Passion Islam September 2011 issue

Sport Arab visitors luredto Premier League

Issue: 42 September 2011

NewsMuslim students face loan dilemma

FeaturedThe Beauty that is Honey & Cinnamon

The United Nations in New York, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the latest country to join the long list of nations which support the formation of an independent Palestinian state along 1967 borders, with the city of Al-Quds as its capital.

According to the Palestinian diplomatic mission at the United Nations, with the addition of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, there are currently 126 nations which officially recognize Palestine as an independent state, and support Palestine’s membership of the

United Nations.On 20th September, the Palestinian

self-rule Authority will propose a resolution for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as an independent country, and as a new member of the United Nations.

126 COUNTRIESCANNOT BE WRONG

2 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS Passion Islam I September 2011

Write to: Editor, Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1ADor email: [email protected] - www.passionislam.com

This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran - Views expressed in the Passion column are of the contributers and not Necessarily of Passion Islam

t h e P a s s i o n Natasha SamirPassion Islam Journalist

Ramadhan 2011 saw an increase in the numbers of leading Muslim sport personalities observing fasting due to many reverting back to Islam in the holiest of months, for Muslims.

Across the sporting world, footballers, cricketers, rugby players, athletes, hockey players, all had one thing to unite them; the declaration of the faith of Islam.

Former Tottenham and West Ham striker, Frédéric Kanouté, is a strict observer. Kanouté, now at Seville, has been a practising Muslim since the age of 20. His faith, insists Kanouté, has never presented itself as a problem in his relationship with the coaching staff, team-mates or fans.

Real Madrid’s midfielder Hamit Altintop and players Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil also fasted with the permission of manager Jose Mourinho and say that the quality of the performance improves when they are fasting.

In the Premier League, an increasing number of players are followers Islam. Praying before kick-off, fasting is the norm, Kolo and Yaya Touré, Nicolas Anelka, Samir Nasri are top rated players who without fuss fast and pray and sustain the highest quality of performance throughout the game.

Other Muslim players in the Premier League includeMarouane Chamakh, Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, Armand Traoré - ArsenalHabib Beye Aston Villa Nicolas Anelka - ChelseaMarouane Fellaini - Everton

Hatem Ben Arfa, Cheick Tioté - NewcastleEdin Dzeko, Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré, Sami Nasri - Manchester CityAdel Taarabt - Queen’s Park RangersAhmed Elmohamady - SunderlandYounes Kaboul - TottenhamYoussuf Mulumbu - West BromwichAli Al Habsi, Mohamed Diame - Wigan

Cricket has been well known for players to fast with the sport having many born Muslims, new revert South African left arm seam bowler Wayne Parnell, 2011 was his first Ramadhan, when he reverted he said “As I am approaching my first period of fasting, I ask that this special time is treated with respect.

“I am a young man, a professional cricketer by trade, and while I can appreciate and am grateful for the public interest in my personal life, my faith choice is a matter which I would like to keep private.”

Rugby has never really attracted Muslims as supporters or as players within the UK but Rugby Football League who’s the Rugby League body in the UK have for the past few years worked extremely hard to develop links and create a strong framework to include more Muslims to play and watch the game.

The tireless effort from RFL, alongside the first only Muslim professional player Ikram Butt have raised the benchmark for other sports to do better and break the stereotype of certain sports for certain communities.

Rugby League in the Southern hemisphere in Australia and New

Zealand two prominent high profile players have come out and declared they have embrace Islam.

Australian North Queensland Cowboys backrower Cory Paterson completed his first Ramadhan fasting period whilst playing as well as All Blacks New Zealand International Sonny Bill Williams.

2012 Olympics will be very challenging time for many British Athletes as it will coincide with Ramadhan next year

British Olympians Mo Sbihi and Darren Cheesman are two of hundreds of Muslim athletes who will be partaking at the games.

Sbihi, a rower, believes opting to fast during the winter months will help his Olympic training and Cheesman, who plays hockey, believes professional athletes can still practise religion while competing at the highest level.

Shakir Ahmed Director of Passion Islam Media who works closely with Rugby Football League, Lawn Tennis Association and football clubs such as Liverpool FC said “To see so many new sport personalities revert to Islam is immensely pleasing as well as adhering to the Muslim faith. Fasting is very much a personal thing between you and Almighty and people cope with fasting in many different ways it disciplines you in your life and provides a lesson of remembering others across the world who do not have the luxuries that we do, it also brings you closer to your creator and a time to thank almighty for everything”.

Sport personalities fasts

Passion Islam I September 2011 NEWS I 3

The lure of the Premier League has brought many of the world’s biggest names to play football in England - and it also draws huge numbers of fans from abroad to watch it.

Second on the list compiled by tourism agency VisitBritain were visitors from the UAE and that number might grow given that country’s links with Manchester City, the club owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and sponsored by Etihad.

More than 750,000 visitors to Britain attended a match last year according to figures from VisitBritain, underlining the global appeal of English football.

In the process they provided a boost to the British economy, with all those visitors who watched a match spending a combined 595 million pounds.

Those visitors who watched a football match spent 776 pounds on

average - rather more than the 563 pounds spent on average by incoming visitors.

Visitors from Norway were most likely to come to watch Premier League football - one in 13 Norwegian tourists arrive specifically to attend matches. Second on the list were visitors from the UAE.

Around 40 percent of those who attended a match said that watching sport was the main reason for visiting the UK.

The most popular grounds for foreign visitors were Old Trafford, Anfield and the Emirates Stadium.

Patricia Yates, director of Strategy & Communication at VisitBritain said: “Not only do some of the best players in the world want to play in Britain, but their international fans want to follow them here to savour the atmosphere of a match.”

Arab visitors lured to UK to watch Premier League football

Government plans draft emergency terror measuresGovernment draft emergency legislation that would allow emergency relocation of terror suspects has been criticised by the Liberal Democrats. Last year the Coalition Government promised to scrap such powers.

Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert told PoliticsHome: “ I hope it will never be enacted”. Terror law expert Lord Carlile also said the legislation is the “worst of all possible worlds”.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has described the draft Terrorism Prevention Bill as “a chaotic and confused fudge”.

Speaking to the BBC, the Shadow Home Secretary said there appeared to be “some kind of political fudge that has gone on in the Coalition in order to water down counter-terrorism powers that they daren’t now backtrack on”.

In the draft bill published, the Government says it intends to use powers of relocation or other restrictions “in exceptional circumstances”. The ability to move a suspect to a new home for security reasons was abandoned by the Coalition last year after a review of counter-terrorism, but the draft bill proposes that such an action could be taken in matters relating to national security.

A Tyneside charity is widening efforts to rid North East schools of racism, despite suffering budget cuts of more than £80,000.

Show Racism the Red Card chief executive Ged Grebby criticised the “growing influence” of the English Defence League in the region’s schools and claimed a “rise in Islamophobia” and the increased support for far right organisations threatened to exploit youngsters and spread through classrooms.

He said that his charity – which was originally formed in Newcastle

in 1996 with the aim of booting racism out of professional and grassroots football – had plans to grow its operations and tackle the issue.

But deep Government cuts and a reduction in local council spending has meant the charity has seen more than £80,000 disappear from its spending purse.

Mr Grebby said the

charity had been forced to draw on reserves in an effort to maintain its fight against racism.

He said, “The issues have become much more complex than 15 years ago, especially with the rise of Islamophobia and

the EDL. The EDL have latched on to this and have exploited the issue and it is a huge issue.”

He added, “Public sector cuts have had an impact on all charities and although we have made a loss this year, the success of previous years has meant we were able to use some of our reserve funds.”


More than one in 10 people in the UK are convinced that the American government was involved in a conspiracy to stage the September 11 attacks.

A poll carried out for BBC TV found that 14 percent of Britons think the US administration was involved in the atrocity, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

They were asked: “It is generally accepted that these attacks were carried out by al Qaida.

However some people have suggested there was a wider conspiracy that included the American government. Do you, yourself, believe that there was a wider conspiracy, or not?” The belief that there was a conspiracy was more common among younger people, with a quarter (24 percent) of 16 to 24-year-olds subscribing to the theory.

Around two thirds of those polled, 68

percent, said there was no conspiracy.The survey was carried out for a BBC documentary, which examines why so many people believe there is a darker truth behind the attacks.

Even in the US, 15 percent of those asked believed that there was a government conspiracy. This is despite a series of official inquiries, which have found no evidence to support the claim.

One in ten support 9/11conspiracy theory

UK charity organisation defies budget cuts to fight Islamophobia

Charity Reg. No. 1000851

Please Donate Now0800 4 0800 11

Once the beating heart of the Muslim Ummah,Iraq is now seen as a symbol of suffering. A legacy of sanctions, conflict and neglect has led to a situation where at least a million women have no husbands, millions of children have no fathers, and countless mothers have no sons.

In a time when people have forgotten about this poor nation, UWT asks you to extend your hand once again and help the people of Iraq.

‘If a dog dies hungry on the banks of the River Euphrates, Umar will be responsible for dereliction of duty.’ - Umar (Radiallahu’anh)

2011APPEALLAUNCHED

ORPHANSPONSORSHIP £35WIDOW

SPONSORSHIP(And her children)

£70Per Month Per Month

DONATE £50 TODAY

RAHMA ACADEMY ALBANIA WILL BE THE FIRST FULL TIME QURAN MEMORIZATION MADRESSAH IN ALBANIA INSHALLAH

WE NEED 2100 BROTHERS OR SISTERS TO SPONSOR ONE BLOCK EACH FOR £50 EACH (1SQ FT BLOCK )

THIS WILL BE SADAQAH JARIYAH FOR YOU AND YOU FAMILY. RAHMA ACADEMY WILL BE A 9 STORY BUILDING SERVING THE NEEDS OF THE MUSLIMS OF ALBANIA.RAHMA ACADEMY WILL BE A CENTRE POINT

FOR DAWAH, EDUCATION AND MASJID INSHALLAH.

BE A PART OF THIS GREAT PROJECT DONATE TODAY!!

FOR FURTHER DETAILS WWW.RAHMAMERCY.ORG.UK DONATION HOTLINE 0116 251 6959 LILLAH DONATIONS ONLY

ALHAMDULILLAH WORK HAS ALREADY STARTED AND WE HOPE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT BY THE END OF 2012 INSHALLAH

Passion Islam I September 2011 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7

Thousands of young Muslims in Britain could be denied the chance of a university education because of a new government scheme to charge interest on loans to undergraduates, an Islamic student body has warned.

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) has embarked on urgent talks with the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills because the scheme, to come into effect in a year’s time, amounts to usury or “riba”, which is banned under Islamic law.

Until now, student loans taken out by tens of thousands each year to cover tuition fees and living expenses have attracted no interest, though they have been adjusted to cover inflation. Graduates begin repaying them when they start earning more than £21,000 a year.

Under the scheme coming into force in the 2012-13 academic year - when tuition fees themselves are virtually tripling to a maximum of £9,000 a year - graduates will have to repay the loans at an interest rate of up to three per cent plus inflation.

Fosis fears that the scheme will wreck the participation in higher education of many would-be Muslim

undergraduates, 90,000 of who are currently studying at British higher education institutions.

The National Union of Students (NUS), which represents more than a million young people in higher education, is assisting Fosis in its negotiations with the government.

One scheme under consideration is the creation of a loan system similar to that of Islamic mortgages where the bank buys a property and the borrower pays a rent. Under the compromise currently being discussed, a university education would be “rented” to Muslim

students.However, such a system is

unlikely to be in effect for the 2012-13 academic year.

Some Muslim scholars have also suggested that students could take out loans under the rule of necessity, as long as they were paid back as soon as possible and were for the minimum amount needed.

There is unease among the ranks of the ruling Conservative Party about making special arrangements to accommodate Muslim students’ religious beliefs.

passionislam.com

Britain’s government has decided to take control of Libyan oil facilities as British Petroleum announced plans to resume operations in oil-rich North African country.

As Libyan opposition fighters take control of more and more areas

in the capital Tripoli, the world’s superpowers are trying to gain hegemony over the African country by securing lucrative contracts under the pretext of rebuilding Libya so that the country’s economy would become dependent upon hegemonic powers.

Before the beginning of revolution in Libya in February, the oil-rich country produced around 1.6 million barrels per day. Libya was the seventeenth-largest oil producer in the world and the third largest in Africa.

After six months of war, however, the country’s oil output has been reduced to just 100,000 barrels per day.

As experts predict that the North African country’s oil output could reach 1 million barrels per day within a few months, British Petroleum, has announced plans to return to Libya as “soon as conditions allow.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for UK Trade & Investment which is a part of Department of Business, announced that the British government plans to secure a major share in Libya’s market seeking to win profitable contracts.

Muslim students inUK face loan dilemma

UK to exploit Libya’s resources


In Case YouMissed It

A terrorism suspect is pursuing legal action against the British Government after alleging that he was abused by British and American interrogators during his detention in Uganda.

Lawyers representing Kenyan businessman Omar Awadh Omar

say he was detained in Nairobi on September 17 last year, before being forcibly deported to Uganda and charged with offences relating to the July 2010 Kampala bombings.

During his detention, Awadh claims to have been subjected

to “cruel and unlawful treatment” by MI5, FBI and Ugandan agents, according to a UK based newspaper, The Independent.

A claim being brought in the High Court alleges that a British intelligence officer stamped on

Awadh’s bare feet, and that an American who identified himself as an FBI agent punched, threatened and sexually humiliated him.

Awadh’s British solicitor, Tessa Gregory of Public Interest Lawyers, told The Guardian: “The Coalition Government promised to end torture under its watch but that promise has already been broken and many uncomfortable questions now fall to be answered.”

Awadh is suspected of being behind the 11 July twin bomb blasts in Kampala, which killed 79 people watching the World Cup final on television.

Ugandan Government officials allege that Awadh was a leading al-Qa’ida terrorist who was planning another bomb attack in Kampala.

The British High Commission has provided assorted food items and drinks to the Muslim Community in Kumasi in a show of solidarity as they journeyed through the Ramadan.

The High Commissioner, Mr Peter Jones, joined in to feed them after breaking the fast.

Relations between Muslims in the metropolis and the High Commission had over the decades been strong with the British High Commission consistently supporting end-of-Ramadan cultural activities of the Muslims.

Mr Jones said they valued their relations with the Muslims and this explained why in the early parts of the year, they facilitated a visit to the United Kingdom by the National Chief Imam.

He said the Ramadan was a time of intense devotion and reflections and that its values should 93remind us of the principles, which we hold in common.”

The High Commissioner urged them to remember and pray for their

brothers and sisters in Libya and across the world in their struggle for fundamental rights and freedoms for the benefit of future generations.

Alhaji Mumin Haroun, Regional

Chief Imam, appealed to the UK Government to assist the Muslim Community by awarding scholarship to the youth to pursue academic careers.

UK faces legalaction over torture

High Commission feeds Muslims in Kumasi


British anti-Israel campaigners staged a protest in central London’s diamond district to express their opposition against the sale of Israeli blood diamond.

Palestine solidarity activists took the Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds campaign at Hatton Gardens to protest against the sale of Israeli diamonds and to inform the nationals and jewelers that the diamonds crafted in Israel would fund war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Diamonds are reportedly most important export product of Israel, rocking to

34 per cent in the first half of this year. Israel’s diamond industry makes over $1 billion a year for funding Israel’s military operations.

The activists drew a parallel between diamonds from Israel to blood diamonds from conflict zones. They say sales of diamonds help bankroll the Israeli military and therefore fund its war crimes.

Sean Clinton, the leader of Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds campaign, said that Hatton Gardens was targeted because it was one of the main hubs of global diamond industry.

“While there is some

public awareness about the trade in blood-tainted, rough diamonds from Zimbabwe, the media in general ignores the far larger trade in blood tainted diamonds from Israel.

“According to evidence presented at the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine last year, the Israeli diamond industry generates about $1 billion in funding for the Israeli military each year.

“So when someone buys a diamond from Israel they are helping to fund war crimes and other human rights violations in Palestine,” he said.

Londoners oppose Israeli blood diamond

As part of ongoing research on racial violence in the UK, the IRR has documented 21 attacks on Islamic institutions reported by the media in 2011: at least one incident, on average, every ten days.

These attacks exclude confrontations where people have been physically assaulted, except where they took place alongside acts of vandalism. Incidents such as members of the EDL setting upon two Muslim brothers near an Islamic centre in Dagenham last month, or an attack on a 71-year-old Asian man outside a mosque in Kilmarnock few weeks ago which left him with serious facial injuries, have been recorded separately. Moreover, given that the vast majority of attacks are not covered by the media, those recorded here are likely to show only a tiny snapshot of the actual number of incidents. But even then, there is evidence of a routine pattern of vandalism, intimidation and criminal damage.

Some of these incidents could have been deadly. An Imam in Accrington, for example, was lucky to escape unharmed earlier this month when the mosque he was sleeping in

began to burn. In a suspected arson attack, flames had spread from a nearby building containing gas cylinders and according to a fire safety officer, had they penetrated the kitchen of the mosque ‘we could have been looking at a fire fatality’.

Several attacks appear to have been carried out by members of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) or people claiming affiliation with the organisation. EDL graffiti have been found on numerous occasions and, in other incidents, people taking part in the organisation’s demonstrations attempted to vandalise mosques.

The most serious incidents that have taken place this year have been arson attacks. Two buildings earmarked to be converted into a mosque and a Muslim-run community centre were completely destroyed after being set on fire; and another mosque in Sussex only

escaped serious damage because firefighters promptly arrived at the scene. In May the EDL posted a link to a list of mosques in the UK on its Facebook page. A number of members subsequently wrote messages expressing a wish to destroy them, including ‘burn them all’ and ‘burn them all down’. However, none of the arson attacks that have taken place have been attributed by the police conclusively to any particular organisation.

Other attacks which have taken place include sending suspicious packages initially thought to be anthrax, throwing pig’s heads at mosques and firebomb threats.

Attacks on Islamicinstitutions increase


Raviseine, a new French perfume brand has launched its range of scents in the UK.

Available online at www.raviseine.com, the range of 12 fragrances, six each for men and women, has been created exclusively by the French perfume house.

The alcohol-free collection branded as Sensorial Journey is composed of natural ingredients and adheres to highest standards of quality and ethics.

Raviseine fragrances are inspired by both contemporary and traditional influences. Farrukh Raza, commercial director of Raviseine, commented, “Raviseine is a unique reflection of cultural

harmony between Eastern tradition and Western modernity. Combining innovation, authenticity and creativity, Raviseine takes its inspiration from the extreme refinement of the East and the legendary elegance of the West.”

Masculine and feminine fragrances of the Raviseine collection Sensorial Journey come in a wide range of fresh, fruity, spicy, woody and floral notes to suit a wide range of tastes and unveil the personalities of the men and women wearing them.

Competitively priced, Raviseine

perfumes can be securely purchased online without the hefty French price tag. Each perfume arrives in attractive individual packaging making it the ideal gift for Eid and other occasions.

Britain’s senior Liberal Democrats have expressed anger over British Premier David Cameron’s announcement that he would fight the human rights legislation.

Speaking to the Sunday Express, Cameron said that he would pursue a fight back against what he called “the wrong-headed ideas, bureaucratic nonsense and destructive culture” while referring to human rights concerns voiced by activists as they witness harsh sentences handed out to those charged with minor offences.

Social activists in Britain have raised concerns over the sentences handed out to detainees as two out of every three arrested have been sent to prison. Cameron already announced that he thought human rights concerns were phony and that he would not let such concerns get in the way of silencing the unprecedented unrest across Britain.

Nevertheless, Britain’s former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menies Campbell, clashed with Cameron as he warned of disagreements among coalition partners if Cameron continues to make such statements about human rights issues.

Campbell claimed that the European Convention on Human Rights is considered to be one of Britain’s greatest contributions to Europe and warned against any efforts to underrate the importance of human rights concerns.

“I do not want in any sense Britain’s commitment to the whole notion of human rights to be watered down,” said Campbell.

The clash between the coalition partners comes as many Tories

hope to abolish the Human Rights Act at the autumn party conference session.

Meanwhile, concerns are raised among Britain’s social activists as unreasonable sentences are handed out to those charged with committing a crime. The activists assert that the British government is trying to play down Britain’s dire economic situation by blowing the consequences to the unrest out of proportion.

British leaders clashover human rights

Alcohol-free French perfumes launched


Two Leeds masjids have launched a major project to build a new Muslim primary school and nursery in the city.

Leeds Muslim Council, which forms the joint management committee of Al-Madina Jamia Masjid and Makkah Masjid in Hyde Park, will fund the mixed sex facilities through community donations and fundraising.

Sites for the school are being considered while the nursery would be based, initially, in an extension to the Woodsley Road Community Centre in Leeds

Statistics show that while a third of British Muslims are under 16 and there are around 500,000 young Muslims currently at school or college, they are still significantly underachieving in comparison to their peers.

A former CIA head, Michael Scheuer, has admitted that Islamic Awaking has created major intelligence problems for the governments of the UK and the US.

Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit in charge of pursuing Osama bin Laden from 1996 to 1999, warned that intelligence agents in these countries might resort to rendition programmes as they face lack of intelligence after the fall of dictatorial regimes in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.

“The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up- either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse,” Scheuer added.

Describing Islamic Awakening as “an intelligence disaster for the US

and for Britain, and other European services,” he acknowledged the American and British intelligence agents being left blind.

The special adviser to the CIA chief from 2001 to 2004 warned that extraordinary rendition techniques would be back and admitted that “there is nothing with which to replace the rendition programme.”

Extraordinary rendition, or “torture by proxy,” as described by critics, is the abduction and transfer of a person from one country to states for the purpose of torture.

Sheuer urged the American and British intelligence agents to resume rendition programmes, saying that the detainees have been held in custody for so long that they cannot provide useful information any longer.

“The rendition programme must come back - the people we have in custody now are pretty long in the tooth, in terms of the information they can provide in interrogations,” he said. - presstv

Iraq posed no threat to the UK when then prime minister Tony Blair took Britain to war in 2003, former MI5 boss Baroness Manningham-Buller has said.

In a Radio Times interview, Baroness Manningham-Buller said the service advised war was likely to increase the domestic threat and was a “distraction” from the pursuit of al-Qaeda.

But she said it was “for others to decide” whether the war was a mistake.

She told the Radio Times: “Iraq did not present a threat to the UK.

“The service advised that it was likely to increase the domestic threat and that it was a distraction from the pursuit of al-Qaeda. I understood the need to focus on Afghanistan. Iraq was a

distraction.”But she added: “Intelligence isn’t

complete without the full picture and the full picture is all about doubt.”

Baroness Manningham-Buller also described Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as “a horror”.

“It’s very difficult - do you just stand by and watch people being murdered?”, she said, referring to military interventions.

Asked about Britain’s friendlier approach to Col Gaddafi in the recent past, she replied: “There was a point to cosying up to him, to get him to forfeit his stockpiles of WMD (weapons of mass destruction).

“It was the right thing to do. But yes, you do have to be aware of who you’re dealing with.”

She is delivering the second phase of this year’s Reith Lectures - which are being broadcast in September 2011 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC.

Leeds Masjidson ‘fast’ track fornew schools

Islamic Awakening Intelligence disaster for UK

Pre-war Iraq ‘not threat to UK’former MI5 boss says In Case You

Missed It

Passion Islam I September 2011 WORLD NEWS I 13


Racism is a serious problem in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), a Black firefighter said at a trial charging the FDNY with racial discrimination.

FDNY Captain Paul Washington told a Brooklyn federal court that on several occasions he overheard his white colleagues using the word “niggers,” AFP reported.

Washington is the former head of a group of Black firefighters called the Vulcan Society.

White firefighters make up about 90 percent of the department.

“Someone didn’t know I was there and would say something

about niggers and I’d turn and there’d be a confrontation,” Washington said in his testimony to the court.

The presiding judge may impose drastic changes in the way firefighters are recruited if the city’s fire department is found guilty.

According to the plaintiff, while one-fourth of New York’s population is Black and 27 percent Hispanic, only 3.4 percent of firefighters are Black and 6.7 percent Latino.

Washington said anyone complaining about alleged racist incidents faced being “ostracized” in fire houses.

A recent survey across eight European countries has probed the reasons behind the growing hatred of Israel in several European countries.

Respondents in the poll say Tel Aviv’s policies are the main reason for their hatred toward Israel.

They also cited the racist nature of Israel and Zionism as the second reason for their negative attitude toward Tel Aviv.

The survey was conducted by the Berlin-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation last July.

Around 3500 European adults participated in the telephone poll.

The developments come as peace activists in Europe are calling for Palestinian statehood, an end to the Israeli occupation, as well as the release of all

Palestinian prisoners.Moreover, Israel has also

imposed a blockade on Gaza since the democratically elected Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver during the winter of 2008-2009. The offensive also inflicted USD 1.6 billion in damage to the Gazan economy.

A United Nations inquiry led by the former South African judge, Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators called Israeli actions “amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity,” during Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip.

passionislam.com

Anti-Israel sentimentson rise in Europe

Racism rife in NYC fire department

Up to 1,000 male and female expatriates have converted to Islam in the holy month of Ramadan, said the Director General of the Islamic Presentation Committee .

Jamal Al-Shatti, in a statement to KUNA, said the conversion of this large number of people to Islam “was a dream that has come true.

“We have exerted tremendous efforts to make this dream turn into reality, and this has been accomplished as a result of the support of the natives of Kuwait.” The committee offers a variety of religious educational services for new advocates of Islam; such as religious and Arabic language curricula.

The Kuwaiti authority seeks to promote Islam through dialogue, persuasion and logic.

The committee has succeeded in persuading up to 53,000 non-Muslims to convert to the religion since its launch in 1978.

1,000 expatriates revertto Islam in Kuwait

14 I WORLD NEWS Passion Islam I September 2011


The $1 trillion Islamic finance industry has suffered from a lack of large institutions able to handle sizeable deals.

A new Islamic investment bank to open next year in Bahrain is planning to raise $100 billion in its first 10 years to fund projects in Muslim countries and challenge the top underwriters in the sukuk market.

The lender, scheduled to begin operations in January, will start with $10bn of capital and help provide financing for “profitable” ventures among the 57 member nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Abdulmohsen Linjawi,

general manager of the Business Owners Union, an OIC unit, said.

The lack of institutions within the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry capable of handling large deals that conform to the religion’s ban on interest spurred Malaysia to announce last month it will issue a license to Asia’s first Sharia-compliant “mega” bank.

Offerings of Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, more than doubled this year to $16.8bn, and the debt has returned 6.7 percent in 2011, compared with 6.4 percent on other developing-country bonds, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Global Emerging Markets Bond index.

Heavy rains have triggered flash floods and landslides in Pakistan, forcing at least 60,000 people from their homes in the southern Sindh Province.

Reports say the floods have hit six districts in Sindh Province, destroying crops and inundating several villages.

Over 700,000 people have reportedly been affected by the floods.

There are unconfirmed reports that 30 people have been killed over the past week with the meteorological office forecasting

more rain in the coming days.

According to a Press TV correspondent, more lives are at risk from waterborne diseases in the flood-hit region.

Sindh province was one of the worst-hit areas in the devastating floods of 2010 which affected 21 million people.

Last year, more than 1,750 people

were also killed by the weeks-long floods, which engulfed an area the size of England. Tens of thousands of people are still living in emergency camps after last year’s disaster.

Pakistan floods leave60,000 homeless

Bahrain Islamic megabankseeks to raise100bn

The trial of Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib al-Adly has been adjourned until September 5, the court’s Judge Ahmed Refaat says.

Refaat also announced that Mubarak and al-Adly, who face the death penalty if found guilty.

The judge also barred television cameras from entering the court, and said the trial will be held behind closed doors.

Mubarak arrived at the Cairo court to stand trial for the second time after a popular uprising put an end to his prolonged ruling in February.

In the first court session on August 3, Mubarak pleaded not guilty and denied the charges of ordering the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolution that lead to his downfall.

Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption.

About 850 protesters were killed during the historic revolution in Egypt.

Mubarak is the first Arab leader to stand trial in person since popular uprisings swept the Arab world.

Mubarak trial adjourned until September


General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded two contracts with a combined value of $42.4m in Saudi Arabia.

The contracts were awarded by the US Army TACOM Lifecycle Management Command on behalf of the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

The contract is part of a plan by Saudi Arabia to upgrade its entire fleet of 314 Abrams tanks, it said in a statement.

The contracts, valued at $12.6m and $29.8m respectively, will see the General Dynamics unit provide materials and labour for the conversion of 102 M1A2 tanks to an M1A2S configuration.

The M1A2S conversion will increase the efficiency and capability of the tank.

The completion of 60 tanks is expected by August 30, 2012, and another 42 tanks will be finished by September 30, 2012.

This contract continues work started in 2008 to design, develop, convert, implement and test a hybrid

configuration of the M1A1, M1A2 and M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) tank variants for Saudi Arabia.

Last month it was reported that Saudi Arabia was buying hundreds of tanks from Germany in a multi-billion euro deal.

The oil-rich Gulf state has bought

44 Leopard tanks in the first phase of the deal for a total of 200 tanks in coming months, sources said.

The purchase follows a $93 billion stimulus package from Saudi King Abdullah’s in March that included extra support for police and security forces.

passionislam.com

Pakistani authorities temporarily stopped supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan a day after nearly 10 NATO oil tankers were attacked and torched, local media said.

Nine tankers, carrying oil for NATO troops in Afghanistan, were attacked in Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border.

Four oil tankers, a container and a taxicab were completely gutted when

a powerful bomb blast caused a huge fire in one of the vehicles near Landi Kotal Bazaar in Khyber Agency.

No one was hurt as the drivers and cleaners

were breaking fast at a nearby hotel.It was second attack on NATO

lorries in the northwest in three days. Earlier more than a dozen NATO tankers had caught fire following a blast in a container terminal in Peshawar.

Also gunmen opened fire on NATO tankers in Punjab province, police said.

Gunmen opened fire on the

tanker at Muzzafar Garh as they were passing through a square, they said. No one was hurt. Attacks on NATO trucks in Punjab are rare.

Geo television that supplies for NATO troops were temporarily suspended over security concerns.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks but Taliban suspects routinely claim responsibility for such attacks.

Some 70 percent supplies for around 150,000 US-led NATO troops are transported through Pakistan, the shortest supply route.

The United States has struck deal with Russia and few Central Asian states for alternate supply routes.

Pakistan suspendssupplies to NATO forces

US firm wins $42.2mSaudi tanks contracts

Latest Podcast & Video online - www.passionislam.com


The Obama administration designated a key insurgent commander in southeastern Afghanistan as a terrorist, freezing any assets he has in the United States and barring Americans from doing business with him.

The State Department said Mullah Sangeen Zadran is the shadow governor of Paktika province in southeastern Afghanistan and a commander in the Haqqani network.

A statement said Sangeen leads fighters in attacks and has helped hundreds of foreign fighters enter Afghanistan. It also linked him to bombings and kidnappings of Afghans and foreigners in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sangeen appears to be the same individual whom US-led forces claimed to have killed in an operation in 2007.

The coalition said at the time

that Sangeen was second-in-command to Siraj Haqqani and that he was responsible for roadside bombings and other attacks.

The Treasury Department designated four other individuals as terrorists subject to US sanctions.

They include Umar Patek, a key suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Patek was captured six months ago in the same northwestern Pakistani town where Osama Bin Laden was killed, and was escorted home to Indonesia under tight security to stand trial.

The other individuals designated are Muhammad Jibril Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim Ba-asyir of Indonesia, and Mumtaz Dughmush, a Palestinian.

Dughmush was targeted for

leading the Gaza-based “Army of Islam,” a shadowy extremist group that draws inspiration from Al-Qaeda though it is not believed to have operational links with the militant organization.

Under Dughmush’s leadership, the organization has shot rockets at Israel, kidnapped an American and British journalist, and killed Egyptian civilians in 2009 attacks on Cairo and Heliopolis, the State Department said.

FIFA said that the Syrian football team has been disqualified from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, after fielding an ineligible Striker George Mourad.

In turn, FIFA reinstated Tajikistan in its place. Despite previously representing Sweden, Mourad played in last month’s qualifier against Tajikistan.

He scored in the first leg, which Syria won 6-1 on aggregate.Mourad participated in the Swedish Olympic team during its participation in the Olympic qualification of 2003-05.

A statement by FIFA said that its Disciplinary Committee on 17 August declared the first-leg match of the Second Round (Syria-Tajikistan of 23 July 2011) to be lost by Syria by

forfeit (0:3) due to an ineligible player in the Syrian team taking part in this match.

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee reached the same decision regarding the second leg match (Tajikistan-Syria of 28 July 2011) due to the same ineligible player also taking part in this match,” the statement said.“In conformity with Article 7 of the Regulations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, the Bureau of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA World Cup took the following decisions,” the statement said, adding “Tajikistan will take Syria’s place in Group C of Asia qualifying along with Japan, Uzbekistan and North Korea.” Meanwhile, according to Syrian News Agency (SANA) which quoted the President of Syrian

Football Federation Faruoq Saria as saying that the federation took all of the necessary procedures to ensure participation of the mentioned player in accordance with FIFA regulations.

“FIFA bylaw with regard to approval of player transfer from the Swedish federation, does not need approval from FIFA, only from the transferred to federation, according to FIFA bylaw, said Saria.Saria asserted that the banning of the Syrian team from the second round of qualifications comes due to political unrest and developments in Syria.

The Syrian official added Mourad was born in Syria and has a Syrian and not Sweden nationality, and the player played in Swedish National Olympic team.

Syria sees FIFA World Cup ban as politically motivated

US declares Afghan ‘governor’ a terrorist

Passion Islam I September 2011 ̀ WORLD NEWS I 17

Fatah movement called on the international community to put an end to the organized killing operations carried out by the Israeli government.

This came in a statement uttered by Fatah Spokesman Ussama Al-Qawasmi.

Al-Qawasmi said that the Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people in Gaza and Al-Quds which led to the killing of three Palestinians during the past two days proves that Israel evades political merits by dragging the current conditions to field military escalation in the Palestinian territories and through its protection of settlers.

He added that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu disregards the will of the international community by insisting on carrying out planned massacres, destruction and implementation of collective punishment as well as dragging the whole area into more wars and blood-sheds

Makkah’s Grand Mosqueset for major expansionKing Abdullah layed the foundation stone for a new expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, designed to create prayer space for an additional 1.2 million worshippers.

The new expansion will include modern garbage disposal systems and security monitoring systems while sunshades will also be established on the northern courtyards of the mosque, Saudi daily Arab News reported.

The new annex will be linked with the existing mosque and masaa with a series of bridges and will also be equipped with air conditioning systems and escalators, it added.

Muhammad Al-Khozaim, vice president of the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, told the paper: “Once completed, the new facility will be able to

accommodate nearly 1.2 million worshippers.”

Al-Khozaim also announced plans to expand the mataf (the circumambulation areas around the Holy Kaaba) and provide air-conditioning for all parts of the Grand Mosque.

He added that the newly expanded masaa (the running course between Safa and Marwa) could now accommodate 118,000 pilgrims per hour instead of 44,000.

The expansion plans come a few days after it was announced that construction of an urban mass rail transit system for the holy city of Makkah was slated to start in 2013, with operations beginning four years later.

Makkah faces significant congestion and transportation challenges as a focal point of the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage, which attracts millions of visitors to the city every year.

The city’s own population is also growing rapidly and is estimated to double to three million by 2035.

The Middle East Quartet expressed concern over Israel’s move to build 277 houses in the occupied West Bank and 900 houses in occupied East Jerusalem.

“The Quartet is greatly concerned by Israel’s recent announcements to advance planning for new housing units in Ariel and east Jerusalem,” the mediating group, consisting of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations said in a statement.

“This comes at a critical juncture with Quartet efforts ongoing to resume negotiations which are the only way to a just and durable solution to the conflict,” the statement said.

The statement came amid intense efforts by Tony Blair, the Quartet’s special envoy, to get Palestinians and Israelis back into direct talks.

Israel approved on Monday 300 new homes to be built Ariel, a settlement inside the occupied West Bank, taking the total to more

than 2,700 new settler homes approved in the past two weeks.The planned expansion has brought a furious response from the Palestinian Authority, which has shunned direct talks since Israel ended a moratorium on settlement building in September last year.The US said it found the reports of new Israeli settlement plans “deeply troubling” and counterproductive to the US effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Israel has rejected international criticism insisting that the settlements are not an obstacle to direct talks.

Palestinians and Israelis are building up to a new diplomatic confrontation as Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, prepares to seek full United Nations membership at the UN General Assembly in September.

Israel says this is a threat to the peace process and the US is expected to veto any application to the UN Security Council.

Quartet ‘concerned’ over Israel’s new settlement announcement

Fatah calls on world community to stop Israel’s violence


The Libyan government says it holds France and Britain responsible for casualties in the African country, as the revolution and the NATO-led campaign against forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi continues.

“We hold [French President] Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy and PM Cameron responsible for every Libyan death because what they do is for their political gains. They push our kids to fight against their nation,” Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters.

Tripoli also accused NATO of killing Libyan civilians, and warned against the “illegal act” of the alliance.

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government

troops and revolutionary forces since a revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.

Over the past six months, forces loyal to Gaddafi have killed thousands of Libyan civilians.

In addition, NATO airstrikes have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians since March.

NATO began bombing “military targets” in Libya on March 19, after the UN Security Council approved a resolution on March 17, authorizing force by whatever means necessary, with the exception of a ground

invasion, to “protect civilians.”The United States, France, and

Britain say they will not stop their military operation until Gaddafi is removed from power.

Libya blames Britain,France for casualties

Nearly a third of the world’s population lives in countries where it is becoming more difficult to freely practice religion, a private U.S. research group has reported.

The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said government restrictions and public hostility involving religion grew in some of the most populous countries from mid-2006 to mid-2009.

“During the three-year period covered by the study, the extent of violence and abuse related to religion increased in more places than it decreased,” according to the report “Rising Restrictions on Religion.”

Only about one percent of the world lives in countries that saw more religious tolerance during those years, it said.

The Pew Center review of 198 countries found those deemed restrictive or hostile in the previous report were growing even more so, while the opposite was found for those with more religious tolerance.

A substantial rise in public hostility toward religious groups was seen in

China, Nigeria, Thailand, Vietnam and Britain, while government restrictions rose substantially in Egypt and France.

The Pew Center looked at laws or other government policies aimed to ban particular faiths, limit preaching, give preference to particular religions or prohibit conversions. To measure hostility, it looked at sectarian violence, harassment over religious attire and other types of intimidation.

The countries most restrictive or hostile toward certain religions included India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, China, Myanmar, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh -- although most of these did not show much change in the three years.

People were killed, physically abused, detained, imprisoned, displaced from their homes, or had their property destroyed for religious reasons by governments in 101 countries in the year ending mid-2009, compared to 91 a year earlier, the report said. Such violence rose in more countries than it declined over

the three years.Mob violence involving religion

occurred in 52 countries as of mid-2009, compared to 38 a year earlier. Religious hatred or bias led to violence by private citizens groups in 142 countries, nearly three-quarters of the 198 included in the study, and about the same as of mid-2008.

“Religion-related terrorist groups were active in 74 countries,” and violence was seen in half of these, in the year through mid-2009, the Pew Center said.

Christians and Muslims, the world’s two largest religious groups, were harassed in the most countries. Other religions also saw harassment, but Jews, who make up less than one percent of the world’s population, saw restrictions or harassment in 75 countries.

In five European countries -- Britain, Denmark, Russia, Sweden and Bulgaria -- religious tension focused on the rapidly growing Muslim population, but there was some rising anti-Semitism towards minorities such as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

World restrictions on religion increasing, says report



A former US congressional candidate believes that Israel’s ultimate objective in constructing new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque.

“I have believed for a long time that Israel wants this al-Aqsa Mosque simply not to exist,” Mark Dankof told Press TV.

“Basically I think this settlement expansion is part of a systematic plan to take all of Jerusalem and to replace ... the al-Aqsa Mosque with a so-called rebuilt Jewish temple based on the model of the one that was destroyed in 1870,” he added.

The Israeli regime approved the construction of 1,600 new illegal settlement units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

According to Israeli officials, Tel Aviv also plans to authorize the

building of another 2,700 illegal housing units in the occupied land within “a couple of days.”

The regime claims the construction has been endorsed because of the “economic crisis” in Israel.

Israelis have been protesting against rising housing prices and social inequalities since mid-July. The protesters demand a new taxation system (lower indirect taxes, higher direct taxes), free education and childcare, an end to the privatization of state-owned companies and more investment in social housing and public transport.

Israel occupied East al-Quds alongside the West Bank in 1967 and later annexed both territories. The international community has refused to recognize either of the moves.

In September 2010, the Israeli

regime resumed the expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting the Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders to break off US-sponsored talks with Tel Aviv that had been resumed after a lengthy stalemate.

‘Israel aims to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque’

Standard Bank plans to start sharia-compliant banking in Nigeria this year to benefit from the needs of Africa’s largest Muslim population. Stanbic IBTC Bank, a unit of Standard Bank, won a licence in principle last month and planned to offer Islamic services at its 160 branches in the fourth

quarter, chief executive Sola David-Borha said.

The west African country, the continent’s biggest oil producer and home to about 78 million Muslims, is competing with Senegal, Egypt and South Africa in seeking to expand in the $1 trillion (R7.1 trillion) Islamic finance industry

The country, where about 70 percent have no access to regular banking services, aims to diversify the economy by developing financial services. Africa’s third-largest economy would expand about 7.8 percent this year, driven by the non-oil sector.

Nigeria is trying to stabilise its banking industry after a debt crisis in 2009 almost led to its collapse. That year, the Central Bank of Nigeria fired the chief executives of eight lenders, pumped 620 billion naira (R28bn) into ailing banks and created a state-owned company to buy bad debt.

London-based Standard Chartered, which is interested in getting an Islamic banking licence, hoped to receive approval from the central bank within 12 months.

Standard Bank to start Shariaservices in Nigeria this year


GOT NEWS? THEN GET IN TOUCHWE WORK WITH NEWS AGENCY ACROSS THE UK & WORLDWIDE

07506 466 385 or email: [email protected]

The Palestinian movement Hamas and the US Agency for International Development have reached a compromise to maintain the flow of aid, a senior Hamas official said. “We’ve reached a compromise with USAID through the United Nations” to allow the continuation of aid, which was suspended by Washington the official of the Islamist movement controlling the Palestinian enclave told AFP.

Hamas, as a result of the agreement, renounces for a “three-month period” its demand to verify the accounts of NGOs financed by the US Agency for International Development in the Palestinian territories, he said. “We are keen on the continuation of the international institutions’ work and their services to our people,” he said.

The Hamas official, who participated in the mediated

talks, said the sides were now working towards an agreement on mechanisms that ensure “transparency and internal accountability of these international organisations”. There will be “no control over their work,” he added. A UN official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the United Nations had “made major efforts to end this crisis and reach a good agreement”.

Hamas insisted that it should be able to verify the accounts of NGOs financed by USAID in the Palestinian territories. The movement’s spokesman Taher Al-Nunu complained that “USAID refuses to recognise the government in Gaza”, adding that anyone who “wishes to work in Palestinian territory must obey its laws”. In a reaction from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, economy minister Hassan

Abu Libdeh urged Hamas to “abstain from any action that threatens relations with the NGOs”.

NGOs were dedicated to “rebuilding Gaza,” Abu Libdeh told AFP, adding that “any halt to their activities will have serious consequences”. - AFP

An Israeli aircraft has violated Lebanon’s airspace, flying over southern areas of the country in flagrant defiance of a UN Security Council resolution.

The Lebanese Army Command Orientation Directorate issued a statement saying an Israeli reconnaissance drone entered Lebanese airspace over the southern borders.

The aircraft flew over various areas of south Lebanon.

Israel violates Lebanon’s airspace on an almost daily basis, claiming that the overflights serve surveillance purposes.

Lebanon’s government, the Hezbollah resistance movement,

and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have repeatedly cited Israel’s air surveillance flights over Lebanon as clear violations of UN Resolution 1701 and the country’s sovereignty.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the United Nations, presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and territory.

Israeli drone violates Lebanese airspace

Hamas, US aid bodyreach compromise

Passion Islam I September 2011 SPORT I 21


Qatar says it is in talks to stage the start of the Tour de France in 2016, more than two years after initially broaching the idea with cycling chiefs.

“His highness (the Emir) has had this idea in mind for quite a while. They have started the discussions and the process,” a source with close ties to the government told the Reuters news agency, asking not to be identified.

State-owned Qatar Airways was the official airline for this year’s Tour.

Next year’s race will depart from Liege, Belgium, while Corsica is set to kick off the 100th Tour in 2013.

Barcelona, Edinburgh and cities

in England, Netherlands, Germany and Austria have all expressed an interest in hosting future starts.

None of those include the logistical and meterological challenge of a start in the Middle East, where the searing July heat would pose a challenge for the riders and almost certainly ensure a short stage or time trial.

The Abu Dhabi international triathlon, featuring a 200km bike leg, has been held in UAE in March since 2010 and attracts many of the world’s best triathletes.

This year temperatures were way above the seasonal norm and many top riders struggled.

Qatar in talks to stage Tour de France in 2016

Celtic wonderkid Islam Feruz has reportedly signed for Chelsea FC.

Other clubs such as Manchester City as well as Liverpool FC were after the younsters signature.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has now stated to STV Sport, that the Somali-born striker could quit Glasgow and that the player’s agent had unsettled the player and could now leave the club for a more lucrative deal in England.

The striker would be eligible to sign professional terms next month as he turns 16, but according to our source: “Feruz informed his team mates that he was away to Chelsea and on £2,500 per week. As well

as sharing a penthouse flat near Stamford Bridge, along with another new Chelsea signing.”

Under English FA rules, Feruz cannot not sign professional terms with Chelsea and would therefore stay on youth terms for one more year when he turns 17.

Lennon said: “It’s going to be very difficult for us to hold onto him. That’s the situation at the minute. I would rather discuss it at another time when everything is clear. At the minute, I haven’t seen Islam since the start of the season. We’ve done everything

we can to keep the player. I think we’ve done more than enough to make him feel at home here. He does have other people in the background who are advising him. My take on it is they are advising him wrongly. But we seem to be powerless in that situation.”

Islam Feruz signs for Chelsea

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Istanbul would run the race to host the olympic games in 2020, saying the event was important for the Turkish people.

“We are gathered here to announce to the world that we are a candidate to host this international important event,” Erdogan told a news conference in Istanbul.

He said they felt very excited because “they will achieve their objective.” “Our candidature to host the olympics stemmed from our realization in the great importance of sports value and olympic spirit, which we believe play an active role in maintaining peace everywhere in the world,” he said.

Istanbul will be competing against Rome, Madrid, Tokyo and maybe Doha.

Istanbul had competed to organize the olympic games in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 but all bids were fruitless.

Istanbul bid to host 2020 Olympic games

22 I SPECIAL FEATURE Passion Islam I September 2011

Facts on Honey and CinnamonIt is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most Diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a ‘Ram Ban’ (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side Effects for any kind of diseases.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a Magazine in Canada, on its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASESMake a paste of honey and

cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this Process daily they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITISArthritis patients may take daily, morning, and night, One cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and

one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, They found that within a week, out of the 200 people So treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONSTake two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

The Beauty that is Honey &

Cinnamon

Passion Islam I September 2011 SPECIAL FEATURE I 23

If you have a Question regarding thissubject or any other featured articles we have

covered please email us at [email protected] and we will

forward it onto our team of Scholars to answer.

JustASK

TOOTHACHEMake a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied three times a day until the tooth stops aching.

CHOLESTEROLTwo tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient were found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol. By the way, if you’re taking cholesterol medicine, STOP! They all contain STATIN which weaken your muscles including YOUR HEART and none has been shown to stop heart attacks or strokes!!!!

COLDSThose suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACHHoney taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GASAccording to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEMDaily use of honey and cinnamon

powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant Use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

INDIGESTIONCinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZAA scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITYTea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age.

Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

PIMPLESThree tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONApplying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts, cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

WEIGHT LOSSDaily in the morning half an hour

before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body, even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCERRecent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

FATIGUERecent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 p.m. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

BAD BREATHPeople of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSSDaily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restore hearing.

- rabetah

24 I SPECIAL FEATURE Passion Islam I September 2011

It has been called ummul-amradh, or the root of all sicknesses of the heart. Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, warned that a person having even an iota of it in his heart will never enter paradise. This deadliest of all sins is kibr, or arrogance. No one likes arrogance --- in others. We never like a person who is haughty, too proud, or condescending. We detest a person who belittles us and has a huge ego. Similarly we love people who are humble, polite, and easy to talk to. We love people who give us respect and honor. Thus if we follow the principle of treating others the way we like to be treated, most of these problems might be cured. In reality, the treatment of ummul-amradh requires a deeper look. For that we need to appreciate the difference between adab or manners, on the one hand and akhlaq or morals on the other. While adab

deal with one’s external disposition, akhlaq as defined by Islam deal with our inner thoughts, feeling, and attitudes. In a healthy personality, the manners and morals are in harmony. But it is also possible to have the former without having the latter. The first concerns itself with how a person deals with others. The second is concerned with what a person thinks of himself. Two persons showing humbleness in their dealings with others, may have exactly opposite ideas in their minds. One may do it out of his or her “generosity”; the other may do it because he genuinely thinks that he is not better than the other person. The first person only has a shell of humbleness, which will crumble when tested. It is the second person who is really free of arrogance. Real greatness belongs only to Allah, our Lord, Creator, and Master. Human beings are just a creation of Allah --- and a very small creation in

comparison to the unimaginably vast universe. Anyone who understands this will realize that our proper status is only that of servants of Allah. In fact for a Muslim the real human model is none other than Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, who is the greatest of all human beings. His greatness lies in being the humblest of all servants of Allah! It is impossible for any person who has this consciousness to entertain any notions of his own greatness. This leads us to the definition of kibr, given in a famous hadith: “Kibr is to knowingly reject Truth and to belittle other people.” This hadith exposes two strains of this deadly disease, both dealing with our exaggerated ideas of self-importance. The first suggests that I am more important than the Truth. The second suggests that I am more important than other people. We know about the Quraish and

Arrogance, Humbleness and Inferiority Complex

Passion Islam I September 2011 SPECIAL FEATURE I 25

Jews of Arabia who had come in contact with Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and who knew in the heart of their hearts that he indeed was the Messenger of Allah. Their arrogance, though, kept them from accepting it. History has recorded statements from some of them who said we know he is the Promised Prophet but we will keep on opposing him to maintain our leadership. While that was the most blatant form of arrogance, we can witness the same attitude on a smaller scale in our discussions and arguments. A person realizes that he was wrong, but then his pride keeps him from admitting it. No matter how polite or “humble” that person may appear to be ordinarily, this test shows the presence of arrogance in his heart. It is arrogance that keeps a person from saying “I am sorry.” The second strain involves our feeling of superiority with respect to other people. Islam’s teaching is that one should never consider oneself greater than other people, because that Judgment will come from Allah, and Allah alone, on the Day of Judgment. None of us knows what our end will be, whether we will end up being a winner or loser over

there. The person who appears to be nobody here may end up with eternal bliss because of his goodness that only Allah knew. The person who is a big shot here may end up among the sinners who will be punished there, because of his evil that only Allah knew. How foolish, it is then to congratulate ourselves over our fleeting “superiority”. What if a person does have edge over another person in measurable worldly terms? How then can he not consider himself superior than the other person in that respect? The point is sometimes made in half jest: it is difficult to be humble when you are so great. Islam does not ask us to reject reality and imagine we don’t have what we really do. Rather it asks us to take a deeper look at the reality and not be misled by a superficial perception of it. And the simple reality that escapes many is that our health, wealth, talents, and power are not of our own creation. God gave those to us as a test and He can take them back whenever He wills. Those who are conscious of this reality, their blessings will produce gratitude in them; those who are blind to it will develop pride and arrogance. Some forms of kibr are subtle.

If a person is embarrassed to bow to Allah in the presence of non-believers, that is a case of “kibr in the face of Allah,” says Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi. While throughout history humanity had agreed on the evil of arrogance and the virtue of humbleness (despite its failures in practice), this century has seen new dogmas that aim at changing the definitions of good and evil. Humbleness is no longer desirable. Rather, one has to avoid “Inferiority Complex.” Alfred Adler (1870-1937) gave us that term. According to him, life is a continuous struggle to move from a position of inferiority to a position of significance. Those who fail to make the progress, develop inferiority complex, which can be treated by increasing self-esteem. Unfortunately today such pseudo-science is accepted as gospel truth. The truth is that problems arise when we turn away from reality. A humble person is a happy, content, grateful person who thanks God for his blessings and has no notions of his own superiority. False notions of superiority or of one’s entitlements in life, on the other hand, lead to frustrations and complexes.

By Khalid Baig

Arrogance, Humbleness and Inferiority Complex

Passion Islam I September 2011 CORRESPONDENCE I 27

text & emails

If you want to comment on anything within the

publication or write for us or just get involved with

Passion Islam email us on [email protected] Connect with Us

Send your emails to [email protected]

Name: _________________________________________

________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Date:____________________ Cost: £20 (12 issues inc of P&P)

Subscribe to Passion Islam

Send in your cheque payable to Passion Islam to Passion Islam, PO BOX 159

Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD

Pass

ion

Isla

m

Passion Islam September 2011 issue

Documents

Transcript of Passion Islam September 2011 issue