Aishah World

A 75 Year Old American Lady Reverted to Islam

2009-10-12T19:20:00.001+08:00

Sister Ayisha, A former practicing roman catholic who reverted to Islam at the age of 75. She tells her story of coming to Islam in a TV interview

Smooth Criminal مايكل جاكسون نسخة سعودية

2009-09-05T13:40:00.000+08:00

Lailatul Qadr : The Night of Power

2009-09-02T20:55:00.001+08:00

Qadr means honour and dignity. Lailatul Qadr means the night of honour and dignity. It is this night in which the first Divine Revelation came to the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam, when he was in prayer in the cave of Hira. Since this night enjoys the honour of having the first revelation brought to the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam, it has been named Lailatul Qadr.

This is one of the holiest and most blessed nights, which is likely to occur on one of the odd nights on the last ten days of Ramadhan and most likely to be the 27th. The reward of worship on this night is better than the worship of a thousand months of worship, equivalent to a person's lifetime. So, on this night one should pray nafil namaz, recite the Quran, do Tasbih, Zikr, Duas, etc as much as possible.

This night had already opened its gates of treasures when the angel for the first time had come with the Divine Message in the cave of Hira, but its auspiciousness has continued to be with us permanently. Every year in the month of Ramadhan, this night is given to the Ummah. Muslims engage in prayers, recitation of Quran and praying to Allah, as the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam said: "The person who offered prayers to Allah in the night of Dignity with faith and with hope of reward from Allah, all his past sins have been forgiven." (Bukhaari)

As the rainy season is suitable for farming, similarly for the attainment of nearness to Allah, specific times , specific days and specific nights are most suitable, e.g. the time of Tahajjud prayers, Friday prayers, month of Ramadhan, the Day of Arafah, etc. So also the Night of Power is the most suitable night for attaining nearness to Allah.

In the Hadeeth, we have been asked to seek it in the last ten nights of the month of Ramadhan. Hazrat Aa'ishah radhiyallahu anhaa narrates that the Messenger of Allah sallalahu alayhi wasallam has said, 'Seek the night of Dignity in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadhan'.(Bukhaari).

By odd nights, the reference is made to the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th night of the month of Ramadhan. No one night has been fixed so that the yearning to find it may increase and people may spend more nights in worshipping Allah. From this aspect, the importance of `Itikaaf (seclusion) during the last ten days of Ramadhan is clear.

Some special prayers and Zikr for Laitul Qadr

1. Seeking Forgiveness. Hazrat Aa'ishah radhiyallahu anhaa asked the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam that if she happened to get the night sublime what prayer should she say. The Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasallam replied that she should say the following prayer :

"Allahumma innaka afuwwun kareemun tuhib-bul af-wa fa-afo anni"

(O Allah, You are the One who grants pardon for sins, loves forgiving, so forgive me.)

2. Reciting Astaghfar. The following should be recited as much as possible:

"Astaghfirullah hallazi la-ila-ha illa huwal Hayyul Qayyumo wa atu-bu ilaihe"

(I seek forgiveness from Allah, the Almighty, there is no God but He. He is self-Existent, the Eternal and I return to Him)

3. Reciting Surah `Inna anzalnahu...'

"Inna anzalnahu fee lailatul Qadr, Wa maa adraka maa lailatul Qadr.

Lailatul Qadri khairum min alfi shahr. Tanazzalul malai-katu var-roohu

fee ha bi izni Rabbihim min kulle amr. Salaamun heya hatta matla-il fajr."

4. Do Salatul Tasbih.

5. Do Afzul Zikr i.e. La ilaha illallah
Source

Sami Yusuf - You Came To Me

2009-08-28T20:43:00.000+08:00

The wounds of a nation

2009-08-20T09:12:00.000+08:00

What would we say to our prophet Muhammad (PBUH) if we met him now?

Ramadan Mubarak 2009!

2009-08-19T14:01:00.002+08:00

Have a blessed Ramadan and May God accept your fast!

Michael Jackson dies a Muslim dead 25 June 2009 press confernce Jermaine Jackson about the death

2009-06-30T09:28:00.001+08:00

Is It Michael Jackson Or Zain Bhikha- Give Thanks To Allah

2009-06-30T09:26:00.001+08:00

Jermaine Jackson Talks about Islam

2009-06-30T09:26:00.000+08:00

Michael Jackson Dead

2009-06-30T09:24:00.000+08:00

Michael Jackson Confirms his Conversion to Islam!! The Full Story

2009-06-30T09:21:00.000+08:00

Parent’s Wish....To Our Dear Child....

2009-03-23T19:39:00.000+08:00

On the day when you see us old, weak and weary……

Have patience - and do try to understand us…….

If we get dirty when eating…and.. If we cannot dress on our own…

Please bear with us and remember the times we spent feeding you and dressing you up.

If, when we speak to you, we repeat the same things over and over again…do not interrupt us…...listen to us.

When you were small, we had to read to you the same story a thousand and one times until you went to sleep.

When we do not want to have a shower, neither shame us nor scold us…..

Remember when we had to chase you with your thousand excuses to get you to the shower?

When you see our ignorance of new technologies….

Help us navigate our way through these worldwide webs.. We taught you how to do so many things…

To eat the right foods, to dress appropriately, To fight for your rights….

When at some moments we loose the memory or the thread of our conversation……...let us have the necessary time to remember…

and if we cannot, do not become nervous…..

As the most important thing is not our conversation but simply to be with you and to have you listening to us….

If ever we do not feel like eating, do not force us. We know well when we need to and when not to eat.

When our tired legs give way and do not allow us to walk without a cane….

Lend us your helping hand the same way we did when you tried your first faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you that we don’t want to live anymore, that we want to die……….Do not get angry….

For one day you will understand. Try to appreciate that our age is not just lived but survived.

Some day you will realize that despite our mistakes… We always wanted the best for you.. And we tried to prepare the way for you…..

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed for having us near you. Instead, try to understand us and help us like we did when you were young.

Help us to walk.. Help us to live the rest of our life with love and dignity.

We will pay you with a smile and by the immense love we have always had for you in our hearts.

We love you, child..

Mom & Dad

Allah Bless our parents and give them all the happiness of the world………………….

Remember me in your prayers and keep smiling at your parents

Ella Rasul Allah-EhabTawfiq

2009-03-14T18:03:00.000+08:00

The Prophet Muhammad’s Biography (part 1 of 12): The Conditions of Arabia Prior to Prophecy

2009-03-02T15:30:00.000+08:00

A brief look at the social and political state of the Arabian Peninsula prior to the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

Arabia in that period was divided into three areas of influence. The north lived under the shadow of two great empires, the Christian Byzantium and the Zoroastrian Persia, empires in perpetual war so evenly matched that neither could achieve definitive victory over the other. In the shadows of these powers lived the Arabs of the northern region with divided and shifting allegiances.

The south was the land of the Arabian perfumes, called by the Romans ‘Arabia Felix.’ (present day Yemen and Southern Saudi Arabia) It was desirable property. The conversion of the Ethiopian ruler, the Negus, to Christianity had brought his country into alliance with Byzantium, and it was with Byzantine approval that the Ethiopians took possession of this fertile territory early in the sixth century. Before their ruin at the hands of a ruthless conqueror, however, the southerners had opened up the deserts of central Arabia to trade, introducing a measure of organization into the life of the Bedouin who served as guides for their caravans and establishing trading-posts in the oases.

If the symbol of these sedentary people was the frankincense tree, that of the arid zone was the date-palm; on one hand the luxury of perfume, on the other necessary food. No one could have regarded the Hejaz -’where no bird sings and no grass grows’ - according to a southern poet - as desirable property. The tribes of the Hejaz had never experienced either conquest or oppression; they had never been obliged to say ‘Sir’ to any man.

Poverty was their protection, but it is doubtful whether they felt poor. To feel poor one must envy the rich, and they envied no one. Their wealth was in their freedom, in their honor, in their noble ancestry, and in the pliant instrument of the only art they knew, the art of poetry. All that we would now call ‘culture’ was concentrated in this one medium. Their poetry would glorify courage and freedom, praise the friend and mock the adversary, extol the bravery of the fellow tribesmen and the beauty of women, in poems chanted at the fireside or in the infiniteness of the desert under the vast blue sky, bearing witness to the grandeur of this little human creature forever traveling across the barren spaces of the earth.

For the Bedouin the word was as powerful as the sword. When hostile tribes met for trial in battle it was usual for each side to put up its finest poet to praise the courage and nobility of his own people and heap contempt upon the ignoble foe. Such battles, in which combat between rival champions was a major feature, were more a sport of honor than warfare as we now understand the term; affairs of tumult, boasting and display, with much fewer casualties than those produced by modern warfare. They served a clear economic purpose through the distribution of booty, and for the victor to press his advantage too far would have been contrary to the concept of honor. When one side or the other acknowledged defeat the dead on both sides were counted and the victors would pay blood-money - in effect reparations - to the vanquished, so that the relative strength of the tribes was maintained in healthy balance. The contrast between this and the practices of civilized warfare is striking.

However, Mecca was, and remains, important for an altogether different reason. For here lies the Kaaba, the first House’ ever set up for humanity to worship their only God. The ancient Kaaba had long been the center of this little world. More than 1,000 years before Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, his ancestor, Abraham, aided by Ishmael, his elder son, raised its walls on ancient foundations. A certain Qusayy, chieftain of the powerful tribe of Quraysh, had established a permanent settlement there. This was the city of Mecca (or ‘Bakka’). Close by the Kaaba ran the well of Zam Zam. Its origin, too, goes back to Abraham’s time. It was this well which saved the life of the infant Ishmael. As the Bible says:

“And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her: ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.” (Genesis 21:17-20)

Or, as the Psalmist sings:

“As they pass through the dry Valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the early rain fills it with pools.” (Psalms 84:6)

The circumstances of the time favored the development of Mecca as a major commercial center. The wars between Persia and Byzantium had closed the more northerly trading routes between east and west, while the influence and prosperity of southern Arabia had been destroyed by the Ethiopians. Moreover, the city’s prestige was enhanced by its role as a centre of pilgrimage, as was that of Quraysh as custodians of the Kaaba, enjoying the best of both worlds. The combination of nobility – the Arab descent from Abraham through Ishmael - with wealth and spiritual authority gave them grounds for believing that their splendor, compared with that of any other people on earth, was as the splendor of the sun compared with the twinkling of the stars.

But the distance of time from the great patriarchs and prophets as well as their isolation in the arid deserts of the peninsula had given rise to idolatry. Having faith in the intercession of lesser gods with the Supreme Being in their rites if worship, they held the belief that their deities possessed the power to carry their prayers to the Supreme God. Every region and clan, indeed every house, had a separate little ‘god’ of its own. Three hundred and sixty idols had been installed within the Kaaba and its courtyard - the house built by Abraham for the worship of the One and only God. The Arabs actually paid divine honors not merely to sculptured idols but venerated everything supernatural. They believed that the angels were daughters of God. Drunkenness and gambling were rife. Female infanticide was common where newborn girls were buried alive. Source

Loving Allah and The Prophet (SAWS)

2009-03-02T15:01:00.000+08:00

U.S.-Based Sudanese Author: I Love the American People

2009-03-02T13:56:00.000+08:00

Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan Harshly Criticizes the Status of Women in Islam

2009-03-02T13:50:00.000+08:00

Sharjah police arrest members of Facebook gang

2009-02-27T10:39:00.000+08:00

Police and The Courts

The arrested gang posted videos of schoolchildren being assaulted on the Facebook website.

Sharjah police arrest members of Facebook gang

By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter

Sharjah: Police have arrested five members of a gang for beating up schoolchildren, filming the assaults and threatening to post the videos on social networking site Facebook unless ransom money is paid.

A senior official at the Preventive Security Section at Sharjah Police said the Asian gang called themselves "Death Room," and some went by the alias of Mario, Doori, Lee and Jenjel Bob.

The gang, which comprised of three people of no known nationality and two Asians, targeted children from affluent families.

"The gang would loiter around high cost schools and then pounce on their victim. They would then kick and beat them while at the same time recording the events with a home video recorder," said the official. The victims known to the police are aged 12 to 15 from Asian backgrounds, while the gang members are between the ages of 20 to 25.

After the children were beaten and recorded, the gang would then demand money - ranging between Dh500 to Dh1,000 - to be paid every week. If the victims failed to pay up, the gang threatened to post the videos on the internet site Facebook, and then kill them and their parents.

The gang would contact the children on their mobile phone and explain the details of the location where they should receive the blackmail money.

Upon arrival, the children would once again be abused and recorded on video.

Several of the videos were uploaded onto Facebook, which showed compromising and intimidating, acts such as cigarettes being extinguished on the victims' arms. According to police, the victims' parents were aware of the abuse but were too afraid to contact the police for fear of their lives.

Some parents regularly paid the money, while others resorted to hiring security for their children. Police said that one couple was so scared for their child's safety that they decided to send their child back to their home country. "This appears to have been a long term crime. The silence of the parents enabled the gang to get more victims over a long period of time and receiving vast quantities of money," said the police official.

As of yet, police have evidence for five cases but they believe that there are many more.

Contact: Helpline

Sharjah Police are urging victims to come forward if they have been targeted by the gang. Police have set up a designated hotline number for this case: 06 5487000

Advice: Support for victims

Victims of the Facebook plot, including the family, require love and support from each other and society, as well as psychological intervention to prevent long-term psychological problems, said an expert in the field.

Raymond Hamden, clinical and forensic psychologist at the Human Relations Institute, told Gulf News the whole family would be affected, especially the children/teenagers who are vulnerable to shame and fear arising from the attacks. "They are at the age where they are too young to be adults and too old to be children. It's a horrific act by psychopathic people and they may be scarred," he said.

He said psychological intervention, or Critical Stress Debriefing, is needed as soon as possible to prevent the victims from developing chronic disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is an anxiety disorder, in which victims can develop flashbacks about the traumatic event, withdrawal from people, nightmares, problems with sleep and memory, and impaired functioning.

About 30 per cent of teenagers exposed to community violence develop the disorder, according to a 2007 study conducted by a team of scientists in India.

- Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter Source

Germany's Hijab Ban Discriminatory: HRW

2009-02-27T10:37:00.002+08:00

By IOL Staff

HRW said German Muslim women were forced to choose between their employment and religious beliefs.

CAIRO — Laws banning teachers from wearing hijab in Germany discriminate against Muslim women who feel being targeted by laws that violate the very essence of their rights, a leading international human rights group said on Thursday, February 26.

"The claim that these restrictions don't discriminate doesn't stand up," stressed Haleh Chahrokh, researcher in the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch.

"They discriminate on the grounds of both gender and religion and violate these women's human rights."

The HRW's report, "Discrimination in the Name of Neutrality: Headscarf Bans for Teachers and Civil Servants in Germany", is based on extensive research over an eight-month period.

Hijab, an obligatory code of dress that every Muslim woman must wear, has been the subject of heated political debate in Germany, home to 3.5 million Muslims.

Several German states have banned hijab for school teachers.

The HRW said that when approached to comment, state officials justified the restrictions on the basis that teachers have a duty to ensure that schools remain neutral on questions of religion and ideology.

Click to read the report in full

"…the bans are based on the notion that merely wearing the headscarf places neutrality at risk," it noted.

"But there is no evidence that the teachers' conduct violated that duty."

Targeted

The HRW said the state bans are effectively targeting Muslim women.

"None of the laws explicitly target the headscarf, but parliamentary debates and official explanatory documents prior to their introduction make clear that the headscarf is the focus."

Some of the laws allow some exemptions for Christian and "Western" cultural traditions, according to the report.

Chahrokh, the HRW researcher, said their study showed that such laws clearly haunt Muslims in particular.

"In practice, the only people affected by them are Muslim women who wear the headscarf."

The HRW analyzed human rights implications of such bans and their effect on the lives of Muslim teachers, including those who have been employed for years.

"The regulations are not abstract concerns. The restrictions have a profound effect on women's lives," said the New York-based group.

Muslim trainee teachers cannot find employment as public school teachers after successful completion of their education unless they remove their headscarves.

If a teacher refuses to remove her headscarf and subsequently is unsuccessful in court proceedings, she runs the risk of losing her civil servant status and of being removed from her teaching position.

"The measures effectively force women to choose between their employment and the manifestation of their religious beliefs, violating their right to freedom of religion and equal treatment," said the HRW.

It noted that the bans have caused some women to give up their careers or to leave Germany, where they have lived all their lives.

"People should be judged on the basis of their conduct, not views imputed to them by virtue of a religious symbol they wear."Source

Islamic verdict on contraception

2009-02-27T10:37:00.001+08:00

Birth control is the complete opposite of proliferation, which in principle is approved and recommended in Islam.

Allah (swt) has requested Muslims to increase the birthrate, not control it, i.e not to decrease the birthrate nor restrict it.

The request has been linked with praise for those who seek a large family. Therefore, proliferation is recommended rather than undesirable, which means that it is a recommended (mandub) action and not just permitted (mubah).

However, proliferation is not obligatory. It is recommended (mandub action), meaning that it carries a reward; however, if it is not performed, it would not entail a punishment neither in temporal life, nor in the Day of Judgement by Allah (swt).

Therefore, not performing the recommended (mandub) action, which in this case seeking a large family, is not necessarily undesirable (makruh) nor is it forbidden (haram).

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:

"Do marry the devoted and prolific women, for I will be proud of you before other nations in the Day of Judgement."[Abu Dawood and al-Tirmidhi]

Also Al-Tabarani extracted in his book entitled Al-Mu�jam al-Kabeer that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saw) said:

"Get married and have large families."

Islam has encouraged and exhorted proliferation, and made the preserving of progeny one of the high ideals; Islam has decreed a set of rules designed to maintain the progeny, such as marriage, and also to protect it as reflected in Allah (swt) saying,

(Kill not your children for fear of want, We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you.)[Qur�an 17:31]

And He (swt) also says,

(And from them twain he scattered countless men and women.)[Qur�an 4:1]

In Islam, it isn�t permitted to halt birth due to economic or financial reasons, Allah (swt) says:

(There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah.)[Qur�an 11:6]

(Do not kill your children for fear of poverty for it is we who shall provide sustenance for you as well as for them.)[Qur�an 6: 2]

Contraception is only permitted under the following conditions; Mutual agreement between the husband and wife, if it does not cause harm, if it is not practiced on a permanent basis, but rather for a temporary period (such as two years until the breastfeeding of the current baby is completed, for example).

In Islam as in all the religions, fertility is highly prized and children are a gift of God to bring;

(Joy to our eyes.)[Qur�an 25:74]

Family planning (or contraception) is an individual action undertaken by the husband or the wife or both in order to temporarily stop having children, either for health reasons or to protect the woman�s health.

The principle of preventing conception was accepted in those sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) which allowed some of his followers to practice coitus interruptus (Azl). These sayings embodied the earliest legal reasoning of Muslims on contraception and were essential instruments of argument in later Islamic thought on contraception.

Bukhari and Muslim extracted on the authority of Sa�id al-Khudri who reported, "We were out with the Messenger of Allah (saw) and we desired our women as we have been complaining from celibacy, our women wanted us to perform the �azl, so we asked Allah�s Messenger (pbuh) about this and he said,

�There is no harm in doing this for Allah (swt) will create what he wishes till the Day of Judgment�.

According to 'Umar Ibn Khattab�, the Prophet (pbuh) forbade the practice of contraception (azl) with a free woman except with her permission."

These Shari�ah texts explicitly indicate that the �azl, in other words temporary contraception, is permitted (mubah). This is so because the permissibility of �azl has been mentioned in connection with unwanted pregnancies.

However, the belief must always be unshakable that if we used any means of contraception, Allah (swt) will always create whatever he wished till the Day of Judgement.

The concept of sterilization, by permanently halting birth with the help of medicines or surgery is forbidden under Shari�ah rules. But it is permitted under certain conditions for medical reasons, for example if the husband or wife suffers from a contagious or hereditary disease, then permanent sterility might be needed.

Islam also considers abortion a murder crime, and therefore it is prohibited, but it could be permitted for medical urgency, if the mother or the baby has health problems.

Allah (swt) says:

(Losers are those who killed their children foolishly, due to their lack of knowledge, and prohibited what God has provided for them, and followed innovations attributed to God. They have gone astray, they are not guided.)[Qur�an 6:140]

It is considered disbelief to give your self the supremacy and the authority to the human over all life�s affairs, i.e Take someone�s life, as if Allah, the Creator, has no say in the matter,

Allah (swt) says:

(You shall not kill any soul (Nafs) - for GOD has made life sacred - except in the course of justice��.")[Qur�an 17:33]

(No by your Lord, they would not become believers until they make you judge in all disputes between them.)[Qur�an 4:65]

Permanent contraception is forbidden in Islam, for it is considered a kind of castration, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) has forbidden castration.

Al-Tabarani extracted that a desert Arab came to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and asked him about castration, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) prohibited him from this.

Source: Islam 4 all

Bali court finds Australian guilty over sex crimes

2009-02-27T10:36:00.001+08:00

A LAST-minute conversion to Islam did not help Australian man Philip Robert Grandfield avoid a lengthy prison sentence after a Bali court found him guilty of sex crimes against underage boys yesterday.

Grandfield, who had lived on the tourist island for more than a decade, received an eight-year sentence for pedophilia activities. A judge dismissed his pleas that that he had been the victim of a blackmail attempt by male prostitutes.

He had been living in a villa in Singaraja and was regularly visited by 12 young boys, whom he said he paid for sex. Five were under 18 and told police they had sexual intercourse with the retired accountant.

Grandfield was arrested in August and recently went on a hunger strike, delaying the court from the delivering its verdict.

But, according to his lawyer, Ketut Suartana, Grandfield gave up his hunger strike after being persuaded by his personal chef, Wawan Sumarwan, that he should convert to Islam. "He stopped the hunger strike by reciting Syahadat (sentences from the Koran accepting Allah as God)," said Mr Suartana. "He has a new name now, Muhamad Farouk Grandfield."

While Bali is predominantly Hindu, Grandfield is the second Australian to convert to Islam as they faced its justice system.

Fashion model Michelle Leslie, who was arrested in Bali in possession of two ecstasy tablets, also claimed to have become a Muslim as she awaited her day in court.

Grandfield's sentence was less than the 12 years prosecutors asked for.Source

Kosova's Muslim World Dilemma

2009-02-27T10:32:00.000+08:00

By Agron Bajrami

Editor-in-Chief of Koha Ditore Newspaper

There was a Muslim Ottoman heritage as well as common religious affiliation that Kosova shares with the wider Muslim world, (Reuters photos)

On Tuesday, February 17, 2009, Kosova was celebrating its first anniversary as an independent state.

One year ago, this small Balkan state, which was a de facto UN protectorate since 1999, was completing a long quest for freedom and independence in face of a vehement and fierce opposition from Serbia.

The basis of Kosova's declaration of Independence was a proposal put forward in early 2007 after almost three years of extensive negotiations by a UN envoy, former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Dec. 2008.

Ahtisaari proposed independence for Kosova supervised by the European Union. This was supposed to be the final puzzle to be put in place in the Balkans, a region whose name became notorious due to the kind of atrocities committed in Croatia, Bosnia, and finally in Kosova.

What Is Needed

While extensive diplomatic efforts from Serbia and its allies have had an effect, Kosova is still waiting for full political recognition from the world and full integration into international community's institutions.

But, although all relevant actors agree that independence is irreversible, it still remains incomplete, because Serbia refused the UN-mediated compromise, even after additional UN mandated efforts to find common ground with Belgrade, led by the European Union- the United States-Russia troika.

Nevertheless, Kosova accepted it and declared its independence from Serbia.

With its 2.2 million people, of which absolute majority are Albanians, Kosova’s first year as a state was surprisingly peaceful, considering the widely believed predictions that once independence is attained, ethnic conflict will be renewed.

It was widely predicted that streams of minority Serbs will be leaving the country under the threat of violence and that Kosova will destabilize the whole region.

None of these gloomy predictions happened. Quite the contrary, while Kosova actually helped the region become more stable, it was Serbia and extremist Serbs in Kosova that proved themselves— again— to be the real troublemakers.

All year long they tried to provoke a conflict and block the new state from breathing normally.

Backed by its strong and big brother in faith Russia, Serbia has continuously blocked Kosova’s progress and integration in the international community.

Belgrade’s agents in Kosova were sabotaging the newborn state, using even violence, most notably in the Serb-controlled areas north of the country, where the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica still serves as a reminder that there are still some things that are incomplete.

With the Serbian hard-line position still remains potently unchanged, Kosova has to face other challenges as well; State-building is a difficult task under any circumstances, and a new state, especially an economically weak one, needs assistance and help even under the best of circumstances.

Together with Moscow, Belgrade was continuously successful in preventing the Kosova's independence to be endorsed by the UN Security Council.

So far, 55 countries have recognized independent Kosova, including the United States of America and 22 out of 27 European Union members.

Kosova and the Muslim World

Muslim countries shall think the opportunity of having a country like Kosova, a state with majority European Muslims.

By far, the biggest surprise and disappointment for the people of Kosova was that only nine OIC countries have recognized Kosova as a state, of which only one is an Arab League member (Afghanistan, Albania, Turkey, Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Maldives).

One year after declaring independence from Serbia, instead of wondering why the Muslim world mostly failed to recognize independent Kosova, we should have been talking weather the OIC would accept Kosova as its member.

For a long time, Kosova was misunderstood in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

Because Albanian majority itself is mostly Muslim, most Western countries have extreme prejudices regarding the issue of Kosova and its people, culture, and society.

Throughout their history, Albanians have suffered due to this distorted image that others in Europe have had about them.

As one of the poorest regions in the Ottoman Empire, as well as later on in Yugoslavia, for most Europeans Albanians were considered to be alien and backward.

There was a Muslim Ottoman heritage as well as common religious affiliation that Kosova shares with the wider Muslim world. However, the relationship with the Muslim world has never been materialized fully and properly, except in very rare cases like with Turkey or Malaysia.

Furthermore, many Arab and Muslim governments have built for themselves distortedly wrong and one-sided image of the issue based solely on US supportive policy towards Albanians and Kosova.

Muslim countries shall think the opportunity of having a country like Kosova, a state with majority European Muslims; A living proof that one can belong to both worlds and does not have to choose between the two.

Of course, the blame is rarely on one side alone.

All this time, especially after independence has been declared, Kosova's Albanian leaders— reflecting the opposite of the popular feeling— have openly distanced themselves from the Muslim world.

Maybe, it is attributed to their apparent complex and fear that they would be seen as not enough "Western" and "European", and their obvious lack of knowledge about diplomacy and global affairs.

And all this time, Serbia, an Orthodox Christian nation, tried hard to portray a picture that would benefit it, even by shamelessly manipulating with past and present.

When speaking to the West, Belgrade would say that in Kosova it is fighting against "Muslim terrorism" and "Islamic fundamentalism"; when speaking to Arab and Muslim world, Serbia was asking for help to resist American imperialism, calling itself a true successor of Tito’s Yugoslavia that was one of the pillars of the Non-Aligned Movement.

None of this was true, but it was only the West that realized it— first in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995 and then in Kosova in 1999, when NATO waged a war against Serbia to put an end to the ethnic cleansing campaign that Belgrade orchestrated against the Kosova's Albanians.

In case of Kosova, the Muslim world has yet to see the light.

Agron Bajrami is the editor-in-chief of Koha Ditore, the biggest daily newspaper in Kosovo.Source

Girl poet takes on the Taliban with her pen

2009-02-23T20:48:00.000+08:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Tuba Sahaab looks nothing like a warrior. She is a slight girl of 11, living in a simple home in a suburb of Islamabad. But in Tuba's case, looks are deceiving.

Tuba's parents say they are not afraid even as she speaks out so publicly against the Taliban.

With her pen, Tuba is taking on the swords of the Taliban. She crafts poems telling of the pain and suffering of children just like her; girls banned from school, their books burned, as the hard-core Islamic militants spread their reign of terror across parts of Pakistan.

A stanza of one of her poems reads: "Tiny drops of tears, their faces like angels, Washed with blood, they sleep forever with anger."

Tuba is not afraid to express her views. Of the Taliban forcing young girls out of the classroom, she says: "This is very shocking to hear that girls can't go to school, they are taking us back to the Stone Age."

Less than two hours from Tuba's home, the Taliban have control. The one-time holiday destination of the Swat Valley is now a no-go zone. Curfews are in place at all times. Militants kill with impunity.

Human rights activists and people on the ground in Swat Valley speak of a place called "slaughter square" where the Taliban leave the bodies of their victims with notes saying "do not remove for 24 hours." No one touches the corpses out of fear of reprisals.

Tuba Sahaab refuses to be silent. As young as she is, she is wise and brave beyond her years. The young school girl is reaching a bigger audience, regularly appearing in the media.

On the day we spend with her, Tuba and her mother appear on a talk radio program. Back home, she tells me how she would give her life for her country.

"I want to give peace to my nation," she says, "I will fight for it."

And Tuba has an inspiration: U.S. President Barack Obama.

She prayed for his elections, she says. She sees in him the hope of peace in her own country. Tuba Sahaab has a dream to meet her hero. She can hardly contain her excitement.

"I want to go the White Palace and show him my poems, show him what is happening and ask him to come to Pakistan and control it because he is a super power."

Meeting and listening to Tuba Sahaab, it is easy to forget she is still a young girl.

In her playground at school, Tuba dances and laughs with her friends. She loves writing her short stories (she has already published one book) and shows me a cartoon character she has created called "Tomato Man."

Tuba's parents are proud of their daughter. They say they are not afraid even as she speaks out so publicly against the Taliban.

Tuba is their only child but as her mother tells me, she is "worth more than seven sons and seven daughters."

And Tuba has the dreams of any young child. She tells me she wants to be an astronaut and then one day lead her country.

"I will do anything, if my life goes I don't worry, I just want to do something." "I think you will get the chance," I say. Source

A man in Saudi Arabia snacks on 22 live scorpions.

2009-02-23T15:20:00.000+08:00

Hijab, Niqab & NOTHING.

2009-02-22T20:51:00.000+08:00

To A Non-Muslim Woman

2009-02-21T20:42:00.000+08:00

Saudi Arabian men pray for rain

2009-02-20T20:48:00.000+08:00

Saudis pray for rain in Riyadh February 18, 2009. Rainfall has been sharply down in many areas of the Middle East. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed Source

Appealing to the Muslim sister’s sense of shame

2009-02-20T12:16:00.000+08:00

HAYAA’ (modesty and a sense of shame) is a noble characteristic and a sign of those of high standards and eemaan. The best of what has been said of it is that, ‘It is a fine sensitivity and feeling that is evident in the eye and that affects the countenance. Whoever has been forbidden from it has been forbidden from all good and whoever has been permitted it has obtained honour and nobility and been bestowed with complete good.’ [Mawaarid Ath-Thamaan Li-Duroos Az-Zamaan – Abdul-Azeez As-Salamaan] How could it be otherwise when the best of the creation of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, stated: Al-Hayaa’ khairun kulluh (Hayaa’ is all good) [Muslim]?

This is the hayaa’ that has become feeble and withdrawn. Indeed, destructive concepts and designs aimed at us from the enemies of Allah and (enemies of) the Muslim woman, eat away at its body until it has deteriorated and weakened to the point that the caller [to hayaa’] has little effect upon many Muslim women when they are called to it.

If we look at the profound state of affairs in which the Muslim woman lives and her digression behind Western trends and continuous following them until if they enter the lizard’s hole she will enter along with them, we see a strong testimony of the weakness of deen and hayaa’ in such a Muslim woman. This is why I have strived, while asking the Most High and Able Protector for assistance and sincerity, to write a few words aimed at my Muslim sisters which I hope will affect and reverberate upon their souls.

My beloved sister, the words I write are from a heart bleeding in sorrow and split with agony at the sorry condition of so many Muslim women today. We see the Muslim woman who dresses in clothing that is covering yet revealing ‘nakedness’, who comes out to display her charms and seduces the slaves of Allah with the filthiest of weapons – the weapon of enticement and allurement that she has learned of the ways and means of seduction. For you find this seduction in the home and in the street and in speech and movement.

Seduction in clothing and beautification, in walking and sitting and in the glance. It is really a serious matter that is disgraceful and that dismembers the heart with grief when we live in a reality where so many Muslim women are divested of hayaa’. The deen and the Qur’an are forgotten and practices and morals are disavowed...and there is no ability or power except from Allah!

Dear sister, this address is from my humble and insufficient pen and the lines are my wounded inner being and it is naught but a cry from one warning and cautioning you. They are but words which I can only hope find your ears and by which the door of your heart may be reached and they find space, an entrance and acceptance and then application.

Words that emanate from a heart that are love, friendship and sincere advice to you; advice of a sister who is concerned about her sister who she sees is heading down the road of misguidance upon which she is practically swept away. She is being deviated and is falling into the trap and snare that was prepared for her by the Zionist and she is unaware. How can I not take hold of her hand and advise her and direct her or try to open her eyes to the plots and designs around her?!!

My deserving sister, my words are not new, yet they are a reminder for you so that perhaps Allah will cause you to benefit by them and make them flow over your heart with coolness and tranquillity. Would that they have a great influence upon you, inshaa Allah. I appeal to you my beloved sister, to your sense of religion, your pure nature which Allah has created you upon, and your sense of modesty (hayaa’), and your fear of Allah the Most High and Able. Do you not listen at all to the call of your sincere sister who is concerned about you?

Know my dear sister, that you and I and every Muslim woman are standing on a port among the harbours of Islam. Namely, the Muslim family and the education of the children in the manner loved and accepted by Allah. Its pillar and foundation is obedience to Allah and following His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and searching for what pleases Allah to acquire the priceless commodity that all of us hope for – Al-Jannah.

It is for this, my dear sister, that when the scheming enemies of Islam saw the place of the Muslim woman and the powerful influence she had amongst those with whom she lives, as the teacher and developer of the coming generation and due to her would their upbringing be either solid or corrupted. They turned their focus on us, we Muslim women, to destroy our morals and take away our deen and hayaa’ upon which we were naturally disposed to and by which we were commanded - until we would in turn corrupt the morals of our sons, the men of the future and the pillars of the Ummah. These morals which support the Ummah in its progress and understanding and (men) upon whom its honour depends after Allah. If this pillar is made defective or is destroyed and this strong nature of the Ummah is weakened then what will become of its future? This is exactly what the enemies of Allah want.

Have You Not Understood?
Do you know how they [ie. the enemies of Islam] are able to infiltrate and influence us through means that are enticing and outwardly innocent but internally filthy? It is through the method of giving honey-covered poison presented through advertising and glittering and captivating addresses. It is their saying terms like “Move with the times”... “civilization,” and “modernisation”. It is done through lowly magazines, seductive fashions, and saucy stories and tales. It is done through TV series’ and films and songs and other means. Will you look to Allah my sister? Will you not return to your Rabb and throw the plots of your enemies back on their throats and reject their concepts and misleading titles? Will you say with the strength and honour of a Muslim “I do not accept other than the order of Allah and the order of His Prophet!”?

My dear sister: What your enemy wants of you is indeed precious and costly. It is no simple matter for you. They want to ruin your deen, your moral character, your virtue and your hayaa’ in which you derive pride and honour. They want for you to be the despicable, reprehensible, and neglected of the society, as is the condition of their womenfolk. They call for the throwing off of the hijaab and to nudity and exposing yourself and they say to you:

Tear to pieces your covering O daughter of Islam
Tear it up and burn it without hesitation
For truly it is a sham protector!
They weave conspiracy after conspiracy and devise plots and take up ambush positions all around us. They initiate dirty activities under the name of “liberation movement”, and “equality”, and the impetus for all of that is the destruction of your moral character and mine, as well as the moral character of all other Muslim women by all means and weapons they can use to turn you away from this true deen. This will occur if we answer their cunning calls and filthy invitations. Let us confront them and stand as one like a towering mountain before this destructive Western whirlwind current in aid of this true deen and the preservation of Islam, morality and al-hayaa’. Let us be a strong hand cuffing with its grip, protection, decency and morality the face of all who would violate its parts or who attempts to approach it and harm it. You and I and every Muslim woman say to the enemies of Allah what ‘Aisha At-Taymuriyyah said:

With a hand of decency I defend the honour of my hijaab
And by my modesty I have risen above my contemporaries
And by brilliant and gifted thought
And critical disposition have my good manners been perfected
Nothing has harmed me of my culture and good learning
Except that I am best of those wise
Nothing has prevented us from rising
Except letting down the head cover from our locks and the covering of our faces
My beloved sister, what really cuts into my soul and deprives me of rest is to see a young Muslimah who believes in Allah as her Rabb, Islam as her deen and in Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) as a messenger and prophet, roaming the streets, roads, shopping centres, and other public places – where one finds the good and the evil, the virtuous and the wicked, those of pure heart and those whose hearts are diseased who follow their sexual weakness and pursue young females.
These young women go out beautified or wearing hijaab of the type that is itself such an adornment that by its appearance and style shoots like an arrow of attraction in the lustful heart of such a man. He will be tempted and his heart captured by her. By Allah, will Allah be pleased with the act of this young woman while He is the one who says to her and those like her among women: Do not make a display like the display of those previous to Islam (in ignorance). [Al-Ahzaab 33] or will He be pleased with her deen, her modesty, her character upon which she was bred and taught?!

Dear sister, don’t you realise that among the signs of weak eemaan in a Muslim woman and the beginning of her defeat is the deprival of her honour and virtue. When she forsakes or lowers her deen and her morals this occurs. Al-Hayaa’ is considered part of her nature. There is for the woman an Arabic proverb for al-hayaa’ in life that goes: The highest modesty is that of the virgin in her quarters. The disappearance of al-hayaa’ in woman is a shortcoming in her eemaan and a departure from her nature. Have you then become accustomed to that!
By Allah there is no good in life nor in the world when hayaa’ has vanished.Source

Sins of youth

2009-02-20T12:15:00.000+08:00

Here we feature sins and their harmful effects. Some special mention is needed regarding young Muslims, especially those in their teenage years. It is often taken for granted that these are the years of carelessness and not those of serious thought. This is not an Islamic position. Indeed we find youth in the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) performing heroic deeds and very serious in their practice and dedication. Examples such as Ali Ibn Abi Taalib, Ibn Abbaas, Anas Ibn Malik, Usaamah Ibn Zaid, Mus’ab Ibn ‘Umayr, Ammaar Ibn Yaasir and others (radiallahu ‘anhum ajma’een) will be forever remembered for their sacrifices and willingness to give their lives in the cause of Islam at tender ages.

This is a character assessment checklist aimed at the youth to assist them in making their own assessment of themselves and decide if changes in their character are in order. Parents too can use it as a gauge. In fact, what is listed are sins certainly not limited to youth. Each point is an interrelated sin that either weakens eemaan or comes from weak eemaan. Some stem from others while others lead to something worse. Possessing any of them makes change necessary because to continue doing them may lead to worse sin, hypocrisy and disbelief. It may not seem like it, but even you, as young as you are, could face death at any moment. Do you want to meet Allah in a sorry moral condition?

One step toward correction is recognising one’s faults and setting out to do the opposite. A second step is honestly seeking Allah’s help and asking His forgiveness. There have been people who commit terrible sins and Allah has guided and forgiven them after true repentance and struggle with themselves. Certainly you can too. Look at yourself and ask yourself if you do any of the following:

Lie to and disobey parents
Raise your voice to or abuse parents or other family members
Disregard the advice of parents
Disrespect adults
Break your promises
Insult the opposite sex
Freely mix with the opposite sex by flirting or looking lustfully at them
Backbite and gossip
Look at bad movies and listen to music, especially sexually explicit types or that have a lot of profanity
Use profanity
Lie or steal
Devise ways to avoid anything Islamic
Spend your money on what is haraam
Think mostly of yourself and little of others
Do as little as you can to assist in the home
Put minimum effort into schoolwork
Imitate, respect or love the ways and manners of kuffaar
Act hard with Muslims and easy with kuffaar
Smoke or do drugs
Mostly keep company with weak and sinful Muslims or kuffaar
Waste a lot of time and never study the deen
Find it easy to do wrong and difficult to do right
Hate to be reminded of religious duties
Feel little or no sense of shame or modesty
Hate proper hijaab
Do not enjoy listening to the Qur’an
Only try to learn Arabic or how to recite the Qur’an if pressured
Don’t go to the masjid or consistently go late to prayer (for males) when there is no obstacle to doing so regularly and on time
Dislike going to prayers or concentrate little in them and hurry to get them over with
Rarely give charity or gifts
Avoid the company of striving Muslims
Rarely or never make extra (sunnah) prayers
Read anything else other than the Qur’an or authentic hadith that is of little or no value or haram
Read the Qur’an or the hadith only if forced to
Attend circles of Islamic knowledge only if forced and pay little attention when you do Never give thanks, seek forgiveness from Allah nor seek refuge from wrongdoing

Don’t use the faulty logic that ‘I am young so I want to enjoy as much as I can before I get old and I will ask forgiveness before I die’! Such people almost never change on their own. They usually get worse because sins become a part of their character that they can no more rid themselves of than they could the noses on their faces. Being good or right according to Islam has absolutely no importance in their lives.

You are a Muslim and you must not take a defeated attitude or think that your sins affect you only. When the Muslims complain of their position or situation it is because there are too many of them who take the attitude that Islam is not the number one concern in their lives and it is not important to follow or that it’s for ‘old’ people. Are you a part of the problem or part of the solution? Practising Islam to the fullest is a cause for great inner joy, satisfaction and happiness and totally eliminates the desire or need for any other means to feel good, better or best.
May Allah help you to be the kind of youth that all Muslims can be proud of and not ashamed of or whom they disdain. We pray that you are a boon and not a burden to Islam and the Muslims. This can only occur if you are first a youth that Allah ta’aala is pleased with.
Avoid Hypocrisy
Strengthen Your Faith
Depend On Allah
Make Your Islam Real!

From the supplications of the Prophet
(sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)
Whenever we see a person who has been afflicted with anything we should say:
“Al-hamdu lillah-i-llathee ‘aafaani mimmab-talaahu bihi wa fadhalanee ‘alaa katheerin mimman khalaqa tafdheela.”
which means
“All praise is due to Allah Who has pardoned me of that which He has afflicted him with, and made me much better than many of those He has created.”
(*This supplication should not be heard by the afflicted person.) Source

Indonesia shows Islam, modernity coexist: Clinton

2009-02-20T12:11:00.000+08:00

By Arshad Mohammed and Ed Davies

JAKARTA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held up Indonesia on Wednesday as proof that modernity and Islam can coexist as she visited the country where U.S. President Barack Obama spent four years as a boy.

Clinton's 24-hour stay in the world's most populous Muslim nation underlined Obama's desire to forge a better relationship with the Islamic world, where his predecessor George W. Bush's policies were deeply unpopular, notably the invasion of Iraq.

Clinton, on her first trip as secretary of state, said she wanted to deepen cooperation between the two countries on counterterrorism, climate change and security.

"As I travel around the world over the next years, I will be saying to people: if you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can co-exist, go to Indonesia," she said at a dinner with civil society activists.

Clinton basked in Obama's popularity in Indonesia at every stop during her day, which included talks with the Indonesian foreign minister and a visit to the Jakarta headquarters of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Obama spent four years in Indonesia after his American mother, Ann Dunham, married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro following the end of her marriage to Obama's Kenyan father.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia shared the United States' "joy" at Obama's election and he wanted Clinton to go back and tell the U.S. president "we cannot wait too long" for a visit.

Playing on Obama's Indonesian ties, about 50 schoolchildren from the U.S. president's old school waved U.S. and Indonesian flags and sang folk songs to Clinton on the tarmac after she landed at an airport in the suburbs of Jakarta.

"DIPLOMATIC ABSENTEEISM"

Although Clinton got a generally warm welcome, about 100 Muslim students, some chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), held a protest rally at Jakarta's presidential palace, some throwing shoes at a picture of Clinton.

While most Indonesian Muslims are moderate, the country has a radical fringe and has suffered from sporadic bombings in recent years. More than 200 people, many of them foreigners, were killed when Islamist militants bombed tourist areas of the island of Bali in 2002.

Police have deployed 2,800 officers in the capital for Clinton's visit, part of a week-long trip that began in Tokyo and will include stops in Seoul and Beijing.

On Thursday Clinton will meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who seeking is a second term this year and is keen to showcase Indonesia's stability since its transformation from an autocracy under former President Suharto -- who was forced to resign in 1998 -- to a vibrant democracy.

At ASEAN, which critics often dismiss as a toothless talk shop, Clinton said Washington would study whether to join its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a step short of membership but that could signal stronger U.S. ties with Southeast Asia.

"Your visit shows the seriousness of the United States to end its diplomatic absenteeism in the region," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuan said after welcoming Clinton to the group's headquarters. Source

Religious conversion for second marriage un-Islamic

2009-02-19T21:09:00.000+08:00

New Delhi (IANS): Muslim clerics have termed as "un-Islamic" and "unacceptable" conversion to Islam to escape legal complications of a second marriage, citing the example of Chander Mohan alias Chand Mohammed and Anuradha Bali alias Fiza whose apparent wedding of convenience is now showing signs of strain.

"Adopting Islam with an intention for second marriage is not only un-Islamic but against reason as well," renowned Muslim scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan told IANS.

The debate about religious conversion was triggered after then Haryana deputy chief minister Chander Mohan announced his second marriage to former law officer Anuradha Bali and their conversion to Islam Dec 17 last year. Chander Mohan is the father of three teenagers from his first marriage.

The much-hyped love affair soured sooner than expected after the rechristened couple of Chand Mohammad and Fiza fell apart. Chand suddenly left Fiza's home in Punjab's Mohali town Jan 28 and has been elusive since then.

Quoting from a hadith, Prophet Mohammed's saying, Khan said such conversion is "unacceptable" and "childish".

The author of around 200 books and a known authority on interpretation of the holy Quran said that embracing Islam "in its true spirit should be for the sake of truth".

"Conversion should not be for the sake of marriage or any personal motive. The motive of conversion should be truth... The realisation of the truth in a religion can be achieved only after in-depth study and discussions about the religion," Khan said.

To prevent such conversions, Khan laid emphasis on educating people about the sanctity of the institution of marriage and "not to take it as fun".

"It is not possible to check such conversions. We are living in a society which provides freedom on such aspects to every one. The only thing we can do is to educate people about the seriousness and sanctity of marriage. Marriage is not a fun thing and we need to make people understand this," Khan said.

A senior cleric of Darul Uloom, a highly revered seminary in Deoband town of Uttar Pradesh, also denounced the conversions with the objective of marrying again.

"Adopting Islam with the intention to have a second wife is un-Islamic, incorrect and not justifiable," said Qari Usman, an expert on hadith.

About the Chand-Fiza marriage and conversion, Usman said: "Although he (Chand) became a Muslim, the whole chain of events has come out in a way that has sent a wrong message about the religion in society. People should not use religion for such motives."

Usman has also been pro-vice chancellor of the seminary that attracts thousands of students from India and other countries.

Darul Ifta, the fatwa department of the Darul Uloom, has also slammed Chander Mohan, saying his conversion was a "lowly act".

Mufti Muqarram Ahmad, a leading cleric in Delhi, says accepting Islam should be in consonance with belief in the tenets of Islam and "not for using it for personal hidden motives".

"One cannot know the real intention of a person but using Islam for purposes like to have a second wife is not in the spirit of Islam," Ahmad said.Source

Religious speculation upsets imam in case of beheaded woman

2009-02-19T14:04:00.000+08:00

Nazim Mangera felt tears welling in his eyes as he said the final prayers over the body of Aasiya Z. Hassan around sunrise Tuesday morning.

Mangera wasn’t upset just by the loss of this vivacious, intelligent 37-year-old woman or by the vicious way that she was killed when she was beheaded Thursday.

He also was upset about suggestions that the Islamic religion may have had something to do with her death, that this may have been an “honor killing” tied to Muslim tradition or culture. Orchard Park police have charged her estranged husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with her killing.

“We’re all shocked. We’re all grieving,” said Mangera, imam of the Islamic Society of the Niagara Frontier. “To compound that, we have to face the difficulty of the religion of Islam being blamed for [the killer’s] personal actions. It was an individual person who did this act, for whatever reason. We don’t find any justification in the Islamic religion for any such violence.”

Mangera was upset about suggestions that Muslim attitudes, especially toward women, have been blamed for the Hassan killing.

And he disputed the notion made by others that any connection between Islam and “honor killing” comes from an extreme right-wing Islamic faction that uses the Quran for its own purposes.

“The main concern of the Muslim community is that whenever a Muslim does something wrong, Islam goes on trial,” Mangera added.

But what about the fact that Aasiya Hassan was beheaded, an act considered part of some Eastern cultures and traditions?

“Beheading has more to do with culture and country of origin [than religion],” Mangera stated. “It has nothing to do with Islam. We abhor domestic violence, and we categorically denounce it in all forms.”

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the beheading could have been an honor killing.

“The people that I’ve talked to have said killing your wife or beheading anyone is not condoned in the Islamic faith,” Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said Tuesday. “I haven’t found anyone to say it’s all right to do that under any circumstances. But it’s something we have to investigate.”

Meanwhile, Aasiya Hassan’s sister, Asma Firfirey, who lives in South Africa, told a local newspaper there that she believes she was on the telephone with her sister when she was killed.

Firfirey, 42, told Die Burger in Cape Town that she and her husband were on the phone with Aasiya Hassan on Thursday when they allegedly heard her tell her husband to calm down and they could talk the following day about the divorce, according to the report.

Then, the Firfireys allegedly heard Aasiya Hassan make sounds that suggested she was struggling to breathe. They found out the next day she had been killed.

“I can only imagine how scared and emotional she must have been before she died,“ Asma Firfirey told the newspaper.

Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III agreed that authorities are investigating the possibility of an honor killing, because he said that would be a relevant issue in determining the killer’s motive.

“Whether it’s an honor killing does not change the fact that this is a case of extreme violence,” Sedita said.

Muzzammil Hassan has been charged with second-degree murder, leading to many Internet and e-mail complaints about his not being charged with first-degree murder.

“It’s obviously difficult to envision a more vicious crime than this,” Sedita said. “But the sheer brutality of the crime, under New York State law, does not elevate murder second to murder first.”

First-degree murder, punishable by a sentence of up to life imprisonment without parole, may be charged only in an intentional killing accompanied by one of 13 special circumstances, according to the law.

Those special circumstances include the killings of a judge, police officer, corrections officer, witness, or a contract killing, terrorist act, serial killing or torture killing.

Sedita pointed out that New York State law does not recognize a beheading — no matter how vicious that is — as one of those 13 specific circumstances.

How about this being a torture killing?

“We would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant took great enjoyment in killing his victim,” Sedita said.

Sedita cited one fairly recent case, the January 2001 killing of an 18-year-old on North Pearl Street, that could be considered a torture killing. In that case, authorities had evidence that at least one of the suspects took great relish in the killing.

“Certainly, we will investigate to see if there are sufficient acts to prove that,” the district attorney said of this case. Source

Arabic: a language, a being

2009-02-18T20:11:00.000+08:00

Arabic: a language, a being
Based on a talk given by Sheikh Muhammad Safwat Noorudin
1 - If you don’t know how to recite the Qur’an – start now. Use your local mosque, imam, any brother who can help, and ask yourself what arrangements will I make in order to learn how to recite the Book of Allah.
2 - If you can read the Qur’an – what about understanding it? Try to learn the language. It has always struck me how we are all (including myself) quite happy to do ‘hijrah’ from our home towns to go to other cities (in the same country or overseas) in order to study in universities – to study non Islamic subjects. But what have we done in order to learn the language that Allah chose to reveal the Final Message? To this day I remember how students from overseas struggle and fight to learn English so they can then study engineering, medicine law etc... Have we even started to fight or struggle to learn the Arabic language?

3 - If you have started studying Arabic and are finding it a daunting task – PERSEVERE! The road is long, but I am sure rewarding in this life and the hereafter inshaa Allah. May this transcribed talk revamp your learning spirit, and urge us to learn the language of the Qur’an.
4 - Understand what has happened on a deeper historical perspective, how a language for any society is important, it’s preservation and heritage. One of the biggest problems we face as Muslims, is ignorance about the true teachings of Islam, especially what Allah was has written in His Book. The effects are apparent all over the Muslim world, from open shirk to a total absence of a Muslim personality. I hope this article reminds us that there is a conflict out there between good and evil. Which direction are we going.... If we don’t understand the instructions.. not being able to understand the book of Allah is exactly what the enemy wants.
Open the ears of your heart and may this read be of benefit, and not a proof against you.
To Proceed:

The Ability To Communicate: A Blessing From Allah
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytaan, and praise Allah Almighty and send salaam upon the Messenger Muhammad, upon his wives, his family, his companions and all those whose follow his example until the Day of Judgment. I wish to greet you with the greeting of ‘peace’, by saying ‘As-salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu. Secondly, it is from the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that he has taught us, when you love a people or a person that you declare your love to them, therefore I state that I love you all for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Thirdly, I wish to ask Allah Almighty on my behalf and yours to make our words beneficial in our scales on the Yaum Al-Qiyaamah, so that we may benefit and be from the people of al-Jannah. Allaahumma ameen.

It is apparent to all of us that we know that people must communicate with one another in different forms or in different ways. The easiest way that Allah has given mankind to communicate is through the spoken words through the tongue. Allah made (language/the tongue) one of his signs (aayaat) to mankind, the spoken word and the differing of tongues (languages). There are other languages and other ways to communicate with one another, for example, the sheikh showed us some movements in sign language that anyone from any culture from any place would understand: Come! Go! Counting, one, two, three, such that without speaking a person would understand what you were meaning even if he has a different language, a different tongue.

Yet Allah Almighty, deemed that the spoken word is the easiest and most useful. In His creation of mankind He deemed that the voice box, the place where the language comes out, the sound comes out, can produce thousands upon thousands of sounds that no one can count or calculate. No one can know home many different combinations a person can use together in forming words and language (speaking), except Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Whether the language that is spoken is Arabic or another, it makes no difference as to the type of language. Yet we see that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala, out of all the languages and out of all the ways of communication, chose Arabic as the language of the Final Message, as a way of honouring it. When Allah sent the Qur’an in the Arabic language it gave honour to the language by itself, it also gave honour to the Arabic speaking people, but then when Arabic became the language of the Qur’an, Arabic ceased to be the language of the Arabs and began to be the language of the Muslims.

Destructive Forms Of Communication
I wish to remind you that the disbelieving people in the West and different places, have taught mankind to also use different ‘languages’ other than the spoken tongue, and the ‘language’ that they have preferred now is the ‘language’ of lust and desire. You will see, that the woman is taught to shed her clothing, and to practise nakedness in varying forms and levels, and it becomes a language that we call ‘body-language’. Wealth becomes another language, lusts and the desires of people are focused on by the disbelivers by way of distracting them from the words of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

And these are ‘languages,’ not just the spoken words, but all of these languages are what your children are living in today, these are the languages that your children are being bombarded with, and raised with on a daily and hourly basis. This then causes some to be neglectful of their Islamic duties, and others to leave Islam. Many of the children are not immunised, have not been given that inoculation, to protect them from these different evil forms of desires and lusts, and the inoculation, and the way to immunise yourself is through the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

The Danger of Neglecting Arabic And The Importance of Its Preservation
How will you learn and understand, and derive the meaning of the Qur’an and the Sunnah without the Arabic language? So therefore when we are lacking in understanding the Arabic this causes us to fall into misguidance and to be misled. Therefore the disbelievers win the battle, it is as if they have a bet with you, a race, they will win by eliminating the true Muslim characteristics in the lineages/generations that you will leave behind. You will not be able to pass on these Muslim manners, have a Muslim lineage, have Muslim grandchildren or great grand children unless you inoculate them with the Arabic language.

So therefore how will you protect yourself? It is to fortify your home with the struggle of learning the Arabic language, in all of its ways and degrees. I do not mean for you to understand that I am telling you to speak Arabic and learn Arabic the way Egyptians speak it, in their dialect, or the way Syrians speak in their dialect, or the way the Kuwaiti speaks in his dialect, or the way the Sudanese speaks in his dialect, but to speak the proper Arabic that is found in the Qur’an. This is a way of using it to understand, so that when you learn, you will have a better relationship with the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

Some may believe that by acquiring different languages or a certain language it will increase your chances of making more money or getting more wealth, or having more opportunities to make money. This in fact is contrary to what Allah Almighty has dictated to us in the Qur’an, where Allah says, “I have neither created Jinn and Mankind except to worship Me, I require no sustenance from them” [Adh-Dhaariyaat].

Allah is the one who provides for you therefore the criteria that you must meet is to be in worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. So learning one language or another should not have the criteria, or base, to have more wealth or more worldly opportunities. For Allah Almighty says, “And in the heavens (with Allah) is your sustenance”. Thus, it has already been decided by Allah Almighty the Most High. It can not be increased by something you do, and it can not be decreased by something you don’t do, it has been decided by Allah, yet you live your life according to what Allah Almighty has ordered for you.

The Muslim must then know that ‘rizq’ (sustenance) is from Allah, and that sustenance will not change. But you must know, what is required from you – ‘ibaadah – worship. This is why you have been created in all of the different shades, examples etc... How will you learn how to perform ‘ibaadah? Obviously it is from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. How will you learn the Qur’an and the Sunnah? It will come through learning the Arabic language, so that you may reach the true meaning of the Qur’an and the true intended meaning of the Sunnah of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

Some of the famous Sahaabah when they entered Islam, had little or no Arabic language with them. For example, Salman al Farsee, Salman who was a Persian, not an Arab. Also there was Bilal Al-Habashee. Bilal was from Ethiopia, he was not an Arab. The Arabic language when it spread, it spread according to the spread of Islam, whenever a new country became Muslim, new territory was occupied by the Muslims, the people automatically began to learn the Arabic language. This is why we see that Imaam Al-Bukhari, when he wrote the Saheeh, and when he wrote his history, he did not write it in his native first language. He wrote it in the Arabic language.

It is important to note that the Arabic language has not been preserved in its original form by the Arabs, but it has been preserved in dictionaries by non-Arabs. Al-Fayrozabadi was one of the collectors of the Arabic language in a dictionary. He was not an Arab. You will see, when you look into these dictionaries of the scholars of the past they would write at the end or in the introduction saying, ‘ we have collected this dictionary as a way of helping in the preservation of the language of the Qur’an, or in the preservation of the language of the Sunnah of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)’.

The Condition Of Muslims
I know in this (non-Muslim) country and others there are Arabic parents, the father and the mother are Arabs, they speak Arabic, and they were raised in Arabic countries. Now, their children speak little or no Arabic. This is a sad fact that we are all aware of. Why don’t we notice that the Imams of the past, the scholars and the people of the past, when they travelled to a country for trade it was not for the wealth, but it was for the spread of the religion.

The wealth was a secondary issue, but first it was for the spread of Islam. Now the scales have become twisted and changed, people have forgotten the word of Allah in the Qur’an. Allah is the one who provides all sustenance, and he is the one full of strength, the formidable. It is Allah who provides all, and yet Allah describes to us people in the Qur’an who come only for the wealth, for other than Islamic reasons, Allah describes them in the Qur’an to us: They eat as if cattle eat, and their final abode shall be the fire. Because they have given up that what is blessed for that which is cheap.

Islamic generations in the past, for many years, were run by rulers who spoke only Arabic. This was the way of persevering the (language) and way of the Islamic Ummah, until the Ottoman Empire (Turkish Empire), where the Khilaafa became a person who no longer wished to speak Arabic, but spoke his own language, the Turkish language. This caused dissension and a lack of unity and eroded the strength of the Ummah. Look at present day Turkey, it has come to the point where they have changed their script of language. Many generations used to write the script in Arabic form, their language was written in Arabic. Now it has been changed to Roman script. Leaving off the Arabic lineage, heritage and tradition. As a sign that they have left behind all that it was before.

Now we see when we look at Turkey and the Islamic situation of the Muslims there that if a Muslim woman was to partially cover her hair it would be a calamity in the society, something unacceptable. This is the extent of how much of the Islamic attitude has been taken away from these people. The first step was the detraction of the Arabic language.
Let us a look at countries that did not have the Arabic language in the first place. Countries in the which the spoken language was never Arabic, yet the Muslim generations for many years lived in this land, but yet you will find them following only one madh-hab. They will make Taqleed (blind following) of this one way. They would never accept anything else, even to discuss a single secondary issue, like where to place the hands, and something like this, in salaat, it would be a sign of you waging war against them.

Why? Because they did not have the Arabic language, therefore could not teach themselves to differentiate between different things, so they became blind to one way. It is as if you have entered a masjid, and you have to physically turn them to show them which way the Qibla is. This is how blinded they have become into following a specific person. Therefore you see they are the hardest of people to change even a secondary issue in their Madh-hab.

Look at those who have deviated in their beliefs, and you will notice, for example the first hadith narrated by Imam Muslim, in As-Saheeh, the hadith narrated from Yahya ibn Ya’mar: ...the first man who discussed Qadr (Divine Decree) in Basrah was Ma’bad al-Juhani. Humayd ibn AbdurRahman al-Himyari and I set out for Pilgrimage or for Umrah and said: Should it so happen that we come into contact with one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) we shall ask him about what is talked about Taqdeer (Divine Decree). Accidentally we came across Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab, while he was entering the mosque. My companion and I surrounded him. One of us (stood) on his right and the other stood on his left. I expected that my companion would authorise me to speak. I therefore said: Abu AbdurRahman!

There have appeared some people in our land who recite the Holy Qur’an and pursue knowledge. And then after talking about their affairs, added: They (such people) claim that there is no such thing as Divine Decree and events are not predestined. He (Abdullah ibn Umar) said: When you happen to meet such people tell them that I have nothing to do with them and they have nothing to do with me. And verily they are in no way responsible for my (belief). Abdullah ibn Umar swore by Him (the Lord) (and said): If any one of them (who does not believe in the Divine Decree) had with him gold equal to the bulk of (the mountain) Uhud and then, it (in the way of Allah), Allah would not accept it unless he affirmed his faith in Divine Decree...

We can see that they understood it necessary to return to Makkah and ask one of the Sahaaba who may be living there what he thinks of this issue of people denying there is no Qadar (divine decree/predestination), saying that there is no Qadar. So he says, I looked for one of the Sahaba and he found Abdullah ibn Omar and he asked him the question, about such and such and what do you say about the person who denies Qadar ? I am narrating this to you is so that you know that the place that this tabi’ee went to seek the truth was back to the land of the Qur’an. The bid’ah (innovation) began in a land outside the land of the Arabs, outside the land of the people who spoke the language.

Bid’ah, (the introduction of innovation ) is done in three ways. You will find bid’ah associated in the following three ways: because of a lack of the Arabic language, a lack or a long time distance from the Prophet’s (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) time, and third it is found far away from the land of the Muslims. This is where you will see the bidah beginning and the innovation spreading from there. Look at the ‘Shee’ah’.

Where did it begin and where is it living today (i.e. predominant)? In the land of the Persians, not in the land of the people who speak, and can read and understand Arabic in its original form. Look at the Qadianis, and the Bahais, although they are not believers, this deviance began in a land outside the land of the people who spoke the language of the Qur’an, the Arabic language. The people who did not learn the Arabic language were the most susceptible to being influenced by bid’ah, deviance and innovation. (The shaykh here is not precluding the fact that much deviation and disobedience began and exists in the lands of native Arabic speakers – wallaahu ‘alam) So what is the solution?

Observations and Hopes
First I wish to share with you, what my own eyes have seen as I have travelled throughout this country of yours. In every city and every place, you will always notice and be able to distinguish the Jewish children from other children, just by looking at them, without speaking to them, without hearing them, just by seeing them. One asks himself why? To him comes back only one reason.

It is because behind this child is a mother, who is driven by a father to raise this child, to live a Jewish life in clothing, appearance, mannerisms, attitude, food, everything, to raise the child in a Jewish way, in the life that they have adopted. All of this effort, and they are in misguidance. Yet we who have the guidance, the Qur’an and the Sunnah, have many of the children and the lineages lost in the streets, have forgotten the Tawheed!

Do not think that it is something unattainable, that your children cannot be raised and have an identity of their own, and be raised upon the values and the systems of Al-Islam. For if these people in disbelief accomplish it, what about the Muslims who have the guidance of Allah and the Sunnah of his Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam)? Two things must come together as a solution for our children and our lineage (future generations): Al-Usra wal Masjid – the family – home life and the Masjid - the life in the Masjid. These two things must come and unify in raising the child. Let our tongues in these two places be the tongue of the Qur’an, even if it is in a limited fashion.

Let us spend from our wealth and our efforts in our ability to learn that which we do not know, to have taught to us that which we do not know, so that our children and us, can begin to converse and understand and develop some Arabic characteristics in our language and in our abilities. Do not say to your child, or think to yourself, ‘He doesn’t know it now but I will teach him later’ for this is something that will not happen. The time to ask is now, and therefore the place of learning must be in the home, with the mother, with the father, and in the masjid. This is something you must struggle and strive for.

Let the father spend as much of his time in the house, with his children, with his wife as possible. Let the mother facilitate this by also spending much time in the home. Do you know that Imam as-Shafi’ee’s (may Allah be please with him) father passed away and orphaned him while he was a young child? When he reached the age of ten years old, having known no father, his mother pushed him and told him ‘go and learn’ go and seek knowledge. At the tender age of ten years old. What did he go and learn? He went to learn the Arabic language, the Qur’an, and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). Do this and it will become apparent to you, that this is the solution for what we are facing today and what will be facing in the future. Source

‘Good outlook’ for dialogue between US and Muslim world

2009-02-18T20:04:00.000+08:00

Keith Ellison speaking at the university yesterday

MUSLIMS in America have played important roles in shaping every sector of the society, be it finance, business, arts, entertainment or sports, US House of Representatives member Keith Ellison has said.
The first Muslim to be elected to the US Congress after winning the fifth Congressional District in Minnesota, he was giving a lecture at Qatar University’s College of Sharia and Islamic Studies yesterday.
“Following 9/11, there has been an emergence of Muslim civil rights organisations, Ellison said, while observing “they are involved in the political process and confront civil rights challenges as they occur”.
“The political picture is bright, not perfect, but we are ready to expand the dialogue and work to resolving the miscomprehensions that exist in our society and between the US and the Islamic world,” he stated.
Ellison asserted that the US and the Muslim world have many things in common and this heralds a good future for collaboration and dialogue.
He pointed to US President Barack Obama’s stated pledge to work alongside the Muslim world in mutual respect.
“This is the first time a US president has reached out in this way”, he said, citing further decisions by President Obama such as to close Guantanamo Bay, end the war in Iraq, and stop the use of torture which he said resonated positively in the Muslim world.
“President Obama’s granting his first international interview to Al-Arabiya was a significant move which showed his commitment to his pledge. He was talking straight to Muslims all over the world,” he said.
Ellison also noted that his election to Congress in 2006 and later Barack Obama’s election as president was a credit to the American people as tolerant and accepting of people from diverse cultures and religions.
Earlier, while welcoming Ellison, College of Sharia and Islamic Studies dean Dr Aisha al-Mannai said that the institution was in step with the people of Qatar in their enthusiasm to bring people of all cultures and religions together.
“Ellison wanted to meet with us so that we can share our views and discuss issues that connect us to each other”, she said while adding, “we are especially interested in expanding the dialogue on issues relating to the US and the Islamic world.”Source

Founder of Islamic TV station accused of beheading wife

2009-02-18T12:21:00.000+08:00

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The founder of an upstate New York TV station aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife, who was beheaded, authorities said.

Muzzammil Hassan has been charged with murder in the death of his wife, Aasiya Hassan.

Muzzammil Hassan was charged with second-degree murder after police found the decapitated body of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, at the Bridges TV station in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, said Andrew Benz, Orchard Park's police chief.

Hassan was arrested Thursday.

His wife filed for divorce February 6, and police had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple's home, Benz said.

On Monday, Benz told CNN that Hassan went directly to the police station after his wife's death Thursday and confessed to killing her. However, Benz on Tuesday denied that he'd said Hassan confessed.

Hassan told Orchard Park police his wife was dead, led officers to her body and was arrested Thursday, Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III told CNN on Tuesday. Hassan is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Attempts to reach an attorney for Hassan were unsuccessful Monday, and his family didn't return calls from CNN.

He had two children, 4 and 6, with his wife. He had two other children, 17 and 18, from his previous marriage.

He launched Bridges TV, billed as the first English-language cable channel targeting Muslims inside the United States, in 2004. At the time, Hassan said he hoped the network would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The station's staff is "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Hassan and the subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan," a statement from Bridges TV said.

"Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim," the statement said.Source

Bosnian Council’s Decision to Teach Islam in Schools Recalls Ethnic Rifts

2009-02-18T12:18:00.000+08:00

A move to allow Islamic education in Sarajevo’s preschools raises concerns that the sectarian tensions of the 1990s could be reignited.

Sarajevo Council Approves Religious Education in Preschools

A group of children at a Sarajevo preschool is taken aside from their classmates. A “bula,” who serves as “an intermediary between an imam and the family,” as Agence France-Presse describes her, proceeds to describe the flight of the Prophet Muhammad from the holy city of Mecca to the holy city of Medina.

Such a scene would seem innocuous—an Islamic version of Christianity’s Sunday school or catechism. But some in Sarajevo, including Muslims, say it is an undercover attempt to impart the city with a distinctly Islamic identity. Muslims make up 40 percent of Bosnia’s population, while 31 percent are Christian Orthodox and approximately 10 percent are Roman Catholics.

Bosnian journalist Nedim Dervisbegovic, a Muslim father of three children, told the AFP, “It is yet another step in an obvious attempt to Islamicize the city,” he said. “I wonder what will be the next.”

The preschool religious classes were launched in October after a survey showed that one-third of parents supported religious education for preschool-age children. Optional religious education has been available for Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox adherents in public primary and high schools since the end of fighting in the country in the 1990s.

In addition to the parental poll, the Muslim-led Sarajevo county council, the organization responsible for introducing the religious instruction, points to a religious freedom act in force since 2004 as the legal basis for its ruling. “We would have been violating that law if we did not organize religious teaching,” Srecko Zmukic, an education official, told AFP.

Others fear that non-Muslim children will be stigmatized. “I do not want to explain to my 4-year-old son, Sven, who is in love with his Muslim classmate Esma, why they suddenly have to sit in different rooms,” Vedrana Pinjo-Neuschul told The New York Times at a Jewish community center in Sarajevo. “Nobody has the right to separate them.” Pinjo-Neuschul, herself from Serbian Orthodox and Bosnian Muslim backgrounds, is married to someone part Jewish, Catholic and Serbian Orthodox.

The country itself is trying to forge past the separations that riled the country during the 1990s. Bosnia, while avowedly secular, has been seeing a recent resurgence in Islam. Bars outnumber mosques in Sarajevo, writes The New York Times. At the same time, however, “More than half a dozen new madrasas, or religious high schools, have been built in recent years,” writes the paper, “while dozens of mosques have sprouted, including the King Fahd, a sprawling $28 million complex with a sports and cultural center.” And bearded men and women in headscarves, a rarity a few years ago, have become commonplace.Source

Saudi education ‘passing through a historic phase’

2009-02-18T10:41:00.000+08:00

P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News


Prince Faisal bin Abdullah

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s education is going through an important phase in its history as a result of the reforms introduced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, to improve the country’s educational standard matching with its position in the comity of nations, the new education minister said.

Speaking to top officials at the ministry, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah said no compromise and negligence would be tolerated in the education sector. “We need more efforts in strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position by building brains and investing in humans,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying.

Prince Faisal, who was sworn in as the minister of education on Monday, thanked King Abdullah for putting his confidence in him. “I pray to the Almighty that He may help me to fulfill this trust in the best manner, realizing the hopes and aspirations of the Saudi leadership and people.”

Speaking about educational reforms, he said King Abdullah has allocated SR9 billion for a new general education development project, which is named after the king. “This project is being supported by Saudi and foreign experts,” he added.

King Abdullah had also allocated large amounts of money from surplus budgets to construct new schools. “A number of other development projects are also under way to overhaul the Kingdom’s education system to cope with global developments in the field,” the minister pointed out.

He said he would do whatever necessary to improve the performance of government schools.

Before meeting the officials, Prince Faisal, accompanied by deputy ministers Faisal bin Muammar and Khaled Al-Sabti, visited Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh and reviewed important aspects of Saudi education. The mufti praised the ministry’s efforts to bring about educational renaissance and wished the new ministers every success in their new roles.

The King Abdullah Project for the Development of Public Education has allocated SR4.2 billion to improve the educational environment and SR3.58 billion for extra-curricular activities.

The training and development of teachers is another thrust of the project and for this purpose SR2.94 billion has been set aside. A curriculum development program will receive SR980 million. Academics and other experts are working on the project’s executive plan, which will be ready shortly.

The project aims at helping the Kingdom keep pace with scientific and technological development and is devised making use of the successful experiments of countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, New Zealand, Finland, France, Ireland, Britain, Canada and the United States.Source

Tawaf during Haj

2009-02-18T10:40:00.000+08:00

Adil Salahi, Arab News

Since tawaf means going round the Kaaba, must it be done seven times for each of the three occasions when it is required? Could it be enough to do one round? (S. Abd Al-Rahim)

The reader is starting from the linguistic meaning of the word tawaf. Before we state whether this is linguistically acceptable or not, we need to bear in mind that the tawaf is a duty of pilgrimage clearly stated in the Qur’an: “Let them complete the rites prescribed for them, fulfill their vows, and again walk around the Ancient House.” (22: 29) This Verse occurs in the passage speaking about the pilgrimage in the Surah entitled Al-Hajj, or the Pilgrimage. The mode of speech indicated in English by the words “let them” is even stronger in the original Arabic form. In fact, this is expressed in the imperative mode. The final phrase, “walk around the Ancient House”, uses the verbal form of tawaf. All this indicates that the tawaf is an essential part of the pilgrimage.

How do we do it? We have to follow the Prophet’s example. We know that during his pilgrimage, the Prophet did the tawaf three times: on arrival, after attendance at Arafat, and before departing from Makkah. Each time, he walked around the Kaaba seven times, starting at the point of the Black Stone, then moving in an anticlockwise direction, and finishing at the Black Stone. He did not approve of any lesser number of rounds. Therefore, this is the tawaf we have to do. We cannot do it in any other fashion.

It has to be pointed out though that the first tawaf, i.e. the one on arrival is a Sunnah, i.e. recommended which means that it does not affect the validity of the pilgrimage if it is omitted. The one before departure is a duty that can be compensated for, if omitted, by slaughtering a sheep and distributing its meat to the poor. The middle one is an essential duty of pilgrimage, without which the pilgrimage remains incomplete. It cannot be compensated for in any way.

Can the tawaf be made easier? Yes, indeed, but it requires better education for all pilgrims as well as careful organization on the part of the authorities to ensure easier traffic movement and better crowd management.

How long should the pilgrims stay at Arafat? Everyone insists on not leaving before sunset. A shorter stay could ensure easier movement of traffic.

All pilgrims must attend at Arafat on 9 Dhul-Hijjah. The time of attendance extends from midday to dawn on the following day. It is very important to ensure that one attends for a part of the day and a part of the night. Hence, no one tries to leave before sunset. Having said that, we must point out that if a pilgrim cannot reach Arafat before sunset, and arrives during the night, his attendance is valid and his pilgrimage is complete, provided that he does the other duties properly.

This is clearly outlined by the Prophet. One of his companions joined him at Muzdalifah, saying that he left his far away home intending to do the pilgrimage, declaring his intention every time his route took him uphill or down a valley, but could only catch up with the Prophet and his companions at Muzdalifah. The Prophet said to him: “If a person aims to do the pilgrimage and attends at Arafat for a short period of day or night, then offers the dawn prayer at Muzdalifah, his pilgrimage is complete and valid.”

Attendance at Arafat does not constitute much of a problem, because the area is large enough to accommodate twice the number of pilgrims, or even more. The difficulty arises when the pilgrims leave, because of the great numbers and the volume of traffic.

The Saudi authorities continue to study the ways and means to deal with this problem. It has been mentioned that a train service running between the areas where the pilgrimage duties are offered will be provided. This could be greatly helpful in ensuring easier movement.Source

A Wonderful Nasheed

2009-02-17T21:05:00.000+08:00

A Wonderful Nasheed (( Vocal Song )) By Ahmed Abu-Khater ,, It's Called Ummi (( My Mother )) ,, And It Is A MUST Watch ...Love your Mother Always.

Translation :
I Will Come Back Mother Kissing Your Luscious Head
Divulging My Longing To You And Sipping Your Right Hand's Essence
Nuzzling My Cheek In Your Feet's Soil
Watering The Ground With My Joyful Tears
How Many Nights You Were Sleepless Working To Get Me Sleeping Like A Kid
And How Many Times You Were Thirsty But You Worked To Water Me With All Tenderness
And I Will Never Forget Your Rainy Eyes When I Was Sick
And Your Restless Eye Scared Of Any Danger May Happen To Me
And What About Our Farewell In That Dawn ,, What A Hard Dawn It Was
No Heart Can Ever Describe The Abandonment That You Faced By Me
Then You Said Something I Couldn't Forget Up Until Now :
It's Impossible That You Will Find Warmer Arms Than Mine
Oh My (( Life's Joy )) The Creator Of The Universe Commanded Me To Be Loyal To You
Your Content Is The Secret Of My Good Fortune And Your Love Is My Faith's Sparkle
Don't Be Sad Mother ,, Here Am I ,, I Came To You With Teary Eyes
Don't Be Sad Mother ,, There Will Be No Separation From Now On ,, Until The Separation Of Death

Alhamdulillah I am healthy

2009-02-17T21:04:00.000+08:00

Forgive me When i whine, Ahmed Bukhatir

Gaza: The Ummah’s heartbeat

2009-02-17T20:51:00.000+08:00

Tuesday February 17, 2009 (0841 PST)

shariq_n@hotmail.com

As the Gaza issue slowly begins to sidestep from the headlines, one can’t stop to contemplate over the tragedy that has struck the Ummah. There are some fundamental lessons to be learned from the massacre in Gaza.

Seeing on our TV sets, the catastrophe unleashed by Israel on Palestinians, most of us, have undoubtedly felt common sentiments. We all felt angered by the atrocities being committed and felt the urge to take immediate actions to help those suffering.

However, if we are to look back, this is not the first time Muslims have shared these sentiments. Our sentiments were alike, when Afghanistan was being bombed, when Iraq was being invaded, and when Lebanon was being torched. In fact it is not the first time that the sufferings in Palestine have sent shivers across the Muslim world.

Whenever such incidents occurs, we find that Muslims realize their personal obligation towards helping their brothers in distress, and this often translates into many types of actions. For example, appeals are made to United Nations, marches are done to express solidarity, and calls for boycotts are made with full vigor. Unfortunately, as days roll by, a usual decline in this eagerness is witnessed.

It is of utmost significance, therefore, that Muslims direct their efforts towards a path that provides a permanent solution to the issue. Otherwise, sincere efforts, if directed towards a path that gives no lasting solution, will serve as mere channels for releasing the pressure of Muslims, and are likely to end up being wasted.
Before we dwell into the solution, it becomes imperative, that we identify the problem, and subsequently the barriers that prevent the solution.

The Ummah today is blessed, with abundant natural resources, oil, natural gas, gold and uranium etc. Its geography covers many of the world’s strategic locations. In terms of numbers its strength is self evident. And collective emotions resonate throughout the Ummah, on all issues that have Islamic significance, be it the Caricatures, or the Gaza crises. Moreover, there is an abundance of self-less men, who dedicate their lives for the betterment of others, and propagation of Islam. Furthermore, it has the military might, which has the potential to face any other power in the world.

In short we must realize that the problem is not lack of resources, or technology, nor is the problems within individuals at large in the Ummah.

Coming back to the issue of Gaza, we witnessed, that while Israel unleashed it reign of terror on civilians, Egypt’s ruler ordered ceiling of the borders, preventing even medical aid to cross through. All this while, Egypt’s army, as well as the armies of the rest of the Muslim world were kept stationed in their barracks by the Muslim rulers. A stark contrast indeed to the fact that these same rulers eagerly send troops - under the umbrella of UN - to serve the interests of western imperial powers in Congo or elsewhere.
So, what prevents the liberation of oppressed Muslims in occupied lands, is the present status quo(fortified by UN) which keeps the Ummah divided into petty nation states, and the present rulers, who blatantly and shamelessly side with the oppressors.

The lasting solution is none other than the re-establishment of Khilafah, in one of the Muslim lands, which will implement the systems of Islam, and subsequently seek to unify Muslim lands, and mobilize the Muslim armies to protect the oppressed people.

The barriers to this solution are explicitly: nationalism, the present capitalist system, and the current rulers. Therefore our efforts should be directed towards the removal of these barriers, and side by side presenting the correct solution. This needs to be done by peacefully engaging in an intellectual and political struggle in order to generate public opinion for the necessity of such a state, and to seek the ‘Nusrah’ of those with capability of directing change, to step forward from their barracks and fulfill the obligation of implementing Islam that Muslims owe to Allah(swt).Source

UK entry ban on producer of film against Islam

2009-02-17T20:47:00.000+08:00

LONDON: Despite the severe opposition by Lord Ahmed and Muslim community leaders, the controversial film ‘Fitna’ was screened at House of Lords on Thursday but in the absence of its producer Geert Wilders who has been banned from entering Britain by the government.

Though the religious and emotional feelings of Muslim community was badly hurt by the screening of the movie but Britain’s first Muslim minister Shahid Malik, Lord Nazir Ahmed and other Muslim community leaders have appreciated the government for not allowing Dutch MP Geert Wilders to land in London and they commented that the timely action by the UK government had saved the British society once again from a big controversy.

“It is a matter of great satisfaction that all three major political parties decided to keep them aloof this controversy,” commented Muslim leaders.

Justice Minister Shahid Malik said UK government opposed extremism in all its forms and Wilders’ message of hatred had no place in the UK.

He said: “The legislation we have introduced will stop those individuals who wish to come to the UK to spread their message of extremism and hatred. Mr Geert is someone who has a pathological hatred of Islam and his presence in the UK would be extremely provocative and completely unacceptable.”

Lord Ahmed welcomed the Home Secretary’s decision to exclude Geert Wilders MP from the UK.

He said: “This man is facing serious charges of inciting hatred and discrimination in Amsterdam, and has incited hatred amongst the communities in the UK.

The BNP and other fascist groups have bombarded my office with abusive, threatening emails and telephone calls, and have abused my staff also.

“The film already is accessible via the internet, and therefore there is little we can do to stop parliamentarians here in the UK from viewing the film. I have made my views clear to the Black Rod, the House authorities and the Leader of the House. This film creates hatred and further segregates communities.”

Britain banned the entry of the controversial right-wing Dutch politician on Tuesday. Geert Wilders had been invited by the by UK Independence Party peer Lord Pearson to show the anti-Islam film and hold a Q&A session in parliament.

The Home Office said there was a blanket ban on Mr Wilders entering the UK under EU laws enabling member states to exclude someone whose presence could threaten public security.Source

British police arrest nine people trying to join Galloway aid convoy to Gaza

2009-02-17T09:39:00.000+08:00

LONDON, (PIC)-- British police arrested Friday night nine men traveling on a highway thought to be intending to leave Britain as part of a £1,000,000 aid convoy to the besieged Gaza Strip, which was organized by MP George Galloway, the head of the Viva Palestina charity.

According to British news reports, the vans boarded by the nine men bore an image of the Palestinian flag on its side and other signs reading "Stop killing children, free Palestine".

The police of Lancashire county, northwest of Britain, said that it released six men while the load of the vehicles were impounded for a thorough examination by inspection officers who work as quickly as they could to secure the release of the vans to pursue their travel, according to the police report.

The spokesman for Viva Palestina stated that without the names of those arrested and their vehicles' registration numbers, it would be impossible to say whether the men detained by the police were part of the official convoy.

More than 100 donated vehicles and 200 volunteers are participating in this convoy organized by British lawmaker Galloway who is known for his support of Arab causes.

The effort which is named "Lifeline for Gaza" is supported by many communities and organizations across Britain including the stop the war coalition, the respect party, the Anglo-Arab organization, several British trade unions and a large number of Islamic organizations.

MP Galloway and journalist Yvonne Ridley will lead the convoy from London across France and Spain then North Africa to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

The convoy, made up of over 100 vehicles, had started Saturday its journey from the Manchester plaza near the Big Ben clock tower in London, and then boarded ferries from Ramsgate town.

In the same context, the lifeline for Gaza convoy has reportedly reached the French city of Bordeaux and is expected to arrive Monday evening in Spain. Source

Pupils learn about Islam

2009-02-16T19:42:00.000+08:00

7:20am Monday 16th February 2009

YOUNGSTERS at Wilden Primary school studied the Islamic faith to help increase their awareness of other religious beliefs.

During multi-faith week, year six pupils were visited by Abdul and Bilqis Majid, who spoke to the youngsters before their planned visit to the Gamkolvia Mosque, in Birmingham. They explained the Islamic faith and protocols of the visit to the mosque.

Once at the mosque, the youngsters were given a guided tour and experienced using prayer mats before tucking into traditional Indian food.

Kate Chase, year six teacher, said: “It really has developed our understanding of Islamic faith. It’s been a very good activity. The children got a lot out of it.”Source

Technology raises questions on young Arab relationships

2009-02-16T13:37:00.000+08:00

Young Arab couples, both in the eastern and western parts of the Arab world, are increasingly willing to display their affection in public, inexorably changing long-held social values that discretion should guide their behaviour.

An Egyptian couple sits in a public park overlooking oldCairo's mosques on Valentine's Day.

A couple in Beirut enjoying the views. Arab educators areoften asked about the seemingly at odds coexistence ofconservative mores and advanced technology.

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief

Manama: Much to the chagrin of conservative families, youths are perfecting the art of communicating with one another, away from watchful eyes.

Shayma felt the excitement swell up, an elating mixture of enthusiasm and anticipation, as she switched on her pink computer. She knew she had a message waiting for her, and she kept teasing herself that it would be cruel to ignore it.

Tossing aside her barely-touched cappuccino, the computer wizard found the message she had expected and immediately started reading every word avidly. It was a very flirtatious message and she loved it.Source

Gaza zoo destroyed

2009-02-16T13:36:00.000+08:00

Gaza boy gets new leg in Dubai

2009-02-16T13:20:00.000+08:00

Saudi's 1st woman minister

2009-02-16T10:35:00.000+08:00

RIYADH - NORAH Al-Fayez, the first woman ever named to a ministerial post in Saudi Arabia, has put a crack in the thick glass ceiling that the country's strict version of Islam sets against her gender.

The veteran education administrator was named to the new post of deputy education minister for women's education as part of a sweeping shakeup of the government announced Saturday by the country's reform-minded absolute monarch King Abdullah.

'This is a successful step. We've always suffered from having a man occupy the position' overseeing women's education, the English-language Arab News newspaper quoted her as saying. 'A woman knows what problems and challenges her peers face. It's a change for the better,' she said.

Saudi Arabia's dominant Wahhabi school of Islam imposes a strict separation of unrelated members of the opposite sexes, forces women to be shrouded in black from head to toe, bans them from driving, and keeps them dependent on male guardians when travelling outside the home.

Together such policies have hampered the promotion of women to top jobs in the kingdom; offices and businesses such as banks are required to have completely separate facilities for female workers.

So Ms Al-Fayez's appointment to the job, on the doorstep of the king's powerful Council of Ministers, is widely seen as a major breakthrough.

The move shows the 84-year-old king's intention to move toward naming more women to high leadership positions in the future, Fayez said, according to local media reports.

Her appointment is 'a source of pride for all women,' she said.

Ms Al-Fayez, 52, is a veteran of the women's education sector in the country. She graduated in sociology from King Saud University in 1978 and earned a master's degree in education from Utah State University in the United States in 1982.

She then worked in the education ministry on women's education and on private schools, before moving to the country's Institute of Public Administration in 1993, where she works now. She is married with five children, three boys and two girls.

Other women called her appointment a landmark step forward in the kingdom.

'We believe that this is an occasion to push a number of recommendations to begin empowering women,' legal expert Nawal al-Mazem told Riyadh newspaper.

'This decision shows the direction toward allowing Saudi women to work in high positions in the government,' another legal consultant, Asmaa al-Ghanim, told Riyadh newspaper.

'More Saudi women taking ministerial jobs in the future cannot be ruled out,' she said. -- AFP Source

Gaza population hits 1.4m

2009-02-16T10:29:00.000+08:00

The census found that as of 2007 the population of the territory had reached 1,416,543 compared to 1,022,207 in 1997, with an estimated annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent. -- PHOTO: AP
RAMALLAH (West Bank) - THE population of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has passed 1.4 million people, an increase of nearly 40 percent over the past 10 years, an official Palestinian census published on Sunday said.

The census found that as of 2007 the population of the territory had reached 1,416,543 compared to 1,022,207 in 1997, with an estimated annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent.

'Assuming a stable growth during the coming years, the Gaza Strip population will double in 21 years,' said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which carried out the census.

The average family size across Gaza has declined, however, from 6.9 household members to 6.5, according to the census.

The population of the impoverished coastal territory remains overwhelmingly young, with 48.3 per cent of residents under 15 years of age. In 1997 50.2 per cent of residents were under 15.

The majority of Gaza residents are UN-registered refugees from what is now Israel, constituting 67.9 percent of the population, a slight increase from 1997 when refugees made up 65.1 per cent.

The census found increasing literacy in Gaza, with 5.5 percent of the population over 10 years old listed as illiterate in 2007 compared to 11.3 per cent in 1997.

The preliminary results from the census released in February 2008 put the entire Palestinian population in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem at 3,761,646.

Most Palestinians, 2,345,107, live in the West Bank, an increase of 30 per cent in 10 years. The statistics bureau has not yet released final results on the West Bank or east Jerusalem. -- AFP Source

Afghan court upholds sentences in Quran trial

2009-02-16T10:28:00.000+08:00

By RAHIM FAIEZ and HEIDI VOGT
The Associated Press

KABUL (AP) — An appeals court in Afghanistan upheld 20-year prison sentences Sunday for two men who published a translation of the Quran that drove religious leaders to call for their execution.

The controversial text is a translation of Islam's holy book into an Afghan language without the original Arabic verses alongside. Muslims regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and it is believed a mistranslation could warp God's word.

A host of Muslim clerics in this conservative Islamic state have condemned the translation — which was published in 2007 and handed out for free — as blasphemous and accused its publishers of setting themselves up as false prophets.Source

US-Islamic Forum opens today

2009-02-15T20:51:00.000+08:00

DOHA: The sixth edition of “US-Islamic World Forum” will be opened at the Four Seasons Hotel here today. The three-day meet will bring together key leaders in the fields of politics, business, media, academia and civil society from across the Muslim world and the United States. The Forum will address common challenges and critical issues dividing the United States and the Muslim world by providing a unique platform for frank dialogue.Source

German Primary Schoolers Get Textbook on Islam

2009-02-15T20:00:00.000+08:00

Religious instruction about Islam in a German primary school
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Religion is a standard part of the school curriculum in Germany.
"My Book About Islam" is the first schoolbook on the Muslim faith to be approved for young children in Germany. The authors hope it will help foster understanding by dispelling myths about the followers of the Koran.

"My Book About Islam" is intended for Muslim children, who come from different ethnic backgrounds and offers different interpretations of the Islamic faith, according to Evelin Lubig-Fohsel, one of the textbook's authors.

"We're going on the assumption that there is no such thing as the absolute correct Islam and believe that this book can be the basis for various strands of the faith," she said.

The book made its appearance this past week at the opening of the annual "Didacta" educational book fair in the northern city of Hanover. It has also been introduced to primary schools in two German states, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, which has a large Muslim minority.

In an educational system where religious instruction about Christianity is a standard part of the state-run school curriculum, the move is intended to promote greater tolerance and understanding of other faiths, according to the Munich publishers of the textbook, Oldenbourg.

"Young children can learn about and respect other world religions," the publishers said in a statement.

Fostering religious identity

My book about Islam in GermanBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The textbook has just been approved in two German states.

"The point of the book is to foster the religious identity of Muslim children in a country that is predominantly Christian so they don't wind up being manipulated by the media, and not just the media, but perhaps even by their own mosque or community," said one of the book's authors, primary school teacher Gül Solgun-Kaps.

Since the majority of Muslims in Europe practice the Sunni as opposed to the Shiite faith, which differ in their beliefs as to the rightful heirs of the prophet Mohammed, the textbook emphasizes Sunni Islam and discusses differences in national practices, but looks for common ground between the two branches.

An appreciation of the different strains within a religion also helps to further dialogue with other faiths, such as Christianity and Judaism, according to Solgun-Kaps.

"It's important for kids to know the core message of other religious faiths," she said, adding that an understanding of such growing diversity in Germany fosters peaceful co-existence not just in school, but in life too.

A Bosnian child for instance would have the chance to talk about how Ramadan is celebrated in his country, which is different from the fasting rituals of a Pakistani or Turkish family.

Gender roles discussed

Turkish women in Berlin's Kreuzberg district shopping, some with a headscarf.Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The book also depicts Muslim women without a headscarf.

The role of religion in daily life is a thread that runs through the book. Gender roles are also addressed and here the book is modern in its outlook. A young boy is just as likely to set the dinner table as his sister, Muslim women are depicted without head coverings and even men are laboring over the stove preparing family meals.

One of the book's aims is to show children the compatibility of Islam with democratic and egalitarian values, since Muslim pupils and their parents, as well as Christians or secular Germans, often perceive the religion as being the antithesis of modernity.

"We want to reduce the fear factor about Islam with this book, and show that Muslims and non-Muslims can live peacefully side by side," said Lubig Fohsel.dw-world.de

Malaysia Again Stamps Mark In Islamic World

2009-02-15T19:59:00.000+08:00

February 14, 2009 - 12:21

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- When the 8th Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM) under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) ended in Rabat, Morocco, late last month, Malaysia again stamped its mark in the Islamic world as far as providing concrete solutions was concerned.

Led by Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the Malaysian delegation managed to move two important proposals into further action.

The first was to hold a film festival among OIC countries and the second was to train and equip Palestinians in the New Media.

Malaysia has been entrusted by OIC Secretary-General Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to get the film festival proposal moving.

A working group comprising Syria, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco and Malaysia will look into the hosting of the festival, aimed at creating a market place for creative industries in the OIC.

Shabery explained that a film festival would fire the imagination of film produccers and directors as well as other people in the creative industries to produce works for international audiences and get better returns on their investments and efforts.

He said it was not good enough to only produce works just for local audiences.

In addition, Shabery said, the proliferation of good quality films, documentaries and other local content would also help fill the additional available airtime slots when RTM would have more channels under its on-going digitalisation programme.

"Having more channels means providing more opportunities for local creative people to produce content locally," he said."But they also have to produce good quality content so that their works can be sold overseas as well."

In terms of training and equipping Palestinians in the New Media, Malaysia will contact the Palestinian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to establish the lines of communications so that this effort could be undertaken.

The move is to enable Palestinians, who may be hampered by the Israeli regime, to tell about the real situation and hardship in their homeland to the outside world through the New Media.

At the ICIM meeting, Malaysia was also named as part of a ministerial supervisory sub-committee comprising Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Senegal, Syria and Morocco to evaluate a development action plan to deal with the external media with the aim of correcting possible distortions of Islam and the ummah.

This sub-committee will study the use of the services of a team of specialised experts to address the non-Islamic world in a language that is easily understood.

Meanwhile, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Morocco have pledged to work closer with Malaysia in the field of media and information. The pledge was made during Shabery's bilateral meetings with Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Hosein Safar Harandi, Saudi Arabia's Culture and Information Minister Dr Iyad Ameen Madani and Morocco's Minister of Communication Khalid Naciri.

At their meetings, they stressed on the need for Bernama and RTM to step up cooperation with counterparts in their respective countries.

During Shabery's meeting with Harandi, the latter also expressed the hope that Malaysia would be able to provide a suitable candidate to head the Jeddah-based Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU).

One Woman's War

2009-02-14T21:42:00.000+08:00

The shocking story of Malika el Aroud, woman convicted of running a Web site promoting terrorism. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

ISLAMIC GOOGLE, Islamic Search Engine powered by Google

2009-02-14T15:18:00.000+08:00

"Islamic search engine powered by Google striving to provide an easy to use resource to anyone wanting to learn more about Islam and provide a good way for muslims to surf the web safely.

IslamicGoogle is powered by Google using "safe search" technology, it produces results from all over the internet with more weighting to given to famous islamics websites and eliminates the vast majority of unsavoury content, such as pornography, it apply strict filtering for both explicit text and explicit images.

The site is not associated or affiliated with Google.com, we work closely with Google to help ensure that the results are not objectionable in nature, however, some of the results and adverts that are displayed may not be in line with Islam and we do not endorse any of the results or adverts displayed on Islamic Google.

IslamicGoogle, The best way for good muslims to surf the web" Source: islamicgoogle.com

No love lost: Religious police see red _ or not _ as Valentine's ban takes over Saudi Arabia

2009-02-13T14:33:00.000+08:00

By DONNA ABU-NASR

A Saudi woman tries to choose a Valentine's Day gift at a store in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Wednesday Feb 11, 2009. Store owners know that as Feb. 14 approaches, the feared religious police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or in any way suggest the holiday, which is banned in this country. Such items are legal throughout the year. It's only around Valentine's Day that they take on a contraband status. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (Hassan Ammar, AP / February 11, 2009)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Just days before Valentine's Day, a young Saudi woman desperately searched for a red teddy bear to buy for her boyfriend. But all Nof Faisal could find were blue and white ones, minus the "I love you" she wanted hers to declare.

It's not because the store couldn't keep up with demand. It is because fear of the religious police forced the store's owner to strip the shelves of all red items, including the hottest-selling item: heart-festooned red plastic handcuffs inscribed, "Take me, I'm yours."

As Feb. 14 approaches, the police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or are intended as gifts to mark the holiday — a celebration of St. Valentine, a 3rd century Christian martyr — which is banned in Saudi Arabia. Such items are legal at other times of the year, but as Valentine's Day nears they become contraband.

At best, shops caught selling Valentine's gifts are ordered to get rid of them. Some salesmen have been detained for days.

The Valentine's Day prohibition is in line with the ascetic Wahhabi school of Islam that the kingdom follows. Marking Christian holidays is banned in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and a country where non-Muslims are banned from openly practicing their religion.

Celebrating any holidays but the two most important for Muslims — Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr— is taboo because they are considered "religious innovations" that Islam does not sanction. Even birthdays and Mother's Day are frowned on by the religious establishment.

As Feb. 14 approaches, newspapers reprint a fatwa or religious edict issued by scholars a few years ago, declaring "eid al-hob," Arabic for the feast of love, a "Christian, pagan feast" that Muslims should not celebrate. Teachers remind students they must not mark the festival, and girls are warned against wearing anything red.

Nevertheless, Valentine's Day quietly creeps into the capital, Riyadh: While gift stores don't trumpet their Valentine's wares, they acquire a deep red hue as shelves are stocked with artificial flowers, heart-shaped frames and other knickknacks.

Lingerie stores display red lacy underwear and sheer short nighties. Boxes packed with teddy bears, some inscribed with "I love you," appear on supermarket shelves. Newspapers advertise diamond and ruby heart-shaped pendants.

And salesmen urge shoppers to snap up their gifts early because no one knows when the religious police will begin their rounds.

"My colleague spent a night in jail last year because of the color red," said one salesman, who insisted on anonymity, fearing his colleague's fate.

It is a challenge for courting Saudi couples to be together at any time of the year because of strict gender segregation. Unmarried men and women cannot take a drive together, have a meal or even talk on the street unless they are close relatives. Dating consists of long phone conversations and the rare tryst. Infractions are punished by detention.

"I wish things were different," said Faisal, a 20-year-old student, who said she would like to be wined and dined by her boyfriend. She has arranged to have red roses, a red box containing perfume, chocolate and a CD of love songs delivered to him.

Abdul-Aziz al-Shammari bought his girlfriend 10 red roses — one for each month he's known her — five days before Valentine's Day and stored the bouquet in his refrigerator to keep it fresh.

"I don't consider it a day venerating (St.) Valentine," said al-Shammari, a 24-year-old student. "I see it as an international day of love."

For at least businessmen, the commercial draw of the holiday was too strong.

Waleed al-Khuleiwi's store was perhaps the only one in Riyadh still brimming with Valentine's goods with just days to go.

His cheeky defense: "I'm not selling the items with the intention of celebrating Valentine's."

A Saudi woman tries to choose a Valentine's Day gift at a store in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Wednesday Feb 11, 2009. Store owners know that as Feb. 14 approaches, the feared religious police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or in any way suggest the holiday, which is banned in this country. Such items are legal throughout the year. It's only around Valentine's Day that they take on a contraband status. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (Hassan Ammar, AP / February 11, 2009)

A Saudi woman tries to choose a Valentine's Day teddy bears at a gift shop in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Friday Jan 30, 2009 . Store owners know that as Feb. 14 approaches, the feared religious police begin inspecting gift shops for items that are red or in any way suggest the holiday, which is banned in this country. Such items are legal throughout the year. It's only around Valentine's Day that they take on a contraband status. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (Hassan Ammar, AP / January 30, 2009)
Source:newsday.com

Who Invented Valentine's Day?

2009-02-12T20:47:00.002+08:00

Who Invented Easter?

2009-02-12T20:47:00.001+08:00

President Obama quotes Hadith in Speech

2009-02-12T20:46:00.002+08:00

At the White House National Prayer Breakfast , President Barack Obama quoted (among other things) a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammed..."there is a hadith that reads None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."

Is Christmas From Christianity?

2009-02-12T20:46:00.001+08:00

Where Does Halloween Come From?

2009-02-12T20:45:00.000+08:00

Origins of New Year's Eve

2009-02-12T20:44:00.000+08:00

McDonald's In Mecca!

2009-02-12T20:41:00.000+08:00

Abdullah Hakim Quick gives the history behind the holidays widely celebrated today such Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day etc.

2009-02-12T20:35:00.000+08:00

Makkah monorail deal marks Saudi visit by China's president

2009-02-12T20:21:00.000+08:00

Thursday, February 12, 2009 RIYADH: China has won a contract to build a monorail near Islam's holiest city of Makkah to ferry pilgrims between key religious sites during the hajj, or annual Muslim pilgrimage.
Read full story from The News

Saudi judge sentences pregnant gang-rape victim to 100 lashes for committing adultery

2009-02-12T20:20:00.000+08:00

By Liz Hazelton
A Saudi judge has ordered a woman should be jailed for a year and receive 100 lashes after she was gang-raped, it was claimed last night.

The 23-year-old woman, who became pregnant after her ordeal, was reportedly assaulted after accepting a lift from a man.

He took her to a house to the east of the city of Jeddah where she was attacked by him and four of his friends throughout the night.

A judge in the Saudi city of Jeddah, pictured, ruled that the woman was guilty of adultery and should be jailed for a year

She later discovered she was pregnant and made a desperate attempt to get an abortion at the King Fahd Hospital for Armed Forces.

According to the Saudi Gazette, she eventually 'confessed' to having 'forced intercourse' with her attackers and was brought before a judge at the District Court in Jeddah.

He ruled she had committed adultery - despite not even being married - and handed down a year's prison sentence, which she will serve in a prison just outside the city.

She is still pregnant and will be flogged once she has had the child.

The Saudi Arabian legal system practices a strict form of medieval law. Women have very few rights and are not even allowed to drive.

They are also banned from going out in public in the company of men other than male Source:relatives.contracostatimes.com

Islamic scholars issue fatwas; Indonesia shrugs

2009-02-12T20:18:00.001+08:00

Indonesia's most powerful Islamic scholars weren't looking for a debate when they handed down their latest fatwas on how to be a good Muslim.

Read full story from Ledger Dispatch

Hajj Railway Chinese-make

2009-02-12T20:15:00.001+08:00

CAIRO The head of the powerful Senate Judiciary Commission has proposed setting up a bipartisan commission to investigate controversial actions and potential wrongdoings taken by the former Bush administration, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, February 10. "We need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened," Senator Patrick J. Leahy said during a speech at Georgetown University.

"Sometimes the best way to move forward is getting to the truth, finding out what happened, so we can make sure it does not happen again."

Leahy said the truth panel which group "people universally recognized as fair minded and without axes to grind" who will be tasked with investigating harsh treatment and detainee torture.

After 9/11, the Bush administration sanctioned the use of aggressive interrogation techniques, including waterboarding and sleeping deprivation, against suspects.

The Democratic proposal also calls for investigating warrantless wiretapping as well as politically-motivated appointments and dismissals of attorneys and prosecutors.

The Bush administration had spied on Americans and tapped into the country's main communicationworks without court warrants.

It also authorized security agencies to intercept all telephone calls, inte traffic and emails made across US-basedworks.

"We can't just move on," maintains Karen Greenberg, director of the New York University Center on Law and Security.

"I really believe as the dust settles that the only way to prevent abuses of power from happening again is to name them as crimes if they are crimes."

No Prosecutions

Leahy clarified that the proposed commission will give Bushs officials immunity from prosecution and will not try to prove criminal violations, save perjury cases. "I don't want to embarrass anybody. I don't want to punish anybody. I just want the truth to come out so this never happens again," he insisted.

"People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments, but to assemble the facts."

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Judiciary commission, said the proposal meets the desire of the American people.

"Chairman Leahy today summed up a belief shared by millions of Americans: that we need to 'get the truth out' about the damage done to this country under the Bush administration and what we now must do to repair it."

He wants the commission to name and shame those who abused their power.

"I think that it's probably a good baseline for what we can hope for: knowing what happened and, even if you don't prosecute, attaching names to policies that violated the law or moral and ethical standards."

It is unclear whether Leahy's plan will take hold on Capitol Hill, the Washington Post.

President Barak Obama has, meanwhile, given his blessings to the proposal.

"I will take a look at Senator Leahy's proposal, but my general orientation is to say let's get it right moving forward."

Obama believes that any official who had been involved in wrongdoing should be tried.

"My view is.that nobody's above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen."

Source: IslamOnline

Touring world for da`wah

2009-02-12T20:14:00.001+08:00

DHAKA — Just like every year, Mohammed Fauzia is preparing himself for "chilla", the spiritual da`wah journey that takes him around the world to help promote Islam.

"I do my best every year to join chilla and preach Islam across the world," the Malaysian technician told IslamOnline.net.

Moahmmed, 44, has been participating in chilla - a word adopted from the Persian word "chihli" which means forty - journeys for the past 15 years.

"I have gone to different countries such as Australia, Thailand, Pakistan and India," he recalls.

The two were among millions of Muslims who attended the Bishwa Ijtima, or World Muslim Congregation, held last month in Dhaka and organized by Tablig-e-Jamaat, an international non-political Islamic group.

The three-day annual gathering, which brought together more than 10,000 foreigners from 108 countries, focused on ways to spread the message of Islam worldwide.

After the meeting, hundreds of thousands of devotees gather at Tablig-e-Jamaat 's Kakrail mosque in Dhaka to express their desire to join chilla missions.

Participants are usually divided into groups, each featuring 10-20 devotees, and the journey takes exactly 40 days.

"Every Muslim should join da`wah works," believes Erfan Ibrahim, a South African teacher who joined the crowd outside the Kakrail mosque to join one of the Tablig-e-Jamaat's daw`ah missions.

Founded in the 1920s by an Indian scholar, Tablig-e-Jamaat is an international non-political group that promotes Muslims' spiritual development.

It maintains a main headquarter in India's Delhi and has several national headquarters to coordinate its activities in over 80 countries.

"We have been doing daw`ah works with Tablig-e-Jamaat to bring peace in the world," said a Pakistani businessman who leads a da`wah group from his country.

"We are very much happy to join this."

Inspiring

Chilla participants affirm that their da`wah missions have a profound positive impact on themselves and others.
"Our main aim from involving in Tablig-e-Jamaat's missions is to rectify ourselves,"
Abdul Jamal, from Malaysia, told IOL.
The Pakistani businessman agrees.
"Muslim should rectify themselves first before they go for da`wah works."
For many others, the preaching journeys also help promote the true message of Islam.
"We should spread Islam all over the world," says Mohammed, the Malaysian technician.
He added that since first joining da`wah missions, he has seen many people around the world finding solace in Islam.
Abdur Rahman, from Russia, believes da`wah missions are essential at a time Muslims are under microscope and their faith badly stereotyped.
He notes that in his home country such efforts leave a positive legacy, with more than 200 people embracing Islam in Moscow every year.
"Russians' mindsets have changed in recent years," the 17-year-old student, who came all the way from Moscow to attend the Bishwa Ijtima, told IOL.
"The Russian people used to think that Islam is a religion linked to terrorism and that Muslims are killers. But now, they understand that Islam is the leading religion of the world and Muslims are peace-loving people."

Source: IslamOnline

Toronto mosque detoxifies extremists

2009-02-12T20:12:00.000+08:00

CAIRO — A Canadian mosque is offering a helping hand to young Muslims leaning toward extremist ideology with an intervention program that helps shield the youth against radical views.

"We just want to encourage them to be faithful and do not take the law into your own hand," Mohammed Shaikh, director of the Masjid el-Noor in Toronto, told the National Post on Wednesday, February 11.

The mosque leadership has come up with a 12-step Specialized De-radicalization Intervention program intended to provide "treatment and counseling" to young Canadian Muslims sympathetic to Al-Qaeda ideology.

It is based on the idea that extremism can be fought theologically by challenging the dark extremist vision with an alternative interpretation of Islam.

The program will deal with the youth through 12 steps like the use of verses from the Noble Qur’an promoting peace and good behavior.

Among the steps are countering extremism through education, public speaking and writing and the Canadian society.

They also feature finding common grounds between the three Abrahamic Faiths; Islam, Christianity and Judaism and other faiths.

"As Canadians of Muslim faith, it is our ardent desire to become leaders in the championing of anti-terror values," reads a document outlining the program.

There are not reports pointing out to a rise of Canadian Muslims leaning to extremist and violent ideals, but a recent report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the radicalization of Muslims is a "priority issue" for Canada.

Muslims make around 1.9 percent of Canada's 32.8 million population and Islam is the number one non-Christian faith in the Roman Catholic country.

A recent survey showed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are proud to be Canadian, and that they are more educated than the general population.

Unique

The Toronto mosque leaders say the extremist detox program is the first of its kind in Canada.

"Our mosque is the only one that is working on these kind of programs," boasts Shaikh.

"We are the only ones who are professional mediators…so it is good that we are in there and the youth seems to understand us."

The program creators say they want to help parents fearing the radicalization of their children.

Shaikh notes that while Canadian security agencies have been conducting "interventions" on a case-by-case basis, many parents don't want to involve police and prefer to deal with the matter unofficially through the mosque.

The former police chaplain, who has a long experience in youth crime prevention, has already started working with youths as part of the mosque program.

One of the cases is of a 12-year-old whose parents were concerned because he "speaks very negatively" about a particular group of people.

The target list of the program is topped by Omar Khadr, a 22-year Canadian detained in Guantanamo since his capture in Afghanistan in 2002.

It also targets members of the Toronto 18 group, which allegedly plotted terror attacks in Ontario, and Momin Khawaja, the first Canadian tried under anti-terror laws over his role in terror plots in Britain.

Shaikh says the counselors always advise the youth to "try to build something rather than destroy something."

Faisal Mirza, the lawyer of one of the Toronto 18 members, believes the new program is very much needed.

"In my view, nuanced intervention programs designed to prevent any youth crime are a move in the right direction," he told the Post.

"They certainly would better serve the public as compared to police investigations that may be perceived by members of the Muslim community to be complicit with the recruitment and indoctrination of the innocent."

Source: IslamOnline

Free Islamic Books

2009-02-12T17:15:00.000+08:00

Conveying Islamic Message Society

C . I . M . S

For Free Islamic Books

We send free Islamic books in more than 100 Language with no charge at all all over the world !

Assalaamualaykum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakaatuhu,

Please take full advantage of this opportunity and read this message carefully !

We would like to inform you that we started a new project only for Callers to Islam

( Brothers or Sisters , Societies , Masjids ..etc.)

We support them with books in the languages they need with no charge at all .

A brief note about C.I.M.S

Conveying Islamic Message Society ( C.I.M.S) is a large Islamic Organization, established in 1974 and located in Alexandria , Egypt .

C.I.M.S try to help Non-Muslims to understand the clear meaning of Islam and its beautiful message as well as clarifying misconceptions about Islam by sending free Islamic books to any one all over the world.

C.I.M.S will support new Muslims with books in their own language.

C.I.M.S is also sending books regularly to many Islamic organizations and callers so they can distribute Islamic books in their local area.

By this project you can get free Dawa books and pamphlets with any languages you need with no charge at all , you can give those books to your ( Non-Muslims Neighbors or New-Muslims Friends , or to your nearest Mosque or any Islamic Organizations there and many more....)

We started this project since 2005 and Masha Allah many people converted to Islam , and many change their thoughts about Islam and Muslims and our Prophet (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him).

Would you like to be one of them ?

just send us the books you need with your address to our free orders E-mail address that is :

contactcims@yahoo.com

www.islamic-invitation.com

( you will find all our books and languages list at the end of message )

We hope that the books will reach you within one Month or two at least Insha'Allah.

Conveying Islamic Message Society (CIMS)

P.O. Box 834 – Alexandria – Egypt

We’ll be very happy if you tell your friends about our society and what it does and that it can send to any one of them free Islamic books in his/her language . Also, we’ll be very happy if you send us the addresses of your friends or your relatives who need Islamic books, so that we can send the free Islamic books to them .

Also you can send us address of your friends ( Muslims or New-Muslims or Non-Muslims ) and we can send them the books which you will requested to them . Also if you have address of Masjids and Islamic societies send to us and we will send them directly .

Important Notices

1-If you need to join this project you need to send us :

-Your Mail Address which we will send the books to .

-Your Email Address which we can always reach you .

- If you already making Dawa works inform us about your activities to support you by suitable numbers of books ( as much as we can ) We can't at this time send large numbers , we haven't ability for that but we send suitable amount regularly.

And remember after all that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

1-" None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself ". It was related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

2-" Whoever guides someone to virtue will be rewarded equivalent to him who practices that good action " (Muslim ).

3-" If anyone calls others to follow right guidance , his reward will be equivalent to those who follow him ( in righteousness ) without their reward being diminished in any respect ....... "

We just do this work and you also because Allah will ask us at the day of Judgment ( What did you do for Islam ? ) we need our answer to be :

We do our best to show Non-Muslims what is Islam and to help New-Muslims to learn more about it .

English Books

1-Qur'an

Full Qur'an

2-Fiqh and Beliefs

- Principles of Islam.

- The Muslim’s Belief.

- Purification.

- Prayers

- Supererogatory prayers.

- Fasting.

-The jurisprudence of funerals in Islam

- Pilgrimage (Hajj).

3-Hadith ( Prophetic tradition )

Commentary on the Forty Hadith of Al-Nawawi

- Hisn Al-Muslim (Fortification of the Muslim through remembrance and supplication from the Qur’an and Sunnah)

4-Prophet Muhammad ( Peace and blessings be upon him )

- The Life of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.).

- Series of Prophecies in the Bible for the Advent of Muhammad (Pbuh).

- Signs of Prophethood.

4-Dawa Books

- Women in Islam (versus Women in Judaeo-Christian Tradition. The Myth & The Reality).

- A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam (Islam & Modern Science).

- ( Qur’an & Modern Science) Compatible or incompatible?

Human rights in Islam

How to become a Muslim

Existence of God ( For Atheists )

- Stories of New Muslims.

- Priests Embracing Islam.

- Islam. The religion of all.

- The Concept of God in Islam.

- The Most beautiful names of Allah.

- Islamic Facts refuting the Allegations against Islam.

The True Religion of God

5-Comparative Religion

Is the Bible God's word

- The Truth about Jesus (Pbuh).

- Jesus. Prophet or God?

- Is the Trinity Doctrine Divinely Inspired?

6-Cds

Stories of New Muslims

Arabic Books

-القرآن الكريم (مصحف الجيب كاملاً).

-زبدة التفاسير (تفسير فاتحة الكتاب وسورة البقرة من القرآن الكريم)

-زبدة التفاسير (تفسير الجزءين التاسع والعشرين والثلاثين من القرآن الكريم).

-كيف يتلى كتاب الله كما تلاه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم.

-مختصر رياض الصالحين.

-الأذكار من كلام سيد الأبرار ومقومات الأسرة السعيدة فى الإسلام.

-سيرة المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم والصحابة ومقومات الأسرة السعيدة.

-المعجزات الخالدة وآيات النبوة المحمدية.

-قبس من سير الأنبياء والمرسلين.

-فقه الزواج والطلاق.

-حكم وأحكام فقه الفرائض (المواريث) من القرآن الكريم والسنة الشريفة.

-فقه الجنائز.

-فقه المعاملات.

-شخصية المرأة المسلمة (الجزء الأول).

-شخصية المرأة المسلمة (الجزء الثانى).

_{French Books}

- L'Honoré Coran (Interpretation de quelques Versets).

- Marie (Sourate Maryam) (Interpretation de Versets de Sourate Maryam).

- AnNawawi Les Quarantes Hadiths.

- Riyad AsSalihine.

- La Vie du Prophète Mohammad (S.A.W).

- L'Islam La Religion de Tous.

- L’Initiation A L’ Islam.

- Les Noms d’Allah.

- Les Piliers de l’Islam.

- Al-Tawhid (ou La foi en l’unicité de Dieu).

- Al-Zakat (ou L’Aumône légale).

- Al-Siyam (ou Le Jeûne).

- Al-Hadj (ou Le Pèlerinage).

- La Citadelle du Musulman (Rappels et Invocation selon Le Coran et La Sunnah).

- Le Christianisme. Origine et réalité.

- Petit Guide Illustré Pour Comprendre L’Islam.

- L’Islam face aux campagne de scepticisme.

And more

German Books

- Der edle Qur’an (Sure Die Eroffnung “Al-Fatihah” und Sure Die Kuh “Al-Baqara”).

- Maria (Sura Maryam) (Sura 19 des Heiligen Kur’ans).

- Kapital 30 des Heiligen Kur’ans.

- Vierzig Heilige Hadite.

- AnNawawi Vierzig Hadite.

- Das Glaubensbekenntnis des Islam.

- Die Schönsten Namen des Allah.

- Der Islam.

- Fragen zum Thema Islam.

- Islam für Kinder.

- Kosmische Verse im Qur’an.

- Ein kurzer illustrierter Wegweiser um den Islam zu verstehen.

- Ein Tag mit dem Propheten.

- Was die Bibel über Mohammad sagt?

- Christus im Islam.

- Deutsche von Allah Geleitet.

And more

Spanish Books

- La Parte Treinta del Sagrado Coràn.

- Maria (Sura Mariam) (La Interpretación de Sura 19 del Sagrado Qur’an).

- Los cuarenta Hadices Nawawiyah.

- El Paso Hacia el Paraiso Dichos de Muhammad el Enviado de Dios.

- Los nombres más Hermosos de Al-lah.

- Qué es el Islam?

- Presentacion de la religion del Islam.

- Luces Sobre el Islam.

- Los Principios del Islam.

- La Creencia en la Unidad absoluta de Dios.

- La enseňanza de la oración.

- El Islam en la Enrucijada.

- Magnificas Joyas.

- Cristo en el Islam.

- Breve Guia Ilustrada para entender el Islam.

- La mujer en el islam y en el Judeocristianismo: Mito Realidad.

And more

Russian Books

- Surat Al-Fatihah and Part Thirty of The Holy Quran.

- AnNawawi’s Forty Hadiths.

- Islam. The religion of All.

- Islam. The religion of Truth.

- Principles of Islam.

- Monotheism.

- Islamic Belief from Qur’an and Sunnah.

- A General Acknowledgement of Islam (The Creed).

- Teaching How to pray.

- Fasting.

- Islamic Facts refuting the Allegations against Islam.

- The Life of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.).

- Muhammad (S.A.W.) in The Holy Bible.

- The Daily Prayers for The Muslim.

And more

Italian Books

- Islam La Religion di tutti.

- AnNawawi Quaranta hadith.

- Conoscere L’Islam.

- Vivere L’Islam.

- Una Breve Guida Ilustrata per comprendere l’Islam.

And more

Portuguese Books

- Tradução do sentido do Nobre Alcorão.

- Em nome de Deus o Clemente o Misericordioso.

- O Islam em foco.

- Introdução da Religião do Islã.

- O Islão – lódigo de Vida para os Muçulmanos.

And more

Brazilian Books

- Introdução geral da Religião do Islã.

- O ensino do oraçao.

Dutch Books

- An-Nawawî Veertig Hadîs.

- Het Dagelijkse Leven Van de Profeet.

- De Salaah Van de Profeet.

- Waakt over uw Gebeden!

- De Positie van Jezus in de Islaam.

And more

Danish Books

- Islams Principper.

- Quránen og den moderne videnskab.

Indeværende Er Mohammad

OM ISLAM - 5 articles

And more

Norwegian Books

En_kort_illustrert_guide_til___forst__Islam

Jesus_en_profet_i_Islam

Du_spor_og_Koranen_svarer

Dette_er_Muhammad

- Introduksjon Til Islam.

- Islam. Religionen for Alle.

And more

Swedish Books

- Islams Principer.

- Jesus I Islam Enlight Bibeln.

- Islam Och Kristendom.

Kvinnan i islam

KORANEN OCH MODERN VETENSKAP

renamed_Bok Du frgar Koranen besvarar

40 Nawawi

Detta Är Er Mohammad

And more

Finnish Books

- Islam uskonto jota et enää voi sivuuttaa.

- Islamin rukouspas.

- Koraani ja nykytiede.

Muhammad: Kuka hän on?

And more

Polish Books

Czech Books

Hungarian Books

Bulgarian Books

Gipsy Books

Romanian Books

Greek Books

Macedonian Books

Albanian Books

Bosnian (Serbian) Books

Turkish Books

Chinese Books

Japanese Books

Korean Books

Tagalog Filipino Books

Iranonian Filipino Books

Maranawi Filipino Books

Thai Books

Vietnamese Books

Burmese Books

Ruhanjese Books

Cambodian Books

Tcham Books

Indonesian Books

Malay Books

Eugurian Books

Kazakh Books

Uzbek Books

Turkmen Books

Azerbaijani Books

Owarian Books

Tatar Books

Urdu Books

Kashmiri Books

Bengali Books

Sinhalese Books

Hindi Books

Telco Books

Malabar (Malayalm) Books

Tamil Books

Nepali Books

Swahili books

Ugandan books

Somali Books

Ethiopian Books

Hausa books

Yoruba Books

Onko (Bambara) Books

Zulu Books

Africans books

Comorian Books

Madagascar Books

Chichewa Books

There are many books and languages under printing

Coming Soon ( Insha Allah )

Finally, we hope to hear good news from you and be sure to constantly keep in touch with us. We welcome any questions that you may have. May Allah help you and show you the true way, and reward you with the greatest merit.

Waiting for your letter with our best wishes.

abd elhamed torky

e-mail contactcims@yahoo.com

www.islamic-invitation.com

Why Muslim women wear Hijab

2009-02-12T11:16:00.000+08:00

The Butterfly Story

2009-02-11T21:16:00.000+08:00

The Butterfly Story

From Church Goer to Mosque Leader

2009-02-09T21:10:00.000+08:00

By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Correspondent

"It was Allah's wish that Islam becomes my choice and my life," Alfaro told IOL.

VALENCIA — Thirteen years ago Vicente Mota Alfaro was a devout Catholic who regularly attends Sunday masses and reads the Holy Bible daily.

Today, he is not just a new Muslim but the imam of the mosque of the Islamic Cultural Center of Valencia (CCIV).

He is the first ever convert to hold the post and lead the Muslim congregation in the mosque.

He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the CCIV since 2005.

Muslim community leaders in Valencia say Alfaro was appointed to the prestigious post of imam thanks to his outstanding qualifications.

"He was chosen because of his vast religious knowledge," El-Taher Edda, secretary-general of the Islamic League for Dialogue and Coexistence, told IslamOnline.net.

He believes Alfaro's appointment sends a clear message of integration for converts who join the fold of Islam.

Spanish converts have been on the rise recently, with local media reports noting that intellectuals, academics and anti- globalization activists make up the bulk of the new Muslims.

Spain has an estimated Muslim minority of about at 1.5 million out of a total population of 40 million.

Islam is the second religion after Christianity and has been recognized through the law of religious freedom, issued in July 1967.

The Journey

When people ask Alfaro about the change of hearts and the journey from Christianity to Islam, he gives a simple answer.

"It was Allah's wish that Islam becomes my choice and my life," he told IOL.

Alfaro was a 20-year-old high school student when he decided to become a Muslim.

"I read the holy Qur’an, I discovered the true story of Jesus Christ and then embraced Islam."

Recalling the beginning his journey, Alfaro says he used to be a devout Catholic in his early youth.

"While my colleagues had no interest in religion, I used to go to the church every Sunday and read the Bible regularly.

"At that time, I knew absolutely nothing about Islam."

It was his conversations with his Muslim Algerian neighbor that introduced Alfaro to Islam.

"We were talking once and he said that all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve, and that we are all sons of Prophet Abraham (Ibraham)," he recalled.

"I was surprised to find that Muslims and Arabs actually know Adam, Eve and Abraham."

The conversation motivated the young Catholic to dig for more information.

"The next thing I did was going to the library and borrowing a translated version of the Noble Qur’an."

He took the book home and began to read Islam's holy book carefully.

The turning point for Alfaro came when reading the Qur’anic story of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion incident.

"I used to read in the Gospel that Jesus is the son of God, and that God sent his son to earth to be killed and tortured to bring salvation to humanity. I always hard a problem believing," he remembers.

"I found the answers I was looking for when I read the Qur'an. I learnt that Jesus was not killed or crucified."

Muslims believe in Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) as one of the great Prophets of God and hold him in high esteem.

As for his crucifixion, Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified but was lifted up to heaven.

Muslims believe that Jesus will come back to earth before the end of time to restore peace and order, fight the Anti-Christ (Al-Masih Al-Dajjal) and bring victory for truth and righteousness.

The story of Jesus in the Noble Qur’an touched the heart of Alfaro, who has since changed his name to Mansour.

"I instantly knew that the Qur’an is the true book of God. And I decided at this very moment that I wanted to become a Muslim."islamonline.net

How To Do Wudu (Abloution)

2009-02-09T20:57:00.000+08:00

1.Hold in the heart the intention that the act is for the purpose of worship and purity, start by saying Bismillah

2.Wash the hands up to the wrists (3 times)

3.Rinse out the mouth with water (3 times)

4.Cleans the nostrils of the nose by sniffing water into them (3 times)

5.Wash the whole face (3 times) with both hands, if possible, from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin and from ear to ear.

6.Wash the right arm (3 times) up to the far end of the elbow, and then do the same with the left arm.

7.Wipe the whole head, or any part of it, with a wet hand, once.

8.Wipe the inner sides of the ears with the forefingers and their outer sides with the thumbs. This should be done with wet fingers.

9.Wash the two feet up to ankle, (3 times), beginning with the right foot.(Animation Abloution http://islamweb.net/movies/ablution.swf)

Saint Valentine's Day - The Muslim's attitude towards Valentine's Day

2009-02-09T20:53:00.000+08:00

The Muslim's attitude towards this holiday should be clear:

1- He should not celebrate it, or join others in their celebrations of it, or attend their celebrations because it is forbidden to celebrate the festivals of non-Muslims.

Ath-Thahabi said: "If the Christians have a festival and the Jews have a festival, which is peculiar to them, then the Muslim should not join them in that, just as he does not join them in their religion or their direction of prayer."

This is so because the basic principles of the pious predecessors [As-Salaf As-Saalih] was Al-walaa' wal-baraa' (loyalty and friendship vs. disavowal and enmity), therefore, it is obligatory for every Muslim to follow this principle. He should love the Muslims and should not follow the non-Muslims; rather, he must be different from them. By doing so, he achieves immeasurable benefits, just as imitating them causes greater harm.
In addition to this, when the Muslims imitate non-Muslims, this makes the latter happy and fills their hearts with joy. If any Muslim girl celebrates this holiday because she sees Margaret or Hilary or whoever does so, then this undoubtedly reflects the fact that she is imitating them and approves of their behavior. But Allaah Says (what means): "O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allaah guides not the wrongdoing people." [Quran 5:51]

One of the bad effects of imitating them is that this increases their number, as this makes it look as if they have more supporters and followers. How can it be appropriate for a Muslim who recites in every Rak'ah (prayer unit) Allaah’s words (which mean): "Guide us to the Straight Way, The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray" [ Quran 1:6-7], to ask Allaah for guidance to the Straight Path of the believers and to keep him away from the path of those who have earned His anger and of those who went astray, and then deliberately follows their path and imitates them?

Statistics indicate that Valentine's Day is second only to Christmas in popularity. So it is clear that the Feast of Love is one of the festivals of non-Muslims and that it is second only to the festival of Christmas. So it is not permissible for Muslims to participate in such celebrations, because we are commanded to differ from them in their religion, customs and other things that exclusively belong to them, as is stated in the Quran, Sunnah (Prophet’s tradition) and scholarly consensus.

2- He should not help the non-Muslims in their celebrations because it is one of the rituals of disbelief. Helping them and approving of what they do is helping them to manifest disbelief and make it prevail, and approving of it. The Islamic religion does not allow a Muslim to approve of disbelief or help others to manifest it and make it prevail.

Hence, Ibn Taymiyyah said: "It is not permissible for the Muslims to imitate them in anything that is specifically part of their festivals, whether it is food, clothing, bathing, lighting fires, or changing a custom of daily life or worship."

3- He should not help any Muslims who celebrate it. Rather, it is obligatory to denounce them, because for the Muslims to celebrate the festivals of non-Muslims is an evil action which must be condemned. Ibn Taymiyah said: "Just as we should not imitate them in their festivals, we should not help a Muslim to do that as well; rather, he should be told not to do that."

Based on this, it is not permissible for Muslim businessmen to deal in gifts for Valentine's Day, whether they are particular kinds of clothes, red roses, or whatever. Similarly, it is not permissible for the one who is given a gift on this occasion to accept it, because by accepting it, he is showing approval of this holiday.

One Daa’iyah (caller to Islam) said: we went to a flower shop in one of the Muslim countries and we were shocked to find it completely prepared for this occasion, with red carpets at the entrance, red placards and red decorations. We were met by one of the people who worked there, and we asked him why they had done so much to decorate the place for this occasion.

He said that these preparations had begun early, and that there had been so many orders… Then he told us that he had been amazed by that, because he was a new Muslim who had left Christianity. He had known about that before he became Muslim, so how come his customers were Muslims and not Christians?

Other shops ran out of red roses, which were being sold at high prices. When one of the female Du’aat entered upon the female students who were gathered in the lecture hall, she was dismayed to find them all carrying something red. One had a red rose, another had a red scarf, or a red handkerchief, or a red bag, or red socks…

Among the things that have been seen among the Muslims on this holiday:

a- All the female students agreeing with their friends to tie a red ribbon on the right wrist.

b- Wearing something red (a blouse, hair clip, shoes…). This reached such an extent last year that when we entered the classroom we found most of the students wearing it, as if it was a uniform.

c- Red balloons on which are written the words "I love you". They usually bring these out at the end of the school day, in an area far from where the teachers can see them.

d- Writing names and hearts on their hands, or just initials.

e- Red roses are widespread on this day.

Groups of girls entered their lecture rooms on February 14, each of them wearing something red, with red heart-shaped stickers on their faces, wearing red make-up. They started to exchange red-colored gifts and kiss one another warmly. This happened in more than one university in the Muslim world, even in an Islamic university. In other words, they were celebrating Saint Valentine's Day.

On that day, secondary schools (high schools) were astonished by the large numbers of female students who brought red roses of the finest quality, colored their faces with red cosmetics, wore red earrings, and started to exchange gifts and warm greetings, in celebration of this day.

Valentine's Day has come to a number of Arab and Muslim countries, and has even reached the healtrand of Islam (the Arabian Peninsula). It has reached societies which we had thought far removed from this insanity. In Riyadh, the price of roses has risen incredibly, to an extent that a single rose costs 36 riyals (10 dollars), whereas before this day it cost 5 riyals. Gift shops and card shops compete in designing cards and gifts for this occasion, and some families hang up red roses in the windows of their homes on this day.

In some of the Muslim countries, shopping centers and hotels have organized special celebrations for Valentine's Day. Most of the stores and business places are covered in red. One of the finest Gulf hotels was full of balloons and dolls. Following the customs of the Feast of Love and the pagan myths, one restaurant owner put on a dramatic production with "Cupid", the idol of love in the Roman myths, nearly naked and carrying a bow and arrow. He and his cohorts were looking to select "Mr. & Mrs. Valentine" from among the people present.

Less expensive restaurants also celebrated this day in their own way. Some stores replaced their regular plates with heart-shaped plates, used red tablecloths and linens, and put a red rose on each table for the man to present to his beloved.

We must oppose these things by all possible means. The responsibility rests with us all.

4- We should not accept congratulations on Valentine's Day, because it is not a holiday or an ‘Eed for the Muslims. If the Muslim is congratulated on this occasion, he should not return the congratulation. Ibn Al-Qayyim said: "With regard to congratulating others with the congratulations used by the non-Muslims on such occasions, it is prohibited by scholarly consensus, such as congratulating them on the occasion of their festivals or fasts, wishing them a blessed festival, etc.

Finally, we must explain the true nature of this holiday and other festivals of the non-Muslims to those Muslims who have been deceived by them, and explain to them that it is essential for the Muslim to be distinguished by his religion and to protect his 'Aqeedah (belief) from anything that may damage it. This should be done towards the Ummah (Muslim nation) for the sake of Allaah and in fulfillment of the command of enjoining good and forbidding evil.Source(islamweb.net)

A Palestinian Girl tells what happened with her and her family to their world...

2009-02-07T23:08:00.000+08:00

A child in Gaza sends a message to the world english subtitled

2009-02-07T23:07:00.000+08:00

sheikh Muhammad Hassan

2009-02-04T11:49:00.000+08:00

Variety abounds at this year''s Hala February Festival-Kuwait

2009-02-03T15:55:00.001+08:00

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The 10th Hala February Festival will start on the 30th of next month and will be dissimilar from the previous gala, said Waleed Al-Jassem, the coordinator of the festival on Tuesday.
Al-Jassem indicated at a press conference here today that the recent crisis that occurred in Gaza afflicting a lot of people there made the coordinators of the festival cancel the musical concerts. But it will not stop the first carnival that will start in Salem-Al Mubarak Street and second carnival in Souk Sharq.
He also announced that Hala February is a well known celebration nationwide. This Year the festival will be a rousing success even without musical concerts or various other forms of entertainment such as sports, exhibitions, poetry recitals, religious lectures. It will also be geared to encouraging shopping.(end) mga.na.hs KUNA 271616 Jan 09NNNN watanialkuwait.com

Nicole Queen: Converts after seeing Youtube videos on Islam

2009-02-02T16:15:00.000+08:00

An Islamic History of Europe (Full Movie)

2009-01-31T22:52:00.000+08:00

60 ways to keep your wife's love GUARANTEED!!! part 1/2

2009-01-31T22:41:00.000+08:00

60 ways to keep your wife's love GUARANTEED!!! part 2/2

2009-01-31T22:40:00.000+08:00

Forever Palestine

2009-01-27T22:40:00.000+08:00

Baby got burned to death in Gaza..

2009-01-17T19:58:00.001+08:00

Gazan babies born into war

2009-01-16T11:46:00.001+08:00

Israel bombs Gaza cemetery

2009-01-16T11:44:00.000+08:00

Let the world see their truth!

2009-01-16T11:42:00.000+08:00