The Igigi Revolt
Columns
Benson C Saili
THIS EARTH, MY BROTHER
How “Holy Angels” became “Fallen Angels”
About 80,000 years ago during the time of Enoch and his father Jared, climatic upheavals both on Earth and Mars struck again. Mars was even the worse for wear. Not only was it becoming increasingly drier but sandstorms were raging in the manner of a desertifying planet. Semjaza, who was the leader of the Mars-based Igigi, the Anunnaki astronauts, was in panic mode: he sent word down to Earth to alert his boss Utu-Shamash at Sippar, the then spaceport. Shamash in turn alerted his grandfather Enlil, Earth’s Chief Executive and the Bible’s primary Jehovah/Yahweh.
“The three who the fates decree” were soon locked up in a crisis meeting at Nippur, Enlil’s cult city in the broader Edin. These were Enlil himself, Enki, and Ninmah. They resolved that Marduk, a veteran superintendent of the Mars way station, should hasten to Mars to assess the problem firsthand and file a report. Marduk consented but that was only after spirited persuasion by his father Enki.
Meanwhile, the top three sat down to ponder their fate as individuals. They were now old by Earthly standards. Enki and Enlil spoke nostalgically about how “dashing” and diligent they were when they came to Earth and self-commiserated about how worn and grey they now were. Both were now grandfathers. Ninmah remarked forlornly that everybody now called her the “Old Sheep” even though her skin had not yet wrinkled. Their only consolation was that their children who were born on Earth were actually aging at a much faster rate than them because the physics of Earth had a much more impactful effect on their biological clocks than it did on those who were born on Nibiru or the Sirius and Orion star systems.
Whatever the case, wasn’t it time they as old guards handed over the conduct of the affairs of Earth and Mars to the younger generation in Marduk and Ninurta? Enki for one wondered why whereas the younger Anunnaki were allowed to visit Nibiru from time to time and the rank and file Anunnaki actually worked on rotation and returned to Nibiru for good once their tour of duty was complete, the top brass were all but barred from visiting Nibiru. Enki, Enlil and Ninmah had never left Earth for Nibiru since their arrival. Every time they put in a request for at least a shar’s sabbatical, King Anu vetoed it. Would they ever return to their planet or they were destined to die on this tiny planet that fast-tracked their progression to old age?
Enlil gave assurance that they would definitely return but they should not press for that. That would be tantamount to abdicating responsibility entrusted from on high. When King Anu deemed it opportune, they would certainly be recalled. For now, all they had to do and undertake was to soldier on in the tasks it pleased Anu to assign them. The three then rose, clasped hands, and in unison and with voices building up to a crescendo pledged to persevere with their respective mandates. This was one of those very occasions when Enki and Enlil showed a modicum of brotherliness and consensus ad idem.
IGIGI’S WRACKED WITH SEXUAL STRESS
When Marduk arrived on Mars, he was presented with a conundrum he had not been warned about and to the extent where the main object of his mission became secondary. The Igigi leader Semjaza informed him that the Igigi were bursting with sexual stress. They all were full-fledged, virile adults but since Anunnaki women were few and far between, almost all of them remained unwed. Semjaza warned Marduk that the situation was getting out of hand and it could lead to homosexual proclivities.
“You Prince are one of those who have a naturally sympathetic heart,” Semjaza said. “It’s you and Lord Enki in particular. Lord Enlil and Prince Shamash don’t care a hoot about our plight. Please help us find women to marry. It’s Lulu’s we have in mind. We don’t mind them: some of them are just as dazzlingly beautiful as Anunnaki women. We may be physically much bigger than them but we are sexually compatible. Remember Prince, Lord Enki himself had Adapa and Titi-Eve with a Lulu and had Cain with a Lulu too.”
At the time, marriages between Anunnaki and Earthlings had long been sanctioned. If you recall, Adapa had married Lilitu; Cain had married Luluwa; and Seth had married Kalimath: all these were Anunnaki women. However, there was a very strong precondition. The Earthling woman had to be vetted by Enlil before he gave the nod for the nuptials to proceed. If Enlil didn’t deem her suitable for one reason or the other, the marriage was a non-starter though sexual relations could continue.
Marduk contemplated the matter for a while. “I doubt whether Enlil can permit a mass marriage between you guys and Earthling women,” he observed. “He’s fiercely conservative. Since we arrived on Earth, he has permitted only a handful of such marriages and all have been of Anunnaki women marrying Earthling men and none vice versa.”
“At least why can’t we have a colony of Lulu’s here on Earth who can produce wives or consorts for us Prince?” Semjaza wondered aloud. “Why should Earth be the only planet privilleged with the convenient human population?”
“There’s an unofficial programme to that effect if I may confide in you,” Marduk replied the Igigi leader. “The Earthling Enoch is presently residing here with his wife Edinni. Some of their children are here too. The plan is for this family to give rise to the future population of Mars. You know Earthlings proliferate inconceivably quicker than we do. In our equivalent of one year on Nibiru, they could fill a whole continent. When that happens, you guys will have such a stampede of women hankering after you you will be spoiled for choice.”
“Sorry Prince, but we are not prepared to wait for that long,” Semjaza countered. “We want women to marry like yesterday. And you are the person, great Prince, we’re counting on. And we know you will not disappoint us. You and Lord Enki are the most kindly of the royals. We are trusting to your speedy action.”
Once again, Marduk cogitated on the matter. He really did feel for the Igigi’s. But what about he himself? Wasn’t it time he settled down in marriage and began a family? He was a grown man now and his immediate younger brother Nergal had long gotten married. Already, one particular woman had long caught his eye. This was Sarpanit, Enoch’s firstborn daughter, who was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. None of the Anunnaki women would hold a candle to her. Having made up his mind to pop the word to Sarpanit, an empathetic Marduk now took Semjaza into his confidence. Together, they hatched a plan whereby Marduk would create circumstances for some Igigi to come to Earth and make their case before Enlil.
ENLIL PARRIES MARDUK OVERTURE
Since Enoch was at this stage a protégé of the Enlilites, who had promised to send him to Nibiru for as long as proved his loyalty to them, he was circumspect about consenting to Marduk’s request to take the hand of his daughter. Rather than outrightly reject Marduk’s overture, he referred him to his firstborn son Methuselah, who was based on Earth.
When Marduk touched down on Earth, he straightaway went to see his father Enki. First, he handed him the report he had compiled about the Martian situation. Then he raised the matter of his matrimonial designs. He had fallen in love and wanted to get married. Both Enki and his wife Ninki were excited and cheerfully high-fived their firstborn son. Then Marduk dropped a bombshell. The woman he wanted to marry was not an Anunnaki but an Earthling. She was Sarpanit, the daughter of the human patriarch Enoch, who was presently stationed on Mars. Both Enoch and Sarpanit had in fact consented to the marriage proposal and Enoch had even given his firstborn son Methuselah the right of attorney to affix the decisive seal of approval on the matter.
Enki and Ninki were persuaded. They went to see Methuselah, who practically danced a jig as he gave euphoric consent. However, the final word rested with the Anunnaki’s seniormost personage on Earth – Enlil. When the matter was brought before Enlil, he poured cold water on it without much ado. First, he argued that all the Anunnaki princes were obliged to marry Anunnaki princess only. For example, Ninurta was married to Bau, a younger daughter of King Anu. Nannar-Sin was married to Ningal, a daughter of Enki.
Nergal was married to Ereshkigal, Enlil’s granddaughter. True, female Anunnaki could marry Earthlings and even rank-and-file Anunnaki could marry Earthlings according to the revised connubial code, but a prince strictly had to marry a fellow Anunnaki and a princess for that matter. If Marduk were to marry Sarpanit, she would become Nin-Sarpanit – a princess too and could one day become Queen. That was anathema: no Lulu should ever become an Anunnaki Queen.
On her part, Ninmah said Marduk was in fact not short of Anunnaki suitors. She was prepared to marry off to him one of the six daughters she had with Enki. “They are your half-sisters,” she said. “The Anunnaki connubial code allows princes to marry their half-sisters.” The Enkites, however, were not persuaded. Enki insisted Marduk had the right to marry any woman he deemed suitable. He wanted his firstborn son to be happy. He had chosen Sarpanit and it was just logical that he be allowed to marry her. It was a stalemate. The matter as usual was referred to King Anu on Nibiru.
MARDUK IS BANISHED TO EARTH
After consultations with his advisors, King Anu like Enlil vetoed the marriage. He said Marduk was not an ordinary prince. On Earth, he may not have had that much clout but in the broader Sirian-Orion Empire, he was very, very significant. As per the terms of the union of Sirius with Orion, Marduk was the second in line to the Sirian-Orion throne after Enlil. So if he went ahead and married a Lulu, he would have committed a sacrilege and the repercussions would be dire. First, he would forfeit his eligibility to the Sirian-Orion throne. Second, he would be banned from ever leaving Earth. That is to say, he would never return to Nibiru or the throne planets of the Sirian-Orion Empire.
When Anu’s decision was relayed to Earth, Enki tried to prevail over his son to change tack but Marduk scoffed at the gesture. His succession rights were a farce, he said. Why should they only apply in the broader Sirian-Orion Empire only and not here on Earth? Why was he so diminished here on Earth? Why did have the rank of 10 when Ninurta (50), Nannar-Sin (30) and even “little” Utu-Shamash (20) ranked far much higher than him? For God’s sake, he wasn’t even a member of the Pantheon of 12. The whole thing was a charade.
Marduk told his father that he was proceeding to lead Sarpanit to the altar: to Hell with Nibiru and the Sirian-Orion throne. In point of fact, what he would set about doing now was to establish his throne right here on Earth. He was going to feverishly work towards being King of Earth and he would die right here on Earth. Earth belonged to Earthlings, not to the Anunnaki. Having married Sarpanit, it was a matter of course that he would strike quite a chord with Earthlings and being the only “god” to devote to permanently living on this planet, Earthlings would embrace him more than any other Anunnaki. If push came to shove, he would mobilise the Earthlings to oust Enlil in the fullness of time.
Having listened to his son, Enki undertook that he would support him all the way. Enlil, on the other hand, did not take kindly to Marduk’s intransigence. On top of Anu’s proscriptions, he added his own. Marduk was banned from ever setting foot in the Edin, Eden in the Bible. He was to be confined to Africa. He was also forbidden to travel either to Mars or the Moon as these two celestial bodies were also in Enlil’s sphere of influence.
IGIGI’S RUN RIOT
Enlil nonetheless granted permission for Marduk’s wedding to take place at Eridu, Enki’s cult city. Then Marduk himself asked Enlil to give some of the Igigi’s the green light to attend his wedding since as former head of the Mars outpost, he had quite a rapport with them. Enlil obliged him and accordingly, 200 Igigi’s arrived on Earth. Headed by their leader Semjaza they were put up at a cosy Anunnaki resort on Mount Hermon at the southern edge of the Cedar Mountain range in today’s Lebanon.
On the mountain was a huge platform known as the Landing Place, or airport in today’s language. It was known as Baalbek, meaning “A place for the access of gods only”, as indeed airports and the spaceport were strictly the preserve of the Anunnaki. A number of Earthlings had also been invited to the wedding, which was to be expected given that the Enkites looked on Earthlings as equals and not as lowlives.
During the week leading up to the wedding, Semjaza assembled his fellow Igigis in the conference hall to break a secret he hadn’t told them yet, a secret which stemmed from a scheme he and Marduk had devised when the latter visited Mars. Semjaza said he was putting his neck on the chopping block for what he was to reveal to them.
“I fear ye will not agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty for a great sin.” But the Igigi’s were excited about it and they declared that not only where they for the idea hundred percent but they were prepared to commit themselves by oath. “Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations, not to abandon this plan but to do this thing," they suggested. This is the reason the venue of this pact came to be called Mount Hermon, meaning “Mount of Oath”.
Only moments after the wedding concluded, the Igigis, who had divided themselves into groups of ten to energetically sync with Marduk’s Anunnaki rank of 10, moved into action. Each grabbed a female human he had earmarked and careered her to the waiting sky chamber. Soon the women were being flown to Baalbek. It had all been orchestrated by Marduk and Semjaza and it worked like a charm.
Back at Mount Hermon, Semjaza sent an ultimatum to Enlil – that he should consent to he and his men marrying the Earthlings forthwith, failure to which they would wreak havoc on Earth, beginning with the torching of the Landing Place. Since Enlil was no fool, he knew it all had been pre-planned at the behest of Marduk, which meant Enki was in on the scheme too.
Realising that he could not win for as long as the Enkites were behind it all, he meekly yielded to the arm-twisting and ordered the Igigi to return to Mars immediately, along with the Lulu women they had kidnapped. Marduk however, argued that the conditions on Mars at present were not that favourable and so the Igigi’s should be allowed to stay on Earth indefinitely. Enlil again was in a bind: fearing that if he stuck to his guns he could trigger a serious backlash, he permitted the Igigi to stay on Earth but banned them from the Edin.
Thus it was that some Igigi’s stayed at the foot of the Cedar Mountains and others moved with Marduk to Egypt. Still others settled in the area that would in future come to be known as Canaan. Enlil dubbed this 200 rebellious Igigi’s as “Fallen Angels” (Every Anunnaki was assumed to be a “Holy Angel” because the Anunnaki came from Nibiru, a “Holy Place”). They were fallen, first, in a moral sense for marrying Earthling women, thereby defiling themselves. They were also fallen because they had defied Enlil, the “God of Earth”.
This event is hinted at in REVELATION 12:4, which says, “And his (the Dragon’s) tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth”. There were at the time 600 Igigi’s stationed on Mars and the 200 that numbered on Semjaza’s team constituted one-third. And who was the Dragon in this context? It was Marduk as Enlil knew he was the instigator. Dragon is the anglicised version of the prehistoric term “Dar-Or-Eke-Ene”, meaning “Creator Lord”.
Here on Earth, it applied to Enki as the fashioner of mankind and secondarily to Marduk as his heir. But Enlil turned it round to invest it with a negative connotation that eventually came to denote “embodied evil”, just as the term “Ea-Bel”, meaning “Lord Ea” (Enki), was turned around by Enlil to assume a new, sinister meaning – Devil. This Earth, My Brother …
NEXT WEEK: JEHOVAH BEARS HIS FANGS
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GONE FISHING
In recent years, using personal devices in working environments has become so commonplace it now has its own acronym, BOYD (Bring Your Own Device). But as employees skip between corporate tools and personal applications on their own devices, their actions introduce a number of possible risks that should be managed and mitigated with careful consideration. Consider these examples:
Si-lwli, a small family-run business in Wales, is arguably as niche a company as you could find, producing talking toys used to promote the Welsh language. Their potential market is small, with only some 300,000 Welsh language speakers in the world and in reality the business is really more of a hobby for the husband-and-wife team, who both still have day jobs. Yet, despite still managing to be successful in terms of sales, the business is now fighting for survival after recently falling prey to cybercriminals. Emails between Si-Iwli and their Chinese suppliers were intercepted by hackers who altered the banking details in the correspondence, causing Si-Iwli to hand over £18,000 (around P ¼ m) to the thieves. That might not sound much to a large enterprise, but to a small or medium business it can be devastating.
Another recent SMB hacking story which appeared in the Wall Street Journal concerned Innovative Higher Ed Consulting (IHED) Inc, a small New York start-up with a handful of employees. IHED didn’t even have a website, but fraudsters were able to run stolen credit card numbers through the company’s payment system and reverse the charges to the tune of $27,000, around the same loss faced by Si-Iwli. As the WSJ put it, the hackers completely destroyed the company, forcing its owners to fold.
And in May 2019, the city of Baltimore’s computer system was hit by a ransomware attack, with hackers using a variant called RobinHood. The hack, which has lasted more than a month, paralysed the computer system for city employees, with the hackers demanding a payment in Bitcoin to give access back to the city.
Of course, hackers target governments or business giants but small and medium businesses are certainly not immune. In fact, 67% of SMBs reported that they had experienced a cyber attack across a period of 12 months, according to a 2018 survey carried out by security research firm Ponemon Institute. Additionally, Verizon issued a report in May 2019 that small businesses accounted for 43% of its reported data breaches. Once seen as less vulnerable than PCs, smartphone attacks are on the rise, with movements like the Dark Caracal spyware campaign underlining the allure of mobile devices to hackers. Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission released a statement calling for greater education on mobile security, coming at a time when around 42% of all Android devices are believed to not carry the latest security updates.
This is an era when employees increasingly use their smartphones for work-related purposes so is your business doing enough to protect against data breaches on their employees’ phones? The SME Cyber Crime Survey 2018 carried out for risk management specialists AON showed that more than 80% of small businesses did not view this as a threat yet if as shown, 67% of SMBs were said to have been victims of hacking, either the stats are wrong or business owners are underestimating their vulnerability. A 2019 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the latter, stating that the majority of global businesses are unprepared for cyber attacks.
Consider that a workstation no longer means a desk in an office: It can be a phone in the back of a taxi or Uber; a laptop in a coffee shop, or a tablet in an airport lounge. Wherever the device is used, employees can potentially install applications that could be harmful to your business, even from something as seemingly insignificant as clicking on an accidental download or opening a link on a phishing email. Out of the physical workplace, your employees’ activities might not have the same protections as they would on a company-monitored PC.
Yet many businesses not only encourage their employees to work remotely, but assume working from coffee shops, bookstores, and airports can boost employees’ productivity. Unfortunately, many remote hot spots do not provide secure Wi-Fi so if your employee is accessing their work account on unsecured public Wi-Fi, sensitive business data could be at risk. Furthermore, even if your employee uses a company smartphone or has access to company data through a personal mobile device, there is always a chance data could be in jeopardy with a lost or stolen device, even information as basic as clients’ addresses and phone numbers.
BOYDs are also at risk from malware designed to harm and infect the host system, transmittable to smartphones when downloading malicious third-party apps. Then there is ransomware, a type of malware used by hackers to specifically take control of a system’s data, blocking access or threatening to release sensitive information unless a ransom is paid such as the one which affected Baltimore. Ransomware attacks are on the increase, predicted to occur every 14 seconds, potentially costing billions of dollars per year.
Lastly there is phishing – the cyber equivalent of the metaphorical fishing exercise – whereby cybercriminals attempt to obtain sensitive data –usernames, passwords, credit card details –usually through a phoney email designed to look legitimate which directs the user to a fraudulent website or requests the data be emailed back directly. Most of us like to think we could recognize a phishing email when we see it, but these emails have become more sophisticated and can come through other forms of communication such as messaging apps.
Bottom line is to be aware of the potential problems with BOYDs and if in doubt, consult your IT security consultants. You can’t put the own-device genie back in the bottle but you can make data protection one of your three wishes!
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“I Propose to Diana Tonight”
About five days before Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed landed in Paris, General Atiku, a certain Edward Williams was taking a walk in a woods in the Welsh town of Mountain Ash. Williams, then 73, was a psychic of some renown. He had in the past foretold assassination attempts on US President Ronald Reagan, which occurred on March 30, 1981, and Pope John Paul II, which came to pass on May 13, 1981.
As he trudged the woods, Williams had a sudden premonition that pointed to Diana’s imminent fate as per Christopher Andersen’s book The Day Diana Died. “When the vision struck me, it was as if everything around me was obscured and replaced by shadowy figures,” Williams was later to reminisce. “In the middle was the face of Princess Diana. Her expression was sad and full of pathos. She was wearing what looked like a floral dress with a short dark cardigan. But it was vague. I went cold with fear and knew it was a sign that she was in danger.”
Williams hastily beat a retreat to his home, which he shared with his wife Mary, and related to her his presentiment, trembling like an aspen leaf as he did so. “I have never seen him so upset,” Mary recounted. “He felt he was given a sign and when he came back from his walk he was deeply shaken.”
The following day, Williams frantically sauntered into a police station to inform the police of his premonition. The officer who attended to him would have dismissed him as no more than a crackpot but he treated him seriously in view of the accuracy of his past predictions. He took a statement and immediately passed it on to the Special Branch Investigative Unit.
The report read as follows:
“On 27 August, at 14:12 hrs, a man by the name of Edward Williams came to Mountain Ash police station. He said he was a psychic and predicted that Princess Diana was going to die. In previous years, he has predicted that the Pope and Ronald Reagan were going to be the victims of assassination attempts. On both occasions he was proved to be correct. Mr Williams appeared to be quite normal.”
Williams, General, was spot-on as usual: four days later, the princess was no more.
Meanwhile, General, even as Dodi and Diana were making their way to the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel in central Paris, British newspapers were awash with headlines that suggested Diana was kind of deranged. Writes Andrew Morton in Diana in Pursuit of Love: “In The Independent Diana was described as ‘a woman with fundamentally nothing to say about anything’. She was ‘suffering from a form of arrested development’. ‘Isn’t it time she started using her head?’ asked The Mail on Sunday. The Sunday Mirror printed a special supplement entitled ‘A Story of Love’; The News of the World claimed that William had demanded that Diana should split from Dodi: ‘William can’t help it, he just doesn’t like the man.’ William was reportedly ‘horrified’ and ‘doesn’t think Mr Fayed is good for his mother’ – or was that just the press projecting their own prejudices? The upmarket Sunday Times newspaper, which had first serialised my biography of the princess, now put her in the psychiatrist’s chair for daring to be wooed by a Muslim. The pop-psychologist Oliver James put Diana ‘On the Couch’, asking why she was so ‘depressed’ and desperate for love. Other tabloids piled in with dire prognostications – about Prince Philip’s hostility to the relationship, Diana’s prospect of exile, and the social ostracism she would face if she married Dodi.”
DIANA AND DODI AT THE RITZ
Before Diana and Dodi departed the Villa Windsor sometime after 16 hrs, General, one of Dodi’s bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones furtively asked Diana as to what the programme for the evening was. This Trevor did out of sheer desperation as Dodi had ceased and desisted from telling members of his security detail, let alone anyone else for that matter, what his onward destination was for fear that that piece of information would be passed on to the paparazzi. Diana kindly obliged Trevor though her response was terse and scarcely revealing. “Well, eventually we will be going out to a restaurant”, that was all Diana said. Without advance knowledge of exactly what restaurant that was, Trevor and his colleagues’ hands were tied: they could not do a recce on it as was standard practice for the security team of a VIP principal. Dodi certainly, General, was being recklessly by throwing such caution to the winds.
At about 16:30, Diana and Dodi drew up at the Ritz Hotel, where they were received by acting hotel manager Claude Roulet. The front entrance of the hotel was already crawling with paparazzi, as a result of which the couple took the precaution of using the rear entrance, where hopefully they would make their entry unperturbed and unmolested. The first thing they did when they were ensconced in the now $10,000 a night Imperial Suite was to spend some time on their mobiles and set about touching base with friends, relations, and associates. Diana called at least two people, her clairvoyant friend Rita Rogers and her favourite journalist Richard Kay of The Daily Mail.
Rita, General, was alarmed that Diana had proceeded to venture to Paris notwithstanding the warning she had given Dodi and herself in relation to what she had seen of him in the crystal ball when the couple had consulted her. When quizzed as to what the hell she indeed was doing in Paris at that juncture, Diana replied that she and Dodi had simply come to do some shopping, which though partially true was not the material reason they were there. “But Diana, remember what I told Dodi,” Rita said somewhat reprovingly. Diana a bit apprehensively replied, “Yes I remember. I will be careful. I promise.” Well, she did not live up to her promise as we shall soon unpack General.
As for Richard Kay, Diana made known to him that, “I have decided I am going to radically change my life. I am going to complete my obligations to charities and to the anti-personnel land mines cause, but in November I want to completely withdraw from formal public life.”
Once she was done with her round of calls, Diana went down to the hair saloon by the hotel swimming pool to have her hair washed and blow-dried ahead of the scheduled evening dinner.
THE “TELL ME YES” RING IS DELIVERED
Since the main object of their Paris trip was to pick up the “Tell Me Yes” engagement ring Dodi had ordered in Monte Carlo a week earlier, Dodi decided to check on Repossi Jewellery, which was right within the Ritz prencincts, known as the Place Vendome. It could have taken less than a minute for Dodi to get to the store on foot but he decided to use a car to outsmart the paparazzi invasion. He was driven there by Trevor Rees-Jones, with Alexander Kez Wingfield and Claude Roulet following on foot, though he entered the shop alone.
The Repossi store had closed for the holiday season but Alberto Repossi, accompanied by his wife and brother-in-law, had decided to travel all the way from his home in Monaco and momentarily open it for the sake of the potentially highly lucrative Dodi transaction. Alberto, however, disappointed Dodi as the ring he had chosen was not the one he produced. The one he showed Dodi was pricier and perhaps more exquisite but Dodi was adamant that he wanted the exact one he had ordered as that was what Diana herself had picked. It was a ploy on the part of Repossi to make a real killing on the sale, his excuse to that effect being that Diana deserved a ring tha was well worthy of her social pedigree. With Dodi having expressed disaffection, Repossi rendered his apologies and assured Dodi he would make the right ring available shortly, whereupon Dodi repaired back to the hotel to await its delivery. But Dodi did insist nonetheless that the pricier ring be delivered too in case it appealed to Diana anyway.
Repossi delivered the two rings an hour later. They were collected by Roulet. On inspecting them, Dodi chose the very one he had seen in Monte Carlo, apparently at the insistence of Diana. There is a possibility that Diana, who was very much aware of her public image and was not comfortable with ostentatious displays of wealth, may have deliberately shown an interest in a less expensive engagement ring. It may have been a purely romantic as opposed to a prestigious choice for her.
The value of the ring, which was found on a wardrobe shelf in Dodi’s apartment after the crash, has been estimated to be between $20,000 and $250,000 as Repossi has always refused to be drawn into revealing how much Dodi paid for it. The sum, which enjoyed a 25 percent discount, was in truth paid for not by Dodi himself but by his father as was the usual practice.
Dodi was also shown Repossi’s sketches for a bracelet, a watch, and earrings which he proposed to create if Diana approved of them.
DIANA AND DODI GUSH OVER IMMINENT NUPTIALS
At about 7 pm, Dodi and Diana left the Ritz and headed for Dodi’s apartment at a place known as the Arc de Trompe. They went there to properly tog themselves out for the scheduled evening dinner. They spent two hours at the luxurious apartment. As usual, the ubiquitous paparazzi were patiently waiting for them there.
As they lingered in the apartment, Dodi beckoned over to his butler Rene Delorm and showed him the engagement ring. “Dodi came into my kitchen,” Delorm relates. “He looked into the hallway to check that Diana couldn’t hear and reached into his pocket and pulled out the box … He said, ‘Rene, I’m going to propose to the princess tonight. Make sure that we have champagne on ice when we come back from dinner’.” Rene described the ring as “a spectacular diamond encrusted ring, a massive emerald surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, set on a yellow and white gold band sitting in a small light-grey velvet box”.
Just before 9 pm, Dodi called the brother of his step-father, Hassan Yassen, who also was staying at the Ritz that night, and told him that he hoped to get married to Diana by the end of the year.
Later that same evening, both Dodi and Diana would talk to Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi’s dad, and make known to him their pre-nuptial intentions. “They called me and said we’re coming back (to London) on Sunday (August 31) and on Monday (September 1) they are
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RAMADAN – The Blessed Month of Fasting
Ramadan is the fasting month for Muslims, where over one billion Muslims throughout the world fast from dawn to sunset, and pray additional prayers at night. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to Allah, and self-control. It is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. As you read this Muslims the world over have already begun fasting as the month of Ramadan has commenced (depending on the sighting of the new moon).
‘The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for people, in it are clear signs of guidance and Criterion, therefore whoever of you who witnesses this month, it is obligatory on him to fast it. But whoever is ill or traveling let him fast the same number of other days, God desires ease for you and not hardship, and He desires that you complete the ordained period and glorify God for His guidance to you, that you may be grateful”. Holy Qur’an (2 : 185)
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars upon which the structure of Islam is built. The other four are: the declaration of one’s belief in Allah’s oneness and in the message of Muhammad (PBUH); regular attendance to prayer; payment of zakaat (obligatory charity); and the pilgrimage to Mecca.
As explained in an earlier article, fasting includes total abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking, refraining from obscenity, avoiding getting into arguments and including abstaining from marital relations, from sunrise to sunset. While fasting may appear to some as difficult Muslims see it as an opportunity to get closer to their Lord, a chance to develop spiritually and at the same time the act of fasting builds character, discipline and self-restraint.
Just as our cars require servicing at regular intervals, so do Muslims consider Ramadan as a month in which the body and spirit undergoes as it were a ‘full service’. This ‘service’ includes heightened spiritual awareness both the mental and physical aspects and also the body undergoing a process of detoxification and some of the organs get to ‘rest’ through fasting.
Because of the intensive devotional activity fasting, Ramadan has a particularly high importance, derived from its very personal nature as an act of worship but there is nothing to stop anyone from privately violating Allah’s commandment of fasting if one chooses to do so by claiming to be fasting yet eating on the sly. This means that although fasting is obligatory, its observance is purely voluntary. If a person claims to be a Muslim, he is expected to fast in Ramadan.
The reward Allah gives for proper fasting is very generous. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) quotes Allah as saying: “All actions done by a human being are his own except fasting, which belongs to Me and I will reward it accordingly.” We are also told by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that the reward for proper fasting is admittance into heaven.
Fasting earns great reward when it is done in a ‘proper’ manner. This is because every Muslim is required to make his worship perfect. For example perfection of fasting can be achieved through restraint of one’s feelings and emotions. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that when fasting, a person should not allow himself to be drawn into a quarrel or a slanging match. He teaches us: “On a day of fasting, let no one of you indulge in any obscenity, or enter into a slanging match. Should someone abuse or fight him, let him respond by saying: ‘I am fasting!’”
This high standard of self-restraint fits in well with fasting, which is considered as an act of self-discipline. Islam requires us to couple patience with voluntary abstention from indulgence in our physical desires. The purpose of fasting helps man to attain a high degree of sublimity, discipline and self-restraint. In other words, this standard CAN BE achieved by every Muslim who knows the purpose of fasting and strives to fulfill it.
Fasting has another special aspect. It makes all people share in the feelings of hunger and thirst. In normal circumstances, people with decent income may go from one year’s end to another without experiencing the pangs of hunger which a poor person may feel every day of his life. Such an experience helps to draw the rich one’s conscience nearer to needs of the poor. A Muslim is encouraged to be more charitable and learns to give generously for a good cause.
Fasting also has a universal or communal aspect to it. As Muslims throughout the world share in this blessed act of worship, their sense of unity is enhanced by the fact that every Muslim individual joins willingly in the fulfillment of this divine commandment. This is a unity of action and purpose, since they all fast in order to be better human beings. As a person restrains himself from the things he desires most, in the hope that he will earn Allah’s pleasure, self-discipline and sacrifice become part of his nature.
The month of Ramadan can aptly be described as a “season of worship.” Fasting is the main aspect of worship in this month, because people are more attentive to their prayers, read the Qur’an more frequently and also strive to improve on their inner and outer character. Thus, their devotion is more complete and they feel much happier in Ramadan because they feel themselves to be closer to their Creator.