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I WAS recently reading Scientific Wonders on the Earth and in Space by Yusuf Al-Hajj Ahmad, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab and edited by Huda Khattab (Darussalam, Saudi Arabia), and was disappointed to see the following point (Pp.49-50) about the origin of iron on earth.
“Iron originates from meteors that fall from space to the Earth. About a thousand meteors some of which may weigh up to tens of tons fall [sic] from space and some of them were discovered in Israel and some of them in America.” In contrast, the original Arabic version mentions the meteors as having been discovered “in Australia and America”.
This is disappointing, and a disservice to the author by manipulating his writing to not just rewrite facts quoted by him, but to mention something that is factually incorrect.
According to an article in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the first meteorite discovered in occupied Palestine was a small 40-gram chondrite that was classified as a meteorite in August 2003. A chondrite is a non-metallic stony object with no iron in it.
Throughout the book, there are endless pictures of Israel and no mention of Palestine. I, like many others, used to trust the Saudi publisher, but now have to take a critical view of its intentions.
Angabeen Ahmad
Karachi
Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023
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