Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Was Saddam's death dignified?
Was Saddam's death dignified? Stephen Moss Tuesday January 2, 2007 On the surface, of course not. An ageing man with a grey beard stands, looking bemused, beneath a makeshift gibbet while his enemies taunt him. As he is saying a final prayer, the trapdoor is suddenly released and he plunges to his death, a brief expression of surprise registering on his face as the floor gives way. All this is filmed. Twice. Once as an official video that ends just before the door is opened. But also in a clandestine, unexpurgated videophone version now doing the rounds on the internet. YouTube has it, of course, and in many respects it is desperately depressing. For a start, based on viewer/voyeur comments, the site has given the 2min 36sec video a four-star rating. How does that translate? Worth a look, perhaps, but not necessarily Don't miss. Then there is the talkboard, full of juvenile abuse: HOLY SHIT!!, He had it coming, Couldn't they have tortured him too?. Deaths surely don't come any less dignified than this. And yet, if a dictator has to die, this would surely be the way he would choose. One last stage, a worldwide audience at his command. Saddam's final exchanges with his hooded, gangsterish executioners are already being mythologised. Go to hell, one is reported to have said. The hell that is Iraq? Saddam supposedly snaps back. A brilliant riposte from a man about to die. Thus are famous last words born. This could be his epitaph, exemplifying his defiance and condemning his lynching party, only one of whom has the decency to call for silence. Please stop, the man is being executed, please stop. The man. Not the monster, the butcher, the tyrant. Saddam's killers have achieved the impossible: they have made us feel sympathy for him, for his grace under pressure. There may not have been dignity in the dying, but there was courage. A five-star death. - Arif London, UK - Read (or listen) Koran - The Last Testament. - Return Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Eid mubarik...
Asslam o Alaikum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuh EID MUBARIK !!! May the Mercy Blessing's of the Almighty be with you, your family, and friends during this Eid Day and continue to be always. May your year ahead continue to be filled with a health, love, and prosperity. Have A Most Blessed Festival Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Re: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Netherlands: Islamic teacher sacked over hand shake
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Netherlands: Islamic teacher sacked over hand shake http://www.expatica.com/actual/artic...story_id=35223 AMSTERDAM -- A Utrecht school wants to sack a female Muslim teacher who refused to shake hands with men. The Vader Rijn College has sent the teacher a letter of dismissal, breaching an advisory ruling urging against the teacher's sacking. The teacher had earlier been suspended after she refused to shake hands with men last summer. The woman citied religious beliefs for her decision, despite the fact she had previously shaken hands with men. The director of the vocational VMBO school said the Islamic teacher gave a bad example to students.The Equal Treatment Commission recently issued an advisory ruling granting the teacher the right to refuse a hand shake.It said the Utrecht school should not sack her for this reason alone. Comment: If refusing to shake hands with the opposite sex means that Muslims give a bad example to students then does that mean that we have to participate in Christmas celebrations, go to parties and free-mix, dance and drink alcohol? Europe is supposed to be a place where people come fleeing persecution because of its history of tollerance and a place where u can practice your religion and express alternative ideas and opinions without fear. But in recent years Europe is on its way to becoming a place where only the Secular viewpoint is tollerated and any view based upon religion and especially Islam is clamped down upon. So we see that the western civilisation is in conflict, not with Islam but with its own philosophy, what is Secularism and what is the implementation of it? Should this woman be sacked or should she not be sacked? This is the dilemma the Secularists are facing as can be seen from the article. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com Dear Brothers Sisters: Permit me to say that the sister who has refused to shake hands with men, citing religious beliefs for her decision has, in effect, done a great deal of injustice (and damage to herself as well as to her Islamic faith. It is unfortunate, indeed tragic, that by engaging in such trivial and childish activities, some Muslims (like this sister) have managed to trivialize Islam itself. You cannot serve Islam by engaging in bad manner, and refusing to shake hands is a form of bad manner. I fail to understand what this sister as well as other Muslims who behave like her are trying to prove? Surely there are much, much better ways of projecting modesty and/or virtuosity. In this respect, I would strongly recommend Karen Armstrong's latest book entitled MUHAMMAD: A PROPHET FOR OUR TIME. I am almost certain that the Holy Prophet would not have approved the sister's action. Islam is too magnificent to be trivialized like this! Regards, Ibrahim Hayani
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Koran becomes hit Christmas present
Koran becomes hit Christmas present http://www.cphpost.dk/get/99633.html Believers and non-believers alike are looking to a new Koran translation to give them insight into Islam A new Danish translation of the Koran has been snapped up from bookstores' shelves, joining the ties, toasters and toys wrapped and waiting to be opened Christmas Eve. In the first month since its release, nearly half of the 10,000 copies available have been sold, sending philologist Ellen Wulff's translation to number two on the non-fiction list. Bookstore managers have reported that this translation of the central text of Islam has become a surprise Christmas gift hit. 'The majority of Korans we sell are for Christmas presents. I know, because we wrap a lot of them,' Maja Nordholm, manager of Arnold Busck bookstore in Odense, told Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper. The only other existing Danish translation of the Koran was published in 1967. But it is acknowledged by neither Shia nor Sunni Muslims, as the translator, Abdul S Madsen, belonged to the Ahmadiyya sect, which teaches that a second prophet arrived after Mohammed. The release of the new translation comes at a time when Islam is a highly debated subject, noted Jørgen Bæk Simonsen, an Islam expert and professor at the University of Copenhagen. He felt it could fill a need among non-Muslim Danes to gain an understanding of Islam. 'You can't read the newspaper, listen to the radio or turn on the TV without encountering Islam and Muslims,' said Simonsen. 'So there is a desire to learn what the Koran is about. Some will read it to find out what the Koran says. Others will read it to take part in the public debate.' The translation has also opened a window for Muslims with an immigrant background who cannot read Arabic, according to Kate Østergaard, a researcher in religion at the University of Copenhagen. She believes the Danish translation fills a need among young Muslims to define and understand their religion. 'Their religion is continually in focus, so they want to look at what is in the Koran and find out what real Islam is,' she said. Amir Mahdi, 24, a Muslim living in Odense, agrees. He has difficulty reading Arabic, so he was happy to receive a copy of the Danish version from his father. 'The Danish Koran opens doors for me to rediscover my religion and gain a greater understanding for something that means a lot in my life,' Mahdi said. 'Now I can make my own interpretations and go deeper into Islam.' Comment: Who would have expected the Quran to be so popular in a country where the cartoons of Muhammed Saw were drawn which led to many protests and a boycott of Danish goods by Muslims. The Government sought to demonise Muslims by making public statements about Muslims refusal to integrate, dress code, refusal to join the army and kill fellow Muslims etc. The public in their country most of whom were not taken in by the anti-Islamic rhetoric chose to go to the source of Muslims way of life which is the Quran and find out for themselves what Islam has to say on a variety of issues. This is the beginning of western people trying to understand what Islam is and is the perfect oppurtunity for us as Muslims to explain any issues and questions which they have to refute state propaganda and lies. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Darood
Abu Humaid As-Sa`idi (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: O Messenger of Allah! How should we supplicate for you?'' He (PBUH) replied, Say: `Allahumma salli `ala Muhammadin wa `ala azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi, kama sallaita `ala Ibrahima; wa barik `ala Muhammadin wa `ala azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi, kama barakta `ala Ibrahima, innaka Hamidum-Majid (O Allah sent Your Salat (O Allah, exalt the mention of Muhammad and his wives and offspring as You exalted the mention of the family of Ibrahim, and bless Muhammad and the wives and the offspring of Muhammad as you blessed the family of Ibrahim. You are the Praised, the Glorious'.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Beyond Munich: The Ten Movies Steven Spielberg Has Yet To Make
Beyond Munich: The Ten Movies Steven Spielberg Has Yet To Make http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1607_0_25_0_C Hollywood mogul Steven Spielberg's latest film Munich focuses on Israel's efforts to avenge the tragic killings of its athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is ripe with great ideas for potential blockbuster films, Hollywood flicks about the conflict have tended to remain formulaic and dehumanizing. Spielberg hopes Munich will be different, and claims he didn't want to make a Charles Bronson movie good guys vs. bad guys and Jews killing Arabs without any context. Critics say Spielberg is too pro-Israel to make a fair film about the conflict. Imagine for a second it is Opposite Day. Imagine we're in some kind of Twilight Zone parallel universe in which Hollywood gives Arabs and Muslims a fair shake. What kind of movies about the Middle East would we then be chomping Goobers, Junior Mints, and popcorn to at the local twenty screen multiplex? Maybe these movies might actually be made by some of the 125 Palestinian kids Spielberg is giving video cameras to document their lives. Perhaps a talented few will go on to become big-time Hollywood directors. Here are ten potential films all inspired by actual events that are just waiting for the magic of Spielberg his wannabes: 1. King David Hotel: The bombing of the King David Hotel, which served as headquarters of the British administration in Palestine, killed 91 Arabs, Jews, and Brits in 1946. Two future Prime Ministers of Israel, David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin, masterminded the attack. Disguised as Arabs, members of Begin's Irgun placed 350kg of explosives inside the building. In this action-packed thriller, David (Pierce Brosnan) a British officer ordered to hunt down the killers falls for Margaret (Uma Thurman), an American journalist working for Life Magazine. But is Margaret really in love or is she a secret Zionist assassin out to stop David in his tracks? 2. Nakba: A story of innocent love in a time of war and tragedy. Layla (Penelope Cruz) Salam (Orlando Bloom) are a Romeo Juliet against the backdrop of the 1948 Nakba, the Palestinian national catastrophe. During the Nakba, over 700,000 Palestinians fled voluntarily involuntarily their homes. Can their love survive conflict? 3. USS Liberty: When Israeli boats and fighter jets attack the US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty in the middle of the 1967 Six Day War, 34 US servicemen are killed and 173 are wounded. The official word from Washington and Tel Aviv is that the attack was a mistake. But Brad Pitt Tom Cruise, who play surviving officers from the Liberty, swear vengeance after discovering that the attack was actually part of a plot to start World War III. 4. Sabra Shatila: It's 1982 and the war in Lebanon rages on. British war correspondent Robert Fisk (Star Wars star Ewan MacGregor) hides in the camps of Sabra Shatilla, while a Lebanese militia aided and abetted by Israel slaughters thousands of Palestinian refugees. Sahar (Sandra Bullock) is a Palestinian mother determined to protect her family at any cost. 5. Vanunu: A political thriller set in Israel, Australia, Thailand, England, and Italy. Syriana star George Clooney plays Mordechai Vanunu, the nuclear technician who exposes Israel's nuclear weapons program and pays the ultimate price. Nicole Kidman plays Cheryl Bentov, the American Mossad agent who seduces and kidnaps him. 6. Hebron: A story of tragedy and torn loyalties. In 1994, Brooklyn Jewish doctor Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshippers in Hebron, killing 29. Palestinian American Mazen Khalili (Tom Hanks), a State Department official assigned to investigate the massacre, struggles with his job responsibilities and his roots. Leah Rabinowitz (Meg Ryan) is a Jewish American journalist who discovers a dark family secret that will change her life forever. 7. Qana: On April 18, 1996, Israeli shelling of a UN Compound that shelters Lebanese refugees kills more than 100 injures over 300 men, women, and children. Jessica (Angelina Jolie) is a UN worker determined to let the world know what happened after witnessing the atrocity. Yossi (Robert De Niro) is a Mossad agent assigned to kill Jolie. 8. Gaza: Chris Hedges (Harrison Ford), a New York Times correspondent in Jerusalem, files stories from his hotel room. Hedges reaches a turning point when he witnesses Israeli soldiers killing young Palestinian boys for sport, then defies his editors by writing stories that humanize Palestinians. David Schwimmer Sarah Jessica Parker make cameo appearances as the parents of Muhammad al-Durra, the 12 year old Palestinian boy killed by Israeli troops in 2000. 9. Rachel: Rachel Corrie (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the idealistic young American activist crushed to death by the Israeli army with a Caterpillar bulldozer. Sally Field, well-known for her
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (100 times)
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, He who utters: `Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi (Allah is free from imperfection and His is the praise)' one hundred times a day, his sins will be obliterated even if they are equal to the extent of the foam of the ocean.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] American Professor Natana DeLong-Bas: 'I Do Not Find Any Evidence that Would Make Me Agree that Osama bin Laden Was Behind the Attack on the Twin Towers'
VISIT THE NEW MEMRI BLOG AT www.thememriblog.org Special Dispatch-Jihad Terrorism Studies Project January 3, 2007 No. 1406 American Professor Natana DeLong-Bas: 'I Do Not Find Any Evidence that Would Make Me Agree that Osama bin Laden Was Behind the Attack on the Twin Towers' To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit: http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD140607 . On December 21, 2006, the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an interview with Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas, who taught this year in the Department of Theology at Boston College and in the Department of Near East and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University(1). In the interview, she said that Wahhabism is not extremism and that the Muslim Brotherhood and Sayyed Qutb have nothing to do with jihadism. Dr. DeLong-Bas also indicated that there may be a Western conspiracy against the Arab and Islamic world, and said that she knows of no evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks. In 2004, DeLong-Bas published her doctoral dissertation in book form under the title Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad. This book, published by the Oxford University Press, has been highly recommended by the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C.(2) According to the book's jacket, Ibn al-Wahhab was not the godfather of contemporary terrorist movements. Rather, he was a voice of reform, reflecting mainstream eighteenth-century Islamic thought. His vision of Islamic society was based upon monotheism in which Muslims, Christians, and Jews were to enjoy peaceful co-existence and cooperative commercial treaty relations. Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas is a contributor to The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, The Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, and The Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. The following are excerpts from the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat interview:(3) The Extremists in Saudi Arabia are a Mixture of a Number of Elements, and Their Extremism Does Not Stem From the Islamic Religion Q: To begin with, why did you choose to discuss Sheikh Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Wahhab in your doctoral dissertation? Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas: We hear a lot of talk in the U.S. about 'Wahabbi Islam' and 'the Wahhabis,' but only in a negative way that depicts them as extremist terrorists and gunmen. [Even] before 9/11, Americans would speak about everyone who opposed the positions of the American government - whether we talk of Chechnya, Indonesia, or Palestine - as 'Wahhabis.' This was the main reason I chose to discuss Sheikh Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Wahhab, because I had a strong desire to know the meaning of the term 'Wahhabi Islam', and I could not find a single book that talked about Wahhabism and its meaning. This is why I though that it may be the right time to [write] a historical study about Sheikh [Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Wahhab] and about Wahhabism... Q: Who do you think were the influences on the extremists in Saudi Arabia? Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas: The extremists in Saudi Arabia are a mixture of a number of elements, and their extremism does not stem from the Islamic religion, as some think. The issue is more complicated than that. The political conditions in the Islamic world, like the Palestinian issue, which has lasted 60 years, [the issue of] Iraq, and the American government's tying [the hands of] the U.N. [and preventing it] from adopting any resolution against Israel, have definitely added to the Muslim youth's state of frustration, which then pushes them to - as they understand it - help their brothers do away with the aggression against them, in the various Islamic countries... [This is happening] at a time in which all political options have been closed off. That is why I believe that religion has nothing to do with this. The activities of the [Islamist] groups stems from the escalation of the crises in the region, which causes this frustration which ultimately leads to nothing but armed operations... I Saw a Lot of Tolerance in Sheikh Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Wahhab's Books Q: There are Muslims - whether ordinary people, intellectuals or even clerics - who criticize some aspects of Wahhabism as being extremist, and some believe that Wahhabi preaching contributed to instilling the tendency to religious extremism. What do you say about this? Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas: In my reading in Sheikh Muhammad bin 'Abd Al-Wahhab's books and his interpretation of the principles of faith, I saw a lot of tolerance and civilized [thinking], much more than is applied today. The important thing now is to examine [the views of] his students and see whether or not they are faithful to what he said and taught... Q: There are those who accuse the Muslim Brotherhood's writings and agenda in Egypt of being the principle source from which the extremists in Saudi Arabia have taken [their views], and of being the cause for the start of religious extremism. Do you agree with this opinion? Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas: Hassan Al-Bana was
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] If this offends. you pass it on anyways...
*People That Are Really Very Weird Can Get Into Sensitive Positions Have a Tremendous Impact on History. - George W. Bush, Governor of **Texas* *Nickel Ranttm : We Hung the Wrong Guy!* *by Edgar J. Steele * *December 31, 2006** * *My name is Edgar J. Steele. This is a Nickel Rant. * *Jesus is coming, goes the old joke, and, boy, is he pissed! I**'**ve no doubt. If Jesus really is coming, I can**'**t imagine His being anything but truly and righteously angry about what has been going on lately. * Not that humankind ever has comported itself with anything resembling the behavior of any but the most whacked-out among us. What the religious fundamentalist, dispensationalist, Zionist nut jobs who have hijacked America already have done, and promise to continue doing, all in the name of God, truly boggles my mind. Your mileage may differ, of course. Here's the real irony: These peculiarly Judeo-Christian (their term, not mine) religious zealots somehow think they are hastening the Second Coming and, thereby, Judgment Day. That is the last thing they should want. *I**'**ve Got Your Judgment Right Here * *Regardless of whether one chooses to read from Daniel and The Revelation of **St. John** in the Old Testament (the first five books of which are embraced by Jews as their Torah) or any portion of the New Testament, clearly it is the American Neocon warmongers who are destined to be cast into the lake of fire. To think otherwise is as illogical as thinking that God speaks directly to you and tells you to kill Arabs. * That brings us to the single most whacked-out human being alive today: George W. Bush, alleged President of the United States of America. (In reality, America's last two elected Presidents have been Al Gore and Bob Kerry, but that is another story altogether.) Bush is a self-confessed alcoholic, alleged by many to be both a drug abuser and a homosexual pervert. Incidentally, it seems to me that all too many of America's fundamentalist whack jobs are much too fond of little boys. *Truth is Stranger than Fiction * *George W. Bush quite literally tells other world leaders that God speaks to him. God. A voice in George Bush**'**s head. Honest. Look, I couldn**'**t just make something like this up.* Well, I suppose I could, but I certainly don't have to do so, in the wild and wooly case of George W. Bush. That God speaks personally to George W. Bush is a proposition simply too far-fetched, too ludicrous, for me to expect anybody to believe, had it even occurred to me independently. And I have a very active imagination, folks. Truly, truth is stranger than fiction. George W. Bush really and honestly reports that he hears voices telling him to kill and chooses to believe that it is God providing America's marching orders. I wonder if that will provide a sufficient insanity defense when, finally, he is tried for his uncountable crimes against humanity. Not if, by some quirk of fate, somehow I am sitting in judgment, rest assured. If I have anything to say about it, we won't be seeing just furtive little photos and videos of a noose being dropped over Mr. Bush's head circulating around the Internet, as now is taking place regarding Saddam Hussein's very recent execution by hanging. *At Last: Real Family TV Programming * *After sentencing, I would make George W. Bush**'**s hanging required watching by every man, woman and child in **America**, carried live by each and every broadcast, cable and satellite network. *Nor would Bush be offered a hood, either, as was Saddam. Everybody should see the look of surprise on Bush's face as suddenly he falls, then his surprise at the pain, just microseconds before he loses consciousness. I would want everybody to witness him swaying back and forth at the end of that rope, feet twitching uncontrollably. I want to pull the lever, by the way, but in all fairness perhaps that honor should go to the lucky winner of a national lottery. The wages of genocide should be a lesson imprinted upon the retinas of every person alive. And nobody deserves them more today than does George W. Bush, despite the fact that he is but a dummied-up figurehead, just following orders. Not to say that Bush wouldn't have plenty of company, of course, were I in charge. *I**'**d have Tony Blair up next, followed by a long line of Western leaders who helped, condoned or merely stood aside while Bush helped **Israel** fulfill its bloody ambitions. * *Dick Cheney will get a special prime-time slot, too, of course, even if he has slipped into a coma by then as a result of one of his many heart attacks.* We'll keep him alive, vegetative, just to hoist him up out of that hospital bed by his neck on a gallows built with special handicapped access. *I think I might relegate all the members of Congress who sold us out to the all-night firing squads, along with all the judges who had a chance to say Stop, but chose to go along, instead.* Alberto Gonzales
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Hateem dua in Kabe
My dear brothers and sisters, Assalaamu aleikum ve rahmetullah. I congratulate your eid with all the best wishes. Please watch the hateem dua of Sudais who is the imam of Kabe, it is really emotional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_xMSTANLLM Considering that we are in the days of Hajj, I also request from you to read the On Hajj article on the following website: http://www.angelfire.com/un/yolarkadasi/articles.html Regards, Murat Ar#305;kan __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] ICH: Illegal Execution enrages Arabs
Iniquity, committed in this world, produces not fruit immediately, but, like the earth, in due season, and advancing by little and little, it eradicates the man who committed it. ...justice, being destroyed, will destroy; being preserved, will preserve; it must never therefore be violated. Manu 1200 bc = In order that all men might be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) - Source: The Rambler, 1750-52 = Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions. Sir Leslie Stephen - (1832-1904), literary essayist, author Source: The Suppression of Poisonous Opinions, 1883 = Political correctness is really a subjective list put together by the few to rule the many -- a list of things one must think, say, or do. It affronts the right of the individual to establish his or her own beliefs. Mark Berley - Source: Argos, Spring 1998 = There never was an idea stated that woke men out of their stupid indifference but its originator was spoken of as a crank. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American Poet - Source: Over the Teacups, 1891 === Read this newsletter online http://tinyurl.com/dy6yy === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America's Rape Of Iraq - At Least 655,000 + + http://tinyurl.com/usq4x Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's Rape Of Iraq 3,003 http://icasualties.org/oif/ The Rape of Iraq Costs $355,073,645,122 See the cost in your community http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapperItemid=182 === Blundering Into Somalia Yet Again By Eric Margolis Claims by Ethiopia that Somalia, a nation without any real military forces, threatened its border were as fanciful as assertions by Washington and Addis Ababa that the so-called transitional government they had installed in the town of Baidoa represented anything more than its own well-paid members. http://tinyurl.com/spl9y === 'Illegal' Execution Enrages Arabs Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily Saddam Hussein was hanged on what is held to be a day of mercy and feasting in the Islamic world. It is usually celebrated with the slaughter of a lamb, which represents the innocent blood of Ishmael, who was sacrificed by his father, the prophet Abraham, to honour God. http://tinyurl.com/tehea === The 110th Congress: A Call For Accountability By William A. Cohn When the 110th United States Congress convenes on January 4th its greatest challenge will be to establish the accountability required to restore public faith in American government. To do that it must hold to account those public officials who have abused their positions of power and public trust. If accountability is answerability, just being voted out of office is insufficient to right the serious wrongs done since 2001. http://tinyurl.com/y6k2z5 === Dollar Dethroned By Red Ink Paul Craig Roberts During 2006 while the US government focused on the deteriorating situation in Iraq, the US dollar declined sharply against many currencies. By December China's central bank was expressing its concern that the massive US trade deficit could lead to a run on the dollar and to an international financial crisis. http://tinyurl.com/y6yrop === Fresh violence in occupied Iraq claims 22 lives : Police said the found 15 more bodies dumped in the north of the city http://www.thenews.com.pk/update_detail.asp?id=15493 === Iraq: At least 17 killed in ongoing U.S. occupation: Police found five bodies bearing signs of torture and bullet wounds in the town of Nahrawan, 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR232101.htm === Islamic Army calls for 'saving Baghdad from Iranian occupation' : Iraq is under a double, US-Iranian occupation, the worst being the Iranian Safavid (Shiite Persian) occupation, the IAI's emir said in an audio message posted on a website used by Iraqi insurgent groups on Monday. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070101/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestiranus === 16,273 Deaths Reported During U.S. Occupation of Iraq in 2006 : Government officials reported that 16,273 Iraqi civilians, soldiers and police died violent deaths in 2006, a figure larger than an independent Associated Press count for the year by more than 2,500. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6317353,00.html === Bush 'to reveal Iraq troop boost' : The speech will reveal a plan to send more US troops to Iraq to focus on ways of bringing greater security, rather than training Iraqi forces. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6223923.stm === Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in '06, Bush Team Says: President Bush began 2006 assuring the country that he had a strategy for victory in Iraq. He ended the year closeted with his war cabinet on his ranch trying to
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] These shameful events have humiliated the Arab world
These shameful events have humiliated the Arab world Saddam's trial and mob execution reeked of western double standards. Yet Iraq's neighbouring states failed to speak out Ghada Karmi Tuesday January 2, 2007 The spectacle of Saddam Hussein's execution, shown in pornographic detail to the whole world, was deeply shocking to those of us who respect propriety and human dignity. The vengeful Shia mob that was allowed to taunt the man's last moments, and the vicious executioners who released the trapdoor while he was saying his prayers, turned this scene of so-called Iraqi justice into a public lynching. One does not have to be any kind of Saddam sympathiser to be horrified that he should have been executed - and, so obscenely, on the dawn of Islam's holy feast of Eid al-Adha, which flagrantly defies religious practice and was an affront to the Islamic world. What was the executioners' hurry? Why was Saddam condemned for one of his lesser crimes, ignoring the far larger ones for which many of his victims had sought retribution? In their unseemly haste to kill him, the judges ended up looking mean-minded, bloodthirsty and vengeful, while Saddam retained a dignity to the end that drew the reluctant admiration of many of his enemies. It was always clear that Saddam's fate was sealed from the moment US forces got 'im, in Paul Bremer's tasteless phrase. He was to be used as a trophy of a mindless and catastrophic war, to redeem America's dented image. But it was also essential to stop him revealing secrets about the west's past enthusiasm in supporting and arming his regime. Hence he was tried on the relatively minor charge of killing 148 people in the village of Dujail, after a plot to assassinate him. Far better to put him away safely for that rather than risk his exposing western hypocrisy, treachery and double-dealing. For the Arab world, this has been a shameful, humiliating event that underlines its total surrender to western diktat. The execution was carried out under the auspices of a foreign occupying power, and with a clear western message: we give ourselves the right to invade a sovereign Arab state and remove its leader because he offends us; we think you Arabs are incapable of sorting out your own affairs in accordance with our interests, so we will do it for you. Saddam was held in US custody right up to the end and only handed over to the Iraqis for the distasteful deed, his body whisked away immediately afterwards by a US helicopter for a hasty burial. Yet this was billed as an independent decision of a sovereign state, as if any such thing were possible under occupation. The fact that this was the act of an Iraqi government dominated by Saddam's Shia enemies made the final outcome a foregone conclusion. Yet the Arab states stood by, swallowing their humiliation in silence and letting US/Iraqi justice take its course, hoping no one would notice how some of them had supported Saddam's war on Iran in the 80s, fought to a large extent on their behalf. But the west should also be ashamed of what was a clear miscarriage of justice, carried out in the face of its strident demands of the Arabs for democracy and the rule of law. The trial judgment was not finished when sentence was pronounced. Saddam's defence lawyers were given less than two weeks to file their appeals against a 300-page court decision. Important evidence was not disclosed to them during the trial, and Saddam was prevented from questioning witnesses testifying against him. Several of his lawyers were threatened or actually assassinated, and the trial was subjected to continuous political interference. Any pretence that this was an exercise of due process is farcical. Of course Saddam himself was a brutal tyrant, but the kangaroo court that tried him lacked any serious legal credibility. Yet no western leader (or Arab one for that matter) was prepared to say so, or exert any pressure to have the defendant tried by an international court. Whatever else Saddam was, he was the constitutionally recognised Iraqi president. Yet he was left to the mercies of a campaign of revenge masquerading as legal process. Britain, which does not support the death penalty, did not strive hard to prevent it. No western leader has been treated in this way, and Arabs should ask themselves why this exception was made. Was it because there is one rule for them, and another for western civilised people? For everyone concerned, this was a lost opportunity: for the Arabs, to have protested against this western humiliation and regained some dignity; for the Islamic world, to speak out against a sacrilegious act; and for Britain and America, to have made up, however belatedly, for their arrogance and aggression against an Arab nation that had never harmed them. Most of all, it was a chance for the new Iraq to have shown that it would not conform to the western stereotype that led to the country being invaded
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Palestinian Deaths Rose in 2006 Thanks to Mighty America
The Crimes of the Jews Against the Palestinians Other Muslims Has to Be Placed Fairly Squarely at the Doorstep of the American Administration. The American Public Needs to Rectify this Pathetic Situation. Otherwise ONE Day They Will Be Answerable For It - AB Palestinian Deaths Rose in 2006 Last Updated: Thursday, 28 December 2006, 23:06 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6215769.stm Israeli security forces killed 660 Palestinians in 2006 - three times more than in 2005, according to an Israeli human rights group. B'Tselem, which monitors human rights in the occupied territories, said the figure included 141 children. At least 322 had taken no part in hostile acts, the group said. In the same period, the number of deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis has fallen - 23 Israelis were killed in 2006 compared with 50 last year. The Israeli military renewed ground operations in the Gaza Strip after militants captured an Israeli soldier in a border raid in June. Since June, Israeli troops have killed about 405 Palestinians in Gaza, including 88 children. More than half of the casualties were civilians, B'Tselem said. As of November, 9,075 Palestinians were being held in Israeli jails. This number included 345 minors, it said. Of these, 738 (22 minors) were being detained without trial and without knowing the charges against them, the group said. AB [EMAIL PROTECTED] For to us will be their return; then it will be for us to call them to account. (Holy Quran 88:25-26) __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] EID MESSAGE FROM MUFTI EBRAHIM DESAI
Dear Saba Khan I am sorry to intervene but your exposition needs a bit of reconsideration. Hadrat Ibraheem (pbuh) was never ordered to slaughter his Son. It was Allah's plan to ban slaughtering of human beings in vouge. Thanks to Ibraheem (pbuh) at whose hand the slaughtering of human beings in the name of God came to an end. Muhammad Latif Chaudhery - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: eGroup For Muslims Around The World Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 10:23 PM Subject: Boycott Israel [IslamCity] EID MESSAGE FROM MUFTI EBRAHIM DESAI EID MESSAGE FROM MUFTI EBRAHIM DESAI It is the grace of Almighty Allah Ta'ala that He granted us life to witness another Eid. For that we make shukr to Allah. The occasion of Eid ul Adha reminds us of the great personality of Ibraheem alayhi salaam and his submissions to the orders of Allah. Allah says, and remember when Allah tested Ibraheem alayhi salaam and Ibraheem alayhi salaam fulfilled all the orders of Allah. It was this submission and subjugation of Ibraheem alayhi salaam that is remembered on the day of Eid ul Adhaa. Ibraheem alayhi salaam did not have a child until old age. Allah granted him Isma'eel alayhi salaam. The intense love of Ibraheem alayhi salaam for Isma'eel alayhi salaam cannot be really comprehended by us. Ibraheem alayhi salaam was ordered to sacrifice his beloved son. That is naturally a very difficult order to carry out, but Ibraheem alayhi salaam still submitted without any reservations. It is this spirit of his submission and subjugation that is so loved by Allah that year in, year out Ibraheem alayhi salaam's submission to the order of Allah is celebrated and spoken about. On this occasion we should reflect on ourselves. And examine ourselves and examine our level of submission to the orders of Allah. While we sacrifice the animal and the blood gushes out, ponder upon the virtue of that animal. It is used for an act of great worship. It has become useful for mankind. Can I at least match the animal in its sacrifice? In this time and age of Islamic history, the ummah faces the greatest challenge of submission to Allah against many pressures. Our submission to Allah dictates that we make sacrifice and be steadfast on Deen. Do not succumb to different pressures and compromise your Deen. Ibraheem alayhi salaam submitted against all odds. We too should follow the footsteps of Ibraheem alayhi salaam and submit to the order of Allah against any odd we may be faced with, be it as a husband, as a father, as a wife, as a mother, as a relative, as a friend or as a devout Muslim; against such laws and pressures that are against Islam and Shariah. We live as Muslims and die as Muslims. The reward from Allah is based on sacrifice. The askimam.org site will resume on January 15th 2007 Mufti Ebrahim Desai December 28th, 2006 A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM MUFTI EBRAHIM DESAI 1. When the world was in darkness of inhumanity, Allah Taala gave knowledge and guidance to Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam). 2. The guidance through that Divine knowledge had changed the mindset of people and transformed the evil practices of people to the highest morals. 3. Education and knowledge of Divine guidance is the backbone and foundation of reformation, prosperity and peace. 4. Islam provides guidance and solution for every aspect of life. Ignorance of such knowledge leads one to look down upon Islam and suffer an inferiority complex. 5. When one studies Islam, the Quran and Hadith, then only one will value the in-depth wisdom in such knowledge. 6. Muslims are generally ignorant about Islam and that is the fundamental cause of our decline and retrogression. 7. We have to educate ourselves on Islam and rise to the challenges of the times and once again prove ourselves as a dynamic Ummah. For that sacrifice, take out time to study Islam from reliable Ulama and scholars. 8. If you cannot make your son an Aalim of Deen then encourage others to become Huffaz and Ulama. You will get the reward of the person studying and guiding people through his knowledge. 9. If that too is difficult, at least help and assist a person who wishes to study Deen. 10.Rasulullah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, When a person passes away all his deeds terminate except three, Sadaqah e Jaariyya (perpetual reward), pious child that makes Dua for the parents and knowledge through which others benefit. SEE OUR ALINAAM WEBSITE FOR HOW TO ENROLL AT OUR INSTITUTE- www.alinaam.org.za __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] The Politics of Super Power
U.S. Questioned Iraq on the Rush to Hang Hussein.. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?_r=1ref=worldoref=slogin INTERNATIONAL / MIDDLE EAST | January 1, 2007 U.S. Questioned Iraq on the Rush to Hang Hussein By JOHN F. BURNS and MARC SANTORA American officials are said to have questioned the political wisdom of expediting the execution of Saddam Hussein. All praises and thanks be to Allah, Lord of everything that exists.The most Gracious, the Most Merciful.Master of the Day of Judgment You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help.Guide us to the Straight Way The Way of of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor those who went astray. Ameen - Try the all-new Yahoo! Mail . The New Version is radically easier to use The Wall Street Journal
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] Mullah Omar issues Eid message
Mullah Omar issues Eid message Publication time: 1 January 2007, 10:12 Mullah Omar, the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has promised to drive foreign occupation forces out of Afghanistan in a new message timed to coincide with the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival. Speaking on an audio-tape released on last Friday by the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Omar also called on his fighters to avoid harming Afghan civilians. I am confident that the enemy will run away in degradation and embarrassment, Omar said. Afghans have always expelled their enemies by force and no enemy or aggressive force has left Afghanistan at its own will... They have committed aggression and we will drive them out. Mullah Omar also said the Eid festival, which began on Saturday, offered an example of sacrifice which could inspire his fighters. An ideology based on sacrifice, such as the Taliban's, never submits and accepts defeat, he said. You can see that present resistance and struggle in Afghanistan has amply proved the point. In the tape, Omar also criticised a new plan by the karzai government to hold tribal councils (jirgas) on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border in an effort to find ways to end recent violence. Now the aggressor forces in our country want to entangle our valiant nation and tribes in their devilish trap by way of jirgas, he said. But I am sure that no Muslim will participate in something that is created by the aggressors and puppets. Those who attend will only be people who have sold out. Our aggressor enemy has been defeated and now they are hatching new conspiracies for their survival, he said. Mullah Omar also instructed his Mujahiddeen to be mindful of not resorting to actions that may result in casualties of innocent ordinary people. We must be more cautious and careful in focusing the target. We should have friendly and sincere relations with our own Muslim people. Agencies
Boycott Israel [IslamCity] waiting for us....always
Allah calls out: O My slaves! You sin morning and evening and I forgive all your sins. So call on Me, I will forgive you all your sins. –hadith e qudsi Repentance has a door whose span is the distance between East and West; (and in another version its span is the distance traveled in 70 years). It will not be closed until the sun rises from the West. –jist of a hadith Allah has opened the door of repentance, so shouldn’t we enter it? Allah extends His Hands in the night to forgive the sinner of the day ,and extends His Hands in the day to forgive the sinner of the night. And He loves to hear our sorries. Consider this story: lt. is reported by a trustworthy man of the past that as he was passing through a street he saw the door of a house open. A woman came out with a child who was crying and pleading while she was pushing him out. She left him outside the house and slammed the door shut in his face. The child left the door and walked a distance. Then he stopped, looked about, began to think, and not finding any other place but his own house where he could take shelter nor anyone who would care for him as his mother would, he returned to his house dejected, sad. He found the door shut. He sat at the sill, put his cheek on the threshold and slept with tear marks on his cheeks. He was in this state when the mother opened the door. When she saw him in this state she could not control herself. She bent down, grabbed him to her bosom, began to kiss him and say in tears: Oh my boy! My dear child! My very soul! Where were you? Didn't I tell you not to disobey me? Do my bidding, and don't force me to punish you, while I hate to do that. Then she carried the child back and closed the door behind her. That is the story of a mother and a child: the story of disobedience, punishment, return, forgiveness and unbound love. But the Prophet, sallaAllahu alihi wasallam, has told us that , Allah loves His creation more than a woman does her child-He loves us more than 70 mothers. Allah whose Mercy encompasses everything,is immensely pleased with a man when he repents and turns to Him. Component of TOBA: Regret over the sin Firm decision,not to repeat the mistake Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
