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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Rabi al-Awwal 14, 1434/ January 27, 2013 # 4


Br. Shamim Siddiqui's thoughtful comments on President Obama's inaugural speech are given below. Please scroll to end.


Spotlights on Apologies. Imam Badi wants us to think, Please scroll down.


Br. Solano [Texas] sends info on Vitamin D. Scroll to end.


An American Muslimah's Dream. Please scroll to end. It's A MUST READ.


Breaking News: Well done Malaysia. [With thanks to NT reader Br. Rich.]

January 26: Malaysia' Prime Minster Najib Razak visited Gaza and was greeted by Hamas Prime Minister Haniyyeh.
With his wife, foreign minister and a junior minister, Najib entered Gaza from the Rafah crossing in Egypt. His comment which has outraged Israel, western puppet Abbas and Israel firsters in Europe:

"Israel's brutality in Gaza was heart-rending for the people of Malaysia ... It was only apt for me to visit the Palestinian enclave to express our support for their struggle."


Breaking news #2:
January 25 and 26. There is chaos in Egypt as westernized "liberals" and Hosni Mubarak's left overs attacked government buildings in a futile attempt to topple the mildly Islamic government of President Morsi. Five people were killed in Suez in fighting with troops and many injured in Alexandria, Cairo and other cities. Ikhwan's broadcasting headaquarters were set on fire by the "liberals"
On January 26, the conflict of supporters of football teams lead to 30 killed and 300 injured in Port Said. This mess was created when a court, very open and transparent, sentenced 21 persons to death for killing 74 people after a football game a year back.Port Said is the city of the accused. The whole city went on the rampage. Among the dead are some police.
Obviously, after 30 years of de-politicization, many Egyptians are more interested in football than in national issues. Morsi is not charismatic enough to reach them.


Breaking news #3.
January 25, Mali. After a whole week of lumbering through the desert, the French tank colum has "liberated" three cities, leaving behind the corrupt military they support against the Islamics. BBC is reporting atrocities being committed by the puppets of France against the population which supported the Islamics.
The mujahideen have suffered no losses and have withdrawn intact, in conformity with guerrilla tactics when attacked by an imperial army.
[Latest news: January 27 there: The mujahideen are back in Konna which the French had "liberated."


Breaking News #4:
January 26: Syria: There are 71,000 Syrian refugees in one camp in Jordan. They are still coming in but at night because Assad's troops are firing at them, evn at fleeing women and children.
Assad's troops have re-taken one district of Homs followed by summary executions of Muslims supporting the resistance.
There is continuing fighting in the suburbs of Damascus.
Assad's Alawite death squads known as Shabiha are emerging in areas where the Free Syrian Army is not strong and are carrying out ghastly crimes against the public who oppose Assad.
Turkey, Saudi and Qatar have withdrawn their financial support from the FSA after it became clrear that the West is not going to intervene. Iran and Hizbullah are openly supporting the tyrant but the Islamics are not retreating from major areas under their control.


"We love Jesus. We will never harm Christians or other minorities."
First BBC interview with Al-Nusra, the mujahideen who are now leading the Islamic resistance to the blood thirsty tyrant Assad. Please scroll.


New Trend's Humble web site

We are receiving more than 300 visitors a day.
During 2012, we received more than 400,000 hits.

In addition, we send New Trend by email to more than 3,000 people. [We usually have a handful of typos in the edition sent out by email. These are usually removed before New Trend is posted on the web site.]

Finally, New Trend is posted on 4 face book pages.

Alhamdulillah, thank you Br. Rich, our activist web master.
[ RAHJx.net ]


Book notice by Kaukab Siddique
A Great Hadith Scholar during the first century of Islam after Ali, r.a., and Muawiyyah, r.a.

"Have you ever felt sadness due to what Allah knows concerning you?" [Imam Sufyan.]

Imam Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah by Salaahud-deen 'Ali Abdul-Mawjood, translated into English by Abu Bakr ibn Nasir, published by Darussalam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.240 pages.

Ali, r.a., died in the year 40 of the Islamic hijri calendar. Muawiyyah, r.a., died in the year 60. Only 47 years after that Sufyan was born in Kufa, Iraq. By that time, study of the Qur'an and hadith had been organized and established in every Muslim city. His father moved him to Makkah where he could meet the scholars of hadith on a daily basis.

Before he became a great scholar of hadith, Sufyan became an erudite scholar of the Qur'an and could do tafseer [interpretation] of the Qur'an. Thus the idea that hadith appeared in the third century of the hijri calendar owing to the efforts of Imam Bukhari has no basis.

The way in which Bukhari organized his collection, known as the Sahih, made it extremely popular. However, the authenticity of Hadith and its essential connection to the Qur'an was never controversial before Bukhari. Imam Sufyan lived during the era of the Ummayads and of the Abbasids all of whom were kings and had absolute power. They wanted to "buy" Islamic scholars and through them influence the emphasis of Hadith. Why did they fail? Here is one example.
Sufyan had an interesting way of dealing with the demands of the despots: He would politely refuse their offers of status and appointment to high positions but he would not antagonize them by refusing their gifts. He would take their gifts and distribute them among the poor and the very needy. Thus he considered the gifts of rulers as RIBA' which if inherent to the situation one lives in should be given away to those who are facing homelessness and starvation.

Sufyan was suffused with the spirit of the hadith of Muhammad, pbuh, and studied hard to become an expert in jarh wa tadil, that is the interrogation of hadith narrators to search for their authenticity.
He died in the year 198 at the age of 91.


Lest we forget owing to sectarian attacks.
notes by Kaukab Siddique


  1. The European armies were destroyed at Yarmuk by Khalid ibn al-Walid, r.a., the greatest general Islam has ever known. It was the year 13 Hijri and a massive force of 200,000 European troops were attacking a small Islamic force led by Khalid, r.a. The Muslims had 1000 sahaba, r.a., with them and were ready for al-Jannah. The defeat of the Europeans was so devastating that it changed the course of human history for ever.

  2. The combined European naval fleets were destroyed by Muawiyya, r.a., ibn Abi Sufyan, r.a., during the caliphate of Usman, r.a. It was the year 31 Hijri and the Europeans controlled the ocean. The Islamics had never fought a naval battle but the Prophet had told a woman, Umm Haram, r.a., that Muslims would battle on the ocean and she would be among them {see Sahih of Bukhari [ bukhari.htm ] }. Muawiyya, r.a., persuaded Usman, r.a., that the European control of the waves should be challenged otherwise the Christians would continue supplying their land armies. When the Islamic fleet was ready, Muawiyyah, r.a, sent it to tackle the combined fleet of the Europeans, 500 ships. It looked like the Muslims had no chance but these were servants of Allah looking for al-Jannah, The ENTIRE Christian fleet was destroyed. Thereafter, there was no chance that the Europeans would ever defeat the Islamics till the time of the crusades.

Women fighting for Islam during the era of Pure Islam
[Abu Sufyan, r.a., who had opposed the Prophet, pbuh, became a mujahid for Islam and sacrificed all he had for Islam.]
At the battle of Yartmuk, 13 Hijri, the existence of the entire Islamic army was in jeopardy because of the overwhelming forces the Christians had brought to the battlefield. The Christians were determined to win and had brought their priests and crosses with them. The Muslims prayed to Allah Almighty for help.
THe battle was intense. Abu Sufyan, r.a., was calling on the Islamics to give their lives to Allah. Abu Sufyan's daughter Juwairia [may Allah bless her] sword in hand, with a whole group of Islamic women, plunged into the Europrean hordes till she and all of the women with her were martyred.
Abu Sufyan, r.a., was himself seriously wounded, with an arrow in his eye. Ikrima, the son of the arch enemy of Islam, Abu Jahal, fought for Islam with heroic intensity till he was martyred.
[Source: Tarikhe umam wa al muluk by Abi Jafar Muhammad Jarir al-Tabari, died in hijtri 310.] Urdu translation.
{There was no Ummayad rule at that time which could have influenced him. ]

It's a shame that great Muslims like Khalid, Muawiyya, Abu Sufyan and others are being abused by Shi'ite sectarians simply because they were Ummayads, They never harmed Ali, r.a., or Hussain, r.a., but they are targeted by the Ithna Ashari and Agha Khani sectarians on the Internet.


Journalist Reporting on Police Brutality is in a Baltimore Prison

James MacArthur,the leading activist in Baltimore, Maryland against police brutality has been arrested as we reported earlier.. He used to observe police actions and comment on them live on his broadcasts. After protests and appeals by the Baltimore community of activists, we finally got a hand written letter from him which he sent tp Nadrat Siddique
Letter from MacArthur (December 28, 2012)
via Nadrat Siddique on Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 2:19pm ·
This was postmarked January 3, 2012. I received it shortly thereafter. Apologies for not posting it much earlier, but it took me a few days to enter it into electronic format.. --Nadrat

James MacArthur #2335662
300 E. Madison Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
28 December 2012
Dear Sister Nadrat,

I want to thank you for all that you're doing for the cause of freedom. My adversaries are relentless. They had no idea there would be so many in my corner.
A passage from Scripture comes to mind. When Elisha the Prophet and his young servant were literally surrounded by a heavily armed enemy, the servant was afraid. After the servant asked him, "What shall we do?" the Prophet reassured him. "Do not be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2 Kings 6:16)
By the way, my handwriting is not the greatest, so you'll bear with me as I struggle to communicate via an archaic method I have little practice in.
Also, be advised, while your letter is postmarked 17 December, I did not receive it till late last night, the 27th. Thank you so much for the gift. I will put it to good use. I'm desperately out of basic supplies of paper, stamps and envelopes. I really want to communicate with everyone fighting to keep my case and my cause relevant. Spread my address around.
One of the goals of my adversaries is to stretch things out as much as possible in hopes of thinning out and making weary my supporters. They are employing a whole host of dirty tricks, this is not about justice.
I saw you on Fox 45, and you are 100% correct! This is about retribution, plain and simple. There's a vendetta against me. Well orchestrated tyranny.
I was also able to catch a snippet of you on TV during the protest rally for my freedom. Nadrat, I just can't thank you enough. You have clearly articulated the massive injustices I'm currently being subjected to.
Tell your Dad I said hello. I think I briefly made eye contact with him at the bail review hearing. Did I?
You should know, I'm deeply saddened by the complete lack of justice or fairness given to me by the court today. But truly, I'm not surprised. Not in the least bit. With the kind of investigative work I've done, little surprises me anymore.
I'm quite pleased you've appreciated the work I did with the Baltimore Spectator. There's been a conspiracy for some time now, and numerous attempts to kill the Baltimore Spectator. In their eyes, I was becoming too popular, too powerful!
One day, God willing (inshallah), when this is all over, I hope to be able to sit down and spend time with you and your Dad. There's so much more I know that I never got the chance to report on.
My dear sister Nadrat, I must beg of you to keep praying for me. The protection of the Almighty is all I have. This ordeal could take a while. A great evil has now taken over our city and state officials, and my total destruction, including physical death, is their ultimate intention. We are merely in the preliminary phases. But I am not afraid. Come what may, my soul is prepared.
There are good days and there are bad days for me in here. With such little intellectual stimulation available (no library, books, newspapers, etc), it's a tortured existence for a thinking man. Please send clippings, photocopies, or printouts of articles and news stories.
Continued communications with wonderful people like yourself is part of my only link to sanity. A lifeline if you will. So please do write back. Tell the others to write to me, too, even if it's just a short note to say hi. I respond back to every letter received.
As you may imagine, mentally I'm often drained and fatigued by my circumstance, but on the flip side, I can feel my stores of wisdom increasing daily. My mind is becoming stronger stronger. God is so amazing, that for believers, even when man plots to do us evil, God can convert it for our good.
For now, I really don't have that much more to say. I want to thank you and everyone else for such an awesome showing of support in court today. It was amazing! And for the ongoing and continued support you have shown.
By the Grace of God and through his strength, I shall endure to the end.

Peace and love to you,
MacArthur
The Baltimore Spectator


Obama's Victims. We need names for Somali children.

http://droneswatch.org/2013/01/20/list-of-children-killed-bydrone-strikes-in-pakistan-and-yemen/

List of children killed by drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen

PAKISTAN Name | Age | Gender Noor Aziz | 8 | male Abdul Wasit | 17 | male Noor Syed | 8 | male Wajid Noor | 9 | male Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male Ayeesha | 3 | female Qari Alamzeb | 14| male Shoaib | 8 | male Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male Tariq Aziz | 16 | male Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male Maezol Khan | 8 | female Nasir Khan | male Naeem Khan | male Naeemullah | male Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male Azizul Wahab | 15 | male Fazal Wahab | 16 | male Ziauddin | 16 | male Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male Fazal Hakim | 19 | male Ilyas | 13 | male Sohail | 7 | male Asadullah | 9 | male khalilullah | 9 | male Noor Mohammad | 8 | male Khalid | 12 | male Saifullah | 9 | male Mashooq Jan | 15 | male Nawab | 17 | male Sultanat Khan | 16 | male Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male Noor Mohammad | 15 | male Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male Abdullah | 18 | male Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male Shahbuddin | 15 | male Yahya Khan | 16 |male Rahatullah |17 | male Mohammad Salim | 11 | male Shahjehan | 15 | male Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male Bakht Muneer | 14 | male Numair | 14 | male Mashooq Khan | 16 | male Ihsanullah | 16 | male Luqman | 12 | male Jannatullah | 13 | male Ismail | 12 | male Taseel Khan | 18 | male Zaheeruddin | 16 | male Qari Ishaq | 19 | male Jamshed Khan | 14 | male Alam Nabi | 11 | male Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male Rahmatullah | 14 | male Abdus Samad | 17 | male Siraj | 16 | male Saeedullah | 17 | male Abdul Waris | 16 | male Darvesh | 13 | male Ameer Said | 15 | male Shaukat | 14 | male Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male Salman | 12 | male Fazal Wahab | 18 | male Baacha Rahman | 13 | male Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male Iftikhar | 17 | male Inayatullah | 15 | male Mashooq Khan | 16 | male Ihsanullah | 16 | male Luqman | 12 | male Jannatullah | 13 | male Ismail | 12 | male Taseel Khan | 18 | male Zaheeruddin | 16 | male Qari Ishaq | 19 | male Jamshed Khan | 14 | male Alam Nabi | 11 | male Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male Rahmatullah | 14 | male Abdus Samad | 17 | male Siraj | 16 | male Saeedulah | 17 | male Abdul Waris | 16 | male Darvesh | 13 | male Ameer Said | 15 | male Shaukat | 14 | male Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male Adnan | 16 | male Najibullah | 13 | male Naeemullah | 17 | male Hizbullah | 10 | male Kitab Gul | 12 | male Wilayat Khan | 11 | male Zabihullah | 16 | male Shehzad Gul | 11 | male Shabir | 15 | male Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male Shafiullah | 16 | male Nimatullah | 14 | male Shakirullah | 16 | male Talha | 8 | male
YEMEN Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male Nasser Salim | 19


Prof. Ghulam Azam wanted Peace
Petition to Save Bangla Islamic Leader from Execution by pro-India Regime in Dhaka
Assalaamualaykum,
I urge you to please circulate and sign this petition save this visionary pious Islamic leader to executed. The Tribunal is tainted "The War Crimes Tribunal established by the government to try Professor Azam and other political dissenters has received criticism internationally for its unfair practices. Despite repeated calls for proof of these war crimes, no such evidence has been presented by the current Bangladeshi government."
Many have just signed the petition "Bangladeshi President Zillur Rahman: Requesting for 91-year old Professor Ghulam Azam not to be executed " and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.
Our goal is to reach 500 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/bangladeshi-president-zillurrahman-requesting-for-91-year-old-professor-ghulam-azam-not-o-be-executed?share_id=ygdIGPIitr.
Professor Ghulam Azam was imprisoned by the government of Bangladesh for his alleged involvement in war crimes during the Bangladeshi Independence War in 1971. The War Crimes Tribunal established by the government to try Professor Azam and other
political dissenters has received criticism internationally for its unfair practices. Despite repeated calls for proof of these war crimes, no such evidence has been presented by the current Bangladeshi government. Therefore, it is suspected that the reasons his imprisonment are politically motivated as he openly dissents to the actions of the current ruling party in Bangladesh. Recently, the execution of the 91-year old Professor was scheduled for March 26, 2013.
Despite deadly protests in the country as well as international intervention from various leaders such as the president of Turkey, the Bangladeshi government refuses to halt the execution. We urge the Bangladeshi government to end the unjust imprisonment and impending execution of the Professor and other prisoners. Without proper evidence and a fair trial according to international standards, such an
action is a human rights' violation and will only cause further strife in the political climate of Bangladesh.


Syria:
Emerging Jihad Movement, al-Nusra, has the Peoples' Trust. First BBC Interview

The beneficiaries of this [indiscipline in the anti-Assad free Syrian Army, FSA, ] are the hardline Islamists, especially Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front.
They have now taken over distribution of flour to bakeries in rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
None of the FSA brigades - all accusing each other of looting - trusted anyone else, the officer told me.
The Nusra Front is outside the FSA and has a reputation for discipline and honesty. It is also a jihadi group behind most of the suicide bombings in Syria and as such is on a US blacklist of terrorist organisations.

Nusra Front

It announced itself to the world one year ago in an internet video that claimed several recent car bombings.
A masked man on the video declared: "We are Syrian mujahedeen, back from various jihad fronts to restore God's rule on the Earth and avenge the Syrians' violated honour and spilled blood."
He went on: "Every free and noble man must take up arms, even if he has to sell his furniture to do so... Oh people of manliness! Jabhat al-Nusra has taken upon itself to be the Muslim nation's weapon in this land."
The Nusra Front is a feared and a secretive organisation but after long negotiation we were able to speak to an emir, or senior commander.
As you might expect, the emir, Abu Lokman, set out a vision of Syria as an Islamic state ruled under Sharia.
This was not a fight for democracy.
"In the name of God, praise is to God and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad," he began, "the people in Syria are religious by nature."
"They like Islam. People here are fed up with socialist and secular regimes. They are all looking forward to an Islamic state. It is impossible there could be anything else in Syria."
Teaspoon of explosives
Abu Lokman was in his thirties and had been a student before being arrested by the regime in 2008.
He was active on jihadi internet forums and joined Jabhat al-Nusra while it was still a secret organisation, six months before the video announcing its existence.
 Jabhat an Nusra | click to see original size
Abu Lokman said the West was afraid of Islamists' long beards
He wore a ski-mask for our interview, a necessary precaution against the regime's spies, he explained.
Outside his office were bearded fighters, including two in Yemeni dress, carrying traditional curved knives along with their Kalashnikovs and wearing the short dish-dasha of the pious.
A bag of explosives was delivered, a sample sent by a dealer. It was white powder - probably ground-up fertiliser and diesel. It was tested by setting a teaspoonful on fire. It burned very nicely.
I asked: How do you justify suicide bombings which might kill civilians?
"It's not just us who use suicide bombings; many other factions of the FSA do.
"The regime plants car bombs among civilians and accuses us of doing it to destroy our reputation... God forbid we take any civilian lives, whether Muslims or non-Muslims, Christians or others."
The United States calls you a terrorist group, I said.
"The West is afraid of our long beards - even though the Jews grow their beards, too.
"Muslims are portrayed in the West as savages. The West is conspiring against us
"When the US placed us on their list of terrorists, it did us no harm, it elevated our reputation. The Syrian people hate the American government. Thanks be to God, we consider this a medal of honour."
Are you al-Qaeda, I asked.
"We both use the same language, the same terminology as we are all Arabic speakers. But there is no connection [between Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda] - we are Syrians."
What if the US and others wanted to bomb the regime?
"We are not campaigning for or against this. Of course, if they destroy the regime's military posts, that is in our favour. But we don't want an intervention because we are the people of this country and we are able to defend our own country."
'Non-sectarian'
This was the first broadcast interview by a member of Jabhat al-Nusra's leadership.
The emir was being cautious.
This was a Syrian fight, not part of a wider jihad. They had no hostile intent to any other states - as long as they did not support the regime.
There would be no sectarian attacks against Syria's minorities. Christians, especially, had nothing to fear.
"Our religion allows us to marry Christians, eat your food and live amongst you.
"We have many fatwas telling us not to exploit the Christians' blood and possessions. Christ is our prophet too - how much do you love Christ? I love him more than you do."
 Jabhat an Nusra | click to see original size
As the emir was being interviewed, a trail of supplicants came and went
When not attending to military matters, the emir dealt with a variety of requests.
A trail of supplicants came and went.
It was clear how important the group had become to daily life here.
A man had run out of cooking gas. Another complained his sons would not support him in his old age.
A widow begged for help in getting her inheritance from her dead husband's family. A man asked for help in freeing his cousin, arrested by an FSA brigade.
The man detained was a tribal elder accused of having had a "loyalty tent", where before the revolution people would chat under a framed picture of the president.
His family said they had been told the price of his release would be several million Syrian pounds (tens of thousands of UK pounds or US dollars).
We heard many such stories of people arrested - kidnapped might be a better term - based on flimsy claims of a connection to the regime.
Demands for money often followed. Raising a voice in protest could invite the deadly allegation of being a Shabiha, a member of the brutal regime militia.
Sharia court
The atmosphere in Aleppo has a touch of Paris in 1944: the mistrust and the score settling, the finger-pointing at collaborators, real or imagined.
In our block of flats, if people spot a car full of FSA fighters coming to arrest someone, they swarm onto the street to try to stop them.
We heard about a man whose new car was seized at an FSA checkpoint.
He complained to the Nusra Front. The FSA brigade concerned brought witnesses who swore he was a Shabiha and he was thrown into jail.
He was later freed - and his car returned - after the Nusra Front assigned the case to Aleppo's new Sharia court.
The Sharia court is being set up by the Nusra Front along with three of the more Islamist brigades of the FSA.
It is supposed to be an alternative to the secular justice system formerly run by the Syrian state and to operate in parallel with it.
But its influence can already be felt widely.
Difficult problems, which cannot otherwise be solved, are sent over to the court.
An FSA official had been too nervous to grant us a permit to film at the bakery, for instance.
"Often people in bread queues start chanting slogans against the FSA," he'd said.
He directed us instead to the Sharia court, which provided the necessary piece of paper.
All of this is happening as the battle for Aleppo continues.
The day after we left, an air strike hit a block of flats in the area where we had been staying, leaving some 26 people buried under the rubble.
But the war seems more distant, the bombing and shelling an occasional interruption rather than a constant thump, gripping the stomach in a permanent spasm of fear.
The regime's forces are bottled up in a few bases; the areas of "liberated" territory expanding.
Taste of ashes
The FSA always suspected that Aleppo's heart was never really in the revolution.
 Aleppo | click to see original size
Many in Aleppo support the FSA but others turn to hardline groups
Now the shopkeepers, farmers and small businessmen of the countryside are in charge in large parts of the city.
They are discovering that victory has a taste of ashes.
"Free Aleppo" has eight-hour bread queues, power cuts, children scavenging for rubbish to burn and trees in the parks all cut down for firewood.
Some people here - many in fact - still support the FSA, but amid the chaos and shortages, and the problems of the FSA's own making, others are turning to hardline groups such as the Nusra Front, attracted by their reputation for discipline and honesty, bravery and piety.
They will undoubtedly have a big say in Syria's future.
What does this mean for Western governments debating whether to intervene?
Taking tea in a neighbour's shop, I met a 30-year-old Nusra Front fighter called Abdullah.
"The Nusra Front is the son of al-Qaeda," he told me.
"We are this close," he went on, rubbing his two index fingers together.
He had worked in a woman's clothes shop before the revolution. And after the revolution?
"No more dresses," he said. He would take the jihad to Somalia, Mali, Jordan, Iraq, "wherever there are Muslims".
Western governments, then, face a dilemma.
If arms are allowed to reach the Syrian rebels, they could end up in the hands of radical Islamists.
But if moderates in the uprising are not identified and supported, power will flow to the best organised and most disciplined fighters. At the moment, those are the jihadists.


Spotlights on Apologies.
Imam Badi Ali, National Shoora leader, urges Muslims to think & Change their lives
  1. There is no PERFECT moment to apologize. As soon as you realize the need to do so, apologize.

  2. Don't justify yourself.

  3. I am one of those people who apologize. I even apologize on behalf of others.

  4. If you have a brother or a friend who sacrifices for God, apologize to him. Don't let him go.

  5. Apology is an act of honesty.

  6. Apology is an act of humbleness.

  7. Apology is an act of generosity.

  8. Apology is an act of compassion.

  9. Apology is an act of forgiveness.

  10. Do what you can. Leave it to Allah. If someone doesn't accept your apology, It's okay. It's their right not to accept.

  11. Do apologize sincerely. You will feel good.

  12. Apologizing does not make us inferior. It shows that we are seeking forgiveness,.

  13. If you don't apologize, that's a weakness in you.

  14. An apology might help.

  15. An apology is like a lovely fragrance or perfume.

  16. An apology is a good way to have the last word.

  17. Arabs and Muslims are not good at apologizing. Their ego prevents them.



An American Muslimah's dream
by Sis. Sherry Garris [Virginia]

In my search for news stories about attacks against Muslims in the US I was dumb founded to find nothing since the piece I reported on about attacks in Queens. Most of the stories before that were in August and September 2012 and were related to attacks during the Ramadan. And, there were only a few. Everyday you hear something about Muslim extremists this and Muslim extremists that.

As a child I believed we lived in a world where all human beings deserved to have a decent life. And, that I lived in a country where that was possible because "We the People" had the right to pursue our dreams of happiness. Then, of course, I grew up with my eyes wide open only to be disillusioned by the fact that only certain people with the financial and political power had that right. Boy was that a rude awakening!

I still believe we as human beings deserve the same rights. We just don't see that equality as a reality. I dream with all my heart and believe in my mind, no matter how futile it may seem at times, in those rights for all. And, in the responsibility we as individuals have to come together to make a difference, a real change, in our human condition. They can't enslave us if we don't allow it!

Anything newsworthy with regards to Muslims being involved in Social Activism and Charitable Contributions seems to be only happening in other countries if you search the media. Where are all the stories about what we as Muslims contribute in this country? I know they are out there. But, with the Zionist controlling the media it's not likely that we will see anything mainstream!

I have an idea, well a dream or wish. I hope to be able to drive across the country and film a documentary about the lives of Muslims in the US. How we live! The good things we share, as well as, what we endure as Muslims in this country. Not unlike the strangers that came before us. I want to shine a light as bright as the sun to truly enlighten the ignorant as to who we really are.

I find myself saying, all too often, to simply explain our human connection these words. We pray to the same God; Allah in english means God. Many people don't know that. We don't eat pork because God says not too because it is unclean or unhealthy for us. This is said in the Torah, the Injeel (Scriptures) and the Quran. And, we pray 5 times a day. That's not a bad thing. And, I smile! :) If they don't understand that hijab is a protection for women and not an enslavement. And, that it identifies us as Muslim women. Then how can they let down their guard to be open to learning and understanding who we are?

It saddens my heart that the beauty of Islam is not seen! And, that so many judge based on fear and ignorance (ignorance is simply not knowing). We have to be the ones to bring change through honest communication as human beings. People are more open to learn if they can connect in some way as human beings first. It was easy for me to revert. I've always had an open mind towards all aspects of life. And, I was searching endlessly my whole life for the truth. I know what I have found. I am truly blessed. We need to help others to see the truth. As Allah has guided us in light He will guide us to teach others. Ameen!!! Ummah is a community. We are not alone. And, with Allah we shall never be alone!!!


Vitamin D
[With thanks to Br. Solano [Texas]

Editor's Note: Dr. Lee Hieb is a new columnist with WND last week. Check out her archive, so you don't miss her first, eye-opening column! No one said it better than Michael Crichton - who, in addition to being a best selling author, was also a physician. During a lecture at Cal Tech, he said, "Let's be clear: The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right. ... The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus." The medical community [AMA, Big Pharma, Cancer "Industry" , etc.] has always been subject to "group-think," but in recent decades we have become the leaders. Numerous physician-scientists have been ostracized, defrocked, de-licensed and in some cases driven to self-destruction by a medical community that has embraced consensus in science.
 Glen A Warner MD | click to see original size
In essence, "We don't care about your data; we all agree you are wrong." I once had a paper rejected from a major spine journal with a one line denouement: "Everyone knows you can't do that."

With time, ultimately, truth prevails, and renegade but correct physicians are vindicated - but not in time to save those patients who die from the mistaken consensus. Today, this "group-think" is depriving people from some of the best and cheapest medical treatment available - supplementation with adequate Vitamin D3. [MM: That's the point exactly: Poisonous MEDs make Trillion for Big Pharma!!!]  Pharma | click to see original size
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with childhood rickets - a bone disorder - for over a hundred years. And it has been known since the 1970s that those living on the equator, regardless of particular locale, have lower rates of multiple sclerosis, colon cancer and depression. But more recently, many astute observers have discovered that low Vitamin D leads to many other disorders, including cardiac arrhythmia, breast cancer, adult fractures, dementia, heart attack risk and even diabetes.

Most recently, studies have demonstrated that higher levels of Vitamin D improve longevity and are beneficial at preventing influenza - even better [SIC!!!!!!!!] than vaccination [LOL!!!!!!!!] . Studies showing beneficial effects of high vitamin D levels are quite convincing. They not only show a correlation between low Vitamin D blood levels and the problem, but show improvement in the disease or prevention of the condition when levels are raised up through supplementation. As an example, it has been shown in the laboratory that heart muscle does not contract well unless adequate Vitamin D is present. An Italian population study showed that low Vitamin D was proportional to atherosclerotic plaques (clogging of the arteries). Furthermore, a Japanese study of dialysis patients demonstrated that correcting Vitamin D deficiency significantly lowered death from heart attacks and heart disease in general. These are only a few of the rapidly expanding body of literature supporting the role of Vitamin D in multiple disease prevention. But to achieve the positive effects seen in many diseases, blood levels need to be in the range of 50 to 100 ng/dl, not the 20 ng/dl that laboratories report as the lowest range of "normal" (how labs determine "normal" is the subject of another column). Specifically in the case of breast cancer, if one achieves blood levels above 55 ng/dl, the risk of breast cancer is diminished 85 percent. It is the observation of many, many practicing clinicians that 1) most patients test in the low 20s, and 2) 400 iu of Vitamin D a day - the government recommended [LOL!!!!!!!!] daily allowance doesn't raise the levels at all. Studies of equatorial inhabitants demonstrate that some of the longest-lived people on the planet obtain 30,000-40,000 iu of Vitamin D (specifically D3) a day from the sunlight - Nature's source of the vitamin. Given that, it is not suprising that supplementing 10,000 iu a day of Vitamin D3 has been shown to have NO adverse effects. As an Orthopaedic Surgeon, I deal with bone disorders daily, and have long been interested in this topic. I quit testing for Vitamin D levels in untreated people after every one of my patients tested in the low 20s. I only tested my husband because he was convinced that golfing in Arizona 18 holes, six days a week would raise his level. It did not - his level was 22 ng/dl. As a final fact, D3 supplementation is cheap. For less than $12 a month you can easily take 10,000 iu of Vitamin D3 a day. Now, given all this, what would you do?

I, for one take 10,000 units of Vitamin D3 a day. I have done so for over 7 years, and my levels of 55 ng/dl are barely in the optimal range of 50-100ng/dl. I recommend the same to all my patients.
But I must warn them that the government, via the Institute of Medicine and the FDA, disagree and believe people should take only 600-800 iu a day.
 AMA | click to see original size
And state medical boards, which are now populated by many non-physicians, sanction physicians who step out of this approved "consensus" - what they call "standard of care." According to them, if you are not doing what 90 percent of your colleagues are doing, you are by definition wrong. And they can punish you, even to the extent of taking away your license. So, regardless of progress in science, if 90 percent of doctors are recommending an inadequate dose of Vitamin D, your doctor MUST give you this wrong advice. To be a scientific leader in this new world order is to be wrong. If the phone company had this philosophy, we would still be tied to land line rotary dials. Science and medicine are not a vote.
As Dr. Crichton pointed out, voting is for politicians. Science requires freedom to consider the alternatives, and in medicine, the freedom to make our own choices - not have government bureaucrats or theInstitute of Medicine make them for us.



In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
THE SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA
[A LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE AGENDA]


[Shamim A Siddiqi, NY]

"Barack Hussain Obama" is the elected second term's President of the United States of America and deserves our appreciation, congratulations and support to complete his term successfully as he has embarked upon to accomplish his agenda from the very outset. The tone and the contents of his address foretells his vigorous attitude to pursue it. The question, however, arises: how he will do it when a lot of self-created and self-sustained, both domestic and foreign impediments will be constantly causing stumbling blocks in his reach out plan.

  1. The USA is a super power and as such it has her predominant interest in every corner of this globe, especially in the under-developed countries and the Muslim world which is not seeing eye to eye to her vital interests and takes her policies and program as impediment to their respective progress, uplift and championing the ideology that they believe as correct, honest, practical and homogeneous to human progress. However, the USA abhors it and takes it as repugnant to her foreign and national interests. This is the crux of the problem that President Obama is likely to face at every step of his onward march for four years.

  2. The obstacles and hindrances in his path can be divided into two segments:

    1. NATIONAL - HOME FRONT: These are the political obstructions that will be created often and on by his rival Republican Party who holds majority in the Congress at least for the next two years. They are bent upon to oppose his liberal agenda: the Welfare projects, the Medicare and medicate, unemployment benefits and many more items on the debit side of the budget while making every effort to curtail down the Deficit and National Debt that run into trillions of dollars - a hard nut to crack when the GOP is not willing at all to increase the income side of the Budget to meet the gap. President Obama has to fight and gain by inches, if possible, to meet his ideals of a Welfare State and maintaining the grandeur of the mighty America that he is dreaming to attain for the generations to come.

      Unfortunately, the team of talents that he is collecting around him are mostly pro-Israel and or are the remnants of Bush regime. How far they will be helpful to implement his radical agenda within next two years seems a practical impossibility with the sword of deficit financing hanging at his head always. His plans may be very ambitious at home but the deficit financing and GOP's constant opposition will derail his "Quick March" direction as frequently as feasible, leave him rubbing his hands in despair, perhaps life long. At the end it all may turn into rhetoric and succumbed into non-fulfilled agenda of an ambitious "Obama" whom white supremacists that couldn't defeat at poles out-casted him in Congress and tumbled him down to gallows of history as "unsuccessful black President" who once came to power by "chance". That is the apparent agenda of the GOP in the background.

    2. THE INTERNATIONAL - FOREIGN FRONT:

      President Obama very intelligently concentrated his entire agenda on national front and avoided to touch even the few foreign spots that have been and are the sheet anchor of USA's foreign policy for decades.

      1. ISRAEI: The peace process has been left in a limbo. The PM of Israel is not going to give up his policy of settlement of "imported" Jews from Europe and abroad for settlement in the occupied lands of Palestine which president Obama opposes tooth and nail. After obtaining the status of non-voting state in the UNO by the Palestinians, the position of each faction has turned into an open obstinacy. Obama left it to the vagaries of time and fate and the whims of Arab States supporting the cause of Palestine.

        The on-going general elections in Israel will simply bring the hard liners in powers and is likely to make the situation worst. President Obama cannot take a hard stand as the home front's Israeli lobby will create problems for the President at home. So better let it go as it is dosing unwept and unsung.

      2. Al-Qaida: The old policy of its total destruction by all possible means will continue as unabated. Rather it is being accelerated in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Sahara Desert manifold. After getting Osama bin Laden killed in Abbottabad, President Obama has become more courageous to finish al-Qaida. However, it seems impossible till the bleeding spots in the Muslim lands are cured by the USA who is sustaining them by supporting the oppressive regimes and thus, denying justice to the suffering humanity.

      3. Kashmir: India has got the tacit approval of the USA to continue her occupancy of Kashmir, deny the promised Plebiscite under the auspices of the UNO and deny the human rights to its suffering humanity for decades together. The People of Kashmir will be left suffering along with the issue of Kashmir as the "sleeping bomb in the heart of the Subcontinent.

      4. The Arab World: Gulf Sates and Sheikhdoms will have the protective shield of America supremacy and continue their oppressive regimes for four years more as President Obama will maintain the status co undisturbed. The Arab Spring is not going to disturb this equilibrium. It has already lost its tempo. The issue of Iran will remain alive as unsolved for years together as the USA is in no mood to open another war front in the ME and invite its own death knell.

      5. North Korea & China: NK will remain like a nuisance as it cannot do any harm to mighty America. President Obama knows it very well. Japan, China and South Korea will take care of North as it is in their jurisdiction. Friendship with growing China will however continue to grow unabated as it is in the best interest of the USA as her trade partner and maintaining peace in Pacific.

  3. CONCLUSION: From the above discussion it is clear that why President Obama concentrated at Home Front and left the rest of the world to run its affairs for a few years more till he is able to arrange his own house in order. That seems an intelligent working andshows he has full grip on the progress of the socio, economic and political affairs of the world before him.

    However, he is to be very conscious of his people at hand. He is to deal with them with justice and fair play. The poor, the needy and the oppressed, the unemployed, the under-employed, the immigrants and the minorities need him more than anyone in this country. If he upholds their cause, make them to feel respectable equal Citizens of this country without any distinction of color, race and religion ethnicity, only then he will be able to re-discover America afresh and will be remembered in history as its savior.

Shamim Siddiqi
6 Plant Lane, Westbury, NY-11590
#516-333-4222
Website: WWW.dawahinamericas.com
January 23, 2013

2013-01-27 Sun 14:35:04 cst
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