The Pakistani Spectator

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

Abdullah Abenyusuf- Situjihadismo: I’m Spanish, born in Madrid in 1978. I studied Arabic at the University in Seville. In 2002, I accepted the islam faith, for a lot of different political, ethical, spiritual and cultural reasons. I informed myself on islam through webislam, and later, in 2007, I begun my own space of reflexion, a blog that I call Situjihadismo, in order to integrate two main streams of thought: the situationnist critic of the Spectacle, via the book The Society of Spectacle (1967) by the french revolution activist Guy Debord, and a personal critic of the present through the defense of Human Rights and Islam and the struggle against all kind of discriminations and injustices. It means a deep critic of the actual forms of Islam in almost all the world, but also a critic of the world himself. In my blog I also have published some of my poems, reflexions on literature and other texts, without falling in a freak modus operandi.

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

Yes, absolutely. My blog lifes a change constantly since I begun. I don’t think I write ever better, but I know better what I want to do. Before, I often wrote by influence of other bloggers, from USA Muslim blogs, for example, or blogs from Spain. Now, I think that I’m finding my own voice.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

The surprise of some far comments. Feeling the fidelity of some anonymous readers. Thinking about the future of all these words written somewhere where they are allways at free access.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

My blog and my e-mail are often open, so I’m alerted and I know qickly when there is a comment that I have to moderate, if it’s the first one of a new reader, or answering a comment of someone who is “known”.

If the comment includes the link for a blog of wordpress, and I like the comment, I visit the blog and I add the blog to my blogroll. Now, I’m using much more the rss suscriptions through google reader, to read more blogs from blogspot and others directly from my reader.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

I was impressed recently by the use of google earth by the activists in Athens, in order to show better the solidarity demostrations with Greece in Europe and all aroud the world. A cartography of protests is the horizontal answer to the political collapse of the liberal-fascism new order in the White House and Europe.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?

The situation now is a dialectic between the rise of the human-political conscience through new technologies and the spread of the new machines of war (necrotechnologies from USA and used by Israel against Palestinians such as DIME “Dense Inert Metal Explosive”) which can paralyse and terrify the peoples of the world, and not only in the very poor countries.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?

I included myself in the not very large Spanish Muslim blogosphere. And since I’m a very heteropractic Muslim, I give the priority to my personal feeling rather than following opinions of other blogs from that sensibility. It does not mean that I not respect or attain the opinions of elders, by the contrary, I feel myself learning from other bloggers each day.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

I’m not in a success situation. I dont’ have job, and I eat and sleep thanks to my parents. So my characteristic is my acceptation of total dependence from by parents.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

When I was in love, six years ago, to a wonderful person who leaved me after.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for - what would your top 3 choices be?

A travel from Aden to Mecca and finally Beirut, without airplanes. All by taxis.

What is your favorite book and why?

Le Coeur Un, because is my novel, that I wrote in French, and nobody said or commented me that it was a bad novel. Nor the contrary.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?

If I can understand him or her, or not.

Is there anyone from your past that once told you you couldn’t write?

No.

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?

I’m very skeptic about this posibility for authentical critic blogs. Maybe through a contract with a newspapper.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?

Probably, but I really don’t know.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world more friendlier and less hostile?

Translate much more from other languages. It’s amazing the few number of American and Europen blogs who translate news, opinions and literature from Arabic and other Islamic languages.

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?

Hard to be fair, but I would try: Angry Arab (As’ad Abu Khalil), Abdennur Prado, Ali Eteraz (I wait the new since he closed his blog last summer), Muslimah Media Watch, La République des livres (Pierre Assouline) and the unknown one I will discover tomorrow, in shâ’ Allah.

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?

No one of my texts created a strong reaction yet, but my top post is ever the same: a post about Picasso painting women.

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?

I received impressions from Pakistan through two main canals: the first is by culture: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and ghazal, The autobiographical notes of Tariq Ali, movies like “My beautiful laundrette” and short stories of Hanif Kureishi. The other canal is through islamic feminism: some of the prominent thinkers of the islamic feminism refer themselves to the Pakistan situation, as Asma Barlas. I have also an indirect contact with Pakistan by the fact that there is a large community of Pakistan Immigrants in Spain, almost in Catalonia, in the main towns, but I live in another region and in a rural area, so I don’t have direct contact with Pakistanis in Spain.

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?

I’m stun with Angry Arab. He publishes each day more than ten little posts, taking account of the situation in Gaza and the Middle East with a very strong ideological position of defending the Palestinians against Zionist agressions.

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing country?

The poverty, and by contrast, the will of life on developing countries.

What is the future of blogging?

To create new forms of arts, of political representation and decision.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal and professional life?

My blog is extremely bad for my professional life, but is good for my life. My blog is my weapon against dictatures, armies and generals.

What are your future plans?

To increase my capacity of publishing good posts every day, and in the personal, to continue investigating in Andalusi literature.

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?

Congratulations for reading this intelligent media. See you in my blog!

Trackback URL