THE MUSLIM WORLD

The British Government is sending a delegation of leading Muslim citizens to India which will visit Bangalore, Bhopal, Delhi and Mumbai in the second week of November. According to British High Commission sources in New Delhi, the delegation would deliver positive messages about Islam overseas and help setup a permanent network between mainstream British Muslims and counterparts in the Muslim world and encourage mainstream British Muslims to assume enhanced leadership roles within UK Muslim communities and in the UK media. It will clear misconceptions about UK Muslims and highlight their contribution to the development and life in the United Kingdom.
In an earlier exercise, another such delegation had visited New Delhi, Hyderabad and Lucknow in 2006.

It is part of an overall counter-terrorism exercise undertaken by the British foreign relations department which places India in the 'Prevent' category implying that Indian Muslim community requires 'preventive' measures, rather than 'curative' or ''Pursuit' (of terrorists) category.
The delegation is billed to have following members drawn from various walks of life: Mr. Asad Ahmad, BBC news presenter and journalist (he was earlier a foreign exchange dealer in London and also worked as a researcher in the House of Lords); Amin Mawji, President of the UK Ismaili Council, partner at Ernst & Young and is member in several official panels related to finance and development; Fiyaz Mughal, director of Faith Maters working on reducing extremism, founder trustee and treasurer of the Jerusalem interest-free Microfinance Fund Ltd and a councillor in Haringey and an ex-councillor of Oxford; Azeem Ibrahim, a finance wizard (he was the youngest member of the Bank of Scotland Asian Power 100 produced by Carter Anderson, and has been inducted as a member of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy's Dean's International Council; Dr. Haseena Lockhat, psychologist, one of the youngest consultant child Clinical Pyschologists in the UK at Worcestershire Primary Care Trust (she is also the chairpersons of Govt's Community Cohesion Panel's Health & Social Care Committee, governor of University of Worcester and members of a number of health panels); Ms. Farmida Bi, Lawyer, partner in the globally acclaimed Islamic finance group of leading International law firm, Norton Rose LLP, (she is also founder of Progressive British Muslims) and a trustee of Three Faith Forum; Iftah Nawaz, lawyer and president of the The Association of Muslim Lawyers, UK since 2002 (and is on several Government and independent law panels); and Ms. Wasfi Kani OBE, chief executive Grange Park Opera (she is a member of the board of the Theatre Royal Stratford East (Wasfi was conferred Order of British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for her services to music in 2002 and has an honorary doctorate of Music in 2007.

However, a couple of members may drop out as availability is not certain while these lines are being written, a High Commission official who visited Bangalore told Islamic Voice.
An interaction with a group of leading representatives of Bangalore Muslims and VIPs from among non-Muslims is scheduled to take place at Al-Ameen College Seminar Hall on November 8th evening. Thereafter, the members would also interact with a group of Muslims women and may have a meeting with office-bearers of faith based groups in the city.

A high school in Pennsylvania state in the US dropped an anti-Islam video listed for use in one of its classes. This was done after the Pennsylvania chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-PA) took up the case and convinced the school authorities about the hateful nature of the video.

Earlier this month, CAIR-PA sent a letter to the superintendent of the Council Rock School District expressing concerns about a hate-filled video, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” listed in the syllabus of a course at Council Rock High School in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

In her letter, CAIR-PA Director of Civil Rights Marwa El-Turky wrote : “’Obsession’ is a vehicle for promoting anti-Muslim bigotry that seeks to blur the distinction between violent extremism and mainstream Islam. The use of such an inaccurate and inflammatory film in a world history class would inevitably result in both the promotion of stereotypes and the creation of a hostile learning environment for Muslim students.

“The hate-filled agenda promoted by the film has been repudiated by the Hate Hurts America Multifaith Community Coalition (HHA), a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech in our society…Those interviewed in Obsession constitute a veritable who’s who of Muslim-bashers.

Americans are learning more about Islam, and familiarity with the faith makes people more likely to view Muslims favourably and less likely to believe Islam encourages violence, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. The study also showed that Americans still believe Muslims faced far more discrimination than the nation's other religious groups.

The findings can be linked because increased knowledge about Muslims is tied to more sensitivity about bias they face, said Greg Smith, the report's senior researcher.

“To say that Muslims are discriminated against ... it's not the same thing as expressing an unfavorable view of Muslims. In fact it's just the opposite,“ he said. “People who are most sympathetic to a group are more likely to see that group as being discriminated against.“

In the annual survey released on September 9 and carried by the Associated Press, 58 per cent of Americans said there was “a lot” of discrimination against Muslims. Jews were seen as the religious group with the next highest level of bias against them, with 35 per cent saying they faced a lot of discrimination.

Homosexuals were the only group seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims, with almost two-thirds of Americans saying homosexuals are discriminated against a lot.

According to the Pew survey, belief among Americans that Islam encourages violence has fluctuated since the Sept. 11 attacks, and was at its lowest level — a quarter of those surveyed — in March after the terror strikes.

By 2007, 45 per cent of Americans believed Islam was more likely than other faiths to encourage violence. This year, that number fell to 38 per cent. The group most likely to say Islam encourages violence this year was conservative Republicans, at 55 per cent. But that dropped 13 per cent from two years ago, making them the group with the biggest change of opinion since 2007.

The survey, conducted by telephone, also indicated that Americans have grown steadily more knowledgeable about Islam: 41 per cent knew that the Muslim name for God is Allah and the Quran is the Islamic sacred text, compared to 33 per cent in March 2002.

The “small and gradual, but noticeable” change has an affect, Smith said. Those most familiar with Islam were least likely to link the religion with violence. Fifty-seven per cent of people who knew the names Muslims use to refer to God and their sacred text, and were also acquainted with a Muslim, said Islam did not encourage violence more than other faiths.

The same percentage of that group said their overall opinion of Muslims was favourable and 70 per cent of that group said there's discrimination against Muslims.

Only 21 percent of those with a low familiarity with Islam had a favourable opinion of Muslims, and less than half of that group saw a lot of discrimination against them.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Pew's findings back up his own group's research. He blamed a “vocal minority” in the U.S. for fanning anti-Muslim bias with increasingly harsh rhetoric since 9/11.

“Unfortunately, people have focused on that tiny, tiny minority of Muslims who have carried out violent acts, and claim to act in the name of Islam,“ he said. “Ninety-nine point nine, nine percent of all Muslims will live and die without coming near an act of violence.“

Most of the findings came from a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted between August 11 and 17 among 2,010 adults. Hooper said continuing education about Islam is the key to fighting prejudice. In June, CAIR began a campaign to distribute free copies of the Quran to 100,000 local and national leaders, from President Obama to local school principals.

“When knowledge about Islam goes up, prejudice goes down,“ Hooper said.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) has opened its new Library at its headquarter at the Yildiz Palace here.

IRCICA library includes some 70,000 books written in 140 different languages. There are also 1,500 maps and plans. It also hosts the first translation of the holy book of Koran in Latin dated 1550. It features rare manuscripts, books and other unique materials from the Islamic civilization. It will help preserve a unique book treasury and historic heritage, making them available for researchers. It would serve further improvement of dialogue and cooperation efforts among different civilizations.
Launched in 1981 as the first subsidiary organ of the OIC, IRCICA is an international institution which is active in fields of research, publishing, documentation and information. It aims at studying and promoting the Islamic culture and civilization throughout the world and acting as a catalyst for research and cooperation in these areas to improve mutual understanding between Muslims and other nations, civilizations and cultures of the world.

The Library was opened in May by Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayip Erdogan.
The Library was funded by Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Iran's parliament decided to debate a bill of allocating budget to disclose U.S. human rights violations. The lawmakers will discuss a bill of earmarking 20 million U.S. dollars "to confront unjust mono-polization of information technology by the United States and other Western countries, and to disclose various examples of human rights violations in the United States," the report said. If the bill is approved, a team including officials from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Telecomm-unication and from Islamic Culture and Relations Organization will decide the spending of the budget, according to the report. "The Americans passed several bills to assist the oppositions of the Islamic Republic. The latest one was a 55-million-dollar bill allocated (to Iranian oppositions) by U.S. Senate," Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a senior Iranian lawmaker, was quoted as saying. The bill is believed to be Iran's reaction to the U.S. and U.S.-backed criticism of Iran's crackdown on protesters following the June 12, presidential election.

Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif, who escaped an assassination attempt last month said, he was more determined than ever to pursue the Kingdom's campaign against terrorism. He is largely credited with the Kingdom's aggressive anti-terrorism efforts. The bombing was the first significant attack by militants in the Kingdom since 2006. Saudi Arabia has waged a fierce crackdown on Al-Qaeda militants in the country that led to the killing or capture of most of its leaders after a string of attacks that started in 2003.

The suicide bomber blew himself up while waiting in line to enter a gathering of well-wishers at the prince's home in Jeddah, said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Saudi arm of the group, claimed responsibility for the bombing attempt, according to a message posted on Internet forums and translated by SITE Intelligence Group. Al-Turki said security measures would not be increased after the apparent breach, which occurred after the prince ordered guards not to search the militant, who insisted he was giving himself up. “The security will not be heightened more than it is at the moment. We have always been saying that we expect (such acts) and act as though they may happen at any moment. We know there are sleeper cells operating in the Kingdom and those who think the war on terror is over in the Kingdom are mistaken,” he said. The suicide bomber's identity was not revealed, and Al-Turki said, “If we find that investigations will not be affected by revealing his identity, we will do so in time. The country's security measures are at its highest-level, the way they have always been.

The government of Pakistan has decided to change the Islamiat (Islamic studies) curriculum of primary to 12th standard classes in the new education policy, emphasising issues of daily social life and Huqooqul Ibad (rights of fellow human beings).

A policy document reveals the new curriculum, which makes Islamiat compulsory from grade-I to 12th std., would strive to teach students ethics and good behaviour in pursuance of the examples demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad (peace bee upon him) during his daily dealings with Muslims and non-Muslims. The government has assured it would ensure the Islamiat textbooks and other learning materials did not contain anything repugnant to Islamic injunctions or any controversial material regarding any sect or religious/ethnic minorities. The new policy also seeks to ensure that the objectives of the Islamiat curriculum would be to make sure all Muslim children are allowed to learn, understand and apply the fundamental principles of Islam in their lives, with an aim to reform and develop society on the principles of the Quran and Sunnah.

The new Huqooqul Ibad chapters will focus on the rights and duties of parents, relatives, neighbours, teachers, friends, companions, children, women, orphans, widows, patients, handicapped, elders, travellers, guests and non-Muslims. The textbooks would also contain material on tolerance, forgiveness, patience, honesty, piety, chastity, enlightenment, service to humanity, punctuality, simplicity, love for the country and countrymen, Islamic brotherhood, truth, dignity of labour, equality, commitment to vows, ‘halal’ earnings, discipline, respect for law, national unity, mutual co-existence and purity in light of Islamic teachings.

Under the new policy, individuals wishing to pursue higher education in Islamiat would be encouraged through scholarships to both national and international Islamic institutes of repute. It states qualified teachers would be appointed to teach Islamiat and Arabic, adding training programmes in the two subjects would be provided for pre-service and in-service teachers.
The government has also claimed it would arrange for the printing of rare books on Islam and charts and materials relating to Islamic injunctions, and would distribute them amongst libraries of schools, colleges, universities, research institutions and madrassas. The new policy also has a provision for non-Muslim students to study ethics/moral education in lieu of Islamiat.

Attempts to practise aspects of sharia (Islamic) law in the Netherlands which involve compulsion, pressure and a misuse of power will be clamped down hard on by the government, justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told MPs early September.

The cabinet's job is to ensure that the Netherlands does not develop 'a parallel society in which people take the law into their own hands or maintain their own legal system which operates outside the framework of our own legal system', the minister said.

Some aspects of sharia law, such as the differences between men and women and divorce laws, do conflict with key Dutch values and Dutch law will never allow legal polygamy, he told MPs.
Nevertheless, some form of settling differences about questions of belief and behaviour did not have to conflict with public order, as long as they were entered into voluntarily, the minister said.
Before the summer break, the anti-immigration PVV party had asked Hirsch Ballin to investigate the setting up of sharia courts at some mosques. That investigation is due to be completed next year. (source: Dutch News)

Indian-American Dr. Islam A. Siddiqui has been appointed nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative by President Obama. (It may be useful to know that every new US president makes thousands of new appointments in his administration.) Dr. Siddiqui hails from Haldwani in Uttar Pradesh and did his graduation in Agriculture from Pantnagar Agricultural University and later acquired MS and Ph.D. from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He has served as senior administrator with California State's agricultural sector. He was also with Clinton Administration. He was till recently vice president for Science and Regulatory Affairs at the CropLife America where he was responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals.

A scribe with an international reputation was detained, handcuffed and humiliated in Makkah and no one took notice. He relates his tale to the world after being deported to London.

Syed Neaz Ahmad, a writer of repute and a teacher and trainer of long standing, was arrested, handcuffed and detained in Makkah for 11 days in a jail under inhuman conditions and deported without showing any reason.

Mr. Ahmad, a British passport holder, was editorial consultant for the Muslim World League Journal at Makkah when he was detained. It is a monthly journal and has its Arabic counterpart too. The Muslim World League or Rabitat al-Alam Al-Islami is a non-government organization known world over for its missionary activities. Prior to his stint at the Journal, Ahmad had worked for 28 years as a teacher of English, creative writing and linguistics in Ummul-Qura University at Makkah. He even co-authored a series of three books on writing for students of engineering and Islamic architecture. He was better known in social circles of Saudi Arabia for his crisp and witty weekly columns in two Saudi dailies, Arab News and Saudi Gazette. He even appeared on Saudi TV chat shows and was often interviewed on Jeddah FM radio. For more than four years he also worked as the online editor of Saudi Gazette.

Though no reasons were given out for his incarceration, it is guessed that Neaz Ahmad fell victim to the intrigues within the Rabita headquarters. He presumably incurred the wrath of Director of Media Department Hassan Ahdal and one of his flunkeys, Abrar Ahmad Islahi, a madrassa graduate from India who masquerades as the in-charge of the minority cell of the organization which simply does not exist. A thorough professional, Ahmad had maintained a no nonsense approach in editing the magazine thereby inviting heartburn and rancour of those from whom he was supposed to get support.

Otherwise, Mr. Ahmad had a smooth sailing in his 28-year tenure of service. The good standing he enjoyed with the Saudi sponsors is evident from the fact that he was even allowed to teach the girls at the degree and postgraduate level through CCTV where the students can see their teacher but not the vice versa.

Ahmad was called to Makkah Passport Office in May and was asked to surrender his passport and driving licence. He was again called on June 7 and was pushed in a large room. His briefcase and mobile were taken away. The room was packed with 500 inmates and barely had space for them to sit or spread their limbs. Most inmates were expatriates or illegal aliens, held for various crimes. With temperature soaring to 50 degree Celsius, and air-conditioner and fans having no impact on such a large crowd of searing, sweating humans, he was frequently kicked and trampled upon by prison guards. The few toilets accessible from the room were dirty and were stinking high up to heavens. He was transferred to a much more hellish prison in Jeddah a few days later. After 11 days, he was deported to Bahrain from where he took a flight to London.

Ahmad says, 'As I was not allowed to visit my house I left with the shirt on my back. I am sorry to have lost everything but am more pained because the way I was expelled from the country that I loved and the city I loved. I thought my students and my colleagues knew me as an honest, efficient and trustworthy person but now I am viewed as someone suspicious'.

Speaking on telephone from London, he told Islamic Voice, 'The good name that I had built over 28 years has been erased by the vengeful act of some elements in the Rabita headquarters even while I had an unblemished 28-year career as a teacher, trainer and scribe in the Kingdom. The physical and mental trauma that I have suffered, the stress and tension that my wife and children had to undergo, the loss of my belongings, my car, a priceless collection of 3,000 books - why and for what fault of mine?

Neaz Ahmad who reeled out his painful saga to the world in a piece he wrote for The Guardian, (issue dated August 16, 2009) concluded: 'I still do not know why I was singled out for this treatment which has left me jobless, broke and with a traumatic experience that is hard to overcome. As a Muslim I know that this is not Islam'.

Neaz Ahmad, being a world class writer, could highlight his plight in The Guardian. But the fate of thousands of others who are incarcerated without any rhyme or reason by the inhuman Saudi police remains obscure from the world's eyes. And the fact that small minions in an NGO could manipulate the state apparatus so easily to inflict humiliation and violence against an individual to settle personal scores, serves as an index of how vulnerable are the common men and women in the iron curtained society.

Back in London, Neaz Ahmad is still nursing his wound on the ankles which he incurred due to constant kicking by the prison guards. He can be reached at neazahmad@hotmail.com
Readers can also access the following link for detailed report in The Guardian: Eleven days in Saudi Gitmo: http://www.guardian.co.uk /commentisfree/2009/jul/14/saudi-mecca-islam-deported-muslim Corruption rules in Saudi Jails:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/06/saudi-prison

An ongoing controversy over a German culture prize has been resolved. Navid Kermani, an Islamic writer is set to get his part of an important award for intercultural understanding, despite initial opposition. Talks between all parties involved has led to a turning point in the decision over who will be awarded an important German culture prize.

The dispute over the Euro 45,000 ( or $ 61,000) Hesse Culture Prize first broke out in May. Initially, the award was slated to go to four men from four different world religions - a Catholic, a Lutheran, a Muslim and a Jew - in honor of the value of religious dialogue.

But Muslim author Navid Kermani was dropped from the quartet after he wrote an article that was critical of Christian imagery of the crucifixion. Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz and Peter Steinacker, the former head of the Lutheran church of Hesse and Nassau, objected to sharing the prize with Kermani, a Cologne-based writer who was born in Iran.

In March, Kermani had penned an article for Switzerland's Neue Zuercher Zeitung about a trip to Rome, where he went to see a 17th century painting by Guido Reni depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Kermani's piece begins as an analysis of the painting, leading him into a philosophical discussion of the crucifix as a religious symbol.

"I'd express my personal rejection of the theology of the cross frankly with 'blasphemy and idolatry,'" he writes.