In the name of Allah , the Beneficent , the Merciful

Attacks on Islamic Institutes are Baseless

Conservatives botch relations with Muslims again

British Muslims are beginning to become accustomed to attacks on their most beloved institutions. Over the last year, they’ve seen right-wing and Zionist assaults on their scholars (Shaikh Qaradawi), their charities (Interpal), their religion itself, and their organisations and leading individuals.

In the latest saga in the recent spate of the hunting season that has been declared on Islam and the Muslims, two of the main institutes of Islamic learning in the UK - the Markfield Institute of Higher Education and the European Institute of Human Sciences - have been accused of supporting terror on the basis of some of the teachers on their books.

The charge sheet is not spectacular. The Times article in question which makes the allegations, quotes Prof Khurshid, Rector of MIHE, in the Isharat of July 2003 as saying “All of that area which was controlled by the Taleban had become the cradle of justice and peace.” They did not quote the passage which immediately followed though, and in fact there was not even a full stop there: “and where warlords were effectively controlled. Then, in a matter of few years, they cleansed Afghanistan from the curse of growing opium that helped the whole world. This was admitted even by America itself. It is true that their policies in regard to economic growth, mass education - particularly of women - and towards other nationalities were defective.”

It would just take a simple viewing of Afghanistan now to see an area where warlords have been unleashed again, and only yesterday were embarrassing reports for Prime Minister Tony Blair about the re-emergence of a booming opium trade in the country. Prof Khurshid is an outstanding figure, well respected as a politician and academic in his home country of Pakistan, and in the UK.

Dr Azzam Tamimi, a lecturer at MIHE, makes no disguise of his support for the Palestinian resistance, and in this sits alongside countless other Muslims and non-Muslims in this country and across the world in this matter. Again, he is a hugely respected figure, currently in Japan on a visiting professorship with the University of Kyoto.

The presence of these two figures is a credit for the MIHE. Even if people disagree with their views, academic freedom dictates that this should be accommodated, as indeed people with far more controversial views than these exist in universities up and down the land. Aside from this there is no case to answer with respect to alleged ties to terrorism.

A Zionist attempt to prosecute Shaikh Qaradawi failed only a few weeks ago. The case embarrassingly fell flat on its face within less than 48 hours of it being submitted. So it is surprising that his name has popped up in the Times attempt to make a case against the EIHS in Wales.

Not long ago the EIHS was the subject of a positive Newsnight report which placed the institute as a model for producing moderate imams for this country. In the cases of both the EIHS and MIHE, they are playing a vital role in providing intellectual weight to the indigenisation of Islam in the West.

The Times report states that the Charities Commission will be investigating the both institutes’ alleged links to terror. We have no doubt that, as in the case of Interpal last year, the investigations will turn up nothing. A common thread is appearing of legal and official investigations taking place on the Muslim community, with it being shown time and again that the community acts within the law, much to the chagrin of the Zionist lobby.

We note with disappointment again the role of the Conservative Party in this matter. After taking the word of the Sun a few weeks ago on the matter of Shaikh Qaradawi, they have once again dived straight in on this issue calling for a raft of official investigations. A simple call to the Muslim community would have clarified the position, and it is sad to see the Official Opposition acting in such a cack-handed manner.

Their closely-linked press have recently been spraying the Muslim community with more invective than normal. Will Cummins astonishing pieces in the Sunday Telegraph have been much discussed, while the Spectator in a front page feature by Anthony Browne (of the Times) entitled “The Muslims are coming” concluded that Jews were persecuted and murdered in the last century because people suspected they had a plot to take over the world. This was based on fabrication, but now Muslims really do have a plot to conquer the West, says Browne, in what has been taken as a rather worrying call for pogroms on the Muslim community.

The right-wing really needs to get its act together. They have to ask themselves who is feeding them these stories about the Muslim community almost on a weekly basis now, all which later turn out to be deliberate cons. What is really needed in the interests of this country is support for Muslim individuals, organisations and institutions who are battling to shape a positive future for British Muslims, and by extension Britain as a whole.

To read the Times article please Click Here

Muslim Association of Britain

Jamad Al Thani 12, 1425 Hijri

July 29, 2004

Islamic countries should send troops to Iraq: Abdullah

Jul 6, 04 10:49am

Islamic countries should consider sending troops to help stabilise
Iraq now that an interim government is in place, Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the official Bernama news agency.

Abdullah is the current chairman of the 57-nation Organisation of
the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's biggest grouping of Muslim
countries.

"Our view is that we'd like to encourage countries that can afford
to do so, especially those countries around the region that are not
too far away from Iraq - they are perhaps better placed (to send
troops to Iraq)," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Geographic proximity would facilitate the logistics of sending
troops to the war-ravaged nation, he said, in an apparent indication
that Malaysia itself was not considering contributing soldiers at
the moment.

"Certainly we are not preventing others from doing so," he said.

A spokeswoman for the prime minister told AFP that Abdullah had said
Malaysia was "monitoring" the situation in Iraq and would consider
any request for troops by the United Nations.

Reconstruction assistance

Abdullah told Bernama fellow OIC countries had not yet indicated to
him whether they would like to participate in a multinational force
in Iraq, and suggested they would want to be assured that the
security situation had improved first.

"If the situation remains very volatile and there is still a lot of
violence and bombings, it is very, very difficult to get countries
to participate in a multinational force," he said.

Abdullah said Malaysia would like to participate in the
reconstruction of Iraq, particularly in rebuilding the country's
shattered infrastructure, Bernama reported.

Malaysia was a strong opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq and
Abdullah said after the handover of sovereignty last month that he
believed the United Nations should play an important role in the
transition and reconstruction of the country. - AFP

Ma'ariv mengatakan, senjata ini khusus dirancang untuk digunakan kesatuan khusus Israel untuk menghadapi pejuang Palestin. Ini melihat peringkat efektif dan tingginya tingkat ketepatan sasaran ketika terjadi pertempuran atau di dalam medan terbuka. Demikian juga di medan kawasan padat penduduk seperti perang kota yang terjadi di Palestin.

Diharap ia menjadi nota bidayah untuk kita melihat bahawa tentara kuffar Yahudi akan melakukan apa sahaja demi untuk mendapatkan tanah air Islam yang dulu merupakan kiblat yang pertama dan tempat Isa' Mikraj bagi rasullulah. PAlestin adalah tempat suci bagi umat Islam.

Justeru, kitalah yang akan memberikan maklumat kepada massa tentang keperitan umat Islam di sana.

CAIRO, June 13 (IslamOnline.net) – A new group, comprising a network of British and international organizations, will be officially launched Monday, June 12, in London, to defend the right of Muslim women in Europe and world-wide to wear hijab.

   The Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (Pro-Hijab) will come to light during a press conference at the House of Commons’ Jubilee Room.

   "The aim of Pro-Hijab is to campaign peacefully using all available legal means to protect the right of every Muslim woman to exercise her religious duties unimpeded," the group coordinator Abeer Pharaon said in a press release, a copy of which was e-mailed to IslamOnline.net.

   She added that the advocacy group will also seek to "increase awareness and tolerance between people of all faiths and no faith."

   The body was formed "in response to the recent moves in countries across Europe to restrict religious practices and curb expressions of faith which have a negative impact on Muslim women in particular", read the missive.

   "This campaign aims to remove the negative stereotypical image of the hijab
which lies at the root of this discrimination, to quell the spread of the 'hijab ban' and work through all peaceful means to repeal laws that ban the hijab wherever they are in place," it added.

   The launching press conference will bring together a cohort of leading British politicians and activists, chiefly Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, lawmakers Fiona MacTaggart and George Galloway and  Ahmed Al-Rawi, president of Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE).

   The Pro-Hijab campaign is initiated by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and the Muslim Women Society (MWS).

   It is supported by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Islamic Society of Britain (ISB), the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR), United Sikhs, Islamic Forum Europe (IFE), Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) and FIOE.

   Hijab has taken central stage recently in several European countries, which banned it in state-run schools and public institutions.

   France has triggered the controversy by adopting a bill banning hijab in state schools.

   The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the French move is "discriminatory".

   The local parliament in the German state of Lower Saxony voted on Wednesday, April 28, in favor of a new law banning Muslim public school teachers from wearing hijab.

   It became the second state to approve the ban, after the legislature in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg voted almost unanimously in April 1 for a similar law.

   Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations – unlike the symbolic Christian crucifixes or Jewish Kappas

Fatwa Question Details
 
Name  Fahd  -  
Title Palestine: Its Significance for Muslims  
 
Question Dear scholars, as-Salaam `Alaykum. My question is about Palestine and its significance for Muslims, would you please enlighten me on this issue? Jazakum Allah khayran.  
 
Date  22/May/2004  
 
Mufti  
 A Group of Islamic Researchers  
 
Answer
Wa`alykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear brother in Islam, may Allah reward you abundantly for your interest in knowing the teachings of your religion, Islam! We thank you very much for having confidence in us and hope our efforts, which are purely for Allah’s Sake, meet your expectations.

Palestine is part and parcel of the Muslims’ identity. Each Muslim has a big role to play regarding Palestine and its people. Each should support the Palestinian cause according to his means. Those who are well-off should give charity, and those who pay the Zakah aught to allocate part of it to help their oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine as well as in the whole world. Every Muslims can champion the cause of his Ummah from the place where he lives.

In order to shed some light on the significance of Palestine in Islam, we’d cite the following:

Palestine in Islamic Faith:

The significance of Palestine in the Islamic faith is evident by the frequent references to it in both the Qur'an and the hadiths (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The greatest significance of Palestine for the Muslims is that it contains Baitul-Maqdis (the noble sanctuary), the holiest place in Islam outside of the Hijaz. Both Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock are built in the area of the Baitul-Maqdis.

Baitul-Maqdis in Palestine was the center of Isra’ and Mi`raj of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In the Qur'an Allah says: "Glory be to the One who took his servant on a journey by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa whose precincts We have blessed..." (Al-Isra': 1)

Baitul-Maqdis in Palestine was the second Mosque established on earth after Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah. In the Hadith, Abu Dharr said: "Once I asked Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) what was the first mosque established on the earth; he said “Al- Masjid Al-Haram.” Then I asked him: then, which mosque? He replied: “Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.” I then asked him what was the time period between the establishment of the two mosques; and he said: “forty years." (Reported by Al-Bukhari)

Baitul-Maqdis in Palestine was the first Qibla (direction in which Muslims face when praying). The Muslims faced towards Baitul-Maqdis when praying during the entire Makkah period of Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) life and for the first 16 months of the Madinian period, after which Allah ordered the Qibla to be changed towards the Ka`ba in Makkah.

Prayers in Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa are equivalent to 500 times the prayers in any other mosque except for Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah and Al-Masjid An-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) in Madinah. In the Hadith Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Prayers in Al-Masjid Al-Haram are equivalent to 100,000 prayers, and prayers in my Masjid (in Madinah) are equivalent to 1000 prayers, and prayers in Baitul-Maqdis are equivalent to 500 prayers." (Reported by at-Tabarani)

In addition there are several verses in the Holy Qur'an and several hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that describe both the significance of Baitul-Maqdis in Islam and the fact that Allah has blessed the land around it. The various Qur'anic revelations and Prophetic statements concerning the blessed land of Palestine endeared the land to the Companions (Sahabah) of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to such an extent that when `Umar ibn Al-Khattab entered the region for the first time he announced that all the lands of Palestine would be part of the Islamic Waqf (endowment) for the Muslim generations to come. After studying the various Qur’anic revelations, Prophetic traditions and practices of the Companions to the Prophet, no rational mind could deny that Palestine as a blessed and holy land is of extreme importance and significance to every believer in Islam.

Palestine in Islamic History:

The history of Palestine represents the history of Islam from the first Prophet of Islam, Adam (peace and blessings be upon him), to the last Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Palestine is the land of Prophets who were sent with the message of Islam and hence should not be ruled by anyone other than those who uphold the message of Islam by implementing its laws and regulations.

Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa was the second mosque established on earth forty years after the establishment of Al-Masjid Al-Haram.

It is a holy site where many of the Prophets were born or died, including Prophets Ibrahim, Lut, Dawud, Sulayman, Musa and `Isa. While Dawud and Sulayman were able to create Islamic states in Palestine based on divinely ordained laws, according to both the Bible and the Qur'an, their descendants strayed from the path, transgressed against the laws revealed by Allah and thus brought upon themselves Allah's punishment which included banishment from the holy land.

Baitul-Maqdis was the site of Isra' and Mi'raj of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) during the Meccan period of his message.

Palestine was brought under Muslim control at the time of `Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Muslims. Palestine was then made part of the Islamic state being ruled by Islamic law. The new laws were welcomed not only by the Muslims but also by the Jews and Christians of Palestine who had formerly been living under the tyrannical Byzantine yoke. The Byzantines were persecuting the Christians of the area because the Palestinian Christians belonged to a different Christian sect. The Muslims, however, guaranteed all Christians freedom of religion regardless of their sect.

In 1099 A.C. Palestine was invaded by the European Crusaders and subsequently occupied for nearly a century. During the occupation massacres and great injustices were committed against the Muslim, Jewish and native Christian residents of the area. The only law applied in the holy land blessed by Allah was the law of force and persecution.

In 1187 A.C. Palestine was liberated by the Muslims under the leadership of Salah Ad-Din Al-Ayyubi (Saladin) who brought back Islamic law to the area.

In 1917 the British government issued the Balfour Declaration which declared Palestine to be a homeland for Jews. At the time Jews made up approximately 8% of the population of Palestine and owned approximately 2.5% of the land.

In 1918 the British and their Arab nationalist allies defeated the Ottomans. The British dismembered the Ottoman Empire and occupied Palestine. The British immediately began a campaign of immigrating European Jews to Palestine.

In 1948 the Jews claimed the establishment of a state for themselves over the land of Palestine and called it Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims were forced out of Palestine under the military pressure of Jewish terrorist groups such as the Irgun, Levi, and Haganot which were financed and armed by the British army.

In 1967 Israel attacked Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied more land including, for the first time, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. Since that time Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa has been the target of several attempts by the Jews to destroy or burn it, including several attempts to bring about its collapse through underground excavations. The Jews know that Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa is symbolic of the Islamic nature of the land and want to remove any trace of Islamic civilization from Palestine.

Based on Palestine's Islamic history and significance in the Islamic faith, and after the failure of all non-Islamic methods to free Palestine from Zionist occupation, the Islamic solution is re-emerging as a powerful and popular means to liberate the occupied lands. Islam is a religion of peace secured by divine justice. Only Islam offers respect to all divinely revealed religions as it is the only religion which recognizes all the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It is the only religion which recognizes and believes that all the Prophets brought the same essential message and thus all people deserve the freedom to worship as they please without persecution or harassment. For this reason, it has historically proven itself to be the only tolerant religion with regard to the peace and sanctity of the Holy Land. Only Islam can bring back peace to the Holy Land and security for the unrestricted and unharassed worship of Allah, the All-Mighty, by all who believe in Him whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew.”

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