Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Sha'aban 8, 1425/ September 23, 2004 #94
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DESPERATE NEED: HURRICANES HAVE KILLED MORE THAN 900 PEOPLE IN HAITI, and also destroyed parts of Grenada and Jamaica.
Please scroll down to end for Jamaat al-Muslimeen Brooklyn's call for help.
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YUSUF ISLAM [Cat Stevens] and IMPUTATIONS OF TERRORISM!:

New Trend condemns the abusive and crass way in which America treated Yusuf Islam. This gentleman is the most harmless of human beings and has never taken a strong stand on any issue. HE IS THE KIND OF PERSON AMERICA SHOULD GIVE A MEDAL TO. He has been rubbing his nose on the ground condemning the 9.11 attacks and even donated to the 9.11 fund. Under the Zionist takeover, America's friends are being treated as enemies. Whoever is running this country seems to have been blinded by the 9.11 attacks. The Yusuf Islam debacle indicates more of utter failure of intelligence and security chaos run amuck than hatred or bigotry [though bigotry did emerge on Fox's Hannity joke of a show.] Next Shaikh Kabbani might be picked up!]
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Luci Murphy Sings For the Martyrs of Sabra-Shatilla

Acclaimed jazz musician and long-time community activist Luci Murphy just returned from Lebanon, where she sang at a commemoration of the Sabra and Shatilla massacres. Luci, who is of African-American heritage, but sings in twelve languages, including Arabic, sees links between the struggles of oppressed Black, Native American, and Latino people in this country with the Palestinians. She is heard on "Sophie's Parlor," on D.C.'s independent radio station, WPFW. The community may indeed be proud of Luci's spirit of internationalism, in reminding the world of Ariel Sharon's genocide against the Palestinian refugees at Sabra-Shatilla, which continues today in the form of daily violence against Palestinians.

--N. Siddique
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A Muslim Woman Responds to New Trend's note on Madonna

As Salaamu Alaikum,

Madonna's album sales and concerts are not yielding what they were expected to yield. She get huge crowds but her shows cost a fortune to produce. She is getting older and no one wants to see any woman (approaching or over 40) without her clothes on in America. This is a very sexist society that exploits women (the younger the better) and will do all it can to discard all (if you have money or not) when you approach 40 (especially women).

Remember Cher, Tina and all the other divas (over 40) have retired. It is Madonna's turn and it is obvious she is not ready to let go and move on.

I hope she finds something to do that is constructive with her time and talent. She has a child now and that girl needs to see something positive from her Mom. Can you imagine having to explain the Sex Book (Madonna's contribution to literature and photographic art) as a child to your friends? "Wow, yo Mom's is a real freak!" Can you imagine the playground talk she listens to daily when her Mom's name is mentioned (scary isn't it)?

Since most of us (women) are not young or naive when we reach 40, the powers that be don't have much use for you. So you get tossed out (if you allow it) like smelly garbage. Madonna is fighting to stay on top in her field. The youngs are out there in large numbers unfortunately and in moving fast. Too bad they are using up a lot of important time and money for the wrong thing. America's decadence, sexism, racism and rampant moral corruption is its' downfall.

ma salaam
Hadayai Majeed
Just an observer.....
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NEWS FROM TENNESSEE

Jamaat al-Muslimeen Urges Muslims of America to Boycott Election 2004

JAZAKUM ALLAHU KHAIRAN!!! Glad to see this stated in a public forum. My husband was all but kicked out of a masjid for stating the same message at a masjid in Tennessee Friday night in response to the Imam recruiting people to vote after Maghrib prayer. Thanks for 'getting the word out'.
wasalaam alaikum

Sis. Lamyaa
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TINY CHECHNIA vs Huge RUSSIA

[With thanks to Dr. Hoorie Siddique.]

[Item number 1. Here is what Russia has been hiding from the world.]

CHECHNYA

The Politics of Terror

A report by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
November 22, 2000


The war in Chechnya is not over. More than a year after the federal troops first intervened, bombs, mines and bullets continue to kill civilians. Despite the illusion of normalization upheld by the Russian authorities, and the resignation of the international community, the violence against civilians is ongoing, and has merely changed its appearance. Data from Chechnya hospitals shows that the indiscriminate use of force is still causing many civilian casualties.

The war, which caused hundred of thousands to flee, has entered a new phase. After intensive bombing and massive destruction, the army, in the "re-conquered" zones, has turned a more vicious form. It has installed a state of terror, perpetrating acts of violence designed to humiliate civilians: arbitrary executions and mopping-up operations, arrests and disappearances, extortion, racketeering of cadavers...

The Russian forces have transformed Chechnya into a vast ghetto. In this ghetto, every civilian is a suspect, and freedom of movement is denied. Even the sick and wounded are prevented from passing through military checkpoints. And each and every checkpoint is a "Russian roulette" which puts their lives at stake.

In this ghetto, terror reigns. After having been subjected to months of intensive bombardment, the people of Chechnya are today exposed to the worst kind of violence. In the absence of a coherent international response and of sanctions against the perpetrators of these crimes, Chechen civilians, deprived of any kind of protection or recourse, are trapped in a confrontation with soldiers whose impunity gives them free rein to act as they please.

Confronted, on the field, with a terrorized population, and with needs that humanitarian organizations cannot meet, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has responded to the invitation of the Council of Europe, and has come here today to bear witness to the unacceptable events now taking place in Chechnya. The witness accounts - of medical personnel, residents, the sick and the wounded - were gathered by our teams between August and November 2000, during their relief work. Through their accounts of daily incidents, the witnesses portray the unbearable reality of the Chechen people's lives. They clearly describe the impossibility of dealing with medical emergencies, the perils faced by those who dare to seek hospital care, and the continuation of war...

[To be continued.]
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[Read this carefully. It shows how Jewish groups silence voices supporting Iraqi and Palestinian resistance under the label of "recruitment for terrorism." Germany is Israel's milk cow, slavishly allowing itself to be milked for World War II guilt. Muslims must study World War II and read both sides of the story - New Trend]

From: aliabunimah@yahoogroups.com

Berlin bans Islamic conference which calls for resistance in Iraq

Agence France Presse
20 September 2004

BERLIN Sept 20-- An Islamic conference organised by a group calling for resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq was on Monday banned from taking place in Berlin by the regional authorities.

The city's regional minister of the interior Ehrhart Koerting said the aims of the conference stated by the organisers overstepped the line of what was permissible in Germany.

The website of the "first Arab Islamic Congress in Europe", planned to take place on October 1-3, carries the title "No to US occupation of Iraq, no to Zionist occupation of Palestine".

Under the sub-heading "Stand up and perform resistance," the organisers call for the "liberation of all the occupied territories and countries in struggle against the American-Zionist hegemony and occupation".

A Lebanese citizen who is one of the organisers was deported from Germany on Saturday following an investigation into his membership of 'questionable organisations'.

The man, Fadi Madi, said on arriving in Beirut that the United States had put immense pressure on Germany to prevent the conference taking place.

"The high command of US forces in Europe put pressure on Berlin to attempt to have the conference cancelled," he said.

"We are accused of supporting the struggle of the Palestinian and Iraqi people against the Israeli and American occupation. They equate resistance with terrorism."

German Interior Minister Otto Schily had said he would do everything possible to prevent the conference taking place.

And on Friday the government announced it would not provide visas for anyone who gave attending the conference as the purpose of their visit to Germany.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish organization known primarily for its work in tracking down Nazi war criminals, which said the real purpose of the Congress is to recruit suicide bombers and raise funds welcomed the decision with "great satisfaction".

"This is a message to Islamists and Jihadists that they will not find it so easy to recruit young people to extremism and terror if governments in Europe demonstrate the political will to react," said a spokesman, Dr Shimon Samuels.

"It is a great victory for the forces of moderation.

"We know the company that Fadi Madi moved in and we know what could have been the result of holding this conference."

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany and the Islamic Council of Germany have distanced themselves from the event, saying they had not been invited to attend and did not know the organisers.
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Letters

Democrats are Better on Guantanamo Bay Prisoners?

Regarding the facts about positions of Republican and Democrat, you did not mention their attitudes towared Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Bush has dug himself into a corner over this. But if democrats were elected they would be in a better position to undo this travesty.

...shoaib
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Questions and Answers on Hadith

SHOULD WOMEN BE RESTRICTED TO THEIR HOMES FOR OBLIGATORY PRAYERS?

Br. Adam Seedat of South Africa has sent us the following ruling from a local association. Please read it carefully and then read the reply by Dr. Kaukab Siddique which follows it:

Sandton Islamic Association
94 Coleraine Drive
Duxberry
Sandton
Tel. 011 784 8196
Facilities for Females at the Sandton Jamaat Khana
Muhtaram, Assalamualaikum W.W.
Your letter dd. 26 July 2004 refers.
The following principles should be kept in mind in as far as providing facilities for females to perform Salaah at the Jamaat Khana:

A resident female should perform her Salaah at her residence. The Hadeeth states: "The Salaah of a female in the inner quarters of her house is better than her Salaah in the outer quarters of her house and her Salaah in her room is better than her Salaah in her inner quarters". [Abu Dawood]
Sayyidatuna Ayesha Radhiallahu 'Anha states: "Had Rasoolullah Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam seen what the ladies have introduced after him, he would have definitely prohibited them (from performing Salaah in the Masjid) like how the ladies of the Bani Israel were prohibited".
[Muslim]
[Mirqaat Vol. 3 Pg. 67]

A non-resident female visiting a Muslim home in the area should read her Salaah at the residence of that Muslim.

A non-resident female that is passing through the area or a traveler may read her Salaah at the Jamaat Khana. This could be done in a manner that she enters through the female section at the back whilst ensuring that there is no opportunity for her to intermingle with the male Musallees.

Thus, the female facilities as contemplated by the Jamaat are adequate enough for ensuring such privacy for a female Musallee.
AND ALLAH KNOWS BEST
Was-Salaam
______
Z. M. Pandor
for Darul Ifta
Jamiatul Ulama Tvl.
18 Jumaadal Ukhraa 1425
6 August 2004
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Reply by Dr. Kaukab Siddique

Authentic Hadith Make Role of Women in Mosques Equal to that of Men and Essential to the Islamic Functioning of the Mosques.

Jamiatul Ulama's Darul Ifta has carried out a serious violation of the rules by which Islamic texts are to be read.

Let's look first at the Hadith Darul Ifta has quoted:

'The Hadeeth states: "The Salaah of a female in the inner quarters of her house is better than her Salaah in the outer quarters of her house and her Salaah in her room is better than her Salaah in her inner quarters". [Abu Dawood]'
  1. Darul Ifta's ruling is incorrect even on the basis of the Hadith quoted above. This Hadith is not saying that women should NOT pray in the mosque. "Better" is a recommendation, not a command.
  2. Darul Ifta has not told us the COMPLETE TEXT of this Hadith. Nor has Darul Ifta told us that the Hadith was not about ALL women but about ONE WOMAN only.
The woman, referred to in a number of Hadith, was Umm Humaid (r.a.) a very poor woman who did not have the clothes to go to the Masjid and lived far away from the Masjid.
The complete text of what the Prophet (pbuh) told her is given in the Musnad of Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal [vol.6, p.371] as follows:

" Abdullah ibn Suwaid Ansari narrates from his mother's sister Umm Humaid (r.a), wife of Abu Humaid as-Saadi, that she said to the Prophet, pbuh, : 'O messenger of Allah, I want to pray with you when you are leading the prayer.' He (pbuh) replied: " I know you want to pray behind me but your prayer inside you house is better than praying in its outer quarters, and your prayer in your room is better than praying in the front of the house, and your prayer in your house is better than prayer in your neighborhood mosque, and your prayer in your neighborhood mosque is better than prayer in my mosque ....."

Those words of the Prophet (pbuh) do NOT say that she cannot or should not pray in any of the areas mentioned. It simply gives her choices. It meant that by praying in her room, Umm Humaid (r.a.) would get the reward which others got from praying even in the sacred mosque of the Prophet (pbuh).

Similarly, Abu Huraira, r.a., narrates that the Prophet, pbuh, permitted a blind man to pray in his home but then added that if the Adhan can be heard there, then respond to it. {Sahih Muslim, Sunan of Nasai , kitabus salat. [In those days, the Adhan did not carry very far owing to lack of PA system.]

This teaching was meant to bless and help ONE woman. It was NOT MEANT TO DENY WOMEN THEIR RIGHT TO PRAY IN THE MOSQUE.

How do we know? Numerous authentic Hadith point out the NORM and the GENERALLY ACCEPTABLE rules about women's right to the mosque. In fact Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim did not accept Darul Ifta's quoted Hadith into their canon because it is of very limited application and can easily be misunderstood.

Does Umm Humaid's hadith mean that for ALL women, the easy way out, staying at home, is acceptable? There is an absurdity here which boggles the mind. It would mean that the women taking the trouble to go to the mosque would get LESS reward than the one who stayed at home.

The teachings of Islam do not make a distinction between men and women when it comes to the response to Adhan. The prayer together is obligatory on ALL if they can make it to the masjid:

"Malik ibn Huwarith Laithi, r.a., narrates that the messenger of Allah, pbuh, said: When the time for prayer comes, then say the Adhan and the Iqamah, and the elder among you should lead." [Sahih Muslim and Bukhari. Sunan of Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, ibn Maja, kitabus salat in each case.]

Ibn Maja collected a Hadith which comes up to the standards of Bukhari, as follows:

"Ibn Abbas, r.a., narrates that the messenger of Allah, pbuh, said that a person who hears the adhan and does not respond to it without cause, such a one's prayer does not take place."
[Sunan of Ibn Maja, vol.1, p.137]

Obviously these are general applications and cannot be construed IN ANY WAY to leave women out.

Finally, what is the NORM of Islam about women praying in the masjid?
  1. First, the Prophet (pbuh) had to teach Muslims to get rid of the leftover idea of the pagan era that women were sources of corruption in holy places. [Before Islam, the pagans used to walk around the Ka'aba NAKED.] So the Prophet, pbuh, gave FLAT OUT COMMANDS, rejecting the idea that women should be stopped from going to the masjid. He said:

    " Do not stop the maid servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah." [Sahih Muslim, kitabus salat, Muwatta of Imam Malik.]

    "When the wife of one of you asks about going to the mosque, do not try to stop her."
    [Sahih of Bukhari, kitab-un-nikah.]


  2. Then the best of men, pbuh, took it further and said:

    " Do not stop women from going to the masjid AT NIGHT." [Sahih Muslim and Bukhari, Sunan of Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi, kitabus salat in each book]


  3. The norm is published even in the Hadith collected by Imam Abu Hanifa. [It is indeed great hypocrisy that today those who claim to be Hanafis deny women the right which their Imam recognized]:

    "The Prophet (pbuh) permitted women to go forth and take part in Fajr and 'Isha Salat." [Musnad of Imam Abu Hanifa.
Darul Ifta has also quoted this narration:
Sayyidatuna Ayesha Radhiallahu 'Anha states: "Had Rasoolullah Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam seen what the ladies have introduced after him, he would have definitely prohibited them (from performing Salaah in the Masjid) like how the ladies of the Bani Israel were prohibited".
[Muslim]

Darul Ifta did not realize that this is NOT a Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh). Even hazrat 'Ayesha, r.a., cannot take away what the Prophet (pbuh) has permitted. What the Prophet (pbuh) has permitted is FOR ALL TIMES to come. If we start claiming that such and such new development cancels the Prophet's (pbuh) ruling, that would uproot and destroy the entire DEEN of Islam.

Hazrat 'Ayesha's (r.a.) words should be seen as admonition, to set standards, not to prohibit what the Prophet (pbuh) permitted. The Prophet (pbuh) set standards and restrictions too. There are rules about going to the Masjid for men and women. For instance, for women, are these two restrictions: The following Hadith shows the norm [note the word "when," not "if"] and the standard of piety:

"The messenger of Allah, pbuh, said: WHEN you women come to participate in the 'ISHA salat [in congregation], you should not put on perfume." [Muwatta of Imam Malik]

"The messenger of Allah, pbuh, said, do not stop the maid servants of Allah from going to the mosques of Allah, (but) when they go forth they should not be wearing all their finery."
[Sunan of Abu Dawood.]

Darul Ifta hid the fact that hazrat 'Ayesha herself used to be in the masjid and she even gave adhan and Iqama and led women in prayer.

May Allah have mercy on Darul Ifta.
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THE CHALLENGE OF HUGO CHAVEZ

By William Loren Katz

[by special permission of the author]

To the sputtering fury of a Bush administration that has repeatedly conspired with Venezuela's elite to drive Hugo Chavez from power, the Black Indian President of this oil-rich nation has recently scored a decisive 59% victory over a recall effort.

Chavez now sits more comfortably than ever atop a fourth of the world oil supplies -- equal to that of Iraq -- and he supplies a fifth of US oil needs. In addition, he is current leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. George W. Bush would prefer his friends in Saudi Arabia rather than Chavez set global oil prices.

US attacks on Chavez caricature him as a tyrant in the class of Saddam Hussein, or a Marxist, or an anti-American clone of Castro. Actually, his populist uprising springs from multicultural roots that pre-date the foreign invasion of the Americas that began in 1492, and that has military and political dimensions.

Like four-fifths of Venezuelans, Chavez was born of poor Black and Indian parents. Since the days of Columbus descendants of the Spanish conquistadores who monopolized the governing councils of the Americas, have denied indiginous people a say in their future. Chavez represents a strong challenge to this.

Chavez is not only proud of his biracial legacy, but has begun to use oil revenues to help the poor of all colors improve their education and economic standing. He also flatly rejects Bush administration efforts to isolate Cuba, counts Castro a friend, and has repeatedly accused the US of meddling in his country and around the world.

Chavez rules a country where three percent of the population, mostly of white European descent, own 77% of the land. In recent decades millions of hungry peasants have drifted into Caracas and other cities, and live in barrios of cardboard shacks and open sewers. Chavez has begun to transfer fields from giant unused or abandoned haciendas to peasant hands, and as landlords have responded with howls of alarm, he has promised further distributions.

But he has repeatedly held out an olive branch to his foes. He recently stated, "All this stuff about Chavez and his hordes coming to sweep away the rich, it's a lie. We have no plan to hurt you. All your rights are guaranteed, you who have large properties or luxury farms or cars."

Chavez has begun to target the foreign oil giants who keep about 84% of Venezuela's oil profits. To attack the problems of his people in health, illiteracy and poverty, he has demanded 30%.

In 1998 and 2000 Chavez won the Presidency by majorities Republicans and Democrats here can only dream about. In 2002 he defeated a two-day coup attempt engineered by his local elite in alliance with US interests, and in the recent recall vote, more than 70% of voters turned out. Chavez's strength rests with his poorest citizens who have mobilized behind a broader agenda than his, one which includes participatory democracy and elevating the status of women.

Using rising oil revenues, Chavez has brought education to almost a million children who never sat in a classroom. And with 10,000 Cuban doctors, a gift from Fidel Castro, he has opened 11,000 medical clinics primarily in barrios.

Over the centuries South Americans have endured a crop of caudillos, or military dictators. Many who began office sounding a radical note were overthrown by the CIA or other foreign governments. Others remained in power by listening to American ambassadors. Though it is too early to tell, this former paratrooper seems to spring from an earlier age when Africans and Indians united to fight the European invaders who first marched ashore, and then continued the struggle for self-determination by political means.

For inspiration Chavez can reach back to the misty dawn of these earliest foreign incursions when his heroic Black Indian ancestors first rose to battle. Africans and Indians built maroon colonies based on economic self-sufficiency and resistance to the foreign advance, and some lasted for generations. By the early 19th century, the struggle to remove colonial domination picked up steam. In 1819 Simon Bolivar, of African and Indian lineage and the victorious revolutionary leader of South America, became the first elected President of Venezuela. Vicente Guerrero, a General in the Mexican Revolution helped liberate his country from Spain. Though the ruling elite denounced him as a "triple-blooded outsider," in 1829 he became Mexico's first Black Indian President, wrote its constitution, emancipated its slaves, ended racial discrimination and banished the death penalty.

Though his white foes also denounce Chavez as a racial outsider, the faces of his millions of supporters refute the claim. He continues to triumph at the polls, speak truth to power, and use oil revenues to meet his peoples' needs. He appears unconcerned that he has excited the fury of the Goliath to the north, and appears to relish his David role.

Time will tell if Chavez's programs and supporters can protect him from the machinations of his US enemies allied with his foes at home. Venezuelians have begun their own cultural revolution, and though it undergirds Chavez's political and economic advances, it may take some different directions.

Hugo Chavez and his people may yet write another chapter in the audacious book begun by Simon Bolivar, Vicente Guerrero and millions of other Africans and Indians of the Americas.
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Copyright 2004 by William Loren Katz, author of forty books, including BLACK INDIANS: A HIDDEN HERITAGE [Atheneum] from which this essay is adapted. His Black Indian website is: WILLIAMLKATZ.COM
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2004-09-28 Tue 21:37ct