PassionIslam March2010

Issue: 24 March 2010

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NewsUK adoptsnew approach

Several more demonstrators who took part in last year’s anti-Israel rallies at the height of atrocities in Gaza have been jailed in the UK, raising concern that the prosecutions are politically motivated.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) criticised the sentencing, saying it “fails to take into account that grave police mismanagement and abuse of police powers contributed to the tense situation at the demonstrations.”

“We are concerned that such heavy sentencing, the subsequent confiscation of passports and other intimidatory measures are an attempt to deter protesting, in particular in support of Palestine, and by Muslims,” said IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh.

At Isleworth Crown Court in London, one more protester was sentenced to 12 months in prison, while another will serve ten months in a Young Offenders Institute.

A total of seventeen have so far been jailed in connections to the protests at the Israeli Embassy, receiving sentences between eight months and two and a half years.

Another 45 people who have pleaded guilty are yet to be sentenced, while trials are still awaited for another 17, who unlike the majority have refused to change their not guilty pleas.

The IHRC said that two of those already sentenced were only 16 at the time of the demonstrations, while another was a Palestinian who

lost two cousins murdered by Israeli security forces days before the rally.

The severity of the sentencing has also provoked strong reaction from supporters of the Britain’s largest peace group network, Stop The War Coalition (STWC).

STWC, which described the jail terms as “draconian” particularly because the majority have no prior convictions, have been holding protests outside the court and held a meeting in the British parliament.

An IHCR report into the protests, published last month, found some very disturbing eyewitness accounts of allegedly unprofessional police conduct, in some cases amounting to police brutality, during the demonstrations.

Claims were that “law enforcement officials used tactics of intimidation and indiscriminate, disproportionate force”; they “failed to communicate effectively with demonstrators” and employed “heavy handedness” and “abusive language”.

The report makes a particular point of criticising the tactic of “corralling or ‘kettling’ demonstrators”. It claims that riot police “charged into the crowd” on more than one occasion and that there were also reports at one point that gas was used against the crowds.

Over 30 officially recorded complaints have been filed about the way that the police treated the protests, but it is thought that all have been dismissed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

INJUSTICE

2 I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS Passion Islam I March 2010

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 - By Sheikh Sufyan

Muslim faith schools continue to surpass national averages for the UK’s GCSE school-leaving certificates, including in modern foreign languages, according to new figures compiled.

In a survey of last year’s GCSE results at 63 Muslim schools and colleges, 61 per cent of students attained 5 or more A* to C grades [including English and Maths], 11 per cent higher than the national average of 50 per cent.

The performance was even more outstanding in modern foreign languages, with 71 per cent of 1,683 students who sat their GCSE (and equivalent) in Muslim schools and colleges attained at least one A* to

C grade, 26 per cent higher than the national average.

The results are seen as all the more remarkable by the fact that only 5 of the 63 Muslim schools and colleges in the UK have state-funded voluntary aided status.

Students attending Muslim schools were also found to be excelling in underperforming local authorities, including in Tower Hamlets, east London, where the Muslim community constitute 36.4 per cent of the population, the highest proportion in the country.

In 2009 the Tower Hamlets authority had a 46 per cent pass rate for 5 or more A* to C pass rate (4 percent lower than the national

average), but the results at the five Muslim schools in the London borough scored a 63 per cent pass rate.

One of the voluntary aided schools, Tauheedul Islam Girls School in Blackburn, north-west England, has been recognised by the government as one of the top 100 highest achieving schools in the country for the last three years and in 2009 was awarded the Humanities Specialist Status.

The performance of students at Muslim schools is in contrast with state schools, where Muslims, particularly from Pakistani and Bangladeshi origins, are among the lowest achievers in the UK.

Muslim schools surpass national exam averages in the UK

Passion Islam I March 2010 NEWS I 3

The British government is facing a fresh legal action by human rights group, Reprieve, over guidelines for secret agents on how to interrogate prisoners held overseas.

In a statement to the high court, The legal defense charity said ministers “failed adequately to ensure that UK intelligence personnel refrain from acts and omissions amounting to complicity in torture.”

The organization, which represents several former Guantanamo Bay detainees, says unpublished guidance from 2002 and 2004 is unlawful because it condones complicity in torture.

Reprieve also cited a lack of government response over the mounting accusation of MI5 and MI6 complicity in the mistreatment of prisoners as a reason for taking the cases to court.

The legal proceedings will be

against the prime minister, home secretary, foreign secretary, defense secretary and attorney general.

This is while ministers and officials have been haunted by accusations that the country’s secret service knew about the torture of detainees by US agents, with seven British already

suing the government for its role in their alleged mistreatment.

A judge must now give the green light for a hearing to go ahead on the basis of Reprieve’s application.

If the permission is granted, there could be a court hearing within three to six months.

Britain in fresh legalrow over ‘torture’


Britain is continuing to sell a wide range of military equipment to the Zionist regime, despite last year’s massacre of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza.

After the attack on Gaza, Foreign Secretary David Miliband told parliament that all future applications for arms-related exports to Israel “will be assessed taking into account the recent conflict”.

But the latest official figures show that UK government approved almost £4m worth of export licences for weapons and equipment, including small arms ammunition and parts for sniper rifles in first nine months of 2009.

Most of the equipment approved for sale to the Zionst regime were components for large military items, such as parts for ground-based radars, military aircraft engines, military aircraft navigation equipment, military communications and unmanned drones.

The continuing exports have been condemned by the anti-poverty campaigning organisation, War on Want, which has called for a two-way arms embargo between Britain and Israel since the 2006 invasion of Lebanon.

“The licensing of arms sales to Israel flies in the face of the UK’s arms export guidelines, which prohibit the sale of military equipment that could be used for internal repression,” said

Yasmin Khan of War on Want. “The UK government remains complicit in Israel’s human rights violations unless it prohibits the sale of all arms to Israel,” Khan told IRNA.

Approved exports sales also include electronic warfare equipment, ground vehicle military communications equipment and remote ground-sensor systems.

Last year, Miliband admitted that Israeli equipment used in the attack on Gaza “almost certainly” contained British-supplied components included components for US F16 combat aircraft, and Apache helicopters. They also included equipment for radar on Israeli ships that could be used for fire-

control against surface targets, and armoured personnel carriers adapted from Centurion tanks sold to Israel in the late 1950s.

When questioned by parliament’s strategic export controls committee last month, Foreign Office minister for the Middle East Ivan Lewis insisted that the government considered arms exports to Israel on a “case-by-case basis”.

Britain’s official guidelines for arms exports stipulate that arms sales should not be approved “where there is a clear risk that the export might be used for internal repression” or where they would “provoke or prolong armed conflicts”.

Nearly three quarters of Brits from an ethnic minority background are unaware of changes to the state pension that could benefit them financially, according to a YouGov poll.

As the number of contributing years of National Insurance people need to build up a full basic state pension is reducing in April, statistics show 29,000 British Bangladeshis, 91,000

British Pakistanis and 219,000 British Indians over 55 could now benefit when they retire.

Findings show nearly a third - 31 per cent - of Brits from an ethnic minority background have taken time out of the workforce and more than one in 10 - 16 per cent - rely on a partner financially – both of which may mean they need to do something now to boost their State Pension provision.

Reforms also mean new credits for parents and carers will be introduced from April to ensure that people who take time off work to care are able to build up qualifying years towards the basic and State Second Pensions.

Those who fall into these groups are being urged to visit www.direct.gov/betterfuture for more information on the changes and advice on planning for the future.

UK continues arms sales toIsrael despite Gaza massacres

Ethnic minority communitiesunaware of state pension changes


A former British army commander in Iraq, Colonel Jorge Mendonca, has denied any involvement or knowledge of torture of civilian detainees by his regiment.

Mendonca was cleared by a court martial over the death of the 26-year-old Iraqi hotel receptionist, Baha Mousa, but Britain’s only convicted war criminal accused the senior army officer last November of being violent towards detainees himself.

Mousa was killed with 93 injuries to his body while in British custody in Basra in September 2003.

Mendonca told a public inquiry on Monday that while he accepted responsibility for what had happened,

it was important to stress that his subordinates had kept him in the dark.

Donald Payne is the sole soldier sentenced in the torture case, while ten other soldiers from Mendonca’s unit have also admitted assaulting Mousa and six other Iraqis arrested with him.

Mendonca also defended the use of the banned measures, including hooding detainees, subjecting prisoners to stress positions and sleep deprivation. He claimed such measures were necessary to hinder the prisoners’ communication or escape.

The stories of violence, which

some soldiers have said they were ordered to perform by their seniors, are gruesome.

Payne has accused Mendonca and a platoon commander, Lt. Craig Rodgers, of physically attacking a group of prisoners and threatening to set them on fire as well as punching a detainee in front of more than one hundred soldiers.

Military witnesses have told the inquiry, which began last July, that troops under Col. Mendonca’s command kicked a 12-year-old boy in the head for throwing a stone.

Mendonca has denied any knowledge of the incident.

passionislam.com

The High Court of Justice has ruled that the National Offender Management Service had failed to comply with disability and race laws in its treatment of foreign national prisoners.

The ruling sends a clear message to all public authorities of their requirement to comply with race, disability and gender discrimination laws.

The Racial & Equality Commission took Judicial Review proceedings against the prison authority after it implemented a policy of transferring foreign prisoners to new facilities without consideration of the impact the move would have on disabled or ethnic minority prisoners. This is despite widespread documentation by the prison inspectorate about the significant discrimination and disadvantage faced by disabled and ethnic minority foreign prisoners.

Public organisations, such as hospitals, councils and prisons, are required by law to undertake assessments of how their policies will affect disabled people, ethnic minorities and women to ensure that any existing or new policies will not further disadvantage these groups.

The judge rejected arguments from the National Offender Management

Service claiming that it had undertaken formal equality impact assessments in advance of implementing the policy. Instead, the Court found that the prison service had failed to carry out formal assessments of any kind and it had failed to take account of processes suggested in the statutory codes of practice. The Judge described the prison service’s reasons for failing to comply with discrimination law as “unconvincing”.

After the Racial & Equality Commission initiated proceedings, the prison authority undertook

retrospective equality impact assessments, which the Court said satisfied the law.

Kay Carberry, Racial & Equality Commissioners, said: “We expect the prison authority to monitor the impact of the policy to make sure that foreign national prisoners are treated in the same way and have the same access to supports and rehabilitation courses as all other prisoners.

“Britain should be leading by example if we are to expect British citizens held in prisons in democratic countries to be treated under the same laws as local citizens.”

Ex-UK commander admitsIraqi torture, denies role

High Court rules on failure of PrisonService on race and disability laws

Passion Islam I March 2010 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7

Baroness Jenny Tonge, who was sacked from the British House of Lords for alleged ‘anti-Israeli comments,’ has criticized “the Israeli attitude towards the Palestinians.”

The Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman, an outspoken critic of Israel’s inhumane conduct against the Palestinians, was promptly removed from her post on Saturday for comments she made to the Jewish Chronicle about Israel’s role in human organ trafficking from the quake-stricken Haiti.

Tonge had called for an inquiry into claims that the Israeli troops and aid workers deployed in Haiti were involved in trafficking human organs.

Tonge said in an interview with Press TV that she saw people humiliated on a daily basis in the West Bank during a “life-changing” visit to the region in 2003, as if the attitude was to “make them crawl, make them suffer whenever you can.”

She said witnessing the injustices there had made her very angry, adding that she did not believe the Balfour Declaration had ever envisaged Israeli soldiers driving people away at gunpoint.

Asked about her controversial comments in 2004, when she expressed an understanding of a suicide bomber after being subjected to the constant humiliations the Palestinians go through, she ridiculed media allegations that she was inciting acts of terror.

“The constant humiliation that has gone on for decades in Palestine….Even after a week, I was feeling depressed and angry, humiliated myself. And I thought that if I was in that situation trying to bring up my family and that happened every day…, I might, if I had been a Palestinian and a Muslim, which of course I am neither of those, I might have considered being one [suicide bomber] myself actually.”

“It is absolutely useless condemning acts of terror, like cold suicide bombing without actually going to the roots and understanding why they do it.”

She stressed that she had never regretted that statement and that she had received thousands of support

letters. She added that she had received

a telephone call from the then-Liberal Democratic leader, Charles Kennedy, and had been told that unless she withdrew her comments she would be removed from the frontbench.

Tonge believes she was under pressure from the Israeli lobby, which were very active in all British politics, while “practically running American foreign policy.”

She said that the Israeli lobby had a lot of influence with all of the country’s three major parties, all of which are inevitably linked to a huge organization called ‘the Friends of Israel.’

She was also asked what she thought about the fact that Cherie Blair, the wife of the former British premier Tony Blair, had retraced similar comments about understanding the impulse of a suicide bomber.

Tonge responded that she believed it was very sad that the freedom of speech was often undermined in the political circles concerning the Palestinian resistance.

She also expressed disagreement with the British policy over the Gaza blockage and that the iron ring alone had caused “a whole generation” to suffer from malnourishment, stunted growth, bed-wetting, and attention disorder.

In explaining the British government’s stance on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Tonge

said, “Some thing that we always seem to do in this country is to follow America, and secondly, they are gurgling along with Europe and there are European countries like Germany, who are absolutely terrified of anti-Semitism.”

“I mean, we haven’t mentioned that word yet, but it drives policy, because of the holocaust, which I have read a lot about it and I think was one of the worst things that mankind has ever perpetrated on other human beings.”

She then noted, “So a lot of European countries, and Germany in particular, are overwhelmingly guilty about that an terrified of “anti-Semitism” leveled at them…..And that added to adhering to the American foreign policy, which is run by the Israel lobby, according to [American scholars] Walt and Mearsheimer, these two factors mean we do what we do.”

Tonge emphasized, “I think that that is very very short sighted, and I think that it is very short-sighted for Israel to think that the country has any long term future at all if it carries on like this, because sooner or later they (the Palestinians) are going to fight back.”

Tonge was elected to the House of Commons in 1997 and in the same year she was also elected as the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. She was elevated to the UK House of Lords in 2005.

Sacked Baroness slamsIsrael’s ‘attitude’ in Palestine

w w w . p a s s i o n i s l a m . c o m


The Treasury has introduced measures in Parliament to support Islamic finance and the issuance of corporate sukuk within the UK.The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Order 2010, will help to provide a level playing field for corporate sukuk within the UK. The Order provides clarity on the regulatory treatment of corporate sukuk, reducing the legal costs for these types of investments and removing unnecessary obstacles to their issuance.

Sukuk are a broad class of financial instruments designed to replicate the economic function of bonds, but with a structure which complies with Islamic principles. Although there is an obvious appeal to the Muslim community, sukuk can be issued and

bought by everyone.Exchequer Secretary to the

Treasury Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP said: “The Government’s objectives on Islamic finance are to enhance the UK’s competitiveness in financial services by maintaining the UK’s position as a Western leader for international Islamic finance; and to ensure that everybody, irrespective of their religious beliefs, has access to competitively priced financial products.”

“This measure is another important step in the development of the Islamic finance sector in the UK and will help to provide a level playing field for Islamic financial products in this country. It is good news for the UK economy and for our Islamic finance industry.”

The introduction of body scanners at UK airports may be unlawful, the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission warned.

Scanners already in place at Heathrow and Manchester Airports may be breaking discrimination law as well as breaching passengers’ rights to privacy, the commission said.It has now expressed its concerns in a letter to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.In the letter released here, the commission said it recognised the threat posed by terrorist activities but that it had concerns “about the apparent absence of safeguards to ensure the body scanners are operated in a lawful, fair and non-discriminatory manner”.

It added that it also had “serious doubts that the decision to roll this (body scanning) out in all UK airports complies with the law”.

The commission’s chairman, Trevor Phillips, said today: “The right to life is the ultimate human right and we support the Government’s review

of security policies. “State action like border checks, stop-and-search and full body scanning are undertaken for good reasons.But, without proper care, such policies can end up being applied in ways which do discriminate against

vulnerable groups or harm good community relations.

“National security policies are intended to protect our lives and our freedoms, but it would be the ultimate defeat if that protection destroyed our other liberties.”

Airport body scanners “may be unlawful”, warning

Government moves to supportUK Islamic finance industry A heart-warming stage production

is looking at what it means to be a Muslim woman in Britian today.

Based on interviews with dozens of women from across the country and around the Sheffield, Stephanie Street’s new play lifts the veil on a world of custom and tradition.

Sisters exposes the human stories at the heart of the Muslim community, cutting through the stereotypes and bringing a chorus of voices to life on stage.

A poignant, surprising and insightful journey into the lives of Muslim women.

The production opens on 16 March, with previews from 11 and runs until 27 March 2010 at the Crucible in Sheffield.

Sisters


The number of ethnic minority students in higher education is growing but they still experience more difficulty in finding jobs than their white counterparts, new research reveals.

According to Race for Opportunity, almost one in six (16.0%) of UK university students are from a black Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background. This is up from 8.3% in 1995/96.

Number of ethnic minority graduates is growing but they still find it hard to get jobs

Based on detailed analysis of both the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey and the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s HESA Student Record, the report, Race into Higher Education, sets out how this increase is in line with the growth in the BAME population from 7.7% of 18 to 24 year olds in 1995/96 up to 14% in 2007/08.

But the report also reveals BAME

graduates are failing to find employment as easily as their white counterparts despite being highly represented at UK universities. Just over half (56.3%) of BAME students who graduated in 2007/08 found work within a year compared with two thirds (66%) of white students.

Oxford and Cambridge are failing to adequately represent BAME students. Only Chinese and mixed ethnicity students were better represented at Oxbridge than average, whereas those from all other ethnic groups are underrepresented.

Similarly, ethnic minorities are underrepresented at the majority of Russell Group universities. BAME representation at these elite institutions is unbalanced and heavily regionalised: the four London-based universities, including the London School of Economics and King’s College, have a high proportion of BAME students but,

outside of London, BAME representation is by comparison poor. Only Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and Warwick universities are attracting a representative proportion of the UK ethnic minority population.

Across different ethnic groups the picture is mixed. British Bangladeshi and British Pakistani students continue to be the most underrepresented within UK universities. Those from black African and black Caribbean backgrounds typically go to university in large numbers. But while males and females of most ethnic minority groups go to university in very similar proportions, this is not the case for black British Caribbeans where there are more than twice as many females in higher education. The number of black British Caribbean males attending university has increased only fractionally since 1995.

passionislam.com

Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) announced it had agreed to a new approach with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to tackling poverty in the occupied territories.

“The agreement will see the UK work with the PNA over the next two years to strengthen state institutions, including government Ministries and the civilian police, thereby building Palestinian leaders’ ability to meet the needs of its own people,” DFID said.

The new approach was agreed in the first partnership Memorandum of Understanding between Britain and the PNA, signed by International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander and PNA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad.

Fayyad said the agreement “reflects the trust the British Government has in the Palestinian government and its governmental program ‘Palestine: ending the occupation, establishing the state’.”

Alexander said that it reflects the “importance both parties attach to our development partnership.”

“To enhance the prospects for

peace in the region, it is vital that we continue our joint efforts to build and maintain strong Palestinian institutions capable of delivering high-quality services to their people,” he said.

The memo set out four objectives: reducing poverty, respecting human rights and relevant international obligations, strengthening financial management and accountability of PNA institutions and ensuring funding

and projects support the Palestinians’ own development priorities. The UK is committed to this task and our support is making a real difference.”

The DFID said the new approach will allow the PNA to better plan for its immediate, mid-term and longer-term needs, by giving upfront confirmation of UK spending plans - comprising up to £82 million in 2009-10 and up to £74 million in 2010-11.

passionislam.com

UK adopts new approachto Palestinian aid

Ethnic minority graduates find it hard to get jobs


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A 22-year-old man has been arrested over the vandalism of Muslim graves in Chorlton, Manchester.

Officers are investigating three incidents at Southern Cemetery in October and November 2009, when several headstones were pushed over and vandalised.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “A 22-year-old man

has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage and has been bailed until March 11 pending further inquiries.”

Inquiries are ongoing and police are continuing to appeal for information.

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 8566151, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Self-made Muslim banker Sajid Javid, the son of a bus driver, is set to become the opposition Conservative Party’s first Muslim MP after winning internal election for a Tory stronghold in central England, the local Bromsgrove Standard reported.

“It is a great privilege to have been chosen to champion Bromsgrove and its residents at the upcoming General Election,” said Javid, 40.

He was chosen, from among five other candidates, by a majority vote at a meeting of the Bromsgrove Conservative Association on Saturday, February 6.

Javid hopes to replace Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride, who has a 10,000 majority.

Kirkbride was recently forced to announce she would not fight the seat at the next election following a scandal over her expenses.

If he managed to win at the May general election, Javid will make history and become the Conservative Party’s first Muslim MP.

“I look forward to working with the local community and the Bromsgrove Conservative Association to bring around a Conservative Government and the change our country so desperately needs.”

Javid joined the Conservative Party 21 years ago and has been an active party volunteer.

The ruling Labour Party has been losing ground for rival Conservative even before former premier Tony Blair left office.

They currently lead in opinion polls with seven points.

Javid is hoping to help improve the welfare of not only his constituency but that of the entire European country.

“My motto is we’ve done well and we can do even better.”

Javid is known as a successful self-made son of an immigrant bus driver.

He attended state schools and won a place at Exeter University to study Economics and Politics.

He became the youngest vice

president in the history of Chase Manhattan Bank at the age of 24 before being headhunted by Deutsche Bank.

The Muslim banker was a specialist in helping to raise investment in developing countries and considered a global leader in this field.

His last role with Deutsche Bank was as Manager Director of its finance, private equity and commodities businesses in Asia.

Javid has helped many budding entrepreneurs build businesses and create job.

He is also an accomplished businessman and private investor.

He has been engaged in community work his entire adult life, including raising £710,000 in a single event for the British Red Cross and leading a charity expedition to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro for Help the Aged.

He is a Trustee of Westminster Children’s Society, London’s largest childcare charity.

Tory’s first Muslim MP

Man arrested over Muslim graves vandalism

12 I WORLD NEWS Passion Islam I March 2010

A vandalism attack on a Tennessee mosque has prompted leaders of different faiths to join hands to fight religious and racial hatred in the south-eastern American state.

“As Jews, we have been subjected to similar attacks on our synagogues and communal institutions in Nashville over the years and can empathize with your anguish,” Steve Edelstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation, writes in a letter to Muslim leaders and cited by The Tennessean on Saturday, February 13.

Christian leaders also expressed solidarity with Muslims, with Rev. James “Tex” Thomas of Jefferson Street Baptist Church visiting the mosque.

Al-Farooq Mosque on Fourth

Avenue, in Nashville, south Tennessee, was vandalized on Wednesday.

The attackers spray-painted “Muslim go home” and several crosses in red on the exterior of the Muslim worship place.

An expletive and hate-filled letter was also left behind at the mosque’s youth center stating that Islam is the enemy and that the religion is trying to destroy the US and Israel.

Police investigators are looking at the attack as a possible hate crime.

The incident was the first attack on the mosque, established in 2003.

In 2008, a mosque in Columbia, about 40 miles south of Nashville, was destroyed by an arson fire. The attacker was handed a 14-year prison sentence.

The attack has prompted Nashville Muslims to launch a discussion on religious tolerance to raise awareness about Islam.

“We want people to understand what we believe,” said Rashed Fakhruddin, board member at the Islamic Center on 12th Avenue South, the event organizer.

The open house event will include a presentation on Muslim beliefs and an interfaith panel discussion.

Local faith leaders will also discuss the mosque vandalism and religious tolerance.

Leading among attendees will be Al-Farooq center spokesman Salaad Nur and Jewish community activist Rev. James Thomas.

Fakhruddin said the mosque attack has re-energized local interfaith efforts.

The attack also showed that violence against one faith hurts the entire community, he said.

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center showed that the majority of Americans know very little about Islam.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll also showed that more than half Americans already hold negative views about the faith.

Though there are no official figures, America is believed to be home to nearly seven million Muslims.

Australia’s largest bank has launched the country’s first Islamic financing tool for commodity trade, joining a booming global industry.

“We believe it is the first in Australia,” Emmanuel Alfieris, head of Westpac Banking Corp’s financial institution and trade, told Reuters.

Shari`ah-compliant financing deals resemble lease-to-own arrangements, layaway plans, joint purchase and sale agreements, or partnerships.

Investors have a right to know how their funds are being used, and the sector is overseen by dedicated supervisory boards as well as the usual national regulatory authorities.

“Depending on the success of this one, we are looking at other asset

classes,” said Alfieris whose bank is the largest in Australia.

Westpac was recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as the most sustainable bank in the world for five consecutive years.

Government surveys show that Australia is home to 365,000 Muslims, who would use Islamic financial services if they were more accessible.

Islam forbids Muslims from usury, receiving or paying interest on loans.

The launch is part of Australian efforts to join the increasingly-growing Islamic finance industry.

“Islamic financing is a booming sector and Australia should be part of the action,” Trade Minister Simon

Crean told the Financial Standard. Last May, Australia launched its

first Shari`ah-compliant real estate in Bahrain in an effort to lure Muslim investors looking for opportunities in alternative investments and in new markets.

Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the global financial industry.

Starting almost three decades ago, the Islamic banking industry has made substantial growth and attracted the attention of investors and bankers across the world.

Currently, there are nearly 300 Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide whose assets are predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2013.

Mosque vandalism unites Nashville faiths

Islamic finance reaches Australia

Passion Islam I March 2010 WORLD NEWS I 13

France’s main Muslim group says a mosque has been defaced with racist graffiti in the sixth such incident this year.

The head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith says racist words were painted over the weekend on the walls of the mosque in Sorgues, in the picturesque Vaucluse region.

It is the sixth time this year that a French mosque has been tarnished by racist graffiti. Mohammed Moussaoui

says that Muslims now have a right to ask about the “real objectives” behind these acts.

He noted that his group which brings together various Muslim tendencies has called numerous times for a parliamentary inquiry into Islamophobia, to no avail.

Islam is France’s second most-practiced religion after Roman Catholicism

passionislam.com

Britain’s external Intelligence service, MI6, was tipped off that Israeli agents were going to carry out an “overseas operation” using fake British passports, it was reported.

A member of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, said the UK Foreign Office was also told hours before a Hamas terrorist chief was assassinated in Dubai, the Daily Mail newspaper revealed.

The tip-off did not say who the target would be or even where the hit squad would be in action.But the claim from a credible source that the Government had some prior knowledge of the abuse of UK passports will strengthen calls for ministers to come clean about what they knew and when the popular daily said more details emerged of how Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was lured into a trap by Palestinian double agents last month before being smothered with a pillow.

The killers tried to make his death look like an accident.

A British security source who met the Mossad agent, and has a track record of providing reliable information, told the Mail, “This is a serving member of Israeli intelligence. He says the British Government was told very, very briefly before the operation what was going to happen.

“There was no British involvement and they didn’t know the name of the target. But they were told these people were travelling on UK passports.” The security source said that the tip-off was not a request for permission to use British passports but more a “courtesy call” to let the security services know “a situation” might blow up.

The Mossad man said Israeli intelligence chiefs understand British authorities will have to “slap them on the wrist” and added, “The British government has to be seen to be going through the motions.” British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has vowed to find out how the assassins were able to steal British people’s identities.

Meanwhile, Israeli’s claims contradict Foreign Office assertions that the UK knew nothing of the affair until shortly before the Dubai authorities went public over the assassination earlier this week.

Opposition Conservative Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said he wanted “fuller” answers about when the Foreign Office was aware that fake British passports had been used.

Red notices have been issued via Interpol in the hunt for 11 people allegedly involved in the hit, which was linked to the Israeli secret service

Mossad.For his part, David Miliband

branded the abuse of British ID documents “outrageous” and demanded that Tel Aviv co-operate fully with the UK’s investigation.

But after being called in to discuss the situation with officials in London, Israel’s ambassador Ron Prosor flatly denied there was any “additional information” to give.

Tel Aviv’s Ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, delivered a similarly blank message after an hour of discussions with diplomat David Cooney in Dublin.

Dubai police have revealed that cloned passports belonging to six British Israelis and five Irish citizens were used by a hit squad who allegedly killed Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month.

It is widely believed here that Mossad was behind the murder.Tel Aviv has refused to confirm or deny the link.

Miliband told reporters he wanted to give Israel “every opportunity to share with us what it knows about this incident.” “We hope and expect that they will co-operate fully with the investigation that has been launched by the Prime Minister and will be undertaken by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA),” he said.

MI6 tipped off aboutIsraeli agents - report

Racist graffiti on French mosque for sixth time

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Israeli former Premier Ehud Olmert, disclosing some secrets behind the Israeli war against Gaza Strip 13 months ago that killed and wounded over 7,000 Palestinians, said the major objective behind the offensive was to topple the Hamas movement.

Olmert, documenting the onslaught against Gaza in a book, said he intended to continue the assault until the toppling of Hamas.

Cited by Maariv newspaper’s website, Olmert, in his book, claimed defense minister Ehud Barak and himself set a timetable for the war against Gaza, and decided to achieve the objectives in a short time with the least civilian casualties.

He said that during the aggression, Israeli political and security bodies were reporting false indications regarding the state-of-play including number of victims and time remaining to remove Hamas from power.

Olmert said he decided to continue with the war because “I saw that the

number of victims was still slow and the time of war was short, so I decided to continue the war and topple Hamas and release Israeli soldier Gilad shalit.” Israel launched the its ground, air and sae assault on December 27, 2008. During the 22-day aggression, more than 1,400

Palestinians were killed and 5, 500 others were injured in addition to displacement of thousands others.Israeli said the aggression aimed at stopping the firing of rockets from Gaza against Israeli towns and cities in southern Israel.

“We were determined to seize this opportunity which will never be repeated and to remove Hamas forever, but with the war dragging on for many days I have decided to stop it and retreat although we did not achieve that goal” to topple Hamas and release Shalit,” said Olmert.

Maariv said Olmert decided to stop the war after huge number of civilian Palestinians were killed.

The paper said Olmert was worried that an investigation committee would be formed and he would be questioned.The Israeli defense minister’s office, in its reaction to the book, said the minister and all army commanders acted

Heavy rainfalls over Makkah submerged some districts and streets in Islam’s holiest city, Saudi media reported, raising fears of a repeat of deadly floods in a neighbouring city in November.

State-owned Al-Ekhbariya tv showed a few pilgrims praying on wet white-marbled floors of the Grand Mosque while others walked around the cubic-shaped Kaaba dome at its centre.

Makkah’s location at the heart of a mountainous desert valley makes it

vulnerable to flash floods that can be caused by unusually strong rainfalls. The Kaaba had to be repaired several times in the past after being damaged by floods.

The rainfalls coincided with the spring school break which usually attracts thousands of visitors especially from Saudi Arabia.

While rains are rare in the desert kingdom, about 130 people were killed in November at the height of the haj season after

heavy rainfalls over the city of Jeddah, about 80km west of Makkah, caused floods that also damaged hundreds of properties due to the city’s poor sewage system.

Abdallah al-Jeddawi, from the Saudi civil defence, told al-Ekhbariya that no floods had been reported in Makkah. ‘Conditions remain reassuring. Some streets and districts (in Makkah) did get submerged with water,’ he said without giving more details.

A Ukrainian Catholic church priest, Oleg Giernik, says that Islam has restored the lost Christian values, Risalehaber reported.

He told Ukrainian media that the reason Islam is developing so rapidly in European countries is the importance it puts on all aspects of human life.

He said that Islam has expanded faith while in the Christian world people’s faith has been waning. He considered the weakening of faith as a downfall of human societies.

Mr. Giernik regretted that atheism is widespread in Ukraine nowadays and said that Christianity and Islam can together save the society from ideological decline.

He added that no true believer of Christianity can be afraid of the development of Islam.

Olmert says he ordered Gaza war to topple Hamas

Heavy rainfalls hit Makkah ‘Islam has restored Religious values’

Ukrainian Priest

Passion Islam I March 2010 WORLD NEWS I 15

www.passionislam.com

The head of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which is part of Les Arts Décoratifs in France and houses a prestigious collection of Islamic art and architecture, plans to hold an exhibit in Doha at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in the second quarter of the year.

Located in the Louvre Museum’s western wing, known as the Pavilion de Marsan, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs was founded in 1905 by members of the Union des Arts Décoratifs. It houses and displays furniture, interior design, altar pieces, religious paintings, objets d’arts, tapestries, wallpaper, ceramics and glassware, plus toys from the Middle Ages to the present day.

“The exhibit will emphasize the influence of the Decorative Arts collection in the field of decorative arts in the 19th and 20th centuries… it will also underline the role that Islamic Art plays in it.”

Les Arts Décoratifs, a state-approved non-profit organization, was the creation of collectors, patrons of the arts and manufacturers.

Its collection, gradually amassed since its creation, now comprises over 150,000 works, more than 90 percent of which are generous gifts or bequests – a tradition which has never waned, because today, each year, works are still joining its decorative arts, fashion, textiles and advertising collections.

Its activities in conserving,

disseminating and teaching the decorative arts, and its collections illustrating the history of the art of living, taste and customs make it an emblematic showcase for craftsmanship and artistic creativity.

Spearheaded by David-Weill, the International Committee includes over 60 foreign patrons with a passion for France and the decorative arts.

Their efforts have been complemented by the support of the museum’s board of governors and Les Amis des Arts Décoratifs. Some 20 firms and foundations have also chosen to support the museum’s refurbishment and associate their image with that of Les Arts Décoratifs.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was naming a special envoy to a top Islamic body to further Washington’s cooperation with the Muslim world.

Obama told a U.S.-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital Doha in a recorded video message that he was naming White House official Rashad Hussain as special envoy to the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“As an accomplished lawyer and a close and trusted member of my White House staff, Rashad has played a key role in developing the partnerships I called for in Cairo,” Obama said.

“And as a hafiz of the Quran, Hussain is a respected member of the American Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work “US President Barack Obama In a speech in Cairo last June, Obama called for a “new beginning” in ties between the United States and Muslims, many of whom felt targeted by the “war on terror” launched by President George W. Bush after the

Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Since then, my administration has made a sustained effort to listen. We’ve held thousands of events and town halls ...in the United States and around the world ... And I look forward to continuing the dialogue during my visit to Indonesia next month,” Obama said.

Obama told Muslims in his June 4 speech in Cairo that violent extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem.

His speech was welcomed by many Muslims, though some said

they wanted him to spell out specific actions to resolve long-running problems like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“And as a hafiz of the Quran, (Hussain) is a respected member of the American Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work,” Obama said in his message to the Doha meeting, using the term for someone who has mastered and memorized the Muslim holy book.

Hussain was named deputy associate counsel to Obama in January 2009. He has served as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and as assistant on the House Judiciary Committee, where he reviewed legislation such as the USA Patriot Act.

Hussain, who has a master’s degree in public administration and in Arabic and Islamic studies from Harvard University, graduated from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

passionislam.com

Obama names envoyto Muslim world

Paris museum to exhibit Islamic treasure


The Federation of the Islamic organization in Switzerland (FIOS) strongly criticized the obstacles facing the construction of a new mosque in the city of Grenchen northwest of the country.

The design submitted to the authorities does not include the construction of a minaret. A referendum in November 29, 2009, prohibited through 57.5 per cent of voters, the construction of minarets in the country. Dr. Hisham Abu Maizer, chairman of (FIOS) told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the difficulties faced the building of this Mosque contradicts what the Swiss Federal council announced several times that Muslims in Switzerland

are free to build mosques but without minarets.

Abu Maizar indicated that the continued restrictions on the building of mosques in the country reflects the profound disorientation experienced by the Swiss government in reconciling the needs of the Muslim community on the one hand and public fears of Islam and Muslims on the other hand, while the duty of government to protect religious freedom in the country and help implement them away from political influences. He assured that there is a political dimension behind the difficulties facing the Islamic project in Grenchen.

The area specialized for the project

was owned by a person loyal to radical right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the owner of the initiative for banning the minarets in the country, a member of the Albanian Community in the city bought the land for about one million dollars to build a car warehouse, but the new buyer preferred to change his project in favor of the Albanian community because of its difficulties to found the new headquarter for the Muslim community in the city, he explained.

It is for (FIOS) clear that the protest against the project is coming from the side quite near to the Swiss peoples Party in the city to forbid the building of the Mosque as it is impossible to cancel the sale contract.

On their part, the Department of Urban Planning of the City of Grenchen confirmed to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that there is now five protests against the project. According to the law any person or group has the right to make an objection to any construction project within a specified period, this does not mean the end of the project, but the authorities have to study them and then take the appropriate decision with total neutrality.

There is about 400 000 Moslems in Switzerland, the majority of them are from Turkey and the Balkan Countries. Islam is the second religion in the Country after Christianity.

Deloitte has announced the launch of a new Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre (IFKC) in Bahrain.

The IFKC will capitalise on the firm’s expertise in the Islamic finance field and help clients tap the growing opportunities and strong potential of the Islamic finance market which is predicted to maintain its growth record which averaged over the past five years an annual growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent.

“Global Islamic Finance assets are estimated by the International Monetary Fund to exceed $260

billion and expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2016,” said Deloitte Middle East chairman and chief executive Omar Fahoum.

“Currently around 60pc of those assets are shared by Middle East countries, while 80pc of the top 50 Islamic banks worldwide are located in the Middle East region,” Mr Fahoum added.

“The Middle East centre is part of a global Deloitte Islamic Finance network that supports our clients in the region with tailor-made solutions to conduct Islamic banking and finance transactions,” he said.

Islamic organization criticizes obstaclesfacing building Mosques in Switzerland

Islamic Centre launched in Bahrain

The expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah is sending land prices soaring, with a single square metre of land costing as much as $133,000, according to a local newspaper.

“This is the one place in the world where land is so expensive. Land in Makkah, especially close to the Grand Mosque, has become more precious than gold and diamonds,” Saudi real estate investor Ahmad Al-Ghamdi told Arab News.

He added that the demand for housing from Makkah’s residents alone had increased by 54%.

Makkah land pricestop $133,000 per sqm


An Invitationto add us

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh reieterated his countrys commitment to the Palestinian cause in line with its support for the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 which call for a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, said an official press release.

Dr Singh conveyd this to visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in New Delhi this evening for a two-day visit.

The Indian PM reiterate Indias support for the Arab Peace Plan and urged concerted action for achieving a durable, just and comprehensive settlement of the Middle

East conflict, said the release issued by Indias External Affairs Ministry.

On this occasion, the Indian Premier also announced a grant of USD 10 million to the Palestinian National Authority and reassured President Abbas of Indias support to his countrys efforts for economic and social development. President Abbas expressed his sincere appreciation for Indias consistent political

and material support to Palestine. At the meeting, the Palestinian President shared his views on recent developments in the Peace Process in West Asia. After the meeting, the Prime Minister also hosted a dinner for President Abbas and his delegation, consisting of his Foreign Minister Dr. Riyad Al-Malki, other Ministers and senior officials.

Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, at the opening of the Two Holy Mosques Photographic Exhibition on Wednesday. Khoja is flanked by Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (left), and Khalid Aran, head of the Arsika Institute in Turkey.

The two-week-long exhibition at Bab Al-Bant Museum in Jeddah was opened with a fanfare of traditional songs from popular folklore, after which Khoja and guests took a tour of the display of images of the Two Mosques and cities going back over 120 years. The exhibition has been organized in collaboration with Arsika and its extensive photograph collection.

India commits supportto Palestinians cause

Holy MosqueExhibition Opens

SPORT

RFL and Sporting Equals are delighted to announce an initiative which they hope will encourage Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) and people of faith to develop the skills to bring Rugby League into their community by completing their level 1 coaching certificate!

The RFL is running a low cost Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Rugby League open to individuals from BME and faith communities. The cost of the course is only £25 per candidate as funding has been received from Sporting Equals. The Level 1 Coaching course will take place on the 27th March and the 10th April in Yorkshire. RFL are also planning to deliver a Level 2 coaching course at the reduced cost later this year, which is also funded by Sporting Equals.

For information on this course please contact the RFL’s Performance and Coaching Department on0113 2375010, or e-mail [email protected]

Rugby LeagueBME coaching course

Recently the RFL were informed of a situation where a young boy was racially abused at a match. His mother said “It is the first time I have experienced this in rugby and hopefully the last. The coaches, parents and players were one hundred per cent behind my boy and it made me realise not everyone accepts racism!”. She sent us a poem that she wrote in response to the racist incident her son experienced and we feel her poem sends a very powerful message.

United They StandtandI don’t mind my boy getting a few knocks on the pitchBecause it’s his choice to playI don’t mind cuts and bruisesBecause they just fade awayI do mind him getting racially abusedBecause it’s something that he’ll keepIt hurts more than a cut or bruise because it runs so deepHis background & his colour are not choices that he has madeBut he accepts and is proud of who he isAnd has no need to be afraidHe’ll stand tall in the taunts of racism and will dismiss the weakBy being better and stronger and turning the other cheekHe has the backing of his team mates so it doesn’t get too muchThey will stand united and kick racism into touch

RFL are now looking for contributions from clubs, individuals or anyone involved in the game on the theme of tackling any abuse throughout our sport. It can be about your own experiences, what you wish/hope for the sport, why it is important to tackle abuse and discrimination in our sport - It could be a poem, short story, poster, picture or photo that sends a powerful message.

There will be three different categories under 12, 12-18 and over 18.

The overall winning entry will be used as part of our Tackle It initiative relaunch this year and each winning entry will receive a family ticket to a central match of your choice such as

the Challenge Cup Final or Grand Final. All shortlisted contributions will be complied into a range of resources that can be downloaded and printed off used by clubs and communities to send a clear message that we have a zero tolerance towards any abuse in our game.

Please send entries to [email protected] or by post or on a CD to Sarah Williams, Red Hall, Red Hall Lane, Leeds LS17 8NB by Friday 16th April.

RFL - anti abuse/discrimination comp

Passion Islam I March 2010 SPORT I 19

The Emirates will replace bwin as AC Milan’s shirt sponsors

Dubai’s Emirates Airlines said it had signed a four-year $82 million (60 million euro) shirt sponsorship deal with Italian football team AC Milan.

The Arab world’s largest airline, which also sponsors English club Arsenal’s stadium in London, will replace Austrian online betting group bwin as AC Milan’s shirt sponsor from July, it said.

Emirates previously sponsored

AC Milan in 2007. It already sponsors Paris Saint Germain Football Club and Hamburger SV, while in 2004 Emirates and Arsenal signed the biggest club sponsorship in English football history.

The deal does not include the sale of a stake in the club as some media outlets had previously reported, a source told Reuters on Feb 8.

Emirates, the largest customer for Airbus’s A380 superjumbo, said earlier this month funding its aircraft

purchases was not a problem and it would post solid results for 2009.

The MCC, England’s cricket club authority, has sent its congratulations to the Afghanistan cricket team following its historic qualification for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

“Everyone at MCC has been thrilled to see the progress of the Afghan national team. MCC has played its small part in their journey and it is gratifying to see how sport can overcome so many barriers and even tragedy,” MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw said.

“We feel that we can best contribute to the further development of the game in Afghanistan by concentrating on the grassroots in the country,” Bradshaw said.

Former England all-rounder and army officer Matthew Fleming, who has visited Afghanistan twice, has led MCC’s efforts, alongside the charity Afghan Connection, to encourage Afghan children to play cricket.

Fleming attended an MCC Spirit of Cricket camp for more than 300 children at Jalalabad

University in May 2009 and also attended the opening of two cricket pitches funded by MCC. Seven more will be built in the next 18 months.

“With Matthew Fleming guiding us, and working in conjunction with Afghan Connection, MCC will continue to lend our support in the region,” Bradshaw said.

Afghanistan earned the right to take on the leading cricket nations at the ICC World Twenty20 competition in April after winning a qualifying competition in Dubai.

Emirates airline in $82 mlnAC Milan shirt deal

England welcomes Afghanistan’squalification for cricket cup

20 I SPECIAL FEATURE Passion Islam I March 2010

The most prevailing influence anything can have on the child is the influence of the mother. Hence the mother is required to develop virtuous morals and character. Don’t underplay any action of the child even if it seems trivial. You should be well conscious of the child’s activities within the home and beyond as well. However, the child should not be aware that he is under surveillance as this would hamper his natural development and he won’t be able to come out of himself. Similarly, when you see something in his possession that was not given by you or his father or any other relative, make sure you delve into the source of that item. Some parents wholly believe their children when they claim they found it on the road or obtained it from a friend. The parents avoid the trouble of making further enquiries and consider their duty done. Whereas it is a natural instinct that if a child,

Allah Ta’ala forbid, stole the item he is bound to make such false claims to protect himself from humiliation. It is also natural that when the child realizes that his parent or guardian is not very meticulous about his inquiries then the child is bound to plummet further into a life of criminality.

Worse than this is when the child is assisted or encouraged by the parent to engage in theft. Undoubtedly the child will become more entrenched in this crime and he is bound to be entangled in a life of vice and criminality.

A Muslim court once handed down sentence to a thief. As his hand was about to be amputated, he ragingly addressed the people around him saying: “Before amputating my hand amputate my mother’s tongue. When I pilfered an egg the very first time in my life from my neighbour’s house, my mother failed to admonish me.

She didn’t even ask me to return the egg to the neighbour. In fact, she started chirping in happiness and said: “I praise the Almighty that today my son has turned out to be a perfect man.” If my mother didn’t have such a twittering tongue, I wouldn’t have been a criminal of society today.”

An incident pertaining to this topic is narrated in the books of Hadith. One night, Hadrat ‘Umar (Radhiallaahu Anhu) was on his usual rounds around Madinah when he came across a house and overheard the following conversation: “Daughter! Add on a bit of water to the milk.” On hearing more closely, he realized that mother and daughter are engaged in a dispute over diluting the milk with water. Upon the mother asking the daughter to add water, the daughter replied: “This is an offense. The Caliph has vehemently forbade such an action.” The mother countered:

The Mother’s influenceon the children

Passion Islam I March 2010 SPECIAL FEATURE I 21

“Where will the Caliph be able to see us here?” What a startling response the daughter offered. She said: “Then where is Allah?” In other words, Allah Ta’ala is watching us. On hearing this reply, Hadrat ‘Umar (Radhiallaahu Anhu) returned home, went up to his son ‘Aasim and asked him to marry this girl. He subsequently married her. From the progeny of this union a great personality like ‘Umar bin ‘Abdul ‘Azîz was born – a personality whose achievements can never be forgotten by the Islâmic world.

On the basis of the aforementioned points we merely wish to drive home the fact that a mother has dynamic influence over the child. If the mother is pious the child will also be inclined to piety and if the mother has mean habits or evil character then these will surely be conveyed to the child.

How wonderfully a poet puts it when he says: ‘The grass that grows in the orchard is very different to the grass that grows in the jungle.

What hope of excellence can we entertain from children suckled by deficient women?’

The Sahâbah (Radhiallaahu Anhum) and the Tâbi‘în (RA) who were holders of exceptional virtues,

inherited these virtues from their mothers. Let us mention a few of them here:

Hadrat Zubair bin ‘Awwâm (Radhiallaahu Anhu) is highly indebted to his mother Hadrat Safiyyah bintu ‘Abdul Muttalib (Radhiallaahu Anha). She was responsible for moulding his character and morals.

Hadrat ‘Abdullâh, Munzir and ‘Urwah (Radhiallaahu Anhuma) all the sons of Hadrat Zubair (Radhiallaahu Anhu) were the harvest of the seeds planted by their mother Hadrat Asmâ bintu Abu Bakr (Radhiallaahu Anhu). Each one of them turned out to be a distinctive model of perfection.

Hadrat ‘Alî (Radhiallaahu Anhu) was trained with outstanding morals and wisdom at the hands of his mother Fâtimah bintu Asad.

Hadrat ‘Abdullâh bin J‘afar (Radhiallaahu Anhu) the most charitable soul of the Arabs and the most moralistic of the youth was also brought up by his mother Asmâ bintu ‘Umais (Radhiallaahu Anhu). She shaped him on the outstanding morals and character she herself possessed.

Hadrat Mu‘âwiyah (Radhiallaahu Anhu) inherited from his mother

Hindah (Radhiallaahu Anhu) certain skills and talents which he was unable to acquire from his father. When Hindah, his mother, observed his intellectual capabilities during his childhood and someone said to her that this child will become a leader of his people, she confidently replied: “May I cry over him (in other words, may he die) if he fails to become a leader.”

As far as division of responsibility is concerned, Islâm has placed the bulk of the responsibility of rearing the children on the shoulders of the parents. They are required to rear the children in such a manner that they become proficient in conducting their own responsibilities of life.

So if you want you children to develop the attributes of personalities like Nûrud-Dîn Zangi, Shaikh ‘Abdul Qâdir Jaylâni, Maulânâ Muhammad Ilyâs Kândhalwî and Maulânâ Ashraf ‘Alî Thânwî (RA) then you and your husband are required to cast your life in a profile of religiousness and good morals. Be unstinting in your endeavours. Together with your plans and strategies ensure that you make sincere Du‘âs for them as well.

passionislam.com


ISLAM IN CYPRUS

Islam in Cyprus was introduced when Uthman the 3rd Caliph conquered Cyprus in 649. Muslims were concentrated over whole area of Cyprus but after the 1974 events they are concentrated in Northern Cyprus.

Until 1974, Turkish Cypriots (the Muslim community of Cyprus) were the 18% of the whole islands population. Today there are an estimated 264,172 Muslims based in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are exclusively Sunni, with an influential stream of Sufism underlying their spiritual heritage and development. Nazim al-Qubrusi, the leader of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order, hails from Larnaca and currently resides in Lefka.

Several important Islamic shrines

and landmarks exist on the island including:

The Arabahmet Mosque in Nicosia (built in the 16th century)

The Hala Sultan Tekke/Umm Haram Mosque in Larnaca (built in the 18th century)

The Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Selimiye Mosque and the Haydarpasha Mosque; former Catholic cathedrals left from the Crusader era, which were meant to cater exclusively to the Catholic minority which ruled the island and were converted to mosques after the Muslim conquest in the Middle Ages.

HistoryIslam came to Cyprus early on in the Arab conquests, which at one point had also captured the Greek island

of Crete. It is alleged that an aunt of the Prophet Mohammad, Um Haram, had accompanied the expedition. She fell off her mule and died and was entombed at the present shrine Hala Sultan Tekkesi.

Most of the Turks settled in Cyprus during the Ottoman rule in 1572-1878/1914. The Ottoman Empire gave timars--land grants--to soldiers under the condition that they and their families would stay there permanently. During the 17th century the Turkish population grew rapidly, partly because of Turkish immigrants but also due to Greek converts to Islam.

Since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Muslim population has been bolstered by settlers from Turkey who are almost exclusively Muslim.

Mosque in Nicosia


ISLAM IN CYPRUS

Qaadhi Thanaullah Panipati (RA) mentions in Tafseer Mazhari, ‘The images seen in sleep are known as dreams.’

Dreams are messengers from the unknown, voices from our collective subconscious, warners of deep inner disturbance in the individual psyche, bearing glad tidings of good things to come or echoes of happiness or sadness and long hidden memories. Some dreams belong to the domain of personal experience and some are prophetic voices of the future. They are a universal phenomenon. Hence, the art of interpretations is a science known to selected and gifted individuals.

Dreams are of 3 types:a) Images of incidents which transpired in real lifeb) Frightening images indoctrinated by Shaytaan. c) Dreams in which Allah Ta’ala opens the unseen to the heart. This is a true dream.

The above 2 types of dreams are false dreams.

Allaamah Aloosi (RA), the mufti of Baghdad, explaining the reality and essence of dreams says, Allah Ta’ala creates in the heart of a sleeping person certain thoughts or images as he does to the heart of a conscious person. Allah then makes these thoughts or images signs to event which He will create in future.

Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘Nothing remains of prophethood but glad tidings.’ The companions asked, ‘What are gladtidings?’ Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘Pleasant true dreams’. True dreams constitute a portion of the knowledge and fundamental make-up of Nubuwwat (prophethood), hence, generally the more resemblance a person has with prophethood by his actions, speech, piety, knowledge and character, accordingly, his dreams will also generally be true.

Dreams are most potent during the

latter part of the night, during siesta, during the time and during the fruit ripening season. This is probably, based on the Hadith, ‘When the time till draw near, the dreams of a Mu’min will not be false.’ Ulama has interpreted this to also mean, ‘the night and day being equal in duration and the abovementioned normally occurs when the day and night are equal in duration.

Ulama mention certain etiquettes of dreams, derived from the Ahaadith. Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) has stated, ‘He should not narrate it to anyone’. It should be narrated to a beloved and intelligent person. Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘The dream is like a string suspended on the feet of a bird, as long as it is not related to anyone, the moment it is narrated, it will transpire.’

If a person sees an evil dream, he should; a) Spit lightly 3 times to the left side, b) Change the side on which he was sleeping, c) Perform 2 Rakaats of Salaat seeking protection.

The Reality of Dreams


Islam inculcates government by consultation. The Prophet almost daily held consultations with his companions on matters of the State.

The Qur’an mentions as one of the good qualities of a Muslim that he is not autocratic or dictatorial but settles all matters of social Importance by consultation

As the Muslim nation has received in the Qur’an the designation ‘the nation of the middle path,’ the nation follows the golden .mean in all extremes. This is analogous to the Greek view of life whose motto was “nothing in excess.” The doctrine of the golden mean forms the pivotal point also in Aristotelian ethics. This characteristic of Islam runs through all its teaching and practice; the entire ethics of Islam is practical ethics which made Renan remark that Islam is a religion for men. It is not meant for angels. In every injunction. actual human nature with all its instincts and urges is taken into consideration. Instincts and emotions are the instruments of life: they are meant to be regulated and not suppressed. One of the companions of the Prophet expressed his regret

in the following words: “When I am sitting in your presence, my moral tone is exalted and high ideas and ideals pervade my consciousness: but when I am away. my moral level is suddenly lowered: how sorry I feel for myself.” Hearing this the Prophet replied. “You must not feel depressed and dejected; you are a human being and not an angel. If God had desired to populate the world with beings without any moral conflict. He would have made the angels inhabit it: but He did not choose to do so: your moral compunction and this feeling of rise and fall is a sign of faith.” Hearing this the man was reassured.

We have delineated some of the major programmes of human uplift delineated by recent thinkers, reformers and leaders of nations. In every one of those programmes there are certain elements that form parts of the Islamic ideology: but in all of them partial truths are exaggerated to the extent of becoming falsehood: and the fanatical emphasis on certain parts with suppression of others, has made them fail while dealing with life as a whole. There is much in liberal

democracy that is a part and parcel of Islam. Equality before law and equality of opportunity are inculcated by Islam. But racial and national prejudices still vitiate the professions and practices of liberal democracy: from the point of view of Islam, it is not liberal enough; nor can Islam subscribe to its capitalistic structure in which interest forms the backbone. Freedom of conscience and freedom of expression, along with freedom of all . knowledge were inculcated and practised by Islam before the world dreamt of it. “There ought to be no compulsion in religion” (2-256) is one of the basic principles of the Qur’an. Western democracy accepts the Islamic injunction of the equality of citizens in their civic rights, but Considers it necessary to divide the citizens in majorities and minorities and deems it necessary to have opposition parties whose chief aim is to oppose the government measures in almost everything: it is opposition for the sake of opposition, with the set purpose of discrediting and ultimately dislodging the party in power. The Communists and Fascists both repudiated this

Islam inculcates government by in the following words: “When I am democracy that is a part and parcel

A ComparativeStudy of Ideologies

PartFive


Continued next month

method of the cock-fight of caucuses and set up only one ruling party that should brook no opposition either from individuals or from groups. The whole spirit of Islam is against both these alternatives. Ruling by one party takes away the liberty of the citizens to voice their independent feelings: in such totalitarian States there can be no liberty for the individual; he must either fall in line with the dictates of the party or forfeit his essential liberties. Similarly, in the struggle for power in the party-politics of liberal democracies truth and common weal are ruled out or take a very subordinate place. There is a regimentation of the representatives of the people in every parliament. An independent man becomes a back-bencher: an independent man in this system, if he gets elected at all, is considered to be useless because no party can depend upon him. In a truly Islamic consultative body as was convened off and on by the great Khalifa Omar , men of understanding and character came together, without forming a single dictatorial party or splitting up into majority and minority groups. If an Islamic State convenes assemblies or consultative groups for the settlement of specific or general problems, every member must be an independent member representing particular regions or particular interests, not elected on any party ticket. He must be chosen only on the basis of his knowledge and character.

‘The Islamic State would endorse, some part of the programme of the Fascist State without subscribing to its entire ideology. Fascism proposes to weld the nation into an organic whole in which the conflicts of interest shall not be allowed a free-play to the detriment of national solidarity. The right of private property is recognised as it is recognised in Islam, but all rights of the employers and the employed are subject to the over-all supervision and control of the State. In the Fascist programme there is much to be admired. But the fundamental urge of the Fascist State is vicious. The State is set up on a racial or national basis. The State becomes an object of worship which has a life of its own. over and above the lives of the individuals. This metaphysical and mythical entity has no moral purposes as the ethics of the individual does not

apply to it. The purpose of the State is to maintain its strength and glory and to inculcate in the citizens a blind and mystical obedience. Internationalism is eschewed. Universal humanity is considered a myth and all attempts in that direction are dubbed as hypocritical. According of Fascism, among the national groups there is a biological struggle for existence which recognises no other law but that of survival through superior might; hence preparation for war .is the primary duty of every State; pacifism is the creed of. the degenerates. Having resolved conflicts within the nation, by dictating modes of forced harmony, it encourages conflicts between different States.

As one-party dictatorship based on force is un-Islamic. so is the basic ideology of a Fascist State. Islam recognises no racial or national boundaries as vital and ultimate and encourages all attempts at international peace. Great emphasis is laid on peaceful cooperation between different religious or national groups on the basis of all elements that are common between them. The Qur’an invited the Jews and the Christians to cooperate with the Muslims on that which formed common ground between them. Fascism derided the basis of the League of Nations. That international body and Its successor, the United Nations, promulgated very high ideals but Fell miserably short in implementing them. It was power rather than Peace that dominated their mind and with that mental make-up there could be little hope of any substantial achievement in the sphere of international justice. In the first place it was difficult for them to agree even on an obviously just course and even if they happened to agree, they had neither the will nor the power to implement their decision, if it involved a real sacrifice on their part. The Fascist objection to the League was. however, not based on its inefficiency, but the very idea of international justice was repudiated. The fascist idea is that it is the right of the strong to conquer and hold what is can: it is the destiny of the weak to be conquered, ruled and exploited. However one might appreciate the Fascist methods of harmonising conflicts within the body politics and of achieving national solidarity, the moral cost is too great

to be imitated by a truly Islamic State, whose aim is the establishment of universal peace transcending all racial and national boundaries.

The Qur’an has enunciated a basis for a truly effective League of Nations by teaching that if two groups disagree about a vital right, attempt should be made by disinterested .parties to settle the dispute in a just manner. The award having been given, the parties to the dispute should be bound to abide by it. If a party is recalcitrant and refuses to act according to the decision, it should be made to bend by force used by all the parties together. It is clear that no League of Nations can ever become an effective body until it acts on this Quranic injunction.

The Welfare State The modern States have gradually evolved the idea of a Welfare State but it will be difficult for a political historian to deny the fact that Muhammad was the first statesman to conceive the idea of a Welfare State and to put it into practice. Even when England had developed its political institutions and established parliamentary government on a workable basis, its great philosopher, Herbert Spencer, was advocating the idea of a laissez-faire State acting as a policeman only. Such a Police State gathers taxes from its citizens to maintain. on behalf of the taxpayers, army and police to protect the citizens against invaders and law-breakers. Citizens have to be protected? against murder and personal injury, theft and fraud. At the most the State might spend some money on education and public health. Spencer wanted no interference of the State in the economic life of the society, which should be based only on free contact. The law of supply and demand will by itself create an equilibrium. Adam Smith, the father of laissez-faire economics, restricted the functions of the government to three things only. he says, “According to the system of natural liberty, the sovereign has only three duties to attend to-three duties of great importance indeed but plain and intelligible to common understanding: first, the duty of protecting the society from violence and invasion of other independent societies; secondly, the duty of protecting, as far as possible, every

We gratefully acknowledge and thank the Institute of Islamic Culture for permission to reproduce Chapter 13 from his book “ Ideology of Islam “ by Khalifa Abdul Hakim.

A ComparativeStudy of Ideologies

Passion Islam I March 2010 CORRESPONDENCE I 27

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