Shawwal 19, 1425/December 2, 2004 #117
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Scroll down
for HEAVY new fighting in Fallujah censored by most of U.S.
Media
but reported on ticker by a few.
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NEW BOOK RECEIVED
JOY of Islam. An anthology of Praise by Hadayai Majeed,
published by Author House, 2004. $13.
An excellent collection of poetry by Muslim girls and women.
Very well produced. A good holiday season gift for young people.
Beautiful cover design from a 7th grade student's drawing.
Order from
New Trend..
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Important books, difficult to obtain in the open market:
LUCASVILLE. THE UNTOLD STORY OF A PRISON UPRISING by Staughton Lynd. ,
Temple University Press, 2004. $16.
Powerful account of the inner workings of America's prison system.
Includes the story of Siddique Abdullah Hasan who rose from the ranks
of the oppressed, America's victims, to educate himself in Islam and
become an Imam.
Order from
New Trend..
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HITLER'S WAR by David Irving. 985 Pages, numerous rare photographs. $50
A blockbuster of a book. In World War II, there were no angels on
either side. This book is a must for those who want to understand
what is going on in the world today because today's world is linked
to the World War. A painful lesson in the meaning of modern
Germany's
ongoing support for
Israel.
This is a must for every good library. Although it is the only war
book on based on original documents and not on secondary sources,
it is being kept out of public libraries.
Order from
New Trend..
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Big Improvement in 68 Year Old Muslim Woman's Case
Outreach necessary, say local Muslims
By: Daniel Bayer
Carolina Peacemaker
Originally posted 11/23/2004
Sheik Badi Ali
of the Triad Islamic Center, thanked Greensboro
Mayor Keith Holiday and Police Chief David Wray at a press conference
last week for their "sensitivity" to the city's Muslim community
following the arrest of a 68-year-old woman that resulted in her
suffering a broken arm and mild heart attack, but still said the
police need to review their policies in handling senior citizens
and people of non-Western cultures.
"We are not here to place blame or judge, but to build bridges
toward dialogue and solutions," said Ali, who quoted both the
prophet Mohammad and a U.S. founding father Benjamin Franklin
in his statement.
Wray, who also spoke at the press conference, said that the officer
involved, R.R. Neal Jr., has been cleared of any misconduct. Wray
said that police interviewed 21 witnesses and viewed a videotape from
an in-store security system during their administrative investigation.
All evidence has also been forwarded to the office of District
Attorney Stuart Albright for review, said Wray.
According to police, Afaf Saudi was arrested and charged with resisting
police officers and assaulting an employee of
Wal-Mart
on Battleground
Avenue after she refused to leave the store when asked to by management.
Saudi's son Sam Helmi, however, said his mother became upset when she
found $150 missing from her purse and demanded that the store manager
call the police. Though the police have not released any details of
their investigation, Saudi's injuries, which also included cuts and
bruises on her arms from police handcuffs, apparently occurred while
officers and store personnel were attempting to remove her from the
store using a wheelchair.
While praising Holiday and Wray, Badi said that the incident points out
the need for better communication between different groups in the
community.
"The community and its business establishments need to train their
staff in how to interact with all members of our community," said Badi.
"We want the police department intervention to be a last resort."
Badi also said the police should review and revise their policies to
avoid injuring "the weak and elderly" in the future.
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Montreal Perspectives
By Jalaluddin S. Hussain
The biased
media
and Jewish organizations must apologize
Bush visit: reaction could be unpleasant!
George W.
Bush,
the re-elected President of USA, will be coming to the Canadian capital,
Ottawa, on November 30, 2004. Hopefully, everything will go on smoothly.
However, things on the ground do not seem that pleasant. From the very
beginning of President Bush's first mandate, Canada has been on the
wrong side of the fence. Canada was against the American invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq and was for equitable balance in trade relations.
The fear is that when President Bush comes to Ottawa he will be booed
and heckled vociferously not only by thousands of angry demonstrators
and peace marchers but also by our elected representatives when and if
he will address them.
Canadian
offensive against Byrd amendment
The Liberal government, at the Centre, has threatened to launch a
trade offensive against Washington that could lead to duties that will
double the price on a number of U.S. goods, such as newsprint, wood
products and seafood. This latest Canada-U.S. row is the result of a
US law deemed illegal by the World Trade Organization. According to
this law, known in trade circles as the Byrd Amendment, monies
collected by the US government from punitive import duties (including
that from Canadian imports) are funnelled into US companies, who
initiate trade complaints. In short, from WTO perspectives, this
Amendment is potectionist in nature and therefore against fair
international trade rules. It may be mentioned that the US payouts
related to money collected from duties on Canadian goods, totalled an
estimated US $ 17 million for the years between 2001 and 2003. If the
two-day Bush visit removes this Canadian-USA trade anomaly, it will surely
be a positive development. Also, it is important that the American
President is delivered the message in clear terms that we do not share
the military ambitions of USA and that we are against all illegal wars
waged in the name of international terrorism and also against becoming
partner in the Missile Defence Treaty being promoted by Washington.
the November 2004 issue of Alhijrah, the trilingual
(Arabic/French/English)
magazine of Montreal's ethnic communities has commented on
"The Coren Tape" issue and has demanded apologies from Canadian news
media
outlets, dominated by the
Zionist
media conglomerate, Canwest Global. Subsequent to the airing of
Michael Coren TV Show, on October 19, 2004, the Canadian news media
launched a relentless and unfair attack against the Canadian Islamic
Congress and its President, Dr. Elmasry. While it was widely reported
that Dr. Elmasry, in his October 19, 2004, TV interview said" All
Israelis over 18 were legitimate targets for the suicide bombers",
the preposterous statements made by Mr. Adam Aptowitzer, the then
Ontario Chairman of the Binai Brith Institute of International affairs,
in the same program, was not printed. Even when the Ontario Chairman
was forced to resign, he got his defence statement published in the
Israel Asper's family newspapser,
National Post.
The Canadian Islamic Congress rightly and strongly feels that a timely
process of forgiveness and healing (Dr. Elmasry has already apologized)
has to start between Canada's Muslims , Jews and other groups, who took
offense after the Michael Coren affair. In view of this the Canadian
Muslims demand that the Canadian Jewish Congress, B'nai Brith and the
Canadian media, should offer CIC, its President, Muslim and the Canadian
public in general, a sincere apology for their unfair and unbalanced
treatment of both Dr. Elmasry's and Mr. Aptowitzer's remarks.
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WAR NEWS: [Compiled by our Media Monitor]
IRAQ:
HEAVY New STREET FIGHTING IN FALLUJAH
U.S.
Losses Now 71 Killed 525 Wounded in
Islamic
Stalingrad
December 1, 2004: U.S. losses for November were 133 killed in action
[Source: MSNBC].
Of these 71 were killed in Fallujah.
[Fox TV
news ticker].
The 16 marines killed and 25 wounded were the result of ongoing and
intense street fighting in Fallujah during the last 4 days, much after
the U.S. had announced that the conquest of Fallujah had been completed.
For several days a convoy with relief supplies had been waiting outside
the city, appealing to the U.S. to let the civilian population be helped.
However, the U.S. has been saying that there are no civilians in Fallujah.
Then on November 29 the U.S. felt that the convoy should be let in and
thus ADMITTED THAT LARGE NUMBERS OF CIVILIANS ARE TRAPPED INSIDE THE CITY.
Unfortunately the convoy could not move into the city because new
fighting erupted.
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WHAT is the SIGNIFICANCE OF FALLUJAH in ISLAMIC HISTORY?
New Trend's
analysts say that in some ways Fallujah is more significant than
Vietnam and Stalingrad. In Vietnam, the Vietnamese had the support of
two major powers, China and the USSR. They had sophisticated weaponry
and secure supply lines.
In Stalingrad, both the
Russians
defending the city and the Germans fought very well.
However, the German supply lines were overextended and the Russians were
able to mobilize huge reinforcements which finally outflanked and
trapped the German army in the middle of the intense winter.
The Islamic forces cannot count on any of the Arab regimes. In fact
these regimes are solidly in the pocket of Uncle Sam.
Iran
has its own agenda and is patiently waiting for the U.S. to wipe out
Islamic resistance so that a pro-Iran entity might emerge in southern
Iraq led by Ali Sistani. The resistance in Fallujah, and the rest of
Iraq, is poorly armed, although it is much better off than the totally
defenseless Palestinians. The Iraqi
mujahideen
are few in numbers. No vast armies here, but they have extensive support
among the masses of people. The most important aspect of the resistance
is the Islamic spirit of Jihad, leavened by "foreign fighters" who are
volunteers from across the Muslim world.
Fallujah has changed the Muslim view of the future. Nearly 1500 Islamic
fighters held a city against 20,000 of the most powerful military force
in the world. The Americans firepower has demolished the entire city
but after three weeks, the Islamists are still fighting.
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AFGHANISTAN:
[From our monitor of Urdu language papers.]
JALALABAD: A Major Error by the U.S.: 5,000 Call for Release of
Muslim
Woman
On November 27, there was a demonstration in the city of Jalalabad by
hundreds of people calling for the release of an Afghan woman who had
been arrested by U.S. troops in a raid on a suspected Taliban home in
the countryside.
On November 28, the number of demonstrators grew significantly. Observers
put the crowd conservatively at between 5,000 and 6,000. The Karzai
police opened fire killing a 12 year old girl in the crowd. The crowd
then marched on the police headquarters and started setting fire to
police vehicles.
By that evening the woman had been released.
On November 30, notables from among the people of Jalalabad met
American military officers and demanded that the U.S. release Maulvi
Inayatullah and his brother whom the U.S. accuse of working for the
Taliban. They are from the Hizbe Islami movement led by Hikmatyar.
The city notables said that Inayatullah is simply the khateeb (preacher)
in a mosque. They said if being a Muslim and an Afghan means being
Taliban, then we are all Taliban.
[Observers say that the developments in Jalalabad are important because
this is a city which does not support the Taliban. The local culture is
very complex and old. It cannot cope with the simplicity of the Taliban.
However, gradually a spirit of resistance to America is emerging. The
U.S. made a major error in arresting an Islamic woman who is Pashtun.
The report also indicates women's quiet support for the Taliban jihad.]
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Unusual Eid
Khutba
[Excerpts]
Given by Dr. Waheeduddin Ahmed
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Evangelicals, the Jews and the Inept Leadership of
U.S. Muslims:
As Muslim World Emerges from Colonialism
Now let us take a look at the Islamic Ummah, its past, its present and
the future. In talking about the past and the present, my intention is
not to indulge in annual lamentation and usual diatribe; but the fact
is that we cannot even attempt to shape our future without a full
appreciation of the historical significance of our past and an
understanding of the present situation.
The past 300-400 years of Islamic history could be divided into
distinct phases. The first phase was the beginning of the decline of
the Islamic civilization. Some say that it began in the 17th century,
when the siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks failed, which gave the
Europeans a respite, then allowed it to recover and then surge ahead
resulting in the Industrial Revolution. Subsequently,
Turkey
became the Sick Man of Europe. The Islamic civilization, by now
suffering from fatigue, like all civilizations do after a period of
glory, soon receded into irrelevance and then morphed into morbidity.
The European maritime powers made their appearance in history with
their deep-hulled ships circumventing the Horn of Africa, established
mercantile connection with the Orient, which brought them knowledge
and riches. Their material cultures were enormously enriched and they
forged ahead in industry and technology. The will to survive as small
trading parties in alien and often hostile environment inculcated in
them a sense of military discipline and the need to have superior
weaponry. They became a formidable military force and assumed increasing
aggressiveness and arrogance.
At the beginning of the Nineteenth century, the Ottomans had lost all
their European territories. Their defeat in WW1 ended the Khilafa and
the colonization of Muslim lands began. Almost all the Muslim lands,
from the west coast of
Africa
to China in the east and the steppes of Russia in the north to the
Malaysian Archipelago in the south, with the questionable exception
of Turkey, Arabia and Iran were under European occupation. This meant
that the Muslim peoples, instead of being participants in the industrial
and technological development, became its raw materials; instead of
being beneficiaries of progress, they became its servants. Thus, they
fell out of steps with the advancement of civilization. This is
illustrated from the fact that in 1956 in Tunisia, a country with four
million people, there were only 143 indigenous doctors and 41 engineers.
In Morocco, a country with a population of ten million people, there
were 19 Muslim and 17 Jewish Moroccan doctors and 15 Muslim and 15
Jewish Moroccan engineers. Some countries faired even less.
After the WW2 the colonial powers had decided that it was not necessary
to maintain a colonial presence in these countries for commercial
exploitation. They realized that there were many invisible forces,
which could perform this task for them. This included the oligarchy,
which emerged from the elitist upper middle class and which was
carefully nurtured for the purpose. So the colonialists left,
leaving a few military bases scattered in the region, which could be
used when and if their interests were threatened; and so they were,
when Musaddaq nationalized the oil industry in Iran and Nasser
nationalized the Suez Canal in
Egypt.
From then on the politics of oil has pretty much dominated the lives of
the people in the Middle East. The interests of the oil consumer became
paramount. The government, the culture, the economies and social
relations were all subservient to the interests of the consumer, who
resided in Europe and America. Now, the world consumption of oil is
rising steeply each day with the rising population and the ever
increasing number of motor vehicles in the Third World. To ensure the
unhindered flow of oil, the constancy of the regimes deemed friendly
to the West must be maintained. The nature of the regime is central to
the constancy of the oil supply. If the conditions are not favorable,
then there must be a regime-change. This is a kind of slavery imposed
on the people of the Middle East from outside, a people imprisoned
in their own homeland, with their own governments as watchdogs, no slave
ships, no chains, no whips, just bondage, which is equally brutal and
equally inescapable.
This is the overall historical picture my dear friends. Iraq, Iran,
even Afghanistan and
Palestine
fit in this picture: Afghanistan, since it sits at the crossroads of
different civilizations and cultures and through which, the future oil
pipelines, connecting Central Asia with the rest of the world must run;
and Palestine, which must be sacrificed and its flesh thrown to the
dogs to keep a constant state of turmoil and instability in the Middle
east as a means of nurturing the pro-west regimes.
Now, to make matters worse, a new element has entered this unwieldy
equation: Christian Evangelism. Christian Evangelists are hate mongers,
who make no secret of their intense hatred for Muslims and their prophet.
Unlike Jews, who can be pragmatic and practical and are worthy
opponents, Christian Evangelists are fanatical, uncompromising and
irresponsive to reason. Their Zionism on behalf of the Israelites is
unswerving and so dangerous as not to be acceptable to the Jews
themselves It is either the greatest misfortune of history or prelude to
a disaster of historical proportions that they have an advocate and
adherent, who is now the President of the Unites States of America, a
country considered to be the greatest military power on earth. It is a
boon to the Evangelists that they now have another Constantine in a
new Byzantium.
In classical times Muslims used to divide the world into two camps:
Darul Islam and Darul Harab, Darul Islam for dominions, where Muslims
were in political power and Darul Harab, where they were not, but which
they would wish to bring under their control. Although this was not by
any means a classification based on the
Qur'anic
principles, it was nevertheless a de-facto classification, as Muslims
were the most dominant force in the world.. Today, these terms of
reference are invalid and irrelevant, since we do not have a defined
domain. If anything, Darul Islam has been converted into Darul Harab
and Muslims are fighting street battles in their homelands with non-Muslim
invaders.
Our relationship with the land in which we live is based on the fact
that we chose to come here, with apologies to those of our brothers and
sisters, whose predecessors were brought here in chains. We, the
immigrant Muslims came here to acquire material benefits from it. With
a few exceptions, given a choice, we would chose to remain here and not
return to our home countries. To us this land is not Darul Harab but
Dar-al-Da'wa. We must practice our way of life and if there is any
value in it, we would impart it to others Two years ago, the Muslims
of America entered a period of considerable difficulty and uncertainty.
It was a crisis of immeasurable proportions. We endured and God willing
we shall prevail. However, if we look back we shall find that at such a
crucial time when we needed a leadership with political awareness,
knowledge and above all wisdom, we found it lacking. Our leadership
was just not up to the task. We went through two general elections, one
in 2000 and one in 2004. Our leaders acted amateurishly, childishly and
often foolishly. The test of the leadership is that it should come from
the grassroots. It should sense the political climate. It should be
well-informed, knowledgeable and have its finger on the pulse of the
nation. It should have a vision and be capable of seeing the way in
darkness. Sadly, it proved that it had none of these. With the delusions
of numerical strength, it was obsessed with electioneering. The lack of
knowledge of our leaders was so profound that they did not even know
in 2000 that the Christian Right was a constituency in America, which
made or broke the presidential hopefuls, a constituency, which was at
odds with our ideology and with our goals. They did not research the
demographics or if they did, their figures were grossly skewed. They
considered Jews to be their main and the only enemy. They ignored the
sensibilities of the African-American Muslims. So, they had a rude
awakening in 2004. In spite of the fact that Muslims, Jews,
African-Americans, Hindus and a majority of the Hispanics were on the
same side, they lost decisively to the side which, the Christian Right
came out in numbers to support. The bottom line is that we do not have
the numbers and will not have for at least another decade; and in
polarized politics we shall lose.
Muslims should not overindulge in speculations and put all their hopes
and energies in presidential politics. They should now pick up the
pieces and sincerely begin the task of institutions-building.
We have built plenty of mosques. Now let us start building our schools,
universities, hospitals, nursing homes, research institutions and
sports centers.
Lastly, let us ponder over an interesting question. Today is the First
of Shawwal or is it? Or was it yesterday or will it be tomorrow? The
Ulema tell us that fasting is haram on the first of Shawwal.
Therefore some people in Milwaukee did not fast yesterday, although
they are praying with us today, because they believed that yesterday
was the first of Shawwal. I wish the same Ulema were able to tell us
with equal certainty, what the date was today. This presumed uncertainty
about the date of the calendar is eating at the heart of the Umma a
wholesome meal and wouldn't let go.
The beginning of a lunar month is not to be astronomically determined,
although it is an astronomical event for every conscious creature which
inhabits the earth.
The lunar calendar is the only calendar, which is based on perception
and not on mathematics. Therefore, it was the basis for marking
religious festivities in every creed and now every creed, save Muslims,
has adjusted the calendar out of necessity. The Jews have done so, the
Christians have done so and the Hindus have done so. As for us, we have
a reason based on a
Hadith
not to do so, so at least it is believed. We
must see the moon to determine the date, but it is not necessary for
each one of us to see the moon. It is enough only for two people to see
it. But it is not clear whether those two people should be from the
same village or the same continent, or whether a country in the modern
sense has any validity in religion.
We are deciding all these complex questions on the basis of scant
original edicts. In the meantime the question, which is mockingly
persistant is that in the context of fasting being haram on the first
of Shawwal, did our Ulema help the people avoid committing a haram or
incite them to commit it? And if fixing the calendar is also haram,
which is the lesser of two harams?
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2004-12-03 Fri 19:51ct