NewTrendMag.org   News  #  1103
[ Arabic ][ Chinese ][ Deutsch ][ Español ][ Français ][ Italiano ][ Korean ]

Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Mohurram 15,1428/February 4, 2007 #11


Scroll down to middle for important war news plus Imam Badi Ali on Israeli-Abbas entente.


TWO top of the line conferences coming up:
1. Shaikh Tijani, the world famous preacher from Ghana and ahl-al-Sunnah adviser to Minister Farrakhan, told New Trend that a massive conference will be addressed by Minister Farrakhan in Detroit, Michigan at the end of February on Founders' Day. Alhamdulillah, the Minister is recovering from his surgery.
2. In California, top level teacher and preacher of Islam, Imam Ali Siddiqui, is holding a conference on the Legacy of Malcolm X on February 19. Scroll all the way down. for details.


From New Trend's Research Unit
Drugs in U.S. Cities: King Pin is an Israeli Jew: Quietly sent back to Israel after Conviction.

Distribution of drugs in American cities has destroyed the lives of millions. People have wondered why the U.S. which can send an armada of 150,000 to Iraq cannot :stop the invasion of its own cities. Black Americans have been targets of the drug war and have been subjected to a form of genocide in which they are made to kill each other.
Most shockingly, the biggest drug dealer of them all was arrested and given only a mild sentence and then shipped back to his homeland, the terrorist entity known as Israel. This is Zeev Rosenstein, an Israeli Jew, who distributed 900,000 Ecstasy pills in the U.S. and was caught with a huge stash of drugs. in New York. He was given a shorter sentence than is given in drug cases for only a few kilos.
Most amazingly, the corporate media refused to discuss his case even when he was sent back to Israel in mid-January 2007. NOT A WORD! And all these major media outlets keep Americans engaged with minor cases of crime.
A blog named "gather.com" has written that Rosenstein will live in Israel in a prison which is like a club and from where he can continue to direct the drug trade.
Now do you understand why the media put out a steady stream of misinformation to blame Afghanistan for the drug traffic? The propaganda is a cover for the Israeli drug traffic.
Scroll all the way down for an excerpt from "gather.com."


Human Rights Activists Protest International Diamond Convention in New York
"All Diamonds Are Blood Diamonds!" - Day of Action


What: Press Conference and Demonstration
Where: New York Hilton, 1335 Avenue of the Arts at W. 54th
(Plaza at 1301 6th Ave.), New York
When: Monday, February 5, 2007, noon

What: Forum
Where: Church of the Village, 201 W. 13th Street (at 7th Avenue)
When: Monday February 5, 2007, 7:00 p.m.

Contact: African People's Solidarity Committee, Rob Notowitz, 857-233-7504

On February 5th, human rights activists will hold a demonstration at the New York City Hilton Hotel where the 4th Annual Rapaport International Diamond Conference will take place. The diamond is on the defensive.

Organizers of the planned protest reject the diamond industry's recent publicity campaign promoting the extraction and sale of "non-conflict" diamonds as beneficial to indigenous and African communities.

Critics of the industry point to Botswana, the largest supplier of uncut diamonds in the world, where a fourth of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. A third of the people of are undernourished and the life expectancy is 36 years. Botswana has the second largest per capita AIDS rate on the planet, with nearly a quarter of the people infected. Similar conditions persist throughout the diamond-producing regions of the world.

The World Diamond Council admits that $8.4 billion in rough diamonds are extracted from Africa each year. This amount multiplies as the diamonds are refined and sold, traveling from Africa to Antwerp to Israel and the U.S., enriching white communities along the way.

Protest organizer Robert Notowitz of the African People's Solidarity Committee declares, "We have the responsibility to shut down an industry that ravages the land and labor of Africa to benefit the white world. For white society, the diamond is promoted to represent the ultimate expression of love. For Africa, the diamond trade has its origins in colonialism, with African people forced to labor on their own land under slave-like conditions for pennies a day. All diamonds are blood diamonds!"

Later in the evening of February 5th, a forum will be held at the Church of the Village, with speakers from the Uhuru (African Freedom) Movement, including Diop Olugbala, organizer of the Sean Bell Justice Tribunal, and Penny Hess, author of Overturning the Culture of Violence. Physicist Aisha Fields will discuss the Uhuru Movement's clean water and sustainable electricity projects in Africa. The Church of the Village is located at 201 W. 13th Street in the West Village.

For more information and the truth about diamonds, visit www.boycottdiamonds.net, email info@apscuhuru.org or call (215) 387-0919.


From Imam Badi Ali, North Carolina
Israel Involved in Destruction of Elected Government of Palestine

Israel is finally getting Mahmoud Abbas' faction to physically attack the elected representatives of Palestine, the Hamas government. The millions of dollars of taxes collected from Palestinians have been handed over to Abbas. In addition, western media report the transfer of sophisticated weapons to the anti-Hamas faction linked to Israel. By contrast, Hamas is being denied any help from outside. Israel is determined that the Palestinian vote should not be accepted unless it is cast in favor of Israel's collaborators.

As the fatalities increase in Palestine, the Israeli logic becomes clear. In the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, January 26, 2007 Israeli Foreign and Justice Minister Tzipani Livni made it clear that the Jewish terrorist entity is determined to "disempower Hamas." She said Israel would make sure that Palestinian voters know "who can deliver." For her the people elected by the people are "extremists" who must not be allowed to succeed.

The Israeli Vice President Shimon Peres, speaking at Davos, appealed to the capitalists assembled there to ensure the victory of Mahmoud Abbas and the defeat of the forces of Islam.

The Israelis belong to the colonial era. They have no realization that Islam is the new reality and Israel's military might is no more than the old colonial idea that Might is Right.


IMPORTANT INFORMATION on HOW to REACH and HELP Arrested Black Panther Leaders

[Sent to New Trend by Sis. Soffiyah Elijah.]
see www.cdhrsupport.org for case information regarding the BPP members arrested last month.


Two Letters
Issues Related to Shi'ism and Islam
Dr. Siddique wrote: [Essential to any understanding of the tragedy of Kerbala, where Husain, r.a., was killed along with male members of his family, is the fact that during the time of Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, may Allah exalt them, there were NO Shias or Sunnis. Islam does not recognize or legitimize sects. There is only ONE Islam.]

There were no Shias or Sunnis in the time of Muhammad and the rightly guided Caliphs, but there were sects, for the Quran says:

"As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did.]" (6:159).

Which sects had Allah spoken of? Did the Muslims start breaking into sects in the time of Muhammad?
Why the Quran is not clear on this matter?

Regards,
Mohammad Asghar [MSA Atlanta, Georgia]


Salaam

I read your reflections upon Sectarianism. The spirit is refreshing but I think it needs more factual analysis. I think here you can get in touch with the author of Imam Hussain's Encyclopedia (600 Volumes) where you may be able to read more about the idea of Kerbala and its paradigmatic role within Islam which would make it impossible to put Muawiya (or what he stood for: the inauguration of hereditary kingship) and Ali on the same balance as the latter stood for Just Society based on the ideals of Islam. You are right in the time of Rasul (pbuh) there was no shia or sunni as we all followed the path of Rasul but to study the 'plot of saghifa' would make the question clear why some people (such as Abu Zar, Salman Farsi, Ammar ibn Yaser, Bilal Habashi, Fatima the daughter of Rasul, Mitham Tammar, ....) called themselves Supporters of Ali. I think the question is not one of 'person' but ideas and ideals which we, the children of Adam, have always been aspiring towards or shying away from.

kind regards

"Leo Tolstoy" [Russia]


Response to both letters by Dr. Kaukab Siddique:

The context of 6:159 indicates that Allah Almighty is referring to the fragmentation of the basic Message sent to all nations. According to Islam, the religion of ALLAH is one. The Jews and the Christians narrowed down the message of Allah to create their own sects which we now think are religions. They went so far away from the original message that they became "religions."

The best comment on 6:159 was written by Abul Ala Maudoodi. See his Tafheem ul-Qur'an, volume 1, page 604, note 141. It's in the Urdu language but I think there is an English translation of his tafsir also available.

Maudoodi's comment is general, but classical commentary by the generation after the sahaba was very specific on this. For instance Mujahid, Zahhak, Qatada and Suddi say that this verse is about the Jews and the Christians. A young Sahabi, ibn Abbas, r.a., says the same.

The Hadith also shows us that this verse refers to future situations in which Muslims would start breaking up Islam into sects so at variance with the original that this verse would apply. For instance, the Sahi'ain have this very revealing Hadith narrated by 'Urbad bin Sarya [r.a]:

"The messenger of Allah, peace be on him, led us in fajr prayers and then gave us such purifying advice that our tears flowed and our hearts shook. One of us said: O messenger of Allah, this seems to be farewell advice; hence let us have your will. He, the messenger, pbuh, replied: My will to you is: Fear Allah and hear and obey your rightly guided leader even if it be an Ethiopian slave, because if you live on, you will see much dissension. Hence it will be essential for you to follow my way [Sunnah] and the way of your rightly guided leaders [Caliphs]; be strong in this adherence! Be aware of INNOVATIONS in religion [bid'ah]. Every fabricated practice of religion is bid'ah and every bid'ah is deviation from the path."

Hence Abu Huraira, r.a., believed that this verse is about the sects which will emerge in Muslim communities in addition to previous "religions."

Thus the answer to your question is: NO! There were no sects in the community led by Muhammad, pbuh, and by his Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali [may Allah exalt them].


Reader "Leo Tolstoy's" comment needs much more discussion which I will pick up some other time. I want to assure him that I have a library in my home which provides me the viewpoints of the scholars of both Sunnis and Shias.
His reference to the "plot of Saghifa" implies that he has been reading Shi'a propaganda. The Shi'as have made up the story that the Companions of the Prophet, pbuh, gathered in the Saqifa of Banu Sa'ada and plotted against Ali, r.a., to deprive him f the Caliphate.

This "plot" story is a conspiracy theory which has no basis in any literature from that time. It was fabricated by the Shi'as much later and its purpose is to imply that the mission of Muhammad, pbuh, failed and as soon as he passed away, his Companions conspired against his family's rights. It's an attack on the very foundations of Islam because the Qur'an says that Muhammad, pbuh, was successful and his Companions were the greatest Muslims.
There was no such thing as Bilal, r.a., Abu Zar, r.a., or anyone else declaring themselves "Supporters of Ali, r.a." These were great men in their own right and were no one's supporters other than of Muhammad, pbuh.

Here's a common sense test to check whether there is any truth in the Sh'ia myths. Ali, r.a., took the oath of allegiance, with Allah as his witness, to Abu Bakr, r.a., then to Umar, r.a., and then to 'Usman, r.a. He was a brave and honorable man and for him to take a fake oath would mean that he was not even as good as an ordinary Muslim.

Remember that Ali, r.a., himself became Caliph and never during his Caliphate, when he was totally free to do so, if he had been scared before [!], did he claim that his right had been usurped by the three greatest men in Islam after the Prophet, pbuh.

Much later, the Shias fabricated stories attributing such claims to Ali, r.a., and inserted them into Nahjul Balagha and other books.

I agree that spiritually Ali, r.a,, was much greater than Muawiyya, r.a. and he was more courageous and physically stronger too. However, he was not a sagacious leader and one sure fire proof is that the Prophet, pbuh, never appointed him as a leader of the community. He was no match for Muawiyya, r.a., in his ability to lead. Hence, during the long tribal conflict between them, his camp kept breaking into dissension while that of Muawiyya, r.a. remained united.

[Note that Muawiyya, r.a., was no ordinary Muslim. He was a Sahabi of the Prophet, pbuh, and the Prophet, pbuh, trusted him enough to let him be the khatib [writer] of Wahi [revelation] of the Qur'an. The insults the Shias hurl at Muawiyya, r.a., are baseless. He loved the family of Ali, r.a., and treated them with the greatest respect and gave sumptuous funds to both Hasan and Husain, Allah be pleased with them, and took care that they should never be deprived of anything.]

Ali, r.a., eldest son, Hasan, r.a., strongly opposed the conflict with Muawiyya, r.a, and cried out against it repeatedly only to be ridiculed by his father. Ali, r.a., went on to destroy an entire group of his own supporters; one of the survivors later assassinated him.

As for ideas of equality, rights of women, distribution of wealth, justice, no one can be compared among the Sahaba to Abu Bakr, Ayesha and Umar [may Allah exalt them]. In piety and worship and spirituality, Ali, r.a., and Usman, r.a., are their equals but certainly not superior.


WAR News Compiled by New Trend's Media Monitor

PAKISTAN: Musharraf's Forces Hit by Islamic Forces
1. Government circles in Peshawar are in extended mourning. On January 28, 2007 an attack killed the Peshawar Chief of Police and the DSP of Police, plus 2 officials and 6 policemen. Twenty police were wounded.
2. February 4. A martyrdom operator in a Pejaro car hit a Pakistani military truck column going from Tunk to Dera Ismail Khan killing 3 troops wounding 10.
Observers say that Musharraf is working against national unity by using Shi'ites to attack Islamic enemies ["terrorists"]. Early in February, Syed Mashahid Hussain, a Shi'ite minister in Musharraf's regime came on American TV [C-Span] to boast about how many Islamic fighters [al-Qaidah] his regime has killed and captured.

AFGHANISTAN:
On February 3, 2007 Taliban fighters captured the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province. A look at the map of Afghanistan shows thats Musa Qala is about 150 miles north west of the Pakistani frontier. Thus the Taliban have an indigenous power base deep inside Afghanistan which gives the lie to Karzai's stories that Taliban are supported by Pakistan.
On February 4, the U.S. carried out an air strike which is said to have killed a Taliban commander but no evidence is given, not even the name of the commander.
After much propaganda against the Taliban, on February 1, Karzai of Kabul announced a willingness to forgive Mullah Umar and Gulbuddin Hikmatyar and to hold talks with them. The Taliban ridiculed the announcement and said that Karzai has been installed by the U.S. and his announcements have no legitimacy. Hikmatyar responded that talks can be held only after U.S. and NATO withdrawal.

IRAQ:
Heavy fighting continues in Iraq. The statistics issued by the U.S. show that 3093 U.S. troops have been killed by now, 84 of them in January. Four U.S. helicopters have been shot down during 10 days. Al-Qaidah is taking responsibility. The U.S. has reportedly carried out a massacre in Ramadi but U.S. media have ignored it and the info is only coming out of "insurgent" sources.
Ali Sistani, top Sh'ia leader ,has issued a call for end to Shi'a-Sunni conflict. Looks like his own followers are ignoring his calls. Shias and pro-Israeli Kurds constitute the majority of "Iraqi" forces working under U.S. command.
Following the massacre in Ramadi, deadly retaliation against Shi'ites is under way with hundreds killed. Shi'ite death squad activity also continues.


Competition to Kill Sunnis Between al-Hakim's and al-Sadr's Militia, one Backed Openly by the U.S., the other Indirectly. [The U.S. Claims, it doesn't know what Militias Do.]

Sadr's army feeding off U.S. help A radical Shiite cleric's militia, all but destroyed in 2004, has rebuilt and become the most dangerous militia in Iraq -- with the unwitting help of the United States. BY TOM LASSETER McClatchy News Service BAGHDAD - The U.S. military's drive to train and equip Iraq's security forces has unwittingly strengthened anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been battling to take over much of the capital as U.S. forces are trying to secure it.

Excerpts

After U.S. units pounded Sadr's men in August 2004, the cleric apparently decided that instead of facing American tanks, he would use the Americans' plans to build Iraqi security forces to rebuild his own militia.

So while Iraq's other main Shiite militia, the Badr Brigade, concentrated in 2005 on packing Iraqi intelligence bureaus with high-level officers who could coordinate sectarian assassinations, Sadr went after the rank and file.

RECEIVED TRAINING

His recruits began flooding the Iraqi army and police, receiving training, uniforms and equipment either directly from the U.S. military or from the American-backed Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The infiltration by Sadr's men, coupled with his strength in Iraq's parliament after U.S.-backed elections, gave him leeway to operate death squads throughout the capital, according to more than a week of interviews with American soldiers patrolling Baghdad.

Some U.S.-trained units carried out sectarian killings themselves, while others, at checkpoints, allowed militiamen to pass.

Sadr's gunmen got another boost in 2005 and 2006 when U.S. commanders handed over many Baghdad neighborhoods east of the Tigris River to Iraqi units, transitions that often were accompanied by news releases that contained variations of the phrase "Iraqis in the lead."


THE VOICE OF A MUSLIM WOMAN

(An Interview With Self)

Self: Muslim woman where are you?

Muslim woman: Hidden behind cold bricks, steel and barbed wire...

Self: Muslim woman they say you're oppressed because you chose to cover your hair. Is that true?

Muslim woman: No, I am not oppressed, Allah gave me the right. Therefore, no man can take what he did not give...

Self: Muslim woman why are you crying?

Muslim woman: Because my first born son has been tragically killed...

Self: Muslim woman why do you sigh?

Muslim woman: Because it's time to thank Allah for allowing me to enjoy him for 30 years.

Self: Muslim woman how long will you stand for the cause of Allah?

Muslim woman: Simple, until the clouds fall from the sky...

Self: Muslim woman you asked, "where are my brothers???" Did you find them?

Muslim woman: Yes, I found them everywhere, near and far...

Self: Muslim woman is it true you are in prison for Obstruction of Justice?

Muslim woman: Yes!!!

Self: Muslim woman is it true your sentence is 25 years?

Muslim woman: Yes!!!

Self: Muslim woman how do you feel about all of this?

Muslim woman: I feel that Allah is the Best of Planners. I feel that no hardship can cause me to doubt Allah...

Self: Muslim woman why are you so strong?

Muslim woman: Because Allah guides my footsteps, therefore my faith is unshakable...

Self: Muslim woman why do you fight for so long?

Muslim woman: Because I want every Muslimah to have the right of wearing her hijab before any oppressor...

Self: Muslim woman how is it that so many have heard your cry from prison?

Muslim woman: Because I have a voice. Therefore at the peak of my oppressor's punishment I asked, "where are my brothers?" They responded. "Here am I."

2

Self: Muslim woman what has been your experience in prison?

Muslim woman: I've been punished, beaten, cursed, abused, harassed, misused, mocked, lied on and made to cry...

Self: Muslim woman Why? Oh! Why?

Muslim woman: Because I refuse to remove my hijab...

Self: Muslim woman is it true they say you'll die in prison?

Muslim woman: Maybe, but how many of my oppressors will die and go to hell???

Self: Muslim woman do you fear death in prison?

Muslim woman: No, did you fear birth? Because just as sure as we're born is just as sure as we'll die... No matter where we are...

Self: Muslim woman why don't you just give in?

Muslim woman: Because the Qur'an says to hold on to the rope of faith...

Self: Muslim woman what will happen to you?

Muslim woman: I'll go down in history as the muslim woman who had a voice...

Self: Muslim woman is that enough?

Muslim woman: Yes, because I am "The Voice of a Muslim Woman."

by Maryam Uloho 464534
PO Box 26, St. Gabriel, LA 70776



Ze'ev Rosenstein, the Biggest Drug Trafficker of our Times

Excerpts from "gather.com."

"While most major US drug dealers get prison terms of at least 15 years to life for selling a few kilos of coke or a few hundred pills of the Class A illegal drug Ecstasy (MDMA), the world's ecstasy king-pin, Israel-based Russian mobster Ze'ev Rosenstein, has apparently just learned to skate.

Rosenstein is reportedly one of the "godfathers" in Israel's burgeoning criminal underworld -- one of "the worst of the worst" among global drug dealers, according to a former US attorney.

Long sought by Israeli police and the US DEA, Rosenstein was finally arrested in Tel Aviv in November 2004. At the time, the arrest was hailed as a major victory over transnational crime by former US Attorney General John Ashcroft:

"The arrest of Ze'ev Rosenstein is the result of extraordinary close and creative cooperation between U.S. and Israeli law enforcement. It is a significant step forward in our common struggle against trans-border organized crime and international narcotics trafficking that will make both of our countries safer."

After two years in a maximum security cell, in March 2006 Rosenstein was finally extradited to Miami, charged with having organized an international drug gang that reportedly exported millions of tabs of MDMA from Netherlands-based labs to the US -- including the 800,000 pills that were seized in a New York apartment in July 2001.

Rosenstein, who was also accused of importing Colombian hit men to conduct a hit on a rival crime family, faced up to life in imprison. In 2004, one of his top lieutenants, Shem Tov Michtavi, had received a 20-year sentence for lesser misconduct -- although in November 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit reduced his sentence to a maximum of 16 years. Still, with Rosenstein finally in US hands, many thought that he'd probably spend the rest of his days in a Miami prison cell, not far from Panama's former dictator Manual Noriega, who has been 35 years for drug trafficking.


The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X

Monday February 19th 4pm
New College of California, North Bay Campus
99 Sixth St, Santa Rosa CA

Documentaries

4pm: "Malcolm X: Make It Plain"

6pm: "What We Want, What We Believe: The Black Panther Party Library"

6:30pm "Legacy of Torture: The War against The Black Liberation Movement"

Speakers

7pm: Elbert "Big Man" Howard (Founding member of the Black Panther Party, First Editor of the Panther newspaper).

7:30pm: Imam Ali Siddiqui (Founding member of the Islamic Peoples Movement, Co-originator of "New Trend" an Islamic magazine)

Discussion to follow


Alhamdulillah! New Trend is here, carrying the banner of Islam. Forward it to your friends. We thank the Libyan and Turkish sites along with numerous Pakistanis who posted it. Special thanks go to the Indian [Dalit] list known as Bahujanyahoogroups.

2007-02-04 Sun 22:42:20 cst
NewTrendMag.org