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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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