THE MUSLIM WORLD

Saudi and expatriate women moved in a file donning pink tops and scarves to make a statement at the Zahra Breast Cancer Association-organized human-awareness ribbon event at the Ministry of Education Stadium in Jeddah last month.. Over 5,000 women gathered to create the world’s largest-ever human pink ribbon

Over 5,000 Saudi and expatriate women created the world’s largest human pink ribbon in aid of breast cancer awareness in Jeddah.
According to organizers, the number of women coming into the Education Ministry Stadium in the Faisaliah district exceeded 5,000. However, around 1,000 left before the actual formation of the ribbon due to the delays in getting the sheer numbers of people organized.
The women were able to break the record within the first two hours of the event, as both Saudis and expatriate residents came out in droves to support one single yet very important cause.
The Riyadh-based Zahra Breast Cancer Association organized the event. Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, founding member of the association, was the driving force behind the campaign, held under the support of the Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Foundation. Princess Reema said the private sector and the government have been very supportive of the foundation’s breast cancer awareness initiative. “Let it be known that as of this day, ignorance is no longer an excuse and no woman should be allowed to be left to suffer in silence,” Princess Reema had said at the launch of the awareness campaign.
Attendance at the event easily topped the previous record of 3,640 set in Germany in 2007. Thousands of pink scarves were distributed at the entrance gate and the women returned them to the organizers when they left. The pink human chain, consisting of both Saudis and expatriate residents donning the pink tops and scarves, was built in the shape of the global ribbon of breast cancer awareness. Saudis and foreign residents, including Arabs, Indonesians, Americans, British, Filipinos and Asians, had been streaming into the stadium. Participant Aseel Hindi is a 26-year-old maths teacher who came all the way from Makkah. “We knew about the event through Facebook and we as friends managed to gather and come a long distance to be part of the new Guinness record for the first time ever in our lives,” she said. Over 100 media outlets from around the globe also attended. It was also the first time women in Jeddah were able to experience the atmosphere of a stadium in the Kingdom. The stadium was half open, which led participants to cluster in one place. Students from different schools and universities as well as employees of companies and hospitals attended. Some students said the atmosphere was great and enjoyed socializing with each other. Sixteen-year-old high school student Nouf said she and her classmates knew nothing about the illness and were only there because they had been asked to attend by their teachers. According to Colleen, who came along with her British friends at the start to support the cause, the event was great but the numbers caused some delays. “We came because we really wanted to be part of (this event) because it is the first time that something like this is happening in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
“It is disappointing, everybody here wants to be part of this and be involved, but it took a long time.” “I thought some sessions or awareness flyers would be distributed to help us learn more about the illness. We even expected some victims to come,” said participant Um Tariq.
Breast cancer is the most-diagnosed form of cancer in Saudi Arabia, accounting for 12.4 percent of all cancers and 23.6 percent of cancers among women, according to a study by the Saudi Cancer Registry.

Corruption Perception Analysis

Several of the Muslim countries figure in the list of highly corrupt societies.

Several Muslim countries are on the top of list of World’s most unclean societies

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009 released by the Germany based watchdog Transparency International recently ranks New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland as the least corrupt countries while Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Chad, Iraq and Sudan, rank among the most corruption-afflicted nations. The former five score over 9 points (on a scale of 10 for totally clean and 1 for highly corrupt states) while Somalia has the score of just 1.1.  Placed above it are Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Chad and Iran etc.
The United States is on 22nd rank, down from last year’s 19th, while India is placed on 84.  Our Muslim neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh share the 139th rank with several other countries. India scores 3.4 on the scale and the two neighbours stand on 2.4on the scale. Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Kingdom that encompasses the holy land has 73rd rank while Turkey takes the 61st rank. 
Among the Muslim countries, Qatar has the topmost rank of 22 with a score of 7 on the scale of being clean while UAE (rank 30), (Brunei Darussalam and Oman, both 39), Bahrain (46), Jordan (49), Malaysia (56), Tunisia (65), Kuwait (66), fare better than India. China, the world’s second largest economy, is on 79th position while its position on the clean society index is 3.6, slightly better than India’s. 
The Report says no country scores a clean 10, which indicates that corruption is still perceived to exist even among the most industrialised countries.
Transparency International’s 2009 Global Corruption Barometer reveals a growing distrust of business, the daily struggle of the world’s poor with petty bribery and a public unconvinced of governments’ anti-corruption efforts. A worldwide public opinion survey, the 2009 Global Corruption Barometer reflects the views and experiences of more than 73,000 people from 69 countries and territories (the biggest country range to date).
Political parties are seen by respondents worldwide as the single most corrupt domestic institution, followed closely by the civil service or what is known as bureaucracy. More than one in 10 people interviewed reported having paid a bribe in the previous 12 months, reflecting reported levels of bribery similar to those in the 2005 survey.
The 2009 Global Corruption Barometer also revealed that corruption in the private sector is of growing concern to the general public: the sector was perceived to be corrupt by half those interviewed – 8 %  more than five years ago. The general public is also critical of the private sector’s role in the policy-making process. More than half of respondents felt that bribery is often used to shape policies and regulations in companies’ favour.
In terms of interviewees’ direct experience, the police are most frequently reported to receive bribes worldwide: almost a quarter of people who had contact with the police in the previous year had paid a bribe. Sixteen per cent of people in contact with the judiciary and 13 % with registry and permit offices were also likely to have paid bribes.
Despite this evidence, the general public does not routinely use formal channels to complain. About half of bribery victims interviewed saw existing complaint mechanisms as ineffective. Government efforts to tackle corruption were also seen as ineffective by more than half the general public; less than a third of respondents rated government efforts as making a difference.
In states like India, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, UK, Austria, Bolivia etc, political parties were stated to be the most corrupt institutions.
In the US, Romania, Panama and Indonesia, the Parliament or Legislature were reported to be most corrupt organs of the State.
In countries such as Mongolia, Peru, Senegal and Uganda, judiciary was stated to be the most corrupt institution.
Respondents in Pakistan, Japan, Russia, Senegal, Turkey, etc civil servants (i.e., bureaucracy) was indicated as the most corruption institutions.
Business and private sector was pointed out as the most corrupt sector in countries like Brunei, Hong Kong, Denmark, Holland, Poland, Spain, Iceland, Norway etc.   
-------------------------- 
(The article is Islamic Voice’s analysis based on the Transparency International’s Report 2009)

Where do you think Muslims and Christians celebrate Christ’s birth together? One of the answers is: where it is least expected, in Pakistan.
In December last year, the Gulshan Centre for the Study of Islam and Christianity in Mansehra partnered with a local madrasah (an Islamic religious school) to hold a well-attended carol service with local Christians and Muslims celebrating the birth of Christ - together. And during this Ramadan, the two are organising an iftar dinner, where Christians and Muslims will be breaking the fast together. The centre, which was established by Pakistani Christians in 2009, serves as a platform for Christians and Muslims to discuss both theological issues and everyday ones.
As a Muslim-majority country, Pakistan is often criticised for not caring enough about minority rights or ensuring minorities’ equal participation in political and social processes. There have even been incidents of discrimination, violence and hate against them.
But this is not the only reality in Pakistan. There have always been people and organisations from many religious communities working for communal harmony and interfaith understanding. Christians might be less than two per cent of the total population of Pakistan, for example, but they have undertaken many initiatives to promote interfaith dialogue in the country, especially between themselves and the majority Muslim population.
In 1935, when Pakistan was still a part of India, Jesuit missionaries used Loyola Hall in the eastern city of Lahore as a centre for interfaith dialogue. Another prominent ecumenical institution, the Christian Study Centre, was formed in 1968 in the city of Rawalpindi to provide a platform for Christian and Muslim academics to discuss religious and theological issues, and for people of different religions to converse and co-exist on the basis of mutual friendship, understanding and cooperation.
More recently in 1997, the Christian Study Centre started a project called Social Harmony at the Grassroots Level after buildings and churches in a Christian village, Shanti Nagar in Punjab, were burned and destroyed by a group of religious fanatics. This highly successful programme trains people from different religious communities to resolve conflict peacefully.
Another important partner in religious dialogue is the World Council of Religions (WCR) of Lahore. WCR connects Christian priests and Muslim religious leaders to carry out joint projects focusing on eradicating hate speech and violence in the country by first helping to break down their own stereotypes about one another. They learn about each other and visit each other’s places of worship, discussing common problems they face instead of simply claiming superiority over people of other faiths and encouraging their Christian or Muslim followers to do the same.
These efforts are also being recognised by educational institutions in Pakistan, where there is a growing interest among the student population to learn about other faiths directly from their representatives. For instance, Punjab University in Lahore and Peshawar University have recently started inviting Christian leaders to give talks for graduate students about Christian beliefs and practices.
As a Christian leader, I too have also been asked to be part of the faculty of Islamic and Religious Studies at Peshawar University’s Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, as well as a faculty member for Islamic and Religious Studies at Hazara University in the newly named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Such initiatives are helpful in correcting misperceptions and creating a peaceful environment for Muslim and Christian coexistence in Pakistan.
Interfaith efforts are also present outside of academic or religious institutions. For instance, the Akash Christian Society works toward interfaith harmony by providing medical services, along with other projects, to people in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their Kunhar Christian Hospital (KCH) and Cirin Christian Clinic in the Mansehra District, both of which have Christian staff, provide medical services to their patients - mostly Muslims - on a non-profit basis.
These organisations, educational institutions and religious leaders are trying to educate people so that prejudices are removed, making increased interaction possible at every level. Christians, alongside their Muslim brothers, are trying to bring about peace, harmony and love in this beautiful country. Success may come slowly, but if we work hard and work together with sincerity, it will surely come.
---
Haroon Nasir is Director of the Gulshan Centre for the Study of Islam & Christianity in Mansehra and a Fulbright alumnus. This article is part of a series on spiritual leaders and interfaith dialogue written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

A French court on Nov. 11 slapped a one-month suspended jail sentence on a retired female teacher who attacked a woman in a shop for wearing a face-covering veil.
The Paris court heard that the defendant, who had worked in several Arab countries, set upon a 26-year-old Emirati woman in a shop, first trying to tug off her niqab veil and then slapping, scratching and biting her on the hand.
“I knew that I was going to crack one day. This burqa business was beginning to annoy me,” the defendant told police, saying she was fighting for women’s rights, according to evidence heard in court. France last month passed a law to ban the wearing of the niqab and other face-coverings in public places, a controversial move in a
country with Europe’s biggest Muslim population, estimated at nearly six million.
The court ruled the defendant’s “violent behaviour reveals an intolerance of others that defies explanation and denies cohabitation and dialogue between people who have different ways of life or opposing beliefs.”

The works of noted mathematician-astronomer Galileo Galilei have been published in Arabic for the very first time. The book “Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo” was published by Kalima, the translation project of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. The published book consists of four works - The Starry Messenger, Letters on Sunspots, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina and The Assayer.The original work was translated into English by Stillman Drake, a professor at the University of Toronto.
Kamal Mohammed Sayed and Fathallah Sheikh have translated Drake’s compilation into Arabic. Sayed is a professor of chemistry and the director of the Centre for Sohag University Open Education in Egypt. He studied in the University of Glasgow and is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry in Britain. Sheikh is professor of physical chemistry at Sohag University and has translated many books published from Egypt.

The Prithviraj Chavan-led council of ministers in Maharashtra that took oath on Friday has lowest representation of Muslims in many years as the Congress has included only one member from the largest minority community in the new ministry.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the other partner of the coalition government, has made two Muslims as state minister from its own quota.
For the 288-member Assembly, there can be 43-member council of ministers. The Congress and NCP have agreed on the old formula of 23-20 ratio in the ministry. Each partner has inducted 20 ministers each with Congress leaving three seats of its quota vacant.
In the 40-member council of ministers there are 30 cabinet rank ministers and 10 state rank ministers. Both Congress and NCP have equal number of cabinet and state ministers. Of these 40 ministers, 22 are Marathas, 7 from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 4 from Scheduled Tribes (ST), 3 from Scheduled Castes (SC), 3 are Muslims and one is a Jain.
In the Ashok Chavan team and his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh’s also, there were four Muslim faces. But in the new ministry that took oath after the unceremonial exit of Ashok Chavan following Adarsh Society scam, there are only three ministers: Arif Naseem Khan (Congress), Hasan Miyan Musharraf (NCP) and Fauzia Khan (NCP). Only one of them Naseem Khan is in the cabinet. Fauzia Khan is a Member of Legislative Council while other two are Members of Legislative Assembly.
In the 288-member Assembly there are 11 Muslim MLAs: 5 from Congress, 3 Samajwadi Party, 2 Nationalist Congress Party and one from Jan Surajya Shakti. According to the Census 2001, Muslims constitute 10.6% of the total 96,878,627 population in the state.

The Kerala government on November 22 informed the High Court that an Islamic bank is established on the secular principles of Shariat law and irrespective of religion anyone can become a stakeholder. The oral submission was made by Advocate General C. P. Sudhakara Prasad on a petition by Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy and others challenging the proposal to start an Islamic financial institution, on the lines of Islamic banks in the state with the support of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
The main objective of the Islamic bank is to mobilise funds for infrastructure and development programme. Untapped funds available with NRI and investors need to be utilised, Prasad said.
The submission was made before a Division bench, comprising Chief Justice J. Chelemeswar and Justice P. K. Ramachandra Menon. According to Swamy, Article 27 of the Constitution prohibits a state government body, in this case the KSIDC, to engage in ventures like Islamic banking.
In his petition, he said the mandatory governing principles of Shariat, religious code of Islam, to be adhered to is that not only interest payment and receipt are barred, but also it bars certain other activities which are legitimate under Indian laws. KSIDC cannot be permitted to promote a corporate called AL Barakah Financial Service Ltd and even less be allowed to appropriate public funds, he had submitted.
The High Court had during the admission stage of the petition in April this year directed the state government and its institutions not to participate financially or otherwise in the financial company modelled on the lines of Islamic bank.

Few non-Malays in Malaysian armed forces

Chinese and Indians who make up 28 per cent and 8.1 per cent of the Malaysian population are represented to the tune one only one per cent in the Malaysian army. “A lack of patriotism” was one of the possible reasons for the small number of non-Malays in Malaysia’s armed forces, Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Nov. 9. While Malays are a little above 60 percent, Chinese and Indians made up less than one percent of the new recruits in 2008-09, Hamidi said in parliament.
Hamidi said the small number of non-Malays could also be due to various other factors, such as concern over the strict discipline imposed, lower returns compared to jobs in the private sector, lack of encouragement from families and a negative perception towards the army.
“The government does not impose any quota on the recruitment of army personnel, whereby appointments are made based on qualifications and the applicant’s interest in providing service as well as on voluntary basis,” he was quoted as saying by Star Online, website of The Star newspaper.
On how to encourage non-Malays to join the army, Hamidi said activities to promote careers in the army were carried out in public and private higher-learning institutions.