Ninth Church Vandalized in Malaysia as Tensions Rise, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Ninth Church Vandalized in Malaysia as Tensions Rise

BANGKOK — A ninth church was vandalized Monday in Malaysia in a series of arson attacks that have raised religious tensions surrounding a dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians in this mostly Muslim nation.

“Allah” is the common term for God in Malay-language Bibles, but the government and many Muslim groups insist that the word should be reserved for use in Islam.

The attacks, which began on Friday, came after a court ruling on Dec. 31 that overturned a government ban on the use of “Allah” by Christians. That ruling has been stayed while the government appeals.

Only one of the churches has been seriously damaged, and some of the attacks were minor. In Monday’s attack, the Sidang Injil Borneo Church in the central state of Negeri Sembilan was slightly damaged when its door was burned, according to local reports.

Government officials condemned the violence Monday but defended their position, saying conditions are different in Malaysia from those in neighboring Indonesia or in Arab nations where “Allah” is the common term for God.

“These outrageous incidents are acts of extremism and designed to weaken our diverse communities’ shared commitment to strengthen racial unity,” The Home Ministry secretary, Gen. Mahmood Adam, told reporters after briefing foreign diplomats on the situation.

“They don’t understand the situation here,” he said of the diplomats. “They just want to know why it can be allowed in other countries and not here.”

http://newageislam.com/ninth-church-vandalized-in-malaysia-as-tensions-rise/islamic-world-news/d/2364

World Hijab Day observed in Pakistan, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

World Hijab Day observed in Pakistan

September 05, 2009

By Our Correspondent

LAHORE: THE Jamaat-e-Islami Women's Wing observed the World Hijab Day on Friday, in line with the declaration of the World Ulema Conference, London, 2004.

In this connection, JI women's wing held a seminar at Mansoora. Former JI ameer Qazi Husain Ahmed, JI secretary general Liaquat Baloch, Women and Family Commission president Sameea Raheel Qazi, JI Punjab Women wing president Humaira Tariq, Humera Ihtesham, Rabeea Tariq, Rahat Bashir, Afia Sarwar and others spoke on the occasion. Later, a Hijab Walk was held on Multan Road led by Sameea Raheel Qazi, Humera Tariq, Humera Ihtesham and others.

Addressing the Hijab Seminar, Qazi said Pakistani society was heading for a clash, since on one hand large numbers of our men and women were being attracted towards Islamic teachings since hatred for US and western culture and civilization was on the rise.

On the other hand, he said, the western civilization had attacked Islamic society with all its might and every effort was being made to eliminate Hijab and modesty of Muslim women. A worldwide campaign had been launched against Hijab which was tantamount to revolting against Quranic teachings.

He said the only way to avert this clash was to enforce Islamic system in this country to fulfil the pledge made at the time of its creation. "We must revert to our origin, besides taking steps to unite society and to avert the clash of civilizations," he said.

Qazi said that if bomb blasts was extremism, mocking Islamic teachings and culture and denying Muslims their basic rights to practice Islam was also extremism.

http://newageislam.com/world-hijab-day-observed-in-pakistan/islamic-world-news/d/1728

How Britain's mosques foster extremism, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

How Britain's mosques foster extremism

As a child, I was unsure if I belonged to Britain, India - or both, or neither. In the day I went to a multi-faith, multi-ethnic state school in the East End of London. At school I was taught to question, think and see all religions equally. In the evenings, I attended Koran schools at a mosque on Brick Lane where I was forced to learn to read Arabic, but not to understand meanings of words. I was not allowed to question, but simply to bob to and fro and learn Arabic prayers without understanding. All our teachers were elderly Asian immigrant men, and we were not allowed to mix with girls. At school, our teachers were mostly English women and we were encouraged to mix with everybody.

I developed two personalities, two worlds, two allegiances: one at “English school” and another at the mosque. I was torn, confused and full of questions. But what now? Two decades on, surely Britain's Muslims are in a better place.

Today, there are between 1,200 and 1,600 mosques in Britain - no definite figure exists. Yesterday, the Charity Commission sought to gloss over the malaise in them by publishing figures on attendance, but not inquiring into difficult areas. At Quilliam, Britain's first counter-extremism think-tank, we commissioned a poll of more than 1,000 mosques in 2008, during Ramadan when mosques are busiest. Despite employing Urdu and Bengali-speaking researchers, we could poll only just over 500. Most British mosques don't maintain a reception or service to answer questions, and not every one we did reach was willing to answer.

Quilliam's report, Mosques Made in Britain, reveals the true extent of the mess. We found that 97 per cent of imams, or leaders, were from overseas and 92 per cent were educated abroad, mostly in Pakistan or Bangladesh. Almost all mosques are controlled by first-generation immigrant men, leaving most British Muslims - women and young people - out of the management structure.

http://newageislam.com/how-britain-s-mosques-foster-extremism/islamic-world-news/d/1210

WAHHABISM: UNDERSTANDING THE ROOTS AND ROLE MODELS OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM, The War within Islam, NewAgeIslam.com

The War within Islam

WAHHABISM: UNDERSTANDING THE ROOTS AND ROLE MODELS OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM

The Wahhabis are especially notorious for reviving the ways of the Khawarij (or Kharijites). They originated in the time of the caliphates of Uthman and Ali, among the closest companions to Prophet Muhammad. They were the earliest group of fanatics who separated themselves from the Muslim community. They arose in opposition to Ali – Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law – because of his willingness to arbitrate with Mu’awiyah, governor of Damascus at that time, over the issue of the caliphate. The Khawarij, meaning “those who exited,” slung accusations of blasphemy against Ali and Mu’awiyah – and those who followed them – saying that the Qur’an, and not them, had the ultimate authority in the matter. Ibn al-Jawzi, an orthodox Sunni scholar, in his book Talbis Iblis (The Devil’s Deception) under the chapter heading “A Mention of the Devil’s Delusion upon the Kharijites,” says that Dhu’l-Khuwaysira al-Tamimi was the first Kharijite in Islam and that “[h]is fault was to be satisfied with his own view; had he paused he would have realized that there is no view superior to that of Allah’s Messenger…” Furthermore, the orthodox Sunni scholar Imam Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi discusses the Kharijite rebellions and their bloody massacres of tens of thousands of Muslims in one of his books. He explicitly mentions the Azariqa, one of the most atrocious Kharijite movements led by Nafi’ ibn al-Azraq from the tribe of Banu Hanifa – the same tribe where the heretic Musaylima the Prevaricator (or Liar) who claimed prophethood alongside Prophet Muhammad came from. Just as the Khawarij threw accusations of blasphemy on Ali and Mu’awiya, Wahhabis throw accusations of blasphemy against Sunnis and Shi’ites.

http://newageislam.com/wahhabism---understanding-the-roots-and-role-models-of-islamic-extremism--/the-war-within-islam/d/938

Terrorism is a complex issue’ - Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeISlam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Terrorism is a complex issue’ - Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf

Talking to an Iranian delegation led by Syed Mehdi Heshemi, acting interior minister of Iran, on Tuesday evening, President Musharraf said that Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and is key ally in the fight against terror. He said the neighbouring countries are needed to join hands to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the region and also from the world.

Reflecting on the importance of interaction between Iran and Pakistan, the President said that the existing relations between the two countries must be enhanced as greater economic activity would result in further improving Iran-Pakistan relations.

Mr Heshemi said that Pakistan and Iran should enhance economic cooperation in the fields of trade and industry. He said the present trade of $600 million can be enhanced manifold if serious efforts are made. Mr Heshemi added that to achieve these objectives tourism should be promoted between the two countries.

http://newageislam.com/terrorism-is-a-complex-issue%E2%80%99---pakistan%E2%80%99s-president-pervez-musharraf/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/289