VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 72, March 29, 2009
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
بــــــــــسم الله الرحمن الرحيـــــــــــــم
In The Name Of Allah, Most Gracious and Most Merciful
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركات
As'salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
St. Louis, Missouri
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin
بــــــــــسم الله الرحمن الرحيـــــــــــــم
In The Name Of Allah, Most Gracious and Most Merciful
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركات
As'salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
EDITORIAL:
"I became a Muslim because I felt Islam was more humanistic and peaceful than other religions. And if you can religiously connect with the locals, I think it could be a big help in carrying out our peace reconstruction mission." So said on Friday those Korean soldiers who converted to Islam ahead of their late July deployment to the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq. At noon Friday, 37 members of the Iraq-bound "Zaitun Unit," including Lieutenant Son Hyeon-ju of the Special Forces 11th Brigade, made their way to a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul and held a conversion ceremony.
Captain Son Jin-gu from Zaitoon Unit recites an oath at ceremony to mark his conversion to Islam at a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Friday. /Yonhap
The soldiers, who cleansed their entire bodies in accordance with Islamic tradition, made their conversion during the Friday group prayers at the mosque, with the assistance of the "imam," or prayer leader. With the exception of the imam, all the Muslims and the Korean soldiers stood in a straight line to symbolize how all are equal before God and took a profession on faith. They had memorized the Arabic confession, " Ashadu an La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah," which means, "I testify that there is no god but God (Arabic: Allah), and Muhammad is the Messenger of God."
Soldiers from Zaitoon Unit pray after conversion ceremony at a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Friday./Yonhap
Moreover, as the faithful face the "Kaaba," the Islamic holy place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, all Muslims confirm that they are brothers. For those Korean soldiers who entered the Islamic faith, recent chances provided by the Zaitun Unit to come into contact with Islam proved decisive.
Taking into consideration the fact that most of the inhabitants of Irbil are Muslims, the unit sent its nonreligious members to the Hannam-dong mosque so that they could come to understand Islam. Some of those who participated in the program were entranced by Islam and decided to convert. A unit official said the soldiers were inspired by how important religious homogeneity was considered in the Muslim World; if you share religion, you are treated not as a foreigner, but as a local, and Muslims do not attack Muslim women even in war.
Zaitun Unit Corporal Paek Seong-uk (22) of the Army's 11th Division said, "I majored in Arabic in college and upon coming across the Quran, I had much interest in Islam, and I made up my mind to become a Muslim during this religious experience period [provided by the Zaitun Unit]." He expressed his aspirations. "If we are sent to Iraq, I want to participate in religious ceremonies with the locals so that they can feel brotherly love and convince them that the Korean troops are not an army of occupation but a force deployed to provide humanitarian support." (englishnews@chosun.com )
As the title of this blog rightly indicates, it is VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH, we will continue to publish information we receive from our readers. In this issue, we would like to thank Br. Amer Sayeed from Los Angeles, California to forward us below informative e-mail.
Ahead of Iraq Deployment, 37 Korean Troops Revert to Islam
Captain Son Jin-gu from Zaitoon Unit recites an oath at ceremony to mark his conversion to Islam at a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Friday. /Yonhap
The soldiers, who cleansed their entire bodies in accordance with Islamic tradition, made their conversion during the Friday group prayers at the mosque, with the assistance of the "imam," or prayer leader. With the exception of the imam, all the Muslims and the Korean soldiers stood in a straight line to symbolize how all are equal before God and took a profession on faith. They had memorized the Arabic confession, " Ashadu an La ilaha il Allah, Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah," which means, "I testify that there is no god but God (Arabic: Allah), and Muhammad is the Messenger of God."
Soldiers from Zaitoon Unit pray after conversion ceremony at a mosque in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Friday./Yonhap
Moreover, as the faithful face the "Kaaba," the Islamic holy place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, all Muslims confirm that they are brothers. For those Korean soldiers who entered the Islamic faith, recent chances provided by the Zaitun Unit to come into contact with Islam proved decisive.
Taking into consideration the fact that most of the inhabitants of Irbil are Muslims, the unit sent its nonreligious members to the Hannam-dong mosque so that they could come to understand Islam. Some of those who participated in the program were entranced by Islam and decided to convert. A unit official said the soldiers were inspired by how important religious homogeneity was considered in the Muslim World; if you share religion, you are treated not as a foreigner, but as a local, and Muslims do not attack Muslim women even in war.
Zaitun Unit Corporal Paek Seong-uk (22) of the Army's 11th Division said, "I majored in Arabic in college and upon coming across the Quran, I had much interest in Islam, and I made up my mind to become a Muslim during this religious experience period [provided by the Zaitun Unit]." He expressed his aspirations. "If we are sent to Iraq, I want to participate in religious ceremonies with the locals so that they can feel brotherly love and convince them that the Korean troops are not an army of occupation but a force deployed to provide humanitarian support." (englishnews@chosun.com )
GLOBAL UMMAH IN PICTURES:
One picture speaks a thousand words
One picture speaks a thousand words
Jury selection began in the trial of former US soldier Steven D Green, seen here in this undated Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) handout, accused of being the ringleader of a plot to rape a teenage Iraqi girl, murder her family and set the house alight to cover their crime (AFP/MCSO-HO/Getty Images/File)
Sara Azme Rasmussen symbolically sets fire to a hijab, a traditional garment in many Islamic countries and seen by many as oppressive, at International Women's Day. (AP Photo/Cornelius Poppe/Scanpix Norway)
(Editorial Note: Such actions as above including the perception of wearing hijab as oppressive is coming out of sheer ignorance, hate and prejudice, the same characteristics held by extremists. It is not clear why the so called Champions of freedom are unsuccessfully trying to stifle the freedom of millions of Muslim women who voluntarily choose to wear the hijab. When will people understand to respect each others values and NOT impose one's values on others?)
Refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh hold Friday prayers in Sabang. Indonesia said that it will repatriate 174 "economic migrants" who fled Myanmar claiming persecution, as new accounts emerged of their harrowing sea journey and alleged abuse by the Thai navy. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin).
A boy cries during the funeral of his relatives who were killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad's Um al-Maalif, South Baghdad) Reuters/Ahmed Malik
DIVERSITY IN LIFESTYLES/DRESS OF FEMALES
(Female Buddhist nuns at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Cheng Shiqun displays her long hair at a park in Yunyang, Chongqing Municipality March 30, 2009. Cheng has grown her hair, measuring 2.5 metres, for 16 years, according to China Daily. Effect created by the photographer's assistant holding and releasing her hair. Picture taken March 30, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily
Police women dismantle their rifles during a training course at a police academy in Kerbala, Iraq.
High Jump: Amy Acuff clears the bar at 6 feet, 3(AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)
An Iraqi female police cadet trains with a weapon at the police academy in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometers south of Baghdad, Iraq on March 26, 2009 (AP Photo/Ahmed al-Husseini)
With her powerful jumps and flexible spins, Irina Slutskaya of Russia is heavily favored to win the gold medal.
(YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Iraqi female police cadets in training (AP) 
Police offers parade during a ceremony in Sibate, Columbia
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
An Iraqi police office supervises the training of policewomen on dismantling weapons at a police academy in Kerbala, 80 km southwest of Baghdad on March 22, 2009. About 2000 policewomen are in the three month training course. 
Women police cadets jog during a training session in Baghdad on March 22, 2009. About 48 women have attended 9 months of training and will graduate as police officers at the Higher Institution for developing security and management in Baghdad. Reuters/May Naji (Iraq Military)
A policewoman takes part during a graduation ceremony at a police academy in Baghdad on January 26, 2009. Some 500 female police officers finished the first batch of an inspector course at the Baghdad Police College. Reuters/Sadd Shalash
A Jordanian woman weaves a traditional rug using a traditional weaving machine in Iraq-al-Amier rural town to the West of Amman on Sunday, March 8, 2009, as the country joins the world celebrating Women's Day. The woman is a member of one of the several women's societies that focus on reviving indigenous crafts and help market the products to improve the income of women in rural areas. (AP photo/Mohammad abu Ghosh
A campaign poster for Zainab Sadik Jaffar, a lawyer running for provincial council in the upcoming provincial election, is seen as an Iraqi Army soldier stands guard in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. Freed last year from the grip of militias, Basra has emerged as the main political battlefield in this month's regional elections, as Shiite parties allied in the national government are competing for control of the oil-rich south. The Jan. 31 election, in which voters across the country will choose ruling provincial councils, will be the first since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces wrested control of Basra from Shiite militias and criminal gangs. The poster reads ' The national list # 190. Today the vote is yours. Change and build.' (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)
A Romanian model displays wedding dress with a train measuring 1,579 metres long for a new world record for the longest wedding train in Bucharest Romania, Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo)
A campaign poster for Zainab Sadik Jaffar, a lawyer running for provincial council in the upcoming provincial election, is seen as an Iraqi Army soldier stands guard in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. Freed last year from the grip of militias, Basra has emerged as the main political battlefield in this month's regional elections, as Shiite parties allied in the national government are competing for control of the oil-rich south. The Jan. 31 election, in which voters across the country will choose ruling provincial councils, will be the first since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces wrested control of Basra from Shiite militias and criminal gangs. The poster reads ' The national list # 190. Today the vote is yours. Change and build.' (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)
A Romanian model displays wedding dress with a train measuring 1,579 metres long for a new world record for the longest wedding train in Bucharest Romania, Wednesday, April 1, 2009. (AP Photo) Please feel free to submit your valuable opinion: amyusuf786@yahoo.com
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