VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 223, April 14, 2013

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

  EDITORIAL NOTE:

 

 

In this E-Zine, we have started off with highlighting the positives in terms of Dr. Muhammad Yunus receiving the US Congressional Medal of Honor, Dr. Mehreen Faruqi becoming the first Muslim MP in Australia, Muslim Fraternity confronting negative stereotypes, Islamic success story at German university etc and followed it up with interfaith issue and extremism. 

We strongly encourage  anti-Islamists to watch below video not only to truly understand few of the words of wisdom of the founding fathers of USA but also their high regard for Islam as a religion. It is so sad that the current anti-Islamist's actions go against the very positive values that the  founding fathers of this great nation of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA had about Islam. 

What would the Founding Fathers of USA say about Islam?

Posted by Zia H. Shah MD - Twitter: @ZiahShah1

Read more: http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/04/countries/united-states/what-would-the-founding-fathers-of-usa-say-about-islam#ixzz2QmuSeJsq

 Part I:

POSITIVE NEWS:

Part I-a 

(Ed Note: Congratulations to Dr. Muhammad Yunus to be the first Muslim to ever receive US Congressional Medal of Honor. As indicated below, the Gold Medal represents Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. It is our ardent hope that inshallah, there will be more brothers and sisters across the Global Ummah who will get similar distinguished recognitions).

 Dr. Yunus to receive US Congressional Medal of Honor

Posted by Sazzad Khandakar‏

(www.themuslimtimes.org)

Source: Speaker of the House, US Congress

WASHINGTON, DC
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced today that they will hold a U.S. Capitol ceremony next month to present Professor Muhammad Yunus with a Congressional Gold Medal.

The Gold Medal represents Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Congress awarded the medal to Professor Yunus in 2010 in recognition of his efforts to combat global poverty. Professor Yunus has won international acclaim for developing the concept of microcredit and using that model of lending to promote economic and social opportunity. For his work, Professor Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. A complete list of Congressional Gold Medal recipients is available at House.gov.

  Part I-b

(Ed Note: Congratulations to Dr. Mehreen Faruqi for becoming the first Muslim woman MP in Australia. We hope that inshallah, there would be more Muslim brothers and sisters across the world especially in non-Muslim countries who actively enter the political arena of their country and take on leadership roles).  

 Mehreen Faruqi first Muslim Woman MP in Australia

www.smh.com.au

(condensed version)

Canberra April 8, 2013

Australia will have its first Muslim woman MP, the Greens party in News South Wales (NSW) said yesterday.

Academic Mehreen Faruqi, of Pakistani origin, will replace NSW upper house MP Cate Faehrmann in the new parliament later this year. “As the first Greens MP in NSW from a migrant background, I'm also excited about building stronger relationships between the Greens and migrant communities,” Dr. Faruqi said in a statement. She said she looks forward to tackling issues concerning gender equality and same-sex marriage, among other topics. 

 

“Mehreen's Pakistani heritage not only breaks new ground for the Greens but it breaks new grounds for politics in NSW, and indeed the whole country,” Ms. Faehrmann said in a statement on Sunday, according to local media reports.

The party said Dr. Faruqi has been the first Muslim woman appointed to any parliament in Australia, the party said.

In recent years, Muslim women in Western politics have been making the news. 

In 2012, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed a Muslim woman as part of his government during a Cabinet reshufle this week. 

 

Hadia Tajik, 29, also of Pakistani descent, was appointed as Norway’s minister of culture. 

 

In 2009, a young Muslim veiled woman joined the Christian Democratic Party in Brussels to become the first and only veiled Muslim in a Christian political party. Mahinur Ozdemir, of Turkish background, had said she found some of her ideals in the Christian Democratic Party’s platform.

“I believe in the values of humanity and respect of religious beliefs of people, and I find the Christian Democratic Party provides such a platform,” Ozdemir told Al Arabiya in May 2009, while taking a break from handing out pamphlets for her candidacy to pedestrians in the market.

  

 About  Dr Mehreen Faruqi: 

 www.mehreenfaruqi.com

Dr Mehreen Faruqi is Academic Director of the Master of Business & Technology Program and Associate Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of NSW. Mehreen completed her Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore and Masters and PhD in Environmental Engineering at UNSW. She worked as a consultant in Pakistan before migrating to Sydney with her family in 1992.

Mehreen has more than 20 years of experience as a Civil / Environmental engineer and a sustainability expert. Much of her work has been about long-term strategic planning and policy and about real on-ground projects that improve and build communities such as waste management, cycleways, restoring rainforests, building storm water infrastructure, sustainable energy generation, water recycling, climate change and partnering with local communities and businesses to improve the environment. All her work has focused on community participation in government and corporate decision-making.

She has worked in leadership positions with a number of diverse organizations including local government, multinational consulting firms and Universities, in Australia and internationally.

Manager - Environment and Services at Mosman Council where she was responsible for leading Mosman Council’s Environment and Services department to ensure that sustainability and environmental management were incorporated into all of Council’s operations.

Director and Lecturer at the Institute of Environmental Studies UNSW, providing academic and strategic leadership to ensure the success and growth of the interdisciplinary Master of Environment Management program.

Manager - Natural Resources and Catchments at Port Macquarie- Hastings Council where she established organizational arrangements to improve and integrate environmental management across Council functions.

Mehreen regularly goes back to Pakistan to work with universities and NGOs involved in sustainability projects.

She has also chaired a number of panels and committees on sustainability, water management, waste management for industry, local, state and federal government.

Mehreen is also a passionate community activist and has campaigned on a number of environmental and social justices issues including asylum seeker rights, public education and climate change. She is an active member of the Greens NSW and has been a candidate for a number of state elections.

Mehreen Farquei speaking about issues of accessibility in public train stations around NSW.

  

Part I-c

Ed Note: Domestic Violence (DV) is unfortunately universal. If anybody knows about a single country where it does not exist, please educate us on it. Our loving Prophet Mohamed (SAW) is our supreme role model who has clearly demonstrated in his personal life of not involving in any form of abuse with his own family and had been the most loving towards them (as reported by his family members themselves). Unfortunately many Muslims who are involved in domestic violence have conveniently ignored above non-violent family life practice of our beloved Prophet and instead succumbed to perpetuating the universal pre-islamic cultural practice of domestic violence. As an extension to the initiative taken by the Muslim fraternity in below article, we wish that  Islamic leaders and Imams along with their Muslim congregations initiate protests and other activities that are directly against DV and further they need to more frequently address this extremely important hot issue impacting millions of Muslim women and children during Friday prayers and other Islamic presentations. On the positive side, we are really glad that there is a ray of hope here in terms of few Islamic Centers and organizations now beginning to offer presentations pertaining to DV.  We are confident that many Muslims especially abused Muslim women would agree with us that the greatest pain they have experienced is not from some "infidel" from the WEST  but from a initially loved one who used to or currently resides under the same roof, eats the same food and sleeps in the same bed. To us addressing this issue of DV  is the NEED OF THE HOUR especially in light of the tremendous amount of DV going on across the globe and not only destroying the relationship but compounding the problems further by increased physical, medical and mental health problems for the victims. 

Allah states in the Holy Quran:

"Surely, men who submit themselves to God and women who submit themselves to Him, and believing men and believing women, and obedient men and obedient women and truthful men and truthful women, and men steadfast in their faith and steadfast women, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their chastity and women who guard their chastity, and men who remember Allah much and women who remember Him — Allah has prepared for all of them forgiveness and a great reward. (Al Quran 33:36)

Muslim Fraternity Confronts Negative Stereotypes:

By EMILY DERUY (@emily_deruy ) 

April 8, 2013

 

Members of Alif Laam Meem, the founding chapter of the new Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity, protest domestic violence at a rally in Texas. (Courtesy of Alif Laam Meem - Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity)

A Muslim fraternity at the University of Texas at Dallas recently took to the streets in protest of domestic violence against women. 

Members of Alif Laam Meem, the founding chapter of the new Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity, held signs that said "Muslims Say No to Domestic Violence" and "Muslims Say Yes to Women's Rights" at the Men's Rally Against Domestic Violence in Dallas on March 24 to protest the abuse of women and to put a positive face on a religion they say is often misunderstood.

"Muslims are always on defense," fraternity president Ali Mahmoud said in a phone interview on Monday morning. "We usually get called in to explain ourselves and instead we decided to take the offense and tell people what Islam is instead of what it isn't."

A sophomore who was "born and raised in Dallas" on Spongebob and the occasional fast food meal just like a lot of other young Americans, Mahmoud thinks people often have the wrong idea when it comes to Islam and domestic violence.

"We wanted to clarify the misconception that any kind of domestic violence is allowed in our religion," he said. "And it may seem apparent through the media that it's allowed, but that's majorly a cultural phenomenon and not an actual teaching of our religion."

 
Broadly speaking, the effort has paid off.

The group posted a photo on their Facebook page that has been liked more than 1,000 times and shared more than 1,500 times. Pictures and word of the fraternity have traveled across Tumblr, Twitter, Upworthy and the Dallas Morning News.

Reactions on campus have also been generally positive, although it's worth noting that the organization is not a typical fraternity.

The group doesn't drink and they don't believe in "adultery or fornication," Mahmoud said, adding that the group wants to create a brotherhood focused on "constructing real men" in line with the teachings of Islam.Most campuses, he said, have Muslim student organizations and he thinks those are valuable as young people navigate the "complicated" issue of Muslim life on a college campus. But he also thinks they're "not very binding" and the fraternity "felt institutionalizing brotherhood was the best way to help develop a league of Muslim male leaders who stand up and serve the community".

"Real men don't hit women," Mahmoud said, echoing the tagline from the Dallas rally. When it comes to both his fraternity and Islam, of that he is certain. But there are other parts of his fraternity and other aspects of his religion, like its stance against homosexuality, that have caused some controversy online. For the complete article please check out: http://abcnews.go.com/abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/muslim-fraternity-confronts-negative-stereotypes/story?id=18906879#.UW96dEpMAwp

 Part I-d

(ED NOTE: Approval of the first female Saudi lawyer trainee is yet another bold initiative recently taken by the Saudi Government. It is better late than never. There are many other areas that need to be worked on to empower Saudi women. Every small step taken in this direction should be fully supported and encouraged.)

FIRST FEMALE SAUDI LAWYER TRAINEE BECOMES A REALITY 

 Arab News

 10 April 2013

Jeddah:
Arwa Al-Hijeili received the first definition of a trainee lawyer as a start to obtaining a license to practice law.

A Justice Ministry source said the ministry has approved this definition when it started applying this law 12 years ago for lawyer trainees. This definition gives women the right to litigate in courts. Her permit is valid for one year and can be renewed for another year by sending a written and signed address to the lawyer-in-charge in the ministry.

“The road is now open for Saudi women to have a law license after the Ministry of Justice agreed to allow Arwa Al Hijeili to become the first trainee lawyer in the Kingdom,” said legal expert Waleed Abu Al Khair. 

“Al-Hijeili is the first registered case in Jeddah.”

As for the conditions for getting a license, Abu Al Khair said, “For a lawyer to train for three years, he or she should have a contract with a lawyer who has been practicing in the profession for more than five years.”

After the training period, woman lawyers can obtain an approved copy of their training certificate and send it to the Justice Ministry to receive a license to practice law, he said.

The Ministry of Justice granted women the right to practice law in October. The license was first restricted to personal status issues, but now expanded to allow women to practice all fields of law.

http://arabnews.com/news/447644

 Part I-e

Russian Parliament Moves Ahead On Anti-Blasphemy Measure 

Scott Neuman

Russia’s parliament has given preliminary approval to an anti-blasphemy bill that would make it a crime to offend religious feelings.

The BBC reports that the bill was drafted last year after members of the punk band Pussy Riot used Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral to perform a protest song against President Vladimir Putin.

Blasphemy against religions considered “an integral part of Russia’s historical inheritance” could mean three years in jail and a fine of nearly $10,000, under the bill. The BBC says it is likely to cover Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.

Part I-f

Islamic Success Story at German Universities

www.dw.de

(condensed version)

New Islamic theology courses at German universities are proving highly popular, even abroad. The courses were announced only three years ago, but they are already changing the German religious landscape. Islamic theology is finding its place in German universities at a pace which is surprising many. German academics even speak of Germany acting as a magnet for talent from other European countries. "There's never been such a process before at European universities," says Reinhard Schulze, who teaches Islam at the University of Berne in Switzerland.  Lecturers at German universities, speaking at a meeting of experts with the German parliamentary education committee, said they were convinced that there would be a rapid increase in the teaching of Islam. 

(In Bremen, the state has signed an accord with the Muslim community) 

The need for academic training has been felt for a long time. The federal government estimates that 2,200 teachers will be needed for the planned development of Muslim religious education in schools. And there are over 1,000 imams in Germany, many of whom have never had any academic training, and who would provide a ready market for further education.

Centers of Muslim theology

 (The center at Tübingen was formally opened exactly a year ago )

"Initially, Islamic studies and Islamic theology weren't an issue at all," remembers Schulze, who was part of the council’s working group. "That was the logical conclusion of a productive examination of the field of academic theology in Germany."

In the end, the federal education minister, Annette Schavan, set up four centers of Islamic theology in Münster/Osnabrück, Tübingen, Frankfurt/Giessen and Nürnberg/Erlangen which all came into operation in 2010 and 2011.

Language problems

There are plenty of challenges in many different areas. One is the confrontation with what the academics call "lay theologians" - fundamentalist preachers or believers.

Katajan Amirpur has set up an "Academy of World Religions" in Hamburg, which is intended to bring Muslims into academic exchange with Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others. Several other experts spoke about the need to get the various branches of Islam to talk to each other. And Rohe, who has been active in the field for some time, talked about the difficulty of finding suitable candidates for the many new professorships.

Another issue, though, was inadequate skill in both the German and Arabic languages.

 (Teachers are needed for Islamic religious education in schools )

'Very exciting'

Rachel said it was "very exciting" that the decision in favor of Islamic theology at universities had led to it quickly becoming very popular among students from abroad. Schulze reported that Swiss, French and British students were specifically seeking out courses in Germany. And some of his colleagues said they had even seen interest from students in Muslim countries in Asia.

DW.DE. Read more: http://www.dw.de/islamic-success-story-at-german-universities/a-16526690

 

 Part I-g:

  Daring Woman Enters the Contest
By Ashfaq Yusufzai

(condensed version)
 April 18, 2013

 Badam Zari (right) campaigning ahead of the elections. Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS.

BAJAUR AGENCY, Pakistan, Apr 9 2013 (IPS) 

“My sole motive is to serve my people, especially women who have had no role in politics so far. I feel we can make progress only by bringing in women into mainstream politics.”

 

These are the words of Badam Zari, 40, who has filed her nomination papers with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Zari is contesting from the militancy-hit Bajaur Agency, one of the seven districts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) near the Afghanistan border. Zari’s tiny but lush green house in Arang village is buzzing with activity as women from the neighbourhood come in droves to congratulate her for the exemplary courage she has shown in standing for elections.

Forget standing for election, women in FATA do not vote. It was only in 1997 that the federal government gave the six million residents of FATA the right of adult franchise. Before that, only a few government-nominated elders called Maliks were entitled to cast votes or stand in election. “I am extremely worried about tribal women, most of who stay in their houses, which has prevented them from making any progress,” Zari told IPS. “My only ambition is to struggle for the improvement of women’s conditions in Bajaur Agency. Women here are suffering as none of the lawmakers in FATA have ever worked towards their development.”

Her action, she is sure, will motivate women to come to the polling booths on polling day and vote in her favour. Educated up to eighth grade, Zari has no children. Yet she is determined to work towards the education of the children in her region and help them play a part in development. Zari told IPS she is undeterred by the presence of wealthy and influential people in the elections. She is determined to give women a voice in the National Assembly. 

She has the full support of her husband Sultan Khan, a teacher in the government-run Bajaur Public School and College. Khan says he will strive for women’s development with her. “Despite being poor, we are committed to running a full-scale campaign and seek victory. Zari’s win would mean a victory for all FATA women,” he says. “There is tremendous pressure on us to withdraw her from the election but there is no looking back and we will go to the polls with complete preparation.”

Zari is not alone in her act of courage. The submission of nomination papers by another woman, Nusrat Begum from Lower Dir district NA-34 of adjacent KP province, is also being hailed by womenfolk. Begum, 28, a graduate from the University of Peshawar, also happens to be the first woman in Lower Dir ever to have the courage to contest elections. Both are contesting elections as independent candidates.

Part I-h

 Swedish mosque gets green light for prayer calls
13 April 2013

(IINA)
  

Stockholm, 13 April 2013 (IINA) 

 

Fittja mosque in the suburbs of Stockholm has been given the green light to issue Friday prayer calls from its minaret, the first mosque to do so in Sweden, police said Thursday.

“I’m really happy and grateful,” Ismail Okur, the head of the Islamic Association in the Botkyrka municipality, told Swedish news agency TT. The association had sought permission to issue Friday prayer calls from its mosque in the suburb of Fittja, part of the Botkyrka municipality. Police said the Fittja mosque would be allowed to issue calls lasting three to five minutes between 12 noon and 1:00 p m. on Fridays, though strict regulations would govern the placement of the speakers. Information must also be provided to nearby residents, police said. The mosque was built in 2007.

HA/IINA

Part II:

INTERFAITH:

Catholic Priest to donate Kidney to Muslim man

www.ucanindia.in

 Muhammad, the only breadwinner for his ailing parents and minor brother, advertised for donors.

Thiruvananthapuram:

Timely help by a Catholic priest will help save the life of a Muslim man in Kerala. Father Kidangathazhe Sebastian, 41, will donate one of his kidneys to 30-year-old Rasad Muhammad, the preparations for which are underway and the transplant surgery is likely to be performed next month.

Muhammad is suffering from chronic kidney disease since more than a year. On February 25, he boarded a bus from Aluva to go to Kochi for his check-up. Fr Sebastian, who is associated with the Catholic Goodness TV and who was then not wearing his cassock, was seated next to him. "He looked very weak and burdened. He told me the story of his tragedy and his desperate search for a kidney donor," Fr Sebastian said.

"I was seized of the pain of a life facing death. I made a cursory query about his blood group, which matched mine," he added. For the Idukki priest, the fortuitous match held special significance. It signaled to him the end of his silent quest to practice what he had been preaching. "Inspired by the story of Fr Davis Chiramel, who had donated one of his kidneys to a Hindu man in 2009, I had been longing to make the same sacrifice. Somewhere, I hoped, I would meet the deserving person. What mattered to me most was that the decision would save a life. I realised that the person seated beside me in the bus was the most deserving person,'' he said. 

The following day, they went to the hospital to start the procedure for donation and transplant. The tests have been positive. "A few counseling sessions and a final nod from the medical board remain. In all probability, the transplant will take place within a month," said the priest. Muhammad said he was initially shocked by the words of the stranger in the bus. "But, in the next moment, I realized that a priest would not lie."

He was a salesman in Saudi Arabia until kidney disease cost him his sight and forced him to return home to Harippad in Kerala. He could see again but there was little chance of his surviving without a transplant. Muhammad, the only breadwinner for his ailing parents and minor brother, advertised for donors.

"A few donors turned up, but nothing materialized. In the meantime, touts cheated me of 250,000. I was dependant on periodic dialyses in a private hospital in Kochi," he said. Fr. Sebastian is the fourth Catholic priest in the country to donate kidney after Fr. Davis Chiramel of Trichur archdiocese and Fr. Jacob Kozhuvally and Fr. Joseph Kodiyan of Ernakulum. 

Source: Indian Express

 

Part III: UGLY HEAD OF EXTREMISM:

ED NOTE: It is really sad that there is an increasing trend towards intolerance in Indonesia against religious minorities. If Islam is really a religion of peace and tolerance, it must be demonstrated in practice and not merely lip service. As Muslims, we strongly believe in peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths and for such peace to occur, tolerance is an important component of it. Our hearts go out to our Muslim brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka who have experienced increased attacks from Sinhalese-Buddhist extremists

PART III-a

Voice against Religious Intolerance in Indonesia 

 Clerics take to street for religious freedom

The Jakarta Post

Around 200 clerics in Greater Jakarta took to the street on Monday to vent their criticism against the government’s negligence over the ongoing cases on religious intolerance.

The clerics in their cassocks along with the representatives of Shiites, Ahmadis and practitioners of indigenous faiths marched from the Bung Karno Stadium to the House of Representatives’ compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, calling for the government to heed the 1945 Constitution that guarantees religious freedom for the minorities.

Part III-b:

US alarmed over anti-Muslim events in Sri Lanka

www.iinanews.com

April 10, 2013

   

Colombo, Wednesday, (IINA)  

The U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka expressed alarm at rising hate speech and attacks against Muslims in the island nation and warned that such sentiments should not be allowed to fester.

Hate speeches, vilification and even attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship by Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist groups have occurred in recent months, and inaction by the government and police has spurred allegations that the government supports the campaign, which it denies. 

“The United States, along with many Sri Lankan citizens, is alarmed by the recent attacks on Muslim businesses and certain inflammatory calls to action,” Ambassador Michele J. Sison told foreign correspondents in Colombo on Monday. “This type of hateful sentiment must not be allowed to fester,” she said, adding that the voices of tolerance must join to defeat extremism. A U.S.-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council last month also expressed concern over religious discrimination.

  

Groups led by Buddhist monks have spread allegations that Muslims are dominating businesses and trying to take over the country demographically by increasing their birthrate and secretly sterilizing Sinhalese-Buddhists. Muslims make up 9 percent of Sri Lanka's population, while Sinhalese-Buddhists make up almost 75 percent of the country's 20 million people. 

THE END