Radical Islamism & Jihad *Not Jihad, this is Madness! <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1401>*
*By Haroon Rasheeed, *eminent Pakistani columnist More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1401> Current affairs *Christian Theology and Free market fundamentalism <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1400>* *Putting a godly gloss on Mammon’s ravenings* Even after the “revelation” that letting unregulated moneymen run the country isn't a good idea the neoliberals at the Heritage Foundation are still churning out the message, like the latest book by “theologian” Jay W. Richards, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution And Not the Problem. Please remember Frederick Douglass. That is to say, remember the Frederick Douglass of “*power concedes nothing without a struggle*.” And I’m not sure that the struggle with market fundamentalism has even been joined yet, at least not at the level of principle where it most needs friends. … As welcome as such signs of incipient panic might be, I would much prefer to hear the definitive death rattle of *an anti-human market ideology* that serious people of faith should have long since rejected completely—and opposed with all appropriate vigour. I’m not hearing that death rattle yet. But, like Simeon, I’m not giving up hope. -- *Peter Laarman* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1400> Radical Islamism & Jihad *TALIBANISATION OF THE MIND <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1398>* *The growing Talibanization of the mind that Kamila Hyat spoke about in her column this week* is a real threat to our fundamental rights and liberties. Simply put it is bigotry, intolerance, obscurantism and coercion practiced in the name of religion that feeds on (a) the fear of change being ushered in by modernity, (b) confusion about the role of religion in the society, and (c) the failure of the state to provide for the basic needs of citizens, including means of subsistence the absence of which renders people desperate and a balanced education without which they lack the tools to question and resist extreme intolerant ideas. The message of the Taliban or other religious bigots can be simple and appealing to a majority of the population that is deprived of basic needs, disempowered and consequently disgruntled. The contract between the citizens and the state is not being honoured by the state and thus the system neither provides for the basic needs of a majority of the citizens nor offers them any real prospect for upward social mobility. This problem of governance is then presented by the maulvi as a consequence of lack of religion. -- *Babar Sattar* The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for a Crash Plan for IDPS -- *Asma Jahangir* *'Nuclear Weapons Are Not Kalashnikovs'* Spiegel Interview with Pakistani President *Asif Ali Zardari* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1398> Islam and Politics *LEARN FROM THE URDU PRESS: The Art of Turning Friends into Foes? <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1399>* *A perusal of the Urdu dailies of the last two months would give you an idea how low can the Muslim public opinion-makers fall just for the sake of some advertisements from a state government.* It was not only Mulayam Singh, who was pilloried by the Muslim media for two full months. The other one was none else but Lalu Yadav. For all their faults Lalu, and to some extent Mulayam, are the two politicians who really did something for the community. Yet the behaviour of the Urdu Press, especially of Bihar, was extremely hostile towards them. ... Many Muslims of Gujarat may not be aware how many of their brothers and sisters are still spending a hellish life in refugee camps in that state. ... During the two months long election campaign hardly any community leader seriously raised the issue of the economic, social and political boycott of Muslims of Gujarat. For the last seven years they have been treated like pariah in their own cities, towns and villages. More than Muslims, it was secular Hindus, who wrote more boldly on this topic. * -- Soroor Ahmed* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1399> Islamic Sharia Laws *Pakistan: Enforcing the Shariah or mocking it in Swat? <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1397>* *Sharia aims at establishing social justice* In today’s world, the imposition of jizya on non-Muslims is absolutely wrong and indefensible. In today’s world in every country, people, no matter what their religion, pay the same sets of necessary taxes to the state. As citizens of their respective states they are expected to abide by the same sets of duties. Hence, it is absolutely absurd to impose jizya on any community. Today, the whole world can be said to be an ‘abode of agreement’, or, in Arabic, dar ul-ahad. All the nations of the world are bound together by this agreement. Leading Deobandi scholars such as Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri and Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi had made this declaration decades ago. The majority of the ulema today also uphold this view. This is why jizya is not imposed on non-Muslims in any Muslim-majority country in the world. No Muslim country today enforces jizya as a law. … The aims of the Islamic shariah include the establishment of social justice, freedom for all social groups, equality, prosperity and peace. In the early Islamic period, the shariah, when it was properly upheld by sincere rulers, served as a refuge for both Muslims and others. Sadly, in our times, the issue of the shariah has been so horrendously exploited that those who cynically manipulate it for their ends have caused torment and strife not just for non-Muslims but also for many Muslims themselves. Inhuman, immoral and patently anti-Islamic acts have been sought to be given sanction in the name of the shariah, causing the Islamic spirit to be almost totally submerged and lost. Not surprisingly, this has caused even many Muslims to be opposed to any moves in the name of the enforcement of this un-Islamic brand of so-called shariah. -- *Maulana Waris Mazhari* (Translated from Urdu by *Yoginder Sikand*) 3 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1397> -- Syed M. 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