THE MUSLIM WORLD

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has announced the government's plan to make Makkah one of the beautiful cities in the world. “The development of Makkah should be an exceptional one considering its unique position,” the governor told a UN team involved in preparing a comprehensive development plan for Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa. Prince Khaled briefed the UN officials on the development plan for Makkah including quality of buildings, transport means, road systems and application of modern technology in the service of pilgrims coming for Haj and Umrah. “The development plan for Makkah should be different from that of any other city and should protect its cultural identity,” the governor said. The UN team will review the development plan for Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites, which is being prepared by a Canadian consultancy firm with the support of Saudi experts. In a previous statement, Prince Khaled said the Makkah development strategy was centering on the holy Kaaba, adding that it would focus on the development of human beings. The strategy has given priority to the development of people through education and training, improvement of Haj and Umrah services, solving the water problem by increasing supply and the expansion of infrastructure facilities. He said a number of new projects have been planned for the overall development of the Makkah province. They include development of the underdeveloped residential districts, Jeddah's northern and southern Corniche, and new tourism projects in Taif, Qunfuda and Al-Laith. Prince Khaled described the plan to develop the underdeveloped residential districts in Makkah and Jeddah as one of the Kingdom's largest projects. The plan aims to improve the situation of people living in underdeveloped districts. Prince Khaled, who is chairman of the executive committee for the development of underdeveloped districts, said there are 60 such districts in Makkah and 52 in Jeddah. “It's not just making housing plans, rather it is a comprehensive humanitarian, social, cultural, health, educational and security project,” he said.

A Dutch university fired Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan last month for hosting a show on Iran's state television, which the school said could be seen as endorsing the regime. Ramadan, known as a reformist who condemns terrorism, seeks to modernize Shariah law and urges Muslims living in Europe to integrate, has recently been criticized in the Dutch press for allegedly voicing more conservative views for Muslim audiences than he does in the West. Both the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed Ramadan from his positions as "integration adviser" and professor, saying his program "Islam & Life" airing on Iran's Press TV is "irreconcilable" with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan "continued to participate in this program even after the elections in Iran, when authorities there hard-handedly stifled the freedom of expression," Rotterdam and the university said in a joint statement. It said Ramadan had "failed to sufficiently realize the feelings that participation in this television program, which is supported by the Iranian government, might provoke in Rotterdam and beyond." He had worked at the university since 2007. The professor, a Swiss citizen who is now on vacation in Morocco, told Dutch radio he would appeal the "naive and simplistic" decision. "Repression against and killing of civilian people cannot be accepted and must be condemned," he said in the letter, published by Dutch media last month when the debate broke out. "I support transparent, democratic process, and I expect the Iranian regime to respect this principle." Ramadan had opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and said he sympathizes with the resistance there and in the Palestinian territories. He also was among the most prominent Muslims to condemn the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

With a first-ever daily television show and radio programs about their faith, Macedonian Muslims are spending the fasting month of Ramadan enhancing their faith. “We are preparing a series of TV and radio programs for the holy fasting month,” Rufat Sherifi, the head of the Islamic Youth Forum (FRI), told IslamOnline.net . “'Islam and Life' program tackles every-day life affairs of Muslims,” said Sherifi. Produced in tandem with a Muslim media production company called M7, the 40-minute program features a host of prominent Muslim scholars from Macedonia as well as Kosovo and Albania. RFI has translated into Albanian, prominent Egyptian preacher Amr Khaled's show “With Your Name We live", a program that tackles the names and attributes of Allah. “It will be broadcast on nine local radio stations,” said Sherifi. “The program will also be transmitted through Internet-based Albanian-speaking radio stations in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and European countries which have Albanian-speaking communities.” FRI has also agreed with Albanian daily Koha to publish a series of articles and opinion pieces during the fasting month. Muslims make up nearly a third of Macedonia's two million population, according to the CIA Fact Book. But other estimates suggest Muslims make up half of the country's population.

The New York-based American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, registered as an educational entity in the US, sends millions in donations to Israel every year for political purposes such as buying Arab properties in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem). "We are an umbrella organization that engages in redeeming land," Daniel Luria, chief fundraiser for Ateret Cohanim in Israel, told Haaretz in an interview. "Our [fund-raising] activity in New York goes solely toward land redemption."

American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, founded 1987, is receiving tax exemption from the US government because it is registered as an educational entity. In its detailed annual returns with the US Internal Revenue Service, it describes its primary exempt purpose as: "[to] provide funding for higher educational institutes in Israel." "That's because of the tax issue," admits Cohanim. According to its documents, the organisation raised $2.1 million in donations in the fiscal year 2007, about $1.6 million of the sum was transferred to Israel. It also raised $1.3 million in 2006, $900,000 in 2005 and about $2 million in 2004.

Nearly 60 percent of Ateret Cohanim's money, raised in the US, goes into buying Palestinian land and property in occupied territories. Since its foundation in the 1970s, the organisation has managed to buy dozens of Arab buildings and gave them to Jewish settlers.

A Muslim part-time model will be caned, becoming the first woman in Malaysia to be given the punishment under Islamic law, after she pleaded guilty to drinking beer. An Islamic court in July 2009, ordered that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, be lashed six times with a rattan cane after she was caught drinking alcohol in a raid on a hotel night club in eastern Pahang state last year. Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said Kartika will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law after she chose not to appeal the sentence. "This is the first case in Malaysia. It is a good punishment because under Islamic law a person who drinks commits a serious offense," he said. The court set a one-week period last month for the sentence to be carried out in a woman's prison, Saiful said. It is up to prison authorities to decide when to cane her during that period. He said Kartika will remain in prison during that time and will be released "as soon as possible" after the caning is carried out. Saiful said the rattan cane to be used on Kartika would be lighter than the one used on men, and its purpose was to "educate" rather than punish.

Saad Al-Shahrani, associate professor at Umm Al-Qura University, and Miteb bin Khalaf Al-Sulami, associate professor of Taif University, shared the top prize of an international essay contest organized by the Muslim World League (MWL) in 2007 on “War ethics in the Prophet's life.” Al-Shahrani and Al-Sulami will share the first prize valued at SR400,000. The second prize, valued at SR300,000, was shared by Muhammad bin Ahmed Al-Mabeed, a lecturer at Al-Quds Open University in Gaza, and Hassan Al-Bashir Al-Tailush, a researcher. The SR200,000 third prize went to Munsif Lakresi, a professor at Qadi Ayad University in Morocco, and Nabeel Fuli Muhammad Munji, associate professor at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. The first essay contest on the Prophet's life was organised 34 years ago when the first conference on the topic was held in Pakistan. At that event, Safiyur rahman Mubarakfuri of the Salafi University in India won the first prize. The topic of the next contest is the “Etiquette of family dealings in the Prophet's life.”

Sheikh Osama Khayyat, an imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, called upon Muslims to compete with one another in righteous deeds in order to win the pleasure and reward of God during the holy month of Ramadan. Delivering the Friday sermon, the imam also urged Muslims to work for world peace, stop bloodshed, violence and injustice. “Ramadan is a great opportunity for Muslims to change their behavior and correct their understanding of Shariah's objectives,” he told the crowd. Khayyat also advised Muslims to learn the message and teachings of the Qur'an. “The Holy Qur'an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a guidance and blessing for humanity,” the imam said, urging the faithful to work hard to win the blessings of God during the fasting month. “The beginning of Ramadan is mercy, its middle is forgiveness and its end is escape from hell,” the imam said while explaining a Hadith of the Prophet. He added: “Those who fast should not only abstain from food and drinks but also from bad words and deeds. Ramadan is a high season for goodness.” At the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, Sheikh Hussein Al-Asheikh delivered the Friday sermon that echoed what the imam said in Makkah: Ramadan offers a good opportunity for Muslims to compete with one another in good deeds. “During this holy month, Muslims should think how to improve their situation,” he said. “God's curse will be on those people who do not try to win His pardon during Ramadan and they will be sent to hell.” Al-Asheikh called upon the owners of Arab satellite television channels to honor the sanctity of Ramadan and should not air any provocative program that goes against its spirit and message. “Is there any big crime other than challenging God and working contrary to the teachings of His Prophet?” the imam asked. “Those who telecast indecent programs and meaningless serials in order to engage Muslims in valueless amusement should seek God's pardon.”

The row over Malaysian art director Mohan Singh's religion following his death has led to a judge observing that there is "inadequacy" in the law over non-Muslims converting to Islam. Judge Rosnaini Saub made this observation while giving the ruling that Mohan Singh was a Muslim when he died and should be buried as per the Islamic custom. In doing so, the judge rejected the appeal of Singh's family against the ruling of a Syariah court that deals with Muslims. The family wanted custody of the body of Singh, who died on May 25, 2009. His body was lying in hospital since the Islamic authorities claim that he was a Muslim.

His family, including Singh's three sisters - Baldev Kaur, Balbir Kaur and Jaswant Kaur - had insisted that Mohan Singh was a Sikh and he had performed their mother's death ceremony as per Sikh rites. The sisters' case was that Mohan Singh had never told them that he converted to Islam, The New Straits Times reported. .

The judge said it was 'unfortunate' that they did not know about it and that this had no bearing on the case. "It is unfortunate that the deceased did not tell them. The fact that the deceased lived a lifestyle inconsistent with that of a Muslim convert does not alter his status as a Muslim in the eyes of existing laws," Judge Saub said.

Saub said the issue of apostasy and renunciation of Islam was a matter of Islamic law.
"In this case, the applicants (Mohan's family members) being non-Muslim cannot go to Syariah court as they have no locus standi. On the other hand, they cannot come to the civil court as it has no jurisdiction over the subject matter.

"So who then shall decide whether the deceased was never a non-Muslim when the deceased's conversion to Islam is disputed by the applicants?" she asked. “I think there is inadequacy of the law on this point. It is a grey area which the legislature and the relevant authority must look at seriously."

On the facts of the case, the judge that it was within the Syariah court's jurisdiction to decide whether Mohan Singh, also known as Mohammad Hazzerry Shah Mohan Abdullah, was a Muslim based on his conversion certificate dated Aug 8, 1992. Mohan married a Sarawakian, Alice Ajan, in 1997 and they have a daughter. They separated in 1999. "The existence of the certificate is sufficient proof that the deceased had converted to Islam in 1992 and hence was a Muslim.
"Therefore, it is the Syariah court that shall have the jurisdiction to determine whether he was still a Muslim at the time of his death."

She also rejected a request for a stay of her decision pending an appeal by Mohan Singh's family. In Malaysia, about 100,000 Sikhs are part of the Indian diaspora of two million.

Over 110,000 potential pilgrims from Egypt are unable to come to the Kingdom for Umrah due to new age restrictions placed by the Egyptian authorities. Naser Turk, deputy chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Chamber, said a recent decision to limit people below the age of 25 years from coming to Umrah has deprived more than 110,000 applicants from securing Umrah visas. Turk said the applicants had completed their forms and that their applications were approved prior to the decision being made. They were, however, denied visas because of the subsequent decision. He added that the directive issued by the Ministerial Committee, which was formed to follow up on the latest development of swine flu, would reduce the number of Egyptian pilgrims this year by 35 percent compared to last year. He said that many Egyptian families were forced to cancel their Umrah trips after receiving their visas because some of their family members were below 25 or over 65. He added that the number of pilgrims unable to travel abroad, either because they are over 65 or below 25, is in the thousands not hundreds as many have speculated. Muhammad Al-Shayr, owner of one of the biggest tourism and travel companies in Egypt that organizes Haj and Umrah tours, said that the fast developments in banning pilgrims with visas who are younger than 25 or over 65 has confused the industry and caused confusion.