News

Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, president of the Jeddah-based, Islamic Develop-ment Bank, and the Al-Hariri Foundation of Lebanon have been jointly awarded the 2005 King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for Service to Islam. Professor Carole Hillenbrand of the University of Edinburgh won the Prize for Islamic Studies. The Prize for Arabic Language and Literature was withheld as none of the entries qualified for the prestigious award. In the other categories, the Prize for Science went jointly to Professors Federico Capasso and Frank Wilczek (both from the US) and Anton Zeilinger (Austria). Professors Sir Richard Doll and Sir Richard Peto were declared the joint winners of the Prize for Medicine. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, director of the King Faisal Foundation, announced the names of the winners. Each winner of the award will receive a cash endowment of SR750,000 ($200,000), a certificate outlining the laureate’s work and a commemorative 22-carat gold medallion. Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali was awarded the prize in recognition of his achievements in the field of Islamic banking. As president of the IDB since its inception 30 years ago, he has not only consolidated the conformity of banking transactions with Islamic laws, but has also set an example of successful and modern Islamic banking. Lebanon’s Al-Hariri Foundation was recognised for its commitment to education and culture. So far, it has supported college education of nearly 30,000 male and female students. It has also built schools and colleges throughout Lebanon and, in its efforts to preserve Islamic architecture, refurbished ancient mosques in that country.

Professor Carole Hillenbrand was cited in recognition of her pioneering research in the field of Islamic studies, specifically her revolutionary approach to the largely one-sided subject of the Crusades. In the category of the Prize for Medicine, Sir Richard Doll and Sir Richard Peto of the Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU) at Oxford University, were honoured for their pioneering epidemiologic research that has unequivocally established the link between tobacco and various diseases, such as vascular diseases and cancers.


“Indeed, so great has been the impact of their studies that several national health policies have been modified as a result of these findings. The World Health Organization (WHO) itself changed its position on smoking which culminated in a demonstrable decline in deaths related to cancer and atherosclerotic vascular diseases in several developed countries,” the citation notes. In the science category, Professors Federico Capasso, Frank Wilczek (USA) and Anton Zeilinger (Austria) shared the prize for their distinguished contributions in their respective fields. The topics for the 2006 King Faisal International Prize were also announced at the event. They are: Science (Mathematics); Medicine (Biology of Vascular Inflammation); Arabic Language and Literature (The Arabic Language in Modern Linguistics); Islamic Studies (The Origins of Islamic Jurisprudence). The deadline for receiving nominations is March 1, 2005.

Imam's Eid Message

As millions of faithful marked Eid Al-Adha last fortnight, Muslims were warned against heeding militant calls to wage terrorist attacks in the name of Islam.


The warning came, amidst a surge in militant attacks in Muslim countries and beyond, from Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, while addressing Haj pilgrims in the customary Eid sermon. The imam also advised Islamic scholars to preach moderation to confront this “rotten” phenomenon.


“Islam is the religion of moderation. There is no room for extremism in Islam,” he said.
He called on Muslims to “protect non-Muslims in the Kingdom and not to attack them in the country or anywhere. Islam is a religion of peace that abhors attack on innocents.” Militants were using misguided interpretations of Islam to justify violence, he added.

“Because Muslims have strayed from moderation, we are now suffering from this dangerous phenomenon of branding people infidels and inciting Muslims to rise against their leaders to cause instability,” Al-Sudais said.


“The reason for this is a delinquent and void interpretation of Islam based on ignorance ... faith does not mean killing Muslims or non-Muslims who live among us, it does not mean shedding blood, terrorising or sending body parts flying.”


Saudi Arabia is battling a wave of attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda sympathisers that has claimed more than 100 lives and wounded hundreds since May 2003.

An American media company has produced an animated film on Prophet Muhammad, (Peace be upon him). According to the company, the film is an attempt to reach out to masses in the United States and explain the life and teachings of the Prophet. The film “Muhammad, the Last Prophet”, was released on Eid-ul- Fitr in the US. According to Mr. Usamah Jamal of Fine Media Group which produced the film, he is not worried about the results on the box office, but would like to know the performance of the film in effectively communicating the message of Islam. The film is based on hand-drawn pictures of the ambience and society of the 6th century Arabia when Prophet preached Islam and began to raise a society based on its edicts. Jamal said the film was to be released in 2002, but could not be released due to the Sept 11 incident. Some of the cinema theatres also refused to accept the 90-minute film as they were not sure about the revenue it would earn. Now the distributors have hired a few theatres in order to screen the film. The film would be screened in 40 cities of America and the US.


It is not known as to how the Prophet’s visual image has been depicted in the film.
(Translated by M.A.Siraj from BBC Urdu News)

* Israel received $ 16 billion in aid from the United States during 2000-2004 while the US aid to Palestine totalled upto $ 400 million.


* According to Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem, Christians accounted for 22 to 23 per cent of population of Palestine. Today all Christians put together hardly make up 1.5 per cent. Most Christians prefer to migrate to the Western countries in the wake of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Christians feel their patriotism comes to be suspected in Muslim-Jewish conflict in which West, particularly the United States, sides with Israel.


* According to CBS, the US casualty figures by January 1, 2005 in Iraq are: 1,230 soldiers dead; 9,300 wounded in battle; 17,000 sick or injured in non-combatant roles (of whom 80 per cent would not return to their units); one in six soldiers in Iraq shows symptoms of major depression, serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder and total number of such cases from among returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan exceed one lakh. These people would need help for the next 35 years.

Saudi Arabia has launched a major research project to monitor demand of Zam Zam water. The study aims to optimise supply and distribution of Zam Zam, while making sure that sustainable supply limits are not exceeded in order to prevent wastage or possible depletion of the water well. “The Kingdom, which has set up the Zam Zam Studies and Research Center (ZSRC) under the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS), is working to determine scientific solutions for effective monitoring and management of the acquifer feeding the Zam Zam well and to ensure the purity and security of supply,” states an abstract of the research project. The Zam Zam well is hand-excavated and is 30.5-meter deep, with an internal diameter ranging from 1.08 to 2.66 meters. The well is now housed in a basement room of the Holy Haram in Makkah and it is protected by glass panels that allow a clear view of it. The upper 13.5-meter of the well is excavated in the sandy alluvium of the Wadi Ibrahim, and the lower 17.0-meter in the underlying diorite bedrock. In between, lies a 0.5-meter thick highly permeable weathered rock. ZSRC also seeks to estimate sustainable well yield and recommend measures to ensure that sustainable supply limits are not exceeded.

The proposal for a Muslim holiday in Germany has created a mixed response in the country where nearly 3.1 million Muslims live and work. Germany’s Green Party MP Hans-Christian Stroebele had pleaded for creation of a holiday for Muslims. She was criticised by the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel which said the proposal was untimely; coming in the wake of The Van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker in the neigbouring Holland. It said the demand for more concession for Muslims provokes more rejection than understanding. But another popular daily, Die Tageszeitung said a Muslim holiday would help the community to integrate with Germany in a more meaningful way. “With a holiday of their own, the no fewer than 3.1 million Muslims in Germany would finally have an established place in the calendar and would send an encouraging signal”, it wrote.


Another daily, Farankfurter Allgemeine Zeitug noted that the conversion to Islam in Germany had ‘increased dramatically’ with 800 joining the fold of the faith in 2003.

14 Muslims have been awarded in the New Years Honours, six fewer than last year. Two have been awarded an OBE, 9 are to receive MBEs and 3 are recipients of diplomatic and overseas services awards (one CBE, one OBE, and one Commonwealth award). A total of 10 Hindus and Sikhs are recognised (one CBE, three OBE and five MBE, one Overseas MBE), yet notably no Muslim, Hindu or Sikh is to be knighted. However, 22 members of the Jewish community were awarded (two received knighthood, six CBE, six OBE, six MBE and two Companion of Order of Bath. (Muslim population, 1.8 million, Hindu/Sikh 1.18 million, Jewish 260,000).


Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) London West, Director, Nazir Afzal, has been awarded an OBE for his work with the CPS and his involvement with the local community.


Afzal joined the CPS in 1991 and has successfully prosecuted many high profile cases. He is heavily involved in community work having raised money for children’s charities in the UK and schools in Northern Pakistan. Founder of the Union of Muslim Organisations (UMO), Dr Syed Abdul-Aziz Pasha, was also awarded an OBE for services to race relations. The UMO is designed to unite Muslims living in the UK and to disseminate knowledge about Islam to non-Muslims.


Dr Pasha founded the organisation in 1970, when it had 38 member organisations. It now boasts 215 member organisations and 80-donor members.


One of the two Muslim women to be awarded is 62-year-old Zakia Masud Ahmed from Cardiff in South Wales. She has been awarded an MBE for her services to the community. This award is in recognition of her commitment to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) issues in Wales over the last 15 years.


Over the years she established and chaired the Pakistan Women’s Association for Wales and the Asian Cultural Association. Malik Mohammed Salim, 63, was awarded an MBE for services to inter-faith relations and to the community in Leicester.


Salim was Leicester City Labour Councillor for 14 years and has been Vice Chairman of the Islamic Centre Leicester, the largest Islamic organisation in the Midlands for over 35 years.

Chulalongkorn University has set up a Muslim Studies Centre to research the Islamic world and its relations with other faiths in Thailand. Dr. Issara Sarntisart, the Muslim Studies Centre Director, said that the centre is part of the campus’s Asian Studies Department. “The Muslim Studies will concentrate on researching the faith and spreading knowledge to those interested in the religion, or the Muslim people. We will research different areas of Islam, including ethnic and local traditions,” she said.


The centre would build its foundation on the Thai Muslims, their economy and society, their capacity for income generation and the problems in southern Thailand.


She hopes that the Muslim Studies will not only help promote better Islamic understanding among people of other faiths, but also aid the Thai government in drafting policy. “It will also help establish a network among academics in Muslim Studies in the country and internationally,” she said.