Shawwal 11, 1425/ November 24, 2004 #115
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SIX FASTS IN SHAWWAL
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) used to fast on six days during the month of
Shawwal.
[Source: Sahih Muslim.]
The purpose is to build on the month long fasting in
Ramadan.
As the
Hadith
implies, it is meant to prepare the Muslim to be in a condition of
fasting and awareness throughout the year.
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SUDANESE
CHARITY ORGANIZATION COMPLAINS OF UNJUST and ILLEGAL ACTION BY the
U.S
November 22: Speaking to journalists in Khartoum, Sudan, Director of
the Islamic African Relief Agency
[IARA],
Muhammad Ibrahim Suleman, said that the U.S. government did not
investigate the charity or inform it that there were any charges
against it. Just before Ramadan, the five man office of IARA in
Columbia, Missouri was suddenly closed down by the U.S. Suleman said
that we learned from the
MEDIA
that the U.S. was charging IARA with links to Osama bin Laden and
terrorism. The Director said there is absolutely no basis to the
charges against IARA.
[New Trend
analysts say: The U.S. imaking making big propaganda about
"genocide" in Darfur, Sudan but it closed down a charity which was
actually helping the people of Darfur. The message seems to be: No
Islamic charity should be permitted to help the suffering Muslim ummah.]
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"IMAM" W. D. MUHAMMAD's KUFR: He Cannot accept that there won't be
any Messenger after Muhammad [pbuh]!
[Eyewitness account.]
On November 10, 2004, speaking at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania,
W.D. Muhammad, who is often presented in his own magazine
Muslim Journal
as the "leader" of the
Muslims of America,
declared with great emphasis that it is wrong to believe that there
will be no messenger after Muhammad [peace be on him]!
Very few students and none of the Muslim faculty attended the meeting,
but the Muslim students who were there were shocked to hear
W.D. Muhammad's beliefs from his own lips.
The belief that Islam has been completed and perfected is CENTRAL to
Islam. When Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani tried to claim that "revelation"
could come to him too, the Pakistani people led by Maulana Maudoodi and
others had a popular law passed that anyone who claims that there was
a prophet or a messenger after Muhammad [pbuh] cannot be considered a
Muslim
[To be continued.]
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MARGARET HASSAN's KIDNAPING and MURDER WAS OPPOSED BY ALL
ISLAMIC
RESISTANCE GROUPS.
The murderers USED it to DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF
FALLUJAH
By Yvonne Ridley
[The writer is a journalist of international stature.]
[Exclusive to New Trend.]
I hate conspiracy theories. Most have their roots in the realms of
fantasy and generally serve no real positive purpose at all.
For instance, so many people are in denial that the
9/11
hijackers were Muslims.
Why can't people just accept that 19 brothers turned up at the right
airport, at the right time and boarded the right planes ... yeh, I
know it's pretty unbelievable - but the truth often is.
If we believe some conspiracy theories, the Pentagon was never hit
... well if that's the case it developed a severe termite problem on
September 11 2001!
But every now and again some event happens which really does defy all
logic.
For instance, let's examine the brutal kidnap and murder of
Margaret Hassan.
On the surface we have an Irish-born woman with dual British and
Iraqi
nationality who is picked up from the streets of Baghdad as she goes
about her work for a charity.
What sets Margaret aside from other westerners is that she was not
really Irish or British ... she'd gone native.
Margaret was married to an Iraqi and had lived in Baghdad for 30 years.
She had also reverted to Islam.
So in many ways you would have expected her kidnappers to have released
her almost immediately on realising the Westerner they had seized was
actually of more use a free woman than a hostage.
Instead there were harrowing vidoes showing Margaret Hassan to be
pleading for her life. The videos were slightly different to the other
videos we have been shown, but the horrific content tends to cloud such
minor details.
People were outraged and shocked. Ordinary Iraqis took to the streets
and marched, demanding her release ... it produced international
condemnation of the Iraqi resistance wholesale.
The propaganda was immensley powerful and the harrowing Margaret videos
certainly had impact.
Media
commentators roundly condemned the hostage-takers and all sections of
the Iraqi resistance found itself covered with the same black propaganda.
The images were so dreadful it took many peoples' attention away from
the impending massacre of Fallujah. The timing of her kidnap and
release of the videos could not have come at a better time for the US
military planners who were about to lay Fallujah to waste.
This deliberate, and selective focusing on Margaret, repeated frequently
on the television news must have had an awesome impact on the viewer.
Indignation about Fallujah would have melted away, the anger being
effectively replaced by outrage and horror as we watched Margaret
pathetically pleading for her life.
The heart-rending pleas of Margaret were in vain. She is now believed to
be the first woman killed by kidnappers.
But there are certain aspects about the Margaret videos which make me
feel slightly uneasy.
Firstly all sections of the Iraqi resistance denied any role in
her captivity from the outset.
Then we were told that the much-feared and ruthless resistance leader
Abu-Musab Al-Zarqawi issued his own statement ordering her release.
(If this man tells you to jump you ask: "How high?").
Now let's face it - Al-Zarqawi cares less for public opinion than
George W Bush or Tony Blair so why would he try and distance himself
from this particular kidnapping?
Furthermore, another statement issued by his group emphasised that
they don't hold women prisoners unless they are revealed as spies.
In fact many of their keys demands have focussed on demanding the
release of the women who are still being held captive by the US military.
Should Margaret have been uncovered as some sort of secret agent her
head would have been lopped off quicker than you could say 007.
Furthermore, no group has claimed responsibility, which is unprecedented
in relation to previous cases of hostages.
And then when her body was found it looked as though she had been shot
in the back of her head and her corpse mutilated.
The mutiliation of a dead body is a total no-no in Islam, it is beyond
scholarly debate, it is simply forbidden. And while the finest Islamic
minds in the world can argue about the merits of executing Westerners
(yes, the
Qur'an
does say Smite the enemy at the neck), messing around with a dead body
is totally out.
So we now have to ask ourselves just who did kidnap Margaret and for
what purpose?
And can I just remind you all, I do know what I am talking about.
During my 10 days in the hands of the Taliban, a dodgy dossier making
me out to be a super spy was handed over to my captors.
Whoever compiled all the phoney intelligence went to extreme lengths
to make a very convincing case that the Taliban had indeed arrested a
key intelligence officer and not a humble journalist.
I have since discovered the clumsy attempt was the work of Mossad
and American intelligence. But in my efforts to track down the authors
of the dossier I have since been told not to take it too personally!
Apparently my demise - the more violent my death the better -would have
silenced the growing anti-war movement in America and Europe and would
have provided the West with some additionally powerful propaganda
depicting the Taliban as brutal, evil and haters of women.
Thank Allah my captors saw through the nonsense - and that is one of
the main reasons I was released so quickly to the shock and awe of many
Westerners.
But let's return to Baghdad.
Remember the two Italian women taken hostage who were released once it
was verified that they were innocent of any collaboration?
According to my man in Baghdad, women are treated with courtesy
and respect by the
Mujahideen,
just as I was by the Taliban.
Since money was not demanded, you can rule out criminal gangs.
Examining the videos in detail, Margaret's captors did not use the
same flags or same modus opperandi as the others, and there were no
Qur'anic recitals.
You know I can just sense the clumsy hands of the bungling intelligence
services at work again.
Please don't let Margaret's death divert your attention from the real
war crimes being carried out in Fallujah.
And if you think I've seriously lost the plot, please read a
newly-published book by Jon Ronson called: The Men Who Stare At Goats.
It is a clever, detailed investigation into the increasingly bizarre
activities of a small group of highly placed men in US intelligence.
And it reveals the extraordinary legnths these people will go to, to
win your hearts and minds over this obscene war in Iraq.
Next time you switch of your television, beware - because you could be
the next target of mind-bending, thought control police ... that is if
you haven't been targeted already.
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Strategic Studies
Kerry Admits Osama Video was a factor in his Defeat
Destruction Of Fallujah in 12 Days Indicates
Bush's
Next 4 Years
by Butshikan [Idol Breaker]
Many Muslims still don't realize it but President Bush's first four
years were years of defeat for his policies. He puts on a brave face
and says, we toppled the Taliban and removed Saddam Hussain. That's too
simplistic an explanation for what happened. Here is the harsh reality
of his first four years and the implications it has for his second
four years.
-
Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and al-Qaida in general escaped
intact from
Afghanistan
in spite of the most powerful bombing campaign launched by the U.S.
Tora Bora indicated not only the grandeur of American firepower but
its futility in the face of well organized non-State Islamic resistance.
-
The Taliban were not toppled. They left power voluntarily to save
Afghanistan's cities from the wrath of the U.S. air force. However,
their armed formations remain intact. The result is that Karzai rules
Kabul alone and that too under U.S. protection. Nearly 80% of the Pashtun
areas, the majority of Afghanistan, support the Taliban and likeminded
groups. Owing to their absence, the recent "elections" were bogus.
-
Saddam was easily removed but in 1998 he had made an alliance with
Islamic activists and had prepared Iraq for defense AFTER OCCUPATION.
The result is that today Sunni Iraq fights back against overwhelming
American force.
-
The U.S. captured hundreds of Islamic activists around the world but
these were all "suspects." No one of signifance was captured. The only
U.S. successes have been through General Musharraf who purged his
intelligence agency [ISI] of Islam-leaning elements and seized Khalid
Muhammad, Ramzi al-Shibh and others.
-
Worldwide Al-Qaida has been on the offensive, striking Australians
in Bali, Spaniards in Madrid, Saudi and Euro-American elites in Riyadh
and European and Turkish elites in Istanbul, etc.
[The Australians withdrew from Afghanistan after the Bali attack and
the Spaniards from Iraq after Madrid was treated like the US. had
treated Kandahar.]
-
The most frustrating experience for the U.S. was the inability to
catch anyone directly related to the 9.11 attacks which were more
destructive than anything in U.S. history.
All of America's power structure was impacted by the 9.11 attacks.
Muhammad Atta and his commando killed 3000 elite Americans , inflicted
trillions of dollars damage and left the best intelligence agencies in
the world looking foolish. The President and the Vice President of the
country had to seek shelter from attackers who were interested in
houris in Paradise rather comfortable middle class lives.
-
When a despised enemy strikes a deadly blow and gets away with it, and
that too at a power which has no equal in the world, the results had to
have been well calculated. It was something like Nat Turner slaughtering
the slave masters and their families. There was no question of the slave
masters giving up slavery. He had to be killed.
The only problem was that Osama did not wait to be killed. His entire
team, with the exception of Atef and the family of Al-Zawahiri, who
were killed in U.S. bombing raids, everyone else disappeared.
-
The U.S. did what any deeply goaded, superpower would do. It launched
its military might first at Afghanistan, and then at
Jewish
signal, at Iraq. These were helpless target and the attacks were simply
meant to show that the U.S. was still a superpower. The plans to attack
the two countries were already well laid but they took blatant shape
in response to the 9.11 attacks.
-
JUST BEFORE ELECTION 2004, Osama spoke again. New Trend was the ONLY
analyst to point out that it was a move to help Bush win.
[New Trend published its report on the Osama video under the subject
line "Osama Stunner...]
The video seemed to be supporting Kerry but it gave the American
people the impression that Osama was still a threat
[a Nat Turner threatening great America].
It gave Bush the edge he needed in a tightly fought race.
-
As New Trend pointed out in its coverage of election results, we are
entering an era of open ended war against Islam. Within 12 days, the
U.S. wiped out an entire Islamic city, Fallujah. With blood flowing in
the streets of Iraq, the U.S. is planning to carry out "elections"
similiar to the ones held by
Russia
in
Chechnia
and by
India
in
Kashmir.
It can be done: All the U.S. has to do is to kill, wound, capture and
terrorize the Iraqi people, and then reward and "elect" the renegades.
Unlimited funds are available to buy people who are either hungry
or sold out or scared to death.
-
WHERE OSAMA FAILED: The Muslim masses did not rise up after 9.11.
None of the pro-U.S. rulers have been toppled.
The dictators, generals, tyrants and Kings have HAILED BUSH'S RE-ELECTION
because their survival is linked to four more years for him.
Osama's FAILURE is linked to the role of
Iran
which effectively spread this idea among Muslim elites that the 9.11
attacks were carried out by by the Jews
[or in its American variation by Bush himself].
-
Hence, many Muslims had no idea why America was so angry at Muslims.
In
Pakistan
and other countries, peaceful demonstrations were held against
"U.S. aggression." Analysts of demonstrations say that people
demonstrate only when they expect something from the one they are
demonstrating against. OSAMA's FAILURE was that the Muslim elites did
not see 9.11 as the beginning of the war between America and Islam.
They could not conceptualize the idea of standing up against America
[hence the conspiracy theories.]
-
But OSAMA's STRATEGY is winning in the long run. The RE-ELECTION of
Bush means that Muslims will either have to fight back or accept slavery.
Bush means business. The attack on Fallujah in Ramadan, the desecration
of mosques, the crescendo of attack on the blessed night of Ramadan
[lailatul qadr]
indicates an open challenge to Islam and the Muslim ummah worldwide.
-
The Fallujah assault is also a signal to America's agents, all the way
from Musharraf to Saudi Abdullah to Jordanian Abdullah, to
Egypt's
Mubarak, to India, to Russia, to step up their attacks on Islam more
openly and boldly.
-
This open and blatant assault on Islam is a strategic blunder by Bush.
The Muslim masses are in no mood to be cowed down. In Iraq itself,
the destruction of Fallujah has raised the level of resistance instead
of crushing it.
-
Bush seems to have picked up his strategy from Sharon. The Israeli Jews
use tanks to shoot at Palestinian teenagers. Sharon had Shaikh Yassin,
a quadripalegic in his wheel chair, assassinated, and went on to kill
a whole range of Palestinian Islamic leaders. Bush seems to have been
very impressed. Unfortunately for American strategy, Bush did not
notice that Sharon's murders did not crush the Palestinian spirit of
resistance. In fact, more Palestinians support Hamas and Islamic Jihad
than ever before.
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Christians who do not Support
Israel:
The Presbyterians
On the Web at:
http://www.divestmentproject.org/index.shtml
"The Somerville Divestment Project focuses on grassroots organizing in
Somerville, Massachusetts. Our goal is to pressure our city to withdraw
its money from companies that help Israel commit extensive and ongoing
human rights violations.
"We have great news. The Presbyterian National Assembly just voted
491 to 62 for divestment, and we are using this to propel our outreach
forward in the communities of faith. Archbishop Desmond Tutu's moral
call for divestment is at the heart of our campaign.
"We call on our cities, towns, states, as well as unions and socially
responsible investors to divest from Israeli bonds and companies which
provide the arms and equipment to carry out Israel's military occupation.
To this end, we have submitted a Socially Responsible Investment
Resolution to the Somerville Board of Alderman. We are grateful that 8
out of 11 Aldermen have chosen to co-sponsor this resolution.
"Please, support our work to uphold human rights and contribute today.
Calendar
November - December
Nov. 30 "An Evening in Algiers" Fundraiser Details here
Dec 7th Aldermen's Legislative Committee Meeting - City Hall
Dec. 9th Full Board of Alderman Meeting - City Hall more
"New on the Site:
"A Voice from Israel: Shamai K. Leibowitz
"As an Israeli citizen and former tank gunner in the Israeli army, I
feel the need to explain why I, along with many other Jews, support
divestment from Israel.
"We are asking the city of Somerville, as well as other cities and civic
institutions, to divest from companies involved in selling arms,
bulldozers and military technologies that are used to by the Israeli army
to commit war crimes against
Palestinians.
As people committed to human rights for all, we call upon Americans to
demand that their tax-dollars are not invested in companies that sell
equipment and ammunition that fuel Israel's consistent and appalling
violations of international law and human rights.
"As a young soldier serving in the Israeli army, I was ordered to
commit war crimes in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. My platoon
meted out collective punishment on whole Palestinian communities, shot
live ammunition at unarmed civilians, killed women and children,
enforced prolonged curfews, creating humanitarian disasters, arrested
and detained Palestinians without charge, demolished their homes, and
arbitrarily destroyed crops and property.
"Being an eyewitness to these war crimes led me eventually to announce
my refusal to serve in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 1994. But
the Israeli government, unaffected by the growing 'refusenik' movement,
has continued the dehumanizing Occupation. More than 3.5 million
Palestinians continued to live under a military regime and were subject
to bombings of neighborhoods, extra-judicial killings, torture, home
demolitions, unlawful detentions, deportations and a myriad of human
rights
violations.
"Dozens of Jews were among the many supporters of the divestment
resolution who gathered in the Somerville City Hall on Monday Nov. 8. I,
and several others, spoke in favor of this resolution, saying that it
is precisely because we are Jews and because we truly care about Israel
that we are asking the City of Somerville to pass this resolution. All
of us present in Somerville were profoundly hurt when accused of being
"anti-Semitic" or "anti-Israeli". People abusing the concept of
"anti-Semitism" in order to support the Israeli government's
racist
policy towards the Palestinians do nothing less than desecrate the
memory of those Jewish victims of real anti-Semitism.
"I have heard too many times the argument that "now is not the time to
divest because Israel is involved in a peace process". The "peace process"
argument was used for dozens of years as an excuse to continue
inflicting suffering, humiliation and destruction upon the Palestinians
in the West Bank and Gaza. It is high time to do away with this myth.
"It has become clear that even during the Oslo process, Israeli
governments pulled the wool over the world's eyes. Israel continued
to resettle its own citizens on confiscated Palestinian land in the
Occupied Territories, in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, while at the same time entrenching a cruel military regime
in the same areas and punishing 3.5 million Palestinians.
"It became the primary objective of Israeli propaganda to hide the
brutal reality of Occupation. To this end, Israeli governments constantly
came up with "peace plans" and built a sophisticated "we only want peace"
propaganda machine. However, over time, many of us who lived in Israel
and visited or served in the Occupied Territories, saw the reality for
what it is: Israel was intensifying an oppressive military regime over
millions of Palestinians who were denied all human, civil and political
rights, while building more Jewish-only settlements for Jews who enjoyed
full civil and political rights.
"As an Israeli thoroughly familiar with Israeli politics, I believe that
selective economic pressure is the most effective way to end the brutal
Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and bring peace and security to
Israelis and Palestinians. If the Jewish people are ever to become "a
light unto nations" (Isaiah 42:6), and return to their core values of
justice and human dignity, Israelis and Jews of conscience must call
now for effective measures to end the Occupation of millions of
Palestinians. I realize how hard it is, conceptually, for American Jews
to support divestment, but they should understand that these painful
measures will eventually lead to the path of peace and security. The
call for divestment reflects true loyalty both to Israel's peaceful
existence and to the highest Jewish values. I call upon the Jewish
community, as well as other communities, in the US - if you really want
to see in your lifetime Israelis living in peace with Palestinians -
unite with us behind divestment resolutions."
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2004-11-25 Thu 17:51ct