VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 190, July 03, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and Beautiful



(xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)

HADITH OF THE DAY:

KEEP YOUR HEART FREE FROM MALICE

Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

"(The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,) said to me: 'My son, if you are in a position to pass your morning and evening keeping your heart free from malice against anyone, then act according to (this high ideal).' He then said: 'That is my Sunnah (example), and he who loves my Sunnah loves me.'

Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 59


Editorial:

We have first highlighted the positive news in this E-Zine, followed by discussing on the fight against sexism, health et.c.

PART I

POSITIVE NEWS:

PART I-A

Iran Puts Second Satellite Into Orbit

(www.eutimes.net)
June 17, 2011

The Islamic Republic of Iran successfully launches its second satellite christened Rassad (Observation) into the earth’s orbit.

The satellite, which is the country’s first such imaging device, was launched by the Safir-e-Rassad satellite carrier on Wednesday thanks to Iranian aerospace scientists and experts’ endeavor, IRNA reported.

Despite its 15.3-kilogram weight, which puts it under the category of the micro-satellites, Rassad has all features of a big satellite.

It has undergone all the stages required for its designing, manufacturing, assembly, test and preparation for launch inside the country.

It will orbit the earth at an altitude of 260 kilometers 15 times every 24 hours.

Its mission is to take images of the earth’s surface and relay them to the earth-based stations together with telemetric information.

The satellite is equipped with solar panels and uses solar energy to work.

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite Omid (Hope) in 2009, which made it the ninth country to develop satellite launch capability.

Tehran also plans to launch the country’s first manned mission to space by 2019.

PART I-B

MPAC Youth Leadership Summit: Find Your Voice

MPAC’s Young Leaders Hollywood Summit Starts Today
June 26, 2011
by Wesam Nassar

MPAC Youth Leadership Summit: Find Your

Voice from Wesam Nassar on Vimeo.

Los Angeles

Today, more than 15 Muslim American undergraduate and graduate students from around the U.S. and Canada will join the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles to kick off MPAC’s first Young Leaders Hollywood Summit, which will conclude on Wednesday.

The delegates arrived in town last night to attend MPAC’s 20th Annual Media Awards Gala, which provided them with an opportunity to see the Muslim American and Hollywood community come together to celebrate voices of courage and conscience. Held at the Sheraton Gateway, MPAC’s Media Awards honored prestigious actress Hiam Abbass from the critically-acclaimed movie “Miral,” the thought-provoking TV legal drama “The Good Wife” and the poignant documentary “Fordson.”

Following the night of festivities and entertainment, MPAC’s Young Leaders delegates now will be exposed to a transformative opportunity for the next four days, allowing them to pave their path in the entertainment industry.

Through the Summit, MPAC seeks to expand the pool of emerging talent and new voices that can enrich the fields of directing, editing, acting and screenwriting, while also providing leadership development and creating a network of emerging artists. The informative and exciting summit will give students a chance to meet and interact with film editors, directors, screenwriters and actors, including David Brenner, Cherien Dabis and Faran Tahir, from whom they can learn about the changing nature of ‘the biz’ and visit prominent studios.

To learn more about the Young Leaders Summits, visit summits.mpac.org. You can also follow the delegates' adventure on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mpacnational or on Twitter with #mpacsummits.

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

PART I-C

Milan: Islamic Fashion Festival to participate in Milan Fashion Week

www.islamineurope.blogspot.com

27 Jun 2011

Via Bernama:

Islamic Fashion Show www.caeaco.com

Six years after introducing and promoting Muslim couture fashion as a modern lifestyle trend in several eastern and western countries, the Islamic Fashion Festival (IFF) is now preparing its fashion designers to show off its creations at one of world's most prestigious fashion modelling catwalk.

IFF, under the patronage of Malaysia's First Lady, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, has been invited to participate in the Milan Fashion Week in Italy and is giving its fashion designers ample lead time to be ready to meet the demand of the market when their works receive orders from the event.

PART I-D

A POSITIVE AND CLEAR PERSPECTIVE OF SHARIA

(Ed Note:

Below is one of the best articles we ever read on Sharia in the United States, we strongly recommend its reading).

Sharia in the USA
Not what you think it is

www.altmuslim.com

By Br. Abdul Malik Mujahid

(Br. Abdul Malik Mujahid is the President of Sound Vision and the Chair of the Council for a Parliament of the Worlds Religions)

June 26, 2011

When some American pundits call sharia, "a growing threat to the United States," Muslim Americans wonder what in the world are they talking about. Sharia is overwhelmingly concerned with personal religious observance, not with constitutions and laws.

(www.altmuslim.com)

(yes, what have you been smoking)

Chicago, IL

You might have seen a government-required sign at a McDonald's restroom telling employees to wash their hands. Muslims do this as a part of living their faith, which is called sharia in Arabic. The Prophet Muhammad also encouraged Muslims to wash their hands before and after eating. Muslim parents raise their children on many such manners. The first chapter in almost all books on sharia is about morals and manners of cleanliness, which Prophet Muhammad said is half of the faith. God's peace and blessings be upon him.

When Muslims begin anything they say, "In the name of God," that is sharia. When they greet each other, they smile and say, "Assalamu Alaikum" (peace be with you), and that is sharia. Similarly, when Muslims take short breaks five times a day to pray, this is another example of practicing sharia. Prayer is normally the second chapter in almost all books about sharia.

Sharia does not present a comprehensive list of pure foods and drinks, although it prohibits ten or twelve things and declares everything else to be Halal or lawful to consume. If Muslims cannot find Halal food, they often eat vegetarian or kosher food. This is all sharia.

When you see a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf and a loose dress, or a Muslim man with a head covering or beard, they are likely following sharia manners of dress. When in a marriage sermon you hear the Quran recited about piety, loyalty to each other, and God's advice for clear communication between spouses, that is a sharia wedding.

Muslims often avoid taking out mortgages due to the sharia prohibition on Riba (usury/interest). This has led to the establishment of the worldwide Islamic financial industry and Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes. The latter select companies that don't deal in weapons, pornography, gambling, tobacco, or alcohol, etc. These investments are similar to 30 other "faith-based" investment options, like the Catholic Values Index. These are examples of the practice of sharia in the realm of business.

All of the above are real-life examples of the totality of sharia as practiced by the observant among the close to six million Muslims in America and the 3,000 formal Muslim congregations in America. Muslim Americans include doctors, entrepreneurs, professors, cab drivers, and the geek fixing your computer. Their service to their communities is also an example of practicing sharia.

The sharia that Muslim Americans don't practice

There are parts of sharia that Muslim Americans don't implement in their daily lives.

Since Muslims ran a civilization for over a thousand years, they naturally developed a body of laws to deal with governing society. These laws deal with issues ranging from fighting neighborhood crime to international laws of war and peace. Muslim Americans don't practice these laws since they deal with the realm of government and state. Sharia emphasizes that the rule of law in a society must be implemented by the state.

It considers vigilantism a major crime and a sin.

Therefore, sharia prohibits Muslims from practicing this part of Islam on an individual basis.

The Quran, like the Old Testament, is not limited to only the Ten Commandments, all of which except for the commandment to keep the Sabbath are to be found in parallel statements in the Quran. Like the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy), it ordains punishments for serious crimes. Unfortunately, it is this penal law that many people wrongly think is exclusively sharia. This is incorrect.

It is true that Islamic criminal law has been at times implemented harshly, and even wrongly, by some Muslims. Such an application of Islamic criminal law is void of God's mercy, which is considered His primary attribute in Islam.

However, those nations or groups that do this do not speak for all Muslims, nor do they speak for the prophet of mercy, Prophet Muhammad, who would turn his face away when a person confessed his or her crimes. This was to give them room for repentance and forgiveness.

About five countries among the 56 Muslim nations worldwide implement Islamic criminal laws.

Virtually none of them implement sharia in its totality in all spheres of life. Their laws are a combination of local custom and precedent in that particular country, as well as remnants of laws brought by European colonial powers that ruled those countries.

The primary purpose of sharia is to preserve life and order in society, not to incarcerate and punish. However, many in the Muslim world who are sick and tired of corruption and injustice demand that the criminal laws of Islam be implemented in their countries.

However, this is not what Muslims in America are demanding. Their practice of sharia is limited to the personal sphere.

Sharia is neither one nor static Sharia is not one monolithic body or a codified book of comprehensive law.

Sharia is based on the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, but not all of sharia is God's word. A good part of sharia is made up of human contributions. There are literally hundreds and thousands of books written in the last 1,400 years, in multiple languages in places as diverse as Timbuktu in Africa to Bukhara in Central Asia, with millions of opinions, judicial reviews, etc. on various issues. Together, they form the body of sharia.

Sharia continues to evolve

A recent development, for example, is a sharia discipline called Islamic Economics and Finance. It now commands a trillion dollar market, thousands of scholarly works, graduate programs, and the establishment of sharia boards at hundreds of Muslim and non-Muslim owned banks. This exercise in sharia is essentially a human contribution of the last 50 years, aiming to offer Muslims guidance on how to invest and conduct their financial transactions in a modern economy in line with their principles as believers.

Throughout history, Islam has cherished debates. An important early Islamic debate that continues today was between traditionalists and rationalists over whether the universal principles of God's law were to be known by revelation or reason or both. These debates have resulted in dozens of schools of thought in Islam.

Is sharia a threat to America?

When some American pundits call sharia, "a growing threat to the United States," Muslim Americans wonder what in the world are they talking about.

Sharia is overwhelmingly concerned with personal religious observance, not with constitutions and laws. All observant Muslims practice sharia. Defining sharia as a threat, therefore, is the same thing as saying that all observant Muslims are a threat.

Unfortunately, three US states have passed anti-sharia laws, and 18 others are actively considering bills against sharia. Some politicians are now looking to pass a federal law against sharia.

Anti-sharia bills are a part of a well-funded campaign of fear-mongering and intolerance, not unlike previous campaigns in America against Catholics and Jews.

To understand sharia is to understand Islam. Criminalizing sharia will criminalize the practice of Islam in America.

Sharia mandates that Muslims respect the law of the land.

It is also against sharia to impose sharia on anyone.

Muslim Americans are subject to the same laws and constitution as any other American.

Sharia is in some ways similar to the Jewish halacha law or Catholic canon law, with similar historic roots but far less complex. Unlike Jewish Halacha law, which is practiced in Jewish American courts called Beth Din, there is no Muslim court system in the United States, nor is the Muslim community demanding this.

PART I-E

Right2Wear: Muslim Women In Sports

www.muslimahmediawatch.org
June 27, 2011
Krista

The world of hijabs and soccer (or football, if you prefer) has been making the news a lot lately. As you might remember, FIFA recently banned the Iranian women’s team from playing, because of their headscarves. Jordan’s team has also recently been banned for the same reason. And in the Montreal area, 15-year-old Sarah Benkirane was recently prevented from refereeing soccer games while wearing hijab.

Muslimah Media Watch is joining up with a new campaign called Right 2 Wear, in support of the rights of women to play sports, regardless of their clothing. I worked with Farrah Khan and Zahra Agjee of AQSAzine and Digital Storytelling Facilitator Hisayo Horie to create the Right 2 Wear video at the Allied Media conference.

We are encouraging you and your communities to do three things:

1. Write to FIFA to express your support for the rights of Iran’s and Jordan’s female soccer teams, and challenging the patronizing and Islamophobic assumptions behind the ban.

2. Check out our Tumblr page at right2wear.tumblr.com, and send us your own stories, pictures and videos about the sports that you play, or other links related to this issue. You can email us at right2wear@gmail.com.

3. Most importantly: Organize a soccer match in your community! Think of it as a big soccer flash mob. Invite other women and girls to get off the sidelines and show that we got game. Allies are welcomed to lead cheers and chants, and support us in red carding FIFA’s anti-hijab ruling. Send the information and pictures to us, so we can keep track of what you’ve all been up to. And stay tuned for information on upcoming actions in Toronto and Montreal! No one should be kept from the right to play sports!

PART II

FIGHT AGAINST SEXISM

PART II-A

SEXIST ADVERTISEMENTS

"EVEN YOUR WIFE CAN TURN ON THE DVD"

(Ed Note:
Do you have a problem with below ad ? As for us, yes we do have a problem with it. We feel that it demeans women when it states "even your wife can turn on the DVD").

msmagazine.com
april26, 2011

PART II-B

(Ed Note:

(Why would below advertisement talk about "treating women like meat" ?)

www.shop.thehundreds.com

DETAILS:

"Sometimes those tees with gratuitous images of alluring ladies come off a bit like treating women like meat, don't you think? Regardless of how lovely Shay Maria may seem here, you know that THE HUNDREDS worship women of all shapes and sizes. The graphic inspiration for this one comes from vintage Mexican butcher shop posters. Available in black, white, and red."

PART II-C

BAN ON WOMEN DRIVING IN SAUDI ARABIA:
AN EXAMPLE WHERE A CULTURAL VALUE IS MASQUERADING AS AN ISLAMIC VALUE:

(Ed Note:

There is no question that the overwhelming majority of Islamic scholars and experts from the global ummah would have no problems whatsoever for women to be allowed to drive. Not surprisingly Saudi Arabia is the only one country among the fifty six Muslim countries that forbids women to drive. We respectfully call upon the Saudi Arabian Govt to lift the ban on women to drive. The question is not WHETHER the ban for women to drive will be lifted or not, but rather WHEN such a ban will be lifted ? Above ban is really an embarrassment for the entire global ummah specially because it is done in the name of ISLAM - supposedly based on religious rulings by senior clerics).

FIVE SAUDI WOMEN ARRESTED FOR VIOLATING THE BAN

Per Feminist News, (June 29, 2011) at least five women were arrested in Jeddah, on the country's western coast, for violating Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers, according to rights activist Eman al-Nafjan. The arrests come nearly two weeks after Saudi women began campaigning for the right to drive. On June 17, some 40 Saudi women got behind the wheel to protest the driving ban, which is based on religious rulings by senior clerics. Currently, Saudi Arabia does not have written laws barring women from driving. Female activists have continued to make forays onto the roads since then, often posting videos of themselves driving on social networks.

saudi drive ban

PART III

HEALTH

RECOMMENDED VIEWING OF BELOW DVD & VIDEOTAPES

"Pregnant in America: A Nation's Miscarriage"

www.midwiferytoday.com

(Disclosure: We as Editors receive NO benefits from sale of below DVD)

Directed by Steve Buonaugurio and produced by Betsy Chasse

What has driven hospitals and insurance companies to turn birth into a commercial, assembly line process?

You'll find out when you watch Pregnant in America, a documentary that examines the history of childbirth, our current childbirth system and the direction U.S. obstetrics might be headed.

Steve Buonaugurio interviews a number of well-known childbirth experts, including Marsden Wagner, Ina May Gaskin, Barbara Harper and Robbie Davis-Floyd, as he documents the nine-month journey with his pregnant wife, Mandy, to have a natural birth. Mandy and Steve's personal experiences tie this film together as they go behind the scenes in hospitals, birthing centers, and at-home births to explore the real physical and emotional conditions of childbirth, the safety issues, and the myths we have come to live and give birth by.?

Pregnant in America portrays the dramatic rise in cesareans, misconceptions regarding pain and the use of numerous interventions to speed the process of childbirth. You'll also learn about health insurance limitations, overuse of drugs in childbirth, fear-driven commercialism, unfriendly hospital environments for mothers and newborns, the safety of home births, social theories of power and control, exploitation of the family, and the culture of ignorance.

This DVD will give women and their families a different view of birth than is available through the mainstream media.

104 minutes This DVD is available in the following formats:
• NTSC (playable in the US, Canada, and other countries )

PART IV

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE
(You can't afford to be serious all the time)

(ED NOTE:
With close to four and half million visitors to our blog thus far, we wanted to assure our readers that we as a couple are NOT self-styled experts, nor anybody special sitting in a high pedestal or ivory tower and pretending what we are not. We identify ourselves as one of the common couples among millions of couples in the globe and we could easily pass off as your next door quiet, simple, down to earth neighbors. We are sinners and seek Almighty Allah's forgiveness for our shortcomings).

PART IV A :
E-Mail forwarded by Dr. Lewis (condensed version)

ENGLISH HUMOR FROM ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

These are classified ads, which were actually (maybe) placed in a UK newspaper:

(1) JOINING NUDIST COLONY!

Must sell washer and dryer £100.


(2) WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE

Worn once by mistake.
Call Stephanie.


(3) FOR SALE BY OWNER.

Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, 45 volumes.
Excellent condition,
£200 or best offer.
No longer needed, got married, wife knows everything!

PART IV B:
E-Mail forwarded by Dr. Lewis (condensed version)

CURRENT RETIREMENT HOME

Some solid logic

No NURSING HOME FOR me!!!

No nursing home for us.

We'll be checking into a Holiday Inn!

With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old and too feeble.

I've already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn.

For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's $59.23 per night.

Breakfast is included, and some have happy hours in the afternoon.

That leaves $128.77 a day for lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies.

Plus, they provide a spa, swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc.

Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap.

$5 worth of tips a day you'll have the entire staff scrambling to help you.

They treat you like a customer, not a patient.

There's a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free.

The handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp).

To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays.

For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there.

While you're at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up.

It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today.

And you're not stuck in one place forever -- you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city.

Want to see Hawaii ? They have Holiday Inn there too.

TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Need a mattress replaced? No problem..

They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience.

The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they'll call an ambulance . . . or the undertaker.

If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

And no worries about visits from family.

They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation.

The grand kids can use the pool.

What more could I ask for?

So, when I reach that golden age, I'll face it with a grin.

AIDS WARNING!

To all of you approaching 50 or have REACHED 50 and past, this email is especially for you......

SENIOR CITIZENS ARE THE NATION'S LEADING CARRIERS OF AIDS!

HEARING AIDS

BAND AIDS

ROLL AIDS

WALKING AIDS

MEDICAL AIDS

GOVERNMENT AIDS

MOST OF ALL,

MONETARY AID TO THEIR KIDS!

Not forgetting HIV


THE END