Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief ---------------------------------------------------------
Rabi' al-Awwal 7, 1426/April 16, 2005 #28
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Please scroll way down for another blockbuster analysis of Iraq "elections" by New Trend veteran Edward Miller.
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Bismillah-ir-Rahman-nir-Raheem
In Memory of our beloved mother

Mahmudah begum Qureshi

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to:

THE MAHMUDAH QURESHI
ENDOWMENT FUND

Checks can be written to The Islamic Society of Augusta and are tax deductible.
The name of the fund should be specified on the check.
Mailing address: ISA, 3216 Middleton Drive, Martinez, Georgia 30907

THE GOAL of this fund is to provide
ongoing Islamic literacy for women.
The principal has been invested in Islamic funds and the annual profit will be spent on enhancing Islamic literacy in women.

SADAQA-E-JARIYA
(continuous charity even after you are gone).

Donations to this fund go to its principal.

Thank you
Asma, Paul, Kaukab, Hamza, Teepu, Laulak and families
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For Immediate Release
April 25: Rally in Lawrenceville, Georgia [Atlanta area]

MUSLIM CHILDREN TAKEN AWAY by GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: Muslims Pray too much!: Women stay too much at home!

[Government allegations.]

Jamaat Al-Muslimeen /AFRA
"Save Our Children" Protest

On April 25, 2005, Islamic Social Service Watch and AFRA members will be protesting at the Gwinnett County DFACS office and Juvenile Justice Center in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Gwinnett has the highest rate of child abuse cases IN fostercare out of 159 Georgia counties.

(See Feb. 2005 Georgia Department of Family & Children Services Key Fingings Report).

We are asking for support and media coverage in our efforts.
WHAT: We will be protesting for families unjustly abused by The child protective services (CPS). Many Muslim children have been illegally taken by overzealous social workers and judges who don't choose to understand the Islamic faith and prayer requirements or are fearful of the recent news reporting of deaths in foster care.

WHEN: April 25, 2005 starting at 8:30am until 5:30pm.

WHY: Indian, Arab, African, African-American and other "ethnic" and non "ethnic" children are being rounded up by social workers at schools, playgrounds, daycare centers and at their homes. Your children could be next!

HOW: Social workers have made allegations of the following to several Muslim families:

Families are having their children removed when workers are called by uneducated neighbors. Neighbor's call abuse hotlines to say Muslim parents pray too much. Allegation? Neglect.

Muslim women are accused of depriving the children by staying in the home. Allegation? Social Deprivation.

Families who homeschool are brought to juvenile courts when social workers file petitions for removal. Allegation? Truancy from "real" school and again, Social Deprivation.
Muslim parents who may have unruly children that don't file charges against them are alleged to be Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.

The American Family Rights association (AFRA) has over 170,000 members and 200 member organizations nationwide. This will be a large protest and it will bring insight to Muslim Families regarding the Child Protective Services in America.

To familiarize yourself with the "selling" of our children, the government must remove the child from all biological parents and extended family members, and to place them in foster homes or foster group homes to qualify for the Title IV-E funding and the Federal adoption bonus money. In Washington State, there is a zero percentile of relative adoptions. There is a 98 percentile of foster adoptions and a 2 percentile of step parent adoptions. Using Washington State as an example with it's 8,000 foster children having approximately 10 relatives each, the State would have us believe there is not a single fit, willing or qualified family member of these children in a pool of 80,000 relatives. On the other hand each and every foster adopt parent, is accepted as a suitable adoptive home for the children.

This, of course, is ridiculous, but there are no checks and balances within the Department of Children and Family Services, and no one to bring them into accountability. We must do this ourselves. These numbers are comparable with all other States and we see our family trees turning into stumps. The horrifying factor is that the States must adopt more children each year over the last to gain additional bonuses. The families cannot compete with the money flow, which is 80% of the agencies total funding. These children have a price tag on their heads. When you look at the massive amounts of money and adoption bonuses attached to our children you can see why not a single Grandparent, Aunt, Uncle or cousin of these children is given custody.

To make the situation readily understandable, families are forced to pay child support to the very same agency (DFACS) that forcibly took the children. It is essentially an illegal hostage/ransom.

We have that same fire in our hearts to take back our Muslim children.

We are asking for your dua's and your support at the protest. Please help us release the stranglehold the Department of Children and Family Services has around the necks of our children.

Help us set these children free and return them to their biological homes whenever there are fit, willing and qualified parents and relatives available to them...there are thousands of us and we are ready to protest on April 25th with tenacity and fortitude.

To download an Expose' on the Child Abuse Industry, please visit: http://jamaat.addr.com/MediaHandout.pdf

This comprehensive expose reports the rampant abuses of authority, violations of civil rights, and circumventing of existing law by the Child Protection Industry in the Unites States.

Please download a copy and forward it to friends
Visit Jamaat Al-Muslimeen at http://jamaat.addr.com

Protest will be held at the below locations:
Starting at 8:30am to 3pm

Gwinnett County Juvenile Court - Division 2
75 Langley Drive
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045
(770) 822-8349

Starting at 3pm to 5pm
CPS Office
One Justice Square, 446 West Crogan St.
Suite. 300
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045-2475
(678) 518-5600

Both locations are next to each other.
Those that like may bring their own info & signs.

AFRA sample signs are available at: http://familyrightsassociation.com/bin/posters

Our goal is to have a turnout of at least 2,000

We encourage those with the capabilities to print this flyer and distribute it to other masjids, schools, childcare centers, etc. Your support is GREATELY appreciated!

For more information contact:

Sis. Khalidah at: JamaatMuslimeenAtl@yahoo.com
Or read information at the AFRA website: http://www.familyrightsassociation.com

To donate:

Online: http://jamaat.addr.com/donate
Mail: Jamaat Al-Muslimeen Atlanta
P.O. Box 956326
Duluth, GA 30095
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[After 4 months, no justice in this horrible murder of Muslimah. She fought back and is considered Shaheed. - New Trend Editor.]
« Mukhtar Mai News Advice from Umm Sahl »

Iman Muhanna, Her Unborn Child, Women's Rights & Freedoms

Salaam 'Alalikum

Iman Muhanna Mohammed was brutally murdered in her Metairie, LA home on December 17th . She was stabbed 33 times; some of her wounds were defensive. Iman fought back. Iman was six months pregnant with a baby girl, who did not survive the attack. She was a Qur'an teacher, founder of a local Islamic school, and graduate of the Islamic University in Gaza, who left behind a husband and two children.

There's been a lot of discussion online and elsewhere lately about Muslim women and rights, but in the three months since she was murdered, there has been precious little discussion in our community about Iman Mohammed and the most basic right that she and her daughter were robbed of — the right to life.

Altaf at the Ihsan blog wrote about her case on Thursday, but prior to that, the only person I know who even knew about her murder (much less wrote about it) was Izzy Mo, who wrote about it on her blog and at Living Tradition (1, 2). I've thought about Iman Mohammed since I first learned about her murder in December, but until yesterday, hadn't heard of anything new in the case.

Now, the Muslim American Society has stepped up and vowed to publicize the case and work with the police to apprehend her killer(s). The police still have not apprehended anyone, and have not made public whether or not they have suspects (yes, her husband has been cleared). Although the phone lines at the home were cut, there was no sign of forced entry, indicating that Iman knew her killer or in some way did not initially feel threatened by him / her.

Mahdi Bray of MAS commented on the lack of publicity surrounding Iman's death, saying, "Frankly, I'm amazed at how little media attention this case has received. The murder of pregnant women normally receives big nationwide coverage by all the major media outlets." Iman Mohammed's murder has not received a fraction of the sensational, obsessive coverage that Laci and Connor Petersen's and Lori Hacking's murders received.

A study done by the Maryland Department of Health and Hygiene found that the leading cause of death among pregnant women is homicide. The study, which was published in JAMA, said that, "a pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause." In most cases (numbers are hard to come by), most of these women were murdered by a husband or boyfriend. Indeed, in the Petersen and Hacking cases, the police suspected their husbands almost immediately.

But Iman Mohammed wasn't murdered by a jealous, abusive, violent husband. She was murdered by a stranger or acquaintance. Why has she been paid no attention? Not just by the media, but by our own community? If Iman Mohammed had been murdered by her Arab, Palestinian, Muslim husband, what sort of outrage and sensationalism might that have triggered, both within our own community and outside of it, in these OJMichaelJRoberBlakeChandraLevyMarthaStewart days that we're living in?

I was reading some things yesterday about "Muslim women's freedom being on the march" in this country. Setting aside the fact that Muslim women (or pretty much any woman) in the US have just about more liberties and freedoms than any women anywhere else in the world, I just had to wonder about the contradictions going on. I would be the last to say that masjid access isn't an important issue for Muslims in the US (or West), but... it's not as important as my right or Iman Mohammed's right or any other Muslim woman's right to live.

We go on about jilbabs at school or a woman leading a prayer at a church or a whole host of other things, but until recently, Mukhtar Mai's case has received relatively little attention from the Muslim community, the "feminists" and "liberals" in particular.

She has received exactly one mention on the PMU-NA's mouthpiece, MWU, and that was over six months ago (in other words, no updates, and certainly nothing about the Shari'at Court upholding the convictions). By contrast, I counted thirteen articles on hijab before I stopped counting (who's obsessed with women's dress and not their realities again?), and so many articles on sex under so many topic headings I couldn't keep a straight count (it's not like I was doing a scientific survey with notes and all).

Oddly, though, on March 12, at least a week after new developments in Mukhtar's case made headlines all around the world, they declared that "no, we don't have more important issues" than a prayer led by a woman. A search for Iman Muhanna Mohammed got no hits from the MWU search engine.

Iman Mohammed and her unborn daughter have received precious little attention, outside of her local community and some in the Palestinian community. The same goes for Mukhtar Mai, although she's received a little more attention lately. Is a woman or girl's right to life and to sexual safety less important than whether or not she can lead a jama'at or wear a jilbab to private school? I mean, as much fun as it is to bicker over these issues...

In our early history, there was a woman who lived at the northern reaches of the Islamic lands, I think near Byzantium, who was assaulted in the street by a strange man. Her coverings were ripped off of her and I can't remember, but I think the man struck her. She shouted, "Where is the Caliph?" When the news of her assault and plea reached him, he felt ashamed that a woman hadn't been safe in a corner of the lands he was in charge of, and he sent an army to defend her (I think it was a Caliph called al Mansur, but there's no one I can ask at this hour).

Now, we can't seem to do more than "tsk tsk" when a Muslima is beaten, denied an education, raped, or (subhan'Allah) murdered, unless it's in the service of a larger political cause. "Why are we a defeated Ummah?" indeed.

From Allah we do come and to Him we do return.

Our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whoever is killed trying to keep his property, he is a witness-martyr; whoever is killed trying to defend his life, he is a witness-martyr; whoever is killed trying to practice his Religion, he is a witness-martyr; and whoever is killed trying to defend his family, he is a witness-martyr."

Insha'Allah, Iman Muhanna Mohammed is among the shuhadat, for she tried to defend herself and her unborn child. And by the promise of Allah and His Messenger, we know that her innocent precious little girl is in Jannah.

No, we don't have more important issues.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 19th, 2005 at 12:51 am and is filed under The Ummah, Muslim Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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To be fair, New Trend must point out that the murder was first noted by Dr. Abdelhalim Ashqar, a Palestinian leader living in America. This new posting was brought to us by Br. Taqi.
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Q & A

Should a Wife Obey her husband and/or her mother?
plus
Two Fatwas which Changed the Muslim World

A sister who lives in Atlanta posted the following criticism written by Dr. Siddique in which a Muslim publication's FATWA was deflated. After that a non-Muslim woman asked the questions which follow. She wondered how such an unIslamic Fatwa could be issued.

DOES A MUSLIM WIFE HAVE TO OBEY HER HUSBAND AND HER MOTHER?

Question from Br. Yusuf [Detroit]: I have read in an Islamic publication "Al-Jumuah" vol.15, issue 05 in a fatwa given by Dr. Ajeel an-Nashmi as follows: "obeying her husband is an obligation of the wife in matters that involve no disobedience of Allah and that are included in the guardianship of a husband over his wife. Likewise, it is obligatory for a woman to listen to her mother where no disobedience of Allah or conflict with the wife's obedience of her husband is involved." How can New Trend claim that women have equality when this fatwa is giving the wife third position, after husband and mother?

Answer by Kaukab Siddique: Neither the Qur'an nor the authentic Hadith compiled by Bukhari and Muslim oblige a wife to "obey" her husband or her mother. Nor does Islam teach that the husband is the "guardian" of the wife. These are non-Islamic concepts imported from Hinduism and Judaism. Note the following:

To understand any social interaction, be it that of husband and wife or that of government and people, we must keep in view the BINDING PRINCIPLE which Islam provides for ALL such interaction. The Qur'an says that Muslims are people who:
"...conduct their affairs by mutual consultation." [42:38]

So, the proper way for the wife (as for the husband) is CONSULTATION and not obedience.

Similarly, men and women are EACH OTHERS' GUARDIANS, not the husband the guardian of the wife:
"The believers, men and women, are protecting friends and guardians (AWLIYYA) of each other ...." [9:71]

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was commanded by Allah to take a pledge from women when they wanted to become part of the Muslim community. It makes plain the rules about a woman's behavior in all matters. OBEDIENCE TO THE HUSBAND is NOT included. See the Qur'an 60:12

Read the numerous Hadith narrated by 'Ayesha, r.a. She used to even question the Prophet, pbuh, about the meaning of verses of the Qur'an. Nowhere do you read the Prophet, pbuh, telling her to obey him because he was her husband.

Men are clever in using religion to subjugate their wives. 'Ayesha, r.a., was aware of this tendency and she undermined this male claim as follows:
"'Ayesha, r.a., narrates: I swear by Allah that the messenger of Allah , pbuh, never asked women to accept anything except what Allah commanded him." [Hadith, Sahih of Muslim, kitab ul-amarat.]

A huband and wife are equal in all respects as far as the Qur'an and the Hadith are concerned. Only TAQWA [Allah conscious behavior] makes one better than the other. For instance, if a wife knows more Qur'an or Hadith than the husband, then he must listen to her.

As far as mothers are concerned, their claim in social relationships is based on LOVE, not on obedience. Islam teaches children to love, cherish, care for, help their mothers. Authority, however, which obliges one to obey, belongs to Allah alone.
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As-Salaamu Alaikum, Dr. Siddique!

A non-Muslim sister (I assume Christian) in The Sisters Halaqa e-mail group sent this to the message board. I thought you would be the best person to respond to her questions. I would like to post your response to the message board, insha-Allah.

May Allah bless you to remain strong in faith and on the Straight Path!

Your sister in faith,
Shafeeqah V. Smith

Note: This is my new name. I will make this name public and legal within two years, insha-Allah. Presently, I'm going by this name within the Islamic community. The "V" stands for "Veronica", my birth name which means "true image." "Smith" is my father's surname.
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Hello everyone,

I'm not a muslim but I have been learning about Islam ever since my daughter converted. This posting was very informative but I have always been very confused about fatwas in general. Can anyone answer these questions?
  1. Who has the authority to issue a fatwa?
  2. Can women issue fatwas?
  3. My understanding is that a fatwa is an islamic legal ruling. Taking the example in this posting, how can a fatwa be issued which is against the teachings of Islam?
I'm only trying to understand these issues and not meaning to criticize or give any offense by my questions.
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Answer by Dr. Kaukab Siddique:

An Islamic legal ruling should be given by someone who has an understanding of the totality of the Islamic worldview. However, expertise in the Qur'an and the Hadith is not enough. The Mufti must also understand the context of a situation in which a question or issue emerges. In addition a mufti must not be afraid of any power other than Allah. The Qur'an calls such fearless people AWLIYYA ALLAH [the friends of Allah]
Unfortunately Fatwas can be given [and often are given] even by those who do not understand Islam in its totality and do not know much about applicability and context. Many people who have Islamic knowledge but little understanding think they can give Fatwas.
Thus there can be Fatwas which are misleading and incorrect.

Yes, women can give Fatwas. The same requirements apply to them as they do to the men: "All the scholars of Hadith, the earlier ones as well as the later ones, agree without reservations that the Mother of the Believers, 'Ayesha the Truthful, daughter of the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr Siddiq, was among the greatest Companions [Sahaba] versed in Islamic Law, and {even} the Companions well versed in Law used to come to her Presence and asked her about issues which emerged in matters of religion." [Musnad 'Ayesha, radi Allah 'unha by Jalaluddin al-Suyuti, died in 911 hijri.]

However, Fatwas can be effective only if the audience is also capable of receiving the Fatwa. The two most effective Fatwas in recent history were those issued by Imam Khomeini against Salman Rushdie who insulted the family of the Prophet, pbuh, and by Osama bin Laden against the U.S. presence in Arabia. Millions of people in the Muslim world accepted these Fatwas though they created serious difficulties for Muslims living in the U.S. and U.K.
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Analysis
IRAQI ELECTIONS, FLORIDA STYLE
EVEN THOSE FEW WHO VOTED WERE TRICKED

by Edward Miller, San Rafael, California
[Veteran contributor to New Trend.]

" Political democracy ... ... with all its threatening evils, supplies a training school for making first-class men. It is life's gymnasium." [Walt Whitman 1819-1892]

On March 20th, tens of thousands around the world marched to protest Washington's continuing occupation in Iraq. In Chicago hundreds of extra police were called out to manage the crowds and even in Tasmania protestors filled the streets of their capital.

Americans have noted that over the past two years the rational for the invasion of Iraq has been altered more than once . Bush, repeating the lies of his neocon pals Leith, Perle, Wolfowitz , and Carl Rove, first warned that Saddam was an "imminent threat" not only to his neighbors, but even to the continental United States, some 6000 miles from Baghdad. When few in the intelligent world and none of Iraq's immediate neighbors bought into this story and after millions across the planet rallied in the streets to protest the proposed US pre-emptive strike, Bush suddenly discovered that Saddam was in possession of WMD, weapons that our teddy-bear Blair warned might be readied for use "in as little as 45 minutes". Then, after the US-British invasion of Iraq, and after intensive search produced no WMD, Bush revealed that his real purpose behind OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM had always been " to bring democracy to the Iraqis and, eventually to all the Mideast.."

Today, almost two years since Bush in his infamous "Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier speech" ( May 1, 2003) announced the Iraqi campaign " successfully completed," Saddam's people see little evidence of either a western style democracy or the promised improvements in their physical condition. Though our western media lauded the bravery of those Iraqis who risked their lives to vote in the January 30th elections, a closer look presents a far different picture.

As staff member of the INDEPENDENT, A.K. Gupta, reported: (Z- Magazine, March 2005) " elections were held in a country locked down under an iron-fisted occupation with few Iraqis having any idea of who or what they were voting for. Almost half of those surveyed thought they were voting for a president rather than a national assembly and provisional legislatures ... except for the Kurds, most Iraqi voters saw their ballot as a vote against the US occupation, adding there was growing evidence that many Iraqis " may have been coerced to the polls by threats to cut off their food allowances...Iraqi officials ... declared the election motto : "vote or starve".

Gupta noted that Kurds, 90% of whom are Sunni, turned out " in droves", and the 60% Shiite population as well, but that a large number of Shiites plus Sunnis did not vote. .adding that Washington's choice, "Allawi, didn't, seem to be hurt by his underlings handing out $100 dollar bills to Iraqi journalists attending his press conferences," The New York Times reported that all four candidates competing for prime minister were Iraqi exiles.

But there was more to the election than coertion by overt threats of starvation. As Scott Ritter, former Iraqi weapons inspector, and presently columnist for Al Jazeera reported (Newsmax.com 9 March 2005) "January's historic election ... was fixed. ... as the election results were changed using a "secret recount" held three days after the vote." Ritter explained that with Shiites getting 60% of the vote, their party would control the National Assembly without having to form a coalition. Accordingly, " suddenly there's a government-ordered lockdown of the votes, while there is a secret recount- not a public recount- where American troops were escorting ballot boxes into undisclosed locations to be recounted by ( interim Prime Minister) Alllawi's government." Ritter noted: "the secret recount dramatically changed the political landscape, with the Shia vote dropping to 48 % and Allawi's government picking up nearly 10 points of support." ... " You don't want to cook it so that no one will believe it...You cook it so that the Shia cannot have a majority in the National Assembly, so that there will not be a democratically-elected theocracy."

Iyad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister, a Shiite, whose position in the new Iraqi government is uncertain, has been generally recognized by the Iraqi people as a puppet for both the US and Britain. Columnist Fred Lingel ii his article ( American Free Press 5 July, 2004) points out that this 59 year old physician (neurologist) " is credited, like his disgraced relative, Ahmed Chalabi, with providing the United States with bogus information about weapons of mass destruction. Lingel points out: " Allawi was not the UN's preferred choice," but that Iraq's UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, " had to accept him after the US-appointed Governing Council came under pressure from Ambassador Robert Blackwell, Condoleezza Rice's man in Baghdad, and CPA leader, Paul Bremer."

In 1971 Allawi went to London to complete his medical studies, and was accused by some of " spying for the Iraqi secret police" He broke with the Baath Party for reasons unknown and assassins were sent to London to kill him. "He was beaten with knives and axes and spent a year in the hospital recuperating." "Allawi set up his own dissident organization The Iraqi National Accord, and built close ties with the British Foreign Intelligence Service, M16. In 1992 Allawi transferred his allegiance to the CIA and got funding from them… As a member of Iraq's Governing Council Allawi had the task of building a new secret police force. "

Thus Bush who preaches "democracy" has been employing the same crooked tactics in Iraq that gave our President a majority in the Florida election.
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2005-04-17 Sun 19:44ct
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