Rethinking Islam

Darul Harb versus Darul Aman: Can Pakistan or Saudi Arabia be considered a Land of peace for Muslims?

2009-01-30T04:37:00.000-08:00

Islam and Pluralism
30 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Darul Harb versus Darul Aman: Can Pakistan or Saudi Arabia be considered a Land of peace for Muslims?
Pakistani blogger Mr. Aamir Mughal has raised a very important issue in a comment posted in relation to the article below: Demolish Kafir/ Mushrik/ Munafiq-manufacturing factories, says Sultan Shahin, defending New Age Islam against Talibani onslaught

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1143 which needs to be debated threadbare- that of Darul Harb and Darul Aman. I live in India. Suppose I were to consider it a Darul Hrab - which of course, I don’t - on the basis of the mere fact of it being a non-Muslim majority country - though it would appear that only so-called Darul Harbs are Darul Amans, lands of peace, in today's world - which Darul Aman, a Muslim country, would accept me as a full-fledged citizen, that India accepts me as? Pakistan will not even give me a visit visa, perhaps, unless I give it a host of false and forged documents. Saudi Arabia and all other Arab or Muslims countries, I can live and work there, if I find a job, for hundreds of years, but I would never get any citizenship rights. Only countries that I can think of which can give me full citizenship rights as India does would be countries of the West, like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, other European countries. It won't be easy but it is doable. However, according to Mr. Aamir Mughal's definition, these are all Darul-Harbs, so what would be the point of shifting from one Darul Harb to another? What kind of Islam and what kind of Darul Harbs and Darul Amans are you talking about Mr. Aamir Mughal? Do you consider Pakistan a Darul Aman for Muslims, where Muslims are killed routinely during prayers in mosques, and where even the Muslims for whom this country was created do not get even visit visas?

Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam

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Darul Harb versus Darul Aman: Can Pakistan or Saudi Arabia be considered a Land of peace for Muslims?

Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam

Pakistani blogger Mr. Aamir Mughal has raised a very important issue in a comment posted in relation to the article below: Demolish Kafir/ Mushrik/ Munafiq-manufacturing factories, says Sultan Shahin, defending New Age Islam against Talibani onslaught

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1143 which needs to be debated threadbare- that of Darul Harb and Darul Aman. I live in India. Suppose I were to consider it a Darul Hrab - which of course, I don’t - on the basis of the mere fact of it being a non-Muslim majority country - though it would appear that only so-called Darul Harbs are Darul Amans, lands of peace, in today's world - which Darul Aman, a Muslim country, would accept me as a full-fledged citizen, that India accepts me as? Pakistan will not even give me a visit visa, perhaps, unless I give it a host of false and forged documents. Saudi Arabia and all other countries, I can live and work there, if I find a job, for hundreds of years, but I would never get any citizenship rights. Only countries that I can think of which can give me full citizenship rights as India does would be countries of the West, like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, other European countries. It won't be easy but it is doable. However, according to Mr. Aamir Mughal's definition, these are all Darul-Harbs, so what would be the point of shifting from one Darul Harb to another? What kind of Islam and what kind of Darul Harbs and Darul Amans are you talking about Mr. Aamir Mughal? Do you consider Pakistan a Darul Aman for Muslims, where Muslims are killed routinely during prayers in mosques, and where even the Muslims for whom this country was created do not get even visit visas?

Reference:
Aamir Mughal
29-1-2009
The Post may please be read in the context of the Deviant Ideologies of Political Islamists Type of Muslims living in Anglo Saxon Based Secular Democratic Countrres of the West:

Democracy: meaning rule by the people for the people not as per Islam through Quran and Sunnah.

Undoubtedly the democratic system is one of the modern forms of shirk, in terms of obedience and following, or legislation, as it denies the sovereignty of the Creator and His absolute right to issue laws, and ascribes that right to human beings. Allaah says:
Those whom ye worship beside Him are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers. Allah hath revealed no sanction for them. The decision rests with Allah only, Who hath commanded you that ye worship none save Him. This is the right religion, but most men know not. [YUSUF (JOSEPH) Chapter 12 - Verse 40]

The decision is for Allah only. [AL-ANAAM (CATTLE, LIVESTOCK) Chapter 6 Verse 57]

So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which Allah hath revealed unto thee. And if they turn away, then know that Allah's Will is to smite them for some sin of theirs. Lo! many of mankind are evil-livers. Is it a judgment of the time of (pagan) ignorance that they are seeking? Who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who have certainty (in their belief)? [AL-MAEDA (THE TABLE, THE TABLE SPREAD) Chapter 5 - Verse 49 and 50]

In one of his post in another thread of New Age Islam, Mr Bashir Syed has declared that he is a Mohajir in America [Immigrant in USA]. If he is so concerned about Muslims and Islam then he should follow Quran and Hadith and return back to Pakistan. Please review your stance as per Quran and Hadith [which all Muslim claim to follow and exploit] regarding Living in a Non Muslim Country. Those who want to observe Islam, Veil and Islamic Culture should come back and live in Afghanistan and Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: In what were ye engaged? They will say: We were oppressed in the land. (The angels) will say: Was not Allah's earth spacious that ye could have migrated therein? As for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end; [AN-NISA (WOMEN) Chapter 4 Verse 97]

Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I disown every Muslim who settles among the mushrikeen [Polytheists].” [Sunnan Abu Dawood]

It is obligatory to migrate from the kaafir lands to the Muslim lands for those who are able to do that, if they are unable to practise their religion openly

Ibn al-‘Arabi al-Maaliki said: Hijrah (migration) means leaving dar al-harb [non-Muslim lands] and going to dar al-islam [Muslim lands]. This was obligatory at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and remains so after his time for those who fear for their lives. From Nayl al-Awtaar, 8/33, by al-Shawkaani.

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said concerning the hadeeth, “I disown every Muslim who settles among the mushrikeen”:

This is to be understood as referring to those who are not safe to practise their religion there. Fath al-Baari

For example:

If you want to live in the West then follow their Law and don't complain about Prohibition of Veil, dont raise hue and cry when someone amongst them use 'Freedom of Expression' to practice Homosexuality and Lesbianism openly [what do you think when an underage or even adult Muslim male or female watch these acts of Hedonism? Wont this effect him or her? Forbidden as per Quran to even go near to those things which lead to Adultery].

And come not near unto adultery. Lo! it is an abomination and an evil way.[AL-ISRA (ISRA', THE NIGHT JOURNEY, CHILDREN OF ISRAEL) Chapter 17 Verse 32]

Even watching these things gives you wrong ideas?

What about your Tax Money through which USA and other NATO Countries financing War On Terror and bombing Innocent Muslims? Forbidden in Quran to help Combatant Non-Muslims in any way. What do you think your Tax Money does? Undoubtedly the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not compromise in matters of his religion. When he was in Makkah, before the Hijrah, he used to pray openly, whilst they were looking on. After the Muslims became a distinct community, a specific style of dress was ordained for them, and they commanded to forsake anything else that was a symbol of kufr and was distinctive to the kuffaar, because this is imitation, and whoever imitates a people is one of them.

How can the believer be content to live in the land of the Non Muslims where the rituals of kufr [Disbelief] are proclaimed openly and rule belongs to someone other than Allaah and His Messenger, seeing that with his own eyes, hearing that with his own ears and approving of it, and even starting to feel that he belongs there and living there with his wife and children, and feeling as comfortable there as he does in the Muslim lands, even though he and his wife and children are in such great danger and their religious commitment and morals are in such peril?

AS PER PURE ISLAMIC LAW [FOR WHICH THIS UMMAH IS ITCHING] and since theses don't exist in the West and that is why those who condemn Secular-Anglo-Saxon Western Democarcies should come back to 'Islamic Countires'. Following are the salient feature of the Secular Democracies through which Islamic Political Activists Type of Muslims e.g. Mr Bashir Syed and those who belonged to Jamat-e-Islami and Ikwan but settled in the West, reap all the benefits and then shamelessly raise finger against the same system.

A- Foreign Exchange:

1 – Dealing in buying and selling for the purpose of profit, and this dealing is usually done in major currencies or financial certificates (shares and bonds) or some types of products, and it may include trade in options, futures and the indexes of major markets.

2 – Loans, which refers to the money given by the agent to the customer directly if the agent is a bank, or via a third party if the agent is not a bank.

3 – Riba, which occurs in this transaction in the form of fees for delaying the deal. This is interest that is charged to the purchaser if he does not make a decision on the same day, and which may be a percentage of the loan or a set amount.

4 – Commission, which is the money that the agent gets as a result of the investor’s (customer’s) dealing through him, and it is an agreed-upon percentage of the value of the sale or purchase.

5 – The pledge, which is a commitment signed by the customer agreeing to leave the contract with the agent as a pledge for a loan, giving him the right to sell these contracts and take back the loan if the customer’s losses reach a specific percentage of the margin, unless the customer increases the pledge in order to compensate for a drop in the price of the product.

Firstly: It involves obvious riba, which is represented by the addition to the amount of the loan which is called “paying fees for delaying the deal”. This is a kind of haraam riba. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Fear Allaah and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are (really) believers. 279. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allaah and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums)” [al-Baqarah 2:278-279]

Secondly: The agent stipulates that the customer must deal through him, which leads to combining both giving a loan for something in return and paying commission, which is akin to combining giving a loan and selling at the same time, which is forbidden in sharee’ah because the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is not permissible to give a loan and sell at the same time…” The hadeeth was narrated by Abu Dawood (3/384) and al-Tirmidhi (3/526), who said it is a hasan saheeh hadeeth. In this case he has benefited from his loan, and the fuqaha’ are unanimously agreed that every loan that brings a benefit is haraam riba.

Thirdly: Dealings that are done in this manner in the global markets usually involve many contracts that are haraam according to sharee’ah, such as:

1- Dealing in bonds, which comes under the heading of riba which is haraam. This was stated in a resolution of the Islamic Fiqh Council in Jeddah, no. 60, in its sixth session.

2- Dealing indiscriminately in company shares. It is haraam to deal in the shares of companies whose main purposes are haraam, or some of their dealings involve riba.

3- Selling currencies is usually done without the hand to hand exchange which makes them permissible according to sharee’ah.

4- Dealing in options and futures are not permissible according to sharee’ah, because the object of dealing in these contracts is not money or services or a financial obligation which it is permissible to exchange. The same applies to futures and trading in indexes.

5- In some cases the agent is selling something that he does not possess, and selling what one does not possess is forbidden in sharee’ah.

B- Establishing Insurance

1) All kinds of commercial insurance are clearly and undoubtedly ribaa (interest/usury). Insurance is the sale of money for money, of a greater or lesser amount, with a delay in one of the payments. It involves riba al-fadl (interest-based transaction) and riba al-nas’ (interest to be charged if payment is delayed beyond the due date), because the insurance companies take people’s money and promise to pay them more or less money when a specific accident against which insurance has been taken out happens. This is riba, and riba is forbidden in the Qur’aan, in many aayaat.

2) All kinds of commercial insurance are based on nothing but gambling which is haraam according to the Qur’aan:

“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al-Ansaab (stone altars for sacrifice to idols etc.) and Al-Azlaam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaytaan’s (Satan’s) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful” (al-Maa’idah 5:90 – interpretation of the meaning).

All kinds of insurance are kinds of playing with chances. They tell you, Pay this much money, then if this happens to you we will give you this much. This is pure gambling. Insisting on differentiating between insurance and gambling is pure stubbornness that is unacceptable to any sound mind. The insurance companies themselves admit that insurance is gambling.

3) All kinds of insurance are forms of uncertainty, and transactions which involve uncertainty are forbidden according to many saheeh ahaadeeth, such as the hadeeth:

“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade transactions determined by throwing a stone and transactions which involved some uncertainty.” (Narrated by Muslim).

[“Transactions determined by throwing a stone” – this was a type of transaction that was prevalent in the markets of pre-Islamic Arabia, whereby a stone was thrown by either the buyer or the seller, and whatever it touched, its transaction became binding. “Transactions which involved some uncertainty” – is a transaction in which there is no guarantee that the seller can deliver the goods for which he receives payment. Footnotes from the translation of Saheeh Muslim. (Translator)].

All forms of commercial insurance are based on uncertainty of the most extreme kind. Insurance companies and those who sell insurance refuse to insure cases except where there is clear uncertainty in whether or not the condition being insured against will happen or not. In other words, the condition being insured against must have a possibility of happening or not happening (as opposed to, for example, someone who has a pre-existing condition, such as a person who is on death row applying for life insurance--translator.) Moreover, this transaction involves something uncertain, which is when an accident will happen and the extent of the damage caused. Hence insurance combines three kinds of extreme uncertainty.

4) All kinds of commercial insurance consume people’s wealth unjustly, which is haraam according to the Qur’aan:

“O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly” (al-Nisaa’ 4:29 – interpretation of the meaning).

All forms of commercial insurance are fraudulent transactions aimed at consuming people’s wealth unjustly. The precise statistics calculated by one of the German experts state that what people get back of what has been taken from them is no more than 2.9%.

Insurance is an immense loss for the nation, and there is no evidence or excuse to be found in the actions of the kuffaar who have lost the ties of kinship and friendship and are therefore forced to resort to insurance, which they hate as much as they hate death.

These are only some of the violations of sharee’ah which insurance is essentially based upon. There are numerous other violations which we do not have room to mention here, and there is no need to do so, because just one of the violations which we have mentioned above is sufficient to make insurance one of the things which is most prohibited in the sharee’ah of Allaah.

It is a shame that some people are deceived by the ways in which the insurance companies make insurance attractive and confuse them by calling it “co-operative” or “mutual support” or “Islamic”, or other names which do not change the unjust nature of insurance in the slightest.

The insurance companies’ claim that the ‘ulamaa’ have issued fatwaas stating that so-called “co-operative insurance” is halaal, is a lie. The reason for this confusion is that some insurance companies approached the ‘ulamaa’ with a deceitful set-up which has nothing to do with any kind of insurance, but they said that it was a kind of insurance which they called “co-operative insurance” (to make it sound attractive and to confuse the people). They said that it was purely in the nature of a donation, and that it was a kind of the co-operation enjoined by Allaah in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety)…” (al-Maa’idah 5:2), and that the aim was to co-operate in alleviating the overwhelming disasters that may befall people. But in fact what they called co-operative insurance was just like any other kind of insurance; the only difference was in the way in which it was set up, not in its essential nature. It was far from being any kind of simple donation or co-operation in righteousness and piety; in fact it is a kind of co-operation in sin and transgression. It was not aimed at helping to relieve the distress of calamities, but at depriving people of their wealth by unjust means, which is absolutely haraam, as are other kinds of insurance. Hence what they proposed to the ‘ulamaa’ is not even insurance at all.

With regard to the claim made by some, that part of the premium (money paid to the insurer) is returned, this does not change anything and does not free insurance from the taint of ribaa, gambling, transactions based on uncertainty, unjust consumption of people’s wealth and going against the principle of trusting in Allaah (tawakkul), and other kinds of haraam actions. Insurance is deceit and confusion.

3- Banking

Riba is emphatically forbidden in Islam. Allaah has condemned the one who does that and has declared war on him, and spoken of his bad end on the Day of Resurrection. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Those who eat Ribaa will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaytaan (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: ‘Trading is only like Ribaa,’ whereas Allaah has permitted trading and forbidden Ribaa. So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Ribaa, shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allaah (to judge); but whoever returns (to Ribaa), such are the dwellers of the Fire — they will abide therein.

Allaah will destroy Ribaa and will give increase for Sadaqaat (deeds of charity, alms). And Allaah likes not the disbelievers, sinners”

al-Baqarah 2:275, 276]

“O you who believe! Fear Allaah and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are (really) believers.

And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allaah and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums)”

[al-Baraqah 2:278, 279]

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the two who witness it, and he said, “They are all the same.” Narrated by Muslim, from the hadeeth of Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him).

And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A dirham of riba consumed knowingly by a man is worse before Allaah than committing zina thirty-six times.” Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabaraani, classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’.

nd there are other texts which point to the enormity and abhorrent nature of this crime.

The Islamic financial system does not approve of any transaction that includes riba, rather the sharee’ah forbids certain transactions so as to prevent the means that lead to riba.

Secondly:

The banks that exist nowadays are all riba based banks, with a few rare exceptions. Just because a bank is located in a Muslim country does not mean that it is an Islamic bank. Most of these banks are connected to Jewish and Crusader banks overseas. It is most regrettable that in the Muslim lands which are home to more than a billion Muslims there is no Islamic bank that is free from riba, apart from a few institutions.

So the decision makers among the Muslims have to pay due attention to this matter and establish an independent Islamic banking system. There are scholars and people who are able to work in this field, and there is a great deal of capital, praise be to Allaah.

Thirdly:

The true Islamic financial system is a system that is free of riba, because it is a system that is derived from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

4- Adult Franchise and Voting Power:

Democracy is a man-made system, meaning rule by the people for the people. Thus it is contrary to Islam, because rule is for Allaah, the Most High, the Almighty, and it is not permissible to give legislative rights to any human being, no matter who he is.

Undoubtedly the democratic system is one of the modern forms of shirk, in terms of obedience and following, or legislation, as it denies the sovereignty of the Creator and His absolute right to issue laws, and ascribes that right to human beings. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“You do not worship besides Him but only names which you have named (forged) — you and your fathers — for which Allaah has sent down no authority. The command (or the judgement) is for none but Allaah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him (i.e. His Monotheism); that is the (true) straight religion, but most men know not” [Yoosuf 12:40]

“The decision is only for Allaah” [al-An’aam 6:57]

Secondly:

The one who understands the true nature of the democratic system and the ruling thereon, then he nominates himself or someone else (for election) is approving of this system, and is working with it, is in grave danger, because the democratic system is contrary to Islam and approving of it and participating in it are actions that imply apostasy and being beyond the pale of Islam.

It is not permissible for a Muslim to nominate himself in the hope that he can become part of a system which rules according to something other than that which Allaah has revealed and operates according to something other than the sharee’ah of Islam. It is not permissible for a Muslim to vote for him or for anyone else who will work in that government, unless the one who nominates himself or those who vote for him hope that by getting involved in that they will be able to change the system to one that operates according to the sharee’ah of Islam, and they are using this as a means to overcome the system of government, provided that the one who nominates himself will not accept any position after being elected except one that does not go against Islamic sharee’ah.

The Muslims in a country that is not governed according to Islamic sharee’ah should do their utmost and strive as much as they can to bring about rule according to Islamic sharee’ah, and they should unite in helping the party which is known will rule in accordance with Islamic sharee’ah. As for supporting one who calls for non-implementation of Islamic sharee’ah, that is not permissible, rather it may lead a person to kufr, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And so judge (you O Muhammad ) among them by what Allaah has revealed and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they turn you (O Muhammad) far away from some of that which Allaah has sent down to you. And if they turn away, then know that Allaah’s Will is to punish them for some sins of theirs. And truly, most of men are Faasiqoon (rebellious and disobedient to Allaah).

Do they then seek the judgement of (the days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allaah for a people who have firm Faith” [al-Maa'idah 5:49-50].

Hence when Allaah stated that those who do not rule in accordance with Islamic sharee’ah are guilty of kufr, He warned against helping them or taking them as allies or close friends, and He commanded the believers to fear Him if they were truly believers. He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Take not as Awliyaa’ (protectors and helpers) those who take your religion as a mockery and fun from among those who received the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before you, and nor from among the disbelievers; and fear Allaah if you indeed are true believers” [al-Maa’idah 5:57]

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1161

Stay away from yoga camps: Cut off your nose to spite your neighbour’s faith! Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami

2009-01-30T04:23:00.008-08:00

Islam and Pluralism25 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Stay away from yoga camps: Cut off your nose to spite your neighbour’s faith!

Ever since I read about some Mullahs asking Muslims in India and Malaysia to stay away from yoga camps, I was wondering what could be so threatening about Yoga. Is our faith so brittle that we would cease to remain Muslim if we just learn to do yogic exercises, now recommended by doctors, particularly cardiologists and surgeons after heart by-pass surgery or to those with high blood pressure? In fact Yoga is useful to patients of an assortment of illnesses, and also as a preventive health-care technique. If practised regularly yogic meditational techniques can lead to beautiful and extremely rewarding spiritual experiences too.

Now the cat is out of the bag. Maulana Nadeem-ul-Wajidee tells us: “Muslims must abstain from Yoga Camps as the Faith cannot be endangered for the sake of physical fitness. After all, the protection of Faith is more important than the health and physical beauty.”

Now how does our faith get endangered by Yoga? Well, the yoga teacher makes us occasionally chant “Om” and at least one teacher sometimes recites verses from Islam’s earliest scriptures, the Vedas.

I have no cure, at least in the short run for our Mullah’s cave mentality, their deep-seated prejudices, amounting to hatred of Islam’s earlier scriptures. If Allah and the Holy Quran cannot make them respect His earlier prophets and their revealed books, despites repeatedly, scores of time, instructing them to do so, who am I to presume these people can be taught to do so. But learning Yoga may be an urgent requirement for some Muslims. So some of us could learn it from Nastik Hindu teachers and then ourselves teach it to our people. Having leant Yoga after my surgeon’s advice following a heart by-pass surgery, I can assure you that chanting Om is not at all necessary. You may do yoga without a chant altogether or you may supplant it with the word Allah or Allahu or whatever and it would work equally well. Reading from religious scriptures is not at all necessary, but if you wish you can very well read verses from the Holy Quran while teaching Yoga. Islamise Yoga, if you have to, but learn it, practise it and teach it to fellow Muslims, and of course, to fellow human beings.

Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
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Stay away from yoga camps: Cut off your nose to spite your neighbour’s faith!

A Point of View by Maulana Nadeem-ul-Wajidee
Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami

“Yoga is not prohibited.”
The news is published in the newspapers with the reference to some of the renowned Islamic scholars.

In the opinion of the Maulana Waheedud-Deen Khan, “only the positive side of anything should be considered, not the negative side-that is against the spirit of Islam”.

According to him, “The survival of life is based on the realities and truth, ignoring its life cannot be led successfully. Yoga is an exercise so it should be considered with this point of view.” As it is his habit, he has transferred this trifling matter into a philosophy. How can one believe that Yoga is such a great necessity and reality of life that the existence of life is not possible without it?

As far as this opinion of Maulana Waheedud-Deen Khan is concerned-that the positive points of anything should be considered, not the negative side, this theory cannot be applied to everything. On certain occasions, in certain things, the negative side is more important and so the positive side is ignored.

For example, in Islam, alcohol and gambling are banned on the basis of its negative effects notwithstanding the positive side of its benefit and profits.

I do accept that yoga is a kind of exercise and many physical disabilities and diseases can be cured by the function of right breathing, rhythmic physical movements and by meditation. Unfortunately, in recent times, it is being associated as a symbol of a particular religion. The way some of the communal organizations have introduced yoga in recent years and the way it is being propagated by the “Aastha” channel for the global recognition, forces us to feel that it is being publicized as an integral part of the life of a particular religion.

Baba Ramdev, who is travelling far and wide for the attainment of this purpose, is busy with full zeal and energy in the publicity of his religion as well, though he imparts yoga lessons as well. One can watch his programme on the “Aastha” channel where he keeps on reciting the “shlokas” of the Hindu scriptures and talking about the Hindu gods and goddesses and makes the audience repeat the word “Om” time and again during his endless long speeches.

Actually, by laying emphasis on the word “Om”, he wants the audience to believe that the effectiveness in the physical exercises and meditation comes from the recitation of this word from Hindu scripture. If he is a genuine well-wisher of the nation and wants his countrymen to lead a healthy life without any discrimination of caste, creed and religion, he should not use his yoga camps for the propaganda and publicity of his religion and stop this absurd activity immediately.

He looks more like a representative and mouth-piece of the Hindu religion and less a scholar of Ved Shashtra – that is quite clear from the vast support he is obtaining from the fundamentalist and communal outfits like the RSS. Quite often he looks like a fanatic sycophant and mentally sick person.

His poisonous feelings and ugly design were obviously exposed when he attended the final of a musical reality show as a judge – where his speech based on the denouncement of terrorism spoiled the fun of the whole show of the entertaining programme. Not contented with this he went to deplore and condemn terrorism by naming Muslims and Islam. After this, no one should have any doubt and dare to call him a well-wisher of the nation and the community that he always propagates himself to be and is being labelled also by some filthy minds.

The yoga camps organized by Baba Ramdev are being used for the publicity of the medicines being produced in his pharmacy that’s why he talks less about the physical training and mental peace and more about his products. Apparently he claims that pure herbs are used in the medicines but this far from the reality.

In 2005, a bitter incident took place when about 1500 employees of his pharmacy were dismissed. A great hue and cry was raised by the communist leader Brinda Karat. Later, she went to Haridwar for the talks with the authorities and came to know from the dismissed employees that they were dismissed as they had opposed to mix the powder of human and animal limbs in the medicines. This accusation was found correct when Brinda Karat got the samples of the medicines examined.

The central minister A. Ramadoss had also mentioned in an interview at that occasion, “The sign of human and animal bones and limbs are found in the samples of the medicines examined.”

In this connection, the famous Ayurveda scholar Dr. R .P. Prashar says, “In Ayurvedic literature, some medicines are mentioned in which the powder of the human and animal bones and limbs are used. So, Ayurveda should not be considered as limited to the herbs only”.

Can it be believed that the body parts of the “Halal” animals only are being mixed in the medicines produced in the pharmacy of Babaji?

As an assumption, in case, the body parts of “Halal” animals alone are used even then, what is the guarantee that the animals are sacrificed in the proper Islamic way? In the light of the facts given, can the Muslims be given full liberty to use such doubtful medicines?

In my opinion, the Muslims should not be allowed to participate in the yoga camps of Baba Ramdev and use the medicines being produced in his pharmacy. The participation is the yoga camp may be good for the physical fitness and charm but its negative side-effects on the Faith can’t be ignored.

Generally, the people, who are unaware of the Islamic teachings about health and fitness, are inclined towards yoga. Harqul, the Emperor of Rome, had sent an expert doctor/physician to the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) so that he should stay in Medina Monawwarah to treat the ailing people. It is narrated in the history books, the doctor stayed there for a month but not a single patient contacted him. Ultimately, in distress, he appeared before the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and said, “O, Messenger of the Almighty Allah Kareem, what is the reason that the people of Medina Monawwarah don’t fall sick so they don’t need a doctor?

Obviously, for the perfect physical growth and the attainment of complete physical fitness, the things or the actions which were taught to the Sahaba Karam (May the Almighty Allah Kareem be Agreed with them) during their spiritual training and Islamic learning are responsible for it. After the infinite treasure of “Eman” the healthy body is the greatest gift “Ne’mat” of the Almighty Allah Kareem to the people.

According to a “Rewayat” the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) asserted:
“The one among you who greeted the dawn of the day with his family and children in peace, his body is in perfect condition, if he has the food for the day also, the entire world is gathered for him”.
(Saheeh Muslim Part-4 Page 252, Al-Hadeeth 2664, printed in Beirut)

According to another Hadeeth Shareef, “The stronger Muslim (Momin) is better than the weak Muslim (Momin) and is more favourite near the Almighty Allah Kareem, and the welfare is in everything”.
(Saheeh Bukhari, Parat-7, Page 218, Hadeeth 6412)

According to one more Hadeeth Shareef, “Two gifts of the Almighty Allah Kareem are such as many people are ignorant to them i.e. “Health and Leisure”.
(Saheeh Bukhari, Parat-7, Page 218, Hadeeth 6412)

With the above-mentioned Ahadeeth Shareef, it is crystal clear that health is a great gift and the precious “Ne’mat” of the Almighty Allah Kareem for the people of the world. So the people must safe-guard it.

The prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), the messenger of the Almighty Allah Kareem not only enlightened the souls of the Sahaba-e-Karam (May the Almighty Allah Kareem be Agreed with them) with the Islamic teachings, spiritual and worldly learning but also, He (Peace be upon Him) cared a lot for the physical training and fitness efforts. For the attainment of the same, He (Peace be upon Him) ordered the five practices being given below.

Complete and balanced diet
Physical cleanliness and purity
Physical exercise
Preventive measures
Use of medicines in illness

A man can be perfectly healthy and fit if he leads his life in the light of above teachings of the prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), these were the hidden secrets adopted by the Sahaba-e-Karam (May the Almighty Allah Kareem be Agreed with them) which helped them to maintain their perfect health and peace of mind throughout their lives so they (May the Almighty Allah Kareem be Agreed with them) rarely needed a doctor. That’s why the doctor was ultimately forced to return from Medina Monawwarah dejected and depressed after a patient wait for the sick people for a month.

Now, it’s a bare truth, if the Muslims follow the Islamic rules to maintain their good health, there is no question that they need to visit Baba Ramdev’s yoga camps and accept his discipleship.

It doesn’t mean that yoga exercises are against Islam, absolutely not, but the ways and means adopted by Baba Ramdev for the physical exercise are, of course, against Islam.

The Muslims must abstain from it as the Faith cannot be endangered for the sake of physical fitness. After all, the protection of Faith is more important than the health and the physical beauty.
Courtesy: Hamara Samaj, 14-1-2009
Translated from Urdu by Syed Raihan Ahmad Nezami
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1145

Demolish Kafir/ Mushrik/ Munafiq-manufacturing factories, says Sultan Shahin, defending New Age Islam against Talibani onslaught

2009-01-30T04:23:00.007-08:00

Ijtihad, Rethinking Islam22 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Demolish Kafir/ Mushrik/ Munafiq-manufacturing factories, says Sultan Shahin, defending New Age Islam against Talibani onslaught
As a community we are more reactionary and obscurantist that positive and progressive. We live in fear and denial. There is noting wrong with us; it’s all Jewish conspiracy, Hindu conspiracy, Western imperialist conspiracy, etc. etc. We love living in the past, in the land of pointlessness. So our discussions too are not so much about issues of today as about the bygone past. We revel in discussing ad infinitum the dirty politics of seventh century Arabia and taking sides with one or the other party. We have no present and no plans for the future. As a community, that is. Some individuals, of course, do have plans for themselves as well as for the community and a vision of regeneration for Islam and the Muslim community. But they are reviled for thinking of this word rather than the other world where 72 houris are waiting for them impatiently in a land of milk and honey and of course, plenty of liquor. (In the case of poor women, of course, only their husbands, if any, would be waiting there, and yet some of them become suicide bombers, for some reason.)

Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
-----------------------------

Demolish Kafir/ Mushrik/ Munafiq-manufacturing factories, says Sultan Shahin, defending New Age Islam against Talibani onslaught

Dear Mr. Yousaf,

This site is not about me and I am not the only writer, though I would like to write more. Unfortunately running a site is a rather demanding job, more demanding than I had thought when I started it. This is a platform for all Muslims to participate in discussions on any subject relevant to the state of Islam or Muslims. I do indeed consider myself a forward-looking person and find it fruitless to live in the past and engage in mostly pointless discussions about the dirty Arab politics of the past. For me, the definition of a Muslim is simply any one who says, just says, - for we have no right to speculate about his or her motives and there is no way we can divine his or her intentions – that God is one and Mohammad (PBUH) is His prophet. So, as you can see, I do have a rather individualistic view of things, but as an editor, I never try to impose these views. Yes, these views maybe affecting my choice of the articles I print and the subjects I raise for debate. But the reader is absolutely free to comment within the bounds of decency. Some readers cross this boundary and sometimes I find it difficult to delete offensive expressions like “Lanati” and “Yazid ke aulad”, etc. as they are interspersed in the thoughts of those readers. I truly suffer from a horror of censorship, though, that may become necessary in some cases, but only to remove offensive, unseemly language.

By the way, I learned these offending expressions only on the site. It shows the depth of hatred we carry in our hearts against one another. If the believers in Allah and followers of Prophet Mohammad are not safe from us and our sectarian mean-spiritedness, what can followers of previous prophets like Hindus, Biddhists, Jains, Christians, Jews, etc. expect from us? With what face do we indeed go to them and claim to be followers of a religion of peace and forgiveness, amity and total surrender to the Almighty.

Coming back, if you have an issue with any views expressed by any writers, you are free to take them up and if your views are censored you my have legitimate cause for complaint. God has not appointed you a commissar, however, as far as I know, and you should be a bit careful in calling people kafir or munafiq, etc. This merely shows that you have no arguments. You might be displeasing Allah too by doing so. For He alone is the Judge. Even the Prophet never called the munafiqeen abusive names, never restricted them from prayers and even participated in the funeral prayers for the salvation of the soul of the chief munafiq. All this when Allah had warned him about them and the Prophet knew they were harming the religion at a very crucial point in its history, actually in its infancy, when even its survival may have appeared difficult to some.

As far as the Muslims of today are concerned, we may have our own ideas about who is a kafir or a munafiq or whatever but we shouldn’t be expressing them as this only makes us a kafir or a munafiq. It is for God to judge. Not you. Don’t assume divine powers, please, even if you think, you are gifted with a third eye and can divine people’s intentions and motivations just by going through their editorial work.

I do even publish the views of people I disagree with, not too often, of course, but occasionally I do give representation to people whom I consider having obscurantist and fundamentalist views as well. Only recently I went to the extent of getting translated from Urdu an article I thought defended fundamentalism and obscurantism rather well, just so people like you do not feel left out on the site. Please see:
In defence of Islamic fundamentalism - Maulana Nadeem-ul-Wajedi
http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1099

You are welcome to suggest any well-written, well-argued articles that go against the basic thrust of the site and I will carry that. In fact in the comments section of most articles you must have found more retrogressive views than progressive. The reason is not difficult to see. As a community we are more reactionary and obscurantist that positive and progressive. We live in fear and denial. There is noting wrong with us; it’s all Jewish conspiracy, Hindu conspiracy, Western imperialist conspiracy, etc. etc. We love living in the past, in the land of pointlessness. So our discussions too are not so much about issues of today as about the bygone past. We revel in discussing ad infinitum the dirty politics of seventh century Arabia and taking sides with one or the other party. We have no present and no plans for the future. As a community, that is. Some individuals, of course, do have plans for themselves as well as for the community and a vision of regeneration for Islam and the Muslim community. But they are reviled for thinking of this word rather than the other world where 72 houris are waiting for them in a land of milk and honey and of course, plenty of liquor. (In the case of poor women, of course, only their husbands, if any, would be waiting there, and yet some of them become suicide bombers, for some reason.)

So, Mr. Yousaf, pick up a pen, well, more likely a keyboard and enlighten us with your views on the issues covered on the site. You can even write in defence of Talibani/Jihadi brutality or against Muslim girl’s education, in defence of beard as most vital Islamic institution, whatever, and the site will not deny you space. You will find a lot of applause too. New Age Islam has many readers who express their retrogressive, reactionary views regularly. As I told you before I learned several terms of Islamic abuse on the site. We welcome both those who call Dr Zakir Nayak a kafir and those who warn against the kafir-manufacturing factories rampant in Muslim lands. You will find here people who call Yazid Lanati (accursed) and also those who call him Rahmatullah Alaih, both arguing and contesting each others’ points of view fiercely. Personally I would like to demolish all kafir/Mushrik/Munafiq-manufacturing factories. I consider them highly offensive and completely against the Islamic ethos. But as they constitute a significant and influential section of the community, I do not even deny them space. So welcome, Mr. Yousaf. Just remember, New Age Islam is not about me; it is about you. I am merely a moderator in the discussions. I do give you subjects to discuss, but you as free to add your own subjects, as many readers do. As for my Imaan, let Allah judge that; think a little about yourself.
Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1143

--------------------------------------------

yousaf
20/2009 8:32:05 PM
Mr. Sultan Shahin

Suddenly I came across your website. since then in last three four days I have gone through it and these are my comments
You write a Muslim name and pretend to be as such as your website name suggest, but let me tell you that in the time of holy prophet there were certain people who by face pretended to be Muslims where as actually they were not. These were the people who had extreme hatred for the religion but they were cowards, greedy, mischief-mongers, followers of Satan. They were called munafiqs or munafiqeen. They had no moral guts to show their true faces. About them ALMIGHTY ALLAH says in holy book that they will be in the worst and deepest part of hell. So I have no doubt about you. you are like a hungry and lusty Dog to acquire the world by your this deceit nature. I do not have a doubt that you are not a Muslim but at the same time I don’t know who are you and what is your mission. as it seems that like a Hindu about whom it is said that ' munh mein Ram Ram aur baghal mein churi" means "Say Ram Ram from the mouth while hiding knife under his arm to stab you when get an opportunity. I can assure you people with deceit nature have no respect in any religion or any society.

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1143

Muslims and Jews: Some vital comparative statistics

2009-01-30T04:23:00.006-08:00

Letters20 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Muslims and Jews: Some vital comparative statistics

Dear Sultan Shahin Saheb,

Could you please publish this vital information on New Age Islam? Vital facts and figures are relevant for those who don’t leave a single opportunity to curse Jews. Let us assess their power first and then try to peep into ourselves and know where we stand before them?
We are known for maximizing the numbers (Quantity) on this planet rather than producing Quality and feel proud while throwing population data throughout the world but what is the relevance of this BLOCK on this planet? Have we ever produced anything productive in our modern times which could be useful for mankind? Our so-called universities are just pumping engineers, doctors, clerks but we have failed to produce Scientists. WHY? Actually we don’t have that bent of mind which can produce a pioneer. What are the stumbling blocks for the development of this community? I am sure, the new generation would try to find out the reason and strive for a better future.
Thanking you in advance.

Shamshad Elahee Ansari, Dubai, UAE
-----------------------------------

o World Jewish Population. 14 million
7 m in America
5 m in Asia
2 m in Europe
100 thousand in Africa
o World Muslim Population: 1,500 million
I, 000 million in Asia/Mid-East
400 M in Africa
44 M in Europe
6 M in the Americas
o Every fifth human being is a Muslim. 20%
o For every single Hindu there are two Muslims 1 : 2
o For every Buddhist there are two Muslims 1 : 2
o For every Jew there are 107 Muslims 1 : 107
Yet the 14 million Jews are more powerful than the entire 1,500 million Muslims.
Why?

Here are some of the reasons.

Movers of Current History
o Albert Einstein
o Sigmund Freud
o Karl Marx
o Paul Samuelson
o Milton Friedman
Medical Milestones
o Vaccinating Needle Benjamin Ruben
o Polio Vaccine Jonas Salk
o Leukaemia Drug Gertrude Elion
o Hepatitis B Baruch Blumberg
o Syphilis Drug Paul Ehrlich
o Neuro muscular Elie Metchnikoff
o Endocrinology Andrew Schally
o Cognitive therapy Aaron Beck
o Contraceptive Pill Gregory Pincus
o Understanding of Human Eye G. Wald
o Embryology. Stanley Cohen
o Kidney Dialysis Willem Kloffcame
Nobel Prize Winners
In the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel prizes
whilst 1.5 billion Muslims have contributed only Eight Nobel winners
Nobel Prize Winners
In the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel prizes whilst 1.5 billion Muslims have contributed only Eight Nobel winners

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Ahmed Zewail, 1999

Nobel Prize in Literature

Naguib Mahfouz, 1988
Orhan Pamuk, 2006

Nobel Peace Prize
Anwar El-Sadat, 1978
Yasser Arafat, 1994
Shirin Ebadi, 2003
Mohamed El Baradei, 2005
Muhammad Yunus, 2006

Inventions that changed History
o Micro- Processing Chip. Stanley Mezor
o Nuclear Chain Reactor Leo Sziland
o Optical Fibre Cable Peter Schultz
o Traffic Lights Charles Adler
o Stainless Steel Benno Strauss
o Sound Movies Isador Kisee
o Telephone Microphone Emile Berliner
o Video Tape Recorder Charles Ginsburg

Influential Global Business

o Polo Ralph Lauren Jewish
o Coca Cola Jewish
o Levi's Jeans Levi Strauss Jewish
o Sawbuck's Howard Schultz Jewish
o Google Sergey Brin Jewish
o Dell Computers Michael Dell Jewish
o Oracle Larry Ellison Jewish
o DKNY Donna Karan Jewish
o Baskin & Robbins Irv Robbins Jewish
o Dunkin Donuts Bill Rosenberg Jewish

Influential Intellectuals/Politicians

o Henry Kissinger US Sec of State Jewish
o Richard Levin President Yale University Jewish
o Alan Greenspan US Federal Reserve Jewish
o Joseph Lieberman Jewish
o Madeleine Albright US Sec of State Jewish
o Casper Weinberger US Sec of Defense Jewish
o Maxim Litvinov USSR Foreign Minister Jewish
o David Marshal Singapore Chief Minister Jewish
o Isaacs Isaacs Gov-Gen Australia Jewish

o Benjamin Disraeli British Statesman Jewish
o Yevgeny Primakov Russian PM Jewish
o Barry Goldwater US Politician Jewish
o Jorge Sampaio President Portugal Jewish
o Herb Gray Canadian Deputy - PM Jewish
o Pierre Mendes French PM Jewish
o Michael Howard British Home Sec. Jewish
o Bruno Kriesky Austrian Chancellor Jewish
o Robert Rubin US Sec of Treasury Jewish

Global Media Influential

o Wolf Blitzer CNN Jewish
o Barbara Walters ABC News Jewish
o Eugene Meyer Washington Post Jewish
o Henry Grunwald Time Magazine Jewish
o Katherine Graham Washington Post Jewish
o Joseph Lelyeld New York Times Jewish
o Max Frankel New York Times Jewish
Global Philanthropists

o George Soros Jewish
o Walter Annenberg Jewish
Why are they powerful?
So why are Muslims powerless? Here's another reason. We have lost the capacity to produce knowledge.
o In the entire Muslim World (57 Muslim Countries) there are only 500 universities.
o In USA alone, 5,758 universities
o In India alone, 8,407 universities
o Not one university in the entire Islamic World features in the Top 500 Ranking Universities of the World
o Literacy in the Christian World 90%
o Literacy in the Muslim World 40%
o 15 Christian majority-countries, literacy rate 100%
o Muslim majority - countries , None

o 40% in Christian countries attended university
o In Muslim countries a dismal 2% attended.
o Muslim majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims
o The USA has 5000 per million
o The Christian world 1000 technicians per million.
o Entire Arab World only 50 technicians per million.
o Muslim World spends on research/development 0.2% of GDP
o Christian World spends 5 % of GDP

Conclusion.
The Muslim World lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.
Another way of testing the degree of knowledge is the degree of diffusing knowledge.

o Pakistan 23 daily newspapers per 1000 citizens
o Singapore 460 per 1000 citizens.
o In UK book titles per million is 2000
o In Egypt book titles per million is only 17

Conclusion
o Muslim World is failing to diffuse knowledge

Applying Knowledge is another such test.
o Exports of high tech products from Pakistan is 0.9% of its exports.
o In Saudi Arabia is 0.2%
o Kuwait , Morocco and Algeria 0.3%
o Singapore alone is 68%

Conclusion
Muslim World is failing to apply knowledge, even though they have ways & means but is there anyone who will take the initiative?

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/controlpanel/AddArticles.aspx?Article_ID=1135

Please credit Americans with some intelligence, Mr. Kanchan Gupta!

2009-01-30T04:23:00.005-08:00

Radical Islamism & Jihad18 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Please credit Americans with some intelligence, Mr. Kanchan Gupta!

Like Muslims in the mainstream, Hindu fundamentalist ideologues too oppose and point to the dangers of Saudi-isation or Talibanisation of Pakistan and other Muslim societies around the world with the financial help and military backing of the United States and other Western powers. But unlike Muslims, the Hindutva ideologues ascribe the American or larger Western involvement to mere stupidity on their part. They just rue the tragic mistake America is making. Mr. Kanchan Gupta, for instance, laments in the article being reproduced below: “Tragically, the Americans refuse to read the writing on the wall. If the Bush Administration erred in trusting Pakistan, the incoming Obama Administration has compounded that error by promising to treble aid to a criminal state whose ruling elite, both military and civilian, is a complicit partner in promoting a particularly virulent form of radical Islamism.”
I wonder if it would take a little more than mere tragic stupidity to become a super-power, indeed the sole super-power of a planet in the solar system, the only system known in the entire universe to have intelligent beings. I wonder where our analysis would lead us if, instead of merely ruing our intelligent planet being ruled by the stupidest among us, we were to credit the Americans with some intelligence and sought to understand what this mighty power is trying to do to our planet.
May I request Mr. Gupta, to credit Americans with some intelligence and study the subject of spreading Talibanisation and Saudi-isation of Pakistan and the rest of Muslim world with American financial and military backing in one of his next columns with this angle! Let us suppose American strategists were an intelligent breed like the rest of us and were creating and sustaining Islamic radicals and terrorists with some purpose. What could that purpose be? Where might we be heading?
These questions are particularly important for us here in India. For we are the ones who have been bearing the brunt of US-Pakistani-Saudi-sponsored Islamic radicalism, terrorism and so-called Jihad. Early indications are that during President-elect Barack Hussein Obama’s term this trend is likely to gain in strength and we are probably going to be an even more frequent target of these accursed “Jihadis”, while the US and the West continue to fund and protect their sponsors.
Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1129
------------
Nourishing terror with US dollars by Kanchan Gupta
The Saudi-isation of Pakistan: A stern, unyielding version of Islam is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis in Pakistan by Pervez Hoodbhoy
For Pak kids, 'J' is for jihad - PTI
India, Pak aren't neighbours; they are worlds apart by MJ Akbar
Explaining away terror by Vir Sanghvi
US will not redress Mumbai for us by Kanwal Sibal
-----------------------
Nourishing terror with US dollars
Kanchan Gupta
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Commenting on America’s response to the multiple terrorist strikes of 9/11, the most spectacular of which was Mohammed Atta and his fellow jihadis flying two passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York and reducing the glittering chrome-and-glass symbol of American power to twisted steel and rubble, Gen Pervez Musharraf writes in his memoir, In the Line of Fire, “I was chairing an important meeting... when my military secretary told me that the US Secretary of State, Gen Colin Powell, was on the phone. I said I would call back later, but he insisted that I come out of the meeting and take the call. Powell was quite candid: ‘You are either with us or against us.’ I took this as a blatant ultimatum... I told him we were with the United States against terrorism, having suffered from it for years, and would fight along with his country against it.” Gen Powell’s pronounced pro-Pakistan bias was no secret in the first Bush Administration. It is possible that his colleagues were not too sure whether he had been blunt enough while delivering what Gen Musharraf was to later correctly describe as a “blatant ultimatum” to Pakistan. So a follow-up message was sent, this time through a person who had little time and lesser patience for niceties. “When I was back in Islamabad the next day, our director-general of Inter-Services Intelligence, who happened to be in Washington, told me on the phone about his meeting with the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage. In what was to be the most undiplomatic statement ever made, Armitage added to what Colin Powell had said to me and told the director-general not only that we had to decide whether we were with America or with the terrorists, but that if we chose the terrorists, then we would be bombed back to the Stone Age.”
It is anybody’s guess as to whether the Americans would have carried out their threat had Gen Musharraf cast Pakistan’s lot with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. But being the crafty man that he is, Gen Musharraf decided to play along with the Bush Administration by pretending to be a ‘staunch’ and ‘steadfast’ ally in the war on terror, and thus get the West to acknowledge Pakistan as the ‘frontline state’ deserving of military and civilian aid, which has since run into billions of dollars, most of it contributed by the US. Seven years after Gen Powell asked Gen Musharraf to choose between America and the terrorists, and Mr Armitage made sure Pakistan chose to support the US, there is little or nothing to show for the military and non-military aid. Oversight audits have revealed that much of the money meant to modernise the Pakistani Army to fight terrorism in that country’s badlands has been pocketed by its top brass through the rampant use of bogus vouchers and fake bills.
As for non-military aid, it is obvious that generous cash transfers from Western capitals to Islamabad have not helped prevent Pakistani society’s descent into Islamic fanaticism and jihadi bloodletting. Gen Musharraf had promised to reform the education system by cleansing school curriculum of the regressive elements introduced during the Islamisation drive of Gen Zia-ul-Haq, shutting down non-registered madrasas run by rabid mullahs, and modernising those seminaries which are recognised by the Government. For all his talk about “enlightened moderation”, Gen Musharraf did nothing on this front; by the time he ordered his troops to storm Lal Masjid and its two madrasas, including Jamia Hafza, in the heart of Islamabad on July 8, 2007, thousands of clones of this Deoband-inspired seminary of hate had sprung up across Pakistan. Many more have mushroomed in the last two years and each one of them preaches a simple, one-sentence message: “Jihad is your salvation.”
Distinguished Pakistani scholar and columnist Pervez Hoodbhoy, in an article, “The Saudi-isation of Pakistan”, published in the latest issue of Newsline, laments how radical Islamism and mullah-driven Arabisation are furiously gnawing at the innards of a tottering Pakistani state. He says although the Government admits to the existence of only 13,000 madrasas with 1.5 million Taliban, the real number is likely between 18,000 and 22,000. That would mean millions of Taliban being indoctrinated by hate-mongers for whom Islam means being in a state of constant war with those who refuse to submit to oppressive Islamism that militates against human liberty, equality and dignity.
The preaching of hate and the teaching of ‘virtues’ of jihad are not limited to Deobandi madarsas alone. Such has been the all-pervasive influence of state-sponsored Islamisation since the days of Gen Zia’s dictatorship — contrary to popular belief Benazir Bhutto did nothing to reverse the trend after the dictator met a justly deserved fiery death (those with an evil mind insist the CIA did him in), nor did Mr Nawaz Sharif bother to halt the onward march of radical Islam while Gen Musharraf tricked the Americans into believing he was working on education reforms but it would require a few more million dollars, please — that private schools have now begun adopting offensive textbooks. Rezaul Laskar of PTI has filed a report from Islamabad which is worth quoting verbatim: “Thousands of Pakistani schoolgoing children are growing up learning that the Urdu equivalent of the letter ‘A’ stands for Allah, ‘B’ for bandook (gun) and ‘J’ for jihad. Though not officially prescribed for pre-schoolers, books printed by Iqra Publishers are being used in several regular schools and madrasas across Pakistan. The three examples of Allah, bandook and jihad are not the only ones which sound like a ‘blueprint for a religious fascist state’. The Urdu letter for the ‘T’ stands for takrao (collision), ‘K’ for khanjar (dagger), H for hijab (veil) and ‘Z’ for zunoob (sins) which include watching television, playing musical instruments and flying kites.
Which takes us back to Peerbhoy’s lament: “Left unchallenged, this education will produce a generation incapable of co-existing with anyone except strictly their own kind. The mindset it creates may eventually lead to Pakistan’s demise as a nation state.” Not given to grand pronouncements, Peerbhoy has been cautious with his words. For, Pakistan has not only set itself on a self-destructive course, it is also headed for a catastrophe whose victims shall not be Pakistanis alone. Tragically, the Americans refuse to read the writing on the wall. If the Bush Administration erred in trusting Pakistan, the incoming Obama Administration has compounded that error by promising to treble aid to a criminal state whose ruling elite, both military and civilian, is a complicit partner in promoting a particularly virulent form of radical Islamism. Little does the Pakistani elite realise that it too shall be devoured by the beast it is nourishing with American dollars.
--kanchangupta@rocketmail.com
http://dailypioneer.com/150623/Nourishing-terror-with-US-dollars.html
---
The Saudi-isation of Pakistan
A stern, unyielding version of Islam is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis in Pakistan.
By Pervez Hoodbhoy
The common belief in Pakistan is that Islamic radicalism is a problem only in FATA, and that madrassas are the only institutions serving as jihad factories. This is a serious misconception. Extremism is breeding at a ferocious rate in public and private schools within Pakistan’s towns and cities. Left unchallenged, this education will produce a generation incapable of co-existing with anyone except strictly their own kind. The mindset it creates may eventually lead to Pakistan’s demise as a nation state.
For 20 years or more, a few of us have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. In fact, I am surprised at how rapidly these dire predictions have come true.
A full-scale war is being fought in FATA, Swat and other “wild” areas of Pakistan, resulting in thousands of deaths. It is only a matter of time before this fighting shifts to Peshawar and Islamabad (which has already been a witness to the Lal Masjid episode) and engulfs Lahore and Karachi as well. The suicide bomber and the masked abductor have crippled Pakistan’s urban life and shattered its national economy.
Soldiers, policemen, factory and hospital workers, mourners at funerals and ordinary people praying in mosques have all been reduced to globs of flesh and fragments of bones. But, perhaps paradoxically, in spite of the fact that the dead bodies and shattered lives are almost all Muslim ones, few Pakistanis speak out against these atrocities. Nor do they approve of the army operation against the cruel perpetrators of these acts because they believe that they are Islamic warriors fighting for Islam and against American occupation. Political leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan have no words of solace for those who have suffered at the hands of Islamic extremists. Their tears are reserved exclusively for the victims of Predator drones, even if they are those who committed grave crimes against their own people. Terrorism, by definition, is an act only the Americans can commit.
What explains Pakistan’s collective masochism? To understand this, one needs to study the drastic social and cultural transformations that have rendered this country so completely different from what it was in earlier times.
For three decades, deep tectonic forces have been silently tearing Pakistan away from the Indian subcontinent and driving it towards the Arabian peninsula. This continental drift is not physical but cultural, driven by a belief that Pakistan must exchange its South Asian identity for an Arab-Muslim one. Grain by grain, the desert sands of Saudi Arabia are replacing the rich soil that had nurtured a magnificent Muslim culture in India for a thousand years. This culture produced Mughul architecture, the Taj Mahal, the poetry of Asadullah Khan Ghalib, and much more. Now a stern, unyielding version of Islam (Wahhabism) is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the Sufis and saints who had walked on this land for hundreds of years.
This change is by design. Twenty-five years ago, the Pakistani state used Islam as an instrument of state policy. Prayers in government departments were deemed compulsory, floggings were carried out publicly, punishments were meted out to those who did not fast in Ramadan, selection for academic posts in universities required that the candidate demonstrate a knowledge of Islamic teachings and jihad was declared essential for every Muslim. Today, government intervention is no longer needed because of a spontaneous groundswell of Islamic zeal. The notion of an Islamic state – still in an amorphous and diffused form – is more popular now than ever before as people look desperately for miracles to rescue a failing state.
Villages have changed drastically; this transformation has been driven, in part, by Pakistani workers returning from Arab countries. Many village mosques are now giant madrasas that propagate hard-line Salafi and Deobandi beliefs through oversized loudspeakers. They are bitterly opposed to Barelvis, Shias and other sects, who they do not regard as Muslims. The Punjabis, who were far more liberal towards women than the Pukhtuns, are now beginning to take a line resembling that of the Taliban. Hanafi law has begun to prevail over tradition and civil law, as is evident from the recent decisions of the Lahore High Court.
In Pakistan’s lower-middle and middle classes lurks a grim and humourless Saudi-inspired revivalist movement that frowns on any and every expression of joy and pleasure. Lacking any positive connection to culture and knowledge, it seeks to eliminate “corruption” by regulating cultural life and seizing control of the education system.
“Classical music is on its last legs in Pakistan; the sarangi and vichitraveena are completely dead,” laments Mohammad Shehzad, a music aficionado. Indeed, teaching music in public universities is violently opposed by students of the Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba at Punjab University. So the university has been forced to hold its music classes elsewhere. Religious fundamentalists consider music haram or un-Islamic. Kathak dancing, once popular with the Muslim elite of India, has few teachers left. Pakistan produces no feature films of any consequence. Nevertheless, the Pakistani elite, disconnected from the rest of the population, live their lives in comfort through their vicarious proximity to the West. Alcoholism is a chronic problem of the super rich of Lahore – a curious irony for this deeply religious country.
Islamisation of the state and the polity was supposed to have been in the interest of the ruling class – a classic strategy for preserving it from the wrath of the working class. But the amazing success of the state is turning out to be its own undoing. Today, it is under attack from religious militants, and rival Islamic groups battle each other with heavy weapons. Ironically, the same army – whose men were recruited under the banner of jihad, and which saw itself as the fighting arm of Islam – today stands accused of betrayal and is almost daily targeted by Islamist suicide bombers.
Pakistan’s self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that, like Saudi Arabia’s system, provides an ideological foundation for violence and future jihadists. It demands that Islam be understood as a complete code of life, and creates in the mind of a school-going child a sense of siege and embattlement by stressing that Islam is under threat everywhere.
On the previous page, the reader can view the government-approved curriculum. This is the basic road map for transmitting values and knowledge to the young. By an act of parliament passed in 1976, all government and private schools (except for O-level schools) are required to follow this curriculum. It was prepared by the curriculum wing of the federal ministry of education, government of Pakistan. It sounds like a blueprint for a religious fascist state.
Alongside are scanned pictures from an illustrated primer for the Urdu alphabet. The masthead states that it has been prepared by Iqra Publishers, Rawalpindi, along “Islamic lines.” Although not an officially approved textbook, it is being used currently by some regular schools, as well as madrasas associated with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), an Islamic political party that had allied itself with General Musharraf. These picture scans have been taken from a child’s book, hence the scribbles.
The world of the Pakistani schoolchild remained largely unchanged, even after September 11, 2001, the event that led to Pakistan’s timely desertion of the Taliban and the slackening of the Kashmir jihad. Indeed, for all his hypocritical talk of “enlightened moderation,” General Musharraf’s educational curriculum was far from enlightening. It was a slightly toned down version of the curriculum that existed under Nawaz Sharif which, in turn, was identical to that under Benazir Bhutto who had inherited it from General Zia-ul-Haq. Fearful of taking on the powerful religious forces, every incumbent government has refused to take a position on the curriculum and thus quietly allowed young minds to be moulded by fanatics. What may happen a generation later has always been a secondary issue for a government challenged on so many fronts.
The promotion of militarism in Pakistan’s so-called “secular” public schools, colleges and universities had a profound effect upon young minds. Militant jihad became part of the culture on college and university campuses. Armed groups flourished, they invited students for jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, set up offices throughout the country, collected funds at Friday prayers and declared a war which knew no borders. Pre-9/11, my university was ablaze with posters inviting students to participate in the Kashmir jihad. Post-2001, this ceased to be done openly.
Still, the primary vehicle for Saudi-ising Pakistan’s education has been the madrasa. In earlier times, these had turned out the occasional Islamic scholar, using a curriculum that essentially dates back to the 11th century, with only minor subsequent revisions. But their principal function had been to produce imams and muezzins for mosques, and those who eked out an existence as ‘maulvi sahibs’ teaching children to read the Quran.
The Afghan jihad changed everything. During the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, madrasas provided the US-Saudi-Pakistani alliance the cannon fodder they needed to fight a holy war. The Americans and Saudis, helped by a more-than-willing General Zia, funded new madrasas across the length and breadth of Pakistan. A detailed picture of the current situation is not available. But according to the national education census, which the ministry of education released in 2006, Punjab has 5,459 madrasas followed by the NWFP with 2,843; Sindh has 1,935; the Federally Administrated Northern Areas (FANA), 1,193; Balochistan, 769; Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 586; the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), 135; and the Islamabad capital territory, 77. The ministry estimates that 1.5 million students are acquiring religious education in the 13,000 madrasas.
These figures appear to be way off the mark. Commonly quoted figures range between 18,000 and 22,000 madrasas. The number of students could be correspondingly larger. The free boarding and lodging plus provision of books to the students, is a key part of their appeal. Additionally, parents across the country desire that their children be “disciplined” and given a thorough Islamic education. The madrasas serve this purpose, too, exceedingly well.
Madrasas have deeply impacted the urban environment. Until a few years ago, Islamabad was a quiet, orderly, modern city different from the rest of Pakistan. Also, it had largely been the abode of Pakistan’s elite and foreign diplomats. But the rapid transformation of its demography brought with it hundreds of mosques with multi-barrelled audio-cannons mounted on minarets, as well as scores of madrasas illegally constructed in what used to be public parks and green areas. Now, tens of thousands of their students, sporting little prayer caps, dutifully chant the Quran all day. In the evenings they swarm the city, making women minus the hijab increasingly nervous.
Total segregation of the sexes is a central goal of the Islamists, the consequences of which have been catastrophic. For example, on April 9, 2006, 21 women and eight children were crushed to death and scores injured in a stampede inside a three-storey madrassa in Karachi, where a large number of women were attending a weekly congregation. Male rescuers, who arrived in ambulances, were prevented from moving the injured women to hospitals.
One cannot dismiss this incident as being just one of a kind. In fact, soon after the October 2005 earthquake, as I walked through the destroyed city of Balakot, a student of the Frontier Medical College described to me how he and his male colleagues were stopped by religious elders from digging out injured girl students from under the rubble of their school building. This action was similar to that of Saudi Arabia’s ubiquitous religious ‘mutaween’ (police) who, in March 2002, had stopped school girls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing their abayas – a long robe worn in Saudi Arabia. In a rare departure from the norm, Saudi newspapers had blamed and criticised the mutaween for letting 15 girls burn to death.
The Saudi-isation of a once-vibrant Pakistani culture continues at a relentless pace. The drive to segregate is now also being found among educated women. Vigorous proselytisers carrying this message, such as Mrs Farhat Hashmi, have been catapulted to the heights of fame and fortune. Their success is evident. Two decades back, the fully veiled student was a rarity on Pakistani university and college campuses. The abaya was an unknown word in Urdu. Today, some shops across the country specialise in abayas. At colleges and universities across Pakistan, the female student is seeking the anonymity of the burqa. And in some parts of the country she seems to outnumber her sisters who still “dare” to show their faces.
I have observed the veil profoundly affect habits and attitudes. Many of my veiled female students have largely become silent note-takers, are increasingly timid and seem less inclined to ask questions or take part in discussions. They lack the confidence of a young university student.
While social conservatism does not necessarily lead to violent extremism, it does shorten the distance. The socially conservative are more easily convinced that Muslims are being demonised by the rest of the world. The real problem, they say, is the plight of the Palestinians, the decadent and discriminatory West, the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus, the Kashmir issue, the Bush doctrine – the list runs on. They vehemently deny that those committing terrorist acts are Muslims, and if presented with incontrovertible evidence, say it is a mere reaction to oppression.
The immediate future does not appear hopeful: increasing numbers of mullahs are creating cults around themselves and seizing control of the minds of worshippers. In the tribal areas, a string of new Islamist leaders have suddenly emerged: Baitullah Mehsud, Maulana Fazlullah and Mangal Bagh. Poverty, deprivation, lack of justice and extreme differences of wealth provide the perfect environment for these demagogues to recruit people to their cause. Their gruesome acts of terror are still being perceived by large numbers of Pakistanis merely as a war against imperialist America. This could not be further from the truth.
In the long term, we will have to see how the larger political battle works out between those Pakistanis who want an Islamic theocratic state and those who want a modern Islamic republic. It may yet be possible to roll back those Islamist laws and institutions that have corroded Pakistani society for over 30 years and to defeat its hate-driven holy warriors. There is no chance of instant success; perhaps things may have to get worse before they get better. But, in the long term, I am convinced that the forces of irrationality will cancel themselves out because they act at random whereas reason pulls only in one direction. History leads us to believe that reason will triumph over unreason, and the evolution of the humans into a higher and better species will continue. Using ways that we cannot currently anticipate, they will somehow overcome their primal impulses of territoriality, tribalism, religiosity and nationalism. But, for now, this must be just a matter of faith.
The author teaches physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsJan2009/cover2jan2009.htm
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For Pak kids, 'J' is for jihad
16 Jan 2009, 0110 hrs IST, PTI
ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Pakistani schoolgoing children are growing up learning that the Urdu equivalent of the letter A stands for Allah, B for
'bandook' (gun) and J for jihad.
Though not officially prescribed for pre-schoolers, books printed by Iqra Publishers are being used in several regular schools and madrasas across Pakistan.
The three examples of Allah, 'bandook' and jihad are not the only ones which sound like a "blueprint for a religious fascist state". The Urdu letter for the T sound stands for 'takrao' (collide), K for 'khunjar' (dagger), H for 'hijab' (veil) and Z for 'zunoob' (sins) - which includes watching television, playing musical instruments and flying kites.
According to the National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Class 5 children are expected to "acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan", "make speeches on jihad and shahadat (martyrdom)", "understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant need for Pakistan", "India's evil designs about Pakistan" and "demonstrate by actions a belief in the fear of Allah", said a report in Newsline magazine.
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India, Pak aren't neighbours; they are worlds apart
MJ Akbar
18 Jan 2009, 0043 hrs IST,
1947 divided us, but did not separate us. We still met, through family and media. Separation came with war in 1965, instigated by fantasists like General Ayub Khan and Z A Bhutto. It extinguished the flickering embers of trust. Walls of regulations were raised to block knowledge, and then vision. If you do not see a neighbour he is not a neighbour. There are no neighbours in the huge apartment blocks of Mumbai, only adjacent numbers.
The middle class Indian's true neighbour is America, sharing culture, language, consumerism, celebrity-worship and an insatiable desire for upward mobility. He knows more about the intricate processes that make Obama president than it does about the hop, skip and jump that Zardari used to acquire the same title.
India and Pakistan share a past but not a present; the future is vulnerable to imagined realities. Those with goodwill sell notions of excessive, even emotional hospitality. Those with ill will, the preponderant majority, provoke images of demonic horror. The young Pakistani men sent to Mumbai on a killing spree were fed on lies salted with evil; they had no independent reality check.
For four decades an investment in ignorance has nurtured an incremental interest in hatred. Pakistan has become a breeding ground for permanent war against India. Indians have developed a deep aversion for Pakistan. If a poll were taken in India asking whether Pakistan should be relocated in Latin America, the answer would be an unanimous yes.
Neighbours do not need to be permanent friends. France and Germany fought each other with a deadly bitterness that was once synonymous with Europe, but there was always individual, social and intellectual discourse between the two. Neighbours do not need to be equals. The US and Britain have been the best of neighbours since 1918, dining and hunting together. They have replaced each other as Emperor of Most of the World Worth Ruling, and the relationship has survived the trauma of self-appraisal. Neighbours may not share the same language, but they must know how to communicate, to understand what the other is doing, and why. Peace is impossible without understanding. The fog of ignorance only induces conflict through the illusion of victory. Ironically, the real deception is that the deceiver never knows how much he has deceived himself.
Knowledge of the other is impossible without free flow of media.
Newspapers and television stations may be terrible, but they are not terrorists. They may occasionally bore you to death, but they do not actually kill anyone. Indians and Pakistanis can see CNN at the flick of a finger but not each other's channels. So what if media sometimes gets hysterical: it never takes too long for hysterics to make fools of themselves. Sadly, hysteria can also influence policy, so it is important to know what the other is ranting about. Moreover, information cannot really be kept in solitary confinement; it always dribbles out as misinformation. It makes sense to offer it as information.
I saw the January 10 issue of Pakistan's most important English newspaper, Dawn, purely by accident. Page 1 had a report from Lahore about five low-intensity explosions that ripped through five theatres. This was the work of the same fundamentalist minds that sent terrorists to India; their enemy was not just India, but any sign of modernity in Pakistan. No one accused these bombers of being RAW agents.
From Kohat came a story of heavily-armed Sunnis attacking a Shia procession with rockets. Five died. Communal riots do not necessarily need men of different faiths.
The edit page had a brilliant piece by Shandana Khan Mohmand. It asked Pakistan to get real, and acknowledge that terrorist organizations were sustained by popular funds. It also noted, calmly, that "Pakistan needs to accept a very harsh reality - it is not India's equal."
Far from being banned, Dawn should be made compulsory reading in India.
The United States and the Soviet Union also blocked information during their Cold War and paid good money to mislead. But distance reduced flashpoints to a minimum. India and Pakistan have become enemies cursed by a common frontier.
The ground has been frozen on the frontier into a glacier, but the air is still free, albeit polluted. If we want to clear the air - if - we have no option except to use that inconsistent broom called media.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The_Siege_Within/India_Pak_arent_neighbours_they_are_worlds_apart/articleshow/3995349.cms
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Explaining away terror
Vir Sanghvi, Hindustan Times
January 17, 2009
Are you as fed up as I am by attempts to explain away the Mumbai attacks? Ever since the attacks occurred, the Western press has informed its readers of the terrible condition of India’s Muslims and suggested that minority frustration led to the terrorism.
Islamabad made a futile attempt to disown Kasab before being shown up by Pakistan’s own media. Within Pakistan, it is now fashionable to argue that there must have been extensive local involvement and that the attacks were an essentially indigenous operation. And now, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has claimed that the world has double standards. Why go on and on about the Mumbai attacks when so little is said about innocent children dying in Gaza, etc. etc.?
Some things need to be said clearly. First of all, the attacks were not carried out by India’s Muslims. They were carried out by trained terrorists from Pakistan. Secondly, even if it is true that Indian Muslims have been involved in terrorism, it does not follow that they have been forced to turn to violence because of the hostility of India’s Hindu majority. Thirdly, there are no parallels at all between Gaza and Mumbai, and the attempt to draw them reveals the hollowness of Pakistan’s position.
Let’s start with the identity of the attackers. Does anyone seriously doubt that they were Pakistanis? Islamabad made a futile attempt to disown Kasab before being shown up by Pakistan’s own media. Despite a certain amount of double-talk (including the sacking of the National Security Advisor for owning up to Kasab), the official position of the government of Pakistan, as expressed by Information Minister Sherry Rehman, is that Kasab is in fact a Pakistani.
Once we accept that Kasab is who he says he is — a young man from Faridkot, brainwashed and trained by Pakistani jihadi elements — many other things also follow. Clearly, there are outfits active in Pakistan that pick up people like Kasab, train them in mayhem and then export them around the world. The extent of the jihadi brainwashing can be gauged from a statement that Kasab’s father made to the Pakistani media. He said his son left home after quarrelling with him. Young Kasab had wanted his father to give him money to buy new clothes for Id. When the old man refused, his son stormed out of the house.
How much must a hot-headed youth who was prepared to abandon his family over a set of new clothes been brainwashed to reach the stage where he was ready to give up all worldly possessions, and even his own life, in the pursuit of jihad?
That gives us some idea of the strength of the jihadi machine in Pakistan. Young boys are picked up and encouraged to give up their lives for the cause. They receive military training — judging by the expertise the terrorists demonstrated in Mumbai. And they have access to sophisticated arms.
You can argue that all this tells us something about the condition of Pakistani Muslims. But it says nothing about the state of Indian Muslims. So, all attempts to link the Mumbai attacks to the so-called ‘anger of India’s Muslim minority’ are no more than lazy, knee-jerk journalism.
Secondly, let’s accept that even if there was no real Indian involvement in the Mumbai attacks, there have been other cases where the terrorism has been home-grown. So, yes, some Indian Muslims have turned to terrorism.
But there are many kinds of terrorism and violence. The kind we are used to is the variety that uses assassinations and attacks on civilian targets in pursuit of a political goal. Such as, say, Al Fatah or the Sikh militants of the 80s.
The distinguishing characteristic of 21st Century jihadi violence is that, unlike much of what has gone before, it has no clear political aim. When Osama bin Laden sent the planes into the twin towers, he did not think that America would collapse as a result. The British-born Pakistani, who carried out the London bombings did not think that Tony Blair would step down because of their actions.
The new kind of jihadi terrorism is random. It seeks to do no more than inflict pain and suffering on those who are identified as enemies of Islam. And it has found adherents all the way from England to Indonesia.
In this situation, it is not realistic to expect that India, with the world’s second largest Muslim population, will entirely escape this trend. Even if 0.1 per cent of India’s Muslims catch the jihadi bug, the number of potential jihadis could run into lakhs.
Fortunately, we have seen nothing on that scale. Even the Intelligence Bureau’s own estimates limit the numbers of jihadis and their sympathisers at a few thousand. In the circumstances, we have been luckier than any other country, luckier certainly than Britain, where jihadi sympathisers form a far higher proportion of the Muslim population.
Nor does it make any sense to claim that the reason we have some indigenous Muslim terrorists is because they are discriminated against by Hindus.
If that is so, then what about Britain? And what about Muslim majority countries that are the actual breeding grounds of jihad? Surely, nobody is claiming that Muslims face discrimination in countries where they are the majority?
Nobody disputes that India’s Muslims face discrimination. Nor do I deny that they are under-represented in government, in the top echelons in industry and in the police. I concede, too, that they have less access to education than they should.
But two points are worth making. The first is that even in Muslim majority countries, education remains a problem. In last Sunday’s Times of India, M.J. Akbar provided some interesting statistics. There are only 500-odd universities in the Muslim world. India has nearly 8,500. Literacy in the developed world is 90 per cent as against 40 per cent in the Muslim world. High-tech goods and services constitute only 0.90 per cent of Pakistan’s exports. They add up to 68 per cent of Singapore’s exports. Azim Premji, one of India’s high-tech gurus, is a Muslim — no Pakistani has reached that level.
Secondly, as long as we continue to make a link between so-called grievances and terrorism, we will never successfully fight the terrorists. Pakistan wants to have it both ways. It says that political violence in India comes from disaffected Muslims. But it argues that Pakistan is also a victim of terror.
Why do Pakistanis try and kill their own President? Is it because they are discriminated against? Clearly not. Jihad has nothing to do with grievances, or with any kind of political objective. And that is as true of India as it is of Pakistan.
I’ve always said that Pakistan is the greatest enemy of Indian Muslims, shedding crocodile tears over their fate and trying to forge a bogus pan-Islamic unity. Its response to the Mumbai attacks has once again demonstrated this.
When Pakistani politicians go on TV and say that the terror strikes were indigenous, they are — in effect — saying that Indian Muslims are terrorists, something that no responsible Indian politician would ever consider saying.
And when the likes of Gilani compare the Bombay attacks to the Gaza operation, they are playing a dangerous game, by seeking to forge some pan-Islamic sense of victimhood.
Pakistan’s basic problem is that it is a country based on nothing more than religion. But religion has not proved strong enough to hold it together (as Bangladesh’s secession demonstrated), or to provide a basis for democracy. And now, religion has come back to haunt Pakistan in the form of jihad.
The Pakistanis think they are being clever by manipulating the jihadis into attacking India. But ultimately, jihad always backfires on those who sponsored it. That is the lesson Pakistan is learning the hard way.
We, in democratic, secular India, on the other hand, may have our own problems. But our society is not built on religion or torn apart by religious violence.
In the short run, this may leave us at the mercy of a ruthless neighbour. But in long run, it will ensure we flourish, while Pakistan slides deeper and deeper into chaos.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=ViewsSectionPage&id=6e16ba65-2bab-4dbe-80e1-c809b7e89ba3&MatchID1=4879&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=3&MatchType1=2&SeriesID1=1231&PrimaryID=4879&Headline=Explaining+away+terror
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US will not redress Mumbai for us
By Kanwal Sibal
www.mailtoday.in
INDIA has been a victim of state- sponsored terrorism by Pakistan for years. The United States too has been targeted for long by international terrorism with a Pakistani connection in many instances. Despite the obvious community of interest between them to end Pakistan’s terror links, India and the US have not been able to forge a common understanding of the problem, much less develop a common strategy to deal with it.
At the core of US reluctance to address Pakistan’s terrorist affiliations frontally has been its longstanding policy of balancing India and Pakistan and maintaining political “ even- handedness” between the two. Artificially equating countries so different in physical size, population, economic potential and political values inherently meant a pro- Pakistan bias. Parity in approach distorted realities in Pakistan’s favour and resulted in flawed US policies in the sub- continent. The US linked our demands for pressure on Pakistan on terrorism to a “compensating” point of pressure on us to satisfy Pakistan.
Accordingly, it pressured India on human rights in J& K, alongside its muted cautioning of Pakistan on terrorism.
Epicentre
An unambiguous recognition of Pakistan’s complicity in terrorism would have compelled the US, politically and legally, to cease tolerating Pakistan’s conduct and impose sanctions.
To fudge the issue, it adopted the posture that Pakistan’s terrorist onslaught against India was an extension of the Kashmir problem and India’s failure to adequately address the grievances of its Muslim minority. Such violence therefore fell outside the category of “ international” terrorism, the target of US action globally. This contradicted the broader US position, developed to politically shield Israel against Palestinian terrorism, that no cause, political, religious, ideological or economic, justified recourse to terrorism. Moreover, if India’s mishandling of Kashmir justified jihadi terrorism against it, did US policies in Palestine and elsewhere in the Islamic world then justify terrorism directed against it? In recent years the epicentre of international terrorism has moved into the Pakistan/ Afghanistan borderlands.
Our geographical proximity to it has not led to greater practical US receptivity to the enhanced terrorist danger we face as crucial US dependence on Pakistan to deal with increased US vulnerabilities in Afghanistan has off- set it. Pakistan has garnered almost $ 10 billion in assistance from the US in recent years, much of it military. Another $ 15 billion is in the offing, with a military component. Under the cover of acquiring greater capability to combat terrorism, the Pakistan military is strengthening itself against India with US help. President Bush has for years invariably applauded Pakistan’s strong contribution to the global combat against terrorism, rebuffing Indian complaints, even as he, otherwise, de- hyphenated India and Pakistan on the nuclear front.
The crux of the problem is that while India sees Pakistan as an adversary, the US does not. US policies towards Pakistan will reflect this difference in posture, and will be grounded in its own larger regional interests, whether or not congruent with ours. Our respective attitudes to Pakistan’s involvement in terrorism cannot be the same, even if the US chafes at Pakistan’s behaviour at times. We see a malevolent Pakistan using terrorism against us as an instrument of state policy. The jihadi organizations participate not only to provide official deniability, but also to further the agenda of dismembering India that Pakistan cannot openly espouse officially. Pakistan has no such destructive agenda against the US at the governmental level. It cooperates with the US in fighting Al- Qaida elements straddling its border areas, but, for longterm strategic reasons, withholds full support in combating the Taliban forces targeting the international forces in Afghanistan from its soil.
The US values Pakistani support, stinted though it is, because it is indispensable to its combat in Afghanistan, even as it continues to prod Pakistan to do more to suppress the activity of extremist groups across its western frontier. US frustration at Pakistan’s ambivalent response surfaces publicly at times in official statements and press briefings, but their import is limited for us.
Interest
The US has dealt pragmatically with Pakistani footprints in some terrorist attacks against US targets, blaming rogue elements or non- state actors for them rather than the government.
Even in instances where the evidence of involvement of state agencies in terrorist attacks against Indian targets has surfaced, as in the case of the blasting of our embassy in Kabul, the US has sought to shield the Pakistan government from responsibility. When India blames Pakistan for terrorism, the US tries to exculpate its government, blaming rogue elements within the system or extremist groups outside the control of the authorities. The outgoing US Ambassador has indirectly chided the Prime Minister for accusing state agencies in Pakistan for Mumbai. Terrorist attacks against General Musharraf for doing its bidding against the Al- Qaida gave the US additional reason to propagate the thesis that Pakistan itself, like India, was a victim of jihadi terrorism, a line that we short- sightedly adopted later. The quantum of cooperation the US gets from Pakistan on terrorism, added to all the other ways that Pakistan is important to US interests — its geo- strategic location bordering India, China, Iran and Central Asia, its diplomatic weight as a major Islamic country, its possession of nuclear weapons- means that the US— Pakistan relationship will continue to pose challenges to us even as our own ties with the US improve. Pakistan has mastered the art of extracting unmerited benefits from its US relationship through a combination of strategic services and strategic blackmail.
Expectation
In this background, our post- Mumbai policy of relying almost exclusively on the US to deliver satisfaction to us is perplexing. Past experience and an objective assessment of various elements of the current situation go against the assumptions underlying this policy. Our expectations from an outgoing US Administration seem unrealistically high. Can we really expect them, in their dying days, to drastically alter course on Pakistan simply because the Mumbai attack took place? More so when President- elect Obama has repeatedly spoken of a more robust Afghanistan policy based on increased pressure on Pakistan to perform on the western front and increased pressure on India on Kashmir to ease the situation for Pakistan on its eastern flank — a continuation of the old policy of developing parallel points of pressure on both countries in order to maintain political even- handedness. Mumbai may have been traumatic for us, but for the US and others it is another bloody blip on the terror screen. The argument that because six Americans were killed, the US will extract justice from Pakistan overlooks the loss of many more American lives to terrorist attacks in Afghanistan mounted from the Pakistani soil and US inability to cow down the Pakistani establishment.
Pakistan Premier Geelani’s gall and insensitivity in questioning the fuss being made about Mumbai shows the hard- headed assessment Pakistan has made about the limits of US and Indian pressure on it. Pakistan knows that India, lacking the stomach to take hard decisions, has chosen the soft option of outsourcing the problem to the US, which gives cushion to Pakistan as the US will perforce place those Indians who perished at the hands of Pakistanis in Mumbai within the cold calculus of wider US- Pakistan relations. Alas! (The author is a former foreign secretary)
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/controlpanel/AddArticles.aspx?Article_ID=1129

‘India Today’ has no sympathy for the pain Taslima Nasreen has to suffer due to our flawed secularism: Ashok Chowgule

2009-01-30T04:23:00.004-08:00

Islam and Pluralism16 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

‘India Today’ has no sympathy for the pain Taslima Nasreen has to suffer due to our flawed secularism: Ashok Chowgule

New Age Islam is delighted every time a Hindutva or radical Islamist leader talks of the abiding values of Indian secularism, even berating it for its flaws and inadequacies. Indian secularism stands for equal respect for all religions. Both Hindutvaites and radical Islamists normally chant – Death to Secularism – Hindutvaites openly and radical Islamists in their hearts. At one time radical Islamists too used to denounce secularism openly, now they are more discreet, understand its value for Muslims and try to go along with secularists.

As a writer Taslima Nasreen has said and written many things, with some of which we at New Age Islam do not agree. But she has done a yeoman’s service in highlighting the plight of Hindu minorities in Islamist Bangladesh and that is her primary identity. She should be a hero for all those who believe in and fight for the rights of minorities in a secular democracy. She should enjoy a special place of reverence in the hearts and minds of Muslims, as the very raison d'être of Islam is a struggle for the rights of weaker sections of humanity. But India’s radical Islamists want to punish her for engaging in this very Islamic struggle and she is a hero for the HIndutvaites who dream of one day being able to drown all the religious minorities of India into the Indian Ocean.

In a similar case, however, the position is reversed. Teesta Setalvad, another woman writer who fights for the rights of minorities in India is for the radical Islamists a Mujahida – actually they even call her Mujahid, transcending gender inequity in the only case known to us. On the other hand, she is a perfect villain in the eyes of Hindutvaites who call her many names like anti-India, anti-Hindu, etc. and would love to do the same to her that Bangladeshi Islamists have succeeded in doing with Taslima Nasreen.
We at New Age Islam, however, highlight every paean to secularism sung by either group in the hope that the next time they chant “Death to Secularism” openly or in their hearts their conscience pinches them a little and reminds them of these times when they have to sing paeans to the same deity.

--- Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
---

Many of the questions India Today asked of Taslimaji are really pathetic. It clearly shows that the interviewer has no sympathy for the pain that she has to suffer due to the practice of secularism in India: Ashok Chowgule, vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad
----------------------

from Ashok Chowgule
To Sultan Shahin
date 16 January 2009 11:53
subject Interview of Taslima Nasreen on India Today

Many of the questions asked of Taslimaji are really pathetic. It clearly shows that the interviewer has no sympathy for the pain that she has to suffer due to the practice of secularism in India.

Let me list out these pathetic questions:
Q. Why should everybody be scared of publishing Taslima Nasreen?
Q. But is the government that powerful?
Q. Why didn't you get the support of the people? Are they impotent?
Q. Why don't you compromise with the CPM?
Q. Do you think the CPM exchanged you for votes? It was a deal?
Q. Is the prime minister serious about your return?
Q. Why don't you suck up to the CPIM if you are so desperate to live in Kolkata? Just some mere kowtowing?
Q. But what do these people have against you? I just do not understand...

It is also a reflection of the policy of the publication to allow this interview to be published. What is all this about compromising with the CPM and sucking up to them? Is this how a democracy would work?

Reminds me of an interview of Anu Aga by Shekar Gupta in the Indian Express of October 13. She was asked: "But nobody from the government called and said don’t do this, you will have an Income-Tax raid." Clearly Shekarji thought that this is what the NDA government would do, because this is what was done by at least some of the previous governments. And Anuji replied: "No, nothing."

And it is the CPM that is called democratic, secular, progressive, etc. While the exactly the opposite is said of the NDA.

Namaste
Ashok Chowgule
---
The Interview in India Today:
Don't allow fanatics to rule: Taslima
Abhijit Dasgupta
Kolkata, January 2, 2009

Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen pines for Kolkata, her adopted home. Ever since she was forced to leave the city after protests by fundamentalists, she has lived a desolate life in New York. Nasreen tells India Today's Abhijit Dasgupta that she now finds it difficult to concentrate on writing and yearns to return to the city she needs so sorely for inspiration. Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Why are you perpetually harping on the fact that you are homeless in the world? You seem to be moving around the globe and there would have been many people back in our country who would revel in such a situation.
Taslima: It is not my choice to become a nomad. Neither is it my choice to be homeless. I badly need a home.

Q. We know that and we are in full sympathy and support. What is it that you are working on now?
Taslima: It is very difficult to concentrate on my writings...When I have no place to live, and I am not allowed to live where I like to live.

Q. We understand the pain. But tell me what are you writing now?
Taslima: I am finishing a novel.

Q. What is it on?
Taslima: It's about Kolkata...

Q. When is that coming out?
Taslima: I am not sure. It is hard to get publishers. I am blacklisted and banned in both the Bengals. No Bengali newspaper publishes my articles…hardly any publisher dare to publish my books.

When the fanatics are against me, I get support from people, but when governments are against me, I lose almost all the support. People are scared of supporting me. Publishers are afraid to publish my books. I saw exactly the same thing happen in Bangladesh.

Q. Why should everybody be scared of publishing Taslima Nasreen?
Taslima: They should not, but they are. They think publishing my books or supporting me would show that they are against the government.

Q. But is the government that powerful?
Taslima: Government is always powerful. If the government supported me, I could easily live in Kolkata, the city I love the most, the city I need to be inspired.

Q. Why didn't you get the support of the people? Are they impotent?
Taslima: I don’t think they are impotent. I don’t like this word. I think civil society should not shut its mouth. They should protest against any kind of injustice. Most of the people have become immune to injustice. That is very alarming.

Q. And what about Bengal...don’t you think the situation here is alarming for the arts?
Taslima: As long as you compromise, it is fine. But for a writer like me, who is fighting for equality and justice, who has dedicated her life for secularism and for women's rights is not fine.

Q. Why don’t you compromise with the CPM?
Taslima: I have done nothing against the CPM. Actually, I always supported them.

Q. Then why did they throw you out?
Taslima: I don’t think my ideology and theirs are different. I had been living in Kolkata for years and suddenly the fanatics came out on the streets and demanded my deportation. I thought the government would protect me.

Q. You share the same ideology and they give you the boot. "Sounds strange. I am okay with you but when it comes to vote banks, I will ignore you"—sort of strange policy.
Taslima: But unfortunately, I am getting punished for no fault of mine. I am being punished for the crimes Islamic fundamentalists committed against me. I do not believe in religion, superstition, or any kind of dogmas. I believe in humanism, I don’t believe in consumerism or capitalism. I believe in equality and justice for all people. Don't you think communists have the same beliefs?

Q. If they did, then why did they surrender?
Taslima: I was thrown out of my own country 14 years ago. West Bengal was my home.... and still it remains a shock that I have been thrown out and will never be allowed to go there. Only they know why they surrendered, if they surrendered. But I don’t think the fanatics will love them (the Communists) for too long.

No political party, for the sake of the country, should surrender to the fanatics. But unfortunately you do not see this picture. The great politicians never give up their ideology for votes.

Q. How would you describe the CPM in one word?
Taslima: I can’t describe the CPM in one word. The CPM banned my book. But still even in my worst nightmares, I can never think that CPM would throw me out of Kolkata, my only refuge.

Q. Do you think the CPM exchanged you for votes? It was a deal?
Taslima: I don’t think they have earned a single vote by throwing me out. I am not subject worth that much...99% Muslims do not know about me. It's just handful of fanatics who use me for their political gain.

The politicians in many countries bow their heads in front of fanatics. It happens in the subcontinent. Instead of taking action against the fanatics who issue fatwas against me, the governments of both Bengals took action against me.

In India, it is heartbreaking when you take a decision to make an exiled writer homeless once again. I hope they will allow me in Kolkata again. I am not powerful, I am not a politician. If they do not open the door, if they do not show their sympathy and support, how can I go back home?

Q. Have you written to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi? He is a non-partisan man.
Taslima: He was very sympathetic to me. I always got his support.

Q. Any more support?
Taslima: Recently Manmohan Singh wrote a very good letter to someone. He wrote: '"India's glorious traditions of welcoming people irrespective of caste and creed, community and religion will continue, whatever be the odds. The atmosphere of hate being perpetuated by a small segment within the country will not prevent us from persisting with this tradition. We recognize Taslima Nasreen's right to remain in a country of her choice, viz., India in this case. She shall also have the option to choose whichever city or state she chooses".

Q. But why isn't the PM intervening? He compares you with The Dalai Lama in his letter and then forgets all about it. That is not the way a PM should react...
Taslima: Maybe somebody else is taking all the decisions regarding me. I do not have the foggiest idea as to how a government works.

Q. Did you contact anybody in the government?
Taslima: I wrote to the chief minister and foreign minister.

Q. Both are Bengalis...
Taslima: As a Bengali, I would like to trust Bengalis. If they are a bit considerate, I think the problems would be solved.

Q. Is the prime minister serious about your return?
Taslima: I believe one day I will be able to go back to Kolkata and live there. The door of Bangladesh is closed for me. I can't imagine the doors of India are permanently closed. I don’t know politics. I am against fundamentalism but then so are many others. But I am a soft target because I am just a mere writer, I am not influential, I do not have any organisation and above all, I am woman.

Q. But you are influential. You are Taslima Nasreen...
Taslima: I have some innocent readers who love me, that’s all. They are not united. You know something. You can fight fundamentalists but you can't cross swords with the government. And so I could not live where I want to live. Bengal is my place…Bengal is my home.

Q. What are you doing in New York?
Taslima: I am homeless everywhere...I move around and depend on friends to allow me to stay with them. I do not want to live in a Western country. It's an impossible situation. Emotionally and economically, it is very difficult.

Q. When did you last come to India?
Taslima: In August. I was only allowed to stay in Delhi. I could not go to my apartment in Kolkata. I wrote letters to both Buddhadeb babu and Pranab babu, I begged, pleaded and cried for getting the permission to be allowed to go back to Kolkata to survive as a writer. But it did not work. I did not get the permission. I had to quit my Kolkata home.

I have had to remove all my furniture from Kolkata and they are now lying in a sealed warehouse in Delhi. I asked Pranab babu whether I could visit Kolkata for just two days. It was refused.

Q. Why don't you suck up to the CPIM if you are so desperate to live in Kolkata? Just some mere kowtowing?
Taslima: The cruelty that I have seen...this is not the real India. I cannot act. I am not an actor, I am a writer. All I have is honesty. Why should I sacrifice that?

Q. What sort of cruelty have you seen?
Taslima: I sometimes wonder whether all that is happening around me is true...I am too stunned to react. .

Q. Any friends in the CPM?
Taslima: There were many people in CPM who support me...LF Chairman Biman Bose once told me so many stories of his adventures. He invited me to visit his Vidyasagar Girls School.

Q. But what do these people have against you? I just do not understand...
Taslima: I don’t know. If they still believe in communism, I don’t think they have any reason to go against me. One day they will realise their folly. But that might happen after I die.

Q. Did you approach Sonia Gandhi?
Taslima: I did.

Q. Can I ask you a personal question?
Taslima: Shoot.

Q. Are you in love now? Any chances of marriage? Don't you want to become a mother?
Taslima: It would have been nice if I were in love. The answers of your three questions are, NO, NO and NO.

Q. Have you cut down on your smoking? The last time I met you years ago, you were smoking like a chimney...
Taslima: I stopped smoking in 2003.

Q. What about your cat? You miss her, don't you?
Taslima: When I had to leave Kolkata, my friends in Kolkata took care of her. I miss my Minu so much. But what can I do? There is nobody in India who could take care of her. She was sent to Dhaka with my brother. She is a great football player. She does not play anymore. She hardly eats. She is from Kolkata. She misses her wonderful life in Kolkata, she misses being with me.

Q. What are your plans?
Taslima: I have no future, everything is uncertain.

Q. If you were in Bangladesh now, who would you have voted for?
Taslima: I wouldn’t have voted for anyone.
---
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1124

Who runs Pakistan, its Army, its terrorists, its governments?

2009-01-30T04:23:00.003-08:00

Islam and the West10 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Who runs Pakistan, its Army, its terrorists, its governments?

They have reasons to be despondent. Those who had hoped against all hopes that Pakistan would turn its present adversity – the fact that the whole world is calling it a hub of terrorism and asking it to come clean and punish the terrorists who perpetrated the horrific Mumbai attacks – into an opportunity to cleanse its polity of the influence of terrorists and their supporters at the highest levels of its governments and its Army. The drama gong on in Pakistan following the country being forced by the world to own up to its terrorist – Ajmal Amir Qassab, one of the perpetrators of Mumbai terror, now in Indian custody – exposes all the various chinks in its armour. Major General [R] Mahmud Ali Durrani, the National Security Adviser, has been already sacked, for being the first person to admit the Pakistani nationality of The Butcher of Mumbai. [Qassab literally means the butcher.]

Pakistan’s tragedy is a tragedy for the region and indeed the whole world. It would appear that even the United States that ordered Pakistan and paid the cost of creating its first terrorists in the 1980s, then respectably called the Mujahedeen by the White House and other organs of government in Washington and the Western media, is now asking it to come clean, at least to appease India a bit. That Washington truly wants Pakistan and the world to be rid of Islamic terrorists is doubtful; for its unstinted, unquestioned support for the main source of finance and the ideological hub of terrorism, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is continuing unabated even eight ears after it found out that the perpetrators of 9/11 were nearly all Saudis. Osama bin laden is at large. So is Ayman al-Zawahiri. So is their network, intact and prospering. Taliban are dominating two-thirds of Afghanistan and now at least one-third of Pakistan as well. If that were not enough now Israel has been ordered to help Al-Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and the rest of them create more terrorists. Tens of thousands of Saudi-funded madrasas around the world continue to teach Saudi Wahhabi curriculum. Hundreds of Saudi-Wahhabi funded websites and newspapers and publishing houses continue to churn out material detrimental to world peace.

Presently various factions in the Pakistan army and the governments - of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani - are all at war with each other. Those who are encouraged and probably paid by Washington to create terror and those whoa are supported and probably paid by Washington to contain terror are at war with each other – each trying to distance itself from Washington in the public eye. For, a known proximity to Washington is a kiss of death for any one in public life in Pakistan.

We, the people of India, and of course, even Pakistan, are the real victims of this complicated Terror Game, bigger than the Big Game of yesteryears. Some of us do sense that there is something amiss in this so-called War on Terror which has now been re-christened The long War. After all, the US did fund the Islamisation of Pakistan a couple of decades ago and is now claiming to be funding the de-Islamisation of that country. But we do not understand even partly what is actually going on. In the mean time our writers and journalists and bloggers keep supporting or fighting with one or the other faction in this WAR without actually knowing who they are supporting or fighting and why. New Age Islam presents below an interesting discussion going on currently on Pakistani weblogs on the question of whether or not Major General [R] Mahmud Ali Durrani, the national security adviser until yesterday has suddenly turned into a security risk for Pakistan. This would be so comic if it were not so tragic.

Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam
-------------------

Major General [R] Mahmud Ali Durrani and Security Breach
By AAMIR MUGHAL
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009
PakNationalists wrote: “America’s Foot Soldiers In Islamabad: Durrani’s Firing Reveals How Pakistan Is Penetrated At The Top Published: January 08, 2009 Author: Ahmed Quraishi. [Posted Below]
http://www.ahmedquraishi.com

”M. A. Durrani was busy leaking information to embarrass Pakistan internationally. He was part of an influential group in Islamabad that worked overtime to ensure Pakistan accepted blame for Mumbai and initiated action against the military and ISI without verifying the so-called evidence.” http://www.ahmedquraishi.com/article_detail.php?id=572 [Posted Below]

Dear Quraishi Sahab,
Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani
When did you become aware of this 'Closely Guarded Secret' about Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani?

I have few questions since you have alleged that Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani was leaking information [sic].

Question Number 1: Did Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani started leaking Information [as per you above] when he was From 1977 to 1982 he was Pakistan’s defense and military attaché in Washington, D.C?

Question Number 2: Did Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani started leaking information [as per you above] when he was Military Secretary [1982-1986] to American Backed Military Dictator General Muhammad Zaiul Haq [1977 - 1988 and Maternal Son-In-Law of Former Jamat-e-Islami Chief Mian Muhammad Tufail]

Question Number 3: Did Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani started leaking information [as per you above] when he was posted as the commander the 1st Armoured Division in Multan, and being the former MS to the president persuaded the then Army chief and president General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to witness the tank exercise in Bahawalpur desert on 17 August, 1988 [where are those demented Generals i.e. General Retd. Mirza Aslam Beg and Lt. General Retd. Hamid Gul who wind up the investigations of General Zia's Plane Crash - Read, Who Killed Zia below].

Former Chief of the Army Staff General [Retd] Mirza Aslam Beg

Former ISI and MI Chief Lt. General [Retd] Hamid Gul
Question Number 4: Did Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani started leaking information [as per you above] when he was From 1992 to 1998 Durrani was the Chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board.

Question Number 5: Did Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani started leaking information [as per you above] when he was appointed as Pakistan Ambassador to the United States by American Backed Martial Law Administrator General Pervez Musharraf in June 2006, replacing another General Jehangir Karamat.

If your answer is yes then another question, what the hell our Intelligence Agencies were doing during all this while all this mentioned above that include you allegation on Major General [Retd] Mahmud Ali Durrani????? You dont need rocket science to explain this.

George Tenet, CIA (Part 2)

What can you tell us about your meetings with the Government of India, Maj.Gen. (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani, who like Gen.Musharraf, was a blue-eyed boy of the late Gen.Zia-ul-Haq and who is now a close confidante of the self-styled Chief Executive? Maj.Gen.Durrani had in the past served as the ISI station chief in Washington and was responsible for the ISI's liaison with the CIA and the FBI. Last year, Jamaat-e-Islami circles in Pakistan had alleged that he had, at the instance of the CIA, played a role, in consultation with Gen.Musharraf, in persuading the Hizbul Mujahideen to agree to a cease-fire." Why did the NSA have been destroying data collected on Americans or US companies since the Sept. 11 attacks? Why did the CIA or Pentagon trust a document about nuclear bombs in a house in Kandahar, which has been proved as a parody from 1979, which also the NY Times reported? Who do you think put that fake document into the house or do you think, That even Al-Aqueade didn't realize that the documents have been useless? Did you ever investigate in the death of Vladimir Pasechnik, former director of the Institute of Ultra Pure Biochemical Preparations, a component of the Soviet biowarfare establishment, Biopreparat in November 2001? [1]

"General Durrani, by his own admission, started out as a fire-breathing soldier, and his slow conversion to the cause of political engagement as the only way forward is all the more telling for that." - Salman Haider, Senior Fellow of Centre of Research in Rural and Industrial Development, Chandigarh, India "This is the first time that a highly decorated Pakistani military officer has written about the need for peace and reconciliation with India." - Rifaat Hussain, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad "If this book leads to formation of peace lobbies in India and Pakistan, I can say General Mahmud has achieved much." - Wasim Sajjad, former Chairman, Senate of Pakistan [2]

Why? - An Extraordinary Series Of 911 Questions

From American Patriot Friends Network APFN@apfn.org 4-27-2 [1]

http://www.rense.com/general24/why.htm
India and Pakistan: Cost of Conflict & the Benefits of Peace DESCRIPTION [2]

http://www.dukandar.com/indiaandpakcost.html
VICISSITUDE OF CBMS AND NRRMS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN [2]

Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani, retired, “India and Pakistan: The Cost of ... Nuclear Terrorism in South Asia” (Washington, DC: Presented at the Brookings)

http://www.stimson.org/southasia/pdf/nrrcsouthasia.pdf

Former US BACKED Pakistani Military Dictator General Ziaul Haq [1977-1988]

Who Killed Zia? (Page 2) VANITY FAIR September 1989 by Edward Jay Epstein

Former US BACKED Pakistani Military Dictator General Ziaul Haq with his brother US President Ronald Reagan
http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/archived/zia.htm
Page - 1:

On August 17 1988, Pak One, an American built Hercules C-130b transport plane, took off from the military air base outside of Bahawalpur, Pakistan at 3:46 p.m, precisely on schedule. The passengers in the air-conditioned VIP capsule, which included Mohammad Zia ul-haq, the Army Chief of Staff and President of Pakistan. were returning to the capital city of Islamabad after a hot, dusty tank demonstration.

This was General Zia's first trip on Pak One since May 29. He had reluctantly gone to Bahawalpur that morning to witness a demonstration of the new American Abrams tank. Although he himself saw little point in going at a time of national crises to see a lone tank fire off its cannon, the commander of the armoured Corp, who had been his former military secretary, was extraordinarily insistent in his phone calls. He argued that the entire Army command would be there that day, implying that if Zia was absent it might be taken as a slight. As it had turned out, the tank demonstration was a fiasco. After helicopters flew him from the airport to the desert site, the much vaunted American tank missed its target ten out of ten times. So much for the tank. Zia went on to the lunch at the officers' mess, eating ice cream, and joking with his top generals. Back at the air strip, he prayed to Mecca, then, before reboarding the plane, he warmly embraced those of the generals that stayed.

Seated next to him on the flight back to Islamabad was his close friend, General Akhtar Abdur Rehman, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and, after Zia, the second most powerful man in Pakistan. He had headed Inter Service intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's equivalent of the CIA, for ten years. There he had been Zia's architect for the war in Afghanistan against the Soviets. It was his ISI that had organized the Mujahedeen into combat units, trained them, distributed weapons to them, provided them with intelligence and even selected their targets. And now the Mujuedeen was on the verge of winning; the first time the Soviet Union had been defeated since the second world war.

Like Zia, Rehman had not wanted to come to this tank demonstration. He indeed had another appointment in Karachi. He decided to go only when a former deputy of his at the ISI advised him that Zia was on the verge of making major changes in his the army and intelligence high command and suggested that Zia needed his counsel. Rehman had been aware that ever since a huge arms depot for Afghan weapons had blown up in the suburbs of Islamabad that April, killing at least 93 people, Zia had become increasingly uneasy about what might be done to undermine his control in the closing days of the Afghan war. Zia blamed the Soviet trained Afghan intelligence service, WAD, for the blast, but Pakistan politicians criticized him and Rehman for locating the arms depot where it endangered civilians. Zia reacted by precipitously firing his own prime minister, dissolving the parliament and local government on May 29. He had expected changed to be made in the military. So, cancelling his meeting in Karachi, he joined Zia on Pak One that morning. He reboarded the plane, wearing his familiar peaked general's hat, with General Mohamed Afzal, Zia's chief of the General Staff.

The remaining two seats in the capsule were given to Zia's American guests: Ambassador Arnold L. Raphel, an old Pakistan hand who had known Zia for twelve years and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of U.S. Military aid mission to Pakistan. They had also witnessed the dismal tank demonstration, then, Ambassador Raphel found time to pay a condolence call at a convent in Bahawalpur where an American nun had been murdered the week before. Behind them, Eight other Pakistan generals packed the two benches in the rear section of the VIP capsule.

Lt. General Aslam Beg, the Army's vice chief of staff, waved goodbye from the runway, the only top general in the chain of command not aboard Pak One that day. He would fly back in the smaller Turbo Jet, waiting to take off as soon as Pak One was airborne.

A Cessna security plane completed the final check of the area-- a precaution taken ever since terrorists had unsuccessfully fired a missile at Pak One eight years earlier. Then, the control tower gave Pak One the signal to take off.

In the cockpit, which was separated from the VIP capsule by a door and three steps, was the four man flight crew. The pilot, Wing Commander Mashhood Hassan, had been personally selected by Zia. And the co-pilot, the navigator and the engineer had been cleared by Air Force security. Just the day before, they had flown Pak One back and forth on the exact route as a trial run so there would be no surprises. The trip was expected to take an hour.) After Pak One was airborne, the control tower at Bahawalpur routinely asked Mashood his position. He said "Pak One, stand bye" . But there was no response. The efforts to contact Mashood grew more desperate by the minute. Pak One was missing only minutes after it had taken off.

Meanwhile, at a river about 18 miles away from the airport, villagers, looking into the sky, saw Pak One lurching up and down in the sky, as if were on an invisible roller coaster. After its third loop, it plunged directly towards the desert, burying itself in the soil. Then, it exploded and, as the fuel burnt, became a ball of fire. All 30 persons on board were dead. It was 3:51 p.m.

General Beg's turbojet circled over the burning wreckage for a moment. Then the vice chief of stall, realizing what had happened, ordered his pilot to head for Islamabad. That evening, acting as if a coup might be underway, army units moved swiftly to cordon off official residences, government buildings, television stations, and other strategic locations in the capital.

The crash altered the face of politics in Pakistan in a way in which no simple coup d'etat could have done. Pakistan is the only country named after an acronym: "P" stands for Punjab, "A" for Afghanistan, and the "K" for Kashmir. It reflected a dream at best of an Islam state; only the "P" actually became part of Pakistan when it was carved out of British India in 1947 as a haven for Moslems. But it was a dream that Zia taken advantage of after he seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1977. Mindful that the Shah was unable to control his empire in Iran because he had underestimated the power of Islam, Zia moved almost immediately to placate the mullahs in his country by pursuing a policy of "islamization" and reinstalling the law of the Koran. Public flogging was made the penalty for drinking alcohol, amputation of a hand the penalty for robbery, and being stoned to death the penalty for adulatory. Women, if they were teachers, students or government employees, to cover their head with a chador. While he used thousand-year old Koran law to help maintain control over a population of over 99 million people in Pakistan, he strove to build an ultra-modern military machine, complete with state of the art F-16 fighters, Harpoon missiles, and nuclear arms, and to make Pakistan the leading ally of the United States in Asia. It had been an extraordinary balancing act.

Now, the sudden end of Zia and his top generals dead, with no civilian government in place, left a conspicuous void. There was of course still the Army, which General Beg had now assumed command of--which was and always had been the dominant power in Pakistan. There was also the opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, which no longer prevented by Zia from participating in the elections scheduled for that November, could back the candidacy of his arch enemy, Benazir Bhutto. This, in turn, made possible her election-- which was inconceivable if Zia had been in power.

But this still left opened the question of what had happened to make Pak One to fall from the sky at this opportune moment? Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto offered perhaps the most convenient explanation: divine intervention. In the epilogue to her book, Daughter of Destiny (which before Zia's death had been entitled more modestly "Daughter of the East"), Mrs. Bhutto notes "Zia's death must have been an act of god". Zia was, as far she was concerned, the incarnation of evil. When she first met him in January 1977, she saw him only as a " short, nervous, ineffectual-looking man whose pomaded hair was parted in the middle and lacquered to his head". She could not understand why her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, then the prime minister of Pakistan, had passed over six more senior generals to pick him as head of the Army . Eighteen months later, Zia had usurped power from him and then committed "judicial murder," as she saw it, by allowing her father to be hanged like a common criminal on a trumped up charge. He also banned her father's political party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, imprisoned her and her mother (even though she was suffering from lung cancer) and had both her brothers in exile, Shah Nawaz and Mir Murtaza, tried and convicted of high crimes in absentia. When Shah Nawaz was killed by poison in France in 1986, she suspected it was done by Zia's agents. Zia had decimated her family. She took particular satisfaction that Zia's body was burnt beyond recognition in the plane fire, noting, "Zia had exploited the name of Islam to such an extent, people were saying that when he died, God didn't leave a trace of him."

But there also existed less divine sources of retribution. There was, for example, Mrs. Bhutto's own 34 year old brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto. For the past nine years, he headed an anti-Zia guerrilla group, which shared offices with the PLO in Kabul, Afghanistan (and later operated out of Damascus, Syria) called Al Zulfikar or "the sword". Its proclaimed mission was to destroy the Zia regime, and the means it used included sabotage, highjackings and assassination in Pakistan. It had demonstrated that it had the capacity to carry out complex international terrorist operations when it hijacked a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 727 with 100 passenger aboard in 1981, flew it first to Kabul, where it executed one passenger and refueled, and then to Damascus, where, with the assistance of the Syria government, it forced Zia to exchange 55 political prisoners for the passengers. It originally had taken credit for the destruction of Pak One in a phone call to the BBC although subsequently, after it was announced that the American Ambassador was aboard it, Mir Murtaza Bhutto retracted this claim. But Mir Murtaza admitted that he had attempted to assassinate Zia on five previous occasions. And one of these earlier Al-Zulfikar assassination attempts involved attempting to blow Pak One out of the sky with Zia aboard it by firing a Soviet-built SAM 7 missile at it. On that occasion, the missile missed, and when the terrorists who fired it were capture they admitted that they had been trained for the mission in Kabul by Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his advisers. Now, with his sister in a position to win the elections if Zia could be removed, Mir Murtaza had an added reason to pursue his mission. But he was not the only one with a motive.

Another suspect was the Soviet Union. Zia had offended Moscow to such a degree that it had declared publicly, only a week before the crash, that Zia's "obstructionist policy cannot be tolerated". In Washington, I was told by a top official in the Pentagon, who was directly responsible for assessing the political consequences of military activity, that his initial concern was that the Soviet Union might have been involved in bringing down Pak One. Earlier that month the Soviet had temporarily suspended its troop withdrawals from Afghanistan to protest Zia's violations of the Geneva Accords that had been signed in May. According to the Soviets, Zia not only was continuing to arm the Afghan Mujuedeen in blatant disregard of the agreement but was directing the sabotage campaign in Kabul that was adding to the Soviet humiliation. After protesting to the Pakistan Ambassador, the Soviet foreign ministry then took the extraordinary step of calling in the American Ambassador to Moscow, Jack Matlock, and informing him that it intended "to teach Zia a lesson".

Soviet intelligence certainly had the means in place in Pakistan to carry out this threat. It had trained, subsidized and effectively ran the Afghan intelligence service, WAD, which had in its campaign of covert bombings in the past year killed and wounded over 1400 people in Pakistan, according to a State Department report released the week of the crash. It had also demonstrated that Spring it could recruit Pakistani accomplices inside military installations. Had Pak One been another of its targets?

After weighing this possibility, the relevant officials in the Pentagon and State Department rejected, according to the official I was interviewing. What persuaded them that the Soviet leadership would not permit such a move, he further elaborated, was the presence of the Ambassador on the plane. They simply did not believe that the Soviets would not have jeopardized Glastnost by assassinating an American of this rank. But later while we were having lunch in his office he mentioned that neither Ambassador Raphel or General Wassom were supposed to fly back on Zia's plane. Both men, at least the day before, had been scheduled to return from the tank exhibition on the U.S. military attache's jet (which General Wassom had flown down on). If so, the perpetrators might not have necessarily reckoned on the American presence aboard the plane.
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The Soviets were not, as it turned out, the only nation to pointedly threaten Zia. In Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi, the prime minister of India, informed Pakistan on August 15 it would have cause "to regret its behaviour" in covertly supplying weapons to Sikhs terrorists in India. The Sikhs, who were attempting to secede from India and create an independent nation called Khalistan, were a crucial problem for Gandhi. They had assassinated his mother when she was prime minister and, with some 2000 armed guerrillas located mainly around the Pakistan border, the death toll from this civil war was approaching 200 a month. Zia had been meeting with top Sikh leaders, according to Gandhi, and providing guerrillas with AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers and sanctuary across the Pakistan border. In response, India had organized a special unit in its intelligence service, known by the initials R.A.S., to deal with Pakistan.

It was not unlike Agatha Christie's thriller Murder on the Orient Express, in which, if one looked hard enough, every aboard the train had a motive for the murder. When Zia's eldest son, Ijaz ul Haq, a soft-spoken, impeccably dressed man now living in Bahrain, described to me how his father was persuaded to go to the tank demonstrations that day by his generals, despite his misgivings, and then General Rehman's sons told me how their father was manipulated into going on the same plane, it raised the possibility that the assassination was the work of a faction in the army. After all, as I learned from Zia's son, Zia had planned to make imminent changes in the military.

Zia's great game had also even offended the United States. It was explained to me at the Pentagon that the CIA had become concerned that Zia was diverting a large share of the weapons being supplied by America to an extreme fundamentalist Muejadeen group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Not only was this group anti-American but its strategy appeared to be aimed at dividing the rest of the Afghan resistance so that it could take over in Kabul-- with Zia's support. American anxiety was also increasing over the progress Zia was making in building the first Islamic nuclear bomb. His clandestine effort included attempts to smuggle the Kryton triggering mechanism and other components for it out of the U.S., which had only added to the tensions.

In any case, with Zia death, the U.S. could foresee an amenably alternative: the replacement of the Zia dictatorship, with all its cold war intrigues, with an elected government head by the attractive Harvard-educated Benazir Bhutto. With this prospect, the State Department had little interest in rocking the boat by focusing on the past, as the new American Ambassador, Robert Oakley, told me in Islamabad. This decision was apparently made just hours after the charred remains of Zia were buried. Flying back from the funeral, Secretary of State Schultz recommended that the FBI keep out of the investigation. Even though the FBI had the statutory authority for investigating crashes involving Americans, and its counter-terrorism division had already assembled a team of forensic experts to search for evidence in the crash, it complied with this request.

During his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relation Committee, Oakley explained "the judgment of the State Department and the Defense Department was that [the FBI forensic experts] would not add any expertise to the team and that it might create complications because we had already obtained something rather extraordinary, that is, the permission of the government of Pakistan to have U.S. investigators fully involved, with full access to everything which had occurred, involving the death under mysterious circumstances of the President of Pakistan." The result was that the U.S. team assigned to Pakistan's Board of Inquiry included only seven air force accident investigators-- and excluded any criminal, counter-terrorist or sabotage experts.

An unrestricted investigation by the FBI also could have opened up a potential Pandora's box of geo-political troubles. What if, for example, it pointed towards a superpower, a neighbor, or Pakistan's military itself? It could undermine everything the United States was striving to achieve by damaging detente, leading to armed confrontation on Pakistan's borders or even de-stabilize the new and shaky Pakistan government. Why chance such uncontrollable consequences when the change in power could be attributed to an "accident" or "act of god?

The State Department evidently decided to work to control media and public perception of what had caused the crash. Just before a summary of the Board of Inquiry' findings was to be released to the press, Oakley sent a classified telegram from Islamabad providing "press guidance." He advised in a follow-up telegram "It is essential that U.S. Government spokespersons review and coordinate on proposed guidance before commenting to the media on the GOP [Pakistan] release".

This spin control effectively deflected press attention from the report's conclusion actual conclusion that the probable cause of the crash was sabotage. On October 14th, 72 hours before that release, the State Department leaked a pre-emptive story to theNew York Times headlined "Malfunction Seen as Cause of Zia Crash". It began " Experts sent to Pakistan ... have concluded that the crash was caused by a malfunction in the aircraft". But on October 17, when the summary was released, the headline had to be changed to "Pakistan Points to Sabotage in Zia crash". TheTimes now correctly reported that Pakistan's Board of Inquiry had concluded "the accident was most probably caused through the perpetuation of a criminal act or sabotage". But unnamed administration spokespersons, continuing with their pre-prepared press guidance, added to the story that "the Pakistani findings were not the same as findings by American experts." They even suggested a psychopathological explanation for the Board's finding, saying that it reflected a"mind set" among Pakistan military officers who wanted instability so they had an excuse for continuing their military rule.

The problem with this press guidance was that it was misinformation. There was no such divergence between the American and Pakistanis experts involved in the investigation, and no separate American conclusion of a "malfunction". Nor was it a conspiratorial Pakistani "mind set" that had ruled out a malfunction as the cause of the crash. This was the conclusion the six American Air Force experts, headed by Colonel Daniel E. Sowada, that comprised the U.S. Assistance and advisory team, which was supported by laboratories in the United States. They, not the Pakistani, had actually written the sections of the report that investigated all possible mechanical failure of the aircraft that led the Board to state it had been " unable to substantiate a technical reason for the accident." This was confirmed to me by both the head of the Pakistan investigating team and an American assistant secretary of defense. Colonel Sowada himself gave secret testimony before the subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs that acknowledged that no evidence of a mechanical failure had been found.

The conclusion of sabotage became inescapable after the accident investigators eliminated virtually all other causes. Sherlock-Holmes like detective work is contained in a red-bound 365 secret investigation report, which the relevant sections of were read to me by a Pentagon official in his office. Like Sherlock Holmes, it used on a process of elimination. First, they were able to rule out the possibility that the plane had been blown up in mid air. If it had exploded in this manner the pieces of the plane, which had different shapes and therefore resistance to the wind, would have been strewn over a wide area-- but that had not happened. By re-assembling the plane in a giant jigsaw puzzle, and scrutinizing with magnifying glasses the edges of each broken piece, they could established that the plane was in one piece when it had hit the ground. They thus concluded structural failure--ie. The breaking up of the plane-- was not the cause.

Nor had the plane been hit by a missile. That would have generated intense heat which in turn would have melted the aluminum panels and, as the plane dived, the wind would have left tell-tale streaks in the molten metal. But there were no streaks on the panels. And no missile part or other ordinance had been found in the area.

They could also rule out the possibility that there was an inboard fire while the plane was in the air since, if there had been one, the passengers would have breathed in soot before they died. Yet, the single autopsy performed, which was on the American general seated in the VIP capsule, showed there was no soot in his trachea, indicating that he had died before, not after, the fire ignited by the crash.

The next possibility they considered was that the power had somehow failed in flight. If this had happened, the propellers would not have been turning at their full torque when the plane crashed, which would have affected the way their blades had broken off and curled on impact. But by examining the degree of curling on each broken propeller blades, they determined that in fact the engines were running at full speed when the propellers hit the ground. They also ruled out the possibility of contaminated fuel by taking samples of the diesel fuel from the refueling truck, which had been impounded after the crash. By analyzing the residues still left in the fuel pumps, they could also tell that they had been operating normally at the time of the crash.

They deduced that the electric power on the plane had been working because both electric clocks on board had stopped at the exact moment of impact, which they determined independently from eye witnesses and other evidence.

The crash had occurred, moreover after a routine and safe take off in perfectly clear daytime weather. And the pilots were experienced with the C-130 and in good health. Since the plane was not in any critical phase of flight, such as take off or landing, where poor judgment on the part of the pilots could have resulted in the mishap, the investigators ruled out pilot error as a possible cause.

They thus came down to one final possibility of mechanical failure: the controls did not work. But the Hercules C-130 had not one but three redundant control system. The two sets of hydraulic controls were backed up, in case of a leak of fluid in both of them, by a mechanical system of cables. If any one of them worked, the pilots would have been able to fly the plane. By comparing the position of the controls with the mechanisms in the hydraulic valves and the stabilizers in the tail of the plane (which are moved through this system when the pilot moves the steering wheel), they established that the control system was working when the plane crashed. This was confirmed by a computer simulation of the flight done by Lockheed, the builder of the C-130. They also ruled out the possibility that the controls had temporarily jammed by a microscopic examination of the mechanical parts to see if there were any signs of jamming or binding. (The only abnormality they found, which led to a long separate appendix, was that there were brass particles contaminating the hydraulic fluid. Although they could not explain this contamination, they found that it could have accounted only for gradual wear and tear on the parts, not a sudden loss of control).

Having ruled out all the mechanical malfunctions that could cause a C-130 to fall from the sky in that manner, the American team left it to the Board to conclude "the only other possible cause of the accident is the occurrence of a criminal act or sabotage leading to the loss of control of the aircraft".

This conclusion was reinforced when an analysis of chemicals found in plane's wreckage, done by the laboratory of Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco in Washington, found foreign traces of pentaerythritol tertranitrate (PNET), a secondary high explosive commonly used by saboteurs as a detonator, as well as antimony and sulfur, which in the compound antimony sulfide is used in fuses to set off the device. Using these same chemicals, Pakistan ordinance experts reconstructed a low-level explosive detonator which could have been used to burst a flask the size of a soda can which, the Board suggested, probably contained an odorless poison gas that incapacitated the pilots.

But this was as far as the Board of Inquiry could go. It had not had autopsies done on the remains of the crew members to determine if they were poisoned. It acknowledged in its report that it lacked the expertise to investigate criminal acts. What was needed was criminal investigators and interrogators. It thus recommended that the task of finding the perpetrators by turned over to the competent agency, which meant, as one of the investigators explained to me, Pakistan's intelligence service--the ISI.

When I got to Pakistan in February and called upon General Hamid Gul, the Director General of the ISI, I found out that political events had apparently overtaken this mandate. He told me that his agency had called off its investigation at the request of the government and had transferred the responsibility for it to a "broader based" government authority headed by a civil servant called F.K. Bandial. It was not using the resources of his intelligence service and, as far as he knew that committee had not begun the work. His tone suggested that, he did not expect any immediate resolution of the crime.
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But it was still possible to come to some reasonable conclusions about what happened to Pak One, if not the precise cause. And there were still outstanding, however, disturbing pieces of evidence. A crucial piece missing in the puzzle was what had happened to the pilots during the final minutes of the flight because the accident investigators found that there was no black box or cockpit recorder on Pak One to recover. Yet, there were three other planes in the area tuned to the same frequency for communications-- General Beg's turbojet, which was waiting on the runway to take off next, Pak 379, which was the backup C-130 in case anything went wrong to delay Pak One, and a Cessna security plane that took off before Pak One to scout for terrorists. I managed to locate pilots of these planes-- all of whom were well acquainted with the flight crew of Pak One and its procedures-- who could listen to the conversation between Pak One and the control tower in Bahawalpur. They independently described the same sequence of events. First Pak One reported its estimated time of arrival in the capital. Then, when the control tower asked its position, it failed to respond. At the Same Time Pak 379 was trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with Pak One to verify its arrival time. All they heard from Pak One was "stand by" but no message followed. When this silence persisted, the control tower got progressively more frantic in its efforts to contact Zia's pilot, Wing Commander Mash'hood. Three or four minutes passed. Then, a faint voice in Pak One called out "Mash'hood, Mash'hood". One of the pilots overhearing this conversation recognized the voice. It was Zia's military secretary, Brigadier Najib Ahmed who apparently, from the weakness of his voice, was in the back of the flight deck (where a door connected to the VIP capsule.) What this meant that the radio was switched on and was picking up background sounds; in this sense, it was the next best thing to a cockpit flight recorder. Under these circumstances, the long silence between "stand bye" and the faint calls to Mash'hood, like the dog that didn't bark, was the relevant fact. Why wouldn't Mash'hood or the three other members of the flight crew spoken if they were in trouble? The pilots aboard the other planes, who were fully familiar Mash'hood, and the procedures he was trained in, explained that if Pak One's crew was conscious and in trouble they would not in any circumstances have remained silent for this period of time. If there had been difficulties with controls, Mash'hood instantly would have given the emergency "may day" signal so help would be dispatched to the scene. Even if he had for some reason chosen not to communicate with the control tower, he would have been heard shouting orders to his crew or alerting the passengers to prepare for an emergency landing. And if there had been an attempt at a hijacking in the cockpit or scuffle between the pilots, it would also be overheard. At the minimum, if the plane was crashing towards earth, screams or groans would have been heard. The radio must have been working since it picked up the brigadier's voice. In retrospect, the pilots had only one explanation for the prolonged silence: Mash'hood and the other pilots were either dead or unconscious while the microphone had been kept opened by the clenched hand of one of the pilots' on the thumb switch that operated.

I could not be ascertain if such tapes actually existed. If they did, the clarity could possibly enhanced to separate other background sounds from the static. Although one witness claimed that he had listened to recordings of these conversations after the crash to identify Mash'hood's voice, the control tower operators at Bahawalpur denied having recorded the conversations although they suggested it might have been taped by the Multan airport forty miles away.In any case, the account of the eyewitnesses at the crash site dove-tailed with the radio silence. They had seen, it will be recalled, the plane pitching up and down as if it were on a roller coaster. According to a C-130 expert I spoke to at Lockheed, C-130's characteristically go into a pattern known as a "phugoid" when no pilot is flying it. First, the unattended plane dives towards the ground, then the mechanism in the tail automatically over-corrects for this downward motion, causing it to head momentarily upwards. Then, with no one at the controls, it would veer downward. Each swing would become more pronounced until the plane crashed. Analyzing the weight on the plane, and how it had been loaded on, this expert calculated the plane would have made three roller-coaster turns before crashing, which is exactly what the witnesses had been reported. He concluded from this pattern that the pilots had been conscious, they would have corrected the "phugoid"-- at least would have made an effort, which would have been reflected in the settings of the controls. Since this had not happened, he concluded, like the pilots in the other planes, that they were unconscious. He suggested that this could be accomplished be planting a gas bomb in the air vent in the C-130, triggered to go off, when the plane took off and pressurized air was fed into the cockpit.

My investigations at the Bahawalpur airport showed that planting a gas bomb on the plane that day would not have entailed any insurmountable problems. Instead of following prescribed procedures and flying to the nearby air base at Multan where it could be guarded, Pak One had remained at the air strip that day. According to one inspector there, a repair crew, which included civilians, had worked on adjusting the cargo door of Pak One for two hours that morning. Its workers entered and left the plane without any sort of search. Any one of them could dropped a gas bomb into the air vent.

I also spoke to an American chemical warfare expert about poison gases that could have been used. He explained that Chemical agents capable of knocking a flight crew, while extremely difficult to obtain, are not beyond the reach of any intelligence service, or underground group with connections to one. He also pointed out that a gas capable on insidiously poisoning a whole flight crew (and leaving the pilot's fingers locked on the radio switch) had been used in neighboring Afghanistan. According to the State Department's special report 78 on "Chemical Warfare in Southeast Asia and Afghanistan," which he sent me, corpses of rebel Muejadeen guerrillas were found still holding their rifles in firing positions after being gassed. This showed that they had been the victims of "an extremely rapid acting lethal chemical that is not detectable by normal senses and that causes no outward physiological responses before death." This gas manufactured by the Soviet would have done the trick. But so would American manufactured "VX" nerve gas, according to a scientist at the U.S. Army chemical warfare center in Aberdeen, Maryland. "VX" is odorless, easily transportable in liquid form, and a soda-sized can full would be enough, when vaporized by a small explosion, and inhaled, to causes paralyzes and loss of speech within 30 seconds. According to him, the residue it would leave behind would be phosphorous. And, as it turned out, the chemical analyzes of debris from the cockpit showed heavy traces of phosphorous.

Such an act of sabotage would probably leave other detectable traces. The chemical agent that killed or paralyzed the pilots could probably be determined through an autopsy of their bodies. If it was a sophisticated nerve gas, it had to be obtained from one of the few countries that manufactures it, transported across international borders, and packaged with a detonator and fuse mechanism into bomb that would burst at the right moment after take off. All this could be trace back, just as the bomb on Pan Am 103 in Scotland was eventually identified and traced. Moreover, in Pakistan, the device had to be delivered to an agent capable of planting it on Pak One at a military air base. And someone had to supply him with intelligence about Zia's movements, the operations of Pak One, and the gaps in its security. Since access was limited to a few dozen persons, these people were vulnerable to discovery through an ordinary police investigation. Access to American intelligence resources, such as the technical labs of the FBI, the counter-terrorist profiles of the CIA, and the electronic eavesdropping archives of the National Security Agency, might also have helped locate the source of the intelligence (especially if it had been broadcast). But I found no such determined investigation took place.

To begin with, as noted by the Board of Inquiry, autopsies were never performed on the bodies of the flight crew. The explanation told to me by the Pentagon official, and apparently given in the secret report, was that Islamic law requires burial within 24 hours. But this could not been the real reason since the bodies were not returned to their families for burial until two days after the crash, as relatives confirmed to me. Nor were they ever asked permission for autopsy examinations. And, as I learned from a doctor for the Pakistan Air Force, Islamic law not withstanding, autopsies are routinely done on pilots in cases of air crashes. I further determined from sources at the military hospital in Bahawalpur that parts of the victims' bodies had been brought there in plastic body bags from the crash site on the night of August 17, and stored there, so that autopsies could be performed by team of American and Pakistani pathologists. On the afternoon of August 18,however, before the pathologists had arrived, the hospital received orders to return these plastic bags to the coffins for burial. The principal evidence of what happened to the pilots was thus purposefully buried.

The police investigation of those who had access to Pak One at the airport and were involved in its security, also appeared to be similarly curtailed. According to a security officer who was there that day, the ground personnel was not methodically questioned. Instead, they said in interviews almost uniformly that they were amazed that no one was interrogated. The only inquiry that they saw taking place was the inquiry by the American team. The questions by the Americans, which had to go through a Pakistani translator, were largely confined to the aircraft's maintenance and movements prior to take off. Other activities that day were not explored. For example, according to a police inspector at Bahawalpur, a policeman at the airstrip that day was found murdered shortly thereafter, but it was not connected to the air crash or, for that matter, resolved.

For its part, Pakistani military authorities attempted to foist a explanation that Shi'ite fanatics were responsible for the crash. The only basis for this theory was that the co-pilot of Pak One, Wing Commander Sajid, happened to have been a shi'ite (as are more than ten per cent of Pakistan's Moslems). The pilot of the back-up C-130, who also was a shi'ite, was then arrested by the military and kept in custody for more than two months while military interrogators tried to make his confess that he had persuaded Sajid to crash Pak One in a suicide mission. Even under torture, he denied this charge and insisted that, as far as he knew, Sajid was a loyal pilot who would not commit suicide. Finally, the army abandoned this effort the Air Force demonstrated that it would have been physically impossible for the co-pilot alone to have caused a C-130 to crash in the way it did. And if he had attempted to overpower the rest of the flight crew, the struggle certainly would have been heard over the radio. But why had the military attempted to cook up this shi'ite red herring?

There were other indications of efforts to limit or divert from the investigation, such as the destruction of telephone records of calls made to Zia and Rehman just prior to the crash, the reported disappearances of ISI intelligence files on Murtaza Bhutto, and the transfer of military personnel at Bahalapur, which, taken together, appeared to add up to a well-organized cover up. If so, I was persuaded that it had to be an inside job. The Soviet KGB and Indian R.A.W. Might have had the motive, and even the means, to bring down Pak One but neither had the ability to stop planned autopsies at a military hospital in Pakistan, stifle interrogations or, for that matter, kept the FBI out of the picture. The same is true of anti-Zia underground, such as Al-Zulfikar, although its agents, like the shi'ite, would provide plausible suspects ( or even, if provided convenient access to Pak One, fall guys.) Nor would any foreign intelligence service which was an enemy of Zia's have much of a motive for making it look like an accident rather than an assassination. Only elements inside Pakistan would have an obvious motive for making it the death of Zia, Rehman and 28 others look like something more legitimate than a coup d' etat.

The most eerie aspect of the affair was the speed and effectiveness with which it was consigned to oblivion. Even it involved the incineration of the principal ally of the U.S. in the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the abrupt end of the American Ambassador and the head of its military mission in Pakistan were killed in the course of discharging their duties, and the government of one of the few remaining allies of the U.S. In Asia was abruptly changed; there little occurred in the way of repercussions. No outcries for vengeance, no efforts at counter coups, no real effort to find the assassins. In Pakistan, Zia and Rehman's names disappeared within days from television, newspapers and other media-- except on a few monuments in Afghan refugee camps that had not yet been painted over. In the United States, the State Department blocked any FBI interest in investigating the death of its Ambassador and, through press "guidance", distorted the event into just another foreign plane accident. The one uncounted casualty of Pak One was the truth.
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A Passionate Defence Of Mr. Durrani; Ahmed Quraishi’s Response

I received this very interesting defence of Mr. Durrani and the Zardari government. It bears all the classical hallmarks of what the spokespeople of this government say when they defend their pro-U.S. policy. See the defence and the rebuttal. It is important to stop the spokespeople of this government in their pants. I call them the ‘graduates of U.S. government-linked think tanks’, sent to Pakistan to teach us how to run our country and what strategic interest is good for us and which one is not. If we want to listen to these people, then we had better accept a direct American-Indian occupation of Pakistan hands down.

THE DEFENCE
ARTICLE ID: 572
ARTICLE TITLE: America’s Foot Soldiers In Islamabad: Durrani’s Firing Reveals How Pakistan Is Penetrated At The Top
BY: Mariam (email withheld for privacy@gmail.com)

COMMENTS
Following the exit of Mr. Durrani from the PM’s team, it is understandable that this episode would invite wide ranging comments for the way it was handled. However, the whole plot drawn by Mr. Quraishi is a little over the top, especially since the reason for Mr Durrani’s exit has been clarified both by the PM and by Mr. Durrani himself. He was shown the door because he did not take the PM into confidence before making important information public. Similarly, assertions regarding Sherry Rehman’s confirmation of investigations related to Ajmal Kasab’s identity is an irresponsible presentation of facts. Sherry Rehman is a federal minister and as a government spokesperson, it’s her job to provide official information regarding government matters. Members of the government do not ‘volunteer’ information and this is the difference between her and Mr. Durrani who acted in his individual capacity while Sherry Rehman followed the obligations of her job as the Information Minister. It makes sense if we consider the foreign office’s statements after the Information Minister’s. It is clear that the govt. had decided to make public its investigations regarding Kasab’s identity. Whether it was compelled to do so after Mr. Durrani’s statement or it did that for any other reason, is another matter. What is clear was that there was no clandestine message exchange activity going on, contrary to the impression being created here. It is strange that despite being a victim of terrorism, we in Pakistan continue to protect the terrorists who use and abuse our soil to carry out mass massacre across the globe. Of course, nobody agrees with the way the Indian government has responded to the Mumbai attacks, but burying our heads like ostrich would not help us address the issue that has been threatening our stability for three decades. Even the ISI that this article is enthusiastically protecting has publicly admitted that it is terrorism, and not India, that is the biggest threat to the country.

THE REBUTTAL

Dear Ms. Mariam,

Thank you for a passionate defense of Ms. Sherry Rehman, Mr. Durrani and the current government. You accused me here of ‘enthusiastically protecting ISI’ and then accused Pakistan by saying, ‘We in Pakistancontinue to protect the terrorists.’ It is for your information that we in Pakistan are not protecting the terrorists, contrary to what the Zardari government says. Terrorists are being sent to Pakistan fromAfghanistan, where the real masters of President Zardari, Ambassador Husain Haqqani and, yes, Mr. Durrani, are based, i.e. the United States. Terrorism in Pakistan was introduced around 2005. Sure we had some smalltime sectarian groups fighting among themselves before that year. But today we have well trained and well armed terrorists whose weaponry and financing is sometimes superior to what our security forces have. Terrorists who continue to receive endless supplies of sophisticated weapons and money despite being blockaded by our military in the border areas with Afghanistan. Our American friends and their new allies, i.e. Karzai regime and India, are also feeding terrorism inside Balochistan. What’s the purpose of our American friends from doing this? The overriding aim is to weaken the Pakistani military and its intelligence services in order to stop Pakistan from retaining any influence beyond its borders, especially in Kashmir andAfghanistan. Why? Because U.S. wants to rearrange things in this area in a manner where India is empowered to serve U.S. interests, and to keep China and Russia out. Balochistan is being destabilized so thatChina is unable to use Gwadar to dock its naval and commercial ships there. It is shameless how the Zardari government is cooperating with Washington and with Karzai and India in achieving this aim. Mr. Durrani, Mr. Haqqani and this government is enthusiastically marketing the American line [Pakistan’s biggest threat is terrorism, control ISI, re-train the Pakistani army to fight insurgencies, etc.]. But please tell your friends in this government that Pakistan has its legitimate strategic and security interests in this region and Pakistanand its people will protect these interests. The last thing we need is a bunch of Pakistani turncoats, fed and groomed in U.S. think tanks, coming to teach us how to live in our own region.

© 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com. & PakNationalists
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America's Foot Soldiers In Islamabad: Durrani's Firing Reveals How Pakistan Is Penetrated At The Top
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/americas-foot-soldiers-in-islamabad

M. A. Durrani was busy leaking information to embarrass Pakistan internationally. He was part of an influential group in Islamabad that worked overtime to ensure Pakistan accepted blame for Mumbai and initiated action against the military and ISI without verifying the so-called evidence. Mr. Durrani says his leaks had the blessings of President Zardari. Who are they working for? Alarmingly, Pakistan’s security stands breached at the highest levels in the capital, where shady individuals are working for foreign interests with impunity. It is time for a major purge to cleanse Pakistani government and politics of foreign assets. Mr. Durrani should be debriefed as to whose interests he was serving in his sensitive position.
By AHMED QURAISHI
Thursday, 8 January 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A secretive powerful group in the top corridors of the Pakistani government has been working overtime for the past few weeks to push Islamabad into publicly accepting the half-cooked ‘evidence’ provided by the United States and India that implicates Pakistan, its military and the ISI in the Mumbai attacks.
Two prominent names in this group are national security adviser Mehmud Ali Durrani and the Ambassador in Washington Husain Haqqani. They pushed hard for Pakistan to accept blame without verification and without pursuing other compelling leads in the Mumbai attacks. These other leads cast a wider net and significantly weaken India’s ‘Pakistan-only’ fixation.
The behavior of Mr. Durrani became particularly desperate in the last few days, and especially on Wednesday, Jan. 7. His boss, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, was not off the mark when he cited betrayal of Pakistan’s national security as the main reason for sacking Mr. Durrani.
The question is: Who was Mr. Durrani working for? There is even chatter about the possibility that he might be arrested and interrogated to determine whose interests he was serving. There is no question that his bold moves were sanctioned by President Zardari. It is also interesting to note that information minister Sherry Rehman came to Mr. Durrani’s rescue in the final stage of the bizarre power struggle that marked Durrani’s last few hours in office.
Given the traps created by this government for Pakistan and especially for the ISI after the Mumbai attacks, it is safe to conclude that Pakistan’s power echelons stand breached by individuals, like Mr. Durrani, who are keenly pursuing policy objectives of a foreign government or governments.
The conduct of Mr. Durrani, coupled with massive recent policy failures with direct bearing on national security, reinforce the need for a purge within the government and within the country’s political elite. Foreign governments have been able to penetrate both and cultivate assets. These ‘assets’ conduct their own private foreign policies directly with foreign powers without the approval or knowledge of the Pakistani state.
The Signs
Sitting in Washington, Ambassador Husain Haqqani has been wrangling with the Pakistan Foreign Office for several days now over the FBI evidence shared with Pakistan, which apparently includes a tape recording purporting to show a Pakistani citizen inside Pakistan talking to a Mumbai terrorist over telephone. Mr. Haqqani wants Pakistan to accept this piece of evidence as final proof that elements within Pakistan executed the attack on Mumbai. Other Pakistani officials disagree and say the audio tape and other information need to be verified by Pakistani experts to determine if it is fake or real. We don’t trustIndia and they don’t trust us. It’s as simple as that.
Durrani’s Suspicious Role
Behind the scenes, Mr. Durrani has been playing what amounts to a dirty role in this whole crisis with India. In the last week of December, he contacted a known Pakistani journalist working for the Wall Street Journal and leaked to him a ‘breaking’ a story: an activist of the defunct Lashkar Tayyeba in Pakistani custody had confessed to making phone calls to Mumbai terrorists.
It was strange that Mr. Durrani chose to leak this information to a U.S.newspaper. If the story was true [it wasn’t. It was officially debunked later] the Pakistani government would have released it through its spokespeople. The only plausible purpose of the leak was to embarrass Pakistan, quash the voices calling for evidence and verification, and push a weak government into accepting responsibility for the Mumbai attacks. It was a classic pressure tactic, in this case used by an insider – Mr. Durrani – against his own government.
Using this deliberate leak, the Wall Street Journal came out with an elaborate story . Its editors somehow linked the alleged confession to ISI’s tense relations with elected governments in the 1990s. There was a separate box in the story that gave a timeline to the supposed tense relations.
In short, Durrani’s leak to Wall Street Journal became a condemnation of the ISI. Which seems to be the whole purpose of the Indian drama anyway. The leak also weakened the effect of foreign minister ShahMahmood Qureshi’s rare bold statement that demanded Indiadeactivate its forward air bases, withdraw troops and defuse the war hysteria.
Durrani’s leak in effect threw the ball back in the Pakistani court.
Desperation
With Ambassador Haqqani’s failure to convince Pakistani officials to accept the American evidence, the pro-American lobby in Islamabadbegan to get desperate. U.S. military chief Adm. Mike Mullen flew intoIslamabad to convince President Zardari to allow the Indian air force to conduct limited ‘surgical strikes’. He asked Zardari to deactivate the state of alert in the Pakistan Air Force for this purpose. The deal was sealed if not for the strong stand taken by the Pakistani military. Mullen returned empty handed.
The ‘Charge Sheet’
Mr. Durrani’s reign of double dealings at the top, as Prime Minister’s adviser on national security, makes the list of foreign policy blunders by the government appear deliberate and calculated and not just the work of incompetent administrators:
1. The immediate admission of guilt on behalf of ISI, when Mr. Gilani was told to accept sending ISI chief to New Delhi on India’s ‘summon’.
1. The weak, apologetic diplomacy in the face of Indian warmongering.
1. Misleading China in the U.N. Security Council voting, resulting in incriminating Pakistani individuals and organizations without evidence.Some observers even go as far as saying that this vote has smoothed the way for future sanctions on Pakistan and its military if and when major powers pursue this.
1. The Zardari government is suspected of having dragged its feet on issuing orders to the Pakistani military to raise the level of alert even when Indian army, air force and navy were moving to forward positions. The plot becomes sinister when the consequences of this reluctance become clear. A snap attack byIndia when the Pakistani military was not ready could have resulted in humiliation for the military. This would have emboldened the current government to take on a humiliated military and pursue the U.S. agenda of dismantling the ISI and transform the Pakistani military into a glorified police force at the beck and call of U.S. and India. This ‘ideal role’ forPakistan is now openly discussed in Washington and is no longer a secret.
The Memorable 7 January
The actions of Mr. Mehmud Ali Durrani on this day show how desperate he had become to see Pakistan taking the blame and submitting before India. This portion of the story needs careful reading because it reveals how far this game goes to the top levels of the Pakistani government.
Mr. Durrani apparently leaked to an Indian TV channel and a couple of Pakistani news channels that Pakistan has accepted Indian ‘evidence’ that Ajmal Kassab, the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist, was a Pakistani citizen. [Please click here for an incisive examination of the Indian and American ‘evidence’].
Mr. Durrani probably intended for this information to be quoted ‘anonymously’. But one of the journalists probably made the mistake of mentioning Durrani’s name.
Reacting to this, Pakistan’s second most senior diplomat, Foreign SecretarySalman Bashir, came out to deny that Kassab’s identity has been determined, in effect brushing aside Durrani’s leak.
To counter Mr. Bashir, Information Minister Sherry Rehman went a step further. She volunteered this information [that Kassab is a Pakistani] through a text message to a reporter of the American Associated Press news agency. Her move seconded Durrani’s.
Surprisingly, the government’s own Minister of State for Interior, Mr.Tasnim Qureshi, reacted angrily to Mr. Durrani’s leaks. He told reporters that Kassab’s Pakistani links mean little because Kassab was a “creation of Indian intelligence.”
Now, was Mr. Durrani acting alone in making the leaks? After being sacked, Mr. Durrani told Geo News that he consulted the President on all his moves.
This begs the question: Did President Zardari approve the calculated leaks to the media by Durrani and Sherry? If so, why? Why did they have to do it this way? Who were they hiding from? Why try to force the hand of the rest of the organs of the Pakistani state?
Does this mean that Mr. Zardari, Mr. Durrani, and Mr. Haqqani will leak confidential material to the media every time things don’t go their way? Why this act of desperation? Who were they trying to please?
Time For A Purge In Islamabad
A growing number of Pakistani officials and politicians have been cultivated by foreign governments in a variety of ways to pursue the goals of those governments. This foreign meddling and direct contact is confined in large part to the United States, and then to the United Kingdom. It is happening outside the knowledge of the Pakistani state and has reached dangerous proportions. Mr. Durrani’s story is a case in point.
Mr. Durrani was and remains an active member of something called the Balusa Group, created and financed by the U.S. government as a way to create influence in the upper echelons of the Pakistani government. The Americans say the purpose of this group was to bring peace between Pakistanand India through ‘Track II’ diplomacy. But the truth is that its members, like Mr. Durrani, were involved in lobbying for U.S. sponsored energy corridors between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. A side goal was to convince Pakistan to give India unlimited access to Afghanistan and Central Asian republics as a free concession without asking for anything in return, like resolving Kashmir and water disputes.
Foreign Minister Mehmood Qureshi distanced himself from the group as soon as he assumed his new position. He wanted to ensure he was not linked to foreign interests while discharging important business of the state. However, Mr. Durrani and Mr. Husain Haqqani have not publicly ceased their associations with foreign policy groups and interests after becoming servants of the Pakistani state. Mr. Durrani has been serving the state for almost three years now without renouncing his foreign associations, and all of them happen to be tied to U.S.interests.
The result of the damage brought by Mr. Zardari, Mr. Durrani and Mr. Haqqani to Pakistan in the past few weeks is obvious. Pakistan’s wishy-washy diplomacy in the face of Indian belligerence and warmongering has emboldenedNew Delhi to pursue a tougher line with Islamabad. Officials in Washington andNew Delhi are betting on the confusion created by the actions of Mr. Durrani to make it easier for them to extract concessions from Pakistan.
There is no question that the United States plans to expand the war inAfghanistan to include Pakistan. This is the only way to weaken the Pakistani military and firmly align Pakistan with American interests opposite China and others. The only way this is possible is with India’s help. People like Mr. Durrani are helping this happen from the inside. Such elements need to be purged form the system.
In conclusion, this is what Dr. Ayesha Siddiq, the author of Military Inc., had to say about Mr. Durrani when he was first appointed in government:
“The PPP selected Washington’s dream team to run foreign relations and national security. One is not sure that appointing Durrani as the National Security Adviser will do the job. The appointment (of Durrani) is in consideration of the general’s close ties with the US Pentagon. Not to mention the fact that Durrani owes his intellectual growth to Shirin Tahirkheli, a Bush administration adviser and former senior official of the [U.S. delegation to the] UN National Security Council”.
Enough said.
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1106

The History of Karbala

2009-01-30T04:23:00.002-08:00

Islamic History 08 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

The History of Karbala

Abu ‘Ammar’s History of Karbala being published below is bound to prove controversial. New Age Islam has no interest in intensifying sectarian conflicts. But we have decided to publish this on this occasion of remembering and mourning for the greatest and the most universally admired and respected martyr Islam has produced so that people belonging to all sects can see how difficult it is to trust any narrative, no matter how fervently we have been brainwashed from our childhood into believing them. It is imperative we understand that if we cannot arrive at the truth of today’s events happening in front of live television cameras, how well nigh impossible it is to know and understand fully the events and the dynamics of what propelled those events 1400 years ago. The best way out therefore is to close our controversial books and narratives and at least understand that there is room for doubt in all the narratives given to us by the historians of that age. We Muslims should be living in the 21st and not in the 6th century A D. Let us realise that it is neither possible nor necessary to do so. Islam’s universality has to be seen both in terms of place and time. It is possible to be good Muslims and be attuned to the contemporary era and its mores. – Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam

Abu ‘Ammar’s reasons for writing this booklet: My main aim is to clarify the rituals performed during the first Islamic month, Muharram. During this month the Shi’ah (a sect) beat themselves on their chest with knives to show that they are mourning for Imam Husain. But the truth is that it was Shi‘as of Kufa and Basra who invited Imam Husain and then left him, in Karbala, to be martyred.

On this occasion, the people of Ahl Sunnah wal Jammat recite the Holy Qur'an and make Supplication (Dua); they gather together and their scholars explain about the events of Karbala. The event that took place in Karbala is a Sa'd occasion for all the Muslims. However, some take this occasion to the extreme, exaggerating and telling fabricated stories with the aim of making emotions high, causing crowds to become frantic and overcome with tears.
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The History of Karbala
By Abu ‘Ammar

Preface

In the name of Allah Most High, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All Praise be to Allah Most High, the Creator, the Provider. He has no Partners, and is in no need of any. He is Alone, He made the Heavens and the Earth, and He knows what was before time, what is present and what is after. He shows the straight path to whosoever He wishes, and whoever He chooses to bless, He makes them the best among the best. O Allah, send salutations on our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), who is the last and final Messenger. After him there will be no Prophets to come until the Day of Judgement. Allah Most High has given him the highest excellence. On the Day of Judgement when every individual will be present, our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) will intercede on the behalf of the Muslims. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), his family, his companions and all his followers.

I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah Most High and Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) is His servant and His Messenger. I thank Allah Most High for giving me the strength and courage to write about Sayyiduna Imam Husain (Allah be well pleased with him).

There are several reasons for writing this booklet. My main aim is to clarify the rituals performed during the first Islamic month, Muharram. During this month the Shi’ah (a sect) beat themselves on their chest with knives to show that they are mourning for Imam Husain. But the truth is that it was Shi‘as of Kufa and Basra who invited Imam Husain and then left him, in Karbala, to be martyred.

On this occasion, the people of Ahl Sunnah wal Jammat recite the Holy Qur'an and make Supplication (Dua); they gather together and their scholars explain about the events of Karbala. The event that took place in Karbala is a Sa'd occasion for all the Muslims. However, some take this occasion to the extreme, exaggerating and telling fabricated stories with the aim of making emotions high, causing crowds to become frantic and overcome with tears.

Many stories are related and told with great favour, but contain untruths such as the following:

(A) If any stone were to be lifted around Masjid Aqsa (Dome of the Rock Mosque in Jerusalem) there would be blood underneath it. The suggestion is that even the rocks were mourning the passing of Imam Husain.

(B) It rained blood from the sky.

(C) When the sun went down drops of blood fell from it.

(D) The trees started to weep blood.

(E) Imam Husain took his son Ali Asgar and begged the enemy for water, and while he was asking for water they shot an arrow and martyred him. However, this is not a true account of what actually happened. In actual fact his son was playing in his lap during the time of Karbala and an arrow struck him, from which he was martyred. Imam Husain did not in truth beg for water as he had a brave and courageous character, and this would have been a sign of weakness.

(F) Imam Husain had a daughter and he left her in Madina, telling her that he would call her in a few months after he reached Kufa. Some say that when he was in Karbala he received a letter from her, which was said to have been a sad letter asking him why he had not come to collect her.

(G) Some people maintain that when Muslim bin Aqeel went to Kufa and took his two sons, who were five and seven year old, with him. After their father’s death, the two sons, out of fear for their lives, attempted to escape to Madina. But they were captured by the governor of Kufa, and martyred. However, the truth is that Muslim bin Aqeel’s two sons were not of that age, nor did they accompany their father. In fact, they went to Karbala with Imam Husain and were martyred there.

None of these accounts are to be found in the books of Tabari, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Atheer, Usd al-Ghabah, or in the Tareekh of al-Khulafa, nor in Tareekh Ibn Katheer. No where is it mentioned that Imam Husain left his young daughter in Madina.

In writing this booklet I intend to present authentic narrations regarding the events of Karbala. I also intend to collect them and compile them in one place so that the reader can understand the events with clarity.

Another reason for writing this booklet is that there are those who, on the 10th of Muharram, praise Yazid and speak ill of Imam Husain. They are called Nawaasib and Khawarij. These two sects are totally against Imam Husain. In their opinion Imam Husain was wrong in opposing Yazid’s government, and he was killed in accordance with the rulings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.

Also, I have always had the desire to write of Imam Husain’s excellence, his bravery and the sacrifices that he made, and to refute the objections that have been made against him. In sha’ Allah, I will try to fulfill these objectives to the best of my ability in this booklet.

Allama Ibn Khuldun writes in al-Muqaddima about an event that occurred in his town. He wrote that in his area there was a Sayyid (a person from the family of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) against whom people were making false accusations. However, Ibn Khaldun relates that he supported him because on the Day of Judgement his grandfather would support him, in other words the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

When I read this I thought that if I were also to support the Sayyids and refute false allegations about the grandson of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), tomorrow on the day of judgement, Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) may also intercede for me.

May Allah Most High make this booklet a useful source of knowledge for the reader and accept this work and reward me.

THE BACKGROUND OF KARBALA

IMAM HUSAIN

Imam Husain was born to the daughter of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Sayyida Fatima, in the month of Shaban 4 Hijra, Sayyiduna Hasan, Husain and Mohsin were three brothers. Mohsin passed away in his infancy. When Sayyiduna Hasan, Imam Husain’s older brother, was born, Sayyiduna Ali named him Harb. When the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) enquired as to the chosen name, Sayyiduna Ali said that the name ‘Harb’ had been chosen. However, the Prophet replied his name should be ‘Hasan’. When Imam Husain was born, Sayyiduna Ali again named Imam Husain ‘Harb’. The Prophet again said, “no his name is Husain.” When the third child was born Sayyiduna Ali again named him Harb, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) again said, “No his name is Mohsin.” Then the Prophet said, “I have given the children the same names that the prophet Harun (alai his sallam) gave his children.” His childrens’ names were Shaber, Sabbir, and Moshabir, in other words Hasan, Husain, and Mohsin. The names Hasan and Husain are from the people of Paradise. In the time of ignorance, before the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) no one had been given these names.

[Imam Ibn Atheer narrates the above incident in his book, Usdul-Gabah]

When Imam Husain was born, the Prophet (sallal ho alihi wasallam) came and recited the Adhan in his ear. Sayyiduna Hasan and Husain had the likeness of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Sayyiduna Hasan from the chest upwards looked very similar to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and Imam Husain looked identical from the waist down to our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Usdul Gabah fi Ma’refat-i- Sahabah - biography of Sayyiduna Imam Husain by Allama Ibn Atheer .

EXCELLENCE OF IMAM HUSAIN

Hafiz Ibn Katheer writes that one day an angel came and sat down by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Umme Salma (the wife of the Prophet and the mother‘s of the believers), “we have a guest, do not let any one enter as we are having a conversation.” In the meantime Imam Husain, who at the time was very young, entered the room, and as children do, Imam Husain climbed on top of our Prophet’s shoulder. The angel said “Do you love him”; Our Prophet replied “Yes”. The angel then said “Your followers will at a later time martyr him. If you wish I can show you where he will be martyred. Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said he would like to see where his grandson would be martyred. The angel then waved his hand and brought some red soil and said, “This is the place where he will be martyred.” Our Prophet took some soil from his hand and gave it to Umme Salma. She put the soil in a bottle.

After this it became known amongst the companions that Imam Husain would be martyred in a place called Karbala. Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) told them that if any of them are present at the time, they should support him. Sayyiduna Anas bin Harris was with Imam Husain in Karbala and was martyred.

Once when Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, was in Iraq and was passing the field of Karbala with Abu Abdullah. He shouted, “O Abu Abdullah stop! O Abu Abdullah go and stop near the river Euphrates”. Sayyiduna Ali then said, “One day I went to see the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he had tears in his eyes. When I asked him why he had tears in his eyes, he said that the angel Gabriel had come to see him and had told him that Husain will be martyred near the river Euphrates, and the angel had given him some soil from there”.

In another narration it is said that once Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, was passing by a place, he asked: “What is this place called? Someone said, “This is Karbala.” Sayyiduna Ali seighed, “O Karbala”. He stopped there and performed salah (prayer) and then said that the people who will be martyred here will have the highest status among martyrs, after the companions, and they will enter Paradise without any reckoning. While Sayyiduna Ali was there he pointed to the place where Imam Husain would be martyred. The narrator confirms that Imam Husain was in fact martyred in the exact spot Sayyiduna Ali had pointed to.

Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Imam Husain and Sayyiduna Hasan are my two flowers of the world.” He also said, “Whoever loves them loves me and whoever hates them, hates me. Abu Huraira, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, said that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) looked towards Sayyiduna Hasan, Imam Husain and Sayyiduna Fatima and said, “Whoever fights with you, I will fight with him and whoever loves you I will love him.”

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, said, “One day the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) came to us, and on one of his shoulders was Sayyiduna Hasan and on the other Imam Husain. On the way to us we saw that sometimes he would kiss Sayyiduna Hasan and sometimes he would kiss Imam Husain. One person spoke and said, “Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) do you love them very dearly? The Prophet answered, “Yes, I love them dearly. Whoever loves them I will also love him and whoever holds a grudge against them, he in fact holds a grudge against me.”

Sayyiduna Laila bin Murrah says, “The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that Husain is mine and I am his. Whoever loves Husain, Allah Most High will love him because Husain is my grandson.”

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri says that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that Sayyiduna Hasan and Husain are the leaders of the youth in Paradise.

Rabi bin Sa’d narrates that Imam Husain came into the Mosque. Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah, who was the companion of the Prophet, said, “I have heard from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that whoever wants to see the leader of Paradise should look at Husain.”

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said that he loved Imam Husain and Sayyiduna Hasan and whoever loved him should love them. The Prophet made supplication to Allah Most High that I love Hasan and Husain and hope you also love and protect them. He also narrates that once Hasan and Husain came into the Mosque (Masjid-I-Nabawi) and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was performing his prayer. When he would go into prostration Sayyiduna Hasan and Husain would jump onto his back, and when our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sat up from the prostration, he would slowly put them down. When he would go into prostration again they would jump on his back again, until he would finish the prayers. Sayyiduna Abu Huraira said that he went to the Prophet and said, “Shall I take them to their mother as it is getting darker outside”. As soon as he finished saying this, a light lit up on the path from the Mosque to the house of their mother (Fatima). The light was so strong that we could see Sayyida Fatima’s house from where we were sitting. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to his grandsons “You may go home now.”

[Tareekh Ibn Katheer by Hafiz Ibn Katheer – chapter on Karbala and Imam Husain ]

These Ahadith written by Hafiz Ibn Katheer in the excellence of Imam Husain have been collected from Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Musnad Ahmed, and other books of Hadith. These ahadith have been accepted as authentic ahadith by all of the following scholars:
(a) Hafiz Ibn Taimiyah
(b) Hafiz Ibn Qayyim
(c) Hafiz Ibn Katheer
(d) Qadi Shuwkani
(d) Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab.

FOOTNOTE As some people do not accept the authenticity of a hadith unless it is accepted by particular scholars. Therefore, we have taken all these Ahadith from Hafiz Ibn Katheer’s book rather than original books of Hadith.

YAZID BIN MU’AWIYAH

Yazid bin Mu’awiyah was the son of Amir, who was the companion of our Prophet (sallalaho alihi wasallam). He was born in either 26th or the 27th year of the Hijra. His mother, Maysun, was divorced from Amir but Yazid lived with his father. Yazid was a very clever, witty and intelligent boy.

Yazid had a passion for music and alcohol. He always had a hangover in the morning due to his heavy drinking from the night before. When he hunted, he travelled with many dogs and enjoyed watching animals fighting one another. His fondness of his pets went to such extremes that his pets even travelled on horses laden with gold, and when a pet died, he would mourn for it. Some historians claim that he died due to one of his pets actually biting him while he was playing with it. However, there are many versions as to how he actually died, and Allah ta’ala knows best.

Sayyidina Amir Mu’awiyah could do nothing but reprimand his son for his ways, and offer him advice. He advised him repeatedly, “O my son, why do you indulge yourself in these evil things? Your enemies will triumph at your actions, while your friends will never respect you.” As time progressed, so did the habits; all the father could do was to advise him, while the son ignored the advice his father gave.

One day, Yazid asked his father if after his earthly departure, he would be made the King. Yazid promised that he would do nothing but righteous deeds and rule like ‘Umar Ibin al-Khatab. Amir was so surprised that he responded by saying, “Sub-han Allah! How can this be possible? I swear by Allah, the Most High, that I have tried my very best to even come near to what ‘Umar used to do, and I have not been able to do that!” History proves that Yazid did not in fact implement the Islmaic political, social and economic system like Umar Ibn al- Khattab.

(Tarikh ibn Kathir, Biography of Yazid bin Mu’awiyah)

There is also difference of opinion as to when Yazid died. Abu Bakra bin Ayash says that the people took bay’ah with Yazid in 60 Hijra, and he died in Rabi-ul-Awwal 60 Hijra. But in fact he died on 15th Rabi-ul-Awwal 64 Hijra; and he was 48 years old at that time.

Lisanul Mizan Biography Yazid bin Mu'awiya by Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalanee

ALLEGIANCE TO YAZID BIN MU'AWIY

After the death of Amir Mu'awiya may Allah Most High be pleased with him, his son Yazid became the ruler of the Muslims. Most of the people had pledged their allegiance to him. However, three of the companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in Madina had not done so. It was due to this fact that Yazid wrote a letter to The governor of Madina who at the time was Waleed bin Utbah. In it he wrote:
‘My father has passed away, making me the King. I hope that you can convince these three men to swear allegiance to me’.

The three Sahabah he made refernecnce to:
(1) Imam Husain, may Allah Most High be pleased with him.
(2) Abdullah bin Zubair, may Allah Most High be pleased with him.
(3) Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah Most High be pleased with him.’

When Waleed bin Utbah received the letter, one of his friends Marwan was sitting with him. He asked his advice on the matter of the allegiance of these three men. Marwan said to The governor, “Send someone to call for Imam Husain and Abdullah bin Zubair immediately, and order them to swear allegiance to Yazid. If they obey then leave them, but if they refuse then you should have them killed. If they find out that Amir Mu'awiya, may Allah Most High be pleased with him, has passed away each of them will claim that they are the Amirs (leaders). Do not worry about Abdullah bin Umar as he has no desire to fight or become a leader, unless all the people get together and ask him to become their leader.”

IMAM HUSAIN AND ABDULLAH BIN ZUBAIR
WERE CALLED

The governor sent one of his men to call Imam Husain and Abdullah bin Zubair. He told him that he would find them in the mosque since he had just left the Mosque himself and had seen them sitting there. When the person reached the Mosque and told them that The governor wanted to see them both, they replied that they would come soon. When he left they discussed the reasons The governor would want to see them since The governor himself had very recently left the mosque. When they could not come up with any reason for his request to see them, they decided to leave and go home. When Imam Husain arrived home he called all the males from the house and asked them to accompany him to The governor’s house.” When they reached his house, Imam Husain instructed them to wait outside, and only enter the house if he called them or if The governor raised his voice.

Imam Husain entered the house of The governor. After greeting him, The governor and Marwan gave him the letter which they had received from Yazid. After reading the letter Imam Husain was saddened by the news that Amir Mu'awiya had passed away and prayed to Allah Most High to shower his blessings upon his grave. The second part of the letter concerned their allegiance. Imam Husain said that it was not appropriate for a person of his status to pledge allegiance to Yazid secretely. But if they were to gather all the people of Madina together to swear their allegiance to Yazid, he would be the first among them to speak out about. The governor agreed to invite the people in the following morning. But Marwan spoke up immediately advising The governor, “Ask him to swear allegiance to Yazid now, otherwise you will not be able to obtain allegiance from him later, until there are rivers of blood flowing between you and him. If you do not do this, I will kill Imam Husain right now.” Imam Husain spoke with anger and said “Neither you or The governor can kill me as Allah Most High is with me.” Then Imam Husain left. On his departure Marwan said to The governor, “You have made a grave error in letting Imam Husain leave.” Waleed said, “I swear by Allah Most High that I did not wish to kill Imam Husain for the reason of allegiance. And I also swear that if I were given all the possession of a kingdom I still would not have killed him.”

ABDULLAH BIN ZUBAIR LEFT MADINA FOR MAKKAH

After Abdullah bin Zubair arrived home he hid inside. The governor sent his people a number of times to call him. In the end they surrounded his house and called out that if he did not come out they would come to see him the next morning. During the night Abdullah bin Zubair came out very upset and told the people to tell The governor that he would come the next morning to see him. During the night Abdullah bin Zubair and his brother left for Makkah through a road which was not very well known to the travellers. When The governor found out that he had been tricked, he sent his men to find them, but by that time they had gone. When Abdullah bin Zubair reached Makkah, some of his supporters were already there and he began living in Makkah with them. The governor of Makkah, Umar bin Sa'id, used to come to the Ka’bah to pray and circumblate it (do Tawaf). He would also lead the prayers. Abdullah bin Zubair and his supporters refused to join them in prayers.

IMAM HUSAIN LEFT MADINA FOR MAKKAH

After Imam Husain left The governor’s house, he returned home and discussed with his brother what he should do. Imam Husain’s brother, Muhammad bin Hanfiah, said, “You should go to another city and send your representative to different cities to convince people to swear their allegiance to you. If the people swear allegiance to you then you should thank Allah Most High and if they decide to choose someone else as their leader, it would still not affect your religion or the respect people have for you. If you cannot do this then you should stay in the desert or the mountains and send your representative to different cities, or even keep changing cities until all the people in each town accept you as their leader. I am also afraid that you may go to towns where only a few will support you and the majority will oppose you. If there were a conflict between them I would not like you to be there to get the blame.” Imam Husain then asked his brother which city he should go to. His brother replied, “Go to Makkah.”

ABDULLAH BIN UMAR & ABDULLAH BIN ABBAS

Abdullah bin Umar and Abdullah bin Abbas were in Makkah at the time when Amir Mu’awiyya passed away. They were coming towards Madina. Between the road from Makkah to Madina they met Imam Husain and when they found out that Imam Husain was intending to leave for Kufa, they dissuaded him form undertaking this journey. They reminded him of the flick-mindedness and betraying mentality of Kufans. Imam Husain maintained that it was important to tear the mask of Islam from the face of unIslamic rulers, and to alienate the Muslims from their misguided rulers. He asserted that it was incumbent to uphold the banner of Islam and defend the fundamental principles of Islamic political system. They had a long conversation on this subject, and after a while they each carried on with their journey. When Abdullah bin Umar and Abdullah bin Abbas reached Madina they swore allegiance to Yazid.

THE NEW GOVERNOR OF MADINA

Meanwhile, Yazid found out that The governor of Madina had not forced Imam Husain or Abdullah bin Zubair to accept Yazid as the true ruler of the Muslims. He terminated his position as governor and appointed a new governor, Umar bin Sa'id al-Ashraq. The new governor was appointed in the month of Ramadan in the 60th Hijra. As soon as he became The governor he found out that Abdullah bin Zubair and his brother Umar bin Zubair had a conflict between them. He saw an opportunity to exploit their conflict for his own benefit and appointed Umar bin Zubair the chief of the police force, and told him to arrest all of his brother’s supporters. Some of the people he arrested were regarded as very pious and holy men and some of them were the companions or sons of the companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). He arrested all of them and punished them with 40 to 60 lashes per person.

The governor then called a meeting to discuss who should be sent to Makkah to arrest Abdullah bin Zubair. Umar bin Zubair volunteered to go to Makkah to his brother. The governor gave him an army of 700 men and ordered him arrest Abdullah bin Zubair and his followers. When Umar bin Zubair was ready to leave with his army the friend of the old governor (Marwan) said to Umar bin Zubair, “Makkah is a city where even hunting a bird is Haram (forbidden), so how are you going to fight in Makkah? Your brother Abdullah bin Zubair is a fragile old man of sixty. What risk can he pose to somone in your position? Umar Bin Zubair said, “I swear by Allah Most High that I will fight with my brother even if he is in the Ka’bah itself.”

While this conversation was taking place, Abu Shureah Khuzaei, a companion of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), said to The governor, “I have heard a Hadith from our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), that fighting in Makkah is Haraam, even for him it was only allowed for a very short time and then it was made Haraam again. So you should not go to Makkah and fight.” Upon hearing this, The governor replied to Abu Shureah, “We know more about the respect of Makkah than you.”

Nevertheless, Umar bin Zubair left towards Makkah with his army. When they neared Makkah they camped outside and Umar bin Zubair sent a messenger to his brother. The messenger said to Abdullah bin Zubair, “ I have been sent to you by The governor of Madina to arrest you and take you back with me, so that you may swear allegiance to him in person as he will not accept it in writing or verbally. If you give yourself up to me I will put a very thin collar round your neck so that it cannot be noticed by your people and they will not lose respect for you. I will then take you back to Syria to King Yazid. You and I both know it is forbidden to shed blood in Makkah.”

When Abdullah bin Zubair received this message from his brother he replied by saying, “ You have come here with the intention to fight so we will fight, I will send my people to fight with you outside Makkah.” Umar bin Zubair’s army was defeated in the battle; some of his army men either escaped or were killed, and others, including Umar bin Zubair, were captured. Abdullah bin Zubair told his brother that all of his followers would be lashed in the same way as Abdullah’s supporters were lashed in Madina previously. After the lashing took place Abdullah bin Zubair’s brother, Umar bin Zubair, died.

IMAM HUSAIN IN MAKKAH

While on his way to Makkah Imam Husain also met Abdullah bin Muti’; when he discovered that imam Husain may undertake a journey to Kufa, he warned Imam Husain about the Kufans, “Do not go near the city of Kufa under any circumstances because the people of Kufa are very disloyal. The people of Kufa martyred your father, Sayyiduna Ali, and also contested with your brother, Sayyiduna Hasan.” He advised Imam Husain not to leave the surroundings of Makkah under any circumstances. “You are the leader of the Arabs, therefore whoever loves you and accepts you as their leader will come to you without you having to go to them. Unless the people of Makkah tell you to leave, do not leave Makkah”, He added.

After listening to this advice Imam Husain carried on with his journey to Makkah and remained and settled there. Time and time again people used to come to him and tell him about the situation of Kufa and the evil ways of Yazid. At that time Abdullah bin Zubair was also settled in Makkah and spent much time in the Ka’bah praying and worshiping Allah. Abdullah bin Zubair recognised the higher religious status and elevated rank of Imam Husain and knew that whilst Imam Husain was in Makkah nobody was going to swear allegiance to him as the leader of the Muslims.

INVITATION TO IMAM HUSAIN FROM
THE PEOPLE OF KUFA

When the people of Kufa heard that Imam Husain had migrated to Makkah, they gathered in Sulaiman bin Surad’s house and discussed how to invite Imam Husain to Kufa from Makkah. It was decided that a letter of invitation would be sent to Imam Husain. In the letter they wrote: “Yazid has appointed Nu'man bin Bashir as The governor of Kufa and none of us has sworn allegiance to him; nor do we pray any salah, Friday prayer or Eid prayer behind him. If you come to us we shall swear allegiance to you and we will remove him from his post.” Signatures of many people supported the letter. Within two days of sending this letter another letter was sent again with similar contents to Imam Husain and this time backed by 150 signatures. After that a third letter then a fourth, and so on; every two days a letter was sent to Imam Husain. Some people even went to invite Imam Husain to Kufa in person. On receiving all the letters and personal invitations, Imam Husain’s opinion of the people of Kufa began to change.

Imam Husain wrote a letter to the people of Kufa, stating that he appreciated the situation in Kufa and was sending one of his cousins, Muslim bin Aqeel, to them, so he could assess the situation of Kufa and inform him of his opinion. He further added that he would himself come to Kufa soon because only he who follows the book of Allah Most High and establishes justice in the country could be the leader of the Muslims.

MUSLIM BIN AQEEL GOES TOWARDS KUFA

Muslim bin Aqeel left for Kufa with the letter. He reached Madina, which was on his journey; he prayed salah in the Prophet’s Mosque. After saying the prayer he acquired two guides to go to Kufa with him. It seems that misfortune overtook Muslim bin Aqeel’s journey to Kufa; they ran out of water and the two guides passed away due to dehydration. Muslim bin Aqeel survived and reached an oasis and found water. Later, he wrote a letter to Imam Husain explaining all the difficulties that he had encountered during the journey to Kufa. In addition, he wrote that the journey was cursed and requested for a proxy to be sent in his place.

When Imam Husain received the letter from Muslim bin Aqeel he replied by telling him to stop being so cowardly and continue with the journey to Kufa. Upon receiving this letter, Muslim continued with his journey to Kufa. It was 1st of Zil-Hijjah 60 A.H. when he reached Kufa. He settled in Kufa and the Shi'ah people used to come and visit him. Muslim bin Aqeel used to read the letters from Imam Husain to them. When the people would hear these letters, they would weep and pledge to support Imam Husain to their last breath.

THE GOVERNOR OF KUFA WAS INFORMED

Nu’man bin Bashir was The governor of Kufa at the time and he had found out that Imam Husain had sent Muslim bin Aqeel as his representative and that the Shi’ah people of Kufa were visiting him and swearing allegiance to him. Upon hearing this The governor gathered the people of Kufa and gave a a speech warning the people of the consequences of opposing the government. He asserted, “Causing trouble, disturbance and fighting amongst ourselves is not right. I will not fight, arrest or cause any kind of hardship to any of you, even for suspicion, unless any of you start a conflict or cause trouble. Also I will fight with the person who breaks the allegiance with our King Yazid even if it means that I would personally have to fight with him.” After he had given this speech some of the members of his group started saying to him, “You did not give strong indications in your speech and because of this the enemy will be encouraged rather than frightened.” The governor replied to them saying, “I can show weakness and at the same time be obedient to Allah Most High. I did not want to show the kind of strength with which Allah Most High is not pleased with me.”

After listening to The governor’s reply Abdullah bin Muslim and Ammarah bin Waleed and Amar bin Sa’d wrote a letter to the King Yazid, stating that Imam Husain had sent a representative to Kufa and the Shi’ah people were swearing allegiance to him. The governor gathered the people and gave a lecture and instead of discouraging and frightening them he encouraged the enemies’ hopes. “Therefore, if you feel that you require the city of Kufa, then we suggest that you appoint a governor who can implement your commands firmly, safeguard your city and keep the enemies at bay.” After reading this letter, Yazid asked advice from one of his men named Sarjoon Roomi.

ADVICE OF SARJOON ROOMI

Sarjoon told the King he would give him the same advice he would have offered if his father had been alive. Sarjoon instructed the King to appoint UbayduLlah bin Ziyad, the present governor of Basra, the new Governor of Kufa. Yazid heeded this advice despite the fact that he disliked UbayduLlah bin Ziyad. He wrote a letter to Yazid stating, “I am appointing you as the new governor of Kufa, as well as Basra. You may appoint someone else as your deputy in Basra. I would like you to go to Kufa immediately and take full charge there. The situation is urgent because Imam Husain has sent a representative, Muslim bin Aqeel, to Kufa on his behalf, who is seeking allegiance from the people of Kufa and turning them against the government. I give you full authority to deal with the matter as you see best; you may ask Muslim bin Aqeel to leave Kufa, or you may execute him.”

When UbayduLlah bin Ziyad received this letter from the King he gathered the people of Basra and told them that he had been appointed the new governor of Kufa. He appointed his brother, Uthman, as deputy governor of Basra. He instructed the people of Basra not to cause any friction or rebel against the King since he would not tolerate such actions and would execute anyone, even members of his family, for causing such troubles.

UBAYDULLAH BIN ZIYAD GOES TOWARDS KUFA

UbayduLlah bin Ziyad departed for his journey to Kufa with some of his family members and servants. When they had almost reached Kufa he separated from them and told them to remian at the outskirts of Kufa, as he wanted to enter the city by himself. When the people of Kufa saw UbayduLlah bin Ziyad entering the city they immediately thought that it was Imam Husain, and started to sing a song welcoming him into their city. “ Welcome, son of our Prophet, welcome son of our Prophet.” UbayduLlah bin Ziyad did not respond to their chanting but continued riding his horse towards The governor’s house. When The governor of Kufa, Nu’man bin Bashir, heard all the people singing in celebration of Imam Husain coming to Kufa, he got frightened and locked the doors of his house thinking Imam Husain was here to take his position and kill him. When UbayduLlah bin Ziyad reached his house and knocked on the door, Nu’man would not open it. UbayduLlah bin Ziyad shouted that if he did not open the doors then they would open the doors by force. When UbayduLlah bin Ziyad uttered these words, someone from the crowd recognised his voice and said, “This is not Imam Husain, it is UbayduLlah bin Ziyad, The governor of Basra”. The crowd immediately dispersed. Nu’man also heard this and he opened his doors to let UbayduLlah bin Ziyad enter his house.

The next day UbayduLlah bin Ziyad told Nu'man to gather all the people of Kufa, and he gave a speech telling them that he was the new governor of Kufa appointed by the King. He told the people, “ I will be lenient on the poor, and the people who are loyal to the King, but I will arrest and punish anyone who shows disloyalty to the King. They will feel my sword against their necks. I am here to implement the laws and the orders of the King. I will live amongst you as a law-abiding citizen.” He gave a lengthy speech to the people. People who were in favour of Muslim bin Aqeel began to feel frightened of UbayduLlah bin Ziyad. When Muslim bin Aqeel heard that the people had been so frightened by the speech, he too felt fear of the person whose house has was staying at.

MUSLIM BIN AQEEL MOVES PREMISES

Muslim bin Aqeel began making arrangements to move to someone else’s house. He went to Hani bin Urwah’s house, and knocked on his door, asking whether he could stay there. The expression on Hani bin Urwah’s face told him he was not welcome. He said, “You should not have come here as you might be creating trouble for me and my family.” Muslim bin Aqeel replied, “I have come to your house as a guest and you are telling me that I am not welcome.” Hani told him that if he felt that way, he should come and live with him as his guest. After that Muslim bin Aqeel began living there.

UBAYDULLAH BIN ZIYAD’S DETECTIVE SLAVE

UbayduLlah bin Ziyad asked one of his slaves to act as a detective to find out where Muslim bin Aqeel was staying. He gave him 3,000 dinars and said “Use this money in any way that will help you find the house where Muslim bin Aqeel is hiding.” The slave took the money and started the search. His first stop was at the Mosque as it was time to perform salah, and while he was there he saw a person performing his salah in the distance. He asked who it was, and was told that it was Muslim bin Awsaja-Asdi, and that he was the right-hand man of Muslim bin Aqeel. When Awsaja-Asdi finished saying his prayers the slave approached him and said, “I am a traveller from Syria, and I am so honoured that Allah Most High has given me the love of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and his family. I have found out that a relative of the Prophet is staying in Kufa and the people of Kufa are swearing their allegiance to him. I will give you 3,000 dinars if you can tell me where he is. If you think I cannot be trusted or am spying on behalf of the government, I am willing to swear by Allah Most High to reassure you that all I want is to meet him. I would be very honoured if you could arrange this.” They had a lengthy conversation but Muslim bin Awsaja-Asdi disclose Muslim bin Aqeel’s residence. After that day they started to see each other on a daily basis and became friends. Occasionally, Awsaja-Asdi took the slave with him when he went to Hani’s house. In the meantime, Hani had become very ill and The governor, UbayduLlah bin Ziyad, came to visit him. At the same time another person, Amarah bin Abdur-Rahman, was visiting Hani. He told Hani that it was the perfect opportunity to kill The governor, but Hani refused saying, “No, he has come to visit me.”

After a few days another person called Shareek bin A’uoor who was well respected and popular amongst the people also became ill, and came to live with Hani. When The governor found out about his illness he sent a message to Shareek that he would come to visit him that evening. Shareek bin A’uoor told Muslim bin Aqeel that The governor was planning to visit him, and suggested they have him killed so that Muslim could take his position as governor of Kufa and have complete control over the city.

Hani was listening to all this; he warned them that the time was not right for this action As the day passed and the evening approached The governor arrived to visit Shareek at Hani’s house. They welcomed him and greeted him as their guest. After quite a lengthy stay he left. Shareek turned to Muslim bin Aqeel and said, “You should have killed him while you had the opportunity.” Muslim bin Aqeel replied, “I did not kill The governor for two reasons. Firstly, Hani did not want any blood-shed in his house and I have to respect that. Secondly, our Prophet (p.b.u.h.) has told us that it is not permissible for a Muslim to kill another Muslim.”

Within three days Shareek’s health had deteriorated rapidly and sadly he passed away. A lot people came to Hani’s house to pay their respects and also came to see Muslim bin Aqeel. Amongst these visitors was Muslim bin Awsaja-Asdi who used to come and bring the slave (detective) along with him. The slave had been continuously reporting back to Ibn Ziyad and informing him of Muslim bin Aqeel’s activities.

As Hani’s health improved he began attending meetings at The governor’s house daily as he had done before Musim bin Aqeel’s arrival in Kufa. However, as time progressed he began using the excuse that he was ill so that he would not have to attend the meetings. But the slave would report back and tell The governor that there was nothing wrong with Hani and that he was lying. One day The governor asked the people why Hani had not been attending the daily meetings. They answered that he was not feeling well. The governor said, “I have evidence to believe that he is not ill at all and he meets a lot of people daily in his own house. I would like one of you to go and call him, and tell him that The governor would like to see him.”

HANI WAS ARRESTED

When Hani arrived at The governor’s house he was arrested and questioned about why he had opposed King Yazid, and why he had alllowed Muslim bin Aqeel to stay at his house, and why he had held meetings in his home trying to persuade others to also oppose Yazid. Hani denied the allegations but The governor told him that he had got the information from someone who attended those meetings. Hani told The governor that his informant was lying, upon which The governor pointed to his slave and asked Hani if he recognised him. Hani had no choice but to confirm that he did, but swore by Allah that he had not invited Muslim bin Aqeel into his house, but had felt too ashamed to turm him away when he presented himself as a guest. He promised that he would immediately tell Muslim bin Aqeel to leave his house, but The governor replied, “ I cannot let you go until you hand Muslim bin Aqeel over to me.” However, Hani refused to hand Muslim over to him saying that Muslim was his guest and if he handed him over, he may be executed. An argument ensued between the two during which The governor threatened to have Hani killed. Hani reminded him that he had a large tribe of followers who would not allow The governor to get away with such an evil act.

Because Hani refused to comply with the authorities, The governor ordered that he should be locked up in prison. By the time the news of Hani’s arrest reached his tribe, it had been exaggerated to the degree that people were saying that he had been executed. When Hani’s people heard of this they came and surrounded The governor’s house. The governor started to panic. He called the judge of Kufa, Qadi Shuraih, to come and tell Hani’s people that he was alive and had been detained temporarily. After listening to Qadi Shuraih’s version of events, the people dispersed.

MUSLIM BIN AQEEL SURROUNDS THE
GOVERNOR’S HOUSE

When Muslim bin Aqeel heard of what had happened he gathered together all 18,000 people who had sworn allegiance to him, and who were from different tribes. Four thousand of them were already at Hani’s house and soon all 18 thousand men had surrounded The governor’s house. The governor saw that he could not contend with such a vast crowd as his police force consisted of only 30 men, so he locked himself inside his house. The people surrounded the house all day.

The governor again managed to fool the people and exploit the situation to his advantage. He knew that among the people in his presence were leaders of some of the well-known tribes, so he told them to climb on the walls of his house and instruct the people of their tribes to leave Muslim bin Aqeel and go home. Those who followed their instructions and went home would be pardoned by The governor and the King, but those who did not would be arrested and punished. The leaders managed to convince their followers to go home, and the crowd began to disperse.

PEOPLE OF KUFA BROKE THEIR PROMISE

Eventually there were only a few people left with Muslim bin Aqeel. He thought he might as well tell these people to go to their homes and he should go to the Mosque. When he turned to go to the Mosque only 30 men had remained with him. By the time he had reached the Mosque he turned to look back and saw that he was left alone.

He decided to enter the Mosque and say his prayers. Afterwards, he left the Mosque and started to walk through the streets of Kufa like a stranger who had just entered the city. Whilst walking around he became very thirsty; he reached a house and knocked on a door to ask for some water. A woman named Tu’ah answered the door. Her son worked for The governor as a detective. Muslim bin Aqeel asked the woman for some water and the woman gave him some. After quenching his thirst he sat down at her doorstep to have a rest. Tu’ah asked him if he had a home in the city. Muslim bin Aqeel did not answer her question. She asked the same question again. After she had asked him a number of times, he replied, “I do not have any home or relative in this town. I would appreciate it if you could provide me refuge in your house, maybe I will be able to repay you for this favour.” Tu’ah invited Muslim bin Aqeel into her home and told him that he could stay in a part of the house which was reserved for guests. She then offered him some food but Muslim bin Aqeel did not feel like eating. Up until now she was not aware of who he was, and decided to ask “Who are you?” Muslim bin Aqeel told her who he was, and also said that he had been abandoned by the people of Kufa.

Tu’ah’s son, Bilal, came back from work and noticed that every now and then his mother would go to the part of the house that was reserved for guests. He asked his mother why she kept going there. She made him promise that he would not tell anyone what she was about to tell him. She told him that she had invited Muslim bin Aqeel to stay in their house as a guest and had agreed to give him refuge. After listening to his mother, Bilal became very quiet.

MUSLIM BIN AQEEL WAS ARRESTED

The governor came out of his house when he saw that the crowd had dispersed, and made an announcement that he wanted everyone to gather at the Mosque. When all the people had gathered at the Mosque The governor began his speech and stated, “All the people who have supported Muslim bin Aqeel are forgiven. Muslim bin Aqeel had tried to turn the people against the government but had not succeed. At present he is hiding in someone’s house in our city. I will give the person who finds him a reward for any information leading to his arrest. I will also give pardon to the person whose house he is seeking refuge in. I have informed the police to block all the exits leaving out of Kufa to stop Muslim bin Aqeel escaping. Tomorrow a house-to-house search for him will commence.”

The following morning Bilal went to the governor’s house to inform him that Muslim bin Aqeel had been seeking refuge in his house. When the governor heard about this he immediately sent 72 of his policemen to arrest Muslim bin Aqeel. When the police reached Bilal's house they asked Muslim bin Aqeel to hand himself over to them. When they heard no reply from the house, they entered and tried to confront Muslim bin Aqeel to arrest him but Muslim bin Aqeel forced them out of the house. The police tried to enter the house on several occasions but the outcome was always the same. Finally Muslim bin Aqeel was struck on the face by the sword of Bakar bin Humran. His upper lip was cut and two of his teeth were broken. Upon this he retaliated and struck Bakar bin Humran across the shoulder with his sword, causing him to fall to the ground. The officers then climbed onto the roof of the house and started to throw stones and fire balls inside the house. Muslim bin Aqeel got on top of the roof of the house and started to fight with the police. One of the people named Mohammed bin Ash’at called out to Muslim bin Aqeel and told him to stop fighting and come down and promised he would offer him protection. As there were so many policemen opposing him, Muslim bin Aqeel decided to come down. He was reciting a poem as he decended.

The meaning of the poem was:

“Everyone must die one day, but I do not wish to die,
as I am afraid that I will be branded a liar and
will not be given protection..”

Muhammad bin Ash’at said, “I promise that I will not go back on my word.” Muslim bin Aqeel was so tired from fighting that he had to lean against a wall to rest. Some friends of The governor were present at the time and asked Muslim bin Aqeel to hand over his sword. They assured him that if he accompanied them to the governor’s house, he would be guaranteed protection and would not be harmed.

They sat Muslim bin Aqeel on a donkey and took him towards the house of the governor. Tears were flowing from Muslim bin Aqeel’s eyes. Amer bin UbayduLlah asked him, “Why are you crying? You are the one who wished to take control of Kufa. Those who try to gain power will always have obstacles in their way which cause them problems.” Muslim bin Aqeel replied, “I am not crying for myself, but because I have written to Imam Husain telling him to come to Kufa. At that time the people were pledging allegiance to Yazid. . He should be getting ready to leave for Kufa and he does not even know that the people of Kufa have broken their allegiance. I am afraid that Imam Husain will be treated in the same way I am being treated.” Then he turned towards Muhammad bin Ash’at and said, “Do you remember your promise about giving me refuge, and also that The governor will not harm me. I know that you will not be able to keep that promise. The governor will have me executed. I would like you to do me one favour. Could you write a letter from me to Imam Husain telling him not to come towards Kufa.” Muhammad bin Ash’at promised he would do that for Muslim bin Aqeel.

When they reached The governor’s house Muhammad bin Ash’at said “Wait outside. I will go and inform The governor that we have captured Muslim bin Aqeel.” When he went inside and told the governor, he also told him that he had promised that he would give Muslim bin Aqeel refuge and that he would not harmed. The governor said, “Who are you to make such promises? You were sent to arrest him not to protect him. Go and bring him to me.” The governor then sent his men outside to bring Muslim bin Aqeel in front of him. When Muslim bin Aqeel entered the room he did not say salaam.FOOTNOTE One of his men asked why he had not greeted The governor with salam . He replied, “How can I greet him when he is going to execute me, if he were not then I would greet him with plenty of salaams.” When the governor heard this he replied “There is no doubt that I am going to have you executed.” Muslim bin Aqeel said, “I knew this would happen to me.” He then asked permission to make the last testimony, and the governor granted him permission. As Muslim bin Aqeel was looking around he saw that one of his relative, Umar bin Sa’d was standing amongst the crowd. Muslim bin Aqeel called him over. Before he walked over to Muslim bin Aqeel, Umar bin Sa’d looked at the governor to see his reaction. The governor knew that he was looking at him for his permission to have a conversation with Muslim bin Aqeel. The governor told Umar Bin Sa’d that he may proceed.

They went into the corner of the room and had a long conversation. At the end Muslim bin Aqeel asked whether he could do him a few favours. First he said “I have borrowed ‘X’ amount of money from so and so; could you repay them. Second, when the governor executes me could you take my body and bury me. Third, can you write a letter to Imam Husain telling him that when I arrived in Kufa I was greeted with respect and comfort, and in no time I had more than 18,000 people swearing allegiance to him, daily the numbers were increasing. But they have now all broken their promises and their allegiances and run away. Tell him that I will be executed soon and I am writing to him so that he does not come to Kufa as the situation here is really bad. After he had made his requests, they both came back. The governor asked Umar Bin Sa’d what Muslim bin Aqeel had been saying to him. He told him everything. The governor told him that he could do as he wished about paying the money back and about writing the letter to Imam Husain, but refused to give permission to bury Muslim bin Aqeel’s body. The governor started to abuse Muslim bin Aqeel in front of everyone and ordered him to be taken to the roof of the building and executed. Muslim bin Aqeel started to recite Tasbeah (prayers) as he was being led up to the roof. When they reached the top of the building they executed him and threw his body into the street. The governor ordered Hani to be brought and also executed in the same manner. The date was 9th Zil-Hijjah 60 Hijra.

IMAM HUSAIN RECEIVES MUSLIM BIN AQEEL’S LETTER AND DECIDES TO GO TO KUFA

Imam Husain received Muslim bin Aqeel’s letter, in which he had written that more than 18,000 people had sworn allegiance to him and the numbers were increasiung daily, and had encouraged him to come to Kufa immediately. After reading this letter Imam Husain firmly decided to leave for Kufa. The people again tried to dissuade him, reminding that the Kufans could not be trusted and would turn against him at any time. Imam Husain’s friends would come up to him individually and aske him not to undertake this journey. Abdullah bin Umar came to Imam Husain and said, “It is not in your character to become a very powerful man. Also remember that Allah Most High asked our Prophet (p.b.u.h) whether he would chose worldly possession or the Hereafter, and the Prophet replied that he wanted to enjoy the hereafter. You are also a part of the Prophet’s family, therefore you should not get so involved in the material aspect of this world.” After saying this he started to cry. After listening to Abdullah bin Umar, Imam Husain also had tears in his eyes, and said that although his advice had been sound, he had already made up his mind to go to Kufa.

Abdullah bin Zubair also came and said, “Stay in the province of Hijaz (Makkah) and continue seeking allegiance from the people of Makkah.” Imam Husain replied to Abdullah bin Zubair saying “Our Prophet (p.b.u.h.) has said that one day the Kabah will be insulted by a lamb (man) and I do not want to be that lamb (person) that is why I am leaving Makkah. In any case, you should be happy that I am embarking on such a good cause.”

FOOTNOTE What Imam Husain meant that he did not want to cause of any bloodshed in Makkh.

The reason Imam Husain told Abdullah bin Zubair this was that he knew that he wanted to become leader of Makkah and was himself seeking the allegiance of the people of Makkah. Imam Husain also knew that while he was in Makkah Abdullah bin Zubair would not be able to take allegiance from the Makkans.

The next day Abdullah b
http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1105

Letters01 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com Rebooting Islam: Let us at least resolve the issue - Who is a Muslim?

2009-01-30T04:23:00.001-08:00

Letters01 Jan 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com
Rebooting Islam: Let us at least resolve the issue - Who is a Muslim?
From: sskazi51@hotmail.com
To: editor@newageislam.com
Subject:: Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU & YOUR STAFF
You are doing yeoman service to our community. Keep going.
Let Allah Almighty bless NEW AGE ISLAM NEWS MAGAZINE.

Salauddin Kazi,
****************************

Rebooting Islam:
Let us at least resolve the issue - Who is a Muslim?

New Age Islam too wishes Mr. Salauddin kazi and all other readers a very happy new year. Let us resolve to keep helping Muslims in the New Year mapping an agenda for Islam in the Twenty-first century – the task New Age Islam has set before itself.
Islam is of course, a universal Deen, for all people in every corner of the world and for all times to come; but in order to fulfil its destiny it has to keep reinventing itself in every new age; it has to be rethought and reinterpreted in the light of the orthodox Islamic principles of Ijtihad, the gates of which were opened for us by Allah and the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and no Muslim has the right to close them down.
The pace of change has accelerated so much in the last decades that our very way of life has become quite distinct even from the recent past. How does the Islamic way of life mesh into and cope with the demands of the New Age is the major challenge before us Muslims, that too at a time when we have not only vast numbers of Muslim societies in nearly all parts of the world varying from one another in our social norms and customs, but also a vast number of interpretations of Islam resulting in deep sectarian divisions. While for enemies of Islam in the extortionist and exploitative sections of human society Islam is one religion and Muslims are one religious community the world over, for Muslims themselves there are scores of Islams and scores of Muslim communities, nearly all baying for each others’ blood. We apparently need to reboot Islam in our systems.
Let us at least resolve that in the New Year 2009 we will at least find the lowest common denominator or the greatest common divisor for what should have been the simplest of questions and has become a very complicated one: who is a Muslim? Let us also resolve to work in the New Year towards closing down all the Kafir-and-Mushrik-manufacturing factories that are flourishing so much in our midst. There are so many things to be done; but let us start at the easiest first step.
Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1085

MESSAGE FOR HACKER-TERRORIST WHO SOUGHT TO STOP NEW AGE ISLAM

2009-01-30T04:23:00.000-08:00

War on Terror24 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
MESSAGE FOR HACKER-TERRORIST WHO SOUGHT TO STOP NEW AGE ISLAM

NEW AGE ISLAM IS BACK IN BUSINESS

Mr. Terrorist we are back in business. We were back in business within half an hour of your terrorist attack. BY THE GRACE OF GOD! We were able to discover your terror attack within minutes of your invasion and kill the Trojan Horse you had injected into our system soon.
You must realise that you are a dastardly coward. Come out in the open if you have any grievance. We give ample space to anyone who has any grouse. But obviously you have nothing to say. You have no arguments. You are just a terrorist, an enemy of civilisation and want to spread terror in one form or other. You just want to kill, kill human beings, kill newspapers, kill websites. I hope you understand that you are not going to succeed. Taj Mahal Hotel is back with all its glory. So is Oberoi-Trident. And so is New Age Islam. We are back and we are going to be there. I admit you might attack again and may again succeed. But I can assure you this will be only for a little while. We are back and we will be back every time you attack. Insha Allah.

A word to my readers. Many Thanks for your patience. I know you kept trying to open our pages throughout the time the site was under attack. Do please bear with us if this happens in future too as it very well might. The terrorist is there, lurking in the dark, his nose rubbed in the dirt for now, but he will be back.

Sultan Shahin, editor, NewAgeIslam.com
Photo: Hacker-Terrorist

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1074

Antulay’s empty mind is a devil’s workshop: Time to recoup national unity

2009-01-30T04:17:00.000-08:00

War on Terror23 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
Antulay’s empty mind is a devil’s workshop: Time to recoup national unity

Union cabinet minister Abdur Rahman Antulay has done a great disservice to the nation at a very critical time. He has particularly harmed the interests of the Muslim community and in a way undone all the good the exemplary Muslim response to the Mumbai terror attack had done.
Readers may recall my article: Muslim response to Mumbai terror in sync with the national mood, but what is wrong with our intellectuals? URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1043

It was posted on 7 Dec 2008, but today after more than a fortnight I received a comment from Ashok Chowgule, vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, asking: “Given the fact that Antulay was mobbed, in favourable terms, when he went to a mosque near the parliament, how do you say that the Muslim response was in sync with the national mood?”

Mr. Chowgule is a regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com. A prolific writer himself, he is kind enough to share with me his thoughts, send me his suggestions, urls of interesting articles, etc. regularly and this site benefits from his contribution. New Age Islam’s readers must be very familiar with this fact. But he never questioned the premise of my above article until today. What has happened between then and now? Obviously, Antulay happened to us. …

Sultan Shahin, editor, NewAgeIslam.com
Photo: Hemant Karkare, martyred ATS Chief
*****

Antulay’s empty mind is a devil’s workshop: Time to recoup national unity

By Sultan Shahin, editor, NewAgeIslam.com

Union cabinet minister Abdur Rahman Antulay has done a great disservice to the nation at a very critical time. He has particularly harmed the interests of the Muslim community and in a way undone all the good the exemplary Muslim response to the Mumbai terror attack had done.
Readers may recall my article: Muslim response to Mumbai terror in sync with the national mood, but what is wrong with our intellectuals? URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1043

It was posted on 07 Dec 2008, but today after more than a fortnight I received a comment from Mr. Ashok Chowgule, vice-President, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, asking: “Given the fact that Antulay was mobbed, in favourable terms, when he went to a mosque near the parliament, how do you say that the Muslim response was in sync with the national mood?”

Mr. Chowgule is a regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com. A prolific writer himself, he is kind enough to share with me his thoughts, send me his suggestions, urls of interesting articles, etc. regularly and this site benefits from his contribution. New Age Islam’s readers must be very familiar with this fact. But he never questioned the premise of my above article until today. What has happened between then and now? Obviously, Antulay happened to us.

We can only recall with nostalgia now the sense of unity and purpose we had developed after the Mumbai massacres. We knew who the enemy was. The enemy had attacked us indiscriminately. As many as 40 out of the 172 killed were Muslims. This was an attack on the Indian nation. There was no communal question involved. Western media did try to project the issue as an internal Indian problem and published articles dripping with unprecedented sympathy for the “plight of Indian Muslims” in their bid to save Pakistan from being blamed. But the country saw the games they were playing and why. This was an attack on the Indian nation from a foreign power and the Indian nation rose up as one man to face the onslaught. We were in the process of giving a fitting reply to the enemy.

What had happened was so obvious, so public, and with one terrorist captured alive, one would have thought, there would be no room for conspiracies this time. But conspiracy theories started swirling around within hours of the attack. Dangerous individuals with dangerous and completely baseless conspiracy theories started peddling their wares. Some Muslim intellectuals and Urdu newspapers editors initially lapped them up. But as the fog of whatever little misunderstanding there was cleared up, most Urdu newspapers too refrained from publishing these conspiracy theories. The nation was one and unified as seldom before after such a heart-wrenching tragedy. Mumbai Muslims refused to bury the Pakistani dead in their burial grounds, saying such dastardly killers and terrorists cannot be Muslims and do not deserve a Muslim burial. Muslims all over the country toned down Eid celebrations, merely going through the rituals, as they did not have the heart to celebrate Eid when the nation was in mourning. Describing the mood of unity I wrote a column titled: Indian Muslims’ maturity, deft govt. handling staves off a crisis: Time for the West to watch in awe India’s ‘unified response to terror’ This was posted on 10 Dec 2008 and is available at: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1044

Like the rest of the country Indian Muslims too opposed cricketing ties with Pakistan at this juncture. New Age Islam published two articles.
Mumbai-based columnist Dr A R Mookhi wrote: “Until Pakistan government succeeds in demolishing the terror machines on their soils, India should have nothing to do with that nation. How can our team of eleven contemplate playing cricket in Lahore within weeks of their team of ten invading our country to kill our people so mercilessly?”
Chennai-based columnist Jamsheed Basha Abumohammed wrote: "NO FUTURE SPORTING TIES WITH PAK UNTIL PAK DISMANTLE ALL INFRASTRUCTURE OF TERROR OPERATING FROM THEIR SOIL. We do not need such contacts with those people who come and enjoy our friendship and hospitality but behind the back, plan terrorist attacks."
Please see: Indian Muslims oppose cricket ties with Pakistan until terror machine is dismantled
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1061

And then it happened. Antulay!!! An out of work politician, wanting to make his presence felt. He demanded a separate probe into the circumstances that led to former ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s death, throwing suspicion on the sequence of events we had been told about in which the terrorist attacks took place. I wish some one had told the prime minister in his childhood as my parents did: ‘An empty mind is a devil’s workshop’. He made Antulay a cabinet minister, for some reason, but gave him no work to do. Few people even knew he was still alive. His devil’s workshop saw an opportunity. What the terrorists had wanted to do and failed, Antulay did for them.

The very purpose of Pakistani terrorist attacks on India, whether by state actors or non-state actors or as a joint venture, is to disturb our communal harmony. The very idea of co-existence is anathema to them. Hindus and Muslims living and working together, in harmony, hits at the very idea of Pakistan, as an exclusivist Muslim state based on the infamous Two Nation Theory.

Let me refer to two more articles on NewAgeIslam.com in this context:

Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999 URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1048

Destroy Lashkar Camps: Why Indian Muslims are an existential threat to Pakistan?
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1042

No wonder Antulay has become a hero in Pakistan. He has done what the Pakistani terrorists and their sponsors had failed to do – turn a national issue into a communal one.

But he is not the lone culprit. What about the members of parliament from other partiers, including from the NDA who came out in his support, throwing suspicion on the turn of events? And what about those in the mosque near parliament who mobbed him, expressing their approval and appreciation of what he had done? Ashok Chowgule does have a point. Antulay has given him too an opening. His party too was dispirited with the sense of national unity prevailing in the country. VHP-brand politics too cannot survive in an atmosphere of the kind of national unity, communal harmony and cohesiveness seen following the Mumbai terror attack. In an article in The Hindu, Siddharth Varadarajan weaves his own conspiracy theory: “Amidst the bizarre conspiracy theories swirling around the subcontinent in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, I would like to offer one of my own: Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay is a secret agent of the Sangh Parivar. The reason I say this is because he is doing his utmost to ensure the involvement of Hindutva activists in the Malegaon blasts is not fully probed and that the fight against terrorism is converted into a communal issue.” In similar vein a Mail Today report by Kay Benedict says BJP makes hay with Antulay fodder. Antulay, of course, is convinced that his secular credentials are too well-established for any one to question.

Now what? Well, it seems the Prime Minster is retaining Antulay in the cabinet. He has made a retraction of sorts. He is no longer demanding a separate probe into the circumstances that led to former ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s death. With the government rejecting the conspiracy theory propounded by him over the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, he is now convinced that "there was no need for further probe" as the issue was now "settled". He has ruled out his resignation. Let us hope that if he is being retained in the cabinet, the government does give him some work to do as well. As for us, the beleaguered Muslims and genuine secularists, we have to get back to work. May not be easy to retrieve the magic of pre-Antulay days. But we have no option but to try and see that Muslims continue to demonstrate that they are truly in sync with national feelings and sentiments, aims and ambitions. Our national purpose right now is to make sure that Pakistani Jihadis do not see us as an ineffective giant, ready to be hurt again and again, not able to respond. Admittedly, we have to do that in a certain geopolitical environment over which we may not have much control. But we have to demonstrate our unity once again.

Let there be no doubt in our enemy’s mind that we are united in our resolve to make the idea of India, a secular plural India, a successful one. We may have in our midst a few Antulays and Safdar Nagoris, not to speak of Pragya Singh Thakurs, Praveen Togariyas and Narendra Modis, but we are a billion-strong country and these malefactors do not really count. We can build the country of our dreams and fight our wars and defeat our enemies despite them. Let Pakistani Jihadis and other enemies of India not think that a few politicians out to sell their country for a few votes can weaken our national resolve.

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1048

Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999

2009-01-30T04:16:00.002-08:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad13 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam - Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999

Recent terror attack at Mumbai has reminded us once again that Pakistan Army, or one of its agencies Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at any rate, is determined to change the very character of Islam, turning it into the pre-Islamic religion of the Jahiliya (Arabia in the Dark Ages). It had indeed given us ample evidence of its anti-Islamic character during the Kargil war by reminding us of the Battle of Uhud where a woman of Jahiliya, Hinda, had mutilated the dead body of Prophet Mohammad’s uncle, Hazrat Hamza. The Prophet [peace be upon him] had not only forgiven her but had made it a point to forbid the practice in every Muslim gathering thereafter for fear that the Muslims, too, might do something similar in retaliation. Blood feud and vengeance was rampant in the Arab world of the Jahiliya. One couldn’t help being reminded of that when reports came that one of the terrorists mentioned vendetta for Gujarat and demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva forces as the justification for the killing of innocents at Mumbai.

Pakistani “Islam” would indeed appear to be completely unrecognisable as Islam to a Muslim in any part of the world. Slowly but surely what appears to be a completely new religion seems to have caught the imagination of many people in Pakistan. Its followers don’t, of course, consider it a new religion. Indeed this religion insists that it is Islam; in fact it calls itself true Islam or real Islam. But it can best be described as Jihadism, as its central belief system is based on a wilful misinterpretation of the Islamic concept of Jihad. It can also be called Talibanism, as the Taliban of Afghanistan, who studied in Pakistani madrasas run by the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan are its most avid practitioners.

By and large, the western-educated liberal Pakistani intelligentsia, as I found out during several visits, hates this religion and is frightened of it. But as one by one all institutions of governance are succumbing to its growing power and its capacity for evil, they are getting scared to death. Some of them are simply planning to migrate to some non-Muslim majority country. No one is really fighting this malignant force, though some journalists and human rights activists still have the courage at least to express their horror and outrage at grave personal risk.
An analysis by SULTAN SHAHIN, editor, NewAgeIslam.com
*****

Religion of the Jahiliya: Jihadism is Kufr, not Islam

Pakistani Jihadists revealed plans for Indian Muslims in 1999

By Sultan Shahin

Recent terror attack at Mumbai has reminded us once again that Pakistan Army, or one of its agencies Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at any rate, is determined to change the very character of Islam, turning it into the pre-Islamic religion of the Jahiliya (Arabia in the Dark Ages). It had indeed given us ample evidence of its anti-Islamic character during the Kargil war by reminding us of the Battle of Uhud where a woman of Jahiliya, Hinda, had mutilated the dead body of Prophet Mohammad’s uncle, Hazrat Hamza. The Prophet [peace be upon him] had not only forgiven her but had made it a point to forbid the practice in every Muslim gathering thereafter for fear that the Muslims, too, might do something similar in retaliation. Blood feud and vengeance was rampant in the Arab world of the Jahiliya. One couldn’t help being reminded of that when reports came that one of the terrorists mentioned vendetta for Gujarat and demolition of Babri masjid by Hindutva forces as the justification for the killing of innocents at Mumbai.

Pakistani “Islam” would indeed appear to be completely unrecognisable as Islam to a Muslim in any part of the world. Slowly but surely what appears to be a completely new religion seems to have caught the imagination of many people in Pakistan. Its followers don’t, of course, consider it a new religion. Indeed this religion insists that it is Islam; in fact it calls itself true Islam or real Islam. But it can best be described as Jihadism, as its central belief system is based on a wilful misinterpretation of the Islamic concept of Jihad. It can also be called Talibanism, as the Taliban of Afghanistan, who studied in Pakistani madrasas run by the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan are its most avid practitioners.

By and large, the western-educated liberal Pakistani intelligentsia, as I found out during several visits, hates this religion and is frightened of it. But as one by one all institutions of governance are succumbing to its growing power and its capacity for evil, they are getting scared to death. Some of them are simply planning to migrate to some non-Muslim majority country. No one is really fighting this malignant force, though some journalists and human rights activists still have the courage at least to express their horror and outrage at grave personal risk. The new democratically-elected government’s commitment or that of President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent plea in a New York Times article rings as hollow as did that of President General Musharraf before that despite their seeming cooperation in the US-led war on terror. The reason is that Pakistan’s moderate secular class has never had the guts to stand up to obscurantist Mullahs right from the beginning of the establishment of the country. Pakistan was carved out of a united India in 1947 by the secular Muslims – almost all religious parties were against the idea of Partition and Two-Nation Theory – but in independent Pakistan the latter were soon able to force the former, the real architects of Pakistan, to pass an Objectives Resolution declaring the country as an Islamic republic to be run by a narrow, sectarian interpretation of Islamic Sharia.

One only needs to read the report of the Justice Munir commission of enquiry into the anti-Ahmadiya riots of early 1950s to learn about the shenanigans of the secular, Westernised class of Muslim Pakistanis and how they surrendered before the then isolated Mullahs and conceded to them centre-stage in policy-making. If they could not do it then, it is very doubtful if they can do that now by arresting a few Jihadist Mullahs and putting them under comfortable house arrest.

It is Islamists, however, the true practitioners of Islam, if any in Pakistan, who should have been fighting this malignant growth. It was their primary duty to keep Islam from being maligned and turned into a religion of the Jahiliya. Some of them indeed are. (One prominent name is that of Maulana Haider Farooq Maudoodi, the son of Jamaat-e-Islami founder Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi.) But they don’t have the resources to counter the powerful Jihadist rhetoric backed by vast petrodollar resources. Muslim masses are by and large ignorant and poor. It is not difficult to either sway them emotionally using Jihadist rhetoric based on Islamic terminology or even to buy them with promises of goodies on earth and in Heaven. The terrorists and killers of around 200 innocent people in Mumbai are no doubt doomed to be consigned to Hell, as even Indian Islamic scholars have testified in their unanimous judgment, but they had clearly been brainwashed into thinking, as one of them is reported to have revealed that they were destined for Heaven.

What is Jihadism?

The basic belief of Jihadism is that all non-Jihadists are kafir and deserve to be killed. As a result, they have so far killed about a million Muslims in Afghanistan and at least 50,000 Muslims in the Kashmir valley. They have also killed non-Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir. But their present and main long-term target is the Muslims of India. Beginning from the Bombay blasts in 1993, they have made several attempts to provoke massive anti-Muslim violence in the country. The recent Mumbai massacre is the latest in this series.

Indeed a prominent ex-militant Kashmiri leader told me just after Zuhr prayers in the Shah Faisal mosque in Islamabad that the first person to attack the Babri masjid on December 6, 1992, was a Jihadist from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) who had joined the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) some time ago and was part of Mr. L. K. Advani’s rally along with several of his co-religionists. My informant was also a Jihadist once, but perhaps not completely devoid of the milk of human kindness and thus not a true Jihadist. He retained affections for his wife and kids stranded in the valley and his Hindu and Muslim classmates in Delhi where he had studied up to graduation. He was clearly not happy with the visions of an impending holocaust in India and tried to warn me.

Another warning came to me from a Jihadist during the Kargil war (May-July 1999) on a brief visit to England. I met him outside London’s Finsbury Park mosque after the Friday prayers. Exultant after the Pakistani Jihadists had reportedly downed two Indian planes in Kargil, he was more direct: “You Muslims (Indian) are cowards. Rivers of blood will flow in India soon and you will have just two choices: either become a true Muslim (i.e. Jihadist) or perish.” Revealing future Jihadist plans, he said: “You are completely devoid of leadership. We will provide you leadership under which you will become true Muslims (i.e. Jihadists).”

It is not some anonymous Jihadists alone who have been giving me these warnings, though they were more forthright than the so-called responsible leaders of this group. Prof. Khursheed Ahmad, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan, for instance, told me in Islamabad in a recorded interview that Indian Muslims have been shirking their duty on Kashmir and they will have to answer before God on the Day of Judgement as to why they did not support the “Jihad” in Kashmir. Hurriyat Chairman and Kashmiri Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani has, of course, been taunting Indian Muslims regularly for their supposed cowardice on Kashmir.

I believe Providence would like me to convey these warnings to the nation. Muslims in particular must beware: they should take care not to allow any one to provoke them into any indiscretion, particularly at a time when the country is involved in a bloody fight with the enemy. It must be clearly understood that in the present case, the enemy is not only the enemy of our country but also the enemy of our religion. As realisation seems to be dawning among larger sections of people in Pakistan that Jihadism is their enemy as well, it is possible that we are able to fight it a little better.

Muslims must remember that they have to consult the Holy Quran for guidance in their day-to-day affairs. The model they have to follow is Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and not terrorists like Ajmal Amir Qasab or destroyers of mosques in Kashmir like Mast Gul. Islam did not allow its followers to pick up a weapon even in their defence for the first thirteen years even though they were facing the worst possible persecution in Mecca. They were “permitted” to defend themselves for the first time in Medina when they were facing aggression from Meccans. Had they not defended themselves even then they would have been surely wiped out from the face of the earth, thus sounding the death-knell for the religion of Islam as well. But only a few years later, when the Prophet had become powerful enough to wage a war with Meccans, he chose peace even on terms that were considered humiliating by most of his followers. He signed a peace agreement known as the Treaty of Hudaibiya. And then when he entered Mecca victorious, a year later, facing no resistance, he chose to grant a general amnesty for all, even for those who had mutilated the dead bodies of his close relatives like his beloved maternal uncle Hazrat Hamza.

Vendetta, vengeance, blood feud, mutilation of dead bodies, etc. are mediaeval pre-Islamic practices of the Jahiliya, practices Islam came to fight against. Those who perpetrate such acts in this day and age cannot claim to be Muslims. They must give some new name to their Faith. In any case Muslims cannot accept them as their co-religionists.
Note: This article is based on an earlier write-up published in 1999.
13 December 2008
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1048

Indian Muslims’ maturity, deft govt. handling staves off a crisis: Time for the West to watch in awe India’s ‘unified response to terror’

2009-01-30T04:16:00.001-08:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad10 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Indian Muslims’ maturity, deft govt. handling staves off a crisis: Time for the West to watch in awe India’s ‘unified response to terror’
By Sultan Shahin

One of the most curious aspects of the Mumbai terror attack was that large sections of the Western media appeared to have suddenly developed great sympathy for the “plight” of Indian Muslims who were deemed to be “in crisis.” Full length articles appeared in prestigious journals and newspapers lamenting that Muslims in India do not get their full share of the national cake. This had never happened before. On the slightest reflection, the reason became clear.

As the news spread of another deadly Pakistan-sponsored terror attack on India, the West started harbouring fears of India-Pakistan going to blows and this is something that doesn’t suit the West at all at this moment – it wants to continue to use Pakistani soldiers in its losing war against the Taliban and does not want Pakistan to divert its forces to its eastern borders with India following tensions generated by this terror attack. Hence the attempt to put the blame on India’s internal problems with what was sought to be projected as a Muslim community in crisis. While we are not sure at his point in time at what level the attack was Pakistan-sponsored but it has already become clear, and a fact practically accepted by Pakistan that Pakistanis supported by elements within the military establishment were involved. However, the Muslim response was so spontaneously in sync with the national mood, and the government handling of the likely fallout so deft that fellow countrymen realised this was nothing more than the latest Pakistani attempt to destabilise India and the answer to this lay in nothing except national unity and greater display of Indian secularism.

While the Indian Muslims were not in crisis as claimed by an article in the Time magazine, the terror attack was designed to and could have led to a crisis for Muslims. The timing was significant - just before the Eid al-Azha celebrations which are known to have acted as flashpoints in the past for communal violence. Had the government allowed the terror attack to arouse communal passions as the Pakistani enemies of Indian Muslims wanted, this Eid could have turned into a Moharram, which is clearly what the attackers wanted.

Now it is time for the West to learn a lesson about the strength of Indian secularism and the basic common sense of the Muslim community, despite the shenanigans of some of our intellectuals and large sections of the Urdu Press. Let me quote a few lines from an article in New York Times and savour the awe and wonder in the words of the reporter ROBERT F. WORTH. He writes: “MUMBAI, India — Throngs of Indian Muslims, ranging from Bollywood actors to skullcap-wearing seminary students, marched through the heart of Mumbai and several other cities on Sunday, holding up banners proclaiming their condemnation of terrorism and loyalty to the Indian state. Muslims took part in a candlelight march last week toward the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai.

“The protests, though relatively small, were the latest in a series of striking public gestures by Muslims — who have often come under suspicion after past attacks — to defensively dissociate their own grievances as a minority here from any sort of sympathy for terrorism or radical politics in the wake of the deadly assault here that ended Nov. 29.

“Muslim leaders have refused to allow the bodies of the nine militants killed in the attacks to be buried in Islamic cemeteries, saying the men were not true Muslims. They also suspended the annual Dec. 6 commemoration of a 1992 riot in which Hindus destroyed a mosque, in an effort to avert communal tension. Muslim religious scholars and public figures have issued strongly worded condemnations of the attacks.

“So far, their approach appears to have worked: the response has been remarkably unified, with little of the suspicion and fear that followed some previous attacks.”

Now, a word about government handling. It is not fashionable to praise the government right now for anything. You stand in danger of being lynched, not just being called a lackey and names like that. The media has created a situation of great disaffection with the government. The pundits have all behaved as if a suicide attack like Mumbai could have been prevented with better intelligence and better patrolling and so on. They forget the 9/11 attack on the sole super power of the world. They say that nothing has happened on the American soil since then and that is proof that it can be prevented. Nothing could be sillier than this. Why would the Jihadis travel such distances and go to America at enormous risk, when American and other Westerners are now available in their courtyards?

Our intelligence and patrolling, etc. can certainly be and should be improved, but that can never be the full answer.
The disease has to be tackled at its root and that is being done in rather skilfully now, certainly in a more skilful and result-oriented manner than what had been done by the Vajpayee government after the attack on parliament. We had then spent a billion dollars and lost more than 700 soldiers without firing a shot - in a mere show of strength which brought no results. This time in less than a fortnight we have top terrorists arrested by Pakistan and the possibility of being able to interrogate them jointly with Pakistani authorities. This is a diplomatic minefield and the government seems to be treading softly and carefully as it should and succeeding so far.

Our media pundits may not understand this, but our people do, instinctively perhaps. There can be no other interpretation of the election results held so soon after the terror attacks that the opposition BJP tried to capitalise on in a big way. Even the Muslims have supported the ruling party in a big way, and even in as volatile a constituency as Batla Nagar, Delhi, which was the scene of what later became a very controversial shoot-out of alleged Muslim terrorists in which a decorated police officer too lost his life. Nothing could demonstrate their maturity and long-term vision than making this choice in what must have been a very difficult decision, but they have gone along with and supported what the majority of Delhiites thought was best for the city.

http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1044

Muslim response to Mumbai terror in sync with the national mood, but what is wrong with our intellectuals?

2009-01-30T04:16:00.000-08:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad07 Dec 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Muslim response to Mumbai terror in sync with the national mood, but what is wrong with our intellectuals?

From the very moment it became clear that the terrorists who attacked India recently in Mumbai were Pakistanis, Indian Muslim anger against Pakistan and the godfathers of terror in that county has been expressing itself in a variety of ways. They are particularly angry that these marauders have been maligning the fair name of Islam and its image as a religion of peace. They seem to instinctively understand that Indian Muslims’ peaceful co-existence and continued integration in the national mainstream is not in the interest of Pakistan’s permanent establishment. It negates the Two-Nation Theory on which their country is ideologically based. They keep trying - and, fortunately for us, failing - to instigate communal violence on any pretext that may become available to them. They did that in the aftermath of Bombay riots in 1993. Dawood Ibrahim-organised serial blasts took 250 civilian lives and caused 700 injuries alongside massive economic disruption but India refused to fall in the Pakistani trap. Our country is displaying the same commitment to secularism now and thanks God for that.
Muslims recognise the reasons behind Pakistani desperation to attack our secularism, our tolerance and national cohesion, our growing prosperity. India presents a complete contrast to their divided house, virtually every ethnic community seeking to secede, every sect bent upon destroying every other sect, killing its members in as large numbers as possible. Only the day before yesterday a Sunni suicide-bomber killed 20 Shias in a mosque in an event that has become routine in that country. Hence the Mumbai Muslims’ refusal to bury the Pakistani dead in their graveyards, refusal to mourn the loss of Babri Masjid on December 6 this year, which has become an annual event, a sort of another Muharram since 1992. Muslim fury at a clear Pakistani attempt to foment wider violence against them resulted in their participation in large numbers in fellow-citizen’s efforts to show solidarity with the families of those who had died in the latest invasion of our territory – 40 out of 172 killed were Muslims – and condemn the barbaric atrocities while paying homage to those brave policemen and commandos who laid down their lives in the service of nation.
But as we open the Urdu newspapers on 6 th of December, we find the editorial pages recycling the same material they keep doing every year on this Moharram II day, the same bemoaning of the “shahadat”(martyrdom) of the Babri mosque, without explaining how can bricks and mortar become “shaheed”- will they go to Jannat, one naturally wonders. You won’t find any of these newspapers ever bemoaning the “shahadat” in Saudi Arabia of Islam’s holiest shrines and greatest heritage buildings, that were living proofs of the historicity of many events in Islam’s and Prophet Mohammad’s life (PBUH).
Then you find Rashtriya Sahara reproducing historian Amareesh Mishra’s conspiracy theories about Mumbai terror being the work of Israeli and Hindu Zionists’ handiwork. You open your mailbox and find several Muslims enthusiastically lapping up Mishraji’s theories and circulating them. Just sample one sentence of what a widely-circulated e-mail by convenor of the Mumbai-based Muslim Intellectual Forum, Firoze Mithiborwala, reads: “As far as the terrorists who attacked Mumbai are concerned, they are in all likelihood… controlled by the American CIA, the Pakistani ISI and the Israeli MOSSAD.”
As Zulkif Manzoor, a Ramanujan Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore has been quoted in The Hindustan Times as saying: “Such poisoned opinion has only helped to strengthen prejudices (against Muslims).” Clearly our intellectuals are forgetting that Amareesh Mishra is a Kanyakubaja Brahmin and can say what he will, but we can’t, not at this time.
Now does this mean that we are second class citizens; we don’t have the same rights as Brahmins or others? No it doesn’t mean that at all. We are and have been free to express ourselves in whatever way we will; our newspapers have been spreading venom for long - part of the reason why we have alienated ourselves to a certain extent from some sections of society and also injected cynicism in the minds of some of our youth. Mercifully, not many non-Muslims read Urdu newspapers. More mercy, not many of our own youth read Urdu newspapers either; that would have poisoned their minds beyond redemption perhaps.
We have been free and have misused our freedom to the hilt. What is different this time then? Well, as theatre personality Amir Reza Khan explained in a NDTV discussion, right now WE ARE AT WAR. And this war has been declared by a country inhabited by fellow-Muslims and not only in our name but also in the name of our religion. They have been posing as saviours of Indian Muslims and practitioners of Islam. Rules of the game are different in a war. We do, therefore, need to wear on our sleeves not only our patriotism but also a few verses of the Holy Quran preaching peace and opposing violence. As actor Shah Rukh Khan pointed out in his interview with Barkha Dutt on NDTV, it is not only Muslims in India, but all over the world who are being called upon to explain that Islam is not a religion of violence.
To those who love to spread conspiracy theories here is one that is more grounded in reality and common sense. Backed by US Imperialism, Christian crusaders and Israeli Zionism, Saudi Arabia has for decades been damaging Islam, not only destroying Islam’s heritage buildings, but also spending billions of dollars to spreading a view of Islam that says that Muslims should not only kill all non-Muslims but also those Muslims who do not believe in this murderous version of Islam. Like the known enemies of Islam from the time of the first crusades, this Saudi Islam believes that Islam spread with the power of the sword that the Prophet and his successors wielded. Now use your imagination and you can easily surmise what the Crusader, Zionist game is in protecting the Saudi regime and promoting Saudi Islam, even after 9/11, while they destroyed the only bastion of secular and tolerant Islam in the Middle East, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, on a manifestly false pretext, and turned it into a Saudi or Iranian version of sectarian and intolerant Islam.
Fortunately the common Muslim understands the need of the hour that some of our intellectuals and journalists do not. I would appeal to Muslims to continue to walk the extra mile in condemning the Mumbai attacks and distancing themselves and their religion from Osama bin Laden’s or Hafiz Saeed’s version of Islam that has spawned Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and similar scourges.
Sultan Shahin, editor, NewAgeIslam.com
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1043

Massacre in Mumbai: L-e-T role clear. Should Muslims continue to be in denial?

2009-01-30T04:11:00.003-08:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad29 Nov 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Massacre in Mumbai: L-e-T role clear. Should Muslims continue to be in denial?
When terrorist attacks on Mumbai started taking a toll of lives and news started coming of ATF chief having been gunned down, it was a natural, though too hasty, reaction on the part of many, Muslims as well as liberal Hindus, that Hindutva terrorists must be somehow involved. Martyred State ATS chief Hemant Karkare was being threatened by Hindu right elements for his painstaking investigation into Malegaon blasts in which the needle of suspicion has started clearly pointing to Hindutva elements. But now there seems to be clear evidence that this was the handiwork of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists.

As reported by Praveen Swami of The Hindu (posted below), last month, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s supreme religious and political head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, made a signal speech to top functionaries: “The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.” Lashkar founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s October 19 speech, delivered before an audience of key Lashkar leaders including Maulana Amir Hamza, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Muhammad Yahya Mujahid at the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore, has come to light. He reportedly stressed the point that he saw India as an existential threat. India, he claimed, was building dams in Jammu and Kashmir to choke Pakistan’s water supplies and cripple its agriculture., earlier too, in an October 6 speech, Saeed claimed that India had “made a deal with the United States to send 1,50,000 Indian troops to Afghanistan,” and that it agreed to support the U.S. in an existential war against Islam. Finally, in a sermon to a congregation at the Jama Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore at the end of October, Saeed proclaimed that there was an “ongoing war in the world between Islam and its enemies.” He claimed “that crusaders of the east and west have united in a cohesive onslaught against Muslims.”

Nothing could make L-e-T’s intentions clearer. This apart, there are any number of statements available in the public domain of L-e-T’s desire to derail India-Pakistan peace process. Their objective of waging what they call a holy war against the whole world to establish the supremacy of what they call Islam is well-known. One compilation made by K P S Gill of a few such statements is being posted below.

Yet the Batla House syndrome seems to have taken hold of our minds so powerfully that some of us are still seeking to find holes in the official view of what transpired in Mumbai. Ghulam Muhammed’s QUESTIONS IN PUBLIC ARENA ABOUT THE NIGHT OF TERROR IN MUMBAI is also being posted below for reference. So is Amaresh Misra’s rather hasty conclusions drawn on the very night the terrorist strike started.

I would appeal to NewAgeIslam.com’s reader’s to go through these documents and debate whether Muslims in India should appear to be batting for Lashkar-eTayyaba’s terrorists, as they would appear to be doing if this syndrome persists and more Muslims started talking in these terms. Let us nip this menace in the bud.

Sultan Shahin, Editor, NewAgeIslam.com
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1030
****

2008/11/27
From: Ghulam Muhammed
To: Sultan Shahin
Thursday, November 27, 2008

QUESTIONS IN PUBLIC ARENA ABOUT THE NIGHT OF TERROR IN MUMBAI

1. With death threats against him already on record, why ATS Chief Hemant Karkare exposed himself on the streets of Mumbai as shown by TV clips, putting his safety helmet on? Who shot him? The terrorists or some insider? Had he got his fate sealed with his successes in exposing the hitherto hidden Hindu terrorism side of Hindutva movement in India?

2. How 'Nariman House' came into the focus of the terrorists? Why Indian TV Channels refrained from mentioning that the building was a residence of Israeli Jews in India, owned by a Jewish trust, Chabad-Lubavitch, as reported by Jerusalem Post. JP reported: Chabad-Lubavitch fears for the safety of its Mumbai rabbi.

3. Why there was no news of any harm done to either the hostages in the Nariman House or the two five-star Hotels? Why the 'terrorists' became so coy in carrying out their 'mission'. It smacks of some dubious antecedents of the 'terrorists'.

4. Has the 'terrorist' attacks in Mumbai, has some connections with the Delhi elections. It is being reported that BJP was to end up third after Congress and BSP in the elections. If BJP were to do so badly in Delhi elections, they would have to write off their hopes for a come-back in next Lok Sabha elections.

5. Why CNN is connecting a local 'terrorist' attack to Al Qaida and making grounds for US/UK/Israel to muscle into the imbroglio as 'interested parties', so as to dictate terms on Indian government. Could it be a classic covert operation of entrapment of India?

6. Is India being prepared for a localized war with Pakistan?

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

*********

Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:48:21 +0530 [11/27/2008 10:48AM IST]
From: Ghulam Muhammed
To: Sultan Shahin
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:48:21 +0530 [11/27/2008 10:48AM IST]
From: Ghulam Muhammed

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amaresh Misra <
Date: Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 4:50 AM
Subject: urgent

Mumbai and India Under Attack

It is 4AM in India right now. I am in Mumbai reporting from the ground. I have not slept a wink. Mumbai is under attack. People and forces who killed Mahatama Gandhi, who demolished the Babari Mosque have triumphed. More than 16 groups of terrorists have taken over Taj, Oberai and several hotels. Hundreds of people are dead. For the first time no one is blaming Muslim organizations. The Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare and other officers of the ATS have been killed. These were the same people who were investigating the Malegaon Blasts--in which Praggya Singh, an army officer and several other noted personalities of the BJP-RSS-Bajrang Dal-VHP were arrested. Karkare was the man to arrest them. Karkare was receiving threats from several quarters. LK Advani, the BJP chief and several other prominent leaders of the so-called Hindu terrorism squad were gunning for his head. And the first casualty in the terrorist attack was Karkare! He is dead--gone--the firing by terrorists began from Nariman House--which is the only building in Mumbai inhabited by Jews. Some Hindu Gujaratis of the Nariman area spoke live on several TV channels--they openly said that the firing by terrorists began from Nariman house. And that for two years suspicious activities were going on in this house. But no one took notice.
Our worst fears have come true. It is clear that Mossad is involved in the whole affair. An entire city has been attacked by Mossad and probably units of mercenaries. It is not possible for one single organization to plan and execute such a sophisticated operation. It is clear that this operation was backed by communal forces from within the Indian State. The Home Minister Shivraj Patil should resign. The RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal should be banned. Advani and others ought to be arrested. Today is a day of shame for all Indians and all Hindus. Muslims and secular Hindus have been proven right. RSS type forces and Israel are all involved in not only destabilizing but finishing India. India should immediately snap all relations with Israel. We owe this much to Karkare and the brave ATS men who had shown the courage to arrest Praggya Singh, Raj Kumar Purohit, the army officer and several others.
A photograph publushed in Urdu Times, Mumbai, clearly shows that Mossad and ex-Mossad men came to India and met Sadhus and other pro-Hindutva elements recently. A conspiracy was clearly hatched.
This is a moment of reckoning especially for Hindus of India. The killers of Gandhi have struck again. If we are true Sanatanis and true Hindus and true nationalists and true patriots we have to see this act as a clear attack by anti-national deshdrohi forces. Praggya Singh, Advani and the entire brand is anti-national. They ought to be shot. Any Hindu siding with them is hereafter warned of serious consequences.
This is a question of nationalism. If no one else, the Indian army will not take this lying down. Communal, anti-national forces have attacked the very foundation of the Indian constitution and the nation. We will fight a civil war if need be against the pro-Hindutva, communal forces and their Israeli backers.

Amaresh Misra

***

Pakistan - Voices of Jehad

"May Allah destroy America and Britain… May Allah help the Mujahedeen in Iraq, Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya and around the world."
Maulana Mohammed Ishaq, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader,
Islamabad, April 11, 2003.
"The holiest soil on earth is that of Pakistan and we cannot tolerate the unholy presence of Nancy Powell on our holy land. Her presence keeps us away from Allah's blessings. Pakistan should cleanse itself from her unholy existence… Allah has told us to make atom bombs. America is telling us not to. Who should we listen to O Muslims, Allah or America? Kashmir will not be solved by talks, not by American arbitration, not by its division but only by jihad, jihad, jihad!... The Hindus were terrorists yesterday, they are terrorists today and they will remain terrorists tomorrow. We are right in seeking revenge from these spawns of evil."
- Taped speech of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba, played on Kashmir Day,
at the Jamia Mosque Ghousia, Rawalpindi, February 2003.
"I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India."
- Masood Azhar, Chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, January 5, 2000.
"We pray that Iraqis would continue to resist American tyranny and terror and we believe victory will come to them in the long run… History would record the sacrifice of Iraqi people in defence of their sovereignty and independence threatened by US imperialism… The attack was motivated by US designs to grab oil resources of the Iraqi people and enslave them."
- Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islamabad, April 10, 2003.
"We have the nuclear capability that can destroy Madras (India), surely the same missile can do the same to Tel Aviv. Washington cannot stop Muslim suicidal attacks. Taliban are still alive and along with "friends" they will continue the holy jihad against the U.S. America will destroy Iraq and later on repeat the same act of war against Pakistan, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia."
- Gen. Hamid Gul, former ISI chief, Islamabad, March 2003.
Many Western Scholars have pointed their accusing fingers at some of the … verses in the Qur’an to be able to contend that world of Islam is in a state of perpetual struggle against the non-Muslims. As to them it is sufficient answer to make, if one were to point out, that the defiance of God’s authority by one who is His slave exposes that slave to the risk of being held guilty of treason and such a one, in the perspective of Islamic law, is indeed to be treated as a sort of that cancerous growth on that organism of humanity, which has been created "Kanafsin Wahidatin" that is, like one, single, indivisible self. It thus becomes necessary to remove the cancerous malformation even if it be by surgical means (if it would not respond to other treatment), in order to save the rest of Humanity… The idea of Ummah of Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam, is incapable of being realised within the framework of territorial states much less made an enduring basis of viewing the world as having been polarised between the world of Islam and the world of war. Islam, in my understanding, does not subscribe to the concept of the territorial state…
Allah Buksh K. Brohi, "Preface", in Brigadier S.K. Malik,
The Quranic Concept of War, 1986, pp. xix-xx.
"Terror struck into the hearts of the enemies is not only a means, it is the end in itself. Once a condition of terror into the opponent’s heart is obtained, hardly anything is left to be achieved. It is the point where the means and the end meet and merge. Terror is not a means of imposing decision upon the enemy (sic); it is the decision we wish to impose upon him."
- Brig. S.K. Malik, The Quranic Concept of War, 1986, p. 59.
America wants to destroy all Muslim countries one after another, so let us go and fight in the way of Allah.
- Maulana Rahmatullah, Tanzeem-i-Ulma, Peshawar, April 3, 2003
If the U.S. attacks Iraq, the MMA alliance and all their supporters will attack Washington and Tel Aviv.
- Sami ul-Haq, MMA leader, Islamabad, March 2003
There are thousands ready to go for Jihad but they are waiting for the request from the Taliban.
- Maulana Mohammad Alam, Leader of Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi,
Peshawar, November 8, 2001
We will provide logistic support to the Taliban and will also provide information about Americans if the present regime did not stop supporting the US troops stationed in Pakistan.
- Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Deputy Secretary-General, Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur faction), Hyderabad, October 30, 2001
The Taliban are a symbol of Islam. This will be a long war against the infidel forces. They want to eliminate Muslims.
- Maulana Samiul Haq, Chief of his own faction of Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam,
Karachi, October 26, 2001
The United States has waged a crusade against the Muslims and, unfortunately, Pakistan's rulers are supporting her to carry out the genocide of Afghans in the name of curbing so-called terrorism… Musharraf is playing the role of an informer of the US and Islam declares the death penalty for such people.
- Sheikh Aqeelur Rehman, District President, Jamaat-e-Islami,
Muzaffarabad, October 26, 2001
American repression and imperialism is a challenge for the entire Muslim world… [linking Osama with attacks in the US is part of a plan to pave wave for the US’] sinister plans to strike against Afghanistan.
- Joint statement by Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,
Al Badr and Jamiat-ul- Mujahideen, September 19, 2001
The real war has just started… After Palestine and Afghanistan, now Iraq will also give birth to holy warriors. Who will free me from the clutches of Jews?
- Zarb-e-Momin, publication backed by Jaish-e-Mohammed, April 2003.
Muslim blood is being extracted to serve Jews' interest.
- Zarab-e-Taiba, publication backed by Lashkar-e-Toiba, April 2003.
"This is a matter of happiness for us that we are going to announce the holy war against Bush and his cronies from NWFP where the members of religious alliance are in power… It's enough and an eye opener for the Muslim Ummah to retaliate immediately as God's enemies (Americans and Britons) have imposed the worst kind of brutalities on the innocent Muslims… The MMA government must take steps for sending the faithful to Iraq to fight alongside their Iraqi brothers… Jihad is the lone weapon with Muslims to safeguard their rights and honour while such US attacks and cruelties on the Muslim would open more doors of the holy war."
- Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Peshawar, March 30, 2003.
"We do not consider ourselves separate from Taliban or Afghanistan. Our history, our religion and blood and culture are the same. The Taliban government is our ideal government and we want a similar one in Pakistan because it has peace, equality and justice. We consider the war against Osama and Taliban a war against us, Pakistanis and Pakistan."
- Maulana Azam Tariq, Member of National Assembly from Jhang constituency and chief of Sunni group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, January 2003.
The US can declare us terrorists, but even then, we will continue waging war in India… The military government's biggest mistake is that it is not wising up its own people on the crucial juncture in the freedom movement in Kashmir… Pakistan must complete its nuclear programme and strengthen its defence missile system to apply pressure on India besides taking its own people into confidence… We must not toe the US line in Afghanistan as it would be our greatest support in case of war with India. Support from China and the Islamic world should also be sought in this regard.
Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Karachi Press Club, May 11, 2001.
Bush wants the world to embrace Christianity. Muslims are being oppressed in Kashmir, Palestine, Bosnia, Chechnya and India. Muslim women are being raped in these countries. Jihad, under such a situation becomes obligatory… Jamaat will not confront with the army, but continue to wage jihad in the world. War with the infidels will not end through negotiations but through fighting. There is no possibility of compromise with the infidels.
Hafiz Abdul Salam, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Patoki, Punjab province, during a three-day convention, December 2002.
Compiled by K. P. S. Gill, strategic analyst, former DGP, Punjab, India.
Source: http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/kpsgill/2003/chapter4.htm

**********

India’s strategic deafness & the massacre in Mumbai

Praveen Swami

Had our political establishment acted on intelligence warnings, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive.
Last month, the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s supreme religious and political head, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, made a signal speech to top functionaries: “The only language India understands is that of force, and that is the language it must be talked to in.”

Had India’s strategic establishment listened, at least 127 people who made the mistake of being in Mumbai on November 26 would still have been alive. If more carnage is to be prevented, it is imperative to understand the culture of strategic deafness that facilitated the murderous attacks.

From the testimony of the arrested fidayeen Ajmal Amin Kamal, the Maharashtra police have got their first insight into the role of Lahore and Karachi-based Lashkar commanders in organising the attacks. Both the Maharashtra police and other intelligence services of the nation seem confident that they will succeed in demonstrating that the guns in the hands of Kamal and his terror squad were directed by commanders in Pakistan.

Comparison with U.S.
But even as India debates what the authorship of the attacks will mean to Pakistan-India relations, commentators have been scrambling to contrast India’s responses to terror with that of the United States. While the U.S. has succeeded in blocking successive attempts to execute attacks on its soil since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the argument goes, India’s failure has been dismal.

Politicians have been quick to agree, blaming India’s intelligence services for failing to predict the Mumbai terror attack. In fact, the available evidence suggests that the boot is on the other foot: despite credible intelligence that terrorists were planning attacks in Mumbai and elsewhere, India’s political leadership failed to act.

Back in 2002, Indian intelligence informants began reporting that Lashkar operatives were being trained in marine commando techniques along the Mangla Dam, which straddles the border between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the province of Punjab. It soon became clear that the Lashkar, which found it increasingly difficult to penetrate India’s Line of Control defences, was hoping to open new routes across the Indian Ocean — routes which would give it easy access to key cities like Mumbai.

In 2006, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was disturbed enough by what India’s covert services were telling him to make a specific mention of the need to step up counter-terrorism defences. Among the intelligence that Mr. Patil based his speech on was the evolving story of Faisal Haroun, a top Lashkar operative who commanded the terror group’s India-focussed operations out of Bangladesh. In September 2006, Haroun was briefly held by Bangladesh authorities before he was quietly deported. But a west European covert service obtained transcripts of his questioning by Bangladesh’s Directorate-General of Field Intelligence — evidence which shook up even India’s Home Minister.

Haroun, it turned out, had been using a complex shipping network, and merchant ships and small fishing boats, to move explosives to the Lashkar units operating in India. Among the end-users of these supplies was Ghulam Yazdani, a Hyderabad resident who commanded a series of attacks, including the assassination of Gujarat pogrom-complicit former Home Minister Haren Pandya and the June 2005 bombing of the Delhi-Patna Shramjeevi Express. Investigators probing the Haroun story determined that his network had helped to land a giant consignment of explosives and assault rifles on the Maharashtra coast for an abortive 2006 Lashkar-led attempt to bomb Gujarat.

India’s intelligence services determined that Haroun had been attempting to set up an Indian Ocean base for the Lashkar. Along with a Male-based Maldives resident, Ali Assham, Haroun had studied the prospect of using a deserted island for building a Lashkar storehouse, from where weapons and explosives could be moved to Kerala and then to the rest of India. In 2007, when evidence emerged of heightened Islamist activity in Maldives — including the bombing of tourists in Male’s Sultan Park and the setting up of a Sharia-run mini-state on the Island of Himandhoo — the seriousness of the threat to India’s western seaboard became even more evident.

Last year, the Lashkar’s maritime capabilities were underlined once again, when a group of eight fidayeen landed off Mumbai’s coast. On that occasion, a superbly crafted intelligence operation enabled Coast Guard ships to track the landing. Police in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, acting on information provided by the Intelligence Bureau, arrested the fidayeen. However, it was clear that the networks Haroun was able to build were up and running.

Based on these warnings, New Delhi moved to step up coastal counter-infiltration measures. In its 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs detailed the measures put in place for “strengthening coastal security arrangements, to check infiltration.” In liaison with the nine coastal States and Union Territories, it said, funds had been earmarked to set up “73 coastal police stations which will be equipped with 204 boats, 153 jeeps and 312 motorcycles for mobility on coast and in close coastal waters. The coastal police stations will also have a marine police with personnel trained in maritime activities.”

Painfully slow
Precise figures are unavailable, but officials in three States told The Hindu that progress in realising the scheme was painfully slow. Both Maharashtra and Gujarat inaugurated over a dozen coastal police stations over the last year, but neither State set up a trained marine police. Fewer than a dozen new boats were made available to the two police forces. Without sophisticated surveillance equipment fitted on board, their use for counter-infiltration work was at best rudimentary. And while the Intelligence Bureau received sanction for hiring small numbers of new personnel to man new costal surveillance stations last year, it got neither boats nor observation equipment.

Despite credible intelligence of an imminent fidayeen assault, emerging from the interrogation of Lashkar operative Fahim Ansari, hotels and businesses failed to enhance their internal security systems. Neither the Trident Hotel nor the Taj Mahal Hotel, for example, had access control systems or a system to deal with a terrorist attack or bombing. For weeks before the attacks, police sources told The Hindu, Maharashtra police officials met with top corporate security heads, attempting to convince them of the need to invest in defending their facilities. Nothing was done.

Less than a week before the attacks, additional security stationed in south Mumbai was withdrawn. Maharashtra — which at just 147 policemen for every 1,00,000 population or, expressed another way, 49.9 to guard every 100 square kilometres, falls well short of global norms — simply did not have the resources to keep men tied up to guard every potential target.

Even if police personnel had been stationed near the terrorist targets, it is improbable that they could have intervened effectively. Mumbai, unlike any western city of scale, had no specially-trained emergency response team or a crisis-management centre with an established drill to deal with a catastrophic terrorist assault. In this, it was not exceptional: no Indian city has any crisis management protocol in place. “People contrast the United States’ post-9/11 successes with our failures,” notes a Maharashtra police officer, “but they should also be contrasting the billions spent by that country with the peanuts we have invested in our own security.”

“The whole system is premised on the assumption that our Intelligence Services will get a hundred per cent heads-up on the precise timing of a terrorist attack,” one intelligence official says, “but nowhere in the world does this happen. Intelligence is only an aid to on-ground policing, not a substitute”.

India’s strategic responses were no better. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his foreign policy advisers failed to read the sign that the jihadist groups in Pakistan were sharpening their swords.

In Saeed’s October 19 speech, delivered before an audience of key Lashkar leaders including Maulana Amir Hamza, Qari Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh and Muhammad Yahya Mujahid at the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore, he made it clear that he saw India as an existential threat. India, he claimed, was building dams in Jammu and Kashmir to choke Pakistan’s water supplies and cripple its agriculture.

‘Ongoing war’
Earlier, in an October 6 speech, Saeed claimed that India had “made a deal with the United States to send 1,50,000 Indian troops to Afghanistan,” and that it agreed to support the U.S. in an existential war against Islam. Finally, in a sermon to a congregation at the Jamia Masjid al-Qudsia in Lahore at the end of October, Saeed proclaimed that there was an “ongoing war in the world between Islam and its enemies.” He claimed “that crusaders of the east and west have united in a cohesive onslaught against Muslims.”

India has learnt that not all terrorism stems from Pakistan: the country has faced attacks from Indian Islamists, Hindutva groups, and ethnic-chauvinist organisations in the northeast. Each form of hate has fed and legitimised the other. But this circle of hate has been driven by organisations based in Pakistan too — jihadist groups which have demonstrated that while they are friends of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, they are enemies of the people of Pakistan. In his recent address to the nation, Prime Minister Singh warned that he intends to “raise the costs” for those waging war against India. He could start by demanding that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari act against such groups — and then consider what can be done, if need be, to compel him to do so.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/29/stories/2008112953970800.htm

****

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

CIA, MOSSAD HAND BEHIND SANGH PARIVAR'S EXTREMISTS! - Rashtriya Sahara, Urdu Daily, Mumbai

ViaMedia.MumbaiNews

www.viamedianews.com

FRONT-PAGE AND EDIT PAGE NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM MUMBAI'S URDU NEWSPAPERS TRANSLATION FROM URDU FREE SERVICE FOR WORLD MEDIA

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Rashtriya Sahara, Urdu Daily, Mumbai

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Front Page News

CIA, MOSSAD HAND BEHIND SANGH PARIVAR'S EXTREMISTS!

Central Intelligence Agencies vigilant investigating in the aftermath of Malegaon blast; Enquiry being held into the February 2007 visit of prominent Israeli religious delegation and meetings with Hindutvadi Sadhu, Sanths and political leaders; Mossad infiltration a cause of deep concern for Intelligence officials

New Delhi, November 25: (Agencies) – According to an exposé in a national daily published from Madhya Pradesh and several other cities, in the aftermath of the arrests of Sadhu, Sadhvi, and other extremist Hindutvadis as involved in the Malegaon bomb blast, Intelligence agencies are now concentrating on foreign connections of the radical Hindutvadis.

In an special report published by the national daily, it has exposed this sensational news that in central intelligence agencies are to be believed, extremist Hindutvadis have got support and motivation from Israeli secret agency, Mossad's operations against the Arab and Muslim countries in the past.

The newspaper writes that relations between Mossad and CIA are world known. Report mentions that intelligence agencies are worried about the infiltration of Mossad and CIA in the country. According to undisclosed sources, Indian intelligence agencies are now examining the full details of the visit of Israel's religious leaders to India and their meetings withSadhu, Sanths. Intelligence agencies are investigating all those Hindu and Muslim leaders that the Israeli religious delegation had met.

According to the newspaper, it was during the rule of BJP's Atul Behari Vajpayee; a beginning was made for the visits of Hindutvadis, and especially Sadhus anddharam gurus of the Sangh Parivar to Israel. These visits have been on the increase. It was during Vajpayee's time, that the visits to Israel and consequently the relations and contacts of Sangh Parivar Dharam gurus and Hindutva leaders with Israelincreased manifold.

According to the newspaper, for last ten years, the central intelligence agencies have been closely studying and analyzing the growing strength of Hindutvadi and Sangh Parivar organisations and the increasing violence through these organisations against Muslims, Christians, and minorities in Gujarat,Orissa, Karnataka and other states. Intelligence agencies have disclosed that the visits of Jews and Israeli rabbis was not very frequent in the past, but it has increased to worrisome proportions, during last few years. Of all, the most studied is the February 2007 visit to Delhi of the delegation of Israeli Jewish religious leaders. The delegation was headed byIsrael's Chief Rabbi, Yonah Metzger.

In this delegation, Jewish religious leaders from Israelas well as others rabbis from Belgium and Spain too were included. In India, the Israel Jewish religious delegation met important Hindutva leaders, which included especially the RSS Chief K. S. Sudharshan, President of VHP, Ashok Singhal, VHP leader Vishnu Hari Dalmia.
After the meeting of the Sadhu Sanths and Jewish leaders, both delegations had issued a common manifesto.

In this meeting, Jewish Rabbis expressed grave concern over the details of the terrorist attacks allegedly carried out by Muslims, as narrated by Hindu dharam gurus. Secret Service sources disclosed that at the invitation of Israeli Jewish religious leaders, a delegation of Hindutva leaders had visited Israel this year. In this, some leaders of Sangh Parivar too were included.

The national daily, published from Madhya Pradesh and other places, in its report has exposed that the officials of the national intelligence agencies have categorically stated that American secret service agency, CIA together with Israel's secret organisation Mossad, has carried out several secret operation all over Asia.

And now that the bomb blast of Malegaon and Modasa had involved the names of the fake Shankaracharya Amaranand alias Dayanand Pande, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, enquiries and investigation of relations between Jewish and Hindutva religious leaders from Israel and India are being severely felt and is being analyzed. This was disclosed by the newspaper report.

(Translation from Urdu)

Rashtriya Sahara, Urdu Daily, Mumbai

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Front Page News

Why investigation of Israeli connection of Hindutvadis?

New Delhi, November 25: The way ATS has arrested Hindutva extremists belonging to Sangh Parivar, in connection with Malegaon bomb blast, facts have emerged of international networking and support to Hindutva radicals. This has alarmed national intelligence community. India's internal and external intelligence agencies and RAW have got busy trying to figure out if there is some big international conspiracy is being hatched behind the activities of hardline extremists of Sangh Parivar. According to secret sources, back in February 2007, an Israeli delegation headed by Israel's Chief Rabbi, Yonah Metzger, and accompanied by several high ranking Jewish religious leaders, had visited India. This Jewish Religious delegation held meetings with many Sadhus, Sanths and Dharam gurus. The delegation also met some Muslim leaders. Now intelligence agencies have started investigations of the meetings of the Israeli delegation and local Sadhus, Sanths and dharam gurus. It is mentioned that the delegation of Israeli Jewish religious leaders has met leaders and dharam gurus from RSS, Sangh Parivar, VHP and BJP. Lal Krishna Advani had arranged a dinner for the visiting Israeli Jewish religious leaders' delegation and others included in the delegation, at his own residence. According to high official, though the meeting of Sangh Parivar's leaders to Israeli delegation is not of undue importance, but the way America's secret service, CIA and Israel's secret agency, Mossad, are infiltrating in Central Asian and South Asian countries, it is giving strength to the suspicions that in such delegations, members of foreign intelligence get included and through interaction and infiltration, secret operations are carried out. Those organisations that organise and support such visits and meetings, may or may not be aware of the secret mission of foreign agencies, the truth can come out only on investigations. For this reason, the national agencies are now concentrating on investigation of Sangh Parivar and its connections with Israeli lobby and Mossad.

(Translated from Urdu)

# posted by GHULAM MUHAMMED, MUMBAI @ 6:30 AM
Comments:
MOSSAD+CIA+INDIA=9-11
# posted by Anonymous: 6:29 PM
Mossad uses these extremists for terrorist acts that are eventually blamed on Muslims.

The Israelis have convinced the Hindu extremists that they can help wipe Islam from India and since the Muslims of India are mostly law abiding citizens the Israelis have concocted these terror plots to generate hate for Muslims and start a sectarian incident in which the Muslims are too out numbered.

This is sad for India-because in the end citizens of India will be hurt, which will hurt India as a country.

Hindus and Muslims must both join hands against these evil forces to protect India.

The Israelis want Muslims weakened all over the world-it would love a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan. A prospect that could lead to the annihilation of Pakistan but India could be destroyed too....but the Israelis really don't care. They're our friends as long as they can use us after that we're on our own.
# posted by Anonymous : 6:26 AM
But, as we have been seeing, the Western Media …. the CIA’s Might Wurlitzer is already chanting Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda… ‘Problem, Reaction, Solution’ …. the same, tediously continuing, formula. The ‘Solution’ this time will be more bombing of Pakistan.
# posted by Shrink Rat : 9:08 AM
We must win the war FOR PEACE between nations and religions against those mother fuckers of the "intelligence" community that promote the clash of civilisation and perpetual wars for their masters to make money of
# posted by Anonymous : 12:28 PM
If it is true that Israel has convinced India that they wipe Islam out, I am all for it. Islam is a disease that has infected humanity for the past few centuries & we now need to find a cure for it.
# posted by Anonymous : 5:20 AM
JEWS are FILTH, I'm not a MUSLIM but my HUMAN DUTY to FLUSH EVERY JEW and AMERIKKKAN that comes MY WAY

JEW ARE DEVILS they CAN NOT BE TRUSTED,JEWS MUST BE BURNED ALIVE as they ARE THE KILLERS OF GOD.
# posted by Anonymous : 7:37 AM
Anonymous @ 7:37 AM is an obvious troll who just throws in a few odious profanities to poison the well of thoughtful and rational debate. totally typical.

if you're not a troll then you are doing the real criminals a great service.
# posted by Anonymous : 9:51 AM
Actually real Jews support Muslims all the way, see www.nkusa.org.

The Zionist trolls say the most hateful things. False flag all the way.
# posted by Anonymous : 10:36 AM
The jew is the eternal evil, inbred rodent, bloodsucking, parasiting, warmongering, cowardly, mass murdering, virus of humanity and cancer of earth that must one day be dealt with once and for all.

If the Indians ever figure out who perpetrated this war crime (shouldn’t take more than 3 seconds if you can actually think) in Mumbai they need only point their nuclear warheads at that shitty little "country" and international terrorist rat hole known as that sewer "Israel".

The only good Jew terrorist rodent scum and the only good American terrorist rodent scum (same disease) is a dead Jew American terrorist rodent scum.
# posted by Anonymous : 1:37 PM
there are good Jews Hindus Christians and Muslims, no group of people should be lambasted as by some here on this comment line, those who comment like this are the ones who are terrorists .. I am Indian origin and us citizen there are always good people in all races and only a few bad greedy people. Please retract your hateful comments. GOD bless all, and GOD bring peace to our hearts. Story of Lord Krishna is same as Prophet Moses being put in river.. etc. etc. we are all children of ONE God. Be wary of divide and rule and always see who gains from this... those who gain are likely doers.
# posted by Anonymous : 2:15 PM
http://ghulammuhammed.blogspot.com/2008/11/cia-mossad-hand-behind-sangh-parivars.html
----
Is Mossad Hand Behind Mumbai Train Blasts?
Publication time: 3 August 2006, 15:27

Mumbai's Urdu Daily 'Sahara' Headline

MOSSAD, an Israeli intelligence agency, is cited as possible organiser of Mumbai train bomb blasts. Immediately after the blast, Mossad was reportedly engaged by Sai Baba Mandir trust to provide security to the famous religious shrine.

The newspaper clarifies that till now the Mumbai authorities have not confirmed as to why the Sai Baba Trust had to employ a foreign intelligence agency for its protection or if Maharashtra Government and Central Government have cleared the hiring of Mossad intelligence agency?

Sahara News Bureau [SNB] report on the front page of Sahara Urdu Daily of July 27, further adds that "some security experts have wondered if through the excuse of security of Hindu temples, Mossad, which is notorious for counter-terrorism and counter-espionage all over the world and especially in Arab and Muslim countries, is allowed to step in Maharashtra state, the conditions will seriously deteriorate not only in Maharashtra, but all over India".

SAHARA further quotes an anonymous retired Muslim police officer, who was commenting on the news of Mossad security for Sai Baba Mandir: " To get into Maharashtra, Mossad itself may have arranged the Mumbai train blasts in such a way that the whole blame should fall on SIMI, the banned Muslim Students organization" [which is now legal at least in India largest state of Uttar Pradesh] and other Muslim organizations.

SAHARA URDU is published from Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Kolkatta and Patna.

No English media with all their patriotic pretensions has yet found it necessary to report on entry of Israeli intelligence agencies in Maharashtra or in India. That probably suits private media interests, but is fraught with most sinister development for the nation, in times to come.

Ghulam Muhammad can be reached at ghulam_muhammed2@yahoo.co.in

Source: Dailymuslims
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/08/03/5177.shtml
----
Attack on U.S. Embassy in Yemen Linked to Mossad

U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen
Remember the attack on the U.S. embassy in Yemen last month that took the lives of eighteen people? A group calling themselves "Islamic Jihad" claimed responsibility for the blast. It has a nice, scary ring to it hasn't it? "Islamic Jihad" also happens to be the name of a group that operates out of Gaza.

"Islamic Jihad" pointedly mentioned its affiliation with al Qaeda after claiming responsibility for the September 17 U.S. embassy bombing:

"We, the Organisation of Islamic Jihad, belonging to the Al-Qaeda network, repeat our demand of (Yemeni President) Ali Abdullah Saleh to free our detained brothers within 48 hours," said a statement signed by self-proclaimed leader Abu Ghaith al-Yamani.

Former agent for French military intelligence Pierre-Henry Bunel has this to say about 'al Qaeda':

"The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the 'TV watcher' to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism..."

Well now the Yemeni authorities have arrested a group of these al Qaeda-backed militants with, surprise surprise, links to Israeli intelligence.

From BBC News:

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said the security forces have arrested a group of alleged Islamist militants linked to Israeli intelligence.

Mr Saleh did not say what evidence had been found to show the group's links with Israel, a regional enemy of Yemen.

The arrests were connected with an attack on the US embassy in Sanaa last month which killed at least 18 people, official sources were quoted saying.

Israel's foreign ministry has rejected the accusation as "totally ridiculous".
"A terrorist cell was arrested and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services," Mr Saleh told a gathering at al-Mukalla University in Hadramawt province.

"Details of the trial will be announced later. You will hear about what goes on in the proceedings," he added.

The 17 September attack was the second to target the US embassy since April. Militants detonated car bombs before firing rockets at the heavily fortified building.

Mr Saleh did not identify the suspects, but official sources were quoted saying it was same cell - led by a militant called Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani - whose arrest was announced a week after the attack.

An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the Yemeni president's statement was without foundation.

"To believe that Israel would create Islamist cells in Yemen is really far-fetched. This is yet another victory for the proponents of conspiracy theories," Igal Palmor said in remarks reported by AFP.

And from the Yemen Observer:

President Saleh revealed on Monday that security forces in Yemen caught an espionage network for Israel made up of Arab nationals. This announcement came during his speech in front of MP's, Shura Council members, local council members, scholars and military and security leaders at Hadhramout University.

According to the president the suspected spies will be brought before the courts shortly in a public trial after investigations are complete.

The network was comprised of 40 people from different Arab nationalities spying for Mossad, the Israeli international intelligence said sources from National and Political Security Units. The members of the espionage network entered Yemen on the premise of conducting business, tourism and even for preaching in mosques. Saleh said that the suspected spies form a terrorism cell that uses also Islam to reach their targets.Members were arrested individually and found to be in possession of detailed maps for sensitive security sites, intelligence telecommunication units and advanced tracking devices.

Article continues here.

And from another Oct 8 news report:

Dubai, Oct 8 (IANS) A terrorist cell busted in Yemen last month after a suicide attack on the US embassy there had links with an Israeli intelligence agency, the state-run Saba news agency reported.The report, quoting an unnamed source, said investigations and data retrieved from a computer seized from the cell, showed there was correspondence between the Islamic Jihad group’s deputy leader Bassam Abdullah Fadhel Al-Haidari and an Israeli intelligence agency.

Saba quoted the source as saying that the correspondence between the two sides included a request from the Israeli side to implement terrorist attacks inside Yemen.

Update: Here is the Saba news report mentioned above.

Keep track of news regarding the Israeli connection to Islamic Jihad here.

http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/8534
------

"Islamic Jihad" arrested cell links to Israeli intelligence
[07 October 2008]
http://www.sabanews.net/en/news165472.htm
SANA'A, Oct. 07 (Saba) - Investigations with the six-member terrorist cell of "Islamic Jihad" arrested late in September have disclosed an alleged link to Israeli intelligence, a security source said on Tuesday.

The investigations and the computer seized with the cell have revealed of correspondence between the cell's deputy leader named Bassam Abdullah Fadhel al-Haidari and an intelligence body in Israel, which has been included a support request to implement terrorist acts inside Yemen, according to the source.

Investigations are still underway, the source said, adding that when completion, the case's file would be sent to justice.

During his meeting with officials and dignitaries in Hadramout governorate, President Ali Abdullah Saleh unearthed last Monday arresting a terrorist cell has links with Israeli intelligence, despite raising a banner for Islam.

The cell included six members led by Emad Ali Saeed al-Rwoni, known as "Abu al-Gaith al-Miqdad al-Yamani". It has sent several threatening letters of targeting Arab and foreign embassies in Yemen such as embassies of Britain Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

The cell has been arrested after a terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy on Wednesday September 17, when a twin car bomb has rocked the US embassy in Sana'a killing 16 people including seven of troops guarding the embassy and four civilians and six attackers. The civilians included two Yemenis, an Indian women and a US citizen from a Yemeni origin.

AF/AF Saba
------------------------

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1030

Can we Trust Pakistani commitment to fight Jihadi Terrorism?

2009-01-30T04:11:00.002-08:00

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad
29 Nov 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
Can we Trust Pakistani commitment to fight Jihadi Terrorism?

Like his predecessors for a long time, and like several heads of government and the state of Pakistan, Pakistani foreign minister Yousaf Raza Qureshi has reiterated Pakistan’s determination to wipe out terrorists. Using a language meant to reassure India, the visiting minister says, “They [terrorists] have no face. They have no colour, no class, no creed, no religion, no nothing. They are barbarians. They are inhuman and we have to collectively eliminate them.” Qureshi has continued his visit reassuring India of every possible cooperation. Both President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani have made assurance calls to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

But the question before us is: Can we trust Pakistan? Promises like this have been made before. But the factories of teroror in Murdike and elsewhere continue to churn out terrorists. No action is taken against terrorists who claim to be fighting only against India. It seems while Islamabad will fight against terrorists who fight against Pakistani state or the US interests, it will leave alone organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba that fight against India alone. Mr. Qureishi says his government practises no such discrimination. Can we trust them? asks Sultan Shahin, Editor, NewAgeIslam.com in this debating forum free for all its readers to participate.

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1029

--------------------

Pak will cooperate with India at every level: Qureshi

Atishay Abbhi / CNN-IBN

Published on Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 00:40, Updated on Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 01:00 in World section

NEIGHBOURHOOD STANCE: Pakistani foreign minister Yousaf Raza Qureshi has continued his visit reassuring India of every possible cooperation.

New Delhi: Once the operation to flush out the terrorists from the Mumbai hotels are over, the focus will shift to the investigations.

As it happens, the Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in India in New Delhi and he said India shouldn't blame Pakistan and called for a united stand on terror.

Qureshi said, “Today India is mourning. Yesterday Pakistan was mourning and tomorrow, we don't know who that will be. Let us share our problems. There should not be any blame game. Pakistan is willing to cooperate with India at every level.”

Just couple of hours after the Pakistani foreign minister’s statement, it was anything but peace.

Terrorists unleashed every piece of artillery in the heart of Mumbai to carry out the most coordinated terror attack in India and with all the evidence stacking up pointing towards the Pakistani link, where do India-Pakistan relations go from here?

Some of the men behind the attack, according to initial reports, are Pakistani nationals trained in maritime terrorism in Karachi by Lashkar-E-Toiba (LeT).

An angry India conveyed to Pakistan that it has all the evidence pointing towards the Pakistani link.

External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said, “The preliminary information we have received so far points to the certainty that some of Pakistani elements are involved in the activity. We ask Pakistan to arrest these people and put an end to these things.”

Meanwhile Qureshi says, “They have no face. They have no colour, no class, no creed, no religion, no nothing. They are barbarians. They are inhuman and we have to collectively eliminate them.”

Attacks in Mumbai have once again landed India and Pakistan in an embarrassing face-off.

The new lull in the relation has cemented the fear of the failure the joint Anti-terror mechanism.

Apparently, Pakistan is feeling the heat not just from India but around the world.

It is now making efforts to prove itself and is sending ISI chief to India to help in investigations.

Qureshi has continued his visit reassuring India of every possible cooperation.

Both president Zardari and prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani have made assurance calls to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

However, the PM without naming Pakistan, warned that the neighbour may have to pay a price if it continues allowing its territory to be used against India.

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1029

Condemning "Islamist" terrorist attack on Mumbai in harshest terms

2009-01-30T04:11:00.001-08:00

Condemning "Islamist" terrorist attack on Mumbai in harshest terms

PM PROMISES TO GO ALL OUT AGAINST TERROR

New Delhi, Nov 27: Even as the siege of India’s financial capital continued, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered his strongest message yet about his government’s intention to crack down on the enemies of India.

Addressing the nation on the morbid occasion he sought to give an impression of the government and security agencies being in control of the situation. While condemning the assault in most severe terms, he assured Indian citizens that all possible measures would be taken against the perpetrators of this outrage.

Hinting for the first time that India might be contemplating hot pursuit, the Prime Minister said that his government “will go after perpetrators” of the attacks all the way.

On the issue of more stringent laws, a demand that has been raised time and again especially by the opposition, the PM said current laws will be tightened as per the need. The PM said that National Security Act would be enforced so that the terrorists cannot escape.

He also addressed another long standing demand of setting up a Federal Agency to tackle terror saying that such an organisation would be established. He also said police reforms would be initiated.

“We cannot countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with such impunity,” he said firmly.

Sending out a clear signal that the government believed this strike to be the handiwork of foreign nationals, the Prime Minister warned neighbours that they would not be allowed to use their territory for anti-India activities. He also promised to take up the issue with the highest authorities of such countries, promising that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them.

"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with the single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country."

He said the "well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners."

The PM also promised to bring in a tighter visa regime saying no suspicious element will be allowed to set foot into the country.

He also ‘saluted’ and condoled the death of those killed in action so far, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare. The PM said that the government would compensate those killed and injured in the attack and would bear the full medical expenses of their treatment.

The grave looking PM concluded by calling on all citizens to remain united and maintain peace and harmony in this trying time.

Zeenews Bureau

***
TEXT - Prime Minister's statement on Mumbai attack

Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:13pm IST
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the attacks in Mumbai which killed more than 100 people were probably plotted by a group based in a neighbouring country.

Following is a text of his televised address:

"The dastardly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai last night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many others have deeply shocked the nation.
"I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign countries.

"I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical treatment of injured.

"The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners.

"I salute the courage and patriotism of the police officers, including the Chief of the Anti-Terror Squad, Shri (Mr.) Hemant Karkare and men who have laid down their lives in fighting these terrorists.

"I assure the country that we will attend in an urgent and serious manner to police reform so that the law and order authorities can work unitedly, effectively and in a determined manner to tackle such threats to national integrity.

"We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists.
"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country.

"We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts. We are determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

"Instruments like the National Security Act will be employed to deal with situations of this kind. Existing laws will be tightened to ensure that there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law.

"Most importantly, it is essential to immediately set up a Federal Investigation Agency to go into terrorist crimes of this kind and ensure that the guilty are brought to book.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them.

"We will take a number of measures to strengthen the hands of our police and intelligence authorities. We will curb the flow of funds to suspect organisations. We will restrict the entry of suspects into the country.

"We will go after these individuals and organisations and make sure that every perpetrator, organiser and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliation or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people.

"In this hour of tragedy, I appeal to the people to maintain peace and harmony so that the enemies of our country do not succeed in their nefarious designs. All concerned authorities are on alert and will deal sternly with any attempts to disturb public order.

"I am confident that the people of India will rise unitedly to face this grave challenge to the nation's security and integrity.
***
World leaders condemn Mumbai terror strikes

November 27th, 2008 - 3:03 pm ICT by ANI

Washington/London/Moscow/Chicago, Nov.27 (ANI): There has been widespread international condemnation of the series of shootings across Mumbai in which at least 80 people have been killed and many more injured. Following are some of the statements issued by heads of state, government and leaders, as reported by the BBC.

These outrageous attacks in Mumbai will be met with a vigorous response. I have sent a message to [Indian] Prime Minister [Manmohan] Singh that the UK stands solidly with his government as they respond, and to offer all necessary help. Urgent action is underway to offer every possible protection to British citizens in the region,” said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said: “President Bush offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks in Mumbai, India. The United States condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy. This afternoon, the White House National Security Council convened officials from counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies as well as the state and defence Departments.The US government continues to monitor the situation, including the safety and security of our citizens, and stands ready to assist and support the Indian government.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is due to visit India early next month said: “We are concerned about the loss of life and consider that acts of terrorism of this type are harmful to the whole international order and are a challenge to humanity.”

A spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, said: “The secretary general condemns the rash of shootings and blasts in Mumbai today, which killed and wounded a large number of people. Such violence is totally unacceptable. The secretary general reiterates his conviction that no cause or grievance can justify indiscriminate attacks against civilians. He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly.[He] sends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and the wounded and expresses his solidarity with the people and government of India.

The office of the Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said: “Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, while strongly condemning the incidents of violence in Mumbai, has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives.”

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: “Whichever group has perpetrated this attack, they are cowards, absolute cowards, and murderers.This cowardly attack on India’’s stability, peace and democracy reminds us all that international terrorism is far from defeated, and that we must all maintain our vigilance.”

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said: “This kind of terrorism is unforgivable, extremely despicable and vicious. I feel strong resentment and deeply condemn it.Japan is with the Indian people who are fighting against terrorism and we will cooperate with the Indian government.” (ANI)

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1021

22 Nov 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com Why I left Islam? An Ex-Muslim Convert from Belgium

2009-01-30T04:11:00.000-08:00

Islamic Ideology
22 Nov 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com
Why I left Islam? An Ex-Muslim Convert from Belgium

On the day I read the news that Michael Jackson has embraced Islam and according to a CIA assessment Islam would dominate the world by 2025, I also got in my mail the following story of an Ex-Muslim Convert from Belgium who has now renounced Islam. Researching it, I found that this story has been posted at some other sites as well.
I could not verify the story from an independent source or find out more about the story teller. Whether Jan exists or this is just a mischievous story put out by vested interests is not clear. However, on reading the story I found that the objections he has raised about Islam and the doubts and questions that he claims arose in his mind are more or less the same that are plaguing the minds of many Muslims, particularly from fundamentalist Islamic countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. I was particularly reminded of a conversation I had with a Teheran-based Iranian writer in the lobby of a hotel in Tripoli where we were both staying while attending an international conference several years ago. The questions posed here are almost identical to what he told me. This Iranian gentleman was not prepared to hear anything positive about Islam, living as he was in the fundamentalist Iran and seeing the depredation caused by a narrow-minded interpretation of Islam in that land. It has indeed become rather difficult to talk to such people. When I tried to argue with him, he passed out. I thought he was playing some cheap trick on me, but it turned out that he was a very serious person and a good writer and had actually gone unconscious describing to me what a nervous wreck he had become having to live as a Muslim in a Mullah-infested land.

But one thing is clear: the questions posed here and the objections raised are in the minds of many thinking Muslims, particularly of the younger generation that has gone to English or European schools where you are taught to think for yourself. Islamic schools, as Allama Neyaz Fatehpuri testified decades ago, have stopped encouraging thought; they just want you to take as gospel truth whatever an illiterate, ignorant, obscurantist Mullah tells you. You are just not supposed to ask questions. This is a tragedy for a religion like Islam. Our Holy Book The Quran asks us constantly to think, think, think and think. Islam rejected the demands of those who wanted the Prophet to perform cheap miracles and instead asked its followers and doubters to see and observe and think about the miracle that creation itself is. What can be a greater miracle than this Universe, this God’s creation indeed? NewAgeIslam.com sees no contradiction between Faith and Reason. Faith does involve going beyond reason; but it does not ask us to contradict reason and rationality. Nothing in Islam, in particular, is irrational.

I would therefore request my readers to treat this treatise seriously, not worry about the motivation of the person who is asking these questions, or who is behind him, etc., as we often do, and try to answer the questions raised with a view to satisfying the doubts of many among us, particularly those living under the yoke of Mullahs in so-called Islamic lands where Muslims are not free to practise their religion according to their own understanding of what it means to be a Muslim. Simply castigating people as hypocrites or non-believers or as is very popular with our mullahs, calling them kafir, does not solve our problem; we have to engage our honest, rational, thinking people in the nicest way possible and start thinking ourselves too, for a change.

Sultan Shahin, edior, NewAgeIslam.com
******

Why I left Islam? An Ex-Muslim Convert from Belgium

Dear friends,

I am an ex-Muslim convert from Belgium. I am posting the story that I also put on the Dutch forum. I would like to know if there are Belgian ex-Muslims here. So if you are one or if you know a Belgian ex-Muslim, please let me know.

Greetings,

Jan

MY STORY

I converted to Islam long ago. I have been raised in a very strict Catholic family and grew up in a loving environment. I always felt real good in the “Catholic "system". Even though my conversion was a very big shock for my parents, they always considered me as their beloved son. In this respect and in many other points my parents are true Christians.

Many people convert to Islam because their partner is Muslim. They think Islam is equal to Christianity plus Muhammad; a type of 2.1 version of the Windows of religion. For men like me this is because it is a (legal) obligation or necessity, to marry a Muslim woman. Women mostly convert because their partner shows so much love for his religion and the rituals (praying, fasting, ...) have a charming effect, and to come closer to their partner, they just want to join in and convert. One falls in love with the so-called Islamic atmosphere and solidarity without knowing what Islam really is about.

When I proposed to my fiancé, she wanted me to convert to Islam, which I did. I realize now that it was not wise to convert to a religion, which I hardly knew anything about. So I converted to Islam without studying it carefully.

This is a very common phenomenon and I’d even say it’s typical. The Muslim (a) with whom one has a personal friendship or relation knows very little about Islam her/himself, did not study this systematically and does not even know how to start studying it in a systematic way.

If one asks information about Islam to Muslims, they will give you a few innocent books to show how beautiful Islam is. These books are mostly misleading and even texts written by the "Centre for Islam in Europe", linked to the University of Gent (Belgium) are a twist of "real Islam" and a denial of the teachings of the 4 main schools of Islam. The pattern of their thinking is, that good verses in the Quran are generally applicable and the passages that call for violence are contextual and only meant for a specific situation. The Quran however does not make this distinction. The negative side of Islam is justified by very “creative” reasoning, by concealing things, by wrong translations from Arabic and by outright lies.

My conversion to Islam was in a period of my life in which I was building up my career and family life and there was no room to study Islam. As a matter of fact, I had no idea how to start studying it. At the time there was no Internet yet.

I think very few people, Muslims as as well candidate-Muslims understand anything of the Quran. The reason is simple: the Quran is badly structured, very confusing and jumps from one subject to another. It’s an endless repetition of the same theme: believe in Allah and his Messenger Muhammad or you will receive the most horrible punishments in hell. This is repeated endlessly. Hundreds of times.

I have never met anyone who can tell me which verses he or she was moved by or found touching, or new things Muhammad brought that weren’t already in Christianity or Judaism except the well-developed Jihad-ideology, and the threat and declaring as enemy anyone who does not believe in Allah and Muhammad. There must be war until the complete world accepts Islamic laws. As illustrated in the following verses from the Quran and in a tradition/hadith considered as authentic and transmitted by Bukhari:

Quran 2:193. "And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors."

Quran 8:39. "And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do."

Hadith by Bukhari Book 2 “Belief”, Number 24: Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

The Quran is without any doubt the miracle of Islam. I really think Muhammad was an incredible genius to “sell” a book with....

- Absurdities (the sun goes down in a muddy pond Quran 18.86)

- Contradictions (initially everyone has the right to choose his own religion, Quran chapter 109, and in the end polytheists have to be killed in Quran 9.5),

- Logical mistakes in thinking (according to the Quran, verse 4.157, the Jews say that Jesus is the Messiah and a Prophet of Allah, which they never did)

- threats (the unbelievers are fuel for hell Quran, 2.24)

... as a book coming from Allah and the top of communication between Allah and mankind. The perfect book. In the meantime this book became so holy that mistreating it can be a legitimate reason for murder.

As a matter of fact even devout Muslims will confirm the Quran is hard to understand. They even prove it by the existence of the so-called tafsirs, Quranic commentaries. The Quran claims to be a guide for the believer but to understand it one needs 10 more books. This cannot be right! A guiding book has to be clear!

In one respect the Quran is rather harmless for a candidate-Muslim. It is so boring and unreadable that hardly anybody gets any further than the first few pages en then gives up. Personally, I don’t know any book that is so confusing. I think there is none. It wouldn’t get published anyway.

A few years ago, I mentioned to my wife that all news about Islam was so negative and that I wondered what Islam really teaches. She told me there were no secrets and that everything was written in the books. Which books she could not say, so I looked on the Internet to find the sourcebooks of Islam that I needed to read and found them on the following website www.prophetofdoom.net and faithfreedom. Of course I had Muslims confirm that these were the best sources and I bought them in online Islamic bookstores.

These books however are well-hidden in those Islamic online stores. If you do not know the title of these books, it is very hard to find them. The reason for that is simply because they are an insult to Islam and to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. All books that are written about Islam come from those original sources but they selectively use what needs to be proven. In most cases the truth has been twisted to cover up the “unpleasant” side of Muhammad.

So I purchased these books, read them and found out that they say exactly the same as what websites that are against Islam say. I have read the following 20 books:

1. Quran

2. The authentic traditions of Muhammad (Sahih Hadith) by Bukhari: 9 books

3. A summary of the authentic traditions of Muhammad by (Sahih) Muslim: 2 books

4. Life of the Prophet: oldest biography by Ibn Ishaq

5. Life of the Prophet: Tabari: 4 books

6. Life of the Prophet: Ibn Sa'd: 2 books

7. Shariah book called Umdat as-salik / Reliance of the Traveller of the Shafi'i school (1 of the 4 large schools of Islam recognized by the Al-Azhar university in Egypt). This is not an original source but it is how the Quran, the hadith and the biographies of the Muhammad are interpreted by Muslim scholars and are being turned into laws. This book is incredibly user-friendly and I use it to check my interpretation of the Quran and the Hadith.

This Shariah book does not contain any surprises because it is consistent with the Quran and the Sahih Hadith.

After reading these books I am no longer a Muslim. There is no greater insult to Muhammad as a prophet and for Islam as an ideology, than the Quran and the original sources of Islam: books written by Muslims for Muslims. That is why websites that fight Islam advise everyone to study Islam from these original sources.

What is written in these books is too crazy for words. Many practices that we consider as immoral in the 21st century have been permitted by Muhammad.

I have found the following issues very disturbing:

1- Muhammad was keeping slaves and made trade in them. This means that slavery is part of Islam forever. Slavery has only been abolished in Muslim countries under Western pressure. Therefore slavery can be reinstated at any time. Islamic legislation concerning slavery is being reprinted up till today by the main schools of Islam, so that scholars are aware of it. Furthermore Islam allows female slaves and female prisoners of war to be raped on condition that well-established rules are followed.

Muhammad himself encouraged this, see the following authentic tradition/hadith transmitted by Muslim. The title of chapter 29 is already very revealing:

Book 8, Chapter 29: “IT IS PERMISSIBLE TO HAVE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH A CAPTIVE WOMAN AFTER SHE IS PURIFIED (OF MENSES OR DELIVERY) IN CASE SHE HAS A HUSBAND, HER MARRIAGE IS ABROGATED AFTER SHE BECOMES CAPTIVE.”

Muslim, Book 8, Number 3432: “Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that at the Battle of Hunain Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) sent an army to Autas and encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most High, sent down regarding that:" And women already married, except those whom your right hands possess (verse 4:24)" (i. e. they were lawful for them when their 'Idda period came to an end).”

2-The humiliating position of women; they cannot decide whom they get married to and can be divorced any time without any formality.

... or can be exchanged for another woman. Quran 4:20 says: “And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything; would you take it by slandering (her) and (doing her) manifest wrong?”

Women have to obey their husbands and if the husband fears she will not obey she may be beaten. Quran 4:34. " Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great."

Note: "beat them (fem. pl.)" in Arabic, is often translated by "discipline her" or “scourge her” because the translator is obviously too ashamed to use the word beating.

One of the 4 schools of Islam, namely the Shafi'i school states without shame that the only duty of a woman is to sexually satisfy her husband. Through her dowry he gets a one-off payment. This reminds me of the oldest profession in the world. Scholars of the Shafi'i school do not make this up. They simply learn this from the Quran:

Quran 4:24. “...Then as to those whom you profit by, give them their dowries as appointed...”

Quran 4:20. “And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything; would you take it by slandering (her) and (doing her) manifest wrong?

Quran 4:21. “And how can you take it when one of you has already gone in to the other and they have made with you a firm covenant?

This also has been confirmed by authentic traditions of Muhammad, which clearly state that the dowry is only linked to sexual intercourse with the husband. If he divorces her after having sexual intercourse even only once, he loses this money. (Muslim, Book 9, number 3557.)

3- the killing of apostates: most Muslims and non-Muslims think this is an anomaly. They are wrong. This practice is not only in the collective memory of the population in Muslim countries, but all Shari’ah handbooks tell the same story. Everyone who has studied Islam seriously knows that Shari’ah prescribes the death penalty for apostates. This is based on the authentic traditions of Muhammad who said:

"If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him." (Bukhari, Book 52, Number 260)

and

"The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims." (Bukhari, Book 83 Number 17)

In most Islamic countries the death penalty for apostasy is not applied because this is an inhumane law. In these countries however apostates are harassed administratively by all possible means or are punished in one way or another. In the so-called moderate Muslim country Malaysia they have sent a woman to a psychiatric institution and her child has been taken away from her because she had turned away from Islam and became a Hindu. Fortunately she lives in "moderate" Malaysia. If she were living in Saudi-Arabia, she would be beheaded.

4- Polygamy as legalized adultery. Contrary to what some Muslims (as) claim, polygamy is not an exceptional situation and the first wife does not need to give permission. The man has the unconditional right to 4 wives if he gives them a dowry according to their status and if he can provide for them. Women who don’t grant this right to their husbands are ungrateful and therefore they will go to hell. This is described in the tradition of Muhammad narrated by Muslim in Book 1, Number 142.

5- the call of the Quran and Muhammad for eternal war until Islam is the dominant system everywhere (see above)

6- the inhumane punishments for theft and adultery with the idea in mind (Tradition by Muslim in Book 1, Number 171) that Allah can forgive anything except worshipping other gods besides Him. If one says that Jesus is the Son of God one goes to hell, but when one commits theft or adultery and only believes in Allah one can go to heaven.

7- the double personality of Muhammad, who on one hand was completely reliable, beloved, patient, and even timid and who on the other hand encouraged killing, torture, robbing and rape.

8- the inconsistence of the Quran. It is hard to believe that this is the work of a Supreme Being. One has to be unbelievably brainwashed to think this is sublime. In Pakistan however, you will be beheaded if you throw the Quran in a wastebin.

Many a Muslim will claim that what I have written has nothing to do with Islam and that all of it are culture-related issues. This is completely false. The situation of the Muslim has nothing to do with a so called backward culture in Islamic countries but has everything to do with true Islam itself.

In my opinion Islam is in violation with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on many issues and poses a danger to society. Reformation of Islam is impossible since everything is described in detail in the Quran and the Hadith/traditions of Muhammad. The Quran and the Hadith are complementary and provide explanations for one another. The so-called reformers or moderate Muslims pretend that a large part of the Quran does not exist. Or they try to distort the truth because it so ugly.

The extremists (Wahabi, Salafists, ... ) or so-called “radicalized youth” just go for the whole story. If in the West Islam is considered as an “approved” religion, one cannot blame these people that they use their right to effectively follow the Quran and the Hadith.

One forgets that Islam is not only a religion but also a culture, a social system, a legislation, a political system, a military system, ....and that these cannot easily be separated.

An example: one would expect that prayer belongs to the religious domain. During prayer Muslims read a chapter of the Quran. When they choose chapter 9 and recite that polytheists should be killed (9:5) and that Christians and Jews have to be fought until they submit (9:29) and that you may not spend time with your ‘unbelieving’ family members (9:23), one enters in the military, social and political domain. And then Muslims are surprised that they have to explain to those Polytheists, Jews, Christians or atheist relatives that these verses are no longer valid and were meant only for specific circumstances, whereas Islamic scholars claim the exact opposite.

When I put everything in perspective I cannot understand how anyone who has studied Islam thoroughly on the basis of the Islamic sources, still can remain a Muslim. I am no longer a Muslim and I hope every Muslim will study Islam thoroughly and follow in my footsteps.

Finally I wish peace to all my Muslim and non-Muslim brothers and sisters!

***

The year 2025: Oil, dollar out; Russia, Islam in

Top of Form

By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer – Thu Nov 20, 3:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Global warming could help Russia's economy, an Eastern or Central European country could be overrun by organized crime and the U.S. dollar could further decline in importance during the next two decades, says a new report from U.S. intelligence analysts with predictions for the world in 2025.

The report, Global Trends 2025, is published every four years by the National Intelligence Council to give leaders insight into looming problems and opportunities.

The report says the warming earth will extend Russia's growing season and ease access to northern oil fields, which will strengthen its economy. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.

Analysts also warn that the same kind of organized crime plaguing Russia could eventually take over the government of an Eastern or Central European country, and that countries in Africa and South Asiamay find themselves ungoverned, as state regimes wither away under security and resource pressure.

The report forecasts a geopolitical rise in non-Arab Muslim states outside of the Middle East, including Turkey and Indonesia, and suggests that Iran could also be a central player in a new world order if it sheds its theocracy.

The report also suggests the world may complete its move away from its dependence on oil, and that the U.S. dollar, while remaining important, will decline to "first among equals" among other national currencies.

***
MICHAEL JACKSON CONVERTS TO ISLAM

CHANGES NAME TO MIKAEEL

By NEIL SYSON, THE SUN

Posted: 8:51 pm, November 20, 2008

SUN EXCLUSIVE: MICHAEL JACKSON has become a Muslim - and changed his name to Mikaeel.

The skint superstar, 50, donned Islamic garb to pledge allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a pal's mansion in Los Angeles, The Sun can reveal.

Jacko sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate - days before the singer is due to appear at London's High Court where he is being sued by an Arab sheik.

A source told last night how Jacko, brought up as a Jehovah's Witness, decided to convert as he used a studio at the home of his chum to record a new album.

The star - whose hits include The Way You Make Me Feel - was spotted looking "a bit down" by a producer and a songwriter who had both embraced Islam.

***

Michael Jackson: Converts to Islam, Reportedly Says, Jews Are 'Leeches'

Written by Bird of Paradise

Published November 26, 2005

Well, the King of Pop is soon to be a Muslim living in Bahrain. At least that's the story coming out of that small kingdom today.

American pop star Michael Jackson has officially announced that he has been following the five tenets of Islam and intends to convert to Islam, according to a report on the website of Arab-Israeli newspaper Panorama.

The report is based on information elicited from sources in Bahrain.

According to the report, Jackson's announcement noted he is moving to Bahrain and has purchased some real-estate on an artificial island there. The singer said he decided to convert to Islam because he is convinced it is the closest religion to his personal beliefs.

According to a phone recording released last week, among Jackson's "personal beliefs" is one that considers Jews to be "leeches."

According to that story, Jackson is heard saying that "they're like leeches...I'm so tired of it. They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars and everything. End up penniless. It is a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose."

I suppose that fits in with most Muslim attitudes these days, at least in the Middle East.

The story of Jackson's conversion to Islam continues, Jackson also noted he intends to soon move all his assets and his studio from the U.S. to Bahrain, and expressed his hope to be rid of various legal troubles and enjoy the kind of freedom he says he does not have in America.

Considering that Jackson is supposed to be flat broke, how does he come up with enough money to buy and artificial island and house in Bahrain? And what assets does he have that are not already claimed by creditors?

In any case, it looks as though Neverland will be left behind for good.

I wonder if we have an extradition treaty with Bahrain.

I also wonder if child molestation is considered to be a crime there. Maybe Jackson will name his new home, "Pleasure Island."

Jackson has been a creative and talented entertainer. He is also, as I have stated before, a very troubled man. I cannot, in good faith, wish him well in the new path he appears to be taking. I would

prefer to see him submit to the judgement of God, repent and be "born again" into a new and improved Jackson rather than to see him pick a religion because it "comes close" to agreeing with his own beliefs.

What about his hope that he will "enjoy the kind of freedom he says he does not have in America"? Well, when you have enough money, you can enjoy freedom without accountability in just about any corrupt, despotic country you care to choose.

It is only in nations that believe all individuals are to be held equally accountable under the law that a rich man or woman loses the freedom to do whatever they want.

If this is freedom for Michael Jackson, then perhaps it is better for all of us for him to live in Bahrain.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/26/133539.php

http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1007