Ahmadiyya Times

Faith and Interfaith: Lessons on Religious Harmony

2012-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Jonathan Siger of Congregation Jewish Community North suggested that intra-faith intolerance was even more threatening than inter-faith discord. If we can’t be accepting of the various interpretations within our own faith, how can we ever learn to consider other religions deserving of our respect?

The inter-faith meeting was held at Baitus Samee Mosque in Houston, TX

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Humble Observer
By Saadia Faruqi | February 1, 2012

In addition to Humble Observer, this article was also published on February 1, 2012 in Atascocita Observer and Kingwood Observer

Khalil Gibran once wrote: “You are my brother and I love you. I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your church and pray in your synagogue. For you and I are sons of one religion – the spirit.” Sadly, the ideal of inter-faith brotherhood has become lost thanks to individual misunderstandings, political propaganda and religious extremism.

As a moderate Muslim, the concept of inter-religious harmony and equality is not a hard pill for me to swallow, and I find that neither is it for many of my acquaintances from different religious backgrounds. Yet the world stands divided – now more than ever before – on the topic of religious superiority. We see a complete lack of respect towards “non-believers” by adherents of every faith, Islam included. Can we all learn to live in religious harmony? Is tolerance and respect even possible?

Leaders of religious groups across the country met last week at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Baitus Samee mosque in Houston to discuss this very issue. Addressing a standing-room-only crowd, panelists from six religions gave suggestions from their scriptures about dealing with religious intolerance and promoting peace. While I don’t think one symposium can change the world, we all can apply those lessons learned in our interactions with neighbors, co-workers and friends. Here are some ideas from the panelists that resounded with me:

First, stand up for injustices. Gurmit Singh Bhatia from the Sikh Center recommended that regardless of which religion is being targeted, we should all take a stand against a hate crime, an unfair policy or act of persecution. Similarly, Imam Naseem Mahdi, national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community reminded the audience that Islam advocates the protection of all religious places of worship, and gives due rights to followers of all faiths.

Secondly, R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Reverend Butch Green of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship recommended Jesus’s teachings of love and peace as the ultimate way of showing our fellow human beings some much-needed respect. Although we all have our differences, isn’t it much better to look for similarities?

Following naturally from that is the third lesson. Our similarities are countless, because we all believe in the same things: doing good to others, giving charity, being honest, discharging our responsibilities as parents, as children… the list is endless. Dr. Asha Sharma of the Hindu Worship Society described aptly how the Golden Rule is present in every religion in one form or the other. A saying of the Prophet Muhammad summarizes my point: “None of you can be a truly faithful Muslim, unless you like for your brother what you like for yourself.”

Fourthly, be aware of your own religious prejudices. Rabbi Jonathan Siger of Congregation Jewish Community North suggested that intra-faith intolerance was even more threatening than inter-faith discord. If we can’t be accepting of the various interpretations within our own faith, how can we ever learn to consider other religions deserving of our respect?

Lastly, globalization has meant that the threat of extremist ideologies and intolerant attitudes spilling over into our own backyard is very real now. We looked on in horror a couple of years ago as Europe considered banning the burqa in an attempt to force freedom on women who they considered to be in bondage. This year the U.S. political scene is buzzing about the possibility of stopping American Muslims from utilizing their religious laws – shariah – to judge between themselves. The time has come to think of this is “our problem” and to put into practice the ideals of tolerance, understanding and peace in our daily lives. Let’s be friends!

-- Courtesy: Imam Mohammed Zafarullah Hanjrah, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Houston Texas

Read original post here: Lessons on Religious Harmony

New York, USA: Documentary Film | 'A Place in the World' ~ Story of two Ahmadi Muslim Sisters

2012-02-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

The film festival will start on Friday at 20 Cooper Sq and apart from "A Place in the World" film, there are other 14 films from all over the world done by young producers.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Arthur I. Carter Journalism Institute
By Nusrat Qadir | February 1, 2011

A graduate student has done a documentary film on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with added focus on the plight of Ahmadis and their persecution within Pakistan and now their lives here in the USA.

The film by Mallika Aryal is titled "A Place in the World".

The project began a year ago with Ahmadi youth's cooperation and now the film will be shown this weekend at the NYU film festival.

A Place in the World will be shown from 3:30-4:10pm on February 4, 2011 at at 19 University Place.

A question and answer session will follow.

The project creaters say this will be a great oppertunity for those inyterested in the subjct matter to provide their feedback.

The film festival will start on Friday at 20 Cooper Sq and apart from "A Place in the World" film, there are other 14 films from all over the world done by young producers.

-- A Place in the World
-- Ahmadiyya Times
-- Download event poster HERE.

Indonesian atheist might embrace Islam after arrest, police say

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Atheism is not illegal, but the government officially recognizes six major religions - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Monsters and Critics
By M&D | January 30, 2012

Jakarta - An Indonesian atheist who was detained after declaring God did not exist on Facebook was considering abandoning his lack of religious faith and embracing Islam, police said Monday.

Officers arrested Alexander Aan, a 31-year-old civil servant in Dharmasraya district in West Sumatra province, this month and charged him with blasphemy after he declared on his Facebook page that 'God does not exist.'

'His parents came and told us that he wanted to repent,' Dharmasraya police chief Chairul Aziz said by telephone.

Aziz said Aan was not charged because he was an atheist but because he blasphemed against Islam on the Facebook page called Minang Atheists, which Aan moderated.

'He said Islam was this and that and that the Prophet Mohammed was like this and that,' Aziz said.

'If he wants to be atheist, that's fine, but don't insult religions,' he said.

Aziz said even if Aan renounced atheism, the case against him would proceed.

Aan's arrest has been condemned by human rights activists who argued that authorities should not interfere in a citizen's personal beliefs.

Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Atheism is not illegal, but the government officially recognizes six major religions - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Read original post here: Indonesian atheist might embrace Islam after arrest, police say

USA: Vandalism of Mosque in Chantilly, Virginia un-American - Senator Webb

2012-02-02T05:00:00.003-08:00

“The reported vandalism of a mosque in Chantilly, Virginia, is an affront to the American traditions which we hold dear. We must not remain silent when any house of worship is attacked like this on our soil.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Jim Webb | Online
By Press release | January 31, 2012

Washington, DC—Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) issued the following statement regarding reports of vandalism against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque in Chantilly, Virginia.

“The reported vandalism of a mosque in Chantilly, Virginia, is an affront to the American traditions which we hold dear. We must not remain silent when any house of worship is attacked like this on our soil.”

According to the media reports, vandals attacked an under-construction mosque in Chantilly over the weekend, causing extensive damange, authorities said.

The Washington Post reported that all of the mosque’s first-level windows and door glass were shattered by thrown rocks, causing about $60,000 in damages

According to Usman Ghumman, general secretary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque, the doors and windows were custom made to match the mosque’s design and artifacts.

He said he wasn’t aware of specific threats to the mosque before it was vandalized, The Washington Post has reported.

Read original post here: Senator Webb Statement on Vandalism of Mosque in Chantilly, Virginia

O' land of Kabul: Taliban will rule Afghanistan again, says leaked US military report

2012-02-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

The BBC reported on its website that Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew the locations of senior Taliban leaders and supported the expulsion of "foreign invaders from Afghanistan".

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desj
Source/Credit: The Fuardian | UK
By Reuters | January 31, 2012

Classified document is said to warn that Pakistan is plotting to help reinstall Taliban once Nato-led forces depart

The Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after Nato-led forces withdraw from the country, according to reports citing a classifed assessment by US forces.

The Times described the report as secret and "highly classified", saying it was put together last month by the US military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top Nato officers. The BBC also carried a report on the leaked document.

"Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban," the report was quoted as saying. "Once Isaf (Nato-led forces) is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable."

The document stated that Pakistan's security agency was helping the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces – a charge long denied by Islamabad.

The findings were based on interrogations of more than 4,000 Taliban and al-Qaida detainees, the Times said, adding the document was scarce on identifying individual insurgents.

A US state department spokesman and Britain's Foreign Office both declined comment on the report. Nato and Pakistani officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Despite the presence of more than 100,000 foreign troops, the UN has said violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by US-backed forces in 2001.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) says levels of violence are falling.

Citing the same report, the BBC reported on its website that Pakistan and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew the locations of senior Taliban leaders and supported the expulsion of "foreign invaders from Afghanistan".

"Senior Taliban leaders meet regularly with ISI personnel, who advise on strategy and relay any pertinent concerns of the government of Pakistan."

The Times said the document suggested the Taliban were gaining in popularity, partly because the severe Islamist movement was becoming more tolerant.

The report was quoted as stating: "It remains to be seen whether a revitalised, more progressive Taliban will endure if they continue to gain power and popularity. Regardless, at least within the Taliban the refurbished image is already having a positive effect on morale."

Read original post here: Taliban will rule Afghanistan again, says leaked US military report

UK: London Stock Exchange, U.S. Embassy bomb plots admitted by four men

2012-02-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul Miah pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: BBC News
By BBC | February 1, 2012

Four men inspired by al-Qaeda have admitted planning to detonate a bomb at the London Stock Exchange.

Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul Miah pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

The men, from London and Cardiff, were arrested in December 2010 and were set to stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Five other men have pleaded guilty to other terrorism offences and all nine will be sentenced next week.

The men, who are all British nationals, had been inspired by the preachings of the recently-killed radical extremist Anwar Al-Awlaki.

It emerged that those who admitted planning to target the London Stock Exchange wanted to send five mail bombs to various targets during the run up to Christmas 2010 and discussed launching a "Mumbai-style" atrocity.

A hand-written target list discovered at the home of one of the men listed the names and addresses of London Mayor Boris Johnson, two rabbis, the US embassy and the Stock Exchange.

The conspiracy was stopped by undercover anti-terror police before firm dates could be set for attacks.

The terrorists met because of their membership of various radical groups and stayed in touch over the internet, through mobile phones and at specially arranged meetings.

They gathered in parks in a bid to make surveillance difficult.

The court heard that Chowdhury, 21, and his London accomplice Rahman, 28, were followed by undercover detectives on 28 November 2010, observing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

Chowdhury, of Stanliff House, Tower Hamlets and Rahman, of St Bernard's Road, Newham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism by planning to plant an improvised explosive device in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange.

A jury had been sworn in to hear the trial before the defendants changed their pleas to guilty.

Addressing the jurors as they were discharged, Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution, said that the four involved in the Stock Exchange plot had not intended to maim and kill.

"Their intention was to cause terror and economic harm and disruption. But their chosen method meant there was a risk people would be maimed or killed," he said.

The men admitted the offences after a special hearing which allows a defendant to hear from the judge what sentence they may receive if they plead guilty on the eve of a trial.

Chowdhury was told by judge Mr Justice Wilkie indicated that he would receive 18-and-a-half years and Rahman was told he would receive a maximum of 17 years.

Brothers Gurukanth Desai, 30, of Albert Street, Cardiff, and Abdul Miah, 25, of Ninian Park Road, Cardiff, also admitted the same count, namely preparing for acts of terrorism by planning to plant an improvised explosive device in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Omar Latif, 28, of Neville Street, Cardiff, admitted attending meetings with the intention of assisting others to prepare or commit acts of terrorism.

Four of the nine-man group are from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

The quartet talked about leaving homemade bombs in the toilets of their city's pubs and discussed travelling abroad for terror training.

Three of the Stoke contingent admitted a lesser, specific charge - engaging in conduct for the preparation of terrorism between 1 November and 21 December 2010 - namely travelling to and attending operational meetings, fundraising for terrorist training, preparing to travel abroad and assisting others in travelling abroad.

Usman Khan, 20, of Persia Walk, Mohammed Shahjahan 27, of Burmarsh Walk and Nazam Hussain, 26, of Grove Street, all Stoke, admitted attending operational meetings in Roath Park, Cardiff on 7 November and in a Newport country park on 12 December.

The fourth Stoke defendant, Mohibur Rahman, 27, of North Road, admitted possessing two editions of al-Qaeda magazine Inspire for terrorist purposes.
Protect the public

Following the guilty pleas, DAC Stuart Osborne, senior national coordinator of Scotland Yard's counter-terriorism team, said: "We welcome the guilty pleas entered by all nine defendants today, following what was the largest counter terrorism operation of 2010.

"The investigation was coordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, working in close partnership with the national CT network, Staffordshire, South Wales and Metropolitan Police, the Security Service and Crown Prosecution Service.

"Our priority is, and always will be, the protection of the public."

Bob Quick, the country's most senior anti-terrorism police officer until 2009, said it was an important case, with serious acts being planned.

"It serves to remind us that there are still people out there in the country that are prepared to contemplate, conspire and even perpetrate serious acts of terrorism."

The Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile, the government's former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the case showed the value of the new law that made preparing for terrorism a criminal offence.

But he added he was disappointed the control orders had been abandoned for "the wrong political reasons".

"They should have remained in place until at least after the Olympic Games. I hope we will not rue the abandonment of control orders particularly with the tool of re-locating people who are suspected of being terrorists away from their normal home environment," he said.

Read original post here: London Stock Exchange bomb plot admitted by four men

Indonesia: Arrested Atheist Faces New Possible Charges

2012-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Members of the Ateis Minang Facebook page have doubled since news broke of Alexander’s arrest, but the page is now half filled with other users attacking atheism.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Ulma Haryanto | January 31, 2012

The West Sumatran man facing five years in prison for blasphemy for questioning the existence of God may face additional charges, according to police.

Thirty-one-year-old Alexander Aan may also be charged with falsifying documents because he checked off Muslim when he applied for his civil servant position.

“He said he was an atheist, but when he applied for a job as civil servant he said he was Muslim,” Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz said on Tuesday.

Local online outlet Padang Ekspres also said that during Alexander’s interrogation, police officers forced him to pick one of the six state-approved religions, even though he insisted he was an atheist.

“I will consider picking one of the religions in Indonesia,” Alexander told Padang Ekspres. “Most likely I will choose Islam.”

Members of the Ateis Minang Facebook page have doubled since news broke of Alexander’s arrest, but the page is now half filled with other users attacking atheism. The post police used to charge Alexander was deleted by the page administrator.

International atheist organizations have openly stated their support for Alexander.

“The real crime here is the physical assault on Aan, not his expression of his personal beliefs,” International Humanist and Ethical Union representative Matt Cherry said in a statement, adding that the union had asked the United Nations to raise the case with Indonesian authorities.

“Alexander simply expressed his view that there is no God,” said Tanya Smith, president of Atheist Alliance International. “In contrast, his attackers assaulted a real person and must be brought to justice.”

Read original post here: Arrested Indonesian Atheist Faces New Possible Charges

India deadliest place in world for girl child

2012-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

"Such neglect and discrimination can be in three areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of the healthcare of the girl child is the most direct determinant of mortality."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Times of India | TNN
By Rukmini Shrinivasan | February 1, 2012

NEW DELHI: It's official - India is the most dangerous place in the world to be a baby girl. Newly released data shows that an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75% more likely to die than an Indian boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world.

Infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years) mortality are declining in India and across the world, though not as fast as was hoped in India. Simultaneously, most of the world is experiencing a faster fall in female infant and child mortality than in male, on account of well established biological factors which make girls better survivors of early infancy given equal access to resources. The world's two most populous countries, however, buck this trend.

Newly released United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ( UN-DESA) data for 150 countries over 40 years shows that India and China are the only two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male infant mortality in the 2000s.
In China, there are 76 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths compared with 122 male infant deaths for every 100 female infant deaths in the developing world as a whole.

The released data has found that India has a better infant mortality sex ratio than China, with 97 male infant deaths for every 100 female, but this is still not in tune with the global trend, or with its neighbours Sri Lanka (125) or Pakistan (120).

When it comes to the child mortality sex ratio, however, India is far and away the world's worst. In the 2000s, there were 56 male child deaths for every 100 female, compared with 111 in the developing world. This ratio has got progressively worse since the 1970s in India, even as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iraq improved.

The UN report is clear that high girl child mortality is explained by socio-cultural values. So strong is the biological advantage for girls in early childhood that higher mortality among girls should be seen as "a powerful warning that differential treatment or access to resources is putting girls at a disadvantage", the report says.

"Higher female mortality from age 1 onwards clearly indicated sustained discrimination," says P Arokiasamy, professor of development studies at Mumbai's International Institute for Population Studies, who has studied gender differentials in child mortality in India. "Such neglect and discrimination can be in three areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of the healthcare of the girl child is the most direct determinant of mortality," says Arokisamy. Studies have shown that health-related neglect may involve waiting longer before taking a sick girl to a doctor than a sick boy, and is also reflected in lower rates of immunization for girls than boys.

Moreover, since the outrage over India's poor child sex ratio came out of census data for children aged 0-6 years, the UN data on child mortality indicates that a campaign against female foeticide alone is not a complete solution. "Pre-natal and post-natal discrimination are complementarily contributing to gender imbalance," agrees Dr Arokiasamy. While pre-natal discrimination in the form of sex-selective abortions is more common among better educated upper income households, post-natal discrimination or neglect is more common among poorer, less educated rural households, he adds.

Read original post here: India deadliest place in world for girl child

UK / USA: Muslims Respond to Mosque Attack in Virginia

2012-02-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

“The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is based in 200 countries and wherever Ahmadi Muslims build mosques they are signs of peace, unity and inclusion. It is a real shame that our new mosque in Virginia has been attacked in this way."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: AMJ - International
By Staff reporter | February 1, 2012

Attack on the new Mosque will not deter Ahmadi Muslims from completing the Mubarak Mosque.

LONDON, 1 February 2012. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat through a press release condemned the vandalism committed on their new Mubarak Mosque in Chantilly, Virginia, USA.

The attack took place on 29th January 2012 and was widely reported in the US media.

In this senseless act, according to the press release, vandals destroyed nearly every window on the first floor of the new construction, causing an estimated $60,000 worth of damage.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat hopes, says the press release, that this remains an isolated incident.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is the oldest Muslim organisation in the United States and has spent decades presenting 'the true and peaceful message of Islam to the American public.'

The community has thousands of members spread across the United States who were recently highlighted throughout the US and international media for "propagating a message of peace, tolerance and loyalty.'

Dr Ahsan Zafar, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the USA said the community will persevere.

“As Muslims who believe in the Promised Messiah, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, we are a tolerant and patient people and we will continue with our work while the police will do their job," said Dr Zafar. "This Mosque will be a source of education, peace, love and understanding. And we will not let isolated cases of intolerance get in the way.”

The international press secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan, in London, said the Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques are a symbol of peace everywhere.

“The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is based in 200 countries and wherever Ahmadi Muslims build mosques they are signs of peace, unity and inclusion," said Khan "It is a real shame that our new mosque in Virginia has been attacked in this way."

"We believe that all places of worship, regardless of religion, should be respected,” Khan further added.

The press release says the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is grateful for the outpouring of support for the Mosque from the vast majority of the surrounding community.

"Such expressions of support will further the common goal of fostering a tolerant and peaceful society," the press release read.

-- Muslims Respond to Mosque Attack in Virginia, USA
-- Ahmadiyya Times.
-- Edited by Imran Jattala

Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws

2012-02-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

Along with their misuse as a weapon against minorities, the blasphemy laws are used by Muslims against Muslims to settle personal scores or grab property. With growing polarisation in society, accusations of blasphemy are also being made to persecute followers of ‘rival’ schools of thought within Islam.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Dawn | Pakistan
Dawn Editorial | January 31, 2012 |

THE list of those charged or accused under the country’s questionable blasphemy laws — that too on the flimsiest of pretexts — is far too long. Soofi Mohammad Ishaq, sentenced to death by a judge in Jhelum on Monday in a blasphemy case, is another addition to this unenviable list. As reported, Mr Ishaq, a cleric settled in the US, returned to Talagang, Punjab in 2009. The custodian of a shrine, he received a rousing reception from his followers. However, some people apparently felt that his disciples were overzealous in their adulation and considered ‘bowing’ before the cleric ‘blasphemous’. At this point, we cannot but wonder whether the accusation of blasphemy was driven by ulterior motives, as is usually the case.

Reportedly, the man who made the complaint against Mr Ishaq was unhappy with the fact that he had been granted custodianship of the shrine. The background of this case is suspect. What is also cause for concern is that the judge who first heard the case in Chakwal felt he could not announce the verdict due to ‘security risks’, hence the case was transferred to Jhelum. The matter must be thoroughly probed.

Along with their misuse as a weapon against minorities, the blasphemy laws are used by Muslims against Muslims to settle personal scores or grab property. With growing polarisation in society, accusations of blasphemy are also being made to persecute followers of ‘rival’ schools of thought within Islam. Criticism of these laws, even mere talk of reforming them let alone their repeal, invites emotional responses, violence or even death. Not only do we oppose the death penalty, we also feel that laws such as these — which are open to abuse and have brought much opprobrium to Pakistan domestically as well as internationally — at the least need to have iron-clad legal provisos that prevent their misuse.

Read original post here: Blasphemy laws

Pakistan: Ahmadiyya "Ewan-e-Tauheed" mosque under threat of demolition - Report

2012-02-01T08:00:00.001-08:00

“According to the Constitution of Pakistan, we have a right to worship and profess our religion. We are not allowed to construct new mosques and now we are being threatened not to worship as well."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Dawn | Ahmadiyya Jama'at
By Staff Reporter | February 1, 2012

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan's English news daily, Dawn.com reports that 'Ewan-e-Tauheed', which is the main place for Ahmadis to offer prayers in Rawalpindi, is under the threat of demolition because of the recent propaganda against Ahmadis and their religious practices.

While speaking to Dawn.com, the Ahmadiyya representative of Ewan-e-Tauheed said: “ The conspiracy started in the May of 2011, however the situation deteriorated in September and we were asked to pack up and leave the town as it was a ‘residential area’ where a place like ‘a site to worship’ could not operate.”

According to Ahmadiyya Times reports last week, a large rally was organised on January 29, 2012 which was attended by various religious clerics joined by several political leaders from Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) group, the party that currently controls the Punjab government.

During the rally, a deadline of one month was given to the administration of Ewan-e-Tauheed, to wind up their activities, it was reported.

“One of the people who presided from the session said that we will not let Ahmadis pray on the next Friday. Closing down Ewan-e-Tauheed will be a huge victory for us and will be another step closer to extraditing them from Pakistan,” Dawn quoted the Ahmadiyya representative as saying in their report.

Many Ahmadis have been in contact with the Punjab and Federal government, which, according to Ahmadiyya representative, motivated the Punjab government to instruct the local law enforcing bodies to stay active and protect the site and the worshipers.

So far the Ahmadis have not received any particular targeted threats, according to the Ahmadiyya Representative and Dawn.com report.

"...however, we know through sources that the perpetrators plan to demolish this site like 30 others which have been demolished in the past,” he added.

The Constitution of Pakistan dictates Ahmadis have a right to worship and profess their religion. However, they are not being allowed to construct new mosques and now they are being threatened not to worship as well.

The community is under attack in Pakistan and there are known security threats to community members from extremists.

"Yet innocent and peaceful Ahmadis are not even allowed to defend or protect themselves," Ahmadiyya community said.

“...this open campaign against the community centre is a plan to deprive the community’s peaceful members of their right to pray and gather," said the Ahmadiyya community in a press release.

“We can compromise on the right of self-defence but never compromise on the right of prayer in front of Allah," the press release further stated.

"We request the government and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to look into the matter and help us," said the Ahmadi representative. "...the situation [may] blow out of proportion as has happened in the past.”

-- Dawn story was reported by Faiza Mirza.

Read original Dawn post here: Ewan-e-Tauheed under threat of demolition: Source

USA: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque in Chantilly Vandalized

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

There was no evidence that the vandals entered the building, according to Fairfax County Police, but there was significant damage to the outside of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque,

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: CBS News | Washington
By CBS/DC Matt DelSignore | January 31, 2012

CHANTILLY, Va. (CBSDC) A mosque under construction in Chantilly was damaged by vandals Sunday night just , weeks before it was set to open.

There was no evidence that the vandals entered the building, according to Fairfax County Police, but there was significant damage to the outside of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque, as windows were smashed and rocks were thrown.

Police also said many alcohol containers were found at the scene. The damages are estimated to be between $60,000 and $80,000.

Although detectives and bloodhounds spent seven hours at the scene Monday, there is no word of any suspects yet, WNEW’s Matt DelSignore reported.

Nearby neighbors had complained about the project, but police are not calling this a hate crime, Delsignore reported.

Read original post here: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque in Chantilly Vandalized

The Gambia: Abubacarr Kunda Wins Tahir Ahmadiyya Senior School Inter-House

2012-02-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

"We are trying to make Tahir Senior Secondary School one of the best senior schools in terms of academic and social activities including sports."

File photo: Ahmadiyya secondary school.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | West Africa Desk
Source/Credit: The Daily Observer (Banjul) | All Africa
By Alieu Ceesay | 30 January 2012

Basse, URR — Tahir Ahmadiyya Senior Secondary School in Mansakonko, Lower River Region last Thursday held its annual inter-house athletics competition at the school's playing ground in Mansakonko.

Attended by thousands of spectators, including security heads, students, and locals from the surrounding communities, the event saw Abubacarr Kunda emerge winners with 335 points, Ali Kunda came second position with 322 points , Ousman Kunda took third position with 312 points, while Omar Kunda came last with 260 points.

Speaking to this reporter shortly after the pronouncement of the results; Abubacarr Nyabally, principal of the school first paid homage to the Almighty God who made it possible for them to organise their annual inter-house.
He thanked all those who came to witness the event and all those who in one way or the other contributed in making it a success. He thanked the athletes for their wonderful performance and their coaches for a good work. According to him, there was no loser, as they were trying to identify athletes that can represent the school at national level.

Nyabally also disclosed that the best athletes are now awarded a one-year scholarship package by the school or benevolent people in the society, something that he said will go a long way in promoting sports at the school. He urged the students to take sports seriously, noting that not all are academically good. "We are trying to make Tahir Senior Secondary School one of the best senior schools in terms of academic and social activities including sports," he added.

Read original post here: Abubacarr Kunda Wins Tahir Ahmadiyya Senior School Inter-House

UK: Holy Quran Exhibition at Dewsbury Town Hall a success; Some take issue with Dewsbury Reporter inaccuracies

2012-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

For the record, reminds Dr Nazir, it was only one country, Pakistan, which through an amendment to its constitution declared Ahmadis 'non-Muslim for the purposes of the law.'

File photo: Ahmadiyya Quran Exhibition held in India

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times / Various
By Imran Jattala | January 31, 2012

The Holy Quran exhibition by the Spen Valley branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association (AMA) concluded successfully at Dewsbury Town Hall with opponents passing out leaflets renouncing AMA's right to organize such an exhibition.

"A row has broken out over an exhibition about the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an," a newspaper had reported on Monday.

According to Dewsbury Reporter’s piece entitled "Muslim group hits out at Qur’an exhibition organizers", an anti-Ahmadiyya Muslim faction has accused the organizers of “hijacking the Muslim identity.”

The event, organized by the Ahmadi Muslim community, was held at Dewsbury Town Hall on Tuesday.

But members of Kirklees Muslim Action Committee, according to Dewsbury Reporter, said the Ahmadiyya community had no right to organize an exhibition about the Holy Qur’an, accusing they were not Muslims.

Further, according to Dewsbury Reporter, Dr Abid Hussain of Kirklees Muslim Action Committee said they "object strongly to the fact that a small minority are telling people about the Holy Qur’an when they are not even Muslims.”

The members of the Ahmadiyya community say they consider themselves to be Muslims and have every right to organize the exhibition.

Arif Ahmad, vice president of the Spen Valley branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in north Kirklees area said, according to Dewsbury Reporter, “There are doctrinal differences between different groups but we believe ourselves to be Muslims."

“We believe the Holy Qur’an is our holy book and we hope to show it to the public,” Arif Ahmad was further quoted as saying.

The Ahmadi Muslims originally planned the Holy Quran exhibition in December, but postponed it on the account of threats of possible violence and police advice, it was reported at the time.

“There were actually threats and information that there might be problems with other Muslim groups,” Mr Ahmad told Dewsbury Reporter.

The Huddersfield branch of the Ahmadiyya group had an exhibition at Huddersfield Town Hall last Saturday, where protesters from the Muslim Action Committee were present, but peaceful, it was reported.

Despite the reports of several threats made in December by some extremist factions, Dr Hussain this time claimed to Dewsbury Reporter that "his group’s members would have been equally peaceful at the Dewsbury event that was postponed in December."

According to a police spokesman, officers worked with the council, the Kirklees Imams Advisory Board and local people to police the event.

The report by Dewsbury Reporter contained some inaccuracies, it was expressed by several readers who pronounce to be Ahmadiyya Muslims.

The statement, "In 1974 members of the Ahmadiyya sect were declared to be non-Muslims by the World Muslim League," asserted in Dewsbury Reporter is inaccurate, Ahmadiyya Times was informed.

Dr Basharat Nazir, national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya community in the UK took issue from several angels with the Dewsbury Reporter assertions.

"What exactly did the ‘World Muslim League’ do?" Dr Nazir asked pointedly underlining the fact that there is no such body of any international repute or standing known as "the World Muslim League" that declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974.

However, there has always been, says Dr Nazir, "some kind of loose recommendation" by various Muslim factions asking for a “resolution declaring us non-Muslims.”

But, that would hardly account for a global action by some fictitious 'World Muslim League," Dr Nazir says.

Dewsbury Reporter further stated erroneously that Ahmadis “are not recognized as Muslims in several countries’ constitutions.”

Dr Nazir again takes issue with the inaccuracy of the statement.

For the record, reminds Dr Nazir, it was only one country, Pakistan, which through an amendment to its constitution declared Ahmadis 'non-Muslim for the purposes of the law.'

“How could one country, Pakistan [or its constitution], mathematically add up to ‘several countries’ constitutions,’ as the Dewsbury Reporter has asserted,” Dr Nazir asked.

There was no shortage of readers taking offense to the Kirklees Muslim Action Committee’s effort to stop Ahmadis from organizing the Holy Qur'ān exhibition.

“I think that the comments from the Kirklees Imams makes all Muslims look intolerant and backwards,” wrote Bilal, an Ahmadiyya Times reader. “If someone wants to promote the beautiful Qur'an, then we should be happy and help them.”

Bilal says so long as people are not insulting the Holy Quran, “we should be happy someone wants to promote the Qur'an.”

“As a Muslim, it gives me great pleasure to see the Qur'an glorified and it does not bother me who it is who is glorifying it,” Bilal wrote.

There were many who commented about the drama created by the extremists trying to stop the Ahmadī Qur'ān exhibition.

“Only a bigoted person who hates Quran and Islam will oppose an exhibition that is glorifying Qur'ān,” someone commented at Ahmadiyya Times’ website.

“The reporter's information is obviously erroneous and proves lack of editorial oversight,” one reader opined about the inaccurate facts reporting by Dewsbury Reporter.

-- Portions edited and adopted from Dewsbury Reporter.

Read original Dewsbury Reporter post here: Muslim group hits out at Qur’an exhibition organisers

Pakistan: Protesters calls for the closure of Ahmadi community mosque

2012-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Anonymous banners were pasted across Rawalpindi over the past few days, demanding that the Ahmadi community should leave the Satellite Town area. The banners said the activities of the Ahmadis went against Pakistan''s Constitution...

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: MSN | Press Trust of India
By PTI | January 30, 2011

Islamabad: (PTI) Thousands of people, including members of extremist groups, joined a protest against Ahmadis in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi today and called for the closure of a mosque of the minority community.

The protesters claimed the Ahmadi community had illegally established the mosque.

The protest, organised by the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, was held in Satellite Town near Holy Family Hospital.

The protesters claimed the "Ewane Tauheed" of the Ahmadis was located in a residential area and had been built without official permission.

Leaders of local traders'' associations and the JuD addressed the gathering.

Members of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba militant group joined the protest.

The banned Lashkar-e-Taiba too had extended support to the protest, media reports said.

Traders and clerics who addressed the gathering openly called for "aggression" against the Ahmadis, witnesses said.

Ghafoor Paracha, a leader of a traders'' association, warned Ahmadis that they would have to face the consequences if they did not remain within their limits.

However, leaders of the Ahmadi community have said the mosque was built after the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, a registered organisation, purchased the land and obtained all the required permits from local authorities.

Protests against the mosque have created tension among the Ahmadi community, which has been targeted in a string of terrorist attacks in recent years.

Anonymous banners were pasted across Rawalpindi over the past few days, demanding that the Ahmadi community should leave the Satellite Town area.

The banners said the activities of the Ahmadis went against Pakistan''s Constitution, which declares that members of the community are non-Muslims.

Read original post here: Protesters calls for the closure of Ahmadi community mosque

Israel: High Court Rulings Undermine Human Rights

2012-01-31T15:00:00.000-08:00

The law violates Israel’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which applies not only to race but also to national or ethnic origin and among enumerated rights protects “the right to marriage and choice of spouse.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Human Rights Watch
By HRW | January 30, 2012

Recent Decisions Uphold Discrimination, Exploitation of Occupied Territory

(Jerusalem) – Recent decisions by Israel’s high court aim to legitimize clear violations of Israel’s international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. In one decision, the court disregarded international law prohibiting discrimination, and in another, it ignored international law on the use of resources in an occupied territory. Israel should annul a law preventing Israeli citizens from living with their Palestinian spouses and end policies that permit private Israeli companies to strip rocks and other construction materials from quarries in the occupied West Bank for their own economic gain.

“With these rulings, Israel’s highest court has veered seriously off course in serving as a final bastion for upholding human rights,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “For the system of legal checks against rights abuses to break down like this is one more indication of the unraveling of protections for rights and freedom in Israel.”

The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law

On January 11, 2012, the court upheld the constitutionality of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which bans the entry of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and any “area in which operations that constitute a threat to the State of Israel are being carried out” for the purpose of family unification with their Israeli spouses.

The law primarily affects Palestinian citizens of Israel and their Palestinian spouses, who are prohibited from living together in Israel. About 20 percent of Israel’s citizens are of Palestinian Arab origin, and many have married Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel’s Interior Ministry first banned family unification between Israeli citizens and Palestinians in 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising; the Knesset enacted the policy into law in 2003, and amended it in 2005 and 2007.

The petitioners said the law violates the right to family life and personal autonomy, and discriminates on the basis of nationality. Adalah noted that, by contrast, Jewish foreigners can gain Israeli citizenship automatically under the Law of Return (1950), and non-Jewish foreigners who marry Jewish citizens can obtain Israeli residency or citizenship status over a four-year period, such that the law creates classifications based on national background.

The ruling upheld the blanket ban on the basis that Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens were potential security risks because some had carried out attacks on Israeli civilians. The majority of justices held that Israeli citizens had the right to family life, but that this right does not have to be realized in Israel.

From 2001 to 2010, the ruling said, 54 Palestinians who had received residency status in Israel or whose parents received such status were “involved in terrorist activities,” but the state did not provide specific information about these cases or whether any of those “involved” in such activities had been indicted or convicted of any crime. During hearings on the case in 2011, the state acknowledged that since 2001, only seven Palestinians who received residency status had been convicted and sentenced for security crimes, of whom two had already been released from prison. According to the ruling, about 135,000 Palestinians were granted Israeli citizenship or permitted temporarily to enter Israel on the basis of marriage to Israelis between 1994 and 2002.

The sweeping ban, which prevents all Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza, and “enemy countries” from living with their Israeli spouses in Israel, without any individual assessments of whether the person in question could threaten security, is unjustified, Human Rights Watch said, and imposes severely disproportionate harm on the right of Palestinians and Israeli citizens to live with their families. As measured by its effects on Palestinian citizens of Israel as opposed to Jewish citizens, the law is also discriminatory, given the difference in treatment and impact on those citizens, and the lack of justification for such a blanket prohibition.Justices in the minority argued that the law should have required individual examinations of whether an applicant’s Palestinian spouse posed a security threat and that the right to a family life includes both the right to marry a foreigner and to live with the foreign spouse in Israel.

Under the law, Israel’s interior minister may grant exemptions for Palestinian men older than 35 and women older than 25, to work in Israel, or for humanitarian reasons, if they are from the West Bank, but Palestinians from Gaza or “enemy states” are not eligible for the exemptions. The law states, however, that the fact that an Israeli citizen is separated from “his or her spouse, or that the couple have children, shall not, of itself, constitute a special humanitarian reason.” Since 2005, some 4,118 Palestinians were granted residency in Israel under the law’s exemptions, including 33 on humanitarian grounds.

The High Court had upheld the law in 2006, in a split 6-5 decision. Justices in the minority had argued that the law conflated security issues with demographic concerns about maintaining Israel’s Jewish majority. One justice noted that the law was based on a government decision (no. 1813) from 2003, which provided that the government would examine “possibilities of determining quotas for giving approvals for family reunifications.” Since quotas have “no connection with security considerations,” he wrote, this aspect of the decision appeared to be “based merely on demographic considerations.” Another justice in the 2006 ruling noted that “the demographic issue” dominated some parliamentary discussions about amending the law in 2005. The Chairman of the Knesset, for instance, “warned against family reunifications as a mechanism that was designed to implement de facto a right of return.”

The law violates Israel’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which applies not only to race but also to national or ethnic origin and among enumerated rights protects “the right to marriage and choice of spouse.” In 2007, the committee that monitors compliance with the convention urged Israel to revoke the law because of its “disproportionate impact on Arab Israeli citizens wishing to be reunited with their families in Israel,” and noted that restrictions “targeting a particular national or ethnic group” are in violation of “the obligation … to guarantee to everyone equality before the law.” The Committee recommended that Israel “reconsider its policy with a view to facilitating family reunification on a non-discriminatory basis,” and “ensure that restrictions on family reunification are strictly necessary and limited in scope, and are not applied on the basis of nationality, residency or membership of a particular community.”

“The court should never have approved a law that treats the desire of Palestinians to marry Israelis and live with their families in Israel as if it were automatically a security threat,” Whitson said.

Israeli-Owned Quarries in the West Bank

On December 26, 2011, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition to stop the operations of Israeli-owned quarries in the West Bank on the basis that they violated Israel’s obligations as an occupying power. Israeli companies currently operate eight quarries for construction materials, all of which opened after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. They export around 94 percent of their production to Israel with no compensation to the occupied population for this natural resource.

The Hague Regulations of 1907, which set out basic international rules for military occupations, require an occupying power to “safeguard the capital” of state land and buildings in the occupied territory and administer them only for the needs of the occupied population or as necessary for the occupying army.

The ruling, by Chief Justice Dorit Beinish, held that an occupier may lawfully make “reasonable use” of state-owned natural resources in the occupied territory if it did not wastefully deplete or exhaust them. However, the court ignored the legal prohibition on any exploitation of resources, wasteful or not, for the occupying power’s economic gain rather than its military needs or the benefit of the occupied population, Human Rights Watch said. As Yesh Din’s petition noted, the profits from the quarries benefit the Israeli economy, not the Palestinian economy, because Israel granted the quarrying concessions without tender to Israeli companies, rather than Palestinian companies.

The court ruled that the “unique circumstances” of Israel’s “prolonged occupation” of the West Bank “requires the adjustment of the laws of occupation,” although it stated this should be ostensibly for the benefit of the occupied population. Israel’s operation of quarries, the court said, helped prevent both the degradation of quarrying infrastructure and the stagnation of the local economy, because the Israeli companies that operate the quarries employ around 200 Palestinian workers. However, the fact that an occupier pays members of the occupied population to help it remove and profit from natural resources cannot under any reasonable interpretation of the law of occupation be considered as “safeguarding the natural resources” of the occupied territory, Human Rights Watch said.

In addition to permitting the exploitation of natural resources in an occupied territory for the economic benefit of the occupying power, the court’s presentation of the facts of the case concerning the supposed benefit to the Palestinian population at times stretched credulity, Human Rights Watch said. The quarries pay royalties and leasing fees to the Civil Administration, the Israeli military’s administrative authority in the West Bank. The court characterized the Civil Administration as operating “for the benefit of residents of the Area [the West Bank],”contrary to the findings of Human Rights Watch and others that the Civil Administration’s policies and practices consistently harm Palestinians while benefiting settlers. For instance, in 2011 the Civil Administration demolished a record number of Palestinian homes, forcibly displacing around 500 people, according to the United Nations, while Israeli settlers in the same area began building 1,850 new homes, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now.

The court also cited procedural reasons for dismissing the petition, including that the issue was a “political” matter outside its jurisdiction. The 1995 Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the ruling said, allowed for Israel’s continued operation of West Bank quarries during an interim period, after which they were to be transferred to Palestinian control. However, local agreements such as the Oslo accords, which were due to expire in 1999, do not justify Israeli acts that violate international law, Human Rights Watch said. The Geneva Conventions state that residents of occupied territory cannot consent to waive their rights.

In January, Yesh Din filed an extraordinary petition for the court’s 11 justices to reconsider the decision by a three-member panel, on the basis that the judgment relied on errors of fact and law.

“Adding to the litany of abuses by Israel in its occupation in the West Bank, we now have an affirmation of plunder by Israeli companies by none other than Israel’s high court,” Whitson said. “It is not for this court or any domestic court to disregard the rules that have governed occupations for over a century.”

Read original post here: Israel: High Court Rulings Undermine Human Rights

Pakistan: Cleric sentenced to death in bizarre blasphemy case

2012-01-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Dawn | Pakistan
By Nabeel Anwar Dhakku | January 31, 2012

CHAKWAL: A ‘blasphemy’ accused was sentenced to death and also to 10 years’ imprisonment on Monday, sources told Dawn.

Soofi Mohammad Ishaq of Talagang town had been facing the charge since 2009.

On Monday, an Additional Sessions Judge of Jhelum sentenced him to death and 10 years’ imprisonment and fined him Rs200,000.

Soofi Mohammad Ishaq was settled in United States where he worked as a cleric. He returned to Talagang in 2009 and was given a warm welcome by hundreds of his disciples. His followers also kissed his feet, but some people objected to the act of “bowing down before Ishaq” and later accused his followers of branding him a prophet.

Later, Ishaq’s rivals launched a campaign against him and a young man named Asadullah, allegedly at the behest of his Deobandi mentors, lodged a complaint at the Talagang police station. He accused Ishaq of committing blasphemy.

Police booked Ishaq under sections 295A and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code and his case was heard by Chakwal’s Additional Sessions Judge Sajid Awan.

After completion of hearing, the judge set a date for announcing the judgment, but later he wrote a letter to the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, informing it that he could not announce the verdict because of security risks. “Judge Sajid Awan pleaded to the LHC that as he is deputed in Chakwal, he cannot announce the verdict because of security risks and, therefore, the case should be referred to another district,” said Advocate Chaudhry Mehmood Akhtar, the counsel of the accused.

The LHC referred the case to Jhelum’s district and sessions judge, who marked the case to his subordinate Additional Sessions Judge Chaudhry Mumtaz Hussain, who announced the verdict on Friday.

Informed sources told Dawn that Soofi Ishaq had been appointed Gaddi Nasheen of the shrine of Pir Fazal Shah. This, according to sources, infuriated complainant Asadullah, who belonged to Pir Fazal Shah’s family, and he used the opportunity to register the blasphemy case against Ishaq.

“My client pleaded to the court that he cannot even think of committing blasphemy.” He told the court that he believed that the holy prophet (peace be upon him) was the last Messnger of Allah,” Advocate Chaudhry Akhtar Mehmood said.

When contacted by Dawn, Asadullah claimed to have seen followers of Ishaq bowing their heads before him and heard them chanting slogans of “Yaa Rasool Allah”. When asked why other religious leaders did not move against Ishaq, he said: “I was the first to see the way Ishaq’s followers behaved and I recorded it on my camera. And Allah has given me the courage to move against the blasphemer.”

Read original post here: Cleric sentenced to death in blasphemy case

Saudi Arabia: Christians Arrested at Private Prayer

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Arab Charter of Human Rights, to which Saudi Arabia is a state party, guarantees “[t]he freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs or to perform religious observances, either alone or in community with others,” and prohibits “arbitrary arrest.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Human Rights Watch
By HRW | January 30, 2012

Ethiopian Women Subjected to Unwarranted Strip Search

(Beirut) – Thirty five Ethiopian Christians are awaiting deportation from Saudi Arabia for “illicit mingling,” after police arrested them when they raided a private prayer gathering in Jeddah in mid-December, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Of those arrested, 29 were women. They were subjected to arbitrary body cavity searches in custody, three of the Ethiopians told Human Rights Watch.

The Ethiopians gathered to pray together on December 15, during the advent of Christmas, in the private home of one of the Ethiopians, when police burst in and arrested them, three jailed members of the group, two women and one man, told Human Rights Watch.

“While King Abdullah sets up an international interfaith dialogue center, his police are trampling on the rights of believers of others faiths,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch. “The Saudi government needs to change its own intolerant ways before it can promote religious dialogue abroad.”

In October, Saudi Arabia, together with Austria and Spain, founded the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, located in Vienna, and funded by Saudi Arabia.

The Ethiopian men spent two days at al-Nuzha police station in Jeddah, after which the police transferred them to Buraiman prison. The women had already been transferred to Buraiman prison. Two of the women said that officials there forced the women to strip, and then an officer inserted her finger into each of the women’s genitals, under the pretext of searching for illegal substances hidden inside their bodies. She wore a plastic glove that she did not change, the women told Human Rights Watch. Officers also kicked and beat the men in Buraiman prison, and insulted them as “unbelievers,” the jailed Ethiopian man said.

Both men and women complained of inadequate medical care and unsanitary conditions at Buraiman prison. There were too few toilets, they said. In the men’s wing, six of twelve toilets were reserved for Saudi inmates, while hundreds of foreign inmates were forced to share the remaining six toilets. One female detainee said she suffers from diabetes and was given an injection in the prison clinic that caused swelling, and has received no further medical attention.

The Ethiopians, speaking via telephone from prison, said that about 10 days after being arrested, some in the group were taken to court, where they were forced to affix their fingerprints to a document without being allowed to read it. Officials told the group that they were being charged with “illicit mingling” of unmarried persons of the opposite sex. Some of the Ethiopians have been living in the kingdom for 16 years, while others are newer arrivals. Some of the women and men did not have valid residency papers, but all faced deportation, including those with valid papers, the jailed Ethiopian man said.

In July 2006, the Saudi government promised that it would stop interfering with private worship by non-Muslims. In a “Confirmation of Policies,” a written document the Saudi government sent to the US government, Saudi Arabia said it would “guarantee and protect the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice,” and “ensure that members of the [religious police] do not detain or conduct investigations of suspects, implement punishment, [or] violate the sanctity of private homes.” In this document, the government also said it would investigate any infringements of these policies. Public worship of any religion other than Islam remains prohibited in the kingdom.

“Saudi authorities have broken their promises to respect other faiths,” Wilcke said. “Men and women of other faiths have nowhere to worship in Saudi Arabia if even their private homes are no longer safe.”

The Arab Charter of Human Rights, to which Saudi Arabia is a state party, guarantees “[t]he freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs or to perform religious observances, either alone or in community with others,” and prohibits “arbitrary arrest.”

Saudi Arabia has no codified criminal law or other law that defines “illicit mingling.” In 2006, Shaikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith, the president of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police, told Human Rights Watch in an interview in Riyadh, “Mingling of the sexes is prohibited in public, and permitted in private unless it is for the purpose of corruption.”

Human Rights Watch called on the Saudi authorities to release the 35 Ethiopian men and women immediately if there is no evidence to charge them with offenses that are recognizably criminal under international norms. Saudi authorities should also investigate their allegations of physical and sexual abuse and, if warranted, compensate them for arbitrary arrest and any mistreatment they endured, and to hold accountable any officials found to be responsible for these acts.

Human Rights Watch also called on the authorities to allow members of the group who fear persecution in Ethiopia to lodge asylum claims with the UN Refugee Agency.

Read original post here: Saudi Arabia: Christians Arrested at Private Prayer

Pakistan: Christians decry no justice for minorities

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

We respect the Constitution of Pakistan and the laws of the land and we believe that the parliament is a supreme institution. But here, justice from our experience, seems selective and is not there for those who belong to minority communities.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Amin Khokhar | January 30, 2012

LAHORE: Article 295 of the Constitution quite clearly says: “Whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction damage or defilement as an insult to their religion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both”.

On August 11, 1947, the Founder of Pakistan addressed its Constituent Assembly and said in his speech the following: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State”.

The Constitution of Pakistan provides for fundamental rights. It is clearly written in article 25(1) of the Constitution: “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”.

We belong to the Christian community of Pakistan — and we make up around 1.5 per cent of the population of our beloved homeland. When she was prime minister, Benazir Bhutto tried to change the blasphemy law because it was being used to terrorise religious minorities, but she couldn’t succeed. She was able to make the existing law more moderate but those changes were reversed by the government of Nawaz Sharif who came after her.

We have no confidence in the present PML-N government in Punjab. The government has not done anything even as a Church-owned site has been bulldozed in Garhi Shahu in Lahore and homes for the poor, elderly and homeless, and a school for poor girls razed to the ground.

We respect the Constitution of Pakistan and the laws of the land and we believe that the parliament is a supreme institution. But here, justice from our experience, seems selective and is not there for those who belong to minority communities.

We want fair and equal justice.

Amin Khokhar is president of Pakistan Masih League.

Read original post here: No justice for minorities

UK: Extremist group unhappy about Ahmadiyya Muslims Qur’an exhibitions

2012-01-31T04:00:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, the Huddersfield branch of the Ahmadiyya group had an exhibition at Huddersfield Town Hall. Protesters from the Muslim Action Committee were present, but peaceful.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Dewsbury Reporter
By Dewsbury Reporter | January 31, 2012

Muslim group hits out at Qur’an exhibition organisers

A ROW has broken out over an exhibition about the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an.

A Muslim group has accused the exhibition’s organisers of ‘hijacking the Muslim identity’.

The event organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association is being held at Dewsbury Town Hall tomorrow.

But members of Kirklees Muslim Action Committee said the group had no right to put on an exhibition about the Qur’an, saying they were non-Muslims.

Committee member Dr Abid Hussain said: “We object strongly to the fact that a small minority are telling people about the Holy Qur’an when they are not even Muslims.”

But the Ahmadiyya group argues that it is entitled to organise the exhibition, as they consider themselves to be Muslims.

Arif Ahmad, vice president of the Spen Valley branch which covers north Kirklees said: “There are doctrinal differences between different groups but we believe ourselves to be Muslims.

“We believe the Holy Qur’an is our holy book and we hope to show it to the public.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association originally planned to hold its exhibition in December, but postponed it on police advice.

Mr Ahmad said: “There were actually threats and information that there might be problems with other Muslim groups.”

Last Saturday, the Huddersfield branch of the Ahmadiyya group had an exhibition at Huddersfield Town Hall. Protesters from the Muslim Action Committee were present, but peaceful.

Dr Hussain said his group’s members would have been equally peaceful at the Dewsbury event that was postponed in December.

He added: “Our response in Huddersfield was completely peaceful.

“We took measures to ensure that there would not be any trouble and we would have done the same in Dewsbury.”

He said the group was considering its response to the event taking place tomorrow.

Criticism of the Ahmadiyya group is based on their belief that their founder is a prophet – a view not shared by other Muslims.

In 1974 members of the Ahmadiyya sect were declared to be non-Muslims by the World Muslim League and are not recognised as Muslims in several countries’ constitutions.

[Ahmadiyya Times Note: There is no such organization of any international repute or standing known as "the World Muslim League" that declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. The statement is faulty and theresearch was insufficient to prepare this piece. In fact, it a country, the country of Pakistan, which through an amendment to its constitution declared Ahmadis 'non-Muslim for the purposes of the law.' The reporter's information is obviously erroneous.]

A police spokesman said officers were working with the council, the Kirklees Imams Advisory Board and local people to police tomorrow’s event and ensure daily life could go on as usual.

Read original post here: Muslim group hits out at Qur’an exhibition organisers

UK: Ahmadiyya Muslim Qu'ran exhibition may be picketed by extremists

2012-01-31T02:00:00.000-08:00

“Islam is often misrepresented and unfortunately there have been occasions where the Qur’an has been burned. People may not agree with the teachings of Islam, but at least they will be able to know what it really stands for.”

Ahmadiyya Qura'n exhibitions are held worldwide

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: The Press News | UK
By The Press News | January 31, 2012

Qu'ran exhibition picket protest...

A PICKET may be held outside Dewsbury Town Hall when an exhibition about the Qu’ran is held.

The display, by the Spen Valley branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Associat-ion (AMA), was put on hold last month over fears other Muslims would protest.

It was originally due to be held on Saturday December 3 but safety concerns, which have now been resolved by police, led to the postponement.

The AMA, which has members across the district, claims to be the oldest established Muslim community in the country and is dedicated to promoting peace and respect.

Ahmadiyya Muslims have differing beliefs on Islamic prophets to other sects, who don't believe them to be 'true' Muslims and sometimes protest against their activities.

The exhibition runs from 12noon tomorrow at the town hall and it is believed that members of the Kirklees Imams Mosque Advisory board (KIMAB) may be involved in a picket outside.

Police will be on duty, though an AMA exhibition in Huddersfield passed off without incident last weekend.

A Kirklees Police spokesman said: “We are aware that a small protest may take place by KIMAB, but this will be more of a picket line.”

He added officers were stressing to traders and shoppers that it would be ‘business as usual’ in Dewsbury town centre.

Inside, visitors to the exhibition will be able to talk with AMA members about the Qu’ran and the Islamic faith over refreshments.

AMA Spen Valley branch vice-chairman Arif Ahmad said the display was about explaining to people what the Qu’ran is actually about.

He said everyone is welcome to attend and added: “We invite people to come to the event and see for themselves what really is in the Holy Qur’an.

“Islam is often misrepresented and unfortunately there have been occasions where the Qur’an has been burned.

“People may not agree with the teachings of Islam, but at least they will be able to know what it really stands for.”

Read original post here: Qu'ran exhibition picket protest...

Pakistan: Worship site row | Large protest against Ahmedis in Rawalpindi

2012-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Arranged by trading associations, the protest was attended by activists from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jamat-e-Islami, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Ahl-e-Sunnat Jammat. The protest was headed by Sharjeel Mir and Shahid Gafoor Paracha. Over 5,000 people attended the rally.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Mudassir Raja | January 30, 2012

RAWALPINDI: A large number of local activists from different religious parties gathered near a local hospital to urge the government to stop what they called the ‘unconstitutional activities’ of Ahmedis in Rawalpindi.

Arranged by trading associations, the protest was attended by activists from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Jamat-e-Islami, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Ahl-e-Sunnat Jammat. The protest was headed by Sharjeel Mir and Shahid Gafoor Paracha. Over 5,000 people attended the rally.

Those who spoke at the gathering urged Ahmedis to stop their religious activities, which include preaching and worshipping in the area.

The participants, carrying flags of different religious parties – including banned outfits – and also portraits of Mumtaz Qadri, the convicted killer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, chanted slogans against Ahmedis.

The protestors, in no uncertain terms, urged the city administration to stop the activities of the minority community. “The Ahmedis, a few years ago, purchased the building E-69 in Satellite Town and set up a place of worship besides carrying out preaching in residential areas, creating problems for their neighbours”, said Sharjeel Mir.

Mir added that they did not object to any community living in the area, but would not tolerate the place of worship in the locality. Ahmedis have erected barriers and posted private guards on the main road adjoining the hospital for their safety, Mir said.

The businessman said that Ahmedis had raised high walls around their building and installed security cameras, in addition to posting snipers at the rooftop. The building does not even look like a religious place, according to Mir, who says it is more like a fortress, creating problems for the neighbours.

On the other hand, Ahmedis say the building was built after Jamat-e-Ahmedia purchased the land, being a registered organisation, and under the relevant rules they could continue worshipping in the building.

Members of the community, asking not to be identified, said that, following attacks on their places of worship in Lahore, they erected movable barriers and deputed some young men to patrol every Friday after getting due permission from the district administration.

The community removed the security measures following the protests, he said. The superintendent of police of Rawal Town, Malik Matloob Ahmed, said that adequate security measures had been made for the protest rally.

Read original post here: Worship site row: Large protest against Ahmedis in Rawalpindi

Indonesia: Surprise, surprise | Alexander Aan to Renounce Atheism, Embrace Islam: Indonesia Police

2012-01-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Alexander, a 31-year old civil servant, is facing five years in jail for writing “God does not exist” on a Facebook page he moderated called “Ateis Minang” (“Minang Atheists”).

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By TJG | January 30, 2012

Indonesian man Alexander Aan who made international headlines after he was arrested for questioning the existence of god in a post on Facebook was considering renouncing atheism, police in West Sumatra said on Monday.

“He said he wanted to repent. He asked to have the ‘shahada’ recited, but we don’t know when [it’s going to happen],” Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz told the Jakarta Globe.

The shahada is the statement of faith required to convert to Islam.

Chairul said the information that Alexander wanted to reject atheism came from his parents.

Alexander, a 31-year old civil servant, is facing five years in jail for writing “God does not exist” on a Facebook page he moderated called “Ateis Minang” (“Minang Atheists”).

Chairul said the police had finished interviewing witnesses and securing evidence and were no interviewing expert witnesses.

“We are going to ask IT expert since [his statement] was put on Facebook as well as expert on Islam, such as the Indonesian Council of Ulema [MUI],” Chairul said.

MUI is the organization that first laid a complaint with police against Alexander for using verses from the Koran to reject the existence of god.

Chairul said, however, that even if Alexander repented, he would still be charged.

“The blasphemy has already occurred. As with burglary cases, the legal process goes on even though the burglar has apologized and returned what he stole,” he said.

Read original post here: Alexander Aan to Renounce Atheism, Embrace Islam: Indonesia Police

USA: Islamophobia | Mosque Opening on Hold After Vandals Trash Windows

2012-01-30T18:00:00.001-08:00

"It’s kind of devastating to see. All the windows are smashed in, like in an insane way. Like somebody went systematically, door to door, to whatever’s reachable."

Photo: Mary C. Stachyra / Centerville Patch

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Centreville Patch | Crime beat
By Mary C. Stachyra | January 30, 2011

Leaders of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community estimate tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Under the cover of darkness Sunday night, vandals downed alcohol, threw rocks and smashed the windows—along with over a decade of hard work, financial sacrifices and prayers—of a Chantilly mosque.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community was reeling Monday after learning of the destruction at the construction site, which leaders estimated could cost up to $60,000 to repair. The vandals took out most of the glass windows and doors on the first floor, and even two windows high on the second floor.

“It’s kind of devastating to see," said Usman Ghumman, the general secretary. "All the windows are smashed in, like in an insane way. Like somebody went systematically, door to door, to whatever’s reachable.”

More upsetting than the financial damage, however, is the fact that the mosque's opening will now have to be delayed. The glass was specially-ordered and shaped, and cost between $3,000 to $6,000 per window, Ghumman said. It will take a long time to order and replace it, even if the insurance covers the entire cost in a timely fashion.

When the construction workers—who had been putting extra hours in on the weekends so the mosque could open in late February—left the site around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the site was fine. When the morning crew arrived early Monday, shards of glass were everywhere. The majority of the windows on the first floor were broken. Beer cans and empty alcohol containers were strewn all over—"enough for 20 men," said Tariq Hassan, of EMSI Engineering, the company building the mosque.

Ghumman said the vandals did not steal anything from the mosque, so he believes that they were specifically targeted, due to the amount of effort it would have taken to vandalize the building.

The irony is the Ahmadiyya Muslim community promotes peace, he said. Their motto is "love for all, hatred for none." The community is persecuted in some Islamic countries because of some of their beliefs, but hoped to reside peacefully in "a community where the Constitution says every man is able to worship, and there's freedom of religion,” Ghumman said.

Ghumman and his community have experienced devastating vandalism before. Six or seven years ago, vandals broke into another mosque in the DC area and desecrated the Koran, he said.

The construction of the new mosque near Westfields Boulevard had evoked opposition from nearby neighborhoods over certain elements of the project, such as the height of the dome. After more than a decade of preparation, though, the community was finally ready to open the mosque, tentatively planned for the end of February.

Fairfax County police have dedicated considerable time and resources to finding the perpetrator or perpetrators. Detectives were investigating the site for a good portion of the day, and brought a dog to sniff over the area. The investigation is in early stages, but a priority for the officers at the Sully District Station. Anyone with information may contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477.

As for the community, they have filed an insurance claim and intend to press charges against whoever vandalized the area.

“When things come along so well, you don’t expect it," Ghumman said. "Like it was too good to be true. Then all of a sudden something like this happens. It sets you back.”

Read original post here: Mosque Opening on Hold After Vandals Trash Windows

Pakistan: Thousands rally against Ahmadis alleging ‘illegal’ acts of worship

2012-01-30T15:00:00.001-08:00

The intersection that was earlier known as Holy Family Chowk has now been renamed as Khatm-e-Nabowat Chowk.

File photo: Anti-Ahmadiyya protest rally

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Nation | Pakistan
By Syed Danish Hussain | January 30, 2012

RAWALPINDI- A number of activists of banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Jammat-ud-Dawa (JuD) holding their respective party flags on Sunday added to the strength of well over a thousand of students of religious seminaries registered with Deoband school of thought who gathered near Holy Family Hospital to protest against the sole worship place of Ahmedi community in the city.

The protest rally was organised by an Action Committee, a forum comprising of representatives of local traders, Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat, local Ulemas and so-called social activists, constituted a few months ago to achieve one-point agenda that is the closure of “Ewane Tauheed”, sole worship place of Ahmadiyya community located in Block-E, Satellite Town.

Heavy contingent of police including elite force were deployed by the city administration on the occasion and all the link roads leading to the worship place were closed down by the police by erecting hurdles to keep at distance the charged protesters from the targeted worship place.

The protest rally concluded when the leading Ulema observed the renaming ceremony of a busy intersection located at 100 yards distance from the worship place. The intersection that was earlier known as Holy Family Chowk has now been renamed as Khatm-e-Nabowat Chowk.

The protest rally started at 01:00 p.m. was concluded at 04:00 p.m., a time that city administration has given earlier to the representatives of action committee to hold the protest gathering after negotiations between them were failed over the issue. The representatives of Jammat-e-Islami, Jammit Ulema-e-Islam and Sunni Tehrik also participated in the gathering. Several leading Ulema and trader union activists spoke to the gathering on the occasion. The atmosphere during the period remained charged with the anti-Ahmadi slogans.

Speakers on the occasion lambasted the community members for their beliefs and practices and called upon the government to take necessary steps against what they termed “Fitna-e-Qadyaniat”. They also accused former President General Pervaiz Mushrraf for backing the Ahmadi community in the country.
Several bookstalls containing material wrote against the Ahmadiyya community by scholars were also established on the occasion.

Allama Abdur Shakoor, Allama Qazi Mazhar (SSP), Haroon Tayyab (JuD), Maulana Abdul Jalil Naqshbandi were prominent among other local Ulema, who spoke on the occasion.

A representative of the administration of Ahmadiyya community worship place wishing not to be named said the worship place was registered with Anjuman-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan.

To a question that the worship place falls within the non-conforming use of residential unit, he said, in Satellite Town area alone dozens of mosques fell within the same category. When asked why the Ahmadiyya community was not moving the court to resolve the issue, he said in Pakistan nine out of 10 cases went against the Ahmadis. “It does not mean the judges are biased but it is the fear of death which forced them to verdict against us,” he lamented.

He said the campaign was nothing new for the community members, as on the basis of such propaganda dozens of our worship places around the country have either been demolished or encroached upon by the opportunists, who launch such conspiracy.

He said as per charter of Anjuman-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan we could carryout our religious activities within the premises of worship place located in E-Block. It was started in October 2011, when a local trader, ostensibly, as a result of the cultural implications of the laws and constitutional amendments regarding Ahmadis in the country, announced the presence of Ahmadis worship place in E-Block of Satellite Town and consequently their worship activities there as unconstitutional.

At start only three to four banners were hanged within few yards area around the worship place inscribed with writing like “Ahmadis should end their unconstitutional activities in the area.” But with the passage of time this “popular slogan” caught the attention of several other Muslims.

And now one can witness hundreds of banners with same-like inscriptions hanging in and around the whole Satellite Town area. The local trader who is the initiator of the move is not alone today, as representatives of two major factions of trade unions of city Rawalpindi, Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat and some so-called social activists have also joined the hands of that local trader.

Read original post here: Thousands rally against Ahmadis ‘illegal’ acts

Pakistan: Voter discrimination against Ahmadis

2012-01-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Now there are two voters’ lists in Pakistan. One which includes Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais etc and another which includes Ahmadis only. This Ahmadi-specific regulation is discriminatory.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The News | Pakistan
By Jamil Ahmad Butt | Jqnuary 30, 2011

The Supreme Court has once again impressed upon the need for correct voters’ lists to safeguard the right to vote of the citizens of Pakistan. This concern is even being extended to overseas Pakistanis’ right to vote. There can be no two opinions on the importance of an accurate, updated voters’ list and the good intentions of the Supreme Court. But I wonder why no one from within the judiciary, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the media, the civil society or the human rights activists has shown any concern about a drawback in the voters’ list which has been there for decades and which aims at depriving the Ahmadis in Pakistan of their right of vote.

First, it was the separate-electorate system and the Ahmadis did not get themselves registered as non-Muslims. Later, the system was changed to joint-electorate but still the Ahmadis were kept away from its ambit. A regulation was made according to which the voters’ list for Ahmadis was ordered to be made separately. Now there are two voters’ lists in Pakistan. One which includes Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais etc and another which includes Ahmadis only. This Ahmadi-specific regulation is discriminatory.

Jamil Ahmad Butt
Karachi

Read original post here: Discrimination

Faith and interfaith: Is Religious Freedom Just a Dream?

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

...[N]national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, reminded his fellow Muslims that Islam’s original jihad was solely for the protection of “cloisters, churches and mosques”.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: RFUSA | News-Article
By Saadia Faruqi | January 30, 2012

When our founding fathers, driven by religious persecution to a new continent, drafted the constitution, it was obvious they had in mind the religious and civil freedoms of every generation that lived after them. And for a while, as long as the country was unified in religious practice, tolerance was not that difficult to achieve. But with every new wave of immigrants entering the United States, the variety of religious thought and tradition has expanded… until today, Americans seem to fear and reject everyone who acts, looks or dresses differently. From politicians screaming about Shariah to Hindu temples being attacked with Molotov cocktail, and every action in between, the question has now become: can religious tolerance and freedom ever be attained?

In my home town of Houston, at least, many seem hopeful that it can. Last Saturday the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hosted an interfaith symposium which challenged leaders of all major religions to answer a simple question: how can the followers of different religions co-exist in harmony? In front of a standing-room only crowd in the largest mosque in Texas, panelists from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Jain faiths grappled with this serious question from their religious perspectives. Despite the gravity of the challenge, however, the solutions offered by the panelists were simple. Gurmit Singh Bhatia of the Sikh Center Houston wisely proposed: “Whenever injustices happen, stand up for them.” Interesting… how many of us actually stand up for the religious freedom of others? When Prophet Muhammad was being caricaturized by European cartoonists, for example, few Christians stood up and protested. When Christians were being kidnapped and killed in the Middle East, no mainstream Muslim bothered to express his or her outrage. On the other hand when Terry Jones threatened to burn the Quran, the Christian body that stood up to him made him back down, thus proving that the power does belong to the people.

Other panelists had equally simple but powerful suggestions. Reverend Butch Green of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship stressed the importance of being good listeners: “We should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” he said. “If all else fails, agree to disagree.”

How many of us really listen to the views of others? As a purdah-observing woman working in a professional field that shouldn’t be affected by how I dress, I find that I can’t do anything to convince others that covering up was my choice.

One may wonder why the symposium focused on religion when the entire “axis of evil” of intolerance has been sowed by extremism and fanatics in the name of religion itself. Perhaps because the root cause of a problem sometimes offers a solution as well. Imam Naseem Mahdi, keynote speaker of the symposium and national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, reminded his fellow Muslims that Islam’s original jihad was solely for the protection of “cloisters, churches and mosques”. In fact, all panelists focused on how their respective scriptures and teachings promoted religious freedom, in the hope that their own followers at least would understand and implement those teachings, instead of blindly following what they heard on television and radio. If that strategy were to work, then perhaps some day religious freedom could actually be a reality.

-- Courtsey: Imam Mohammed Zafarullah Hanjrah, Houston - USA

Read original post here: Is Religious Freedom Just a Dream?

Canadian teens launch Lego Man into space

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Canadian teenagers Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, attached the figurine - and four cameras - to a helium balloon that went up 80,000 feet into the air, the Toronto Star reported.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: GMA Network
By GMA News | January 27, 2012

A tiny Lego man clutching a Canadian flag has made history of sorts, making the first space flight for Lego-kind aboard a weather balloon rigged by two high school students from Toronto, Canada.

Canadian teenagers Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, attached the figurine - and four cameras - to a helium balloon that went up 80,000 feet into the air, the Toronto Star reported.

When the Lego man and the cameras returned to Earth 97 minutes later, they brought footage from some 24 km above sea level, or three times the typical cruising altitude of a commercial aircraft, the Toronto Star said.

“We didn’t really believe we could do it until we did,” said Ho.

“It shows a tremendous degree of resourcefulness ... For two 17-year-olds to accomplish this on their own is pretty impressive,” said University of Toronto astrophysics professor Dr. Michael Reid.

$400 project

The $400 project, which took four months of free Saturdays, was not a school assignment, though the two teens thought it would be cool.

Ho, who has applied to Queen’s University and University of British Columbia for commerce, thought of the project two years ago when he saw an online video of a balloon sent to near space by some Massachusetts Institute of Technology students.

He approached Muhammad - who has a passion for all things flight-related and has applied to an engineering programs at U of T and Centennial College - in the hallway of Agincourt Collegiate Institute, where they are both Grade 12 students.

Since last September, the two spent Saturdays at Ho’s kitchen table in Scarborough, drawing up plans and building the balloon.

Built from scratch

“People would walk into the house and see us building this fantastical thing with a parachute from scratch, and they would be like, ‘What are you doing?' We’d be like, ‘We’re sending cameras to space.’ They’d be like, ‘Oh, okayyyyy…,’” Ho said.

While Ho assembled a super-light Styrofoam box to carry the cameras, the two scoured Craigslist and Kijiji for used point-and-shoot cameras.

They also produced a rip-stop nylon parachute that they tested by throwing off the roof of Ho’s father's 40-story condominium unit.

Other parts included an $85 weather balloon ordered online, and $160 worth of helium from a party supply store. Ho bought a special wide-angle video camera.

After assembling the balloon, the boys loaded the Lego man and the cameras, along with a cell phone with a downloaded GPS app.

When the balloon passed seven km above sea level - out of cellphone-tower range - the GPS signal cut out, prompting the boys to go home and make dumplings.

But at 4:12 p.m., Ho’s iPad started to beep, indicating their "Lego-naut" had re-entered the atmosphere. The balloon touched down in a field near Rice Lake, 122 km from its launch point.

The teens calculated the craft had climbed to about 80,000 feet in one hour and five minutes before the balloon exploded, beginning the Lego man’s 32-minute descent.

Reviewing the footage

When the teens got home and uploaded the two videos and 1,500 photos onto a computer for review, they started screaming.

The YouTube footage shows the Lego man spinning at an altitude three times higher than the peak of Mount Everest, before the balloon bursts and he starts to plummet.

“We never knew it would be this good,” says Ho, who turned to Muhammad and said, “Congratulations Asad, we did it,” then shook his hand.

Official congratulations from Lego

UK's The Guardian said Lego sent a note of congratulations to the boys.

"We are always amazed by the creative ways in which Lego fans use our products, and humbled by how many unsuspecting places we appear, like attached to a helium balloon in … space," The Guardian quoted the company's brand relations director, Michael McNally, as saying.

— TJD, GMA News

-- Courtesy: Wasim A. Sayed

Read original post here: Canadian teens launch Lego Man into space

Eye on justice: Salam Sahab, we have failed you

2012-01-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

Now they want to take away their right to worship. Through intimidation and hate mongering, speakers at the conference yesterday blatantly announced that there will be a 100,000 Qadri’s raging against the Ahmadis, issuing an ultimatum to the Ahmadiyya community to stop praying.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Dawn | Pakistan
By Sana Saleem | January 30th, 2012

Yesterday marked the 85th Birthday of Dr.Abdus Salam, theoretical physicist and the only Pakistani Nobel Laureate. He is not our national hero, his name is rarely ever mentioned, in his life the only befitting ‘honour’ we could provide him was a life in self exile, in his death however we went a step ahead by blanking out the term ‘Muslim’ from his epitaph. A member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and the Chief Scientific Adviser to the President, Salam was one of the most prolific researchers in theoretical elementary particle physics. No minister or high government official attended his funeral.

He was an Ahmadi.

Happy Birthday Salam Sahab, we have failed you.

Over 5,000 gathered in Rawalpindi yesterday, blaring witness to the systematic hate, prejudice that has been curtailed by a whole series of ordinances, acts and constitutional amendments against the Ahmadiyya community, that had been the cause of Salaam’s self exile four decades ago. Nothing has changed since, for the Ahmadis it has only gotten worse.

The rally called out by traders’ associations was attended by activists of Jamaatud Dawa, Jamaat-i-Islami, Sipah Sahaba (banned organisation) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat in Rawalpindi, claimed that a ‘worship place’ belonging to the Ahmadiya community was built without permission, The irony of protest on land encroachments by parties who themselves have been involved in extortion and land encroachments is immeasurable. But it was not long until the real incentive became clear. A few weeks ago anti-Ahmadi banners had appeared in the same area, threatening the residents to leave, claiming their existence was unconstitutional and any restraint from them could lead to ‘repercussions’.

Terrified, no one spoke.

If you are Pakistani passport holder chances are you have signed a declaration claiming Qadianis as non-Muslims, this means that you declare them prohibited from calling themselves ‘Muslim’, to call their ‘places of worship’ mosques, to pray in ‘Muslim mosques’ or ‘public prayer areas’, to give azaan, to greet others with salaam, to publicly quote from the Quran – these amongst others could get one up to three years in prison.

Now they want to take away their right to worship. Through intimidation and hate mongering, speakers at the conference yesterday blatantly announced that there will be a 100,000 Qadri’s raging against the Ahmadis, issuing an ultimatum to the Ahmadiyya community to stop praying.

If they do and if the authorities fail to take action against the open call for aggression and violence, you and I will be responsible for authorising prejudice, for remaining silent in the face of aggression, for letting the hatred breed within our society, for not standing up for one of our own and for allowing men driven by their convoluted faith kill in the name of God.

If being party to vigilantism burdens your conscience, voice your concern, stand up and be counted.

Our state reminds me of Faiz’s words that he had scribbled in Dr. Abdus Salam’s diary when they met at an airport.

‘Nisar mein teri galiyon kay aye watan kay jahan
Chali hai rasm kay koi na sar utha kay chaley’
(My salutations to thy sacred streets, O beloved nation!
Where a tradition has been invented- that none shall walk with his head held high)

jo koii chaahanewaalaa tawaaf ko nikale
nazar churaa ke chale, jism-o-jaan bachaa ke chale
(If at all one takes a walk, a pilgrimage
One must walk, eyes lowered, the body crouched in fear)

---------------
Sana Saleem blogs at Global Voices, Asian Correspondent, The Guardian and her personal blog Mystified Justice. She recently won the Best Activist Blogger award by CIO & Google at the Pakistan Blogger Awards. She can be found on Facebook and tweets at twitter.com/sanasaleem.

Read original post here: Salam Sahab, we have failed you

Pakistan: Punjab ruling party leaders, extremist join in anti-Ahmadi protest rally, issue ultimatum

2012-01-30T01:00:00.000-08:00

"We stand in front of all the tirade against us; they can change the name of our city, we care less; they declared us non Muslim, we lived. But one thing which no Ahmadi would ever tolerate is their right to pray and congregate in front of Allah." [Ahmadiyya community]

Political leaders, religious parties & trader unions hold a protest against
Ahmedis. PHOTO: INP / Express Tribune

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Imran Jattala | January 30, 2012

Rawalpindi: The impudence of the Punjab government peaked yesterdayas the ruling party’s leadership joined a banned terrorist group and several otherextremists, and militants from various religious groups in a protest rally againstthe already besieged Ahmadiyya Muslim community here.

The rally was called by the banned terrorists’ organization,Jamā’at-ud Da’awa (JuD) to protest the existence of an Ahmadiyya communitycenter for worship in Satellite Town area of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

According to the eye witnesses’ reports from the Sunday’s thousands-strongrally, the speakers gave a one week ultimatum to the Ahmadis of the SatelliteTown area to cease their offering of Salawt and Jum'a prayers, the both being theAhmadiyya Muslim acts of worship.

The rally participants, mostly consisting of youth from religiousmadrasas from the surrounding areas, chanted various anti-Ahmadiyya hate sloganswhile waving flags of Jamā’at-ud Da’awa, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Laqshker-e Jhangvi, andpro-Mumtaz Qadri posters, the infamous killer of Late Salmaan Taseer.

The leaders of many religious factions, including Brelvis,Deobandis, and Ahle-Hadith, were accompanied by the local trade unions leaders andseveral politicians at the rally stage - who delivered numerous fiery speeches againstthe Ahmadiyya community.

Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz (PML-N) leader Zia ullah Shah specially joined the JuDrally to protest Ahmadis’ practice of their faith at their community center.

Sharjeel Mir who is also a key member of PML- N, also spokeat the rally, joining in giving Ahmadiyya community an ultimatum to stop their‘unconstitutional activities’ which is short for keeping them from practicing theirfaith.

The Pakistani constitution declares Ahmadi’s non-Muslim andseveral laws implemented during the late General Zia’s rule dictate thatAhmadis must abandon any manners of worship which might be identical to theMuslims act of worship.

Sharjeel Mir also personally sponsored the event and postedbanners against Ahmadis in open streets.

The traders’ leaders and clerics who spoke at the rallyopenly called for aggression against the Ahmadi's if they did not comply, itwas reported.

The "Government must take notice," demanded Chaudhary Imran,a local trade leader at the rally. "Otherwise we’ll, by ourselves, throwQadiyanis outta this country," Ch Imran angrily added.

'Qadiyani' is a disparaging term used by the extremistMuslims when referring to the members of the Ahmadiyya community who simplyprefer to be addressed as Ahmadi Muslims.

Moulana Naqshbandi, a militant cleric, threatened thegovernment with violent action if their demands were not met.

“'We warn government to respect the law and stop activitiesof Qadiyanis” said Naqshbandi. “Otherwise we know how to stop them”.

JuD speaker pledged to provide total logistic and moralsupport for any action against the Ahmadiyya community.

"We are not doing anything. This is happening by thewill of God," the speaker declared.

Another trade union leader claimed it was a peaceful rallybut promised chaos the next time if the government would not take notice.

"That time is near when Muslims will kick out all Qadianisfrom Pakistan," said Ghafoor Pracha, VP, All Pakistan Trade Unions inRawalpindi. “I warn Qadianis to be in their limits otherwise there will be nolimit for us also,” Ghafoor Pracha added.

"Ultimatum was issued to Ahmadi's to abandon theiractivities at Ewane Tawheed, the Ahmadiyya community center, till next Friday,"it was further reported from the rally.

While it was a 'massive' rally, not more than 50 policemen wereseen for jalsa security, and there were no women in attendance, it wasreported.

Some analysts say that many religious factions known to be runwith the support from the military establishments are now trying to asserttheir independent street power.

They also observers the religious factions might be'suffering from Dollars withdrawal syndrome' as the US aid to the PakistaniArmy is starting to dry up.

The members of the Ahmadiyya Community have long complainedabout the government’s involvement in persecution of the Ahmadiyya community.

"If there was any doubt that this whole thing had politicalmotives then they are clear now," say the Ahmadiyya reprehensive in Pakistan.

"PML (N) leader Zia Ullah Shah sat on the stage," he wrotedisappointedly.

"We stand in front of all the tirade against us; they canchange the name of our city, we care less; they declared us non Muslim, welived," the Ahmadiyya representative wrote in a social media post. "But one thing which no Ahmadi would evertolerate is their right to pray and congregate in front of Allah."

"Not a single Ahmadi will move," he wrote assertively.

-- Pakistan: Punjab ruling party leaders, extremist join in anti-Ahmadi protest rally
-- By Imarn Jattala: Follow on twitter: @ijattala

Eye on truth: 'Father' and 'Son' Ousted from the Trinity in New Bible Translations

2012-01-29T22:00:00.000-08:00

"This translation is 'an all-American idea' with absolutely no respect for the 'sacredness' of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Yahoo! Contributor Network
By Hussein Hajji Wario | Fri, Jan 27, 2012

A controversy is brewing over three reputable Christian organizations, which are based in North America, whose efforts have ousted the words "Father" and "Son" from new Bibles. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers are under fire for "producing Bibles that remove "Father," "Son" and "Son of God" because these terms are offensive to Muslims."

Concerned Christian missionaries, Bible translators, pastors, and national church leaders have come together with a public petition to stop these organizations. They claim a public petition is their last recourse because meetings with these organizations' leaders, staff resignations over this issue and criticism and appeals from native national Christians concerned about the translations "have failed to persuade these agencies to retain "Father" and "Son" in the text of all their translations."

Biblical Missiology, a ministry of Boulder, Colorado-based Horizon International, is sponsoring the petition.

The main issues of this controversy surround new Arabic and Turkish translations. Here are three examples native speakers give:
First, Wycliffe and SIL have produced Stories of the Prophets, an Arabic Bible that uses an Arabic equivalent of "Lord" instead of "Father" and "Messiah" instead of "Son."

Second, Frontiers and SIL have produced Meaning of the Gospel of Christ , an Arabic translation which removes "Father" in reference to God and replaces it with "Allah," and removes or redefines "Son." For example, the verse which Christians use to justify going all over the world to make disciples, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) reads, "Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiahand his Holy Spirit" instead of "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Rev. Bassam Madany, an Arab American who runs Middle East Resources, terms these organization's efforts as "a western imperialistic attempt that's inspired by cultural anthropology, and not by biblical theology."

Third, Frontiers and SIL have produced a new Turkish translation of the Gospel of Matthew that uses Turkish equivalents of "guardian" for "Father" and "representative" or "proxy" for "Son." To Turkish church leader Rev. Fikret Böcek, "This translation is 'an all-American idea' with absolutely no respect for the 'sacredness' of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church."

SIL has issued a public response stating "all personnel subscribe to a statement of faith which affirms the Trinity, Christ's deity, and the inspiration of Scripture." However, in the same statement, which is similar to Wycliffe's, it claims "word-for-word translation of these titles would communicate an incorrect meaning (i.e. that God had physical, sexual relationships with Mary) [sic]," thus justifying substituting "Father" and "Son" in new translations. Calls and emails to Wycliffe and SIL to clarify their positions were not returned. Frontiers responded to calls with articles that critics have already dismissed as skirting omissions of "Father" and "Son" in new Bible translations.

Read original post here: 'Father' and 'Son' Ousted from the Trinity in New Bible Translations

New Zealand: Annual Peace Convention Attracts Hundreds in Auckland

2012-01-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

“We cannot deny the fact that there is turmoil everywhere in the world in one shape or the other. This is a result of man forgetting his objective of creation, that is, his inclination towards worship of God and endeavour to gain Divine nearness.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | EU Desk
Source/Credit: AMJ - New Zealand
By Staff Reporter | January 29, 2012

A wide cross section of the Auckland community attended the 23rd Annual Religious Convention on Saturday January 28, hosted by hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims.

According to the information released by the Ahmadiyya community, a regular attendee of the conference, Hon. Jackie Blue, National MP commended the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for their effort to change the perception and misunderstanding about Islam.

“Islam has been badly misunderstood and I am very pleased with the Ahmadiyya Community’s efforts in removing this misunderstanding. New Zealand has come a long way of managing race relations and as a nation has been very accommodating of all religions and races,” Hon. Blue said.

Mohammed Iqbal, National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, welcomed all the attendees, the press release further stated.

Mr. Iqbal outlined the objectives of the Community and the main purpose of promoting peace and fairness across all fellow beings.

“We cannot deny the fact that there is turmoil everywhere in the world in one shape or the other. This is a result of man forgetting his objective of creation, that is, his inclination towards worship of God and endeavour to gain Divine nearness”, Mr. Iqbal said.

The first time New Zealand First MP, Hon Asenati LOLE-TAYLOR congratulated the Community for their active social work in trying to improve the lives of the needy, especially their efforts with the Department of Corrections.

“The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is an exemplary community leading in their practice of the code of life consistent with the teachings of the Holy Qur’an” says Hon. Lole-Taylor.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Central Missionary Maulana Shafiq-ur-Rehman in his address at the Convention stressed that Mankind will continue to suffer from social upheavals.

The moral tones of human society will never really improve, said Maulana Shafiq-ur-Rehman, unless economical inequalities of such a serious nature, where some sections of society roll in wealth and others die of starvation, are done away.

“The Holy Qur’an, being a perfect Scripture has provided the roadmap for progress and perfection of man by means of the Law of Shariah, the moral law and the social law," Shafiq-ur-Rehman firther added.

"It identifies the basic necessities of human needs such as food, water, clothing and shelter. The Holy Qur’an points to the fact that to provide these primary necessities of life to its people is the first duty of a civilized government and that a society can only be called civilized when all its members are adequately provided with these necessities.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a religious organisation, international in its scope. It is acknowledged worldwide for its sincere efforts to promote peace.

The annual convention is celebrated internationally with tens of thousands of participants in countries including Australia, England, Germany, Canada and the United States of America.

-- Annual Peace Convention Attracts Hundreds in Auckland

-- Edited by Imran Jattala

Pakistan: Protest against ‘unconstitutional’ practices allegations becomes anti-Ahmadi rally

2012-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

Participants carried flags of different religious parties, including some banned ones, and portraits of the self-confessed assassin Mumtaz Qadri who killed former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer.

Photo: Nazarat Amoor-e Aama, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Mudassir Raja | January 29, 2012

RAWALPINDI: Thousands of traders and activists from religious parties gathered in Rawalpindi on Sunday to call on the government to stop ‘unconstitutional’ activities of the Ahmadiyya community in the city.

The protest, arranged by traders’ associations near the Holy Family Hospital, was attended by activists of Jamaatud Dawa, Jamaat-i-Islami and the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. Members of the banned militant organisation Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan were also in attendance. Over 5,000 people were part of the protest, led by traders’ union representatives Sherjeel Mir and Shahid Ghafoor Paracha.

The rally took place in Satellite Town, where anti-Ahmadi banners had appeared earlier this month. An Ahmadi worship place, Ewane Tawheed, is also located in the area and traders said it was built without prior official approval.

Although the rally was held to protest alleged land ‘encroachment’, speakers used the occasion to demand that Ahmadis stop religious activities such as proselytising and worshipping. It was announced that an intersection close to the worship place will be named the Khatm-e-Nubuwat Chowk.

Participants carried flags of different religious parties, including some banned ones, and portraits of the self-confessed assassin Mumtaz Qadri who killed former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. They also chanted slogans against Ahmadis and their ‘uncalled for’ activities in Rawalpindi.

‘No objections to Ahmadis’

But protest leader Mir told The Express Tribune that they had no objection to members of any community living in the residential area. “The Ahmadis purchased the building in E-69 Satellite Town a few years ago from their own people and established a worship place here. They also started preaching in the residential area, to the discomfort of their neighbours,” he said.

The problem, he said, was that the worship place was located near the hospital and the Ahmadis, who have suffered brutal attacks in the past couple of years, have erected barriers and posted private guards on the main road for security.

“They have raised walls and installed security cameras. Snipers have been posted at the rooftop. It looks like a fortress,” he said.

However, members of the Ahmadi community said that the building was constructed after the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, a registered organisation, purchased the land and they could use the building for worship.

The members, requesting anonymity, said that following the attacks at their worship places in Lahore in which 93 people were killed, they erected movable barriers. Every Friday, they said, young men and police personnel are deputed for security following approval from the district administration.

One community member said that following the protests, they had removed security measures.

Meanwhile, Rawal Town SP Malik Matloob Ahmed said that adequate security measures were made for the protest rally so that nobody would get near the worship place. “Every participant was searched before allowing entry to the protest.”

He said the matter had been referred to the district coordination officer, but despite repeated attempts, the DCO could not be reached for his comments.

Read original post here: Protest against ‘unconstitutional’ practices becomes anti-Ahmadi rally

Faith and Politics: GOP primaries marred by lack of principles

2012-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Congressman Ron Paul is the only candidate in the GOP primaries who comes across as a credible, sane voice. He’s the only one who appears principled and true to his vision of upholding the constitution and the liberties it guarantees.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit:Miami Islam Examiner
By Mansura Minhas | January 28, 2012

GOP Primary race is in full swing in Florida- a key swing state and a very crucial one, a must-win for the contenders in order to clinch the nomination. Florida has enhanced its leverage this year by holding an early primary, albeit at the cost of losing half of its delegates. With three different winners in three states so far, the race is a dead heat. For Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, this race might seal their fate and future prospects. Governor Romney has seen his comfortable lead in the earlier weeks eroding as Speaker Gingrich caught momentum and narrowed the lead. Speaker Gingrich gained impetus after his South Carolina win. However, Florida is no South Carolina, given its cultural and ideological diversity. Gingrich’s performance in the last debate in Jacksonville FL lacked the luster of his earlier performances in South Carolina. Romney was well prepared and boosted his performance despite his earlier fumbles.

Congressman Ron Paul is the only candidate in the GOP primaries who comes across as a credible, sane voice. He’s the only one who appears principled and true to his vision of upholding the constitution and the liberties it guarantees. The other candidates are marred by their lack of a principled stance. Their political posturing and nuanced messages tailored to the audience as they trek across the country are becoming increasingly evident. This leaves the GOP struggling to find an ideal candidate committed to its base and core values. The results of the primaries so far highlight such an inadequacy in this race.

Speaker Gingrich’s idealism about a ‘colony on the moon’ borders on a sense of naiveté. The applause to this fantastic and bold ambition did not resonate beyond the ballroom of the hotel in Cocoa, FL where he outlined this fantastic plan. This is a prime example of his political posturing. Lack of insight about the space exploration program is just one of the many areas where speaker Gingrich gets exposed. It also contradicts his prime selling point- lower taxes and a leaner government. No wonder his ‘moon’ talk was out rightly rejected by his fellow contenders.

On a question about the importance of religion, speaker Gingrich declared in Jacksonville, FL on Thursday that “one of the reasons I’m running is there has been a war on religion, particularly on Christianity in this country.” This is the same candidate who voraciously stirs the propaganda about ‘Shariah’ law being a grave threat to the US. By creating hype about an illusionary threat, he has repeatedly demonstrated his ignorance about the issue. ‘Shariah’ is a highly misunderstood term and for a US presidential candidate to take it out of context and propel myths is nothing short of despicable. ‘Shariah’ cannot be imposed upon people of other faiths and those who intend to do so or currently act under its guise are misguided.

‘Shariah’ is a set of guidelines and obligations intended solely for the followers of Islam and this concept is not unique to Islam and Judaism and Christianity have similar guidelines for their followers. Speaker Gingrich intends to act as a defender of his faith ‘Christianity’, once he assumes the mantle of the President of the United States. Is that not in stark contrast to the Constitution that disallows and prohibits the federal government from establishing or preferring any religion? How would he react if a Muslim running for office makes a similar claim?

Hypocrisy is not easy to cloak and majority electorate can see through it. This is a prime reason the GOP race has been so obscure. Governor Romney despite his extraordinary organizational skills and pouring millions of dollars into his campaign faces a similar dilemma. When he distances from his past actions- his famous health care reform in Massachusetts now dubbed RomneyCare and his previous contrary stance on various social issues like abortion, his credibility is tarnished. He might clinch the nomination (solely due to an absence of viable alternatives); nevertheless, his inability to come clean with a clear, unambiguous ideological front will be hard to explain in the general elections. Moreover, simply bashing President Obama and painting him as the root cause of all the ills would not be enough. Citizens of the United States want to hear concrete, viable solutions and alternatives and not plain rhetoric, for fixing the economy. Government is no way like running a company. Despite Romney’s luminous business career, success in business does not automatically guarantee him greater credence as the commander in Chief.

Another bothersome fact in this GOP primary has been the eerie silence of its contenders on the foreign policy triumphs of the last three years. GOP is renowned for its hawkish stance in foreign policy issues. Despite President Obama’s exemplary achievements- ending the Iraq war and getting rid of Osama Bin Laden; GOP contenders remain mum and there isn’t even a passing mention of these grave threats that once were the cornerstone of GOP policy. Elections are won by drawing sharp contrasts and all’s fair in campaign season, but the GOP contenders must not overlook the fact that President Obama simply cleaned up the mess of his predecessor, George W Bush. In all fairness, it makes sense to give credit where it is due, especially when someone cleans up after you!

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Read original post here: GOP primaries marred by lack of principles

Norway: Inviting you into a mosque

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

In Norway, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was founded in 1957 and they are the first Muslim organization in Norway. However, the first Norwegian Ahmadiyya Muslims can be traced back to the 1920s.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | EU Desk
Source/Credit: Groruddalen | News
By Kenneth Fossheim | January 27, 2012

It is controversial and everyone has seen it from outside. But how does the new Ahmadiyya mosque at Furuset look inside? On Wednesday, February 1st., you can find out.

Right outside our door is E6 where some 80,000 cars wiz by every day and everyone has seen the mosque. Now we want them to see how does it looks inside, says Imam and missionary, Choudhry Shahid Mahmood Kahloon.

The mosque has invited everyone to come on Wednesday, February 1, from 6.00p to 8:00p for a tour of the mosque's premises, lectures and an opportunity to ask questions.

After opening in September, many individuals, organizations and school groups have already visited the mosque.

We have received many questions and there has been a great opportunity for us in the mosque to respond to what people are wondering, said the imam.

The largest

The mosque called BaitunNasr is the largest with its 4200 square meters size. There is room for over 4000 people inside the mosque and the dome is 15 meters high while the minaret rises 21 meters above the ground. Prayer call are made, but heard only inside the mosque premises through the speakers. Inside the mosque there is a multi-purpose hall, offices, apartments, commercial kitchen and two prayer halls - these are both equipped with wheelchair lifts for the disabled.

The mosque is fully financed and built by the community’s own donations.

“A lot of work has taken place on a voluntary basis,” said Kahloon. “Still it cost over 100 million to build the mosque.”

Wednesday 2 November, Culture Minister Anniken Huitfeldt on a visit offered four million kroner in state funding for the mosque.

The congregation applauded the funding that they had not counted on, so we were both surprised and pleased, he said.

Nordic touch

Culture Minister was then shown around the mosque and she was impressed.

There are large windows and Nordic touch, but at the same time we find Pakistani furniture.

The mosque’s opening up to the public is very positive, she said, adding that she would be willing to bring her children to visit the mosque.

School groups and organizations from across the eastern region have visited the building for a tour.

We are open to the visitors, for we do not want to appear closed. Our mosque is very open and we want to continue in this manner, says Kahloon.

In Norway, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was founded in 1957 and they are the first Muslim organization in Norway. However, the first Norwegian Ahmadiyya Muslims can be traced back to the 1920s.

In addition to hovedmoskeen on Furuset congregation has another mosque in Frogner.

Read original post here: Norway: Inviting you into a mosque

Pakistan: Hundreds gather in Rawalpindi against Ahmadis

2012-01-29T04:30:00.001-08:00

... [A]nonymous banners had appeared in Rawalpindi, demanding that Ahmadi community members leave the area. The banners also termed the community’s activities against Pakistan’s constitution, which declares Ahmadis non-Muslims.

Photo: Shiraz Hassan via yFrog

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Mudassir Raja | January 29, 2012

RAWALPINDI: Hundreds of people organised a protest against the Ahmadiyya community in Rawalpindi on Sunday, claiming that community members had illegally established a worship place in the city.

The protest, led by a representative of the local traders union Sherjeel Mir, was organised in F Block of Satellite Town near the Holy Family Hospital.

According to the protesters, the worship place called Ewane Tauheed is located in a residential area and has been built without proper official permission.

Ahmadi Community members, however, claim that the building was built through due process after the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, a registered organisation, purchased the land.

Earlier, anonymous banners had appeared in Rawalpindi, demanding that Ahmadi community members leave the area. The banners also termed the community’s activities against Pakistan’s constitution, which declares Ahmadis non-Muslims.

The persecuted minority, members of which are regularly killed in Pakistan, fears recurrence of recent attacks on their community, such as that in May 2010 in Lahore when 93 people were killed in two worship places.

Read original post here: Hundreds gather in Rawalpindi against Ahmadis

Pakistan: Live Updates - JuD Anti-Ahmadiyya Rally in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi

2012-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

The starting on-location LIVE updates are produced by Shiraz Hassan, a Journalist, Blogger, and a Photographer. His blog can be read at http://shirazhassan.blogspot.com. Additional updates by Tahir Imran Mian, http://tahirimran.com/

Photo: Shiraz Hassan - 12:25p

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Various sources / Tweeples
By Ahmadiyya Times | January 29, 2012

A hate campaign against the Ahmadiyya community in Rawalpindi has been brewing for the last many months.

A massive protest rally against the community has been planned by extremist elements for Sunday, January 29th, 2012 in Satellite Town area of Rawalpindi city.

Ahmadis have urged the Federal Government and the Government of Punjab to immediately take notice of, intervene and put an end to this ongoing hate campaign against its fellow citizens.

[by Al Ufaq]

Note: The following live line enters were posted from bottom up....

4:30 - Live updates end. Signing off... Thank you for following.

4:12 - (News) "Hundreds gather in Rawalpindi against land ‘encroachment’ by Ahmadis" [Read here] - Express Tribune

4:12 - "This should be headline news in Pakistan. Minority sect persecuted. If this was allowed in the UK Vs. Muslims. Then?" - Adil Ray

4:11 - "Shaheed SalmaanTaseer! we know you would have condemned JuD's agression against Ahmadis unlike other "impotent" politicians!" - Atif S. Ahmad

4:02 - Fair World 101 asks: "Why all of a sudden some Pakistanis are against Ahmadis, is it related to Mansoor Ijaz in any way?" Reply by Shiraz Hassan: "Its happening since 1947, not something new.."

3:55 - "@BashaNazir @ijattala @AhmadiyyaTime @ShirazHassan @TahirImran stop zionist funded propoganda by #ahmadiyya against #pakistan" - "Khan Sahib"

3:54 - 'ImranKhanPTI!! Say something for God's sake! Say something to make us believe! Condemn this injustice against Ahmadis!' - Yasser Latif Hamdani

3:48 - "They want to stop Ahmadis praying in Ewane Tawheed yet claim to follow the Holy Prophet (saw) who invited Christians to pray in his mosque." - M. Rafi, observer

3:43: - "I am leaving this place, its getting too hysterical, unbearable; see yaa later!' - Shiraz Hassan FROM Anti-Ahmadi rally in Rawalpindi.

3:38 - Traders and Ulema, Speakers of jalsa are openly calling for aggression against Ahmadi's in Rawalpindi. - Shiraz Hassan

3:35 - Most of the madrasa students at the anti-Ahmadi rally are not local. They belong to KP and FATA regions. Some 5/6 years old kids also at jalsa against Ahmadi's in Rawalpindi. - Shiraz Hassan

3:29 - Not even a single woman at jalsa against Ahmadi's in Rawalpindi. More than 90% people are madrasa students. - Shiraz Hassan

3:19 - Mullah announced that they will not allow next Juma Prayer at Ewane Tawheed and will hold a conference in Masjid Aqsa on 4th Feb for more plan. - Tahir Imran Mian

3:17 - Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Zia ullah Shah is also present in the JuD rally. - Tahir Imran Mian

3:15 - Mullah says "if they can get #EwaneTawheed vacant they can get other places all over Pakistan vacant too" - Tahir Imran Mian

3:13 - Ultimatum has given to Ahmadi's to abandon their activities at Ewane Tawheed till next Friday. - Shiraz Hassan

3:08 - The mullah announced that this is not going to end like that and there will be another jalsa in Liaqat bagh. No date announced yet. - Tahir Imran Mian

3:05 - [Elsewhere] Sheikh Rasheed trying to cash Khatm e Nabooat right wing line in Multan - Sadaf Baig

3:04 - The mullah announced that they will hold a celebration event of acceptance of Qadiyani's in Chakra. Rally in Progress. - Tahir Imran Mian

3:00 - The speakers are openly challenging the government to do something or they will take law into their own hands. - Tahir Imran Mian

2:49 - Very strong threatening tone of mullah at the rally but it has been kept at bay from the Ewane Tawheed mostly with the help of barricades. - Tahir Imran Mian

2:41 - Militants are chanting slogans against Ahmadis. - Tahir Imran Mian

2:30 - 'Shame on the one's taking rally against #Ahmadi's whose fore bearers fought and struggled for Pakistan' Haidar Karrar, observer

2:16 - 'I warn Qadianis to be in their limits otherwise there will no limit for us also,' said Ghafoor Pracha, VP, All Pak Trade Unions in Rawalpindi at anti-Ahmadi rally. - Shiraz Hassan

2:12 - 'that time is near when Muslims will kick out all Qadianis from Pakistan,' said Ghafoor Pracha, VP, All Pak Trade Unions in Rawalpindi at anti-Ahmadi rally. - Shiraz Hassan

2:10 - 'while JuD is organizing an anti-Ahmediya campaign in Pindi, one should remember that anti-Ahmediya sentiments sells due to radicalization' - AK Chishti, Tweep, observer.

2:05 - "A Jalsa to promote hate against Ahmadis and minorities cannot be called a peaceful event." - Rizwan Ahmad, Tweep,

2:02 - 'yeh jalsa per-aman hay lekin agar Govt ne notice na liya to agli baar damma dam mast qalander hogaa' [This is a peaceful rally. However if the government does not take notice there will be chaos next time], say traders union leaders at anti-Ahmadi rally in Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

1:58 - 'we are not doing anything, this is happening by the will of God,' said at jalsa against Ahmadis inj Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

1:56 - JuD speaker announced to provide total logistic and moral support against Ahmadis - Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

1:49 - 'Govt must take notice otherwise we by ourselves throw Qadiyanis outta this country' - Ch Imran, Trade leader at Jalsa against Ahmadis - Shiraz Hassan

1:47 - Leaders of Brelvis, Deobands, Ahle Hadith and Trade Unions and local politicians at stage in Rawalpindi anti-Ahmadi rally. - Shiraz Hassan

Photo: Shiraz Hassan - 1:34a

1:40 - More than 20,000 at jalsa against Ahmadis in Rawalpindi. Reportedly more rallies are approaching from Rwp/Isb and nearby areas. - Shiraz Hassan

1:35 - 'we warn govt to respect the law and stop activities of Qadiyanis otherwise we know how to stop them,' said Molana Naqshbandi - Shiraz Hassan

1:30 - 'We shall produce 100K Qadris' Speaker at Jalsa against Ahmadis in Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

1:23 - "Condemnable - It is responsibility of state to provide full security to Ahmadis in Pakistan and take action against fanatics mob" - Riaz Ali Toori

1:16 - Not more than 50 policemen for jalsa securiy. This jalsa is massive, rallies of traders, ASWJ, SSP, Brelvis etc joining in Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

1:10 - "Its a shame for people of pakistan where anti-Ahmadi rallies are allowed to go on..." - Munnazir Aziz

12:58 - "With a show of force like this against the Ahmadis in Pakistan, Zia and ZAB are pretty much alive and kicking." - Anthony Permal

12:57 - Local governing body is almost silent and reacting like "Khamosh Tamashai" [silent observers] in Rawalpindi - Aamir Nawaz Khan

12:46 - More than 10,000 at Jalsa against Ahmadi in Rawalpindi. Jam packed from Holy Family to Haideri Chowk.More rallies are approaching - Shiraz Hassan

12:45 - Sipah-e-Sahaba (ASWJ) flags are visible in the anti-Ahmadis rally in Rawalpindi. - Abdul Nishapuri

12:35 - Mullah cult is gathering in small numbers around the area and the build up is still not that big but people are adding up to it. - Tahir Imran Mian

12:33 - All the roads going towards the Ewane Tawheed Ahmadi mosque are closed by security forces and no one is allowed to go that way. - Tahir Imran Mian

12:30 - "We must put an end to this constant form of discrimination - say No to persecution" - Anum Brohi

12:20 - 5000 plus at jalsa now, more rallies are coming to protest against Ahmadis - Shiraz Hassan

12:00 - Almost 1000 already at jalsa, near Holy Family #Rawalpindi mostly students of madrasas. - Shiraz Hassan

11:45 - Rallies from different madrasas and mosques have started to reach near Holy Family Hospital. Jalsa against Ahmadis in Rawalpindi - Shiraz Hassan

PLEASE REFRESH YOUR BROWSER FOR RECENT UPDATES

Live Updates:

Nigeria: Boko Haram vows to fight until Nigeria establishes sharia law

2012-01-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

Western diplomats say Boko Haram has splintered and the hardliners leading the factions responsible for the wave of violence that has killed some 250 people this year appear to have rejected any suggestion of dialogue.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: The Guardian | UK
By Monica Mark in Abuja | January 27, 2012

The Guardian Exclusive: Spokesman for Islamist group says it will not stop deadly attacks until country is ruled according to dictates of Allah

The Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed almost 1,000 people in Nigeria, will continue its campaign of violence until the country is ruled by sharia law, a senior member has told the Guardian.

"We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to their knees," the spokesman, Abu Qaqa, said in the group's first major interview with a western newspaper. "Once we see that things are being done according to the dictates of Allah, and our members are released [from prison], we will only put aside our arms – but we will not lay them down. You don't put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside."

Qaqa, whose name is a pseudonym, said the group's members were spiritual followers of al-Qaida, and claimed they had met senior figures in the network founded by Osama bin Laden during visits to Saudia Arabia.

The interview comes a week after Boko Haram claimed responsibility for Nigeria's single deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 186 people in the northern city of Kano.

In an audio message posted on YouTube on Friday, the group's current leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened to bomb schools and kidnap family members of government officials.

"If [security forces] are going to places of worship and destroying them, like mosques and Quranic schools, you have primary schools as well, you have secondary schools and universities, and we will start bombing them."

Shekau rejected calls for a negotiated peace from President Goodluck Jonathan, who on Thursday called for the shadowy sect to step out of the shadows and engage in dialogue.

Nigerian officials have voiced hopes for a negotiated settlement with "moderate elements" of the group. "Under the circumstances, if you look hard enough, you can find moderate elements you can communicate with," General Andrew Azazi, the national security adviser to the president, told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Western diplomats say Boko Haram has splintered and the hardliners leading the factions responsible for the wave of violence that has killed some 250 people this year appear to have rejected any suggestion of dialogue.

The Guardian was able to contact Abu Qaqa through an intermediary from the group's home state. The go-between has been in contact with the group since its inception, and met with its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, several times before he was killed in 2009. For most of the interview he used a voice modulator, but local journalists confirmed that his undisguised voice matched recordings of previous interviews.

Qaqa said Shekau and others had travelled to Saudi Arabia for training and funding. "Al-Qaida are our elder brothers. During the lesser Hajj [last August], our leader travelled to Saudi Arabia and met al-Qaida there. We enjoy financial and technical support from them. Anything we want from them we ask them."

He said recruits from neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger had joined the group. A recent UN report said weapons from Libya may have been smuggled to Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb via Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Security officials and diplomats in Abuja said they had no evidence of a link with al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, but an official confirmed that "elements of Boko Haram have made contact with external groups". The extent and frequency of that contact was unknown, the official said.

In the decade since it first appeared, Boko Haram has graduated from crude driveby attacks on beer parlours to bombing security buildings in the northern Muslim heartland. Its most audacious attack targeted the United Nations building in the capital, Abuja, killing 25 in August. In recent weeks, Christians institutions have increasingly come under fire. A Christmas Day bomb attack on a packed church just outside the capital claimed almost 40 lives.

But Qaqa said the rights of the country's 70 million Christians, who represent half of Nigeria's population, "would be protected" under the group's envisioned Islamic state. "Even the prophet Mohammed lived with non-Muslims and he gave them their dues." But he said everyone must abide by sharia law: "There are no exceptions. Even if you are a Muslim and you don't abide by sharia, we will kill you. Even if you are my own father, we will kill you."

Speaking fluent but non-native Hausa, the lingua franca across the Sahelian belt on the cusp of the Sahara desert, he said: "It's the secular state that is responsible for the woes we are seeing today. People should understand that we are not saying we have to rule Nigeria, but we have been motivated by the stark injustice in the land. People underrate us but we have our sights set on [bringing sharia to] the whole world, not just Nigeria."

Sharia law is already in place across 12 states in the Muslim-majority north. Few believe the group's radical ideology has traction in Nigeria's mainly Christian south, which is also home to millions of Muslims and has so far been out of the group's reach.

Raising his voice for the only time during the interview, Qaqa denied reports that some governors in northern Nigeria paid the group monthly allowances in exchange for immunity from attacks. "May God punish anyone that said so," he said, before adding that the group has popular support in the north.

"Poor people are tired of the injustice, people are crying for saviours and they know the messiahs are Boko Haram.

"People were singing songs in [northern cities] Kano and Kaduna saying: 'We want Boko Haram'," Qaqa said, describing how the group can blend into the communities in which it operates. "If the masses don't like us they would have exposed us by now. When Islam comes everyone would be happy," he said.

Diplomats say Nigeria's security services are belatedly attempting to gain control of the situation, which was previously dismissed as an internal, northern squabble often fuelled by politicians with personal grievances.

"There is an ongoing review of all security agencies," the presidential aide Ken Wiwa said. "This is a relatively new phenomenon in Nigeria and the administration is working hard to improve its capacity to respond. There are various other initiatives which will be implemented but this is as much a political as a security issue."

An official said Nigeria's central bank was involved in measures aimed at strangling the group's external funding sources, including speeding up a cashless economy.

Read original post here: Boko Haram vows to fight until Nigeria establishes sharia law

Pakistan: Harassed, Christian activist says he fears death at police’s hand

2012-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Behram Francis, the National Coordinator for the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of Pakistan demanded that Waseem Shakir be protected.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune
By Asad Kharal | January 28, 2012

The reason: he initiated legal proceedings against the police for making derogatory remarks about his religion.

LAHORE: A Christian human rights activist fears he may be killed for standing up to the police.

Waseem Shakir – a district coordinator for minority affairs for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Kot Addu, Muzaffargarh – says that he might be targeted in an ‘encounter’. The reason: he has initiated legal proceedings against the police for making derogatory remarks about his religion.

Two of his associates have also filed independent petitions alleging harassment against the police.

Waseem Shakir says that ASI Riaz had contacted his younger brother Faheem Masih and asked him to convince Shakir to withdraw the petition against the police. Riaz, Shakir alleges, told his brother that Shakir would be killed in an encounter if he did not withdraw his complaint. Shakir says that two Special Branch officials had contacted him and pressured him to withdraw the petition. “They threatened me dire consequences if I did not and gave examples of Human Rights activists being killed across the country,” says Shakir. Shakir’s complaint states that on December 31, 2011 Shakir, Javed Iqbal and Sajjad Ahmed were stopped at the Kot Addu bypass by six policemen. The petition identifies two of the men as Inspector Muhammad Akbar and Assistant Sub Inspector Riaz Bhatti.

Bhatti is alleged to have said that considering the car belonged to a Christian it should be searched thoroughly. He is also alleged to have detained them for two hours. Shakir says claim the policemen abused their religion during that time.

On January 3, the Kot Addu police registered an FIR against Shakir, Tariq Masih, Gul Muhammad Bhatti , Ahtisham Khurram Masih, Sehat Masih and Khalid accusing them of attacking the police. Police say that they tried to arrest Tariq Masih and Shahid Masih for bootlegging but they opened fire on the police party. According to the FIR the raiding policemen was also beaten up.

Shakir says the judge hearing the case had found it remarkable that not one policeman was injured in the shooting.

The Kot Addu Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asadullah Khan denied the allegations levelled by Shakir, adding that the police were not threatening him or anybody involved in any way.

Behram Francis, the National Coordinator for the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of Pakistan demanded that Waseem Shakir be protected. “Police is supposed to protect all Pakistani citizens without discrimination,” he said. He asked the chief minister and the Chief Justice of Supreme Court to intervene.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2012.

Read original post here: Harassment: Christian activist says he fears death at police’s hand

Holy bans only | Daily Dawn Pakistan | by Murtaza Razvi

2012-01-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

The magistrate in Rabwah, Punjab, now rechristened as Chenab Nagar just to spite the majority Ahmadi community residents there, keeps renewing the ban on Ahmadis’ religious congregations month after month and year after year.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Daily Dawn | Pakistan
By Murtaza Razvi | January 27, 2012

While in a Karachi park a frenzied, self-righteous TV show host chased couples out on a date filming them without their consent last week, in Lahore the Punjab assembly passed a resolution seeking a blanket ban on the holding of music concerts in educational institutions. Both are despicable acts of moral policing in a country which offers youngsters very few opportunities to mingle. What’s next, you may well ask.

This ban thing is a nasty, rather selective business. Banning music concerts comes in the wake of a terrible accident, in which three college girls were crushed to death after a stampede ensued at a concert held recently at Lahore’s Al Hamra complex. The failure to curb rowdiness now brings on this preposterous suggestion to ban all concerts by educational institutions, whilst the rest, with a similar young audience in attendance can still go on. Bizarre but true.

Then, look at Basant. The age-old spring kite-flying festival was banned in Punjab in 2008 under court orders after the authorities failed to curb the use of killer twine. For years on end the festival was termed as an aberration in this Islamic republic, having its roots in Hindu culture, as preached by the bearded brigade. So it had to go, and not just the stray killer twine that cut the bikers’ throats.

The authorities have also banned one-wheeling on motorbikes in Lahore, but it continues to claim lives, especially on Independence Day when bikers in huge numbers take to the streets, driving rashly after having removed their bikes’ silencers. Do we ban Independence Day celebrations because we cannot control the dangerous sport?

Then, there is this deafening firing on New Year’s Eve in Karachi, which also results in loss of life; the authorities have responded by banning the celebrations and by sealing off the beach front. But they have failed to curb aerial firing which continues with a vengeance. Weddings too continue with free aerial firing as part of the festivities; logic dictates that weddings should also be banned because the people will not mend their ways. Road accidents too claim the highest number of casualties in Pakistan than anywhere else in the region, and the police have failed to bring down the number of fatalities. What do we do? Ban driving as well?

How about the Muharram processions and other gatherings by religious outfits and madressahs? They too have been attacked by rival extremist groups, as have been Friday prayer congregations, and resulted in many fatalities. Do we ban all such gatherings? The Taliban have been blowing up girls’ schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; should we put a ban on girls’ schooling, as the Taliban wish we do?

Why then single out New Year’s Eve celebrations, Basant and now music concerts by educational institutions?

A church in a Karachi suburb was attacked by Muslim extremists over Christmas and the celebrations were called off in the entire area by Christians under pressure; this too amounted to a ban being placed on their worship by sheer social pressure. No court, from the lowest to the highest in the land, took half as much interest in the incident as they did, say, in Basant.

The magistrate in Rabwah, Punjab, now rechristened as Chenab Nagar just to spite the majority Ahmadi community residents there, keeps renewing the ban on Ahmadis’ religious congregations month after month and year after year. There is legislation on the statute books that systematically discriminates against Ahmadis, and no one finds anything wrong with this witch hunt. No righteous judge finds this ungodly act a breach of the basic freedom of citizens to practise their faith as guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan.

Why must we be condemned to live in a land of selective bans? Bans that state institutions and pressure groups impose with complete impunity. Such questions need to be asked, and answers demanded.

The writer is a member of the staff at Dawn Newspaper.

Read original post here: Holy bans only

Canada: Muslim appointed to human rights post

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

"Mr. Malik will make an important contribution to our discussions and deliberations, particularly given his community roots, cultural background and his experience as a newcomer to Canada."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The StarPhoenix
By The StarPhoenix | January 26, 201

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has a new commissioner.

Nasser Malik, who immigrated to Canada 25 years ago from Pakistan with his family, has been appointed to a five-year term. He has lived in Saskatoon since 2007 and works as a supervisor at PotashCorp's Cory mine.

He also volunteers at Saskatoon's Ahmadiyya Muslim community, a movement that spans 190 countries and promotes tolerance and peace.

"Mr. Malik will make an important contribution to our discussions and deliberations, particularly given his community roots, cultural background and his experience as a newcomer to Canada," David Arnot, chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, says in a news release.

Malik holds a degree in applied science and engineering from the University of Toronto and various profession certifications.

He joins Paul Favel, Jan Caitlin and Barry Wilcox, who were appointed to the commission in June, and Mike Bacon, who was appointed in 2009.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

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Indonesia: ‘Controversial religious affairs minister must go’

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

“After an attack on Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, in February last year, we warned that similar actions may be carried out against followers of Shiite and Baha’i because these religious groups are not considered part of mainstream Islam in Indonesia.”

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post
By TJP | January 28, 2011

Rights activists and religious leaders have urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to dismiss Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali for his frequent statements that could fuel persecution against minority groups in the country.

“Suryadharma doesn’t deserve the post because he has encouraged discrimination against Shiite by saying that the sect is heretical. As a minister, he speaks on behalf of the government, and his statement could be taken to indicate that the government legitimizes violations against Shiite [followers],” said Setara Institute chairman Hendardi on Friday.

Suryadharma, who also chairs the Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP), said after a meeting with the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII overseeing religion, that the Shiite branch of Islam was heretical because it deviated from the main Islamic teachings.

Iranian Ambassador to Indonesia Mahmoud Farazandeh said that he expected to hold a meeting with Suryadharma to clarify his statement.

“I haven’t heard anything from him directly so I don’t know what he meant. I must see him first and listen to his explanation before commenting on his statement,” he said.

Shiite is the official state religion of Iran, subscribed to by almost 95 percent of the population, while Indonesia is the world’s most populous Sunni Muslim majority country.

Noted Muslim intellectual Azyumardi Azra said that Suryadharma’s statement only added to the already numerous burdens shouldered by the Yudhoyono administration.

“The minister has encouraged radicalism. The statement can be used as an excuse by Sunnis, whose form of Islam was introduced by the Wahabbis from Saudi Arabia, to use violence against Shiites,” he said.

The Setara Institute and other rights groups had called upon Yudhoyono to replace Suryadharma in the period leading up to the recent Cabinet reshuffle last year, because of his ill-informed comments on minority groups.

Previously, Suryadharma had made similar accusations about the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect, which he also deemed heretical, and called on Ahmadis to return to the true teachings of Islam.

Setara researcher Ismail Hasani said the public could be forgiven for thinking that Suryadharma was targeting minority groups in the country.

He predicted that the Baha’i branch of Islam could be next.

“After an attack on Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, in February last year, we warned that similar actions may be carried out against followers of Shiite and Baha’i because these religious groups are not considered part of mainstream Islam in Indonesia,” he said.

Ismail said that Yudhoyono’s government should issue a statement to refute Suryadharma’s statement.

“The government must immediately make a statement to counter the minister’s comments; otherwise, the public will believe that Suryadharma spoke out on behalf of the state,” Ismail said

In late-December last year, Sunni followers burned down a Shiite compound in Karang Gayam, Madura; an attack believed to have been orchestrated to drive the Shiite community out of the village.

Earlier in 2010, Syahroni, a leader of a Baha’i community in Lampung Timur, Lampung, was jailed on criminal charges of teaching and proselytizing Muslim children in the neighborhood. (msa)

Read original post here: ‘Controversial religious affairs minister must go’

British Museum exhibit offers visitors a chance to experience Muslim pilgrimage

2012-01-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

As pilgrimages go, it is not the largest in scale, but it certainly has the most diverse group of participants –bringing together people from over 180 nationalities last year.

Photo: British Museum

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Common Ground News Service
By Shelina Zahra Janmohamed | 24 January 2012

London - Qaisra Khan and I are standing in the Round Reading Room of the world-renowned British Museum in London. Around us people are busy installing historic artefacts from the Muslim world relating to the haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca – a principal religious obligation of adult Muslims.

Khan is one of the curators of the exhibit “Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam”, which will open on the 26th of January at the British Museum. She is visibly excited that those who are not Muslim will finally get to vicariously experience the pilgrimage through this pioneering exhibit. Relics painstakingly gathered from public and private collections from the UK, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world are on display. Loans from Saudi Arabia include a seetanah, an embroidered cloth that parts in the middle to allow entry into the Kaaba itself when being used. The reds and blues which surround the stitched Arabic calligraphy highlight the richness of the Qur’anic text that adorns the cloth.

The exhibit offers the opportunity to hear about both contemporary and historic pilgrim experiences. My eye is caught by an original map identifying the possible routes for the Hijaz Railway, which was planned by the Ottoman official Haji Mukhtar Bey during his own haj.

On the other side of the hall is a brightly coloured, almost cartoonish image of a group of people. Among them is a pilgrim, standing on the edge of a sandy plane surrounded by intense blue. It is a painting from southern Egypt, where for hundreds of years members of small villages have painted these images to depict the departure of the pilgrims.

When it comes to Muslims, Khan says, "All we hear about is ‘sharia’, and actually this is one of the few times when there is none of that – it's just about what it is like to be Muslim." Her aspiration is that visitors will be granted this experience.

It is a profound sentiment and one which calls for further reflection: What does it feel like to stand in someone else’s shoes and experience the world from their perspective?

The haj is a primary instance of creating connections with other people by sharing space and time with them. As pilgrimages go, it is not the largest in scale, but it certainly has the most diverse group of participants –bringing together people from over 180 nationalities last year.

Amongst the historic artefacts in the exhibit is a 15th century painting from Shiraz (in modern day Iran) which depicts a throng of people inside the haram, or holy sanctuary, in Mecca. The artist has depicted a sea of humanity with skin tones from black to white and every shade in between.

On the other side of the hall is a photograph from 2009 showing contemporary pilgrims at the desert of Arafat where pilgrims journey for forgiveness. Again, the faces are a portrait of humanity, joined together in their single quest for forgiveness, united by the same simple white clothing, all external differences erased. Any pilgrim who joins can’t help but get to know those from different countries and cultures and in turn be changed by the realisation of their shared humanity.

The British Museum’s haj exhibition attempts to recreate this intense experience by sharing it with a wide audience.

Such co-sharing of space and time is crucial to our development of empathy, and triggers an instinctive willingness to help others. The event of haj is an epic experience, but taking action to create empathy is something that happens on a day-to-day level too. We human beings can create this kind of empathy by supporting others in what they feel is important.

I have seen this in action at a mosque in London, which organised for its congregation to attend midnight mass at Christmas to create bonds with the local Christian community. And when I was living and working in Bahrain, I saw Sunni Muslims show their support and understanding when Shia Muslims commemorated Ashura, a ritual day of mourning, by sending food so that their Shia friends would not be detained by chores on a day of great importance to them.

Sharing experiences is vital to creating emotional bonds and support. Although this exhibition is a historic and cultural enterprise, and refreshingly apolitical, it offers visitors – Muslim or non-Muslim alike – the chance to stand in someone else’s shoes for a moment. And that is something, in our world of unfortunate divisions, which is always to be welcomed.

###

* Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www.spirit21.co.uk.

Read original post here: British Museum exhibit offers visitors a chance to experience Muslim pilgrimage

Pakistan: Violence against Ahmadis looms in Rawalpindi, government proposes they cease worship

2012-01-28T01:00:00.000-08:00

The move by the government clearly shows how the helpless authorities are controlled by the militants that they are passing the militants’ demands to the Ahmadiyya community.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Staff Reporter | January 28, 2012

The government officials have advised the members of the Rawalpindi Ahmadiyya community to stop praying at the Satellite Town Ahmadiyya center, Ewan-e Touheed.

Known terrorist, joined by the extremists and militants elements of Pakistan demand that Ahmadis should cease their all worship activities at the Satellite Town Ahmadiyya center.

The Satellite Town area has been inundated with anti-Ahmadiyya signs and banners in advance of the massive rally called by the militants groups to force-stop Ahmadis from their worship activities.

The government officials say that in order to avoid unpleasant situation in Rawalpindi during anti-Ahmadiyya rally on the 29th January, Ahmadis should not offer Namaz and Juma prayers [Ahmadi Muslim acts of worship] at their center.

"The state has decided which side it is going to take," said a representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community disappointedly about the deteriorating safety conditions for Ahmadi members in Rawalpindi a major town near Pakistan’s capital Islamabad..

Ahmadis say this is an old tactic used against them in Pakistan to pressurize them. “This is to make us yield while the militants are given a free hand to break the law.”

"How we being peaceful and law abiding can stop praying to Allah?," the community represented asked. "How can we bend down in front of militants and compromise on our duty to Almighty?"

The move by the government clearly shows how the helpless authorities are controlled by the militants that they are passing the militants’ demands to the Ahmadiyya community.

These are the same demands mullahs have been making for days, say the Ahmadis, and now the government is towing into their demands.

"This shows lack of control," the Ahmadiyya representative said highlighting the government’s impotence.

The Ahmadiyya community demanded the government “to do its duty and provide the security to perform their religious duties.”

"This is our uncompromisable right," the community asserted.

-- Pakistan: Government proposes Ahmadis cease worship, heed militants demands
-- Violence against Ahmadis looms in Rawalpindi, government proposes they cease worship
-- Ahmadiyya Times
-- Edited by Imran Jattala

Gambia: D1.2 Million Mosque Foundation Stone Laid in Farafenni

2012-01-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

For his part, Baba Trawally said building of mosques is one of the objectives of the Ahmadiyya Mission in The Gambia. He added that the mission has also built many other mosques, schools and hospitals as part of their obligations in promoting Islam and to help the needy.

File photo: Gambia Ahmadiyya Muslim convention

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Daily Observer (Banjul)
By Alhagie Babou Jallow | 27 January 2012

Nbr — The Amir of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat in The Gambia, Baba F. Trawally, last Saturday laid the foundation stone of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat's mosque worth D1.2M in Farafenni Wharf Town, opposite the Farafenni Senior Secondary School. The Amir also inaugurated a new library for the Ahmadiyya at the same place in Farafenni, North Bank Region.

Speaking at the occasion, Osutas Hifazat Ahmad Naveed, the Area Missionary for the North Bank Region, expressed gratitude to the people of Farafenni for their support. He also thanked the government of The Gambia for giving them the opportunity to build mosques to enable their members and people of the area have easy access for their daily prayers.

For his part, Baba Trawally said building of mosques is one of the objectives of the Ahmadiyya Mission in The Gambia. He added that the mission has also built many other mosques, schools and hospitals as part of their obligations in promoting Islam and to help the needy.
He revealed that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is now present in 200 hundred countries around the world. He commended the government of The Gambia for providing the conducive environment for them to practice their religion in their own way.

Amir Trawally also called on parents to send their children to Arabic schools to promote the teaching and learning of Islam. The alkalo of Farafenni, Lang Suruwa Dibba, thanked the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat for their immense contribution to the socio-economic development of the country.

-- Via AllAfrica.Com

Read original post here: Gambia: D1.2 Million Mosque Foundation Stone Laid in Farafenni

USA: Nearly 1,500 NYPD officers shown anti-Islam documentary 'The Third Jihad'

2012-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today's news comes after the NYU Law School's Brennan Center for Justice filed a Freedom of Information Law request for information about the film, and the NYPD was forced to release confidential internal documents.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Metro | News
By Carly Baldwin | January 24, 2012

The NYPD denied for more than a year that it showed its new recruits a controversial documentary about Islam, but today, The New York Times reports that nearly 1,500 officers were exposed to the film.

"The Third Jihad" is narrated by Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim man who expressed outrage that, he says, few American Muslims were speaking out and condemning the 9/11 attacks.

“This is the true agenda of much of Islam in America,” Jasser says in the film. “A strategy to infiltrate and dominate America. We all know about terrorism ... This is the war you don’t know about.”

When news first broke last year that the NYPD was showing the film, top police officials said it was only shown "a couple of times."

But "The Third Jihad" was actually played on continuous loop over a period of between three months and one year, the Times reports today, according to internal police documents. The film was shown during "during the sign-in, medical and administrative orientation process" for new officers, according to the Times.

Muslim groups in New York are outraged at what they call a "propaganda" video. The Council on American-Islamic relations today asked for a review of all NYPD training on Islam and for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly to meet with Muslim community leaders. An interview with Kelly is included in the film, as well as interviews with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.

Today's news comes after the NYU Law School's Brennan Center for Justice filed a Freedom of Information Law request for information about the film, and the NYPD was forced to release confidential internal documents. In all, 1,489 police officers -- 68 lieutenants, 159 sergeants, 31 detectives and 1,231 patrol officers -- have seen "The Third Jihad," according to the Times.

This comes after top police officers admitted they worked with the CIA to spy on Muslim groups, including monitoring Islamic bookstores and mosques.

Read original post here: The Third Jihad': Nearly 1,500 NYPD officers saw anti-Islam documentary

Canada: Ahmadiyya Muslim community hosting open house

2012-01-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

The "Tribute to Mother Mary (An Islamic Perspective)" event is an open house "to promote religious harmony, dispel misconceptions about Islam and most of all to educate people about the status that Islam gives to "Mother Mary" and women in general."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Kincardine News
By Troy Patterson | January 26, 2012

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is returning to Kincardine this Saturday, Jan. 28 for an open house on the "Mother Mary," in a fort to dispel myths surrounding Islam and to explain the differences and similarities to Christianity.

Kincardine Public Library will host the event from noon to 4 p.m. The organizations was in the area last year and earlier this month on similar missions, spreading their "Message of Peace" through a door-to-door flyer campaign.

"We have been promoting peace, condemning terrorism and dispelling myths about Islam as a part of our Nationwide campaign for the past year," said Rizwan Rabbani, national executive director of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association Canada in a media release.

The "Tribute to Mother Mary (An Islamic Perspective)" event is an open house "to promote religious harmony, dispel misconceptions about Islam and most of all to educate people about the status that Islam gives to "Mother Mary" and women in general," the release said. The group will also be in Goderich the same day.

The non-profit, charitable and religious organization is now established in 200 countries, with 65 chapters. Rabbani estimates they've reached upwards of 1.2 million people in 238 communities across Canada with the help of 2,335 volunteers.

For more information visit www.alislam.orgor www.Quranopenhouse.ca

Read original post here: Muslim community hosting open house

US: Calling it sharia shouldn't make it scary

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

...As expressed in A Common Word, a consensus document between Muslim and Christian religious leaders, Muslims share two basic ethical principles with Jews and Christians: love God and love your neighbour – as well as other core values.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Common Ground News Service
By Jon Pahl | January 24, 2012

Philadelphia - What’s so scary about sharia, or Islamic legal principles? According to a recent decision from a US Federal Appellate Court – one level below the Supreme Court – not much.

The recent decision of the 10th Circuit Court effectively blocks implementation of Oklahoma Law 755, also called the “Save Our State” measure. Law 755 was passed as a constitutional amendment by 70 per cent of Oklahoma voters in November 2010. Along with prohibiting courts from using “international law”, it also expressly “forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law”. Similar laws have passed in Tennessee and Louisiana and comparable bills are pending in at least 20 states.

The 10th Circuit Court received the case after US District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange decided in favour of Muneer Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, who had sued to block the law. He claimed Law 755 violated his rights to religious freedom, which are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The three-judge panel that issued the ruling against Law 755 did so largely for procedural reasons, claiming Awad had grounds to raise First Amendment issues. Law 755, they agreed, expressly condemned only one religion, Islam, thus violating the establishment clause of the US Constitution, which dictates that the government cannot favour one religion. Finally, the judges also suggested there was little reason for Law 755. Supporters of Law 755 admitted “they did not know of even a single instance where an Oklahoma court had applied Sharia law”.

This issue’s salience here in the United States is symbolic, it isn’t really about law. While the term “sharia” sounds scary to lots of Americans, the irony is that many who think they are opposed to sharia would be only too happy to support many of its general claims. For instance, those who claim to mistrust it would often love to have Americans (and perhaps especially lawyers and judges) pay more attention to the Ten Commandments – a kind of reasoning encouraged by sharia.

Decades ago, Princeton University professor Edward S. Corwin published a still-used short book entitled The “Higher Law” Background of American Constitutional Law, which should be assigned reading for anybody wary of sharia. According to Corwin, American constitutional law was founded not only upon Enlightenment philosophical notions, but also upon theological affirmations. In fact, he suggested, American jurisprudence rested on a deep ethic that was quite congenial to transcendent “higher” reasoning.

At root, sharia asserts this fact. This was what the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was trying to say in 2008 when he opined in a BBC interview that “there are perfectly proper ways the law of the land pays respect to custom and community; that’s already there.”

As Williams discovered, much of the furore over his comments has focused on issues prone to sensationalism. Different customs have developed in Western democracies and Muslim majority countries regarding property (especially borrowing and lending) and family life (especially monogamy and divorce). But these contrasts could just as easily be applied to England and the United States a century ago and England and the United States today. Divorce laws in particular have changed dramatically.

In the vast majority of cases, there is no conflict between Islamic legal principles and the jurisprudence of English common law or American constitutional law. One reason for this is that the “higher law” backgrounds of the different traditions in fact share an Abrahamic ethic: the social covenant to command the good and prohibit the evil. As expressed in A Common Word, a consensus document between Muslim and Christian religious leaders, Muslims share two basic ethical principles with Jews and Christians: love God and love your neighbour – as well as other core values.

US courts have the responsibility to uphold constitutional rights. Other scholars and professionals have responsibilities to educate the public and dispel myths about sharia.

For example, the American Bar Association recently sponsored a webinar entitled “Dispelling the Sharia Threat Myth”. And Muslim scholars have been offering clarifications, among them “Dispelling Myths about Sharia” by Imam Mustapha Elturk. According to Elturk, sharia is a set of principles that guides Muslims to secure five “protections”: faith, life, family, property, and intellect. In this sense sharia is analogous to the “higher law” background of American Constitutional law. The challenge is in the application. After all, consider the debate in Western tradition about how to apply the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”

Sharia is bound to resurface in the 2012 US presidential campaign. The way to move forward is to point out demagogues and allay fears of those concerned. The debate over sharia might even help us define a clearer role for religious reasoning in public life. In short, it might help us find common ground.

-------
* Jon Pahl, Ph.D. is Professor of the History of Christianity in North American and Director of MA Programs at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Read original post here: Calling it sharia shouldn't make it scary

Canada: Interfaith Symposium comes to Nanaimo

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Religious scholars representing Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Hindu Faith, Judaism and Islam, plus dignitaries, scholars, students and the general public from across Vancouver Island are expected to attend the conference.

File photo: Interfaith Symposium hosted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
at the Milton Centre for the Arts in November 2011.
(Photo: Steven der-Gorabedian)

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Nanaimo News Bulletin
By Chris Bush | January 26, 2012

Varying perspectives of the world's religious faiths will be showcased at an upcoming interfaith conference.

Presenters will discuss the philosophical and religious perspectives of their various faiths on life after death during the Interfaith Symposium, at Vancouver Island University's Malaspina Theatre, Monday (Jan. 30).

"They're asked not to make comparisons with other faiths, so it's not a debate about which faith is best," said Nanaimo Coun. Diane Brennan, who will moderate the conference, which is co-hosted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at of B.C. "There will be time for questions and answers at the end, but it's really an opportunity to find out about other religions and their perspectives on the afterlife."

The conference is one of four interfaith symposiums held across Canada through January.

Religious scholars representing Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Hindu Faith, Judaism and Islam, plus dignitaries, scholars, students and the general public from across Vancouver Island are expected to attend the conference, which runs 6-9:30 p.m.

For more information, please visit the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Canada website at www.ahmadiyya.ca.

Read original post here: Interfaith Symposium comes to Nanaimo

Eye on history: Science - Islam's forgotten geniuses

2012-01-27T02:00:00.000-08:00

This world view, based on a mixture of theology and rational thinking, produced wonderful advances in philosophy, astronomy, medicine and mathematics, in particular the emergence of algebra and trigonometry.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: The Telegraph UK | Archives
By Jim Al-Khalili | January 29, 2008

The untold story of Arabic brilliance should be a timely reminder of a proud heritage, says Jim Al-Khalili

Next year, we will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and the 150th of the publication of his On The Origin of Species, which revolutionised our understanding of biology.

But what if Darwin was beaten to the punch? Approximately 1,000 years before the British naturalist published his theory of evolution, a scientist working in Baghdad was thinking along similar lines.

In the Book of Animals, abu Uthman al-Jahith (781-869), an intellectual of East African descent, was the first to speculate on the influence of the environment on species. He wrote: "Animals engage in a struggle for existence; for resources, to avoid being eaten and to breed. Environmental factors influence organisms to develop new characteristics to ensure survival, thus transforming into new species. Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to offspring."

There is no doubt that it qualifies as a theory of natural selection - even though the Book of Animals appears to have been based to a large extent on folklore rather than on zoological fact.

Despite the strong feelings Darwin provokes among many Muslims - many Islamic scholars see the Koran as creationist, and so at odds with evolution - it seems astounding that al-Jahith's quote has been largely ignored.

In fact, although popular accounts of the history of science typically show no major advances taking place between the Romans and the Renaissance, al-Jahith's work was part of an astonishing flowering of invention and innovation that took place in the Muslim world, and in Iraq in particular, in the Middle Ages.

This world view, based on a mixture of theology and rational thinking, produced wonderful advances in philosophy, astronomy, medicine and mathematics, in particular the emergence of algebra and trigonometry.

Although the Muslim world is often now seen as ill-equipped for scientific discovery, we can look back to Baghdad and see the origins of the modern scientific method, the world's first physicist and the world's first chemist; advances in surgery and anatomy, the birth of geology and anthropology; not to mention remarkable feats of engineering.

For 700 years, the international language of science was Arabic; and Baghdad, the capital of the mighty Abbasid Empire, was the centre of the intellectual world. The story starts around 813, when the caliph of Baghdad, al-Ma'mun, is said to have had a vivid and life-changing dream. In it, he met the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who instructed him to "seek knowledge and enlightenment".

This was the starting point for a lifelong obsession with science and philosophy. Al-Ma'mun created the famous House of Wisdom, a library, translation house and scientific academy unmatched since the glory days of Alexandria.

The caliph would then recruit some of the greatest names in Arabic science, such as the mathematician al-Khwarizmi and the philosopher al-Kindi. Although many of these thinkers were not Arabs themselves, they conducted their science and wrote their books in Arabic.

In the West, though, they were better known by their Latin names, such as Alkindus, Alhazen, Averroes and Avicenna. The most famous of all was Avicenna (or ibn Sina, to give him his correct name).

Born in Persia in 980, he was a child prodigy who grew up to become one of the world's greatest philosophers and physicians. His great work, the Canon of Medicine, was to remain the standard medical text both in the Islamic and Christian worlds until well into the 17th century.

He is credited with the discovery and explanation of contagious diseases and the first correct description of the anatomy of the human eye. As a philosopher, Avicenna is referred to as the Aristotle of Islam; as a physician, he is its Galen.

Indeed, it would not be inappropriate to refer to Aristotle and Galen as the Avicennas of the Greeks. My favourite of all the Abbasid scientists, however, is another Persian scholar by the name of al-Biruni.

Here was a polymath with a free-ranging and formidable intellect: not only did he make significant breakthroughs as a philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, but he also left his mark as a theologian, encyclopaedist, linguist, historian, geographer, pharmacist and physician.

Famously, having developed the mathematics of trigonometry, he was able to measure the circumference of the Earth to within a few miles. The only other figure in history whose legacy rivals the scope of al-Biruni's scholarship would be Leonardo da Vinci. So what went wrong?

What brought to an end this golden age of Abassid and Arabic science? The standard answer is that the ending came suddenly, in 1258, when the Mongols ransacked Baghdad. During the occupation, a large number of the books in the House of Wisdom were destroyed.

But Baghdad was by this time far from the only centre of scholarship in the Arabic speaking world - and wonderful advances continued to be made in Cairo and Cordoba right up to the European Renaissance in the 15th century.

There is also an argument that the decline was due to a change in attitude of the Islamic world towards science. This was primarily a consequence of the work of the 11th-century scholar and theologian al-Ghazali, who famously criticised Muslim scientists for their over-reliance on the philosophy of the ancient Greeks.

Yet this, too, cannot be the whole story. Al-Ghazali was primarily attacking a theological viewpoint that relied on ideas he deemed anti-Islamic. Hard science should not have been so affected by this more metaphysical dispute.

The real decline had much more to do with a weakening of the power of the caliphate as a whole, of which the Mongol invasion was merely one symptom.

By the end of the 11th century, Baghdad had lost control over much of its empire, and weaker caliphs were simply less inclined to encourage and finance scientific scholarship. But, just as the golden age of Arabic science began with the translation of the great Greek texts of Aristotle, Euclid and Ptolemy, so was the work of the Arabic scholars transferred to Europe

. For example, al-Jahith's Book of Animals was a major influence on Arab scholars of the 11th to 14th centuries, and the Latin translations of their work in turn became known to Charles Darwin's predecessors, Linnaeus, Buffon and Lamarck.

By the 16th century, while scientific and technological progress continued to be made at a gentler pace in the Muslim world under Persian and Ottoman rule, the European Renaissance was well under way.

The mystery is why the debt the West owed to Muslim scholars was then overlooked: acknowledged at all, the Abbasids are normally credited with nothing more than acting as the guardians of Greek science.

In a world of increasing religious tension, the untold story of Arabic science is a timely reminder of the debt the West owes to the Muslim world – and, perhaps more importantly, of the proud heritage today's Muslims should acknowledge.

Jim Al-Khalili is professor of physics and public engagement in science at the University of Surrey.

Read original post here: Science: Islam's forgotten geniuses

UK: Death of a friend and colleague | BBC Blog by Hamid Ismailov

2012-01-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

He translated the best of Tatar classic poetry into English, he published a two-volume book 'Islam in Russia', he composed a crown of sonnets in four languages, he brought to London the first ever Tatar theatre, which performed a fantastic fairy-tale of his.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: BBC - UK | Blog
By Hamid Ismailov | January 25, 2012

My friend and my colleague Ravil Bukharaev died of heart attack at the age of 60.

I have known Ravil for the last 30-odd years. I knew him from our youth when we were both young, hungry and ambitious non-Russian poets aspiring to conquer the endless territory of Soviet literature from Moscow.

He became a part of my life, much like furniture one has at home.

You rarely think what do you do to your furniture, right? You can step onto a chair, you can kick a table's leg when you're angry, you can take a tissue and tenderly wipe away dust from your cupboard - it's yours.

It was the same with him.

It's as if nothing stands out about the association, until you lose and understand that a part of your life is irreplaceably gone.

But he was a special - more than that - outstanding, rare man.

I was recently rearranging my home library and with some spiritual amazement and physical annoyance I rediscovered how many books he had written and had given to me.

I wanted to tell him off, jokingly, that he made me work hard that day, but alas...

The books he had written and given me were in Russian, in Tatar, in English, in Hungarian.

Not translated into those languages by others, but written by Ravil himself in the original.

And the range of writing he attained was wide: from the finest poetry to topical politology, from profound philosophy to brilliant prose.

He translated the best of Tatar classic poetry into English, he published a two-volume book 'Islam in Russia', he composed a crown of sonnets in four languages, he brought to London the first ever Tatar theatre, which performed a fantastic fairy-tale of his.

We worked for over 15 years in the same building, in Bush House, the headquarters of BBC World Service.

He used to work in the Russian Service producing and presenting the best of their output, such as the discussion programme 'Radius'.

He was one of the anchors of the service famous for many writers and poets who worked there. He was around whenever he was needed.

When a friend dies
a part of you dies
your sweet or bitter memories,
your common past,
conversations about books which you are writing, going to write, discussions with open ends, which never end, petty complaints, winging, laughing together, just drinking tea, exchanging views on anything insignificant, telephone calls out of blue, when you want share something and promises, plans, plans, plans...
all of that die...
When your friend dies
you die...

Our mutual friends -Alyona from Kazan, Ak from Stockholm, Rollan from Almaty, Rustem from Kiev, Jean-Pierre from Paris - all are devastated by this sad news, he has left such a big hole in this world.

He wrote a poem 'Bee', which was about him, a man who was so generous in giving himself to this world, to people, to his wife Lyda, to his family...

And without Ravil a sweetening taste of honey will be missed in our lives...

Bee

I am sitting here and writing with a ball-pen;
To the window-pane above I turn my eyes.
In the porch outside a hazel-tree is blooming.
Like a little yellow cloud upon the skies.

The pollen hangs so heavy on the branches,
A brook runs bubbling through the deep ravine;
A bee crawls over my blue sheet of paper,
A wild striped bee that haunts the forest green.

Outside the bee has gone from flower to flower;
I carefully examine it and see
How it has stained its wings and its proboscis
With pollen from the flowers on the tree.

Indeed it has been working very wisely,
Collecting every drop of nectar there.
I must return to my blue sheet of paper,
So I release the bee into the air.

Working in a lonely house takes patience;
How long we need to wait to have our wish
For lines of verse like clear, transparent honey
To shine and sparkle on an empty dish!

Our hearts go to Ravil's wife Lydya and his family.

Read original post here: Death of a friend and colleague - Hamid Ismailov

Indonesia: Law Enforcers ‘Rarely Neutral’ in Religious Conflict

2012-01-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

“During our interviews with [police] officers in Pandeglang [in Banten], they all said that when it comes to religious conflicts, their own religion comes first, then their uniform.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Ulma Haryanto | January 26, 2012

When dealing with religious conflict in the field, police officers and other law enforcement officials tend to put their beliefs before their uniform, a researcher said on Wednesday.

Gadjah Mada University political analyst Samsu Rizal Panggabean said that several factors explained why field officers were reluctant to take action.

“The first is a problem of identity,” Samsu said in a public discussion titled Police, Civil Society, and Religious Conflicts in Indonesia. “During our interviews with [police] officers in Pandeglang [in Banten], they all said that when it comes to religious conflicts, their own religion comes first, then their uniform.”

Pandeglang includes the Cikeusik subdistrict, the scene of a brutal attack on Ahmadiyah community members last February. Three members of the minority Muslim sect died in the attack, gruesome footage of which was uploaded to YouTube.

The footage showed how police officers stood by watching as the Ahmadis were attacked.

“This situation is not unique. We also learned that during the conflict in Ambon [in Maluku], officers there were known to take sides according to their religion,” the researcher said.

Ambon was the scene of bloody interreligious conflict between 1999 to 2002 that left thousands of people dead.

The second factor behind police inaction in the face of religious conflict, Samsu said, was the lack of support from mainstream religious organizations.

“I’ve never seen the chief of police appear in public with leaders of NU and Muhammadiyah,” Samsu said, referring to the largest Indonesian religious organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the second-largest one.

Yosep Adi Prasetyo, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), added that instead, police are often seen with hard-line groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

“They might say that they are doing it for the sake of getting information, but I have to say the current National Police chief’s track record isn’t exactly spotless,” Yosep said in reference to Gen. Timur Pradopo.

After the Cikeusik attack, Timur suggested in a hearing with lawmakers that the Ahmadis had only themselves to blame for the fatalities for failing to heed police advice to flee.

Yosep said that most of the time police failed to be impartial because they had vested interests: “Funding from outside the APBN [state budget] is actually much larger [than official funding],” he said.

Non-APBN sources of income for the police, he said, included unlawful “security payments” from private companies, acknowledged and called “understandable” by the National Police, and kickbacks from field officers.

But Mubarik Ahmad, a spokesman for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), said that police in the recent past have proven that they could take a firm stand in religious conflicts.

“There was a time when the West Java Police chief gave a clear instruction to his men at Manis Lor village to not let any outsiders in,” Mubarik said.

In July 2010, thousands of anti-Ahmadiyah protesters flocked to the village where around 2,000 Ahmadis lived. “And they did their job, it was tense but nobody got hurt, no blood was shed,” Mubarik said.

Read original post here: Law Enforcers ‘Rarely Neutral’ in Religious Conflict

Pakistan: Ahmadis brace for violence, trampling of rights in Rawalpindi

2012-01-26T16:00:00.001-08:00

The poster and banners, inciting hate against Ahmadis are seen throughout the Satellite Town and the surrounding areas and many show the instigators have proudly added their name on the banners.

A hate banner, calling for an anti-Ahmadiyya action rally on January 29

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Jama'at Ahmadiyya Pakistan
By Imran Jattala | January 26, 2011

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community is under siege in Rawalpindi, and militants promise to create chaos in the name of religion.

According to Al-Ufaq, a news website, the Satellite Town area of Rawalpindi city, adjacent to the Pakistani capital Islamabad, is now a scene of countless banners and posters containing hate content and threats against Ahmadi Muslims.

The hate climate has been amplified by a recent call for unrest against Ahmadi Muslims by the banned militant organization, JuD, a group that has been named in several terrorists attacks in and outside of Pakistan.

The Ahmadiyya community says their centre in Satellite Town, Rawalpindi has been the target of extremists’ hate and the militants have now declared an all out war against Ahmadis’ right to worship there.

The countless anti-Ahmadiyya banners hang high throughout the satellite town and the surrounding areas are striking fear in the hearts of the besieged community, say the Ahmadi members.

A hate banner, calling for an anti-Ahmadiyya action rally

The extremist groups, namely JuD and Khatam-e Nubuwwat have planned a massive rally against Ahmadi Muslims on Sunday, January 29th.

“The poster plastered around Rawalpindi [are] instigating hatred,” said a twitter post by the community representative in Pakistan.

“The rally is supported by JuD, not a pleasant combination,” the statement further stated.

The fanatics have continuously waged a violent war against Ahmadi Muslims to practically deny them the right to practice their faith, many rights organizations and media outlets have noted over the years.

The Ahmadi Muslims say they follow Islam in its purest form which was practiced the Holy Founder of Islam, the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).

The Ahmadiyya Muslims also points to the country’s founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah who had envisioned equal rights for all citizens to worship as they see fit.

“Every Ahmadi has a right to perform religious duties, given by Mr. Jinnah in [his] 11 August speech. Why it’s not [OK] for Ahmadis?” asked the Ahmadiyya community representative.

The poster and banners, inciting hate against Ahmadis are seen throughout the Satellite Town and the surrounding areas and many show the instigators have proudly added their names on the banners.

A hate banner, calling for an anti-Ahmadiyya action rally on January 29

A large poster sponsored by one Arshad Mahmood Awaan and one Sardar Touqeer Hussain is seen hung at Boher Bazar road, calling for the businessmen of the area to join the messive anti-Ahmadiyya relly.

Another banner, sponsered by one Sharjeel Mir and one Sheikh Arsalan Hafiz invites the entire city of Rawalpindi to attend the rally.

Yet another banner placed by one Hafiz Mohammad Shafiq of Wahabi group beseeches the entire Muslim nation to show up for the event.

“[How can] you still expect someone to protect Ahmadis of Satellite Town?,” the Ahmadiyya representative asks highlighting one hate-banner hanging right next to the Banni Thana police station.

Ahmadis do not expect much in terms of morality from the extremist clerics, they say, but “How is this even legal?”, they do ask.

Read the Al Ufaq post here: Pakistan: Hate Campaign against Ahmadis of Satellite Town, Rawalpindi

Pakistan: Pope names interfaith-dialogue promoter as Karachi archbishop

2012-01-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

Pakistan's blasphemy laws have criticised for being used as a tool to persecute non-Muslims by jailing them for allegedly defaming Islam.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: AdnKronos
By AdnKronos | January 25, 2012

Vatican City, 25 Jan. (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday appointed Joseph Coutts as archbishop of Karachi, the Pakistani sprawling southern port city where Christians have been the target of religious violence, the Vatican announced.

He succeeds Evarist Pinto, who resigned after reaching the age limit of 75 years old.

The late Pope John Paul II in 1998 appointed Coutts Bishop of Faisalabad, an industrial city in the centre of Pakistan.

The Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt in Germany awarded Coutts the 2007 Shalom Prize for his commitment to interfaith dialogue in Pakistan. Coutts says he has received death threats from Muslim extremists his work.

As Karachi's archbishop, Coutts, 66, will oversee the 150,000 Catholics and 40 priests in Pakistan's largest city where almost all of the metropolis' 15 million people are Muslim.

The Vatican has spoken out against persecution of Pakistan's religious minorities, with particular emphasis on Christians who have been raped and murdered, and some say jailed for their beliefs.

In 2009, an 11-year-old boy in Karachi died after being shot in the head and others were killed and injured at the hands of armed gangs who demanded them to convert to Islam.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws have criticised for being used as a tool to persecute non-Muslims by jailing them for allegedly defaming Islam.

Ninety-five percent of Pakistanis are Muslim, mainly Sunnis. Christians and Hindus make up approximately 5 percent of Pakistan's 177 million people.

Read original post here: Pakistan: Pope names interfaith-dialogue promoter as Karachi archbishop

UK: Will An International Blasphemy Law Hurt The Interests Of Muslim Minorities In The United Kingdom?

2012-01-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

If the commissars of the European Union think that such curbs would be a useful stick to beat majority populations with, it is quite clear that they would also adversely affect the interests of minorities who have fled to Europe to avoid such persecution.

File photo: Huddersfield Quran Exhibition - 2011

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Int'l Civil Liberties Alliance
By Aeneas | January 24, 2012

In a world that is contemplating international blasphemy laws that will lead to the suppression of free speech cries of ‘heretic’ (and even allusions to it) are very alarming. We have had our share of that sort of thing historically in the West and it would be unacceptable for our societies to move back in that direction.

The Huddersfield Examiner has reported that the Kirklees Muslims Action Committee appears to have accused another Muslim group of just that, though they do not seem to have mentioned the ‘H-word’ specifically. According to an article in the Huddersfield Examiner:

“They claim that the Ahmadiyya Muslims are not true Muslims and have condemned them for hosting an exhibition of the Holy Koran.”

Whether or not this represents an accusation of heresy, it does not seem to be a very tolerant or inclusive attitude to take. So long as people do not impose their religious beliefs on others then surely people should be able to worship God in their own way?

It is true that the World Muslim League, in what could be described as a kind of Council of Nicaea episode, made a declaration repudiating the Ahmadiyyat movement, but does such a statement of opinion mean that something is so?

The article goes on to report:

“…Mr Amar Usman Ali, a spokesman for the Action Committee, said they were offended by the event.”

We see the word ‘offended’ in almost constant use these days as a means to silence debate and discussion on religious issues. It is something that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) seems to want make into a global norm, and which Western governments seem willing to indulge in via the ‘Istanbul Process’.

Under an international blasphemy law would religious minorities in the United Kingdom be persecuted by the state? Would the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community be accused of ‘hate speech’ or ‘blasphemy’ by simply claiming to be Muslims? Since the OIC appears to want to use the ‘Istanbul Process’ to apply OIC values to the entire world, perhaps we should take a look at the model for the international blasphemy law – the member states of the OIC itself. How is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community treated in OIC member states? The following is from an article entitled ‘Harassment: Three Ahmedis accused under blasphemy laws’ and illustrates the situation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:

“Sajeel Ahmed, 18, of Khushab was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a first information report (FIR) registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the death penalty.” (Source: thepersecution.org)

More articles about the persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community can be found HERE.

It is quite clear that by curbing freedom of expression Western Governments will also be placing very severe limits on religious freedom. If the commissars of the European Union think that such curbs would be a useful stick to beat majority populations with, it is quite clear that they would also adversely affect the interests of minorities who have fled to Europe to avoid such persecution. What sort of outfit is the European Union to even participate in the Istanbul Process? It says as much about it as it does of the OIC.

More information about the The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community can be found HERE.

Read original post here: Will An International Blasphemy Law Hurt The Interests Of Muslim Minorities In The United Kingdom?

Faith and facts: The paradox of Christian belief in light of John 1:1 and 1:14

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

When discussing beliefs about Jesus (peace be upon him), almost all Christians agree that Jesus is the "Son of God" in the literal, physical sense and the second "person" in the Trinitarian godhead of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Jonathan M.A. Ghaffar | January 26, 2011

Anyone sacrificing themselves to save another is always enamored (loved) in the heart of the saved, but with it comes the inferred oath of fealty to that which saved you.

The paradox of Christian belief about the nature of Jesus (as articulated in their theology and expressed by most Christians) is aptly demonstrated in the first verse of the Gospel of John, which (in the King James version) reads:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

This Gospel was written for the Greek-Roman world and its majority population of polytheists, stoics and rationalists, but verse 1 is also a direct allusion to Genesis 1:1 and was meant to attract Hellenized (non-Hebrew literate) Jews to Christianity. Needless to say (so, of course, I’ll say it), the allusion to “In the beginning…” in Genesis would have been completely lost on its mostly Greek pagan audience.
We have no way of knowing how it was received by any of the Greek-speaking Jews of the time, but judging from the near zero conversion rate, not so well. But on to the present day, where, interestingly enough, we find the same near zero conversion rate of Jews to Christianity. But that’s another story…

When discussing beliefs about Jesus (peace be upon him), almost all Christians agree that Jesus is the "Son of God" in the literal, physical sense and the second "person" in the Trinitarian godhead of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But whenever I ask a Christian "So, is Jesus also God as well?" they almost always answer "Yes" based on John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…" and because John 1:1 says "In the beginning was the Word,” which everyone would naturally assume would be God because that's where He's supposed to be -- in the beginning. Even before the beginning, actually, because God has no beginning or end.

John 1:1 continues: "and the Word was with God"…

Uh-oh, what's going on here! First it says “In the beginning was the Word” but now it's saying God was there along with the Word. OK, that’s a bit of a surprise… I mean, why even start by making us think there was only the Word in the beginning if that wasn’t really the case? Why not just go right to the part where God and the Word were together in the first place?

John 1:1 continues: "and the Word was God."

Awright, what’s going on here! There’s no way George Orwell was alive when the Gospel of John was written! First it says there was just the Word, then it says, No, God was with the Word there in the beginning, too. Then it has the audacity to say "and the Word was God." So what just happened? Grammatically it says that God was alongside the Word at first but then became the Word and there was just God as the Word (or the Word as God, depending on whom you believe became and/or supplanted whom).

Now, at least the Jehovah’s Witnesses translate that whole unintelligible, illogical mess of Greek so it still makes some sense overall by saying "and the Word was a god." At least they're being honest and keeping everyone in their place and the math up to snuff. And that's just verse one of the Gospel of John!

It doesn’t get any better when you look at John 1:2 "And the same was in the beginning with God." What, there were two beginnings? You could certainly read it that way. And what "same" is John talking about?

The next verse doesn’t clarify anything. John 1:3 reads “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” This is equally confounding, if only because you aren't sure and aren't told exactly who the "him" is. By the prior (attempted) definition, you would assume it was the dual-entity Word-God.

So where is the Holy Spirit in all of this? Aren't they all supposed to be "three-in-one"? All together all the time, indivisible, etc. etc.? Nope, no mention of the Holy Spirit in there. Again, at least the Jehovah's Witness version gives them an extra "entity" (and the Word was a God) to explain how the Holy Spirit was there with the other two in the beginning. But the JW's aren't really Christians anyway, according to all the Christians I've ever met and all the books about Christianity I've read.

In fact, the Book of John only makes sense when you start reading from verse 6: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." The irony, of course, is that this "John" is John the Baptist -- not the John ascribed as the author of the Book of John. But even that sentence suffers from ambiguity because it could be interpreted that "John" was the name of God, from "...sent from God, whose name was John." You would think after 400 years in the English language, this sentence could be corrected to: "There was a man named John, who was sent by God." Maybe the new-fangled translations print it that way; but I tend to stick to the King James because it’s still the most well known.

And while some Christians may believe that Jesus is not God (but how could that be, based on John 1:1 and 14?) the confusion in such fundamentals of doctrine which Christians have never been able to correct or overcome makes the dissemination of what is considered "standard" Christian belief contradictory and often alienating to the recipient. And you wonder why the usual answer is "Oh, just don't think about it" or "It's a mystery, so don't try to understand it -- you can't -- but you have to believe it or else you go to hell. Forever." And that, dear reader, is one reason why I am not a Christian. I refuse to be strong-armed into my salvation at the expense of my reasoning and rationality.

The difference between the Christian creed and the Islamic creed is that Christians can't adequately define, explain or defend theirs -- they can't even agree on what it is. Just look at the complaints by Christians to a Muslim rapper's recent YouTube video “Why I hate religion but love Jesus – Muslim version” which is in response to a Christian’s nearly 15-million-hits YouTube video on why he hates religion but loves Jesus. The comments to the Muslim version decry supposed inaccuracies in presented Christian beliefs, yet every point made about Christian doctrine can be readily substantiated by Biblical verses or some mainstream interpretation of that belief. The fact that these often contradict each other, often within the same source (take Paul’s letter to the Romans, for instance) is hardly surprising and understandably exasperating.

In comparison, the Islamic creed -- "There is no god except Allah [Elohim in Hebrew], and Muhammad is the messenger of God” -- is crystal clear and has been perfectly understood by everyone who has professed it to become a Muslim since it was codified at the start of Islam 1400 years ago,

Of course, everyone is entitled to believe in their religion in whatever way they like, but for presenting it to others for the purpose of winning them over to it, you need to have a consensus of opinion on what the central beliefs are, and then said beliefs must be able to withstand logical criticism and theosophical argument. Christianity fails spectacularly on both fronts. This is because the "glue" that holds everything together is made almost entirely from the emotionalism and indebtedness revolving around the idea that God became Jesus so he could die for your sins. Anyone sacrificing themselves to save another is always enamored (loved) in the heart of the saved, but with it comes the inferred oath of fealty to that which saved you.

And Christianity even says this explicitly. You must accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Lord part refers to Jesus being your boss while you are alive on Earth and your Savior when you die so you will be "saved" from going to hell. And it's not a "free gift" as Christianity promises. If it were free, a person could convert to Christianity and keep on being a Muslim or a Jew or an atheist and when they die, they would still get to go to heaven -- even if they didn't believe there was one! Now that would be a loving God indeed.

---------------------------------------------
Jonathan M.A. Ghaffar is co-host of the twice weekly radio show "Understanding Islam with Imam Shamshad." He is a student of Islam, comparative religion and the historical Jesus. He can be reached at: JonathanMAG@Gmal.com

-- The paradox of Christian belief in light of John 1:1 and 1:14
-- Ahmadiyya Times

UK: Prominant Rusian writer and poet Ravil Bukharaev passes away

2012-01-26T04:00:00.001-08:00

Mr Bukharaev, who had mastered 9 languages, published over 30 books and represented Russia on a number of occasions at international book fairs.

Photo: Google images / Black Quadrat

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
By Staff writer | January 25, 2011

The Prominent writer and poet Ravil Bukharaev passed away on24 January 2012 in London, the Russian Embassy announced yesterday.

The Embassy expressed its condolences to the family of thedeceased.

Ravil Bukharaev was born in 1951 in Kazan, Republic ofTatarstan (Russia).

According to the Embassy’s press release, Mr. Bukharaev wasa member of the Union of Soviet Writers Since 1977and he was also a member ofsimilar writers’ associations in a number of other countries.

Mr. Bukharaev played a prominent part in the life of theRussian community in the UK where he lived since 1990, the release furtheradded.

Mr Bukharaev, who had mastered 9 languages, published over30 books and represented Russia on a number of occasions at international bookfairs, had received several Russian and Tatarstanawards.

Ravil Bukharaev, a born Muslim, joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his personal research into his faith.

---------
-- UK: Prominant writer and poet Ravil Bukharaev passes away
-- Edited by Imran Jattala

Ahmadis who stood Tall - IV | Afghanistan ~ Mullah Naematullah

2012-01-26T01:00:00.001-08:00

“O land of Kabul! you are a witness to the heinous crime committed on your soil. O miserable land! you have, in the sight of Allah, been condemned as you are the scene of this most atrocious crime.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Munir Khan
By Munir Khan | January 26, 2011

On 31st of August 1924 a Muslim holy man who had been imprisoned for many months in a dark, windowless cell in a dungeon in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan heard the sound of a drumbeat in the distance. As the sound of the drumbeat drew closer he could make out the sound of the town crier calling the people of Kabul to gather that evening at the main maydaan (open ground) to witness a great public spectacle. The event was to be no ordinary spectacle but the public stoning to death of the holy man himself sitting in that dark cell.

Some year previously another Muslim holy man of great renown had been imprisoned and publicly stoned to death in Kabul. He too had been an Ahmadi and for many years the Ahmadis of Kabul had been dispersed and had been living in hiding constantly under fear of arrest.
But by 1919 it was felt that an Ahmadi should return to Kabul to care for the spiritual wellbeing of the remaining Ahmadis in Afghanistan. Mullah Naematullah a young Afghan seminary student who had been studying in Qadian was asked to return to Kabul. He was instructed not to advertise the fact that he was an Ahmadi and thus invite the ire of the virulent mullahs but to go about his business discreetly and to engage primarily in Tarbiyyat.

Kabul was at the time ruled by Amir Amanullah Khan the son of Amir Habibullah Khan. He was a man ostensibly known as someone who was of a more western and cosmopolitan frame of mind. When the young Naematullah heard an announcement declaring that in Kabul there would be complete freedom of religion he communicated this fact to Hadhrat Mirza Bashir ud Din Mahmood Ahmad Khalifatul Masih II, and enquired whether he should go about his activities more openly. Remembering the past duplicity of the Amir’s father in his treatment of Ahmadis, Hadhur wisely and prudently took steps to ensure that the Amir stuck to his word.

In August 1919 a delegation led by Mohammed Tarzi former Ambassador to France and currently the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan arrived in Mansoori, India to negotiate a treaty with the British. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II despatched a delegation led by Naik Mohammed Khan Ghaznavi an Afghan Ahmadi national settled in Qadian to meet the Afghan delegation and seek assurances regarding the remaining Ahmadis of Kabul. Such assurances were given by Sardar Tarzi and the delegation was assured that Ahmadis wold be safe in Afghanistan.

Mullah Naematullah was told of these assurances, but was nevertheless urged to have them re-confirmed in Kabul and further letters were written to Sardar Tarzi and to the well-known Turk General Jamal Pasha resident in Kabul and someone who was influential at court and a confidante of the King. Once again fulsome assurances were received from all official quarters assuring Ahmadis that they would be safe in Afghanistan.

Before leaving for Afghanistan, and whilst he was still in Peshawar waiting to leave for Kabul Mullah Naematullah had met Hadhrat Qazi Muhmmad Yusuf Sahib of Mardan and the Ameer of the Ahmadiyya jamaat in NWFP .Hadhrat Qazi Sahib had been concerned for the young man’s welfare and had asked the young Mullah Naematullah:

“suppose the Amir breaks his promise and you are faced with the same fate as Sahibzada Abdul Lateef who had been stoned to death what would be your reaction; would you remain firm in your belief or flee Kabul?”.

The young Mullah Naematullah replied quietly:

“Qazi Sahib, I can only answer that question when I am faced with such a situation any other answer could well be considered a boast made without real foundation.”

History would show that in duplicity and treachery Amir Amanullah Khan proved to be his father’s son and reneged on all the assurances given to the jamaat. As soon as Mullah Naematullah came out in the open, he was arrested and incarcerated in prison. The prison in Kabul was nothing more than a dungeon and cesspit and apart from the absence of light he was kept in complete isolation. Left to his thoughts he spent his time in prayer and contemplation and in his imagination wandered down the narrow streets of his beloved Qadian, and remembered the days spent in prayer and reflection. He remembered how after Fajr prayers he would walk to the graveyard of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and offer silent prayers and gaze at the plaque on which the names of the other two Afghan martyrs (Hadhrat Sahibzada Abdul Lateef & Hadhrat Maulvi Abdul Rehman) were also inscribed, and wonder if his name would also join that list of blessed martyrs. In one of his last letters smuggled out he wrote:

“As darkness deepens, simultaneously, to a corresponding degree Allah grants me light of the heart and tranquillity”

He was filled with such nobility of heart that he was more concerned for his fellow Ahmadis that they may be concerned and worried for his welfare; and in particular he was worried that Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih would be deeply perturbed for his welfare. From his cell he wrote:

“I request my Ahmadi brethren to pray to the Almighty that I may be able serve my faith. Throughout my days in prison I have been praying. Oh Lord grant this unworthy servant the ability to serve the faith. I am not asking for release from prison or deliverance from death. I only ask Oh Lord do enable this unworthy and sinful servant to sacrifice every particle of his body for Islam. If it is destined that I should die then grant me my wish, that along with the names of the companions of the Promised Messiah(PBUH) my name be also inscribed upon the epitaph which is placed in the Bahishti Maqbara.

Name of this servant -Naematullah Khan son of Amanullah Age 34”

After languishing many months in a Kabul dungeon and suffering indignities and cruelties too awful to contemplate on the 31st August 1924 Mullah Naematullah was finally about to hear his fate. The people of Kabul heard the sound of the beating drum that announced important events in the city. The town crier announced that the residents of Kabul were summoned to the main ground to witness the public stoning of an individual. Mullah Naematullah could also hear the drum and heard the sound of his own sentence being announced throughout the city, and yet despite this he remained stoic and calm and prepared to meet his maker. He had written all his final letters and shortly before Zuhr this young 30 old man who had the rest of his life to look forward to, and was on the cusp of his young life was led out of the dark dungeon in which he had languished for so many months. It was a bright beautiful day as he was led out from the darkness. He had been offered many opportunities to recant, but had refused all such offers. It was later said by witnesses, that as he was dragged through the streets of Kabul chained and shackled there was a look of tranquillity upon his face.

Mullah Naematullah was known for his piety throughout Kabul and many citizens of the city were witness to his diligence in observing all the fundamentals of Islam. There were many in the crowd who were troubled that such a devout, religious young man who recited the Kalima Shahida and faced Qibla whilst praying should be faced with such a fate; and yet they remained silent spectators.

For the people of Kabul this was a public spectacle and thousands had begun to gather after Zuhur in the great Maydaan with an air of excitement & expectancy. The bloodlust amongst the people as they gathered stones and rocks for the great sport was palpable. Upon arrival in the ground the still chained and shackled Mullah Naematullah sought permission from his tormentors to perform his Asar prayer. This caused much consternation but after some debate amongst the mullahs he was granted such permission. With quiet grace and equanimity this young man with a courage and bravery that is difficult to contemplate performed his prayers; whilst thousands of bloodthirsty spectators silently looked on. After completing his prayers he got up and faced his tormentors. In a loud clear voice he recited a well-known Hadith and declared to the crowd that:

“He who offers his prayers like us facing Qibla and eats meat in the prescribed manner is indeed a Muslim.” (Sahih Bukhari)

A shallow hole had been dug and the young Mullah Naematullah was buried up to the waist in that shallow hole, and the ground firmed up around him, so that he could not struggle free. A signal was given and the bloodthirsty mob made a circle around him and drew closer.

As the first stone struck Mullah Naematullah he loudly called out the Kalima Tayyaba:

“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger.”

For as long as the rocks and stones hit his bruised and bloodied body he kept reciting these words loudly and firmly. Not one of the bloodthirsty and frenzied mob felt any shame that they were stoning to death a fellow Muslim, who was reciting the same Kalima Tayyaba that they recited. He was pelted with rocks and stones until his body were covered with rocks, and his young life was extinguished. Young Mullah Naematullah Shaheed’s suffering had come to an end and had “slipped the surly bonds of earth” and “touched the face of God”

Some days later in Peshawar Hadhrat Qazi Muhammad Yusuf Sahib received a letter. Upon opening the letter he discovered it was from Mullah Naematullah in which he had written:

“Revered Qazi Sahib,
By the time you receive this letter I will have answered the question that you posed to me during our final meeting in Peshawar.”

Like Hadhrat Imam Hussein before him Hadhrat Mullah Naeemuddin was martyred during the month of Muharram (29th),and the land of Kabul after shedding the blood of this Ahmadi martyr has flown with blood to this day.

“O land of Kabul! you are a witness to the heinous crime committed on your soil. O miserable land! you have, in the sight of Allah, been condemned as you are the scene of this most atrocious crime.” (Mirza Ghulam Ahmad)

-------------
-- Ahmadis who stood Tall IV -Afghanistan Mullah Naematullah
-- By Munir Khan

UK: Khalifa of Islam Receives Canada's Foreign Minister at the London Mosque

2012-01-25T22:00:00.001-08:00

...[T]he Holy Qur’an taught respect for all religions to such an extent that Muslims have been ordered to not only protect their own mosques but to protect all places of worship, whether they be churches, synagogues or temples. [Mirza Masroor Ahmad]

Photo: Al Islam

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Daily Star | Canada
By The Daily Star | January 26, 2012

Canadian FM meets leader of Ahmadiyya Muslims, Mirza Masroor Ahmad

Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird MP on Tuesday visited the world head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad at the Fazl Mosque in London, said a press release.

During the meeting, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad highlighted the on going repression against the Ahmadiyyas across the globe, most notably in Pakistan where the sect faces regular religious persecution.

Update [by Ahmadiyya Times]:

The Foreign Minister said, according to the press release, that he was very concerned whenever he heard of such matters and it was against such systematic persecution that Canada envisioned the Office of Religious Freedom to act. He said that he believed that where religious freedom existed, there other rights would naturally develop.

Hadhrat Ahmad, for his part, informed the Foreign Minister that the Holy Qur’an taught respect for all religions to such an extent that Muslims have been ordered to not only protect their own mosques but to protect all places of worship, whether they be churches, synagogues or temples.

Praising the Canadian initiative of setting up 'Office of Religious Freedom' to fight religious oppression, Hadhrat Ahmad condemned these violence and called for peace.

-- Edited by Ahmadiyya Times

Read original post here: Canadian FM meets leader of Ahmadiyya

How to Integrate Europe’s Muslims

2012-01-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

This neglect of integration helped an unregulated “underground Islam” to take hold in storefronts, basements and courtyards. It reflected wishful thinking about how long guest workers would stay and perpetuated a myth of eventual departure and repatriation.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: The New York Time | Op-Ed
By Jonathan Laurence | January 23, 2012

TWO weeks ago, dozens of cars were set alight in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand after a 30-year-old truck driver, Wissam El-Yamni, was roughed up and then died while in police custody. The uproar underscored the hostility of young minority men toward authority across communities in Europe, an antipathy that has at times led to deadly violence.

The failure of Islamic integration in Europe is often attributed — especially by right-wing parties — to an excess of tolerance toward the large-scale Muslim immigration that began in the mid-1970s. By recognizing Muslim religious requirements, the argument goes, countries like France, Britain and the Netherlands have unwittingly hindered assimilation and even, in some cases, fostered radicalism. But the unrest in gritty European suburbs stems not from religious difference, but from anomie.

Europeans should not be afraid to allow Muslim students to take classes on Islam in state-financed schools and universities. The recognition and accommodation of Islamic religious practices, from clothing to language to education, does not mean capitulation to fundamentalism. On the contrary, only by strengthening the democratic rights of Muslim citizens to form associations, join political parties and engage in other aspects of civic life can Europe integrate immigrants and give full meaning to the abstract promise of religious liberty.

The rise of right-wing, anti-immigrant parties has led several European countries to impose restrictions on Islamic dress, mosque-building and reunification of families through immigration law. These policies are counterproductive. Paradoxically, people for whom religion is otherwise not all that important become more attached to their faith’s clothing, symbols and traditions when they feel they are being singled out and denied basic rights.

Take, for example, the French debate over whether to recognize the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha as official holidays. Yes, the French state clings to the principle of “laïcité,” or secularism — but the state’s recognition of Easter and Christmas as official holidays feels, to some Jews and Muslims, like hypocrisy. It is Islam’s absence in the institutions young European Muslims encounter, starting with the school’s calendar, classroom and canteen, that contributes to anger and alienation.

In the last few months, there have been some signs that the right-wing momentum has slowed. A French bill to ban headscarves from day care centers was killed in committee. The Dutch Parliament voted down a bill to outlaw Islamic animal slaughter. And Germany’s most populous state helped offset a judicial ban on school prayer by announcing equal access to religion courses for Muslim students.

European countries could use a period of benign neglect of the Islam issue — but only after they finish incorporating religion into the national fabric. For too long, they have instead masked an absence of coherent integration policy under the cloak of “multiculturalism.” The state outsourced the hard work of integration to foreign diplomats and Islamist institutions — for example, some students in Germany read Saudi-supplied textbooks in Saudi-run institutions.

This neglect of integration helped an unregulated “underground Islam” to take hold in storefronts, basements and courtyards. It reflected wishful thinking about how long guest workers would stay and perpetuated a myth of eventual departure and repatriation.

In Britain, for example, race-based equality laws protected Sikhs and Jews as minorities, but not Hindus and Muslims, since they were still considered “foreign.”

Institutional exclusion fueled a demand for religious recognition, and did much to unite and segregate Muslims. Islamist organizations became the most visible defenders of the faith. It is crucial now to provide the right mix of institutional incentives for religious and political moderation, and the most promising strategy for doing that is for governments to consult with the full range of law-abiding religious institutions that Muslims have themselves established.

The French Council for the Muslim Faith, the German Islam Conference, the Committee for Italian Islam and the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board in Britain — all state-sanctioned Islamic organizations set up in the past decade — represent a broad cross-section of mosque administrators in every country. They have quietly begun reconciling many practical issues, from issuing mosque permits to establishing Islamic theology departments at public universities to appointing chaplains in the military and in prisons.

Ultimately, however, elected democratic institutions are the place where the desires of individual Muslims should be expressed. Ever since 1789, when a French legislator argued that “the Jews should be denied everything as a nation, but granted everything as individuals,” Europeans have struggled to resolve the tension between rights derived from universal citizenship versus group membership.

Over the next 20 years, Europe’s Muslim population is projected to grow to nearly 30 million — 7 to 8 percent of all Europeans — from around 17 million. Granting Muslims full religious freedom wouldn’t remove obstacles to political participation or create jobs. But it would at least allow tensions over Muslims’ religious practices to fade. This would avoid needless sectarian strife and clear the way for politicians to address the more vexing and urgent challenges of socioeconomic integration.

Jonathan Laurence, an associate professor of political science at Boston College, is the author of “The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration.”

Read original post here: How to Integrate Europe’s Muslims

Sri Lanka 'expels 161 foreign Muslim preachers'

2012-01-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

A senior immigration official was quoted as saying that the clerics had no right to preach in mosques because they had arrived on tourist visas.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: BBC News
By BBC | January 22, 2012

Sri Lanka has reportedly ordered 161 foreign Muslim preachers to leave the country for flouting visa regulations.

A senior immigration official was quoted as saying that the clerics had no right to preach in mosques because they had arrived on tourist visas.

He also said that some local Muslims had complained that the visitors were not teaching a moderate form of Islam.

The preachers - from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Arab nations - must now leave by 31 January.

'Laughable idea'

"They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family, and not to preach Islam," Sri Lanka's immigration head Chulananda Perera told the AFP news agency.

Mr Perera said the group belonged to Tablighi Jamaat - an international Islamic movement popular in Sri Lanka and the region.

A Muslim source told the BBC that the movement sends groups of preachers to places of worship, urging Muslims to devote more time to their faith and act more devoutly.

Any idea that they were militant was laughable, the source added.

Muslim members of Sri Lanka's government have expressed concern at the mass expulsion, and are expected to meet other officials later on Monday to try to delay the move.

The news has also created consternation in the Muslim community in Sri Lanka, the third largest ethnic group in the country after Sinhalese and Tamils, the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo reports.

During the long civil war the community was often caught between the two warring parties and it has a reputation for moderation, our correspondent adds.

Update [by Ahmadiyya Times]

Although the 'Muslim source' of BBC may may have found it 'laughable,' the Wikipedia entry about the outfit notes a possible terrorism connection.

Despite its pacifist stance, says Wikipedia, "Tabligh Jamaat has appeared on the fringes of numerous terrorism investigations."

"Tablighi Jamaat's role as a springboard to terrorist organizations has been questioned several times but there is no evidence that the Tabligh Jamaat deliberately act as a recruiting arm for Islamic militant organizations," Wikipedia wrote citing multiple sources for and against the allegation..

Read original post here: Sri Lanka 'expels 161 foreign Muslim preachers'

USA: The two faces of Muslim life in the US

2012-01-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

The United States can legitimately pride itself on the extent to which it is still capable of benevolently assimilating diverse peoples, creeds and cultures into its body politic.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Al Jazeera | Articles
By Robert Grenier | 23 Jan 2012

While assimilation of Muslim communities in US society is laudable, a creeping Islamophobia is undermining it.

Washington, DC - The long procession snaked around an open, hash-marked field, while an amateurish band blared and tweeted into a darkening sky. Moments before, I had sat shivering forlornly in the stands, having been importuned by friends, somewhat against my will, to attend a high-school football game on a cold December evening.

But here was something which captured my attention, a bit of Americana which I had never seen before. Each of the graduating seniors from the home team, about to play in his last game, was circling the field, accompanied by his parents. When each group of three approached mid-field, their names were read out, and the crowd cheered them in turn.

As might be expected in this Washington-area suburb, the players and their parents made for a highly diverse assemblage. But as they paraded by, my eye was drawn to one trio in particular. Their clothing, and perhaps a certain meekness in their bearing, marked the parents as recent immigrants. The gentleman was slight and bandy-legged, his wife small and plumpish, wrapped in a dark hijab. Like the other mothers, she wore over her coat the outsize football jersey of her strapping son, who loomed over his parents, the product, no doubt, of a solidly hormone-enhanced American diet. I tried to guess at their national origin when the name was announced. Persian? Afghan-Tajik? One couldn't be sure, and it really didn't matter. What mattered was the face of this woman, her shyness at the crowd's acknowledgement completely overwhelmed by beaming pride as she looked up at her son. I don't believe I have ever seen anyone more happily transported in my life.

One might be forgiven a bit of nationalistic satisfaction at a scene which underscores the American ideal, which gives testimony to the notion that here is a place where the poor, the humble and the oppressed can find refuge, a place of tolerance where the son or daughter of the humblest immigrant can find acceptance and a fair opportunity for betterment, even if he or she represents a religion or a place of origin deemed threatening by others.

That swell of satisfaction, though, had had its counterpoint earlier the same day. While on a speaking engagement in New England, I had seen a reminder in the local press of the very different reception accorded to Muslims - and specifically Muslims - who may not seem so benign, and who do not assimilate so easily into the political and cultural mainstream of the US.

The trial of Tarek Mehanna, a 29-year-old product of suburban Massachusetts and Egyptian-born parents, was drawing to a close that day in the US First District Court in Boston. Mr Mehanna, it would appear, is an angry, and perhaps troubled young man. Seized of what he regards as US misdeeds in the Middle East, he had travelled to Yemen, allegedly to seek training in "terrorist camps". Having failed to find such camps, or to gain such training, but perhaps having provided an earnest of his radical views, Tarek returned to the United States, where he contented himself instead by providing online English translations of al-Qaeda videos and texts. Such activities appear to have attracted the unfavourable attention of federal authorities. When Mehanna refused to become their informant, they were able to spin a pattern of inconsequential foreign travel and radical advocacy into a multi-count indictment, including "conspiracy to kill in a foreign country" and "providing material support to terrorists".

A few days after my Boston visit, the jury, having been treated by prosecutors to regular references to bin Laden and exposed to images of the twin towers burning, handed down its verdict: Guilty on all counts. The reaction of the prosecuting US attorney was perhaps unintentionally revealing: "Once the government learned that Mr Mehanna - of his intentions toward America, especially American soldiers, and his increasing radicalisation, to have done nothing would have been inexcusable." Yes, Tarek Mehanna's views might well eventually have gotten him into trouble of a genuinely criminal sort, absent some intervention. The prosecutor clearly went to energetic lengths to help a good young man from going bad. As a result of those efforts, Mehanna will be eligible for life imprisonment when his sentence in passed down in April, which will make it far easier for the authorities to protect him from himself.

There are right-wing blogs which conveniently provide a much more comprehensive inventory of the startlingly large number of terrorism indictments being handed down against Muslims in the US - far larger than a passing familiarity with the mainstream press would provide. Yes, there have been a small number of genuine terrorist conspiracies uncovered in the US since 2001, and yes, radicalisation in the US Muslim community is a genuine, if grossly exaggerated, concern. But one need not be either paranoid or a conspiracy theorist to wonder how it is that the vast majority of such so-called terrorism indictments lodged in the US seem to involve people who have engaged in little more than aggressive talk, and that invariably - at the centre of the purported conspiracy - is a federal informant.

To unravel this conspiracy one must take into account only two things: First, the palpable fear of Muslim radicalism afoot in the US, encouraged by certain self-interested politicians and magnified by an uncritical and sensation-seeking press; and second, that an ambitious federal prosecutor has the discretion to choose between a career of putting garden-variety bank robbers behind bars until he or she collects a pension, or making a genuine name for herself by bringing a high-profile terrorism case successfully to trial. Under the circumstances, it would not be so surprising that prosecutors might be tempted by various thinly disguised forms of entrapment.

There are many evils in the world that have at their heart bureaucratic banality. Such banality risks bringing Muslim America a half-step away from the thought police.

The United States can legitimately pride itself on the extent to which it is still capable of benevolently assimilating diverse peoples, creeds and cultures into its body politic. But the country also needs to awaken to the extent to which a creeping Islamophobia is progressively placing its freedoms, its values, its civic culture, and ultimately its security, at risk.

Robert Grenier is a retired, 27-year veteran of the CIA's Clandestine Service. He was Director of the CIA's Counter-Terrorism Center from 2004 to 2006.

Former CIA station chief Robert Grenier heads ERG partners, a financial consultancy firm.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Read original post here: The two faces of Muslim life in the US

USA: NYC Police Throw Navy SEAL Into Psych Ward for Claiming…He’s a SEAL

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months, other out-of-towners, however, including a former marine, have been arrested for illegal gun possession in New York and face years in prison despite pleas for leniency.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Yahoo News |
By The Blaze | January 24, 2012

A Virginia man claimed to be a Navy SEAL to talk his way out of a gun possession arrest on Thursday, and the New York Police Department committed him to a psych ward thinking his claims of elite military status were the rantings of a lunatic.

Turns out the guy was in fact an elite Navy SEAL.

But as the New York Post put it, telling the NYPD "I'm in an elite military unit, you can't arrest me," doesn't help much when the city's draconian gun laws are at issue.

Twenty-nine-year-old Shaun Day was on a leave from his duty as a Navy SEAL duty when cops nailed him for running a red light in Manhattan, New York on Thursday.

NYPD officers searched Day's pickup truck and found a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and three magazines full of ammo.

During the arrest, police claim Day was babbling incoherently and repeatedly claimed that he was an elite Navy SEAL with “top- secret clearance,” but was unable to provide any documentation for police.

After getting shipped off to the psych ward, sources told The Post the Navy sent staffers to talk to Day in Bellevue Hospital, where he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. According to Gothamist:

"He was released [Friday] in their care, and they were going to treat him for post-traumatic stress. All charges against Day have been deferred, and it's unclear how he was able to prove his status."

So far, the charges against Day of weapons possession and a traffic violation have been deferred.

Over the past few months, other out-of-towners, however, including a former marine, have been arrested for illegal gun possession in New York and face years in prison despite pleas for leniency.

Editor's note: The lawyer for former Marine Ryan Jerome, one of those arrested recently, joined The Blaze Editor-in-Chief Scott Baker on Friday's GBTV 'For the Record' program. Here's an excerpt from that interview:

Read original post here: NYC Police Throw Navy SEAL Into Psych Ward for Claiming…He’s a SEAL

UK: Canada’s Foreign Minister visits Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in London

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

His Holiness informed the Foreign Minister that the Holy Qur’an taught respect for all religions to such an extent that Muslims have been ordered to not only protect their own mosques but to protect all places of worship, whether they be churches, synagogues or temples.

Photo: Al Islam

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Press Release
By Staff reporter | January 25, 2012

How the Canadian ‘Office of Religious Freedom’ should function?

Yesterday, Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird MP, visited the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad at the Fazl Mosque in London.

His Excellency, Gordon Campbell, the Canadian High Commissioner to the UK and other members of staff were also present at the meeting which lasted around forty minutes.

During the meeting, the Foreign Minister mentioned how the Canadian Government was in the process of setting up an ‘Office of Religious Freedom’ and sought the views of His Holiness about how such an Office should function.
In response, His Holiness explained that Islam taught that every person should be free to practise his religion openly and without fear of discrimination. He said that irrespective of religious differences, all members of a society should live together with a spirit of unity, peace and tolerance and that this was what the Office of Religious Freedom should strive to achieve throughout the world.

His Holiness spoke about the persecution faced by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in various countries, most notably in Pakistan. Speaking about the situation there, he said, that quite apart from religious persecution, the community were deprived also of their basic civic rights. His Holiness said:

“In Pakistan all Ahmadi Muslims are denied their basic rights. We are unable to call ourselves Muslims or use Islamic terms. My name is Masroor, but in Pakistan if somebody calls me this, then that person can be arrested and punished. Thus such laws that persecute and curtail basic rights must be changed. It is essential that religious views should not impact or interfere with Government policies.”

The Foreign Minister said that he was very concerned whenever he heard of such matters and it was against such systematic persecution that Canada envisioned the Office of Religious Freedom to act. He said that he believed that where religious freedom existed, there other rights would naturally develop.

Photo: Al Islam

His Holiness also used the meeting to praise Western efforts to promote religious freedom and he said that in particular Canada deserved praise for this. He said that the efforts of the Canadian government to promote integration and religious tolerance had led to the Fourth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat to once remark that he hoped the entire world would become like Canada. In response the Foreign Minister said that Canada truly valued the benefits of having a relatively open immigration system.

His Holiness mentioned that when he last visited Canada in 2008, he was very grateful that Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the opening of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat’s new mosque in Calgary and indeed the Prime Minister even delayed his departure for an international summit in Japan so that he could take part in the event.

His Holiness also informed the Foreign Minister that the Holy Qur’an taught respect for all religions to such an extent that Muslims have been ordered to not only protect their own mosques but to protect all places of worship, whether they be churches, synagogues or temples.

Read original post here: Canada’s Foreign Minister visits Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in London

Sharia Law: Coming to a Courthouse near you?

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

My study of Muslim marriage and divorce among North America shows that American Muslims are unanimous in their opinion that the courts have no role to play in the enforcement of their private sharia obligations, which they regard as a matter for their private conscience.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: British Council | Blog
By Julie Macfarlane | January 20, 2012

Public fears and ignorance about sharia law have led to a series of state referenda in the U.S. that would ban state courts from considering or using Islamic law, if passed. One of the first states to pass such an amendment after a public referendum was Oklahoma, where a 70 percent majority passed a ballot proposal to “forbid courts from looking at international law or sharia law when deciding cases” in November 2010.

The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations immediately brought a legal challenge, arguing that the amendment discriminated against Muslims by singling out the tenets of their faith. A federal court judge then issued an injunction to stall the judgment from going into effect, and now a federal appeals court has upheld her decision. The judgment of the Court of Appeals 10th Circuit Court was unanimous, concluding that such an amendment would amount to discriminatory treatment of a particular religious tradition.

The appeals court addressed two problems with the amendment: the fact that it singles out Islam and not the law of any other religion, and the failure of the appellants to show any actual (rather than speculative and imagined) harm. The appellants could not provide a single example of an Oklahoma court applying sharia law.
Do not expect any successful reopening of the legal issues here any time soon. Efforts to draft amendments in other states that avoid one of the problems with the Oklahoma amendment – by referring more generally to international law and not singling out sharia – are also unlikely to be successful because they ban the courts from not only applying but even considering sharia, or any other international law. In fact, courts consider (but do not apply) other laws all the time: for example, when a contract has been originally been drawn up in another country or when freely contracting parties have agreed to apply any set of principles they choose to their future disputes.

It is common sense that courts must be able to consider the context (for example a commercial agreement in which the parties agree to be bound by the law of another jurisdiction, or a domestic contract in which spouses agree to marry or divorce on certain terms) in order to understand the original expectations and intentions of the parties, and reach a just decision based on American law. Any amendment prohibiting state courts from considering other laws would undermine this fundamental operating principle of American jurisprudence.

More important to understand is the complete lack of substance behind the so-called “moral panic” generated by the proponents of the nationwide campaign to “ban sharia law.” In Oklahoma, the amendment was dubbed the “Save Our State” amendment and its proponents claimed repeatedly to the news media that there was a real and present danger of Oklahoma courts applying sharia.

Even the anti-sharia movement itself cannot substantiate any such claim. Take, for example, the Center for Security Policy, a major proponent of the claim that federal courts are applying sharia law. A closer look at their analysis of 20 federal cases actually found that in 19 of the cases, American civil courts placed extraordinarily high thresholds on orders made in Muslim jurisdictions, or contracts or agreements involving Muslim parties that referred to Islamic law. Just one case in this group generates real concern – the refusal of a New Jersey criminal court in 2010 to issue a restraining order against a Muslim man on the grounds that he believed that he had the right to non-consensual sex with his wife (an interpretation of Islamic law that most Muslim scholars would challenge today). What the analysis does not mention is that this order was reversed almost immediately on appeal and a restraining order issued.

So what’s the real story here? It’s not that the courts are applying sharia – but that American Muslims who use the courts find little or no acknowledgement there of the importance and vitality of their Islamic customs and principles. My study of Muslim marriage and divorce among North America shows that American Muslims are unanimous in their opinion that the courts have no role to play in the enforcement of their private sharia obligations, which they regard as a matter for their private conscience. In U.S. courts, a marriage or divorce agreement that makes any reference to Islam will be disregarded. This means that women cannot enforce agreements to pay them a mahr, or marriage dowry. As a practical matter, this creates considerable personal hardship for some women and is far more deserving of our attention than baseless assertions over the “coming of sharia law” to our courthouses.

Read original post here: Sharia Law: Coming to a Courthouse near you?

Muslims flying the flag for Australia Day

2012-01-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

...[L]ocal people had expressed interest in the organisation and members were excited that the wider community would get an opportunity to gain a better understanding of what the group was about.

Photo: Peninsula Weekly / Daryl Gordon

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Peninsula Weekly
By Peninsula Weekly | January 25, 2012

Imran, Fakhar, Abdul and Nasir of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association got into the true-blue spirit last week in preparation for their Australia Day celebration day this Sunday.

Event co-ordinator Naureen Choudhry said the association was looking forward to opening its Langwarrin doors and were inviting the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston communities to share the celebrations and learn more about the Ahmadiyya Muslims.

She said local people had expressed interest in the organisation and members were excited that the wider community would get an opportunity to gain a better understanding of what the group was about.

"We felt this enthusiasm and thought we'd capitalise on it to make some friends and share our culture."

The open day will include a formal program from 11am, followed by a social hour, including a barbecue and henna tattoo stall.

The event will be held at the Ahmadiyya Centre, 6 Leisureland Drive, Langwarrin. Details: Naureen on 9704 6857 or Imran, 0432 245 382.

Read original post here: Flying the flag for Australia Day

Afghanistan: Little Progress on Rights; Conditions Dire, Especially for Women

2012-01-25T01:00:00.001-08:00

Infant mortality and maternal mortality remain among the highest in the world, with one in ten children dying before age five, and a woman dying of pregnancy-related causes approximately every two hours. Under-age marriage and forced marriage are widespread.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Human Rights Watch
By HRW | January 24, 2012

(New York) – The dire human rights situation in Afghanistan showed few signs of progress in the past year, raising serious concerns about the future, Human Right Watch said today in its World Report 2012.

While progress was made in Afghanistan in several areas, the general population and women in particular suffered from the widespread lawlessness and abuses by the security forces and armed groups, Human Rights Watch said. International “donor fatigue” and the planned drawdown of international troops in 2014 raise the prospect of further deterioration and backtracking in key areas.

“The snail’s pace of human rights improvement over the past year heightens anxieties about Afghanistan’s future,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Basic rights are still not a reality for most Afghans. The country suffers from abuses without accountability, lack of rule of law, poor governance, laws and policies that harm women, attacks on civilians, and corruption.”

In its 676-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined. Given the violent forces resisting the “Arab Spring,” the international community has an important role to play in assisting the formation of rights-respecting democracies in the region, Human Rights Watch said in the report.

In Afghanistan, women’s rights are of particular concern, Human Rights Watch said. Since the defeat of Taliban rule in 2001, Afghan women have taken on more leadership roles, as members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police officers, soldiers, civil society officials, and human rights activists. But many have been targeted for threats and violence.

Ordinary Afghan women lack many basic protections, Human Rights Watch said. The Taliban and other armed groups attack and threaten women, frequently focusing on women in public life, school girls, and the staff of girls’ schools. The government incarcerates women and girls for “moral crimes” such as running away from home – even when there is no statutory prohibition. Infant mortality and maternal mortality remain among the highest in the world, with one in ten children dying before age five, and a woman dying of pregnancy-related causes approximately every two hours. Under-age marriage and forced marriage are widespread.

Recent reforms, like the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, have largely failed to improve the lives of ordinary women, as the government is not enforcing its provisions, Human Rights Watch said.

Afghanistan’s justice system remains weak and compromised, and a large proportion of the population relies instead on traditional justice mechanisms to resolve disputes. Corruption in the courts and police have cut off many Afghans from justice. The January 2012transfer of Afghanistan’s prisons to the Interior Ministry reversed an important 2003 reform and increases the risk of torture of prisoners. Documentation in 2011 of systematic and widespread torture in Afghan detention facilities shows the failings of past reform efforts. Human rights abuses are endemic within the traditional justice system, with many practices persisting despite being outlawed, including baad, the practice of handing over a girl to another family to resolve a dispute.

The Afghan government and its international allies have not addressed the longstanding security problems created by abusive regional commanders and militias, Human Rights Watch said. Regional commanders who have been implicated in serious abuses benefit from US military support to strengthen their control of local populations at the expense of human rights. A US-supported “Afghan Local Police”program has a created a new kind of local militia without sufficient training, oversight or accountability. US plans to triple the size of the Afghan Local Police heighten concerns that this force will worsen the security situation.

The Afghan government has repeatedly squandered opportunities to hold government or militia leaders responsible for abuses committed under their command, Human Rights Watch said. The 2005 Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice has never been implemented, and no serious efforts have been made to prosecute high-level officials for corruption and other abuses. No progress has been made on seeking accountability for abuses committed before late 2001, whether during the Soviet period, the civil conflict of the early and mid-1990s, or the Taliban period.

“Afghans want justice and an accounting for the abuses of the past,” Adams said. “Yet the Afghan government and its backers, particularly the US, have not only ignored these calls but empowered the same warlords and power brokers who brought the country so much pain. Accountability is an important element of a lasting peace.”

Conflict-related abuses are a daily reality in many parts of the country. During the past decade, thousands of Afghans have suffered as a result of violations of international humanitarian law by insurgent forces, militias, and Afghan government and international forces.

The Taliban and other insurgent forces have committed widespread violations, in particular bombings that target civilians, and other attacks that do not discriminate between military targets and civilians. The Taliban have also used children as young as 8 years old as suicide bombers. All sides have mistreated people in their custody. Large areas of the country, especially the south, are now held by insurgent forces, who frequently violate human rights. Other areas are lawless zones in which no real governance exists.

Human Rights Watch called on the Afghan government to make human rights a top priority and on Afghanistan’s international partners to make a long-term commitment to support human rights, the security of the population, and development in Afghanistan.

“The Afghan government needs to recognize the link between respect for human rights and the security of the population,” Adams said. “The government and its international partners should redouble their commitments to supporting accountability, justice reform, women’s rights, education and health, and civil society.”

Read original post here: Afghanistan: Little Progress on Rights

Pakistan: Court Widens Role, Stirring Fears for Stability

2012-01-24T22:00:00.000-08:00

“The judges are not elected representatives of the people and they are arrogating power to themselves as if they are the only sanctimonious institution in the country. All dictators fall prey to this psyche — that only we are clean, and capable of doing the right thing.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The New York Times
By Declan Walsh | January 22, 2012

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Once they were heroes, cloaked justices at the vanguard of a powerful revolt against military rule in Pakistan, buoyed by pugnacious lawyers and an adoring public. But now Pakistan’s Supreme Court is waging a campaign of judicial activism that has pitted it against an elected civilian government, in a legal fight that many Pakistanis fear could damage their fragile democracy and open the door to a fresh military intervention.

From an imposing, marble-clad court on a hill over Islamabad, and led by an iron-willed chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the judges have since 2009 issued numerous rulings that have propelled them into areas traditionally dominated by government here. The court has dictated the price of sugar and fuel, championed the rights of transsexuals, and, quite literally, directed the traffic in the coastal megalopolis of Karachi.

But in recent weeks the court has taken interventionism to a new level, inserting itself as the third player in a bruising confrontation between military and civilian leaders at a time when Pakistan — and the United States — urgently needs stability in Islamabad to face a dizzying array of threats.

Judges say their expanded mandate comes from the people, dating back to the struggle against the military rule of Gen. Pervez Musharraf that began in 2007, eventually helping to pry him from power. Memories linger of those heady days, when bloodied lawyers clashed with riot police officers, and judges were garlanded and paraded as virtual saints.

In recent months, however, the Supreme Court has ventured deep into political peril in two different cases. Last week, as part of a high-stakes corruption case, it summoned Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to testify in court under threat of contempt charges that, if carried to conviction, could leave him jailed and ejected from office.

The court has also begun an inquiry into a scandal known here as Memogate, a shadowy affair with touches of soap-opera drama that has engulfed the political system since November. It has claimed the job of Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and now threatens other senior figures in the civilian government, under accusations that officials sought American help to head off a potential military coup.

Propelled by accounts of secret letters, text messages and military plots, the scandal has in recent days focused on a music video featuring bikini-clad female wrestlers that is likely to be entered as evidence of immorality on the part of the central protagonist, Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin.

Hearings resume Tuesday when Mr. Ijaz is due to give evidence. The fact that the courts have become the arena for such lurid political theater has reignited criticism, some from once-staunch allies, that the Supreme Court is worryingly overstepping its mark.

“In the long run this is a very dangerous trend,” said Muneer A. Malik, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association who campaigned for Justice Chaudhry in 2007. “The judges are not elected representatives of the people and they are arrogating power to themselves as if they are the only sanctimonious institution in the country. All dictators fall prey to this psyche — that only we are clean, and capable of doing the right thing.”

The court’s supporters counter that it is reinforcing democracy in the face of President Asif Ali Zardari’s corrupt and inept government. On Saturday, Justice Chaudhry pushed back against the critics.

The court’s goal was to “buttress democratic and parliamentary norms,” he told a gathering of lawyers in Karachi. Deep-rooted corruption was curtailing justice in Pakistan, he added.

“Destiny of our institution is in our own hands,” he said.

Mr. Chaudhry was appointed to the Supreme Court under General Musharraf in 2000. Two years later he wrote a judgment that absolved the military ruler for his 1999 coup. But Mr. Chaudhry shocked his patron and his country seven years later with decrees that challenged General Musharraf’s pre-eminence. Senior security officials were ordered to track down individuals being illegally held by the military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or ISI, in some cases working with the F.B.I. and C.I.A. The privatization of state companies came under sharp scrutiny.

Then, on March 9, 2007, General Musharraf tried to fire Justice Chaudhry and placed him under house arrest. Protesting lawyers rushed into the streets in support of the chief justice. New cable television channels broadcast images of the tumult across the country. Power drained from General Musharraf, who resigned 18 months later.

The euphoria was soon tempered, however, by growing tensions with the new government. Mr. Zardari hesitated to reinstate Mr. Chaudhry, believing that he was too close to his political rivals and the military.

The standoff led to fresh street protests in 2009, led by the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. That March, amid dramatic scenes that included a threatened march on the capital, Mr. Zardari relented and Justice Chaudhry returned to the bench.

Within months, the Supreme Court had cleared the way for the possible prosecution of Mr. Zardari in a Swiss corruption case dating to the 1990s. The government cited Mr. Zardari’s presidential immunity, and argued, along with some international analyst groups, that the court was specifically targeting the president.

But among the wider public, the court was winning broad support. It engaged in a series of muscular interventions to champion the cause of ordinary Pakistanis, some of which broke new ground. Judges expanded the civil rights of hijras, transgendered people who traditionally suffered discrimination, called senior bureaucrats and police officials to account, halted business ventures that contravened planning laws, including a McDonald’s restaurant in Islamabad and a German supermarket in Karachi, and issued a decree against the destruction of trees along a major road in Lahore.

The court’s populist bent has infuriated the government but won cheers from urban, middle-class Pakistanis — the same people who had supported the lawyers’ drive against General Musharraf. Largely young, frustrated by traditional politics and angered by official graft, they constitute a political class that has in recent months flocked to Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician who is enjoying a sudden surge in popularity, and is a strong defender of the judiciary.

But the court’s activism has also taken many erratic turns. Justice Chaudhry has fought trenchant battles to win control of judicial appointments, a process traditionally in the government’s purview. While the judiciary has vigorously pursued Mr. Zardari, it absolved Mr. Sharif of his alleged crimes. And critics accuse Mr. Chaudhry of failing to reform the chaotic lower courts, which remain plagued by long backlogs. “Three years after the restitution of the chief justice, the delivery of justice remains as poor as it has ever been,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, of Human Rights Watch.

The gravest charges, though, swirl around the memo scandal. Mr. Ijaz claims to hold an unsigned memorandum showing that Mr. Zardari’s government sought covert United States government help to avert a military coup in the poisonous aftermath of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

But the memo’s provenance is unclear and Mr. Ijaz’s credibility has come under assault in the news media. Last week a music video that went viral on the Internet showed Mr. Ijaz acting as the ringside commentator in a wrestling contest between two bikini-clad women and that, in one version, featured full nudity — a shocking sight in conservative Pakistan.

The furor, which made front-page news, injected a fresh sense of absurdity into proceedings that already were under question, and that many here insist would never have started without military intervention: the Supreme Court ordered the inquiry on Dec. 30 at the direct request of the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the ISI director general, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who harbor little love for Mr. Zardari. Also, the court ignored other claims by Mr. Ijaz that the army secretly sheltered Bin Laden, and sought outside support to mount a coup — acts that, if proven, could be equally treasonous.

Suspicions about the court’s impartiality were renewed last Friday, when Mr. Chaudhry ordered the government to disclose whether it intended to fire General Kayani or General Pasha — even though such decisions are normally the government’s prerogative.

The titanic three-way struggle among generals, judges and politicians comes at a time when Pakistan has become increasingly chaotic. Taliban insurgents continue to roam the northwest, the economy is in dire straits and urgently needed reforms in education, health and other social sectors have been largely ignored.

From the standpoint of the United States, the deadlock has diverted the spotlight from military airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers in November and brought the two countries’ troubled relationship to a new low. But it has also drawn attention away from a pressing priority of the United States in Pakistan: engaging cooperation here to help negotiate a peace settlement with the Afghan Taliban as a major troop withdrawal slated for 2014 draws near.

“In the midst of this institutional wrangling, nobody has a clear plan as to how politics or foreign policy are going to move forward, said Dr. Paula Newberg of Georgetown University, who has written a book about Pakistani constitutional politics. “Pakistan could easily have a much brighter future. But it gets itself worn down by these incessant disputes about where power lies.”

Read original post here: Pakistan Court Widens Role, Stirring Fears for Stability

Indonesia: Sectarian violence has surged, HRW report says

2012-01-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Even in the deadly attack against an Ahmadiyah community in February 2011, when three Ahmadis were killed, attackers were only sentenced to short prison terms of between three and six months for disturbing public order, incitement and assault.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post
By TJP | January 24, 2012

Throughout 2011, Indonesian authorities used excessive force against peaceful protesters in easternmost Papua and stood aside while mobs attacked religious minorities in Java and Sumatra, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2012.

The Indonesian government should release all detainees held for peacefully expressing views opposing the government, mainly Papuan and Moluccan activists, Human Rights Watch said. The government should also thoroughly investigate and prosecute violence against religious and ethnic minorities.

“Police violence in Papua and attacks on religious minorities got a lot worse in 2011,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement on Monday. “The common thread is the failure of the Indonesian government to protect the rights of all its citizens.”

In October, police used excessive force while arresting more than 300 Papuans involved in a three-day Papuan Congress in Jayapura, the provincial capital. At least three men died and more than 90 were injured. No police officers were disciplined but five Papuan leaders were charged with treason.

Further more, Human Rights Watch noted that incidents of violence against religious minorities became more deadly and frequent during 2011, as Islamist militants mobilized mobs to attack religious minorities. Short prison terms for a handful of offenders had no impact on the widespread impunity for those responsible for the worst offenses. The government did not revoke several decrees that discriminate against minority religions, fostering public intolerance.

Islamist mobs attacked members of the Ahmadiyah religious community and their mosques in 14 locations, including West Java, Banten and South Sulawesi. Even in the deadly attack against an Ahmadiyah community in February 2011, when three Ahmadis were killed, attackers were only sentenced to short prison terms of between three and six months for disturbing public order, incitement and assault. They were not convicted of manslaughter. Police did not conduct thorough investigations, and prosecutors did not call key witnesses, including a man who videotaped the attack.

Islamists also attacked three Christian churches in Temanggung, Central Java, in February after a district court convicted a controversial preacher of blasphemy. In January 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that a Presbyterian church known locally as GKI Yasmin should be reopened, overturning a Bogor administration ruling by the city government to revoke the church’s building permit. Mayor Diani Budiarto refused to comply, and government ministers have offered the church “relocation”.

“Incidents of sectarian violence are no longer isolated cases in Indonesia, but are taking place at an alarming rate,” Pearson said. “The Indonesian government needs to reverse course and start prosecuting violence against religious minorities and replace the discriminatory regulations that only encourage such attacks.”

Read original post here: HRW: Sectarian violence has surged in RI

Fiji: Ahmadiyya Youth, Humanity First join in helping flood victims

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Fiji is working in conjunction with Humanity First, an International Voluntary and Charity organization founded by the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Staff reporter | January 24, 2012

Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya, the youth wing of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat catered lunch and dinner for over 270 flood stricken people whose houses and belongings are all underwater.

The flood victim have been taking shelter at the St. Andrews Primary School in Nadi since the 23rd of January.

“The number of people is still increasing as the water levels rise tremendously,” said Ashfaaq Ahmad Khan, national president of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya, Fiji.

“The evacuees at the St. Andrews Primary School have nothing much with them in terms of food and clothing,” Ashfaaq Ahmad Khan added.

The Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Fiji is working in conjunction with Humanity First, an International Voluntary and Charity organization founded by the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

The aim of Humanity First, explains their website, "is to relieve suffering caused by natural disaster and human conflict, promote peace and understanding, and strengthen people’s capacity to help themselves."

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community firmly believes that “Service to Mankind is Service to God” as this is the motto of Humanity First International.

-- Ahmadiyya Times
-- Edited by Imran Jattala

Eye on history: The early Church never celebrated Christmas - An explanation

2012-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

“And the pains of child-birth drove her unto the trunk of a palm-tree. She said, ‘O, would that had died before this and had become a thing quite forgotten.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Lanka Web
By A. Abdul Aziz | January 22, 2012

This is in reference an article titled above (Sunday Times – PLUS – 25.12.2011 by Rev. Brian D. Blacker), in which the writer indirectly accept the birth of Jesus Christ did not take place in December 25. Instead, he keeps on mentioning the celebration of Christmas. In open words we can say Jesus did not born on December 25. In support of this view, let me elaborate further for the benefit of the readers.

Was Jesus (Prophet Isa – alaihissalam – peace be on him) born on December 25th? According to the Holy Qur’an, the birth of Jesus took place at a time when fresh dates are found on palm-trees in Judaea. That season evidently is in the month of August-September, but, accordingly to the view generally held by Christians, Jesus was born on 25th December which day is celebrated all over the Christian world every year with great fervor.
Now this Christian view is contradicted not only by the Quran but also by history and even by the New Testament itself. Writing about the time of Jesus’s birth, Luke says; “And there were shepherds in the same country (Judaea) abiding in the field and keeping watch by night over their flocks”. (Luke: 2; 7,8) Commenting on this statement of Luke, Bishop Barns in his famous book, ‘The Rice of Christianity’, on page 79 says: “There is, moreover, no authority for the belief that December 25 was the actual birthday of Jesus.

If we can give any credence to the birth-story of Luke, with the shepherds keeping watch by night in the field near Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus did not take place in winter when the night temperature is so low in the hill country of Judaea that snow is not uncommon. After much argument our Christian day seems to have been accepted about A.D.300’. This view of Bishop Barns is supported by Encyclopedia Britannica and Chambers Encyclopedia under ‘Christmas’. Moreover, in his book ‘Commentary on the Bible’ on page 727, Peake says: ‘The season (of Jesus’s birth) would not be December; our Christmas day is a comparatively late tradition found first in the West’.

In his ‘Dictionary of the Bible’ Dr. John D. Davis, under the word, “Year” writes that dates become ripe in the month of Elul corresponds to the months of August-September. From the above records, the fact becomes quite clear that Jesus was born in the Jewish month of Elul which corresponds to the months of August-September when dates ripen in Judaea, and not on December 25th as the Christian Church would have us believe. And that is the view which is expressed by the Holy Qur’an (19: 24 – 26). It says:

“And the pains of child-birth drove her unto the trunk of a palm-tree. She said, ‘O, would that had died before this and had become a thing quite forgotten.”

”Then the angel called her from beneath her saying, ‘Grieve not. Thy Lord has placed a rivulet below thee; ‘And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree; it will drop upon thee fresh ripe dates”.

As it appears from the Gospels, there was no room in the inn in which Jesus was in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have stayed in the open field and Mary might have betaken herself to the trunk of a palm-tree in order to take rest under its shade and possibly also to find some support in her throes of child-birth, as Holy Qur’an states.

Read original post here: The early Church never celebrated Christmas – An explanation.

Pakistan: There was nothing to cherish in 2011

2012-01-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

“Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and the provincial high courts effectively muzzled media criticism of the judiciary in 2011 through threats of contempt of court proceedings, as has been the case since Pakistan’s independent judiciary was restored to office in 2009.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Pakistan Today
By Pakistan Today | January 23, 2012

KARACHI - Karachi experienced an exceptionally high level of violence during the year and around 800 citizens were killed in the city during 2011, disclosed the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Report 2011 issued on Monday. According to the report prepared by the international group with offices in different countries, the year 2011 brought much misery to the nation with a natural disaster in the shape of the monsoon floods in Sindh, the increasing disappearances of citizens of Balochistan and at least six journalists killed. It was pointed out in the report that the killings in Karachi were perpetrated by armed groups patronised by the political parties in the city. “A Karachi-based party, with heavily armed cadres and a well-documented history of human rights abuse and political violence, was widely viewed as the major perpetrator of targeted killings,” it was pointed out in the report.

“Despite an October 6 Supreme Court ruling calling for an end to the violence in Karachi, the authorities took no meaningful measures to hold perpetrators accountable.”
The HRW said suicide bombings, armed attacks, and killings by the Taliban, al Qaeda, and their affiliates targeted nearly every sector of Pakistani society, including journalists and religious minorities, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The report also disclosed the details of the increasing attacks on civilians by militant groups, skyrocketing food and fuel prices, and the assumption of near-total control of foreign and security policy by a military that operated with complete impunity.

“Religious minorities faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution. Freedom of belief and expression came under severe threat as Islamist militant groups murdered Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti over their public support for amending the country’s often abused blasphemy laws. Pakistan’s elected government notably failed to provide protection to those threatened by extremists, or to hold the extremists accountable.” In August and September, the province of Sindh experienced massive flooding for the second year running, displacing some 700,000 people. The report also mentioned that the relations between Pakistan and the US deteriorated markedly in 2011, fueled by a diplomatic crisis over a CIA contractor killing two men at a Lahore traffic junction and the US’s killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Conditions markedly deteriorated in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan. Human Rights Watch documented continued “disappearances” and an upsurge in killings of suspected Baloch militants and opposition activists by the military, intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary Frontier Corps. Baloch nationalists and other militant groups also stepped up attacks on non-Baloch civilians, teachers, and education facilities, as well as against security forces in the province. Pakistan’s military continued to publicly resist government reconciliation efforts and attempts to locate ethnic Baloch who had been subject to “disappearances.” The government appeared powerless to rein in the military’s abuses. The HRW stated that at least 200 Baloch nationalist activists including Abdul Ghaffar Lango, a prominent Baloch nationalist activist, and Hanif Baloch, an activist with the Baloch Students Organisation (Azad) were killed during the year, as well as dozens of new cases of disappearances.

The Shia and other vulnerable groups were also attacked across the country.

“In 2001, Aasia Bibi, a Christian from Punjab province, became the first woman in the country’s history to be sentenced to death for blasphemy. She continued to languish in prison after the Lahore High Court, in a controversial move, prevented President Asif Ali Zardari from granting her a pardon in November 2010. High-ranking officials of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party called for her release and the amendment of section 295(C) of Pakistan’s penal code, otherwise known as the blasphemy law. However, the government succumbed to pressure from extremist groups and dropped the proposed amendment.”

The HRW also stated members of the Ahmadi community continued to be a major target for blasphemy prosecutions and are subjected to specific anti-Ahmadi laws across the country.

In November, four Hindus, three of them doctors, were killed in an attack by religious extremists in the town of Shikarpur in Sindh, sending shockwaves through the minority community. Disclosing details on women rights, the HRW said mistreatment of women - including rape, domestic violence, and forced marriage - remains a serious problem. Public intimidation of, and threats to, women by religious extremists increased in major cities in 2011. The human rights group also said in its report that at least six journalists including Saleeem Shahzad, a reporter for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and the Italian news agency Adnkronos International, Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar who was shot and killed in Karachi shortly after covering gang violence in the city and Tribal Union of Journalists President Nasrullah Khan Afridi, onlinenews agency reporter Munir Ahmed Shakir, Javed Naseer Rind, a sub-editor with the Urdu-language Daily Tawar were killed in 2011.

“Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and the provincial high courts effectively muzzled media criticism of the judiciary in 2011 through threats of contempt of court proceedings, as has been the case since Pakistan’s independent judiciary was restored to office in 2009,” it was stated in the report. “In a positive development, journalists, who are vocally critical of the government, experienced less interference by elected officials than in previous years.”

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UK: Extremist faction protests over moderate Muslim exhibition in Huddersfield

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

“I consider myself a Muslim as do my colleagues. We believe in the Holy Book and the Holy Prophet but if someone considers me not to be a Muslim he is entitled to his opinion. We live in a country with freedom of speech and expression.”

A similar Ahmadiyya Muslim Quran exhibition was protested by extremists
in India as well.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
By January 24, 2012

ANGRY Muslims in Huddersfield have denounced a group in the town.

They claim that the Ahmadiyya Muslims are not true Muslims and have condemned them for hosting an exhibition of the Holy Koran.

The criticism has come from the Kirklees Muslims Action Committee, which claims to represent more than 15,000 Muslims across the district.

But a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association insisted they had no gripe with the Action Committee and said they were entitled to hold their own views.

Action Committee members held a peaceful protest as the exhibition was held at Huddersfield Town Hall, organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, which has a base at Fartown and in Huddersfield.

The organisers invited the Mayor of Kirklees Clr Eric Firth and Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney to the exhibition.

But Mr Amar Usman Ali, a spokesman for the Action Committee, said they were offended by the event.

“We believe that it is time the Muslims of Huddersfield did not allow a local group to use our name to hold any future exhibitions, and have been hurt and deeply upset over the lack of consultation with the Muslim community prior to holding this event.

“Whilst we do not expect the community to be sympathetic we would like to clarify our position on this group.

“The World Muslim League in April 1974 declared that the Ahmadiyya are falsely claiming to be an Islamic sect.

“The Koran is the holy book of the Muslims and it should be patently obvious to all that matters concerning Muslims such as an exhibition should be left to the Muslims themselves.”

Mr Fatih Ul-Haq, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyyas, said: “We spoke to the people taking part in the protest and they are entitled to their views.

“We want to live in peace and harmony with all the community and we do not want to have disagreements with any group.

“The Koran is a book for everyone and that was one of the reasons we organised the exhibition.

“I consider myself a Muslim as do my colleagues. We believe in the Holy Book and the Holy Prophet but if someone considers me not to be a Muslim he is entitled to his opinion.

“We live in a country with freedom of speech and expression”.

Read original post here: UK: Protests over Muslim exhibition in Huddersfield