Subject: KALKI AVATAR - Pls read! very interesting.
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:58:21 +0000
| PLEASE READ AND PASS ON: KALKI AVATAR A phamplet containing the following was distributed at a mosque in Chicago |
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
KALKI AVATAR BY Vedaprakash Upadhyai
From: sbusaidy@hotmail.com
Subject: KALKI AVATAR - Pls read! very interesting.
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:58:21 +0000
Subject: KALKI AVATAR - Pls read! very interesting.
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:58:21 +0000
This is very interesting.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
CREATION OF ISRAEL: AN IMPERIALIST-ZIONIST JOINT VENTURE
Posted here on 6/11/2010.
Creation of Israel: an Imperialist-Zionist Joint Venture
Nizar Sakhnini, 2 October 2005
The first call for “Jewish” nationalism and the creation of a “Jewish” state came from Imperial France. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was interested in expanding his Empire, stood within twenty-five miles of Jerusalem and proclaimed: “Israelites arise! Now is the moment…to claim your political existence as a nation among nations!” Eight years later, Napoleon issued an invitation for a Jewish convention for all European Jews.
The French emperor, however, was not alone in encouraging the Jews to go to Palestine. Palmerstone of Imperial “Great” Britain was interested in facilitating Jewish immigration to Palestine in 1840. When Britain bought the Egyptian share in the Suez Canal Corp. in 1875, Lord Rothschild (Baron de Rothschild) financed the deal. Two years later, Lord Rotschild financed the first Jewish settlement in Palestine, Betah Tekfa. (Mohammad Hassanine Haikal, Secret Negotiations between the Arabs and Israel – Arabic – pp. 21-51. See also Peter Grose, Israel in the Mind of America, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1983, p. 8)
These imperial calls were soon echoed by “the three prophetic harbingers of political Zionism”: Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai (1798-1878), Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874), and Moses Hess (1812-1875).
Moses Hess was a German socialist ideologue. In the 1850s, Hess changed his ideological direction and in 1862 published his Zionist vision in a book entitled “Rome and Jerusalem: The Last Nationality Question”. Moses argued that anti-Semitism would prevent the Jews from assimilating in Christian society and, consequently, they needed to establish their own national state in Palestine.
At the time Hess wrote his book, the Ottoman Empire was weak and on the verge of disintegration. Western Imperialist powers were planning to jump on and inherit the “Sick Man of Europe”. Accordingly, Hess felt that “the state the Jews would establish in the heart of the Middle East would serve Western imperial interests and at the same time help bring Western civilization to the backward East”. (Benny Morris, “Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999”, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999, pp. 14-17)
Leo Pinsker, a Jewish physician in Odessa, published a book in 1882, “Autoemancipation”, urging his people to go and settle in Palestine as farmers and artisans. He founded the society of Hovevei Zion (Hibbat Zion or Chibath Zion) in order to facilitate emigration of Jews to Palestine.
Ahad Ha’am was also one of the founding leaders of Hovevei Zion. He visited Palestine in 1891 and called for the creation of a Jewish cultural center, stressing that Palestine was not only a small land but also not an empty land. He pointed out that there was little uncultivated or utilized soil in Palestine other than some stony hills or sand dunes and warned that the Jewish settlers should not provoke “the wrath of the natives by ugly actions”. (Hans Kohn, Zion and the Jewish National Idea, from The Menorah Journal, XLVI, Nos. 1 & 2, 1958, reproduced in Walid Khalidi. Reproduced in Walid Khalidi, pp. 807-840)
Theodor Herzl published his “Der Judenstaat” in 1896, which articulated the political Zionist ideology and plans for colonizing Palestine. Herzl played a leading role in creating the institutional infrastructure for the political Zionist movement by founding the Zionist Organization in 1897. The ZO created a network of institutions in Palestine and all over the world for the purpose of creating a Jewish State in Palestine and the surrounding region.
Herzl admitted that the idea of a Jewish State implied transplantation of Jews from wherever they lived to a new location. Such an idea, however, would create economic and social disturbances. To avoid this situation and secure the integrity of the idea, Herzl proposed “the creation of a body corporate, or corporation. This corporation will be called The Society of Jews. In addition to it there will b a Jewish Company, an economically productive body”. (Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question, London: H. Pordes, Translated by Sylvie D'avigdor - 6th Edition, pp. 20-21)
To achieve the idea [the Jewish State], The Society of Jews and the Jewish Company had to proceed according to a master plan, which Herzl laid down in his pamphlet. This plan was reflected in the Basle Program that was adopted by the ZO in 1897.
For Herzl, the plan was simple “Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves”. Herzl was ready to establish the state anywhere. All he wanted was permission from the great powers allowing the Jews to establish their state on a neutral piece of land. “Should the Powers declare themselves willing to admit our sovereignty over a neutral piece of land, then the Society [of Jews] will enter into negotiations for the possession of this land”. He was fully aware that the native people may be attached to their land and may resist colonization of their country by foreigners. To avoid such a situation, he opposed gradual Jewish infiltration (immigration) to the chosen country. “An infiltration is bound to end badly. It continues till the inevitable moment when the native population feels itself threatened, and forces the Government to stop a further influx of Jews. Immigration is consequently futile unless based on an assured supremacy”. “Assured supremacy” was to be attained by dealing with the rulers of the respective country with the support of the Great powers. Accordingly, “The Society of Jews will treat with the present masters of the land, putting itself under the protectorate of the European Powers, if they prove friendly to the plan”. To get the approval of the present masters of the land, he proposed to “offer the present possessors of the land enormous advantages, take upon ourselves part of the public debt”. The support of the Great powers, on the other hand, could be obtained by offering “special services” to them: “Supposing His Majesty the Sultan [Turkish Sultan] were to give us Palestine, we could in return undertake to regulate the whole finances of Turkey [Turkey at the time was in huge amount of debt]. We should there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should, as a Neutral State, remain in contact with all Europe, which would have to guarantee our existence. The sanctuaries of Christendom would be safeguarded by assigning to them an extra-territorial status such as is well known to the law of nations”. (Ibid, pp. 28-30)
Herzl’s Der Judenstaat, however, almost died with him in 1904. What saved the project were British plans during WWI for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and control of the Eastern parts of the Arab homeland, which formed a land bridge between Egypt and India. France, on the other hand, had similar objectives and was mainly interested in Syria, including its Mount Lebanon coast. These designs were reflected in the Sykes-Picot agreement that was signed on 16 May 1916 according to which the whole Fertile Crescent was divided into British and French spheres of influence.
The British role was significant in facilitating the Zionist project. Chaim Weizmann, the architect of the Zionist-British relationship, got acquainted with C. P. Scott, the editor of the Manchester Guardian. On 12 November 1914, Weizman wrote a letter to Scott stating, “…should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in twenty to thirty years a million Jews out there, perhaps more. They would develop the country, bring back civilization to it and form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal”.
According to Weizmann, Herbert H. Asquith, then British Prime Minister, wrote the following in his diary on January 28, 1915. “I received from Herbert Samuel (who was later appointed as the first British High Commissioner for Palestine) a memorandum headed ‘The Future of Palestine’. He goes on to argue at considerable length and with some vehemence in favor of the British annexation of Palestine… He thinks we might plant in this not very promising territory about three or four million European Jews and that this would have a good effect on those who are left behind… I confess I am not attracted to this proposed addition to our responsibilities…” Asquith later added, “Curiously enough, the only other partisan of this proposal is Lloyd George. And I need not say he does not care a damn for the Jews or their past or their future, but thinks it will be an outrage to let the Holy Places pass into the possession or under the protectorate of ‘agnostic and atheistic’ France”. (A detailed account of the Zionist activities and contacts leading to the Balfour Declaration was given in: Chaim Weizmann, Trial and Error, Chapters 7-18, pp. 93-208)
The Balfour Declaration, promising support for a “Jewish National Home in Palestine”, which was issued on 2 November 1917, resuscitated the “Zionist Dream” and launched a state of cooperation between the World Zionist Organization and the Imperialist powers. This close cooperation was enhanced following WWII under U.S. patronage.
U.S. relationship with the Zionist-Arab conflict started as early as WWI. Its position began as a neutral power interested in the application of self-determination to all ethnic groups as advocated by President Woodrow Wilson. This relationship developed into supporting Britain in its designs for control and hegemony in the Middle East as a result of the discovery of oil in the area. It was further developed into supporting Zionist plans in Palestine that gradually enhanced into a strategic alliance between the U.S. and Israel..
Palestine was not an empty land waiting for the Zionists to build up their contemplated state. Dispossessing the Palestinian Arabs of their lands and driving them out of their country provoked the inevitable reaction of a people attached to their land. The Palestinians realized the implications of the combined Zionist-Imperialist invasion and began a long and unrelenting resistance against the colonial settlers and their Imperialist supporters.
http://www.al-awda.org/zionists2.html
Creation of Israel: an Imperialist-Zionist Joint Venture
Nizar Sakhnini, 2 October 2005
The first call for “Jewish” nationalism and the creation of a “Jewish” state came from Imperial France. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was interested in expanding his Empire, stood within twenty-five miles of Jerusalem and proclaimed: “Israelites arise! Now is the moment…to claim your political existence as a nation among nations!” Eight years later, Napoleon issued an invitation for a Jewish convention for all European Jews.
The French emperor, however, was not alone in encouraging the Jews to go to Palestine. Palmerstone of Imperial “Great” Britain was interested in facilitating Jewish immigration to Palestine in 1840. When Britain bought the Egyptian share in the Suez Canal Corp. in 1875, Lord Rothschild (Baron de Rothschild) financed the deal. Two years later, Lord Rotschild financed the first Jewish settlement in Palestine, Betah Tekfa. (Mohammad Hassanine Haikal, Secret Negotiations between the Arabs and Israel – Arabic – pp. 21-51. See also Peter Grose, Israel in the Mind of America, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1983, p. 8)
These imperial calls were soon echoed by “the three prophetic harbingers of political Zionism”: Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai (1798-1878), Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874), and Moses Hess (1812-1875).
Moses Hess was a German socialist ideologue. In the 1850s, Hess changed his ideological direction and in 1862 published his Zionist vision in a book entitled “Rome and Jerusalem: The Last Nationality Question”. Moses argued that anti-Semitism would prevent the Jews from assimilating in Christian society and, consequently, they needed to establish their own national state in Palestine.
At the time Hess wrote his book, the Ottoman Empire was weak and on the verge of disintegration. Western Imperialist powers were planning to jump on and inherit the “Sick Man of Europe”. Accordingly, Hess felt that “the state the Jews would establish in the heart of the Middle East would serve Western imperial interests and at the same time help bring Western civilization to the backward East”. (Benny Morris, “Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999”, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999, pp. 14-17)
Leo Pinsker, a Jewish physician in Odessa, published a book in 1882, “Autoemancipation”, urging his people to go and settle in Palestine as farmers and artisans. He founded the society of Hovevei Zion (Hibbat Zion or Chibath Zion) in order to facilitate emigration of Jews to Palestine.
Ahad Ha’am was also one of the founding leaders of Hovevei Zion. He visited Palestine in 1891 and called for the creation of a Jewish cultural center, stressing that Palestine was not only a small land but also not an empty land. He pointed out that there was little uncultivated or utilized soil in Palestine other than some stony hills or sand dunes and warned that the Jewish settlers should not provoke “the wrath of the natives by ugly actions”. (Hans Kohn, Zion and the Jewish National Idea, from The Menorah Journal, XLVI, Nos. 1 & 2, 1958, reproduced in Walid Khalidi. Reproduced in Walid Khalidi, pp. 807-840)
Theodor Herzl published his “Der Judenstaat” in 1896, which articulated the political Zionist ideology and plans for colonizing Palestine. Herzl played a leading role in creating the institutional infrastructure for the political Zionist movement by founding the Zionist Organization in 1897. The ZO created a network of institutions in Palestine and all over the world for the purpose of creating a Jewish State in Palestine and the surrounding region.
Herzl admitted that the idea of a Jewish State implied transplantation of Jews from wherever they lived to a new location. Such an idea, however, would create economic and social disturbances. To avoid this situation and secure the integrity of the idea, Herzl proposed “the creation of a body corporate, or corporation. This corporation will be called The Society of Jews. In addition to it there will b a Jewish Company, an economically productive body”. (Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State: An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question, London: H. Pordes, Translated by Sylvie D'avigdor - 6th Edition, pp. 20-21)
To achieve the idea [the Jewish State], The Society of Jews and the Jewish Company had to proceed according to a master plan, which Herzl laid down in his pamphlet. This plan was reflected in the Basle Program that was adopted by the ZO in 1897.
For Herzl, the plan was simple “Let the sovereignty be granted us over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest we shall manage for ourselves”. Herzl was ready to establish the state anywhere. All he wanted was permission from the great powers allowing the Jews to establish their state on a neutral piece of land. “Should the Powers declare themselves willing to admit our sovereignty over a neutral piece of land, then the Society [of Jews] will enter into negotiations for the possession of this land”. He was fully aware that the native people may be attached to their land and may resist colonization of their country by foreigners. To avoid such a situation, he opposed gradual Jewish infiltration (immigration) to the chosen country. “An infiltration is bound to end badly. It continues till the inevitable moment when the native population feels itself threatened, and forces the Government to stop a further influx of Jews. Immigration is consequently futile unless based on an assured supremacy”. “Assured supremacy” was to be attained by dealing with the rulers of the respective country with the support of the Great powers. Accordingly, “The Society of Jews will treat with the present masters of the land, putting itself under the protectorate of the European Powers, if they prove friendly to the plan”. To get the approval of the present masters of the land, he proposed to “offer the present possessors of the land enormous advantages, take upon ourselves part of the public debt”. The support of the Great powers, on the other hand, could be obtained by offering “special services” to them: “Supposing His Majesty the Sultan [Turkish Sultan] were to give us Palestine, we could in return undertake to regulate the whole finances of Turkey [Turkey at the time was in huge amount of debt]. We should there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should, as a Neutral State, remain in contact with all Europe, which would have to guarantee our existence. The sanctuaries of Christendom would be safeguarded by assigning to them an extra-territorial status such as is well known to the law of nations”. (Ibid, pp. 28-30)
Herzl’s Der Judenstaat, however, almost died with him in 1904. What saved the project were British plans during WWI for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and control of the Eastern parts of the Arab homeland, which formed a land bridge between Egypt and India. France, on the other hand, had similar objectives and was mainly interested in Syria, including its Mount Lebanon coast. These designs were reflected in the Sykes-Picot agreement that was signed on 16 May 1916 according to which the whole Fertile Crescent was divided into British and French spheres of influence.
The British role was significant in facilitating the Zionist project. Chaim Weizmann, the architect of the Zionist-British relationship, got acquainted with C. P. Scott, the editor of the Manchester Guardian. On 12 November 1914, Weizman wrote a letter to Scott stating, “…should Palestine fall within the British sphere of influence, and should Britain encourage a Jewish settlement there, as a British dependency, we could have in twenty to thirty years a million Jews out there, perhaps more. They would develop the country, bring back civilization to it and form a very effective guard for the Suez Canal”.
According to Weizmann, Herbert H. Asquith, then British Prime Minister, wrote the following in his diary on January 28, 1915. “I received from Herbert Samuel (who was later appointed as the first British High Commissioner for Palestine) a memorandum headed ‘The Future of Palestine’. He goes on to argue at considerable length and with some vehemence in favor of the British annexation of Palestine… He thinks we might plant in this not very promising territory about three or four million European Jews and that this would have a good effect on those who are left behind… I confess I am not attracted to this proposed addition to our responsibilities…” Asquith later added, “Curiously enough, the only other partisan of this proposal is Lloyd George. And I need not say he does not care a damn for the Jews or their past or their future, but thinks it will be an outrage to let the Holy Places pass into the possession or under the protectorate of ‘agnostic and atheistic’ France”. (A detailed account of the Zionist activities and contacts leading to the Balfour Declaration was given in: Chaim Weizmann, Trial and Error, Chapters 7-18, pp. 93-208)
The Balfour Declaration, promising support for a “Jewish National Home in Palestine”, which was issued on 2 November 1917, resuscitated the “Zionist Dream” and launched a state of cooperation between the World Zionist Organization and the Imperialist powers. This close cooperation was enhanced following WWII under U.S. patronage.
U.S. relationship with the Zionist-Arab conflict started as early as WWI. Its position began as a neutral power interested in the application of self-determination to all ethnic groups as advocated by President Woodrow Wilson. This relationship developed into supporting Britain in its designs for control and hegemony in the Middle East as a result of the discovery of oil in the area. It was further developed into supporting Zionist plans in Palestine that gradually enhanced into a strategic alliance between the U.S. and Israel..
Palestine was not an empty land waiting for the Zionists to build up their contemplated state. Dispossessing the Palestinian Arabs of their lands and driving them out of their country provoked the inevitable reaction of a people attached to their land. The Palestinians realized the implications of the combined Zionist-Imperialist invasion and began a long and unrelenting resistance against the colonial settlers and their Imperialist supporters.
http://www.al-awda.org/zionists2.html
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A PROPOSAL FOR A NEW ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
A Proposal for a New Islamic Movement
By Professor Muhammad Amin
(President, Tehrik-e Islah-e Talim, Lahore, Pakistan)
[Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com]
Some proponents of a new Islamic movement appropriate for our times argue that such a movement must necessarily be preceded by destruction or deconstruction of existing movements, and subjecting them to an incisive critique. They insist that if this task is not undertaken it would be tantamount to hypocrisy and cowardice. These critics believe that the new Islamic movement for our times that they desire would be the sole upholder or representative of the truth, and that all else is false and misleading.
[As someone who is also convinced of the need for a new Islamic movement suited to our present-day context] I think otherwise. I believe that for 1400 years or so Muslim societies have sought, in different ways and to different extents, to shape themselves in accordance with Islamic teachings. There may well be problems in people’s understanding and interpreting of Islam and in living up to its teachings, for which reformist efforts are necessary. This is what is referred to by the phrase amr bi’l maruf wa nahi an al-munkar (‘commanding the good and forbidding the wrong’), and by the terms tabligh (‘communication’), tazkiya (‘purification’), dawah (‘invitation’) and islah (‘reform’), and so on. These reformist efforts can be made in different fields—in politics, in education, in our morals and ethics, and in every other field of life. The forms, limits and methods of such reforms are a matter to be decided through ijtihad. I do not refer to this activity using such terms as islami inqilab (‘Islamic Revolution’), iqamat-e din (‘Establishment of the Faith’), ‘Divine Governance’ (hukumat-e ilahiya), and so on, [terms which activists of some religio-political movements generally use]. Several times in the Quran God refers to the purpose of sending prophets to the world as trying to reform people through education and purification. Accordingly, the prophets of God were instructed to guide to God’s path people who accepted their message. If a considerable majority accepted God’s message then they were to arrange for their collective life (that is to say, state and governance) to be regulated in accordance with God’s laws. This is the sort of society that the Prophet Muhammad sought to bring into being, which provides a model for Muslims for all times, including our own, to emulate. Of course, mistakes are constantly being made, and people do err, but it is the task of the ulema and other pious people to seek to reform the rulers and the public in order to encourage them to truly follow Islam in their lives and dealings. As I see it, the basic task of the ulema and religious organizations and movements is to seek to reform society through the purification of individual selves and through promoting knowledge and wisdom.
One of the most critical challenges we are presently faced with is the fact that, by and large, Muslims are today under the domination of others and are confronted with hostile ways of life, particularly by irreligious, materialistic Western culture and thought. Countries that uphold this sort of culture and thought are now globally dominant, and have long been attempting to subvert the culture and beliefs of the Muslims. One of the biggest problems we face today in terms of Islamic activism is precisely what our stance should be with regard to this irreligious Western culture and way of life.
There have been, broadly speaking, four paths that Islamic groups have taken with regard to Western cultural and intellectual hegemony. The first is what I term the ‘awed’ approach; the second I call that of ‘understanding’, the third is what I term ‘overlooking’, and the fourth is termed ‘resistance’.
The prime proponents of the ‘awed’ approach were Reza Shah Pahlavi in Iran and Mustafa Kemal Attaturk in Turkey, both of who tried to forcibly impose Western culture on their people against their will. In the South Asian subcontinent people like Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan and Ghulam Ahmad Parvez exemplified this trend. They tried to modify Islam to suit Western thought and culture.
The second stance, that of ‘understanding’, is represented by modern-day Islamic movements such as the Jamaat-e Islami in South Asia and the Ikhwan al-Muslimun in the Arab world. They adopted the irreligious Western concept of democracy and made some cosmetic and seemingly ‘Islamic’ changes to it and sought to bless it as ‘Islamic democracy’. Likewise, they adopted the Western system of capitalism and capitalist banking, made some slight ‘Islamic’ changes to these, and sought to pass it off as ‘Islamic economics’. They tried to make the same sorts of cosmetic changes in other fields, such as education and politics. In Pakistan this attempt proved a miserable failure. Despite such efforts, almost every sphere of public life in Pakistan became even more devoid of Islam and even more heavily Westernised. One reason for this was that the concept of religion propagated by such movements was a reaction to Western intellectual and cultural domination, and reaction of this sort can never be evenly balanced. Moreover, these movements viewed the political sphere as the sole arena where they needed to intervene. This was because they saw religion in political terms, as a political system. Hence, they came to believe that instead of focusing on the reform of individuals, the focus of their work must be entirely on seeking to bring about political revolution and establishing a political dispensation through which they believed they could enforce Islamic laws on the people.
Groups that adopted a policy of ‘overlooking’, of ignoring or turning a blind eye to, Western irreligious culture and thought included the Tablighi Jamaat, and the various madrasas. These groups and organizations considered the deen or religion to be limited only to tabligh, dawah, worship and morality. In this way, they came to see Islam as having little or nothing at all to do with social affairs, with collective matters, with politics and the state.
Groups who took to armed resistance in the face of Western irreligious culture and thought included the Jamaat ul-Takfir wal Hijrah in Egypt, the Hizb ut-Tahrir, al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan. It is said that these groups have taken to armed resistance against Muslim rulers even though they have no chance at all of success. Hence, it is argued, they have gone against the consensus that has prevailed among the Sunni Muslims ever since the martyrdom of Imam Husain and Abdullah Bin Zubair over 1300 years ago, according to which revolt (khuruj) against a tyrannical Muslim ruler is impermissible, even if the other shariah conditions for revolt apply, if the chances of success are not clear. This is because such revolt would result in strife and conflict in society. In other words, under such conditions one should react by trying to promote reforms, rather than by instigating revolt or revolution […]
Some people [associated with Islamist groups] consider that Islamic activists who work in fields other than politics are seeking to play safe. They even mock them for allegedly avoiding the difficult work of political activism. However, religion or the deen is not simply or even mainly about politics, unlike what some of these people believe. There are four broad aspects of the deen: iman or faith or belief; ibadat or worship or service; ikhlaq or morals; and muamilat or social relations. Now, muamilat has several dozens of sub-sections, one of which is politics. This means that politics is, in fact, only a very small aspect of the deen.
One major fault of ours is that we regard whatever sphere or aspect of the deen we are focusing on in our own work as the basis or even as the sum total of the whole deen. This is quite unacceptable. Our actual aim should be to win the pleasure of God and to serve the cause of the faith, irrespective of whichever sphere of the faith we may be practically associated with or involved in. A person who is engaged in the field of reform by being active in Islamic politics is to be appreciated just as someone who is engaged in similar reform in the field of education or economic development. This is to say that all spheres of the deen are important and we should not privilege those engaged in one particular sphere and look down on the others. People engaged in the task of reform for the sake of Islam in different spheres of the deen must seek to work together in a spirit of positive appreciation. They must also desist from conflicts based on minor issues or on the feeling that their position alone is right and that of the others wrong. It is indeed very lamentable that many of us have made our jurisprudential and theological differences and formations to be separate deens, and consider our own partial and sectarian-oriented work to be service of the deen. This has, quite naturally, conduced to strife, conflict and mounting divisions among Muslims.
It is in this context that the need for a new Islamic movement becomes particularly pressing today. This movement would need to fill the vacuum that remains unaddressed by the other such movements and undertake new and very crucial tasks. This movement’s work of reform shall focus on individuals, because, after all, individuals are the building-blocks of a social edifice and the basis of any social change. This would be in contrast to the approach of numerous religio-political movements in Pakistan, such as the Jamaat-e Islami, whose focus is not on the reform of individuals, but, rather, capture of political power and the state apparatus, which they term as ‘Islamic Revolution’. In contrast to them, the Tablighi Jamaat does focus on individuals, but the reform that it seeks to promote is not balanced or wide enough as would facilitate the required social change. For their part, the focus of madrasas and masjids remains on promoting sectarianism, while the task of ‘purification’ has been monopolized, by and large, by hereditary gaddi nashins, custodians of Sufi shrines, who have made this their business. Then, religious education and training have also become lucrative businesses for religious activists. It is in this context that we need a new Islamic reformist movement to facilitate the balanced construction of human personality of individuals.
If the new movement that we plead for focuses on the Islamic reform of individuals, a process that would produce the ideal sort of Islamic personality based on appropriate education and wisdom, it is natural that this would lead to the reform of the society. By social reform we mean not just that more people will start saying their prayers and keeping their fasts, but, rather, the birth of a truly Islamic social system. Today, because of the restricted understanding of the deen that we continue to entertain, people who are considered conventionally as religious are cut off from the wider society, from the wider civil society, and this is one of the major causes for their failure. The new Islamic movement that I plead for would engage in mobilizing civil society, for which it is necessary that activists of the movement must regard the problems faced by civil society to be their own and should struggle to solve them. In the past this is precisely the sort of tasks that Muslim leaders and guides were engaged in. They were inspired by love for God and for God’s creatures, and so social service was an integral part of their mission. We need to revive this tradition today. We also need to resist the growing tendency towards materialism and irreligion, a task that the new movement will pursue through non-political reformist effort.
Religio-political movements, as in Pakistan, are so engaged in their political work that they have no time for any other sort of activity. They regard capture of power as the only secret to success that can solve all the problems of society. Owing to this warped approach, they leave all other social affairs and works to be undertaken by the government. Likewise, religious groups engaged in dawah and islah or reform, like the madrasas and the Tablighi Jamaat, are, practically, cut off from the burning social problems and are not concerned with providing solutions to them. For instance, if people in a locality do not say their prayers these groups think this is an ‘Islamic problem’, but if a man in the locality commits suicide out of hunger these groups don’t consider this their headache, although, in actual fact, if problems like this, too, are solved in the light of the teachings of the deen, more than half the laws of the shariah can, in this way, be enforced. However, our religio-political leaders leave this work entirely to the government to handle, and absolve themselves of their responsibility in this regard, although there is a lot that can, and should be done without the help of the government. For example, most educational institutions are now in the private sector, so why cannot our Islamic reformers enter the field of educational provision by providing appropriate, Islam-oriented education? Why cannot they open institutes for training judges and lawyers in Islamic law? Why cannot they engage in activism and relief to prevent people from committing suicide out of poverty? Why cannot they initiate projects and other efforts to save people from the immoral impact of the mass media by providing them with an alternate, Islamic media? If, today, there are no religious forces engaged in these sorts of activities, it is all the more necessary to have a new religious movement that can, among other things, take up such issues.
As a result of the failure of religio-political groups and of the inactivity of apolitical religious forces, some religious elements have taken to arms demanding the imposition of the shariah, which has created a climate of strife and conflict across Pakistan. If our non-political religious elements get engaged on particular issues and engage in result-oriented activism then there will be no need for the elements who are now demanding the imposition of the shariah by taking to arms. The new religious movement is necessary for prodding civil society and religious elements to engage in this struggle.
I admit that the deen is a comprehensive whole, which includes politics and other spheres. That is why, from the point of view of the shariah, it does not make sense to distinguish between political and non-political religious activism. But we bring this distinction into our discussion from the administrative, and not the shariah, point of view, because the fact is that political activism for anyone is nothing less than a full-time job. A person who is engaged in political activism for the sake of Islam finds it difficult to spare time for dawah, islah and other such religious tasks, and vice versa. The solution to this pressing dilemma is to affirm our faith in the wholeness and comprehensiveness of the deen but, at the same time, for each of us to focus our efforts for reform in one or the other aspect of the deen. We must, accordingly, recognize our own work as limited and partial and respect the efforts of those engaged in reform-related efforts in other spheres of the deen.
Some people argue that the new religious movement that is needed must engage in protest and resistance. My opinion is that while through protest and resistance some problems can be solved, some forms of oppression ended, and some rights won, this method creates the psychology of reaction, not the foundation and motivation to walk in the path of virtue. For that to happen, the most appropriate path is that of reform, which can transform people’s hearts and minds. This is how the oppressive Tatar rule was ended with the conversion of the Tatars to Islam, how Indonesia became home to the world’s largest Muslim population, and how Islam spread across South Asia. This happened by using not violent agitation but peaceful and non-violent persuasion and social reform as a vehicle. Today, I firmly believe, the path of character-building and peaceful social change and reform, rather than agitation, is both more blessed as well as more practicable. There are hardly any groups working in this direction, and the new movement that we need for will fulfill that role.
(This is a modified, slightly edited translation of an essay by the author titled Mujawiza Nai Dini Tahrik: Nauviyat aur Hikmat-e Amali Ki Bahas, which appeared in the August 2010 issue of the Gujranwala-based Urdu journal Al-Shariah).
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicIdeology_1.aspx?ArticleID=3563
By Professor Muhammad Amin
(President, Tehrik-e Islah-e Talim, Lahore, Pakistan)
[Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand, NewAgeIslam.com]
Some proponents of a new Islamic movement appropriate for our times argue that such a movement must necessarily be preceded by destruction or deconstruction of existing movements, and subjecting them to an incisive critique. They insist that if this task is not undertaken it would be tantamount to hypocrisy and cowardice. These critics believe that the new Islamic movement for our times that they desire would be the sole upholder or representative of the truth, and that all else is false and misleading.
[As someone who is also convinced of the need for a new Islamic movement suited to our present-day context] I think otherwise. I believe that for 1400 years or so Muslim societies have sought, in different ways and to different extents, to shape themselves in accordance with Islamic teachings. There may well be problems in people’s understanding and interpreting of Islam and in living up to its teachings, for which reformist efforts are necessary. This is what is referred to by the phrase amr bi’l maruf wa nahi an al-munkar (‘commanding the good and forbidding the wrong’), and by the terms tabligh (‘communication’), tazkiya (‘purification’), dawah (‘invitation’) and islah (‘reform’), and so on. These reformist efforts can be made in different fields—in politics, in education, in our morals and ethics, and in every other field of life. The forms, limits and methods of such reforms are a matter to be decided through ijtihad. I do not refer to this activity using such terms as islami inqilab (‘Islamic Revolution’), iqamat-e din (‘Establishment of the Faith’), ‘Divine Governance’ (hukumat-e ilahiya), and so on, [terms which activists of some religio-political movements generally use]. Several times in the Quran God refers to the purpose of sending prophets to the world as trying to reform people through education and purification. Accordingly, the prophets of God were instructed to guide to God’s path people who accepted their message. If a considerable majority accepted God’s message then they were to arrange for their collective life (that is to say, state and governance) to be regulated in accordance with God’s laws. This is the sort of society that the Prophet Muhammad sought to bring into being, which provides a model for Muslims for all times, including our own, to emulate. Of course, mistakes are constantly being made, and people do err, but it is the task of the ulema and other pious people to seek to reform the rulers and the public in order to encourage them to truly follow Islam in their lives and dealings. As I see it, the basic task of the ulema and religious organizations and movements is to seek to reform society through the purification of individual selves and through promoting knowledge and wisdom.
One of the most critical challenges we are presently faced with is the fact that, by and large, Muslims are today under the domination of others and are confronted with hostile ways of life, particularly by irreligious, materialistic Western culture and thought. Countries that uphold this sort of culture and thought are now globally dominant, and have long been attempting to subvert the culture and beliefs of the Muslims. One of the biggest problems we face today in terms of Islamic activism is precisely what our stance should be with regard to this irreligious Western culture and way of life.
There have been, broadly speaking, four paths that Islamic groups have taken with regard to Western cultural and intellectual hegemony. The first is what I term the ‘awed’ approach; the second I call that of ‘understanding’, the third is what I term ‘overlooking’, and the fourth is termed ‘resistance’.
The prime proponents of the ‘awed’ approach were Reza Shah Pahlavi in Iran and Mustafa Kemal Attaturk in Turkey, both of who tried to forcibly impose Western culture on their people against their will. In the South Asian subcontinent people like Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan and Ghulam Ahmad Parvez exemplified this trend. They tried to modify Islam to suit Western thought and culture.
The second stance, that of ‘understanding’, is represented by modern-day Islamic movements such as the Jamaat-e Islami in South Asia and the Ikhwan al-Muslimun in the Arab world. They adopted the irreligious Western concept of democracy and made some cosmetic and seemingly ‘Islamic’ changes to it and sought to bless it as ‘Islamic democracy’. Likewise, they adopted the Western system of capitalism and capitalist banking, made some slight ‘Islamic’ changes to these, and sought to pass it off as ‘Islamic economics’. They tried to make the same sorts of cosmetic changes in other fields, such as education and politics. In Pakistan this attempt proved a miserable failure. Despite such efforts, almost every sphere of public life in Pakistan became even more devoid of Islam and even more heavily Westernised. One reason for this was that the concept of religion propagated by such movements was a reaction to Western intellectual and cultural domination, and reaction of this sort can never be evenly balanced. Moreover, these movements viewed the political sphere as the sole arena where they needed to intervene. This was because they saw religion in political terms, as a political system. Hence, they came to believe that instead of focusing on the reform of individuals, the focus of their work must be entirely on seeking to bring about political revolution and establishing a political dispensation through which they believed they could enforce Islamic laws on the people.
Groups that adopted a policy of ‘overlooking’, of ignoring or turning a blind eye to, Western irreligious culture and thought included the Tablighi Jamaat, and the various madrasas. These groups and organizations considered the deen or religion to be limited only to tabligh, dawah, worship and morality. In this way, they came to see Islam as having little or nothing at all to do with social affairs, with collective matters, with politics and the state.
Groups who took to armed resistance in the face of Western irreligious culture and thought included the Jamaat ul-Takfir wal Hijrah in Egypt, the Hizb ut-Tahrir, al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan. It is said that these groups have taken to armed resistance against Muslim rulers even though they have no chance at all of success. Hence, it is argued, they have gone against the consensus that has prevailed among the Sunni Muslims ever since the martyrdom of Imam Husain and Abdullah Bin Zubair over 1300 years ago, according to which revolt (khuruj) against a tyrannical Muslim ruler is impermissible, even if the other shariah conditions for revolt apply, if the chances of success are not clear. This is because such revolt would result in strife and conflict in society. In other words, under such conditions one should react by trying to promote reforms, rather than by instigating revolt or revolution […]
Some people [associated with Islamist groups] consider that Islamic activists who work in fields other than politics are seeking to play safe. They even mock them for allegedly avoiding the difficult work of political activism. However, religion or the deen is not simply or even mainly about politics, unlike what some of these people believe. There are four broad aspects of the deen: iman or faith or belief; ibadat or worship or service; ikhlaq or morals; and muamilat or social relations. Now, muamilat has several dozens of sub-sections, one of which is politics. This means that politics is, in fact, only a very small aspect of the deen.
One major fault of ours is that we regard whatever sphere or aspect of the deen we are focusing on in our own work as the basis or even as the sum total of the whole deen. This is quite unacceptable. Our actual aim should be to win the pleasure of God and to serve the cause of the faith, irrespective of whichever sphere of the faith we may be practically associated with or involved in. A person who is engaged in the field of reform by being active in Islamic politics is to be appreciated just as someone who is engaged in similar reform in the field of education or economic development. This is to say that all spheres of the deen are important and we should not privilege those engaged in one particular sphere and look down on the others. People engaged in the task of reform for the sake of Islam in different spheres of the deen must seek to work together in a spirit of positive appreciation. They must also desist from conflicts based on minor issues or on the feeling that their position alone is right and that of the others wrong. It is indeed very lamentable that many of us have made our jurisprudential and theological differences and formations to be separate deens, and consider our own partial and sectarian-oriented work to be service of the deen. This has, quite naturally, conduced to strife, conflict and mounting divisions among Muslims.
It is in this context that the need for a new Islamic movement becomes particularly pressing today. This movement would need to fill the vacuum that remains unaddressed by the other such movements and undertake new and very crucial tasks. This movement’s work of reform shall focus on individuals, because, after all, individuals are the building-blocks of a social edifice and the basis of any social change. This would be in contrast to the approach of numerous religio-political movements in Pakistan, such as the Jamaat-e Islami, whose focus is not on the reform of individuals, but, rather, capture of political power and the state apparatus, which they term as ‘Islamic Revolution’. In contrast to them, the Tablighi Jamaat does focus on individuals, but the reform that it seeks to promote is not balanced or wide enough as would facilitate the required social change. For their part, the focus of madrasas and masjids remains on promoting sectarianism, while the task of ‘purification’ has been monopolized, by and large, by hereditary gaddi nashins, custodians of Sufi shrines, who have made this their business. Then, religious education and training have also become lucrative businesses for religious activists. It is in this context that we need a new Islamic reformist movement to facilitate the balanced construction of human personality of individuals.
If the new movement that we plead for focuses on the Islamic reform of individuals, a process that would produce the ideal sort of Islamic personality based on appropriate education and wisdom, it is natural that this would lead to the reform of the society. By social reform we mean not just that more people will start saying their prayers and keeping their fasts, but, rather, the birth of a truly Islamic social system. Today, because of the restricted understanding of the deen that we continue to entertain, people who are considered conventionally as religious are cut off from the wider society, from the wider civil society, and this is one of the major causes for their failure. The new Islamic movement that I plead for would engage in mobilizing civil society, for which it is necessary that activists of the movement must regard the problems faced by civil society to be their own and should struggle to solve them. In the past this is precisely the sort of tasks that Muslim leaders and guides were engaged in. They were inspired by love for God and for God’s creatures, and so social service was an integral part of their mission. We need to revive this tradition today. We also need to resist the growing tendency towards materialism and irreligion, a task that the new movement will pursue through non-political reformist effort.
Religio-political movements, as in Pakistan, are so engaged in their political work that they have no time for any other sort of activity. They regard capture of power as the only secret to success that can solve all the problems of society. Owing to this warped approach, they leave all other social affairs and works to be undertaken by the government. Likewise, religious groups engaged in dawah and islah or reform, like the madrasas and the Tablighi Jamaat, are, practically, cut off from the burning social problems and are not concerned with providing solutions to them. For instance, if people in a locality do not say their prayers these groups think this is an ‘Islamic problem’, but if a man in the locality commits suicide out of hunger these groups don’t consider this their headache, although, in actual fact, if problems like this, too, are solved in the light of the teachings of the deen, more than half the laws of the shariah can, in this way, be enforced. However, our religio-political leaders leave this work entirely to the government to handle, and absolve themselves of their responsibility in this regard, although there is a lot that can, and should be done without the help of the government. For example, most educational institutions are now in the private sector, so why cannot our Islamic reformers enter the field of educational provision by providing appropriate, Islam-oriented education? Why cannot they open institutes for training judges and lawyers in Islamic law? Why cannot they engage in activism and relief to prevent people from committing suicide out of poverty? Why cannot they initiate projects and other efforts to save people from the immoral impact of the mass media by providing them with an alternate, Islamic media? If, today, there are no religious forces engaged in these sorts of activities, it is all the more necessary to have a new religious movement that can, among other things, take up such issues.
As a result of the failure of religio-political groups and of the inactivity of apolitical religious forces, some religious elements have taken to arms demanding the imposition of the shariah, which has created a climate of strife and conflict across Pakistan. If our non-political religious elements get engaged on particular issues and engage in result-oriented activism then there will be no need for the elements who are now demanding the imposition of the shariah by taking to arms. The new religious movement is necessary for prodding civil society and religious elements to engage in this struggle.
I admit that the deen is a comprehensive whole, which includes politics and other spheres. That is why, from the point of view of the shariah, it does not make sense to distinguish between political and non-political religious activism. But we bring this distinction into our discussion from the administrative, and not the shariah, point of view, because the fact is that political activism for anyone is nothing less than a full-time job. A person who is engaged in political activism for the sake of Islam finds it difficult to spare time for dawah, islah and other such religious tasks, and vice versa. The solution to this pressing dilemma is to affirm our faith in the wholeness and comprehensiveness of the deen but, at the same time, for each of us to focus our efforts for reform in one or the other aspect of the deen. We must, accordingly, recognize our own work as limited and partial and respect the efforts of those engaged in reform-related efforts in other spheres of the deen.
Some people argue that the new religious movement that is needed must engage in protest and resistance. My opinion is that while through protest and resistance some problems can be solved, some forms of oppression ended, and some rights won, this method creates the psychology of reaction, not the foundation and motivation to walk in the path of virtue. For that to happen, the most appropriate path is that of reform, which can transform people’s hearts and minds. This is how the oppressive Tatar rule was ended with the conversion of the Tatars to Islam, how Indonesia became home to the world’s largest Muslim population, and how Islam spread across South Asia. This happened by using not violent agitation but peaceful and non-violent persuasion and social reform as a vehicle. Today, I firmly believe, the path of character-building and peaceful social change and reform, rather than agitation, is both more blessed as well as more practicable. There are hardly any groups working in this direction, and the new movement that we need for will fulfill that role.
(This is a modified, slightly edited translation of an essay by the author titled Mujawiza Nai Dini Tahrik: Nauviyat aur Hikmat-e Amali Ki Bahas, which appeared in the August 2010 issue of the Gujranwala-based Urdu journal Al-Shariah).
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamicIdeology_1.aspx?ArticleID=3563
Sunday, October 17, 2010
USAFIRI MPYA WA MAHUJAJI KUANZIA 2010
30-day test run for Makkah metro
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article152577.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/sau_train.jpg
A Makkah metro train during a test run. (AN photo)
By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWS
Published: Oct 2, 2010 23:44 Updated: Oct 3, 2010 00:33
JEDDAH: The newly established Mashair Railway, which links the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa with Makkah, will have a 30-day test run before opening to transport domestic and GCC pilgrims during the upcoming Haj season.
Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb will inspect the railway (also known as the Makkah Metro) on Tuesday to make sure the facility is ready to transport the guests of God. The railway will bring about a dramatic change in pilgrim transportation between the holy sites.
Established at a cost of SR6.5 billion, the new railway will have a capacity to transport 72,000 pilgrims in an hour. Nine stations have been constructed in Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifa, each having three stations. This is the second largest project implemented by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs after the SR4.5 billion high-tech Jamrat Bridge project in Mina.
Habib Zain Al-Abidine, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, said the railway will have 10 trains in the first phase, each with a length of 300 meters. “Each train will carry 3,000 passengers.”
He said Saudi authorities have not yet fixed the fare. “The matter is in the hands of Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee. Once the prince gives his directives, we’ll announce the fare,” he said.
The time for transporting pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifa will be reduced to five minutes on the 9th of Dul Hijjah when the faithful will move together from the plain of Arafat to Muzdalifa. And another five minutes will take them from Muzdalifa to Mina on the 10th.
Zain Al-Abidine said the railway would operate throughout the year.
The second phase of the project will link Mashair Railway with the Grand Mosque in Makkah with a station on Umm Al-Qura Road. It will also be linked with the Haramain Railway that connects Makkah with Madinah and Jeddah.
The trains will have a test run covering 6,000 km each before starting regular operations. The first test run took place last Thursday. The railway will have 20 trains in the next stage, each with 12 carriages and each carriage holding 250 passengers. About 20 percent of passengers will be seated while 80 percent will be standing. Trains will have a speed of 80 to 120 km/hour.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article152577.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/sau_train.jpg
A Makkah metro train during a test run. (AN photo)
By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWS
Published: Oct 2, 2010 23:44 Updated: Oct 3, 2010 00:33
JEDDAH: The newly established Mashair Railway, which links the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa with Makkah, will have a 30-day test run before opening to transport domestic and GCC pilgrims during the upcoming Haj season.
Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb will inspect the railway (also known as the Makkah Metro) on Tuesday to make sure the facility is ready to transport the guests of God. The railway will bring about a dramatic change in pilgrim transportation between the holy sites.
Established at a cost of SR6.5 billion, the new railway will have a capacity to transport 72,000 pilgrims in an hour. Nine stations have been constructed in Arafat, Mina and Muzdalifa, each having three stations. This is the second largest project implemented by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs after the SR4.5 billion high-tech Jamrat Bridge project in Mina.
Habib Zain Al-Abidine, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, said the railway will have 10 trains in the first phase, each with a length of 300 meters. “Each train will carry 3,000 passengers.”
He said Saudi authorities have not yet fixed the fare. “The matter is in the hands of Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee. Once the prince gives his directives, we’ll announce the fare,” he said.
The time for transporting pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifa will be reduced to five minutes on the 9th of Dul Hijjah when the faithful will move together from the plain of Arafat to Muzdalifa. And another five minutes will take them from Muzdalifa to Mina on the 10th.
Zain Al-Abidine said the railway would operate throughout the year.
The second phase of the project will link Mashair Railway with the Grand Mosque in Makkah with a station on Umm Al-Qura Road. It will also be linked with the Haramain Railway that connects Makkah with Madinah and Jeddah.
The trains will have a test run covering 6,000 km each before starting regular operations. The first test run took place last Thursday. The railway will have 20 trains in the next stage, each with 12 carriages and each carriage holding 250 passengers. About 20 percent of passengers will be seated while 80 percent will be standing. Trains will have a speed of 80 to 120 km/hour.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
MTANZANIA ATEULIWA BALOZI WA VATICAN
Source: http://tzlivenews.com/blogs/blog/4033-mtanzania-wa-kwanza-balozi-wa-papa.html?fontstyle=f-larger
Mtanzania wa kwanza balozi wa Papa
Saturday, 20 March 2010 04:00
MAKAO makuu ya Kanisa Katoliki duniani Vatican, jana yalimweka wakfu rasmi Mtanzania wa kwanza Monsinyori Novatus Rugambwa kuwa Balozi wa Baba Mtakatifu na Askofu mkuu katika nchi za Angola na Sao Tome na Principe huku Rais Jakaya Kikwete akituma salamu za pongezi.
Monsinyori Rugambwa amesimikwa kushika daraja la uaskofu jana mchana mjini Vatican katika Ibada ya misa takatifu maalum iliyoongozwa na Mwadhama Kardinali Tarcisio Bertone, Katibu wa Baba Mtakatifu, iliyofanyika katika Kanisa Kuu la Mtakatifu Petro.
Kuwekwa wakfu kwa Askofu monsinyori Rugambwa kuwa balozi katika nchi hizo kunafuatia uteuzi wa kiongozi wa kanisa hilo duniani Papa Benedikto wa XVI, ambapo Rais Kikwete katika salamu zake ameuelezea uteuzi huo kuwa umetokana na utumishi wake uliotukuka kwa kanisa hilo na pia ni heshima kwa Tanzania.
“Baba Askofu, nimepokea kwa furaha nyingi na faraja kubwa habari za uteuzi wako wa kuwa Askofu Mkuu wa Kanisa Katoliki na Balozi wa Papa katika nchi za Angola, na Sao Tome na Principe,†alisema Rais Kikwete katika salamu hizo kupitia Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano Ikulu jana.
Kwa mujibu wa Ikulu Rais Kikwete alisema, “Kwa niaba ya Watanzania wenzako, kwa niaba ya Serikali yangu nami binafsi, napenda kukupongeza sana kwa uteuzi huo. Uteuzi huo ni heshima kwa nchi yako, ni heshima kwa Watanzania wenzako na ni matokeo ya utumishi wako uliotukuka katika Kanisa. Ni nafasi unayoistahili.â€
Aidha katika salamu hizo Rais Kikwete amemtakia Askofu Rugambwa kila la heri katika utumishi wake huo mpya na kumhakikishia kuwa Watanzania wapo pamoja naye katika sala ili Mungu amjalie nguvu na afya njema aweze kumudu nafasi hizo.
Mtanzania wa kwanza balozi wa Papa
Saturday, 20 March 2010 04:00
MAKAO makuu ya Kanisa Katoliki duniani Vatican, jana yalimweka wakfu rasmi Mtanzania wa kwanza Monsinyori Novatus Rugambwa kuwa Balozi wa Baba Mtakatifu na Askofu mkuu katika nchi za Angola na Sao Tome na Principe huku Rais Jakaya Kikwete akituma salamu za pongezi.
Monsinyori Rugambwa amesimikwa kushika daraja la uaskofu jana mchana mjini Vatican katika Ibada ya misa takatifu maalum iliyoongozwa na Mwadhama Kardinali Tarcisio Bertone, Katibu wa Baba Mtakatifu, iliyofanyika katika Kanisa Kuu la Mtakatifu Petro.
Kuwekwa wakfu kwa Askofu monsinyori Rugambwa kuwa balozi katika nchi hizo kunafuatia uteuzi wa kiongozi wa kanisa hilo duniani Papa Benedikto wa XVI, ambapo Rais Kikwete katika salamu zake ameuelezea uteuzi huo kuwa umetokana na utumishi wake uliotukuka kwa kanisa hilo na pia ni heshima kwa Tanzania.
“Baba Askofu, nimepokea kwa furaha nyingi na faraja kubwa habari za uteuzi wako wa kuwa Askofu Mkuu wa Kanisa Katoliki na Balozi wa Papa katika nchi za Angola, na Sao Tome na Principe,†alisema Rais Kikwete katika salamu hizo kupitia Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano Ikulu jana.
Kwa mujibu wa Ikulu Rais Kikwete alisema, “Kwa niaba ya Watanzania wenzako, kwa niaba ya Serikali yangu nami binafsi, napenda kukupongeza sana kwa uteuzi huo. Uteuzi huo ni heshima kwa nchi yako, ni heshima kwa Watanzania wenzako na ni matokeo ya utumishi wako uliotukuka katika Kanisa. Ni nafasi unayoistahili.â€
Aidha katika salamu hizo Rais Kikwete amemtakia Askofu Rugambwa kila la heri katika utumishi wake huo mpya na kumhakikishia kuwa Watanzania wapo pamoja naye katika sala ili Mungu amjalie nguvu na afya njema aweze kumudu nafasi hizo.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
GAY PRIESTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EXPOSED
Catholic church embarrassed by gay priests revelations
Vatican on defensive again after magazine exposes priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.
* John Hooper in Rome
* The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010
The Catholic church, already reeling from a string of clerical sex abuse scandals, is facing new embarrassment after an Italian magazine published an investigation into what it termed the double life of gay priests in Rome.
Using hidden cameras, the weekly Panorama, owned by Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, captured priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex. The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals, but it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". In one of his earliest moves, pope Benedict barred actively gay men from studying for the priesthood.
The diocese of Rome lashed out at the prime minister's magazine, saying its aim was "to create scandal [and] defame all priests". But it also urged gay clerics to leave both the closet and the priesthood.
It said, "Consistency would require that they come into the open", but that they "ought not to have become priests".
The semi-official papal daily, L'Osservatore Romano, made no reference to the affair. Vatican Radio reported it briefly.
One priest, a Frenchman in his 30s identified as Father Paul, attended a party at which there were two male prostitutes then said Mass the following morning before driving them to the airport, Panorama reported. A photo on its website claimed to show the priest in his dog collar but without his trousers with a gay man who acted as decoy for the magazine. In other shots, priests were shown apparently kissing Panorama's collaborator.
A member of the clergy quoted by the magazine put the proportion of gay priests in the Italian capital at "98%". The Rome diocese insisted the vast majority of priests in the city were "models of morality for all", while adding that the number of gay clergyman was "small, but not to be written off as isolated cases". A review eight years ago of research on the American church concluded that between a quarter and a half of seminarians and priests there were homosexual.
A former Italian MP and gay activist, Franco Grillini, said: "If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once – something we would very much like – they would cause it serious operational problems."
Another well-known spokesman for the gay community, Aurelio Mancuso, condemned Panorama's investigation as a "horrible political and cultural operation", but agreed that if priests in Rome were to follow the advice given to them in yesterday's statement, it would "paralyse" the diocese.
In March, the pope's own household was rocked by scandal when court documents revealed a Vatican chorister had procured male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.
Vatican on defensive again after magazine exposes priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.
* John Hooper in Rome
* The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010
The Catholic church, already reeling from a string of clerical sex abuse scandals, is facing new embarrassment after an Italian magazine published an investigation into what it termed the double life of gay priests in Rome.
Using hidden cameras, the weekly Panorama, owned by Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, captured priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex. The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals, but it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". In one of his earliest moves, pope Benedict barred actively gay men from studying for the priesthood.
The diocese of Rome lashed out at the prime minister's magazine, saying its aim was "to create scandal [and] defame all priests". But it also urged gay clerics to leave both the closet and the priesthood.
It said, "Consistency would require that they come into the open", but that they "ought not to have become priests".
The semi-official papal daily, L'Osservatore Romano, made no reference to the affair. Vatican Radio reported it briefly.
One priest, a Frenchman in his 30s identified as Father Paul, attended a party at which there were two male prostitutes then said Mass the following morning before driving them to the airport, Panorama reported. A photo on its website claimed to show the priest in his dog collar but without his trousers with a gay man who acted as decoy for the magazine. In other shots, priests were shown apparently kissing Panorama's collaborator.
A member of the clergy quoted by the magazine put the proportion of gay priests in the Italian capital at "98%". The Rome diocese insisted the vast majority of priests in the city were "models of morality for all", while adding that the number of gay clergyman was "small, but not to be written off as isolated cases". A review eight years ago of research on the American church concluded that between a quarter and a half of seminarians and priests there were homosexual.
A former Italian MP and gay activist, Franco Grillini, said: "If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once – something we would very much like – they would cause it serious operational problems."
Another well-known spokesman for the gay community, Aurelio Mancuso, condemned Panorama's investigation as a "horrible political and cultural operation", but agreed that if priests in Rome were to follow the advice given to them in yesterday's statement, it would "paralyse" the diocese.
In March, the pope's own household was rocked by scandal when court documents revealed a Vatican chorister had procured male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
HA!!! HATUA YA KUONDOA MITAFARUKU UINGEREZA
POPE TO BE PROTECTED FROM ARREST IN UK - POSTED ON 24/7/2010.
The Government has moved to prevent the possibility of an arrest warrant being issued against the Pope during his state visit this autumn. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Pope To Be Protected From Arrest On UK Visit Enlarge photo
More photos: Crime
Related content
Sky News understands that Whitehall officials have been "seriously concerned" that campaigners would use international criminal rules to try to detain the Pontiff while he is in the UK.
Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC were among those campaigners reported to be looking at the options for bringing a private prosecution in relation to the Pope's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Now Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has proposed changes to the rules on universal jurisdiction, a law that allows individuals to be prosecuted in the UK for serious offences such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture even if they were carried out abroad.
The plans would mean the Director of Public Prosecutions would need to give his consent to any arrest warrant issued under universal jurisdiction.
This would effectively mean taking that power out of the hands of the courts.
Ministers say the current rules are open to abuse because the evidence required to get a warrant is far below the threshold that would be needed to bring a prosecution.
This has meant the rules are often used by those who wish to make a political statement or to cause embarrassment.
The most recent attempt to obtain an arrest warrant for a foreign dignitary was ahead of the visit by former Israeli defence minister Tzipi Livni who cancelled her trip at the last minute to avoid embarrassment.
"Our commitment to our international obligations and to ensuring that there is no impunity for those accused of crimes of universal jurisdiction is unwavering," Mr Clarke said.
"It is important, however, that universal jurisdiction cases should be proceeded with in this country only on the basis of solid evidence that is likely to lead to a successful prosecution - otherwise there is a risk of damaging our ability to help in conflict resolution or to pursue a coherent foreign policy.
"The Government has concluded, after careful consideration, that it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction."
The state visit this September will be the first visit by a Pope to the UK since 1982.
The Government has moved to prevent the possibility of an arrest warrant being issued against the Pope during his state visit this autumn. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Pope To Be Protected From Arrest On UK Visit Enlarge photo
More photos: Crime
Related content
Sky News understands that Whitehall officials have been "seriously concerned" that campaigners would use international criminal rules to try to detain the Pontiff while he is in the UK.
Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC were among those campaigners reported to be looking at the options for bringing a private prosecution in relation to the Pope's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Now Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has proposed changes to the rules on universal jurisdiction, a law that allows individuals to be prosecuted in the UK for serious offences such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture even if they were carried out abroad.
The plans would mean the Director of Public Prosecutions would need to give his consent to any arrest warrant issued under universal jurisdiction.
This would effectively mean taking that power out of the hands of the courts.
Ministers say the current rules are open to abuse because the evidence required to get a warrant is far below the threshold that would be needed to bring a prosecution.
This has meant the rules are often used by those who wish to make a political statement or to cause embarrassment.
The most recent attempt to obtain an arrest warrant for a foreign dignitary was ahead of the visit by former Israeli defence minister Tzipi Livni who cancelled her trip at the last minute to avoid embarrassment.
"Our commitment to our international obligations and to ensuring that there is no impunity for those accused of crimes of universal jurisdiction is unwavering," Mr Clarke said.
"It is important, however, that universal jurisdiction cases should be proceeded with in this country only on the basis of solid evidence that is likely to lead to a successful prosecution - otherwise there is a risk of damaging our ability to help in conflict resolution or to pursue a coherent foreign policy.
"The Government has concluded, after careful consideration, that it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction."
The state visit this September will be the first visit by a Pope to the UK since 1982.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
SYRIA BANS FACE VEILS AT UNIVERSITIES
Posted here on 21/7/2010 from BBC.
Syria bans face veils at universities
Female students wearing a full face veil will be barred from Syrian university campuses, the country's minister of higher education has said.
Ghiyath Barakat was reported to have said that the practice ran counter to the academic values and traditions of Syrian universities.
His ruling, published on the All4Syria website, was said to be in response to requests from students and parents.
The issue of full face veils has caused controversy in other countries.
Kinda al-Shammat Law professor, Damascus
Kinda al-Shammat, a law professor and women's rights activist in Damascus, welcomed the decision and said it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.
"We have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right," she told Al-Arabiya TV.
Secular identity
However the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says the ruling could be a sign that Syrian Society is becoming more conservative.
"In recent years, Syria has witnessed an Islamic revival with more and more women wearing the Hijab," she reports.
"This decision could be seen as a step by the government to enforce its secular identity."
In 2009, Egypt's then foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, barred female students from wearing the full-face veil at the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.
He also upset other Muslim scholars by saying French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.
Earlier this month, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.
It must be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.
Belgium's lower house of parliament has also passed a bill to ban clothing that hides a person's identity in public places, although it does not specifically refer to full-face Islamic veils.
Syria bans face veils at universities
Female students wearing a full face veil will be barred from Syrian university campuses, the country's minister of higher education has said.
Ghiyath Barakat was reported to have said that the practice ran counter to the academic values and traditions of Syrian universities.
His ruling, published on the All4Syria website, was said to be in response to requests from students and parents.
The issue of full face veils has caused controversy in other countries.
Kinda al-Shammat Law professor, Damascus
Kinda al-Shammat, a law professor and women's rights activist in Damascus, welcomed the decision and said it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.
"We have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right," she told Al-Arabiya TV.
Secular identity
However the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says the ruling could be a sign that Syrian Society is becoming more conservative.
"In recent years, Syria has witnessed an Islamic revival with more and more women wearing the Hijab," she reports.
"This decision could be seen as a step by the government to enforce its secular identity."
In 2009, Egypt's then foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, barred female students from wearing the full-face veil at the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.
He also upset other Muslim scholars by saying French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.
Earlier this month, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.
It must be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.
Belgium's lower house of parliament has also passed a bill to ban clothing that hides a person's identity in public places, although it does not specifically refer to full-face Islamic veils.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
TERRORISM IS NOT A MUSLIM MONOPOLY
THE TERRORISM IS NOT A MUSLIM MONOPOLY, POSTED HERE ON 13/7/2010.
Very good analysis by non-Muslim journalist
Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai;
Date: Jul 23, 2006;
SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
‘‘All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.’’ This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different.
First, there is nothing new about terrorism. In 1881, anarchists killed the Russian Tsar Alexander II and 21 bystanders. In 1901, anarchists killed US President McKinley as well as King Humbert I of Italy . World War I started in 1914 when anarchists killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria . These terrorist attacks were not Muslim.
Terrorism is generally defined as the killing of civilians for political reasons. Going by this definition, the British Raj referred to Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and many other Indian freedom fighters as terrorists. These were Hindu and Sikh rather than Muslim.
Guerrilla fighters from Mao Zedong to Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro killed civilians during their revolutionary campaigns. They too were called terrorists until they triumphed. Nothing Muslim about them.
In Palestine , after World War II, Jewish groups (the Haganah, Irgun and Stern Gang) fought for the creation of a Jewish state, bombing hotels and installations and killing civilians. The British, who then governed Palestine , rightly called these Jewish groups terrorists. Many of these terrorists later became leaders of independent Israel — Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon. Ironically, these former terrorists then lambasted terrorism, applying this label only to Arabs fighting for the very same nationhood that the Jews had fought for earlier.
In Germany in 1968-92, the Baader-Meinhoff Gang killed dozens, including the head of Treuhand, the German privatisation agency. In Italy , the Red Brigades kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, former prime minister.
The Japanese Red Army was an Asian version of this. Japan was also the home of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist cult that tried to kill thousands in the Tokyo metro system using nerve gas in 1995.
In Europe , the Irish Republican Army has been a Catholic terrorist organisation for almost a century. Spain and France face a terrorist challenge from ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation.
Africa is ravaged by so much civil war and internal strife that few people even bother to check which groups can be labelled terrorist. They stretch across the continent. Possibly the most notorious is the
Lord’s Salvation Army in Uganda , a Christian outfit that uses children as warriors.
In Sri Lanka , the Tamil Tigers have long constituted one of the most vicious and formidable terrorist groups in the world. They were the first to train children as terrorists. They happen to be Hindus. Suicide bombing is widely associated with Muslim Palestinians and Iraqis, but the Tamil Tigers were the first to use this tactic on a large scale. One such suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
In India , the militants in Kashmir are Muslim. But they are only one of several militant groups. The Punjab militants, led by Bhindranwale, were Sikhs. The United Liberation Front of Assam is a Hindu terrorist group that targets Muslims rather than the other way round. Tripura has witnessed the rise and fall of several terrorist groups, and so have Bodo strongholds in Assam . Christian Mizos mounted an insurrection for decades, and Christian Nagas are still heading militant groups.
But most important of all are the Maoist terrorist groups that now exist in no less than 150 out of India ’s 600 districts. They have attacked police stations, and killed and razed entire villages that oppose them. These are secular terrorists (like the Baader Meinhof Gang or Red Brigades). In terms of membership and area controlled, secular terrorists are far ahead of Muslim terrorists.
In sum, terrorism is certainly not a Muslim monopoly. There are or have been terrorist groups among Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists. Secular terrorists (anarchists, Maoists) have been the biggest killers.
Why then is there such a widespread impression that most or all terrorist groups are Muslim? I see two reasons. First, the Indian elite keenly follows the western media, and the West feels under attack from Islamic groups. Catholic Irish terrorists have killed far more people in Britain than Muslims, yet the subway bombings in London and Madrid are what Europeans remember today. The Baader Meinhof Gang, IRA and Red Brigades no longer pose much of a threat, but after 9/11 Americans and Europeans fear that they could be hit anywhere anytime. So they focus attention on Islamic militancy. They pay little notice to other forms of terrorism in Africa, Sri Lanka or India : these pose no threat to the West.
Within India , Maoists pose a far greater threat than Muslim militants in 150 districts, one-third of India ’s area. But major cities feel threatened only by Muslim groups. So the national elite and media focus overwhelmingly on Muslim terrorism. The elite are hardly aware that this is an elite phenomenon.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Messages in this topic (1)
1. Since tyrants will always be marginally more cruel to win any power struggle, how can the good people win without surpassing the tyrant's cruelty?
2. Why are War & Famine found mainly in countries with straight-line borders?
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========
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron" (Dwight D Eisenhower).
Very good analysis by non-Muslim journalist
Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai;
Date: Jul 23, 2006;
SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
‘‘All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.’’ This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different.
First, there is nothing new about terrorism. In 1881, anarchists killed the Russian Tsar Alexander II and 21 bystanders. In 1901, anarchists killed US President McKinley as well as King Humbert I of Italy . World War I started in 1914 when anarchists killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria . These terrorist attacks were not Muslim.
Terrorism is generally defined as the killing of civilians for political reasons. Going by this definition, the British Raj referred to Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and many other Indian freedom fighters as terrorists. These were Hindu and Sikh rather than Muslim.
Guerrilla fighters from Mao Zedong to Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro killed civilians during their revolutionary campaigns. They too were called terrorists until they triumphed. Nothing Muslim about them.
In Palestine , after World War II, Jewish groups (the Haganah, Irgun and Stern Gang) fought for the creation of a Jewish state, bombing hotels and installations and killing civilians. The British, who then governed Palestine , rightly called these Jewish groups terrorists. Many of these terrorists later became leaders of independent Israel — Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon. Ironically, these former terrorists then lambasted terrorism, applying this label only to Arabs fighting for the very same nationhood that the Jews had fought for earlier.
In Germany in 1968-92, the Baader-Meinhoff Gang killed dozens, including the head of Treuhand, the German privatisation agency. In Italy , the Red Brigades kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, former prime minister.
The Japanese Red Army was an Asian version of this. Japan was also the home of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist cult that tried to kill thousands in the Tokyo metro system using nerve gas in 1995.
In Europe , the Irish Republican Army has been a Catholic terrorist organisation for almost a century. Spain and France face a terrorist challenge from ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation.
Africa is ravaged by so much civil war and internal strife that few people even bother to check which groups can be labelled terrorist. They stretch across the continent. Possibly the most notorious is the
Lord’s Salvation Army in Uganda , a Christian outfit that uses children as warriors.
In Sri Lanka , the Tamil Tigers have long constituted one of the most vicious and formidable terrorist groups in the world. They were the first to train children as terrorists. They happen to be Hindus. Suicide bombing is widely associated with Muslim Palestinians and Iraqis, but the Tamil Tigers were the first to use this tactic on a large scale. One such suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
In India , the militants in Kashmir are Muslim. But they are only one of several militant groups. The Punjab militants, led by Bhindranwale, were Sikhs. The United Liberation Front of Assam is a Hindu terrorist group that targets Muslims rather than the other way round. Tripura has witnessed the rise and fall of several terrorist groups, and so have Bodo strongholds in Assam . Christian Mizos mounted an insurrection for decades, and Christian Nagas are still heading militant groups.
But most important of all are the Maoist terrorist groups that now exist in no less than 150 out of India ’s 600 districts. They have attacked police stations, and killed and razed entire villages that oppose them. These are secular terrorists (like the Baader Meinhof Gang or Red Brigades). In terms of membership and area controlled, secular terrorists are far ahead of Muslim terrorists.
In sum, terrorism is certainly not a Muslim monopoly. There are or have been terrorist groups among Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists. Secular terrorists (anarchists, Maoists) have been the biggest killers.
Why then is there such a widespread impression that most or all terrorist groups are Muslim? I see two reasons. First, the Indian elite keenly follows the western media, and the West feels under attack from Islamic groups. Catholic Irish terrorists have killed far more people in Britain than Muslims, yet the subway bombings in London and Madrid are what Europeans remember today. The Baader Meinhof Gang, IRA and Red Brigades no longer pose much of a threat, but after 9/11 Americans and Europeans fear that they could be hit anywhere anytime. So they focus attention on Islamic militancy. They pay little notice to other forms of terrorism in Africa, Sri Lanka or India : these pose no threat to the West.
Within India , Maoists pose a far greater threat than Muslim militants in 150 districts, one-third of India ’s area. But major cities feel threatened only by Muslim groups. So the national elite and media focus overwhelmingly on Muslim terrorism. The elite are hardly aware that this is an elite phenomenon.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Messages in this topic (1)
1. Since tyrants will always be marginally more cruel to win any power struggle, how can the good people win without surpassing the tyrant's cruelty?
2. Why are War & Famine found mainly in countries with straight-line borders?
Responsibility:
The person who posts narrative takes all responsibility for own opinions. Each contributor agrees he/she posted the item in the hope of advancing understanding and friendship amongst all readers of EAcircle. The views of contributors are their own and not of EAcircle.
Join EAcircle Email Discussion:
from http://www.YahooGroups.com or email to Affilica @ HotMail dot com)
Reply Emails:
Your email to be sent direct to EAcircle@YahooGroups.com
Attachments are automatically discarded by programming to preclude spread of virus. Put your text in the body of your email.
Heritage Website http://www.EAcircle.org (Travelog, Old Photos)
Best ticket deals to East Africa and other countries from http://www.cruxton.com
Tax/Business problem? Send your enquiry to accounatants and lawyers http://www.AFFILICA.com
Search back issues and archives:
Call up www.YahooGroups.com - Click on My Groups - Click on EAcircle - Click on Messages - Put search in box there.
========
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron" (Dwight D Eisenhower).
UCHAGUZI WA MWANAFUNZI - KATI YA HIJABU NA MASOMO YA UDAKITARI
30 June 2010 12:14, kajiru taluka wrote:
Bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career
Cairo, February 28: One year before graduation to become a doctor, Turkish medical student Fatma Orgel was put in a bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career.
“I could either not finish my degree, or go to another country to study,” Orgel told The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, February 27.
One year before Orgel’s graduation, Turkey enacted a law in 1999 banning hijab on campus.
The legislation left the young Turkish student torn apart between her aspiration of becoming a doctor and her hijab, an obligatory code of dress.
“When the ban came into force my parents saw their dreams of me becoming a doctor disappearing,” Orgel, now 35, recalled.
“They begged me to take off the headscarf and keep going to university.”
But, Orgel, who grew up in a traditional family to a religious teacher and a housewife in the south-west city of Antalya, could not think of taking off her veil.
Eventually, she took the hard decision of going abroad to Hungary to complete her medical studies.
“I said no,” she recalled.
“In the end I was lucky and I found a way to continue my studies, but most others cannot do this.”
Completing her studies, Orgel returned to Turkey to stumble with the hijab ban in government offices, leaving her with no option but to leave the country for London for working as doctor.
“I worked there for 12 months and I forgot I was even wearing the headscarf,” she said.
“No one cared. I kept having to tell myself that I was wearing it, even though I was working in a big state hospital.”
Hijab has long been a highly divisive issue in the overwhelmingly Muslim but secular Turkey.
It has been banned in public buildings, universities, schools and government buildings since shortly after a 1980 military coup.
In February 2008, the parliament voted to overturn the ban on wearing the headscarf on campus, but the decision was later overturned by the High Court on the ground it infringed the country's secularist principles.
Why
Orgel says that lots of misunderstanding are prevailing in secular Turkey about hijab and modernization.
“The Turkish nation always looks to the West, to Europe, and believes that banning the headscarf is a step towards modernization,” she said.
The Turkish doctor said that the ban discriminates against hijab-clad women who want to abide by the Islamic teachings.
“The real effect is the opposite,” said Orgel.
“It means that women who observe the Qur’an are barred from a university education.”
The hijab ban also denies Turkish women who are aspiring to escape a lower socio-economic class the opportunity.
“When Islam is viewed from the outside, many see the scarf as the symbol of repression, that we are being forced to do this against our will,” she said.
“I made the decision when I was around 15 that I would wear the headscarf.
It became part of my spirituality, part of my perception of life.”
Orgel is now a member of the executive board of AKDER, a human rights organization that fights discrimination against Muslim women.
“Why is wearing the headscarf not my decision?” Dr Orgel asks.
“If I decide to wear the headscarf, then I should be able to wear it. Why should I not be free to make my own decisions?
Bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career
Cairo, February 28: One year before graduation to become a doctor, Turkish medical student Fatma Orgel was put in a bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career.
“I could either not finish my degree, or go to another country to study,” Orgel told The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, February 27.
One year before Orgel’s graduation, Turkey enacted a law in 1999 banning hijab on campus.
The legislation left the young Turkish student torn apart between her aspiration of becoming a doctor and her hijab, an obligatory code of dress.
“When the ban came into force my parents saw their dreams of me becoming a doctor disappearing,” Orgel, now 35, recalled.
“They begged me to take off the headscarf and keep going to university.”
But, Orgel, who grew up in a traditional family to a religious teacher and a housewife in the south-west city of Antalya, could not think of taking off her veil.
Eventually, she took the hard decision of going abroad to Hungary to complete her medical studies.
“I said no,” she recalled.
“In the end I was lucky and I found a way to continue my studies, but most others cannot do this.”
Completing her studies, Orgel returned to Turkey to stumble with the hijab ban in government offices, leaving her with no option but to leave the country for London for working as doctor.
“I worked there for 12 months and I forgot I was even wearing the headscarf,” she said.
“No one cared. I kept having to tell myself that I was wearing it, even though I was working in a big state hospital.”
Hijab has long been a highly divisive issue in the overwhelmingly Muslim but secular Turkey.
It has been banned in public buildings, universities, schools and government buildings since shortly after a 1980 military coup.
In February 2008, the parliament voted to overturn the ban on wearing the headscarf on campus, but the decision was later overturned by the High Court on the ground it infringed the country's secularist principles.
Why
Orgel says that lots of misunderstanding are prevailing in secular Turkey about hijab and modernization.
“The Turkish nation always looks to the West, to Europe, and believes that banning the headscarf is a step towards modernization,” she said.
The Turkish doctor said that the ban discriminates against hijab-clad women who want to abide by the Islamic teachings.
“The real effect is the opposite,” said Orgel.
“It means that women who observe the Qur’an are barred from a university education.”
The hijab ban also denies Turkish women who are aspiring to escape a lower socio-economic class the opportunity.
“When Islam is viewed from the outside, many see the scarf as the symbol of repression, that we are being forced to do this against our will,” she said.
“I made the decision when I was around 15 that I would wear the headscarf.
It became part of my spirituality, part of my perception of life.”
Orgel is now a member of the executive board of AKDER, a human rights organization that fights discrimination against Muslim women.
“Why is wearing the headscarf not my decision?” Dr Orgel asks.
“If I decide to wear the headscarf, then I should be able to wear it. Why should I not be free to make my own decisions?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
MALUMBANO YA MAHAKAMA YA KADHI TANZANIA (MUENDELEZO)
On 03/07/2010, Chris Mwasambili wrote:
By ABDULWAKIL SAIBOKO, 2nd July 2010 Daily News
SOME Muslim clerics have urged the government to consider enacting a clear law to guide Kadhi Court upon its establishment, so as to make it work in a confined manner.
Reading a resolution by the coalition of Muslim communities in Dar es Salaam on Friday, Sheikh Ali Basalehe told reporters that they were mystified by the government’s decision to return the matter to Muslims to decide their fate.
“We ask the government’s full commitment in this matter. Through the Parliament, it should be enshrined in the constitution to make sure boundaries are clearly set.
Failure to do so might turn this important issue into chaos when it takes off,” warned the cleric who was flanked by a section of sheikhs.
Sheikh Basalehe named the communities involved in compiling the resolutions as: Islamic Club, Tanzania Muslim Solidarity, SHIA Ithenaashari, Markaz, Imam’s Shura, Tanzania Muslim Professionals and BASUTA among others.
Another Sheikh, Issa Ponda, urged the government to consider providing essential instruments for the court to work effectively, which would include allocating budget to run its activities.
“There is no problem putting this matter in the national constitution because it will serve a section of Tanzanians who need to be guided by their constitution. Other secular countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Gambia have it in their constitutions,” he said.
Sheikh Ponda added that doing so would mean that the court, just like any other in the country is recognised by the state, and is thus a legal institute that should be respected by those whose cases will be determined by the court.
In another development, Sheikh Ponda has urged the government to ensure that the matter remains an issue to be discussed upon by all Muslim communities, pointing out that Tanzania Muslim Council was not an umbrella but a mere community in a country of many Muslim communities.
“When the process of formation of the court started, all the communities were involved but now Bakwata is monopolising the matter,” he said. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, was quoted as saying that the government has never barred Muslims from establishing Kadhi Court.
“The argument here is whether the court should be established by the government and be under the government or whether it should be established by Muslims themselves and be incorporated into laws of the land,” observed Mr Chikawe.
By ABDULWAKIL SAIBOKO, 2nd July 2010 Daily News
SOME Muslim clerics have urged the government to consider enacting a clear law to guide Kadhi Court upon its establishment, so as to make it work in a confined manner.
Reading a resolution by the coalition of Muslim communities in Dar es Salaam on Friday, Sheikh Ali Basalehe told reporters that they were mystified by the government’s decision to return the matter to Muslims to decide their fate.
“We ask the government’s full commitment in this matter. Through the Parliament, it should be enshrined in the constitution to make sure boundaries are clearly set.
Failure to do so might turn this important issue into chaos when it takes off,” warned the cleric who was flanked by a section of sheikhs.
Sheikh Basalehe named the communities involved in compiling the resolutions as: Islamic Club, Tanzania Muslim Solidarity, SHIA Ithenaashari, Markaz, Imam’s Shura, Tanzania Muslim Professionals and BASUTA among others.
Another Sheikh, Issa Ponda, urged the government to consider providing essential instruments for the court to work effectively, which would include allocating budget to run its activities.
“There is no problem putting this matter in the national constitution because it will serve a section of Tanzanians who need to be guided by their constitution. Other secular countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Gambia have it in their constitutions,” he said.
Sheikh Ponda added that doing so would mean that the court, just like any other in the country is recognised by the state, and is thus a legal institute that should be respected by those whose cases will be determined by the court.
In another development, Sheikh Ponda has urged the government to ensure that the matter remains an issue to be discussed upon by all Muslim communities, pointing out that Tanzania Muslim Council was not an umbrella but a mere community in a country of many Muslim communities.
“When the process of formation of the court started, all the communities were involved but now Bakwata is monopolising the matter,” he said. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, was quoted as saying that the government has never barred Muslims from establishing Kadhi Court.
“The argument here is whether the court should be established by the government and be under the government or whether it should be established by Muslims themselves and be incorporated into laws of the land,” observed Mr Chikawe.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
MASHABIKI WA MPIRA (11/6/2010 - 11/7/2010) MKUMBUKENI MUNGU
SHAIRI HILI LIMEANDIKWA NA MTUNZI TOKA ARABIA NA KWA KUWA NI MAWAIDHA, KARIBUNI TUYASOME NA KUYAZINGATIA KIPINDI HIKI AMBAPO KOMBE LA DUNIA LA SOKA LINASHINDANIWA HUKO AFRIKA YA KUSINI TANGU 11/6/2010 HADI 11/7/2010.
Imehifadhiwa humu kwa hisani kubwa ya Bi. Saada Al-Ghafry wa Muscat, Oman, 23/6/2010.
Mashabiki Wa Mpira
Abdallah Bin Eifan ( Jeddah , Saudi Arabia )
Salamu nawarushia, kama mvua nchini,
Na hali kuwajulia, ni wajibu wa kidini,
Nyote nawasalimia, toka huku Arabuni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Mashabiki nawaambia, tukumbuke ya mwishoni,
Tutakuja kujutia, majuto yafaa nini?
Mapema kuangalia, tudiriki maishani,
Dini yetu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Firimbi imeshalia, mpira upo mguuni,
Watu wanashangilia, hekaheka uwanjani,
Na wengine wanalia, mashaka tupu usoni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Sasa nawahadithia, mechi ndani ya medani,
Hapa nawatangazia, nipo sasa redioni,
Naomba kunisikia, masikio yategeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Ronaldo kampasia, kanyang’anywa na Oweni,
Ona anavyokimbia, aelekea golini,
Hatari sana sikia, kipa yupo mashakani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Anazidi kusogea, Ronaldo angalieni,
Lakini ameotea, mpira simamisheni,
Na hapo anarejea, nyuma ashike foleni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Kaingia Maradona, na wote wapo mbioni,
Sasa anapiga kona, huo mpira angani,
Na kipa hakuuona, umeshaingia ndani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wengine wanalizana, na wengine furahani,
Wanazidi kukazana, wameshafika pembeni,
Huku wanaumizana, refa kasema chezeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Sasa anaonekana, ameingia Zedani,
Kaanza kuwatukana, na kuwapiga kichwani,
Refa kasema hapana, huyu nje mtoeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Manchester na Liverpooli, tupo kwenye ushindani,
Chelsea na Arsenali, na hizi zipo kundini,
Na timu ya Brazili, Amerika ya Kusini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Hizi ni timu za nje, sio za hapa nyumbani,
Sasa zinatuwashaje, pilipili za shambani,
Tena umewajuaje, wa Ulaya uzunguni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Nani leo huwataja, wachezaji wa zamani,
Ali Kajo na Elija, Kadenge-Kenya nchini,
Kalibala alikuja, toka Uganda yakini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Zama zile za awali, Tanganyika kubaini,
Alikuwa Salum Ali, mchezaji kwa makini,
Okoth kipa mkali, asomjua ni nani ?
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Watu hutiana ngumi, damu hutoka puani,
Bima milioni kumi, haramu hiyo oneni,
Inaharibu uchumi, bora wape masikini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wakivaa kaptura, wapo wazi mapajani,
Vazi halina sitara, wapo uchi hadharani,
Hii sasa ni izara, haramu tupu machoni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Ninasikia adhana, kwa mbali msikitini,
Tumeghafilika sana, yupo na sisi shetani,
Sasa hapa tunaona, haramu wazi jamani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wanawake, wanaume, wapo pamoja jukwani,
Huku ni kwenda kinyume, kinyume na yetu dini,
Acha mashekhe waseme, haramu jiepusheni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Hakuna alokataza, mazoezi ya mwilini,
Wameruhusu kucheza, mipaka msivukeni,
Swalah zitimizwe kwanza, kwa wakati tazameni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira
Tusidharau ibada, hakuna cha samahani,
Tazama yenye faida, akhera na duniani,
Ujiepushe na shida, na ghadhabu Za Manani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Viwanja vya kuchezea, vinakalifu thamani,
Wakati unapotea, na pesa mabilioni,
Adui anachochea, “umma wapotezeni,”
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Mpira umeshakwisha, nawaaga kwaherini,
Shetani katubebesha, madhambi tupu shingoni,
Na swalah zimeshakwisha, wameswali Waumini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Imehifadhiwa humu kwa hisani kubwa ya Bi. Saada Al-Ghafry wa Muscat, Oman, 23/6/2010.
Mashabiki Wa Mpira
Abdallah Bin Eifan ( Jeddah , Saudi Arabia )
Salamu nawarushia, kama mvua nchini,
Na hali kuwajulia, ni wajibu wa kidini,
Nyote nawasalimia, toka huku Arabuni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Mashabiki nawaambia, tukumbuke ya mwishoni,
Tutakuja kujutia, majuto yafaa nini?
Mapema kuangalia, tudiriki maishani,
Dini yetu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Firimbi imeshalia, mpira upo mguuni,
Watu wanashangilia, hekaheka uwanjani,
Na wengine wanalia, mashaka tupu usoni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Sasa nawahadithia, mechi ndani ya medani,
Hapa nawatangazia, nipo sasa redioni,
Naomba kunisikia, masikio yategeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Ronaldo kampasia, kanyang’anywa na Oweni,
Ona anavyokimbia, aelekea golini,
Hatari sana sikia, kipa yupo mashakani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Anazidi kusogea, Ronaldo angalieni,
Lakini ameotea, mpira simamisheni,
Na hapo anarejea, nyuma ashike foleni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Kaingia Maradona, na wote wapo mbioni,
Sasa anapiga kona, huo mpira angani,
Na kipa hakuuona, umeshaingia ndani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wengine wanalizana, na wengine furahani,
Wanazidi kukazana, wameshafika pembeni,
Huku wanaumizana, refa kasema chezeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Sasa anaonekana, ameingia Zedani,
Kaanza kuwatukana, na kuwapiga kichwani,
Refa kasema hapana, huyu nje mtoeni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Manchester na Liverpooli, tupo kwenye ushindani,
Chelsea na Arsenali, na hizi zipo kundini,
Na timu ya Brazili, Amerika ya Kusini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Hizi ni timu za nje, sio za hapa nyumbani,
Sasa zinatuwashaje, pilipili za shambani,
Tena umewajuaje, wa Ulaya uzunguni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Nani leo huwataja, wachezaji wa zamani,
Ali Kajo na Elija, Kadenge-Kenya nchini,
Kalibala alikuja, toka Uganda yakini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Zama zile za awali, Tanganyika kubaini,
Alikuwa Salum Ali, mchezaji kwa makini,
Okoth kipa mkali, asomjua ni nani ?
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Watu hutiana ngumi, damu hutoka puani,
Bima milioni kumi, haramu hiyo oneni,
Inaharibu uchumi, bora wape masikini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wakivaa kaptura, wapo wazi mapajani,
Vazi halina sitara, wapo uchi hadharani,
Hii sasa ni izara, haramu tupu machoni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Ninasikia adhana, kwa mbali msikitini,
Tumeghafilika sana, yupo na sisi shetani,
Sasa hapa tunaona, haramu wazi jamani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Wanawake, wanaume, wapo pamoja jukwani,
Huku ni kwenda kinyume, kinyume na yetu dini,
Acha mashekhe waseme, haramu jiepusheni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Hakuna alokataza, mazoezi ya mwilini,
Wameruhusu kucheza, mipaka msivukeni,
Swalah zitimizwe kwanza, kwa wakati tazameni,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira
Tusidharau ibada, hakuna cha samahani,
Tazama yenye faida, akhera na duniani,
Ujiepushe na shida, na ghadhabu Za Manani,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Viwanja vya kuchezea, vinakalifu thamani,
Wakati unapotea, na pesa mabilioni,
Adui anachochea, “umma wapotezeni,”
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Mpira umeshakwisha, nawaaga kwaherini,
Shetani katubebesha, madhambi tupu shingoni,
Na swalah zimeshakwisha, wameswali Waumini,
Dini yenu kumbukeni, Mashabiki wa Mpira.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
MKOLONI WA KIFARANSA ALAZIMISHA MILA ZAKE MAYOTTE
IMECHANGIWA NA SALMA MOULID, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA.
France to bar polygamy, sharia on Mayotte islands
PARIS
Wed Jun 2, 2010
(Reuters) - New polygamous marriages and sharia courts will be banned on
France's Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte when it becomes a department of the
French state next year, according to a draft ordinance presented on Wednesday.
Mayotte, an island territory between Mozambique and Madagascar, will also end
repudiation, the traditional Muslim divorce, and raise the minimum marriage age
for females from 16 to 18, according to a statement by the cabinet.
"The ordinance puts a definitive end to inequality between men and women,"
Overseas Territories Minister Marie-Luce Penchard said. "There will no longer
be a possibility to enter into polygamous unions as used to be the case."
Existing polygamous marriages can continue, she added.
The cabinet statement said sharia courts "do not correspond to the requirements
of the European Convention on Human Rights".
Sharia judges, known in majority Muslim Mayotte as cadis, will no longer rule on
personal law cases such as divorce and inheritance.
"The role of the cadis will be refocused towards functions of social mediation,"
the statement said.
About 95 percent of Mayotte's population are Sunni Muslims who have kept
traditional practices since France colonised the islands in 1841.
France to bar polygamy, sharia on Mayotte islands
PARIS
Wed Jun 2, 2010
(Reuters) - New polygamous marriages and sharia courts will be banned on
France's Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte when it becomes a department of the
French state next year, according to a draft ordinance presented on Wednesday.
Mayotte, an island territory between Mozambique and Madagascar, will also end
repudiation, the traditional Muslim divorce, and raise the minimum marriage age
for females from 16 to 18, according to a statement by the cabinet.
"The ordinance puts a definitive end to inequality between men and women,"
Overseas Territories Minister Marie-Luce Penchard said. "There will no longer
be a possibility to enter into polygamous unions as used to be the case."
Existing polygamous marriages can continue, she added.
The cabinet statement said sharia courts "do not correspond to the requirements
of the European Convention on Human Rights".
Sharia judges, known in majority Muslim Mayotte as cadis, will no longer rule on
personal law cases such as divorce and inheritance.
"The role of the cadis will be refocused towards functions of social mediation,"
the statement said.
About 95 percent of Mayotte's population are Sunni Muslims who have kept
traditional practices since France colonised the islands in 1841.
UNYAMA WA WAISRAELI KWA WATOA MISAADA DUNIANI
IMECHANGIWA NA BI SAADA AL GHAFRY WA OMAN, 4/6/2010.
All At Sea
By Yvonne Ridley
June 01, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- I wonder how many of you remember the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship the Achille Lauro way back in October 1985?
Four members of the Palestine Liberation Front took control of the liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said.
It was a bungled operation in which the hijackers killed disabled Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and then threw his body overboard.
The incident created headlines around the world and polarized people over the Palestinian cause.
It also prompted the law makers to create new legislation making it an international crime for anyone to take a ship by force.
And this is the reason for the brief history lesson - under article 3 of the Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation of 1988, it is an international crime for any person to seize or exercise control over a ship by force, and also a crime to injure or kill any person in the process.
The treaty necessarily adopts a strict approach. One cannot attack a ship and then claim self-defence if the people on board resist the unlawful use of violence.
In other words, according to international law, the actions of the Israeli military were beyond the law and those involved should be treated no differently than, say, the Somali pirates who are also in the habit of boarding ships by force.
Any rights to self defence in such dramatic circumstances rests purely with the passengers and crew on board. Under international maritime law you are legally entitled to resist unlawful capture, abduction and detention.
What those on board the Freedom Flotilla did was perfectly legal. I believe they acted with great courage in the face of heavily armed IDF commandos, while others might have thought their actions reckless.
Whatever your view, a number paid the ultimate price for their international right to resist.
Israel now stands virtually alone having exposed itself as a pariah state.
I wrote an article last year calling them the Pirates of the Mediterranean after they had illegally boarded other aid ships, kidnapping crew and passengers.
Now I want you to ask yourself this question … if a group of Somali pirates had forced their way onto half a dozen humanitarian aid ships from the West, slaughtering around nine or 10 people and injuring scores more what do you think the international reaction would have been?
Let me tell you. A NATO task force would by now be steaming towards the Horn of Africa accompanied by a couple of drones and various members of the press to record the occasion. (On a point of interest the Achille Lauro sank in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia in 1994.)
So why is Israel allowed to get away with murder? In a pre-meditated act the Zionist State showed once again its total disregard for human life – and international law.
There were pensioners, women and children on board those ships which were carrying bags of cement, electric wheelchairs, toys, medicines and water purifiers for Gaza's people.
Realizing Israel had shot itself in the foot, the vile state’s leader Binyamin Netanyahu then started shooting from the lip.
He asked us to believe that his troops were acting in self-defence. And then, 24 hours later, given time to come up with more lies he told the world that the soldiers were armed with paintballs and had not expected to use their weapons. Not content with insulting our intelligence he said his nice, cuddly IDF folk had only boarded the boats to carry out an inspection and inventory.
Then backing him up was Mark Regev, the Zionist State’s political Pinocchio. He reckons these evil-doers on board the boats grabbed the IDF’s real guns and used them to fire on the soldiers.
These are the same soldiers that come from an elite, highly trained, crack squad … hmm Mr Regev, if that’s the case why would you send in the A-Team if they were just going to do an inventory?
And if they were such a hot squad how did a bunch of civilians manage to overpower them and give them a good slap?
Either Israeli soldiers fight like a bunch of old women – which Hizb’Allah says they do – or they intended to massacre those on board to make sure that no other peace activists get involved in trying to help the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Well if that was the aim then it has failed. As I write this some heroic friends of mine from the Free Gaza Movement are bound for Gaza now onboard the appropriately named ship Rachel Corrie.
In our thousands in our millions … today we are all Palestinians.
Journalist Yvonne Ridley is the European President of the International Muslim Womens Union, and a committed peace activist who was on the first boat to break the siege of Gaza in 2008.
Comments (76)
All At Sea
By Yvonne Ridley
June 01, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- I wonder how many of you remember the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship the Achille Lauro way back in October 1985?
Four members of the Palestine Liberation Front took control of the liner off Egypt as she was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said.
It was a bungled operation in which the hijackers killed disabled Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and then threw his body overboard.
The incident created headlines around the world and polarized people over the Palestinian cause.
It also prompted the law makers to create new legislation making it an international crime for anyone to take a ship by force.
And this is the reason for the brief history lesson - under article 3 of the Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation of 1988, it is an international crime for any person to seize or exercise control over a ship by force, and also a crime to injure or kill any person in the process.
The treaty necessarily adopts a strict approach. One cannot attack a ship and then claim self-defence if the people on board resist the unlawful use of violence.
In other words, according to international law, the actions of the Israeli military were beyond the law and those involved should be treated no differently than, say, the Somali pirates who are also in the habit of boarding ships by force.
Any rights to self defence in such dramatic circumstances rests purely with the passengers and crew on board. Under international maritime law you are legally entitled to resist unlawful capture, abduction and detention.
What those on board the Freedom Flotilla did was perfectly legal. I believe they acted with great courage in the face of heavily armed IDF commandos, while others might have thought their actions reckless.
Whatever your view, a number paid the ultimate price for their international right to resist.
Israel now stands virtually alone having exposed itself as a pariah state.
I wrote an article last year calling them the Pirates of the Mediterranean after they had illegally boarded other aid ships, kidnapping crew and passengers.
Now I want you to ask yourself this question … if a group of Somali pirates had forced their way onto half a dozen humanitarian aid ships from the West, slaughtering around nine or 10 people and injuring scores more what do you think the international reaction would have been?
Let me tell you. A NATO task force would by now be steaming towards the Horn of Africa accompanied by a couple of drones and various members of the press to record the occasion. (On a point of interest the Achille Lauro sank in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia in 1994.)
So why is Israel allowed to get away with murder? In a pre-meditated act the Zionist State showed once again its total disregard for human life – and international law.
There were pensioners, women and children on board those ships which were carrying bags of cement, electric wheelchairs, toys, medicines and water purifiers for Gaza's people.
Realizing Israel had shot itself in the foot, the vile state’s leader Binyamin Netanyahu then started shooting from the lip.
He asked us to believe that his troops were acting in self-defence. And then, 24 hours later, given time to come up with more lies he told the world that the soldiers were armed with paintballs and had not expected to use their weapons. Not content with insulting our intelligence he said his nice, cuddly IDF folk had only boarded the boats to carry out an inspection and inventory.
Then backing him up was Mark Regev, the Zionist State’s political Pinocchio. He reckons these evil-doers on board the boats grabbed the IDF’s real guns and used them to fire on the soldiers.
These are the same soldiers that come from an elite, highly trained, crack squad … hmm Mr Regev, if that’s the case why would you send in the A-Team if they were just going to do an inventory?
And if they were such a hot squad how did a bunch of civilians manage to overpower them and give them a good slap?
Either Israeli soldiers fight like a bunch of old women – which Hizb’Allah says they do – or they intended to massacre those on board to make sure that no other peace activists get involved in trying to help the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Well if that was the aim then it has failed. As I write this some heroic friends of mine from the Free Gaza Movement are bound for Gaza now onboard the appropriately named ship Rachel Corrie.
In our thousands in our millions … today we are all Palestinians.
Journalist Yvonne Ridley is the European President of the International Muslim Womens Union, and a committed peace activist who was on the first boat to break the siege of Gaza in 2008.
Comments (76)
Friday, May 21, 2010
MUNGU NI MKUBWA - takbir ! [ALLAHU AKBAR!]
POSTED IN HERE ON 21 MAY, 2010.
CONTACT: Amina Rubin, arubin@cair.com, Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171 (c)
A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'
By Nihad Awad
Word Count: 932
[Nihad Awad is national executive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. He may be contacted at: nawad@cair.com ]
I will be the first to defend anyone's right to express their opinion, no matter how offensive it may be to me. Our nation has prospered because Americans value and respect diversity.
But freedom of expression does not create an obligation to offend or to show disrespect to the religious beliefs or revered figures of others.
In reaction to the recent controversy over a depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," a Seattle cartoonist apparently declared May 20th, 2010 to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."
I say "apparently" because cartoonist Molly Norris -- the creator of the cartoon showing many objects claiming to be a likeness of the prophet -- now says she never intended to launch "Draw Muhammad Day."
On her web site, she has since posted a statement that reads in part: "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.'...The cartoon-poster, with a fake 'group' behind it, went viral and was taken seriously...The vitriol this 'day' has brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to the Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place...I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off."
Norris even visited a mosque at the invitation of the local Muslim community.
The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day also repudiated the "inflammatory posts" it inspired. He said, "I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet...Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."
Despite the cartoonist's and the Facebook page creator's seemingly sincere attempts to distance themselves from the fake event, Muslim-bashers and Islamophobes made sure the call to "draw Muhammad" went viral on the Internet. They are hoping to offend Muslims, who are generally sensitive to created images of the Prophet Muhammad or any prophet.
[The majority of Muslims believe visual representations of all prophets are inappropriate in that they distract from God's message and could lead to a kind of idol worship, something forbidden in Islam.]
So how should Muslims and other Americans react to this latest attempt by hate-mongers to exploit the precious right of free speech and turn May 20 into a celebration of degradation and xenophobia?
Before I answer that question, it must first be made clear that American Muslims value freedom of speech and have no desire to inhibit the creative instincts of cartoonists, comedians or anyone else.
The mainstream American Muslim community, including my own organization, has also strongly repudiated the few members of an extremist fringe group who appeared to threaten the creators of "South Park." That group, the origins and makeup of which has been questioned by many Muslims, has absolutely no credibility within the American Muslim community.
I, like many Muslims, was astonished to see media outlets broadcasting the views of a few marginal individuals, while ignoring the hundreds of mosques and Muslim institutions that have representatives who could have offered a mainstream perspective.
Next, one must examine how the Prophet Muhammad himself reacted to personal insults.
Islamic traditions include a number of instances in which the Prophet had the opportunity to retaliate against those who abused him, but refrained from doing so. He said, "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness."
Even when the prophet was in a position of power, he chose the path of kindness and mercy. When he returned to Mecca after years of exile and personal attacks, he did not take revenge on the people who had reviled him and abused and tortured his followers, but instead offered a general amnesty.
In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, God states: "Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who receive guidance." (16:125)
Another verse tells the prophet to "show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." (7:199)
This is the guidance Muslims should follow as they express concern about an insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or of any other prophet of God.
Instead of reacting negatively to the bigoted call to support "Draw Muhammad Day," American Muslims -- and Muslims worldwide -- should use that and every other day as an opportunity to reach out to people of other faiths and beliefs to build bridges of understanding and respect.
The best and most productive response to bigoted campaigns like "Draw Muhammad Day" is more communication, not less communication -- including not restricting the free flow of ideas with measure like banning Facebook.
Research has shown that anti-Islam prejudice goes down when people interact with ordinary Muslims and have greater knowledge of Islam.
Therefore, the best reaction to those who would mock the Prophet Muhammad (or the religious symbols of any faith) might be a mosque open house for the local interfaith community, a community service activity organized by Muslims and involving people of other faiths, or a newspaper commentary describing the life, legacy and personal character of the prophet, which is the opposite of the calumny some people fabricate about him. This should be of concern to all decent and objective people.
We will all benefit if each of us -- whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu -- exhibits the common human decency required by our respective faiths.
CONTACT: Amina Rubin, arubin@cair.com, Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171 (c)
A Muslim Response to 'Draw Muhammad Day'
By Nihad Awad
Word Count: 932
[Nihad Awad is national executive director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. He may be contacted at: nawad@cair.com ]
I will be the first to defend anyone's right to express their opinion, no matter how offensive it may be to me. Our nation has prospered because Americans value and respect diversity.
But freedom of expression does not create an obligation to offend or to show disrespect to the religious beliefs or revered figures of others.
In reaction to the recent controversy over a depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," a Seattle cartoonist apparently declared May 20th, 2010 to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."
I say "apparently" because cartoonist Molly Norris -- the creator of the cartoon showing many objects claiming to be a likeness of the prophet -- now says she never intended to launch "Draw Muhammad Day."
On her web site, she has since posted a statement that reads in part: "I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.'...The cartoon-poster, with a fake 'group' behind it, went viral and was taken seriously...The vitriol this 'day' has brought out, of people who only want to draw obscene images, is offensive to the Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place...I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off."
Norris even visited a mosque at the invitation of the local Muslim community.
The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day also repudiated the "inflammatory posts" it inspired. He said, "I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet...Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."
Despite the cartoonist's and the Facebook page creator's seemingly sincere attempts to distance themselves from the fake event, Muslim-bashers and Islamophobes made sure the call to "draw Muhammad" went viral on the Internet. They are hoping to offend Muslims, who are generally sensitive to created images of the Prophet Muhammad or any prophet.
[The majority of Muslims believe visual representations of all prophets are inappropriate in that they distract from God's message and could lead to a kind of idol worship, something forbidden in Islam.]
So how should Muslims and other Americans react to this latest attempt by hate-mongers to exploit the precious right of free speech and turn May 20 into a celebration of degradation and xenophobia?
Before I answer that question, it must first be made clear that American Muslims value freedom of speech and have no desire to inhibit the creative instincts of cartoonists, comedians or anyone else.
The mainstream American Muslim community, including my own organization, has also strongly repudiated the few members of an extremist fringe group who appeared to threaten the creators of "South Park." That group, the origins and makeup of which has been questioned by many Muslims, has absolutely no credibility within the American Muslim community.
I, like many Muslims, was astonished to see media outlets broadcasting the views of a few marginal individuals, while ignoring the hundreds of mosques and Muslim institutions that have representatives who could have offered a mainstream perspective.
Next, one must examine how the Prophet Muhammad himself reacted to personal insults.
Islamic traditions include a number of instances in which the Prophet had the opportunity to retaliate against those who abused him, but refrained from doing so. He said, "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness."
Even when the prophet was in a position of power, he chose the path of kindness and mercy. When he returned to Mecca after years of exile and personal attacks, he did not take revenge on the people who had reviled him and abused and tortured his followers, but instead offered a general amnesty.
In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, God states: "Invite (all) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for your Lord knows best who have strayed from His Path and who receive guidance." (16:125)
Another verse tells the prophet to "show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." (7:199)
This is the guidance Muslims should follow as they express concern about an insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or of any other prophet of God.
Instead of reacting negatively to the bigoted call to support "Draw Muhammad Day," American Muslims -- and Muslims worldwide -- should use that and every other day as an opportunity to reach out to people of other faiths and beliefs to build bridges of understanding and respect.
The best and most productive response to bigoted campaigns like "Draw Muhammad Day" is more communication, not less communication -- including not restricting the free flow of ideas with measure like banning Facebook.
Research has shown that anti-Islam prejudice goes down when people interact with ordinary Muslims and have greater knowledge of Islam.
Therefore, the best reaction to those who would mock the Prophet Muhammad (or the religious symbols of any faith) might be a mosque open house for the local interfaith community, a community service activity organized by Muslims and involving people of other faiths, or a newspaper commentary describing the life, legacy and personal character of the prophet, which is the opposite of the calumny some people fabricate about him. This should be of concern to all decent and objective people.
We will all benefit if each of us -- whether Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu -- exhibits the common human decency required by our respective faiths.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
TUKUMBUSHANE MAADILI MEMA YA KIISLAM
IMECHANGIWA NA SALMA MOULID, 11 APRIL, 2010.
Islamic Ethics: The Missing Dimsension
By Maulana Waris Mazhari
(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)
Muslims in general admit that Muslim society the world over is characterized by a severe moral decline—indeed, nothing short of a moral crisis. This is apparent not just in our personal lives but also in our collective affairs and dealings. This lamentable state of affairs brings to mind the well-known saying of George Bernard Shaw that while Islam is a good religion, Muslims are generally not good people. We need to seriously ponder on this contradiction between Islamic teachings, on the one hand, and our practice, on the other, to locate the causes of our moral decline.
The basic cause of our moral crisis is our wrong understandings of our religion and of what proper religiosity should really mean. These erroneous conceptions, one has to admit, are widespread and deeply-rooted among Muslims. Islam is based on four basic pillars—beliefs, worship, morals and laws. The entire edifice of Islam rests on these pillars. However, while our Islamic literary tradition has given great stress to the beliefs, worship and laws, it has paid relatively scant attention to morals. The most attention has been paid to worship and rituals, and to debates and intricate discussions about the rules thereof.
The effective sidelining of morals in our religious literary tradition is particularly unfortunate, especially since morality is the basis of true religiosity. This is evident from a statement of Ayesha, youngest wife of the Prophet, found in the Sahih al-Bukhari, according to which the moral values that the Prophet exemplified were an embodiment of the Quran (kana khuluquhu al-quran). From this statement one can truly appreciate the centrality of morals and morality in Islam.
In a hadith report contained in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, the Prophet is said to have declared that he had been sent by God to the world to ‘establish the pinnacle of morality’. This clearly indicates that the Quran is first and foremost a book of morals and ethics (kitab al-akhlaq), and only after that a book of laws (kitab al-qanun). The Quran teaches us that God has sent different laws for different communities:
‘To each among you have We prescribed a law and an open way’ (5: 48).
This indicates that while the laws sent by God for different communities may vary, there can be no variation in divinely-revealed moral standards and values, which are universally applicable and invariant, across both space and time. This is because the latter are the basis of the primal faith or al-din, which was taught by all the prophets of God, who had been sent by Him to all the peoples of the world.
In saying this, I am not seeking to debate about which is superior—morals, worship, or laws. Rather, my point is to ask why in our Muslim religious and intellectual circles is the question of morals and morality not given adequate attention in the same way as worship and rules of various rituals. This fact that this is the case is undeniable, and our behaviour in this regard is a complete contradiction the following Quranic commandment:
‘O you who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly’ (2: 208).
A central role in promoting and propagating this faulty understanding of Islam has been played by popular Muslim preachers. In their writings and sermons, they focus mainly on ritual worship, various cultural expressions of Islam, and the distinctive aspects of Islamic teachings that relate to the collective sphere which distinguish Muslims from others. They exhort Muslims to be very particular about these matters. In contrast, they pay relatively little attention to morals and ethics. The main reason for this is because they themselves faithfully follow these rituals and personally observe and exhibit the distinctive badges of Muslim identity, while in matters of morals and ethics many of them miserably fail. In fact, in terms of social ethics and dealings with others, this class of people has little that can gain for them the confidence of the Muslim masses, despite the respect that the latter have for them in their hearts. This fact can easily be gauged from the lifestyle of the men who head various Islamic institutions and from the pathetic complaints of their subordinates.
Many ulema think it is their right to criticize others for their real or alleged immorality or irreligiousness, but if the same complaint is made against them they declare it to be a ‘conspiracy’ against Islam and the ulema. This response is often totally unfair because, needless to say, in every class of society, including those who call themselves ulema, there are opportunists and unethical people. If every class, including the ulema, practiced introspection and self-criticism, our society would surely be much healthier, in terms of moral standards, than it presently is. Surely, no individual or class, including the ulema, can be considered to be above reproach. The story is well known of an elderly woman who once criticized the Caliph Umar, who then admitted his fault. Another story is told of an ordinary man who once said to Umar that if he went wrong he would correct him with the sword, if need be. If in early Muslim history ordinary folk could point out the faults of even Caliphs, and if the Caliphs willingly accepted their valid criticism, why does our religious class get so agitated when their faults are pointed out to them in a spirit of healthy criticism?
Unfortunately, the task of social reform has remained dormant in Muslim society for a long time. The main reason for this is the wholly misplaced, but still widespread, belief among our religious leadership (which includes not just the traditional ulema) that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with our society and that, generally speaking, all is well with it. They fondly imagine that if faults and corruption are to be found, it is among non-Muslims and in the religions they follow. Instead of introspecting and seeking to reform themselves and the larger Muslim society, they believe our basic task is to rebut the allegations leveled by non-Muslims against us and our faith.
The biggest strength of any community is its moral standing. The glorious aspect or strain of its history is the story of its moral strength and commitment as expressed in its legacy. Historians and other scholars of Islam have tended to focus particularly on the Prophet’s military victories, while often ignoring, or, at least, not giving much attention to, events in the Prophet’s life, such as the peace treaty he signed with the pagan Arabs at Hudiabiyah, which was a profound expression of moral strength. It was this moral strength that enabled innumerable Sufi saints, who lacked any political or military power, which so impressed large masses of people that they embraced Islam at their hands.
The underlying basis of social ethics in Islam is indicated in the following statement, contained in the Sahih al-Bukhari, attributed to the Prophet: ‘Desire for others what you desire for yourself.’ This principle has a vast scope of application. For instance, basing ourselves on it, we can ask if the many rights that Muslims enjoy in non-Muslim countries are also available to non-Muslim citizens of Muslim-majority countries. Are Muslims indeed ready to offer them these rights? If not, is it not a violation of the above-quoted statement of the Prophet? In numerous Western countries, unused churches are being bought over by Muslims and converted into mosques. The Muslim media is awash with reports of new mosques and Islamic centres being constructed in many non-Muslim-majority countries. Lamentably, however, if non-Muslims want to build a place of worship in a Muslim-majority country of which they are citizens, there is heated debate and discussion about this, and even opposition to this, in Muslim circles. A while ago, a church was set up in Yemen, in the wake of which a report was published in the Arabic paper al-Bayan, which is based in London (yes, London, because, lamentably, it is simply impossible for a free press to flourish in Muslim countries), under the extremely provocative heading: ‘The Temple of Abraha’, drawing totally unwarranted parallels between the Christians in present-day Yemen and Abraha, the pre-Islamic ruler of Yemen, who is said to have plotted to destroy the Ka‘aba in Mecca. It went on to claim the establishment of the church to be a ‘conspiracy’ against Islam and Muslims.
Likewise, some days ago it was reported that the government of Saudi Arabia was discussing the possibility of granting permission to Christians living there to build churches. The noted Egyptian Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi agreed to this suggestion, but the vast majority of Islamic scholars vehemently opposed it. This is why the matter was suppressed. The government of Saudi Arabia should either not allow non-Muslims to live in their territories for a long period (which, obviously, is not possible, given its dependence on, and links with, foreign powers) or else must allow them to do so and, respecting their religious sentiments and abiding by its own moral responsibilities, must allow them to construct their own places of worship if they wish.
In this regard, one should also refer to the particularly lamentable stance of some Islamic ‘revivalist’ ideologues that condemn everything associated with the non-Muslim West but yet seek refuge in Western countries from the repression of their own governments and use Western soil for promoting their own agenda. Living in the West, they avail themselves of various material comforts as well as rights which are denied to them in their own countries, but yet their proclaimed hatred of the West shows no signs of diminishing. Sadly, there is a deafening silence in Muslim circles on these brazen double-standards.
The fact of the matter is that we constantly boast about the various verses of the Quran that exhort Muslims to abide by justice and the demands of morality even with regard to people of other faiths, but our actions often belie our lofty claims. We desperately need to introspect and to realize how far we have departed in our own personal and collective lives from the ethical teachings of the Quran.
Islamic Ethics: The Missing Dimsension
By Maulana Waris Mazhari
(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)
Muslims in general admit that Muslim society the world over is characterized by a severe moral decline—indeed, nothing short of a moral crisis. This is apparent not just in our personal lives but also in our collective affairs and dealings. This lamentable state of affairs brings to mind the well-known saying of George Bernard Shaw that while Islam is a good religion, Muslims are generally not good people. We need to seriously ponder on this contradiction between Islamic teachings, on the one hand, and our practice, on the other, to locate the causes of our moral decline.
The basic cause of our moral crisis is our wrong understandings of our religion and of what proper religiosity should really mean. These erroneous conceptions, one has to admit, are widespread and deeply-rooted among Muslims. Islam is based on four basic pillars—beliefs, worship, morals and laws. The entire edifice of Islam rests on these pillars. However, while our Islamic literary tradition has given great stress to the beliefs, worship and laws, it has paid relatively scant attention to morals. The most attention has been paid to worship and rituals, and to debates and intricate discussions about the rules thereof.
The effective sidelining of morals in our religious literary tradition is particularly unfortunate, especially since morality is the basis of true religiosity. This is evident from a statement of Ayesha, youngest wife of the Prophet, found in the Sahih al-Bukhari, according to which the moral values that the Prophet exemplified were an embodiment of the Quran (kana khuluquhu al-quran). From this statement one can truly appreciate the centrality of morals and morality in Islam.
In a hadith report contained in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, the Prophet is said to have declared that he had been sent by God to the world to ‘establish the pinnacle of morality’. This clearly indicates that the Quran is first and foremost a book of morals and ethics (kitab al-akhlaq), and only after that a book of laws (kitab al-qanun). The Quran teaches us that God has sent different laws for different communities:
‘To each among you have We prescribed a law and an open way’ (5: 48).
This indicates that while the laws sent by God for different communities may vary, there can be no variation in divinely-revealed moral standards and values, which are universally applicable and invariant, across both space and time. This is because the latter are the basis of the primal faith or al-din, which was taught by all the prophets of God, who had been sent by Him to all the peoples of the world.
In saying this, I am not seeking to debate about which is superior—morals, worship, or laws. Rather, my point is to ask why in our Muslim religious and intellectual circles is the question of morals and morality not given adequate attention in the same way as worship and rules of various rituals. This fact that this is the case is undeniable, and our behaviour in this regard is a complete contradiction the following Quranic commandment:
‘O you who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly’ (2: 208).
A central role in promoting and propagating this faulty understanding of Islam has been played by popular Muslim preachers. In their writings and sermons, they focus mainly on ritual worship, various cultural expressions of Islam, and the distinctive aspects of Islamic teachings that relate to the collective sphere which distinguish Muslims from others. They exhort Muslims to be very particular about these matters. In contrast, they pay relatively little attention to morals and ethics. The main reason for this is because they themselves faithfully follow these rituals and personally observe and exhibit the distinctive badges of Muslim identity, while in matters of morals and ethics many of them miserably fail. In fact, in terms of social ethics and dealings with others, this class of people has little that can gain for them the confidence of the Muslim masses, despite the respect that the latter have for them in their hearts. This fact can easily be gauged from the lifestyle of the men who head various Islamic institutions and from the pathetic complaints of their subordinates.
Many ulema think it is their right to criticize others for their real or alleged immorality or irreligiousness, but if the same complaint is made against them they declare it to be a ‘conspiracy’ against Islam and the ulema. This response is often totally unfair because, needless to say, in every class of society, including those who call themselves ulema, there are opportunists and unethical people. If every class, including the ulema, practiced introspection and self-criticism, our society would surely be much healthier, in terms of moral standards, than it presently is. Surely, no individual or class, including the ulema, can be considered to be above reproach. The story is well known of an elderly woman who once criticized the Caliph Umar, who then admitted his fault. Another story is told of an ordinary man who once said to Umar that if he went wrong he would correct him with the sword, if need be. If in early Muslim history ordinary folk could point out the faults of even Caliphs, and if the Caliphs willingly accepted their valid criticism, why does our religious class get so agitated when their faults are pointed out to them in a spirit of healthy criticism?
Unfortunately, the task of social reform has remained dormant in Muslim society for a long time. The main reason for this is the wholly misplaced, but still widespread, belief among our religious leadership (which includes not just the traditional ulema) that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with our society and that, generally speaking, all is well with it. They fondly imagine that if faults and corruption are to be found, it is among non-Muslims and in the religions they follow. Instead of introspecting and seeking to reform themselves and the larger Muslim society, they believe our basic task is to rebut the allegations leveled by non-Muslims against us and our faith.
The biggest strength of any community is its moral standing. The glorious aspect or strain of its history is the story of its moral strength and commitment as expressed in its legacy. Historians and other scholars of Islam have tended to focus particularly on the Prophet’s military victories, while often ignoring, or, at least, not giving much attention to, events in the Prophet’s life, such as the peace treaty he signed with the pagan Arabs at Hudiabiyah, which was a profound expression of moral strength. It was this moral strength that enabled innumerable Sufi saints, who lacked any political or military power, which so impressed large masses of people that they embraced Islam at their hands.
The underlying basis of social ethics in Islam is indicated in the following statement, contained in the Sahih al-Bukhari, attributed to the Prophet: ‘Desire for others what you desire for yourself.’ This principle has a vast scope of application. For instance, basing ourselves on it, we can ask if the many rights that Muslims enjoy in non-Muslim countries are also available to non-Muslim citizens of Muslim-majority countries. Are Muslims indeed ready to offer them these rights? If not, is it not a violation of the above-quoted statement of the Prophet? In numerous Western countries, unused churches are being bought over by Muslims and converted into mosques. The Muslim media is awash with reports of new mosques and Islamic centres being constructed in many non-Muslim-majority countries. Lamentably, however, if non-Muslims want to build a place of worship in a Muslim-majority country of which they are citizens, there is heated debate and discussion about this, and even opposition to this, in Muslim circles. A while ago, a church was set up in Yemen, in the wake of which a report was published in the Arabic paper al-Bayan, which is based in London (yes, London, because, lamentably, it is simply impossible for a free press to flourish in Muslim countries), under the extremely provocative heading: ‘The Temple of Abraha’, drawing totally unwarranted parallels between the Christians in present-day Yemen and Abraha, the pre-Islamic ruler of Yemen, who is said to have plotted to destroy the Ka‘aba in Mecca. It went on to claim the establishment of the church to be a ‘conspiracy’ against Islam and Muslims.
Likewise, some days ago it was reported that the government of Saudi Arabia was discussing the possibility of granting permission to Christians living there to build churches. The noted Egyptian Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi agreed to this suggestion, but the vast majority of Islamic scholars vehemently opposed it. This is why the matter was suppressed. The government of Saudi Arabia should either not allow non-Muslims to live in their territories for a long period (which, obviously, is not possible, given its dependence on, and links with, foreign powers) or else must allow them to do so and, respecting their religious sentiments and abiding by its own moral responsibilities, must allow them to construct their own places of worship if they wish.
In this regard, one should also refer to the particularly lamentable stance of some Islamic ‘revivalist’ ideologues that condemn everything associated with the non-Muslim West but yet seek refuge in Western countries from the repression of their own governments and use Western soil for promoting their own agenda. Living in the West, they avail themselves of various material comforts as well as rights which are denied to them in their own countries, but yet their proclaimed hatred of the West shows no signs of diminishing. Sadly, there is a deafening silence in Muslim circles on these brazen double-standards.
The fact of the matter is that we constantly boast about the various verses of the Quran that exhort Muslims to abide by justice and the demands of morality even with regard to people of other faiths, but our actions often belie our lofty claims. We desperately need to introspect and to realize how far we have departed in our own personal and collective lives from the ethical teachings of the Quran.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
25 WAYS TO DEAL WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY
25 Ways to Deal with Stress and Anxiety POSTED 2/5/2010
by Abdul Malik Mujahid
Stress is life. Stress is anything that causes mental, physical, or spiritual tension. There is no running away from it. All that matters is how you deal with it. This article does not deal with the factors of stress, anxiety, and depression, nor is it a clinical advice. If you feel depressed, you are not alone. It has been estimated that 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians in America are for stress-related problems. This is why it is wise to consult a doctor if you are having physical symptoms of stress. However, here are some tips that can help from a spiritual perspective. Please send us your feedback so that we can improve this article Insha Allah.
Torture. Beatings. Loss of property. The death of loved ones. These were just some of the enormous challenges the Muslims of Makkah faced in the seventh century following their acceptance of Islam in fiercely tribal and polytheistic Makkah.
Detention. Harassment. Beatings. Discrimination. Loss of Job. Profiling. Hate Crimes. Constant media attention. Surveillance. These are just some of the challenges Muslims in America today face, post-9/11. Like our predecessors in Makkah, we have begun to face great stress, anxiety, and pressure, more than ever in our recent history on this continent, although Muslims who were brought here as slaves faced worse than what we can even imagine.
1.Ask Him. He Listens: Dua
Turn each anxiety, each fear and each concern into a Dua (supplication). Look at it as another reason to submit to God and be in Sajdah (prostration), during which you are closest to Allah. God listens and already knows what is in your heart, but He wants you to ask Him for what you want. The Prophet said: Allah is angry with those who do not ask Him for anything (Tirmidhi).
The Prophet once said that in prayer, he would find rest and relief (Nasai). He would also regularly ask for God’s forgiveness and remain in prostration during prayer praising God (Tasbeeh) and asking for His forgiveness (Bukhari).
Allah wants you to be specific. The Prophet advised us to ask Allah for exactly what we want instead of making vague Duas. Dua is the essence of worship (the Prophet as quoted in Tirmidhi).
"Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds. Do not make mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order, but call on Him with fear. And longing (in your hearts): for the mercy of Allah is (always) near to those who do good" (Quran 7:55-56).
2.Tie your Camel: Do your Part
One day Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (Tirmidhi).
Muslims must never become fatalistic. Although we know only Allah is in control and that He has decreed all things, we are each responsible for making the right choices and doing the right thing in all situations of our lives. We must take action (link to planning articles on SV). We must work to alleviate the hardships we, our families and our communities face.
Ask yourself the following questions if you are worried about the state of the world: are you part of the peace movement? Is your Masjid part of the peace movement? Are you part of an interfaith group with an agenda of peace and justice? Are you working with a group fighting discrimination? If your answer is no, it is time that you sat down to plan your share of time and money in finding solutions to the problems you face. "Verily Allah does not change men’s condition unless they change their inner selves" (Quran 13: 11).
Turn each worry into a Dua and each Dua into an action plan. That will show your commitment to your request and will focus your energy in the right direction.
3.Remember that human responsibility is limited
While we need to carry out our duty to the best of our abilities, always remember that you don't control the outcome of events. Even the Prophets did not control the outcome of their efforts. Some were successful, others were not. Once you have done your duty, leave the results to Allah. Regardless of the results of your efforts, you will be rewarded for the part you have played.
However, never underestimate your abilities. Understand the concept of Barakah (blessings from Allah) and remember that Allah can and Insha Allah will expand them if you are sincerely exerting your energies for the right path.
4.Leave the world behind you five times a day
Use the five daily prayers as a means to become more Hereafter-oriented and less attached to this temporary world. Start distancing yourself as soon as you hear Adhan, the call to prayer. When you perform Wudu, keep repeating Shahada, the declaration of faith, as water drops slip down your face, hands, arms, and hair. When you stand ready to pray, mentally prepare yourself to leave this world and all of its worries and stresses behind you.
Of course, Shaytan will try to distract you during prayer. But whenever this happens, go back and remember Allah. The more you return, the more Allah will reward you for it. Also, make sure your Sajdas (prostrations) are talking Sajdas, in which you are really connecting to God and seeking His Mercy, praising Him, and asking His forgiveness.
5.Seek help through Sabr
Seek help through Sabr and Salat (Quran 2:45). This instruction from Allah provides us with two critical tools that can ease our worries and pain. Patience and prayer are two oft-neglected stressbusters. Sabr is often translated as patience but it is not just that. It includes self-control, perseverance, endurance, and a focussed struggle to achieve one’s goal. Unlike patience, which implies resignation, the concept of Sabr includes a duty to remain steadfast to achieve your goals despite all odds.
Being patient gives us control in situations where we feel we have little or no control. ‘We cannot control what happens to us but we can control our reaction to our circumstances’ is the mantra of many modern-day self-help books. Patience helps us keep our mind and attitude towards our difficulties in check.
6.Excuse Me! You are Not Running the World, He is.
It is important to remind ourselves that we don’t control all the variables in the world. God does. He is the Wise, the All-Knowing. Sometimes our limited human faculties are not able to comprehend His wisdom behind what happens to us and to others, but knowing that He is in control and that as human beings we submit to His Will, enriches our humanity and enhances our obedience (Uboodiah in Arabic) towards him. Read the story of the encounter of Moses with the mysteries behind God’s decision (Quran: 18:60-82). Familiarize yourself with God's 99 Names, which are also known as His Attributes. It is a powerful way of knowing Him.
"God-there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All being. Neither slumber overtakes Him, nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave? He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills them to attain. His eternal power overspreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies Him not. And He alone is truly exalted, tremendous." (Quran 2:255).
The Prophet recommended reading this verse, known as Ayat al kursi, after each prayer, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. Once Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, approached the Prophet during a difficult time and he found the Prophet in Sajda, where he kept repeating "Ya Hayy Ya Qayyum", words which are part of this verse.
7.Birds Don’t Carry their Food
Allah is al Razzaq (the Provider). "How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is Allah Who feeds them and you, for He hears and knows all things (Quran 29:60)." By reminding yourself that He is the Provider, you will remember that getting a job or providing for your family in these economically and politically challenging times, when Muslims are often the last to be hired and the first to be fired, is in God’s Hands, not yours. As Allah says in the Quran: "And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish His purpose. Verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion (Quran 65:3).
8.God controls Life and Death
If you fear for your physical safety and security, remember that only Allah gives life and takes it back and, that He has appointed the time for it. No one can harm you except if Allah wills. As He says in the Quran: "Wherever you are, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high!" (Quran 4:78).
9. Remember that life is short
It's easy to get caught up in our own stress and anxiety. However, if we remember that our life is short and temporary, and that the everlasting life is in the Hereafter, this will put our worries in perspective.
This belief in the transitory nature of the life of this world reminds us that whatever difficulties, trials, anxieties, and grief we suffer in this world are, Insha Allah, something we will only experience for a short period of time. And more importantly, if we handle these tests with patience, Allah will reward us for it.
10.Do Zikr, Allah, Allah!
"… without doubt in the remembrance (Zikr) of Allah do hearts find tranquility" (Quran 13:28).
If you commute, use your time in Zikr. Pick any Tasbeeh and do that instead of listening to the radio or reading the newspaper. Maybe you can divide it up between Zikr and planning. Personally, I recite the Tasbeeh of "Subhana Allahe wa be hamdihi, subhan Allahil Azeem" 100 times as I drive. The Prophet taught us these two short phrases which are easy to say but will weigh heavy on our scale of good deeds in the Hereafter.
When your heart feels heavy with stress or grief, remember Allah and surround yourself with His Zikr. Zikr refers to all forms of the remembrance of Allah, including Salat, Tasbeeh, Tahmeed, Tahleel, making supplication (Dua), and reading Quran.
"And your Lord says: ‘Call on Me; I will answer your (prayer)…" (Quran 40:60)
By remembering Allah in the way He has taught us to, we are more likely to gain acceptance of our prayers and His Mercy in times of difficulty. We are communicating with the only One Who not only Hears and Knows all, but Who can change our situation and give us the patience to deal with our difficulties.
"Remember Me, and I shall remember you; be grateful to Me, and deny Me not" (Quran 2:152).
11.Relying on Allah: Tawakkul
When you awaken in the morning, thank Allah for giving you life after that short death called sleep. When you step out of your home, say 'in Your Name Allah, I put my trust in Allah, and there is no power or force except with Allah' (Bismillahi Tawakal to al Allah wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah). At night, remember Allah, with His praises on your lips.
Once you have established a plan you intend to follow through on to deal with a specific issue or problem in your life, put your trust in the most Wise and the All-Knowing. "When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah" (Quran 3: 159).
Rely on Allah by constantly remembering Him throughout your day. When you lay down to sleep, remember that sleep is death. That is why one of the recommended supplications before going to sleep is "with Your (Allah's) Name I die and become alive".
12.Connect with other human beings
You are not alone. Muslims are not alone. We are not suffering in silence. There are millions of good people who are not Muslim with beautiful hearts and minds. These are people who have supported us, individually and collectively, post-9/11, by checking up on us and making sure we are safe. These are individuals and organizations who have spoken up in defense of Muslims as we endured harassment and discrimination.
We must think of them, talk to them, connect with them, and pray for them. Through our connections, we will break the chain of isolation that leads to depression and anxiety.
13.Compare your dining table with that of those who don't have as much as you do
The Prophet said: Whenever you see someone better than you in wealth, face or figure, you should look at someone who is inferior to you in these respects (so that you may thank Allah for His blessings) (Bukhari, Muslim).
Next time you sit down to eat, eye the table carefully. Check out the selection of food, the quality, the taste, the quantity, and then think of the millions of others who don't have even half as much. The Prophet's Hadith reminds us of this so that we can appreciate and thank God for all that we have.
Also remember that the Prophet only encouraged us to compare ourselves to others in two respects: in our Islamic knowledge and level of belief in God (Deen). In these two areas, we should compare ourselves with those who have more than what we do.
14.Say it Loud: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar: Takbirat & Adhan
Find a corner of a lake, go out in the wilderness, or even stand on your lawn at your home and call the Adhan with your heart. While driving, instead of listening to the same news over and over again, say Allahu Akbar as loudly as you can or as softly as you want, based on your mood. Year ago, I remember calling Adhan on a Lake Michigan shore in Chicago after sunset as the water gushed against my knees. I was calling it for myself. There was no one else accept the waves after waves of water with their symphony. It was relaxing and meaningful. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.
15.Pray in congregation (Jamat)
Pray with other people instead of alone. If you can't pray all five prayers in congregation, at least find one or two prayers you can pray with others. If you are away, establish Jamat in your own family. During the Prophet's time, even though the Muslims endured great persecution, including physical beatings, they would sometimes meet on the side of a mountain or valley and tried to pray together. This is a great morale booster.
16. How is your Imam's Dua?
Does the Imam at your local mosque make Dua silently or out loud? Ask him to supplicate with the whole congregation. Suggest Duas for him to make. Ask him to make Dua for other people.
17.Work for the Unity of Muslims
Bringing Muslims together will not only help the Muslims, but it will also encourage you to focus your energies on something constructive versus zeroing in on and consistently fretting about difficulties you are going through.
Invite Muslims from other ethnic groups to your functions. Visit Masjids other than yours in your city. When you meet a Muslim leader, after thanking him for his efforts, ask him what he is doing for Muslim unity. Ask Imams to make Dua for this. These are just small ways you can help yourself and the Muslim community.
18.Sleep the way the Prophet slept
End your day on a positive note. Make Wudu, then think of your day. Thank Allah for all the good things you accomplished, like Zikr and Salat. Ask yourself what you did today to bring humanity together and what you did to help Muslims become servants of humanity. For everything positive, say Alhamdu lillah (Praise be to Allah). For everything negative say Astaghfirullah wa atoobo ilayk (I seek Allah's forgiveness and I turn to You [Allah]). Recite the last two chapters of the Quran, thinking and praying as you turn on your right side with your hand below your right cheek, the way the Prophet used to sleep. Then close your day with the name of Allah on your tongue. Insha Allah, you will have a good, restful night.
19.Begin the Day on a Positive Note
Get up early. Get up thanking God that He has given you another day. Alhamdu lillahil lazi ahyana bada ma amatana, wa ilaihin Nushoor (Praise be to Allah Who gave us life after death and unto Him will be the return). Invest in an audio tape driven alarm clock so you can get up to the melody of the Quran. Or Let Dawud Wharnsby's joyful notes put you in a good mood. Sing along if you like. Develop your to do list for the day if you didn't do it the night before. Begin with the name of Allah, with Whose name nothing in the heavens or the earth can hurt you. He is the Highest and the Greatest. (Bismillahillazi la yazurru maa ismihi shaiun fil arze wa la fis samae, wahuwal Alee ul Azeem). The Prophet used to say this after every Fajr and Maghrib prayers.
20.Avoid Media Overexposure: Switch from News to Books
Don't spend too much time checking out the news on the radio, television or internet. Spend more time reading good books and journals. When you listen to the persistent barrage of bad news, especially relating to Muslims nowadays, you feel not only depressed, but powerless. Cut down media time to reduce your stress and anxiety. It's important to know what's going on but not to an extent that it ruins your day or your mood.
21.Pray for Others to Heal Yourself.
The Prophet was always concerned about other people, Muslims and non-Muslims, and would regularly pray for them. Praying for others connects you with them and helps you understand their suffering. This in itself has a healing component to it. The Prophet has said that praying for someone who is not present increases love.
22.Make the Quran your Partner
Reading and listening to the Quran will help refresh our hearts and our minds. Recite it out loud or in a low voice. Listen to it in the car. When you are praying Nafl or extra prayers, pick it up and use it to recite portions of the Quran you are not as familiar with. Connecting to the Quran means connecting to God. Let it be a means to heal your heart of stress and worries. Invest in different recordings of the Quran and their translations.
"O humanity! There has come to you a direction from your Lord and a cure for all [the ills] in men’s hearts - and for those who believe, a Guidance and a Mercy" (Quran 10:57).
23.Be thankful to Allah
"If you are grateful, I will give you more" (Quran 14:7).
Counting our blessings helps us not only be grateful for what we have, but it also reminds us that we are so much better off than millions of others, whether that is in terms of our health, family, financial situation, or other aspects of our life. And being grateful for all we have helps us maintain a positive attitude in the face of worries and challenges we are facing almost daily.
24.Ideals: One step at a time
Ideals are wonderful things to pursue. But do that gradually. Think, prioritize, plan, and move forward. One step at a time.
25.Efforts not Results Count in the Eyes of Allah
Our success depends on our sincere efforts to the best of our abilities. It is the mercy of Allah that He does not demand results, Alhamdu lillah. He is happy if He finds us making our best sincere effort. Thank you Allah!
by Abdul Malik Mujahid
Stress is life. Stress is anything that causes mental, physical, or spiritual tension. There is no running away from it. All that matters is how you deal with it. This article does not deal with the factors of stress, anxiety, and depression, nor is it a clinical advice. If you feel depressed, you are not alone. It has been estimated that 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians in America are for stress-related problems. This is why it is wise to consult a doctor if you are having physical symptoms of stress. However, here are some tips that can help from a spiritual perspective. Please send us your feedback so that we can improve this article Insha Allah.
Torture. Beatings. Loss of property. The death of loved ones. These were just some of the enormous challenges the Muslims of Makkah faced in the seventh century following their acceptance of Islam in fiercely tribal and polytheistic Makkah.
Detention. Harassment. Beatings. Discrimination. Loss of Job. Profiling. Hate Crimes. Constant media attention. Surveillance. These are just some of the challenges Muslims in America today face, post-9/11. Like our predecessors in Makkah, we have begun to face great stress, anxiety, and pressure, more than ever in our recent history on this continent, although Muslims who were brought here as slaves faced worse than what we can even imagine.
1.Ask Him. He Listens: Dua
Turn each anxiety, each fear and each concern into a Dua (supplication). Look at it as another reason to submit to God and be in Sajdah (prostration), during which you are closest to Allah. God listens and already knows what is in your heart, but He wants you to ask Him for what you want. The Prophet said: Allah is angry with those who do not ask Him for anything (Tirmidhi).
The Prophet once said that in prayer, he would find rest and relief (Nasai). He would also regularly ask for God’s forgiveness and remain in prostration during prayer praising God (Tasbeeh) and asking for His forgiveness (Bukhari).
Allah wants you to be specific. The Prophet advised us to ask Allah for exactly what we want instead of making vague Duas. Dua is the essence of worship (the Prophet as quoted in Tirmidhi).
"Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds. Do not make mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order, but call on Him with fear. And longing (in your hearts): for the mercy of Allah is (always) near to those who do good" (Quran 7:55-56).
2.Tie your Camel: Do your Part
One day Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (Tirmidhi).
Muslims must never become fatalistic. Although we know only Allah is in control and that He has decreed all things, we are each responsible for making the right choices and doing the right thing in all situations of our lives. We must take action (link to planning articles on SV). We must work to alleviate the hardships we, our families and our communities face.
Ask yourself the following questions if you are worried about the state of the world: are you part of the peace movement? Is your Masjid part of the peace movement? Are you part of an interfaith group with an agenda of peace and justice? Are you working with a group fighting discrimination? If your answer is no, it is time that you sat down to plan your share of time and money in finding solutions to the problems you face. "Verily Allah does not change men’s condition unless they change their inner selves" (Quran 13: 11).
Turn each worry into a Dua and each Dua into an action plan. That will show your commitment to your request and will focus your energy in the right direction.
3.Remember that human responsibility is limited
While we need to carry out our duty to the best of our abilities, always remember that you don't control the outcome of events. Even the Prophets did not control the outcome of their efforts. Some were successful, others were not. Once you have done your duty, leave the results to Allah. Regardless of the results of your efforts, you will be rewarded for the part you have played.
However, never underestimate your abilities. Understand the concept of Barakah (blessings from Allah) and remember that Allah can and Insha Allah will expand them if you are sincerely exerting your energies for the right path.
4.Leave the world behind you five times a day
Use the five daily prayers as a means to become more Hereafter-oriented and less attached to this temporary world. Start distancing yourself as soon as you hear Adhan, the call to prayer. When you perform Wudu, keep repeating Shahada, the declaration of faith, as water drops slip down your face, hands, arms, and hair. When you stand ready to pray, mentally prepare yourself to leave this world and all of its worries and stresses behind you.
Of course, Shaytan will try to distract you during prayer. But whenever this happens, go back and remember Allah. The more you return, the more Allah will reward you for it. Also, make sure your Sajdas (prostrations) are talking Sajdas, in which you are really connecting to God and seeking His Mercy, praising Him, and asking His forgiveness.
5.Seek help through Sabr
Seek help through Sabr and Salat (Quran 2:45). This instruction from Allah provides us with two critical tools that can ease our worries and pain. Patience and prayer are two oft-neglected stressbusters. Sabr is often translated as patience but it is not just that. It includes self-control, perseverance, endurance, and a focussed struggle to achieve one’s goal. Unlike patience, which implies resignation, the concept of Sabr includes a duty to remain steadfast to achieve your goals despite all odds.
Being patient gives us control in situations where we feel we have little or no control. ‘We cannot control what happens to us but we can control our reaction to our circumstances’ is the mantra of many modern-day self-help books. Patience helps us keep our mind and attitude towards our difficulties in check.
6.Excuse Me! You are Not Running the World, He is.
It is important to remind ourselves that we don’t control all the variables in the world. God does. He is the Wise, the All-Knowing. Sometimes our limited human faculties are not able to comprehend His wisdom behind what happens to us and to others, but knowing that He is in control and that as human beings we submit to His Will, enriches our humanity and enhances our obedience (Uboodiah in Arabic) towards him. Read the story of the encounter of Moses with the mysteries behind God’s decision (Quran: 18:60-82). Familiarize yourself with God's 99 Names, which are also known as His Attributes. It is a powerful way of knowing Him.
"God-there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All being. Neither slumber overtakes Him, nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave? He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills them to attain. His eternal power overspreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies Him not. And He alone is truly exalted, tremendous." (Quran 2:255).
The Prophet recommended reading this verse, known as Ayat al kursi, after each prayer, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. Once Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, approached the Prophet during a difficult time and he found the Prophet in Sajda, where he kept repeating "Ya Hayy Ya Qayyum", words which are part of this verse.
7.Birds Don’t Carry their Food
Allah is al Razzaq (the Provider). "How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is Allah Who feeds them and you, for He hears and knows all things (Quran 29:60)." By reminding yourself that He is the Provider, you will remember that getting a job or providing for your family in these economically and politically challenging times, when Muslims are often the last to be hired and the first to be fired, is in God’s Hands, not yours. As Allah says in the Quran: "And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish His purpose. Verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion (Quran 65:3).
8.God controls Life and Death
If you fear for your physical safety and security, remember that only Allah gives life and takes it back and, that He has appointed the time for it. No one can harm you except if Allah wills. As He says in the Quran: "Wherever you are, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high!" (Quran 4:78).
9. Remember that life is short
It's easy to get caught up in our own stress and anxiety. However, if we remember that our life is short and temporary, and that the everlasting life is in the Hereafter, this will put our worries in perspective.
This belief in the transitory nature of the life of this world reminds us that whatever difficulties, trials, anxieties, and grief we suffer in this world are, Insha Allah, something we will only experience for a short period of time. And more importantly, if we handle these tests with patience, Allah will reward us for it.
10.Do Zikr, Allah, Allah!
"… without doubt in the remembrance (Zikr) of Allah do hearts find tranquility" (Quran 13:28).
If you commute, use your time in Zikr. Pick any Tasbeeh and do that instead of listening to the radio or reading the newspaper. Maybe you can divide it up between Zikr and planning. Personally, I recite the Tasbeeh of "Subhana Allahe wa be hamdihi, subhan Allahil Azeem" 100 times as I drive. The Prophet taught us these two short phrases which are easy to say but will weigh heavy on our scale of good deeds in the Hereafter.
When your heart feels heavy with stress or grief, remember Allah and surround yourself with His Zikr. Zikr refers to all forms of the remembrance of Allah, including Salat, Tasbeeh, Tahmeed, Tahleel, making supplication (Dua), and reading Quran.
"And your Lord says: ‘Call on Me; I will answer your (prayer)…" (Quran 40:60)
By remembering Allah in the way He has taught us to, we are more likely to gain acceptance of our prayers and His Mercy in times of difficulty. We are communicating with the only One Who not only Hears and Knows all, but Who can change our situation and give us the patience to deal with our difficulties.
"Remember Me, and I shall remember you; be grateful to Me, and deny Me not" (Quran 2:152).
11.Relying on Allah: Tawakkul
When you awaken in the morning, thank Allah for giving you life after that short death called sleep. When you step out of your home, say 'in Your Name Allah, I put my trust in Allah, and there is no power or force except with Allah' (Bismillahi Tawakal to al Allah wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah). At night, remember Allah, with His praises on your lips.
Once you have established a plan you intend to follow through on to deal with a specific issue or problem in your life, put your trust in the most Wise and the All-Knowing. "When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah" (Quran 3: 159).
Rely on Allah by constantly remembering Him throughout your day. When you lay down to sleep, remember that sleep is death. That is why one of the recommended supplications before going to sleep is "with Your (Allah's) Name I die and become alive".
12.Connect with other human beings
You are not alone. Muslims are not alone. We are not suffering in silence. There are millions of good people who are not Muslim with beautiful hearts and minds. These are people who have supported us, individually and collectively, post-9/11, by checking up on us and making sure we are safe. These are individuals and organizations who have spoken up in defense of Muslims as we endured harassment and discrimination.
We must think of them, talk to them, connect with them, and pray for them. Through our connections, we will break the chain of isolation that leads to depression and anxiety.
13.Compare your dining table with that of those who don't have as much as you do
The Prophet said: Whenever you see someone better than you in wealth, face or figure, you should look at someone who is inferior to you in these respects (so that you may thank Allah for His blessings) (Bukhari, Muslim).
Next time you sit down to eat, eye the table carefully. Check out the selection of food, the quality, the taste, the quantity, and then think of the millions of others who don't have even half as much. The Prophet's Hadith reminds us of this so that we can appreciate and thank God for all that we have.
Also remember that the Prophet only encouraged us to compare ourselves to others in two respects: in our Islamic knowledge and level of belief in God (Deen). In these two areas, we should compare ourselves with those who have more than what we do.
14.Say it Loud: Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar: Takbirat & Adhan
Find a corner of a lake, go out in the wilderness, or even stand on your lawn at your home and call the Adhan with your heart. While driving, instead of listening to the same news over and over again, say Allahu Akbar as loudly as you can or as softly as you want, based on your mood. Year ago, I remember calling Adhan on a Lake Michigan shore in Chicago after sunset as the water gushed against my knees. I was calling it for myself. There was no one else accept the waves after waves of water with their symphony. It was relaxing and meaningful. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.
15.Pray in congregation (Jamat)
Pray with other people instead of alone. If you can't pray all five prayers in congregation, at least find one or two prayers you can pray with others. If you are away, establish Jamat in your own family. During the Prophet's time, even though the Muslims endured great persecution, including physical beatings, they would sometimes meet on the side of a mountain or valley and tried to pray together. This is a great morale booster.
16. How is your Imam's Dua?
Does the Imam at your local mosque make Dua silently or out loud? Ask him to supplicate with the whole congregation. Suggest Duas for him to make. Ask him to make Dua for other people.
17.Work for the Unity of Muslims
Bringing Muslims together will not only help the Muslims, but it will also encourage you to focus your energies on something constructive versus zeroing in on and consistently fretting about difficulties you are going through.
Invite Muslims from other ethnic groups to your functions. Visit Masjids other than yours in your city. When you meet a Muslim leader, after thanking him for his efforts, ask him what he is doing for Muslim unity. Ask Imams to make Dua for this. These are just small ways you can help yourself and the Muslim community.
18.Sleep the way the Prophet slept
End your day on a positive note. Make Wudu, then think of your day. Thank Allah for all the good things you accomplished, like Zikr and Salat. Ask yourself what you did today to bring humanity together and what you did to help Muslims become servants of humanity. For everything positive, say Alhamdu lillah (Praise be to Allah). For everything negative say Astaghfirullah wa atoobo ilayk (I seek Allah's forgiveness and I turn to You [Allah]). Recite the last two chapters of the Quran, thinking and praying as you turn on your right side with your hand below your right cheek, the way the Prophet used to sleep. Then close your day with the name of Allah on your tongue. Insha Allah, you will have a good, restful night.
19.Begin the Day on a Positive Note
Get up early. Get up thanking God that He has given you another day. Alhamdu lillahil lazi ahyana bada ma amatana, wa ilaihin Nushoor (Praise be to Allah Who gave us life after death and unto Him will be the return). Invest in an audio tape driven alarm clock so you can get up to the melody of the Quran. Or Let Dawud Wharnsby's joyful notes put you in a good mood. Sing along if you like. Develop your to do list for the day if you didn't do it the night before. Begin with the name of Allah, with Whose name nothing in the heavens or the earth can hurt you. He is the Highest and the Greatest. (Bismillahillazi la yazurru maa ismihi shaiun fil arze wa la fis samae, wahuwal Alee ul Azeem). The Prophet used to say this after every Fajr and Maghrib prayers.
20.Avoid Media Overexposure: Switch from News to Books
Don't spend too much time checking out the news on the radio, television or internet. Spend more time reading good books and journals. When you listen to the persistent barrage of bad news, especially relating to Muslims nowadays, you feel not only depressed, but powerless. Cut down media time to reduce your stress and anxiety. It's important to know what's going on but not to an extent that it ruins your day or your mood.
21.Pray for Others to Heal Yourself.
The Prophet was always concerned about other people, Muslims and non-Muslims, and would regularly pray for them. Praying for others connects you with them and helps you understand their suffering. This in itself has a healing component to it. The Prophet has said that praying for someone who is not present increases love.
22.Make the Quran your Partner
Reading and listening to the Quran will help refresh our hearts and our minds. Recite it out loud or in a low voice. Listen to it in the car. When you are praying Nafl or extra prayers, pick it up and use it to recite portions of the Quran you are not as familiar with. Connecting to the Quran means connecting to God. Let it be a means to heal your heart of stress and worries. Invest in different recordings of the Quran and their translations.
"O humanity! There has come to you a direction from your Lord and a cure for all [the ills] in men’s hearts - and for those who believe, a Guidance and a Mercy" (Quran 10:57).
23.Be thankful to Allah
"If you are grateful, I will give you more" (Quran 14:7).
Counting our blessings helps us not only be grateful for what we have, but it also reminds us that we are so much better off than millions of others, whether that is in terms of our health, family, financial situation, or other aspects of our life. And being grateful for all we have helps us maintain a positive attitude in the face of worries and challenges we are facing almost daily.
24.Ideals: One step at a time
Ideals are wonderful things to pursue. But do that gradually. Think, prioritize, plan, and move forward. One step at a time.
25.Efforts not Results Count in the Eyes of Allah
Our success depends on our sincere efforts to the best of our abilities. It is the mercy of Allah that He does not demand results, Alhamdu lillah. He is happy if He finds us making our best sincere effort. Thank you Allah!
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