Israel’s fist of fury, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

Israel’s fist of fury

Mossad's licence to kill

By Gordon Thomas

The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh bears the hallmarks of the ruthless Israeli intelligence service. One of the leading chroniclers of the agency gives a unique insight into its methods.

The Mossad assassins could have felt only satisfaction when the news broke that they had succeeded in killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a top Hamas military commander, in Dubai last month.

The Israeli government's refusal to comment on the death has once more gained worldwide publicity for Mossad, its feared intelligence service. Its ruthless assassinations were made famous by the film Munich, which detailed Mossad's attacks on the terrorists who killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Long ago, the agency had established that silence is the most effective way to spread terror among its Arab enemies.

In the past year, al-Mabhouh had moved to the top of Mossad's list of targets, each of which must be legally approved under guidelines laid down over half a century ago by Meir Amit, the most innovative and ruthless director-general of the service. Born in Tiberius, King Herod's favourite city, Amit had established the rules for assassination.

"There will be no killing of political leaders, however extreme they are. They must be dealt with politically. There will be no killing of a terrorist's family unless they are also directly implicated in terrorism. Each execution must be sanctioned by the incumbent prime minister. Any execution is therefore state-sponsored, the ultimate judicial sanction of the law. The executioner is no different from the state-appointed hangman or any other lawfully-appointed executioner."

http://newageislam.com/israel%E2%80%99s-fist-of-fury/current-affairs/d/2504

India: Madrasa Reform Plan Hits Theological Hurdle, Islamic Society, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Society

India: Madrasa Reform Plan Hits Theological Hurdle

By Pallavi Singh

23 Dec 2009

New Delhi: The impasse over a government proposal to modernize madrasas, or traditional Islamic schools, illustrates how a “minority mindset” imposed by the ulema, or clergy, and politicians could draw Muslims deeper into the morass of conservatism, poverty and unemployment.

Since taking over as the human resource development minister in May, Kapil Sibal has been driving reforms in all areas of education. Among his initiatives is a renewed push for the 2004 Madrasa Modernisation Scheme, which aims to include the teaching of modern subjects in the largely theological curriculum and centralize the management of the thousands of Islamic seminaries spread all across India.

“It’s a big step for Muslim education,” says Firoz Bakht Ahmed, the grandnephew of one of independent India’s founders, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and a writer on minority issues and madrasa education. The scheme will enable students from various parts of the country to seek jobs of their choice, he says.

Changes are urgently needed to improve the state of the community. A committee under former Delhi high court chief justice Rajinder Sachar, which conducted independent India’s first exhaustive study on how Muslims fare in education and employment compared with others, established that the community was lagging behind in education and government jobs.

http://newageislam.com/india--madrasa-reform-plan-hits-theological-hurdle/islamic-society/d/2266

Malaysian Sharia authorities should reconsider the law on consuming alcohol, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Malaysian Sharia authorities should reconsider the law on consuming alcohol, which is described in the Quran in the mildest language of prohibition.

A Muslim consuming a glass of wine with a pork chop commits a more serious offence in eating pork; yet as there is no Quran or Hadith penalty for consuming pork, there is also none for alcohol consumption.

The question then is how did the penalty for alcohol consumption come about?

It occurred during the time of the second Caliph Umar b. al-Khattab. There was a companion of the Prophet (sahabi) who had fought on the Prophet’s side in his battles.

A heavy drinker, he would walk the streets of Madina drunk at night and loudly shout scandalous things about people. The inhabitants of Madina complained, and Umar formed a committee to decide what to do.

Imam Ali, based on the man having committed slander, suggested the penalty for slander, whose maximum penalty is 80 lashes.

Since that time, this has been considered the maximum penalty for alcohol consumption, based on utilising the Sharia concept of ta`zir (deterrence).

I disagree with this being the mandatory sentence for the offence of wine consumption, because it is the maximum sentence for another, separate offence – slander – albeit committed under the influence of alcohol.

Had the man just fallen on the street in a stupor and suffered a terrible hangover without having hurt anyone, no punishment would have been established.

http://newageislam.com/no-penalty-in-islam-for-drinking-alcohol,-eating-pork--islamic-scholar/islamic-world-news/d/1599

Jamiat Ulema should come clean on its past resolutions on Jihad, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Jamiat Ulema should come clean on its past resolutions on Jihad and Islam-supremacism that have spawned the Taliban

For Clarity's Sake: Jamiat Ulema should come clean on its past resolutions on Jihad and Islam-supremacism that have spawned the Taliban

By Arif Mohammad Khan

10 Nov, 2008

The Jamiat had rallied around Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress during the freedom movement and opposed the creation of Pakistan. But there was a sizeable group of the Deoband ulema like Mau-lana Ashraf Ali Thanvi who did not endorse the politics of the Jamiat. The differences led to split and a parallel organisation headed by Mufti Shabbir Usmani was established in 1946 that actively supported the Muslim League and the demand for a separate state of Pakistan.

The Jamiat described participation in freedom movement a religious duty and not a national obligation asserting that “religious freedom was more important than political emancipation”. So much so that it claimed that its flag was a “replica of the flag carried by the Prophet and his companions”. It exhorted Muslims to support the Khilafat movement as a religious duty, to boycott foreign goods as enjoined by the sharia and to fight the British as ordained by God.

It was this practice of invoking religion in every affair that irked Maulana Azad to say “the effect which the words ‘nation’ and ‘motherland’ have on the rest of the world is produced on the Muslims by the words God or Islam. You can stir the hearts of thousands simply with one word — nation — but in the case of Muslims the only comparable word for the purpose is God or Islam”.

http://newageislam.com/jamiat-ulema-should-come-clean-on-its-past-resolutions-on-jihad-and-islam-supremacism-that-have-spawned-the-taliban--/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/971

PEHSAWAR: Militants now preaching in urban mosques, Radical Islamism and Jihad

Radical Islamism and Jihad

PEHSAWAR: Militants now preaching in urban mosques

By Ali Hazrat Bacha

Referring to the initial interrogation, the source said that by visiting mosques the militants were conducting surveys to know what the ratio of their supporters and opponents was. In the hilly areas, he said, they did not need conducting surveys because a majority of illiterate people were supporting them in the name of religion.

It may be mentioned that on the outskirts of Peshawar, militants have already showed their presence by attacking security forces at different times. In the localities like Mattani, Badbher, Mathra and villages closed to the Mohmand Agency, militants have already ganged up and have been targeting security forces.

In some areas, the Taliban have reportedly established their self-styled courts and are trying people for different crimes. It is also reported that armed groups patrol their respective areas and openly threaten people.

http://newageislam.com/pehsawar--militants-now-preaching-in-urban-mosques/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/803

US and Insurgency in Swat valley of Pakistan, Islam and the West , NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

US and Insurgency in Swat valley of Pakistan

By Zeenia Satti

July 4, 2008

I am a witness to one such demonstration called the Buner massacre of May 1994. I was returning from Swat in a convoy, along with foreign diplomats, which was stuck at Buner because Sufi Mohammad’s followers had blockaded the road, vowing to maintain the blockade till Sharia law was enforced in the valley. The paramilitary troops opened fire on the blockaders, killing a majority of participants and injuring all others. Although Qazi courts were also established in response to TNSM’s demand, the gory massacre demonstrated the government’s resolve to curtail the movement, which it was able to do through the nineties.

It is one of the many paradoxes of Pakistan that under the military government of Musharraf, district after district in Swat valley fell to the militants under the brutal leadership of Mullah Fazlullah. This was in no small measure a consequence of Musharraf’s agreement with Washington to fight the Taliban on Bush’s terms. The terms dictated that the US would not deal with the Taliban as POWs but would drive them into Pakistan, where Musharraf would ambush them if they launched insurgent battles in Afghanistan.

http://newageislam.com/us-and-insurgency-in-swat-valley-of-pakistan/islam-and-the-west/d/170