PassionIslam April 09 by Shakir Ahmed

Issue: 13

April 2009

A World Free From Nuclear Weapons Barack Obama has promised that the US will do all it takes to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. In a major speech in Prague, the

capital of the Czech Republic, the US president said Washington would take â&#x20AC;&#x153;concrete stepsâ&#x20AC;? to reduce its nuclear arsenal and encourage other

nations to do the same. He said countries needed to cooperate and have patience to achieve a nuclear-free world.

I LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

Masajid’s need to be more media active The Masajids and Islamic organisations AGM’s have gone and the dust has settled in some places new fresh dawn has broken and for some the old guards are still strong as ever, which ever way you look all across the UK the new teams and the old ones have to strive foreword to unite more than ever and work together to open the Masajids to show we have nothing to hide, the more you close yourself in the further you get away from the reality, its not just about practicing your faith but to preach it and show it to others. The government/police are not the people we need to convince, they know about our faith more

than sometimes some of us know ourselves, they do a job which they feel are protecting our security, right or wrong they know 99.9% of the Muslims are law abiding citizens. But when it comes to the media, they really haven’t got a clue, considering they should research into news stories but because of time and getting news on air or press deadlines and off course selling papers a juicy story about Muslims really does sell and we I guess always shoot ourselves in the foot. The media seems to always get hold of a person who reflects none of the people in the community,

Passion Islam

I April 2009

the Passion Sheikh Imran Sub Editor

so you are asking, why does this happen? is it just bad luck or wrong timing, actually none of them, its just that we as a Muslim community are not well organised, when a story breaks the first thing our ‘community leaders/representatives’ should do is come out invite all the press and do a press statement, each Masajid’s should have this system in place this is the only way we can get our voice heard. The hope is that new or old, the Masajid’s committee’s need to change and buckle up and go forward it’s the only way, working with the media to tackle misconceptions and be open to them.

Editor, Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD tel: 07506 466 385 or email: info@passionislam.com - www.passionislam.com

Fire service introduces hijab head scarves for Muslim workers

Pop into the firestation and the chances are there’d be a group of reassuringly burly men in there waiting for the call out, with uniforms and firefighting suits tailored for their use alone. The one or two women among them would have to make do with illfitting adaptations of the men’s outfits while the handful of Muslim women in the service would be wearing their own headscarfs. But, with the fire service anxious to attract recruits of all sexes and backgrounds, it was decided that something had to be done. The results were uneveiled, including full-length skirts, hijab headscarfs and long- sleeved shirts for Muslim women recruits. The hope is that the uniforms, designed for wearing round the station and for outings such as school trips, will be smarter and better fitting for every firefighter - even the men. Mike Thomas, Chief Fire Officer for

Lincolnshire, declared the uniforms would help ‘bust’ the ‘ traditional image of the hunky, British, white, male, firefighter’ ‘There are no better positive role models than women and ethnic recruits in these uniforms, and hopefully they will encourage people to join,’ he added. Firemen in Lincolnshire will be the first to try out the new national uniform which also includes sports and maternity wear. Fire minister Sadiq Khan added: ‘We want the widest range of applicants to apply to join the fire and rescue service. ‘To achieve this, it is important that all applicants - men and women - know that the uniform and clothing they will be issued with will not only protect them but will also fit properly and be comfortable. ‘The introduction of more appropriately fitted clothing is just one initiative to help to both retain female

firefighters and encourage others to consider a fire service career.’ ‘The uniform now available shows that cultural beliefs are being recognised, as we seek to increase the representation of ethnic minorities within service.’ However, in England’s Fire and Rescue Service only 5.5 per cent of all staff are from a minority ethnic background and 3.3 per cent are women. Jagtar Singh, spokesman for the Asian Fire Service Association, said: ‘We are pleased to note that the fire service is now taking seriously the issues of culture and religious belief when purchasing corporate and protective clothing for firefighters.’

This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran

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British complicity in rendition and torture pre-dates 9/11 says report

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A new report by Cageprisoners into the involvement of British authorities in torture and rendition details alarming findings that are too recurrent to ignore. Cageprisoners publishes, Fabricating Terrorism II: British Complicity in Renditions and Torture, which highlights 29 cases of individuals who have been subjected to renditions or torture with recurrent allegations of the direct involvement of the British officials even before 9/11.Strongly reminiscent of the case of former Guantanamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed, the report details the experiences of Farid Hilali, who in 1998, years prior to the start of the ‘War on Terror’, was first tortured in Dubai, UAE and then rendered to Morocco where he was further abused – all with the knowledge and collusion of British intelligence officials. Spokesman for Cageprisoners, Moazzam Begg, said of the report, “In the summer of 1998 I was visited by MI5 in my house in England. 170309_148x210_Natrate_Passion IPage 1 17/03/2009 15:07:31

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They told me it was regarding the case of man called Farid Hilali. Hilali had written to me from Dubai, telling me he had been detained there and horribly tortured and forced to sign confessions. He also asked me to find him a lawyer. That is how I first met Gareth Pierce. Three years later, I was abducted by the CIA in Pakistan and subsequently held and tortured in secret locations, Kandahar,

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Bagram and Guantanamo Bay. MI5 agents interrogated me at every leg of my ordeal – including one who had come to my house in 1998. I hope that the police investigation into Mr. Mohamed’s case will finally demonstrate just how many of us suffered like this and, in my case, a result of my own government’s policies. That is why we have taken them to court.”

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UK police pay £60,000 damages over assaulting terror suspect The Metropolitan police agreed to pay for the Islamophobic assault, which £60,000 damages to a British Muslim left Ahmad with over 70 injuries man after admitting in the High Court but criticized the refusal to issue an that anti-terrorist officers subjected apology. him to a prolonged series of violent “In light of the admission that assaults and religious abuse. officers ridiculed and insulted the The court heard that Babar Ahmad, a 31-year old computer specialist, was subjected to ‘serious gratuitous prolonged unjustified violence’ and ‘religious abuse’ after when he was arrested under the UK’s terrorism laws in December 2003. Ahmad was subsequently released without any charge after being held in custody for six days, but was rearrested the following year under a US extradition warrant and Islamic faith during the course of has remained in a British jail since torturing Ahmad, the Commissioner’s awaiting the outcome of his appeal to refusal to apologize is a slap in the the European Court of Human rights. face of every Muslim in the UK,” said The Islamic Human Rights IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh. “At a time when immense pressure Commission (IHRC) welcomed the IslamPage 1 27/02/2009 10:37:10 is being put on the Muslim community decision260209_148x210_STD_Passion by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to accept full liability to work towards community cohesion,

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this arrogance exposes the tolerance of Islamophobia within the police,” Shadjareh said. The police commissioner accepted that despite Ahmad offering no resistance, he was subjected to a violent assault by at least four officers, and that he was forced onto his knees into the Muslim prayer position and taunted, “Where is your God now?” The admissions were made on the second of the trial which follows over five years of complaints and litigation during which the police have persistently denied the allegations. This included the Independent Police Complaints Commission clearing officers of any wrongdoing. The IHRC called for a full independent inquiry into the systematic failure of institutions to carry out their functions without bias, saying that ‘institutional racism and Islamophobia continue to fester within the Metropolitan Police Service’.

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Muslim Parents face prosecution over school ‘Gay Week’ protest

Muslim parents who withdrew their children out of school to prevent them being taught about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender relationships are facing prosecution. The East London primary, George Tomlinson School, has hit the headlines when around 30 pupils were absent from a week of special lessons to highlight non-heterosexual partnerships. The row has once again bought the debate forward to the suitability of such subjects, which were once introduced in the late years of High School some years back and are now being exposed and presented to young children at Primary Level. As part of the ‘learning’ process, students were planned to watch a special adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retitled Romeo and Julian. Stories covered in the lessons at George Tomlinson School included a fairytale about a prince who turns down three princesses before falling in love with one of their brothers and the tale of Roy and Silo - two male penguins who fall in love. The Muslim community in East London has been taken back by the threats when the local council announced that action would be taken against those parents for failing to bring their children to school. A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said the absences would be treated as “unauthorised” and action had been taken, but refused to say what sanctions were put in place. Pervez Latif, whose children Saleh, ten, and Abdur-Rahim, nine, attend the school, said both Christian and Muslim parents objected to the theme linked to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans-gender History Month. Sarah Saeed, 40, also took her eight-year-old daughter out of school during the week. She claims she told the school she would remove her

Blears faces libel action for attack on leading Muslim

daughter if they went ahead with their plans. “It is not an appropriate age for the children to be learning such matters” she said. The moves towards teaching such topics have been part of a pilot test which government is planning to eventually roll out throughout the country. Under the title of sex and relationship education, which is currently in the consulation process, children as young as 5 will be exposed to sexual issues and relationships, whilst denying the right of parents and guardians to withdraw their children from the lessons. The UK Youth parliament, who has been an active voice in the design of this project, have been ambitious “to improve sex and relationships education in schools”. Despite the Youth parliament having 15 Muslim members, with 7 alone in the North West and Yorkshire region, protest against this new project has been absent. The links between this SRE project and the governments “contest 2″ strategy, revealed earlier last month to tackle extremism, has once again bought the “shared values” debate to the table. Do people living in Britian today believe in the values underpinned in British society? Do people share the idea of being Liberal and tolerant in their views? Are

A leader of Britain’s largest Muslim organisation is threatening to sue Hazel Blears, the secretary of state for communities, after she accused him of calling for violence against Jewish communities and British troops.

views from religions, primarily Islam, compatible to co-exist in a secular society? Such have been the questions presented in both strategies and projects whose primary focus, by in large has been the Muslim community. The East London Primary School in their pilot project has been forthright in asserting key views which communities, regardless of their beliefs and religious outlook must accept as core Values of British Society. “As part of the borough’s policy of promoting tolerance in our schools, children are taught that everyone in our society is of equal value,” said A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council the spokesman. This discussion goes far beyond tackling attendance of school children. Already parents from various backgrounds have raised issues about the exposure of sex related learning at such a young age and the re-enforcement of these messages through magazines, films and music. In fact, the home secretary Jacqui Smith, herself showed great concern on the ‘sexualisation of children’, specifically girls by ‘irresponsible’ media. By Majed Iqbal Independent Journalist

In what is being described by members of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) as a crisis in relations between the Muslim community and the government, lawyers acting for its deputy secretary general have accused Blears

of adopting “an extraordinary and malicious interpretation” of a declaration he signed this year. Abdullah’s lawyers have told Blears that unless she issues a retraction and apology by 15 April they will issue proceedings for libel.

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Archbishop welcomes Muslims raising profile of religion in society The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised Muslims for being at the forefront in raising the profile of religion and ethical challenges in society. “I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life,” Rowan Williams said. “And I think it’s very right that we should have these debates and discussions between Muslims and Christians and others in public,” he said. The spiritual leader of the Church of England was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Muslim News that focused largely on the general lack of ethical principles in today’s secular society, emphasising the need to rediscover the “sense of responsible to each other and for each other.” “The idea that what’s good for me and what’s good for you belong together. Both Muslims and Christians have a very strong sense of God’s will being done in community, when we really follow the needs of the community and work for one another on that in the will of God,” he said according to a transcript. The archbishop acknowledged that there had been leaders in the West with Christian commitments, but said “it hasn’t turned around our society which was being driven by materialism and I think it takes a great deal for a leader to turn the whole thing around.” He suggested it was perhaps

“easier for a leader to go with what seems natural in the society” but he said he would like to see leaders “listening specifically to the more ethical challenges that faith brings.” With regard to Muslims being put down for bringing up faith issues into the public domain, Williams said it also happened to Christians. “What we all want to say is that faith is not just what you and I think in our heads, it’s also about the relations we have in society and what we hope for in society,” he said. “If we are not allowed as religious people to talk and argue about these issues in public then I think society has become a rather unfriendly place for religious people and that’s not helpful change,” he warned. On the current economic crisis, the archbishop said it was due to a number of factors and that he did not want to pin the blame on the bankers. “I would blame all of us for having repeatedly voted for governments since the 1980’s that have pushed for growth that doesn’t always deal with poverty,” he said. “If I want to narrow it down, one of the problems in the last round of crisis is that we have lost any sense of trust and relationship,” he told the Muslim News. “Financial speculators in recent years have gone so far away from any face to face relationships, any real calculation of whether somebody is credit worthy that they have become

abstract. So that sense of personal responsibility to one another has been lost, and behind that is the sense of personal responsibility to God that has been lost.” Questioned on whether it was because of the kind of society we live in the sense that there is no faith in the public domain, Williams said that at the heart of it, society had “lost the idea that it’s essential to human beings to have some relationship to God.” “We can’t really be human unless we have some sort of relationship with God. And in so much of our culture that’s just not there these days, so we do pay the price for it,” he said. The archbishop acknowledged that the Christian Muslim forum does not reach the grassroot level and warned that “the conversation of the elite and intellectuals isn’t in itself going to change anything. We’ve got to deal with it and complicated questions, but we have to make good neighbours.” But he also believed grassroots tensions between Muslims and Christians in this country is “often exaggerated by politicians and others.” He said a lot can be done if the presence of religion can be kept in educational institutions. Asked about the lack of condemnation of Israel for its latest slaughter of Palestinians from Christian and Jewish leaders, Williams said that it is “always illegal” to kill civilians.

Police chiefs have been urged to give a full public apology to the Muslim community in Lancashire over their handling of recent terror arrests but none has been given. Nine men, from Burnley and Blackburn, were arrested on the M65 near Preston but later released without charge. At a meeting attended by 200 people in Blackburn, Lancashire

Police were asked to apologise. Cmdr Andy Rhodes refused to give a full apology but said the incident was “regrettable”. Ibrahim Master, a former chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said there has been disappointment about the way the men were treated. Mr Rhodes added that officers had done all they could to minimise inconvenience.

Two vans and an ambulance were travelling in convoy to London last month when they were stopped by counter-terrorism officers. Although six men were later released, three faced extended questioning and several homes in Burnley were also searched.

No full apology on M65 terror arrest

Guardian documents new Israeli war crimes

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A leading British daily reported that it had compiled detailed evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Israel in its latest slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. Three films made by the Guardian during a month-long investigation documents the use of Palestinian children as human shields, the targeting of medics and hospitals, and drone aircraft firing on civilians. Some of the most damning testimony came from three teenage brothers in the al-Attar family, who describe how they were taken from their home at gunpoint, made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas fighters from firing at them and sent by Israeli soldiers into Palestinian houses to clear them. Evidence was also gathered from Palestinian medics and ambulance drivers who said they were targeted

when they tried to tend to the wounded. There was further testimony of missile attacks by Israeli drones on clearly distinguishable civilian targets, including in one case, a family of six being killed when a missile hit the courtyard of their house. Israeli troops were also accused in a UN report of using a Palestinian child as a human shield during fighting in

Gaza, shooting Palestinian children, bulldozing a house with a woman and child inside and shelling a building they had ordered civilians to enter a day earlier. The Guardian said its documented evidence was further supported by the findings of human rights organisations and soldiers’ testimony recently published in the Israeli press.

The British government is carrying out its own investigations into what foreign arms were supplied and used during Israel’s latest massacre of more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza, Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown has revealed. “When that process is complete we will make the information available to Parliament,” Malloch-Brown said in a written reply to MPs published last month. He said that the assessment was based on a “variety of sources” but was no more specific. His disclosure comes after Middle East Minister Bill Rammell told the Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this month that it has not been clear what equipment was used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza. Over recent years, the British government has licensed arms exports to Israel worth between £10 million and £25 million annually, which

peace groups say breaches the UK’s own guidelines not to sell military equipment that risks being used for external aggression or internal repression. According to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, licences approved last year included components for combat aircraft, for electronic warfare equipment, for naval radars, for surface-to-air missiles, weapons sight equipment, general naval vessel components and military communications. Other supplies have included Head-Up Displays for US F-16 fighter aircraft and Apache combat helicopters, which reportedly have been used by Israel in the past to bomb both Lebanese and Palestinian towns and villages. British MPs have been calling for a full account of arms exports to Israel amid concern that engines for drone

aircraft are made in the UK that were used to target Palestinian civilians and demolish thousands of homes and Gaza’s infrastructure. Last month, Amnesty International arms controls campaigner Oliver Sprague criticized the British government for not revealing whether it has physically checked if Britishmade engines have been ending up in Israeli drones. “In cases like these if the government doesn’t proactively check on where UK equipment ends up it will never be able to guarantee that arms sales won’t end up fuelling human rights violations,” Sprague warned. There have also been reports that new US Dime bombs were supplied through the UK to Israel last year that caused previously unknown and horrific injuries to Palestinian civilians. www.passionislam.com

UK checking foreign arms used in Israeli massacres

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LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

UK police accused of misusing terror laws against peaceful protests An all party committee of parliamentarians expressed concern that the right to protest in the UK was being undermined by “autocratic” police measures and called for changes in the law and tactics. A 70-page report by the Joint Human Rights Committee was also critical about the deployment of riot police at protest marches and warned that they “can unnecessarily raise the temperature” among demonstrators. “The right to protest is a fundamental democratic right and one that the state and police have a duty to protect and facilitate,” said committee chairman Andrew Dismore. “There is a balance to be struck between the rights of protesters, the police and the public, but the state must not impose restrictions unless it is necessary, and proportionate, to do so,” Dismore said. “That is a high threshold. The presumption is in favour of protest without state interference. We believe there are changes to the law and practice that are needed to make that

presumption a reality,” he added. The call for a review comes after criticism of the police handling of anti-Israel demonstrations during its latest slaughter of more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza, which reportedly included the blocking of marchers in a tunnel that almost caused a stampede. British police were also accused of abusing their powers, including using psychological tactics, against thousands of protesters attending a Camp for Climate Action in south-east England last year. The latest report warned that police are increasingly using “heavy handed” tactics against demonstrations and that legislation designed for other purposes, such as used anti-terror powers, were being “misused” to restrict lawful protest.

The committee said it heard claims from protestors and human rights groups that the police had become more autocratic in recent years, using techniques such as penning in protestors and attempting to collect names and addresses of protestors, which could have the effect of intimidating and deterring protest. In one instance, the National Union of Journalists said that the police were conducting surveillance of reporters, denying them reasonable access to protests, not recognising press cards, and even assaulting journalists.

UK’s new anti-terrorism strategy ‘counter-productive,’ warn Muslims

Britain’s largest Muslim organisation has criticised the UK government’s plans to widen the definition of extremism in its latest counterterrorism strategy as “counterproductive.” The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) also rejected calls for its deputy secretary general Daud Abdullah to resign after reportedly signing a public declaration made by 90 Muslims leaders from around the world,

expressing support of Hamas as the elected Palestinian government and the right of armed resistance against Israel’s military occupation. Speaking on the CONTEST-2 strategy, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that there would be a greater emphasis on tackling terrorism through “civil challenge”. “Where people may not have broken the law but nevertheless act in a way that undermines our belief in this country, in democracy, in human rights, in tolerance, and free speech, there should be a challenge made to them, not through the law but through a civil challenge,” Smith said. “We should argue back, we should make clear that those things are unacceptable. And I think that the vast majority of communities from all different religious and other

backgrounds support those shared values and want to make that challenge,” she told the BBC. Reports suggested that the government’s proposals would lead to most British Muslims being branded as extremists, including those who advocate a caliphate, promote Sharia law, believe in armed resistance, including by Palestinians against the Israeli military and fail to condemn the killing of British soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan. But MCB expressed serious alarm that the government may be in “danger of adopting misguided notions of extremism as dictated by xenophobic commentators who profit from creating a hostile atmosphere from which bigots of all shades can draw.” www.passionislam.com

Charity slams fund aimed at curbing extremism

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A £5.1m scheme to help Muslim communities in England and Wales tackle violent extremism has been branded ‘divisive and counterproductive’ by an equalities and human rights charity. The Preventing Violent Extremism Community Leadership Fund announced it will award cash to 32 projects involved in developing the leadership skills of Muslim women, young people and faith leaders and encouraging active involvement in public life. It will also provide money to enhance the representation of Muslim women in local decision-making bodies and help Muslim communities play a greater role in housing boards and resident and tenant associations. Ministers said the number of applications for the scheme, which launched in 2007, had doubled since last year. However, Joy Warmington,

chief executive of Brap (formerly Birmingham Race Action Partnership), criticised the fund. ‘Whilst any investment by government to bring about a more cohesive society must be applauded, Brap is concerned that targeting money at programmes that highlight the “problems” of particular communities is divisive and counterproductive,’ she said. ‘Like a lot of people, we’re unconvinced that trying to address some of these problems under the banner of Prevent is the most productive way forward.’ She urged the government to take a more holistic approach to equality that addresses disadvantage and discrimination in the native population as well as other ethnic groups. ‘In doing, so it would probably find that it was reducing extremism not just in Muslim communities but in other disaffected communities too,’

she said.

At least two hundred schoolchildren in the UK, some as young as 13, have been identified as potential terrorists in a police-run intervention project that so far covers only six areas of the country, according to press reports. The controversial scheme, launched 18 months ago, aims to spot youngsters who are ‘vulnerable’ to so-called Islamic radicalization. Once identified the children are subject to a ‘program of intervention tailored to the needs of the individual’. The number, which has jumped from just 10 since June last year, was said to have been revealed by Britain’s most senior officer in charge of terror prevention, Sir Norman Bettison, who is the chief constable of West Yorkshire Police in northern England. “What will often manifest itself is

what might be regarded as racism and the adoption of bad attitudes towards ‘the West’,” Bettison told the Independent newspaper. “The challenge is to intervene and offer guidance, not necessarily to prosecute them, but to address their grievance, their growing sense of hate and potential to do something violent in the name of some misinterpretation of a faith,” he said. The chief constable denied accusations that the scheme, called the Channel project, was criminalizing Muslim communities, saying it was targeted at ‘would-be terrorists who happen to be cloaking themselves in Islamic rhetoric’. The program is run by the Association of Chief Police Officers, who ask teachers, parents and other community figures to be vigilant for signs that may indicate an attraction

to extreme views or susceptibility to being ‘groomed’ by radicalizers. Funded by the Home Office, it involves officers working alongside Muslim communities to identify impressionable children who are at risk of radicalisation or who have shown an interest in extremist material -- on the internet or in books. The project was originally piloted in Lancashire, northwest England and one London borough in 2007 before being extended in February last year to West Yorkshire, the Midlands, Bedfordshire, north of London and South Wales. It is due to be rolled out to the rest of London and other areas in northern, central and southern England, but it is not known how many Muslim children will be eventually targeted. Muslim Community called it a false and flawed programme.

UK police identify 200 children as ‘potential terrorists’

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I April 2009

Third of working Muslim women see themselves as chief executives An Ipsos MORI survey for the Commission about the career aspirations of Muslim women reveals an ambitious group who want to play a full part in the economic future of Britain. The survey, which challenges assumptions that different groups do not share the same aspirations, reveals a third of working Muslim women see themselves one day as Chief Executive or leader of the organisation they work for and

75 percent of all Muslim women polled think it possible to balance a successful career with a family. The survey was commissioned ahead of the publication today of the first Muslim Women Power List (see notes to editors below). The list is a Commission initiative to celebrate and highlight successful role models and build a networking and mentoring legacy for, and by, Muslim women. The Commission will now link this new network with other organisations

The Home Secretary has opened Britain’s biggest immigration removal centre, increasing this country’s total detention capacity to nearly 3000 beds. Brook House is built next to Gatwick Airport, has 426 beds, and will hold male illegal migrants and foreign criminals. The Home Secretary said, ‘I’m committed to removing more foreign lawbreakers faster than ever before, that’s why the opening of this immigration removal centre is so important. ‘By expanding our detention capacity and working closely with countries to re-document foreign

nationals faster, we’re making it more difficult than ever to stay in the UK illegally.’ The UK Border Agency plans to increase detention housing by 60% by 2012. This includes building a new 370-bed wing in the Harmondsworth removal centre near Heathrow Airport by 2010. The Home Office has also submitted two planning applications for centres at Bullingdon in Oxfordshire and Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire. A decision on which site is pursued will depend on the planning process. In 2008, 66,275 individuals were removed or left voluntarily from the UK.

Biggest immigration removal centre opens

LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 11 seeking to promote opportunities to groups often facing barriers to employment based on ignorance or misunderstanding. 68 percent of Muslim women feel it is possible for them to reach senior positions in the workplace. Two out of three Muslim women say there is no difference between what Muslim and non-Muslim women want in their careers.7 7 percent of all working women in the survey believe it likely that Britain will have a female Muslim Member of Parliament in the next ten years.

Britain to launch Iraq war inquiry

A full inquiry into the war in Iraq will be launched soon after British troops pull out later this year, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. Miliband confirmed in parliament’s lower House of Commons that a probe would be set up as soon as it was feasible. Britain’s 4,100 troops in Iraq are due to complete their mission by May 31, with the pullout set to be completed by July 31. Some 400 troops are due to remain in a noncombat role, largely naval training. During a debate on a full independent inquiry, Conservative opposition lawmaker Edward Leigh said: “So he can give a commitment, then, can he, that we will set up this inquiry, as soon as practicable after the 31 of July?” Miliband replied simply: “Yes.” The British government has repeatedly rejected calls for a full inquiry to be held while troops are still on operational duty in Iraq, saying it would be inappropriate. The inquiry will likely examine the circumstances leading up to Britain’s decision to join the US-led invasion in March 2003, and its aftermath. Antiwar campaigners have been pressing the government for years to hold such an inquiry. Miliband said there were “important lessons to be learnt” from the conflict, but “the time to focus on an official inquiry is when the troops come home to safety, not when they are still exposed to danger in Iraq.”

Property prices to fall further by twenty percent in Dubai

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I April 2009

Dubai residential prices are likely to fall a further 20 percent, while prices

US Sergeant Jailed for Murdering Iraqi Prisoners A U.S. sergeant was sentenced last month by a court martial in Germany to serve no more than 35 years in prison for murdering four prisoners in Iraq in 2007. Sergeant First Class Joseph P. Mayo, 27, will be eligible for parole—conditional release from imprisonment—in 10 years, the court ruled. Earlier he was convicted of murder over the summary executions of four bound and blindfolded prisoners in Baghdad in 2007. “Our objective is to get him out of prison as quickly as possible,” defense lawyer Michael Waddington told reporters after the court adjourned. Waddington said the murders had occurred in part because of a legal and logistical situation in Iraq that often prevented U.S. troops from holding detainees for long enough. “We don’t provide our troops with the support they need,” he said.

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in Abu Dhabi are seen falling by up to 15 percent in 2009, EFG-Hermes said. Prices in the seaside emirate have fallen 34 percent on an average from their peaks in 2008 but should stablise during the first half of 2010 and may rise in the second half of 2010 or early 2011, the Egyptian investment bank said in a research note. A Reuters poll last month showed Dubai house prices are likely to slump nearly 38 percent on average this year and are unlikely to recover before 2011. Rents are seen declining at least 20-50 percent from their peaks depending on the location, due to the acceleration of professional expatriates leaving Dubai, and more supply hitting the market, it said. Around 28,000 units will be delivered in 2009, versus 33,000

I 13

delivered in 2008, while 29,000 units are expected in 2010 and an average 22,000 units between 2011 and 2015, the bank added. Transacted prices in the United Arab Emirates’ capital have fallen 30 percent since 2008 peaks and are expected to drop a further 10-15 percent in 2009. ‘While supply-demand conditions are expected to remain tight, we believe the Abu Dhabi market has the potential to recover fairly quickly.’ The bank said it expects 6,000 units to be delivered in 2009 and 17,000 units in 2010, after around 1,200 units were delivered in 2008. Unit demand is expected to increase due to expatriate and local population growth, with the population expected to grow by 5 percent in 2009 to 1.78 million, EFG said. www.passionislam.com

Saudi King appoints new deputy Prime Minister

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah appointed Prince Nayef as the new Deputy Prime Minister in a move state news agency SPA said was “in the interest of the public good.” Prince Nayef’s appointment by his half brother King Abdullah came as the king travelled to Doha for the Arab summit and to London for the G20. “Technically, the prime minister does not run the administration. The deputy prime minister runs it,” said one Saudi official who asked to remain anonymous.

Prince Nayef was born in 1934 in Taif and served as governor of Riyadh for one year before taking up the position of Minister of the Interior in 1975, his longest held post to date. The promotion acknowledges Nayef’s firm relations with the security services developed during his tenure at the powerful ministry. Nayef drafted several important proposals on interior issues including fighting illicit drug use in the Arab world, and is credited for implementing the issuance of national identity cars to women in 2001

Guantanamo Boy Competition Winners Congratulations to Rokeyya Kazi and Mohammed Hassan

FBI planting spies in U.S mosques, Muslim groups say

I WORLD NEWS

Ten US Muslim organizations have threatened to cease cooperation with the FBI, alleging that the agency covertly infiltrated California mosques and pressurised members of the community to become informants, a media report said. The groups have accused the FBI of sending undercover agents posing as worshippers into mosques and forcing Muslims to become informants. The statement issued by the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, said, the FBI has sent “agents provocateur” into California mosques and an FBI agent threatened to make one mosque member’s life a “living hell” if he did not become an informant, CNN reported. Though the report does not name the mosque member, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had said last month it would seek an investigation into the February

21 arrest of Ahmadullah Niazi, an Afghanistan native. “Niazi previously reported to (CAIR’s Los Angeles office) and other community members that, during a raid of a friend’s house, an FBI agent urged Niazi to work with the agency, saying that if he refused to cooperate his life would be made a ‘living hell,’” CAIR was quoted as saying. Niazi, a member of the Islamic Centre of Irvine, told CAIR his arrest was retaliation for his refusal, CNN reported. The FBI, the report said, directed questions about Niazi’s arrest to the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles, California, which declined comment. Niazi, 34, was indicted last month on charges of perjury, procuring naturalization unlawfully, using a passport procured by fraud and making false statements. A search warrant for Niazi’s Tustin, California, home said Niazi became a naturalized

Passion Islam

I April 2009

citizen in 2004 and made false statements about his past aliases and international travel, CNN said. He also made false statements about contact with his brother-in-law Amin ul-Haq, the indictment said. UlHaq is said to be Osama bin Laden’s [Images] security coordinator and has been labelled a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US government, the indictment said. An FBI agent quoted as saying in open court that Niazi also had discussed terrorist plots with an undercover informant. Niazi has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. CAIR’s problems with the FBI, CNN said, began before Niazi’s arrest. Last year, the FBI discontinued its “formal contact” with CAIR. The statement said the FBI unjustly designated CAIR and other organizations as “unindicted coconspirators”.

Israeli troops open fire at Palestinian demonstrators Six Palestinians have been injured when Israeli forces opened fire at protesters against the Separation Barrier being constructed between Israel and the West Bank. The Israeli soldiers used live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the protests in Ne’lin village located on the route of the fence dubbed as “Apartheid Wall,” spokesman of Ne’lin popular campaign Salah Al-Khawaja told reporters. “The soldiers broke into some houses in the centre of the village, took their positions atop of the houses and fired at the demonstrators,” he said.

They threw a molotov cocktail at one of the houses setting it afire, he pointed out. “We residents of the village have been organizing weekly demonstrations against the tragedies we face due to the fense and against the displacement of some of us and the usurpation of our land behind the wall. “We also protest against the enhanced Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories and show solidarity with the Arab residents of Jerusalem in the face of the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing,” he pointed out. Peaceful demonstrations, which

are part of the celebrations marking the Palestinian “Land Day,” attracted a number of Israeli and foreign peace activists, Al-Khawaja said. In similar protests in Al-Ma’sara village, near Bethlehem, two Palestinians were injured when the Israeli soldiers dealt harshly with the protesters. In Bil’in, near Ramallah, two journalists and dozens of demonstrators suffered from suffocation when the Israeli forces fired bullets and tear gas at participants in a peaceful march which was bound to land confiscated by the Israeli authorities as part of the Apartheid Wall project.

I April 2009

I 15

World’s statesmen to hold annual meeting at King Abdullah City

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As many as 28 former presidents and prime ministers will gather in Rabegh, north of here, in May for discussions on some of the most important global issues today, such as energy conservation, economic growth and how to avoid a new cold war. Also to attend the 27th annual plenary session of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government to be hosted by King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), May 10-14, are 200 other top political personalities and thinkers from around the world. King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has approved the convening of the sessions, said Amr Bin Al-Dabbagh, Governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), which is organizing the event. The InterAction Council was established in 1983 as an independent international organization to mobilize the experience, energy and

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international contacts of statesmen who have held the highest office in their own countries. Council members jointly develop recommendations on, and practical solutions for the political, economic and social problems confronting humanity.

These efforts are focused on three main priority areas, notably peace and security, world economic revitalization and universal ethical standards. The Council is composed of over 30 former world leaders. Its most notable project has been the development of a Universal Declaration of Human

Qatar breaks two tasty World records

The Gulf state of Qatar successfully entered the Guinness Book of World Records for two of huge culinary accomplishments, the largest bowl of pasta and the longest sandwich in history. Despite the unseasonably heavy rain, the Doha Golf Club was crowded with guests eager to witness the historic occasion sponsored by a host of famous Qatari restaurants. “With the cooking involving 500 kilos of salami and mortadella, 1,000 kilos of coleslaw, 200 kilos of mozzarella cheese, and other ingredients such as mushroom, onion, garlic, spices, special pasta, and butter, it could be the biggest food preparation event Qatar has witnessed “ It took almost two weeks to

prepare for the event although the actual cooking took less than a day, Nasser Beydoun, chief executive officer of the restaurants said. Talal Omar, adjudication executive for the Guinness World Records, announced the feat and officially declared that Qatar had broken two world records. Qatar ‘out-sandwiched’ previous record-holder Italy by almost 200 meters (656 ft) after the European nation set the record, just 20 days ago, for the longest sandwich stretching a whopping 1,730 (5,676 ft) meters. Measuring two meters (6.5 ft) wide and 6 meters (19.6 ft) long, Qatar’s bowl of Pasta weighed a massive 4,430 kilos (9,766 lbs) breaking the record set by the U.S. in 2004 at 3,336 kilos (7,355 lbs).

Responsibilities, which was an attempt to develop a set of responsibilities that were shared by all individuals to counterbalance the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Council’s selection of Saudi Arabia as the venue of its annual meeting this year is an affirmation of Saudi Arabia’s growing role in the global economy under the leadership of King Abdullah whose balanced policy has gained the respect of world leaders, said Al-Dabbagh in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency. “The Kingdom enjoys a growing economic renaissance – thanks to policies aimed at achieving social and economic development of different regions of Saudi Arabia,” Al-Dabbagh said. The selection of KAEC to host the conference emphasizes that it is capable of attracting investors and organizing global conferences, AlDabbagh said, noting that it will be the first time that the Council’s meeting is held in the region.

German police probes suspected arson attack inside mosque

Authorities have stepped up their investigation of a supected arson attack on a Turkish mosque in a small town in central Germany last month. The unknown assailants dropped a gasoline-soaked piece of cloth and a fuel canister in the courtyard of the Fatih mosque based in the town of Stadtallendorf. No one was injured in the attack as the chairman of the Turkish Islamic community managed to extinguish the fire after a woman noticed it. The arson assault took place two hours after the end of the evening prayer, according to the report. Mosques across Germany have been repeatedly targeted in Islamophobic attacks in recent years. Germany’s society is still gripped by Islamophobia despite the peaceful presence of some 3.5 million Muslims.

Prophet’s tomb pearl carpet sells for $5m

I WORLD NEWS

A pearl-studded carpet believed to have been created in India more than 100 years ago as a gift for the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad was sold in Qatar for almost $5.5 million, the auctioneers said. Sotheby’s auction house said it had expected bidding for the Pearl Carpet of Baroda to start at $5 million and believed it would fetch a much higher price. But the starting price was brought down to $4.5 million because there were few buyers, Sotheby’s spokesman Habib Basha told AFP in Doha. “We had to reduce the opening bid to $4.5 million and the pearl carpet eventually sold at $5.458 million,” including commission and fees, he said. The eventual buyer was one of three bidders but he wishes to remain anonymous, Basha added. The carpet is traditionally believed

Passion Islam

to have been commissioned by the maharajah of Baroda as a gift for the Prophet’s tomb, which is located in Madina in Saudi Arabia, Sotheby’s said on its website. The maharajah died before the donation was made and the pearl carpet remained in his family. It has an entirely embellished surface, studded with an estimated two million natural seed pearls known as ‘basra’ which

I April 2009

were harvested from the waters of the Arabian Gulf, it said. The carpet was exhibited in 19023 as a highlight of the great Delhi Exhibition, and was later moved to Monaco. It was showcased again over 80 years later in 1985 in New York. The carpet was among a host of Islamic art items on auction in Doha. www.passionislam.com

I April 2009

I 17

‘CIA tortured terror suspects’

Passion Islam

The CIA’s secret interrogation programme amounted to torture for some of the 14 “high-value detainees” held by the agency, according to published excerpts of an internal 2006 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC report was obtained by Mark Danner, a journalist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and excerpted in the April 9 issue of the New York Review of Books. The neutral, Swissbased ICRC is designated by the Geneva Conventions on warfare to visit prisoners of war and other people detained by an occupying power, to ensure countries respect their obligations under the 1949 accords. ICRC officials would not confirm details of the report to The Associated Press and denied leaking it. “We regret that information attributed to the ICRC has been made public. We share our observations and concerns related to US detentions as part of the confidential dialogue we maintain with US authorities and so we do not wish to comment on the substance of the article,’’ said Simon Schorno, a spokesman for the Geneva headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC generally refuses to comment on its prisoner-of-war

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investigations, reasoning that it undermines the organization’s ability to gain access to the prisoners and influence how they are treated. A US official familiar with the ICRC report noted that the claims of abuse were made by the alleged terrorists themselves. The official asked to speak anonymously because the Central Intelligence Agency interrogation programme is classified. The ICRC was granted private access by the Bush administration to the 14 prisoners after they were moved from secret interrogation sites and prisons to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in 2006. According to the report, as described by Danner, the prisoners separately and consistently described long-term solitary confinement, waterboarding - which simulates drowning – prolonged stress positions, forced prolonged nudity, beatings, denial of solid food and other forms of abuse. “The allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees indicate that, in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in the CIA programme, either singly or in combination, constituted torture. In addition, many other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment,’’ states the report, according to Danner. The report was written shortly after then-President George W Bush publicly declared that the United States does not and had not tortured detainees at secret CIA prisons known as “black sites.’’ The Obama administration has ordered the sites closed and has restricted the CIA to using only those interrogation methods approved for use by the US military until a complete review of the programme is conducted. A purported al-Qaeda training manual, obtained by police in Manchester, England in 2000 from the computer of an alleged al-Qaeda operative, instructs adherents to claim torture or abuse if they are captured. The document was translated and posted onto the US Justice Department’s Web site. A leaked 2003 ICRC report said that prisoners in US custody in Iraq had been abused in ways that in some cases was tantamount to torture. The report was written before the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison became public. It was leaked shortly after they became known. www.passionislam.com

Pakistan needs help to counter terrorist groups

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that Pakistan needs help now as terrorists have disrupted democratic system of the country and fanned sectarian conflict. Larijani told a press conference that the US has done many things in Pakistan which are not in the country’s interest. “We too are sensitive towards sectarian conflicts because Pakistan’s security is of high significance to us,” he added. He criticized the US President Barack Obama for certain behaviours

and said, “Some of Obama’s behaviors are disappointing.” Larijani said outlines of the objective-oriented subsidies bill have been approved by a special

commission dealing with the issue but the details have yet to be endorsed. “At a time when global financial and economic crisis has effected our country, we should avoid doing anything which might lead to inflation and recession in national industry and agricultures sectors as two driving force of the country’s production,” said Larijani. To a question about the need for relations between Iran and Arab states, Larijani said having excellent ties with Muslim and Arab states is a general principle of Iran’s diplomacy.

BIG BANG? I SPECIAL FEATURE

Passion Islam

I April 2009

Explosions, apparently we are experts on it What is the proof? Islam tells us Allah is both The Creator & The Evolver, of all that exits. We know Allah did not evolve us from monkeys, and we know all things are from Allah. Please share this information with those who deny the existence of God. They need it. There is a popular theory referred to as the ‘Big Bang’ theory. It tries to explain the existence of the universe in an evolutionary manner having an initial beginning with an immense explosion of some gases or solid mass. Some say there first was a void or ’nothingness’, or perhaps, some gases which exploded then from this everything in the universe simply began to evolve to the stage that we see now. There has never really been any solid evidence for this idea of ‘something out of nothing’ concept. Nor for that matter, the evolutionary theory itself. We would like to explore the idea of creation from a purely logical standpoint using simple terminology without religious hype, emotional pre-

convictions or superstitions. What if someone called a ‘scientist’ tells you his ‘theory’ of how cars are made is like this: A salvage yard on the south side of town blows up and all the metal pieces fly into the air and fall back down in one place forming a brand new Chevrolet Caprice automobile.. with no left over parts.. and the motor is running.. Or what if his theory for how a chair is made is: An explosion occurs in a forest and the trees go flying into the air and then suddenly they combine with some flying cloth to make a beautiful chair... and then it lands in a furniture showroom complete with matching table and lamp... He further explains that: An earthquake in California’s ‘Silicon Valley’ causes the computer chips and circuit boards and other various parts to fall out of their boxes and off of their shelves and just come in place together as they are rolling around on the floor and form the most advanced

technical computers existing on the earth?... Or what of his ‘Medicine Theory’? He now claims that: A gas leak in a pharmacy warehouse causes a terrific explosion. All the different chemicals and substances just smash into each other in exactly the correct amounts to produce a miracle drug which cures everything form cancer to heart and liver disease, old age and warts?... Wait... there’s more to this one: It is all in one formula, packaged in the bottles with labels and ready to sell with no mess left on the floor?... Now after all this exploding and excitement this ‘scientist’ tells you of a great place to relax and have something to eat. It is his favorite place and he calls it: “Burger Blast”! He says: You just go in and sit down and suddenly a ‘blast’ from the kitchen occurs and immediately a burger lands right in front of you with all the

I April 2009 trimmings.. just the way you like it complete with fries, a drink and even your favorite dessert?...

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AND... No one works at “Burger Blast”, it just runs itself, automatically cleaning itself and as you leave it scans your billfold for a valid credit card and charges your bank account for what you have eaten?...

Now the question is: “Are you really going to accept any of this as ‘fact’?” Of course not! We wouldn’t believe a new car is made from flying junk; chairs don’t fall down from exploding trees; earthquakes do not produce computers and blasting burgers don’t rain down on us from above. Question: So how come we don’t challenge a theory of something

SPECIAL FEATURE I 19 coming from nothing and then colliding in the cosmos to make the universe? Is it because of its tremendous magnitude that we have so little comprehension about it, that we are willing to accept any theory from a few telescope ‘peeping Toms’ to tell us that it came from ‘nothingness’? Or just some gases colliding and then... ‘Poof’!? Instant Universe? How?

By Yusuf Estes

I SPECIAL FEATURE

I April 2009

Passion Islam

Smoking - “Let Us Clear the Air”

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I SPECIAL FEATURE

Passion Islam

I April 2009

SABR OR SHUKR THE WORRY STOPS HERE

Aasiyah, the wife of Fir’own. Her Eeman in Allah thrived under the shadow of someone that said, “I am your Lord, Most High!” When news reached Fir’own of his wife’s Eeman he beat her and commanded his guards to beat her. They took her out in the scalding noon heat, tied her hands and feet and beat her perpetually. Who did she turn to? She turned to Allah! She prayed, “My lord, build for me a home with you in Paradise and save me from Fir’own and his deeds and save me from the transgressive people.” It was narrated that when she said this, the sky opened for her and she saw her home in Paradise. She smiled. The guards watched astonished, she’s being tortured and she smiles? Frustrated, Fir’own commanded a boulder to be brought and dropped on Aasiyah, to crush her to death. But Allah took her soul before the boulder was brought and she became an example for all the believing men and women till the end of time: [And Allah has set forth an example for those who believe: the wife of Fir’own (Pharaoh) - when she said, “My Lord, Build for me a home with You in Paradise, and save me from Fir’own and his deeds, and save me from the

transgressive-disbelieving people.] Tahreem 66/11 In the hadith of Jibreel, when he came to the Prophet (SAL ALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM) and asked him about Islam, Eeman, and Ihasan, the Prophet SAL ALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM said about Eeman, “Eeman is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers, the Final Day, and the divine decree, the good and the bad thereof.” ( we shall conclude with the last article of Eeman: to believe in the Divine decree, the good and the bad thereof.) As you and I travel though life we find ourselves in one of two situations. Either something good is happening in our lives and in which case - as Muslims- our role is to thank Allah for the blessing. Or something bad is happening to us, something we dislike and our role here is to be patient (Sabr). This is the formula for a happy life, a life cruising towards the pleasure of Allah. Sabr or Shukr, the worry stops here. The Messenger of Allah (SAL ALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM) said, “Strange is the affair of the Mu’min (the believer), verily all his affairs are good for him. If something pleasing befalls him he thanks (Allah) and it becomes

better for him. And if something harmful befalls him he is patient (Saabir) and it becomes better for him. And this is only for the Mu’mmin.” Ibn Al-Jowzee said, “If this Dunya was not a station of tests it would not be filled with sicknesses and filth. If life was not about hardship, then the Prophets and the pious would have lived the most comfortable of lives. Nay, Adam suffered test after test until he left the Dunya. Nuh cried for 300 years. Ibrahim was thrown into a pit of fire and later told to slaughter his son. Ya’qub cried until he became blind. Musa challenged Fir’own and was tested by his people. Eeasa had no provision except the morsels his disciples provided him with. And Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam) met poverty with patience, his uncle - one of the most beloved relatives to him - was slain and mutilated and his people disbelieved in him ... And the list of Prophets and the pious goes on and on.” What happens to us happens by the will of Allah. It is an article of our Eeman in Qada’ and Qadr that we are pleased with Allah’s choice, Good or seemingly bad it is all the test of this Dunya. How could we imagine that we shall not be tested when those who were better than

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us suffered what they suffered. They however came away with the pleasure of Allah, Subhaanahu wa Ta’Aala. Al Hasan ibn Arafah narrated, “I visited Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal after he was whipped and tortured. I said to him, “O Abu Abdillaaah, you have reached the station of the Prophets!” He said, “Keep quiet. Verily, I saw nothing more than people selling their Deen. And I saw scholars that were with me sell their Faith. So I said to myself, ‘Who am I, what am I. What am I going to say to Allah tomorrow when I stand in front of Him and He ask me, “Did you sell your Deen like the others did?” So I looked at the whip and the sword and chose them. And I said, “If I die I shall return to Allah and say: ‘I was told to say that one of Your Characteristics was something created but I did not.’ After that, it will be upto Him - either to punish me of be Merciful on me.” Al-Hasan ibn Arafah then asked, “Did you feel pain when they whipped you?” He said “Yes, I felt the pain up to 20 lashes then I lost all feeling (They whipped him over eighty times). After it was over I felt no pain and that day I prayed Dhurhr standing.” Al-Hasan ibn Arafah started weeping when he heard what had happened. Imam Ahmad questioned him, “Why are you crying? I did not lose my Eeman. After that why should I care if I loose my life.” They were better than us but this was how they were tested. Let us discuss some facts about these tests of life, the good and the bad that befalls us: Much of what befalls us - the hard times - is the direct result of our own sins. Allah Ta’aala says [And whatever misfortune befalls you it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.] - Sura 42/30 Muhammad ibn Seereen used to say when his debts piled up and he felt sad, “I know that the cause of this sadness is a sin I committed over 40 years ago.” People understand that when something bad happens it is a test from Allah. But , the good things that happen to us are also a test. Allah ta’aala says [And we tested them with good (blessings) and evil (calamities) in order that they might turn back] - A’raf 7/168 Abd alMalik ibn Ishaq said, “There is no one that is not tested with health and prosperity to measure how thankful he is (Shukr).” And the Companion - AbdurRahman ibn ‘Awf (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) said, “We were tested with hardship and

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were patient. And then we were tested with prosperity and we were not patient. Because of this Allah states: [O ye who believe! Let not your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whosoever does that, then they are the losers.] - Munafiqun 63/9 Patience must happen from the beginning, not three days later or one day later, at the first news of the calamity, when it first happens. The Prophet (SAL ALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM) said, “Verily patience (is only Sabr when practiced) at the first hit (of news).” There are things that contradict Sabr. Tearing ones shirt, for example, slapping ones face, slapping hands, shaving ones head, and cursing and wailing. Umm Salamah narrates: I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAL ALLAHU ALAYHI WA SALLAM) say, “Any Muslim that says when a calamity befalls him that which Allah commanded him: To Allah we belong and to him we return. O Allah reward me in this calamity and give me better then it - (any Muslim that says this) Allah will grant him better than (that which he lost).” - Muslim These tests and hardships wash our sins. Aisha (RADI ALLAHU ANHA) said, “Verily fever sheds sins like a tree sheds leaves.” The hardships that befall us distinguish the believers from the insincere. Shumayt ibn Ajlaan said, “The pious and the ungrateful are hidden by health. Yet when calamities befall the two men are separated (by how they react).” Allah says in the Quran [Alif/Laam/ Meem..Do people think that they will be left alone because they say, “We believe,” and will not be tested? Indeed We tested those who (lived) before them] Al-Ankaboot 29/1-3 Towards Sabr Ali (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) said, “Verily Sabr is to Eeman what the head is to the body. When the head is cut off, the body falls. (He then raised his voice) Verily there is no Eeman for he who has no Sabr (patience).” There are three types of Sabr that the Muslim must have: a. Sabr in the obedience of allah. For example, One must be patient and perform their Fajr at it’s time. Sabr in not disobeying Allah. Like someone might say, “I have to listen to music in the car.” No you are commanded by He who gave you those

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ears to not listen to those lullabies of the Devil. And you must have Sabr in not disobeying Allah. Sabr in what Allah Decrees on us. For example, if our child was to pass away we should be patient and seek the reward of Allah in our patience and say only that which is pleasing to Allah. There are two keys. If we understand them we shall open the door to Sabr in our lives: The First Key: know that our souls, families and wealth do not belong to us, they belong to Allah. He gave it to us as a loan to see what we would do with it. And when he takes it back He is taking back what belongs to Him. We had nothing before the blessing and we’ll have nothing after it. We did not create the blessing from nothing, so how can we claim that it belongs to us. The Second Key: We are on a journey and the destination is the hereafter - Paradise or Hell. We’ll be leaving the Dunya behind us and we’ll come back to Allah by ourselves. This is what needs our focus. And if Allah is pleased with us then no worry. If He is not pleased with us then all worry. Let me draw your attention to a verse. Listen carefully. Allah revealed: [Guard strictly the (five obligatory) prayers, especially the middle Salah and stand before Allah in obedience.]alBaqarah 2/238 The verses before this deal with divorce. The verses after it deal with divorce. Why was this verse placed in the middele. The Ulama’ have suggested, Wa Allaahu a’lam, that in the hard times that a person goes through they should not forget the rememberance of Allah, the Salah. And it is that Salah coupled with Sabr that will pull them through. [O you who believe! Seek Help in Patience and Salah. Truly, Allah is with those that are patient.]-Baqarah 2/153 There is good news for those who intend to act on their Sabr. Allah promised them three things: His prayer for them, His Mercy, and their guidance. [Who, when afflicted with calamity say, “Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return.”/They are those on whom the Salawat (i.e. the blessing and forgiveness) of their Lord is upon them, and who shall receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided ones] -Baqarah 2/157 Allah says [And We made from among them leaders, giving guidance under Our Command, when they were patient.]-asSajdah 32/24. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah commented, “i.e. When they took hold of the leading issue, we made them leaders!”

THE FOUR MADHABS

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The Four School of thoughts [Judge] of Kufah, but he refused the post in spite of being physically beaten for his refusal by the Ameer of Kufah, Yazeed Ibn Umar. Similarly, during the rule of the Abbaasids, he also refused royal appointments, and for his refusal was consequently imprisoned in Baghdad by the Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansoor [754-775 CE]. He remained imprisoned until his death in 767 CE. Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. was considered among the minor Taabi’oon [Students of the Sahaabah], because he had met a few of the Sahaabah and had related some Hadeeths from them.

THE HANAFEE MADH-HAB The Founder: Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. (703-767 CE) This Madh-Hab is named after its founding scholar, Abu Haneefah, whose actual name was Nu’maan Ibn Thaabit. He was born in the year 702 CE, in Kufah, Iraq. His father was a silk merchant of Persian origin, who accepted Islam during the reign of the Khulafaa Raashidoon [Righteous Caliphs]. Abu Haneefah began his earlier studies in the field of philosophy and dialectics known as “Ilm al-Kalaam”, but after mastering its various disciplines, he left it and went into an indepth study of Fiqh and Hadeeth. He chose as his main teacher, Hammaad Ibn Zayd, who was among the greatest scholars of Hadeeth of his time. Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. studied under him for eighteen years. During this time he became qualified to teach, but instead remained Hammaad’s student until the latter died in the year 742 CE. After Hammaad’s death Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. took up the position of teacher at the age of forty and became the most outstanding scholar in Kufah. As such, he appeared to be a valuable prize to the Umayyad caliphs at that time. He was offered the position of Qaadee

INFORMATION OF THE HANAFEE MADH-HAB: Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. based his teaching method on the principle of Shooraa [group discussion]. He would present a legal problem to his students for debate and discussion and tell them to record its solution whenever they arrived at a unified position. Because of this interactive approach to making legal rulings, we could say that the Hanafee Madh-Hab was as much a product of Imaam Abu Haneefah’s students’ efforts as it was a product of his own efforts. They would also debate on hypothetical problems and work out solutions, based on the principle of preparing for a problem before its occurrence. Because of their leaning towards hypothetical Fiqh which often introduced an issue with a question, “What if so and so happened?”, they became known as the “What-Iffers” or Ahl ar Ra’i [the opinion people]. SOURCES OF LAW USED BY THE HANAFEE MADH-HAB: The early jurists of this Madh-Hab deduced Islamic Laws from the following sources which are listed hereunder in the order of their importance: 1. The Most Holy Qur’aan: They considered the Most Holy and Noble Qur’aan to be the primary

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unquestionable source of Islamic Law. In fact it was used to determine the accuracy of the other sources. Accordingly any other source that contradicted the Holy Qur’aan was considered inaccurate. 2. The Sunnah” The Sunnah was consulted as the second most important source of Islamic Law, but with some qualification as to its use. They stipulated that it was not sufficient that a Hadeeth be accurate [Saheeh], but it had to be also widely known [Mashhoor], if it was to be used as a legal proof. This condition was laid down as a safeguard against false Hadeeths which were cropping up frequently in that region where only a few notable Sahaabah had settled [Alee and Ibn Mas’ood]. 3. Ijmaa of the Sahaabah: Third in importance as a source of Islamic Law was the unanimous opinion of the Sahaabah on any point of law not specified in the Most Holy Qur’aan or the Sunnah. That is, Ijmaa of the Sahaabah was precedence over the personal opinions of Imaam Abu Haneefah and his students in their deduction of Islamic Law. The Hanafee Madh-hab also recognized the Ijmaa of Muslim scholars in any age as valid and binding on Muslims. 4. Individual opinion of the Sahaabah: If there were different opinions among the Sahaabah on a particular point of law and no Ijmaa was subsequently formed, Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. would choose the opinion which appeared most appropriate to the case in question. In establishing this as a vital principle of his Madh-hab, Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. again gave more weight to the opinions of the Sahaabah than to his own. However, he did apply his own reasoning in a limited sense by choosing one of their various opinions. 5. Qiyaas [Analogical deduction].

I April 2009 Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. felt no obligation to accept the deductions of the students of the Sahaabah [Taabi’oon] in areas where no clear proof was available from any of the above mentioned sources. He considered himself equal of the Taabi’oon and would make his own Ijtihaad based on the principles of Qiyaas which he and his students established.

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6. Istihsaan [Preference]. Istihsaan, in short, is the preference of one proof over another proof because it appears more suitable to the situation, even though the preferred proof may be technically weaker than the one it is preferred to. This may involve the preference of a Hadeeth which is specific over a general one, or it may even involve the preference of a more suitable law over the one deduced by Qiyaas. 7. ‘Urf [Local Custom]: Local customs were given legal weight in areas where there were no binding Islamic customs available. It was through the application of this principle that various customs found in the multiplicity of cultures within the Islamic world entered the legal system and became mistakenly classified as Islamic.

[735-795 CE]. Abu Yoosuf was born into a poor family in Kufah. He studied Hadeeth extensively until he became a noteworthy Hadeeth scholar then studied Fiqh in Kufah for nine years under Imaam Ibn Abee Lailaa [died 765 CE] whose father was a famous Sahaabee from Madinah. Abu Yoosuf later studied under Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. for nine years, and when Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. died, he went to Madinah and studied for a short period under Imaam Maalik R.A. Abu Yoosuf was appointed chief judge of the state by the Abbaasid Caliphs, al-Mahdee [775-785 CE], al-Hadee [785-786] and Haroon ar-Rasheed [786-809 CE]. In his capacity as chief judge, he used to appoint judges for the various cities and all his appointees were followers of the Hanafee Madh-hab. Thus he was instrumental in the spread of the Hanafee school of thought throughout the Muslim empire. Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan, ashShaybaane [749-805 CE]: Imaam Muhammad was born in Wasit, but grew up in Kufah. Like Abu Yoosuf, his early studies were also in Hadeeth. He studied briefly under

SPECIAL FEATURE I 25 Imaam Abu Haneefah R.A. until the latter’s death, then continued his studies under Abu Yoosuf. for three years. During this period he became one of the main narrators of Imaam Maalik’s Hadeeth book Al-Muwatta. Imaam Shaafi’ee R.A. was among the many scholars who later studied under Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan in Baghdad. Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan also accepted appointment as Qaadee during the reign of Caliph Haroon ar-Rasheed, but soon gave it up because of the many compromises it demanded, and returned to his teaching post in Baghdad. Followers of the Hanafee Madhhab: Those who now follow the Hanafee Madh-Hab are found mostly in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Guyana, Trinidad, Surinam and to some extent Egypt and South Africa. When the Ottoman rulers codified Islamic Law according to the Hanafee Madh-Hab in the nineteenth century CE and made it state law, any scholar who aspired to be a judge was obliged to learn it. As a result, the Madh-hab spread throughout the Ottoman Islamic State during the last part of the nineteenth century. Continued next month

Main Students of the Hanafee Madhhab: The most famous of Imaam Abu Haneefah’s students were Zufar Ibn alHudhayl, Abu Yoosuf and Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan. Zufar Ibn al-Hudhayl [732-774 CE]. Zufar was one of those who followed Imaam Abu Haneefah’s example and refused to accept appointments as Qaadee even though many attractive offers were made to him. He preferred to teach, which he did until he died at the age of 42 in the city of Basrah. Abu Yoosuf Ya’qoob Ibn Ibraaheem

t s Ju K AS

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