VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

(Empowering the Ummah, One Muslim at a time)

Volume 118, February 14, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

CONTENTS:

(1) Editorial

(2) ASIA:
(2a) Saudi Arabia's religious police out in force in run-up to Valentine's Day

(2b)Saudi Arabia's Black Market for Red Roses Surges With Valentine's Day Crackdown

(2c) India: Islam Can be Criticised, But Not Maliciously: High Court (Bombay)
(2d) Pakistan: Annual Report of Pakistani NGO Aurat Foundation Notes 13 Percent Increase in Violence Against Women

(2e) Indonesia: Muslim mob set fire to a pastor's house and two Christian churches in North Sumatra

(3) NORTH AMERICA:

(3a) United States: Obama Names Envoy to Islamic Group

(3b) The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) has published what appears to be a fatwa (Islamic ruling) on the issue of full-body scanners at airports.
(3c) U.S. State Department Sends MPAC Executive Director To Europe
(3d) Man Who Says He Spied On Mosques For FBI Files Lawsuit

(4) EUROPE:

(4a) Spain: Restraining Order on Imam for Threats to Muslim Woman

(4b) France: Burqa-Clad Robbers Hold Up Post Office

(5) AFRICA:
(5a) Tunisia: Commision for Arab Women Begins Work

(1) Ed Note:

Valentine's Day: Muslims continue to remain divided on participating in Valentine's Day. Some groups are quick to denounce the practice and give "negative labels" to those who participate in it, while many others don't understand what's the big deal about participating in it. While we leave it to the "Islamic Experts" to have the final word on it, all we wish are two simple points:

(1) For the Global Ummah to work towards having a consensus on the issue. We are aware that there are many Muslims who would immediately respond that there is already a consensus : "it is wrong" for Muslims to participate in Valentine's Day. There is already a fatwa against celebrating "pagan holidays". However in actions across the Muslim world, we are sorry to state that we don't see such consensus.

(2) If the Global Ummah is unable to have a consensus, then to at least, "agree to disagree" with each other respectfully without giving "negative labels" and thereby further divide the Ummah. The Global Ummah already has enough differences already on its plate to deal with as evidenced by the destructive outcomes we see almost everyday in terms of sectarian conflicts.

What is really disturbing is how one group of Muslims feel that they are the true torch bearers of Islam and therefore they have a right to impose it on others.

However to be fair to the opposing side, where do you draw the line between accepting the right of the Govt/Rulers to govern their people as they seem fit VERSUS interfering in their internal affairs and imposing your value on them?

(2) ASIA

Saudi pilots weave a message of love - but never on Valentine's Day

(2a) Saudi Arabia’s religious police out in force in run-up to Valentine’s Day
Hugh Tomlinson from Dubai
www.timesonline.co.uk

"If you can’t stand shops filled with roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, teddy bears, cards and novelty gifts, Saudi Arabia is the place to be this Valentine’s Day.

The country’s feared muttawa — religious police — have launched a campaign to banish from the shelves anything that could be construed as a romantic gift. As Sunday approaches, they have been patrolling the shops and posting warnings in local newspapers to remind traders that anyone caught violating the ban will be punished.

Saudi Arabia adheres to a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and bans the celebration of Western holidays — and Valentine’s Day is a particular target because of its nominal connection to the life of a Christian saint. The kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, also bans birthday celebrations and Mother’s Day, and even several Muslim holidays, because it considers them “religious innovations” that Islam does not sanction.

But roses and romantic gifts are legal for the rest of the year — so amorous Saudis and expatriates have been buying their gifts well in advance of the Valentine’s Day crackdown.

The interpretation of what constitutes a romantic gift can be a little arbitrary:one Western resident in the capital, Riyadh, said that the shelves in his local store had been stripped of almost all red items, with nervous storeowners taking no chances.

More liberal Arab countries in the region have no such reservations. In Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and Dubai, for example, shops and restaurants mark Valentine’s Day with an abundance of red ribbon and heart decorations, in a manner as garish as any Western capital.

In Riyadh, dating in the Western sense is not socially acceptable, though unmarried couples do meet in restaurants and cafés that have partitions to hide them. However, the arrival of mobile phones, e-mail and internet chatrooms has radically altered the dating scene, allowing couples to communicate in private.

Despite slow but steady efforts by King Abdullah to modernise attitudes, the religious establishment keeps a brake on the process of change — but tensions surface frequently. On Monday, students at a girls’ school in Mecca rioted when the head teacher confiscated their mobile phones, make-up and perfume. Female wardens from a nearby prison were called to the school after the children attacked the head and barricaded her in her office, before breaking tables and chairs and letting off fire extinguishers.

(2b) SAUDI ARABIA: Black market for red roses surges with Valentine's Day crackdown
February 12, 2010

Los Angeles Times

"It isn't often that cynical singles and religious police find themselves on the same side, but this Sunday they will stand united against a common threat: Valentine's Day and its ubiquitous trappings.

Saudi Arabia's religious enforcers, backed by the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have started their annual purge of anything Valentine-related, including flowers, gifts, candy and the color red.

Above Photo: Religious authorities

In the week leading up to the holiday, the commission ran ads in the media warning shop owners against selling Valentine's Day merchandise, and the national newspaper Al-Riyadh did its part by highlighting the downside of cupid's day with articles (in Arabic) like "a fifth of adults prefer to spend Valentine's Day with their pets instead of their partners" and "Valentine's Day flavored with cocaine in the Netherlands this year."

But the ban has also created a boon for enterprising owners of flower and gift shops who don't mind taking a risk for profit. The newspaper Al Watan interviewed one florist in Dammam who said the price of contraband red roses had soared from 5 riyals (about $1.30) to over 30.

The paper went on to say that Valentine's Day is outlawed based on a Fatwa against "pagan holidays."

A spokesman for the commission, Sheikh Ali Qarni, defended the ban on the grounds that Muslims know the true meaning of love -- the love of God -- and behave accordingly throughout the year, and thus have no need for a single occasion to commemorate it.

"Muslims are people of love, as evidenced by the fact that this word appears in [the Koran] 83 times," he told the paper.

More than 200 comments left by readers, however, revealed mixed reactions to the ban.

Muhammad Issa Dabesh praised the commission's efforts against the "Westernization" of Saudi Arabia and said he hoped the commission be turned into a ministry to better enable it to carry out its duties.

"Civilized" said he or she supported abolishing the commission entirely because it is "incompatible with freedom and human rights."

"If only they would spend their efforts on widows and the poor!" wrote D. Jawahir.

But prominent Saudi blogger Ahmed Omran, who pens Saudi Jeans, was blase, hinting that the Western media take the ban more seriously than Saudis themselves.

"Those who want to celebrate Valentine's Day find their way around the ban, and those who think it's haram [forbidden] don't celebrate it," he wrote in an e-mail to The Times. It's "as easy as that." -- Meris Lutz in Beirut

(2c) INDIA:

(Ed Note:

We are glad that the High Court in Bombay upheld the ban on the book: 'Islam – A concept of Political World Invasion By Muslims', written by advocate R.V. Bhasin. Bhasin had challenged the ban, saying that it violated right to freedom of speech)

Islam Can be Criticised, But Not Maliciously: HC

Mumbai, Jan 06, 2010
www.outlookindia.com

Islam or any other religion can be criticised, but a malicious criticism aimed at promoting communal hatred and painting the whole community as villainous is not permissible, Bombay High Court held today.

Refusing to interpret Quranic verses, Court however advised that verses must be "correlated", and historical background must be kept in mind when interpreting.

A full bench of the High Court upheld the ban on 'Islam – A concept of Political World Invasion By Muslims', written by advocate R V Bhasin. Bhasin had challenged the ban, saying that it violated right to freedom of speech.

The book was banned in state government in 2007, on the ground that it contained derogatory remarks about Islam and Prophet Mohammad and insulted Muslim sentiments.

The 3-member bench of Justices Ranjana Desai, Dhananjay Chandrachud and R S Mohite held that "In our constitutional set up, everything is open to criticism and religion is no exception to it."

"Every religion, whether it is Islam, Hinduism, Christianity or any other religion, can be criticized... Even if the author is wrong, he has right to be wrong."

But, the judges added, "But what needs to be seen is whether the author has done this exercise bona fide." In Bhasin's case that was not so, court held, saying the book might lead to communal trouble.

Bhasin's controversial book argued that philosophy of Islam encourages terrorism, and does not tolerate those of different faith.

However, court pointed out that in the case of religious scriptures, several interpretations are possible.

"Ayats (Quranic verses) will have to be correlated. Some of the Ayats are indeed strongly worded and appear to have been directed against idol worshippers. Having read the commentaries we feel that perhaps it is possible to urge that they relate to an era when the Muslims were attacked by the Pagans..." the court observed.

"An author has a right to put forth a perspective that a particular religion is not secular," court said, but added that in Bhasin's case, "the criticism is not academic. The author has gone on to pass insulting comments" about Muslims, particularly Indian Muslims.

"If writing is calculated to promote feelings of enmity or hatred it is no defence to a charge under Section 153-A of the IPC (promoting enmity between communities) that the writing contains a truthful account".

Court also observed that the entire community can be painted as villainous... "It cannot be denied that misguided Muslim youth have indulged in acts of terrorism. But misguided youth are in every religion."

(2d) PAKISTAN

(ED NOTE: We cannot just keep saying Islam is a religion of peace when we don't sincerely attempt to practice it in the smallest social unit - our family. Peace begins from within our home. Our loving Prophet Mohamed (SAW) practiced it by being the most loving husband and father. Why is there a incongruence between the message of PEACE and LOVE of Islam Versus its practical implementation in our daily lives ? )

Annual Report of Pakistani NGO Aurat Foundation Notes 13 Percent Increase in Violence Against Women

HIGHLIGHTS:

"Of 8,548 Cases of Violence, 5,722 Incidents were Recorded in Punjab, 1,762 in Sindh, 655 in the NWFP, 237 in Baluchistan and 172 in Islamabad"

"The Highest Increase in the Number of Reported Cases i.e. From 281 in 2008 to 608 in 2009 was in Domestic Violence"

"Of the 5,722 Incidents of Violence in 35 Districts of Punjab, There were 1,698 Cases of Abduction, 752 Cases of Murder, 245 Cases of 'Honor' Killing"

(Source:
(1) Dawn, Pakistan, February 2, 2010. The report has been slightly re-written for clarity.

(2) The News, Pakistan, February 3, 2010).

(2e) INDONESIA:

( Ed note: We appeal to the global Ummah to condemn below extremist anti-Islamic actions against Christians)

Muslim Mob Burns Pastor's Home, 2 Churches

International Christian Concern

2-3-2010

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a Muslim mob set fire to a pastor's house and two Christian churches in North Sumatra, Indonesia, last Friday.

The arson followed a disagreement between Muslims and Christians over the location of buildings Christians would meet in for worship. The buildings were in the center of a predominantly Muslim community and were not registered as churches. When worship continued unabated, a mob took matters into its own hands.

According to The Jakarta Post, on Friday, January 29, a crowd of about 1000 Muslims surrounded the HKBP and GPdI church buildings and lit them on fire, also torching the pastor's house nearby.

On Sunday, a police spokesman said that there were no fatalities, and added that hundreds of Christians have left the community as a result. He said that the local government would assist Christians in the rebuilding of the churches. To date, none of the attackers involved have been arrested.

Pastor Marolop Sinaga told The Jakarta Post that over 270 of his congregation have fled out of fear of further attacks.


The area has historically been known for peaceful religious coexistence between Christians and Muslims. This marks the first attack of its kind in the history of North Sumatra.

(3) NORTH AMERICA

UNITED STATES:

NEWYORK TIMES. FEB 13, 2010

(3a) President Obama Names Envoy (Rashad Hussain) to Islamic Group (Organization of Islamic Conference)

By REUTERS February 13, 2010

DOHA, Feb 13 (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday he was naming a special envoy to a top Islamic body to further Washington's cooperation with the Muslim world.


Obama told a U.S.-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital Doha in a recorded video message that he was naming White House official Rashad Hussain as special envoy to the 56-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

"As an accomplished lawyer and a close and trusted member of my White House staff, Rashad has played a key role in developing the partnerships I called for in Cairo," Obama said.

In a speech in Cairo last June, Obama called for a "new beginning" in ties between the United States and Muslims, many of whom felt targeted by the "war on terror" launched by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.


"Since then, my administration has made a sustained effort to listen. We've held thousands of events and town halls ...in the United States and around the world ... And I look forward to continuing the dialogue during my visit to Indonesia next month," Obama said.


Obama told Muslims in his June 4 speech in Cairo that violent extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem.

His speech was welcomed by many Muslims, though some said they wanted him to spell out specific actions to resolve long-running problems like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"And as a Hafiz of the Koran, (Hussain) is a respected member of the American Muslim community, and I thank him for carrying forward this important work," Obama said in his message to the Doha meeting, using the term for someone who has mastered and memorised the Muslim holy book.

Hussain was named deputy associate counsel to Obama in January 2009. He has served as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and as assistant on the House Judiciary Committee, where he reviewed legislation such as the USA Patriot Act.

Hussain, who has a master's degree in public administration and in Arabic and Islamic studies from Harvard University, graduated from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

(3b) FATWA AGAINST BODY SCANNERS

www.globalmbreport.com

The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) has published what appears to be a fatwa (Islamic ruling) on the issue of full-body scanners at airports. According to the statement published on Islam Online:

The Full Body Security Scanners (also called Nude-body scanners) are being installed at various airports in United States and Europe. Several human rights and religious groups have expressed their concerns and disapproval of such scanners on the grounds of violation of privacy and human dignity. The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) emphasizes that a general and public use of such scanners is against the teachings of Islam, natural law and all religions and cultures that stand for decency and modesty.

It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women. Islam highly emphasizes ‘haya’ (modesty) and considers it part of faith. The Qur’an has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts. Human beings are urged to be modest in their dress. See Holy Quran, 7:26-27; 24:30-31; 33:59. Exception to this rule can be made in case of extreme necessity, such as medical treatment, to investigate a crime or in a situation of imminent danger.

There must be a compelling case for the necessity and the exemption to this rule must be proportional to the demonstrated need. FCNA fully supports the necessary measures for the safety and protection of all passengers. It is, however, deeply concerned about the use of nude body scanners for this purpose. FCNA recommends that instead of producing and displaying a picture of the body, software should be designed to produce only the picture of questionable materials on an outline of the body. Further, other technologies could be used that detect the presence of explosives without infringing on modesty as some European leaders have pointed out. FCNA appreciates the alternate provision of pat-down search (when needed) and therefore recommend to Muslims to avail this option over the nude body scanners.

(3c) U.S. State Department Sends MPAC Executive Director To Europe

(globalmbreport.com)

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has announced that Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati traveled to Europe last month at the invitation of the State Department to speak about religious freedom and free speech. According to the report:

Last week, Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati traveled to Europe at the invitation of the State Department to speak about religious freedom and free speech. He spoke at UNESCO in Paris and at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Al-Marayati explained that religious freedom and free speech are opposite sides of the same coin of human rights. Given the alarming degree of Islamophobia in Europe, some Muslim countries have sought to pass anti-defamation legislation to counter anti-Islamic rhetoric.

In Geneva, Al-Marayati told a group of Muslim ambassadors that legislation will not resolve the problem of Islamophobia, but rather, engagement in the political, social and cultural arenas of any society. The Quran chronicles attacks against the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) without suppressing free speech. Instead, the good work of the early Muslims replaced the negative stereotypes that others imposed on them. The same applies in this day and age. Many of the ambassadors were thankful for Al-Marayati’s perspective on this issue and for working to bridge the divide between Muslim and Western countries.

(3d) Man Who Says He Spied On Mosques For FBI Files Lawsuit
(condensed version)
James Wagner, Staff Writer www.sgvtribune.com
01/31/2010

Craig Monteilh says he lives in danger. He's been targeted for death by Islamic extremist groups, the Romanian and Mexican mafias and white supremacist groups. One fugitive now wants his head, he claims. Today Monteilh, a 47-year-old fitness consultant, plans to serve papers on the people he says put him in this bind - his former employer, the FBI, and the Irvine Police Department.

Monteilh, who says he spied on mosques for the FBI as an undercover informant, filed a lawsuit last week claiming his agency handlers violated his civil rights and put his life in danger. "They put me in prison with no protection," he said. "There were hits on my life. I had to do what was necessary to survive in there in defense of my own life."

He said his FBI supervisors reneged on a promise of severance and protection after a FBI supervisor muddled an operation that would have uncovered "bomb making materials" at a mosque, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, seeking $10 million in damages, was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Jan. 22. Monteilh, 47, spied on nearly a dozen mosques from July 2006 and October 2007 on the FBI's behalf, posing as a Muslim convert, the suit alleges.

Two of the mosques were in the San Gabriel Valley, including the Al-Nabi Mosque in West Covina and the Masjid Al-Fatiha mosque in Azusa, he said.

"The government will have an opportunity to respond to these allegations in court," said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. "However, the accusations appear to be an attempt to discredit law enforcement for personal gain, at the expense of the Muslim-American community."

Monteilh said he was recruited by the FBI after being released from prison in 2003 for forgery and grand theft charges. He worked his way up as an informant beginning with narcotics investigations in 2004 and eventually murder for hire and bank robbery operations, according to the lawsuit.

He joined the counterterrorism investigation called "Operation Flex" and worked under two FBI handlers with the agency's Orange County Joint Terrorism Task Force, the lawsuit alleges. The FBI asked Monteilh to spy on Islamic communities in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, he said.

Monteilh claims he assumed the alias of Farouk al-Aziz, a convert of Syrian and French descent and worked under code name "Oracle."

(4) EUROPE

(4a) SPAIN: RESTRAINING ORDER ON IMAM FOR THREATS TO MUSLIM WOMAN

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, Feb 9, 2010

A judge in the court of the province of Tarragona has banned a radical imam in the Catalonian town of Cunit from coming within a certain distance of a moderate Muslim woman who accused the man of repeatedly threatening her for her 'Western' behaviour, reports El Pais today. The same restraining order was issued by the judge against another three individuals who are associated with the imam, who are accused of taking part in the threats against the woman.

According to El Pais, 31-year-old Fatima Ghailan, of Moroccan origin, employed as a cultural mediator by the municipality of Cunit, was repeatedly threatened by the imam for not wearing a headscarf, for driving a car, for spending time with Spanish people who are not Muslims and for not respecting the period of fasting during Ramadan. The man reportedly organised a defamatory campaign against her in order to get her fired from her job with the municipality. According to the newspaper, the public prosecutor of Tarragona asked for a prison sentence of between two and five years for the imam and the other three individuals for "threats, intimidation and slander". (ANSAmed).

(4b)Burqa-Clad Robbers Hold Up Post Office
Feb 7, 2010

Two burqa-wearing robbers have held up a French post office using a handgun concealed beneath an Islamic-style full veil, court officials said.


Officials said postal office staff let the pair through the security double doors of the banking branch near Paris, believing them to be veil-wearing Muslim women.


Once inside, the pair flipped back their head coverings and pulled out a gun.


They made off with 4,500 euros ($7,100) seized from the staff and customers of the branch in Athis Mons, just south of Paris, according to the online edition of Le Parisien newspaper.


Police have opened an investigation.


France is seeking to restrict use of the head-to-toe Islamic veil on the grounds it is incompatible with French values, after a parliament report called for a ban in schools, hospitals, government offices and public transport.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party has already presented a bill to make it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public on security grounds.


Mr Sarkozy has declared the burqa "not welcome" in secular France and favours legislation to outlaw it, though he has warned against stigmatising Muslims.


According to the interior ministry, only around 1,900 women wear the burqa in France, which is home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.AFP

(5) AFRICA:

(5 a) TUNISIA: COMMISSION FOR ARAB WOMEN BEGINS WORK

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, FEBRUARY 2 - Arab Women's Day (February 1) coincided with the start of work for the Arab Women's Commission of International Human Rights, an initiative commissioned by the President of the Arab Women's Organisation (AWO), Leila Ben Ali, the wife of the Tunisian president. The commission, noted TAP news agency, has the responsibility of "offering awareness campaigns and spreading the culture of international human rights as well as training programmes for government organisations and related associations". The first meeting of the commission will be held shortly in Tunis. (ANSAmed).

THE END