• JUI-F chief urges Pakistan, India to resolve Kashmir issue via dialogue
• Canada, US imams issue fatwa declaring honour killings, domestic violence 'un-Islamic'
• Syria: UN veto gives Assad licence to kill - opposition
• Kashmir reverberates with prayers on Eid-e-Milad
• Killing of Brahumdagh Bugti's sister and Mehran Baluch's sister in law
• Islam advocates complete freedom for all to practise their faiths
• Muslim Ummah warns religious leaders against provocative comments
• Christians under growing pressure in Arab world
• After rash of Islamic terror plots in US, Director of National Intelligence lauds Muslim community
• US free speech faces Islamic blasphemy law pressure, analyst says
• 7 dead in attack on Afghan PHQ
• Chinese to be taught in Pakistani schools
• Madrasas groom ‘social reformers’

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Photo: Muslim scholars seek triple Talaq ban, tab on polygamy

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Various Islamic scholars agree on the point that the meaning of the Ayats concerning close interaction and intimacy (Mawalat) should be considered in the true perspective and background of its revelation, taking it in a generalized way will not be appropriate, but it hampers its significance. “Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity”. (Surah Al-Mumtahanah V-8) -- Waris Mazhari, Translated by NewAgeIslam.com Edit Desk

On November 20, 1979, worldwide attention was focused on Tehran, where the Iranian hostage crisis was entering its third week. The same morning—the first of a new Muslim century—hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam’s holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen countries, launching the first operation of global jihad in modern times. Led by a Saudi preacher named Juhayman al Uteybi, they believed that the Saudi royal family had become a craven servant of American infidels, and sought a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. With nearly 100,000 worshippers trapped inside the holy compound, Mecca’s bloody siege lasted two weeks, inflaming Muslim rage against the United States and causing hundreds of deaths. ...

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• Two LeT terrorists killed in Kashmir
• Ethiopian Convert from Islam Dodges Dangers in Kenya

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Photo:  Kuwaitis headed to the polls on Thursday for the fourth time in six years in a snap parliamentary election in which opposition candidates expect to expand their influence and push for change in the oil-exporting Gulf Arab state.

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Sufism has a deep influence on the Pashtun society and a large number of Sufi shrines dot the landscape of Pashtun dominated areas. Sahibzada Amir Muhammad, a Kabul-based Sufi preacher, claims that although suppressed by the Taliban, Sufism is re-emerging in Afghanistan. -- Zia Ur Rehman

Thus, in a country where on the eve of Independence, Jinnah had proclaimed “You are free to go to your temples … mosques … or any other places of worship”, Ahmadis were barred from calling their places of worship mosques; the Kalima of Islam was removed from such buildings’ façade; holding prayers and congregations similar to those held by Muslims inside a building that resembled a mosque and keeping copies of the Quran in such places, were proscribed. -- Murtaza Razvi  

It is a shame that many of the Pakistani people I have been interacting have bought the government-fed idea that Ahmadiyah Muslims are not Muslims. Shame on them, they have not only lost political freedom, they have lost their minds as well. As a Muslim, I am disappointed that Pakistan has deprived the Muslim world of a Nobel Laureate,.... -- Mike Ghouse

Who exactly is a terrorist? But even more importantly what is terrorism? Is it a method of asymmetrical warfare? Is it an ideology? Is it a ‘weapon of the weak’? As we shall see later, there is a considerable amount of debate surrounding the definition of terrorism. One could argue – it is virtually impossible to have a standard ‘one size fits all’ kind of a definition for this term. -- Aditya Sakorkar

“Don't grieve, your newborn daughter is a favourite of the Lord and will lead many Muslims to the right path. You should approach the Amir of Basra and present him a letter with a message that every night he is wont to offer 100 Darood to me and on Friday nights 400. But this Friday he did not offer Darood, so tell him that as a penalty he must give you 400 dinars.”-- Abu Tariq Hijazi

غور کرنے کی بات یہ ہے کہ اسلام میں اہل کتاب کی عورتوں سے نکاح کی مسلمانوں کو اجازت دی گئی ہے۔ جس پر صحابۂ کرامؓ کے وقت سے لے کر آج تک عمل ہوتا چلا آرہا ہے۔ انسان فطری طور پر مجبور ہے کہ وہ اپنی بیویوں اور ماؤں سے قلبی دوستی اور دلی محبت کا تعلق قائم کرے۔ سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ کیا اس صورت میں اسلام ایک مسلمان کو روک دے گا کہ وہ اپنی غیر مسلم بیوی یا ماں سے محبت کرے؟اور یہ کہ ‘‘ صرف ظاہری خوش خلفی’’ (مدارات)سے کام چلائے ؟ کیا ایسی صورت میں خوشگوار ازدواجی زندگی کا تصور بھی کیا جاسکتا ہے؟ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ اسلام ایک فطری دین ہے۔ وہ فطرت انسانی کے خلاف نہیں جاسکتا ۔  وارث مظہری

Are Muslims being hoodwinked? Yes, with reference to Quran we are. 10-37, Say (to them), “of your partners is there any that can give you guidance-(yahdi) - towards the ‘Truth’? Say, it is God only (lillah) who gives guidance towards the truth”. These two are Maulana, colloquially called Mullahs and a loftier one Mufti. The later is more widely used in the Muslim world and is sometimes bestowed by the governments.  In the Book both the titles are reserved for only God (lillah) and that is its ‘spirit and essence’ of unity of the Creator. Logically because, when these titles are applied to humans, they elevate humans to godliness. On this basis the above verse then proceeds to argue: 10-37, “Is then He (God) who gives guidance to the truth more worthy to be followed or he (the human) who finds not guidance himself unless he is guided? What then is the matter with you, how judge you?”-- Rashid Samnakay, NewAgeIslam.com

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• Muslim woman wearing veil denied service at gas station
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• Threatening us will harm America, warns Iran
• Tehran Judiciary chief refutes as ‘lies’ report of UN special human rights
• Egypt court convicts Arab actor Adel Imam for defaming Islam
• Pakistan fails to send team to probe Mumbai attacks
• Makkah: Child’s headless body found

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Over the centuries, many eminent non-Muslim scholars have rated Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) most highly and have given due recognition to his greatness. “I have always held the religion of Muhammad (PBUH) in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion, which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence, which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him — the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Saviour of Humanity. -- Hasan Kamoonpuri

Scholars will dwell upon his attribute of Rahmatalil Aalemeen (‘Mercy for all the worlds’ —including those of the birds and beasts, of insects and worms, etc.), because a Muslim is adjoined to not hurt any living being except in the way of God. Scholars will explain what the Prophet said to his followers about how to treat women, how to interact with people of other faiths and how to carry oneself in one’s everyday life. -- S G. Geelani

सलमान रश्दी को जयपुर लिटरेरी फेस्टिवल में जमा हुए लेखकों और उनके चाहने वालों से वीडियो लिंक के ज़रिए से बात करने की इजाज़त नहीं दी गई। यह हमारे देश के लिए शर्म की बात है और इससे भी ज़्यादा हमारी कौम के लिए है। हमारे देश के लिए शर्म की बात इसलिए है क्योंकि न तो हमारे पास संसाधन हैं और न ही दुनिया में अपनी किस्म के बेहतरीन एक लिटरेरी फेस्टिवल को गैंगस्टर और माफियाओं की हिंसा की धमकी से हिफ़ाज़त करने की हिम्मत है। हमारी कौम के लिए शर्म की बात इसलिए है क्योंकि हमारे बीच मज़हबी ठग हैं जो एक नुक्सान न करने वाली तकरीब को इसलिए चैलेंज कर रहे हैं,  क्योंकि वह एक लेखक है जिसने हमारे नबी करीम (स.अ.व.) की तौहीन की है - ऐसी तौहीन जो हम बिना एहसास किए हर दिन, हर मिनट, आमतौर से करते हैं और जिस प्रकार के भ्रष्ट हम लोग हैं,  अपने बुरे कामों  की वजह से खुदा के सामने ताल ठोंकते हैं और इस्लाम को बदनाम करते हैं। समारोह से कोई नुक्सान होने वाला नहीं था क्योंकि सलमान रश्दी कोई विवादास्पद मुद्दा उठाने,  सेटेनिक वर्सेज़ के बारे में बोलने या उसे पढ़ने नहीं जा रहे थे। -- सुल्तान शाहीन, एडिटर, न्यु एज इस्लाम डाट काम

The Arab society, like other societies, was fiercely patriarchal society and one cannot expect patriarchal societies to empower women. In fact for women empowerment patriarchal societies are main obstacles. In Mecca women’s situation was very precarious and in initial stages women responded to Islamic mission quite enthusiastically and one of the first respondents was Prophet’s (PBUH) wives and subsequently also many women responded before their husbands or sons did. -- Asghar Ali Engineer

An editorial in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz has called the prosecution of Naffaa "unwarranted, harmful and smack[ing] of political persecution based on nationality". It is part of the state's efforts to use criminal law against the Palestinian leadership in Israel. -- Ben White

انصاف اسلام کے مرکزی اقدار میں سے ایک ہے اورکوئی بھی معاشی نظام جو انصاف پر مبنی نہیں ہے وہ اسلام کے لیے قابل قبول نہیں ہو سکتا ہے۔ قرآن تقسیمی انصاف پر بہت زور دیتا ہے اور معاشرے  کے سب سے کمزور طبقے جسے قرآن مستعضفون کہتا ہے ان کی مکمل اور غیر مشروط حمایت اور تکبر کرنے والی حکمراں جماعت (جنہیں مستکبرون کہتا ہے) جو کمزور طبقات کو دباتے ہیں،ان کی مذمت کا اظہار کرتا ہے۔  اصغر علی انجینئر   (انگریزی سے ترجمہ۔ سمیع الرحمٰن ،  نیو ایج اسلام ڈاٹ کام)

The various military Acts are inherited from the colonial era. The irony is that whereas in the UK and Europe such laws have since been amended to enable civilian jurisdiction over military matters, the opposite has been happening in Pakistan during various military regimes. For example, there are no standing military courts in countries like Denmark, Germany, Austria, Holland etc. In Spain and Latin America the military courts cannot intervene in political matters. -- Najam Sethi

• NATO report rips open Pak ‘double game’ in Afghanistan
• Radical Islam spills into Kenya – report
• Nigeria: Boko Haram Spokesman Arrested
• Over 70 die in Egyptian soccer pitch invasion
• Scholars Call for Israeli Recognition of the Assyrian Genocide
• India: Narendra Modi, like Nazis, will be remembered for Gujarat carnage: Cong
• Taliban: New and Improved?
• Kuwaitis start voting to elect new parliament
• Yemen president could face questions in Gitmo case
• Rival Libyan militias fight gun battle in capital
• Palestinian protesters target UN chief Ban Ki-moon
• Philippines: Most-wanted terror leader of Jemaah Islamiyah killed
• Turkey's Jails Filling Up With Journalists
• Overcoming Islamophobia in US elections

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Photo: Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, center, the leader of a banned Islamic group Jamaat

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On the arrival of the enraged horde, a Muslim leader, Haji Usman, stood between them and the church. He sensibly took a risk, even with the possibility that he would lose his life. In the end, he climbed a ladder triumphantly. The mob cancelled its plans and dismissed itself. The independence of a nation, as far as it is generically defined, must allow freedom to all parts of a society. There should even be understanding and clemency granted for all people who previously were categorized as the oppressors. -- Khairil Azhar

When I was studying at university, during a discussion over an economic issue, my professor (a PhD) uttered these words: “Alhamdulillah, I am a Sunni, I am a Muslim.” These words took me and many other students by surprise. The bizarre logic of uttering those unnecessary words in the midst of a discussion, especially when the class comprised of students from diverse religious backgrounds, was unfathomable. -- Sana Iqbal

Moving from room to room in these New York Metropolitan art galleries was like being transported instantly in both space and time, rejoicing in the exquisite beauty, splendour and brilliance of Islamic art created by Arab, Persian, Turkish, Indian artists. Conscious of the near-moribund state of Islamic inventiveness today, it was difficult to believe that Muslims, and indeed in many cases Arabs, had created so much beauty not very long ago. One room in the galleries was created by a Moroccan artist brought here and left for months to demonstrate his skills. So the Arab Art is not completely dead even today despite massive Saudi, Wahhabi efforts to delegitimize all quest for beauty and radiance.

Nothing had put me in a better and more grateful frame of mind towards the United States in a long time as did the experience of walking through the Islamic Art galleries in the Metropolitan Art Museum here. But it also made sharper my consciousness of the inexplicability of American policy towards Saudi Arabia and the Taliban. It is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan while continuing to protect the ideological fountainhead of these Jihadis that lies in Saudi Arabia. Even after 9/11 in which 16 of the 19 terrorists were Saudi and the rest three too had gone through Saudi educational curriculum, the US is continuing to allow Saudi Arabia to spend tens of billions of petro-dollars in exporting its dry, desiccated, narrow, desert version of Islam throughout the world including the United States itself.  Wherever, they had an opportunity, in Arab lands or Central and South Asia or Europe, Saudi Wahhabis have destroyed the rich cultural heritage of Islam.

But this is no time for complaints. Let us just celebrate the richness of Islam’s artistic and cultural heritage that is being showcased now here in New York. Not being an art critic myself, I can do nothing better than let experts who put together this exhibition speak for themselves and explain how they managed to achieve the remarkable feat that these art galleries are. -- Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam

Instead, the organization seeks to bring about a return to the Caliphate that ruled Muslims following the death of Prophet Muhammad under the four “righteous Caliphs.” The organization explicitly rejects democracy and favours Shariah as the law of the land. It is left up to the caliph and his deputies to interpret and apply it and thereby solve all social, economic, and ethnic problems that the Ummah (Islamic community) may have. Arabic will be the state language. The role of women will be restricted to the home, though they will be allowed to liberally pursue education. -- Nayyer Khan

That’s why an isolated study of BSO and its factions can help one understand just what has made the Baloch nationalist sentiment to continue simmering for more than 40 years, despite the fact that violent action from the Pakistan military, in-fighting within the Baloch movement, and (ever since the 1980s), the ‘state-sponsored’ introduction of radical Islamist groups in Balochistan, have left the long-running Baloch nationalist movement a tough and multifaceted thing to comprehend. -- Nadeem F Paracha

قرآن  نے قدرت کی  بعض عظیم نشانیوں  کا ذکر کیا ہے: ’ بےشک آسمانوں اور زمین میں ایمان والوں کے لئے  (خدا کی قدرت کی) نشانیاں ہیں۔اور تمہاری پیدائش میں بھی۔ اور جانوروں میں بھی جن کو وہ پھیلاتا ہے یقین کرنے والوں کے لئے نشانیاں ہیں’ (45:4)۔انسان کی تخلیق کی اہمیت جانوروں کی تخلیق کی اہمیت کو برابر کہا گیا ہے۔اس طرح ،  جانوروں کی اہمیت میں ایمان رکھنا پختہ ایمان کی نشانییوں میں سے ہے۔  نیلوفر احمد (انگریزی سے ترجمہ۔ سمیع الرحمٰن ،  نیو ایج اسلام ڈاٹ کام)

“All men being by their nature equal,” he argued in his magnum opus, Fi Nekdh al-Adyan, or Refutation of Revealed Religions, “the prophets cannot claim any intellectual or spiritual superiority. The miracles of the prophets are impostures or belong to the domain of pious legend.” The theist's counter-argument, he said, was violence: “asked about the proof for the soundness of their religion, they flare up, get angry and spill the blood of whoever confronts them”. -- Praveen Swami

I met Sultan Shahin, a Delhi-based journalist and now a friend, back in 2000 at Geneva for the first time. It was a conference organized by the UNO. I was representing RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) at this moot. A common friend introduced me to Sultan Shahin since he had written a book in which he had lavishly praised RAWA. Ever since I go to Delhi, his home is my shelter. Back in 2008, he launched a website New Age Islam. Though I have not been able to fully reconcile with the idea behind this project yet the way Sultan Shahin’s determination and commitment has made this project a success deserves respect and attention. In an interview with Viewpoint, he discusses his New Age Islam. Read on:

Do you think New Age Islam will revive or construct Muslim identity and community of a different sort?

The website definitely has the potential to do that. But it’s a massive task. At the moment we do not have the resources to successfully counter even one man, Islam-supremacist Dr. Zakir Naik, who has been the focus of our attention since early days. The Ahl-e-Hadith Wahhabi sect that supports him has massive financial resources. He runs a television station to spread his agenda of hate and contempt for other religions from Mumbai. His TV station is not even registered. New Age Islam has been pointing this out, apart from countering him ideologically. There was massive reader response to articles written about him, both from his many supporters and opponents. But his fan following seems to be consistently growing. – Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam in an interview to Sahar Saba

The so-called Indian Mujahedeen have used in their notorious e-mails certain Quranic verses to justify killing of innocent civilians. These are the same verses that enemies of Islam’s pacific and humane philosophy have been traditionally using for centuries to demonise Islam. Muslims who go berserk and want to simply smite all and sundry in their crazy stupor also routinely use these verses to justify their fanaticism and probably also to brainwash the still-not-so-crazy to their cause.

New Age Islam  urges Indian Ulema to come out with explicit, unequivocal statements that the Quranic verses like the following - “Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers in fight, smite at their necks"- are now obsolete: they were meant for a specific situation during the Prophet’s life and do no apply today.

Also, they must clarify that the Muslim perception and belief that they alone are worthy of going to Heaven is total bunkum, according to Muslim precepts. Muslims are no better or worse than any other community. Islam has as much failed to create a New Man or for that matter a New Woman as any other reformist religion or philosophy.

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