The World We Live In !!

I had been banned from Facebook and my account had been disabled a night before Facebook was banned in Pakistan. Before all this happened, I visited the blasphemous page “Draw Muhammad Day” and the content on the page hurt me badly. Once again a certain group of westerners called it the “freedom of expression” and went on to show extremism – something they always verbally disassociate themselves from. As a response to this lunacy, I thought it best to find out how they respond to others’ right of freedom of expression – I created an Adolf Hitler page right away and it read, “To all those who think they can ridicule Islam in the name of freedom of expression and yet punish those who speak of the genius of Hitler”. The comment on the wall read, “Let’s hit them where it hurts them the most”. Further I added some photos of the Fuhrer, Nazi Party and the Italian Footballer Paolo Di Canio who was banned and fined by FIFA two years ago for performing the “controversial” Roman Salute which according to him gave him a sense of belonging to his people. Within an hour tens of people joined the Hitler page which was named “H | T L E R”. The very next time I tried to log in I found out that my profile had been disabled for ‘violation of Facebook Regulations’.

Despite the fact that there exists no proof of the holocaust and no evidence that six million Jews died in concentration camps during WWII, let’s just imagine that it did happen. Now how is it that Hitler is termed as the most evil person in the history of mankind while those that bomb Muslims, commit heinous crimes in their countries, ridicule their Prophet and Quran and as a result hurt the sentiments of 1.2 billion Muslims are hailed as heroes? And I wonder why the victims of Holocaust are more important than victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read more…

Recent debates, especially on facebook, regarding Zaid Hamid and his relations with a convicted blasphemer who died in jail almost a decade ago have certainly caught the Pakistani youth by surprise. They find themselves locked in an argument which is taking a heavy toll on their intellect and energies. On one side there are people who look upto traditional religious scholars with a good number of years and experience in the matters of religion while the other segment is quite wary of these sources and choose to follow their “Sir” Zaid Hamid.

A closer look into the matter reveals that our youth can easily be generalized as passionate, emotional, irrational, impulsive, aggressive, vulnerable, know-it-all, mind guarded and above all frustrated. The description is equally valid for all the participants irrespective of their point of view. Ironic it may be both the parties well and truly are the future of Pakistan. These youngsters are enrolled in medical, engineering and management universities.

A visit to pro-camp points how easily we the Pakistani youth fall prey to rhetorical war mongers in the name of religion. The followers there are not madressah students, long branded for being fanatics and extremists, but rather educated minds. While on the anti-camp you will find statements of religious scholars belonging to various schools of thoughts, evidences produced and deemed authentic in the court, even the complete court judgment. The advocates calling Zaid Hamid of being a vice of a blasphemer are actively gathering proofs to justify their allegations and even interacting with scholars while the other party seems to be too naïve to listen to or visit anyone. What is more surprising is that there have been defectors in the later camp while the former are steadfast. Read more…

Muslims are numerous but powerless. Divisions among Muslims, especially between Sunni and Shi’ites, have consigned the Muslim Middle East to almost a century of Western control. Muslims cannot even play together. The Islamic Solidarity Games, a regional version of the Olympics, which were to be held in April in Iran, have been cancelled, because the Iranians and the Arabs cannot agree on whether to call the body of water that separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf.

Muslim disunity has made it possible for Israel to dispossess the Palestinians, for the U.S. to invade Iraq, and for the U.S. to rule much of the region through puppets. For example, in exchange for faithful service, Egypt receives $1.5 billion a year from Washington, which enables President Mubarak to buy off opposition. The opposition had rather have the money than support the Palestinians. Therefore, Egypt cooperates with Israel and the U.S. in the blockade of Gaza.

Another factor is the willingness of some Muslims to betray their own kind for U.S. dollars. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to neoconservative Kenneth Timmerman, head of the Foundation for Democracy, which describes itself as “a private, non-profit organization established in 1995 with grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to promote democracy and internationally-recognized standards of human rights in Iran.”

by Paul Craig Roberts

Read more…

Two months before the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of NATO’s first-ever ground war the world is witness to a 21st Century armed conflict without end waged by the largest military coalition in history.

With recent announcements that troops from such diverse nations as Colombia, Mongolia, Armenia, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine and Montenegro are to or may join those of some 45 other countries serving under the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), there will soon be military personnel from fifty nations on five continents and in the Middle East serving under a unified command structure.

Never before have soldiers from so many states served in the same war theater, much less the same country.
Read more…

Every individual, every society and every nation has its own particular destiny. Even before the first human being had been created, all the details of what each person would experience in the future, the events to be witnessed by every nation, the stages every society would go through, and the like, had all been established in the sight of Allah. Yet, people do not know any of these details that have been established, lived through, or done with in the sight of Allah. They only see and come to know them as they experience them. The future is thus unknown to us.

However, Allah has also revealed that He has granted some of His servants information about the unknown in the Qur’an. One such factor was that about the Prophet Yusuf (as). In his dungeon, he told two of his companions of the proofs of the existence of Allah:

He said, “No meal to feed you will arrive before I have informed you what they mean. That is part of what my Lord taught me. For I have left the religion of a people who clearly have no belief in Allah and are disbelievers in the hereafter.” (Surah Yusuf: 37)

As we see from this verse, Yusuf (as) is saying that he knew something that had not yet occured. That is knowledge, and a miracle, imparted to him by Allah. Allah also gave him the knowledge to interpret dreams. As long as Allah so wished, he could see certain events in the future.

Similar knowledge to that given to Yusuf (as) was also given to other prophets. In some verses, Allah states that He will reveal aspects of the unknown to those He chooses to be His messengers:

He is the Knower of the Unseen, and does not divulge His Unseen to anyone-except a Messenger with whom He is well pleased, and then He posts sentinels before him and behind him. (Surat al-Jinn: 26-27)

What the Prophet MUHAMMAD (saas) Said of the Future « Tiigerr’s Blog.

Following is an article that was sent to me via E-mail by a friend of mine. I just could not go without posting it. How simple it is even to a 17 year old, Mashallah.

Its people like this who make Muslims around the world feel proud.

May God reward her for all her efforts in life. Amen !!

A lesson to be learned
By Sultana Yusufali, 17 (a Toronto high school student)

Toronto Star Young People’s Press

I probably do not fit into the preconceived notion of a “rebel.” I have no visible tattoos and minimal piercings. I do not possess a leather jacket. In fact, when most people look at me, their first thought usually is something along the lines of “oppressed female.”

The brave individuals who have mustered the courage to ask me about the way I dress usually have questions like: “Do your parents make you wear that?” or “Don’t you find that really unfair?”

A while back, a couple of girls in Montreal were kicked out of school for dressing like I do. It seems strange that a little piece of cloth would make for such controversy. Perhaps the fear is that I am harbouring an Uzi underneath it. You never can tell with those Muslim fundamentalists. Read more…

“]Pope Benedict XVI called for Israelis and Palestinians to live peacefully in the Middle East during a welcoming ceremony at the Israeli president’s residence in Jerusalem.

“I pray daily for peace born of justice to return to the Holy Land and the entire region, bringing security and renewed hope for all,” he said on Monday.

Benedict emphasised that justice and security were inseparable concepts according to “God’s design for the world”.

“Jerusalem … is a city which affords Jews, Christians and Muslims both the duty and the privilege to bear witness together to the peaceful coexistence long desired by worshippers of the one God,” he said.

Afterwards, he moved on to Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Pope appeals for Middle East peace.

Hours after Al Jazeera first broadcast a video showing US soldiers in Afghanistan being instructed by the military’s top chaplain in the country to “hunt people for Jesus” as they spread Christianity to the overwhelmingly Muslim population, the Pentagon shot back. It charged that Al Jazeera had “grossly misrepresent[ed] the truth.” Col. Greg Julian, told Al Jazeera: “Most of this is taken out of context … this is irresponsible and inappropriate journalism.”

US soldiers in Afghanistan have been filmed with local language Bibles and urged to be “witnesses for Jesus” despite anti-proselytising rules. Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports.

Now, Al Jazeera and the man who filmed the controversial material are striking back. The network has just released unedited and unaltered footage of US soldiers in ‘bible study’ in Afghanistan. Jazeera describes it as “Extended footage shot by Brian Hughes, a US documentary maker and former member of the US military who spent several days in Bagram near Kabul.”

Al Jazeera and the “Hunt for Jesus” in Afghanistan Video.

A Palestinian teenager has been shot and seriously injured by a Jewish settler in the northern West Bank.

Palestinian officials said the boy had been working on his family’s land near Madama when he was shot by settlers. There are no reports of any arrests.

The incident took place near the Yitzhar settlement. The boy was later taken to hospital in Nablus.

An Israeli police spokesman said a settler had opened fire after coming under attack by stone-throwers.

The settler was due to be questioned by police, the spokesman told AFP news agency.

Late in 2008, Israeli security officials raised concerns about an increase in violence by settlers.

These attacks targeted both Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank.

There are frequent reports of settlers harassing Palestinians and human rights groups have captured some of these attacks on video, bringing the issue to greater prominence.

All settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Via BBC NEWS | Middle East | Settler injures West Bank youth.

Meraz Ahmad Jalaluddin Ansari lost everything in the riots. Pics: Soutik Biswas

Muslims in India’s Gujarat state who bore the brunt of religious riots in 2002 say they have been abandoned by the political parties. The BBC’s Soutik Biswas met some riot victims ahead of the general election in the state.

The acrid smell of burning oil singes your nose and eyes as you walk into Bombay Hotel, a sprawling ghetto of Muslim-owned homes on the eastern flank of Ahmedabad, the main city in western Gujarat state.

A pall of black factory smoke hangs over this untidy patchwork of squat, ugly houses. Residents pay 150 rupees ($3) a month to a private contractor who supplies yellow-coloured drinking water through dirty garden pipes. Sewage flows out into the street.

Bombay Hotel, which takes it name after a local roadside eatery, is one of the places where many Muslims displaced by the 2002 Gujarat riots moved to. Over the past seven years, it has transformed from a remote industrial colony to become a busy refugee settlement.

The anti-Muslim riots, sparked off by the death of Hindu pilgrims in the firebombing of a train, led to the death of 1,392 people in five districts, according to official records. NGOs say the toll is closer to 2,000.

Via BBC NEWS | South Asia | Gujarat Muslims the ‘living dead’.