[Biggest
Islamic
web site in the
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P.O. Box 356, Kingsville, MD 21087.
Phone: 410-435-5000.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are not necessarily
shared by editorial committee.
Responses (positive or negative) up to 250 words are welcome.
Names will be withheld on request.
--------------------------------------------
Ref: our article on
WOMEN:
EQUAL, AHEAD or in
HELL?
"...this is excellent stuff - especially the
pro-Muslim women pieces.
keep up the good work."
yvonne [England]
Ed. Note: Yvonne Ridley is the journalist who was
captured by the Taliban and
later had the moral courage to write against
stereotypical versions of the
Taliban.
--------------------------------------------------------
Dr Kaukab Siddique:
Thank you for your response
to women in
Hadith.
There is
one thing left here, why do women have to strive
hard to go to heaven, even
something like telling their husbands that you
are never good (wrong or right)
can send them to hell but men have it easy? They
can bring 3 more wives
implying that first is not good enough for
whatever reason and will enjoy the
eternity in heaven. Another thing which I am not
clear is the last speech by Prophet
(PBUH) which states to be firm with women. The
whole speech is wonderful about
race and human equality but when comes to women,
it is recommended firmness.
Thank you!
PS: I don't agree with everything you say but I
like your stand on women,
very progressive compare with other religious
groups including your favorite
Maulana Maudoodi. I have posted this response on
APPNA's
list (Association of
Pakistani Physicians).
Ghazala Kazi
West Virginia
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The Fate of a Prominent
Palestinian
in the
U.S.
AbdelHaleem Ashqar Fears he Will be Handed Over
to
Israel
Tortured by Israel, Refuses to Allow his Words
Before U.S. Grand Jury to be
used to Persecute Palestinians
Dear Respected Brothers and Sisters:
Alsalam Allaikum
Alhmdulilah Always
Yesterday, I appeared in front of Chief Judge
Kocoras in the Federal court in
Chicago
in an issued related to the Grand Jury.
Unfortunately, Judge Kocoras
ruled to jail me in civil contempt** charges
(Refusal to testify in front of
Grand Jury). However, the Imprisonment will be in
effect after two weeks due to
our request to appeal Judge's ruling to the court
of Appeal (7th Circuit
Court). The imprisonment for civil contempt is
designed to coerce the person to
testify and it will last for the lifetime of the
Grand Jury, but not to exceed
18 months or until the judge is convinced that
the person would not change
his/her mind.
Thank you for your Duaa
Abdelhaleem Ashqar
------------------------------------------
Background
On Tuesday 6/25/2003, I appeared before a Grand
Jury sitting in Chicago at
Northern District of Illinois, pursuant to a
subpoena served upon me and refused
to answer any question and made the following
statement:
My Statement to the Grand Jury
Chicago, Illinois
6/25/2003
I respectfully refuse to answer any question put
to me other than my name,
address and occupation on several grounds:
Most Important
To do so would violate my long-held and
unshakeable Religious, Political and
Personal Beliefs
Second
Any answer I might provide could and would be
given to Israel and would be
used by Israel against me in an unfair illegal
and politically motivated
prosecution for my beliefs and associations and
Religion
Third
Having been tortured before by Israel for my
beliefs, associations, and
Religion, any answer I might provide could and
would be given to Israel which would
once again torture me as a result of such answers
Fourth
I have been for years the subject of widespread
electronic surveillance which
is illegal and being used by the Grand Jury to
prepare for and to question
me. Approximately, five years ago, I was
subpoenaed to appear before a Grand
Jury in New York regarding what I believe to be
the same subject matter as this.
At that time, I refused to testify and I was held
in contempt and jailed for
six months
I began a hunger strike as soon as I was jailed
and maintained that strike
until my release leaving me with permanent
medical problems.
It is not my intention to obstruct justice or to
interfere with any matters
under consideration by this Grand Jury
As I said I can not answer any question today
just as I refused to do so five
years ago for the reasons I have set forth. I can
not and will not permit my
answers to be used against my friends, relatives
and colleagues who have
committed no crimes or wrongs but are being
singled out for their involvement in
the struggle for our political legitimate rights
as recognized under
international law. I would rather die than betray
my beliefs and commitment to freedom,
justice and democracy for Palestine and
Palestinians who have been homeless for
more than 50 years.
I will never give evidence or cooperate in any
way with Grand Jury, or any
other, no matter what the consequences to me
Then, I was granted immunity and appeared before
the Grand Jury again and I
reiterated my stand and read the aforesaid
statement. Finally, I was directed
in front of Chief Judge Kocoras who found me in
contempt of court, which is
known as civil contempt. Instead of jailing me on
the spot, the judge per the
request of Mr. Stanley Cohen-my attorney decided
to give the attorney some time
to challenge the legality of electronic
surveillance as well as to jail some
one twice in civil contempt. The judge will make
a ruling in the issue in
August, 13, 2003 in the Federal court in Chicago.
However, the government threatened
to file criminal contempt charges and obstruction
of justice for refusal to
testify. Also, the previous conditions prevailed:
to report to FBI twice daily
by phone; not to leave the state or the country
and to report to INS twice
weekly.
**Civil contempt involves the violation or
disobeying of a rule or order, and
is not a criminal charge. The legal purpose of
confining a person for civil
contempt is to coerce the witness to answer
questions. Accordingly, US laws
provides that one can be held in civil contempt
only when there is a substantial
likelihood or realistic possibility that the
witness will testify.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRAQI
CIVILIAN DEATHS REMAIN UNREPORTED
By Mohammed Ozeir,
Pacific News Service
Excerpted
A review of the Arab press –– counting only
deaths that were a direct result
of armed U.S. or British actions, and taking care
not to double-count
fatalities –– reveals that since May 1, the day
President
Bush
announced the end of
major combat operations in Iraq, 245 Iraqi
civilians have been killed as a
direct result of military action or war-related
events.
This number is small when compared to the
estimate of civilian deaths from
the entire war, compiled by British-based Iraq
Body Count, which put the number
between 6,086 and 7,797. The extensive
cross-checking and conservative methods
used to obtain this estimate can be reviewed at
www.iraqbodycount.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conservatism Confused with Religion by many
Muslims
ADVICE to Muslim Woman: There is no Priestly
Class in Islam
Stopping Women from Entering a Mosque Violates
Islamic Teachings
Dear Sheryl
Assalamu alay kum
In view of the variety of viewpoints that a new
Muslim can be exposed to, it
is imperative that one understands the thought
process to judge whether what
someone is saying is correct or not.
The most remarkable thing about Islam is that
knowing what is right or wrong
is not the sole domain of a priestly class who
makes laws for the Muslims'
community. All Muslims have the right to examine
the sources from which a
law is derived. To do this one does not need to
have a degree from a
religious institution but the opinions of the
scholars is certainly most
useful.
The sources of Islamic law are:
1.
Quran.
An English translation of the Quran
will be useful. I suggest
the commonly used translation of Abdullah Yusuf
Ali. The Quran is the word
of God verbatim.
2. Hadith or the sayings of the Prophet (pboh).
There are 6 major books of
hadith. These are Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu
Dawood, Ibn Majah and
Nasaai. Although there are some hadith which are
unauthentic, the hadith
have been subjected to severe scrutiny.
Therefore to determine if what has been said is
incorrect my advice is as
follows:
1. Determine from the person if what he or she is
saying is in terms of the
Quran. Determine the chapter and verse number and
check it for yourself.
2. If the person says the ruling is from the
hadith then you should ask
him/her the name of the book of hadith (i.e. one
of the 6 mentioned above)
and the hadith number. If the hadith is in
Bukhari or Muslim, the probability
of it being authentic is very high. You can then
ask a learned person as to
the authenticity of the hadith. You could also
refer your question on the
hadith to Dr Kaukab Siddique who I have copied on
this e-mail. He has
already done much research on the hadith. His
e-mail address is
KSidd37398@aol.com.
It is sad that in your area women are not allowed
to pray in the mosques.
During the time of the Prophet (pboh) women were
allowed to attend
congregational prayers.
I trust that you will find the above guidelines
of some assistance.
Was salaam
Adam Seedat [South Africa]
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2003-08-17 Sun 15:39ct