Every month a couple of Hindu families (of the 2.44 lakh Hindus in Pakistan) leave the land
where they and their parents had been born, to seek refuge, in India.
Each one talks of feeling watched, being pushed further into their
homes. They celebrate their festivals as quietly as possible or not at
all. They pray behind closed doors and many have
considered giving their children Muslim first names, except that even
that might attract violence. Riding in public transportation is a
fraught event because someone might decide that Hindus should sit with
them. -- NISHA SUSAN
I’ve
always thought that Islamic extremism was different. To me, the most
persuasive theory is that some people are caught between modernity and
tradition and as an escape have invented a make-believe purism, which
permits killing in the name of holiness. Then came the Iraq war and the
debate shifted. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded that
the problem has not gone away. There are still fanatics in Iran,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza and South Lebanon, and even Denver. In some
ways extremism is on the wane but in other ways the poisonous infection
has not been addressed. -- By David A. Lehrer
Shivaji’s confidential secretary was Maulana Haider Ali and the chief of his cannon division was Ibrahim Gardi. Rustom-e-Jamaan was his bodyguard.
As
a matter of fact, Shivaji is popular amongst people, not because he was
anti Muslim or worshipper of Cows and Brahmins, but because he reduced
the taxation on the poor peasants. Shivaji adopted humane policy in all
the aspects of his administration, which did not base itself on the
religion. In the recruitment of his soldiers and officers for army and
navy, religion was no criterion and more than one third of his army
consisted of Muslims. The supreme command of his navy was with Siddi
Sambal, and Muslim Siddis were in navy in large numbers. Interestingly
his major battles were fought against the Rajput army lead by Raja
Jaisingh, who was in the administration of Aurangzeb. When Shivaji was
detained at Agra forte, of the two men on whom he relied for his
eventual escape, one was a Muslim called Madari Mehtar. -- Ram Puniyani
Please
recall that in the heydays of Islam, a Muslim from Baghdad, Bokhara,
Cairo, Damascus, Samarkand and elsewhere learnt his theology in the
same madrasa (educational institution, literally) where he was also
taught science and mathematics, logic, philosophy and mysticism, music,
literature and architecture. You adore Imam Ghazali; consider his to be
among the most respected names in the field of Islamic theology. But do
you teach in your madarsas what Imam Ghazali did: “He who has never doubted is not a true believer”, or that every ayat (verse) of the Quran can be interpreted in 60,000 ways?
Do you tell them ever that this highly learned Imam believed that Allah
has prescribed two basic texts for the ummah: one, the Quran, the other
is His “open book”, otherwise known as the Universe/ Cosmos. And that
the Quran itself repeatedly asserts that to even begin to fathom Divine
Intent, in addition to imaan (faith) you need aql (intellect) and ilm
(reasoning). A rounded education for the 4 per cent is critical,
for it is they from whom the 96 per cent learn their Islam. Because of
the compartmentalised, fragmented, insular and sectarian nature of his
education, the Maulvi Sahib’s ignorance of the world he inhabits is
tragic — and the Mr Muslim’s knowledge of Islam pathetic. --Javed Anand
Iraq
will be an Islamic democracy, which is an oxymoron. Democratic
government is illegal in Islam. How many Christian American boys died
to establish an Islamic government in Iraq?
Now we are told that 40,000 additional troops are needed for the “war
on terror” in Afghanistan. There is no freedom of religion in
Afghanistan, no rights of the individual, no rights for women, and
Islam is the established religion. The President must be a Muslim.
Peace in Afghanistan will result in the continued establishment of an
Islamic Republic ruled by a nation of Islamic Clerics (Judges). In
Muslim majority nations, such as Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims are regarded
as Dhimmis, second-class people whose testimony in court does not count
as much as that of a Muslim and who must pay extra taxes. Forget equal
treatment under the law, and don’t even ask how they treat Dhimmi
women. -- Coach Dave Daubenmire
Nathan
Gardels: For those of us who have not had the opportunity to read your
book "Right of Return," which imagines Israel in 2024, what is the
picture you paint?
I
describe an Israel that is basically the area of larger Tel Aviv, with
the northern part of the Negev, including Dimona. The North is gone,
the South is gone, Jerusalem is gone. The country fell apart because of
external pressure -- continuous rocket bombardments -- that caused
families to leave, and because of internal erosion: The Israeli Arabs
and the ultra-Orthodox Jews moved away from the secular Jewish heart of
the nation. Those with a criminal record, those who are old, and
another group fascinated to be part of an apocalypse, and those who
just want to stay and defend the country no matter what happens, were
left behind. -- Dutch Novelist and FilmmakerLeon de Winter
Belief: Iran is like North Korea in having an active nuclear weapons program, and is the same sort of threat to the world.
Actuality:
Iran has a nuclear enrichment site at Natanz near Isfahan where it says
it is trying to produce fuel for future civilian nuclear reactors to
generate electricity. All Iranian leaders deny that this site is for
weapons production, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has
repeatedly inspected it and found no weapons program. Iran is not being
completely transparent, generating some doubts, but all the evidence
the IAEA and the CIA can gather points to there not being a weapons
program. The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate by 16 US intelligence
agencies, including the CIA and the Defence Intelligence Agency,
assessed with fair confidence that Iran has no nuclear weapons research
program. -- Juan Cole
And
like the Osamas, the Taliban and the Ikhwan ul Muslimeen in Egypt, many
Pakistanis are further hobbled by their belief that they are not
successful in life because they are not committed enough to their
religion. As many of them see it, to cure their ills they must have an
even larger dose of their religion. Welcome to the Club of Doom. This
is like the Malay saying ‘biarkan si luncai terjun dengan labu labunya’
which loosely translated means ‘let the fat guy sink himself in the
deep end’. Their understanding of religion seems to focus their
energies on hate, hate and more hate. They have nothing better to do
with their lives. ... Islam
on the other hand is not a religion. Islam is a Deen or a way of life.
Islam does not breed hatred. Surely then what is breeding all this
hatred in Iraq is not Islam. ... Just
educating the Muslims and making every Muslim an engineer or doctor is
not enough to create a successful Islamic country. Somehow a PhD does
not automatically make a Muslim respect his neighbour, his environment
or stop him from being ‘holier than thou’ or be able to contribute some
useful work in a disciplined and professional manner which can compete
with the non Muslims. The continuing suffering of the Islamic countries
bears witness to these failures.-- Syed Akbar Ali
A person greatly admires Hazrat Maulana Rashid Gangohi,
the outstanding scholar who was one of the founders of the Deoband
madrasa. The gentleman to whom I refer is a kindly soul, who can be
depended upon for help by others. However, when in the course of
conversation I chanced to remark that the most basic virtue lay in
kindness towards others, he contradicted me. Kindness, he contended,
was reserved for “pious, practicing Muslims”. As for others, they
should be given a chance to mend their ways, after which “they would be Wajibul Qatal”. Another person I chanced to meet — a finance man, no less — feels that people who do not attend Friday prayers “should simply be killed. Slit their throats!”
Now,
this kind of sanguinary verbal ferocity is very different from the
traditions of quiet piety and gentle acceptance in which most Muslims
were brought up. I claim no expertise to suggest
whether this or the other is the ‘correct’ version of Islamic thinking.
However, there are certainly many scholars who hold that this
aggressive literalism, popularly but incorrectly referred to as
‘fundamentalism’, is a doctrinal innovation of relatively recent
origin. It is very much a product of the linear, pseudo-logical
thinking that has characterised our violent and intolerant age — an age
that began with the full flowering of modern imperialism in the
nineteenth century and whose baleful cultural and psychic responses
have long outlived their origins. With this kind of intellectual legacy as a backdrop, what kind of political discourse is possible in Pakistan --Salman Tarik Kureshi
It should be delivered in Arabic: Whether Muslims understand what they are being told is immaterial
Several
intellectuals gave their views on the subject of Using Friday Khutba
(the speech delivered by the Imam before prayers) for spreading
reformist ideas in the Muslim community. Some said that to be effective
Khutba should be given in the language Muslims of that area understand.
Commenting on these ideas, conservative Deobandi Aalim Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi explains that
Khutba is an essential part of Friday prayers, actually one-half of the
prayers, and like the prayers should only be delivered in Arabic, the
language of Heaven and angels, who come down to listen to the Khutba;
whether Muslims understand that or not is immaterial, as Muslims in any
case don’t understand who they are praying to or what they are praying
for . He, however, concedes that lectures dealing with reformist and
societal issues, which many Muslims consider the primary purpose of
Friday prayers (which has to be for that reason a larger congregation
than normal five-times-a-day prayers,) can be given in the local
language before the Khutba. But there should not be a gap between the
Arabic Khutba and the prayers, so the actual khutba should not even be
translated in the local language.
As
regards Jinnah’s legacy of Partition, everybody in India and many
across the border realise that it was indeed a historical blunder. I
strongly feel that it is high time efforts were made to reunite the
subcontinent. Germany and Yemen have managed a happy reunion. Can the
people of the subcontinent — which not too long ago was a single nation
united by common bonds of history, geography, religion, language and
culture — not tread the same path of sanity? As to Jinnah’s other
legacy, unfortunately Muslim religious leaders of the day, always
shouting from the rooftop that personal law in its entirety is an
inalienable part of their faith, would not let the badly distorted
Shariat Act of 1937 be amended so as to remove its anomalies and
discriminatory provisions. -- Tahir Mahmood
Most
Western analysts dogmatically deny that the Koran teaches violence and
supremacism. Yet Muslims who believe this comprise a global movement,
active from Indonesia to Nigeria and extending into Europe and North
America, that is dedicated to waging war against "unbelievers" - that
is, non-Muslims - and subjugating them as inferiors under the rule of
Islamic law. This movement sees in the Koran its divine mandate to wage
that war. In
March 2009, five Muslims accused of helping plot the September 11
attacks, including the notorious Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wrote an
"Islamic Response to the Government's Nine Accusations."
In
it they quote the Koran to justify their jihad war against the American
Infidels. "In God's book," asserts the letter, "he ordered us to fight
you everywhere we find you, even if you were inside the holiest of all
holy cities, The Mosque in Mecca, and the holy city of Mecca, and even
during sacred months.
In
God's book, verse 9 [actually verse 5], Al-Tawbah [the Koran's 9th
chapter]: Then fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and
seize them, and besiege them and lie in wait for them in each and every
ambush."
Osama
bin Laden's communiqués have also quoted the Koran copiously. In his
1996 "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of
the Two Holy Places," he quotes seven Koran verses: 3:145; 47:4-6;
2:154; 9:14; 47:19; 8:72; and the notorious "Verse of the Sword,"
9:5.[i] Bin Laden began his October 6, 2002, letter to the American
people with two Koran quotations, both of a martial bent: "Permission
to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are
fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is
Able to give them (believers) victory" (22:39) and "Those who believe,
fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the
cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan" (4:76)." ...
One
pro-Osama website put it this way: "The truth is that a Muslim who
reads the Koran with devotion is determined to reach the battlefield in
order to attain the reality of Jihad. It is solely for this reason that
the Kufaar [unbelievers] conspire to keep the Muslims far away from
understanding the Koran, knowing that Muslims who understand the Koran
will not distance themselves from Jihad." -- Robert Spencer
Islamic
scholar and peace advocate Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Hindu spiritual
guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talk about jihad in the Qur’an and the
Bhagavad Gita. Sadia Khan, the Maulana’s 24-year-old granddaughter,
adds a youthful perspective with her questions. The dialogue was
moderated by Narayani Ganesh
"I
think everyone knows what the basic outlines of an [Israeli-
Palestinian final status] agreement would look like," President Obama
opined while campaigning for the presidency, repeating what many others
have said. But Arabs don't agree with this consensus view, which
assumes that Palestinians will moderate their demands for Jerusalem and
for the "right of return" of Palestinian "refugees" to Israel, and
Israel will trade land for peace, including parts of Jerusalem. Fatah
has proclaimed its red lines to the Palestinians and to more than a
billion Muslims. It won't be easy for them to back down from their
demands, even if they want to. It's not just the Palestinians who want
to limit the Jewish presence in Jerusalem. Israel has plenty of Jewish
citizens who may not agree with all the Palestinian statements, but
their actions implement our adversary's agenda and undercut Israel's
legitimacy. -- Stephen Kramer
What if America's greatest threat was not from terrorists or so-called "extremists"?, What
if our baseline tactical assumptions created in reaction to the 9/11
attacks did not address the strategic ideological threat?, Almost
every homeland security and every counterterrorist law
enforcement-related tactic has been focused on preventing "the next
9/11" attack on America. But the next 9/11 style mass-casualty
terrorist attack, no matter how horrific, will not destroy America. We
need to be less afraid of "the next 9/11," and more concerned about
showing the courage of our convictions in defending America's values
and ideals. America is a survivor, because we are much more than
buildings and cities. America is more than a nation-state. We are more
than individuals and families. We are certainly all of that, and we
certainly need to defend all of that. But first and foremost, America
is an idea, and our twin towers of equality and liberty will continue
to stand as long as we fight for the idea that is America.In fact, the true threat to America is much larger than terrorist tactics alone. -- Jeffrey Imm
Contemplating the plight of Muslims in the world despite their large numbers – one fourth of humanity - Zafar Agha
concludes that this is because Muslims have gone back to the days of
the pre-Islamic Jahiliya, though they still claim to abide by Islamic
tenets. Islam had freed them from monarchy, feudalism, subservience to
an obscurantist priestly class and ignorance. But once again they have
left pursuing modern education and rule by consultation and have
adopted a monarchical, feudal and exploitative system of governance in
most parts of the Muslim world and have come to depend on conservative
ulema alone for their education. Hence their degradation, political
impotence and a life of slavery despite very large numbers.
America
and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and
identify the real enemy: Islam… If you want to understand the nature of
the enemy we face, visualize a tapestry of snakes. They slither and
they hiss, and they would eat each other alive, but they will unite in
a hideous mass to achieve their common goal of imposing Islam on the
world. Gabriel vehemently denies that there can be such a thing as a moderate Muslim, only a “non-practicing” one: I
call it a practicing Muslim and a non-practicing Muslim. I think it is
a better description than “moderate” and “radical.” A practicing Muslim
goes to mosque, prays five times a day, doesn't drink, believes God
gave him women to be his property - to beat, to stone to death… He
believes Christians and Jews are apes and pigs because they are cursed
by Allah. He believes it is his duty to declare war on the infidels
because they are Allah's enemies. That is a practicing Muslim. -- Hussein Ibish
IRAN's Current Political Assessment: The torture and imprisonment of thousands, the killingof nearly 100 and rapes of many,
and the mass trials of "key figures" many of whom were paradoxically
the past pillars of the Islamic Republic's theocracy has intensified
the resolved determination of the people for freedom and democracy,
justice and transparency, accountability and reforms in an indigenous
"Green Movement" that conjures up the mass elimination of dissidents
and political prisoners of conscience of the Shah's and Khomeini's era
of the 80's. No one can deny the adverse role of western hegemonies as
evidenced by the annual spending of over $100 million dollars by the
U.S. government alone for subversive and media based insurgencies,
which has ironically impeded the people of Iran to achieve their goals,
since the Iranian regime exploits this as a rationale for repressing
their rights. -- Pirouz Azadi
MCCA
chairman Dr. Akhtar Kalam outlined the objectives of the MCCA saying
that the organization was too big to remain a cooperative and yet too
small to become a bank. Kalam said that the move to turn MCCA into
Australia’s first Islamic retail bank would be hastened as more and
more consumers are now turning to the principles of Islamic Banking
& Finance as an alternative to the current offers in the
marketplace. Under Islamic law, charging interest on a loan is
forbidden. The MCCA was founded in the early 1990s. It was initially
funded by shareholders but now borrows from non-banking lenders. The
key achievement of the MCCA being that it has helped hundreds of Muslim
families in Australia buy a home. -- Danish Ahmad Khan
The
TJ organization also serves as a de facto conduit for Islamist
extremists and for groups such as al Qaeda to recruit new members.
Significantly, the Tablighi recruits do intersect with the world of
radical Islamism when they travel to Pakistan to receive their initial
training. We have received reports that once the recruits are in
Pakistan, representatives of various radical Islamist groups, such as Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,
the Taliban and al Qaeda, are said to woo them actively — to the point
of offering them military training. And some of them accept the offer.
For example, John Walker Lindh — an American who is serving a prison
sentence for aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan — traveled with Tablighi
preachers to Pakistan in 1998 to further his Islamic studies before
joining the Taliban. -- Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
No covering up Egypt's niqab row: There
have been demonstrations by women students in Cairo after a leading
cleric backed moves to ban the wearing of full women's veils, known as
the niqab, in classrooms or dormitories.
Women Choosing Full-Face Veil Has Egyptian Authorities Worried
The
Mo’mins fight in the cause of Allah against cruelty, tyranny and
injustice. Their purpose is to make justice prevail in the world. The
unbelievers fight to subdue other people and exploit them for their own
ends. The Quran tells us in simple and direct language when war is
justified and when it is not. The principles laid down by the Quran are
clear and definite. They are not couched in language which may be
susceptible to different interpretations. The distinction between a
just and an unjust war is clear and should not be blurred by
sophistical arguments, for example, people, if they are really
persecuted, have a light to rebel against the government of their
country. However, they would be acting directly against the Quranic
principles if they magnified any petty grievance and called it
persecution. They may be said to be the victims of persecution only if
the basic rights, defined by the Quran, are denied to them. The Mu’min
will keep up arms only to defend these rights, and he will hasten to
help the oppressed, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. --Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
If
Muslims want to succeed in anything useful, determine new directions
and new dimensions and if they want to influence the world and restore
their glory they need urgently to re-examine their religion. The
Muslim hatred of democracy, pluralism, religious tolerance,
co-existence and freedom of expression still continues unabated. The
battle between the rigid, closed and dogmatic ideology of religion and
unfettered thinking is by no means decided but its outcome will
determine whether Muslims will embrace freedom, democracy, pluralism,
coexistence, progress and tolerance or succumb to non-compromising
fundamentalism, conflict and relentless war against the civilized
world. The incessant rage, hostility and violence of the dejected
Muslims will further destabilize the entire world…. Indeed the West
runs almost entirely on 'ilm or knowledge. On the other hand the
Islamic countries are often shackled by the ideas of the habar or the
priests of religion who run on hot air. -- Syed Akbar Ali
The
Quran emphatically asserts that death is not the final end but a
gateway to a different kind of life: We mete out death among you....
that we may transfigure you and make you what you know not. And verily
you know the first creation. Why then do we not reflect? (56: 61-63)The
real self, not being a part of the body is not subject to physical
laws. It is dependent on the body for functioning in the physical
world, but it may continue to exist after the destruction of the body,
its instrument: And they say, what! When we have become bones and dust
shall we indeed be raised up a new creation. Say thou: Be ye stones or
iron or a substance still more improbable in your hearts (to be
restored to life). But they will say: Who shall bring us back? Say
thou: He who brought you into being for the first time (17: 49-51). -- Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
“Hindu girls are kidnapped in every part of the province,” said Mr Chand.
The
head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jahangir, said in
a statement that announcements made from mosques by the banned Sunni
group Lashkar-i-jhangvi the day before called upon Muslims to “make
mincemeat of the Christians”. Human rights and minority rights groups
have called, and continue to call, for the repeal of blasphemy laws
that they said are used to persecute non-Muslims. The Hindu community
in Karachi has not forgotten the case of Kumar Jagdesh, a young Hindu
who was brutally murdered in April last year in Karachi. -- Isambard Wilkinson
Who
should we blame for the failure of the 9/11 truth movement to fix the
historical record and, better yet, identify those in the government who
turned 9/11 into an excuse for going to war, getting them indicted,
prosecuted, and punished for their murderous acts?
It
is too easy to blame the mainstream media and political establishment
for refusing to demand and pursue a truly comprehensive and credible
independent scientific and engineering investigation.President
Obama with his tenacious belief in looking forward, not backward,
exemplifies a national mindset to avoid the painful search for truth
and justice that could produce still more public disillusionment with
government and feed the belief that American democracy is weak at best,
and delusional at worst. -- Joel S. Hirschhorn
Muslims
are already "conquering Europe's cities, street by street". So what if
Muslims account for only 3% to 4% of the EU's total population of 493
million?
Since
the 1970s, by a second generation of Muslims born in Europe, many of
them with bleaker prospects of employment than their parents. Today,
about 15-16 million Muslims from families of immigrant origin live in
the EU, mostly in the cities. Surveys and opinion polls, including a
recent one by Gallup, repeatedly reveal the average European Muslim to
be poor, socially conservative, and unhappy about discrimination, but
generally content, hopeful about their children - who attend
non-religious schools - and eager, like their non-Muslim peers, to get
on with their lives. Initially high, sbirth-rates among Muslim
communities across Europe are falling as more men and women become
literate. Exposure to secular modernity has also weaned many of these
immigrants away from traditional faith: only 5% of Muslims in France
regularly attend mosques, and elsewhere, too, non-observant "cultural
Muslims" predominate. -- Pankaj Mishra
It is a 'New Package with old policy',
which aims to maximise Pakistani gains at the expense of the local
people. Aim of Pakistani policy makers has always been to subjugate
people, deprive them of fundamental rights, strengthen undemocratic
forces, and promote communalism, extremism and hatred to divide people
and plunder resources of this area. Malika Baltistani, Chairperson
Gilgit Baltistan National Alliance, in a letter to PM of Pakistan said:
'It is a mournful reality that you have further continued a tradition
to prolong our slavery by only altering the titles of the portfolios of
our future "masters" than transforming our constitutional, democratic
and basic rights from darkness to enlightenment. --Dr Shabir Choudhry
The
threat of Islamist terrorism was not recognised at the time but the
ideology of the supremacy of Islam was present in Kysar’s
fundamentalism and “no compromise” attitude.
The
problem with this 'extremist' sect is not that it proselytises, but it
seems to have so little contact with the outside world.
He's
right in that the Tablighi Jamaat copy Muhammad in all his customs,
even it is reported, eschewing beds for sleeping and toothbrushes for
cleaning teeth; they use a twig. But he is wrong about their interest
in non-believers, indicating the serious religion "blind spot" that
bedevils coverage of world affairs now. If it were the duty of the
Tablighi Jamaat to convert non-believers, there might be a freer debate
than there is. --Jenny Taylor
The
TJ is said to have 80 million followers around the world and wants to
build a so-called mega mosque in Newham, east London. A combination of
factors has caused increasingly alarm in Britain about the Tabligh. What I wanted to know was why they were building a new ‘global headquarters’ – as it’s been called - in London. --Jenny Taylor
I
attended one of those meetings as a reporter in August 1989 and heard
young men decry the evils of drink, discos and “free intermingling of
the sexes”. One called Kysar, then aged 19, told me: “Islam isn’t a
religion where you can only adopt part of it. You have to adopt the
whole Islamic viewpoint on society. There can be no compromise with the
divine system revealed to us.”. --Sean O'Neill
"The Messenger will say: 'My Lord, surely my people have taken the Quran for a joke"Surah 25:30.
Wahhabis
feel that they are up keepers of a purer form of religion than other
Sunnis. The Wahhabis believe that their version of religion is derived
from the salaf or the earliest three generations that succeeded the
prophet - the generation of the sahaba or companions, then the tabiin
(second generation) and finally the tabii tabiin (third generation)
after the Prophet. They reject many rituals and other understanding of
religion which is practiced by the Sunnis which they say were liberal
innovations or bida'a that came after these three earliest generations.
They use this word bida'a or liberal innovations very freely to
describe many things that came into being after the first three
generations. Before and soon after Abdel Aziz Ibn Saud the founder of
Saudi Arabia established the Kingdom his supporters set off on
murderous religious expeditions inside the land where they would wipe
out entire villages including men, women and children who were not
Wahhabis. This was done to cleanse Saudi Arabia of bida'a. -- Syed Akbar Ali
A provincial decision on adultery doesn’t characterize the whole country
Indonesia
will be the 7th largest economy in the world by 2045, bigger than
Japan, the UK or Germany, says a Standard Charter Bank Report,
September 2nd entitled Indonesia: Asia´s Emerging Powerhouse.And
Indonesia will probably have to be a nuclear power by then to meet high
volume demand for clean energy. It is perhaps a good thing that an
outgoing defeated provincial parliament of yesterday´s men in Aceh have
made such a stupid decision. They clearly don’t care or are not aware
of the impact this will have on the reputation of Indonesia or Islam. A
recent report in the UK Sunday Times (26.07.09) confirmed that
voluntary use of shariah law to resolve family and commercial disputes
is increasingly common, with non-Muslims starting to use it to solve
business problems in the Muslim community. -- Terry Lacey
U.N. Finds Signs of War Crimes on Both Sides in Gaza
International Music Week would start in Baku this week
Obama Rejects Afghanistan-Vietnam Comparison
New York City Police Department 'clarifies' report on radical Islam
Iran Agrees to New Talks with 6 Global Powers
Al-Qaida target killed in US Somali strike
Afghan's presidential candidate calls for criminal enquiry
Are Islamic Financial Products Taxable In Nigeria?
Israel grants immunity to soldiers over misdeed
Sheikh-ul-Islam: We will not be able to take even 2000 people to Hajj
Trouser-woman’s case shows Arab violations
KARACHI: Muslims urged to do more for Palestinians
ABU DHABI — Terror Funding Case verdict Likely on Oct. 12
Islamist
legal warfare or "lawfare”: Libel tourism overshadowed threat to free
and open discourse on radical Islam, terrorism, and its sources of
funding
There
is at least one marked distinction in the way of development of the
self from that of the body. The body grows by taking and assimilating
nutrient substances from the environment. The more nourishment it gets,
the better is its growth. Paradoxically, the self grows not by
receiving but by giving. Generosity promotes its growth and meanness
checks it. The more the self gives of its riches, the richer it grows.
If this basic truth is clearly perceived, men will rush to the help of
those in need. Pride in possession will give place to joy in
munificence. They will think more of what they can give than of what
they can keep for themselves. The acquisitive instinct will be weakened
and the impulse to give will gain strength. The Quran extols men who put
the interests of others above their own: “They prefer others before
themselves although there be indigence among them; and whosoever is
preserved from the covetousness of his own soul, these shall prosper”(59: 9). --Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
One
of the spouses believes in Oneness of the Almighty Allah Kareem, also
that all creatures are created by Him only, and one cannot supplicate
before anyone except the Almighty Allah Kareem. On the other hand,
someone worships idols in the same house. One of the parents teaches
Islamic tenets and principles to the children and the other parent
forces them to worship idols and visit temples. In such a confusing
situation, how can an atmosphere of mutual trust or confidence be
built? The life of the children will be miserable, living in severe
mental tension affecting their studies. It is seen in the
inter-communal marriages, either one party converts to other’s religion
or the matrimonial relation is snapped due to domestic tension and
intense difference, depriving the children of the father’s affection
and the mother’s love. -- Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani
One
can think of several reasons why the inclusion of Balochistan at this
point might, in fact, strengthen India’s negotiating position. It will
be recalled that some years ago, when the Pakistani army killed Baloch
leader Sardar Bugti, India had formally issued a statement deploring
the incident. It provoked Pakistan to react furiously, demanding that
India desist from interfering in its internal affairs. Today, they
appear to be asking India to comment on developments in Balochistan—on
the activities of the Quetta shoora, the haven it offers to the Al
Qaeda-Taliban leadership, the human rights violations against Baloch
civilians, and so on. Pakistan has been at pains to reassure India that
the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will be secure through the
territory of Balochistan. They now accept that they are facing threats
there similar to the ones ‘in other areas’, presumably, Swat and
Waziristan, where they are fighting a civil war. --Arundhati Ghose,former Indian ambassador to the United Nations, Geneva
School has violated constitutional guarantee: student “Sporting beard is an indispensable part of Islam” A
Bench consisting of Justices B.N. Agrawal and G.S. Singhvi stayed the
dismissal order passed by the Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School,
a government-recognised minority institution, on an appeal by the
student, Mohammad Salim. Earlier, on March 30, a Bench headed by
Justice Markandey Katju rejected the student’s petition orally
observing that secularism could not be overstretched and that
“Talibanisation” of the country could not be permitted. Salim sought
review of the plea stating the observations on “Talibanisation” caused
incalculable damage to the country’s image and the judiciary, besides,
hurting Muslim sentiments
Former Pakistan NSA Maj Gen (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani
was sacked for saying Ajmal Kasab the only surviving terrorist f the
Mumbai attacks, is a Pakistani. In this interaction with The Indian
Express Editor-In-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24*7’s
Walk the Talk, he says he picked up the phone after 26/11, spoke to NSA
M K Narayanan, but could not get him the next time.
Q. What led to your very unfortunate departure from the scene?
I
can’t go into too much detail. I don’t want to wash dirty linen in
Delhi. What happened was that I made a statement on Kasab, and the
prime minister took umbrage to that.
Q. You made an honest statement. There was no point in hiding the fact, because the whole world knew it by then.
Let
me tell you one thing. Our agencies are blamed the most. But they said,
‘Sir, we need to tell the world. The world thinks we have something to
hide, we are certain that he is a Pakistani’.
Q. It was not a happy statement, it was embarrassing for Pakistan.
I
think we have to be upfront with each other. Yes, Kasab is a Pakistani
and we are not proud of what he did, but this is a fact.
Q. Was there a failure on the Pakistani side in preventing this?
No.
It’s a huge country and we have mega problems, particularly regarding
terrorism. At that time, our total focus was on FATA and Swat. This
thing happened not because of us, but in spite of us. I can assure you,
had our intelligence any inkling about it, this would not have
happened. And I say it as Mahmud Ali Durrani, ex-NSA.
The
Buddhist, Christian and Hindu doctrines of salvation have a great deal
in common. In each, the emphasis is upon liberation from sin, upon
rescue from evil. In each, the objective is a return to the previous
state of innocence and bliss. As sin is supposed to be inseparable from
life and the phenomenal world is believed to be the abode of evil, it
follows that liberation can be achieved only by renouncing the world.
Moreover, in the Quran, the emphasis is on the positive content of
salvation. It is not conceived as a negation of pain and liberation
from evil. It consists in the sense of fulfilment, the feeling of
realisation and the thrill of expansion. Man is endowed with a number
of potentialities. By developing these he reaches his full stature and
qualifies for still higher stages awaiting him. Man must discover in
what direction his self can develop and then he must create the
conditions, physical as well as social, which favour the development.
His main task in this life is to develop his self by conquering the
forces of nature and employing them for the development of mankind. -- Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
Following the 9/11 attacks on the United States
when the world turned upside down for Muslims around the world, Dr Naik
stepped up his battle of hearts and minds by travelling around the
world and offering lectures, talks and interviews, to distinguish the
original faith of peace from the hateful death cult championed by
extremists like Osama bin Laden. He has delivered at least 1200 public
talks in the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East and Asia since 9/11, not
to mention countless others held in India.Over
the past few years, this one individual has done more to promote Islam
and its view of a just world than numerous Muslim organisations with
millions of followers and countries with infinite resources at their
disposal have ever managed to. -- Aijaz Zaka Syed
While
it is important to recognise the political rights of people of
Gilgit-Baltistan, the step taken by Pakistan has serious implications
for the peace process in Jammu and Kashmir. The logic of the ongoing
peace process has been a ‘notional unity’ of the state through the
concept of irrelevance of borders. The autonomy of Gilgit-Baltistan may
start a trend in the reverse direction and may just justify the
division of the state. -- Rekha Chowdhary
According
to the Gita such are the times when great Teachers are usually born.
Let us examine ourselves and find out if we are ready? But before we
ask that let us first go into a little detail of the journey humanity
has taken in the last five thousand years or so and how various
noteworthy teachers have influenced the outcome? We shall examine the
traditional claim that humans are responsible for their destiny and it
requires evolved humans to prevent the cosmos from collapsing and thus
the human being is not just a part of Divine Design like any other
species but is actually responsible for sustaining the cosmic order. --
Dr. Sarkar Haider in his tribute to the great teachers of humanity on this Teachers' Day.
Some disgruntled Akali leaders are encouraging separatists to destabilise the Congress government in New Delhi.
The
Sikh separatists call themselves Khalistanis, Khalistan being their
chosen name for the Sikh-dominated Punjab. It is not clear what case
they were making for separation before 1984, the year Indira Gandhi was
assassinated. They were certainly not a persecuted minority. As far as
this writer can gather, the modern Khalistani separatist case seems to
rest upon the historic events of June and October 1984 when a Sikh
separatist leader, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, led hundreds of his
followers, armed to the teeth, into the Golden Temple in Amritsar and
occupied it in defiance of the temple's elected management committee
and the law of the land. -- Tom Deegan (with inputs from Sat-Bhambra)
Eight
years ago, 2,600 people lost their lives in Manhattan, and then several
million people lost their story. The al-Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers
did not defeat New Yorkers. It destroyed the buildings, contaminated
the region, killed thousands, and disrupted the global economy, but it
most assuredly did not conquer the citizenry. They were only defeated
when their resilience was stolen from them by clichés, by the
invisibility of what they accomplished that extraordinary morning, and
by the very word "terrorism," which suggests that they, or we, were all
terrified. The distortion, even obliteration, of what actually happened
was a necessary precursor to launching the obscene response that
culminated in a war on Iraq, a war we lost (even if some of us don't
know that yet), and the loss of civil liberties and democratic
principles that went with it.
Only We Can Terrorize Ourselves
For this eighth anniversary of that terrible day, the first post-Bush-era anniversary, let's remember what actually happened: When
the planes became missiles and the towers became torches and then
shards and clouds of dust, many were afraid, but few if any panicked,
other than the President who was far away from danger. The military
failed to respond promptly, even though the Pentagon itself was
attacked, and the only direct resistance that day came from inside
Flight 93, which went down in a field in Pennsylvania on its way to
Washington. -- Rebecca Solnit
"The Messenger will say: 'My Lord, surely my people have taken the Quran for a joke"Surah 25:30.
Wahhabis
feel that they are up keepers of a purer form of religion than other
Sunnis. The Wahhabis believe that their version of religion is derived
from the salaf or the earliest three generations that succeeded the
prophet - the generation of the sahaba or companions, then the tabiin
(second generation) and finally the tabii tabiin (third generation)
after the Prophet. They reject many rituals and other understanding of
religion which is practiced by the Sunnis which they say were liberal
innovations or bida'a that came after these three earliest generations.
They use this word bida'a or liberal innovations very freely to
describe many things that came into being after the first three
generations. Before and soon after Abdel Aziz Ibn Saud the founder of
Saudi Arabia established the Kingdom his supporters set off on
murderous religious expeditions inside the land where they would wipe
out entire villages including men, women and children who were not
Wahhabis. This was done to cleanse Saudi Arabia of bida'a. -- Syed Akbar Ali
In
Pakistan the relentless hatred of Sunni Islamic fanatics towards all
minorities is continuing and the reasons, like always, are based on
their hate-filled minds. Therefore, at least six innocent Christians
have been killed on the grounds that the Koran was desecrated. Of
course, no evidence, and even if evidence, does this mean you can burn
alive women, men, and children? Well in the eyes of radical Sunni Islam
it does.
They believed that it was their religious duty to kill innocents
Verse 9:73 in the Koran states
“O Prophet! Strive hard (wage war) against the unbelievers and the
Hypocrites and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell, – an evil
refuge indeed.” While the Hadith 9:4 says “Wherever you find infidels
kill them; for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of
Resurrection.”
Therefore, in the last few weeks
Christians have been burnt alive in Pakistan, converts from Islam have
been beheaded in Somalia, and Christian pastors in Nigeria were
beheaded for not converting to Islam. All these acts were done by
radical Sunni Islamists and in every case the killers were shouting
“Allah akbar” (God is great) because they believed that it was their
religious duty to kill innocents because of their understanding of
conservative Islam. -- -- Lee Jay Walker, Tokyo Correspondent, The Seoul Times
Islamabad
has always run the show with the help of some local puppets; and it is
believed that it will be the case of old wine in new bottles and not
much will change. They simply want to change names of different office
bearers and give them some additional rights.... The Cabinet of
Gilgit-Baltistan will approve their budget, but it is not clear who
will make the budget. Previously Islamabad appointed Chairman, and now
his post has been upgraded with a title of Governor, which will be
appointed by Islamabad. Similarly the Northern Areas Legislative
Council will be upgraded to the status of Assembly; and existing NALAs
Advisors will become Ministers. The post of the Chief Executive will be
upgraded to the post of Chief Minister. Furthermore Gilgit and
Baltistan will have Auditor General and Election Commissioner, but it
is not clear who will appoint them and if they will be local people or
they will be Pakistanis, as is the case with Lent Officers in Pakistani
Administered Kashmir. --Dr Shabir Choudhry
Islamic sectarian disputes between Deobandis and Barailavis create tension
By Ateequr Rahman, Patna, Bihar
A
Dispute over the appointment of a Wahhabi Imam for a 100-year-old
Barailavi mosque and a “Hafiz” for leading Taraveeh (special Ramazan
prayer), resulted into violent clashes among the followers of Deobandi
and Baraiavi sects.
A story that covers six Muslim families in a Tamil Nadu village
This
is a story that covers six Muslim families in a village in Tamil Nadu
and moves along chapter by untitled chapter, revolving around the lives
of Rabia and a few other Muslim girls over a period of one year. The
novel has drawn deeply from Salma’s own childhood in a village near
Tiruchi. Here the plot is subordinated to capturing the postures of the
community she is writing about. This of course is the pre-Babri Masjid
demolition period and so you do not find signs of a revivalist Islamic
community. In any case, Salma does not touch the issues concerning
Muslims in Tamil Nadu. Among her cast of characters there are
non-Muslims such as Mariyayi, dalit mistress of Karim, through whom the
author highlights the Tamil Muslim attitude to caste and women. -- S. THEODORE BASKARAN
The chief Justice of London's Sharia Court made this chilling statement: If
Sharia is implemented then you can turn this country into a haven of
peace...Once a thief's hand is cut off, nobody is going to steal. Once
an adulterer is stoned, nobody is going to commit this crime at all.
This is why we say we want to offer it to British society.
Statements like this have not stopped prominent British figures from endorsing Sharia.The
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Protestant equivalent of the Pope, called
Sharia "unavoidable." Under Sharia, non-Muslims are forbidden to even
criticize Islam.This is significant,
considering that a Policy Exchange Poll found that forty percent of
British Muslims prefer to be governed by Sharia.Thirty-six percent believe that "apostates" from Islam should be punished by death.A
Guardian Poll indicates that a sizeable number of British Muslims
favour terrorist attacks on the United States and even England. [1] -- John Griffing
There is no scope for Taliban culture in this age of globalization. This is absolutely unbearable, totally insupportable.
What
are the causes of Islamic decline? Most scholars and historians who
have studied the tragedy seem to agree that this was caused mainly by
the fact that Muslims went away from modern education during the
British rule over India. The Muslim tragedy is generally attributed to
their lack of modern education under the guidance of ulema. Madrasas
under the management of Ulema completely ignored modern education. The
important subjects in the syllabus of Deoband were Arabi, Sirf, Naho,
Mantique, Riyadhi, Balaghat, Fiqqah, Usool Fiqqah, kalam and Tafseer
etc. The religious madrasas had fully deprived their own and the future
generations of the benefits of scholarly research, and modern learning.
They considered it a grave danger for the Faith and Iman. -- Shaikh Abdul Majeed, Germany, Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami
Polygamy
is banned in Tunisia, Turkey and Lebanon (for some sects) while it is
severely restricted in others. Pakistan permits second marriage under
certain conditions but only after following specified procedures that
include convincing the Union Council that the husband has the prior
consent of his current wife. In Malaysia, a man may marry again only
with consent from a Shariah Court. In Indonesia, women who are public
servants are prohibited from becoming a second wife. In addition to
following regular permission procedures, a male government servant must
obtain the permission of his superiors before marrying a second wife.
Formal court procedures are obligatory for second marriages in
Bangladesh, Singapore and Philippines. -- Javed Anand
Are these simply isolated events? Or is Europe in the grip of a new wave of Islamophobia?
First,
the books described by writer and critic Pankaj Mishra in a long
polemical article in The Guardian as works of “Eurabia-mongers” who
believe that Europe is about to be “over-run” by Muslims with at least
one American writer claiming that they are already “conquering Europe’s
cities, street by street.”
A
common theme running through these books is that Europe’s 53
million-strong Muslim population is a “demographic time-bomb” which
needs to be defused immediately if the continent does not want to end
up as “Eurabia.” The solution is simple if stark: keep Muslims out of
Europe and, if necessary, throw them out. Some of the suggestions on
how to deal with the Muslim “problem” amount to ethnic cleansing. -- Hasan Suroor
We almost lost sight of a profound pre-9/11 background to the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. The
U.S. intended to recognise the Taliban regime in Kabul in 1996. Senior
Taliban officials were welcomed in the U.S. Big Oil financed the
Taliban. The U.S. encouraged the Central Asian states to work with the
Taliban. Key U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
generously helped the Taliban and accorded it diplomatic recognition. A
major NATO ally, Turkey, kept up official consultations with the
Taliban regime right till 2001.....
Islamism
will remain a principal instrument of geo-strategy for the U.S. towards
Central Asia, North Caucasus and Xinjiang. The rehabilitation of the
Taliban in Afghan mainstream politics is on the cards even without its
formal disarming. India needs to factor in what the ascendance of
political Islam in the region will entail for its security. Equally,
there should be clarity of thinking to differentiate between shades of
Islamism. The imperative of seriously engaging Russia, China, Iran and
the Central Asian states on issues of regional security as powers
affected by extremism emanating from the AfPak belt cannot but be
stressed. --M. K. Bhadrakumar
Suicide blast in Pakistan kills over 40, injures 46
Every month a couple of Hindu families (of the 2.44 lakh Hindus in Pakistan) leave the land
Tackling terror sincerely in Pak's own interest: India
As
a matter of fact, Shivaji is popular amongst people, not because he was
anti Muslim or worshipper of Cows and Brahmins, but because he reduced
the taxation on the poor peasants. Shivaji adopted humane policy in all
the aspects of his administration, which did not base itself on the
religion. In the recruitment of his soldiers and officers for army and
navy, religion was no criterion and more than one third of his army
consisted of Muslims. The supreme command of his navy was with Siddi
Sambal, and Muslim Siddis were in navy in large numbers. Interestingly
his major battles were fought against the Rajput army lead by Raja
Jaisingh, who was in the administration of Aurangzeb. When Shivaji was
detained at Agra forte, of the two men on whom he relied for his
eventual escape, one was a Muslim called Madari Mehtar
Please
recall that in the heydays of Islam, a Muslim from Baghdad, Bokhara,
Cairo, Damascus, Samarkand and elsewhere learnt his theology in the
same madrasa (educational institution, literally) where he was also
taught science and mathematics, logic, philosophy and mysticism, music,
literature and architecture. You adore Imam Ghazali; consider his to be
among the most respected names in the field of Islamic theology. But do
you teach in your madarsas what Imam Ghazali did: 
Iraq
will be an Islamic democracy, which is an oxymoron. Democratic
government is illegal in Islam. How many Christian American boys died
to establish an Islamic government in Iraq?
Pakistan Retakes Army Headquarters; Hostages Freed
Nathan
Gardels: For those of us who have not had the opportunity to read your
book "Right of Return," which imagines Israel in 2024, what is the
picture you paint?
Belief: Iran is like North Korea in having an active nuclear weapons program, and is the same sort of threat to the world. 
And
like the Osamas, the Taliban and the Ikhwan ul Muslimeen in Egypt, many
Pakistanis are further hobbled by their belief that they are not
successful in life because they are not committed enough to their
religion. As many of them see it, to cure their ills they must have an
even larger dose of their religion. Welcome to the Club of Doom. This
is like the Malay saying ‘biarkan si luncai terjun dengan labu labunya’
which loosely translated means ‘let the fat guy sink himself in the
deep end’. Their understanding of religion seems to focus their
energies on hate, hate and more hate. They have nothing better to do
with their lives. ... 
Maulana Kalbe Sadiq also kicks up a row proposing 30 per cent quota for women in India’s Muslim Personal Law Board
A person greatly admires Hazrat Maulana Rashid Gangohi,
the outstanding scholar who was one of the founders of the Deoband
madrasa. The gentleman to whom I refer is a kindly soul, who can be
depended upon for help by others. However, when in the course of
conversation I chanced to remark that the most basic virtue lay in
kindness towards others, he contradicted me. Kindness, he contended,
was reserved for “pious, practicing Muslims”. As for others, they
should be given a chance to mend their ways, after which “they would be Wajibul Qatal”. Another person I chanced to meet — a finance man, no less — feels that people who do not attend Friday prayers “should simply be killed. Slit their throats!”
As
regards Jinnah’s legacy of Partition, everybody in India and many
across the border realise that it was indeed a historical blunder. I
strongly feel that it is high time efforts were made to reunite the
subcontinent. Germany and Yemen have managed a happy reunion. Can the
people of the subcontinent — which not too long ago was a single nation
united by common bonds of history, geography, religion, language and
culture — not tread the same path of sanity? As to Jinnah’s other
legacy, unfortunately Muslim religious leaders of the day, always
shouting from the rooftop that personal law in its entirety is an
inalienable part of their faith, would not let the badly distorted
Shariat Act of 1937 be amended so as to remove its anomalies and
discriminatory provisions.
Most
Western analysts dogmatically deny that the Koran teaches violence and
supremacism. Yet Muslims who believe this comprise a global movement,
active from Indonesia to Nigeria and extending into Europe and North
America, that is dedicated to waging war against "unbelievers" - that
is, non-Muslims - and subjugating them as inferiors under the rule of
Islamic law. This movement sees in the Koran its divine mandate to wage
that war. 
"I
think everyone knows what the basic outlines of an [Israeli-
Palestinian final status] agreement would look like," President Obama
opined while campaigning for the presidency, repeating what many others
have said. But Arabs don't agree with this consensus view, which
assumes that Palestinians will moderate their demands for Jerusalem and
for the "right of return" of Palestinian "refugees" to Israel, and
Israel will trade land for peace, including parts of Jerusalem. Fatah
has proclaimed its red lines to the Palestinians and to more than a
billion Muslims. It won't be easy for them to back down from their
demands, even if they want to. It's not just the Palestinians who want
to limit the Jewish presence in Jerusalem. Israel has plenty of Jewish
citizens who may not agree with all the Palestinian statements, but
their actions implement our adversary's agenda and undercut Israel's
legitimacy
What
if our baseline tactical assumptions created in reaction to the 9/11
attacks did not address the strategic ideological threat?, 
America
and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and
identify the real enemy: Islam… If you want to understand the nature of
the enemy we face, visualize a tapestry of snakes. They slither and
they hiss, and they would eat each other alive, but they will unite in
a hideous mass to achieve their common goal of imposing Islam on the
world. 
MCCA
chairman Dr. Akhtar Kalam outlined the objectives of the MCCA saying
that the organization was too big to remain a cooperative and yet too
small to become a bank. Kalam said that the move to turn MCCA into
Australia’s first Islamic retail bank would be hastened as more and
more consumers are now turning to the principles of Islamic Banking
& Finance as an alternative to the current offers in the
marketplace. Under Islamic law, charging interest on a loan is
forbidden. The MCCA was founded in the early 1990s. It was initially
funded by shareholders but now borrows from non-banking lenders. The
key achievement of the MCCA being that it has helped hundreds of Muslim
families in Australia buy a home
No covering up Egypt's niqab row: 
The
Mo’mins fight in the cause of Allah against cruelty, tyranny and
injustice. Their purpose is to make justice prevail in the world. The
unbelievers fight to subdue other people and exploit them for their own
ends. The Quran tells us in simple and direct language when war is
justified and when it is not. The principles laid down by the Quran are
clear and definite. They are not couched in language which may be
susceptible to different interpretations. The distinction between a
just and an unjust war is clear and should not be blurred by
sophistical arguments, for example, people, if they are really
persecuted, have a light to rebel against the government of their
country. However, they would be acting directly against the Quranic
principles if they magnified any petty grievance and called it
persecution. They may be said to be the victims of persecution only if
the basic rights, defined by the Quran, are denied to them. The Mu’min
will keep up arms only to defend these rights, and he will hasten to
help the oppressed, whether Muslim or non-Muslim
If
Muslims want to succeed in anything useful, determine new directions
and new dimensions and if they want to influence the world and restore
their glory they need urgently to re-examine their religion. The
Muslim hatred of democracy, pluralism, religious tolerance,
co-existence and freedom of expression still continues unabated. The
battle between the rigid, closed and dogmatic ideology of religion and
unfettered thinking is by no means decided but its outcome will
determine whether Muslims will embrace freedom, democracy, pluralism,
coexistence, progress and tolerance or succumb to non-compromising
fundamentalism, conflict and relentless war against the civilized
world. The incessant rage, hostility and violence of the dejected
Muslims will further destabilize the entire world…. Indeed the West
runs almost entirely on 'ilm or knowledge. On the other hand the
Islamic countries are often shackled by the ideas of the habar or the
priests of religion who run on hot air
The
Quran emphatically asserts that death is not the final end but a
gateway to a different kind of life: We mete out death among you....
that we may transfigure you and make you what you know not. And verily
you know the first creation. Why then do we not reflect? (56: 61-63)
Since
the 1970s, by a second generation of Muslims born in Europe, many of
them with bleaker prospects of employment than their parents. Today,
about 15-16 million Muslims from families of immigrant origin live in
the EU, mostly in the cities. Surveys and opinion polls, including a
recent one by Gallup, repeatedly reveal the average European Muslim to
be poor, socially conservative, and unhappy about discrimination, but
generally content, hopeful about their children - who attend
non-religious schools - and eager, like their non-Muslim peers, to get
on with their lives. Initially high, sbirth-rates among Muslim
communities across Europe are falling as more men and women become
literate. Exposure to secular modernity has also weaned many of these
immigrants away from traditional faith: only 5% of Muslims in France
regularly attend mosques, and elsewhere, too, non-observant "cultural
Muslims" predominate. 
The
problem with this 'extremist' sect is not that it proselytises, but it
seems to have so little contact with the outside world.
Indonesia
will be the 7th largest economy in the world by 2045, bigger than
Japan, the UK or Germany, says a Standard Charter Bank Report,
September 2nd entitled Indonesia: Asia´s Emerging Powerhouse.
U.N. Finds Signs of War Crimes on Both Sides in Gaza
There
is at least one marked distinction in the way of development of the
self from that of the body. The body grows by taking and assimilating
nutrient substances from the environment. The more nourishment it gets,
the better is its growth. Paradoxically, the self grows not by
receiving but by giving. Generosity promotes its growth and meanness
checks it. The more the self gives of its riches, the richer it grows.
If this basic truth is clearly perceived, men will rush to the help of
those in need. Pride in possession will give place to joy in
munificence. They will think more of what they can give than of what
they can keep for themselves. The acquisitive instinct will be weakened
and the impulse to give will gain strength. The Quran extols men who 
One
can think of several reasons why the inclusion of Balochistan at this
point might, in fact, strengthen India’s negotiating position. It will
be recalled that some years ago, when the Pakistani army killed Baloch
leader Sardar Bugti, India had formally issued a statement deploring
the incident. It provoked Pakistan to react furiously, demanding that
India desist from interfering in its internal affairs. Today, they
appear to be asking India to comment on developments in Balochistan—on
the activities of the Quetta shoora, the haven it offers to the Al
Qaeda-Taliban leadership, the human rights violations against Baloch
civilians, and so on. Pakistan has been at pains to reassure India that
the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will be secure through the
territory of Balochistan. They now accept that they are facing threats
there similar to the ones ‘in other areas’, presumably, Swat and
Waziristan, where they are fighting a civil war
Q. What led to your very unfortunate departure from the scene?
The
Buddhist, Christian and Hindu doctrines of salvation have a great deal
in common. In each, the emphasis is upon liberation from sin, upon
rescue from evil. In each, the objective is a return to the previous
state of innocence and bliss. As sin is supposed to be inseparable from
life and the phenomenal world is believed to be the abode of evil, it
follows that liberation can be achieved only by renouncing the world.
Moreover, in the Quran, the emphasis is on the positive content of
salvation. It is not conceived as a negation of pain and liberation
from evil. It consists in the sense of fulfilment, the feeling of
realisation and the thrill of expansion. Man is endowed with a number
of potentialities. By developing these he reaches his full stature and
qualifies for still higher stages awaiting him. Man must discover in
what direction his self can develop and then he must create the
conditions, physical as well as social, which favour the development.
His main task in this life is to develop his self by conquering the
forces of nature and employing them for the development of mankind.
According
to the Gita such are the times when great Teachers are usually born.
Let us examine ourselves and find out if we are ready? But before we
ask that let us first go into a little detail of the journey humanity
has taken in the last five thousand years or so and how various
noteworthy teachers have influenced the outcome? We shall examine the
traditional claim that humans are responsible for their destiny and it
requires evolved humans to prevent the cosmos from collapsing and thus
the human being is not just a part of Divine Design like any other
species but is actually responsible for sustaining the cosmic order. --
Eight
years ago, 2,600 people lost their lives in Manhattan, and then several
million people lost their story. The al-Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers
did not defeat New Yorkers. It destroyed the buildings, contaminated
the region, killed thousands, and disrupted the global economy, but it
most assuredly did not conquer the citizenry. They were only defeated
when their resilience was stolen from them by clichés, by the
invisibility of what they accomplished that extraordinary morning, and
by the very word "terrorism," which suggests that they, or we, were all
terrified. The distortion, even obliteration, of what actually happened
was a necessary precursor to launching the obscene response that
culminated in a war on Iraq, a war we lost (even if some of us don't
know that yet), and the loss of civil liberties and democratic
principles that went with it. 
Islamabad
has always run the show with the help of some local puppets; and it is
believed that it will be the case of old wine in new bottles and not
much will change. They simply want to change names of different office
bearers and give them some additional rights.... The Cabinet of
Gilgit-Baltistan will approve their budget, but it is not clear who
will make the budget. Previously Islamabad appointed Chairman, and now
his post has been upgraded with a title of Governor, which will be
appointed by Islamabad. Similarly the Northern Areas Legislative
Council will be upgraded to the status of Assembly; and existing NALAs
Advisors will become Ministers. The post of the Chief Executive will be
upgraded to the post of Chief Minister. Furthermore Gilgit and
Baltistan will have Auditor General and Election Commissioner, but it
is not clear who will appoint them and if they will be local people or
they will be Pakistanis, as is the case with Lent Officers in Pakistani
Administered Kashmir. --
Malaysian court calls for review of whipping as punishment
