-Nuri, may Allah be pleased with them all.In a letter to one of his close beloveds al-Hallaj wrote:"May Allah veil you from the outside of the Religious Law, and may Hereveal to you the Reality of unbelief (al-haqiqa al-kufr), because theoutside of the Religious Law is a hidden idolatry, while the Reality ofunbelief is a manifest knowing.In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate, Who manifests Himselfthrough everything (tajalla ma`rifa jaliya), the revelation of a clearknowing to whomsoever He wishes, peace be upon you, my son. This praisebelongs to Allah Who manifests Himself on the head of a pin to whom Hewishes, so that one testifies that He is not, and another testifies thatthere is none other than He. But the witnessing in the denying of Him isnot rejected, and the witnessing in the affirming of Him is not praised.And the purpose of this letter is that I charge you not to be deceived byAllah, neither to despair of Him, and not to covet His Love, and not to besatisfied with not being His lover, not to affirm Him, and not to deny Him,and beware of speaking about the Oneness of Allah! Peace."Al-Hallaj called the outside Law a hidden idolatry (ash-shirk khafi)because he said that, "It is bound up with outside things-with duality andopposition. In the measure that a person is preoccupied with the outsideLaw, so he is prevented from being with Allah alone."He, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote many compositions, poems, sayingsand books about the Religion of Islam and Jurisprudence. His poetry, aswell as being profound and subtle, is very tender and full of yearning, ascan be seen, and his language is very pure and refined in the style socharacteristic of the Persian Masters.Al-Hujwiri, writing in the 12th century, said that he had seen at leastfifty works by al-Hallaj in Baghdad, and in the neighboring districts, andalso in Khuzistan, Fars and Khurasan. His best-known works are his Diwan,his Akhbar al-Hallaj, his Kitab at-Tawasin, and a Commentary on the HolyQur'an.The Kitab at-Tawasin, which deals with the subject of the Unity(at-tawhid), and with the science of Prophethood, contains eight chapters,each called tasin, from the secret letters at the beginning of the sura,the Ant (an-naml). It also contains a dialogue between Allah, Praised andExalted is He, and the Devil (ash-shaytan) in the form of a discussion ofthe fact that the Devil refused to obey the Order of Allah to prostrate toAdam, and of the dilemma between not worshipping anybody but Allah, whichis His Divine Will, and on the other hand, His Order to prostrate before acreated being.The Kitab at-Tawasin also contains beautiful poems in honor of the Prophet,may prayers and peace be upon him. In the Riw ayat of Ruzbihan BaqliShirazi, who wrote in the late 12th century, everything that he could findabout al-Hallaj is gathered together. In addition there are some examplesin this book of gatherings of ahadith which al-Hallaj made, and which aresaid to be not very different from the generally accepted ahadith, exceptthat they were confirmed for him by a chain (sanad) of cosmic origin-ofangels, stars, the sun, etc., and not by a chain of human transmitters.In the Tafsir of Sulami, who died in 1021 C.E., can be found some fragmentsof Hallaj's Commentary on the Holy Qur'an.This was the way in which his heart saw the truths and the laws of theReligion, and he also wrote and spoke about the idea of isqat al-fara'id,by which he meant that certain religious duties could be exchanged, heclaimed, for acts which may be more useful at a particular moment. Forexample, he said that instead of performing the Pilgrimage, people shouldinvite orphans to their houses, to feed and clothe them, and to make themhappy on the Great Feast (al-`id al-akbar). This idea can be compared withthe story of Abu Yazid al-Bistami's meeting with the man on the road to thePilgrimage who asked him for money, and to walk seven times around himinstead of making the journey to Mecca. (chapter three).But if anyone looks with the deep Eye, he can see that there was never anydoubt about al-Hallaj's being a true Muslim. One of the ahadith which hebelieved in is that in which the Prophet, prayers and peace be upon him,said, "Allah has not created anything which He loves more than He lovesMuhammad and his family."In his Kiitab at-Tawasin he wrote in praise of Muhammad, prayers and peacebe upon him: "All the Lights of the Prophets, may peace be upon them all,proceeded from his Light. He was before all, and his name is the first inthe Book of Destiny. He was known before all things and all beings, and hewill endure after the end of all. By his guidance, all eyes have attainedto sight. All knowledge is merely a drop. All wisdom merely a handful fromhis stream; all time is merely an hour from his life."In a chapter of his Kitab at-Tawasin, al-Hallaj drew a parallel between thehadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who said: "Die before you die,"and a moth which is attracted to the flame of a candle. It circles theflame and little by little approaches it until in the end it is burned byit. He compared himself to the moth which does not want either the light orthe candle or its heat, but only to throw itself into the flame. This wasexactly the same, he said, as his own case with the Love of his BelovedGod-to throw himself into the Fire of the Love, and to be consumed by It.For at the moment of being consumed he would reach the completed Perfectionof the Order of Allah for him, and the Reality of his true existence in Him.His words: I am the Truth (ana al-haqq), appear in one of the chapters ofhis Kitab at-Tawasin where he writes about his own claim to the saying, andalso that of Pharaoh (Fir`awn), and that of the Devil (ash-shaytan). Hecompares Pharaoh's words (and he said): "I am your Lord Most High," (79:24)and the saying of the Devil: "I am better than he," (70:12) (meaning Adam),and his own words: "I say, I am the Absolute Truth. Inside my cloak isnothing but Allah."This led to a great deal of controversy about the difference between theI's of Pharaoh and the Devil, and the beloved of God. An answer came in therevelation from Allah: "Pharaoh saw only himself so he lost Me, and Husaynsaw only Me and lost himself." So that the I of the Egyptian ruler was aword of total unbelief, but the I of al-Hallaj was an expression of Gracefrom Allah.Al-Hallaj's follower, Ibrahim ibn Fatik, said that when his Master wasasked: Who is a Sufi? he replied, "He who is single in essence." (wahdaniadh-dhat) In that state he sees only with the Eye of his Reality. He, mayAllah be pleased with him, wrote in his Diwan:"There is no longer between me and the Truth (al-haqq),Explanation, nor proof, nor signs to convince me.Here shines out the vision of God, like a flameResplendent in its dazzling sovereignty.Only he knows God to whom He makes Himself known.The ephemeral, which passes away with time,Cannot know what is EternalSo that the Creator can no longer be removed>From what He has created.Do you not see this temporal being turned away from HimFor the remainder of time?The proof is His, from Him, towards HimAnd in Him the Witness itself,Of the Reality in a revelation,Which distinguishes the good from the evil.His is the proof, from Him, in Him and for Him.In truth we have found It,Even as a science in Its outer manifestation.Such is my existence, my evidence and my conviction.Such is the Oneness of my proclaiming His Unity, my belief!Thus do those express themselves who are One in Him,And who know Him, in secret and in public.This is the summit of existence of thoseWho are intoxicated by Allah, the sons of the People of God,The companions of my soul!"This was the culmination of the holy life of the Beloved of Allah,al-Hallaj, the Martyr of the Love of God. No words are enough to speak ofthe Beauty and the Majesty of this station, or this case, but Allah Himselfis the Love and Encompasses everything. From His Order, and in It, Hiscreation returns to Him. To Him belongs all Praise, the Mighty, theSupreme, for what He creates.*I have to write it all and copied from source about him, so it can be explained better. May Allah have mercy and blessing upon him, we cant understand this station, but if Allah grants us to, inShaAllah we will experience this.

A large number of Qur’anic verses and traditions condemn the sin of lying and describe its evil consequences. The late Haji Nūri has collected these verses and traditions and classified them into forty points for easy recalling and reference. We shall quote them for the benefit of our readers.1. Lying is transgressionAllah (S.w.T.) says in Surah al-Baqarah:“...there shall be no intercourse nor transgression nor quarreling amongst one another (during Hajj).” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:197)The word “transgression” in this ayat refers to falsehood or lying.Again in Surah al-Hujurāt it is mentioned:“O you who believe! If an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done.” (Surah al-Hujurāt 49:6)This ayat was revealed for Walid, who is mentioned as an “evil-doer”; i.e. a liar.2. Meaning of the term “false words”Alongwith the prohibition of worshipping idols it is ordered by Allah (S.w.T.) to abstain from falsehood.“...therefore avoid the uncleanness of the idols and avoid false words.”(Surah Hajj 22:30)In this verse ‘false words’ mean lying.3. The liar is not a believerOne of the verses quoted above demonstrates that a liar is not a believer and one who is a believer never speaks a lie. The verse pronounces:“Only they forge the lie who do not believe in the signs of Allah.” (Surah an-Nahl 16:l05)For it is clear that one who disbelieves in the divine communications cannot be a Mu’min (believer).4. Lying is an evil and a sinTraditions have mentioned lying as a sin and an evil. For example, Hazrat Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) says:“Falsehood is absolutely an evil and a sin.”5. The Liar is accursedThe liar is eligible for divine curse and Allah (S.w.T.) causes His retribution to descend upon him.”For example:“...the curse of Allah be on him if he is one of the liars.” (Surah an-Nūr 24:8)6. The blackened face of the liarThe Holy Prophet (S) says:“Beware of falsehood! Because falsehood blackens the face.”4An interesting incident is found in the book, Habibus Sayr:Sultan Husain Mirza, the king of Khorasan and Zāblistan, sent one of his envoys to Sultan Yaqūb Mirza, the king of Azerbaijān and Iraq. The envoy carried with him books and other gifts. The Sultan had ordered the inclusion of the book Kulliyat al-Jami in the set of books. It was a very popular book in those days. Amīr Husain Abīravi, the envoy, in his haste packed the book Futūhat al-Makki instead of Kulliyat al-Jami. On reaching Iraq, he found a hospitable host in the ruler of Iraq. He was asked, “You must have been bored during this long journey?”The envoy replied, “Not at all! The Sultan has sent for you Kulliyat al-Jami. So whenever we halted, I read some portions of it and passed my time.”Sultan Yaqūb was eager to see the book. But, when he ordered for it, it was not found to the embarrassment of the envoy.The king demanded, “Aren’t you ashamed to utter such a lie?”The envoy says, “I left the court ashamed and returned home without a reply to my Sultan’s letter. I did not even halt or rest during the journey to Khorasan. I felt death would have been better for me, rather than uttering such a lie.”7. Sin of lying is worse than drinking wineImam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) says:“Certainly Allah has created the lock for every evil and the key to all these locks is drinking wine. But lying is worse than drinking.”5Wine disables reason and sense, but lying kills the reason. It makes one so insensate that he becomes ready to commit any kind of satanic act. An alcoholic when under the influence of alcohol is not in his proper senses, and thus it is not possible for him to act with cunningness and treachery. But a liar can cause untold mischief in the society through his cunningness; much more than a drunkard can.8. The foul-smelling mouth of the liarIt is recorded in a tradition that on the Day of Judgement the mouth of a liar will give an awful smell.9. The Angels abhor the liarsThe smell of a liar’s mouth would be so disgusting that even the Angels will not go near him. They will keep away from the liars. This is not only for the Day of Judgement. Even in this world, the Angels can smell the foul odour from the mouths of the liars. In a prophetic tradition it is said,“When a believer utters a lie, such a bad smell emanates from his mouth that even the Angels move away.”610. Lying is disbelief (kufr)The Almighty Allah curses the liars, as is evident from the verse of Mubahala (3:61) and the verse of ‘Lām’ (24:8).A mention about this has been made earlier.11. The stench from the liar’s mouth reaches the skies.12. It is also recorded that the Angels of the sky curse the liars.13. Falsehood spoils faith.Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) says:“Lying destroys Faith”714. Falsehood deprives the liar from the taste of faith.Imam ‘Ali (a.s.) says:“Every believer is deprived from the taste of faith till he gives up lying seriously and also in jest.”815. According to traditional reports, lying causes animosity and hatred between people.16. The vice of lying questions the character of the liar.A tradition of the Prophet (S) says:“The least forbearing is the one who is a liar.”917. The traditions from Ma’sūmīn (a.s.) inform us that all the evils are locked in a room and the key to that room is lying.18. Lying is a sin and a transgression.The Holy Prophet (S) is reported to have said.“Avoid speaking falsehood, because it is a kind of evil and transgression. And both of them belong to Hell.” (They make one eligible for Hell).1019. According to other reports, seventy thousand Angels curse the liar.20. Lying is a sign of a hypocrite.The following tradition of the Holy Prophet (S) is present in the book of Mustadrak ul-Wasa’il:“The Three signs of a hypocrite are:Lying, betraying trust and going back on his word (Not fulfilling a promise).”21. The Islamic Shari’a does not pay heed to a liar’s advice.In this regard the Holy Prophet (S) remarked:“The advice of a liar has no value.”1122. Falsehood is the worst of the psychological ailments.Amir ul-Mu’minīn ‘Ali (a.s.) says:“The disease of lying is the most dreadful of the (psychological) diseases.”1223. Lying is an embellishment of Satan’s hands.A narration of the Prophet (S) is as follows:“Certainly, Iblīs applies antimony (surma), wears a ring and uses snuff. His antimony is laziness and dozing, the ring of his finger is lying and his snuff is pride and arrogance.”24. The worst earning of a man is falsehood.The Holy Prophet (S) says:“ The worst of the profit is from the trade called ‘lying’.”13Yes! It is a fact that by lying, a person is liable for punishment more than for any other sin.25. A man came to the Holy Prophet (S) and asked,“Which action makes the highest number of people the inmates of Hell?”The Holy Prophet (S) replied,“Lying. When a believer speaks a lie, he becomes prone to commit every other sin; and when this happens, he commits kufr (disbelief) which then makes him enter Hell.”1426. Lying causes forgetfulnessImam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is reported to have said,“One of the divine punishments for too much lying is that Allah makes the liar afflicted with forgetfulness.”15Thus a man speaks a lie and then forgets his lie. Consequently people come to know that he has spoken a lie and his falsity is exposed to the people.Now to save his skin he speaks more lies and is insulted further because his forgetfulness does not enable him to hide his false statements.27. Falsehood is one of the doors of hypocrisy.28. Terrible punishment for the liarsA liar is inflicted with several kinds of punishments. Aqa Rawandi has quoted a lengthy tradition from the Holy Prophet (S) in his book Dawāt. The Prophet (S) while describing the spectacle of Miraj (Ascension) said“I saw a man, who lay flat on his back while an angel mounted his head. The angel who was standing upon the head had a pointed iron rod. He repeatedly injured the sleeping person. The face of the victim was shattered upto the neck. But when the rod was lifted the head returned to its original form. Again the rod was hit on the face and the man suffered the same retribution.”The Holy Prophet (S) says that he inquired,“Why is this man punished?”He was told, “This is a man who left his home in the morning and uttered a lie that caused harm to the people. So he shall be punished in this manner (after death) till the Day of Qiyāma.”30. The liar is deprived of Salāt al-ShabThe liar is deprived of Salāt al-Shab and in this way he is also deprived of the benefits that accrue from Salāt al-Shab and one of these benefits is the increase in sustenance. Sharifi narrates from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that he said,“Doubtlessly, when a man speaks a lie, he is not able to get the opportunity of (performing) Salāt al-Shab. And when he doesn’t get this opportunity (to perform Salāt al-Shab) he does not get an increase in his sustenance.31. Falsehood deprives the liar from true guidance and causes him to deviate.The Qur’an says:“And Allah does not guide the unjust people.” (Sura al-Jumu’a’ 62:5)32. Politeness and civility are removed from the one who lies.Hazrat Isa Ibn Maryam is reported to have said,“Civility abandons the one who is a frequent liar.”16Then no one is attracted towards him and no one finds any emotional attachment with him.33. Falsehood is the most outrageous kind of evil and an abomination.34. We have proved Falsehood to be a Greater sin.35. Lying is poles apart from belief.In fact a tradition from the Holy Prophet (S) says:“Falsehood is inversely proportional to belief.”That is; when falsehood increases, belief decreases.36. The greatest sinner is the one who has lied.The Prophet of Allah (S) said:“The greatest of the sins is talkativeness and falsehood.”1737. The liar is doomed because of the lies that he utters.The Messenger of Allah (S) says:“Avoid falsehood. For it may appear to be a way of salvation, whereas in reality it leads to destruction.”(Mustadrak ul-Wasa’il)38. The liar does not deserve friendship and brotherhood.The Chief of the believers, ‘Ali (a.s.) says:“Every Muslim is supposed to avoid friendship and brotherhood with a compulsive liar. Because one who befriends a liar is himself considered a liar. Even if he speaks the truth, he is not trusted.”1839. The liar is kept away from truth and reality.“…surely Allah does not guide him aright who is a liar, ungrateful.” (Surah az-Zumar 39:3)“...Surely Allah does not guide him who is extravagant, a liar.” (Surah Ghāfir, 40:34)40. Inhuman form of the liar in BarzakhThe liar has a human form only in this world. In Barzakh he does not retain the human form. While describing the scenes of Miraj, the Holy Prophet (S) told Janabe Fatemah Zahra (S):“On the night of Miraj I saw a woman whose head resembled a pig and her body was like that of a donkey. It was because she spread discord and told lies.”19

US’ lies about China’s Xinjiang debunkedTHIS IS CURRENT LIFE IN XINJIANG10 imperialist lies about China’s Uyghur population, and the truthFacts against the lies concerning the Xinjiang Uyghur Province of Chinahttps://unitedworldint.com/16190-10-imperialist-lies-about-chinas-uyghur-population-and-the-truth/US’ lies about China’s Xinjiang debunkedXinjiang residents upload personal videos to debunk Pompeo’s lies on 'genocide'Relocated residents live happily in their house in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Schools, kindergartens, health centers and markets have been established on this area, part of Gobi Desert, since 2016. The per capita net income of qualified registered poor households in this town has increased from 4,220 yuan in 2016 to 11,745 yuan in 2020. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Xin) Residents from different fields, including religious figures from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, spoke out on what is really happening in the region, refuting Western media hype and opposing former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo's "determination" that China is committing "genocide" in the Xinjiang region. Pompeo on January 19 - his last day as US secretary of state - tweeted that he has "determined" China is "committing genocide and crimes against humanity" in Xinjiang against Uygurs and other ethnic groups, and he wrote that China and the Communist Party of China "must be held to account." Since last week, many residents from Xinjiang began to post videos of themselves telling stories of their own lives to refute Pompeo's "genocide" claim with the hashtag "This is Xinjiang" on Sina Weibo. As of press time on Monday, the topic had been viewed more than 46.8 million times with more than 53,000 netizens joining the discussions. Tusenjan Wusman, a doctor from Hotan Prefecture in southern Xinjiang, said in the video that "I really want to ask Pompeo 'Have you been to Xinjiang? Do you really know what life is like here?' We live a happy life in the region, and why do you always defame the region?" Jilil Tursun Tuohut, an imam from a mosque in Ayake village in Luopu county, also appeared in a video uploaded online, in which he said in the Uygur language that he is very angry about Pompeo's accusations against China's Xinjiang. "My family's life as well as people's living standards in the region have improved greatly in recent years," Jilil said in the video, and he showed viewers around his house. "We don't need your care and please mind your own business!" More videos featuring residents from more fields have been uploaded, including one from Abdula Abdujli, a scholar who has been studying ethnic languages for more than 20 years, who said in a video that there have been no restrictions in Xinjiang on the use of ethnic languages. Alinur, a grass-roots civil servant from Yining, said in a video that "Pompeo is a liar. What he said is opposite to what I see with my own eyes every day… as a Uygur living in Xinjiang, I have more rights to say whether it is good than a US politician." Aside from Xinjiang residents' voices, in recent days authorities in China and the Xinjiang region have expressed strong opposition to Pompeo's accusation that China is committing "genocide" of the Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang. The Standing Committee of Xinjiang Regional People's Congress released a statement on Sunday, saying that Pompeo's slanderhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213911.shtmlUighurs in re-education centers did they look horrified tortured abused ?Recently, an anti-China pseudo-scholar from Germany named Adrian Zenz (who calls himself Zheng Guoen in Chinese) has published a paper titled "Sterilizations, IUDs, and Coercive Birth Prevention: The CCP's Campaign to Suppress Uyghur Birth Rates in Xinjiang." The paper cites false statistics and highly misleading sources, drawing a ridiculous conclusion that ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are under the threat of "genocide." However, his analysis and conclusion are neither in line with scientific research standards nor academic norms.According to official statistics, the overall population in Xinjiang continued to grow steadily from 2010 to 2018. During this period, the population of permanent residents increased by 13.99 percent, among which the Uygur population increased by 25.04 percent, and the Han population 2.0 percent. Clearly, the growth rate of the Uygur population is nearly twice that of the overall residents and is way higher than that of the Han population. The Uygur population has increased by more than 2.5 million people in merely eight years. What kind of "genocide" is this? Zenz, with his anti-China stance, fabricated his conclusion without any basis.Nobody knows Xinjiang better than the local Chinese citizens. At present, the people's livelihood in Xinjiang has greatly improved. Citizens there now live in peace and tranquility. And people of all ethnic groups are as united as pomegranate seeds.In the recent outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in Xinjiang, the government has, as always, put humanity as the top priority. The government took quick and appropriate actions, providing nucleic acid tests and professional treatments free of charge. Thanks to such comprehensive efforts, China has put an end to the spread of coronavirus in Xinjiang with no deaths. Till September 4, there has been no infection for 17 consecutive days in Xinjiang and the whole of society is back to normal.The Chinese government shows the world with its real actions that the human rights that matter the most are "the right to life" and "the right to health." Therefore, it is ridiculous to turn a blind eye to the facts and use population issues as a new lever to smear China, especially under such special circumstances when people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are united against the epidemic.Some Western pseudo-scholars pursue double standards on human rights. But the truth is that their accusations related to nationality, religion and human rights have never been the real situation in Xinjiang. Now that the pandemic continues to spread in the West, Western countries had better spend more energy caring for their own citizens as well.As a Uygur proverb goes, "The camel marches while the dog keeps on barking." Lies and slanders will not stop China's development. Western radical forces will not stop China's development. Nothing will. We have faith that people of all ethnic groups will continue to follow the Party and stay united. The best response to those attacking China and its Xinjiang policy is Xinjiang's stability, prosperity and harmonious development.Xinjiang has the fastest population growth in China. From 2015 to 2017, the annual growth rate was usually above 1.1 per cent. It dropped to 0.613 per cent in 2018, but was still twice the national average of about 0.3 per cent, according to the central and regional government censusUS’ lies about China’s Xinjiang debunkedUighurs are lovely and warmpeople. They are cheerful and respected in China like the other 55 minorities. They are an integral part of the Muslim communities that live in all regions of China. The most important concentrations are found in the northwestern provinces - Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia - but there are also large populations in the provinces of Yunnan and Henan Among the 55 officially recognized ethnic groups in China, ten are mainly Muslim. The most important groups are, in order of importance, the Hui, the Uyghurs, the Kazakhs, the Dongxiang, the Kyrgyz, the Salars, the Tajiks, the Uzbeks, the Bonans and the Tatars Muslims mainly live in the regions bordering Central Asia, Tibet and Mongolia, regions which are known as the "Belt of the Koran"Muslims dance in front of the Id Kah Mosque in KashgarLook these PicturesThese are the real scenes of life in xinjiang with respectful Uighurs far from the extremists that we present to you and who want to split the harmony that reigns in Xinjiang between all the communitiesWomen wearing the veil, men with beards, mosques, Uighurs language on Chinese banknotes, signs in three languages of signs in Uighurs or Chinese Where is the so-called ethnic or cultural genocide?In tghe the dream of the demons and false accusers of China.False experts like Adrian ZENZ who are destroying the cotton economy of Xinjiang farmers by making them scapegoats for the horrific campaign of slander he launched on forced labor People live normally born not try again to make puppets at the hands of the CIA of the NED American Australian propaganda agencies of Great Britain for your dark designs of destabilizing ChinaRecently, the international community has witnessed a new round of hype in some Western countries on the topic of the Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. This time, the US and its Western allies are trying to label China’s actions as “genocide” – a severe accusation against humanity, but one that also unveils the political purposes behind the accusation.Lies told a thousand times are still liesForeigners who have never been to China’s Xinjiang may be easily fooled by reports circulating on Western media, with many so-called “victims” crying about their “tragic experience” in Xinjiang. But if readers are willing to take a deeper look into their stories, they will find that many of their remarks are self-contradictory and shallow lies.Let’s take BBC’s recent sensational report on accusing “mass rape” in Xinjiang’s vocational training centers as an example.Tursunay Ziyawudun, the only one who claimed to be a “victim” of “gang-rape” in the BBC report, said that she lived with her husband in Kazakhstan and her passport was confiscated when she returned to Xinjiang. She went to the training center in 2018 and left it at the end of that year. She then went back to Kazakhstan and fled to the US.Funds change testimonies, people turn into victims entering the USAfter a small digging, I found that this is not the first time that Tursunay appeared in Western media reports. When Tursunay was first interviewed in Almaty, Kazakhstan on October 15, 2019, she made no allegations of rape or overly harsh treatment.Then, in an interview with the US-based Buzzfeed News on February 15, 2020, Tursunay said, “I wasn’t beaten or abused.” These remarks contradicted the BBC’s report of many “distressing” details.In the BBC report, Tursunay claimed that her earrings had been “yanked out” causing her ears to bleed. But in the Buzzfeed report, this part was described as the police asking the women to take off their earrings.A website named Moon of Alabama listed all the changes in Tursunay’s “testimonies” and noted that it was when the US-based and funded Uyghur Human Rights Project found her and helped her go to the US in September 2020 that the woman suddenly became a victim of “gang-rape” in a “camp” in the BBC report.The changes of Tursunay’s “testimonies” showed us how untenable her remarks were. It also showed that BBC, who boasts itself as “objective and fair” media has abandoned professionalism when reporting China. This is also the reason why it has been barred from airing in China.Another story shows how biased BBC’s Xinjiang reports are. In a report released on December 15, the BBC claimed that “New evidence suggests that upwards of half a million minority workers a year are being marshalled into seasonal cotton picking under conditions that again appear to raise a high risk of coercion.”However, data released by the agriculture department of Xinjiang in 2020 showed that the total cotton plantation area in Xinjiang reached 24.19 million mu (1.6 million hectares) and around 16.90 million mu were harvested by machines, accounting for 70% of the plantation area. Also, 95% of the cotton in northern Xinjiang was harvested by machines and the mechanization rate in southern Xinjiang has increased steadily.Aside from factual mistakes, the BBC’s report contains a massive amount of guesswork. The BBC report claimed that its reporters including John Sudworth were “stopped” when “filming the perimeter of the complex.” Sudworth and his team released video footage of them arguing with some people outside the factory. Film of a man who tried to cover the camera was uploaded online, and the BBC said that although they filmed in public areas, they were stopped by “officials.”FOLLOW THE MONEYCOTTON FORCED LABORS ANOTHER LIEFOLLOW THE MONEYFew workers are needed in many yarn factories in Xinjiang as machines are widely used. (Photo by Liu Xin)I went to that factory and learned details of people who were involved with the incident, learning a side of the story that BBC did not tell. Jiang Yong, the man who tried to cover the BBC’s camera, told me that “They totally distorted the facts!” Jiang is not an “official” as the BBC claimed but the deputy manager and head of the logistics department of the Pomegranate Seed Garment Co.The BBC reporters never required to go into the factory but they claimed in their report that ethnic groups in the factories are “forced” to work there.In Xinjiang’s factoriesI stepped into the factory and found it is nothing special compared to other clothing factories. I randomly talked to a girl who told me her name is Aliye Ababekri. Aliye said this is her first job and her current monthly salary is 2,500 yuan ($382), which is expected to increase soon. She said that the job helps her achieve a dream from childhood – to learn clothing design.Mutalip, a Uygur worker in a cotton factory in Xinjiang told me he loves his job. (Photo by Liu Xin)She also invited me to visit her dormitory nearby the factory – She shares a fully equipped apartment with five other women and they have decorated the walls with paper flowers they cut.I have visited Xinjiang many times in the past few years and the more I went there, the more I realized how ridiculous the accusations made by some Western media. These stories are only a small part of the net of lies made by the West.I went to visit Istanbul many years ago and still remember the feelings when seeing people of different colors happily talking in streets and the prayers in the mosques – all show this is a place for people to enjoy a peaceful life. China’s Xinjiang is also a place with gorgeous landscapes and people of different ethnic minorities. Thanks to the government’s anti-terrorism measures, local residents are enjoying a peaceful and better life there.However, the stable situation in Xinjiang may upset the US and some certain countries and they began to spread disinformation on China’s Xinjiang – from “camps” to “forced labor” and from “sterilization” to “genocide.” These lies were made with the purpose to slander China in the international community, especially in the Islamic world.Many foreign journalists are not fooled by the liesNot everyone has been fooled by these slandering. Many foreign journalists, experts and party leaders I have interviewed debunked accusations against China’s Xinjiang and shared with me their own experience in visiting the region.Last month, I happened to meet a French writer Maxime Vivas. Based on his two visits to Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in 2016 and 2018, he wrote a book titled Ouïghours, pour en finir avec les fake news (Uygurs, to put an end to the fake news).He told me that he has observed incredible dynamism in the Xinjiang region during his visits. When I asked him what he thought of the “forced labor” accusation in China’s Xinjiang, Vivas said “Forced labor? Our media have gone too far.”“They said that in Xinjiang, there are ‘500,000 Uygur slaves in the cotton fields.’ Unfortunately, they could never show us satellite photos by which we would see these “unfortunate” people, probably guarded by hundreds of thousands of armed police! In France, in my region, when the time for the harvest arrives, our wine growers call on grape pickers from Spain, Morocco, etc. They are not called “slaves,” but “seasonal workers,” Vivas told me.Actually, few people in the West have a clear understanding of where China’s Xinjiang region is and what is the real situation there. Last month, I found a huge error committed by the US-based CNN on its Xinjiang reports.For US CNN, Xinjiang is a dot near Hong KongCNN mismarked China’s Xinjiang – a region that takes up one-sixth of the whole country’s territory – as a small dot near Hong Kong in South China. The small dot is a town in Guangdong with its name having the same pronunciation as Xinjiang. Without even getting the location rights, CNN reporters and US experts are boasting that they care about “human rights” there. How ridiculous!Lies repeated a thousand of times cannot become truths. I think disinformation on China’s Xinjiang would be gradually dismissed with more foreigners coming to see the region.Xinjiang Welcomes You!I hope more foreigners and those from Turkey can visit Xinjiang one day and see the Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, take a visit to the Id Kah Mosque in Kashi Prefecture, talk to busy but happy workers in yarn factories in Aksu Prefecture, see children enjoying free education in any villages in Xinjiang, get a taste of local food – the lamb and the baked bread with ingredients inside; and enjoy the gorgeous scenery in Altay.The white paper on vocational education and training in Xinjiang that China issued on Friday reveals the lies fabricated by some in the West about the region’s vocational education and training centers. Their dishonest comments about these centers show that their real intention is to interfere in China's domestic affairs with double standards under the guise of human rights.People attend a group wedding at the Kanas Scenic Area in Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on July 1, 2019. [Photo: IC]Xinjiang has long been a battlefield in the fight against terrorism and extremism in China. Thousands of violent terror attacks were carried out in the region between 1990 and 2016 in the name of the three evil forces of separatism, extremism, and terrorism. These attacks damaged social stability and economic development in the region. The right to live safely is a fundamental human right, and no responsible government could sit back and let this kind of violence continue unabated.Counter-terrorism is a global challenge. To tackle the problem, countries have set up deradicalization centers for people affected by terrorism and extremism. China has adopted a similar approach in Xinjiang: The vocational education and training centers are set up to nip in the bud radical ideas, and to help people to improve their livelihoods. The work of these centers accords with the spirit and principles of the anti-terrorism and deradicalization campaigns being undertaken by the international community.However, some politicians and media in the West have adopted a double standard by stigmatizing the vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang. By doing so, they are providing moral support to terrorists and extremists. By any measure, this is a violation of human decency.The newly released white paper exposes the lies told in the West by providing concrete facts.Despite what some Western critics have said, the vocational training centers have never conducted any form of cultural cleansing. The only criterion to judge if someone needs training at a center is whether he or she has engaged in illegal acts of terrorism or religious extremism. A person’s nationality, religion, or the place where they live has no bearing on whether they are enrolled in a center.The centers do not suppress religion, including Islam. China’s laws prohibit discrimination based on someone’s ethnic or religious background. The centers separate educational activities from religious activities, and stipulate that the trainees are not allowed to organize and participate in religious activities inside the centers. But when they return home, they can decide whether they want to participate in legal religious activities.The vocational education and training centers are not prisons, as some people in the West have described them. They are boarding schools that provide trainees with free job skills training and work experience. This keeps them away from harmful extremist ideas, and helps them to get a job after they graduate. The freedom and legitimate rights of the trainees is fully respected and protected. The centers guarantee that the trainees can enjoy the right to personal dignity, and are free from insult or abuse.Religious extremists are often able to tie up believers with spiritual shackles by taking advantage of their lack of education, which is why the centers provide courses on standard spoken and written Chinese, and China’s laws and regulations. The rights of trainees to speak their own language and follow their own lawful customs are fully respected.The residential education model used by the centers allows trainees to return home on a regular basis. They can also ask for leave when they need to attend to personal affairs. Trainees enjoy the freedom of correspondence. Regular recreational activities are held at indoor and outdoor sports and cultural facilities. There are reading rooms available, where trainees can relax or study.After they have completed their courses, the trainees continue on with their lives and make a valuable contribution to their community. According to local officials, most of the trainees who have graduated have already found jobs.STOP the terrorism STOP the extremismDo you know the underside of the cards, the hidden face of the Uighurs and their horrific crimes and attacks on innocent women children civilians of the political game of the Americans and the CIAAND YOU STILL BELIEVE THEY ARE LAMBSLOOK AT THESE IMAGES THESE VIDEOS AND READ WHY CHINA REACTED STRONGLY TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF ALL THESE CITIZENS MASSACRES BY AX BLOWS BEED WITH SABER AND WHITE ARMS ATTACKS LATCHED BY CRAZY TRUCKS OR CARS FILLED WITH FUEL OR EXPLOSIVESYou blame China for its firm response, but WHAT OTHER NATION DIDN'T DO IT CHARLIE HEBDO LE BATACLAN IN FRANCE THE ATTACKS IN LONDON THE ATTACKS IN GERMANY FRANCE UK GERMANY USA HAVE NOT HUNTED BARBARIAN TERRORISM?Welcome to the UIGHURs TERRORISM in pictures15 INNOCENTS CITIZENS KILLEDTIANANMEN SQUARE TERRORISMLe 28 juillet 2014, une grave affaire terroriste violente s’est produite dans le comté de Shaqi, au Xinjiang, causant la mort de 37 innocents Hans et Uighurs 13 blessés et 31 véhicules brisés.Kashgar, Xinjiang Bombs Crazy TruckOn July 30/31, 2011, three people were killed and more than 10 injured in an explosion in central Kashgar, Xinjiang. The day before a crazy truck in a street market killed six people and injured 28 othersKumming train station attack 31 deaths 143 people injured all innocents civiliansOn August 4, 2008, TERRORISTS attacked border guards and then detonated cars loaded with explosives in the city of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, killing 17 officers and injuring 15 others in one of the top 10 terrorist attacks in China.Shaybak District in Urumqi 31 deaths May 22, 2014The explosion at North Street Morning Market in Shaybak District in Urumqi was an extremely serious case of violent terror of a very bad nature. According to initial reports, on May 22, 2014, at 7:50 a.m., 31 people were killed and 94 injured when the crowd drove two vehicles through a fence, crashed into a crowd and detonated an explosive device.On November 16, 2013, Abra Ahiti and nine others attacked the Silibua Town Police Station with knives and axes, killing two policemen and injuring two civilian policemen.DECAPITATION OF 15 PEOPLE MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS AND GUARDIANS OF RESIDENCE LACHELY KILLED On April 23, 2013, violent terrorist groups beheaded community cadres and civilian police in Silibua town, Bachu district, killing 15 people and injuring two others.RESTORING PUBLIC ORDER AND CITIZENS 'SAFETYThe situation in Xinjiang continues to be stable. No terrorist incidents have occurred in the region for nearly three years since the education and training centers began to open. In the first half of this year, nearly 76 million tourists visited Xinjiang, an increase of 46 percent over the same time last year. These achievements provide evidence that China’s approach to countering terrorism and extremism is safeguarding the rights of the people of Xinjiang to life, health, and development. And China’s approach provides valuable lessons to the rest of the world when it comes to combating terrorism and extremism. Not long ago, ambassadors of some 50 countries sent a joint letter to the president of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressing their support for China’s Xinjiang policy. This reflects the wide support and understanding China has from the international community on this issue.Terrorism is a tumor in society. It has caused devastation in many parts of the world, including in Western countries. The people who are criticizing China for its approach to the problems in Xinjiang should drop their double standards and take a closer look at China’s efforts to combat terrorism and extremism. A prosperous and stable Xinjiang will be a resounding reply to the false claims made by people who have ill intentions towards China.