The Muslim World

The translations of Taraweeh prayers from the Haram Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s (Pbuh) Mosque in Madinah will be transmitted live during the holy month of Ramadan. “The Saudi Television’s channel one and two will transmit live, the translation of Taraweeh prayers in English from the Haram Mosque effective from this year’s holy month of Ramadan,” said the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Sheikh Saleh Al Sheikh. According to the minister, the translation of Taraweeh prayers from the Prophet’s Mosque will be in French. “There are many people who watch the Taraweeh prayers on satellite channels. And it is essential to provide the meaning of the prayers immediately after listening to the original prayers in Arabic,” he said.

Cairo fruit-sellers have a tradition of giving nicknames to their selections of dates before the holy fasting month of Ramadan and this year, the leader of the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah topped the popularity ratings, with the “Hassan Nasrallah” the most expensive in town. “There’s no doubt, it is ‘Nasrallah the victorious’ who gets first place,” said Abdou Kashush, who has 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of different types of dates laid out in little piles on his stall in the popular Cairo market of Rod el-Farag. Charismatic Nasrallah, who emerged as a folk hero in the Arab world during the Israeli month-long aggression on Lebanon, surpassed the presidents of Iran and Venezuela — Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez. This year, a kilogram of “Nasrallah” dates goes for 24 Egyptian pounds (4.20 dollars, 3.30 euros), while “Ahmadinejad” dates sell for 18 pounds (3.14 dollars) and “Chavez” dates for 14 (2.44). Egypt is the world’s top date producer with 1.1 million tons a year, accounting for 16 per cent of world production, ahead of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Zero-tolerance on food poisoning… that is the Health Ministry’s call to both state authorities and consumers in the run-up to Ramadan.


Ministry deputy director-general Datuk,Dr Shafie Ooyub said the early preparation of meals and a lack of hygiene had been cited as the main causes for the rise in food-poisoning cases recorded during Ramadan in past years in Malaysia.“Health authorities have detected an alarming increase during the fasting period, and this cannot be tolerated,” he said when launching a campaign to counter water-borne diseases and food poisoning. Dr Shafie urged state health authorities to emulate Kelantan, which had launched a campaign to register all food handlers and give them anti-typhoid jabs. State Health director Datuk, Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Mahir said out of 649 food samples tested during Ramadan in Kelantan last year, 70% showed some contamination.

The Culture and Education Department of the Armed Forces, Ministry of Defense and Aviation, has drawn up an ambitious cultural program to celebrate next year’s 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Saudi Kingdom, after Ramadan this year. Maj. Gen. Prince Bandar, director of the department said it will be a two-week long cultural extravaganza consisting of photograph-cum-painting exhibition, traditional dances, poetry recitation and drama…. all revolving around the life and times of the Kingdom’s founder. The venue will be the King Abdul Aziz Military Academy at Al-Ain, near Riyadh. Prince Bandar said the exhibition, which will be the first of its kind on such a scale, would feature some rare photographs of King Abdul Aziz. Pictures depicting the historic meetings of King Abdul Aziz with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a number of other heads of state will be shown. “The idea is to provide young Saudi students a flashback into their history and the Kingdom’s rich cultural tapestry,” said Prince Bandar.

Dutch Muslims will have Shariah-compliant bank loans through a government sanctioned Islamic finance company for the first time in the north-western European country. “We will start providing Dutch Muslims with interest-free loans to buy cars and furnish their homes,” said Mohammed Dini, the head of Bilaa-Riba (interest-free) Company registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Muslims make up one million of Netherlands’s 16 million population, mostly hailing from Turkey and Morocco. There are more than 300 mosques, 1000 Islamic cultural centers, two Islamic universities and 42 preparatory schools in the country. Dini said the Dutch government finances 35 per cent of house loans to encourage citizens to own real estate and put a curb on rentals. “So we, as Dutch citizens, want the government to treat us on equal terms and finance a part of the Murabaha. Our proposal is already backed by some political parties because it is our right as we are part and parcel of Dutch society,” he pointed out.

Qatar will soon have its first ever facility and shelter for women and children who are victims of abuse. “Two facilities, a specialised centre for health and psychological treatment of victims and a shelter, will be set up”, said Farida Abdullah Al Obaidly, head of the Qatar Foundation for Women and Children’s Protection. The centre will provide victims with medical and psychological care, legal assistance and refer them to the shelter, if needed. It will be the first time, victims will be able to file a police report to denounce the violence, receive medical care, legal consultancy, all at one place. A committee of five experts is studying the implementation of the projects. According to the data provided by the Foundation, 21 women and 128 children reported cases of abuse to the Foundation in 2004. The figures increased to 178 cases involving women and 459 involving children in 2005 and 128 involving women and 90 involving children in the first six months of 2006. Farida said the cases included not only sexual violence and harassment, physical abuse and psychological violence, but also lack of education and health care or financial distress.

Saudis and expatriates have welcomed the decision taken by the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs to reject a proposal to shift the women’s prayer area in the mataaf (circumambulation area around the holy Kaaba). The Presidency has also decided to allocate 53 per cent of the Grand Mosque to women worshippers.


“The Presidency has arranged special prayer areas for women during Ramadan and it covers 53 per cent of the whole Haram, including the mataaf and three floors.


The proposal to shift the prayer area drew stiff criticism from Muslim women across the globe. In protest at the proposals, a petition had been posted at the ww.petitiononline.com website, which has so far attracted over 1,000 signatures. Mawaheb Ezzulden, a Sudanese pilgrim said that many women were crying after they heard that there were plans to stop women from praying in the mataaf area. “I thank the Saudi government and the Two Holy Mosques Affairs for all their efforts in serving pilgrims and visitors. I thank them for allocating more space for women. This is good news for people and shows clearly that Islam is definitely not against women enjoying their rights,” she said.

A variety of Muslim organisations in Geneva have joined hands in an umbrella body to streamline efforts to help the minority better integrate into society and wash away misconceptions about the Muslim faith. The Federation of Islamic Organizations aims to coordinate and promote activities of the different Muslim groups in Geneva to serve the best of the Muslim minority. It will encourage young Muslims to better handle issues of concern either with the broader society or within the minority. The new all inclusive body will also seek to appease fears about the ability of Muslims to integrate into society.


It will seek to help Muslims strike the right balance between religious duties and responsibilities as citizens. The Federation groups a host of bodies in the city, including the Islamic Center in Geneva – Europe’s oldest Islamic centre and the Islamic Cultural Association of the Islamic World League. Former chairman of the association, Yehia Baslamah was named to steer the nascent federation while its executive arm includes a galaxy of prominent Muslim scholars representing an ethnic mosaic.

King Abdullah II officially launched an initiative known as Lower-Middle Income Countries to create a forum for cooperation and knowledge-sharing to promote their shared interests. A communique by the grouping, known as the G-11, said its aim was to mobilise global recognition and international support. It held its first meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly ministerial meetings recently.


In addition to Jordan and Pakistan, its members include Sri Lanka, Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia, Croatia, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador and Indonesia. In his opening address, King Abdullah also spoke of a robust economic growth and poverty reduction in the members of the group and warned that these achievements could be reversed if international help does not arrive. “More than a quarter of the world’s population today live in lower-middle income countries, many of which are ready to graduate to higher income brackets through prudent economic management and enabling the engines of growth,” stated a communique issued at the end of the meeting.

For the first time in Saudi Arabia, hundreds of young Saudi girls will start their technical education soon in a boost to get more female participation in the country’s job market. Recent high school graduates can earn two-year associate degrees that will offer them marketable skills. Four technical schools are established in Riyadh, Tabuk, Ahsa and Madinah as per the directives of the Council of Ministers. Majed Al-Mugbil, general supervisor for girls training in the General Organization for Technical and Vocation Training (GOTEVOT), said that the majors offered are crafted to meet the demands of the job market. “The total number will be 39 technical colleges by the end of the five-year plan,” he said. Right now, the colleges offer two degrees: accounting and computing.

Jordan has signed an agreement with the University of Southern California to set up a Middle East film school which Israeli students will also be able to attend.


The agreement to set up the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts (RSICA) in the resort of Aqaba was signed in New York recently during a ceremony attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah. US filmmaker Steven Spielberg encouraged the Jordanian monarch to use the School of Cinematic Arts at the university, of which he is a trustee, to set up the project.


“When the King approached me on the subject of a Jordan-based, world-class film school serving every country in the Middle East, including Israel, I immediately saw the importance and significance of such a venture for the people and the future of the region,” said Spielberg. Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab countries to have signed peace deals with Israel. Samer Moasher of Jordan’s Royal Film Commission, which will contribute to the project, said the scheme described the Middle East as, “a melting pot of cultural richness and diversity with story-telling traditions as old as time”. Construction of the film institute is expected to begin in early 2007 and enrolment will begin in September 2008.

Concerned at the apparently growing anti-British feelings among Indian Muslims, the British government is keen to build bridges with the community in India.


Last fortnight, S. J Qadri, media advisor and spokesperson for Britain’s foreign and commonwealth office in London, along with his counterpart in Delhi, toured several Indian cities and met editors of Urdu newspapers and community leaders. Out of the nearly two million Muslims living in the UK, 1.5 million have their roots in the sub-continent. “England is not against Islam or Muslims. We are a multi-cultural country where people of different faiths have enjoyed equal opportunities. Indian Muslims’ support is vital in the fight against terrorism,’’ said Qadri. The British attempt to seek the Urdu media’s support is not without reasons. There are three Urdu dailies and many Urdu channels in England which cater to the vast South Asian immigrant population. The Urdu media also reflect the mood of Muslims in the sub-continent. The foreign office monitors Urdu media. “When we see fabricated news or slanderous comments about England in Urdu dailies here, we send rebuttals and try to clarify,’’ informed Asad Mirza, media advisor at the British foreign office in Delhi.