Accra- 22 October, 2018.
Jamal means beauty in Arabic.
There are other variants; Jamel, Gamal or Gamel.
At the current rate of international pressure with the latest confirmations by Turkey’s MIT and admissions by his native Saudi Arabia of what happened inside their Turkish embassy in Istanbul; let’s all agree that Jamal Khashoggi has been murdered.
‘Shut up if you want to return to Saudi Arabia’, one of the 15 trusty fellows dispatched by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), is heard saying, published www.theguardian.com on Sunday.
Now let me do a Naeem.
My friend Naeem Ahmed Abdul Ghafaar, will usually help crack the names and numbers code at such crucial moments.
Beauty….Jamal….Allah.
The “Al” root in both words stand for one attribute of God.
Bin or Ben Salman stands for son of Salman…..not Sam, Salman!
Salman means healthy, safe, affable, perfect. The “Al” root is still in there.
So, the son of perfection sends 15 of his trusty safe and secure assistants to kidnap a columnist/journalist who criticises him.
And one of them is a specialist in pathology and autopsy…a medical doctor? Gosh!
This part of the plot showed an intention to kill and hide evidence ….the mens rea and the actus reus have been established; no obfuscation about this.
The very attributes of Allah’s name, loyalty, harmony; the medical tools of the surgeon; the heavy maul of the builder; the gavel of the judge; can become instruments of destruction in our hands if not applied to their proper uses and elevated to a higher calling that serves God, our neighbour and ourselves.
Those verses we teach our children in school; Sunday School and the Mosques; those words we parrot daily as adults; ‘their sole purpose is to help us solve existential problems’, my mentor can never tire of saying this.
‘Otherwise, even children can memorise and parrot those words better than us – so what then is the point?’, my mentor will add.
If our highly qualified IGP wears on his regalia the Ghana coat of arms under which appears our motto “Freedom and Justice” and he goes about doing “strange things”, as in the Madina Redco Flats contempt of court case, what is the point of the tax payer dressing him in those uniforms?
What is the point of the IGP, standing at the Independence Square and offering a crisp salute when the Ghana national anthem is being played?
Or are we all ‘dyslexic, mute or just plain hypocrites’, in the words of my mentor?
But the IGP is not alone.
How many professionals in Ghana haven’t taken oaths of obligation or signed contracts with their employers?
Lawyers, doctors, journalists, accountants, nurses, office holders in church groups, chiefs, judges, civil servants and virtually every university graduate upon graduation.
If you are still doing foolish things then stop it, for, among the seven things the Lord detests are a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-19).
The Holy Qur’an declares, ‘…and fulfil every engagement, for every engagement will be enquired into on the Day of Reckoning (Surah 17:34).
My experience in Ghana is that we are afraid to speak the truth or do the right thing; and worst of all, we gang up against those who do.
We complain, but are not willing to do what it takes to change our mediocre circumstances for the better.
In the case of auditors, how often haven’t we heard that if you are an auditor and you are meticulous, ‘they will juju you’, meaning they will use African magic to eliminate you.
Or as a teacher told his kids while teaching Religious and Moral Education ‘They will take you to the Agbala man’.
Now the children have nicknamed him Agbala.
Even non-Africans in Ghana are afraid of African magic because they were “properly” briefed before they arrived here.
But there was one I met who was bold, fearless and always spoke her mind freely.
I sat in her Existentialism class at Legon.
Adwoa Camboo…was the students’ nickname for her, because she often wore trainers.
This American lecturer, Dr Helen Lauer, made Philosophy and Existentialism practical.
She pulled no punches; she provided relentless, measured and eloquent critiques of the actions of the then vice chancellor (Prof. Ivan Adae-Mensah), Ghanaian politicians, Republicans and Democrats, and the media.
Some students said she was going off on a tangent when in fact she was filling the knowledge gaps; making philosophy practical.
She had one of the smallest class sizes because the course was “Existentialism”- students thought the course was too difficult.
Her critics said because she was American she could say anything and in case her life was under physical threat, the US embassy in Accra could secure her safe passage out of Ghana.
Well, that presumes that it is totally safe to speak your mind in America…..uhmm, remember MLK or Robert Kennedy or Malcolm X.
‘Are you afraid of those who can harm the body but cannot harm the soul?’, my mentor will charge. ‘We are spiritual beings.’
Jean Paul Sartre, the French philosopher, taught that the most important consideration for the human person is to act and accept responsibility (consciousness) for your actions.
Therefore, it is not your genes or human nature (essence) that make you; it is you acting consciously and taking responsibility (existence).
Let’s be clear; Jamal Khashoggi knew the risks involved in his profession; he knew the notorious potency of the Saudi establishment……and its bone saw interrogators.
And so do the Western partners of the regime.
But ask yourself; What did Saint John the Baptist die for?
What did the Four Crowned Martyrs venerated by the Roman Catholic Church die for?
What is your profession?
How old are you? Are you not of mature age and sound mind?
What then could possibly prevent you from speaking the truth and with candour?
Fare thee well, Jamal Khashoggi.
May your soul rest in the peace of Allah.
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