Indonesia Upholds Blasphemy Law, Islamic World News

Islamic World News

Indonesia Upholds Blasphemy Law

Critics say the law is vague, allowing authorities to interpret and enforce it how they choose, which they say has largely been used against those seen as offending mainstream Islam.

The government used the blasphemy law in the past to outlaw religious groups, including Ahmadiya, a minority Islamic group banned in 2008 whose members identify themselves as Muslims but do not believe in the core tenet of Islam that Muhammad is the last prophet.

They also say conservative Islamic groups have used the law as justification

for violent attacks on minority religious groups.

'Blow to freedom'

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US based rights organisation, said the ruling "dealt a severe blow to religious freedom" in the world's third-largest democracy.

"Indonesia's laws should protect those who peacefully express religious views and punish those who threaten to use violence against others, not the other way around," Elaine Pearson of HRW said.

The US commission on international religious freedom, a non-partisan body that advises the US government, said the ruling may embolden religious extremists and foster sectarian strife.

Chairul Annam, one of the lawyers arguing for the law's repeal, said "the judges closed their eyes and hearts.

We are very sorry that discrimination suffered by minorities in this country was not recognised by the court."

http://newageislam.com/indonesia-upholds-blasphemy-law/islamic-world-news/d/2730

ISLAM – NEITHER CAPITALISM OR SOCIALISM, Islamic Ideology, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Ideology

ISLAM – NEITHER CAPITALISM OR SOCIALISM

Asghar Ali Engineer

A few days ago a press conference was held in Mumbai by some Muslim organizations including some Muslim theologians claiming that Islam is against capitalism and imperialism and that we would launch a campaign against both. It is indeed a crude attempt to compare or contrast modern political ideologies with Islam which originated in 7th century Arabia.

Islam has its central values like truth, justice and equality of all human beings. But these are core values of Islam which very favourably compare with modern concept of human rights, human dignity and social justice. But modern economic conditions and political ideologies have their own origin which has nothing to do with the economic conditions prevailing after Islam appears on the Arabian scene.

On my visit to Cairo a few decades ago I found a book Al-Yamin wa Al-Yasar fi’l Islam (the right and left in Islam). I found this book quite interesting as the entire discussion in the book is with reference to the then prevailing conditions and how the first four rightly guided Caliphs followed different economic policies which had deep impact on social conditions in the Islamic world.

http://newageislam.com/islam-%E2%80%93-neither-capitalism-or-socialism-/islamic-ideology/d/2367

Confessions of a White jihadist, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Confessions of a White jihadist

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

28 November 2009

imi Hendrix's Eazy Rider reached its crescendo as I pulled into the driveway of the house I shared with my parents. So I held the cassette in both hands and squeezed until the plastic snapped. In that instant, the broken tape seemed like a symbol. I was turning my back on a life of not being serious about my faith... Over time, I came to believe that listening to music was a transgression that believers should avoid... And if God believes it’s wrong to pet a dog or shake hands with a woman, who am I to argue? If you have one view, and God has another, wouldn't you change your mind rather than expecting God to change His?

As I drove from the lake back toward my house, listening to a favourite mixed tape I had made in college, I carefully considered the theological implications. I had loved music since I was a kid. Sometimes I'd find myself thinking in music, associating particularly strong emotions with certain songs, associating different parts of town with other songs. I had a favourite nook near the top of the park where, when I wanted to be alone, I could sit on a large rock by the babbling creek. It reminded me of Fleetwood Mac's Seven Wonders.

But I was grappling with whether there was an Islamic imperative to remove music from my life. I thought of my colleagues' stern lectures about the sinful nature of music, but it was deeper than that. Beyond what anybody might think, there was my relationship with Allah. Was music haram, or prohibited by Islamic law? I thought of Muhammad bin Jamil Zino's book, Islamic Guidelines for Individual and Social Reform, and the wealth of evidence he provided for why music is spiritually harmful. I could not deny the power of some of the ahadith he quoted.

http://newageislam.com/confessions-of-a-white-jihadist/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/2164

Survivors of Arab spiritual past, Islamic Culture, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Culture

Survivors of Arab spiritual past

Jonathan Gornall

Sep 13. 2009

After oil was discovered, Abu Dhabi lost much of its architectural heritage, particularly its mosques. But on the islands, the traditional places of worship, built in the ancient Arab manner without minarets, survived long enough to be preserved and restored. Jonathan Gornall reports.

It began with an invitation to dine with the founder of the nation; it ended with a timely intervention that saved a vital and threatened part of the country’s cultural heritage.

In the late 1980s, Dr Geoffrey King, an expert in Islamic art and archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, was part of an international team excavating at the ancient town of Julfar in Ras al Khaimah when he was invited to Abu Dhabi to meet Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the minister for higher education.

At Julfar, a major trading centre from pre-Islamic times until the 18th century, the archaeologists had discovered evidence of a mosque dating back to the 15th or even 14th century. Dr King recalls that Sheikh Nahyan asked what archaeology could be done in Abu Dhabi.

“I said we know absolutely nothing about the islands off the coast,” Dr King recalled.

Sheikh Zayed, the late founder of the nation, himself concerned with preserving the lessons of the nation’s past for its people of the future, gave approval for the team to excavate those islands, starting on Sir Bani Yas. It was the beginning of a 14-year archaeological survey.

http://newageislam.com/survivors-of-arab-spiritual-past/islamic-culture/d/1833

Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery explains why Islamic Militancy serves the policy objectives of the US establishment, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam

Islam and the West

Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery explains why Islamic Militancy serves the policy objectives of the US establishment

Molten lead

By Uri Avnery

January 6, 2009

That is the main thing. Then there came the small provocations which were designed to get Hamas to react. After several months, in which hardly any Qassam rockets were launched, an army unit was sent into the Strip “in order to destroy a tunnel that came close to the border fence”. From a purely military point of view, it would have made more sense to lay an ambush on our side of the fence. But the aim was to find a pretext for the termination of the cease-fire, in a way that made it plausible to put the blame on the Palestinians. And indeed, after several such small actions, in which Hamas fighters were killed, Hamas retaliated with a massive launch of rockets, and — lo and behold — the cease-fire was at an end. Everybody blamed Hamas.

What was the aim? Tzipi Livni announced it openly: to liquidate Hamas rule in Gaza. The Qassams served only as a pretext.

Liquidate Hamas rule? That sounds like a chapter out of The March of Folly. After all, it is no secret that it was the Israeli government which set up Hamas to start with. When I once asked a former Shin-Bet chief, Yaakov Peri, about it, he answered enigmatically: “We did not create it, but we did not hinder its creation.”

For years, the occupation authorities favoured the Islamic movement in the occupied territories. All other political activities were rigorously suppressed, but their activities in the mosques were permitted. The calculation was simple and naive: at the time, the PLO was considered the main enemy; Yasser Arafat was the current Satan. The Islamic movement was preaching against the PLO and Arafat, and was therefore viewed as an ally.

http://newageislam.com/israeli-peace-activist-uri-avnery-explains-why-islamic-militancy-serves-the-policy-objectives-of-the-us-establishment--/islam-and-the-west/d/1102

India: Woman qazi performing nikah a good sign - Tahir Mahmood, Islamic Sharia Laws, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Sharia Laws

India: Woman qazi performing nikah a good sign - Tahir Mahmood

By Satya Prakash, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, September 01, 2008

Breaking the age-old tradition of male qazi’s performing nikah, Uttar Pradesh State Planning Commission member Syeda Hamid, a Shia Muslim, performed the nikah of Sunni Muslims Naish Hasan and Imran at a Lucknow hotel on August 12.

Naish runs her own NGO, while Imran is a PhD from the Aligarh Muslim University and works for another NGO. Interestingly, the nikahnama was also the one drafted by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a voluntary organisation founded by activist Muslim women, including Naish, who saw a male bias in the conventional nikahnama.

Mahmood said it was being projected by a section of the media as an epoch-making event but dismissed by the Muslim clergy as an insignificant incident.

Maintaining that there was nothing in Islamic law that prevented women from performing any of the roles traditionally considered to be monopoly of men, Mahmood said: “Assigning any such role to a woman, even though in an isolated case, is bound to impact the tradition-bound Muslim society. It must be hailed.”

http://newageislam.com/india--woman-qazi-performing-nikah-a-good-sign---tahir-mahmood-/islamic-sharia-laws/d/684

Islam bullish in a bear market, Islamic Ideology, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Ideology

Islam bullish in a bear market

By Grace Wyler

Newsweek, Jul 28, 2008

The big winners in faith funds (if you can be so crass) are the Islamic funds. They screen out "sin stocks"— and producers of pork products. The profitable difference is riba, or interest. The Qur'an strictly prohibits the borrowing or lending of money at interest: "Whatever you give as riba so that it might bring increase through the wealth of other people will bring you no increase with Allah," it says. Because of this prohibition, Islamic mutual funds, like those in the Amana group, don't invest in financial-services companies: they escaped the subprime mortgage debacle altogether. Most energy companies, however, are fine. "We don't consider ourselves an environmental or socially responsible fund," says Monem Salam, Amana's director of Islamic investing. "Energy was a big part of our growth." Over the past year, the Amana funds outperformed the market; their assets have more than doubled from $400 million in 2003 to $1.3 billion this year. Five years ago, most of Amana's investors were American Muslims, Salam adds. Now, he guesses, 80 percent of new investors are non-Muslims.

http://newageislam.com/islam-bullish-in-a-bear-market/islamic-ideology/d/386

CHINESE TAKE AWAY: Jihad in the West, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

CHINESE TAKE AWAY: Jihad in the West

By C Raja Mohan

August 14, 2008

A series of terrorist attacks during the last ten days in the Xinjiang province is drawing attention to the new prospect of an Islamist jihad against China. Timed to coincide with the opening of the Beijing Olympics, the violence in China’s has claimed more than 30 lives.

Despite the boldness of their recent attacks in Xinjiang, where western China meets Central Asia, Pakistan and India, the Islamic extremists are unlikely to pose a significant threat to the games themselves, which are being held under a massive security cover. Chinese officials say so far there has been no clear evidence to tie the terrorist attacks to known Uighur ethnic separatist groups. Xinjiang has a long history of separatist demands from the Uighurs, who are of Turkic ethnicity and Islamic faith.

The big question is whether there is a new radical Islamic dimension to the restiveness in Xinjiang that China has managed to contain until now. There is growing speculation that the new Islamist elements in Xinjiang might have links to the global jihadi network now entrenched in borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In the past, top Pakistani officials had confirmed the presence of Uighur Islamic extremists training in its border regions along with terrorists from around the world. The scope of jihadi activity against China has been seen as modest, at least until recently.

http://newageislam.com/chinese-take-away--jihad-in-the-west/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/555

Waziristan, a Taliban mini state: NYT, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad

Waziristan, a Taliban mini state: NYT

Our correspondent

The newspaper quoted a recently arrested suicide bomber in Afghanistan as saying that the former head of Pakistani intelligence, Gen Hamid Gul, “was financing and supporting the project (of producing suicide bombers)”. Though, it said, the claim is impossible to verify. Pakistan intelligence agencies have long nurtured militants in the tribal areas to pressure the rival government in Afghanistan, though the government claims to have ceased its support.

Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with al-Qaeda and foreign fighters, the newspaper said, quoting diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban mini-state.

The militants, the officials say, are openly flouting the terms of the September accord in North Waziristan, under which they agreed to end cross-border help for the Taliban insurgency that revived in Afghanistan with new force this year.

http://newageislam.com/waziristan,-a-taliban-mini-state--nyt/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/281

Dutch wisdom placates Arabs and shows international dialogue can help, Islam and the West , NewAgeISlam.com

Islam and the West

Dutch wisdom placates Arabs and shows international dialogue can help

By: Jamal Al-Awadhi

Many Muslims and Arabs were satisfied with the Dutch government’s declaration that it is not responsible for the film’s content and its strong denunciation of the film, which it says calls for violence. This was also predicted to trigger more violent reactions by the Islamic communities in Europe and Muslims worldwide.

Islam respects all the divine religions, and throughout the Islamic history, no Muslim dared to disgrace the prophets Jesus and Moses or others revealed in the other three divine books: the Old Testament, New Testament and Book of Psalms.

At this point, such events make the world more violent amid the currently dire situations, and therefore there is an urgent need for conducting broad international dialogues and activating the role of international organizations, particularly the ones having effective slogans such as those concerned with dialogue between religions and cultures.

http://newageislam.com/dutch-wisdom-placates-arabs-and-shows-international-dialogue-can-help/islam-and-the-west/d/57

Does Allah Want Us Merely To Observe Nature, Not To Interfere In God’s Scheme Of Creation?, Debate, NewAgeIslam.com

Debate

Does Allah Want Us Merely To Observe Nature, Not To Interfere In God’s Scheme Of Creation?

by Sohail Arshad, New Age Islam

“Allah cursed him. And he [Shaitan (Satan)] said: "I will take an appointed portion of your slaves; Verily, I will mislead them, and surely, I will arouse in them false desires; and certainly, I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, and indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah."

In other words, at the time of being driven out of God’s court, Satan vows to teach man to slit the ears of animals and distort and disfigure God’s creations. In the former verse, the issue of corrupting the nature or creating pollution is mentioned while in the latter, the issue of distorting and disfiguring the physical structure of animals and human beings is discussed. In ancient times, idol worshippers would dedicate their animals to their deities and would slit the ears of those animals as a mark of identification. It was synonymous with distorting the creations of God. Therefore, distorting or changing the physical attributes or structure of man or animals or changing them with scientific knowledge is a satanic act and therefore un-Islamic. God dislikes man distorting or changing his created things. But extremist groups in Islamic world mainly in Afghanistan slash the ears and nose of guilty women as a punishment. The Quran calls even slitting the ears and nose of animals un-Islamic but these so-called spokesmen of the Islamic shariah and the members of these barbaric tribes consider this an Islamic act whereas the Quran calls it a satanic act.

http://newageislam.com/debate/sohail-arshad,-new-age-islam/does-allah-want-us-merely-to-observe-nature,-not-to-interfere-in-god%E2%80%99s-scheme-of-creation?/d/7229

Tariq Ramadan on Islamic Feminism, Islam, Women and Feminism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam, Women and Feminism

Tariq Ramadan on Islamic Feminism

by Tariq Ramadan

So you had young boys going out and being much more free than the young girls, and the girls focusing on school because this was the way to occupy their time, and at the same time to find a way to be free, and they did it very well. So what we have now in all the European countries as well as in the States is a very high standard of educated Muslim women, understanding better the distinction between culture and religion, and the fact that very often what was perceived as the true Islamic teachings was in fact influenced by the cultures of origin and literalist readings, and now having this understanding. We are in a transitory period and we have to understand that it is going to be a long process, but these women with other men, with scholars, understanding better the distinction that I was mentioning will help a process of a better access to the legitimate rights for women.

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

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

COMMENTS
1/30/2009 12:02:33 AM
Ashok Chowgule
From Ashok Chowgule
To: Sultan Shahin
date 29 January 2009 15:26

Understanding the Muslim Mind
Author: Dr Omar Zia
Publication: Islam Watch
Date: January 29, 2009
URL: http://www.islam-watch.org/Omar.Zia/Understanding-the-Muslim-Mind.htm
29 Jan, 2009

Continuing with my last topic of evolution, or lack thereof, in a Muslim mind, let me give you three real-life examples of how I observed Islam’s toxic effect on the mind of Muslims and how, in my view, they will effect the world around us in the foreseeable future.

1. Mind of a Sri Lankan Muslim

Two years ago while travelling through Sri Lanka I befriended a taxi driver in Colombo.

He was a young devout Muslim from a family of ten: two aged parents and eight grown-up children. He was the youngest member of the family born and bred in Sri Lanka. From my chats with him during several excursions in the city, I pieced together a detailed picture of the conditions and aspirations of Muslims in Sri Lanka.

Muslims constituted only 7% of the population in Sri Lanka. This boy of 22 knew that. He told me in a meaningful way that non-Muslim Sri Lankans are too cautious when it comes to raising a family. They worry about the education and upbringing of their offspring too much; for that reason, birth-rate amongst non-Muslims is quite low. Muslims in Sri Lanka, on the other hand, believe that Allah will provide everything and do not care how many children they have. This boy was prophetic. Current Muslim population of Sri Lanka is listed as 9% according to many guide-books.

Upon my enquiry as to how he got along with his non-Muslim neighbours, he praised them for their placidity and then complained that he found it quite annoying that Muslims had to take their cowardly neighbour religious sensitivity into account and slaughter animals hidden from the public eye. He assured me that as soon as Muslims were in ascendancy in his country, which, he was sure, would happen in his lifetime, one of the first laws to be passed will be sanctioning of slaughtering of animals in the open, like in any Muslim country. While visiting Hindu temples with me, he proudly informed me that Muslims never allow non-Muslim Sri Lankans to enter mosques, as they were unclean. He was also quite sure that if allowed, Muslims being the worthy fighters and jihadis, can sort out the Tamils within a very short time.

In order to understand better the Muslim society in Sri Lanka, I even accepted his offer of a cuppa at his house towards the end of my stay. All that I had heard from this young ‘time bomb’ proved absolutely certain. Indeed, the visit proved even more shocking: the rest of his family members appeared even more radicalized and angrier at their majority countrymen. I felt absolutely horrified at the prospect of what is in store for the affable, but oblivious to danger, non-Muslim Sri Lankans.

2. Mind of my young, ambitious nephew

On my last visit to Pakistan, my 18 year nephew visited me and implored to arrange a visa for him to go to England. He was close to completing his schooling but was quite despondent of his future prospects in Pakistan. I explained to him that even though I will endeavour to help him all I can, the final word would rest with the British consulate and it would be his academic records, which, in the end, would decide his fate. My motive was to inspire him to study harder as he seemed quite lacking in knowledge for his age. I also told him that he would have to supplement his studies in England with menial jobs. He seemed absolutely comfortable with that news.

As I was once analyzing a disturbing verse from the Quran (9:29), he arrived. I decided to test him on his humanity and asked if he had ever read Quran. He proudly replied that he had, several times, but only in Arabic and therefore did not understand any of it. I explained the verse to him and asked for his thoughts on this fascist verse. Without any hesitation, he responded that he absolutely believes it is correct. Upon my flustered query as to how can he think of subjugating or killing his hosts in England, he replied to my astonishment that once Islam has overwhelmed England, this verse would become mandatory and Allah’s deed must be carried out. I couldn’t help but feel awed at the corrupting power of Islam.

3. Mind of my educated, progressive, and nonreligious Muslim brother

The third incident, which I wish to relate, came soon after the above incidence during a dinner chat with my progressive, highly educated and largely non-religious brother. I was lamenting to him at the Taliban’s tactics of usurping power in Pakistan. He coolly informed me that Taliban are good people except that they have interpreted Islam wrongly and all true Muslims harbour a Taliban within them. Much shocked at this statement, I asked him to show me what part Taliban had misinterpreted from the Quran. Noticing that he was attempting to change the subject, I persisted and asked him if he had read the Quran with the understanding of it meaning. Not surprisingly, the answer was a somewhat embarrassing "NO".

After the dinner, I asked him to bring out his translated copy of the Quran. He did not possess one. What he luckily did have though was a functioning computer in his son’s room. I persuaded him to sit with me and I got out the verses which were being used, with proof and through their own mouth by Osama, Naik, Israr and many other unabashed fascist nuts. I showed him ahadees, which corroborated those verses from the Bukhari and Muslim collection. I could almost hear his Islamic world collapsing inside him and heard his heartbeat rising. I knew that I was very near to my goal of making him see the truth. It was just seconds away when all of a sudden he almost toppled the monitor and got up in a rage screaming that it was all western propaganda. He started an incoherent, and increasingly alarming, tirade against the Jews, the West and America and eventually blamed me for being an instrument in the hands of some Western think-tank. Suffice it to say that I left his house with a heavy heart that there is little no hope for a peaceable future for our globe.
Dr. Omar Zia is a Pakistani-born ex-Muslim.
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1085
----------------
1/24/2009 9:13:28 AM
Posted by: Gulzar
Taliban’s Swift Justice
By DR. GHAYUR AYUB
Friday, 23 January 2009.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—It was during a visit to Peshawar that I met a senior police officer. He narrated a story which was brow-raising. He told of a person from Bannu who lent Rs. 40,000 [approx. U.S. $500] to a man he knew, who promised that he would return it within a specified time. He told the borrower that he had saved up the said amount to help pay for his children's education. When the agreed time lapsed, he asked him to return the amount. The borrower started making excuses and after a few months he flatly refused and challenged the lender to do what ever he could. There is a Pukhtu word for it ‘Laas Da Azaad De’.
The man went from pillar to post to seek justice but with no result. The police proved incapable as the borrower was a powerful man with strong connections. When he tried to knock on the door of the court for justice he was dismayed to hear that it would take months for the case to come to a hearing and years to reach a final judgment. After all that, the chances were that the verdict would go against him as he was up against powerful people. To top it off, he was told he had to pay Rs 1000 upfront every time he wanted to put his case forward for a hearing. This amount did not include the amount he was going to pay the lawyers. When he calculated it, the approximate amount turned out to be more than the actual amount he was going to seek justice for.
At the end of every day, he would go back home heart broken; cursing his luck to be living in a country where there was no justice for the middle or poor classes. He tried to persuade the borrower by pleading with him, explaining how desperately he needed the money for his children’s education. He even offered a discount or to split the amount into installments, but all in vain. It was like hitting a brick wall. He felt dejected, helpless and powerless to see his children suffering just because he came from a stratum of a society pushed against the wall.
One evening, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and saw two strangers with bushy beards standing outside. Thinking they were there to collect charity, he asked with irritation what they wanted. They told him that they saw him crying in the mosque and on enquiry they were told that someone was refusing to pay his money back. With a surprised look on his face, he asked them who they were.
“We are local Taliban,” they said. Then they asked if he would let them have his side of story. He saw a ray of hope and ushered them in. After listening to his story, the Taliban told him that the borrower had committed an un-Islamic act, and if he wanted they could persuade him to return the said money. “We want your permission”. His heart jumped with flickering optimism and immense joy and without any hesitation, he gave them his consent. Before they left the premises they asked for 72 hours.
According to the police officer, the Taliban went to the influential man and told him it was un-Islamic not to pay the amount he had borrowed from the man. They threatened that if he did not pay the debt back within 48 hours; he would bear the consequences. They also told him how Taliban had previously dealt with people like him. Shivers went through the spine of the ‘powerful’ man as he knew what their threat meant. With a dry mouth, frightened face and shaking body he nodded his head in agreement, promising he would return the amount. The next day, he went to the house of the lender and paid back the full amount he had refused up until then. He apologized for the delay and requested him to tell the Taliban not to harm him or his family and to let them know that he had returned the money. The Taliban never went back to ask whether he got the money back, but they must had been watching the development. From that day on, according to the police officer, that man became a strong supporter of Taliban. Could anyone blame him?
Another related story about quick and effective justice comes from the Bugti tribe of Balochistan. According to electronic media, a man named Nazim Ali was refused his share in a dispute. According to him, he spent a lot of money to get justice from the court but failed because of corrupt practices. So he went to the tribal chief who referred him to the Jirga. The Jirga decided that he should walk on fire and if he was telling the truth he will not be burned. Nazim Ali agreed to it and in front of onlookers he walked on red hot coal. After the walk, people saw that his soles were not burned. The chief decided in his favour and he was given his due share.
There are countless other stories of parallel justice systems running in Pakistan in the present day. These systems seem to be nippy and effective satisfying their poor clients. Some are Taliban style, others tribal style, sharing one commonality; they are swift, just and not stained with corruption.
In my discussions with different walks of people living in the troubled parts of FATA and NWFP the vast majority agreed that the justice provided by Taliban is fair and quick. They might not agree with other activities related to Talibanization such as discouraging western education, burning of schools, gender discrimination etc; but they do appreciate the provision of justice served at the doorsteps with efficiency, audacity and honesty. Swift justice is the major achievement which attracts the poor people of Pakistan to Taliban.
Dr. Ayub can be reached at turi555AThotmail.com
URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1085

Indian Muslim women deserve congratulations for their new marriage code

Indian Muslim women deserve congratulations for their new marriage code

By Sultan Shahin

Indian Muslim women deserve congratulations for coming out with their own marriage code. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is using its clout in the media to denigrate this move. But they have yet to come out with a coherent answer to the question: after all, what is wrong or un-Islamic about the new women’s proposed code. Before criticising the women board’s effort and calling it irrelevant and useless and so on, they should come out with cogent explanations of what is wrong with it.

Our experience with ulema is not very encouraging. I am certain that if someone were to go to the ulema, at least in Phulwari Sharif, Patna, of which I have some experience, and say I dreamt of having divorced my wife thrice in one go, they would say that he is now divorced and if he wants to live with his wife now he should hand over his wife to an aalim or someone else for the dastardly practice of halala. I know of a case where a woman had been divorced during pregnancy and though there is a provision in Islamic law that such a divorce should not take effect unless the husband were to feel the same way and repeat his pronouncement even after the birth of the child, the ulema pronounced divorce as legal as per their habit. The practice of ulema’s ruling in the case of Muslim family dispute is indeed quite ridiculous. Their fatwas could indeed be termed hilarious, if they were not so dangerous. In fact any one with a modicum of sense of humour who wants to have a good laugh can do nothing better than sit down with a voluminous book of fatwas pronounced by ulema on a variety of subjects, ranging from the ludicrous - whether one should put one’s left or right foot forward first while going to the loo – to the relevant disputes in family lives that can rebuild or destroy people’s lives.

I do not have a copy of the new or old nikahnama and cannot form a very well-informed opinion in the matter. But from the reports in the media, the new one looks quite formidable and commendable and need of the hour.

The following points have been made in media reports. I am citing them below to keep them on record:

Daring the ulema and orthodox Muslims, the All India Muslim Women

Personal Law Board in its "Shariat Nikahnama" released on Sunday, March 16, 2008, has come up with a host of measures that ensures that Muslim women get their right. Not only does it recognise the right of women to seek divorce (khhula) and separation, it ensures financial settlement with an eye to the welfare of the woman and her children, advises registration of marriages and forbids forceful marriages.

The new code also rejects talaq through SMS, e-mail, phone and video conferencing. Talaq on provocation will not be considered either.

According to it, talaq to be valid should be spread over three months to give the couple ample time to reconsider the issue. "We are not scared of the mullah, but the Allah," said Shaista Amber, chairperson of the AIMWPLB. "The mullahs will never come to the rescue of destitute women. Why should the Muslim woman be scared to seek khhula when this right has been provided to her by the Allah?"

The new Nikahnama has a 17-point Hidayatnama (guidlines for marriage under the Shariat law for bride and groom) and an 8-point section on the process of talaq. The Hidayatnama declares that any forceful nikah is not acceptable. Forceful dowry has also been forbidden. Amber said the new "Shariat Nikahnama" was very different from the model Nikahnama of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).

"The model Nikahnama had not taken care of the women's rights as per the Koran. The new Nikahnama maintains the equilibrium," she said. While the model Nikahnama is in Urdu, Shariat Nikahnama is available both in Hindi and Urdu so it reaches more people. Ms. Amber said it had been prepared in Urdu and Hindi so that the common people could understand the “rights and responsibilities of the husband and wife.” She said it had “three forms of which one is for registration of the ‘nikah’ at the Registrar of Marriages. The other two are for the Qazi, who solemnises the marriage, and for the bride and the groom.”

"The woman has full authority to seek khhula under Shariat law, from her husband if the husband harasses her and her children," said Amber.

She claimed that the “Shariat nikahnama” was better in many ways as “its language is easy and it contains the rights of women.” “In the old ‘nikahnama,’ there is no provision for address verification; registration of marriages has not been made compulsory and the rights of women have not been clearly laid down. Besides, it is in Urdu and everyone cannot understand it properly,” Ms. Amber said.

The woman must approach the Darul Kaza (a Shariat court) for seeking divorce under khhula. In case of talaq, all gifts received during the marriage and afterwards will be the property of the bride. In absence of a divorce, the Nikahnama says any woman can go for separation if the husband is missing for four years, has an illicit relationship with another woman or refused to disclose HIV status before or after marriage. Besides, issues like not providing food, clothes and other essentials will also be counted as grounds for separation. In case of separation, the woman has the right to mehar.

To avoid controversy, the new Nikahnama also rules that three forms should be filled in during nikah - one each for the marriage bureau, the bride and groom and the quazi. Muslim women had criticised the model Nikahnama of the AIMPLB, released in 2005, saying it failed to address the contentious issue of "triple talaq".

Unveiling the new Muslim Marriage Act drafted by a 30-member executive body, AIMWPLB chairperson Shaista Amber told a news conference in Lucknow, U. P. that it was an improvement on other ‘nikahnamas’ and “its authenticity cannot be challenged” as every provision was in accordance with the Shariat and it quoted the Koran. She said it would mitigate the “agonies and sufferings of women” arising out of divorce and gives more rights to the wife.

Senior AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali termed the new nikahnama useless and irrelevant. He said “already there is a nikahnama issued by the AIMPLB, there is no room for another one.” He said the old one was as per the Koran and Shariat and was in practice. On the compulsory registration of the Muslim marriages, he told PTI that the Board had already made it clear that it would support this only when some conditions were fulfilled. “We have said marriages should not be held invalid in the absence of registration. Besides, the ulema solemnising the marriages could be given the powers of the registrar of marriages for the purpose of registration,” Maulana Firangimahali said.