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Muharram 8,1427/February 7, 2006 #10
[Scroll down
to major article on Muslim world's
problems with tentative solutions.]
Brief Local News:
[From Jamaat al-Muslimeen, POB 10881,Baltimore, MD 21234]
[3 items]
THREE Distinguished American Muslims Facing Oppression by State Power.
IMAM WARITH DEEN UMAR was released on bail on
Februrary 6, 2006. He was mistreated during his three
day stay in prison in New York. His medicine was withheld.
He could eat very little because he was offered ham by the
"authorities." His home is being used as collateral for the
bail. His clothes and shoes were kept by the government and
he was released into the cold in prison clothes.
Muslims all over the country and around the world have been
informed by New Trend of the Zionists' attempts to terrorize
and oppress Imam Umar and his family. No one on the Internet
should pretend that he/she doesn't know. It is time to unite
and support this Imam, a distinguished citizen of the United
States who has a long record of dedicated service and is known
for his piety and learning.
Br. AHMED 'ABDEL SATTAR,
Egyptian-American, also being
held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center, was in a
fight with an inmate who was put in his cell. He is protesting
such "bunkies" being put in his cell who follow non-Muslim
ways of undressing and nudity and bathroom habits which are
rampant in the prison system. Ahmed was slightly injured
but is okay now.
Dr. KIFAH al-JAYYOUSI, Palestinian-American, is still
in prison in Miami, Florida, one month after his release on
bond was accepted by the court. The bond amount was so big
that his family is still falling short. Help is needed. His
entire family is in the US. There is no chance that he will
try to leave this country. Can you help.?
Worldwide Condemnation of Cartoons:
Muslims, though strong in faith, were manipulated by the Zionists.
One aspect of the demonstrations in the Muslim world aimed
at protesting the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, peace be on
him, is very positive. The demonstrations show that love of
the Prophet, pbuh, is strong in the hearts of the Muslim
masses, be they in Turkey or in Pakistan, in Nigeria or in
Iran, in Bangladesh or in England.
However, faith, if not combined with political understanding
and awareness can misdirect us. TAQWA [awareness and
God-consciousness] should not be limited to prayer but
also to international matters.
Remember that the sacreligious cartoons were first published
in a Danish paper in September 2005. They were ignored even
inside Europe. Later last year, early 2006, an amazing new
phenomenon emerged in Norway. It was a move to boycott
ISRAEL and impose sanctions on it. This attitude was
previously unknown in Europe.
To punish Norway, in January 2006, the publication of one
of the cartoons in a Norwegian paper was used to place a
COUNTER-BOYCOTT on Norway. The innocent Muslim ummah was
used for this purpose.
Also, the cartoons helped anti-Islam dictators, kings and
autocrats, like those of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Pakistan, Libya and Kuwait to pose as defenders of Islam.
Even Karzai of Kabul came out as champion of Islam. The
Egyptian dictator used the "Brotherhood" people in the
newly victorious Hamas movement to start demnstrating
against such little countries as Denmark and Norway.
[Egyptian intelligence has connections in Hamas.]
The U.S. too came out in defense of Islam! It's dream of
taking Islam away from the "terrorists" and extremists and
giving it to its own puppet rulers was coming true. Muslims
are protesting, not against the USA and UK and their puppets
but against Denmark and Norway.
New Trend presents a full report on the anti-Israel movement
which started in Norway. It seriously disturbed the U.S.
Norway has now been thoroughly punished, and of all
people by the Muslims.
REPORT on NORWAY and the BOYCOTT of ISRAEL. USA SERIOUSLY CONCERNED.
by Nadrat Siddique
Some regions of Norway are boycotting Israel. This is an unprecedented
action out of Europe. Not surprisingly, it was censored by the controlled
media. If that boycott spread across Norway, and set the stage for similar
actions by other European nations, it could be very damaging to the
zionist entity.
The prospect of a boycott--however limited--of Israeli goods was
significant enough to earn the Norwegians an official threat from
Condoleeza Rice (see article below, from the Norwegian newspaper
"Aftenposten"). Could it have been troubling enough for the
zionists--masters of propaganda--to create a furor across Europe, in order
that the original boycott be forgotten, and a new boycott--against the
would-be boycotters--will be launched?
The publication of the cartoons of the Prophet (PHUH)--by (zionist?)
editors in Norway--may be that red herring. Well-meaning but naive
Muslims, supported by the Saudi, Pakistani, and other "Islamic
dictatorships" are boycotting Norway. They did not boycott the U.S., when
the U.S. military threw the Holy Qur'an in the toilet. But, they are
boycotting the only European country which is boycotting Israel!
-Nadrat
Aftenposten
February 5, 2006
USA threats after boycott support
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threatened Norway with "serious
political consequences" after Finance Minister and Socialist Left Party
leader Kristin Halvorsen admitted to supporting a boycott of Israeli
goods.
Related stories:
SV's boycott call embarrasses government - 06.01.2006
The reaction was reportedly given to the Norwegian embassy in Washington
DC, and it was made clear that the statements came from the top level of
the US State Department, newspaper VG reports.
VG claims that two classified reports promised a "tougher climate" between
the USA and Norway if Halvorsen's remarks represented the foreign policy
of the new red-green alliance of the Labor, Socialist Left and Center
parties.
Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, responded
immediately with written explanations to both Israel and the USA,
clarifying the government's stance, while Halvorsen distanced her party's
policy from that of the government's.
Norway Post
February 6, 2006
Norway threatened by Muslim boycott
An international association of Muslim clergy have threatened to boycott
products from Norway and Denmark, after Nordic media have published
drawings of the Prophet Muhammed.
The warning was made in a statement issued in Cairo on Saturday:
- The International Union of Muslim Clergy asks the leaders of Norway and
Denmark to show a firm stand against the continuing attacks on the Muslim
nation and the Prophet.
- If not, the Union will be forced to urge millions of Muslims all over
the world to boycott Danish and Norwegian products, said the group, which
is headed by the Egyptian Yusef al-Quardawi.
The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September last year published a
series of drawings made by artists of how they believed the prophet
Muhammed had looked.
The drawings were in January also published by the Norwegian monthly
Magazinet.
(NRK)
Rolleiv Solholm
BBC News
January 5, 2006
Norway split over Israel boycott
Kristin Halvorsen, 45, has led the Socialist Left party since 1997
Norway's Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen is backing a planned consumer
boycott of Israeli goods, contradicting the coalition government's policy.
Ms Halvorsen voiced support for a campaign of solidarity with the
Palestinians, due to be launched by her Socialist Left party this month.
"It is a long time since I bought any Israeli products," she told Norway's
Dagbladet newspaper.
Norway's foreign ministry said such a boycott was not government policy.
Ms Halvorsen insisted she was expressing her party's view and not that of
the government. She would not front the campaign, she added.
She gave the interview before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered
a stroke on Wednesday.
Ms Halvorsen's party is a minority partner in a three-party coalition
formed after elections in September, alongside the Labour Party and Centre
Party.
Last month, the municipality of Soer-Trondelag in central Norway launched
a boycott of Israeli goods and services.
A finance ministry spokesman, Runar Malkenes, told the BBC News website
that "there are no moves to push for a boycott of Israeli goods" at
government level.
He said such differences of view were part of coalition politics.
Aftenposten
January 14, 2006
Why an Economic Boycott of Israel is Justified
by Norman G. Finkelstein
Aftenposten | 01.14.2006
The recent proposal that Norway boycott Israeli goods has provoked
passionate debate. In my view, a rational examination of this issue would
pose two questions: 1) Do Israeli human rights violations warrant an
economic boycott? and 2) Can such a boycott make a meaningful contribution
toward ending these violations? I would argue that both these questions
should be answered in the affirmative.
Although the subject of many reports by human rights organizations,
Israel's real human rights record in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is
generally not well known abroad. This is primarily due to the formidable
public relations industry of Israel's defenders as well as the
effectiveness of their tactics of intimidation, such as labeling critics
of Israeli policy anti- Semitic.
Yet, it is an incontestable fact that Israel has committed a broad range
of human rights violations, many rising to the level of war crimes and
crimes against humanity. These include:
Illegal Killings. Whereas Palestinian suicide attacks targeting Israeli
civilians have garnered much media attention, Israel's quantitatively
worse record of killing non-combatants is less well known. According to
the most recent figures of the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem), 3,386 Palestinians have been
killed since September 2000, of whom 1,008 were identified as combatants,
as opposed to 992 Israelis killed, of whom 309 were combatants. This means
that three times more Palestinians than Israelis have been killed and up
to three times more Palestinian civilians than Israeli civilians. Israel's
defenders maintain that there's a difference between targeting civilians
and inadvertently killing them. B'Tselem disputes this: "[W]hen so many
civilians have been killed and wounded, the lack of intent makes no
difference. Israel remains responsible." Furthermore, Amnesty
International reports that "many" Palestinians have not been accidentally
killed but "deliberately targeted," while the award-winning New York Times
journalist Chris Hedges reports that Israeli soldiers "entice children
like mice into a trap and murder them for sport."
Torture. "From 1967," Amnesty reports, "the Israeli security services have
routinely tortured Palestinian political suspects in the Occupied
Territories." B'Tselem found that eighty-five percent of Palestinians
interrogated by Israeli security services were subjected to "methods
constituting torture," while already a decade ago Human Rights Watch
estimated that "the number of Palestinians tortured or severely
ill-treated" was "in the tens of thousands - a number that becomes
especially significant when it is remembered that the universe of adult
and adolescent male Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is under
three-quarters of one million." In 1987 Israel became "the only country in
the world to have effectively legalized torture" (Amnesty). Although the
Israeli Supreme Court seemed to ban torture in a 1999 decision, the Public
Committee Against Torture in Israel reported in 2003 that Israeli security
forces continued to apply torture in a "methodical and routine" fashion. A
2001 B'Tselem study documented that Israeli security forces often applied
"severe torture" to "Palestinian minors."
House demolitions. "Israel has implemented a policy of mass demolition of
Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories," B'Tselem reports, and
since September 2000 "has destroyed some 4,170 Palestinian homes." Until
just recently Israel routinely resorted to house demolitions as a form of
collective punishment. According to Middle East Watch, apart from Israel,
the only other country in the world that used such a draconian punishment
was Iraq under Saddam Hussein. In addition, Israel has demolished
thousands of "illegal" homes that Palestinians built because of Israel's
refusal to provide building permits. The motive behind destroying these
homes, according to Amnesty, has been to maximize the area available for
Jewish settlers: "Palestinians are targeted for no other reason than they
are Palestinians." Finally, Israel has destroyed hundred of homes on
security pretexts, yet a Human Rights Watch report on Gaza found that "the
pattern of destruction…strongly suggests that Israeli forces demolished
homes wholesale, regardless of whether they posed a specific threat."
Amnesty likewise found that "Israel's extensive destruction of homes and
properties throughout the West Bank and Gaza…is not justified by military
necessity," and that "Some of these acts of destruction amount to grave
breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes."
Apart from the sheer magnitude of its human rights violations, the
uniqueness of Israeli policies merits notice. "Israel has created in the
Occupied Territories a regime of separation based on discrimination,
applying two separate systems of law in the same area and basing the
rights of individuals on their nationality," B'Tselem has concluded. "This
regime is the only one of its kind in the world, and is reminiscent of
distasteful regimes from the past, such as the apartheid regime in South
Africa." If singling out South Africa for an international economic
boycott was defensible, it would seem equally defensible to single out
Israel's occupation, which uniquely resembles the apartheid regime.
Although an economic boycott can be justified on moral grounds, the
question remains whether diplomacy might be more effectively employed
instead. The documentary record in this regard, however, is not
encouraging. The basic terms for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict
are embodied in U.N. resolution 242 and subsequent U.N. resolutions, which
call for a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza and the
establishment of a Palestinian state in these areas in exchange for
recognition of Israel's right to live in peace and security with its
neighbors. Each year the overwhelming majority of member States of the
United Nations vote in favor of this two-state settlement, and each year
Israel and the United States (and a few South Pacific islands) oppose it.
Similarly, in March 2002 all twenty-two member States of the Arab League
proposed this two-state settlement as well as "normal relations with
Israel." Israel ignored the proposal.
Not only has Israel stubbornly rejected this two-state settlement, but the
policies it is currently pursuing will abort any possibility of a viable
Palestinian state. While world attention has been riveted by Israel's
redeployment from Gaza, Sara Roy of Harvard University observes that the
"Gaza Disengagement Plan is, at heart, an instrument for Israel's
continued annexation of West Bank land and the physical integration of
that land into Israel." In particular Israel has been constructing a wall
deep inside the West Bank that will annex the most productive land and
water resources as well as East Jerusalem, the center of Palestinian life.
It will also effectively sever the West Bank in two. Although Israel
initially claimed that it was building the wall to fight terrorism, the
consensus among human rights organizations is that it is really a land
grab to annex illegal Jewish settlements into Israel. Recently Israel's
Justice Minister frankly acknowledged that the wall will serve as "the
future border of the state of Israel."
The current policies of the Israeli government will lead either to endless
bloodshed or the dismemberment of Palestine. "It remains virtually
impossible to conceive of a Palestinian state without its capital in
Jerusalem," the respected Crisis Group recently concluded, and accordingly
Israeli policies in the West Bank "are at war with any viable two-state
solution and will not bolster Israel's security; in fact, they will
undermine it, weakening Palestinian pragmatists…and sowing the seeds of
growing radicalization."
Recalling the U.N. Charter principle that it is inadmissible to acquire
territory by war, the International Court of Justice declared in a
landmark 2004 opinion that Israel's settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory and the wall being built to annex them to Israel
were illegal under international law. It called on Israel to cease
construction of the wall, dismantle those parts already completed and
compensate Palestinians for damages. Crucially, it also stressed the legal
responsibilities of the international community:
"all States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation
resulting from the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem. They are also under an
obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation
created by such construction. It is also for all States, while respecting
the United Nations Charter and international law, to see to it that any
impediment, resulting from the construction of the wall, to the exercise
by the Palestinian people of its right to self- determination is brought
to an end."
A subsequent U.N. General Assembly resolution supporting the World Court
opinion passed overwhelmingly. However, the Israeli government ignored the
Court's opinion, continuing construction at a rapid pace, while Israel's
Supreme Court ruled that the wall was legal.
Due to the obstructionist tactics of the United States, the United Nations
has not been able to effectively confront Israel's illegal practices.
Indeed, although it is true that the U.N. keeps Israel to a double
standard, it's exactly the reverse of the one Israel's defenders allege:
Israel is held not to a higher but lower standard than other member
States. A study by Marc Weller of Cambridge University comparing Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territory with comparable situations in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, East Timor, occupied Kuwait and Iraq, and
Rwanda found that Israel has enjoyed "virtual immunity" from enforcement
measures such as an arms embargo and economic sanctions typically adopted
by the U.N. against member States condemned for identical violations of
international law. Due in part to an aggressive campaign accusing Europe
of a "new anti-Semitism," the European Union has also failed in its legal
obligation to enforce international law in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory. Although the claim of a "new anti-Semitism" has no basis in
fact (all the evidence points to a lessening of anti-Semitism in Europe),
the EU has reacted by appeasing Israel. It has even suppressed publication
of one of its own reports, because the authors -- like the Crisis Group
and many others -- concluded that due to Israeli policies the "prospects
for a two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine
are receding."
The moral burden to avert the impending catastrophe must now be borne by
individual states that are prepared to respect their obligations under
international law and by individual men and women of conscience. In a
courageous initiative American-based Human Rights Watch recently called on
the U.S. government to reduce significantly its financial aid to Israel
until Israel terminates its illegal policies in the West Bank. An economic
boycott would seem to be an equally judicious undertaking. A nonviolent
tactic the purpose of which is to achieve a just and lasting settlement of
the Israel-Palestine conflict cannot legitimately be called anti- Semitic.
Indeed, the real enemies of Jews are those who cheapen the memory of
Jewish suffering by equating principled opposition to Israel's illegal and
immoral policies with anti- Semitism.
www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=130
Letter:
Angry Reader Condemns New Trend's Note on AIDS in South Africa:
New Trend, February 4 issue #9 wrote: "European culture plays
down the importance of marriage and glorifies fornication and adultery."
what a load of crap, what about all the urfi "marriages" in
Egypt and the thousands of Sudanese prostitutes there. How
about all the Saudi and Emirates men who go to Asia just
for prostitutes and bring home AIDS to their wives in
headscarves. Just because it doesn't happen in the open
doesn't mean it's not happening. stop blaming everything
on the Western world, grow up and take some responsibility for yourself.
Stephanie Keith
What is ailing the Muslim Nation?
by Dr. Omar Bagasra
[Exclusive to New Trend.]
[The writer is a Distinguished Professor of Biology.]
There are over 1.5 billion Muslims on the planet earth. No
part of earth is devoid of Muslims. Over 56 nations are
so-called Muslim nations and there are millions of Muslims
in areas where they are a significant minority. Large and
strategically essential natural resources are located in
Muslim lands. Some of the world's largest manpower and some
of the most significant brain powers are Muslims. Yet, there
is no Muslim nation that has excelled in modern technology
and biomedicine. We still depend almost 100% on the
industrial nations for everything! One can see large and
beautiful buildings are being constructed in Dubai or Doha,
but the architects are Westerners, the material comes from
abroad and workers are imported. While the Chinese have
taken over the low-tech market of the globe and are racking
up billions, Muslims are shoveling over billions in the
purchase of cheap Chinese watches, handkerchiefs, scarves
and almost every thing one can imagine. There is no consumer
item that one can image that the Chinese are not manufacturing
at mass scale and the Muslims and the whole world is not
buying. This new wave of mass production is destroying all
the poor families around the world but has affected Muslims
the most since in the poor Muslim nations there are no
alternate jobs. It is so shameful that the oil rich Muslim
nations are hiring the poor Muslims to perform menial tasks
but treat them like slaves with no human rights, health
benefits and respect. Overall, for the last several centuries
Muslims are essentially a slave people. So, what is ailing us?
This question is in almost every Muslim man and woman's
mind. I had been thinking on this problem for a long time
and every time when I travel into a Muslim nation it hurts
my heart and sickens my soul to see that we have sunken
even deeper as time goes on.
The following are some of the reasons that are keeping us
from entering into the mainstream of the world's stage.
1) Lack of Discipline and Organization: In my mind
this ranks number one. Every Muslim nation I have traveled
to so far lacks discipline and organization. It is so
surprising that an Ummah whose base ought to be built on
supreme discipline and organization displays complete
absence of it in their practical lives. The daily five
time prayers that start with an exact time like a clockwork,
so vividly displayed during Friday and Eid prayers where
sometimes millions of Muslims pray together with almost
army like movements that can envy any acrobatic team,
completely lack this quality in their daily lives. From
a single individual to a large organization, Muslim people
show no organization. People come to work late, work as
little as they can get away with and display no remorse when
confronted with it. Even the institutions that require the
utmost degree of discipline like the army, national guards,
airline workers and emergency health care personnel
lack basic discipline.
2) Lack of Restraint: Allah has graced the Muslim
people with a month of fasting. No nation on earth displays
such a great degree of restraint from eating, drinking fluids
or other activities during the fasting period. But in the
daily life no nation on earth shows greater lack of restraint.
Whenever I travel to a Muslim nation I am always startled by
the way the people drive, talk against other people and show
no respect for others' lives, opinions and faiths. People
openly curse with the rudest possible language to other Muslims
who practice slightly different mudhab. Hateful language is
not limited against Jews or Christians but this unrestrained
abuse is pelted on other Muslims. The Prophet of Islam never
prescribed such a thing and even welcomed difference in opinion.
Shura or consultation is mandatory by the Allah's command but
Muslims appear to have no place for tolerance!
3) Lack of Cleanliness: Cleanliness is Half of Iman
(Faith)! This ought to be the most important aspect of a
Muslim society but one will rarely see that in the Muslim
cities. Filth is everywhere! Even around the Mosques and
in front of the hospitals. One will see sewer lines exposed
with horrifying smells, gutters open and animal excretion all
over the side walks.
4) Lack of Freedom of Speech and Expression of Thoughts:
We, as Muslims believe that our faith is the final guidance from
God Almighty. God has perfected His religion and we are the
nation who has to follow these last sets of guidance. In the
Qu'ran Allah commands us to be observers and be thinkers. Allah
commands us to observe and see His signs. The most common word
for "sign" is aya and its plural ayat appear some 382 times
in the Qu'ran. Similar to ayat are terms like bayyina (71
times), ala (34 times), burhan and shaair
which appear in the Qu'ran multiple times commanding us to
observe and analyze events, universe, day and night and life
forms on this earth and orbits of planets and sun. There are
some entire suras, such as al Qamar (#54), al Rahman (#55)
and al Waqia (#56) that are essentially litanies of the
signs of God. We are the one who should lead the world
with our observations, thinking and discoveries, but we
are now just the followers of others inventions,
observations and thinking processes.
5) Education: During colonialism our education system
has gone through radical changes. Currently, the Muslim
nations appear to have two separate but simultaneous
systems of education. In one system (generally known
as Madrassa, meaning school) students learn mostly Qur'an
and Hadith and Islamic history, with a little bit of math
and other material thrown in. The other system is modeled
after the British or the American system, designed in a
fashion that Muslims are taught to feel inferior to the
Western countries and education. This has created so much
inferiority complex that now every other school in many of
the Muslim nations is claiming it has endorsement from a
British or American educational agency. Neither of these
systems of educations is adequate for the modern needs
of the Muslim nations.
What are the Issues and the Solutions?
It is true that any time we bring the issues of our demise
we blame the Western Powers for it. No doubt there is some
degree of truth to it. The Westerners have learned a great
deal about us. For the last three hundred years they have
accumulated an enormous amount of knowledge about every
aspect of Muslim people and figured out how to manipulate
our minds, behaviors and thinking process. They know more
about every region of the Muslim world then the Muslims do
themselves. They know how to use our religion and turn it
upside down so we can destroy each other. However, our biggest
enemies are ourselves! We have become so closed minded,
ignorant and hateful towards our own people that it is
allowing our enemies to destroy us so easily. So, following
are my potential solutions to the problems we are facing currently.
A) Planning and Organization: We need to plan. The Prophet
of Islam (pbuh) always planned his efforts and campaigns. If
one reads the enormous amount of literature that is in the
public domain from the US and the European think tanks one
will have hundred of years of plans. In some Muslim countries
there may be five or ten year plans but usually very ambiguous
ones. Our cities are growing with the speed of light, our little
towns are disappearing rapidly and our green areas (like jungles
and forests) are turning to developments but without any long
term planning. If we have some thing on paper it is not
implemented because of bribery and nepotism. People pay off
the law enforcers and regulators to bend the rules and the
planning goes no where. I was surprised to see that in one
of the richest Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia there is no
adequate drainage of water in Jeddah. Last year just after
Hajj I observed hundreds of cars floating after a heavy
rain in Jeddah. Similarly, just a few miles from Mecca there
are towns without running water and electricity.
B) Law Enforcement and Respect of Law: I have been
living in the US for several decades and I understand that
no one wants to really obey the law. One can see looting
in the U.S. cities during blackouts. People speed and do
not stop at stop signs if that can get away with it. They
cheat on their taxes and lie in court under oath. However,
Muslims face a real conundrum when it comes to following
the law. We are taught from the childhood that the only
real laws are Gods' laws ordained in the Qur'an. However,
in the majority of the Muslim world the laws of the lands
are the legacy of the colonial laws that are unacceptable
to Muslims. This problem can be at least partially solved
by implementing Shar'ah laws. Of course, Shari'ah laws need
to be implemented slowly and adopted when necessary through
Ijtihad and consultations with the legal experts. I believe
this can eliminate the legal schizophrenia.
C) Unity and Economic Confederation: Tribalism
and ethnic identity is embedded into human nature. In
the U.S. people proudly identify themselves as being
Irish-American, Italian-American, African-American,
Jewish-American, etc. This racial or ethnic identity
is cherished but rarely becomes the foundation of violence
and hate. In the Muslim lands it has clearly became a
source of discrimination and bias. Islam teaches us the
unity of mankind but we are definitely a divided nation.
Now we identify ourselves as being Pakistani, Indian,
Iranian, Afghan, etc. first, and Muslim last. Within each
nation we use our racial background as a source of division
instead of a foundation for oneness. We need to unite as an
Ummah first. Then, we need to develop a sense of
responsibility for our fellow Muslims. We need to preferably
do business with our fellow Muslims at a mass scale,
individually, nationally and globally. Currently, only
3% of business is done between the Muslim nations. We import
97% of our goods from the non-Muslim nations. This
needs to be reversed as soon as possible. If we do not do
this we will become a slave class no matter how much money
the oil wealth brings to the Gulf region. In the last
generation, Muslims who were just emerging from under
colonialism were more into the Ummah concept. Now, with
the new generation of Muslims entering the work force,
most of them are into nationalism and are mostly seduced
by the West. They may claim to bow to Allah but are
worshipers of the Western Culture! One can see the proof
of my statement by the lack of volunteerism for the Kashmiri
Earthquake. So few Muslims donated, then so little and even
so few went to help. This is not the way an Ummah behaves.
When hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. shores, the Sultanate
of Qatar was the first one to donate $100 million to the U.S.
Only less than 1,000 people died from Katrina and most of them
due to the slow response from the U.S. relief agencies, not
directly due to the flood. But in Kashmir over 100,000 Muslims
have died and over three millions are suffering in the below
zero temperature without shelter. So few Muslim doctors have
volunteered in the relief efforts. We do need to show how much
we care! We need to care enough to show up at the times of
need-that is what Islam is all about!
D) Education Reforms: We need this more than anything
else! Our system of education needs to represent the Islamic
way of life, not the western values and civilization. Muslims
laid the foundations for the modern discoveries and innovations,
but we went to sleep for three hundred years. Now, we are
confused. Evolution, space age, internet technology,
biotechnology and imaging methods have left us flabbergasted.
However, all these can be overcome in less than a decade.
The new generation of Muslims needs to resolve the ideological
issues and has to excel in modern science and technology.
We missed the industrial age and technology age. Now, it is
time for us to join the Biotechnology race and win it.
E) Democracy, Monarchy and Caliphate: The
contemporary Muslim world is faced with a unique
challenge- to import the western style democracy or to
have monarchies and pseudo kingdoms? For the last two
centuries Muslims have lost their hold over the global
power and almost the entire Muslim world has been under
the yoke of Colonial rulers. During this long night of
Colonial domination, Muslims have also suffered
intellectually, morally, economically and culturally.
The worst part of this ordeal is related to the gradual
disintegration of Islamic Institutions, which had sustained
the Ummah for some twelve centuries and enabled it to
embrace challenges from within and without. It was under
Colonial rule that a number of new institutions were imposed
upon Muslim lands through transplantation from the West as a
part of its so-called "civilizing mission", which in fact
represented the worst part of Imperialism. Therefore, judiciary,
economy, education, administration, language, literature, arts,
architecture, and in short all elements of society and culture
are being subjected to forced Westernization. This
neo-implementation of forced democracy can be seen in
Afghanistan and Iraq. All sorts of pressures are being
applied to bring democracy to the Muslim lands. The question is why?
The democratic systems that are being implemented in the
Muslim nations have nothing to do with freedom of expression
or right to participate into the political and social
reconstruction. The reality is that the whole effort in
developing the democracies in the Muslims nations is to
find an easy way to control and manipulate the people by
influencing the selected leadership that is pro-Western.
In the past, as soon as people have elected the type of free
government they liked these governments had been conveniently
removed by the Western-appointed puppet governments. One can
see this in Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and
multiple other nations. This interference by neo-colonialism
is at the root of the current crisis and discontent in the
Muslim world. Islamic resurgence and peoples' desire to
participate in political decision-making and abrupt denial
of their rights by the Western powers is the root of violence
that has taken over the believers. Peace is possible only
if there is trust, harmony, and cooperation among the people
and the ruling junta. But the rulers who inherited power from
the colonial masters and the people are not on the same station
as far as ideological, moral or political wavelengths are
concerned. The rulers want to change society and its institutions
in accordance with the concepts and values of Westernization and
its ideological icons---secularism, nationalism, capitalism,
socialism, Americanisms, etc. They want to introduce laws,
institutions and policies derived from Western models. The
people regard this as something against their faith, values
and aspirations. That is the main reason that despite so
called independence, the system of government has per force
and per design remained despotic and arbitrary. There is no
incompatibility between Islam and a truly democratic system
based on people's participation and power-sharing. On the
other hand, democratization in the sense of freedom of the
people, fundamental rights and people's participation and
"Islamization" are natural corollaries. The conflict is
between the peoples' Islamic aspirations and the Westernizing
ideals and policies of the ruling juntas. Currently, the US
is perceived as the major neocolonial power, forcing its will
on other nations. The US is viewed as the major hindrance to
the wishes of the masses. Therefore, hate burns in the heart
of all Muslims who are not raised in the cultured cloning
factories of the West. They want and desire to implement
Shari'a laws. This is real root of war on terrorism.
In reality it is war against Islam. Muslims need to
start practicing the Shari'a Laws in their own lands. They
do not need the permission of their rulers, governments or
from the US think tanks. They already have Allah's
permission to do so!
Justice is the Key: A leading Islamic philosopher,
Abdulkarim Souroush, says:
"According to the Commander of the Faithful: "Justice is
spacious. One who feels confined by justice shall find
injustice even more confining." Flight from justice
leads only to injustice, where there is even less in
the way of liberty, rights, and growth. Just as there
is no happy medium between justice and injustice so there
is none for reason, logic, and their opposites. Reason has
a certain expansiveness, the alternative to which is the
narrowness and the darkness of ignorance. And the same is
true of freedom: anyone who finds it frustrating will find
the alternative even more so." We as Muslims need to start
to practice justice in our lives, the rest will fall into
its correct place, spontaneously.
So how we can overcome the problems facing the Ummah? We
as Muslims can make one change! Implement one bold move!
And we can initiate a chain-reaction! My suggestion is
to bring back the Khilafate!!
The goal of reuniting Muslims under a single flag stands
at the heart of all Muslims. The last Khalifa of Islam
was removed by Ataturk in 1924. However, it is time for
the Muslims to bring back this tradition, the office that
embodied the ultimate religious and political authority
and enabled all Muslims to claim a brotherhood, without
nationality, ethnicity or religious denomination. This
concept of the caliphate is very much alive in the
collective memory of the Muslim society. There is
absolutely nothing else that can keep Muslim society
together at the moment. The question is how we are going
to bring Khilafate back to the Muslim minds. The
superdominant US and the rest of the European powers
will never let this happen peacefully. Besides, if we
declare the leader of one Muslim country as Khalifa he
will be removed within days by the mysterious powers!
Therefore, I have a solution! The majority of the
Muslims-both Shiite and Sunni- believe the Al-Mehdi
will lead the final war against the imperialism and
colonialisms. Why not declare him the Khalifa? Every
Muslim who agrees to this should wear a badge, or a cap,
shirt or bumpersticker saying "Al-Mehdi-the Khalifa".
It will unite us instantaneously and freak out our
slave-masters. Since, Al-Mehdi is a concept and a belief;
they can not kill him or remove him from power.
Finally, I like to advise all Muslims to incorporate the
Islamic ways of like as soon as possible. It does not
necessarily mean to start growing beard, but to avoid
Riba, pray five times a day, fast, be honest, be helpful
to others and read, read and read.
2006-02-08 Wed 02:19:26 cst
NewTrendMag.org