VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 125, April 4, 2010

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

EDITORIAL:

Every community regardless of religion, culture or race has both good and the bad. As for Muslims, we have a tiny minority of believers who have not only been deviated and misguided from Islam but are violating the essential principles of Islam and bringing a bad name to the whole community. We urge all Muslims to follow the true path of Islam in terms of abiding by the peace loving gems mentioned in the Holy Quran and the Hadith and work towards peace, justice and community harmony. For Muslims in the non-Muslim nations, we need to more actively involve in our local community in terms of helping and reaching out to those in need. Such noble voluntary actions are really in essence ISLAM IN ACTION. Below is one such example and we are proud of the work done by Muslim students through their non-profit organization - Project Downtown in Florida.

Muslim Students Bring Food, Conversation to Florida Homeless

Imran Siddiqui

29 March 2010

A Member of Project Downtown Talks to a Homeless Man in Tampa, Florida

(Photo: VOA)

In the southern U.S. state of Florida, a group of American Muslim students is running a non-profit organization called Project Downtown. The project's goal is to help the poor, poor people of all backgrounds and cultures. Our correspondent went down to the city of Tampa, Florida to learn more about Project Downtown and the Muslim students who belong to it.

Like just about any major city in the United States, the city of Tampa has its share of homeless people. But it also has people who are reaching out to help Tampa's homeless. "We are here because, in Islam, we are supposed to feed the hungry," said one of the students. "So that's our purpose here. That's all." The students belong to Project Downtown, an organization that started about two years ago in Miami and now has branches other U.S. cities.

The Tampa members of Project Downtown say what motivated them was seeing people in need. "Project Downtown was started by a couple of groups and a couple of university students back in Miami, and people have been gathering money after seeing a problem in the community, went out and bought sandwiches," said another student. "They went to the local city hall and started feeding." The city of Tampa has almost 350,000 people. It is estimated that about 11,000 of these are homeless. That's about three percent of the population.

For the students of Project Downtown, the religion of the people they are helping does not matter. What matters is that they are in need. Jill Moreida is a member of Project Downturn. "We come up to them," said Jill Moreida. "We don't just give them food and walk away.

We don't feed them like they're at the zoo. We make friends with them; we talk with them. We interact with them. Week after week after week. And we know stories about their family. We know when they're sick. We get to develop relationships with them." "Oh, we wait for them! We wait! You see, we waited in the rain," said a homeless man. "We got caught in the rain! We feel beautiful with them coming." As the relationships develop, Jill says, the homeless gain a new understanding of Islam.

"They say they cannot believe how amazing the Muslims are," said Moreida. "And it's acts like that, that not only are we serving...we do it for the sake of Allah, when we're feeding them. But there's a bigger message being brought, and it's exposing a whole new realm of people to Islam. Teaching them to not be afraid of us, to not have that stereotype that we're going to hurt them or anything."

Project Downtown is one of several outreach efforts sponsored by the Muslim community of Florida. Its funding comes from other Muslim groups in the State, including the Tampa Bay Muslim Alliance. Dr. Hussein Nagamiya, a cardiologist, is head of the alliance. "Our main idea is to feed the hungry, to clothe the poor, to address their needs, because these are homeless people, and they don't have anywhere to go," said Hussein Nagamiya. "So, we give them conveyances such as bicycles that were given away. We conduct their [medical] tests. Some of them may never have a test in the entire year. We detect diseases for them and send them on to free clinics, etc."

In addition to helping the poor and teaching people about Islam, organizations like Project Downtown and the Tampa Bay Muslim Alliance hope to achieve another goal:

"Showing their fellow Americans that, in the words of Dr. Nagamiya, the vast majority of American Muslims are good citizens who make positive contributions to the United States".

European Muslims Reconcile Cultures through Fashion

(voanews.com)

(condensed version)

Lisa Bryant

22 March 2010

PARIS:

European critics deride the Islamic veil as a mark of female oppression. But for a new generation of young Muslim women, it is part of an emerging fashion that seeks to integrate European and Muslim identities.

(hijabandthecity.com)

On a cold evening, the Starbucks coffee shop in the Paris-area business district of La Defense, offers a welcome refuge. Twenty-nine-year-old Saadia Boussana is cradling a warm drink. Tall and striking, with a black and gold embroidered shirt and a glittering brown bonnet, she blends in easily with the trendy, after-work crowd.

In fact, it's hard to associate her stylish bonnet with a headscarf or hijab, the head coverings worn by devout Muslim women that are highly controversial in Europe.

But for young women like Boussana, communications director for a new Muslim Women's Magazine called MWM, or My Woman Magazine, the head covering is part of her fashion look.

Increasingly, Boussana says, observant Muslim women want to dress stylishly while remaining modest. Many like her head to mainstream department stories like Zara and H&M to create their outfits - partly for lack of fashionable Muslim shops.

Saadia Boussana, left, and Chahira Ait Belkacem, right, work at MWM, or My Woman Magazine, a new French online publication for Muslim women. RNS photo by Elizabeth Bryant. |

Boussana is part of a new generation of educated, vocal and socially active women who are beginning to brand their European and Muslim identities through style. They layer dresses over pants, wrap headscarves into bandanas, match hooded kaftans with high-heeled boots.

They are turning their backs on fashions worn by their mothers - often first-generation immigrants from Pakistan, Turkey or North Africa. And they are showing that Islamic dress codes - which generally stipulate covering most of the body except for the face, hands and feet - do not have to be boring.

Mariame Tighanime co-founded the Hijab and the City webzine for Muslim women in Paris. RNS photo by Elizabeth Bryant. |

Emma Tarlo is a British social anthropologist and author of a new book, "Visibly Muslim: Fashion, Politics, Faith". She points to the hijab, or headscarf, as the most obvious manifestation of this fashion revolution.

"In a sense they're using fashion to try to contradict the idea of the hijab being just about politics, traditionalism or piety even. They are still associating it with modesty and the idea that a woman keeps part of her body private. But they're active in the public sphere and they're modern - and they want to be seen as modern."

Much of the fashion action is taking place in Britain, where cultural diversity is more tolerated than elsewhere in Europe.

Up-and-coming designers like Sarah Elenany and Sophia Kara are even attracting a non-Muslim clientele with their edgy styles, bold colors and loose, full clothes.

But Tarlo has seen Muslim street fashion bubbling up in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany - all countries where being "visibly Muslim" is not always appreciated.

"I think that's partly why people work all the harder to develop interesting hijab styles, to decorate the hijab...so that it actually becomes a sort of visual talking point, it attracts attention. And many young women welcome - if people ask about their dress - they welcome the opportunity to explain it."

France, with its estimated five to six million Muslims and an international reputation for fashion, appears to be a promising market. But Islamic wear collides with its staunchly secular creed.

Chahira Ait Belkacem is executive director of the Muslim women's magazine MWM.

Belkacem says unlike their counterparts in the United States or Britain, conservative Muslim women in France are afraid of making bold fashion statements. Being chic, she says, is still badly viewed within the Muslim community.

But that appears to be changing. In a sign of their growing social presence, Muslim women now have two new French "webzines," or Internet magazines, that directly target them. One is MWM. The other is titled "Hijab and the City".

Twenty-two-year-old Mariame Tighanime co-founded "Hijab and the City" two years ago with her older sister Khadija.

Tighanime says the magazine wants to reach all Muslim women, not just those who are well-off and successful. Like MWM, it strives for a broad audience that includes Muslims and non-Muslims. Besides fashion, both Internet magazines have sections that include beauty, health, family, environment, culture - and features on women who have made a difference in society.

Still "Muslima wear" is gaining a foothold among young, trendy Muslim women.

Even a few, non-Muslim designers like Cindy van den Bremen are getting into the act. Van den Bremen markets a line of sporty hijabs mostly through her Internet store, Capsters.com. She says many Muslim retail stores are not meeting the needs of the new generation.

"On the other hand, there's an increasing number of modern and fashionable shops on line which combine different styles. And there is an increasing number of Muslim women interested. But it's different from the shops their mothers would go to."

EXTREMISM RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN

SCHOOL LEADERS, CAIR MEET ABOUT COMPLAINT, RELATIONSHIP

Dave Aeikens,
St. Cloud Times
3/26/10

St. Cloud school district and leaders of a Minnesota Islamic civil rights group agreed Friday to continue to work together to make schools safe for all students.

Members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Minnesota chapter and St. Cloud school district officials met in St. Cloud for about 90 minutes Friday to discuss the complaint CAIR filed with the U.S. Department of Education claiming that Muslim students confront a hostile learning environment in St. Cloud schools. It is expected to take a month to determine whether there will be an investigation.

The school district has agreed that human resources director and human rights director Tracy Flynn Bowe will serve as the point person for any future complaints CAIR hears from St. Cloud students.

CAIR has also agreed to consider writing a second letter to the Department of Education saying that CAIR and St. Cloud school district have been partners in working through issues in the schools. The two sides are also considering a joint statement to the community saying the same thing

TENNESSEE MAN SENTENCED TO 183 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR BURNING ISLAMIC CENTER

U.S. Department of Justice Press Release
3/25/10

WASHINGTON, March 25
Senior Judge Robert L. Echols of the Middle District of Tennessee today sentenced Eric Ian Baker to 183 months in prison for vandalizing and burning down the Islamic Center of Columbia, Tenn., the Justice department announced. Baker pleaded guilty on Sept. 18, 2009, to destruction of religious property and using fire to commit a felony.

Baker, 34, previously admitted to the court that he and two others constructed Molotov cocktail explosive devices, ignited them and used them to destroy the mosque on Feb. 9, 2008. Baker further admitted that he committed the arson because of the religious character of the property and that he painted swastikas and the phrase "White Power" on the mosque in the course of the arson.

One of Baker's co-defendants, Michael Corey Golden, was sentenced to 171 months for his role in the arson. The other co-defendant, Jonathan Edward Stone, pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced.

"The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We will aggressively prosecute anyone who seeks to intimidate or injure any congregation because of what they believe, how they worship, or who they are."

"This type of crime strikes at the heart of our civil rights and religious freedoms in America. I am very pleased that through local, state and federal cooperation, all defendants responsible for this vile attack have been brought to justice," said U.S. Attorney Edward M. Yarbrough for the Middle District of Tennessee.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Tennessee State Bomb and Arson and the Columbia, Tenn., Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal McDonough from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nashville and Trial Attorney Jonathan Skrmetti from the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.

(ED NOTE: We strongly condemn the anti-Islamic act of killing of innocents. Our deep sympathy to all the family members of the Russian train tragedy victims)

Subway Blasts Kill Dozens in Moscow
By Clifford J Levy
March 29, 2010
NY Times, March 29, 2010

Alexander Natruskin/Reuters

Firefighters and Interior Ministry officers working near the entrance of the Lubyanka metro station after an explosion during rush hour in Moscow on Monday.

The subway system, one of the world’s most extensive, had been subjected to attacks related to the separatist war in Chechnya in the early part of the last decade.

Officials said the first explosion Monday occurred at 7:50 a.m. in the Lubyanka subway station, killing 19 people both on the platform and aboard an incoming train. Numerous others were injured.

“The blast hit the second carriage of a metro train that stopped at Lubyanka,” Irina Andrianova, a spokeswoman for the emergency ministry, told Reuters.

About 40 minutes later, another explosion occurred in the second car of a train at the Park Kultury station, killing 14 people, officials said.

In September 2004, a suicide bomber killed at least 9 other people and wounded more than 50 outside the Rizhskaya subway. In February of that same year, a woman carrying a bomb destroyed another subway car, killing at least 41 people as the train moved between the Paveletskaya and the Avtozavodskaya stations at one of the busiest times of the day.

The Lubyanka station, where the first explosion occurred, is located near the infamous Lubyanka prison that also served as the former headquarters of the K.G.B., the Soviet-era secret police.

Seven Arrested in FBI Raids Linked to Christian Militia Group

Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
March 28. 2010

At least seven people, including some from Michigan, have been arrested in raids by a FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as part of an investigation into an Adrian-based Christian militia group, a person familiar with the matter said.

The suspects are expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Monday.

On Sunday, a source close to the investigation in Washington, D.C. confirmed that FBI agents were conducting activities in Washtenaw and Lenawee counties over the weekend in connection to Hutaree, a Christian militia group. Detroit FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold told The Detroit News the federal warrants in the case are under court seal and declined further comment.

Sources have said the FBI was in the second day of raids around the southeastern Michigan city of Adrian that are connected to a militia group, known as the Hutaree, an Adrian-based group whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.

WXYZ-TV reports that helicopters were spotted in the sky for much of Saturday night, and agents set up checkpoints throughout the area. Witnesses told the station that it was like a small army had descended on the area. The Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are also involved in the raids.

Mike Lackomar, of Michiganmilitia.com, said both The Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia and the Michiganmilitia.com were not a part of the raid.

Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.

"Last night and into today the FBI conducted a raid against homes belonging to the Hutaree. They are a religious cult. They are not part of our militia community," he said.

Lackomar said he was told there were five arrests Saturday and another five early Sunday. The FBI declined to comment.

One of the Hutaree members called a Michigan militia leader for assistance Saturday after federal agents had already began their raid, Lackomar said, but the militia member -- who is of Islamic decent and had heard about the threats -- declined to offer help. That Michigan militia leader is now working with federal officials to provide information on the Hutaree member for the investigation, Lackomar said Sunday.

"They are more of survivalist group and in an emergency they withdraw and stand their ground. They are actively training to be alongside Jesus," he said.

Sources from the Michigan militia community said one of the FBI raids took place Saturday during a wake for a Hutaree member who had died of natural causes. A Hutaree leader was arrested during the wake while at the same time agents were conducting raids at other locations.

The Associated Press is reporting that FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Cleveland said agents arrested two people Saturday in northwest Ohio. A third arrest was made in Illinois on Sunday, a day after raids in northwest Indiana.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on Islamic-American Relations of Michigan, made an announcement Sunday during the group's 10th anniversary banquet about receiving a call from a network journalist about the alleged threat against Muslims.

"Don't allow this news to scare you away from practicing your faith," said Walid.

Audible gaps were heard throughout the banquet hall when the news was announced. Walid said he will call local authorities about more information on the allegations. He urged local Muslims to recommitt themselves to their faith in light of the accusations.

David Shepardson and Oralandar Brand-Williams contributed to this report.

END

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 124, March 28, 2010

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

WHAT THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT ISLAM AND TERRORISM:

(What does Islam say about Terrorism? www.whyislam.org)

One of the distinctive characteristics of the times we live in is the overwhelming presence of violence in our societies. Whether it is a bomb going off in a market place, or the hijacking of an aircraft where innocent people are held at ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age, where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become commonplace.

Such is the all-pervasive nature of indiscriminate violence, that “terrorism” is considered as one of the prime threats to peace and security in our societies.

The word terrorism came into wide usage only a few decades ago. One of the unfortunate results of this new terminology is that it limits the definition of terrorism to that perpetrated by small groups or individuals. Terrorism, in fact, spans the entire world, and manifests itself in various forms. Its perpetrators do not fit any stereotype. Those who hold human lives cheap, and have the power to expend human lives, appear at different levels in our societies. The frustrated employee who kills his colleagues in cold-blood or the oppressed citizen of an occupied land who vents his anger by blowing up a school bus are terrorists who provoke our anger and revulsion.

Ironically however, the politician who uses age-old ethnic animosities between peoples to consolidate his position, the head of state who orders “carpet bombing” of entire cities, the exalted councils that choke millions of civilians to death by wielding the insidious weapon of sanctions, are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity.

It is this narrow definition of terrorism that implicates only individuals and groups, that has caused Muslims to be associated with acts of destruction and terror, and as a result, to become victims of hate violence and terror themselves. Sometimes the religion of Islam is held responsible for the acts of a handful of Muslims, and often for the acts of non-Muslims!

Could it be possible that Islam, whose light ended the Dark Ages in Europe, now propound the advent of an age of terror? Could a faith that has over 1.2 billion followers the world over, and over 7 million in America, actually advocate the killing and maiming of innocent people? Could Islam, whose name itself stands for “peace” and “submission to God”, encourage its adherents to work for death and destruction?

For too long, have we relied on popular images in the media and in Hollywood films, for answers to these pertinent questions. It is now time to look at the sources of Islam, and its history to determine whether Islam does indeed advocate violence.

Sanctity of Human Life

The Glorious Qur’an says:

“…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.”
[Al-Qur’an 6:151]

Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded a special place. The first and the foremost basic right of a human being is the right to live. The Glorious Qur’an says:

“…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
[Al-Qur’an 5:32]

Such is the value of a single human life, that the Qur’an equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with killing all of humanity. Thus, the Qur’an prohibits homicide in clear terms. The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to administer justice is required to uphold the rule of law, and the peace and security of the society. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has forfeited his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.

Ethics of War

Even in a state of war, Islam enjoins that one deals with the enemy nobly on the battlefield. Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. As far as the non-combatant population is concerned such as women, children, the old and the infirm, etc., the instructions of the Prophet are as follows:

"Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman"[1].

"Do not kill the monks in monasteries" or

"Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship."[2]

During a war, the Prophet saw the corpse of a woman lying on the ground and observed: "She was not fighting. How then she came to be killed?"

Thus non-combatants are guaranteed security of life even if their state is at war with an Islamic state.

Jihad

While Islam in general is misunderstood in the western world, perhaps no other Islamic term evokes such strong reactions as the word ‘jihad’. The term ‘jihad’ has been much abused, to conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims, forcing people to submit at the point of the sword. This myth was perpetuated throughout the centuries of mistrust during and after the Crusades. Unfortunately, it survives to this day.

The word Jihad comes from the root word jahada, which means to struggle. So jihad is literally an act of struggling. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with the insidious suggestions of one’s own soul. Thus jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.

Secondarily, jihad refers to struggle against injustice. Islam, like many other religions, allows for armed self-defense, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression. The Glorious Qur’an says:

“And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? - Men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!"
[Al-Qur’an 4:75]

Thus Islam enjoins upon its believers to strive utmost, in purifying themselves, as well as in establishing peace and justice in the society. A Muslim can never be at rest when she sees injustice and oppression around her. As Martin Luther King Jr. said:

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

Islam enjoins upon all Muslims to work actively to maintain the balance in which God created everything. However, regardless of how legitimate the cause may be, the Glorious Qur’an never condones the killing of innocent people. Terrorizing the civilian population can never be termed as jihad and can never be reconciled with the teachings of Islam.

History of Tolerance

Even Western scholars have repudiated the myth of Muslims coercing others to convert. The great historian De Lacy O'Leary wrote:

"History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims, sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated."[3]

Muslims ruled Spain for roughly 800 years. During this time, and up until they were finally forced out, the non-Muslims there were alive and flourishing. Additionally, Christian and Jewish minorities have survived in the Muslim lands of the Middle East for centuries. Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all have significant Christian and/or Jewish populations.

This is not surprising to a Muslim, for his faith prohibits him from forcing others to see his point of view. The Glorious Qur’an says:

“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.”
[Al-Qur’an 2:256]

Islam - The Great Unifier

Far from being a militant dogma, Islam is a way of life that transcends race and ethnicity. The Glorious Qur’an repeatedly reminds us of our common origin:

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).”
[Al-Qur’an 49:13]

Thus, it is the universality of its teachings that makes Islam the fastest growing religion in the world. In a world full of conflicts and deep schisms between human beings, a world that is threatened with terrorism, perpetrated by individuals and states, Islam is a beacon of light that offers hope for the future.

[1] Narrated in the collection of traditions of Abu Dawud [2] Narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ibn Hanbal [3] Islam At Crossroads, London, 1923, page 8

UN Rights Body Passes Islamophobia Resolution

Middle East Online, March 25, 2010
(condensed version)

Islamophobia is in contradiction to human rights, freedoms of religions

Resolution condemns laws specifically designed to control, monitor Muslim minorities.

GENEVA - The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday passed a resolution condemning Islamaphobic behaviour, including Switzerland's minaret building ban, despite some states' major reservations. The resolution "strongly condemns... the ban on the construction of minarets of mosques and other recent discriminatory measures." In a November referendum Swiss citizens voted to ban the construction of new minarets, a move that drew criticisms worldwide.

These measures "are manifestations of Islamophobia that stand in sharp contradiction to international human rights obligations concerning freedoms of religions," said the resolution. Such acts would "fuel discrimination, extremism and misperception leading to polarization and fragmentation with dangerous unintended and unforeseen consequences," it said. The resolution also "expresses deep concern ... that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."

It "regrets the laws or administrative measures specifically designed to control and monitor Muslim minorities, thereby stigmatising them and legitimising the discrimination they experience." Putting forward the resolution on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram said that the specific references to Islam, the only religion mentioned in the text, "reflect the existing regrettable situation in some parts of the world where Muslims are being targeted." Babacar Ba, who represents the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, also told reporters that the resolution was a "way to reaffirm once again our condemnation of the decision to ban construction of minarets in Switzerland."

"This initiative that breaches religious freedom and rights of Muslims to build their places of worship as they wish to," he added.

EXTREMISM RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN

Muslim Graves Damaged in Leeds Cemetery

(Loonwatch, March 22, 2010)

Nineteen gravestones have been vandalised in a section of a Leeds cemetery used by Muslims.

One headstone was broken and a number of name plaques on wooden stands were damaged at Harehills Cemetery. Police said they were “keeping an open mind” on whether the graves were deliberately targeted because they were linked to Muslim families.

The damage is believed to have happened overnight last Thursday. Witnesses are being asked to contact police. Insp Nik Adams said: “This incident has caused a great deal of upset and distress to a number of people in the local community.

“Over the weekend we have worked alongside community and religious leaders to identify and contact the next of kin of those whose graves have been affected by this mindless vandalism. “At this stage in the investigation we are keeping an open mind on whether the graves were deliberately targeted because they were linked to Muslim families or whether they were vandalised because of their proximity to a nearby path and two thoroughfares that run through the cemetery.”

NETHERLANDS
Groningen Mosque Smeared with Blood

In the Netherlands, that bastion of tolerance and liberty where polls have shown an increase in popularity for neo-fascist Muslim hater Geert Wilders we have the story of a pig head left by a Mosque which was also smeared with blood and animal intestines.

A mosque in the Selward neighborhood of Groningen was smeared with blood Tuesday night, police reports. In addition to the blood, animal innards and the head of a wild boar were found by the mosque. The Groningen city council responded in shock to the attack Thursday. “We are deeply affected, because Groningen hadn’t known such outrages till now. Only expressions of indignation and disgust are proper here,” according to deputy mayor Frank de Vries. “This doesn’t belong in our city. We immediately promised the mosque board our support.”

The police opened an investigation and will keep extra watch for the mosque and the area.

CANADA:
Ontario Mosque Vandalized
(Mach 20, 2010)

Our final story comes from Canada, where someone obviously wants to intimidate the “Mooslims.” (via: Islamophobia-Watch)

Regional police are investigating a possible hate crime after the mosque of the Muslim Society of Waterloo & Wellington Counties was vandalized this week.

Two windows were broken and offensive graffiti painted around the Erb Street building, leaving many members to question why someone would do such a thing to a place of worship. Offensive pentagonal symbols and the numbers 666 were painted around the building. The windows that were broken were in the women’s prayer area. “It’s a hate crime,” said Faheem Uddin, president of the mosque. “It’s pretty bad. It’s upsetting.” Yesterday, a large crowd attended a funeral at the mosque, with the graffiti and broken windows in plain view. “We just pray for the person who did this,” said Abdul Mannan. “May God guide him. We’re peace-living people. We love everyone and we want everyone to love us.” A news release sent out by Waterloo Masjid public relations states that similar incidents have occurred at mosques in Hamilton and Montreal.

(Los Angeles) Sheriff Lee Baca: A Man of Principle

(Loonwatch, March 24, 2010)

The loons love to cast themselves as the defenders of freedom and the vanguards of enlightenment against the dark forces of Islam. A self-image we have shattered over and over by hurling facts and exposing their ignorance and hateful hypocrisy.

A lot of these right wingers’ invective revolves around castigating the largest Muslim civil rights organization in America, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) because it is a strong and influential voice against bigotry and discrimination against Muslims and that just irks the Islamophobes. They have come up with all sorts of conspiracies revolving around CAIR including one that made Newsweek’s ‘Top Conspiracies of 2009.”

However it seems like they didn’t bargain for an encounter with Sheriff Lee Baca. L.A. County Sheriff Defends Himself, Muslims after Attack by Indiana Governor If L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was feisty last week when he tangled with a Republican congressman in Washington, D.C., he was even more impassioned Tuesday while discussing it. A week ago, Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) impugned Baca during a House Homeland Security subcommittee meeting, saying the sheriff had allied himself with a Muslim American group that engaged in “radical” speech by going to its fundraisers. Baca not only attacked that description of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but he also told Souder he would be fine with going to more fundraisers for the group.

“If he thinks I’m afraid of what he said, I will go to 10 fundraisers because he said it,” Baca declared Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours before a town hall meeting with the Muslim American community. Actually, Baca said, he’s been to only two fundraisers for the organization in four years, but that, he added, is not the point. What rankled Baca — aside from what he took as Souder personally challenging the sheriff’s patriotism — was what he saw as the congressman’s inaccurate assessment of the group. “In other words, he’s an amateur intelligence officer,” Baca said.

Several times a year, the Muslim American Homeland Security Congress — an independent group set up to advise Baca and forge a partnership between the department and Muslim Americans — and the Sheriff’s Department’s Muslim Community Affairs Unit hold forums to discuss issues. The one Tuesday night was scheduled before the dust-up in Washington offered a charged topic for discussion. When Baca spoke at the Tuesday event, he was given a standing ovation by the 75 or so people at the Omar ibn Al-Khattab Foundation near USC. Baca called Souder’s comments “scary” and said they were an affront to all Muslim Americans. “When you attack CAIR,” he said, “you attack virtually every Muslim in America.”

Baca’s response to Souder was a statement in defense of democracy, said Maher Hathout, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Southern California. “And they will not vanish,” he said. “They are on the record and they are a landmark on the road of our democracy.” Salam Al-Marayati, Executive Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, hailed Baca as a hero. “Sheriff Baca is our champion and is our hero in defending us against McCarthyism in this era,” Al-Marayati said. Although CAIR, a national Muslim civil liberties group, has its critics, Baca said the local offices represent average Muslim Americans “very committed to the safety of the U.S. It is not an organization that supports or promotes terrorism.” He added that the group supported a proposed half-cent sales tax hike for law enforcement. “I think CAIR’s support for public safety is unequivocal,” he said.

Baca said he believes strongly in a connection between public safety and religious understanding. The Sheriff’s Department’s interfaith council, he said, has been working for a decade on projects such as passing out food baskets to the homeless and counseling drug addicts. “We have all faiths represented — Jewish, Muslim, Scientology is even involved.” The Muslim American Homeland Security Congress was set up in the wake of “this constant uninformed chatter about religion being a factor in terrorism,” he said. “I’m saying — because I’ve read the Koran and been involved with Muslim Americans for years — this is not correct. God has nothing to do with mentally ill people committing terrorist acts. If a mentally ill person is using Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Scientology to say ‘This is part of why I’m doing this,’ I say, ‘Well, guess what, don’t act like you’re God, you don’t have God’s authority.’

Baca is Catholic. “I’m a weak Catholic; I’m not suggesting I’m doing my best at it,” he said. “I respect Catholicism and I respect all faiths.” Without them, he said, “our crime would be outrageous. We would not be a civilized world.”

Book Series on Islam Aimed at Young Students Heavily Biased

(Loonwatch, March 18, 2010)

The Foreign Policy Research Institute and Mason Crest Publishers have come out with a 10 volume series of textbooks titled “World of Islam” which is littered with fearmongering, anti-Muslim sentiment, inaccuracy and bias.

MUSLIM GROUP CONDEMS ISLAM BOOK SERIES

The Pennsylvania chapter of a Muslim-rights group accused a Philadelphia think tank and its Broomall publisher yesterday of “fearmongering,” inaccuracy, and bias in a 10-volume series of textbooks titled World of Islam.

The 64-page volumes, produced and edited by the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Mason Crest Publishers, are aimed at middle and high school students.

At a news conference at its Center City office, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-PA) cited passages it deemed inflammatory. Among them: “Muslims began immigrating to the United States in order to transform American society, sometimes through the use of terrorism.”

The group contended that such language obscured the reality that most people, Muslims included, come to America simply for better lives.

“When you finish reading these books you walk away with the impression that Muslims are inherently violent, that Islam is a second-rate religion, and that one should be wary of Muslims in any society,” said Moein Khawaja, civil rights director of CAIR-PA.

Alan Luxenberg, vice president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that the allegations were “without basis” and that CAIR had “misconstrued the intended meaning of the books.” Founded in 1955, the nonprofit institute conducts research and education on international affairs.

No one from the publishing house was immediately available for comment, although the company has offered to send complimentary copies for review “to any journalist on request.”

Khawaja said he did not know which, if any, school districts had bought the series. But he said complaints from other CAIR chapters suggested the books were in public and academic libraries in more than 20 states.

“The Free Library of Philadelphia” has a set, he said, “and we thought it better to speak out now” before the series gets wider distribution.

Khawaja urged schools and libraries that have the books to replace them with another 10-part series, Introducing Islam, which is also published by Mason Crest. That series, he said, “does what a schoolbook is supposed to do: educate.”

Khawaja said he would donate a set of that series to the Free Library. Library administrators were not immediately available for comment.

(Ed Note: Al-Qaida - One of the sickest of all terrorist groups)

Al-Qaida Hiding Bombs In Breast Implants, Says MI5

ANI, Mar 24, 2010, Times of India

LONDON: Al-Qaida is laying deadly “booby traps” by equipping its female suicide bombers with explosive breast implants that are impossible to be detected at airport security checkpoints, British intelligence agency MI5 has claimed.

“Women suicide bombers recruited by al-Qaida are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery,” the British newspaper Sun quoted terrorist expert Joseph Farah, as saying.

The lethal explosives called PETN are inserted inside plastic shapes during the operation, before the breast is then sewn up, he added.

According to the MI5, al-Qaida doctors have been trained at some of Britain’s leading teaching hospitals before returning to their own countries to perform the surgical procedures. The intelligence agency has also discovered that extremists are inserting the explosives into the buttocks of some male suicide bombers. Top surgeons have confirmed the feasibility of the explosive implants. “Properly inserted, the implant would be virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines,” one surgeon said.

“You would need to subject a suspect to a sophisticated X-ray. Given that the explosive would be inserted in a sealed plastic sachet, and would be a small amount, would make it all the more impossible to spot it with the usual body scanner,” he added. A sachet containing as little as five ounces of PETN could blow “a considerable hole” in an airline’s skin, causing it to crash, experts said.

A SAUDI BLOGGER'S INTELLECTUAL FIGHT AGAINST THE EXTREMISTS

A Saudi women in an "abaya" cloak. A Saudi housewife's bold poems which blast "evil" extremist fatwas by Muslim clerics have earned her death threats but could yet win her a 1.3-million-dollar poetry contest on Emirati television. (AFP/File/Hassan Ammar)

GENDER IMBALANCE IN INDIA:

(Ed Note: It is stated in the Holy Quran that daughters are a GIFT from Allah. Let's not forget that during the early period of Prophet's life, females were considered a big liability and new born females were frequently buried alive. Prophet Mohamed (SAW) condemned above practice was was solely responsible for stopping above infanticide, thereby in the process saved the lives of thousands of females)

A lone Indian woman waits for a bus in New Delhi. Gender imbalances have worsened across much of Asia where the traditional preference for male births has combined with modern technology such as ultrasound scans that make it easy to know the gender of an unborn child. (AFP/Prakash Singh

An Indian woman talks on a phone while waiting for a bus in New Delhi. Medical experts say the natural gender ratio should be 103-107 males born for every 100 females - a tilt that apparently compensates for higher infant mortality rates in males. (AFP/Prakash Singh)

An Indian woman (right) waits for a bus in New Delhi on March 17. While having a scan, a pregnant woman in India is not allowed to learn the gender of her unborn child. But her bill might be presented in a file coloured blue or pink -- and the meaning is clear. (AFP/Prakash Singh)

What About Grooms For Muslim Girls In Orphanages?

by Adnan Alavi on September 15, 2007 in Featured, India

(Thanks to Sister Jabeen Mubashishira from Los Angeles for forwarding below article)

(ED Note: Although below article may seem old, the problem continues to this day. Islam is a way of life and this implies that different aspects of life need to be addressed. Unfortunately, many Muslims neglect many of the social aspects and overly emphasize on spiritual and ritualistic aspects, which are no doubt very important but do not represent all facets that constitutes Islam. Further in a materialistic world, where DOWRY translates to FREE cash and other materials of value, the ability of an orphan girl and her sponsors to offer any dowry is none or at best extremely limited. We strongly encourage Muslim men to consider orphan Muslim girls as potential brides and would have deep respect for such men who could not only marry an Muslim orphan but also enrich her life by giving her lifelong companionship, peace and happiness, inshallah)

It’s an old problem. Muslim girls in the Homes for Destitutes and Orphanages who don’t get proposals from Muslim youths in the society. They don’t have much choices. Either they remain unmarried. Or get married to non-Muslims but in this situation there is a great hue and cry from the Muslim society.

In the State Government’s Nari Niketan at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), the girls reportedly agreed that when no Muslim boys were ready to marry them, they could accept non-Muslim grooms who liked them. That’s basically a social problem where the clergy and Muslim society must act. Poor girls whose parents die in mishaps or due to other causes end up at Nari Niketans and then it’s the job of the Muslim society (social workers) to find suitable matches for them. There are not many Muslim orphanages (the Waqf Boards are always facing funds crunch to ever think of opening such institutes) and private Muslim destitute homes are rare.

Muslim society hardly cares for their orphans and homeless kids in India. So when they go to state-run homes or orphanages run by other communities and the girls don’t get marital proposals, it is the fault of Muslim society.

In a secular country if a Muslim girl in a state-run orphanage, says that she is willing to marry a Hindu boy then one can’t really object. The responsibility to raise her was shunned by the same society when the girl was a destitute kid and needed protection. In the past when girls in Meerut Nari Niketan were married off to Hindu boys, it led to a major controversy.

On my blog I had written about how Muslim girls were married off to Bahai and other communities. Saharanpur and Meerut districts have huge Muslim population, especially Saharanpur that is also home to Deoband seminary. There is anger amongst Muslims in Saharanpur and people are frustrated with the role of Muslim organisations including Jamiat Ulama, Jamat Ahl-e-Hadis, Milli Council et al for failing to ever inquire about the condition of Muslim girls in orphanages. The Jamat-e-Islami has reportedly taken the initiative and the Ameer-e-Jamat of the district visited the Nari Niketan. They have told authorities that they will find suitable grooms for the Muslim girls.

NEW YEAR CELEBRATION IN KASHMIR

Kashmiri villagers celebrate Nowruz festival at Sumbal village, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Srinagar, India, Monday, March 22, 2010. Nowruz is the start of spring and is celebrated as new year in many countries of Central Asia. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)


Folk dancers in national costumes perform during the festivities marking the holiday of Navruz in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Navruz, central Asia's spring 'New Year' holiday, falls on March 21. (AP Photo/Anvar Ilyasov)

THANKS TO THE US ARMY FOR ITS POLICY REFLECTING INCREASED TOLERANCE TO MINORITIES

U.S. Army Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan speaks to journalists a U.S. Army officer basic training graduation ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on Monday, March 22, 2010. Capt. Rattan is the first Sikh allowed to complete officer basic training while wearing the traditional turban and full beard since the Army altered the dress code, which had made exceptions for Sikh soldiers, in 1984. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

U.S. Army Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, center wearing turban, stands with other graduates as they sing 'The Army Goes Rolling Along' during a U.S. Army officer basic training graduation ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on Monday, March 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

U.S. Army Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, center wearing turban, stands with other graduates during a U.S. Army officer basic training graduation ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on Monday, March 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

THE END

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 123, March 23, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

EDITORIAL:

Referring to the concept of ONE GLOBAL UMMAH, Prophet Mohamed (SAW) had stated that:

“The Muslim Ummah is like one body. If the eye is in pain then the whole body is in pain and if the head is in pain then the whole body is in pain”

Thanks to our Muslim Brothers and Sisters from Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Turkey for practically demonstrating the pain felt when one (group) of our UMMAH (Palestinians) are in pain. We have 57 Muslim countries with about 1.5 billion Muslims. We wonder about the concern of others to the plight of Palestinians. Inshallah sooner or later, they will translate their EMOTIONAL feelings into PRACTICAL PEACEFUL ACTIONS to express their concern for Palestinians.

Part of global democracy is FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, and as Muslims we have the right to express our feelings of pain when we know that our Muslim Brothers and Sisters on the other side are in pain. However it is recommended that the demonstrations be PEACEFUL. We oppose stepping upon or burning of Israel flag, we oppose any violence or attack against Jews or their interests. We also oppose the random rocket fired into the Israeli territory. What even by chance if it hit a small child and killed the child. Killing innocents is a violation of Islamic peace loving values. Recently one of such random rockets by the Palestinians killed a farm worker from Thailand WHO HAPPEN TO BE IN THE WRONG PLACE IN THE WRONG TIME. This is unacceptable in Islam which places so much value on the sanctity of human life.

We are aware that Israel has committed human right violations in hundreds of other ways, but two wrongs don't make it right. As Muslims we need to realize that violence, killing and bloodshed is NOT the answer. We need to find alternative peaceful diplomatic ways to reach a just solution. A big liability for the Palestinians today is the DEEP DIVISIONS, LACK OF UNITY, LACK OF COHESIVENESS AND LACK OF CO-ORDINATION FROM WITHIN THE UMMAH.

If the global Ummah puts into practice the true values of ONE UMMAH, that Prophet Mohamed (SAW) had envisioned, then there is no question that the Palestinians will have their own homeland and coexist peacefully with Jews as their neighbors. The first bold step that the 1.5 billion and 57 nation strong Ummah needs to take is push the option of violence in the back burner and try alternative non-violent means to achieve the goal of Palestinian homeland.

Unfortunately Muslims while claiming to represent Islam as a religion of peace has not translated the gems of Islam into actions. If Islam is really a religion of peace, IT MUST HAVE IN ITS TOOLBOX OF SOCIAL INTERACTION, TOOLS OF PEACE TO DEAL WITH DIFFERENCES AT ANY LEVEL, BE IT, NATIONAL, REGIONAL OR PERSONAL LEVEL.

It is high time that we work towards representing ONE UMMAH regardless of Sunni, Shia or other sects or nationalities. Once we truly implement the concept of ONE UMMAH, Israel will easily recognize that in its negotiation for PEACE, it is not just dealing with the local Palestinians but with the GLOBAL UMMAH.

We abhor the extremist elements in both Islam and Judaism who vilify the opposing religion and create stereotypes of the whole religious group. We still strongly have a conviction that PEACE IS POSSIBLE BETWEEN THE ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS. Let's reach out with love towards both parties in and around the holy city and work for a just, permanent and lasting peace, inshallah.

(A NOTE ABOUT "PEACE: TO OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN HUMANITY)

Excerpts from the Tractate of Derech Eretz:

The Peace Chapter

"These three actually are one. If JUSTICE is present then TRUTH is present and this makes PEACE. And all three are found in the same verse, as it is written, "Judge with the justice of truth and peace within your gates." Wherever there is justice there will be peace. And wherever there is peace there is justice.

(Above explains why there is no peace in the Israeli region (because there is NO justice) for the past sixty plus years)

Rabbi Yehoshua said: How great is peace, for the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, is peace, as it is said, "And he (Gideon) called [Him] God of Peace." (Judges 6:24)

JEWISH PROVERBS:

Jewish Proverb # 1: “God is closest to those with broken hearts.”

(Dear Israelis: Please be sensitive and considerate to your neighbors, the PALESTINIANS, who have been heart broken for the past several decades)

Jewish Proverb # 2: “Pray that you will never have to bear all that you are able to endure.”

(Both the Palestinians and Jews are tired of continually enduring ongoing suffering and insecurity, LET'S BOTH TOGETHER WORK FOR PEACE. First step, both of us must root out the extremists who have hijacked our path. The moderate majority in both faiths are PASSIVE AND SILENT and this MUST change in terms of being more ACTIVE AND ASSERTIVE)

Jewish Proverb # 3: "No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.”

(To the President and Government of Israel: Aren't you seeing the daily violence, commotion and sufferings around you. WILL YOU NOT LISTEN ? Please work for PEACE by granting the Palestinians a homeland. We know it is very complicated process. But it needs real hard work with sincere intentions for peace, which we know you could do)

Jewish Proverb # 4: “Listen to your enemy, for God is talking.”

(Nothing could be more clear than the above and we rest our case)

LONG LIVE PALESTINE
(All photos from yahoo.news.photos)

Graphic showing Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. Washington has said that expanding Israeli settlements endanger newly-agreed peace talks (AFP/Graphic)

Map of Jerusalem locating clashes between Palestinians and security forces. Hundreds of Palestinians have clashed with security forces in east Jerusalem as tension boils over in the city and a senior Hamas leader calls for a new "intifada," or uprising. (yahoo.news.photos)

(ED NOTE: (Translation of above Obama Poster is that Obama is PLO Agent in White House). Good chances that the author of above poster is an extremist and close minded. The author has basically made a mockery of all the American voters and insulted their intelligence by suggesting that they had voted a PLO agent as their leader to lead the GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH)

JORDAN

A woman carries a banner that reads in Arabic :' al-Aqsa, we respond to you,' as they march toward the United Nations House during a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Jordanians burn an Israeli flag during a rally in Amman, Jordan on Tuesday March 16, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity with Jerusalem and Palestinians after Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians near Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque, and the Old City. (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

A Jordanian demonstrator holds a Palestinian flag during a protest near the Israeli embassy in support of Palestinians following latest clashes in Jerusalem, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, March, 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Jordanian demonstrators shout anti-Israeli slogans during a protest near the Israeli embassy in support of Palestinians following latest clashes in Jerusalem, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, March, 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Jordanian demonstrators clash with the police during a protest near the Israeli embassy in support of Palestinians following latest clashes in Jerusalem, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, March, 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Jordanian demonstrators set an Israeli flag on fire protesting against Israel's consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City, in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Jordanians burn an Israeli flag during a rally in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday March 16, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity with Palestinians after Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians near Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque, and the Old City. (AP Photo / Mohammad Abu Ghosh)

Jordanian demonstrators display a placard of the dome of the rock mosque with the words written in Arabic, ' save it before they demolish it ', during a protest against Israel's consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City, in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, March, 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

Jordanian women demonstrators chant anti-Israeli slogans protesting against Israel's consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City, in Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud)

TURKEY

Demonstrators shout slogans and hold placards during a protest against Israel in front of the Israeli embassy in Ankara March 19, 2010. The protest was held against Israel's consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City and to express solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem. The words on the placard read "long live". REUTERS/Umit Bektas

A demonstrator prays as a girl holds an Islamic flag during a protest against Israel in Istanbul March 19, 2010. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Pro-Palestinian Turks set on fire an Israeli flag as they shout slogans to protest Israel's plans to build new housing in east Jerusalem, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, March 19, 2010. Israel last week announced plans to build 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing international criticism and sparking clashes in east Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

Demonstrators shout Islamic slogans following Friday prayers during a protest against Israel in Istanbul March 19, 2010. The banner reads "Jerusalem: Heart of ummah, the worldwide Muslim community". REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Demonstrators carry a small model of Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock and a Hezbollah flag during a protest against Israel following Friday prayers at Beyazit Mosque in Istanbul March 19, 2010. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

A man holds a placard that reads ' Long live global Intifada ' as Pro-Palestinian Turks set on fire the Star of David, to protest Israel's plans to build new housing in east Jerusalem, near Israel embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, March 19, 2010. Israel last week announced plans to build 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing international criticism and sparking clashes in east Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Demonstrators burn an Israeli flag during a demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul October 26, 2009. Protesters rallied against Israel's storming of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, during which stun grenades were hurled at Palestinians who had thrown rocks at them. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

A demonstrator shouts anti-Israel slogans during a demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul October 26, 2009. Protesters rallied against Israel's storming of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, during which stun grenades were hurled at Palestinians who had thrown rocks at them. REUTERS Osman Orsal



Demonstrators step on a Star of David during a protest against Israel in front of the Israeli embassy in Ankara March 19, 2010. The protest was held against Israel's consecration of a synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City and to express solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

YEMEN

A Yemeni soldier watches as protesters attend an anti-Israeli rally in Sanaa March 19, 2010. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Protesters shout slogans as they attend an anti-Israeli rally in Sanaa March 19, 2010. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

EGYPT

Egyptian university students chant anti- Israeli slogans as they burn the Israeli flag during a rally protesting the 'Israeli violations' against Islamic shrines, outside the University of Cairo in Cairo, Egypt Monday, March 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Nasser Nouri)

LEBANON

Lebanese women from Hezbollah carry Palestinian, Lebanese and Hezbollah yellow flags, as they march toward the United Nations House during a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Palestinian and Lebanese protesters carry a huge Palestinian flag as they march toward the United Nations House during a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese and Palestinians carry a huge Palestinian flag during a rally held in front of the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese and Palestinians hold a huge Palestinian flag during a rally held in front of the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)




A boy gestures as he holds a Palestinian and a Hezbollah yellow flag during a rally held in front of the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Members of the Lebanese Popular Democratic Party shout anti-Israeli slogans during a rally held at the Martyrs Square in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. The banners is arabic read:' Armed struggle is the choice of revolutionary,' and ' The victory to Palestine and shame on the people who are building the wall.' (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

INSIDE THE HEARTLAND OF PALESTINE

An Israeli soldier stands guard next to three Palestinian boys who were arrested for throwing stones during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron. The international Quartet for the Middle East met Friday in Moscow in a bid to revive the peace process despite tensions after Israel's announcement of new settler homes and a deadly rocket attack. (AFP/Hazem Bader)

Israeli troops fire tear gas towards Palestinian stone-throwing protesters during clashes in the West Bank village of Iraq Burin, south of Nablus, on March 20. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday urged Israel to make "difficult but necessary choices" for Middle East peace as she warned that Jewish settlements undermine fresh negotiations. (AFP/File/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas canisters at Palestinians, not seen, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most serious violence to rock this volatile West Bank city in months. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinian stone-throwers gesture toward Israeli troops during clashes near the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in a "day of rage" in Jerusalem on Tuesday and a U.S.-Israeli crisis over a Jewish settlement project deepened with the cancellation of a U.S. peace envoy's visit. The Dome of the Rock, on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City is seen in the background. REUTERS/Baz Ratner



A Palestinian throws stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank town of Qalandia. Tensions over Jerusalem have sparked the worst riots in recent years. The Quartet for the Middle East urged Israel to stop building settlements and set a bold target for a final deal with the Palestinians by 2012 as it tried to kickstart the stalled peace process. (AFP/Marco Longari)

Palestinians chant and hold up banners as they protest Tuesday, March, 16, 2010, against Israel's rededication on Monday of a historic synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, during a rally in Gaza City. Writing on banner reads in Arabic: 'No to Judaization of Jerusalem', right and: 'The one who gives up his land loses his honor', left. (AP Photo/ Hatem Moussa)

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian women are seen during clashes after a demonstration at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Saturday, March 13, 2010. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Majdi Mohammed)

A masked Palestinian youth stands next to a burning tire as others look on, during clashes with Israeli soldiers, not seen, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most serious violence to rock this volatile West Bank city in months. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Israeli left wing activists demonstrate outside the District Court in Haifa, northern Israel , Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

A Palestinian protester prepares to throw a stone as Israeli watch nearby at the West Bank checkpoint of Atara on March 15. Hundreds of Palestinians have clashed with security forces in east Jerusalem as tension boils over in the city and a senior Hamas leader calls for a new "intifada," or uprising. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

A Palestinian boy runs past a pile of burning tires during clashes with Israeli troops, not seen, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at police and set tires ablaze across the holy city's volatile eastern sector, where thousands of officers, including reinforcements brought in from other locations, were in place for a fifth straight day. The violence also spilled over into the nearby West Bank. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Masked Palestinian militants from Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to the Fatah movement, talk to journalists in Gaza City, Thursday, March 18, 2010. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS /Adel Hana

The family of Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza is suing Israel. The parents of Rachel Corrie are seeking compensation from Israel's Defense Ministry for the death of their daughter in 2003. Arguments in the civil case opened in a Haifa court on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod)

Palestinian residents of the heavily destroyed Ezbet Abed Rabbo area of the northern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalia wave national flags as they gather to receive UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the camp. Ban slammed Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip during a tour of the war-battered coastal territory on Sunday, saying it was causing "unacceptable suffering. "(AFP/Mohammed Abed)

A Palestinian militant holds a mock rocket during rally in Gaza City, 2009. Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Monday that landed in an empty field without causing any casualties or damage (AFP/File/Said Khatib)

Palestinians carry a model of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque as they take part in a rally in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. Hundreds of Palestinians have clashed with security forces in east Jerusalem as tension boils over in the city and a senior Hamas leader calls for a new "intifada," or uprising. (AFP/Said Khatib)

Israeli soldiers patrol in a street during clashes with Palestinians, not seen, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most serious violence to rock this volatile West Bank city in months. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinian women protest Tuesday, March, 16, 2010, against Israel's rededication on Monday of a historic synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, during a rally in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A Palestinian girl takes part in a rally, marking a symbolic declaration of independence, in the West Bank village of Beit Furiq near Nablus November 15, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 file photo, a Palestinian in a wheel chair waits inside a newly built passageway on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing, northern Gaza Strip. A healthy man in blockaded Gaza faked cancer, hoping the deadly disease would be his ticket out of the territory that has become an open-air prison for its 1.4 million residents. His ploy failed, but several thousand others succeeded in fleeing this shabby sliver of land this year using bribes and fake medical reports, a sign of Gazans' desperation over growing poverty and misery under the strict border closure enforced by Egypt and Israel since Hamas militants overran Gaza in June 2007. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Hatem Moussa, File)

Israeli forces detain Palestinian youths following clashes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud. Police flooded into Jerusalem's Old City following clashes with Palestinians near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and as tens of thousands of Jews attended a religious ceremony. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)

A Palestinian youth kicks a burning tire as others look on, during clashes with Israeli soldiers, not seen, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and stun grenades in the most serious violence to rock this volatile West Bank city in months. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad supporters shout slogans while holding the Koran, Islam's holy book, during a rally to protest against the addition of two West Bank shrines to a list of Israeli national heritage sites, in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Friday made a rare visit to the Ibrahim Mosque known also as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine holy to Muslims and Jews in the West Bank city of Hebron. Speaking to reporters after prayers Fayyad accused Israel of 'annexing' it. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)

Palestinian stone-throwers stand behind burning planks during clashes with Israeli troops at Qalandiya checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in a "day of rage" in Jerusalem on Tuesday and a U.S.-Israeli crisis over a Jewish settlement project deepened with the cancellation of a U.S. peace envoy's visit. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

A Palestinian woman looks at Israeli soldiers during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in a "day of rage" in Jerusalem on Tuesday and a U.S.-Israeli crisis over a Jewish settlement project deepened with the cancellation of a U.S. peace envoy's visit. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Palestinian women from Hamas carry a banner in Arabic that reads : 'Al-Aqsa is in the eyes, we die for it,' as they march toward the United Nations House during a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Cindy Corrie, left, and Craig Corrie, right, the parents of Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, sit together with their daughter Sarah at the District Court in Haifa, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The family of an pro-Palestinian activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza is suing Israel. The parents of Rachel Corrie are seeking compensation from Israel's Defense Ministry for the death of their daughter in 2003. (AP Photo/Moti Milrod)

Palestinian youths hurl stones at Israeli troops, not seen, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at police and set tires ablaze across the holy city's volatile eastern sector, where thousands of officers, including reinforcements brought in from other locations, were in place for a fifth straight day. The violence also spilled over into the nearby West Bank. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinian boy scouts carry fake missiles, during a rally held at the Martyrs Square in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over the latest clashes in Jerusalem. The word in Arabic on the missiles read: 'Jerusalem.' AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya (left) stands behind newly-freed Palestinian prisoner Fatima Yunes al-Zaq at a welcoming ceremony in Gaza City. Analysts said the release of 19 Palestinian women prisoners in exchange for a brief video clip of a captured Israeli soldier has handed a much-need victory to Hamas. (AFP/File/Mohammed Abed)

An Israeli border police officer fires tear gas towards Palestinian stone-throwers in East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya March 16, 2010. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Palestinians inspect the damage to a mosque that was set on fire in the West Bank village of Kfar Yasuf, south of the West Bank city of Nablus. Assailants vandalized a West Bank mosque on Friday, torching its library and spraying hate messages in Hebrew in an attack blamed on hardline Jews angered by plans to curb settlement building. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Palestinians protest Tuesday, March, 16, 2010, against Israel's rededication on Monday of a historic synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, during a rally in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Palestinian stone-throwers gesture toward Israeli troops during clashes near the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in a "day of rage" in Jerusalem on Tuesday and a U.S.-Israeli crisis over a Jewish settlement project deepened with the cancellation of a U.S. peace envoy's visit. The Dome of the Rock, on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City is seen in the background. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the East Jeruslaem neighbourhood of Issawiya. Hundreds of Palestinians have clashed with security forces in east Jerusalem as tension boils over in the city and a senior Hamas leader calls for a new "intifada," or uprising. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)

An Israeli soldier takes position during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers at Qalandiya checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in a "day of rage" in Jerusalem on Tuesday and a U.S.-Israeli crisis over a Jewish settlement project deepened with the cancellation of a U.S. peace envoy's visit. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Masked Palestinian youths hurl stones at Israeli troops, not seen, during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at police and set tires ablaze across the holy city's volatile eastern sector, where thousands of officers, including reinforcements brought in from other locations, were in place for a fifth straight day. The violence also spilled over into the nearby West Bank. (AP Photo / Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A Palestinian youth throws a stone at Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank village of Iraq Burin, south of Nablus on March 20. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Israel to make "difficult but necessary choices" for Middle East peace but promised her "rock solid" support for its security. (AFP/File/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Palestinian protesters carry a wounded comrade during confrontations between Israeli troops and stone-throwers, mostly Palestinian students, at the West Bank checkpoint of Atara, on March 15. Israeli troops wounded 10 Palestinians as they opened fired on dozens of students hurling stones at soldiers to protest Israeli actions in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and witnesses said. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

Palestinian student Berlanty Azzam speaks to the press on the Gaza Strip side of Erez crossing terminal with Israel following a court hearing with her lawyer and Israeli authorities in November 2009. Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld a decision under which Azzam was deported from Bethlehem to Gaza just two months before she was due to complete her bachelor's degree. (AFP/File/Mohammed Abed)

IRAN

Two pro-reform Iranian women attend the funeral ceremony of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the spiritual father of Iran's reform movement, as the wear green headbands, the symbolic color of Iranian opposition, in the holy city of Qom 78 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Montazeri, who died Sunday at the age of 87, was a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution who later accused his fellow clerical leaders of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam. (AP Photo)

Men on a tree watch the casket of the Iranian Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the spiritual father of Iran's reform movement, at left, during his funeral ceremony, in the city of Qom 78 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Montazeri, who died Sunday at the age of 87, was a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution who later accused his fellow clerical leaders of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam. (AP Photo)

File photo of Iranian twins Ladan (L) and Laleh Bijani giving a press conference at Raffles Hospital in Singapore. They died from severe blood loss after 52 hours of surgery. (AFP/File/Ernest Goh)

A GOOD MODEL FOR MUSLIMA:
MAURITANIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER IN HIJAB

(ED NOTE: While the Mauritania's female foreign minister may herself not be aware, she has admiration from millions of Muslims worldwide. She is truly a 21st century MUSLIMA ROLE MODEL. She brings to the global ummah two much needed qualities - first is maintaining her Islamic identity while at the same time, having a leadership role. Unfortunately, in the Muslim world, we see that the Muslim sisters who are strictly maintaining their Islamic identity are usually NOT in top leadership positions, while those Muslims who have abandoned Islam OR do not practice Islam generally tend to be in a comparatively greater percentage in number VISIBLE and at the top leadership positions or in the process of climbing up the ladder in their leadership career. SELDOM DO WE SEE A COMBINATION OF BOTH - TOP CAREER AS WELL AS PRACTICING ISLAM IN DRESS AND IN OTHER WAYS.

For example, among the Arab countries, the wives of most Arab leaders are totally absent on the public relations sphere on one extreme, while on the other extreme, Queen Rania gives a hoot about Holy Quranic recommendation of Islamic dress and compared to other wives of Arab leaders is extremely active in public relations and in social life. The global ummah would be proud to have a Muslima who while maintaining her Islamic identity is equally career oriented, active leader in national, civic and political sphere.

The Mauritanian Foreign Minister has struck the right balance and is not on either of above two extremes).

Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Bent hamdi Weld Mocnas attends the foreign ministers' meeting from the Sahara desert states in Algiers March 16, 2010. Algeria is to host a meeting of foreign ministers from Sahara desert states this week to try to hammer out a joint plan of action for tackling the growing threat from al Qaeda insurgents, officials said. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi

IS QUEEN RANIA REPRESENTING OR MISREPRESENTING THE ARAB COUNTRY OF JORDAN

Mauritanian Foreign Minister Naha Bent hamdi Weld Mocnas arrives during the foreign ministers' meeting from the Sahara desert states in Algiers March 16, 2010. Algeria is to host a meeting of foreign ministers from Sahara desert states this week to try to hammer out a joint plan of action for tackling the growing threat from al Qaeda insurgents, officials said. Reuters

CONGRATULATIONS TO YET ANOTHER GREAT MUSLIMA - WIFE OF THE TURKISH PRIME MINISTER WHO HAS THE COURAGE TO MAINTAIN HER ISLAMIC IDENTITY DESPITE THE HISTORIC SECULAR APPROACH FOLLOWED IN TURKEY.

UNITED STATES HEALTH CARE REFORM:

Front pages of US leading newspapers in the wake of health care reform legislation championed by President Barack Obama. (AFP/OFF)

A doctor in Miami watches US President Barack Obama sign into law historic, sweeping reforms that lay out health care coverage for almost every American and realize the dreams of generations of past US leaders. (AFP/Getty Images/Joe Raedle)

Charts showing the number of Americans who do and do not have health coverage. The US House of Representatives sent a historic health care overhaul to President Barack Obama, bringing the United States closer than ever before to guaranteed coverage for all Americans. (AFP/Graphic)

Graphic showing how Democrats and Republicans voted in the US House of Representatives. (AFP/Graphics/null)

After a year of debate, historic health reform finally means health insurance for nearly all Americans. (AFPTV)

INDIA

GUJARAT THUG IN CHIEF:
SHOULD BE CHARGED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, speaks in New Delhi on January 9. Modi, has been called by investigators to answer questions about riots that killed around 2,000 Muslims. (AFP/File Raveendran)

Muslim youth shout slogans during a rally in Calcutta against the killing of Muslims in Gujarat state violence in 2002. A team probing the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat has summoned the state's Hindu nationalist chief minister for questioning, an investigator said Thursday. (AFP/File/Deshakalyan Chowdhury)

Indian Muslims from the Popular Front of India look on during a rally to demand for affirmative action for Muslims in government jobs and in education, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

Indian Muslims from the Popular Front of India shout slogans to demand for affirmative action for Muslims in government jobs and in education, in New Delhi, India, Monday, March 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)

(Hindu extremists in action)

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan women visit the Hazrat-i Ali shrine in Mazar-i-Sharif, the centre of Afghan New Year's or Nowruz celebrations. Afghans have travelled from across their war-ravaged country to the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif united behind one wish: that the advent of the new year will bring them peace. (AFP/Shah Marai)

March 15,2010: An Afghan woman walks along with donkey carrying jerry cans filled with water in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 22, 2010. Clean Water for a Healthy World is the theme for World Water Day 2010 which is celebrated Monday. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


Friends and relatives of the victims of blast on Saturday offer prayers during a condolence gathering in Kandahar north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March 15, 2010. Kandahar provincial Gov. Tooryalai Wesa told reporters that he had asked the central government in Kabul for more Afghan troops to protect the city in the run-up to the expected offensive in the province, which is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

MISGUIDED MUSLIMS:
LET'S PRAY TO ALLAH TO GUIDE THEM IN THE RIGHT PATH

(Ed Note: It is really pathetic to see below five losers who were misguided by their mentors and inadvertently deviated away from peaceful religion of Islam.)

This undated handout picture released by Pakistan police shows mugshot photos of US nationals arrested in Sargodha. A Pakistani court has ordered that five American men arrested for trying to link up with Islamist militants cannot be deported without the court's permission, officials said. (AFP/HO/File)

LA ROSE: A MUSLIMA WHO HAS CHALLENGED THE STEREOTYPE OF AN ISLAMIC TERRORIST

(Ed Note: If a native from Europe has immigrated to the United States and changed her nationality by becoming a naturalized US citizen, and if she deeply associates with and becomes a follower of a group of US Citizens who are from Ku Klux Klan OR White Order of Thule, Creativity Movement, Hammerskin Nation, Aryan Nation et.c then you CANNOT expect her to have a PROPER AND REASONABLE understanding of the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of expression et.c. Further her understanding of the below would be significantly different because the white supremacists would disagree with the (below) "equality" concept since they believe that they are a SUPERIOR RACE.

(A part of) the United States Declaration of Independence in their statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776:

"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS".

Some of the gems that Islam brought to the world more than 1400 years ago were the emphasis on MANKIND BEING ONE COMMUNITY, EQUALITY, UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD regardless of race, color, nationality, culture et.c. and PEACE.

However the deviated extremist mentors of La Rose not only misguided her but also used her in an attempt to achieve their anti-Islamic and criminal goal of planning to murder.

It is really unfortunate, that La Rose got introduced and become a follower of a DEVIATED group that has violated Islamic values of peace and in essence started off her journey to Islam in the wrong foot. Obviously associating with a deviated group has a cost and for sister La Rose, the cost would be possible incarceration with a record of being a felon for rest of her life).

This undated image courtesy of WPVI-TV in Philadelpha, Pennsylvania shows terror suspect Colleen LaRose. The American woman operating online under the name "JihadJane" has been indicted for recruiting jihadist fighters in the United States, Europe and Asia in a bid to carry out terror plots. (AFP/WPVI TV)

LAROSE WAS ACCUSED OF MOVING TO EUROPE TO TRY TO KILL (SWEDE CARTOONIST LARS VILKS) WHO IS CURRENTLY IN STOCKHOLM - This image provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows Colleen LaRose, an American womanfrom Pennsylvania indicted Tuesday March 9, 2010 and accused of using the Internetto recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas. The indictment accusesLaRose of moving to Europe to try to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks who is in Stockholm. (AP Photo/SITE Intelligence Group)

This undated image courtesy of Fox News shows a photo from a website authorities say was maintained by terror suspect Colleen LaRose. The American woman operating online under the name "JihadJane" has been indicted for recruiting jihadist fighters in the United States, Europe and Asia in a bid to carry out terror plots. (AFP/FOX NEWS)

This image provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows Colleen LaRose. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/SITE Intelligence Group)

GREECE

(ED NOTE: TO ALL RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS: Please don't harbor hate towards (below) innocent women because of their head covering. To your relief, we want to confirm that they are NOT MUSLIMS. It is just their native Greek Costume. A piece of cloth over the head should not make a difference anyway.)

Physical education trainee teachers, dressed in traditional Greek costume, chat after taking part at an independence day students' parade in central Athens on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The March 25 public holiday will be marked Thursday with a military parade, but the annual event will be scaled back and not include armored units, as part of sweeping government cuts to cope with the country's financial crisis. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Physical education trainee teachers, dressed in traditional Greek costume, gather after taking part at an independence day students' parade in central Athens on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The March 25 public holiday will be marked Thursday with a military parade, but the annual event will be scaled back and not include armored units, as part of sweeping government cuts to cope with the country's financial crisis. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

DRONES- PERCEIVED AS SHAITAN BY THE TALIBAN

Fact file on the Predator drone used by the US against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A US drone attack destroyed a mountain hideout in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing 10 militants including Al-Qaeda-linked suspects, officials said. (AFP)

DARFUR-WHERE MUSLIMS ARE KILLING MUSLIMS

Graphic created in 2007 showing the extent of damaged and destroyed villages in Darfur. International donors at a conference in Cairo on Sunday pledged 850 million dollars for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Darfur, way short of the two billion dollars organisers had been expecting. (AFP/Graphic)

Sudanese children, displaced by the Darfur conflict, attend a makeshift school in the southern Darfur town of Nyala. International donors will gather in Egypt on March 21 with a two-billion-dollar target for the reconstruction of Darfur. (AFP/File/Jose Cendon)

WILL THE NIGERIANS PROMISE THEMSELVES: "NEVER AGAIN" ?

A map of Nigeria locating ethnic violence in Dogo Nahawa, just south of Jos. Pope Benedict XVI has denounced the "atrocious" bloodshed in Nigeria after a massacre of Christian villagers, as police said 49 people would be charged over the killings. (AFP/Graphic)

(ED NOTE: Above are the suspects in the killings of Nigerian Christians)

Villagers look at bodies of victims of religious attacks lying in a mass grave in the Dogo Nahawa village, about 15 km (9 miles) to the capital city of Jos in central Nigeria, March 8, 2010. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

A woman cries during a funeral of victims killed in religious attacks in the Dogo Nahawa village, about 15 km (9 miles) to the capital city of Jos in central Nigeria, March 8, 2010. Soldiers patrolled the central Nigerian city of Jos on Monday and aid workers tried to assess the death toll after attacks on outlying communities in which several hundred people were feared to have been killed. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

A mother comforts her crying child in Dogo Nahwa, Nigeria, Monday, March 8, 2010. More than 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday in central Nigeria, according to residents, aid groups and journalists. The local government gave a figure more than twice that amount, but offered no casualty list or other information to substantiate it. (AP Photos/Jon Gambrell)

Suspects arrested by the police and military personnel for killing and burning women and children at Dogo Nahawa village in Jos south, plateau state, wait at Jos police headquaters on March 10. Police in Nigeria's central city of Jos are planning for a speedy trial of 207 suspects arrested over recent large scale slaughter of Christian villagers, a spokesman said.(AFP/File/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

SYRIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH SAUDI OFFICIAL

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) meets Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Damascus March 22, 2010. REUTERS/Sana

BANGLADESH

Bangladeshi riot policemen stand guard as burqa-clad women walk past them in Dhaka. Bangladesh's largest state-run hospital has banned staff from wearing full-face burqas after an increase in thefts of mobile phones and wallets from wards, a hospital chief said Monday. (AFP/File/Farjana K. Godhuly)

PAKISTAN: SWAT VALLEY

Cadets in traditional dress perform while they dance during a passing-out parade of Special Police Force in Swat valley region located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province March 20, 2010. Authorities say security has improved since a military offensive nearly a year ago cleared out militants from Swat. But police remain vulnerable to suicide attacks and residents fear the Taliban will return if the military leaves. Picture taken on March 20, 2010. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

ELECTIONS IN IRAQ

A combination picture shows the key candidates for Iraq's parliamentary election. From L-R: (top row) Adnan al-Oachachi of the secular Iraqiya bloc, former prime minister Iyad Allawi, former prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari, member of parliament Humam Hamoudi, tribal leader Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, Second Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi, Shi'ite politician Ahmed Chalabi, (middle row) Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, member of parliament Jalal al-Deen al-Saghir, member of parliament Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, President Jalal Talabani, member of parliament Hadi al-Amiri, (bottom row) member of parliament Mithal al-Alusi, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, Finance Minister Bayan Jabor, parliament speaker Ayad al-Samarrai, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council Ammar al-Hakim, Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani, and First Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. REUTERS/Staff

A resident votes at a polling station in Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, March 7, 2010. Iraqis began voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election that Sunni Islamist insurgents have vowed to derail in an effort to plunge the war-shattered country back into sectarian bloodshed as U.S. troops leave. REUTERS/Mohanned Faisal

An Iraqi policeman assists a U.S. soldier with local clothing as Iraqi riot police square off with Americans acting as demonstrators during a training exercise in Mosul, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The policemen will be on hand as Iraqis head to the polls for the March 7 national election. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

U.S. military police, foreground, act as demonstrators as Iraqi riot police conduct a training exercise in Mosul, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. The policemen will be on hand as Iraqis head to the polls for the March 7 national election. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Sisters of Fayha Kadim, 23, and her son Muntadhar Waleed, 3, who were both killed in blasts in northeastern Baghdad Sunday, grieve at their funeral in Najaf, Iraq, Monday, March 8, 2010. The election day's death toll was 36, with various incidents of rockets and mortars, hand grenades and bombs all being used to target polling stations and the people voting.(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

Relatives mourn during a funeral procession for Iraqi municipal officials in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 22, 2010. Iraqi police and hospital officials say gunmen riding a motorcycle shot dead two municipal officials in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Women mourn their relative, Iraqi policeman Mohammed Flayiey during his funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The officer was killed Tuesday night when gunmen approached a police checkpoint and opened fire, police said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A resident holds a picture of his son at a cemetery for Kurdish poison gas victims in the town of Halabja near Sulaimaniya, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad March 16, 2010. Officials and residents in the Kurdistan region commemorate the anniversary of 1988 poison gas attack that killed thousands of people during Saddam Hussein era. REUTERS/Jamal Penjweny

MUSLIMS IN CHINA

CHINESE UIGHUR MUSLIM CHIEF

Two ethnic Uighur women pass Chinese paramilitary policemen standing guard in the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region. The United States on Thursday accused China and Iran of worsening human rights abuses as it raised the alarm about growing anti-Semitism worldwide and discrimination of Muslims in Europe. (AFP/File/Peter Parks)

YEMENI PROTEST AGAINST MARRIAGE BAN

Yemeni women hold a banner reading in Arabic "Don't bargain on women's rights" during a demonstration against a proposed child marriage ban outside the parliament in Sanaa. Thousands of Yemeni women, their faces covered in religious veils, demonstrated to oppose proposed legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17. (AFP)

Yemeni women hold up the Quran and Arabic placard reading 'yes to the legal rights of the Muslim woman' as they take part in a protest outside the parliament in San'a, Sunday, March 21, 2010. Some of Yemen's most influential Islamic leaders, including one the U.S. says mentored Osama bin Laden, have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates. The religious decree, issued Sunday, deeply imperils efforts to salvage legislation that would make it illegal for those under the age of 17 to marry. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A Yemeni woman hold a picture of a child bride during a rally near the parliament in Sanaa. Hundreds of women rallied outside Yemen's parliament in support of a law setting a minimum age for marriage in the country, two days after a larger protest opposing the law. (AFP/Mohamed Huwais)

Thousands of women protested outside Yemen's parliament on Sunday against plans to ban marriage for girls under 17. The proposed changes first came up against opposition last summer by Muslim clerics who say they go against Islamic sharia law. (AFPTV)

SYRIAN OPPRESSION

Syrian prisoners stage a protest in Adra. Western countries must press Syria on its continued repression of dissidents as part of their efforts to draw Damascus out of political isolation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. (AFP/File/Louai Beshara)

GLOBAL MAP INDICATING ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

World map showing the percentage of people in individual countries with access to safe drinking water. The United Nations children's agency UNICEF noted that more than 155 million people, or 39 percent of the population in West and Central Africa, do not have access to potable water, with only eight of 24 countries in the region on track to meet key poverty-reduction targets by 2015. (AFP/Graphic)

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE:
It is time to relax and de-stress
(Thanks to Dr. Lewis for forwarding below e-mails)

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

BOOK: DISORDER IN THE AMERICAN COURTS

These (below quotes) are from a book called "Disorder in the American Courts", and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

(1) ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

(2) ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

(3) ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

(4) ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

(5) ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ.

(6) ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?

(7) ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid

(8) ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honour, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

(9) ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.

(10) ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the circus was in town, I'm going with male.

(11) ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

(12) ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

(13) And the best for last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

BEWARE OF EMOTIONAL SHOCKS, CONSEQUENCES COULD BE DISASTROUS

To my darling husband:

Before you return from your business trip I just want to let you know about the small accident I had with the pick up truck when I turned into the driveway. Fortunately not too bad and I really didn't get hurt, so please don't worry too much about me.

I was coming home from Wal-Mart, and when I turned into the driveway I accidentally pushed down on the accelerator instead of the brake. The garage door is slightly bent but the pick up fortunately came to a halt when it bumped into your car.

I am really sorry, but I know with your kind-hearted personality you will forgive me. You know how much I love you and care for you my sweetheart. I am enclosing a picture for you.

I cannot wait to hold you in my arms again.

Your loving wife.
XXX

PS: YOUR GIRLFRIEND CALLED

THE END