http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1 <http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=88910&d=17&m=11&y=2006&pi x=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom> §ion=0&article=88910&d=17&m=11&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom 'Islam Stands for Peace, Rejects Extremism' Raid Qusti, Arab News RIYADH, 17 November 2006 - Interior Minister Prince Naif, the president of the Supreme Council of the Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz International Contest for Islamic Studies and the Memorization of Hadith, gave cash awards and certificates to the winners of the second round of the contest here on Wednesday evening. According to Education Minister Abdullah Bin-Obaid, who attended the event, 45,000 students from elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools from across the Kingdom participated in the contest. The contest included girls for the first time. Total cash prizes worth SR308,000 were given to the 30 men and women winners of the five top positions in three categories. "This event comes at a time when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is being targeted by campaigns that aim to tarnish his image, message and followers," said the education minister. He said the contest had received recognition within the Islamic community worldwide and among international organizations due to its significant role in preserving the sayings of the Prophet. He also said the contest had given awards to several international Islamic dignitaries for their services to the Sunnah. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said that Hadiths were the second source for rulings and way of life of Muslims after the Holy Qur'an. "Hadiths are the means of completing a Muslim's understanding of the Qur'an as narrated by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)," he said. He also said that a true Muslim defends the Prophet, his words, teachings and sayings. This, he said, "is part of the love of God." Al-Asheikh mentioned how the companions of the Prophet and their followers were extra cautious in conveying the Prophet's sayings and teachings. "Those sayings and teachings have now been passed on to us today," said the grand mufti. "We now know not only what the Prophet said, but also how he smiled, how he laughed, how he was compassionate, merciful, how he was wise, and even descriptions of his way of living to the smallest details." Secretary-general of the contest Dr. Said Al-Harthi said the Kingdom was the first and still remains the only country in the world that framed its constitution according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Al-Harthi stressed that Islam is a religion of peace, mercy and tolerance and rejects extremism. "Lately Islam and Muslims have been linked with terrorism without any reason. And it is unfortunate to say that many Muslims have also led campaigns against Islam," he said. Al-Harthi said that among other things the contest was aimed at guiding non-Muslims toward Islam and preaching them its merciful universal teachings. "The contest is part of the Saudi government's initiative to support anything that serves Islam and Muslims," he said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
