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Ramadan 15, 1426/October 19, 2005 #78
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Pakistan's killer quake: Siddique tries to corner the Sage
on "why it happened" but is strongly rebuffed. See below.
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Top Legal Expert Looks at Saddam Hussain's Trial
On October 18, 2005 New Trend contacted Ramsey Clark,
former attorney general of the United States, and asked
him about the preliminaries to the trial of President
Saddam Hussain which are receiving heavy
publicity in the mainstream media.
Mr. Clark made the following points:
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The court set up to try Saddam Hussain is a colonial court.
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The court is the creature of a conquering power, not an independent court.
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Iraq is a highly polarized society, certainly not conducive to a trial.
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The judges appointed to the court are not impartial.
They need to be subjected to careful scrutiny.
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In the circumstances, the whole thing is a charade and a show trial.
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New Trend's analysis is that the trial is big diversion
to make people forget the daily war and the great suffering
of the Iraqi people facing occupation. Sharon, the butcher
of Sabra and Shatila, should be on trial. Instead we see
the Lion of Baghdad being treated like a criminal
because he would not bow down in front of
Israeli control of the Middle East.
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Bringing Hope to Earthquake Survivors in Pakistan-Kashmir
Unprecdented: 100 women doctors from Jamaate Islami
are working in the eathquake death zone of Muzaffarabad,
Bagh and Balakot. They have brought with them, food,
tents and medical supplies. Then on October 13,
Jamaate Islami's women leaders entered the area
to supervise the relief work. These are
Dr. Kausar Firdaus [Senator], Sis. Aisha Munawwar
and Sis. Sameeha Raheel Qazi.
Another 50 doctors [men] have been sent by Jamat ad-Da'wa.
This movement, led by Hafiz Saeed, has by now pumped in Rs.
20,000,000 of relief supplies into the area.
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War News: Iraq [From Our News Monitor]
Tight Military Occupation: Heavy Fighting
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The U.S. carried out the drama of "voting" on a
"constitution" in Iraq on October 15. All of America's
150,000 troops were mobilized for the event.
Traffic was stopped. Curfews were imposed in each city.
Road blocks were set up.
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Before the "voting" the U.S. carried out a major
offensive to kill opponents of the U.S.-installed clique.
Five cities in western Iraq were smashed by the iron
fist of the U.S. military. Nearly 1,000 civilians
and 38 "insurgents" were killed as reported by a
variety of sources. Several thousand people were arrested.
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Tal Afar saw two martyrdom operations just before "voting" day.
Thirty Shi'ite mercenary troops were killed in each
attack for a total of 60.
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After the "voting," widespread fighting continued.
The U.S. reported that 35 U.S. troops were killed in
the 10 days between October 6 and 16 bringing the
total killed to 1982 plus 14,900 wounded.
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U.S. air strikes killed 70 civilians in western Iraq
on October 17. The U.S. says they were insurgents.
Hospital sources say they were civilians. It appears
that large numbers of Iraqi civilians are learning to
make IEDs to fight the U.S.. Twenty of them were killed
by the U.S. when they were watching a demonstration on
how to make one. Another 20 were killed when they were
celebrating around a U.S. vehicle in flames and were missiled.
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On October 7, British forces arrested 12 men from
the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr.
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AFGHANISTAN :
TALIBAN HAVE the INITIATIVE:
Taliban mujahideen have scored a victory against U.S.
backed Karzai troops. U.S. TV reported that 17 Karzai
troops were killed in the fighting and 30 wounded.
According to Fox TV, a 4th U.S. helicopter went down in
Kunar province on October 9. A U.S. commander admitted
that a previous helicopter crash in which 5 U.S. troops
were killed was downed by hostile fire. There are
indications that the Taliban who had infiltrated the
Karzai forces have deserted to the Islamic side with
some heavy weapons after getting training.
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IRAN: EXPLOSIONS in AHVAZ region
In mid October, there were explosions in Iran's Arabic
speaking province abutting Iraq. Iranian analysts suspect
that British special forces are involved in these terroristic acts.
Earlier British intelligence officers were uncovered in Basra
[Iraq] preparing explosives and dressed as Arabs.
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OCCUPIED PALESTINE:
Three Israelis were killed and six wounded by Palestinian
resistance fighters in drive by shooting on the West Bank.
Earlier the Israelis had murdered an activist
of the Islamic Jihad movement.
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CHECHNIA:
MAJOR ISLAMIC ATTACK on RUSSIAN FORCES
On October 15, mujahideen under the command of
Shamail Basayev launched attacks on Russian military
and police headquarters in Nalchik, a town in southern Russia.
At least 146 Russian troops and police as well 36
mujahideen were killed. Observers say, the audacity
of the raid shows that the Chechen mujahideen are making a big comeback.
Russian leader Putin is claiming a Russian victory
but is unable to let outside observers enter the town.
He claimed 96 mujahideen killed but later brought it down to 70.
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Beslan School Massacre for Which Chechen Muslims were
Blamed was Carried out by Russian Forces.
[U.S. media are refusing to publish this report issued by AFP on September 28. We give it here uncut.]
A witness questioned in the trial over the Beslan school massacre
said an armoured vehicle belonging to the Russian security forces
opened fire at the school before a blast blamed by the
authorities on the hostage takers unleashed a chain of events
that claimed the lives of many hostages.
Beslan resident Kuzbek Turbinov, 64, told the court he saw
an armoured transport vehicle fire at the school where the
hostage crisis was unfolding before the blast occurred,
contradicting the authorities' official version.
He witnessed the event from his home, located just opposite
the school, at a time when hostages were still inside, he
said at the trial of the sole surviving hostage taker,
Nurpashi Kulayev.
"On the third day (of the hostage taking) four men from the
security forces went to remove bodies (in front of the school).
A hostage taker came out of the building, and when they
started carrying the bodies away, an armoured transport
vehicle fired at the corner of the school building," Turbinov said.
"The fire was so intense it blew the corner of the school
building to bits," he added. Answering a question from the
prosecution, he said: "The blast occurred later."
Survivors of the massacre and relatives of those who died
have long questioned why the gymnasium of the school where
most hostages were held for three agonising days was engulfed
in a blaze that claimed so many lives as the crisis climaxed.
The authorities have blamed the hostage-takers for detonating
bombs, forcing Russian security forces to storm the building.
But relatives blame the security forces for using weapons that
were brutally indiscriminate as they tried to flush out the
militants, such as incendiary grenades, flame-throwers and
tank shells. The authorities have denied such claims.
The Beslan school massacre, which occurred just over a year
ago, claimed the lives of 318 hostages, including 186 children.
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Three Translations of the Qur'an Posted
http://newtrendmag.org/quran.html
Thanks to our web master, New Trend's web site now
links to the three translations of the Qur'an,
by Yusuf Ali, Pickthall and Shakir.
Scholars say that no translation of the Qur'an can equal
the Arabic original. Hence researchers should use more
than one translation to arrive closer to the orignal meaning.
The complete translation of
Imam Bukharis's Sahih
is also available on New Trend's web site.
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A Sage Answers more Questions about the Killer Quake in Pakistan.
With 54,000 dead, will we still go on as before?
Make a New Beginning, Otherwise it'l Get Worse. 75,000
Pak troops are helping USA; only 5000 are in the quake area.
by Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D
As the death toll rises steadily in Pakistan, I get gloomier
and gloomier. My co-workers have started noticing it. A
friend asked me: Are you okay? I put her off by joking that
perhaps fasting was getting to me. The secretary at my job
thinks I might pass out from the fast and wants all
cookies and cakes to be covered up when I am there.
I decide to talk to the Sage once again. I am bothered by
some holes in the argument he had given me the last time
we talked. The 21st century cynic in me wants to pin him
down and make him see that the Islamic argument about
the killer quake is not valid.
The Sage must have sensed that I was going to challenge him.
He fired off a volley of rhetorical questions based on our first dialogue.
The Sage: Are you going to say that Pakistan did not
betray Islam and the people of Islam?
No, said I.
The Sage: Are you going to say that the atrocities of the
Americans backed and supported by your government were morally minor?
No, said I.
The Sage: Are you going to say Pakistan's leader is not
the agent of a foreign power?
No, said I. My objections to your discourse are much deeper.
Your arguments are misleading.
The Sage: Are you going to tell me that the earthquake happened
because of a shift in the geographic base plate in the area
which has been hit?
Yes, said I. Can you deny it?
The Sage: But you know, dear professor, that Allah is the
Causer of causes. You think he can't make the land move?
But, said I, why are so many people dead? It's too much!
The Sage: "Every soul shall have a taste of death..."
[The Qur'an 3:185]
[I started getting upset and said]: Are you saying, these
innocent people are being punished by a God who is
Merciful and Compassionate?
The Sage: No. "Only on the Day of Judgement shall you be
paid your full recompense..." [The Qur'an 3:185]
Then why this horror, if it is not punishment, I said in a louder voice.
The Sage: "Whatever good [o mankind] happens to thee is from Allah.
But whatever evil happens to thee is from thyself. And We [Allah]
have sent thee [O Muhammad] as a Messenger to instruct mankind,
and enough is Allah for a witness." [The Qur'an 4:79]
[I was still angry. I said]: Don't preach. Explain.
All these poor people killed. Why do the poor have to suffer?
The Sage: What makes you think they were poor. Don't you know
that the rich suffer as much as the poor? You think the
rich do not have children?
[I sensed he was turning the tables on me. I asked:]
Are you saying now that these people were not poor?
The Sage: Do your research professor. We Pakistanis have
more information than you do. Here, I'll give you some from
Daily Khabrain of Lahore [October 13]. It reports that numerous
relatives of affected families in the quake stricken towns
of Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot and Bagh live in America. It mentions
that one family in New York has lost 22 relatives. Others who
lost relatives live in Virginia, Long Island, Queens. Peoples
Party officials living in the U.S. have lost many relatives.
Go to Buffalo, New York, and you'll meet Kashmiris living in
palatial homes. So the suffering, when it comes, strikes
everyone, not just the poor.
[I was flabbergasted. He continued relentlessly.] Read your
own New York Times, professor. It talks about families in
Staten Island who have received cell phone messages from
the stricken area and are sending aid tagged
specifically for their families.
[But, but, I tried to interject. He brushed me aside and continued.]
You are a journalist. Watch carefully. Did you notice that
most people were killed when their solid, heavily built,
houses fell down on them? These were not poor people living
in shacks and huts. Their property was so heavy that it
was a problen to dig them out.
But Sage, I interjected, what are you trying to say.
The Sage: Simply give up your theory that these were poor people.
But Sage, said I, my objection to your argument is much deeper.
Can you possibly deny that these were religious people? Is it
not true that they pray and fast and the quake took them while
they were fasting? If Allah blesses people who fast,
why were they killed in such a hideous way?
The Sage: You are forgetting your Islam. The faith begins
with the rejection of human authority; it says no to all
false gods; it begins with a big NO [la]. It teaches Jihad.
It says, Muslims must sacrifice their own lives rather than
accept dictatorship and dominance by the kuffar. The quake
victims were sitting across the line from occupied Kashmir
where millions of Muslims have been terrorized by the Hindus.
Muslim women have been raped, and what was their response?
O Sage, you are cruel!
The Sage: Reality is cruel! Instead of joining the jihad,
these people were moving to America and England.
Thousands did. The rest were trying to go.
But Sage, you can't deny that they pray and fast,
perhaps more than people in Karachi and Lahore.
The Sage: Dear professor! Don't you know that most Pakistanis
pray and fast? Do you know what the Prophet Muhammad, pbuh,
said about people who pray and fast but are not steadfast for Haqq?
I dared not say a word.
The Sage: "There are three signs of a hypocrite. When he speaks,
he lies. When he promises, he breaks his promise. When he is
entrusted with a trust, he breaches the trust, even though he
may fast and pray and consider himself a Muslim."
[Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, narrated by Abu Huraira, r.a., in Sahih Muslim.]
You are cruel, O sage!
No dear professor, my eyes too are filled with tears as are yours.
I am afraid that if even a cataclysm of such magnitude,
with 54,000 dead, will not change our nation, then we do not have
a future. It's a blessing that the Islamic groups are leading
the relief effort. Those men with long beards and women with
Hijab are there in the area of death, working day and night to
take care of the injured and the survivors.
Your American media are dishonest. They will never report that
the people in the lead are the servants of Allah.
Don't you see, dear professor, how shameless your original
country's general is? He is bringing in American helicopters
and publicizing their relief work on Pakistani TV. What a shame!
These are the killers of your Muslim brothers and sisters.
One day they shoot missiles at Muslims and the next, the
General brings them in as saviors of Pakistan.
Go and do your research. Do you know that 75,000 of the
Pakistani army are on the western frontier helping America:
while only 5000 reached the stricken area.
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Disapproving Letters [2 items]
[Re: Jamaat al-Muslimeen's refusal to meet in a mosque with a flag on it.]
Dear Dr Siddique, I am not commenting in detail on your flag
problem in Chicago. Even though, I think it is hypocrite for
a person, who is living and making earning and obviously
paying taxes in a kafir country, to make a big fuss on the
flag. Although does not surprise me since you are the same
person who prohibits people from voting but gets very
happy when Bush's approval rating goes down.
I am also quite appalled at your response at earthquake in Pakistan,
the great tragedy for innocent people. You seem to relate this
tragedy to foreign policies of the country in one digest and
never mention anything about it in your next magazine.
The main reason for writing you this email is your calling
secular , kafir. I am appalled at this. In general terms, word
secularism is used for separating religion and state. I consider
myself a secular since I am a firm believer of this separation.
I don't want to impose my religion on other people but I
consider myself religious when it comes to practicing it on
myself. Your loose definition or fatwa of kafir is dangerous
and divisive. I am sure you can also be called kafir by calling
Muslims and ahla-e kitab kafir but I would leave this to
another maulvi to call you that.
Ghazala Kazi
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Letter
Re: "Jewish Scholar Does Not See Two State Solution to
Middle East Conflict: Unusual Opponent of Israel"
I found this article difficult to follow.
The main point seemed to be that there was an earlier
definintion of Zionism that didn't entail colonisation. Also,
that the earlier settlers had originally accepted that they would
have to negotiate with the Palestinians to live there.
Other than that I couldn't make out much.
Perhaps you can summarise the main points.
- About Musharaf being a foreigner in Pakistan. Perhaps you
should elaborate. How is he more foreign than Bush in a ghetto?
I don't have TV where I'm living at the moment.
- Why are you blaming politicians for trying to score political
points out of the earthquake. Isn't that what they are meant to do?
Where do you draw the line between being a journalist
"with an agenda" and being a politician yourself?
Salaam,
Shoaib
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2005-10-19 Wed 18:38ct
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