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A leading Muslim organisation in Britain has issued a fatwa against
suicide
bombings and terrorism, declaring them un-Islamic.
Minhaj-ul-Quran, a Sufi organisation based in East London which advises
the
Government on how to combat radicalisation of Muslim youth, will launch
the
600-page religious verdict tomorrow. It condemns the perpetrators of
terrorist explosions and suicide bombings.
The document, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister
of
Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and
terrorism as "totally un-Islamic". It is one of the most detailed and
comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain.
The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from
the
Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent
citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam
does
not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext".
Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is based in Canada and has written more than 400
books
on Islamic law, said: "All these acts are grave violations of human
rights
and constitute kufr, disbelief, under Islamic law."
Minhaj-ul-Quran is an organisation based in 80 countries that follows
Sufi
teachings of peace and moderation. It is gaining influence in Britain as
the
Government seeks to gain ground among Muslim groups eager to combat the
radicalisation of young people.
The group receives no government funding but its agenda is comparable to
the
official Prevent strategy, under which community organisations are
encouraged to work together to counter extremism.
Radical Islamists will dismiss the fatwa but it will be welcomed by many
Muslims from the large community of South Asian heritage in Britain,
among
whom confusion about religious teaching is exploited by extremists
seeking
to recruit suicide bombers.
"Extremist groups start brainwashing the young students from British
universities and eventually convince them to oppose integration in
British
society," said Shahid Mursaleen, a spokesman for Minhaj-ul-Quran.
The fatwa would help fight extremist recruitment of young Muslims and
was "one
of the most comprehensive verdicts on this topic in the history of
Islam",
he added.
Inayat Bunglawala, former spokesman of the Muslim Council of Britain and
founder of the new group Muslims4UK, set up to counter the radical
message
of the newly banned Islam4UK and other extremist groups, welcomed the
fatwa.
"This adds to the view of many Islamic scholars internationally that
terrorism
and suicide bombings are unacceptable in Islam," he said. "It is a
positive
initiative. Anything that helps move young people away from violence and
from those who promote violence must be welcomed."
by Mathias
Hariyadi Fancy perms and photo albums made before marriage are haram, i.e. contrary
to Islamic religion and morality. Two East Java educational institutions issue
the ruling in order to preserve the purity of customs. Indonesias Ulema
Council describes the fatwa as exaggerated.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) Wearing elaborate hairdos and being
photographed before ones wedding are haram, against the Islamic religion
and morality. Two all-female educational institutions (pesantren) issued
a fatwa to that effect. In doing so, they add more fuel to an already heated
debate over bans. In fact, a ban has been imposed on smoking in public places
and on women wearing tight jeans or travelling on motorbikes.
The controversial ruling on
womens hairdos comes from the All-Girl Islamic Educational Institutions Forum
of East Java Province. Fussing over ones hair, getting a perm, having ones
hair curled too much or coloured are deemed morally illicit and contrary to
the principles of Islam.
Premarital photos are also
condemned as haram because they favour extra-marital relations, and
give photographs the opportunity to retouch female bodies to show them in
storefronts in order to attract new customers.
The fatwa was issued during
12th Female Bahtsul Masail Forum held at the Lirboyo pesantren in Kediri (East
Java). Its purpose, activists believe, is to preserve the purity of marriage
between bride and groom by helping them avoid morally unacceptable behaviour.
Iswatun Hasanah, who chairs
the forum, said that the ruling was to prevent extra-marital relations before
the marriage, and applies to bride and groom, photographers, clothes designers
and make-up artists. Physical contacts during photo shoots, kissing on the lips,
walking hand in hand are unacceptable behaviours because the people involved
are not yet married.
Photographers are guilty of
accentuating the sensuality of their subjects and of manipulating the pictures
shown in public in order to attract new customers.
In the last few years,
thousands of couples have had photo albums about themselves made and handed them
out to family and friends on their wedding day. This has generated business
worth millions of rupees and attracted a growing number of customers.
Indonesias Ulema Council (MIU)
has reacted to the fatwa by downplaying the whole matter.
MUI leader Cholil Ridwan
said that the fatwa against hairdos is exaggerated, especially since it is
addressed to women who do not wear the jilbab or Islamic headscarf.
MUSLIM WOMEN REJECT THE FATWA
Muslim women in Surabaya, East Java,
have flatly rejected a fatwa recently issued by local clerics, who said women
changing the color and form of their hair using the rebonding technique is
forbidden under Islam.
Hair coloring and straightening are
just a matter of fashion, and have nothing to do with ones level faith,
university student Ulfa Damayanti, 19, told The Jakarta Post on the weekend,
after undergoing a rebonding treatment at a stylist in Surabaya.
Ulfa said she would continue visiting
the hair stylist every three months, to have her hair done, something she has
been doing for the last five years.
Ulfa had her parents permision to have
her hair cut, she said.
Last week, a problem-solving forum of
leaders of Islamic boarding schools for female students, from across Java and
Madura islands, issued an edict stating it is haram for Muslim women to color
and change the form of their hair.
During the meeting, held Thursday at
Lirboyo Islamic boarding school in Kediri, East Java, the clerics argued that
hair straightening could invite immoral acts if the intention was only to change
physical appearance.
The forum also banned women from
working as ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers or from using ojek services to go to
certain places or to pass quiet areas because it could incite immoral acts.
Riding on an ojek could bring women
into contact with the male ojek drivers skin, and expose aurat (parts of the
body that must not be exposed).
Ulfa said rebonding had nothing to do
with the causes and effects of immoral acts.
Citing an example she pointed to rape
cases allegedly committed by Muslim teacher Asad Syukur Fauzanni of Kedung
Rukem, Surabaya, involving 17 of his own female students in 2008.
Even a few months ago, a santri
[Islamic boarding school student] in Surabaya raped his fellow female santri at
an Islamic boarding school. This means immoral acts can just occur anywhere,
Ulfa said.
Separately, housewife Ida Ayu Rohmana,
34, voiced a similar objection.
Im also an obedient Muslim, but Im
proud to know a woman who works as an ojek driver. I see it as proof that
todays women are much more capable of doing manly jobs, she said.
If ulema ban women from working as
ojek drivers and then the women have to earn a living by working as prostitutes
or by stealing, what will they say? Ida asked.
Ida, who goes to the market to shop
everyday on an ojek also said she would continue using this form of transport
since she considered it safer than riding a motorcycle on her own. Im afraid
of being robbed if I take a motorcycle on my own. Once a woman was murdered like
that.
Thirty four Islamic scholars in Mauritania have signed a fatwa, or
religious opinion, banning the practice of female genital mutilation.
The fatwa, signed in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, states
that the procedure has been proven to be harmful either at the time or
subsequently.
Many Mauritanian women have welcomed the move.
Female genital mutilation has been recognised globally as a
violation of the human rights of girls and women.
But that message has been slow to filter down in parts of north,
east and west Africa where the practice is still widespread.
Health campaigners estimate that more than 70 percent of
Mauritanian girls undergo the partial or total removal of their external
genitalia for non-medical reasons.
The World Health Organisation says there are no health benefits
and many potentially damaging consequences, from severe pain and blood
loss to recurrent infections, infertility and an increased risk of
complications in childbirth.
Taboo 'smashed'
Mutilations are carried out for a mix of cultural and social
reasons, and many believe the practice has Islamic religious support,
even if this isn't always the case.
A law professor at Nouakchott University said the collective fatwa
would greatly reduce female genital mutilation in Mauritania because it
would remove what he called the religious mask that the practice hides
behind.
Mauritanian women in Nouakchott also welcomed what one said was
the smashing of a religious taboo.
However, others have cautioned that a publicity campaign will now
be needed if the fatwa's message is to be spread into outlying areas
where genital mutilation is most common.
New Delhi : In a move that
could stir the political pot, the Rural Development Ministry, under
Congress leader C P Joshi, has proposed automatic inclusion of Muslims
in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list of families along with Scheduled
Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Aware of the political sensitivities involved, the Ministry plans to
replace the word Muslim with Minority to pre-empt opposition,
especially from BJP-ruled states.
Inaugurating a conference of Social Editors, Rural Development
Minister Joshi said that to simplify the process and ensure that
vulnerable sections are not left out from the BPL list, his department
favoured automatic inclusion and exclusion.
It has been proposed, he said, that SCs, STs and minorities be
automatically included in the BPL list and then well-off families
excluded on basis of Income Tax returns, land records etc.
And certain categories will be automatically excluded from the
BPL list: families with double of a districts average irrigated land,
those with a four or three-wheel motor vehicle or mechanized farm
equipment, a government or private sector employee earning a salary
above Rs 10,000 per month.
Joshi justified automatic inclusion citing that SCs, STs and
Minorities together form less than 37% of the population less than
the BPL population pegged by the S C Saxena and Suresh Tendulkar
committee reports released recently.
There is a feeling that vulnerable sections are being excluded
from the BPL list due to competitive politics. We are trying to address
the problem, Joshi said. He, however, said that his Ministry was
waiting for the NSSO survey to decide the mode to be adopted for the new
BPL survey.
Joshis proposal goes beyond what the Saxena committee report
it was appointed by the Rural Development Ministry recommended. While
it said that weightage should be given to certain social groups,
including Muslims, it did not favour automatic inclusion. According to
the Saxena report, SCs/STs would get three points and Most Backward
Castes (MBC) two points. The Saxena report said that Muslims and OBCs be
given one point each.
Automatic inclusion of Muslims in the BPL list could be the first
major attempt by the Congress-led UPA government to woo the vote bank
that roughly constitutes 18% of the countrys population. The decision
could be significant given that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar go to state
polls in 2012 and 2010 respectively, states where the Congress is
desperately trying to get a foothold.
Inclusion and exclusion from the BPL list is a big issue in
villages, particularly in the Hindi heartland, since benefits of most
Central and state-sponsored welfare schemes like Indira Awas Yojna, old
age pension are decided on the basis of the list.
New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The government is committed to the welfare of minorities but fairness in implementing schemes is needed to avoid questions being raised, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday and assured that a commission to deal with discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender and language will be created soon.
There is nothing to worry about (for minorities). We are committed. We have programmes for their welfare but lets implement them with fairness so that no questions are raised, Khurshid told reporters here.
He was speaking at the 10th editors conference on social sector issues.
The minister said the government has entirely accepted the recommendations, barring one, of the Rajinder Sachar Committee, which was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to study the social and economic status of minorities in India.
The Sachar Committee report suggested mechanisms to ensure equity and equality of opportunity in jobs and education to Muslims, who form the largest minority in India.
Of Indias 1.2 billion population, Muslims constitute 14 percent followed by Christians at 2.3 percent, Sikhs at 1.9 percent, Buddhists at 0.8 percent, Jains at 0.4 percent and others including Parsis at 0.6 percent.
Salman Khurshid said an equal opportunities commission will be formed soon to deal with discrimination faced by minorities in areas like employment, education and housing.
The report on the equal opportunities commission is close to draft legislation. It will take the social justice discourse to a new higher level, he said.
The minister said that the commission wont be specific to minority communities only.
It will work among identified groups who have suffered deprivation. It will ensure that equal opportunities are given to all, he said.
He said the government has identified 90 districts in the country where Muslims comprise 25 percent and has earmarked Rs.3,700 crore for the development of these districts in the current Five Year Plan (2007-12).
Khurshid said the government was in the process of finalizing a bill to ensure that the Wakf boards - trusts which look after Muslim mosques, shrines and allied properties - function in a streamlined fashion.
The records of Wakf boards will also be computerized to ensure proper survey and cross checking of Wakf data in all states and improve office efficiency and preparation of timely reports on various administrative matters, he said.
The scheme will streamline record keeping and introduce transparency in Wakf properties.
The scheme will be uniformly applicable across all the 29 state Wakf boards except for Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
CAIRO Union Home Minister Shri P Chidambrams remarks linking jihad to terrorism are infuriating Indian Muslims for misinterpreting the true meaning of the Islamic term.
"It is a gross misrepresentation of 'Jihad' and also betrays sheer ignorance on the part of your speech writer," the All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, in a statement mailed to IslamOnline.net on Monday, January 4.
Addressing an intelligence lecture on December 23, Minister Chidambram linked jihad to terrorism.
"Just as the Cold War came to an end, we witnessed the emergence of another kind of war, namely, jihad," he said.
"Unlike the original Crusades, jihad is not fought like a conventional war. Jihad employs terror as an instrument to achieve its objectives."
* Jihad: Its True Meaning and Purpose
The Muslim umbrella organization said the controversial remarks demonstrate ignorance of the true meaning of Jihad.
"Jihad is a defensive war against invaders and occupiers like the one our forefathers fought against the British occupiers of India."
It explained that jihad is divided into two categories; "Greater Jihad" and "Lesser Jihad".
"The greater one is against ones own shortcomings and waywardness while the lesser one is against foreign enemies who invade us and occupy our lands. Such struggle is the duty of every faithful lover of his/her country."
Manipulated
The Indian Muslim organization said the term "Jihad" is now misused by the US to justify the takeover of foreign lands and resources.
"It all started with their training, arming and financing fighters in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation and it was hailed as 'Jihad' by the US-controlled media," it noted.
"Later their own creation turned against them."
Karen Armstrong, a prominent and prolific British writer on all three monotheistic religions, has criticized the West's abuse of the word Jihad for certain purposes.
The All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat insisted that Indian Muslims have never used violence against their country.
"No Indian Muslim has taken part in such activities whether in the Indian part of Kashmir or in Afghanistan or Iraq or elsewhere."
The organization accused the Home Ministry of turning a blind eye to anti-Muslim smearing campaigns.
"Various departments of your ministry are still beating about the bush, making tall claims about 'Islamic terrorism' while there is none as far as Indian Muslims are concerned."
There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India, the world's third-largest Muslim population after those of Indonesia and Pakistan.
"It is my sincere advice to you as a learned, sincere and secular leader, to look beyond the popular clichés and the vague claims of your officials, and try to curb the real terror within the boundaries of our country," said the All India Muslim Majlis-E-Mushawarat President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan.
"Kindly leave the so-called 'Jihad' for America to tackle as it is the creator and beneficiary of this monster to this day in its quest to control energy resources of the Middle East."