Islamic Values, Ijtihad, Islam and the West...

Is Islam Compatible with Capitalism?

2011-08-01T10:30:00.001+05:30

GUY SORMAN

Is Islam Compatible with Capitalism?

The Middle East's future depends on the answer.

BEBA/IBERFOTO/THE IMAGE WORKS

A sixteenth-century Turkish bazaar. Muslim tradition has long accepted the marketplace, though sharia constrained its efficiency.

The moment you arrive at the airport in Cairo, you discover how little Egypt—the heart of Arab civilization—is governed by the rule of law. You line up to show your passport to the customs officer; you wait and wait and wait. Eventually, you reach the officer . . . who sends you to the opposite end of the airport to buy an entry visa. The visa costs 15 U.S. dollars; if you hand the clerk $20, though, don't expect any change, let alone a receipt. Then you make the long hike back to the customs line, where you notice that some Egyptians—important ones, apparently—have helpers who hustle them through. Others cut to the front. It's an annoying and disturbing welcome to a chaotic land, one that has grown only more chaotic since the January revolution. It's also instructive, effectively demonstrating why it's hard to do business in this country or in other Arab Muslim lands, where personal status so often trumps fair, universally applied rules. Such personalization of the law is incompatible with a truly free-market or modern society and helps explain why the Arab world's per-capita income is one-tenth America's or Europe's.

The airport experience, had he been able to undergo it, would have been drearily familiar to Rifaa al-Tahtawi, a brilliant young imam sent to France in 1829 by the pasha of Egypt. His mission: figure out how Napoleon's military had so easily crushed Egypt three decades earlier, a defeat that revealed to a shocked Arab world that it was now an economic, military, and scientific laggard. At the outset of the book that he wrote about his journey, The Gold of Paris, Rifaa describes a Marseille café: "How astonished I was that in Marseille, a waiter came to me and asked for my order without my looking for him." Then the coffee arrives without delay. Finally—most amazing of all—Rifaa gets the bill for it, and the price is the same as the one listed on the menu: "No haggling," he enthuses. Rifaa concludes: "I look for the day when the Cairo cafés will follow the same predictable rules as the Marseille cafés." But nearly two centuries later, the only Egyptian cafés that live up to Rifaa's hopes are the imported Starbucks.

Egypt is, of course, a Muslim nation. Should Islam be indicted for what was in Rifaa's time, and remains today, a dysfunctional economy? The question becomes all the more important if you extend it to the rest of the Arab Middle East as it is swept by popular revolts against authoritarian rule. Will the nations that emerge from the Arab Spring embrace the rule of law and other crucial institutions that have allowed capitalism to flourish in the West? Or are Islam and economic progress fundamentally at odds?

Muslim economies haven't always been low achievers. In his seminal work The World Economy, economist Angus Maddison showed that until the twelfth century, per-capita income was much higher in the Muslim Middle East than in Europe. Beginning in the twelfth century, though, what Duke University economist Timur Kuran calls the Long Divergence began, upending this economic hierarchy, so that by Rifaa's time, Europe had grown far more powerful and prosperous than the Arab Muslim world.

A key factor in the divergence was Italian city-states' invention of capitalism—a development that rested on certain cultural prerequisites, Stanford University's Avner Greif observes. In the early twelfth century, two groups of merchants dominated Mediterranean sea trade: the European Genoans and the Cairo-based Maghrebis, who were Jewish but, coming originally from Baghdad, shared the cultural norms of the Arab Middle East. The Genoans outpaced the Maghrebis and eventually won the competition, Greif argues, because they invented various corporate institutions that formed the core of capitalism, including banks, bills of exchange, and joint-stock companies, which allowed them to accumulate enough capital to launch riskier but more profitable ventures. These institutions, in Greif's account, were an outgrowth of the Genoans' Western culture, in which people were bound not just by blood but also by contracts, including the fundamental contract of marriage. The Maghrebis' Arab values, by contrast, meant undertaking nothing outside the family and tribe, which limited commercial expeditions' resources and hence their reach. The bonds of blood couldn't compete with fair, reliable institutions (see "Economics Does Not Lie," Summer 2008).

Greif's theory suggests that cultural differences explain economic development better than religious beliefs do. Indeed, from a strictly religious perspective, one could view Muslims as having an advantage at creating wealth. After all, Islam is the only religion founded by a trader—one who also, by the way, married a wealthy merchant. The Koran has only good words for successful businessmen. Entrepreneurs must pay a 2.5 percent tax, the zakat, to the community to support the general welfare, but otherwise can make money guilt-free. Private property is sacred, according to the Koran. All this, needless to say, contrasts with the traditional Christian attitude toward wealth, which puts the poor on the fast track to heaven and looks down in particular on merchants (recall Jesus's driving them from the Temple).

But Duke's Kuran believes that Islam did play a role in the Long Divergence. It wasn't the Koran, which the Muslim faithful see as written by God and unalterable, that impeded Muslims economically, he argues, but instead sharia, the religious law developed by scholars after Mohammed's time. Not that sharia was overtly hostile to economic progress; it established commerce-friendly legal rules that, for instance, allowed for bazaars and for the arbitration of economic disputes. Rather, Kuran maintains, sharia became economically counterproductive because it was less efficient than the Western legal framework.

The most significant of the sharia-rooted economic liabilities was the Islamic partnership, which proved no match for the Western world's joint-stock company. Partnerships were short-lived, dissolving with the death of any of the partners, and they tended to be small, often formed among family members. Joint-stock companies, which sharia prohibited, had much greater reach and risk-hedging power. Sharia inheritance rules were a second drag on economic development, Kuran explains. Since the Koran sanctions polygamy, sharia required a husband's wealth, upon his death, to go in equal portions to his widows and children, which worked against capital accumulation. In the Roman law that held sway in Europe until the nineteenth century, by contrast, the eldest son inherited his deceased father's wealth, creating vast fortunes that could be put to economic work. Some economists point to sharia's prohibition of interest as another hamper on development, but this is much less significant than it appears. From at least the twelfth century on, sharia lawyers authorized "fees" that could accompany money-lending, getting around the ban.

Muslim welfare foundations to aid the poor, called waqf, also undermined economic competitiveness over time, says Kuran. According to sharia, all money given to these charities was exempt from taxation. But Muslim merchants began to establish waqf as fronts for commercial enterprises, depriving the government of sufficient funds to function properly. This tax evasion contributed to the failure of the Arab kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire to build a competent minimal state, which is essential to the effective rule of law.

For evidence that sharia had negative economic effects, consider the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Beginning in the fifteenth century, non-Muslim merchants in the city could opt out of sharia's business rules. Those who did and embraced Western capitalist norms quickly grew richer than those who continued to follow sharia, historians have shown.

Over time, however, sharia adapted to capitalism. In the nineteenth century, it finally allowed Muslims to form joint-stock companies and to borrow other key capitalist institutions from the West. Today, Islamic banks follow the same practices that non-Islamic banks do (including the use of derivatives) but describe them differently, so that they conform with sharia. Yet despite this transformation in Islamic law, Muslim economies still lag behind Western ones. Greif and Kuran may help explain the Long Divergence, but what accounts for the fact that there is no "Arab Tiger" comparable with Asia's remarkable success stories?

Part of the answer may, in fact, be religious: Islam's apostasy law. Sharia holds that a Muslim who breaks with Islam becomes an apostate, an offense punishable by death. And since, at least for Sunni Muslims, there is no central theological authority—the theocratic regime in Iran establishes such authority for Shiite Muslims—any Sunni imam can define what constitutes breaking with Islam. This power may deter potential innovators, including the entrepreneurial kind, from doing anything that could conceivably get them into trouble.

But a bigger reason for the Arab world's stagnation is political. In nearly every Arab Muslim country, the prime enemy of entrepreneurship and the free market is an abusive government—and the strong, unaccountable, and usually despotic regimes that have dominated Arab Muslim populations for decades owe neither their origins nor their legitimacy, such as it is, to Islam. All emerged from the decolonization struggles of the 1950s and 1960s, which, since the primary colonizers were Europeans, provoked angry anti-Western and anticapitalist attitudes in Muslim societies. The decolonization of the Arabs did not go well. Violent confrontations were the norm, even when full-blown war didn't break out, as happened in Algeria. The upheavals brought military regimes to power in most of the decolonized Arab states; even when the military wasn't officially in charge, it controlled puppet governments, as in Morocco. All these regimes espoused nationalism and resisted any rule of law that might limit state power—or give entrepreneurs a freer hand.

Worse, independence took place at a time when the Soviet Union was influential and many believed that centrally planned socialism was a shortcut to power and prosperity. Arab governments thus found it tempting to confiscate private property, eradicate the existing bourgeoisie, and create massive state monopolies in resources like copper, oil, and phosphate. In the name of national independence and economic modernization, all the wealth could be concentrated in the hands of the ruling militaries and bureaucracies.

After the fall of the Soviet Union showed socialism to be far less efficient than the free market, Arab Muslim governments began to free up markets somewhat, but without surrendering their tyrannical authority. This resulted in an Arab crony capitalism, which is now the dominant economic arrangement in the Muslim Middle East. In today's pseudo-market Arab economies, it makes little sense to be an independent entrepreneur. If you want to open a business, you'll need a license, and the only surefire way to obtain it is to belong to (or be close to) someone in the ruling elite; even then, you'll share your profits with the bureaucrats. It's far easier to seek a rent—a benefit based on your position in society. Rent-seeking is particularly prevalent in countries overflowing with natural resources like oil and gas, which bring in massive revenues that reduce the incentive to diversify the economy.

Egypt exemplifies the crony-capitalist model. During the 1990s, corrupt privatizations transferred state monopolies in energy, steel, cement, and other industries to private "entrepreneurs," most of whom were members of President Hosni Mubarak's family, top military officers, and other well-connected people. Meanwhile, economist Hernando de Soto has calculated, opening a modest bakery in Cairo required two years of slogging through the bureaucracy, at each stage of which the would-be owner would need to grease official palms—and if his bakery finally opened, he would then have to pay ongoing protection money to the local police. Small wonder Egypt suffers from slow growth, massive unemployment, and a large black market.

The authoritarian nature of today's Muslim governments also generates social norms that harm entrepreneurship. For example, a survey conducted by the Casablanca-based business magazineL'Economiste compared the organizational structures of Moroccan firms with those of Western companies operating in Morocco. It found that the boss of a Moroccan firm tends to have a larger office and more assistants, secretaries, and chauffeurs than his Western counterpart does and that his behavior is more autocratic. The likely reason is that the Moroccan boss, mimicking the king and his entourage, finds power—and the exhibition of power—more compelling than profits.

The prosperity-crushing influence of government on Muslim entrepreneurship has nowhere been more evident than in Turkey. In the early nineteenth century, the Turkish sultan, like the Egyptian pasha, tried to import Western science and military methods without introducing Western rule of law. "The Ottoman Empire fell into poverty because the dominant concern of the sultans was always to avoid the emergence of a competing power," explains Turkish economist Evket Pamuk. And the possibility that they feared the most was the birth of a Westernized Turkish bourgeoisie, its power based on private ownership.

When the empire became the Turkish Republic in 1921, little changed. The republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal (later called Atatürk, a name he chose that means "Father of the Turks"), was fascinated by the fashionable Italian fascist ideal. The Turks lacked entrepreneurial spirit, he believed, so it was up to the government to act as a collective entrepreneur and pick those who deserved to start new businesses. Under his regime, which became a military dictatorship after his 1938 death, the Turkish economy made little progress, though a small group of well-connected businessmen grew extremely wealthy.

Islam wasn't to blame for Turkey's poor economy. Indeed, the new republic was fiercely secular; for decades, no openly devout Muslim could hold any significant position in public service, in the military, or even in business. Modern Turkey started to grow economically only after it began to free up the market under former World Bank economist Turgut Özal, a devout Muslim whom the military had installed as prime minister in 1987 to bring inflation under control. Özal's reforms opened the way for the openly Islamic, pro-market Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which has ruled Turkey since 2002. Whatever criticisms one might make of the AKP—it has on occasion sought to impose religious norms on a secular society, among other troubling signs—it has brought about an astounding transformation of Turkey's economy. The state's budget is balanced, prices are stable, free trade is enthusiastically embraced, and crony capitalism has been constrained. As a consequence, the Turkish growth rate has been one of the world's highest: 8 percent annually for several years now. Turkey's per-capita income is now higher than Saudi Arabia's—and Turkey has no oil.

Fueling this economic expansion is a new generation of entrepreneurs from Anatolia, in eastern Turkey. These businesspeople are conservative Muslims, but they aren't extremists. The Anatolians are astonishing; no one can say for sure how they arrived on the scene as the dynamic engine of Turkish modernity. Ask an Anatolian entrepreneur about this success and he may credit a strong work ethic, combined with family values ingrained in the Muslim faith. Or he may mention the business traditions of Anatolia, a crossroads between Asia and Europe under the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk, a secular Turk, points to mundane factors like the Anatolians' low labor costs and Turkey's proximity to the vast European market: Turkey now exports 25 percent of its national production, up from 3 percent in 1980. Whatever the reason for the Anatolian breakthrough, Islam has not impeded it.

Will the Turkish model spread to nearby Arab countries? This year's revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt may answer that question. Remember the man who inspired the revolutions: Mohammed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian who earned a university degree but could find no decent formal employment, a situation all too common for educated young Arabs. Bouazizi sought to make a living from a tiny fruit-and-vegetable stand, but last December, because he hadn't registered it with the authorities, police confiscated it. Bouazizi then set himself on fire.

Bouazizi's suicide brought millions of Arabs to the streets because they could identify with him. Human rights leaders didn't start the revolutions; neither did long-banned Islamic movements like the Muslim Brotherhood. The upheavals weren't characterized by Islamic banners or by Israeli flags going up in flames (though there were disturbing reports of Muslims attacking Christian churches in Egypt after the police had vanished from the streets). No, the dominant message of the Arab Spring was that the Arabs didn't want to remain separated from the rest of the world. The Egyptian students in Tahrir Square couldn't have put it more clearly: they wanted democracy, globalization, and market prosperity, not Islamicization. "We want a normal country, which means free enterprise and democracy," said one of their leaders, Amr Salah of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, in Paris this April. Even the notorious Muslim Brotherhood is on board with capitalism: "Our economic program is a free-market society in order to pursue social justice," says Sameh al-Barqui, an American-educated economics expert with the Brotherhood.

The transition from the Arab world's authoritarian regimes to democracy, markets, and the rule of law is far from guaranteed, of course. For a reminder of the difficulty of installing successful Western-style capitalism, consider Rifaa, who returned to Egypt after seven years in France and became the pasha's main advisor—overseeing the translation of French scientific books into Arabic, founding the first Arabic newspapers, and opening schools for girls. Though Rifaa faced the hostility of Muslim conservatives, his reforms, accompanying the era's shifts in sharia, inaugurated an era of modernization in Egypt. By the late nineteenth century, Cairo was starting to look like a European city, with electricity, sanitation, universities, and an independent press. But the renaissance didn't last long, because Rifaa repeatedly failed to persuade the pasha to accept a Western-style constitution, which would have limited the ruler's arbitrary power. What kept Egypt back was its failure to establish the rule-governed institutions familiar in the West.

It should be sobering, therefore, that the military isn't likely to surrender its political privileges easily in any Arab country. Still, most of the political parties emerging in the ferment are supporters of free markets. (Some socialist parties remain in Morocco and Tunisia, where the French influence left its mark, but they are socialist in name only.) The young men and women behind the Arab Spring will continue to push for more open markets where millions of Bouazizis will be able to become entrepreneurs—where it won't take two years and countless bribes to open a bakery. And there appears to be no cultural or religious reason that someday, in the not-so-distant future, we won't find cafés in Cairo that run as efficiently and reasonably as those in Marseille.

Guy Sorman, a City Journal contributing editor, is the author ofChildren of Rifaa: In Search of a Moderate Islam and many other books.

URL of this Page: http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_3_muslim-economy.html

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Asadullah Syed

Humaira Ameer Rasuli, Head of Medica Afghanistan

2011-07-02T15:32:00.001+05:30

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01.07.2011''It's Not Easy Being an Afghan Woman''

She may laugh a lot, but Humaira Ameer Rasuli lives dangerously. The Afghan human rights activist speaks out in a country where women are still excluded from the development process. By Sandra Petersmann

Humaira Ameer Rasuli doesn't mince her words. "Women play no part in Afghan society. Their rights as citizens of this country are neither acknowledged nor respected." This fundamental criticism is directed against both the Afghan government and the international community. "At the moment all they are concerned with is trying to keep the peace. But what is peace worth if half the population has no share in it?"

Ameer Rasuli is the director of 'Medica Afghanistan', an aid organization that has been independent since December 2010. Like its German parent organization 'medica mondiale', it acts on behalf of women who have been the victims of violence. Rasuli laments "the persistent silence" that still surrounds Afghanistan's female population almost a decade after the fall of the radical Islamic Taliban regime.

Ameer Rasuli believes the root cause of this is the brutalization of the population through three decades of war. She says that the ongoing violence has reinforced the traditional, patriarchal tribal structures and made them even more difficult for women to break out of. "But it is also because of mistaken interpretation of the Sharia. It was always men who interpreted Islamic law, to their own advantage."

Lagging behind

"What is peace worth if half the population has no share in it?" - Humaira Ameer RasuliRasuli, the mother of a young son, knows that in making statements like these she also makes powerful enemies in the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, but it's something she is prepared to do. "After almost ten years of democracy, there are in reality only small democratic refuges. Women do not feel any real freedom. We're not allowed say what we think." She tries to do so nonetheless, as often as she can.

Ameer Rasuli is one of very few privileged women in Afghanistan. She studied for a degree in business management, followed by a couple of terms studying medicine.

"It's not easy being an Afghan woman," she says, smiling. She recalls an international workshop she took part in Germany. Other participants included women's rights activists from Bosnia, Liberia, Kosovo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "In these countries the violence against women is certainly comparable, but at least these countries do already have laws to protect them, and do sometimes apply them. It made me so depressed, because we're still so far behind in our development."

Article 23 of the new Afghan Constitution of 2004 declares that men and women have "the same rights and duties before the law", and that all forms of discrimination are forbidden. But Ameer Rasuli stresses that, for Afghan women, this is not their daily reality. "If the political will to apply the laws is not there, they mean nothing at all." The reality is that confident women in Afghanistan live in fear for their lives. Zakia Zaki, a brave radio journalist, was shot dead in 2007. One year later the courageous policewoman Malalai Kakar was assassinated.

Constitution and constitutional reality

The young women's rights activist acknowledges that, particularly in the big urban centres such as Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat, there has been visible progress. Women are seen on the street again; girls are going to school; some are also attending colleges of further education and universities. There are currently four more female ministers sitting in the lower house of the Afghan parliament than prescribed by the quota.

Devastating statistics: According to UN data, at least 1,600 mothers die for every 100,000 births, and 280 children in every thousand die before the age of fiveBut if you look at the country as a whole, for the vast majority almost nothing has changed as a result of the Western intervention in the autumn of 2001. The mortality rate for mothers and children is still one of the highest in the world.

The statistics are devastating. According to UN data, at least 1,600 mothers die for every 100,000 births. 280 children in every thousand die before the age of five.

Around 80% of all marriages are forced marriages. Around half of all brides are under 16. On average, every Afghan woman gives birth to six children. For almost 90% of Afghan women domestic violence is part of daily life, and in the majority of rape cases it is the woman who is deemed to have been at fault.

An un-Islamic organization

Only about 12% of all women over the age of 15 can read and write. The 31-year-old Ameer Rasuli can list endless cases of abused women who didn't know that using violence against them was forbidden. She tells of members of the Afghan parliament who pressurize her to abandon her work, saying that Islam envisages justice, not equal rights.

"I don't know what justice means to these members of parliament. In their eyes we are an un-Islamic organization, because as far as they are concerned violence against women doesn't exist."

Rasuli appeals to the international community not to abandon Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal of Western combat troops. "Our great hope is that if foreign powers continue to intervene, the government will have to enforce internationally applicable rights. We need the international community to care about and help us."

Membership without influence: The National Peace Council includes nine women, but they have "no clear role", Rasuli admonishesNonetheless, the director of Medica Afghanistan knows that there will not be a military solution for the problems of the Hindu Kush. She too thinks that the only way to achieve a solution is through difficult negotiations. She believes that negotiating with representatives of the Taliban movement is the right thing to do, but she also says that "the rights of women should not be sacrificed for peace".

However, Ameer Rasuli has little hope for the work of the High Peace Council under the leadership of ex-president Rabbani, who is to conduct talks with the Taliban movement on behalf of the Afghan government. Alongside powerful regional leaders, religious scholars and tribal elders, the 70-strong council also includes nine women, but they have "no clear role", and are again shrouded in silence.

Rasuli criticizes the fact that the West is financing the work of the Peace Council without first developing a joint strategy and establishing common aims. "This has been the fundamental problem of Afghan development for almost ten years," she says: the lack of a joint strategy and the lack of clear objectives. Nonetheless, she believes that without the support of the international community the women of Afghanistan will not benefit from any development at all.

Sandra Petersmann

© Deutsche Welle/Qantara.de 2011

Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins

Editors: Diana Hodali/Deutsche Welle, Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de

URL of this Page: http://en.qantara.de/wcsite.php?wc_c=16484&wc_id=16707

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Asadullah Syed

Women's Rights in the Arab World

2011-07-02T15:29:00.001+05:30

29.06.2011Are Saudi Women Next?

Nowhere in the world are women's lives more regulated than they are in Saudi Arabia. But, writes Mai Yamani, Saudi women activists are beginning to eloquently demand the removal of restrictions and an end to women's dependency

The unexpected visibility and assertiveness of women in the revolutions unfolding across the Arab world – in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and elsewhere – has helped propel what has become variously known as the "Arab awakening" or "Arab Spring." Major changes have occurred in the minds and lives of women, helping them to break through the shackles of the past, and to demand their freedom and dignity.

Since January 2011, images of millions of women demonstrating alongside men have been beamed around the world by television journalists, posted on YouTube, and splashed on the front pages of newspapers. One saw women from all walks of life marching in hope of a better future, for themselves and for their countries.

They appeared prominently – eloquent and outspoken, marching daily, holding caricatures of dictators and chanting calls for democratic change. They walked, bussed, travelled in carts, telephoned and tweeted with compatriots, motivated in part by social demands – above all for their own empowerment.

A petrified system

"The rule of law in Saudi Arabia is the rule of misogyny": Saudi women during the pilgrimage to MeccaThe contrast between this dynamic space for open protest and Saudi Arabia could hardly be starker. Saudi women find themselves living in a petrified system. Faces of the royal family are seen everywhere; the faces of women are shrouded, forcibly hidden.

Nowhere else in the world do we see modernity experienced as such a problem. Skyscrapers rise out of the desert, yet women are not permitted to ride with men in their lifts. Nor are they allowed to walk in the streets, drive a car, or leave the country without the permission of a male guardian.

Fatima, a young woman from Mecca, sent me an email at the height of the Egyptian revolution: "Forget about the cries for freedom; I can't even give birth without being accompanied to hospital by a mihrim (male guardian)."

She went on, "And the mataw'a (the religious police, known officially as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and whose leader has ministerial rank) have been given the right to humiliate us in public." Indeed, the mutaw'a saw their wide powers enhanced even more by decrees issued by King Abdullah in March, after helping to suppress protests in the kingdom earlier in the month.

Breaking the silence and apathy

Breaking the law: Wahhabi clerics issued a fatwa that forbids women to access to the Internet without the supervision of a male guardianYet globalization knows no limits, not even those set by the guardians of Islamic probity. Nine-year-old Saudi girls chat online, disregarding fatwasissued by Wahhabi clerics that forbid them access to the Internet without the supervision of a male guardian. Many women remain secretly glued to satellite television channels, watching their peers in the public squares of Egypt or Yemen, beyond their reach but not beyond their imagination.

On May 21, a brave woman named Manal al Sharif broke the silence and apathy, daring to defy the ban on women driving. For the next week, she sat in a Saudi prison. But, within two days of her detention, 500,000 viewers had watched the YouTube video of her excursion. Thousands of Saudi women, frustrated and humiliated by the ban, staged a "driving day" on June 17.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that forbids women to drive cars. The system of confinement that the ban represents is justified neither by Islamic texts, nor by the nature of the diverse society that the Al Saud and their Wahhabi partners' rule. Indeed, it is far removed even from the rest of the Arab world – which has become glaringly obvious in the context of massive social upheaval almost everywhere else in the region.

The Wahhabi curriculum

Saudi business women on their way to work. "The system of confinement is justified neither by Islamic texts, nor by the nature of the diverse society that the Al Saud and their Wahhabi partners' rule," writes Mai YamaniEnforced segregation is mirrored in every aspect of Saudi life. Religious education constitutes up to 50% of students' curriculum. As a result, Wahhabi dogma penetrates every home in the country. Textbooks – pink for girls, blue for boys, each with different contents – emphasize the rules prescribed by Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab, an eighteenth-century cleric and the founder of Wahhabism.

The Saudi judicial system is one of the most formidable obstacles to women's aspirations, relying on Islamic interpretations that protect a defensive patriarchal system. Indeed, not only do judges' decisions support the system, but the reverse is also true: patriarchy has become the driving force of the law.

Thus, Saudi women are barred from the legal profession on the basis of a Wahhabi stricture that "a woman is lacking in mind and religion." In other words, the rule of law in Saudi Arabia is the rule of misogyny – the comprehensive legal exclusion of women from the public sphere.

Demands to end women's dependency

Saudi rulers have announced that demonstrations are haram – a sin punishable by jail and flogging. Now some clerics have pronounced driving by women to be foreign-inspired haram, punishable in the same way. Yet, despite such threats, thousands of Saudi women joined "We are all Manal al Sharif" on Facebook, and countless other videos of women driving have appeared on YouTube since her arrest.

Like Mamal, they, too, have been detained, and the government appears determined to prosecute them. But Wajeha al Huwaider, Bahia al Mansour, Rasha al Maliki, and many other activists are nonetheless insisting that driving a car is their legitimate right, and are eloquently demanding the removal of restrictions and an end to women's dependency.

Rosa Parks' revolutionary bravery in refusing to move to the back of a Montgomery, Alabama municipal bus in 1955 helped spark the American civil rights movement. We shall soon find out whether Manal al Sharif's defiance of the Saudi regime's systemic confinement of women produces a similar effect.

Mai Yamani

© Project Syndicate 2011

Mai Yamani's most recent book is Cradle of Islam.

Qantara.de editor: Lewis Gropp

Imran Khan Meeting with "Saints" & "Pirs" & Jang Group Promotes "SHIRK".

2011-07-01T17:14:00.001+05:30

Imran Khan Meeting with "Saints" & "Pirs" & Jang Group Promotes "SHIRK".

http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2011/07/imran-khan-meeting-with-saints-pirs.html

Earlier Jang Group's Haroon Rasheed quoted Mansoor Hallaj on Osama Bin Laden whereas Osama and others like him were Ikhwanis (Jamat-e-Islami) and for them Mansoor Hallaj was an Heretic:) more shameful is the fact that Historically Mr. Haroon is wrong because there was time gap between the death of Sufi Master Junaid Baghdadi and Mansoor Hallaj and their meeting cannot be proved through any narration. Patriotic Reverse Gear of Kamran Khan & Jang Group/GEO TV. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2011/05/patriotic-reverse-gear-of-kamran-khan.html . When you insert the patchwork of Religion in Politics these efforts always end up in more confusion:) Mr Irfan Siddiqui [Noted Columnist of Daily Jang and Mentor of Dr. Shahid Masood, and Former PRO of President House Islamabad and earlier he was a Regular Columnist of Weekly Takbeer] is quite Islamist when in Pakistan while lecturing the Pakistani Politicians about Governance and Rule and Revival of Islam whereas he hismelf relaxed Islam's very basic prinicple i.e. Tawheed Monotheism while narrating his journey of Saudi Arabia and particularly his visit of Masjid Nabawi in Medina where he literaly presented Pakistan's Case before Prophet Mohammad [PBUH]'s Grave and wanted his intercession to "SAVE PAKISTAN". Mr. Irfan Siddiqui was least bothered about a FACT that Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] had passed away more than 1400 years ago and he [PBUH] cannot help Pakistan from his grave. Period. Irfan Siddiqui's Request to Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] & Polytheism [Shirk]. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2010/04/irfan-siddiquis-request-to-prophet.html

Today i.e. 1st July 2011, Mr. Haroon ur Rasheed has quoted an Alleged Saint from Gojar Khan, Punjab, who was familiar with the technicalities of Military Dictatorships of General Pervez Musharraf who was supported by Imran Khan in Sham Referendum of 2002 Imran Khan's Alleged Principled Stand & General Musharraf's Fraudulent Referendum. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2011/04/imran-khans-alleged-principled-stand.html . Friday, July 01, 2011, Rajab-Ul-Murrajab 28, 1432 A.H http://jang.com.pk/jang/jul2011-daily/01-07-2011/col4.htm

The Saints of South Asian Models are as under:

Iqbal's secret meeting with saints (Like Imran Khan Like Allama Iqbal (also met with a Saint) Iqbal's secret meeting with saints)

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5InKreewK1Y

Excerpts are as under:

"QUOTE"

1. Do not try to understand the Qur'ân ever. Else, you will go astray. Fifteen "Uloom" (sciences) are required to understand the Book. ("Maulana" Zakaria Kandhalwi, Fazael Amaal, p.2)

2. Do not read the Qur'ân with understanding, you will go astray. (Fazaael Aamal, "Maulana" Ashraf Ali Thanwi, p. 216)

It is mentioned in Aamaal-e-Qur'aani, p. 134 by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi [published by Jasim Book Depot, Urdu Bazaar, Jama Masjid, Delhi] that if a woman has excessive menstrual bleeding, the verse (Surah Al-'Imran: 3:144) should be written on three different pieces of paper, one tied on her right and the other on her left and the third piece of paper with the Qur'ânic verse to be hung below the naval. This verse of the Qur'aan, "Muhammad (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) is no more than a Messenger, and indeed (many) Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah, and Allah will give reward to those who are grateful." [Surah Al-'Imran: 3:144]

3. Delaying prayer once will cause a person to burn in the hellfire for 20.88 million years, just because he or she failed to pray on exact time. ("Maulana" Zakaria Kandhalwi, Fazaael Namaz, p.317)

4. Recite the whole Qur'ân in one raka'ah like saints did! [That will amount to more than 50 times of the whole Qur'ân in a single day!] (Fazaael Namaz p.64.) Saints recite 2,000 raka'ahs every day. They keep standing the full one month of Ramadhan reciting the Qur'ân twice a day! (Tableegh-I-Nisab Fazaael Aamal)

5. "Maulana" Ashraf Ali Thanwi separated the way of Salat between men and women in his book "Bahishti Zever." (Masjid Tauheed, Karachi. Muhammad Sultan)

6. When Shah Waliullah was in his mother's womb, she said a prayer. Two tiny hands (too) appeared for prayer. She was frightened. Her husband said, "You have Qutubul-Aqtab (Wali of Walis) in your womb (Hikayat-e-Awlia, p. 17 Ashraf Ali Thanwi) What a break-through!

7. Junaid Baghdadi was sitting when a dog crossed by. He merely glanced at the dog. The dog reached such glory that all dogs of the town followed him. Then he sat down and all dogs sat around him in meditation. (Ashraf Ali Thanwi. Imdad-ul- Mushtaq)

8. The holy messenger came to Shah Waliullah (in the 18 century!) and said, "Why do you worry? Your children are the same as mine." (Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Hikayat-ul-Awlia)

9. The prophet laid the foundation of Darul-Uloom, Deoband, India (in the 19th century) He comes to check accounts of the school. He has learnt the Urdu language. (Mubasshirat-e-Darul Uloom, and Deoband Number of the Darul-Uloom)

10. Mulla Mohammad Qasim Nanotwi saw in his dream that he was sitting in the lap of Allaah. (Biography of Mulla Qasim by Mulla Mohammad Yaqoob Nanotwi)

11. The advent of another Prophet is quite possible. (Mulla Abdul Hai Farangi Mahli and Mulla Qasim Nanotwi, Tahzeer-in-Nas, p.34, Athar Ibn Abbas, p.16)

Why blame Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani only?

12. Disrespect to a monk is more perilous than disrespect to Allaah. (Mulla Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Al-Ashraf, p.23, Nov. 1991)

13. Dear reader, now read what p.154 " Islam or Maslak Parasti" says: According to the Qur'ân anything dedicated to other than Allaah in forbidden. It is our maulvi mind who declare virtuous such things as Koondas of Ja'afar Sadiq, halwa of Shabe barat in the name of Owais Qarni, haleem and sherbet of Imam Hussain and Niaz of the 11th in the name of Jeelani!

14. Risala Tazkara of Darul-uloom Deoband of 1965 claims: Anyone suffering from malaria who took dust from the grave of "Maulana" Yaqoob Nanotwi and tied this dust to his body, found instant relief.

15. Allaah cuts jokes with the Ulama of Deoband. One of them went to a well for "Wudu" (Ablution) He lowered the bucket in the well. It came back full of silver. The Holy man said to Allaah: Don't kid around! I am getting late for prayers. He lowered the bucket in again and this time it came back full of gold. (Risala Tazkara of Darul-uloom Deoband of April 1965)

16. In the night of Meraj (Ascension) Imam Ghazali rebuked Prophet Moses. Mohammed said, " Respect O' Ghazali!" (Malfoozat Haaji Imdaadullaah Muhaajir Makki, Imdad-ul- Mushtaq) by Ashraf Ali Thanwi.

[Please note that Ghazali was born centuries after passing away of the holy prophet]

17. Take the right arm of a goat after Friday prayers. Be completely naked. Write Sura Yasin and the name of the person you want, then put the meat in the cooking pot. That person will fall in love with you. (Monthly "Khalid" Deoband Darul Uloom)

18. If you want to kill your enemy write A to T on a piece of bread. Recite Surah "RA'AD." Break the bread into five pieces and feed them to five dogs. Say to dogs, 'Eat the flesh of my enemy'. By the will of Allaah your enemy will have huge boils on his body. (Darul uloom Deoband "Khalid")

19. Say "Fazabooha" before you cut a melon, or any thing else (for that matter), you will find it sweet. (Aamale-Qurani, Ashraf Ali Thanwi)

20. Recite the verse "When the heaven will split." Write it (on a piece of paper) and tie to the left thigh of any woman in labor, child birth will become easy. Cut the hair of that woman and burn them between her thighs, childbirth will be easier still. (Aamal-e-Qurani, Ashraf Ali Thanwi)

21. During labor pains let the woman hold Mawatta Imam Malik for instant delivery. (Aamal-e-Qurani, Ashraf Ali Thanwi)

22. See what "Hakeemul Ummat" Thanwi says! Keep reciting "Al Mughni" during sex and the woman will love you. (same book, Ashraf Ali Thanwi)

23.The prophet laid foundation of Darul-Uloom, Deoband, India (in the 19th century). He comes to check accounts of the school. He has learnt Urdu language. (Mubasshirat-e-Darul Uloom, and Deoband Number of the Darul-Uloom)

24. When, "Maulana" Zakaria, the father of "Maulana" Yousuf Bannuri would fall sick, the prophet would come. He told the house servant, "Badshah Khan! I (the holy prophet), am also serving Zakaria. (Bayyanat 1975 Ashraf Ali Thanwi p. 7)

25. The prophet said to sister-in-law of Haaji Imdaadullaah Muhajir Makki, "Get up! I will cook meals for guests of Imdaadullaah." (Bayyanat p. 8, Ashraf Ali Thanwi)

26. "Maulana" Yousuf Ludhianwi taught a simple method to make interest (usury) Halal. Borrow from a non-Muslim. (Masaail-e-Jadeedah)

27. The wife of Mullah Jalaaluddin Rumi thought that his sexual desire had vanished. The Mullah came to know of her suspicion in a special trance of revelation (KASHF). That night he went to the wife and drilled her 70 times. (Please excuse the language) So much so that she asked forgiveness. (Manaqib-il-Arifain, p.70, by Shamsuddin Akhlaqi)

Now please witness how far these Mujaddith's of Deoband can go! See what garbage Mulla Ashraf Ali Thanwi is trying to unload. The same Thanwi whom other Mullahs call "Hakeem-ul-Ummat"!

28. He writes on p.110 in "Imdaadul Mushtaq": There was a true monotheist. People told him if delicious food is part of the person of Allaah and feces too is a part of Him, eat both. Well, the Sheikh first became a pig and ate feces. Then he became a human being and ate food! Isn't that height of "wisdom" of our wise of the nation!"

29. Here is another pearl of wisdom from him: There was a Pir Sadiq from Ashraf Ali Thanwi's town. He taught his disciples "There is no God but Allah and Sadiq is His messenger." {Astaghfirullaah} The wise of the nation Thanwi declared that teaching OK. (Imane Khalis, p.109, Hazrat Masood Uthmani)

30. The holy messenger comes to Mulla Qasim Nanotwi and other big shots of Deoband, U.P to learn Urdu. He also checks accounts of the Madrasah. (Numerous references such as Haqaiq-o-Maarif, Deoband May 1975).

31. "Maulana" Yousuf Bannuri writes: The Prophet told my father, Zakaria! When you fall sick I also fall sick. Hazrat Ali had come to conduct the marriage of my father and mother. (In the 19th century!) (Iman-e-Khalis, pp. 7 and 8, Masooduddin Usmani, Fazil Uloom Deenia)

Furthermore it is not a co-incidence that these beliefs are in the Fazaail Aamal, rather each one of the misguided views is a well-established belief of the Deobandis - the school of thought that the Tableeghi Jamaat originates from. This has been shown with ample proofs. please refer to the online book, "The JAMAAT TABLEEGH and the Deobandis - A Critical analysis of their Beliefs, Books and Dawah"

This book is not a fazail-e-Aamaal Combat Kit, But is an Enlightening insight in to the Scholars and Founding Fathers of Deoband and their Sufistic Beliefs, As Deoband have been looked upon as the good Guys and the Barelwis as the Bad Guys, However after reading the writings of the revered scholars and Founder of Deoband one Realizes that the difference between the Barelwis and the Deobandis is Miniscule and they both Share the Same Sufistic Beliefs of PIRS, FAKIRS, MIRACULOUS POWERS OF SAINTS, APPROVAL OF GRAVE WORSHIP, ZIKR, MEDITATIONS, MOKSHA, TAWASSUL, LOOKING DOWN UPON JANNAH, DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS WITH ALLAAH and many other same beliefs. One is forced to conclude that this dangerous misinterpretation and twisting of Islaamic beliefs and practices has been deliberate, oft repeated and has been purposely concealed from the common man, This can in no way be attributed to ignorance on the part of the Deoband Leaders.

Demented Sufis!

I am superior to the prophets (Mohiuddin Ibn-Arabi, Hadeeqa Sultania p.190).

I have denounced Islam. I believe this is incumbent on people. If Allah is God in the heavens, I am God on earth (statement of Hussain bin Mansoor Hallaj, Khateeb Baghdadi vol.8, Ibne Athir 11:140, Al Bidaya Wal Nihaya by Ibn Kathir).

Men of knowledge see Shias as swines (Mohiuddin Ibn-Arabi, Futuhat Makkia 2:8).

Sheikh Imam Abul Hassan Noori was in the company of his disciples. The call to prayers came. The Sheikh said, "It is death." Then a dog barked. The Sheikh replied, "Labbaik", meaning "Oh yes, my master" (Ibn-e-Jozi Talbees-e-Iblis p.383).

My body has merged with the body of Rasulullah. Therefore, we are one (Shah Waliullah, Anfasul Arifain).

I recite Sura Fatiha and walk across the river (Mulfoozat Moinuddin Chishti Ajmairi).

In the assemblies of "URS" (communion of Sufi souls with God), spirits of the dead Sufis come to dance around (Mulla Abul Kalam Azad, Iman-e-Khalis p.63).

Hazrat Dawood Jawarbi had seen Allah. When asked about Allah, he said, "Ask me not about His genitals and His beard. Ask about anything else (Al-Millil wal-Nahil, Imam Shehristani 1:96).

Even better, the authorities should have painted Imam Shehristani a clown for conveying such rubbish. Allah is sitting in the heavens. I am the God on earth (Mansoor Hallaj, Ibne-Athir 2:140/Al Bidaya Wal Nihaya by Ibn Kathir).

The priest in the church is our Allah (Ibn-Arabi, Qasasul Ulema p.53).

There is no one else worthy of worship. Come and worship me (Mulla Jalaluddin Rumi, Mathnawi 4:52).

Time for a laugh: This morning Allah wrestled with me. He floored me because I am 2 years younger than He is (Abul Hassan Kharqani, Fawaid Faridiya p.78).

Alas! The Muslim fails to understand that Allah can be found only in idol worship (Sufi Mahmood Shabistri, Sharah Gulshan-e-Raz p.294).

Hanafis are people who are pacing toward hellfire. The death anniversary of Imam Hussain must be celebrated like the Festival of Eid (Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Ghania al-Talibain p.190).

My foot is on the neck of every saint, so I placed my foot on Hazrat Ali's neck (Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Asrar ul Qadam p.191).

I hate the God who does not appear as a dog or cat (Ibn-Arabi, Khazeena Imaniya p.168).

Whenever Khwaja Maudood Chishti wanted to see the Ka'aba, angels airlifted it to the land of Chisht (Malfoozat Khwaja Qutubuddin Bukhtiar Kaki, Fariduddin Ganj Shakar). This Khwaja Maudood Chishti is reported to be the ancestor of the famous Mulla Maudoodi.

One thousand years have gone and so has the time of Muhammad. Now it is my time, the time of Ahmad. The second millennium is mine (Ahmad Sarhindi, so-called "Mujaddid Alf-Sani" [Revivalist of the second millennium], Mubda-o-Muad).

Books of the Tableeghi Nisab "Fazael Aamal" were presented to the Holy Prophet (in the twentieth century!) and he accepted them (Behjatul Quloob p.12).

Khwaja Qutbuddin Maudood Chishti's dead body flew in the air on its way to the graveyard. Khwaja Fareeduddin Ganj Shakar upon narrating this fell unconscious (Rahatil-Quloob, Ganj Shakar). He should have expired.

Adam cried for 300 years. (So much so that) birds made nests on his face. His tears brought forth so much grass that it covered his (60 meters long) body (Rahatul Muhibbeen, Ameer Khusro, Khwaja Nizamuddin Awlia).

A bird came and told us, "Tomorrow is Eid. Unlike humans we are free from lies." Sheikh Faqirullah knew a crow that often learned monotheism from him (reference same).

If Awlia (saints) wish, they can accept invitations from 10,000 towns (and be there) at the same time (Ahmed Raza Barelwi, Malfoozat part I p.127).

When Shah Waliullah was in his mother's womb, she said a prayer. Two tiny hands appeared for prayer. She was frightened. Her husband said, "You have Qutubul Aqtab (Saint of Saints) in your womb (Mulla Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Hikayat-e-Awlia p.17). What a breakthrough!

The Prophet laid the foundation of Darul Uloom, Deoband, India (in the 19th century!). He comes to check the accounts of the school. He has learnt Urdu from the Ulema of Deoband (Mubasshirat-e-Darul Uloom, and Deoband Number of the Darul Uloom). Was this tale made up to lend credence to the Deoband Mulla factory? You decide.

Allah revealed Himself to me as an extremely beautiful woman, decorated with fine ornaments and garments. She suddenly embraced me and merged into my body (Shah Waliullah, Anfasul Arifain pp.94-95).

One night I started flying from heaven to heaven until I reached the Prophet. He accepted my allegiance (reference same, pp.38-39).

The sun cannot rise before greeting me. The new year, the new month, the new day, dawn not without greeting me and informing me of every single event (Malfoozat Ahmed Raza Barelwi about Ghaus Azam Jeelani).

A wolf was brought before prophet Jacob. He said to the wolf, "Tell me about my son, Joseph." The wolf said, "I am an animal, but I do no backbiting" (reference same).

Prophet Job prayed, "O' God! Give me 12,000 tongues so that I may recite your name." God accepted his prayer and infested his body with 12,000 insects (reference same).

The mosquito that killed Nimrod was lame (Malfoozat Chishti).

Hazrat Uthman brought home a fish. All the firewood burnt off, but the fish remained fresh (uncooked). When the Prophet asked it the reason, the fish said, "I had sent my salutations to you once" (reference same).

Shah Waliullah believed in the Unity of Existence. He believed that insects, animals, idols and human beings were all God (Syed Farooq Al-Qadri, Anfasul Arifain).

Allah has only 99 virtuous names. I have more than 99, in fact 4000 (Shah Waliullah for his uncle, Anfasul Arifain p.210).

Some people told Shah Abdur Raheem (Shah Waliullah's father) that they were trying to find God. My father said, "I am He!" They stood up and shook hands (reference same, p.93). Why didn't they prostrate?!

God came to me in a cloak in the guise of an extremely beautiful woman. I became passionate and said, "Cast aside your cloak." The response came, "The cloak is very thin. It reveals my beauty." I insisted, upon which the cloak was lifted (quote of father and son: Shah Abdur Raheem & Shah Waliullah, Anfasul Arifain p.94).

The great Pir (master saint) of the 19th century, Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi, has been quoted in his Malfoozat p.32 that "Prophets are alive in their graves like ever before. They eat, drink, pray and receive their wives in the grave and engage in sex with them."

Now watch God's retirement plan: Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani claimed: Allah has made me eternal and has joined me with Him. He has given in my hand this world and the Hereafter and all Creation (Jeelani, Malfoozat Fuyuz Yazdani, Fath-e-Rabb-ani, Majlis 51).

Prophet David and Prophet Mohammad both sinned because they saw the beauty of unclothed women. Then Uria's wife and Zaid's wife became haram (forbidden) for their husbands (Ali Hajweri, alias "Daata Ganj Baksh," Kalamil Marghoob p.349). [This Rascal Data basically quoted the False Narration of Hisotry of Tabari]

Junaid Baghdadi said that Prophet Solomon was the illegitimate son of David from Uria's wife. Sheik Seerin wrote that Surah Ahzab of the Qur'an means to say that Muhammad the Exalted was hiding the carnal love of Zainab (the wife of Zaid), in his heart (Malfoozal Al-Aasl p.219).

A wife of the Holy Prophet saw a male sparrow mounting the female sparrow. She challenged the Prophet. When the night set in, the Prophet mounted her in a most furious manner 90 times and said, "See! There is no deficiency here" (Shamsuddin Akhlaqi, Manaqib-il-Arifain pp.70-71).

These dogs and swines are our God (Fusoosul Hukm, Mohiuddin Ibne Arabi).

Ba-Yazeed Bistami, supposedly the head of all saints, is quoted in his Malfoozat (book of quotes):

I am Glorious, the Ultimate, the Pure. My glory is beyond description.

My kingdom is greater than the Kingdom of God.

Allah is in my pocket.

My flag flies higher than the flag of Mohammad.

I dove into the sea of true knowledge while the prophets watched by the shore.

Ali Hajweri, "Daata Ganj Bakhsh," in his Kashfil Mahjoob, pp.255-256 supports Ba-Yazeed's claim that he was Allah in human form.

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri taught his disciples a different Kalema (creed) "There is no god but Allah and Chishti is His messenger" (Khwaja Fareed-ud-Din Ganj Shakar, Fawaed-us-Salikeen pp.126-127).

Now what message is Sheikh Afeef-ud-Din Talmisani trying to convey when he says:

The Qur'an is loaded with shirk (polytheism). True monotheism is that everything in the universe is God (Malfoozat Talmisani p.205).

It was OK for the Pharaoh to say, "I am God". He, of course, was a part of the Essence of God (reference same). Ibraheem Adham reached the Ka'aba in 14 years because he prayed two nawafil at every step. But the Ka'aba was not found! "It has gone to visit Rabia Basri," came a voice from the heavens (Malfoozat Khwaja Uthman Harooni, Aneesul Arwah p.17). Doesn't it make us think why the Ka'aba could not go to meet the Holy Prophet in Hudaibiah?

According to Sheikh Afifuddin Talmisani's Malfoozat page 177, Rabia Basri was in romance first with Hasan Basri and then with Ibrahim Adham.

In Cordova, I fell in love with Fatima. In Makkah I fell in love with the beautiful Ain-ush-Shams. The spiritual windows opened upon me hence. (Sheikh Mohiuddin Ibne Arabi, Fusoosul Hukm)

Ba-Yazid Bistami could take the soul of any person whenever he wanted. My uncle Abu Raza Mohammad, upon hearing this became angry and said, "Ba-Yazid could not return the soul (and restore life). I can take a soul and return it, as I want." Then my uncle took the soul of Rahmatullah and brought him back to life (Shah Waliullah, Anfasul Afrifain p.95).

Junaid Baghdadi was sitting when a dog crossed by. He merely glanced at the dog. The dog reached such glory that all dogs of the town followed him. Then he sat down and all dogs sat around him in meditation (Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Imdadul Mushtaq)."

The Holy Messenger came to Shah Waliullah (in the 18 century!) and said "Why do you worry, my son? Your children are the same as mine" (Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Hikayat-e-Awlia).

It is obligatory upon a Mu'min (believer) that he quits eating and drinking. He must get weak to the point where he becomes unable to pray (Sahl bin Abdullah Tastari, Malfoozat Arabi p.289).

Hazrat Sha'arani was the Sheikh of miracles. He resided in a meadow. He used to visit the town riding a wolf. He walked on water. His urine was drinkable like pure milk (Allama Tareshi's excerpts, Misra Tasawwuf p.194). Did Tareshi try it?

Jalaluddin Rumi never prayed. When the time for prayers came he used to vanish. At last it was detected that he went to pray in Ka'aba (2000 miles away from Qunia five times a day) (Khwaja Nizamuddin Awlia, Rahat-il-Quloob).

My uncle saw me create and destroy the universe (Shah Waliullah, Afasul Arifain p.210).

Once there was a Sheikh who used to grab a dog every day and put him on the prayer rug and said, "O dog, you are in the hands of God!" Those dogs then started walking on water and healed people by giving them ta'aweez (amulets) (Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Malfoozat).

The dead body of a dervish was lying in a jungle laughing. I asked him, "You are dead, how can you laugh?" The dead body replied, "This is what happens in the love of Allah" (Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Malfoozat).

The Universe lies within the Mount Caucasus. This mountain is 40 times bigger than the earth. A cow is holding it on its head (Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Dalilul Arifain).

The people of Multan refused to provide fire to Shah Shams Tabrez for roasting meat. He became enraged and brought the sun down (and roasted the meat). People became restless with heat. They came to the saint and asked his forgiveness and then he ordered the sun to go back. Since that day the town became known for its hot summers (Ali Quli Baghdadi, Karamat Shah Tabrez p.233).

A great saint Hazrat Abdul Wahab went to visit the grave of Pir Syedi Ahmad Kabir. Abdul Wahab saw a beautiful bondwoman. Syedi Kabir called from his grave, "Hey, do you like her?" The owner of the bondwoman instantly dedicated her to the grave. The dead Pir spoke again, "O' Abdul Wahab! Take her to the room in front and satisfy your desire" (Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi, allegedly "the greatest master of Islamic law and reviver of the 19th century," Malfoozat part 3 p.28).

Ibraheem Adham was Governor of Balakh. While hunting, a deer turned back and scolded him. Since that day Adham quit his rule (and became a saint) ("Daata" Ganj Bakhsh, Kalamil Marghoob p.229).

When the companions went with the Prophet for ghazwat (Jihad) some of their wives had relations with other men (Mulla Jalaluddin Rumi, Feeh-ma-Feeh, Saleem Chishti, Islami Tasawwuf p.66).

Women are the source of all tribulation in the world, religious or otherwise (Hajwairi, "Daata Ganj Bakhsh" in Malfoozat Barelwi).

There was a 140-year old worshipper. He had a foot that was amputated. When asked he said, "I was in eitekaf (seclusion for worship in a masjid). I stepped one foot out. An angel warned me and I immediately cut off my foot with a knife" (Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri in Malfoozat Uthman Harooni).

Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri writes in the same book that the moon and the sun eclipse because of the sins of people! The Holy Prophet had explained that eclipses occur according to the Divine Laws.

A man stole shrouds from graves for 40 years, but he went to the highest degree in Paradise. Why? Because he held on to the prayer rug (he was steadfast in prayers) (Malfoozat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri, by Khwaja Qutub Alam, Daleel Arifain).

Watch for another wisdom from Chishti in the same book: The hellfire is placed in the mouth of a snake deep in the seventh level of the earth, otherwise the whole Universe would burn. Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki knew half the Qur'an by heart when he was born (Fawaid-as-Salikeen, Khwaja Fareed-ud-Din "Ganj Shakar").

What titanic forces prevented him from completing it?!

Fareed-ud-Din "Ganj Shakar" (which means: the treasure of sugar) turned bushels of sugar into salt and again into sugar (The Beloved of God, "Mehboob-e-Elahi" Khwaja Nizam-ud-din Awlia, Rahatul Quloob).

The Prophet attended the funeral of Barakat Ahmed. And I led the prayer, (i.e. the Prophet was his follower in prayer) (Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi, Malfoozat).

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti says, "What do you ask of the Mount Caucasus? This mountain is resting on the head of a cow. The greatness and size of this cow equals 30,000 years of travel. Her head is in the East and her tail is in the West. She has been standing since eternity praising the Lord." Sheikh Uthman Harooni reports that after narrating this (insult to human intelligence), Sheikh Maudood Chishti and a companion sank into deep meditation. Both disappeared leaving their gowns behind. They had gone to take a stroll up the Mount Caucasus (Malfoozat Khwaja Chishti Ajmeri by Khwaja Bakhtiar Kaki, Daleelul Arifain pp.85-86). They should have disappeared from the planet.

By God! I know 99 out of 100 thoughts that come in the heart of an ant living in the lowest stratum of the earth. Allah knows all one hundred (Shah Waliullah, Anfasul Arifain p.205).

"UNQUOTE"

The Secret Saint of Imran Khan as defined by Mr. Nusrat Javed in Express News

Hidden Hands Behind Imran Khan (Courtesy: Nusrat Javed/Express News)

http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101275211&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20110629#

--
Asadullah Syed

Sharing a culture

2011-07-01T17:09:00.001+05:30

Sharing a culture

In this fifth and final article of the series, Jill Kamil takes a look at national identity

The inspiration behind this series of articles (which appeared on the Opinion Page of Al-Ahram Weekly in the issues of 31 March, 21 April, 5 May and 9 June) was the remarkable and united effort shown by the protesters in Tahrir Square in the early days of the national uprising that started on 25 January 2011. Six months later there are incidents of sectarian strife, secularists running a "Constitution First" campaign, and Al-Azhar, the prominent seat of Sunni Islam, highlighting the need to respect freedom and human rights "as well as commitment to the principle of citizenship".

It is this last comment, made by Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb in the "Al-Azhar Document" on Egypt's future, that attracted my attention. Citizenship implies national identity, and national identity is not a question of nationality but of common points in people's lives -- whether national symbols, national colours, culture, cuisine, traditions or shared political objectives. Cleopatra, for example, was last in a line of ethnic Greek sovereigns and has been immortalised as a beautiful seductress, while in fact she was an intelligent and politically astute figure who fought Rome in the name of Egypt (and was, by all accounts, not especially beautiful). Another ruler, the Albanian-born soldier Mohamed Ali, created an independent Egyptian state, laid the foundations of a prosperous economy, and turned a neglected Turkish colony into an Egyptian kingdom whose power was recognised throughout the Mediterranean world. In other words, national identity is not an inborn trait. It is a sense of belonging to one country, or to one nation; a feeling that is shared with a group regardless of citizenship status.

Egypt has experienced political, economic and spiritual growth through millennia, but it has also known discrimination and corruption in one form or another. Time and again the country has been exposed to elements that have stimulated its development, changed its outlook, and even inspired styles of clothing. Yet, alongside the differences, a tradition can be traced. It is manifested in crafts such as weaving, masonry and book-binding, and there are, in addition, fundamental resemblances that stand out less vividly but which show a remarkable continuity in location, tradition and ritual.

There are places in Egypt that are traditionally regarded as holy, and which have a history of sanctity long predating monotheism. Many ancient monuments were transformed into Christian churches. In turn, mosques have been constructed on the site of former Christian chapels.

Muslims and Christians alike pay homage to the sacred sites of holy people with shared customs of preparation and ritual: tents are put around the church or tomb and the area is decorated with flags, banners and lights. The night before the moulid (annual religious festival) market stalls are set up for the sale of toys, sweets, trinkets, paper hats and books. There are swings and puppet shows for children. The highlight of the occasion is the great zaffa, a procession through the streets of a picture of the Muslim sheikh or Christian saint in whose honour the moulid is held. Some moulids, like that of St George at Mit Damsis near the Delta town of Mansoura, are shared by Muslims and Christians.

In the Delta village of Damirah is a mound called Qafr Damirah Al-Qadim ("the castle of Damirah the ancient"). It is the site where the Christian St Dimiana, along with 40 virgins, was martyred in the reign of Diocletian. Today the community is predominantly Muslim, but many of the mosques have columns and other architectural elements which attest to the earlier Christian era. The annual moulid that takes place there is no longer in honour of the 40 adolescent girls, but of 40 Muslim soldiers killed during the conquest of Egypt in 640 AD. Such overlapping traditions attest to a common legacy. Qafr Damirah Al-Qadim is associated with 40 individuals who died for a cause.

As in ancient times, both men and women pay regular visits to the tombs of their relatives, and during the Eid, the Feast at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, sacrifice a sheep and give some of its flesh, along with bread, to the poor in the locality. Who would question that such a ceremony stems from ancient expiatory sacrifice, which is today regarded as alms-giving? Or that graphic pictures of the holy pilgrimage to Mecca (by ship or air) painted on the outer walls of houses in villages and towns in Upper Egypt are not a reflection of scenes in ancient Egyptian tombs of the pilgrimage (by boat) to the holy city of Abydos?

Change and continuity are not as paradoxical as they sound. Although there are very real political, social and ideological differences between various eras of Egypt's enduring civilisation, there is also a static factor. Egyptian leadership, for example, has always been associated with that great source of life: the Nile. Through progressive civilisations efforts have been made to harness its waters. From the earliest Pharaohs who ceremoniously wielded pickaxes to open new canals, to the present day when an initiative is underway to achieve sustainable development through the equitable usage of Nile Basin water resources, faith in a leader who is a provider, protector and controller of water is a factor that has outlived change. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Mamluks, kings and presidents have built canals, barrages, aqueducts and dams. Following the uprising this year, one of the first steps taken by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf was to head a high-level delegation to Khartoum to consolidate relations between the two "sister countries" who share the water of the Nile.

There is a character and identity to Egypt that cannot be rendered in historical sequence because it transcends history. It has been transmitted from ancient times to the present in a stream of living culture. In accordance with Islam, which forbids the portrayal of any living likeness, there was an increasing production of abstract ornamentation in local workshops. The pottery produced in Fustat between the 11th and 15th centuries, for example, characterised by bright, glazed surfaces with a metallic lustre, was made for both Muslim and Christian patrons. Examples are on display in the Coptic Museum and in the Islamic Museum of Art and Architecture. Architectural elements that survive in mediaeval mosques and mansions are no different from the fine wooden ceilings, mashrabiya (latticed woodwork) windows, arches and tiles in geometric and non-figurative designs that are incorporated into the structure of the Old Wing of the Coptic Museum -- elements that were salvaged from derelict Coptic houses. As for textiles, those on display in the new Textile Museum in Al-Muizz Street in Cairo range from tunics of un-dyed linen with medallions and decorative borders to a variant of woollen loop weaving in which the weft is not pulled tight. This, one of the oldest and most famous of Egyptian crafts, which is used in cloaks, shirts and shawls, wall hangings, blankets and curtains made for Muslim and Coptic patrons alike. Metal lamps, perfume vessels, even eye paint -- all point to a shared tradition.

When it comes to religion, among both Christians and Muslims there is a strong tradition that supports the New Testament story of the Flight into Egypt. Some 22 sites in Egypt are associated with the event, and although Copts and Muslims are not always in agreement on the route taken by the Holy Family or on the duration of their stay in Egypt (Copts believe that it was for a little over three and a half years, while Muslims hold that it was seven) there are many sites where the tradition is upheld by both. Both Muslims and Christians, for example, relate that the Holy Family was warmly received at the Delta city of Belbeis, and that the inhabitants kept company with the Virgin, played with the child, and talked to Joseph Al-Naggar (the carpenter). There was once a tree in the city which after the visit became known as the Virgin Mary's Tree. It was reputedly cut down by Napoleon's soldiers in search of firewood. However, near the spot where it is believed to have stood at the crossroads of Ansari and Boghdadi streets, the mosque of Osman Al-Haress Al-Ansari stands today, built in commemoration of the visit.

East of Bahnasa, at the site of the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus -- which was largely Christian in the fifth century but is today predominantly Muslim -- local sheikhs quote a passage from the Quran (XXIII: 50) which roughly translates: "... and we have made the son of Mary and his mother a portent, and we gave them refuge on a height, a place of flocks and water-springs." They claim that Jesus attended school at Bahnasa and refer to the Arab historian Mohamed Al-Bakir (676-731) as their source.

Shared traditions and a common language point to a common patrimony. There is a Coptic-Arabic culture in Egypt, and it is surely timely to rewrite school textbooks for the rising generation to include the overlapping, and sometimes complex, coexistence between Muslims and Christians for the last 14 centuries.

The author's book Christianity in the Land of the Pharaohs was published by Routledge in the UK and USA in 2002.

URL of this Page: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1054/op1.htm

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Asadullah Syed

From Textbook to Tahrir Square

2011-06-30T18:00:00.001+05:30

From Textbook to Tahrir Square

Written by David E. Miller
Published Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Experts assert the cradle of the Arab Spring was in school reading assignments

Facebook was the medium for spreading the word of rebellion in the Arab Spring, but it was school textbooks – the required reading from early childhood through the teen years that informs children of who they are and where they come from – that may have been the source of alienation that drove young people into the street.

That's what some scholars meeting in Jerusalem said at the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace in Jerusalem on Wednesday, as they reviewed the lessons students pick up from reading history, literature, civics and other subjects.

"Arab school textbooks are unable to address inner diversities within societies," Falk Pingel, a consultant and research fellow at Germany's Georg Eckert Institute, which researches textbooks, told The Media Line. "They convey a homogeneous image of society which doesn't fit the reality."

School systems across the Arab world are usually faulted for their poor performance in creating graduates with the math, science and other skills needed for the modern job market. But a critical study of the region's textbook reveal they are also failing in the much more basic function of creating informed and educated citizens.

Schools have an outside role in the Middle and North Africa, where some 60% of the region's population is under 30 years of age. Governments spend about 20% of their budgets on education, but drop-out rates are high, scores on international exams are low and some 30% of the region's population can't read or write.

Even from a young age, students easily see the discrepancy between what their history and civics classes teach and the reality around them, leading them initially to be skeptical of their teachers and school and eventually of their government and leaders.

"The growing divide between reality and the books is cited as one of the reasons for the Arab revolutions," Pingel said.

Syria, a dictatorship that has been wracked by unrest since the middle of March, is a potpourri of Sunni Muslims, Alawites, Druze and Christians. But the ruling Baath party is ideologically committed to pan-Arabism and fears the divides could undermine political stability.

As a result, said experts at the conference, Syrian history textbooks that make no mention of the country's ethnic and religious divisions, even though every child knows his family's identity.

Monika Bolliger, a researcher from the University of Zurich who studies Syrian textbooks, said the uprising in Syria displayed sectarian undertones that highlighted the failure of the state to create an inclusive Arab identity. The Syrian students she interviewed ridiculed their educational system.

"They think its nonsense," she told The Media Line. "Syrians often make jokes about their educational system, mocking the slogans and the propaganda."

Arab school curriculum is highly centralized, uniform, and focused on repetition rather than innovation, said Dr. Achim Rohde, a researcher at the German University of Marburg who studies Iraqi textbooks.

In an attempt to avoid dealing with politically contentious issues, Iraqi school curriculum ignores the country's history since 1958, when the Hashemite king was toppled in a violent rebellion. Since then it has been ruled by a succession of Baath rulers, the last of whom, Saddam Hussein, was ousted by allied forces in 2003.

The allies tried to solve Iraq's problem of sectarian divisions by removing all references to minorities in textbook, including favorable mention of Shiite religious doctrine that Saddam had order inserted during the 1990s as he sought to curry their favor. That, said Rohde, erased a source of inter-communal understanding.

"Textbooks are part of the problem of sectarianism," Rohde said.

Textbooks can be turned into part of the solution but only if they included historical examples of inter-sectarian cooperation, he added. Even then, the transition is difficult and takes time. Although Tunisia had the most progressive and developed educational system, it was the first Arab country to experience a revolution because its reforms were insufficient

Bolliger of the University of Zurich said educated Syrians' skepticism of formal education was part of a broader cynicism towards official narratives perpetuated by governments about history and society, depicted as well in mainstream media.

But not everyone is convinced that textbooks play such a prominent role. Nathan Brown, a political scientist at George Washington University, said academic researchers are attracted to them as shapers of society and attitudes because they are readily available and universally read. But, he said, they aren't necessarily the best indicators of the nature of a given society.

Although politically and ideologically divided, Gaza and the West Bank use the same textbooks, said Brown. In the rigid Palestinian educational system, careful study of textbooks was more important for teachers than for students. "There is very little freedom [for teachers] in the classroom," he told The Media Line.

In Saudi Arabia, a highly conservative Islamic society, textbooks portray the country as a part of the "global village" and women as having rights and freedoms they lack in reality, Eleanor Doumato, a retired researcher of Saudi textbooks at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in the U.S. told The Media Line.

But, she stressed, the problem isn't textbooks, which nowhere in the world show authentic representations of the societies they write about, but what those in power would like their societies to be. The problem isn't the books but the governments that sponsor them.

"Civics textbooks portray an idealized version of society," Doumato told The Media Line. "The problem is that in Saudi Arabia, although revered, the educators themselves are uneducated."

URL of this Page: http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=32569

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Asadullah Syed

Taliban talks bombing

2011-06-30T17:57:00.000+05:30

Taliban talks bombing

Administration negotiates with Afghan enemy despite brutal attack

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Obama administration has confirmed that talks are under way with the Taliban to seek a diplomatic settlement in Afghanistan prior to the departure of coalition troops. The same Taliban conducted a spectacular assault late Tuesday on the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul. Seven suicide bombers and snipers killed 11 people. The attackers also died, some by design, the last three shot down on the hotel roof by NATO helicopters.

It would be reasonable to conclude from this brutal incident that the Taliban are more interested in coalition capitulation than peace. They share President Obama's objective of having foreign troops depart Afghanistan, but they would rather push them out than invite them to leave. If the enemy reduced the number and scope of their attacks the political case for a quick pullout would be more palatable. Instead, they're amplifying the violence. Mr. Obama refuses to discuss the concept of victory in Afghanistan; the Taliban are seeking a win.

This was no random attack by rogue elements in the Taliban camp. Reportedly the diplomatic team led by U.S. special envoy Ambassador Marc Grossman, who had met earlier with President Hamid Karzai, was the target. Even this degree of Taliban contempt for diplomatic immunity will not derail the detente. The consensus opinion seems to be that the road to a peace agreement is a bumpy one, and events like this should be expected along the way.

Such a response is nothing new. In late 1967, the State Department received a communique from the National Liberation Front (NLF), the Viet Cong's political wing with whom the Johnson administration was desperate to negotiate. They said they were willing to discuss prisoner exchanges and broader issues but "now is not the right time to talk peace." The State Department interpreted this message to mean that the NLF in fact did want to discuss peace but was playing hard to get. In fact, the communist diplomatic feelers were a ruse in advance of the 1968 Tet Offensive. The offensive failed, and the severely bloodied enemy was driven to the negotiation table as a last resort. Days before peace talks opened in Paris in May 1968 the communists launched an attack that became known as "Little Tet," and despite the name, that month saw more U.S. deaths in Vietnam than any other.

Less sophisticated leaders might view a large-scale attack just days before a peace conference opens as evidence of bad faith. They might call the talks off, ramp up the "kinetic action" and show the enemy some backbone. The Johnson administration had been so anxious to engage in negotiations that the talks opened as scheduled, and then dragged on inconclusively for years. Expect the same from the Obama administration. Events like the InterContinental attack will not be allowed to get in the way of a settlement so Mr. Obama can bring this "war of necessity" to a quick close. The lesson to the Taliban will be that the Americans will pay any price, bear any burden, to be done with this war and get out. Lacking such sophistication, the Taliban still believe in old-fashioned concepts like winning.

URL of this Page: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/29/taliban-talks-bombing/

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Asadullah Syed

Experts urge CBN to promote capital re purposing, not Islamic banking

2011-06-30T14:48:00.001+05:30

Experts urge CBN to promote capital re purposing, not Islamic banking
By Kingsley Ighomwenghian, Finance Editor

• Muoghalu (left) and Johnson listening attentively during the seminar

Kingsley Moughalu, deputy governor, Financial System Stability, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had an arduous task mid last week in Lagos, as he tried to convince bankers, lawyers, and finance experts, among others, who gathered in Lagos to discuss the CBN guidelines on the proposed Islamic Banking framework.

It was at a seminar on "repurposing capital: non-interest banking" co-sponsored by Apostles in the Market Place (AiMP), a network of Christian professionals and leaders, and BusinessDay Media Limited publishers of BusinessDay newspapers.

Facilitators and participants (based on the barrage of questions), insisted that because Nigeria remains a secular state, there is no room for guideline suggestive of any religious inclinations or practice. The CBN Act, they stressed, does not empower the apex bank to engage in Islamic banking, besides the fact that non-interest banking, which falls under specialised banking, as recognised by the Banks and Other Financial Institution's Act (BOFIA), is not a leeway for promotion of any religious practice.

Kingsley Muoghalu, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, at the CBN, in his presentation however insisted that the CBN reviewed the initial guidelines released in January this year taking note of issues raised by various stakeholders, while stressing that the apex bank is under obligation to license banks that meet set conditions. Just as in the conventional banks, Islamic banks with national spread have a capital requirement of N10 billion, while a regional license attracts N5 billion.

The CBN, Muoghalu said, should be commended for bowing to superior arguments and admitting that "the first guidelines had a fundamental error," following which it was reviewed by the apex bank's committee of governors.

While calling for submission of other models of non-interest banking outside the Islamic one which is well known and practice globally, Muoghalu, a lawyer, stressed that the CBN was acting within its powers. The Islamic banking guidelines, he continued, is still part of ongoing reforms leading to the cancellation of universal banking licenses, because the model has not worked well. Universal banking, he added, encouraged the aggregation of risk by the banks, without contributing adequately to national development.

Non-interest or Islamic banking, Muoghalu noted, is part of efforts to attract more of Nigeria's bankable population into the system, lamenting the situation where almost 50 per cent adults in the country are not within the system.

"There is no need to entertain exaggerated fears," he said, assuring that the CBN will pursue financial inclusion.

A communiqué at the end of the seminar made available to our correspondent, wondered why it took the apex bank six months to recognise the glaring error in the January 2011 guidelines issued on the Non-Interest Financial Institutions (NIFI), whose "framework was limited in its application as it equated NIB (Non-Interest Banking) to Islamic Banking, in effect barring potential non-Muslim or non-Shariah compliant investors and participants from tapping into the benefits of NIB."

Moreover, they continued, "the framework clearly demanded that NIFI "transacts banking business, etc... and commercial activities as well as the provision of financial products and services in accordance with Shariah principles and rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence". It also prescribed that prospective NIB operators specify in their memorandum and article of incorporation that "their business operations will be conducted according with Shariah principles and practices", and that "all licensed NIFIs shall have an internal Shariah compliance review mechanism and a Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC) as part of their governance structure". These and similar elements of the new framework needed to be changed."

The new framework re-issued on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, according to the communiqué is not fail-safe however, as it still recognises that "Islamic banking is only one aspect of NIB and now recognises 'Other Non Interest Financial Institutions' to accommodate other NIB models whether faith-based or otherwise."

While noting that the seminar organisers are willing to work with the apex bank in developing a better framework, the participants urged the CBN to "consult more broadly in developing an enhanced banking and investing framework. Such framework should, in addition to the expected banking supervisory items such as solvency, capital adequacy, adequate risk management, transparent reporting, have" elements like:

• A broader framework that accommodates all faiths, hence name a change in the name to Profit and Loss Sharing Bank, as provided for by BOFIA, or Faith-Based Financing (FBF).

• Adopting "values-" as well as "law-driven" approach should be adopted with elements such as:

i. Fairness: transparency and social justice

ii. Social well-being: prohibition of certain types of transactions (like gambling, derivatives, etc.)

iii. Zero-to-appropriate interest rate: returns based on wealth-generating investments

iv. Shared risk and profits: one party does not benefit at the expense of the other

v. Contractual clarity and certainty: elimination of ambiguities, enabling non-sophisticated investors/customers transact banking and investment business with trust and transparency

vi. Discouragement of consumer debt

c. The framework should recognize multiple tiers of FBF institutions based on level of adherence to the above listed FBF values.

i. Totally Non-interest: clarity and transparency about zero interest in this category with no hidden charges.

ii. Appropriate Interest: a constrained interest rate, based o a variety of factors to be agreed upon in the guidelines.

The participants agreed however that if properly regulated and administered, the NIB and FBF, "have the potential to transform the economies of underdeveloped communities, hence is a welcome development in Nigeria where on-going banking reforms have made interest-charging deposit money banks more risk averse and perhaps unwilling to venture into virgin frontiers in banking. The unbanked and under-banked in Nigeria will benefit from FBF where risk and returns are shared between provider and user of financing. There is however need for a supervisory framework that recognises the peculiarities, applicability and potential of FBF including the following:

a. Stimulating grassroots, relationally-based investing (versus debt-based financing)

b. Countering corruption through transparency and other faith-based financing (FBF) principles

c. Avoiding speculative bubbles and decreasing reckless investing

d. Avoiding consumer and other debt that is detached from real assets and initiatives."

Eghes Eyieyien, chief executive, Pharez Limited, a Lagos-based risk management, ratings, consulting, human capital development & training, and investment firm, who was lead speaker at the seminar insisted in his presentation, for example, that "the CBN cannot use a guideline to change the law, (and that) the CBN is not the National Assembly. The CBN lawyers should go back and look at the guidelines again, because you cannot use a small provision in BOFIA that gives you the power to regulate to begin to legislate."

Continuing, he advised that "if Islamic banking must happen, the CBN should send a draft bill to the National Assembly."

According to him, "the NIFI Framework stated that: "A Non-Interest Financial Institution (NIFI) means a bank or Other Financial Institution (OFI) under the purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which transacts banking business, engages in trading, investment and commercial activities as well as the provision of financial products and services in accordance with Shariah principles and rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence." The Glossary of Terms of the CBN's NIFI Framework states that: Shariah Principles refers to "the divine guidance as given by the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet and embodies all aspects of the Islamic faith, including beliefs and practices".

"The only legally valid definition is stated in Section 61 of the (BOFIA) of 1991 which speaks of a "Profit and Loss Sharing Bank". That is, "a bank which transacts investment or commercial banking business and maintains profits and loss sharing accounts". Profit and Loss Banking has always been the interpretation and understanding of Non-Interest Financial Services in Nigeria. When the CBN granted an Approval-in-Principle Licence to Jaiz International Bank Plc in 2004 while Chief Joseph Sanusi was the CBN Governor, the licence was issued for it to carry on business as a Profit and Loss Sharing Bank. Curiously, the present CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was widely reported in the mass media to have announced on Monday, 20th June, 2011, at a Conference on Islamic Banking in Dakar, Senegal, that the CBN had issued(?) Jaiz International Bank Plc an Approval-in-Principle as the "first Islamic Bank in the country". Jaiz Bank was unable to operate as a Profit and Loss Sharing Bank, not because there was no Islamic Banking Guideline, but simply because it was unable to raise the minimum capital requirement of N25 billion. The CBN has now inexplicably lowered the capital requirement for Islamic Banks to just N10 billion to achieve "National Bank" status as against the N25 billion it stipulated for Deposit Money Banks. Why is the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi-led CBN unduly eager to make life easier for Jaiz International Bank and other proposed Islamic Banks?"

Fielding questions from participants at the seminar, Muoghalu called for submission of other models of non-interest banking, arguing that the Islamic type is the one that is well known and practiced across the globe even in the UK, insisting that the CBN is acting within its powers, since the guidelines is part of ongoing reforms leading to the cancellation of universal banking licenses, because the model has not worked well. Universal banking, he added, encouraged the aggregation of risk by the banks, without contributing adequately to national development.

The Deputy Governor expressed worry at the way in which the proposed licensing of Islamic banking is being tied to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the CBN Governor being a Muslim. The process began in 2008 with the formation of the Islamic Finance Working Group with representatives from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Debt Management Office and the CBN (under Chukwuma Soludo, a Christian) as observer. Nigeria, he added, joined the Islamic Financial Services Board also in 2008 and formally admitted early in 2009 before the current CBN Governor assumed office.

He noted that the CBN under Sanusi remains passionate about the nation's financial system and the need to effectively intermediate in all aspects of the economy. This zeal, he stressed, has resulted in the ongoing banking reforms, the SME and power sectors, in a bid to ensure long-term loans at single digits to operators in the real sectors of the economy, as part of the CBN's mandate.

Firing back, Eyienyen stressed: "It will be disingenuous for anybody to say we are concluding what Soludo started. I am surprised as to why it is the CBN Governor and not the DMO that is talking about sukuk (Islamic or non-interest bonds). What is the inordinate drive to set up Islamic banking," he wondered.

He noted that his disagreement with the proposal is out of professionalism and about the law, rather than just blowing empty air, wondering why the same amount of passion and priority has not been invested in the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS), which was made optional after five years of being compulsory.

In his presentation earlier, Bett Johnson, another facilitator, author and Founder, of Califonia-based Institute for Innovation, Integration and Impact, while praising the CBN for the political will to embark on the stress testing in 2009 and even delving into alternative financing models, noted that faith based financing encourages good business practice, forgiveness and reduction in greed.

He however warned that practitioners must be regulated from within Nigeria and not by a body of non-Nigerians, or people resident outside of the country, in view of the lack of adequate capacity and competence. He made this observation against the backdrop of a provision in the guideline for a body of experts to advise the CBN on the practice of Islamic banking.

Speaking at the weekend in Ilorin, Kwara State however, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy of CBN, Mrs. Sarah Alade, told newsmen at a retreat for the Financial Market Department that apart from the Islamic banking, there are other forms of non-interest banking for which interested parties can get licence.

Issuing a licences to operate Islamic banks, she told participants at the retreat with the theme: "Transforming the Nigerian Financial Market: Prospects and Challenges," does not translate to Islamising Nigeria. The CBN, she added, is interest in changing the face of banking for economy for the betterment of Nigerians.

Rather than base the guidelines on provisions of any religion, Brett wants the apex bank to incline towards universal truths, focused on benefits to the society, rather than being specific to one particular faith.

According to him, "we should go beyond Islamic banking, (which) has not necessarily produced good returns. Islamic banking in the UK has been a huge flop. The fact that there is a Christian name on a bank does not make it better than any other one. Nigeria should go for the bigger picture, not Islamic, or non-interest banking, but go for a full repurposing of capital."

Conclusion

According to Kayode Ogundamisi, a blogger, "if it is Islamic banking because Holy Quran (in Chap 2 verses 228, 275 and 280) advised against giving loans with interest, it may as well be termed Christian banking since the Holy Bible (in Psalm 15 verse 5, and Deuteronomy 23:19) is equally against 'usury' (interest). Stop the bigotry."

URL of this Page: http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=36304

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Asadullah Syed

Inheritance and opposition

2011-05-02T10:09:00.001+05:30

Inheritance and opposition
01 May 2011
Globe Editorial
By Azad Amin

The political entity in Kurdistan Region came as a result of internal and external factors in 1992,

The persistent administrative and economic problems in Kurdistan Region, and the growing gap of inequalities in distribution of generated wealth, are fundamental sources of public apprehension in which the opposition movement, a combination of secular and Islamic forces, tries to exploit for political gain. This exploitation of the general public's apprehension for narrow political party interests adds to the complexity of the sociopolitical situation in the Region and makes it more difficult for profound and structural adjustment to address the systematic problems faced by both the ruling elite and the public at large.

The political entity in Kurdistan Region came as a result of internal and external factors in 1992, and inherited economic and political artifacts of the former Baathist regime. The artificial creation of an Iraqi state apparatus, combined with ethnic and religious heterogeneity, produced an extremely refractory inheritance for state-building. The problem of state-building was put in a contemptuous tone by King Faisal in 1933 and depicts the 20th century's repressive regime in Iraq: "In Iraq, there is still no Iraqi people, but unimaginable masses of human beings, devoid of any patriotic ideal, imbued with religious traditions and absurdities, connected by no common tie, giving ear to evil, prone to anarchy, and perpetually ready to rise against any government whatsoever."

Following the 1958 Revolution, which overthrew the monarchy and instituted a republic, the landed political class was replaced by civil and military bureaucratic class in control of state apparatus. Monopolization of state apparatus by this new class, under a charismatic leader, was the prime reason for the emergence of state-based clientelism and formation of bureaucratic control organized by the civil- military apparatus. So, the primary functions of the state apparatus have been the consolidation of its rule over and against the other segments of society whether ethnic, class or religious. This was in parallel with strict state control and mobilization of economic resources for state-led economic development. The Baath regime had tight control over social, political and economic life, with a driving ideology of Arab nationalism. This translates to the Sunni assertion in a state where they were significantly outnumbered.

Such main characteristics of the Baath regime, which is not unique to Iraq but can be applied to the most of the regimes in the Middle East, explains the lack of democracy in the region. The development of liberal democracy requires two fundamental preconditions: A significant degree of separation between the institutions of rule and of surplus appropriation, and the ability of the state to uphold its authority against other sites of political command. These two preconditions have been absent not only in Iraq but much of the region.

What was inherited in post-Baath Iraq was a highly bureaucratized state apparatus. The political entity in Kurdistan region since 1992, and the political entity of Iraq in post-Saddam era, faced this serious dilemma to deal with the bureaucratic character of the regime that they inherited.

From 1992 to 2003, the Kurdistan Regional Government, due to limited economic resources and its fragile political existence ― its unrecognized de facto existence combined with unfriendly neighbors due to the Kurdish national question for these neighbors ― failed to fight against the bureaucratic nature of the regime it inherited. The ensuing internal conflict between the two main Kurdish political parties further increased party-based clientelism. What we see in Kurdistan Region during this period was the transformation from state-based clientelism to party-based clientelism within the framework of limited economic resources. This constrained both development of democracy and the formation of a liberal market economy in the region.

What differentiated the Kurdish polity form that of the former Baathist regime is the development of democratic space for other ethnic and religious minorities in Kurdistan. Ethnic and religious minorities in Kurdistan enjoyed and exercised their democratic rights fully, without restrictions. Minority and religious rights in Kurdistan can be compared with European standards, not with the other regional regimes.

Following the demise of the Baath regime, structural alterations fundamentally changed the polity and economy of Kurdistan Region. Consolidation of its political status by the new Iraqi constitution and highly efficient stability and security of Kurdistan opened the door for foreign investment and capital to use Kurdistan as a gateway to the rest of Iraq. Regular income from the Iraqi budget (17 percent) to Kurdistan Region provided better opportunities and resources for the KRG to consolidate its power and status.

The expansion of economic resources, such as an allocated share of the Iraqi budget, foreign capital and investment in the region, which led to an economic boom in Kurdistan, became sources of both economic development and apprehension as the distribution of wealth was not equal.

Whether on purpose or not, KRG's economic policies opened the door for capital accumulation geared toward creating a homemade bourgeoisie and entrepreneurs, alongside a growing middle class in the Region. Along with influx of capital and growing economic resources, party-based clientelism strengthened and capital accumulation was mostly based on this clientelism.

KRG not only failed to eliminate party-based clientelism but also to a certain degree failed to deliver basic public services, such as electricity and clean water. Inequalities in the distribution of wealth, lack of sufficient public services, and lack of equal opportunities became sources of public apprehension towards the ruling elite in Kurdistan.

A proper opposition movement with clear political and economic strategy could have easily mobilized such general public discontent towards radical reforms and improvement of democracy in Kurdistan. What the existing opposition in Kurdistan did was not to mobilize people for a better democracy, equal distribution of wealth and better public services, but exploited the discontent for narrow party interests. This alone explains why two months of demonstrations in Suleimaniya province did not spread to the other provinces of Kurdistan Region.

It is unfortunate for Kurdistan Region that a healthy opposition movement could not form at such critical period, during which, political and economic transformation could be easily realized with the driving force of public discontent brought to the arena by the opposition.

The main opposition group, Gorran, demands separation of party and government apparatus. For Gorran, such separation will remedy the corruption and clientelism in Kurdistan. This perception is profoundly misleading. In any democratic regime, government is formed by the political party that gained the majority vote at a general election. Instead of asking separation of party-government it is imperative to ask separation between the institutions of rule and of surplus appropriation.

The so-called opposition movements in Kurdistan, the Gorran, the Kurdistan Islamic Union and the Komala of Islam, do not have any clear economic policies or remedies for the existing economic and political problems in Kurdistan Region. Their opposition mainly worked to diminish the power base of the two main ruling Kurdish parties, it did not try to improve standards of living or improve democracy in Kurdistan.

This failure by the opposition movement in Kurdistan caused another and more serious sin to the polity of Kurdistan: It prevents formation of a proper opposition movement that should address the problem issues in Kurdistan and bring alternative policies for public discussion and implementation.

The Kurdish opposition movement should realize that without challenging the inheritance of civil-bureaucratic state apparatus of the Baath regime, there is no short cut to solving the issues in Kurdistan.

URL of this Page;http://www.kurdishglobe.net/display-article.html?id=F86502FB4FDDF798CA224BCCABACF54A

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Asadullah Syed

Domesticating Islam?

2011-04-30T18:07:00.001+05:30

Domesticating Islam?

Blatant interference in internal Islamic affairs: This year, German universities will begin training imams. Yet, should this be a task for the state? The move seems premature and, in the long term, is not viable, says the Islamic scholar Lukas Wick

This fall, courses will be offered to Muslim imams at three universities in Germany. This step was recommend by the German Science Council, welcomed by the press, and even met with the approval of German churches.

The aim of this measure is to integrate Islam into German and European society as well as to prevent the growth of extremism. Amidst all the enthusiasm, an important question has been neglected. Is it really the task of the state to train prayer leaders and religious officials in general?

A concern for Muslims

For one thing, it is justified to ask whether the training of imams conflicts with the constitutional principle of neutrality in religious affairs. According to the German Minister of Education, Annette Schavan, the implicit aim of the imam training programme is to bring Islam into line with enlightened European values – in other words, to domesticate Islam and to deprive so-called radical elements of any influence. Such well-meaning intentions, however, clearly result in interference in internal Islamic affairs.

The aim of the university imam training is to integrate Islam into German and European society as well as to prevent the growth of extremism: Turkish imams in Frankfurt am Main attend German courses The "translation" of Islam to meet German conditions must, in the final analysis, be a matter for Muslims themselves and cannot be achieved through state programmes. Only Muslims can decide for themselves what religious excesses are and which interpretations of their faith are false.

Equally, only they can offer a credible alternative to such deviations in faith. The clear formulation and transmission of Islamic doctrine should be, at the very least, important enough for the various Islamic associations in the country to offer necessary financing. It is namely voluntary, civil society financing that demonstrates an issue is taken seriously.

The development of a critical spirit

It is only the free development of religion that can indicate whether it can adapt to local customs. Disguised state intervention is not viable over the long term, even when the responsible university lecturers propagate a liberal Islam out of their own personal sense of conviction.

According to a study by the Swiss National Foundation, not even a quarter of the Muslims in that country desire such a full university programme for their imams. The majority express the wish that imams complete at least part of their training at an Islamic institution.

It should be mentioned that in Austria, despite the creation of the Islamic Religious Pedagogical Academy (IRPA) in Vienna, it has not been possible to prevent religious teachers and preachers from expressing negative opinions concerning democracy and human rights.

The much complained about integration problems of Muslim imams are homemade. The Turkish religious authorities (Diyanet), for instance, only allow imams to spend up to four years abroad and do not wish to see imams getting to "accustomed" to life in Germany. Research by the Osnabruck-based religious scholar Rauf Ceylan indicates that Turkish imams tend to develop a critical spirit under the influence of conditions in Germany.

And what about the Mormons?

There is also the question as to whether the state should finance the staff of a religious institution not (yet) constituting a statutory body under public law and thereby not able to function as a cooperation partner with the state.

Cultural osmosis: Research by the Osnabruck-based religious scholar Rauf Ceylan indicates that Turkish imams tend to develop a critical spirit under the influence of conditions in Germany In addition, there is the matter of course content, whereby non-Muslims are denigrated with complete disrespect as infidels – or, as was recently the case in a Basel mosque, Switzerland, as swine – and damned to spend eternity in hell, which is not particularly conducive to religious peace in public. The prospect of state intervention also encourages the formation of purely financially motivated alliances and strengthens the position of Islamic associations within the Muslim community.

The state financing of teaching positions and university institutions is a privilege enjoyed by a heterogeneous, yet vocal religious community as opposed to free evangelical groups, whose members often make considerable financial sacrifices in order to train their preachers. To be consistent, the state should provide state educational institutions for them as well. And why not for Mormons, Hindus, Buddhists, and even free thinkers?

Hasty establishment of university posts

In light of the empty pews and an excessive administrative bureaucracy, the established churches are well aware of their privileged positions.

However, instead of undertaking a critical examination of their own situation and perhaps adapting their overblown structures, the churches have been working towards allowing others to share in the fiscal manna – all in the name of interreligious dialogue, or, at least, so goes the official account. It is remarkable that the long overdue debate on the issue of state financing of theological institutes and faculties has still not taken place.

Considering the transformations that have taken place in our society, this issue should no longer remain taboo. And this is not because theology lacks scientific methods or epistemological value, but rather that its confessional orientation finds a steadily diminishing legitimacy within a society marked by increasingly pluralistic lifestyles. The establishment of university teaching posts in Germany for the training of imams has clearly been a hasty decision.

Lukas Wick

© Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Qantara.de 2011

Lukas Wick is an Islamic scholar. His dissertation at the University of Bern has been published under the title "Islam und Verfassungsstaat. Theologische Versöhnung mit der politischen Moderne?" (Islam and the Constitutional State. Theological Reconciliation with Political Modernity?).

Qantara.de editor: Lewis Gropp

URL of this Page: http://en.qantara.de/wcsite.php?wc_c=15934&wc_id=16125

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Asadullah Syed

MQM-Altaf was behind 2009 ‘Ashura Bombings’

2011-04-30T18:05:00.001+05:30

MQM-Altaf was behind 2009 'Ashura Bombings'
MQM – Indian agent 'Ajmal Pharee' confessed to Joint Investigation Team

By Dr Shahid Qureshi
Sunday 03 April 2011
MQM- Altaf terrorist and Indian agent Ajmal Pharee confessed to the Joint Investigation Team of (ISI, IB, Military Intelligence, CID, Special Branch etc) that, "MQM-Altaf was behind the 'Asura Bombings of 2009' in Karachi. He confessed to the team that he and other MQM city workers were ordered to wear black Shia mourning clothes on the day in a meeting called three days before the Ashura bombings. The orders were to burn the shops and businesses in and around Light House as well as kill the people. The shop owners of that area refused to give extortion money to the MQM-Altaf. These burnings caused losses of billions to the poor Pakistanis and shop owners in Karachi".

Mustafa Kamal billionaire - poor former mayor of Karachi become abusive when London Post report published on 31st December 2009, was quoted that, 'MQM was involved in Karachi bombings with black water', in a live program by famous anchor Talat Hussain. Faces of the looters were visible on CCTVs footages still available on youtube.

MQM – Altaf terrorist and high value asset Ajmal Pharee also confessed to the JIT that he has received terrorist training in New Delhi from five Indian Army officers. During this training he was informed about Altaf Hussain's desire to separate Karachi from Pakistan. Altaf Husain is a British Citizen and considered as high value asset by some analysts.

Ajmal Pharee also confessed murdering 55 people as well as receiving training in India by Indian security agencies. In a video statement he said, "I joined MQM in 1988 arrested in 1989 for fire arms offences imprisoned for one year. He was arrested and sentenced for five years again in 2000 for murdering Iqbal Raad, lawyer of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He told the JIT that his handler Nadeem Nusrat is based in MQM – Altaf's London Secretariat and inner circle man of Altaf Hussain. Ajmal Pharee told the JIT that, 'Nadeem Nusrat told him to escape from Pakistan to Singapore in 1996 with Zeshan a MQM worker'. He stayed in the Mustafa Market Hotel on his instructions in Singapore, where he was given Singapore Airline tickets and Indian visas by Jamil aka Jimi who lives in South Africa. They travelled to Delhi, stayed there for 15 days and later received terrorist training for one month in a near by jungle by five Indian army officers. He also met other MQM-Altaf workers Noora of Shah Faiasl Colony, Zafar Tension of Buffer Zone, Raju of Nazim-a-Bad, Shakir Chota of Orangi Town. He received terrorist training of AK-47, RPG, MP-5 LMG, hand grenades. He was transported to India-Pakistan border inserted in from Chawanda area of Shakr Gurh (Sialkot) in Pakistan. They later went to Lahore and than Karachi", said Ajmal Pharee in his confessions.

On 31st December 2009, The London Post, exclusively published the story "Blackwater and MQM's Hallmarks on Karachi Fire – Bombings". The above confession by the MQM Terrorist now confirm that MQM – Altaf was behind the fire bombing and criminal damage in Karachi.

"MQM and Blackwater/Xe are US sponsored mafia style mercenary outfits due to their management structure as it is almost the same both groups' chiefs are out of Pakistan to start with. There is no difference between Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and MQM because both are sponsored by India and USA. Sawat type operation against MQM's 'Clean Shaven Taliban' who are supporting Blackwater/Xe is a must because people will support.

The recent bombings of a religious procession in Karachi and fire bombings of small businesses miles away from the incident reportedly owned by mostly Sunni Tableghie Jamat a non violent religious group, got all the hall marks of 'private mercenaries' Blackwater with the support of MQM. According to reports it is physically not possible for any one attending the procession to go miles away, get special fire bombing chemicals and equipment to set fire 300 hundred shops in Bolton Market. It is only possible if one already knows the timing of the bombings and part of the plot. They targeted a Sunni areas where it is almost impossible for an angry 'Shia protestor' to reach from the crime scene keeping in the view the distances. So Shia procession was bombed, Sunni business were burnt down and MQM's fire engines did not arrive. Seems perfect Blackwater Inc style operation?

Blackwater, MQM's Plus plan was meticulous and well timed. (a) Timing of the bombing few days before the end of the term of City Government Term. So City Government building burnt down with the record to cover-up corruption? (b) Selection of the venues to be fire bombed (c) Torching of Light House Market predominantly owned by the Pashtuns who did not pay extortion money to the MQM – Score settled, Job done (d) Torching of Bolton Market mostly business are owned by peaceful Sunni Muslims Memon Community. They refused to be relocated outside the city because shops worth millions. High ups of the current regime allegedly President Zardari & Co had interest in the land to develop and build flats and plazas. (Job done) (e) Why MQM leaders both reportedly Shias Haider Abbas Rizvi and Faisal Sabzwari not in the Ashura procession? (f) Why police and rangers did not stop the arsonists and terrorists? (g) Who ordered them not to act? (h) Remote control bomb was planted in an ambulance which might be carrying a head too? (i) Who is Hasham Al-Zafar (central) and what is his role in the bombing and burning of Karachi? (j) What is his relationship with Saleem Shezad alleged master mind of the operation and why he only reports to Altaf Hussain?

MQM and Blackwater/Xe are US sponsored mafia style mercenary outfits due to their management structure as it is almost the same both groups' chiefs are out of Pakistan to start with. MQM are the local collaborators of Blackwater/Xe in Pakistan?

According to sources similar kinds of chemicals and fire bombing equipments have been used in Iraq and Lebanon. Pakistan's security agencies must look into the links between MQM lead City Government and Blackwater. What kind of assistance they are providing to the mercenaries. City mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal and Governor Sind Dr Ashrat Abad Khan recently visited sensitive institutions of the USA related to protection of US national interests aboard. Why would a mayor of a third world country visit US State Department? Did he inform Pakistani's foreign ministry? He is on the grooming list. "To his credentials it was Mustafa Kamal who opened the door for the assassins came to kill his 'uncle' Azeem Ahmed Tariq, leader of the MQM, as it was an inside job. It sounds like nephew shopped his 'uncle' according to a source.

Altaf Hussain's MQM and his mafia have caused more economic and human losses to Pakistan by strikes and terrorist activities then three wars with India. After the incident on Monday December 28, 2009, three thousand shops were burnt; one thousand were burnt after looting which caused loss of Rs. 60 billion to Pakistani economy. Armed men stopped fire engines for over three hours according to reports. Why?

Elements close to MQM were also allegedly involved in the terrorism, arson, and killings after tragic death of Benazir Bhutto on 27th December 2007. Many analysts believe that it was a dry run by the foreign sponsored elements to separate Karachi from the rest of the country. There is another dimension to the burring of some markets with small business. Some people from land mafia were making hostile offers to these old pre partition businesses.

There are reports that MQM has issued thousands of arms licences to its workers and sympathisers in Karachi and some of the licences might have been issued from other provinces. Disarming of the terrorist groups including MQM in Karachi is necessary to avoid future blackmails.

It is also reported that armed gunmen did not allow fire engines to leave the fire stations. All the fire engines and security cameras are under the control of City Government run by MQM whose leader Altaf Hussain controls this group in a mafia style. Within minutes he blamed 'Taliban' for the bombings. How did he know it was Taliban and not Indian RAW or Blackwater/Xe? Altaf Hussain deliberately tried to make this a sectarian issue in his live TV broadcast on a news channel, which matches the agenda of private mercenaries and India.

Asia Times Online reported few years ago during Musharraf era, sources says that, "only US diplomatic intervention stopped General Musharraf from taking strong action against the MQM after he received the report on the recent unrest in which the MQM was implicated. Washington indeed has a powerful southern ally in Pakistan'. After September 11, the United States identified even more with the MQM as it was the only party in Pakistan that widely mourned the attacks on the US, openly condemned the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and launched a powerful campaign in support of the US attack on Afghanistan".

When President Zardari speak about 'non state & political actors', probably he also meant Altaf Hussain too? His long distance proactive and dramatic telephonic speeches are more or less what Lord Nelson said, "If you can't baffle them with brilliance, dazzle them with bullshit!". He is never been to Pakistan for more then 15 years but did travel to India on his British passport. Most of the members in mafia style 'Rabita Committee' are wanted by Pakistani authorities for heinous crimes. He hides behind this 'kangaroo committee'.

A political analyst said, 'to get 'poodle status' in US administration Altaf Hussain exaggerates things beyond imagination. For example, he claimed his supporters in Karachi increased by 10 million in just two years because he claimed to have 20 million supporters in an interview with Edgware Times in November 1998. But in 2001 MQM claimed to have 30 million supporters when MQM send a fax to Reuters on 22 September 2001. "(MQM leader) Altaf Hussain has offered the unconditional support of over 30 million MQM supporters to the U.S. president and the international community," its London-based international secretariat said in a statement faxed to Reuters on September 22, 2001".

According to sources, 'Altaf group is planning and preparing for armed fight with other groups in Karachi. There might be a plan to divide Karachi on ethnic zones as Rehman Malik mentioned in Dera Ismail Khan? The alleged transfer of money from Karachi to London, Germany, Dubai, South Africa, Canada, and United States is alarming. There reports of increase in the arms sale in Karachi seem serious but what are the authorities doing?

So what is Altaf Hussain up to that is a crucial question to political and security leadership to think about. His alleged close links with the Indian agency and also acting like a mercenary force getting orders from foreign masters. It is time for the government of Pakistan to approach its friends and allies to have a clear cut answers about the real Agenda in Pakistan? Crimes of Altaf Hussain and his party MQM are so heinous that he wouldn't dare step in Karachi even the whole period of Musharraf and now Zardari rule?

Until November 1998 Government of Pakistan was reportedly seeking extradition of Altaf Hussain who was said to be wanted in 50 murders and 150 cases of kidnapping and arson. He said in an interview with a newspaper in 1998, "It is my wish that they take me to trial in a British court then I will tell people nationally and internationally what has been happening in Pakistan." It was Altaf Hussain and MQM who issued a memo to his workers saying," if there was war between India and Pakistan, MQM workers will be remain neutral". Why?

MQM's deputy chief organiser of district Thatta and his wife were arrested by the police for trafficking 120 kilos of A class drugs according to a press report on 16th May 2004. Mohamed Ibrahim and his wife Ayesha Soho who is also member of district government were coming from Bolan area of Baluchistan on Jeep number BC 1248 when they were stopped by Dadar Police who discovered 180 kilos of HASH worth millions of from the secret compartments of the jeep. Police has registered a case number 13/2004 report against deputy chief of MQM and his wife for drug trafficking. Area in charge SHO of the area Police confirmed that suspects have confessed they have been also involved in arms trafficking from Kabul and been to Afghanistan three times. Both were sent to Sibi Jail in Baluchistan.

"MQM has been funded with the drug money apart from the extortion money taken from the top businessmen in the name of support" according to a report published by

The Frontier Post published on December 25, 1998. The report says, "… What is more alarming is that the Narco dollars have been used for funding the (MQM), a responsible source in the provincial government said. He added that such funding was tantamount to fuelling terrorism." Is the Narco-terror funding still on?

By joining as local collaborator of Blackwater in Karachi MQM has provided the eyes and ears on the ground with smart guns. Even if US-India sponsored 'Pakistani Taliban' claim responsibility of Karachi Ashura bombings, the chemicals and smart guns used in burnings of the over 6000 small businesses and loss of Rs. 60 billion have all the hallmarks of Blackwater/Xe.

"There is no difference between Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and MQM because both are sponsored by India and USA. Sawat type operation against MQM's 'Clean Shaven Taliban' who are supporting Blackwater/Xe is a must because people will support."

People must congratulate interior minister Sindh Zulifqar Mirza for his bravery in dealing with MQM-Altaf terrorists on the instructions of President Zardari. The recent murder of the nephew of imprisoned MQM-Haqaqi leader Amir Khan is a clear sign that MQM-Altaf is losing control of the city and panicking. Sooner or later upon the release of the confession videos of the MQM target killers stating the orders were coming from London by allegedly a British Citizen will put British establishment into legal dilemmas as exporting terrorism to Pakistan as well as harbouring terrorists?

"26 target killers belong to MQM-Altaf Hussain based in London said", Home Minister Zulifqar Mirza who considered as the right hand man of President Zardari and Rehman Malik left hand man. Every one knows what most people do with their left hand in Pakistan?

(Dr Shahid Qureshi writer on foreign policy & security based in London)

URL of this Page: http://www.thelondonpost.net/April03201100039.html

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Asadullah Syed

Jewish & Christian Leaders to Rally at Mosque against Quran-burning Pastor

2011-04-27T18:06:00.001+05:30

Jewish & Christian Leaders to Rally at Mosque against Quran-burning Pastor

Pastor Terry Jones has been condemned worldwide for his act of buring the Quran.

20 April 2011

Religious leaders from various backgrounds -- Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim and others -- plan to rally Thursday at the Islamic Center of America (pictured), where Pastor Terry Jones says he'll protest Friday against "radical Islam". The clergy and others plan to link hands in a circle around the mosque to symbolically shield it from Jones, whom they describe as divisive.

Among he participants are Catholic Archbishop Allen Vigneron and Episcopal Bishop Wendell Gibbs.

"This is an opportunity to show a different vision than the one he's bringing," said the Rev. Daniel Buttry, a Baptist pastor from Hamtramck with the Interfaith Leadership Council.

The council created an online petition that garnered more than 1,500 signatures. It reads, in part: "We ... stand together in condemning the actions of those who spew hate and fear, and who misuse and desecrate holy books of faith. Instead we call on people to carry out the best traditions of all religious faiths, embodied in the idea of doing to others as we would have them do to us."

But Qur'an burning Pastor Terry Jones (pictured right) says he's coming to Dearborn this Good Friday to peacefully protest against jihad and Shari'a, which he says threaten non-Muslims with violence, and to demand that Muslims submit to U.S. laws.

"They are more than welcome to worship freely, to build mosques," Terry Jones told the Free Press. "The only thing we ask of Muslims is that they honor, obey and submit to the Constitution of the United States."

The idea that Sharia precepts are infiltrating Western institutions has become increasingly popular in recent years among social conservatives and culture warriors. The growth of the idea has, in turn, led to counter informational campaigns like the one Saturday.

"It's absurd," said Michael W. Hovey, coordinator of interfaith relations for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. "There is no Sharia law in Dearborn or anywhere else in the United States. I mean it's not a conversation to be had. It's ridiculous."

The head of the mosque bristles when he hears about Jones' plan to demonstrate outside his Islamic center, which sits off Ford Road.

"Who is he to question our loyalty?" said Imam Hassan Qazwini, a Shi'a cleric known for his moderate views. "Muslims are as American as he is. He has no right to question the loyalty of American Muslims in this country. We are peaceful, patriotic citizens who love this country and care about it as much as any citizen."

Qazwini heads a mosque that is one of the older Islamic centers in the region. It has Arab-American members who go back several generations in the U.S. Born in Iraq, Qazwini has met and spoken with President George W. Bush, whom he embraced in Dearborn during the Iraq war, and President Barack Obama. His mosque has done extensive interfaith and community outreach, a sign of the center's inclusive and temperate nature, supporters say.

During the last week, Qazwini has drawn a wide range of supporters: government officials, religious leaders and law enforcement. On Thursday and Friday, they plan to hold public interfaith rallies in support of the center and against Jones.

At 10:30 a.m. Friday, interfaith clergy will hold a press conference at the Islamic Center concerning Jones' unwelcome appearance. City and religious leaders are asking anyone who wants to demonstrate against Jones to gather at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center between 4-7 p.m. Friday.

Sources:

Niraj Warikoo, "Metro interfaith leaders to unite against Quran-burning pastor" Detroit Free Press April 20, 2011

J. Patrick Pepper, "Terry Jones' planned visit sparks fears of violence, hopes for solidarity" Dearborn Press & Guide April 19, 2011

URL of this Page: http://islamonline.com/news/articles/2/Jewish-&-Christian-Leaders-to-Rally-at-Mosque-agai.html
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Asadullah Syed

Islamic finance can fuel regional economies - economist

2011-04-27T18:00:00.001+05:30

Islamic finance can fuel regional economies - economist

Great opportunity to create entrepreneurial middle class in Mena for long-term progress

By Samihah Zaman, Staff Reporter
Published: 00:00 April 26, 2011

Image Credit: Alex Westcott/Gulf News
Shaikh Nayhan with Dr Volker Nienhaus at the 19th International Conference on Investment Rules and their Impact on Economic Development being held in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi: The current political transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) has created a historic opportunity for economic and financial change guided by Sharia-compliant instruments, a leading economist said in the capital Monday.

The Islamic instruments should be invested towards the development of an entrepreneurial middle class so that long-term economic progress and job creation can be guaranteed, Dr Volker Nienhaus, economic adviser and former president of the University of Marburg, said at 19th International Conference on Investment Rules and their Impact on Economic Development.

The conference, which runs in the capital till tomorrow, yesterday saw government representatives, academicians and university students from across the Mena discuss the present global investment climate, the suitability of government rules and regulations for attracting foreign direct investment, and opportunities for economic growth.

Confidence

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who inaugurated the event, said the provision for an appropriate investment climate was a "fundamental requirement for instilling confidence in an economy and establishing it as a vital part of the global economy".

On the sidelines of the conference, Dr Nienhaus told Gulf News that the promotion of enterprise among the middle class was the key to ensuring regional stability.

"Middle-income entrepreneurs usually run family businesses which do not sell speculative shares on a stock exchange, and they are also less indebted. So if these entrepreneurs receive finance backed by real goods, as investments coming from Islamic instruments ideally should be, there is a real chance for long-term job creation. In addition, a middle class is integral to the creation of a sustainable knowledge economy," he explained.

Liquid capital

"In countries like Algeria and Morocco for instance, the colonialist system of capitalism still remains so that the elite are responsible for most of the enterprise and investment. In Egypt, private monopolies controlled by the wealthy replaced the public monopolies of yore. However, this elite segment is prone to shocks and volatility, which also hampers the job market greatly," Dr Nienhaus said.

A strong middle class that can provide a large proportion of the economy's total number of jobs, as is the case in the EU and the US, therefore protects against job market volatility and subsequent civil unrest.

"For Egypt to create an entrepreneurial middle class might take decades, and this is where countries like the UAE, which has an abundance of liquid capital, has an opportunity to both step in as well as benefit from the returns of the investment," he added.

He also advised the use of Sharia-compliant finance to develop Mena region economies.

URL of This Page: http://gulfnews.com/business/investment/islamic-finance-can-fuel-regional-economies-economist-1.799174

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Asadullah Syed

Most Egyptians want an end to peace treaty with Israel

2011-04-27T17:58:00.001+05:30

An American survey reveals some known and stark truths about Egyptians with 54 per cent saying they are opposed to the Egyptian Israeli peace treaty, while 71 per cent say democracy is their preferred political system

Ahram Online, Tuesday 26 Apr 2011

About 54 per cent of Egyptians do not want to keep the peace treaty with Israel and do not want the Israeli embassy to remain in the country, according to a US survey.

The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center and published on Tuesday. Researchers conducted personal interviews with 1,000 Egyptian adults between 24 March and 7 April.

The survey has sent shockwaves among Israelis with one Israeli official describing the results as a catastrophe for Israel.

According to the poll, many Egyptians view the peace between Egypt and Israel as one of the negative aspects of the Mubarak era for his perceived favouring of Tel Aviv in his economic, security and political policies.

The Israeli daily Haaretz responded to the results of the survey by saying that the danger of these results is that they reflect the fact that many Egyptians do not trust Israel and do not want to deepen relations between the two countries. The newspaper also pointed out that the two countries share a bloody history that Egyptians have not forgotten.

The report also revealed that most Egyptians feel that the peace treaty was pursued by both late president Anwar El Sadat and ousted president Mubarak purely for the sake of regional and international benefits.

Another Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, added that the survey is a slap in the face to Israelis and shows that strong relations between the two neighbouring countries will not resume after the revolution. The paper asked Israeli officials to prepare for a cooling off of relations.

The poll also showed changes in the Egyptian attitude towards democracy with 71 per cent describing it as the preferred form of governance, compared to 60 per cent who held the same view a year ago. Additionally, 34 per cent of Egyptians rated the economy as good, as opposed to 20 per cent last year.

Regarding the military, 88 per cent of those interviewed described its influence on the country as good. Ninety per cent rated military chief Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi favourably.

The court system and religious leaders were also viewed positively with 67 per cent and 81 per cent respectively seeing them as having a positive influence on the country.

URL of this Page: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/10776/Egypt/Politics-/Most-Egyptians-want-an-end-to-peace-treaty-with-Is.aspx

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Asadullah Syed

Kashmir resolution possible only by UNO resolutions

2011-04-26T13:18:00.001+05:30

America

Written by MTT News

Monday, 25 April 2011 16:05

Washington, MTT News Desk: The Executive Director of Kashmir Center Washington, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, has said that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with the Kashmiris' aspirations by implementing the relevant UN resolutions.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai addressing a function organized by the Kashmir Center in Springfield, Virginia, said that the UN resolutions had emphasised that the future of Jammu and Kashmir must be ascertained in accordance with the wishes and the will of the Kashmiri people.

He maintained that the US President, Barack Obama, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister, David Cameron wrote an Op-Ed in International Herald Tribune on April 15, 2011, wherein they mentioned that they would support a solution to the crisis in Libya that respected the Will of the Libyan people.

Dr Fai said that the Will of the people must prevail in all international situations including Jammu and Kashmir.

Dr Fai pointed out that the Indian military and paramilitary forces in Kashmir were using brute force to crush the genuine and legitimate struggle the people of Kashmir for securing their right to self-determination.

He emphasized that even the US State Department's recently released Country Report on Human Rights said that "Estimates of the number of missing persons varied. Human rights organizations stated there were 8,000 to 10,000 people missing in custody in Jammu and Kashmir."

He hoped that the world powers would use their influence to persuade India and Pakistan to initiate a peace process involving the UN and the people of Jammu and Kashmir to bring about a just resolution of the lingering dispute.

Lieutenant General Agha Muhammad Umer Farooq, President National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, who was the chief guest on the occasion, praised the people of occupied Kashmir for keeping the freedom movement alive despite heavy odds and suppression by hundreds of thousands of Indian armed forces.

"The Indian army is responsible for many untold atrocities but one thing is quite clear that it could not break the will of the people for their right of self-determination," he said.

The NDU President stated that freedom struggle had gone through various phases but the people of Kashmir never accepted Indian rule in the territory. He also admired the Pakistanis and Kashmiris living in the US for highlighting the issue of Kashmir at the international level.

Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema, Dean, Faculty of Arts, NDU and a scholar of international repute, said that Kashmir was one of the oldest disputes on the records of the United Nations.

"It was expected by many that it would loose its intensity over the years. This indeed has been proven wrong. On the contrary the recent developments inside Kashmir once again reinforced the notions that the Kashmiri peoples' devotion towards the realization of their right to self-determination was still as strong as it was in the beginning of the struggle," he said.

He pointed out that New Delhi had miserably failed to suppress the sentiments of the Kashmiri people.

Back in Srinagar, the Tajikistan's ambassador to India, Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich, has said that his country shares strong bond with Kashmir over the centuries.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Saidov Saidbeg Boykhonovich talking to the newsmen in Srinagar on the sidelines of a religious conference, said, Kashmiris are their brethren.

"Kashmiris have been awakened and educated by Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA). His preaching improved the education, culture and religion here," he added.

Earlier, the envoy during his address at the conference used Persian poetry to point out the long relationship between Tajikis and Kashmiris. Thousands of people from different parts of the Valley and religious scholars from across the globe participated in the daylong conference.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/america/1666-kashmir-resolution-possible-only-by-uno-resolutions.html

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Asadullah Syed

Pakistan values its cordial relations with Saudi Arabia: Zardari

2011-04-26T13:15:00.001+05:30

Pakistan

Written by MTT News

Monday, 25 April 2011 15:19

Islamabad, MTT News Desk: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan values its cordial and friendly relations with the brotherly country, Saudi Arabia.

The President further emphasized upon augmenting socio-economic, trade and defence ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, Commander, Royal Saudi Naval Forces called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

The Saudi Commander was accompanied by Rear Admiral Ghasham Bin Manahi Al Qahtani, COS (Log & Supply), Jasim Al Khaldi, Deputy Head of Mission Saudi Embassy Pakistan and other members of Commander's delegation.

Pakistani side included Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Federal Minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs and Defence Production, Admiral Noman Bashir, Chief of Naval Staff, M. Salman Faruqui, Secretary General, Mrs. Nargis Sethi, Secretary Cabinet, Lt Gen ® Syed Athar Ali, Secretary Defence, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar, besides other senior officials.

Pak-Saudi bilateral relations including defence cooperation between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

The President hailed the contributions of Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces in promoting and giving further impetus to existing relationship between the Defence Forces of the two countries.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani thanked the President for meeting and expressed the hope that the existing close cooperation in defence and other areas between the two countries would continue to grow to the mutual benefit.

The President later conferred the award of "Hilal-i-Pakistan" on Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces in recognition of his endeavors for strengthening cooperation between the Saudi Naval Forces and Pakistan Navy.

Vice Admiral Dakheel Allah Bin Ahmed Al Waqdani, a graduate of Pakistan Naval Academy received his commission in 1969 as Ensign in the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.

He was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and appointed as Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces on May, 9, 2010.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/pakistan/1662-pakistan-values-its-cordial-relations-with-saudi-arabia-zardari.html

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Asadullah Syed

US, NATO attempt assassination of Gaddafi

2011-04-26T13:10:00.001+05:30

26 April 2011

With the attack Monday morning on the Bab al-Azizyah complex in Tripoli, the US-NATO war on Libya has entered a criminal new phase that incorporates the policy of state-organized assassination.

Two large precision-guided bombs reduced buildings in the complex to rubble. Libyan officials reported three people killed and 45 wounded, 15 of them critically.

This was the third such attack on the complex where Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi lives and works. The compound was hit by a cruise missile fired from a British submarine on March 20, the second day of the US-NATO assault, and again on April 23, when warplanes struck a parking lot just outside of Bab al-Azizyah that reportedly was above an underground bunker.

With each strike, the objective is ever more naked: the murder of Gaddafi and members of his family.

The building struck on Monday housed the Libyan leader's offices and library and a meeting room where earlier this month he had held talks with South African President Jacob Zuma and other African leaders on an African Union proposal for a ceasefire in Libya's ongoing civil war. The proposal was quickly quashed by the US-NATO alliance and the so-called rebels who are being backed by the US and Europe.

Despite claiming legitimacy for their military actions on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorizes "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, Washington, London and Paris have made no secret of the fact that their real aim is "regime change," i.e., the imposition of a puppet government that will be more subservient to their interests (and those of the energy conglomerates) than the Gaddafi regime. To that end, they are prepared to carry out whatever bloodletting is required.

After five weeks of bombing, and with the US military command claiming to have "attrited"—in plain English, slaughtered—up to 40 percent of the military forces loyal to Gaddafi, they appear no closer to realizing their aim. The "rebels," a fractious coalition of ex-Gaddafi officials, aging CIA "assets" and Islamists, have proven wholly incapable of advancing west toward Tripoli. Moreover, the openly stated hopes of the imperialist powers that the bombs and missiles dropped on Tripoli would trigger a palace coup resulting in Gaddafi's ouster have gone unanswered.

Last week, the top US uniformed military commander, Adm. Mike Mullen, warned that the US-led intervention in Libya was "moving towards stalemate."

The Obama administration and its European accomplices, increasingly frustrated by the failure of their tactics, are not willing to accept such an outcome. This is what has placed the policy of assassination at the center of their calculations.

Mullen's warning was accompanied by the announcement that armed US Predator drones have been deployed over Libya. The pilotless warplanes have been employed with ever growing frequency by the Obama administration to carry out its dirty war against the population on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Pakistan's Conflict Monitoring Center in Islamabad has documented 2,200 civilian deaths over the past five years from drone attacks.

The CIA and its apologists defend the drone attacks as remote control extrajudicial executions of "terrorists," simply dismissing evidence of the horrific civilian death toll. Now, these same methods are being employed in Libya under the pretext of protecting civilian lives.

Meanwhile, within official Washington, there has been a steady drumbeat for Gaddafi's assassination, with leading US senators going on television talk shows and sounding as if they had cribbed their remarks from the script of "The Godfather."

Thus, one program had Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee demanding that the US-led intervention "cut the head of the snake off" and urging, in reference to Gaddafi, "Let's get this guy gone."

What is striking is that such language evokes not a hint of disagreement, much less protest, from within the US political establishment and the corporate-controlled media.

One would hardly guess that such methods mark a fateful shift from what had long been considered essential tenets of international law. While the assassination of foreign rulers as a tool of statecraft was well known in the Middle Ages, from the 18^th century and the dawn of the bourgeois revolutions it was regarded as beyond the pale.

There were, of course, wholly pragmatic considerations, among them the fear of "chickens coming home to roost," with the resort to assassination by leaders of major powers legitimizing the practice and creating the conditions for someone to murder them as well. There was also the calculation by those with the world's more powerful militaries that the use of assassination would tend to level the playing field with their less well-armed rivals.

But there were also, particularly in the history of the United States, other arguments, rooted in principles of democracy.

Thomas Jefferson in a 1789 letter to James Madison described assassination as one of the "legitimate principles in the dark ages which intervened between ancient and modern civilizations, but exploded and was held in just horror in the eighteenth century."

The US Army's code of conduct signed by Abraham Lincoln at the height of the Civil War in 1863 warned that "civilized nations look with horror upon" the method of assassinating one's enemies, regarding such practices as "relapses into barbarism."

This prevailing attitude toward assassination—defined as "treacherous killing"—was written into the international laws of war adopted at the Hague Convention of 1907 and has been continued in largely the same form in subsequent treaties and conventions.

As recently as 1976, the Church Committee, which conducted the US Senate investigations into the CIA's organization of assassination plots against world leaders ranging from Cuba's Fidel Castro to Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, concluded that this bloody practice "violates moral precepts fundamental to our way of life…[and] traditional American notions of fair play."

Today, the outlook expressed in the committee's reports seems, in the context of official discourse in Washington, as anachronistic as if it had been written in the 18^th century.

After nearly a decade of the so-called "war on terror," begun by Bush and escalated under Obama, assassination—together with wars of aggression, torture, extraordinary rendition, detention without charges—has become just one more accepted tool of American foreign policy.

Indeed, the executive order issued in the wake of the Church Committee probe that barred US-sponsored assassinations was overridden by the Bush administration in the name of eliminating alleged terrorists—a right to kill that has been extended under the Obama administration to US citizens. Now, the case is being made that assassination is a legitimate tool for pursuing "humanitarian" missions or whatever other pretext is invented for imperialist looting.

The ongoing war in Libya marks a further escalation in the criminalization of the American ruling elite, which extols the methods of murder and thuggery to achieve its aims abroad while relying on financial swindling, political fraud and state intimidation to enforce its interests at home.

Its open embrace of assassination stands as a stark warning. There is no section of the financial and corporate oligarchy that rules the United States that maintains the slightest adherence to democratic principles. Under conditions of an unrelenting crisis of the world capitalist system, combined with an unprecedented polarization between its obscene accumulation of wealth and the increasingly desperate conditions facing masses of workers, it is compelled to defend its class rule through the use of unrestrained violence.

The struggle against war and the fight against the increasingly grave threats to democratic rights within the US itself can be waged only through the independent political mobilization of the working class in its own party, fighting for workers' power and the socialist transformation of society.

Bill Van Auken

URL of this Page: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/pers-a26.shtml

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Asadullah Syed

Uphold Islamic tradition of peace in Kashmir: clerics

2011-04-25T18:00:00.001+05:30

Srinagar, April 24 (IANS) An international conference of Islamic scholars here Sunday laid emphasis on the need for unity, cohesion and preservation of the Sufi traditions among the local Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir.

First of its kind in Kashmir after separatist violence started here in 1990s, the conference was organised by a local group called 'Karwaan-e-Islami' which supports the propagation of peace, tolerance and Sufism among the local Muslims.

More than 10,000 local Muslims attended the conference.

Karwaan-e-Islami's Amir (chief) Maulana Haami said that with the full support of people from all shades of life, their 'tehreek' (movement) is progressing to achieve the objectives of universal brotherhood, peace and unity among people of all faiths by spreading the teachings of the Prophet of Islam.

Tajikistan's ambassador in India Syed Ahmad Beigh Sayeedi, who also attended the conference, said: 'Such conferences prove helpful in spreading the message of 'Aulia Kirams' (scholars, saints and Sufis) in the real sense.'

He said Tajikistan is organizing a conference on Islamic scholar and cleric Mir Syed Ali Hamdani – credited with having brought Islam to Kashmir in the 14th century – and said that the shrines of Hamdani and others at Khatlan province of Tajikistan have been renovated and maintained in a befitting manner in his country.

He invited the people to visit these shrines.

Other Islamic scholars who also spoke at the conference included Al-Sheikh Shah Al Hamid Shafaee (Cairo) and Maulana Abdul Gafoor Ibrahimi (Saudi Arabia).

Many local clerics at the conference laid stress on the history and the great traditions of Islam in Kashmir whose tolerant, Sufi approach to purity and penance had allowed a wonderful symbiosis between followers of different faiths here.

The speakers voiced concern at the government's inaction towards the establishment of the Sheikh-ul-Alam University here whose creation had already been announced by the authorities.

Sheikh-ul-Alam, the 15th century patron saint of Kashmir, was fondly called 'Nund Rishi (sage)' by both local Muslims and Hindus.

It is due to thos reverence for the saints and Sufis that the Valley has historically been known as the 'Rish vaar' (Abode of sages and Sufis

URL of this Page: http://www.inewsone.com/2011/04/24/uphold-islamic-tradition-of-peace-in-kashmir-clerics/45688

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Asadullah Syed

World Islamic Conference held in Kashmir

2011-04-25T17:58:00.001+05:30

Sunday, 24 April 2011 22:45 KDNN

Srinagar: A grand Dawat-ul-Sunnah International Islamic Conference, first of its kind in the state, was held here today. The conference was organized by Tehreek Karwaan Islami in which about one lakh devotees from all parts of the Kashmir reached Srinagar to attend this grand Islamic Conference.

The conference was attended by not only the Ulema of J&K State and country but also from various parts of the world. The conference commenced with Quraan Khawaani and Naat Khawaani. Later the religious scholars delivered their conscience inspiring and thought provoking speeches with regard to Islam, Faith and Teachings of Prophet Mohammad (SAW).

These religious scholars in their speeches said that the Islamic teachings are very much relevant in this modern and scientific age also. They also highlighted the teachings of Prophet and appealed the people to follow the teachings of Prophet in letter and spirit, which is the only solution for the human sufferings. They said that "Aulia Kirams" have always shown the path of truth, brotherhood and tolerance, that is why these Aulias travelled thousands of kilometers to reach the people and apprise them about the teachings of Islam and Prophet Mohammad (SAW). The Ulemas said these Aulias sacrificed everything to achieve this goal. They unanimously demanded establishment of Shiekh-ul-Alam University in valley forthwith and also appreciated Moulana Ghulam Rasool Haami for translating this dream into reality.

Addressing on the occasion, the Ameer of Tehreek Karwaan Islami Moulana Haami said that with the full support of people from all shades of life this Tehreek is progressing to achieve the objectives of universal brotherhood, peace, unity among people of all faiths by spreading the teachings of our Prophet (SAW). He promised that Shiekh-ul-Alam University will be established soon and said 200 Kanals of land has been donated by the people in Ganderbal particularly Wakoora. He expressed his gratitude to these people for the purpose. He also thanked the Ulemas who attended this conference.

The ambassador of Tajkistan in India Mr. Syed Ahmad Beigh Sayeedi on the occasion said that such conferences prove helpful in spreading the message of Aulia Kirams in real sense. He said Tajkistan is in near future organizing a conference on Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) and said that the shrines of Mir Syed Ali Hamdani and other Aulia Kirams have been renovated and maintained in a befitting manner. He invited the people to visit these shrines in Khatlan.

The Ulema who spoke on the occasion include Moulana Javid Rabani, Moulana Wali Mohd Rizvi, Moulana Fazal Haq Qadri, Al-Shiekh Shah Al Hamid Shafaee, Moulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, Syed Nadeem Kirmani, Syed Basharat Hussian Rizvi, Qazi Abdul Quyoom, Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, Ghulam Kibriya Chasti, Moulana Ghulam Rasool Haami, Moulana Taj Mohammad Azhari, Moulana Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Naqeeb, Moulana Riyaz-ul-Haq, Syed Ahmad Biegh Sayeedi (Ambassador) and Moulana Abdul Gafoor Ibrahimi (Saudi Arabia).

URL of this Page: http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headlines/24042962-world-islamic-conference-held-in-kashmir.htm

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Asadullah Syed

Kingdom: Role model for Islamic finance

2011-04-25T15:45:00.000+05:30

Al-Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah S. Al-Rajhi, right, NCB CEO Abdulkarim Al-Nasr, left, Mutlaq Al-Morshed, executive vice president, corporate finance, SABIC, second from right, and Humayon Dar, MD, BMB Islamic, take part in a panel discussion on Islamic finance and banking at the Jeddah Economic Forum on Tuesday. (AN photo by Ghazi Mahdi)

By KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS

Published: Mar 22, 2011 22:35 Updated: Mar 22, 2011 22:35

JEDDAH: The present status and future of Islamic economy, especially finance and banking, was the focus of deliberations on the final day of the 11th Jeddah Economic Forum on Tuesday.

The panelists of a session on Islamic finance and banking were of the view that Saudi Arabia, which has made rapid strides in Islamic finance, could be a role model in promoting it among both Islamic and even non-Islamic countries.

They said the global economic slowdown, witnessed in the past couple of years, was an eye-opener to most of the advanced countries as they felt that they might not have been in such a mess if they had adopted Islamic finance.

They all agreed that Islamic finance is growing but it needs a regulatory authority to ensure full Shariah-compliance.

Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Saleh Kamel felt that Islamic economy had not been treated fairly. "Islamic economy cannot find the place that is due to it unless it is introduced as a subject in schools and universities," Kamel said.

"It (Islamic economy) is ordained by Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the rules and regulations are there to guard against malpractices like usury and conduct Shariah-compliant financial and banking transactions," Kamel said.

He said that Islamic banks had been in operation for 38 years but a shortage of experts had delayed their worldwide expansion.

"We require scholars and experts so that all the rules and regulations related to Islamic finance and banking are unified and individual banks or institutions do not have their own interpretations," he said.

He was, however, hopeful that the value of Islamic financial assets would reach $4 trillion from the current $1 trillion by 2020.

He appealed to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to set up a Shariah control supervisory board in line with measures adopted in countries such as Malaysia and Sudan.

He hinted that the giant Islamic bank, Al-Kabeer Islamic Bank, will be launched by the end of this year.

Al-Rajhi Bank CEO Abdullah S. Al-Rajhi said the challenges include the lack of institutional framework, expansion of market and difficulty in managing short-term liquidity.

He agreed with Kamel that there is wide disparity in the application of Islamic banking principles.

"Every Islamic bank has its own Shariah board. That's why there is contradiction in the number of Islamic products, which reduces the confidence of customers. So, we have to unify Shariah parameters, which now number over 40," he said, emphasizing the need for a unified Shariah board.

According to Al-Rajhi, the volume of finance provided by Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia amounts to more than $100 billion.

Al-Rajhi said the recent royal decrees would add a major thrust to the Saudi economy in the coming years and ensured that the banking sector would support implementation of the decrees.

He also confirmed that all of the Kingdom's banking transactions are Shariah-compliant.

National Commercial Bank CEO Abdulkarim Al-Nasr said Islamic finance had expanded globally and not just in Islamic countries.

It had expanded from $260 million in 2000 to more than $1 trillion now and is expected to grow up to $4 trillion by 2020. Islamic insurance alone is expected to reach $25 billion by 2015.

"In fact, Islamic banking represents 95 percent of banking activities for individuals in the Kingdom. They represent 30 percent of the entire banking assets here," he said, adding that the recent global financial crisis had made Islamic banking more relevant.

Al-Nasr also shed light on services provided by Saudi banks to small and medium enterprises through the Kafalah program. More than SR1 billion worth of loans have been already given to young men and women, he pointed out.

Calling for applying social responsibility in Islamic banking, Zakat and waqf was Humayon Dar, managing director of BMB Islamic.

He said a majority of Saudis backed financing in line with Shariah principles.

"However, the future of Islamic finance products depends on its conformity with Shariah regulations, as that is the fundamental factor for its success," he said.

Ahmed Mohieldin Ahmed, secretary general for economic affairs, Islamic Chamber of Commerce, and Iqbal Khan, CEO of Fajr Capital, moderated two separate sessions on the future of Islamic finance and banking.

Mutlaq Al-Morshed, executive vice president, corporate finance, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), also gave an overview of how SABIC was committed to Islamic finance and banking transactions. He pointed out innovative ideas such as the CDS (credit derivatives) that J.P. Morgan launched recently would strengthen the Islamic finance sector.

The legal framework needs to be standardized, he added.

He also referred to the need for experts of Islamic finance who understand Shariah and finance.

"There are a lot of Shariah scholars and financial scholars. But they don't seem to elated to each other. However, it is being pursued and requires time to be fully witnessed, he added.

URL of This Page: http://arabnews.com/economy/article326197.ece

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Asadullah Syed

Geelani demands arrest of Moulana Showkat's killers

2011-04-23T17:16:00.001+05:30

TopNews

Written by MTT News

Friday, 22 April 2011 17:20

Srinagar, MTT News Desk: The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and the President of Jammu & Kashmir Tahreek e Hurriyat (TeH), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, while addressing a Juma congregation in Baramulla, demanded an impartial probe to expose the killers of Maulana Showkat Ahmed Shah.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani said that the Kashmiris' liberation struggle was totally indigenous and was in no way sponsored by any neighbouring country.

The APHC Chairmand the President of Jammu & Kashmir Tahreek e Hurriyat (TeH), Syed Ali Shah Geelani had also led a big procession in the area and people on the occasion raised anti-India slogans.

In other instance, in Occupied State of Jammu & Kashmir (OSJK), senior APHC leader and the Chairperson of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Khawateen Markaz (JKMKM), Yasmeen Raja, has demanded immediate release of all illegally detained Kashmiris including pro-freedom Hurriyat leaders and Hurriyat activists languishing in different jails of Occupied State of Jammu & Kashmir (OSJK) and through out India.

Yasmeen Raja who was recently released from unlawful detention, addressing a party meeting at Rajbagh in Srinagar, said that India could not suppress the Kashmiris' just freedom struggle through use of brute force and continued detentions of innocent people.

She said that the resolution of Kashmir dispute was vital to establish peace and stability in South Asia. "Pakistan and India should take immediate steps to settle the lingering dispute," Yasmeen Raja added.

Vowing to continue the freedom struggle till its logical end despite all odds, the APHC leader asked India to fulfil its promises made with the people of Kashmir to give them right to self-determination.

Senior Hurriyat Leader and Vice Chairman Jammu Kashmir Peoples League, Mukhtar Ahmad Waza while addressing a Juma congregation at Bejbehara Jamia Mosque, today said that the solution of the Kashmir dispute can no longer be delayed or hijacked by political maneuvering, urges for inclusion of Kashmiri leadership in the dialogue process to address the long-standing issue.

The APHC Leader said that the Kashmir dispute was the main obstacle in the cordial relations between Pakistan and India. He added that durable peace in the region was impossible without an amicable settlement of the dispute.

Waza said that both the countries should talk on the Kashmir dispute because all other problems including water, Cir Creek and Siachen would automatically be resolved after solution of the Kashmir dispute.

Waza has appealed to the world community particularly the USA to play an effective role in resolving the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the Kashmiris' aspirations.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/topnews/1650-geelani-demands-arrest-of-moulana-showkats-killers.html

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Asadullah Syed

The Education of an Iranian Revolutionary

2011-04-23T17:14:00.001+05:30

In 1978, the future Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi helped storm the justice ministry in Tehran in protest against the shah. 'The future appeared full of promise.'

By DAVID FEITH

APRIL 23, 2011

'At the time I really believed that an Islamic Republic would bring us independence and liberty." The time was 1978 and the belief belonged to Shirin Ebadi, then a 31-year-old judge on the Tehran city court. So strong was her revolutionary fervor that she helped storm the justice ministry, one of many acts of revolt that eventually toppled the shah and installed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader.

"What would happen to our beloved Iran? No one knew," Ms. Ebadi writes in "The Golden Cage," her new book out next week, "but the future appeared full of promise."

The future, it turned out, was full of 7th-century religious fanaticism and brutal political repression. Now 63 and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her work defending the Islamic Republic's victims, Ms. Ebadi is no longer a revolutionary. She is subversive and brave, to be sure. But in this season of Middle Eastern uprisings, when a new Iranian revolution would be the most important to date, she conveys caution and gradualism.

"Some people believe that we have to throw out [Iran's] constitution and come up with a new constitution—this means revolution," Ms. Ebadi says. "Of course deeply I believe that this is not a democratic constitution, but I am looking for pragmatic ways. . . . We have to bring power to the people gradually."

Over two conversations this week in New York City and Washington, D.C., Ms. Ebadi says through an interpreter that she fears a Libya scenario in which Iran's leaders act like Moammar Gadhafi. Any attempt to end their rule, she worries, "is going to call for blood-shedding. . . . I am for solutions with less blood-shedding. I am a defender of human rights. That's why I don't want to find ways that would hurt people."

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Terry Shoffner

Ms. Ebadi prefers to focus political and legal pressure on getting the Iranian government to begin respecting the many existing constitutional rights that it ignores. For example, the right of ethnic minorities—the Azeris, Baluch, Arabs and others—to teach their mother tongues to their children. "This is the first step, to ask for the implementation of these laws. After that people will naturally become stronger. Then they can take other steps."

Dogged persistence, not grand action, is this lawyer's way. The Khomeinists kicked her off the bench for being a woman in 1980, mandating that she work as a secretary in the court over which she once presided. By the early 1990s, she established a law practice that focused on representing the weak—refugees, women, children. She took on the cases of intellectuals, students and others whom the regime had targeted as zedd-e enghelab, counter-revolutionaries. Often that meant representing the families of individuals whom government agents had stabbed to death in their home, for example, or shot in their university dormitory.

The work got her thrown in jail for 23 days in 2000, and it nearly cost her life: That same year, while reviewing intelligence ministry files to prepare for a case, she found her own name on a list of intellectuals to be targeted for extrajudicial killing. Her death warrant was cancelled by Iran's then-President Mohammad Khatami before it was carried out. Now, a decade later, she lives in exile (mostly in Atlanta, Ga.), having not returned to Iran since June 2009, fearing certain arrest. Her husband and sister remain there and have been arrested as a means of pressuring Ms. Ebadi. They are now out of prison but can't leave Iran.

Ms. Ebadi nonetheless calculates that the best way to change Iran is to work within the system, as she once did navigating the country's courts and ministries. In this regard her outlook is similar to that of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, Iran's most prominent opposition figures. Both former regime officials, Messrs. Mousavi and Karroubi ran for president in June 2009. Since the election was stolen by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both men have advocated deep reform but not revolution.

Both have been under house arrest since February, when they tried to lead marches in solidarity with the democrats of Tunisia and Egypt. In the 10 weeks since their confinement and effective silencing, the Iranian opposition has appeared to be in remission, with no high-profile protests or diplomatic defections.

But Ms. Ebadi says the Iranian opposition has actually "become stronger." She claims that "dissatisfaction is increasing every day" and points specifically to the economy: "The price of food in Tehran is twice as much as it is in New York." She mentions a recent International Monetary Fund report that Iran's economy is experiencing no growth and 22% inflation, and also a parliamentarian's recent statement that unemployment exceeds 30%.

What's more, she says, the Ahmadinejad government has hurt itself by cutting food and fuel subsidies. Others have interpreted the subsidy cuts—which were bound to be unpopular—as a sign of government confidence. But, says Ms. Ebadi, they sent the price of natural gas up 20 times and caused angry protests in front of parliament.

Ms. Ebadi also expresses optimism about opposition from organized labor, which was crucial to dislodging the shah in the late 1970s. "For the last two weeks, the workers at the Mahshahr petrochemical company have been on strike and the plant has not worked at all. . . . During the shah's reign, when the workers went on strike that was political—their salaries were paid but they didn't want the shah. But now they say 'We are hungry.' And I think that a hungry worker speaks stronger."

The point is surely debatable. As the political scientist Francis Fukuyama has written, channeling Samuel Huntington, the successful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt fit a classic model, driven "not by the poor but by upwardly mobile middle-class people who find their aspirations stymied." By this reasoning, bread riots are less likely to yield the fundamental change that Iran needs. When that change looked possible in the summer of 2009, Iran's protesters were generally not the poor and their motivations appeared more political—"Where is my vote?"—than economic.

Another advantage for Iran's opposition, says Ms. Ebadi, is that the government's nuclear program is increasingly unpopular. "Ahmadinejad talks about nuclear energy as national pride . . . but that's not true. People don't care."

This is a reversal for Ms. Ebadi. In a 2006 Los Angeles Times op-ed, she wrote that "Although a vast majority of Iranians despise the country's hard-liners and wish for their downfall, they also support its nuclear program because it has become a source of pride for an old nation with a glorious history."

That was true "at the time," she now says. "But after the Security Council of the United Nations placed economic sanctions on Iran, and the violence of the government increased, and poverty was increased, then the people found out that the policies of the government in this regard were wrong. Now they don't care at all. Remember that people don't always think the same, they change."

The most convincing plank in Ms. Ebadi's generally optimistic view is Syria. "People are very happy about the uprising of the people of Syria. . . . If there is democracy in Syria it's like the arms of Iran are cut off," she says. "The people of Iran would be very happy if Bashar Assad is toppled because that's the beginning of the toppling of the Iranian government."

As for U.S. policy, Ms. Ebadi first states pointedly that "A military attack or a threat of military attack is the worst thing." This answer is of a piece with Ms. Ebadi's statements since winning the Nobel in 2003. Along with the dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, she has for years represented a view that the U.S. could do little right in Iran.

In 2007, after the Bush administration allocated $75 million to support freedom and human rights in Iran—through TV and radio broadcasts, exchange programs and support for civil society groups—Ms. Ebadi wrote in the New York Times that "Iranian reformists . . . believe that the best Washington can do for democracy in Iran is to leave them alone."

Now, with a new U.S. president and Iran's enduring postelection crackdown, she's tempered that view. She underscores that she would never accept non-Iranian funds for her work, but she wants the U.S. to "provide access to the news for the [Iranian] people. . . . What I'm talking about is the Internet more than anything else."

This sounds a lot like the Bush administration's program, so I ask if informing the Iranian people should extend to supporting Iranian journalists and civil society groups. "Of course," she replies.

She also supports U.S. and international sanctions against Iran's energy industries, though in 2006 she wrote that "imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran would also be counterproductive, prompting Tehran to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty."

Then there's her call, which she has sounded consistently, for the West to prioritize human rights and press Iran to respect its own laws and treaty obligations. That agenda includes promoting the newly appointed U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran; demanding the release of political prisoners like her personal lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, the student activist Bahareh Hedayat, and the leaders of Iran's Bahai community; and calling for Iran to suspend its (sometimes public) executions of criminals and political prisoners, which numbered nearly 100 in January alone.

This would require some major U.S. rethinking. The State Department talks about Internet freedom, but for years it has sat on $30 million allocated by Congress for the promotion of "scalable, field tested" firewall-circumvention tools. On sanctions too, a strong law is now on the books, but the Obama administration hasn't seriously enforced it. Just this week, more than 450 foreign companies attended the Iran Oil Show in Tehran to explore opportunities in Iran's oil, gas, refining and petrochemical industries.

As recent events have shown, the main actors in the Middle Eastern drama will be the people of the region, not the U.S. So what advice does Ms. Ebadi have for the Tunisians and Egyptians now building their own postrevolutionary states?

"Usually in any revolution people are focused on who wants to have the most power. But the most important thing is the laws that are written during that time," she says. "What happened in Iran? . . . Numerous of the bad laws were passed within the first months. But then we thought that's not that important, if the president's good we can change it or make it good later. And we had a good president, [Mr. Khatami], but he couldn't do anything with the bad laws."

Ms. Ebadi, the cautious lawyer, may yet live to see the day when she can rewrite those laws.

Mr. Feith is an assistant editorial features editor at The Journal.

URL of this Page: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703983704576277373280750408.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Asadullah Syed

The Arab Risings, Israel and Hamas

2011-04-12T17:35:00.001+05:30

By George Friedman

There was one striking thing missing from the events in the Middle East in past months: Israel. While certainly mentioned and condemned, none of the demonstrations centered on the issue of Israel. Israel was a side issue for the demonstrators, with the focus being on replacing unpopular rulers.

This is odd. Since even before the creation of the state of Israel, anti-Zionism has been a driving force among the Arab public, perhaps more than it has been with Arab governments. While a few have been willing to develop open diplomatic relations with Israel, many more have maintained informal relations: Numerous Arab governments have been willing to maintain covert relations with Israel, with extensive cooperation on intelligence and related matters. They have been unwilling to incur the displeasure of the Arab masses through open cooperation, however.

That makes it all the more strange that the Arab opposition movements - from Libya to Bahrain - have not made overt and covert cooperation with Israel a central issue, if for no other reason than to mobilize the Arab masses. Let me emphasize that Israel was frequently an issue, but not the central one. If we go far back to the rise of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and his revolution for Pan-Arabism and socialism, his issues against King Farouk were tightly bound with anti-Zionism. Similarly, radical Islamists have always made Israel a central issue, yet it wasn't there in this round of unrest. This was particularly surprising with regimes like Egypt's, which had formal relations with Israel.

It is not clear why Israel was not a rallying point. One possible explanation is that the demonstrations in the Islamic world were focused on unpopular leaders and regimes, and the question of local governance was at their heart. That is possible, but particularly as the demonstrations faltered, invoking Israel would have seemed logical as a way to legitimize their cause. Another explanation might have rested in the reason that most of these risings failed, at least to this point, to achieve fundamental change. They were not mass movements involving all classes of society, but to a great extent the young and the better educated. This class was more sophisticated about the world and understood the need for American and European support in the long run; they understood that including Israel in their mix of grievances was likely to reduce Western pressure on the risings' targets. We know of several leaders of the Egyptian rising, for example, who were close to Hamas yet deliberately chose to downplay their relations. They clearly were intensely anti-Israeli but didn't want to make this a crucial issue. In the case of Egypt, they didn't want to alienate the military or the West. They were sophisticated enough to take the matter step by step.

Hamas' Opportunity

A second thing was missing from the unrest: There was no rising, no intifada, in the Palestinian territories. Given the general unrest sweeping the region, it would seem logical that the Palestinian public would have pressed both the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Hamas to organize massive demonstrations against Israel. This didn't happen.

This clearly didn't displease the PNA, which had no appetite for underwriting another intifada that would have led to massive Israeli responses and disruption of the West Bank's economy. For Hamas in Gaza, however, it was a different case. Hamas was trapped by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. This blockade limited its ability to access weapons, as well as basic supplies needed to build a minimally functioning economy. It also limited Hamas' ability to build a strong movement in the West Bank that would challenge Fatah's leadership of the PNA there.

Hamas has been isolated and trapped in Gaza. The uprising in Egypt represented a tremendous opportunity for Hamas, as it promised to create a new reality in Gaza. If the demonstrators had succeeded not only in overthrowing Hosni Mubarak but also in forcing true regime change - or at least forcing the military to change its policy toward Hamas - the door could have opened for Hamas to have increased dramatically its power and its room to maneuver. Hamas knew that it had supporters among a segment of the demonstrators and that the demonstrators wanted a reversal of Egyptian policy on Israel and Gaza. They were content to wait, however, particularly as the PNA was not prepared to launch an intifada in the West Bank and because one confined to Gaza would have had little effect. So they waited.

For Hamas, a shift in Egyptian policy was the opening that would allow them to become militarily and politically more effective. It didn't happen. The events of the past few months have shown that while the military wanted Mubarak out, it was not prepared to break with Israel or shift its Gaza policy. Most important, the events thus far have shown that the demonstrators were in no position to force the Egyptian military to do anything it didn't want to do. Beyond forcing Mubarak out and perhaps having him put on trial, the basic policies of his regime remained in place.

Over the last few weeks, it became apparent to many observers, including the Hamas leadership, that what they hoped for in Egypt was either not going to happen any time soon or perhaps not at all. At the same time, it was obvious that the movement in the Arab world had not yet died out. If Hamas could combine the historical animosity toward Israel in the Arab world with the current unrest, it might be able to effect changes in policy not only in Egypt but also in the rest of the Arab world, a region that, beyond rhetoric, had become increasingly indifferent to the Palestinian cause.

Gaza has become a symbol in the Arab world of Palestinian resistance and Israeli oppression. The last war in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, has become used as a symbol in the Arab world and in Europe to generate anti-Israeli sentiment. Interestingly, Richard Goldstone, lead author of a report on the operation that severely criticized Israel, retracted many of his charges last week. One of the Palestinians' major achievements was shaping public opinion in Europe over Cast Lead via the Goldstone Report. Its retraction was therefore a defeat for Hamas.

In the face of the decision by Arab demonstrators not to emphasize Israel, in the face of the apparent failure of the Egyptian rising to achieve definitive policy changes, and in the face of the reversal by Goldstone of many of his charges, Hamas clearly felt that it not only faced a lost opportunity, but it was likely to face a retreat in Western public opinion (albeit the latter was a secondary consideration).

The Advantage of Another Gaza Conflict for Hamas

Another Israeli assault on Gaza might generate forces that benefit Hamas. In Cast Lead, the Egyptian government was able to deflect calls to stop its blockade of Gaza and break relations with Israel. In 2011, it might not be as easy for them to resist in the event of another war. Moreover, with the uprising losing steam, a war in Gaza might re-energize Hamas, using what would be claimed as unilateral brutality by Israel to bring far larger crowds into the street and forcing a weakened Egyptian regime to make the kinds of concessions that would matter to Hamas.

Egypt is key for Hamas. Linked to an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas Cairo, the Gaza Strip returns to its old status as a bayonet pointed at Tel Aviv. Certainly, it would be a base for operations and a significant alternative to Fatah. But a war would benefit Hamas more broadly. For example, Turkey's view of Gaza has changed significantly since the 2010 flotilla incident in which Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish civilians on a ship headed for Gaza. Turkey's relationship with Israel could be further weakened, and with Egypt and Turkey both becoming hostile to Israel, Hamas' position would improve. If Hamas could cause Hezbollah to join the war from the north then Israel would be placed in a challenging military position perhaps with the United States, afraid of a complete breakdown of its regional alliance system, forcing Israel to accept an unfavorable settlement.

Hamas had the same means for starting a war it had before Cast Lead and that Hezbollah had in 2006. It can still fire rockets at Israel. For the most part, these artillery rockets - homemade Qassams and mortars, do no harm. But some strike Israeli targets, and under any circumstances, the constant firing drives home the limits of Israeli intelligence to an uneasy Israeli public - Israel doesn't know where the missiles are stored and can't take them out. Add to this the rocket that landed 20 miles south of Tel Aviv and Israeli public perceptions of the murder of most of a Jewish family in the West Bank, including an infant, and it becomes clear that Hamas is creating the circumstances under which the Israelis have no choice but to attack Gaza.

Outside Intervention

After the first series of rocket attacks, two nations intervened. Turkey fairly publicly intervened via Syria, persuading Hamas to halt its attacks. Turkey understood the fragility of the Arab world and was not interested in the uprising receiving an additional boost from a war in Gaza. The Saudis also intervened. The Saudis provide the main funding for Hamas via Syria and were themselves trying to stabilize the situation from Yemen to Bahrain on its southern and eastern border; it did not want anything adding fuel to that fire. Hamas accordingly subsided.

Hamas then resumed its attack this weekend. We don't know its reasoning, but we can infer it: Whatever Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria or anyone else wanted, this was Hamas' historic opportunity. If Egypt returns to the status quo, Hamas returns to its trap. Whatever their friends or allies might say, missing this historic opportunity would be foolish for it. A war would hurt, but a defeat could be turned into a political victory.

It is not clear what the Israelis' limit is. Clearly, they are trying to avoid an all-out assault on Gaza, limiting their response to a few airstrikes. The existence of Iron Dome, a new system to stop rockets, provides Israel some psychological comfort, but it is years from full deployment, and its effectiveness is still unknown. The rockets can be endured only so long before an attack. And the Goldstone reversal gives the Israelis a sense of vindication that gives them more room for maneuver.

Hamas appears to have plenty of rockets, and it will use them until Israel responds. Hamas will use the Israeli response to try to launch a broader Arab movement focused both on Israel and on regimes that openly or covertly collaborate with Israel. Hamas hopes above all to bring down the Egyptian regime with a newly energized movement. Israel above all does not want this to happen. It will resist responding to Hamas as long as it can, but given the political situation in Israel, its ability to do so is limited - and that is what Hamas is counting on.

For the United States and Europe, the merger of Islamists and democrats is an explosive combination. Apart, they do little. Together, they could genuinely destabilize the region and even further undermine the U.S. effort against jihadists. The United States and Europe want Israel to restrain itself but cannot restrain Hamas. Another war, therefore, is not out of the question - and in the end, the decision to launch one rests with Hamas.

Stratfor

2011.04.12 13:20

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Asadullah Syed

Necessities of Education

2011-04-11T16:32:00.001+05:30

Necessities of Education

By Syed Md Sanaullah

The Global Jewish population is nearly 13.3 million or about 0.2% of the world population and 2% of the US population. Jews received 166 Nobel Prizes in various fields. There are 165 Jews listed for Nobel Prizes, and 6 from the Arab side. Today we have very few Jews. There would be approx. 12.7 million Jews alive today as United States, represents. At least 181 Jews and people of half- or three-quarters-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

There have been 22% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2010. In the research fields of Chemistry, Physics, Economics, and Physiology/Medicine, the corresponding world and US percentages are 26% to 39%, respectively. Excluding the politically awarded Peace Prize, Muslims have won only three Nobel prizes since their inception more than a century ago, By contrast, there have been 169 Jewish Nobel Laureates (excluding the Peace Prize).

During the past century, a Jew was 5,000 times more likely to win the Nobel Prize than a Muslim. Since the Nobel Prize was established, only four laureates have been forced by authorities to decline the honour. Three of them were (non-Jewish) Germans, who were prohibited from accepting the prize by Adolf Hitlerin 1938 and in 1939. The fourth was Boris Pasternak, who was born into a Russian Jewish family. Pasternak was named the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. On 25 October, two days after hearing that he had won, Pasternak sent the following telegram to the Swedish Academy. Among women laureates in the four research fields, the Jewish percentages are 38% and 50%, respectively. Of organizations awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 25% were founded principally by Jews or by people of half-Jewish descent. In Chemistry31 prize winners, 20% of world, Economics 28 prize winners, 42% of world, Literature 13 prize winner, 12% of world, Peace 9 prize winners, 9% of world, Physics 47 prize winners, 25% of world, Physiology or Medicine 53 prize winners, 27% of world, There are Jewish Recipients of the Kyoto Prize (25% of recipients). Jewish recipients received Wolf Foundation Prize (33% of recipients). And Jewish recipients also received US National Medal of Science (38% of recipients).

These are the citizens of India and Indian Origin who awarded the Nobel Prize.

Rabindranath Tagore In 1913, he was awarded by the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first person of non-Western heritage to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888–1970) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 1930.

Amartya Sen (born 1933) was the first Indian to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, awarded to him in

Ronald Ross, born in Almora, India, in 1857 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.

Rudyard Kipling, born in Mumbai, 1865 (then Bombay in British India), was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. He remains the youngest ever recipient of the Literature Nobel Prize and the first Hargobind Khorana (born 1922), a person of Indian origin, shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on genes. He had left India in 1945 and became a naturalized United States citizen in the 1970s. He continues to head a laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars" Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. Born: 19 October 1910, Lahore, India (now in Pakistan).

Venkatraman 'Venki' Ramakrishnan for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He is now a US Citizen.

In university of India 2011 world university ranking, only four Indian universities as Indian Institute of Technology Madras at the 24th position, Indian institute of Technology Bombay at 28th , Indian institute of Technology Kanpur at 33th, University of Delhi at 182nd among the top 200 universities of world.

In Bank's financial strength India's only two, SBI at the 64th position and ICICI Bank Ltd at 81st, figure among the top 100 banks of world. World top multinational company, bank, and media controlled by Jewish. World top scientist, novelist, thinker researcher, and extra ordinary talents are Jewish, due to education.

Indian youngster does not think on these issues. India has great necessity of education. We must consider for the education systems. We cannot ignore. How Indian youngsters will think on these issues and how they will grow education systems. Literally Jewish are many times better than an Indian. Only education will create a new India.

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Syed Md Sanaullah
Accountant
Mob No-09540521570
E-mail: syedmdsanaullah@gmail.com

By Syed Md Sanaullah

These are the citizens of India and Indian Origin who awarded the Nobel Prize.

Rabindranath Tagore In 1913, he was awarded by the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first person of non-Western heritage to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888–1970) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 1930.

Amartya Sen (born 1933) was the first Indian to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, awarded to him in

Ronald Ross, born in Almora, India, in 1857 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.

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Syed Md Sanaullah
Accountant
Mob No-09540521570
E-mail: syedmdsanaullah@gmail.com

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Asadullah Syed

Jackson committed suicide over finances?

2011-04-09T15:11:00.001+05:30

By Indo Asian News Service | IANS – Thu, Apr 7, 2011 12:40 PM IST

London, April 7 (IANS) The lawyers of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor, have revealed that the late King of Pop might have committed suicide over his financial woes.

Defence lawyer Ed Chernoff said his client, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, was not responsible for the pop superstar's death in 2009.

He claimed that Jackson was so upset about the state of his finances he took his own life, reports contactmusic.com.

'The crux of the defence is going to be that Michael Jackson engaged in a desperate act and took desperate measures that caused his death. We believe at the time Michael Jackson died he was a desperate man in relation to his financial affairs,' Chernoff told Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor.

However, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren has opposed the claims, saying the defence is simply staging 'an irrelevant sideshow' aimed at distracting the jury from the key issue of the trial.

URL of this Page: http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news/jackson-committed-suicide-over-finances-20110407-001058-954.html

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Asadullah Syed

Pakistan to allow Indian team to probe 26/11 terror case

2011-03-29T22:30:00.001+05:30

Vishwa Mohan

Mar 29, 2011

NEW DELHI: Indo-Pak home secretary level talks ended here on Tuesday with Pakistan conveying its readiness, in principle, to entertain a commission from India with respect to the Mumbai terror probe. Dates for the visit of the judicial commission from Pakistan in connection with Mumbai attack trial will be conveyed by India within four to six weeks.

Pakistan showed its willingness for an Indian commission on Mumbai terror probe on the principle of comity and reciprocity. The modalities and composition in this connection will be worked out through diplomatic channels.

On India's demand of getting voice samples of the jailed Mumbai terror attack perpetrators, Pakistani side said that they had already moved high court after their trial court rejected the demand of handing over voice samples to India. They said their high court may soon take a decision and the Pakistani government would act accordingly.

Dates for the visit of the judicial commission from Pakistan in connection with Mumbai attack trial will be conveyed by India within four to six weeks. Indian National Investigating Agency (NIA) and Pakistani Federal Investigating Ageny (FIA) will continue to cooperate in the Mumbai attack probe, both home secretaries agreed. A hotline between Home Secretary of India and Interior Secretary of Pakistan would be set up to facilitate real time information sharing on terror threats.

India and Pakistan also agreed for a liberal visa regime proposal. The guidelines related to visa liberalization programme will be decided soon. So far they have agreed to set up a joint working group to examine the modalities for streamlining the visa procedure/modalities and for giving a final shape to revision of the bilateral visa agreement. The proposal is meant for liberal visa regime for doctors, senior citizens, journalists and businessmen.

Besides, India provided information to Pakistan on the Samjhauta Express blast case probe. Both the countries agreed that after India filed the report in the court, updated information would be shared with the concerned Pakistan authorities.

It was decided that CBI and FIA will schedule a meeting to work out the technical details of moving forward in issues of human trafficking, FICNs, cyber crimes and RCNs. The technical details on Red Corner Notices (RCNs) will include modalities to work on details of deportation of India's most wanted criminals.

Both sides shared the concern of the growing menace of narcotics/drugs and agreed that cooperation between NCB of India and ANF of Pakistan should be enhanced to ensure an effective control on drug trafficking. It was further agreed that Talks between DG, NCB and DG ANF would be held annually. Indian side accepted the invitation for DG NCB to visit Pakistan in May 2011 for talks with DG ANF.

It was agreed that both sides by April 15th would release those civilian prisoners/fishermen who have completed their sentence, whose nationality status has been confirmed by the respective governments and whose travel documents have been received.

India and Pakistan agreed that it was important for them to remain engaged on outstanding issues and henceforth the home/interior secretary level talks would be held bi-annually.

_{URL of this Page: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-to-allow-Indian-team-to-probe-26/11-terror-case/articleshow/7815774.cms?intenttarget=no}

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Asadullah Syed

Imam e Ka'aba prays for Kashmir resolution

2011-03-29T22:22:00.000+05:30

Written by MTT News

Monday, 28 March 2011 14:42

New Delhi, MTT News Desk: The Imam e Kaaba, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has prayed for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

The Imam e Kaaba who is currently on a visit to New Delhi, after leading prayers on Sunday at the Jamiat-e-Ahli-Hadith Complex in Indian capital prayed for amicable resolution of the dispute.

Sheikh Abdul Rahman pointed out the problems being faced by the Muslim Ummah. "The Muslims around the globe are facing many challenges. It is high time for the Ummah to forge unity and work for spreading the message of Islam," he added.

As per media reports the Imam-e-Kaaba accepted the invitation of the President of Jammu and Kashmir Jamiat-e-Ahli-Hadith, Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah to visit occupied Kashmir in near future.

"While accepting Maulana Showkat's invitation to visit Kashmir, Sheikh Abdul Rahman said he was eager to witness natural beauty of the Valley," the news reports said.

Maulana Showkat also apprised him about the Jamait-e-Ahli-Hadith's proposal to construct the Trans World Muslim University.

Illegally detained Hurriyet leader, Pir Saifullah, has said that the Kashmiris will never compromise on their inalienable right to self-determination.

Pir Saifullah was talking to media persons outside the District and Sessions Court Pulwama where he was produced in connection with a false case registered against him. He asked the people to carry on their peaceful liberation struggle.

The court ordered the occupation authorities to shift the Hurriyet leader from district jail Kupwara to Srinagar Central jail.

It is pertinent to mention that Pir Saifullah's detention orders under the black law, Public Safety Act were recently quashed by the High Court of the occupied territory.

URL of this Page: http://www.markthetruth.com/middle-east/1552-imam-e-kaaba-prays-for-kashmir-resolution.html

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Asadullah Syed

Saudi women barred again to cast votes

2011-03-29T22:17:00.000+05:30

audi women have been refused permission to participate in the coming municipal elections as both voters and candidates since authorities are not yet prepared for the m

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Saudi women have been refused permission to participate in the coming municipal elections as both voters and candidates since authorities are not yet prepared for the move.

"We are not ready for the participation of women in these municipal elections," AFP quoted the electoral committee head, Abdulrahman al-Dahmash, as telling reporters in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday.

Al-Dahmash pointed out that more time was required to organize the logistics so that women could vote. He also renewed earlier promises that authorities would allow women's participation in the next ballot.

The report comes as oil-rich Saudi Arabia announced last week that it will hold elections to elect members to 219 municipal councils on April 23.

This is the second time that a long-running ban has stripped Saudi women of their right to stand as candidates or to vote in polls. Their participation was denied in 2005, when the Persian Gulf state held its first municipal elections.

Meanwhile, Saudi Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb has said a special committee would decide on women's participation in the forthcoming municipal polls.

"My ministry is not responsible for elections. It is vested on a specialized committee that sets out the rules and regulations for nominations and participants. It will discuss prospects of women's participation in the coming elections as well as the nature of such participation," he noted.

Marriage, divorce and children's custody are rights that Saudi women are still being denied. They are also required to be governed and guarded by male relatives regardless of their capability or compatibility.

Saudi women need permission from a son, a brother or a male relative to travel and own property, irrespective of age.

URL of This Page: http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=233782

Asadullah Syed

Islamic Banking Deepens Financial Services Uptake in Kenya

2011-03-29T22:14:00.000+05:30

Islamic banks now control 0.9 per cent of total accounts, indicating increased penetration of financial services to a segment of the population that was hitherto excluded from the system due to its religious beliefs.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Islamic banks now control 0.9 per cent of total accounts, indicating increased penetration of financial services to a segment of the population that was hitherto excluded from the system due to its religious beliefs.

Central Bank of Kenya data shows that Gulf African Bank and First Community Bank, both of them exclusively Shariah-compliant banks, had 58,101 deposit accounts and 2,609 loan accounts as at the end of December 2010, four years after their licensing.

"The uptake of Islamic banking is projected to grow exponentially in sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya is among African countries that are taking up the lead in shariah compliant banking services," said Professor Njuguna Ndung'u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.

He said Islamic banking was helping to push the regulators' agenda of more financial inclusion, noting that before emergence of the Shariah-compliant products some people had been locked out of the banking system due to their religious beliefs.

The Islamic lenders had gross assets of Sh16.5 billion, net loans and advances of Sh9.2 billion and deposits of Sh13.76 billion.

The two banks have recorded losses since they began operations in 2007 but Gulf African Bank has announced its maiden positive earning posting a Sh73.9 million profit after tax in 2010.

First Community Bank is expected to announce its results by the end of this week.

The uptake of Islamic banking products has led several conventional banks to introduce shariah-compliant products as part of their product range.

Barclays Bank of Kenya, Chase Bank, and KCB have shariah compliant products through which they hope to tap into the estimated nine million Muslim population.

Prof Ndung'u said there were several challenges facing Islamic banking in Kenya which include lack of shariah compliant investment vehicles and lack of awareness of existence of the products.

The chairman of Gulf African Bank, Suleiman bin Shahbal, said that there was a misconception that the products were for Muslims only.

"We serve even non-Muslim customers but I think we are partly to blame because of the way we name our products -takaful, annisaa, hajj - we should be more liberal," said Mr Shahbal.

To accommodate the shariah- compliant investment vehicles like unit trusts and corporate bonds-sukuks, the government has amended the finance act to allow the Central Bank as the government's fiscal agent to recognise the payment of a "return" rather than "interest" on government securities.

"This amendment opens up the spectrum of Sharia-compliant investments in the country" said Prof. Ndungu.

The move to entrench Sukuk bonds and bills in the law is seen as a push by CBK to tap the increasing amount of cash flowing into Africa from the Gulf region which is deemed to hold excess capital.

"The Sukuk market is huge with over 1.6 trillion dollars worldwide; why does that money have to go to Malaysia and other countries and not Kenya?" said Mr Shahbal.

URL of this Page: http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=233779

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Asadullah Syed

Exile for Gaddafi? How other dictators have fared

2011-03-29T22:12:00.001+05:30

Italy wants to let Gaddafi go into a quiet exile in Africa. At least it's not Saudi Arabia...

By Tim Edward

MARCH 29, 2011

Is exile the easy way to end Colonel Gaddafi's 40-year grip on Libya - and the current civil war? Italy is currently pushing the idea of a ceasefire combined with retirement for Gaddafi - and even the UK, which officially wants to see him tried in the International Criminal Court, appears to be happy to let him go if it brings a swift halt to hostilities in Libya.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC: "We want him to leave power and that's what we've consistently said to the Libyan regime. We are not in control, of course, of where he might go."

Italy's plan would see Gaddafi sent to an African country that does not recognise the ICC (Arab leaders, by and large, loathe the 'Brotherly Leader'). Unfortunately, the vast majority of African states are either ICC members or have signed the treaty (but failed to ratify it).

Only the likes of Rwanda, Mauritania, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Swaziland have completely snubbed the ICC.

Should Gaddafi accept his fate and choose one of these countries, he may wish to reflect that even those dictators who escape justice rarely enjoy a happy ending. Here, The First Post outlines the fate of a few fellow despots.

Idi Amin The military dictator of Uganda is thought to be responsible for the deaths of up to 500,000 people during his eight-year reign. When he was deposed in 1979 (despite military backing from Colonel Gaddafi), he escaped first to Libya before settling in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where the royal family subsidised his life in return for his silence. Their motivation was supposedly because they feared his clownish reputation was damaging Islam. The Guardian described the years until his death in 2003 as a "dull round of sports events, gym sessions and massage parlours. He had a Range Rover, a Chevrolet Caprice and a powder-blue Cadillac for his aimless shopping trips, and visits to the airport to clear through customs the parcels of cassava and other food items sent by relatives in Uganda".

Hissene Habre The dictator of Chad, who came to power in a CIA-backed coup, ruled from 1982 until 1990 and became known as 'Africa's Pinochet'. His rule was marked by the usual human rights abuses, including ethnic cleansing of rival tribes and around 40,000 people were killed. After surviving a war against Gaddafi's Libya, Habre was eventually deposed by rebels and fled to exile in Senegal. He is currently living under virtual house arrest in Dakar and faces a trial for crimes against humanity.

The Shah of Persia Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi fled Iran in 1979 following the Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. He travelled to Morocco, the Bahamas and Mexico before dying in Egypt of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1980.

Kwame Nkrumah The Ghanaian president from 1960 until 1966 was referred to as 'Messiah' by the government-owned press. He was deposed in a coup while on a state visit to North Korea and China and went into exile in Guinea. Here he was made to feel at home by President Toure, who made him honorary co-president. However, he was convinced that foreign agents were out to poison him and died a paranoid man of skin cancer six years into his exile.

'Baby Doc' Duvalier Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was overthrown in 1986 after a 15-year reign of terror in which thousands were killed. Baby Doc's crimes included drugs trafficking and selling the body parts of dead Haitians. Baby Doc went into exile in France, where he lived a luxurious lifestyle before losing most of his money in a 1993 divorce. Earlier this year he returned to Haiti and is awaiting trial for corruption.

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali The most recent addition to the exiled dictators' club 'won' a number of elections during his 23-year rule of Tunisia. Ben Ali was the first Arab leader to be deposed in this year's Arab Spring and flew to France, where he no doubt hoped to enjoy a luxurious and cultured exile. Sadly, the authorities refused Ben Ali permission to land and he was forced to divert to Saudi Arabia, where he will instead have to put up with those "aimless" shopping trips with his wife Leila Trabelsi. Both are currently wanted by Interpol on corruption charges.

URL of this Page: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/77032,people,news,exile-for-gaddafi-how-other-former-dictators-have-fared?DCMP=NLC-people
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Asadullah Syed

Islamic Banking Deepens Financial Services Uptake in Kenya

2011-03-29T22:08:00.000+05:30