VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 173, March 6, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

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

EDITORIAL:

There are currently many forces around us that seem tempting to emulate in order to be "cool" or be "one among them" or to "go with the flow". Nothing is more important than an adult individual's personal right and liberty to choose whatever he or she feels is best to follow or emulate in the global market place of ideas and value systems.

In as much as we would like to follow the Quranic verse of "THERE IS NO COMPULSION IN ISLAM", in terms of us not forcing our opinion on others, we expect the same from non-Muslims towards us. As we have indicated in our previous issues, there are extreme secular forces that appear to slowly but gradually lead the masses towards the destruction of FAMILY - the smallest social unit.

The people of Abrahamic faith have many common areas in which they could cooperate and work together specially as it pertains to defend marriage which we believe is between a man and a woman and also to defend the institution of FAMILY. We appeal to people of all faiths to explore avenues that lead to greater interfaith cooperation.

We as Muslims extend our invitation to all non-Muslims to join us to defend the above important institution of FAMILY.

While we would like to avoid criticism or negativity, we sure do love to affirm our right to practice Islam in our personal lives to the best of our ability. In this E-zine initially we are focusing on societal trends that point towards destruction of family and then we also discuss other issues related to interfaith relations, health, mental health, sexual health et.c.

PART A

“Schools Need to Teach about Orgasms”
says US Teachers Union to United Nations

Lauren Funk

www.lifesitenews.com
March 03, 2011
(condensed version)

NEW YORK, (C-FAM)

Graphic sex education for youth is the new battleground at the UN, as evidenced by side events during the past week at the Commission on the Status of Women.

“Oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms need to be taught in education,” Diane Schneider told the audience at a panel on combating homophobia and transphobia. Schneider, representing the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the US, advocated for more “inclusive” sex education in US schools, with curricula based on liberal hetero and homosexual expression.

The UN system was also advocating for the sexualization of youth at this year’s CSW.

The panelists presented the highly controversial UNESCO guidelines on Sex Education, as well as a new IPPF-sponsored curriculum as the gold standard for comprehensive sex education. Both curriculums promote a liberal approach to sex, approve of masturbation, and expose children to graphic content in their youngest years.

PART B

United Nations Promotes Prostitution As Harm Reduction

Terrence Mckeegan

(LifeSiteNews.com)
Feb 24, 2011
(condensed version)

Family is Under ‘Permanent Attack’ by United Nations, Says Cardinal

United Nations Population Fund Leader Says Family Breakdown is a Triumph for Human Rights

NEW YORK, February 24 (C-FAM)

A United Nations agency is actively funding the full legalization of prostitution with the support of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The agency even partnered with a prostitution advocacy group to co-chair a UN advisory group on HIV and “sex work.”

UNAIDS, a joint program of the major UN agencies, is promoting “sex work” programs under the guise of harm reduction in combating HIV/AIDS and preventing discrimination against vulnerable groups.

One UNAIDS-funded organization is the Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP). The NSWP is the featured website on the controversial Interagency Youth Working Group, a US-funded project. The NSWP is described as an “alliance of sex workers and organizations that provide services to sex workers and promote sex workers’ health and human rights.”

On their website, NSWP actually takes credit for the term ‘sex worker’ replacing ‘prostitute’. “More than mere political correctness,” says NSWP, “this shift in language had the important effect of moving global understandings of sex work toward a labour framework which signposts solutions to many of the problems faced by sex workers. It also questions the stigma of sex work and represents greater recognition of sex workers as rights bearers, with the capacity to make a difference.”

One of NSWP’s major publications is “Making Sex Work Safe.” The introduction of the publication states, “In general, sex workers have high numbers of sexual partners. But this in itself does not necessarily increase the chances of becoming infected with HIV. If condoms are used consistently and correctly, sex workers will not contract HIV – no matter how many clients they have. This means that sex work can be safe.”

Section 5 of “Making Sex Work Safe” is called “Safe Commercial Sex”, and features a graphic photo of an educator demonstrating the use of condoms in oral sex. The section offers the advice that “sex workers need a range of skills that enable them to maximize their income and reduce exposure to HIV.”

PART C

Marie Stopes Advocates Anal Sex For Teens In Explicit ‘Safe Sex’ Music Video

www.LifeSiteNews.com
Feb 10, 2011
Rebecca Millette
(condensed version)

LONDON

A sexually explicit music video sponsored by abortion giant Marie Stopes International is promoting anal sex as a contraceptive option for teens.

“Rule of thumb, one up the bum and it’s no harm done. One up the bum and you won’t be a mum,” says one line in the risqué ‘safe sex’ video by comic rap group, The Midnight Beast, entitled “Use ya Head.”

Anal sex is strongly linked to many dangerous and deadly diseases, including HPV, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and Herpes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have outlined the grave risks of anal sex, especially the potential of contracting HPV. “It is estimated that about 1,600 new cases of HPV-associated anal cancer are diagnosed in women and about 900 are diagnosed in men each year in the United States.”

The video, sponsored by Marie Stopes, questions the audience in 1980’s style rap “do you or don’t you, use your head when you go to bed?” It goes on to spell out “condoms,” “implant,” and “contraception” as necessary prerogatives to “going to bed.”

It has received over 117,600 YouTube views to date and links young viewers directly to a site, havealarc.com, outlining contraception options – all sponsored by Marie Stopes International.

Marie Stopes International is one of the world’s largest international abortion groups, and receives an estimated £30 million a year from the UK’s National Health Service.

PART D

Adultery Incorporated — The Infidelity Industry

Albert Mohler
(www.LifeSiteNews.com)
Feb 14, 2011
(condensed version)

“Monogamy, in my opinion, is a failed experiment.” That is the declaration of Noel Biderman, a Toronto businessman who wants to sell you an adulterous affair. As the current cover story of Bloomberg Businessweek reveals, Mr. Biderman is doing a great deal of business.

The magazine describes AshleyMadison.com as “the premier ‘dating’ website for aspiring adulterers.” Biderman says he came up with the idea after serving as an agent for professional athletes. That job required him to negotiate around the adulterous affairs of his clients. Biderman came to the conclusion that adultery could be big business.

Now, Ashley Madison grosses $60 million in yearly revenue and produces $20 million in annual profits. Biderman himself is making millions of dollars a year, and adultery appears to be a growth industry.

The idea behind Ashley Madison is easy enough to understand. Biderman’s plan was to create a website that would appear to cater to women seeking an adulterous partner, while actually attracting men seeking the women for an adulterous liaison. Clients of the site establish a personal profile, check off their “availability status,” and mark their personal preferences. The real money flows to the site when men connect online with women and then have to pay rather steep fees for the privilege of continuing the conversation.

If all goes according to plan, adultery soon follows.

Businessweek’s reporter, Sheelah Kolhatkar, describes Noel Biderman as “a lone genius — possibly evil and certainly entrepreneurial.” He serves as chief executive officer of Avid Life Media, the parent company for Ashley Madison. He is also the married father of two young children.

In his office the computer monitor flashes his company’s promotional message: “Life is short. Have an affair.”

The same could be said for a house of prostitution, of course, and at least some observers suggest that prostitution is basically what Ashley Madison is all about. After all, though almost all of the men registered at the site are married, about 20 percent of the women are not.

Nevertheless, anthropologist Helen Fisher accuses Biderman of “preying on human frailty.”

Sheelah Kolhatkar describes the company in these terms:

'What Ashley Madison does is legal. It’s also illicit, in that it helps users violate their marriage vows and engage in deception and secrecy. !”

PART E

European Court Could Rule Traditional Marriage Benefits Discriminatory

Terrence Mckeegan
www.lifesitenews.com
March 3, 2011
(condensed version)

LUXEMBOURG

Legal experts warn that a European court is on the verge of deciding that Germany’s privileged legal status for traditional marriage violates European Union law.

An Advocate General for the European Court of Justice, which is the highest court in matters of European Union law, issued an opinion to the court which states that same-sex couples must have access to the same employment benefits as married couples in every EU state, regardless of a state’s constitutional laws.

A leading Austrian homosexual rights activist has called the Advocate General’s opinion “groundbreaking”. “If the ECJ follows it, all 27 member-states will have to grant same-sex couples access to all the employment benefits married couples enjoy, no matter if they allow registered partnership or not,” said Dr. Helmut Graupner.

Such a legal theory taken to its logical end could go further than just changing employment benefits and would likely be used to try to overturn traditional marriage laws in each of the 27 countries of the European Union.

“The European Union was founded on respect for national sovereignty,” Roger Kiska, Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, told the Friday Fax. “If the Advocate General’s opinion is followed, it destroys this sovereignty making all European nations vulnerable to legislation promoting anti-life and anti-family laws despite the national will of that country. It is not the role of the ECJ to legislate for all of Europe without Europe having a say in the matter,” said Kiska.

According to the European Commission website, “Registered partnerships allow 2 people who live together as a couple to register their union with the relevant public authority in their country of residence.” Currently, 12 of the 27 EU states do not recognize registered partnerships as being equivalent to marriage.

Court observers believe a final ruling by the judges of the ECJ in the case is imminent.

PART F

SEXUAL HEALTH:

Oral Sex Causing Oral Cancer Rates to Rise: Studies

www.lifesitenews.com
March 4, 2011
Rebecca Millette
(condensed version)

Doctors in Canada and the United States are expressing concern over the dramatic rise in cancers of the head and neck, which, studies are indicating, are caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) being transmitted through oral sex.

About 2,000 cases of head and neck cancers are diagnosed each year in Canada and about 1,500 of these are caused by HPV, transmitted through oral sex, reported CTV News medical specialist Avis Favaro earlier this week.

Studies in the United States indicate that HPV is now the leading cause of head and neck cancers at 64 percent, even rising above smoking, tobacco chewing, and drinking.

While HPV is best known as the cause of cervical cancer in women, doctors are saying that the new trend of head and neck cancers is surprising and concerning. Young people, they say, are unaware that oral sex is not safe and the result is that more and more of them are contracting HPV-related cancer through oral sex. The virus, contracted during the teen years or early twenties, can often remain dormant for decades.

“Younger people, that are healthy, that are non-smokers and non-drinkers are developing cancers of the tonsil and the back of the tongue,” said head and neck surgeon Dr. Anthony Nichols of the London Health Sciences Center in Ontario.

“The more oral sexual encounters you have, the more likely you are to develop HPV-related oralpharyngeal cancer,” said Dr. Marina Salvadori, a paediatric infectious diseases expert at the London Health Science Center.

The rates, said Dr. Nichols, are increasing by 3 percent each year. “Three per cent a year in 10 years - that is about 30 per cent each decade. In cancer terms, that is huge,” said Nichols.

In the United States, researchers have found a 225 percent increase in oral cancer from 1974 to 2007, predominantly in white males, reported Dr. Maura Gillison of Ohio State University, who has been researching HPV and cancer for 15 years

“When you compare people who have an oral infection or not ... the single greatest factor is the number of partners on whom the person has performed oral sex,” said Dr. Gillison at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington this week.

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, “HPV has now been shown to be sexually transmitted between partners and is conclusively implicated in the increasing incidence of young nonsmoking oral cancer patients … Based on recent data, it appears that in people under the age of 50, HPV-associated oral cancers may even be replacing tobacco as the primary causative agent in the initiation of the disease process.”

“Teens really have no idea that oral sex is related to any outcome like STIs (sexually transmitted infections), HPV, chlamydia, and so on,” said Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher of the University of California San Francisco, who has studied teenagers’ attitudes and sexual behaviors.

According to Halpern-Felsher’s studies, young people view oral sex as “less risky” and say it is “more prevalent” among teens and 20-year-olds.

While vaccines are being developed and approved in the United States for cervical cancer which may be of use in types of HPV head and neck cancers, doctors warn that research has still not determined the effect on patients five years down the road or later.

“We know from all of the very good modeling studies that have been done throughout the world that if the vaccine does not last for a minimum of 15 years, cervical cancer will not be prevented, it will only be postponed,” she said.

Doctors and researchers are telling practitioners, educators, and parents they must inform young people of the huge risks of oral sex and the dangerous long-term effects.

PART G

HEALTH

Africa: HIV a Challenge in Religion
March 6, 2011

Hundreds of religious leaders across the globe are living with HIV, yet are afraid to come out because of the stigma attached to it. INERELA (INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF RELIGiOUS LEADERS) is a network of religious leaders across the globe which gives support to faith-based communities who are afraid to talk about HIV due to the stigma.

HIV/Aids affects everyone and the religious community is no exception. The International Network of Religious Leaders who are living with or are personally affected by HIV/Aids (INERELA) is an organisation that offers support to some of these religious leaders. INERELA offers counselling on how to deal with stigma and disclosure.

The network is spread all over Africa in close to 20 different countries, including Zambia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana.

He says one of the major challenges that religious leaders face is stigma and discrimination. He believes that it is unfortunate that society still thinks that religious leaders can't get HIV infection. He shares an example of a recent account he had at a mobile HIV testing station.

The Muslim community is no exception to the challenges raised by Reverend Mokgethi-Heath. Positive Muslims is an NGO based in Cape Town and services the people of the Western Cape who are either infected or affected by HIV/Aids.

Director of the organisation, Raoul Swart, says society puts a lot of pressure on the Muslim community about family values.

"This is where the denial comes in because there are a lot of strict guidelines put by people outside of the Muslim community and those within the Muslim community on family values and morality.

Often, people think that as Muslim community they would not be placing themselves at risk of HIV because of this". Swart says, however, there have been some small shifts in the Muslim community regarding HIV/Aids. He says people are slowly taking a step forward towards accepting HIV in their communities.

"There has definitely been a shift in the Muslim community - in particular with people wanting to know more about HIV, people taking more responsibility for their health and realising that it's not just a simple issue, there are other factors involved with the spread of HIV.

There really needs to be greater awareness because then, we can respond better to issues around HIV. Organisations such as "Positive Muslims" have had greater success in reaching the community who are coming forward seeking services and asking for workshops, etc.

Of late, we've had good networking with other Muslim organisations who have partnered for various campaigns which were greatly received by the Muslim community and broader community as well", says Swart. Meanwhile, Reverend JP Mokgethi-Heath says knowing his HIV status has changed his outlook on religion and has had a tremendous impact on his work.

PART H

(ED NOTE:

We found two important statements from below article to be a cause of concern:

(1) "A new study from UCSF, published last week in Environmental Health Perspectives, found several toxic chemicals in 99 percent to 100 percent of the pregnant women studied. Pregnant women were tested for 163 chemicals commonly found in pesticides, personal care products, non-stick cookware, and other common household items".

(2) "In many cases, the effects of these toxic chemicals on babies don’t show up until later in life. Pregnant women have enough to worry about these days. They can’t – and shouldn’t have to – shoulder all the burden and responsibility for ensuring their babies are free from toxic chemicals".

If you are interested to read the full article, please click Toxic Chemicals in Pregnant Women. www.rhrealitycheck.org)

PART I

MENTAL HEALTH

www.thestar.com
February 27, 2011

Anyone can suffer from mental illness, says doctor

GEORGE TOWN: Don’t let a smiling face or a happy personality hide the fact that a person may be suffering from a mental illness.

Penang Hospital consultant psychiatrist Dr Lai Fong Hwa said mental illnesses came in many forms and no one was immune.

“Although disorders like schizophrenia are at the severe end of mental illnesses, there are many others that include eating disorders and depression.

“Anyone – young or old, rich or poor, from normal everyday people to prime ministers – can suffer from any type of these illnesses,” Dr Lai said at the Nationwide Awareness Programme to Reduce Stigma Associated with Mental Illnesses talk at the Caring Society Complex here.

He said sufferers of these illnesses did not necessarily look depressed or upset all the time.

“The fact that they are smiling does not mean that they are not having problems,” Dr Lai said.

He said even well-known personalities like the late Hong Kong singer-actor Leslie Cheung, former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and American film producer and aviator Howard Hughes had suffered from mental illnesses ranging from depression to Alzheimer’s and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“The workshop will move to Kuala Lumpur on March 27, then to Kedah, Perak, Malacca and Johor,” Lee said. For more information and registration, call D’Home at 04-2291111 or 04-2278082.

PART J

(ED NOTE:
Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters:
Be proud to follow Islam in terms of getting married and then living together with your sweetheart, rather than living as boyfriend and girlfriend. Below research further supports what we follow from our faith)

Marriage significantly helps longevity, mental health, study finds

THADDEUS BAKLINSKI
(LifeSiteNews.com)
Jan 31, 2011

CARDIFF, Wales

Two medical students at Cardiff University studying existing data on the relationship of marriage to health have concluded that “stable, long term, exclusive relationships” lead to “more healthy lifestyles and better emotional and physical health,” and have a marked effect on longevity.

Authors David Gallacher and John Gallacher cite a Cambridge study of “one billion person years across seven European countries that found that married persons had age adjusted mortality rates that were 10-15% lower than the population as a whole,” and that this statistic alone makes stable marriage “probably worth the effort.”

The two said that “marriage generally indicates a deeper commitment” which “might explain why marriage is associated with better mental health outcomes than cohabiting.”

The authors found that “physical and mental health benefits seem to accrue over time,” citing a 30-year longitudinal study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry which found that “the duration of a relationship was associated with better mental health scores, while the difference in mortality rates in favour of marriage, increases with age.”

“In terms of physical health, men benefit more from being in a relationship than women, but in terms of mental health women benefit more than men,” the researchers observe.

They posit that “the physical health premium for men is likely to be caused by their partner’s positive influence on lifestyle. The mental health bonus for women may be due to a greater emphasis on the importance of the relationship in women.”

“The take home message is simple,” the authors conclude. “Exclusive and supportive relationships confer substantial mental and physical health benefits that grow over time.”

The study, titled “Are relationships good for your health?” was published in the British Medical Journal on January 28, 2011.

PART K

Delaying Sex, Stronger Marriages

www.aolhealth.com
December 29, 2010
Deborah Huso

While few couples in the U.S. wait until marriage to have sex anymore, new research suggests that delaying sex may improve the long-term outcomes of marriage.

That doesn't mean couples need necessarily wait until they walk down the aisle, but if you really like that new person you're dating, you might want to hold off on jumping between the sheets ... at least for a little while.

After studying more than 2,000 heterosexual individuals with an average age of 36, all in their first marriages, reseachers with Brigham Young University's School of Family Life discovered that those who had sex with their spouses within the first month of dating were much less satisfied with their marriages than those who had waited longer or waited until after marriage. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Family Psychology on Tuesday.

If this latest study, led by Dr. Dean Busby, holds water, its results may not bode well for the future of a lot of American marriages. According to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 50 percent of couples initiate premarital sex within a month of the first date.

Busby's research data indicates that couples who waited until marriage to have sex rated their relationship stability 22 percent higher than those who had sexual relations in the first month of dating, LiveScience reported. They also rated the sexual quality of their relationship 15 percent higher.

It's not just the cheapening of the experience, however. Busby points out that sex early on in a relationship may confuse the decision-making process in couples and lead them to continue relationships that aren't really working.

Piorkowski agrees, noting that it's important for couples to establish shared interests, values, and emotional intimacy before engaging in sexual intimacy. "If you have a lot of sexual feelings for someone, you may confuse it with love," she points out, "especially when you're a young person.

PART L

Look Who’s “Talking” Now:
A Fetus Is Scheduled to Testify in Front of Lawmakers in Ohio

Martha Kempner

March 1, 2011

(VIDEO) Look Who’s “Talking” Now: A Fetus Is Scheduled to Testify in Front of Lawmakers in Ohio

A fetus is scheduled to testify in front of the Ohio legislature. I kid you not. Though I suppose I should rephrase that to say that an “unborn human individual” is scheduled to testify as that is the term that the bill, originally introduced by Representative Lynn Wachtman, prefers.

The legislation, nicknamed the “Heartbeat Bill,” is being piloted in Ohio by a group called Faith 2 Action and seeks to make illegal all abortions that take place after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. It defines “unborn human individual” as “an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.” And one of these organisms is apparently going to address the Ohio House of Representatives.

How exactly its handlers are going to arrange this is not quite clear, though it appears that a woman who is nine weeks pregnant is going to have an ultrasound on the spot.

(It seems worth noting that at nine weeks fetuses tend to be too small to be detected by the classic over-the-belly ultrasounds of TV and movies, so in order for the audience to see this “witness,” it will be necessary to use an intra-vaginal probe.) It seems obvious to me that the witness, described by Faith 2 Action as “the youngest witness to ever come before the House Health Committee,” will not actually be speaking. W

While the pregnant woman may have something to say, my guess is that the bill’s supporters are hoping that a picture really is worth a thousand words.

PART M

INTER FAITH RELATIONS

Muslims Rally Against Christian Attacks
www.cathnewsindia.com
Feb 14, 2011

Muslims have staged a rally in Mangalore to protest against attacks on Christians by Hindu radical groups.

“Christians educate children and provide medical care for elders,” said Ali Hassan, convener of the Muslim Central Committee of Mangalore that organized the protest on Feb. 11.

“But they are rewarded with continuous attacks on their churches by Hindu extremists. This can never be Hinduism or patriotism,” Hassan asserted.

The Muslim leader said they organized the rally to protest a government commission repo that exonerated Hindu extremists from attacks on churches in the state in 2008.

Mohammad Kunni, a Muslim youth leader, lamented attempts by Hindu extremists to brand Muslims as terrorists and Christians as conversion agents.

He noted that Christians, Hindus and Muslims live together in Indian villages sharing joys and sorrows and transcending social and religious barriers.

K. L. Ashok, a Hindu and secretary of the forum for communal harmony, told the protesters to reject the commission’s report as it has not done justice to Christians even after a two-year investigation.

Philomena Peres, a Catholic and former state Women’s Commission president, said the government “wasted” 190 million rupees (US$4.2 million) in producing a “biased and unjust report” on anti-Christian violence.

Some 2,000 people joined the rally which started at a local mosque an ended at the district commissioner’s office.

The Muslim leaders later presented a letter to the commissioner demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the church attacks.
Source: ucanews.com

PART N

Christians, Muslims Urged to Interact

www.cathnewsindia.com
February 28, 2011

Christian and Muslim leaders at the Islamic Studies Association meet in Bhopal

A meeting of Christians and Muslims in Madhya Pradesh has stressed the need for the two minority communities to work together to create a just society.

“The more we interact and exchange ideas the more we stand to gain as a society and as a nation,” Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, who heads the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, told the biennial convention of the Islamic Studies Association (ISA).

Around 300 Christian and Muslim delegates attended a convention organized by the association in Bhopal.

“This kind of initiatives would help us know each other better and lead to greater understanding and co-operation,” Archbishop Cornelio said.

ISA secretary Father Pushpa Anbu wants more people to attend such programs to dispel misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims.

“We stand divided merely because we are ignorant of each other,” the Divine Word priest said after the convention.

Father Anbu objected to branding some people as terrorists just because they follow a particular religion. “No religion engages its members for terror,” asserted the priest, who is a specialist on Islam.

Father Anand Muttungal, general secretary of the Madhya Pradesh bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue, said the convention has boosted relations between Christians and Muslims in the state.

Sajid Ali, a Muslim lawyer who attended the program, sought Christians’ help to educate members of his community and bring them to the mainstream. He blamed ignorance for the backwardness in his community.

Anwar Saffi, a Muslim scholar, told the convention that his religion had taught him to treat everyone equally and live for others. He also called for closer ties with other religions to foster peace and harmony.

(Source: ucanews.com)


THE END