VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 141, July 24, 2010
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

EDITORIAL:

ISLAMIC TEACHING APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN:

For example, in below incident of ten men being victims of sexual assault, even if one single man was a practicing Muslim, he would not fall into the trap of below female perpetrator for the following reasons:

A practicing Muslim would avoid or at the very least be very cautious about socializing with a female stranger and would unlikely accept the invitation of the female to go to her home, leave alone accepting and drinking with her.

Russian Woman On Trial for Raping 10 Men

18 Jun 2009

A young Russian woman, a devoted collector of horror films and spiders, is on trial for sedating and raping ten men. The police were shocked that 32-year-old Valeria K., a quiet good-looking woman from the city of Tambov, was the mysterious rapist who abused ten local men after poisoning them with clonidine, Life.ru reports.

www.jeejuh.com

Valeria... would get acquainted with men and invite them to her place. She gave them drinks with clonidine, which almost immediately sent them to sleep for almost 24 hours. After that, she undressed her victims and raped them, tightening a rope on their male organs to keep them erect. Waking up in hospital with clonidine poisoning and penis trauma, all the victims could remember was a friendly brunette who gave them drinks.

Finally, local police identified the offender and arrested her.

SCIENCE AND ISLAM:

(Ed Note:
1400 plus years ago, Almighty Allah through his guidance in the Holy Quran forbid the use of alcohol. The devastating impact of alcohol abuse to individuals, families and the nation as a whole is terrible. In this E-Zine focus is only on the impact of alcohol to pregnant women. To all the practicing pregnant Muslim women, our flying kisses to them for not drinking alcohol and thereby preventing permanent and life long damage to their future child)


HOLY QURAN:
"They question thee about strong drink and games of chance (gambling) . Say: In both is great harm and utility for men; but the harm of them is greater than their usefulness." (Al-Baqarah 219).

Intoxicants were forbidden in the Qur'an through several separate verses revealed at different times over a period of years. At first, it was forbidden for Muslims to attend to prayers while intoxicated (4:43). Then a later verse was revealed which said that alcohol contains some good and some evil, but the evil is greater than the good (2:219). This was the next step in turning people away from consumption of it. Finally, "intoxicants and games of chance" were called "abominations of Satan's handiwork," intended to turn people away from God and forget about prayer, and Muslims were ordered to abstain (5:90-91).

(Note - the Qur'an is not arranged chronologically, so later verses of the book were not necessarily revealed after earlier verses.)

In the first verse cited above, the word for "intoxicated" is sukara which is derived from the word "sugar" and means drunk or intoxicated. The Prophet Muhammad also instructed his followers, at the time, to avoid any intoxicating substances -- (paraphrased) "if it intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount." For this reason, most observant Muslims avoid alcohol in any form, even small amounts that are sometimes used in cooking. (yahoo.answers)

Alcohol and Pregnancy

(Above photo and below information pertaining to FASD from arc.st.louis.org)

Alcohol use during pregnancy is the leading known preventable cause of mental retardation and birth defects in the United States.

FASD affects an estimated 40,000 infants each year - more than Spina Bifida, Down Syndrome and Muscular Dystrophy combined.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) alone costs the United States $5.4 billion annually in direct and indirect costs. (For every single) individual with full-blown FAS incur an average lifetime health cost of $860,000, although costs can be as high as $4.2 million (for each individual).

People are often confused by what they have heard about alcohol and pregnancy. Or, they do not feel it is relevant to their situation.

Alcohol use during pregnancy is a leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities. Not only can it damage the brain, but it can also lead to physical problems. Research proves that fetal tissue can sustain irreversible damage from alcohol which lasts a lifetime. Please click here to read about the potential damage that can occur.

The greater the alcohol consumption, the higher the risk of damage. However, in 2005 the Surgeon General of the Unites States proclaimed NO AMOUNT of alcohol is safe to use during pregnancy.

Wine, beer and hard liquor all have alcohol content. Therefore, none are safe to use during pregnancy. In fact, a glass of wine (5 ounces) has about the same amount of alcohol as a bottle of beer (12 ounces) or a shot of hard liquor (1.25 ounces)!

Unfortunately, many women do not know they are pregnant right away but damage can happen very early in the pregnancy. Just because a woman does not know she is pregnant, DOES NOT mean alcohol is safe.

When alcohol causes a specific combination of damage the person may have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). When this specific combination is not present, the person may have one of many diagnosis that make up fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) affect all socio-economic and ethnic groups and hit all geographic regions. It is estimated that as many as 1 out of every 100 births in the United States have a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The costs of this impact is huge. Not only in the human perspective, but also in economic terms.

Even if you are not pregnant, you have the ability to impact the life of a future child ... simply by spreading this information. No child ever has to be born again damaged by prenatal alcohol exposure!!

National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Helping children & families by fighting the leading known cause of mental retardation & birth defects

www.nofas.org

The latest studies estimate that 40,000 infants are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) — 1 out of every 100 births in the U.S. FASD takes an enormous financial toll on affected families and society as a whole.

Costs associated with FAS are just the tip of the iceberg. Individuals with FASD make up a much larger group and the total costs associated with FASD are estimated to be much higher. Direct costs associated with FAS, estimated at $3.9 billion annually, include not only healthcare costs, but costs associated with social services and incarceration.

"Sixty percent of individuals with FASD will end up in an institution (mental health facility or prison). ¨ It is estimated that almost 70 percent of the children in foster care are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure in varying degrees. “I have seen one family of children with full blown FAS nearly bankrupt a county in my home state of Minnesota. The in-home care, special education, legal fees, and healthcare costs that the state was obligated to pay ran in the millions of dollars, all for one household.”

The Honorable (Judge) Susan Carlson,
Juvenile Court Justice, Minnesota

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects can include physical, mental, behavioral, and/or learning disabilities with possible lifelong implications. The term FASD is not intended for use as a clinical diagnosis. FASD includes conditions such as:

-Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
-Partial fetal alcohol syndrome (PFAS)
-Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND)

-Alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD)
-Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) * obsolete terminology

SAUDI CHARITY ASSOCIATION

A man living with HIV covers his face to avoid being identified due to fear of discrimination at a Saudi Charity Association for AIDS Patients in Jeddah July 19, 2010. About 350 AIDS patients visit the charity monthly, an official at the charity said. REUTERS/Susan Baaghil

SAMPLES OF CRIMES ACROSS THE GLOBAL UMMAH

Pakistan-born mother charged with murder after ... This undated file photo provided July 20, 2010, by the Irving Police Department shows 30-year-old Saiqa Akhter. Authorities say Faryaal Akhter, the 2-year-old daughter of Akhter, a Dallas-area woman suspected of choking her two children died Tuesday night July 20, 2010 at a local children's hospital. (AP Photo/Irving Police Department)

Egyptian policemen stands guard outside a courthouse in Cairo. Egyptian television presenter Ehab Salah has killed his wife after a domestic argument in which she accused him of having an affair. (AFP/File/Khaled Desouki)

LEGAL AND RELIGIOUS POLICIES:

Russian Muslims issue Fatwa Forbidding Marriages with Christians and Jews

www.photosight.ru

Dagestani legal scholars (alims) have issued a legal pronouncement (fatwa), strongly advising Muslim men against marrying Christian or Jewish women, reports Islam.ru website, citing the canonical department of Russia's Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims.

The religious ruling was adopted after a young Dagestani man residing in Moscow had inquired if he could marry a Russian girl he met there. Basing their decision on Shariat, spokespersons from the Dagestan’s Spiritual Governance canonical department ruled that the present day Christian and Jewish women differ greatly from “the people of the Book” and cannot be considered acceptable marriage partners, as approved by the Koran.

“If a girl goes to church, it does not necessarily mean that she is a true woman of the Book, because these religions have undergone severe distortions," the Dagestani fatwa says.

Following the adopted pronouncement, alims have reasoned that Muslims should be very cautious about marrying Christian and Jewish women, the Russian website Regions.ru reports.

GAZA WOMEN BANNED FROM SMOKING WATER PIPES IN CAFES:

Leisure time in Gaza takes latest of many hits ... Water pipes are seen at a cafe in Gaza City, Sunday, July 18, 2010. Gaza's Hamas rulers have banned women from smoking water pipes in cafes, calling it a practice that destroys marriages and sullies the image of the Palestinian people. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

INJUSTICE AGAINST WOMEN

Swedish feminists burn $13,000 in protest against ...
Gudrun Schyman, party leader for the Swedish feminist party Feminist Initiative sets a wad of money ablaze in a protest against unequal pay for men and women in Visby, Sweden, on July 6, 2010. Some 100,000 Swedish kronor (EUR 10,000, USD 13,000), representing the amount Swedish women miss out every minute in comparison to men, were committed to the flames during the protest. (AP Photo/Janerik Henriksson)

Traditional Penan houses are seen at Long Main village, located in the Miri interior at Ulu Baram, eastern Malaysian Borneo state of Sarawak in 2007. Malaysian activists on Tuesday slammed the government for failing to curb an epidemic of rape and harassment against women and girls from the Penan tribe in Borneo.(AFP/File)

A PEEK OUTSIDE ISLAM:

A Sabean looks on during the 'New Year' festivities in Baghdad. Iraq's 5000-strong sect practice their religion along the banks of the River Tigris. The Sabeans were driven out of Jordan and settled in Iraq around AD 67. (AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)

A woman is hold up by revelers during the 'Chupinazo', the official opening of the 2010 San Fermin fiestas on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Dayananda Swami, Hindu religious leader Dayananda Swami, a Hindu religious leader, addresses a rally organized in support of anti-cow slaughter law in Bangalore, India, Tuesday, July 20, 2010. India's southern Karnataka state lawmakers recently passed the anti-cow slaughter bill and are awaiting the approval of Governor, the envoy of the country's President. The law which is in place in some other Indian states prohibits slaughter of cattle and the offenders can be imprisoned for one year to seven years. Cows are considered sacred by Hindus. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

TRIBE UNKNOWN TO CIVILIZATION FOUND

(yahoo.news.photos)

Member of Koroway tribe stands :

A member of the Koroway tribe stands on a ladder leading to his house at a forest near Merauke city in Indonesia's Papua province in this May 18, 2010. A tribe of hunter gatherers living in trees in the remote forests of Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua has been discovered officially for the first time by the country's census, an official said in June. The nomadic tribe, called Koroway, numbers about 3,000 people speaking their own language and living off forest animals and plants, census officials found during the country's 2010 census survey. Picture taken on May 18, 2010. REUTERS/Suntono-Indonesia statistic agency

POSITIVE NEWS

Yemen's elite female counter-terrorism force takes on Al Qaeda

Combating the increasing threat of Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, the 42 women in Yemen's elite counter-terrorism unit do all the jobs that the men do, plus the jobs they won't do.

By Sarah A. Topol
June 12, 2010

Sanaa, Yemen:
Kneeling on the ground, a row of women in black face masks squint their eyes, taking aim with their AK-47s before releasing rounds into stationary targets at a shooting range eight miles outside the capital, Sanaa. The female contingent of Yemen’s elite Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) trains here five days a week alongside the men, running drills and target practice.

In the conservative Muslim country, the 42 women of the CTU do jobs only women can. They conduct house, family, and female body searches as the Yemeni government battles the increasing threat of Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula.

“The men are in the first line. If the mission needs us to shoot, we do,” says Lt. Qobol al-Saadi, one of the two first female officers of the CTU, who graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Britain in 2009. Now, Yemen’s CTU women complete basic training on a Yemeni-base alongside the men. The first class of 17 finished the training in January 2010.

Sgt. Takia al-Zahri has been with the CTU for almost two years. Standing at attention, she is still no higher than 5 feet tall and knows she is breaking the mold. “For society it’s something strange, for me, that’s what I want to be doing,” she says of her service, “First, because I want to be part of the soldiers and officers who secure this country; second, for women; and lastly, because I love this country.” Other women agree.

Now the women command men and run drills with the male soldiers. “There’s no difference between females and males, we do everything the boys do,” says Lt. Fathia al-Hammdi, who has commanded male units. “At first they didn’t accept us, the men here thought it was strange. Command is command, but there is still culture here.... They’ll get used to it,” she smiles.

Egyptian Female Bodyguards Mix Hijabs with Aikido
By Sarah A. Topol
January 21, 2010

Egypt's first female bodyguard unit empowers women while meeting a demand for increased security among wealthy women and at major events.



(Photo: Secure: A 'lady guard' (right) on duty at an upscale shop in Egypt. The women carry no weapons, but are trained in martial arts. They helped provide security at a controversial Beyoncé concert held in Cairo last fall).

Cairo

Imagine “Men in Black” meets hijabs and neon eyeliner.

Dressed in identical black suits, white-collared shirts, and silver head scarves, Dwleat Nanvey and Maha Hamied are part of Egypt’s growing corps of “lady guards,” trained to provide protection to high-powered Arab women. Visitors clamped in one of the ladies’ vise-grip handshakes will notice a golden pin on her lapel – a soaring falcon, her employer’s symbol.

The Falcon Group, as the Egypt-based security company is known, is pioneering a new model of protection that both signals and supports the rising status of women here. Falcon’s female-guard unit, the first of its kind for women clients, is creating an empowering new career for its employees while capitalizing on the demands of an increasingly conservative society.

“As an Eastern and Oriental country, the women here do not like to be inspected or guarded by men, so we thought of this idea,” says Mohamed Elshenhaby, security director for the firm, which plans to expand into Lebanon this year. “We expect [demand] to keep increasing, because now women go everywhere and they need security.”

While it might seem paradoxical, the company thrives on a combination of women’s professional achievement and an increasingly religious culture that discourages the mixing of unmarried men and women.

Three years ago, the firm, which offers everything from electronic surveillance to cash management, started the unit with 20 women. It now boasts a roster of 300-plus.

The female guards work in personal or commercial security, including guarding stores in shopping malls.

The Falcon Group emphasizes diplomatic solutions over brute force, though the women’s aikido martial arts training and imposing demeanors suggest they have plenty of that, too. In November, the company’s “lady guard” unit worked with its male guards to secure the controversial Beyoncé concert that drew scorn from Muslim clerics.

“They have been trained to use their minds,” says Mr. Elshenhaby. “It’s more than using her arms.... But if needed, she can fight.”

Members of the female-guard unit describe challenges associated with their work, but say the advantages outweigh any initial problems. Ms. Nanvey was one of the original 20 guards in Falcon’s first unit. “At the beginning it was hard, but now I can do anything,” she beams through electric-green eyeliner.

As Middle Eastern society adapts to women’s growing success in the workplace and presence outside the home, both Nanvey and Ms. Hamied find they have a job to do.

ISLAMIC FASHION:

"I love my Prophet", and other T-shirts that redefine Islamic clothing

Styleislam's collection of Islamic clothing has one main message:
Being Muslim and being hip go together.

Another message is tolerance:
Jesus & Muhammad / Brothers in Faith.

By Isabelle de Pommereau, Correspondent / June 7, 2010

Frankfurt, Germany

Above Photo: Fashion designer Melih Kesmen reads inside a mosque in Witten. His modern brand of Islamic clothing, Styleislam, was born from outrage over the Mohammad caricatures in Denmark three years ago. Frank Augstein/AP

Whether at his office, on the streets of Frankfurt, or on the music stage, rapper Fouad As-Idi, has no qualms wearing a T-shirt with a special message: “Terrorism has no religion.”

“The motives are super both for Muslims and non-Muslims,” says Mr. Idi, a Moroccan-Italian Frankfurter better known as his stage name, Sayfoudin “It’s a message that speaks to everybody.”

The T-shirt is a product of Styleislam, a new brand of Muslim fashion that has been sweeping through the streets of Europe. Mixing Islamic themes with hip-hop culture in a collection of 35 T-shirts, casual wear, and accessories for men and women, Styleislam products have one main message: Being Muslim and being modern go together.

“T-shirts are a bridge, they are a means to establish a dialogue with mainstream society,” says Melih Kesmen, Styleislam’s creator, whose parents left Turkey in the 1960s to help Germany rebuild its infrastructure after the traumas of World War II. “Our goal is to strengthen the identity of European Muslims, to say that we area part and parcel of this society – and have been for a long time. And to say that being Muslim can be cool, too,” says Mr. Kesmen from Witten, an industrial city in northwestern Germany.

Styleislam was born out of Kesmen’s outrage at the Mohammad caricatures in Denmark three years ago. “I couldn’t believe that in the name of the freedom of expression, the world was bashing a religion,” says Kesmen. “It can’t be that we always have to be in the position to justify ourselves when only 1 percent of Muslims are radical.”

Unlike thousands of Muslims who resorted to violence to vent their frustration, Kesmen used his creativity, by designing a T-shirt with something special written on it: “I love my Prophet.”

No sooner was he out on the streets with his T-shirt that people started stopping him, asking questions, convincing him of the power of fashion in making people think, and of the existence of a market for his fashion.

Today, his idea has evolved into a designing firm with eight full-time employees selling Muslim fashion with Islamic themes in the world’s four corners, from the United States to Western Europe, from Canada to Turkey. Some T-shirts are for women. One, for instance, refers to the head scarf: “Hijab – my right. My choice. My life.” Others preach tolerance. “Jesus & Muhammad / Brothers in Faith.”

Styleislam sponsored the first tournament of Germany’s Muslim Basketball Association in Frankfurt last year. The players’ T-shirt reads: “Ball Against War!”

“But for us, it’s more important when ordinary people wear the T-shirts and walk around – in the subway, on the streets – when they make their presence visible in society,” Kesmen says.

“We are fighting against the ‘They and Us’ mentality. It is nonsense to say ‘They, the Muslims, and we, Europa,’ ” Kesmen says. “My message is that there is no contradiction in being European, German, and Muslim at the same time.”

One T-shirt at a time, his message seems to be heard.

Just the other day in Frankfurt, rapper Sayfoudin’s co-workers came in with a Styleislam T-shirt, too. It said, in big black letters, “Salam.”

“Salam,” for peace.

THE END