 Throughout the history of mankind religion has played a crucial role within politics and international relations with the world becoming increasingly interdependent Because of globalization migration has led to the interaction of different faiths and cultures Respective Jewish brothers and sisters in Islam. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Welcome to the birth of nobility with me your host Ahmed Ali and my dear and special guest Doctor Francisco Jose Luis. So my condolences. Thank you. How are you professor? Great. I can only feel Really happy to be back here in Karbala. Yes, it's been a while. Yes, it's been a while Yeah, it gives you the ability to appreciate This gift of being being here and appreciating the blessing the wonderful time It does it does especially in the land like Karbala and occasion like the birth of Mamrullah I guess I'm which I actually forgot to you know send my congratulations to you my dear viewers as well as to you doctor And you know to everyone across the world under a very auspicious occasion You know the birth of Mamrullah peace and blessings be upon you. Yes, because Imam Radha, alaihi salam is is I mean all of the Imam the special but Imam it's it's with Imam Radha, alaihi salam. That's actually, you know, the if-narshery Faith becomes really the if-narshery, but it's it's it's with Imam Radha that that particular line of Imam starts So, yes, it's a very important month. Yes, and we'll get the touch upon that either in tonight's episode or into more depth so inshallah, but Professor there, you know during the time of the Abbasid Empire The religious situation was different You know we find in the Empire Abbasid Empire We find many Jews many Christians many people from different religion faith Residing under that empire so Can you describe the religious situation? That was occurring or that occurred during that time. Yeah So it's very often assumed by a lot of Muslims nowadays that After the Islamic conquests both east and west that everyone became Muslim all of a sudden I was not the case at all. It took actually a long time until The populations in those countries actually converted to Islam. Yeah, the evil I mean the omayyads and the Abbasids were generally not interested in forced conversions they first of all because it Forced conversions always promise some sort of counter reaction and rebellion. Yes, first of all And secondly because when especially the omayyads at the beginning believed that Islam was really just the property of the Arabs. So that was one of the Was one of the reasons why they didn't really try to enforce Islam on local populations and also because you know having populations that were Christian and Jewish Also enables enabled the You know relations with those countries that had strong You know Christian population or Jewish populations So that was out of really out of pragmatism that the sort of religious pluralism was was kept So that sort of policy You know what was kept even during the Abbasid Empire? Although In general it was there was a more or less lenient policy towards religious minorities Although in those days there was still not really minorities I mean especially in the east of the empire what we know it is called Iran and Afghanistan There was still a huge Amount of the population that still clung to Zoroastrianism for example you had in several great great cities at the Persian What was one to Persian Empire? Yeah, you had great, you know big in Jewish communities and Christians as well and then keep in mind There was I mean especially in the east of the empire. You also have Buddhists and in fact the Yeah, yeah, yeah, actually there's some really interesting relations between Islam and Buddhism that you know that occurred at that time. Actually Sheikh Hamza Yusuf wrote a really beautiful article entitled How Buddhists save Islam there's at the level of knowledge It's actually a lot of interaction between Buddhists and Muslim scholars at that time There is a very clear Importation of Buddhist logic and our Georgian logic logic into the main body of Islamic logic So so in terms of the study of Mantak, it's very important So for example, you there's very one very important family that became the became the advisors to Mahmood for example where the barbasids and the barbasids actually were an Iranian Buddhists Family that had converted to Islam, but you know still kept some influences from Buddhism, so when you stick to keep these things in mind, it was it was a pluri with a multicultural also, you know pluri religious empire and One also needed to take into account how to deal with that sort of diversity So yeah, it was it was certainly from the point of view of the cultural interaction a fascinating time and That's where we need to also be aware globalization is not something that came all of a sudden in our country age globalization actually, you know already existed in those ages, you know, for example If we take with a mashat or to us is actually on the road It's actually on the Silk Road, which is this important Mercantile road between the Middle East and Europe, of course and China So there's a lot of intercultural contact that is established between the Far East the Middle East and Europe through that through that channel. So Globalization is nothing new. It's just a way things It's just the way how people dealt with it that that is different Contrary to today people still kept their culture and Even though they were able to interact with other other in other cultures and other religions without any problem There never was the feeling that one had to adopt fully adopted the culture of another There was no real desire of one culture trying to dominate over all other Yeah, it's very different today when we have this this this this invasion of Western modernity Which is very different from traditional West of course, but these are these are questions I think for another show. Yeah, yeah, inshallah. We can have a show on that But you know mentioning that so many cultures that you know live under that blasted Empire And so many faiths as well that the various religions mentioned Where are the conflicts going on or was it just you know, I've lived the life after well I mean, it was big complicated because see the Abbasids were of course in conflict with Byzantine Empire Which made the situation of Christians a bit complicated because they were seen as very often as a fifth column and This becomes very obvious in the story It's narrated in a hadith edition for example about the the mother of our master the thought of mom And Haddad Nargis who according to the narrations is by Byzantine princess and The the background of the story Of course brings to light the suspicion under which Christians in the Abbasid Empire lived because the Christians Still lived under the spiritual jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople So while they were living in Christian and Muslim lands, it was spiritually loyal to The head of the Orthodox Church in Constantinople. So for them it was a bit It was a it was sometimes quite difficult and to be seen as a fifth column Although that was not the case of all Christians for example, Armenian Christians were when a different Different gave all the gas together or Caldian Christians involved in historians, of course All together as well. That also needs to be emphasized when we speak about Christians We also need to be aware that there's a whole range of different types of Christians. Yes, for example in in in the in the East So we find a type of Christianity that has you know, that's pretty much disappeared in the West Which is just an historian Christianity historians were Christians that believed that even though Christ had a divine and a human nature these two natures did not intermix So that for example, they refused to call Haddad Maryam, I guess and I'm they used to they refused to call her mother of God They were talkers the title was given to her by the Council of Ephesus The the historians refused that because they very clearly saw that even though in there in their theology Jesus is Jesus as a human being is Bearing or is carrying with him there the divine nature of God God the word of God the son the two natures do not intermix Which is actually more compatible with a certain type of Islamic theology regarding the Imam Where's you know the the Concilia Christianity which became the Catholic in the Orthodox Church do here, you know You believe in the homosia meaning that the two natures are Intertwined and intermixed which we categorically refuse But one needs to take into account that there were different so these different types of Christians also India, Basi, Danpai and so when when we read the hadith Narrations about interaction with Christians we need to be aware that there were different types of Christians and in this Interestingly enough a lot of the converse to to the Islam of the I have a Dalai Lama came from the Nestorian tradition Which is quite interesting because when we look at the history of you know Imami theology in a sense These debates about the nature of the Imam the relationship between the Narsus The human aspect of the mom the Malakuti aspect of the moment is that is the Celestial aspect of the mom and the lahuti aspect of the mom that is the mom as the manifestation of the attributes of God We actually still continuing debate that were going on in third fourth century Christianity Yeah, so and that is why it's very unfair when for example certain people in the West You know claim that there is no possible Interaction between Christianity and Islam Islam and early Islam and Christianity had actually very They actually shared a lot of the common issues and debates So so you have this a cross-pollination of ideas that goes on in both ways. So it's Very interesting. Yeah, we'll get to actually touch upon that. We don't want to rush it a little bit. But yes As you mentioned, you know, a conflict did happen quite well on a a minor scale, but There's one Incident that happened during the time of Imam Rada al-Islam. I know we're jumping like the years into the life of the Imam But the debate that happened between him and and the figures the prominent figures of other religious Faith and or religions We find that Imam Rada Incident was very interesting. I'll let you talk about that. But what was the context of that incident? Well, as you know, um You know the the caliph of time al-Mahmoun actually had decided to Nominates Imam Rada al-Islam as his successor and it comes at a time when the That branch of the Abbasid family had to seek Some sort of support by the alids what we nowadays would call the shia been in those days We call it the the the ala with the the supporters of the of the al-bayt al-islam and uh, so it's uh By nominating the Imam as a successor It was a way for him to gain that political control of that political support For his rule because you know, he was in conflict with his brother Who um was in control of the western part of the abbasid empire So it was a way to to gain support of the um of the alids um Of course this brought up. I mean, he was also opening up a kind of worms because This brought into question of course all legitimacy of the abbasid Family because basically when you're accepting to being the heir to the throne You know, you're you're kind of admitting wouldn't that deviate almost sometimes? Well, it's a very uh The kind of worms consists in the following in the following issues If the abbasids were legitimate rulers Why give the rule away to one of the alids exactly exactly because the the um The uh, the narrative of the abbasid is that they were the ahl al-bayt Okay, that's and and and that they were that you know, the proper legitimate Uh successes to the uh to be the caliph of authority Now by giving away that authority to the uh to the alids um I'm a woman is sort of questioning the whole narrative of his own lineage, right? So it's it's a on on the other hand, and there's another It's another there's another problem here If imam ridah ali salam were to accept that position Which he did eventually which he did but then of course he says that he was forced to do so But that would mean that he would That he would have um accepted the authority Accepted the the the the you know the Digitimacy of the of the abbasid empire, which is of course another question And which is also i mean it's also, you know, beautifully shown in that series. Uh, that um, you know, the iranian safety state television made about imam ridah uh, where uh, there's this beautiful moment where um i'm a woman is about to play uh to pay a payout to the imam and uh, the imam says you know You're giving me the khilafah, but are you an authority to be able to give me the khilafah? Wow, and and yeah, it's a very important question because the thing is this is a we believe and there's always been the Doctrine of the imams of the the all power only comes from god all legitimate authority cannot can only come from god The imam is the imam. He's the caliph uh, even if there's only one person on earth and even if that one person were to You know Not acknowledge him as the as the imam or the caliph, but he still remains the caliph. Yeah I mean proof for that is uh, you know when when nuh wasn't the ark, right? And the whole in and the world was being submerged with the flood and most of humanity was being destroyed by the flood he still remains the um The imam and caliph of the age if there's a certain density nowadays to argue that Even though the imam receives his power from god He still needs the people to recognize him to be effectively the imam And that is something as a very modern idea and I'll problem for that Because and I take here the argument of joseph de nest regarding this issue and Without the imam There would be no people there would be no umma Because it is the imam slash the prophet who created the very notion of the umma So so the umma is in no position Really to to to have any power of decision on who becomes the uh, the caliph uh, because without the caliph But there would be no there would be no umma and the lesser cannot decide over the greater. It's a logical You know, it's it's quite logical. So, uh, yeah, there's there's a whole, you know Can of worms is opened up by that By that situation and in that situation that, you know, this debate occurs, right and in a way to because of course the The caliphs As proof of their competence had to also prove that They were able to deal with different communities of the empire So, uh, al-ma'mun tries to You know sets up this debate to sort of prove that imam reza is not as knowledgeable As he thinks he is because let's not forget During the abbasis, we have the emergence of this new religious current, um, you know, which With nowadays would call the spirituality of Sunni Islam, which is Sufism and the Sufis were sort of the spiritual competition to the imams And so very often these debates were organized to where the Sufi masters would would, you know, try to prove themselves against against the imams and So this debate was, you know, most probably organized in order to Prove to everyone that imam reza was incompetent Right in a sense as this al-ma'mun was saying, okay, you guys want power. Sure, you know, let's have your imam Let's let's put him in a position of rulership and let's see how far that will take us And little did he know that he was dealing with the most competent person on earth Of course, he's the manifestation of God's attributes. And of course he has all power and confidence I mean, I mean it doesn't make any sense for a person to know his lineage and to, you know, play with the fire like ma'mun did And eventually, you know being threatened by the imam Because basically everyone after that recognized who this individual who's gonna take over, you know, ended up eventually, uh, you know, uh Taking over and killing the imam, but we'll get to touch upon More of the debate, but after the short break if you will, insha'Allah professor So respected viewers do stay tuned for after the break for insha'Allah We'll continue our discussion involving Around the incidents that happened during the time of imam al-Allah after the break. Stay tuned respected viewers welcome back hoping insha'Allah enjoyed that short report once again I do congratulate you on the blessed birth of imam al-Allah peace and blessings be upon him Hopefully we can go and rejoice uh one day in his holy shrine, uh, you know, I was there a couple of weeks ago and you know, it's it's amazing Uh, masjid ma'mun roba It's a beautiful scene. Oh it is and it's uh, I mean sheikh Baha'i with the architect behind the the the present day I mean central part of the shrine was uh, was an amazing architect And and did a wonderful job Creating this wonderful structure. Yeah, the south of it were at great taste in architecture and has to We'll get to talk about architecture over in a different in different show, but uh What was the content of the debate? I know before the break we talked about the context of the debate and what led to that And you know, what were the you know, what was the reason for the imam to accept the position of leadership? Under the abasid government But what was the content of the debate? Well first of all notice this Imam Reza alaihi salam isn't just discussing with any christian He's he's he's he's actually debating with the leaders of these communities. Yeah, and and this is very uh significant because It shows how the traditional mindset Um functions when it comes to such debates. So contrary to this day and age Where where any tom deacon harry With behind a computer screen can you know considers himself as a scholar thanks to um share google In those days, uh, you were only allowed to debate if you were in a position of authority than the scholarship Uh, and and this is still in in vigor in some traditional structures, but uh, unless you're a sheikh or or an academically proficient and confident person You were not allowed to debate of religious questions. Wow at all. Wow. And this uh, you know Was not the case whatsoever because here's the thing Uh, are we debating in order to advance in terms of knowledge? Or are we debating just to uh, just to you know, just to have our egos Feel satisfied by it and feeling superior to another and that is And that is why there's there's always been this prohibition on non-scholars Uh debating with with with you know, in terms especially in this in this field of Of religion, uh, because because of the dangers that it implies and and we see nowadays in this religious strife That we have between different communities the world over it's mostly done by very ignorant people have no knowledge no training whatsoever in um In religion, I mean very recently. I came across someone who um, you know, who was mentioning a a a a uh a revered scholar And and poet from another from another denomination within islam saying that he was going to disrespect his grave and this is disgraceful behavior because uh This has never been the attitude of our scholars ever never. We we've always, you know, our scholars have always very respectfully Disagreed even within she-ism. For example, uh, sheikh mad yassai was a great great spiritual master and a merger of actually from from the From the qajar period wrote Wrote a commentary on the mulasad of shirazi's kitab al-nashair and he criticizes Mulasada but always in a respectful manner And and it's always substantiated by a proper scholarship There's no cursing involved. There's no insults involved and this is how religious debates are to be conducted nowadays Oh, nowadays, I mean it's it's but the thing is I do believe that there's a sign of the akhara zaman total decadence and This utter all opening of the ego to to to to just uh, you know, spread darkness all over the world Yeah, now so notice first of all that the the imam is debating leaders and scholars from the other religious traditions So they are what are these other religious traditions were the christians Uh, so the head of the christians at that time was the catholicos. Uh, the catholicos is um It's a position of hierarchy within the the eastern churches And then he had uh debates with the rabbis from the jewish tradition and with the sabians Uh, who were people we we have very little information about what they actually are It's still unclear the sabians. I mean from the debate it seems that these people were very much into beliefs that were very close to uh, daoism, although In terms that they believed that the cosmos had no had no beginning. They were eternal And they had a great knowledge of astrology and an astronomy as well. But the imam debates these three groups And the debate pretty much Is about these the following three points with christians it's about the the the the notion of affiliation The relationship between god the son and god the and god the father. Yeah, which is a big problem From the point of view of islamic theology So, uh, the christians claiming that jesus is the son of god and imam redha alaihi salam said, uh, you know Why do you say this the christians say well, you know, because uh, you know, um jesus had no father and then Imam redha alaihi salam mentions the case of adam who had no father and no mother no mother But behind that there's a there's a there's a crucial issue here, which is that uh The islam of the ahlul baits It's really staunch about Not giving any qualifications to the divine essence And that is that is what we find very much in in in the uh, the first sermon of natural balada Yes, where amir mu'minin alaihi salam makes clear that, you know, god has no Has no possible qualifications and that's what we call in technical terms apophatic or negative negative theology This is the uh, it's the first part of the actually the uh of the shahada when we say la ilaha It's actually a a it's a form of theological barah We remove any sort of man-made qualifications Uh from you know from our definitions of god But then at the same time comes what we call the cataphatic theology it is what god says about himself and so, uh The imam really is uh, you know points out that we cannot possibly Give human qualities to uh god and especially this whole idea of affiliation Yes, of course, there's a there's a form of You know multiplicity within or you know within the divine life Meaning and that as is a reference to the relationship of god with his attributes But this is not an at this is not a relationship of affiliation And and and one would be and and that is why some has always been very careful about Refusing outright this the notion of this this notion of son of god because this notion of son of god actually came with fellow of alexander who was a who was a uh A jewish Greek-speaking philosopher and here's the thing So and this is common to um jewish christian and islamic theology. Allah swt creates the world Through what we know what is known as the logos the akal uh or the kalimatullah, which is the same thing Now the question is uh, what is the status of that logos if the logos created? Is the logos god And if it's not god and if it's not created what is that relationship between god and the logos? And a lot of the debate that go on until up to you know Up until the time of the raibah Actually are about this is a this is the debate and you know that started in the third century You know ad and continues and starts with you know With with the greeks and judaism and then you know continues with christianity and and and you know Flows over into islam So and there's a very important discussion that we don't have the time to to to get into yeah But so the imam is referring to that with uh with judaism It's rather about the prophethood of his majesty had a muhammad and mus'a far sallallahu alayhi wa alayh It is about proving the prophethood of his majesty through the use of the Torah And this is really important because imam redan it is a point we'll discuss later on the imam redan is using the scriptures other of the other religions To prove the prophethood of the And then he discusses the sedians on the issue of the eternity of the universe whether the universe is created That means has a beginning and and or whether it's always been this way was was was created Infinite and it's a huge. I mean it's a huge point of the debate I mean most of the great islamic philosophers normally When writing their proofs for the existence of god start with this point Ibn Sina does it and all the other great philosophers start with this issue. Even our own philosophy people like, you know Hajar Nasri in Tusi or ismailis Theologians theologians like Sajishtani. They start with this with this point. It's a it's a classical You know point of this one. Now you mentioned that there is some sort of relation between Judaism Christianity and Islam and you know To what extent is that the you know if there is and if there isn't why would imam ar-rullah use the Or use their texts and their you know scriptures To debate them. Why not? You know use islamic scripture, but in the debates You you you need You need to use sources that are accepted by both sides right to acknowledge what the exactly so The jews will not accept the Quran as a as a as a as a proof No, will the christians Whereas and this is where it becomes very interesting The islamic tradition While accepting the idea that there has been some sort of corruption Of the Of the sacred texts of the jewish and the christian traditions Those also acknowledge that you know, there's still some parts that left that are you know in in harmony with the divine revelation That not everything was corrupted. And so this is the for example Um, I refer here to the wonderful book written by uh, dr. Mohammed leganhausen Jesus in shiite narrations for example where you I think it's a it's a harith imam imam sadaq aleyhi salam That it actually corresponds more or less to the sermon on the on the mount that is found in the gospels So not everything in the bible is corrupt So whatever is in harmony with the teachings of the ahl al-bayn and the Quran is then accepted And that's what we can work with uh in terms of in terms of uh dealing with christianity and and and and judeism So, yeah, and I think it's a very important for us but nowadays Uh, unfortunately and especially in the diaspora we we are in a situation where muslims who live in the west Are very often not I mean first of all very much ignorant about their own religious tradition Which is a crime because when you have access to the internet access to books access to free education Access to you know bookshops and so and so forth and you still manage to be Ignorance about your own religious tradition. I mean, that's an accomplishment. That's quite an accomplishment. I mean Unfortunately, we live in an age where being stupid and ignorant is as seen as a quality Where's uh, I mean ideal with students who come from uh Come from poor regions in in in Pakistan such as Pakistan in India in the mountains where Some villages are cut off from the rest of the world during winter And for them going to school is a luxury and then when you see kids who are born in Dearborn or toronto or london and they still manage not not to know who sheikh saddukh was Or they managed not to know who I don't know. Mullah sadra was or mir damad or sheikh bahay This is unexcusable. There's no excuse for this Especially when we see them later on at our converts who after three years Know all these things. It means that that that knowledge is out there. It's it's it's and it's accessible Everyone has access to the internet. Yeah, everyone has a smart phone and stuff and the thing is this is that you know, um Nowadays this this is uh, absolutely disgusting Set of three novels that was published a few years ago that you know, that's been made into uh to movies Uh decency forbid me to mention the name in front of the shrine of haza abas, alaihi salam But unfortunately a certain section of our community You can be sure that at least 70 80 percent of the people have read those books And it's quite disgusting knowing that you know, our scholars led To preserve that knowledge and and and to pass on the knowledge about You know about our religious tradition So not only are they not knowledgeable about their own religious tradition But they manage also to be ignorant about the religious traditions of the society in which they live in So you have people who lived in london the entire lives were completely ignorant by christianity Yeah, uh, and and that is and and that is fatal because Especially nowadays where there's such a push towards destroying the traditional family structures That that you know that that western society the society is inherited from christianity uh, and which A danger that also endangers our family structures when we see that for example in countries like canada or the us or the uk there's a push to uh to force muslims and christians to adopt the The acceptance of homosexuality abortion and so on and so forth It is in times like this that we should really unite and build bridges between christian jews and muslims to Create a united front against this sort of decadence and because of this ignorance The those bridges have not been built And unfortunately nowadays a great deal of christians nowadays see muslims as a fifth column Uh, uh, you know that is participating in the destruction of a traditional western Uh christian, uh, you know family values, which is very unfortunate because we do share the same the same You know the same The same traditions when we see charlatans like linda sarsur. For example, you know Militating for you know aggressive feminism LGBT rights abortion and so forth, which is of course against islam Uh, you know, if you're a working class christian person you you ask yourself questions about you know, you muslim neighbors then So it's important to to have this knowledge about christianity about judeism So that's you know, even though we may be different in terms of our approaches to the divine There are certain common struggles that we have and we could really help each other And and and in fighting against that sort of decadence that is destroying our families I mean you mentioned a few points that really need more clarification on why uh, they're either prohibited or you know, just Run upon but we can discuss this In a different way inshallah But you know to understand or to learn How to treat because right now as you mentioned the fifth column being islam, how Do we learn from the imams? How to treat other religions? How did the imams treat other if we can just put that in a few minutes? I would say it is uh, first of all, we need to go back to this very important hadith Ali ma alhaq wa alhaq ma ali And this isn't just a hadith about the the right of the imam This goes way beyond that And the ali is with the truth and the truth with is with ali meaning what that Any any truth that is out there even in other religions Exists because of the wilaya so if Good darkness or the the satanic forces cannot come up with truth Of course, so for example if the buddhas or uh Anyone says something that is true. It's only through the grace of the wilaya Right, so when software from when a when a buddhist says something that is true No problem. We we accept it, but we Respectfully disagree with all the other things that are not in tune with the divine revelation so, um in a sense um, you know if if if if If the islam of the ahl of bayt were this cup the other religions would be like little mirrors, you know Showing different aspects of this cup, but they're not the cup itself. They're not the fullness of the truth itself So we and the thing is sometimes, uh, other religions may help us May help us remind ourselves of certain things that we've forgotten about our own tradition. For example, for example Well, for example, we do have In the islam of the ahl of bayt is a complete integral tradition. It has fiqh. Yes, it has akhlaq But it also has an important spiritual content Things like muraqabah, for example So when I see when when I look at the buddhas doing meditation Even though I may not agree with this theology Uh, him doing meditation reminds me of the fact that we do have something similar Within our own tradition and that maybe I should you know the fact that I I'm not doing that Um, you know, it should remind me that there is that aspect in my religious tradition or for example, when I see catholics well Fantastic when it comes to social work you know, uh It it it reminds me of the fact that I I come from a tradition where You know helping the poor helping the helping the orphans helping You know those who are in need. It's very important. Yeah, maybe I can learn I can relearn what already exists in my tradition by looking at what for example catholics do Uh, even though I may disagree with their theology So it's it's having the humility to uh to to to um to recognize that even though other traditions may not have the fullness of the truth They might have some aspects that that exist in our tradition, but that we have forgotten Uh, because of certain historical circumstances. So it's it's uh, it's the position of it's this the type of position I consist in saying Yes, um, you know, the slum of the ahab is the fullness of the truth But at the same time I do I can learn something about myself From a buddhist from a christian from a jew and so and so forth Was always recognizing that the imam is the fullness so actually From what I learned that you just boils down to respect To respect will disagree that it's okay. But you know, just don't excessively, uh, you know disrespect Others we do. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Welcome to professor francisco And thank you very much to respect the viewers for tuning in tonight Open inshallah We can you know learn from the life of imam ar-raba peace of blessings be upon him And don't forget to tune in into more episodes for we will continue our discussion on the life of imam ar-raba peace of blessings be upon him Thank you very much. Wasalamu alaikum. Rahmatullahi