VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 128, April 25, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

Editorial:

An important content of this issue is on the tragic death of innocent Russians in the train bombing committed by extremist Chechnya's. Our condolences to all the family members for the death of their loved ones. As we had mentioned in the past issues of this E-Zine, Islam forbids the killing of innocents and we urge the global ummah to condemn such anti-Islamic actions. Did the elections in Sudan go freely and fairly or were there doubts of possible fraud during the election process ? Vote on banning full face veil in Belgium has its group of supporters and critics. Where do we draw the line between not interfering the laws initiated by the legislators of a sovereign country VERSUS defending the rights of an individual to dress in a way that she perceives personifies her religious beliefs. Is United Arab Emirates walking on a thin line between integrating the EAST and the WEST ? This and other related issues comprise the contents of this E-Zine.

AFRICA

SUDAN ELECTIONS: WAS IT A FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS?

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (C) and his wife Wadad Babaker attend a celebratory gathering at ruling the party headquarters in Khartoum on April 26. President Beshir travelled to neighbouring Egypt on Tuesday on his first trip abroad since his re-election was declared on Monday.(AFP/File/Ebrahim Hamid)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits a polling station during the elections in Khartoum April 11, 2010. Confusion, delays and allegations of fraud marked the start of Sudan's first multi-party elections in a quarter-century, a vote that will test the fragile unity of Africa's biggest country. The three-day election will be a key indicator of whether Sudan can fend off renewed conflict and humanitarian crisis as it heads toward a 2011 referendum that could bring independence for the oil-producing south. REUTERS/Mohamed Nurdldin

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter observes a polling station for Sudan's first multiparty elections in decades in Khartoum, Sunday, April 11, 2010. The elections were billed as a chance to bring democracy to Sudan and start to heal a history of turmoil. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits a polling station during the elections in Khartoum April 11, 2010. Confusion, delays and allegations of fraud marked the start of Sudan's first multi-party elections in a quarter-century, a vote that will test the fragile unity of Africa's biggest country. REUTERS/Mohamed Nurdldin

EUROPE

Belgium Places Ban on Burqas in Public

View of the Belgian Parliament prior to a vote on banning the full-face Islamic veil in public. Muslims in Belgium hit out at the looming public ban , saying claims it was being introduced for security reasons were simply an excuse to crack down.. (AFP/Georges Gobet)

BRUSSELS: A vote against wearing face-covering veils in public was unanimously established on Wednesday. This legislation represents a major legislative step, which could make Belguim the first European country to impose such a religious prohibition. (AP)

A woman wears a burqa as she walks on a street in Saint-Denis, near Paris, April 2, 2010.Reuters/Regis Duvignau

A statue in the Place de la République is covered in a cloth to symbolise the burqa during a demonstration on March 6. An influential committee of Belgian lawmakers has voted to impose a nationwide ban on wearing the Islamic burqa in public, paving the way for the first clampdown of its kind in Europe.

FRENCH MUSLIMA FINED BY TRAFFIC POLICE FOR WEARING FACE COVERING VEIL:

A 31-year-old French veiled woman, no name released, addresses the media in Nantes, western France, Friday, April 23, 2010. Traffic police in the western city of Nantes fined her in early April based on sufficient field of vision, his lawyer Jean Michel Pollono said. The fine was small, 22 euro/US$29, but may illustrate what's to come as the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, pushes to outlaw the veils nationwide

Anne, an assumed name of 31-year old French woman who has been fined for wearing a niqab while driving, and her husband Lies Hebbadj (top) arrive for a news conference in Nantes, western France, April 26, 2010. She told French media on Friday that police stopped her last month while she was driving in the city of Nantes, near the French Atlantic coast, and handed her a 22-euro ($29.6) fine, saying her veil posed a "safety risk" to her driving. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Anne, an assumed name, a 31-year old French woman who has been fined for wearing a niqab while driving, speaks during a news conference in Nantes, western France, April 23, 2010

24th Annual Meeting of French Muslims in Paris - April 24, 2010

Burqa-clad woman walks inside an exhibition hall A burqa-clad woman walks inside an exhibition hall during the 27th annual meeting of French Muslims organized by The Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF) at Le Bourget, northern Paris, April 3, 2010. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

Women look at veils, inside an exhibition hall during the 27th annual meeting of French Muslims, in Le Bourget, outside Paris, Sunday, April 4, 2010 (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

GOOD WILL MISSION

(Associated Press photo / April 5, 2010)

UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, left, and Brad Pitt, second from left in foreground, visit Bosnian Muslim refugee Sabina Karman, and her four children, in the village of Medjedja, near the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad, 43 miles east of of Sarajevo.

Jolie and Pitt visited Bosnia on Monday, intending to spotlight the plight of 117,000 people who have not been able to return to their homes, even though the Bosnian war ended 15 years ago.

CHECHNYA:

(Ed Note: We express our deep sympathy and sorrow to the family members of the innocent victims who died in recent train bombings in Russia. Killing of innocents should be condemned by all Muslims across the globe)

Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov is seen in this screenshot taken March 31, 2010. Umarov claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed at least 39 people, according to a video posted on an unofficial Islamist rebel website on Wednesday. REUTERS/Kavkazcenter/Handout

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, seen during a meeting on security at transport in Moscow, Tuesday, March 30, 2010. Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday to 'drag out of the sewer' the masterminds of the twin suicide bombing of the Moscow subway system that killed 39 people and left scores wounded. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikkolsky, Pool)

Map of the Caucasus region showing main points of conflict. A car packed with explosives blew up in Russia's restive North Caucasus with the country on high alert after an Islamist group claimed the Moscow metro bombings and warned of more strikes. (AFP/Graphic)

ASIA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: DUBAI

Fashion giant Armani is due to unveil its newest collection -- not of clothing, but hotel suites. The luxury label is making its mark in the hotel industrywith customary style -- opening its hotel in Dubai's 1.5 billion dollar Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world. 17(AFPTV)

World-renowned fashion designer Giorgio Armani has selected the French Fashion University Esmod French Fashion University Esmod in Dubai as partner for an upcoming fashion show that will mark the opening of the Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa on April 27, 2010. The Italian designer will be mentoring 25 students from Esmod Esmod who will dress the participating catwalk models with Armani creations.

Top Emirati officials visiting the landmark Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made structure. With tolerance wearing thin for behaviour considered inappropriate, more and more Emiratis are denouncing the "offensive" customs of the very foreigners who are contributing to their country's success. (AFP/File/Karim Sahib)

Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, left, and Emaar Properties Chairman Mohamed Alabbar cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony of the Armani Hotelin Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday April 27, 2010. A luxury hotel crafted by designer Giorgio Armani opened Tuesday as the first landmark tenant in the world's tallest skyscraper. The 160-room Armani Hotel Dubai is a welcome bit of good news for Dubai's leaders after the troubled debut of the more than half-mile (828-meter) Burj Khalifa in January. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, left, puts a piece ribbon in his pocket after he cut it with Emaar Properties Chairman Mohammed Al Abbar, afterthe opening of the Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday April 27, 2010. A luxury hotel crafted by designer Giorgio Armani opened Tuesday as the first landmark tenant in the world's tallest skyscraper. The 160-room Armani Hotel Dubai is a welcome bit of good news for Dubai's leaders after the troubled debut of the more than half-mile (828-meter) Burj Khalifa in January. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Oman's Muzana Musafir (R) receives an award from Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid, chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, at the endof the Gulf Film in Dubai on April 14. Musafir won a prize in the Students' Competition for her film on the veil, entitled "Niqab (AFP/File/Karim Sahib)

An Emirati family walks behind a foreign couple in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. With tolerance wearing thin for behaviour considered inappropriate, more and more Emiratis are denouncing the "offensive" customs of the very foreigners who are contributing to their country's success. (AFP/File/Karim Sahib)

Foreign workers in Sharjah in March 2008. Seventeen Indian nationals have been sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani man in a turf dispute between bootleg liquor gangs in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, local media reported on Monday. (AFP/File/Haider Shah)

POLITICAL REPRESSION

KYRGYZSTAN: A combination picture shows a demonstrator being shot during clashes near the presidential administration in Bishkek April 7, 2010. Kyrgyz troops opened fire on anti-government protesters on Wednesday outside the offices where President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sheltering from clashes that have killed dozens of people, a Reuters witness said. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov

A plain clothes policeman kicks an anti-government protester in Bishkek April 7, 2010. Kyrgyz forces fired on thousands of protesters in central Bishkek on Wednesday after some of the protesters tried to smash two trucks through the perimeter fence of the government building, said a Reuters reporter at the scene. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov

DON'T STEREOTYPE ONLY MUSLIMS

Taiwan man ties the knot at 96: A 96-year-old temple keeper has become Taiwan's oldest groom on record after marrying a woman less than one third his age,a report said Friday.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

Thanks to Dr. Lewis for forwarding below.

THE AGE GAP?

At 85 years of age, Roger married Jenny, a lovely 25 year old.

Since her new husband is so old, Jenny decides that after their wedding she and Roger should have separate bedrooms, because she is concerned that her new but aged husband may over exert himself if they spend the entire night together.

After the wedding festivities Jenny prepares herself for bed and the expected knock' on the door. Sure enough the knock comes, the door opens and there is Roger, her 85 year old groom, ready for action. They unite as one. All goes well, Roger takes leave of his bride, and she prepares to go to sleep.

After a few minutes, Jenny hears another knock on her bedroom door, and it's Roger, Again he is ready for more 'action'. Somewhat surprised, Jenny consents for more coupling. When the newlyweds are done, Roger kisses his bride, bids her a fond good night and leaves.

She is set to go to sleep again, but, aha you guessed it - Roger is back again, rapping on the door, and is as fresh as a 25-year-old, ready for more 'action'. And, once more they enjoy each other.

But as Roger gets set to leave again, his young bride says to him, 'I am thoroughly impressed that at your age you can perform so well and so often. I have been with guys less than a third of your age who were only good once. You are truly a great lover, Roger.'

Roger, somewhat embarrassed, turns to Jenny and says:

'You mean I was here already?'

The moral of the story:

Don't be afraid of getting old; Alzheimer's has its advantages.

GREECE

(When was the last time that you really had quality time with your loved one ?)

A couple looks at the temple of Zeus (L) and the hill of the Acropolis in Athens, March 24, 2010. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis

THE END