Turkey Votes for New Constitution in Tussle for Country’s Future

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By Patrick Cockburn

2010-09-12T192326Z_1778363205_GM1E69D09IJ01_RTRMADP_3_TURKEY-REFERENDUM

Supporters of Turkey’s Prime Minister and leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheer in front of the Party building in Istanbul September 12, 2010. Turkish voters on Sunday approved constitutional reforms that the government says will strengthen the Muslim nation’s democracy and help its candidacy for the European Union."The winner today was Turkish democracy," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told followers as he declared victory in Istanbul.

REUTERS/Osman Orsal

The Turkish government secured victory in a vote to amend the constitution drawn up by the country’s military to protect their power after a coup in 1980.

Yesterday’s vote, in which 58 percent of voters backed the changes – was held on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 coup, when as many as 600,000 Turks were arrested and at least 450 people died under torture; many others disappeared. The military of the day drew up a constitution that severely limited democracy and entrenched the power of the armed forces and a judiciary sympathetic to military control.

“Turkish democracy is at a turning point today, “ said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he voted in Istanbul in a polling booth in the Uskudar district defended by police sharp-shooters lying on surrounding roof tops. “We are sitting an important test.”

The changing of the constitution will make possible to try officers in civilian courts, stop the judiciary banning political parties (the ruling party was almost banned in 2008), and allowing the President and parliament to have a say in the composition of the powerful constitutional court.

It was also seen as a key indicator of who would win parliamentary elections due before July next year between the ruling and mildly Islamic AK party and the opposition Republican party (CHP) which claims to be the defender of Turkish secularism.

Since coming to power in 2002, the AK, led by Mr Erdogan, has been cutting back the power of the army and is being accused by the CHP of covertly undermining secularism.

The CHP is a revived political force under its new leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and campaigned vigorously in defence of the Turkish version of secularism.

The struggle between supporters of the old secular but authoritarian elite, who have held power since 1923, and the AK government is likely to continue despite the government’s narrow victory.

The army’s grip on power has been weakened by a series of confrontations with Mr Erdogan over the past eight years in which it has come off worst. The military has not intervened in the referendum.

Clashes during the poll have been mostly in Kurdish provinces where the Peace and Democracy party, the largest Kurdish group, has called for a boycott on the urgings of the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that commits guerrilla attacks, though it is observing a ceasefire at present.

The PKK wants the government to talk to its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and the lifting of a rule whereby a party has to get 10 per cent of the vote to sit in parliament. The AK has not delivered on promised reforms for the Kurds and is nervous that any concessions would be used against it by the CHP, anti-Kurdish nationalist parties and the army. Entry into the European Union remains an objective of AK policy which is unlikely to happen because of objections by France and other member states.

But preparing the ground for EU membership has helped Mr Erdogan clip the powers of the army and make it next to impossible for it to launch another military coup; there have been four since 1960.

The Independent.

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Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War

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General Petraeus & the Counter-Insurgency Theory

By Geoffrey Cook, MMNS

Healdsburg, CA–Andrew Bacevich, who retired as an American Army Colonel with a distinguished military career, twenty years ago, and, then, became an academic with a position, currently, in Boston has created a book (the title of this piece) that has created quite a stir through several layers of society to the  point of being on the New York Times best seller list.

Bacevich was at Berkeley, speaking to an academic audience, to promote this new hardback last month.  He left his notes in the hotel; so, he strayed from the subtitle on the subject of General David Petreus’ Insurgency in Iraq and now in Afghanistan.  His presentation wandered more into a remembered off-the-cuff remarks regarding study. This produced more of a sincere ring to them then if he were giving a speech on the content of this book.

For a “retired” military man, Bacevich writes with a sensitively with a national political vision.  Washington Rules merges foreign affairs into recent American military history.  The study intends to examine the national issues of the day.   Historically, what he discusses are America’s security questions since the denouement of the Second World War.

Dr. Bacevich deduces that America’s external affairs’ theorem for your student is similar to Israel’s validation for its Eternal [unsustainable] War modus operandi that largely was developed by American Neo-Conservatives during the first of Netanyahu’s Prime Ministerships. 

America’s policy credo has to have the Armed Services de facto – although not in name — control the civilian body politik.  The fortified soldiers’ primary function is no longer to defend the United States, but to extend the District of Columba’s dominance within Globalism.  This strategy was configured in the period after World War Two, and has been enlarged since, but the world was a much different place then and America was truly the dominant policeman, but not so now.  There are many more local forces available than the U.S.A. to do that job.

Washington is doing its own toil only for (the interests of) itself (D.C).   (Retired) Colonel Bacevich claims that David Petraeus is working solely for the benefit of the U.S.A.  That claim your reviewer holds a strong disagreement with the book‘s author.  General Petareus is an independent thinker and a brilliant military strategist with a profound understanding and respect for the terrain and the people he is holding and defending.  He has had to fight due to the inept fumbling of the Bush and before the Reagan Administrations. 

Both the Generals McWaters (recently fired from the Afghani Theater) and Petraeus (who replaced him) belong to the more liberal of the two American political parties.  Your writer strongly suspects, although he has stated to the contrary, he will become a prominent influence on American political life when he retires from the military, and dons a civilian suit.  It has been apparent to your essayist from the Observer here that he holds similar views from the commentator on this page on how to create a long-lasting peace in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Islamic World.  Although a military man, like Marine Corps General Zini – the (U.S) Centcom chief under (President) Clinton — he respects the Muslim peoples and culture(s) and their nations. 

Unfortunately, official Washington’s  “…[the American government’s] efforts [to outreach] to the Islamic world have brought [even] more instability” even, though President Obama’s Administration has attempted to reverse this long-standing trend.

Iraq was not a security threat at all!  Afghanistan was a threat (but, if a Post-Al’Quaeda world can be achieved, a government of national unity from Kabul with inclusive of elements of the Taliban is not outside the range of possibilities).  Bacevich emphatically states that War should only become a tool of self-defense – not employed as a preventative stratagem in and of itself such as in the Bush Doctrine.

Although the States have been formally hostile to losing the slightest status in the past, contemporary Civil Society in the Americas and Europe are in rebellion to the Classic modern vision of the Metropole (Washington, D.C.). 

This book looks at the alternatives to the status quo of the last fifty-five years.   Foremost, the NPT (the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty) should become part and parcel to the U.S.’ Security schemata   we do not require bases or even an armed presence worldwide anymore.  He gives the example of China’s expanding control of Africa’s natural resources without deploying one single occupying soldier!

Your researcher concurs with Professor Bacevich, “Globalism is where the big guys win and the little guys lose.”  (In fact your scribe would go so far as to declare that the rise of the Global along with a reinvigorated Capitalism [economic Liberalization] has been one of the worst disasters to the average citizen worldwide!)  Regional control of local resources is the call for the day!

Curiously, the (Former) Colonel considers himself to be a Conservative whereas the tome he penned  has been taken up enthusiastically by the Democratic Left within his own country and our allies and detractors, for he perceives an alternative hegemony.   Your correspondent, further, observes Andrew Bacevich to be a political moderate out of the time-honored traditional antipathy of for foreign adventurism.  Therefore, he considers “… the [U.S.] redefinition of the Counter-Insurgency Doctrine, has made… [the only]… possible…conclusion to armed conflict solely [a] military… [one].”  Hopefully, Professor Bacevich is inaccurate, and the process will quickly make it possible for NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), our allies in the Hindu Kush, to exit Muslim lands with stability, and an orderly military withdrawal for all the armed forces involved in the battle.

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Nuclear Pakistan Expected to Chair IAEA Board

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By Sylvia Westall, Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA-Reuters-Pakistan is expected to become the next head of the UN nuclear watchdog’s governing body despite being outside a global anti-nuclear arms pact and home to a nuclear smuggler who supplied Iran and North Korea, diplomats say.

One Western diplomat said the choice was "not ideal" because, like India, North Korea and Israel, Pakistan has shunned the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that is at the heart of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s work.

But Western powers are not expected to oppose the nominee of a group of Middle East and South Asia member states because Pakistan was a longstanding member of the Vienna-based IAEA Board of Governors and the choice is within its rules.

"People are talking about it but I don’t think there will be any uproar," a European diplomat said. "There is no rule saying that an informal nuclear weapons state cannot be chair."

The one-year position rotates between regions, who put forward their own nominee, and entails chairing debates of the IAEA’s 35-nation decision-making body and helping them reach consensus decisions. It would not give Pakistan individual powers to decide UN nuclear policy.

In theory, other IAEA member states could reject Pakistan’s chairmanship at a board meeting to decide on the issue scheduled for late September but this is very unlikely, diplomats said. Malaysia currently chairs the board.

"They are not the ideal board chairman but at the same time it is not really possible to make an issue of it," the Western diplomat said, suggesting opposition would undermine the traditional selection process.

The diplomat said Pakistan may have been chosen because it was easier to agree on within the regional group than a state from the Middle East. Iran and Syria, under IAEA investigation over nuclear proliferation suspicions, are also in this group.

"There is consensus on Pakistan in our group," an Asian diplomat said, without giving further details. Iran and North Korea, seen as major proliferation risks by the West, are believed to have benefited from a nuclear smuggling ring run by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb and a national hero.

He confessed on television in 2004 to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Pakistani authorities denied any connection to Khan’s smuggling ring but have never let foreign investigators question him.

Some analysts say Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and stockpile of weapons-grade material pose a risk in the region because of internal security threats from the Taliban and al Qaeda.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Pakistan has about 60 warheads while regional rival India has 60-70. Both nations conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

Oliver Thraenert, senior fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Pakistan was a "special case" because of the Khan network and it being outside the NPT.

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Eid Spirit

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Service on the September 11th Day of Service

By Imran Ahmad

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September 11, 2010 was a day of remembrance, and a day of renewal.  As a country we remembered the 9 year anniversary of a great tragedy which occurred on that day.  The attacks of 9/11 were a terrible act of terrorism perpetrated on American soil.  And as we recall that day, a group of Muslims from Metro Detroit decided to heed President Obama’s call to also make it a day of service.

The event taking place was called Acts of Kindness (A-OK) Detroit: A Weekend of Remembrance and Restoration.  Many different social groups comprising people from different faiths, backgrounds, and ethnicities sponsored it.  CIOM, or Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, was one of the organizations among others. CIOM promotes positive collaboration with government, law enforcement, and civic organizations, etc:

One group of Muslim volunteers was from the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, commonly known as IAGD masjid in Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit. This group consisted of the two primary spiritual leaders of the masjid, who are Imam Aly Lela and Haafiz Rabbani. The group arrived at Clark Park in Detroit for the group’s registration followed by assignment of the day’s task. There were many community service projects going on throughout the day, ranging from environmental, to restoration, to clean-up around the city.  We were assigned to clean up large weeds and bushes surrounding Piquette Square, a newly built homeless shelter for veterans located at 6221 Brush.  The complex is one of the largest in Michigan and has 150 apartments.

Once we reached our site and started working, our group of 7 was joined by 10 to 15 other volunteers from the Metro area along with 10 to 15 residents of the homeless shelter.  We were able to clean up a large section of the street, even more than what the organizers had anticipated, and we had a great time doing it.  After few hours of cleaning it looked totally different. The change was dramatic and we realized our mistake of not taking a picture before and after cleaning the area of the weeds and other rubbish. .  The residents were happy to see the change, area looking so spruced up. They said that the area is a common gathering place for drug dealers, and other unwanted criminal elements. The residents were extremely thankful to us and were elated to see that the area no longer will provide any shelter or hiding places to drug dealers and will prevent other criminal activities. It will no longer be their meeting place in the future.

After the cleanup, we went inside for a pizza lunch with some of the residents of the building, and each group was asked to give a short talk describing their organization and why they chose to be there.  Imam Lela described IAGD and Ramadan, and  said “9/11 happened to all of us,” he further said that we as Muslims felt it was important to spend our Eid holiday helping others in the true spirit of Islam.  He also invited everyone to come visit our masjid, and let them know that we won’t make them work in the street if they visit.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and a win-win for everyone involved.  The event continued on Sep 12th, and there were more volunteers expected to join us on that day from IAGD and also from other masjids in the area such as MCWS, or Muslim Community of Western Suburbs.  The hope is that by working side by side with people of all faiths, everyone can realize that we have more in common than we have differences and that we can do a greater good for the community of Detroit.  The Muslim volunteers wanted to make it clear that they are Americans as well, and were also devastated by the attacks of 9/11.  We love our country and want it to prosper just like everyone else.

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Planetary Rings

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science

A planetary ring is a ring of cosmic dust and other small particles orbiting around a planet in a flat disc-shaped region. The most spectacular planetary rings known are those around Saturn, but the other three gas giants of the solar system (Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune) possess ring systems of their own.

Reports in March 2008 have suggested that the Saturnian moon Rhea may have its own tenuous ring system, which would make it the only moon known to possess a ring system. A later study published in 2010 revealed that imaging of Rhea from the Cassini mission was inconsistent with the predicted properties of the rings, suggesting that some other mechanism is responsible for the magnetic effects that had led to the ring hypothesis.

There are three ways that planetary rings (the rings around planets) have been proposed to have formed: from material of the protoplanetary disk that was within the Roche limit of the planet and thus could not coalesce to form moons; from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by a large impact; or from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by tidal stresses when it passed within the planet’s Roche limit. Most rings were thought to be unstable and to dissipate over the course of tens or hundreds of millions of years, but it now appears that Saturn’s rings might be quite old, dating to the early days of the Solar system.

The composition of ring particles varies; they may be silicate or icy dust. Larger rocks and boulders may also be present, and in 2007 tidal effects from eight ‘moonlets’ only a few hundred meters across were detected within Saturn’s rings.

Sometimes rings will have “shepherd” moons, small moons that orbit near the outer edges of rings or within gaps in the rings. The gravity of shepherd moons serves to maintain a sharply defined edge to the ring; material that drifts closer to the shepherd moon’s orbit is either deflected back into the body of the ring, ejected from the system, or accreted onto the moon itself.

Several of Jupiter’s small innermost moons, namely Metis and Adrastea, are within Jupiter’s ring system and are also within Jupiter’s Roche limit. It is possible that these rings are composed of material that is being pulled off of these two bodies by Jupiter’s tidal forces, possibly facilitated by impacts of ring material on their surfaces.

Uranus’ Epsilon ring also has two shepherd satellites, Cordelia and Ophelia, acting as inner and outer shepherds respectively. Both moons are well within Uranus’ synchronous orbit radius, and their orbits are therefore slowly decaying due to tidal deceleration.

Neptune’s rings are very unusual in that they first appeared to be composed of incomplete arcs in Earth-based observations, but Voyager 2’s images showed them to be complete rings with bright clumps. It is thought that the gravitational influence of the shepherd moon Galatea and possibly other as-yet undiscovered shepherd moons are responsible for this clumpiness.

Pluto is not known to have any ring systems. However, some astronomers think that the New Horizons probe might find a ring system when it visits in 2015.

It is also predicted that Phobos, a moon of Mars, will break up and form into a planetary ring in about 50 million years due to its low orbit.

After the impact of Theia and before the coalescence of the Moon, it is generally assumed that the Earth had a ring system.

The rings of Saturn are the most extensive planetary ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometres to metres, that form clumps that in turn orbit about Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with some contamination from dustand other chemicals.

Although reflection from the rings increases Saturn’s brightness, they are not visible from Earth with unaided vision. In 1610, the year after Galileo Galilei first turned a telescope to the sky, he became the very first person to observe Saturn’s rings, though he could not see them well enough to discern their true nature. In 1655, Christiaan Huygens was the first person to describe them as a disc surrounding Saturn. Although many people think of Saturn’s rings as being made up of a series of tiny ringlets (a concept that goes back to Laplace), true gaps are few. It is more correct to think of the rings as an annular disc with concentriclocal maxima and minima in density and brightness. On the scale of the clumps within the rings there is much empty space.

There are several gaps within the rings: two opened by known moons embedded within them, and many others at locations of known destabilizing orbital resonances with Saturn’s moons. Other gaps remain unexplained. Stabilizing resonances, on the other hand, are responsible for the longevity of several rings, such as the Titan Ringlet and the G Ring.

Well beyond the main rings is the Phoebe ring, which is tilted at an angle of 27 degrees to the other rings and, likePhoebe, orbits in retrograde fashion.

Galileo Galilei was the first to observe the rings in 1610 using his telescope, but was unable to identify them as such. He wrote to the Duke of Tuscany that “[t]he planet Saturn is not alone, but is composed of three, which almost touch one another and never move nor change with respect to one another. They are arranged in a line parallel to the zodiac, and the middle one (Saturn itself) is about three times the size of the lateral ones [the edges of the rings].” He also described Saturn as having “ears”. In 1612, the plane of the rings was oriented directly at the Earth and the rings appeared to vanish. Mystified, Galileo wondered, “[h]as Saturn swallowed his children?”, referencing the myth of Saturn’s consumption of his children to prevent them from overthrowing him. They reappeared again in 1613, further confusing Galileo.

Early astronomers used anagrams as a form of commitment scheme to lay claim to new discoveries before their results were ready for publication. Galileo used smaismrmilmepoetaleumibunenugttauiras for Altissimum planetam tergeminum observavi (“I have observed the most distant planet to have a triple form”) for discovering the rings of Saturn.

In 1655, Christiaan Huygens became the first person to suggest that Saturn was surrounded by a ring. Using a 50 power refracting telescope that he designed himself, far superior to those available to Galileo, Huygens observed Saturn and wrote that “It [Saturn] is surrounded by a thin, flat, ring, nowhere touching, inclined to the ecliptic.” Robert Hooke was another early observer of the rings of Saturn, and noted the casting of shadows on the rings.

In 1675, Giovanni Domenico Cassini determined that Saturn’s ring was composed of multiple smaller rings with gaps between them; the largest of these gaps was later named the Cassini Division. This division is a 4,800 km-wide region between the A Ring and B Ring.

In 1787, Pierre-Simon Laplace suggested that the rings were composed of a large number of solid ringlets.

In 1859, James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated that the rings could not be solid or they would become unstable and break apart. He proposed that the rings must be composed of numerous small particles, all independently orbiting Saturn. Maxwell’s theory was proven correct in 1895 through spectroscopic studies of the rings carried out byJames Keeler of Allegheny Observatory.

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Briefing on Bangladesh Jamaat e Islami’s Current Situation

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Briefing on Bangladesh Jamaat e Islami’s Current Situation: Ultra-Secularist Government’s All-Out Systematic Attack in a Bid to Ban Jamaat & Execute its Top Leaders

Date: July 01, 2010

Dear Brothers (Leaders and Scholars of the Ummah),

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Subject: Briefing on Bangladesh Jamaat e Islami’s Current Situation: Ultra-Secularist Government’s All-Out Systematic Attack in a Bid to Ban Jamaat & Execute its Top Leaders

I hope this letter reaches you in the best of Iman and health. Your good-self may already have been aware of the current overall critical situation of the Islamic da’wah movement of Bangladesh, particularly the current ultra-secularist government’s onslaught of systematic brutal fascist actions against the largest organization of Islamic da’wah movement Bangladesh Jamaat e Islami in an attempt to crush and ban Jamaat and execute its leaders in order to remove all political obstacle in the way of the government of Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) to de-Islamize and secularize the country under the framework of the 1972 secularist Constitution that it is committed to restore since the same was subsequently amended in favor of constitutional principles that are suitable to a Muslim nation.

In this context, I would like to draw your kind attention with great concern that as part of its systematic fascist policy of exterminating the Islamic da’wah the government has unlawfully and unjustifiably arrested the Ameer of Jamaat Mr. Mawlana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Mr. Ali Ahsan Mujahid, Deputy Ameer Mr. Mawlana Delawar Hossain Sayeedi on June 29, 2010 followed by a subsequent random arrest of hundreds of other leaders and activists throughout the country by grossly violating all norms of justice, human rights and democracy. We are deeply concerned that, unless the government’s brutal fascist actions are immediately intervened and abetted, the innocent leaders and workers of Jamaat may be subjected to inhuman tortures and execution on unfounded false and fabricated charges, the country may lose its prestigious Islamic identity and the nation may precipitate into disunity and political unrest leading to a civil war.

It is pertinent to note how politically ill-motivated and baseless the charges are on which the Jamaat leaders, who are highly respected Islamic scholars and personalities, were arrested by the ultra-secularist regime. It sounds completely ‘crocodile tears’ of an ultra-secularist government who does not have slightest sympathy to religious sentiment but to take all advantage thereof for political profiteering to arrest these Islamic leaders and scholars on a frivolous and fabricated allegation of hurting the religious sentiment of the Muslims. It is needless to state further how politically ill-motivated the arrest was and in what a fascist manner the government acted adhering to a principle of “might is right” since the alleged fabricated statement for which these highly respected Islamic leaders were arrested was not made by any of them but by another Jamaat leader who in fact made a comparison in one of his statements that the challenges and suppressions faced by the Prophet’s movement and those that Jamaat is currently facing are no different. Any person with rudimentary common sense can conclude that this should not by any means be construed as hurting religious sentiment yet by prominent Islamic leaders and scholars. Nevertheless the ultra-secularist government, which is utterly hostile to Islamic political activities, created a big issue out of this for its mean political gain.

It is further alarming that following the Jamaat leaders’ arrest, all forces of the ultra-secularist fascist government including the police and the country’s specially trained force Rapid Action Battalion or RAB have started a massive arrest and crackdown on Jamaat in every nook and corner of the country at the clear instruction of the Home Minister (see the national dailies, for example the Independent of July 1, 2010 at http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=180134 and the NFB at: http://www.unbconnect.com/component/news/task-show/id-24545). There are also massive random attack on the activists and offices of Jamaat throughout the country by the student and youth wings of the ruling Awami League party. It is a matter of further concern that the government also denies any democratic right of Jamaat activists to protest against the politically motivated unjust arrest of their beloved leaders and demand their release. In order to implement the Government’s undemocratic fascist decision, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) chief has issued a press release against any protest and demonstration by Jamaat activists following the arrest of their leaders which states that such protest, demonstration and gathering would be treated as subversive of law and be strictly contained (see the daily Prothom Alo report of June 30, 2010 at http://www.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2010-06-30/news/74952).

You will be thundered to know that since the government apprehended that the court might grant bail to the Jamaat leaders in such a frivolous case, they immediately declared the leaders under custody as "shown arrested" under other serious unfounded false cases such as murder of a Rajshahi University student (who was in fact killed due to the pro-government student organization Bangladesh Chhatra League or BCL’s in-fight), sedition and war crimes committed during 1971 etc so that they could not escape remand and physical torture for which is regime is notoriously knwon. As such, while the court has granted them bail for the frivolous case for which they were initially arrested, they are by now shown arrested for 8 cases whereas many more false cases are underway to be concocted against whereby the government has demanded 40 days remand for each of the leaders. The court has initially granted 16 days remand for each of the leaders on June 30, 2010 (see the daily Star of July 01, 2010 at: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=24526) which will be extended on further demand after conclusion of the initial course of torture as customarily practiced between the Bangladesh government and its judiciary.

As you know, the Bangladesh Awami League, the present ruling party of Bangladesh, embraced secularism as its ideology from the beginning of its formation. The development of secularism in Bangladesh, however, started through an abnormal psyche, which is an extreme opposition to, and a deep-rooted desire of annihilating Islam and its symbols. After taking absolute control of the country in 1971, Awami League banned all Islamic parties and institutions and de-Islamized the educational system. Thousands of Islamic scholars and Islam loving-people were brutally killed only because they supported the unity of the two parts of then Pakistan that was created in the name of Islam out of the Hinduism dominated Indian sub-continent. However, Allah (SWT) changed the situation within a short period of time. After the fall of then Awami League regime by the 1975 revolution, Islamic da’wah movement gradually re-emerged and within few decades, it has been able to establish its strong base in the grassroots level of the society. After the incident of 9/11, the vitality and dominance of Islamic movement in Bangladesh drew the attention of world superpower and its local agents who are hostile to Islam. As a consequence, in 2007 the democratic process in Bangladesh was halted for two years. During that time, Islamic movement became the prime target of anti-Islamic media propaganda. The leaders of Islamic movement were falsely portrayed as ‘war criminals’ in national and international media. Subsequently, the two-year interim unconstitutional government before the current government, backed by military junta and anti-Islamic international community, handed over the power to the Bangladesh Awami League through a forged election employing a digital rigging, whereby the ultra-secularist party secured more than two third seats of the parliament under an engineered election.

After getting the power again, Awami League publicly vowed to exterminate Islamic movement from Bangladesh. As a part of that agenda, they are trying to stage ‘war crime’ tribunal drama. It is obvious that they do not have any evidence to try any leader of Islamic movement. Therefore, they could not try them through ordinary judicial system. They had to revive an Act, namely the Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973, which denies basic human rights of the accused. Under this Act anyone can be prosecuted and convicted without proper evidence or on the basis of false and fabricated evidence. That is why the International Bar Association has already declared this Act as outdated, fraught with injustices and against fundamental human rights. Nevertheless, the Bangladeshi government is adamant in prosecuting the so called ‘war criminals’ through this Act, and accordingly started a massive media campaign against the leaders of Jamaat.

Before even forming the tribunal and appointing the investigators and prosecutors, the ultra-secularist ruling party leaders and their loyal media already included all top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in the list of ‘war criminals’ and started seriously defaming and defiling the renowned Islamic personalities of the country. Their list even includes some current Islamic movement leaders who were only 4 years old at the time of the war. On 19th March 2010, the State Minister of Law said that the top leaders of Jamaat including its Ameer Mr. Mawlana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Mr. Ali Ahsan Mujaheed, Deputy Ameer Mr. Mawlana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and others will be prosecuted first as ‘war criminals.’ On 20th March 2010, a top policy-maker of the Awami League government and the Agriculture Minister Mrs. Motia Chawdhury said that the Jamaat leaders will be hanged to death as ‘war criminals.’ The Law Minister of Bangladesh, who was a known communist comrade since his student life, as part of his government’s campaign to get international support, visited some countries including the United States and realized that the ‘war crime’ drama to execute Jamaat leaders, while ignoring the trial of the real identified 195 war criminals and prisoners of war from the then Pakistani army who were exonerated under a tri-partite treaty between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, may not be accepted internationally. Therefore, since the trial of war criminals requires monitoring and involvement of international community, and hence in order to avoid external intervention, he came up with a tricky alternative new idea of so called ‘trial of crimes against humanity.’ They are now propagating that they will not try the ‘war criminals’ but those who committed the ‘crimes against humanity’ during the time of liberation war in 1971.

On 26th March 2010, the government appointed judges, prosecutors and investigators for the trial under the notorious Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973. All of them are involved with and loyal to the Awami League regime. The government has expressed its wish to finish the ‘war crime’ tribunal by the end of this year. We understand that the international and regional anti-Islamic forces and their local agents like the ruling Awami League and and its communist allies consider Jamaat as the main obstacle in fulfilling their dream of an ‘Islam free Bangladesh.’ If they can successfully convict, may Allah forbid, the entire leadership of Jamaat, the next step will be banning Islam based political parties and associations. They have already taken steps to de-Islamize the education system which will be easily done if there is no opposition from Jamaat and other socio-political and Islamic organizations.

Alhamdulillah, Jamaat is now deeply rooted in Bangladesh. By the mercy of Allah (SWT) and with the help of Islam-loving people, Jamaat will face the challenge both politically and legally. We earnestly seek dua from the world Muslim leaders like your esteemed-self and from all Islam-loving brothers and sisters across the globe, so that Allah (SWT) saves our beloved country and its Islamic movement from all the conspiracies of the anti-Islamic forces.

We also believe that a strong voice from the international community, especially from the Muslim states and organizations against such conspiracies and injustices of the current Bangladeshi ultra-secular government will inshaAllah ease the situation in favor of Islamic dawah movement. Saudi Arabia has a huge influence on Bangladesh, as more than two and a half million Bangladeshis are working there contributing to around 60% of Bangladesh’s remittance. If Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the arrest of Jamaat leaders and expresses its dissatisfaction about the ill motivated ‘war crime’ trial—which is nothing but a sheer political vendetta and repression against Islam—the government of Bangladesh will not proceed with their malicious agenda inshaAllah and hence the Islamic movement of Bangladesh will be able to surmount the challenges.

I request all of our well wishers and sympathizers to come forward and to do your part to save the Islamic da’wah movement of Bangladesh. Our combined effort will have an impact if Allah (SWT) wishes.

May Allah help all of us and accept our struggle for His cause.

Sincerely Yours Brother in Islam,

Barrister Abdur Razzaq

Asst. Secretary General

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

President Obama—Eidul Fitr Announcement

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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                 September 9, 2010

Statement by the President on the Occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr

As Ramadan comes to an end, Michelle and I extend our best wishes to Muslims in the United States and around the world on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. For Muslims all over the world, Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of a holy month of fasting and prayer. It is a time of self-reflection focusing on the values that Muslims and people of all faiths share – charity, community, cooperation and compassion.  This year’s Eid is also an occasion to reflect on the importance of religious tolerance and to recognize the positive role that religious communities of all faiths, including Muslims, have played in American life.

On this Eid, those devastated by the recent floods in Pakistan will be on the minds of many around the world. To help in the tremendous relief, recovery, and reconstruction effort for the floods, all Americans can participate by donating to the Pakistan Relief Fund at www.state.gov. 

On behalf of the American people, we congratulate Muslims in the United States and around the world on this blessed day. Eid Mubarak.

Iran ready to free detained American woman on bail

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Parisa Hafezi

uk.reuters.com

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said on Sunday it will free on bail one of three Americans accused of espionage and held for more than a year, a day after her release was unexpectedly halted by the judiciary.

The Tehran prosecutor told state television Sarah Shourd would be freed on $500,000 bail and permitted to leave the country.

Shourd was detained near Iran’s border with Iraq in July 2009 along with two male companions, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. Their families say the three were on a mountain hike in northern Iraq at the time.

Officials said last week Shourd would be freed on Saturday, but Iran’s judiciary suspended her release at the last minute, saying the legal process had not been completed. The delay could indicate a rift among Iran’s hardline rulers.

"The American spy can be released as soon as her $500,000 bail is deposited … She is not barred from leaving Iran but has to appear in the court at trial time," Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said.

"The other two American hikers will remain in jail."

A lawyer representing the three, Masoud Shafie, told Reuters he met the Americans for the first time since their arrest and presented their final defenses. The prosecutor could now present his indictment, which would precede a trial.

"She will be free as soon as the bail is paid. They were fine today and they sent their love to their families when I met them at the court," Shafie said. "Detention of the other two has been extended for two months and no trial is expected soon."

Washington Wary

David Axelrod, U.S. President Barack Obama’s chief political adviser, said: "We’re hopeful and we’re encouraged by this news but there have been starts and stops in this before, and until that actually happens we’re on a wait and see basis …

"They should never have been in jail in the first place. They’re being held under false pretences and they should be released, and we’re working very hard to see that happens," Axelrod said on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

An Iranian analyst who asked not to be named said the delay in Shourd’s release "brought to the surface the power struggle" between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other hardliners.

"Ahmadinejad wants to gain international respect after the disputed presidential vote in 2009," he said, referring to an election which the opposition says was rigged.

Another analyst said her release may be linked to Ahmadinejad’s trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly later this month.

"His government has been under attack for violation of human rights. This may be a way to evade further attacks in New York," the analyst said.

State media reported on Friday that Shourd would be released as a result of intervention by Ahmadinejad, to show the "special view of Iran on the dignity of women."

Some hardline MPs criticized Shourd’s planned release, accusing the government of "meddling in the judiciary’s affairs," the Tehran-e Emrouz daily reported on Sunday.

ISNA, the student news agency, quoted the prosecutor on Sunday as defending the right of the judiciary to make the decision without outside pressure.

The judiciary chief is a brother of parliament speaker Ali Larijani, one of Ahmadinejad’s political rivals, who lost to him in a 2005 presidential vote. Larijani is a staunch critic of the president’s economic and foreign policies.

Under Iran’s Islamic law, espionage can be punishable by execution. Dolatabadi said Shourd’s release on bail was a display of Islamic clemency, based on reports that Shourd was ill and needed treatment.

Shourd said in May that she had been held in solitary confinement. Her family says Shourd has been denied treatment for health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells.

Washington rejects the spying allegations and has demanded the detained Americans’ immediate release. Their case has further complicated relations between Tehran and Washington already fraught over Iran’s nuclear activities.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Muslim Organizations Call For ‘Eid Celebrations To Avoid 9-11

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Press Release

114193,xcitefun-eid-5 The Executive committee of the CMO calls upon all of its 147 member Islamic Centers, schools and organizations, in remembrance of the thousands of our neighbors of all faiths who lost their lives in the tragic attack on our country, to not hold their Eid celebrations on Saturday, September 11th 2010.

As we conclude the blessed month of Ramadan we reflect upon the sorrow and sacrifice of our fellow Americans.  For many American Muslims the day of  Eid Al-Fitr (Congregational prayer commemorating the end of the Ramadan fasting month) will be Friday, September 10th 2010.  While we recognize that some mosques and Islamic centers started fasting a day later and therefore might be religiously obligated to make the prayer of Eid Al-Fitr on Saturday, Sept 11th 2010, we are humbly requesting that you perform your prayers on that day but delay your community celebration to a later day.

As American Muslims we continue to stand against terrorism in all of its forms and faithfully rededicate ourselves to the service of mankind standing for justice and equality for all people of good will.  We wish to send a clear message of unity and peaceful coexistence to the world that on this day of Eid Al-Fitr we stand united with our faith and our nation.

We wish you all a blessed Eid Mubarak and pray that we will continue with firm faith in Allah (God) and in the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

We encourage all people of good-will to join us on Sunday, Sept 12th 2010 at 1:30pm for The 911 Unity Walk.  The Unity Walk begins at the Washington Sikh Temple located at 3801 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC.  

Although, Eid Al-Fitr is a happy day, let us take time on Sept 11to think about the state of our world and the need for world peace.  Let us at this time of fasting and feasting recommit ourselves to service to our faith, our community and our nation.

CONTACT:        Chairperson, Asma Hanif: 

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Nadeem Syed appointed to Inspirage Board of Advisors

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060824oracle_a MOUNTAINVIEW,CA–Inspirage, a leading provider of global implementation services for Oracle’s Value Chain Planning solutions, announced today the immediate appointment of Nadeem Syed, former head of Oracle Value Chain Planning Development, to its Board of Advisors.  In his role as a strategic advisor, Mr. Syed will help to guide Inspirage in strengthening and expanding its leadership position in VCP-related service industries. Mr. Syed brings over 20 years of considerable expertise as a leader in the Supply Chain Management space to Inspirage. 

Nadeem Syed began his management career in 1991 with Oracle Corporation. While at Oracle, Mr. Syed served as Group Vice President and was responsible for defining the strategy, product direction, and managing the operations for Oracle’s Value Chain Planning suite. Mr. Syed significantly evolved the VCP suite to the position of the world’s second-largest Supply Chain solutions provider.  Furthermore, throughout the various large-scale corporate changes that have taken place at Oracle in recent years, Mr. Syed held pivotal positions on the acquisition and integration executive teams for several key acquisitions. Currently, Mr. Syed is Executive Vice President of Product Development at SumTotal Systems Inc., a market leader and a global provider of talent development solutions.

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African American Imams Support Park 51 Project

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African American Muslim Leaders Come Together On Park 51 Project

By Masood Rab, MMNS

park51 This is the beauty of Islamic belief system; when there is an aggression on the Muslim ideals and Islamic operations on one segment of the Muslim Community the Divine Plan opens other avenues for countering the aggression!

In a very bold move the Black American Muslim leadership in America came together to join hands and support the Park 51 Project (Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan), infamously dubbed a Ground Zero Mosque. It was a rare show of solidarity of indigenous Muslims with the immigrant Muslims in America!  Black American Muslim leaders appeared as a united force by holding a press conference on September 2, 2010, in National Press Club, Washington, DC, to decry anti-Islam climate in U.S. and to on the call on the country to reject historic hatreds and bigotry. Professor Sherman Jackson was very instrumental in having the press conference arranged at very short notice, though he couldn’t make it.

The Coalition of African American Muslims, a group formed within the last month, sees offering solutions to these problems and giving a voice to the growing number of Blacks in America who are followers of Islam as part of its mission. The coalition said it was willing to work across racial, ethnic, religious and other divisions to combat rising hatred in America and help steer the country onto a proper course.

The members of the Coalition of African American Muslims at the press conference included Minister Louis Farrakhan, Imam Zaid Shakir, Imam Siraj Wahaj, Imam Mahdi Bray, Asma Hanif, Nisa Islam Muhammad, Imam Abdul Malik, Abdul Jalil Muhammad, and Akbar Muhammad. In their turn at the podium, each urged a rejection of anti-Islam hatred and religious intolerance, while connecting the disdain for their faith to America’s old history of hate and bigotry. But, they said, out of the negative attacks on a beautiful way of life comes an opportunity to teach and spread the truth—despite severe opposition.

Coupled with America’s legacy of racism, slavery and Jim Crow laws, Blacks have undergone an experience that has prepared them for leadership roles in a society still suffering from bigotry, racism and inequality present at the birth of the nation, said the Muslim leaders.

“This world is not ignorant to the beauty of Islam,” said Minister Farrakhan. “The fear is that Islam will change the religion of the slave that they took it from and make him a bright light of a brand new civilization,” he said. Minister Farrakhan pointed out that in close proximity to where the Islamic center is to be built, there are sex shops, peep shows, strip clubs and other immoral activities not being protested by those who say the Islamic center will violate hallowed ground and disrespect the memories of who died in Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Minister Farrakhan said the world is looking to America for leadership, and watching to see how America handles this particular religious issue. A nation’s highways, bridges and roads do not determine its greatness; a nation’s greatness is determined by its righteousness, he observed.  If Black people rise above emotion into God’s thinking, they will see persecution was preparation for a future mission and duty to humanity after trial in the furnace of affliction, the Minister said.

Nisa Islam Muhammad, who has spearheaded outreach and education efforts regarding the religion of Islam and was one of the lead coordinators of the press conference, said its time has come. “It’s a great day to be a Muslim,” said Nisa Muhammad.

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The Tragedy of Iqama

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By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent

It’s tragic that in the year 2010, modern day slavery is still alive and well, sucking the life out of anyone that is destitute and lacks the ability to rise above their circumstances. We see it in the poorest of nations where the rich and powerful clearly hold the upper hand. However, it also can affect wealthy and middle-class people living in rich nations who must grapple with it just as their poorer brethren must.

Nowhere is this truer than in the Middle East, where the oil pumps black gold day in and day out–lining the pockets of the wealthiest of the wealthy. The side effect of all that glittering oil is the reliance of a largely foreign work force to handle the jobs that the wealthy class is unwilling to do.

Skilled and unskilled workers from all over the world descend upon the Middle East in droves, as if the California Gold Rush has been resurrected. The promise of high salaries and a tax-free economy is all it takes to bring planeloads of foreign workers to the Middle East. Sometimes, the move pays off and an expatriate can earn a handsome living and have a little bit extra to send back to their family at home. However, for many, the dream of as easier life turns into a nightmare before they can even blink their eyes.

The problem lies in the way in which foreign laborers are permitted to work in many countries of the Middle East. Most of the wealthy nations of the Gulf have a sponsorship system in effect. The sponsorship system means that a citizen of the country you want to reside in must put his name on all of your paperwork, including your visa and residency card. Without what is known as the “Iqama”, a foreign worker will not only be arrested but immediately deported out of the country they have fought so hard to live in. What is worse is that many unscrupulous sponsors prey on the person whom they are sponsoring–insisting on high payments to maintain the sponsorship, or special favors.

For a young person, maintaining sponsorship is a manageable feat so long as he can pay the sponsor what he demands. However for an older person, who does not have the ability to work as he once did, he is at the mercy of the sponsor. “I don’t know what the future holds for me,” laments a 77-year-old Pakistani laborer who works in a tailor shop in Kuwait. He refuses to give his name for fear of getting in trouble since his Iqama has long since expired.

“I have no family to turn to in Pakistan and even less in Kuwait. Without a job, my days are numbered.” He has spent 50 years in Kuwait and now lives every day looking over his shoulder fearing that he will be arrested at any moment. He supplements his meager wages by collecting recyclables out of dumpsters situated in some of Kuwait’s poshest neighborhoods. For him, all of his years of labor have counted for nothing, as there is no social security system in effect for non-Kuwaitis.

For many elderly expatriates, the system of Iqama prevents them from moving forward and keeps a tight noose around their necks–putting them at the complete mercy of their sponsor who can relinquish the sponsorship at any time and for whatever reason, thus incapacitating a living soul from earning a livelihood. And for the young expatriates it’s only a matter of time before the tragedy of Iqama casts its’ dark shadow on them as well. 

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Fundraiser for Pakistan

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By Susan Schwartz, MMNS

Natural disasters that occur in far away places are often unreal to the public until the reality is brought home by those who have been on the scene and those who work to help the needy.

The Muslim community in the LA/Orange County area came together during the last days of Ramadan to raise money for the flood stricken victims of Pakistan. The floods were the result of the worst monsoon in over 80 years. Sponsored by the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California (ISCSC) and Islamic Relief, the fundraiser was held in the Hilton in Anaheim, Ca. this past Saturday evening. Articulate and convincing speakers, well known to the Muslim community, described the conditions in Pakistan and asked for generosity.

The evening began with a reading from the Holy Qur’an with a translation. Anwar Khan, VP for Fundraising Development for Islamic Relief, told of his recent experiences in Pakistan. He said that he had been in that beleaguered nation many times since the monsoon began this past July. Many of the audience were moved to tears when he told of children being bathed in contaminated water by their parents. The parents’ answer when confronted: “This is the only water available”.  The visual presented on screen and Brother Khan’s words to the audience were worth the proverbial thousand words.

More than 200 health facilities have been destroyed by the floods, exacerbating an already deadly situation.

Contaminated water is the breeding ground for Malaria and Cholera and can cause severe diarrhea in young children, a condition that is often fatal and, when not fatal, is dangerously debilitating.

“It’s unbelievable” said one young woman to her table mates. “We take so much for granted” she continued, holding up a glass of water.

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, the Educational Director of the Islamic Center of Orange County and the Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America told the audience that those who show mercy on earth will receive mercy from heaven.

Brother Shakeel Syed, Executive Director of the ISCSC, spoke of a similar fundraiser five years ago when a deadly Tsunami devastated Indonesia. “The Southern California Muslim community has always responded.”

Other speakers included Sheikh Yassir Fazaga, Imam of the Orange County Islamic Foundation and Imam Zaik Shakir, Scholar in Residence and co-founder of Zaytuna College.

Islamic Relief was founded in 1984 in UK. It has grown to a respected international body and is currently a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief.

Islamic Relief has partnered with many highly respected institutions including the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon). The organization seeks to address the needs of the world’s poorest people when faced with man made and natural disasters. Islamic Relief works to develop and empower victims of disaster as well as to address their deprivation.

The Islamic Shura Council of Southern California was established in ‘95, the first of its type in the nation. Since then, it has served as a model for other Shura Councils. ISCSC works to foster a spirit and culture of “working together” at all levels.

ISCSC:   www.shuracouncil.org. Islamic Relief: www.irw.org.

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On Unicorns: Muslimahs’ Search for the Perfect Muslim Mate

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By Nadirah Angail

Let me start by saying be sure that you’ve searched for a unicorn. Even if I don’t explain what one is, know that you’ve searched. We’ve all searched, ladies. It is the pursuit of a unicorn that sends us to Islamic conventions every year in throngs, outnumbering the men every time. Unicorns make us buy those expensive plane tickets when we know we’re supposed to be saving money, justify it by thinking “This year it’ll be worth it.” It is the fear of not finding a unicorn that makes us lie to our girls, saying “Girl, I’m not looking this year,” knowing good and well we are. It is because of a unicorn that we walk the halls to the point where we know the building better than the architect that built it. We think of unicorns when we go to the fabric store looking for the baddest pattern to give to sister So and So from the masjid so she can make us a fierce ensemble. And it is the exciting thought of a unicorn that has us brainstorming outfits 3 months before the convention. And sadly, it is the unfortunate fact that we sometimes go back home unicornless that makes us have an attitude Monday morning when we go back to work/school.

If you haven’t guessed it, a unicorn is that perfect brother that we’ve all been convinced we’d meet at a convention, or anywhere else for that matter. I don’t know who told us there were going be unicorns at these conventions, but we think they are. I don’t know what makes us think they’ll show up this year when they never have in the past, but we do. And I don’t know what makes us hold out hope that he’ll show up next year when we didn’t get one glimpse this year, but we still hold that hope. I guess it’s because many of us come from places where there aren’t too many Muslims, so these conventions are our only chance. And I guess we also figure in a sea of Muslims, one of them has to be for us. And that’s true. Islamic conventions have been the stepping stone for many of our married couples today, but as we all learned as young children, unicorns don’t exist.

So many of us, myself included, have wasted valuable time waiting for that perfect brother to come sweep us off our feet and fly us away on a magic prayer rug. But that’s not the reality. The reality is that no one is perfect. We’re all very flawed. We need to stop turning our noses up at our brothers, thinking we’re not just as flawed as they are. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying settle for someone you truly don’t want. I’m saying we need to open up our narrow view of what a unicorn looks like and stop denying ourselves good brothers. The fact that the brown in a brother’s kufi doesn’t match the brown in his shirt is not a good reason to turn him down. The fact that his beard isn’t as long as your father’s isn’t a good reason either. A brother may not have a great house, car and a fat stash of money in the bank, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get those things with the support of a loving wife. A brother may not blow you away with his charm and wit the second you meet him, but that doesn’t mean he can’t treat you like a queen. True love takes time to develop anyway, so stop getting mad because it’s not there at first sight. I’m not saying we should marry men we aren’t attracted to, because attraction is important, but we shouldn’t be so focused on it that it’s all we consider.

We shouldn’t be discouraged that we can’t find unicorns. We need to be looking for stallions. A stallion is a wonderfully flawed brother that knows his weaknesses and uses them as strengths. A stallion accepts his own imperfections and so doesn’t feel the need to constantly point yours out. A stallion views his own shortcomings as a sign of his humanity and uses them as motivation to bring him closer to the Creator. A stallion loves your differences and doesn’t try to change them. A stallion is perfectly imperfect. My husband is no unicorn, but he’s definitely a stallion.

Nadirah Angail–“Empowering women- through knowledge, recognition & guidance”

www.nadirahangail.com

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Be Grateful To ALLAH…It will Enhance You

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By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, MMNS

Why are we here? What is the purpose of our existence on this earthly plane?  We all believe as Muslims that there is something else, something greater, after this life, as we know it, passes on.  We all believe that we have a Great Creator that has designed the evolution of the creation so that nature will keep replicating itself.  Things are born.  They ingest nutrients and grow – and then they die.  In death, material nature continues to live, as matter decays and turns back into dirt that provides nutrients for life to continue.

We look at this and marvel at the power of ALLAH, who obviously is more than awesome to be able to create something as awesome as these worlds that we are familiar with.  Then we look at man and we see the wondrous position ALLAH has placed us in…. and we are grateful.  I think sometimes we don’t emphasize enough what the attitude of thankfulness can do for us emotionally, mentally, physically, and, most of all, spiritually.

If a person feels defeated, unhappy, and at the end of their ropes, they would experience a remarkable change if they would practice an attitude of being grateful for all that is given to us.

A man once was complaining about how miserable his life was.  He was pessimistic about everything.  Nothing gave him any happiness.  Everything was going badly.  He said he was completely sunk.

He was then asked to take out a sheet of paper and write on one side, “Things That Make Me Unhappy,” and on the other side, “Things That Make Me Happy.”
He started off on the unhappy side and wrote down a long list of negatives.

Then he was asked to write down those things that he had to be thankful for.  The paper remained empty.  He said he didn’t have one thing to be thankful for.
So, he was reminded that he could see out of both eyes.  The eye is a wonderful tool.  It can pick out beautiful colors, lights, sunset’s, flowers and the other beauties of the world.  He also was reminded that he had two ears and told to imagine what life would be like without them; especially since he was a music lover.   He was reminded of his legs, arms, hands, fingers, mouth, nose – all ALLAH’S gifts to him.

And once we start thinking and reflecting, we see many more things we have to be thankful for.  This year, the month of Ramadan will begin sometime around the American holiday of Thanksgiving, near the end of November.  This will be an excellent opportunity to reflect on being grateful.  Each night at the dinner table everyone can say out loud something he or she has to be thankful for.  I guarantee it will raise the spirits, and make each member of the family stronger and more vital.  It will even make your food taste better and aid in digestion because your soul will be more at ease.

The person who will practice every day an attitude of gratefulness to ALLAH will increase the clarity of their mind.   The force of their positive personality and strength of their character will be enhanced many fold.

ALLAH says, “Then do ye remember Me.
I will remember you.
Be grateful to Me, and reject not faith.” 2:152

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If we want to live a peaceful, prosperous life free from excessive stress, let us be thankful for the things He has already given us.  After all, He could take them away.  And further, ALLAH says, “If you are grateful, I will give you more.”

As Salaam alaikum
(Al Hajj) Imam Abdullah El-Amin

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Book Burning

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By Dr. Aslam Abdullah, TMO Editor-in-Chief

On the 9th anniversary of the September 11th Attacks On August 2010, a non-denominational Church in Florida plans to burn some 200 copies of the Quran. It is not unusual for clergy or rulers to burn books as is witnessed in our human history. Both are paranoid at the emergence idea that challenges their understanding of the world and both have often worked hand in hand openly or secretly to serve their purpose. Those who are burning the Quran believe that Islam is from Devil and hence the devil should not be allowed to live. They are acting on behalf of their perceived God and doing a religious duty. However, what is significant in the proposed burning of the Quran in Florida is that a large number of interfaith leaders have started openly against the Quran burning.

Even though those attempting to burn the Quran are not many, yet the impact they have created all over the world is immense. These elements of radical Christianity claim that they are true Christians the same way as those who reportedly destroyed the Twin Towers in 2001 claimed that they were genuine Muslims.

Obviously, the Muslim community all over the world is outraged at this attempt of burning the Quran. Yet the best way to respond to such incidents is to ignore them and do not retaliate. The Quran demands from Muslims to show respect to people of all faiths and promotes true pluralism not defined by the politics of the day.

The Quran burning event would not burn the Quran. The organizers know fully well that by burning 200 copies they would not destroy the Quran. They are orchestrating the event to show their hatred towards Muslims and to put their claim of religious superiority.

The Quran is preserved in the hearts and minds of people and there are approximately 56 million Muslims all over the world who have memorized the Quran and the numbers are constantly on the increase.

Muslims must appreciate those Christian and Jewish and other religious leaders who have come forward to condemn Terry Jones, the leader of the Church intending to burn the Quran. Muslims should not fall in the trap most Islamophobic have fallen by equating a faith with the deviation of a few.

Muslims must maintain their high moral grounds and on the day when others burn the Quran, we must spent time memorizing a few more verses of the Quran and filling our masajid  to read and understand the Quran..

Perhaps a look at the history of the burning of religious text would give us an understanding of the hatred that has existed in our religious and secular circles. Here is a review of some prominent incidents of book burning.

We have witnessed the burning of Library of Alexandria by Christian forces,  Library of Baghdad by Mongols, the burning of books and burying of scholars under China’s Qin Dynasty, the destruction of Mayan codices by Spanish Christian conquistadors and priests, burning of Muslim and Jewish books by Catholics during the Inquisition, Torah burning by Christians in Germany , the burning of Beatles records after a remark by John Lennon concerning Jesus Christ, the burning of Yusuf Islam’s cds by a Christian conservative talk show host and the destruction of the Sarajevo National Library.

It is said that in AD 367, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria… issued an Easter letter demanding that Egyptian monks destroy all books except what constitute the ‘New Testament’.

In his 1821 play, Almansor, the German writer Heinrich Heine, referring to the burning of the the Qur’an, during the Spanish Inquisition, wrote “Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings.” (“Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.”) Heine’s books were among the thousands of volumes that were torched  by Christians in Germany..

New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, founded in 1873, inscribed book burning on its seal, as a worthy goal to be achieved. The Society destroyed some 15 tons of books, 284,000 pounds  printing plates and nearly 4,000,000 pictures. The society also successfully lobbied the United States Congress to incorporate its objectives in the Comstock Law.

At the advice of Minister Li Si, Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China ordered the burning of all philosophy books and history books. This was followed by the live burial of a large number of intellectuals who did not comply with the state dogma.

In 168 BC the monarch Antiochus IV ordered Jewish ‘Books of the Law’ found in Jerusalem to be burned.

About the year 50 a Roman soldier seized a Torah scroll and,   burned it in public. This incident almost brought on a general Jewish revolt against Roman rule.
The New Testament book of Acts, early converts to said to have burned the sorcery scrolls.

Emperor Hadrian ordered the teaching of the Jewish Scriptures together with Rabbi Haninah.

The Egyptian alchemical books of Alexandria were burnt by the emperor Diocletian in 292.

In 303 Diocletian burned Christian  books. page.)

In 1242, The French crown burned all Talmud copies in Paris, about 12,000, after the book was “charged” and “found guilty” in the Paris trial.

In the 1480s Tomas Torquemada promoted the burning of non-Catholic literature, especially the Jewish Talmud and also Arabic books after the expulsion of Muslims and Jews.

In 1490 a number of Hebrew Bibles and other Jewish books were burned at the behest of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1499 about 5000 Arabic manuscripts were consumed by flames in the public square at Granada on the orders of Ximénez de Cisneros, Archbishop of Toledo.

In 1526 William Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament was burned in London by Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London.

Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible was burned in Catholic-dominated parts of Germany in 1624, by order of the Pope.

In 1656 the authorities at Boston imprisoned the Quaker book in public.

In 1731 Count Leopold Anton von Firmian – Archbishop of Salzburg burned the Lutherans books.

In 1933, Christians burned works of Jewish authors, and other works considered “un-German.”

On May 10, 1933 Christian youth influenced by Nazi philosophy burned Torah.

On the 23rd March 1984 hundreds of copies of the New Testament were ceremonially burnt by Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. 

There have been several incidents of Harry Potter books being burned, including those directed by churches at Alamogordo, New Mexico and Charleston, South Carolina. In May 2008, a “fairly large” number of New Testaments were burned in Or Yehuda, Israel. 

Those who burn books in fact show their hatred to themselves by being insensitive to others.

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Malaysians ‘Embrace Islamic Gold Dinar’

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AFP

Malaysians are embracing gold dinars which were introduced last month by the northern state of Kelantan to promote usage of Islamic currency as an alternative to paper money, an official said on Saturday.

The gold coins and silver dirhams were introduced in early August by the Islamic opposition party PAS which rules Kelantan state to coincide with the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, chief executive officer with Kelantan Golden Trade, said the first batch of gold and silver coins worth two million ringgit ($A686,700) had been sold out in less than a month.

“There is enormous response in Malaysia. Their reaction is unbelievable,” he told reporters.

“In Kelantan, businesses including garage owners and taxi drivers are using the gold and silver coins.”

Civil servants in Kelantan are paid up to 25 per cent of their salary in dinars and dirhams if they wish.

Umar said three more Malaysian states controlled by the opposition — Selangor, Kedah and Penang — had indicated interest in minting similar coins.

“By the end of the year, we anticipate sales of the dinars and dirhams to hit 60 to 70 million ringgit,” he said.

According to Islamic law, the dinar coin is 4.25 grams of gold, while the dirham is 3.0 grams of pure silver.

A gold coin is equivalent to about 582 ringgit ($A200) while the silver coin is worth around 13 ringgit but their values fluctuate according to market prices.

The coins were intended to be used as an alternative to the Malaysian ringgit and sen but are not legal tender.

“Of course it is not legal tender,” Umar said.

“The gold dinar is a commodity. The use of it is on a voluntary basis.”

“The government of Kelantan has not received any petition from the government of Malaysia (against the usage).”

“The people in Kelantan have spoken loud and clear that they like the gold and silver coins,” Umar said.

Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose administration promoted a moderate form of Islam that emphasized economic and scientific development, shot down the proposal to use the traditional Islamic currencies.

But his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, was an advocate of the dinar system and urged Muslim countries to use it as a trade instrument.

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China, India Look Top Investment Targets to 2012-UN

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By Robert Evans

GENEVA, Sept 7 (Reuters) – The world’s biggest companies are planning to boost their international investments over the next two or three years, with most spending planned in major emerging economies, according to a United Nations study. China, India and Brazil are the top three target countries for foreign direct investment (FDI) until the end of 2012 with the United States, for years number one, now in fourth place, the U.N. trade and development agency UNCTAD said.

The Geneva-based agency, which acts as a think-tank on economic trends in developing nations, said the global economic crisis from 2008 was less harmful than feared for investment.

The conclusions were based on a survey of the FDI climate among 236 leading multinational corporations and 116 investment promotion agencies.

Global investment flows slumped in 2008-09 as a result of the economic downturn but are expected to recover slowly in 2011 and 2012.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Incoming FDI, mostly from richer countries like the United States and the bigger powers in the 27-nation European Union, is a key component in development plans for many poorer countries.

But in recent years big firms based in the more successful emerging economies have taken a growing role, investing in both rich and poor nations, often through mergers and acquisitions.

The crisis had accentuated a shift of the geographical focus of FDI towards developing and former communist economies.

These countries accounted for 9 of the top 15 priority FDI destinations for global firms, UNCTAD said.

China was the number one attraction for the second year, with India up from third in 2009 and Brazil up from fourth, pushing the United States down from second.

Russia was fifth, the same as in 2009, but Mexico leapt to sixth place from 12th last year, leapfrogging Britain at seventh, Vietnam at eighth and Indonesia at ninth. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, fell from seventh to 10th.

Thailand, Poland, Australia, France and Malaysia were the five countries next most favoured, the UNCTAD survey showed.

UNCTAD said optimism that the worst of the crisis was over had encouraged companies to revise investment programmes, with some 58 percent saying they would boost FDI in 2011-12.

But it noted that optimism was greater among multinationals based in the developing world than among those in richer economies, especially those headquarted in Europe.

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Mossad in America

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Israeli intelligence steps up its activity in the U.S. — and gets away with it.

By Philip Giraldi

israeli-spy-ring-911-fox-news-image-11 Israeli government claims that it does not spy on the United States are intended for the media and popular consumption. The reality is that Israel’s intelligence agencies target the United States intensively, particularly in pursuit of military and dual-use civilian technology. Among nations considered to be friendly to Washington, Israel leads all others in its active espionage directed against American companies and the Defense Department. It also dominates two commercial sectors that enable it to extend its reach inside America’s domestic infrastructure: airline and telecommunications security. Israel is believed to have the ability to monitor nearly all phone records originating in the United States, while numerous Israeli air-travel security companies are known to act as the local Mossad stations.

As tensions with Iran increase, sources in the counterintelligence community report that Israeli agents have become more aggressive in targeting Muslims living in the United States as well as in operating against critics. There have been a number of cases reported to the FBI about Mossad officers who have approached leaders in Arab-American communities and have falsely represented themselves as “U.S. intelligence.” Because few Muslims would assist an Israeli, this is done to increase the likelihood that the target will cooperate. It’s referred to as a “false flag” operation.

Mossad officers sought to recruit Arab-Americans as sources willing to inform on their associates and neighbors. The approaches, which took place in New York and New Jersey, were reportedly handled clumsily, making the targets of the operation suspicious. These Arab-Americans turned down the requests for cooperation, and some of the contacts were eventually reported to the FBI, which has determined that at least two of the Mossad officers are, ironically, Israeli Arabs operating out of Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York under cover as consular assistants.

In another bizarre case, U.S.S. Liberty survivor Phil Tourney was recently accosted in Southern California by a foreigner who eventually identified himself as an Israeli government representative. Tourney was taunted, and the Israeli threatened both him and journalist Mark Glenn, who has been reporting on the Liberty story. Tourney was approached in a hotel lounge, and it is not completely clear how the Israeli was able to identify him. But he knew exactly who Tourney was, as the official referred to the Liberty, saying that the people who had been killed on board had gotten what they deserved. There were a number of witnesses to the incident, including Tourney’s wife. The threat has been reported to the FBI, which is investigating, but Tourney and Glenn believe that the incident is not being taken seriously by the bureau.

FBI sources indicate that the increase in Mossad activity is a major problem, particularly when Israelis are posing as U.S. government officials, but they also note that there is little they can do to stop it as the Justice Department refuses to initiate any punitive action or prosecutions of the Mossad officers who have been identified as involved in the illegal activity.

In another ongoing Israeli spy case, Stewart Nozette appears to be headed towards eventual freedom as his case drags on through the District of Columbia courts. Nozette, an aerospace scientist with a top secret clearance and access to highly sensitive information, offered to sell classified material to a man he believed to be a Mossad officer, but who instead turned out to be with the FBI. Nozette has been in jail since October, but he has now been granted an additional 90-day delay so his lawyers can review the documents in the government’s case, many of which are classified. If Nozette demands that sensitive information be used in his defense, his case will likely follow the pattern set in the nine-times-postponed trial of AIPAC spies Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who were ultimately acquitted in April 2009 when prosecutors determined that they could not make their case without doing significant damage to national security. A month after Rosen and Weissman were freed, Ben-Ami Kadish, who admitted to providing defense secrets to Israel while working as an engineer at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, walked out of a Manhattan court after paying a fine. He did no jail time and continues to receive his substantial Defense Department pension.

The mainstream media reported the Rosen and Weissman trial intermittently, but there was virtually no coverage of Ben-Ami Kadish, and there has been even less of Nozette. Compare that with the recent reporting on the Russian spies who, by all accounts, did almost nothing and never obtained any classified information. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that spying for Israel is consequence free.

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Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest. His “Deep Background” column appears every month exclusively in The American Conservative.

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