The Islamic Information & News Network (IINN), Vol. 4, No. 47
Zahid Ishaq -IINN Staff
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I N F O R M A T I O N & N E W S N E T W O R K
A Subsidiary of Pakistan News Service
Vol. 4 No. 47 Ramadan 21, 1414 March 4th, 1994
________________________________________________________________________________
Editor: Imran Mehdi Mus...@asuacad.bitnet
________________________________________________________________________________
Contents
--Al Qur'an--
1. Al Quran ................................................ by Almighty Allah
................. translation of the meaning by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
--News--
2. WORLD NEWS ........................................................ by IINN
--Articles--
3. US policy in Bosnia .......................................... by T. Gitlin
.............................................. from trh
4. SECURE IN SISTERHOOD ............................................... by SRI
....................................... from The Times
5. Israelis can be terrorists too ..................................... by SRI
....................... from The Independent
6. Al Salat ............................................. by Abdulrahman Mirza
........................................................ from Khud
--Announcements--
7. Lecture by B. Philips ................................. from Juhar Mohammad
--Letters to the Editor--
8. Martyrdom ...................................................... by A. Diab
Al Quran .....................................................................
I seek Allah's protection from Satan the rejected one.
1. Al Quran ................................................ by Almighty Allah
................. translation of the meaning by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
translation of the meaning by
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
from
Asim Ashraf
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Al-QURAN
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I seek Allah's protection from Satan the rejected one.
Say : "My prayers and my devotions, my life and my death, are
all for Allah, Lord of the creation : He has no partner. Thus I
am commanded, being the first of the Muslims." 6:162-163
Translation by Abdullah Yousuf Ali. Printed by Amana
Corporation,Brentwood.
Maryland, U.S.A
News .........................................................................
2. WORLD NEWS ........................................................ by IINN
WORLD NEWS
by
IINN
PALESTINE
=========
LATEST FROM KHALIL(By Sami Mustafa)
Sh. Abdel-Atheem Salahb, a director of Islamic Affairs in Khalil, was
contacted the other day and here is a summary of what he had to say:
- Mr. Goldstien repeatedly disturbed the muslim prayers in the mosque.
In so many occasions, he insulted muslims, got into a fight with them,
disturbed them in the mosque by reading loudly and cursing them...
He is a well known figure to the Israeli authorities and the Khalil
mosque Jewish guards. The Islamic committee of Khalil had written about
this settler to Israeli authorities warning them of the danger of this
man and his other Jewish friends, but the Israeli authorities were
actionless.
- Among the slayed Palestinians were children of 4, 7, and 9.
- At the hospital, the wounded Palestinians who survived the massacre
were crying very hard as they missed the best "Shahadah", martyrdom, they
may ever have.
Articles .....................................................................
3. US policy in Bosnia .......................................... by T. Gitlin
.............................................. from trh
US policy in Bosnia
by
T. Gitlin
from
trh
A call for intervention in horrors of Bosnia
TODD GITLIN
(San Francisco writer Todd Gitlin is a professor of sociology at
UC-Berkeley)
GRADUATES of prestige law schools are not renowned for shyness or
modesty, so I was surprised when Marshall Harris told me that he
wouldn't name his alma mater. After his recent burst of fame, he doesn't
want to cause the old school any embarrassment. Is Harris (a) a
shame-drenched savings and loan official whose investments cost the
public multibillions of dollars, of which gifts to his law school amount
to a mere 1 percent; or (b) a former White House operative currently
cultivating Kuwaiti business; or (e) a Justice Department official who
decided that when the Atlanta branch of the Banco Nazionale del Lavoro
lent billions to Saddam Hussein, it was a rogue branch acting alone and
not an agency of a bank with interesting CIA connections? None of the
above, of course. From February through early August, when he resigned
in protest against America's policy of don't ask, don't act, 32-year-old
Marshall Freeman Harris was the State Department's desk officer for
Bosnia. Evidently this is a man who does not take his institutional
allegiances lightly. When I suggest that many at his alma mater might be
proud of his, he laughs and allows as how he still doesn't want to incur
the disfavor of those who would not. WHAT IT took to drive this
well-behaved man out of State was the revelation that American foreign
policy was indeed bipartisan in its lack of principle. As a former
special assistant to James Baker, Harris thought the Bush
administration's hands-off policy misguided, but was convinced it was
"based purely on short-term political interests," i.e., that American
bombs stay home during the presidential election campaign. After Bill
Clinton's victory, he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to
Secretary 0f State Warren Christopher -- until the "disaster" of
Christopher's trip to Europe in May to hold discussion groups rather
than prod the allies into action.
"My low point came on July 21 when Christopher gave a press conference
saying that we were already doing the best we could. The day after, the
Serbs launched 3,700 shells into Sarajevo. There we have the closest
thing imaginable to a cause and effect." He resigned from State shortly
thereafter. So have three other officials -- an unprecedented public
exodus, about as many as left the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon
governments during the entire Vietnam war. An honorable tradition is in
the making. Harris, now an adviser to Rep. Frank McCloskey, D-Ind.
remains absolutely persuaded that American intervention would make an
important difference. "We have to declare a formal halt to the talks in
Geneva. The talks as now configured will lead to nothing but the
dismemberment of Bosnia and a peace that will not hold. Tell the Serbs
to lift the sieges and withdraw. If they don't, we do air strikes.
Department of Defense officials say that within one day, we could
destroy 70 percent of their artillery.
"At the same time, have President Clinton lift the arms embargo. Sell
them weapons, enable them to defend themselves. You have a Bosnian
government army that's still quite strong -- stronger than the Bosnian
Serb army. Wee can stop goods from flowing in from Serbia quite easily,
We begin by bombing bridgeS. I don't think the Serbs can get appreciable
reinforcements in." Harris is unimpressed by quagmire phobia. "It
doesn't have to get to that point," he says crisply. "It's simple for
Clinton to lift the embargo and sell guns to the legitimate government
Of Bosnia. Secondly, we have gcnocidc taking place in Bosnia. We're a
signatory to the Genocide Convention ." What about claims, most recently
stated by incoming Chief of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili, that air
strikes would be futile? "Even if you could take out 30 percent of the
artillery," Harris says, "that would be a help. "The administration has
made these false assumptions: that it's a three-way -war; that it's 'the
problem from bell,' that it's 'ancient ethnic conflicts,' and so on. The
great lie of the Serb ideology is that the Bosnian people are three
distinct ethnic groups. Not only have these people lived among each
other for the last 800 years, they've done it so successfully that
they're intermarried 30 percent or more in the c:ities.
THE PRESS oftentimes /grabs onto the Serbs' great lie and uses it
without challenging it. We look in the papers or on TV and see pictures
of people dying or dead, and there's not enough focus on how they got
there. "There's one root cause: Serbian terrorists have marched through
Bosnia driving people out of their homes, and if the people don't go,
they kill and rape and drive them out. It's Serbian aggression, stupid."
Harris sees "an abandonment of the principles our country pursued since
World War II." When I demur about the consistency of those principles
and that record, he diplomatically adds, "1 thought they were in place,
in general." This writer doesn't think so. Though I've never been an
absolute pacifist, and the government thought 1 wasn't a conscientious
enough objector during Vietnam, I've never seen a war I liked. But in
Bosnia, the possible dirtiness of American intervention pales against
"ethnic cleansing."
Talk about quagmires: We are trapped in historical analogues: Munichs,
Auschwitzes, Vietnams. Metaphors cheapen the horrors. If we have to play
this game, Bosnia isn't Vietnam. It's Spain, Would that the Harrises of
1936 had broken with thai> State Department over the farce of American
nonintervention at a time when Hitler and Mussolini were intervening on
the Fascist side. Leave callousness to Europe's "leaders"-- they're good
at it. As Bosnia, backed into a corner, considers its wretched choices,
the least the U.S. can do is send a signal -- that if the massacred
country decides to go on defending itself, it will not stand alone.
4. SECURE IN SISTERHOOD ............................................... by SRI
....................................... from The Times
SECURE IN SISTERHOOD
from
The Times
by
SRI
Lucy Berrington finds the Muslim faith is winning Western converts
despite hostile media coverage.
SECURE IN SISTERHOOD
For many, the term "Muslim women" prompts images of beaten-up housewives
chained to the stove, blinded by their veils, pregnant with sextuplets
and frantic to be westernised.
To British women, whose glossy magazines recount tales of "honour
killings and female circumcision, often wrongly identified with the
Muslim faith, it seems inexplicable that Islam could be a rational
choice. Female converts, they say, are either brainwashed, stupid or
traitors to their sex.
Muslim women strongly reject such accusations. British converts are
often strikingly well-educated. Dozens of the older women seem to be
perpetual students, and are anxious to distinguish between genuinely
Islamic behaviour and cultural diktats. The oppression of women, they
say, is a political issue not a religious condition.
A recent interview in Vanity Fair quoted Fatima Mernissi, a leading
Islamic scholar based in Morocco, thus: "You find in the Koran hundreds
of verses to support women's rights and perhaps four or five that do
not. [The fundamentalists] have seized upon those four and thrown away
the rest."
Rabia Lemahieu-Evans, a Belgian convert, social anthropologist and
postgraduate student at the Muslim College in London, feels Muslim law,
the Sharia, should be re-examined in its modern context.
"The Prophet was a reformer of the 7th century," she says. "It was a
tribal society but he united people in a religious sense. He encouraged
the emancipation of the slaves but, as in Judaism and Christianity, he
did not outlaw it because perhaps society wasn't ready. He did the same
for women. He set things in motion but in the 20th century we need to
look carefully at the historical circumstances."
Muslim women are regularly asked to defend their faith. Many respond by
questioning the alternatives.
"A woman in my office said, `At least I'm not a traitor to my sex',"
says Hassana, 39, who converted in 1988.
Her friend Nouria, 36, who converted in 1974 after finding some verses
of the Koran in a dustbin, said: "Most of the women in this country are
traitors to their sex. It's almost as if we've been defeminised." Both
women are from Scottish Protestant backgrounds and live in London.
Hassana wears the hijab (the scarf) and has tried the veil: "It makes
you feel very private, very safe. Your self-confidence gets boosted. You
can be doing what you like under there. I've worn my personal stereo."
The attraction of Islam for many converts is its premise of separate
spheres; the different biological destinies of men and women. Many
Westerners feel this smacks of discrimination but Muslims say the
alternatives impose impossible demands. They define Western emancipation
as "women copying men, an exercise in which womanhood has no intrinsic
value.
Gai Eaton, information officer at the Regent's Park Mosque, who came to
Islam 40 years ago after a diplomatic career, says: "Whatever the
pattern of gender relationships in the Islamic world, women do have a
dignity that on the whole they don't have in the modern world. I think
it springs from the awe in which the mother figure is held." He quotes
the Prophet: "Paradise is at your mother's feet," and cites a wealthy Arab
living in London, exiled for life for mistreating his mother.
Many Eastern women are content with role differentiation because it
ensures their status and power in their own spheres: the household,
family and community. Iranian women can receive payment for
breastfeeding their children.
"On television recently, they were discussing why women shouldn't have
the right to keep their own names on marriage," says Nouria, who has an
Egyptian husband and five children. "This is a right I got 1,400 years
ago. Issues such as property, children and inheritance have all been
settled, and it's very finely tuned in the woman's favour." She cites
arrangements for divorce, maintenance and child custody, and an Islamic
`wages for housework' school. She adds that in a sense men are just
guests in their own homes: "My husband has to ask my permission before
another man can stay in the house. This is my kingdom, my domain."
Many Muslims contrast the status of women in Islam with what they see as
the dismal plight of women in the West. They note that here women work
full-time out of financial necessity, remaining lumbered with the
housework and childcare. It is a puzzling version of emancipation.
Modern Muslims, they say, are not necessarily destined to be housewives.
There is a demand in the community for their own social workers,
lecturers, journalists and doctors. A female Muslim gynaecologist would
make a good living.
Among the greatest advantages of Islam, which to many emphasises the
failure of feminism, is its "sisterhood". Converts find great mutual
support among Muslim women, which reflects the wider community values of
Islam. "There's no such thing as a Muslim woman on her own," Nouria
says, "nor a single Muslim parent on her own. Nor a mentally ill woman
on her own. If anyone with a commitment to Islam sees you in hijab and
you're suffering, they step in and help. That's abnormal in Britain."
According to Riffat Yusuf, 27, a London radio journalist who was born a
Muslim, the community is the point. "Rather than the issue of `the
Muslim woman' it's really about societal progression, moving on. The
thing about `the Muslim woman' is also the thing about `the Muslim
family' and `the Muslim community'."
Nouria agrees. "I see no future in this country, the way it's going," she
says. "It comes back to women. "Scratch any `new man' and you find an
old man trying to get out; men will always be the same. Women are
changing much faster, but they are not trying to get what they want.
Everything the feminist movement is aiming for, except abortion and
lesbianism, we've got."
THE SPREAD OF A WORLD CREED
Unprecedented numbers of British people, nearly all of them women, are
converting to Islam at a time of deep divisions within the Anglican and
Catholic churches.
The rate of conversions has prompted predictions that Islam will rapidly
become an important religious force in this country. "Within the next 20
years, the number of British converts will equal or overtake the
immigrant Muslim community that brought the faith here," says Rose
Kendrick, a religious education teacher at a Hull comprehensive and the
author of a textbook guide to the Koran.
She says: "Islam is as much a world faith as Roman Catholicism. No one
nationality claims it as its own." Islam is also spreading fast on the
Continent and in America.
The surge in conversions to Islam has taken place despite the negative
image of the faith in the Western press. Indeed, the pace of conversions
has accelerated since publicity over the Salman Rushdie affair, the Gulf
war and the plight of Muslims in Bosnia. It is even more ironic that
most British converts should be women, given the widespread view in the
West that Islam treats women poorly. In the United States, women
converts out- number men by four to one, and in Britain they make up the
bulk of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 converts, forming part of a
Muslim community of 1 to 1.5 million. Many of Britain's "new Muslims"
are from middle-class backgrounds. They include Matthew Wilkinson, a
former head boy of Eton who went on to Cambridge, and a son and daughter
of Lord Justice Scott, the judge heading the arms-to-Iraq enquiry.
A small-scale survey by the Islamic Foundation in Leicester suggests
that most converts are aged 30 to 50. Younger Muslims point to many
conversions among students and highlight the intellectual thrust of
Islam.
"Muhammad said, `The light of Islam will rise in the West' and I think
that's what's happening in our day," says Aliya Haeri, an American-born
psychologist who converted 15 years ago. She is a consultant to the
Zahra Trust, a charity publishing spiritual literature, and is one of
Britain's prominent Islamic speakers. She adds: "Western converts are
coming to Islam with fresh eyes, without all the habits of the East,
avoiding much of what is culturally wrong. The purest tradition is
finding itself strongest in the West."
Some say the conversions are prompted by the rise of comparative
religious education. The British media, offering what Muslims describe
as a relentless bad press on all things Islamic, is also said to have
helped. Westerners despairing of their own society---rising crime,
family breakdown, drugs and alcoholism---have come to admire the
discipline and security of Islam.
Many converts are former Christians, disillusioned by the uncertainty of
the church and unhappy with the concept of the Trinity and the
deification of Jesus. Others are self-confessed idealists who did not go
looking for religion but found an irresistible appeal in Sufi mysticism,
which they describe as "the pearl within the shell of Islam".
Some come to Islam through marriage, which partly explains the imbalance
in the sex ratio of converts. It is easier for British women to meet
Pakistani or Bangladeshi men than vice versa.
The idealism of the new Muslims is part of the inspiration to "reverts",
people born into immigrant Muslim families who are questioning the
religious validity of their own lifestyles and re-examining their faith.
The formal process of conversion is simple. The would-be Muslim showers,
dresses in clean clothes, gathers some witnesses and says the Shahada,
the testimony to God. But embracing Islam is not without problems.
According to Batool Toma, 38, an Irish education officer for the Islamic
Foundation who converted 14 years ago, converts often have to cope with
initial isolation from their families, "who see conversion as a
rejection and feel resentful. There's a lot of fear and apprehension."
She also cites racist abuse which is particularly aimed at women, most
of whom are marked out by the hijab (scarf). "Such a small piece of
cloth can cause so much antagonism and aggression. You are immediately
characterised as not British." A quarter of the calls to the Muslim
Women's Helpline in London come from converts.
The new Muslims emphasise that the benefits of Islam far outweigh its
drawbacks, and are at pains to address misconceptions about their faith.
They say it is too often judged on its excesses, which are usually of
political origin and unjustified by the Koran.
Converts are active in the Muslim Women's Institute, a central body
established in 1990. Its aims include increasing women's political
awareness and challenging the misconceptions of Western observers and
the immigrant community about the rightful status of women in Islam.
There are discussions among themselves about what form that rightful
status takes, according to Rabia Lemahieu-Evans, a post-graduate mature
student at the Muslim College in London, who converted when she was 18
and abandoned the hijab two years later. She says: "There is a debate
going on, although some people try to deny it."
QUEST OF THE CONVERT WHY CHANGE?
"There is no compulsion in religion," new Muslims quote from the Koran,
keen to challenge preconceptions that Islam spreads most simply by the
sword. They say the only notable aspect of the pressure to convert is
its absence.
Most Western converts are drawn to Islam through Sufism---the
contemplative, mystical aspect of the faith.
Aliya Haeri, an American-born convert to Islam based in London,
describes the process as "a search for God but not a religion". She
says: "Sufism has a great emphasis on discovering personal freedom, a
metaphysical quest. The more practices I took on, the more refined and
subtle they became, the more my behaviour changed. My diet improved, I
gave up occasional late hours socialising and relationships that lacked
any commitment. I was starting to live like a Muslim. People who know me
from the past have seen the transformation."
Other converts describe a long search for a religious identity. Many had
previously been practising Christians but found intellectual
satisfaction in Islam. "I was a theology student and it was the academic
argument that led to my conversion," Rose Kendrick, a religious
education teacher and author, said. She objected to the concept of
original sin: "Under Islam, the sins of the fathers aren't visited on
the sons. The idea that God is not always forgiving is almost
blasphemous to Muslims."
Maimuna 39, was raised as a High Anglican and confirmed at 15 at the
peak of her religious devotion. "I was entranced by the ritual of the
High Church and thought about taking the veil." Her crisis came when a
prayer was not answered. She slammed the door on visiting vicars but
travelled to convents for discussions with nuns. "My belief came back
stronger, but not for the Church, the institution or the dogma." She
researched every Christian denomination, plus Judaism, Buddhism and Hare
Krishna, before turning to Islam.
Many converts from Christianity reject the ecclesiastic hierarchy,
emphasising Muslims' direct relationship with God. They sense a lack of
leadership in the Church of England and are suspicious of its apparent
flexibility. "Muslims don't keep shifting their goalposts," says Huda
Khattub, 28, author of The Muslim Woman's Handbook published this year
by Ta-Ha. She converted ten years ago while studying Arabic at
university. "Christianity changes, like the way some have said
pre-marital sex is OK if it's with the person you're going to marry. It
seems so wishy-washy. Islam was constant about sex, about praying five
times a day. The prayer makes you conscious of God all the time. You are
continually touching base."
5. Israelis can be terrorists too ..................................... by SRI
....................... from The Independent
Israelis can be terrorists too
from
The Independent
by
SRI
February 27, 1994, Sunday HEADLINE: Hebron Massacre: Israelis can be
terrorists too; The litany of Middle East atrocities, says Robert Fisk,
reveals a double standard over 'enemies of peace'
CHAFIC EL-HOUT drew heavily on his third cigarette. ''Just imagine if
this crime had been committed by a Palestinian in a synagogue,'' he
said. ''Imagine this: almost 50 Israelis slaughtered by a lone
Palestinian gunman. What would have been the world's reaction this
morning?'' Yasser Arafat's former ambassadorto Beirut was angry.
''Answer me,'' he shouted. ''What would have been the world's
reaction?''
It was a difficult question. For a start, the world would have called
the gunman a ''terrorist''. Any group with which he was associated would
have been dubbed a ''terrorist group''. Any country harbouring such a
''terrorist group'' would have been threatened with immediate sanctions.
And the American president would no doubt have condemned the deed, quite
rightly, as a ''wicked crime''.
But that, of course, was not the case. Baruch Goldstein, the Hebron
gunman, was an Israeli in Israeli army uniform. And no journalist - not
a singleWestern newspaper or television station - called him a
''terrorist''. Goldstein was associated with the right-wing Jewish Kach
movement. But the Kach is legal in Israel. It ha>
And President Bill Clinton - following the policy of previous US
administrations when an Israeli, rather than a Palestinian, is to blame
for a massacre - described the slaughter at the Tomb of the Patriarch as
''a gross act of murder'', which it clearly was, but also a ''terrible
tragedy'', as if the dead were victims of some natural disaster, such as
an earthquake or tidal wave.
Down the road from el- Hout's Beirut home, around the Palestinian camp
of Mar Elias, black flags snapped from lamp poles, telephone wires and
walls. ''Youdamned people helped the Zionists,'' a woman screamed at me.
''We don't count for you. We are animals.''
In the cramped offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, Suheil Natour's voice growled in fury. ''I wonder why the
West was prepared to act to protect the Bosnians when 68 of them were
killed in the Sarajevo market,'' he said. ''And then I wonder why, when
almost the same numberof Palestinians are killed in a mosque, you people
do nothing to protect us. ThePalestinians are so weak that the Israelis
repeat their crimes against us.''
There followed a familiar litany: Deir Yassin, Sabra and Chatila, Rishon
Lezion - all places swamped in Palestinian blood.
But the special fury of the Arabs - of ordinary Arabs, not their
unelected leaders - was directed yesterday at the double standards of
the West; of the Americans and Europeans, of the Western press, as well
as of the Israelis themselves.
Why were we so surprised at the murders in Hebron, Palestinians in Mar
Elias were asking yesterday? They wanted to know if we had forgotten
Sabra and Chatila. Had we forgotten how, every time a Palestinian killed
an Israeli he wasa ''terrorist'', but every time an Israeli killed a
Palestinian he was a ''deranged Jewish settler'', ''an American
immigrant'', or from a group of ''underground Jewish fighters'', but
never, never a ''terrorist''?
Trawling through the archives yesterday was, therefore, a rather
unsettling business.
On 9 April, 1948, for example, Irgun gunmen - ''terrorists'' by any
other name - massacred almost 200 Arab men, women and children in the
village of Deir Yassin. Many of the women were disembowelled.
How were the killers described in the report by the American news
agency, Associated Press? As ''radical underground Jewish fighters''.
In October 1956, 43 Palestinian civilians in the Israeli town of Kafr
Kashemwere massacred by Israeli troops for innocently breaking a curfew.
Then, in 1982, Israeli troops sent their Falangist militia allies into
Sabra and Chatila camps in Beirut, where up to 800 Palestinian men,
women and children - the figure may be as high as 2,000 - were murdered.
Curiously, this particular slaughter does not appear in the Associated
Presslist of major ''attacks between Israelis and Palestinians'' since
1948. Israel'sown Kahan commission of inquiry, which indirectly accused
Ariel Sharon, the defence minister, of responsibility, noted how, over a
period of 36 hours, Israeli soldiers around the camps witnessed some of
the killings - but did nothing.
On 20 May 1990, an Israeli soldier lined up a group of Palestinian
labourersat Rishon Lezion and murdered seven of them with a sub-machine
gun. The slaughter was fully covered by the international press, of
course, although the word ''terrorist'' was not used. The soldier, it
was explained, was deranged.
In subsequent rioting, 13 more Palestinians were killed. Five months
later, the Israeli police opened fire on Palestinians in Jerusalem,
killing 19 men. As US Secretary of State, it was James Baker's lot to
comment on this massacre. He did not call it a '' massacre' '. He spoke
of it as a ''tragedy'' - the word used by President Clinton on Friday.
This list of horror is not comprehensive, but an interesting pattern
emergesfrom it. When Palestinians massacre Israelis, we regard them as
evil men. WhenIsraelis slaughter Palestinians, America and other Western
nations find it expedient to regard these crimes as tragedies,
misunderstandings or the work of individual madmen. Palestinians - in
the generic, all-embracing sense of the word - are held to account for
these terrible deeds. Israel is not. Thus, over the years, a strange
confusion has emerged in the Western response to Israeli misdeeds, a
reaction that is ultimately as damaging to Israel as it is to the West
itself. When Israeli soldiers or settlers murder Palestinians, they are
semantically ''isolated'' from their country.
Baruch Goldstein, was an Israeli army reservist holding the rank of
major. But in news reports on Friday his ''identity'' undertook a weird
transformation.No longer referred to as an Israeli soldier, even though
he was wearing his armyuniform and carrying his military- issue gun; by
Friday night he was being called ''an American>
In the space of just 12 hours, the United States had been gently touched
by the man's guilt; and by the same process, his Israeli ''identity''
had begun to fade.
Yet when Israel as a state is clearly involved in the taking of innocent
Arab life - in the massive air raids on Beirut in 1982, for example, in
which the Israeli air force was, in early June, killing more than 200
civilians a day - moral guilt was also avoided. These were not
''terrorist'' actions; these weremilitary operations against ''terrorist
targets''.
The same twisted semantics were applied to last July's Israeli
bombardment of southern Lebanon. In revenge for the killing of nine
Israeli soldiers inside its occupation zone, Israel attacked the
villages of southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 men, women and
children - almost double the number of innocents slaughtered in Hebron
on Friday - and putting 300,000 civilian refugees on theroad to Beirut.
As one of the few reporters in Lebanon at the time, I watched women and
children shrieking with pain in the hospital wards, their bodies
plastered with burns from Israeli phosphorous shells. This
''operation'', which killed so many innocents, cost - according to the
Israeli finance minister last week - $ 33m, a bill that Wash>
And President Clinton's reaction? He blamed the Hizbollah - which killed
thenine Israeli soldiers - for all the deaths, then called on ''all
sides'' to exercise ''restraint''.
AMID this obfuscation, a new rationale has been laid out in the Middle
East.It goes like this: America is running a ''peace process''. Anyone
who is for it is a friend. That includes Israel, of course, and even
Yasser Arafat, so suddenly metamorphosed from super-terrorist into
statesman once he recognised Israel. It includes Egypt and Jordan and
Saudi Arabia.
But any Arab who believes the Arafat-Rabin agreement is flawed, any Arab
whoopposes it, objects to it, disagrees with it - however non-violently
- or says anything that might damage it, is transformed into an enemy;
or, more specifically, in the words of the US press, becomes an ''enemy
of peace''.
Thus, by extension, anyone opposing America's policy in the region -
anyone opposing Israel - is an enemy of peace. This all-embracing,
generic phrase leadsto grotesque distortion. Last year, for example,
rioting broke out in Gaza when Israeli troops >
But when the Cable News Network showed a tape of one of the rioters
stoning Israeli troops, it described him as ''protesting at the peace
process''. If he was fighting Israelis, he must have been an ''enemy of
peace''.
Even if that had been his cause of complaint, it was clearly regarded as
illegitimate. Yet it is the PLO-Israeli agreement which - in many
Palestinian eyes - has permitted Israel to keep both troops and
settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It is Arafat, for tens of thousands of his detractors, who has
''legitimised'' the Jewish settlements, from which came the killer who
massacredthe Palestinians of Hebron.
But because American newspapers and television networks also do not want
to be regarded as ''enemies of peace'', many in the West still do not
realise just how disastrously Yasser Arafat's peace accord with Israel
is disintegrating; norwhy Israel is b>
The Israeli government denies any involvement. But that does not mean
that Israel is not responsible for the slaughter. For it was Israel's
settlement policy, Israel's occupation, Israel's arming of the settlers,
and the subsequentPalestinian opposition to that Israeli occupation,
which led directly to the bloodbath in Hebron.
If the murderer's act was an ''individual'' one, it was also inevitable.
In any environment where opponents of Israel are dehumanised into
''terrorist'', where Israeli criminals are treated on a different moral
plain from Palestinian criminals, such crimes will be committed. Baruch
no doubt saw Arabs as ''terrorists'' - the same corrosive word that led
the Israelis into their Lebanon adventure - and walked into the Hebron
mosque on Friday morning in order to exorcise the demons that we had all
helped to create for him.
As for Arafat, he could do no more than watch helplessly from the safety
of Tunis. ''Nobody cares for him - not even the Israelis, I think,''
el-Hout said yesterday, with just a hint of sympathy.
''He has burned all his bridges. I don't think there is a conspiracy as
such against him. But the massacre in Hebron has put the man, poor man,
on the edge of a cliff. If he doesn't jump off, he will be pushed.
''These killings in Hebron were the official sentence of execution for
himas a leader. For Arafat now, anywhere in the world is safer than
Palestine.''
6. Al Salat ............................................. by Abdulrahman Mirza
........................................................ from Khud
Al Salat
by
Abdulrahman Mirza
from
Khud
AL SALAT - THE SECOND PILLAR OF ISLAM
-------------------------------------
by
Abdulrahman Mirza
Assalamu Alaikum Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Al-Salat (prayer) is the second Pillar of Islam. Performing the five
prayers, every day is a requirement on all Muslims from age 10. Sisters
have certain circumstances, which allow them to miss prayers. Everyone
else does not really have an excuse to miss salat.
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) tells us in the Holy Qur'an the benefits and
blessings of performing salat. In one verse: [ Those who believe and do
deeds of righteousness and establish regular prayers and regular charity
will have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear nor
shall they grieve. ] Surat Al-Baqara (v. 277) Lately I have been
thinking, what is wrong with this Muslim Ummah ?? Why is there so many
problems ?? Why do the Muslims seem so hopeless ?? Why are some of us
afraid to let their co-workers know they are Muslims ?? Why are some of
us afraid of speaking-up, saying ' the CIA of FBI might do something to
me.' ?? Why are some Muslims so apologetic about Islam?? Why are some
Muslims so terrified about departing with their money?? (There is much
apathy when it comes to collecting funds for Islamic causes, while
American Christians, paid about $240 BILLION for charity, for one year
only) Where is our faith in the One and Only Allah, Who promised us
victory and Paradise??
Dear brothers and sisters, my fear is that we are becoming like the
Jews: they say that they are God's chosen people, and that they are
guaranteed Paradise. Or, the Christians who say that all their sins are
forgiven because Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) was crucified for their sins.
So, they lost God's teachings and, only Allah knows, they might be
headed to the Hell-Fire (May Allah save us from the Hell-Fire). However,
alhamdu lillah (Praise be to Allah), we have Allah's Words preserved in
the Holy Qur'an, and we have the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),
who is the Seal of all prophets. If we follow these two great blessings
from Allah, Insha'Allah, we will enter Paradise.
I feel that for our healing process to start, we must start with
performing the Salat regularly, and according to the will of Allah (SWT)
and the teachings of his Messenger Muhammad (PBUH). The rest of this
paper consists of two parts. The first part discusses three matters: how
terrible it is to delay prayers from their prescribed times (how bad is
it then, not to pray at all??), praying completely and accurately, and
the importance of praying in the mosque. My information is taken from a
book called "Al-Kaba'er" which implies: "The Big Sins." It is written in
Arabic by Imam Muhammad bin Ahmed bin Othman Al-Dhahabi (died 748 AH.)
One of the 70 Big Sins mentioned in this book is 'neglecting Salat.' I
will try as best, and accurate as I can to translate some of the Ahadith
(sayings of the Prophet PBUH) in this book; as for the Qur'an verses, I
use the A. Yusuf Ali translation. In the second part of this paper, I
list some verses from the Qur'an that show the blessing one gets from
Allah (SWT) for performing salat on time.
PART I
A. The Sin of delaying Salat:
Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Qur'an: [ But after them there followed a
posterity who missed prayers and followed after lusts: soon then will
they face destruction (the word used in the Qur'an, which has been
translated to 'destruction' is: 'Ghayyan'), Except those who repent, and
believe, and work righteousness....] Surah 19:Maryam (59-60). In another
verse: [ So woe to the worshippers, Who are neglectful of their prayers
] Surah 107: Al-Ma'uun (4-5). Also: [ And ask of the Sinners: "What led
you into Hell-Fire?" They will say: "We were not of those who prayed;
Nor were we of those who fed the indigent." Surah 74:Al-Muddathir
(41-44).
Ibn Abbas (Radiya Allaho Anhu : May Allah be pleased with him) said
about those [..who missed prayers..] (19:59): (What is meant by "missed"
is not completely did not perform the prayer, but delayed it from its
prescribed time).
Sa'eed ibn Al-Museeb may Allah forgive him said regarding verse 19 of
Surat Maryam: (It is that the Zuhur is not prayed until the Asr time,
the Asr not prayed until the Maghrib time, the Maghrib not prayed until
the Isha' time, the Isha' not prayed until the Fajr time, and the Fajr
not prayed until the sunrise. Whom ever dies insisting on this, and
without repenting to Allah (SWT), Allah (SWT) promised him/her to be
placed in 'Ghayy', which is a river in the Hell-Fire that is very deep
and has an awful taste).
Sa'ad ibn Abi-Waqas (RAA) said: (I asked the Prophet (PBUH) about [..who
are neglectful of their prayers..] (107:5), the Prophet (PBUH) said :"It
is delaying the time", meaning delaying the prayer from its time, they
were called worshippers, but when they became negligent of the prayer
and delayed it, they were promised severe punishment).
Another Hadith said to have been reported by Abu-Hurayra, is that the
Prophet (PBUH) said: " The first thing which a servant is judged about
on the Day of Judgment from their deed, is the prayer. If it was (the
prayer record) good, the person has succeeded, but if it was (the prayer
record) lacking, the person has failed."
Narrated Ahmed and Muslim that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
"Between the Servant and Kufr (blaspheme) , leaving the prayer."
Narrated Bukhari: Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Whoever missed the Asr
prayer, their good deeds are annulled."
Narrated Ibn Majah: Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Whoever does not
perform a prayer on purpose, then Allah's Conscience will disown them
(bara'at minhu dhemat Allah)"
Narrated Ahmed: The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: " Whoever maintains
his prayer, it was for him on the Day of Judgment as a light, a proof,
and a savior; and whoever did not maintain his prayer, it was not a
light, not a proof, and not a savior on the Day of Judgment; and on the
Day of Judgment he would be with Fir'aoun, Qaroon, Haman, and Abi bin
Khalaf." Some Ulama' (knowledgeable people about Islam) may Allay
forgive them, explained that on the Day of Judgment, a person who lost
his/her prayer will be assembled with: Qaroon, if he/she got busy (from
Salat) with his/her money; with Fir'aoun, if he/she got busy with
his/her kingdom; with Haman, if he/she got busy with his/her ministry
(wazarah); and with Abi bin Khalaf (a kafir businessman from Makkah), if
he/she got busy with his/her business.
Ibn Abbas (RAA) said: (Whoever left one prayer on purpose, he/she will
face Allah (SWT) angry with him/her)
Narrated Attabarani, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: (Whoever faces Allah
(SWT) having lost his/her prayers, Allah (SWT) will not consider any of
his/her good deeds).
B. Praying completely and accurately:
There are a few Hadiths that talk about how a person's prayer is not
accepted, if that person performs the prayer so fast, and does not take
the time to perfect it:
Narrated Ahmed, and Al-Hakem that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "The
worst of people who commit theft, is the one who steals from his salat."
He (PBUH) was asked how can a person steal from his salat? He (PBUH)
said: "Does not complete its 'ruku', nor its 'sujud', nor its
recitation."
Abu Musa (RAA) said: (The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) lead his companions in
prayers, and after he (PBUH) was done, he (PBUH) sat down. A man walked
in and started praying and "yanqur" (an Arabic word which means 'to
peck', like a woodpecker or a crow would do) his sujud ( meaning that he
was performing sujud very fast, and without taking time and resting
between the two sajdas). Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said : "You see if
this man died, he would die on a religion other than Muhammad's (PBUH)
religion, he pecks (yanqur) his salat, as a crow pecks blood.")
C. Praying in the masjid (mosque):
Praying in the mosque is a REQUIREMENT on all men, it is optional only
for women, here are some hadiths:
Narrated Muslim and Bukhari that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "I almost
wanted to order the salat to start, then make someone be an Imam for the
salat; then, I would go with men carrying wood, to people that do not
attend the salat with the jama'ah (congregation), and burn their homes
on top of them."
Narrated Muslim that a blind man came to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and
said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I do not have someone to guide me to the
mosque', and requested the Prophet (PBUH) to grant him a permission to
pray at home. The Prophet (PBUH) agreed at first, but while the man was
leaving the Prophet (PBUH) called him back and said: "Do you hear the
call to prayer?" The man answered 'yes'. The Prophet (PBUH) then said:
"Then answer the call." (i.e. come to the mosque).
Narrated Abu Dawoud that Ibn Abbas (RAA) said: (The Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) said: "Whoever heard the prayer call and had no excuse from
answering the call (i.e. going to the mosque), his salat is not
accepted." He (PBUH) was asked about the excuse, he (PBUH) said: "fear
or illness."
narrated Al-Hakem that Ibn Abbas (RAA) said: ( The Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Three, Allah (SWT) has cursed, one who lead the people, even though,
they disliked him; A woman who went to sleep with her husband angry with
her; And, a man who heard 'Hayya ala- asalat, hayya ala-alfalah' (come
to salat, come to success), and did not answer the call."
PART II:
Some other verses from the Holy Qur'an that show the importance of
salat:
"The believers men and women are protectors one of another: they enjoin
what is just and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers,
practice regular charity and obey Allah and His apostle. On them will
Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is exalted in power, Wise." Sura # 9:
Al-Tauba , verse 71.
"And establish regular Prayers at the two ends of the day and at the
approaches of the night: for those things that are good, remove those
that are evil: be that the word of remembrance to those who remember
(their Lord)." Sura # 11: Huud, verse 114.
"Those who patiently preserve seeking the countenance of their Lord,
establish regular Prayers, spend out of (the gifts) We have bestowed for
their sustenance secretly and openly, and turn off evil with good: for
such there is the final attainment of the (Eternal) Home." Sura # 13:
Al- Ra'ad, verse 22.
"So establish regular Prayer and give regular Charity: and obey the
apostle; that ye may receive mercy." Sura # 24: Al-Noor, verse 56.
"Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee and establish
regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and
remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And
Allah knows the deeds that ye do." Sura # 29: Al-Ankaboot, verse 45.
"Those who establish regular Prayer and give regular Charity and have
(in their hearts) the assurance of the Hereafter. These are on (true)
guidance from their Lord; and these are the ones who will prosper." Sura
# 31: Lukmaan, verses 4,5.
"Ta Sin. These are verses of the Qur'an, a Book that makes (things)
clear; A Guide; and Glad Tidings for the believers. Those who establish
regular Prayers and give regular Charity and also have (full) assurance
of the Hereafter." Sura #27: Al-Naml, verses 1-3.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, let us all try to improve ourselves so
that Allah (SWT) may improve our situation: "..Verily never will Allah
change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with
their own souls).." Sura #13: Al-Ra'ad, verse 11. Insha'Allah, by
improving on our prayers, this can lead to the improvement of all other
aspects of our life: according to the ways of Allah (SWT) and the sunnah
of His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH). May Allah (SWT) forgive me for
anything I wrote which is inaccurate; and guide us all to the straight
path.
Your brother: Abdulrahman Mirza
P.S. Please remember the suffering Muslims of the World (Bosnia,
Palestine, Kashmire, Somalia, etc..): ALWAYS pray for their victory and
for Allah's (SWT) mercy on them, and PLEASE donate to help Muslims and
for the cause of Islam: "..Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back
to you, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly." Sura #2: Al-Baqara,
verse 272.
Announcements ................................................................
7. Lecture by B. Philips ................................. from Juhar Mohammad
Lecture by B. Philips
from
Juhar Mohammad
WITH THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MERCIFUL, BESTOWER OF MERCY
THE SOCIETY FOR ADHERENCE TO THE SUNNAH (SAS)
AND
THE ISLAMIC ASSEMBLY OF NORTH AMERICA (IANA)
IN COOPERATION WITH
DAR AL-HIJRAH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO MEET AND HEAR OUR RESPECTED GUEST
ISLAMIC SCHOLAR, LECTURER, WRITER, AND DA'EE
SHEIKH BILAL PHILIPS
AT:
DAR AL-HIJRAH MOSQUE
DATE:
FRIADY, RAMADAN 22, 1414/ MARCH 4, 1994
TIME:
BEGINNING WITH THE FRIDAY SERMON AT 1:15 PM
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL
DAR AL-HIJRAH (703) 536-1030 OR
THE SOCIET FOR ADHERENCE TO THE SUNNAH (202 833 4993
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S.: SEIKH BILAL WAS FIRED FROM HIS JOB IN SAUDI ARABIA LATELY AND WAS
ASKED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITH SHORT NOTICE.
Letters to the Editor ........................................................
8. Martyrdom ...................................................... by A. Diab
Martyrdom
by
A. Diab
Asalama alakum,
I hope this news clip may ease on us what is going on Occupied Palestine
in the wake of the massacre of 60 Palestinians. And may this explain the
motivation that is keeping the nerve of our muslim brothers in Palestine
alive.
The Jerusalem Al-Nahar newspaper had reported that tens of residents of
Khalil and surrounding areas had gathered the evening of 1/26/94 to
confirm the news that spread about seeing Light that is bursting out of
the sand in which the clothes of Ezdeen Al Qassam martyr "Farid Al
JoAbah" had been buried. Farid was one of the three martyrs killed in a
house in Khalil in the mid of last month. Zionist soldiers devastated
the house with anti-tank missiles in a battle that lasted for more over
13 hours.
M. Haliqah, a journalist of Al-Nahar who reported to the scene, had
stated that he himself had seen shining material and light bursting out
of the sand. He thought at first it been a phosphoric material that is
causing the shining, so he hold the sand, but he didn't see any evidence
of shining material.
The shining was reported first by the martyr's brother, Alaa. Alaa had
taken the remaining clothes of the martyr which was covered by blood to
burry them. Alaa first noticed the light when he was covering them with
the sand. Alaa reported what he saw to the family and neighbors. And
since then, all people flock to see it.
Al-NaHar Al-Maqdsiah 1/26/94
FYI: Al-Nahar is a Palestinian SECULAR daily newspaper!
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