When the Prophet, pbuh, Passed Away .....
The Prophet, pbuh, was Nearest to Aisha, r.a., Loved
Personal Cleanliness even at the end, Prayed to meet the
best people in the Other World.
Narrated Aisha: 'Abdur-Rahman bin Abu Bakr entered upon the
Prophet while I was supporting the Prophet on my chest.
'AbdurRahman had a fresh Siwak then and he was cleaning his
teeth with it. Allah's Apostle looked at it, so I took the
Siwak, cut it (chewed it with my teeth), shook it and made
it soft (with water), and then gave it to the Prophet who
cleaned his teeth with it. I had never seen Allah's
messenger cleaning his teeth in a better way. After
finishing the brushing of his teeth, he lifted his hand or
his finger and said thrice, "O Allah! Let me be with the
highest companions," and then died. 'Aisha used to say, "He
died while his
head was resting between
my chest and chin."
This made my day.
A blessing from Allah! From Guatemala!
[Central America.]
by Kaukab Siddique
After juma on April 29, I entered a Muslim store to buy
halal chicken.
First surprise! The manager was from Guatemala though the
owner of the store is Pakistani.
The wonder of it is that the manager is a convert to Islam.
He and his wife and child embraced Islam while he was still
in Guatemala. It was a hard core Christian community with no
Muslim for miles.
His family is still in Guatemala.
I was going to tell him that I can give him the Quran in
Spanish which Br. Solano [Hispanic activist] gave me. It was
as if he read my mind. He said, I have the Qur'an in
Spanish.
During our conversation, before I left with halal chicken,
he said he can give the Quran to a couple of Spanish
speakers if I have two extra copies.
The shop also has CDs of the entire Qur'an with English
translation and another with Urdu translation. [I took one
of each. No charge. Donation by a Muslim shopper!]
Such a gentleman. May Allah bless him and his family.
Viewpoint:
In Baltimore, on the anniversary of the Uprising, Things
Remain the same.
by Kaukab Siddique
April 27. The more things change, the more they remain the
same, as the saying goes.
A year after the death of Freddy Gray in police custody and
the outrage and uprising which followed, we notice the
following:
No one on the police force has been convicted.
Right on the date of the anniversary, a Black youth was
shot.
Police brutality is commonplace and is no longer news. It is
carried out more scientifically with deniability.
The oppressed communities, mostly Black and poor, have not
seen any considerable improvements in their lives.
Massive funds are available but they are being directed
towards developments for the upper segments of society.
Gentrification is going on apace, with the broken down and
derelict structures in the poorer areas becoming money
makers for corporate entities.
Citizens are encouraged to go to gambling places, casinos,
night clubs. Liquor is easily available. The plague of
heroin seems to be unstoppable.
The relations of the upper classes with Israel and the
Jewish lobby are flourishing with millions of dollars being
siphoned off for Zionist interests.
The Black elites and the mega churches seem to be complicit
with the oppression and exploitation of the masses. The
uprising has been used by the rich Blacks to proclaim their
own leadership.
Some Muslims are working to help the needy but the big
mosques have nothing to say about or against the ongoing
oppression because it would involve criticism of Zionism and
Israel.
Why is the Muslim World
facing alien ideas of homosexuality, abortion
and Break up of Families?
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Author: Samuel P. Huntington
Mr. Huntington's book is excellent in the manner the
author's arguments are laid out. He is honest,
straightforward and does not shy away from the truth, even
if it is painful. The book does have a point of view, and
despite his honesty, Mr. Huntington is not a neutral
observer, but rather a partisan of the West.
According to Mr. Huntington, the post-Cold War world order
is multi-civilizational and multipolar. Since 1500, for four
hundred years, a multi-polar world existed, with the
nation sates of one civilization, namely the West, supplying
all the main actors.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were some
hubristic utterings by some deluded commentators who
proclaimed the end of history. They meant that the human
development has reached its final stage, which is liberal
democracy. The events since
then have forcefully refuted this foolishness.
Mr. Huntington states in his book that in the new world
order, the clash would be between civilizations, usually at
the fault lines between two civilizations. Furthermore, he
is of the opinion that the Western hegemony is going to
fade, as other civilizations
become more assertive.
Huntington identifies the following distinct civilizations:
Western.
Latin American.
African.
Islamic.
Sinic (Chinese).
Hindu.
Orthodox.
Buddhist.
Japanese.
Except for Latin American, African, and Islamic
civilizations, all others have one or more core states. In
case of Japan, the core state and the civilization are one
and the same.
The populace of the Islamic civilization has a great sense
of belonging to one Umma (the
global Islamic community). However, during the last two
hundred years they were
systematically conquered and divided up by the Western
powers.
The coup de grace was delivered after World War I, when the
remnants of the Ottoman Empire were divided up in
mini-statelets, whose rulers were totally subservient to
their Western masters. These regimes have matured into
"bunker regimes", which rule their unwilling masses through
torture, coercion, bribery, massive violence and state
terrorism against their own people.
In this they are aided by miniscule elites, which are
totally alienated from their own culture and traditions, and
owe allegiance to foreign powers. The armed forces and
security services of these regimes have proven to be
singularly feeble while defending the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of these states, but
have proven to be capable and efficient in terrorizing their
own civilian populace. The ultimate guarantor of these
regimes is the West.
This state of affairs, combined with an absence of a core
state which
can "gather" these nations, and protect the people from
internal repression and external
aggression has led to a state of endemic violence, unrest
and repression. This situation has begun to de-stabilize the
established world order.
The civilization which is at the zenith of its power at the
present time is the Western civilization. It has a penchant
of presenting its own values as "global values" of a "global
civilization."
So we see that the immense power and prestige of the West
being used to impose and force homosexuality (in the guise
of gay/human rights), abortion and promiscuousness (in the
guise of reproductive rights of women), and break-up of
traditional families (in the guise empowerment of women), on
civilizations which consider such behavior as anathema.
Huntington warned against this folly very pithily by saying
"In the emerging world of ethnic conflict, and
civilizational clash, Western belief in the universality of
Western culture suffers three problems: it is false; it is
immoral; and it is dangerous." Unfortunately, foolish
politicians and demagogues, drunk with hubris and arrogance,
backed by an uninformed and delusionary populace have
embarked on the
very same path of folly, against which Huntington warned in
his book. Thus, once again humanity has to suffer because of
the delusions of a few.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen Activity at Biggest Baltimore Mosque:
100 Muslims Reached.
On April 29, after juma', , at Masjid Rahmah, in West
Baltimore, a 4-page multi-colored document was given to 100
Muslims. most of them Pakistanis, India, Arab countries,
some Africans and some African Americans.
This is a growing community with more than 500 people in
attendance. The children's school seems to be a great
success. Owing to the expenses of the fancy building, fund
raising is the biggest activity here. Most people leave
right away after prayers, so the organizers focus on getting
the people to stay and participate.
The khatib [preacher] violated the Sunnah by using a big
chunk of his sermon for fund raising. Using a captive
audience to squeeze them for money is definitely not
Islamic. It's like the behavior of churches. Fortunately
Masjid Rahmah has not started passing the hat around
[yet.]
The masjid is zero on political issues and the suffering of
the Muslim ummah. Hence Jamaat al-Muslimeen's message was
exactly fitting for the political vacuum.
The 4-pager given to 100 contained these items:
Justice for Shifa: Event in Atlanta for a Bangladeshi Muslim
unjustly stuck in a US prison.
Rally in NY for Ahmed Ferahi, an Algerian prisoner in Attica
treated so badly that he tried to kill himself.
Islam is a complete way of life including politics &
spirituality. Do you know Jinns? [Kaukab Siddique]
On keeping one's word. [Imam Badi Ali.]
Islamic State trying to enter Damascus. Hizbullah-Russian
advance on Aleppo failed. [Reuters, AP etc.]
Palestinians demonstrate for 7000 prisoners held by Israel.
[Media monitor]
One Woman's witness: Authentic hadith and Sura 24.
8. Movement for the rights of Sunni prisoners in Iran, many
facing execution. [Special report]
Islamic scholar forgives CIA woman though he endured
torture.
Abu Omar is an Egyptian scholar who was abducted by the CIA
from Italy after 9.11 and handed to Egyptian police who beat
him and tortured him and mistreated him. He was released
later.
Italy went after the CIA agents but they had fled. They were
sentenced in absentia. One of them, a woman, is stuck in
Portugal awaiting extradition to Italy.
Abu Omar says he has forgiven her as she was only doing the
orders of higher ups and he thinks a woman should not be
mistreated . He wants her to be able to meet her mother in
India though he was denied seeing his dying mother by the
Egypt regime. He wants top officials
to be tried.
13 Egyptian Migrants and 3 Libyan Smugglers killed in
shooting in Bani Walid.
Gaddafi Ruined Libya though Admirers still Adore him.
Why are Egyptians
fleeing to Libya?
[New Trend media monitor]
April 27. Egyptian migrants killed three Libyan smugglers in
Bani Walid and tried to flee with the bodies.
They were caught by police and then attacked by another
smuggler who killed 13 of them.
Libya looks chaotic. For 40 years Gaddafi ruled Libya and
turned it into a pressure cooker for the human sprit.
Finally the people rose against him and he slaughtered them.
He kept killing for 30 days and his tanks were advancing on
Benghazi to carry out a final blood bath when the western
powers intervened.
They stopped the tanks but then they kept on bombing till
they destroyed Libya's infrastructure.
Gaddafi did not understand that dictatorship cannot continue
forever. The western powers did not realize that Gaddafi had
tried but had failed to crush the Islamic spirit.
There is chaos in Libya, seemingly but 40 years of tyranny
will lead to at least 10 years of chaos. The groups in power
in Tripoli in the West and Tobruk in the east identify with
Islam. In between at Sirte, the Islamic State has
emerged.
The West still has influence in Libya but its push on the
two main groups to move against IS has been rejected.
The West has a general Haftar who has been on the rampage
for a year.
Egyptians are flooding into Libya, trying to get to Europe.
Evidently General Sissi's regime in Cairo has failed to
provide for Egyptians and they are leaving even without a
war.
Tragic End of US-backed Attempt to introduce Homosexual
Magazine in Bangladesh.
Al-Qaida Took Responsibility.
[Source: The Guardian, UK .]
On April 25, six men entered an apartment in central Dhaka,
Bangladesh, and hacked a man to death who started the
country's first LGBT magazine. His companion was also
killed. Both were self proclaimed "gays." Their deaths
created a stir all the way up to Washington, DC. As the
photo below shows, one of them, Mannan, worked for the US
government and was close to the US ambassador. Here is how
the daily Guardian of UK described it:
"the latest killings, were on Monday night, of Xulhaz
Mannan, editor of the country's only lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender magazine (LGBT), and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, an
actor and fellow gay rights activist. Critics have accused
the Awami League government of failing to act effectively to
stop the carnage.
"It is shocking that no one has been held to account for
these horrific attacks and that almost no protection has
been given to threatened members of civil society," said
Amnesty International's Champa Patel, reacting to the four
killings so far this month.
Founder of Bangladesh's first and only LGBT magazine
killed
Xulhaz Mannan hacked to death in country where several
academics and bloggers have been brutally murdered.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, echoed the criticism,
along with other western leaders."
[Champa Patel, of Amnesty, is a Hindu name.]
According to the Guardian, al-Qaida has issued statement
paraphrased here: "the banned group Ansar al-Islam, the
Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida on the Indian subcontinent,
claimed responsibility on Tuesday for killing the two gay
rights activists in what it called a "blessed attack".
It said the two were killed because they were "pioneers of
practising and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh" and
were "working day and night to promote homosexuality ...
with the help of their masters, the US crusaders and its
Indian allies".
Earlier, an English professor from Rajshahi visiting Dhaka
was similarly murdered. He is accused to be an atheist who
was going from village to village setting up music
centers.
The latest is that a Hindu who blasphemed against the
Prophet, pbuh, was killed on April 30 in the city of
Tangail.
[New Trend's view is that the regime crushed the peaceful
Jamaate Islami movement and the vacuum has been filled by
al-Qaida and the Islamic State.]
Weak Translation of Hadith Misleads Readers: A Comment on
the Meaning of 'Aql and Jariya. Two Reasons why Women's
Rights are Misunderstood by Muslims.
by Kaukab Siddique, PhD
In his translation of Sahih Bukhari, Dr.Muhsin Khan
translates hadith number 826 (in volume 3, section XVII, on
Witnesses) as follows: "Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri. The
Prophet said: 'Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of
that of a man?' The Women said, 'Yes'. He said, "This is
because of the deficiency of a woman's mind." The Arabic is
fazalika min nuqsan-e-aqaleha which should be translated as:
"That is owing to her lack of understanding." The
translation of 'Aql as "mind" is incorrect. The term "mind"
is a platonic concept which refers to innate ability. 'Aql
is the word for understanding, sense and wisdom which is
acquired through experience and development of educational
abilities. The mind is fixed and unchanging; Understanding
can be developed. The term "mind" has to do with the idea
that some people are born with intelligence and some are
not: In its essence it is a racist concept.
We can try to define the meaning of the word "aql" by
looking at its usage in the Qur'an. It is used to refer to
an ability which learns from observation and which works
though experiencing the wonders of God's creation:
And of His signs is this: He shows you the lightning for a
fear and a hope, and sends down water from the sky, and
thereby quickens the earth after its death. Surely in that
are signs for people of understanding (liqaumin-yyaqiloon).
The Qur'an 30:24
And the difference of night and day and the provision that
Allah sends down from the sky and thereby quickens the earth
after her death, and the ordering of the winds, are signs
for people of understanding (liqaumin-yyaqiloon).
Sura 45:5
These verses are meant for the general audience of the
Qur'an. Anyone who is willing to use his understanding and
look at the heavens and the earth can perceive the
underlying power which makes the universe possible. These
verses are not aimed at some special elite which has a
"mind" which others lack. Certainly women are not excluded
from the audience of these verses. No honest commentator
would be able to claim that the signs of God mentioned in
these verses are not available to women because women are
deficient in their "minds"! Any person, man or woman, can
perceive the ayat (signs) of Allah and arrive at conclusions
about God's Oneness, Creativity, Power, and Nurturing
Love.
Dr. Muhsin Khan has made a major blunder. He did not realize
that the holy Prophet was actually urging the women to gain
understanding. He was not saying that they are deficient by
nature and will always remain so! When a teacher says to a
student: Your understanding of the book is weak, you are
deficient in your analysis; think, don't cheat, etc; the
teacher is actually urging the student to gain the
understanding which he/she lacks. Islam came to educate
people, to raise them from out of the marshes of ignorance,
not to condemn them.
If Dr. Muhsin Khan had looked at other hadith in the same
chapter of Bukhari's Sahih, he would have realized two
things:
The holy Prophet did not reject the witness of one woman
even as opposed to a man's.
He did not think that women are deficient in their
minds.
In hadith number 827 and 828 we are told that the holy
Prophet abrogated a marriage on the basis of ONE WOMAN'S
WITNESS who had testified that in their infancy she had
suckled both the husband and the wife. The narration
indicates that the male narrator did not want to accept the
woman's witnessing but the holy Prophet would not
countenance his hesitation. (Incidentally the woman was
black and a slave from the Era of Ignorance, which also
indicates the revolutionary Islamic concepts of equality of
all races and peoples along with equality of male and
female.)
Further on in the same chapter of Bukhari's Sahih, we have a
lengthy narration of the slander which was spread against
hazrat 'Ayesha (radi Allahu unha) by the hypocrites. In the
narration we find hazrat Ali urging the holy Prophet to ask
for one woman's witness and the holy Prophet going through
the process of asking one woman without saying that two
women are required. (The Qur'an then confirmed this
witnessing by affirming the noble character of the blessed
'Ayesha.) The words of the narration are:
"'Ali ibn Abi Talib said: O messenger of Allah! Allah has
not put restrictions on you, and there are many women other
than she; yet you may ask the young woman (Barera) and she
will tell you the truth. On that the messenger of Allah,
peace and blessing of Allah be on him, called Barera and
asked her: 'O Barera! Did you ever see anything which raised
your suspicion? Barera said: No. By Allah who has sent you
with the Truth, I have never seen anything wrong in her
except that she is young and sometimes sleeps after having
kneaded the dough and the goat comes and eats it. On that
day the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be
on him, stood up to give the khutba and asked the people to
support him against Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The
messenger of Allah said: Who will support me against that
person who has hurt me in the matter of my family? By Allah
I know nothing but good about my family, and they have
accused a man about whom I know nothing except good and he
never entered my house except in my company."
Those who have read their hadith books carefully know that
Barera was a freed slave woman. In fact, she had been freed
by hazrat 'Ayesha and used to spend her time with hazrat
'Ayesha as her companion, friend, and helper. In both hadith
the witness of one woman is accepted by the Prophet, and the
question of their 'deficient mind' is not raised. The reason
for acceptance was that Islamic education had given women
mental maturity and understanding. By the time the slander
against hazrat 'Ayesha occurred, the Muslim community had
strengthened its roots. When the verse about two female
witnesses was revealed in Sura al-Baqarah, the Islamic
community had just begun in Medina. Our male commentators
have built their weak position on Sura al-Baqarah while
completely ignoring Surat un-Noor where hazrat 'Ayesha's
example was used by Allah to indicate the equality of males
and females before the Law for all times to come.
Dr. Muhsin Khan has also slipped in his translation of the
word jariya. He translates it as "woman-servant" which
though better than laundi (female slave), as some Urdu
language translators put it, is still off the mark. The word
jariya simply means a young woman or girl. Barera was not a
slave or a servant. (Bukhari's Sahih attests that the holy
Prophet's household did not have a servant, male or female)
She had been freed by hazrat 'Ayesha. Somehow Dr. Khan could
not see that the word jariya occurs three times in hadith
829 referring to hazrat 'Ayesha herself. (As hazrat 'Ayesha
points out, she was a young woman at that time and weighed
very little; hence the camel driver did not know if she was
sitting in the curtained seat atop the camel or not and
moved on without her.) Thank goodness that Dr. Khan does not
claim that hazrat 'Ayesha was a slave girl too! I hope he
will look up the story of Barera and find out that she had
been freed. (Freed slaves often lived with those who had
freed them in a system of wilayya because they had no family
systems of their own.)
I am not trying to condemn all of Dr. Khan's translation.
Readers however should notice how many different factors can
come in to create misgivings and misunderstanding about
Hadith. We all have much to learn. Those who are translating
holy books into English are often very deficient in their
English; however, they are not willing to face the fact that
they are deficient in their understanding of English.
Inshallah, we can learn from each other. Let them tell us
where we make mistakes in Arabic, and let them listen to us
where we point out their mistakes in English. The language
of the people is an essential vehicle for the dissemination
of a message. The Qur'an was revealed in Arabic to a people
who spoke Arabic. Similarly, Islam in America must be
conveyed by people who can speak and understand the idiom of
the American people.
"And if We had sent the Qur'an in a foreign tongue, they
would have surely said: if only its verses were expounded
(so that we might understand). What! I foreign tongue and an
Arab?--Say to them (O Muhammad): For those who believe it is
a Guidance and a healing; and as for those who disbelieve,
there is deafness in their ears, and it is blindness for
them. Such are called to from afar. "
The Qur'an 41:44
MAHMUDAH INSTITUTE
Mahmudah Institute of Wellness and Mindful Living
holds Mindful Running and Walking Event
in August, GA April 23rd.
www.mahmudahinstitute.org
What is mindful? The word "mind "could be laden with a
wealth of meanings. Mindful in our perspective is:
It is the field where the brain and the heart meet and agree
to get along.
It is where the senses allow the hearing, vision and touch
to override the tongue.
It is where the intellect and intuition join hands to walk
in peace towards a single goal.
It is the field where they meet and bow their heads to the
Divine and accept who they are, where they are and accept
who else is in the field.
It is where they they silently vow to honor the rights of
all living beings and inanimate objects alike.
Mindful walking has the following principles:
Wear comfortable non descript clothes. Avoid clothes that
take your attention away from the walk. Thus we have
provided Tee Shirts in various colors so it is not a
dictated uniform and yet it doesn't single anyone out as
being ostentatious. Wear comfortable shoes.
Make an intention before you begin your walk to be mindful
of yourself, your field with the brain, heart, mind,
intellect and intuition and allow your body to follow. Bless
your feet and your spirit and of those around you silently
before starting
Begin your walk in silence allowing your hearing, seeing and
touch senses to override your tongue. Allow gratitude to
seep into you as your walk the path. Try to stay silent at
least for the first 30 minutes unless there is an
emergency.
Do not disturb others, nor react to them if disturbed. This
mindful walk is for you; each one of you can best savor it
in silence with all other senses ready to receive.
Allow the river of thoughts to come and go like the ripples
in the canal and the river that you see on either side of
the path.
Teach the above principles to your children and walking
buddy before you begin the walk.
PAKISTAN
Support for Oppressed Muslims in Kashmir and Bangladesh.
India Changing Population of Kashmir with Hindus.
Massive Arrests and Killings of Islamic People in Bangladesh
by pro-India Regime.
by Qaiser Sharif
LAHORE, Apr. 29; The central Shoora of the Jamaat e Islami,
Pakistan, has called upon the government to convene a
national conference to formulate an effective policy for the
liberation of Kashmir in consultation with the Kashmiri
leadership.
The Shoora at its meeting chaired by the JI chief Senator
Sirajul Haq, welcomed the comprehensive resolution moved at
the recent OIC summit meeting in Turkey and demanded of the
OIC to dispatch at the earliest a Fact Finding mission to
take notice of the human rights violations in the valley.
The Shoora strongly condemned the fresh wave of target
killings and humiliation of the women in Kashmir besides the
attacks of RSS hooligans on the Kashmiri youth studying in
the Indian universities in a bid to close the door of higher
education to the Kashmiri youth. It said that the Indian
authorities were pursuing a strategy to end the Muslim
majority in Kashmir by settling non Muslims in the valley
and allotting vast areas for military installations.
The Shoora condemned the repeated detentions of Syed Ali
Gilani and other Hurriyat leaders and urged the
international human rights bodies to exert pressure on New
Delhi to stop its inhuman practices.
In another resolution, the JIP Shoora expressed deep
concern that the pro- India government in Dhaka was trying
to end the Islamic identity of Bangladesh having 90 Muslim
population. It further noted that around 80,000 Islamic
workers and leaders in Bangladesh were behind bars since
long, while hundreds had been martyred. It said that the
Dhaka regime was planning to ban the Jamaat e Islami
Bangladesh. The properties of the JI workers and leaders
there were being confiscated and their bank accounts were
being frozen.
The JIP Shoora said it was a matter of great concern that
the Pakistan government, the media and the civil society
were indifferent to the anti Islam policies of Hasina wajid
regime.in Bangladesh. It said it was a matter of great shame
that the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other
human rights bodies had protested over the gross human
rights violations and execution in Bangladesh, but the
rulers in Islamabad were totally unconcerned.
The Shoora appealed to the Pakistan government, the Muslim
world and the UN member countries to pressurize Hasina Wajid
government to stop the victimization of political opponents.
Plunderers won't find refuge anywhere says Jamaate Islami
Pakistan. Unity with Laborers.
LAHORE, May one; Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Senator
Sirajul Haq, has said that those named in the Panama leaks
won't find refuge in the US, London and even in Panama, and
added that the JI would chase the plunderers of national
wealth everywhere.
He was addressing the kiln workers at Sheikhupura in a show
of solidarity with the labourers on May Day. He had lunch
with the workers and also talked to the media on the
occasion.
Sirjaul Haq said that whenever there was demand for the
recovery of the looted money, voices were raised that
democracy was in danger. He however added that the JI was
not against democracy, it was only against loot and plunder.
The JI chief appealed to the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court to head the enquiry Commission in order to steer the
country out of the present crisis because the nation did not
have confidence in anybody else.
He said that those who ruling the country had their hearts
in London and Panama and added that the workers would have
to rise against the prevailing system based on tyranny and
exploitation.
"If the rulers want to shed off the extra fat on their body,
they should spend a few days with the workers instead of
visiting London," he remarked. He asked federal and
provincial ministers what steps they had taken for the
welfare of the workers so far.
Sirajul Haq said that the country was being run by
international thieves who were transferring abroad the money
by the workers through hard labour. He said that those
hiding their wealth could not be well wishers of the poor.
The JI chief said that some Opposition leaders showing great
sympathy with the poor also had offshore companies and said
that they too would have to account for their wealth along
with the rulers.
He said that those representing the workers did not know
even the basic problems of the poor. Secular ladies working
for the western NGOs sitting in air conditioned offices
claimed to represent the Pakistani women working at kilns
and farms.
He said that the common worker lived from hand to mouth even
after working round the clock whereas the rulers living on
public taxes gave more importance to their horses and pet
dogs than the poor labourers.
He said that the constitution ensured provision of basic
necessities of life to every citizen but the workers and
labourers did not get basic health and education for their
children.
Sirajul Haq demanded that minimum pay for a worker be Rs.
Twenty thousand and minimum pension for industrial workers
should be Rs. Ten thousand in view of the prevailing price
level.
The JI chief was given a rousing welcome on reaching
Sheikhupura.
JI Secretary General, Liaqat Baloch expressed solidarity
with the workers by having breakfast with the labourers at
Akbar Chowk. Speaking on the occasion, he demanded that the
common workers should be given the facility of social
security.
Released by Media Cell, JIP, Mansoora, Lahore.
Jamaate Islami Central Committee Supports People of Aleppo
[Syria], Palestine and Egypt.
LAHORE, May one; The central Shoora of the Jamaat e Islami
has strongly condemned the indiscriminate bombings in Syrian
city of Halab causing large scale killings.
While castigating the double standards of the world
community headed by the US the Shoora has appealed to the UN
and the humanity lovers to play their role in stopping the
killings in Syria. It demanded that an emergent meeting of
the UN Security Council be convened to end this bloodshed.
The Shoora deplored that the forces of Bashar al Asad and
his allies were targeting the citizens, mosques and
hospitals. It said that if such bloodshed had been going on
in some non Muslim country, the whole world would have been
up against it. It noted that according to the UN estimates,
around four lakh people had been martyred in Syria while
more than 15 million had been forced to flee to the
neighbouring countries.
The Shoora saluted the Turkish government's humanitarian
steps on this issue, and appealed the entire Muslim Ummah
and the world community to take immediate measures for
solving the problems facing the Syrian refugees.
The Shoora also slated the latest Zionist activities
including fresh Jewish settlements in Palestine and mass
detentions of Palestinian children , It appealed to the
Muslim states to break their criminal silence on the issue
and help end the atrocities of the Zionists on the
Palestinians under siege in Gaza.
The Shoora also condemned the atrocities going on in Egypt
under Gen. Sisi for the last three years and resolved to
continue moral support to the oppressed Egyptian brethren on
Islamic human grounds. It saluted the determination of the
Akhwans facing Sisi's atrocities.
The Shoora expressed concern over the bloodshed going on in
Iraq since the advance of the US forces in 2003. It urged
the Iraqi masses to foil the international agenda to break
their country. It urged the Iraqi government to allow equal
rights to all citizens, reject all foreign pressure and
restore the people's confidence in it.
Women Elected to Jamaate Islami's Central Committee [Shoora]
[Photo]
War News
Syria
Alawite-Shia-Russia Air Strikes on Hospital in Aleppo.
Preparation for Major Assault by Hizbullah-Iran-Alawites
MSF says deadly air strike hit Aleppo hospital.
At least 14 patients and three doctors have been killed in
an air strike on a hospital in the Syrian city of Aleppo,
the charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) says. Among
those killed in the MSF-supported al-Quds hospital was one
of the city's last paediatricians, MSF said.
Local sources blamed Syrian or Russian war planes. The
Syrian military has denied targeting the hospital. Monitors
say attacks by both sides left 34 dead and dozens wounded on
Thursday. Violence in Syria, and particularly in Aleppo,
has intensified in recent days, despite a partial truce.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says Aleppo is
on the brink of a humanitarian disaster. The upsurge in
violence comes amid reports that the Syrian army, backed by
Russian air power, is gearing up for a major offensive on
the city.
The escalation has threatened to derail UN-brokered peace
talks in Geneva, which resumed last month. On Wednesday,
the UN envoy to Syria urged the US and Russia to intervene
"at the highest level" to save the talks.
'Just crumbled'
"MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo destroyed, at least 14
patients and staff killed, toll expected to rise," MSF
tweeted on Thursday.
It said that the hospital was well-known locally and had
been hit by a direct air strike on Wednesday.
"We condemn the destruction of the al-Quds hospital,
depriving people of essential healthcare," the charity said.
An activist at the scene, named Zuhair, told the BBC that
buildings around the hospital were also hit.
"It was an air strike by two rockets, heavy rockets from [a]
Russian air strike," he said.
"Near the hospital one building on five floors just crumbled
and just crashed down, and we don't know how many dead will
be under these ruins."
The Syrian military denied targeting the hospital.
An MSF representative, Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, told the BBC
that the paediatrician who died was Mohammed Wasim Moaz, who
had worked at the hospital since 2013.
Mr Zabalgogeazkoa said: "He kept it going, was always there
and always worried about the needs of the people. He was
honest and very committed. He worked in conditions you
cannot even begin to imagine."
Rami Abdurahman, head of the monitoring group the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, told the BBC that Dr Moaz, 36,
was the last paediatrician in the rebel-held part of Aleppo
and another was to be sent on Thursday to take his place.
Syria
Deluge of Bombs on Aleppo: Massacre of Civilians, including
women and children, and Slaughter of FSA Resistance
Fighters.
Assad's Shiite-Hizbullah-Alawite forces Still Unable to
Advance, Suffer Heavy Casualties.
[Sources : Human Rights observatory, Reuters, the Guardian,
Syrian regime propaganda.]
Daily bombing of Muslim areas of Aleppo by Russian jets,
Assad's air force and helicopters, and shelling by long
range artillery has destroyed the city's civilian facilities
including hospitals, mosques, waterworks, electricity and
bakeries. The city's Islamic resistance forces, mostly
factions of the FSA, have suffered heavily but are still
functional enough to stop the entry of Assad's forces into
Aleppo.
United Nations' calls for cease fire were ignored by Assad
and the Russians who claimed they were only bombing
"terrorists."
USA actually appears to have tricked FSA factions by
bringing about cease fire through Russia in Lattakia and
around Damascus. It helped Assad to release forces from
these areas to add to the push against Aleppo.
However by May 1 when the Hizbullah-Iranian advance on
Aleppo faltered again, Assad started bombing around
Damascus, Hama and Idlib again.
The Syrian Observatory has computed these figures for
civilian deaths caused by Russian-Assad-Hizbullah-Shiite
attacks in the 30 days of April:
A total of 859 Muslim civilians, including 143 persons under
the age of 18, and 118 citizen women above the age of 18
were killed as follows:
410 including 61 children and 56 citizen women killed in
raids by Syrian and Russian warplanes and regime's
helicopters on several areas of Syria, and
113 including 23 children and 20 citizen women killed in
shelling by the regime forces and using rocket and artillery
shells, and missiles believed to be ground-to-ground and
snipers, and
28 men were killed under torture in Syrian security
prisons, and
13 men including a young man were killed by the airstrikes
of the International coalition's [American] warplanes
Muslim resistance factions, mostly FSA who are pro-West,
also suffered heavily including more than 700 killed. It
could have been a wipe out but al-Nusra and ISIS are holding
back Assad's forces from the south and the east.
[Unfortunately they also oppose each other.]
Assad's forces, mostly Alawites from Lattakia, Shias from
Iraq and Afghanistan, Hizbullah from Lebanon and Iranian and
Russian "advisers," could not advance and suffered heavy
losses at the hands of Nusra and ISIS mujahideen including
about 500 killed.
ISIS has advanced again in the Yarmouk camp corridor to
Damascus and Deir ez-Zour [south east Syria] but could not
break out owing to Russian air strikes.
The Muslim factions FSA defending Aleppo tried to retaliate
for the Assadi bombing by firing rockets, mortars and heavy
machine guns into segments of the city controlled by
Alawites and YPG Kurdish Communists killing scores of
civilians.
Fighting is also reported for two weeks from Qamishli in the
extreme north east of Syria between Assad's garrison there
and Communist Kurds [who control most of the city] with
losses on both sides.
News Within the U.S.
New York
How Racist Ideology Plays out in America: Officer given
Probation and Community Service for taking a Life.
by Sis. Aisha [Jamaat al-Muslimeen]
As expected, officer Peter Liang was given a light sentence
for taking a life. The Asian judge, who presided over the
trial, sentenced Ex-cop Liang to 5 years probation and 800
hours community service. The Black prosecutor, Kenneth
Thompson, gave this Asian judge an opening to give a light
sentence. Asians are a very small percentage of the American
population and it is very odd that an Asian judge was
assigned to this case involving an Asian officer. These are
one of the instances that lead people to understand that
this outcome was planned all along. Criminal trials
involving police misconduct are never left to a jury decide.
Everything is mapped out between their defense attorneys,
the prosecutors, and the judges. The Black community be
d--ned!
Micheal Greys, one of the panelists on the popular show
Community Cop, questioned if the Asian Community would have
been as vocal against officer Liang's being charged and
convicted had he killed a White person? Greys, a former
corrections officer, does not believe that would have been
the case. White supremacy is a world wide phenomenon and it
has affected the psyche of many people from different
cultures. Many people do not respect Black life or the life
of their own people when compared to White people. But,
Black people are on the bottom of the racist hierarchy.
Racist hierarchy: You have White (Caucasian), Yellow
(Central Asian), Red (Native American), Brown (Latino),
Black (Africa/Southeast Asian). White supremacy is the root
of racism and rules have been created to make the illusion
of White supremacy appear real. Many cultures all over the
world have learned and promoted this man-made social
structure. Allah plays no role in this at all. It is a shame
how people give other people power to humiliate and oppress
them.
The truth is that the police force, all over America, has
been militarized and activists, who are aware of it, have
been trying to alert the general public for years. The
police can be seen wielding their might against citizens at
these World Trade Conferences or any other political event.
No community will be spared when it is decided that will be
the norm for everyone, including assaults and killings with
impunity. Racism continues to be a successful tool for
division in Western society, especially America.
New York
Jahar: Short Film Review
An Alternative View of the Alleged Marathon Bomber. Loyalty
or Treachery? Did he do it?
by Karin Friedemann [Boston]
On Saturday, April 23, 2016 I attended the Tribeca Film
Festival in New York City to see the 13 minute student film
entitled, "Jahar" at the Bow Tie Cinema in the neighborhood
of Chelsea.
TribecaFilm.com/filmguide/jahar-2016
"In the days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a young man
must come to terms with the fact that one of his friends is
involved," reads the blurb on the Film Fest schedule. The
director, Henry Hayes, was born and raised in Cambridge, MA.
He moved to New York in 2011 to attend NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts. He now lives in Brooklyn and works as a commercial
editor.
The screenwriters were Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Henry Hayes.
The cast was only four actors: Devante Lawrence, Andre Ozim,
Andrew Raia, and Alberto Rosende.
The film starts out with the young men watching the TV news,
which is announcing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother
Tamerlan as the Boston Marathon bombers. Then it cuts to
"Two Years Earlier." Jahar is portrayed as a short, dorky
white guy, even though in reality he is over 6 feet tall. He
is shown in high school being ridiculed. "What kind of name
is Dzhokhar?"
His friend defends him, saying, "His name is Jahar." His
friends, two black and one white, treat Jahar in an
inclusive, yet condescending way. "That's my nigga right
there," says "Mo" as they hang out in the basketball court
smoking blunts. "That's my boy, my brother." They also call
him "Jizz," which Jahar was clearly not comfortable about.
Their conversation is vacuous.
In Jahar's mother's version of events, Tamerlan told her he
was on his way to pick up Jahar from school, when the police
started chasing them. In this film version of events, Jahar
gets a call on his cell phone after his friends asked him
for a ride somewhere. "Sorry, I got to go help my brother,"
he says. "Help him with what?" they ask. "I don't know,"
Jahar answers and leaves.
Without any transition, the film cuts to the three friends
minus Jahar standing back on the basketball court in
communal shock, contemplating what had just happened.
Only Jahar's friend, "Mo" was loyal. "Who was the one who
drove us all home that night after the party? Eight drunk
guys and one in the trunk and he was able to get us past the
police. We know him," Mo insisted. The "Mo" character is
supposed to be the screenwriter, Zolan.
But the other friend says, "I don't know man. Do we really
know him?"
"That's our boy, that's our nigga," Mo continues to
insist.
The film ends with the FBI asking Mo, "What was he
like?"
After the film, native New Yorker Karina asked the director
and artists if deep down inside they may think he's
innocent? Any time in their mind did they ever think he was
framed?
"They both said no they do not think he's framed, they
believe he's guilty, and both looked at me like I had 10
heads. Rude, and clearly ignorant, making a film without any
real research into the case," Kitty told NT. "I'm pissed at
the producers who are so arrogant... They loving the success
of this while their "friend" is on death row for something
he didn't do."
Whether he was innocent or guilty, one would expect more
personal concern from true friends. It was a very
disappointing reaction, since the movie was actually quite
moving regarding the one friend's defense of Jahar. It made
me think a lot about loyalty.
Clearly, these young men were capitalizing off the fact that
they knew the Boston Bomber in high school, without engaging
in any character development or political challenge. The
film seems quickly thrown together rather than deeply
thought out. It only made the festival due to the high
profile content. The line-up for the Question and Answer
session had more participation from the makers of Jahar than
from any other producers of short films, which added to my
impression that the film was receiving special treatment.
Zolan has now been given a job writing for the Boston Globe,
at a time when many writers have been laid off.
"Seems strange that he would be right in with the propaganda
media. Maybe that's the deal they offered him if he went
along with the official narrative. The look on the actors
face playing him at end made you think he got scared at that
point," Karina told NT.
It was, on one hand, somewhat daring to stir up sympathy for
the accused. However, the filmmakers' demeanor afterwards
just made me think of traitors. Because if your friend truly
did something like that, you would want to ask him why. Or
if you believed he was innocent you would stand by that. The
film gave the impression of some students that knew him
superficially and decided to make themselves popular by
using him.
"What was their point of making the film? For a different
perspective? Why do they care about portraying a different
perspective if they believe he's guilty? More questions than
answers for me," said Nicole, who had driven from Vermont to
see the film.
Guantanamo
Portraits of Injustice/Voices of Victims of Repression : Abu
Zubaydeh. The Nation (4/25): The CIA Waterboarded the Wrong
Man 83 Times in 1 Month.
[A good lesson for those who think the CIA runs the World --
NT Editor]
None of the allegations against Abu Zubaydeh turned out to
be true. That didn't stop the CIA from torturing him for
years. He had the dubious luck to be the subject of a number
of CIA "firsts": the first post-9/11 prisoner to be
waterboarded; the first to be experimented on by
psychologists working as CIA contractors; one of the first
of the Agency's "ghost prisoners". And as far as we know, he
is still in solitary detention in Guantánamo.
National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms
P.O. Box 66301
Washington, D.C. 20035
