In Israel, Jews Are Adopting Muslim Mystical Practices, Such As The Whirling Dervish Dance
New Age Islam News Bureau
28
Jul 2016
Whirling dervish dance: Performers in Istanbul commemorated the 737th anniversary of the death of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, an Anatolian philosopher and poet, and founder of the Mevlevi sect. (Reuters)
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Mideast
• In Israel, Jews Are Adopting Muslim Mystical Practices, Such As the Whirling Dervish Dance
• Rafsanjani: Bloody Conflicts Results of Taliban Teachings
• Turkey has intelligence cleric Gulen could flee United States -Justice Minister
• Egypt has not received political asylum request from Turkish cleric Gulen: PM
• Iran Deplores Terrorist Attacks in Syria's Kurdish City
• 1,684 soldiers discharged from Turkish Army ahead of key military council
• Five security personnel killed in PKK attacks in southeast
Arab World
• Egypt's Islamic Scholars Reject Government-Issued Friday Sermons
• Bahrain Regime Escalates Crackdown on Shia Clerics and Freedom of Religion and Assembly
• ISIL Executes 17 Commanders in Mosul, Disguises Members in Afghan Costume
• Pokémon Mania near Holy Kaaba Slammed
• Al-Nura Offensive on Zara Power Plant Repelled, 30 Terrorists Killed
• Al-Nusra Front Terrorists under Intensive Fire in Quneitra
• Large Number of Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham Militants Killed in Northern, Eastern Homs
• ISIL, Al-Nusra Front Militants in Hama Caught in Syrian Fighters' Airstrikes
• Syrian President Offers Amnesty to Militants Who Lay down Weapons
• Bride must say ‘yes’ herself for marriage, courts told
• Govt closely monitors activities concerning dawa, preaching
South Asia
• ‘Kallyanpur Suspects Swore Allegiance to IS Chief’
• Nearly 300 ISIS Militants Killed In Nangarhar Operations, Mod Claims
• 8 ISIS Loyalists Killed In Drone Strikes in East of Afghanistan
• Police: Newly identified Kallyanpur militant trained Gulshan attackers
• HC upholds death for 6 JMB men in Gazipur blast
• Investigators get wind of over two dozen militant dens
• ‘Militants instructed to live in isolation during operation’
• Taliban leader behind killing of 30 policemen arrested in Helmand
India
• Kept Out Of Temples, 250 Dalit Families in Tamil Nadu Look to Islam
• Education Relief for Pak, Bangla Hindus in India
• Exodus of Hindus from U.P.: Adityanath
• Ostracise Delhi’s collaborators: Hurriyat leaders
• Punjab desecration murder: Khalistan supporter prime accused
• Kanpur's Leather Industry Shrinks As Controversy over Cow Slaughter Grows
North America
• Bill Clinton's Muslim Reference Criticized as No Different As Trump
• The U.S. Is Apparently Using Anti-Drone Rifles against the Islamic State
• ISIS in Afghanistan link with terror group in Syria, Iraq: US General
• Malta's Muslim community condemns terror acts
• Muslim Brotherhood Front Group Teach Police ‘Islam 101’
• Trump says he wants Russia as ally against Islamic State
• Ignoring Pakistan will be dangerous, says McCain
• UN head ‘deeply concerned’ by ongoing arrests in Turkey
Europe
• German Police Raid Mosque and Apartments In Crackdown On Salafists
• Quran Slip Has Muslims Blazing Mad At Fireman Sam
• Teenagers Who Killed French Priest Made Film Declaring Allegiance to Isis
France priest killers seen 'in IS video'
• IS magazine describes Ansbach suicide bomber’s preparations in Germany
• Ireland is 'making same mistakes as Germany and France' on terror
• Fears of anti-Muslim backlash as police investigate possible arson attack on French mosque
• Europe terror attacks spotlight security failings amid refugee crisis
• Terror Spree Unsettles European Leaders Angela Merkel and François Hollande
Africa
• Kenya: Suspected Shabaab Militants Destroy Communication Mast in Lafey, Mandera
• Reports: South Sudan Soldiers Raped Dozens Near U.N. Camp
• Tunisian army kills two 'terrorists': Ministry
• Bulgarian authorities charge 3 Syrians with terrorism
• UK not doing enough for conflict-stricken northern Nigeria, MPs warn
Pakistan
• Guns Cheaper Than Smartphones in Pakistani Tribal Town
• Girl, Boy Allegedly Killed For Honour in Kohistan
• One shot dead in Pakistan over alleged desecration of Quran
• Karachi target killers being funded from South Africa, Thailand, UK: Rangers
• Qadri arrives, warns another agitation
• NAB arrests former Quetta Nazim
• Killings drop but kidnappings, gang rape & riots on the rise, says Sindh CTD data
Southeast Asia
• PAS Youth Rep Touts Shariah Law to Curb Crime amid Gun Violence Cases
• Indonesia: families told that 14 death row prisoners will be executed tonight
• Indonesia rejects international pleas to halt execution of Pakistani convict
• Death Row Convicts Await Clemency as Komnas Perempuan Slams Attorney General
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/in-israel,-jews-adopting-muslim/d/108107
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In Israel, Jews are adopting Muslim mystical practices, such as the whirling dervish dance
28 July, 2016
JAFFA, Israel — In a family’s living room in this seaside town, seven people spin in circles to the beat of a drum and the strumming of a guitar. As the music gets faster, so does their turning, with their arms stretched out, swaying above their heads.
These are Jewish Israelis. They are practicing the dancing of whirling dervishes, a meditative exercise from the mystical Sufi branch of Islam.
“When I turn, I really feel an excitement,” said Ayelet Lugassi, 50, who drives about an hour each week from her home in Jerusalem to whirl with this group. “It is a practice that makes me feel more in touch with my heart. Yes, I am a Jew, and this practice comes from Islam. But that doesn’t matter because Sufism has a very important understanding of the universal feeling of believing of God.”
This whirling dervish group offers an intimate window into the growing interest in Sufism among Israeli Jews, and into the interfaith encounters that often accompany it. Recent years have seen not only the development of this whirling dervish circle in Jaffa, but also the rise of large-scale Sufi music festivals, Sufi study groups and tours to Sufi holy places. In September, Jerusalem will host the fifth annual Sacred Music Festival, which will include Sufi-inspired performances.
“It is part of the increasing general interest in spiritualism,” said Chen Bram, an anthropologist and research fellow at Hebrew University’s Truman Institute, who has published papers on the topic.
Sufism, which promotes a personal connection with God, emerged as an ascetic movement in the early years of Islam, then later developed its own writings and rituals, and led to the creation of several different Sufi orders throughout the Muslim world. The practice of whirling as a way to connect with God was developed by the Mevlevi order in Konya, Turkey, started by the followers of the famed Persian poet and religious philosopher Jalal ad Din Muhammad Rumi after his death in 1273. It is that order that inspires this group in Jaffa. Many of them have made pilgrimages to Rumi’s tomb in Turkey.
On a recent Wednesday night, organizer Ora Balha cued the musician to stop playing. Gradually, the group followed the slowing sounds of the instruments to a standstill. Balha then read a verse from Rumi: “What causes sorrow?” she read, in Hebrew. “When the source is within, and this whole universe is arising from it.”
The evening’s theme was the importance of finding internal joy. The exercise of whirling, the participants said, can help.
“Happiness is a choice,” Balha gently told the group while they sat on cushions on the floor of her living room, drinking water in between sessions of whirling.
Balha, an Israeli Jew, started this group several years ago with her husband, Ihab, an Arab Muslim who was born in Jaffa, one of a handful of mixed cities in Israel. The couple, who have three young children, is a rare case of marriage between a Jew and a Muslim in Israel.
Ora and Ihab say that the Sufi emphasis on universalism has allowed them to connect on a spiritual level, and that Sufi music, whirling and writings can bring together people of different backgrounds.
“Sufism is the heart of Islam,” said Ihab Balha. “It unites between cultures. It calls for union.”
The Balhas also run a nonprofit organization, Orchard of Abraham, which operates a multicultural preschool for Jews, Muslims and Christians and sponsors other activities promoting cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians in the midst of the ongoing conflict. A few times a year, they help organize public gatherings, where Sufi sheiks lead ceremonies involving prayer, music and whirling for hundreds of attendees, most of them Jewish.
“When we started out, few people had heard of Sufism, but today it has become much more common,” said Ora Balha, who is a trained dancer and began practicing Sufi whirling about 15 years ago. She emphasizes that whirling “is a prayer, a meditation. It’s not a dance for the aesthetic of it.”
After about an hour of whirling, the group settled onto cushions arranged around an Oriental carpet to drink tea and eat sweets. The bookshelves in the sparsely decorated apartment contain Islamic texts as well as Jewish ones.
Like many Israelis interested in Sufism, participant Asaf Shaish found his way to it after dabbling in Buddhism and several types of meditation. He said he was surprised to hear about ideas of universalism in Islam.
“It really opened my head that Islam is not all about violence and religious fanatics,” said Shaish, 31, of Tel Aviv, who attends the weekly whirling sessions. “Now I have a positive feeling about the words ‘Allah’ and ‘Islam.’ That wasn’t why I came here, but it has just happened.”
There’s actually a long history of encounters between Judaism and Sufism, going back to the 13th century when Abraham Maimonides, son of the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, sought out Sufism, then influential in North Africa, for ideas to infuse into a Judaism that he saw as overly intellectual. In recent years, Israeli academics have shown an increased interest in the history of Sufi-Jewish relations and in translating Sufi works into Hebrew.
“Translations of Rumi and others have definitely opened the door in terms of popular Israeli interest,” said Ya’qub Ibn Yusuf, a religiously observant Jew who also studies Sufi texts and engages in Islamic prayer, and owns the Olam Qatan spiritual book and music shop in Jerusalem.
Those that participate in the whirling say that it has resulted in spiritual growth that, as Jews, they can find in other rituals like eating kosher food or synagogue prayers.
“Nobody has to give up his identity as a Jew,” Lugassi said. “But we are all commanded to love, and this practice helps make you whole and open and get connected to the God and the love inside of you.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/07/28/in-israel-jews-are-adopting-muslim-mystical-practices-like-the-whirling-dervish-dance/
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Egypt's Islamic scholars reject government-issued Friday sermons
28 July, 2016
n a rebuke to the Egyptian government, the country’s top religious scholars have rejected new government measures to standardise Friday sermons, saying such a step would “freeze” the development of religious discourse.
The Council of Senior Scholars of Al-Azhar, the Muslim world’s most prominent institution, said in a statement on Wednesday that giving clerics pre-written Friday sermons would eventually “superficialise” religious clerics’ thinking.
The statement adds: “The imam will find himself unable to discuss, debate, and respond to [extremist] ideas and warn people of them.”
The standardised sermon initiative was launched by Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments – the government body regulating mosques and houses of worship – and has been criticised as the latest government move to tighten state control over religious discourse.
Earlier this month, Mokhtar Gomaa, the minister of religious endowments, gave the first-such scripted sermon from a batch of notecards in an attempt to present a model to the country’s clerics. He defended the move as aimed at filtering out extremism and promoting religious reform.
According to the plan, a committee of state-hired scholars would write each week’s sermon for clerics to read word-for-word. Gomaa said the government would prepare 54 sermons covering 52 weeks in addition to religious holidays, and that there was a long-term plan to write 270 sermons covering five years.
A ministerial committee that inspects and monitors the mosques would report on the performance of clerics around the country.
In response to Al-Azhar’s rejection, ministry spokesman Gaber Tayaa said the ministry would go ahead with “generalising” the written sermons and would continue to hold meetings to explain the mechanism of implementation, “without forcing them”.
He added that the written sermons were aimed at ending the “chaos” of the current religious discourse.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/egypts-islamic-scholars-reject-government-issued-friday-sermons
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‘Kallyanpur suspects swore allegiance to IS chief’
28 July, 2016
Before they were killed by the police, the nine suspected militants inside the Kallyanpur den shouted to say that they were allegiant to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.
A neighbour managed to record an audio clip when one of the suspects shouted from the balcony to make the declaration of allegiance to the police.
The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of the recording and has spoken to the neighbour, who requested that his name not be published.
In the audio recording, one of the suspects can be heard shouting that they would follow their “Khalifah (Caliph)” Baghdadi through “happiness and sorrow.”
Several of them can also be heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” or God is great.
The neighbour, who was hiding inside his own home nearby, told the Dhaka Tribune he also heard the militants use slang words as they shouted to the police.
The neighbour quoted one of the militants as telling the police: “You [police] have worn bulletproof vests; we do not need those because we are Allah’s soldiers. If you have courage, open your vests and come.”
The militants also reportedly said they did not care about what would happen to them because they would be “martyrs and go to paradise.”
‘They wore black dress sensing death soon’
All nine suspected militants put on black panjabis and keffiyehs following Fazr prayers, after apparently sensing that the police might move in after daybreak.
The neighbour, who was looking at the Jahaj Bari throughout the night to see what the suspects were up to, saw that the young men all wore ordinary clothes until the Fazr calls to prayer.
But after they offered their prayers, the suspects put on the black attires and the red-and-white chequered scarves, the neighbour said.
At the time, the suspected militants were holding guns and knives in their hands, he said.
However, after Fazr prayers, the neighbour said he could not see what was going on inside as the men shut the balcony door.
He added that he had switched off lights and locked the doors after seeing other in their locality do the same.
Following the police drive, there was much debate on social media with speculations on why the militants had been wearing black panjabis throughout the night.
In a Facebook post yesterday, DMP’s counter-terrorism chief Monirul Islam criticised the conspiracy theorists who questioned the success of the drive.
Monirul pointed out that almost five hours had passed between the time the police made first contact with the suspects and the final push to enter the den.
“Do you need to be an intellectual to understand whether they [suspects] they were sleeping for such a long time or whether they had time to put on these dresses?” he questioned.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jul/28/kallyanpur-suspects-swore-allegiance-chief#sthash.wIyx0i9T.dpuf
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Kept Out Of Temples, 250 Dalit Families in Tamil Nadu Look to Islam
28 July, 2016
Kept out of local temples, 250 Hindu Dalit families from two Tamil Nadu villages, Pazhangkallimedu and Nagapalli, say they are planning to convert to Islam.
At Pazhangkallimedu village in Nagapattinam district, 180 Dalit families say they want to be able to perform rituals on one day during the five-day annual temple festival. But with caste Hindus allegedly refusing them permission, six Dalit Hindus from the village have already embraced Islam.
Local residents said volunteers of the Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat (TNTJ) distributed copies of the Quran in the village, while a Christian missionary also approached them. Meanwhile, leaders of outfits such as the Hindu Munnani and the Hindu Makkal Katchi have been urging them not to take the step and have been mediating between Dalit families and caste Hindus.
The coastal village of Pazhangkallimedu has about 400 families, 180 of them Dalits. Caste Hindus here mostly belong to the Pillai community, traditionally comprising landlords.
Senthil Kumar, a leader of the Dalit party, VCK, who is leading the protests, said the village youth suggested converting to Islam after the administration and the police failed to ensure worship rights for them in Bhadra Kaliamman temple.
“We want to perform Mandagapadi, or lead the rituals, on one of the five days of the annual temple festival. But we are denied that right. My parents and grandparents were slaves. I wish my generation does not have to face untouchability and insults. Conversion may be the only option for us,” he said.
Kumar said police are looking into the issue, and several petitions filed before the district collector have yielded no response.
A senior police officer said talks are on to end the stalemate. “There was a suggestion to allow Dalits to conduct puja during the day but they want the full 24 hours. Negotiations are on,” he said.
B Abdul Rahiman of the TNTJ said, “After we got calls from some villagers, our volunteers visited them. They wanted to convert but that can’t be done so simply as Islam is a way of life and cannot be embraced out of anger. We suggested that they study about the religion and come back to us. We distributed copies of the Quran, like they requested. Six of them, who convinced us about their understanding of Islam, converted four days ago.”
But Arjun Sampath of the Hindu Makkal Katchi said there was no need for such outfits to intervene. “We spoke to both Dalits and non-Dalits. It is a government-run temple and the government has to take a decision. Most caste Hindu groups have no problem allowing Dalits to take part in the rituals. Some Muslim groups who recently built a mosque there have triggered this row and are trying to convert people,” he alleged.
Some 240 km away, in Nagapalli village in Karur, it’s a similar story for 70-odd Dalit families, who feel conversion is the only way to “end discrimination”.
P Vetrivel, president of the temple trust in the village, said his father built the structure seven years ago.
“There were many temples in our village, but we (the Dalits) had to build one separately. But for the last two years, after my father’s death, caste Hindu families who returned from Sri Lanka have been denying us entry and trying to occupy the temple. Neither the police nor the government have helped us. They started controlling the temple claiming we were not doing the rituals properly,” Vetrivel said.
Sri Mahasakthi Mariamman temple was built in 2009 by Dalits with a fund from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Tamil Nadu government. A trust with a Dalit majority runs the temple. “Now they want to conduct festivals without Dalits,” Vetrivel said.
Like Nagapattinam, Nagapalli does not have Muslim families. But they cite the example of Aravakurichi town, where “some 40,000 Muslim families live peacefully”, to explain why they want to convert. “No Muslim or Hindu groups have approached us so far. We will contact them and take a call,” Vetrivel said.
The office of the Karur district collector said they will hold a peace meeting in two days. “Some 70 Dalit families are seeking rights to worship and take part in the festival, while an equal number of Hindu families — majority of them caste Hindus — are opposing them.
Most caste Hindus have returned from Sri Lanka,” said a senior officer.
The last religious conversion on such a scale in Tamil Nadu was witnessed in the early 1980s, when 800 Dalits converted to Islam at Meenakshipuram village near Tirunelveli. Despite senior political leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, visiting the villagers, they had refused to change their mind.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/tamil-nadu-dalit-discrimination-conversion-islam-prohibited-enter-temple-2939695/
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Mideast
In Israel, Jews are adopting Muslim mystical practices, such as the whirling dervish dance
28 July, 2016
JAFFA, Israel — In a family’s living room in this seaside town, seven people spin in circles to the beat of a drum and the strumming of a guitar. As the music gets faster, so does their turning, with their arms stretched out, swaying above their heads.
These are Jewish Israelis. They are practicing the dancing of whirling dervishes, a meditative exercise from the mystical Sufi branch of Islam.
“When I turn, I really feel an excitement,” said Ayelet Lugassi, 50, who drives about an hour each week from her home in Jerusalem to whirl with this group. “It is a practice that makes me feel more in touch with my heart. Yes, I am a Jew, and this practice comes from Islam. But that doesn’t matter because Sufism has a very important understanding of the universal feeling of believing of God.”
Full report at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/07/28/in-israel-jews-are-adopting-muslim-mystical-practices-like-the-whirling-dervish-dance/
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Rafsanjani: Bloody Conflicts Results of Taliban Teachings
28 July, 2016
AhlulBayt News Agency – A group of Pakistani Shiite clerics met and conversed with Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani this morning 27 july 2016.
In this meeting Ayatollah Hafiz Riadh Hussein Najafi, Chairman of Trustees board of Pakistani Hawzah “Jamiah al-Montazar” and entourages –who were clerics of Denmark and Pakistan Qom’s Hawzah- referring to chaotic situation of Muslims in Iraq,Syria,Afghanistan,Saudi Arabia,Bahrain ,Libya,Palestine,Kashmir and Yemen said: Divisions annoy any pious Muslim to see some people denigrate Islam by the name of Islam.
Full report at:
http://en.abna24.com/service/iran/archive/2016/07/27/768365/story.html
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Turkey has intelligence cleric Gulen could flee United States -Justice Minister
28 July, 2016
Turkey is receiving intelligence that the Muslim cleric it blames for orchestrating a coup attempt this month could flee his residence in the United States, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Thursday.
Bozdag told broadcaster Haberturk TV that the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, could flee to Australia, Mexico, Canada, South Africa or Egypt. Turkey says Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, is the mastermind behind the failed July 15-16 putsch that attempted to overthrow the government.
Gulen denies the charge.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/236271/World/Region/Turkey-has-intelligence-cleric-Gulen-could-flee-Un.aspx
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Egypt has not received political asylum request from Turkish cleric Gulen: PM
28 July, 2016
Egypt says it has not received any request for political asylum by Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of masterminding a failed coup attempt on 15 July.
"Egypt has not received any requests by Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen to obtain the right for political asylum in Egypt," Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said.
He added in remarks carried by state news agency MENA Wednesday that no information about the matter has been made available until now.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/236257/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-has-not-received-political-asylum-request-fr.aspx
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Iran Deplores Terrorist Attacks in Syria's Kurdish City
28 July, 2016
Iran condemned the twin terrorist blasts in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in Northeastern Syria which killed at least 44 people.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Wednesday condemned the terrorist attacks, and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
The phenomenon of terrorism is a common threat against the regional and international peace and security, he said.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000172
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1,684 soldiers discharged from Turkish Army ahead of key military council
28 July, 2016
A total of 1,684 soldiers, including 149 generals and admirals, were discharged from the Turkish Armed Forces on July 27 over their alleged links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) after a failed coup attempt on July 15.
Some 87 generals, 726 military officers and 256 non-commissioned officers were discharged from the land forces, according to a state of emergency decree law published in the Official Gazette.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/1684-soldiers-discharged-from-turkish-army-ahead-of-key-military-council.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102177&NewsCatID=341
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Five security personnel killed in PKK attacks in southeast
28 July, 2016
Five security personnel were killed in two separate attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern provinces of Siirt and Hakkari late on July 27.
Three soldiers were killed when PKK militants detonated roadside explosives by remote control during the passage of an armored military vehicle in a rural part of Siirt. A soldier was also wounded in the attack, while aerial and ground forces were dispatched to the area.
Meanwhile, an explosive-laden vehicle attack on a police control station seven kilometers from central Hakkari, along with a subsequent firefight, killed two police officers and wounded 10 other officers, as well as a civilian.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/five-security-personnel-killed-in-pkk-attacks-in-southeast.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102180&NewsCatID=341
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Arab World
Egypt's Islamic scholars reject government-issued Friday sermons
28 July, 2016
n a rebuke to the Egyptian government, the country’s top religious scholars have rejected new government measures to standardise Friday sermons, saying such a step would “freeze” the development of religious discourse.
The Council of Senior Scholars of Al-Azhar, the Muslim world’s most prominent institution, said in a statement on Wednesday that giving clerics pre-written Friday sermons would eventually “superficialise” religious clerics’ thinking.
The statement adds: “The imam will find himself unable to discuss, debate, and respond to [extremist] ideas and warn people of them.”
Full report at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/egypts-islamic-scholars-reject-government-issued-friday-sermons
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Bahrain regime escalates crackdown on Shia clerics and freedom of religion and assembly
28 July, 2016
AhlulBayt News Agency - The Bahraini regime has intensified state restrictions on the right to freedom of religion for the country’s Shia majority. While the authorities have obstructed and prosecuted Shia religious practices, they have simultaneously escalated their use of repressive measures against the country’s religious clerics. The government has targeted Shia clerics with summons, arrests, and judicial harassment, and has rendered leading cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim stateless.
Bahrain’s High Criminal Court on Wednesday held its first hearing in the trial of Sheikh Isa Qasim along with two other individuals. The court postponed the trial of the Shia spiritual leader to 14 August 2016.
Full report at:
http://en.abna24.com/service/bahrain/archive/2016/07/28/768509/story.html
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ISIL Executes 17 Commanders in Mosul, Disguises Members in Afghan Costume
28 July, 2016
The ISIL terrorist group executed 17 commanders in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul, local sources said on Thursday.
"The ISIL executed 17 of its commanders who had fled the battleground against the Iraqi forces in Qayara (a town some 60 kilometers South of Mosul), at a square in the center of al-Shoura region in Mosul city," the sources in Nineveh province, who called for anonymity, said.
The sources also said that the ISIL members who fear the Iraqi forces' attack against the city have disguised themselves in Afghan and local costumes, shaved their beards and withdrew from the Mosul streets.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000279
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Pokémon mania near Holy Kaaba slammed
28 July, 2016
MAKKAH: Even the holiest of all places is not spared by the Pokémon Go craze. The mobile game has taken the fight between its characters to the Holy Kaaba, and points of collection are being found on the gates of the Grand Mosque.
Opinions are rife about the game saying it is a violation of the sanctity of the Grand Mosque in particular and all other mosques, because some of its characters are inside mosques and the game spies on users.
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Munea, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, said the game is a national security hazard as it aims to uncover secret locations, which is considered treason.
When the website team visited Makkah, it found that one of the fighting grounds of Pokémon was actually atop Kaaba. Around the new mataf, five players were found playing, and the number is growing. The points of gifts and the game’s characters were in front of gates of the mosque.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/node/960951/saudi-arabia
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Al-Nura Offensive on Zara Power Plant Repelled, 30 Terrorists Killed
28 July, 2016
The al-Nusra Front militants' attack on a key power plant near the town of al-Zara, South of Hama province, was repulsed by the Syrian army and National Defense forces on Thursday.
The terrorists who had launched an attack to regain control of the recently-lost power plant in Zara were forced to withdraw after losing 30 of their comrades and sustaining heavy damages.
ccording to field sources, tens of other militants were also wounded.
Zara power plant was liberated from the terrorists' hands in May. Since then the militants have launched several attacks to seize it back but failed.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000655
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Al-Nusra Front Terrorists under Intensive Fire in Quneitra
28 July, 2016
The Syrian army units, in cooperation with popular forces, launched heavy strikes on the gatherings and fortified positions of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front militants in the countryside of Quneitra.
Field sources said on Thursday that the attacks have killed tens of al-Nusra Front militants and wounded several others.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000300
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Large Number of Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham Militants Killed in Northern, Eastern Homs
28 July, 2016
The Syrian army units, supported by their allies, killed tens of al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham terrorists, including their commanders and snipers, in al-Rastan, 20km of Northern Homs.
The army troops' precision missile strikes targeted the terrorists' dens and gathering centers in Rastan, and killed and wounded dozens of them.
Among the commanders of al-Nusra Front was Amin Samir al-Ruz, nom de guerre Abi Malik who was killed in Rastan along with his 8-member group.
The Syrian army units also killed ISIL terrorists and destroyed their vehicles, equipped with heavy machineguns North al-Awameed hill and West al-Khanzeer Mountain, Southeast of Quaryatayn in the Eastern parts of Homs province.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000470
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ISIL, Al-Nusra Front Militants in Hama Caught in Syrian Fighters' Airstrikes
28 July, 2016
The ISIL and al-Nusra Front terrorists in Hama were repeatedly attacked by the Syrian warplanes on Thursday.
The Syrian fighter jets destroyed the bases and strongholds of al-Nusra Front in Hor Benafsa town in the Southeastern parts of Hama near the borders with Homs province, a military source said.
The source added that the Air Force also targeted the ISIL gathering centers in the Northern parts of al-Mofaker village in the Eastern parts of Salamiyah which smashed their bases and killed and injured tens of militants.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000638
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Syrian President Offers Amnesty to Militants Who Lay down Weapons
28 July, 2016
Syrian President Bashar Assad offered an amnesty to militants who turn in their weapons insisting that the amnesty has been virtually in effect in Syria since day one of the terrorist war against the country.
Answering a question by the Greek ITV channel about whether he intends to issue a general amnesty if he wins the current war, President Assad said: “It is not about my victory…The most important thing is the victory of the Syrian people because it is a war waged against the Syrian people”, SANA reported.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950507000461
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Bride must say ‘yes’ herself for marriage, courts told
28 July, 2016
RIYADH: Minister of Justice Walid Al-Samaani has ordered all courts and prospective grooms (mazoon) that before marriage, the prospective groom should get the agreement of the woman according to Shariah and should hear it himself as she utters her approval.
He said no one can do this on her behalf, to ensure that the law is abided by and all rights are protected.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/node/960926/saudi-arabia
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Govt closely monitors activities concerning dawa, preaching
28 July, 2016
RIYADH: Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call, and Guidance Tawfiq Al-Sudairi has said there are specific controls and regulations for work in the field of religious guidance, and the ministry works hard to monitor any violations that may lead to the spread of deviant and extremist ideologies.
He said the ministry emphasizes that imams prevent anyone wishing to make statements after obligatory prayers from doing so, unless they have the required permission from the ministry, noting that the ministry’s duty is to monitor mosques through monitors or reports from citizens and residents through different media channels.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/node/960921/saudi-arabia
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South Asia
‘Kallyanpur suspects swore allegiance to IS chief’
28 July, 2016
Before they were killed by the police, the nine suspected militants inside the Kallyanpur den shouted to say that they were allegiant to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the chief of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.
A neighbour managed to record an audio clip when one of the suspects shouted from the balcony to make the declaration of allegiance to the police.
The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of the recording and has spoken to the neighbour, who requested that his name not be published.
In the audio recording, one of the suspects can be heard shouting that they would follow their “Khalifah (Caliph)” Baghdadi through “happiness and sorrow.”
Several of them can also be heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” or God is great.
The neighbour, who was hiding inside his own home nearby, told the Dhaka Tribune he also heard the militants use slang words as they shouted to the police.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jul/28/kallyanpur-suspects-swore-allegiance-chief#sthash.wIyx0i9T.dpuf
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Nearly 300 ISIS militants killed in Nangarhar operations, MoD claims
28 July, 2016
At least 300 loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have been since a major operation was launched against the supporters of the terror group in East of Afghanistan.
Officials in the Ministry of Defense (MoD) have said the militants were killed during the operations, Shaheen 18, in Nangarhar province.
Deputy MoD spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed around 300 ISIS loyalists were killed and around 100 others were injured during the raids.
He said the operations will continue until all areas along the Durand Line in eastern parts of country have been cleared from the presence of the terror group.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/nearly-300-isis-militants-killed-in-nangarhar-operations-mod-claims-01586
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8 ISIS loyalists killed in drone strikes in East of Afghanistan
Jul 28 2016
At least 8 loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in separate drone strikes in East of Afghanistan.
The provincial police media office in Nangarhar said the drone strikes were carried out in Nazian and Achin district.
At least 6 of the militants were killed in Pekhi Kali area of Achin district and at least 3 others were wounded.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/8-isis-loyalists-killed-in-drone-strikes-in-east-of-afghanistan-01590
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Police: Newly identified Kallyanpur militant trained Gulshan attackers
28 July, 2016
Another militant, who was killed in Kallyanpur raid, has been identified as Raihan Kabir of Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur.
DMP’s Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit chief Monirul Islam said: “Raihan was a trainer of Gulshan attack. He was a madrasa student and had been missing for a year.”
He disclosed the matter in a press conference held in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon.
Raihan is the fifth militant in the picture released by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jul/28/police-one-kallyanpur-militant-identified-trained-gulshan-attackers#sthash.UrbcvBUR.dpuf
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HC upholds death for 6 JMB men in Gazipur blast
28 July, 2016
The High Court has reinstated the death penalty verdict given by a Dhaka court to six JMB members for killing nine people by a suicide bomb attack on Gazipur Bar Association office in 2005.
The bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and JBM Hassan gave the verdict on Thursday morning.
The court also gave life term imprisonment to two JBM men for the offence and it acquitted two others.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jul/28/hc-upholds-death-6-jmb-men-gazipur-blast#sthash.R97oUDYg.dpuf
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Investigators get wind of over two dozen militant dens
Tribune Desk
28 July, 2016
Members of different banned militant outfits who have commando training are now trying to carry out more attacks by setting up small dens in Dhaka and its surrounding areas, law enforcement sources have said.
Interrogating militants who were arrested in various operations or during the recent attacks, law enforcement agencies have gleaned information on at least two dozen hideouts in Dhaka and surrounding areas where drives will be carried out soon.
A senior law enforcement official requesting anonymity confirmed to Dhaka Tribune yesterday that as a part of a new technique, militants were now renting flats in areas where low income populations and garment workers lived.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2016/jul/28/investigators-get-wind-over-two-dozen-militant-dens#sthash.wXAgsMkC.dpuf
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‘Militants instructed to live in isolation during operation’
Tribune Desk
28 July, 2016
At the end of training or during operation, militants are supposed to not disclose anything to their neighbours, and also to avoid meeting locals in the neighbourhood, investigators have learned.
They got this information while interrogating militant Rakibul Hasan alias Rigan, who survived Tuesday’s Kallyanpur police raid and is now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2016/jul/28/militants-instructed-live-isolation-during-operation#sthash.VYqNi25k.dpuf
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Taliban leader behind killing of 30 policemen arrested in Helmand
Jul 28 2016
A key local Taliban leader who was involved behind in the killing of at least 30 Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces has been arrested in southern Helmand province.
The Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said the Taliban leader has been identified as Sharafuddin son of Abdul Razaq.
Operating under the supervision of Mawlavi Haqyar group, Sharafuddin was involved in a major attack on a ALP check post that left at least 30 policemen dead.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/taliban-leader-behind-killing-of-30-policemen-arrested-in-helmand-01589
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India
Kept Out Of Temples, 250 Dalit Families in Tamil Nadu Look to Islam
28 July, 2016
Kept out of local temples, 250 Hindu Dalit families from two Tamil Nadu villages, Pazhangkallimedu and Nagapalli, say they are planning to convert to Islam.
At Pazhangkallimedu village in Nagapattinam district, 180 Dalit families say they want to be able to perform rituals on one day during the five-day annual temple festival. But with caste Hindus allegedly refusing them permission, six Dalit Hindus from the village have already embraced Islam.
Local residents said volunteers of the Tamil Nadu Towheed Jamaat (TNTJ) distributed copies of the Quran in the village, while a Christian missionary also approached them. Meanwhile, leaders of outfits such as the Hindu Munnani and the Hindu Makkal Katchi have been urging them not to take the step and have been mediating between Dalit families and caste Hindus.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/tamil-nadu-dalit-discrimination-conversion-islam-prohibited-enter-temple-2939695/
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Education Relief for Pak, Bangla Hindus in India
TNN | Jul 28, 2016
New Delhi: 'Persecuted religious minorities' from Pakistan and Bangladesh, mainly Hindus already in India, will now be facilitated by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to access higher education, particularly MBBS/BDS degrees, from 2016-17 academic year.
These would be part of the self-financing scheme already being run by MEA to help students from developing countries get admission to medical, engineering, pharmacy undergraduate courses in Indian educational institutions against seats allotted by ministries of health and HRD.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Edu-relief-for-Pak-Bangla-Hindus-in-India/articleshow/53425329.cms
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Exodus of Hindus from U.P.: Adityanath
28 July, 2016
BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Mahant Adityanath, on Wednesday demanded Central intervention in Uttar Pradesh alleging that there was a large-scale exodus of members of the majority community from certain areas of the State due to the “collapse” of law and order there.
Other BJP MPs, Kunwar Pushpendra Singh, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Bhairon Prasad Mishra and Sharad Tripathi, associated with Mr. Adityanath on the same issue in the Lok Sabha.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/exodus-of-hindus-from-up-adityanath/article8908005.ece?homepage=true
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Ostracise Delhi’s collaborators: Hurriyat leaders
28 July, 2016
Separatists on Wednesday asked people “to ostracise Delhi’s collaborators and so-called representatives” in the Kashmir Valley, as fresh street violence forced the government to reimpose curfew in Srinagar and other parts for 19th consecutive day.
Referring to PDP, NC and Congress leaders, a joint statement by separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik asked them to join the “people’s movement.”
“Being collaborators and loyalist abettors of India, so-called representatives are equal partners in crime against people of Kashmir. From 1947, these collaborators provided a local face to India’s authoritarian rule. It is time people hold them accountable, answerable and ostracise and boycott them,” reads the statement.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ostracise-delhis-collaborators-hurriyat-leaders/article8907718.ece
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Punjab desecration murder: Khalistan supporter prime accused
28 July, 2016
A local leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) — a pro-Khalistan party — has emerged as an accused in the murder of a woman charged with desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. Balwinder Kaur, a 47-year-old accused of desecrating the Guru Granth Sahib at Ghawaddi village in Ludhiana in October last year, was shot dead by two assailants Tuesday morning. The incident took place at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Alamgir in Ludhiana. According to police, local SAD (A) leader Gurpreet Singh Jagowal can be seen on CCTV footage obtained from the murder site.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/punjab-desecration-murder-khalistan-supporter-prime-accused-2939611/
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Kanpur's Leather Industry Shrinks As Controversy Over Cow Slaughter Grows
All India | Written by Alok Pandey
July 28, 2016
KANPUR: The controversy over cow slaughter had had an unexpected spin-off. One that's not pleasant for Kanpur - one of the biggest leather manufacturing centres of Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are due next year. Over the last few years, nearly half the units have shut, others have been making losses. And the Dalits, who form a chunk of the workforce, are heading back to their villages.
At a small tannery in Kanpur's Jajmau industrial area, 42-year-old Manoj Ram, a Dalit from Bihar's Vaishali, says many of his co-workers, who had worked with him for over 20 years, have left.
Full report at:
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kanpurs-leather-industry-shrinks-as-controversy-over-cow-slaughter-grows-1437103
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North America
Bill Clinton's Muslim Reference Criticized as No Different Than Trump
28 July, 2016
Bill Clinton's attempts to appeal to Muslims living in America, and counter what some consider xenophobic rhetoric toward them from GOP candidate Donald Trump, appears to have backfired.
The 42nd U.S. president delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Tuesday night in which he spoke directly to minorities who may feel cut off, including immigrants and "disillusioned and afraid" African-American young people.
"If you are a Muslim, and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make the future together," Clinton said in his 45-minute address. "We want you."
Full report at:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-27/bill-clintons-muslim-reference-criticized-as-no-different-than-trumps-policies
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The U.S. is apparently using anti-drone rifles against the Islamic State
28 July, 2016
A tweet posted last week by Peter Singer, a co-author of the book Ghost Fleet and a strategist at the New America Foundation, shows his book couched up against what appears to be a Battelle DroneDefender anti-drone rifle in a tent at Fire Base Bell outside Makhmour, Iraq.
The advent and proliferation of small, cheap drones has had a lasting effect on the battlefields of the 21st century. From Syria to Ukraine, the devices have been used in myriad ways, from filming propaganda videos to observing enemy locations. The presence of a U.S. anti-drone system, while a seemingly sensible counter-measure against the Islamic State’s fondness for using the remote-controlled aircraft, is a small glimpse into how the American military is adapting to evolving battlefield threats in the wake of its two protracted ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Full report at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/07/26/the-us-is-apparently-using-anti-drone-rifles-against-the-islamic-state/
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ISIS in Afghanistan link with terror group in Syria, Iraq: US General
Jul 28 2016
The top US general in Afghanistan General John Nicholson has said the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan has direct links with the main terror group in Syria and Iraq.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Gen. Nicholson said the loyalists of the terror group based in Afghanistan have financial, communications and strategic connections with the main IS leadership based in a self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Gen. Nicholson further added “This franchise of Daesh is connected to the parent organization.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/isis-in-afghanistan-link-with-terror-group-in-syria-iraq-us-general-01588
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Malta's Muslim community condemns terror acts
28 July, 2016
The Muslim Community in Malta this evening expressed “shock, sorrow and grave concern” at the recent series of terroristic acts in several countries including France, Germany and the United States. It said it was also shocked at the “heinous coward crime” of killing the French priest Fr Jacques Hamel.
“Those horrible acts were falsely proclaimed in the name of Islam and Muslims, while Islam prohibits and condemns the killing of innocent people irrespective of their faith or alleged justifications for such criminal acts.
Full report at:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20160727/local/maltas-muslim-community-condemns-terror-acts.620222
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Muslim Brotherhood Front Group Teach Police ‘Islam 101’
28 July, 2016
Ask any successful individual, “who was one of the most influential people in your life?” and very often the answer is a teacher. A good teacher can make all the difference in the world to an aspiring learner.
But a bad teacher can have a disastrously adverse effect. Such may be the case in Nashville, Tenn. where Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall recently announced that he was partnering with the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) to provide an instructor to lead a class called “Islam 101” that will be taught to correction officers and other prison staff. The Davidson County Corrections Department has about 800 personnel and an inmate population that exceeds 2,000 offenders on any given day. With a captive audience of that size, it is vitally important to know what is being taught and who is doing the teaching. AMAC grew out of a project, called the “Muslim Rapid Response Team,” which was initiated by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).
Full report at:
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/07/27/muslim-brotherhood-front-group-designated-terrorist-teach-police-islam-101/
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Trump says he wants Russia as ally against Islamic State
28 July, 2016
MIAMI – U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said here Wednesday he hopes for a friendly alliance with Russia in the fight against Islamic State.
The billionaire real estate developer told a press conference in Miami that he knew nothing about the origin of the Democratic National Committee e-mails disseminated by WikiLeaks, a leak that Democrats have attributed to a Russian maneuver aimed at benefiting Trump in his race with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Full report at:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/07/27/trump-says-wants-russia-as-ally-against-islamic-state/
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Ignoring Pakistan will be dangerous, says McCain
28 July, 2016
WASHINGTON: The Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, John McCain, has urged the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan to overcome their differences and get down to the business of fighting terrorists.
In an opinion piece published in The Financial Times on Tuesday, Senator McCain argued that without Pakistan’s cooperation, the US mission in Afghanistan would become “immeasurably more difficult”.
“The sooner the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan get down to the business of fighting their common terrorist enemies together, no matter where they hide, the better off the nations, the region and the world will be,” he wrote.
Mr McCain visited the Pak-Afghan region in the first week of July and in Pakistan, he met civilian and military leaders and discussed counterterrorism efforts with them. He also visited North Waziristan.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1273692/ignoring-pakistan-will-be-dangerous-says-mccain
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UN head ‘deeply concerned’ by ongoing arrests in Turkey
28 July, 2016
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed “deep concern” about the nationwide wave of arrests in Turkey following a failed coup attempt, during a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Ban expressed solidarity with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government during the phone call, a readout on the phone call said, while urging Ankara to “adhere to its human rights obligations.”
“The secretary-general also expressed his concern over the extent of the recent governmental decree regarding the implementation of the state of emergency, which enlists a number of measures restricting the full exercise of individual rights,” U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Full report at:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/un-head-deeply-concerned-by-ongoing-arrests-in-turkey-----.aspx?pageID=238&nID=102183&NewsCatID=359
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Europe
German police raid mosque and apartments in crackdown on Salafists
28 July, 2016
BERLIN: German police have searched a mosque and eight apartments in Hildesheim that are believed to be a hotbed of a radical Salafist community, the interior minister of the northern state of Lower Saxony said on Thursday.
Germany is on high alert after a spate of attacks since July 18 left 15 people dead – including four attackers – and dozens injured. Two assailants, a Syrian asylum seeker and a refugee from either Pakistan or Afghanistan, had links to militancy, officials say.
Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement that up to 400 police – including mobile squads and a special forces police commando – were involved in the raids on Wednesday in the Hildesheim area, which is a short drive south of Hanover.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1151149/german-police-raid-mosque-apartments-crackdown-salafists/
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Quran Slip Has Muslims Blazing Mad at Fireman Sam
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
28 July, 2016
LONDON — Britain's Channel 5 has removed an episode of children's series Fireman Sam from its streaming site after a character appeared to tread on a page of the Quran.
HIT Entertainment, which produced the show, has apologized "unreservedly" for the incident and says it has cut ties with the animation studio responsible.
In the animated show, a character trips on some paper on the floor of the fire station, sending several sheets of paper flying into the air, including one covered in what appears to be Arabic script. The production company says the page was intended to show illegible text.
Miqdaad Versi of the Muslim Council of Britain, complained about the error, tweeting: "Have no idea what went through the producers' minds when they thought this was a good idea #baffled."
https://www.yahoo.com/tv/quran-slip-muslims-blazing-mad-fireman-sam-093711971.html
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Teenagers who killed French priest made film declaring allegiance to Isis
28 July, 2016
The teenage jihadis who murdered a priest celebrating mass in a French church made a video pledging their allegiance to Islamic State before the attack, it was reported on Wednesday.
Two men, believed to be Adel Kermiche and his accomplice, named in unconfirmed reports as Abdel Malik P, are shown in the video released by Isis’s Amaq news agency.
The minute-long film shows one of the men speaking in Arabic, while the other nods in agreement. At the end both pray out loud. The second man is displaying a piece of paper on which the Isis flag is printed.
Full report at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/27/french-authorities-under-pressure-to-explain-release-of-priests-killer
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France priest killers seen 'in IS video'
BBC
28 July, 2016
The so-called Islamic State (IS) has released a video it says shows two men who murdered a priest in France, pledging allegiance to the group.
The two men are filmed speaking in Arabic and referring to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. One holds a piece of paper on which the IS flag is printed.
Fr Jacques Hamel, 86, had his throat cut in the attack on Tuesday at a church in a Normandy suburb.
Both attackers were shot dead by police after taking hostages.
The video was posted by Amaq news agency, the media arm of IS, which has posted the group's videos and statements in the past.
It has not been verified by French police.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2016/jul/28/france-priest-killers-seen-video#sthash.rHhgjAfK.dpuf
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IS magazine describes Ansbach suicide bomber’s preparations in Germany
Jul 28, 2016
The online magazine of the Islamic State group has described how a 27-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker who blew himself up at a bar in the southern German town of Ansbach spent months planning the attack, once even hiding his home-made bomb in his room moments before a police raid.
The weekly Al-Nabaa magazine’s report, published late on Tuesday, added that Mohammad Daleel had fought both in Iraq and Syria with a branch of al Qaeda and the IS group before arriving in Germany as an asylum-seeker two years ago.
Daleel died and 15 people were wounded when the bomb exploded in a wine bar Sunday night after he wasn’t allowed entry to a nearby open-air concert because he didn’t have a ticket.
The Ansbach attack was the last one of four attacks in the country in the span of a week, two of which have been claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/is-magazine-describes-ansbach-suicide-bomber-s-preparations-in-germany/story-t9ksPdJjWnnfMTRDlQCMHP.html
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Ireland is 'making same mistakes as Germany and France' on terror
28 July, 2016
The former head of the UK's National Counter Terrorism Security Office Chris Phillips has warned that Ireland is a "soft target" and that there is a danger in dismissing the threat of radical Islamic terrorism as "someone else's problem".
Chris Phillips, who is now a security consultant, said that Ireland is greatly exposed to the terror threat and is not in any way isolated or immune.
"Ireland is making the same mistakes that were made by France, Germany and Belgium more than 10 years ago," he told the Irish Independent.
Full report at:
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-is-making-same-mistakes-as-germany-and-france-on-terror-34918544.html
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Fears of anti-Muslim backlash as police investigate possible arson attack on French mosque
28 July, 2016
An arson attack on a mosque has raised fears of an anti-Muslim backlash in France as anger mounted over the gruesome murder of an elderly priest by two teenage Islamists.
The fire appeared to have been started deliberately just before dawn at the site of a mosque in Toulouse, police said. No one was hurt
The cutting of the priest’s throat at a church in the remote Normandy town of Saint-Etienne du Rouvray has horrified and shocked France less than two weeks after the massacre of 84 people in Nice.
Full report at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/27/fears-of-anti-muslim-backlash-as-police-investigate-possible-ars/
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Europe terror attacks spotlight security failings amid refugee crisis
28 July, 2016
The European policy Germans call “Willkommenskultur” -- the enthusiastic embrace of refugees from Syria and other Muslim-majority countries -- has morphed into a summer of terror.
Loose screening of refugees, lax counter-terrorism policies and lenient treatment of those with terrorist links or sympathies has led to a spate of attacks by terrorists already flagged by authorities. Tuesday’s attack in France, where a jihadist already under house arrest slit a priest’s throat, came just two days after a suicide bombing in Germany by a terrorist who a medical expert had predicted would “commit suicide in a spectacular fashion.” Critics say such cases are piling up.
Full report at:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/27/europe-terror-attacks-spotlight-security-failings-amid-refugee-crisis.html
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Terror Spree Unsettles European Leaders Angela Merkel and François Hollande
28 July, 2016
A drumbeat of terror attacks in Western Europe is forcing a political reckoning on the continent’s two main powers, Germany and France.
In recent days, far-right parties and some mainstream conservatives in both countries have turned up pressure on the governments of Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande to abandon the incremental approach they have taken in fending off attacks by Islamic State and other radical groups.
Full report at:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/terror-spree-unsettles-european-leaders-angela-merkel-and-francois-hollande-1469662450
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Africa
Kenya: Suspected Shabaab Militants Destroy Communication Mast in Lafey, Mandera
28 July, 2016
Suspected Al-Shabaab militants have attacked and destroyed a communication mast at Fino Town, Lafey Sub-County in Mandera.
Lafey police boss (OCPD) Bosita Omukolongolo said the incident happened at 2am Thursday.
"There was heavy fire exchange between the attackers and our officers guarding the area but no casualty has been reported, " he said.
Full report at:
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Reports: South Sudan soldiers raped dozens near U.N. camp
28 July, 2016
JUBA -- South Sudanese government soldiers raped dozens of ethnic Nuer women and girls last week just outside a United Nations camp where they had sought protection from renewed fighting, and at least two died from their injuries, witnesses and civilian leaders said.
The rapes in the capital of Juba highlighted two persistent problems in the chaotic country engulfed by civil war: targeted ethnic violence and the reluctance by U.N. peacekeepers to protect civilians.
At least one assault occurred as peacekeepers watched, witnesses told The Associated Press during a visit to the camp.
Full report at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/witnesses-say-south-sudan-soldiers-raped-dozens-near-united-nations-camp/
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Tunisian army kills two 'terrorists': Ministry
28 July, 2016
The Tunisian army killed two suspected militants on Wednesday in the northwest of the country, the Ministry of Defence said Thursday.
"Military units, reinforced by elements of the National Guard... killed two terrorists during search operations" near the town of Jendouba, the ministry said in a statement.
A soldier was wounded during the fighting, it said.
Two rifles were also seized, along with ammunition, backpacks, clothes, mobile phones and cash.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/236287/World/Region/Tunisian-army-kills-two-terrorists-Ministry.aspx
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Malawi: Govt to Ban Sex Cleansing Practices - Minister Kaliati
28 July, 2016
Malawi government is working on banning harmful cultural practises following revelations of a rular man from Nsanje, Eric Aniva who confessed to defiling young girls and sleeping with widows when he was HIV positive.
Aniva, who has since been arrested after Presidential directive when the news about his confession was on BBC, was practising the custom of deflowering young girls who have reached puberty. It is a ritual observed in some remote southern regions of the country as a form of "cleansing."
Full report at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201607280527.html
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Bulgarian authorities charge 3 Syrians with terrorism
28 July, 2016
SOFIA, Bulgaria — A Bulgarian prosecutor has charged three Syrian nationals with terrorism offenses.
The prosecutor’s office identified the three as Al Mohammad Abdulhamid, 20, Al Abdahah Fadi, 22, and Al Fahdi Yassim, 25.
It said the three men had obtained refugee status in Germany and earlier this year tried to travel to Syria to join jihadi groups.
Full report at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/bulgarian-authorities-charge-3-syrians-with-terrorism/2016/07/27/069fbfe0-5414-11e6-b652-315ae5d4d4dd_story.html
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UK not doing enough for conflict-stricken northern Nigeria, MPs warn
28 July, 2016
Britain is not doing enough to help northern Nigeria, where millions of people have had their lives ruined by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.
The gap between Nigeria’s poor and conflict-stricken north and more prosperous south could widen, a report by the international development committee said (pdf).
Nigeria went through its first democratic transfer of power last year amid conflict with Boko Haram and a collapsing economy, and the parliamentary watchdog’s review of Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) programme in Nigeria said it had directly contributed to a credible, fair and peaceful election.
Full report at:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jul/27/uk-northern-nigeria-boko-haram-mps
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Pakistan
Guns cheaper than smartphones in Pakistani tribal town
AFP | Jul 28, 2016
DARRA ADAMKHEL: Gunfire echoes through a dusty northwest tribal town, the soundtrack to Pakistan's biggest arms black market, where Kalashnikovs welded from scrap metal are cheaper than smartphones and sold on an industrial scale.
Darra Adamkhel, a town surrounded by hills some 35 kilometres (20 miles) south of the city of Peshawar, was a hub of criminal activity for decades. Smugglers and drug runners were common and everything from stolen cars to fake university degrees could be procured.
This generations-old trade in the illicit boomed in the 1980s: The mujahideen began buying weapons there for Afghanistan's battle against the Soviets, over the porous border.
Later, the town became a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, who enforced their strict rules and parallel system of justice -- infamously beheading Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak there in 2009.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Guns-cheaper-than-smartphones-in-Pakistani-tribal-town/articleshow/53427175.cms
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Girl, boy allegedly killed for honour in Kohistan
28 July, 2016
MANSEHRA: A young girl and her alleged paramour were reportedly killed in the name of honour in Ranowali area of Kohistan district recently, and the girl’s body was buried secretly.
However, the police said they had registered a murder case of a young boy, and didn’t confirm whether or not a girl was also killed in the incident.
Zahid Shah, a police official at Puttan police station said that a member of the said family killed the young boy and threw his body in Ranowali area of Kohistan. He said that the body was handed over to family after postmortem at civil hospital in Puttan.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1273733/girl-boy-allegedly-killed-for-honour-in-kohistan
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One shot dead in Pakistan over alleged desecration of Quran
July 28, 2016
Islamabad: It's really shocking! It seems Hindus in Pakistan are not safe at all.
In a horrific incident, a Hindu youth was killed and another injured on Wednesday when they were shot during a mob attack in Sindh province of Pakistan following tensions over alleged desecration of the holy Quran a day ago.
The attack came after a Hindu man was arrested for allegedly desecrating the Quran on Tuesday.
Full report at:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/17-year-old-hindu-boy-shot-dead-in-pakistan-know-its-quran-connection_1912182.html
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Karachi target killers being funded from South Africa, Thailand, UK: Rangers
28 July, 2016
KARACHI: The Rangers authorities have revealed Wednesday that target killers in Karachi are receiving financial assistance from South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, the Rangers authorities informed that 7950 operations were conducted across the metropolis since September 2013. Around 6361 suspects were handed over to police and 221 were handed over to FIA and other law enforcement agencies. 1158 suspects were released without registration of the First Information Report (F.I.R), 1,313 were released on bail while 188 were convicted in various cases. A total of 1,236 alleged terrorists, 848 target killers, 403 extortionists and 143 kidnappers were among those arrested during these raids.
Full report at:
http://dailytimes.com.pk/sindh/28-Jul-16/karachi-target-killers-being-funded-from-south-africa-thailand-uk-rangers
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Qadri arrives, warns another agitation
28 July, 2016
LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chairman Tahirul Qadri, while talking to newsmen at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on Wednesday after arrival from the United Kingdom, said that it was hard to understand how and why the society and state institutions were tolerating corrupt, cruel and murderous rulers.
The PAT chairman said that the entire world saw the live coverage of Model Town incident in which policemen were firing and killing innocent and unarmed PAT workers, but to the astonishment of the world, not a single person who fired and killed PAT workers has been arrested. “This can happen only in Pakistan and that too only under the rule of the Sharifs,” he lamented.
Full report at:
http://dailytimes.com.pk/punjab/28-Jul-16/qadri-arrives-warns-another-agitation
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NAB arrests former Quetta nazim
28 July, 2016
QUETTA: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday arrested former nazim of Quetta, Maqbool Lehri, after the Balochistan High Court (BHC) cancelled his bail.
Lehri was arrested from the high court's premises and presented to an accountability court, which sent him on judicial remand. The former nazim was then shifted to District Jail Quetta.
Earlier, Lehri's counsel had requested that on account of his client's poor health, he be shifted to the jail ward of Civil Hospital Quetta. But the court instead directed the concerned authorities to provide Lehri medical facilities in jail.
Lehri was accused of misusing his power to make illegal allotments in various parts of Quetta.
NAB had launched an inquiry against him in 2007 and filed a reference in an accountability court in 2014.
A NAB spokesman claims Lehri inflicted loss of Rs7.9 million to the national exchequer during his time as nazim.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1273756/nab-arrests-former-quetta-nazim
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Killings drop but kidnappings, gang rape & riots on the rise, says Sindh CTD data
28 July, 2016
KARACHI: After a significant drop in crime rate in the wake of Rangers-led operation in the city, the incidents of kidnapping, gang rape and riots have registered an alarming rise not only in Karachi but also in the rest of the province, according to data compiled by police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).
The data obtained by Dawn on Wednesday showed that 557 murders took place between January and July last year while 371 killings were reported during the same period this year, marking a difference of 186 lives.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1273620/killings-drop-but-kidnappings-gang-rape-riots-on-the-rise-says-sindh-ctd-data
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Southeast Asia
PAS Youth rep touts Shariah law to curb crime amid gun violence cases
28 July, 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — The implementation of the Islamic criminal code will be a better measure to cut the crime rate, Federal Territories PAS Youth chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin said today amid public unease over a recent spate of shooting cases nationwide.
He urged Malaysians to back the implementation of Shariah law for criminal cases, arguing that such measures would have a “preventive” effect and were not only “punitive”.
“We urge the people to back the implementation of Shariah law for criminal cases as part of the effort to reduce crime rates,” he said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/pas-youth-rep-touts-shariah-law-to-curb-crime-amid-gun-violence-cases#sthash.2oSRwq1Q.dpuf
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Indonesia: families told that 14 death row prisoners will be executed tonight
28 July, 2016
Spiritual advisers and families of inmates on death row in Indonesia have been told to prepare for executions tonight as coffins were ferried to the prison island of Nusa Kambangan on Thursday morning.
Lawyer Ricky Gunawan, who acts for Merri Utami, a former Indonesian migrant worker on death row, said her spiritual adviser had been informed the executions would take place overnight.
Full report at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/-death-row-prisoners-executed-tonight
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Indonesia rejects international pleas to halt execution of Pakistani convict
28 July, 2016
CILACAP: Indonesia Thursday rejected appeals from the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to halt the execution of 14 drug convicts including foreigners, as speculation mounted they could face the firing squad in a matter of hours.
The group, including Pakistani national Zulfiqar Ali and citizens of Nigeria, India and Zimbabwe as well as Indonesia, have been placed in isolation on a prison island where Jakarta carries out executions.
Authorities stepped up preparations with ambulances carrying coffins seen crossing over to Nusakambangan island.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1273749/indonesia-rejects-international-pleas-to-halt-execution-of-pakistani-convict
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Death Row Convicts Await Clemency as Komnas Perempuan Slams Attorney General
28 July, 2016
Jakarta. The National Commission on Violence Against Women, or Komnas Perempuan, has slammed the Attorney General's Office plans to execute Merri Utami — a drug convict — along with 13 other death row convicts this week.
Merri, who was convicted after smuggling 1.1 kilograms of heroin through Soekarno Hatta Airport in 2003, has been compared to Philippine convict Mary Jane Veloso who was set to be executed in April last year before a last minute reprieve.
Full report at:
http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/death-row-convicts-await-clemency-komnas-perempuan-slams-attorney-general/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/in-israel,-jews-adopting-muslim/d/108107