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The War within Islam
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Saturday, 04 Sep 2010 |
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I Fight Petrodollar Islam: Sultan Shahin
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In a tiny room in East Delhi’s Patparganj, a man spends most of his waking hours at his computer. This passion may be something he shares with millions, but Sultan Shahin is no ordinary web addict. Behind his constant surfing, writing and posting pieces on his website called newageislam.com is a steadfast purpose: to reclaim Islam from the clutches of jihadists and petrodollar-funded Salafist-Wahhabis.
Shahin, who ideologically fights the religious right — the tyrannical Taliban and its sympathisers as well as the many Islamic supremacists who claim that Islam alone is Allah’s chosen path to paradise — is a spirited web warrior. “My fight is against petrodollar Islam,” he declares. “I am creating a forum that will lead us to the understanding of a pluralistic, inclusive, tolerant Islam.” And Islam, he adds, is not a new religion. “The Quran says this. It is a reiteration and revalidation of earlier religions,” he avers, seated at his study stacked with scholarly tomes, including several copies of the commentaries on the Quran. Anathema as this may be to fundamentalists, it’s won Shahin many followers. In the mere two years since the inception of newageislam.com, the website has 117,000 registered subscribers (subscription is free), claims its 60-year-old editor. Its daily newsletter, brought out by a skeletal staff of five, has carried debates on issues and personalities seldom talked about among mosque-going, visibly pious Muslims. So the Mumbai-based Muslim televangelist Dr Zakir Naik is slammed, not because he is allegedly funded by the petro-rich Saudi Sheikhs, but because he tries to establish the supremacy of Islam over all other religions. Niyaz Fatehpuri, a 20th-century Indian scholar and editor of Urdu periodical Nigaar, has become a much admired man on the website because of his rational, ingenious interpretation of Islamic principles. The website even follows the Urdu press, including Urdu dailies in Pakistan, and uploads the rational views in it, both in their original Urdu and English translations. ... Shahin later landed up in London as an editor of Asia Times, a weekly owned by one Arif Ali of Indian origin. A decade or so in England, he says, gave him great experience “as it exposed me to different strains of Islam and Muslims”. Like, once at a friend’s house in Nottingham, he heard a 20-year-old Muslim extolling the virtues of Ahle Hadees, a sect which propagates puritanical Islam. Shahin asked the boy the treatment he would prescribe for those Muslims who didn’t follow the Ahle Hadees sect. “Kill them,” said the young fanatic in a cold-blooded tone. “It really disturbed me. The boy had apparently been influenced by radical organisations like Al Muhajiroon and Hizb-ut-Tehrir. Thousands of young Muslims had been brainwashed by incendiary preacher Omar Bakri who commanded the following that saints do,” recalls Shahin. “I knew it would not take long before the fires of fanatic Islam reached the Indian subcontinent and consumed our youth.” -- Mohammad Wajihuddin, The Times of India, Mumbai
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Urdu Section
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Ahmadi intrusion into Sunni areas of Delhi or another Urdu Press conspiracy theory?
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According to a report in an Urdu newspaper from Delhi, (presented in its original Urdu and in its translation in English below) Ahmadis have “chalked out their conspiracy against this formidable fort of Islam” in Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi. This grandiose claim essentially means that Ahmadis are seeking to convert Sunni Muslims to their views. New Age Islam has not been able to conform any of the allegations. Like many such reports in Urdu newspapers, this story may turn out to be just a conspiracy theory cooked up at a desk in a newspaper office, or maybe Ahmadis too have been bitten by the proselytisation bug that is so common among Tableeghis and other Wahhabis, particularly Ahl-e-Hadeesis. A war is certainly on within Islam, with the mainstream Sunni majority a target of Petrodollar-funded Muslim preachers going around the world in chartered planes, converting the unwary in large numbers. It is possible that Ahmadis too have decided to throw their hat in the ring. We do not know. It would be helpful if Jamia Nagar residents come out and verify the veracity or otherwise of the claims made in this report. Such reports become suspect in the eyes of an ordinary Muslim as the activities of petrodollar Islamists are seldom mentioned in the Urdu Press. But truth must be established. -- Editor 
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Islam and Human Rights
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The high price of being a Christian in Pakistan
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No one wants to hear about the degradation of innocent Christian girls, but to remain silent about it would be a greater crime. My hope is that, in sharing news of these crimes, you will not only be better informed of the harsh reality facing so many Christians in Pakistan every day, but also in a better position to help them win justice. Christians and especially young Christian girls are paying a high price for being Christians in an Islamic society and the proliferation of attacks and accusations in recent months is reaching an unprecedented level. Christian girls are looked down upon with hatred, regarded as inferiors, and treated by men like ‘mal-e-ganimat’ (the term used to describe booty seized during the Islamic war). -- Nasir Saeed
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Interfaith Dialogue
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Shariah: Between Two Popes
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While it started out as a minor footnote, opposition tosharî’ah has now morphed into the mantra by which many justify their opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero mosque.” If we allow this mosque to go forth, so the logic goes, the next thing you know, all the bars in the country will be shut down (and those infidel lushes flogged!), all the women will be draped in sheets, and Muhammad will replace Jacob as the most popular name in America. Allahu akbar! -- Dr. Sherman Jackson
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Islam and Politics
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Turkish Involvement in Afghanistan
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Ankara has been involved in the NATO operation in Afghanistan from the beginning. The decision was taken by the centre-left government under Bülent Ecevit following the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. A year later, the pro-Islam AKP came to power. Yet despite its much more critical stance on the NATO mission, it too continued Turkey's involvement in Afghanistan. Turkey even assumed leadership of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) twice during this period. -- Cem Sey
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Debate
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In Defense of Feisal Abdul-Rauf
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The attack structure against Muslims in particular is fairly simple. You begin with the game of “six degrees of Bin Laden.” In this game, you connect a Muslim you don’t like through a connect-the-dots scenario to Bin Laden. For example, did you know that the Cordoba Initiative sent election monitors to Sudan, and Bin Laden was once believed to have been in Sudan? It is a game that trades in absurdity and conspiracy theories. The other approach is to take quotes out of context and use them to prove that the speaker or author is duplicitous. The term for that is now “Sherroding.” Then, finally, is the ever popular and constant smearcasting, where one just hurls mud and hopes one does not get called on the misinformation. -- Hussein Rashid
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Islamic World News
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Suicide Attack on Shia Rally In Pak: 50 Dead, 100 Injured
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1 Killed In Suicide Attack On Ahmedi Mosque In Pak
Pak effect: Mosque shooting in Riyadh injures three 2 killed in Turbat bus attack India: Hindu-Muslim couple gets cover Muslims hold mass prayers at flashpoint Jerusalem mosque Chinese troops in PoK: India conveys concern to China No troops deployed in Gilgit-Baltistan, says China China Gilgit gambit is strategic says expert LeT boss had stayed at PFI facility: Police God did not create the universe, says Hawking Ahmadinejad: Israel too weak to attack our nuclear facilities Syria holds Lebanon Shia cleric as Israeli spy Suicide blast kills at least one in Tajikistan Pak's N-Arsenal Prevented War With India: A.Q. Khan Malik urges restrain on religious rallies Jordan uncovers 3,000-year-old Moabite temple Pak Minister wants Obama to be ‘leader of all Muslims’ 'Taliban facing financial crisis' “Kashmir situation needs a human touch” Iran's first lady of skiing trains on grass Iftar gatherings in Eastern Province highlight Ramadan spirit World Islamic body asks Muslims to tithe for Pakistan Muslim cleric calls for beheading of Dutch politician Forcing Islamic women to not wear veils is still oppression Mubarak the Peacemaker? OIC asks Muslims to tithe for Pakistan Flood-hit Pakistanis, Afghans may cross to Iran: UNHCR US ‘apologises’ over Dulles Airport incident Islamabad hails US ban on TTP Corruption probe ruffles US-Afghan relations A shut Lahore buries its martyrs Ramadan in the 1960s Fatah official: Negotiations' fate is failure Over 13,000 have embraced Islam in Dubai since 1996 Mother of young Syrian blogger appeals for her release Abbas, Netanyahu vow to meet every two weeks for peace Top Hizb commander arrested in Srinagar India replies to Pakistan's queries on Headley visits Pakistan cricket trio dropped U.S. sanctions on Pakistani Taliban Kerala to serve ultimatum on Dubai firm 2 Israelis injured in West Bank attack In mosque controversies, some Christians undermine their own faith Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau Photo: Blast site in Quetta, Pakistan
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Debate
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Anti-Ahmadism In India
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A few days back a small headline in the Urdu daily Munsif (Hyderabad) caught my eye: “The Worst Attempt at the State Level to Declare the Qadianis Muslim.” The text went on to report on what the dignitaries of an organization called Majlis-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat Trust, AndhraPradesh had said in the way of denouncing the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh. However, only one sentence in the report running to 18 lines communicated any sense of what the alleged “attempt and conspiracy” was: “In the textbooks for high schools the Qadiani sect has been included in the account of the many sects among the Muslims.” Then I received a mailing that brought to my attention a long note by Sultan Shahin entitled “Muslim Juhala threaten Mayawati government over Ahmadiya issue.” It included the full text of an item published in Hamara Samaj (New Delhi; 25 August 2010) that provided the information I needed...Clearly, the only questionable feature in the report is the use of “Andolan” for “sect.”... I would like to draw their attention to two books. The first is the autobiography of Maulavi Abdul Majid Dariabadi, whose name I am sure they all know and revere. As is well known to his admirers, he went through a long period of ten years when he rejected all religions and was a votary of pure reason. Eventually he regained his faith in religion in general and Islam in particular, some might say with a vengeance. Be that as it may, he gives a vivid and honest account of those states of mind in the book Apbiti. According to him his faith in religion returned with his readings in Buddhist and Hindu texts, including the Bhagawad Gita, and his return to Islam was very much facilitated by his chance discovery of the English translation of the Qur’an by “Muhammad Ali Lahori Ahmadi (in common parlance Qadiani).” (That was, incidentally, the first English translation by any Muslim.) This is what he wrote: I impatiently pulled it out from the cabinet and began to read, and, God be praised, the more I read the more my faith increased … May Allah give that Muhammad Ali a place in Paradise [karwaT karwaT jannat de]. What he believed about the Mirza [Ghulam Ahmad] Sahib [the founder of the sect] is of no concern to me. Was he right or was he wrong, I don’t care. I can’t help but tell my personal experience, for it was he who hammered in the final nail into the coffin of my disbelief and rejection (kufr wa irtidad).” (Apbiti, Lucknow, 1978, p. 254.) Surely, not one of the worthies mentioned above can claim to have served Islam similarly. -- C.M. Naim
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Urdu Section
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Stop self-indulgence in vogue in the month of Ramazan
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It is also heard that in some Arab countries TV viewing increases in the month of Ramazan as compared to other months. Film producing companies make interesting programmes and serials in advance for telecast in Ramazan. I happened to read the autobiography of the wife of an Indian diplomat posted in Egypt in which she narrated an incident in astonishment. Once she invited some locals for iftar and dinner. But unexpectedly very few people turned up and even those who did were in great hurry. On enquiry she was told that there was a dance programme of a western (probably Italian) danseuse that evening. The host told them there was no hurry; they could go a little later. But they replied that the seats got occupied very quickly in Ramazans. -- Maulana Waris Mazhari 
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Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
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Lashkar-e-Tayyaba Training Woman Jihadis To Hit India
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IT IS NO secret that Pakistan actively encourages and even supports terrorist training camps on its soil and areas under its control. But in a significant breakthrough, Indian intelligence agencies have gathered vital evidence to prove how terror camps are being run in various parts of Pakistan and Pakistanoccupied Kashmir ( PoK). Operatives working for Indian intelligence have managed to procure photographs that expose the network of terror camps inside Pakistan and PoK run by organisations such as Lashkare- Tayyeba ( LeT) and Jaish- e- Mohammed ( JeM). Shockingly, at least one of the camps operated by LeT at Shawai Nullah Camp in Muzaffarabad comprises only woman recruits, many of whom are being trained to become part of fidayeen squads who would target key installations even as they themselves get killed. These pictures formed part of a dossier on militancy in Kashmir, a document that was discussed at length during the recently concluded conference of directors-general and inspectors-general of police in the Capital. Along with the pictures, the dossier provides graphic details such as satellite images of the jihadi factories operating across the border. -- Rajneesh Sharma, Mail Today
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Books and Documents
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The Future of Islam, the Future of Humanity
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As Esposito explains in the introduction, his goal is “to understand the struggle for reform in Islam, to explore the religious, cultural, and political diversity of Muslims facing daunting challenges in Muslim countries and in the West, to clarify the debate and dynamics of Islamic reform, to examine the attempt to combat religious extremism and terrorism” – in that context – “to look into the future of Muslim-West relations.”
His conclusion?: “The future of Islam and Muslims is inextricably linked to all of humanity.” What Esposito presents between that introduction and conclusion is one of the finest examples of the study of Lived Religion since Wilfred Cantwell Smith laid the foundations for that methodology. -- Tamara Sonn
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Interview
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Devout Jews will not allow Israel to attack Iran: Harun Yahya
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There can be no question of Israel attacking Iran, or Iran attacking Israel. Any attack against innocent people with no true justification is unlawful according to the Torah. Every Jew who obeys the rulings of the Torah is also obliged to abide by Allah's commandment, “Thou shall not murder.” No matter how much certain circles in Israel favour conflict, bloodshed and disorder and no matter how these circles sometimes prevail, it is obvious that the great majority of Israel will not accept a physical attack on such a large and powerful country as Iran. We know what the real aim is of those who want to set Jews and Muslims against one another, and we have exposed their sinister tricks. So neither Iran nor Israel will fall for them. It is therefore essential for Jews and Muslims who genuinely believe in Allah, who love the Prophets, who
believe in the Books He sent down and who know that the Hereafter exists to form an alliance against irreligion, Darwinism, atheism and materialism. Atheists and Darwinists easily ally themselves around their own beliefs and try to crush believers, whatever their faith, with all their might. It is extraordinary how people who love Allah and want the moral values commanded by Him to prevail are unable to form an alliance while the alliance between Darwinists and materialists seeks to drown the world in blood. When true believers are allied they will obviously totally neutralize those who want war. It is therefore essential that our devout Iranian and Israeli brothers should treat one another with affection, love and understanding and wage a great intellectual struggle against irreligion, materialism and Darwinism using knowledge, science and culture. When that happens, nobody will be able to speak of war, assault, fighting or conflict. ... I do not believe Israel will choose to do such a thing (attack Iran). True, devout Jews in Israel will not permit such an attack either. Turkey's policy has always been to support justice, the rightful and the innocent. But there is an important phenomenon to be noted here. Dajjal is trying to set Muslims and Jews, who are actually brothers and who are all descended from the Prophet Abraham (AS), against one another. It aims for the destruction of both Jews and Muslims. It is very important to expose the movement of the Dajjal and neutralize it, insha'Allah. -- Harun Yahya
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Islamic World News
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62 die as jets pound Taliban hide-outs
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Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for Lahore attack on Shias
Muslims take part in Gokulashtami in Mumbai Militants kill female teacher in Bajaur Geelani a mortal enemy of Kashmir, arrest him: Jethmalani NATO air strike kills 10 civilians: Afghan president Pakistan boosts security after Lahore bombs ‘Terrorists’ will not block path to peace: Netanyahu China calls PoK 'northern Pakistan', J&K is 'India-controlled Kashmir' Zardari orders probe into discrimination against Hindus in relief camps French debate: First it was burqas, now burgers When Musharraf chose Palestine over Kashmir US says Pak Taliban part of 'most dangerous terrorist threat' to it Indonesian Religion Minister Wants Ahmadiyah Sect Disbanded US, UK tried to bribe Pak nuke scientists: AQ Khan Nazi-hunter Wiesenthal was agent of Mossad: Book 250,000 Sindhi Hindus forced to migrate by floods Airstrikes kill 15 Taliban in Kurram, Orakzai Afghan school poisonings linked to toxic chemicals 2 NATO tankers set on fire in Balochistan Campaign against Taliban to intensify: NATO chief Question still remains why Bush waged war: Gates Al-Qaeda based in border region, says Obama Contestants from Makkah win Qur’an contest US blacklists Hakimullah I stand by ‘saffron terror' remark, says Chidambaram Offended Pakistani military team cancels U.S. visit World Bank raises Pakistan aid to one billion dollars US adds Pakistani Taliban to terrorism blacklist Libya frees 37 militants including Bin Laden driver Biden says Iraq close to forming government King orders SR1.12bn aid for the poor Saudi Arabia tops in flood aid to Pakistan Lankan maid’s torture charges baseless: Saudi officials Muslim backpack program expands in US, abroad 4 killed in Algeria suicide attack, 20 wounded Lebanon sends warrant for suspected spy to Interpol 17 Indians on death row: Hearing adjourned to hear more witnesses Amira Agarib Two Israelis wounded in West Bank shooting Fix political impasse before you go, Iraqis tell US More aid needed to avert terrorists’ exploitation, says Haqqani Ahmadinejad dismisses Mideast peace talks US to utilise Iraq resources along Afghan border What Obama’s Speech Lacked US Denies Reports On Talks With Taliban Mehsud Charged For Killing 7 CIA Agents In Afghanistan No Chinese troops in PoK: Pak envoy Israel For Concerted Effort To Deal With Terror Iran welcomes US pullout, urges punishment for Iraq invaders Iraq hit by withdrawal symptoms Islamic World’s Best Quranic Calligraphers to Meet in UAE Nat’l Quran Recitation Nat’l Contest Concludes in Iraq British and Tunisian Consul Generals admire Dubai International Holy Quran Award Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau Photo: Vehicles burn in the street after protesters reacted angrily to bomb blasts which targeted a Shi'ite procession Photo: Getty Images
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Islam and the West
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Germany's Current Debate on Islam: The New Cold War
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The public debate over Islam is ultimately, one suspects, fuelled by fear of no longer being able to influence the transformation processes within the country to an adequate extent. However, it is also clear that Islam itself is equally a victim of global transformation processes. The rise of fundamentalism, as so often in such cases, is a reaction to this circumstance, with the hardly edifying picture that Islam presents today its lamentable result. -- Stefan Weidner
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Urdu Section
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Muslim Juhala threaten Mayawati government over Ahmadiya issue
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Mullahs and maulvis of Uttar Pradesh and some other self-styled Muslim leaders have threatened Mayawati government of dire consequences unless a chapter on Ahmadiya Islamic sect is removed from the Social Study book of standard xth. These maulanas, reverentially called ulama (scholars), although most of them, completely ignorant of the world around them, should be better called Juhala (ignoramuses), have warned U P chief minister Mayawati of country-wide protests, if this section of the book is not immediately removed. The maulanas may have actually struck gold in the form of this mention of Ahmadiyas as an Islamic sect in the UP social science book. They have been on the lookout for long for an emotional issue on which to create more disturbances in the country and mint money. Babri demolition did not only rob the Sangh Pariwar of an issue to befool Hindus with; it also made our maulanas jobless. Kafirs, Murtids galore, deserve their throats being slit A few questions these Juhala should be asked. How come you all get so excited, if even a nincompoop like Chander Mohan claims to have embraced Islam, even if it is clear, right from the beginning that he is merely out to cheat his wife as well as his mistress? A wave of jubilation runs through the community almost world-wide even if one silly conversion takes place, even if it is done under compulsion which is totally opposed to Islamic teachings. But on the other hand practically every Muslim “scholar” is eager to denounce virtually every Muslim sect other than his own as Kafir or murtid and out of Islam.Now why should Mayawati government merely exclude Ahmadiyas from the text books? Why not Shias? Why not Wahhabis? Why not Sunnis? Why not Bareilwis? Why not Deobandis? Why not Sufis? And so on. They are all kafirs in the eyes of one or the other sect. If no one knows what Islam is all about, why teach Islam at all? Ask all these Juhala, who are mentioned in the report below, who are asking Ahmadiyas to be excluded from the text books, ask them the same question, the former chief justice of Pakistan Supreme Court Justice Munir, investigating the widespread riots against the Ahmadiyas in 1953, had asked the Juhala of every sect in his country: Who is a Muslim? How would you define Islam? No two Juhala, he reported, in his report [available on this site in full], even from the same sect agreed on any definition of a Muslim. So the real question before Mayawati government would be: If no one knows what Islam is all about, why teach Islam at all? Excluding Islam itself from the text books should be the safest option. Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam
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Islam and Politics
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Religion-based political parties
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In Britain, Queen Elizabeth is the "Defender of the Faith," not "Faiths." meaning that the monarch defends only the Protestant branch of Christianity as distinct from Catholic Christians and other major faiths. Furthermore, it is argued that in all Western nations religious ceremonies play a dominant role in state functions. Even academic terms in England, such as "Michaelmas," "Easter" and "Trinity" go back to the roots of Christianity. In many European countries, political parties have prefixed the name of a religion, such as Germany's Christian Democratic Union and Christian Union in the Netherlands. -- Harun ur Rashid
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Radical Islamism & Jihad
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Mainstream Islam Should Be More Pro-Active In Combating Radical, Political Islam
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It hardly needs to be emphasised that the biggest threat to peace in today’s world comes from the Taliban and their fellow-Islamic radicals operating in the Af-Pak region. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan are devastated by terrorists who call themselves Islamists and are perpetrating the most horrifying massacres of innocent civilians, even during prayers inside mosques. They claim to be establishing what they call “pure Islam”, by eliminating mainstream interpretations of Islam and minority sects whom they do not recognise as Muslim. These medieval obscurantists also use the excuse of western domination of Muslim lands to further their nefarious ends. They never explain, however, what have Western domination attempts got to do with their medieval terrorist actions like burning schools for girls and oppressing women and killing religious minorities in particular, terrorising and violating the human rights of people in that area in the most blatant manner possible. But even more worrisome is the fact that the world’s determination to confront these roguish elements appears to be flagging. NATO countries seem to be losing interest in what looks like an endless war. … Also, a group of Taliban sympathisers appears to have grown recently not only in the civil society but also in the strategic community which seems to feel that not all Taliban are bad and that it is possible to make a deal with the good ones who are the majority of Taliban, thus providing a route to a safe exit, leaving the volatile region to its fate, as has been done several times before. The frontline ally of the West in the war on terror, Pakistan and its Army in particular, clearly feel the same way with the difference that for them, the Taliban devastating Pakistani cities are the bad ones and should be fought while the Taliban fighting the West or their allies like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, creating mayhem periodically in India are the good ones and should be left alone. There are sensible elements in Pakistan too who see the inhuman and suicidal nature of this policy. But the policy has by and large remained the same. Indeed, Pakistan Army has made several attempts to cut deals with the bad Pakistani Taliban too, only to face fresh subversion and terrorism from them once they used the breathing space to regroup. … There are many factors involved including strategic and tactical errors on the part of Western forces combating the Taliban. But the most glaring failure has been on the part of us mainstream Muslims in not evolving a redefinition of Islamic postulates that would have left no room for the radicals to misuse Islam and our holy book, the Quran, for their nefarious ends. We did keep saying that Islam is a religion of peace, but that clearly has not been enough. We probably took continued Western support for granted in putting down this inferno of hate and contempt for other religious groups caused by the ideology of Islam-supremacism. This ideology is far older than the Western quest for power and wealth in recent decades and centuries that Taliban sympathisers give us as the reason for radicalisation of Muslim groups. … We the mainstream Muslims have no option but to take a more pro-active attitude in this existential struggle against radical, political Islam based on the ideology of Islam-supremacism. The West too would probably continue to help us in the war against the Taliban and other Jihadi terrorists, if they see that we are serious about this fight. We need to own this war as our war, as primarily it is a war within Islam; even the far larger number of dead bodies from the Muslim community testify to this. The ideological dimension of this war has been completely lost. After all, suicide bombers do not perpetrate their heinous acts just because they have been offered a few hundred thousand rupees. They have been brainwashed into believing that they need to kill all “infidels”. Moreover, they have been told that those Muslims who are not engaged in fighting “the infidel” are the first and foremost enemies of Islam and need to be eliminated first and that the person who does that will be rewarded instantly with a place in heaven. This is no place to engage in theological debates, but I can assure the world through this august forum that there is no room for this kind of thinking in the Islam that Prophet Mohammad had left behind. However, by leaving the war to be fought only with military means and by Western victims of Jihadi terrorism alone, we the mainstream Muslims have left the field open for prejudices to be formed against all of us and our religion. I find it difficult to blame the average citizens of non-Muslim world who are fast developing Islamophobic tendencies. While there indeed are forces in the non-Muslim countries who are exploiting the situation to further their own vested interests, I feel that it is the total passivity of mainstream Islam, the nonchalance of the moderate Muslims that is largely to blame for this state of affairs. I hope the time has not passed for us to do something about it and join the struggle in earnest. The war against Jihadi terror has to be fought and won by us Muslims on the ideological front, hopefully with continued military backing of the West. --- Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council’s Fourteenth session in Geneva on 15 June 2010.
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Current affairs
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Kashmiris Must Abandon Illusions And Embrace Reality: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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The Kashmiri Muslims, on the whole, seem to have become disillusioned with everyone. They are living in an atmosphere of complete mistrust. The aim of this booklet is to assist them in coming out of this environment and to make them more confident. It is indeed possible for the Kashmiris to start a new life. But for this two conditions must be met. Firstly, they must recognize their own culpability for the predicament that they face today. And, secondly, they must abandon the imaginary world that they hanker after and learn to live in the real, practical world. Their incapable leaders have fed them on all sorts of imaginary longings, and these they must abandon. In doing so, they must adopt means that are in accordance with the present conditions and thereby begin to build a new life for themselves. -- Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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Islam and Environment
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Islam and the Environment are in full Harmony: Text of a speech by Prince Charles
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My understanding of Islam is that it warns that to deny the reality of our inner being leads to an inner darkness which can quickly extend outwards into the world of Nature. If we ignore the calling of the soul, then we destroy Nature. To understand this we have to remember that we are Nature, not inanimate objects like stones; we reflect the universal patterns of Nature. And in this way, we are not a part that can somehow disengage itself and take a purely objective view. From what I know of the Qu’ran, again and again it describes the natural world as the handiwork of a unitary benevolent power. It very explicitly describes Nature as possessing an “intelligibility” and that there is no separation between Man and Nature, precisely because there is no separation between the natural world and God. ... If I may quote the Qu’ran, “Have you considered: if your water were to disappear into the Earth, who then could bring you gushing water?” This is the Divine hospitality that offers us our provisions and our dwelling places, our clothing, tools and transport. The Earth is robust and prolific, but also delicate, subtle, complex and diverse and so our mark must always be gentle – or the water will disappear, as it is doing in places like the Punjab in India..... This, then, is why the wisdom and learning offered by a sacred tradition like Islam matters – and, if I may say so, why those who hold and strive to preserve their sacred traditions in different parts of the world have every reason to become more confident of their ground. The Islamic world is the custodian of one of the greatest treasuries of accumulated wisdom and spiritual knowledge available to humanity. It is both Islam’s noble heritage and a priceless gift to the rest of the world. And yet, so often, that wisdom is now obscured by the dominant drive towards Western materialism – the feeling that to be truly “modern” you have to ape the West.-– Prince Charles
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Interview
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The Boy Said: “Kill Them, All Those Muslims Who Are Not Ahl-e-Hadees”
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It began back in the mid-80s, when I was staying at a Pakistani friend’s home in Nottingham in Britain. One day, I overheard the kids of this family conversing with a friend of theirs about Islam. This friend belonged to the Ahl-e Hadith sect, who are known for their stern literalism, being almost identical to the Saudi Wahhabis. This is a sect massively promoted by petrodollars and may even be termed Petrodollar Islam. I heard him telling the kids that the Ahl-e Hadith alone were true Muslims and that the other Muslims were not just really non-Muslims but that, in fact, they were the biggest and the first enemies of Islam. I asked him what he proposed to do with the “first and the foremost enemies of Islam,” that is something like 99 percent of Muslims who are not Ahl-e-Hadees. He said: “Kill them !!!” – Sultan Shahin tells Yoginder Sikand
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Books and Documents
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The War Within Islam: Niyaz Fatehpuri’s Struggle Against The Fundamentalists
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IS RELIGION FROM GOD OR MAN-MADE?
Fateh{puri@ believed in God, and there are various instances in his writings to prove that. However, he was not sure if God had anything to do with religion. As seen in the earlier instance, he tried to rationalize even the divine revelation, and showed that it was possible to see the Qur’an as the personal contribution of the Prophet. This was because, for Fateh{puri@, religion had a more utilitarian purpose, than spiritual. Religion, for him, was to serve as a guide for humanity, to remind them of doing good deeds, being kind to one another, and remembering God, while taking part in worldly pursuits and aiming for progress and success. In reality, all religions of the world were made by humans and were not related to God, revelation or providence. The books that are said to be revealed, are the work of human brain only, and therefore, they have different thoughts and teachings according to different time and place. Neither does God need worship and submission, nor does He need anyone’s prayers.[ix] Fateh{puri@’s thesis was that the reasons why some matters have either been forbidden or recommended by religion can be understood by human intellect. Therefore, it is quite possible to say that religious instructions might have been created by human intellect to serve a functional purpose. IS THE QUR’AN REALLY GOD’S SPEECH? As mentioned above, Fateh{puri@ believed that the only thing that could be proven was that the Qur’an came from Muh{ammad’s mouth; whether it was really God’s speech is debatable. The only justification of its divine origin generally given, according to him, was that the grammar, literary quality and style of the h{adi@th and the Qur’an differ markedly and therefore, they are speeches of different entities, the Prophet and God. Fateh{puri@ never found this rationale satisfactory enough to prove such a broad assumption. He agreed that, undoubtedly the Qur’an was truly an extraordinary book in all its aspects and that during that age, nothing like it in either length or quality was produced. However, he argued, it would be going too far to assume that nothing like it could have been produced. Arabic literature and poetry at the time was quite developed, and oral tradition was flourishing. And since Prophet Muh{ammad was related to the Quraish tribe, which was famous for its oral literature and fluency of expression, it should not be surprising that his language was extraordinarily refined. Fateh{puri@ answered the question of the differences in style and quality of the two works by saying that one’s language and actions are determined by the emotion one is feeling, and its intensity. He gave the example of poetry. There can be quite a lot of variety in the different verses written by the same poet, some of them perhaps being of a higher literary quality than others. The reason, he thought, was that the poet reached a certain state of mind when he wrote those particular high-quality verses. Those verses that suddenly come into a poet’s mind, without any effort on his part, are even in literary circles called ilha@mi@ or revelatory.[vi] Coming back to the Prophet and the Qur’an, his basic hypothesis was that the Prophet must have reached a certain state of mind, resulting in the revelation (wahy). He explained that, unlike his contemporaries, the Prophet was born with an acute discernment of good from evil. A person like him would naturally be upset with the situation in which he found himself. This, according to Fateh{puri@, prompted him to get out of his world, hide in caves and think. His deep thinking would lead him into such a state where he would start producing this message. Words burst forth like a spring. The words in that message were obviously his, and in the same language that was widespread during the time and in that area. The only noticeable change was in the style of presentation, which according to Fateh{puri@ was the result of his state of mind. That is what truly constitutes a revelation, according to Fateh{puri@. And this was what made the language of the Qur’an so different from that of h{adi@th.[vii] W.C. Smith was clearly not an admirer of Fateh{puri@’s extreme logic; he did not like the fact that Fateh{puri@ attacked the very idea of divine revelation. “Accordingly, the Qur’a@n was seen as a piece of literature, the personal contribution of Muh{ammad to the thought of the world; all of authority, as well as the ritual and formalism, of the religion was rejected.”[viii] STATUS OF THE PROPHET Prophet Muh{ammad, according to him, was basically a reformer who was very concerned about the state of his society: its illiteracy, ignorance, social evils like polygamy, infanticide, drinking (etc.), its material culture and idol worship. After all, he sat meditating in a cave for weeks even before the advent of the revelation. Fateh{puri@ mused that he must have been thinking about ways to cleanse his society of its ills and it seems, Islam turned out to be a good way of doing so. Although other modernists also made an effort to humanise the Prophet, not many would have agreed with him that the Prophet had a personal agenda in bringing about Islam. The Prophet might have been concerned about his society, and there must have been a reason why he used to go to that cave, but there is no reason why these two things should be related. Apparently Fateh{puri@ was venturing here into the realm of pure speculation. Fateh{puri@ asked, “What is the position of the Prophet in Islam? Was he just a messenger, could anybody have become a messenger?” For him the choice of Muh{ammad as the Prophet was crucial. How Muh{ammad acted, how he lived his life, was a topic of primary importance for Fateh{puri. He considered it debatable whether the Qur’an is the speech of God or not, but it was historically proven, according to him, that it did come out of Muh{ammad’s mouth.[x] His earlier point that the Prophet might have had a reformist agenda of his own in bringing about Islam, and then his insistence that our only certain knowledge is that Qur’an came out of the Prophet’s mouth, amounted to placing a question mark on any involvement of God at all. This was one of the instances where he may have taken his logic too far, expressing views that clearly would not be acceptable to any ordinary believer. He appears an agnostic from these views, but seemingly this was not the case. He simply went wherever his logic took him and was not afraid of expressing radically different views. -- JUHI SHAHIN Excerpts from a newly published book in Pakistan: The War Within Islam: Niyaz Fateh{puri@’s Struggle Against The Fundamentalists by Juhi Shahin
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Islam and Sectarianism
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The Shia-Sunni divide: How real and how deep? Can we move towards genuine unity?
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Many Muslims throughout the world, both Sunni and Shia, are working towards dialogue and reconciliation between the two sects. They argue that it is just not possible to fully comprehend and much less to judge the historical figures of Islam and their motivations today, 13 or 14 centuries after the event, which led to the schism in Islam. Indeed, it is not possible to judge people even when events take place now in full view of the world media… India’s Shia and Sunni communities can serve as a beacon of hope in this process. Let us follow up on recent initiatives by Mohtarma Syeda Hamid and Maulana Kalb-e-Sadiq and keep moving in the direction of genuine, frank dialogue leading to real unity. -- Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
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Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999 |
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Condemning "Islamist" terrorist attack on Mumbai in harshest terms |
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Can Ulema save Muslims from Radical Islamism? |
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Muslim response to Mumbai terror in sync with the national mood, but what is wrong with our intellectuals? |
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Indian Ulema have no time to lose, must call warlike Quranic surahs obsolete. |
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Jihadism gets sustenance from verses of war in the Quran |
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Can we Trust Pakistani commitment to fight Jihadi Terrorism? |
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Massacre in Mumbai: L-e-T role clear. Should Muslims continue to be in denial? |
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Destroy Lashkar Camps: Why Indian Muslims are an existential threat to Pakistan? |
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Mumbai Terror: William Kristol on Jihad’s True Face |
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Mumbai a stain on Islam: Real 'jihad' means fighting perpetrators of terror |
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Indian Muslims: Let us come out of denial |
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Is Terror only in the Hearts or in Holy Texts too? A dialogue between S Gurumurthy and Javed Anand |
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Dismantle Jamaat ud-Dawa infrastructure |
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Indian Muslim Ulema gather in Hyderabad to introspect |
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Time Indian Muslims told terrorists their dastardly actions are inimical to Muslim interests |
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Sorry Safdar Nagori, you are just a megalomaniac-turned-terrorist, not a Mujahid by any reckoning |
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Making sense of Pakistan terror machine’s latest attack and its aftermath |
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Jamaat-e-Islami is welcome in politics, but it should jettison its dangerous ideological baggage first. |
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Terrorism in Pakistan, Celebrating Ramadan, jihadi style |
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Terrorists are Fasadi, not Jihadi |
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The Deobandi Fatwa Against Terrorism Didn't Treat the Jihadi Root |
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Do Muslims want to be protected by the likes of Lashkar-e-Taiba? |
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Muslims should abrogate verses of war in Islamic Law |
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Pakistan's westward drift: A stern Wahhabism is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis and saints |
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Unveiling Zakir Naik: Terror cannot be fought with Terror |
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Talibanisation of Pakistan continues with the help of administration |
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| Dr. Zakir Naik on Yazeed and Osama bin Laden - A New Age Islam Debate |
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Editor and Publisher: Sultan Shahin, E-22, Indra Prastha Apts., 114, I. P. Extension, New Delhi – 110092 Phone No. (+91-11) 222 44 868 E-mail: Editor@NewAgeIslam.com
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