Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Columbus Day: A Celebration of Genocide?
Dear members, Assalamu Alaikum.Please read this different view about Columbus.Can some one of yoy throw more light on this? Shah Abdul Hannan - Original Message - From: Jodda Mitchell To: Jodda Mitchell Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 6:36 PM Subject: Columbus Day: A Celebration of Genocide? From: Hill, Joyce A. Until I went to an Ohio Civil Rights Commission conference several years ago that included presentations from Native American , I really never gave Columbus Day much thought. In fact, it was my holiday- the only day I got off work and my son had to go to school! Until I listened to the Native American speaker, I really never understood their anger and protests on Columbus Day. Do you?Joyce COLUMBUS DAY: A Celebration of Genocide? Oct. 13, 2003 -- Michelle Montoya questions the holiday celebrating a man whose actions and ideals ignited the very beginnings of racism in the Americas. By Michelle Montoya, Age 17 Since childhood, the notion that Christopher Columbus is a man to be celebrated has been forced into all our heads. Many people hail Columbus for his discovery because from it evolved modern civilization and the United States, with its glorious past of liberty, equality and the invention of microwave ovens. Some of Columbus' supporters scoff at Native American activists and politically correct liberals for protesting the celebration of Columbus Day. Those who scoff prove how naïve they are. We celebrate a day dedicated to a man who encouraged racism and oppression and who committed the worst atrocity that can ever befall mankind - genocide. In some respects, Columbus can be compared to Hitler. Both encouraged racist, violent acts against groups they considered inferior. American Indian activist Russell Means has said, Columbus makes Hitler look like a juvenile delinquent. Certainly, Columbus' ideas killed millions of more people then Hitler's ever did. From almost the moment Columbus landed in the New World, he and his men committed horrendous acts against the Native Americans, igniting the beginning of racism in the Americas. In A Short Account Of The Destruction Of the Indies, Bartolome de Las Casas describes the slaughter: [The Spaniards] forced their way into native settlements, slaughtering everyone they found there, including small children, old men, pregnant women, and even women who had just given birth They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords... They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two at a stroke... they grabbed suckling infants by the feet... and dashed them headlong against the rocks. The way they normally dealt with the native leaders and nobles was to tie them to a kind of griddle...and then grill them over a slow fire, with the result that they howled in agony and despair as they died a lingering death. The United States should abolish Columbus Day. It is a symbol of ignorance. It is a symbol of racism. And, it is a symbol of Native American genocide. To me, celebrating Columbus Day is like celebrating Hitler Day. Some might argue that Hitler did great things for Germany despite the killings and atrocities he committed. And for other reasons, some might believe that Columbus himself was a great man. I think the day should be abolished because of the racism, oppression and genocide that it stands for. Columbus was not the only person who believed the world was round nor was he the first to venture out into the unknown. If we celebrate Columbus Day based solely on the fact that he accidentally discovered the Americas and from this discovery evolved the United States, we prove how closed-minded we are. How can we ignore everything else? We should be proud of the United States and all that it stands for. But we should not cover up the mistakes it took to get here. Celebrating Columbus Day does just that. It glorifies the good and covers up the bad. Holidays in this nation should be reserved for people who really deserve them. They should not recognize a man whose actions and ideals killed more people than Adolph Hitler. Christopher Columbus is no comparison to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr. We need to abolish Columbus Day. In doing so, we take step toward acknowledging our past, no matter how bad our mistakes may have been. GET INVOLVED Transform Columbus Day actively rejects the celebration of Christopher Columbus and his legacy of domination, oppression, and colonialism. 1492, a song from Teaching Tolerance's I Will be Your Friend songbook and CD, debunks the myth that Columbus discovered the Americas. Use the song in music class - or for the school choir. /div (This PDF requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.) DIG DEEPER [Celebrating Columbus Day]
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Increase Your Knowledge
Please send me an email if you would like to receive a paper written by me and Hanifah entitled A STUDY ON ISLAMIC CREDIT CARDS HOLDERS. The paper is accepted for presentation at National Conference of Islamic Finance 2007. Please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject Islamic Credit Cards. Nuradli http://ultraconsulting.org
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] How to Present a True Picture of Islam?
* * * * * * *How to Present a True Picture of Islam? * MUSLIMS going to America and Europe are faced with a flood of questions about Islam. People have many ways of asking these questions and different motivations for doing so, but their question are essentially as follows: Why does Islam permit polygamy? Why is a woman counted as half a man in matters of inheritance and when she gives testimony? Why does Islam belittle women? Is Islam a religion of terror since it prescribes jihad Questions like these are what occupy their minds when they think about Islam, since the Western media has actively maligned Islam as a religion of lust and blood and nothing else. When our Muslim youth go to the Western countries, they often find such questions awkard and try to evade them. In many cases, Muslims will come across a strange opinion on a matter and promote it simply because it is more conciliatory. Many Muslims who did not have correct or sufficient Islamic knowledge suffered from such difficulties. They really did not know what to do. I used to tell them the following: Why should we be on the defensive? Why don't we adopt a more assertive attitude? If they confront us with one question, we should respond with 10 of our own. If they ask you about polygamy, ask them about the sexual promiscuity that is rife in their societies that has brought humiliation to so many women and allowed men to absolve themselves of their responsibilities towards them and towards their children? If they ask you about inequalities in inheritance, ask them about the reality in their own country where a woman earns only 60% of what a man earns for doing the exact same job. I do not mean that we should be evasive. However, it is not good for you to respond when you are in a state of weakness and difficulty where there is a danger that you might answer wrongly and misrepresent Allah's religion in order to appease someone else. You can move on to a more advanced level of discourse and demonstrate that Islamic teachings are the solution to the problems that they are suffering from. For instance, according to some assessments, there are 119 women to every 100 men in the United States. In some states, the number is more like 160 women to every 100 men. Polygamy is the solution to the problems that ensue under such circumstances, since it requires some men to assume responsibility of more than one woman and to be as just as humanly possible in doing so. We can stress how Islam treats all people equally. There is no preference for anyone over anyone else except by a person's piety and virtue. This is the way to do away with the problem of racism that people in the West suffer from. The Islamic teachings about jihad are what uproots oppression and guarantees people the freedom to think and to choose their religion for themselves without being under any compulsion. Islam seeks to have people freely submit themselves to their Creator and not be placed under the subjugation of any worldly dictator, race, tribe or nationality. It is not necessary for us to fancy that the whole world will convert to Islam at our hands. However, we must be eager to guide them and we must seek to do so in every possible and permissible way. We should perfect our way of presenting Islam to them, taking into account the age, circumstances, and level of knowledge of those whom we are addressing. We must present to them the noble Islamic values of freedom, justice, and human dignity and prove to them that Islam is superior to everything that they already know. Above and beyond all of this, we must conduct ourselves in the best ethical manner and present our own lives as a practical example of moral virtue. Unfortunately, many Muslims call people to Islam with their tongues while pushing them away from it with their ignoble, contradictory conduct and with their narrow-mindedness. Compiled from various sources. * Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to p ublish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. * ** inline: image005.jpginline: image001.jpginline: image002.gifinline: image006.gif
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Bidding Final Farewell to the Most Beloved
* * * * * * *Bidding Final Farewell to the Most Beloved * When news of the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was known, people were stunned. The believers felt that the whole city of Madinah sank into total darkness. They were like young children losing their parents. They did not know what to do. Despite the repeated hints by the Prophet of his impending death and the fact that the Qur'an mentions that possibility clearly, to lose him was, for his companions, something they could not imagine or visualize. He lived among them as one who was dearer to them than their souls. He was the sun of their lives. His death meant that they had to live in absolute darkness. For the Prophet to be withdrawn from their lives meant to them a vacuum which could never be filled. It was an event, which they could not imagine or comprehend. Some of them were physically paralyzed, others were dumb, others still made statements, which they could not have thought out properly. Umar ibn Al-Khattab himself could not make a proper judgment. He stood up to address the people and said: Some hypocrites are alleging that God's Messenger has died. God's Messenger has not died. He has gone to his Lord as Moses (peace be upon him) had done before and was away from his people for 40 nights. He then returned after people had said that he had died. I swear that God's Messenger shall return and chop off the hands and legs of those who allege that he has died. As Umar was making his speech, Abu Bakr arrived. He paid no attention to anything going on around him until he went into the room of his daughter Lady Ayesha, the Prophet's wife. Abu Bakr went straight to uncover the Prophet's face, knelt down and kissed him, saying: My father and my mother may be sacrificed for your sake. The one death that God has decreed that you shall experience, you have now had. You shall never die again. He covered the Prophet's face and went out to find Umar still speaking to the people. Abu Bakr said to him: Listen to me. Abu Bakr began by praising God and thanking Him for His grace. He then said: People, if any of you has been worshipping Muhammad, let him know that Muhammad is dead. He who worships God knows that God is always alive; He never dies. He then recited a verse of the Qur'an, which may be translated as follows: Muhammad is but a messenger before whom other messengers have passed. Should he die or be slain, would you turn back on your heels? He who turns back on his heels shall do God no harm. God shall reward those who give thanks to Him. *(3: 144)* ** When people heard Abu Bakr reciting that verse of the Qur'an, they seemed as if they had never heard it before. They had indeed heard it repeatedly, and they repeated it then.Umar said: When I heard Abu Bakr reciting that verse I was stunned and perplexed. I fell down to the ground, feeling that my legs could not support me. I realized, however, that God's Messenger was dead. The next thing to be done was to prepare the Prophet's body for burial. His body needed to be washed like every dead person. Ali ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet's cousin, and Al-Abbas' two sons, Al-Fadl and Qutham, as well as Usamah ibn Zaid and Shaqran, the Prophet's servant, were given that task. Aws ibn Khawli, a man from the Ansar, appealed to Ali to let him also attend. Ali supported the Prophet's body on his chest, Al-Abbas and his two sons helped him turn the Prophet's body while Usamah and Shaqran poured the water and Ali washed him. Ayesha reports that when they were about to start washing the Prophet's body, they did not know whether to take off his clothes or to wash him with his clothes on. They were in disagreement when they were overtaken by sleep. All of them sat down and dozed off. They heard a voice telling them to wash the Prophet's body with his clothes on, so this was how they did it. They poured the water over his shirt and rubbed his body holding his shirt. They did not insert their hands underneath his shirt. When they had finished washing him, they wrapped him in three robes. There were several suggestions concerning where to bury the Prophet. Some people suggested that he should be buried in his mosque. Others suggested that he should be buried alongside his companions. Abu Bakr, however, told them that he heard the Prophet say: Every Prophet was buried in the place where he died. That settled the matter. The bed on which the Prophet died was removed and his grave was dug there. He was buried on Wednesday night, in Ayesha's room. This is the spot where his grave remains. After the Prophet was wrapped for burial, he was put on his bed. Abu Bakr and Umar entered the room and said: Peace be upon you, Messenger of God, with God's mercy and blessing. A number of the Muhajirin and the Ansar went in with them, as many as the room could accommodate. They spoke the same greetings and stood up in rows to offer the prayer for the deceased, the janazah prayer. No one led the
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Islam and the politics of humanity
Written by By S Parvez ManzoorThese are difficult times for Muslims; times of inquisition and persecution, times of genocidal frenzy and crusading fury. In the pursuit of primal passions and atavistic vengeance, the powers-that-be now stand utterly naked, without even the proverbial fig-leaf of morality and decency. For exacting a tribal revenge on an old foe, they are ritually slaughtering all the ideals of Enlightenment, including the perfunctory lip-service to the rhetoric of humanity. Paradoxically, the earlier victim of the secular mans bid for self-glory was the Christian faith, and he fought that battle in the name of humanity and enlightenment! For us, these are also the times of impotent rage and breast-beating, times of senseless violence and self-immolation. But, most lamentably, we ourselves are responsible for transforming them into times of spiritual callousness and moral depravity. Cracking under the onslaught of ungodly forces and confounded by the demons of nihilism, we seem to be renouncing our primordial commitment to humanity for a defeatist and suicidal politics of immediate return. Then there is the treason of our intellectuals! When, at the mock tribunal of civilization and human rights, the discourse of Islamic raison détat that is the pride of the guardians of the sacred law (fiqh) is indicted for not possessing a moral vision transcending the self-interests of a parochial political community (the Ummah of in the eyes of our critics), all that we can do is to recoil in horror at this unseemly spectacle of victors justice. Very little in the way of an exposition of Islams transcendent and ineluctably moral - vision is proffered by official Islam. All that these beneficiaries of our historical order, whose authority and power both have been crushed to naught by the juggernaut of modernity, can conjure is a lame apology of the status quo! Islam for them is nothing but a frozen moment in time, a provincial culture rather than a universal faith. Islamic humanism, unfortunately, is a much neglected subject and the true image of homo islamicus has been obscured as much by the heartless positivism of modernity as by the mindless literalism of the Islamic tradition itself. The absence of any proper and balanced study and the abundance of polemical and highly politicized tracts make this enterprise quite daunting. What follows here cannot therefore be regarded but as exploratory. Given the moral duplicity of the reigning orthodoxy of secularism, and the myopic intellectual vision of traditional Islam, it is imperative that we reiterate the centrality of transcendence in the Islamic scheme of things. Islam without a commitment to the Ultimate beyond, affirmed in the testimony of faith as the Unique God (Allah), would not be Islam at all. Thus, for all the sanctity and existential necessity of the historical Muslim community, Islam is not coterminous with it. Nor is the historical community, indeed the world of history itself, the ultimate locus of the Muslims loyalty. Theres no equivalent to the secular maxim, My country right or wrong, in Islamic ethics. The Muslims loyalty to any historical order, perforce political, is always conditional: it is always deferential to the obligation of enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong (3:103). The very notion of faith, Islam (Surrender to God) presupposes a trans-historical and transcendent disposition of man (fitra) (30:30). Humanity and not nation or state is thus essential to the Islamic vision. Whatever politics that emanates from the historical existence of the Muslim community may therefore never renounce the goal of human unity; it may never become and end in itself and become prey to the logic of self-deification that is the essence of secular ideologies. Mission (Din) and not Empire (Dawla) constitutes the Muslims pathway to humanity. It is in the delineation of this ideal that the Quran categorically affirms the unity in diversity of the human creature, and upholds the supremacy of the moral over all other emblems of distinction or pride: O mankind, We have created you male and female, and appointed you races and tribes that you may know one another. Surely, the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most godfearing of you (49:13) As befits the transcendental worldview of the Quran, the addressee of its discourse is a universal, archetypical and trans-historical human being. Even the covenant that God has with man is primordial and is contracted prior to the advent of the historical time. Man enters his/her historical existence only after submitting to the sovereignty of God: And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, Am I not your Lord? They said: yes, we testify (7:172). The Quranic image of man, it must also be
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Muslims In Georgia - A Chronology.
Wali A. Muhammad, Realtor [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:As Salaam Alaikum Dear Brother and Sisters, In addition to the wonderful paper on African Muslims from Canada, please have a look at the study below for additional information on the same subject. Muslims In Georgia by Wali Muhammad AFRICAN MUSLIMS IN GEORGIA: A Chronology Oral History has been RE-PRINTED due to popular demand. Click above to view an excerpt. Bismillah, FYI Peace,Curtis Sharif Houston, Texas
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Battle of Badr
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful For sure Allah helped you at Badr when you were utterly weak. Beware, the, of Allah; perhaps you will be thankful. (Al-Imran 3:123) Badr is the name of a rural city about 150 miles from Madinah City. Very detailed history of the Great battle of Badr, which is considered as a remarkable event in the Islamic History. The day of the battle was named the Day of Criterion, Yaoum ul Furqaan First time the followers of the new faith were put into a serious test. This was a battle in which the forces of truth, numbering 313 men against all odds, defeated an army three times their size. When Holy Prophet arrived at this momentous decision, he called the Muhajirin and the Ansar together and placed the whole position before them, without any reservation. Companions Historical Role-play Miqdad bin 'Amr, a Muhajir, stood up and said, O Messenger of Allah! Please march to the side to which your Lord commands you; we will accompany you wherever you go. We will not say like the Israelites, 'Go and let you and your Lord fight we will wait'. In contrast to them we say, 'Let you and your Lord fight; we will fight by your side to our last breath'. Sa'ad bin Mu'az, an Ansar, stood up and said, Sir, it appears that you are putting the question to us. When the Holy Prophet said, Yes, the Ansar replied, We have believed in you and confirmed that what you have brought is the Truth, and have made a solemn pledge with you that we will listen to you and obey you. Therefore, O Messenger of Allah, do whatever you intend to do. We swear by Allah Who has sent you with the Truth that we are ready to accompany you to the sea shore and if you enter it, we will plunge into it. We assure you that not a single one of us will remain behind or forsake you, for we will not hesitate at all to go to fight, even if you should lead us to the battlefield tomorrow. We will remain steadfast in the battle and sacrifice our lives in the fight. We do hope that by the grace of Allah our behavior will gladden your heart. So, trusting in Allah's blessing, take us to the battlefield. For the number of people, who came forward to go to the battlefield, was only a little more than three hundred (86 Muhajirs, 62 from Aus and 170 from Khazraj). Then the little army was ill-armed and hardly equipped for battle. Only a couple of them had horses to ride and the others had to take their turn in threes and fours on the back of a camel, out of the 70 they had in all. Above all, they had not got enough weapons for the battle; only 60 of them had armors No wonder that with the exception of those who were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the cause of ISLAM. The Holy Prophet supplication before the beginning of the battle: The two parties met in combat at Badr on the Seventeenth of Ramadan. When the two armies confronted each other and the Holy Prophet noticed that the Quraish army outnumbered the Muslims by three to one and was much better equipped, he raised his hands up in supplication and made this earnest prayer with great humility: O Allah! Here are the Quraish proud of their war material: they have come to prove that Thy Messenger is false. O Allah! now send that succor that Thou hast promised to give me. O Allah! If this little army of Thy servants is destroyed, then there will be left none in the land to worship Thee. In this combat the emigrants from Makkah were put to the hardest test for they had to fight against their own near and dear relatives and put to the sword their fathers, their sons, their paternal and maternal uncles and their brothers. This was indeed a very hard test for it meant that a small town with a population of a few thousand inhabitants was going to wage a war with the whole of Arabia. It is obvious that only such people could take this bold step who believed in the Truth of Islam so firmly that they were ready to sacrifice every personal interest for its sake. A Western research scholar says that before the Battle of Badr, Islam was merely a religion and a state but after the Battle it became the state religion, nay, the state itself. - Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.
Re: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Letter to Columbia University President Bollinger from an American patriot!
Dear Mr Joe Cortina. What you say in the following quote is very well when one considers that the person you are advising has some credibility as a civilised person, let alone an educated one. In every human society, even the most primitive ones, it is not acceptable to mistreat let alone insult an invited guest on home grounds! Only an ignorant uneducated buffoon is capable of doing such thing!!Bollinger falls in that category. One wonders what the group he is President of is like, if they have not taken any action to dissociate themselves from their leaders action? The man you so maliciously insulted and falsely maligned, holds a doctorate degree and is the elected President of a sovereign nation. Rashid - Original Message From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: eGroup For Muslims Around The World islamcity@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 12:58:42 PM Subject: Re: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Letter to Columbia University President Bollinger from an American patriot! Salaam Friends, It is unfortunate, indeed tragic, that the writer's use of the word Jews instead of Israelis undermines the credibility as well as the moral underpinnings of his letter. Regards, Ibrahim Hayani [EMAIL PROTECTED] senecacollege. ca wrote: Dear President Bollinger; I am a seasoned geo-political intel analyst who has spent time in the Mid-East - among other credentials. I also come from a Latin ethnicity whose heritage included the tradition of hospitality to those who were invited to my home or my country. I am multi-lingual - have been a foreign diplomat - Honeywell aero-apace scientist - have traveled to dozens of foreign countries - lived among other cultures - am a successful retired businessman and while you were still in Jr high school - was commanding a combat training infantry company of some 235 men - the youngest officer on record to do so at that time ( 1961) Later on I commanded an elite Special Operations Airborne A -Team - so I have not garnered my knowledge or learned opinions via an 'armchair'. I have 'paid my dues' - and with HONOR! What I witnessed recently was one of the most embarrassing and disgusting experiences of my life. Your conduct was not only inappropriate - but of a thug bully mentality which has tainted the reputation of my country - my native land that I have risked my life to protect. How much was it Mr. Bollinger? - 30 pieces of silver? Was that what the Jews paid you for your cowardly 'assassination' ? I would have expected such ignorant slanderous crudeness from filth like Bill Clinton - but not a person of your prestigious position. Do you REALLY have ANY idea of the amount of IRREPARABLE damage you have committed by your arrogant malevolent slanderous insults! The man you so maliciously insulted and falsely maligned, holds a doctorate degree and is the elected President of a sovereign nation. You might at least had the decorum to recognize those facts. Of all the countries in the Mid-East where I was NOT shown courtesy, respect and hospitality - the ONLY place was IsraHELL. What was really an eye opener was that before my actual experiences there, I had expected exactly the opposite! As long as that land of Godless liars, thieves, prostitutes, porn kings, white slavers, murderers, cheats, frauds, mobsters, Marxists, racists and traitors to America EXISTS - there will NEVER EVER be ANY peace on this planet. That place is 100% pure concentrated evil! Read you Bible Mr. Bollinger. Our Lord PERSONALLY addressed them - the 'self-chosen' - as the sons of the Devil - the father of all lies. NOTHING has changed in the souls and hearts of these pernicious scum in the past 2000 years. In the future - DECENT KNOWLEDGEABLE American patriots will hold brutish lying slanderous 'shabbus goy' like yourself responsible for the horrors that you have been responsible for promoting. When that treasonous spineless mongoloid war criminal Bush plunges MY country into a world wide conflict - people like you WILL be ALSO held responsible. YOU WILL YET PAY FOR YOUR COMPLICITY IN THESE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY. These madmen traitors have sent our street scum ( these are NOT the decent young warriors I trained 45 years ago!) to murder -at present count- now OVER ONE MILLION TOTALLY INNOCENT CIVILIAN MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN - all in the name of the Jew and his criminal shit little stolen country - IsraHELL! I have been INSIDE that criminal shithole with the HIGHEST intelligence personnel and witnessed horrors that you can't even imagine sir! Have you ever witnessed the world's largest institutionalized terrorist organization shoot helpless defenseless innocent children in their - OWN HOMELAND - just for sport or target practice? No of course not! Well - Mr. Bollinger - I HAVE! That BONA FIDE terrorist group is the IDF! They are the SAME killers that murdered and slaughtered over 200 of our sons brothers and father
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] NEXT RAMADHAN - MAYBE WE WONT BE HERE!
By Maulana Muhammad Aslam Shaikhupuri Sahib Do something! Time is running out and everyone knows that time gone cannot be caught. This strange commodity comes free of cost but people do not value it; it cannot be bought for millions of dollars once its gone. Time is a harbinger of happiness or an omen of distress; a messenger of honour or a bringer of disgrace; a vessel of good or bad; a scale for heaven or hell. The divine tongue that spoke the truth said, All men go forth in the morning and deal in their tongues and time; when the sun goes down, some have means of destruction in their possession and some have collected means of goodness and deliverance. So the means of destruction and deliverance can be weighed at the end of each day and the scales of difference can be set up at the end of life too. On the Day of Resurrection every human will come to know what he acquired and what he lost. But the ones who believe deeply in that day take themselves to account daily. They look up to those who are greater in stature in Imaan and endeavour; and when they do this their own sentiments get fired to do more#133;#133;.what people were they whom we follow! People of heaven striding the earth, people of light who had broken the halos of darkness, the flag bearers of spirituality, people treasuring every drop from the water of time, people who spent every moment with care; people who stepped every instant towards Allah's pleasure and the vastness of Jannah. There is no need to look at their whole lives but just glimpsing how they spent their Ramadhan will hang heads in shame. They used to look forward to the next Ramadhan as soon as one was over; when would those blessed days arrive when Jannah would be wonderfully adorned, they thought; when the shayateen would be imprisoned; when the rewards for nawafil would be equal to faraidh, and the reward for faraidh would be multiplied 70 times; when hunger and thirst would give pleasure like a full stomach; when the days would be spent in remembrance and the nights in sighs; and when the Ramadhan crescent would appear these people would be happier seeing it than the Eid crescent; when the arrival of this heavenly month spread a light of happiness on their faces and its departure made them weep. The whole month would see a cut back in the amount of food eaten, the amount of sleep taken, and the number of social calls made. With the result that some had the blessing of finishing the whole Qur'an in a day not counting the different aurad and wazaif (recitations). Even the women of the household used to finish ten chapters from the Qur'an along with taking care of the children and doing household chores. Every house resounded with the echoes of recitations and every person tried to surpass the other in giving charity and alms. My humble pen is not attempting to reveal the luminous, remote past but showing some faces from recent history. Searching can find such people even today. A couple of years back I met a unknown man of Allah who I was told had been fasting regularly for the last twenty five years; except the five prohibited days, he had never failed to fast. Before meeting him, I had once met a man who had been keeping fasts for the last 35 years, read the whole Qur'an every day, prayed a hundred nafil raka'ah, and on top of it worked on his job during the daytime. At the time his age was 70 years. I don't mean to say that we should emulate them and fast the whole year; I just mean to point out the difference between each of their days that they consider as Ramadhan and every night that they consider the Night of Power, and our days where even the importance of Ramadhan is missing. Spring came and went, the beseeching filled their hands with flowers but the pass-overs collected nothing but the thorns of transgressions. Their minds were not fragranced by the flowers (of good deeds) nor did they shed the stench of sins. There is no dearth of those who mistake stench for scent and autumn for spring, and in this error the messenger of death comes to claim their lives. They want to run but can not, they want to save themselves but fail to. My grievance is not only with those who do not value this spring of rewards, but also with those who keep fasts, pray the taraweeh but looking at their routine it seems that fasting is not the name of eating and sleeping less, but eating and sleeping more. Do we fall on our food out of Ramadhan the way we do this month? Excess in iftar results in such heaviness that it is a trial to say the 'Isha prayer. Overindulgence in sehri makes us so sleepy that many fasting people loose their Fajr prayer. They never get up before noon or one in the afternoon. The leftovers from sehri and iftari are thrown in dustbins making a mockery of the aim of Ramadhan to sympathize with the hungry. Why don't such people think that the One who gives can also take away; the One who sends riches can also send poverty. This has happened
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Why Sanctions Against Iran?--Asia Post editorial 30.9.07
Why Sanctions Against Iran? Agencies have reported that six major powers trying to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions launched talks here yesterday in search of an elusive compromise on new sanctions against the Islamic republic over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice huddled with her counterparts from Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to discuss a third round of sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Their meeting followed talks Wednesday and Thursday by senior officials of the six nations. But Russia and China want to give the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) more time to pursue technical discussions with Iran. Iran and the IAEA agreed on a timetable last month for Tehran to provide answers to outstanding questions over its nuclear program, and officials from the UN's nuclear watchdog are in Iran for talks. The IAEA has been probing Iran's program for the past four years but has so far failed to conclude whether it is peaceful or not. As a sign of their deep divisions, the participants said there would be no joint press conference, as is customary, at the end of the meeting. US officials said a joint statement would be issued. At the time when the IAEA is making progress, ... not on all things which the IAEA demanded ... but the progress is obvious, we want to make sure that we indeed receive a report from IAEA on how those problems which still exist in IAEA perception of the Iranian nuclear program are being treated, Russian Foreign minister said. Iran rejects Western charges that it is trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear program and insists it is entitled to pursue uranium enrichment as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN General Assembly earlier this week that his nuclear standoff with the West was now a closed issue and that remaining outstanding questions should be handled by the IAEA. We do not understand why this fuss?US is un-necessarily pursuing a matter which the IAEA is looking into and Iran has said about a hundred times that they are for peaceful nuclear energy not for weapons. As we understand US has become a master of arm-twisting and somehow in cajoling others in accepting their position. On the other hand the UN has become its rubber stamp in most cases.We urge the members of the security council not to give in to US pressure.
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Re: Iran's parliament approves labeling CIA, U.S. Army terrorist groups
I think Iran's parliament is very accurate in their assessment of who the terrorists really are. Can you imagine the terror Iranians are experiencing right now knowing that at anytime the crazy lunatics in the US may nuclear attack their country??? Can you imagine the terror the average family must be feeling for the lives of their children and loved ones especially after seeing the devastation nearby for what the Americans have done in Iraq and Afghanistan? I am sure none of us would like to be in the shoes of an Iranian living in Iran at this time. The terror from the bully nation of America as a result of it's possession of superior weapons must be devastating to the Iranian hearts. Knowing that this superpower bully is eager to make any excuse to destroy them must be very worrying. But in all fairness the real terrorists are the Israelis. Not only have they been planning and preparing for an attack on Iran for many years, they are the ONLY country who have been pushing the mighty US superpower to do so. Here are some links proving what they have been up to all along for several years now: November 5, 2002 Times/UK Attack Iran the day Iraq war ends, demands Israel! By Stephen Farrell, Robert Thomson and Danielle Haas http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1105-02.htm September 30, 2004 The Insider Israel Instructs America To Attack Iran And Syria http://www.theinsider.org/news/article.asp?id=0614 March 16, 2005 U.S. Crusade Israel's Broken Record - Attack Iran By Kurt Nimmo http://www.uscrusade.com/index.php?blog=3cat=16 February 6, 2005 WhatReallyHappened U.S. - Israel Plans To Strike Iran's Nuclear Sites Finalized http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/archives/week_2005_02_06.html June 14, 2005 The NewYork Sun SPY CASE REVEALS ISRAELI PLOT TO PLANT IRAN WMD DATA BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun Liberty_Forum_Source.org Dec 5, 2005 MichNews Netanyahu: If elected, I won't hesitate to order a pre-emptive strike on Iran By Ryan Jones, JNewsWire.com http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_10634.shtml Kristoffer Larsson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/908050.html Last update - 18:48 29/09/2007 Iran's parliament approves labeling CIA, U.S. Army terrorist groups By The Associated Press Iran's parliament on Saturday approved a nonbinding resolution to label the CIA and the U.S. Army terrorist organizations. The move is seen as a diplomatic tit-for-tat after the U.S. Senate voted in favor of a resolution urging the State Department to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. The aggressor U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency are terrorists and also nurture terror, said a statement by the 215 lawmakers who signed the resolution at an open session of the Iranian parliament. The session was broadcast live on state-run radio. The hard-line dominated parliament said the two were terrorists, because they were involved in dropping nuclear bombs in Japan in World War II, used depleted uranium munitions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, supported the killings of Palestinians by Israel, bombed and killed Iraqi civilians and tortured terror suspects in prisons. The resolution, which is seen as a diplomatic offensive against the U.S., urges Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government to treat the two as terrorist organizations. It also paves the way for the resolution to become legislation that - if ratified by the country's hard-line constitutional watchdog - would become law. The government is expected to remain silent over the parliament resolution and wait for U.S. reaction before making its decision. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 76-22 in favor of a resolution urging the State Department to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. While the proposal attracted overwhelming bipartisan support, a small group of Democrats said they feared labeling the state-sponsored organization a terrorist group could be interpreted as a congressional authorization of military force in Iran. The Bush administration had already been considering whether to blacklist an elite unit within the Revolutionary Guard, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions. The U.S. legislative push came a day after Ahmadinejad told world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly that his country would defy attempts to impose new sanctions by arrogant powers seeking to curb its nuclear program, accusing them of lying and imposing illegal penalties on his country. He said the nuclear issue was now closed as a political issue and Iran would pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program through its appropriate legal path, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the UN's nuclear watchdog. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Ramadhaan - Q A [Part 9] - from AlIslaahPublications
Ramadhaan - Q A [Part 9] TARAWEEH SALAAH WITHOUT FASTING Q: A man participated in the taraweeh but did not fast without any legal excuse. Will his taraweeh salaah be valid? A: His taraweeh salaah is valid and he will deserve recompense but he is a great sinner and defaulter for not fasting. [Mufti Abdur Rahim] IMMATURE HAFIZ Q: Should a minor point out the imaam's mistake in the taraweeh salaah, does it invalidate the salaah? A: When the minor boy is participating in salaah and then he prompts, the salaah is proper and will not be invalidated. [Mufti Abdur Rahim] TARAWEEH FROM THE 1ST OF RAMADHAAN Q: Is it necessary to start Taraweeh from the 1st of Ramadhaan? A: There are two Sunnahs in Taraweeh: 1. To perform 20 Rakaats every night of Ramadhaan. This applies to the first of Ramadhaan as well. 2. To recite the entire Qur'aan in Taraweeh at least once in the entire month. This recitation of the entire Qur'aan may commence and complete on any chosen date, provided that at least one entire recitation of the whole Qur'aan is made in Taraweeh Salaah. [Mufti Ebrahim Desai] TARAWEEH SECTION RECITED IN ESHA SALAAH Q: During Ramadan, if 1 juz (1/30) is being recited every night, can the first quarter of the juz be recited during the Fard of Isha, and the remaining ¾ juz divided into the 20 rakaats of Taraweeh? Please explain. A: It is sunnah to recite the entire Quraan in taraweeh. If quarter juz is recited in Esha salaah, the sunnah of reciting the entire Quraan in taraweeh will not be fulfilled. [Mufti Ebrahim Desai] MISSED ESHA SALAAH Q: I have missed my Fard Esha salaah in the Masjid. Taraweeh has commenced, What do I do? A: Perform the Fard salaah first. Only thereafter, you should join the Taraweeh salaah. The missed taraweeh rak'ahs must be performed after the Witr salaah. SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS WHILST FASTING Q: Are fasting persons allowed to undergo special investigations? A: a) Blood samples are allowed to be taken for investigation whilst fasting. b) Any investigation requiring invasion via the natural orifices into the Jawf-al-badan ie. abdomen, such as endoscopies, sigmoidoscopies, baruim investigations etc., including pap smears, internal gynaecological examinations are not allowed in the fasting state. Q: Can minor procedures be carried out under anaesthetic without breaking the fast? A: If these procedures, such as drainage of an abscess or setting of a fracture are carried under local anaesthetic, they are permissible. General anaesthesia with loss of consciousness will cause the fast to be broken and qadhaa fast will have to be observed. [Source: Fasting and the patient-IMA] I'TIKAAF WITHOUT FASTING Q: I intend to observe I'tikaaf during the last ten days(of Ramadhaan) but I do not have the strength to fast. Is, therefore, the observing of i'tikaaf without fasting correct or not? A: Fasting is a condition for the traditional(masnoon) Sunnah I'tikaaf of the last ten days, hence, I'tikaaf without fasting is supererogatory(nafl). It will then be nafl I'tkiaaf and not the masnoon sunnah I'tikaaf. [Mufti Abdur Rahman] TAMPONS AND FASTING Q: On account of some ailment a woman inserts a small pack of medicine or tampon in her private parts after breaking the fast and removes it the next day at the same time. Can she insert it during day in the state of fasting and remove it after breaking the fast? Will the fast be affected in both the conditions? A: The fast will not be affected if the medicine is inserted in the private parts before the beginning of the fast, but it will be invalidated if it is inserted during the state of fasting. [Mufti Abdur Rahim] Suppositories and Pessaries: These are not allowed while fasting. These can be used if inserted once or twice daily and should therefore be used before suhoor and/or after iftar. [IMA- Fasting and the Patient] SWALLOWING SALIVA Q: Does swallowing of saliva break the fast ? A: Saliva is the natural secretion of the mouth and if swallowed will not break the fast. However, the deliberate accumulation of saliva in the mouth and swallowing it (presumably to quench the thirst) is wrong and invalidates the fast. [Source: Fasting and the Patient- IMA] DENTAL EXTRACTION Q: Can Extraction of teeth or dental procedures be done while fasting ? A: These are allowed while one is fasting , but great care must be taken that no material is swallowed. If water, blood, food particles, released plaque, or filling matter is accidentally swallowed, then the fast will be broken. It is generally advised, in view of the above, that one should avoid these procedures while fasting. [Source: Fasting and the Patient- IMA] DEATH IN RAMADHAAN Q: Is there any significance about death in the holy month of Ramadhaan? Should a person consider such death to be of a good omen for the deceased? Are sins of such a person forgiven? A: We have not come across any reference of significance of dying in the month of Ramadhaan. However,
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Ramadhaan Focus (Part 5) - from Al-IslaahPublications
Ramadhaan Focus (Part 5) 1. TODAY'S HADITH Sayyidina Jabir(radhiyallahu anhu) reports that Rasullullah(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) would not sleep until he would read Alif laam Tanzeel-as-sajda and Tabarakallazi biyadihil mulk. (Bukhari, Tirmizi) Rasulullah(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said: The person who reads Tabarakallazi biyadihil mulk and Alif laam Tanzeel-as-sajda between Maghrib and Esha, the reward (for reading these two surahs) will be as though (the reader) had stood awake during (the night of laylatul qadr). (Ibn Mardawayah, Ruhul-Ma'aani) 2. TODAYS FOCUS: Our Children in Ramadan Generally speaking, children are not required to fast in Ramadan until they reach the age of maturity. However, scholars believe that parents should train them to fast a few days or so, until they become ready to fast when they reach that age. Similar to praying, the Prophet(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) ordered parents to train their children to pray starting with the age of seven. The question remains, how does training to fast begin? Dr. Abala Khlaiwi from the faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University was posed this question. The reply was that children should be trained to fast gradually. They differ in their realization of the environment around them, especially parents avoiding eating or drinking due to the fact that they are fasting. If children begin to realize that, becoming aware of the advent of Ramadan, and start to ask questions, parents should answer their questions and tell them about the holy month. For example, they ask them to fast an hour or two, saying that Allah will reward you for one hour. The parents explain to the child that Allah will reward them more for each hour they fast. Then they should be asked to fast for a day and so on, according to Dr. Khlaiwi. Simultaneously, youngsters should be asked to give or share their candy with orphan neighbors, because this teaches them how fortunate they are to have their parents around. It also teaches them that they live in an environment where they all should take care of each other's needs. Ultimately, it teaches them to be conscious of Allah, and the feeling of community. These values usually are imprinted in the minds and hearts of children and remain with them throughout their lives. Dr. Khlaiwi recalls when she was 6 years old, she fasted a whole day and felt so happy, so accomplished. She was proud of herself and her religion. Another important aspect of Ramadan and other Islamic rituals is that parents should involve their children and ask for their participation. Thus, children are to take part in the rituals parents are performing. When the father goes to the mosque, he should take his children with him and not leave them to waste their time watching TV and other fruitless activities. If the mother prays, she also should ask her little one to stand beside her so she gets to know the prayers. It's also recommended that parents take their children to break the fast with handicapped children, as well as orphans. Again, it teaches them to feel how fortunate they are and to be sympathetic and understanding to the needs of others, especially handicapped members of the community. Children should also be involved in making the Ramadan dishes so they taste the joy of Ramadan. Toward the end of the month, parents should take their children to spend Eid time with their relatives in their hometowns. (Source: islamonline) 3. Q A Question: I intend to observe I'tikaaf during the last ten days(of Ramadhaan) but I do not have the strength to fast. Is, therefore, the observing of i'tikaaf without fasting correct or not? Answer: Fasting is a condition for the traditional(masnoon) Sunnah I'tikaaf of the last ten days, hence, I'tikaaf without fasting is supererogatory(nafl). It will then be nafl I'tkiaaf and not the masnoon sunnah I'tikaaf. (Mufti Abdur Rahman) 4. HEALTH Fasting and Peptic ulcer disease It is important to realise that Peptic ulcer disease with regard to fasting is best assessed by a medical practitioner(preferably a Muslim). The response to treatment in the individual patient differs, and medical practioners decision to permit which patient, with a present or past history of peptic ulceration to fast is based on a thorough history and clinical evaluation. Some clinical presentations of peptic ulceration which may be advised NOT to fast by medical practitioner are listed here-under.These recommendations apply to patients with present or past peptic ulcers confirmed on endoscopy. CONTRA-INDICATIONS: 1.. Active ulcer on endoscopy 2.. Intractable pain and backpain 3.. Present meleana(blood in stools) or haemetemesis(vomiting blood) 4.. Symptomatic patient with past history of perforation 5.. pyloric obstruction 6.. Symptomatic patient with previous ulcer surgery RELATIVE CONTRA-INDICATIONS: 1.. Past history with long remissions 2.. past history
