January 2016 by Active Change Foundation

January 2016 | Issue 33

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Youth centre opening times – Mon – Thurs 1pm - 9pm Friday 2:30pm - 9pm

CON T EN T S How ISIS Promote their Ideology

Profile of Al-Nimr

Iran Funding

Bradford – The Untold Story

Bacha Khan University

Noor Islam Masjid Community Initiative

STOP BULLYING NOW!

London Marathon – ACF Needs You!

Sixth Former Wins Place at USA University

Social Media and Business

The Hayemaker!

True Love…

Business of the Month

Youth of the Month

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How Takfiris

(Those who declare/accuse Muslims

propagate their The propagation by those with these takfiri ideologies to spread their falsehood is done in numerous ways. From these ways are the following: 1. Belittling the affair of calling to Tawhīd (The Oneness of Allaah) Claiming that the ‘Aqīdah is generally known to most people. Some of them say that it is possible to understand ‘Aqīdah in as little as ten minutes. Rather, some have even stooped so low as to say that this (the persistence in the call to Tawhīd and the correction of ‘Aqīdah) actually causes division amongst the people. 2. Turning away from the scholars, abandoning taking knowledge from them, and distorting their statements, claiming they do not fully comprehend the current affairs. They claim the scholars are not qualified to solve the problems facing the Islamic nation today and that they refuse to stand up to face its true issues. 3. The distancing of the young people far away from the religious knowledge based on the Quran and Sunnah. They preoccupy them with such things as enthusiastic, fiery Nashīds (so-called “Islamic” songs) or whatever other issues are spread here and there of the various attractive ways, whether written, seen, or by audio.

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4. The belittlement of the leaders and those in authority and the public exposing of their faults or what some people assume to be their faults. They do this publicly on their pulpits (while delivering lectures in the mosques) and on the questionable satellite channels. They distort the texts commanding the obedience to the leaders to mean that such obedience referred to in these texts is only given to the main leader who has authority over all the Muslims in the world (and not the various individual leaders of each country). They forget, or pretend to forget, that all of the scholars and Imams unanimously agreed that this obedience is also incumbent during times of the existence of various separate Islamic countries. Even though each country may possess its own wealth, with its own rights and obligations dependent upon its respective leader; obedience to such a leader is still an obligation and revolting and rebelling against him is forbidden as long as he establishes the rights of Allah. This is an agreement that all of the scholars of Islam were united upon.

of being apostates)

ideology 5. Rallying together those with these theoretical thoughts who call to revolutionary and rebellious ideas. They assemble the young people, brainwashing them in private gatherings set up in places of rest and recreation. They focus on separating the young people from their scholars and leaders, instead connecting them with personalities that follow methodologies of rebellion and Takfīr (declaring Muslims to be disbelievers). 6. They call to their imaginary “Jihad” which is actually the declaring of a Muslim’s blood and wealth to be lawful for the taking. They encourage devastation and bombings and the blowing up of structures property, all the while claiming that the land of the Muslims is now a land of war, fighting being justified therein. This ideology is spread by means such as the inspirational Nashīds. The danger has even reached the level of some youths being trained to use all sorts of weapons in far secluded places within the country, and in other questionable foreign countries. 7. The circulation of books, fliers, pamphlets, and cassettes that call to this defiant, radical ideology. They promote making Takfīr, especially against the scholars and leaders. We will mention some of the books that call to this: a. The writings of Sayyid Qutb. The most dangerous of these are those books that make the blanket Takfīr against most of the Muslim nations in this time, those that defame the Companions of the Prophet (), and even books that defame the Prophets. Examples of these are “Fī Ẓilāl al-Qurān” (In the Shade of the Quran), “Kutub wa Shakhṣiyyāt” (Books and Personalities), “al-‘Adālah al-Ijtimā’iyyah” (Social Justice), and “Ma’ālim fī al-Ṭarīq” (Milestones). b. NewGen 5

The books of Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi. c. The books of Hassan al-Banna. d. The books of Sa’īd Hawá. e. The books of ‘Isām al-‘Iṭār. 7 f. The books of Abū al-Fatḥ al-Bayānūnī. g. The books of Muḥammad Ibn ‘Alī al-Ṣābūnī. h. The books of Muḥammad Ḥasan Hanbakah al-Maydānī. i. The books of of al-Turābī. j. The books of al-Ḥuḍaybī. k. The books of al-Tilmisānī. l. The books of Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Rāshid (a pen name). The most dangerous of his books are “al-Maṣār” (The Path), al-‘Awā`iq (The Obstacles), “al-Munṭaliq” (The Starting Point, or Liberated), and “al-Raqā`iq”. m. The books of ‘Iṣām al-Bashīr. n. The books, pamphlets, and tapes of Muḥammad Surūr Zayn al-‘Ābidīn, the head of the Muntaḍá organization in London. Other books than these mentioned that are widespread in our bookstores that are filled with this ideology. It is incumbent for us to dry up this fountain (of deviation) by warning against these books, preventing their circulation, and by supervising those publishing companies and bookstores who are lenient in distributing these books or selling them. When these books are read by young people whose own ideas have not yet matured and who have no knowledge-based protection against the effects of such books, they (such books) corrupt their intellect, and ideas, causing them to follow fantasies. This way, the youth are prepared to carry out whatever is requested of them – even something like suicide or the killing of others from among Muslims or non-Muslims.

Profile of Al-Nimr

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Iran Funding

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Bradford

The Untold Story By Srosh Khan

Someone once told me that they hadn’t seen a white kid till they were 12; I scoffed and went home, not a thought about it.

Education and knowledge will now follow. I am not going to let future generations fall victims of our present leaders, I want to protect us.

It is early morning and I am sat watching BBC News and I hear “Next we go to Birmingham, where Prime Minister David Cameron is delivering his extremism speech”. Immediately my eyes were drawn to the TV as I realised “our Bradford” was centre of attention yet again.

I want to defend our city; I want to state some home-truths. I want to bring peace back into our lives and the lives of others. But how do I do that? We shall see. When political leaders say ‘Islamist extremists’; my stomach turns upside down, why? This is not a true representation of Islam, the media has a major influence of what ideologies and stereotypes form. Islam promotes peacefulness and is a religion that welcomes all.

Within a few minutes into his speech, my concern and worries became reality when Mr Cameron proclaimed “and because the focus of my remarks today is on tackling Islamist extremism – not Islam the religion”. It seemed to me he was using British Muslims as scapegoats, singling a community out to justify the threat and terror to this country. Mixed emotions came flooding through, my heart started speeding up, heat surrounded me; my hands gripped together; my inner voice getting louder and louder and then he went on to say “Bradford is one of the most segregated cities in our country”. Now I am angry. Our city is a culprit again ready to be sentenced by the so called judge David Cameron. How do I use my anger and my fight to ensure that our city is not condemned? Do I become its lawyer? How do I use my knowledge? Do I put it into practise? Or do I keep quiet? My mother once said “You have a heart as loud as lions so why would you let your voice be tamed, don’t be afraid to say something wrong otherwise you’ll spend a lifetime stuck in silence”. I am who I am and now I need to speak up, I need to educate and inform others of what my heart is saying. Silence will no longer be. NewGen 8

Mr Cameron in his speech stated “It’s no coincidence that these are some of the places where community relations have historically been most tense, where poisonous, far right and Islamist extremists desperately try to stoke tension and foster division” as much as this is the truth, I think we need to go back in time when the Bradford Riots occurred, where we were left buried, not a single aid of help given yet we rose from the dead without any help from the government. Schools, community centres and youth clubs weren’t supported. The city was not receiving enough money to be able to fund services to work on projects, such as: raising awareness of racism and promoting diversity and equality. We were weak at the time of desperation, our kids needed to be educated, they needed role models, but where could they go? We are still weak with little funding! But Bradford is now braver we’ve learnt from past lessons and we will not be defeated by extremists or David Cameron. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done; a long journey is to come.

Our kids in schools are still not being protected, all the policies that everyone keeps introducing they don’t make a difference! Child Protection Officers in schools don’t work. How is a scared child supposed to approach an officer who they don’t know and who has never taught them in their lessons? It’s absurd; they’re practically strangers to them. Being weak will lead to the problem of being exploited. More money needs to be pumped into schools, community centres and youth clubs for them to be able to educate our kids about dangers of extremists, grooming and the chance of them being affected by it. So I sit and think now and many questions come to mind. I know some areas integrate where as others feel they don’t belong. Does this then move into alienation and belonging? The question is why? Are we scared of each other? Is there a lack of understanding? Do we want to understand each other? Is it due to the headlines that people see or read? Or do we need to go back to grass roots? The government is banging on about how things need to change and they’re always looking for scapegoats and people to blame. As a young Muslim living in Bradford I feel that I am constantly being questioned about my morals, principles and faith. However I am a human being and I have been taught to be kind and respectful to people, whether that being white, black or Asian. I have values; people should just know this without speculating. NewGen 9

So the reality is, when I am going into certain parts of Bradford, do I feel comfortable? Deep down inside no. Do I feel safe? No. Do I just want to get out as soon as possible? Yes. If I feel this way, then how many others may feel this to? I am saying the problem with us feeling scared about integrating with each other is going to continue unless someone gives us the chance to be able to get to know and understand each other. The media is not helping with this. The government is never going to understand the problem, they are never going to solve it by naming and blaming, they need to lay foundations. Someone once told me that they hadn’t seen a white kid till they were 12; I scoffed and went home, not a thought about it. You know when you’re in bed, just thinking? Well, I was just thinking about what the person had said, I realised they were telling the truth. Martin Luther King had a dream, a beautiful dream, but has that dream been made real yet? Change needs to happen today and now. My dream is that our Bradford will lead by example. I am not talking to the Asian community alone; I speak to you whites and blacks, we will win. To be continued in a second follow-up.

Book of condolences at town hall after ‘sickening’ attack on Pakistani university People have the chance to sign a condolence book after at least 21 people were killed after gunmen stormed a university in Pakistan. Early yesterday (January 20), gunmen entered Bacha Khan University, 30 miles from Peshawar, and opened fire on students and faculty as they gathered for a poetry event. It is believed that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack. The group also killed 130 students at a school in Peshawar in 2014. Leader of Waltham Forest council, Chris Robbins, said: “On behalf of the council, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to those families and friends who lost loved ones today in the attack at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan. “This can only be described as a sickening act, which has shocked and deeply saddened our diverse community.

“Anyone wishing to pay their respects to those who lost their lives can sign our condolence book.” Visitors wishing to sign the book or leave a message of respect can do so today (January 21) from 9am to 5pm at the town hall, in Forest Road, Walthamstow. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/14220701.Chance_to_sign_book_of_condolences_at_ town_hall_after__sickening__attack_on_Pakistani_university/

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Mosque inviting people to open day to promote greater understanding of Islam

A mosque is opening its doors to give people a chance to find out more about Islam. The day, part of the Visit My Mosque initiative, will take place from 12pm to 5.30pm on February 7 at Noor Ul Islam, in High Road, Leyton. The mosque, established in 1990, hopes to give members of the local community an engaging insight into the life of the mosque. It also hopes to promote greater understanding of Islam. Activities on the day will include a Question and Answer session with Noor Ul Islam scholars. There will also be a recitation of the Holy Qur’an, an exhibition from Discover Islam, live prayer and refreshments.

Noor Ul Islam Trust wants to better the community by improving the lives of those in the neighbourhood as well as helping those further away. Our mission is simplified in six bullet points which summarises what the Trust is all about. The Trust hopes: • To promote the true image of the religion of Islam amongst the community; both Muslim and non-Muslim; • To encourage the Muslim community to actively participate in life in the UK while maintaining their Islamic identity and values; • To promote and provide good quality education throughout the various life stages; • To meet the social and welfare needs of the local community and seek to improve these; • To act accordingly to improve the quality of life for those living in poverty or in desperate need of help; • To co-operate and collaborate with voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in similar fields and to exchange information and advice.

http://noorulislam.org.uk/mission-statement/

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Sixth former wins place at high ranking US University

Jack Tait, of Highams Park School in Handsworth Avenue, secured his place at Princeton University. A sixth former cannot wait to get started after winning a place at one of the highest achieving universities in the world. Jack Tait, a Year 13 student at Highams Park School in Handsworth Avenue, secured his place at Princeton University. Founded in 1746, Princeton is ranked seventh in the Times Higher Education world university rankings. More than 1,100 staff teach 5,200 undergraduate students and 2,600 postgraduate students at the New Jersey institution. Mr Tait won the place and financial aid to study at the American university after participating in the Sutton Trust’s US Programme run in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission. Last summer, he was one of 150 students selected for a summer school in the US at either Yale University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

He beat around 1,600 applicants to win a place on the programme and spent a week living on campus and visiting a number of other US universities. Mr Tait is one of only 43 students nationally who have been selected under the early application deadline to US universities. These students have been offered a total of around $10m of financial aid between them from the universities over the next four years. He said: “It feels amazing to have been admitted to Princeton. “This time last year I never thought that I would be in this position, and I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me along the way. “I can’t wait to begin my time in the US.”

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/14208100.Sixth_former_wins_place_at_high_ranking_US_ university/

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How Social Media Can Help Businesses by Rahat Alam

Social media can be used by a business in order to reach out to more customers and interact with other people who may be interested in their products or ideas through the use of sharing pictures, videos or posts integrated within social media sites. Social media can also be an alternative to other forms of promotion and can be used to organise events. When used effectively, social media can be used to help a business achieve their goals and spread awareness of the business as a whole. With currently 1.96 billion social media users worldwide, it is estimated that there will be an increase with around 2.13 billion social media users around the globe in 2016 and 2.44 billion users in 2018. So whatever the business idea is, it is certain that there will be a large target audience to expand a business into and spread their ideas to. This article looks at three of the most popular forms of social media platforms and how they can help expand a business. Facebook can be used to create a Business fan page account and reach out to potential customers. This can be used effectively by gaining ‘likes’ which will enable you to share images, articles ,videos and announcements to those who have ‘liked’ your page. A business may also decide to promote their page by advertising on Facebook, which is the biggest social networking site with the largest number of users. There are more than 1 million small or medium sized businesses advertising on Facebook. Twitter can be used to follow accounts linked to your business, for example sponsors or customers. This will allow you to gain ‘followers’ and spread your relevant information to them. You can also broadcast images, news updates or special events to your followers which will in turn expand your business. Twitter also allows you to respond to customer questions and feedback and a business can also add a hashtag to their tweets which will reach out to people who are searching for tweets relating to the hashtag. Larger businesses may also promote their hashtag for 24 hours which reaches out to all the users of the social media platform. YouTube allows businesses to create video content relating to their business for example informative videos. YouTube also places videos in certain categories which can be viewed by the public, so a business may want to create videos to be placed in those categories. When a video surpasses a certain number of views it can increase its ranking on the video search results of Google which will result in more exposure. YouTube accounts can also gain ‘subscribers’ which means that newly released videos by a business will reach out to those subscribers first, with some even receiving notifications upon the video’s release.With social media users increasing every day, a business can expand by selecting the most suitable form of social media and by taking into account all of these factors. NewGen 17

The Hayemaker is back By Maxwell

This is the moment David Haye knocked out Mark De Mori in the briefest of comeback fights .The Hayemaker took just 130 seconds to beat his opponent in front of a packed out O2 Arena. And now he’s setting his sights on a much tougher opponent - fellow Brit Anthony Joshua. He said after the fight, broadcast on Dave : “I had no nerves what so ever. This is where I belong. I need to live here. “That shot was enough, he was gone but there were a few others to send him on his way. I can’t see any heavyweight taking those shots. I’m not easy to hit, so how would someone go about beating that? His best option is WBA regular heavyweight title holder Ruslan Chagaev, who faces Lucas Browne on March 5 — Haye should take over De Mori’s WBA Top 10 ranking after flattening the Aussie. And he would relish fighting new IBF king Charles Martin, who won the title in the early hours of Sunday against Vyacheslav Glazkov, as the American is easily the weakest of the four world champions.

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Al-Albaani on True Love

And an explanation of that is that if I really love you for the sake of Allaah I would persist in advising you, and you would do the same. Persevering in advising one another is very rare between those who claim to love each other, this love might have some sincerity in it, but it is not complete, because we try to make an allowance for the other, afraid that the other person will become angry, that he will flee … and so on. It is in light of this that [you can see that] the cost of loving someone for the sake of Allaah is that each person shows sincerity towards the other by advising him, always and forever telling him to do good and preventing him from bad—he is more constant in advising him than that person’s own shadow is close—for this reason it has been authentically reported that when parting from one another, one of the habits of the Companions was that one of them would read to the other, “By Time! Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” [Surah Asr 103] Al-Haawi min Fataawaa al-Albaani, pp. 165-166.

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Business of the Month Fusion Flavaz Opened since 2011 & Owned by Suleman Opening 7 days a week between 12pm to 12 am Halal pizza and New Oriental Chinese Cuisine.

Deliveries also available. Tel: 0208 556 3636

Fusion Flavaz is willing to take on individuals looking for work experience, display an ACF charity box & continue to support us in future ventures.

Was also given a award for restaurant of the year!

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Youth

of the Month

My name is Ersan Sahin and I have been a member of ACF for a few years now. I am currently studying BTEC it level 3 extended diploma at leyton sixth form college where I will be hoping to make games in the future so I will be learning how to write in scripting languages that are used to code games so I can be able to learn to hack and have other opportunities open on the side. My hobbies include filming, basketball and running. I am working with members of ACF to produce a sketch show which will be a new experience and an enjoyable time along with entertaining the public and ACF members. ACF has changed over time for the time I have spent here and I can say that the youths here are taking the information that they are receiving from staff through the workshops and are learning basic manners and respect, the staff here are paving the way for the next generation along with providing them entertainment such as PlayStations, a good community, air hockey machines, table tennis, events and more. The ACF area is a fantastic place where people get together to create a community, make new friends and learn new things along with bettering their selves every day.

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Family of Ambrose Ball say ‘we’re not going to stop until we have the truth’ after inquest concludes The family of a father-of-two found dead in a river months after he disappeared vowed “not to stop until we have the truth” after his seven-day inquest concluded with an open verdict today. Coroner Andrew Walker said the precise events surrounding the death of car sprayer Ambrose Ball remained a mystery. The 30-year-old had gone missing after a night out at The Fox pub in Palmers Green, Enfield, in January last year. He was reported missing on January 24 when the wreckage of his car was found in Watermead Way, on the border of Tottenham and Walthamstow. On April 22 his body was discovered in the River Lea. At North London Coroners Court today Mr Walker concluded: “I will record an open conclusion in this inquest, I do not know the sequence of events that led to and caused Mr Ball’s death.” Mr Ball’s mother, Ruth Lovell, shouted to the court that her son had been killed in The Fox. On hearing Mr Walker’s conclusion, she said: “I’m not going to stop until I get the truth. I’m not going to end it there.” She claimed people had lied and their lies had been believed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is currently investigating the way the police conducted their investigation in Mr Ball’s case. Explaining his findings, Mr Walker told Mr Ball’s family he could not return a conclusion of unlawful killing. He said: “I cannot record in this case unlawful killing, there simply isn’t the evidence that a jury properly directed could record a conclusion of unlawful killing. I am going to record a conclusion of open.” Mr Walker said the court had heard evidence from police officers who discovered Mr Ball’s BMW that a helicopter equipped with a device to identify heat sources had been used to search the immediate area around the car. Promoted stories But Mr Ball might not have been found then because he was too cold from being submerged in the river. Medical evidence heard during the inquest supposed Mr Ball had drowned after immersion in cold water and that he would have died in less than three minutes of struggling in the freezing river. Mr Walker said CCTV evidence and witness testimony had shown Mr Ball was drunk and high on cocaine, but not at the levels required to kill him.

It could have been possible that Mr Ball had left the wrecked car, stumbled towards the river and fallen in. However, a witness to the crash stated he saw the damaged BMW. He then saw two men walk towards the vehicle and help the driver into a Golf. Mr Walker said there was no “logical reason” that Mr Ball once away from the crash site would return to the area. He also gave weight to the family’s claims that if Mr Ball had been alive he would have called them. He said: “The most compelling evidence comes from members of the family themselves. Mr Ball was expected to contact you over the weekend and he hadn’t done so. Had he been alive it is likely he would have done so on January 24.” Mr Walker continued: “Mr Ball died some point after the collision in Watermead Way. It is likely he died immersed in a body of water near the pallet yard, there are four possible routes from the crash site… “Or was Mr Ball in the car when it was crashed? This has been the family’s concern all the time.” But evidence had been heard from a friend of Mr Ball that he had indeed been driving the BMW. During the period of time that Mr Ball’s movements could not be accounted for, Mr Walker said there was a possibility of “foul play”.

Mr Walker extended his sympathies to the family and praised their efforts to find out what really happened to Mr Ball. He said: “I’m not immune to how difficult this process has been for you. You have come here each and every day and listened to evidence about someone obviously so dear to all members of the family. “And I would like to offer my profound thanks. We are here in this position because of all the hard work members of the family have put in. “Your relentless determination to get to the truth and to not allow yourselves to be diverted in anyway or by any person is a courageous position to adopt and one I admire.”

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/14217503.Family_of_Ambrose_Ball_say__we_re_not_goNewGen 23 ing_to_stop_until_we_have_the_truth__after_inquest_concludes/

The Active Change Foundation is dedicated in promoting integration within communities by providing the tools for change. The development of young people is achieved through promoting leadership, education and skills development. We work with the local community including young vulnerable people, in order to protect, educate, enrich and empower our communities in East London

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