Islam and Politics * Indian Muslim voted uniformly along with the mainstream in 2009 elections <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1421>*
*Several Myths exposed as hollow* What a turnaround in five years! Though the Indian Muslim may have seemed adrift and divided, he instead comprehensively sent out a clear message: a resounding negation of divisive, communal forces, pretentious benefactors and self-anointed leaders of the community. Thankfully, in these elections various myths were finally exposed as hollow. Over the years allegations of targeted, homogenous, en bloc voting by Muslims have been drilled into the psyche of all Indians. But, pushed into a corner, and treated either as a vote-bank or a punching bag, the Indian Muslim voted uniformly along similar lines as the rest of the country in the 2009 elections. -- *Aijaz Ilmi* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1421> Current affairs *India should now focus on the long overdue strategic outreach to Muslim world <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1422>* If there is one overarching foreign policy priority for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his second term, it is the long overdue strategic outreach to the Muslim world. A sustained effort to re-engage the major Muslim nations is essential in managing many of India’s internal and external security challenges. They range from the post-Mumbai imperatives of counter-terrorism at home to ending, once and for all, Pakistan’s support to anti-India extremist groups. New Delhi’s renewed focus on the Muslim world should help stabilise the subcontinent, rejuvenate the “Look East” policy, and lay the foundations for a new “Look West” policy. Above all, it forms the basis for a credible Indian response to the new US strategy in the Great Game territory, the Af-Pak region. -- *C. Raja Mohan* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1422> Islam and the West *How MI5 blackmails British Muslims <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1420>* *'Work for us or we will say you are a terrorist'-* Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants. The men claim they were given a choice of working for the Security Service or face detention and harassment in the UK and overseas. -- *Robert Verkaik* *Pauline Neville-Jones: MI5 must use persuasion – not coercion* *Bombings spooked security services - Robert Verkaik,* Home Affairs Editor, The Independent More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1420> Radical Islamism & Jihad *JIHAD – Then and Now: The Myth and Reality <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1418>* *“Kill the Non-believers wherever you find them!”* Some verses of Qur’an were revealed for specific occasions and carry instructions for similar circumstances if they ever exist again; out of context quotation of such verses in parts, by any one is misleading. Such efforts to twist the meanings, with ulterior motives, result in tarnishing the image of Islam. One such example is a part of verse 5 of Surah At-Tauba; “fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them”. It appears to indicate that the Muslims are free to kill the pagans or non believers where ever they find them. A look at verses (Qur’an, 9:1-6) in Qur’an revealed before conquest of Makka, is self explanatory.... Requirement of “Jihad Kabira” (Bigger Jihad, fighting social evils) seems to be the need of hour.... Hence initially Jihad has to be against these evils of society, to establish just Islamic welfare societies which should provide knowledge (religious and secular) justice, fair play and equal opportunities for their people, so that they do not have to look and run towards developed countries to earn the bread and butter... There was no forced conversion as a policy of state in the light of Qur’an: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.”(Qur’an, 2:256). Spain and India are the living examples with majority non Muslim population despite Muslim rule for centuries. It is not permissible in an Islamic state to start killing the unbelievers unless they are in a state of war or convicted by courts for specified offences. One has to live in peace and preach Islam by inviting them to the real message of Qur’an. ... ... someone has to find an answer to the question: *Is killing of innocent civilians, women and children whether Muslims or non Muslims justified in the name of Jihad?* Can the declaration of Jihad with arms be left at the discretion of few individuals or religious zealots? Or should it be the responsibility of the Islamic states keeping in view the teachings of Islam, national interests and the prevalent system of international relations (UN, OIC and other forums)? Muslim scholars and leadership through dialogue with the international community, have to analyse the reasons of this pathetic state of affairs and find out practicable, realistic and just solutions on long term basis to make the world safer place for everyone. -- *Aftab Ahmad Khan* More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1418> -- Syed M. 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