Muslim Girls in Kathmandu Live In Different World after Quake

Muslim Girls in Kathmandu Live In Different World after Quake

A female participant of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia symposium takes the time to read the Holy Quran. — Picture by Choo Choy May

Allowing Sodomy ‘Worse’ Than Forced Sex in Marriage, Isma Portal Says

SC Takes Notice of Abuse of Women in Sindh, Pakistan

Nobel Winner Shirin Ebadi to Publish Memoir with Random House

We Pay ISIL to Save Yazidi Women, Kurdish Regional Government Says

Australian Muslim Woman Wants People to Look Beyond Her Hijab

President Jacob Zuma Must Deal With Islamic Marriage Bill

2 Muslim Women to Be Featured On Interfaith Panel in Central Minnesota

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islam,-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/muslim-girls-in-kathmandu-live-in-different-world-after-quake/d/102752

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Muslim Girls in Kathmandu Live In Different World after Quake

30 April, 2015

KATHMANDU, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen-year-old Nargis Banu has been grown up roaming and playing around Patan Durbar Square, filled with fantastic wood crafts and magnificent pagoda style temples dated back hundreds of years ago, until last Saturday.

Now she is living in a brave new world, after the devastating quake destroyed the famous world attraction and UNESCO heritage treasure.

The landscape, which looked like a bombed area, has totally changed for her and her friend, Namira Bani, who is 12 years old. "We feel like it is totally a new place. A sort of charm has lost. We often woke up in the night after having a nightmare, in which we saw our country was completely destroyed, “said Banu.

For Banu, her three generations have spent their life in this beautiful place and a magnificent tourist zone with semi-European, semi-Himalayan architecture, cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels.

She was watching television on Saturday, when the massive earthquake jolted Nepal turning this cultural heritage site into a depressing and barren land, with only rubbles and dust left.

Some ancient temples of Patan, with the world unique grandiose Himalayan style of towers, have been destroyed by the earthquake, which have terrified the locals. "We could not enter our two-storied building since the last five days in fear of aftershocks. My house has been partially damaged so we are living in school premise, “said Banu's father, a local Muslim businessman.

More than 169 people have been confirmed dead in Lalitpur district of Kathmandu Valley where Patan is located.

Along with Banu's family, some 300 locals have been staying in the classrooms of Shree Adarsha Kanya Niketan Higher Secondary School just at the central plaza of the temple complex because they are too afraid to live in their houses full of cracks on the wall.

Even in this humanitarian crisis period, the scenario of the school looks warm as the people is seen helping each other.

People from different communities like Hindu, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists are living in harmony under the same roof.

But there are still fears for aftershocks which terrified people from returning to their houses to resume their daily lives.

"I see earthquake even in my dreams. It feels like earth is shaking time and again. It's the biggest nightmare, “said Bani.

Schools remain closed. Thousands of girls like Banu have to wait for the classrooms to be reopened for teaching instead of serving as a temporary shelter for quake-displaced families.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=279368

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Allowing sodomy ‘worse’ than forced sex in marriage, Isma portal says

30 April, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s (Isma) news portal has decried the focus on Islam in an ongoing marital rape debate, claiming that other religions are worse as they may permit anal sex in marriage.

Ismaweb.net senior editor Razali Zakaria pointed out that DAP assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin’s rape awareness campaign did not target any particular religion, accusing “liberal” news portals that are “close to the Jews” of trying to denigrate Islam by reporting that Muslim women are prohibited from denying their husbands sex.

“Do other religious believers not ‘force’ their wives to have sex? Maybe some are even worse - sodomising their wives,” Razali said in an editorial published yesterday on Ismaweb.net.

“Maybe these anti-Islam quarters and portals that use the tactics of ‘infidel djinns’ don’t want to play up the issue of sodomising wives in Islam because they know that this is forbidden in Islam,” added the editor of the Muslim right-wing group’s portal.

Malay Mail Online reported Monday Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria as saying that a Muslim woman has “no right” to reject her husband’s demand for sex, claiming that Prophet Muhammad had said women must have sex if their husbands want it even if they are on the back of a camel.

The Islamic scholar said a Muslim woman can only deny her husband sex if she is menstruating, ill, or has just given birth.

Harussani’s remarks were made in response to Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo’s rape awareness campaign that had raised ire among some Muslims who claimed marital rape does not exist in Islamic marriage.

Ismaweb.net’s Razali said he believes that most Muslims will not rape their wives if their spouses have good reason for rejecting sex.

“Even if the wife continues to reject sex, Islam has shown another way for the husband to release his desires - not one, in fact Islam encourages men to marry up till four women if they can afford to,” he said.

“If he can’t afford to marry more and if the wife still refuses to entertain him, there is still another way even if God disapproves - divorce and find another partner. That is, if there is no other way,” Razali added.

He stressed that in a Muslim marriage, the bodies of both husband and wife belong to each other.

“In a spousal relationship, both partners must treat each other well,” he said.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/allowing-sodomy-worse-than-forced-sex-in-marriage-isma-portal-says#sthash.qnBvxxSc.dpuf

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SC takes notice of abuse of women in Sindh, Pakistan

30 April, 2015

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court took notice on Wednesday of instances of abuse of women in Sindh and summoned reports from the provincial police.

Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk fixed the matter for hearing in the second week of May and directed Advocate General of Sindh Fateh Malik, the inspector general of police and Chairperson of the National Commission on Status of Women Khawar Mumtaz to appear before the court.

The notice was taken on a column titled “Sindh ki khawateen say insaaf – qaumi tarjeeh nahi” (Justice to the women of Sindh is not a national priority), appeared in a section of the press on April 9.

The column highlighted an incident in which a woman and her 12-year-old daughter were gang-raped and later set on fire in Ghotki a few weeks ago. The girl died while her mother suffered serious burn injuries. The accused are still at large.

The column mentioned another incident in which a newly married woman, Tahira Khoso, was killed by her husband in Jacobabad district in the name of honour. The husband has been provided shelter allegedly by a political leader in Balochistan.

Taking cognisance of the issue, the chief justice ordered that reports be called from the SSPs concerned through the Sindh IGP within three days. The NCSW chairperson has been asked to submit reports on the status of women and the incidents highlighted in the column and also provide statistical data of such cases in the country and the measures taken to curb them.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1179045/sc-takes-notice-of-abuse-of-women-in-sindh

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Nobel winner Shirin Ebadi to publish memoir with Random House

30 April, 2015

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi will chronicle her post-prize life and fight for justice in a new memoir for Random House, the publisher announced Wednesday.

Ebadi, who received the prize in 2003, was the first Muslim woman and remains the only Iranian to be awarded a Nobel. The Nobel committee pointed out that the award was intended to help "reduce the tensions between the Islamic and the Western worlds" after 9/11 while also fostering an open society in Iran.

Born in Iran in 1947, Ebadi was a judge who lost her position during the 1979 Iranian revolution. She became an attorney who advocated working for democracy and human rights, giving particular attention to women and children. In 2000, she was imprisoned by Iranian authorities. She has lived in exile since 2009.

"Treachery: My Story of Exile from Iran" will depict "the pressure and constant surveillance the Iranian government has put on Dr. Ebadi and her human rights work since she won the Nobel Peace Prize," Random House writes. "Years of intimidation and violence -- including the detention of her sister and daughter, an espionage plot involving her husband, and the ransacking of her offices in Tehran -- ultimately destroyed her family and forced Dr. Ebadi into exile, a story she has never told before. 'Treachery' is about personal and political betrayal and illuminates many of the issues of today involving Iran, political Islam and the Middle East."

"Building Iran has been my life's work, from the moment I became a judge through to today," Ebadi said in a statement. "The revolution stripped me of my judgeship, but I have struggled alongside the women of Iran to secure equality and freedom. I wrote my new book to document our determination.  One day we will prevail, and I pray and hope that history will record our efforts."

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-nobel-winner-shirin-ebadi-memoir-random-house-20150429-story.html

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We Pay ISIL to Save Yazidi Women, Kurdish Regional Government Says

30 April, 2015

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq pays money to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in order to save Yazidi women who were kept as slaves, KRG General Directorate of Yazidi Affairs Minister Hadi Doubani has told daily Hürriyet.

“There are still around 3,500 Yazidis held as sex slaves and hostages by ISIL. We are trying to work out ways to save them. There are some Sunni Arabs in the ISIL-controlled areas who are cooperating with us. We pay money for the kidnapped girls who ISIL sell and these people buy them for us,” Doubani said in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk.  

Thousands of Yazidis were captured and kidnapped by ISIL when the militants raided the Yazidi towns and villages of Sinjar province in August 2014. Information provided by Doubani depicted a gruesome picture of the Yazidis being held as hostages and sex slaves by ISIL.

Doubani said there were some ISIL militants who have turned the “selling and buying of Yazidi women in the slave markets” into a “trade.”

“They sell women in the slave markets, some ISIL militants buy a girl for $50 and sell her back to us for $2,000-2,500. They have almost turned the whole thing into a trade,” he added.   

The amount of money the officials pay to save the Yazidis ranges from between $1,000 and $10,000, Doubani said.

“They ask for more money for the youngest girls,” he added.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/we-pay-isil-to-save-yazidi-women-krg-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=81726&NewsCatID=352

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Australian Muslim Woman Wants People to Look Beyond Her Hijab

30 April, 2015

A MUSLIM woman who says she encounters abuse on the streets is working to make others see her as the person behind the Hijab.

Hayat Doughan, who came to Australia 34 years ago from Lebanon, is part of a program by Mordialloc and Springvale Neighbourhood Houses to bring women of different faiths together.

Ms Doughan said she jumped at the chance to lead the “Learning and Living Together” project to help others understand that despite her traditional dress, she’s just like any other woman.

She said she often reflected how people began to treat her differently when she made the decision to start wearing the hijab — the Islamic headscarf — 25 years ago.

“We are women like any other women, the only difference is we follow our religion, we do prayers, we cover ourselves — this is the only difference between us and any other woman in Australia,” Ms Doughan said.

“We consider ourselves Australian, our children are Australian...we are citizens like any other.”

But Ms Doughan said she had been abused while going about her everyday life, including during a road rage incident three months ago when she was told: “Maybe if you take the f----ing thing off your head you’d be able to drive better.”.

“Being a migrant always makes you different, but being a covered Muslim, people straight away think you’re dumb, you’re oppressed, you have no voice,” Ms Doughan said.

But Ms Doughan said she could see a change in the attitude of some people.

“Before, everyone used to turn a blind eye if they see someone abusing a Muslim woman, no one cares, no one listens,” she said.

“Now we get some positive responses; some people are standing up to defend a Muslim woman who is being abused, so it’s not all negative but the challenges are there.”

Ms Doughan said she was very happy to be part of the project which would hopefully help other women understand her culture, and help her better understand theirs.

Mordialloc Neighbourhood House member Amna Janjua said she hoped more women would join the eight-week program which would include visits to mosques and churches, sharing stories and cooking recipes.

“The project aims to promote understanding, respect, appreciation and co-operation between all members of the community,” she said.

The program starts today and people interested can book into any of the eight weekly sessions.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-south/muslim-woman-wants-people-to-look-beyond-her-hijab-and-learn-about-the-culture-and-traditions-of-her-faith/story-fngnvli9-1227326894685

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President Jacob Zuma Must Deal With Islamic Marriage Bill

30 April, 2015

A WOMEN’S rights organisation has asked the Cape High Court to order President Jacob Zuma and his national executive to expedite a ground-breaking law which will make Islamic marriages and divorces valid in terms of South African law.

According to court papers, the Women’s Legal Centre Trust is seeking an order that Zuma, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development as well as Home Affairs, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, pass the bill – which has been in the pipeline since 2009 – within the next 12 months.

The trust is anticipating Muslim and their organisations – those in favour of the legislation and those against it – to be joined in the matter as interested parties.

Organisations

Therefore it has served copies of the court documents, which include a judgment by a full bench of the Constitutional Court in 2009 which said that the president and his national executive had a duty to ensure that the law was enacted, to various organisations.

These include the United Ulama Council of South Africa, which represents the Jamiats from the various provinces; the Muslim Youth Movement; the Muslim Judicial Council; the Association of Muslim Lawyers and Accountants; the Coalition of Muslim Women; the Women’s Cultural Group; the South African Muslim Women’s Business Forum; the Legal Resource Centre; Legal Aid South Africa; the Commission for Gender Equality and the Centre for Child Law.

Attorney Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker, of the trust, said in her affidavit that the passing of the bill was not only long overdue but was in the public interest.

“My organisation detailed the difficulties experienced by married and divorced Muslim women and the infringing of their rights in the Constitutional Court in 2009 as well as in the various high courts.

“Six years down the line, we are still waiting for the bill to be passed by Parliament.

“In terms of the law which has been in the statutory books for a long time, the Marriage Act, the Recognition Act (which became law in 1998 and recognises customary marriages as valid) and the Divorce Act are not applicable to Muslim marriages.

“The omission constitutes an infringement of a number of rights contained in the Bill of Rights.

“It is unfair and not in line with our constitution,” said Abrahams-Fayker.

Dereliction

“The Minister of Home Affairs had not remedied the situation.

“This constitutes a dereliction of the minister’s constitutional obligations.”

She said the non-recognition of Muslim marriages and divorces had serious practical consequences.

“The important corollaries of Muslim marriages and divorces, the payment of maintenance (for spouses and children), the proprietary rights arising from marriages, the custody of and access to children are unregulated by South African law.

“The effect is that Muslim women are not able to access the legal system for purposes of regulating the consequences of dissolving their marriages to ensure that the custody, access and maintenance payments and other rights… (are protected),” Abrahams-Fayker said.

“Muslim women are badly prejudiced. Their vulnerability is compounded by the unavailability of legal enforcement mechanisms.

“Muslim personal law is skewed in favour of Muslim husbands. A Muslim marriage is generally regarded as a marriage out of community of property.

“Muslim divorcees are often left to fend for themselves and their children,” Abrahams-Fayker explained.

President Zuma and the other respondents had not filed their papers in court as yet.

They have approximately a month in which to do so.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/president-must-deal-with-islamic-marriage-bill-1.1851812#.VUG-tNLF9Fs

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2 Muslim Women to Be Featured On Interfaith Panel in Central Minnesota

30 April, 2015

Two Muslim women will be featured Thursday on a panel aimed to connect Muslims and non-Muslims in Central Minnesota.

The St. Cloud Interfaith Dialogue Group will host the panel "Living with our Muslim Sisters and Brothers as One Community," from 6-8 p.m. Thursday.

"We want also to give the opportunity for women to speak about their religion," said Brianda Cediel, one of the event organizers.

"I think that is important, since we have here equal rights in America, (women) have also a voice to speak about religion. I know this is going to be disappointing for many Muslim men here, but we organized (it that way) because of that ... to get their perspective."

Ayan Omar and Basema Omro will speak about their experiences living in the U.S. as women who are Muslims. Organizers also plan to have a lot of time for questions from the audience.

Omar, originally from Somalia, is a language arts teacher at Technical High School. Omro, originally from Jordan, has been in the U.S. for about a year and a half. She is a teacher in the early childhood program at Hands Across the World.

Kevin LaNave will act as moderator, and the Rev. Virgil Petermeier will round out the panel.

LaNave is the director of The Center for Service Learning and Social Change and has moderated similar panels in the past. Petermeier spent 36 years working in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world.

The event will be at the Mary Center Community Room, in the building behind the Cathedral of St. Mary. It is free.

The group hosted panels with the same aims last year, one in Little Falls and another in St. Cloud.

This panel features local members of the Muslim community. Previously, organizers invited members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to speak.

The panel comes a little over a month after a student-led protest at Tech High School over the treatment of Somali students. But organizers hope to keep the panel focused on faith.

Ayan Omar helped to organize an event where Tech High School students could show off their cultural heritage in March.

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2015/04/29/women-featured-interfaith-panel/26598333/

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URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islam,-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/muslim-girls-in-kathmandu-live-in-different-world-after-quake/d/102752

Preventing Further Radicalisation Is the Challenge Muslims Must Undertake: Some Concrete Suggestions

Preventing Further Radicalisation Is the Challenge Muslims Must Undertake: Some Concrete Suggestions

By Sultan Shahin, Editor, New Age Islam

27 April 2015

[This article is based on a presentation made by the author in an international conference on counter-terrorism in Jaipur (India) 19--21 March, 2015]

A Brief Summary of Some Concrete Suggestions

Now the question is, how do we go forward? If we really want to make a difference, we will have to start a substantive dialogue with the ulema and make sure that they agree to:

 1) open the gates of ijtihad, rethinking all tenets of Islam in the light of the situation prevailing today. As we have not done our homework for over a millennium, this will have to be pretty revolutionary.

 2) declare that only constitutive and essential, not the contextual and allegorical verses of Quran, are meant to guide us today.

 3) compile Qur'anic verses in the order in which they were revealed, thus restoring primacy to Meccan verses that mostly constitute the essential and universal teachings of Quran, as they can be understood without any need for knowing the context in which they were revealed.

 4) declare that Ahadees cannot be considered any form of revelation from God. Islamic State’s millenarian thesis is almost entirely based on ahadees, though they use some allegorical verses of Quran as well. The claim of al-Baghdadi leading an end-time war, al-Malhama, just before the final Armageddon, has been a big draw. Some Muslims have come to think life on earth has no meaning left in the times of al-Malhama and so are rushing to join the war.

 5) declare that Sharia (fiqh) is not divine. It was created over a century after the demise of the Prophet by ulema who tried to codify laws on the basis of Qur'anic postulates and Arab cultural practices.

 6) declare clearly that Islam believes in co-existence with other religions, not dominion over the world.

 7) re-define commonly used Islamic terms like Muslim, kafir, mushrik, ahl-e-kitab, jihad, qital, farz, sunnat, etc.

 In a word, we must evolve a truly Islamic and a coherent theology of peace and co-existence, moderation and modernity, to counter the very coherent theology of violence and xenophobia, intolerance and supremacism that Jihadi ulema have created over centuries. All ulema say Islam is a religion of peace and co-existence. It's time for them to walk their talk. But if they refuse to consider change, we will need to directly reach the Muslim masses.

Finally, the larger Indian community too should introspect. As Daniel Pipes said in an international counter-terrorism conference in Jaipur recently, in this war of ideas, the world should not only encourage and support progressive, modern Muslims but also oppose and refrain from supporting the fundamentalists and extremists. ...

1) Our national leadership supported Khilafat in 1920s, considering it an essential part of Islamic theology. That was wrong. Now we must repudiate that stance and acknowledge our mistake.

 2) Muslim Personal Law in India has not been reformed even to the extent it has been in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This must change. At least General Ayyub Khan’s reforms in Pakistan must be introduced and Ulema should be told to accept what their Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts did decades earlier. This is not a satisfactory solution but at least it will be a start and it is doable.

 3) Madrasa education is a serious violation of the human rights of Muslim children. It destroys their lives and fills their minds with xenophobia and intolerance. Our government not only allows this but partly funds some madrasas. This must stop, unless, of course, madrasas actually change to become modern versions of what madrasas used to be like, in the Golden Age of Islam, and produce scientists and philosophers. A secular, democratic government should not be in the business of funding xenophobia and intolerance.

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The Challenge of Radicalisation

 Indian Muslim ulema and intellectuals denounced terrorism vehemently in a recent anti-terrorism conference held in Delhi on 19 April. But it was obvious from their speeches that they continue to remain in denial of any link between Islamist terrorism and Islamic education and theology. Our non-Muslim liberal intellectuals too encouraged this tendency in the conference by claiming there is no link between any aspects of Islamic theology and terrorism. Ulema and intellectuals, Muslim and Hindu, all seemed completely detached from present reality. They might as well have been holding this conference in the time of Akbar The Great. They appeared to have no idea that terrorists from Muslim background have reduced the slogan of Islam-a-religion-of-peace to a joke. And clearly, not one Alim in India is willing to counter the theology of supremacism, hatred, intolerance and xenophobia that is attracting our youth and pushing them into the cauldron of violence.

This is not only sad but alarming in an atmosphere of growing radicalization of Muslim youth all over the world, particularly since the declaration of Khilafat by the so-called Islamic State. There are clear signs of this radicalisation in India too. One would seldom find any denunciation of the Jihadi theology of violence and supremacism in the Urdu Press, for instance.

But around the world, more and more strategic thinkers and politicians are now realising that the most important aspect of the war on terror would be fighting a war against the ideology that leads to terror. Ideas cannot be shot down by guns and tanks; they have to be fought with ideas, contrary ideas, better ideas. But first let us understand the route through which the radicalisation of Muslims is taking place.

Most of the radicalisation is happening today in mosques, madrasas, print, electronic media and above all in cyber-space. Social media has particularly emerged as a hub of radicalisation. In countries like Pakistan, Jihadi print media too plays an important role. One study had found that already by 1989, there were 150 Jihadi journals in print from Peshawar and Quetta. But while media is used to disseminate Jihadi ideas, those who create this literature are products of ordinary madrasas, teaching essentially the same text books, with minor sectarian differences.

While the task of creating Jihadi literature was assigned to Deobandi and ahl-e-hadeesi madrasas during the Afghan war against Soviet Union in 1980s, Barelwi madrasas too had by and large discarded Sufi literature and adopted Dars-e-Nizami curriculum long ago. Developed under Emperor Aurangzeb Dars-e-Nizami had abandoned Sufism and inclusive, pluralistic teachings of great Sufi saints. Some Sufi-Barelvi madrasas had continued to teach 13th-century Persian poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic Maulana Rumi's Masnawi and one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition Sheikh Saadi Shirazi's Gulistan and Bostan in their Islamic ethics and Persian classes. But when proficiency in Arabic became linked to jobs in the Gulf, even these madrasas stopped teaching Persian and Sufi classics. But worse, in the name of teaching Arabic literature, they started teaching even Syed Qutb, considered the father of modern Islamist terrorism in the Middle East. Introducing young impressionable minds, even in Sufi-Barelvi madrasas, to Qutb in the name of teaching literature was a very unfortunate choice. Wahhabi-Salafi madrasas have, of course, been teaching Ibn-e-Taimiya, Mohammad Ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab, Syed Qutb, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi and other extremist ideologues for a long time.

Thus the media discourse and school curriculum emanate from the prevalent Islamic theology and it is the theology we have to focus on. It's gratifying that even a conservative Muslim scholar like the head of Jamia Azhar, the oldest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, is now willing to admit a link between terrorism and Islamic education and theology. Jamia Azhar's Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb did that recently and of all palaces at a counter-terrorism conference in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Needless to say, the significance of this admission lies in the fact that Saudi Arabia has been the fountainhead of extremist education and biggest exporter of intolerant, xenophobic text books. This is also an admission that mere tinkering with Islamic text books is not working. Saudi Arabia had engaged in some reform of its text books in 2002.

Fourteen years after 9/11, in which 16 of the 19 terrorists were Saudis, the world is facing a more complex, more diverse and a more dangerous threat. Part of the reason certainly is that the international community has not clamped down on Saudi export of text books containing lessons in xenophobia, intolerance, exclusivism, supremacism and hatred of and enmity towards all non-Wahhabis, as mandated by Mohammad ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab. A mere look at some portions of Saudi text books meant for impressionable young minds will tell us why so many youths, particularly from Saudi Arabia and other countries where these texts are taught are leaving their homes and schools for doing what they consider Jihad in the so-called Islamic State.

But what did  Taqi-ad-Deen Ahmed Ibn-e-Taimiyya and Mohammad ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab teach and what is being taught to our children today across the Islamic world and, indeed, even in the West? One of the most important lessons in these text books is expressed through the concept of Al-Walaa' Wa Al-Bara(which essentially means showing loyalty towards Wahhabi Muslims and bearing enmity towards everybody else). Ibn-e-Taimiyya taught Muslims supremacism, intolerance of others and exclusivism. He says:

"Whoever does not consider the Jews and Christians to be disbelievers and does not hate them is not a Muslim according to the consensus of the Muslims. One's ignorance of this [rule] does not excuse him. Rather, he is a disbelieving Apostate." - Ibn Taymiyyah (Majmu al-Fatawa 27/264)

Eighteenth century scholar of Najd Mohammad Ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab adopted and refined Ibn-e-Taimiya's extremist thoughts that demanded complete intolerance of any other interpretation of Islam. He said:

“Even if the Muslims abstain from Shirk (polytheism) and are Muwahhid (strict believer in oneness of God), their Faith cannot be perfect unless they have enmity and hatred in their action and speech against non-Muslims (for Wahhab this term includes all those Muslims who are non-Wahhabi).

------ Shaikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, Majmua Al-Rasael Wal-Masael Al-Najdiah 4/291

Indian scholar and founder-ideologue of Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana Abul A'la Maududi explains his vision in these words:

“Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam, regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a state on the basis of its own ideology and programme, regardless of which nation assumes the role of the standard-bearer of Islam or the rule of which nation is undermined in the process of the establishment of an ideological Islamic State.

"Islam requires the earth — not just a portion, but the whole planet.... because the entire mankind should benefit from the ideology and welfare programme [of Islam] ... Towards this end, Islam wishes to press into service all forces which can bring about a revolution and a composite term for the use of all these forces is ‘Jihad'. .... The objective of the Islamic ‘jihad’ is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an Islamic system of state rule.”

-----  Abul A'la Maududi in Jihad fil Islam

The most influential radical ideologue Sayyid Qutb said:

 "Islam is not confined to this (mere beliefs and worship rituals). (Fee Zhilal Al-Quran [English trans.], 7/125]

"Those who think that this religion will confine itself to preaching and to the explanation of its message when the forces of evil try to put every type of impediment in its way have little understanding of its true nature." [Fee Zhilal Al-Quran [English trans.], 7/182

"We must not be intimidated by the Orientalists' attacks on the concept of Islamic jihad, or allow the pressure of world political powers to weigh heavily on us, so as to seek justification for jihad that do not fit with the nature of Islam." [Fee Zhilal Al-Quran [English trans.], 7/21]

"We acknowledge allegiance only to an Islamic leadership that strives to re-establish Islam in practical life, dissociating ourselves from all other types of society and leadership." [Fee Zhilal Al-Quran [English trans.], 7/143]

Teaching Islam: Saudi School Text Books

Let me quote from a chapter on Saudi education from a celebrated study of Islamic education titled “Teaching Islam" by Professor Eleanor Abdella Doumato:

 “"It is a law of Tawhid that one should show loyalty to the Unitarian (Muwahhid, Wahhabi) Muslim and bear enmity toward his polytheist (Sufi, Non-Muslim) enemies," says the text. "The place of Al-Walaa` Wa Al-Baraa` has great standing in Islam," the lesson says, "as the Prophet said: 'The strongest bond of belief is loving what God loves and hating what God hates,' (10b: 110). The lesson elevates enmity for the sake of God above the pillars of Islam: (10b: 110).

“Who are the polytheist enemies against whom the monotheist Muslim must bear enmity? To MIAW (Mohammad Ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab), polytheist enemies were other Muslims, especially the Ottoman Turks, Shi`a, Sufis, and anyone who wore amulets or practiced magic. The school text specifies new ways to become an enemy, explaining why Muslims must be alert to show hostility toward the offender. (10b: 111).

“In the Fiqh and Hadith texts, imitating the Kuffar (unbelievers) is presented as morally corrupting. Women who dress like foreigners, for example, invite temptation and corruption, so the fabric of Muslim women's dress must be thick enough not to show any skin and wide enough to conceal the contours of the body, and the face must be covered to protect her personality. Imitating the Kuffar is an insult to God... (10b: 118). To say Eid Mubarak happy holiday) to the Kuffar is as bad as worshipping the cross; it's a worse sin against God than offering a toast with liquor; it's worse than suicide and) worse than having forbidden sex (Artikab Al-Farj Al-Haram); (10b: 118).

“Imitating the Kuffar by using the calendrical designation "A.D." instead of the Hijra year is another problem,..... As Ibn Taimiyya said, "Agreeing with the Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book) on things that are not in our religion and that are not the customs of our ancestors is corruption." ...

“One should not employ an unbeliever if there is a Muslim who can do the job, ... (10b: 121). Nor should a Muslim accept employment from an unbeliever, for a Muslim should never be in a position of subservience to the Kuffar, .. A Muslim should not live permanently among Kuffar because his faith will be compromised and that is why God required Muslims to migrate from a land of unbelief (Bilad al-Kufr) to a land of belief (Bilad Al-Islam). (10b: 121)

“The chapter warns against music, laughter, and singing. ... The lesson explains that the Kuffar (infidels) assign value to unimportant things because, absent religious faith, their lives are empty.

“What are these unimportant things? First, there are the performing arts, such as singing and playing instruments, dancing, and theatre and cinema, which are visited-by people who are lost from the truth. Then, there are the fine arts (Al-Funun Al-Jamila), such as painting, drawing, and sculpture. (10b: 124-125).

“Forbidding celebrations of birthdays, especially the birthday of the Prophet, and prohibitions against fine and performing arts are all part of the modern fabric and the historical legacy of Wahhabi culture.”It’s hostility to any human practice that would excite the imagination or bolster creativity," says (Dr. Khaled Abou) El Fadl (2003), is "perhaps the most stultifying, and even deadly, characteristic of Wahhabism." Anything that suggests a step toward creativity," he says, "constitutes a step toward Kufr [infidelity]."

Saudi text books are the most easily available across the world. With Dars-e-Nizami curriculum accepted by nearly all madrasas in the Indian sub-continent, the process of radicalisation started in the seventeenth century itself. Most Muslims are far more attached to their religion and dependent on the ulema (classical Muslim scholars) for guidance in matters of religion than is realised. So de-radicalisation essentially means de-radicalisation of ulema (plural of alim, scholar). Preventing radicalisation will be extremely difficult until ulema do not change. This is easier said than done. They continue to remain in denial.

Gates of ijtihad (religiously mandated rethinking of issues to update Islamic mores) were closed over a millennia ago, in mid-8th century AD, in the time of Imam-e-Azam Abu Hanifa. Imam Ahmad ibn-e-Hanbal opened the gate again, but after him in mid-9th century AD, it was firmly closed. Imam Ahmad Ibn-e-Taimiya and Mohammad Ibn-e-Abdul Wahhab's work (also considered by some as ijtihad) was essentially in the Hanbali tradition. Muslims were asked to blindly follow one of the four imams of fiqh, Islamic law, and by and large they have been doing so. Any alim (scholar) who dares to claim engaging in ijtihad (independent reasoning) is excommunicated. This happens even if the subject of ijtihad is something as inconsequential as the appropriate size of the Islamic beard. If an alim (scholar) just shows the signs of being an Ahl Al-Rai (now a derogatory term, used for someone having an independent opinion), he would lose his job and face social boycott.

Terrorist ideologues distort the inclusive, liberal message of Quran with the tacit support of Islamic scholars

And yet an alim like Maulana Abdul Aleem Islahi who is the ideological inspiration behind the terrorist group Indian Mujahedeen continues to be a respected alim in the eyes of Indian ulema. Not one alim has condemned or criticised him, not to speak of boycotting him. He continues to write his books and run his madrasa for women in Saidabad area of Hyderabad with aplomb.

Let me give you an example of perfidy in his work. There is a verse in Quran that shows that Islam allows complete, unrestricted freedom of belief. “La ikraha fiddin,” meaning, "there is no compulsion in religion or way of life (Deen)." This is an absolute, clear, unconditional statement. Now see how Maulana Islahi distorts it, with the tacit approval of other ulema in India.

He says: "La ikraha fiddin”. There is no compulsion in religion (Deen).  This is an established fact. But it is related only with accepting or not accepting the belief. This does not mean that ahl-e-Kufr, (infidels) should be left totally free on earth with their un-belief and should not be made accountable. If this were true, what do we mean when we say that the religion (Deen) of God has been revealed to dominate the world?" Then he quotes a contextual verse from Quran and asks rhetorically: "What will this verse mean then and what relevance will the obligation of jihad have?"

In a booklet in Urdu "Taqat ka Istemal Quran ki Raoshni Main" [‘The use of violence, in the light of the Qur’an’], Maulana Islahi claims that “war has been ordained against those who meet three conditions until they pay jizyah [a tax on religious minorities]: do not profess faith in God and Day of Judgment; do not accept as haram [forbidden] what God and his Prophet have declared haram; and do not accept Islam as their religion”. It is, Maulana Islahi argues, “the duty of Muslims to struggle for the domination of Islam over false religions, and to subdue and subjugate infidels and polytheists”.

Despite his xenophobobic, supremacist views, the Maulana continues to be a esteemed member of the Indian ulema community while ulema continue to make repeated claims of Islam being a religion of peace and pluralism, which, of course, it is.

However, despite the difficulties involved, Muslims, who are concerned at the state of affairs, and the humanity at large, that has a stake in maintaining peace, will have to take the bull by its horns and rein in this ideology.

It should be no longer difficult to see how Jihadis are able to snatch our children away from us, brainwash them and convert them into bombs? Clearly, this happens because Jihadi ideology is deeply entrenched in common Muslim beliefs.  Jihadis are not saying anything very different. After all, the Taliban, for instance, were ordinary madrasa students. The relevant question for us in India is: do these Deobandi madrasas in Pakistan that produce Taliban teach anything very different from what is taught in the original Darul Uloom Deoband or for that matter other madrasas in India?

We are horrified by the atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram. We consider it an African and a 21st century phenomenon. But what does Boko Haram mean? It means “western education is sin.” Have we forgotten that Indian ulema are the original Boko Haramists? It was their 19th century fatwa saying “English education is sin” that kept Muslims backward. When Sir Syed Ahmad established a college in Aligarh to teach English, they passed numerous fatwas of kufr against him. Of course Indian ulema did not go out and kill, but there was no need either. Muslims in India fell in line and even Sir Syed could only make a slight dent.

Thus it is because of their deep roots in commonly accepted and commonly espoused Islamic theology that Jihadis are able to convince our children that we, the peaceful mainstream Muslims, are actually hypocrites and cowards, not willing to sacrifice our lives for the sake of establishing Islamic domination over the world.

There are verses in Quran, revealed to help the Prophet cope with a war that had been imposed upon him. These verses naturally talk of fighting and killing. But no alim will say in clear terms that these verses were only meant for that period in 7th century Arabia and are no longer applicable to us today in the 21st century.

Every alim, Jihadi or non-Jihadi, Wahhabi or Sufi, says that Quran is uncreated, divine, like God himself, and all verses of Quran have universal and eternal validity. Why should the Jihadi ideologue then not use the contextual, militant verses of Quran to lure our children away to war?

 The same is the case of Ahadees, the so-called sayings of the Prophet. These were collected up to three centuries after the demise of the Prophet. What kind of sanctity and authenticity they can possibly have for any rational person? But nearly all Muslims consider them as almost as authoritative and sacred as the Quran. Why is it any surprise then that the Jihadis use them to justify their atrocities?

Some Concrete Suggestions

One can see how difficult it would be to de-radicalise our ulema. But this is a task that has got to be done.  When armies of suicide bombers emerge from Muslim societies whenever and wherever needed by determined Jihadi groups, Muslims and the world at large cannot afford to remain silent spectators.

Now the question is, how do we go forward? If we really want to make a difference, we will have to start a substantive dialogue with the ulema and make sure that they agree to:

1) open the gates of Ijtihad, rethinking all tenets of Islam in the light of the situation prevailing today. As we have not done our homework for over a millennium, this will have to be pretty revolutionary.

2) declare that only constitutive and essential, not the contextual and allegorical verses of Quran, are meant to guide us today.

3) compile Qur'anic verses in the order in which they were revealed, thus restoring primacy to Meccan verses that mostly constitute the essential and universal teachings of Quran, as they can be understood without any need for knowing the context in which they were revealed.

4) declare that Ahadees cannot be considered any form of revelation from God. Islamic State’s millenarian thesis is almost entirely based on ahadees, though they use some allegorical verses of Quran as well. The claim of al-Baghdadi leading an end-time war, al-Malhama, just before the final Armageddon, has been a big draw. Some Muslims have come to think life on earth has no meaning left in the times of al-Malhama and so are rushing to join the war.

5) declare that Sharia (fiqh) is not divine. It was created over a century after the demise of the Prophet by ulema who tried to codify laws on the basis of Qur'anic postulates and Arab cultural practices.

6) declare clearly that Islam believes in co-existence with other religions, not dominion over the world.

7) re-define commonly used Islamic terms like Muslim, kafir, mushrik, ahl-e-kitab, jihad, qital, farz, sunnat, ummah, etc.

I must explain this point a bit. Justice Munir Ahmad of Pakistan, investigating anti-Ahmadiya riots in 1954 asked leaders of all Islamic sects and schools of thought the question, who is a Muslim, in order to determine if Ahmadiyas can be called non-Muslims as many ulema were claiming. He found that no two ulema agreed on the definition of a Muslim.

Recently a researcher in Quran and a regular contributor to the Islamic website I edit NewAgeIslam.com studied all verses in Quran that have the word kafir or its variants. He concluded: “the Quran does not identify kafir by his/her belief or faith but by certain specific characteristics that make the person an active enemy of Religion, God and the people of faith. In Quran, a kafir is one who actively hinders people from practicing their faith, persecutes people of faith, opposes humanitarian practices such as giving of charity, shunning usury etc. A kafir could be a Muslim, Jew, and Christian, polytheist or atheist. The term is faith-neutral.” But none of the ulema we approached to discuss this understanding of the word Kafir, one of the main issues that divide Muslims with others, showed any excitement or even any willingness to engage with the issue. Similarly, no classical alim is genuinely prepared to treat Hindus, Christians, Jews, etc. as ahl-e-kitab (People of the Book), despite very clear instructions in the holy Quran. So it is absolutely imperative that Muslims confer with one another and develop a better understanding of many of the commonly used terms that terrorist ideologues use to lure our youth.

In a word, we must evolve a truly Islamic and a coherent theology of peace and co-existence, moderation and modernity, to counter the very coherent theology of violence and xenophobia, intolerance and supremacism that Jihadi ulema have created over centuries. All ulema say Islam is a religion of peace and co-existence. It's time for them to walk their talk. But if they refuse to consider change, we will need to directly reach the Muslim masses.

Finally, the larger Indian community too should introspect. As Daniel Pipes said in an international counter-terrorism conference in Jaipur recently, in this war of ideas, the world should not only encourage and support progressive, modern Muslims but also oppose and refrain from supporting the fundamentalists and extremists.

1.    Our national leadership supported Khilafat in 1920s, considering it an essential part of Islamic theology. That was wrong. Now we must repudiate that stance and acknowledge our mistake.

2.    Muslim Personal Law in India has not been reformed even to the extent it has been in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This must change. At least General Ayyub Khan’s reforms in Pakistan must be introduced and Ulema should be told to accept what their Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts did decades earlier. This is not a satisfactory solution but at least it will be a start and it is doable.

3.    Madrasa education is a serious violation of the human rights of Muslim children. It destroys their lives and fills their minds with xenophobia and intolerance. Our government not only allows this but partly funds some madrasas. This must stop, unless, of course, madrasas actually change to become modern versions of what madrasas used to be like, in the Golden Age of Islam, and produce scientists and philosophers. A secular, democratic government should not be in the business of funding xenophobia and intolerance.

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-and-jihad/sultan-shahin,-editor,-new-age-islam/preventing-further-radicalisation-is-the-challenge-muslims-must-undertake--some-concrete-suggestions/d/102729

Quran's Narration of Meeting between King Solomon and Queen of Sheba Shows How Science Helps Dispel the Illusion of False Gods And Enlightens the Mind

Quran's Narration of Meeting between King Solomon and Queen of Sheba Shows How Science Helps Dispel the Illusion of False Gods And Enlightens the Mind

By Aftab Ahmad, New Age Islam

30 April 2015

The Quran narrates the story of the meeting of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba, a sun-worshipper and the latter embracing Islam after some observations she made in the palace and gave her own explanation for leaving sun-worship and embracing Islam succinctly.

Apart from its outer message, the story has a deeper meaning which till now has generally been ignored. When King and prophet Solomon came to know from a bird (hoopoe) that there was another land ruled by a queen and she and her countrymen worshipped the Sun and not God, he sent her a letter asking her to submit to one God and come to meet her. She finally arrived at King Solomon’s palace but before the actual meeting took place between them and before King Solomon could deliver a long speech stressing the virtues of his religion (Islam), she declared that she became a Muslim. What compelled her to have belief in one God and realize that Islam was the true religion?

Actually, Queen of Sheba, named Bilquis was more influenced and impressed by the scientific and industrial development of King Solomon’s kingdom. The power derived from this scientific development rendered her overawed. She formed the opinion that believers in one God have immense spiritual and scientific powers. She also realized that there was a veil on her sight and her consciousness that prevented her from realizing the truth of nature and the universe. The illusion of falsehood was removed by the observation of a higher manifestation of knowledge in King Solomon’s palace. It also proves the fact that a greater scientific understanding of objects and the nature leads man to a greater understanding of the existence of God.

The story starts with the hoopoe telling King Solomon that a kingdom in a distant land is ruled by a queen and she and her subjects are sun-worshippers. They have been bestowed all the bounties from God but they do not prostrate to God but to the Sun. King Solomon, who was a also a prophet of God and a very pious and righteous man told hoopoe to deliver his letter asking her to come to him as a Muslim. Queen of Sheba consulted her courtiers and army officers and asked for their advice. They said that they were brave people always ready to obey her and were ready to fight and defend the country but the final decision was to be taken by her.

Queen of Sheba said that when kings attack a country, it causes large scale destruction on both sides. So she would prefer extending a hand of friendship towards Solomon by sending his some valuable gifts. So she sends her courtiers to Solomon with valuable gift. But King Solomon said that he did not rejoice in those gifts as God had already given him wealth and power. He only wanted their queen and them to submit to God. So they returned and told her about King Solomon’s non-acceptance of the gifts and his warning.

After the courtiers of Queen of Sheba left, King Solomon called all his ministers among whom djinns were also present. He asked the ministers if someone from them could bring the throne of Queen of Sheba to his palace before they surrendered to him as Muslims.

One of the djinns said that he could bring her throne before he will rise from his throne. That is, he will bring the throne very swiftly as he was made for this task only.

But another minister who had the knowledge of the ‘scripture’ claimed that he will bring the throne before he turned his eyes or in the blink of an eye.

And in the next moment, King Solomon saw the throne before his eyes in his palace. So when Queen of Sheba arrived at the gate of the palace, she was shown her throne lying there. The ministers asked her, “Isn’t it your throne?” She said, “It appears very much like my throne.” King Solomon said, “We have been given the knowledge before her.”

After that she was told to enter the palace. When she entered the palace, she thought that the floor was flooded with water. So she pulled up her robe and exposed her shin. The ministers were bemused and said to her, “This is not water but the floor is made of smooth glass which creates the illusion of water.”

Queen of Sheba was first surprised at this scientific marvel and then said to herself, “O my Lord, I have indeed wronged myself. And I submit with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.”

Here, Queen of Sheba seems to be overawed by the scientific powers of King Solomon and not as a Muslim king. King Solomon’s kingdom is shown in the Quran as one industrially and scientifically developed apart from the fact that he had control over the djinns and the demons and birds and animals. His royal palace was built on scientific principles and the floor was made of a kind of glass that created the illusion of water. Such a phenomenon would have been a miracle in those days though in the modern and scientifically developed age, it would be a commonplace incident. Her throne was brought to Solomon’s palace by one his ministers who had the knowledge of the ‘scripture’ or a specific knowledge from a holy book that would enable anyone to achieve this scientific feat. So when she arrived at the gate of the Solomon’s palace and found her throne lying there, she was taken aback and was awestruck at King Solomon’s power. When she realized that she mistook glass for water, she uttered in self realization that her illusion was because of her lack of insight. She mistook glass for water as she mistook sun for God. The spiritual and scientific power of King Solomon and his ministers observed by her on her visit to the palace created a very lofty image of Muslims in her eye. Are Muslims like that? Are Muslims so intellectually, spiritually and scientifically developed? Does belief in one God lead them to this development and power? She realized that though she too was the queen and also had her powerful ministers but they could not acquire these powers because they were devoid of the true wisdom and insight: they could not prevented her throne being taken away.

Here King Solomon invites Queen of Sheba to his palace obviously for preaching to her Islam and the worship of One God. But before the proper meeting is held between the two, she realizes that she was wrong to worship false gods because she did not have the insight. And she at once realized her lack of insight when she was told that it was not water but glass.

She was told, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He said, "Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass." She said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allah, Lord of the worlds."

From the verses of the Quran, we come to know that King Solomon also had factories where large furnaces for melting copper were set up and djinns would work in those factories day and night and build houses and other installations under the king’s order.

“And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind - its morning [journey was that of] a month - and its afternoon [journey was that of] a month, and We made flow for him a spring of [liquid] copper. And among the jinn were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord. And whoever deviated among them from Our command - We will make him taste of the punishment of the Blaze. They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles. [We said], "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful." (Saba: 10-13)

The furnaces the Quran mentions are only found in modern day factories where copper is melted and many tools and utensils of copper are made.

After visiting Solomon’s industrialized and scientifically developed country, Queen of Sheba at once held her own sultanate in contrast where there was no scientific development and scientific temperament. This made her form the opinion that Muslims are a scientifically developed nation. “O my Lord, are Muslims like this? So scientifically, industrially and spiritually developed?”

And she at once said, “Aslamto”. I become a Muslim.

Therefore, the story has a deep allegorical and philosophical significance that drives home the message that belief in non-gods or false gods is due to a lack of understanding of the reality of universe and nature and science only helps lift the curtain from this illusion of falsehood and enlightens the mind.

Aftab Ahmad is a columnist for New Age Islam.  He has been studying the Holy Quran for some time.

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-history/aftab-ahmad,-new-age-islam/quran-s-narration-of-meeting-between-king-solomon-and-queen-of-sheba-shows-how-science-helps-dispel-the-illusion-of-false-gods-and-enlightens-the-mind/d/102750

The Last Conversation that got Sabeen Mahmud killed: She apparently crossed an ISI red line organising an event on Balochistan

The Last Conversation that got Sabeen Mahmud killed: She apparently crossed an ISI red line organising an event on Balochistan

Sabeen Mahmud

By TQ

Apr 2015

This is a partial transcript of the talk that Sabeen Mahmud hosted on the night of her murder. You can jump to the transcript of Mama Qadeer or Farzana Baloch.

Mama Qadeer and Farzana Baloch at T2F for the Balochistan conversation on April 24, 2015.

The event, “Un-Silencing Balochistan (Take 2)” was organized after LUMS University cancelled the talk due to security threats allegedly from Pakistan’s intelligence agencies. The transcript and audio has been provided to us by Mahmud’s friends.

This panel was intended as a conversation with: Mama Qadeer, a Baloch activist who went on a long march to protest forcible disappearances in Balochistan; Baloch activists Farzana Baloch, and Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur and journalists Malik Siraj Akbar and Wusut Ullah Khan.

Mahmud  introduced the panel members to 60-70 audience members who clapped enthusiastically for every one of the speakers. In her introduction, Sabeen joked that while LUMS had been forced to cancel its event, she had received no such warning about today’s talk and so they would continue with their conversation. She acknowledged that people had very strong opinions on this issue and while encouraging debate, she also urged everyone to be respectful of each other and respect the decorum of the room.

Excerpt of Mama Qadeer’s Talk

History tells us that the Baloch have lived for centuries in their land of Balochistan with their own culture and civilization and have always fought for their land against foreign invaders. And despite being occupied, they have not allowed their language, culture, or traditions to die out. At the end of British rule in the subcontinent, there was a conspiracy to give Balochistan over to the tyranny of Pakistan. Pakistan was created with the support of religion through unnatural and undemocratic means. Power was given to their favourite stooge who was forced upon the public by military might. Balochistan’s eyes were soon opened to Pakistan’s ploys. Balochistan’s leaders, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, and Sardar Ataullah Mengal began to raise their voice against Pakistan’s coercive attitude towards oppressed nations. The government of Pakistan labeled them traitors and shut them up in jails. They began a series of army operations against Balochistan. Nationalists and political leaders and activists have been violently killed or mentally and physically hurt for the past 67 years.

The situation today is that thousands of Baloch are victims of violence in the army’s torture cells. The courts, political parties, human rights organizations, and civil society are helpless in front of the Pakistan Army and its agencies. The media is forced to remain silent on the missing persons and the tortured bodies [that are found regularly in Balochistan]. International human rights organizations and media is forbidden from going to those areas. Baloch activists or students who are released from torture cells, after the army, Frontier Corps or Rangers conduct operation in an area, their horrifying stories send shivers down one’s spine that the government of Pakistan, founded on the religion of Islam, its Muslim soldiers and agency operatives can inflict such inhuman violence against Muslims.

Agha Abdul Karim Khan and his activists were imprisoned in Machh and Quetta and afterwards were transferred to and abused in the torture cells of Quetta. Agha Abdul Karim Khan was given ten years rigorous imprisonment and a fine. After this, in Iskander Mirza’s time, Kalat was again … This time, Jhalawan’s Nawab Nauroz Khan took up the struggle against the forces in the mountains. In dictator Ayub Khan’s time, Nawab Nauroz Khan was betrayed by the army after it had made a pact with him in the name of the Holy Quran. He was arrested along with his two sons and companions. Nawab Nauroz Khan attained martyrdom in jail, when his two sons along with seven companions were hung in the Hyderabad and Sukkur Jails.

In 1973, in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s supposedly democratic period, Balochistan’s chief minister Ataullah Mengal’s government was dismissed and an army operation launched. Balochistan and political leaders like Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Wali Khan and others were charged with the Hyderabad Conspiracy. Iranian helicopters were used to bombard Balochistan’s cities. Over 8000 Baloch were killed, including women and children, whereas Pakistan lost 5000 troops. During that time, Baloch homes and livestock were also burnt and destroyed by helicopter. At that time, too, the newspapers were censored and no news was published of the army operation in Balochistan.

During Ziaul Haq’s government too, Balochistan is at the front in terms of human rights violations. Mama Khair Bakhsh Marri was forced to go to Afghanistan with his friends and tribe, while Sardar Ataullah Mengal went to London. Dictator Ziaul Haq wanted to hang a Baloch student, Shaheed Hameed Baloch, who was given a death sentence from a military court, when the colonel from the Muscat army, who Shaheed Hameed Baloch had shot, had not died. Balochistan High Court Justice Khuda Bakhsh Marri had already ruled that because the Muscat army colonel had not died in the assassination attempt, a death sentence cannot be given. Ziaul Haq set aside this verdict, promulgated an ordinance to install a military court and passed a death sentence and executed him. No human rights organization raised its voice against this gross violation.

In any country where rule of law is not supreme, its society becomes victim of chaos and terrorism. For the past 67 years human rights violation have been accompanied by a lack of rule of law. It is Pakistan’s misfortune that the very ruler who gave the 1973 constitution was also hanged. The constitution of 1973 gives death penalty to anyone who overthrows the constitution but neither Army General Dictator Ziaul Haq nor Army General Dictator Pervez Musharraf were punished for overthrowing the constitution. Rather, Pakistan’s Supreme Court favored them. Dictator Ziaul Haq would openly say that the Constitution is nothing but a piece of paper and can do nothing to us. Both of Pakistan’s army generals ruled simultaneously holding the positions of army chief of staff, martial law administrator and president of Pakistan. Creating religious fanaticism in the name of the Afghan War, they hurled thousands of Pashtuns into war. They made weapon and drug mafia and their business common. They banned all political parties. They held farcical referendums and elections; reined in press freedom; used the name of Islam for their own government; and took in 40 lakh Afghans in the name of asylum but turned them into extremists for their own agenda; and also deposed his own Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo.

After him, Peoples Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Muslim League leader Nawaz Sharif were given power in the name of democracy but they also took their lead from the establishment. Rather than strengthening democracy and political parties, they strengthened the army. The result was that in 1999 the Army General Pervez Musharraf once more overturned a democratic government and took power and once more kicked the constitution with army boots. In Musharraf’s time of rule, human rights violation reached their heights. An army operation was launched once more in Balochistan. Declaring an emergency, the courts were reined in and an assassination attempt carried out on Benazir Bhutto. After she escaped the first time, she was killed on 27 December 2007 by gunfire and a bomb blast in a rally at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi. Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice was deposed. On 12 May 2012, on the occasion of the justice’s arrival in Karachi, the entire city was shut up with containers and the public attacked by MQM terrorists. In the lawyers offices near the city court, two lawyers were burned alive. That entire day, terrorists carried out their activities in the city and despite media coverage neither was anyone arrested nor the judicial commission’s decision implemented. Instead, the reporters of the electronic media were attacked and killed.

Respected audience, now I come to the aims and activities of my organization, Voice of Baloch Missing Persons. Before our organization, the relatives of missing persons and various political parties would protest without organization and every so often would launch hunger strike camps, demonstrations, and rallies. We felt that the number of missing persons was increasing day by day and therefore we should found an organization for concerted action. For this reason us relatives of missing persons collectively founded VBMP in 2009 and for the past six years we have continuously kept hunger strike camps going.

Here, I find it necessary to tell you that my son Shahid Jalil Ahmed Reki, who was the central secretary of information of the Baloch Republican Party, was picked up from outside my home on 13 February 2009 by Frontier Corps and ISI men in plainclothes in two unmarked HiLux cars. After keeping him in torture cells for three years, his tortured corpse was 24 November 2011 found in Shiraz Mand in Balochistan.

In Musharraf’s times, people were picked up, kept in torture cells for a year or year and a half and then released. But after the Peoples Party government came into power in 2008, the tortured bodies of many leaders like Mumtaz Baloch, BNA leader Shahid Muhammad Ghulam Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch, and BRP leader Shahid Muhammad Baloch were found in the Pidrak area of Turbat, Balochistan. They had been thrown out of helicopters. After this the discovery of tortured bodies continued to grow.

Today when I am addressing this conference, the number of missing persons from Balochistan is over 21,000. This is the figure for 2014. We are writing up the figures for 2015 and release them every six months together. So until 2014, over 21,000 missing persons and over 6,000 tortured bodies have also been found. We knocked on every door for the missing persons issue. We went to the judiciary, political parties, human rights organizations, civil society, reporters and electronic media. We met people of every station and gave them all the details about missing persons and tortured bodies but with every coming day their numbers have continued to grow. And since Dr. Malik, National Party, Mahmud Khan Achakzai, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party have come to power in Balochistan, the number of missing persons and tortured bodies have been increasing.

Before, individuals would be arrested and disappeared, but now FC, Levies and police surround an area and arrest dozens at a time. In Balochistan’s area, Mashkey, Awaran, [inaudible place], Mand, Gwadar, Pasni, Panjgur, [inaudible place], Buleda, Shahpur, Shahrag, [inaudible place], Gomazi, [inaudible place], Khuzdar, Kalat, [inaudible place], Bolan, Dera Bugti, Sui, Jaffarabad, Sibi, Mastung, Kohlu, [inaudible place], [inaudible place], [inaudible place], [inaudible place], by bombing urban areas they are killing women and children too.

Seeing these government brutalities, we began a Long March from Quetta to Karachi on 27 October 2013. A long and difficult march, comprised of twenty women, children, and men, who, despite blisters on their feet, reached Karachi on 5 November, where thousands welcomed us at the Karachi Press Club. This was the first occasion when Pakistan’s press and electronic media was forced to publish and report on this, especially BBC.com, Daily Dawn English, Vsh News and other media outlets. Karachi Press Club held a welcome ceremony for members of the Long March where thousands of Baloch and Sindhi nationalists and leaders also participated. Despite travelling 750 kilometers, the Long March members’ commitment was stronger than before.

After holding a seminar at the Karachi Press Club on the International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2013, the Long March set out towards Islamabad. I salute the Sindhi public, that Sindhi nationalists received the Long March with great enthusiasm in village after village. They were our companions till the border of Punjab. At that time, we felt like we and Sindhis are one in our pain and peace. In Punjab’s Seraiki belt, Baloch tribes also gave us an enthusiastic welcome. In Dera Ghazi Khan, thousands participated in our rally.

On entering Punjab, we began to receive threats. At Okara there was a conspiracy to run the Long March members over with a truck. But our determination and resolve increased when Geo’s famous reporter Hamid Mir kept his promise and received us at Jhelum. Hamid Mir was on foot with the Long March participants and was immensely worried about the lives of the participants. He also said that the Long March will be in most danger from Jhelum to Islamabad. This is why he put his own life in danger and came to Jhelum. His action was repaid such that an assassination attempt was carried out on him in Karachi where he was shot six times and he barely returned from the brink of death.

The 3,000 kilometer long and arduous journey came to an end in Islamabad. Here the Awami Workers Party, civil society, and human rights organizations received us warmly but the media’s harsh questions hounded us. One would say we were RAW agents, another American CIA, and another would accuse us of being an Israeli spy. Repeatedly, we would get just one question: “Where do you get your funding from? On whose instructions are you carrying out this Long March?”

We were on the Long March, when we were informed that 8 collective graves were discovered in Khuzdar, Tootak where around 169 tortured bodies were found. Of these, three bodies were identified of whom two were brothers who had been arrested and disappeared by the FC during the Awaran earthquake. The other bodies were all in a state that they could not be identified. The place where these collective graves were found was exactly the same spot where in January 2011 the Pakistan Army conducted a large operation and gave this area over to Shafiq Mengal, the leader of its death squad, Musala Difa. In this large operation, the respected Muhammad Rais Qalandarani and his entire family was arrested and taken away by the forces and have left no trace of them. We have also learnt in the past days that there are collective graves in Dera Bugti and Sui, which lends credence to the fact that missing persons are often killed and buried in collective graves. Similarly, it has come to our attention that over the past ten years unidentified and unknown persons have been buried at the Edhi Center graveyard in Mawach Goth, Karachi. According to gravediggers there, in the past three years, most of the people buried here looked Baloch from their faces and bodies. For a long time, we had put up a banner in our camp demanding to know where the missing persons are, have they been swallowed up by the ground or secreted into the sky? Now, with time, it is becoming apparent that most of the missing persons are killed through torture and buried in unidentified places and graves. The Edhi Graveyard in Mawach Goth is known as the Unidentified Graveyard. Till now, neither has the judiciary taken notice of this, nor are the human rights organizations working on it.The barbarism and ruthlessness of the Pakistan Army and its agency, including FC and Rangers, is unprecedented.

Respected audience and friends, it is extremely difficult to work to secure human rights in Balochistan. The attitude adopted by the rulers and the establishment towards Voice for Baloch Missing Persons officers, political activists, journalists and civil society members here is unbearable. In Balochistan, it is considered criminal to raise your voice for the human rights of the missing persons. Balochistan is at the top of the list of human rights violations taking place in Pakistan. At this time, a large number of political activists, students, women and ordinary people have also gone missing in Balochistan but on the other side no one from the media to the rulers has spoken on the uncovering of the tortured bodies of the missing person. Balochistan is a vast place. People do not contact our organization VBMP out of fear. But, the government shows a very low figure for missing persons.

Religious extremism is being increased in Balochistan. In Pakistan, religion is being used against those who raise their voice for their rights. This will create grave problems for peace in the future. The situation that is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today can well be the fate of Balochistan tomorrow. No country in the world runs in the name of religion. This country’s National Assembly’s example is before you, where elected representatives have agreed to amendments in favor of military courts despite the fact that they are known as friends of democracy. Forming military courts is a sign of a lack of confidence in the judiciary and democracy. In India, when the army is attacked, accused are tried in civil court. Similarly, even in Afghanistan, where there have been more incidents of terrorism than here, civil courts try such cases. Certainly, the Peshawar incident is grievous. The murder of innocent children is an extremely unusual act and a grave crime. But, military courts are not the solution to this problem.

There is no expectation from the present government that it will take any serious steps to resolve the Balochistan’s problems because even today people are going missing and their tortured bodies are being found. People are migrating out of various parts of Balochistan because the situation there is not good. Therefore, Baloch nationalist leaders will have to inform the United Nations, America, European Union, and international human rights and civil society organizations of the grave situation in Balochistan to stop the annihilation of Baloch and Sindhi nations. They will have to use diplomatic channels to get their voices across to them. In today’s world, it is only through the extensive use of media and communication that they must alert the world of our situation.

Wasalam.

Excert of Farzana Majeed’s Talk

I want to thank all of you, for calling us here, and giving us a chance to talk about the human rights violations going on in Balochistan. Mama Qadeer just told all of you a lot about what all has happened in Balochistan, and what all is still happening in Balochistan.

As all of you know, Balochistan is an area of great importance to the whole world. It has many kinds of minerals and natural resources. It has a coast. Balochistan is the richest area of this region, but the natives of Balochistan, about whom we have been talking about for many years now – bringing light to issues in Balochistan such as the military operations in Balochistan, how people are being killed in Balochistan, how people are being kidnapped, taken away. The history of violation of human rights in Balochistan dates back to before I was born. Whatever has happened before is also in front of you. What is happening now, we have been telling you for the past five years.

I am an example of all this in front of you. Student leader, Zakir Majeed Baloch who is missing from 2009 to today. I have left home in search of my brother for the past six years. You all know how difficult this is for a woman. My whole family has been displaced in search of Zakir. I registered an FIR against Pakistan’s secret agencies and Pakistan security forces to find Zakir. I came before all the commissions appointed by the courts. And I attended all the hearings in the Balochistan High Court and Supreme Court of Islamabad. And at every place, I made only one demand that if my brother, Zakir Majeed, or any resident of Balochistan, has committed a crime, he should be presented before a court and punished in front of everyone in a court. You cannot just disappear him.

If Pakistan is complaining that I go talk to Americans or that I appeal to the United Nations, but you did not listen to me so I will naturally turn to others. There are human rights organizations at the international level. The United Nations is an organization for human rights. The United Nations will have to listen to me. That why is no one in Pakistan listening to Farzana? Why has his brother or all the other students and people been disappeared? This is a long strategy. Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, which was formed in 2009 by the families of missing persons, has held different rallies and demonstrations. We had a token hunger strike outside the Quetta Press Club. Our hunger strike campaign continues till today, which is being led by Mama Qadeer Baloch. Outside Quetta, this hunger strike happens every year, sometimes for 15-20 days outside the Islamabad Press Club by the relatives of the missing persons or for 2-3 months outside the Karachi Press Club. Karachi has the presence of international media who might come and listen to us. We go to Islamabad because the Pakistan and international media and international community come and listen to us that why aren’t the missing persons being returned. If they have committed a crime, bring them forward and telling everyone that he has done such and such and that is why I have arrested him.

The biggest cruelty is that Mama Qadeer has been constantly protesting gets a phone call while sitting at a camp that your son’s body has been found. This is not an easy thing. You need a heart to be able to withstand such a thing.

Besides these strategies, we also did a historic Long March, which is a remarkable Long March in the world’s history. We first went from Quetta Press Club to Karachi Press Club. First, when we left from Quetta, we thought we will find at least someone who will listen to us on the way, maybe the Baloch sitting in the parliament will come stand with us that our daughters and mothers have come out and we have to do something but it is a shame that no one was able to do anything. Then we thought that someone in Karachi will listen to us but we saw that no one in the institutions was lifting a finger. Then we thought that we would go to Islamabad to the offices of the United Nations. The Sindhi people, their services for us and the care they took of us is all a part of history. I never thought that Sindhi people would give so much love to the Baloch. During the Long March we found our Sindhi brothers and sisters to be very loving people.

After that we went to Punjab. In the Balochistan part of Punjab–Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur etc.—many people took great care of us and supported us. But it is a shame that when we went to interior Punjab, we had thought that the politicians may not be supportive but the common people might be inclined towards us. But it is a shame that other than the Communist Party and a few of their people no one else came to us. Some called us RAW agents, some called us Mossad agents, some called us American supporters. Even in Okara, we were attacked. A truck injured our Baloch brother and also a Punjabi brother, Irfan, who was from the Communist Party, and he and his family was with us, even he was injured. We also took him to the hospital. A girl’s hand was also injured. We suffered many difficulties on the way. How much can a person bear? It is no easy feat to walk on foot to walk two or three thousand kilometers. It is only a necessity that compels one to do that.

But all this to a side, when we reached Dera Ghazi Khan, a kind person took us to his place. There we found out that mass graves have been discovered in Khuzdar, 169 bodies have been found, and there is great chaos in Balochistan. Think how worried I was for my brother in that moment. Or the girl who was with me, how worried she was for her father, I know that because I saw it. Ali Hyder’s sisters were crying. I asked them, why are you crying. They said because maybe our brother is also there. We are enduring such great pain … this is not a small thing, it is a very great thing. So there are many difficulties like this.

After the Long March, when we met various officials of the international community and we were invited to a program in New York and got a visa to go, when we were leaving from Karachi Airport, we were shocked to hear that our names are on the ECL [Exit Control List]. When we asked why our names our on the ECL, they said you are traitors. I said what do you mean traitors? He said there is an FIR against you. Fine, whatever you say, you can do what you want right now because you have power but people will see what happens in the future.

I cannot take up too much of your time. There are a lot of people sitting here. Many, many thanks to you all.

Source: http://www.tanqeed.org/2015/04/the-last-conversation-voices/

URL: http://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-and-jihad/tq/the-last-conversation-that-got-sabeen-mahmud-killed--she-apparently-crossed-an-isi-red-line-organising-an-event-on-balochistan/d/102747