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Rabi' al-Awwal 29, 1428/ April 18, 2007 #31
Scroll down to three letters.
"Go Hokeys" or "God Help Us?"
VA Tech Massacre Underlines Moral Collapse and Social Narcissism:
Media Racists Try to Link Shooter to Korea:
He Was as American as you get
by Kaukab Siddique, Ph.D
My sociology professor gave me a valuable insight. "All behavior is
learned behavior." We are not born with racial or genetic tendencies
towards violence. If we are to understand the tragedy enacted at
Virginia Tech [Blacksburg, Virginia] on April 16, the emphasis should
be on the socioeconomic factors which shaped the behavior of the
shooter Cho Seung-Hui.
Cho obviously knew how to use guns. He was a trained killer who could
handle two guns and reload and fire at will. However, the impression
that he wreaked havoc simply because he had guns is not correct.
Millions of people own guns in the USA but they do not go out to
commit mass murder. Here are the key point:
The shooter had no problem killing multiple numbers of people.
Training and extensive practice with guns is required for one to be
so adept at and insensitive about shooting down people almost at
point blank range.
The desire to kill those whom one does not like emanates from the
power drive connected to a materialistic view of life. The power
driven American male sees himself as NUMBER ONE. Most of the time
he does not kill because he gets what he wants: money, luxuries, women.
The situation becomes deadly when the power driven American male cannot
get what he wants. He must have what he wants, otherwise he becomes
destructive and self-destructive. In the young American male we have
the ultimate in self-absorption: If I can't have it, no one else
can either.
The media are ducking the issue by emphasizing the shooter's South
Korean origin and name, Cho Seung-Hui. The first reference to the
shooter on TV was that he is "Asiatic." Thus we see the relentless
racism of the media: The attempt to link actions with race. Most media
did not emphasize the fact that Cho has been in America for 14 years,
since he was 9 in 1992. [Source: Associated Press]. His formative years
were American. Who does not know that young immigrants are most eager
to Americanize themselves and to assimilate as rapidly as possible.
Cho was probably not accepted as fully by his peers as he wished to be.
Non acceptance can easily lead to resentment and then hate. A mass
culture society does not tolerate people who are different. Thus Cho
learned his values in the USA. He was not behaving as a Korean but as
an American.
Materialism cannot solve problems. It creates problems. Cho had
everything America has to offer. He lived in the upscale Centreville,
Virginia suburb. The 9mm Glock he bought five weeks before the
shootings cost $571. The price of his second gun, the 22 caliber
Walther has not been given. Virginia Tech is an expensive university
and he was majoring in English. His spiritual life was zero, though
not very different from that of most people at VT.
Was Cho at some point working for the U.S. military or the CIA? His
behavior resembles that of U.S. troops in Haditha, Iraq and the U.S.
Special Forces who kicked an Afghan taxi driver to death after hanging
him from the ceiling. The Afghan cried out "Allah! Allah!" in pain.
They thought it was funny. Similar cold blooded violence was exhibited
in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Where did Cho learn to kill so
ruthlessly? Video games? American movies? The spurts of blood, bowels,
intestines did not turn him off? Is this the behavior of a civilian?
Virginia Tech is in mourning. However, their process of mourning has
something fake about it. Instead of remembering God, they were chanting
their school team's slogan "Go Hokeys." Reminds me of the movie about
U.S. marines: Full Metal Jackets in which the soldiers chant Disney
Land slogans "m-i-c-k-e-y, m-i-c-k-e-y.": Virginia Tech should examine
its culture: It is conservative, inward looking, self-worshiping and
pleasure oriented. The Almighty Dollar is god there.
The sexual culture is the root of many, perhaps most, problems in
American society in general and universities in particular. Subservient
and easily available sexual partners are essential for the young
American male, otherwise one can become another Cho. Most men do not
resort to violence, not because they are non-violent but because they
have their girl[s] and have a steady sexual outlet.
The President of VT has been presented as a real leader. The students
hailed him. This uncritical attitude towards authority speaks about
the mass culture prevalent at VT and many other universities. Gone are
the days when students were rebels and protestors. These are often as
right wing as Bush.
Between the first brief shooting and the major shooting on April 16,
there was a TWO HOUR gap. It appears that the VT authorities took no
decisive action after the first shooting because they wanted to avoid
publicity. Investigation may well lead to previous cover ups VT
carried out. It is indeed amazing that the shooter was free for TWO
HOURS after the first shooting and presumably walked around campus
freely before carrying out the second, major, killing. How can the
VT authorities claim to have done a good job of dealing with security.
The swat teams did not dare to go in and kill the shooter till he
killed himself. What kind of "heroes" do we have! [On April 18, NBC
received a media package from the shooter. This was mailed, it appears,
after he shot two people. He went to the post office!]
The entire tragedy of April 16 needs to be investigated. The people
in authority have much to answer for. There was nothing to cheer about
in this horrible, bloody mess. It's a shame that the media are using
the tragedy to promote "holocaust" propaganda and "gay rights."
2nd Interview: Islamic Women's Uprising
General Musharraf's Helicopters Drop Tear Gas on
Islamic Women's University
Woman Leader Says:
We Will Resist and Give our Lives if the General Attacks:
We have the right to differ with Ulema who want Women's Action to Stop
Exclusive Interview with New Trend
On April 18, 2007 New Trend carried out its second interview with Sis.
Umm Hasan who heads Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad which serves 6,000 young
women. The Islamic young women here rose in rebellion against the
tyranny of General Musharraf when the Pakistani coup leader started
demolishing mosques in Islamabad. The young women attracted
countrywide support. The government pledged to rebuild the mosques.
The young women then "captured" a "madam" who was working a
prostitution den to supply girls to Musharraf's officials. The
"madam" confessed and gave the Islamic women the list of her customers.
As before, this interview has been translated from the Urdu language.
New Trend: Asalamu alaikum Sister! How is the situation now in
Jamia Hafsa?
Umm Hasan: Walaikum asalam. Haven't you heard? General Musharraf's
helicopters raided our school and dropped gas to terrorize our girls.
New Trend: When was this?
Umm Hasan: On Monday, April 16. There were four helicopters. Three
of them were clearly Pakistani army but the marking on the fourth
was not clear.
New Trend: You could see the markings on three?
Umm Hasan: They came down very low to drop the gas. Our girls wanted
to hit them with their lathis [long bamboo sticks], but then the
blinding gas came down. Scores of the girls were almost blinded
and suffocated by the gas. I called the commissioner and protested
this attack on a peaceful Islamic university.
NT: What was the government's response?
UH: The commissioner would not believe me. While I was on the phone,
the helicopters were still there. I asked him, can't you hear the
sound of the helicopters on the phone. He claimed he couldn't!
Fortunately two Swiss journalists were visiting the school when
the raid took place. They filmed the whole episode and we have
presented it now as evidence of the regime's terrorism against
Islamic women.
NT: Your movement to expose the extreme corruption in the capital
city of Pakistan has brought forth tremendous support for you from
Muslims as well as widespread resentment from the secularists. You
must have heard that in Karachi a big demonstration was staged
against you....
UH: Yes, it was organized by MQM which is led by Altaf Hussain from
London, England. This man Altaf is a hard core criminal responsible
for hundreds of murders in Karachi. The British government is
protecting him in London. His group MQM is a bunch of thugs which
have terrorized the people of Karachi. Opponents from within their
own group would turn up tortured and dead, their bodies dumped in
sacks by the roadside. When MQM was strong it created "no go" areas
in Karachi which were strongholds of murderers, drug peddlers, thugs
of many kinds. MQM is a blight on Karachi's fair name. How such low
lifes could claim that they can preach to Islamic women about law
and order defies all decency.
NT: I know that MQM is a racist-ethnic group which strikes at the
Islamic unity of Pakistan by creating hatred against non-Urdu
speaking people who have a narrow majority in Karachi but my question
is: What is Musharraf's connection with MQM and Altaf who is in London?
UH: MQM and Musharraf are directly connected. Every now and then MQM
pushes Musharraf to take military action against Islamic movements.
Musharraf needs MQM because of MQM's constituency in Karachi. They
get "elected" by terrorizing their opponents and Musharraf says that
he has "democratic" support in Karachi because of MQM.
NT: My first interview with you has created quite a stir. It has
largely exposed the propaganda campaign which was going on, on
the Internet against Jamia Hafsa. The secularist Pakistanis on
the Internet use a lot of conspiracy theories against you but they
are in a difficult position now. One of these persons in Canada is
disturbed by the open remarks you made against two top women
supporters of Musharraf, Nilofar Bakhtiar and Zubaida Jalal.
UH: That information was provided by the procuress "auntie" Shamim.
Nilofar and Zubaidah have not denied the charges. Note that when
charges were made against me by BBC about our girls threatening to
throw acid on the faces of westernized women, I immediately responded.
NT: Yes, that was in our first interview.
UH: I pointed out that the BBC has told a blatant lie. We can never
think of disfiguring anyone because it would be a violation of the
Islamic Law [Shariah] which we stand for. Then the secularists
spread a rumor that we in Jamia Hafsa are not permitted to go out
and we are not permitted to drive cars. Again I responded and pointed
out in detail that we go out for all our needs and we drive cars.
There is nothing in Islam against it. Similarly, if what we got from
the "madam" about Nilofar and Zubaidah is incorrect, they should respond.
NT: What about the Islamic people? I have read that some of the 'ulema
are also criticizing you. They are very conservative about the role of
women in Islam. They say that you are too outgoing in your activities.
What is your response?
UH: Honest differences in interpretation of Islamic texts are quite
valid. Remember that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, r.a., differed with the
Prophet, pbuh, himself on three momentous occasions and each time
the Qur'an came down in support of Umar, r.a. The three occasions were:
1. The issue of the captives taken by Muslims at the battle of Badr.
2. The Salatul Janaza for the hypocrite ibn Ubay.
3. The hijab for the household of the Prophet, pbuh.
At this time, we have neither the Prophet, pbuh, here nor the
sahaba, r.a. None of the 'Ulema can dare to claim equality with
either of these.
So difference of interpretation is quite valid. Jihad is central to
Islam. We do not agree with those who consider it secondary.
NT: What will happen if Musharraf's army actually attacks Jamia Hafsa?
UH: We will give our lives. We will defend ourselves to the best of
our ability.
NT: May Allah keep you safe! May Allah keep you strong!
Q & A:
On Women Leading Congregational Prayers and on Earnings from Interest
Dear Prof. Kaukab Siddique, Assalamu alaikum
Grateful, if you could answer the questions at your convenience.
1) Whether a Muslim woman can lead congregational prayer (Jama'ath Namaz)
in a mosque attached to a women's college campus in our State Kerala
and also deliver sermon (khutba speech) on Friday before juma namaz ?
The orthodox Mullahs are against this practice and they sent an Imam
(male) to the mosque. But women students refused to accept him.
Eventually the college authorities closed the mosque.
2) My daughter, returned from the Gulf for vacation, approached the
Bank to draw her cash and she was astonished to see the huge amount
being added as interest to her deposited money. She drew her actual
deposited money and left the interest with the Bank.
Now she asks whether she can use this interest to give to any
institution or sick persons as a help and NOT as charity, sadaqa. Allah
accepts only halal money. So Please advise what to do with interest
money.
Yours in Islam,
Kallada Hamza [Kerala, India]
Answer by Kaukab Siddique: There is clear evidence in the Islamic
texts that women can lead women in prayers. Women can also give
khutbas and lectures and fiqh classes and Dars-e Hadith and Qur'anic
teachings. They can chant Takbirat loudly and participate in Jihad.
Ayesha' Siddiqa, r.a., gave khutbas and lectures to the people of Basra
for 24 days after the murder of the Third Caliph, Usman, r.a. No one
tried to say that there was any problem with her doing so. {see
Ibn Kathir's history book al-Bidaya wun-Nihaya.]
Here are a couple of Hadith about women leading prayers:
"The Mother of the Believers 'Aisha, r.a., used to lead women in
obligatory prayers." [Narrated by Reta Hanfiyya in the Hadith
collections of Baihaqi, Darqutni and Abdur Razzaq.]
" 'Umm Salama, r.a., used to lead women in prayers during Ramadan
and stood between the women." [Narrated by Qatada from Umm Hasan in
the musnaf of Ibn Abi Shayba.]
"The Mother of the believers 'Aisha, r.a., used to give Adhan
and make iqamah before leading prayers." [Hadith narrated by
Tawoos in Abdur Razzaq's collection.]
There are many Hadith which give women the right to do these Islamic
activities. Here let me give you one Hadith which covers ALL religious
activities. This is from our archives where I answered a related
question from a woman:
ALL
WOMEN ,
INCLUDING YOUNG SINGLE WOMEN, ARE URGED BY PROPHET MUHAMMAD (peace be
on him) TO TAKE PART IN ALL GOOD WORKS OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY
Question: I am studying Islam but can't find anything in the
Koran
or the Traditions to support the place of women outside the home. Is
it not true that Islam wants to restrict women to having children
and cooking food? [Usha, London, England]
ANSWER BY
KAUKAB SIDDIQUE:
Dear Usha, I have no idea why you can't find the relevant texts.
There is no need for any argument or interpretation on this issue.
Here is a clear text from the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
I have put the Prophet's words in capitals:
"Ismail narrates from Ayyub who narrates from Hafsa: She said: We used
to forbid our never married maidens from going out. A woman came and
stayed at the mansion of the Bani Khalaf. She narrated that her sister
was married to a companion of the messenger of Allah (peace be on him)
who was with the messenger of Allah (pbuh) in 12 armed expeditions.
Her sister was with him in six of these expeditions. She (the sister)
said: We used to bandage the wounded and take care of the sick. She
(the sister) asked the messenger of Allah (pbuh): Is there any harm
if one of us does not go forth if she does not have an outer covering
(jilbab)? He (the Prophet) said: "LET HER FEMALE FRIEND GIVE HER OF
HER OUTER COVERINGS and SHE SHOULD TAKE PART IN THE GOOD WORKS and
CALLS TO ALLAH (supplications) OF THE BELIEVERS." When Umm Atiyya
(Allah be pleased with her) came, I (Hafsa) questioned her about it.
Umm Attiya said: Let my father be sacrificed for him. (Whenever the
Prophet's name was mentioned, she used to say so.) I asked: Have you
heard the messenger of Allah (peace be on him) say so? She replied,
Yes. By my father, he (the Prophet) told us: LET THE UNMARRIED MAIDENS
AND THE YOUNG VIRGINS WHO STAY HIDDEN AND THE MENSTRUATING ONES GO
FORTH TO TAKE PART IN THE GOOD DEEDS AND CALLS TO ALLAH (supplications)
OF THE MUSLIMS. ONLY, THE MENSTRUATING ONES SHOULD NOT BE ON THE
ACTUAL PRAYER AREA. I (Hafsa) asked (Umm Attiya): Even the menstruating
women? She replied: Don't they (the menstruating women) go to Arafat
and such and such places? [Hadith in Bukhari's
Sahih,
kitab al-Manasik.]
ANALYSIS by Kaukab Siddique: Muslims, by definition, are one nation
and one community. However, for this community to become real,
Muslims must learn to respect each other and to work together for
good causes, starting at the basic level of man and woman. Decency
and modesty are important in Islam but this virtue must not be a
cloistered virtue. To achieve real virtue, one must practice virtue
within the community.
The hadith (above) begins by mentioning Hafsa's mistaken notion that
single women must not go out into community activities. Then along
came a woman who talked about her sister who had participated in six
armed expeditions (ghazwat) . Although she was part of the ambulance
brigade, she did go forth to the battlefield. Hafsa got this narration
confirmed by Umm Attiya (Allah be pleased with her) one of the greatest
female companions of the Prophet (pbuh).
Note that the Prophet did not accept the excuse of lack of adequate
clothing. Friends can always share dresses. The essential thing is to
be part of the struggle. There is no indication whatever that the
Prophet (pbuh) would want women to be secluded or separated from the
men. Decent dress and modest attitude is all that is needed. TAQWA
(God-conscious behavior) is the key.
The biggest surprise for Hafsa was the Prophet's urging that even
menstruating women go forth. No mosque or gathering place is holier
than the ground of Arafat, and menstruating women can [and do] go there.
They should stay away from actual formal prayer. (Another aspect often
forgotten is that in those days it was difficult to stop the blood
flow and the place of prayer would be bloodied.)
Note also that this hadith in a number of ways contradicts the idea
that reporting or witnessing by ONE MUSLIM WOMAN is not valid. Ismail
accepted from Ayyub (both males) a narration from ONE WOMAN Hafsa and
Imam Bukhari unhesitatingly placed it in his Sahih. The second part
of the narration is again from one woman Umm Attiya (Allah be pleased
with her).
CRITIQUE of DR. MUHSIN KHAN'S TRANSLATION: Dr. Khan's translation of
Bukhari in 9 volumes has this hadith in volume 2 on page 418 and it
is numbered 714. The translator has made a number of errors. Firstly
he adds the words "On Ids" and "for Id prayer" at the beginning and end
of the first sentence narrated by Hafsa. If any expert in Arabic can
point out where these additions of Dr. Khan are available in the text,
please let me know. Secondly, he mentions the "menstruating ones" only
once, leaving out the first reference as given in my translation. Again
see the Arabic. Thirdly, he DOES NOT KNOW THAT HAFSA HERE IS NOT THE
DAUGHTER of Umar Ibn al-Khattab (r.a.) and the wife of the Prophet
(pbuh). Dr. Khan mistakenly puts (radi Allahu unha) in front of
her name. He should study the Tabqat of Ibn Saad to find out
who was this narrator. If she had been the illustrious wife of the
Prophet and custodian of the Qur'an, she would not have had to ask
Umm Attiya (r.a.). Fourthly, Dr. Khan blunders by translating jilbab
as "veil" and his translation comes out as "She should cover herself
with the veil of her companion." (Is that physically possible?) Most
early scholars of Islam agree that jilbab is the outer garment
or covering.
Some close Saudi associates of Dr. Khan have issued a summary of
Sahih Bukhari from which this hadith has been omitted.
Now we go to Br. Hamza's question about Interest:
Interest is HARAM in Islam. We must understand WHY it is Haram. There
is no physical difference in the function between money which is coming
from interest and one which is the result of productive effort. The
difference is in the social system within which economic activity is
carried out. As long as you are not charging interest or becoming part
of the interest-based system, you cannot be blamed. The interest
which accrues from the bank should be given as charity without
thinking of getting a reward for it. Give it to the most needy and
helpless. I think your daughter will get a great reward for giving
the interest away. Don't leave it with the bank. Here I am opposed to
the views of Ulema who think that it should be left with the bank and
also those who think there is no reward in it because it is haram
money. What money DOES to help people is not Haram. The process of
interest based economics should be reversed but for that we need an
Islamic revolution:
"What you invest at interest to increase on other people's wealth, does
not find increase with Allah: yet what you give in alms and charity,
seeking Allah, will be doubled." [The Qur'an 30:39]
We live in a world where the forces of capitalism control the economies
of the world. About such conditions of helplessness, the Qur'an says:
"... if a person is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience
nor transgressing due limits ---thy Lord is oft-forgiving, most
merciful." [6:145.]
[Looks like they got the wrong man again and tortured him extensively.]
Alleged operative denies al-Qaeda ties
PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Abu Zubaydah, alleged to be a former senior al-Qaeda
operative for Afghanistan, denied before a military hearing that he
was a member of the terrorist organization or an associate of leader
Osama bin Laden.
Mr. Zubaydah, captured in 2002, also told the hearing at Guantanamo Bay
that he had been tortured in U.S. custody and confessed to things he
did not do just to stop the abuse, according to a Pentagon transcript
released Monday.
Mr. Zubaydah appeared before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, an
administrative hearing, at Guantanamo Bay on March 27, as one of 14
"high value" detainees transferred there last September after being
held at secret CIA prisons abroad. The public and reporters are not
permitted access to the hearings; of the 13 hearings held so far,
the Defense Department has now released 12 transcripts.
Mr. Zubaydah, a Palestinian, said that from 1994 to about 2000 he was
a facilitator at guest houses in Pakistan, where he helped Muslims get
to the Afghanistan's Khalden training camp for "defensive jihad" -
that is to fight against forces that invade Muslim lands anywhere.
He then helped send the trained militants on to Bosnia, Chechnya
and elsewhere, he said.
"The statement that I was an associate of Osama bin Laden is false,"
the transcript quotes Mr. Zubaydah as saying. "I'm not his partner
and I'm not a member of al-Qaida."
"Bin Laden wanted al-Qaida to have control of Khalden, but we refused
since we had different ideas," Mr. Zubaydah said.
He said he's happy to see others attack U.S. military targets such as
the USS Cole - bombed by terrorists in 2000 as it refueled off Yemen -
but believes it's against Islam to kill civilians.
"I disagreed with the al-Qaeda philosophy of targeting innocent civilians
like those in the World Trade Center," he said, referring to the
Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York.
The Pentagon's redacted 27-page transcript included a statement read
to the hearing by Mr. Zubaydah's appointed representative in addition
to lengthy passages that were hard to understand because Mr. Zubaydah
spoke in English, acknowledging at one point "I don't know grammar
in English."
He said other groups were angry at al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks
but that it was not a good time for disagreements among themselves.
"After eleven September, the big groups, they was angry from bin Laden -
why you not tell us about this big operation? At least give us a chance
to adjust ourself," Mr. Zubaydah was quoted as saying in the transcript.
"But we have idea ... that if the enemy came to attack us, it is not
good to make different between us."
The purpose of the Guantanamo hearings is to determine whether the
detainees should be classified as an "enemy combatant" eligible for
a military trial for war crimes.
This is the second Rand plot:
Our Turkish Group Uncovered the first in 2006.
The Rand Report: "Building Moderate Muslim Networks"
An Analysis by Waheeduddin Ahmed Ph.D.
Rand Corporation, which sponsors and funds conservative public policy
studies, has recently (2007) published a report entitled "Building
Moderate Muslim Networks". The authors are: Angel Rabaca, Cheryl
Benard, Lowell H. Schwartz and Peter Sickle. It merits serious
attention and careful evaluation by all Muslim activists, especially
those who may be considered "modernists" as defined by the authors,
for the report identifies such individuals and organizations
worldwide, glorifies them and sets them up for falling into a
pro-Zionist trap and eventual disgrace and destruction. I shall
explain in the following how it can happen.
The outlines of the Report are that "extremism" in Islam is posing the
gravest danger to the security of the West and that the West should
respond by drawing on its experience of the Cold War. A parallel is
drawn between the conflict of the past and the conflict today, where
the perceived Islamic Fundamentalism replaces the communist enemy.
It is thus obvious that we are already in the middle of the second
Cold War (CW2). The West had won the CW1, they allege, by covertly
and overtly supporting opposition groups within the communist bloc.
The same strategy is deemed to be applicable in the CW2. The
opposition group in this instance is ‘moderate Muslims". The
report states:
"What is needed at this stage is to derive lessons from the
experience of the Cold War, determine their applicability to the
conditions of the Muslim World today, and develop a "road map" for
the construction of moderate and liberal Muslim networks." --- "Since
moderates lack the resources to create these networks themselves,
their creation may require an external catalyst."
The authors go on to say:
"At the heart of the approach we propose is making the building of
moderate Muslim networks an explicit goal of U.S. government programs."
The Report contemplates using even "da'wa" as a tool for accomplishing
the goal.
"One idea, put forth by analysts such as Dennis Ross, is for the
United States to identify committed reformers to initiate a
"secular da'wa," by which forces of moderation would be associated
with tangible improvements in living conditions. This concept was
endorsed throughout the Cold War through the establishment of
agencies such as USAID and the Peace Corps."
(USAID stands for U.S. Agency for International Development)
The report envisages a shift in the area of operation for the U.S.
moderation effort from the Arab countries to Turkey and South
and Southeast Asia.
"Our approach calls for fundamental changes to the current, symmetric
strategy of engagement with the Muslim world. The current approach
identifies the problem area as the Middle East and structures its
programs accordingly. That area is much too large, too diverse,
too opaque, and too much in the grip of non-moderate sectors to
allow for much traction (as reflected in the experience of MEPI).
It can absorb very large amount of resources with little or no impact.
Instead, the United States should pursue a new policy that is
asymmetric and selective. As in the Cold War, U.S. efforts should
avoid the opponent's center of gravity and instead concentrate on
the partners, and regions where U.S. support has the greatest
likelihood of impacting the war of ideas."
(MEPI stands for Middle East Partnership Initiative.)
The authors provide a litmus test for distinguishing "true moderates
from opportunists and from extremists camouflaged as moderate." The
criteria exclude even the weakest of Islamists, leaving only the most
ardent of secularists and atheists answering the call.
Particular emphasis is placed on Sufi Islam as being a natural ally
in the implementation of the modernist agenda.
"They do not engage in the unmediated interpretation of the Qur'an
and the hadith."
Example is given of the Turkish religious leader Fethullah Gulen who
promotes, according to the authors, a form of moderate modern sufi
Islam, branded as "Anatolian Islam".
Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are
mentioned with great gusto as fertile grounds for promoting
"moderate" Islam. Euro-Islam has received detailed scrutiny, with
a near exhaustive list of pros and contras. To a great extent
North America is spared the investigative forage. Only the apostates
and renegades, who have found sanctuary in North America, such as
Salman Rushdie, Ayan Hirsi Ali, Homa Arjumand, Irshad Manji and
Wafa Sultan are mentioned. For a list of worldwide potential
collaborators, including organizations, mentioned in the Report,
please see the appendix to my article.
Partners in the network building are sought from:
Liberal and secular Muslim academics
Young moderate clerics
Community activists
Women's groups
Journalists, writers and communicators
The Roadmap will be as laid down in the following:
"We propose to launch the initiative recommended in this report with
a workshop, to be held in Washington or another appropriate venue,
gathering a small, representative group of Muslim moderates. This
workshop would serve to obtain their input and their support for
their initiative and to prepare the agenda and list of participants
for an international conference modeled on the Congress of
Cultural Freedom."
"If this event were successful, we would then work with the core group
to hold an international conference in a venue of symbolic significance
for Muslims, for instance, Cordoba in Spain, to launch a standing
organization to combat Salafi extremism."
Letter: Misled Christians Building Israel in Florida
My mother sent me a disturbing link to an article at the
Journal of Religion and Society site. It is the 4th article
down that states : "Next Year in Orlando" and
it reeks of Christian and Jewish zionism.
Here is the link:
http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/toc/current.html
Salaam,
Sis. 'Aisha [New York City]
Letter: Regarding Islamic [Hafsa] Women
while I don't always agree with some of your points of view ---
regarding Jamia Hafsa, I think you've made some good points ---
I have a blog entry up regarding the issue, and have translated
parts of a talk at Lal Masjid - have a look:
http://ihsan-net.blogspot.com/2007/04/lal-masjid-islamabad-what-do-they-want.html
Altaf
Letter: New Trend Gets Free Gift of the Qur'an
MUJHE BOHAT ACHA LAGA K AAP ISLAM K BARE MAIN ITNA CONCERN HEN.
Attached please find the GIFT OF QURAAN, from me for you,
Ise Read karen aur mere liye bulke hum sub musalmano k liye dua karen.
Take Care of yourself and Be Happy
Thanks & Regards
Asif Shahzad
AlMaya Group (BORDERS)
Dubai UAE
2007-04-19 Thu 19:24:20 cdt
NewTrendMag.org