THE MUSLIM WORLD

State school pupils in Britain are set to be taught Islamic traditions and values in compulsory citizenship lessons. The move, a part of a package of initiatives announced by Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears on July 19, is designed 'to curb extremism'. Education campaigners warned however against giving Islam a privileged position over other faiths. Other plans announced by Miss Blears also drew criticism - including a state-funded panel of Islamic scholars and theologians to provide community leadership. Prominent Muslims said this scheme was naive because Government endorsement would erode the credibility of those taking part, especially among the young and disaffected. Another measure will see Muslim children being taught citizenship lessons by imams in mosque schools, in the hope that they will be better equipped to resist extremist messages. Many Muslim youngsters in the UK attend evening classes at madrasah schools attached to mosques, where imams give instruction in the Quran and Islamic history. Ministers want imams to stress that the Quran places a duty on all Muslims to be good neighbours, carry out voluntary work and play an active part in civic society. Pilot schemes will begin ing October in London.

With no prospect of food aid and with most mosques closed or seized by Ethiopian troops, what is left of Mogadishu population, is bracing for a difficult holy fasting month of Ramadan. “There is no sign of the fast-appr-oaching Ramadan here,” says Ahmed Haji, a Mogadishu resident. “Hundreds of people are now starving in Mogadishu’s southern outskirts.” Somalia has been ravaged by violence since Ethiopian and interim government troops ousted the Islamic Courts, which briefly ruled large parts of the Horn of Africa country in 2006. A deadly vicious cycle of violence has since claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced thousands. Most philanthropists, who used to organise iftar banquets and provide food packages for the underprivileged, have fled the near-daily clashes between Ethiopian forces and fighters, loyal to the Islamic Courts. Ramadan will be less joyous for the people of Mogadishu because most of their main mosques have either been closed or seized by the Ethiopians. Only two mosques in eastern Mogadishu will open up for worshippers who have returned after relative calm in the district. In the southern district of Wartijili, several mosques have been deserted over the escalating violence. In Haryali district, the main Hadvoli mosque has been closed as Ethiopian forces took positions close-by. A recent report by a local rights group said that 48 mosques have been closed over the ongoing violence in the capital Mogadishu.

A major chunk of open space in the massive courtyard of Prophet's Mosque will be shaded with Teflon umbrellas. The work is in progress and umrah pilgrims during Ramadan will witness at least five umbrellas providing shade to the weary pilgrims. Under the scheme additional shaded space is being created for at least 270,000 more pilgrims. Currently, only inner courtyards within the Masjid e Nabawi have those umbrellas which open out as the sun hots up in the morning and fold up automatically at sundown.

Currently, the entire Haram Plaza has been dug up for the purpose and special pillars are being put to fix the umbrellas which will have the provision of collecting the rainwater and draining it out without letting it reach the flood thereby keeping it dry. The umbrellas are made of beta yarn and match with steel in strength but are finer than silk. They can radiate back heat and helpful in keeping the interiors cool. The summer temperatures in Madinah go up to 50 degrees Celsius.

“Where should we go after the last frontiers, where should the birds fly after the last sky?” wrote Mahmoud Darwish.

The predominant Palestinian poet, 67, whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages and won numerous international awards, passed away following open heart surgery at a Houston hospital last month.

During a reading in 2007, Darwish denounced the violence in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah, describing it as “a public attempt at suicide in the streets”. He said that the two warring factions had made the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state far more unlikely. “Poet of conscience,” Darwish is famous throughout the Middle East and is regar-ded as the Palestinian national poet. He is said to have given voice to the Pale-stinian dreams of statehood, crafted their 1988 declaration of independence and helped to forge a Palestinian national identity. “He started out as a poet of resistance and then he became a poet of conscience,” said Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi. Darwish had published 20 books of poetry, five books of prose, and his books have been translated into more than 22 languages. He won numerous awards, including the Lotus Prize (1969); the Lenin Peace Prize (1983); France’s highest medal, the Knight of Arts and Letters (1993)

The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques has launched a website that enables the browsers to watch prayers and sermons at the two mosques, Masjid ul Haram in Makkah and Masjid e Nabawi in Madinah. The website can be accessed at www.gph.gov.sa. It also provides access to libraries of the two mosques, manuscripts preserved there, Quran translations in 45 languages, procedure of performance of Haj and Umrah etc. It also contains links to the Agency for the Prophet's Mosque and the Kaba Kiswa (ghilaf) factory.

Head of the Presidency Saleh Al-Hussain says the website has been launched to enable the people around the globe to watch the events in the Haram Masjid alive.

US Democratic Presidential candidate Barak Obama’s national Muslim outreach coordinator has resigned amid a controversy over his connections to a man who the Justice Department named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the racketeering trial last year of several alleged Hamas fund-raisers. Mazen Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer who had been appointed to help Obama reach out to Muslims, stepped down last month.

Obama aides said Asbahi had only worked in his volunteer position in the campaign since July 26, 2008 and they would appoint a new person to the job.

After his appointment, Ashbahi had written on the campaign’s blog, “we need Muslim Americans to get excited about the Campaign, and there’s a lot to get excited about. And of course there are added sensitivities with our faith given the “smear” campaign trying to paint the Senator as too exotic and too un-American to be President.” Obama had apologized to two women who were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers, seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate at a rally in Detroit in June.

Walking down the streets of the Afghan capital Kabul, two young boys notice some men behaving su-spiciously. Stan-ding unsure what to do, a silver-bearded “angel” appears from a puff of sparkling lights saying “Call the police – 119”. When it turns out the men are would-be Taliban bombers, the “angel” praises the boys for turning to authorities. “God bless you, my sons, you saved so many lives,” Kaka Nijat, or Uncle Rescue, says from a cloud of fairy dust. The “angel” is part of TV adverts aiming to fight a growing number of attacks gripping the war-torn Muslim country. The interior ministry says the adverts, paid for by NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), aims to encourage people to be more involved in thwarting attacks. “We have seen a 75 percent increase in calls to our hotline since the start of advertising the number through Kaka Nijat this year,” said spokesman Zemarai Bashary. “People usually call to inform police about explosions and suicide bombings,” he added, although he was not able to say how many of the calls had actually prevented an attack. Bashary said the adverts are also meant to counter Taliban’s propaganda that they are fighting a corrupt government and infidel invaders. Kaka Nijat advises Taliban to stop killing innocent civilians, but no one has heard him advising the American army to stop bombing innocent Afghans.

The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) will induct women members into its board of directors. Businessmen and business women would contest for 10 seats in the elections scheduled for October 15. About 6,000 women members of the RCCI would participate in the elections and the chamber is preparing the women voters for the election, said Wafaa Al Shaikh, assistant director at the RCCI. According to reports, Saudi women own nearly 70 per cent of bank accounts in the Kingdom with deposits totalling Saudi Riyal 100 billion. However, only SR 60 billion has been invested. There are 34,000 trade records registered under the names of Saudi women, who own 20 per cent of the private companies in the country.

However, due to restrictions against mixing of sexes in the public places, women face obstacles in conducting their business. Moreover, any business even if it belongs to a woman, should have a male general manager, regardless of whether the woman practically runs the business or not.

After years of focus on US-occupied Iraq, foreign fighters are reportedly shifting interest to Afghanistan, where Taliban has been waging daring attacks on US-led forces and gaining clout across the country. "You can predict that Afghanistan is re-emerging as a battlefield," Nicole Stracke, a security and terrorism researcher at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, told The Christian Science Monitor. Afghanistan is said to be becoming the preferred destination for foreign fighters, particularly from Arab countries.

"US and Afghan Army troops have found documents on dead Arab fighters on many occasions across Afghanistan," said Brian Glyn Williams, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts. Williams, who did a research in Afghanistan last year, estimates the number of Arab fighters in the war-ravaged country at between 1,000 to 1,500. According to him, websites affiliated with Al-Qaeda have been giving renewed emphasis to the war in Afghanistan, especially in recruitment ads after years of focus on Iraq. "By 2007, jihadist websites from Chechnya to Turkey to the Arab world began to feature recruitment ads calling on the 'Lions of Islam' to come fight in Afghanistan," he wrote in the 2008 issue of CTC Sentinel, the online journal of West Point's Combating Terrorism Center.

Through information handouts, Qur'an copies and answers to questions on common misconceptions, Muslims at South California are reaching out to their broader community at the state's public fair. "We want to show that we are part of this community," says Arshad Khan of the Sacramento Chapter of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). "What better way to show that than coming to the State Fair, which gets people of all different backgrounds?" Visitors of the California Public Fair, running from August 15 until September 1, get to know Islam through the "WhyIslam" information booth. During the fair, to be attended by approximately 900,000 people, Muslim volunteers are on hand to answer questions, pass out brochures and give away copies of the Qur'an. Approximately 900,000 people are expected to attend the annual state fair. The booth is part of ICNA's three-year-old project "WhyIslam," which focuses on outreach through direct contacts with non-Muslims in Southern California, home to some 600,000 Muslims. There are between six to seven million Muslims in the US.

After more than a 90-year wait, Muslims in the Republic of Montenegro will have the first secondary school to accommodate students aspiring for Islamic education.

"We are finally done with the school construction and will enroll students for the 2008/09 school year," said Omer Halil Kajshaj, head of the foreign relations department at the Islamic Sheikdom of Montenegro. The four-storey school, which will have a 16-room dorm, is scheduled to open its doors on August 20 in the capital Podgorica. It will have facilities such as a library, a computer lab, a gym and a theatre. "Students from municipalities across the republic can enroll," said Kajshaj, adding that only male students will be accepted this year. "The school will enroll girls starting from the next year." The foundation stone for the school was laid in 2000, but the dearth of donations from charities and Arab countries, especially after the 9/11 attacks, put a brake on the construction. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank and a number of charities in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have donated funds for the construction. Montenegro's 140,000 Muslims make up 20 percent of the total 650,000 population.

There are 26 mosques in Ulcinj, southernmost city at Montenegrin coast. The school comes to meet the needs of the Muslim minority in Montenegro, where no Islamic school has been established in the past 90 years. "During the Turkish rule of Montenegro, there were few Islamic schools, but they gradually died out in subsequent decades," notes Kajshaj. The last Islamic school in the republic was closed down in the northern municipality of Pljevlja in 1918." In the post World War II period, students aspiring for Islamic education had to enroll in Islamic schools in neighboring Kosovo, Bosnia or Macedonia. Kajshaj says that two classes, each catering for 20 students, were initially scheduled to open for students of the first year. "But with the growing demand for enrollment, a third class will open this year." Two classes will be dedicated for Bosniaks students, who speak Bosnian language and who constitute the majority of applicants, while the third will be for ethnic Albanians. Muslims played a pivotal role in the independence of Montenegro, voting in favor of a separation from Serbia in the 2006 referendum. Since independence, the government has kept cordial relations with them.

"The authorities allow us into jails to lead Muslim prisoners in Eid prayer," said Enis Burxheviq, the imam of the Islamic society in the northern town of Bijelo Polje.

Religious schools, which only teach the Torah and the Talmud while abandoning basic subjects such as science and maths, are booming in Israel. "I don't feel I'm missing anything here," said Yossi Ravitz, a student at the spacious campus of the Hebron Yeshiva, one of Israel's most prominent religious academies. About 90,000 Israelis study to master the Torah and the Talmud at ultra-Orthodox schools that shield them from secular teachings that might shake their faith. Ravitz, 22, has never had a class in maths, science, civics or English since he was a boy. "They want to turn us into what they see as 'enlightened people of the world,' who will integrate into Israeli society," he said, referring to mounting calls for yeshivas to teach basic subjects required at all Israeli secondary schools. Last month, the Knesset adopted a bill guaranteeingYeshivas 60 percent of funding, secular schools get from the national treasury. It classifies Yeshivas as "culturally unique" schools, exempt from the obligation to add on a basic secular curriculum. Tens of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredi Jews, spend a lifetime of religious study on the public dole. Haredis make up 7 percent of Israel's population.

A draft law on promoting breastfeeding as a means of tackling health and nutrition problems among infants is being discussed in Kyrgyzstan.

"Today many mothers in Kyrgyzstan do not go in for exclusive breastfeeding of babies under six months old. Besides their breast milk, they give cow's milk, tea with milk, `kefir' [fermented cow's milk] or food from the family table to their babies," says Tursun Mamyrbaeva, a child nutrition specialist at the Science Centre for Maternity and Childhood Protection, in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Health experts say newborns need to be exclusively breastfed at least until they are six months old. Breast milk contains all the microelements and nutrients that children need during the first months of their lives. These nutrients are extremely important also for further their development, they say.

"Medics are concerned by the proliferation of various artificial baby milk formula products, and breastfeeding is being displaced," said Mamyrbaeva.

The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women, lactating mothers and children is a major health issue, especially in Talas Province, northwestern Kyrgyzstan, where 71 percent of pregnant women and nursing mothers, and 50 percent of children, are anaemic, according to the Kyrgyz Health Ministry. After studying the situation in Talas, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) discovered that the children with iron-deficiency anaemia had been bottle-fed babies or babies that were not breastfed. Deputy governor of Talas Province, Baktygul Saparbaeva said: "We are grateful to parliamentarians, UNICEF and doctors for raising this issue and for the drafting of a bill that will help our women and children." If passed, the bill will help regulate the sale of artificial baby products, believe those advocating it. Breast milk substitutes are being imported into Kyrgyzstan from 15 countries.

Celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries has no base in Islam, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Alsheikh has said. The mufti made the comments after prominent Qassim-based scholar Salman Al-Oadah issued a fatwa saying that celebrating such occasions was not against the rules of Shariah.

“Such a call is against righteousness. A Muslim should thank Almighty Allah if his children are healthy and if his married life is stable as the years pass by. He should say: Alhamdu Lillah for His generosity and kindness,” said Al-Alsheikh, who is also the chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and the head of the Presidency for Scientific Research and Religious Edicts (Dar Al-Ifta).
Al-Oadah, who is the general supervisor of the Islamtoday.com website, created controversy after ruling that there is nothing un-Islamic in celebrating wedding anniversaries and birthdays. “It is normal for a son or daughter to celebrate birthdays. They can invite their friends for a meal on this occasion. I see nothing wrong in this,” he said. Al-Alsheikh, who is the highest religious authority in the Kingdom, said Muslims only have two official celebrations — Eid ul-Fitr, which is celebrated at the end of Ramadan, and Eid ul--Adha, which is celebrated on Dhul Hijjah 10. He added that Muslims also have a weekly Eid, which is Friday. The mufti said that the celebration of other occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries and mother's day were un-Islamic. Several prominent Muslim scholars have supported the mufti, adding that celebrating such occasions is in imitation of people of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

Yasim Shamalawi is just 14 years old and is from the northern West Bank city of Nablus and was selected for the prominent position of one of the Arab world's best poets and writers, recently. She is now among the best 1,000 Arab writers and is the youngest to win such prestigious attention. Shamalawi writes short stories and poetry, the most well-known of which focused on Palestinian children. This young child has given yet another voice to the Palestinian cause.

The Saudi Center for Organs Transplantation in Jeddah received non-Muslim organ donors and transplanted the organs into Muslim patients. Prominent Saudi scholar Dr. Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan said nothing in Islam prevents a non-Muslim from donating their organs to Muslims because the Almighty Allah created organs clean and pure so that they can be transplanted in human beings. He pointed out that surgeons had removed organs donated by non–Muslims and transplanted them into Muslim recipients in accordance with an edict issued by the Senior Scholars' Commission in 1978. The source refuted rumors about the exploitation of the foreign workers to donate their organs stressing that Saudis are given priority in transplant operations.

Malawi Muslims have gone full throttle with preparations for the holy fasting month of Ramadan, with food stock-piling dominating the arrangements.

This year, they will have to cough a little more money than in previous years because of the global food price rises, leaving the low-income and underprivileged not buying.

"It's an annual tradition to gather food-stuffs in readiness for the fasting month here," says Jassim Zacharia Nsosa, a Muslim social worker. "But this year, it seems a substantial population of poor Muslims will brace themselves for tough times as a result of rising costs of food." Although Malawi has sufficient food reserves, media frenzy on the prospects of global food price hikes prompted a sharp increase in the cost of maize, the main staple food, among others. The speculation on the hikes has ultimately led to hoarding of food items on the local market. On the other hand, other food items such as cassava, potatoes and rice , while available in abundance are becoming unaffordable for the average Malawian. Poverty levels are high in Malawi, with a majority of its 12 million population living below the poverty line, consuming less than a dollar per day.
According to state figures, Muslims constitute 12 percent of the entire population.

In a first, Morocco will send women preachers to different European countries to meet the religious and spiritual needs of Muslim minorities during the holy fasting month of Ramadan. "This is a positive step," says preacher Abdel-Naser Al-Tejani. "There is an urgent need for preaching and religious guidance among expatriate Muslim women." The nine women are part of 167 imams and Qur'an reciters that the Religious Affairs Ministry will be sending to visit a number of European countries during Ramadan. They will serve Moroccan communities abroad "to shield them against extremism and fanaticism," the ministry has said in a statement. There are an estimated 3.3 million Moroccans living abroad, mostly in Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The first batch of Moroccan women preachers graduated in 2006 with the aim of helping male peers fight extremism and promote the tolerant and peaceful message of Islam. They attend a 12-month course with curricula ranging from Islamic studies to psychology, sociology, computer skills, economy, law and business management.

The Islamic Sheikhdom of Macedonia and Dar al-Ifta in Turkey have an agreement to unify all Islamic occasions according to astronomic calculations.

In a show of unity, Muslim religious authorities in Bosnian, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia have agreed to observe the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on September 1.
"We follow astronomical calculations to determine the beginning of the lunar months," said Subhi Wassim, an official with the Islamic Sheikdom of Bosnia. "Therefore, the first day of Ramadan will be observed in Bosnia on September 1," he added.

Muslims make up nearly 40 percent of Bosnia's 3.8 million population.

Neighboring Serbia's nearly half a million Muslims will start the dawn-to-dusk fast on the same day as Bosnia.. "We consider ourselves part of the Islamic institution in Bosnia and coordinate with them in all things," said Hajrudin Balic, a media officer of the Islamic Sheikdom of Serbia. The Islamic Sheikdom in Croatia will also follow neighboring Bosnia in observing the beginning of Ramadan. Muslims who make up 33 percent of Macedonia's two million population will follow Turkey in determining the start of Ramadan.

"The Islamic Sheikhdom of Macedonia and Dar al-Ifta in Turkey have an agreement to unify all Islamic occasions according to astronomic calculations," said Afrim Alija, a teacher in a school affiliated to the sheikdom. The Islamic sheikhdom of Slovenia, where Muslims make up 2.4 percent of two million population, agrees with Turkey and Bosnia on the start of the fasting month.

Montenegro Mufti Jusuf Gjoken said the country's 140,000 Muslims, who constitute up to 20 percent of the population, will coordinate with both Bosnia and Turkey on starting of Ramadan fast. "We are living in neighboring countries and it would be wrong to disagree on the beginning of the fast," he said.

"The unity of Muslims in the Balkan is a top priority to all Islamic sheikhdoms in the region,." He added.

Iran is prepared to help Muslim countries launch satellites, an Iranian official said on August 18, a day after Iran declared that it had test-fired a new rocket capable of carrying satellite into orbit.
“I am announcing now that Iran is ready to launch satellites of friendly Islamic countries into space,” Reza Taghipour, head of Iran’s Aerospace Organization, told state television.

On August 17, Iranian television showed images of a night time rocket launch, and said a satellite had been sent into orbit. Iranian officials later said that only the rocket had been fired.

Iran has made several recent claims of test-firing missiles that Western, Mainly American, military analysts do not hold credible.

A Bush administration official, speaking anonymously about security issues, said the launch had failed.

A rocket capable of carrying a satellite to space could also deliver nuclear warheads, and the Iranian announcement added to concerns over whether Iran’s nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes, as Iran maintains.

Minister of Defence Mostafa Mohammad Najar dismissed the concerns of Western nations and said they wanted to prevent Iran from making scientific progress, Fars news agency reported. He said Iran “would soon place its national satellite” into orbit, but he did not specify the time.