Muslim Leaders Call for Peace after Mall Attack

Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) leaders, strongly condemned the attack on the Westgate mall, saying that it was against their religion and Islamic teachings. Adan Wachu the Secretary General of the council in a statement said, “We condemn in the strongest terms the attack on peace loving Kenyans and international guests who have chosen to live and work in Kenya.” “We do not support the indiscriminate killing of innocent men, women and children. It is against all Islamic teachings and tenets,” he added. Wachu further urged all Muslim brethren to come out in big numbers and donate blood and volunteer at healthcare institutions and provide care and treatment to the wounded. He explained that the attackers were trying to create a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims.”I urge all Kenyans to remain calm and refrain from being divided on sectarian grounds by this unfortunate incident,” he explained.Mombasa County Senator Hassan Omar echoed the sentiments by the Muslim leaders asking the Al Shabaab attackers at the mall to let the people go and surrender to authorities.Omar explained that Islam does not advocate for violence and murder.”If those who have taken the hostages can hear us, please let those people in the mall go. Our religion does not support the idea of killing and committing such atrocious attacks on innocents, please just let them go and let them go alive,” he pleaded.Speaking at a press conference at the Jamia Mosque, he said that the police ought to also take decisive caution to avoid raising tension among Kenyans.”We have urged people and the police to exercise caution and not let those who want to divide this nation win. We have lived in peace as a nation and there is no reason as to why we should start fighting,” said Omar.

55 students arrested in Egypt clash

Cairo: At least 55 students were arrested Sunday after they clashed with Egyptian security forces during an anti-military protest at Al-Azhar University here, media reported. The clashes took place when the students tried to move their protest out of campus. The security forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, who were seen throwing rocks at the forces, Al Jazeera reported citing an interior ministry statement. The protest was held after the Anti-Coup Alliance called for a national uprising against the military-backed leadership that took power after president Mohamed Morsi was ousted July 3. Protesters were also demanding the release of political detainees. Similar demonstrations were held at Cairo University and in Abu Hamad district of El-Sharqiyah province. Al-Azhar is in the same Cairo suburb as the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, the scene of a former pro-Morsi sit-in where hundreds of protesters were killed as security forces broke up the sit-in.

Syrian government not to negotiate with 'terrorists'

Damascus, October 20: Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi has stressed on his country's readiness to participate in the planned Geneva II conference without preconditions, while stating that the Syrian government will not negotiate with " terrorists or Takfiris". While stressing that the "political solution has been an original choice for the Syrian government since the beginning of aggression on Syria," al-Zoubi said Syria will not negotiate with terrorists who took part in shedding the Syrians' blood or their supporters, whether they were Syrians or not, Xinhua reported. The Syrian government has, since the beginning of the crisis, accused regional and international powers of supporting the rebellion in Syria, which has turned into a sectarian conflict featuring al Qaeda-affiliated groups which are fighting against the Syrian administration. The minister's remarks were made just hours after Arab League ( AL) chief Nabil al-Arabi said the second Syria peace conference will be held in Geneva, Switzerland Nov. 23-24. Al-Arabi said he was informed of the date by visiting UN-AL joint special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi at the Pan-Arab body' s headquarters in Cairo Sunday. During their meeting, the two evaluated the regional and international efforts toward a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and discussed the current preparation for the conference and the contacts made with Syria's conflicting sides, especially with the national opposition coalition. Cairo is the first leg of Brahimi's regional tour in preparation for the long-awaited peace conference, which has been delayed multiple times. "The arrangements are being made to prepare for this conference, " Arabi told reporters after his meeting Brahimi. However, the AL chief admitted that "a lot of challenges should be tackled to convene the conference".

America’s Anti-Muslim Jihadists on the March Again

Remember the mad mullah who tried to build a terror mosque atop Ground Zero using the ashes of September 11th victims?

Neither do I.

But that campaign - the slandering of an imam sponsored by the State Department and the smearing of a proposed cultural center no closer to Ground Zero than pubs and porn shops - is worth recalling because America's jihadists are at it again.

First there is the spectacle of Congressmen Peter King, an IRA terrorist sympathizer who penned a novel in which he saves America from Muslim terrorist sympathizers. Since no one cared to read it, King is intent on realizing his fictional fantasy by presiding over a show trial held on the equally fictional pretext that "the Muslim community" poses "a real threat to the country" and protects terrorists.

Then there is Pamela Geller, who exemplifies the grotesque neurosis that now afflicts many American Jewish conservatives. Geller admires fascist parties in South Africa and Europe (deemed kosher because they now want to exterminate Muslims instead of Jews) and denounces Jewish moderates (read: those who don't advocate Palestinian genocide) as modern-day Nazi collaborators. Alongside her comrade David Yerushalmi, another Jewish figure who advocates white supremacy, Geller works to criminalize Islam under the pretext of banning "Sharia law" in state after state.

And finally there is "Brigitte Gabriel," the alias of Islamophobia's Oprah Winfrey. She rivets churches and synagogues by turning the complex history of the Lebanese civil war into a tale of bloodthirsty Muslims exterminating Christians - even though the war's largest massacre was committed by a Christian group backed by Israel.

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These recent assaults by Christian and Jewish conservatives have outdone last year's in anger and ugliness. But perhaps the finest example is this video of Tea Party "patriots" shouting religious slurs at a Muslim charity event attended by women and children in Orange County, California. A rabbi, two conservative congressmen, and a city official named Deborah Pauly blessed the proceedings. Pauly darkly noted to her audience that she "knew some Marines" who would be "happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise."

Shameful? Hardly - "Bravely Confronting Radicals," chirps a right-wing outlet. Pauly later claimed that her vicarious death threat was actually directed at radicals in the Middle East, not anyone at the rally. Brilliant: she and her mob may soon beat up a few American Muslims and claim it as an even better way to "direct" their anger at shadowy enemies thousands of miles away.

The ugliness is bound to get uglier, because conservatives now face a serious challenge: reality. While the exponents of hate spew venom about Islam and the menace of its adherents, millions of ordinary Muslims in the Middle East are rising up in unison, showing immense courage, ingenuity, and resourcefulness as they vie for freedom against despots - most of whom rely on the United States for support.

So much for "they hate us for our freedom."

And so much for Israel-first policy. That country's American cheerleaders insist that whatever Israel's atrocities, it should be excused because Muslims are animals who must be controlled. Now, it turns out that Muslims, too, might be human beings. And when the Palestinians inevitably apply the lessons of their Arab brethren, who will be left to defend Israel when a hundred thousand human beings march against the occupation?

This is what haunts and animates America's fifth column: the lies they have so carefully cultivated to sink America in two wars and financial ruin may blow up in their face if their Two Minutes Hate cannot be extended ad infinitum.

Councilwoman Pauly, the elected official who called for the murder of her fellow Americans, shrieked at one point, "I don't even care, I don't even care if you think I'm crazy anymore."

She's right: America's jihadists don't care if you think they're crazy - they just don't want you to think the Enemy is human.
Resource: http://www.islamicity.com/

King starts anti-Muslim crusade in U.S.

During an exclusive interview with Press TV's U.S. Desk on Friday, author and Professor of Law at Washburn University, Liaquat Ali Khan, said that King is “arguing that there is a threat from the entire Muslim community and that mosques have become centers of radical Islam.”

Khan went on to say that King, the Chairman of the House for Homeland Security Committee, is taking actions similar to those of Republican U.S. Senator, Joseph McCarthy, back in the 1950s.

“Joseph McCarthy also did not make any distinctions and everybody who criticized US policy was considered a communist spy,” Khan opined.

After expressing his concern over King's ignorance of the fact that Muslims in America are from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, Khan added, “So this broad sweep is very, very, disturbing. It doesn't respect Muslims as individuals."

Khan voiced that he was disturbed even more that the “House leadership has done nothing to stop him from launching this new crusade against the Muslims."

King has been quoted in the past of having complained that there are too many mosques in the US, and that 85 percent of American mosques and their leaders are radicalized, a figure not backed by accredited statistics.
Resource: http://islamonline.com

Egypt: Arabs to urge UN to impose no-fly zone on Libya

CAIRO, (Xinhua): The Arab League (AL) on Saturday decided in an emergency meeting to urge the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone on Libya to protect the citizens.

The AL held the emergency meeting in its Cairo headquarters at the ministerial level on Saturday to discuss the serious situation in Libya with a no-fly zone proposal on the agenda.

In a statement released after the closed-door meeting, Arab foreign ministers called on the UN Security Council to take its responsibility toward imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and provide safe area to protect the Libyan people.

This decision came as a regional endorsement of a no-fly zone, which was demanded by Libyan rebel forces amid continuing fighting against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year old rule.

The decision was welcomed by all Arab countries except Algeria and Syria, according to an Arab diplomatic source.

The statement said ministers decided in the session to open communication channels with Libya's rebel Transitional National Council based in Benghazi.

The ministers appealed to the international community to provide urgent humanitarian aid to the Libyan people.

AL general secretary Amr Moussa said in a press conference after the meeting that the decision was a precautionary and humanitarian measure to protect the Libyan people, adding it was not to give a license to any foreign military intervention.

"If the Libyan regime accepts the no-fly zone decision, there won't be any kind of deterioration of the conflict, and we don't expect that Libya will refuse the UN resolution," said Youssef bin Alawi, the Omani foreign minister who chaired the meeting.

Security Council's action will be protective and will end when the Libyan crisis is resolved, bin Alawi added.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which are also members of the AL, were in favor of imposing the no-fly zone. They described Gaddafi's leadership as "illegitimate" on Thursday and called for dialogue with the Transitional National Council.

"The communication and cooperation with the Libyan transitional council is regarded as an acknowledgement of legitimacy," Moussa said.

In his opening speech, bin Alawi urged Arab nations to interfere before the situation aggravates to the worst, saying rapid action from the Arab states is required to avoid more bloodshed in Libya in accordance with the international legitimacy.

Catherine Ashton, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Saturday she will meet AL Moussa on Sunday to discuss the situation in Libya and the wider north African region.

Ashton emphasized the importance of a "collaborative approach" with the AL.

On Feb. 22, the AL suspended Libya's participation in its future meeting and affiliated bodies after the bloody clashes swept the country since Feb. 16, until Libya authorities respond to people's demands.

The UN Security Council on Feb. 26 unanimously adopted a resolution to impose sanctions on Libya, including an arms embargo against the Libyan authorities and travel ban and asset freeze directed at Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his key family members.

Germany's main Muslim group to boycott government talks

Berlin, (IRNA): Germany's main Muslim organization announced Saturday it is to boycott planned talks with the government over its refusal to address the key concerns of Muslims, including the problem of Islamophobia, the daily Neuen Osnabruecker Zeitung reported.

The Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims Aiman Mazyek said the government-sponsored Islam Conference, scheduled to be held in Berlin on March 29, had to encompass a greater part of Germany's Muslim civic society.

He also urged the conference to press ahead with the formation of two working groups which would dwell on aspects like granting official recognition to Islam as a religious community in Germany and serious tackling Islamophobia.

German Muslim leaders have repeatedly voiced deep concern over mounting
Islamophobia in their country.

Although the German government has acknowledged Islamophobia has become a
serious problem, it has yet to really address the issue.

Mosques in Germany have been the target of firebombings in recent months amid growing Islamophobia in the country.

Berlin mosques have been the scene of at least seven arson attacks since June 2010, among them Iranian Islamic Culture Center.

The Sehitlik Mosque, Berlin's biggest mosque, has been firebombed four times over the past months.

There are around 4.3 million Muslims in Germany of which 2.5 million are Turks.
Resource : www.muslimnews.co.uk

Religious bias in U.S. textbooks?

Washington, DC - Last week, the Texas Board of Education adopted a resolution with a 7-6 vote that "accuses textbook publishers of favoring Islam over Christianity and tells them to stop it."

Although the resolution is non-binding on future board members or textbook publishers, it attempts to set a precedent and represents acceptance of an allegation that although unproven, may be raised in other states. The resolution did not in fact concern textbooks currently in use in Texas.

The allegation that textbooks favour Islam over Christianity is spurious, and the Texas Board of Education has been misled.

A look at common U.S. textbooks refutes the charge, which distorts the role of teaching about religion in US public schools. State social studies content standards require the beliefs, practices and history of major world religions be taught within constitutional guidelines for the academic study of religion. As such, textbooks are scrutinised prior to adoption in every state.

The resolution is based on sections on Islam and Christianity in textbooks. What about the other faiths? As a textbook reviewer for two decades, I assert that most textbooks are similar enough to allow generalisations about the coverage of religions. A world history textbook index might contain more entries under Islam than Christianity, but adding keywords like Church, clergy, monastery, cathedral, pope, Reformation, Protestant and Bible tips the scales the other way. Textbooks cover the roots of Christianity in the history of Judaism, and Old Testament figures like Abraham and Moses. Content about early Christianity is only a fraction of overall content on this faith.

Christian history is actually treated in an exemplary manner in most history textbooks. Why? Because Christianity is thoroughly intertwined with the history of European civilisation. Textbooks describe its rise in the late Roman Empire and its spread into Asia, Africa and Europe. They narrate the Roman Catholic Church's influence in medieval Europe and its split from the Eastern Orthodox Church. Textbooks cite cultural contributions of Christianity in learning, arts and social life.

They trace changes in the Christian tradition – intellectual movements, interactions with political and social systems – through the centuries. The books cover the role of Christianity in the Crusades, Renaissance and Reformation, Age of Exploration, Scientific Revolution and American history.

By comparison with Christianity, coverage of other world faiths is static and limited. Judaism is emphasised in the context of ancient times, but fades from the story with the rise of Christianity. References to the 13th century rabbi and philosopher Maimonides or pogroms during the Crusades do not make up for the absence of Jewish intellectuals and contributions to European culture, or Jewish merchant communities from the Mediterranean to China.

Textbooks describe Hinduism and Buddhism in ancient India. Buddhism's spread along the Silk Road extends the story, but readers find little about change over time. Textbooks show people practicing these faiths today, but the gap between ancient origins and contemporary faiths is wide.

Students may conclude from this imbalance that only Christianity possessed a rich, multi-faceted tradition. The charge that Christianity is shortchanged in textbooks is based on a distorted reading of the books, meant to foster a sense of victimisation among Christians.

Coverage of Islam in textbooks is similar to Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism in its focus on early origins rather than change over time. Many book's indexes are affected by the overuse of religious terms like "Islamic Empire" instead of geographic terms. This usage stems from Western academics, not textbook publishers. Terms like jihad (struggle) and sharia (Islamic principles) present another problem. Critics want to see such complex terms defined as "good" or "bad", while scholars recognise their complexity over time.

Historical thinking skills require differentiated views. Textbooks should not project concepts broadcast by today's extremists onto centuries of history.

Content on world religions is not new to textbooks, but texts on "non-Western" faiths were often inaccurate and inadequate. Hindu Americans have recently challenged textbook coverage on these grounds, just as historians and Muslim educators have worked to improve accuracy of content on Islam.

As a result, textbook coverage of Islam and other religions has improved in recent years. Textbooks today reflect attention to balance in page counts, topics, images and quotes from scripture. Editors enlist reviewers and take account of First Amendment guidelines for teaching about religion.

Backlash against improvement in the coverage of religions – not only Islam – has resulted in claims that coverage is too positive. Some want to project fear of Islam onto centuries of history, reducing the Muslim world’s relations with the West to a clash of civilisations. Efforts to improve accuracy are confused with proselytising or whitewashing, which is neither the intent nor the outcome of teaching about religions in public school.

The First Amendment Center – an advocacy group in the United States that works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education – has promoted understanding among Americans of diverse beliefs for decades, using a framework that offers other countries struggling with religious pluralism a model to emulate. State standards reflect national consensus that citizens should be literate about the world's religions. Political opportunism should not prevent students from learning within this American civic framework.
Source # http://islamonline.com/

Ecology and the Prophet of Islam

Awareness that the Universe is in fact a Revelation that must be respected, read, understood, and protected should reform our minds and our attitudes toward nature, animals, and therefore also to an economy focused on economic production and the mad logic of economic growth at all costs to society.

We are still very far from that and reflection about the outcomes of human activity, of levels of consumption, and of development is either absent or else remains very superficial or oversimplified: little communication has been established with the non-Muslim agents and organizations who specialized in such issues and gave us more concrete and less structural or formalistic answers.

Muslim women and men, wishing to be faithful to the deepest essential teachings of Islam, should be primarily interested in the studies-and real-life experiences-which raise questions about our development and consumption models, our utilitarian relationship to nature, and our ecological carelessness. Instead of that, consciences are stifled by heaps of legal rulings, of fatawa which address formal or secondary issues (such as, for instance, the strictly lawful character of ritual slaughter techniques in the production of meat), without considering far deeper issues such as reflection over ways of life and modes of behavior and consumption.

And yet, what should we remember of those Quranic verses that speak so beautifully of the signs in the Creation? What should we understand, when reading those verses that drew tears from the Prophet, such as that over which he pondered until dawn: "In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for all those endowed with insight."4

The Messenger's spiritual initiation began by transforming his outlook on the world, causing him to perceive signs that spoke to him and called on him to ponder, understand, and get closer to the One. He never forgot it, and when looking into his Prophetic experience we cannot but become convinced that there can be no spiritual path without the heart and mind relating more deeply to time, space, nature, and animals. The One appealed to hearts, starting by transforming believers' outlooks on the elements, then on themselves, to turn again to the Universe. This is the meaning of the verse: "We will show them Our signs on the horizons and in themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this [Revelation] is the truth."5

The Prophet of Islam continuously reminded his Companions of the importance of the signs in Nature and of respecting it totally.6 One day, as he was passing by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, who was performing ritual ablution, the Prophet scolded him: "What is this waste, o Sa'd?" "Is there waste, even in ablution?" Sa'd asked. And the Prophet answered: "Yes, even when using the running water of a stream."7 Water is a central element in all teachings and ritual practices since it represents the purification of body and heart, in both the physical ("real") and spiritual worlds. But the Prophet taught Sa'd and his Companions that neither water nor any element in nature should ever be considered merely as a "means" toward their spiritual edification; on the contrary, respecting them and using them moderately was already in itself a form of spiritual exercise and elevation, a "goal" in their quest for the Creator.

The Prophet's insisting on refusing to waste even "the running water of a stream" shows that he places respect for nature on the level of a primary principle, of a higher objective that must regulate behavior whatever the situation and the consequences of human action may be. This is not an ecology stemming from the foreboding of catastrophes (set off by human actions) but a source of an "ecology at the source" in which humankind's relation to nature rests on an ethical bedrock linked to understanding the deepest spiritual teachings.8 A believer's relationship to nature can only be based on contemplation and respect. This is what led the Prophet to say: "If one of you holds a [palm] shoot in his hand when Judgment Day arrives, let him quickly plant it."9 The believing conscience should therefore feed on this intimate relationship with nature to the very end, so that even one's last gesture should be associated with the renewal of life and its cycles.
The same teaching runs through the Prophet's life: he kept drawing his Companions' attention to the necessity of respecting all animal species. He once told them the following story: "A man was walking along a road, in very hot weather. He saw a well and went down to quench his thirst. When he climbed up again, he saw a dog panting with thirst and said to himself: 'This dog is as thirsty as I was: He then went down the well again, filled his shoe with water and climbed up, holding it between his teeth. He gave the dog to drink and God rewarded him and forgave his sins' The Prophet was then asked: "0 Prophet, are we rewarded for treating animals well?" And the Prophet answered: "Any good towards a living creature gets its reward."10 Through such traditions and his own example, the Messenger pointed out that respecting animals was part of the most essential Islamic teaching. He used all opportunities to stress this dimension.

Numerous verses and Prophetic traditions express this: they clearly set forth the terms of an Islamic ethics that should be spelled out according to the higher goals of the message as a whole. We are far from the often superficial, chaotic, if not contradictory, reflections proposed today by Muslim societies and communities, their scholars, their thinkers and their institutions, to the notable exception of a few individuals or organizations that spend a large amount of their energy swimming against the tide.
Source: http://www.islamicity.com

Israeli extremists set mosque ablaze

A group of radical Israeli settlers have attacked a mosque near the West Bank city of Bethelem, ransacking the holy site and burning copies of the holy Qur'an, residents say.
A group of Israeli extremists stormed a mosque in the town of Beit Fajjar overnight, burned copies of the Muslim holy book and set fire to carpets in the building, Ma'an news agency quoted locals as saying on Monday.

Palestinian residents reportedly arrived at the scene and clashed with the assailants.

The witnesses blamed the attack on a group of Israeli settlers from the nearby Kfar Etsyon settlement.

The settlers also desecrated the holy site by spraying graffiti and hate messages on the walls inside the mosque in Hebrew..
Source: http://islamonline.com