VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 182, May 8, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

(www.xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

EDITORIAL:

This week has been an important week for the world in terms of capturing and killing Osama bin Laden. We have also discussed about extremism, interfaith issues, morality and last but not the least, diversity of the Global Ummah.

PART I

ON THE CAPTURE AND DEATH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN

We would like to believe that one of the true difference between the primitive age and the modern 21st century age is our enlightened belief that the human life is valuable regardless of religion, race, nationality, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation and gender et.c.

However if you carefully observe the events around the globe, in many instances the historic millennium old tribal mentality of "US versus THEM" is unfortunately still intact except with a difference. The original concept of TRIBE is replaced by nationality, religion, race, culture, sexual orientation et.c.

Even though, 1400 years ago, Allah emphasized the importance of human life by explicitly stating that: "Whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind ... (5:32).

In Islam , taking one's life is equal to taking the life of the whole of the world. What more powerful sentence could you bring out even if you tried, to emphasize the importance and value of human life. This is the true Islam we would like to refer to, not the twisted perverted interpretation of the notorious criminal OSAMA.

When will we truly follow Allah's commands in terms of MANKIND BEING ONE COMMUNITY ?

When will we come out of our blind spot and have a global vision of HUMANITY AS ONE ?

When will we have the strength and courage to come out of our secluded BOX and LOVE ALL AND HATE NONE?

Is hoping for such a situation an Utopian dream or could it be within the reach of mankind to accomplish ?

TAKE A QUIZ:

Which Muslim was the worst criminal in the history of the world ?

Which single Muslim was the root cause of deaths of three thousand people in 9/11/01 in the U.S. and the deaths and disability of three hundred thousand Muslims through criminal actions of Al Qaeda across the globe ?

Which Muslim had lowered the image of Islam to its lowest denominator ever?

Which Muslim specialized in the killing of innocent men, women and children in the name of Islam ?

ANSWER:
It is none other than OSAMA BIN LADEN who perverted the peaceful principles of Islam and brought a black mark in the history of Islam and Muslims.

When our Bangladeshi brother completed his early morning fajr prayers and kissed his wife and left to work at the World Trade Center in the morning of 9/11/01, little did he know that was his last kiss to his wife. In the same way, there are about 3000 innocent men, women and children that were killed due to the mastermind notorious Osama.

What is really important is not whether Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus or Americans as a national group were killed. What is important is that OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF HUMANITY were killed in 9/11, and all the criminals who masterminded such attack of course must be taken to task and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

We say that JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE by killing Osama bin Laden.

There are more than a million inmates in jails and prison across the United States. What is important is that they are serving time as part of a judgement made against them for the crime they have committed and their religion is irrelevant to the commission of their crime.

Please keep in mind that even Timothy Mc Veigh was executed for his crime of blowing up the Oklahoma Government Center.

Below is brief note from www.articles.cnn.com

MC VEIGH EXECUTION: A "COMPLETION OF JUSTICE".
June 11, 2001

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh died without saying a word Monday at the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, minutes after a deadly stream of drugs was administered through a needle in his right leg.

Federal officials declared the man responsible for the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history dead by lethal injection at 7:14 a.m. (8:14 a.m. EDT)

McVeigh, 33, was executed for the April 19, 1995, attack in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and wounded hundreds more. It was the first federal execution since 1963.

The point of highlighting the above is to emphasize that a criminal who committed a major crime must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Whether such a criminal justifies his act based on perverting a religious principle or is part of a extremist organization is secondary to the main issue of PERPETRATING A CRIME INVOLVING LOSS OF INNOCENT LIVES AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.

RESPONSES OF TWO MAJOR AMERICAN MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS TO OSAMA'S DEATH:

(1) MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL:

MPAC GREETS BIN LADEN'S DEATH WITH SENSE OF RELIEF

(Washington, DC - 5/1/11)

The Muslim Public Affairs Council tonight greeted the news of the death of Osama bin Laden with an immense sense of relief. This is a time when our country must stand together, and turn the page on a decade of terror led by bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. MPAC also commends the service of President Obama and his national security team, who have made bringing bin Laden to justice a top priority.

SEE (below video): President Barack Obama’s Speech: “Osama Bin Laden Is Dead”

"We hope this is a turning point away from the dark period of the last decade, in which bin Laden symbolized the evil face of global terrorism,” said MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati.

“His actions and those of Al-Qaeda have violated the sacred Islamic teachings upholding the sanctity of all human life. His acts of senseless terror have been met with moral outrage by Muslims worldwide at every turn in the past decade."

The mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks and the founder of Al-Qaeda, bin Laden represented the global menacing face of violent extremism and his death represents a defining moment in the fight against terrorism.

"We support President Obama’s statement that bin Laden was 'not a Muslim leader, he was a mass murderer of Muslims,'" said MPAC Senior Adviser Dr. Maher Hathout. "We stand together with all Americans and all peace-loving people around the world in remaining vigilant against any and all threats against our country."

In light of the widespread democratic protests sweeping the Middle East which have demonstrated the power and effectiveness of peaceful protests to enact political change and realize the aspirations of the people, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda's pro-violence messages have been exposed as bankrupt and misguided. Founded in 1988, MPAC is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of American Muslims. [CONTACT: Marium Mohiuddin, 323-258-6722, marium@mpac.org]

(2) COUNCIL ON AMERICAN PUBLIC RELATIONS:

In a statement issued following President Obama's announcement of bin Laden's death, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said:

"We join our fellow citizens in welcoming the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been eliminated as a threat to our nation and the world through the actions of American military personnel. As we have stated repeatedly since the 9/11 terror attacks, bin Laden never represented Muslims or Islam. In fact, in addition to the killing of thousands of Americans, he and Al Qaeda caused the deaths of countless Muslims worldwide. We also reiterate President Obama's clear statement tonight that the United States is not at war with Islam."

CAIR coordinated one of the first joint American Muslim statements condemning the 9/11 terror attacks, issued just hours after they occurred.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

PART II

ON MORAL ISSUES:

(ED NOTE:

In below article Sister Sila Sahin poses nude for a playboy cover and attributes her actions to her intention of being FREE. In this context, FREE is a subjective word. For Sr. Sila, it is presumed to be freedom from her parents historic compulsion for her to dress modestly.

Paradoxically many Muslim women who wear niqab also claim to be FREE and for them it is FREEDOM FROM BEING VIEWED AS A SEX OBJECT.

SO WHO HAS REALLY BECOME FREE ?

Certain people from the "Enlighted West" claim that the niqaabi is wearing niqaab only out of force from her husband or father and therefore is subjugated & oppressed. How many of you truly believe the above as it pertains to adult Muslim women? In fact, if you ask most niqaabis, many of them will tell you that they cover themselves fully NOT for the sake of their husbands, fathers, brothers, tradition, culture or for their personal preferences but exclusively for the pleasure of Allah. Talking about FREEDOM, so is it right for others to RESTRICT WHAT THE NIQAABI SEES IS HER FREEDOM

One could argue that the real subjugation & oppression is not on the niqaabi but the nude or semi-nude female ? Sexual exploitation of the female is nothing new and has existed globally for thousands of years.

TRUE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN in the 21st century is usually reflected in areas that are NON-SEXUAL in nature. Almost universally, most women demand to be viewed NOT as a sex object but as a human being on equal footing to men who have equal potential, skills and talents in multitude of careers & professions. They are sick and tired of being harassed through gazing, cat-calls, whistling, stalking and taunting et.c. not to mention the bigger crimes of sexual abuse and attempted rape.

WOMEN DEMAND RESPECT and the last thing that is on their wish list is to be seen as a sexual object with expectation to fulfill the immediate sexual arousal needs of all men who look at them with prying and lustful eyes.

In such a background, if a woman voluntarily becomes nude and stimulates men's basal sexual instincts, encourages men to see her (not for her professional or career skills & talents that she may have developed), but purely for her raw sexual appeal, then has she voluntarily SUBJUGATED herself into and got entrapped in what many men love and want from women anyway. Talking about FREEDOM, so is it right for others to RESTRICT WHAT THE NUDE FEMALE SEES IS HER FREEDOM

Could it be that FREEDOM is in the eye of the beholder or FREEDOM is what an individual perceives it to be. What we argue in this controversial article, is PLEASE LEAVE WOMEN ALONE. They will decide what is best for them. If a woman wants to wear a hijab or niqaab, respect her wish to do so and don't force non-Islamic values on her. In the same way, if a woman does NOT want to be modest, we don't believe that anybody has a GOD GIVEN RIGHT to force their modest values on her.

Having said the above, for practicing Muslims, needless to say it is incumbent upon every Muslim parent to raise their children in Islamic way. We appeal to the parents to teach Islam and its values including issues of modesty, Islamic dress et.c in a loving way. There are hundreds if not thousands of Muslim females born in western countries who grew up wearing hijab and in some cases niqaab. A common point in them seems to be the Islamic environment that their parents so painstakingly raised them in. More details on this issue at end of this article.

IMPLICATIONS OF WEARING THE NIQAAB:

The dress of a niqaabi by default has the lowest visual data to fuel the vehicle of men's sexual thoughts. Compare this to a nude female who is essentially loaded with multiple sexual stimulus to the point of being viewed as an EYE CANDY.

Getting to specifics, the niqaabi sisters believe that due to their full and loose covering, a man will find it difficult to accurately judge how fat or thin she is, whether she is black, blonde or a redhead. He would find it difficult to guess the proportionality of her facial features and last but not the least, the color and tone of her skin.

Above full dress covering also makes it difficult to guess the sexual attractiveness and limits the free bio-psycho-social flow of thoughts associated with sexual attractiveness. Such limitations due to full dress covering, naturally frees up a man's concentration to focus exclusively on verbal interaction with her. Whether such complete dress covering from a niqaabi also LIBERATES A MAN by enabling him to fully focus on the words without secondary distractions that are in a subtle way, sexual in nature is for you to guess ?

The niqaabi sisters, strongly believe that it is easier for them TO BEHAVE MODESTLY WHEN THEY ARE COVERED MODESTLY.

From a psychological perspective, in as much as there is a link between THOUGHT - FEELING - BEHAVIOR, for a niqaabi sister, her extremely modest dress is the starting point to regulate and connect with the next step of FEELING modest rather than being sexually conscious and lastly connecting with BEHAVIOR that translates to voluntary restricted social interactions and places of visit. Ultimately, a niqaabi ends up maintaining AN ISLAMIC IDENTITY inside-out - VISUALLY-PHYSICALLY-EMOTIONALLY AND BEHAVIORALLY.

When was the last time you saw a niqaabi in a strip club or bar ?

On the contrary, when was the last time you saw a nude or semi-nude Muslima at an Islamic gathering ? Does that tell you something ?

Have you ever wondered why it would be extremely difficult for a prostitute in niqaab to get male customers ? Once again does that tell you something ?

On the streets, a prostitute does not hold a sign that indicates her profession, nor does she announce in loudspeaker that she is in business looking for clients to trade sex for money. WE NEED TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF APPEARANCE. Her dress, the way she carries herself seductively and other verbal and nonverbal cues makes it easier to get her male clients without any direct announcements.

A prostitute and a niqaabi are two extremes of the moral spectrum.

We want to make it VERY CLEAR that we are NOT implying that those who don't dress modestly are prostitutes.

In fact, we support a women's right to dress as she sees fit. This includes a woman's right to wear niqab or hijab or not to wear either of them. IT IS ABOUT HER AND NOT ABOUT US. SHE IS ANSWERABLE TO ALLAH FOR HER ACTIONS AND NOT US. Our respect to whatever DECISION SHE HAS MADE in terms of wearing her attire IS MORE IMPORTANT to us than WHAT WE PERSONALLY FEEL about the attire she wears.

All we are doing is analyzing the viewpoints of Muslim females from two extremes of the moral spectrum.

As we had indicated several times in the past, Allah states in the Holy Quran: "There is no compulsion in religion".

We believe in an adult Muslim woman's ability to decide what is best for her and we are totally opposed to force or compulsion. No behavior could be stronger than the one that comes with a deep conviction voluntarily and straight from one's heart.

We believe that inculcating Islamic values that espouse modesty in dress and behavior during childhood by force is WRONG and NOT EFFECTIVE in the long term. If there is one main point in this topic that we would like to convey, that would be the important role and responsibility that parents have to guide their children right from their childhood in the proper Islamic path in a way that is FREE OF FORCE OR COMPULSION but rather encourage following the Islamic path including modest dress for Muslims through LOVE.

In below article, it appears that Sr. Sila Sahin was taught to dress modestly more by force & compulsion rather than through LOVE. We want to emphasize that this whole topic is not as simple as it sounds. It is much more complicated. There are many other factors during childhood, teenage and young adult years including the influence of the "THIRD PARENT" (Television), friends, parents attitude of being a fundamentalist or moderate or liberal in terms of practicing Islam and whether the parents are able to literally be on the same page in terms of implementing the values, exposure to other environmental and social variables both Islamic and unislamic et.c that play an important role and ultimately culminates in one's ability to practice Islam or deviate away from Islam during adulthood).

(DISCLAIMER:
We want to make it clear that our statements about MEN should NOT be misconstrued as a negative stereotype of men in any way, shape or form, which is NOT our intention in above note. We were discussing issues pertaining to MEN and WOMEN in general terms. Further for more clearer focus on below article, we are not even touching the surface of issues relating to lesbians, bisexuals and gays which is a different topic for a different issue on a different date)

'I wanted to be free':
Muslim model upsets family by posing nude for Playboy cover

By Deborah Arthurs
(condensed version)
www.dailymail.co.uk
April 11, 2011

www.dailymail.co.uk

(PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Liberating? I did it because I wanted to be free,' said Sila Sahin of the nude Playboy photographs that offended her Turkish family)

19th April 2011 Strict:

Publish Post

Turkish German actress Sila Sahin says her childhood was 'restricting'

Sila Sahin, a 25-year-old Turkish German living in Berlin, had until now been regarded as a glowing example of how a modern Muslim girl should behave in a multicultural society.

A successful actress starring in German television soap opera Good Times, Bad Times, she pleased her many fans and made her Turkish family proud. But her latest move has shocked some of those fans, and enraged those closest to her.

Posing provocatively on the cover of German Playboy magazine with one breast exposed, Sila Sahin seems to be sending a clear and deliberate message to her conservative Turkish family.

'I did it because I wanted to be free at last,' she said. 'These photographs are a liberation from the restrictions of my childhood.'

Her family have, unsurprisingly, reacted with horror, and her mother has cut off all contact with the actress.

'My mother is still angry. It will be even more difficult with my grandparents, my aunts and my uncles,' she said on the website devoted to her television soap.

She has, however, managed to talk to her actor father, who expressed concern over the pressure she will inevitably face from those not only within the Turkish community in Germany, but from the wider Muslim community as a whole.

FIRST MUSLIMA TO WIN MISS USA IN 2010

(hubpages.com)

(www.mindrelaxingideas.onsugar.com)

LONG LIVE OUR NIQAABI SISTERS

PART III

EXTREMISM:

ED NOTE:

Exploitation manifests itself in several ways. Certain extremists cleverly try to be a wolf in sheep's clothing by making clear religious & racial offensive comments with a deliberate hateful intent while trying to package it under FREE SPEECH. We want to make it clear that IT DOES NOT WORK. We don't expect the whole world with its varied diversity to LOVE ISLAM. It is okay not to like Islam.

Even if one is a bigot and loves to propagate hate, PLEASE BE HONEST about your intentions. We would rather respect a person more if he is straightforward and acknowledges his hate for Islam and then makes a statement reflecting his hate, rather then trying to deceive others by making the hateful statement and then trying to get protection under FREE SPEECH. The concept of free speech is golden and valuable, please do not EXPLOIT IT for personal, selfish and prejudicial ends. Needless to say, the same applies to Muslims too who are critical of others. There is lot of room for improvement among our own Muslim brothers and sisters in this area).

(ED NOTE:
A BIG THANK YOU TO EASTERN HIGH COURT FOR UPHOLDING JUSTICE: EXTREMIST FINED)

DENMARK:

From the Copenhagen Post:

The Eastern High Court today fined Lars Hedegaard, the President of the Free Press Society, 5,000 kroner for making racially offensive comments in December 2009.

“Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins, or their fathers,” and “When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so,” were among the comments Hedegaard made during a 35-minute interview at a Christmas party with the author of the blog snaphanen.dk, who subsequently published the comments on the blog.

Today’s decision overturns a decision in January by the Frederiksberg District Court, which stated that while it found Hedegaard’s comments to be insulting, Hedegaard did not know that his controversial comments would be made public.

RUSSIA

Islam in Europe blog update

Via AFP:

Hundreds of Russian nationalists staged a racism-tinged rally in central Moscow on Saturday to demand an end to social payments for Muslim republics of the volatile North Caucasus region.

The sanctioned gathering came amid spiking social tensions and lingering security fears from a January suicide bombing at the main Moscow airport that killed 37 people and was claimed by the nation's most feared Islamist warlord.

"We are tired of seeing the Caucasus youth creating mayhem on our streets and at our schools and universities and then going unpunished," rally co-organiser Alexander Khromov told the Interfax news agency.

The event was officially titled "Stop Feeding the Caucasus!" and included leaders from far-right organisations that rights groups link to deadly attacks on migrants from Russia's Caucasus and the Central Asian republics.

Neo-Nazis in Moscow demand deportation of non-Slavic migrants
www.romea.cz
Moscow, 25.4.2011

Hundreds of neo-Nazis have gathered in Moscow to protest Kremlin policies in the violence-ridden Caucasus and to call for the forced deportation of non-Slavic migrants from Russia. Approximately 300 demonstrators, including activists from banned and unregistered groups espousing white supremacy, waved red and white banners with the eagle of Nazi Germany on them and shouted "Long live Russia! Let's stop feeding the Caucasus!"

The Associated Press reports that the mountainous, predominantly Muslim Caucasus region is the home to hundreds of ethnic groups including Chechens, who have conducted two separatist wars against Moscow since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to political scientists, the Chechen conflict has involved the commission of violence against civilians by both militant Islamists and Russian forces and has led to a rise in neo-Nazism and xenophobia in Russia. The conflict is also said to be the cause of growing ill-feeling among people from the Caucasus against ethnic Russians and the government in Moscow.

Roughly 70 000 neo-Nazis are currently active in Russia. At the start of the 1990s there were only a few thousand of them.

ryz, TASR, translated by Gwendolyn Albert
ROMEA

PART IV

INTERFAITH ISSUES

JEWS AND MUSLIMS PLAN TO DENOUNCE EXTREMISTS ON EUROPEAN DAY

(PHOTO: Jews and Muslim leaders in France, Britain and several other countries across Europe are to held joint initiatives to denounce extremist parties and oppose racism and prejudice, on the occasion of Europe Day - 9 May).

They stand in united opposition to prejudiced and racist appeals being increasingly injected into European body politic by extremist political movements and also oppose pandering to those movements by some political leaders who in recent months have made speeches lamenting the failure of multiculturalism in their respective countries.

This Europe-wide interfaith initiative was set in motion last December at the first gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders in Brussels.

PART V

DIVERSITY OF THE GLOBAL UMMAH

SPOTLIGHT ON KYRGYZSTAN

According to www.en.wikipedia.org:

Kyrgyzstan officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states (along with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan). Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People's Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek.

"Kyrgyz", is believed to have been derived from the Turkic word for "forty", in reference to the forty clans of Manas, a legendary hero who united forty regional clans against the Uyghers. Literally it means We are forty. At the time, in the early 9th century AD, the Uyghers dominated much of Central Asia (including Kyrgyzstan), Mongolia, and parts of Russia and China.

By extension, Kyrgyz is also thought to mean "unconquerable" or "undefeatable".
The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan is a reference to those same forty tribes and the graphical element in the sun's center depicts the wooden crown of a yurt -- a portable dwelling traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia.

Islam is the dominant religion of Kyrgyzstan: 80% of the population is Muslim while 17% follow Russian Orthodoxy and 3% other religions. A 2009 Pew Research Center report indicates a higher percentage of Muslims, with 86.3% of Kyrgyzstan's population adhering to Islam.

A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS
Below photos from www.englishrussia.com