The court judgement over more than half-a-century-long Babri masjid land dispute is likely to come any day now. Some prominent Muslim leaders have wisely declared that they would accept any court verdict. But the Hindutva leaders stick to their stand that courts cannot decide matters of faith. This has created an atmosphere of uncertainly in the country. U.P. state government has organised a large police presence to ward off any potential conflagration arising out of the court verdict. Muslim politicians, some of them associated with the ruling UPA coalition at the centre, are probably thinking of ways in which any potential flare-up could be defused. But this is not to the liking of the Urdu Press. Quite frequently in the last weeks one has come across conspiracy theories that efforts are being made to subvert political processes to keep Muslims and the country away from any potential disaster. Apparently, for the Urdu Press, trying to keep the community and the country safe amounts to betrayal of the community’s natural ethos. Muslims must be perpetually engaged in confrontation. Confabulation or compromise cannot be their way. Sulh-e-Hudaibiya was the biggest betrayal in Islamic history. Most Muslims thought so then. Most Muslims think so now. New Age Islam presents one such report in its Urdu original along with an English translation. -- Editor

Beware! The Islamic messages frequently received on your mobile phone may adulterate your faith. In fact among the useful information, there might be some that come under innovation in Islam. Although in this modern age, mobile phone and other similar inventions are very useful for disseminating Islamic messages, the verification of these messages is also a cumbersome task. In this regard, on the enquiry of Hamara Samaj, the unanamious opinion of the ulema of all the sects was that one should consult the experts in the Quran and Sunnah before acting upon  these Islamic messages otherwise they may lead to a distortion of your faith. – A report in Hamara Samaj, New Delhi

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

Currently, Bahrain is going through a severe political crisis. The elections to the 40-member Shura Council are to be held in October 2010. The pro-democracy movement had bagged 17 out of 40 seats in the 2006 elections. Although the Shura Council has the status of a mere advisory council and cannot make laws for the country, the pro democracy elements have attached great symbolical importance to the October elections. Bahrain has been housing a big American base in the region for a long time. It is ruled by a dynasty and the current king is Hamad bin Eisa Al Khalifa. The head of the kingdom is Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa and there are two deputy Prime Ministers, Ali bin Salman al Khalifa and Mohammad bin Mubarak al Khalifa. Therefore, the government is completely in the hands of the Al Khalifa dynasty much akin to the royal kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain has the US patronage and the support of the member countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council including Saudi Arabia. -- Md Ahmad Kazmi

 Another important point he makes is that “we cannot deny the truth that after the exit of the US forces, the Taliban will be bubbling with confidence derived from the realisation that they have defeated two superpowers of the world and forced them to run away from the battlefield. This trance is very dangerous and India’s apprehensions about it are not unfounded, particularly at a time when Kashmir is boiling. The question is: What are the options before India?”

One would have thought that having observed the experience of Pakistan, its degeneration into chaos, on account of religious extremism, starting from the anti-Ahmadiya agitation of early 1950s, Indian Muslims would seek to steer a different course. This is all the more imperative as we are faced with a variety of serious challenges of our own. But some Muslims here too would rather like to follow in the footsteps of Pakistani Muslims and accelerate sectarian wars of various kinds, confrontation with Ahmadis being pre-eminent on their minds. Such a person is the author of the following article Mr. Khurshid Alam who thinks Indian Muslim divines and intellectuals are not fighting Ahmadis diligently enough. New Age Islam is presenting a translation of his Urdu article syndicated by several newspapers to show how serious some people are in promoting the ongoing war within Islam. Of course, following hardliners in Pakistan some people here too would say that Ahmadis are not Muslims altogether; but this cannot be taken very seriously. For them no one else is Muslim either. Every Muslim is a kafir in the eyes of all other sects. As Justice Munir Ahmad commission report showed in graphic detail (published on New Age Islam in full), no two ulema, of any one sect either, could agree on a definition of who a Muslim is. Let us not go in the direction of Pakistan; let us learn from their experience. – Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam

This was in the beginning of July. I was coming out of the mosque after offering the namaz of Isha (the last prayer of the day) when I saw some youth distributing pamphlets at both the doors of the mosque. I was taken aback at the title of the pamphlet and read the whole text standing there. In the pamphlet the Muslims were told that the day was not too far when the whole world would be under their rule and to achieve that they should establish Khilafat and that only Khilafat was the real Islamic form of government. ... I was all the more surprised to realise that the person who was provoking the Muslims against the democratic government and democratic constitution terming it as ‘satanic’ and evil was himself a lawyer in the Indian judiciary and earning his bread and butter through the laws formed by the very constitution he branded un-Islamic. Could there be a bigger paradox than that?...

My humble advice to these people is that in this country where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians live harmoniously together, they should not indulge in inflammatory and provocative religious sloganeering as it will not work in this country that belongs to Indians associated with different religions and cultures. They should go to Pakistan or Afghanistan and live with people establishing Khilafat through their so-called jihad and exploding bombs day in and day out in the name of jihad. Their wish of martyrdom and meeting the houris can be fulfilled sooner than later there.-- Maqsoodul Hasan Qasmi

A wave of jubilation ran among the Muslims of Punjab on the first day of Ramadhan when thanks to the efforts of the Majlis-e-Ahrar Islam, Hind the Sikhs of the village Mallan handed over the mosque which had been closed for the last 63 years to the Shahi Imam of Punjab, Maulana Habibur Rahman Sani Ludhiyanvi in a simple ceremony. According to eye witnesses, when the caravan of the Shahi Imam of Punjab Maulana Habibur Rahman Sani Ludhianvi reached Mallan at 12.30 PM on the first day of Ramadhan, the joy of Muslims knew no bounds. The Sarpanch of the village Amar Singh handed over the mosque to the Shahi Imam. On the occasion, the Shahi Imam also felicitated the people of the Sikh community.

The influence of the Naqshbandia order of Sufism became so powerful in the society of China by the 18th century that they declared a revolt against the royal family. But the ruler Kiang Lun crushed the sufi movement led by Khwaja Afrin and captured the Turkistan region of China. Later, to win the loyalty of the Muslims, he married the daughter of a sufi of the Naqshbandia order belonging to Kashghar. The king took his new queen to Beijing. The woman of the sufi household was able to have her influence on the king and maintained her faith until the king built a mosque for his queen with Quranic verses and hadiths inscribed on it......

It is said that the Jahriya sect organised many movements among the Muslims of China. These movements put the Deng royal family in constant trouble. The cause of these movements among the Chinese Muslims is said to be the issue of their religious identity. The question whether they were Chinese first or Muslims first was foremost in their minds and would perplex them continuously. -- Syed Najmi Zafar

By Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani

 The sacred month of Ramadhan has arrived with a lot of blessings and promises for the Muslims. The most important aspect of this month is fasting. The author says that fasting prepares human beings mentally and physically to sacrifice everything to seek God’s blessings. Fasting is the manifestation of the man’s resolve that he will renounce all physical pleasures and comforts for the pleasure of God. He will reign in the unbridled horse of physical pleasures because all the earthly pleasures revolve round the stomach and physical emotions. The fasting controls both. And it’s only the fear of God and the sense of liability in the hereafter that drives this resolve or control. Another important practice during the month is namaz-e- taraweeh. The holy Prophet (PBUH) offered this prayer for some days in Masjid-e-Nabwi but later stopped offering namaz-e-taraweeh in the mosque due to the thought that this might become mandatory for the ummah and if it happened, it will be a cause for the hardship for the ummah. Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafai and Imam Ahmad are of the opinion that namaz-e-taraweeh consists of 20 rik’ats. Moreover, since Hadhrat Umar’s period, 20 rik’ats of  taraweeh have been a routine in the Harmain Sharif. So, 20 rik’ats of taraweeh are sunnah. Some scholars are in favour of only 8 rikats of taraweeh. But we should not make it a bone of contention. We should offer the taraweeh according to our beliefs.The third important practice of this month is the recitation of the holy Quran. The revelation of the holy Quran started in this month. The month of Ramadhan is, therefore, the anniversary of the revelation of the Quran.

When Dajjal will reach Damascus, Jesus Christ will descend from the heavens on the earth to decide his fate. He will descend on the white minaret located in the eastern part of Damascus. At that particular moment, Hadhrat Mehdi will have already stood on the prayer mat to lead the prayer. Jesus Christ will offer namaz in his leadership, will chase Dajjal  till Palestine and kill him. Muslims will also kill the Jews till the last person. After this, Jesus will break the Cross which is the symbol of Christianity, slaughter the pig and invite people towards Islam. There will be no one on earth who will not come into the fold of Islam. Then Hadhrat Mehdi will pass away and Jesus Christ will rule over the Muslims. -- Maulana Nadeemul Wajidi