PassionIslam March 09

CHANGE Issue: 12

March 2009

WE CAN BELIEVE IN

Its the change we all have been looking for, as Britain have confirmed they are ready to talk with Hezbollah (see page 4) and in a similar tone across the Atlantic in an interview with New York Times Obama hinted at dialogues with the Taliban and confirmed that US is not winning the war in Afghanistan (see page 3).

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I March 2009

the Passion

Guantánamo: The Forgotten Prisoner

By Moazzam Begg

Perhaps the most heart-breaking thing a child whose father is in prison will ever have to do is to explain to his – or her – classmates why daddy never comes to collect him from school. The very mention that daddy is in jail will, at least in some cases, elicit the puerile jeering and mockery expected in any school playground.

Society – schools included – tells us that people in prison must be bad.

That may be the case for those found guilty of heinous crimes. But, how does a seven-year-old – who has never seen his father, except through old photographs his tormented mother shows him – explain to his peers the iniquitous nature of the removal of habeas corpus? How does he argue his father’s case when he doesn’t even know what a father is? How will he explain all this to his classmates when we cannot even explain it to adults? This – and much more – is what one chid and his three older siblings in London have experienced daily since the incarceration of their father more than seven years ago.

Since the early 90s, Shaker Aamer had resided in the UK, where he worked as a translator at a legal firm and later met his wife. In the summer of 2001, Aamer made the decision to live and work in Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with his wife and children, to undertake projects to support a girls’ school and build wells.

Shortly after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Aamer, it is believed, like hundreds of others, was sold for a bounty of $5,000 by tribal warlords eager to receive the lucrative rewards offered for foreign Muslims by the US military. His family managed to return safely to the UK, but Aamer was sent to a series of secret prisons and eventually to Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo has become a major embarrassment for the US administration, and President Barack Obama’s call to close the place – along with the CIA detention sites – is welcome. We have already seen

how the torture meted out before and during our incarceration in Guantánamo has become a source of altercation and unease between two of the world’s closest allies, especially through the case of Binyam Mohamed, who is now finally being returned to his place of residence in the UK. Having been subjected to some truly horrific torture, Mohamed undoubtedly deserves to be afforded the dignity of rehabilitation and reintegration into normal life. If this is true in the case of Mohamed, then it is even more so in the case of Aamer and his family.

Aamer was a very well-known and liked person among his community; he left an indelible impression on most of the people who met and conversed with him. He is faithful, brave, charismatic, kind, polite and full of life. All of us in Guantánamo knew his qualities, including the men guarding us.

Terry Holdbrooks, one of Aamer’s guards, serving in a military police unit from 2003-04 in Guantánamo, said about him: “He’s a wonderful character – unbelievably intelligent, very polite, very well-mannered, great etiquette … no matter whom the guard was he was working with – whether it was a very ignorant uncaring American with no recognition for his situation or me … He was a wonderful person – I absolutely enjoyed spending time with him.”

There has been some confusion as to where Aamer should be sent to since he was cleared for release and transfer over a year ago. The Americans wanted to send him to Saudi Arabia, since he is a citizen of that country, but he has leave to remain in the UK and his family are all here. His UK lawyer, Gareth Peirce, commented: “He’s not charged with anything. Where is the problem?

His family’s all in the UK and the UK has accepted that it has called for his return here. The new US administration wants to close down

Guantánamo. Bringing Aamer home tomorrow wouldn’t be soon enough.”

Aamer has never been designated for trial by military commission and there is no intention to prosecute him.

He has lost more than half his body weight due to several hunger strikes he has participated in, agitating for better conditions and the right to be charged and tried – or released.

But ultimately, Aamer is a father and a husband who simply wants to come home. Zachary Katznelson from Reprieve, on organisation that legally represents a large number of the men still in Guantánamo said: “Shaker’s primal concern has always been about his family: how he could return to being a father again, how he could return to being a husband again.”

Aamer’s wife has been hospitalised a number of times due to the terrible strain his absence has placed upon her and her children.

Her words haunt all who know his case: Your disappearance isn’t natural Is that what was written in my fate?

What kind of departure was it?

Your commemoration in my mind Faaris Aamer, the child who has yet to meet his father, still patiently awaits the day that the man in the photographs he sees holding his older sister and brothers – Juhayna (12), Mish’al (10) and Abdur-Rahman (9) – all those years ago, walks through the door and finally says, “As-salaamu alaikum kids – I’m your father. I’m home.”

It is high time Aamer came home.

On behalf of the family of Shaker Aamer and former Guantánamo prisoners: Shafiq Rasul, Ruhel Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, Tarek Dergoul, Jamal al-Harith, Richard Belmar, Martin Mubanga, Feroz Abbassi, Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil Elbanna, Omar Deghayes and Abdenour Sameur

Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 1AD tel: 07506 466 385 or email: info@passionislam.com - www.passionislam.com This Magazine contains Ayaat of the Qur’an and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW), please ensure you handle it with respect & care - Sukran

I March 2009

Guantanamo detainee tells of MI5 telegrams Passion Islam

A UK resident detained at Guantanamo Bay has released alleged domestic Intelligence service, MI5, memos which he claims show government collusion in his interrogation.

Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 30, told the Mail on Sunday to be published tomorrow they were sent to the CIA in November 2002, at a time he said he was being tortured in Morocco.

His claims of British collusion are being investigated by the government, the media here said, quoting the Mail.

He also told the paper he was held in continual darkness for weeks on end in a prison in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Mohamed claims MI5 agents fed his US captors specific questions which led to him falsely confessing to terrorist activities.

In the first memo, the writer asked for a name to be put to him and then for him to be questioned further about that person.

The second telegram asked about a timescale for putting further

questions to him.

The opposition Conservatives have called for a police inquiry into his allegations of British collusion.

Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve said there should be a judicial inquiry into the allegations and the matter referred to the police.

Mohamed told the paper the worst part of this captivity was in Kabul’s “dark prison” where he claimed he was shackled and forced to listen to continual music while standing up.

He also alleged he was fed contaminated food and denied proper washing facilities.

“The toilet in the cell was a bucket.

Without light, you either find the bucket or you go on your bed,” he told the paper.

“There were loudspeakers in the cell, pumping out what felt like about 160 watts, a deafening volume, nonstop, 24 hours a day.

“They played the same CD for a month.

He added: “The longest was when

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they chained me for eight days on end, in a position that meant I couldn’t stand straight nor sit.

“I couldn’t sleep. I had no idea whether it was day or night.” A Foreign Office spokesman said tonight: “We abhor torture and never order it or condone it.

“We take allegations of mistreatment seriously and investigate them when they are made.

“In the case of Binyam Mohamed, an allegation of possible criminal wrong-doing has been referred to the Attorney General.

“We need now to wait for her report,” he said.

Obama reaching Rasool & Co out to Taliban Solicitors U.S. President Barack Obama announced in an interview that the United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan and hinted at talking to moderate elements of the Taliban as it did with some insurgency groups in Iraq.

“You’ve seen conditions deteriorate over the last couple of years. The Taliban is bolder than it was. I think in the southern regions of the country, you’re seeing them attack in ways that we have not seen previously,” Obama told The New York Times.

Asked by the Times if the United States was winning the war in Afghanistan, which he called the “central front in the war on terror,” Obama simply replied: “No.”

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Britain ready to talk with Hezbollah

Britain said it was prepared to engage in direct contacts with the political wing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which became part of a national unity government last year.

Britain has had no official talks with Hezbollah since 2005, and last July added its military wing to a blacklist of designated terrorist groups.

“We have reconsidered the position ... in light of more positive developments within Lebanon,” Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell told a parliamentary committee.

“For that reason we have explored establishing contacts.”

He said he was referring to the formation in July last year of a unity government in which Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition hold effective veto power, as agreed under a deal that ended a paralyzing political 297x210_COMBINED_PASION ISLAM_3304_english.ai 14/05/2008 18:16:14

conflict in the country.

“We will look to have further discussions and our overriding objective within that is to press Hezbollah to play a more constructive role, particularly to move away from violence,” Rammell said.

However, Rammell stressed there would be no such change towards Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement, saying: “I don’t think there’s an analogy.”

He said Britain would only establish direct dialogue with Palestinian Hamas once it signed up to internationally recognized commitments, he said, which included recognizing the right of Israel to exist and rejecting violence.

Hezbollah has political and military wings and provides social, medical and reconstruction services. It is highly centralized and all members

NO HIDDEN CHARGES!

I March 2009

undergo military training.

Rammell said a delegation of British opposition Conservative legislators held talks recently with a Lebanese parliamentary committee that included one Hezbollah member.

The British ambassador to Lebanon was present at that meeting.

The move could also be significant because Britain, the United States and other Western powers are locked in a dispute with Iran, Hezbollah’s backer, over its nuclear program.

The powers accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, while Iran says it only wants nuclear energy.

Lebanon is due to hold parliamentary polls in June which are expected to be a tight contest between anti-Syrian factions and a Hezbollahled alliance.

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A recent report published this month probing trading links between British companies and Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, considered illegal under International and British law, found 68 British companies with economic ties to these settlements.

“Under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 it is unlawful under English law for a person whether in the UK or elsewhere to be complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity” Tom Hayes, BIG spokesman research at SOAS University in London said that 68 British companies have direct or indirect trade links to Israel’s settlements.

Forty-nine had head offices in the United Kingdom while 19 were British subsidiaries of companies based in Israel.

The research comes at time of growing concern in Europe that economic ties to Israel are perpetuating the illegal situation of occupation.

Some Israeli companies export products produced in settlements to their U.K. trading partners while others have major offices or factories in the settlements.

Produce exported by these settlements is a violation of British law, which in 2001 criminalized acts like the building of settlements and any crimes that fall under the element of “apartheid” “Under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 it is unlawful under English law for a person, whether in the U.K. or elsewhere, to be complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity. This includes the transfer of civilian populations into occupied territory or profiting from apartheid,” Tom Hayes, spokesman for U.K.based Boycott Israeli Campaign (BIG), told AlArabiya.net.

Was Robert the first Muslim mayor in UK? A man tracing his family tree has discovered Stalybridge had the first Muslim mayor in the country — more than 130 years ago.

Brian Longden’s great-great grandad Robert Stanley, who converted to Islam, served as town mayor from 1874-1876.

The 19th century tea merchant was chairman of the building committee for Stalybridge market hall and one of the original trustees for Stamford Park.

Campaigners are calling for him to be given full recognition in his home town — with a blue plaque.

Mr Stanley, who was also an alderman and a councillor, was regarded as one of the most distinguished members of Manchester’s then 40-strong Muslim community.

Brian was astonished to discover his ancestor’s religious beliefs — especially as his own son Steven converted to Islam eight years ago.

I March 2009

UK-Israeli trade ties come under pressure Passion Islam

The retired mechanic, of Plough Street, Dukinfield, said: “Robert obviously became a respected Muslim leader towards the end of his life. We are very proud of him and want to share what we have found with the people of Stalybridge and the rest of the country.”

Steven, also a Muslim, said: “It’s an amazing coincidence that I have also converted. It must be in the blood.

“He is an important part of the area’s history. He achieved such a lot in his life and we are really proud of him.”

Initially born in Cardiff in 1828, Mr Stanley moved to Stalybridge with his family aged 10.

His civic role in Stalybridge in the 1870s is well documented, playing a key role in the building of Stalybridge market hall and in the setting up of Stamford Park. He left to live in Manchester in 1880 and died in 1911 aged 83.

“The building of settlements is a crime under the ICC act and being ancillary to it is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment under English law,” Hayes added.

“This could mean that companies like Agrexco, who facilitate and profit from the building of settlements, could be considered ancillary and be prosecuted in the U.K. under the act,” he added.

Products grown on settlements are sold by major U.K. supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Somerfield and well-known British retail chains like Marks and Spencer and John Lewish.

Tesco is linked to four companies Arava, Hadiklaim, Mehadrin-Tnuport, Soda-Club while Sainsbury’s is linked to two companies: Hadiklaim, SodaClub. John Lewis linked to Ahava, all of which benefit from settlementbased trade.

Mosques promote cohesion The Muslim Council of Britain has welcomed the findings of an independent Charity Commission survey of mosques in Britain which says that mosques contribute to their local communities through a wide range of services and activities in addition to providing space for worship, from sport and leisure activities to healthy living programmes and assistance for senior citizens.

The survey charts how an overwhelming majority (94%) deliver educational programme for children and young people and three in five (61%) carry out women’s groups/ activities.

The survey also show that increasingly more and more mosques have young people (52%) and women (15%) represented in their management responsibility. Far from being a source of separation, mosques are integral to community cohesion and development.

Farmers to tap into Halal meat market Passion Islam

I March 2009

West Midlands farmers hope to tap into the £2.8bn UK halal meat market with a scheme that will check animals are killed in accordance with Islamic law.

The project, which follows a two year trial, will ensure livestock are killed with a single cut to the throat in a halal abattoir.

About two thirds of halal meat in the UK is currently imported.

Farmers also hope to gain a share of the global halal market which is worth an estimated £75bn.

The scheme, which will begin in March, follows the trial arranged by the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and the West Midlands Minority Ethnic Business Forum.

Sheep farmed in the Midlands could be sold as halal meat around the world The Qurbani Project sourced halal meat from about 200 animals on farms in the region and was tested during the Muslim festival Eid-ul-Adha in December 2008.

The animals were slaughtered in a halal abattoir and then distributed to poor people in Bosnia.

The idea is similar to the National Farmers’ Union’s (NFU) Red Tractor scheme, which ensures the welfare of slaughtered animals, Midlands Today science and environment correspondent David Gregory said.

Farmers signed up to it cannot use pig manure, GM feeds or alcoholbased cleaners.

The NFU said it had been concerned about the welfare of animals but was reassured they would be stunned first.

A machine is used to monitor the animal to make sure it is unconscious but not dead when its throat is cut.

There are about two million Muslims in the UK but an estimated six million consumers of halal meat nationwide.

Michael Oakes, board member for rural affairs at Advantage West Midlands, said British Muslims consumed 20% of all red meat sold in the country while making up just 3% of the population.

Adam Quinney, chairman of the West Midlands NFU, said: “Beef and sheep producers in the Midlands welcome the opportunity to take advantage of the new markets now

Lloyds TSB has blamed US government economic sanction laws for its decision to block Interpal’s bank account last year.

It’s the first time that Lloyds, who has blocked clearing services for Interpal through its account with the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), has spoken out on the matter.

In a statement to the Islamic charity, Lloyds said: “We would like to clarify we have not instructed IBB to close Interpal’s accounts, however we have told them that we are not able to offer clearing services for Interpal.

“This is because Lloyds TSB, like many other banks, has dealings with the United States, and so we

have no option but to comply with US government economic sanction laws…The US has classified Interpal as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist which means that Lloyds TSB cannot provide any services to Interpal.”

On a separate enquiry, Charity Commission cleared Interpal of funding terrorist organisations.

Interpal, who has been subject to a Charity Commission inquiry into its work in Palestine, was found to have maintained clear financial audit trails, with a personal acknowledgement of each orphan supported by the charity.

LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7 being opened up as a result of the Qurbani project.

“Being able to produce animals for halal meat with confidence that high welfare standards will operate throughout the supply chain, will be welcomed by livestock farmers.”

No explanation from Barclays on UWT Account

Meanwhile, the Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT), who had its bank account closed by Barclays Bank in January, has still received no explanation.

Mohammed Ahmed, UWT director said: “We suggested in a meeting with Barclays that it would benefit them to disclose a reason to avoid people making assumptions but it is still adamant to maintain the same position.”

Meanwhile, the minister for international development, Michael Foster, has written to Labour MP Martin Linton about Interpal and UWT’s banking problems.

Interpal’s US terrorism designation blamed for Lloyd’s Bank decision

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Police accused of holding ‘protestor database’ 8

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I March 2009

The Met Police force denied holding a database of thousands of campaigners, demonstrators and political protesters.

But according to an investigation carried out by the Guardian newspaper, police are targeting thousands of protesters in surveillance operations and storing their details on a database for seven years.

The newspaper said information gathered through the Freedom of Information Act, court testimony, an interview with a senior Metropolitan Police officer and surveillance footage revealed police were storing names, photographs and video footage of activists without their knowledge.

But the police said information was only entered on a database where it was “legally justified” in accordance with “strict national guidelines.” A

force spokesman said, “The Met Police Public Order Branch does not hold a database of protesters. Officers are required to fill in a report detailing their deployment and interactions with the public during their tour of duty.

“This is not specific to public order policing. Details will include vulnerable premises visited and details of anyone stopped and searched.

“The vast majority of people attending demonstrations will be of no interest to police - they will only become of interest to police when their behaviour leads them to suspect that the person may be organising and planning disorder or criminal offences at events.” Liberty, the human rights group, is challenging police surveillance tactics in a judicial review at the court of appeal.

Their legal officer, Corinna

Ferguson, told the newspaper, “A searchable database containing photographs of people who are not even suspected of criminal activity may well violate privacy rights under article 8 of the Human Rights Act. “It is particularly worrying if peaceful protesters are being singled out for surveillance.”

Britain’s High Court is looking into applying the Saudi rehabilitation program to give counseling to extremists, according to a press report.

The new program will be modeled after the munasaha (Arabic for “advice”) program in which the Saudi government en rolls repentant terrorists and returnees from Guantanamo or militant camps outside the kingdom, the London-based newspaper alHayat reported Sunday, said The program would place an Islamic scholar or an imam in each prison to provide counseling to inmates with extremist ideologies According to High Court Judge Sir Christopher Pitchers, who headed a delegation that met with Saudi Minister of Justice Abdullah bin Mohammed Ibrahim Al

Sheikh. “ If a terrorist attack takes place in the U.K., we could benefit from the experience of Saudi Arabia in countering terrorism “ Christopher Pitchers”We will need the help of Saudi Arabia,” Pitchers was quoted as saying. “However, it is the British government that should decide, not the court.”

He referred to the positive results the Saudi program has yielded, especially with respect to terrorist operations..

“If a terrorist attack takes place in the U.K., we could benefit from the experience of Saudi Arabia in countering terrorism. We can also help them if we can. Mutual interest is the purpose of this visit to Riyadh,” he said.

The Saudi advisory program is supervised by the Saudi Ministry of Interior has garnered support and acclaim from the West, according to several reports in the Western media.

The advisory program is hailed by many countries as an extremely important step that precedes rehabilitation. Repentant extremists stay at hostels that have all the required medical, psychological, and cultural facilities to prepare them to re-integrate in society and switch to a moderate ideology.

Program officials continue to follow up with the prisoners after they are released, and Saudi officials have said their approach has been quote successful so far. www.passionislam.com

UK to imitate Saudi terrorist rehab program

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Anti-terror policies threaten human rights: report

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I March 2009

Counterterrorism polices undermine human rights laws and risk permanently damaging its structure, according to a report published, as news reports revealed that Britain will re-focus its anti-terrorism policies on marginalizing Muslim leaders who preach that Islam is incompatible with democracy.

Many of the counterterrorism measures, especially those of “liberal democracies” like the United States and Britain, are illegal and counterproductive, according to

LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS

the report by the International Commission of Jurists who spent three-years investigating practices in 40 countries.

“It is regrettable that during the last eight years many States have responded to terrorism in a manner that threatens the very core of the international human rights framework,” said the report, concluding that governments used public fear to enact measures including detention without trial, illegal disappearance and torture.

New UK policy at odds with findings

The report raised a number of concerns about the U.K.’s current counterterrorism strategies, which according to a BBC Panorama documentary, will be revised this spring to focus more on combating radicalization in ways that critics assert will invade privacy and allow excessive detention without filing charges.

The ICJ report raised concerns over vaguely defined offenses such as the “glorification of terrorism,” which would be a criminal offense under the U.K.’s new counterterrorism strategy, CONTEST 2.

According to an unnamed senior Whitehall source quoted in the documentary Muslim First, British Second, Britain’s new policy will target Muslim leaders who preach an ideology of separation – such as arguing that Muslims should not vote or condemning homosexuality.

“We want to move away from just

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The panel urged immediate action and suggested that the use of the phrase “war on terror” was inaccurate and encouraged governments to disregard international human rights norms.

The Geneva-based nongovernmental organization based its conclusions on discussions with terrorism victims, people who experienced human rights violations as a result of such policies and government and military officials in 40 different countries. challenging violent extremism. We now believe that we should challenge people who are against democracy and state institutions,” he told the BBC. The new strategy will target “radicalizing” behavior, a step up from the current strategy focused on violent behavior, and is divided into the four Ps: Prevent, Pursue, Protect and Prepare.

“We face a real and severe threat from terrorism since 2007 over 87 people have been convicted of terror,” a Home Office spokeswoman told AlArabiya.net. “We know we cannot simply arrest our way out of the problem our long term objective must be to stop supporting terrorism or being a terrorist in the first place.”

But the Home Office, the lead governmental department for counterterrorism, refused to comment on the new counterterrorism policy.

“We are not going to comment on a new policy until it has been released,” said the spokeswoman. “In terms of our policy on counterterrorism we have our strategy in place and this is a program that the BBC has chosen to do.”

The Ministry of Justice also refused to comment on how Britain’s new policies would impact religious leaders and their rights to freedom of expression and other human rights, referring questions to the Home Office. www.passionislam.com

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Passion Islam

I March 2009

Enhanced UK-US collaboration on nuclear weapons to remain secret

The British government is refusing to disclose details of its enhanced collaboration with the US on the country’s nuclear weapons or say whether the agreement allows the UK to participate in Washington’s Reliable Replacement Warhead program.

“I am withholding the information about the detailed nature of these enhanced collaboration, in the interests of national security,” Defense Secretary John Hutton said.

In a written parliamentary reply published, Hutton only went as far as confirming that ‘enhanced collaborations are taking place’ under the UK’s renewed Mutual Defense Agreement (MDA) in support of the UK’s nuclear stockpile stewardship program.

These, he told MPs, ‘contribute to the ongoing review of warhead options

announced in the 2006 White Paper - ‘The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent (CMD 6994)’.

Last month, it was reported that the US military has been using Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment for ‘very valuable’ warhead research as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments, which campaign groups say is in breach of the NPT and undermine the UK’s claim to have an independent nuclear weapons program.

In 2004, the UK extended is MDA with the US for a further 10 year.

In addition, former prime minister Tony Blair exchanged letters with former US president George W Bush in December 2006 on enhanced collaboration.

Hutton insisted that the MDA

renewal made ‘no extension to its scope’ either then or since when asked if there had been any amendment to enable co-operation on the US Reliable Replacement Warhead program.

But he admitted that there were a ‘number of similarities in approach between the Atomic Weapons Establishment and their counterparts in the United States national laboratories’, including the management of research, the assessment of technology readiness, and the fundamentals of sciencebased stockpile stewardship in the absence of underground nuclear tests.

“However, our warheads are based on a wholly UK design and differ from US warheads in a number of areas,” the defense minister told MPs.

Guantanamo Boy

We have teamed up with Puffin Books for you to have a chance of winning one of two copies of ‘Guantanamo Boy’ to enter, email us your Name, Address, age to info@passionislam.com or send in your details to Guantanamo Boy Comp, c/o Passion Islam, PO Box 159, Batley, WF17 1AD

A new novel tells the story of Khalid, a British teenager of Asian descent who travels to Pakistan for a family funeral only to end up in Guantanamo Bay, falsely accused of having links to Al Qaeda.

“Guantanamo Boy,” published this month by Penguin imprint Puffin Books, is based on author Anna Perera’s research into children who were taken to the U.S. military prison following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

And while the story of a 15year-old from Rochdale, is fictional, it includes detailed accounts of Khalid’s often shocking treatment in Pakistan, Afghanistan and finally at the notorious base located in Cuba.

A review in The Times called it “one of the grimmest books for teenagers to have been published for some time.”

Perera considered toning down some scenes of torture in Guantanamo Boy, notably those involving the interrogation technique

of “waterboarding,” a form of simulated drowning. But she included it in the final draft.

“I never forget how resilient the teenagers I taught were,” said the author, referring to her time as a teacher.

Khalid is unwittingly caught up in the paranoia and panic that gripped the world shortly after the 2001 attacks.

In Karachi, people falsely denounce neighbours in return for cash from U.S. intelligence agencies, Khalid is abducted, falsely accused of being in Afghanistan, flown to Kandahar and then to Guantanamo Bay where his nightmare gets worse.

Sleep deprivation, torture, anger, boredom and bewilderment drive the boy to the edge of madness, and, although Khalid is luckier than most other young inmates by the end, it is not clear whether he will ever fully recover from his ordeal.

Khalid only confesses to the apparently ludicrous charges against him after being subjected to

“waterboarding,” during which he is convinced he is about to die.

Perera was inspired to write the novel after hearing of the plight of children at Guantanamo Bay from the charity Reprieve.

“I was so shocked and appalled by that fact. I began researching the prison, and the more I read the more shocked and appalled I became,” she said.

Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve’s founder who has fought for the rights of Guantanamo inmates, welcomed Perera’s novel and the attention it drew to what he called the “pawns in (former U.S. President) George (W.) Bush’s ill advised experiment.”

Over 20 kids have had to grow up in solitary confinement in Guantanamo Bay with fewer rights than the iguanas that crawl all over the island,” he said.

Bush’s successor, President Barack Obama, has promised to shut the prison.

UK Lawmaker calls for inquiry into torture claims Passion Islam

I March 2009

A senior judge should lead an independent inquiry into allegations that Britain may have been complicit in the torture and extraordinary rendition of terror suspects, a government adviser urged in a report.

Alex Carlile, a House of Lords member who advises the government on anti-terrorism laws, said an independent study was necessary after repeated allegations about Britain’s possible involvement in the mistreatment of detainees held in U.S. custody.

Carlile was quoted as telling Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper that a new inquiry should be held in private to hear classified evidence, but publish a public report.

A lawyer for Guantanamo Bay detainee Shaker Aamer, a Saudiborn former British resident, alleged for the first time Sunday that a British security officer was present as Aamer was beaten while held by U.S. forces at Baghram air base in Afghanistan.

“He says that during this abuse a member of the British security services was present in the room who witnessed what was happening,” lawyer Zachary Katznelson of the human rights group Reprieve was

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quoted as saying by the Independent on Sunday newspaper.

Katznelson was not immediately available for comment.

President George W. Bush’s administration had refused to release Aamer to Britain from Guantanamo, citing security concerns.

Ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed alleges he was tortured while held in Pakistan and Morocco and claims British intelligence were aware of his treatment and supplied questions for his interrogators to ask him.

Mohamed, an Ethiopian who moved to Britain when he was a teenager, was arrested in Pakistan in 2002. He claims he was tortured both there, and in Morocco — where he alleges he was sent to be detained by U.S. officials.

Mohamed returned to Britain on Feb. 23 — the first Guantanamo detainee released since President Barack Obama took office.

British defense secretary John Hutton acknowledged that British forces in 2004 handed over two terror suspects detained in Iraq to U.S. authorities, who then secretly rendered the men to a facility in

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Afghanistan.

His admission followed Britain’s embarrassing revelation last year that the United States had failed to tell the U.K. it had used the British Indian Ocean island Diego Garcia as a refueling stop for two rendition flights in 2002.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party, said the government would consider Carlile’s proposal.

“There is no way that we are in some way ambivalent about the question of torture. It is absolutely revolting and the thought that rendition is part of that, I think that is abhorrent,” Harman told BBC television.

Britain’s Attorney General Patricia Scotland is investigating claims that Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5 may have acted improperly in Mohamed’s case. An MI5 officer interviewed Mohamed in Pakistan, but the officer told a court hearing that he was not aware that Mohamed had been mistreated.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said repeatedly that Britain’s intelligence agencies do not condone torture.

Afghan operation ‘worthless’

The military operation in Afghanistan is “worthless” and akin to the start of the Vietnam war, former Commander of the UK special forces, known as SAS, Major Sebastian Morley has said.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said the government had “blood on its hands” over

the “unnecessary” deaths of four soldiers.

But the Ministry of Defence (MOD) insisted the security challenge was “manageable”.

The former SAS commander resigned after Corporal Sarah Bryant and three of her colleagues died when their Snatch hit a mine in June 2008.

Cpl Bryant was the first female soldier to die in Afghanistan when a Snatch carrying her and her male colleagues struck an anti-tank mine in Helmand province.

Maj Morley, 40, said he was compelled to stand down after Quentin Davies, the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, told an “unacceptable lie” in the wake of the deaths.

Davies had said commanders had

a choice of vehicles, although he has subsequently said he had not meant to cause any offence.

Speaking for the first time since his resignation, Maj Morley launched a scathing attack on the state of the military campaign as a whole.

“This is the equivalent to the start of the Vietnam conflict, there is much more to come.

“We hold tiny areas of ground in Helmand and we are kidding ourselves if we think our influence goes beyond 500 metres of our security bases.

“We go out on operations, have a punch-up with the Taleban and then go back to camp for tea. We are not holding the ground.” Britain has 7,500 troops deployed in Afghanistan, the majority in the troubled southern Helmand province.

CIA destroyed 92 videotapes of terror Passion Islam

I March 2009

Madinah to host International Quran & IT Seminar

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance will hold a seminar on “Holy Quran and Information Technology” in the holy city of Madinah in October. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has granted approval to hold the seminar on “the Holy Quran and the Contemporary Technologies” (Information Technology). King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex will host the three-day event, which will begin on October 13, according to Dr. Mohammed Salim Al Aufi, the Secretary General of the Complex, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.

Dr. Mohammed Salim Al Aufi noted that the seminar’s preparatory committee, the scientific committee and the consultative committee have already been constituted.

“The seminar aims at utilization of all the means of the information technology in learning the Holy Quran.

Prominent international figures, including leading scholars, who are well versed in Quranic topics, as well as IT experts and scientists from within the Kingdom and abroad will take part in the event,” he said. The organizers of the conference have already launched a website (www.

Quranlt.org) to provide further details of the event.

Earlier, the King Fahd Complex organized international seminars on the topics such as the attention given by Saudi Arabia to the Holy Quran, translation of the meanings of the Holy Quran, the Holy Quran in the oriental studies, and the attention given by the Kingdom to the Prophet’s Biography.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) destroyed 92 videotape recordings of the interrogation of terrorist suspects, it was revealed.

The revelation indicates the destruction of such recordings was much more extensive than previously known.

The information became public knowledge through a letter filed by U.S. government lawyers in New York, where the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to force the release of more details of U.S. terror interrogation programs.

The letter, written by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, said, “The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed. Ninety two videotapes were destroyed”.

Such tapes were the topic of backand-forth during the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, who was charged with conspiracy in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.

Prosecutors first said no such recordings existed, then later said two videotapes and one audiotape of interrogation of terror suspects had been made.

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The CIA is putting together a list of the destroyed records, any secondary accounts that describe the destroyed contents, and the identities of those who may have viewed or possessed the recordings before they were destroyed, the letter, written to a judge in the case, said.

The names of CIA personnel who viewed the tapes may be classified, according to lawyers connected to the criminal investigation.

“The CIA intends to produce all of the information requested to the court and to produce as much information as possible on the public record to the plaintiffs,” said Dassin in his letter.

The probe of CIA videotapes included interrogations of top al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah and another high-level leader of the organization.

Government officials have said those tapes were destroyed to protect the identities of the government interrogators as the U.S. Justice Department was doing an internal review of whether some methods used during the interrogations -- including waterboarding, which simulates drowning -- were illegal.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia move up telecommunication rankings The new International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) new ICT Development Index (IDI) says some developing countries have moved up considerably in the Index over the five-year period, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Viet Nam. This is partly due to high mobile cellular growth, coupled with an increase in Internet users.

The report says that Sweden tops the new ITU ICT Development Index, followed by the Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway.They are followed by other, mainly high-income countries

from Europe, Asia and North America.

Western and Northern Europe and North America are the regions with the highest IDI scores, and most countries from these regions are among the top twenty ICT economies.

Poor countries, in particular the least developed countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, Internet and broadband.

This is partly due to high mobile cellular growth, coupled with an increase in Internet users. www.passionislam.com

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I WORLD NEWS

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Japan, Kuwait to host seminar of Muslim intellectuals

Japan and Kuwait will hold a joint seminar in Kuwait on March 1112 aimed at promoting mutual understanding between Japan and Muslim countries, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced.

Around 70 intellectuals, theologians and others from the Muslim world, as well as 15 Japanese intellectuals, will take part in the seventh seminar on the dialogue among civilizations between Japan and The Islamic World, the ministry said in a statement.

The participants are expected to hold wide-ranging discussions, under the theme of “The Harmonization of Civilization with the Environment,” and on the four sub themes “Cultural heritage and experience,” “Environmental Challenges,” “Views for Solutions” and “Methods towards collaboration” at the two-day seminar, which will be hosted by Kuwait’s Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

A “Poster Session,” during which intellectuals will introduce their specialist study areas and activities to others, and a youth exchange workshop for young Japanese and Kuwaiti are also planned for the

I March 2009

U.S. officials hold talks in Syria

event. The seminar is expected to help promote mutual understanding between Japan and Muslim countries through free discussions by intellectuals from both sides, while sharing a common perception on how various civilizations can co-exist and maintain harmony notwithstanding the cultural and ideological diff erences between them, it said.

The dialogue was proposed as one of the pillars of Japan’s “Toward MultiLayered Relations with Gulf Countries” strategy, announced by former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono during his visit to the Gulf countries in 2001.

The first seminar was held in Bahrain in March 2002, with subsequent seminars being held twice in Tokyo and once each in Teheran, Tunis and Riyadh. - KUNA

Two senior U.S. officials held highlevel talks in Syria in another sign of a warming of ties between the two countries.

Jeffrey Feltman, acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, and Dan Shapiro of the White House’s National Security Council are the first senior U.S. officials to visit Syria since Jan. 2005.

“I would characterise the discussions as very constructive.

We discussed a broad range of regional issues and the bilateral relationship,” Feltman told reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem.

Diplomats had expected the U.S. delegation to raise Syria’s ties with Iran, as well as Syria’s role in Lebanon, its influence over the Palestinian group Hamas and prospects for esuming peace talks between Syria and Israel.

Ties between Syria and the United States deteriorated during the George W. Bush administration after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik alHariri in February, 2005.

Washington withdrew its ambassador to Syria and stepped up sanctions against Damascus.

U.S. President Barack Obama, however, has made moves to talk to Syria, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Ankara on no decision yet has been made on returning an ambassador.

Jordan gets a cabinet reshuffle

Jordan’s King Abdullah II swore in 10 new members of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi’s cabinet in a reshuffle that included replacing the foreign and interior ministers, the palace said.

Also in the new lineup of the 28strong cabinet are five ministers who changed their portfolios, according to a palace statement.

The changes were aimed at giving greater cohesion to the cabinet of Dahabi, appointed in November 2007 with a mandate to accelerate economic reforms. “ The government is preparing for the new political changes in United States and Israel “ Senior jordanian official Officials said they were prompted by domestic considerations and were not expected

to affect foreign policy.But a senior official told AFP “the government is preparing for the new political changes in United States and Israel.”

Pro-reformist Labor Minister Bassem al-Salem, who has strong business credentials, was appointed finance minister, replacing Hamad Kassasbeh and sending a strong signal to Jordan’s donors and the International Monetary Fund of its commitment to free market reforms.

Pro-Western reformist Foreign Minister Salah al-Basheer, who

has been a target of criticism by conservatives, was replaced by Nasser Joudeh, a veteran information minister and government spokesman.

Musa Maaytah, a left-leaning political activist, joined the government for the first time by becoming minister of political development.

The Islamists, opponents of Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East, want an end to restrictions on political activity and say civil rights have been suppressed ever since Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

I March 2009

I 15

Guantanamo guard speaks up Passion Islam

Brandon Neely still feels the burden of guilt and shame for the litany of abuses and cruel treatment he and fellow guards at the notorious Guantanamo camp gave to weak, helpless detainees.

“Innocent, guilty, black, white, Muslim, or Jew, no matter what you are – there is no excuse to treat people in the manner that I and other people did,” Neely, who served in Guantanamo for six months, told The Independent.

“It’s wrong and just downright criminal, and it goes against everything the United States of America stands for.”

In one of the first accounts by a former guard describing abuses at Guantanamo, Neely said the detainees were given the harshest treatments designed to afflict physical or psychological pain.

Beating, verbal abuse and humiliation began from the first day the detain set foot inside the notorious detention center.

“Upon arrival, detainees were screamed at throughout the whole process,” he said.

“Detainees would be told that their

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country had been nuked and nothing was left, and that their families were dead. I know of some guards even telling detainees they could be executed at any time.”

Neely also recalls special humiliation sessions coinciding with Muslims’ prayer times.

“During call to prayer, many times soldiers would mock and laugh at the detainees.

“Many would also try to sing along to the call for prayer. Some would spray the detainees with water during prayer.”

The US has been holding hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo, opened in 2002, for years, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights.

The infamous detention center has been globally condemned as a stain on America’s human rights record.

World’s Most Dangerous Neely, now a law enforcement officer in the Houston area, mocks the argument that Guantanamo holds the world’s most vicious and dangerous terrorists.

“I can recall being told about the detainees that…we would be coming face-to-face with the worst people the world had to offer.”

He remembers being told that many of the detainees helped in the planning of the 9/11 attacks.

“I was ready to go and face the world’s most dangerous men; these terrorists who had plotted and killed thousands of people in my country,” Neely says.

“Then the day came when these ‘world’s most dangerous men’ arrived, and they were not what I expected to see.”

Neely says the first batch of detainees to arrive at Guantanamo was no more than a punch of ailing, trembling people.

“Most of them were small, underweight, very scared, and injured. I was expecting these people to come off that bus looking like vicious monsters.”

The false ideas Neely was feed about the detainees began to be exposed as he started to interact with the detainees.

“During these times is when I really started to look at the detainees as real people and not just monsters, as I had been told they were.”

He spent plenty of times with David Hicks, the Australian Muslim convert who was captured in Afghanistan.

“Hicks did not come across as the cold-blooded killer that we were told all these guys were. He was a normal guy like me.

“He would sit there, crack a joke, and make small talk. Just like any other normal person would.”

Neely also used to listen to music with British detainee Ruhal Ahmed who was nearly his age.

“The Ruhal Ahmed I saw and spoke with was just a normal, everyday young guy like I was.”

Neely says his time in Guantanamo has taught him a lot about Muslims.

“I couldn’t believe how dedicated these people were to their religion; always reading the Qur’an, always praying.

“You don’t see that in America much any more.” www.passionislam.com

www.passionislam.com

Kuala Lumpur to host fourth World Halal Forum

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I WORLD NEWS

Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, will host the fourth World Halal Forum (WHF) from on May 18 and 19 this year. The fourth World Halal Forum with the theme of “Achieving Global Halal Integrity,” will be the biggest yet, due to the impact and importance of the Global Halal Standard, as well as the expansion of the forum’s format.

WHF 2009 will be the largest forum of its kind to be held in Malaysia and in the whole of South East Asia, expecting increased participation from the Middle East because of WHF Chairman Sheikh Saleh Kamel’s significant influence in the region. WHF 2009 also anticipates large delegations from South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, as well as non-traditional countries such as Brazil and Uruguay.

Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth and Independent States) countries have also shown interest in WHF and the Halal industry.

Since its inception in 2006, the World Halal Forum has grown from strength to strength, always at the

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forefront of a challenging industry.

It has grown from 463 delegates from 27 countries in 2006, to 980 delegates from 40 countries in 2007, making it the most important event in the Halal industry calendar. The third World Halal Forum in 2008 raised the bar once again and drew together over 1,200 delegates from industries, governments, research organizations, universities and consumer associations under one roof to discuss the major issues affecting the Halal industry. At the close of the two eventful days, a resolution was arrived at, for the International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI Alliance), to develop and present the International Halal Standard – a single standard to unify the fragmented industry and ensure global Halal integrity.

IHI Alliance’s goals were also endorsed by the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In his keynote address at WHF 2008, Abdullah said, “My government has formally endorsed the function

I March 2009

and aspirations of the IHI Alliance. I understand that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), through the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), is also committed towards making IHI Alliance a strong, credible and respected global Halal authority.” Following the resolution passed at WHF 2008, IHI Alliance has started the first series of Technical Committee meetings to develop modules for the Global Halal Standard, which will be presented to the OIC Standards Committee in Jeddah, in March 2009 for endorsement.

Once endorsed, it will then be released for public comment at the fourth WHF in May 2009. WHF 2009 is the perfect avenue with expanding opportunities for market leaders, industry experts, academicians, and Islamic scholars to gather and comment on the Global Halal Standard, as well as gain insights on potential implications on Halal integrity, business and trade, and science.

Passion Islam

I March 2009

WORLD NEWS

I 17

Scholar calls for preserving US Muslims Islamic archeological sites and Jews seek new beginning

Prominent Saudi scholar Sheikh Dr. Abdul Mohsen Al Obaikan, who is also an adviser at the Royal Court, has addressed the controversial issue of archeological sites and their preservation. Al Obaikan, commenting on demands to remove or fence off Islamic archeological sites, said there was a difference between preserving archeological sites for educational purposes and the “polytheism practiced at the sites by ignorant people”. “We can’t ask for these places to be destructed just because of the ignorance of some,” Al Obaikan continued. “There were people who practiced such things inside the Holy Kaaba and next to the Prophet’s grave. Should these two places also have been removed?”

Al Obaikan said that the only right way is to make people aware of the erroneous practices by appointing people at the sites to act as guides to visitors. “We can’t say no if someone wants to visit Al Bay’ah Mosque where Al Ansar swore allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him), or with Ghaar (cave) Hera’a and other sites. In an interview to Okaz daily, Prince Sultan bin Salman, Chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism

and Antiquities, touched upon the issue of the removal or demolition of historical sites, the importance of establishing museums to correct misconceptions about the Kingdom’s history, and various steps being taken to restructure the nation’s tourism sector.

Prince Sultan said that the Kingdom’s historical sites and antiquities are protected by a national will extended from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

“National antiquities are protected and no one on earth can demolish, destroy or touch them … We respect people’s keenness and we take guidance from religious scholars, and we are determined that these archeological sites will not be turned into places that encourage heresies which encroach on our faith,” he said. Prince Sultan also stressed the importance of correcting misconceptions through enlightenment and development of museums for displaying antiquities because they are part of history.

“Islamic history did not happen on the moon but in the Arabian Peninsula. It is impossible to ignore the cultural history of the Kingdom.” www.passionislam.com

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Muslims and Jews, a tiny slice of the U.S. population, are looking for new ways to get along that could set a worldwide example for two ancient but often alienated faiths, religious leaders and experts say.

“I’ve encountered (among Muslims) a more centrist, a more moderate voice that is looking to the Jewish community to help project that voice ... to the greater world,” said Rabbi Marc Schneier of New York, speaking of a national summit of Muslim imams and Jewish rabbis he helped organize earlier this year.

He also cited a recent incident in a New York subway “where four young Jews were being verbally and physically assaulted on a train for wishing the passengers a happy Hanukkah, and the only individual to come to their rescue was a young Muslim man,” Hassan Askari, of Bangladeshi heritage, who was beaten.

“That is a very, very powerful example” of what can happen. The challenge is to try to strengthen Jewish-Muslim cooperation and have it serve as a paradigm for communities around the world,” added Schneier, who founded the New York Synagogue in Manhattan and also the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

On another front, leaders of the Islamic Society of North America and the Union for Reform Judaism, representing respectively the largest U.S. Islamic organization and the largest organized Jewish segment in the country, have agreed on a tutorial for dialogue.

“We need to get the truth about each other from one another,” said Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic group.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie of the Reform group told his followers the two religions share “ancient monotheistic faiths, cultural similarities and, as minority religions in North America, experiences with assimilation and discrimination.”

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I SPECIAL FEATURE

Passion Islam

I March 2009

Supplication is a cure

Supplication is from the most beneficial types of healing, it is the enemy of illness and affliction - repressing it and treating it, preventing its occurrence, removing it or at least alleviating it. It is the weapon of the believer as is reported by al-Haakim in his ‘Mustadrak’ from the hadeeth of Alee bin Abee Taalib (RA) from the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said, “Supplication is the weapon of the believer, the pillar of the religion, and the light of the heaven and earth.”

(Abu Ya`laa) Supplication takes one of three positions against illness: It is stronger than the illness and therefore represses it.

It is weaker than the illness and therefore the illness overcomes it and afflicts the servant, however it is still possible that it alleviate the illness.

That they be of equal strength and prevent each other from happening in the servant.

Al-Haakim reports from the hadeeth

of Aa`ishah (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Caution is of no avail against the decree but supplication benefits those things that have occurred and have not yet occurred. For indeed while the tribulation is descending the supplication meets it and they remain struggling with one another until the Day of Judgement.” (Haakim, atTabaraanee) He also reports the hadeeth of ibn Umar from the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said, “Supplication brings about benefit to those things that have occurred and those things that have not yet occurred. So devote yourselves to supplication O servants of Allaah!” (Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh) He also reports the hadeeth of Thawbaan from the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said, “Nothing but supplication averts the decree and nothing but righteousness increases the lifespan. Indeed a person is deprived of provision due to performing sins.”

(Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh)

Being earnest and persistent in supplication From the most beneficial of treatments is to be earnest and persistent in supplication. Ibn Maajah reports in his Sunan the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah from the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that he said, “Allaah is Angry at whosoever does not ask of Him.” (Mishkaat alMasaabeeh) Al-Awzaa`ee mentions from azZuhree from Urwa from Aa`ishah (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Allaah Loves those who are earnest and persistent in their supplications.”

(Uqailee) Imaam Ahmad reports in his ‘Kitaab az-Zuhd’ from Qataadah from Muwarraq that he said, “I have not found a deserving similitude for the believer except in the case of a person on the sea floating on a raft supplicating to his Lord, ‘my

I March 2009 Lord! My Lord!’ so that perchance Allaah, the Mighty and Magnificent, may save him.” [‘Kitaab az-Zuhd’ of Imaam Ahmad [2/273, chpt. ‘Akhbaar Muwarraq al-Ijlee.’] and Abu Nu`aym in ‘al-Hilya’ [2/235]

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is more likely to answered - these being: The last third of the night.

At the time of the adhaan.

Being impatient with Supplication

Between the adhaan and iqaamah.

From the reasons that prevent the servant from attaining the fulfilment of the supplication is his being hasty and impatient, so when the answer is delayed or slow in coming he becomes frustrated and gives up supplicating.

This person is like the one who sows a seed or plants a flower, watering it and tending to it, then when it is delayed in appearing or flowering he leaves it and neglects it.

In Saheeh Bukhaaree from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Your supplications will be answered as long as you are not impatient by saying, ‘I have supplicated to my Lord but He has not answered.’” [Saheeh Bukhaaree [Eng. Trans. 8/236 no. 352] In Saheeh Muslim from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The supplication of the servant will always be answered provided that he does not supplicate for something sinful or supplicate to sever the ties of kinship and provided that he is not impatient.” It was asked, “O Messenger of Allaah, what is impatience?” He replied, “he says: ‘I have supplicated and supplicated but I have not received an answer’ then he becomes frustrated and leaves off supplicating.” [Saheeh Muslim [Eng. Trans. 4/1430 no. 6595] In the Musnad of Ahmad from the hadeeth of Anas that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The servant will always be in a state of good as long as he is not impatient.” They asked, “how is he impatient?” He replied, “he says, ‘I have supplicated to my Lord but he has not answered.’” (Ahmad)

At the ends prayers.

The best times for Supplication When the servant combines in his supplication presence of the heart and its being attentive and devoting itself solely to Allaah, sincerely asking Him for the desired matter, doing so at one of the six times when the supplication

of

the

prescribed

From the time the Imaam ascends the pulpit to the time the prayer has finished on the day of Jumu`ah.

The last hour after the prayer Asr. Alongside this the servant appends to this fear and reverence in the heart, beseeching his Lord in a state of humility and submissiveness. He faces the Qiblah and is in a state of purity, he raises his hands to Allaah and begins by praising and extolling Him, then he invokes peace and blessings upon Muhammad, His servant and Messenger sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He precedes mentioning his need by seeking forgiveness from Allaah and then he earnestly and sincerely makes his request as one who is needy and impoverished, supplicating to Him out of hope and fear. He seeks the means of getting close to Him by mentioning His Names and Attributes and making the religion sincerely for Him Alone.

Before making supplication he gives in charity. If all this is done then this supplication will never be rejected especially if the servant employs the supplications that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam informed us would be accepted or if his supplication includes mention of Allaah’s Greatest Name...

From Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Our Lord, the Blessed and Most High, Descend every night to the lowest heaven when only the last third of the night remains and says, ‘who is calling upon Me so that I may respond? Who is seeking My forgiveness so that I may forgive Him.” Reported by Saheeh Muslim [Eng. Trans. 1/365 no. 1656] From Anas (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “When the adhaan is proclaimed, the doors to the heaven open and the supplications are answered.”

SPECIAL FEATURE I 19 (Tayaalisee) FromAnas (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The supplication made between the adhaan and the iqaamah will not be rejected.” (Abu Daawood) From Abu Umaamah (RA) that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was asked, “When is the supplication most likely to be accepted?” He replied, “in the last depth of the night and at the end of the prescribed prayers.” (at-Tirmidhee) From Abu Musa (RA) that he heard the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saying concerning the hour in which the supplications will be answered on the day of Jumu`ah, “It is between the time that the imaam sits (on the pulpit) and the time that the prayer is completed.” (Muslim and Abu Daawood) Shaykh Alee Hasan said, “this (time) is problematic, however this is not the place to explain it.”

From Jaabir (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “The day of Jumu`ah has twelve hours, and during one of the hours you will not find a Muslim servant (of Allaah) asking Allaah for something except that He will give it to him. Seek it in the last hour after the prayer of Asr” (Abu Daawood) Abu Daawood reports the hadeeth of Fudaalah bin Ubaid that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam heard a man supplicating in prayer. He did not glorify Allaah and neither did he invoke blessings on the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “He made haste.” He then called him and said to him or to those around him, “If any one of you prays, he should commence by glorifying his Lord and praising Him; he should invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and thereafter he should supplicate Allaah for anything he wishes.” (an-Nasaa`ee) From Alee (RA) that the Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Every supplication is veiled until one has invoked peace and blessings upon the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.” (ibn Mukhlid in ‘alMuntaqaa’)

Some of the reasons for Supplication being answered

I SPECIAL FEATURE For example a person may supplicate at a time of dire need by the side of a grave and this supplication be answered. Now an ignorant person may see this and think that the reason behind the supplication being answered lay with the grave and not know that the reason actually lay in the person being in dire need and his sincerely resorting to Allaah. If this person, when being in this situation, had supplicated in a house from amongst the houses of Allaah then this would have been better and more beloved to Allaah.

Supplication is like a weapon Supplications and seeking refuge are of the level of a weapon. The strength of the weapon lies in the strength of the one wielding it and not merely in its own natural strength. So when the weapon is complete having no defect and the arm wielding it is strong and any obstacles are absent - then the

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“Having embraced Islam, I felt as if I were born again. I found in Islam the answers to those queries which I had failed to find in Christianity.”

weapon will cause harm to the enemy, and when any of these three matters are absent then the desired effect of the weapon will also be absent.

Similarly when the supplication, in and of itself, is corrupt, or the supplicator does not combine his heart with his tongue at the time of supplication, or for some reason there be an obstacle preventing the answer - then the desired outcome will not be achieved.

Say Subhanallah wa bi hamdih, ‘adada khalqihi, wa ridaa nafsihi, wazinata ‘arshihi, wa midaada kalimaatihi (Glory and praise be to Allah, as much as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as the weight of His Throne and as much as the ink of His words) more than 15 times.

These words bring many more times the reward for other forms of tasbeeh and dhikr, as was reported in sahih hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

Sa

Frequently we find the supplications that are answered to be those that combine dire need with the persons sincerely turning to Allaah Alone, or due to a good deed that the person performed before the supplication and Allaah made it to be the reason behind His answering the supplication as a way of showing appreciation, or the person supplicated at a time in which the supplication will be answered etc.

Someone may think that the reason of the supplication being answered lies in the wording of the supplication itself and he takes to this wording only, ignoring the other matters that this supplicator combined when supplicating. This is like a person who takes a medicine at a recommended time and in a recommended way and thereby benefits from it, another person sees this and thinks that taking the medicine on its own suffices to bring about benefit. This is incorrect and in fact this is an area in which many people have erred.

I March 2009

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The State of Repentance

22

I SPECIAL FEATURE

The state of repentance, tawbah, is at the beginning, the middle and the end of all states of submission to the will of Allah. The servant who seeks the pleasure of Allah never abandons tawbah. He remains in the state of tawbah until his death. Whatever his state of belief, the servant makes tawbah his constant companion. Thus, tawbah is at the beginning and at the end of his servitude to his Creator.

His need for tawbah at the end, just as at the beginning, overrides, and supersedes all other needs.

Allah says: “And turn to Allah altogether (make tawbah), O you who believe so that you may succeed,” (24:31) The verse above is contained within a Madinan Surah (revealed after the migration to Madinah), in which Allah addresses the people of emaan, who are the best of His creation.

He calls upon them to make tawbah

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“turn in repentance” to Him after they had already believed, gone through hardships, trials of faith, executed patience, migrated and performed jihad. Allah then made success conditional on perfecting such tawbah, as the effect is often conditional on the cause. No one can hope for success, except: those who make tawbah. Allah says: “And those who do not make tawbah are indeed the dhaalimoon (wrongdoers).” (49:11) Allah divides His servants into two categories only: the repentant and the wrongdoers. There is no third category. Allah calls those who do not make tawbah, “dhaalimoon” (wrongdoers and transgressors) and no one is more of a wrongdoer and a transgressor than a person who does not repent for his evil actions. This state is a result of a person’s ignorance of his Lord and the rights due to Him, as well as, his own defects and the evil of his deeds. The Prophet, sallallahu

I March 2009

alayeh wa sallam, is reported to have said: “O people, make tawbah to Allah. By Allah, I make tawbah to Him more than seventy times each day.”

(Bukhari) His companions used to count for him in each congregation his saying one hundred times: “My Lord, forgive me and accept my repentance, for You are At-Tawwab (the One who accept repentance), Al-Ghafoor (The Oft Forgiving).” The Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, is also reported to have said: “No one will be rescued (on the Day of Judgment) by his deeds. They (his companions) asked even you Messenger of Allah?

He said, even me, unless Allah would grant me His mercy and Grace.”

May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, the most knowledgeable among His creation of Him, His Rights, His Greatness and what servitude He deserves. He is the most knowledgeable of servitude

I March 2009 and its requirements and the most committed in servitude to Allah.

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The Starter (Fatihah) of Tawbah Tawbah is the return of the servant to Allah. It is also his turning away from the path of those with whom Allah is angry and those who are astray. This returning cannot be done except by Allah’s guidance to the Straight Path.

The servant will not attain guidance except through Allah’s help and the servant’s submithrough tawheed.

Suratul-Fatihah explains this concept in the most complete and eloquent manner.

Whoever appreciates Surat-ulFatihah and gives it is right estimate, through knowledge, contemplation upon its facts and by living its directives, will realise that one cannot recite it, with the true recitation of a servant, unless one makes sincere tawbah. The perfect guidance to the Straight Path cannot be attained with the indifference to sins or the persistence on sins. Indifference to sins negates the knowledge of guidance. Persistent sinning negates the intention and the will of the servant.

Thus, tawbah will not be valid except after one recognises the sins, admits to them and seeks to rid oneself of their evil consequences.

Seeking Refuge from Sin The first aspect of tawbah, then, is to see how one was taken away from seeking the pleasure of Allah, by committing sins. Next, one has to recognize that Allah didn’t safeguard him from sin. One should also ponder how happy one was while sinning and being persistent on the sin, while knowing with surety that Allah ever watches over whatever is done in the heavens or on the earth. If the servant had sought refuge in Allah, he would not have gone away from the guidance of obedience, “And whoever holds firmly to Allah, then he is indeed guided to a Right Path.” (3:101) If one’s holding onto Allah is firm, one would never be forsaken by Allah, “And hold firmly to Allah, He is your Mawlaa (Protector) and what an excellent Mawlaa and what an excellent Naseer (Helper).” (22:78) In other words, whenever we hold firm to Him, He will become our Protector and He will support us against our nafs (inclinations) and the Shaytan. These two enemies,

the nafs and Satan, are the ones that do not leave the servant for even a moment. Their enmity is more harmful to the servant than the enemies from without. Attaining victory over such enemies is more difficult, and the servant’s need for such a victory is far more important. The degree of help rendered to defeat these enemies is dependent upon the degree of our dependence and holding onto Allah. If we do not hold firmly to Allah, we will go away from Allah’s protection. This is indeed the true loss. Allah could have aided us in staying away from sins, however, because we deserted Him, we were allowed to listen to any obey our nafs. If He wished to protect us, the sin would not have found a way to get to us.

When the servant becomes heedless of the consequences of sin, he finds pleasure when he satisfies unlawful desires. This pleasure in disobedience is evidence of his ignorance of the Greatness of the One of disobeys, and his ignorance of the evil consequences of sins and evil actions. His pleasure with sin has concealed all of this from his sight.

In fact, his pleasure with sin is more harmful to him than perpetrating the sin itself. The believer can never have any pleasure from sin. He cannot have complete satisfaction with it.

On the contrary, he would not even pursue it, except with grief in his heart. But the intoxication of the desires obscures one from feeling this remorse. When the heart becomes empty from such grief and one is happy with sin, then one should question his faith and weep for the death of his heart. If one were alive, he would be sad for the perpetration of any sin, big or small.

The evil effects of sin, more times than not, go unnoticed in us and in our brothers and sisters in Islam.

Diligences in constant self-evaluation is necessary in leading us away from sin and its destructive ends. One can do this by focusing on the following.

1. The fear of dying before making tawbah.

2. Remorse about the good that was missed because of the disobedience of Allah.

3. Working seriously on regaining what has been missed.

If one becomes completely heedless

SPECIAL FEATURE I 23 then one becomes persistent, which means constant disobedience with the intention to perform the sin again and again. This by itself is another sin that could be far greater than the first. Part of the punishment for sin is that it leads to a greater sin, then another, and so on until it completely and certainly destroys the person if he does not repent.

Persistence on sin is another sin.

Not attempting to rectify the sin means persistence on it and satisfaction with it. This is the sign of ruin. Worse than all of that, is the commission of sin in public when we are sure that Allah watches and sees everything from above His Throne. If we believe that Allah watches us, yet we proceed to commit sins publicly, this is a great contradiction. But if we don’t believe that He watches us, then we are completely out of the realm of Islam.

There are two considerations for a sinner: lack of embarrassment from Allah knowing that Allah’s sight watches over all, and lack of fear to go out of the deen. Therefore, one of the conditions of the acceptance of tawbah is that a person should firmly believe that Allah was watching and that He will always watch over him. He sees everything during the perpetration of sins.

The reality of tawbah is to return to Allah is not sound or complete without the knowledge of the Lord’s names and attributes and their manifestations within Himself and in the world. The repenting servant should know that he was running away from his Lord, captured in the grip of his enemy. He didn’t fall into the claws of his enemy except as a result of his ignorance of his Lord and his daring to go against Him. He should know how and when he became ignorant, and how and when he was captured. He should believe that tawbah requires great determination and complete awareness to rescue himself from the enemy and be able to return and run back, to his Lord Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. He should realise that returning to his Lord is actually turning away from the road of destruction, where his enemy had taken him.

He should know the number of steps taken away from his Lord and the efforts and obstacles that he must strongly work on to get back to the Straight Path.

x e ORALS

24

I SPECIAL FEATURE

Oral sex between a husband and wife is considered as Makruh Tahrimi by the jurists, since there is strong possibility that by ejaculation, Mazi (semen) comes out and enters the mouth of the partner. There is consensus amongst the Fuqahaa that Mazi is Najis (impure).

Man has been created as a bearer of high and noble attributes. In him he mirrors the attributes of divinity (Sifaat-e-Ilaahiyya) such as life, knowledge, power, will, sight, hearing, speech, love, etc. In the authoritative Tafseer of the aforementioned Aayat, it is said that Insaan (man) has been adorned with the Noor of Aql (the light of intelligence). This celestial faculty of intelligence creates in Insaan the capacity for the manifestation of the lofty and divine attributes of Allah Taãla. By virtue of the Noor of Aql man becomes incandescent by being a mirror for these lofty attributes and manifestation (Tajalliyaat-e-Zilliyah and Sifaat-e-Zaatiyyah). As a direct consequence of this lofty pedestal which Insaan occupies in the Divine Scheme, the mantle of Khilaafah (vicegerency) has been conferred on him. Stating this fact, the Qurãn declares: Verily I shall be creating on earth a Khaleefah.

In the Tafseer of the Aayat mentioned at the beginning, it is also said that in relation to all the species of life, man has been endowned with the most beautiful form. All other animals have been created in a lowly form with their heads downwards. Their faces constantly pointing downwards to the earth indicate their low rank in relation to man. In contrast, man has been created upright and he eats his food by means of raising it with his hands unlike the lowly beasts with faces downwards.

HIS DEBASEMENT In the Tafseer of the Aayat, it is said that when man willingly destroys

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his natural ability to progress to the pedestals of elevation, he degenerates and falls from his lofty mansion. He then falls to levels lower than the level of dogs, pigs and even Shayaateen.

SUPERIORITY According to the authentic Tafaseer, prior to the creation of Aadam (Álayhis salaam), the Malaaikah (angels) entertained the opinion that Allah Taãla will not create any being superior to them. Allah Taãla negates this opinion of the Malaaikah by creating Aadam (Álayhis salaam) and making him a manifestation of divine attributes. To illustrate Insaan’s superiority over all pecies of creation, Allah Taãla commanded the Malaaikah to make Sajdah (prostration) to him (Nabi Aadam -- Álayhis salaam). The superiority of man is well emphasised by the statement of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam): “Allah created Aadam in His (Allah’s) form.” Insha Allah, this Hadith will be explained in greater detail in some future issue of ‘the Majlis’. Here it is sufficient to mention the interpretation of the authorities intelligence, sight, hearing, etc. These lofty attributes are located in that part of the human body called head. It is for this reason that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) forbade striking or slapping the face of any human being or even an animal. In the Tafseer of the Qurãnic Aayat which permits husbands to beat wives in cases of necessity, it is said: “The face shall not be slapped”. Explaining the reason for the prohibition of slapping the face, Imaam Nawawi (RA) says in his Sharhul Muslim, “Because the face is the embodiment of man’s beauty in addition to it being of sublime nature.”

THE LATAA-IF-E-SITTAH In man there are six metaphysical or non-material or spiritual faculties known as the Lataa-if-e-sittah. Two

I March 2009

of these lofty faculties, viz. Lateefah Khaafi and Lateefah Akhfa are located in the head. The Lateefah Akhfah is located in the centre of the brain while the location of Lateefah Khafi is between the eyebrows.

The functions of these faculties are the highest states of reflection and contemplation, progressing from the high state of Fana to Fanul Fana.

These are spiritual or Roohani stages which shall not be discussed in this article.

PATHWAY FOR QURÃN In the Ahaadith, the following narration appears: “Verily, your mouths are pathways of the Qurãn, therefore purify your mouths with Miswaak.”

The Makhaarij or places from whence Qurãnic huroof (letters) emanate are located in the mouth.

The high Ibaadat of Tilaawat of the Qurãn shareef is effected via the mouth, hence the Hadith describes the mouth as the ‘pathway of the Qurãn’.

Since it is, literally speaking, the channel for the recitation of the Qurãn shareef, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) emphasised much the maintainance of its purity. The emphasis on the purity of the mouth could be gauged from the many times Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) would use the Miswaak everyday to clean his mouth. The practice of Miswaak is strongly stressed by the Shariáh. In one Hadith, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, “When the servant of Allah uses the Miswaak and then performs Salaat, an angel stands behind him, listening attentively to the recitation of the Qurãn. The angels draws closer and closer to the reciter and places his mouth on the mouth of the reciter. Thus every word emanating from the mouth of the Musalli enters the angel’s mouth.

Therefore, maintain your mouth pure and clean for the Qurãn.”

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I March 2009

SPECIAL FEATURE

ZIKRULLAH The actual purpose underlying the creation of man is Zikrullah or the remembrance of Allah Taãla.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) ordered Muslims to maintain their tongues fresh with the Zikr of Allah Taãla.

The facts mentioned above will indicate that Insaan is Ashraful Makhlukaat (the noblest of creation) and the noblest part of his body is his head which is the location for lofty faculties and attributes which earn for him the designation of ‘the form of Allah’. In order that he maintains his lofty rank and progresses continuously towards loftier mansions and closer Divine Proximity, it is essential that man exercises restraint over his physical and animal qualities. If he fails in this respect, he will descend to a level below the lowly beasts.

Allah Taãla has endowed man with intelligence, will-power and shame.

He must employ these attributes to subdue his animal and carnal desires and refrain from indulgence in the excesses of lust. If he fails in this achievement he will annihilate himself spiritually and degenerate to sub-animal levels.

The sublimity of Islam is of such a lofty degree that it exhorts its adherence to adopt dignity, deportment and propriety in even sexual relationship.

Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) advised his Ummah to abstain from total nudity when indulging in sex and not to behave ‘like asses’. Since Islam is a culture of transcendental values calculated to ensure maximum remembrance of Allah Taãla, a Muslim should not debase himself to a subanimal level by resorting to the vile practice of oral sex.

The mouth of Insaan is the pathway of the Qurãn, his tongue has been commanded to remain fresh with Zikrullah; his mouth is situated in the noblest part of his body; the

t s Ju K AS

functions of his mouth are noble and lofty; his mouth is a passageway for transference of the recited Qurãn into the mouth of the listening angel.

He cannot, therefore, debase and dishonour himself so disgracefully by resorting to the revolting practice of oral sex. A Muslim should not dishonour that head and face which the Shariáh of Islam commands to be honoured. Allah Taãla honoured the human head with noble qualities, the highest being the Noor of Aql, but man debases that lofty part of his body by indulging in an act of bestiality not even committed by the lowly beasts.

It does not behove man in general, and a Muslim in particular to degrade himself in this manner.

The Mu’min’s link with Allah Taãla is so strong or ought to be so strong that the Shariáh has prescribed a particular Duá to be recited even when a man approaches his wife for sexual relations. Even at the moment of reaching climax and ejaculation, the Muslim is required to read in his mind (without moving the lips) a special Duá so that he remains protected from any Shaitaani interference. We learn from the Hadith of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) that Shaytaan attempts to interfere with man even while he indulges in lawful sex, hence the wording of the special Duá for this occasion is: “O Allah! Protect us from Shaytaan and protect the offspring you grant us from Shaytaan”.

Allah Taãla has honoured man highly, hence the Qurãn says, “Verily, We have honoured the sons of Aadam”. He is therefore not allowed to debase himself with the bestial acts which even the lowly beasts do not commit.

The mouth is an honoured part of the physical body. It is not a receptacle of impurity. The Shariáh emphasises the maintainance of its purity. Even in the developing foetus, Allah Taãla has arranged for the maintainance of the purity of the mouth. The umbilical

I 25

cord connects the developing embryo to its mother. It is the passageway in which exchange of nutrient and waste materials with the circulatory system of the mother takes place. In man the umbilical cord arises at the navel below which is the location of the rebellious Nafs which reduces man to sub-animal levels if not restrained. Why does Allah Taãla not create the foetus with the umbilical cord attached to its mouth so that its nutrition reaches it in the normal way, viz. Via the mouth? Right until the very last moments prior to its emergence into the external world, the baby’s nutrition is via the umblical cord.

Immediately on reaching the outside world its nourishment reaches it from the mouth. Since the umbilical cord is also the passageway for impure waste matter, its connection is near to the location of the lowly nafs. The mouth has thus been guarded against impurities.

The facts presented in this article should be sufficient to convey to Muslims that their Imaan and the spirit of the teachings of Islam do not permit them to grovel in the dregs of debasement and perpetrate moral injustice by utilising the mouth for deriving sexual pleasure. This is not the function of the mouth. It is a misappropriation of an amaanat (trust). All parts of the body are Amaanat which have to be utilised in accordance with the instructions of Allah Taãla. Such contamination and moral pollution as entailed by oral sex are most unbecoming the dignity and rank of man, especially if the Insaan appears to be a follower of the illustrious Shariáh of Muhammad (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam). Allah Taãla states in the Noble Qurãn, “Verily, Allah loves those who purify themselves”.

Extracted from ‘The Majlis’ Vol. 6 No. 8 Mufti Ebrahim Desai

If you have a Question regarding this subject or any other featured articles we have covered please email us on info@passionislam.com and we will forward it onto our team of Scholars to answer.

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Holy man was having a conversation with his Creator one day and said, ‘I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like..’

His Creator led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water..

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

His Creator said, ‘You have seen Hell.’

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand.’

It is simple,’ said the Creator .

‘It requires but one skill.

You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.’

Sent in by Imran, Batley