THE EMPEROR’S LOVE FOR THE PROPHET
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BUILDING A MOSQUE VERSUS BUILDING A COMMUNITY
DISMANTILING ISLAMAPHOBIA IN THE MEDIA
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BIRTHING COMPANIONS
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US President Obama guided his wife’s hand as she maneuvered a Predator drone control to acquire a high-value overseas target for a White House photo-op. (Photo: The Onion)
DRONE WARS & PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE
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Until America sees your children as they see my children, we will never get justice in the world.
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even years ago this month after Barack Obama assumed the presidency on January 20, 2009, the first drone strike of his administration took place–in a small village in the region of Pakistan known as North Waziristan. It targeted the family compound of Faheem Qureshi, fracturing the young teen’s skull and destroying one of his eyes, while killing, among others, two of his uncles and a 21-year-old cousin. The White House’s intended target, it was later revealed, was not, nor had he ever been, present at the site. About ten months later, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision to award Obama the annual Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” In his speech at
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the Oslo City Hall upon accepting the prize on December 10, 2009, Obama insisted that “the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war,” suggesting that U.S. warwaging is somehow superior, more ethical, than those of the country’s adversaries. “That is what makes us different from those whom we fight,” he proclaimed. “That is a source of our strength.” No doubt there are many things that distinguish the United States—not least the enormity of its military budget, and its global network of military bases. But as the documentary Drone (which premièred in the United States and Canada in late November and which includes footage from Obama’s speech) makes painfully clear, it is the U.S. government’s ability to kill at a distance—with impunity and with widespread
support, or at least resignation, of the citizenry—that also “makes us different.” Remotely piloted aircraft, what are popularly known as drones, allow the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence apparatus to track and monitor individuals from afar with little risk. According to Brandon Bryant, a former drone operator interviewed in the film states, “We’re the ultimate voyeurs, the ultimate peeping toms. No one is going to catch us.” It also allows the Pentagon to engage in what is effectively a global assassination program with
little domestic cost. “It’s never been easier for an American president to carry out a killing operation at the ends of the earth at any time in American history,” explains Mark Mazzetti, a reporter with The New York Times. “And when you define the world as a battlefield, that’s a very broad range of operations you can carry out.”
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n explosive series of articles published in October by The Intercept shows just how far-reaching— and, perhaps most damningly, indiscriminate—these operations are. Based on classified documents leaked to the online magazine by
an unnamed whistle-blower within the U.S. intelligence apparatus, the series exposes the falsehoods underlying official Washington’s spin on drone strikes. While Obama administration officials claim that civilian casualties are not common in drone strikes, the documents make clear that the Pentagon typically does not know who it has killed. U.S. air-strikes carried out in northeastern Afghanistan between January 2012 and February 2013 (as part of Operation Haymaker), ...Continued on Page 4
A man walks past graffiti denouncing strikes by U.S. drones in Yemen, painted on a wall in Sanaa, Nov. 13. (Photo: Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi)
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INSIGHTS
ISLAM HERE
RABBI AL THANI 1437
The Chinese Emperor’s Poem about the Prophet Muhammad Portrait of the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty - Hong Wu
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ong-Wu (also known by his given name Zhū Yuánzhāng) was the Emperor of China between 1368 – 1398 CE. He was the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, leading an Army that conquered the country and defeated away the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.
Copy of the Emporer’s poem displayed at a mosque in China
Despite being a non-Muslim, Hong-Wu ordered the construction of several mosques in Nanjing, Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian. He rebuilt the Jinjue Mosque in Nanjing and large numbers of Hui (Muslim Chinese) people moved to the city during his rule. He had around 10 Muslim generals in his army, including Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, Mu Ying, Feng Sheng and Hu Dahai. In addition, Hong-Wu’s spouse, Empress Ma, descended from a Muslim family while he was
originally a member of a Muslim rebel group led by Guo Zhixin. Emperor Hong-Wu wrote a 100 word eulogy praising Islam, Allah and the Prophet Muhammad which he had placed in the mosques which he ordered to be built. The eulogy is in the form of a poem, each verse containing 4 words (characters) and 4 syllables. In the translation below I have strayed away from trying to keep the 4 word per verse translation in favour of a more literal translation which conveys the full meaning in flowing English. The One-Hundred Word Eulogy: Since the creation of the Universe, God had decreed to appoint, This great faith-preaching man, From the West he was born, He received the Holy Scripture, A Book of thirty parts, To guide all creation, Master of all Rulers, Leader of Holy Ones, With Support from Above, To Protect His Nation,
With five daily prayers, Silently hoping for peace, His heart towards Allah, Empowering the poor, Saving them from calamity, Seeing through the darkness, Pulling souls and spirits, Away from all wrongdoings, A Mercy to the Worlds,
Building a Masjid VS. Building a Community
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Recent documentary called “UNMOSQUED” filmed in North America poses an honest and unapologetic depiction of a shared phenomenon being experienced in Mosques throughout the United States and Canada were 90% of imams are immigrants. This holds a significance for the South African situation in the sense that although Muslims have been around for a little over 300 years in the country, it is still to a large extent founded by immigrant communities and therefore take on a particular culture. Most of our Masjids were built to accommodate only an immigrant community. The film listens to people within the broader Muslim community of these two countries that have been left marginalised by the current administration of mosques traditionally founded by immigrant
Muslim communities. Interviewed are founders of Mosques, Donors, Women, Youth and Converts. The film interviews women that have not been given sufficient access to the mosque, where Muslim women give their personal accounts on their experiences of wholly insufficient facilities for women and diminished praying spaces in mosques. In some cases their prayers are purposefully disrupted as their presence seems to be uncompliant with Mosque regulations. The spaces occupied by women in the mosques, often reflect the value of the mosque administration of women as a whole or what they believe the value that women offer. The film also interviews young Muslims on their experiences attending local Masjids where they’re interrogated by Mosque elders enquiring whether or not they were FBI agents
on account of their difference in ethnicity. What it says to young, people of different ethnicities as well as women, is that there is no space for you in the mosque. It does not leave out the directorships of Mosques, several committee members and donors are interviewed to give their say on why immigrant mosques are run in this way. Donors are of a particular interest as mosques depend on the funds donors pay forward. For many donors mosque administration is an issue of making sure that the money that has been donated will be used to uphold the Deen of Islam in the same why they were thought it and in some cases in their own immigrant languages. This leaves a distrust on the part of donors and committee members for mosque attendees of a different background to them. So much so, that if the culture surrounding the
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THE TECHNIQUE OF TOLÉRANCE
erhaps the most worrying thing today for us, is that collectively as an Ummah, Written by we cannot seem to exit Shaykh Musa Cerantonio out of what seems to be a coercive one-directional trap. What I mean by that is that our present The great Yunan Bana mosque in environment, permeated with war Nanjing built by Emporer Hong on terror rhetoric, continually Wu (Photo: Ian McAllister) manages to hold our integrity as human beings at ransom. Used notably in French Revolution as a power instrument in the making of the modern atheist state. It was a doctrine against what it saw as the counter-revolutionary forces against its ascendancy, its own citizenry. Related to me, a cousin of mine recalled the day after his wedding on honeymoon, his mind far from reach of anything political or religiously controversial, He and his wife were interrogated at the table the next morning by the lady of the bed & breakfast they stayed at, as to whether they had heard about
mosque changes in the slightest, so does the understanding of Islam become diminished. Donors will not finance this.
UN-MOSQUED
Traversing the ancient majestic path, Vanquishing away all evil, His Religion Pure and True, Muhammad, The Noble & Great one.
Throughout the film the word ‘club’ is used to describe some of these mosques where little to no diversity is experienced in either gender, age or ethnicity. Often, immigrant founded mosques are perceived as ‘Arab’; ‘Pakistani’; or ‘Bangladeshi’ clubs to name a few. Cliques form in Masjids based on ethnicity, race, and nationality and thus create divisions that contribute to the unwelcome feeling in our Masjids. This trend is coupled with the fact that our Masjids inability to relate to the realities facing our communities hurts people’s relationship with the Masjids Business as usual, marginalised mosque attendees explain that by ignoring the world around the mosque in an attempt to not deal with any reality whatsoever, they have made the mosque just a simple ‘temple’. Saying that the problem is causing not only a disconnect between people and the mosque but also a disconnect between people and they’re faith. The youth are asking to be brought forward, saying that the mosque is a place where everyone comes together.. Where they have not been included or brought forward, they have moved away from the mosque. According to Ihsan Bagby, Mosque Research Expert: “For Mosques to function in America they need to be more then simply a place where you make sajda and then go home and that’s it. We have to be a community.” The youth want the mosque to be that welcome mat to convene and nourish and empower communities. Most of all they want a place where they belong, to go to
the mosque and not feel alienated but to feel at home. Masjids are meant to be the heart and soul of a community. Sometimes it feels as though our Masjids are in a cardiac arrest. We’ve done a great job of fundraising and building Masjids, but have we built a community to thrive in them? We also need to remember that Masjids are not meant to be clubs for saints, but hospitals for sinners. Not everyone who will come to the Masjids will be an amazing Muslim. We’re going to have people from all levels of faith, different life circumstances and different levels of understanding of Islam. The key is to build an environment that encourages personal and spiritual growth in the Masjids. We must learn to be tolerant and respectful of others who are on different points in their journey in life. If we change the way we approach others in our Masjids we will see our communities grow and flourish. Currently we see our Masjids missing key community members---mainly the youth, young professionals and women. Without these groups within our communities we risk the danger of losing our future. The first structure to be built in Madinah by the Prophet Muhammad (Salallahu alayhi wasalam) was the Masjids but before this he built the community. This is why the Masjids functioned as a community centre in which major decisions were made for the community, education occurred, counselling, prayer and other functions. We must replicate this model in our own communities and our Masjids. Nabeel Abdalhaqq; Saud Inam
EDITOR NABEEL ABDALHAQQ JOURNALISTS - K.OMAR MASOMBUKA , NABEEL ABDALHAQQ, FALSE BAY COLLEGE, BLACK LOTUS CREATIVE DR. DANIEL SIRGEL LADY AISHA COLLEGE WAJAHAT S. KHAN F. BRINLEY BRUTON
Boko Haram and whether they agreed with what they were doing. Before he replied to her, he realised that it was said in such a way that she was not really interested in his answer, but rather she desperately needed a chance to vent at the big, bad, bearded Muslim sitting in her kitchen with his enslaved wife solely placed there to aggravate her sense of disgust and intolerance. When he did not answer, she then proceeded to talk at my wife, to let her know that she was both young and beautiful and that she could do anything she wished in life but must never be forced into anything. I guess dumbstruck, they stared at her confusingly, wondering what on earth brought this on. The interesting thing for me was not that it happened; it was that once it was presented to him, disguised in and set of questions, there was no possible move following the given trajectory besides an emotional self-defence or a coerced discourse ADVERTISING -
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to both defend Islam and apologise for someone else’s actions. There is an aspect to this dialectic that demands that we tolerate it. Borrowing words such as ‘peace and tolerance’, almost in a way, of establishing a human qualifier for others to not only identify with us but to also fit within the broader image of a human with rights. So that we might also be tolerated. Important to realise, is that ‘peace’ (besides the traditional greeting and its appearance in our dua’s) and ‘tolerance’ where never really our words. Using translated Qur’anic terminology, we have used the words ‘submission’ and ‘discrimination’ to describe Islam. The word Islam, does not even share the same root origin of the word peace, so where does the use of these words in this regard come from?
For example, the nihilism of the terrorist has only his own body which he is prepared to destroy in the arena of the enemy, leaving behind his own community to the disastrous results which follow the suicide. This is not the response of Islam. We believe in the Merciful, not in this super-structure claim to empire in constant fear of the ‘other’. The second path is the path of a subjugated, one-sided tolerance. This irrational doctrine is aimed at one group to subvert them to the value structure of the opposing group. Opposition to this is seen as irrational. They say, “Tolerate us!” They do not say, “We offer tolerance”. Our position is intolerable to them so it is we who must offer tolerance.
Let us look at the technique and the available response to it as part of a global instrument of power. If in self-defence, under these conditions, there is nothing to burn except the ship keeping us afloat. There is no strong media; leverage-able power or any state to play benefactor to our defence. We all find ourselves under the shadow of what is a global programme.
The point is to let loose a series of acts of terror that in the end drives that group accused of the terror, in exhaustion to its opposite. Once the guilt is admitted and the group is shamed the redemption which emerges, claiming to be rationality after chaos, and justice after injustice, is offered up as tolerance. “Islam means peace and tolerance” they say. We collectively take responsibility as well as restrictive
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consequences. With the Islamic ethos disappeared from the group, assimilation into mass franchise may take place. What I realize now is this. We do not need to defend Islam to anyone. Not from nihilists cut off from proper Islamic knowledge committing acts outside the bounds of Shariah or from a global programme targeting the Muslims. Islam is a mercy and gift, but it belongs to Allah. It is His path and He protects it. His Sunnah is that in times of contraction, like the one we are in, He uses the enemies of Islam to advance Islam. What we must defend and hold firm to is our identity as Muslims. I do not mean our nationalities and ethnicities. I mean the life pattern we have inherited from our Messenger, sallalahu alayhi wasalam, based on the worship of The One. Making no association with Him and affirming the Prophet and the Deen he brought with him. It is this power, not military or financial, that causes fear in their hearts. We do not need the doctrine of human rights to give us this. Our value is known and it is with Allah. Nabeel Abdalhaqq ANY OF ITS EMPLOYEES, SALES EXECUTIVES OR CONTRIBUTORS ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR THEIR ACTIVITIES. Cape Town, Western Cape 8000. ISLAM HERE (Pty) Ltd, is a Level 3 BEE Contributor , ISLAM HERE Newspaper Western Cape
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COVER ARTICLE
SURVIVOR Shaker Aamer, recently released from Gauntanamo Bay (Photo: Justin Tallis)
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“A few days ago, I was with my daughter, using our Oyster cards to go through the gates on the Tube, and there was this guy in a wheelchair. He asked me for help, to push him to the bus station. He was a clean-shaven white guy and I’m an Arab with a beard. I said, ‘Of course I will help you, and I’m so happy you asked me.’ It was a little bit uphill and I pushed him all the way and I was talking to him. Fourteen years I’ve been controlled, 14 years I haven’t talked to a normal human being, and here is somebody who will talk to me, who isn’t scared. I was so happy because I felt like, yes, this is it, I’m back.” Aamer was held for 14 years despite the Bush Administration admitting in 2007 that it had “no evidence” against him. Aamer has maintained, except under duress of torture, that he was working for an Islamic charity in Afghanistan. The US frequently paid bounties to those who brought them Arabs in the Afghanistan region. As such, there was little oversight and Aamer found himself in the middle of a nightmare that he could not escape from. Aamer endured frequent beatings, sensory deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, was asphyxiated during one particularly brutal interrogation, and was “hog-tied” for periods of up to 45 minutes at time. Shaker Aamer became a focus of international attention due to
his circumstances and widelybelieved innocence. He initiated a hunger strike in 2005 in which he lost half his weight, insisting that the prison adhere to the Geneva conventions, among other requests for better treatment. He participated in many other hunger strikes in the following years.
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I was so happy because I felt like, yes, this is it, I’m back.
He was cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay eight years ago in 2007, but was unbelievably caught in bureaucratic negotiations for all that time. His youngest son, Faris, was born the day after he arrived at Guantanamo, February 14th, 2002 – Valentine’s Day. He did not meet his son until he was released in October. Aamer was born in Saudi Arabia, but left when he was 17 for the United States. He studied in Georgia and Maryland, and even worked as a translator for the US Army during the Gulf War before eventually moving to the UK in 1996, where he married his wife, Zin Siddique, and established legal residence.
Predator Drone releasing one of its missiles at test site. (Photo: Associated Press)
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or example, killed more than 200 people, only 35 of whom were the intended targets. During one fivemonth period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in air-strikes were not the intended targets. In Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has far more limited intelligence capabilities to confirm the people killed are the intended targets, the equivalent ratios may well be much worse. That the U.S. government can and does kill in this way, and often in countries with which the United States is not even at war, with little protest at home, demonstrates one of the ways imperialism functions: the deaths of “others,” particularly those associated, even if only by virtue of where they happen to reside, with people and places constructed as threats, are not only undeserving of sympathy, they’re also barely noticed. Writing soon after the November release of the video of the horrific police murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald—shot 16 times as he was moving away from Chicago police officers—New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that the “only reason that these killings keep happening is because most of American society tacitly approves or wilfully tolerates it. There is no other explanation. If America wanted
this to end, it would end.” Blow goes on to say that the “exceeding sad and dreadfully profound truth is that America — the majority of America, and that generally means much of white America — has turned away, averted its gaze and refused to take a strong moral stance in opposition. That’s the same as granting silent approval.” These observations could just as easily apply to the Obama administration’s brutality toward Faheem Qureshi and the killing of his loved ones—and of so many others around the world. Just as white America must be made to overcome what Blow calls an “endemic anti-black bias” to help bring an end to the grossly disproportionate killing of African Americans by police, so, too, must the United States as a whole be made to “see the issue [in this case drones] as an intolerable human cruelty” to stop the Pentagon’s killing ways abroad. Clive Stafford Smith, the director of the London-based human rights organization Reprieve, offers a similar analysis while speaking to a crowd of Pakistanis during the film Drone: “Until America sees your children as they see my children, we will never get justice in the world.” Realizing the radically egalitarian vision implied by these words is obviously no easy task. This makes
Since his release, he has vehemently attacked ISIS and violence. Speaking with the Guardian, he told extremists living in the UK to “get the hell out.” Hugh Wharton
RABBI AL THANI 1437
DRONES: WHICH LIVES MATTER?
Shaker Aamer Shares his experiance of returning to normal life after being released from Guantanamo.
haker Aamer, 48, who was held in Guantanamo Bay for 14 years without charges, enduring hunger strikes, solitary confinement, and torture, was released to the UK on October 30, 2015, and he recently shared an inspiring story for those beaten down by recent stories of Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims.
ISLAM HERE
A funeral in Waziristan for victims of a drone operation. (Photo: Getty Images)
it all the more important that those of us who see all children, and adults, as being inherently of equal worth back the efforts of those opposing killer drones—from those of courageous U.S. air force veterans publicly denouncing the drone program to peace groups such as CODEPINK. Supporting such efforts would be one small way to acknowledge what the United States has done to Faheem Qureshi and his family, something the Obama administration has thus far refused to do, and constitute a step in the long journey to a more just world. As Brandon Bryant, one of the air force whistle-blowers has asserted, “At the end of our pledge of allegiance, we say ‘with liberty and justice for all.’ I believe that should be applied to not only American citizens, but everyone that we interact with as well, to put them on an equal level and to treat them with respect.” In other words, we need to act in a fundamentally different way than one which involves the nationalist proclamation of “what makes us different” (and supposedly better). Joseph Nevins Joseph Nevins is an associate professor of geography at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. His latest book is Dying To Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid (City Lights Books, 2008).
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SOCIETY
ISLAM HERE
RABBI AL THANI 1437
Domenico Ghirlandaio, Florentine interpretation of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, fresco, c. 1485-90 (Cappella Maggiore,Santa Maria Novella, Florence) A host of women can be seen in the painting waiting to be of assistance.
THE BIRTHING COMPANIONS Doulas and the Re-Birth of the Feminine By Saida Aguilar
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Doula, from the Greek word meaning slave, is a woman who gives support, help, and advice to another woman during pregnancy, during and after the birth. First used in 1973 by the anthropologist Dana Raphael in her book, “Tender Gift: Breastfeeding” she uses the term to describe expert mothers in a community in the Philippines that traditionally assisted first-time mothers. There is evidence of this and similar traditional practices in most, if not all, cultures throughout the world. In our country it is relatively new and quite unknown, not so much in other African states. Modern state structures of healthcare have; through its integration with corporate health insurance system present a hostile environment towards natural birthing techniques. This inevitable hostility, although not intended, stems from the general inability to insure the birthing capability of the pregnant patient. It cannot insure this because the power and ability of ‘Birth’ rests solely with mother to be. In order to minimise the risk of malpractice claims against the backdrop of the unknown, we are seeing more and more interventions, such as induced labour and caesareans.
As Muslims, giving birth can be described as the ‘jihad of the woman’. Birth has an ability to take a woman to a point between life and death. The movement of the child through the birth canal marks the point where the mother will experience the highest levels of Oxytocin and Endorphins than any other time naturally experienced during her life. Making, birth, equal to that of a life-altering and transcendental experience. The bodies’ natural hormones ease her through this life-changing event and prepares her emotionally and physically for motherhood. Three types of hormones that play a major role in regulating the process of labour and birth are: Oxytocin; Endorphins and Adrenaline. The job of the Doula is to understand how these affect the birthing process and which of them to support or disrupt. Oxytocin, for example, is known as the ‘hormone of love’ is involved with fertility; intercourse; contractions during labour and birth as well as the release of milk in breastfeeding. It stimulates powerful contractions, which help to thin and open the cervix, move the baby down and out of the birth canal, expel the placenta and limit bleeding at the site of the placenta.
It is also stimulated by the suckling of a new born and interestingly, when laughing and when in good company. It is vital that when you are giving birth that you are in the best of company. In stress and pain, the body produces calming and painrelieving hormones known as Endorphins. In un-medicated labours, it rises steadily and steeply through the labour. High Endorphins levels during labour can produce an altered state of consciousness that can help the mother through the process, make the mother feel alert, attentive and even euphoric after birth. Endorphins are believed to play a role in the mother-infant bond shortly after birth. Adrenaline, as many already know, is the ‘fight or flight’ hormone that is produce to help ensure survival. Women who feel threatened during labour (for example by fear, distrust or severe pain) may produce high levels of adrenaline. Adrenaline can slow labour or even stop it all together. Earlier in human evolution, this disruption helped women move to a place of greater safety whilst in labour. Out of hospital birth settings and one to one continuous labour support, such as Doula care, can help create conditions that enhance the mother’s natural production of helpful hormones and keep disturbing hormones in check. Studies have found a drop in Endorphins and Oxytocin
levels with the use of Epidurals and Opioid pain medication. Dana Raphael’s vital work has proved through time, that the presence of birthing companions lowers the rates of hospital interventions, from epidurals to caesareans. Mothers feel more confident and capable of doing without analgesics and to give birth naturally. Doula’s don’t need a specific academic background. In the majority of cases, they are women that have the gift of being able to transmit confidence about the physical, emotional and spiritual changes awaiting first time mothers. In a traditional setting this knowledge would be passed on from one generation to another where elder women in a particular community form the backbone of this support, overseeing one generation at the emergence of another. As we move further away from that natural community setting, we see a growing disconnect in the bonds of female support. The necessity of women needing to work, together with the nuclearisation of the family and fast-paced lifestyle have disrupted that transmission of knowledge and support between women regardless of familial bonds. What this means is that the future mother reaches pregnancy anxiously ignorant of the process and without reference or real support. Motherhood is not fashionable today as it once was and the common motivation
is to get through the labour and retreat back into daily routine with minimal disruption to lifestyle. Motherhood is a complete change, and not something you can ever put aside. The appearances of Doulas, breast feeding and pro natural birth groups are the inevitable reaction to the lack of the traditional support structures. A reaction against, in a way, what had been stolen of quintessential feminine identity under a politically motivated gender equality in the second half of the twentieth century. Today patients are treated as a numbers in a system and their infants considered products. A world where the feminine and the masculine are removed, so that the asexual citizen accepts a blanketed, social patterning easier to integrate and control. Johan Wolfgang Goethe once said, “It is abhorrent to call nature a system, nature is nature.” As Muslim women, it is most important for us to reclaim our femininity and re-establish the bonds of transmission among us. We have to reconnect with our inner world and with the women in our community and family who possess knowledge and experience. We must transmit this knowledge to our daughters, grand daughters and young women. It is our responsibility to ‘re-weave’ the female network that nourishes and strengthens us as women. May we have success in that, insha Allah.
through past exam papers. On the Maths Excellence website, www. mathsexcellence.co.za, learners in Grades 10, 11 and 12 who lack the background knowledge have access to 364 comprehensive video lessons and tests with full solutions where they can fill the gaps on topics missed out on or misunderstood in class. Parents can also monitor their child’s progress as a report is available of all the test scores. These tests can be repeated until a mark close to or above 80% is reached.
HOW TO EXCEL IN MATHEMATICS
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enerally learners develop a negative attitude towards Mathematics due to the lack of general basic mathematical knowledge and also due to the lack of a solid foundation in this subject. There are various reasons for this, some of which are: • Learners not doing their homework • Learners not catching up on work missed due to absence • Work misunderstood due to lack of attention or focus in class • The most important reason is the lack of practice Maths is a practising subject. While practising Maths, learners will come across variations in certain topics that won’t necessarily be dealt with in the initial lessons in
class. Most variations will only be encountered while attempting the homework and working through past exam papers. These variations give the brighter learners the opportunity to express their creativity and the average or weaker learners to encounter the difficulty at home and not for the first time in the exam room. Thus, when the solutions to the variations are provided the following day – learning takes place after the struggle with the exercises at home. However, if the learner does not attempt the homework then the learning that takes place the following day won’t be embedded and remembered for tests and exams. So, in order to excel in Maths, all learners have to go through the process of:
• Firstly, paying careful attention and learning the content in class • Attempting the homework with all its variations • Making mistakes and learning from their mistakes when the solutions to the homework are provided the following day • Re-doing all sums that were incorrect while doing the homework the previous day until mastered by using the teacher’s answers as reference The above process must be an everyday practice. Instead of the above process, learners generally leave their ‘studying’ for the last minute and ‘glance over’ their work the night before a test or exam instead of sitting with pen and paper and redoing especially all the sums they got incorrect while attempting
their homework. In conclusion, in order to succeed in Maths learners need to spend at least 45 minutes everyday attempting Maths homework and 45 minutes practising work done earlier in the year or working
On this website learners also have access to past exam papers with full solutions from 2008 to 2015 not only in Maths but for all other Matric subjects as well. Besides the online tuition, face to face tuition is also available as indicated in the advert below.
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OPINION
ISLAM HERE
RABBI AL THANI 1437 I S L A M H E R E
R A B B I A L T H A N I
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E D U C A T I O N
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ISLAMOPHOBIC MEDIA COVERAGE IS OUT OF CONTROL. IT NEEDS TO STOP. GRADE 9: HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HIGH SCHOOL SUBJECTS? Says senior editor of The Huffington Post, Gabriel Arana Image: CNN
The time has come. You are in high school and need to decide which subjects you will take. But how do you know which subjects to choose in order to meet all the prerequisites for your future varsity degree? Annique writes about her experience.
The Photoshopped image released by newspaper La Razon claiming to be of one of suspects in the Paris attacks.
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(Photo: Twitter/screenshot)
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ometimes prejudice is subtle. On CNN Sunday November 15, it was not. “Why is it that no one within the Muslim community there in France knew what these guys were up to?” CNN anchor John Vause asked Yasser Louati, a French anti-Islamophobia activist. Louati responded graciously, saying the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims should not be held responsible for the actions of a few extremists. “Sir, the Muslim community has nothing to do with these guys -- nothing,” he said. “We cannot justify ourselves for the actions of someone who just claims to be Muslim.” Vause dug in his heels, claiming he had “yet to hear the condemnation from the Muslim community on this, but we’ll wait and see.” All the CNN anchor would have had to do is search “Muslims condemn Paris attacks” on the Internet to find hundreds of instances of the Islamic community condemning last Friday’s deadly terrorist attacks in the French capital, including the social-media campaign #notinmyname. Media writers like The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple and Salon’s Jack Mirkinson condemned Vause’s astonishing display of ignorance. But far too often, journalists are able to pass off casual bigotry as journalistic inquiry. It’s not just the fear-mongers at Fox News, who exploit terrorist attacks to fuel antiMuslim hostility with such consistency it’s almost not worth commenting on. It’s the mainstream media, and while Islamophobia rears its head in print as well as online, it is most pronounced on television.
Image: CNN
Make no mistake: When producers dream up panel discussions about whether Islam is a violent religion, they aren’t merely “asking the question”: they’re perpetuating prejudice. Yes, a good percentage of Americans hold this view, but the role of us in the media is to dispel such myths -- not legitimize them. Ultimately, presenting tolerance and bigotry as equally valid sides of a balanced debate only ends up fuelling bigotry. Islamophobia in media coverage follows a
predictable cycle. When someone commits an act of random violence and information is scarce, first comes the warrant-less speculation. “Journalists, especially TV journalists, love scoops,” says Nathan Lean, a scholar at Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding. “So what happens is a lot of them ask leading questions -- they insinuate, infer, hypothesize: ‘Could it have been an attack carried out by Al-Qaeda?’ Then all of a sudden the conversation is dominated by Al-Qaeda.” This is how NBC’s “Today” show ended up running a ludicrous segment on Monday about the possibility of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, using the PlayStation 4 to plot terrorist attacks. It’s how an image of a Sikh man in Canada was doctored using Photoshop, and landed on the front page of La Razón, one of Spain’s largest newspapers. It’s also how Time magazine falsely reported that Uber had charged four times its normal rate during the Paris attacks. In the unfortunate event that an attack is terrorism-related and the perpetrator is a radical Islamist, journalists invariably ask, “Why aren’t Muslims condemning this?” as CNN’s Vause did. “We still see this expectation that Muslim institutions have to come out and condemn things that you wouldn’t expect other groups have to condemn. There’s the assumption of collective responsibility,” says Corey Saylor, legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
“When producers dream up panel discussions about whether Islam is a violent religion, they aren’t merely “asking the question”: they’re perpetuating prejudice.” a Muslim advocacy group. “The number one victims of ISIS are Muslims, the notion that somehow we’re not fully committed to combating that twisted ideology is difficult to wrap your mind around,” he adds. In fact, CAIR, like countless other Muslim organizations, strongly condemns terrorism
Muslim world that claims our faith become our spokespeople,” Saylor says. The open letter to ISIS was largely ignored by the media, but “if you have one crazy guy in a cave in Afghanistan waving a sword, you can guarantee him several news cycles.” The media’s default of erasing distinctions s soon as I had the chance between terrorists and non-terrorists, in high school, I dropped and between attackers and victims in the Maths like a hot, nasty Muslim world is why we are currently in the potato and made French midst of an insane discussion (if you can one of my main subjects instead call it that) about allowing Syrian refugees (at the German School, this meant into the country. that Maths wasn’t part of my final exams). When I made that choice, I Nearly all of the half-dozen or so suspects was focusing purely on what would involved in the Paris attacks were born get me through Matric and Abitur and raised in Europe. And yet, based on (the ‘German Matric’), because the discovery of a single Syrian passport quite honestly, Maths was the found near the body of one of the suicide absolute end of me and I was more bombers, our current discourse is revolving than happy to neglect it. At that around whether we should turn away tens point, I didn’t really think about of thousands of innocent, suffering people how this might influence my future because one of them might be a terrorist. university career and my wish to study Psychology, nor was I very proactive in enquiring about it.
whenever incidents occur -- it has done so more than 100 times. In 2014, the group even signed on to an open letter to ISIS, which was penned by 120 Muslim scholars, that meticulously de-constructed the group’s theology.
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he vast majority of citizens in Muslim countries hate ISIS as much as any of the flag-waving patriots on Fox News. A recent survey from the Pew Centre of 11 countries with substantial Muslim populations shows widespread negative attitudes toward the terrorist group -- in no country did support for ISIS rise above 15 percent. That’s a smaller percentage than Americans who believe in UFOs (21 percent), think there’s a link between vaccines and autism (20 percent) and deny climate change (37 percent). Strong majorities in most of these countries also support the recent air-strikes against ISIS.
“Islamophobia in media coverage follows a predictable cycle. When someone commits an act of random violence and information is scarce, first comes the warrantless speculation.”
Instead of relying on credible sources of expertise on the matter, the mainstream media more often gives pundits, who have limited information but a lot of opinions, a platform to disseminate misinformation. Instead of giving anti-Muslim activist Pam Geller a means of reaching millions of people with her racist rhetoric, why not talk to someone from the Migration Policy Institute, the country’s most-authoritative think tank on migration issues? MPI found in a 2015 report that “the refugee resettlement program is the least likely avenue for a terrorist to choose” to infiltrate the country. The reason is pretty obvious once you get to know even a little about the program: The process of gaining refugee status puts applicants in direct contact with the FBI, and they have to undergo a “painstaking, many-layered review” that takes several years.
COURTESY OF THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER There are many differences within the diverse global community of Muslims, which includes Saudi Arabia -- a U.S. ally and possibly one of the most extremist Islamic regimes on the planet -- as well as secular-progressive Turkey and Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, all of which have elected female heads of state. The same prejudice that flattens the nuances that exist within the Muslim community blinds journalists when they are faced with the good Muslims do, and blames them for the monstrous acts of a dangerous minority. “All the good things Muslims are doing get ignored while the barbaric subset of the
Amplifying ignorance isn’t harmless. It’s the reason 29 Republican governors and one Democrat have pledged not to accept Syrian refugees, despite the fact that the Constitution they love to brandish forbids them from doing so. Whether it’s CNN’s Don Lemon asking a respected Muslim lawyer if he supports ISIS or News Corp. Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch suggesting we should give Christian refugees from Syria first dibs on coming in, the most frustrating thing about media coverage of terrorist attacks is that it doesn’t get any better over time. It’s not like news organizations ask the dumb questions and get them out of the way. We don’t get smarter, better, more informed. When terrorism strikes, the campaign of misinformation repeats itself, time and again. As journalists, it’s our job to know better, and do better. Gabriel Arana
When the time came to apply for Psychology, I was told that the only way I’d be accepted is if I did an additional year of Maths, because my Maths mark was so bad (no surprise there…), and Psychology requires Maths for Statistics. I remember that day well, and I just said to myself – well, if that’s the case, I better look for something else to study! Funny enough, this set-back ended up being exactly what I needed… MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE In South Africa, each Grade 9 student comes face to face with
the decision of choosing specific subjects that they will continue to study until the end of Matric. Like in my case, some scholars base their decision purely on personal interest in or preference of certain subjects, or on how strong they are in them. This choice is, by all means, an option if you are a scholar who is sure that your choice won’t influence your future studies or job in a disadvantageous way – or, if you have no cooking clue what you want to do after school. For students who plan to go to university and who know exactly what they want to study, the decision is more crucial, as the subjects chosen in high school can have an important, if not essential, impact on your varsity career. If you have a decent idea of what you want to study, then be sure to enquire about the prerequisites for acceptance into the specific degree or university subjects. Do this before you make your choice!
SUBJECTS, DEGREES, AND CAREER PATHS To be able to qualify for your NSC Matric at South African schools in general, you will need 7 subjects in total, and obtain the minimum pass rate for each. 4 of these subjects are compulsory: 1 Home Language, 1 Second Language, Life Orientation and a choice between Pure Maths and Maths Literacy. The remaining 3 are yours to choose! Pass Rates and Score Allocations The minimum pass rate for subjects in high school is between 30% and 40%, but this is only to
qualify for an NSC Matric! In order to be accepted at a university, you will need to pass certain subjects with much higher marks. To find out the exact minimum percentage you need to get in a specific subject, you need to look up the admissions policies of the university to which you wish to apply – their undergraduate prospectus will tell you exactly what point score (i.e.. what marks) you need to apply to the various faculties. WHICH SCHOOL SUBJECTS FOR WHICH FACULTY? Here’s my advice: In the table below you can run through a bunch of subjects and check out exactly what career paths these subjects could help you with. But the final choice is YOUR call. REMEMBER, what you choose in high school DOESN’T determine what career you will find yourself in, but it can help get you into the career you wish to pursue (at least the one you are currently keen on pursuing). In the end, life may take you in a totally different direction, and you may change your mind about what (and if) you want to study and which career is interesting to you. A QUICK NOTE ON MATHS LIT… Before you decide to opt for Maths Lit instead of Pure Maths, it is very important for you to make sure which of the two you will need for your tertiary studies. Most degrees and university studies require Pure Maths. This doesn’t mean that you can’t study if you choose Maths Lit, but it does limit your choices. Make sure to be well-informed about
application prerequisites for your desired field of study.
REFLECTIONS Back to my story… When I realized I couldn’t study psychology, I decided to do a general BA instead, with focus on Film & Media, and various interdisciplinary electives on the side. In 2nd Year I specialized in Screen writing and after my undergrad, I went on to complete an academic Honours dissertation. The thing is, my true passion and talents (I say this with humility), are research and writing. It has always been that way. In high school, I won Creative Writing awards and had top essay marks. So even though I was and still am intrigued by Psychology, I actually ended up studying something that compliments my strengths and talents. This doesn’t mean it was clever of me to neglect Maths and be ignorant of certain application prerequisites. You should absolutely enquire about these things, as it can be essential to have taken on certain subjects in school. The point I’m trying to make is that even though we have to start thinking about our futures when we choose our subjects in Grade 9, it doesn’t necessarily predetermine anything. You might change your mind completely about what you want to do after school. You might even change your mind during the course of your studies, or have a total and unexpected career change as an adult (no, I’m not implying a mid-life crisis). In our day and age,
these things happen all the time, and it’s okay! Whatever the case may be, do your best in all your subjects, also the ones you don’t like – precisely because you never know when the knowledge you gained might come in handy or pay off SOME TIPS: • Before choosing your subjects, talk to a school or career counsellor who can assist or advise you. • Try to contact someone in the profession you wish to pursue and ask them about their education and the steps they took to get to where they are • Job shadowing! It’s one of the best things you can do to see if your dream job is in fact a dream, or rather a delusion – or… a flat-out nightmare (trust me, this happens, and job shadowing can sometimes make you dodge a bullet) We know this can be easier said than done, but study what you love, because chances are it’s exactly what you’re good at. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn what your strengths and weaknesses are, and to be truthful to yourself about it. Don’t choose something that will be a struggle from day one and make you miserable. Ask yourself what you do well, what you enjoy, as well as what stimulates you spiritually and intellectually – then go after it! Have a look at what career options are out in the world here. Annique Bolliger
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When Ibtihaj Muhammad was 13 years old, her mother drove past a school and saw athletes training in full body covering gear. Her mother did not know what the sport was called, but she turned to face Ibtihaj and said; I do not know what that is but you are doing it. The uniform which they wear for fencing basically inspired her. This is the only sport in which your body is fully covered from head to toe. So, as for the Muslim girl it was the best chance to be an athlete.
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Today she is the worlds 10th swords woman, and is Americas first Muslim Fencer in the world. To make her parents and all of us proud she was also named the worlds best female fencer. She is also a notable fashion designer. While living in a western country, she found the suitable outfit to wear in the fencing strip, but as for her casual routine it’s always difficult to find conservative dresses. Now the market for modest clothes in western countries has risen up enough. So, the idea came to Ibtihaj’s mind to launch a clothing company with her siblings. They named it as Louella which is their paternal grandmother’s name. They threw
Ibtihaj Muhammad studied a double major in international relations and Africa-American studies. She balances quite ceremoniously her time spent with fencing and to her business to make them both a success. We as Muslims are proud of her, and her achievements. Her teammates are also proud of her that she manages everything with such capability.
when a person has cold. The oil of coriander is a treatment for baldness and scalp problems, and prevents grey hair. The smoke of the burning seeds is an insect repellent.
FENUGREEK ( HULBAH ) It is reported that Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) once said “If my people knew what there is in Fenugreek, the would have bought and paid it weight in gold.” Fenugreek seeds are also known for their anti-diabetic property. They are also considered excellent to treat arthritis and to reduce blood cholesterol. They also increase breast milk production in breastfeeding mothers. Fenugreek contains natural expectorant properties and is considered ideal for treating sinus and lung congestion. It also helps in loosening and removing excess mucus and phlegm. The mucilage content of the seeds help to cure external boils, burns and ulcers.
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Ibtihaj Muhammad in her Fencing Gear. (Photo: AP)
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H E A L T H
CORIANDER ( HABB AL-SUDA ) The most respected books of traditions state that the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said, “ Make yours the seed of coriander, for it is a cure of all diseases except swelling [cancer], and that is a fatal disease.” Coriander alleviates flatulence and resolves fevers. It is effective in the treatment of leukoderma, and it opens the subtlest networks of the veins. Excess moisture in the body is dried up by the coriander, and it increases milk flow, urine, and menses. It is particularly useful
HENNA ( HINNA ) The Holy Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) recommended it for many conditions : bruises, pain in the legs, infection of nails, burns, and to beautify the hair. The perfume made from Henna flowers is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The dyeing of hands, nails, and feet is a common practice in the East, especially for weddings and feasts.
HONEY ( ASAL ) ALLAH has said, “There comes forth, from within [the bee], a beverage of many colours in which there is a healing for you.” Mixed with warm water, and taken in several small doses, honey is considered the best remedy for diarrhoea. The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) once said, “By HIM in whose hand is my soul, eat honey. For there is no house in which honey is kept for the angels will not ask for mercy. If a person eats honey, a thousand remedies enter his stomach and a million diseases will come out. If a man dies and honey is found within him, fire [burning of hell] will not touch his body.” The prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) himself used to drink a glass of honey and water each morning on an empty
MELON ( BATTIKH ) The Prophet said (salallahu alayhi wasalam) : “Whenever you eat fruit, eat melon, because it is the fruit of Paradise and contains a thousand blessings and a thousand mercies. The eating of it cures every diseases. None of your women who are pregnant and eat of watermelon will fail to produce offspring who are good in countenance and good in character.” The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) ate melon with fresh dates.
CITRON ( UTRUJJ ) The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) is reported to have said, “The citron is like a true believer : good to taste and good to smell.” Citron strengthens the heart, dispels sadness, removes freckles, satisfies hunger, and slows the flow of bile. The wife of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) used to treat blind people with citron dipped in honey. Citron is best taken about ten minutes after conclusion of meals.
POMEGRANATE Sweet pomegranate are preferred over the sour. The juice stems
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coughs. All kinds of pomegranate settle palpitations of the heart. It is also reported that one who eats three pomegranate in the course of a year will be inoculated against ophthalmia for that year. The Prophet said (salallahu alayhi wasalam) : Pomegranate “cleanses you of Shaytan and from evil aspirations for forty days.”
VINEGAR The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) was reported to have once remarked that vinegar was the seasoning of all the prophets who came before him. Vinegar is both cold and hot, nearly balancing between the two. Mixed with rose water, it is an excellent remedy for toothache and headache. Vinegar also dissolves phlegm. Another Hadith states that a house containing vinegar will never suffer from poverty.
THYME In the time of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam), it was customary to fumigate houses by burning frankincense and thyme. Thyme is cold and dry in the third degree. An excellent digestive aid to heavy foods, thyme beautifies the complexion, annuls intestinal gas, and benefits coldness of the stomach and liver. When drunk as an infusion, it is said to kill tapeworms
QUINCE
It is said that to eat Quince on an empty stomach is good for the soul. Cold and dry, Quince is astringent to the stomach, and it checks excessive menstrual flow. A few seeds placed in water will, after a few minutes, form amucilage which is an excellent remedy for cough and sore throat, especially in the young. Quince is also excellent for pregnant woman, gladdening their heart. The Holy Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said, “Eat Quince, for it sweetens the heart. For ALLAH has sent no Prophet as HIS messenger without feeding him on the Quince of Paradise. For Quince increases the strength up to that of forty men.”
MILK The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said that milk wipes away heat from the heart just as the finger wipes away sweat from the brow. It strengthens the back, increases the brain, augments intelligence, renews vision & drives away forgetfulness.
BARLEY The Prophet Muhammed (salallahu alayhi wasalam ) recommended talbina (a meal made from powdered barley) for the sick and grieving. Muahmmad Sajad Ali
May Allah, shower blessings upon Sayyiduna Muhammad, upon his noble family and his blessed companions.